Posted:
Wed Jun 03, 2015 1:34 pm
by Zarkenis Ultima
Now
While the other students ate their hearty meals on the lavish tables of the banquet hall, Elsis stood next to one of the massive open windows present there, elbows resting on the windowsill, her head resting on one of her hands. She really didn't want to eat someone else's food, she had never been quite able to come to terms with the fact that she wouln't always be able to hunt her own food and so, she was not used to situations like these, were food was provided for her and expected to be eaten. So instead of joining her guide Shanath and her fellow recruits, she looked out the window, gazing out at the clear azure sky with her coral red eyes as the gentle sea breeze swept through the room.
As she watched, though, she was unable to keep some of her memories from surfacing. In her loneliness, she was incapable of holding reminiscence at bay, and so, in but an instant, she found herself thinking about the one person she had been closest to, when she was still living in the territory of the Order of the Valiant Fang, the person she had been closest to until a fateful event that drove them away from each other.
Her sister.
Six cycles before the present
Juna sat in her room, face and body still bruised by the fight. She was no stranger to being beaten and battered, what hurt more was her wounded pride. She had sought to prove she was more than just her sisters shadow, more than some afterthought when considering Elsis. Not Someone to be forgotten and ignored, and maybe earn herself some respect. But all she had gotten was bruises and even more shame. Had her parents not obviously shown their favour for Elsis, they might have been disappointed.
It wasn't like she didn't fight well. She fought better than she had ever done before, not that it mattered now that her sister was once again proved to be the champion worthy of accolades and pride, while she was proved to once again be her sisters lesser.
"I should just give up" she spoke, sighing as she lay backwards in her bed. Not entirely sure what giving up would entail...
However, not a minute after Juna decided to lie on her bed, she would hear a knock on the door of her room, a fairly austere place despite the standing of the Salasanger family, not necessarily because she was shunned and ignored by her family in favor of her sister, but rather because of the simple reason that in the Valiant Fang, the young were given very little and forced to prove themselves time and time again to be granted more, while any luxuries and comforts were reserved for the old.
"Juna?" Called out a voice from outside, a voice that the girl knew all too well, though much to the surprise of anyone hearing it, said voice seemed to lack the prideful, arrogant overtones it usually carried, instead being seemingly laced with a hint of concern.
"Juna, I'm coming in." Asserted the voice on the outside. The door was pushed open, and standing in the doorway was none other than a girl with coral red hair, Juna's more warlike sister, Elsis. She was clad in a red combat uniform, the same she had worn in the tournament, and had some bloodstains on her hands and face, something that was altogether considered rather common by their society. She walked into the room, holding up a plate with some cooked meat on it.
"I, uh, I brought you food. I was famished after the tournament so I went and killed something. I thought you might want some." She said, stopping some distance away from the bed and holding out the plate, remembering how during their childhood she would usually be the one to procure food for the two of them, since Juna often refused to hunt. "Are you alright, Juna?" She asked afterwards, wondering if her sister was fine after the battle.
Juna perked her head up slightly as her sister came in. Juna had learnt a long time ago that it was best not to ask what Elsis had killed for her. She sat up. She took the plate, sorely tempted to slam into her face, but she didn't want to be cruel to her sister and only friend, even if she had beaten the crap out of her. She moved a small trunk to serve as a makeshift table as she usually did when eating alone, which was nearly all the time.
"No. No not really." She stabbed, her bitter voice stressing how she felt. Physically. She was fine. She got worse beatings on a daily basis. However it was never about physicality. "Did you come to gloat? You won and I lost after all. Your the champion and I got second place, like I usually do. So please get it over with." She spoke. "Shouldn't have even bothered to try..."
Normally she was extremely resilient, the type to grow and improve with trial and error. The more she got hit down the stronger she got. But she still couldn't escape the shadow of her big sister. She knew it wasn't all Elsis' fault, but it was frustrating none the less.
She sighed, realising she was doing what she had resolved not to do. She put her feet up on the bed and hugged her legs. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for..." She apologised.
