Hello everyone and welcome back to the start of chapter 76 of the story! How was Valentine for you people? All good? Don't wanna talk about it? Great! Because neither do I. The only Valentine that matters is the one from FGO event after all! The lucky one to get the spotlight this time was Andromeda! (Or unlucky, since Perseus isn't in the game lol)
Anyways, with that said, let dwelve into chapter 76! Peace!
DISCLAIMER: All of the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author
Shadow of the Colossus OST- Prayer
"Wow! Such a beautiful painting! How it's possible that such quality was made in few minutes?"
"Ehehe, with patience and hard work, the results tend to improve at every attempt."
"But this is on a whole new level! I mean, this duck is drawn so realistically that I could sware it's an actual living one from a photo."
"You'd say it's perfect. Isn't it?"
"Mhm. Almost like one of those ducks you have in your room ºººººº."
"Good observation. You could say it was the inspiration for this canvas."
"I knew it! ºººººº, you really love your ducks, don't you?"
"Eheh, I suppose. Then how about you? Does this painting makes you feel anything?"
"Yeah. It kinda makes me at peace. That I could spend hours analyzing every detail in it. From the neat water to the fluffy duck. A tranquility telling that everything is alright."
"No flaws? In your eyes, do you consider this painting perfect?"
"Well, yeah I do. I think it's one of your finest works, ºººººº."
"...Thank you for the words."
"Hm? Is there something wrong, ºººººº?"
"No. It's nothing. It's just...I wish to paint what could be my greatest and biggest work to date. However, I'm not sure if there'll ever be a chance for me to draw such ambitious canvas."
"Huh? Why is that?"
"Because unlike the painting you deem as perfect, our current world is not. Reality itself is deeply flawed. And those are factors that keeps me from crafting my best painting."
"Eh? B-But why? What makes it to be like that?"
"You shouldn't concern about that now. You will understand once you get older, Peko. First, enjoy your life as it is before you and Nala become the kingdom's new rulers. I am sure you two will do an excellent job!"
"...If you say so, ºººººº."
"But, could you do me a favour instead?"
"Y-Yes ºººººº! What is it?"
"A dream of mine. If I cannot make it, you'll have to do it for me. You sure you can handle it?"
"Yes I am! Tell me what it is please!"
"Then listen carefully, Peko."
"..."
"Unite our races. Turn Earth a better place for everyone."
"...N...nghmnmm..."
"Fou?"
"U-Urghh...my back..."
Opening his eyes to stare at the cloth ceilling of the tent, Peko woke up feeling his body a bit sore, wrapped up in bandages. Turning his head around, he saw Fou sitting on the small table right next to his bed. "Fou?"
"Ghg...gnhgmh..."
Hearing other grunting noises, Peko's eyes stared to the right, seeing that his sister had also woke up at the same time as him.
"Stupid head..." Nala complained in a murmur, bringing a hand to her forhead. She was sensing a mild throbbing pain inside before it came to a stop right after.
Looking at his sibling, Peko then stared at himself, seeing that his own body was in the same situation as Nala's. Despite that, they had regained their consciousness back.
"Alright. Stay still now please." said as he applied a disinfectant and curative on a soldier's shoulder. "Done. Time will do the rest."
"Thanks doctor. Miss Nightingale could be gone for now but we still can rely on you."
"Eh, like the very own miss would say: 'I'm just doing my job'." replied with a gentle smile.
"Ooh, come see it guys!"
"They've already recovered!"
"Really?! That fast!?"
Hearing the nearby commotion as well as a concentration of soldiers some meters away from him, got up from his seat. "Hm? What is all the noise now?" He went there to investigate, getting through the wall of soldiers that were all looking at a specific direction.
Right outside of one of the medical tents, Peko and Nala were checking on their own bodies by doing some movements and exercising, wanting to see if everything was alright with their bones and muscles. Altough it seemed Nala was doing a lot more practice than her brother.
"And this! This one! And that! And also this!" She said, stretching her body and doing some yoga poses at the same time, being a bit of a show off to the soldiers who applauded in amazement.
"Wooooh! She has only gotten out of bed now but can already do all of those movements!"
"It's miss Nightingale's treatment at work! She is really capable of miracles!"
"Of course! Only her could make a severe injured person back on its feet and fully recovered in such short time!"
"H-hey, slow down a bit Nala." Peko told his sister, seeing her moving all energetically. "The wounds could still not be totally closed." He then stared at his own hand. "But it's true that our bodies are feeling little to no pain. As if the damage swiftly went away."
"Fou fou!" Fou nodded, agreeing with Peko.
"Bah! Don't be so reluctant Peko!" Nala replied, stretching her arms up. "That nap felt really good to get our energies back! We're just derusting our bodies from all that time in bed. There's no harm in that." She said with an happy smile, only then to have a bit of blood leaking out from the bandages around her arms.
"YOU'RE BLEEDING AGAIN IDIOT!"
Peko shouted alongside the soldiers that were watching, scolding Nala's reckless attitude.
"What is this all of a sudden?" asked as he passed squeezing by the soldiers, spoting the two children in front of him. "Wha-You two have recovered already?" He said, genuinely surprise, having originally thought it would take a pair of day for the twins to even get out from their beds and tent.
"Good day to you too doctor Rush." Peko greeted the man, looking around. "Say, is the rest of our group here?"
"I think we can better discuss this inside." told him, gesturing to both Peko and Nala to accompany him to the tent. "Go back to your positions! There is nothing else to see here!" He shouted to the group of soldiers behind them, telling to go away.
Once inside, the doctor checked the twins physical condition, having removed their bandages. He was greatly astonished when he saw that there was not a single scar or bruise in their arms, legs, chest and back. It was as if their bodies had never got injured. "But...this is not possible..." The doctor said in amazement, sitting on a chair. "A body wouldn't be capable to heal in such way after sustaining the injuries you two did from a fight."
"A fight?" Peko murmured, before feeling some terrible chills inside his torso, causing him to writhe his body for a moment. "Ngh!"
"Peko! You're alright?" Nala asked to her brother, worried.
"Fou fou!"
"Y-Yeah. My brain was just recording me of the fight." Peko replied with his hand close to the chest, remembering of the great pain his bones felt when he was being repeatedly stomped by Cú Alter. Not a great sensation to have.
"Ah, I remember it too now." Nala slightly touched the side of her own head. "We got defeated pretty hard."
"You kids were even lucky to have survived." speaked. "The state you were in when you arrived, I thought it would be impossible to save you or even make sure you wouldn't get permanently bedridden." He stared to the ceilling. "Guess miss Nightingale really is one of a kind."
