Interlude VI: Gifts

"Alright everyone, now pair up and practice your Protects!"

   c'mere Grace 

     hey where'd he go 

The Serperior's instruction had the band of kids shuffle around the snowy clearing. Most of them immediately dashed to their best friends—or at least the peers they perceived as such. Cadence tried to spot one of the few faces she usually did these exercises with. Ember wasn't around, hardly a surprise; neither were Blossom nor Zephyr, much more unusual; Elric... had just paired up with someone else.

     is she just gonna stand there like that 

   can she not find anyone? 

In just a few moments, the task of finding a sparring partner had turned from searching for her favorites, to trying to spot the other unpaired person—or shuffling over to their teacher should she not find any. Not this time, thankfully. The fairy got spared that embarrassment, eagerly waving towards the similarly confused Gloom, taking them out of idly looking around the scene.

    ...suppose I can do it with her 

The ambient thoughts surrounding her felt so much starker than usual. It was unpleasant, and Cadence could only speculate about why they were so noticeable today. Could it be nerves from yesterday? Both about meeting Anne and then from chatting with her about their insecurities? Could it be her cruddy sleep tonight—or not just hers, judging by her mom having woken up so early it stirred her out of her sleep too? Could be the brief flashes of something morbid she saw in her dreams before waking—

   ...is she gonna do anything or just stare at the snow 

Right.

With a deep breath, Cadence looked up at her classmate before firmly nodding to signal her readiness. She had to focus. The fairy's eyes lit up dimly as the air shimmered around her horns. Singular Razor Leaves were hardly dangerous, but they would still hurt if she slipped up.

This was easy; she could do this; bring it on!

    why does she always look so weird when doing this

   wonder if she's digging into someone's thoughts 

None of these phased her anymore; she was stronger than this. Mom had told her many times she would hear unwanted thoughts like that as her senses keened over the years, and that a part of growing up as a psychic was learning to filter them out. She was strong; she didn't need everyone to like her; others' uninformed opinions were their problem and not hers.

    ...hope she notices this one, haha 

None of these should've been phasing her anymore.

With a whip-like motion, Mint sent just a couple of bright green leaves flying, slower than they'd ever be in any actual exchange of blows. Cadence didn't need that handicap, forming the shimmering barrier a good few seconds before the projectiles connected and shattered. And then a second time, a few moments later. And again, and again, the move so ingrained she barely had to think to use it anymore.

     she looks cool like this 

   man this is boring 

       ...I wanna do attacks 

Cadence didn't know the exact reason for Mrs. Cinder having been absent these past couple of days, beyond it having something to do with Ember and Anne. She didn't want to speculate—that would've been rude—settling on just being glad that her other teacher was taking her break. There was nothing pleasant about practicing attacks, and even though mom had told her many times that defense was toothless without offense, the tidbit had a hard time really sticking in her mind.

Anticipating opposing moves—as quarter-hearted as they were—was one thing, but having to let loose with something that could hurt someone else if they neither Protected nor dodged? She just wanted people to like her, and attacking anyone just went against that, even if it was just for practice.

   ...geez when is my turn 

It took her a good couple of years to get over that mental barrier.

With a light startle, she waved towards the Gloom to signal for him to stop, before pointing at herself. Sluggish nod, slightly straightened gesture, and more waiting. For her to get her bearings, for her to finally do her part of the exercise and attack. The unpleasant whispers made the necessary focus harder, but not infeasible. Another thing to get some practice in at the same time—not just ignoring the others' thoughts, but also her own.

   I swear she's just daydreaming over there 

How did mom manage that; she had no idea.

     ...come onnnnnn 

Cadence's eyes filled up with a multicolored light before unleashing the piddly Psybeam; the move so weak the Gloom had to shuffle a couple of steps towards it or else it would've missed entirely. He didn't comment on it, only moving a bit as needed as Cadence fired a beam after another.

   ...oh come on can't you hit me 

Not audibly.

     …I swear she's barely putting any effort 

  wonder if that's why she has to practice with the same two people 

The many little mantras mom had given her were losing their effectiveness fast as every overheard comment eroded her grip on her composure. She knew she should've focused on tuning them out the moment they started bothering her, but couldn't, not today. Why was it so hard for people to just not think nasty things like that!?

Cadence's anger made her try to hit the Gloom much harder, but hampered her accuracy even further. After the third attempted attack in a row that resulted only in some fluffed up snow, the Kirlia had to force herself to stop lest her frustration only grew further. Deep breaths, withdraw all senses, imagine a small, floating leaf. Inhale, exhale—

    where'd I drop my scarf off... 

As hard as she tried to focus on calming down, overhearing someone's concerns unfortunately caught her attention. She could step in here, she could do something nice and be helpful and get people to like her, right? She had to at least try.

Without even looking back in the Gloom's direction, she swept the clearing with her gaze, squinting at something small and red poking out from the whiteness in the middle distance. There it was, half-buried under a snow mound, tricky to spot. Just had to levitate it over into her hands, run up, aaaand—

"Here!"

