Darko

xxv - Kora Pelletier

The students eagerly waited in the large Valedale arena accompanied by their horses. As much as Darken had trusted Elizabeth, adding someone to the team last minute was a very risky move. Not to mention everyone wondering who it was going to be.

"Hey."

Darken came out of his thoughts at the sound of the girl's voice. He leaned toward Anne. "What's up?"

"Has Elizabeth told you anything?"

He was still puzzled at the query. "What?"

She rolled her eyes playfully. "The person. Do you know who she's going to add?"

"Oh, no,-no I don't have the faintest clue." He ran his hands through his hair. The boy had other things on his mind rather than the competition. They were in a life or death situation and all Elizabeth could think about was adding another student to the team? It baffled him to say the least.

His gaze was then drawn to a different familiar face. One that he hadn't seen since yesterday.

"Hey Elise!" Anne shouted, hoping to grasp her attention.

The raven haired girl ignored the gesture, leading Melania next to Darken. She looked utterly exhausted. The bags underneath her eyes could be spotted from several feet away, her hair was in knots, and her attitude,- well her attitude was the exact same.

Darken didn't say a word until she was lined up with the rest of the students.

"Nice of you to come, sleeping beauty."

Elise snapped her head to the side so that she was looking at Darken head on.

Darken smirked. He had remembered the insult that was hurled at him the first day of class. But obviously Elise Nihili had forgotten all about it.

She let out a breath, attempting to keep her composure and not slap Darken right then and there. "I need to talk to you."

He kept his gaze straight forward, furrowing his eyebrows. There could be a list of reasons why his sister wanted to talk to him, but he wanted to narrow it down as much as possible. "Why?"

"It's about,-well." She bit her lip, her eyes hastily scanning her surroundings. "Can you just meet me,- at the barn after class?"

Darken scrunched his face from some dirt that flew in his eye. He didn't say anything for a moment.

"I understand if you don't want to talk to me because of the incident yesterday." She said in a mortified tone. "I was a complete idiot..and.. I'm sorry."

Darken was about to respond to her apology when Elizabeth cut him off.

"Okay everyone." She made a few claps with her hands. "It's about time I kept you all from waiting."

"Think about it." Elise subtly suggested.

Darken kept his eyes on the woman, trying to push the "Elise dilemma" aside.

Elizabeth smiled, moving off to the side. A girl with dark skin and short brown hair entered the arena. She led a tall, bay colored horse with a blaze that traced down it's face.

"Everyone, this is Kora Pelletier."

The students looked at each other before greeting her with different varieties of "heys" and "hellos."

The girl acknowledged them with a soft smile. She slowly moved a strand of hair out of her face that was interfering with her line of sight. However, it didn't seem to help due to the wind that blew soon afterward. She swung the reigns over her horse's head, approaching the saddle on the left side. Everyone made soft mumbles at the turn of events while Darken just narrowed his eyes.