Alright, I love this fandom too much, and I think Varil needs his shot at becoming a Craftlord. Also, I one of the few hetero pairing I like it Pratty and Varil. Fufufu. Hope you enjoy.
Wystern, the City of Swords, was not in as much order as people would like to think it was. The new Craftlord of Iron had been appointed, yes, but there were still other spots to fill.
"Pratty," Sakuro, still the Craftlord of Sapphire, opened the door to the young female's house, looking pretty serious. She had now owned this house for a few months, and he somehow kept going to down to her previous workshop at the Silver Guild to try and talk to her before remembering she lived on her own, the second person living in Upper Wystern.
"Master Sakuro!" Pratty smiled, looking up from the desk she had been working with papers on. "...Hey! I told you not to come in first without knocking!"
"Oh, yes, sorry," the curry-loving brunette apologized, but looked unconcerned with the smile on his face. "Anyway, the opening ceremony is about to begin. It would put a bad look on our newest Craftlord if she was late, wouldn't it? After all, she is one of the three hosts."
"Yeah, I wouldn't want people to think badly of me!" the white-haired one smiled, shuffling some papers into a corner before getting up and running for the door. Chuckling lightly, Sakoru closed the door behind the two of them.
"I'll go on ahead and tell Ureksa you're on your way," he said, before hurrying off so fast Pratty didn't even get a chance to say thank you to her older friend. And without time to wonder how everyone could flee the scenes so quickly by walking calmly, she ran off after him, heading for the central tower.
"... and as you know, the previous Craftlord of Amber, the former and late Master Lubert, has left our ranks. This year, contestants from last year and new arrivals will participate in this tournament to take his spot and join us Craftlords. This year there are one hundred and thirty craftknights who have decided to step forward, and participate in our tournament. A letter will be hand-delivered to your residence telling of the time of your next match. If you wish to train in the labyrinth, a key will be delivered before your first match, unless you already have one or more. The stray summons there will not ease up for you, so don't let your guard down. The matches will start tomorrow, and good luck everyone!"
Pratty continued to smile as all of the contestants filed out of the ceremony room, all except the heir to the Gold Guild. When the only ones left were the three Craftlords Ureksa, Sakuro, Pratty, and the craftknight Varil, she finally stopped tensing up and let out a sigh of relief.
"So, how did I do?"
"Hmm..." Varil looked puzzled for a moment, maybe even displeased, before his lip turned up into his trademark, cocky smirk. "You spoke too much."
Pratty opened to mouth to retort, but no words came out, and it was stuck into a perfect O shape. "...Hey!"
"Took you so long to come up with that?" he replied, and Sakuro came down chuckling. "Okay, lovebirds. Varil, you have training and preparing to do, don't you? Your first match could be tomorrow, and last time I checked in on Pratty she was so occupied with work that she was late for the opening ceremony."
"I could have been on time if someone hadn't broken my clock," the white-haired Craftlord poked Varil in the middle of his forehead, and he scowled.
"Anyway, I should get going," the blonde heir said, before turning and walking out in that way that Pratty had no idea how they went so quickly.
"Huh? Did I do something?" the white-haired Craftlord blinked at her lover's sudden leave. He had looked a little upset, but Varil was the type who usually bounced back those sorts of shots or remarks. He had been acting a little weird the days leading up to the tournament, but maybe that was just anxiety? It had to be, there was no other reason for him to be displeased. At least, Pratty was pretty sure there wasn't.
Neither Sakuro nor Ureksa had replied. It was just then she had realized Ureksa had already left, and Sakuro was patiently waiting for her to get a move on.
"I guess I should check up on him, then..." as she started to make her way down the steps, she felt a large hand placing itself on her shoulder.
"Pratty, don't worry about it. Right now he needs to be the most focussed on this tournament. This isn't like last year when we all had to worry about Parista. Right now, this is his top goal, so leave him alone so he can reach it. Before you know it, this'll all be over and you two will be Craftlords together."
For a moment, she was silent, rethinking the words he had said over in her head. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks, Master Sakuro. Besides, we always visit each other in the evenings, so it'll be fine!"
"Exactly, so don't worry about it," Sakuro gave that lazy, unconcerned smile he had, before patting Pratty on the back. "Go finish your work then, so you don't have to do it when he visits you later. Myself, I have curry to make." Pratty smiled as she watched him leave the room; he did love that curry of his.
Alright, she had work to finish up. And if she didn't finish it up, she might hurt Varil's feelings even more than she possibly had done not much earlier. So swiftly so that she could reach her wok faster, she left the ceremony hall and ascended the large flight of stairs to get up to Upper Wystern.