Elsis frowned slightly as she heard Juna's first words, understanding very well why she would feel so bitter about the outcome of their last battle. Honestly, she thought it had been a pretty cruel twist of fate that she was forced to fight her own sister at the end of the tournament. While she was indeed quite impressed that Juna had made it so far and would be the first to admit that she had put up one hell of a fight, in the end, at least in Elsis' mind, the outcome was obvious.
Nevertheless, though she understood what it was like to have her pride challenged, she was not currently aware of just how deep was the frustration that Juna was currently feeling, and so, to her, her sister's bitter jabs came across as naught but a tantrum, something that only made the frown on her face intensify. Sure, Elsis was aware that this was partially her fault, but she simply would not stand by watching her sister act like a child or speak about giving up. She was especially angered by her last comment. Elsis knew that her sister was one to face loss with dignity. She would not allow a Salasanger to act like that.
The straw that truly broke the camel's back, however, was when Juna curled up and aplogized to her. At that moment, Elsis walked forward and grabbed Juna's hand, brusquely pulling her out of the bed and onto her feet, planting herself between her sister and the bed and crossing her arms.
"No no no. You don't get to apologize." Elsis snapped at her. "Go ahead, speak your mind! I'm sure there's more where that came from!" She insisted. "Get it all out of your system already! After all, with everything you've already said I'm sure you're still hurt about our fight and your loss. Insult me if that'll make you feel better. Maybe it'll get you to stop sulking and brooding in here all alone. Maybe it'll get you to stop acting like a child." She said harshly to her sister. A moment afterwards, she started feeling bad, thinking that she may have gone overboard a bit with her comments, but she gritted her teeth and said nothing more. It was too late to go back on her words now, and so she waited for her sister's response.
“I’m the childish one? ME?” She asked, rage and bile boiling inside her. It was violent enough that it made her desperate combat in the ring look like a play fight. She was swiftly becoming unrecognisable as the last rational parts of her were drowning in undressed, unreleased jealousy and anger. She laughed, laughing a bitter enraged laugh that had eight humour nor happiness. “Miss Elsis the glorious warrior, told since birth she’s the best thing since Vermilion himself is going to lecture me on being childish! Oh this should be rich!” She responded, her voice raised. “And yes there is more where that came from, more than you could ever imagine. Eighteen years of being ignored and beaten while watching everyone and their mother pile-drive their heads up your ass has been great. Maybe if you had been through half of the shit I’ve ha-”
"You think you've been through shit?!" Came her sister's violent interruption. "You really think I've had everything given to me on a silver platter since the moment I was born, don't you? How quickly you forget!" Elsis fumed at Juna. Getting into a fight hadn't been the reason she had walked into her sister's room, far from it, but even though she knew it was partially her fault for being too harsh earlier, she could not avoid feeling enraged by the hateful words Juna was spewing. She had only wanted to check in on her sister after having been forced to fight her in the tournament, and she tried very hard to restrain her emotions after hearing Juna's earlier comments, but now she had failed, and quivered with anger at what she considered to be nothing but slanderous insults from Juna.
"How quickly you forget that I took all the shit for you when we were little!" She continued, gesturing furiously. "Did you forget who kept you safe during our childhood training? Did you forget who kept you fed when you wouldn't kill an animal to survive? ME! It was me! I fought to keep you safe, I killed to keep you healthy, I struggled to keep you warm. Not our parents, not your magic, ME!" She shouted, pausing for breath before continuing. "And really, why the hell is it my fault that you were ignored? You're the one who decided to stick your nose in a book all day instead of doing something useful! In eighteen long years you never bothered to train instead of spending all day in a library, and somehow it's my fault that you got beat and shunned?!" She questioned. "Because of you, I'M the one constantly pressured to uphold our status, I'M the one who has to shoulder the burden of this family! You're just an ungrateful wimp!" She shouted, falling silent and panting after her furious rant.
