A/N: Thanks so much for everyone's comments and views so far. I hope I'm doing all these great characters justice so far. So fair warning, this chapter answers a few questions I had with the game. It is by no means part of the regular story but rather my interpretation of the game so I hope you guys like it. Please review with comments or criticisms!
Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Berseria, it's characters, content, or plot.
Velvet and the crew of Van Eltia came to port on a small rocky beach on Midgand known to the underworld as The Craggy. The Craggy was on no map for fear of the Abbey getting wind of it – it was purely passed around by word of mouth. It was not much of a port but it was largely unwatched by the Abby which made it a great place for criminal activity. There was only a small area on this beach that you could actually dock a ship and the tattered remains of those who had failed before littered the black sandy beach. Luckily, the Van Eltia was used to treacherous sea-faring conditions and managed to dock fairly easily.
Velvet and Rokurou were the first off of the ship to investigate for any signs of a large daemon horde unleashed through this port. Velvet expected to see footprints all over the beach but was surprised to see not a single footprint anywhere. "Maybe we were wrong," Velvet said while crossing her eyebrows. "Or more likely, we're onto something," Eizen said as he came up behind the two daemons staring at the ground. Rokurou put his hands behind his head and leaned back, waiting for Eizen's inevitable explanation. Velvet turned to Eizen in interest.
"Look," Eizen said as he pointed at his foot. He lifted his right foot up and looked down at the impression he left. His thick boots sunk deep into the sand and left a perfect impression of his sole. Velvet looked again at the sand around them, perfectly even and flat. Eizen continued to explain, "This is a popular underworld port. There SHOULD be footprints. Criminals regularly come here and the sand is like clay, trapping their footprints and keeping them around far after the criminals are gone. So why are there none? There's not even the signs of other natural disturbances that should be around. The Abby doesn't have a clue about this place and most of the underworld are not exactly the brightest. Those small fries wouldn't take the time to cover their tracks. No. It was something bigger being covered up that lead to someone wiping the entire beach clean."
Magilou fluttered on over to listen to Eizen's explanation. "So some, like, big time, hotshot criminal gang lured a bunch of daemons on a ship, probably multiple ships, and crossed the sea with them to dump him here and then they spent , like, HOURS literally covering up their tracks?", Magilou recapped. "What makes you think they're a bigshot gang?" Rokurou asked with vague interest. "Well, obviously, they are. It would take a lot of people to pull all that off!", Magilou exclaimed as she leaned over and flicked Rokurou in the chest. In that moment, Velvet became enraged, filled with jealousy at the thought of Magilou casually touching Rokurou's chest. She quickly clenched her bandaged hand as she felt the vague pulse of her daemon hand before it erupts into the daemonic claw. She squeezed tightly before feeling the pulse fade and breathing a sigh of relief. She didn't realize that her emotions for Rokurou could trigger her this way and she had to try harder to contain them.
Rokurou had noticed Velvet clench her fist, had noted the sudden tightness of her shoulders, and the shallow breath she took. He smirked, secretly satisfied that a touch from Magilou could send her wheeling. But he also knew he had to distract the others to keep them from noticing her tension too. "So where would a big time criminal operation like that hang out? They have to have a home base. Somewhere that gives them connections. Somewhere that keeps them hidden in plain sight," Rokurou prompted. It was little Laphicet who came on over after a rivoted exploration of the ship ruins on the coastline that spoke next. "Well it would have to be a port if they have a ship, right? They are probably bound to the sea just like us." Velvet, newly composed, looked at Laphicet softly. Rokurou could tell that she was not really seeing Phi in that moment, but instead was seeing her beloved little brother. The look quickly faded and she spoke, "Maybe. But the group itself might not have a ship. They could have stolen one or they could have allies with ships. We shouldn't rule anything out." "So what do we do now?" Eleanor asked.
The group decided to split up from the Van Eltia crew. The six of them would go on foot to find the nearest village to rest at and gather information while the crew would sail the Van Eltia away from The Craggy to avoid being seen upon the possible return of the daemon-moving gang. Though there were no major towns in this northern part of Midgand, there were a few small villages to tiny and inconsequential to include on most maps. "Listen up," said an authoritative Eizen. "These villages don't really get people coming in and out of them. They'll likely be suspicious of us from the get-go. So it would be easier for us to get information from them if we were all a bit….subdued looking. Before the Van Eltia leaves everyone needs a wardrobe change."
