Surprise surprise, it's Ducky, a.k.a. the slightly more mediocre half of this couple.

Unfortunately, Izzy is approximately 15,979km away right now, so, here I am.

Thanks for reviews! They make Izzy (and me) very happy, and her being happy is my favourite thing in the world. Other than dogs, we love dogs. In hindsight, I wonder where we got Pugsworth from...(read on to find out what I'm talking about)

I remember writing this specific chapter and making Izzy laugh with my silly ideas, so hope you enjoy them just as much!

(Clearly, I'm also the sappy half.)

Also, we have a little poll on our profile, 'Which Elsword fanfiction would you like to read next?'

We've been thinking about:
- A crime thriller with fast cars, hackers and shootouts
- A novelisation of the original Elsword plot
- A story about the characters in high school

Head to our profile and let us know what you'd like to see!

Chapter 6

"Oh, it looks much bigger on the inside!" Rena remarked as she peered through the tent entrance, sending a bright smile Raven's way.

He shook his head in amusement as they continued walking, giving his eyes a moment to adjust from the pavilion's dark and musty interior to the sudden flash of sunlight that assaulted them. Around the pair were a dozen or so tents pinned to the ground in a horseshoe formation, a small, red flag sitting atop each of their dome-like roofs. A dry zephyr swept through the campsite, toppling a pile of logs with a series of hollow clunks and gently ruffling the off-white canvas of the tents.

Lowe strode out of his tent and approached them. "I told you it wasn't impressive."

"No no it's much better than what we had," Rena assured as she lightheartedly waved off his comment.

He smiled gratefully in return. "Well I thought I should let you know that we still follow a strict routine of getting up at 6 in the morning and training. Of course, you don't have to but feel free to join us during mealtimes."

Raven nodded. "Thank you for your generosity."

"Well we're in the same position here and being generous is something us Ruben villagers are known for. That being said, you do need to contribute", Lowe reminded with a wary glance at the man beside him, "Rena, I'm sure you can teach our knights how to forage and Raven, can you hunt?"

"Yeah, no problem," he answered as he avoided Rena's piercing gaze.

"Excellent!" Lowe clapped his hands, "Your tent is that one over there."

"Whose tent?"

"Both."

"What?"

"Well uh...none of the soldiers wanted to share a tent with you and all of them wanted to share one with Rena so putting you two together was the more logical option", Lowe explained with a small cough, "She can also keep an eye on you since you two seem to be very close."

The elf blushed as she realised what the captain was implying. "I think you have the wrong ide-"

"Well, it looks like the sun is setting now so I'll head back. Let me know if anything troubles you, my tent is the one with the symbol for Ruben on its flag", he smiled and saluted them before leaving to reprimand one of his soldiers for falling into the drop toilet.

The pair turned to each other.

Rena winked at Raven. "I guess you're my new roommate!"

"It's okay, I don't smell that bad. I wash myself maybe once or twice a century," he winked back at her, "Not too good at washing clothes though."

"That explains why you've been shirtless for the past two days."

"I have?!"

Raven woke up with the sun on his face, gentle rays flitting through the tent flaps. He sat up with a start, breaking into a cold sweat.

Where am I?

"Raven?" a silvery voice called.

Exhaling with a relieved sigh, he turned to look at the elf who was sitting on the ground a few feet away from him, singing softly while examining some of her arrows.

"You've been playing with those arrows a lot lately. Any point to that?" he asked.

"Hmm", Rena placed a finger on her chin thoughtfully, "I'm trying to think of a way to make them faster. I don't know how much longer we'll be able to enjoy this peace and quiet so I might as well make the most of it."

They had been at the camp for two weeks now and Raven felt himself gradually becoming more aggravated by the arm that viciously fought to take over his mind. There was only one lifeline that was keeping him in check and allowing him to appreciate those moments of quiet he needed most.

"Hey Rena?"

She hummed in response.

"How much longer do you think we'll be here? I can't stand this."

"You can't stand me?" the elf teased, dramatically placing a hand over her heart.

Raven chuckled. "You're the only thing I can stand."

Unwilling to explain his comment to a bewildered Rena, he slipped on his new shoes and strode out of the tent, walking for several minutes to where he had trained daily for the past fortnight.

