Hey there! I'm back with the next little installment of this story. I had originally planned it to be a two chapter little ficlet but it got a bit outta hand so I decided to make it a three chapter ficlet. Aside from that I have nothing to say so you can get started.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Vesperia or the characters. If I did Karol's default outfit would be the girly outfit with the small pipe attachment (I'm sorry it's amusing).
Happy Reading!
Chapter Two: The Challenge
Yuri woke up the next morning feeling better, much better. He was able to sit up without almost passing so he figured that his fever was probably gone. He looked around his room and saw Estellise sleeping in a chair in front of his bed.
"Please tell me that she didn't stay up all night to watch me." He thought as he stood up and carefully moved Estellise to his bed, "Sleep well, Estelle," He said softly, "I'm gonna go make breakfast."
Yuri quietly left the room and found that there was a nice thick layer on snow on the ground. He entered the tavern below "Oi!" He called to no one in particular, "I'm using the kitchen!"
"Yuri is that you?"
"No," Yuri said defensively.
"It is Yuri," Ted called to his mother.
"I thought so," The woman said as she walked out of the kitchen, "How are you feeling? Should you be out of bed so soon? Is your fever down? How's your cough? Where's the charming young girl?"
"Geez what the hell is this?" Yuri asked, "I didn't think I was gonna be interrogated." He sighed, "I'm feeling much better today. Don't worry my fever's completely down but the cough is still there. Estelle is in my room sleeping. And," he took a breath, "How did you know I was sick?"
"Miss. Estelle told us," Ted said, "Then Flynn told us to keep an eye on you."
Yuri sighed again, "I don't know what I'm gonna do with those two," He said as he walked towards the kitchen, "In case you forgot, I'm using the kitchen." He placed a couple hundred gald on the counter, "Payment for whatever I cook so you don't nag me to death about using your food."
"Alright," the woman said, "Just don't set any fires."
"I'm not Flynn," Yuri said, "I know how to cook without burning the place down or poisoning everyone who eats what I cook."
"If you say so," The woman said as she looked at the small pile of gald on the counter, "Yuri! This is too much. I can't take all of this."
"No, it's not, and yes you can!" Yuri called, "It's payment for all the other times I used the kitchen without paying…or asking for that matter. I'm not taking it back and if I find it in my room in a week I won't be happy."
Estellise was rather confused when she found herself lying on a bed when she woke up. She sat up and found that she was lying on Yuri's bed and Yuri was nowhere to be found.
"Ah, you're finally awake."
"Yuri," Estellise said as she turned around and found that Yuri was sitting at the small table in his room eating scrambled eggs, "How are you feeling today?"
"Completely better," Yuri said as he coughed a bit, "Well, minus the cough. Do you want breakfast? I already made it."
"Yes please," Estellise said as she walked over to the table, "I'm glad you're feeling better." She placed her hand on Yuri's forehead, "Yeah, you're not warm at all today. When did you make breakfast?"
"A little while ago," Yuri said as he finished his breakfast, "I wonder if the others are still here. I told Karol the next time it snowed we'd play in it."
"Are you sure you should be doing that Yuri?" Estellise asked, "You just got over a fever. If you strain yourself too much today, it'll come back."
"I'm fine Estelle," Yuri said with a sigh, "I'll take it easy." He glanced out the window and smirked, "Well, well, well what do we have here?"
"Yuri," Estellise asked as Yuri opened the window, "What are you doing? Yuri!" She cried as he jumped out the window. "What in the world do you think you're doing!"
"You'll see," Yuri called from the street below, "Just keep your eyes on the center square!"
Estellise sighed but smiled, "At least he's feeling better." She thought as she continued wait to see what kind of mischief Yuri was up to this time.
Flynn walked towards the lower quarter for the second time in as many days. He was rather worried about his best friend. It had been a while since Flynn had seen Yuri that sick and he just wanted to make sure that he was alright. He was just about to enter the center of the Lower Quarter when he was hit in the face with something wet and very cold.
"What the hell?" He exclaimed as he cleared the snow from his face. He then got hit two more times. He looked in the direction to which he was being assaulted from and he saw Yuri perched on one of the lower roofs with his trademark smirk on his face and a fourth snowball in his hand.
