"Do you think I should have punched her lights out?"
Literally, that was the only thing that had came out of Solanne's mouth for the last few hours. Riding alongside Hazel, she looked over at the younger girl with a curious expression. Being called a "piece of shit" didn't bode well for the Crimson Hound, and she was literally two seconds away from giving the arrogant little loli known as Agneria a faceful of burning fist.
Good thing she didn't know what a "loli" was anyway.
"Maybe I should have punched her? Definitely should have punched her. I wouldn't be yelled at too much if I did punch her, right Spell Spitter?"
The newly formed team of five had been assigned their medals and their new title, speeding off towards the Water Kingdom to hunt down a beast labeled as Searzon. Hearing that it was basically a monster wolf had caught the Crimson Hound's interest and she jumped at the chance to pursue. Now she hung back, riding alongside Hazel as the christened Babettes followed Allush into the unknown.
Hazel shook her head. "No, no, you definitely shouldn't have punched her..." She paused, a knowing smile growing across her face, "What you should have done was burned her to a crisp. You use fire magic, don't you? Shouldn't be too hard."
Solanne matched Hazel's smile with a smirk of her own.
"Yeah, I do. That's why I was considering lighting the fist on fire. Give her a few embers to remember me by, ya know?"
Hazel shook her head again. "Fire fists are kinda cool, but I'm certain that she'd remember being burned alive in a gigantic fire more." She complemented her description with hand motions and 'wooshing' sounds, imitating a fire. She was certainly in many ways more child then murderer.
"Ya know, you kinda remind me of someone I know back home," Solanne said with a chuckle. "All this talk of burning people alive. Yeah, maybe I should let you meet them one day."
The likelihood of that ending well was...well, it wasn't high. Still, Solanne shrugged off the consequences for a later time. Surely it wasn't anything to be worried about in hindsight.
Hazel payed little attention to what Solanne said, now lost in a world of fire that existed in her mind.
Solanne stared at Hazel with a weary expression, noting the hand motions and 'wooshing' sound effects. Oh yeah, she was exactly like her. Maybe it was best not to let them meet after all. What was it with today's youth that made them so...psychotic?
Amadeus rode around the middle of the group, queitly agreeing to the girls talk about burning Agneria to a crisp. He then stopped paying attention to everyone else and focused on the notes he had on their destination. 'Laewaes, a port city belonging to the Water Kingdom, it's also a trading stop for people transporting stuff from the coast to the more inland towns. If this town stops working for a long time, the people in those towns won't be able to get the supplies they need.' He sighed, first mission as a team and it was already an important one.
Harley casually remarked, "So, anyone else excited about this puppy we're gonna murder?, I sure as hell am."
Amadeus chuckled, "More like nervous, Searzons are both extremely fast and deadly."
Hazel huffed. "No... I mean, it's only the size of a little cottage, apparently. I signed up to fight big monsters, not some little dog."
Amadeus scratched his cheek, 'Damn, I wish I was as confident in myself as they where' he thought.
"Hazel, you complain too much, calm down, it's probably gonna kick our asses." Harley ran a hand through his hair, smirking in a cocky manner. "Anyway, if it bothers anyone, I'm still quite capable without my swords. So, anyone against me using them, speak now, or forever hold your silence."
Amadeus grabbed a bag at his side and threw it at Harley. "Here, it's the bug I was talking about"
Hazel huffed again. Harley clearly underestimated her. "I don't care about your stupid swords, do whatever you want... and that dumb dog won't 'kick our asses', I bet I could take care of it myself." She said bitterly.
"Wanna bet money?" Harley gave Hazel a wide-eyed look. "Because I'll bet some damn money." Harley then took a look in the bag, sneering. "These things look pretty gross. I'll gladly put some out of their hairy, sticky misery."
Amadeus sighed, "It evolved to look like that to avoid predators" he explained reading his notes
"Now children, settle down," Solanne put in with an innoncent tone.
Hazel ignored Solanne, continuing to argue with Harley, "You're on." She said with a cocky smirk.
"You're pretty fiery, it's a bit intimidating. And you there, Mutt of great redness, don't treat me like a toddler. Please. Thanks, appreciate it." Harley then looked to Amadeus, "How many notes do you have?" Squinting as he tried to look at them.
Amadeus chuckled at this, "Information is one of the key factors in winning any fight, so to answer your question," he then opened a pouch on his side to reveal 3 note books. "This is just a small portion of my library."
"Whatever you say Junior!" Solanne answered back towards Harley happily.
Harley sighed, chewing his bottom lip." Are we gonna have problems, I really don't wanna have problems. I like you guys, some more than others, but you're all okay. Please, calm it." Harley looked to Solanne with big puppy-dog eyes."Please."
Solanne shrugged. "We're perfectly fine...Junior."
"But we're not. You're calling me Junior." He chewed his lip, not wanting to argue, though it seemed inevitable, she simply didn't understand how unacceptable that was.
"Aw lighten up Junior!" Solanne said with a grin. "Like you said, we're all friends here. If you want, I can give you a different nickname?"
"That would be marvelous, please do."Harley grinned, running a hand through his hair, then sighing."You can call me Junior...If I can call you 'Red Mutt', deal?"
Solanne took pause to the request, thinking it over, before grinning.
