Sisterhood pt.3
Ravess was extremely angry, angrier than she usually was. And it had most of the Talons cowering, especially the little cadets who couldn't scuttle fast enough out of the way when she glowered down the hallways. It even had most of the veteran Captains giving her a wide berth. Apparently word had gotten around about the arrow accident with her archery instructor.
The only ones that seemed to be immune to her malicious mood was Dark Ace, and Master Cyclonis. Oh, and the little brat that was accustomed to tagging behind the Dark Ace – leading to much below-the-belt comments on his sexual preferences on her part. She didn't do it too often, more than one vicious fistfight had erupted over the matter, and she hated being hospitalized.
But she hated one thing more than hospitals – the Dark Ace. The man was infuriating. She had gone weeks without a stiff drink. There was no point, any satisfaction was sucked out of it – she was always dragged out forcibly before she got even decently drunk by her hated rival. Hell, half the time she wasn't even served in bars anymore, nor could she pay someone else to buy her liquor for her. Every damn Talon was too chicken of the man who called himself the Dark Ace. Big whoop. They all needed to get a backbone. The man called himself the Dark Ace, what kind of pussy name was that? Certainly not a name to strike fear in people's hearts, like it sure seemed to be doing.
That bastard was just too damn smug and arrogant. Oh, what she would give to knock him off his high horse. She'd go to the point of physical violence (even murder) if it was necessary. Anything, as long as she could finally get to back to drowning herself in cheap alcohol in a filthy dive. Without her crutch she was in constant emotional pain. If someone was to thrust a Striker crystal right through her heart, that would hurt less than the feeling of having her heart being shred away piece by piece with every sharp and cutting memory of Celeste.
It was amazing she was still sane, but her sanity was always in question, so maybe it was not such a surprise.
And she was damn sure that Ace was enjoying every suffering minute she spent in her dry hell.
At first she had swore, kicked, bit, and fought dirty with him; she had stopped that behaviour has soon as she realized that he was enjoying her public humiliation far too much. So she started getting sly, actually trying to be a role model Talon, all the while contemplating vengeance. She had several plans that worked quite well. One of her favourites was pushing a rusty nail through the heel of one of Ace's boots, and then causing an alarm to go off. In his rush the almighty Dark Ace jabbed the nail a good inch into the bottom of his foot. It turned out the man could really scream like a girl given the right incentive.
The memory made her smile deviously, making the scant few in the mess hall skitter nervously around her table, as if they feared her wrath, and so they should. She wasn't above harming bystanders in her cruel and possibly fatal strikes at the Dark Ace. Everyone knew the animosity between the Dark Ace and her had increased tenfold, most assuming it was jealousy over his new promotion and title, and no one wanted to get caught in the crossfire when they finally clashed – they were both infamous for their vicious tempers.
What made it really terrific, though, was the fact that fellow Talons knew, knew, that she was gunning to take the Dark Ace down, despite the possible military and political repercussions of harming one of Cyclonis's pets. Even the Ace knew, but did he have proof? Of course not, she was too good for that. Celeste had always told her she had the skills for detailed planning and executing perfection, but Ravess doubt her old mentor had meant those skills to be aimed against Ace.
"What the hell are mumbling about, Ravess? Your mashed potatoes look at you the wrong way? Hey you going to eat that?"
Instinctively Ravess composed her face into a neutral expression, panicking it might be a superior officer, until her brother dropped himself in the seat opposite her. Fixing him and icy glare, she pushed her plate away to Snipe with disgust. How her brother could stomach the repugnant dinner the Cyclonian army fed to it's Talons was beyond her: the food was little more the pig slop, with tasteless vitamins added in attempt for healthiness.
"What's got you all twisted up? You've been mad for weeks," Snipe asked between mouthfuls, spitting out food faster than he could shovel in. Disgusting, was her lone thought.
Sighing, Ravess replied in her condensing tone reserved especially for her dull witted brother, only he could be so thick, "I'm not mad, as I told you before, I don't get mad ..."
"You get even," Snipe finished for her. "So who's the unlucky bastard who pissed you off this week, or is it still Brine?"
She gave Snipe a long look, "Not Brine, the Dark Ace. The arrogant son of a bitch changed it, remember? And what makes you think I have any issues with our old friend?"
"The fact that you're sober, and have been for awhile. Wait, friend? I thought you hated him?"
It took a great deal of control not to roll her eyes, only her brother could be so thick. "That has nothing to do with it, and I don't hate him, I loathe him. There's an important difference."
"Uh-huh. I never really got what always got you so angry. Or maybe I do. You were Celeste's favourite, and then along comes lil' Brine and Celeste's got herself a new pet. That was years ago, and Celeste's been dead for a year. How 'bout letting go?"
Ravess's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Let go?!" Oh, how she wanted to scream at her brother, and beat him down for his idiocy. Only he would suggest such foolishness.
Snipe continued seriously, but the effect was ruined by the constant act of shoveling food into his mouth. "Yeah, let go. Celeste wasn't that terrific anyways, sure she was a good Talon, but, to me, she always seemed to be a bit spoiled. You know what I mean?"