"Gotcha commandant," Yuri called as he threw the snowball at Flynn's face.
"Yuri," Flynn called. There was no need to ask Yuri if he was feeling better, Flynn already knew what the answer was, "What was that for?"
"Well," Yuri said as he jumped down, "The first two were for you. One was for Apple-head and the last one to your face was for your oh so charming Lieutenant. Tell them I said hi."
"They have names you know," Flynn said.
"Oh I know," Yuri said, "But I prefer my little pet names."
"You could always just stop by the castle and say hi to them in person," Flynn said, "Instead of throwing things at me then telling me to "spread the love." I swear, sometimes I don't know what I'm going to do with you."
"Well," Yuri said, "I would stop by and throw things at them directly but…that mad little scientist scares me. And Sodia might try to kill me…again."
"Could we not talk about that time please?" Flynn said.
"Aw, does it still make you wake up in the middle of the night drenched in a cold sweat?" Yuri asked.
"N-No…" Flynn stuttered, "I just don't want to be reminded that's all."
"Liar," Yuri said, "It still, to this day nearly a year later, bothers you. But we're not gonna discuss it 'cuz commandant over here might start crying."
"But Yuri…"
"I said we weren't gonna discus it," Yuri said.
"Flynn!" Estellise called from Yuri's window, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Flynn called. He turned to Yuri, "I'm gonna guess and say that you're feeling better."
"Nah," Yuri said, "I'm still sick."
"Then what are you doing out of bed?" Flynn asked missing the heavy sarcasm in Yuri's voice, "You're going to make it worse!"
"Man, you're bad at reading sarcasm," Yuri said, "I'm feeling a lot better today. Hey you want something to eat? I made a bit too much breakfast and Repede won't eat eggs."
"You're always cooking for me Yuri," Flynn said, "One of these days I'm going to return the favor."
"Remind me to be either out of town or sick with a stomach bug that day," Yuri said.
"Yuri," Flynn said, "My cooking's not that bad."
"Right," Yuri said, "The last time you cooked for me I was sick for three days after."
"I've gotten a lot better at it since then," Flynn said, "Sodia said so."
"And if I recall correctly," Yuri said, "She had to take a few days off afterwards."
"One of her family members was ill," Flynn said, "She was going back home to take care of them."
"No," Yuri said, "Sodia was the one who was ill. Judith was the one who escorted her to hometown so you wouldn't feel bad for making her sick. Trust me, I was there." Yuri said, "She cried nearly the entire way there too. First for not being able to tolerate your cooking, then she started sobbing about trying to kill me."
"Now who's talking about it?" Flynn asked.
"Aw shut up," Yuri said, "Just face it Flynn there is no human alive who can stomach your cooking. Even Repede knows better than to eat something you cooked. I would give up before you kill someone."
"That's mean Yuri," Estellise said as Yuri and Flynn entered the small room, "You're not hurt are you Flynn? Yuri surprised me when he suddenly jumped out the window."
"No," Flynn said, "He just caught me off guard that's all." He turned to Yuri, "What is it with you and windows?"
"I dunno," Yuri said as he put a plate of eggs in front of Flynn, "There you go."
"Yuri," Flynn sighed, "You didn't have to do this. You should still be resting, you had a fever yesterday."
"I don't see why I should rest today when I was sick yesterday," Yuri said, "I mean besides the coughing, I feel pretty good today."
"That's not the point Yuri," Flynn said, "The fever could come back if you don't take it easy today."
"Last time I checked, commandant," Yuri said, "You didn't fit any of the requirements needed to be my mother. Seeing that you're only a few months older than me and you're male."
"Yuri, stop calling me commandant," Flynn said, "It's annoying."
"No," Yuri said, "You're annoying me with all the worrying. I'm. Fine."
"If you insist," Flynn said, "Oh by the way, Rita might sleep all day. She was up with Witcher all night discussing alternatives to blastia."
"Ooh, do we have another pair of lovebirds in Zaphias?" Raven asked as he climbed up through the window, "Yuri, your door is locked, Karol's pickin' the lock as we speak."
Yuri sighed he got up and unlocked the door, "And what would you have done if I was still sick?" He asked.
