Seven days later, on the morning of her sixteenth birthday, Amari finds herself sat at the edge of the village, looking out into the forest. Between the coming decision she'll have to face and her near-death experience a few days ago, she has not found the urge to revisit her cliff for the sunrise each morning. Instead she has spent her days in silence, refusing to speak to her parents or the other villagers about what's happened. It was no secret that Amari was different than the rest of those on Mizuhana. While each of them have specks of purple in their eyes or streaks of purple in their hair, Amari is the only villager to ever have both their eyes and hair fully immersed in the color purple.

As the young girl sits at the edge of the forest, worries consuming her mind, a gentle hand finds its way to her shoulder. "My daughter." Isamu speaks softly. "The time has come."

Amari turns to face her father with fear in her eyes. "What if I make the wrong decision?" She asks.

Isamu takes a seat on the ground beside her. "There is no wrong decision that you could make. Whether you decide to pursue this calling or refuse it, your mother and I will be right by your side." He states. Tears well up in Amari's eyes as she wraps her arms around her father. "Just promise me one thing Mira." He says and the girl hums. "Never stop following your heart."

They pull out of the hug and Isamu hands her a small wooden box, made from the wood of Mizuhana's dark purple trees. She looks up at her father and he nods with a smile, gesturing for her to take it. Amari accepts the box with both hands cupped as her father places it in her palms. She slowly opens the box to find a rare taaffeite crystal dangling from a silver chain and looks up with tears welling in her eyes. "Thank you, Abbé."

"Happy Birthday, my gem." Isamu cups her face with one hand and places a loving kiss on her forehead. "Now, we should get going before Emika shows up and scares your mother."

Amari giggles at the thought. "Why is mother so afraid of her, if she's my grandmother doesn't that mean that she's your mother?"

Isamu inhales sharply. "Elder Emika can be, for lack of a better word, intimidating." He states.

"Because of her power." Amari hums. Rather than deepen the conversation more than he's ready for, Isamu leaves it at that.

The two of them arrive back at the Kiyoko hut to find Sakura and Emika waiting inside. Sakura looks as if she'd seen a ghost as she sits as far away from the old sea witch as possible while Emika sips her purple tea contently.

"There she is, the birthday girl!" Sakura smiles, relieved that she's no longer alone with the old woman. She hands Amari a wide, rectangular box and she smiles before opening it to reveal a beautiful black kimono with a gold trim around the edges and intricate flowers in different hues of purple. Amari's eyes widen and she looks up to her mother, knowing that this was no inexpensive gift. "Go ahead, try it on for us." Sakura glows with excitement as she looks at the girl.

Amari excuses herself as she goes into her room to change. A smile creeps across her face as she looks at her reflection in the mirror. The silk kimono ends just above her knees and the wide sleeves fall over her arms. There's a wrap that ties around the waist made of three simple bands, the largest being black, the middle being a shade of purple, and the smallest one being white. She places them on top of one another, centering the thinner two over the black piece and securing them in the back. Noticing that there's one thing missing, she grabs a pair of black boots that extend halfway up her calf. Her new crystal necklace matches perfectly with the ensemble. Taking one more look in the mirror, she smiles again and draws the curtain separating her bedroom from the rest of the hut to reveal her outfit.

"Beautiful!" Sakura gushes, looking at the girl in awe. Amari smiles as she nods politely in gratitude.

"A true gem, if I'd say so myself." Emika speaks up, setting her cup of tea down as she stands. "The gem of Mizuhana."

Sakura gets chills as the old woman approaches the family to which Isamu wraps an arm around her shoulders comfortingly.

"Now, Miss Kiyoko." Emika smiles at the girl. "Have you made your decision?"

Amari glances over at her parents. On her mother's face is a worried expression, but her father looks... Proud. She thinks back to the conversation she had with him not too long ago as they sat on the mossy ground together. Her hand finds its way to the necklace he had given her as his words play in her mind.

"I have." Amari states confidently. While she's only had a week to think on her options, she felt as if those seven days were a lifetime as she waited anxiously, consumed by her worries. But the same questions flooded her mind every time. "I want to know more about this power inside of me."

A wide grin spreads across Emika's face. "Such an intelligent child." She praises the girl. "Come along then, we have much work to do."

