Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

“uuuugh TURN IT OFF!” Pacifica groaned loudly as the alarm from both tuners rang on both sides of them. Dealing with the alarms, the trio sulked out of bed, flicking on the lights, and starting to pack up. It was much earlier than any of them had been used to waking up, but the itinerary said they needed to be ready by 5 AM, so here they all were at 4 AM shuffling around like zombies trying to pack up their room.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Shouri shambled over to the door and struggled to undo the lock. After a moment of futzing around with the door, he managed to open it. Makani and Rynda stood in the hallway; their own bags packed. “Ready to go?” Makani asked.

“No,” Shouri groggily muttered, before returning to packing. The pilot for the day let himself and his co-pilot in and they sat on the guest couch, discussing the flight while the actual tenants of the room continued packing.

5 AM rolled around and the trio was finally ready. “Right on time! The shuttle to the airport is here.” Makani flashed his tuner showing a text from the ride in question.

This marked the beginning of their flight preparations.

The “shuttle” in question was a van with plenty of seating for the five of them. None of them had to drive, and as Makani explained, he got the service as a courtesy since he was a pilot.

It was about a thirty-minute drive from the MA Office to the airport in question. They passed through a different gate, to the pilot’s lounge.

“Shouri, can you keep an eye on Ryn for me?” Makani suddenly requested.

“Eh?” The Maestro blinked.

“Let’s just say even I have trouble with judgmental pricks.” The pilot gave a strained smile.

“Get breakfast!” he shouted as he departed.

Shouri looked to the nightingale who blinked twice. “Okay, so breakfast, Pacifica with me – Taika stick with Rynda!” he gave his commands to his Resonators.

“Yeah!” Pacifica nodded, grabbing Shouri’s arm and pulling him to the complimentary breakfast.

This left the bird girl and fox girl alone.

They both kind of shuffled about awkwardly. Taika glanced over at her fellow Lunar Resonator. Their kind was so rare to find out in public like this, so the fox was curious. She didn’t want to ask anything though because the other girl looked just so uncomfortable at the moment. Her wings were folded up, while she hugged herself, eyes locked on where her own Maestro had departed to.

“You’re really attached to him,” Taika blurted out in a moment of realization.

“WHAT?!” Rynda turned to the lunar fox, her face beet red. “H-he’s my Maestro! I’m supposed to worry about him! It’s my job!” the bird shouted in a vain attempt to defend her honor.

Taika just stared, slack-jawed, but wearing that smile one does when watching someone else embarrass themselves.

“Don’t look at me that way! He’s always been good to me! We’re lunars! We don’t get that right?!” Her head whipped back and forth. “So what if I’m attracted to him? He gives good head pats! No one else knows where I like my wings scratched like he does! Leave me alone!” She huffed and turned her back towards the vixen, who remained speechless.

But Rynda peeked back to see Taika’s still stupefied, but amused face. “I just get worried when he goes off alone! He’s an idiot who gets us in trouble all the time! If I’m not there he does something dumb like get us signed up to deliver supplies to the South Pole or something!”

In a matter of a minute, Taika’s perception of her fellow lunar Resonator was flipped on its head so hard the fox got whiplash.

Rynda was wearing herself out, her wings drooping, shoulders slacked as she tried to catch her breath. “I guess I do have it for him. I admit it. Just let me like who I like in peace.”

And with that, the bird girl slumped into a nearby chair.

Shouri and Pacifica returned a couple of minutes later bearing food for everyone. They both immediately noticed how tired Rynda looked. “What’s with her?” Shouri questioned his Resonator immediately. Taika merely shrugged and shook her head, offering no real explanation as to what happened to the lunar bird.

They partook in breakfast in relative silence. The airport wasn’t too busy at nearly six in the morning, with a few pilots wandering around the lounge either getting ready for their next flight or coming off of one.

Speaking of pilots, their own returned, which was signaled by the chirp of the nightingale. “Maki!” She flew over to him joyously celebrating their reunion. Taika covered her mouth with a hand before letting out an amused chuckle. Pacifica was confused but sensed her fellow Resonator wanted to keep this one to herself and didn’t bother asking about it.

The trio of Shouri, Taika, and Pacifica followed the pilot through some more back rooms and hallways and ended up out on the tarmac itself. “This way!” Makani motioned towards one of the hangars, well ahead of the group. The sun was just rising over the horizon, casting light upon them and warming them under its glow.

Making it into the hangar, they found a small propeller plane as the occupant Makani was tending to. It was a small bird compared to the bigger consumer-class planes that flanked it, but practically shimmered with care. “Get in, Ryn and I will get us prepped to go,” he instructed the passengers. The cabin looked quite small, which upon first inspection made the passengers wonder if they would even fit.

With a shrug, Shouri grabbed one of the handles and opened the door. It felt like getting into a car in a sense. There was a row of seats in the back where they would be sitting. Shouri climbed in first followed by Pacifica, then Taika. Shouri pulled out the cushions at the rear of the seats, giving Taika and Pacifica a place to put their tails.