"Well," Raven said, "We witnessed your little ambush on the commandant earlier so we figured you must be feelin' better."
"ARGH Dammit!" Karol cried from the other side of the door, "Why didn't it unlock? Maybe I did it wrong…" Yuri sighed and once again unlocked the door causing Karol to lock it once again, "What the hell Yuri!"
"Why do you assume it's me?" Yuri asked as Karol started to pick the lock again and Yuri walked over the window and stuck the key between the belt he wore around his waist and his jacket. "See," he said as Karol entered the room, "I was all the way over here and I don't even know where the key is anyway. Maybe you're getting rusty at picking locks."
"Yeah maybe," Karol said, "I haven't picked a lock in a long time.
"Hey Karol check this out," Raven said as he pulled the key from where Yuri had hid it, "Yuri had the key the entire time."
"Yuri you suck!" Karol shrieked, "You were unlocking the door so I would end up locking it again!"
"Yeah," Yuri said, "You got me. Go ahead, have the commandant arrest me."
"Yuri!" Flynn exclaimed.
"You guys never change," Estellise said as she laughed.
"Yuri," Karol said, "Are we still gonna play in the snow today?"
"If you want to," Yuri said.
"Yuri, you should rest," Flynn said.
"And you should stop worrying, Com-man-dant," Yuri said.
"I hate it when you call me that Yuri," Flynn complained for the umpteenth time that day.
"Well, I hate it when you worry about me," Yuri said, "Has there ever been a time when I did something I knew I couldn't handle?"
"That time at Zaude," Flynn said.
"Aside from Zaude," Yuri said, "I would have been able to handle that one just fine if it wasn't for a certain someone."
"Alright then," Flynn said, "What about that time just before you left the knights?"
Yuri thought for a bit, "Yeah I guess you're right," He said, "I was a mess after that."
"What happened?" Estellise asked.
"Apparently he hid a fever from the rest of us for a few days," Flynn said, "Then collapsed without warning after we confronted the man who killed our commander using a new type of blastia that was supposed to control aer."
"Oh yeah I remember that." Raven said, "I also remember that Yuri started a bar fight with all of the members of the guild in that area." He paused, "I was the one who gave your commander the information about what the little creep Garista Roudo was doin' in the ruins."
"You were involved in that old man?" Yuri asked.
"Yup," Raven said, "I later came to find out that that bastard Alexei himself had funded that little failure. It was his very first step in the quest to control the aer problem but definitely not his first time experimentin' with blastia."
"It finally makes sense now," Flynn said, "No wonder Alexei didn't want us to investigate…"
"Man that place was crazy," Yuri said, "And to think, it was really that bastard Alexei's fault."
"Yuri," Karol asked, "How come you don't like talking about your time in the knights?"
"I want to know that too," Estellise said.
Yuri sighed, "It wasn't a very enjoyable time for me," he said, "And it wasn't just because I had to follow the rules either. Although I did meet Repede there."
"Commander Fedrock left Yuri in charge of Repede after…"
"Dammit Flynn," Yuri said, "I can tell the story." He sighed, "I was forced to kill Repede's father, Lambert. He had been taken over by aer and…he was going to kill Hisca if I didn't do anything."
"Ooh," Raven said, "Who's this Hisca person?"
"She was one of our supervisors," Yuri said.
"We're sorry," Estellise said softly, "We didn't know you had to go through something like that…"
"Repede's father was one of our squad members," Yuri said, "He was one of three dogs, not counting Repede of course, he was just a puppy, but I had to take their lives…I made myself sick over that."
"And we got into a fist fight over that," Flynn said.
"You started it," Yuri said, "You threw the first punch."
"You instigated me," Flynn said.
"Over something stupid," Yuri said.
"It wasn't something stupid," Flynn said as he stood.
"Oh are you going to start another fight?" Yuri asked.
"Maybe I am!" Flynn shouted.
"My, my, you boys are certainly energetic this morning."
"Judi," Yuri said as the Krytian stood in the doorway.
"I'm glad you're feeling better today Yuri," Judith said.
"Thanks," Yuri said.
"Oh Flynn," Judith said, "Your Lieutenant is looking for you. I believe her name is Sodia."
