helloooo :) i hope you're doing well and enjoy this next chapter-it's my favorite so far! above i linked some rain and thunder ambience which will be perfect for this part of the story ;)

Sophie POV

Sophie stared at the silver dagger laying on her bedside table, newly polished and draped in midnight blue fabric.

The dagger had been there on the table top when she woke up, despite the fact she had left it on the weapons table in the training room yesterday.

For the last five minutes, Sophie sat on the edge of her bed determining how the weapon had appeared there. She eventually came to the conclusion that someone had either broken into her room while she was sleeping, or it materialized just to haunt Sophie.

Before she could decide on one or the other, a startling knock on the door shook the blonde out of her contemplation.

A familiar voice spoke from the other side of the door.

"When you're all ready, the recruits will be in the courtyard practicing terrain combat training. I'll meet you out there," Aelia chimed.

"Wait-" Sophie interrupted her, "where's the courtyard? I don't-"

"I think you'll find it just fine."

Before she could ask what the statement meant, she heard the quiet footsteps trailing away from the door.

Sophie closed her eyes, taking a much needed breath in. She pushed herself off the edge of the bed, disregarding the mysterious dagger and dressing herself in the stiff black training garb.

She was unsure what weapons would be in the courtyard for her to use, so Sophie apprehensively took small steps towards the blade on her bedside table.

Her hand reached out towards the intricate blade until she noticed the new brand on the center of the metal.

Branded into the steel was the engraving of a bird with open wings—the same one on the cover of the leather book from the library.

Sophie picked up the silver dagger only to find out the brand was still hot.

Scalding hot.

She gasped, dropping the blade out of shock. It clattered to the ground, and Sophie hoped nobody outside the cramped room had heard.

For a moment, the only sound was the gentle wind pressing up against the small window, like the brush of a kiss, or sunlight against the water.

When Sophie decided she was done standing alone in the empty room—though it hardly felt empty with the presence of the dagger—she deliberately picked up the blade and slid it into the conveniently made sheath on the training belt. Her steps were light and hasty as she stumbled through the continuous halls.

The clouds were a deep ash color, crowding the sky like a million birds flocking together. Sophie exhaled, taking one more glance up at the darkening sky before walking forward into the deafening chaos.

There were several different parts of the combat training area.

The area seemed to be split into six main sections: two weapons areas, three training sections separated by ranking, and one open area for sparring.

Sophie's eyes roamed the area, and despite the weapons lining the walls and tables, and the sounds of battle, there was an enchanting beauty to it. She ventured further into the crowd of recruits, careful to avoid the sharpened blades of knives and swords.

She felt for her blade tucked into the sheath on her belt, weary of its effects since it had appeared in her bedroom this morning.

Sophie wasn't sure how much she would need the dagger on her first day of training, but considering all the crap that had happened in the last few days, she could never be so sure.

With some kind of cue that seemed invisible to her, the other recruits suddenly parted, forming three distinct groups and leaving Sophie utterly confused in the middle.

A hand reached out and dragged her into the first group, Sophie's eyes widened before recognizing the pale skin and reddish hair.

Aelia dropped Sophie's arm when they were both lined up with the rest of the group. She turned slightly to Sophie.

"Stay quiet and look forward. If anyone in green addresses you, stay calm and give simple answers. Don't speak without being spoken to, and I'll explain in a minute."

The blonde had no time to question what Aelia had just said before one figure cloaked in fern green began to speak.

"First regiment will train with short range weapons during this session. All other weapons should be away during today's terrain combat training. Those of fourth or higher ranking..." the man droned on while Sophie's eyes strayed to the two green-clothed people on each side of the group.

One walked down the side of the lines of recruits, the other person walked down the other side. It seemed to look like they were doing some kind of check,—for attire or posture and stature, she didn't know—examining each person swiftly.

Sophie watched as the one closest to her moved down the line. Light auburn hair pulled into a tight bun, a slim figure but tall stature, making quick and stiff movements, occasionally exchanging a word or two with a recruit. As she moved from one person to the next, Sophie could see her eyes following a pattern.

Face. Training attire. Weapons. Hands.

She moved closer to Sophie every two seconds.

Face. Training attire. Weapons. Hands.

Face. Training attire. Weapons. Hands.

