"Lies... All of it..."
Velvet's boiling glare burned away through memory, hissing her words quietly as the dainty petals of the Princessia she held dearly swayed in the biting air, having overcome the sheer icy marsh and sprouted deep with the snow. "They say flowers have different meanings and stuff, right? Any idea what Princessias signify?" the samurai questioned with a scratch of his chin.
The daemoness crushed the flower in her hand with a growl of inward anger, while her tone did not match the rush she felt boil within. "Betrayal," she stated with a conflicted expression, letting the damaged remnants trail out of her open palm and onto the innocent white.
Rokurou raised an eyebrow at the shift in atmosphere, "Oh?" he goaded, waiting for a further explanation. Instead, she continued her trek back towards the Boreal smothered in ice; relishing in the view of various creatures crawling out from under the chilling mattress. She had something to work out of her system.
Squelch!
While the brooding ravenette brutalised the ambushing daemons, the samurai aimed a questioning look over to the other ambient figure who idly crouched by the floral corpse. Sarid just wordlessly shook his head with closed eyes.
It didn't take long to reach their destination again, and as they went to travel back through their shortcut, there was only one issue.
"...Is this really necessary?" Velvet snarled as she stood with a harsh deadpan, having her arms crossed as she leant against the wall. She was instantly hushed by the white-haired malak who peered around the corner for the third time already.
"Yes, it is. Unless you want to parade around the city covered in blood?" Sarid asked incredulously, picking up a hefty bucket he may or may not have stolen from a neighbouring trade ship. The daemon huffed, looking away from the preparing man. The samurai who stood nearby stifled a chuckle at what he was witnessing, only to immediately quieten as he recieved one of the stronger glares from the daemon woman.
Velvet had gone a little too far with her bouts, dousing her in a unnatural amount of crimson liquid that wouldn't pass for a hunt. Therefore, Sarid had the amazing idea of quickly washing off the equivalent of a hungry lion; a lion that eyed him a bit too dangerously for his liking. The daemoness grumbled as she began to brood once again, caught up in her thoughts as she wordlessly evaluated their next plan of action. 'We've got that daemon's tail, should suffice as enough evidence for his death. Now, we just have to talk to the guild and--!' She was suddenly interrupted, as an extremely uncomfortable sensation wracked her body. "Hah!?" she randomly sounded out, until her eyes focused on who stood in front of her.
Sarid stood a bit away with a slightly irritated expression, while Rokurou stood off to the side with mildly widened eyes. He had thrown ice cold water over her with the bucket.
"There," he simply said, proud of his action. "You can't feel the cold, and this will slowly wash off anything el--" He stopped, finally adjusting to the view in front of him.
Velvet sighed heavily as she looked over her form. Chilling water she couldn't feel gently cascaded down her fair skin, soaking into what little clothing she did wear under the long onyx coat, causing it to hug her tighter in a discomforting manner. Smudges of ivory steadily faded and washed away under the veil of aqua she had been covered in, the distinct vermillion now only mildly contrasting with parts of her cloak. She raised her hand, as droplets slowly dripped from running along her unblemished muscles. "You..." she whispered in discontent.
"Didn't know you were into that, Sarid," Rokurou stated with a smug look, truly unaffected by the sight. However, the only human there felt his mind go slightly haywire for a split second, until he shook it off with a quick whip of his head.
"It's not that bad, besides I'm not even done," he attempted to confidently say. Placing his hands together in a basic motion, he shuffled as close as he could while staying out of reach of Velvet's harrowing glare and potentially any gnashing talons that came with it. Taking in a deep breath, he blew as gently as possible, and a visible haze escaped his mouth like vapour. The daemon's eyes narrowed, until she was doused in a relaxing warmth that soothed her figure. The remaining water quickly evaporated, and her garments relaxed into a comfortable feeling over her body. "See? Barely any blood left," he reasoned with a nervous smile.
The ravenette hummed with a rapid tap on her bicep, her glare still present. Sarid's smile cracked slightly as the haze dissipated. Velvet eventually closed her eyes with a deep breath, and let out a tch as she pushed off the wall, and turned around the corner; entering the Hellewas docks. The half-malak sighed in relief, as Rokurou finally let his laugh burst from his mouth at the man's befuddlement. Under the canopy of embarrassment, Sarid looked up with a slight smile. 'One way to get your mind off things, I guess...' he chuckled inwardly with a shiver, the look he still recieved after another brief glance around the corner growing steadily more dangerous.
"Mount Killaraus in the North, huh...?" the half-malak mused to himself, as the group trodded through the still bustling roads of the city.
"What's got you so interested?" the samurai pitched in with a raised brow, stepping over along the icy path. "Is the volcano important or something?"
"Of course it's important," Sarid affirmed, "It's just... from what that woman said, if it's the only place to mine flamestone, then no wonder it's got all these criminals into illegal trade," he explained with a contemplative expression, eyes slightly brighter in being able to discuss normal conversation with someone.
