The Tales of the Shadows

17.1. Why?

"Twenty-seven!" A girl exclaimed with pride as she stood before her team, her chin slightly up to present a playful challenge of numbers. Her hands had just finished re-tying her hair after which she crossed them, anticipation slowly welling within her.

"Mister Kenji, Mona is bragging again," A boy slightly shorter than her said in a somewhat disinterested tone. The man in question walked towards the two with a little girl by his side, his tall stature casting a shadow large enough to nearly cover them as he came to a stop.

The boy slowly lifted his gaze to the man's kind smile, though before he could say anything a soft voice answered.

"Mona is just a little excited, I think that's okay."

The boy turned to the girl by Kenji's side, her black braid softly swaying with the wind and she stood with her eyes dimly open, as if in a daze.

"Yep. Leo just likes pestering me, anyway."

Kenji's hand came down with a considerable force onto Mona's head, ruffling her blonde ponytail and taking away the band that held it. Mona simply scrunched her nose, tucking the loose strands behind her ears.

"You're pretty," Nora remarked as she observed Mona with a small smile and a flustered expression passed before she chuckled with a frown.

"You're weird."

"You're both weird," Leo said in a dull but firm tone as he walked away, his footsteps soft, small and rapid. Nora caught his arm with a gentle grip, stopping him in his tracks.

"You are, too."

Nora's giggles caused the boy to escape faster, no matter how contagious the sound was. Mona skipped towards the direction he did and Nora joined them, too. Mona stayed slightly ahead while Leo hung back, Nora covering the distance between as she looked towards the two with an amused expression.

Such a pleasant breeze under the soft sky... if clouds really were as fluffy as they appeared to be, wouldn't it be fun to bounce about them? Flight perhaps, freedom to explore the world as one wishes. Lucky Leo, he could do that one day.

Mona began her soft chittering, enjoying her surrounding as she skipped with great vigour, as if not wishing to leave any corner of the path they traversed undiscovered. Leo's head was bowed slightly and his eyes were narrowed, though Nora could see the randomness had caught the solemn boy's attention, somehow.

Being with these two in Sylva Vita...

Nora's focus was drawn by that special group of six and the lone shadow. The two with mind-control were intriguing, but her senior was special; a shadow had an incredible connection to Nature. The dark-haired one wore a smile that simply drew Nora in, though she was held back by her friends' presence.

The fairer one spoke to her curly-haired boy with a sweet smile, closing her eyes as their steps sounded in unison. The boy held a smile that she had never seen from him with anyone else, incited by nothing else. Physical, abstract, of Nature, of the shadows.

"Those two shadow-trappers always stick to each other, and they're always with the leader," Mona remarked.

"Maybe because Ehren adopted them."

Mona's eyes widened and she turned towards Leo, stopping him. The boy raised his eyes with a puzzled look, shaking his head.

"Which world do you live in?"

Mona crossed her arms,

"Hah, you wish you could live in my world."

Nora giggled and Mona turned towards the girl with a sweeter smile.