Skylight

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Hi, I'm Legend, she/ze. We're onto our second interview of the month at the Teashop Between Worlds. Please welcome Sofia & Cara from Patchree Jones' Skylight.

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Legend: First of all, please introduce yourself. Name, pronouns if you wish, and tell us an interesting fact about yourself.

 

Sofia: Hello everyone! My name is Sofia Luana, pronouns she/her, and one interesting fact about me is that I am a Mehk princess from Tropos, a nation of winged warriors, but I am personally terrified of heights.

 

Cara: Hey people! I’m Cara Felicity, she/her, and Sofia is my best friend in the whole world. Hmm, just one interesting thing about me? I’d say that I’m a pretty good fighter despite my tiny size. I try to use it to my advantage, especially against all these winged chickens in Tropos! *Cara looks behind her as if expecting someone to appear, but no one does.*

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Sofia: Just ignore her. She thinks our royal guards, actually just one particular guard, is gonna come barreling through the doors, but I’ve asked them to sit this interview out. *Sofia smiles widely, even though Cara elbows her for the comment.*

 

Legend: Don't worry. No one gets in here unless Grandmama is okay with it. Can you tell us a bit more about the world you live in?​

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Sofia: Of course! We currently live in Tropos, a sky-based realm on Earth. We actually reside in the troposphere or the airspace between sea level and the stratosphere, but there’s a Veil in place which keeps the realm hidden. Cara and I actually grew up in Colorado Springs in Lok Klang…

Cara: Lok Klang just means middle earth in Mehk. That’s what the people here call the land below.

 

Sofia: Right, umm, where was I?

 

Cara: Tropos is hidden by the Veil, blah, blah, blah.

 

Sofia: Seriously, Cara? Sorry. We don’t actually know that much about the realm cuz we’re not allowed to leave the Palace. But it’s pretty nice here.

 

Cara: It’s alright. I like the training grounds and the 24/7 commissary.

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Legend: Sounds like it's time to sneak out and explore. Let’s have a quick-fire round of This or That. Try to just answer and not think too hard about it, though I guess some of these things you might not be familiar with. Sofia, you please use green words and Cara if you could use purple. If you have the same answer, you can just use black. Ta.

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• Tea or coffee? Tea     Coffee

• Sweet or savoury? SWEET!

• Music or sports? Music           Same

• Paperback or ebook? Paperback for me       I’m a tech junkie, so ebook.   

• Paint or pencil? Pencil

• Countryside or city? Countryside       City girl

• Fight or negotiate? Negotiate             No question about it, I’d fight!

• Sword or gun? Neither            Swords! I actually carry two!

• Vampire or werewolf? Werewolf, I guess.     Vampires

• FIlm or TV series? It depends.           TV for me.

• Morals or laws? Morals           Hmm, tricky? I think I agree with Sofe.

• Kids or puppies? PUPPIES!

• Museum or beach? Museum              Beach

• World peace or end famine? World peace     Yep.

• Winter or summer? SUMMER

• Dance or football? Umm, dance?       Probably.

• Olives or sardines? Blech, neither.

• Rainbows or monochrome? Monochrome     Rainbows

• Brain or gut? Brain      Gut

• Traditional or new? New

• Revenge or justice? Justice

• Fast zombies or slow zombies? Slow?          Of course, slow. Easier to destroy.

• Mountains or oceans? Mountains, for sure.   Send me to the oceans!

• Afterlife or ghost? I think ghost?         I think so too.

• Friendship or the law? Friendship

• Fantasy or reality? Fantasy! Have you seen where we live?            So much better than reality!

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Legend: Well that was a fun mix of responses. Oh, I see you've almost finished your drinks. They do tea leaf readings here. Would you ask about your future and, if so, what do you want to know?

 

Sofia: Ugh. I’d be super curious and tempted to ask about our future.

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Cara: Me too! I’d want to know how accurate the Royal prophecy is. Like did the Oracle just make that stuff up or is he for real!

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Sofia: I think so too. You see, we have an Oracle in Tropos and he’s in charge of all these prophecies. He told us about the “Royal Prophecy” and how he’s sure it’s about me and Cara. I’m not totally sold on this one, but that’s probably what I’d ask about. 

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Cara: *Nods in agreement.*
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Legend: Hmm, that sounds very spoilery, so let me whisper it. *Ze examines both teacups then whispers in the girls' ears. After giving them a moment, she moves on as though nothing has happened.* If you know a martial art, tell us about it and how you got into it.

 

Sofia: We are both undergoing krabi krabong training which is a combination of muay Thai and weapons training. Apparently all royals are required to learn this and I personally hate it, because I secretly suck at it and I’m not a fan of violence at all.

