Edan & Hima: The Awakening

Chapter Three

The town became boisterous with noise as the villagers filled the streets. Multiple stands of games lined both sides of the streets and many of them had lines forming in front of them. There were young shifters shouting and cheering as they ran through the crowds. Once or twice it would be an older shifter running around like a child. They were all excited about the festival, and many were even more excited after hearing the news of a certain shifter joining two of the games: Powder War and the Element Battles.

"Did you hear the news, Kathy?" asked one shifter as she approached another.

A slender young woman stood against the wall watching the crowds of young and old shifters. This was Kathy—a stern and cold young lady who had a resentment for only one person in the world: her sister.

Kathy had her arms crossed over her chest and turned her head to her friend. "What news?"

"Taryl signed up for the Powder War!" 

Kathy scoffed and faced away from the shifter, her black curls catching the breeze as she did. "Look, Allie, I don't care about that stupid brat. I don't know how many times I have to tell you that."

Kathy's friend, Allie, was shocked by the young woman's response. However, it took her a moment to remember how Kathy felt about the shifter. Kathy felt threatened by Taryl and had always felt that way for the past fifteen years. But her hatred for Taryl grew after the tragedy that occurred just last year. 

"Sorry," Allie muttered. She held her hands together in front of her and looked to the ground. 

Kathy continued to watch the crowd of shifters that walked by. A scowl painted her face as the thought of Taryl invaded her mind. 

"She also signed up for the Element Battles," Allie quickly added.

"Allie!" Kathy snarled. But then she stopped, and a thought crossed her mind. "The Element Battles?"

Allie's body shook slightly, and she took a cautious step away from Kathy. But a smirk slowly tugged at the corner of Kathy's lips and Allie became worried. "Y-yeah," she mumbled.

"Oh, that's... surprising," Kathy chuckled. "I never knew my sister was a fighter."

"Erm... yeah, it surprised me, too," confessed Allie.

"This'll be interesting," said Kathy.

* * *

Bennett tugged Taryl behind her as the two of them pushed through the crowd of shifters. Taryl tried to pull her arm free from Bennett's grasp, especially when she constantly had people stepping on her feet.

I still can't believe she signed you up for the Battles! exclaimed Iris.

Please don't remind me, begged Taryl.

Iris purred and Taryl could picture her wildcat laying there with amusement evident in her eyes. 

Taryl sighed and lifted her head to look at the decorations around the village. All of the blue and red banners that were painted with flames and snowflakes lining the outside walls of the buildings, and the streamers decorating the roofs. There was even a cutout of Fire and Ice. 

"Where is it?" growled Bennett.

"Where is what?" groaned Taryl. 

Bennett came to an abrupt stop, causing Taryl to run into her back. The young blonde lifted herself into the air and looked over the crowd of people in search of the area she was needing to be. Finally, she caught sight of the location and gave a squeak of excitement. Bennett dropped to the ground and grabbed onto Taryl's arm again.

"Found it!" Bennett yelped as she pulled Taryl along again.

"Bennett, where are we going?!" Taryl asked with annoyance.

"The Battles start in thirty minutes," Bennett informed her friend, "but you need to get there now before it gets chaotic."

Again, Taryl groaned and could hear Iris's purr of amusement get louder. The young shifter only grew more annoyed with both her wildcat and her friend. She wished she hadn't given in to Bennett's begging, but she knew that wouldn't have stopped the blonde. It was clear since Bennett already had Taryl signed up for three events even before discussing with her.

As Bennett was dragging Taryl along, Taryl's head turned into the direction of Althia's shack and noticed that the Healer's blinds were cracked open in the middle. 

Taryl's eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she stared at the pair of eyes that were looking through the blinds. The eyes met hers and the young shifter looked directly into the hazel eyes of the person inside of the shack. The pair of eyes inside widened and immediately vanished behind the blinds, and it left Taryl more confused than before. 

Just who did those eyes belong to?

Maybe they're scared of you, Iris purred.

I wouldn't be surprised, replied Taryl.

Taryl turned her head forward as Bennett only continued to pull her along towards the arena. Although she knew she had the strength to compete, she was scared that more of the villagers would, in the end, fear her rather than be confident enough to get to know the young woman. With a sigh, Taryl pushed the thought to the back of her head whilst giving in again and set her mind on winning every challenge that her friend had signed her up for.