Chapter XVII: Entering the Dissonance:
10 Days Later: February 19th: 6:45 a.m.:
Three.
That's how many were left of the search party Raven sent out. Jeremiah, a female bandit with her red hair tied into a bun, and the male bandit that told Sophia of his encounter with the man named Iulian.
It happened suddenly and without warning. There was no provocation, but that didn't stop nor prevent what happened. This was clearly premediated and orchestrated.
Two of the bandits stood frozen with their weapons in hand, their eyes locked on their attacker. Jeremiah, on the other hand, stared at the assailant intently.
Opposite them was the man who launched this sudden and deliberate attack on them, Iulian Ruminea. There was a brief moment where Iulian turned his head in Jeremiah's direction before looking back over to the other two. He softly smiled at him. A familiar smile.
The blind man was surrounded by the bodies of the other members of the party he had just killed. Most of the bandits were dealt a death blow by his cane, whether it was a stiff strike to the temple or the back of the neck. For the ones who managed to get a shot out, the bullets were simply deflected to one of their comrades or back to the fool who tried. It was just over forty-five seconds before they lay dead, the remaining three looking on at their attacker.
"Wh-who are you?" The red-haired bandit spoke up. "Why are you attacking us?!"
Iulian stands silent for a moment. As if hearing those words were strange to him. As if it wasn't necessarily the words spoken, but rather who was speaking them that slightly vexed him.
"It must feel strange for you to be the one to ask this question for once." The blind man scoffs. "I wonder how many innocents have asked your people the exact same thing before they were mercilessly murdered and slaughtered."
"Just leave us alone!" She barks. "We didn't come for any trouble. W-we're just-"
"Looking for that other group that went missing?" Iulian finishes his sentence for her.
Upon hearing this implication, her expression went from fear to a grim anger.
"What did you say?" She asks as if she were afraid that she'd get the same response. "How did you know about that?"
"You won't find them." Iulian continues calmly.
"You…-!" Her terror sharply transitions into a growing anger as she raises her rifle and puts her finger on the trigger. "You're responsible for them going missing, aren't you?"
"You sound upset."
"You son of a bitch." The other bandit mutters before he, too, trains his weapon. "What the fuck did you do to them?"
Once Iulian heard his voice, his ears perked. As if he recognized him.
"I thought your scared breathing was familiar!" Iulian turns to him. "I couldn't tell if it was you at first. But after hearing your angered voice, I can confirm it. You're the person I let go from Dorado, aren't you?"
"So what if I am?"
"I thought I told you not to get in my way again." Iulian scolds him.
"I should have shot you when I had the chance." He pulls the hammer back on his revolver. "I'm not making that mistake again."
Meanwhile Jeremiah, though quiet throughout this tenure, has his hand on his gun as well. Iulian seems to take notice, but appears unconcerned.
"I suggest resigning yourself if I were you." The thirty-year-old scolds. "After all, there's only one of you left."
"Sorry to be the one to say this, blind man," The red-haired bandit speaks again, almost mockingly. "But there's actually three-"
[Bang!]
Before she could even finish her sentence, a gunshot rang out. And with it, a bullet went through her skull. Her body collapsed to the ground, dead before she even touched the soft grass. However, the gun that was fired was not one from Iulian or the other bandit. But rather, it was from behind.
"What the fuck are you doing?!" The bandit looks behind him.
The possessor of the smoking gun… was Jeremiah.
"Actually…," Jeremiah speaks up as he steps up and turns to face his companion. "He's right. There is only one of you left."
"Je-Jeremiah?" The man wears a face of befuddled betrayal. "What are you doing?"
Jeremiah stays silent, staring at the man with his weapon now pointed at him.
"Jeremiah... answer me right now!" The bandit begins to sound almost panicked. "What the fuck are you-"
[Bang!]
Another shot was fired. This time the bullet found its mark in the bandit's torso. He let out a painful grunt as his frame collided with the cold ground. The bandit retreats to a nearby tree as he crawls his way. He still held his weapon with his free hand as he covers his wound.
"For the record," Iulian says over to the wounded bandit. He was now casually leaning against a tree, as if he were waiting for the altercation to be wrapped up. "You never really had a chance."
The bandit reaches the tree and rests himself on it. He then looks up at his betrayer.
"You bastard!" He groans. "You think turning coat and betraying us- betraying Raven- is going to save your ass? Is that it? You think that bastard's going to spare you because you decided to betray your fucking family? You're still just a murderer in his eyes. Just like the rest of us. And he'll kill you too. All you've done is buy yourself a few extra seconds."
"Really? Is that what you think? Then maybe I should go ask him just to be safe." Jeremiah turns to the blind man. "Hey, Iulian, are you going to kill me, too?"
"I don't plan on it." Iulian casually answers, his arms crossed.
"I think I'll be fine." 'Jeremiah' turns back to the wounded man.
"...How do you know his name…?" The bandit's face was now filled with a dark realization. "How do you know his name? Who are you?!"
His voice turns to anger as he raised his rifle again.
"Who are you, dammit!?"
'Jeremiah' elects to ignore the bandit's question. And in response, the bandit fires a defiant bullet at him. And in a blinking instant, 'Jeremiah's' body is engulfed in a blue light around his body, almost like a forcefield. However, this was not aura. And the shield was gone in an instant once the bullet collides with the barrier and falls to the soil. The bandit, seeing this, resigns himself to his fate.
"Fine, don't tell me." The wounded bandit says bitterly with a strained chuckle. His teeth were now stained red from the blood that was dripping down his chin. "You better pray that Raven never finds out about this. But I know she will. I promise you that. And when she does, she will have your head. So how about we just get it over with and kill me already, you-"
[Bang!]
Without hesitation, 'Jeremiah' pulls the trigger of the weapon. The bullet enters the man's skull, hitting the tree behind as it exited. His body slid down the bark of the tree, landing in a slump before falling to the side. He looks down on the corpse of the bandit before re-holstering his weapon.
"You took your damn time…" 'Jeremiah' turns his head to face Iulian, who was still leaning against the tree.
"Sorry, Cameron." Iulian speaks up. "I got lost on the way." He nonchalantly jokes.
"Don't joke with me, Iulian." The man now revealed to be Cameron annoyedly says. "You were originally supposed to meet with me… eighteen months ago."
"I was busy." He excuses.
"Busy?" Cameron scoffs before stepping up to Iulian. "What on Remnant could have required your undivided attention for a whole year and half?"
"Azrael betrayed us." Iulian delivers the news calmly.
"...I'm sorry…?" Cameron quickly reels himself back. He couldn't believe what he had heard.
"Azrael betrayed us. He deserted." Iulian clarifies.
Cameron's eyes dart off in reflection. He lightly scratches the left side of his face with his right hand, his fingers brushing the bristles of his beard. Cameron had a hard time believing it. If there were to ever be someone who left, Azrael was close to the bottom of the list of those who would likely do it.
"I'll make sure to get a 'head's up' first next time one of our most important members decides to bail on us and leave without a trace, throwing a monkey wrench into things." Iulian snaps back, still irritated by Cameron's previous demeanor.
"I didn't know about this…" Cameron admits, ignoring Iulian's remark.
"So, I've been spending this entire time training his replacement." Iulian adds as he leans back against a tree.
"And who is his replacement?" Cameron inquires.
"A twenty-two-year-old I took in from Mistral during a mission. It was in June, a couple months before I was initially supposed to meet up with you that year-"
"Wait…" Cameron interrupts as he holds his hand out. "Are you telling me that Azrael's replacement… is a rookie with at least twenty months of experience..?"
"...Yes…"
"Iulian…!" Cameron pinches the bridge of his nose. He takes a few paces as this information settles. "And Belle was just okay with this?"
"She said she trusted my judgement."
