Even though their "signature colors" were blue and purple respectively, Storm and Iris felt as if they most often saw one another in green.
"You can't catch me!" Iris singsonged as she weaved expertly through the branches of the trees of Camp Heath's training forest. As the sunlight streamed in through the leaves, the entire training forest seemed to be bathed in a gentle green glow, and Iris was no exception. Nor was Storm.
"Are you really going to say that to me?" the taller, older woman challenged in amusement before she swiftly went sprinting after Iris. Even though she was larger, and therefore heavier, than Iris, she was still very nimble and agile.
"Oh, crap!" Iris was quick to pick up her own pace, running as fast as she dared across the branches as Storm began to gain on her.
"Run, run, run, tiny mouse! The cat is about to catch you!" Storm laughed as she continued to close in on Iris.
"No fair!" the tiny girl panted. "Your legs are way long!"
"No, you're just slow!" Storm teased back, not even breaking a sweat as she continued to sprint through the leaves with ease, never missing a step and never breaking a single sweat.
"Maybe I shouldn't have been stupid enough to challenge you, of all soldiers, to a competition like this!" Iris grunted, but Storm heard her.
"Ya think?" she snickered, then she simply reached out and tapped Iris' shoulder. "Got ya!"
Later that day, the two were sent out on patrol.
"I can't even see!" the smaller soldier griped as they trekked through very tall (and very green) grass. Storm laughed loudly as she realized that Iris was right. Storm could see over the grass just fine, but Iris had to stand on her tiptoes just to catch a glimpse of the surrounding area.
"Maybe next time, Captain will send a taller soldier with me!" Storm teased as Iris continued to crash and stumble through the foliage.
"Grrrr," came the reply as, once again, Iris seemed to sink straight into the ground. Only green could be seen from Storm's viewpoint.
Then the green got greener as a small platoon of Bellifers became distant on the horizon.
"Iris! Back up!" Storm hissed. The aliens were still very far away, but Storm didn't want Iris accidentally rushing right into them.
"What? What is it? What's wrong?" Iris hissed back, but when she looked up again to see Storm unsheathing her sword, the answer became all too clear to her and she was quick to do likewise. After that, Iris and Storm became much quieter as they prepared to ambush their invading enemies...
That was when the green got greener still. The little group of invaders consisted of six smaller Bellifers, but neither Storm nor Iris was foolish enough to think that the battle would be easy. Size did not seem to matter to the Bellifers because even the tiniest among them could pack a punch, as these six were able to prove. Storm and Iris were more than able to handle themselves, but that was only because they had the good sense not to get overconfident during the fight.
These six Bellifers looked sort of like mutant rats. They were each about the size of a small dog and infinitely more ferocious and angry, but what really made them stand out was their trademark red eyes and green bodies. All Bellifers looked this way. No matter what Denbarian animal or creature they tried to mimic, they always came out an ugly bright green with glowing red eyes. These six were no exception, but that did make the battle a bit harder, as it was occurring in the middle of a dense thicket of foliage.
"Sweet, merciful Denbar!" Iris griped as she swung her sword wildly through the grass and leaves and plants. Her blade finally connected with something and, thankfully, it was one of the Bellifer Rats. It uttered a grating and horrific shriek of pain but Iris showed it no mercy, striking it again and again and again until it was finally dead, cut cleanly in two. One could never be too careful when killing a Bellifer. And a few feet away, Storm was in the same boat, snarling almost as savagely as the Bellifer rats as she swung her sword with almost reckless abandon, powerful and terrifying as she scourged her enemies to the bone and beyond.
By the end of things, their entire world seemed green. They were stained with grass and Bellifer blood and remains.
"You look like something out of a cheesy old monster flick," Iris snickered as she caught sight of Storm, panting hard as her eyes darted around wildly in case there were other Bellifers nearby. She was coated in a layer of green goo, Bellifer blood.
"Shut up," came her irritated and embarrassed reply as she finally looked down at herself to realize that Iris wasn't wrong. She was quick to wipe her sticky blade off on some of the larger leaves in their surroundings, trying to scrape most of the Bellifer blood off before it dried and hardened.
"Gross," Iris laughed as the blood came off in gooey strings, though she was doing the same thing with her own blade a few feet away.
But even though their swords were easily cleaned, they, themselves, could not say the same.
"This is disgusting!" Storm hissed as she and Iris walked back into camp, still coated in green goo. Some of their friends saw them and laughed, playfully teasing them about "looking a little bit green" and other lame, uninspired puns about being green.
"I'm going to need at least 50 showers," Iris agreed, looking just as grossed out as the Bellifer blood started to dry on her clothing and skin. Bellifer blood was actually pretty easy to wash off, regaining its gooiness as soon as it got wet, though it was still never a pleasant experience to wash off...
The next day, Storm and Iris were out in the fields again, literally, once again bathed in green. This time, though, it was only the natural green of the forest surrounding them. This patrol passed easily, no danger this time, and when they returned, they were untouched and untarnished.
"Mostly," Iris was the one to correct Storm's assessment of themselves as they returned to their shared cabin on the far side of Camp Heath. "Some of the goo from yesterday didn't quite wash out!" she was looking down at her side which, as she had said, still had a large green stain on it.
"Oh, boo hoo," Storm nudged her playfully as she set her sword down.
"But I liked this shirt!" Iris whined, looking at the large green stain ruefully in the mirror of the little cabin.
"It still works, doesn't it?" Storm reminded the tiny brunette with a scoff.
"But it looks stupid and ugly!" Iris frowned, but she actually did not mean this. Iris was a bit upset that her new shirt had suffered such a beating so quickly, but she actually thought the stain looked cool. She was only pretending to complain so that she could make this joke:
"I don't think I want to wear this anymore!" then without hesitation, she took the shirt off.
"Oh, you sly dog," Storm grunted as she finally realized what Iris was really doing, but it was too late to stop her now...
"And I think these pants have a stain too," the little brunette smirked playfully up at the taller, older woman. Then, as Iris discarded the last of her green, Storm suddenly began to look very, very red.
AN: I know I said I'd only give one day per ship, but that excludes my ships from my original work because I get to call the shots on that.