Chapter 4: A Fickle Variable (Part II)

Billow

Every word. Every. Word.

Screwed. That's what I was. I was so screwed.

Alpin plucked a ring from his finger and tossed it into the air, watching as it transformed into the bladed form that I had recognized in that newspaper.

"So Bubbles, what do you have against me? Did lending my help against that Specialist not earn me any merit?"

I pointed my spear at Alpin, growling, "Aster already gives me enough trouble. I'd rather not deal with your gang of thieves on top of that."

Alpin shrugged at that. "Who said any of us would attack you? That Specialist is too busy chasing you around to care about us, so technically you're an asset, not a threat."

"You're thieves."

"And?" Alpin twirled another ring. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're jumping to conclusions."

"You're criminals." I snarled, feet glued to the ground.

Something about Alpin's smile twisted at that. "You know Bubbles, not all of us are lucky enough to be born into a cushy Atlesian life like you were. The world isn't fair like that."

He walked towards me, still tossing one of his bladed disks up and down.

"Let me ask you a question, Little Atlesian Heiress: If you could die following the rules, or live breaking them, what would it be?"

There was only silence, silence broken by Pine's voice echoing faintly from my scroll.

Before I could so much as protest, Alpin flung the bladed disk at my scroll, which sat open on the ground, Pine's voice still echoing faintly from it. The holographic screen crackled as the disk essentially severed it in two.

Silence lingered as I stared down at my scroll in shock.

Everything that connected me to Atlas, gone just like that.

"So Bubbles, what'll it be?"

Something burned in my chest.

I gripped my spear. "I'll survive." I growled. "But it'll be on my own terms."

Alpin smiled. "We're not so different then."

A second ring barely missed my head as I threw myself to the right, firing water from my spear. The water propelled itself away from me and towards Alpin, forming a tsunami that spanned the entire alleyway.

As the wave crashed to the ground, I stepped back upon realizing that Alpin was still standing, his rings projecting a luminescent blue shield.

"Hard light dust." I scoffed. "Is it stolen?"

Alpin smirked. "Bought it fair and square." Something lodged into the back of my jacket, and my aura cracked as a small bang filled my ear. I stumbled forward only to be met with a ringed fist to my face.

"Same goes for the gravity and fire dust." Alpin said as he watched me struggle to regain my balance.

"Yeah right." I rasped, firing another slew of water dust from my spear.

"This again? Here I was thinking you had more up your sleeve."

What Alpin didn't know was that I was adept at surfing. As the water splashed to the ground, he smiled when he realized I was nowhere in sight.

The water followed me as I propelled myself off the nearby dumpster, landing behind Alpin. "That's a little rude." Alpin was knocked to the ground by another slew of water dust, and his smile grew forced as I stomped on his wrist, and pointed my spear at his other hand.

"Well then, I take it back-"

"What's your group planning?" I snarled. "You have to be stationed in Vale somewhere-"

Alpin laughed. "I can't just tell you that-!"

He spluttered as I kicked his head. "I told you about Atlas. Your turn to fess up."

"That wasn't the deal."

"Screw the deal-" before I could create anymore half baked threats, Alpin kicked away my spear, smirking as it clattered into the shadows of the alleyway. I was forced to step back as a burning ring skated past my face, and all too late did I realize the dust packed inside was of the "explosive" variety. I tumbled sideways into the wall from the blast, knocking a pot of hydrangeas sitting on a window to the ground.

"You know, you struck me as the upright type." Alpin tossed another ring up before flinging it at me, my aura flickered as I hazily tried to recover from the previous blast, only for my aura to shatter entirely as sparks erupted from the ring. "Isn't turning me over to the same people I saved you from a little hypocritical?"

Wincing, I reached for my spear, only to stumble to the side as another ring zipped past, slicing my arm deep enough to draw blood. "I'm not like you. I did nothing wrong-"

"Then why run?"

I froze, and Alpin laughed at my perplexed expression.

"It's obvious. You glance over your shoulder every minute, you're always armed, not to mention you get into fights with that specialist every other week." he shrugged. "But sure, I'll be the hypocrite. Just know you can't run forever." I felt cold sink into my feet as the rings scattered on the ground deployed ice dust, effectively gluing me to the ground. "You're gonna have to get rid of what's hunting you down eventually."

"You're the one walking away." I snarled, trying to free my boots to no avail.

Alpin smirked, waving his hand as the displaced rings zipped back towards their companions. "Nothing wrong with knowing when to pick your battles." he turned the corner into the street, but not before adding, "Oh, I'd thank you for the meal, but your card was declined. Bring some cash next time we meet, you owe me."

As he disappeared, the only thought in my head was that I owed him a kick to the ribs.

Asha

"You seem to be fatigued."

I nearly scoffed at the suggestion, not because it was incorrect, but because I couldn't recall the last time Camphor actually cared about my wellbeing. Of course, three sleepless nights of hunting down hooded figures granted exhaustion easy to see even through the screen of a scroll. I've functioned on less sleep before, but the lack of results from my investigation gave sleep deprivation a new edge. Being met with glares and scoffs in place of actual information was always exhausting.

"I'm perfectly fine."

A stiff silence followed.

When Camphor finally spoke, his voice was a tad softer, or perhaps that was just the scroll's doing. "Asha, I understand that you were raised to be fiercely independent, but it's unreasonable to expect me to help you if you don't tell me what your concern is."

I don't need your help.

"I'm alright, truly." I tapped my finger against the edge of my desk, eyes fixed on the lavender sitting nearby. "I suppose being this close to Cole has simply put me on edge."

