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

Saturday, the 30th of June 2018AR

4:45 AM Central Lyberteran Time

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

“UUUHG KILL IT!” Pacifica shouted, holding her ears while the alarms blared from the trio of tuners that sat on the nightstand.

Thankfully turning off one alarm stopped all three.

“Mmmrgh.” The annoyed otter attempted to bury herself under the pile of pillows she kept on her bed.

“C’mon Paci, we need to get up,” Shouri groaned as he shook the protesting water element.

“Uuuhg, it’s too fucking early,” Rebecca also voiced complaints.

“Altri cinque anni…” Taika stole most of the blanket to cocoon herself in.

Shouri grew annoyed with the protests of the girls and finally started physically shoving them out of bed. “Get up!” He demanded sharply. If he had to be awake, they had to be awake, and that was final.

“Wehhhh sleep killer…” Pacifica whined as she slid over to her closet to change.

“Sho’s so mean to us,” Taika too joined in the bellyaching.

“Mrhhhgh.” Rebecca lacked the sufficient level of consciousness to come up with an intelligible complaint.

Shouri exited the bedroom, trusting his trio of girls wouldn’t immediately try to go back to sleep.

“Get UP!”

From across the hall, the young Maestro watched his senior counterpart shove Aiden out of bed and onto the floor. “If I have to be up, you have to be up!” she barked at him.

“Cici’s so mean!” the man whined from the opposite side of the bed.

It seemed waking sleeping Resonators was difficult for all Maestros.

“Do we have everything?” Shouri asked his Resonators after returning to Pacifica's room one final time.

“Probably.” Pacifica failed to stifle a yawn.

“Taika’s the one with the bag,” Rebecca pointed out.

“Non so.” Taika caught the contagious yawn and let one out herself.

Rolling his eyes, Shouri stepped around and opened the bag on Taika’s back. The few meager possessions they had to their name: mainly sleepwear and swimsuits were accounted for. In the other pockets, Shouri’s small notebook and their travel water bottle were also checked off. “Good enough,” he decided. “Let’s go.”

The sun had yet to rise, but the horizon had begun to brighten as dawn threatened them. Gathering in the foyer, they put on their shoes in silence.

Syrus surprised them by suddenly coming through the front door. “The shuttle to the airport is here,” he told the younger group. “You all can go ahead and get seated. I’ll get Cici and the others.”

While the sky dragon vanished deeper into the house, Shouri and his squad made their way out to the awaiting vehicle. Quietly they all filed into the transport, waiting for the actual air travelers to arrive.

“You okay Paci?” Shouri whispered to the otter sitting by his side.

She hesitated for a moment.“I’ll be fine.” Taking his hand in her own, she gripped it tightly. “I have you,” was spoken on but a breath.

They sat in the idling vehicle for what felt like an eternity until finally, the noise arrived.

“Hey-yo party people! Are you all ready to go?!” Priscilla boomed as soon as she boarded the vehicle.

“Cici, can you not? I haven’t my morning cup of personality yetm” Aiden grumbled, grabbing himself a window seat.

“Relax Aiden, we’ll get you some coffee at the airport,” Syrus chuckled.

“That’ll be nice. It’s a touch chilly out this morning.” Jack shivered, rubbing his hands together for warmth.

“We’re good back here,” Shouri spoke up for his group.

Priscilla took in a lungful of air. “Let’s hit the road!”

It was about a thirty or so minute drive from the outskirts of Canolapra where O’Naer Airport was. The busiest airport in Lybertera, and the top five in the world, it proved this distinction by having quite a bit of traffic, even at this early hour.

“Wow, there’s so many people here…” Taika gasped in wonder, face pressed against the window.

Every couple of minutes a massive plane roared overhead, either landing on or taking off from one of the many runways.

“Crazy,” Rebecca commented, personally enraptured by the massive metal beasts coming and going as if they owned the place.

“Never seen a plane before?” Pacifica asked.

“Not this close,” Rebecca muttered back. “They’re really big.”

Shouri smiled, thankful he was able to relax. At least this bit of their trip was the exciting part. Checking his itinerary, they were to be on the long-haul bus from Canolapra to New Draxgow for just over twenty hours. He silently hoped the bus seats would be more comfortable than these.

Finally finding a place to get out, the eight-strong group disembarked from the shuttle. As part of the service offered to Priscilla, a small squad of Resonators employed by the airport took their luggage inside to be checked in.

“Is this where we part ways?” Priscilla asked.

Checking one of his tuners for the time, Shouri noted they still had about an hour to kill before they had to be at the bus terminal, which was at another part of the airport. “Nah, we can go to the gate with you.” He clipped the tuner back to his side and motioned for them to head inside.

“Hmm…” Aiden motioned to Syrus and Jack, who both spread out.

“Aiden?” Priscilla asked, her hand darting to her side.

“I was hoping I was wrong, but it seems we’ve been followed,” he whispered to his Maestro.

“Who? And how long?”

“Since we left the house.”

“They’re pretty strong. Seem like muscle,” Syrus added.

“My my, I wonder what they want?” Jack chuckled, the most relaxed of the trio.

Shouri’s Resonators stuck close to him, unsure of what was going on but sensing something was amiss.

Two Maestros approached the group, clad in black suits with their eyes obscured by shades. Behind them were four Resonators in total. Solar, Lightning, Water, and Null elements Rebecca picked up on. What was more concerning was the sheer strength she could feel from them. These people were strong, frighteningly so.

Syrus and Jack put themselves between their group and these two mystery Maestros.

