Shikaku and the Raven of the Midnight Void

Reunify

It was a dark and cloudy day. Raindrops danced across the sky, patting the ground and the ocean with a soft shp, shp, shp. The gale followed along with the rain, howling and spreading a hard chill across the city of Averlyn.

On the shore and in the distance, a girl stood straighter in the moonlight, sailing on a small brown boat. She looked around, checking the area, when she sat down to sail her boat a bit further. Her pale skin was bright in the rain, and her blue eyes sparkled in the dim light. She had dirty, long black hair that was softly billowing in the wind. She frowned slightly as she fixed up her pitch-black snakeskin jacket, and put her dagger in her brown leather bag that she was carrying.

She took her bow and arrow out of her back pouch, which also contained her gold and silver katana. She soon lifted it up, took aim next to the reflecting, dark water and-

Shwick.

The arrow embedded itself right in the middle of a tree trunk. The rain, still drizzling on that palm tree, began to sprinkle on the arrow too.

"I guess I didn't lose my aiming skills then," Shikaku Unami muttered, putting her bow back in its pouch. "Wonder if my dueling is as good..."

Putting her bag to the side, she sailed a bit closer as the rain showered upon her.

2 years ago, she had gone to Lymius to train to be an adventurer, since it was such a popular route for most people. Lymius was notorious for its strange, dangerous creatures and unknown disasters. Some people even thought that the residents there had magical powers. Experienced explorers taught many young pupils how to survive there. Entranced with the idea of a difficult and exciting life as an adventurer, she set off to train with all her might. Shikaku knew it would be hard. Her life was filled with training drills, exploration tests, and many, many injuries. But at last, she finished her hard training on a fresh March day. Finally, with a twinge of nostalgia, Shikaku sailed back to the city of Averlyn.

Soft rain trickled down Shikaku's black hair as she stepped off her small, creaking boat onto a nearby grassy beach side, still holding her dagger. Her leather bag, clinking with all sorts of souvenirs, weapons, and metal coins, was slowly decorated with dark brown, wet spots as it swung with Shikaku's step. The water on her bag began to soak into her dark blue tights.

She smiled. Averlyn's rose bushes and orchid flowers seemed to smile back at her, disregarding the rain as it landed on their petals and leaves, leaving only small glassy orbs of water on the green skin of the flowers. The palm trees swayed in the wind as the rain dripped on their large leaves and their trunks with a soft shp... shp... shp. After a few seconds on the palm leaves, the shiny, colorless blobs slid down them and they magnificently drifted down.

However, not even this rain could dampen her spirits. Shikaku admired the landscape. There were so many flowers blooming, forming a rainbow of flora. Shikaku walked up to the tree she had shot, and with a quick swipe of her hand, she retrieved her arrow. She then walked a bit further from the beach, and onto the street. Her smile widened. She was finally in Averlyn. She was back home.

She looked around, immediately recognizing the many flowers and plants, rustling as Shikaku walked past them. Although it looked just like your normal street, the city of Averlyn was famous for its mass variety of greenery. There were so many grasses, shrubs, vines and weeds- there wasn't even a native plant, since there were so many different plants that could live there. It was a very peaceful place. In addition, Averlyn had perfect weather. Nobody got sick, since there were many specialists that could simply mix some of the many herbs there and use it to heal. Other than that, it was about as modern as you could get. There were houses, schools, and companies, all made of concrete and wood. But many plants still managed to slip and grow onto the hard streets. It almost looked like a deserted city, as all the verdure went all over the place.

Shikaku skipped her way out of the freeway next to the beach, which was still bursting with many kinds of foliage that even she didn't know the names of. Her white shoes crunched as she stepped on the grass. She walked past a highway filled with lavenders, then crossed a road with beautiful sunflowers (but with a nasty infestation of weeds) and jumped over an avenue with many hibiscus shrubs.

Finally, she arrived at a small street with only 7 houses. There was a big Japanese maple tree with small pinkish orangish tulips blooming on the road. It was indeed a strange combo, but Shikaku always thought it reminded her of home-- because, it indeed was where she lived.

She ducked under one of the branches and went to her house- a shabby, light blue colored building. Shikaku walked up to the oak door and knocked on it.

"Hello? It's Shikaku."

It was quiet for a moment, but before long, there were some hasty footsteps, and then-

"SHIKAKU! Shikaku! Oh, how I've missed you!"

She was greeted with the beaming face of her mom. However, she only saw it for a millisecond before she leaped at her.

Her mom hugged her tightly, squeezing her stomach. "Shikaku, my darling, you've grown.. Do you want to rest here for a bit?"

"Agh, get off me Mom, and don't treat me like that, I'm 15 years old!" Shikaku choked as she pushed her off.

"Oh, you're finally back..." her mother simpered tearfully, ignoring what Shikaku had just said.

"Jeez, shut it, you're usually always so cold with me..." Shikaku rolled her eyes, though she was happy too.

Her mother chuckled. "Sure I am, but this is a different occasion. Your father is working right now... ah, you must be tired.... Why don't you go to your bedroom and sleep a bit? Your brothers all wanted to wreck your room, but I didn't let them..."

"Oh, thank gods Mom... Hikari and Atachi are like trucks, they can destroy anything....especially Hikari."

Her mom looked a bit upset when Shikaku described them that way. "Ah, well.... Don't say that about your brothers. Hikari didn't MEAN it when he accidentally blew up your bed...."

Again, Shikaku rolled her eyes. "Sure, Mom."

Shikaku had 2 older brothers, Hikari and Atachi, that she thought were super annoying. They constantly broke her stuff, teased her about the stupidest things, and embarrassed her in front of all her friends. And they never admitted to doing anything ("We were just talking to her!") and quickly rebutted when Shikaku complained to her mom ("She's just a whiner, Mom, we weren't doing any of what she said!") This used to frustrate her so much, but after a while, it just rolled off.

She gave her one last hug before she went into her room. It was simple: there was a small wooden closet on the right corner of the room, a bed right next to it, and a desk. To the left, there was a separate room for a bathroom. Shikaku rolled onto her bed, and started to sleep.