“Why is it your fault?” Juna asked. “Name one time you actually stood up for me in front of our parents.” She asked, knowing there were none. “Also, keeping me safe? You’ve really done a bang up job of that recently. I’ve had to scrape myself off more floors that I can count. I’ve been beaten daily by people I don’t even know and you’ve done nothing! Not even bothered to care.” Juna replied. She also hadn’t wanted to fight, or maybe she had deep down wanted to release some of her pent up feelings. Besides, she had asked for this… Either way it was too late to go back now. It was all coming out like vomit from her soul.
“And yes everything has been given to you on a silver platter! You’ve had training from masters, the best equipment, the best room, the undivided praise and attention of our parents, Everything! All I’ve ever had is the sloppy leftovers of whatever runs of you. I have your old sword. I’ve had to watch you training in order to get the technique, because our parents haven’t let me train with you since we were young. Otherwise I’ve had to get in actual fights to get any training it, and they don’t hold back unlike the instructors! So don’t you say I haven’t bothered to try it your way. I’ve tried more than you’ll ever know to be you.”
“As for why I read books? What the hell else am I suppose to do!? I don’t have friends, you barely talk to me anymore and Mom and Dad seem intent on pretending I don’t exist. I have nothing else! From the moment I first expressed the slightest interest in anything but combat I've been stuck with it.” Juna exclaimed. “So don’t talk to me about ungrateful. You’re praised by everyone you know, you’ve won nearly every battle you’ve been in, so don’t you DARE say you’ve had it any less than easy! I’ve had to scrape for everything that was more than just survival. You’ve been given every opportunity and tool for success!”
"Given?! I had to EARN THEM!" Elsis responded, her sentences no longer simple utterances, now bordering on screaming. She didn't want to do this, she really didn't want to do this. Screaming at her sister had been the last thing on her mind when she had walked through the door. But now, hearing word after bile-blighted word, hearing her sister blaming her for seemingly everything bad that had happened to her in her whole life, Elsis couldn't help going into the defensive, and the fact that she was the more violent of the two didn't help matters at all. "I had to punch and kick and bite and scream for everything I've ever had!" She shouted. "I didn't start my life with any sort of privilege! I wasn't born with my sword! Everything you say I have wasn't just suddenly granted to me! I had to work hard for this sword, I had to bleed to be considered worthy of having a specialized instructor, and he DIDN'T HOLD BACK EITHER!"
Her sentence coming to an end, Elsis had to stop for breath, her vision somewhat blurred by reasons that were not immediately clear to her. She felt so upset, she felt every fiber of her being shaking with anger and she felt that she was barely in control anymore. But this was not just because Juna was belittling her effort and blaming her for everything, no. She felt like this because it stung. Her sister's hateful words, they hurt, and someone like Elsis was very poorly equipped to deal with this kind of sensation. She was used to facing problems that could either be ignored or solved by beating them enough to make them go away, but even though she was sorely tempted to do so by now, she couldn't possibly do that to her sister, she couldn't possibly solve this that way, and so she had no idea what to do but keep screaming. Idly, she realized what exactly was starting to block her vision. Tears.
"I've been struck and wounded and slashed and beaten too, and not once, not. once. did I get to make so much as a whimper, because if I did, if I dared to feel pain, I'd be shunned and spurned and shamed and disowned and disgraced and even now I can't show anything but strength in front of our parents, because if I'm anything but deserving of the blood I was forced to bear then they'll hate me and this entire family's going to fall apart and it's all going to be my fault and yet you start complaining that they don't pay you any attention and say that everything in my life is simple and easy?! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! You were born second, you had someone looking after you, you didn't have to dirty your hands, but if you really want to be so much like me then BE MY FUCKING GUEST!"
“YES! A MILLION FUCKING TIMES YES! I WOULD GLADLY BE YOU SISTER! I WOULD RATHER BE YOU THAN ME ANY DAMN DAY!” She screamed, hyperventilating. Tears were coming to her own eyes as she saw those in her sisters. At some level she knew she was being cruel. She was verbally abusing her sister, slamming her with things she didn’t even know she felt. But she couldn’t stop, animal instinct had taken over, and the tears might as well have been blood. “I’d rather bleed a thousands times than not exist at all! DO you have any idea what it’s like to be me? I AM shunned and spurned and shamed and disgraced! Everything short of disowned and I’m sure our parents would do that if the could be bothered to remember their daughter! Hell I bet the only reason they keep me around is to encourage you to not be me!”
