Ch 29: Vytal Festival
Indi went to the lobby first that morning, the team deciding it best to be sure they were not going to run into any unwelcome surprises before even making it to the arena. Of course, no one is ever really that lucky. As Indi made it to the dorm lobby, there was Loki and Dove. They must have been waiting on their teammates because Indi noticed them looking over each time the elevators went off.
There was a devilish smirk starting on Loki's lips but before she could even try to start anything, Dove looked up from her scroll and reached out and shoved the woman away by the face. Indi could hear her as she was walking over, "Loki fuck off you'll get enough fun today go wait outside!"
Loki was walking off as Indi got to them. She just needed to know how long they were going to be lurking around so she knew if she needed to just go grab her team's breakfast for them or if she could just wait it out for the all clear. Dove eyed her sternly. It was only then that Indi realized how cross she came off, body language of someone with an air of aggression, "Can I help you?"
Indi stared at the woman for a bit before responding, "Not heading over for breakfast?"
Dove closed her scroll and put it into her pocket. Her suspicious gaze roaming across Indi's face before she answered, "Just waiting for Venere and Raiden then we will be off. What about you? I don't think I've seen you alone yet. Where are your friends?"
Indi hates the way she says that word, as if speaking of her teammates is some sort of toxin on the woman's tongue. She was pretty sure she wasn't including Sterling, which only made the raven haired girl's anger more heated. She composed herself quickly though, "They should be down soon. I was simply getting restless in the room so I decided to wait for them down here."
She lied of course but Indi was oddly good at it for someone who almost never did it. Her constant studies of people and mannerisms had taught her quite well how to mimic certain behaviors. She was unable to suppress her surprise however at the next thing to come out of Dove's mouth, staring at the woman with wide eyes and mouth slightly ajar after hearing it. Dove glanced away and sighed, "How is Jin's mouth? Is she alright?"
Granted, Dove barely sounded sincere, the barest of the notion on her lips, but Indi hadn't expected her to even care. When she realized Dove was getting irked by her staring she gathered herself, responding calmly, only the slightest hint of fire in her tone, "Healed and ready to start today no thanks to your friend."
Dove scoffed and a smirk found its way to her face, "Can't wait to hear her talk."
Indi's frown was palpable. Dove chuckled a bit, the ding of the elevator going off behind them as her teammates stepped out and over, going to join Loki outside. Dove pulled out her scroll, Indi's eyes catching the screen clearly as Dove was speaking as she walked away with them, "Tell my cousin I said good luck. She's going to need it."
—-
Sterling led the others downstairs after getting the ok from Indi on his scroll. When they caught up with Indi they headed out for breakfast. They had just enough time to eat and rush over to the airships giving the travelers transport to the coliseum. Luckily they managed to not end up on a ship with team LVDR.
On the trip over, Indi rolled the comment around in her head before finally sharing, "Hey Jin?"
She heard the hum of a wordless answer and continued, voice genuine, "Your cousin said to tell you good luck today. It seemed… earnest."
Spadix felt Jin's hand grip hers tighter and could sense the heat rising higher off the body next to herself. She turned and saw Jin's face. The dragon seemed set off but she looked to be trying to hold it down. The rest of the ride Jin stayed quiet, Spadix rubbing her thumb over the dragon's hand as she listened to Indi and Sterling talking over training reminders to themselves. She could tell Jin was trying her best to center herself and stay calm even if she was struggling, trembling in the dragon's hand off and on told Spadix it was taking all her concentration and efforts.
Spadix rested against Jin's shoulder to give the most support she could without distracting her girlfriend, feeling the reassuring squeeze to her hand that told her Jin was still with her and present. After what felt like an agonizing eternity, the ship docked and let them out. The coliseum had been rebuilt, since the original was now used for a CCT structure but made with the same concepts in mind, other than being more up to date in comparison.
Spadix was nervous but actually excited. Team JSSN had really grown and she felt this time around they were going to really do even better together. Of course, any chance to also move to the second round and be able to work side by side with Jin also made her elated. She enjoyed training with Jin so much in these few weeks, more than she thought she would.