"Alright," Flynn said, "Thank you. Well I have to get going. Thank you for breakfast Yuri. Someday I'll return the favor."
"There's no need," Yuri called back, "You'll only apologize a million times when you accidently poison me."
"Fine, fine," Flynn said, "I can't argue with you."
"I win again Flynn!" Yuri called out the window.
"Don't fall," Flynn called, "I won't catch you this time."
"I swear," Yuri said as he shut the window, "I don't know what I'm gonna do with him. He's gonna be the death me one of these days, him or that charming little lieutenant of his."
"Well, you can't say you didn't have it comin' to you," Raven said, "You do seem to tick them off all the time."
"That's true," Yuri said, "Sometimes I don't understand why he hangs around me."
"Well," Judith said, "There must be something he sees in you."
"I guess you're right," Yuri said, "'Cuz I'm sure if he didn't I would be in prison for the rest of my life."
"You're so negative kid," Raven said.
"Hey," Yuri said, "It's the truth. I mean, I may have protected Estelle, saved Ioder, I'm sure I saved Flynn's ass a few times as well as all of humanity. But I still acted as a vigilante, I killed Ragou and Cumore."
"They don't count," Raven said, "They deserved it. Alexei deserved his death as much as Ragou and Cumore did. You can't really be blamed for the death of the Don because he asked for help and Belius was probably goin' a kill us if we didn't kill her first."
"Murder is still a crime though," Yuri said.
"If the system wasn't so screwed up durin' that time then Ragou and Cumore as well as Alexei woulda been put to death anyway," Raven said, "You might be able to win an argument with your little buddy over there but you're not gonna win an argument with me."
"Whatever," Yuri said.
"So Yuri when can we go play in the snow?" Karol asked.
"In a little bit," Yuri said, "There are things I have to do first. Things that I was supposed to do yesterday but couldn't."
"Like what?"
"Well," Yuri said, "I'm running low on food. I was supposed to go food shopping yesterday but I was confined to my bed instead."
"I take it you still need a lift?" Judith said.
"Yeah that would be nice," Yuri said.
"Alright," Judith said, "Just let me know when you want to leave."
"Should we go find Rita first?" Estellise asked.
"If Rita's asleep, I do not want to wake her up," Yuri said, "She is way too short tempered when she isn't being woken up. I've fallen victim to that fireball thing she does when she's surprised too many times for comfort."
"Well, you do like ta sneak up on her a lot," Raven said, "So what should we do about the young mage?"
"If we leave without her she'll accuse us of leaving her behind," Judith said, "I think we should go get her. Sodia told me that Rita stayed at the castle last night."
"Okay," Yuri said, "But I'm gonna go off on my own for a bit while you do that."
"Okay," Judith said, "Meet us at the gate in about fifteen minutes."
Sodia was organizing some of the papers that were sitting on her desk when something cold hit her on the back of the head and trickled down her back causing her to jump up in surprise.
"What the…you!"
"Yo!"
"What was that for?" Sodia exclaimed as she cleared the snow from the back of her neck.
"Payback for what you did to me at Zaude," Yuri said, "That make us even."
"Even?" Sodia asked, "I stabbed you and you just threw a snowball at me and you're calling it even?"
"Yup," Yuri said, "That sounds about right. Plus, you probably had to lie to Flynn. And knowing your personality, you probably made yourself sick over it so yeah, we're about even."
"How did you get in here in the first place?" Sodia asked as she relaxed her grip on her sword.
"The window," Yuri said nonchalantly.
"You do realize that this room is on the third floor right?" Sodia asked.
"Yeah," Yuri said, "But I'm used to it. I used to climb up to Flynn's old room all the time."
"Are you crazy?" Sodia exclaimed, "That was on the sixth floor!"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you can call me crazy," Yuri said.
"What if you fell?" Sodia asked.
"Oh no, Flynn's mother hen mannerisms must be wearing off on you," Yuri groaned, "But I survived a fall from the top of Zaude so six stories is nothing."
Sodia sighed, "What are you doing here anyway," She said, "I thought you tried to avoid me."
"Well," Yuri said, "Flynn suggested that I stop by and say hi so I did."