“Why do you think I joined the Tournament? Not to beat you. I didn’t even want to fight you. No I just wanted a scrap of fucking respect! I wanted to be thought of as more than just the other sister! I was tired of being compared to you and I wanted something to call my own! I worked so hard so I could win that tournament and FINALLY make people like me! But ultimately, I’ll never be able to do that. Thanks to you.”
She paused again to catch her breath, feeling pain from her thrashing and her throat was in pain. She glared at her sister. “Admit it. The only reason you took care of me was out of pity. Because you felt sorry for you little sister and wanted to throw her a bone.” She then screamed out words louder than she had ever done in her life. “WELL I DON’T NEED YOUR PITY.” She inhaled again. “I’m tired of it! I’m tired of being pitied. I’m tired of being the “other sister”! I’m tired of being the family joke! I WISH I WAS NEVER BORN!”
She stood there, inhaling and exhaling, waiting for her sisters retort. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up. Her voice was already beginning to waver and she was on the verge of breaking down into a full on crying fit. She didn't want this. She felt guilt already, but apologising now or breaking down like she wanted would only be considered weakness. Besides, there was some despicable part of her which was enjoying this to some degree. One she was ashamed of even now.
"WELL, I'LL LEAVE AND TAKE MY PITY WITH ME THEN!" Elsis screamed in response, her whole body quivering in what was no longer fury but rather an enormous train wreck of emotions, her fingernails digging into her palms hard enough to draw blood with ease. She was rather confused, truth be told, by what she was doing, stepping forward with trembling steps and swinging her hand across Juna's trunk, sending the plate flying towards the wall and causing it to shatter violently, its contents falling to the ground. Outwardly, despite the blood trickling down her fists and the tears now freely flowing from her eyes, her visage had completely morphed into that of a beast by now, her scowl and her ignited eyes and her clattering teeth completely throwing away every last sliver of beauty or even humanity that she might have had. And really, she hadn't even meant to do that. What little part of her was not yet consumed by the maelstrom of emotions, at least, hadn't meant to lash out violently against her own little sister like that, even if it was an indirect aggression, but that didn't matter. Her body had done so anyway. Simply put, she wasn't in control anymore.
Taking several bewildered breaths, Elsis turned back to Juna, looking her dead in the eye. "If you wish you had never been born then I don't know what you're waiting for." She said, regretting such a cruel comment even before uttering the words but being completely unable to stop her wrath-fueled verbal attack. She hadn't screamed this time, her voice low but just as upset, somehow able to convey her emotional distress even better than her violent shouting had. Her last retort made, the girl with coral red hair tore her own gaze away from her sister's and turned around, walking out the room and closing the door behind her with such force that the wooden piece crashed against the threshold and simply shattered into a million splinters that clattered to the ground. By the time the last one had fallen, Elsis was gone, leaving Juna alone with her thoughts.
As soon as Elsis closed the door Juna tossed one of her books at it in rage. She was far too late to hit her sister with it, though would it matter if she did? She could have thrown a thousand books and it still wouldn’t be anything compared to the acidic bile she had just inflicted.
Juna began to cry then. Before it was just tears, but the sobbing came as a realisation of what she had been doing hit. She wasn’t just shouting the most hateful and disgusting things at her sister. She was telling the only person that had ever bothered to care about her that she hated her when the opposite was in fact true. She loved her sister and respected her. She looked up to her, the older girl being almost a hero to Juna. Without Elsis, Juna didn’t know if she could have survived. Without Elsis, Juna would have had little reason to survive, being the only person she ever really talked to. Without Elsis, she likely would have been thrown to the wolves without second thought as soon as she had even touched a book.
