This is Aria, once again writing down the events from today that I found interesting… Well, nothing really happened. Unfortunately, nothing new had taken place. Still though, I want to continue writing to improve my skills. I mighht might as well do this.

“Hey, you’re in the way! Thomas!”

“Professor! Anthony tripped! Haha!”

“You bastard, help me up!”

It’s time for our daily trip through the forest. Being in the elven kingdom, trees naturally grow much bigger here. So using wind magic becomes much harder. Because a lot of the trees are close to each other, the tight space makes wind magic harder to use. A few of us would fall down, or trip on a branch if it had recently snowed. Thankfully, our professor always brings a first aid kit. If she deems someone too injured, she sends them back along with another, uninjured student.

Since this takes place after we had our breakfast– I just love oatmeal by the way– we have to do a few stretches beforehand. Nothing interesting there, Tony would complain about having too big of a frame to properly stretch like the others. Which waas was true, he was pretty big. Nothing repetition won’t fix though, as our teacher would say.

Tony also has this annoying habit of yelling out the window every monday to scare off a specific species of birds. Those ones used to come in and eat our food. That, or attack us with their sharp claws. Honestly, I’ve gotten tired of the scent of blood that fills the air everytime our teacher– or one of us– uses wind magic to cut up the birds was starting to get irritating.

“Agh…! That really hurts!”

“Are you okay?! Joseph?!”

“Fine, fine. You hit really hard.”

“Sorry…”

Afterwards, we would be given a time period where we could do whatever we wanted. After we do our coldown cooldown stretches, I mean. Our teachers are pretty strict about that. Almost as much as wearing proper clothing for the proper activities. I hate mini-dresses.

At 0800, we would go to the training fields where we would learn how to fight. War tactics and strategy isn’t taught at the younger lower years however. Though, we could still take the optional class for strategy.

Note: Though I say our training starts at 0800, it’s actually at 0740 since we need time to get prepared. It used to be at 0750, but some students took too long. Damn you guys.

“Hwaha, you rweally gotten yourswelf stuck at a brwanch huh?”

“Don’t eat with your mouth full! It’s annoying!”

Heavy gulp. “Whatever dude.”

Finally. It’s lunchtime. Of course, we screwed around and talked ab Naturally, my classmates began to screw around—

Johnny took my pen. He made a mess with it since he thought it was a good idea to use it to poke around his nose for boogers. He gave it back when I told him I would poke his eye out instead. Anyway, moving on. None of us spoke to the normal casual non-combat other students that weren’t in our class.

After we had our lunch, it was time for classes. Unlike the… other students, who hadto had to go to class in the morning as well as in the evening, we only had to attend the evening classes. Most of which were only essentials.

Mathematics, Culture, Science, Politics, Language and a few more.

However… it was during this period that

The rest of the paper is blank. There were scribbles as if someone was attempting to write before eventually giving up.

Aria Leafshine POV

“Every– Single– One of you–!” A bandaged man roared out, “DON’T MOVE!”

Everyone froze, I could see my friends and classmates tremble in fear. We were just chatting about some nonsense when this had happened. Why? …Why? I could see my friends held hostage in front of me.

Yet, everything taught to us, every training I– we– went through seemingly disappeared at that moment.

Erie, Amorie… They don’t deserve to be in that position. In their eyes were the fear of death, the fear of being killed, the fear of something happening. Slowly, their faces turned blue as they were choked. The man made no effort to be gentle with his hostages.

I tried to move. My arms, my legs… they won’t budge. It was as if every dead corpse from every war was tied to them, weighing them down. A dark part of my mind commented that my friends would soon be included, too.

Why… won’t I move?!

“Little seedlings from this hellhole of a kingdom.” The man started speaking, disgust was present in his voice. “Tch, I really pity you. Death is mercy, you know?” He continued.

What? What could he possibly mean by that. None of us spoke as we continued to listen unwillingly, frozen in our place. “I was once like you children… naive and ignorant to the truth!” He yelled. “This kingdom’s shitty government is the cause of it all!”

“There are people on the streets… you know who they are? They were former agents and troops! After retiring, they couldn’t handle living a civilian life! We’re fucking screwed over either way. Whether we defect or not, our lives are made hell!”

From the corner of my eyes, I saw my classmates look at each other with confusion in their eyes. Yet, I didn’t feel such a thing. Rather, it was as if the words couldn’t even register in my mind. I realized, with a dark feeling, that his monologuing didn’t matter to me.

Right now, my classmates– my friends are suffering because of this guy. Something other than fear began to bubble in my chest, and they weren’t sobs.

Erie and Amorie were my family. My only family!

Wind had begun to circle my arm in small, compressed gales. Before I knew it, the burning wrath I felt in my bones started to heat up those compressed gales on my arm. I could feel the wind gales condense, harden, then sharpen.

This man, he was involving us in whatever problem he has with our kingdom and making us suffer for it. Why? We did nothing. I wondered as I began to raise my arm. If he has a problem with the kingdom, he should take it out on the kingdom!

The man had no time to react. Several large cuts had instantly formed around his body, cutting through bone, flesh, and skin. The only indication that something had passed through was the loud whistle, showing that wind magic was used.

My knees crumbled, making me fall to the ground. I feel tired. I’m sorry, Erie, Amorie. I’ll have to check on you after I sleep, goodnight.

As my eyelids were closing, I vaguely heard people’s voices.

“–Get them to their families-”

“–Still need to get medical help–”

“–Are the teachers?!”

“–Tea was poisoned, we aren’t sure if they’re–”

I guess even after all that… I still might lose someone. Tears built up in my eyes as I lost my consciousness, darkness overtook my vision.

