2 A Girl Named Brave Larison

'Scarlet Strings Of Destiny.'

Night Two

Up in the sky the blood moon hung above casting the city below in a red glow as a young girl got ready to kick the door of a building down.

"So... This should be the last Mare right Mr. Laws..."

'Bang!'

The door was kicked down with a loud bang as she slammed her foot into it knocking it down.

"D... Damn it." A voice growled out. "A Wake was here? N... No you aren't a Wake you're to young for that... You're a kid?" In a dark room three people could be seen. The first was a man who rested in the corner cowering. He had a white halo above his head as well as a pair of tiny bird like wings that were far to small to support him. The second thing was far stranger. It was covered in pitch black flesh as dark as shadows and had twisted horns and a pair of glowing red eyes its mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. Its eyes stared at the doorway which had just been kicked down as it backed up slowly. "P... Please. I'll head back to the New World so please let me go. I won't do anything bad ever again."

"Oh really?" A female voice questioned. Standing in the door way was where she was, having just kicked it down... Brave Larison. She held her knife up the blade reflecting the soft moon light in the room as she gave a small smirk. "Like I'd believe a lie like that from a dirty Mare."

"D... Damn you!" The creature jumped at her letting out a roar as Brave took a deep breath closing her eyes. A small faint white aura seemed to appear around her as she swung her knife and in a single stroke tore the head of the beast off of its shoulders as its eyes went wide.

"And thats that." Brave hummed twirling her knife around and placing it in her coat pocket. "I should tell Mr. Laws I finally got rid of them all. Yo Ghost you okay?" She asked giving a wave to the man in the corner who was cowering.

"O... Oh thank you Wake! You saved my life! That mare was gonna devour me!" The man cried jumping at her feet and grabbing at her legs. "I'm so glad that people like you exist to keep my kind safe-"

The ghost went on and on as Brave stood there awkwardly scratching the back of her head.

You're probably wondering what exactly is going on, and who this girl is...

Well our story actually begins sometime earlier...

Sometime Earlier...

"Hey, have you heard about the latest news?" A young thirteen year old boy asked leaning back in his chair.

"No what?" Another girl asked cocking her head to the side. "What is it this time?" In a classroom several kids could be seen many of which were talking amongst themselves. Over in a corner two kids, a boy, and a girl could be seen gossiping about the latest events that happened in their massive Nation...

"Well..." The boy leaned closer to her as he gave a small frown. "Apparently there was a new incident..."

"An incident?"

"Yeah... Some people think a third world war could be breaking out." The boy grinned. "Some of the local men noticed a group of soldiers went missing... Some guys were stationed out at a base and had been getting supplies from our town. But one day they just stopped requesting supplies. So some men went to go check it out to see if they were okay." He spoke in a spooky way now. Like someone giving a ghost tale.

The girl gave him a small look for a moment. "Oh yeah? And then what happened?"

"They say the place was filled with blood." He announced loudly.

The girl let out a snort. "Yeah. Nice try."

"Huh?"

"Brave already told me the actual story. She lives out of town you know. The military camp wasn't filled with blood or dead bodies. I'd say it was actually scarier."

"Oh yeah?" The boy asked.

"Yeah." The girl gave a grin propping her head on her hands. "After all they found nothing-"

'Ring!'

"Alright, alright. Butts in seats go on..." A loud voice said as an older man entered the classroom dressed in the typical dead emotionless suit all teachers had, one hand holding a large brief case, the other hand holding a simple brown coffee which he kept drinking. He stood in front of his desk letting out a tired sigh as he set the coffee and case down and pinched his nose. Next to him a blonde haired girl stood waiting on what to do as the teacher let out another sigh. "Alright so I'll make this quick since it's December and... We got your tests back for the midterms..." He sighed shaking his head for a moment. "And... Well they aren't good... Most of you won't able to meet the grade average... I understand that things have been harsh these last few years, but I am still very disappointed in all of you." As he spoke many of the kids looked away awkwardly as his eyes roamed the classroom. "In fact... Only one person in this classroom scored in the top fifty which is still crap, but way better than what most of scored. I'm of course talking about our very own Brave!"

A quiet cough could be heard as nothing happened.

"...Our very own Brave!"

Another cough.

"Brave... Wake up!"