"Oh my gods…" The disgruntled Cameron frustratedly groans. "Belle would trust you to draw a picture of a damn rainbow!"
"Look, the choices were to either find a completely new replacement in a way that would require shifting positions and ranks, or I train the new girl I brought in myself so you wouldn't have to wait as long." Iulian defends his stance. "Besides, she's a quick study and has determination and grit. She's not going to be the next Azrael, but she fills her own shoes pretty well."
"Point is, this should not have been your decision to make." Cameron says bluntly. "I don't agree with this."
"Yeah, I sort of gathered that by now."
"I really don't agree with this." Cameron emphasizes.
"Then it's a good thing it isn't your team then. At least I won't be dealing with an endless vacancy on my team due to pickiness." Iulian gives a thinly veiled criticism toward the fact Cameron has two vacancies in his team.
"I'm not picky. I'm just not the person to fill a hole in my team for the sake of it. I wait until the time is right and when the right person makes themself known."
"Well you have all the time in the world, Cameron." The blind man advises. "They're not just going to fall into your lap. Take what you can get and make the most out of what you have. Make something out of it. At least try to adapt. You're not in Atlas anymore. And this isn't the Ace Ops anymore either. Not everything is going to be how you're used to it."
Cameron, without a response ready, gives a sigh.
"I really wish I knew about this earlier…" Cameron remarks in reference to Azrael's departure replacement with a bit of a conceding tone.
"That's probably because you muted and blocked me the whole time you were in Raven's tribe."
"That was a precautionary measure." Cameron defends his action. "Links and communications had to be at an absolute minimum."
Iulian furrows his brow as if he did not buy Cameron's explanation.
"Besides," He continues. "I made sure to share the information I compiled with my team."
"Yeah, I know. Because when I asked Wrebecca for any updates, she told me that she was under specific orders 'not to reveal any new, unrevealed information compiled on Raven with anyone outside her team for the duration of your operation, unless specifically instructed otherwise or in the event of your untimely death.' At least she responds." Iulian gestures at Cameron before dropping his arms to his sides. "Did you do this, too, when you led the Ace Ops?"
"I was trying to ensure no one sniffed me out or traced me back to you or anyone else if I ever did get sniffed out. You know how difficult it was to track Raven down? Very. And seeing as I'm here, how about we get to business?"
"Yes, please." Iulian says, almost impatiently, so they can both move on from the bickering. "Give me a rundown."
"To start," Cameron begins as he pulls out a scroll. Since Iulian can't see, Cameron is mostly doing this for himself to make sure what he covers is accurate to what he's compiled. "...let's just say Raven is not going to be an easy fight. I've spied on her training sessions from time to time. And if I had to compare, she's about on a similar level to either of us in terms of skill. Maybe slightly higher than you. I can tell when someone is holding back and by how much. So that's something to consider for scale. In terms of power, she's about what you'd expect. Pro-huntsman/huntress level strength and just a powerhouse army on her own. Also, an incredibly intelligent and sound fighter. I'm confident in either of our respective abilities to match her. But she's not going to go down easily by any means."
"Are you trying to scare me off?" Iulian casually jokes.
"I'm just simply informing you of what to expect, should it be you." Cameron smirks in response to the joke as Iulian gives a light chuckle. "Speaking of which, another thing to note. She has three individuals of note with her."
"And who are they?" Iulian presses. "Anyone I should be cautious about?"
"Not cautious necessarily. But at least don't disregard them. Anyway, the first is a young girl named Vernal. Short-haired brunette. Almost 18 years of age. She's a tough one, about the same level as a huntsman academy freshman in strength and skill. A bit bull-headed though. I wouldn't consider her a problem. But at least keep her noted. There's another girl as well that seems to be on the same level as the first in terms of rank or importance in the camp; however, Raven clearly prioritizes the second girl more. Her name is Mari Varep. She's got long purple hair and is a bit younger than the first girl by about a year. She seems practically harmless. And, if I'm being honest, she seems like a genuine, good kid. Not much of a fighter either; at least in spirit, I assume. I don't really know what someone like her is doing there. But she's clearly someone of importance to Raven.
"And then there's a third one. A young boy named Simin Megistus. He's about 10 now, turning 11. He's only been around roughly a year and a half. Seventeen months to be more exact."
The moment Cameron says that last statement, Iulian seems to drift a bit. As if he's lost in thought.
"He's tough as nails," Cameron continues, unaware of Iulian's wandering attention. "..and has a lotta fight in his heart. He's… very tough and skilled, at least for someone his age. When he was brought in, he was covered in wounds. I thought he was going to die, but he recovered quickly, implying he's about had his aura almost unlocked by that time. Which means he's clearly had experience before meeting Raven. When he started training, the brunette girl was easily ahead of him in skill. But the kid has slimmed that gap by a lot since Raven took him in and started training him.
"So with that being said-..."
Cameron abruptly stops once he notices Iulian's slightly disengaged body language. He snaps his fingers in Iulian's ear.
"Hey! Are you even listening?"
"S-sorry…" Iulian snaps back into it. "I was thinking about something."
"Take this seriously, Iulian." Cameron says with irritation.
"I am."
"Then act like it." Cameron barks like a drill sergeant to Iulian's annoyance, who responds with a restrained sigh.
"Locating Raven Branwen was hard enough as it is." Cameron continues. "Infiltrating the camp and staying under cover for as long as I did was all so we could figure her out. Don't let this information go to waste, Iulian."
"Well, are you ready to tell me the rest?" Iulian barbs.
"Are you ready to continue listening?" Cameron shoots back.
"I am..." Iulian reluctantly concedes, not wanting to derail their meeting.
"So… Raven's biggest strengths are her ferocity, combined with her intelligence. It is just as much a battle between bodies as it is with minds with her. And sneaking up on her is almost an impossibility. But like I said, I'm confident in either of us being able to take her down. Her biggest weakness I've noticed is that she tends to isolate herself a lot. So you can at least count on it being one-on-one against her. However, her preparedness and adaptability make her very formidable. She's almost like a Mimic grimm in that regard. Best thing to do is give her something she wouldn't expect and beat her faster than she can adapt to it. You cannot give her time to breathe or think. When you get on her, you stay on her and don't let up. With that being said, I think that's about it. I've also sent you coordinates of her location among other things that might be of use."
"I'll make sure to deliver this info to Belle then." Iulian tells Cameron.
"So... " Cameron puts his scroll away. "Have we found a candidate to take her on yet?"
"Not yet...," Iulian hesitates before finishing his answer. "...but we've at least narrowed it down."
"So, who's out of the question?" Cameron asks. A slight feeling of anxiety of what he might be told perches on his shoulders.
"It's actually you, Cameron." Iulian delivers the news with a blunt force. Like ripping off a bandage.
Once Cameron heard that, he bit his tongue, not wanting to appear too affected by the news. He desperately wanted to say something, but he holds himself back as he clears his throat. Once he quickly puts the feeling aside, Cameron breathes a heavy exhalation as his eyes drop. The former Ace Ops leader had been hoping he would be the one to be selected. Raven had been a target of his during his short tenure as a lone wolf. And he hoped his time spying on Raven would lock him in as a top contender.
"Would you care to tell me why I've been passed over...?" Cameron asks with slight agitation. He pulls out a cigar from his pocket. He presses the end against his fingertip and the cigar begins to light. Cameron then sticks it into his mouth and take a puff.
"If it's any consolation, I tried to vouch for you-"
"Just… answer the question." Cameron requests irritably. He bites the cigar slightly, smoke emanating through his teeth and out from his parted lips.
Iulian pauses slightly before giving him what he wants.