Then she was right next to Sophie.

Face. Their eyes locked for a short moment before the blonde broke eye contact, and she could see the surprise in the woman's eyes before she concealed it.

Training attire. She took little time looking over Sophie's stiff black garb, the same as everyone else.

Weapons. She scanned over Sophie's only weapon, the dagger, eyebrows furrowing in thought.

Hands. The woman paused as her eyes locked on her hands.

"Where are your gloves?" she questioned.

Sophie froze. "I-uh, I wasn't given any gloves," she mumbled. The woman stared blankly at her.

"After instruction see yourself to the utilities table and get yourself some training gloves," she said as she began to move to the next person. She could hear the scratch of a pencil on paper, despite the fact that she couldn't recall the woman holding anything in her hands previously.

With one final word, the recruits dispersed into small groups or pairs, exchanging few words quietly and secretly.

Sophie stayed close to Aelia, not wishing to be swept up in the swarm of black training gear.

Aelia glanced around furtively, "You weren't given gloves?"

"Jeez, what's with the gloves obsession here? Everyone's acting like I'll die without wearing gloves," Sophie retorted.

"We just really, really like gloves here, okay?" she replied, flashing a sarcastic smile. Sophie thought the statement might hold more than Aelia was implying, but pushed no further.

The two walked over to the utilities table, cluttered with various gloves, training belts, and fabrics of various colors and sizes. They sifted through the gloves, attempting to find a pair Sophie's size in the massive pile of mis-match of gloves.

She pulled out a glove that looked like it would fit her hands and looked fairly new.

The glove was composed of sleek deep blue silk. Although they were fairly plain with few details to look at, they fit Sophie and were in one piece—compared to some of the others in the pile. Her and Aelia searched the rest until they found the matching pair, and Sophie pulled the gloves on as she followed the swift girl to wherever she was taking them.

As they weaved through the crowds, the sound of rain pattering on the stone roof above them grew louder, and soon the sky opened up and began to pour.

Sophie came to a stop, almost bumping into Aelia. They stood a few feet from a dirt circle, about twelve feet wide, surrounded by stones and complete with bumps and grooves in the dirt.

Before she could ask any questions about the odd circle, a boom of thunder took Sophie's attention to the sky outwards once again.

The seconds following the sound were empty, filling the air with an uncertainty until the next lighting struck. Even though she knew it was just a simple weather phenomenon, it seemed amplified in this new world. Everything felt amplified in this new world.

"I've always loved storms," Aelia spoke, shaking Sophie out of her reverie, "the way the sky seems to open up just to part for the lightning, or to call out the thunder."

"Everything feels so much louder, so much more natural than it did before," Sophie replied.

Aelia paused before speaking again.

"It must be pretty unsettling for you. Coming from a place so foreign to us to a place so foreign to you."

She watched for Sophie's reaction, which was a mere nod.

"Everything seems amplified here. I haven't spent enough time at this base to know whether that's because of the terrain, or the other elves' abilities."

Her last few words sunk into Sophie like a stone in water.

Elves.

But the term didn't seem as foreign to Sophie as she would have liked.

"Elves," Sophie repeated, with a blank stare.

"Yes. Elves. All of us here are elves. Me, the other recruits, you." Aelia studied Sophie's face with intense curiosity. "But... you already knew that. Didn't you."

Sophie could tell it was hardly a question, and rather a test, a hypothesis.

"I don't- I don't know-" her voice faded out, overcome by the next crack of thunder.

Aelia guided her to the sparring circle, but Sophie's mind was elsewhere.

In the past few days, every second that had gone by should have scared Sophie. Terrified her. But for some reason, some unknown reason, it didn't seem too fearsome just yet.

The blade, the building, the land, the people, the bird that kept appearing on all of Sophie's belongings, everything felt so familiar.

Like her whole life was just an intense feeling of deja-vu. But if she had never really been here, or never really met these people, why was everything so familiar?

I. LOVE. THIS. CHAPTER. Something about it feels just so cozy even though our girl Sophie is having essentially a mental breakdown🤩

I'm super glad that there's some new readers enjoying Hidden Memories, and you can expect a new update soon!

Thanks for reading as always, and I hope your having a wonderful day, evening, night or Easter if you celebrate it :))

        ~bubblekissed