Fairyland Chronicles - Character Side Stories

[Summerstream]

(Beep beep)

“ACK!! Oww....”

The impact from falling off the branch she was napping on jarred her awake. Rubbing her head, she looked up at the branch two meters above her, then at the leaves she had piled to cushion her fall. The paladin felt more refreshed than she had been before closing her eyes to rest on the tree branch. Summerstream figured out that the fall would jarr her awake, and keep her nightmares from haunting her.

At least, assuming she had a tree she could hide in. The hiding place in Louyang had only one tree she could safely perch in, and even that was risky. A groan escaped, and she pulled herself to her feet. There would probably be a bruise on her hip later. Her feet took her inside the building, and she poked her head into the room that Ezekiel was using to sleep. He was still out cold, partially due to her, which she regretted deeply. With a quiet sigh, she went into her room to make herself look presentable – some powder to hide the features that had caused the boys to beat her, the lotus shape on her forehead, her darker eyes, and after a moment's hesitation, she took out a small white container with two wells and stared at it, before opening it. Inside, a pair of brown contacts.

“...Considering what's going on, I'll have to...” she whispered, and opened it, staring at the silver mirror. With a squint, she took off her glasses and dipped her fingers in the small pot of water, and inserted them, blinking rapidly after each insertion. Summerstream winced as they slid into place, and her vision cleared. It looked like a completely different woman was staring back at her. She smiled faintly, then changed into her more traditional garb, a simple navy blue qi pao, with a single slit up the left leg and a dark orange dragon design tracing its way up the right. She then left quietly, carefully closing the door, and went to the market.

Once in the market, a newspaper was shoved into her hands by a passing boy, and she looked down at it. She almost swore, but bit her lip. Staring at her was a picture of her, wearing her armor, among a sketched picture of Ezekiel, and images of Lucretia and Cynbel. Instead of looking at it more, she folded it and calmly put it under her arm with a faint smile, before continuing on her way through the market. An hour later, she returned to the hideout with basic medicines, and some food. In another bag, she had buns that had just been baked. She was happy with her haul, and put the items away.

The picture of her family caught itself in the corner of her eye, and she turned to stare at it. Bushido hugging her from behind, and in their arms they were both holding Tyr and Freyr, both two at the time. The four of them all wore happy smiles on her face. She thought back to the paper that laid on the table, and her nightmares. Her eyes watered slightly.

“Half-breed.... Do I really belong with them?”

Her voice was barely a whisper, when she realized she did not have the answer to her own question. Summerstream picked up the picture frame to look at it, then set it back down. She returned to her room to remove the contacts, and to put her glasses back on. The next thing she did, was return to her tree perch.

Her soft sobs were hidden by the rustling leaves.