Quiet and kindness were two qualities you could expect from the village of Umbra and its people. Or at least that's how it used to be. 

Flora found a new home after having to leave her country four years ago. The young woman was and always would be proud of being Argentinian, and at the same time, she would say she got blessed for ending up in Umbra. So after Stefan taught her to control her power Flora knew she needed to join the protectors, to defend the people that gave her a place where she belonged.

In the beginning, getting used to the rhythm of the resistance exhausted her, but after some time she got used to it. In fact, she started her Monday afternoon running through the hallways in an attempt to avoid being late for the training.

All the members knew there were two trainers you didn't want to be late for: Gellert and Momotaro. That day it was Gellert's turn to be in charge. 

Unfortunately, she couldn't make it on time. The moment Flora opened the door of the training room everyone's eyes were set on her. 

"Look who is late, the favorite pet of our leader." Noah's voice sounded loud. 

"I believe you're not qualified to talk about not being on time," Gellert interrupted him, clearly annoyed by the young man's attitude. "If I remember correctly, and I have an excellent memory, you were late thrice last week. Flora, you know the rules, I'll add ten more minutes to your next training." 

Her smug expression turned into a frown the second Gellert mentioned the punishment. Even when she expected to get some kind of reprimand for being late, a small part of her still held out hope of being saved. 

The practice started immediately, they focused on individual movements. The lack of experience in the fighting field represented a problem for most of the members. Stefan knew that allowing inexperienced people to join the resistance would make things harder but he chose to take the risk. A decision like that one brings consequences, in their case, it led to the creation of a detailed training plan. The strategy consisted of the development of the technique before facing the members against each other. 

The current division reached an advanced level, some of the students showed natural talent but Flora wasn't one of them. Every time fight practice started she could feel the anxiety build inside her, making her movements weak. 

She joined the group for the warm up. They ran in circles for fifteen minutes,  stretched out their legs a bit and then they chose a dummy to practice their kicks and punches. 

After an hour of individual training came the moment the girl hated the most, Gellert announced the beginning of the combat.

"Flora and Noah."

A grin formed on the boy's face as he moved to the fighting area. Flora tried to keep her composure, emotions were her weak point when it came to fighting. Emotions cloud her mind and slow her thoughts. 

The combat started. To no one's surprise, Noah attacked first. A strong punch grazed Flora's right shoulder, a centimeter more to the left and she would have been in trouble. The boy used her distraction as an opportunity and kicked her stomach. 

"Concentrate Flora," screamed Gellert as she lost her balance. 

The young woman dodged the following attacks, she focused only on defense. 

"Is this all you can do little girl?" Noah let his cockiness out while he showed a smirk. 

"At least I don't pee myself every time Momotaro talks to me."

Flora knew her opponent tended to lose concentration when angry and she used it to gain some advantage. In his state of rage, Noah forgot to maintain his defense position, a second was enough for Flora to grab one of his arms, kick his legs and throw him to the ground. 

"That's what this little girl can do," whispered the winner of the combat in Noah's ear.

No words were said by the boy, the red color of his face and the way he clenched his teeth showed how enraged he was, still, Flora assumed that he didn't want to embarrass himself any further.  

Gellert gave some advice to his students after training was over. Flora took one last look at Noah, his green eyes held nothing but hatred. It was clear that the redhead was ready to demand a rematch but she escaped before he could open his mouth. 

With her head held high, the blonde made her way through the hallway. Cheers and congratulations rained in her direction, she thanked everyone with a sincere smile, although deep down she attributed his victory to her good luck.

Moments later Flora stood in the spacious kitchen, in front of the marble countertop. She got ready to prepare her mate, an Argentinian traditional herbal infusion, when the voice of one of her favorite people in the whole world caught her attention. 

"Searching for something to eat after kicking some asses?" The usual playfulness decorated Stella's words. 

The woman took a seat near the table and pointed to the chair next to her for Flora to accompany her.  In order not to lose the habit, the blonde placed a kiss on the cheek of the newcomer as a greeting. Then she sat in front of the redhead as she had asked. 

"You better have some funny stories, cause I'm tired of the bad news." Commented the woman.

"Sorry cielo, the only good thing about my day was the moment I threw Noah against the floor. Can't say I kicked his ass, I just got lucky," said Flora as she filled the mate with water. "What bad news are you talking about? Please, tell me things aren't getting worse."

"Team two was attacked, all I know is that Stefan went there with reinforcement to help. They still haven't returned. I talked with Genevieve on my way here. According to her, in the last week, the demon attack increased and so did the number of people she has to heal. Wish I could do something else to help." 

"You are helping a lot, I don't think we could integrate the new recruits without you."

A member ran into the kitchen interrupting the conversation. He took a second to recover his breath before talking, leaning his body against the yellow wall.

"Stefan needs Flora in his office, he said it's urgent." 

"Seems it's time for me to go," announced Flora, holding the thermos under her arm and the mate on her hand to leave. 

The young woman followed the other member, they ran towards their leader, avoiding the people who crossed the corridors. Once they reached the destination the sound of papers and steps met them from the inside of Stefan's office. Flora entered the room after knocking twice. 

She glanced at the desk, it was full of messy papers as if a strong wind had passed through there. Behind it, Stefan seemed to be searching for something in particular between the bookshelves. 

"Mate amargo?" asked Flora offering the bitter infusion to Stefan who accepted without hesitation. 

"Just what I needed, it tastes amazing," said the leader after returning the mate.

"You're welcome, I added some burrito in it. Why did you call me?" 

"I'm guessing you heard about the attack. Jensen and Phillip are dead, they're the fourth members we lost this week and the demons are getting stronger. If things keep this way we won't be able to survive. It's time to reinforce the investigation."

"And your personal journalist is the best option when it comes to digging information." 

"I couldn't think of anyone else, there's no better option. I want you to look for any piece of information you can find, there has to be something we could use against them. Take Clio with you and you're free from watch duty," Stefan ordered Flora.

"Got it, boss. We'll start immediately." The girl agreed, making her way outside of the room. 

"One last thing. You can only discuss the information you get with Gellert and me." 

Flora nodded before continuing on her way. She was sure that the next weeks would be troublesome, but if her sacrifice would be helpful to the group she considered her family, she would do it without a doubt. 

I wanted to say thanks to the people reading, voting and commenting on my story. You help me keep going with the project.
Love you all, have a wonderful day 💜