Lowe and his soldiers had been gracious enough to provide them with fresh clothing - he now wore a slightly different pair of black trousers and had a set of clean bandages wrapped around his scarred chest. Clearly Rena was preferred over him though, as she was gifted a brand new dress almost identical to her own if not for the brown leather cross-stitches down the front and belt across her waist. They even took the time to tailor golden embellishments along the hem of her skirt and separate sleeves for her arms and legs. Fortunately, the soldiers had enough integrity to give both he and the elf a pair of metal shoulder guards, armoured gloves and shoes.

On the other hand, they were too afraid to let Raven keep his sword so he had ended up relying on his arm and training by testing its limits and getting used to utilising the mechanical limb as a weapon.

With a yell, he swung at a nearby oak tree with it, using his right arm to propel his body weight forwards. The combination of punches were powerful and practised, thudding into the sturdy trunk and landing crater after crater until eventually, the raw centre of it split and the massive oak toppled to the ground. Before it could land, he moved his arm in a swift, sweeping motion and three metal spikes taller than Raven himself rose from the dust, piercing right through the solid wood and stopping the entire tree from its descent. He stopped to examine his work, eyeing it critically and readying himself his final move. With a shout, he launched into the air and dove down with inhuman speed, slamming his fist into the tree and driving all of his power into the impact until it shattered into an explosion of splinters. He didn't even need to recover before moving onto the next one, creating an expansive clearing littered with the remains of huge trees and boulders by the time the sun told him it was already afternoon.

When he first started practising attacks with the Nasod claw, every strike would bring with it a wave of intense pain that would electrify him and make his mind feel like it was melting, but he continued to fight through the agony. The limb finally began to comply and cooperate with him despite his choice to use the straight-up brute force it offered and refusal to take advantage of its explosive firepower. This was a huge victory on Raven's behalf, yet he could feel that his method would only last for so long - every time he grew in power, it became harder and harder to retain his sanity.

Sweating, muscles sore and left arm burning, he knew he should've stopped by then but the desire to push himself to the furthest boundary overshadowed his rationale. A solitary boulder stood in his way and all of a sudden a burning rush surged through his bloodstream, leaving him dazed yet feeling like a new part him that was straining for release was just unshackled. A deep rumble emanated from the Nasod core of his arm, becoming louder and louder until with a roar, he summoned a chain of black spheres. He hurled them into the rock and, the arm controlling his movements, managed to turn away just before spikes sprouted all over them. They created a web of fine cracks that travelled along the boulder's surface like a flood of ants escaping from a nest. It didn't end there. A multitude of Nasod spears fell to the ground and exploded into a burst of fire that would've burned a forest down if not for the fact that he was surrounded by nothing but dust.

"No!" Raven let out a tormented scream, "Stop! Stop it! Stop trying to control me!"

He rolled around on the ground as he struggled to subdue his left arm which was flailing around and coughing up flames. It slammed into his torso numerous times before an aura of dark smoke surrounded him and his golden eyes glazed over.

A massive spearhead slowly floated down from the air above him, gradually descending until the very tip of it touched the boulder.

And then it exploded.

At first the ground became swollen as if gathering energy under its molten surface. It expanded into waves of power rolling through the air, each growing stronger than the last. Raven grit his teeth as he felt the energy being drained out of him like an unstoppable river. The sheer amount of force expelled within the next second was so great, a column of fire burst into the sky in a pulsing hurricane of fury. Every visible surface turned to shades of burning red and black with the air becoming feverishly hot, while the storm itself evoked winds that swirled around what was now a pyrocumulus cloud of debris and sound of the sudden discharge burst through his eardrums, each tremor beating harder into him until he fell to the scorching ground. At last the nuclear plume seemed to have reached its maximum height and it hung over him in the air, casting a huge shadow over the clearing and his cowering figure.

"Goddammit!" Raven yelled, slamming his head into the ground. "I can't let this happen! Not when I'll finally…"

He screamed and screamed for what seemed like hours until his own hoarse voice overpowered the deafening whirlwind of thoughts in his head. A pair of elven ears heard the echoes of his cries ringing across the field and sad, green eyes watched as his body collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Raven kicked at a brown patch of bristly weeds, sending a small cloud of dirt and dust into the air before it settled again all over his boots. He frowned in disappointment as he blamed himself for what he considered to be another failure. Although the anger he felt surging through his body had not translated into total destruction this time, he couldn't help but think, "If I wasn't by myself, someone could have died. A citizen, a soldier, a parent, a child..."

