Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

Fire

So much fire

She was surrounded by a blaze that sought to steal her precious Maestro from her. Her best friend in the entire world. The one who she gave her heart.

Cruel, greedy flames that selfishly tried to claim what wasn’t theirs.

The worst part was, she couldn’t stop it – she was powerless, weak, useless.

“HAH?!” Taika sat up with a gasp. She gripped her chest tightly as her heart raced underneath.

It was still dark in the room. Despite her sudden movement, her three friends remained blissfully asleep. Taika hunched over, struggling to calm her pounding heart. What even was that dream? It wasn’t Rebecca’s fire – her flames were passionate, loving, warm. The flames Taika dreamt of were cold, malicious, and jealous.

What did it all mean?

Taika wasn’t the best at deciphering random dream nonsense, but this nightmare felt so pointed. It only made the lunar vixen nervous. Hopefully, this wasn’t an omen of things to come…

“Taika? Taika?”

SNAP SNAP SNAP!

The vixen jolted out of her daze. Shouri pulled his hand away. They were sitting at one of the dining room tables. Her Maestro and two fellow Resonators stared back at her with concern.

“What’s going on Taika?” Pacifica asked, scooting her seat closer to rest a hand on the lunar’s shoulder.

Taika lowered her head. Lying to Pacifica was entirely pointless. “Ho avuto un incubo…” She admitted quietly.

“A nightmare, huh?” Pacifica frowned.

“Least it can’t be Feroce.” Rebecca shrugged before taking another slice of bacon.

“It’s okay Taika, it was just a bad dream.” Shouri took up the other side of his precious fox and rubbed the shoulder opposite of Pacifica.

It wasn’t that easy, but Taika nodded, trying to dismiss the previous night terror to the back of her mind.

“Come on, eat up, we’re just going to be patrolling during the final match and then we’re free.” Shouri patted her back reassuringly and returned to his seat.

“Right. Free,” the fox whispered. There was a presence somewhere in Naiza, one that was overbearingly hot. All it did was bring Taika anxiety. She only hoped Sahji would be kind today.

“Holy shit, he went all out.” Rebecca gasped upon their arrival to the stadium. The final battle of the tournament had yet to begin, but Elijah Klein, or more appropriately the Klein Foundation was not messing around.

There were security guards everywhere. On top of the sheer body count, the Resonators hired to assist were top-notch, that much even Taika could tell by passing by.

“Elijah wants us specifically to deal with any Feroce Resonators that show up,” Shouri informed the group.

“Why us?” Taika asked.

“We’re immune, remember?” Pacifica reminded her fellow Resonator.

“That guy was telling Sho that a couple of the Resonators that helped us yesterday got Feroce after the battle,” Rebecca chimed in.

“Ah.” She had really been spacing out this morning, poor Taika couldn’t recall such a conversation but trusted her friends’ words.

“Where’s Emily?” Pacifica questioned.

“With Elijah and Colette in one of the sky boxes. They got private catering and everything,” Shouri huffed.

“Jealous?” Pacifica grinned, elbowing the Maestro.

“Yeah! We’re busting our asses out here patrolling so they can sit in an air-conditioned room, eat, and watch the game!” he growled. “Klein fucking owes me after this.”

They continued their beat. The crowds began to thin as the loudspeaker roared overhead.

“Maestros!” The referee’s voice boomed across the entire stadium. “This is a three-on-three battle! Substitutions may occur when a Resonator returns to their Maestro or when a Resonator is no longer fit for battle! Goal is zero percent rhythm remaining!”

Shouri and his trio wandered over to one of the openings overlooking the field to sneak a look at the contestants.

Both Maestros they had met.

On one side stood the man who knocked Emily out of the tournament – Shawn Hawk. His trio of Resonators stood at the ready, stiff at attention, ready for command.

Standing his opposite was the raven-haired beauty, Ophira Mikami. Her three Resonators were currently in an active brawl with each other. Hayley was having the time of her life while Nika was attempting to tear her limb from limb while Fureena was desperately trying to save her teammate.

If this wasn’t the end of a week of watching these teams decimate the competition there may have been some doubt about Ophira’s odds.

“Please make your initial selections, you have thirty seconds!”

With that declaration, Hayley launched Nika into the air and rolled into play. The cat-girl gracefully landed on her feet and shouted something to the tune of: “This isn’t over!”

Shawn on the other hand took the full thirty seconds before drawing the yellow tuner from his side, the corresponding Resonator stepping forward to face their adversary. As they had seen from her before, the Fire Mouse Hayley stood with total confidence, bouncing on her toes in sheer anticipation.

Her opponent however was a much larger yellow felid: Ceri, the lightning tiger. They looked down upon the small rodent girl but still held an air of caution. This was the finals, after all, one did not get here through dumb luck.

