"Heee! Look at me, Kuree!"
Peppita was skipping around in a rather obnoxious way. Kureema was, as usual, ignoring her companion, and continuing to walk across the narrow path. "Yeah, I see you. Just don't bump into me again. You know how close I came to falling, and I could just as easily slip again."
"Don't be such a sourpuss!" The younger dancer grinned and embraced Kureema from behind, nearly knocking them both down onto the lower tier. "C'mon, cheer up. It's not like it'll take us that much longer to get back up here even if I do make us fall!"
Kureema shot Peppita a warning glare and stood up, brushing herself off and leaving the other girl laying awkwardly on the cobblestones of the Glast Heim churchyard. The two had been wandering aimlessly, whips in hand, searching for powerful enemies. It wouldn't be long now before both dancers could undergo the rebirth ceremony and transcend to become gypsies. And what better way to celebrate than be with this nimrod? thought Kureema to herself, watching Peppita attempting to stand.
Peppita kept a smile on her wide-eyed face as she leapt up to stand by Kureema's side. "Now, let's go!" Kureema just shrugged and continued moving along the railing, looking down occasionally but generally keeping a graceful balance. Peppita, too, demonstrated a great amount of patience and dexterity, but she was skipping along rather than keeping to the cautious one-foot-in-front-of-the-other steps of her partner.
The path seemed to go on forever. Peppita would trip every now and then, falling onto Kureema, resulting in an angry grunt from the latter and an apologetic shrug from the former. And so it went of for quite some time.
Finally they both stopped as the patch ended. "Damn," whispered the older dancer, snapping with frustration. Peppita sighed loudly, sitting down on the rail and watching the ribbons of dusty wind dance across the grassy ground below. She kicked off one of her sandals carelessly, and watched in wonder as three cramps immediately scampered over to it, devouring the thing into their fat purple bodies. Peppita shuddered and turned to look at Kureema.
"That's the first word you've said this entire trip, you know."
Kureema said nothing.
"You really need to lighten up. I don't care if I'm annoying you, but you could at least bother to tell me why we're even here in the first place! Glast Heim? Jeez, what were you thinking? We could have gone to Gonryun, or Amatsu, or even Comodo—"
"Look, Peppita," muttered Kureema, glaring at the other dancer. "I didn't come here to kill you. I came here because the monsters are powerful, we have decent enough weapons to eradicate mimics and ghouls, and you need to mature a little. You act like we're…"
Peppita tilted her head and looked a bit suspicious as she replied: "I act like we're what..?"
"Like we're eight-year-olds or something!"
The younger dancer growled and kicked off her second sandal in anger. Once again, the cramps rushed to their meal. Peppita ignored them. Standing up, she pointed accusingly at Kureema, her Munak hat nearly falling off her head. "Yeah, well it's not like I'm trying! Just because you're little miss calm and collected doesn't mean I have to be too! We're not married, at least not yet, and I ca—"
Kureema looked at Peppita in shock, and she put a hand quickly over her mouth to stifle a gasp. "What the Hel do you mean by that? Not married yet..?" She shook her head, and a glare replaced her look of disbelief. "I can't believe you, Peppita. What kind of sick mind do you have to get the idea of marrying another woman? We aren't even…we aren't…we aren't even girlfriends!"
Peppita's face flushed and she turned around, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I didn't mean it that way, Kuree…you know I didn't…"
Kureema sighed and took her plush cat off her head, turning it over in her hands and staring at it to try and keep her mind off the subject at hand. She sat down as Peppita had before, kicking off both sandals, right, then left, not fully realizing that Peppita had done so. Yet, the younger dancer did notice, and she looked at Kureema in wonder. "I think I'm rubbing off on you, Kuree."
The older rolled her eyes and gestured for Peppita to sit down as well. She smirked a little when she saw six cramps darting for her sandals and devouring them quickly, but shook her momentary happiness off and looked severely at Peppita. "Well, I know I've been rubbing off on you a lot, so I guess what goes around comes around." Her voice was apathetic and she could tell it was making Peppita uncomfortable.
Peppita looked nervous as she spoke: "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean it. It just came out, honest." Kureema looked over at Peppita and shrugged in response. It really didn't matter.
"It really doesn't matter. I'm sorry I blew up at you. Now c'mon, let's get out of here. I don't like the atmosphere, and apparently the undead are sleeping easy today." Peppita smiled brightly and quickly stood, holding out a hand for her companion.
When the two found themselves back home in Geffen, they were bathed in sweat and were incredibly footweary. Peppita was complaining, as Kureema expected her to. She was always complaining. Always.
Both collapsed onto their favorite bench right by the fountain. Kureema looked even worse off than Peppita. She had scuffs all over her legs from passing through thickets, and her arms were bruised from fighting off hornets…and getting stung in the process. Peppita had had to remove each stinger from her unhappy companion, and the process was obviously not an easy one.
Peppita only had a few bruises on her feet, whereas Kureema had several. The younger dancer had been used to walking along barefoot; her sandals gave her blisters, and she preferred the natural feel of walking without them anyway. Kureema, however, liked her sandals, and she took pride in wearing them, along with the rest of her traditional dancer outfit. In fact, as Peppita often pointed out, nearly everything about Kureema was traditional.
As Kureema was tending to her wounds, two of Peppita's friends passed by. One was the clown that called himself Strawberry Surprise. He was always a comical fellow, but he had incredible skill with instruments when he put the effort into using them. Often he and Peppita would perform together, while Kureema would watch from the sidelines. She refused to admit she was jealous.