They had grown more in sync with each other both on and off the battlefield and she just couldn't wait to put it to the test. Spadix, while hating the sheer amount of people, was actually really interested in the festival itself even if it was hard for most people to believe.
Jin gave another squeeze, grounding them both from the extreme ends of their emotions with a gentle smile. The owl calmed, the team walking to find seats for the opening ceremonies. Each school had displays and presentations before speeches of grandeur and much cheering all around.
Team JSSN observed a few fights, no teams they recognized and mostly too on edge to really enjoy them, before heading to the carts and vendors back on the ground for lunch. Plenty of speakers on the fairgrounds would let them know who the next matchups were to be with enough time to get back up there and ready.
Finding a cart serving a mixture of food, they all got something light they would enjoy. Spadix finished her grilled chicken before the others and looked around, spying something that made her smile. She rubbed Jin's arm sweetly, "I'll be right back. I need to find a restroom."
The dragon merely nodded. Spadix didn't need a restroom but she didn't want Jin to follow her. She made her way to a few fair games and came over to one where the goal was to take the BB gun and shoot the star out of the center of the paper before you run out of pellets. Among the top prizes was a cartoonish looking cute stuffed chinese dragon, the fabric was clearly the thin cheap kind on most toys for these games but it was shimmery and gold with bright yellow hair and yellow plastic eyes.
She turned to the carny who was smirking, glaring at her like she was some kid in over her head, "Hey there little girl. Wanna give it a go? For the one you are eyein' though you'll have to get 3 successful tries. Think you can handle it youngin'?"
She could give him a glare that would make him think twice. She could even open her mouth to say something rude in return. Instead however, she merely smiled under that iridescent mask and handed over the Lien needed to play all three games. When he got her set up on the first one, she shook her head, "Put all three sheets in all three of your bays."
He looked at her confused before letting out a deep laugh. When she picked up the BB gun he blinked, smug grin on his face, "Oh… Oh you were bein' serious? Alright but if I do that you'll not be able to have three rounds of ammo, it'll count as the one try."
Spadix shifted the gun around in her hands, getting used to the weight and balance, gauging how well or cheaply it was made, giving her an idea of how accurate it would shoot. 'Child's play. I was shooting these for my parents tests before I even hit puberty.'
She took aim and glanced over at him as the sheets slid back into position, answering, "That's ok. I only need this one turn."
He was laughing at her again, beer belly shaking it was so guttural. When Spadix heard the ding to start, she took a few steps away from the line to stand at so she could easily move between all three. Her eyes lit up and her semblance locked on. She fired a single pellet with ease despite the gun being made to unload at a hairline pull, testing how off the aim was before pointing at the first of the three sheets.
In moments, the star fell from the center, her steady feet moving her along to the next one, the process repeating. As she continued to the last one, no one was laughing anymore. People were crowding around to watch with held breaths as she shot into the last sheet, the star falling. You could hear a pin drop it was so quiet around them. With the leftover shots, she shot the cord holding the dragon plush until it released, dropping straight into her waiting hand.
The man was staring in complete shock as the small crowd ripped into roars of excitement. Spadix walked over, handing him the gun which still had two pellets rolling around inside. He just gawked, dumbfounded at her, speechless. She smirked in her mask, patting his arm, "Nice scam. Too bad for you this kid was raised by experts."
—-
Jin was getting antsy wondering what was taking Spadix. She had been gone for quite a while now and Jin was pretty sure the bathrooms weren't that far. The speakers had only moments ago announced that they would be in a match after the current one concluded.
Thankfully for them, team LVDR were currently fighting so they at least wouldn't be fighting them in the pre-qualifiers, not that that eased Jin's nerves any really. While she was trying to pull out her scroll, a gold and yellow item pressed into her view. She could hear Indi laughing. It took her eyes a moment to realize what it was.
Peeking out from behind the massive, soft item, was Spadix with a grin under her mask so big you could see the joy in her eyes, "Look what I won you! Do you like it?"
Jin flushed slightly than grinned, taking the plush that was almost as big as her girlfriend, still struggling to speak clearly since the incident, "How thoughful ouf you wittle Bird. Hope you didn'n go broke vor it."
