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It was another perfect sunny day, but Shella didn't feel so sunny inside. Her mind was still on her brother and fathers death. She tries to suppress her emotions as best as she can. She prepares everything she needs early in the morning. She packed some food and water into a travel bag. She knew she was going to have a long tough training day. She wanted to get ready as quickly as possible.
Her grandpa yesterday refused to reveal to her the special weapon he intends to give her. She wanted a hint, anything, that could calm her curiosity but he refused to even give her a subtle clue. She wanted to get herself to the training grounds before he got there just to surprise him, just to show him that she really wanted to see what it was. She felt like she let him down the last time she walked away from training. This was her way of trying to make up for it, getting there early.
Although she was excited to see what her grandfather wanted to give her, she still kept dwelling on her brother and father. The thoughts in her head would go in and out, non-stop. The house wouldn’t let her focus. Any spot she would lay her eyes on would be another memory of either her father or her brother Corri. She would try and push out of her mind those thoughts, but it wouldn’t go away.
That’s when she laid her eyes on her front window. She’d remember how her little brother Corri would stick his tongue out at her through the window from outside and then try to run and hide from her. She would give chase right after and tickle him until he admitted defeat. A smile would come to her face when she remembered those moments, but then they would quickly turn to sorrow.
While she was looking at the window she was lost in thought and then realized that Alrin was outside. She approached her window and saw Alrin standing outside some distance away from her home. “Hold up.” She said to herself. “Why is she out there with him?” Shella’s mind began to race. She could see a girl standing right next to Alrin. It was a girl that she knew in the village named Klairra. Shella began looking at their body language and could tell right away Klairra was flirting with him. Klairra kept passing her fingers through her hair in a flirtatious way while looking directly into Alrin’s eyes. Shella could see it. It was as if Klairra was searching deep into his dreamy eyes, trying to find something that wasn’t there. It was making Shella’s blood boil.
Shella turned around and took a deep breath trying to ignore all of it. She kept telling herself the same thing over and over again. “Shella, calm down. Stop. Stop thinking about them. He’s not your boyfriend. Calm down.”
She calmly went to her kitchen table to place the last items inside her travel bag. The moment she got to the table her mind became consumed by a whirlwind of emotions. She’d notice her hands were shaking from how jealous she felt. She began trembling from the thought of them being together, laughing together, talking together, right in front of her home. She placed the last bits of her food inside her bag, paused for a second, gulped down some air and closed her eyes to try and find some way to get herself to calm down but to no avail.
She turned around quickly and made her way back to the window because her curiosity was killing her. She needed to see if Alrin and Klairra were still there. That’s when she saw something that made her heart drop. Klairra gently placed her hand on Alrin’s arm. Instantly Shella became consumed by jealousy and anger. She felt her heart racing in her chest. She would tell herself to stop, to stop thinking so much about it but it was too late. She couldn’t unsee what she saw. “How could he? I thought he was into me, not Klairra. Argh, the nerve of Alrin! To just toy with my feelings like this. How could he just flirt with someone else?” Shella bit her bottom lip and noticed her heart palpitating rapidly. She wanted so badly to run up to them and shove Klairra to the ground and tell her to stay away from him. All these emotions kept bubbling up to the surface and she didn’t know what to do.
She began to panic, desperately trying to keep herself from overreacting. She began pacing back and forth in her home as she kept sneaking another peek outside the window. She felt like Alrin was the only person that understood her and the fear of losing him too started to consume her mind. She grabbed her bag as quickly as she could, stepped outside her home and slammed the door shut behind her. Shella was determined to do something about it, anything, to stop Klairra and Alrin from talking to each other. She marched up to them while they were still in mid conversation.
As she got closer all she could think about was pushing Klairra to the mud and teaching her a lesson to stay away from Alrin. Shella was breathing hard, her heart and thoughts kept racing as she approached them. Anxiety inside her kept building. They both didn’t notice that Shella was approaching them quickly. “No, Shella. Do not do it!” In her mind she kept telling herself not to take it out on Klairra, even though she could hardly contain the rage she felt inside her heart.
