“Freedom, that is what the wind is; that is what it embodies. It blows across the lands and seas, from the ground below to the highest of peaks. It blows, following no path but the one it chooses to follow.”
Flora, in her air form blew alongside the raging winds, recalling her father’s words from so long ago.
“Be free as the blowing wind”
Those words echoed in her mind over and over again as she went back to that time years ago, riding on her father’s wind dragon, feeling the wind blowing against her face as they soared through the open sky. Back then she didn’t understand what he was trying to say, but at the moment, as she recalled her life and her immensely stubborn spirit, the same spirit that drove her mother mad to the point that she enrolled her in the academy, hoping that being there would somehow tame her unrelenting spirit.
Flora knew herself well enough, she was always brash and did whatever she wanted, was the kind of person to always leap without thinking. Even though she had promised her mother that she would be on her best behavior in the academy, her wild spirit could never be tamed, and she always found a way to have fun with drawing any attention from the teachers to herself.
“Follow the path you want to follow...”
Her father's words continued to resonate within her as she pondered to herself what path she wanted to follow. She then thought about her friends and everything they’ve been through during the past few days. Her mind drifted back to the day she met Susan, the very first friend she made within the academy. Recalling Steven’s terrible attitude and reputation made the other students keeps their distance away from Susan and that Steven was too much of a hot head buffoon to realize the effects his actions her on Susan and was an even bigger idiot for not being there for her when she was alone. Flora remembered always glancing at Susan seated alone in the cafeteria every day with her head bowed down. She looked sad and miserable, and worst of all, she was all alone.
Flora never found it hard to make any friends; she was always open, and this, along with her playful character and the fact that she was the daughter of Golden Dragon General, made everyone in the academy more than eager to befriend her. But they all seemed boring to Flora and felt as though they were more intrigued by the fact that she was the daughter of the Golden Dragon General of the wind than wanting to genuinely be her friend. Glancing at Susan as she sat alone at an empty table, she couldn’t help but wonder about who she was and why she was sitting alone. After asking around, she found out about Susan being the daughter of James and Marina Finiton, fire and water Golden Dragon Generals, making her more curious about her, wondering why students avoided her despite the fact she was the daughter of the Golden Dragon General. She then got to know about Steven’s terrible reputation in the academy and his tendencies to flare up at the slightest agitation, and after finding out that Steven was Susan’s brother it wasn’t hard to figure out why the other students avoided her.
Flora could still recall the day she walked up to Susan during launch at the cafeteria, unable to recall if it was out of intrigue, curiosity or simply if it was because she felt sorry for her. Recalling the look of shock, almost as though she thought she was dreaming, etched on her face. Flora then proceeded to ask if she could sit next to her, and well, after that day, they became friends. Susan was sweet warm and kind, and after an encounter with Steven and seeing how obnoxious and terrible his attitude was and how ignorant of how his actions affected Susan, Flora distaste and hatred of Steven immediately manifested itself and the only thing keeping her from ramming straight in to a wall with power gust of wind was Susan. She could swear with her life that that girl was far too kind for her own good, especially for that hot-headed idiot.
Next was the four eyed book worm who seemed to know everything about everything, Akiri. At first glance it would be next to impossible to figure out he was an earth dragon warrior. Skinny and scrawny with muscles that were next to nonexistent and those glasses, Flora recalled how she couldn’t stop herself from laughing when she found out from Susan that he was an earth dragon warrior and the son of King Eric Owin, the earth Golden Dragon General.
He was a shy boy and chose to keep to himself; it didn’t seem like he had many friends, then again, he did spend all his free time in the library. At first Flora didn’t think much of him and if it wasn’t for Susan noticing how sad he looked as he sat on an empty table alone and decided they should invite him over to come seat with them, she would have never considered interacting with him in anyway. But Flora was thankful that she did because if she never pushed her into inviting him over, then she would have never made such a smart, sweet, a tad bit fearful, and incredible friend. He was shy at first and didn’t really talk much, which Flora didn’t really mind much at first, but after a while began to find it annoying, wanting to at the very least speak for himself every once in a while, which resulted in her yelling and lashing out at him for being too timid. Recalling the look on his first the very first time she yelled at him, it looked as though he was facing off against ravenous beast that was ready to rip him to shreds right where he stood. Flora recalled how cute she thought he looked as she glanced back at her with those innocent, fear-filled eyes of his, so much so that her anger vanished and caused her to simply pout in frustration. As time passed, she, Akiri, and Susan grew close and became close friends. Akiri began to open up more to them, laughing, joking, and playing around. Flora couldn’t explain why, but as they spent more and more time together, she found herself growing more and more fond of Akiri. He was kind and sweet, and even though he always seemed to be scared out of his mind, he was always right when she needed him, sighing, recalling how Akiri protected her from the dark dragon warriors when they went to rescue David and how she confided in him during the past few days as she came to terms with her father’s death. If Flora was like the wind, constantly blowing through the path laid before her, Akiri was like the earth she blew upon.
