With the depressing, comes the happy...maybe...well, this is happier than the last one at least. Warning: If you are hungry, eat something before you read this. You've been warned. Well, it made me hungry, then again I was the one typing this. Oh yeah, FYI, big thanks to you guys. I got 30 followers and 16 favorites! Woot Woot! Happy Qopster is very happy! Anyway, have fun reading!
It had been a few weeks since the incident. Everyone besides the two people involved the most in it seemed to calm down about it. Both of them still holed up in their rooms. Jarvan left a lot more often though, not exactly holed up in his room. He still had his duties as prince of Demacia to attend to.
Shyvana had none of these, and in her mind, she was no longer a part of Demacia. She was just there. She was just the friends of Nami, Soraka, Sona, Ahri, and that was that.
Sona sat in Shyvana's room, softly strumming her instrument as Shyvana relaxed, resting her head in her lap.
Shyvana felt a gentle tap on her forehead, opening her eyes to read the golden letters. "Do you want to go outside soon? It's really nice out. A nice warm spring day with a cool breeze. You don't want to miss a day like this."
"Hm…soon…" she said, closing her eyes. "Just for a small bit though…I don't want anything bad to happen."
Another gentle tapping made her open her eyes again to see a frowning Sona. "Nothing bad is going to happen, okay Shyvana? Calm down." She ran her hand through her hair. "Just relax."
"Hm…okay…" she grumbled, closing her eyes.
Ahri, Soraka, Nami, and Sona had made progress with Shyvana. She would at least eat twice a day and did talk with them, but getting her out and about without becoming scared of running into Jarvan or Talon, who was currently in maximum security prison, was a work in progress.
They had gotten her out and about a few times though, and today was the day Ahri was supposed to have her plan ready to finally get Shyvana out of her shell once and for all. Sona was to watch her, but she was wondering if her kitsune friend hadn't had gotten sidetracked.
Ahri burst in, smiling ear to ear as she hopped over and sat on the bed, bouncing on it. "Guess whaaaat~!"
Shyvana had jumped like a demon had been chasing her when Ahri had burst in, Sona jumping a little, caught extremely off guard by the vixen.
"What is it?" Shyvana asked, tilting her head in curiosity.
"Heh heh," Ahri's smile changed into a sly grin. "Sona, hallway, now!"
Wait, what's going on? Sona thought as she was suddenly dragged into the hallway, as befuddled as Shyvana was.
Ahri grined as she slowly closed the door, peaking her head in before she did. "It'll only be a moment Shyvana. Don't worry, your musician will return shortly!" She closed the door and grinned at Sona. "I have a plan."
She rolled her eyes. "Not that I couldn't tell based on how you're acting."
"Oh shut up and listen would you?" Ahri said, rolling her eyes and smirking. "I have an idea. It's something that always makes people happy."
"What is it? Spill it already."
"A Cake shop." Ahri said firmly.
"Cake shop?"
"Yup yup, a cake shop. Well, I mean it's really a bakery, but it has the best cake ever! I swear, this will cheer her up!"
"Why didn't you just bring her some cake from the shop instead of making this into a trip?"
"Just trust me here. I swear this will be worth the trip. Really, it will be. The shop itself is amazing. All I need is for you to convince her to come out and go shopping with us, okay?"
"Okay, just give me a bit."
Within a few minutes, a curious Shyvana in a red t shirt and a pair of jean shorts with her hair recently combed back came out, led by a smiling Shyvana. "Easier than I expected."
"Well, I wasn't going to say no if it was with you two." She pulled out a wallet from her pocket along with a credit card. "Do I need this?"
"We're going shopping, so of course you do silly," Ahri said, grinning ear to ear before pointing down the hall. "Let's gooooo~!"
Ahri opened the door to the sweet shop she had been talking about for a few minutes, a little bell ringing out as she called out, "Hiya! I'm back with some new customers!"