When she finally got close enough, she strongly pushed Alrin to the side against his chest with her left shoulder. She got him out of her path as she kept on walking, giving him the coldest look she could give anyone. Their eyes connected and Alrin felt like it was all happening in slow motion. He gulps hard feeling Shella’s cold stare. He felt a nerve racking sensation go down his spine. He didn't know what to say at that moment but it was all over as soon as it started. Not even giving him a chance to react.
Klairra broke the awkward silence. “Whoa-what was that about? ….that was rude!” Shella was already a stone's throw away from them, so she could not hear Klairra’s vocal response.
“Uh… Hehe. She’s just been under a lot of stress lately I think. I-I should go and see what’s up with her. Talk to you later Klairra.” Alrin had an awkward smile on his face. He could hardly pay any attention to Klairra after that whole incident. He just kept staring in the direction that Shella had gone.
“Uhmm… sure.” Klairra shakes her head. She was wondering what that was all about. Klairra looked over toward Alrin. She could see it on his face, how worried Alrin was. The stare that Shella gave him really rattled him up.
Alrin didn’t want things to be this way with Shella. He couldn’t stop thinking about her the moment she ran off after he showed her his rare flowers. He wanted to see her but he was too afraid, thinking she was angry at him for not listening to her, when she said she wanted to go home.
He ran after Shella, trying to go over in his head what he wanted to say to her. He wanted to make things right. He didn’t know what was on her mind and why she reacted the way she did just now. He was wondering if it was about the day he showed her the flowers. It was still fresh on his mind.
Shella walked at a quick pace, not bothering to look behind her. Her cold stare was enough to send a message to Alrin. She wanted to push him harder, so hard that he would fall over but she held back. She didn't know exactly why she felt this way, like Alrin was her boyfriend and she had full right to be upset. She knew he wasn’t her boyfriend. “Why? Why do I feel this burning anger inside toward Klairra. Argh! I just don’t want her making a move on him!”
Shella just kept walking toward the training grounds. She felt like the farther she was away from Alrin and Klairra the better. She didn’t want to do something she would regret later. But she felt she was just inches away from punching Klairra in the face earlier. She felt her hands shaking the moment she passed by Klairra. She felt a sickening feeling at the deepest part of her stomach. All she could think of at that moment was to push Alrin hard and look deep into his deceitful eyes and let him know with one look how horrible of a person he is for just looking at Klairra the way he was looking at her. There were details about the situation that her mind was fabricating. Shella knew this but kept accepting it all as fact. Her mind was spinning out of control and kept presenting scenarios between Alrin and Klairra that were not true.
“Hey Shella! Wait up!” Alrin finally caught up to her right before she could make it to the training grounds.
“Leave me alone Alrin!” Shella kept her pace and didn’t even think of slowing down.
“I wanted to talk to you.” Alrin was trying to catch his breath and took a short pause.
Shella stopped walking and finally faced him. Her face was serious and she wanted to explode in his face but all that came out of her mouth was, “Is that not what you have Klairra for? Go talk to her. Leave me alone.” Shella turns around.
“Huh?” Alrin was confused but he immediately put his hand on her shoulder to try and prevent her from walking away. She quickly swats away his hand with an annoyed look on her face. “W-wait! What are you talking about? Klairra is just… a friend. That is all.”
She looked at his body language and looked deep into his eyes. “What do you want from me?” The way she said those words brought chills down Alrins spine. He knew this was it, in the back of his mind he knew exactly what he wanted to say. But could he sum up the courage to say every word he was thinking of?
Alrin looked down to the ground and his heart began to race. He knew this was his chance to say something to her. “Shella, I-I’m sorry that I didn’t listen to you the other day, w-when I showed you my flowers.” He rubs his neck while trying to push himself to look into her eyes. When he finally sums up the courage to look into Shella’s eyes he says, “I know your… under a lot of stress lately. You have a lot of things going on but I want you to know that, I’m always thinking of you….”
