Grey War -part one- Chapter 2
GREY WAR
Chapter 2 - Aria Grand - Aria waved to her mom who stood at the front door. "Are you sure you don't need a ride honey?" Aria turned back and smiled. "I'm okay, you dropped off my stuff at the baggage check yesterday though, right?" Her mom pondered for a moment and said yes. "Alright then. I love you mom." "Oh... Sweety." She ran out and embraced her daughter. "GHAAK!" "Mom... Your... Choking... Me..." She let go and looked at her daughter. She was never so proud of her daughter. Leaving to go off and become a Guardian, a hero worthy of a fairytale to tell children. Hero's defending towns from bandits, wars being stopped by a single blade. That was a Guardian, that was her daughter in front of her. "Alright mom, I love you. I'll call you when I get to the station." She made a final kiss to her mother, and looked at the house. She wouldn't be seeing for at least a few months, during the winter break was her best bet to come home to her brother, mother, and... Her father. James came running out in a frenzy. He ran to his mom, wailed for her to stop Aria from leaving. When their mother started to get teary eyed, James turned to Aria and attempted to convince her to stay with a wail. "DON"T GO DON'T GO DON'T GO!" Aria looked down at the her little bro. He was always clingy. Then his final wail left an eerie note in the air. "I DON'T WANT THE BAD MEN TO GET YOU!" Both Aria and her mother looked at him... Confused and caught off guard. Aria thought for a moment. "Bad men?" Maybe he was thinking about the thugs that he might have read about in a Guardian story book. Plenty of tales are of Guardians protecting towns or cities from thugs or armies that seek to pillage or destroy them. She dismissed the statement as her brother simply being wound up for his first day back to school, and that his sister was leaving for a long while. It was a good moment to remember, her brother and mother standing in front of the house... She would miss them... A lot. But she looked down, her travel bag was at her feet, leaning against her boots. Her broad sword was slung over her back and rested in its sheath. She picked up her bag, waved goodbye, and started to walk. In truth... It would have been a lot simpler for Aria to ride to the transport station with her mother. A lot quicker as well. But she wanted the solitude for a few moments. It was something she needed... What with her younger brother and that of her constant work of being a Guardian. Her training didn't end with the end of the school year and the end of classes. It was constant. Always having to stay in shape, at a peak of physical ability and mental levels as well. The work outs, the exercises that she had to do regularly to maintain it all. In the neighbor hood, her friends even tried to do some of the exercises with her a few times... It brought a satisfied smile to her face of remember them all being too tired to continue past the first 8 mile run of the morning. Let alone the weight training or the later 10 mile run. But what could she expect? That's normal for Guardians, anyone else, it's considered a cruel and unusual punishment. "And it should be" many of her friends would say after she mentioned it as cruel and unusual punishment. As Aria left the neighbor hood, she got a good look at the city in front of her. The suburban landscape moved into more shops and tall buildings than that of homes and cottages. The transport station was a little into the city. Not far, but a little ways away. She looked a bit out of the ordinary... Girls walked by on their way to school, dressed in tight tops or shorts, boys in there jeans and interesting colored jackets. Giving her glares and stares as she walked by... A lot of midriff showing, a small red jacket with armored plates that just couldn't make its way over her breasts, and a pair of short tights that hugged her curvy rear. Maybe it was from her outfit that the odd glares came from... Or the fact that she had a large twin bladed silver steel broad sword over her back... But she was sure the boys were looking at her outfit... Aria kept walking down the street, men in business suits walked past, women in work dresses, and teens stalking around the streets for some unknown reason but to themselves. Aria rounded a street, and was facing the transit station. To many, things looked rather "strange" at the station, to Aria, it seemed normal. Maybe close to a hundred young adults wearing anything from full suits of armoring, to a simple tee shirts and jeans. Guardians, each and every one of them. Aria walked forward down the street, she recognized a few of the faces and the gear that they belonged too. There was Taylor, a dark grey wolf with a black robe with white highlights and a katana long sword on his hip. Jack and Blair, Twin red foxes that were quite inseparable. And Cameron, a cheetah that was always unreceptively happy all the time. But Aria was looking for one Guardian in particular... If he wasn't already on the train goofing around near the gate... Aria walked into the station and was greeted by a burly looking Roe Dear in a suit. "Name?" He said in a deep voice. "Aria Julian Grand, Second year Guardian." Aria replied back to him. The Roe Dear paused for a moment and looked down at his tablet, punched in a few letters and grunted in satisfaction "Luggage, check. Pass, check, Cleared to go." He waved her in. "Have a good year." He grunted. "Thanks sir." Aria walked past him and though the gates. A silver and black metro train waited in the center of the room. A blue shield with two white swords crossing it and a old ancient helmet over the center of them was on its side. The symbol of Central. The symbol of the Guardians. With maybe a hundred Guardians all around the silver beauty. "Call All! Call All! Departure at thirteen hundred hours!" A disembodied voice shouted throughout the station. Aria looked around for a clock, after a moment she found one. It was not even ten hundred hours yet... She had time. Maybe it would be best if she went and got some food for the trip she thought. It would be quite a long journey from their town to Central. Maybe even Ray was there as well. She walked through the crowded station, fellow Guardians all clamoring to each other about their summers and for the upcoming year. She would join them in her own way, soon. As soon as she could find her friend. There he was. Ray, a red panda with a lean cut body, wore a blue denim jacket with black hood, and a typical pair of jeans. On his back, a long handled sickle, that could be wielded either two handed, or one handed. It reminded Aria of a weapon the devil wields. Yet despite that, he was a jokester through and through with a light heart and personality. Ray was leaning on against a marble column eating a cheese burger. Aria ran towards him, Ray looked in her direction and smiled. "Aria!" Ray opened his arms wide embracing her in a one armed hug. Careful not to drop his burger. They let go of each other, they were just friends... Not in a relationship... The two looked at each other and made small talk. "How was your summer break?" Aria asked. "It was fine, wish I got to play more games..." Ray trailed off. "Well, did you see anyone over the summer?" Aria asked again. "Umm... Yeah actually, I managed to meet up with a friend of mine, Maddie." Ray replied. "A Guardian?" "No" Ray said. "Just a friend of mine." "Hmm... Well have you seen Brit boy?" Aria smirked. Ray smirked back, "no, I haven't seen the Royal White." The two of them laughed for a moment. "The Royal White", was one of their best friends nicknames they gave him, he lived in one of the richer of the four kingdoms and grew up with a life of privilege and wealth... Why he became a Guardian was beyond them... They liked to joke around with him, especially since he was such an uptight guy. But it was all in friendly fun. "Yeah, I haven't seen him since last year. Since the parting ceremony." They both thought for a moment, it made sense, he was from another kingdom, on the opposite side of the continent. He would probably have taken another metro system to get home. "You hungry? I got this half eaten burger?" Ray said. Aria smiled to Ray. "Only if you're buying?" Ray replied back "What do I look like? I'm made of money!?!" Least to say, he went with Aria and got her a burger. The two ate there munchies while leaning against the marble column, Aria finished her quick cheese burger in a few minutes. Ray looked at her. "You know, I relies we don't get moments like this. With training and all... We never get these moments to just sit back." "Yeah." Aria said. It was true. With training and all, they were lucky to still be sleeping at the end of the day. That was true for them, but especially the Guardian specialists. They had much harder training and a more rigid line of studies. Still though, warriors like Ray and herself had a lot of training to do. And what seems like impossible schedules to work around... For the remaining time, the two sat back and caught up there summer activates. Some other Guardians walked by and chatted as well. But never for to terribly long, they were all out seeking their friends or preparing for the journey to Central.