"We must have given quite a scare to all of you." Nala said saddned, thinking about the reactions of Mash, Chaldea and the entire camp when they saw their brutalized bodies.
"Fou!" Fou got the girl's attention, holding her blue ribbon in his mouth.
"Eh, thanks Fou." She smiled, grabbing the blue ribbon and proceeding to use it to tie the back of her hair into her usual ponytail.
"And speaking of other people, where is the rest of our group as well as miss Nightingale?" Peko asked to the doctor.
"You're speaking of that black haired boy and girl with the shield?" said. "They went off camp alongside miss Nightingale to see the leader of the Western army."
"What!? They already went away!?" Peko exclaimed surprised.
"Where?" Nala asked to .
"Torwards the city of Denver. Some good miles down south from here." answered. "I know you guys were planning on going when your friend got fully recovered, but then with all of the stuff that happened after that, miss Nightingale wasn't willing to wait any longer and went to Denver alongside the rest of your group."
"I see." Peko said.
"Do you think we should wait for them?" Nala asked, wondering if it was the right thing to do now.
"Hummm, I think we should contact doctor Romani first." Peko told her, calling for Romani. "Doctor! Are you there? It's me, Peko! Me and Nala have already regained consciousness!" But the hologram didn't appeared. "Hello? Doctor Romani? You hear me?" And nothing again. "Doc?"
"Looks like he isn't responding." Nala said. "Do you think something bad might have happened?"
"Don't know. I hope doctor had just gone to the bathroom." Peko said, not wanting to be a pessimist. "But, as simple curiosity, how long does a travel to that Denver place takes?" The boy asked to .
"Well, following the path and on foot...I'd say about half a day." replied.
"Great! Then we're going there too!" Peko said, no longer sitting on his bed.
"Wha-"
"Heh! You took the words right out of my mouth!" Nala said, supporting her brother's idea.
"B-But time has barely past since you recovered! You shouldn't risk your bodies condition by going on a long travel!" opposed, clearly thinking of the downsides of letting the twins going to Denver alone.
"We won't let it happen a second time!" Nala argued. "Besides, the doctor himself saw how our bodies are pretty much fully healed."
"That and the fact we aren't feeling any sore pain or fatigue! I understand that the doctor's concern with us is reasonable, but we have to check on our companions and see if they're alright!" Peko also said, trying to convince him.
Dr. Rush looked at the two hesitantly, not knowing how to respond. "W-Well yeah, however..."
"Fou fou (Do not worry doc! I'll go alongside them and make sure they don't get hurt again!)" Fou also speaked with the man, altough no one would understand a word from him.
Not having the backbone nor courage to fight back the twins persistence, gave in. "Miss Nightingale would kille me if she was here..." He sighed before looking at Peko and Nala. "Fine. I''l give you medical release. But promise me that you will be careful this time please."
"Understood! Thanks doctor!" Nala replied, jumping from her bed.
"We promise to take care of ourselves! Don't worry!" Peko said. "Also...got any map that can lead us torwards the city?"
"Yes. I can give you one. Have a safe travel along the way."
Having been given the map of the specific region, Peko and Nala went to change to their usual clothes, no longer stenched with blood, arranged some food for the trip, gave a quick look to their swords and waved a goodbye to and all the soldiers of the camp as they went on their journey to reunite with the rest of the party in Denver alongside Fou.
"Aaaaah! Why this country had to be so damn big!?" Nala protested highly as she walked behind Peko, with the boy looking at the direction in the map.
"At least I think a third of the trip is already done. Another three hours and we should get there." He said to his sister.
"Eeeeh, three hours?" Nala let out a worn out sigh. "Are you sure we aren't lost?"
"Why that?" Peko asked her.
"Because I'm sure we've already passed by these trees two times." Nala told him.
"We're in a forest Nala. Of course all the trees look exactly the same!" Peko exclaimed.
"Then why haven't we found something in peculiar like a creek or a unique shaped rock?" Nala replied, using that as an argument.
"Because they're not on the trail we are following on the map!" Peko replied back.
"Maybe because you are making us go around in circles!"
"Oh! So you're saying you would be better with the map in your hands than I?!"
"Probably!"
"Fou..." The animal shook his head in shame, seeing the two siblings discussing all over a dumb thing that would only hinder their efforts to reach Denver.
But before the squabble between the two could prolong, a rumbling noise came from both their stomachs.
"Snack time?" Nala asked, lifting her head to stare at Peko.
"Snack time." Peko took out the backpack and put it on the ground, taking some food out of it and giving it to Nala.
Now both siblings and Fou were resting in the middle of the path while eating.
"Hmmm, these sandwiches are really good." Nala said, chewing her food.
"You should add a lettuce. It tastes better that way." Peko told her, taking a bite off of his sandwich.
"Nah, only cheese and ham is the way I like it." Nala replied, taking another bite.
"But you can't deny that they would taste even better if they were toasted." Peko opined.
"Yeah. That's for sure." Nala agreed with him.
"Fou fou!" Fou got the two's attention, seemingly asking for a bit of their sandwiches.
"What is it Fou? Do you want some?" Nala asked to the animal.
"How about we see which one of our sandwiches does he prefers?" Peko proposed, putting a small piece of his sandwich in front of Fou, with Nala doing the same.
"Fu..." Staring at the two chunks of the different sandwiches given to him, changing his eyesight between them, the animal was initially in doubt of which one to choose. And the gazes of both Peko and Nala made him feel more pressured.
"So, which is it Fou?" Peko asked him.
"It's mine, isn't it?" Nala also speaked.
As another couple of seconds passed, Fou's mind had finally decided. "Fou!" He went to take a bite off Peko's sandwich.
The boy let out a chuckle as he smiled. "I knew you would prefer mine!"
Nala frowned meanwhile. "Is lettuce really that good?"
As they were watching Fou devouring the piece of sandwich, they heard some noise nearby, promptly making them get up from the ground.
"You heard it too, didn't you?" Peko said to his sister.
"Yah." Nala replied. "But from where?" She said, looking at the trees surrounding them, wondering where the noise came from exactly.
"Lemme see." Peko said, leaning his ear and face to the ground while putting his legs up in the air.
"W-What kind of position is that?!" Nala yelled out in shock, weirded out by it.
"Hm? Isn't this some type of method to hear the enemies footsteps or something?" Peko asked her, confused.
The noises got louder, seemingly approaching them.
