"It's only your second day, little mouse." Apollonia shook her head, walking over with Arden right behind her. She gave a toothed grin, her brown skin glimmering in the bright sun above. "I thought you would back out of this. But it looks like you actually just forgot."
"We can't let our warriors forget such importance." Arden lowered her eyes to me. "Now, can we?"
I had to hold back the rumbling annoyance coming from my throat. "I can't say that I forgot. I didn't get notified, nor was I told that we were meeting up at this time."
Arden nodded, her lips curling. "Really? You're not wearing your armor either.."
I quickly turned my eyes over to her, challenging her stare. "I wasn't given the wristband that everyone else has to equip the armor. That can't be my fault. I didn't have it, or else I would have been wearing the armor."
"This mouse has teeth!" Apollonia swung herself between me and the tall warrior, slightly blocking our eye contact with her armored body. She turned to the warrior who stood somewhat taller than her. "That I can take as being my fault, Arden."
The blonde angel crossed her arms, huffing slightly in annoyance.
Apollonia turned to me, a sheepish smile on her lips. "Here you are." She tossed a wristband over to me; I caught it to take a closer look. "Now, no more showing up late!" She patted my shoulder before pushing me over to the line of adolescent warriors.
Arthur was already there, looking over at me with his head tilted. I chose to ignore him, along with the other warriors, and focused instead on the new tech device that all the warriors had. It reminded me a bit of the one Arthur had shown me; although it looked similar, the back was bare, revealing only the glimmer of silver beneath.
I strapped the wristband onto my wrist, adjusting it tightly and turning it to get a better look at the technology. To my surprise, the golden metal began to change; slowly, right before my eyes, the color faded into a light purple shade. It still retained the glimmer of the silver underneath, but now, it was a soft purple.
I stood there for a while, admiring the color on my wrist.
"Alright, everybody!" Apollonia called for our attention. "We will start a few drills to get our wings stretched out for a bit. Arden will watch our session today as well."
The warriors bowed in sync, moving off into pairs that Apollonia began to form with her pointing in directions. I looked around, feeling slightly confused and uncomfortable at being left alone on the empty line. Arthur turned around to me; he came over when Apollonia was turned around.
"Press this," he motioned down to my wristband, hovering a finger above a small button that was inducted in the band. I did what he said, feeling the band buzz slightly before my vision was shadowed by something metallic.
I jolted slightly, reaching out to the thing on my head. It was my helmet; I was now wearing my armor.
"Thank you." I nodded to Arthur who rushed back to his partner that Apollonia assigned to him. She soon turned an eye to me and curled an eyebrow when looking down. I turned to see who she was, looking back and spotting Casper chewing on a stick just beside my leg.
"Still following you around, huh."
I moved my hands behind my back, trying to give the tall warrior a respectful stance. "What do you want me to do?"
"You will just be watching today." She turned away from me, her wings cupped closely to her back. "Look around and watch the other warriors while they train, and stay away from the back where the wolves are."
The warrior walked over to Arden, where they stood beneath the trees observing the younger warriors train. I was supposed to join them in training. I glanced down the large field where the den of the Heave Wolves was located but decided to keep my distance, knowing that Casper would not leave my side anytime soon.
So I decided to walk around, looking at the other warriors practicing with their Branches and Pedals with each other. I did lean against a tree when watching Arthur with another angel train with one another. I took the time to appreciate how well the awkward angel fought; he was really good with the Branchie.
He allowed his nervousness to take over when he knocked down his opponent, who didn't get up right away. This gave him the perfect opportunity to strike and gain the upper hand. I let out a slight wince. Although I knew they didn't feel pain, watching him take a fall still made it difficult to watch.
I decided to walk around and observe the other warriors as they trained. They were quite skilled, effectively using their Branchies in combat and occasionally relying on the Pedal for defense. I chose to position myself near the trees while watching them, noting some key differences between these young warriors and those I had seen battle against Arden when I first arrived at the field. It was clear that these warriors were much more advanced than the younger angels; they were faster and had significantly more experience in employing various combat techniques beyond just their weapons.
That was probably my flaw. I never really used a Branchie much. It felt right but not right at the same time.
It felt better when fighting with my fists. I knew much more than I did with a weapon. But if I wanted to be a Warrior Angel, I would have to get good at using the Branchie.