The other was an alchemist, wearing a ten-prong deer rack on her head. It looked pretty silly, as everyone concurred, but she liked it a lot ever since she'd bought it for only fifteen zeny at a local merchant shoppe. She herself was incredibly rich, and took every opportunity to show it, using an unnaturally powerful Mammonite attack when she fought. Her name was Clair, but she preferred the title "Clair the Malignant."
Both bowed in greeting to Peppita, who stood, curtsied back, using the heavy pink cloth attached to her waist as a skirt. Kureema just rolled her eyes and brushed a lock of black hair out of her eyes. She glanced over to her side at the corners of the fountain's circular path, spotting the couple that was usually there: the assassins Emiko and Maikeru. They never did anything more than kiss in public, as they knew better; however, two nameless whitesmiths didn't know better, and were constantly groping each other to Hel on their bench to Kureema's right. She preferred not to look over there anyway. It was usually overcrowded with wealthy merchants, and Kureema hated the wealthy.
A few children ran across the street. They were all dressed in civilian wear, rather than the novice garbs that many preteens had chosen. These were the people that Kureema had sworn to protect when she had joined the Archer Guild of Payon. And yet, when she became a dancer of Comodo, her ideals were forcefully changed. Kureema became an entertainer, not a heroine. And whether she liked it or not, it was her fate.
Peppita didn't really care. When she became a dancer she was happy, hoping to earn money this way. Peppita had always looked up to Clair after all, and Clair was wealthy. Kureema hated the wealthy. Perhaps that was why she was so reluctant to choose the path of the dancer. She could have easily made a sufficient hunter.
And hunters got pet falcons. That was a plus.
As Peppita finished her conversations with Strawberry Surprise and Clair, Kureema turned back to her companion and forced a smile. She then looked over to Clair and her smile faded. She couldn't even make herself smirk for the wealthy. Kureema hated the wealthy. And that's what set her and Peppita apart.
Yet, after she had adopted the girl as her own sister, she had made herself to put up with their differences. Peppita's mother had been raped and killed in front of her own eyes. After that, she had nowhere else to run, except into the arms of Kureema, sitting outside the burning building. Kureema had been an orphan and had always envied Peppita, watching her and her mother every day as they took their walks down the dirt roads of Payon, followed by friendly children, chickens, dogs. It was a happy town.
They both matured and became archers as all the other able bodied teenagers did in their town. It was almost comical to see the two together: Kureema, the tall girl with pale skin, long black hair, and an icy gaze; and Peppita, the small girl with tanned skin and white hair in pigtails behind her neck, always smiling brightly. They were yin and yang, X and Y. And yet, they were together, as yin and yang were a circle and X and Y were a square. Two peas in a pod? Hah, no. That was far too cliché.
As they grew up in poverty, Peppita began to envy the wealthy and look up to those who had zeny jingling in their pockets. Kureema hated the wealthy. And that's what set her and Peppita apart. Yet, after she had adopted the girl as her own sister…
Peppita shook Kureema's shoulder to rouse the girl from her reverie. Kureema had to blink a few times to clear her thoughts. "Are you alright, Kuree? You've been staring off into space for quite some time now!" Peppita's usual childish voice.
Kureema shook her head and massaged her temples with two fingers, looked over to Peppita and shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine. Where's SS and CtM?" It took Peppita a while to understand the acronyms, but when she did she giggled and nodded in realization.
"Oh, they left. Probably on another daring adventure! You know the way those two are."
"Never sit still. And neither do we."
"Deviant, devious, deviant, devious! Luta luta lutaaaa!"
"Shut up, Peppita!"
"CHUUUUUU CHUUUUUU ROKETTOOOOO—"
"SHUT IT!"
Kureema had immediately regretted taking Peppita to the bar when she started chanting nonsense. The younger dancer was barely old enough to drink in the first place, but it was the best thing Kureema could think of doing for her companion after putting her through a living Hel back at Glast Heim.
"FASHOOOOO FASHOOOOO look Kureeee! Look at me!"
Peppita was on top of the bar table, dancing around like a lunatic. She writhed and gyrated like a fish out of water, prancing across the tall table all the while. The bar hostess looked very flustered as she attempted to calm Peppita, but it was no use. The dancer continued to move about, nearly kicking the hostess in the face.
Two priests in the corner were looking on in wonder. They both looked sober and appeared to be just in the bar to talk, as they were occupied with nothing else. One had striking green hair and wore a violet robe with a white jacket, the symbol of a High Priest; the other, a woman, bore sleek, light violet hair, and her dress was nearly black.
"What is she doing up there..? Trying to make a statement?" The woman looked a bit concerned, putting a finger to her lip thoughtfully. The male simply shrugged and looked at the table as his finger trailed circular patterns on the wood. A loud screech interrupted him, however, and his nail drove sharply into the table as Peppita shrieked.
"YAAAAAAAAH!"
Kureema looked on in horror as Peppita grabbed two shot glasses and tossed them about, juggling them from hand to hand, behind her back and under her leg. Eventually she dropped one by accident and looked pensive. Her dance was put to a halt and she slumped down, looking at Kureema with a dumb grin and a flushed face. "Badabadaaa," she slurred incoherently, "dab abbaba dabba daaab…"
And then, Peppita passed out into Kureema's arms.