"You're needed for a mission in Mistral. You know that mission I conducted in Mistral a while back? It was sort of a 'prodding' operation. We have a hypothesis regarding the Mistral Black Market. So, I was tasked to go in and attack one of the main gangs occupying one of the sections down there and see what would happen. It didn't take long for the gang I attacked to bounce back and recuperate. And they were very… organized in how they did it."
"What are you implying?" Cameron asks.
"We believe that the Mistral Black Market is operating throughout the slums and they have propped up gangs as a cover for them and to operate through. Almost like a puppet show. We've outlined and drawn borders for what we believe the slums have been divided into. This is based off the observed differing activity in the slums and by the patterns of differing gangs in correlation to this." Iulian hands a map to Cameron.
"I trust that the lines are accurate." He says as Cameron silently takes it in hand. "Now how this relates to your task, you need to prove this hypothesis to be right. There is a gang war going on in one of these sections. It's between a gang that has occupied the area for quite some time versus a rising rival gang that has grown in power. We've been monitoring the conflict. At the start, the first gang was doing very well. But after a certain point, the tide had drastically changed in the favor of the newer gang. Almost as if gang number one had been supported and propped up and suddenly were left to dry. Our theory is that the Mistral Black Market was a supporter of the first gang. But after seeing the performance of the newer gang, they've either become hands-off with it and are observing to see who wins and see who they should support and prop up. Or they've secretly shifted their support to the newer gang. You're tasked with going into Mistral and quashing the newer gang's momentum so that we can observe the fallout and see if our theories and hypothesis have any merit to them.
"When you're done with that mission, you're to head up to Atlas."
"Alright." Cameron nods his head, signifying he understands his mission. "And what am I needed in Atlas for?"
"I wasn't told much on that one…" Iulian admits. "The most Belle told me is that you would know when you got there. The rest of your team is up there right now, waiting to get you up to speed. I'm also to meet with you up there at some point."
"It seems I have quite the schedule ahead of me..." Cameron sounds tired. Cameron takes the cigar out of his mouth and blows a cloud of smoke into the air.
"I really did try to vouch for you."
"I'm sure you did." Cameron says bitterly. Though he does believe Iulian. "Just… don't fuck this up. That is, if it ends up being you."
"No guarantees, it will be me." Iulian admits. "But, I'll make sure the right one- or ones- are picked."
"You better." Cameron says. However, it wasn't in a threatening way, but more in an urgent tone.
The man then tosses his cigar to the ground and stamps it out. He then turns and begins walking in the opposite direction.
"Where are you going?" Iulian calls.
"Where do you think?" Cameron turns his head, not stopping. "I'm going to Mistral. Now go deliver that intel to Belle. Don't let it go to waste."
"Will do, 'captain'..." Iulian mutters to himself.
As he watched Cameron disappear into the foliage, Iulian would eventually turn and walk in his own direction. He, too, would soon disappear. The only evidence of their presence there was the bodies of bandits they had left in their wake.
. . .
Later that day: 12:30 p.m.: Simin's perspective:
[KLANG!]
The sound of our weapons clash as we continue to engage in our heated sparring session. Raven hasn't been seen all day. So, because of that, we didn't have any training sessions today. But I didn't like the idea of not training today. I blame Raven for ingraining that in me. Though it's not entirely her fault since my dad put that habit in me to begin with. But under Raven, I just learned to like it. So what I did was that I challenged Vernal to a sparring match.
She thought I was joking at first and laughed it off. But I let her know I was serious. I wouldn't leave her alone until she finally agreed. She expected it to be a quick match since she's still much stronger than me. But since I've trained with Raven, I've closed our gap in skill enough that it compensates for me to at least hold my own. At this point in our match, we've sort of lost track of the time. So, I no longer know how long we've been going at it.
After my weapons had clashed with Vernal, we both end up losing one of our weapons before knocking each other back.
"Well... this is a development." Vernal confidently chuckles as we take this moment to catch our breath.
"I hope you don't think this will be any easier." I huff slightly. "I fight harder like this."
"Please do, then." Vernal eggs. "Burn yourself out."
I initiate the next exchange by charging toward my opponent. Vernal doesn't hesitate to follow suit. Right before Vernal and I reach each other, I decide to try and bait her. With my sai sitting in my left hand, I sneakily draw my mother's knife with my right hand. I then make a stabbing motion with the knife to Vernal's head. I made sure to make my move barely telegraphed and surprise her just enough that she will move where I want her.
Vernal weaves to the outside to my right. She tries to land a slash at my head with her left. Anticipating it, I duck and then immediately spin with the momentum of my strike. In the process, I use my back hand to hook her wrist with the sai. Suddenly, I had control of Vernal's wrist and had her hunched in a vulnerable position. With my knife still in hand, I bring it up with intent to bring it down on Vernal in the shoulder.
Before I could follow through though, Vernal uses her only free hand and drives her fist into my gut. It briefly stuns me and she takes the moment to sweep my leg.
As I land on my rear, I try to quickly recover. But the moment I even try to bounce back up, I'm greeted by the sight of the toe of a boot heading right for my face. Before I ended up getting struck between the eyes by Vernal's boot, I lean back at the last second, her kick just whiffing my face.
Before Vernal could place her foot down, I hook her leg and trip her. She ends up falling on her back right over me. Realizing the position she was in, she quickly rolled back with the momentum of her fall to get herself back up. But as she did so, I already brought myself up to my feet. And the moment she was about to bring herself up, I throw a kick straight to her face. She barely gets her hand up in time to block it. But the blow still partially connects.
Vernal was visibly stunned by the shot. It even knocked her off balance as she tried to regain her bearings.
Right when I try to capitalize and move in, Vernal activates the lasers on her crescent blade. She didn't aim to hit me, but instead she waves her aim in front of me, a line burnt into the ground in front of me. Her aim was to keep me at bay just for a moment to regain her bearings. And it worked as I stop dead in my tracks at the last second so I wouldn't get hit. I then try to immediately charge back in before it was too late.
But unfortunately, Vernal gave herself just the sliver of a window she needed to regroup. Because as I moved in, she moves her weapon upward in a back-swinging motion. I barely move my sai in front of my face. My weapon takes the brunt of the blow and prevents a direct hit to my chin, but I am still staggered back a couple steps. Vernal treats this as her opening and drives her knee into my sternum, knocking me back a bit. I'm able to land on my feet, but the blow leaves a soreness in my chest.
Before Vernal can move in and follow up with a combination, I try to build myself breathing room. To do this, I give a little hop so that I am briefly airborne. I then aim my weapon at Vernal and pull the trigger. She has to slow down a little to block the bullet and I, meanwhile, get sent propelling backward. And luckily for me, I land within arm's length of my other weapon as planned.
I don't even hesitate to reach for my other weapon. Now fully armed again, I make use of my advantage and pull the triggers of both weapons to propel myself forward to rush Vernal. The moment I lunge, my opponent has me scouted. Vernal slides right under me and clips my foot with her weapon. This causes me to fall and tumble forward as my frame scrapes and tumbles to the ground.
Before I can even pick myself up, Vernal races around and knees me in the ribs from the side. I get the wind knocked out of me and I fly into a nearby tree. I fall to the ground, reeling from the lingering impact.
"Come on, Simin!" Vernal says tauntingly as she stops for a moment. "I only have one of my weapons and I'm kicking your ass."
"Sh-shut up!" I yell, slightly winded, as I pick myself up.
"Hey, you literally asked for this. You know what I'm like. Don't get upset at me for giving you what you paid for."
"I'm not upset! Just trying to catch my breath..." I tell her.
"Well when you're done 'catching your breath'," She says almost mockingly. "... you're free to come get another ass ki-"
I decide to catch Vernal while she was talking and rush her again, pulling the triggers of my weapons to propel me forward again. Vernal barely reacts to it as she gets into a fighting stance to prepare herself. But my lunge toward her was only a feint. Before I reach her, I abruptly stop. And in the process, I skid to a halt just in front of her and kicking a cloud of dust in her face in the process.