The bakery was a bit of a shock to anyone's eyes. First of all, it was 99.99% pink. Pink wallpaper, pink carpeting, pink counters with some white here and there. Pink cupcakes decorations hung in the air, the lights had a pink paper decorations around them so that even the lighting had a pink tinge to it.
Enough about the scenery. There were some many delicious treats of display. Cookies, cupcakes, cream puffs, cakes, short cakes, pastries, doughnuts, cheesecake, biscuits, gelatins, ice cream, ice cream cake, parfait, pies, puddings, and an assortment of candies. Of course, to house all of this, this area made up an entire city block and was three stories tall, with nothing but unhealthy goodies to dine on the first two floors. On the top floor there was a café that sold everything shown, but also had coffee, tea, and small sandwiches and the like.
The smell coming from the double doors was that of an intoxicating sweetness that threatened to make everyone new to the place to make a fountain of drool and beg for any of the sweets for sale.
This place was favored by many people, Demacian and Noxian alike. This was a place where if the two groups got into a fight, they could call their security which was strong enough to even slow down Jinx. Not stop, but slow down enough for Piltover's finest to get there.
Not even Jinx targeted this place, the Sweet Factory as it was called, just because even she loved here and getting something to eat every now and then. When she wasn't being hunted at least.
"Oh, hey Ahri." A massive man standing around 7 feet tail towered over them as he set a box of cookies on the shelf. "What can I do for you and your friends?"
"Nothing~!" she said, humming happily. "I know the layout of this place, I know where to go." She then led them away.
Sona was staring at every single little sweet thing in the store, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open until Ahri closed it with a giggle, making her blush in embarrassment. Shyvana was similar, but she was staring at the cakes mainly. She broke away from the group and stared at the cakes in one glass counter.
The baker behind the counter smiled at how excited she had gotten. "Do you like them?" He pointed to the one Shyvana was staring at. "That's strawberry shortcake. Would you like a slice?"
Shyvana snapped herself out of it and was blushing as she nodded. He laughed at how red her face was and pulled out the cake, cutting off a generous slice. "For here or to go?"
"Ah…um…" She looked back at Ahri who pointed at the ground and mouthed, 'For here.'
"For here." Shyvana said, smiling.
"Okay!" He placed it on a plate that had small flowers that decorated the rim and handed it over the counter. "Would you like a glass of milk with it?"
"Would you recommend one?"
"Yes I would," he said with a grin.
"Yes please." Shyvana said happily. She handed him her credit card which he returned along with a receipt and her glass of milk. "Thank you," she said before heading over to a grinning Ahri.
"Told ya so Sona," she said, earning a pout from Sona.
"Told her what?" Shyvana asked, confused.
"Heh heh, this was to cheer you up. And in case you didn't know, you're smiling pretty damn wide right now."
"I am?" Shyvana felt her cheeks and sure enough she was. She blushed a bit but smiled even more. "Thanks, this place is worth the trip…um…where can we eat?"
"Follow me!" Ahri led them to a table by the window. There were a few tables on the first and second floors for those who wanted to eat their desserts there. Ahri stole a chair from another table so that all three of them could eat there. She then grabbed Sona's wrist and tugged her to the displays.
"We'll be back soon. We just need to get something for ourselves!"
"Ah, okay," Shyvana said, staring at the strawberry shortcake. She poked it with her fork, wondering if it was as good as Ahri made it seem like it was. Oh god I wanna eat it…I should wait for them though. She steeled her nerves and waited, squirming in her seat as she oh so desperately wanted to try it.
Ahri and Sona returned a few minutes later. Ahri had with her a glass of milk and a dark chocolate lava cake and a glass of milk while Sona had a weird ice cream float kind of thing. It had a lot of different kinds of fruit in it, kiwis, strawberries, bananas, and had a cherry nestled on top of some whipped cream on top.
They sat down, Ahri looking at Shyvana surprised. "You haven't started yet?"