So if she’s done so much for me… why do I have so much hate for her…? Juna asked herself. It hurt, but some of what she said had been true. She was jealous of her sister. She was feeling more and more distant from her as she got more and more praise. She was mad that her attempt to try and break out of her shadow was ruined. She still couldn’t stand the praise Elsis got and the abuse she had to take. But…
She was her sister. For that alone she deserved to be forgiven. For everything else Elsis had done Juna’s outburst did seem unforgivably ungrateful. Juna knew she should hate her sister, she shouldn’t shout at her, but she couldn’t help herself. Once she had started... she couldn't stop. It was like all those years of pain were coming out of her throat.
Soon Juna just curled up and teared, the sobbing having stopped by now. Not even on the bed, but on the floor as she lay horizontally, holding her legs as she lay there. Self pity, regret and guilt all racing through her minds like horsemen of her own mental apocalypse… But that would not happen today.
Meanwhile, as Juna regretted the words she had spoken against her own sister, Elsis, too, suffered after the violent argument. Walking stiffly and with trembling steps throughout the hallways of the home of the Salasangers, the girl retained enough control over herself to drag herself to her room without rampaging through the house in the process, though even this was incredibly taxing on her mind, the maelstrom of her emotions difficult to contain and growing stronger by the minute, her palms still bleeding as her will struggled to unknot her white-knuckled fists. Indeed, volatile as she was, the argument with her sister had affected her quite a bit, her breathing troubled as the hot air seemed eager to escape her whenever she managed to inhale.
Reaching her room, she immediately threw herself at the window, her open hands slamming against it as she supported herself on it. It was a transluminic sheet of metal, placed there after several incidents with innocent bystanders and shards of falling glass, and it soon became apparent why it was very fortunate that it had been placed there, as after taking a moment to catch her breath, Elsis began slamming her fists against the window in fury, an animalistic scowl in her face, the impacts causing loud thuds that echoed through the house.
However, soon Elsis ran out of energy, or perhaps she simply saw how futile her efforts to rid herself from her anguish were, and simply allowed herself to slid down the wall, falling to her knees. She found herself blinded by fury no longer, and instead, the rest of the host of negative emotions that had sown themselves in her mind surfaced, forcing her to think of what Juna had said to her, and of what she'd said to Juna.
"She hates me..." Elsis thought to herself, hugging her knees closer to her as she faced the wall. "She hates me, and she has every reason to do so. I've forgotten to protect her. I didn't stand up for her, and now..." She bit her lip, tears flowing freely down her cheeks, her current situation making her seem so weak whereas she was usually a beacon of strength. "I screwed up. I'm a terrible sister, and when she told me so, I told her to-" She couldn't quite finish her thought, whimpering involuntarily as she thought of the last thing she said to Juna, more tears streaming flowing from her eyes. Such terrible words she regretted dearly, and indeed, at that moment, she would've given anything to take them back, but she knew that she couldn't, and she didn't have the courage to go back there, not after everything that had happened.
"Aradain, why am I such a failure?!" She thought as she dared to take a glance at the sky, so calm, so indifferent. She always had to fail at something. If her swordplay was good, then her magic was lacking, and if not, the opposite was true. And just when she thought she was beginning to succeed, when she thought that she would be able to succeed for her family, she had inadvertently failed her family, her argument with Juna being crystal-clear evidence of it.
With nothing else to do, Elsis devoted all of her willpower to the suppression of her own sobs, even as tears streamed down her face. She didn't want to think of what would happen if someone found the braveblood lying there, crying.
Six cycles before the present
Juna walked down the hallway towards Elsis' room. She had been doing this quite a bit now. Walking to her room, staring at the door for a moment. She sometimes gathered the courage to put her hand up to knock, but never once did her hand reach the door. Thirteen times she had done this. She had often thought of words that might heal the damage her other words had done, but she wasn't sure what to say anymore. What could she say? Her sister hated her, the last words of their conversations proved it. Juna didn't blame her, and in fact felt like complying with that last angry demand.
She suddenly heard voices at Elsis' door. She frowned, sneaking up to it. She heard her parents voices, a frown coming to her face as she did. She had barely seen them in the two days since the argument, though she didn't expect to. Her not even seeing her parents for days on end was not new to Juna. She pressed her ear to the door, listening, reading to sneak away if she heard movement.
