Valerie drifted around the corner as she ran through the halls. With determination, the girl flew like the wind, counting the doors as she passed. It was just a little further. Once she got there, she was certain they'd help...
"No...no...no..." she mumbled to herself. She was getting closer, but not fast enough. What's worse, there was now an enticing smell wafting around the dorms, and it only got stronger as she got closer to her destination. It weighed down her legs ever so slightly, but she couldn't afford getting distracted.
"No...no...n-here!" she exclaimed, skidding to a halt. She rapped her knuckles against the wood impatiently.
After a moment the white door opened, and Azure's familiar face poked out. "Hey," he greeted.
Valerie sighed with relief. "Oh good, you're here. Listen, we really need so-what are you wearing?"
Raising an eyebrow, Azure stepped out from behind the door. Valerie blinked a few times in disbelief at the sight of his white apron and chef's hat. The chocolatey aroma that she had been smelling wafted out from inside the dorm behind him, making the girl's knees weak.
"Just something I wear when I cook," he answered simply. "Gayle and I are baking cookies."
"Heck yeah we are!" exclaimed a bright voice from somewhere in the room.
Valerie stared in amazed silence. Azure baked? And going by the smell, he was good at it! That meant that her crush was not only a good looking, skilled fighter, he was also a capable cook?!
Oh God, is there anything he can't do? she thought with awe, eyeing Azure intensely with pink tinted cheeks. Was there an end to the mysteries of Azure Knyte? What other skills did he possess?
Unbeknownst to Valerie, Azure was watching her with puzzlement, and from somewhere in the room a quiet snigger was heard.
"You okay?" he inquired slowly.
Valerie shook her head to clear it, snapping back to the moment. "Y-yeah! Of course!" she replied quickly. She then remembered why she was there, and refocused. "Look, I need your help."
"With what?"
"Well...it's Sonara."
Azure raised an eyebrow.
"See...she and Kyra had a bit of a fight, and now she's run off," Valerie explained, gesturing vaguely as she searched for the right words. "I don't want to cause any trouble for you, but could you maybe help us find her?"
Azure stood there for a moment, contemplative. Then he abruptly closed the door, leaving her standing confused in the hallway.
She was about to knock again when he reemerged in normal clothes, with his partner at his side.
"Rem and I will help. She's got the best hearing I've ever seen, and she's a great tracker. This shouldn't take long," Azure said.
Rember smiled proudly around the cookie in her mouth.
Her spirits lifting, Valerie cracked a grin. "Thank you!"
Azure nodded and turned his head back towards his dorm. "Gayle? Rem and I are going out for a bit! You're in charge while I'm gone! Make sure Jad doesn't have any cookies while we're out!"
There was a sound of an affirmation from Gayle and a loud protest from Jad as Azure shut the door behind him. The boy and his partner looked to Valerie, waiting for their directives.
"Okay, follow me!" she commanded, and the trio rushed out of the dorm. The hunt for Sonara had begun.
"...Still no sign of her," Kyra stated flatly, stopping to take a rest.
She and Rosalie had been out looking for their youngest team member for who knows how long, and it was starting to make her weary. Valerie no doubt took whatever help she'd found in the opposite direction they'd gone, which meant that this hopefully wouldn't take too long.
"She can't be far. Let's keep looking," Rosalie replied.
The two of them kept searching. They were checking the west side of the school, both inside and out. They were so far out now that the cliffs to the Emerald Forest weren't far away. Still no luck though, and as they moved Kyra was left to her thoughts, running through what had happened earlier again and again.
"Hey, Rosalie..."
"No need to be so tense, Kyra," Rosalie said, an air of calm around her. "And you can call me Rose," she added with a friendly smile.
Blinking a few times, Kyra cleared her throat and started over. "Rose. About what happened before..."
Rosalie abruptly shook her head. "Don't. I'm not the one who needs an apology here."
"What? No, that's not what I was going to say."
"Oh! I'm sorry. What is it?"
Kyra collected herself again. "I just have a question...about Sonara."
Rosalie stopped in her tracks, keeping her back to her teammate. Just as Kyra started to get a bit uncomfortable, the girl with the pink braid turned to address her, expression stonily serious. The sight of it made the pale haired member of AMBR shiver. The purple eyes that usually were so comforting and warm were now carefully guarded. Rosalie seemed to study her teammate intensely, and spoke with a neutral tone.
"Only one?" she asked bluntly.
"Well, uh...no."
"I see..." the rose haired Huntress replied. "I will answer one question now. You can save the rest for when we find Sonara."
Kyra bit her lip nervously. One question? She'd better make it count...
"Could you explain to me why Sonara...blew up like that before she ran off?"
Rosalie seemed to deflate once the words were said. A sad smile painted across her face, and she bobbed her head lightly. She should've seen this coming a mile away.
"Better take a seat," she suggested, motioning to a rock sitting all alone in the dry grass. Kyra did as instructed, and Rosalie tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"The person you saw," Rosalie said, choosing her words carefully, "is the Sonara that I knew back when we were kids."
