GRAE V4 Ch.3, A Brief Vacation

     Instantly, years worth of memories came flooding back to Ember’s mind. She met the little blonde haired girl two weeks into second grade. Having noticed Ember always sitting alone, Lissa introduced herself. Ember blew out eight candles, as Lissa grinned in the background. Ember rode her bicycle through the forest with her friend by her side, her long crimson hair flowing behind her in the wind.

     She remembered the day her parents did not come home. She remembered lying alone on the bed that night, confused, wondering what she had done wrong. “I tried to be good, why aren’t they coming back?” The police came to her door. Her parents would never be returning home.

     Ember spent her time absently, gazing off into nothing. She became prone to fits of anger, lashing out at her only friend. She got detention. She was suspended. Lissa went home with a black eye. Ember was not allowed over anymore. Lissa stayed with Ember, desperately attempting to save her best friend from the future.

    Then, Ember disappeared.

     ”Lissa... I'm sorry,” Ember said. “I'm glad you know I'm alive now, but we shouldn't talk. Just think of me how I used to be. Please.”

    ”Ember, you have no idea how much I missed you!” Lissa protested. “You were my best friends! When you disappeared I cried myself to sleep for weeks!”

    “I'm sorry. Things just didn't work out for me. I'm okay now, and I thank you for your concern.”

     Lissa looked at her watch, then appeared disappointed. “Please. Meet me at the Vale shopping center at 2:00 tomorrow,” she pleaded. “I want to know you again, even if you aren't the same person.” Without another word, Lissa rushed off.

    “Was that an old friend of yours?” Greyson guessed.

     Ember nodded. “She really was my only friend before I ran away. I never was too popular,” she added. “Well, we might as well go tomorrow then, right?”

    ”Yeah, I can totally use a shopping trip right about now-- Oh! Kita needs new clothes still, perfect!” Azure rambled.

     ”Oh... goodie!” Greyson responded, feigning excitement. Azure shot him one of her signature “jokingly angry” looks.


    Not long after Team VRDE’s decisive first round victory the following day, teams GRAE and VRDE, along with Kita, piled themselves into two cars and took the rather short drive to the Vale shopping mall. Greyson and the others decided to not intrude upon Ember’s reunion with Lissa. The two had met at the food court on the top floor, middle of the mall. The restaurant choices were arranged into a “U.” Ember and Lissa sat across from each other at a small table on the outside.

     “Man, time sure has been good to you!” Lissa complimented, leaning back in her chair to admire Ember.

     “I guess it's been alright on how I look,” Ember admitted. “Sure as hell hasn't been good to me though.”

     “Oh... right,” Lissa awkwardly replied. She took a sip of lemonade. “You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. But what happened?”

    Ember summarized her time between disappearing and attending Beacon. She spoke about her final home, living on the streets, and attending Signal. Only one aspect of her past was left unspoken: The Burgundy Bandit.

    “I'm... so sorry this all happened to you.  I tried to help, but I wasn’t enough. Oh goodness, it must have been so scary with the Burgundy Bandit and Ace of Spades running around. You didn't encounter them, right? You were safe?” Lissa said. Each sentence came out more frantic than the last.

     “I did have a few run-ins with them,” Ember lied, poking aimlessly at her spaghetti with a fork. “If you weren't super rich or some big criminal they would leave you alone though.”

     “Really?” Lissa inquired, cocking her head a bit. “The news always made them out to be some ruthless monsters. A cunning female thief,  impossible to catch and feared by all! A mysterious killer who was said to disappear from one place and reappear with a knife to your throat! Honestly, I'd read a book about that!” By the end of her speech, Lissa had come only inches from Ember’s face out of sheer excitement.

     Ember flicked the tip of Lissa’s nose. “You shouldn't romanticize these things, Lissa,” she reminded. “I’m sure they’re not proud of what they did.”


     Meanwhile, the rest of the crew had decided upon entering a clothing store. Azure and Raven looked through women’s clothing toward the back of the store, attempting to find something, anything, that fit Kita’s unconventional fashion sense.

     “Hmm... I don’t think dark, baggy pants and black, hooded sweatshirts are in this season...” Azure observed, looking through a rack of dark clothing. “We could maybe find something close to what you wore when we met you, that could work.”

     “What about this?” Kita asked, holding up a black leather jacket with a deep red shirt inside of it, along with a matching red skirt. Azure looked at the outfit, then down to her own, holding the bottom of her shirt out slightly.
     “It’s not bad...” she said. “Maybe try something a little more... you?”

     Several minutes later, Kita had picked out a black V-cut tank top, outlined in red and folded over in front, a black skirt, red scarf, and a red belt, which came equipped with a sheath connector and multiple slots, perfect for Kita and her dozens of kunai. She also picked out a pair of black leggings, “to conceal her pale skin in the night.”

     “Perfect!” Azure exclaimed as Kita unlocked the door to the dressing room. “Now, we just need to fit you for some light armor for around your stomach, maybe some gloves--hey! Kita?”
Kita walked past Azure silently, then curiously held a bra out in front of her. “What is this?” she asked, beginning to tie it around her head.

     “Oh, wait no!” Azure nearly yelled. Several other customers shot confused looks in their direction. Raven tried her best to contain her laughter.

     By the end of the day, Ember was successful in catching up with Lissa, Kita was successful in purchasing new clothing, and Azure was successful in buying a brand new, beautiful sundress. The top was blue, but below a thick brown belt was a white and blue floral pattern. The sun set as the teens drove back to Beacon, ready for the next matches of the Vytal Tournament.