Vernal's immediate response was to leap backward out of the little smoke screen. But I had her move anticipated as I throw one of my weapons just behind as it lodges into the ground. Her heel ends up catching the end of it and she falls backward. I try to copy the move Vernal did to me earlier by running in from the side. I target her open side and try to hit her in the head with my weapon. But the girl notices at the last second and turns to the side as her shoulder blade takes the brunt of the blow.
Vernal doesn't go tumbling like I did when she did it to me. But the blow certainly does rock her. Before I try to make another move on her, Vernal brings her arm back and hurls her weapon at me. Having already retrieved my other weapon, at the same time as this, I make a pounce at her. Her weapon barely goes under me as it connects at the base of a tree. To avoid my attempted shot, Vernal gets low and then brings her knee up and drives it directly into my leg, dodging my attack in the process with her counter.
I end up face planting into the dirt. I try to rebound from my attack and go for another move on Vernal, especially now that she was weaponless. But due to her knee striking my leg, my thigh is filled with a very sore sensation, stunting my mobility. Because of this, my attacks are a bit slower as I keep trying to press her. However, Vernal is able to hold me off, dodging and parrying and blocking my attacks.
As each of my attacks are brushed off by my opponent, my ears pick up something. A loud, slow cracking. Like a tree falling. I look up and I see that the tree that Vernal's weapon struck was about to come down on our heads. I quickly look back at Vernal and she has a sly grin spread across her face. Almost like this was according to plan.
Before I could do much else, Vernal shoves me out of the path of the falling tree. Meanwhile, she, herself, leaps to the opposite way as it falls between us.
"Woah!" I shouted as the lumbering wooden tower crashes and barely missing us.
To prevent Vernal from getting the jump on me or cornering me, I immediately back myself away from the fallen tree. As I do so, I see a small object slice through one of the branches of the tree and head right for me. I get my weapons up just in time to block it. But the vibration of the collision with my weapons stings my hands. The blocked shot knocks me back only a little bit, but I maintain my stance.
As I get a look at the object that ricocheted off my weapons, I could see that it was one of Vernal's weapons. And standing, perched on the fallen tree to catch it was Vernal. And she had both her weapons in hand now.
"You look nervous, Simin." The girl wore a confident grin, bordering onto almost cocky.
I elect not to say anything this time. I stare intently at Vernal, waiting to take advantage of her demeanor.
The moment Vernal tries to drop down from the tree, I throw one of my sai at her ankle. The weapon ends up hooking her ankle and lodging itself into the bark. Vernal's face goes from cocky to panic in less than a second as she faceplants into the dirt. And due to the weapon anchoring her ankle to the tree, she was trapped upside down with her back facing me.
I charge her in her vulnerable position and leap toward her. I leap in the air and position myself to give a dropkick. And as I do so, I pull the trigger to give my attack a boost. My move connects with Vernal right in the small of her back with my boosted momentum to add. She tried to block with her weapons, but she still ate the hit anyway. I try to go for another follow up from the side, but Vernal manages to counter.
She plants her free leg on the ground and drives her elbow into my stomach to stop me. She then hooks her weapon around my shoulder and flings me off to the side. Before she did, though, I got a look at her face. There was a look of rage and embarrassment about her. Accompanied with some dirt scuffed onto her cheek and forehead.
I don't fly too far though due to her position reducing her leverage. And as I try to come back at her, Vernal barely manages to wrestle herself free from her constraints. But in order to do so, she had to slip herself out from her boot. Her boot now hangs shamefully in the hook of my sai anchored against the tree.
I try to keep up the ferocity and continue to press her. I rush the girl again. But Vernal has my move scouted and tries to bring an upward slash to my chest with her right hand. In response, I weave to the outside and she accidentally wedges her weapon into the tree and I quickly move behind her with the sai that had initially trapped her now between us. Rather than pulling my other weapon out from the tree, I use it as a steppingstone and use it to boost myself. And once I get myself up, I punt Vernal in the back of the head before she could turn around. She physically reacts as she staggers forward a little.
I then land in front of her and then stomp on her foot, which very audibly aggravates her. This was done less to hurt her and more to anger her. And it seemed to have worked. When Vernal brings her left hand up to hit me with her weapon, I could feel the breeze from it as I moved out of the way. Vernal then tried to fire her other weapon in her right hand at me, waving it as I was forced to move back behind her again. To try and catch me, she followed through with her motion and tried to strike me in the head with that same hand when I was backed against the tree behind her. But I managed to duck as her other weapon got lodged in the bark.
I swiftly worm my way back in front of her. But unfortunately, she caught up to me. Because once I got in front, I moved right into a near clean shot to my chest with her left. The only thing keeping it from being a clean hit was that I got my arm barely in the way.
The blow knocks me back hard and I fly back into a branch as it bends from my weight. Vernal then dashes in to take advantage. Thinking on my feet, I knew I didn't have enough to immediately counter after what she did to me. So instead, I lean myself back over the branch and hook my sai to it. Once my frame was off the branch, the wooden appendage whips back. And Vernal ends up taking the blow, full swing. More importantly, the part of the branch my sai was placed on connects with her clavicle as the blunt end strikes her stiff.
The blow doesn't really knock her back. But I could tell she felt it as she falls back on her rear. Thinking I have an opening to win, I run along the side of the tree and go for an attack and I launch myself at her like a missile.
Vernal leans back just a little and my attack ends up missing. But once I land, Vernal catches my legs and kips up with me hoisted over her back. Very quickly, the girl then flings my body to the ground full force once she lands on her feet.
As I lay dazed for a second, I feel the force of a foot press down on me. I look up and I see Vernal looking down at me with a smirk across her face. She then points her barrel at me.
"Give up-?"
Defiantly, I bring up my left leg and kick her arm away. I then use my left leg and hold it against the front of her torso. And with my other leg, I sweep her foot that was planted on the ground. I push her back with my left leg and Vernal falls back in the process. I try to go for the same move I hit her with earlier and bounce up to my feet to kick her in the head when she tries to roll through. But I make a mistake as she has it anticipated this time and catches me.
Looking in Vernal's eyes, I could see a stern firmness as she was intent on ending this.
"Know when to quit, kid!" Vernal frustratedly grunts as she flings my frame into the downed tree, the bark cracking a bit on impact. I crash hard, but I stubbornly don't go down.
"Why don't you show me?" I defiantly shout back before rebounding at her.
Vernal moves in as well and we get into a flurry of exchanges. Neither of us could land a hit on the other, each attempted strike we try to land on each other each gets parried, dodged, or blocked. I wasn't kidding when I said fighting with one of my weapons only makes me fight harder. Though it should be noted that Vernal's attacks grow angrier and more easily telegraphed and predicted, which also helps me. At this point, she's just trying to hit just to hit me, but there's no rhyme or reason anymore. Even though I should be the one with the physical disadvantage, it seems I might have gained a psychological advantage that helps make enough of a difference that I can hold my own better. At this point, between Vernal's undisciplined strikes and my growing physical soreness, it's all about who gets tired and slows down first.
Our arms get heavier with each attempted strike. Vernal tried a couple of times to hit me with the lasers of her weapons. But I would have it anticipated each time and move before she could do it. And in the process, she would hit the fallen tree behind us as the bark would get destroyed. And with each time, I would move in for a counter. But because of how sore I was feeling, my shots were too slow to land before they got blocked. Eventually, it appears to me that Vernal is about to slow down. And in response, I readied myself. As Vernal pulls back one of her arms, it looks like she's about to throw a haymaker with her weapon. And I don't hesitate to move in to take my opening. But unfortunately, I was tricked. Because once I moved in, Vernal jabs me with her other weapon in the solar plexus, stumbling me back.
