Chapter 12 - Riterran Society

Holly studied the bracelet that now graced her left wrist. There was a tiny piece of glass that displayed the number zero when she touched the sides of the capsule that contained the flat glass. “A screen they called it,” she mused to herself.

Apparently, it would show her how much money she had. The zero was a frightening prospect. She had no money to her name. If she wasn’t able to kill any Scherzando tonight she really would be on the streets.

Putting it all together, that's what all those rectangles were. Screens. Through… something they displayed information via light. “Why wouldn’t Inverna have that technology?” the zalavan trailed off.

She leaned back on a bench, basking in the sun, her jacket tied around her waist, her loose green shirt rustling in the wind. As much as she hated feeding from the sun, in this situation she had no choice. At least until she got some money she wouldn’t starve. Thankfully, no one was paying her any mind in this park. Perhaps she blended in slightly with the company of trees and other greenery? Who knows?

“This sucks,” she whispered. Her eyes cracked open to watch the fluffy white clouds pass overhead. She'd admit the park was nice, peaceful, just like home. At worst, she could probably sleep here. “Uhg…” The more she thought about it, the more she wished it was night already. The anticipation anxiety was dreadful.

Time passed so slowly, to the point where it was actively painful for the poor bored girl. “I can't live like this,” Holly decided. She hopped to her feet. The pangs of hunger had lessened but weren't totally gone. She still needed to bask, but she needed to do so in a place where her mind wouldn't start chewing on itself.

That's when she spotted them: a family of Maestros, lightly dressed, chattering excitedly amongst each other. It wasn't their clothes that drew the curious plant’s attention, but talk of their destination.

“I can't wait to see the beach!”

The ocean! She was a short trip away from the ocean! The domain of Sage Marovo was within walking distance! Holly had only ever read about it!

New destination in mind, the zalavan power walked her way out of the park and down the street.

Pietri was built into the mountains, as such the roads all curved down towards the ultimate destination of the sea. The sun shimmered brilliantly over the waves that crashed in the distance. And soon little Holly would behold their majesty.

She cared not for the people around her. They were of little consequence now. She had a goal, and damn it no one was going to get in her way.

“Woah little lady!”

Holly was suddenly yanked back by her shoulder. A car flew by her vision, missing her by mere leaves. Her heart stopped as her brain caught up with what had almost just happened.

“No one ever taught’cha about traffic signals?” an older man said. He pointed across the street at the big red hand displayed their opposite.

“N-no sir, thank you,” squeaked the nature element, still trying to wrangle her heart rate back into place. Everything in this world was out to get her!

The bright red light changed to a white silhouette of a person and everyone who stood by her began to cross. It was little things like this that made her feel stupid. It probably told others how much she didn't belong. “Another lesson learned I suppose,” she mumbled with a tired sigh, now safely across the street.

With a more careful pace in mind, Holly navigated the winding streets of Pietri, eventually finding her way down to the coastline proper. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she beheld its splendor. Gritty sand stretched out in either direction while the sea crashed into the shoreline in an ever-revolving carousel of waves. Many people in various states of disrobe played in the water.

Holly too wanted to play in the water, but thankfully she arrested her enthusiasm, keeping calm and analyzing the situation. “Ah, I don't know how to swim. Ahahaha…” She hung her head in defeat.

However, upon closer observation, she did see many a patron of the sandy expanse simply sitting on the beach itself and not interacting with the water. She wouldn't look out of place merely observing the tides she had read so much about!

With so much to take in, the little lost plant couldn't sit still and she ended up walking up and down the beach taking in the many sights, sounds, and smells. Perhaps when she was in a more comfortable position she could learn how to swim. For now, such a prospect was fraught with danger.

That was until afternoon broke down into evening. Holly sat on the beach for the entire two hours it took for the sun to set, just watching the colors change from blue to a gradual orange and then finally the inky shade of purple that graced the night sky.

“Good night,” she whispered, hopping to her feet. Dusting the sand from her skirt and leggings, she turned back to the city that waited behind her. The glow of the buildings was a captivating sight all on its own; it was like a starry sky nestled amongst the mountains. “It’s all just too beautiful… that’s not fair,” mumbled the zalavan.

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Wide reds took in the visual interest that surrounded them. So many people, so many Resonators! It was a nauseating number of individuals that gathered for these hunts.

“Uh, what do I do?” the little zalavan squeaked to herself. Everyone else knew what they were doing, but that didn’t necessarily help her. There was food being served, but Holly noticed price signs before she got her hopes up. “Darn.” She had hoped there’d be a free meal – no such luck.

“I think they said there’d be some kind of registration,” Holly recalled.

Given the number of Maestros and their Resonators milling about, there had to be somewhere for them to gather. Sure enough, with a bit of careful observation, she found the line.

“L-long…” she blinked.

The line was at least twenty groups deep with the number only rising as more teams walked up to take their place in the queue.

“Oh!” Holly rushed over and joined the wait. She got a couple of looks, but nobody said anything to her, so she assumed she was in the right place. The curious berry tree poked her head out of line every so often to take in her fellow Resonators. There were no solo acts like her, but that was to be expected – as far as she was aware, no other Resonator type could use magic in the manner her people did.

The luster of interest waned thin as there were only so many times she could sidestep the line to people-watch before it got monotonous and boring. Instead, she turned her attention to the groups in front of her. Maestros talking strategy, plans for after the hunt, gossip. Camaraderie looked nice. Too bad she didn’t have any.

“Are you with them?” a voice asked from behind.
Holly spun around to see the Maestro of the group behind her addressing her. “Huh? Me?”
“Yeah.”
“Uh, no, I’m by myself,” Holly said with a giggle.

What she earned back was a look of befuddlement, the Maestro turning back to their Resonators, who could only offer back equal amounts of perplexion.

Frustratingly, the Maestro kept his back turned toward the fruit tree and talked to his Resonators rather than her. Holly faced forward and hugged herself. “Not bitter,” she mumbled under her breath.

After what felt like an eternity, she could finally see the front of the line. This drew her interest once more. She watched as a Maestro stepped up and handed over all of their tuners. The person behind the booth took the devices and did… something with them, said some words and handed the devices back. The Maestro and their Resonators departed after that.

She watched this process repeat three more times before it was finally her turn.

“Tuner-” The registrar looked around for a Maestro, but saw none.
“The nice person at the MA Office told me to give you this,” said Holly, handing the green watch over to the registrar.

They looked it over and then pulled out a tuner of their own. “Hang on,” they said, turning around.

Holly raised a brow. Was this not a common process? The MA Office manager person made it seem like it was based on how formally they spoke of it.

“Okay, sorry about that. You’re fine to go on your own?” asked the booth attendant, scanning the bracelet and handing it back to its owner.

“Mhm! I brought lots of seeds! Even then I see plenty of good-looking trees, I’ll be fine – Promise!” the zalavan said cheerily.

“I see. You’ll be in the west flank. Go that way and find the group over there,” the registrar pointed in the direction Holly needed to go.

“Thank you!” Holly beamed, slipping her bracelet back on and skipping out of line. Maybe a bit too much, but she was genuinely happy to finally be doing something. The money would be nice too. The zalavan’s mouth watered at the prospect of all the food she’d be able to eat. Nobody would stop her from indulging now!