AU- This is the second chapter of Weather Changes. Last chapter I introduced a main player (Kacey) to the story who will end up as family for our little Noel and the fact that Noel is in an orphanage now, I don't know how rushed my last chapter seemed or if it tended to drag since I was pretty happy with it, as it was just a intro to the main parts. Any ways, heres chapter number two. Enjoy.
Weather Changes
Three years pass by
"Come on Noel! You can do it!" Kacey encourages with her arms flailing towards a barely upright Noel. "One! You can do it! Just one more little step Noel! I believe in you!" Kacey carries on to gently and enthusiastically encourage Noel. "She's 3 Kacey… back off a little, if she wants to crawl to you let her crawl" Avery states whilst glancing worriedly towards Noel every now and again. "She wont get hurt Avs. I'll catch her" Kacey rolls her eyes, "Wha- I'm not worried about that! You keep forcing her to do stuff" Avery huffs. "wow Avs. What a dignified comment. Truly elegant for someone of your old age" Kacey states sarcastically. "How rude! You little brat" Avery stomps off huffily. "You'll get more wrinkles!" Kacey calls down the hall snickering when she heard a 'hmph!' down the corridor. "Well done little Noel. I think you've done really well today… ok so next on the agenda… we go down to see Laurette and pick up the food for dinner with Zack." Kacey trails off to herself and picks up Noel to go look for Zack, a young 14 year old boy who's now considered the eldest brother in the orphanage. He has short brown hair and is quite tall for his age. Once they found Zack in the dining room, building blocks with the 8 year old Mickey they set off for Laurette's shop down the street near the middle part of town. It was a small homey and welcoming town not to far off from a few guilds a few ways away so they were considered quite safe however most crime goes unnoticed in such a quiet town, the towns funds are quite lacking so they can't often afford help from big guilds however their small local guild called Wild Wind which was founded by matron Hannah's grandfather in his early years, it seems wind magic is a family trait for them, protects the town free of charge because having a guild meant that those who wanted the town would have to fight but its run by mediocre mages with a few young mages who come in sometimes for a job to occasionally accept whatever little missions they are given, the guild itself acts like a town hall and you can just strut in whenever you feel the need.
As Noel, Kacey and Zack arrive at the store there are some teenage kids kicking up a fuss in an alley next to the store, both Kacey and Zack pay no mind to it, most kids round here formed gangs to feel special, to feel needed, the kids at the orphanage are usually told to stay out of these small gangs to avoid trouble. "Hey Laurrette. You've got some lads down the side of your place again. Didn't the Wild Wind's get 'em last time?" Zack begins, chatting to Laurette as Kacey puts down Noel by his feet to pick up some choice food from the shelves, "Stay here by Zack ,ok Noel?". Noel looks towards her sister and replies with a quiet 'mhmm' showing she understood to some extent. As Kacey walks off Noel picks herself up off the floor into a wobbly standing position and practices her balance. "They are so useless, most of them are just some old smelly men who can barely perform magic," Zack says continuing his previous conversation "and those mages who are actually decent just stroll through town without a care." He looks at his hand "I swear that I will personally whip that guild into shape once my magic develops enough" Zack says as a small whoosh of wind surfaces around his hand and he concentrates on moving it up his arm then, as quick as it came the faint green glowing wind visibly dissipates into the air, the magic Hannah helped him develop. "I promise" he says looking back up at Laurette with a serious expression who smiles back kindly. Noel having witnessed the magic stood in awe with her mouth agape, she concentrates on her hand but when nothing happens after a moment she gives up and is disappointed in her hand. Minutes later Kacey appears back with the food and uses the money from granny despite Laurette telling the orphanage countless times that they can have most stuff for free since her kids are in well known guilds and earn enough to send money down to her.
Ignoring the trouble near the shop the three left the store and set off back to the orphanage with their shopping. "Potatoes and fish for dinner today? Man, I seriously hate this low budget thing" Zack says with a sigh looking down into the bags he's carrying. "Well once we manage to get a little more cash or jobs of our own I'm sure life will seem sweeter… maybe" Kacey says walking slowly with Noel. Zack stops ahead of them and looks back and says "Seems like Noel has walking down alright, we just need to teach her a few more words than 'Mhmm','ok','yes' and 'no'." "Thats true. It'd be nice to actually hold a conversation with my baby sister" Kacey states with a smile towards Noel who smiles back. "Um, you know… never mind" Zack says and turns back quickly. Kacey looks up from Noel and watches Zack in confusion as he walks slowly ahead of them. Nothing much happened on their way back to the orphanage just a few friendly chats and banter now and again, and a few trip ups on Noels end.