Kyra's eyebrows lifted a fraction, but she let her teammate speak.
"She wasn't always a happy person. In fact, now that I think about it she actually used to be quite violent..." Rosalie continued, trailing off.
Kyra kept her expression carefully schooled, concealing any reaction to her teammate's tale. But inwardly she couldn't picture her Sonara being anything but overly positive and energetic.
"Listen, Kyra." Rosalie sighed. "What you should understand is that Sonara chose a long time ago to be the happy, and at times annoying, girl you know."
The pale woman raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
Rosalie slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you any more. I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone about that without her consent," she said sadly. "You'll need to ask her yourself."
Kyra felt a twinge of irritation. Why was Rosalie being so tight lipped? But she could also see where she was coming from. Rosalie was just trying to be a loyal friend and a good teammate. Something Kyra, though she hated to admit it, certainly hadn't been.
"C'mon, we need to keep looking," Rosalie suggested, getting to her feet. Kyra followed suit, as her teammate gestured towards Beacon Cliffs. "You go that way, and I'll go the opposite."
Kyra simply nodded and watched the other girl depart, leaving her alone with her thoughts once more. With a small frown, she turned towards the cliffs and started walking.
The golden rays cast off by the sun were turning orange as it descended towards the horizon. In a small glade near Beacon, Sonara sat beneath a fir tree, fiddling with one of its cones in her fingers. The young girl's eyes were red, and she sniffled miserably. Curled up tightly, Sonara's arms screamed to be unlatched from her legs but she ignored the discomfort. All she could think of was the look on Kyra's face. The looks on everyone's faces…
What a compulsive brat.
Sonara held her breath as long forgotten scorn sprang to the forefront of her mind. She shook her head desperately, praying that her memories wouldn't delve any further. To her dismay they only kept coming, the damage long done.
Violent. Rude!
"N-no…" Sonara whispered weakly. The earth beneath her shifted.
What the-?! What's wrong with you?!
"No, I never meant to-I mean, I never wanted to-"
We're almost there, sweetie…
Upon remembering that small, sickeningly familiar voice, Sonara broke.
"STOP IT!" she shouted, clutching at her head.
Cracks shot through the ground, spearing outwards from the small brunette as her semblance tore the earth asunder. The flood of suppressed memories rushed back to her in a whirlwind. The haze of hateful words and broken promises was shattered by another old memory that came into her recollection, and she was helpless to watch as the scene played in her mind's eye.
The unlucky boy felt the chill of mud and water wash over him as he was abruptly thrown to the ground, striking bruises under his soaked clothes. Thunder boomed overhead, and the downpour of the storm drenched him to the bone. Standing above him, with tangled brown hair, sharp blue eyes, and a frown that would deter even the toughest man, was a girl only two thirds his size. Yet despite her stature, she was able to corral him into a dead end, and was mugging the shit out of him. Pain wracked his body, and he forced one eye open to track his attacker. Ill-fitting, tattered clothes hung off her gaunt form, grime covered her skin, and a collection of small rocks and hard packed clumps of dirt floated in the air around her. Despite the imposing look, she couldn't have been any older than him.
"Wh-" He broke off into an abrupt coughing fit. "What do you...want from me?" he rasped, terrified. He eyed the steadily levitating stones warily.
The young girl eyed her victim blankly, rain bouncing off of her tattered coat and dirty skin.
"Are you-" He wheezed as another bout of coughs wracked his bruised frame. "Are you even listening?! Hey!"
"Hey."
Sonara's eyes shot open. It took her a few seconds to recognize her surroundings. She wasn't in the alleyway. The boy wasn't here. There was no rain, no thunder, and her skin wasn't covered in grime.
Sonara's head hurt from crying. The ground around her had been torn apart in a starburst of fissures, leaving rocks and bits of earth floating in the air. For a brief moment she saw the rainy alley again, but she shook her head and the scene vanished. To her surprise and fear, Kyra sat right in front of her, her usually sharp and analytical emerald eyes soft with concern. The brunette unconsciously scooted closer to the tree behind her.
"Wh-why are you he-here?" she stammered, with a terrible feeling in her gut.
Kyra was quiet for a moment, carefully studying the girl before her. Mustering her courage, she gathered her composure and spoke.
"I'm here cause you ran off, idiot," she stated simply. "What other reason should I have?"
"But I…" Sonara trailed off, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "I...hurt you. I said mean things that I promised myself I would never say to anyone...I'm so sorry, Kyra." She stared at the ground, unable to meet her teammate's eye.
"Don't worry about it."
A jolt of surprise rang through Sonara. Kyra's words...they weren't harsh like she expected. Tentative eyes lifted to meet that level green gaze.
Kyra cracked the faintest hint of a smile, and continued. "You're not the one at fault here," she said. "My outburst was uncalled for. I just...have a lot of stuff I need to work on."