No sooner, Vernal then lands her haymaker she just set me up for as I crash back first against the tree. I hit so hard, I could hear the bark crackling across the base. I see Vernal raise her weapon to hit me with another ranged attack. The best I can do is move out of the way just before she pulls the trigger and her shot misses. With the amount of times she's accidentally landed shots on the tree, this one practically destroys the bark and even cracks the tree a bit. And with it, I notice that it dislodged my other sai I threw earlier that her boot hangs from.
So when I dodge, I make sure to move in the direction my other sai was. But just as I did so, I feel something anchor my wrist in place. Looking, I see that Vernal threw one of her crescent blades at me to trap me where I am. As soon as that happens, she rushes to me and grabs that blade with her hand on the trigger as a threat to fire if I tried to free myself. With her other weapon, she pinned me to the base of the tree with her forearm and the edge of her blade pressed against the side of my neck.
Vernal's expression was that of exhaustion and frustration. Her face was practically glowing in sweat as she tried to catch her breath. I can see in her eyes that she hated that I pushed her this much.
"You're done, Simi-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Vernal stops herself. She felt something cold and blunt being pressed against her under her jaw. It was the barrel of my other weapon. Her face suddenly shifts from exhausted frustration to an annoyed realization. In response, I give her a cheeky grin. She didn't notice that when I dodged to where my other sai was, I managed to nab it before she could pin my other arm. And with the fact she was fighting frustrated, she wasn't paying full attention to notice my other hand was now armed.
"I fucking hate you..." Vernal mutters as she releases me. "It's a draw."
"Wait, what do you mean, it's a draw?" I say, disappointed that we're ending this without a winner.
"It's a draw." She repeats firmly as she puts her weapons away and snatches her boot from the ground to slip it back on. "If the best you could do at that point in the fight was lure me into a trap where you still end up being in a vulnerable position yourself, it's a draw at best for you and at worst for me. Be lucky I'm being generous here."
"But I don't want to end this without a winner." I complain. "I want a rematch tomorrow." I demand from her.
"You just don't know when to quit." Vernal laughs to herself and shakes her head in disbelief. "Kicking your ass all the time is no fun anymore."
"Maybe because I've been making it harder for you lately." I jab.
Vernal is visibly annoyed by my comment. The fact that I've improved to the point I can hold my own in our matches bothers her these days.
"I want a rematch."
"You want a rematch?"
"I want a rematch." I repeat again.
"Fine." Vernal acquiesces. "I'll be happy to kick your ass again tomorrow."
"We'll see about that." I give her a confident smile.
"What's with you, kid?!" Vernal looks almost put off.
"What do you mean?"
"Kids are supposed to enjoy these days off." She explains. "But you seem almost eager to train, even when you don't have to."
"I'm just used to it, I guess." I answer her. "I started really young, so there's almost never been a day I've known where I didn't train. It just feels weird not to. Plus, I want to get better and keep improving so I can be strong enough to protect myself and anything I care about."
Vernal stays silent for a moment. She shakes her head at me almost as if what I said was abnormal.
"You have a lot of heart, Simin, but you haven't grown into it yet." She tells me before she starts walking.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I tilt my head, following her.
"You bite off more than you can chew. Be careful not to wear yourself down." She warns me.
"But today I felt fine though." I defend.
"What I mean is take a break every once in a while. If you get the day off, you take it. Learn to treat yourself. You're not an ironman or a machine. You're still human at the end of the day. When Raven gives you the day off, she does it with the expectation that you are resting. She probably respects and admires that drive to go and train anyway, but she prefers that you rest and recuperate."
"Oh..." My eyes wander to the ground as I make a slight pout.
"But that aside, if it's any consolation," Vernal adds. "... you made me have to dig today." She swallows her pride for a moment.
"Really?" I look back up to her. "Do you think I could have beaten you?"
Vernal hesitates to answer. Her eyes momentarily dart to the side as if she didn't want to say what was on her mind.
"Uhh...," She hesitates. "Let's just say there was a brief period during that match where I thought you might. But only a brief period." Vernal says the second part almost rushed as if she caught herself giving me too much credit and tried to downplay it.
"But still..." She continues. "...you've... you've admittedly gotten stronger."
The last thing I expected to hear from Vernal toward me was a compliment. Considering our normal interactions, this was uncharacteristic.
"I'm waiting." I say expectantly.
"For what?" Vernal asks, confused by reaction.
"For the jab." I clarify.
"No, I'm serious this time. There's no jab. You've seriously gotten stronger." Vernal assures, sounding genuine. "I mean, you can carry yourself alright in combat."
"Oh... well, thank you. I've pretty much been training in combat since I was five years old. I guess I just became a quick learner because of it."
"Yeah, probably."
"So, when did you start?" I ask out of curiosity.
Vernal scratches her head as if she was looking for the right way to put her answer or where to even start.
"I guess technically when I was 12."
"What do you mean 'technically'?" I raise a curious eyebrow.
"Let me explain." Vernal says with a sigh as if she wants to keep it as short as possible. "I was a village street rat for a good bit of my life. To keep it short and simple, I wasn't exactly looked at with much dignity to put it lightly. But despite that, it was the only real place I had where I could remotely survive on my own. Then around early mid-June, when I was 12, Raven and her tribe came and sacked the place. And I was pissed. Like I said, it was the only place where I could remotely survive. And here comes these assholes just barreling through and fucking it all up. It wasn't much, but it was something. So in response, I tried to jump Raven since I figured she was the leader. First chance I got, I armed myself, and I just went at her. I... I was one shot."
Vernal has a hint of embarrassment enter her expression.
"I thought I was done. I saw one of her guards raise up a pistol and was ready to shoot me. But Raven stopped him and just told everyone to keep it moving. Before Raven turned away, she gave me a look. The way she looked at me was as if she were egging me on. Like she was inviting me to try again. So I basically stalked them for the next few days and made a couple more attempts on her life. Each time, I got laid out. But Raven would refuse to let them kill me and have them let me go. And I would just keep coming back and trying again. She basically was trying to test me and see what I was made of. If I would give up or keep coming at her.
"When it got to the point where we were getting close to camp, Raven decided to have them at least tie me up and put me in that cage you were in. Only difference was, I was only in there for maybe an hour or so. When I was ushered out, I was taken to a big tent. Not as big as the one next to Raven's, but bigger than everyone else's. When I was about to leave the tent, I see Raven right behind me to greet me. And you know what she tells me? She says that the tent was mine. Plus, she said she admired my drive and tenacity. My immediate response was to try and sneak a cheap shot on her. And she just immediately blocks and restrains me before tossing me back. She then tells me that I will receive food, be given shelter, and new clothes and all that stuff and that the following morning, she expects me to meet her for training.
"Meanwhile, I'm just confused and dumbfounded. I ask her why she's doing this. And you know what she says? 'You want to kill me, don't you?' That's it. Nothing else. She refused to elaborate and then left! So everytime we trained, I aimed to kill her. I tried to kill her so, so many times. Sometimes it was within campgrounds. And everytime, the same thing would happen. I'd get laid out, and then we'd proceed with the same routine like nothing happened.
"Some of the bandits would take jabs at me for it when I'd hang out with them. 'You gonna get her this time, Vernal?' 'I heard Raven's a little sick today, maybe now's your chance.' 'What's it gonna be today, Vernal? Dirt or sky?' obviously referring to either getting knocked down with my face in the dirt or looking up at the sky."
Vernal gives a light chuckle.
"They're assholes. But they're fun to be around. Even if they do get on my nerves.