“No time limit! You may begin!”

With that declaration, the stadium erupted into a cacophony of cheering and applause.

Hayley easily cleared the gap between her and her opponent, launching a kick at the tiger’s side. However, the lightning elemental wasn’t as slow as their large frame seemed to imply – they parried the mouse’s kick and attempted to grab the leg so generously offered up.

Pulling back, Hayley barely managed to pivot herself out of the tiger’s grasp. She quickly made some distance between herself and the lightning element. Coming to a stop, she stayed on her toes, maintaining a ready stance.

Just as it was getting good, Shouri’s tuners began to ring. “Hm?” He stepped away from the noise of the crowd, covering one ear as he answered the call with his other hand. “Hey! What’s going on?”

“Shouri, come down to the box,” Elijah spoke from the other line.

“Hm? Why?” Shouri asked.

“We got some information from the Maestros you’ve apprehended. It’s best to go over it with you in person,” said the Klein heir

Shouri mulled that over for a second before deciding on his reply. “Okay,” he acquiesced without much opposition.

“See you in a bit,” and Elijah hung up shortly after.

“What’s going on?” Pacifica asked, joined by Taika and Rebecca.

“Sounds like Elijah got some info out of those Feroce guys.” Shouri stared at the tuner he had accepted the call from.

“What’s wrong?” Rebecca asked, noting the perplexion on the Maestro’s face.

He gathered his thoughts for a moment, furrowing his brow. “He could have just told me what was up over the phone…”

“His voice sounded… grim? Is that the right word?” Taika spoke quieter than usual. Pacifica shot a glance at her fellow Resonator. What did the lunar know?

The group stood in quiet contemplation for a moment, only roused from their silent thoughts when the roar of the crowd rose with the action on the battlefield.

Shouri shook his head. “Let’s just go see what he wants.”

The walk around the stadium was quiet. At least for the four making their way up to the box where their employer and friends were watching the festivities. The stadium itself was boisterously loud as the crowd boomed and shook the very foundation of the structure as the battle raged below. The loudspeakers broadcast the announcer’s play-by-play so not even the vendors would miss a moment of the action.

“An intense battery, but both corners are holding their ground!”

“Oh! Nika starts to attack! This battle has taken a new turn!”

“It's a mental tug-of-war as they anticipate each other's move.”

Either way, they had lost investment in the battle. Shouri was too preoccupied with swirling thoughts of what Elijah could possibly tell them. Taika struggled to keep her racing thoughts in check as her unease grew. Rebecca and Pacifica were confused about what was going on with the other pair.

Thankfully the walkways were devoid of foot traffic outside of staff patrolling about. Even so, that didn’t stop them from walking into a stretch of the colosseum with nobody there.

Well, that was except for them.

A pair of cloaked figures stood square in the center of the path.

“Sho!” Pacifica grabbed her Maestro’s shoulder, halting him. “They’re-!”

“I know.” He pushed his jacket back, his hands brushing his three tuners.

The Maestro of the cloaked pair chuckled, laughed, and then finally full-on cackled. “I’ve been waiting for this.”

Rebecca’s eyes went wide. That voice. There was no way she’d ever forget the owner of that voice.

Pulling his hood back, the Maestro revealed himself

“Lyle.” Shouri narrowed his gaze. “Even if Liza didn’t already tell us what you were up to, it doesn’t surprise me that you’d try to shortcut your way into strength,” he spoke calmly, his eyes glowing with bright yellow rhythm.

Pacifica shot a glance at her Maestro. He was shutting out his emotions, processing everything through logical, knowledge-rich rhythm. She shook her head and refocused herself towards Lyle and his new Feroce Resonator.

“Sho!” Taika shouted, pointing to just behind the shady pair opposing them.

Lying on the ground behind them was Liza, totally unconscious.

Shouri’s rhythm wavered. Even as logical as he was trying to be, seeing that set him off. “BASTARD! SHE LOVES YOU!” he roared, unable to hold himself back.

Now the Feroce Resonator spoke. “Love?” they scoffed. “You, Shouri Tomoshibi, are NOT allowed to talk ‘bout LOVE.”

That voice… it made Shouri’s heart stop. Suddenly, it was impossible to breathe. There wasn’t any way…

The Resonator removed her cloak, throwing it behind her. Orange cat ears flicked up, sitting atop burnt orange hair. Cold blue eyes glared down the Maestro standing her opposite. Her outfit was in tatters, burnt, just like her skin, blackened unnaturally in several places.

Even with all of this; a different outfit, a matured frame, the ravages of time and Feroce alike…

Shouri recognized this Resonator.

“M-Mi…la?”