Yikes! A whole week late! I sincerely apologize. I got caught up with the first chapter of a new story called Silver and Gold (along with a bad bout of laziness). 0.o
I would like to send a thank you to the guest reviewer and to Salt_the_Catgirl! I really appreciate your thoughts!
Also thank you: Sunsets-N-Pain and BaconPANCAK3S (I love your user name, btw :3) for the fav/follow!
I certainly hope that this chapter makes up for last week!
Now then, I present Chapter 7: Feuerkraft
Iva rubbed Yuki's back gently. The cat-girl was still hiccupping a bit, but she had regained some control over herself. She sniffled and rubbed her stinging eyes. The green-haired woman smiled down at her. Yuki blushed for a second time that night, before glancing shyly up at Iva.
"Thank you…" she whispered softly.
"Don't worry sweetie, Nee-san will always be there for you! I promise!" Iva clenched her fist and punched it into the air, "Anytime you have trouble Nee-san will make everything better, alright?"
Yuki blinked, a little startled at the show of bravado, and then gave the woman a beautiful smile. (Iva almost cried, it was so adorable) The young girl wrapped her arms around Iva's waist and hugged her, saying, "Thank you, Nee-san! I love you!" She really meant what she said this time; there wasn't a single insincere thought in her mind.
Iva chuckled happily, "Come on, Yuki, let's finish up this mission and go home, okay?"
"Hai! Iva nee-san!" The cat-girl sang happily. The two females stood and began discussing their next move.
Ω
SWISH
CRACK
SNAP
ROOOAAAAR!
Iva dodged the sharp horn that was aimed at her head. Yuki kicked the large beast they were chasing in what she assumed was its back, and knocked it to the ground. Iva shouted "KRONE SAPPHIR!" and blew up a large portion of the horse-like Post-Animal.
Yuki landed on top of the monster, summoning two identical bowie knives. She expertly spun them around in her hands and plunged them into its thrashing body. She muttered for a bit. The unfortunate creature stopped as its bulk began to glow ominously. The cat-girl purred soothingly and whispered to it gently. With a large burst of red flames, the creature turned to ash that drifted away in the wind.
Iva jumped up excitedly, "YAHOO! Nice job, Yuki-chan!" The woman grinned happily at her. Yuki giggled, leapt over to her and hugged her tightly. Iva patted her between the ears.
"Ne, Yuki-chan?" She asked.
"Hai, Iva nee-san?"
"What was that attack you used just now?" The older woman looked at the singed trees above them.
Yuki backed up and showed her the two knives she held. They had silvery red blades with jet black hilts that were adorned with thin leather straps making it easier to hold. She closed her eyes and chanted something Iva couldn't understand. The blades began to pulse with a fiery red glow. Yuki looked at her weapons lovingly. They had gotten her out of many sticky situations and she absolutely adored them. She explained that the blades were her favorite out of the collection she was capable of creating.
"While Ka-chan and Haru-chan use physical and spell-type attacks, I come up with my own artillery, in my mind, and am able to summon any of them whenever I want. These knives are my favorite," she stroked one of the blades with her thumb, "Aren't they beautiful?"
Iva stared in awe at the weapons, "Amazing…how do you make them glow like that?"
"I suppose you could call it my aura. Basically, I focus on channeling my energy into them and they glow," The cat-girl tilted her head and twitched her ears as a thought came to her. She then smiled a bit and said, "Try touching it," she held out one of the blades to Iva.
The older woman looked at her like she was crazy, "Will it hurt?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not if I can help it," Yuki stared up at her, eyes almost daring her to try it.
"Fine…" Iva cautiously reached her hand out and placed it in the glow, or rather, she tried to place it in the glow. Somehow she was never able to actually touch it. She frowned and looked back to Yuki. The girl was chuckling with amusement.
"I did say try, didn't I? Don't worry, Iva. It isn't your fault. It's called 'Feuerkraft.' It does exactly what I want it to and is extremely hot. The only way I would let you actually touch it, is if I needed to kill you quickly, but seeing as how we are friends now, I promise it will never harm you." Yuki flicked her tail happily and made a cat-like sound of satisfaction.
Iva laughed at the noise, "Well then, now that we've gotten everything cleared up, why don't we go back home? I'm sure Nai is worried sick over you." Yuki blushed (for a third time; she was breaking records here!), making Iva laugh harder, "Come on, kitty-cat!" The woman leapt into the air to avoid the girl's furious swipe. Yuki gave chase and pretty soon they were flying at top speed back to the Second Ship.
Ω
When they returned (laughing and teasing each other) they were met by the sheep who bleated robotically, "Welcome back, baa. Welcome back, baa." The two females pleasantly replied as expected and proceeded on to the captain's office.