I did get rather bored just watching the others train. Just standing still, my hands and legs began to get itchy and irritated. I wondered why I wasn't allowed to have time to practice on my own. I would go off and train by myself so I could get better at using the Branchie, but I didn't want to get the chief or Apollonia mad at me—well, more than they already were.
I turned on my heels over to the pair who stayed under the shade. They were talking amongst themselves until I appeared. Arden turned her face while Apollonia crossed her arms.
"Yes?"
"I'm wondering if I could train by myself."
Apollonia tilted her head, thinking for a while. "By yourself? How is that even possible, little mouse?"
My lips creased. The warrior tapped her fingers on her armor, creating a soft tick of noises that began to drain my patience. "I could use some time by myself to learn how to use the Branchie and Pedal. Some time, like now. alone."
She let out a chuckle. "You take that time to train by yourself after the sessions. It isn't possible to properly train by yourself. So you're taking this time to observe."
"How can I learn by just observing?"
"You can learn a lot when you stop talking and focus your attention on others who know what they are doing." I could tell that I was testing her patience; the creasing in her brows showed as much. But I couldn't help myself. It made no sense to me why I had to watch instead of practicing on my own time.
"I think it would be more productive if I took this time to train with the Branchie."
"It would be more productive for you if you watched." She turned her head, trying to finish this conversation.
"I need to get better at using the Branchie, do I not?" I didn't give up, growing slightly impatient and bold at being dismissed. "It doesn't make sense why I just watch-"
"Oh, my little mouse, you truly don't give up, do you?" Apollonia said as she suddenly stepped forward, causing me to step back in surprise. "Watching is just as important as training. You can learn a lot by observing others. Not only that, but it's an order given to you by your superior. So you must follow my instructions." The woman shook her head. "That is what warriors do: they do not fight back. You cannot afford to be stubborn with me."
I let out a stuttering breath, finally deciding to give up with a huff. Apollonia shooed me off to continue observing, and I had no choice but to turn and do what I was told.
I did catch a few words between her and Arden as I went off.
"She is very stubborn. I don't understand why you allow her to join so easily, Arden?"
"You will see. She has potential, just no disobedience."
Apollonia chuckled, "Maybe I should step up my game, huh?"
"Do what you think is best, hun."
The pair laughed with one another as I went back to the place under the trees. I knew better than to disobey, feeling slightly conflicted at what I heard. I didn't realize that Arden actually saw potential in me. It never did make sense why she allowed me to join after she totally beat me in the one on one that I agnited with confidence.
I totally embarrassed myself; I had no chance of going up against that experienced warrior.
Casper barked beneath me, pulling my attention away from my thoughts. He held a stick in his mouth and looked up at me, his tail wagging wildly with joy. I didn't quite understand the puppy, so I scratched his head before turning my gaze to the warriors training in front of me.
I didn't see the point in this, but Apollonia really wanted me to do this instead of training myself. What was I even training? My eyes?
I just continued to observe the others, watching and training my eyes until the session was over. I did completely nothing today, so I was still filled with energy when we were dismissed from the field. I decided to go back to Cupids Cove to see if Bridget or the others were still there.
Since time didn't matter or exist here, I couldn't tell how long I was. I just hoped they were still there. I could use some company to distract my mind from the total bummer of a session that was with the Warriors.
As I returned to Cupid's Cove, I quickly spread my wings and flew over to the window where I often saw the others sitting and waiting after I left Rory and Seth. I glanced down at Casper and instructed him to go inside and meet me there. He yipped and dashed over to the front doors.
When I entered through the window, I was mildly surprised to see both Rory and Seth still there. To my surprise again, I also saw Bunny sitting with them on the ground in the hall.
"Vienna?" Seth stood up, moving over to the window where I sat on the edge. "It took you that long with Bridget? Did you at least find her?"
"Uh yeah.. I mean yeah, I found her. I was just with the Warrior Angels."
"Oh, that's what took so long?" Rory jokes, leaning over their knee near both Rue and Brick, who were sitting with the group. I noticed that Bunny was eyeing me strangely; her eyebrows lit up when I mentioned the Warrior Angels.
"You're a Warrior Angel?" The short girl suddenly exclaimed.
