Fleeting Memories

Y'know, the one thin' I remember most 'bout that day was that I saw a cloud shaped like a Mandrake. Figured I'd go sneak off to that one spot that I like, an' go cloud-watchin' that day. Lookin' up into th'sky cheers me up a lil' inside. S'always been my dream, t'go flying 'round. It always looked so nice, so free. Guess that's why I ran off. I didn't wanna jus' stay on some farm my whole life.
Took me a while fer me to realize somethin' was blockin' the sun. "You always come here, or what?"

Without a second thought, I responded. "Sure do, ya need somethin'?" I kinda regret sayin' that. That was a real dumb thing fer me t'do.
_ _ _ _ _

"Damn, dude, you got bruises all over!" That's Sharky, another guy trainin' fer the Sky Force. Wasn't his name, but he always looked like one of those thin's Auntie Clarisse talked about, with all that teeth showin' when he smiled, an' he did that lots. Lil' weird, sometimes, him. "What happened to ya, sudden attack of the flying Ragelopes?"
Ah, right, pro'lly should explain what THAT is. Sky Force, I mean. The Outland Count- he's the guy that runs most a' Tharsis- figured that with all the skyships floatin' around for trade an' all, they oughta get someone to protect 'em, or somethin'. So he makes a program to train some young'uns- like Sharky an' I- fer that. Trainin's a lot like how they used to train the real tough guys, back in the day. Fortresses, they used to call 'em. Shield, armor, an' a mace. Kinda gives you a feel of back in th'day, when adventurers flew the skies, 'stead 'a trade ships.

"Got challenged to a duel..." I muttered, lyin' down on Sharky's bunk, while he was treatin' to my wounds. He's good with that stuff, who woulda thought? Y'see, the way stuff gets handled 'round here, if anyone's got a problem wif' someone else, they gotta challenge the other person to a duel. Gah, stupid me, an' forgettin' my armor while cloud-watchin'. Anyway, he made a sort of swirling motion wif' his fingers o'er his head, an' I nodded, then he nodded back. He knew who.
Twintails.
Rosie was her real name, but we boys all called 'er Twintails, 'cos of how she put her hair up. She was jus' about the best-lookin' girl 'round (not like there was much competition), but boy, was she smug about everythin'.
Ya couldn't blame her, she was pretty tough.

"Iunno what to tell you, dude. That's gotta the end of cloud-watching for you," Thing 'bout Twintails, she ALWAYS got 'er way. "Aaand... there we go, don't get yourself killed now, or I might lose my best customer!" Not like he was gettin' inn fees from doin' this, exactly.

Sittin' upright, I'd sigh then, buckler on my lap. "But why me? What'd I do to 'er?"
Sharky'd grab my armor from the bunk above me, handing it over. "That's Twintails fer ya. You figure she's got some dark, troubled past, hidden to everyone else, even her closest friends." She did seem to target me a whole lot. Maybe she- "But I don't think so, she's just a rich brat from the in-circle, that's all." Probably not, yeah.
"Say, ya reck'n I'd be able to take her on?" Might as well talk with 'im, 'fore we was all called o'er to th'mess hall.
"You, beat her? What'd I just say about not getting yourself killed?" He'd start on givin' me a noogie, but stopped himself. "Right, shouldn't upset those bandages. C'mon, let's get moving, BEFORE they run out of the good stuff! I'm not in the mood for more Ebony Carrots." He hated carrots, fer the record.
I'd chuckle a lil', usin' a bedpost fer s'port as I got off the bed. "Sure thin', sure thin'..."