At the orphanage
Zack went to go enjoy Mickey's company while Kacey and Noel went to the kitchen with the food to give it to Granny and Avery so they can cook up the potatoes and fish. While they did that Kacey took Noel with her to go and see Hannah. Hannah saw to it that the kids at the orphanage got an education, she also helped mentor them in the ways of her wind magic, most of the kids had difficulty with either them being young and found it hard to concentrate or they didn't seem to have the magical capability to learn it and so many meditated with the innocent wish of being able to protect their small town from the 'bad guys', its wasn't a bad wish in fact it was encouraged since the town really did need protection, their local authorities were lazy. Hannah was usually in the shed out in the back of the orphanage and was normally reading some ancient text she passed off for 'too complicated' or something, she made it her business to decipher texts after she retired from being an active wind mage. "Hi Hannah!" Kacey shouted loudly on purpose to make Hannah jump in her chair… and she did. "Oh my words! I told you to not shout so loudly. I could have been meditating… what did you need Kacey?" Hannah asks after calming down. "I would like to train in wind magic! Please?" she begs Hannah. Hannah looks on and sighs "Your not the only one to want to. But I suppose one more wouldn't hurt" she mumbles the last part to herself then claps her hands together with a smile and looks towards Kacey and Noel. "I suppose you want to learn as well Noel, even though your a little too young..." Hannah looks towards Noel. "Mhmm. Yes!… please" Noel calls out. Pleasantly surprised by the 3 year old's politeness she smiles to herself, "I can help her too matron! We can help each other! She is my sister after all" Kacey grins. Noel grins just as widely as her sister. Hannah sets both Kacey and Noel to do some small meditations to begin with and gives them small guidelines along the lines of 'It may be boring but with perseverance you can-' and tells them not to overwhelm themselves and to stop immediately if they suddenly feel tired then proceeded to tell them about the consequences of using too much magic at once. As soon as both Kacey and Noel left to meditate Hannah turned around on her seat, opened a draw and proceeded to write in a small journal "X768- Meditation begins for possible future mages, Kacey and Noel. 3 years since Noel being dropped here I can certainly see magical potential in both girls and the uplift in Kacey's mood while Zack show promise for-" Hannah proceeds to write about the events that have occurred recently and update her journal on her magic students progress.
In the girl's shared bedroom they both sit silently in concentration with Noel being extremely restless. "Noel… can you please sit still" Kacey said calmly opening one eye to look at her sister who was sat pouting bouncing slightly on the bed. "This is for both of our well-being" Kacey stated with authority "If we can both develop magical abilities by doing this boring stuff then lets do it, I want to help our family here for the time being… and maybe join an awesome guild to get some jewels but most of all, I want to do it with you, my sister, so we can protect each other." Kacey said with a small smile "It wont happen over night but with time we'll be able to help everyone we care about". Noel sat there looking at her elder sister, she listened to her sisters dreams of the future as she carried on telling Noel stories of what they could do with the magic they could obtain by doing their meditation as instructed. Noel saw her sisters resolve and decided that for now she would do this. For her sister just as she was doing for her.