“Stand aside,” one of the suited individuals demanded immediately.

“Sorry pal, no can do.” Jack smiled at the two Maestros before him.

The other man spoke up, “Our business is not with you.” He pointed squarely at Shouri. “It’s with him.”

Shouri’s blood ran ice cold, rushing through his body at an unbearable pace. “Me?” he squeaked. There was only one reason why anyone would be after him at this point. Especially with such a curated set of Resonators behind them.

Taika’s eyes glowed a brilliant blue as she slowly shifted into a combative stance, tail puffing out.

Pacifica gritted her teeth, holding an arm out in front of her Maestro – these men meant business, whoever they were.

Rebecca gulped hard, her heels sparking as she too was at the ready, but unlike her two counterparts, she could feel it; these new enemies came with the intention of using force.

“Why?” Priscilla spoke up, remaining as collected as her husband.

“This has nothing to do with you, Miss. This is a family affair,” and they left it at that, drawing tuners from their coats.

Reaching into her pocket, Priscilla regarded the envelope she had taken out. Without turning to him, she offered it to Shouri. “Go,” she said simply.

“What? I don’t-”

“Now’s not the time Shouri. Go in my place.”

Finally, she looked at him, offering a grateful smile. “You have wonderful eyes and a great heart. Take my daughter to see the world. Please.”

Shouri shook his head, mouth agape. “But that conference-”

“I’ll inform them of you as my replacement. Now go!”

A battle kicked up at that moment, with Aiden rushing at the opposing Resonators, heels ablaze with fire.

Chaos ensued as a battle kicking up at a busy airport was something nobody wanted to be involved in.

“Let’s go Sho!” Rebecca urged.

“Tch!” Snatching the envelope, Shouri and his three Resonators ran into the terminal.

The men tried to run after, but-

THWACK THWACK

Their Resonators were scattered by Priscilla’s three. “It’s been a good long while since I’ve been able to let loose.” The woman chuckled, cracking her knuckles and tossing off her coat. “Perhaps you’d like to stay and entertain a former Grand Master?”

The quartet ran through the airport terminal, with Shouri tearing into the envelope as he did so.

“What do we do Sho?!” Pacifica shouted in a panic.

“Where are we supposed to go?!” Rebecca added in.

He scanned the ticket for their gate number. Which thankfully was the biggest thing on it. “Gate A2 – this way!” Waving them towards Terminal A, they quickly found their gate.

Rushing up as they did startled the poor attendant taking tickets. “This is the 7:45 flight out of gate A2, right?” Shouri asked through haggard breath, holding up the envelope of tickets.

The attendant accepted the envelope, and removed the tickets contained inside, checking them over. “Yes sir, one Maestro, three Resonators for Lyreann, Unis-Résonne.”

“No,” Taika suddenly spoke.

“What?” All eyes were on the lunar Resonator. Her head was lowered, fangs barred, ears folded back. Her eyes glowed violently with blue rhythm, her pupils almost invisible from the bright glow.

“You can’t make me go back!” the lunar barked.

“W-wait Taika-” Shouri went to grab her, but she smacked his hands away.

“I’m not going back there! You can’t make me!” she shouted, her voice growing louder with each cry.

Shouri looked around quickly, noting they had attracted the attention of the security guards stationed around the terminal.

“Taika be reasonable, those goons were strong! Way stronger than us!” Rebecca countered.

“No no NO! Not Unis-Résonne!! I’m not going back!” Taika turned and tried to run, but Rebecca shot herself at the fleeing Resonator and tackled her to the ground. Pacifica ran over and helped in the restraint efforts.

Shouri stood frozen, watching in silent horror as this all transpired. He couldn’t feel Taika’s rhythm anymore.

“YOU CAN’T MAKE ME GO BACK THERE! I’M NOT GIVING UP THIS LIFE!” At this point, she was screaming as loud as she could.

“NNgh! Stop struggling! No one’s making you go back anywhere!” Rebecca grunted, really struggling to keep Taika still.

“She’s not going to listen to reason, she’s totally freaking out!” Pacifica cried out.

“NON VOGLIO TORNARE ALLA MIA VITA PRECEDENTE!!” came another heartfelt scream.

At this point, everyone was staring at them with several security personnel approaching Shouri. “Sir. Please calm your Resonators down, or we’re going to have to ask you to leave.”

“I WON’T!! NEVER EVER!! MAI E POI!!!” Taika at this point was starting to wrench herself free from Rebecca and Pacifica’s grasp.

“I can’t calm her down Sho!” Pacifica shouted.

“Sho! The button! Make her sleep!” Rebecca barked.

“Sir!” The security Maestros were now pulling tuners from their sides, their own Resonators lowering themselves into combative positioning.

Shouri's heart was pounding so hard it felt as if it would burst from his chest at any second from the force. Outside of this airport were hired guns – ones meant to bring him home, by any means necessary based on how they were willing to start a fight in public like they had. On the other hand, that horrible, awful red button…

He couldn’t do that to her! They could-

“SHOURI!” Rebecca screamed as Taika slipped free from her entrapments.

She made two steps towards freedom when suddenly she heard a voice in her head:

“Taika.”

Her entire body froze, the back of her neck suddenly growing unbearably warm. Her head suddenly pounded as the bright blue rhythm in her eyes continued to blaze wildly. Why couldn’t she move?! He only said her name! She had to get away! Failure wasn’t an option! She HAD TO!!

She would never go back! Never ever again! She’d fight to her last-

“Go to sleep.”