"I guess that is quite interesting..." Rokurou replied with a similar face. "They could quite easily cause some destruction with that!" he strangely grinned at the thought. "Imagine all that flamestone going off, would be quite a sight to see."
Sarid changed his mind. This was no normal conversation.
However, while the two boys discussed the trade of flamestone as a whole, the ravenette still stalked off in front. Completely ignorant of the shrill winds that burst into her unshakeable figure - brushing right off her bare skin - and sending waves of snowflakes down the winding streets in droves. She fiercely strolled down the street center as the few residents parted like water before her bow, her mind always full of deadly images and visages of who she's become; who she would be by the end of this path she walked. There is no changing, no going back. She would only fall, once his pulsing heart lay in her grip as she devoured him. 'Artorias... that coward,' she insulted inwardly with distaste.
The bag she carried at her waist easily presented it's contents, as the lizard daemon's tail stuck out of the top completely unmoving. The civilians who knew, gasped as she went past, while the one's who didn't stared on with distasteful indifference.
Soon enough, the view of the ship guild came entered her sights, and the group from before still stood idly by in the freezing breeze; illuminated by the unfeeling sun. However, two distinctly perked up as she approached, especially upon noticing the sack she carried around her waist. Noticing two other sets of footsteps catch up with her, she grabbed the bag at her side and threw it at the guild master; who almost fumbled the catch as he noticed the object that jutted out of it. "This is Dyle's tail! Did you... Did you really kill him!?" he barked with disbelief.
"We found him dead in a lake of tar, this is all we could bring back," Velvet easily lied.
"Is that so...?"
"You can doubt me all you like, but I've brought you the daemon's body. Who else can say that?" she efficiently reasoned with a bite to her tone.
"...True enough."
Velvet narrowed her eyes with a disgruntled look, cross her arms. "Good. Get to work on my ship, then."
The guild crew shared a nervous look as she tapped her foot impatiently. "W-We can't. We need to wait for Lady Teresa's permission first." Her eyes hardened and narrowed.
"I'm in a hurry," she began walking towards them, a evident thud in each step that displaced more snow than usual. As she stopped, her tone became firm and sharp, "It would be much worse for you if she knew who the real smuggler's were." Their eyes collectively widened, as some looked up in alarm.
"You wouldn't!" the guild master yelled as he leapt forward slightly, before shying away at a particularly threatening stomp in his direction.
"It's a trade," she offered coldly. "Repair my ship on the beach, and I sail away quietly."
The Shipping Guild Master visibly sank with a sigh, before regaining his posture and swallowed his pride. "Very well. I'll find you your shipwrights, we'll see you on the shore." Velvet stepped back with a nod, as the Master hurried off into the building quickly.
"Hey, Velvet," she turned to see Rokurou and Sarid approach from the sidelines; the half-malak seeming a bit more discontent then usual. "This would be the perfect time for you to upgrade your equipment, how 'bout it?" he asked with a wry grin.
"That thing you wrangled Sarid to do do?" she questioned, thinking back to when the samurai showed off his new weapons, with a satisfied but disgruntled half-malakhim at his side.
"Not exactly, more similar to what Sarid here requested," he glanced over at the half-malak, only too see him frown as he was brought into the conversation.
'What's going on?' Velvet wondered, catching the reactions of the white-haired man who stood off to the side. "If that's all it is, I'll be fine," she finished with a disinterested wave of her hand.
However, Rokurou wasn't completely pleased with her answer. "Come on, you may as well have a look while Sarid gets his weapons checked, ain't that right?" At his eventual words, the malak sighed as he brought a hand to his forehead. Velvet just looked away with a roll of her eyes. "Alright, let's go!" With his sudden assertion, he jogged past, not before giving Velvet a shove on the shoulder as he travelled back over to the Weapon's Trader.
"H-Hey! You don't need to be so pushy!" the daemon shouted with a grumble.
"We're going to have to get used to it, sadly," Sarid's cool voice came from her side, a traumatised expression on his face. "He won't stop until you've done it, come on," he explained with a light pat on her shoulder. Velvet just groaned in response and followed along.
The werewolf scrambled among the snow in a desperate mound of flaky ice, a feral alertness in its motion as it wildly scoured and sniffed through the vacant howl of the blizzard. Until, a split discharge echoed throughout the crying winds, and the spiralling snow hued the crackling yellow that shot down like a bullet. "Sorry about this!" A youthful voice cried, barely piercing the overwhelming thunder of the North.
The enshrouded beast could only spare a glance at the blinding sun, until an visage of shadow materialised in its veiling rays; sending the daemon's stunned maw into the earth with a shattering plume of dust. Only a moment passed by, before it was wrenched up in an crimson appendage - writhing with darkness - as its insides instantly coated the innocent snow. The daemon woman huffed with indignance, gently swiping her bandaged arm over the thick ivory she now bore. As the red liquid mysteriously began to vanish from her vestments, she grumbled as a flash occurred next to her, and the man appeared without a speck of blood on his resolute garments.
