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

Mila… was ordinary. Or at least she was supposed to be until she met him. Many years down the line she’d think back on how utterly unusual her childhood friend was, and how even apart he drew her out from the mundane into the extraordinary. Though… that was a thought in a long distant future.

In the present, she was on her way to the next stage in her life. Hopefully her peaceful and comfortable life.

No more sleeping under the stars or in a cage. Hopefully, she could just be normal for once.

A normal girl with normal problems.

That’d be nice…

“Hey… hey wake up, we’re here,” a gentle voice stirred Mila from her slumber.

“Huh? Wha-? I wasn’t sleeping!” the cat asserted, snapping up and looking around in a daze.

“I’m sure,” laughed her new Maestro.

She pouted at him. “Shaddap,” grumbled the cat.

Waiting on the plane was boring, but Mila dealt with it. She was the mature one now. Why did she always end up with Maestros who she had to babysit? First that guy and now Vince. Her new Maestro didn’t seem like a bad kid. From what she figured he fucked up and learned his lesson.

She got the same vibes from Vince as she did her dear childhood friend.

And she had been given the task of making Vince into a real Maestro. His rhythm was nothing compared to what she was used to. He was lucky she had a ton of her spells available. She was going to spoil him with choice.

Finally, it was their turn to get up.

“No bags?” Mila questioned as they made their way straight for the front of the plane.

“No, I didn’t think I needed anything since I was just going to pick you up,” Vince replied.

“Simple as I guess.” The cat shrugged, following along.

“Blech, humid,” was the first complaint to leave her lips as they stepped out of the airport.

“It’s not that bad,” Vince said with a frown.

“Alspo was much more to my flavor,” said the cat fondly remembering the heat of the desert bordering town.

“It gets plenty hot during the heat of the day.” Vince wiped some non-existent sweat from his brow. “But it's morning right now, so it’s not that bad.”

“Eh, it’s okay I guess,” Mila said with a shrug. “Where we going?” she decided to divert their conversation to something more relevant.

“Well, I gotta introduce you to my parents,” Vince replied.

That took the wind right out of the fire element’s sails. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t vocalize her thoughts. She lowered her head, her brows turned up with concern.

“M-maybe we should get breakfast first?” Mila tried to offer.

“No need, Mom usually makes breakfast in the mornings!” Vince beamed brightly.

“I want to go run in the park,” Mila suddenly asserted.

“But what about breakfast?” Vince raised a brow.

She grabbed his hand. “Park, run, now,” she demanded, towering over him.

“O-okay…?” Vince gulped.

“Why..ha… did you… ha… want to run ha?” Vince wheezed as he lay in the grass at their local park. The poor kid was totally soaked in sweat.

“It’s good to get the heat pumping. If you’re gonna be the Maestro of a hot cat like me you gotta get used to feeling the burn,” Mila smirked.

Vince sat up, his expression clouding. “You’re right,” he said quietly. “If I do something wrong, you’ll tell me, right?”

Mila considered the request. “Duh,” was what she decided on. “If you think I’m gonna be an obedient little kitten then you’re sorely mistaken, squirt.” To emphasize her point she pushed him over with her foot.

Rather than rage, like she expected, Vince smiled. It wasn’t a carefree smile though, there was a weight that threatened to crush the poor boy. Mila shuffled uncomfortably, before offering a hand to him. “Come on, I suppose we’ll go meet your parents or whatever.”

“You bet!”

Mila allowed her new Maestro to lead the way back towards his home… their home. The entire time the cat studied the back of the boy’s head as he prattled on. He was hurting, that much was clear. She knew what she was getting herself into when they were introduced. But the thread that initially connected the two of them had vouched for both of them.

He certainly was a matchmaker. Whether he thought himself it or not, that boy… no that man had an uncanny knack for making people swirl around him like a storm drain.

“Tch,” Mila clicked her tongue in annoyance. She’d wallop him good the next time they met. That’s for sure.

“Here we are!”

Mila shook herself out of her spiteful thoughts and paid the home in front of her the attention her Maestro was seeking. It was a pretty average one. Looking around, the neighborhood they were in was a mundane one. Possibly a hoity-toity gated community? Probably.

“We goin’ in or we just standin’ here, squirt?”

“Yeah! Of course!”

Vince threw open the door and motioned for Mila to enter. Immediately the cat shivered. “Fuck you people have the AC set to Remita!” she hissed.