Raven had now walked to the outer boundaries of the camp when the thought stopped him.

"Or even a whole settlement."

He felt a dull pain in his right hand. Raising both up to inspect them, he noticed that his right fist was clenched so tightly that the blistering skin had pulled taut over his somehow bruised knuckles. In his left, he could see the twisting wires and jagged blades of that cruel weapon, an unwanted part of his body. The jolts of electricity that always came when he tried to use the Nasod claw were still pulsing through his arm, a constant reminder to Raven of his inability to master it - this must have been his hundredth attempt in the past fortnight. Yet again, the power was still out of his control. Still, when he'd finally be given a chance to finish what he had set out to do, he would not be able to do it. Between the scattered shouts of the soldiers in the distance and the whispering of wind, it seemed the only other noises to be heard were the various clunking and rumbling sounds escaping from the accursed limb, and his heavy footfalls as he paced along the edge of the camp. With each step, his heels dug deeper into the dead grass, uncaring of the ugly ditches he left trailing behind him. He finally stopped his relentless pacing when something unusual caught his eye.

Nestled between tufts of grass was a small, white flower that stood out like a shining diamond. It had not yet fully bloomed, with its petals still folded inwards into an elegant teardrop shape.

"No matter what, winter eventually gives way to spring..."

The voice slipped away from him as quickly as he had remembered it. Raven shook his head slowly; was it this flower? His knowledge of botany couldn't compare to Seris' or Rena's, and yet the delicate curve of the stem was so familiar to him, he did not doubt it as much as he could not look away from it. He crouched to inspect it closer, taking care to gently reach across with his right hand to pluck the delicate white flower from the ground.

"No!"

Rena dashed up beside him, suddenly grabbing and holding his wrist back. "Don't do that!"

Giving her a puzzled look, Raven stepped back. Her sudden appearance immediately made him adopt a defensive stance out of instinct, and he was not even sure from where she had come. Yet, the genuine look of concern on her face shook him out of harbouring any cold suspicion. They stood there in the field for a few moments, looking at the plant, then each other and back to the plant again.

Raven lifted his arm only to notice a hand still holding his tightly.

"Oh!" Rena remarked, pulling her hand back, "Raven, I'm sorry...just be careful with the flower."

She blinked a few times, regaining her composure before she gave Raven a small smile and crouched to the ground. "See Raven, you can't pick this flower yet, it hasn't had a chance to bloom! It's one of the first flowers to bloom at…"
"...the beginning of spring…" Raven muttered under his breath.

She raised her eyebrows in astonishment, having heard his barely audible mumble. "Why yes, actually, they serve as a symbol of hope and new beginnings..."

He looked away.

"What's bothering you Raven?"

She was used to receiving silence as an answer from him, but it was a different, strained silence. "Hmm, well what are you focusing so intensely on?"

Jumping to her feet, she hopped beside him and gazed into the distance, following his line of sight.

"Towards Velder?"

Another pause followed, and then a long sigh from Raven.

"So something about it is bothering you?"
"How do you know if anything is even bothering me?" he replied in a dead tone.

"I just know."

"Elf thing?"

"Mm, hundreds-of-years-old elf thing."

The campfire sent billows of smoke into the dimming purple sky. The rising sparks of light were a clear marker as to where the rest of the group were, which Rena suggested they follow despite Raven's hesitant attitude. Walking back quietly to the main camp, she noticed that her companion's head mostly hung low towards the ground other than the occasional glance upwards when he assumed she was not looking.

"His knuckles look like they're in a lot of pain," she thought as she saw him clench and unclench his fists over and over again, "Poor Raven…"
"Hey! The birdies have arrived!" A soldier called.

A few others nearby guffawed as the pair sat down cross-legged next to each other while trying their best to ignore their jests. Some murmured to each other as Raven came close, still wary of him. Heavy footsteps interrupted the troops' calls and hoots and they immediately fell silent.

"We haven't seen Raven since the mid-day meal! Keeping yourself occupied? "

"Well enough."

Lowe raised an eyebrow, and quickly did a headcount out of the side of his eye. Relieved that no-one was missing, he returned to the conversation and chuckled. "Then I hope you enjoy yourself a little bit more now. Rena could help you."

"Not you too!" the elf scoffed.

