Hello again, and merry Christmas. This marks the beginning of a set of character development chapters focussed on Vasren. But don't worry, the story will march on towards the point where it eventually becomes interesting. Don't forget to follow if you want to read more, and leave a review, please. Any suggestions WILL be read and considered.
have a pleasant read.
Chapter seven: Secrets and Ice cream.
Nerada brought her sword down in a sweeping horizontal strike, the long coppery blade cutting across the chestplate of her opponent. She pushed her left side forwards to follow up, her shield crashing into the unfortunate boy, who staggered backwards. She punched the back of her shield, unleashing a golden shockwave that sent him soaring across the floor, barely keeping hold of his twinned sickles. She gave him no time to recover, charging forwards with her shield leading. He got to his feet slowly, dazed. She leveled her sword on the run and unleashed a searing arc of flame from the tip, heavily damaging his already low aura.
Goodwitch called the match soon afterwards.
Nerada sheathed Aurum, and slung Aeris across her back, then walked up to join her team in the stands. Vasren nodded a greeting, while Malik glared at the ground, body turned away from Vasren and Electra, shoulders hunched. Electra, for her part, seemed to be asleep, one arm across her face, and legs resting on the backrests of the seats in front of them.
Nerad sat down and pulled off her helmet, shaking her hair out to fall down her back.
"Nicely done, Nera"
Nerada nodded in thanks, still breathing hard.
The buzzer chime bell thing went off to signal the end of class.
Electra woke up quickly, blinking like an owl. After a moment her face set back into its characteristic mask and she stood up and stretched. Nerada had to suppress a laugh. Even while he was sitting down Vasren was taller than her.
Vasren stood up, his height and coat managing to completely obscure Electra.
He walked towards the door, scroll in hand.
"Well, well, well. It's our lunch break next, but after that we haven't got any more lessons today."
Electra grinned, and Nerada couldn't suppress a smile either. Electra suddenly held up one hand, clenched into a fist. She had a triumphant light in her eyes.
"Oh, we are so going to go hit vale this afternoon".
Vasren stiffened slightly, then turned to glance at his team.
"Sure, why not."
Nerada nodded as well.
"Yeah, sounds good. I'll get changed after lunch"
Malik grunted. "Yeah, you guys go have fun with that"
He turned and stalked away, shoulders hunched and fists clenched.
Nerada looked over at Electra. "What the hell's with him?"
Electra shrugged. "Maybe someone stole his catnip?"
Nerada shook her head and walked into the lunch hall, seating herself at one of the tables, and leaning her shield against the bench. Electra slotted in to her right, and Vasren next to Electra.
Vasren rubbed his forehead with one hand, wincing slightly.
Nerada grabbed a sandwich and took a bite, chewing the chicken slowly.
"So, what do you wanna do in vale?"
Vasren bit his bottom lip thoughtfully, grabbing a shiny green apple.
Electra piped up. "Hmmm, I need some more dust for volts and bolts, we could stop by a dust shop."
Nerada nodded. "Yeah, I could use some fire dust for Aurum."
Vasren nodded, taking a large bite from his Apple, the loud crunch setting Nerada's teeth on edge. She pursed her lips, thinking through what she might want to do for the day.
"What else could we do?"
Vasren swallowed his Apple and tapped the table with one gloved finger.
"I know a really good ice cream place we can go to, if anyone's interested."
Electra immediately brightened up. "Oh man, I love ice cream"
Nerada smiled and shook her head ruefully. Of all the things to make Electra suddenly start acting like a real person, of course it was ice cream.
Vasren rolled his head on his neck, one hand moving to probe his spine.
"Wassup Vasren? Your neck hurt?" Electra piped up.
He nodded and put his hand back on the table. Nerada spoke next. "Why don't we go to the library?"
Electra rolled her eyes. "Uh, because it's boring, and stupid"
Vasren smiled. "I think the library would be an excellent place to visit, I haven't read a good book in quite a while."
Electra pouted and folded her arms across her chest. "Fine, I don't care anymore."
Nerada laughed and finished off her sandwich. "Okay, I'll go get changed, meet you at the ferry in half an hour." She stood up and walked off towards their dorm.
Electra smirked. "Yeah, today's gonna be fun."
Vasren grabbed another Apple and pocketed it, walking towards the locker rooms.