 

Cara: I said it before and I’ll say it again. I love the krabi krabong training. I couldn’t wait for us to pick our weapons and I went with the daab song mue. That’s two swords that I get to wear on my back into battle. I like how powerful I feel with my daabs and I had to train super hard to be able to carry them, especially since I’m smaller than most here.

Sofia: She is pretty awesome. Her amazing fighting skill is why I feel like it’s okay for me to slack off a bit, to be honest.

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Legend: But what if Cara is in trouble and needs backup? I say it mostly hypothetically, my mate and I are useless in a fight. Well, I'm use-impaired, he's completely useless. Changing the subject before he glares at me, do you have a good relationship with nature?

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Cara: This question’s all you, Sofe!

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Sofia: Thanks. I would say I’ve got a pretty good relationship with nature since it’s my given affinity for my Palang. Having this connection to nature allows me to draw upon my Palang and use that energy to help me out of sticky situations. I’m still learning how to control this affinity, but I’m getting better. My mentor tells me that my Palang won’t fully activate on command because it only responds to genuine danger, but the more I train, the better I’ll get. 
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​Legend: If it only responds to genuine danger, how do you train it? Should we, I dunno, push you off a cliff or something? Don't worry, I won't really. There's no need to run away. But out of curiosity, have you ever had to escape from somewhere? Were you successful and was there a cost?

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Sofia: I was actually kidnapped a few months after arriving in Tropos. Long story short, I was taken by the Night Army rebels and held in their Mistress’s lair for about a month. You could say that I was able to escape from there successfully, but that’s not the full story.

 

Cara: Not even close. The incident is still fresh in our minds, but we were able to fight our way back, so to speak. The cost of rescuing Sofia was priceless, but each of us went through some pretty intense stuff during that time.

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Legend: Guessing our audience will need to pick up your book to learn more about that one. On to something different. How do you feel about social situations? Do you throw yourself into it or are you the person rehearsing every conversation in their head a million times?

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Sofia: I’m not a very social person. I hate being in crowds and you can forget about public speaking. Maybe I’ll get better one day, but I definitely fall into the category of practicing every conversation a million times before I actually say anything to anyone.

 

Cara: I’m the complete opposite and usually have no filter.

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Legend: Never would've guessed that. "She sticks her tongue out at Cara.*

 

Sofia: You can’t even imagine how many times I had to stop her from insulting the King & Queen. She’s lucky they both like her and wouldn’t have her jailed for her “no filter” comments!

 

Cara: Whatever! She’s overreacting, but I don’t mind new social situations. I’m usually the buffer for Sofia and I love being the center of attention. *Smiles widely while Sofia rolls her eyes.* Most of the time, I’ll get in where I fit in and try not to worry too much about what people think of me.

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Legend: That leads nicely to our next question. Is there a place, other than your home, that is *your* place, where you are content and safe?

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Sofia: You’re looking at her! *Points to Cara.* She’s my home in life. I would feel lost if Cara wasn’t with me. I can’t think of any other place where I feel safer or happier.

 

Cara: Stop it! You’re embarrassing me.

 

Sofia: It’s true! You don’t even know how glad I was to see you when we first woke up in the clouds. It was terrifying, but you made me think it was all gonna be alright. And look at us now! We’re settled and safe, but more importantly, we’re together.

 

*Sofia and Cara hug.*

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Legend: Aww.

 

Cara: You got all mushy with this question. I was just gonna say the Northern Forest cuz it’s pretty peaceful there and there’s this small grove just beyond the training grounds that’s really neat. *Sofia raises an eyebrow and gives Cara a curious look.* What? I came across a hidden spot once and that’s all I’m saying.

 

Sofia: Sure you did. You just “came” across a hidden spot in the forest ALL by yourself. Not likely, but we’ll leave it at that.

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Legend: Think my mate knows a few songs about those kind of spots. Lastly, let's end on a positive note as it's a new year for some of our audience. What are you most grateful for in life?What are you most grateful for in life?

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Sofia: My family. I’m grateful for the parents who raised me and for my birth parents. But more than that, I’m grateful for the friends who have become a part of my family too. Cara is my bestie for life, but I’ve become pretty close with our personal guards, the Sawaan brothers, too! If the people around me didn’t care so much about my safety, then I wouldn’t be here today. Even if I think they went about protecting me the wrong way, I’m still grateful for all of them.

 

Cara: I’m grateful for the chance to stay with my bestie through thick and thin. If you don't have people you can trust in your life, then things are always gonna be tough. With good friends and family by our side, we can get through anything!

 

Sofia: Agreed!

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Legend: Aww, you two are so cute! On that lovely note, this interview is concluded. Please enjoy some tea and cookies during the break while we wait for our next guest.

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