8 years later of training their magics with meditation and practice. Date: x776 (Noel is 11 and Kacey is 21)
"I'm back!" a voice states from downstairs. Feeling giddy all of a sudden I sprint downstairs to Kacey, my sister. "Welcome back sister! How was the job?" I ask excitedly taking her bag to put on the table in the dining room. There's only 5 kids here now all abandoned children around the age of 3 to 7 and they usually stay away from me. Sister follows me to the dining room and sits down to slump on the table. "It was so dull! It was just a small protection job but since we were just a small time last resort guild they didn't even expect me to show up! Those guys seriously underestimate the Wild Wind's power they even had one of the bigger guilds back me up, and get this, it was a girl your age with some fancy sword swirling magic… Erza? Yep. Some little girl called Erza." Kacey stated with a quizzical frown. "Don't underestimate young girls like me sister or you'll regret it" I stated with a huff as I handed her a glass of water. "yeah, yeah." she mumbles her thanks and downs the water. "so hows your magic Noel? I swear I could see some weird shaped clouds from up the street" Kacey says grinning, " That's not fair! I wanted to use wind magic like the rest of you, but I end up moving stupid clouds" I pout and hear chuckling behind me so I turn around to face the new arrivals. Hannah and Zack. "Cheer up twerp. If we all could control the same magic it'd be a boring place here besides I think your magic is soothing" Zack makes his entrance by ruffling my golden hair. "Zack don't make fun of her" Hannah walks towards me combing my hair back into place with her fingers "For all you know about magic she might actually grow to be better than you." Hannah comforts me with her words slightly. "Guys stop messing with my hair! Seriously… I'll cloud you to death" I say making fun of myself with a sad expression while Zack laughs at my comment both Hannah and Kacey share a worried look. "That jerk Zack" I think to myself. Zack makes his way to the head matrons room to drop off some jewels for our next meal while Kacey digs through her bag for something on the dining room table. "Noel," Kacey starts "soon I need to go on a trip,". I always hated it when she started a sentence like that. It made me feel so alone but I understand that she needs to keep up with her rent even though she comes here to give small jewel payments and the missions she goes on are usually low pay so she has to go on loads of small ones all the time. "Oh, when will you be back?" I ask with a tinge of pain in my chest. "Well, its… going to be a few months. Its a big job you see and I need the jewels for my bills and stuff" she chuckles humourlessly and I look to the floor "but," I look back up questioningly "I got you a little gift for the time I'm away so you wont feel too lonely while I'm gone" she grins and pulls out a blue scarf "urm well, I attempted at being somewhat feminine in another competition against that old woman Avery and the challenge was to make an item someone could wear and I chose a simple scarf because as if I could even attempt a shirt or something..." she holds it shyly "actually never mind I'll just go buy a necklace or something haha..." she tries to put it back in her bag before I snatch it away and wrap it around my neck. "No! You should be proud. I'll cherish it. Thank you." I say with a huge smile which makes her smile slightly at my sudden bashful behaviour. "Your such a hypocrite Noel" she says to me and I look at her in question "Your the one who should be proud, being able to use magic at your age isn't exactly common so, keep growing it okay? Maybe you could even control things beyond the clouds" she explains looking me in the eyes. "That blue really suits your eyes Noel, just as I thought it would" she states proudly with her hands on her hips. I sweatdrop and stare at the scarf for a moment and decide to hang it up on the coat stand in the hall way. As I walk back to the dining room I hear sobbing from the cleaning supply room and immediately went over to check on who was in there. A young girl no older than 7 was crouched in the small room with her face in her knees sobbing quietly alone for her mother to come and pick her up. I put a hand on her shoulder and shake her gently to show that she wasn't in here alone any more and she instantly rubbed her eyes and looked away in shame for being caught crying. "Your not going to tell the others right?" confused I ask "Huh? Tell who what?" she replies with "Those other two boys who are always teasing us" she looks down in sadness and starts tearing up "I don't like it here" she states firmly. "Yeah." I agree. "The foods a bit bland isn't it?" I ask and she looks up with a dumbfounded expression. "It does suck, my mum can cook way better food!" she says excitedly standing up, she's a ways shorter than me and looks up then lowers her head back down. "but… she's not coming back. Is she?" I was surprised at the sudden seriousness from the 7 year old and took her hand in mine "Maybe not but, this place has been my family since I was born so I can 100% guarantee its not all that bad" I soothe in a soft tone as I pull her out the closet with a small tug to get her to follow me out. She does so and follows me to the dining room, on the way I realise I forgot her name. "Um sorry but what's your name? I'm Noel" I ask politely and she responds happily with "Carys" I chuckle at her reaction "That's a really pretty name, Carys". She blushes at the complement and shyly says her thanks and I just smile. I usually ate food with Hannah alone in the shed while she taught