Startled by suddenly hearing her voice, confusion in their mind as they turned to her. Wide eyes of first surprise, then relief, then veiled disgust as they tried not to show it on the rest of their face.

"Thanks..."

     did she read my thoughts? weirdo...

It shouldn't have hit her anywhere near as hard as it did.

Cadence watched them scoot off to another end of the clearing as she desperately tried to hold her tears in. She just wanted to help them out; why were they so mean to her all of a sudden!? Yes, they didn't say they were looking for their scarf *out loud*, but they were still looking for it, right? Why was this such a problem—

    sheesh, that human mess is hitting Cadence too, no idea why did that birdbrain ever try defending that thing... 

The Kirlia had to use all that remained of her composure to not shout at Hawthorne for that thought. A stifled growl had to suffice, followed by her turning to head away from the class. This wasn't good; she was getting so angry for no reason; she didn't want to feel this way; she had to get out of here...

    where is she going?

  is she alright? 

      haha she's just skipping class in the open! 

    ...oh come on what is it now 

   why is she crying? 

       oh dear 

     what a crybaby 

Each thought about her made her run faster, the little body soon breaking out into the swiftest sprint it could manage—only to get cut off by the Serperior watching over their group. The briefest glimpse of a stern expression didn't help her panic any, despite it immediately turning into concern after seeing her rough state.

"Cadence? Cadence issss everything alright?"

The Kirlia definitely wasn't alright, the question was just how bad was it. Random tears at their practice weren't too rare after all—though most of the time, they were caused by failing a Protect and getting hit head on, catching a stray projectile, or occasionally from general sadness at the state of the world after a particularly touching lecture. This was neither of these as far as he could tell, which was even more concerning.

"Talk to me ssssweetie, it'sssss okay. Did sssomething happen?"

Nothing did, nothing tangible to anyone but herself. She was as sure of hearing it all as everyone else was skeptical, and going into detail wasn't ever a good idea. Besides, what could anyone do about it? Tell the kids to not think bad things? It was a stupid idea that wouldn't have ever led anywhere good. Thoughts were supposed to be a private space, somewhere where anything went, and—

"Cadence?"

Hearing her teacher's voice from much close up snapped her to awareness, bringing her face to face with one particularly concerned Serperior. Tears kept flowing, no matter how much she'd tried to keep them under control, and words were just so hard to cobble together right now, be they verbal or telepathic. She still wanted to run, she didn't want to explain herself, she—

"Hey Cadeeeeence, where ya runnin'—"

All the laughter in the bat's voice as he gripped a nearby tree evaporated the moment he spotted the tears on his best friend's face. Even he knew this was no time for jokes—the fairy needed something else. And as much as he *really* didn't want to leave the comfortably dry tree he was clinging onto, this took priority. After letting out an audible wince once he'd landed on the snow, the Gligar scuttled towards the Kirlia and wrapped his arms tight around her.

"Feelin' rough, Cadence?"

"^Y-y-yeah...^"

"About yourself, or...?"

"^M-myself...^"

"But you're great and cool!"

"^I-I wish—^"

"Ya wish came true then, dummy! You *are* cool, and so's all the stuff you can do! Ya even mentioned Anne thought so too.~"

The tease was much more effective at breaking through her apprehension than anything that came before, replacing many of the tears with an embarrassed blush.

"And ya know it, too! Anyone who thinks otherwise is dumb."

"I'd advisssse not to use that sssssort of language, Elric..."

"Sorry, Mr. Oliver!"

"...but it issss broadly true, indeed. We are all much richer for having you in our livessss, Cadence."

The combined reassurance finally punched through the murk roiling in the Kirlia's mind, leaving her clinging to her burrowmate as she got her breathing under control again. Inhale, exhale, inhale. Mom was right, dad was right, grandma was right, uncle was right, Elric was right,

Anne was right.

She was great like she was, and the more she let that fact get to her, the better. Easier said than done, much easier, and something she was already consciously aware of beforehand, but sometimes it was hard to remember when her thoughts were at their most unpleasant. Sometimes she needed the reminder.

A reminder that everyone was more than glad to give.

"^Th-thank you...^"

"There ya go! Feelin' better Cadence?"

"^A-a bit...^"

"Seeemsss taking today'ssss practice off would sssstill be for the besssst. All I asssk is you remain ssssafe and look after yourssself, then~."

Cadence's eyes went wide at her being allowed to leave early, making her redirect her affection over to her teacher. The Serperior wasn't expecting it, flinching once the thin arms wrapped themselves around him, but ultimately didn't mind, returning the favor with his vines shortly after.

"^Thank you, M-Mr. Oliver...^"

"Of courssse! No point practicing in a misssserable ssstate."

With the hug wrapped up, and waves exchanged between herself and Elric, Cadence took her leave. It took many more deep breaths and much more skipping through the snow, but by the time she'd arrived at her destination, she'd shaken much of her funk off. Just in time—Anne seemed to be really happy; she would've hated to ruin the good mood with her gloom—

Wait, was that Mr. Lariat and Mr. Cypress in the distance?