To show her what he meant by strength was everything. He expected her to give up on this mission because she didn't have the strength to fight him in the conquest. He didn't hide it either, perhaps he was not afraid of getting her mad at him. He had nothing to lose in the first place so in return he gave her a suggestive look, one that taunted her to make her choice.
her choice...
Everyone in the room was waiting for the exactly same time. Every other reasonable person would forfeit the mission to save their reputations, especially when they knew they would lose. They all predicted she would do the same but they there was something they all seemed to have forgotten.
She had never for once been reasonable plus..
Her pride was worth more to her than they could ever imagine. Even if it wasn't worth a dime, for the fact that Alan was involved in Lal this, Raaya had made up her mind to not back down without a fight.
They say hate goes deep as love had gone. Every iota of feeling she had for him before now, had completely morphed into a never ending feud.
Still looking at him she stood up from her seat and Said "you want a battle...so you would get one"
Shock took over everyone's mind. She had neither used slang nor had she spoken in a language that they did not understand, yet they did not seem to understand. How she would chose such option.
"Don't come blaming us later on" The scar faced man mocked.
Raaya totally ignored his comment. One step after the other, she walked out of the room. Alia and the three other friends followed after her. As if rehearsed, they all had the same serious expression on their face. An expression that spooked the crowd left in the room.
Just before they left, the man informed them. "The contest starts tomorrow at dawn so get ready"
"We'll be there alright"
Raaya was long gone by the time they existed the building. There was one place they were sure she would be at so they all decided to make a last minute stop and cheer their friend.
They made it to a small tavern in the woods just at the edge of town. Like they expected, the girl was there. Standing by the window looking into the boundless distance away from Main city. The vast land of nothing that they had spent days of their childhood in the last ten years, looking into, wondering what lies beyond that line where the land meets the sun.
"It's been long we came here" Alia pointed out taking a stance beside Raaya at the window. The vibrant glow of the sun painted the sky into a deep shade of red. The mixture of the domes blue light and the red sky sent down a myriad of colours to the vast land below it. It looked like rainbows fell like rain drops. No matter how many times they saw this scene they could never get used to it. From the sound of the wind dancing through the leaves to the feeling of the same wind inbetween their hair, everything gave a wonderful feeling, especially having to enjoy the warm touch of the sun rays against your skin.
No wonder this was their favourite spot for years. Standing at this window, you could feel like you were in heaven. Taken to a place of peace and serenity, that you forget the world was destroyed for a second and languish in a beauty that had come to be on the blood and death of other. For a moment you become a dreamer, perhaps a hoper too, if there ever was a word like that. At least that was what they would do whenever they stood at this window.
They would hope for a future that remained uncertain, hope that one day they would cross the horizon and go beyond the Dome, exploring and leaving their life in chase of the setting sun.
"I had almost forgotten what this felt like" Raaya replied with a small smile. The weight of thoughts in her mind and anger in her heart were on lar to what it had been when she found this place, perhaps that was the reason her feet began to move when she got outside that building and by the time she knew it, she was right here, standing at this stop that allowed her to dream for a second.
At this spot, even a second passed so slowly that you never realized how far spent time had gone with you just standing there. Forming a beautiful world under the horizon of the sun when not even knowing, if that sun's glow was harsh on the other side or if the sun felt colder a mile from there.
"I know right... we've totally forgotten about this place. We used to come here everyday. Sneak out under the watch of the other Jaegers to escape the dark grieving air that surrounded everyone" Myra contributed. A sweet smile on her lips as she reminiscenced the memories in her head. Those memories were not just hers, each of them appeared to have the same memory in their head. They held the same cringing smile as the thought about the good Ol'days.
"Our absence always went without being noticed. Gosh I can still feel the taste of loneliness. It felt like ash, mud and sweat, probably a product of my nine year old butt waving that poorly made sword you all had gifted me at my birthday. Couldn't you have stolen something better from the armoury?" Curtis pointed out with a disgusted look. He smacked his lips continuous like he could really taste the awkward combination from years old.
"You're not one to talk. You couldn't even stand watch for ten minutes. If you hadn't stupidly blown our cover then perhaps we could have made it properly" Dylan refuted. His tone didn't sound as much as a reprimand like his words. The subtle hint of joy and a smile showed he was just like the rest, also recalling the events of the past.
Curtis looked surprised "you guys made the sword yourself? I used to wonder what had gotten into the blacksmith to make such a failure masterpiece but now I know. No wonder it turned out so badly."
Raaya and the rest rolled their eyes and glared at him from the corner of their eyes. They had suffered a lot just to get him an imitation of his favourite sword. Dylan still got a burn mark on his leg just from them spilling melted ore. Yet he still dared call it a poorly made sword. Ignorance was really bliss.
Alia cleared her throat me anchored "all in all, we had each other then to dream and hope. Nothing can change that now. Besides it's been our dream to see the world outside Main city so tell me what could change that now"
"Um...this conquest?"
"What's so special against this conquest. We've had our share of battles too remember?" Myra chirped hyped up by the idea of fighting "remember when we said we wanted to catch a koi fish from the blue river."
Curtis finished her words with a chuckled "We waited all night and but couldn't find any, in the end Dylan got swallowed by a Sand whale."
Myra nodded and clicked her hand "we went through a lot trying to get him out of the whales belly. And we did. Such an incredible feat for five adolescents. Yet we did it"
"It's Different this time." Dylan interrupted their spirited moods "if we do fight in the conquest tomorrow, our opponents won't just sit and spit water at us. They've got swords and would not hesitate to chop off our limb. We have to be extra careful"
"Even still look round this room. We have a strong group of supernaturals seated here in this room, as long as we give it our all this conquest would not be an issue for us."
"Alia's right" Raaya said and turned around. She leaned on the wooden window and crossed her hand across her chest. Looking at the faces before her, she suddenly had nothing to think about. Everything she should be thinking about was right here. This group was not just her friends, they were her family. Her family dreams of leaving Main city then she would do everything in her power to make sure this dream of theirs come to pass.
"They look down on us, it's even good cause they would never see us coming. Let's go show them what this bunch of teenagers can do" she walked to the centre and straight forth her fist.
"count me in" Alia was first to follow suit. She placed her fist on Raaya's.
Myra joined the pile "obviously I'm in, let's shed some blood"
"I don't know about the blood part but let's get the fuck out of here" Curtis joined his fist. All that was left was Dylan. The boy stood at his corner with no sign to join their drama.