Spadix waved it off, deciding not to share the story for now. As Jin glanced over the plush creature, the goofy plastic eyes staring at her, she leaned and kissed Spadix's forehead. The owl cooed a bit softly, "It reminded me of you."
Jin could only smirk. Indi was caught up in another giggle fit now, holding her middle and gasping for air. Luckily the couple didn't find it annoying. It was more endearing. They knew she was laughing because it was actually funny and cute not because she was trying to be a jerk.
Jin tucked it under her arm as she held her hand out, Spadix taking it. Tender touches rubbed across her talons and soft skin of Jin's face nuzzled into her own, a sweet loving whisper on the dragon's lips, "Tanks. I weally needed dis. I feel 'o much lighter ow."
The owl swooned and kissed her cheek before they left to head back for the coliseum. They arrived in time to go to the lockers and grab gear, Jin placing the gift in the locker for safe keeping for now. When they came out, LVDR had just finished off the last of the other team's students. Some Vacuo team, team FURI.
Loki was almost preening with some odd hype from bloodlust as the crowd, mostly Haven fangirls and fanboys, screamed and cheered. They were coming down the entryway as team JSSN was heading out. Loki just smirked at Jin, sticking her tongue out at her mockingly. Jin growled but felt herself being pushed forward by Sterling. The entryway echoed with Loki's laughter before JSSN was out of earshot.
The team they were facing was a group from Spire. JSSN felt the weight of the other team's prejudice stares at three quarters of JSSN. The arena started the random terrain selection and JSSN's side got forrest while the Spire team, team ARTC, got an ice field.
Indi grunted, "Well that seems unfair but ok."
Team ARTC seemed excited for a more home field advantage. Jin glanced back at her teammates, all nodding. When the buzzer went off, JSSN scattered. Spadix hit the trees fast, quickly dodging shots as she hid herself in the branches. Sterling also found a hiding place in the trees, though with less ease, a few shots hitting him and lowering his aura.
jin and Indi rushed in, Jin grabbing Indi in a wrist to wrist lock before hurling her at one of the boys in the team firing at Sterling and Spadix. The boy was surprised as Indi kicked his weapon up into his face and took it from him as she landed into him. She spun around, cracking the butt of the gun hard into his head with one hand and grabbing hold of him at the back of the beck with the other, firing a point blank lighting dust shot at his head, instantly bursting his aura in a crackle of white shimmers.
The boy fell over and Indi tossed the gun on him before turning. Jin was already engaged in a fist to fist fight with another opponent, Sterling and Spadix in a firefight with the other two opponents. The raven haired girl rushed over, flanking the other side of the opponent as Jin as they began almost tossing the girl back and forth between them in a flurry of fists and golden shimmers.
Indi's eyes were glowing, she was checking where to land her fists to easily send the girl back flying to Jin, not packing nearly as much power as the fiery dragon companion. In no time the girl's aura snapped to nothing. Just in time for Jin to dodge a boy rushing over to try to fight them off. Jin locked the talons of Fang Fists into claw position and recovered from her dodge, hooking into his shirt and flipping him over as she bent her whole force over to roll back and launch him over herself.
With a perfect gravity shot from Indi's now heavy shot pistols, he was slung easily out of the ring. At that moment they heard the buzzer, looking over. Spadix and Sterling had been able to blast the last girl out of aura quickly once she no longer had another teammate to protect her from the 2 on 1 flurry of ammo flying around.
As the crowd cheered, Jin walked over, reaching out. Spadix didn't need her to catch her or help her down but the grin on her girlfriend's face told her Jin was being sweet, not overbearing. She gently slipped down into waiting arms, sighing happily in the warm embrace before Jin set her down.
She didn't need Jin to say anything. She knew Jin was praising her efforts in the team, making sure Spadix knew she wasn't overlooked or underappreciated. The owl's heart swelled as the team gathered and began leaving the arena, Spadix excitedly enjoying the victory with the team, "We did it Jin! We are moving on to the doubles round!"