Just like a car, they also had seat belts to fasten and keep them in place during the flight. Shouri and Pacifica took the window seats, whilst Taika (being the smallest) took the center seat. “Pretty comfy,” Pacifica noted.

“Yeah, we just replaced the seats!” Rynda chirped, having gotten into the front passenger’s seat. “In fact, nearly everything in here has been replaced,” she boasted.

Looking around the interior of the plane, it looked brand new. All the metal surfaces had a near mirror-like polish to them, while the upholstery was soft and clean. The cabin had that new car smell almost.

Sensing the confusion from their passengers, Rynda elaborated: “We bought this child from a junk dealer and saved up a bunch of money hunting to get her airworthy again,” she began while stroking the back of her chair. “But there was still a bunch of problems with it besides the engine, so we’ve been slowly working on the interiors, getting a new paint job, replacing the rusted paneling, the works.”

“So, what’s left?” Pacifica asked, once again examining the cabin they sat in.

“Passenger amenities. Small things like maybe a flip-down TV screen, maybe a small cooler, reclining seats. We’d like to get into private flights, that’s where the real money is. Right now, we do a lot of courier work, picking up packages and delivering them to remote destinations,” the lunar bird explained.

At that moment Makani jumped into the front seat. “Did you go over emergency procedures with them?” Makani asked his Resonator.

“Er, I was just doing that!” Rynda laughed sheepishly.

One quick briefing later, the two pilots began their take-off preparations. Shouri and his Resonators watched all the adjustments being done to the panel on the front. A bunch of switches and knobs flipped, turned, and clicked. It was so practiced that the uninformed trio in the back couldn’t even hope to follow, but at the same time were impressed by the feat.

Makani opened the door and shouted “CLEAR!” before turning the engine on. With a slam of the door, the plane began to move out onto the runway proper. Shouri noted to himself how quiet the cabin was; he had expected it to be super loud given the propeller on the front of the machine.

Makani and Rynda both pulled down their headsets and put them on. “How’s oil?” the Maestro asked his co-pilot Resonator. “Temp and pressure look good – just waiting on the controller now.”

They idled on the runway for a little bit. Shouri, Taika, and Pacifica looked around, unsure of what was happening – none of them had ever been this close to the action before.

“Controller says we’re clear for take-off! Hit it, Maki!” Rynda excitedly pointed forward. There was no need to tell this pilot twice, putting the plane into gear they began to race down the runway, eventually taking to the sky and leaving Riva Sranvi, and the west coast of Lybertera behind.

Six hours of flight time passed in the blink of an eye. The small propeller plane simply wasn’t as fast as its commercial counterparts, but it beat walking by a country mile.

“Hey, heads up! You can see Fercy coming up!” Rynda shouted back to their passengers.

The trio took to the windows and bore witness to the city nestled in the foothills of the Loggia Mountains. To the west, they saw the aforementioned mountains, while to the east were the “Grand Plains” region of Lybertera.

The plane descended and touched down at the North Fercy Airport at roughly noon local time. “Uhrgh, why am I so freaking tired?” Pacifica yawned as they crossed the tarmac to the terminal.

“Riding in a vehicle like that jars your body in many directions and requires constant, tiny, unnoticeable adjustments of your muscles just to stay in place and hold your normal posture. It’s pretty easy not to notice all the extra work you're doing just to maintain your body’s position in the seat,” Shouri rattled off.

Taika and Pacifica just stared at their Maestro. “Y-you’ve thought about this huh?” Pacifica decided to inquire.

“Saw someone post about it on the internet. It tracks.” The boy shrugged.

A look was exchanged between the two Resonators before they shrugged and accepted it. Their Maestro read a lot, but that was one of the endearing traits they had come to adore.

The group assembled in the terminal. “Well, here we are gang. Welcome to Fercy. The weather’s lovely this time of year,” Makani told the group.

“You gonna stay here for a bit?” Pacifica inquired about their pilots.

Rynda gave them a bittersweet smile. “Sadly no, this is where we part ways,” the bird told the trio. “Maki and I have a job to do so we’ll be flying out tomorrow for Torravio, then Drahgo the day after,” she informed them.

Shouri stroked his chin in thought, before shaking his head. “Yeah, you two are going the opposite way we’re going.” He looked to his Resonators. “Plus, I’d like to check out the hunting scene here and make some money,” the Maestro added with a shrug.

Makani smiled and nodded. “Good luck out there Shouri.”

“You too, Makani.”

The Maestros shook hands.

And with that, the two groups finally went their separate ways. Upon leaving the airport they found themselves in the city of Fercy.

“So this is Fercy huh?” Shouri looked around as they made their way to the bus terminal. Taika and Pacifica too were taking in the sights. While there wasn’t much to see at the airport itself, they could see the city ahead of them and with it a new adventure for the three of them.

Pacifica let out a tired sigh as they waited for their bus. “What’s up, Pacifica?” Shouri glanced over at the otter.