“It’s not that cold,” Vince said with a coy smirk.

Before she could bite his head off, Mila’s ears twitched. Another presence walked out into the foyer.

“Oh, Vince-” the older woman stopped when her eyes met Mila.

The cat froze, gulping hard. She closed her eyes.

“Remember Mila, first impressions are important, especially when meeting my parents. Make it clear to them that you’re not just strong but you’re elegant.”

Mila took a deep breath through her nose and curtsied. “Good morning ma’am, my name is Mila, your son’s new Resonator,” she spoke with such a gentle tone it threw Vince for a loop who stared at the eloquent cat like she was a space alien.

“Oh my! You’re skin and bone! Come on, come get breakfast and you can tell me how you two met!” Vince’s mother beamed.

Mila found herself grabbed and pulled into the dining room against her will, shooting a pleading look at Vince reading: “don’t leave me alone with her!”

Vince simply smiled and followed along. He found Mila sitting at the table, his father reading the newspaper as usual and his mother setting the table.

“Here, eat eat!” demanded the mother. “Vincent, quick standin’ around and come eat breakfast too!” came the second pointed demand.

The two children (relatively speaking) obediently began eating their meal.

Eventually, the two elders had their food and the meal truly began in silence. A silence that was quickly broken by Vince’s mother, “So Mila, how did you meet our little Vincent?”

Swallowing her food, Mila gently sat her fork down. “My-” she paused, furrowing her brow. “-friend introduced us,” she decided.

“Vince had to go to Kalanichi to pick you up, you lived there?” the father finally spoke.

“No sir, I was-” another pause as the cat considered her response. “-visiting. Watching the Nationals in Naiza.”

“I see,” came the gruff reply.

Mila wasn’t sure how she was doing in this little interrogation, but she hadn’t been screamed at or hit with a broom yet, so she could only assume it was going well.

“Well, you’re welcome to stay here or you can go out and do what you want, you’re both young adults!” the mother said, beaming as brightly as the sun.

The older woman’s expression darkened, however. “Though before you go, I want you to memorize our phone number - You tell us if our little Vincent is getting himself involved in the wrong sorts of folks again.”

A grunt and nod from the father was all he had to say on the matter.

Vince himself didn’t speak up, keeping his head lowered, away from the implied gazes on him.

Mila hummed. “Don’t worry about that ma’am. Have had enough of dealing with the wrong crowds for one lifetime.”

Vince was middle class. However, that distinction wasn’t clear to Mila who only knew of streets and cages. Therefore it was only natural she was impressed by his bedroom.

“Kinda swanky,” she commented, noting the size of his bed and the array of different entertainment outlets available to them.

“You think so?” Vince asked. “I always thought it was kinda small. The MA Offices have such big rooms,” he added.

“Yeah, them MA Offices ain’t half bad,” Mila mused, stroking her chin in thought. “But those are so… what’s the word? Stuffy? Probably not but we’ll go with that. This feels more like what I thought of as a home,” the cat explained her thoughts.

“It does have a homey feel I guess,” he chuckled. “I wish I could give you your own room, but-” Vince paused a flash of pain crossing his face. Rather than look at him, Mila caught where his gaze had fallen. A bright white tuner sitting on his nightstand. The boy rushed over throwing open his drawer to stuff the device away.

“Wait!” Mila caught Vince, gripping his wrist tightly to stop him from shoving it away. “I don’t mind,” her eyes rested on the static on the screen. “He meant a lot to you, right?”

Vince nodded slowly.

“Then leave it be,” she hesitantly released her Maestro. “I’m not him but-“

“You’re not! You’re you and you’re special!” Vince shouted. He smacked the tuner into the open drawer and slammed it shut behind him.

Mila didn’t know what to say to that, her face warming uncomfortably.

Vince continued, beginning to tremble. “I fucked up. It was my fault. I didn’t listen to anyone and he… died as a result of my stupidity.” The tears began to flow. “They were just trying to help, but I was so scared. I thought I was in trouble so I just…”

“Hey hey,” Mila just moved, her eyes glowing with blue rhythm. She wrapped herself around him, squeezing him tightly. “Don’t blame yourself,” she whispered.

Vince stood there, allowing her warmth to envelop him, the streams continuing to pour fiercely.

“I hated him.”

Vince looked up, a bitter expression greeting his curious gaze.