"Guess we won't need that!" Nala said, summoning her sword, getting ready for whatever monster would appear from the forest. Peko did the same.
"Fou! Fou!" Fou hide himself beneath some small stones, with the noise getting nearby.
It didn't took long for the twins to discover the source of the sound came from a wild wolf who jumped out of the trees, about to attack them. Both the kids moved out of the way quickly, avoiding the animal's blow.
"A wolf?!" Nala exclaimed, looking at it.
"It doesn't look like a normal one!" Peko replied, seeing that the animal's eyes were full of violence and agressiveness, with its body vein lines glowing red. "There's clearly a magical influence over it!" He noticed.
Making a loud howl, the wolf appeared to not be alone, with the rest of the wolf pack appearing from the trees, surrounding the twins.
"And this must be its friends." Nala said, looking at all of them. "I count eight of them!"
"Then each one of us takes care of a half!" Peko said, pointing a finger at one of the wolfs, firing at it.
Nala also didn't stayed behind, dashing torwards another wolf and slicing it.
The fight was going out without much trouble, the twins being able to take care of the enemies so far. Nala was dealing with the last wolf from her part while Peko was fighting another two.
"Yah!" Peko fired a light bullet torwards one of the two wolves, forcing it to dodge as he then procceded to slash another one. But that proved to be a risky move as Pek was now with his back exposed to the remaining wolf who jumped torwards him.
"Behind you Peko!" Nala shouted shortly after killing the wolf she was fighting with.
"Hm!" Turning around, Peko only had time to see the wolf's head being shot by a small blue beam directed at it, finishing off the wolf before it could have bite Peko.
"You should be more careful next time." A voice speaked. "These woods aren't a place for a stroll."
"This voice!" Peko's ears recognized the sound of it. It couldn't be anyone else. "Haha, it's good to see you well Rits-...eh?" Looking at the person, Peko was shocked to find the voice who had speaked didn't belonged to his friend despite sounding very similar.
In front of him, there was a young dark-skinned man with short dark-brown hair and dark eyes. His vest was a long white uniform with dark-blue and purple signals at the lower part of it. His white gloved hands helded his weapon: a golden longbow with a thin blue line serving as string.
"Are you okay Peko?" Nala went close to her brother, with Fou on her shoulder. She then stared at the young man. "Who's this guy?"
"I ask you the same thing." The young man talked. "What are two kids doing here alone in the forest and fighting beasts? Do you happen to be servants?" He interrogated.
"Well, we aren't really servants." Peko replied. "And as for who we are, my name is Peko...Finsternis!" Peko added, still not being used to use his surname in introductions since they only discovered that recently. "Peko Finsternis."
"And I'm Nala Finsternis!" Nala also presented herself. "As if it wasn't clear enough, we are siblings."
"Siblings huh?" The young man murmured, his mind going to another place while his eyes went slightly down.
"Is there a problem?" Peko asked to the young man, having seen him going quiet.
"No. I was just noticing the similarities now that you've mentioned that fact." The young man responded. "Anyways, are you going to explain me what you two were doing here?"
"Wait a minute!" Nala exclaimed. "Aren't you going to introduce yourself to us as well? That's rude!"
"No I won't. Is there a problem with it?" The young man asked calmly.
"Well, I just think since we told you our names, you could tell us yours." Peko told him.
"I simply prefer to not tell you. Besides, could I even trust you enough to say it?" The young man pondered. "You don't give me any reason to share my name with you apart from mere etiquette."
"Fine. We respect your decision to be anonimous with us." Peko said, seeing that the young man wasn't willing to tell them his name.
"But that ain't fair!" Nala complained.
"Well, we certainly aren't going to fight him just to know his name. Let it be." Peko said to his sister, being already grateful for the fact the man appeared to deal with one of the wolves that was about to attack him.
"Glad to see that you comprehend it." The young man thanked Peko. "But I still want to know what you two were doing here alone."
Nala sighed, looking at the young man with a mean glare. "Fine, but only if we can make you a question afterwards." She said. "You see, we where on our way to-"
"We had came here to pick up some wood!" Peko said, interrupting Nala. "We were planning on taking it to our home that stays in a city a few miles from here." He lied to the young man. Since he wouldn't tell them his name, they also wouldn't tell him their true motive of being here in the woods.
Nala didn't argued, going along with her brother's lie. "Yeah, we were doing that! But then those wolved had to appear and everything!"
The young man stared at them. "Is that so?" He then pointed at something behind the twins. "So I presume the wolves must have destroyed your wood in the process."
"Eh? What?" Peko turned around alongside Nala, with the two siblings seeing the backpack they have been provided with at the camp all destroyed and ravaged, having no more food in there.
"Fouck!" Fou said.
"Crap!" Nala walked torwards the ruined backpack, checking if there was anything left. "Those stupid animals eat everything during the fight! Nothing is left now!"
"That must have been the thing that attracted them." Peko thought. "Great! The map to Denver was also there!"
"Looks like you've risked your lives for nothing then." The young archer speaked, approaching them. "But I assume you know your way back to your town, no?"
"Well..." Nala rubbed the back of her head. "Not really without the map we had before."
"This trail is rarely used by us, so we don't have the way back quite memorized." Peko added, explaining to the young man. "It will be kinda hard to go back now that we've lost it."
The young man stayed silent for a moment. A part of him didn't really cared about helping the two kids, seeing it as their own problem to deal with. But the major part inside him knew that doing such thing would be plain cruel and souless. Even if he liked being alone, the young man was still good enough to not turn a blind eye to Peko and Nala's situation. "How about I join you in your trip back home?"
"Really? You'd do that for us?" Nala said surprised.
"You know the way back to the city?" Peko asked him.
"Not really to be honest. But I can accompany you until we reach it." The young man said. "That way you don't have to worry about other monsters coming to attack you."
"Appreciate it." Peko replied.
"And here I was beggining to think you were some sort of jackass." Nala told him.
"I just happen to be in a good mood. That's all." The young man replied to her, not paying much attention to her words.
"Okay! There's only one way to proceed now!" Nala said, pointing to the front. "And that is onwards!"
And so Peko, Nala and Fou went back to walk the trail now with the company of the strange young archer who offered his protection to them on their way to Denver. The path now had been mostly peaceful and quiet, with the small party not encountry any hostile identities along the way so far. The young man would lead the group on the front, securing the perimeter from any possible monsters while Peko and Nala followed him from behind. The twins would try to talk with him but hardly get any response back, so the two would mostly talk between each other, altough being careful in choosing their conversations in order to not accidentaly reveal the truth of why they were going to the city.
