Arriving

This is joint-written.

Niqi hugged her coat tighter around her in reaction to the biting wind. "Syrinda!" she called, seeing the elf walking through the camp in the distance. Niqi picked up the pace, leaving the others lagging behind slightly, so she wouldn't have to yell. The elf had turned to look at her. "Nice job with the camp, sorry we had you waiting so long. Any news?"

Syrinda shook her head. "We had a few small problems setting up, but there's nothing interesting to report." She took a moment to scan the faces of the group. "Where's our fearless leader?"

Niqi bit her lip. "About that..."

Syrinda sighed. "Don't tell me. Big problems?"

Before anyone could answer, Shetani and Revan appeared, orbing down from the sky. "Very big." Shetani said.

Dham fluttered over, landing beside Syrinda. "Is anyone actually going to tell us what's going on?"

Niqi looked over at Shetani. "Did things get worse than they were before? Have you seen Glide yet?"

"Which do you want first, the bad news or the really bad news?" Shetani asked.

Niqi frowned. "Get the worst news out of the way, I suppose."

Shetani shifted uneasily. "We... ran into Maki and Mambo on the Sky Dragon."

"Goddamnit," Niqi hissed. "Since Glide hasn't been too friendly with Red and Valerian very recently, I'm guessing that they're not our allies anymore."

"There's just one thing I don't understand..." Shetani muttered. "Where the hell was Kavar...?"

"I'm guessing he won't be too happy with us either," Niqi muttered. "Have we acquired any more enemies today?"

"I wanted to keep it under wraps," Syrinda said, "but I ran into someone. An archer even more skilled than I am."

"When it rains, it f****n' pours..." Glide coughed, leaning against a tree nearby.

"Ain't that the goddamn truth," Niqi agreed, suddenly smiling. "Good to see you're still alive, in the most loose interpretation of the word. You look rough, though."

Glide shrugged. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine... in about ten or twenty years. Which of you a******s decided to f****n' ditch me? I got out of that damn building and you were gone."

Niqi pointed at Shetani.

Shetani grinned sheepishly. "Uh... whoops?"

"That's all you've got to say for yourself?" Glide scoffed. "Idiots, every last goddamn one of you. Make up for ditching me by summoning the rest of my weapons. I doubt I'll get anywhere with just this." He drew what was left of Magus. "It had to be Magus, too... This sword was my goddamn life."

 

...

 

"What's the mildly bad news?" Niqi asked. "With the way things are going, it seems like that's the closest we're going to get to good news."

"Well, it's not as bad as it could be." Shetani said. "We managed to destroy the Sky Dragon's ion cannon, but the ship itself is still intact."

"Could be worse," Niqi agreed. She looked to Glide. "Should we rest here a few days, let you recover and such?"

"F**k you." Glide muttered, glaring at Niqi. "I don't need time to recover, I need to kill that stupid f**k so we can finally get some peace. And he's that way." He paused, gesturing in the direction of the rising sun. "I can smell him."

Niqi sighed. "Fine, but if we're going, can we at least wait a few hours? Some of us need sleep."

"Y'all can sleep when you're dead." Glide replied, standing up. "Come on."

"Wait a minute." Shetani said. "I need to talk with Ambree for a few minutes."

Ambree looked up, surprised at hearing her name mentioned. "What about?" she asked out of reflex.

Shetani stood up, brushing off the back of her jeans. "Just come with me, it's important."

Ambree obeyed silently.

Shetani led Ambree to a spot away from the camp. "Do you remember your sword?"

"What, Insecte?" Ambree asked, wondering why it mattered now.

"That's the one." Shetani said. "Do you remember when it shattered, and what happened to the pieces?"

Ambree nodded. "It broke back on Tendou," she recalled. It took her a moment to remember ten years back. "...And then I gave the pieces to you," she realized.

Shetani smiled. "Exactly. I wanted to thank you for that, and there's only one way to properly do so." She raised a paw to the sky. "Illyria!"

Answering her call, a sword fell from the sky, landing in her paw.

"This was my weapon, on the Higher Plane." Shetani explained, holding it out. "Thanks to you, she's able to cross over."

Ambree's eyes widened. "Uh...how?" She marveled at the beautiful weapon.

"Gods-forged weapons can't cross over." Shetani replied. "They're not made from items found on this plane. My sisters and I combined Illyria with the pieces of Insecte, so she was able to cross over. And to thank you for your weapon, I'm giving you mine."

"All that trouble to get a single sword, and you're giving it to me?" Ambree asked. "Don't you think you should keep it?"

Shetani shook her head. "Take her, she's yours. Treat her well and she'll destroy anything in your way."

Hesitantly, Ambree took the sword. She admired it for several seconds. "...Thanks doesn't cover it."

"It may not cover it, but it's certainly a start." Shetani smirked, heading back toward the camp. "Come on, Glide's probably getting impatient."

"Typical Glide," she responded, grinning. She yawned involuntarily. "I think I'll die sometime soon so I can sleep."

As soon as the two stepped into the ring of stones that marked the campsite, Glide spoke. "Sleep if you need to."

Shetani raised an eyebrow. "What changed your mind?"

"Your kid fell asleep, and he doesn't look like he's gonna wake up for a while." Glide laughed.

"I'll have to thank him for that in the morning." Shetani grinned, entering one of the small tents nearby.

Glide turned his gaze to Ambree. "Yours is the one to the left of Shetani's."

Ambree nodded, heading into the tent.

"Guard duty again." Glide said to himself, shaking his head. "Lucky me."

Reviews

[KEi]

//Good to see you're still alive, in the most loose interpretation of the word//
LOL with bells on.

//"Should we rest here a few days, let you recover and such?"

"F**k you."//
Wow.
Talk about biting the hand that feeds.
xD

Shetani gave Ambree her sword?
..
WHY?
O_o