She sat down near Sonara. "I'm the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn't be lashing out at people just because they're curious about me."
Sonara was silent. She studied Kyra, trying to decide if the other girl was being sincere. From what she could tell, the apology was genuine.
"So, you never really had your parents around growing up?" Sonara asked quietly.
Kyra didn't react to the question for a moment, but eventually replied with a quiet "Yeah."
Sonara nodded. "Me neither."
For several minutes the girls merely sat beneath the fir tree, listening to the breeze as it rustled through the trees around them. It was soothing. Peaceful.
"What happened to them?" Kyra asked.
"...I'm not sure," Sonara replied in a small voice. "For all I know, they're dead."
She leaned back against the stiff bark, and took a deep breath. "We lived on our family's farm."
"Your family owned a farm?"
"Partly. The main head of it was my uncle. It was up in the mountains and we didn't have much in our house. But I didn't care. As far as I was concerned, I was happy with what we had."
Kyra listened attentively. Maybe learning more about Sonara's past would help her learn to deal with the girl that she'd only really ever seen as an annoyance.
"Then one evening on our way back home from town, I suddenly got really tired and fell into the deepest sleep I've ever had. Next thing I know, I wake up the next morning somewhere completely unfamiliar. I tried finding my way back, and…well… "
Kyra nodded; Sonara didn't need to continue. "That...must've been tough." the pale skinned woman sympathized.
Sonara shrugged. She tried to smile, but couldn't muster it. "Yeah, kinda. I had to be really mean after that. To survive. Remembering everything I did...it makes me feel sick."
Taking another breath to steady her voice, she continued. "All I want is to find my parents again. To know exactly what happened that night. You could say that's another part of why I became a Huntress. Cover more ground, ya know?"
Kyra was surprised. And a little ashamed of herself. There was so much more to this girl than she ever gave her credit.
"Hasn't been all bad though," Sonara added, "I mean, I got Rosy out of it."
"Right. She's been your best friend ever since you were all on your own, yeah?"
"Pretty much. Actually, there's a bit more to that story…"
Kyra looked at Sonara questioningly. Seeing the intrigue in that emerald gaze, Sonara was finally able to put on a genuine smile.
"When Rosy's family found out I didn't have a family, they brought me in and took care of me. So...I guess you could say we're sisters in a way!" she explained lightly, her grin widening.
Kyra finally got it. All her questions about Sonara's attitude, Rosalie's insane tolerance towards her partner, why the girl fought the way she did when she talked about her mother...she finally understood.
"Wow...I never thought you two were adoptive siblings."
"Hehe, yep. We even have a younger sister back home! She's a huntress in training too!"
"No kidding. Is she like Rosalie? Or… like you?" Kyra jabbed, grinning slyly.
It earned a laugh from her teammate, and she couldn't help but join in on the infectious giggles.
"Hehehehe, she's pretty nice. Kinda gullible, but that makes her more fun. At least she's not grumpy. Don't know if I could handle another wet stick in the mud like you!"
"Feelings mutual, you blockhead."
The two girls shared another laugh, as the last light of the setting sun slipped beneath the horizon in a warm haze of purple. Sonara was feeling much better. A heavy weight had been lifted off her chest, leaving her feeling much lighter.
"Kyra," Sonara ventured. "I want to be someone that can put a smile on everyone's face. That's the kind of person I want to be when I'm a Huntress. I know my...overexcitement on some stuff has made us butt heads, but I think we'd have a better time at school if we were friends. Whaddya think?"
Kyra pondered the proposition, tapping her chin with a contemplative finger. Finally, she shrugged.
"I don't see why not," she replied. "I don't really have a lot of those. But maybe try to tone it down when you're excited?"
Sonara nodded her head. "Okay. Just because you asked. And in exchange, you need to be less of a grump!"
"I'll...see what I can do."
"You'd better!"
Kyra, satisfied the rift between her and her teammate was mending, took out her Scroll and called Rosalie. After a moment, the rose haired girl picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey. I found her."
"You did?! Oh, thank goodness! Where are you right now?"
"In a small glade near Beacon Cliffs."
"And...how's Sonara?"
"She's okay, Rose. Everything is good."
"So you...?"
"Yeah. We're good."
"Oh! What a relief."
Kyra cracked a hint of a smirk. "We're heading back now. If you can notify Val, we'll see you back at the dorm in a bit."
"Okay. I'll see you both soon!"
The transmission ended, and Kyra put away her scroll. Getting to her feet, she dusted her clothes off and extended a hand to Sonara.
"Let's get going. Don't want to keep them waiting any longer."
"Right! No more sulking! It's spring break tomorrow, which means lots of fun ahead!" Sonara exclaimed.
Not wasting time, the girls made their way back towards Beacon. Along the way Sonara listed off all of the things she wanted to do while on break, and asked if Kyra wanted to go with her. The white haired girl gave the occasional 'yes' or 'no', the voice of her teammate much less grating than she remembered it being.