"Aha! I spotted another bird!" Nala pointed out to tree on her left as they continue to walk.
"Jeez! That's the sixth one you spotted so far." Peko told her. "How can you do it?"
"Easy! Great audition!" Nala smiled proudly. "My ears can sense the vibration of the bird's chirping in the wind."
"Yeah, yeah Nala. Watch out if a pebble doesn't geat inside your ear instead." Peko said, thinking she was making stuff up.
The young archer took a glance at them. "Hm, so your name is Nala eh?" He speaked, giving a stare at the girl.
"Hummm, yeah? That's my name as far as I know." Nala responded to him. "Why?"
"Nothing really." The young man responded, going back to look at the path in front of him. "That's just...a peculiar name to have."
Nala gave him a strange look. "Do you know any other girls named Nala somehow?" She then stared at her brother. "You do Peko?"
"I sure don't." Peko responded.
"Fou!"
"Forget what I said about it then." The young man told her. As they walked some more, the archer suddenly stop, rising up his bow. "Stay alert! I sense something nearby!"
Both Peko and Nala put themselves in combat position, standing next to the young man. With loud footsteps approaching, the trio saw a bear coming out at their direction, releasing a huge roar in their direction.
"Does every animal on this forest want to kill us?" Nala commented.
"But this one doesn't seem to be a magical type of bear like those wolves." Peko said, noticing how normal the bear looked in comparison to the wolves that attacked them previously.
The young man slightly lowered his bow. "And I think the bear doesn't actually want to fight us for pure violence and blood."
"Huh?" Peko looked at him confused before looking at the same direction as of the young archer, seeing two smaller bears behind the big one, stuck under some huge fallen trunks that also blocked their path. "Is that..."
"She's protecting her children." Nala pointed out. "We have to free her offsprings from those tree trunks."
"That way we can also get to reopen the path forwards." Peko added.
"If you don't mind..." The young man conjured an arrow, aiming it at the mother bear with his bow.
"Wait! Are you mad?! You're aiming at her!" Nala exclaimed in terror, not understanding what were his intentions here.
"Can't you at least step aside or get a better angle? You're just going to shot her down!" Peko warned the young man who didn't respond, pulling back his string, ready to fire. The mother bear stared at him with an agressive glare, ready to do anything to protect her cubs.
Peko and Nala attempted to stop him.
"No!"
"Don't do it!"
Firing the arrow at the bear, it seemed the young man had truly decided to kill the animal. However, the quick arrow took an unexpected turn to the left, contorning the mother bear and going straight for the tree trunks instead, destroying them and freeing the bear cubs. Peko and Nala were absolutely surprised by it.
"It's done." The young man said, lowering his bow completely as he saw the mother bear turning around to meet up with her children.
"Did you do that to purposely scare us?" Nala said with an angry frown, not liking how the young archer seemingly tricked them into thinking he was really going to kill the bear in cold blood.
The young man simply gave a brief glance at her. "What if I did?"
"Ah, you really are a jackass! That wasn't a nice prank at all!" Nala shouted, angrily punching the young man in the chest despite not making any real damage. "Killing a mother in front of her children is-Wait, where's Peko?" She stopped from punching the young man, moving her head around to find her brother, which it didn't took very long to find.
"Fou fou!"
"He's hurt." Peko whispered as he gazed at a cut in a limb of one of the two cubs, walking slowly torwards the family trio. The injury made the poor cub having difficulties to move, letting out some small agonizing grunts. The boy wanted to help the animal.
Nala tried to step in, seeing how dangerous it could be to touch a bear cub with the mother right next to the side. "Peko don-"
But she was stopped by the young man who put his arm in front of her. "Hold it. He's your brother, isn't he?"
"Y-Yeah." Nala replied.
"Then you should trust in him and on what he's about to do." The young man told her, believing that if Nala and Peko were really siblings, then she had the confidence enough in her brother's actions.
"..." Not saying anything, Nala stood by, watching Peko from the distance.
Looking to have figured the intention of the boy, the mother bear didn't stared at him with an hostile glare nor showed her teeth to him, instead letting Peko approach her cub. The small bear was reluctant at first, even having his sibling protecting him at first.
"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." Peko told, grabbing a long leaf and tying it around the cub's limb, covering the cut. With the blood stagnated, the bear cub was fine again, moving his limb like new. "I...I did it!" Peko smiled in a surprising astonishment, having fixed the injury. As a sign of gratitude, the cub bear rubbed his head on Peko's torso before running torwards his mother and brother, with the mother bear slightly rising her head up before walking deep inside the woods with her children. Peko looked at his own hands, feeling happy for having helped.
"Wow Peko! You became a medic now?" Nala exclaimed, heading torwards him with a smile on her face.
"I just saw the bear hurt and wanted to help him with the wound." Peko replied. "So I thought covering it with a leaf would be a good thing to do. It may be that the time spent with Nightingale has perhaps affected me on that a bit."
"Welp, good to see you are learning to do new things!" Nala said, commemorating by slapping Peko's back.
"ARGH! MY BACK!"
"But you still have a good distance to run if you wanna surpass me." Nala told him.
"Hmphf! I will beat you one day eventually! Way sooner than you might think." Peko told her with a pout.
"You compete against one another?" The young man asked with curiosity, standing next to the twins.
"Yep! And I always win against this idiot." Nala said, much to Peko's discontentment.
"Could I know of the score?" The young man made another question.
"Sure!" Nala gave a huge smile. "As it stands right now, it is 21-0!"
"Hey! You're making it up!" Peko shouted. "It's definetly lower than that!"
"Ups! Right, it's actually 20-0." Nala corrected.
"Lower!"
"Fine, 19-0, and I'm being generous!"
"You're telling me that you never won a single time against your sister?" The young man asked, slightly intrested on that detail.
"...No." Peko said, scratching the back of his head.
"Doesn't that makes you jealous of her?"
Peko took those words in consideration. Even Nala thought about it. She never perceived from that point of view. "Well, kinda." Peko responded in honesty. "But it helps me strive to get better with every duel we make. She's one of the reasons why I keep training."
"Peko..." Nala murmured.
"But doesn't all those defeats makes you feel inferior? To hate sensing that?" The young man asked Peko again.
"Jeez! Perhaps a bit I guess?" Peko responded, not being fully sure. "Still, why would I hate or feel jealous of my sister because of that? It isn't like she keeps winning against me out of pure spite." He expressed. "If anything, she helps me to do and perform better. I thank her for that."
