edelweiss - &team

prologue

Smoke and dust hung in the still, static air, too afraid to budge. Among rubble and rocks, a dirty hand suddenly shot through, clawing up and revealing a young man. The man coughed and wiped at the dirt caked on his face. As he slumped down against the pile of rock, gritty sand under him, a cleaner hand stuck out towards him.

The man turned his head and grinned, accepting the hand and standing up. "Did we get it?" He asked, still slightly breathless. The other man who had helped him up returned a sweet smile, "We did. Harua is such a blessing."

Harua shrugged easily, a patch of soot on his cheek. "Well, let's not do that again," He cheerfully remarked as he shut a thick leather book in his hands and tossed it into the air, where it vanished.

Another man beside him, spotless and barely breaking a sweat, stretched and yawned, before saying, "Maki, aren't you gonna clean yourself up? You look like you were rolling around in the dirt."

Maki frowned as he dusted himself off and said, "Says the person who wasn't tossed head first into the ground, Yuma."

Yuma tossed his head and beamed, "I'd never be caught by a clumsy thing like that." Maki clenched his fist playfully, before the person who helped him up raised a hand to interrupt. "We've done our job and we're tired now. Let's clean up and rest, then figure out what to do."

"Alright then. Harua, are you certain this will work?"

Harua scrunched his nose, "As always, I can never be completely sure. Nevertheless, I will check on it regularly."

"Ah, that was exhausting."

"Riki, you must have done the least work today."

"You're such an ass, Yixiang. I-"

"Enough, are you two kids?"

As they walked and chatted, Maki suddenly turned to take a look at the shimmering net barrier coating a large hole in the ground. "I hope to never have to see this again," He mumbled to himself, before catching up with the rest.