The Phoenix Who Rides Upon the Wind

Chapter 1: A Strange Task

Fu Hua clenched her jaw as she sprinted along the tidy brick path. She had not gone for a morning jog in a long while, so it was refreshing when a cool blast of air hit her face.
The class monitor had chosen to tie her hair up in a ponytail, a fading memory of her previous preferences. She let herself express a small smile as the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, and sighed as she reached the end of her run. Her classmates at St. Freya would be having breakfast soon, and Kiana was too much to handle for Major Himeko in the morning.
She enjoyed walking back to the school. It was peaceful.
That is until something came sprinting at her in a blinding flash of color.
Fu Hua's muscle memory took over as she smoothly slipped away from her attacker and brought an elbow down between their shoulders, sweeping their hands behind their back through their own force.
She stopped the pressure on her attacker's back when she noticed her classmate's tell-tale thick white braids laying on the ground.
"Really, Kiana," Fu Hua chastised. "You need to train more."
"Oooww!!" Kiana rubbed her nose, taking a second to hear the class monitor's comment. "Wait- Hey! I'm plenty strong. Soon I'll be climbing the ranks, and I'll be the one to take you down." Kiana stated proudly.
"If only you could reflect that confidence in your test scores." Fu Hua offered a hand to Kiana, who gladly took and pulled herself off the ground.
"Oh! I almost forgot," Kiana chirped. "Mei made waffles!"

• • •

The sun had sunk behind the clouds again. A shame, for it was almost midday and Fu Hua wanted to walk around the park before her mission. She had practically dragged Kiana out the door to get here- she was not going to let a few clouds ruin the outing.
"Kiana!" She called out. Kiana stopped her intense staredown with a pigeon and ran up to Fu Hua. "Is it time to go yet?" She asked, clearly trying to hide her excitement about adventuring the city.
"Yes." Fu Hua ran through the task in her head again. It was hard to hold on to memories nowadays, so she had to ruffle through her mind to find the details. "You'll survey the exterior. If anything goes wrong, don't hesitate to contact me." Hua offered a communication device to Kiana. She pouted at her seemingly lackluster task, but obliged all the same and took the device from Hua's outstretched hands.
There was a short walk still, and the class monitor chose to fill the time with silence and contemplation as Kiana bubbled over with her usual talkative self.
Hua wasn't sure why Major Himeko had asked her to take a look at this building on the side, or why she had asked her to take Kiana along. There was definitely something amiss about the whole thing, but the class monitor kept on with the task.
"We're here. Stay low unless you see something." Fu Hua told Kiana. They had arrived at a clean white bricked building, old but kept in good condition. The only sign on the door was a lazily taped sheet of paper that spelled, 'Appointments only. Come back later.' She pushed open the glass door and entered into a dimly lit hallway. Major had asked her to search for a document addressed to someone with the initials of D.E., and suggested she look on the lower floors.
Hua slipped through the faint light with the grace of a dancer, deciding to take caution. Once she got downstairs, she started checking the doors. Most were locked, but after a minute or two of searching one of the handles allowed her to slowly open the door.
She couldn't help but let out a gasp when she saw what was inside- a massive machine that looked like a disfigured satellite dish. It seemed impossible for something this big to be hidden in a building this small. What was going on here?
Deciding to take a closer look at the room, Hua slipped inside. Suddenly, she heard the door creak quickly open. She whipped around only to find Kiana standing sheepishly at the door.
Fu Hua rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Kiana, you need to stop doing that."
"I was just curious! You're the one who-" Kiana's excuse was interrupted by a loud rumbling noise coming from the machine.
They both turned towards the dish. It had started to power up, a bar on the side showing its energy level. It was rising. Quickly.
"Kiana! Get out!" The class monitor yelled a few seconds before a blinding white light surrounded her vision, then turning to black as she fell with a thud to the ground.

Author's Note: Please feel free to leave your feedback and suggestions in the comments! I love hearing your opinions, so be sure to tell me what you think!