“I thought he abandoned me, left me to die,” a couple of tears broke free. “But he was looking. And looking and looking and looking. He hurt the whole time and hurts even to this day.”

“But I still hated him, I hated him so much for lying to me,” Mila continued. “I couldn’t be his Resonator; I could feel it. I was so happy when he said he already had a plan for me. He didn’t beg or plead with me or his partners, he put me where I needed to be.”

The cat wiped away the tears and forced a smile. “No more crying, okay?”

Vince forced a smile as well. “Okay.”

“You sure you know what you’re doing, beansprout?” Mila asked as they walked to the local hunting ground.

It was about nine at night by this point, the sun having freshly set. They joined a bunch of other Maestros on the way to their nightly duties.

“Yeah, I did do a bunch of hunts with him, so I think I picked up a thing or two,” Vince said with a toothy grin. “Besides, I have my super strong fire cat by my side – I have nothing to fear.”

Mila couldn’t help but grin. “Flattery will get you everywhere, kid,” she said, ruffling her Maestro’s hair.

The two stood in line quietly, watching the other Maestros get their assignments for the evening. There wasn’t much that drew their attention. Common Resonators and their Maestros chatting about local gossip, their plans for the weekend, and the like.

Just a normal, mundane day.

“Huh,” Vince whispered.

“Hm?” Mila raised a brow.

“Kinda boring today,” he noted.

“If you’re used to hanging around that guy, going back to your everyday is kinda boring by comparison,” Mila said with a laugh and a shrug.

“I mean, I knew he was interesting, that’s why I tried hanging out with him,” Vince said.

“And? How was it?” Mila asked.

“He’s something else, that’s for sure.

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“Next!” Mila and Vince perked up upon being called.

The two walked up and Vince handed over his red tuner. “Oh, I remember you. The kid with the Albright. What happened to him?” asked the registrar upon seeing Vince.

The Maestro looked as if he had been stabbed in the heart.

“It didn’t work out,” Mila spoke up on behalf of her Maestro. The registrar looked confused at the Resonator answering for her Maestro. “People come, people go, that’s life,” she said.

The attendant nodded slowly. “Too true.” Vince’s tuner was returned to him. “Main group, good luck,” said the attendant.

Vince nodded slowly and accepted his tuner back, being ushered out of line by Mila.

“Don’t let it eat you up,” Mila advised.

“It’s hard,” Vince admitted.

“I know.”

He looked at his cat.

“I’m here for you now, I can tell you need it,” she said simply.

“Thanks.”

Vince and Mila stood off to the side as people were assigned out to locations. “Oh, didn't see you there.” After all the assignments were given out, Vince and Mila were finally addressed by the leader of the hunting party. “Uhhh, you can go with him,” they decided, motioning towards another forgotten pair.

"Evening folks!" A man and woman walked over. The man was clad in a brown fighter's jacket with matching pants to go with it. A wing pin adorned his left breast pocket and a snazzy pair of goggles adorned the bird’s nest of a hair-do he sported.

His companion, a winged girl wore much lighter clothes, a tank top that slid around her wings with a shoulderless top over that. Black shorts poked out under her top along with her tail midnight purple tail feathers which matched her wings and hair. A shiny golden crescent hairpin adorned her long straight hair, which was tamed into a ponytail.

"Makani," the pilot man introduced himself, offering his hand to the other Maestro.

"Vince," the newly christened fire Maestro replied in kind, accepting the handshake.

"I'm Rynda, you can call me Ryn!" the bird-girl chirped from behind her Maestro.

"Mila, nice to meetcha," the cat replied in kind.

"So what’s your story?" Makani questioned the other Maestro as the quartet set off toward their assignment for the evening.

“It’s our first night out,” Vince answered.

“Oh? New Maestro?” Makani grinned.

Vince grunted, thinking over his answer. “Yes and no, new with her,” he decided.

“Ahhh, I see,” Makani jumped as he was elbowed in the side by his bird. “Huh?” All he got back was a very quick head shake from Ryn. He’d have to ask her later what was up, but understood the implication – don’t pry any deeper.

“Alright, ever work with a lunar before?” Makani asked.

“Yeah, it’s nice to have the detection spell,” Vince said.

“Good stuff, let’s get to it Ryn, Rilevare l’intenzione, Lento,” cast the pilot.

“On it, Maki!” chirped the bird.

Before Makani could open his mouth to explain the usage of the spell, he found Vince already awaiting the data in the map app.