"I held onto that grudge against Raven for a while. I didn't get her in the sense that she was basically training me to kill her. Or at least, that's what I thought in my mind. But I didn't question it. I just wanted to kill her for destroying the only place I could survive in. After about a year and a half of this- I'm already 13 by this point- I'm about good enough to the point I was about maybe enough to kill a beowolf. Anyway, after we finished one of our sessions, Raven starts to walk away and tells me to follow her. Initially, I'm thinking that maybe we're about find a place to settle this thing once and for all. So when we stop, you can imagine how confused I was when she hands me a map. She then tells me there is a village nearby that I can travel to. And she gave her word that she wouldn't attack it so long as I was occupying it.
"I was confused and asked her what she was doing. And she was like, 'You're good enough to the point you can get by fine on your own. If anyone pushes you around or tries to take advantage of you, you let them know why that's a bad idea.' And it was at that moment that it sort of clicked what had been going on the past year. She wasn't training me to kill her. She was training me to be stronger and take care of myself better. I don't get Raven sometimes, but there was clearly something in me she liked.
"So at that point, I could head to the village she recommended me. But there was a big problem with that for me. Yeah, if I go to that village, I'll be able to take care of myself better and stand up for myself, but I'd just be back on my own. No one would give a shit about me. I was at least given a damn when I was trying to kill Raven. And for that reason alone, I made the bold choice to stay with Raven. I mean, she trained me to take care of myself and took care of me when I was actively trying to kill her on a daily basis. She even went out of her way to find a place for me to go and make it off limits so long as I was there. That was more than anything that was ever done for me prior to when she showed up. And in that moment, I came to the conclusion I didn't want to be anywhere else. At least they give a damn about me here. Yeah, they're criminals and thieves and killers, but they're all I've got.
"Anyway, I'm getting offtrack. With that being said, when I say I technically started when I was 12, it's because that was when Raven started actually training me. But I wasn't a part of the tribe yet officially and didn't consider her my official mentor until after I chose to stay when I was well into 13."
"So, how do I compare to how you were then?" I ask out of curiosity.
"Well," Vernal pauses slightly. "Like I said, I was about the same level as a single beowolf then. So let that answer your question."
"I've killed three of those. At the same time. On my own!" Excitement audibly enters my voice as I realize what Vernal basically said. "Are you saying I'm stronger now than you were then-?"
"Okay, we're heading back to camp before you get a swelled head." Venal ignores and dismisses my question. She then nudges me to move along with her pace. "Let's pick up our pace, alright?"
I move along with the girl. For a good bit, our walk is mostly silent. But eventually my mind wanders and lands on a question.
"Hey, Vernal?" I speak up.
"What is it?" She gives me a side glance.
"Is there something wrong with Mari?"
"Why do you care?" Vernal says dismissively.
"Because she's my friend?" I say with an obvious tone. "And she's been acting very weird lately. Everytime I try to talk to her, she just brushes me off, but I can tell something is bothering her."
"Well I can probably guess why, but I wouldn't be able to tell you."
"Why? Does it have to do with the stuff she and Raven do?"
"Probably. And don't think about asking me!" She tells me. "I'll just give you the same answer I do every other time."
"Why can't you just tell me?" I protest. "I don't get why it's such a big deal. If you know what's bothering her, I want to know."
"Because it doesn't involve you." Vernal tells me with a firm, stern voice.
"She's my friend, Vernal."
"Well maybe you should stop being friends with her."
"...What...?" I stop in place. It takes a moment before she realizes it before she, too, stops.
Vernal stops once she notices I am no longer moving with her.
"I think you should stay away from Mari." Vernal's voice grows somber, but still blunt. Like she knows something.
"Why?"
"It's not my place to tell you that-"
"Tell me why." I demand.
Vernal hesitates for a second. She looks almost contemplative. Like she wants to tell me. But she knows she can't.
"... Just save yourself the drama, kid." She ultimately dismisses the question.
"What drama?!" I start to get frustrated. "You're just giving me more questions."
"Then stop asking them. Because I can't give you a sufficient answer."
"Raven won't know-"
"My answer is no, Simin! Drop it!" Vernal gives me a look that she will not tell me again. Vernal briefly looks to the side and scratches her head as if she might be quickly reconsidering what she said. "Look, if you wanna know anything, the most I will tell you is this. I was speaking with Raven earlier this morning before she went. Let's just say I know why she gave us the day off and it has to do with Mari. That's all I'll say. You want real answers? You ask Raven or Mari herself. But considering the fact Raven only gives me the bare minimum of information, your chances of getting any out of her are next to none. And Mari is very tight-lipped about her past. Airtight. Try your luck with one of them if you want to know so badly. But just know I didn't tell you a damn thing."
With that said, Vernal then walks ahead of me through the front gates of the camp. I hadn't even realized we had reached the camp by that point. I was left standing there, speechless. I was confused and worried. Confused as to what Vernal was referring to when she said she knew why Raven gave us the day off. And worried for what might be bothering Mari and how it relates to what Vernal said.
If what's bothering her has to do with what's being kept from me, then I want to know. Mari's done a lot for me and helped me at my lowest. So I'm not just going to do nothing when she's going through some kind of turmoil. I know Raven for a fact won't tell me anything. And last time I asked Mari, she was very apprehensive. But she is arguably the only person here who has a chance in telling me. I guess I only have one option if I want to know what's bothering her.
. . .
That night: 8:00 pm.:
As night arrived, I still couldn't stop thinking about Vernal's words about Mari as they rang through my head:
"'I know why she [Raven] gave us the day off, and it has to do with Mari.'" I repeated in my head as I blankly stared at my dinner.
What did she mean by that? And what could it have to do with what's bothering her?
I need to get Mari to open up. She's been very stressed lately. And I can tell just from her body language the past few days. For starters, she's been acting very distant, even around me. Whenever we cross paths, she forces a smile as we have a little exchange. And then she's gone as if she has something really important to grapple with. It's just so sudden a change, too.
She pretends that there's nothing wrong. But she gives herself away. Aside from how uncharacteristic she's being, her step gives her away. It's something I picked up from spending enough time with her. Whenever she's in a good mood, there is a slight bounce and briskness to her steps. But when she is upset or downtrodden, her steps become sluggish and somewhat lazy. And when she is stressed or anxious, her pace is slightly rapid, but her steps are small and short. And then there's the obvious signs such as avoiding eye contact. She'll pretend like nothing is wrong or that she didn't see you, but her face is expressive enough that she sucks at hiding it.
At the end of the day, I just want to know what's wrong and help however I can like she did with me. And not having Jeremiah around to vent or talk to is probably also not helping the cause. So she's probably been bottling for the past ten days.
As I am about to place a piece of chicken in my mouth with my fork, my peripheral vision catches a glimpse of purple in the distance. As I turn my head, I see Mari, which is almost rare sight recently. Not wanting to waste my opportunity, I get up and make my way. She hadn't noticed me as she seemed to be preoccupied with her thoughts and stress judging from her body language.
"Hey, Mari." I say as I get within arm's length of her.
The girl jolts slightly as I seem to have startled her a bit.
"Oh! Hey, Sim..." She says in an almost surprised, yet tired, way.
"How are you?" I ask, just to make a bit of small talk first before diving into it. There was an awkward feeling looming in the atmosphere of my engagement. And it felt that way because I knew where I was ultimately going with this.
"I'm fine. Thank you." She says unconvincingly. Her tone was almost like she wanted to get away and be alone. "And you?"
"I'm okay."
"That's good." She cracks to me a small, solemn smile.
Our exchange was awkward and robotic. Very different compared to our usual. There were a couple seconds of silence between us. But before I was about to break it, Mari beats me to the punch.
"Sorry to do this to you, Sim." She begins to turn to leave. "But I have to go take care of something-"
"Hey, um..." I gently grab her wrist before she gets the chance to start walking. My voice has a hint of worry and seriousness to it. And Mari seems to have picked up on that as it was able to stop her.