"God, you're a messy eater, aren't you?" Sarid groaned as he mindlessly stepped over the vermillion-mixed white. Velvet just whipped her arm of excess blood - decorating the malak's turned back in dotted red - and turned on her heel to continue their journey towards their abandoned ship.
The samurai hustled over with a jostle of his equipment he hefted over his back for the short travel. "Thanks for the save back there, didn't expect us to miss one earlier," Rokurou stated with a push of the other man's shoulder and a wry grin at the line of ivory Sarid silently grumbled about. "Real helpful that you got all you're knives now, but, did you seriously apologise to that daemon?"
The half-malak shrugged with a sigh, and lulled up a slight smirk, "Old habits die hard, I guess--"
"Boys, move it." Her voice pierced the crying winds, and the two men swiftly began moving again to catch up to the ravenette in the unyielding Icecaps, but not without sharing a despairing chuckle. Soon enough, they entered that familiar break in the mountainous shards of ice and rock; spotting the gentle crisp flap of torn sails over the violent crash of oceanic waves. As the unusual pair followed in the wake of Velvet's unrivalled determination through the fierce blows of nature, a casual discussion in the soaring snowflakes was taking place before their cracked hull. It was the sailors that resided in the Shipping Guild back in Hellewas. Velvet hummed as they well entered her sights, "So, they kept their word," she breathed with the same monotonous look.
The sailors' eyes lit up in recognition as the trio steadily travelled under the hidden mist of the North. The repetitive crunch of snow began to grind her enhanced senses; becoming increasingly fed up of this unfeeling area they were wrecked in. The master stepped up to the hastily approaching daemon with a sorrowful and hardened gaze, "She's hopeless, her keel's busted. It'd be faster to build a new ship."
"Her keel?" Velvet questioned with a raised brow, as her hair swayed in the chilling breeze.
The most knowledgeable member of their group decided to step in, "The main structural component of a ship that keeps it heading straight ahead. Without it, well..." Sarid started with a thoughtful look as he evaluated the condition of their ship.
"You could say she's like a man with a broken back," Rokurou finished for the half-malak, gaining a congratulative nod in response. However, a stupefied expression came over the sailor they stood with immediately as he scanned the location where the crash had occurred.
"And how in the blazes did you end up running aground here? I wouldn't think it possible-"
"If you can't help, that's enough. Go back to town," Velvet interrupted, a clear scowl on her face that sent the sailors scampering off into the wailing snow.
Rokurou watched them leave with a contemplative expression, his hand gripping his chin in thought. "What now? Do we try to find a new ship?"
The daemoness didn't look to him, her gaze boring through the shattered wood weathering away before her. "I can't think of anything else, I just hope we have time." However, just as their plans continued to break, a shuffle of sound came from behind them. Sarid held a palm to his temple, a concentrated face glowering with underlying suspicion. The two daemons turned to cast their full attention, as confusion filled their eyes.
"Hold your thoughts, we should hurry back. I fear that we may have been discovered," he suddenly revealed mysteriously, eyes hardening in seriousness. Alarms blared in their eyes at his words - not questioning his strange abilities - as Velvet went to storm past. A hand abruptly latched onto her shoulder, "This'll be much faster, don't worry," Sarid affirmed without context. She glared at him as he smiled and laid another hand on Rokurou's shoulder. "Brace yourselves." Then, in a flash, they disappeared.
A single spark of yellow illuminated the icecaped trench for a split second, until three figures materialised in its place. Rokurou stumbled a bit as he lost his balance in the snow, but steadied himself with an amused grin. Whereas, the daemon woman caught herself immediately; placing a dazed hand on her forehead with a grimace. Sarid jumped up with unwavering conviction, as he showed himself free of any side-effects. "As you two don't, I apparently have to be the one who plans ahead," he joked with a flip of his kunai he had stuck into the stone. "Having more of these means I can teleport about six times as much as well."
Velvet rolled her eyes with a tch, and whipped around to face the great wall they had once travelled quite a way from. "Let's just get moving, if what you said is true, we don't have time to waste."
"And I don't think those sailors would let us off the hook if we suddenly got here before them," Rokurou added with another wolfish smirk. They all nodded, before increasing their pace down the pathway towards their secret entrance. Until, they were stopped by a strange group of residents conversing from behind one of the rocks. "Huh," the samurai exclaimed, "I guess they're faster than I thought." The sailors from before blinked in bafflement at their sudden appearance, but shook it off in favour of the subject at hand.
The Guild Master approached with gossip on his lips, "There was word from the Abbey," he said with worry. "They're holding a public execution for a witch who tried to draw daemons into the city."