"Sometimes I just don't understand how the two of you are friends," Sodia said.
"Hey you're little picture perfect commandant wasn't always on the straight and narrow he's on now," Yuri said, "Back in the day, he raised some hell."
"I find that hard to believe," She said.
"Believe it," Yuri said as Sodia put her head down on the desk, "Hey what's up? Is Flynn not letting you get any sleep?"
"There's been so much to do lately now that all the blastia are gone," Sodia said, "And it's all your fault Yuri Lowell."
"Now that's the Sodia I know," Yuri said.
"Yuri, what are you doing here?" Flynn asked as he opened the door.
"Whoops wrong room," Yuri said as he walked to the window.
"You wouldn't make that mistake Yuri," Flynn said.
"Eh you caught me," Yuri said, "I was just taking the advice you gave me this morning. You know the whole, "you could always just stop by the castle and say hi to them in person," thing. I even threw a snowball at her like I did to you this morning. Well I have to get going I have to go food shopping so I'm not accused of using all the tavern's food. See ya." Yuri then walked over to the window and left the way he came.
"Captain is there anything we can do about that man?" Sodia asked.
"I've been trying to do something about him for a long time," Flynn said, "But there's nothing that can be done."
"Is it true that you used to cause trouble in the Lower Quarter?"
Flynn blushed a bit, "Yuri told you about my past didn't he?"
"Not really," She said, "He just said that you raised hell back when you were a kid."
"I wouldn't say that I was a trouble maker…"
"I beg to differ Commandant Flynn Scifo!" Yuri yelled from below, "You were just as bad as I was! You're forgetting the time you pushed me into the river back when we were seven! Or that time you nearly poisoned everyone with your "cookies!" Or that time you-!"
"YURI LOWELL!"
"Hey Leblanc what's up?" Yuri said, "Gotta go Flynn! We can chat about the past later!"
Flynn sighed as Leblanc tried to reprimand Yuri for "disturbing the peace and just being a nuisance." "Sodia," He said, "Those reports can wait until later, we're gonna challenge Brave Vesperia to a snowball fight."
"C-Captain!"
"Hey we owe Yuri a snowball to the face don't we?"
"Hey Yuri," Karol said as they left Aurion, "When we get back to Zaphias, can we play in the snow?"
"I was gonna make lunch first," Yuri said, "We won't be able to play for very long with empty stomachs now would we?"
"I guess you're right," Karol said, "And I am kinda hungry. Flynn "treated" us to breakfast this morning."
"Please tell me you didn't eat any of it," Yuri said as he turned towards the new town, "I should stock up on poison bottles while I'm here. That kind of poison takes a while to show its symptoms."
"We didn't eat any of it," Karol said, "Sodia saved us. She accidently tripped Flynn causing him to drop the tray. He made pancakes and while they looked harmless, thanks to your stories, we knew better. In the end Sodia cooked for us."
"Is he ever gonna learn?" Yuri said, "Seriously, he's gonna kill someone. Well come on, the sooner we get to Zaphias the sooner we can play in the snow."
"Alright!" Karol exclaimed as he hurried to catch up with Yuri.
"He really shouldn't be pushing himself so hard," Estellise said, "He's going to make himself sick again."
"Eh, let him do what he wants," Rita said, "If he gets sick again then it'll be his own damn fault for being an idiot."
"Rita, that's mean," Estellise said.
"Hey, it's the only way someone as thick-headed as Yuri is ever going to learn," Rita responded, "People like him only learn one way, the hard and painful way."
"Ristelle, are you coming?" Yuri called from the Fiertia.
"Ugh…I'm gonna make you wish you were never born Yuri Lowell!" Rita bellowed. She had recently learned what combining two names meant and while she liked Estellise as a friend, she didn't have those kinds of feelings for the older girl. Besides, Estellise had feelings for Yuri and Rita…well she had feelings for someone else.
She started to chant the full power mana-based fireball spell that Witcher had helped her with the night before, "You're gonna pay Yuri! Fireball!" She then sent four fireballs at Yuri.
"What the hell!" Yuri exclaimed as he was taken by surprise then thrown into the opposite side of the ship, "Argh…!"
