(Note-
Yes, I did say that NightRunner would be my only ongoing but I lied. Please read the PREVIEW for a taste of where this Story will go. Sit back, and enjoy the (poorly crafted) origin of Valarie Castillo-The Oriole.)
Guadalajara Mexico
Valarie sat nestled into the small top-bunk of her bed, with her long curly black hair in a bun, reading a new romance/action novel. She shared the room with her youngest cousin, who slept on the bottom bunk.
"Valarie! Come down stairs for dinner." The booming but heavily accented voice rushed into Valarie's room as she read.
She finished up the paragraph, savoring every word and placed her marker. She sluggishly closed the book and hopped down from the top bunk, landing with excellent form, reminding her of the years of gymnastics training she was put through.
As Valarie collected her thoughts, she felt a rumbling in her stomach. This reminded her that dinner was waiting for her downstairs.
Valarie arrived quickly to the kitchen and sat down at the table with her three cousins and Aunt.
"Well look who decided to join us." Her aunt Pamela exclaimed.
"Sorry Aunt Pam, I was just trying to finish up my new book." Valarie said without looking up from her plate.
"Val's reading one of those kissy kissy books to make up for her lack of friends." Valarie's middle cousin Antonio mocked her while making smooching noises.
Valarie stayed quiet but Pamela refuted. "Antonio, you better keep your mouth quiet and eat before I make it so you never eat again."
This spooked the boy and he quickly looked down to his plate and began stuffing his mouth. For a moment only sounds of forks scraping on plates, and food being chewed could be heard. Salma, Valarie's youngest cousin was the one to break the silence.
"So Val, are you coming with us to see the circus tomorrow?"Val looked at the girl with a confused glance.
"Yea! Mom's making Alex take us, you should come too!" This was accompanied by a large smile.
Valarie contemplated the pros and cons, and decided that she could take her book, just incase she was disappointed.
"Okay, I'll go, just wake me up when an hour before we have to go." She took one last bite of her pasta, then quickly left the table to return to her book.
7:00 Pm the next day
In her deep sleep Valarie was brought back to consciousness by the cold hand of Salma on her face.
"Val, wake up, we're leaving soon." Valarie stayed up for most of the night and morning finishing her book, so she slept through most of the day. After she was awoken she lazily pulled herself up and after a rest period in the up position she hopped down from the top bunk and went to begin her hygiene routine.
8:00 Pm
"Come on, Alex, hurry up, we're late." Salma could be heard in the backseat of the car.
"Calm down Salma, we're almost there, we're not gunna miss anything good." After this reassuring message from Alex, Salma stayed quiet but still tense. Valarie barely listened as she was invested in a new book she had just found. This one leaned more to the action side, it had very detailed fight scenes explaining the attacks, there point of impact and there fatal effect. Val appreciated the new experience reading this new book.
At the Big top
Salma and Antonio sat in the row below Alex and Valarie. They sat through the numerous performances. Val was barely interested, and mostly had her attention towards her book. However, the Ring Master finally caught Val's attention.
"AND FOR OUR FINAL ACT, WE HAVE OUR ACROBATS, DICK GRAYSON AND RAYA VESTRI!" The crowd boomed with excitement that had not been reached the whole night. Valarie was interested to see which of their tricks she could possibly replicate. The two expressed amazing feats of balance, endurance, and strength. They seemed to work effortlessly together. By the end of their performance, Val was breathing harder than usual, due to an adrenaline boost. As the ring master began ending the circus Val leaned over to Alex.
"Hey, I'm gunna go get some air, I'll meet you guys at the car." Alex gave a slight nod, and Val exited the Big top.
Outside
Outside of the Big Top, Val took deep breaths to calm her body down. She pulled out her book and began reading it as she walked to the car. Out of the top of her eye, she noticed a dark figure move across the sky. She looked up, but nothing was there. Suddenly, a loud bang could be heard from the distance. Val, felt an alarming sense of urgency and without thinking, she was moving in the direction of the noise.
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