“Familiar with the spell?” he asked.

“Yeah,” replied Vince. “A friend of mine uses it a lot.”

“Good spell.” Makani nodded.

“Yep,” Vince said, his eyes keeping to the map.

Content that Vince did actually have some idea of what he was doing, Makani turned his focus to his own map app.

“Hmmm, it’s thick out tonight,” noted the pilot.

“Do you have a plan?” asked Vince.

“Not really, but I figured we’d just go after the stragglers,” Makani replied.

“What do you think Mila?” Vince asked his cat.

“Huh?” She raised a brow pointing at herself. “Do what you want. Just tell me what I gotta punch,” said the cat.

Rynda studied her feline counterpart with a coy smirk. “I see,” the bird whispered to herself.

The group made their way to the first gathering of Scherzando.

“Alright, what do you want me to do?” Mila asked Vince.

“Uhhh…” The young Maestro parsed the extensive list of spells available for him to cast. “This sure is Naturalian…” he mumbled unable to parse what any of the words meant or did.

The cat lightly tapped the boy’s cheek a couple of times. “Riterra to Vince, don’t space out on me already.”

Vince shook his head. “I don’t know what your spells do,” he admitted.

Mila stared for a moment before cracking a smile. “You’re something else,” she laughed heartily. “Can you two deal with them while I catch up Beansprout here?” requested the cat.

Rynda and Makani both blinked, looked at each other, then back to their fellow party members.

“Uh… sure,” said Rynda.

“I guess that’s that,” Makani added with a shrug.

The lunar pair departed, leaving Vince and Mila alone.

“I guess that guy wasn’t kidding when he told me to get you shaped up huh?” Mila smirked. “Not even knowing my spells.” She shook her head. “Alright, get over here, it’s time for boot camp.” She towered over her Maestro, a devilish grin on her face.

“Oh no…” Vince laughed feeling quite small all of a sudden. “Be gentle?” he asked.

“No.”

“There’s a lot here Maki,” Rynda noted as she hovered in the canopy of trees, slicing through Scherzando with blades of Luce Lunare.

“Nothing too unusual,” replied Makani, keeping a close watch on the situation from his tuner. “There’s three to your east,” he informed the Resonator.

“On it Maki!” The bird fluttered over in the direction her Maestro directed.

While Rynda dealt with the Scherzando, Vince and Mila returned to actually help out.

“What’d we miss?” asked Mila.

“Not much. There’s some Scherzando to the west if you want to take a swing at them,” Makani offered the pair.

Mila smacked her Maestro’s back. “You heard the man, let’s go wild!”

“Yeah!” Vince pumped his fist in the air.

Makani’s jaw caught a bit of slack as Mila ran towards the group of Scherzando, her wrists igniting with fire. Vince remained focused forward, oozing pure confidence.

“Foschia Calorifera, Allegro!” Vince called as his fire element reached the first Scherzando.

The cat punched a blazing hole straight through her target, the air beginning to distort from the heat radiating from her body. The Scherzando that remained in the group grew wary and began to back off, but Mila wasn’t going to let them get away.

Two more fell from holes punched through them.

“Arcobaleno Fuoco, Piano Staccato!” Vince cast.

Rynda landed next to the two Maestros just as the forest was suddenly illuminated in a brilliant show of rainbow-colored explosions. Every shot fired by Mila hit true, not a drop of rhythm was wasted as she wiped out the rest of the now fleeing herd.

It wasn’t the spectacle that was impressive, but what Rynda felt from the two. “Did they lie to us…?” wondered the nightingale.

“Pretty impressive stuff out there,” said Makani as the two Maestros returned to the base camp, a successful night behind them.

“Right? Mila is the best,” boasted Vince (and earning a smug smirk from the Resonator in question).

Makani hummed in thought. “I keep running into extraordinary people like you two,” pondered the pilot out loud.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Vince asked.

“We’ve had an interesting few months is all,” chirped Rynda. “I guess it did all start with that guy.”

“Too true. I wonder where they are now,” Makani wondered.

“Who knows, but knowing him he’s probably beating up an ethereal or a sage or something by now,” Rynda said with a titter.

“Sounds like some knucklehead we know,” Mila scoffed.

“I suppose every friend group had that one person everyone seems to orbit around, huh?” Makani said.

Vince considered that thought. “Yeah,” he muttered. “But I don’t mind it being him,” the younger Maestro smiled.