And while you are sitting indoors
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain
waiting for the storm to pass
I will be outside dancing in the rain
❧
Not everything could be solved with words alone. It was something the elf learned the hard way during her adventures in the mage world. This world required a certain balance of sorts. You could only go so far with fists down, but yet you could only go so far fighting your way through everything.
The revelation of this only came to the girl a while ago after she had been captured during the war on Navrick. The realization that she had no power under the woman who had captured her reminded the guild master of the time she had almost lost her brother. No, not the time. The two times. Two times she had failed both him and herself. The first time Elyx was the one who swung in to save the day, managing to stop the bloodthirsty youkai in her path. The second, well she couldn't even say. It was all rather hazy and distorted during her fit of anger and rage, but she was sure she had actually managed to stop Izayuki from killing her brother that time, but not before Lucius had killed her first and possessed her body in order to exact revenge.
She was always getting taken advantage of. She was always the damsel in distress. She was always the one being pushed around. This is what caused the silvernette to seek out Sirius in the first place. Tired of being everyone's punching bad she sought out the white dragon of legend, begging for him to train her so she may advance in power. To which, he surprisingly agreed. Though of course not without a fight. The battle had been long, and hard, but eventually she had come out victorious. To think she had actually beaten such a powerful foe, it was the proof she needed that she could get stronger. It was proof that she really wasn't just a punching bag after all. She could do it if she tried, she could really get stronger and show all of her doubters just what she was made of. The dragon reminded her why she was here, and how much she had done to come so far. The slayer had never felt more alive.
Training with a dragon was tough, of course. Getting to Terasu was already hard enough, which is why Astrid tended to stay on the starry planet for days at a time while she trained. It was way too much work to go back and forth all the time. This has been going on for a while now, a month of two maybe. She wasn't sure. These days the dates seemed to be blending together with how much she was doing. Each session was even harder than the last, though she guessed it would be strange if they weren't. Every time she took a break or came home she was beyond exhausted, her muscles sore. Even the thought of moving causing her to groan in pain. But she could feel it beginning to work. She was no longer fatigued as easily as she used to be, her strength was growing even stronger than before. It was working, after so long of feeling weak and not knowing what to do. She was finally advancing.
And now she felt the need to test this.
There weren't many people she knew who were of the same level of strength as she was. Elyx and Izayuki were out of the question, of course. Not that it would even be easy to find either of them in the first place. Lucius and Kaisto, while being rather close friends, were just not quite at the same level as her. They, while being higher ranking mages than some, would just not be worthy opponents for her to test her strength on.
There was only one person that matched her in rank, as much as she wish the person wasn't.
Erika.
While forgiven for her actions in the elf's eyes after their last mission... She wasn't exactly wanting to fight her. They were friends... Kind of... Maybe... Possibly... Who knew. Astrid would at least like to think they were friends now. But Astrid also knew how cocky the woman could be. She didn't want her fighting style to be ripped to pieces by her razor sharp words. But she was the one who could truly give Astrid the fight she wanted, a test fight if you will. Sirius was good and all, but he was an opponent she faced regularly. She knew his fighting style, he knew her's. After a while it would start to get boring. But with Erika they had only fought once before during the war, and that was a long time ago.
So as much as she didn't want to, Astrid knew this to be the only way to test herself.
It was not early in the day, maybe early afternoon at least. Though being in an under water city one tended to be unsure of the time. But Astrid had done this on purpose. She did not wish to bother the thread mage too early. If she did that she was sure to get a mouth full about waking her up too damn early or something. The slayer stood before the blue haired lady's house, which just so happened to be very close to her own, staring at the individual bricks and cement closing it all together, her mind making an excuse to waste time in order for her not to deal with this. But eventually, she knew she would have to anyway. How would she ask Erika, without her laughing her off? She didn't know, prehaps it was inevitable. In order to get through this, no matter what she could plan, she would just have to grit her teeth and suffer through her arrogant aura.
Not like Astrid was ever good at planning anyway. She would have to wing this.
The silvernette took a sharp breath through her nose, straightening her posture to make herself as serious-looking as she could before marching the rest of the way to Erika's door. She was about to knock once she reached it, only to notice at the last second that the door was cracked open slightly. This was odd, why was it open? Did she just leave it open?
Curious, the slayer popped her head inside. "Excusez-moi" she called out quietly, apologizing just in case there was anyone there, but there was not. Strange. She was defiantly picking up Erika's soul wavelength, but she did not appear to be here.