"I'll meet you at the ferry, just gotta dump some stuff in my locker."
Electra sighed and ran a hand down her face. These people. Honestly. So picky.
She stood up and brushed crumbs off her skirt, then straightened her jacket. She checked for her weapons, the gauntlets still collapsed on her back, fastened to her studded belt.
She stood up abruptly and bounced towards the doors. Today would be fun.
Vasren punched in his locker combination, the motion almost automatic by this point. The door popped open, his empty locker yawning open in front of him. He unbuckled his chestplate and hung the ceramic at the back of the container. Then he unfastened the armored lining of his coat, and deposited that as well.
He kept his sword though. He didn't feel right without it.
He was dubious about today, the last time he had been to vale had been with his old crew. They had romped around the city, full of youthful optimism and camaraderie. They had always went down to the docks and just ran about, joking and talking, sparring occasionally. After that they always went to the ice cream shop. He would always order the morello cherry flavor. Darius would buy vanilla, Aren, chocolate, Zoey would always buy that strange orange flavor, Raynor would get strawberry. Astrid would always get mint chocolate chip, then she'd get a cookie and stick it in the side, and put chocolate sauce on it.
Dust, he missed them.
He put them out of his mind for now. He had new friends, and he couldn't waste the present because of the past. Astrid would personally come back to haunt him if he did. He smiled and clenched his fist.
"Well Astrid, I made it, just like I promised." He whispered softly.
He deliberated a moment, then stowed his hat in the locker as well. Stupid thing got in the way most times anyway.
Electra leaned against the the lamppost nearest to the landing pad. The wind blew through her hair, ruffling it in a wonderful way. She had always loved the wind, it had carried away all her pain, all her anger. On some days she felt as if she could just close her eyes and float away on the gusts, soaring free through the sky, skimming the clouds.
She shook her head and clawed her hair back into some semblance of order, raking the rebellious strands behind her ears.
She saw Vasren approach first, his height and long coat making him easy to pick out from the crowd. She watched him through half closed eyes, lazily following his advance. He was such an over dramatic bastard, seriously, who wore a coat like that? And he spoke strangely too. He was a puzzle.
She yawned, stretching her arms out to the sides and arching her back.
Vasren arrived, his heavy combat boots clanging on the metal deck of the landing pad. He nodded a greeting. Electra waved a lazy hand back at him. "Yo".
Vasren turned to stand next to her, looking out towards beacon. "Nera here yet?"
"Nah"
Vasren nodded slowly. He nodded a lot. Like, anything you did and his head would start bobbing up and down like one of those things on your dashboard. He cocked it to the side a fair bit too, and his crow feather black hair would always fall to one side of his face, obscuring one eye. The other eye was always visible though, those mesmerizing violet eyes. They seemed to cut right through you.
Vasren turned and looked at her, then -damn him- cocked his head to the side.
She quickly looked back to the academy building.
Nerada was on her way, but Electra had to do a double take to make sure it was her.
She strutted up to them. Annoying bitch.
She stepped next to them and twirled. "So, what do you think?"
She was wearing a pair of dark leggings, the stretchy material clinging to her shapely legs. Over that she wore a deep red skirt, reaching about mid thigh. Above that she wore a tight fitting boat necked top that highlighted the curves of her upper body.
Damn the bitch.
"Didn't recognize you at first".
Nerada laughed, a warm, genuine laugh.
"Well, I can't wear armor all the time now can I?"
Electra scowled. "Come on, let's go already".
Vasren turned slowly and walked to the ferry, coat flapping in the cliff top wind.
Vale was a bustling, vibrant place. The buildings were tall, without having that flat glass look of many other cities. The architecture was softer, more elegant, distinctly lacking the cold harsh edge of atlesian cities, while not suffering from the over the top detail of mistralian ones.
Electra bounced along the path, simply enjoying the atmosphere. Vasren and Nerada walked a step behind her, looking around and taking in the city. She grinned. Today would definitely be fun.
She had always loved going out in the city, just forgetting about her worries and responsibilities and enjoying herself. The other girls at the orphanage had always gone with friends. They were all studying to become accountants, teachers, businesswomen and doctors. Electra was a fighter, she had an aggressive streak a mile wide, and an instinctive understanding of how to fight and win. She had nothing in common with them, so she had gone out on her own.