"Was the training regime I created not effective?" I stiffened, and perhaps it was for the best that cameras were not on for this particular report. "Surely you relived those memories enough times to be used to your family's behavior?"

The tapping of my finger grew more rapid, and I could muster no response other than silence. Having stared at the lavender for the duration of the call, I realized that it was showing faint signs of wilting.

There was silence from Camphor as well, before he muttered, "Perhaps I could arrange something with Haven's staff-"

"I saw someone wearing my family's emblem." the words left my mouth before I could stop myself. Cold sweat dripped down my back, and the hand placed on the desk went still.

I could practically see the way Camphor's eyes rose from whatever paperwork he was sifting through, the way that he folded his hands and leaned forward, apathy replaced with intrigue. His sudden shifts in attentiveness never ceased to startle me.

His voice was level, and a little sharper, as he prompted, "Elaborate."

"They had stolen some dust. I chased them down, but their semblance enabled them to escape. I plan to post a notice at the huntsmen guilds. I'd rather not involve the military, this is but a trivial matter-"

"I'm well aware." I heard faint sounds of typing. "Hence why you will be handling this on your own."

I folded my hands in my lap, subconsciously tapping my finger against my thigh. "With all due respect, I can't take on missions without-"

"A license, I'm aware." the typing sounds ceased. "I just sent a request to have your student license upgraded. Of course, that wouldn't make you a specialist, but a provisional huntsmen license should suffice for the task at hand."

Something in me turned cold. "Is entrusting a student with such a thing not irresponsible?"

My scroll sounded with a notification, and Camphor chuckled.

"Perhaps. But you're a huntress now."

That was surely meant to be reassuring, but I felt only emptiness and a strange shiver in my spine.

Conifer

"Found you."

My knees went weak, and I was flooded with memories from weeks prior. The air leaving my lungs as I raced through the marketplace, the pain in my hand, the relief when I finally got my stolen bracelet back-

The purple haired woman huffed, "Still don't wanna fight, huh? Here I thought you might've grown a spine-"

"Who are you?!" I shouted, gripping my bow.

She smiled. "Wouldn't you like to know.", and she swung her whip at me before I could further question her.

I stepped to the side, only to trip over the weapon and stumble backwards with barely enough time to dodge another strike.

I stepped further backwards, and the woman chuckled and followed me. "Running away already?"

Beads of sweat formed on my neck as I ducked under the bladed whip, hands digging into the golden sand. I jumped back to my feet and rushed towards the woman, only to be forced to step backwards again when the blades of the whip chipped my aura.

A gust of wind cut through the clearing, kicking up sheets of sand. I winced as I raised an arm to block my eyes from the miniscule rocks.

Rocks…

As the sand settled back down, I found myself checking one of my arrows for the specks of dust that lined the arrowhead. The gold dust matched the color of the sand underfoot.

The woman was struggling to rub sand out of her eyes as I loaded my arrow.

"Hey, Miss?" I called, waiting until the woman met my gaze to fire the arrow.

"What?" she snarled, sidestepping the arrow as it flew past, sinking into the sand.

I stepped back. "I'm not running. Just waiting."

The woman raised a brow, before scoffing. "Still quoting trash? Cadets are supposed to be smart, no wonder you dropped out."

Whispers ran through the crowd at the mention of "cadets", and I shivered when I noticed a few people's expressions turn to glares.

I fired another arrow, which fell short and sunk into the sand at the woman's feet.

She laughed. "Really? How'd you even get into Atlas Academy with aim like that? Wait, let me guess: you pulled more strings than the one on your bow. So who'd you know? Ironwood? Barusai?"

I tensed as I loaded another arrow, and took aim. The woman stood in place, hand on hip as she raised a brow.

"You should know…" I released the arrow, which sank just a foot behind the woman. "I didn't pull strings. I didn't even enter the academy with this weapon."

Perhaps distance was the reason I couldn't read the woman's expression. She just stood there, watching me. Though I couldn't be sure, I thought I heard her mutter, "Mantle?"

I fired another arrow, which hit the woman right in the chest, causing her to stumble back. As she did, she tripped over the arrow behind her, and tumbled to the ground. When she hit the ground, an eruption of reactions took place.

First, the ground dust lining the arrow furthest behind her turned into a wall of rocks, trapping the tail of the whip the sand had buried.

Second, the arrow by her foot sent spikes of ice dust forward, both trapping her foot and causing her aura to crack.

Third, the last arrow, the one she tripped over, erupted with fire dust. The woman's aura shattered in a shower of purple sparks.

From somewhere, a whistle blew, signaling the end of the match.

I approached the woman, who laid stunned on the ground. I extended my hand to help her up.

"I'm Conifer." I smiled. "I don't know why you've been following me, nor why you stole my things, but how about we say we got off on the wrong foot and start over? I don't know a lot of people here, and it'd be nice to make some friends-"

The woman's eyes flicked to the bracelet on my uncovered wrist, before she grabbed my gloved hand and let me pull her to her feet. I offered another smile, only to be yanked towards her by the wrist.

"Cut the act, sweetheart." she growled. "I know who you are. I know what you did. I'll never become friends with someone like you."

"Wait, 'what I did'?"

The woman didn't respond as she released me and limped away. She only muttered something akin to, "Enjoy the sun while you can. You'll be back in Atlas before you know it."

I brushed away the sweat on my neck. "Sure thing…?"

What a strange woman.

After a night of sweating past bullets and blade, I stood at the center of the arena, victorious.

Victory felt lonely in the golden rays of the rising sun.