His words caught Shella by surprise. Tears almost began to swell up but she held them back. “Alrin… I…” Shella wanted to say something as she looked into his eyes.
But Alrin continued, “Wait, I need to say this. I think of you, more than just…. a friend. Me and Klairra, we’re just friends, okay?”
Her voice was just a faint whisper. “I… I… like you said, I have a lot going on right now.” Shella wanted Alrin’s affection. She wanted it badly, but she wouldn’t have the time for a relationship. She was dealing with a lot. Her biggest fear was to lose him. She couldn’t deal with something like that. “I honestly don’t think it’s the best time for me to step into a relationship at the moment.” Shella gulps hard. She tightens her grip on her travel bag the moment she says that. It felt like the hardest thing she had to do. She wanted attention, she craved affection more than ever, but the fear of losing another person she cared about was so great that she couldn’t handle just the sheer thought that was floating in her head. Her lips were almost trembling as their eye contact broke. She started to look at the ground as a wave of melancholiness loomed over her.
“Oh. ummm okay.” Alrin felt like his heart was being stabbed. He was lost for words. He knew Shella had feelings for him. He felt it. But because of the circumstances, it would be too much of a distraction for Shella to have a boyfriend. He wanted to say anything to convince her otherwise, but he couldn’t find the words at that moment. He felt defeated. He had no idea how overwhelming the fear of losing him was to her. She was keeping those thoughts to herself and just used being very busy as an excuse. Shella wouldn’t dare express those personal emotions to him, in fear that she would push him away even farther.
“It’s best for me and for him that we do not become attached. No…. I cannot be in a relationship. I cannot get closer to him. If I were to ever…. to ever lose him…” Shella broke out of her train of thought and decided to end the conversation with Alrin there.
“I have to go now, Alrin. We are still friends, right?”
“Y-yeah. Friends…” Alrin’s face said it all. He was without words. Shella nodded, faked a half smile, and turned around. She started walking toward the training grounds. She kept telling herself to keep her composure and not to cry.
As Shella approached the training grounds, an open field outside the village, she could see her grandfather doing his daily breathing exercises in the distance.
“Good, you're finally here, my angel!” He yells out to her from a distance. He could see it in her face. Something was bothering her. But he decided not to question her about it.
“Yeah, sorry, I must have lost track of time while getting ready.” Shella knew that the real reason she was late was because her mind kept spinning while she tried to figure out what she was going to say or do when she finally approached Alrin and Klairra outside her house.
“Do not worry, my child, for it is the moment of truth. We both know exactly why you’re here. It is time to reveal to you an Aleeyah warriors weapon. But first let me explain to you this. Male and female warriors get two options when choosing a weapon. They may choose a sword or this...” Grandfather Kiev closed his eyes and instantly materialized two large white feathered wings from his back.
Shella was amazed but also confused. “Th-they look beautiful, grandpa.” She looked at them in awe as Grandfather Kiev spread the wings out for her to see. The wings were not attached to his back directly but instead hover inches away from his back. She slowly circles around him and wonders how it would feel like to touch them.
“How did you make these appear out of thin air? Can you fly with these things?” Shella’s mind kept processing everything very quickly. It was clear she was fascinated with the wings.
“You see, most male warriors choose the sword. But I chose the wings instead. Some female warriors opt for the sword… the training for a sword is much different. So becoming an Aleeyah warrior is not straight forward. You need to know hand to hand combat first but when the time comes you must choose between a sword and wings and then your fighting style will change because of the choice you make. I unfortunately do not have a sword for you, so that you can traditionally make a choice like in ancient times. But I do have this for you. Here, take it.” Grandfather Kiev reaches into his pocket and reveals the weapon to Shella.
Grandfather Kiev hands Shella a flat small white stone. Shella holds the stone in her hand and analyzes the stone carefully. “What is…. What is this stone for?” She looked up at Grandfather Kiev and he began to laugh.
“Hehe… It is your wings, child. I only have one stone left, so take good care of them. Once you have bonded or made a connection with the stone, it is yours for life.”
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