The officer only looked back and forth between the two of them, gave an approving nod, and walked around to the other side of the fire. Over the heavy clanking of his footsteps, they could hear a small laugh becoming increasingly distant, then lost in the crackle of the flames and loud guffaws of the soldiers. By day, the troops were more reserved and obedient, but what came with the falling of night was the beginning of song and storytelling.

Too caught up in his dancing, an old soldier tripped and brushed against the flames. The back of his shirt glowed with smouldering embers as he dove to the ground and rolled frantically in the dust. "FOR THE LOVE OF EL!"

His comrades rushed to gather around him, roughly pushing Rena to the side in a hurry. Raven felt a hand catch hold onto his knee for support, but the elf was clearly too preoccupied by the commotion to notice.

"MAKE WAY. MAKE WAY." Lowe ordered, with his voice immediately returning to its usual authoritative tone. "AND STOP YOUR RACKET!"

The camp fell to silence, with only the spitting and hissing of the flames to be heard, as well as loud, whooping laughter from the ground.

"Report to me, soldier!"

"Ooh that was warm, that was warm. I feel toasty!"
"Pugsworth!"

"Not as bad as that time, that time I set fire to the tents!"

"The tents?"

"It can't be!"

"Was tha-"

"I thought that was just a legend!" cried a younger trooper, gazing down at the bearded man in awe.

"Simply a legend? Oh no, Quail, you see, I was where I should not have been. Should not have been there, but I was, I was indeed. It was years ago, yeaaarrsss ago!" He laughed, still rolling about the ground. Raven gave Rena a confused look when she involuntarily squeezed his knee.
"Oh!" She gasped, retracting her hand as quickly as she could. "I didn't even noti-"

"And being the genius one I am", Old Pugsworth interrupted with a shout, "See what happened tonight? Yes, I have my way with fire, and soon I had burnt down a row of freshly assembled tents, all as new as a shiny penny!" He was soon overcome by his own laughter, unable to choke out his words. The others sat down around him, amused by the sight. "And they weren't even my tents! Or the other junior cavalry, oh no, not ours at all."

"Then whose?" prompted a female soldier, smirking as she began to pare an apple with the knife Old Pugsworth had dropped in his hurry to put out the harmless flames.

"The commander's!"
Lowe grimaced.

"Yes yes, the commander's. He came to me, and called 'ATTENTION SOLDIER.'"
Funnily enough, Rena noticed, his imitation of his previous commander sounded remarkably similar to Lowe's distinctive voice.

"He called 'ATTENTION. Soldier why have you sent fire to your tent?!' And here's the big kicker ladies and gentlemen, here's the kicker. I said, I told him, yes I said; 'SIR not my tent, and not our tents. No sir, your tents sir!' And then I ran, I did, I ran from him hoping he could not recognise my face. He must've been too shocked, too shocked by the flames and the sight of his burning shelter to chase me. If only it was intentional, it would have been the most perfect, perfect I tell you, prank of all time!"

"But still, it's a legend!" Quail whispered to Rena. Old Pugsworth was met with a series of laughs and cheers, as they pulled him to his feet and began to dance with him, safely away from the fire. Lowe looked to his tent uncomfortably. He moved to the place where Quail had been, the adolescent now having gone in an attempt to sweet-talk the woman who had spoken earlier. It was lucky her knife found its way into the crisp flesh of the apple, and not him.

"Old Pugsy may say everything twice," he mused to the pair, drawing their attention back to the nearby dances, "but tell him once and he gets the job done. It is why he's still here. He brings an element of...fun, too."

From her right, Rena heard a stifled laugh. There was a smile on Raven's face, maybe one of the first she had seen, and most definitely the happiest.

He was reminded of his days with the Black Crow, laughing with his comrades around a sputtering fire, teasing their own commanders, the other soldiers, his friends. He too was once, as he recalled, just as loud, lively, and playful as the troops around him were. The laughs he heard were as broad and booming as before, and the look of joy on his face as genuine. It was as if a piece of those moments had returned now.

The elf could not help but smile as well, even wider than before. Somehow, despite the flurry of movements and the mass of people that had gathered around them, their smiles were directed at each other and the warmth they felt inside was not made only by the flickering fire in front of them.

Before Rena could think of something to say, Raven laughed a warm, husky laugh and her ability to string together any comprehensible thought escaped.

Stay tuned for more, and more ramblings from me while Izzy is off doing amazing things :)

- Ducky