A teardrop in a sunny storm

Chapter 1: Soulmate

Chara. A lovely dark haired girl living in the north part of the Iganog forrest with her father.

She had been walking down a black road in search of something to satisfy her curiosity. Barefooted she walked on the dusty road. She stumbled on a verticle bolder, nearly a head higher than her. Chara touched it - It had a a scar on the side, marble was showing. There was a small, unclear path that started beside the stone. Still curious, Chara continued. The branches and their leaves were thicker and had grown lower than on most trees.

The weather was sunny and warm. But oddly, as she walked further, it felt more humid than anything. There was a branch that had cracked and laid crooked on the path. Chara tried to lift it up, with great effort, she managed to lift it enough to move it to the side. Her hands ached. Chara saw a river in the distance. She smiled. The sight of water made her happy. She enjoyed dipping her feet in the chilly water while they were being pushed by the current. It reminded her of how her mother cleaned her legs ocassionally...at the time...

She reached the river, treading slowly near the edge of the shore.

Chara went into the river. Water wet her all the way up to her chest. She decided to take a deep breath and take a dive. She grabbed her nose and went underneath. Chara got up due to the liquid that had flooded her ears. She wiggled her head, then tried to open her eyes. A fish swimming near her caught her attention. Chara reached for the fish. In response, it swam out of the water and almost touched her nose. Chara backed off scared from that near encounter.

She accidentally touched the dirty shore while returning to dry land.

She brushed it off her clothes. Chara continued down the river. Soon she saw a giant flat

rock and a tree that had grown next to it.

The tree was slim, partially leaning over the river.

There were peaches on that tree, hanging, begging to be eaten.

Chara grabbed the outer side of the flat stone and climbed onto it. She laid exhausted. The surface of the rock was hot. But that didn't bother her.

Chara got up and reached for a peach or two.

She grabbed one, then went for another one. Glad of her seccessful collection of two juicy fruits so far, she jumped for another one. Her hand couldn't get a good grip on it, so she tries again while holding the other two in between her chest and the inner part of her arm.

She jumps again, this time she managed to grab the peach, but didn't manage to land properly on the large flat rock.

Chara grabs the tree so she doesn't fall. Sadly for her, she drops the peaches in the process...

She followes the three peaches on the surface of the river being pushed by the current. She dove without thinking. Chara made a big splash as she went face first into the water. Moments later, her joyful expression comes afloat. She had saved a peach from the horrors of the current. She got out and sat with her back against the rock.

Chara chew on it joyfully.

Almost finished with the peach, she feels the presence of someone else...

She looks back at the big black eyes hiding in the bush.

A little rustle starts before the creature sprined straight out of the bush and jumped onto Chara. She covered her eyes in fear. The creature grabbed her peach and backed off. It was a raccoon.

Her breathing slowly went back to normal. The raccoon ran off with it's fluffy tail wiggling left and right. "Enough exploring for today" Thought Chara. She ran, anxious of where the raccoon went. She smacked her left foot against a smooth rock buried in the ground.