With her father's memory failing and her mother gone, Soraya Thenayu enrolls in distant Darkwood Academy and immediately becomes enemies with the richest kid at school. Between hiding her father's gift of illegally harvested magic, befriending socia...
Soraya turned one of the dumplings into a bowl and blew gently on the rising steam. She then set it on the edge of the tray so her pandacoon could lap up the innards, even though he had already eaten his hard-boiled eggs and fruit from Mrs. Bunion's bakery.
"Careful, it's hot," she warned Yabo with a stern voice.
Her pet ignored her and tucked in anyway. Ironically enough, Soraya was the one who burned her tongue. She also spilled broth on her tray, despite doing her best to keep her dumpling from falling apart in her hands. Her pet dove in, lapping up the extra morsels she had dropped.
"Drat..." she muttered under her breath before laughing at herself. "Papa would be shaking his head and rolling his eyes at me if he were here."
After Soraya cleaned off her hands with a small white napkin, she turned her attention to the train windows once more.
"Look!" she exclaimed to her pet. Yabo hopped onto the windowsill, stood up on his hind legs, and pressed his black button nose into the glass to get a better view.
On their right were tall, scaling mountains covered in bright blue flowers. To their left, Soraya could just make out the dark blue Valtic Ocean sparkling and dancing under the blazing sun. Even the air smelled and tasted different. It now had a strong salty flavor, unlike back in Rivinsdeep, where a subtle hint of oranges and cloudberries always lingered in the breeze.
"Yabo, while we're in Matumi, we're going to visit the beach," Soraya promised. During the summer months, when the lakes surrounding Rivinsdeep were thawed, she had perfected her swimming. Ever since Soraya could remember, she had been obsessed with feeling weightless in the water. To her, it had been the closest feeling to flying that existed. Now that she actually had Air Magic in her possession, Soraya planned to practice using it in secret whenever she could.
I can breath under water now too.
The thought of exploring the deep, dark depths of the sea was simultaneously exhilarating and frightening. Soraya fidgeted with her black fingerless gloves and snuck a quick peek at both magic tattoos. They were still slightly faded, which meant that she didn't have a lot to use.
As long as I pay attention to what I have left, I'll be fine.
At fourteen o'clock, Soraya read her Casmerahn textbook. She was determined to learn more phrases and have the ability to carry on a conversation. The only problem was, she wasn't sure how to pronounce the words that she was reading. She had watched Stellaiya, the elderly Casmerahn woman, get off the train earlier that morning, so she no longer had the ability to ask her for help.
I'll just focus on memorizing spellings and vocabulary.
Around fifteen o'clock, Soraya's eyelids grew heavy. She put away her book and took a nap with Yabo, who had settled down onto her lap to join her.
* * *
"Good evening passengers," Komorebi's voice filled the still cabin air, waking the girl with a start. "We are reaching Matumi in ten minutes. Thank you for riding the Rivingale Express. We hope you all had a pleasant trip."
Soraya stretched her stiff limbs and turned her gaze outside the train window. She gaped in awe at the colorful buildings surrounding them on all sides.
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