Is this what... Friendship feels like?

“I don’t really want to meet another one of your whores.”

Vriko stood as she almost always did; arms crossed over her chest, glaring across the area that had very quickly become an official training yard. Ever since they had managed to save the village from Astri and her minions, the rest of the villagers had gone the extra mile to show their gratitude. They’d worked with Vriko and Gren to till the land into a true and honest training area. It hadn’t just been for the two of them; it gave the villagers a place to come and learn more about self defense. Given that they had been overwhelmed by the Sons of Faera without much of a fight, their pride in their own abilities had been stepped on and they were wanting to make up for their lack of courage.

Of course Gren always tried to cheer them up, letting them know that it was better to protect themselves and their loved ones by not putting themselves in danger. Not Vriko; if the villagers wanted to learn to fight, she was all for it and used everything she knew to educate them. She made sure they understood just how tough it was to go up against supernaturally-strengthened fighters. It wasn’t pretty but they were thankful for her efforts, praising her continuously, almost to the point of insufferable.

Apparently today, they had a special treat. Gren had another woman he knew, named Saffron, coming to train with them. She was someone that actively trained under his son, Vandrad, and had expressed an interest in working out with Gren at some point. Vriko, of course, took this to mean that the woman just wanted to come and ogle him while she did actual work. That wasn’t her idea of fun, especially after having met Mercury.

Gren chuckled. “It ain’t like that, Vriko. Saffron is just a friend. Trust me, she ain’t interested in me like that.” The former Knight was dressed in his usual workout attire; a white tank top with a pair of blue gym shorts, along with some gym shoes.

“Says you,” Vriko retorted softly, the comment more of a scoff than anything else. She’d taken to not wearing her armor as much in recent days, having dressed down into a kimono-like outfit. It only had one strap that went over her left shoulder, wrapping around her chest and providing a glimpse of her workout bra beneath. The bottom of the dress was shorter than she usually liked it, with a partial opening over her left thigh. It was somewhat flashy for a simple workout attire but it allowed her to move fluidly and, frankly, look flashy as well. She would never admit that she’d seen images of Agatha wearing a similar outfit and had modeled it slightly after that.

“I’m not going to play nice with her,” Vriko stated, even as she wandered over to the weapons rack that had been fabricated. It was lined mostly with wooden bokken swords and staves but she had made it a habit of hanging her sword case on the end of the rack as well.

The former Knight grinned back at her. “Trust me, kid, she ain’t lookin’ for anyone to be nice to her. If anythin’ she’ll be lookin’ for a challenge.”

“Good. She’s gonna get it.”

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The rumble of a vehicle approaching caught both Vriko and Gren’s attention. The former Knight recognized it as Saffron’s, while the raven-haired woman looked in the direction suspiciously. It wasn’t until Gren gave her a wave, alerting her that it was who they were expecting, that she relaxed… kind of. She still wasn’t enthralled with the idea of meeting the new woman, even despite Gren’s attempts to placate her with assurances. Just because he said something didn’t mean it was entirely the truth. He could just not be noticing that this Saffron woman was eyeing him like a piece of meat, just waiting to take a bite.

A moment later, a blonde woman strode in from the other side of town. She was dressed like a spit-firing biker, with a leather jacket over a bright orange shirt and thick-rimmed glasses to boot. She was… rather fashionable, but that didn’t mean much to Vriko -- she’d even admit that Mercury had a good fashion sense, despite her whorish… everything else. Still, Saffron approached with the cool demeanor of almost ambivalence. She greeted Gren casually, walking up and giving him a handshake that was friendly not overly so. Hell, even her eyes didn’t wander as she met his gaze evenly. Finally she turned to Vriko, standing with her arms crossed and glaring at the blonde in quiet, discourteous study. She continued to watch as Saffron approached her and held out her arm, offering a handshake and a greeting with her name. The only thing that Vriko saw that drew her attention away from her griping mood was the mechanical limb that was extended. From a brief look at it, it seemed to be a replacement for a lost arm.

“Wonderful. You have a name. Good for you,” Vriko replied to Saffron, her arms unbudging from their place.

“Vriko, ya don’t gotta be rude,” Gren spoke up.

“And I never agreed to be nice,” she shot back at him, her eyes never wavering from Saffron.

