The Girl in the Cloak

Happy...

The training took up countless hours and before she knew it Rains birthday had come. She was turning nineteen years of age, and it was the first birthday she could remember having with her mother around. The year before had been tragic when she was given the news her only lead was a false one, and yet somehow she had still found her family. Things had been surprisingly good. She spent every waking minute sore. It didn't bother her. She spent every sleeping minute drifting through her memories. This also didn't bother her. The little bit of time she had to herself was spent thinking of how to make her father pay for what he had done, and still, she didn't mind this. All she truly cared about was she was with her family. Between Luna and Fa-Lees she was perfectly happy. Her and storm had become closer through the training. The svern Pup had become a big boy, a really big boy. His head was now was at her head's level. They looked at each other in the eyes when Storm stood next to her. The beast had become very muscular and gained much weight. Gone were the days of being held. Now when he wanted to cuddle the girl cuddled into him instead. He was white pelt was always beautiful, even when covered in dirt or blood. The both of them had learned many new tricks. The girl in the cloak knew she had yet to gain mastery over her powers but knew she had become well adept in them. She could now do things she had. Never even dreamed of before, and even had theories of skills she had that wouldn't work in this realm but may just work in others.

The training would have to wait for another time. Today was her birthday and she had decided that she would have a good time. She and the storm were playing throughout the halls when she got called by a familiar voice. Fa-Lees was borrowing the kitchen from the cooks that were "on staff". She loved what they had been cooking and thought it might be time for her to learn some things. Even though she spent many hours working out and keeping her skills she somehow still found time to practice cooking. At first, it was all inedible nonsense. Combinations of flavors that should never be combined or even just plain burnt to a crisp. Rain always tried to eat what she made because she didn't want the basic foster mother to feel bad. But every once in a while she would outdo herself and make something that even Storm couldn't stomach. Today Fa was in the kitchen working on something with all of her focus. Rain tried to get a good look but couldn't quite make it out.

"Hey! No!" Fa rushed over to the girl and the svern flailing her arms around. "No peeking you. Go somewhere else. I'm sure you have plenty of fun things you can do, just don't do them here!" The girl tried to look around the woman with her arms flailing about but was blocked at every attempt. Finally, she gave up and started back down the hall. She decided she wanted to explore some of the grounds. She made her way to her favorite place in the entire realm, The tree she created the first time she was able to use her powers. The tree had grown thick and sturdy over the time she had been training. It was strong and unwavering. It made the girl proud of herself. She felt it grew stronger as she did. So the bigger the better as far as she was concerned. When she got to it she laid down and watched the fruit sway in the breeze. The fruit had become full stars. She sometimes wondered if the stars were actually their own little galaxies. She would imagine a girl like herself in one of the star fruit universes, being alone and not knowing who her family was, but all the while making her own way and family. She had come to realize over the time spent in the twilight that she was rather proud of what she had done. She had won many fights and saved the people she cared most for along with people she had never even met. She had killed, this she wasn't proud of, but she was proud that the lives she took had made some people's lives better. She knew she had done many bad things but also knew she never let them corrupt her in any way. She had faith in those she called family, and though one of them was no longer with them she knew he would be as proud of her as she was. Though she was embarrassed when she first called Fa her mother, she would not change the title for the world. She now saw it as having two mothers. She didn't mind it at all. She only worried it would offend Luna. She still had yet to call her mother to her face.

"Little kitten. Here you go." Rain opened her eyes to see both Fa and Luna standing over her. Without knowing it she had fallen asleep under the galaxy tree. She saw that Fa was holding a cake. Her face, arms, and chest were all covered in flower. Surprised she looked over at Luna and was even more surprised. The typically flawless woman had a dot of blue icing on her nose and over her left eyebrow. She had obviously tried to clean herself up more then Fa did but missed those two spots. Fa placed the small cake down in front of Rain as Luna kept Storm from getting his teeth into it.

"Happy Birthday!" Both of the women shouted as Luna handed the girl in the cloak a fork. She took a bite and smiled with icing all over her teeth.

"It's perfect."