"Are you sure, father?" Elsis' voice sounded from within her room, the clear echo easily reaching Juna's ears as she listened in on the conversation between her and her parents.
A grunt of confirmation. "It arrived just yesterday. The people from the Phantom Blade want to invite you to their little military school." Said the gruff, rough voice of Jarosis Salasanger, father of Elsis and Juna both. It was evident he did not appreciate what was, in his mind, an attempt from the neighboring Order to take away his little prodigy and possibly make her weaker with their foreign practices, though he was still relatively calm as he spoke.
"The truth is that the Silver Hand Academy is renowned throughout the Known Universe for their good results." The mother of the sisters interjected, eliciting another grunt from her husband.
"You know what I think about those paleblooded foreigners, Nara." Came his response, a bit forceful, though nothing the family wasn't used to by now. "What do you think?" He demanded afterwards, evidently addressing Elsis this time. There was a short pause.
"I want to go." She said, her voice seemingly resolute. "After all, even if I don't learn anything, I'll show those pales who the Salasangers are, right?" The girl added afterwards, her voice now lined with her usual arrogance, which caused a coarse chuckle to echo through the room and beyond.
"That's the spirit, girl! You'll make a fine champion." Her father stated. There was the sound of people rising from their seats. "If that's so, I'll think about it." The man said afterwards. There was the sound of footsteps approaching the door Juna was leaning on.
Juna backed off, then leaned against a wall so that the door would block her from the vision of those directly exiting. She knew it didn't matter whether or not her parents spotted her, (They would likely ignore her anyway. They tended to go out of their way to do that) but she didn't want Elsis to spot her. She wasn't yet ready for an apology.
As the door opened, the parents of the Salasanger sisters walked out of Elsis' bedroom and into the hallway. Jarosis, the father, was an imposing man, well-built and with short but wild hair and a full beard, all of the same light red color as his eldest daughter's hair, while Nara, the mother, was a significantly smaller Redemit, though not frail by any stretch of the word, as she too was of the Valiant Fang and hardened by their traditions, if nothing else. Closing the door behind his wife, Jarosis turned in the direction Juna stood and walked right past her, in no way acknowledging her, not even a nod or a passing glance. She received the same treatment from her mother Nara, who followed in her husband's footsteps, walking right past the distraught girl.
From within the room, a slight thumping noise on the door could be heard, and a long, forlorn sigh, perhaps the softest sound to ever come out of Juna's sister. There was silence from the room for several more moments, but suddenly, the voice of Elsis could be heard speaking something.
"That's great and all..." She said. "...but what about my sister?"
Three cycles before the present
The sun was high over the azure skies of Cathedral Dumea, and the wind swept wildly over the crowded open-air complex that was one of Dumea's many starports and all the way to the barren, apotheosic mesas in the distance, whose flat summits were elevated far beyond the wall of clouds that separated the land from the sky. The starport itself was a blot of grey and silver on a landscape that was otherwise naught but brown and the occasional patch of green. Chariots and rare instances of other vehicles for intergalactic travel were landing and taking off almost constantly, quite clearly demonstrating that, despite the apparent isolation and lack of proper protection from the elements, this was, in fact, the most important starport in all of Dumea, surrounded by a powerful force field that would block out most threats to the integrity of the structure and all of those within, though it neglected to block out the racing winds.
On one of the landing platforms, significantly less crowded than the rest of the starport, a chariot had just landed, one with a familiar crimson symbol which represented an Order long allied with the Valiant Fang, despite the frequent butting of heads that tended to occur between their leaders, as well as the rocky relationship both civilizations had sometimes. The Phantom Blade chariot opened up its door with a soft hiss, but no one stepped outside. No one had to.
Standing near the chariot's landing spot was Elsis, the sweeping winds causing her hair to behave in an unruly fashion, though she could hardly care about such things at the moment. Instead, she looked back to where her parents stood, not too far from her, but not close enough for her to speak to them, either.
