Ambree's Ten Years

A Chapter by Star Catcher

This is completely my writing. A summary of Ambree's ten years after Yochinai.

Sixteen

A single tear fell to the ground of Seisen, splashing off of a blade of grass. Ambree hurriedly wiped her face, having been unaware until that moment that she was crying. “Home,” she said shakily, although she felt no emotion but dread at the word. How was she to tell her father that Raven’s Nest had been forced to separate?

The answer came easily enough: she wouldn’t. Although she didn’t feel like acting at the moment, a façade was going to be necessary.

…

Ambree opened the doorway and leaned against it, gazing inside. Her father was busily clearing up dishes from some get-together that must have occurred the night before. She didn’t have to fake a smile, as she thought she would have; it brought her unexpected comfort to see him.

The sound of a dish crashing to the floor alerted her to the fact that her father had seen her. “Ambree?” he breathed.

“Hey, dad,” Ambree replied. She paused, then rushed to him quickly, embracing him.

Her father returned the gesture with enthusiasm. “Ambree! You’ve only been gone about two weeks, and here you had me thinking I’d never see you again for years.”

Two weeks Ambree thought in absolute disbelief. Two weeks, and she’d undergone more change than she had in the entire other sixteen years of her life. Two weeks, and they’d saved two worlds. “I’m sorry,” was the only thing Ambree could think of to say at the moment.

“Sorry?” her father asked, finally pulling out of the embrace. “I’m overjoyed to see you! What’s there to be sorry about?”

Ambree forced a smile. “Nothing, really,” she lied. “I’m happy to be back.”

…

Six uneventful years passed. Ambree told her father some vague details about her journeys, but never let on to the fact that Raven’s Nest was forcefully split up. She ended up getting a job as a messenger between the humans and the selkies as they tried to work out the new, unstable situation. But after those six years of tedium, she began to understand that the life she was living was not the one she wanted. She had often gazed at the Nexus key that she still owned throughout the years, until it had become too painful and she’d hidden it away. At the age of twenty-two, however, she was feeling restless and could no longer ignore the urge to venture.

After she had said yet another swift and confusing goodbye to her father, she took her Nexus key and began to travel aimlessly.

…

Twenty Two

Ambree walked into the old building, glancing around. “Hello?” she called. This was supposed to be the shop of the smith she’d heard about, but she didn’t see anyone.

Just when she was preparing to leave in search of a different place to get a weapon, a man emerged from a back room. “Good day, may I help you?” he asked politely.

“Yeah,” Ambree replied, walking over to him. “I’m in need of a new, sharp weapon.”

“Well, you’ve certainly come to the right place,” the smith responded, smiling. “What would you like?”

Ambree took a moment to glance around the room at the assorted display weapons. Her gaze fell upon an object that looked like a long pole with a narrow sword blade on the end of it. “How about one of those?” she asked, indicating it.

“Ah, the Naginata? That’d cost about twenty thousand Ryo, assuming you don’t want any magical enchantment on it,” the smith replied.

Ambree nodded, handing over her Ryo card. “Deep blue blade, silver handle, please,” she requested.

“Sure thing. It’s gonna take a while; come back in three days,” the smith told her.

…

Ambree ran her hands along the handle, gazing at the glimmering cerulean blade. “It’s magnificent,” she murmured. She smiled and turned to the smith, who appeared very proud of his work. “Does it have a name?”

“Not yet,” the smith responded quietly, gazing at it with appreciation that equaled and perhaps surpassed Ambree’s. “It’s yours, now. You should name it something worthy of what it is. Take your time.”

Ambree nodded. “Nice doing business with you. Thanks,” she said, before walking out of the store, entering the Nexus through another doorway seconds later.

Twenty Five

Ambree entered the local tavern, still carrying Diafire. The weapon was currently stained with blood.

It felt so good to be in the presence of humans again that she hardly cared. She sat down at the bar and leaned her Naginata up against it beside her, her warm feelings quickly fading. She ordered a drink, and unsurprisingly received it without charge.

After she was almost done with the drink, a dark-haired, lightly muscled man sat down at the bar beside her. “Looks like you just got done with something interesting,” he said in a playful tone.

“I’m surprised you’re not intimidated by Diafire,” Ambree noted nonchalantly, taking another sip. She repositioned the blade so it was subtly pointing at the man beside her. “Most people keep away when they see her.”

“I ain’t particularly scared just seeing someone with a weapon. Got a little somethin’ of my own,” the man responded. He took a sword out of a sheath she hadn’t seen, laying it on the bar table.

Ambree hesitated for a moment, and then aimed Diafire straight up again. “What exactly do you want?” she asked.

The man smirked. “What do you think, coming up to a lovely young lady like yourself in this setting?”

Ambree was silent for a moment, and then, surprising herself, she replied, “Alright.”

The man’s eyes widened. “Are you for real?”

Ambree didn’t say anything, instead downing the rest of her drink and standing up.

The man quickly got up as well, taking his sword and leading her out of the bar.

Looking back on it, Ambree knows why she did it now. Although she had been living a life for the past nine years, she was still empty.

Twenty Six

“Come to the Snapdragon tomorrow, early if possible. Something horrible has happened. Lujuria”.

Ambree stared at the message for a long time, letting the memories wash over her. To this day, it still pained her to remember the day Raven’s Nest had broken. Her life had been changed so quickly into something exciting, and then just as suddenly it had been taken away, leaving her hollow.

What ‘something horrible’ could have possibly happened? She looked up at her surroundings. She was currently on a planet called Hygeia, standing under the shelter of the overhang of a building while the rain poured down around her. It was getting late anyway; she should probably find some place to sleep.

She ran out into the rain, searching the streets and quickly finding a local hotel. She checked in with stolen money and drifted off to sleep in a relatively expensive room, nightmares plaguing her until morning.

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