Although at night, he didn't come up to visit her, which left her puzzled. He hadn't missed visiting her in months; it made her think something was really wrong. She wanted to tell herself that it was because it was time for the tournament, that he was staying up later to train and prepare himself. But it couldn't be at this hour; last year she often found him when she took a walk at night.
"Nigelle would probably know where he is," she decided, standing up. Besides, if she went quickly, it would only take her a few minutes to get down to the Gold Guild. Making sure her bag-huge sheath thing was on her back (you never know when an emergency might come up), she left her sparsely-furnished house, making sure to lock the door. And she was right, by running there the whole way, it didn't take her anymore than four or five minutes to reach the outside of the Middle Wystern guild.
Taking a moment to regain her breath and her composition slightly, she entered the large building of which she hadn't seen much more than the entrance hall.
"Ahh, Craftlord of Iron, Pratty," Nigelle greeted her with proper manners, but she didn't detect the tiniest bit of disdain behind his voice. After all this time and the coupling between her and Varil, most of the Gold Guild still disliked her for losing to her or for her beating Varil to Craftlord rank.
Such disdain didn't bother her, anyway. She had come from the Silver Guild, after all, even if the tension between the two guilds only came from their leaders disliking each other.
"Actually, do you know where Varil is?"
"No, he went out for a walk an hour ago, I assumed he was visiting you."
This was a little strange to Pratty, but she accepted it. Last year, the two of them took frequent walks during the tournament, hadn't they? That's when she got the idea that he was probably down by the fountain or the harbour.
"Thank you, Nigelle!" she thanked him cheerily, though the look on his face said that he didn't know why. Faster than his adult eyes could follow, Pratty had bounded down the hall and closed to large door behind her.
At the moment, night was dominant and the city of Wystern was very dim indeed. However, Wystern never fully vanished into darkness, for the moon always managed to reflect light from the sun, even when they couldn't see the moon. There were never so many clouds as to block the sky out, either.
As she came down the remaining steps to reach Lower Wystern, her brisk run quickly slowed down to a walk. The fountain, and the harbour, held some of the dearest memories she had. So much had happened at the harbour last year, including where she had really 'met' Varil. And the fountain.. She met up with Varil many nights there during the tournament, and where they had spent some of their dates afterwards...
"Varil!" she called, spotting him pacing calmly by the fountain.
Looking behind him, Varil replied, "Oh, it's just you. Hi, Pratty."
"What do you mean it's 'just me'?"
"I thought it might've been someone trying to sneak up on me."
"Why would someone try and sneak up on you?"
"You didn't hear? Some people are trying to ambush and harm their opponents before the match so that they have a better chance of winning."
"That's cheating!" Pratty looked completely appalled.
"Of course it is, do you think I'm doing it?"
"Of course I'm not!" she closed her eyes, almost bewildered that he'd even ask that. How could she think he was doing anything wrong at all? He certainly was full of himself most of the time, but Varil was not a cheater. He hd stood up to his own father for doing wrong, he couldn't do such wrong himself!
"Well, why are you here, anyway?" he had finally steered the conversation in another direction.
"I should be asking you that; you always come to visit me at night time..."
"During the tournament last year I always came here and almost won, so I'm hoping it'll give me the same luck, only better."
"Varil, it wasn't luck that got you are far as you did. You're a great craftknight, and my weapon was actually really close to breaking when I beat you. I think your weapon quality os actually a lot better than mine."
"That, or you had to use you second best weapon because Parista stole it after your fight with Sanary..."
"Oh yeah..." Pratty's face fell. "Still you got to the finals. That says something, doesn't it?"
"...Yeah, I guess so," he finally grinned at her with that cocky smile. "I' still going to beat you someday, you know."
"That's what you keep saying."
"Yes, but this year will be different!" he stuck his tongue out at her. "I'll be able to get a lot stronger without having to worry about you and your clumsiness all of the time!"
"I'm not clumsy!"
"Then what's this I've been hearing about you falling down the stairs of your house before the opening ceremony last year? Surely that's not the new, or old, way to come down the stairs?" he was smirking at her.
"Oh, you–!" she couldn't get mad at him for saying such things, she knew he was just teasing her a little. "Oh! I already know who your first match is against."
"Plan on telling me?"
"Nope!" she smiled innocently. "Hey, so are you going to come visit me tomorrow night, or what?"
"How about you come down here? It's only for the tournament, anyway. Besides, for months I hiked up to Upper Wystern to visit you, would it kill you to do the same?"
"I suppose not," she smiled at her lover, ruffling his hair a little (which he frowned at the tiniest bit).
"Watching my match tomorrow?"
"I promise I won't miss it for anything!"
"Good. Watch me win!" he grinned, before his personality did a one-eighty bringing her into a tender kiss.
"I'll go up to the Gold Guild with you then go home myself," Pratty decided, taking his hand and slowly walking their way up to Middle Wystern in comforting silence.