"Yes!" Rita cried, "It works!"
"Yuri!" Estellise cried as she ran over to the dark-haired man, "Hold still I'll heal you."
"You don't have to," Yuri said as he rubbed the back of his head, "I'm alright."
"You hit your head pretty hard," Estellise said as she started to activate her power, "Let me heal you."
Yuri sighed. It was obvious that Estellise was not going to listen to him, "Fine…" he muttered in defeat.
"So Yuri," Raven said, "What are ya gonna cook up for lunch?"
"Well," Yuri said, "I could cook up some of those love-filled croquettes everyone seems to like so much."
"Don't you dare!" Rita yelled as she prepared several more fireballs to fling at Yuri.
"Alright, alright," Yuri said as he coughed a bit, "I'll make something else. Unless you want to cook, Rita."
"I'll pass thank you," Rita said, "You always complain about my cooking."
"Oh," Estellise said, "How about soup?"
"That's all I ate yesterday," Yuri said, "I'll make some udon alright?"
"Sounds good kid," Raven said.
When the group entered Zaphias through the gate in the Lower Quarter they were met by a Knight.
"You're Yuri Lowell and Brave Vesperia I presume," He said.
"Yes," Yuri said wondering why the Knight was addressing them in that manner, "What is it?"
"I was told to give you this," He said as he handed the dark-haired man a note.
Yuri took the note and gasped, "You have got to be kiddin' me," He said, "Is this for real?"
"It was given to me directly by Commandant Flynn himself," The knight said, "So there is no mistake. Let me know when you have an answer."
"Thanks I guess," Yuri said as he read the note another time to make sure he wasn't misreading it.
"What's wrong?" Karol asked, "Is there another warrant out for your arrest?"
"Ooh," Raven said, "How high is the bounty on your head this time?"
"What does the note say?" Estellise asked.
Yuri sighed, "To all members of Brave Vesperia," He read aloud, "Members of the Schwann and Flynn brigades have found one of your members guilty of being a nuisance and hereby sentence Mister Yuri Lowell to ten days in prison…"
"Alright kid what did ya do this time?" Raven asked.
"All I did was throw a few snowballs at Flynn, one at Sodia then I threw a few at Leblanc after he caught me yelling at Flynn and Sodia from the courtyard," Yuri exclaimed, "I didn't steal anything, I didn't abduct a princess, kill anyone or trespass. Why the hell am I getting arrested?"
"Some people don't like it when you climb in through their windows," Raven said, "It's kinda unexpected ya know…"
"You're one to talk old man," Yuri said, "Who was it who climbed into my window this morning?"
"There's more written here," Estellise said as she took the note from Yuri, "The Flynn and Schwann brigades are willing to drop the mentioned charges if Mister Lowell along with the other members of Brave Vesperia participate in a snowball fight in the area south of the capital at two this afternoon. Signed Commandant of the Imperial Knights, Flynn Scifo. P.S. Should Brave Vesperia decline I, myself, will be providing meals for Yuri Lowell as well as the rest of Brave Vesperia for the entire duration of the sentence."
"This whole thing makes no sense!" Yuri exclaimed, "Flynn told me like ten times to take it easy today and yet he's challenging me to a snowball fight?"
"It's either that or you can rot in jail for ten days while havin' to put up with the commandant's cookin'," Raven said, "And I won' break you outta jail this time."
"Well," Yuri said, "This is a guild matter after all. Captain Karol," He looked at the boy, "What should we do?"
"I say we do it," Karol said, "I don't want you to go to jail for something so minor and I definitely don't wanna have to eat Flynn's cooking for ten days."
"Alright," Yuri said as he walked up to the knight, "Tell the commandant that Brave Vesperia accepts his little challenge."
"I'll do that," The knight said, "Have a good day."
"Come on," Yuri said, "We'll go to my place and plan our strategy of attack."
The group headed to the inn not realizing that Raven had not followed them.
So Yuri's feeling better, that's good right? I mean he's already causing trouble for everyone else. What's gonna happen during the little snowball fight between Brave Vesperia and the Flynn and Schwann Brigades? Who's gonna win? And what is Raven up to?
Ex-Shark-V-005