Now though, she was with other fighters, fellow combatants and huntsmen in training.
The dust shop was dead ahead, a large, well appointed place with three floors and a huge variety of products.
Vasren lead the way in, opening the door gently and sliding in sideways. Electra strutted in next, followed by Nerada's graceful, gliding, infuriating gait.
Vasren glanced around, hands in his pockets. Nerada strolled over to the fire dust section, picking up and replacing various vials and boxes of dust.
Electra quickly located and picked up a pair of canisters of lightning dust. Fine grade. She pushed them into a basket and moved over to Vasren, who was looking intently at a shelf full of dust ammunition.
"What ya looking for?"
Vasren turned and fixed her with his mesmerizing, violet eyed gaze. "I was considering some new rounds for testament, but don't really know what to get."
"Well, you have come to the right girl, Vasren, I'm a dust expert."
Vasren smiled, and turned to her. "Alright, what do you recommend?"
Electra cracked her knuckles for effect. "Well, there are a few different kinds of round here. If you wanna kill something, fire dust is generally the way to go, though some rock dust rounds can fragment pretty well. If you want a nonlethal route, ice dust can easily incapacitate someone, while lightning dust can stun 'em pretty well."
Vasren nodded slowly and picked up a red bullet, the whole cartridge as long as his thumb. "They never have enough bullets in my caliber, it's annoying really."
Electra looked at him incredulously. The bullet was massive.
"What the hell do you mean, that's huge!"
Vasren reached into his inside pocket and showed her a shell.
"The round I picked up is a fifty cal, generally the biggest you'll see. I was brought up to call it a twelve-seven, or twelve point seven millimeter. The gun I use is a fifteen millimeter light cannon. Significantly bigger."
"No kidding".
Vasren smiled. Electra scanned the shelves, eyes flicking over the rows and boxes almost instantly. She reached out and picked up a box of shells, handing it to Vasren.
"Here, these should work, and always get the assorted box first, it helps you decide which rounds suit you best."
He nodded and matched the shell in his hand to the ones in the box. "Thanks, Electra."
"Yeah yeah, whatever, let's go find that ice cream place you were talking about."
He nodded slowly. Fucking nodding. All the damn time. Seriously.
Nerada was waiting for them at the door, a bag across her back, doubtless filled with dust. She gave Electra a knowing look and smile. What the hell? Why was she looking at her like that?
Electra shrugged and walked over to the counter, handing over the lien for her dust, and Vasren's shells.
She spun and walked out the door.
"Alright, now we go for ice cream."
Nerada strolled along with the other two, the weight of the dust she had bought sitting reassuringly in her bag. They were near the docks now, just close enough to smell the salt on the wind over the usual city smells of food and car exhaust.
Vasren lead the way, his stride confident, his coat swishing around his ankles.
Electra was a step behind, her hair bouncing and flicking around in the breeze, blue highlights losing their shape.
They were such a cute couple, and they didn't even know it.
Nerada had grown up in vale, and knew a budding romance when she saw one. Even if neither of them did.
She had seen the way Electra looked at Vasren, it was that same absent, mesmerized, contemplative look she had seen so often. Vasren didn't seem to notice though, and he was totally inscrutable. This would be difficult. She loved a challenge.
Vasren stopped and turned to face left, Electra walking straight into him. Oh yeah, she was falling hard.
Vasren looked down at her, and she quickly extricated herself and dusted down her skirt. Vasren shook his head and walked to the front of the ice cream parlor.
Nerada was not particularly impressed with the exterior. It was painted a deep blue, with golden lettering proclaiming its name and wares. The font was dignified, but stuffy. An old looking, angular affair.
The interior was much nicer. It was a pale blue, with clean white furniture and an organized, logical layout.
The ice cream was set out behind a curved glass screen, each in a circular tub with a small sign stuck haphazardly into it. The range of flavors went from delicious to downright bizarre. Toffee, chocolate and strawberry were next to more unpleasant sounding flavors, like Parmesan, or toast. Some of the others sounded wonderful though, like morello cherry, chocolate cookie, or salted caramel.
Electra immediately bounced over to the glass and peered in, eyes alight with all the different colors and flavors.
Vasren looked around slowly, a strangely sad look in his eyes. But also... nostalgic?
Nerada walked over to stand by Electra, and scanned the flavors intently.