"Exactly! It's all an healthy rivalry!" Nala speaked up. "I might trash talk my brother every once in a while, but I'd be genuinely happy if the day he'd finally beat me happened! We always got each others back!"
Peko nodded. "And that is what siblings are for. To help each other despite of the fights and discussions."
"Hmm, is that so?" The young man said, finding those words intriguing as he moved his head around to stare at the family of bears in the distance, with one sibling bear helping the other to get to the top of a slope. "What a well suited definition." His lips moved into a smile. One that didn't go unnoticed.
"Oooh, is that a smile that I see there?" Nala smugged, pointing it out.
"Foooou."
"By the way you interact, I wouldn't expect to see a smile from you that soon." Peko commented.
Instead of hiding it away or denying it, the young man just gave a short chuckle. "Your words seemed to have been compelling."
"Why? You never had a sibling?" Peko asked him.
"Actually, I do have fi-four brothers." The young man answered.
"Wha- That's quite a lot of siblings!" Nala exclaimed in amazement.
"Things must be quite noisy at your home then." Peko imagined.
"Heh, I wouldn't say you are wrong." The young man replied.
"Hey, can I make you an answer?" Peko asked, feeling that the young archer was becoming more interactive with them.
"Yes, you can." The young man replied.
"What were you exactly doing here in those woods in order to have found us?" Peko asked, wanting to know the reason why he was here in the forest in the first place.
Thankfully, the young man gave him an answer. "I was hunting down some lunatic man."
"A lunatic man?" Nala said, thinking how strange it sounded.
"I had reports of late about him being a fanatic for battle, traveling across the entire country in search to fight people and strong opponents. I was tasked with dealing with that problem." Thr young man revealed. "But as of now, it seems he isn't here. You were lucky to not have runned into him yet."
"It isn't like we can't defend ourselves." Nala told him.
"Of that I have no doubt in seeing it." The young man replied. "Which makes me questions how two kids like you know how to fight with swords. I saw you fight. No mere average child could be capable of fighting the way you two do. I sense mana within your bodies. You're either some sort of mages or not from this era. Am I wrong to assume that?"
Peko and Nala both gulped, seeing that the young man wasn't being fooled by their lie of going to pick up wood for their home, starting to see the holes in it and wanting to know the truth about them.
Peko stood a bit at the lose for words, trying to come up with a lie that could sound convincing enough for the young man to believe in. "W-Well, you see, we had a grandfather that-"
But Peko stopped his own words the moment he and the rest of the small party saw a quick shadow from the sky above passing over them, gaining their attention. "What was this?"
"It was a shadow, wasn't it?" Nala said, seeing the quick shadow figure passing above them a second time. "There it was again!"
As the twins looked up to every tree to see where the shadow was coming from, the young man stood paralyzed in place, the presence he felt having made his eyes slightly widen. "It's you, isn't it? Even in a distant land, you're here."
A calling that made the young man's hands close into fists, lifting up his head to look at the blue sky partially covered by the tall trees. But even despite that, the young man catched sight of the figure that was flying over them. A person he would and could never forget, bounded by destiny to always be connected with him and vice-versa. Just the mere look at his recognizable face was enough to make the young man forget of all his priorities and people surrounding him. For what drew his attention was one man and one man only.
"...Karna..."
"You better should be going." The young man told them, still looking upwards.
"Hm? Why? Are you seeing the enemy?" Peko asked him, seeing how serious the young archer was looking now.
"Just go." The young man ignored the boy's question.
Nala tried to argue. "Why can't we-"
"Go now!" The young man shouted, immediatly jumping torwards the sky, creating some fissures on the ground and lifting up a strong gust of wind that clashed with Peko and Nala.
"What is he-" Hearing a huge explosion, Peko raised his head, spotting a big clash of vibrant flames and other colors in the sky, making all the trees on the area to bend, even making some fall down such was the power of the explosion. Even the sky was no longer blue, changing into a violent orange.
"We need to get out of here!" Nala exclaimed, seeing the beams and lasers bombarding the forest they where in. Peko didn't even made the effort to oppose that, running alongside his sister as the destructive fight between the young man and the newcomer continued on.
"Fouuu!" Fou stayed with a strong grasp on Nala's shoulder, making his best to not be blown away by the explosions around them.
"This fight is nuking everything!" Peko shouted. "Who is he fighting with to cause this much destruction?"
"I don't know! But probably it must be as strong as him!" Nala replied, running as fast as possible. "We will get roasted if we don't get out of here!"
The twins runned as fast and as far as they could, trying to get out of the battle zone, seeing that the fight of such magnitude was out of depth for them. They didn't stopped running for some good minutes, hearing the explosions getting lower as they got further away from the chaos. Eventually, they stopped hearing the sounds and the sky went back to normal, the smell of burning wood no longer in the air.
"I-I think we're safe now." Peko said, stopping his legs and taking some breathing, recovering from the huge run he and Nala made.
"Sure hope so..." Nala replied, having stopped running as well, sitting on the ground. "I thought I'd have to run until my legs blasted off from fatigue."
"Fooouuu..." Fou laid tired on the girl's shoulder.
"I never seen something as powerful as before. I mean...those explosions were..." Peko speaked, finding no words to describe it.
"We got lucky to have get out of there alive." Nala said, grabbing up Fou. "Entire hectares of this forest must have been obliterated completely."
"Yeah, by that guy and whoever he was fighting with. Much definetly another servant." Peko commented. "Now I feel relieved that we didn't end up getting on his bad side." The boy said with a shiver, imagining what it would be like to fight against a servant with that much firepower.
"I fear that things will tend to be that way and higher with every passing Singularity." Nala said, remembering of Cú Alter and Artoria Alter and Solomon from the previous Singularity. Compared with the enemies they had fought on the earlier Singularities, the difficulty had clearly gone up. But that wasn't something that Nala would let herself be intimidated with. "Still, I'm sure that we can pull through whatever Solomon or other enemy servant throw at us!"
"Fou?" Feeling something falling on his snout, Fou raised up his head.
Nala looked at the creature. "What is it Fou? Did you liked my wor-oh?" The girl felt a raindrop falling onto her head, looking to the cloudy sky.
Shortly, more raindrops fell from the clouds. "It's starting to rain." Peko noted, moving his head to stare at a giant tree to their left. "There! We can shelter ourselves from the rain beneath that tree." He pointed torwards it, heading to the tree with Nala and Fou, sitting and leining their backs to the giant trunk as they saw the rain drop massively in the forest in front of them.
They took this as a chance to rest and recover their energy. Fou laid down on the ground in the middle of the two.
