Magical Warriors of Silvatica

The girl grunted and rolled away from the slap quickly. She didn't wake up. Padma noticed that there was a bowl of sweetened rice beside her that she had not finished eating. Naive Padma didn't see anything wrong with it, but Foo and Maui were more wily and could probably see that the girl falling asleep after eating something was a suspicious sign...

"Nothing really," Padma said. "Just... Hungry." The bowl of sweet rice was still steaming and they could start to smell it now. It looked meagre but Padma was used to meagre - and she was hungry...

"Oh, how horrendous," Padma said sadly, going over to the girl and stroking her hair. "Foo, can you wake her up at all?"

Padma didn't see the shocking implication in time or she would have stopped Foo from doing it. She meant use some kind of reviving magic or reverse the sleeping medicine's effects! The girl yelped and sat upright quickly, grabbing her nose. "Hey!" she snapped, glaring around in confusion and scrambling to her feet. "Who're you guys... Ugh, wait!" The girl seemed to have realised something and stumbled towards the door, pushing Maui and Padma out of the way to get outside. There was no one there, and in the blizzard the tracks of the people leaving were quickly vanishing. "Wait!" she screamed into the dark, snowy world. They were alone out here and no one could hear her, but she screamed again and again anyway. It was the terribly mournful sound of someone who had been abandoned.

The girl had sat down on the bed they'd found her on with a tired look on her face. The stuff that made her pass out was still in her system and was making her grouchy. Padma came over and sat next to her. "Yes, sister, we are here to help. My name is Pa-" The girl shoved Padma away from her before she could finish. "Shut up," she snapped angrily. "I don't care who you strangers are. Get out of my house!"

The girl's reddish face went pale when she noticed Foo, and then heard him speak too. "Uh... W-what... What?!" "Don't worry about him," Padma said, dusting herself off and standing up in front of the girl. "He's a friend, his name is Foo. What is your name?" The girl seemed to have mellowed out after having a fright, and mumbled, "E-Elvira..."

Padma didn't let Maui touch her, naturally, being a modest girl. Elvira saw Maui's shard and raised an eyebrow. "Hmm... Yes," she said, undoing her thick jacket and pulling down her shirt. Padma averted her gaze and spluttered, but the girl just revealed her collarbone. The gem was embedded beneath her left clavicle, above where her heart was. So Foo wouldn't be getting an easy shard this time, either.

Elvira's initial shock wore off and she became sullen and pouting. The story was only just done when she snarled, "why should I care?" Padma was a little shocked, as they'd just told her that the world was in danger if they didn't act. "Because many people will be hurt," she said softly. Elvira snorted at that. "So? If no one cares about me, why should I care about anyone else?"

Elvira curled her lip at Maui and Foo in turn. "You don't know me," she said to Maui. "And you don't get to know. Now get out, you freaks, get out and leave me alone!" Padma was dismayed by how angry and unhelpful this girl was being. But in her angry eyes Padma also saw tears. If Elvira had lived here, then that woman who had left the tent crying must have been... "Your mother was crying when she left you," she murmured. Elvira's glare softened a bit. Padma continued. "She didn't want to leave you, but she did. It must have been hard for her." Elvira was biting her lip now and looked down at the shard in her collarbone. "The... The wind blew this into me," she mumbled. "And since then, the wind hasn't stopped. It didn't get warmer like it does this time of year. There's so much snow that the grass couldn't grow... Everyone knows it was because of me and now they've finally decided to leave me behind. Even my m-mother."

Elvira's eyes went steely again when she regarded Foo. "So for the spring to come, we have to destroy this giant shard?" she asked. She had a determination that had not been there before. It frightened Padma a little, honestly.

A brief moment of confusion, even looking like she was going to refuse, and then Elvira sucked her teeth loudly. "Sure," she grunted. "Don't have anything else to do." Padma was a little happy with this development. Like this, Elvira wouldn't be alone and she would survive this harsh winter, but Elvira also terrified Padma.

Padma was going to ask how Foo knew that the girl couldn't transform - he had seemed surprised when both she and Maui had transformed - but then realised he could probably tell by now. Elvira was intrigued though, and got to her feet. "Hey, transform?" she asked. "What do you mean? Like hell are you leaving me behind," she added, stomping after them out into the cold world. The wind seemed to have died down somewhat but it was still very much a frozen wasteland. Padma didn't want to leave Elvira behind to be all alone, but she also was not fond of this brash, rude girl.

"Hmm," Elvira murmured in thought. "Guess I could give that a go." They had to shout a bit to be heard over the driving, howling wind. Padma wondered why they could be going.