And then there was David. She honestly didn’t know what to think of him when she first met him; he seemed like a complete and utter moron in her eyes, ignorant of the most basic of things, and he couldn’t even summon a freaking dragon, something three years could accomplish. He was an odd one, but he was funny, sweet, playful, and innocent with a real heart of gold, recalling how he stood up against Flani when threatened to have Flora expelled and even faced off against one of the tough students in the entire academy. She liked David even more when she found out about them being cousins. He was a true friend and didn’t really care about them being the children of the Golden Dragon General. Recalling the bright smile plastered on his face during his first day in the academy. He seemed happy, truly happy but then...*sigh*
She failed to notice it at first, but there was something off about David. She knew he was a bit of an oddball from the very moment she met him, but nothing could have ever prepared her or even the rest of her friends and Steven for the overwhelming amount of shock they all felt that night upon the Golden Temple doors opening and stepping out of them being none other than David and how ever since that day everything changed. David became closed off as he struggled to come to terms with the revelation of being the son of the Ibierana, the Golden Dragon Warrior, and the dark dragon warriors attacking the very next day didn’t really help much. David was the kind of person who loved to take responsibility even for things that were completely out of his control, so he allowed the dark dragon warriors to capture him if they promised to leave the academy. Flora couldn’t help but think how foolish he was to be willing to give himself up to the dark dragon warrior, sigh, but then again, David never seemed like the kind of person to do the sensible thing. If he felt it was the right thing to do, he would do it even if it meant fighting an opponent he had no chance of winning against or facing an army of dark dragon warriors, and he would do it all on his own. And even after they all managed to escape the dark dragon along with David, David became even more closed off, refusing to see any of them during the past few days and just keeping to himself. She knew he probably needed some time to himself, especially after everything they had all been through, but she still wished he could have come to her and confided in her, not just because they were family but because they were friends.
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Sigh, something was coming, she knew it; she could feel it with each and every breath she took, and David was at the center of it, and knowing him, he would probably be more than willing to face it alone, but that was something she refused to let happen. Doing what you want, for your own reasons, be it selfish or selfless—that was the philosophy, Flora, to follow whatever path she chose, like the wind, blowing away or through whatever obstacle may come her way. She didn’t really get what her father meant back then, but now she does. Recalling how heartbroken and painful it felt to see her father’s lifeless corpse, not wanting to ever have to witness or feel that way ever again, especially for someone like David. She had made her choice and decided on the path she would walk, to help and protect her idiot of a cousin from whatever looming threat was coming for him, but for that she needed to get stronger. Recalling what happen when she and the rest of her friends along with Steven faced off against the dark dragon warriors and how things almost took a turn for the worst, they only managed to survive by skin of their teeth and if it wasn’t for David they might have never made it out of there in one piece.
Flora knew that if she truly wanted to stay by David’s side and support him, she needed to get stronger. The dark dragon warriors were still out there, and she knew that it was only a matter of time before they struck. Images of her father’s dead corpse then flashed in her mind. Sigh, she couldn’t bear to lose anyone else, especially one of her closest friends so...
The wind blew stronger and stronger.
...she’ll get stronger...
Flora, in her air form, began to blow against raging winds.
...strong enough keep her loved ones safe...
The strong winds blew against her, trying to push her back and force her to follow their current, but Flora was too stubborn to submit to them. It blew harder and harder, but Flora kept pushing, blowing in the opposite direction, countering and disrupting its flow. The wind was strong but not as strong as Flora’s stubbornness and resolve; she never liked being pushed around or doing things just because she was told to. That’s why she would never allow anything, much less the wind, to push her around. She chooses the path she wants to follow and blows away or through anything that stands in her way.