"Hummmmm..." Nala's stomach rumbled, with the girl putting her arms around it.
"You're still hungry?" Peko asked her, to which Nala nodded.
"And all of our food has been lost." She lamented, putting her head close to her knees. "We can't go out to pick some either because of the rain..."
"Can't you make food magica-"
"We ain't eating that!" Nala said, acknowledging that her 'cooking' sucked. She wanted to eat something with taste.
"..." Thinking about it, Peko's mind had an idea. "I think we can resolve that."
"What do you mean?" Nala asked him.
"Well, I did learned a new trick some weeks ago that I wanted to test it out." He said, putting his hands close to one another, a bright green shine appearing. Putting a good amount of mana and concentration in it, Peko put his hands on the ground and impressed his sister by conjuring two wheats who burgeoned from the earth.
Nala blinked twice, amazed. "H-How did you-"
"Now, I do have a sort of theory." Peko grabbed the two wheats, removing them from the floor and showing it to Nala. "Since you can turn objects into food with your magic, how about you turn cereal into food?"
"Really?" Nala doubted. "Won't the result be the same?"
"I think not. Since some foods come from these sort of plants, unlike plastic or metal objects." Peko said to her, wanting to give it a try.
"Whatever, I guess." Nala accepted.
"Good! Now, think about what food comes from a wheat." Peko instructed his sister.
Nala thought about it. "Humm...food that comes from wheat..." She rubbed her forhead. "Ah! Corn!" Nala exclaimed, clapping her hands together, using her mana to transform the two wheats into two yellow corns.
"Nice! Now we got food!" Peko said happy, giving one to Nala. "Now, let's see if my theory was right!"
"Welp, better than dying of starvation." Nala said, going to take a bite ouf of the corn. And the result was nothing of what she expected. "Hmm! This is good!" She said, feeling the sweet taste of the food into her mouth, unlike the blandness food she used to do.
"I knew it." Peko smiled happily, taking out a bite of his corn as well. "If you conjure food through actual ingredients,plants and seeds, it will have taste instead of being bland."
"Hm, I never considered that." Nala said, chewing and swallowing some chunk of corn. "But I'll keep that in mind from here on out." She smiled to her brother. "Thanks for creating these corns Peko!"
Peko smiled back to her. "No. I can't magically turn the wheats into corns unlike you. So we both did."
Widening her smile a bit, Nala went back to eat her corn as Peko did the same with his.
"Fou! Fou!" Fou immediatly jumped torwards Nala, wanting to take a bite of her corn.
Fairy Tail OST- Memories of Fairy Tail
"H-hey! Get your own corn Fou! This one is mine!" Nala said, trying to get the corn away from the animal as Peko laughed.
As time passed, the twins both finished eating the corns, now staring and hearing the rain fall while they waited for it to stop, protected by the numerous branches and leaves of the tree they sat by. The two stood silent between each other for large minutes, not knowing what to talk about. So they preferred to enjoy the peace and tranquility of watching the rain soak the soil and everything else. No one nearby to kill them, allowing the twins to appreciate the beauty of the moment, feeling safe while at it.
"Hey Peko." Nala broke the silence.
"Hm?" Peko heard her, with the two still staring at the rain falling.
"Do you...feel really jealous of me?" Nala asked, thinking back about what the young man asked to Peko about the feeling he had of always losing to his sister.
"Why are you thinking on that now?" Peko replied, wondering why his sister would bring back that topic.
"I just want to know your opinion." Nala said. "What you said back there to that servant, was it true?"
Looking at her, Peko gave a sad smile before looking down to the ground. "Well, your fighting skills are exceptional, but that isn't what makes me jealous." He said. "What does, is how brave you are." Peko admitted. "Back when we fought Solomon, I was scared of him. I feared for my life."
"..." Nala continue to listen him.
"You were the opposite. Fighting him face to face despite how outmatched we were." Peko recalled their confrontation with the King of Magecraft. "You were giving everything, not dreading about his power while I just stood back, unable to do anything to help." Peko closed his hands together. "And then I felt that again when we fought this version of Cú. How his brutal power and hostility paralyzed me, far from the Cú we had known. I felt...helpless, completely weak and useless when up to him." He tightened his hands in frustration. "I thought it was all over. That there was no way against such scary opponent. But once again, you were there to fight him back, protecting me in doing so. I can't help but admire and envy that at the same time."
"..." Nala stared at her brother, feeling the weight behind his words.
"I really wish to have the bravery that you have. To not feel scared when against danger. I hate how I can't be like you in that aspect." Peko chuckled, lifting up his head, gazing at the leaves. "Hehe, thinking about it, it may has always been like this during our whole lives. You protect me and I cry behind you." He said. "Saying like that, it kinda makes me sound pathetic, no?"
"But you aren't!" Nala speaked up. "You know that isn't true."
"But it's the truth." Peko replied. "I never remember of seeing you afraid once. I think you can't even cry since I never watched you doing that." He told Nala. "In the end, I want to be like that. I want to protect you the same way you protect me. Enough of tears and wheeping. Enough of hiding behind while being scared."
"If you want my opinion, you were also very brave when confronting Cú by putting your own body to protect the supplies." Nala expressed. "And hell if that doesn't take some guts to do it!"
Peko smiled. "Ritsuka, Mash and Chaldea helped me on that. I honestly wanted to flee from the fight in that moment, but when I thought about how much they were counting on me, how much Ritsuka's well-being depended on it, I just followed my instincts to protect the supplies." He said. "And I don't regret having done that. It proved to myself that I can also be brave. All that I need now is to continue working for it."
"I was also scared." Nala speaked, making Peko look at her.
"What?"
"You think I never get scared of anything? That's wrong. I do get scared." Nala stared at her brother. "Scared of many things. Scare of losing you. Losing Ritsuka and Mash. Failling the mission of saving humanity. Dying without ever seeing our parents or rediscover our past." She revealed. "Those are all things that I try to not think too hard about it. Because if I do, I fear I might start losing focus on a battle or accomplish our goal." The girl said in a serious and sincere tone.
"You...feel scared?" Peko asked her, being surprised by being told that.
"Don't get me wrong! I may have things that scare me but you'll never catch me cowering in fear or crying!" Nala exclaimed, pointing at herself with a prideful smile. "And you know why? Because you have a great bravery protector right here!"
Peko reacted confusedly at his sister before laughing. "Heh,hahahaha! That's right! And I will also be YOUR bravery protector! Just you wait!"