Sakura's bottom lip begins to quiver as Amari follows the old woman out of her family's hut. Isamu smiles at his daughter, assuring her with a proud gaze. Amari takes a deep breath as she steps through the front door and closes it behind herself.

The walk to Emika's hut is not long. While it's not necessarily within the village borders, the old woman's hut is considered part of the village to maintain the peace on Mizuhana. Outcasting someone could lead to an unwanted civil war. After trekking through a small part of the forest and over a purple stream, Amari on high alert the entire journey, they arrive at the weathered hut.

Emika stops suddenly just outside of the hut and Amari almost walks into the woman.

"What has your father told you of your abilities?" She asks, turning to face the girl.

Amari shakes her head. "Nothing, only that I was born with them."

Emika hums with intrigue, having an idea of why this information has been withheld from the girl. "Well, what do you know of your abilities?"

"Only that my can arms form some sort of armor." Amari explains her encounter with the cougar, something she hadn't even spoken to her parents about. Emika laughs after hearing the story of her near-death experience, causing the girl to furrow her eyebrows. Without saying another word, Emika walks into her hut, leaving Amari in a state of confusion. Any normal person she could have told that story to would have been astonished, bewildered, perhaps even in awe of her power, but Emika just laughed. Why did she laugh? She turns her attention to the clattering coming from inside the hut and allows herself in behind the old woman.

"When do we begin my training?" Amari asks, seeing that the woman is making another cup of tea.

Emika continues pouring into her cup. "Training will begin as soon as you are ready."

"I am ready." Amari states, a hint of annoyance in her tone. "I've made my decision to come here with you, doesn't that say enough?"

Emika hums as she sips her tea. "To say that you are ready and to be ready are completely different notions." She points. "When you are truly ready, I will teach you all that I can."

Amari huffs in frustration. What does that even mean? She walks out of the hut and looks off in the distance but has no concept of where she is, she'd never ventured to this side of the island. She walks back down to the stream, crouching beside the flowing purple water. Cupping her hands, she scoops up the water to see that it's actually crystal clear. The perceived pigmentation much be coming from the soil beneath the water.

A rumble in the sky causes her to look up towards the dark clouds moving in and she sighs. The rain begins almost immediately, delicate drops of rain dancing through the air until they reach the surface of the island. Upon contact with the flowing water of the stream, the raindrops glisten. The sight is almost magical, in fact any being that wasn't a native to Mizuhana would likely assume such. The glowing ripples spread through the stream as the rain falls, each drop leaving a shimmering kiss on the water's surface until the rain is so heavy that the entire stream is glowing.

Amari finds herself smiling as she marvels at the phenomenon before her. She'd see the glistening of raindrops meeting groundwater, but never had she seen it to this extent. A gentle wind blows through the trees, causing them to sing is harmony with the pattering of the rain. Closing her eyes, Amari breathes deeply and takes in the sounds around her. The rustling of the leaves, creaking of tree trunks, the slow-moving current of the stream, and the small frogs croaking in delight. Next she focuses on the scent of the fresh air, the earthy scent of the rain contrasting the floral scent of the island's lush landscape. The girl then finds herself running her hands along the mossy ground beside her, her face tilting towards the sky as the raindrops hug her skin. Laying there, taking in all that Mizuhana has to offer, feels almost empowering for Amari in a way.

Unbeknownst to the awestruck girl, Emika has been watching from the not so distant hut. A small smile tugs at the corners of her lips and the woman hums.

"Miss Kiyoko!" Emika calls over the sounds of nature, earning the girl's attention. "I require your assistance in gathering the ingredients for dinner."

Amari looks away from the old woman and sighs inwardly. She pushes herself to her feet and walks the short distance to the hut.

"I have to begin prepping what I do have but I've made a list of things you need to gather." Emika informs the girl as she hands her the parchment. Amari looks down at the list briefly before the woman speaks again. "Don't be long, it will be dark soon."

Not having a case to argue, Amari heads outdoors once more and closes the door behind her. First thing on the list, elderberries. That should be easy, Amari thinks to herself, there's wild elderberry bushes all over this island. And so she begins her quest to gather the ingredients, one by one she stores them in the basket that Emika had provided and mentally checks the ingredients off of the list.

