The new morning loomed over the sky. Dawn had passed, yet the hours were still early. The young Mistress dressed herself appropriately for the day, and before leaving the dormitory, looked back at her bedside table. She saw one of the large books she had to study from, and a small satchel of crystals that her grandmother had given her before the trip. The young girl briskly walked over to the table, slung the stachel around her neck, and quietly walked out of the door.
The other side of the door, on the bridge, the only soul present was the Empress, eyes closed, sat with her legs crossed. The young Mistress did not remember her grandmother retiring to her dormitory for the night, and started to take extra caution, slowing her steps down further and further.
'My own grandaughter is sneaking out, is that the truth?' she spoke, her eyes still closed, her posture still intact.
'I-Umm...Yes, Grandmother...' The young Mistress said, defeated.
The silence between the two was deafening. The tension thick in the air. 'You may have some time away from the ship, under the Dark Ace's watch' The Empress allowed. The young Mistress drooped her shoulders and pulled a face of annoyance. 'Child' Her gandmother addressed, 'You will return by the fifteenth hour, you are needed this evening. Leave' She instructed. The young Mistress took a step, looking at her grandmother, then a second, then, confident she will not move, began to walk normally. Walking out of the bridge and into the rest of the ship.
Walking through the corridor, the Mistress held her satchel strap in her hands, quietly passing by a number of doors to various rooms and dorms. One of them, still open, had the Dark Ace inside. He sat on one of the chairs with his sword leant against the far wall, and a set of darts in his hand. He threw each dart one after the other at the target. A target the Mistress could not quite see at her current angle. She nearly entered to speak to him, but seeing he didn't notice her, and her intention was to be left alone from her grandmother's grasp, she kept walking by. Looking behind her, the dart board revealed itself to her. It was a photo of a man unknown to the Mistress, and the Dark Ace, only younger, and with blue clothing. The unknown man had a large and muscular build, with bright red hair, silver plating across his shoulders, and chest, and across the area that sideburns would grow. Two of the darts landed on the unknown man, one on the cheek, the other low down on the collarbone. The third, more chillingly, landed in the space between the younger Dark Ace's eyes.
Finally in the bridge, the Mistress debated taking her Heli-bike off of the ship, but knew that would not suffice for the distance she wanted to travel. Walking further and further to the back of the hanger, she heard her footsteps suddenly make a different sound. The clanging of metal replaced by dull thuds of mounted glass. She looked underneath her, and sitting on a lower level, was a grey, unmarked skimmer. The Mistress smiled and nodded whilst closing her eyes. Looking around her, she found a large, seemingly random lever on one of the walls. The young girl pulled on the lever, and with a satisfying clunk, the glass mounting lifted up and out like a trapdoor, revealing a skimmer on its own mounts. Kindly lifted up to the floor and ready to ride.
The Mistress mounted the skimmer and kickstarted it, remembering the occasional lesson she had for these things. Shifting into first gear, she held the clutch and revved the engine near its highest. She lifted the clutch, and immediately felt the bike try to buck and wheelie. She let off the throttle a small amount to rebalance, and when ready, opened the throttle once more. She awkwardly kicked the gear shifter into second gear. Seeing the end of the runway approaching fast, she pulled the controls franticly, pulling the front wheel into the body, deploying the four wings, and pulling into the air. The skimmer bent into a U-turn, then into a corrective roll, and a last minute steer away from the incoming bridge of the ship she launched from.
The fleet quickly started to thin out behind her, and once she felt comfortable in the missile of a vehicle she was controlling, she leant down into the skimmer, and set it to charge at full speed, opposite to the fleet's direction.
The air rushed over her head in harsh squeals and growls, yet the clouds seemed unmoving. The speedometer on her dashboard read at near maximum speed. The entire skimmer juddered and shaked from the speed and the wind. Eventually, through a break in the clouds, she caught sight of the familiar Terra from yesterday. She circled it, looking for the landing spot she used before. Confident she had found it, she let go of the throttle and gliding the skimmer in a long, wide bank to scrub off speed. once she felt safe enough, she entered a shallow, long approach. The gliding edging her closer and closer to the ground. She felt herself at a comfortable height, and after some more frantic yanking, the wings retracted, her front wheel deployed, and she dropped onto the ground without incident. The Mistress slowed down to a stop, killed the engine, and leant it on its kickstand. The young girl huffed in relief, and took a brief moment to recompose herself, before hearing a voice rapidly approaching her. Along with a small two-stroke engine scrambling in the background.
