It was another one of those days again, a bright sunny day in Valla. Kana was prancing through her mother's camp, watching the others do their daily duties. There was nothing better than spying on the different Hoshidans and Nohrians. Takumi and Kiragi would be shooting endless amount of arrows at the targets, trying to best each other as usual. Leo would be walking around with his nose stuck in a book, yet still not bump into any of the pillars of the palace. Forrest was probably off making clothes in secret as usual. Hinoka would tend to the horses, sometimes with Subaki, sometimes not. Saizou and Kaze would be sneaky and be their ninja-self, but it wasn't enough to hide from Kana!
Even though there was plenty of do, the dragon-girl was bored. Her mother was off trying to start another war meeting, finding Ryoma and Xander to help her out, leaving Kana out like every other meeting. She didn't particularly like it inside that stuffy room anyway. It wasn't very fun, in her opinion.
From the corner of her eyes, she spotted a familiar figure standing out in the field, looking up at the sun shielding his eyes from its blinding rays with his hand. A sword lay idly by his side, he was probably practicing in the early hours of the morning. He had spiky brown hair that had still not grown out like his father, but was tied up to be tamed. He always seemed to be wearing armor around his arms and chest - which Kana thought was a nuisance - bound with red sashes. The imperial red looked good on him.
But now that she had found a playmate...
"Shiro! Shirooo~"
The young man turned around to see who had called out for him. And when he spotted the barefoot Kana running towards him with her arms wide, his hardened and concentrated expression softened somewhat. "Well, if it isn't the other half of my four-armed ogre!" he leaned down to ruffle her hair. She had grown considerably over the years. The girl was starting to look more and more like their leader, her mother. "How are you?"
She laughed at his comment. "I'm a bit bored, really... but I'm good otherwise!" She couldn't stop giggling at the memory of her sitting on his shoulder, trying to reach for the apples. It had started some sort of fun game, where the two of them would form a massive four-armed ogre! They would terrorize the apple trees, and feast on them until they needed to go home. Sometimes they would offer to them to others as well, but it was mostly for the two of them - and Mama as well.
"Say, um. Shiro? Have you ever been to the Nohrian Festival of Bonds?" she asked, tilting her head at the young man.
He scratched his head, shaking. "No, I haven't before. They always tell me about it though. Is it fun?"
"I- I haven't been... Camilla thinks I might be scared by the vampires and the monsters..."
"Huh? But isn't it just dress-up and carving pumpkins?" He laughed. Why would they keep a child away from that?
"I'll definitely go next year! Just you see. You come with me too, Shiro!"
"Alright, Kana. But I have a better idea... why don't we dress up as a monster now and scare the others?"
"Huh? Wowee! That's a great idea!" she exclaimed, almost jumping with glee. She couldn't contain her excitement at the idea, but she covered her mouth in case anyone heard them. She didn't want anyone else to know! "I've read Leo's books before... there's this thing called Halloween people from outside Hoshido and Nohr celebrate! They drape a white cloth over them to be a like a ghosty... Shiro, let's be a four-armed orge ghosty!" she said, clapping her hands.
Needless to say the ghosty was not well received in the camp of Valla. While Kana and Shiro were shrieking with glee as they ran from the shouts of the other camp members, also having stolen an apple from a basket, the others were beginning to panic as to why there was a spectre hanging around the premises. Nyx seemed to be amused by what was happening around them, Dio looked incredibly frightened when the duo had bolted past them. But when the older brothers Ryoma and Xander had finally stepped out to see what was happening... they scattered. Kana ran left, Shiro ran right, and they parted as shouts followed them into the setting sun.
Just as she turned the corner to hide behind the Mess Hall, a paper from the sky flew right into Kana, slapping her square on the face. Rubbing her nose, she peeled the paper away, blinking down at the words written on them. What was this? Invited? To a Halloween party? Who was Spooky? She didn't even have time to question herself and try to think of who it might be when the world around her seemed to disappear. And when Kana had finally looked up from the invitation. She wasn't behind the Mess Hall anymore.
Oh.
Surprisingly, she wasn't nervous.
Hadn't this happened before?
Kana blinked confusedly at her surroundings, it was all too bright and weird. It reminded her of Nohr, but lighter. Not a place Leo would have liked to be in. "Uhm..." she began, before a ghostly figure appeared, frightening the dragon-girl. "Waagh!" she cried out, stumbling back. "G- Ghosty? Do ghosts exist?" she whispered. "No, they don't. Kana, you're just imagining things again! Stop thinking about them!" She was having another dream with Keaton, Mirei and Wadanohara, wasn't she?
Reaching for her sword, which was always at her side, she realized it was missing. Where was it? This didn't happen before- she searched quickly for her Dragonstone, sighing with relief when she found it. But... that warm glow that normally emanated from it was gone.
Having not got an immediate response from the ghost, Spooky, Dale had fixated on one of the other guests.
