Shadow of Elements

Rising Doubts

Day after day, night after night, her dreams were slipping into reality. She often woke up seeing more broken glass. As of late, seeing knives scattered about was to be expected. This prompted her to use her free time for a rigorous training regiment. Sometimes she practiced her techniques on a sandbag, others she'd request a sparring partner to blow off steam. She took on the toughest training simulators and yet she was not satisfied. This was rather worrying to her fellow Hunters. One day she was sparring with StormEagle, who was a trusted friend of hers. During one of his strikes, he knocked her down. This was followed up by a hand outstretched to her as if to help her up.

"Hey, Alpha? I've noticed you're more aggressive than usual... What's going on?" Alpha groaned and took his hand. She stood up.
"I must get better! Something's come back to haunt me...!" She lashes out, nearly baring her teeth.
"Oi oi oi... Easy there... Calm down... Take a deep breath. You do know you fight a lot better when you're calmer right?" The avianoid replies. The smaller red hunter would take a few breaths. "Now tell me... Why must you get better? What's going on?"
"Alright..." Alpha had managed to calm down. "Since Sigma has been gone, I've started to get nightmares... I think you'd remember Sukaji since you used to work with him..."
"I do.... I also recall you telling me that he visited you during your nightmares when you first became a hunter... Is this the case now?"
"It is... I've talked to X and Zero a few days ago about this, but it seems as if they only see it as just a dream."
"What's changed? I know those two aren't the most superstitious folks out there, but they do seem to take things rather cautiously."
"When I talked to them, they suggested that there might be a message behind the dreams. As of late... Some things have been left scattered around my living quarters... There's been broken glass wherever I went... Graffiti is etched on the mirror.... A skeleton's been left... Not to mention, some of the injuries I got in the dreams started appearing..."
"There's got to be a motive behind this.... I am baffled that Sukaji's even doing this... I thought he would be more direct... You might want to look out for more of these things. They might be clues. " The avianoid would look at Alpha's arm. "In the meantime, unless you want to get literally disarmed, I also recommend going to med bay. It's a peaceful time here and I don't think anyone would want one of their most respected hunters to have a premature retirement." The avianoid would soon usher the red hunter out of the training area. Alpha heaves a sigh. As much as she had protested, she knew StormEagle was right. She still needs to take care of herself.

After repairs, StormEagle helped Alpha over to her living quarters. "Just take it easy Alpha.... Just take a moment to think... There's a message behind the things he left. You just need to decipher them."
"Alright then.... I'll see what I can figure out..." When the purple avianoid left, she would look back to her living quarters. She picks up the skull and bones and looks at them. She notices that some of the bones were missing. To be specific many of the blue ones were gone. What does it mean? Was this a timer? Was this a mortality gauge? She went to the mirror and saw that another pair of hands was drawn on. Once again, it was a flaming hand locked with a shadowy hand. "I got it the first time... You want a fight..." She bitterly mutters. "But what does it all mean...?!??" She glances over to a new object. She inspects it. "An icy crystal...?" Alpha was unsure of what the new clue meant, but she figured if she slept on her question, an answer may come to her.