Skulduggery pleasant -words are not enough

Chapter 1

The girl with black hair looked down on the graves. It had only been a week since her partner was killed, but she had never imagined how much her life revolved around him. But now, now she had no teachers, no team and no best friends. The girl felt a pang of guilt deep down in her gut. If only she had been able to learn everything quicker then she might have been able to save those close to her.

The girl's name was Valkyrie Cain. She had once worked side by side by her best friend, mentor and partner, skulduggery pleasant but now that had all changed thanks to a mysterious assassin whose chosen name was Savage Bounty. Savage was on the list for the most wanted villains in the world and there was a price on his head in several different countries.

The four graves lay in a row. They belonged to Tanith Low, Ghastly Bespoke, Fletcher Renn and the latest, Skulduggery pleasant.

The skies matched Valkyrie's mood, black and gloomy. A clash of thunder echoed suddenly and a bolt of lightning illuminated the cemetery. As the heavens opened, Valkyrie was grateful that the rain hid the many tears pouring down her cheeks. She hardly ever cried but this time she could make an exception as skulduggery had once told her,

"Holding back tears isn't always considered brave, but what is, is letting your feelings show."

The ceremony was this afternoon but Valkyrie wanted to have some alone time with her own mind. Not many people were coming as Valkyrie's friends weren't the most liked people in Ireland but Valkyrie knew there were a few who would miss the team nearly as much as Valkyrie.

China wasn't the friendliest towards the team but when the news reached her, she had come straight to Valkyrie and helped her through the worst. For this, Valkyrie was grateful, but she still had to respect Skulduggery's reasons. This was why Valkyrie couldn't trust her.

Kenspeckle hadn't given a lecture as Valkyrie expected, but instead gave her therapy to help get rid of the trauma. Valkyrie knew he was in shock himself as he had spent his time being grumpy at skulduggery and had never had the chance to say sorry. She had to pity the old man and had visited him more than often. This wasn't just for him but also for herself. Valkyrie didn't need revenge right now but what she needed was friends.

She put her hands into the extra deep pockets and felt the texture of cold metal brush against her hand. Valkyrie griped the item and slowly pulled it out of her pocket. It was heavy but it had a sense of security hang around it. A small smile formed on Valkyrie's lips. Skulduggery had given her his favourite gun to protect herself with while he went against the white cleaver. Valkyrie griped the gun tight and let more tears slip silently down her face. He had told her it was time for her own weapon and then gave her the gun. Skulduggery had boasted "I have more powers than you and as you asked for a weapon you can have this. Just, don't scratch it."

She slowly put the gun away again just in case anyone was watching. As she started to raise her hand again she jerked at a sudden prick on her hand. Valkyrie knew what it was and as she pulled the magic needle from her pocket she remembered ghastly's words.

"One of the most important lessons in sewing is never leaving a needle where you might forget it. If you forget, you are sure to learn the hard way."

Yes. Valkyrie thought, as you said I have learned the hard way,

"Like everything else." She finished out loud. No matter how right she knew she was, she had always been independent and had learnt many hard lessons. The latest was about losing the people you love. The smallest changes can end up taking a piece out of your life. Her friends were her life but with them gone, was life worth living?

Valkyrie put her free hand into her other pocket and pulled out a small piece of felt. She carefully pinned the needle into it and slipped the items back into her right pocket. Valkyrie wished that she could relive the afternoon when Ghastly had taught her how to make clothes as one day she would need new ones.

As Valkyrie looked back at the graves, her hand had absent mindedly reached up and touched her right cheek. She jumped at her touch but then smiled. The place where she touched was where Fletcher had kissed her, moments before death.

The last friend Valkyrie hadn't thought about yet was Tanith. The blond lady had left Valkyrie her signature sword and now it was firmly attached to Valkyrie's belt. Tanith was just like a sister to Valkyrie, no, more than that. Tanith was a friend, mentor and sister all wrapped into one.

These gifts were all Valkyrie had to remind her of her friends. She smiled again. Not many people her age could say and prove they have a real gun and sword.

She may act like she was fine but inside, Valkyrie was tearing apart. She hadn't seen her family since ghastly died. If only she had a kind friend who could understand her and who was female. Sadly she had none of them left. Well, Valkyrie thought, she still had china, but she couldn't exactly count, not even after all the help she'd been. Valkyrie wanted to speak to her mum, to cuddle up to her like she used to do when she was young, to tell her all about magic but doing so would endanger her family and that was the last thing Valkyrie wanted.

Valkyrie looked down again at the graves. Now she needed to remember all those wonderful memories. All those fights, those long talks, those caring words and those faces, all the best parts of the team's life. They were part of Valkyrie now, looking over her, but Fletcher, Ghastly, Tanith and Skulduggery would never leave her, in spirit, they would always be there.

"Rest in peace." Valkyrie murmured carefully placing a black rose down on each grave.