Vasren rang the bell on the counter, then stood back and put his hands in his pockets.
Vasren regretted walking into the shop immediately. It was all achingly familiar. The seats, the counter, the tacky sign. Everything. He could almost smell the strange, almost citrusy scent of Astrid's hair, hear her laughing with his team.
He closed his eyes tightly and rang the bell, summoning the shopkeeper. Let's just get this over with.
"One second, I'll be right there." Came a voice from the back of the shop.
Vasren furrowed his brow. That was a young woman's voice, not the voice of the kindly old man that used to run it. How times have changed.
She emerged precisely nine and a half seconds later, emerging from the back of the shop out of breath.
She was medium height, with jaw length brown hair that reminded him of Electra's, only combed and not black and blue. She wore a maroon jumper and a knee length black skirt with tights. A pair of large glasses were perched on her nose.
"Hello there, how can I help you?"
Electra was still staring at the flavors, biting her lip in indecision. It was kinda cute actually. Very different to how she usually looked.
Nerada walked confidently to the counter and leaned across, her posture easygoing and engaging.
"Oh, I would like to order a scoop of chocolate cookie, and one of toffee in... one of those chocolate cones with sprinkles."
The woman nodded and began to quickly assemble the treat, her hands moving quickly across the counter. Obviously well practiced. Nerada turned to Vasren.
"What would you like?"
Vasren's answer was automatic.
"Three scoops of morello cherry please, in a tub."
Nerada nodded and turned to Electra. "And you? Hey lightning girl, what would you like?"
She turned to Nerada with a pleading look on her face. "Gimme a sec, I haven't decided yet."
Nerada smiled indulgently. "Be quick, we're ordering."
Electra seemed to deliberate a little more. Then answered.
"I would like the mint with chocolate chips, in a chocolate cone."
Vasren's heart damn near stopped. Déjà vu.
For Dust's sakes Corvus, get ahold of yourself, she's dead, they're all dead and gone.
Coming here was definitely a mistake.
The woman rapidly assembled the order and presented it to them in the counter.
Vasren withdrew the money from his pocket and handed it to Nera, who attempted to push it back.
"No, please. My treat."
She sighed and handed the lien to the shop assistant. Electra immediately grabbed her ice cream with child like abandon. Her slim, tapered fingers wrapping around the cone eagerly. Nerada smiled at this. Vasren regarded her from his peripheral vision. It was so strange to see his fierce, almost vicious teammate so relaxed. So... happy.
He picked up his own confection, the ice cream a deep, luxurious purple with seams of frozen cherry juice running through it like veins.
Admittedly, he had wanted to have this again for a very long time. Nerada thanked the shop assistant and lead them outside, the cool, salty air brushing gently by them. Vasren took a mouthful of his ice cream, the slightly sharp flavor of the cherry cutting through the smooth, rich taste of well made ice cream.
He closed his eyes as the wonderful stuff melted across his pallet. Simply delicious.
Nerada had thoroughly enjoyed the ice cream, but was still extremely confused as to what was happening with Vasren. She could usually read people very well, a natural talent of hers. But this cryptic warrior was defying all her best efforts. She was definitely interested in him, though not romantically, he was far too quiet for her.
But, back on topic she had noticed him acting really strangely in the shop, he had constantly had a weird look on his face. Pained, regretful. Anguished. Something was going on with him, and she was determined to find out what. She hated unknown quantities, they were accidents waiting to happen, conflicts ready to unfold.
She was promptly distracted by her reverie when Electra let out an almost catlike purr. She had melted chocolate on her fingers, and traces of mint green ice cream on her upper lip. They were sitting on a bench by the docks, looking out across the water. The sun was setting now, casting liquid gold across the surface of the water. Vasren had finished his ice cream only a minute ago, and was looking out across the water, pensive.
Electra was cleaning her fingers and lip of the last of her confection, and seemed alive with energy.
"Alright guys, what now?"
Nerada glanced a her scroll. "It's getting late, I think we should probably go back."
Electra snorted. "Nah, I know a great place we should go. Follow me."
Nerada and Vasren exchanged a glance. Nerada spoke first. "Meh, what the hell, let's go."
Nerada would quickly regret that decision.
Nerada pressed her hand to her forehead, groaning in exasperation. Of course. It was just like Electra to bring them all to a club.