Slightly worried Astrid shuffled inside the dark room, closing the door gently behind her. It was only once she was inside that she could pinpoint the source of the soul energy. Upstairs. One might think it was a little weird for someone to just barge in into someone else's house uninvited, even if the person was a friend. But Astrid wasn't normal, everyone should know this by now. Her curiosity about the woman leaving the door open was still strong. Did something happen to her? Did her father finally find out about her and attempt to kill her? The guild master's worry would not subside until she was sure Erika was okay.
Making her way through the living room the slayer made an extra effort to stay quiet as she tip toed upstairs, cringing slightly every time she accidentally made a squeak. After a few minutes of making sure her noises was not disturbing anyway she eventually found her way to the second floor of the house, turning into the hallway and stopping in front of the room where she could feel Erika's life energy most strongest in. Just like the front door this door too was slightly open. Well, not like there was any turning back now. She had come this far to check on her, might as well finish the job.
The side of her face slipped through the crack, purple orbs scanning the room before they managed to land on the blue haired woman. She looked fine, at least from this distance. In fact judging by the calmness of her soul she was sleeping. She wouldn't sense any sort of danger or anything wrong, but Astrid still felt the urge to get a closer look just to be sure. After a moment of staring the rest of her body revealed itself from the door frame, slowly, as to not wake her.
She stepped quietly over the floorboards, freezing yet again every time it would creak under her weight.
Either she was eating way too much recently or they really needed to get better flooring in these houses. Growing tired of waiting to make sure her noises did not wake her up Astrid rushed as quickly over to the side of the bed as possible, no longer pausing when she made a noise.
Though thankfully, it didn't seem to wake her up. At least not from what she could see. The slayer stared down at the woman with sparkling eyes, instantly enraptured by Erika's sleeping features. How she looked so calm and peaceful in her sleep versus when she was awake. It was actually... Kind of nice to see, and actually, she looked kind of cute. Like a sleeping kitten. Granted, she wasn't exactly dressed appropriately, her lower half only covered by a pair of underwear... But still cute nonetheless.
Unable to control herself Astrid bent down and continued to stare at Erika's sleeping face before poking at one of her cheeks. She wasn't sure what she was doing anymore. Why had she gone so far as to sneak into her room in order to make sure the woman was okay? And why was she now poking at her face like some sort of pet? The elf didn't know, nor could she control herself. It was like an involuntary reaction to seeing something so rare. She needed to take advantage of this situation before she never got to see Erika like this ever again.
"She looks so peaceful and cute, like a kitten..."
A smile grew onto Astrid's lips, a small light blush burning onto her face as she continued to poke and wiggle her face. "Kitten meow meow~"
The revelation of this only came to the girl a while ago after she had been captured during the war on Navrick. The realization that she had no power under the woman who had captured her reminded the guild master of the time she had almost lost her brother. No, not the time. The two times. Two times she had failed both him and herself. The first time Elyx was the one who swung in to save the day, managing to stop the bloodthirsty youkai in her path. The second, well she couldn't even say. It was all rather hazy and distorted during her fit of anger and rage, but she was sure she had actually managed to stop Izayuki from killing her brother that time, but not before Lucius had killed her first and possessed her body in order to exact revenge.
She was always getting taken advantage of. She was always the damsel in distress. She was always the one being pushed around. This is what caused the silvernette to seek out Sirius in the first place. Tired of being everyone's punching bad she sought out the white dragon of legend, begging for him to train her so she may advance in power. To which, he surprisingly agreed. Though of course not without a fight. The battle had been long, and hard, but eventually she had come out victorious. To think she had actually beaten such a powerful foe, it was the proof she needed that she could get stronger. It was proof that she really wasn't just a punching bag after all. She could do it if she tried, she could really get stronger and show all of her doubters just what she was made of. The dragon reminded her why she was here, and how much she had done to come so far. The slayer had never felt more alive.
Training with a dragon was tough, of course. Getting to Terasu was already hard enough, which is why Astrid tended to stay on the starry planet for days at a time while she trained. It was way too much work to go back and forth all the time. This has been going on for a while now, a month of two maybe. She wasn't sure. These days the dates seemed to be blending together with how much she was doing. Each session was even harder than the last, though she guessed it would be strange if they weren't. Every time she took a break or came home she was beyond exhausted, her muscles sore. Even the thought of moving causing her to groan in pain. But she could feel it beginning to work. She was no longer fatigued as easily as she used to be, her strength was growing even stronger than before. It was working, after so long of feeling weak and not knowing what to do. She was finally advancing.
And now she felt the need to test this.
There weren't many people she knew who were of the same level of strength as she was. Elyx and Izayuki were out of the question, of course. Not that it would even be easy to find either of them in the first place. Lucius and Kaisto, while being rather close friends, were just not quite at the same level as her. They, while being higher ranking mages than some, would just not be worthy opponents for her to test her strength on.
