Chapter 9
"So, Iggy says that they'll be going on hunts for most of the day, so they won't be around. It's alright though 'cause we have more training to do. He did say, though that if we get to it you can try these." Samn holds up a lance in one hand and two daggers in the other. "Said these are his spares." I nod as she sets them on the ground near us.
The sun isn't at it's peak yet, but it definitely has warmed up and gotten brighter. Samn pulls a pair of fingerless back gloves from her back pocket and slides them over her thin fingers.
"So, before we start there's a few things you should know about this world." I'm still wearing the same clothes, and I put my hands in my pockets. "The second thing? Gravity works a bit different…it's hard to explain, but it feels lighter. I'm not sure though if it's me or if this place actually has less gravity. It also could be because of the mana in the air…honestly I haven't figured it out."
Hmm…I've never heard any of that before…
I take my hands out of my pocket s and hop in place a little. I never noticed it before, but it's slightly easier.
"Now you can take advantage of this if you can learn magic." She claps her hands together with a smile. "Aero!" Suddenly a vortex of air appears and encircles her, then slowly she begins to rise off the ground.
Woah! Wait! What the hell?! How can she do magic without the Keyblade out?
"Hey…how are you doing tat without having the Keyblade out?" She smiles and descends as Aero fades.
"Dunno…I just can. I think it's the way this world is…like I said before, there might be mana in the air."
Hmm 'Mana in the air' So like MP in the air…? But I've never heard anything about that…hmm, that would explain why MP replenishes within time.
I sigh and run a hand through my bangs. "Okay, so then does hand to hand require me to learn magic as well?" She nods.
"So, here's my theory." She shifts her balance and I fold my arms. "We were brought here for who knows what reason, on arrival you got sick because the bacteria here is different from your home world; your body basically freaked out and thought you had the plague. I had the protection of the Keyblade, but you…not so lucky. The only reason you're okay now is because your body finally figured out what's malignant and what's benign…plus you ate the food here which might have sped up the process." She takes a breath and sighs it out, I smile softly.
And there it is…her secret wisdom, the reason she'll be okay after all this.
"If my theory is correct, your body should have converted or at least adjusted to this world. Honestly, I'm just guessing though, 'cause like I said, I didn't have this problem, so I don't know. I guess what I'm trying to say is that your body should be different now and with the amount of mana in the air you should be able to perform magic."
"Oh…cool, but where do I ever start?" I sigh, and a wicked grin crosses her face.
"Well first things first, you gotta learn how to dodge.
. . .
Unlike our first session, Samn actually takes the time to explain the basics of hand to hand and how not to get the shit kicked out of me. She carefully explains how to block, when to parry, how to strike and when, and how to know when to get the fuck outta the way. When it was time to spar I ended up using that information a lot. She would come at me fast, but then at the last minute would jump up and flip in the air and then come back down and punch the ground where I had previously been standing. It only took me getting hit by that twice to know the tells and get out of the way; an of course this time, I remembered to put my hair up tight.
Samn runs up at me and I put my arms up to protect my already aching face. She punches left, straight, left hook, right hook, jab, jab; I dodge them all up into the last one where I lose my footing a little and she manages to graze me.
Stupid ground, stupid boots, stupid Samn!
I feel anger well up inside me as she starts up again, barely giving me time to recover. Left jab, right hook, left jab, jab again.
Stupid! Mother-!
I grit my teeth and jump to the right, it catches her off guard and as I come down I right hook, catching her right in the face. She recoils hard and hits the ground with a loud thud and audible gasp. I jump back and wait for the inevitable backlash she's about to dish out. My breathing becomes slightly labored as I begin to realize how tired I really am.
She sits up from being sprawled out on the ground and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand revealing a bit of blood. She looks up at me, her eyes unreadable, and I tense up, but she sighs.
"Relax…I'm not gonna hit you back…that was good, let's just…take a break."
Oh, thank god…
I drop my guard and sigh before flopping down in front of her, my breathing still heavy. I spread my legs out to form a 'V' and place my hands palm down on the dirt behind me. My gaze goes from the sky to her as I try to calm my raging pulse.
I cringe slightly as I see her rub her face. "How's the face?"
I feel horrible, but at the same time I feel like she was really trying to hit me.
She sighs, basically telling me 'it hurts'. "It was a good punch, I just wish I had seen it coming." She looks up at the sky, squints and then looks back at me. "What'dya say we take a break for lunch and then you can try some real weapons?"
I stare at her, surprised. "You really think I'm ready for that?" She shrugs.
"You're a fast learner and you managed to deck me in the face, so I think we might as well give it a try. I wanted to take you on a hunt tomorrow…" She pulls her knees up and leans forward, I sigh seeing no alternative.
"Yeah, I guess so…" My stomach growls as if it knows we're talking about lunch.
