The Great

Savian Yelenta: The forests and lakes flashed before my eyes like smeared colors cast over an open canvas. The air rushed into my ears and the wind roared across my face as I felt the ground slip away beneath my feet.

I always loved to run.

For once I could forget about everything that was going on and the rush of excitement and fury that I could feel was intoxicating. The open mountains and plains were as beautiful as ever. The snowy peaks of the giant hills were shining brightly in the morning light and the vast fields of straw colored grass could be seen stretching for infinity and beyond. I zipped across the mountains and ran into the open fields. I felt time slow down around me and my body felt so free and feathery. My surroundings flashed across my eyes as I ran back towards the mountains. I sped up, making the ground tear beneath my feet. I zigzagged around the trees carefully to avoid running into the giant oaks. The forest flashed in colors of green, brown, and gold as the sun became fully visible in the open sky.

I turned left and sped down a country dirt road. The tall wheat fields came up to my waist and the golden plants glowed like jewelry in the summer light. I stopped and stared at the dinky old cabin that was located in the back of the vast fields. It was almost gone, a good kick seemed to be what separated it from being a house and another pile of rubble. I opened the door and walked in. The interior hadn’t changed. The old painting of the nearby forests and fields hung above a furnace which was almost always empty. A small table sat by the window and the small kitchen was unoccupied. A small bed sat in the corner of the room and an art stand sat alongside the bed.

A small girl sat in front of the table and was painting furiously on a canvas. Her leather work clothes were stained with paint and her hands were covered in dyes. She had soft and long black hair with big gray eyes, and she always seemed to be busy but somehow happy at the same time.

“Emmy, I hope you’re not working yourself to death.” She turned around quickly and gave me a big smile.

“Savie!” She ran up to me and gave me a big hug.

“Hey, stop getting paint on me,” she laughed and backed off.

“Sorry it’s just you’ve been away for so long. I mean with Eden and all that. You were already pretty busy with all that other stuff but now that you’re gonna be a warrior….I never get to see you!”

She pouted a little bit and seemed slightly annoyed. “I sent you a letter every two weeks even though I’m super busy trying to get my name out there with my paintings. But you haven’t even written back once!” She crossed her arms and looked at me accusingly.

“Do you have a girlfriend or something?” I let out a sudden chuckle and had to hold back the urge to laugh even more.

She smiled teasingly and looked at me with a grin. “Yeah I figured, you probably couldn’t get one if you tried.”

I stopped laughing and gave her a questioning look. “Hey wait, what’s that supposed to mean..”

“Anyways! What brings you here?” She sat down near the larger table by the window and I did the same.

“Well I just needed someone to talk to after everything that’s been going on at Eden. It turns out it’s not easy to be a top student at one of the world's top warrior academies.”

She looked at me with a neutral expression and waited for me to keep talking. “There’s been a lot going on, and school is another layer on top of that and..”

“Is this about the tournament?” she absentmindedly asked as she fiddled with her silk-like hair. I looked at her with a surprised expression. She wasn’t the type to be situationally aware, but she could always read people well.

“Yeah…a little bit.” She giggled a little and looked at me with her soft, inviting eyes.

“It’s not like you to ever get nervous. What happened to the brash boy who always knew he was the best?” I looked out the window and slowly met her gaze.

“Well…when we were kids, if we were the strongest kid in our town, we were so sure that we were the strongest kid in the world. But when you start going to academies and meeting other people it gets harder, and harder to stay on top. Then eventually you realize that the world is a big place.”

“But you did stay on top. You were always the best, right? It usually wasn’t close.” I nodded and she encouraged me to continue.

“But now….at Eden….I think—“

“You’ve finally met your match huh?” She gave me a smile and I gave her a defeated smile back.

“That skill of yours never fails.” She laughed and nodded. She was still undoubtedly beautiful. Even with paint smeared across her shirt, and her hair in a mess, I couldn’t shake off that feeling that I had about her ever since I met her.

“Ever since we were kids I was always the one that chased you.” She stared at her hands while talking. “You got the cool speed skill and I was able to feel what everyone else felt. It was actually more of a curse in the beginning.”

“But I never wanted to fight and so I just made art. It was great, but you were always so….perfect, unreachable, and so awesome to everyone else.”

“So not to you?” I teased her and she gave me a slap on the wrist.

“Of course I think you’re cool too. Same with my parents. My parents would never shut up about you but they would never talk about me when your parents came over.” She rolled her eyes while saying this and I laughed a little.

“But what I thought was cool about you was just…you. Yeah you’re a little annoying but that’s fine, right?” She smiled teasingly and I rolled my eyes.

“But it was always the fact that you didn’t really change how you treated me. Famous or not, great or not, better or not you never really thought of me as less than the other super-kids.”

“You also never lost your cool. Remember that one time when we lost our parents while out on the road and I started crying?” I nodded.

“Six year olds skilled or not would have usually panicked but you just picked me up and ran across all the road systems in south Bondas until you found our parents.” She smiled softly and grabbed my hand.

“Whoever this person is, you always find a way to figure things out right? You move at your own speed, literally. So you have to trust yourself and your abilities. Break things down into solvable problems. Trust yourself like how I trust you, okay?”

I gave her a smile and she smiled back. “Thanks…for everything.” She got up and saw me at the door.

“By the way, are you talking about that Leventen kid? He was in the newspapers yesterday since he was at the trial or whatever.” I nodded and she nodded back. “Do you know that Maver guy who beat up the Emperor’s nephew?”

“Kind of. I face him in the finals tomorrow though.” She gave me an understanding nod and leaned on the door.

“Leventen…quite the family….Oh well, the boy is pretty cute so it doesn’t matter.”

“What!” I turned around as fast as I could and faced her with frantic eyes. She started laughing and put her hands over her mouth.

“That really got you huh?” I sighed out of relief and gave her an annoyed look. I turned around and smiled to myself. I got an idea…

“Hey, you know I met this girl named Aurora the other day…She has nice eyes.” Emmy looked at me with a surprised stare that turned into a look of jealousy.

“Hey….wait a second who’s—“

I laughed and sped off.

Thanks, Emmy.

I needed that.