There was only one person that matched her in rank, as much as she wish the person wasn't.
Erika.
While forgiven for her actions in the elf's eyes after their last mission... She wasn't exactly wanting to fight her. They were friends... Kind of... Maybe... Possibly... Who knew. Astrid would at least like to think they were friends now. But Astrid also knew how cocky the woman could be. She didn't want her fighting style to be ripped to pieces by her razor sharp words. But she was the one who could truly give Astrid the fight she wanted, a test fight if you will. Sirius was good and all, but he was an opponent she faced regularly. She knew his fighting style, he knew her's. After a while it would start to get boring. But with Erika they had only fought once before during the war, and that was a long time ago.
So as much as she didn't want to, Astrid knew this to be the only way to test herself.
It was not early in the day, maybe early afternoon at least. Though being in an under water city one tended to be unsure of the time. But Astrid had done this on purpose. She did not wish to bother the thread mage too early. If she did that she was sure to get a mouth full about waking her up too damn early or something. The slayer stood before the blue haired lady's house, which just so happened to be very close to her own, staring at the individual bricks and cement closing it all together, her mind making an excuse to waste time in order for her not to deal with this. But eventually, she knew she would have to anyway. How would she ask Erika, without her laughing her off? She didn't know, prehaps it was inevitable. In order to get through this, no matter what she could plan, she would just have to grit her teeth and suffer through her arrogant aura.
Not like Astrid was ever good at planning anyway. She would have to wing this.
The silvernette took a sharp breath through her nose, straightening her posture to make herself as serious-looking as she could before marching the rest of the way to Erika's door. She was about to knock once she reached it, only to notice at the last second that the door was cracked open slightly. This was odd, why was it open? Did she just leave it open?
Curious, the slayer popped her head inside. "Excusez-moi" she called out quietly, apologizing just in case there was anyone there, but there was not. Strange. She was defiantly picking up Erika's soul wavelength, but she did not appear to be here.
Slightly worried Astrid shuffled inside the dark room, closing the door gently behind her. It was only once she was inside that she could pinpoint the source of the soul energy. Upstairs. One might think it was a little weird for someone to just barge in into someone else's house uninvited, even if the person was a friend. But Astrid wasn't normal, everyone should know this by now. Her curiosity about the woman leaving the door open was still strong. Did something happen to her? Did her father finally find out about her and attempt to kill her? The guild master's worry would not subside until she was sure Erika was okay.
Making her way through the living room the slayer made an extra effort to stay quiet as she tip toed upstairs, cringing slightly every time she accidentally made a squeak. After a few minutes of making sure her noises was not disturbing anyway she eventually found her way to the second floor of the house, turning into the hallway and stopping in front of the room where she could feel Erika's life energy most strongest in. Just like the front door this door too was slightly open. Well, not like there was any turning back now. She had come this far to check on her, might as well finish the job.
The side of her face slipped through the crack, purple orbs scanning the room before they managed to land on the blue haired woman. She looked fine, at least from this distance. In fact judging by the calmness of her soul she was sleeping. She wouldn't sense any sort of danger or anything wrong, but Astrid still felt the urge to get a closer look just to be sure. After a moment of staring the rest of her body revealed itself from the door frame, slowly, as to not wake her.
She stepped quietly over the floorboards, freezing yet again every time it would creak under her weight.
Either she was eating way too much recently or they really needed to get better flooring in these houses. Growing tired of waiting to make sure her noises did not wake her up Astrid rushed as quickly over to the side of the bed as possible, no longer pausing when she made a noise.
Though thankfully, it didn't seem to wake her up. At least not from what she could see. The slayer stared down at the woman with sparkling eyes, instantly enraptured by Erika's sleeping features. How she looked so calm and peaceful in her sleep versus when she was awake. It was actually... Kind of nice to see, and actually, she looked kind of cute. Like a sleeping kitten. Granted, she wasn't exactly dressed appropriately, her lower half only covered by a pair of underwear... But still cute nonetheless.
Unable to control herself Astrid bent down and continued to stare at Erika's sleeping face before poking at one of her cheeks. She wasn't sure what she was doing anymore. Why had she gone so far as to sneak into her room in order to make sure the woman was okay? And why was she now poking at her face like some sort of pet? The elf didn't know, nor could she control herself. It was like an involuntary reaction to seeing something so rare. She needed to take advantage of this situation before she never got to see Erika like this ever again.
"She looks so peaceful and cute, like a kitten..."
A smile grew onto Astrid's lips, a small light blush burning onto her face as she continued to poke and wiggle her face. "Kitten meow meow~"
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