"You wanna hit up the Crow's Nest?" She stands up in one quick motion and stretches her arms behind her head, I look up and smile softly.
Only if you wish to put on weight…That would have been Iggy's response to Prompto if he had said that…but really…Kenny Crow's? I'm not a fan of fish, but I kinda wanna try their food before I leave this place…if I can ever leave this place…
She extends her hand down and I squint against the sun. "Y'know what? Yeah, let's go." I take her hand and she yanks me to my feet. I dust my butt off and wipe my sweaty bangs back with my hand. "Man, I cannot wait to take a shower, I feel caked in all sorts of nasty shit."
She laughs and reaches down to pick up the lance and daggers; within seconds of touching them they disappear like the Keyblade would have. "C'mon let's get going before one of us keels over." I laugh as I follow her past the gas tanks, small building/shed and around a truck parked in Kenny's parking lot until finally were standing in front of it. The old Kenny Crow sitting on the bench in front of it catches my eye and I laugh again.
If the boys were here, Prompto would totally beg until one of us sat next to that thing…even though…it's totally nightmare fuel…
Samn jogs up the few steps into Kenny's and with the door wide open to the midday heat I follow easily.
"Welcome Ladies, what can I get for ya?" The man behind the counter seems nice, but plain in his red apron and blue hat. I glance around and despite it being lunch time, the place is kinda empty.
I look up at the boards above the counter, "Crow's Nest Diner, the nest you can always fly back to'. I smile and turn to the second one which is the actual menu.
Let's see…Kenny's Fries, Kenny's Salmon, Jettys…for drinks they got…coffee, Ebony coffee, café latte, black tea, orange juice, and draft beer.
"I'll have Kenny's Salmon and an Orange Jettys if ya got it." I snap back down to Samn as she swings around on the bar stool.
Ugh I don't want fish…fries it is…
"Alright, and what about you?" The cook turns to me as I sit down gently on a stool.
"Ah…Kenny Fries…and an Orange Jettys I guess." The man behind the counter smiles and rips the piece of paper off his pad with our order and hangs it up above the grill with a magnet. I watch him briefly as he goes to the fridge and gets out a bag of frozen fries and dumps them in the basket and lowers it into the oil with a sharp hiss, but then he moves away again, and I decide to look around the old diner.
Old red and stainless-steel stools line the bar, Samn and I in toward the middle. Behind us, booths with the same color scheme line the wall. By the door there's some kind of arcade game and the bathroom seems to be over there too.
Suddenly, the smell of fried fish hits my nose along with the smell of my fries and I begin to feel slightly nauseous.
Not a fan of fish…this is just like that 50's restaurant in the mall back home where you get heart disease just by walking by.
The man behind the counter, who doesn't seem to even have a name tag, walks away again toward a fridge for a minute then comes back with two bottles of orange something-or-other, he then comes back and sets them in front of us.
"It's not often people ask for flavored Jettys" He puts both hands on the counter and smiles.
I pick up my bottle and examine it; there's nothing special about it other than being called Jettys, it looks like any other glass bottle of soda I've had. Samn looks at me and then pops the top off with her palm in one quick motion, then extends her glass for 'cheers' as the man behind the counter chuckles and spins back around to continue cooking whatever is making that horrible smell.
I roll my eyes and fight the smell as I 'clink' my glass to hers and then twist my cap off and place it gently on the counter. She puts hers to her lips and put's it back like she would a beer. When she finally puts it down there's a third missing, I lift mine up and sip it, warry of the taste.
This is made with real sugar, I can tell…it's actually not so bad…
I sip it again, but make sure to save some for my fries, however out of the corner of my eye, I see her staring at me. I put the bottle down and turn to her. "What?"
"Sooo, whatcha think?"
I think you're staring at me like some five-year-old stares at their parent who's holding their latest macaroni portrait...
"Um…it's good, made with real sugar, I think. Reminds me of an orange soda I used to drink when I was a kid at this old Chicken place." She nods and sops hers again as the smell really starts to get to me. "Hey…uh…listen, do you mind if I wait outside? The smell of fish…" Her eyes go wide for a minute.
"Oh no, go ahead, I'll bring it out when it's done, no worries." She smiles as I take my bottle, slide off the stool, and head for the open door.
As I step out into the fresh air, the midday sun beats down on me, making me move quickly to the benches with the creepy Kenny Crow which have some cover for my pasty white self. I sigh as I sit down and glance to the right, bottle hanging loosely in my hands. There's a small grocery truck over there now, with an umbrella propped up against the sun. There's a girl sitting in a plastic lawn chair under it and she waves to me with a smile.
"Sure, is hot today isn't it?" I'm not ready for her to talk to me so I just stare and wave awkwardly for a second.
"Uh, y-yeah…I guess it is, isn't it?" Whether my face is giving off heat because of impending sunburn or embarrassment I'm not sure.