“Sad we’re away from water,” she admitted.

Shouri smirked. “They have some nice rivers and lakes here.” He flashed his tuner, showing her that he was already looking into the ‘lack of water’ problem.

“Sho!” Pacifica squealed in delight, hugging him tightly.

For now, though, they boarded the bus once it arrived and headed toward the Maestro Affairs Office; the stop for all traveling Maestros like them. For Maestros and their Resonators, the MA Office was home – a consistent, familiar place they could find in any town or major city. Fercy was no exception. The trio disembarked the bus at the North Fercy MA Office.

“It’s just like the Riva Sranvi office,” Pacifica noted immediately. The architecture was pretty much the same. From the large stone sign marking the location, down to the concrete style used for the campus sidewalks, and even the construction of the buildings themselves.

Of course, this extended into the building itself. The same familiar lobby. Except today there was a line. Seems they weren’t the only group of new arrivals, or maybe they simply got there at the wrong time. The line was bad enough that the attendant's Resonator was assisting in the check-in efforts. Either way, they weren’t dissuaded from their choice of MA Offices. With a shrug and a sigh, Shouri walked up to the line and began waiting.

Pacifica and Taika kept their curiosity in check and stayed close to their Maestro. However, that didn’t stop them from taking note of the people in line. Specifically, the group in front of them.

“Hey look, a dragon,” Pacifica whispered to Taika, pointing at the winged demi-human ahead of them.

“I’ve never seen one in real life before – are they rare?” Taika whispered back.

“Yeah yeah! Super rare, and strong!”

A trio of redheads were waiting in line before them. The Maestro of the group was a man and was currently talking to a dragon-winged woman (the subject of Taika and Pacifica’s gossip). Finally, left out of the conversation was a fox-girl, like Taika. Just like her two companions, she also had red hair, although her face was framed by bright yellow bangs.

Both Pacifica and Taika could feel the heat coming off of the two Resonators ahead of them – they were definitely fire elementals. The emotion-strong otter though sensed something amiss about their dynamic. She wasn’t too sure, but despite how familiarly that Maestro was speaking to his dragon, the same respect wasn’t extended to the fox of their group.

The poor thing looked simply defeated, downtrodden even. She was slightly hunched over and held herself, right down to her fluffy tail which wrapped around the inside of her leg. Her gaze was trained down, as she avoided looking anyone else in the face. She was well cared for in the hygienic sense but was more akin to a doll in treatment.

At least that was the feeling Pacifica got from looking this girl over. Eventually, she couldn’t stand it anymore and closed her eyes, turning her head away from the sad sight. This wasn’t the first time she had encountered a Resonator in such a pitiful mental state, but it never stopped hurting. The fire trio departed, vanishing into the living quarters. The water-elemental silently hoped they wouldn’t cross paths again.

“Welcome to the North Fercy Maestro Affairs Office – how may we help you today?” The cheeriness of the front desk attendant snapped Pacifica out of her thoughts.

Shouri handed over the two tuners in his possession. “Need a room.” It had gotten sort of practiced at this point. Probably by the next MA Office they visited, it could be considered routine. At any rate, their new room number was number thirty.

“Come on girls – our room awaits.” Shouri pointed them to the living quarters. They went a bit down the hallway and found room thirty.

Finally, after eight or so hours of travel, they could relax.

Day passed to night, and nothing of note got accomplished that evening. Shouri and his two Resonators were simply exhausted from traveling (and the double date yesterday). So, they opted out of work tonight and were lounging about their room.

Shouri went to the vending machines down the hall to get snacks as another movie night had been decided on. They had later discovered that they started a trilogy and only managed to make it through two of the movies before everyone passed out last night.

However, as he turned the corner to the common room, he found a lone presence at the vending machines. A red-haired Resonator, list in hand, making her selections. Shouri watched the girl for a moment as she seemed to be getting multiple items. She was a fox, just like Taika, though distinctly of the fire element; that was obvious to him. That red tail with yellow tip being the coloration a lot of fire elements bore. However, there was the distinct feeling of spiritual heat that all fire elements exuded. Finally, she bent over and collected the vended snacks from the pickup box.

Being so concentrated on the task at hand, she failed to notice the boy standing behind her. So naturally when she went to turn around and leave, she ran right into him, spilling the items in hand. “Aah!” she yelped, quickly dropping to her knees to retrieve them. Shouri felt bad for the startled girl and helped her recover the spilled goods.

They worked in silence until all of the snacks were off the ground. Shouri handed his share of the work over to its owner. She stared at him for a moment, her head tilted slightly. She shuffled the recovered snacks into one arm, before stepping forward and placing a hand on the boy’s chest. He stepped back, shocked at the forwardness of the act. “W-warm...” She studied her hand as if it were strange for a living person to radiate heat. When she realized Shouri was staring at her, she muttered a small apology and rushed away with the snacks.

“Weird girl.” Shouri decided to brush that off and approached the vending machine himself to get his own Resonators snacks.