But she had no intention to speak to them. She was, in truth, not even looking at them. Instead, she was scanning the landscape one last time, trying to see the one face that she wanted to see the most in that moment: her sister, Juna. They had barely seen each other after their fight, never speaking, never saying even a single word as they passed each other silently. And though the words that had been spoken that day had injured her deeply, the silence was a thousand times worse, like cold, jagged daggers constantly probing the edges of her wounded heart, without relent, the pain never numbing. It returned once again as she remembered this, and it grew ever more intense when she failed in her duty. She couldn't see her face. Her sister was there, but she didn't know; she couldn't see her, and so, with great regret, she turned and walked towards the chariot, boarding it and sitting down on one of the black cushioned seats. The chariot soon took off, leading the young braveblood away from her home and from her sister, towards the distant skies of Arcadia.
Juna looked down in shame when Elsis had turned around, hiding her head from the sister. She had found a place in the crowd where she wouldn't be spotted. She cursed her cowardice. Why could she not simply take back what she said, apologize and embrace her sister as she wanted to do? Would she even be forgiven if she did? Her sister had been as reluctant to talk to her as she was to Elsis, Juna assumed this was part of her 'taking her pity with her' never considering she might be equally ashamed of what she had said. Furthermore, did she really deserve to be forgiven after all the things she had said? After slapping the face that had kept her company for years? It was a question she didn't particularly want to answer...
Juna looked up as Elsis had turned away, then the ship had blasted off with her. In truth she had always wanted to go to an academy like the one Elsis was leaving for. A place where education and learning are valued, when reading is not punishable with beatings. Where she could find like minded academics. But she didn't really deserve to go, both for her defeat and for her cruelty.
... But she wanted... no... needed to go more than ever now. Even if her sister didn't want to forgive her, she still had to tell Elsis what she mean to her.
Sadly, it did not seem that this would be possible. The chariot flew away, further and further into the sky and beyond, swiftly and inexorably increasing the physical distance between the two sisters, though even then it paled in comparison to the enormous gaping abyss that was the emotional distance between them.
Back on the transport, Elsis sat. Next to her, and all around, were seated dozens of strangers, people she had never met. They were fellow future students of the Silver Hand Academy, fellow young ones chosen to be trained by the best. Yet, they were people she did not know, and so, they were people who could not know weakness from her. She sat, and did her best to suppress her emotions, as she had done many times in the past. But as the chariot rose and left the planet, the daggers returned, more painful than ever, as she knew, beyond any shadow of doubt, that she wouldn't see her sister again for a long time. Though outwardly she kept a facade of strength, one that drove away the others, she was going through her innermost apocalypse right now, wondering why, for all her bravado, for all of her courage and dauntlessness, she hadn't been able to speak to her sister, take back the horrible things she'd said, apologize for telling her to die.
As she thought about her sister, she wished things hadn't gone so suddenly sour. She wished things were simpler... like many years ago.
Without meaning to, Elsis fell victim to a bout of reminiscence.
Several years before the present
"Sister!" Cried out a terrified voice, the voice of a mere child, a black-haired girl with glasses, no older than ten, who stared at the furious eyes of one of the many Wavetusk Boars that pullulated the taigas of Dumea. Well, the child was most likely not looking at its eyes, but rather the twin curvy tusks that gave the species its name.
The oversized menacing swine appeared as though it was about to attack her, and the terrified girl closed her eyes, but before the beast could harm her, something else happened. Another girl, only slightly older, landed on its back, this one with wild coral red hair and eyes of a similar shade that glowered at the beast in wild fury. Having jumped on its back from a nearby tree, the girl held tightly onto the boar with one hand, and with the other, grabbed a crudely crafted knife, which she stabbed into the beast's head, over and over again.
"You! Stupid! Beast! Leave! My! Sister! ALONE!!!" She shouted as she continued her relentless attack, holding onto the beast's back even as the creature flailed wildly, trying to shake off the tiny creature that had begun assaulting its thick, sturdy skull with what might as well have been a toothpick. And sadly, strong as she might have been for someone of her age, the girl was still but a child, and so, she was soon thrown away, landing next to the other girl with a thud.