me different lesson subjects but today I've made a decision to eat with the rest of the orphaned kids, or what's left, the ones from before have all left for a job elsewhere or gone to some guild. While the matrons gathered the children to to dining room me and Carys sat down and talked with my sister Kacey while Zack said his goodbyes and rushed off back to Wild Wind's guild hall to celebrate something. Zack had quite literally whipped those old men into shape with his wind magic while my sister managed to keep all his plans tame and safe for the OAP s and then come back to tell me all about her stories like she was continuing to do now while everyone was gathered. As we all sat at the table it was an awkward silence, I could feel the awkward in waves. It must have been from a recent fight between the boys and girls combined with the fact that me and my sister was here which was probably seen as intruding. "Who're they" one of the two boys rudely commented and before my sister was about to intervene I politely answered "I'm Noel and this is my sister" "Kacey" she said grumpily because of their attitude. "what are your names?" I asked. "I'm Rudey" the black haired one said. "heh. Fits" my sister commented. The boy continued to glare towards my sister which she deserved for her oddly childish behaviour. "I'm Leno" the blonde one answered. "Its nice to meet you two boys" they both grunted. They both seemed to be six years old but oddly rude towards everyone. The girls all stated that they were all transferred from another place and were sisters from and adoptive mother who left them at a different orphanage and so ended up here. They were called Becki and Steph and we already know Carys. Becki was the youngest at five whilst Steph was 6… and a half, she claims. After our introductions the air seemed lighter and my sister stood at the doorway waiting to say goodbye. "I'm sorry that I suddenly returned and have to leave but I promise that I'll be back" she stated sadly, "I know, you always do, right sister?" I reply with a confident look which my sister replicated. "Right" she said as she turned around. I'll be at the guild for a few days waiting for my ride to the job, so if you need something, anything stop by. Ok?" There was a pause before I replied. For some odd reason this goodbye had a made a dreadful feeling occur in my stomach and I hated it, with every fibre of my being but I chose to say nothing and just replied with "Of course. Your my big sister" my reply made her smile which in turn made me smile as well and forget about my previous worry and made me remember, this is my sister, a smart but sometimes childish elegant mage who is efficient in her wind magic and one of the best in her guild. Wild Wind.
Four days later after playing with the young girls in the park, I noticed some of the threads on the handmade scarf my sister gave me were coming loose probably from her not very good job of finishing the scarf off. I gasp in realisation "I can totally use this as an excuse to see if my sister is still at her guild". Giggling I went inside to see granny, "Granny, I'm going to go see is Kacey is still at the guild ok?" after a sound of confirmation I headed off towards town. The guild was towards the farther side of town on the opposite side of the town the orphanage was so its at least a 40 minute walk without disturbance. As I walked past Laurette's shop to greet her, I could smell that smell of burning which is usually from our mayors house, he's always burning something and the smoke almost acts as a beacon heading straight up and I carried on past the centre of town which contained a load of shops however most owners were closed for some reason but before I noticed that the burning wasn't coming from the mayors house I spotted a sight that made my heart ache and my stomach drop, it was a dreadful feeling, one that I hated with every fibre of my being. A feeling I swear I felt not too long ago, accompanied by this sight. The guild. In a flaming blaze, crumbling to the floor with the fiery embers falling below. How had I not heard the screams until now? Wait. Screams. Why had I not heard them until now?! I stood rooted to my spot like a spell held me here. I remained stiffened with a horror struck expression just as people ran towards the guild. The wind mages that stood there useless, looking on sobbing. Despite what I knew about fire and the way it runs on oxygen so wind magic would just feed it. I screamed at the guild members. "Do something! Why are you just standing around?! Aren't you supposed to be accomplished mages?!" The mages looked at me in shock as I continued to cry on my knees before the guild hall. "Save my sister!" I shouted and sobbed in anger to them and in response a storm raged in anger for me. For those angry for being useless. For those who have lost something in that guild hall and for those who were so helpless for being caught up in an unpredicted storm. A storm brought forth by a young girl who was angry at the world.
After a few minutes I felt exhaustion, the storm put out the fire awhile ago and continued to rage on with the help of some of the mages wind magic so the other buildings wouldn't flame up. Unfortunately the storm had destroyed a few of the weaker structured houses but the brave people around instantly ran into the remains of the guild to see if any members were okay. Before I could regain some strength I collapsed, too tired to even move. The last thing I saw before eventually passing out was the 2 or 3 mages who were left watch their guilds sign crumble to ash in front of them.
Wild Wind's suddenly didn't exist and the guild was no longer protection.