"Hehe, sure." Nala responded, looking at the ground. "As long as it makes you safe, I'll be as valiant as you want me to be." She then approached her hand to Peko. "So, will you do that job of protecting me like you say?"
Peko stared at his sister, his smile corresponding to hers. "I will." He said, his hand grabbing Nala's hand.
Some short minutes after, the rain stopped and the clouds made way for the sun, shinning down on the forest. Its rays reflecting on the water drops left on the trees. With the area being clear and the twins and Fou having rested for long enough, exiting from the giant tree's protection, stepping into the open zone.
"It looks like the rain has stopped. Now we can proceed on our path to Denver." Peko said, looking at a small paved trail in front of them.
"Wait a bit." Nala told him, grabbing her own ponytail. "I think some water got into my hair. Let me dry it a bit." She said.
"Okay. Just don't take it long." Peko replied.
"Fou..." Fou, who was now in front of Peko, looked like he was pointing out to something on the path ahead of them.
Noticing it, Peko looked at the animal. "Noticed something Fou?"
"Come Peko. Come with me."
"?" Thinking he had heard a voice calling for him, Peko looked around. "Is someone speaking to me?"
"Yes I am. I am right here boy. Waiting for you."
Peko was weirded out by hearing the mysterious voice. He could only hear it, but not see the person. "Why does this voice sound familiar? Where exactly are you?"
"Deep in the woods, behind the trees. Come seek me boy."
"Deep in the woods..." Peko thought, looking at the dense part of forest beyond the tree line. Wanting to discover the person behind that voice, Peko walked into it.
"FOU!" Fou immediatly went after the boy, looking like he wanted to warn him.
As Peko stepped some meters into the woods, the region quickly became silent, not even the sound of wind or Peko's own footsteps could be heard making noise, feeling entirely empty and somewhat devoid of life. Something sinister was up, to which Peko ignored, being very into wanting to found the source of the mysterious voice. "Where are you? I still can't find you."
"Continue wandering Peko. A little further and you shall see."
"A little further?"
"FOU! FOU!" Fou appeared dashing torwards Peko, biting the boy's pants to call his attention.
"What is going on with you Fou!? No need to bite!" Peko stared down at the small animal, confused by his behaviour. Hearing a noise in front of him, Peko spotted a a light brown wolf with blue eyes staring at him quietly. "A wolf here?"
"Grrr..." The wolf showed his teeth, apparently to Peko.
The boy summoned his sword. "Looks like he isn't frien-" Having felt a sudden presence behind him Peko turned around to see a macabre looking monster coming at him. Its shar claws swinging torwards Peko who had no other option but to try defend the hit.
However, someone's hand grabbed Peko's shoulder in that moment, pushing him away from the monster's reach. "Watch out!" A dark skinned looking native man exclaimed, using his knife to clash with the monster's sharp finger claws. It had long skeletical arms and legs as well as an anorexic body, a deer's skull with long antelopes as an head.
Peko stared at his rescuer as he got from the ground. "Who are you?"
With a howl, the wolf moved from his position, attacking the malevolent creature by biting its head, allowing for the native man to slash its shoulder.
"I'll answer that later! Help me defeat this wendigo first!" The native man requested to Peko, who didn't hesitate to comply.
"Sure thing!" He exclaimed, standing to the man's side.
"Peko!" Nala's voice shouted in the distance as the girl appeared, running into the battle. "Where were you?! I was looking everywhere for you!"
"Got into a bit of a problem here myself!" Peko replied to his sister.
"Figures!" Nala summoned her sword, also helping her brother and native man to take on the monstrous creature.
Having the help of the native man, the twins joined forces with him against the opponent. It moved pretty fast as a quadruped, jumping from tree to tree around the trio, attempting to flank them and dodge the attacks. Unfortunately for the creature, its enemies were able to keep up with the speed, with Nala even being faster by cutting one of the trees the monster was about to hop on to, forcing it to fall on the ground.
Peko fired a light bullet at its arm, hitting the enemy with it, making the opponent retreat, only to be hitten by a knife throw of the native man, piercing its chest.
"Air Step!"
Dodging from the monster's arm, Nala made a cut on the area of its neck, almost slicing the head off. The monster tried to fight back by bashing its antlopes into Nala, to which the girl parried by blocking it with her sword and then use the clash on the antelopes to shove the monster away. Peko was already coming from behind, cutting the monster on the back.
"Step aside now!" The native man shouted to Peko, with the boy stepping away from the monster as the man prepared an attack to launch at the enemy. Holding his long knife, the native man coated it with some sort of magic. "Let's go, Ga'an!" He dashed torwards the monster alongside the wolf. Doing a tackle with his elbow, the man was able to break the enemy's defences, with the wolf coming in, tearing apart the monster's left arm with a huge bite. Exposed, the native man gave the killing blow with his long knife, chopping off the creature's head as some flames combustes from within its body, making the now headless creature to agonize in pain shortly before falling down. Its body ended up decomposing into a dark dust. The fight had been won.
"What was that thing?" Nala asked, letting her guard down, out of her fighting mode.
"A wendigo." The native man answered. "Evil spirits that lurk in the american forests. Once human but transformed by practicing the taboo of bring a bad omen upon unawary travelers that wander into the woods, targeting them as food." The native man turned around to stare at Peko. "These zones aren't safe. Be careful next time if you don't wish to become their lunch."
"An evil spirit that targets travelers..." Peko said, thinking about the previous voice he had heard that guided him. "And it looked like I was walking straight into one's trap."
"Don't go walking around alone without saying a thing next time!" Nala scolded him. "Don't you have a gut feeling?"
"I know. Sorry." Peko rubbed the back of his head while Fou tried to socialize with the light-brown wolf.
"Fou?" Fou called the bigger animal's attention, who just briefly look at him before deciding to ignore Fou, much to the shorter animal's displeasure. "Fou..."
"Hahaha, well, at least it's a good thing we managed to avoid a tragedy here." The native man smiled to the twins, stretching his arm to them. "Name's Geronimo. A servant and leader of The Resistance faction."
"Peko Finsternis." Peko replied, shaking Geronimo's hand. He could tell this servant was nicer than the young archer they previously met.
"And I'm Nala Finsternis. Nice to meet you." She also shook the servant's hand.
"Say, what is that 'The Resistance' faction all about? It's the first time I'm hearing it." Peko asked to Geronimo. "Are you affiliated with the West army?"
"Despite my and the West faction both have the survival of America against the celts as a main goal, the Resistance and the West have different ideologies and approaches."
"So you aren't allied to neither." Nala commented.