Sudden fury filled Ravess; her fist slapped down on the table, making the cutlery and plates rattle. All she saw was red. It took several moments to shake the red from her eyes, but the unvented rage still boiled beneath her skin.
"How dare you! How dare you!" Ravess whispered fiercely, "Don't you have a single shred gratefulness in that thick-boned body of yours?! Do you have an iota of an idea where we would be if Celeste had never come along? I know, I know exactly. We would still be in that dirty little hovel of a house in that little disease-ridden village in the middle of nowhere on Terra Amazonia – living in poverty and doing disgusting things to get our next meal, with no hope of bettering ourselves. But where are we? We're in Cyclonia, bringing about a new era with Master Cyclonis. Who do we owe for this? Celeste! Without Celeste we would be nothing; nothing!"
Ravess still could feel the shudders of anger and rage shudder through her. She wanted to destroy something, feel something break in her long-fingered hands. Instead, she fled, exiting the mess hall in long strides, and plowing through anyone who got her way whatever rank they held. She wanted to hurt her brother so badly, but she knew from experience that the guilt lasted longer than the justifications.
Ravess stalked down the halls in murderous fury. She had hoped the exercise might abate her rage, but she was still as angry as before. Her brother was such an imbecile. Ravess wanted to know where on earth Snipe had the gall to slander Celeste and rip it out of him with her fingernails. They owed Celeste everything! She had taken the two Amazonian orphans out of poverty and molded them into Talons. That alone ought to deserve respect. But no, her brother wanted to make little of what Celeste had done. They would be nothing, living a shell of an existence. Ravess knew that if Celeste had never wandered into their shameful little hometown that she would have never experienced true joy, or know what it was like to live. Her brother was an unthankful ingrate.
Ravess could feel the rage boiling again with her vicious thoughts. She needed destruction or risk self-destruction.
Opportunity provided itself with a hastily closed door.
Ravess could not help but spread a malicious grin across her features as she sauntered into the unlocked quarters. She knew these rooms fairly well. The sterile white washed walls should belong to a hospital, and the lack of furniture declared itself as the Dark Ace's room.
A lot of damage could be done, on an emotional and possibly political level; Ace hated having his personal space violated, and who knew what naughty little secrets he had stashed away that could hurt his career? It was like Christmas, without the rum.
Ravess dug through the drawers, under the bed, and the closet; it was squeaky clean, not even a damn dust bunny. It was terribly frustrating and did little to balance her mood.
She turned to leave with an irritated sigh when something caught her eye –the corner of a plain little wood box sticking out of behind the headboard. She wanted to smack her forehead for her own idiocy, that was such an obvious place to look!
Without any hesitation the archer snatched the box from its hiding place and was prepared to take a leisurely peruse through the contents when she heard the smart clicking of Talon issued steel-toed boots. Sudden panic made her blood run cold. She had enough black marks on her records (not that she really cared) and if she was caught in a superior's room she might finally face very severe punishment, especially since the Dark Ace was Master Cyclonis's new pet.
She made a dash for the window, and cringed, she had forgotten how high up she was – twenty feet in the air was a long fall. The sounds of footfalls came closer and Ravess felt herself faced with a difficult decision – get caught and wished she was dead, or try to make an escape and actually land up dead. She favoured the second option.
She fiddled with the latches until they were unlocked, the footsteps ever closer, and went to throw the window open. Panic was replaced with horror. The windows were nailed shut! What kind of paranoid idiot nailed a perfectly good window shut?! Horror was soon being replaced by sheer terror. Maybe she could make a dash out the door? Make a run for it? But no, instead her terror stiff hands grappled with the window, fingernails clawing at the wood. Maybe all it needed was a little bit of force ...
"Ravess?! What the hell are you doing!?"
The violinist twisted around in panic but sagged with relief. It was only Snipe. She wasn't going to get caught.
Preening herself and acting as if she didn't see the destruction around her, she replied, "Nothing really, I was just leaving."
Ravess made an attempt to walk past her brother with box in hand, but he quickly barred her path with an outstretched arm.
"Ravess, this is the Dark Ace's rooms! Are you suicidal?! He's going to freak when he sees this! Do know what he'll do to you?!"
"Snipe," Ravess said to her brother in her best consoling voice, "Brine doesn't have the backbone to do anything, he's just a puppet. Besides, what he know won't hurt him. Now come along, it's late."
Snipe made an attempt to argue, "But it's..."
"It's late; let's go." Ravess insisted, almost hissing. She could see her brother struggling in his eyes, until he finally acquiesced and followed her out of the room. Snipe always landed up listening to her, sooner or later. They didn't bother to close the door.
Author's Note:
I kinda feel bad for taking forever to update. I've been on a slight unofficial hiatus, but I'm going to to try and do better, and update more frequently. And this arc with Ravess is taking much longer than expected, and for that I'm sorry, but there'll be only one more chapter from Ravess's point of view (hopefully) and then will move onward to another batch of characters, hopefully MC/Lilith and her big brothers. So you have that to look forward pretty soon, if I ever get my act together. And thanks to each and everyone who's read this and a greater thanks to all those you review. I really don't deserve it with my inability to be punctual with updating.