Team SHDW Volume 1 [REWRITTEN]

Chapter 8: The Stray

Hazel never considered herself the fangirl-sort, but she just couldn't help but get excited when the Vytal Festival was beginning to get prepared in town. She may have come from Mistral, a place where festivities were very commonplace, but this was a chance to see how a foreign kingdom did things, and it was shaping up to be exciting! Back in Mistral, where all of the celebrations she'd witnessed were formal, this Vytal Festival was casual, which was a big relief to Hazel. She'd rather not have to wear that uncomfortable school uniform anywhere else.

She walked beside Dante and in front of the rest of her team, looking around wildly so much that one might think she was watching a sped up tennis match, as well as occasionally spinning around to get a full view of the area. It was honestly kind of adorable.

"Hazel, I know this is a new experience for you," Skyler stated, though his annoyance came off more as amusement, "But is this really that big of a deal?"

"Are you kidding?" Hazel said as she turned around to walk backwards and talk to her partner. "This is my first time being involved in one of the Vytal Festivals! I'm soaking in all of this as much as I can!"

"Yeah, but aren't you from Mistral?" Dante interjected. "You know, the place that practically invented festivals?"

"Well yeah, but me and my mom never could attend. They were always formal, and we weren't exactly rolling in nice clothes. And that includes the Vytal Festival when it's held in Mistral, which is annoying and, might I say, very exclusive to people like us."

Walker shrugged, "Fair enough. Let's just let her have this, guys. Might as well have her soak it all in now and not sequentially over the next few years."

Hazel grinned at him, "See? Someone gets it."

And with that, she spun back around to keep glancing everywhere, only to accidentally slam into someone who had mirrored her movement.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Hazel and the person scolded in unison before they both blinked. "Oh, it's you."

Dante helped her up at the same time Uriel helped up Auriel. Apparently, Team ATUM's leader had much too swiftly turned away from a nearby concession stand, simultaneously trying to further extort her teammates for money. Hazel would've called it karma, had that not been Auriel's usual behavior over the past few weeks. The proper word for her was 'cheapskate'.

"So, what're you guys doing out here?" Meta asked them.

"Same as you, I'm guessing," Walker replied. "Though mostly just to satisfy Hazel's curiosity. She's never been to the Vytal Festival before."

"Really?" Tatiana said in her regular timid voice. "Even I've been to at least two, despite... uh, never mind..."

Hazel raised an eyebrow at the remark, but decided not to press on what seemed to be a personal issue, "Yeah. My mom and I aren't exactly rolling in cash."

"Well, I say you're gonna have an awesome time!" Auriel exclaimed excitedly. "The epic fights in the tournament, the delicious food, different cultures, friends with money to mooch off of-"

"Which isn't the point," Uriel interjected sharply, slightly glaring at his leader.

"Which isn't the point..." Auriel repeated, though not nearly as enthusiastically. "Well, the point is, it's awesome! But I guess this'll be all our first times actually participating in one as Hunters in training! Oh, this is gonna be so cool!"

"Yeah, I know, right?" Dante smiled widely, as equally excited as she was. "Fighting other teams in the tournament is gonna be so much fun!"

Then he began to frown, "Oh gods... Am I turning into Yang?!"