Eight years later...
Humming to herself, Chibiusas Runas came strolling down the footpath of the mountain on which top the cottage of her foster parents was situated.
When she reached the end of the trail, she looked around the beautiful scenery around her. She smiled when she heard the singing of the birds and the buzzing of the bees. She took a deep breath... it smelled like spring.
That's when her gaze fell upon the big tree standing in the middle of the valley, right between the eastern and the western mountain. A small girl that looked like she was about her age, with short, purple hair, was sitting in front of the tree, whistling to a small songbird that was sitting on her finger.
Chibiusas came closer and waved in greeting. "Hello."
Hotarus Hopas looked at her and smiled. "Hello. You wanna sit down next to me? The grass is really soft here."
Chibiusas smiled as well. "Sure."
They sat down next to each other for a while and did nothing but to listen to the voices of nature.
Finally, the little bird on Hotarus' finger chirped softly.
Hotarus giggled. "Really, do you think so?"
"What did she say?" Chibiusas asked curiously.
Hotarus winked. "She said your hairstyle reminds her of the ears of a rabbit."
Chibiusas frowned, then touched the pink, cone-shaped tips of her unusual hairstyle. "Hmm, she might be right about that..."
The two girls looked at each other and laughed.
"You're really nice," Chibiusas then said. "What's your name?"
Hotarus smirked. "My name is Hotarus Hopas."
Chibiusas blinked. "Strange name... I am Chibiusas Runas."
"You know, that's also a strange name," Hotarus pointed out.
The pink-haired girl chuckled. "I suppose that's true... Hey, you wanna play hide and seek?"
"Sure," Hotarus nodded.
From that day on they were friends.
----
Hotarus and Chibiusas quickly became close friends over the following days, playing all day long. They always came up with ideas for new games, and as both of the girls were quite acrobatic, many of those games involved physical activity, such as running, jumping, climbing and swimming.
After two months have passed, they were once again standing under the tall tree between the two mountains.
Chibiusas looked up to the green treetop and pointed upwards. "You wanna climb that tree?"
"Sure," Hotarus nodded. "Everything looks so much nicer from above."
They effortlessly climbed up the tall trunk and romped through its branches, while laughing.
During a short break, they saw down next to each other, on two adjacent branches. Their old bird friend sat down next to Hotaru and chirped something.
"What did she say?" Chibiusas asked.
Hotarus smiled. "She said today is a good day for collecting beech nuts."
Chibiusas shrugged. "Well, if she says so..."
The little bird then looked around and chirped something else.
Chibiusas looked at her friend inquiringly. "Well?"
"She said that she can see two nasty-looking women coming down the mountains."
"WHAT?"
"Oh dear!" Hotarus sighed with realization. "You don't think they are coming to get us, are you?"
"Oh no..." her friend muttered. Suddenly, she slipped and fell. "WAH!"
"Look out, Chibiusas!" Hotarus gasped in surprise. Luckily, Chibiusas already was an athletic girl at the tender age of nine, and was able to land with a rolling motion, which was cushioning her fall tremendously.
When she looked up, she saw the angry face of Reis staring down at her. "What are you doing?" the black-haired thief grumbled. "How often did I tell you not to play with that no-good?" She gestured upwards, to where Hotarus was still sitting among the leaves.
Meanwhile, Harukas came marching up to the tree's trunk. "Come down here this instant!" she angrily shouted up to Hotarus. "I thought I told you not to play here anymore!"
Hotarus hesitantly obeyed and came climbing down. Harukas glared at her. "Don't let me catch you playing with that tramp again!"
When hearing this, Reis instantly turned around to face the blonde cat burglar. "You're insulting my Chibiusas?"
"And you my Hotarus?" Harukas shot back. The two women looked like they were ready to go at each other's throats, when suddenly, a voice shouted from the top of the eastern mountain: "Harukas! Hotarus! Are you two coming? Lunch is ready!"
Harukas frowned, but stepped back and firmly grabbed her protege's hand. "Well, you're lucky that we have to go now."
"No, you're the lucky one!" Reis shouted back, before grabbing Chibiusa's arm and dragging her along.
"Ow! Reis, you're hurting me!"
Reis didn't respond until they reached the peak of the western mountain. There, Reis forcefully put down the girl on the wooden bench in front of their house. "How did you get on that tree?" she asked dangerously. "Did you do the Forbidden Thing?"
"No, no!" Chibiusas said and shook her head. "I promise I didn't!"
"Well, I hope so for your sake," Reis grunted. "Just so you know, the training for the big event will start tomorrow, understood?"
Hotarus was given a similar treatment.
"Why can't I play with Chibiusas?" the purple-haired girl whined. "She's my best friend!"
"I don't want to hear that!" Harukas snapped. "From tomorrow on, the two of you are enemies, got that?"
What was Hotarus supposed to say in this situation? She simply nodded, sadly.
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(Posted Fri, 16 Mar 2007 17:28)
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