Laphicet looked concerned. "I won't get to keep my clothes?", he asked sheepishly. "There is no subduing the one, the only, the magnificent Magilou!", Magilou objected. "Even me?", asked Eleanor. "Especially you," Rokurou replied. "Praetor's aren't taken kindly to up here thanks to them largely leaving these small villages to rot with daemonblight. You'll get chased out of town before we ever get through the doors." "Which I wouldn't mind", Velvet replied under her breath. Eleanor was still not Velvet's favorite person in the whole world. She had accepted the inevitability of Eleanor but still took cracks at her when she could.
Eizen held up his hands in objection to the sea of complaints. "We'll bring our clothes along and stash them outside of town. I don't love this either but it's the only way we'll get in. Now there's a stash of extra clothes in all sorts or sizes below deck for just this type of situation. Girl's clothes too, thanks to a few ex-female sailors. Find something inconspicuous. We leave in an hour."
Everyone else had found an alternative outfit from the crate and it was now just Velvet and Rokurou left behind. Velvet was struggling to find anything to wear that didn't make her want to throw up and Rokurou intentionally dragged his feet on deciding in order to sneak a moment alone with her.
"Ugh why does everything have to be so covered? I haven't dressed in anything like this in ages," Velvet complained with an audible sigh.
Rokurou looked around to make sure the coast was clear. He stepped behind her and slithered his hands around her slim waist. "I know. It would be such a shame to cover these up,", he whispered into her ear as his fingers trailed up the open strip of her shirt before landing, teasingly on her chest.
Velvet sucked in a breath at the feeling of Rokurou's rough hands on her soft chest. She resisted the urge to melt backwards into his embrace and instead tried to return her focus onto sorting through clothes. "We can't. Not here.", she whispered fiercely. It was true that this room in the back of the ship didn't have a door but Rokurou was confident that the Van Eltia crew was busy above deck preparing to launch and that their friends wouldn't come looking for them until a little later. "Yes, we can. You know when we're back on the road these moments will be less and less frequent. You're telling me that you don't want to take advantage of this moment?" Rokurou said in his most lusty voice. Velvet shivered as she turned to face him. She intended to tell him no, that it was irresponsible, that they would get caught. Instead, she pushed Rokurou into a sitting position and sat astride him, covering his mouth entirely with hers. She loved the taste of him. It was like a drug, sweet and coppery at the same time.
Rokurou matched her force and eagerness with his own as his tongue explored her mouth. His hands drifted up and down her exposed thighs, leaving trails of heat wherever they touched. Velvet moaned and inescapable moan as he touched her, which only made him more excited. He fiercely grabbed her waist and moved his lips down to her chest, leaving a trail of kisses around her shirt line before removing it entirely by untying it with his teeth. Velvet's daemon arm burst free from the bandages as the pulsing in her arm became too much to bare. Rokurou ran one hand down her black and red arm towards her daemon hand as he grabbed her head and kissed her deeply, knotting the other hand in her hair at the base of her skull. She slid Rokurou's kimono off his shoulders as she reveled in the kiss. She popped open his undershirt and crashed her shirtless body against his own, causing Rokurou to be the one left moaning deeply.
It was then they heard the rustle of a Van Eltia crew member coming downstairs. Velvet and Rokurou froze, half-naked behind the crate of extra clothes, hoping that alone could conceal them. Luckily, the crew member was still two rooms away without a direct eyeline to their love nest. "Hey, where is it again?", he yelled on up to another crewmate. Rokurou could feel that Velvet was holding her breath. "Oh, nevermind. Found it!", he yelled again a minute later. He returned to the deck and Velvet let out a sigh of relief. "That was close," she said. "Ahh but doesn't it make the whole thing more exciting? This sneaking around thing is pretty sexy", Rokurou replied with a smirk.
Velvet rolled her eyes. She picked a muted blue-gray dress from the crate next to her and pulled it over her. "Thanks for helping me change," she said slyly before gathering up her clothes and leaving the room.