Everyone in the classroom turned to look at the very back of the class room where a young thirteen year old girl with light brown hair was currently sprawled out across her desk snoring quietly as her chest rose up and down. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully-

"I said wake up!" The teacher yelled hitting the desk and making Brave let out a loud squeak as she shot up and tripped over her chair falling back. She let out a nervous laugh when she saw that everyone was looking down on her. Her sapphire blue eyes shinning slightly as she looked around.

"Hello..." Brave said awkwardly giggling nervously.

"Uhh... Teacher are you sure Brave has the highest score..."

"Yeah I didn't believe it either at first..."

Quiet laughter echoed out in the room as Brave scratched at her chin in embarrassment. "S... Sorry..." She said sheepishly. "I guess I fell asleep..." Her teacher stared back down at her with a blank look causing her to shrink down. Mr. Pluto was a strange man. He apparently used to run some Orphanage or something before he came here. He taught for only a year now, but he was already Brave's favorite teacher.

"Now that sleeping beauty is awake let's go ahead and start class." The Teacher said moving back to the front of the room. He gestured to the girl who was still standing awkwardly. "Everyone this is Lily. She's your new classmate. Why someone enrolled their child near the end of the first half of a semester I don't know, but do treat her nicely... Lily you can take a seat near the back next to Brave. Don't worry if she bites, we found hitting her over the head mostly gets her to stop. Usually she just does it when she's dreaming of food which is almost always... So watch out..."

Lily let out a small laugh but stopped when she saw the teachers deadpanned expression. "...Y... You are saying a joke no?"

"I don't joke. Get in your seat."

"R... Right..."

Brave frowned as Lily took a seat next to her. Part of her was still wondering why her teacher woke her up? She had been having such a peaceful dream. Letting out another sigh as she rubbed her eyes she laid her head down on the table and slowly shut her eyes. It wasn't her fault she was so tired... It was her horrible sleep schedules fault! She had stayed up all night playing some of her favorite games, with her sister having a good old time, which unfortunately meant staying up all night...

Not her fault at all!

The school day soon came to an end, just like any other as the bell rang.

"Alright... Feel free to not come back..." The Teacher half yelled, half yawned, as everyone left the class room and quickly made their way out of the school building into the snow outside.

"Ms. Brave! Please wait!" A voice cried out making Brave stop.

Brave stopped mid step as she turned seeing Lily, the new student running towards her. "Oh? Can I help you?"

Lily stopped in front of her breathing a little heavily. "I... I want to do as you say talk?" She spoke in a weird way doing her best to speak how someone of the Red Nation would but it was clear she didn't fully get the structure of sentences yet.

"What?"

"You scored higher than anyone else no?" Lily asked curiously. "You are best student?"

"Ha... No... Not really-" The thirteen year old tried to explain but was stopped when a new voice yelled out.

"Hey new girl!" A voice yelled out. "I wouldn't hang around her if I were you." Lily and Brave turned seeing some of the students. "She's Brave Larison."

"I am aware?" Lily nodded giving a confused look.

"I don't think you really understand who she is." The student said. Brave gave an uncomfortable frown and shifted awkwardly. "We don't really like her you see... She's not even from this city. She lives in the local village outside of our city. But more then that... She's a freak."

"A... Freak?" Lily asked cocking her head to the side.

"Yeah. You know... Weird. Not normal. You see there are us, normal people who live in villages, and than there are Brave's people, mountain people. They don't live in cities. They're all brutes. But her... She's far worse then them. See... She claims she can see Ghosts. And weird things happen around her. She's a Witch."

"A Witch."

"Thats right. We used to have a law where Witches would be burned on sight but the President has since changed that for some reason. She's real lucky to. Still... We don't like her kind."

Brave looked away not meeting the boys eye as she winced. "H... He's not lying... I did say I could see Ghosts when I was a kid... And weird things happen around me... Though I don't like calling them weird. I prefer unique."

Lily nodded her head as she gripped Braves hand. "I would rather do as you say take my chances with her?"

Brave let out a small snort when she saw the boys face which flushed slightly. He stormed off in a huff as Brave let out a laugh. "You know what? You're kind of cool." Brave smiled. "What did you want with me?"

"I simply wanted to talk?" Lily said cocking her head to the side. "Get to know you better? He said you live in a village no? My home is near the entrance of this city, would you like to walk? I am new here? I came from Blue Nation."

"I wouldn't mind. " Brave grinned. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I am new here. I wanted to make friends, and you seemed nice?"