'Hey girl! Never thought you'd make a smoother landing by going faster' Lark joked. She arrived on her own little heli-scooter. Pulling up near Misty and stalling the engine to a halt, she dismounted and started to gawk at the skimmer Misty rode in on. 'Wow! This must be ex-Talon!' She said, excitedly pacing around the vehicle. 'Where did you get one of these?!' She asked, face abuzz with a wide eyed smile.
'Oh. Umm, family connections?' Misty replied, before immediately feeling her heart drop through her stomach and seemingly onto the floor. The realisation of mentioning her family, even in the broadest of terms, brought chills to her lips and stiffened her knuckles, her elbows, her knees. Her breathing shallowed in fear of what Lark would reply with.
'Oh..' Lark replied with at first, before smiling, 'you know a guy, huh? Lucky. The Cyclonians are evil and nasty from the few stories we hear around here, but they ride some sick skimmers, right?' She added, complimenting Misty's choice of vehicle.
Misty smiled weakly at this response, not expecting it to be as positive as it was. 'Umm. Yeah, it is' She agreed. The made eye contact for a brief period of time. Lark didn't mean anything from it, but just being around someone Misty's age and giving Misty the acceptance she craved disarmed her. Her joints loosened.
'Hey! Let's go to town! I have something to show you!' Lark said, walking over to and mounting her scooter. 'You've flown fast, but 'round here? best to be slow. Okay?' She suggested, calling from her seat on her Heli-scooter. Misty looked back her with a weak smile as they both restarted their engines.
Lark lead Misty through the Terra's tundral ground, and onto a track into the main town. The town was composed of wooden lodges, each seemingly stacked on each other and up the mountain side in the middle of the Terra. Misty looked and admired the craftsmanship in the housing before being called by Lark. Looking in front of her, Lark pointed to keep riding around the mountain's base, and to stop around the corner.
Around the corner, Lark and Misty pulled their vehicles to a halt and dismounted. In front of them was a sheer wall, with a small wooden frame dug into it. Leading up out of it was a minecart track. Lark motioned Misty to follow her into the entrance. The entrance was small, requiring the pair to duck as they entered. The passage was claustrophobic and seemingly never ending, until it suddenly opened up to a massively hollowed out section of the mountain. Dimly lit by a number of crystals of various hues. Misty could see that all around her, was various paths with minecart tracks, and sheer drops off of the edge of the surrounding paths. The hollowing sunk deep beneath them. The height from the bottom to their currant platform made Misty dizzy at the thought. Lark nudged her on her arm. 'Come on!' She playfully ushered. Leading Misty deeper in the mountain. The pair kept walking until the floor ended, and the cart tracks between their platform and the next only had their own weight to support them. 'Well, this sucks' Lark stated, suprised at the lack of safe passage.
'Wait!' Misty replied, excitedly. She swung her satchel out in front of her and started to rummage, before pulling a couple of stones out and showing them off to Lark; whos jaw dropped at the sight of these crystals in Misty's hands.
'You're a crystal mage?' Lark asked, shock still in her voice.
'Only an apprentice right now. But my grandmother is making sure I learn as much as I can. Recently I've been learning about Sol crystals, but afterward, she promised to show me both crystal synthesis and crystal refinement. Maybe I could refine and enhance your shield crystal when I learn how?' Misty rambled. Lark listened intently, learning of Misty's previously hidden ability.
Lark laughed at the request, 'Yeah, maybe you could' She composed herself once more, 'Right, we can do this then. I took you here to get your own shielding crystal. One for yourself, and now? Knowing this? We can do this' Lark explained, a determined smile crossing her face as she did so.