The student along with Winrin watched as the vortex began twirling and spinning faster and more erotically. It seemed as though it was completely and utterly out of control, and all the students just looked on as the vortex continued raging on, knowing that Flora was still in there. The winds from the vortex continued turning, spinning chaotically as the student looked on in shock and horror, fearing that they might be sucked in again if the winds from the vortex continued to blow so strongly. Winrin, however, just looked on at the scene with a smirk on his face. The vortex then, due to the opposing wind current Flora, in her air form, was creating as she blew towards the opposite direction, began to unravel, with its raging winds dispersing as it did so.
The students just watched in awe and amazement as they saw Flora reform in the mist of the scattered wind with a sly smirk on her face.
Winrin upon seeing the smirk on Flora’s face, just nodded his as he thought to himself, ‘there is no doubt about it she’s really his daughter’. A memory of a young man sprinting and running away for dear life then flashed in his mind. Recalling the roars of vicious dragons soaring through the open skies along with dark dragon warriors that rode upon them raining down hell to the people that lay below. Recalling the panic, fear, and destruction that wrecked across the land, along with the shadow of a massive dark dragon looming over it all, and seated upon it, watching as the city burned with his cold dead eyes that shone with a violet hue, was none other than the Dark Dragon Lord himself.
The young man ran and ran in a desperate attempt to survive the carnage all around him. He barely managed a fireball being flung his way by one of the dark dragon warriors by turning to air and blowing it away, reforming a great distance away. Panting out of exhaustion and fatigue from having sprinted and run so much, the man decided to take a moment to breathe. It was only a minute, but that seemed to be enough for a group of dark dragon warriors to notice and surround him. The man tried turning into air and attempted escape in his air form, only to be halted in his tracks by a powerful gust of wind from one of the dark dragon warriors, causing him to collide into a nearby wall, reforming, and then proceeded to collapse on the ground due to pain and exhaustion.
The man, lying on the ground, far too weak to get back up on his two feet, could only raise his head, his eyes filled with nothing but fear as his gaze met that of the dark dragon warriors. One of them then raised up a flaming fist to deliver the final. The man didn't even try to fight or get up; he just lay there helpless as the dark dragon warriors were about to finish him off. Then, a massive gust of wind blew seemingly out of nowhere, sending the dark dragon warriors flying.
“Are you okay?” said a man as he made his way to him.
The young man, still on the ground, looked up and saw him, Victor Supriyi, standing next to him, holding a staff and greeting him with a smile and an extended hand.
Winrin just smiled and nodded his head before letting out a deep sigh as he stopped reminiscing about the past.
“Listen,” Winrin addressed the students.
“You all need to be ready. The attack on the academy was just the beginning. The dark dragon warriors are ruthless monsters hell-bent on achieving their twisted goals. There is no line they are not willing to cross if it means achieving them.” Winrin paused for a moment before taking a breath as images of the carnage and ruin the dark dragon warrior brought to the world during the Dark Dragon Lord’s reign flashed in his mind.
“You all need to be ready. The winds may seem calm and still now but it will soon turn wild and restless. I know not what’s coming for us, but soon you all may have to fight, just like we did for the sake of our world. Sigh, so for the sake of everything, all of you, and you all need to get stronger”, said Winrin.
The students wore a face filled with worry and fear upon hearing what the Winrin said, fearing that perilous road that lay ahead of them, with the threat of dark dragon warriors still looming above them. Along with Winrin’s words, they were unable to stop their hearts from racing underneath their chests.
Winrin upon the look of fear on the students face could only let out a sigh, knowing that their reaction was to be expected, they were only just children after all. Winrin’s that landed on Flora; he could tell that, just like the students, she was scared of what was coming, but unlike the other students, along with her fear, she wore a face of confidence and determination that made him recall Victor and the way he wore his face on the battlefield. A look of fear, knowing that the battle he was fighting was not an easy one and not one where victory was a certainty, but he took in a breath and smiled. He kept on fighting, knowing what was at stake, and was far too stubborn to give up even when he had no chance of winning.
Winrin just smiled and nodded his head before shifting his attention to the rest of his students. They had a long way to go before they would be ready to face whatever it was that headed their way. Taking in a breath and letting go, all he could do was hope that whenever they strike, they will be ready, and above all else, he sincerely wished that none of them would ever have to face even a fraction of the things he and the others who were unfortunate enough to be born during the dark dragon warriors era did.
“Alright, that will be all for the day. Now let’s head back to the academy”, said Winrin.
The students, thankful the training session was over, began summoning their dragons and rode them away back to the academy.
Winrin, watching them leave, could only take a breath as he felt the wind blow against him, sensing the chill in the air as he exhaled before summoning his dragon and flying after the students.
