W
An ocean of green waving in the wind. Whistling whips of tree beaches hanging low, the majestic blue that made the sky seem like-
"I'm going to shove this needle so far up your-"
Interrupting my latest outburst was the job of Mr. Torrent as my 'specific' chaperone. "Okay - how about we eat lunch and study some of the less aggressive monsters?" I could tell he was trying his best to change the subject, even if he freakin sucked at it, so I'll let it go - for now...
"Hey, Greg..." Caroline's slightly shaky voice came from behind my triumphant marching, "how did you tame that monster from before?"
Oh, I see. She wants to know of my awesomeness that was I, Gregory Notrimus! "Well, I was out in the snow when I saw this giant wolf! I thought to myself, 'Hey, this is the most beautiful creature I've ever seen.' It looked to be proud and dangerous - which it was. It fired off ice like it was in the Arctic, but I was able to fully subdue him before using a secret ability of my Ornament that I totally knew would work."
That's when the quiet new kid from another Region finally spoke up, "So you got beat up and managed to scrap some half-baked save that you didn't even know would work - all because you were dumb enough to stay out in the cold?"
I could feel my cheeks burning as a loud, undeterred snicker rang right next to me. Carole was ready to rumble again, I freakin hate her. Can't she just stay out of my life!? The worst part is how her name is so close to Caroline..
I mean, when you compare them, the only things they have in common is their skills with their Ornaments and that they're both girls... right? Carole is a girl..? "Well, I see why Mason dumped you. I wouldn't want to hear the laugh of a hag next to me all the time."
And here she is - starting her oh so basic lines, "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought I heard something? Guess it was an insignificant ant, or maybe a bloodsucking mosquito!"
"The only person who's sucking here is you sucking the life out of everything around!"
"I guess it's great for you since I won't be getting even a light snack from you!"
"I'll have you know that I have a life and it's better than crying in my room waiting for mommy and daddy to finally come check on me for my fifteenth drama act of the week!"
"Huh - at least I have parents willing to check up on me." It was the most sly thing I've ever heard from her, and the worst part was when 'Mr. New Exchange Student' sprayed water from his mouth and choked as he seemed to chuckle.
That's it! I'm about to sew that mouth shut for the sake of her future! As I got my needles ready, Mr. Torrent grabbed my wrist and twisted it behind me, jabbing it right between my shoulder blades.
"Why is it I always have to deal with the troublemakers..?" His teacher-like sigh didn't make me want to pity him, especially since this actually really hurts.
"Okay - OKAY! I got it! Stop!"
Once he finally released me from his death-grip, that piece of crap Carole, sneered at me. Oh that's it!
"Enough you two!"
"That's not fair! You grabbed me, but did nothing to her!"
Mr. Torrent's frustration was made audible with him pinching the bridge of his nose. "Stop acting like such a child. You can't just fight your way through everything. It's weird how you're so quick to anger and yet not to grow an extra inch."
I growled at the group as I knew I couldn't do anything. Mr. Torrent might seem to suck as a teacher, but he's the lead disciplinarian and the strongest teacher and was a high-ranking Ornamental while in college.
At my aimless grumble, 'Ms. Fake Lips' cackled at my dismay like the witch she was. I really wanted to say something, but I'd rather not get into anymore trouble at the moment.
"Hey! You're not off the hook either! You will apologize for what you said!"
She just gave her sound of contempt as she whipped her hair and walked out on the group. Mr. Torrent nodded towards that demon of a woman while looking at Caroline. She got the message and trots off after her meaner counterpart.
"Eneils, you and Gregory will go in the opposite direction towards the mountains. DON'T try to climb it."
Why is he looking at me with that last part? I just rolled my eyes.
He sighed again. "Make sure to watch out for flying and small, insect monsters. I'll set up here for lunch and if you need to, come back for help or anything else. I'll be here..." I'm not sure what the expression was, but I didn't like how he gazed at me.
Better not be pity...
——
It was a pretty quiet walk. The new kid didn't really talk much. He did seem to take a liking to certain that pants and different animals and monster we observed on the way, hurriedly scribbling in a notebook he kept in the back of his belt pack.
I looked to it's side and I was still curious to the slender, metal object at his hip. While it had gold embellishments and designs, it seemed pretty simple for an Ornament. "What's that to your side? Is it your Ornament? That's the first time I've heard of one like that."
It looked like he almost twisted his neck trying to figure out what I was talking about. "Oohhh. You mean my Regalia. No, it's not exactly an Ornament. It's a type of sword from the Region I'm from."
"What Region are you from, Enreals!" I was terribly enthusiastic about learning of outside the Calamydis Region. We don't learn much about the other three outside of Satalum.
He tried hiding his smile as he laughed. "My name is Eneils, actually."
"Oh, sorry..." I felt bad getting his name wrong, I hope he doesn't take offense...
To my delight, he went on about the Amyoura Region and how the people there are born with Regalia and don't use Ornaments.
"That's so cool!" I wouldn't be embarrassed if my eyes were gleaming. I mean, come one! When do you get to learn about this kind of stuff?
"So you don't know much about the Amyoura Region, huh?"
I heard a twinge of sadness and I tried thinking of a way to make him feel better, but I'm not good at thinking on the spot...
I better just say something before it gets uncomfortable. "Yeah, our country doesn't talk much about the further two Regions. Though I do know we have a pretty neutral relationship with you guys.."
"Yea-" There was this sudden high-pitched sound not far from here.
I don't know why, but we both immediately beelined for the voice. It felt like something was hurt and my body instantly reacted. Even though we headed deeper into the woods with trees not being more than a few feet apart, Eneils wasn't just keeping up with me, he was moving expertly and surpassing me.