"Yes...?" She shifts her stance slightly to my direction. She hesitated for a moment, but she gave her full attention.
"Can I help?"
Mari briefly pauses and takes a breath.
"I'm sorry, Simin..." She only ever uses my actual name when she's serious. "I'd rather do this alone..."
As Mari begins to turn around, I am able to catch her again before she starts walking.
"Are you sure you're okay?" I blurt out.
Mari pauses a moment. As if she knew her charade wasn't working. But she eventually falls back into it.
"Of course. Why?" She tries to sound as comforting and reassuring as possible. But I notice she's having trouble keeping eye contact. If anything, she was actually looking past me to give the illusion she was looking me in the eyes.
"Because... you've been acting so differently lately. I just... want to know if something's bothering you." I request.
Mari seems a little caught off-guard by my question. But she tries to keep up her charade when she answers me.
"Nothing's bothering me, Simin." She says. Despite that, her stance is very standoffish. "What's giving you this idea-?"
"Mari, I just feel like there's something wrong." I say with concern in my expression. "You've been practically isolating yourself for ten days now. You even blow me off whenever I even try to talk with you. And... I spoke with Vernal today."
Saying that seemed to have got Mari's attention. Because the moment I said it, Mari's expression became grim and somewhat stern.
"What did she tell you? How much did she tell you?"
Hearing Mari become so serious all of a sudden, honestly surprised me. I've never heard her speak like that before compared to her usual calm, friendly demeanor.
"She... didn't tell me anything really." I admit, still a bit caught off-guard by her sudden change in demeanor. "I asked her if she knew what was wrong with you and she was being really, really vague with it. She told me that I should probably save myself the drama and stop being around you. She also said she knew why Raven gave us the day off and that it had to do with you. Mari, I want to know what's going on. And what does it have to do with Raven and what's bothering you?"
"Simin...," Mari pauses as if she doesn't want to respond at all. "... you're better off dropping this. Okay? This isn't something that should concern you." She quickly tries to turn around and walk away. But I stop her by grabbing her wrist again.
"Mari," I try to get through to her. "You can't be isolated forever. Especially when you don't have to be. You're my friend and I want to help."
"You can't help." She bluntly tells me. "I won't let you get involved!" Mari's voice becomes a bit shaky and almost panicked.
"But-"
"No, Simin!" Mari snaps with an urgent voice, yanking her wrist free from me so hard that I almost trip.
I was shocked at her sudden brief outburst. Mari, realizing that, goes silent. She looks almost shocked at herself even. Shocked for yelling at me, something she hasn't done in a long time to me, and for almost making me fall accidentally.
"I'm sorry..." She says almost on instinct.
"Mari... you're starting to scare me."
My words provoke a small reaction from Mari as her head jolts back lightly. A look appearing of guilt enters her face and she blinks twice. It was as if my words echoed in her head and staggered her.
"Whatever it is, you don't have to go through it alone." I continue. "I'm just worried."
Mari doesn't say anything. She leans back slightly, taking a step back. Her stance becomes avoidant. And her arms are also crossed almost like she's hugging herself.
"Mari, please-"
"I'm sorry...!" The girl suddenly sharply turns around on her heel and then rushes off. She was gone before I could get another word out.
I stand there and watch my friend disappear around the corner. At this point, I didn't even know what to do or say. Or even if I should do or say anything more. I want to help and be there for her. But I also don't want to stress her out. I don't know what to do.
I let out a sigh.
"I just... want to help..." I mutter with a defeated voice.
. . .
Later that night: 10:00 p.m.
(Sigh)
"What am I going to do?" I think to myself. I sit, kneeled in my tent, as I fix my sleeping bag. "Should I even do anything? I don't know how to approach this. I've never been in this position before. I wish I knew better..."
I once again let out another sigh as I climb into my sleeping bag. I lay there and stare up at the fabric flaps of my small shelter. I toss and turn every few minutes to find a comfortable position to sleep. But my concern was constantly preventing me from getting any.
"Is there even a right way to handle this." My thoughts inevitably find their way back to Mari. "Should I have just not asked at all? ...I probably should have just stayed out of it-"
My thoughts get interrupted by the sound of footprints approaching. They stop near my tent, just behind the flap. I then hear what sounds like someone sitting down. I can tell it's her.
"Hey, Simin...?" I hear Mari's voice call to me quietly from the other side. "Are you awake...?"
"No." I answer as a lighthearted jest. Though my tone was somewhat neutral.
"Well,... when you wake up, can you please meet me at our spot?" She requests.
"Alright..."
"Okay. Meet me in, say, fifteen to twenty minutes. Okay? I have to go convince the guard in Jeremiah's spot to agree to let us out."
"Alright..." I repeat.
"Thank you. I'll see you then." I hear Mari get up. But as she begins to walk off, her steps suddenly stop and double back. "Also, I'm really sorry again about earlier..."
"It's okay, Mari. I'm sorry if I stressed you out at all. I didn't mean to-"
"No, don't worry. I just..." She takes a deep breath. "It's a lot... I don't want you doing anything to get involved. This is...- I'll just say it's very major and you don't need to get sucked into that. But you can at least hear me out. Anyway, come over in about fifteen minutes or so, okay? I should already be there."
Mari's footsteps then begin to vanish in the distance.
Patiently, I wait. Approximately when she wanted me to make my way, I get up and start to head over. In just a couple minutes, I reach Jeremiah's tower. I place my hand on the wooden rung and being my climb. This one feels a bit longer than usual, despite it being the same distance.
Once reaching the top, I see an unfamiliar bandit looking at me expectantly.
"Did Mari come this way?" I ask awkwardly.
"She's waiting for you." The bandit answers as if he didn't want to be bothered much. "Just give me a minute to grab the ladder."
The bandit then does what he says and gestures for me to climb down.
"Thank you." I tell him as I disappear down the ladder.
"Sure thing." The bandit answers.
"Hey, quick question." I poke my head up, reappearing, to ask a question. "Do you know when Jeremiah is getting back?"
"No clue." He says. "Don't worry about him. Just go where you need to go and let me guard alright."
"...Alrighty, then..." I then slide down the ladder and land on the soft grass outside the camp. I then turn my head in the direction of where Mari is.
Lying ahead of me is a clear path to the answers I seek. And hopefully, a way to help out my friend.
**CHAPTER END**
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Hey everyone!
We only have three chapters left. And we have two more fights left this volume. We can probably guess what those fights are. And they are going to be big. So get ready for some longer fight scenes in the near future. Because chapter 19 is all fight scene and chapter 20 is maybe around 80% fight scene as I pretty much let the fight tell the story. But anyway, let's talk about this chapter:
But let's talk about this chapter.
But first if you want a good idea of the new character's, Iulian's theme is "Don't Get in My Way" by Zack Hemsey. And Cameron's theme is "Technodrone" by The Ugly Kings.
So to start, Iulian and the people he's working with are closing in on Raven. And in addition to this, we find out that 'Jeremiah' was revealed to be this Cameron character that was mentioned last chapter, who was spying on Raven to get information to help take her down. So yeah, Jeremiah wasn't a random background character that popped up every now and then.
I'm not going to reveal too much regarding what happens between them and Raven, but I wouldn't get my hopes up for a confrontation. I will just say Raven gets a very, very lucky break without even knowing it. So I wouldn't expect much regarding this subplot between them and Raven because it's mainly more to serve as a segue to the actual main plot than anything for the future of the story.
Another thing is that with this chapter, I also plant seeds for two future plots that will take place in Mistral and Atlas. These plots are currently slated to play out in Volumes 5-7 and 10-11. (Yes, I planned that far ahead). So they're just seeds for now. You don't have to pay attention to them for now, but do not completely disregard them. It's just something to keep in the back of your mind for the time being. They'll be important eventually.