Gren rolled his eyes slightly in amusement even as Saffron took a moment to look around, complimenting their set up. She thanked them for letting her join, as apparently Vandrad had been on her case to keep up her workouts. She complained about having to do burpees and Vriko’s eyes narrowed slightly. “The hell are burpees?” she asked before her head cocked slightly. “Wait, you said Vandrad. As in your son,” she said, indicating to Gren.

“That’s right, Saffron is-”

“So she’s his whore then. You’re going to train your own son’s whore. I don’t know why I’m surprised; your fucking familial lines are all sorts of screwy. Gods, who knew Mythal and I would be the least messed up,” Vriko formulated her own theory quickly, scoffing slightly as she looked at Saffron. “So what, you Vandrad’s side woman for when his whore of a wife isn’t around? Or are you here to drool over his father as well? Because I came here to work out, not to watch you make googly eyes at him.”

Gren chuckled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry, Saffron. Vriko is a little… touchy ever since she actually met Mercury. Well actually she’s always been quick to judge.”

“Better than bein’ an idiot,” Vriko hissed in his direction. She settled her gaze back on Saffron, clearly waiting for an answer to her accusations, comments, really anything she had said thus far.

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That… was not what Vriko was expecting at all.

Saffron just rolled with it. She didn’t seem bothered at all by the raven-haired woman’s attempts to scorn or discourage her. In fact, she almost seemed to be amused, enthralled by it. Gods it was like Mercury all over again; finding it funny that Vriko wanted no part of them. Saffron chastised Gren at his attempts to soften Vriko’s words, insisting that if Vriko hadn’t agreed to be pleasant, then she didn’t need to be. It almost looked like the women were going to get into a discussion about burpees when Vriko, instead, jumped on the fact that Vandrad was apparently Saffron’s teacher. It all suddenly made sense to her and she jumped all over Gren for agreeing to the ridiculous scheme.

But, yet again, Saffron defied expectation. Rather than owning up to it like Mercury might have, the only baseline Vriko had at the moment, Saffron looked… sick. Whether genuine or playing it up, she covered her mouth and asked them to give her a moment, as she had just thrown up in her mouth. Vriko stayed at the blonde with wide, confused eyes as she collected herself. Finally Saffron confirmed that Vandrad was not her type due to his age, which then also ruled out Gren, insisting it wasn’t meant to show any offense to the former Knight. She preferred people her own age and perhaps more importantly, people that hadn’t taken a ride on the ‘community bicycle’. Who in the hell was the community bicycle? Saffron continued, saying that she loved the woman and found her attractive but she wanted to keep distance between them in terms of partners.

Vriko had never looked more confused in her life. She looked to Gren for clarification. With a sigh, he did: “She’s talkin’ ‘bout Mercury.”

The community bicycle was Mercury? How did that make sense? Vriko stood there, trying to wrap her mind around the analogy for a long few seconds before the pieces fell into place. The community bicycle, meaning it was something that a lot of people would ride. Mercury was a whore so, in this instance, she was the one who was being ridden. Saffron basically had called Mercury a whore as well. “Heh.” It was a small but distinguishable noise that had never, ever left her mouth before. A laugh -- a singular guffaw as the joke finally landed and Vriko actually, genuinely found it funny.

It would be very obvious by the stunned look on Gren’s face that Vriko laughing, even as short and forgettable as it was, was bewildering. Realizing that she had a semi-smirk on her face and that Gren was staring at her, she quickly stomped down any sign of amusement and fell back into the same old enthusiastic mannerism she generally kept. It worked out perfectly, as Saffron had just finished stretching, after dressing down from her jacket so she had a bit more flexibility. Vriko’s crimson gaze flicked to Saffron as she asked if she was satisfied and insisted she had come here to work out rather than listen to the raven-haired woman be possessive. Vriko sneered slightly in annoyance at the comment; well she may see Mercury for what she was but she still had the mouth and mannerisms of the whore. That was only compounded when Saffron teased her about possibly being worried about getting her ass kicked.

Finally she turned to Gren to ask what the plan was. That would be decided before the former Knight would even get a chance to speak. Vriko had moved over to her sword case and extracted a katana from its bowels and in a flash was beside Saffron. The soft ring of her blade tapping against Saffron’s arm drew the attention to her. “Me. I’m the plan.” It was all the warning she would get before Vriko smoothly transitioned into a fighting stance and began to swing her sword at Saffron.

“Whoa, hey!” Gren said, waving his arms to try and stop the women. “That ain’t exactly what I had in mind!”