As she rose to her feet, one could notice the differences between her and the first girl, and also the similarities. While the first one seemed relatively untouched aside from looking a bit dirty here and there, the second looked a lot worse for wear. Her hands and feet were covered in dirt, her arms were bruised, and there were some cuts present on her face. The two had similar facial traits, one could tell from a simple glance; the two had soft features which belied their brave lineage and their inner strength, and the two had bright eyes which were full of emotion, but whereas the girl with the glasses was in a state of fear, shaking and hiding behind the other, the girl with the knife was angry, and clearly more than willing and able to fight despite her damaged state.
"Juna, run!" She said to the black-haired girl, who nodded and went for the trees. Meanwhile, she turned to face the boar just in time to notice it swinging its tusks at her. She jumped back just in time to avoid being gutted or impaled, but the very tip of the wavy bone spear reached her regardless, drawing a shallow red line across the young girl's torso and causing her to grimace and shout in pain.
"E-Elsis!" The girl with the glasses cried out at seeing her sister injured, but the wild girl did not seem willing to surrender just yet. Indeed, there was too much at stake for her to even consider giving up. This was life or death, not just for her, but for her sister.
Grasping her wound with one hand, Elsis took a stone and tossed it at the boar, hitting its eye, causing it to go berserk. Entering a mad charge, it went after the girl, who ran as fast as she could, eventually luring the boar into a trap and moving away right at the last moment, causing the beast to crash into a tree, dazing it. Taking this opportunity, she slashed at its legs, stabbing and slicing as much as she could before backing off as the creature recovered and attempted to charge towards her once again, only to fail to do so and fall to the ground, unable to move any further. Panting, the victorious girl looked down, and grimaced. Despite trumping the beast, and possibly securing some food, she was still wounded.
"S-sister! Sister!" She heard from behind, and turned around to see Juna running towards her.
"What is it Juna?" Spoke Elsis as Juna ran up to her, pulling off the bag on her back she always brought with her. Juna did not reply, instead quickly searching through her pack. Elsis could likely see the things within, several books and some other items. A few crystals, a lighter, a few things that were wrapped up but most importantly, Juna's first aid kit. She quickly pulled it out and opened it.
"Juna really? I'm cut, not dying. Besides that thing is still alive." Elsis replied, about to head off to the beast to go carve it up for food, before Juna grabbed her arm. She frowned, turning but seeing Juna's concerned face.
"Juna. Please... It could get away..."
"And you could get infected." Juna replied, she pressed her glasses to her face. Elsis sighed, deciding to humour her sister and she sat down. Juna moved over, she saw the wound and quickly pulled out a small damp cloth which she used to clean the wound, then used antiseptic. It stung as it was felt on Elsis' wound, but she had felt worse. A moment later and she heard her sister take out the bandages and cut them, applying them to her sisters wound.
"There. We'll replace the bandage after a while. See how that wound does." Juna spoke as she smiled. She was glad to help her sister. "Now you don't have to worry about infection anymore sis. I can also give you a painkiller if you want."
"It's Alright." Elsis spoke as she rose. "...Thank you for bandaging me."
"No problem. The least I could do for saving my life big sis."
Elsis smiled back, then gripped her knife. Moving over to the moaning beast. Juna watched, her smile fading a tad as she felt a bit of blood flick into her glasses.
Now
Juna sighed as she broke away from her memory, the same memory her sister had thought of moments earlier, and entered the banquet hall. Her expression was uncertain, she wasn't sure if she should be happy or upset. Shortly after her sister left, she too had gotten the notice that she should come train with the Silver Hand. She had been somewhat giddy with joy, and her parents had likely been happy to have some way to get rid of her without guilt, seeing as they put up not nearly the same amount of resistance to her going as they had to Elsis doing so. Still, she could finally be somewhere she felt she belonged.
But she also had a duty to perform. If anyone was going to make the first step to repairing the torn bond of sisterhood, it should be the one who started tearing at the seams. She needed to find her sister. Would she accept her apology? Likely not, but it needed to be given anyway for Juna to have a clear conscience.