The Pilot of the Shadows

The Bullied

The school day was just like any. Winter was carrying her small pack of papers and books on the planet of Angelia. She had put a smile on her face even though she knew that her tormentors wouldn't miss out bullying her for how smart and nerdy she was. Winter was also only 17 standing at the height of 5'5" tall. She wasn't strong nor was she very fit like the other girls but she was slim. She had chestnut brown hair that was very short, kind of like a pixie cut but faded on the sides and back with light icy blue eyes that her mother called 'The windows to the ocean'. She chuckled a bit as she how her mother described her eyes but was quickly taken out of her train of thought by a hard shove to her back, making her fall on her face.

"Ha! Look at this twerp. She thought we weren't going to have a little fun with her today, now did she?" The voice that she had long to hate was standing behind her. She turned around to sit up, looking up at her bully and his accomplices. "Your just as weak and nerdy as always, Winter" She hates the way he said her name. It sounded so sarcastic and rude.

"Can I not go one day without you guys bullying me?" She spoke up, tired of them constantly bullying her. She stood up after she said that, keeping her glare locked on to her main bully, Mark. "You guys have nothing better to do then bully a girl who has the highest grades and better mechanical skills then you? You truly are just pathetic, aren't you?"

Mark snarled and shoved her again, grabbing her neck and smashing her into the wall. His buddies laughing behind him.

"Your the only one who's pathetic here. Your weak and have no athletic skills. Your just a nerd who studies and thinks she knows what she's doing with mechanical problems" He smirked as his hand around her neck tightened, making her choke. "Your just a waste of fresh air and space!"

Just then an instructor turned the corner, seeing Mark pinning Winter by her throat against the wall. The instructor gasped and ran to them, yelling at Mark to let Winter go. After much complaining, Mark finally let go of Winter who dropped to the ground, gasping for air while gently holding her neck. After a few moments, Winter was back on her feet and in her first class. Her neck still throbbed from the pain of being choked, it was the first time Mark had done that to her. The first period finally finished after what felt like forever, meaning it was lunch now. Winter went to go sit alone under a tree to eat the lunch, that her mother made for her that day. It was her mother's gift to her.

"Oh look what we got ourselves here. The runt of the school!" Winter sighed as she knew who was coming up behind her, Mark. She seriously hated this guy.

"What do you want now, Mark? Came to finish what you started or just came to mock me?" She looked up at Mark, whom was surprisingly alone this time.

"Woah woah woah, I had to come over with a peace offering. Stupid fucking instructors are making me and watching me, so here have this" He handed her a well-made sandwich, which she hesitated to take.

"Thank you...? I'm not really sure what to say" She looked at him with a confusion write on the features of her face. "Your always trying to hurt me or bully me so this isn't something I'm used to..."

"Well don't get used to this. It won't happen again" And with that, he turned and left back to his buddies which laughed at him but were quickly shushed by a death glare from Mark. She placed the sandwich beside her as she picked up a small notebook in which she had written all her upcoming field trips written in, looking at a date for this month. A trip to Typhon was tomorrow and she was already packed. Winter couldn't wait to see the beautiful wildness of Typhon.

"Tomorrow will be a good day, not even Mark could ruin my mood for that day" She whispered to herself with a small smile. Soon lunch was over, it was time for second period which felt like it went past in a flash. When the bell rang, Winter was rushing home to see her mother and to make sure that she had everything she needed for the trip. The trip to Typhon would be a 3 day camping trip. All the necessary procedures would be in place when they got there.

She opened her front door and walked inside her house, closing the front door behind her, and placed her stuff by the door before calling out to her mother.

"Mom? I'm home!" She waited for the friendly call back, which she didn't have to wait long for.

"Oh hello Winter! How was school, hun?" She came around the corner with a big smile which always put a smile on Winter's face.

"It was surprisingly quick. But Mark was at it again with the bullying. I finally stood up for myself!" Winter spoke proudly, her mother walked over and hugged her tight.

"That's my daughter! I'm so proud of you!" Her mother pulled away, looking into her eyes. "You are such a beautiful and strong-willed girl, I knew you would stand up to him one day"

"Thank you, Mom" She smiled even wider, the feeling of her mother being proud of her was overwhelmingly, but made her feel warm and safe. "So how was the day while I was away?"

"Oh you know, boring without you. But I did get some much needed cleaning out of the way and made you food for your trip. Yes, I know that they will provide you with food but I wanted you to be extra prepared. I also looked over what you had packed and put a few surprises in your stuff." Her mother smiled softly at her. Winter had always thought that her mother was the most kind person in the world and here she was just making that thought even better. "Now run along, go check out what I packed for you"

"Thank you so much, Mom!" Winter gave her mother one last hug before running up to her room, very curious to see what her mother packed. When she got up to her room, she saw that her luggage looked the same but with my mother's packing skills anything could be in there. She unzipped her things and looked inside, a helmet laid snug inside her bag. She gently pulled it out and saw that a note fell out of it, placing the helmet down, she grabbed the note and sat on her bed. She opened the note and it read;

''Dear Winter,
I know I won't be around when you get older so I am writing this note for you. I love you so much, my little blizzard. You mean so much to me and I'm so sorry that I can't be there in person to give you this gift. I want you to have my helmet, a Pilot helmet. From me to you. I've wanted to give to you for a while but your mother said I couldn't because of how young you were. Oh! Please tell your mom that I love her. I will forever watch over you. Own the storm, my little blizzard, own the storm.

Signed,
Dad'

Winter sat on her bed, in tears. A note from her long dead father was exactly what she need to make her strong. Her father was the pilot of a Titan named AX-6391, or Axe, in the Militia army. He was the best pilot that they had but he disobeyed orders and went on a mission alone, leading to his death. His helmet was sent back to us upon request of my father before his death. She was very grateful that her mother had packed this for her and she was determined to bring it along on her trip now.

"I will bring you along with me on my trip, Dad... You can see what I'll see as if you were there with me" She smiled and hugged her Dad's helmet before slowly drifting off to sleep.

[1414 words, proofread]
A/n
Hello everyone! A very long chapter, eh? This is my first story that I will be trying to write long chapters for y'all, that may mean that that chapters will take a bit to get out but please bare with me. I got a surprise for you all in the next couple chapters.

- Snow ❄️