The first four ingredients were simple: elderberries, mangosteen, purple barley, and black moss. The next three ingredients, however, were increasingly complicated. Forbidden rice, a purple sea urchin, and the beak of a sabrewing. What could she possibly need those last two for, Amari asks herself.

Regardless of her thoughts, Amari treks through the forest in pursuit of the last of the ingredients. The forbidden rice, given its name due to its strangely luminescent black color like the mineral onyx, is typically found growing in shallow water near the caves on the west side of the island. She retrieves the required amount of rice at the mouth of a small cave and, as she leans down the gather the plant, she hears a whisper coming from within the cave. She leans closer to listen but doesn't hear anything anymore and concludes that it was probably just the wind playing tricks. After traveling down to the shore of Mizuhana and walking along the water to find a sea urchin, Amari looks up at the sky to see that the usual blueish-purple sky of the day is beginning to fade to the black night sky.

With the one ingredient left on the list easily being the hardest one to find, Amari makes her way up from the shoreline and into the forest in search of a sabrewing. The little purple and blue bird would be nearly impossible to find at this time of day. She searches the trees for quite some time, growing more and more frustrated with her failure to find the bird. A small chirping sound reaches her ears and she stops in her step. Allowing her ears to direct her, Amari follows the sound of the bird's short, repetitive chirps until she's right below the tree that it's perched on. She lifts her eyes to see the bird perched on a branch high above her head and sighs.

There's no way I'm going to get that bird, she groans internally. Taking in her surroundings, she finds a few loose rocks on the ground that she could use to knock the bird out of the tree if her aim was perfect. She could risk climbing the tree and causing the bird to flee. She could even climb a neighboring tree but still runs the same risk of the bird fleeing. Seeing it as her best option, she picks up the small stones from the ground and positions herself for a good angle. The first one bounces off the trunk of the tree, startling the bird a bit but not quite enough for it to fly away. Amari takes a deep breath, her eyes honed in on the small target, and winds her hand up to cast the second stone. The brush behind her begins to rustle and her focus is torn from the bird and to her new sense of anxiety.

A low growl vibrates through the air and the familiar cougar stalks into view. The sabrewing on the tree above now flaps it's wings in retreat, leaving Amari to her rematch with the cougar. Fear immediately overcomes the girl as she backs herself up against a tree. As the cougar begins the circle her, Amari's heart races in her chest. Emika told her not to be out late. On the other hand, Emika is the one who sent her to gather these partially absurb ingredients in the first place. That crazy old woman is going to get her killed. She never should've decided to learn about her powers, Emika doesn't seem like she's actually willing to teach her anyway.

Amari's eyes widen, as if a light had been flicked on in her mind. Her powers! Granted, she doesn't know how to use them, but what better time to try than in the face of death... again.

She quickly locates the dark cougar and watches its movements carefully. Unsure of how to even summon that metal-like armor, Amari does the only thing that has felt liberating after these past seven days—she connects with the island through the nature surrounding her. Another growl comes from the cougar as it watches the girl cautiously. This time, instead of raising her arm in defense, Amari stands her ground. She closes her eyes as she breathes deeply, listening intently to the sound of the cougar's claws scraping against the dense moss. The wind seems to stop and all other noise fades away as the cougar approaches her. Amari opens her eyes, now a deeper shade of purple than normal, to meet those of the cougar. The animal pauses its approach as its eyes lock with the girl's and it looks as thought it's been put into a submissive state.

With newfound confidence, Amari speaks boldly, "Go, away."

The cougar hesitates for a moment, staring into the girl's eyes, but Amari holds her gaze until the animal retreats. Once the animal has gone, Amari's eye color fades back to normal and she leans against the tree behind her as she catches her breath—exhausted from her second encounter with the predatory animal. She leans down to pick up the basket of ingredients and straightens to find Emika stood within the trees to her right, a pleased grin on her face.

"Now, you are ready." The elder woman states.

.・。.・゜・.・・゜・。.

Author's Note:

Since I've been on a writing streak,
I've decided to publish the rest of Amari's backstory in the next few chapters a bit sooner.
That way, we can get to the good stuff (Shanks) a bit quicker and I can (hopefully) retain your interest as readers.

I hope you've all been enjoying so far,
I know I've been enjoying the writing process.
Let me know what you think in the comments!

Love always,
Ash.xx