When Hirato saw them acting like best friends (a feat he thought would never happen) he was flabbergasted. It took a whole minute for him to sort out his thoughts and speak to them. Yuki, in the meantime, crossed her arms and sent him a triumphant grin.
"Well?" She asked happily.
"H-h-how?" An uncharacteristic stutter broke up his calm voice.
"Yuki and I had a little…heart to heart talk while we were gone," Iva replied, rubbing the cat-girl's head affectionately, "Turns out, that she isn't as bad as I first thought. Just a little misunderstood is all."
"O-oh…" the dark-haired man cleared his throat quietly before continuing, "So you're friends now?" He looked at them in disbelief.
"That's right!" Yuki chirped easily, "Iva nee-san and I had a lot of fun together!" She was beginning to get a little tired, so in an attempt to steer the conversation to a fast close she said, "We beat the Varuga pretty quickly and then came back."
Iva smiled at her. She, apparently, understood that the girl wanted to sleep therefore she told Hirato that she would give him a full report later but that she was tired and wanted to rest for a bit. Yuki looked at her gratefully and tried to follow the green-haired woman out. She was stopped by a command consisting of a forceful, "KITTEN, STAY!" coming from Hirato. She winced and glanced back at him. He was frowning at her. Great! What did I do this time?! I made friends with Iva…isn't that enough!? I wanna go to bed! She didn't say any of this but she definitely thought it.
"Hai, Hirato-san," she sighed and waved Iva on. The woman looked at her sympathetically, before spinning on her heel and returning to her quarters for some much needed sleep (both girls had been up for a full 24 hours).
Hirato pointed at a chair; he was still frowning at her. Yuki sat down meekly. She really didn't want to listen to a scolding and she really, really wanted to go to sleep. It had been a loooong day, plus she had been up almost all of the previous night fighting with Gareki after he had patched her arm up (which still hurt, making this imminent 'talk' with Hirato even less appealing than it already was). Yuki gave a long sigh, lifted her head and resigned herself to her impending doom.
The dark-haired man crossed his arms and stared at her. She fidgeted at first under the scrutiny of his gaze, but stilled when she grew used to it. They sat like that for a while; neither moving, just them watching each other intently. Hirato was the first to speak, "What did you two talk about?" He still had a slight frown, but it was a lot lighter and his eyes had almost begun to smile (he was kind of proud of her for standing up to his gaze).
Yuki tilted her head and twitched her ears, "I told her about my past. It was more…painful than she anticipated. By telling her about it, along with a few other…things, she began to see me in a different light," she stopped, curling her arms around herself, "I'm glad she accepts me…but it was kind of hard to tell her something like that."
"What kind of past do you have?" Hirato asked in curiosity.
"…One I am not willing to explain to you right now. I will eventually, but not now," Yuki regarded him tiredly, "I'm exhausted, I still feel emotional from my story telling, and my arm hurts…a lot! I am perfectly willing to explain…tomorrow. May I go to bed now?"
Hirato's brow finally smoothed out and he even gave the girl a sympathetic smile, "Of course, Yuki. I'll have one of the sheep take you to your room. I hope you don't mind sharing with Karoku. I had the sheep put up a curtain to give you a little privacy if you would like to be alone. Will that be okay?" He had glanced down at his suit, pausing to brush off a few invisible crumbs, and when he looked up he noticed that Yuki's head was in her hands and she was cursing his very existence. Hirato smirked at the cat-girl (he knew exactly how much Karoku hated her but it was fun watching her squirm) before calling one of the sheep in and ordering it to take her to the room she would be staying in…with Karoku. He was so going to use this to his advantage as much as he possibly could. She was just so much fun to play with!
Ω
As Yuki was trudging to the room she was sharing with Karoku, she began contemplating just how much she liked being alive and wished with all her heart that she wouldn't wake up to some kind of nasty surprise the man would have cooked up. Haaaah…this is going to be a long night, isn't it? Actually, I wonder if I should ask him about the person I was sent to anger. Uro-sama called that man Karoku…but Nai called the other guy Karoku too, and they look identical. HOW COME?! The cat-girl growled while tousling her hair angrily. The sheep she was following turned back to her and bleated, "What is wrong, baa? What is wrong, baa?"
"Ah…sorry…er…Sheep-san," Yuki smiled at it, sheepishly, "I'm fine, just a little frustrated with, everything really. Thank you for worrying," the cat-girl took a few steps ahead of it, brushing her tail against it gently. It reached out a small had to touch the unusual object. Yuki giggled as its paw came into contact with her fur. She was really starting to grow fond of the little critters and wanted to do her best to be as nice to them as possible.
After a few more minutes of walking, the sheep stopped in front of a door and blipped, "Here we are, baa. Here we are, baa."
