This story is part of the Wanderer series.
Darkness. Complete darkness. A smooth gradient. Not a blemish.
A stasis. No sight. No smell. Only a steady hum, resonating deeply in all directions. A floating void.
However, the indefinite void eventually gives away. The hum becomes distinguishable, the lighter voice rising above and subsiding. A low, deeper hum rises from below. Direction forms.
The homogenous dark gradually takes on a grain, flickering. From the darkness, a faint shape appears. An infinitesimally faint shape. Even darker than its surroundings. An uncapped hole. A deeper void.
The void grows dense. The void grows heavy. The surroundings morph. Morph into itself. Moving. The lighter grains stretch as they approach, falling in. Falling. Falling.
Jolting, her eyes opened wide. She gasped.
It was night. Faint moonlight shone through the open window. The soft rustling of leaves could be heard along with the chirps of crickets. Nozomi laid in bed on her back, limbs splayed out, blanket loosely covering her torso. Her grasping pillow laid limply on her arm, between her and Rin, who snored loudly next to her. Laid on her back as well, with an arm clutching the blanket to her belly, she did not notice Nozomi rouse.
Staring at the ceiling, Nozomi’s breaths slowed down, becoming steady. Pupils dilating, she turned her head towards her sib, lightly rustling her pillow. She blankly stared at her for a moment, watching her sleep soundly. Eventually, she returned to the ceiling, drawing her grasping pillow on top of herself and hugging it tightly. She stared a little longer, her expression empty, before closing her eyes.
The sound of clacking wood reverberated through the forest. Rays of sunlight gradually straightened as the morning sun rose higher. In the overgrown clearing, Nozomi and Rin took turns lunging at each other, attacking with a makeshift wooden sword while the other countered with their own. Upon a successful combination of strikes and parrys, the attacker retreats a step, turning over the initiative to the defender.
Though neither swung with their full strength, their swings were well-placed and deliberate. Nozomi wore a deeply concentrated expression, eyes wide and alert, her lips slightly parted to maintain her breath. She moved with speed, her slightly-longer-than shoulder-length hair flying as she jumped around. Rin was capable of matching her speed and countering back with her own.
After warming up, the two girls left the clearing for the woods, approaching an old wooden shed. The door was open with a bicycle propped against it. Entering, they set aside their practice swords in a barrel near the entrance. In the middle was a large workshop table, worn and dusty with pollen. Two stacked containers laid on the near ledge, wrapped in a bandana. Though she glanced at it, Nozomi did not reach for it as Rin ventured deeper, towards the other side.