"I was waiting for you two," she said, smiling a little.
"Awww, that's sweet, right Sona?" Ahri asked, looking at her friend to see she already had a forkful at her mouth, a slight blush at her face. Ahri laughed at the sight and waved her hands. "Enough talking, let's eat!"
The other two nodded, although Sona's nodding was as she ate her desert. Shyvana slid her fork through her slice of cake, gently lifting up the piece she cut off. She held her hand under it as she slid the fork into her mouth.
Her eyes went wide at the explosion of sweetness flooded her mouth, the creamy whipped toping and soft sponge cake only completing the bliss she felt. Soona and Ahri looked similar in appearance, all of them on cloud 9 just enjoying their first bite of their deserts.
She snapped out of her thoughts as she felt a hand on her shoulder, Ahri and Sona already back to normal. "Hey Shyvana, this isn't the only reason we brought you out here." She shared a look with Sona, both of them nodding. "We wanted to talk to you about what happened back at the palace."
Her face went pale and she moved her eyes away, bringing her limbs close to herself. The desert suddenly didn't look so appetizing. "What do you mean?"
Sona shook her head as she gently strummed on her ethwhal. "You know what we mean. You've been getting better but you still don't like leaving your room even for the competitions. You need to make money. Besides that, you didn't at for a while, and refuse to see lots of others unless we're there. We being myself, Ahri, Soraka, or Nami."
Shyvana said nothing, just brought her knees up to her chest.
"We just want you to get better," Ahri continued, picking up from where Sona left off. Sona continued to play a gentle melody. "Tell us what's wrong. Please Shyvana, for your friends."
Shyvana, Ahri, and Sona were silent except for the sound of Sona's playing in the background. That was until Shyvana's shoulders started shaking, and a muffled sob came from her.
Ahri immediately bolted up, shaking the table as she wrapped her arms and tails around Shyvana, while Sona kept on playing her calming melody.
"Shh, just tell us what's wrong, okay?"
"I…I killed…so many people…I-I've done it before…" she snuiffed. "I-I've killed…humans….hunting me, but this…this was…" She gasped for air. "It's my fault they're all dead."
Ahri let Shyvana cry into her side for a while, stroking her hair. "Shh, no, it's not. Look at me." When Shyvana only buried her face deeper into her side, Ahri forcefully pushed her back and reached out, tilting her chin up. "Look at me."
Reluctantly, the half dragoness looked up at her, her eyes red and puffy. "It's not your fault, nobody besides you thinks it is. You need to stop beating yourself up about it. I'm not saying forget about what happened, nor am I saying it was okay, but I'm saying you need to move forward." Shyvana tried to look away but Ahri wasn't done. "If you want to carry that burden, then fine, do it, but keep on moving forward so that those who died won't look down on you from above." Wait, but if they're above in heaven, doesn't that mean they'd be looking down on her no matter what? Ah, fuck, please don't think like me, Ahri thought.
"But…if I was stronger, then…"
"Then Talon who have found some other way to trick someone else into going along with his plan," she interrupted. "If you want to, make yourself stronger and stronger until nobody can control you. That way you can live with the burden and still move forward, alright?"
Shyvana wiped away a tear and smiled shakily. "T-thank you…" she said softly.
"No problem," Ahri said, hugging her tightly. "What are friends for?"
"You're right," she said, smiling. She hugged Ahri tightly, looking out the window, only to have such a beautiful moment ruined. Outside, coming to the very same shop was Garen, Lux, and Jarvan the fourth. Shyvana's eyes went wide as she had the sudden urge to bolt and get away, despite everything they just talked about.
I would put "Dun dun dun," but the amount of n's necessary would fill like, half a page. So anyway, yeah, what'll happen next. I KNOW! YOU DON'T! HAHAHA! I want strawberry shortcake...anyway, till next time. Review, follow, and favorite for more! Ciao ciao!