Just. Fucking. Typical.
Vasren, if anything, was looking even worse for wear. He leaned against the wall, head angled downwards, eyes screwed up tight with pain.
Nerada felt a little relieved she wasn't the only one who was miserable.
Electra was having a great time, drinking and dancing with a surprising amount of skill. The table she was at had at least six empty glasses, all hers.
Fucking excellent. Their violent, hotheaded teammate had a drinking problem. Just the icing on the damned cake.
"How much longer do you think she'll be?" Came Vasren's pained voice from beside her.
Nerada sighed and took a sip of her drink, the fiery liquid burning down her throat.
"Who knows? Half an hour? All damn night?"
Vasren's cursed under his breath. Nerada silently echoed his sentiment. She piped up again.
"I guess we can just hope she doesn't do anything-"
A loud scream sounded from the dance floor.
"Stupid..."
Vasren sighed and forged a path over to the commotion. Nerada following in his wake.
Electra was standing over another of the dancers, a young, attractive man perhaps in his twenties. He was twitching uncontrollably and frothing at the mouth, the stink of ozone revealing everything in a heartbeat.
Things went downhill so rapidly, it seemed to have toppled from a cliff.
The mans friends leapt for Electra, landing furious blows on the diminutive girl. She fought back with arcs of lightning, but the alcohol in her blood was making her increasingly woozy. Her blows were slow, poorly aimed and ineffective. She wasn't able to muster the concentration to re activate her semblance quickly. Vasren immediately leapt into the fray, forgoing his sword in favor of brutal, hand to hand combat. Nerada was barely a step behind.
Vasren easily leveled his first opponent with one blow, his fist smashing him from his feet to crash into his companions. The confusion this caused wasn't wasted.
Nerada stood in awe.
It was like watching a fox in a henhouse. He easily ripped through the melee, making almost embarrassingly short work of the tipsy young men, powerful punches tossing them aside like broken puppets. Nerada shook herself out of her reverie and ran over to Electra. The girl was seriously drunk, every breath reeking of alcohol. Damn fool. Nerada tried to grab hold of her, but yanked her hands back immediately. She was charged up, electricity blooming across her skin. Another drunk rushed Nerada from behind, trying to catch her off guard. She whipped around and gathered her aura to her fists, golden light wrapping around them. The drunk was on top of her now, swinging a ponderous, slow strike towards her head. Nerada powered forwards, slamming her hands into his chest, the pent up energy around her fists exploding outwards. The shockwave picked him up and threw him bodily into the remainder of the melee.
Vasren had finished up, and was surrounded by unconscious, groaning men. He brushed down his coat and hurried over to Electra, who was groggily attempting to get to her feet, electricity sparking in her hair and at her fingertips. Slurred babble was spewing from her mouth, and her aura was all but gone.
Vasren took one look at her, then cocked his arm, landing a precise blow to her temple. Her eyes rolled up in her head and she slumped backwards, her semblance dissipating. He ran a hand across his face in exasperation, then picked Electra up, one arm under her knees, the other across her shoulders.
He nodded towards the door, and the two quickly made their way out, fully taking advantage of the confusion on the dance floor.
Nerada walked a step behind Vasren, who still had Electra hugged to his chest, though it appeared her unconsciousness had given way to actual sleep.
The day had been going so well...
Nerada sighed. It had taught her a lot about her team though. Electra was a raging drunk as well as a poorly disciplined hothead. Vasren was still a cryptic bastard, although without doubt one of the finest, and most brutal fighters she had ever witnessed in combat. Maybe she was being unfair. She was feeling more than a lot out of sorts at the moment.
They stepped outside, the cool night air whistling past them, tugging at Vasren's long coat, causing it to flap about behind him like a pair of sinister wings. Nerada's hair streaked out behind her in an undulating coppery banner, the wind tugging on it with playful hands.
Vasren turned to walk towards the ferry, still cradling Electra in his arms.
Electra murmured something in her sleep and shifted slightly. Then she put her arms around Vasren, hugging close to him and nuzzling her head to his chest, breathing softly. Nerada's anger faded at the sight. They really were a cute couple, even if they didn't realize it quite yet. She yawned and scratched behind one ear. When she got back to the dorm, she was going to take the longest, hottest fucking shower in the whole damn world.
