There was a heat-wave today and it was hot. One could fry an egg on the pavement in the heat of 56 degrees Celsius and throughout Beacon Academy, many students stayed indoors as the school racked up its dust bill on the air conditioning. Many others that walked around outside dressed either in clothing infused with ice dust or without most of their clothing. And some were swimming in the school pool, not treating this hot day as an excuse to skip training while some played and splashed water at each other. Another small group of students though, were situated at the cliffs by one of the cascades.
"Holy shit, are you really going do it Strelka?" Clad in a pine-colored bikini with her white dust-cooled bolero over, Stella peered over the edge of the cliff.
Strelka, who was dressed in a black one-piece swimsuit with electric blue designs replied, "Sure, my dad and I used to do it all the time. Would you like to come along?" With that, she took a deep breath, exhaled, and then ran before leaping off the edge. Plummeting head-first as the water came towards her, the third-year adjusted her form and hit the water hundreds of meters below face-on. Swimming back up to the surface, Strelka waved at them, now dots over the edge of the cliff before swimming over and resting under the waterfall, enjoying the sensation of the thousands of pounds of icy cold water falling on her in this infernal temperature.
Seeing Strelka surface, Stella smiled. "Sure, why not." Stepping up to the cliffs to look down at the huge drop again, she walked backwards a few feet, taking off her jacket and tossing it to the grass next to her. She was, to be honest, quite nervous but that wasn't going to stop her from trying to impress someone like Strelka in terms of bravery. Sprinting forward, the CEO of Prometheus jumped off with her feet pointed down, arms around her abdomen. Descending fast, she let out a "WHOOOOOO!!!!" before she hit the water. The sense of coolness felt good in the heat, and she was proud, the sense of accomplishment rising up her chest as a warm feeling. Once her head broke the surface, she yelled out, "HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AMAZING!!!" She swam to Strelka as they high-fived each other under the waterfall. She then yelled up at the top of her lungs, unsure whether the sound would travel that far with the sound of the water crashing down, "HEY CAMMY TOSS DOWN MY SCROLL!"
Back on the cliffs, Camellia in a pink bikini with white frilly designs had heard the girl, and after barely recognizing what she was saying, yelled down, "OKAY!" Taking the other girl's waterproof scroll, she tossed it down. It hit the water with a large splash about ten meters from Stella and Strelka then sank, emitting a glow.
"THANK YOU! AND ANYONE ELSE WANNA COME ON DOWN?!" Diving underwater, Stella found her scroll and grabbed it before swimming back to Strelka. "I'll bring an airship around later so we can all go again."
"Ah, thank you." Strelka blinked, surprised. She had not expected to see Stella as the first one down, aside from herself.
Meanwhile, Marigold, dressed in a black bikini with yellow designs had hung Stella's jacket on the branch of a nearby tree before taking a running stance towards the cliff while smiling.
"You too Marigold?!" Orchid asked, having come along in a black one-piece similar to Strelka's but with hot pink designs. She was quite nervous too, and the heights made her knees turn to jelly. When she agreed to come, she though it would be like the cliffs back at the Emerald Forest. But these were MUCH higher.
"Come on, the General's gotta show some face in front of her people right?" Running and gracefully pushing off the cliff with her feet, Marigold performed two front-flips before stretching out her arms and hitting the water with a small splash. She felt a proud sensation just like Stella's as she came back up, breathing heavily. "Wow! The was really really exciting!" She went to the edge, and climbed into a crevice she found along the cliff wall, sitting in it with her feet in the water and the waterfall splashing her. She leaned back and relaxed, watching boats pass by and the city in the back.
Ophelia had been sitting on the edge of the cliffs wearing a black bikini with grey designs. Feet dangling off the ledge, she smiled and watched as they dove off the cliff one by one. She was happy. Her childhood had involved nothing except for training and classes, but now she has a chance to fully experience the joys she had missed out on with her friends. Real friends. Not ones her parents paid to develop her. She looked over at her daughter, who was trying to drag Orchid off the cliff.
"H-hold on! I-I don't think this is a good idea!" Stammering, Orchid caught a glimpse of the drop and forced her way out of Camellia's grip, running a few meters back in-land to look at them. She pointed at Ophelia. "And don't you help her! I know how you two are!"
"What do you mean?" Ophelia asked, jokingly denying any accusations. Laying back and raising her legs, she pushed off the floor with her shoulder blades, back-flipping in the air once before landing next to Camellia. "Guess she skipped her turn. Come on, lets go together."
Camellia smiled. "Okay! Let's do this! 3!"
"2!"
Camellia smiled. "1!"
They both leaped off at the same time, Camellia flapping her arms with her feet pointed down while Ophelia dove off headfirst, arms outstretched, an aerodynamic streak entering the water without so much as a splash, only ripples. Camellia on the other-hand, had curled up into a cannon-ball and made an extremely large splash, her aura protecting her from damage. Both re-surfacing, they took each other's hand and raised them triumphantly in the air as they joined the three, who clapped.
Marigold then said, "Come on Stella, go get your soon-to-be-wife."
Laughing, Stella turned and pushed off the rocks, back-stroking a bit until she looked up the cliff wall and called out, "COME ON ORCA! YOUR TURN!"
Orchid, who was laying flat on the floor and peering over the edge said, "Why? But it's so high!" She slowly got into a kneeling position, looking at Stella.
"IT'S REALLY FUN ORCA! TRUST ME ON THIS!"
"YEAH COME ON!"
"Okay okay, hold on!" Orchid scooted backwards before getting up, legs shaking while walking backwards. She then ran forward, but stopped her self right when she was about to jump. "WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
"Okay yeah. Stella, let's get back to the cliff."
Orchid looked down the edge of the cliff, nervously swallowing. At least she could look over the edge now. "UMMM... ARE YOU SURE?!"
"YES! YOU CAN DO IT! ORCHID! ORCHID!" The others chanted Orchid's name along.
"AL-ALRIGHT THEN!" Orchid took a step back. She suddenly felt a a burst of confidence. Not wanting to lose that chance, she immediately jumped off and plummeted. "WOAH IT IS FU-" Right then, she hit the water and sank, kicking upwards as Marigold and Stella pulled her up to the sound of everyone cheering. "It is fun!"
"Nice Orchid!"
Stella gave her a kiss on the lips. "Oh wow, I'm so proud of you."