"True. Me and my group are looking for people to recruit. And you two don't seem to be from this age." Geronimo speaked, mentioning how Peko and Nala weren't porbably residents from this America.
"What makes you think that?" Peko asked him.
"Average kids wouldn't be going around with swords, fighting monsters and have a great amount of mana like you two do." Geronimo explained. "I can tell that you two aren't servants, but perhaps something close to that. I was waiting for arrivals like that of your group."
"Hm?!"
"How do you know we have a group!?" Nala exclaimed surprised.
Geronimo chuckled. "An apache has its ways of knowing through nature. And I have many members of the Resistence scattered around the country to give me information. From what I know, your group is currently in Denver some few miles away from here, correct?"
"Well, wrong you are not." Nala told him.
"We were also going there." Peko said, looking thoroughly at the servant. "To know about our arrival...Could he have been summoned by the Counter Force to help us?" "We need to reunite with the rest of our-"
"Testing. Testing. Peko, Nala. Are you hearing me?"
A static noise sounded in the air as a familiar voice speaked. In front of their eyes, the hologram of Doctor Romani appeared. The twins were happy to see him again.
"It's nice to see you again Doctor!" Peko greeted him.
"I was already suspecting all that time it took to contact us." Nala said with a smile.
"Ah, it's also good to see you two back and fine." Romani said, taking a closer look at them. "Perhaps way faster than I expected."
"Well, looks like our bodies have good regenerating attributes, I guess." Peko said, commenting on that topic.
"Or naps do really well for your body." Nala talked.
Staring to the side, Romani noticed Geronimo. "Oh, and how long have you been accompained by this servant?"
"We only just met now. I presume you must be the higher chief of their group." Geronimo said, introducing himself. "My name's Geronimo and yes, I am indeed a servant."
"Geronimo eh? The famous leader of the native american tribe, the Apaches, and who fought against the industry settlement imposed by the new wave of americans and mexicans. It's that Geronimo, isn't it?" Romani asked, checking the historical facts to confirm the servant's identity.
"Yes. That is me indeed. Honestly, I wouldn't thought that such minor historical figure like myself would be recognized by others." The native man said, feeling honoured to have someone from the future know of his legend.
"There's always time to read a little more of history." Romani replied, going back to stare at the twins. "So I see you were already in the middle of the forest and on your way to Denver."
"We considered in staying at the camp, but since Ritsuka and the others had already parted and we weren't able to enter in contact with you, we decided to go to the city ourselves." Peko explained, apologizing to Romani. "Sorry if we weren't supposed to leave the local without your authorization."
"Yeah. We should have contacted and consulted you first doc." Nala added. "Our bad. We won't disobey again."
"Hummm, actually, it's a good thing that you were on your way to Denver." Romani told them.
"Eh?"
"Why?"
"Because I don't bring exciting-very-good-news to you. Ritsuka and Mash have been imprisoned within the headquarters of the West." Romani revealed to them, much to the twins shock.
"What?! Why?!" Nala exclaimed.
"Aren't we and them in the same page? Did the negotiations gone wrong?" Peko asked the doctor, already worried about his friends safety.
"Kinda. It looks like our goals aren't so alligned as we originally thought they were." Romani told them.
Geronimo tighten his gaze. "As I suspected."
"How so?" Peko asked Romani.
"I'll explain you along the way. Right now, you guys need to go to Denver and rescue them!" Romani replied.
"Couldn't agree more!" Nala speaked. "We don't have a second to lose!"
"I know of a shortcut that can lead us to the city faster." Geronimo shared with them. "It's an underway passage through some mines. The entrance isn't far from here. Follow me!"
Having went throught the mentioned shortcut, the small party was able to reach the city in half an hour. The sun was already going down in the late afternoon as Peko and Nala stared down at Denver and the fortress in the middle of it by the mines exit. It was fully guarded by the helter skelters, being almost impossible to enter there to rescue Ritsuka and Mash without being noticed and causing some chaos.
"Hmm, I fear we will have to fight our way in." Peko commented. "It's just impossible to do this in a sneakily way."
Romani rubbed his chin, hearing that. "And they're being held captive on the lower grounds of the fortress. So it will not be easy."
"Can't we like, perform a distraction or something to get their attention?" Nala proposed.
However, Geronimo already had a plan made. "That won't be necessary." He took out a big green cape, showing it to them. "This will be all we need."
"A cape?" Peko asked, confused.
"In what way that will help us?" Nala also asked.
"You'll see." Geronimo smirked. "Let's bust your friends out."
To be continued...
And that was it for chapter 76!
Previous chapter we didn't had any Peko and Nala, this chapter we get ONLY Peko and Nala. Perfectly balanced in my eyes. And once again, we got more two character introductions, or reintroduction in the case of Geronimo. It was him and the young 'Clearly not Arjuna' archer. And oh boy do we still have more servants to introduce in this Singularity. (No jokes now, I think Pluribus Unum might have the biggest servant cast size of all the Singularities).
In my point of view, a good chapter to focus on Peko and Nala and their development so far.
Anyways, that's all I wanted to say, and see you next time on chapter 77! Peace!
P.S:
Nala and Kama (Puts their faces against a showcase of a pastry shop after spotting a glorious and delicious strawberry cake in it)
Nala: WOOOOH! It looks so tasty! I wanna eat it!
Kama: H-Hey control yourself airhead! (Looks at the price) WHAT?! It's expensive as hell! How are we gonna buy it?
(Both look at a flyer next to them saying: "New Idol Talents for our V-Tuber agency needed. Audictions opened today!")
Nala (Stares at Kama with a smirk): Hmmm...
Kama: No
Nala: Why not?
Kama: We are not going to do that!
Two weeks later
Announcer: And now, we present to you, our agency two newest Idols!
Nala: Hyeee everyone! I'm Nala! Hope to make everyone smile and laugh!
Kama: Hi...I'm Kama. Go die or something.
Nala: Ahahaha, c'mon now Kama. That is no way to talk to our fans
Kama: I don't care. Screw them and you, airhead.
Nala (getting angry): Hum? Care to repeat that, Bakama?
Kama (smirks): As many times necessary since you are clearly deaf, airhead.
Nala (smiles angrily, grabbing Kama): Are you asking for a beating, Bakama?
Kama (also grabs Nala): Yes. I am asking if you want a beating so bad that you will never forget it, airhead.
Nala: Oh oh! Then how about we take this outside so that I can put this fist into-
(TRANSMISSION CUT! WE ARE SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCES! WE WILL BE BACK IN A SHORT TIME!)