Solitary [MCSM Fanfiction]

Chapter 1: SWORD GIRL

As the rising sun marked the official start to a new season, the redheaded teen drew in a mighty, hopeful breath: it was the day she ought to get her name back.

The discriminatory rumor of 'Sword Girl' was finally diminishing with Petra under Lukas and the Ocelots. She vivaciously grabbed her Ocelot-printed leather jacket off the peg and shrugged it on like a child playing pretend with a hero's cape. The town's freak being accepted into the most popular band of winners sounded impossible, inconceivable. But Petra achieved that miraculous feat with, believe it or not, the very attribute that many despised of her - her passion to fight with her sword and become a legendary warrior. That's what enticed the four.

Maya was the first face she saw, smearing on her distinct crimson lipstick as she greeted Petra light-heartedly. "Morning, Sword- uh, Petra... sorry."

"No worries. I get my name will take a while to stick," Petra said as she tied a piece of blue and teal striped cloth around her mob of hair. "Where are the others?"

Maya's ashy blue eyes glistened as she secured a yellow hair clip to a section of her chestnut bob cut. "Gill and Aiden are waiting in the lounge. Lukas is probably still in his room, taking his precious time on his hair." Her perfect sneer always repulsed Petra, but she knew she was going to have to get used to it if she wanted to stay in the Ocelots. Even if Maya was the only other girl in the group, something about her aura told Petra that she was quite hard to impress and it wasn't going to be easy getting her approval. Every time, the cursive affectation in her speech wrapped uncomfortably around Petra's ears whenever she spoke so it relieved her a little when she finally got out of Maya's range after thanking her.

Then she saw Aiden and Gill in the lounge as Maya predicted.

"Hey! Ready to tag along with us for the first time?" Aiden asked.

It was always Petra's habit to dominate the conversation with strangers and play it cool, which is why she never asked wimpy-sounding questions in front of people she barely met, even if she was clueless about the itinerary. Her every move required strategy; currently, her strategy was to go with the flow like a know-it-all. Her answer was smooth and relaxed. "Always ready for a little excursion. Although, we're missing Lukas."

Gill spoke, kicking his feet up on the couch to emphasize his boredom. "Lukas and Maya always take the longest. You could show them a thing or two about efficiency. "

"It would be my pleasure." Again, her response was charming, but not overdone. She kept her chin up and her lips tugged into the smallest hint of a smirk.

After what felt like another half hour, a teenage boy with eyes like the ocean and impossibly neat slicked-back hair emerged from the staircase, joining the quartet in his own respective leather jacket.

Oh, this blond guy was obnoxious for sure, Petra thought. He looked like the guy who probably slept on gold stacks and wool mattresses that could only be bought with diamonds. Upon seeing him, she immediately wondered what his room looked like, not that it actually mattered much to her. She only moved in yesterday, which made sense that she wasn't fully unpacked yet and her own bedroom was looking a little plain.

Petra brushed off the thought as the five of them went out of the Ocelots' house, ready to explore town. Perhaps it was just a matter of 'don't judge a book by its cover'.

Her pupils tightened at the light of the sunshine and the summer warmth she always enjoyed finally stretched across her skin.

No longer did she walk out with the fear of getting belittled by the public. Her new tribe was her shield. The Ocelots got her an immunity pass and with the Ocelots, she could now be Petra; not some snobby, cringeworthy, non-existent legend like Sword Girl.

For the first time, Petra got to hear Lukas's voice, which was devoid of any roughness or imperfections. This, however, didn't surprise her. "How about we hit the square for lunch?"

"Sure. We could get a cake to celebrate our newest member while we're at it... if that's okay with the warrior."

She didn't want to admit it aloud, but Aiden's remark was quite flattering. Petra couldn't remember the last time someone called her 'warrior' without ill intentions.

"If the Ocelot insists, then I would be honored," Petra said, her tone coated in honey. It made Aiden's lime eyes spark with genuine attention.

They got to the stalls once the clock struck 1pm. As a collective, they purchased bread, apples, carrots, cookies, and most importantly, a cake, most of which, would be consumed for lunch.

"Oi," one of the trade hob merchants hollered back at Petra in recognition, "aren't you the one they call 'Sword Girl'?"

Each of the five bore troubling expressions and then split off to respond to the ignorant comment in their own way: Lukas shook his head in disapproval, Aiden gave a dry scoff, Maya rolled her eyes and Gill simply remained glowering at the merchant, all of which, relieved the girl with the red hair.

"We don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah." Maya intruded to pile on Gill's statement. "Her name's Petra if you care to know. And she's an Ocelot now - not some pathetic title you losers like to call her."

If shutting the guy at the hob down was Maya's motive, she was clearly successful since he refrained from saying another word.

"You did not have to do that," Petra said, internally grateful as the group headed for the town square's exit.

"Course she did," replied Lukas, "before all else, let's get rid of your past. I can't believe you deal with that every day."

Her straightforward, "thanks, guys," was how she expressed her thankfulness.

Lukas was the one to distribute the cake and all munched on their own slices as they walked the outskirts of Endercon towards empty building booths. There was a small billboard next to the abandoned reception, including posters and leaflets about all sorts of Endercon news.

"Oh my gosh!" Maya yelped in exclamation. "They're holding the annual building contest again next week!"

Aiden rushed to where Maya's eyes were pointed and he took down the leaflet in a hassle. His opportunistic smile infected everyone in the group, all except Lukas and Petra as their vision was drawn onto something else.

"At least you look good in that picture."

Petra's head snapped towards Lukas who tried to make light out of the situation. She ripped it off the board and shredded it violently into tiny pieces. "Yeah, but not for the right reasons."

'BEWARE OF THE SWORD GIRL' it read, followed by the subtext, 'THE MIGHTY WARRIOR WHO'S TOO GOOD FOR US ALL'. The diagram contained a full-body image of Petra with a wooden sword photoshopped onto a background of the End dimension which made it look like she was battling the Ender Dragon if that's the look the insipid abuser wanted to go for.

"They must be real jealous if they're wasting their own time on you."

"I've always tried to look at it that way. It reassures me knowing it's coming from someone else." She smiled with the help of her dark gray eyes.

"Don't worry. Stick with us, and we'll make sure those stupid little jokes and rumors are gone in no time." There was something pleasing about the way Lukas handled it. His tone was sure as if he'd made an unbroken promise and integrity wove deeply through his complexion.

Once the Ocelots were ready to head back home, Petra's mind opened up as the rest were throwing out excited comments about the building contest event.

She'd made her first mistake with them, which was to assume this bunch were like everyone else, neglecting and hateful. But perhaps the most excessively mean and spoilt-looking, like Lukas and Maya, were actually the kindest in disguise.

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