Within these grassy lands and tall trees, Flora swayed her right arm to activate the single cable hook into any random tree it hits. She moved in circular around the tree until the trunk wrapped by the cable's rope.
Flora hopped over the other tree's huge branch, pointing her left foot forward and the right at her back to maintain her balance and strength. She raised both of her arms while holding the rope. At her right side, she encircled the rope on her wrist and pulled it upwards.
Her eyes twinkled in delight as she saw the success she did with the tree. "It's time for self-informal training!~" She shouted, raising her voice as well as her chin to emphasize what she felt.
After which, she jumped back to the land using her complete weight. Her body swayed around the tree to lose the tie, which results in the tree making its cracking sound. Her hair went messy as she moved in the air with her specialized cable weapon. The tree was not that huge as expected. In this case, it was easy for Flora to cut it down to halves.
When the tree broke its trunk, Flora's eyes were surprised. She wasn't expecting it to get broke. "Eh, what?" Is she that heavy, huh? Her mouth slightly opened as she activated her reflexes and did a backflip in the air while the tree made the ashes flew around the area. She pulled the cable back to her arms and landed safely on the ground, right in front of the fallen trunk.
"Oh, my, mother nature will be angry at me.~" She told herself while her right palm was still touching the ground and her left knee beside it.
On the other side, Sophia and their squad leader Larch noticed a commotion at her place. Even though the area was covered by bushes and some other random plants, they raised their heads and looked in Flora's direction. They heard the sudden falling of leaves and branches from afar.
"What's that?" Larch asked after he twisted her body to look at his back. His eyebrows narrowed at the center.
"It's probably Flora. I saw her going in that direction a while ago." Sophia responded while raising her neck at the side because Larch blocked the view. Her eyes went small as she looked closely behind those tight spaces to see what was happening.
When her vision became clear, the wider view of Flora standing in front of the broken tree approached her sight. She felt relieved, knowing that Flora was not hit by its trunk. However, she suddenly saw a crawling branch from Flora's back! Her eyes blinked once as she gasped, making Larch wondered about her reaction. He quickly faced back to Sophia and asked while leaning his head closer.
"What's the matter?"
Sophia did not bother to answer his question. Instead, she just stared at him for a second. She stood up, and without a second thought towards their squad leader, she jumped to each trees' using her full force to arrive at Flora's area.
Flora quickly saw Sophia. She painted a smile on her face while waving at Sophia, but it immediately faded since she noticed that Flora's reaction was way different from her.
"Sophia! You found me, eh!-" Flora's jolly voice cut off as Sophia did a hexagon attack using her two swords since many branches appeared out of nowhere.
Sophia's movements were fast. She eradicated those branches that were about to pull Flora in a matter of fewer than twelve seconds! Damn! Flora did not even notice that they were branches who wants to attack her from her back!
The wind made her hair flew to her face as her jaw was hang-opened. Her body froze after witnessing Sophia's immediate attack and growth. She's indeed a fast learner. How did she learn to manifest that six-moves attack in just twelve seconds? Aside from this, Flora's mind was slow to process the scene. She was not expecting that those branches were right behind her!
Flora blinked her eyes several times while looking at nowhere. What just happened?
"A-ahm... W-what?" She whispered, and it was the only words she could speak in the middle of surprise.
Right at her side, Sophia stood up from making her final attack. She breathed deep before she faced Flora. She looked fierce, but later on, she pondered upon why she did that attack. Sophia also blinked her eyes several times. She shook her head and went nearer to Flora, who was still looking straight at nowhere.
"H-how d-did you d-do that?" Flora felt unsettled while asking Sophia.
Sophia felt the same thing too. Even though she knew it was her who made that hexagon attack, she still does not know why she automatically did that. She was aware that she needs to cut off the branches, but she never knew that she will do it accurately.
Sophia pretended to not hear Flora's question. She raised her chin and spoke to her. "Next time, be conscious of your surroundings. I know that you are too overwhelmed by your new weapon, but please make sure you know how to handle your emotion. Not just enjoy. This ain't a playground, Flora." Her tone became serious which made Flora went back to her consciousness.
Flora can feel the worries on Sophia's face when she looked at her. That is why she had nothing to respond to but to nod her head. She thought that Sophia was just making her comfortable because Sophia knew she easily gets scared and cries over spilled milk.
"Do you understand?"
Flora embraced herself and attentively raised her head in front of Sophia. She did a snappy pledge as she responded. "Y-yes!~"
Sophia sighed and relaxed her shoulders. She closed her eyes for a second before talking back to Flora. "My goodness, don't make that pledge to me. You're making me feel important. I am not even an officer." Sophia said. Then, she laid her hand on Flora's hair and messed it up.
Flora's happy-go-lucky mood went back after hearing the casual words that Sophia spilled. Most especially, that Sophia messed her hair. "Big sis! I believe you are going to be an officer soon!~" She complimented while holding Sophia's right hand, and made her body waved slowly.
Sophia's senses awaken because of what Flora called her. Her eyes opened widely, as a memory flashed back to her head.
"You are like me, my dear sister. Don't give up easily." The figment of a lady with a long gray dress and chignon golden hair appeared to her mind. Her eyes were gray, and she was floating above the clouds. She was not able to figure out who that woman was, but one that she was sure about was that that woman wasn't talking to her. It was talking to someone whose appearance was blurred on her head.
Sophia touched her head as she closed her eyes deeply. She can feel her nerves squeezing like it was about to explode. Flora's eyes curved as she saw what happened to Sophia. She held Sophia's pulse as she was trying to help her.
"Big sis, is your head aching? I'll go call a medic-" She was about to turn back, but Sophia stopped her. Flora gasped in pain because Sophia made it by pulling her hair.
"No," Sophia sighed and slowly opened her eyes. "I am okay..." She continued.
"You need anything, Sophia?" At this point, Larch inserted their conversation. He walked towards them, and when he arrived a few feet away, he glanced at Flora and stared at Sophia's uneasiness. His forehead furrowed. He felt that there was something that bothering Sophia, but he could not find any reason why she was like that.
Silence occupied the entire place. Larch was giving her enough space to open up, but it looks like Sophia doesn't want to express it to them. When Sophia fixed herself and faced Larch, she started speaking. However, it was not like Larch expected from her.
"I want to talk with Hanaele." She said all of a sudden, emotionless. This made Larch and Flora looked at each other. Both of them were confused about why would Flora wanted to talk to an Esperer this time?
Sophia wanted to ask Hanaele about what she saw a while ago in her memory. She was hoping for an answer from her, and she believed that there was no other person who possibly knew about this thing except Hanaele.
Flora made a look at Larch. It was like indirectly telling him to ask Sophia more, but Larch looked at her back, and whispered, "We shouldn't be forcing her to speak about it if she doesn't want."
Sophia did nothing but agree with Larch. His position as the squad leader made her feel useless to argue. After which, Larch faced back to Sophia.
"I will set an appointment with you and Hanaele as soon as possible, okay?" He said. Then, he tapped Sophia's head and waved his hand above it.
Then, the squad leader left.
When Larch was out of their sight, Flora hugged Sophia at her front. Sophia was startled and couldn't make a move. She wasn't expecting Flora to do this thing to her.
"If you have any concern that is bothering you, please tell me.~" Flora whispered. "And by the way, Larch looks at you differently from others!~" Flora added, teasing Sophia while making a slight laugh at the end. Why would Flora even think of that?
Sophia smiled, hugged her back, and pinched her neck slightly. "Silly."