“What, a mile run through the mountainside and then some push ups?” Vriko taunted him, even as she continued to ‘spar’ with Saffron. “You heard the blondette; she came here to bust her ass. So stop your whining, do your damn job and be ready to give her first aid after I whoop her butt.”

Gren groaned. “I feel like this is more about the possessive comment but… fine. Just… don’t kill one another.”

“Where would the fun in that be? Besides, if she’s so weak that I could almost kill her in a harmless training session, then she isn’t worth my time!” Yet another glimmer of a smirk crossed Vriko’s face as she pressed her advantage, showcasing just how fluid she had gotten with her swords.

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There was, perhaps, a moment of time for Saffron to truly understand what was happening. But that moment was when she was forced to dodge out of the way of Vriko’s first swing, nimbly dancing away from what would have surely been a painful slice if it hit. She fell into a decent fighting stance almost immediately, her training shining through nearly as brightly as her excited grin. And for the life of her, Vriko couldn’t find it in herself to mock the woman for being excited. Fighting a new opponent was exciting and while she was as mouthy as Mercury, the raven-haired woman wouldn’t deny that she had wanted to beat up on the Silver Wolf whore. This was just like catharsis by proxy.

Of course, Vriko wasn’t aiming to kill Saffron. She would hardly be able to deal with Gren or Mythal if she accidentally murdered the woman doing a routine training session. That would be a lot of effort on her part, to have to answer for that. But that didn’t mean that she couldn’t make a few slices here and there, just to get her point across. She was suitably proficient enough with her swords to know how to angle her swings and strikes so they wouldn’t do any permanent damage. Hell, she may just try to cut the woman’s clothes up as a showcase to her skill. But Vriko didn’t need to worry too much about that, as Saffron seemed well trained in her own right. Gren tried to chastise her about her aggressive actions but she simply rebuffed him, especially since the blonde seemed far more interested in this kind of training. She chortled in excitement as Vriko boldly claimed her victory ahead of time and then observed that Gren was clearly acting as ref, insisting he stay ready as she was going to ‘tap this bitch out’.

A comment that probably, usually, most likely would have bothered Vriko in any other circumstance or any other person. But it was the way it was delivered, with Saffron midfight, grinning like a kid at a park, that made it almost… wholesome, in Vriko’s eyes. Of course, her idea of wholesome was most likely the furthest from normal. She met Saffron’s gaze after the comment and actually smirked in amusement, seemingly getting caught up in the excitement as well. Now that they seemed to be on the same plane of understanding -- remarkably, considering how they had started out -- the spar only intensified, as Saffron nimbly bounced around the sword strikes and Vriko kept lashing out, one after the other. Every couple of strikes, the metal blade would find bite against her arm, clanging loudly but leaving no damage on either side.

But as they kept up, Saffron was getting faster. Vriko’s eyes did her best to track her movements but it was trying to swing at a mirage. The blonde was ramping up, most likely beginning to use more of her innate ability or even her magical power, if she possessed it. Gren was surprisingly mum on if the blonde actually utilized any kind of magic. Her sword swung horizontally to the ground and Saffron used that as her opening, dashing in removing herself from the sword’s range by being far too close. Punches peppered her form, Vriko grunted and gritted her teeth as she was finally forced to move away, now on the defensive. Saffron complimented her swordplay, admitting that she’d never really taken a liking to swords and inquired if she had any other training.

“As a matter of fact,” Vriko replied smoothly and in a flash, she tossed her katana skywards. For the briefest of moments, her entire body went lax before it tightened up, the raven-haired warrior activating her Arts. The ground yawned beneath her feet temporarily before she rushed to meet Saffron, catching the incoming fist and twisting her body to in an attempt pull the blonde off her feet and throw her. By the time she had released Saffron’s hand, she was already leaping into the air, moving far quicker than she was before. Her hand found the handle of her katana and the blade surged with a blueish energy. “Moon God’s Fixed Gaze!” she chanted before she swung the sword towards Saffron. The sky above both of them crackled and then from out of nowhere, a beam of moonlight came rushing down towards Saffron, looking to slam her into the ground.

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If Vriko was capable of finding humor in moments of clarifying hilarity, she didn’t seem to show it. Saffron could only quip out a quick concern before she was hoisted over Vriko and sent flying backwards. She had been trained enough to be able to put herself into a roll once she landed but it put her off her guard as Vriko shot into the air, grabbed her katana and unleashed a full-fledged magical attack. Yet she didn’t try to dodge the beam of moonlight; instead she stood her ground and braced herself for the impact. Vriko landed on the ground in a half-crouch, her sword tucked partially by her side as she watched the blonde ride out the blast of magic until its completion.