I let out an awkward chuckle, tucking my legs together and shifting my eyes away. "Yeah, I guess that's kinda a shock?"
"Kinda?" Bunny looked around at everyone that was there, reading their expression and unable to understand it. "How is this not surprising to you guys? Vienna is still new here, yet she is able to accomplish that so quickly! It takes so long for Arden to let new angels join."
"Well, Vienna is kinda awesome, Bunny," Rory shrugged their shoulders, swinging their legs around to annoy Brick.
Bunny looked over to Seth who also gave a shallow shrug to her. The girl turned to me, her eyes lighting up like stars that made me blush at its beauty. "That is awesome! Wow, Vienna, I didn't know you were so hardcore."
"You should hang out with us more often," Rory gave the small cupid a wink, trying to win her over in a sleazy attempt. Seth rolled his eyes, crossing his arms before his back hit the wall behind him just below me.
Bunny gave a flirty smile back to Rory. "Maybe I will?"
Rory responded with a laugh, soon joined by everyone else except Seth. I looked down at him, his head turned away from everyone. I slightly nudged him with my knee, seeing him turn to look up at me.
"You okay?"
Seth nodded his head, letting out a choked sign that he tried to make a strong sound. "Yeah.. just worried why Bridget is taking so long..."
I leaned out of the window, looking up slightly at the falling cherry leaves. "Yeah.. me too…"
A bark came from the side of us, making the group turn over to see, and a flying white dog tumbled into them. The cupids quickly gave the dog some attention, calling his name and cooing at the good boy, who purred at the attention. He soon jumped over to me, laying down on Seth's lap with his back legs touching my own.
The others began to talk, Rory trying to devise a plan for all of us to do something and involve our new friend Bunny. I took my time to pay attention to Seth, who was still oddly quiet; it was unlike him.
"You're horrible at flirting Rory!" Brick said out loud laughing along with Rue.
The redhead made an exasperated shock with their hand to their chest. "How rude! Is that true, Bunny?"
The girl blushed lightly, waving a hand around. "I wouldn't say they are lying.."
"Oh my! You guys are such bullies!"
They laughed while Rory faked and played around with them. Seth smiled lightly, his face warming up when hearing how Rory tried to defend themselves.
I kept my eyes on the blond boy, watching his emotions the whole time Rory was playing around. Things began to add up, and slowly but surely, I put some pieces together, only for my face to heat up at the thought.
We were interrupted by a sudden pair of footsteps down the hall. Everyone turned to Bridget and Orwell, who walked over.
"Oh, look who showed up!" Rory said out loud, causing Bridget to roll her eyes.
She halted when she noticed me, gradually coming to a stop a few feet away from me and the others still on the ground. Casper approached her, greeting the small angel with excited yips and barks. As Bridget scratched his head, she looked at me and said, "I thought you were still with the Warrior Angels?"
"It ended a few minutes ago," I shrugged to her, eyeing the two who had come back together. You took a bit longer than expected, huh? What were you two doing together?"
The pair blushed, Brudget glaring at them. Rory jumped up, their wings spiking and sending feathers around. "Oh, I love you more and more, Vienna!" They soon looked at the pair, who stuttered with some excuses. "Yeah- what were you doing together for so long~"
"So are so indecent, Rory!" Bridget blushed even harder, her wings curling to his face in embarrassment. Rory only laughed, enjoying their teasing since the pair began to fidget and look away from everyone.
"Well-" I slipped down from the window, Casper quickly coming over to my feet. "Now that we are all together, how about we go do something now?"
"That sounds fun!" Seth jumped to his feet as well, turning to the others who joined.
Bridget shuffled her wing back away from her face, feeling Orwell press slightly on her shoulder with his own. Her wings shifted back, trying so hard to avoid the cupid before she began to speak, "but where should we go? I showed you everything I know about Wonderland Vienna.."
"I know somewhere new to show Vienna," Bunny suddenly appeared beside me, catching me off guard.
Bridget turned her gaze to the suddenly shortest member. "You—are you…" Her face lit up with excited bewilderment. "Are you talking about the show?"
"Shush!" Bunny jumped over, shoving her wing over to stop Bridget from spoiling it. Her eyes soon turned back to me, the red glow in her iris sending shivers down my back. "I want it to be a surprise.."