"I run this little shop, so if you need anything let me know. If I don't have it, I'll try to get it for you." She smiles, and I nod in response.
Helpful.
"O-okay…thanks." She smiles and lefts up a book from her lap and starts to read.
Well that was awkward…
I sigh and lean back into the bench, resting my head on the top part and closing my eyes as I try to listen to the sounds of Longwythe.
I wonder what the boys are doing…I feel bad that they have to go on a hunt to pay for my room…I'll have to find some way to pay them back…and then there's Samn…what in this world could cause someone to lose all of their memory from here…could it be something Ardyn will do? Or perhaps some type of daemon like a Mindflayer? I'll have to keep watch…she'll have a better life after this…
"Yooouu, okay?" I open my eyes, startled, as Samn stands in front of me with two to-go boxes in her hands and her glass bottle under her arm.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking…" I slide over, (away from Nightmare Kenny) and she hands me a box before sitting down beside me (on the Kenny side). I open my box to find it full of Kenny Fries and a small sauce cup with what I hope is ketchup; I raise it suspiciously and Samn laughs.
"It's ketchup, relax." I nod and take the top off before dipping a fry and popping it into my mouth.
Not bad Kenny, not bad.
Out of the corner of my eyes I see her open her container, but to my shock it's not Kenny's Salmon, but a burger.
"What is that?" She raises her burger to her mouth but stops and stares at me bewildered.
"A burger?" I can see the wheels turning in her mind. "Oh! After you left he said that the Salmon went bad and his truck won't get here till tonight, but he had some burger patty's left, so he made me one." I nod acceptingly.
"I didn't know they served regular food too." She nods as she takes a bite seeming to like the flavor because she closes her eyes and 'mm's'
That good huh?
She sets it back down and takes a sip of Jettys while I snack on my fries. "Yeah, they have a normal plastic menu that it's on, sorry I thought you knew for some reason. If you want to go back for dinner we can ask Iggy, but he probably already has something in mind, or will say no to save money." I sigh and pop another fry into my mouth with Ketchup on one end.
Yeah that sounds like him…but the boys shouldn't have been on their journey for very long yet…how does she know them so well already? Seems to me like they are still on their way to Galdin…
You're doing it again…" I take a sip of my drink, confused.
"Doing what?"
"Spacing out…what's on your mind?" She smiles softly, and I drop the fry I was gonna eat into my box and sigh.
"Lots of stuff…like this place, the boys, you, training, how we're gonna get home…I don't even know how you know them so well…" She takes another bite and smiles, mouth closed. She only speaks after she swallows.
"I understand…but I can answer that for ya, it's actually pretty simple. They ran out of gas close to Hammerhead and I just happened to be out there on a hunt so when I saw four boys in black pushing that nice a car I stopped to see what's up and ended up hitching the Regalia up to my truck and brought them to Cid, as you can imagine I was a bit shocked that Noct is a prince and on his way to his wedding, but in my line of work, shit happens. I got over it pretty quick and we just kinda hung out while Cindy fixed up the car and ran a few errands for Takka to get some Gil to pay for repairs." I smile remembering what happened when I played.
"Old Cid did 'teach them there boys a lesson', didn't he?" She looks at me surprised, but then it fades; I know what I did, but it seems like if I say stuff around her pertaining to past events that she doesn't care.
"Yeah, yeah he did." She leans back, and I notice her burger's mostly gone, but she seems done. I look down at my fries and sigh, full as well.
The sun is still high in the sky and the temperature seems to be rising, at some point I'll have to find some sunblock…I put the top back on my fries and set it beside me and lean forward, my elbows on my knees, my head in my hands. Samn moves and I glance at her.
"Ya done?" She slaps her hands on her knees and stands up as I nod. "Time to get back to it then." I groan inwardly and look around for a trash can as I stand, fries are no good cold and soggy anyway…
She leads me around to the other side of the entrance door where a trash can shaped like Kenny Crow is waiting, mouth open and ready to eat our trash. "Yep…I was right, nightmare fuel…" She laughs as we dump out trash and I take the last sip of my glass bottle orange soda before dropping it in the recycling bin next to Kenny the Nightmare Trash Can.
Samn looks to me ready and raring to go, "You ready for some real weapons?" I sigh knowing this will hurt.
"No, not really, but let's go."
Hi everyone *waves* i know I've been posting kinda odd lately and not really sticking to the schedule that i had planned, and i'm sorry for that and that's why i'm giving you some warning. I'm gonna take a bit of a break from Ebony and Fire and Kingdom Hearts: The Extra so i can update Death Note: The Other Side a bunch so feel free to leave comments and stuff but i wanna hit CH 50 in DNTOS before i come back ^^ I HAVE NOT ABANDONED THE OTHER FICS i will be back! *Charges off into writers block and plots in front on the tv with death note playing and a pen in hand.*