Another thing is that we get a look at Simin's progress as a fighter. Training with Raven has definitely helped to the point that he can now hold his own against Vernal in skill. Though Vernal still holds the strength advantage. But regardless, Simin has made considerable progress. Hopefully I did a decent job showing his growth with this and throughout this volume.
Next thing is we learn about Vernal's past and how she joined the tribe. I really hope it wasn't shoehorned in. It was hard for me to find a place to put Vernal's backstory in this volume. And that was because if it didn't happen this volume, it wouldn't happen at all. Because this is basically it for Vernal this volume. She literally does not play any actual role after this in this volume. Her final role this volume in this chapter was to showcase Simin's growth and put him over a bit.
With that being said, I'd like to reflect a little if you don't mind. Vernal was probably the hardest character for me to write this volume. Because of the fact she only appears in one volume in the show and dies in that same volume, I felt like it was going to be a bit of a challenge to expand on her, despite the role she plays. So I came in writing this volume with one of my goals being to flesh her out a little more and explore her character more. And my way of doing this was by adding some of my own stuff in like her backstory and her friendship with Sophia (who wasn't even supposed to be a character to begin with. She was literally a last-minute addition). But one of my other ways was through her rivalry with Simin.
When Simin joins, Vernal is extremely skeptical and apprehensive toward him due to what he tried to do in chapter 11 (as much as I hate that chapter). So right off the bat, he is on her bad side. In addition to that, she's very arrogant in how she looked at Simin. She thought she was better than him and that it was insulting that she was now stuck with Simin. Vernal basically saw him as a threat to her due to how Raven seemed to be favoring him in her eyes. Because once Simin joined, Vernal felt she was being pushed to the wayside by Raven despite her status in the tribe and Simin is already propelled and stuck with Vernal to train alongside. All of these led to a resentment toward Simin and Vernal took it out on him by just kicking him around every training session. Just him being there got under Vernal's skin. So seeing all of this happen with Simin made Vernal feel challenged by his presence and treatment and she got insecure about it and high and mighty with him because of it.
And this comes to a head when Vernal tries to prove and reassure herself to Raven by convincing her to allow Vernal to go on and manage a hunting trip with Sophia and Simin. But when things go awry and Simina and Vernal butt heads over Simin wanting to do something rash, Vernal loses her temper and almost allows Simin to get himself killed.
To Vernal, though it wasn't her intent initially, she got where she was by constantly coming at Raven and showing a drive to defeat her. And to her, Raven giving her a tent and training her wasn't special treatment, but an acknowledgement of her drive and strength. And seeing Simin just get propelled and placed where she was after literally being carried in and suffering injuries really bothered her. Meanwhile, Vernal quite literally fought her way in. In her head, she was like, "This random-ass kid who got carried in, in what was the most pitiful sight I've ever seen, is now suddenly here training at my level? What the hell, Raven?!" Granted though, she was being very judgemental toward Simin since she didn't even know what exactly he went through prior to joining. But her insecurities were basically clouding her mind. She just thought Simin was just some kid who got lucky and was undeserving of what he was being given.
After Sophia talks sense into Vernal and going in, and after they all almost get killed, Raven puts Vernal in her place and gives her a verbal wake-up slap as to who is who in this equation.
Despite this, due to what happened to Sophia and everything else that led up to it, Vernal still holds resentment toward Simin. And this is shown when she expresses that she'd basically rather compete against Simin than work with him toward a common goal in chapter 16. It's not until she has to bite the bullet and swallow her pride to work with Simin and Simin taking the burden for both of them that it clicks in Vernal's head. Vernal always saw Simin as just some kid who was being spoiled and getting more than he deserved in a place he didn't belong in to begin with.
But seeing Simin put himself through that for the team makes her see that she is being unfair to him, especially at this point. She couldn't deny this kid anymore. Simin gave up his chances for the team, while Vernal was trying to make it about herself and who got the hit in first. And that's when she reflects fully accepts him. And that is how Simin earns her respect. They still don't exactly like each other or consider each other friends, but they can at least somewhat get along now. Though they do get pretty competitive still, as shown in this chapter.
So in the end, though she doesn't like Simin, they have a respect for each other and can at least understand each other a bit better. And she can at least give him credit and praise where it's due, even if she doesn't fully commit to it. However, she also does still get annoyed by Simin being able to slim the skill gap between the two. Though that's less toward Simin specifically and more toward the fact it's even happening at all. But she's not as hung up on it as she normally would be.
And as Vernal's last act in this volume, as abrasive as she comes off as, she shows that she does somewhat care about Simin as a tribe member. One of the main reasons Vernal doesn't tell Simin is because she doesn't want to get in trouble with Raven. But the other reason is that when Simin tries to press her on the Mari situation, she tries to tell Simin to drop it because she knows something that he doesn't. And she doesn't want Simin to get sucked in or be involved in something that he will regret knowing about. That's why she tells him to keep his distance from Mari, because she knows something is going to happen. But at the same time, with respect toward Simin wanting to know due to him pressing on about it, she at least points him in the right direction while still basically subtly warning him of the weight of it before leaving.
And with that, Vernal leaves this volume. Vernal's role in this volume is over as she walks through the gates into the camp and literally walks out of the volume.
Anyway, moving on. Lastly, the main thing of this chapter. Simin is getting his foot in the door regarding the stuff between Mari and Raven. When I was first writing this volume, I was having difficulty justifying why Simin wants to know this stuff. Originally it was because he simply just wanted to know out of a heavy curiosity due to Mari and Raven being all "hush-hush" about it. But that just seemed lazy to me and I didn't like that very much. So I tried a bit more and changed it so that the reason Simin wants to know this information is not because of a curiosity to know, but more because it is clearly deeply bothering Mari to the point she's isolating herself and bottling up her stress.
Mari is like a "big sister" figure to Simin. On top of that, Mari reminds Simin of his mother in some aspects such as her kindness, her supportiveness, her patience, her understanding, her compassion, etc. And when Simin was at his lowest point, Mari did a lot for him and helped pick him up when he was about to give up. And seeing Mari go through some kind of turmoil bothers Simin and makes him feel helpless as he wants to help his friend as she did him. And he sees this information that's being kept from him as the key to understanding her and hopefully helping or showing support for her because Mari has no one who really understands her that she knows of and no one to talk to now.
In the end, Simin just wants to help Mari. And hearing her story is how he believes he'll do it. But that will have to wait because the next chapter (as well as the following two) will be long. So the wait might be a bit longer too. I will try my best to finish this volume strong. So until then, I'll leave you all with fun fact #29:
Fun Fact #29: Jeremiah originally was not supposed to be revealed as Cameron. They were originally two separate characters. Cameron was originally going to be a different character altogether and his debut/reveal was originally planned to be in Volume 2 when he catches Lycan and Ragora, who were spying on Iulian during a mission when they were mistaken for enemy spies. When Jeremiah first debuted in this volume, he was literally only there to be an extra body in the cast who'd pop up every now and then to break up the constant cycle of using the same five characters: Sophia, Raven, Mari, Vernal, and Simin.
But over time, it bothered me that this character's only purpose was to just exist and fill space. So I figured I should do something more with Jeremiah and make him more important and elevate his status. But I didn't know what exactly. But luckily, I had some breathing room. And that is that I never went too deep into detail with Jeremiah's description, which allowed me to "convert" him to another character if I wanted to. And I did just that by having Jeremiah be Cameron with the name, 'Jeremiah', serving as a codename/secret identity Cameron used when infiltrating the tribe. And in turn, that also led to me building more to this subplot and adding those scenes in that opened up the last chapter and this one.