"I think you got a bad first impression than..." Brave said letting out a sheepish laugh. "I'm not that nice. The other kids call me a bully and a witch. Thats okay I'll just curse him later."

"You can curse people?"

"N... No... That was a joke..."

"Oh. I see. It is funny because he said you were a witch."

"And you killed the joke."

"That other boy said you aren't from here?"

"No I'm not." Brave shook her head for a moment as they began to walk down the steps of the school. When they reached the street they turned and began to head towards the gates that surrounded the city. Dandelion city was a fairly massive place with many tall buildings. It was in the Red Nation one of the four mighty Nations of the world under the watchful gaze of the Red President.

"I live in a small little village called Daffodil." Brave explained. "It's further up the mountains. I live at the local orphanage with the other kids there but only I go to school. Our village is full of hunters, and trappers, so compared to you city locals we sometimes come off as brutes." She grinned.

"Aren't you scared though?" Lily asked.

"I can handle myself."

"Really? You don't seem like a brute."

"Well... I mean you haven't seen anything..." Brave said looking away. "I mean I don't go around just picking on anyone you know. Just jerks."

"I doubt you could hurt a-"

Both girls were interrupted when they began to near the gates of the city. A loud cry could be heard from up ahead making them both stop. It didn't sound like a person though. Rather it was more like a dying animal. Lily didn't really have time to process it though as Brave took off running. She did her best to keep up with the brown haired girl but Brave was surprisingly fast despite being a small pale, thirteen year old girl, who looked like she didn't get much sunlight. Both girls rounded a corner ending up at the entrance into a small park and saw it...

At the end of the park three boys could be seen. They were all swarmed around what appeared to be a wounded cat which they were poking and kicking at. The poor thing was letting out several loud cries but seemed to be hurt to bad to move having what seemed like a broken leg...

"What the hell!" Brave yelled making the three boys jump slightly.

"Oh... Hey." The one who appeared to be the leader said giving a small grin.

"What the hell are you doing! You're hurting it-"

"Oh relax." The boy said rolling his eyes. "We aren't the ones who did this. We found it like this. It was hit by a car or something... It's gonna die-"

"So then don't hit it and hurt it more!" She screamed.

"Geez calm down. It's not like we're gonna kill it. Besides it's to far gone. It's back side is crushed and its legs are all twisted. I doubt it's gonna live much longer anyways, and it can't be saved."

"That doesn't matter!" Brave hissed. She shook her head and clenched her fists as her mind raced. She remembered what some of the Hunters had told her about animals. "If it has no chance to survive than either leave it alone, or put it out of its misery-"

"So now you want us to kill it?" The boy asked giving her a frown. "Oh I know you... You're one of those villagers?" Now that he had seemed to recognize her there was almost a hostile nature about them.

"B... Brave maybe we should leave them alone..." Lily said slowly tugging on the girls arm.

"No." Brave said shaking her head. "I'm not walking away from these jerks."

The leader gave another sneer for a moment. "Fine you want the damn cat to be put down." He raised his foot up and pressed it down into the creatures back making it let out a horrible screeching sound as it howled in utter pain. "There I'll-"

"Boss look out!"

Before he could even register what was happening Brave had already reached him and had slammed her fist right into his face with a loud snap as he stumbled back a shock expression on his face as his back hit the fence. Seconds later the shocked look changed to rage as he stepped forward roughly slamming his own fist into Brave's face easily busting her lip and nose as she tripped and fell back hitting the ground. His look of rage changed back to shock as he realized he just punching a girl as hard as he could and she was now knocked over.

"O... Oh... I mean... I'm... That was... I-" He stuttered a bit not knowing what to say.

Brave looked back up a flame in her eyes as she was back on her feet and tackled him into the metal fence roughly slamming his head into it over and over again as she punched and punched, and even bit him at one point just wailing on him as much as she could.

Finally she stopped letting go of him as he slid down the fence. She breathed heavily and heard quiet whispering. When she looked around she saw that Lily, and the other two boys were gone having run away out of fear and terror. Several adults were near by though all whispering nasty things as they glared at the girl...

Brave glanced down at her hands which were bruised and covered in the boys blood.

"Oh... I did it again didn't I..." She let out a bit of a angry yell hitting herself over the head. "Oh man... Dads gonna kill me..." She sighed. "I hope it made you at least a little happy."

"H... Huh?" Next to the injured cat a young boy stood. He had a halo around his head and small bird like wings.

'My name is Brave Larison. I can sort of see ghosts...'