She looked fairly exhausted by the end, her clothes tattered and scorched along with some of her flesh. Her breathing was heavily and she looked like she was already winded. Vriko smirked again slightly, relaxing her body in belief that she had already knocked the fight out of the woman. Instead, a moment later, she watched in surprise as magical energy began to ebb off Saffron, a literal aura of power enveloping her entire form and basking her in a golden glow. Her head snapped up to meet her gaze and her eyes had changed color as well, shining gold not dissimilar from the actual mineral. Who was this woman?

Saffron butted her hands together and her robotic arm seemed to melt away a portion of its form and wrap around her other limb. Vriko went back on guard, her sword brought up in a defensive stance as she waited the milliseconds it took for Saffron to get her composure and then launch herself forward, closing the distance between them almost instantly. Vriko barely had time to bring up her katana to block the first strike with the flat edge of her weapon before the next one was already coming in. Saffron’s output of speed and strength had increased drastically, honestly reminding Vriko of when she had fought Mythal the second time. Punches and kicks peppered her limbs and body, keeping her off balance while shots of compressed energy blasted into her form. Fragments of her outfit were blown off, leaving behind scorch marks on her flesh as she did her best to handle the assault.

Her only reprieve was given when Saffron leapt into the air. Her kimono tattered, Vriko looked up quickly to track the blonde as she took to the sky above. Even from the distance between them, Vriko could feel the magical energy that was about to come crashing down on her. Gritting her teeth that looked far more like a wide grin than anything else, Vriko brought her katana down to her side, the point facing away. There she held it, compressing the martial power she had within and willing it into the sword. When the burst of magic energy exploded out from Saffron’s fist, Vriko waited until the last possible moment before reacting. Her sword sliced through the air with such speed, it looked as if it and her arm had teleported from her hip to above her head. The force of the swing met the head of the blast and tore it in half, cleaving the magic attack in two and creating a valley of safety where Vriko stood, though the land around her still took punishment.

But she didn’t care about that. Vriko was already leaping up into the air, energy wrapping around her as she surpassed Saffron in height, her weapon moving slowly into a new attacking position. A strange, reddish energy seemed to be pouring out from the raven-haired woman’s eyes, almost like a magic mask. But more than that, the air around her and Saffron changed. It wasn’t a tension of dread or approaching danger but rather one of… peace and beauty. Vriko herself seemed to almost glow with a divine like beauty, even as she moved in slow motion to prepare to begin her next assault.

“Vriko!” Gren’s voice cut through the haze, his voice stern but concerned.

Vriko heard him and knew why he was voicing his worry. In an instant, the reddish energy disappeared from her eyes. And with it, so did the rest of her magic power. Now completely drained, Vriko’s grunted as she numbly fell back down towards the ground. She only managed to catch herself before hitting the floor hard, landing on her feet before falling to her knees, her katana falling to the soil beside her.

Gren ran over to her. “You alright?” he asked, bending down beside her.

“Y-Yeah,” she said softly. She did her best to sound dismissive but was too temporarily drained to put much bite into her words. Already she was beginning to regain her natural mana, taking a deep breath as she stood back to her feet.

Gren stood with her and looked at Saffron. “I think maybe we call that a draw?” he suggested.

“You. Saffron, was it?” Vriko spoke up immediately after his question, drawing attention to herself. Now on her feet, she met the blonde’s gaze evenly. “You fight well. I haven’t had my abilities tested like that before.” She jabbed a thumb in Gren’s direction. “This fool keeps holding back on me. Clearly I have outgrown his limited training. You will be my new training partner.” Bending down to pick up her sword, she stood up and approached the blonde. “I’ve been told I’m unfriendly. I just don’t like people wasting my time. You didn’t. Plus you have an opinion of Gren’s whore that I find favorable. I believe I’ll… enjoy training with you.”

“Well remember, she is still Vandrad’s student,” Gren interjected.

“To truly master a craft, one must be willing to hear all sides and all viewpoints. I believe you were the one that told me that,” Vriko interrupted him again without looking at him. “If I’m to grow stronger -- if we’re to grow stronger -- we must study under different teachers and different students. If training with Saffron means I must train with this Vandrad as well, so be it. From what I hear, he is far more harsh than you are… even if he is marrying that whore.” Vriko cocked a brow at Saffron. “I trust you accept?”

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