Third Point of View

Shining gray metal made up the walls. The floor displayed wooden planks criss-crossing in a pattern.

Large, open windows let in sounds from outside into the room. Despite having walls made of cold, hard metal, it didn’t feel suffocating at all. The various sounds of nature overlapped one another. They were birds chirping, leaves falling, bamboo groaning from the gentle winds.

It was as if the walls weren’t there at all, like nature itself was spilling into the room. Claiming what is theirs.

But he knew it wasn’t, nature didn’t claim what is theirs. They, the elves, just took what they could from nature in order to make the things they need to survive. It wasn’t as if nature was consuming their lives. Those were the thoughts of the pointy-eared man.

An elf with a status, as it could be seen by his wooden implements to his home. Yet, the elegance of his nobility hidden under the cloud of gloom. For, it is not simply his life that he mourned, but the life of his daughter in the future.

‘It is coming.’

His thoughts were laced with acceptance and resignation. Every fight that might have manifested died a long time ago, before they even had a chance to matter. It was a look of both grief and regret showing on his face. His hands shook briefly before he steeled himself.

That single moment of strength quickly crumbled when he broke a vase. Smashing the back of his hand to it. Several pieces from what was once a beautiful art piece laid scattered like leaves on the floor. Instead of a sign of happiness and gratitude however, it is instead a sign of his frustration.

The table that the vase was once on had a few other objects. A lamp, a stack of books… but there was also a dirt kite. Something ancient but well-preserved. The man felt proud of its well-off state. ‘Preserving sentimental valuables is a good habit.’

But that feeling quickly faded when he looked at the scattered vase pieces once more. And for a second, the pieces were leaves. At least to him.

He could almost feel as if he was back on the day of his marriage. The scattering of the leaves after the newly-wed couple is a tradition that dates way back. It is meant as a sign of joy and gratitude for nature allowing this to happen.

The pure surprise and happiness when his wife slyly revealed to him that she was pregnant to see his goofy, dumbfounded reaction wasn’t something he could ever forget. But his grandfather’s honor is also something he won’t forget.

He has a responsibility. Both he and his wife. The man lowered his head.

“What…?” Jeylin was at a loss for words. He stood there, pale-faced and stiff.

After hearing what he had just heard, he couldn’t begin to comprehend how such a way of thought would ever make sense to anyone, much less to the elves. Who are portrayed as the wise ones in a lot of fantasy settings. Then again, he was a human– he wasn’t expected to understand– but every inch of his body screamed at how wrong it was.

It was wrong. And that was a truth that he so firmly believed.

They were just walking along the trees and snow, when Kettlelinna showed an impressive display of clumsiness and tripped on her own feet. He deadpanned at her and made no move to help her up. It didn’t look like she was hurt badly anyway.

A little, healthy fear of failing down was good for just about anyone who hadn’t learned it.

It was then that something rather troubling was revealed to him. She muttered a mix of whines and cries of pain– To which he half-ignored– when she said something that caught his full attention.

“Wahh! The Day of Coming Silence can’t compare to this! You didn’t even try to help me up!”

Jeylin ignored the last part but was surprised by this ‘Day of Coming Silence.’ What could it mean? Was it some sort of tragedy in elven history? Maybe it’s more personal, something he wouldn’t know about unless he was close to her. Which, he wasn’t.

Only one way to find out, he supposed. Jeylin didn’t think of what that could have meant to the girl at the time, didn’t think of what kind of reaction asking about it could cause. “Hey, what’s the Day of Coming Silence?” He tilted his head in curiosity.

It was with that little slip of mind that flipped a switch in the girl. It wasn’t like the other times where her demeanor had shifted, becoming more steady and willful. No, instead, a wave of defeat washed over her. Just like that, she crumpled to the ground as her knees failed her.

Jeylin made a sound of surprise, eyes wide. Should he comfort her? He wasn’t sure what was wrong in the first place. What was wrong with what he asked, he meant. With the girl’s head facing the ground, she didn’t notice the two conflicting emotions on the boy’s face. His thoughts rapidly switched between uncaring indifference and pity. Not worry, Jeylin doesn’t worry for anyone. Or anything, really.

Letting his instincts decide, he felt his body move on its own to comfort her. ‘Guess I’m going this route.’ He thought, feeling indifferent about the decision. He might as not half-ass it.

Jeylin softly held her shoulder, comforting her without a single word. Despite saying nothing, it gave the Kettlelinna a sense of calm she needed. A certain warmth that wasn’t quite caring nor kind was waving off from the boy. If the girl had to describe it, she would say it was like nature’s own warmth; Indifferent.

Yet, it was because of this indifference that allowed Jeylin to simply be her friend. Not out of individual situations or any kind of expectations. He just chose to be her friend. Nothing less, nothing more. To her, it was pure in a way.

She knew he could tell as well. She could tell that he realized several things about her, yet said nothing. It was nice. ‘The silence, I mean’ She internally corrected herself.

Though Jeylin was feeling bored after a while, he didn’t show it and held his position. Maybe he should become a scarecrow. Or maybe he could switch with a scarecrow if Kettlelinna decides to sleep with him again, that’d be funny.

It took a few seconds before he realized she was talking, having been lost in thought. ‘If talking meant speaking in such low volumes that only the dead can hear.’

He realized it had already been a few minutes since he held her shoulder. She recovered faster than he expected, enough to talk at least. Starting with small whispers, Jeylin got annoyed when the girl danced around the topic, voice still weak. But she complied with his questions he lost his patience and sent a wave of intent.