"Thank you!" The girl stood in front of the door, a hand on the knob. The sheep bowed slightly and dashed off to its next job, humming cheerfully to itself. Yuki sighed quietly, hoping that Karoku had already been warned so she wouldn't have to deal with explaining the whole situation. She braced herself and opened the door.
"Um…Karoku-sa-"
FWHUMP
A large, fluffy pillow connected with the girl's face. As it slid from her face, a furious Karoku was revealed. He had his one hand on his hip, the other still extended from the throw and was glaring at her accusingly, "What did you tell Hirato to make him let you to stay?" He stomped over to the cat-brat, still angry about the fact that Nai was willing to defy him just to defend her.
"Er…I…did you just…ummm…I t-told him that I was willing to cooperate and would allow myself to be used by him. Does that answer your question, Karoku-san?" She, somehow, was able to get over her initial shock at being hit in the face (with a pillow of all things) to give him an acceptable reply.
"Humph!" Karoku frowned at her with an indignant huff, "I suppose so. However," he jabbed his finger in the girls face, "I still don't like you and I refuse to hand Nai over to you! Got that!" Yuki nodded vigorously. She had no desire to upset the blue-haired man any further (he seemed to be Nai's guardian, after all).
The cat-girl bowed her head a little, trying to look submissive, "I-is there anything you would like me to say, or do, to prove that I am trustworthy? I would like to get along with you…if that's alright with you, of course."
Karoku raised an eyebrow at her. Unlike Iva, he wasn't as devious in his thinking so the assignment he thought up for her was less of a pain to accomplish, "Read this and give me a full summary in the morning," he shoved a book at her. The title read 'War and Peace' and it was amazingly thick.
Yuki took the huge book, glanced up at the ceiling for a bit and stated in a monotonous voice, "As a member of a dissolute, upper-class crowd, Pierre Bezukhov is a troublemaker who criticizes governmental policies. At night he frequents drunken card parties with a fast crowd, including Anatole Kurgagin and Fedya Dolokhov, whom Tolstoy describes as 'an officer and a desperado.' Another member of the group, Prince Andrew, is a patriot who is determined to defend his country and aristocratic way of life. The novel soon introduces the Rostov family as they prepare a celebration for their youngest daughter Natasha…*" She continued on for quite some time and eventually finished giving a complete report that included all fifteen parts of the enormous book. Karoku was stunned speechless. He had read the book a few times, but not even he could have given such a magnificent summary of the book. Especially not from memory!
The older boy stared at the cat-brat in awe, "H-how did you d-do that?" he stuttered.
"Uro…uh…I mean, Master used to have me memorize classical books, write summaries on them and engage in discussions about their content with him," she smiled, remembering the fun they had, "Every so often we would really get into it. One time we got so enthralled in our argument, neither of us ate or slept for two whole days!" The cat-girl snickered, "Master looked positively ill when we finally finished."
"I-is that so?" Karoku plastered on a bewildered smile, "So he has kept you educated then?"
"Yup!" Yuki chirped with a flick of her tail, "He decided when he bought me that he was going to both use and tutor me. I don't really know why he chose to do so, but even now he still teaches me many different things." The corners of her mouth twitched as the look on the blue-haired man's face went from bewildered to downright confused (he still didn't know that she was a slave).
The young man frowned to himself, deep in thought. After about two minutes of heavy concentration, he looked down at her, and stated calmly, "Well, I suppose I don't mind getting along with someone who is, at the very least, well read," he paused for a bit, before saying, "Are you willing to be cordial with me?"
The girl blinked, smiled warmly at him, and said, "Of course, Karoku-san! I'd be happy to get along with you!"
He gave a small sigh, "Good. Now then, I'm sure you are tired. You get the upper bunk since I've been staying in the lower one for a while now. Is that alright?"
"Hai!" She gave the floor a little test bounce and leapt right over his head. She landed on the twin mattress above Karoku's and settled in for the night. The man she so expertly jumped over, stared at her for a moment, before shaking his head. He was used to strange people (Seeing as how he lived with a group called Circus!) but she definitely was the strangest.
I certainly hope we can get along. He thought as he readied himself for bed, too. If she is able to remember that much about War and Peace of all things, I guess she can't be all bad. I suppose I can learn a bit more about her in the morning.
"Goodnight…Yuki," he called hesitantly. All that he heard in reply was the soft, even sound of her breathing as she slept. He smiled and thought; Well…at least she doesn't snore.
*Taken directly from:
. # =0 (AAARRRGGG! WHY DOESN'T LET YOU POST WEBSITE IDS!? Hopefully, I will be able to post it on my profile.)
(I only added the first 'As,' put a space between 'the' and 'Rostov,' and exchanged a period with an ellipsis)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If there are any complaints or questions, please review and I will try to come up with answers to them!
Later!