How's he faster than me? I kinda despised how his movements were better than mine so I decided to pick up the pace. Even though I passed him, it still felt like he just didn't really care, just focused on where the sound came from.
And it was near the base of the mountain there was a large lane of just grass. Smack dab in the middle was this majestic bird. It had white feather with a slight pink hue once you get down to the ends. Light refracted all the colors of the rainbow like it was from a unicorn's dreams. The three long, sweeping tail-feathers would have probably hypnotized me if not for what was happening.
The bird's wingspan was easily larger than me and domineering over something red and tiny.
It wasn't even a split second before Eneils had flashed over in what seemed to be a desperate rush. He was headed straight towards the bird with his sword itching to come out of its sheath.
I pulled one of my several, yellow sewing pins and threw it between him and the two fighting creatures. In midair, the pin split into six and successfully made him stop.
"You can't do that!" I yelled, gasping for a bit of breath. "That's a Rainbow Quill. While they are pretty aggressive, they deal with pesky smaller monsters. They also are endangered, so harming them is forbidden." A loud click of his tongue was audible and his body was still trembling while intently watching the two struggle.
The bird's hate-filled squawks were directed at us as it revealed what it had been attacking all this time. It was maybe around a half a foot with red scales and a small pair of wings. The thing that broke it for me was how it was clutching a single golden coin in its tiny little hands and wrapped its body around it.
The glimmering bird's feathers began glowing in a plethora of colors. By this time, I had already thrown a blue pin; aiming for its side. Of course, the bird had flapped its magnificent wings and blew it off course.
It's loud screeches tearing through my ears with vines coming out of ground and lashing at us like thick whips.
That's when, in like a flash, they were all cut down. I didn't even notice Eneils was readying for an attack. I caught myself thinking, 'If I even blink, he could take me down.' I've never really had many people my age be at my level of combat, and that was getting on my nerves to be honest.
After the bird noticed it had no chance, it jet straight through the air. "Wait! Come back!" I threw another of my pins, but it was too far away... I wouldn't have minded having that on my team as well...
Pained chittering tickled my ears. Facing the little creature, I got closer until Eneils and I were right up on it.
It looked to be a tiny red dragon of some sort. It had small tears in its wings and scratches everywhere from the quill. It was protectively clutching a golden coin and had some sort of cylindrical piece of metal that was holding a rolled up piece of paper.
"What is this little cutie!?" Eneils stared at me before I cleared my throat and said,"Oh no! What happened to this... creature..?"
"It's a Kobold." I was surprised he knew what it was, but even more surprising was what he did after.
He unsheathed his sword-thing in a fragment of a second. I tried to stop him, but I knew he would probably be too fast.
Closing my eyes, I don't think I heard anything... I cautiously opened a single eye to find his slender sword was glowing - and from it was a bandage that extended all on its own, wrapping a tiny portion of itself around the tiny wings of the small animal.
'Woah, that looks so cool...' I'm not sure what happened, but the scaly monster was so adorable and it's pained expression disappeared into a happy trilling.
Eneils held out his hand and it quickly crawled onto it. I had a better look and it definitely resembled a small dragon, now with bandages on its wings. I had already pulled a blue pin to stick in the most adorable thing I've ever seen-
That is, until it was hidden away from me. "You can't just tame it!" He yelled. It kinda startled me. "It already has a partner, so it wouldn't work anyway."
"Well, how would you know!" I puffed.
"Because the Emperors are the ones who made the contracts, there's no way something could override that."
'The Emperors!?' I got more invested in it the more I heard. "So what is it?"
He turned with a kind of scary look on his face. "So you tried taking it for yourself without knowing anything about it!"
I just chuckled stupidly. "I saw it, I liked it, and now I want it, but I understand." All I could do was sigh loudly for something I could never have.
And that's when I heard the most precious sound I've ever heard. A series of clicking came from the new monster I've been introduced to. "Wow, is it singing?"
"No, it's laughing - laughing at your stupidity."
I groaned to myself in embarrassment. 'I wonder what it thinks of me now...' My tearful thoughts was met with the sight of it standing on it hind legs and reaching for me. I couldn't help but instantly get closer. It's tiny paws touched my nose and gave another trilling.
"It's a Kobold, just so you know. And it appears to like you. If you want, you can keep it for now."
"Really!?" My eyes gleaming again.
He reluctantly gave in, "Yeah, really. I'm technically not allowed to have mine around people of this country, and it could bring misunderstandings since it can't fly away right now. Mine would probably get jealous anyways..."
My mind went blank. "You have one too!"
"Of course, almost everyone from the Amyoura Region has one."
I could only imagine. An entire region filled with these Kobolds. 'I think I know know my favorite monster!'
"Here, hold him." I was carefully given the delighted creature and it quickly climbed up up my arm to my shoulder. It had a surprising grip and it tickled on its way up.
Eneils put two fingers in his mouth and let out the loudest whistle I've ever heard. "Vector! Come here!" It wasn't even a second later when I heard a deeper sound than that of Sparky.
A yellow Kobold came down. The sea-green scales above its eyes made it look a tad angry. It landed right on Eneils' shoulder and stared intently at the Sparky on my shoulder.
"Yours is a cutie too!" That's when Vector stood and reached for my face like Sparky did. It touched its little paws on my nose - but this time, a glowing circle appeared and I felt a current of electricity run through my body.
Vector just huffed at me and turned away. "T-that was not like Sparky..."
"Who's Sparky?"
"This little guy."
"When did you name him!?"
All I could do was laugh proudly at such a stupid question. My hairs a bit frizzy from the small charge it received.