"Sure, whatever makes you happy Junior. Cause either way, this 'Red Mutt' can still kick your ass five ways over," she said in a light-hearted manner.
Harley, with the same tone remarked, "Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night.Though, I'm sure you don't really wanna find out the hard way that you're wrong, very wrong."
The Crimson Hound did not answer this time, only snickering to herself. Ah well, kids would be kids. She had enough experience to know when one of them was too stubborn to back down. So she did Harley a favor and just nodded.
As Solomon warched the, no his team bickering, memories from his childhood began playing through his head, of times when his brother was not a cripple and his sister still laughed freely. Shaking the dark thoughts from his head, Solomon galloped up beside Amadeus . He had lagged behind the others, watching them grow closer as a team without him because he dwelled in past, but now was the time to move forward and fufil duty.
Amadeus looked to Solomon, "You OK? You seemed distracted for a second."
"Hm?" Solomon answered, "It is nothing that will affect my capability to fight and protect."
Amadeus nodded at this and looked back forward, "Have you ever fought a Searzon before?" He asked the older man.
"No," Solomon stated bluntly, "but if you are worried because of a lack of information, I can assure you that there is nothing to fear. You have a team behind you, and that means you never fight alone." Solomon then patted the younger man on the shoulder and smirked warmly.
Amadeus smiled at this but then frowned, "It's not that I don't think we can kill it," he said with a voice of seriousness, "It's that Laewae has a population of around 4000 people, it may be a small town but they are still in danger." he sighed, "The towns probably never seen something like this before."
"You would make a good leader Amadeus, no do not look increduously at me. A leader may be mighty in battle, and possess a mind as sharp as my blade, but if he has no compassion for his subjects then he is but a tyrant." Solomon said. Continuing, he said, "But you are correct, the small villages and towns will not be able to weather the storm."
Amadeus mentaly cringed at the word, leader. He thought of his father and his father before, both generals of the sky kingdom. "I just hope we can save them." He said
"People die everyday, just a reminder." Harley remarked coldly. "If you cause any innocent deaths, I suggest you keep that in mind." Harley bit his bottom lip hard. Then shrugged off some silent memory.
Solanne raised an eye at Harley's aloof attitude towards civilian casualties, but said nothing more on the matter. Instead, she rode and listened, curious if Solomon would say something.
"Harley, its true that people die everyday. But that also means that we will also die someday, I just wanna save as much lives as I can before that happens."
"That's pretty heroic, it kinda makes me feel bad about myself, its so heroic." Harley thought aloud."However,"Harley remarked, running a hand through his hair, squinting pensively. "If you're too hung up on it, you'll destroy yourself internally, and feel like shit constantly."Harley shrugged, then went quiet, staring at the ground as they traveled.
Amadeus stayed quiet, thinking about what he said.
Solomon nodded at the Harley's statement, but added, "While there is wisdom in those words, if you can save an innocent and chose not to because you are afraid of failure, that makes you a coward. You must temper yourself with the knowledge that even if you fail, at them very least you attempted to do something as everyone flees or abandons the situation. And about pain and self-loathing you feel whenever you fail to save some one is still present if you did nothing at all." Solomon finished quietly, almost to himself.
Amadeus soaked in what he said in amazment, "You should always try, and never feel guilty for the lives u didn't save but for the lives you could have saved."
Hazel shook her head. "You're all idiots." She said in a cynical tone.
"Now, now Spell Spitter," Solanne said. "Mind your manners. They can't help being a little idealistic. Must be a guy thing anyway."
"Hey, what's that mean? Everybody has emotions and opinions, please Hazel, enlighten us." Harley remarked, doubt in his voice.
"Yes, heiress of the Daphiat line, what great wisdom does a caged bird have to enlighten us naive fools who have never seen battle before?" Solomon questioned, and continuing, "After all, what use does a bird have for humans, when the bird has never seen outside its gilded cage?
Hazel's face reddened, anger rising inside her. "You know nothing about me, Solomon, don't presume that you do." She felt magical flame licking her fingertips. Latent magic often seeped out when she was angry, but it wouldn't hurt anyone unless they angered her more. "As far as I'm concererned silly ideals don't matter, what matters is living. If those villagers can't save themselves that's their own fault."
Amadeus sensed the sheer magic coming from Hazel, he instinctively started reaching for his sword but stopped himself
Solanne stared right at Amadeus. She knew he meant well, but getting ready to fight wouldn't solve the problem. So for now, she motioned for him to wait in silence and let Hazel vent verbally and not through her magic.
"I kinda wanted to say what Hazel just said, I just didn't wanna seem like a prick." Harley chuckled awkwardly, "Honestly, we're just kinda better than they are, civilians get in the way."
"But aren't the civilians the reason we fight?" Amadeus said solomly
"Yeah." Harley agreed. "But if they get in the way, it's their fault, ya know?, Money is cool, too, I guess."
"Speak for yourself, civilans are hardly the reason I fight. I'm only here because it was either this or being locked up in the Sky Kingdom." Hazel said, in a completely matter-of-fact tone.
'Damn Sky Kingdom' Amadeus thought as he listened to the two other teens, "I see, well whatever the reason we have the same goal, to save those people."
The Crimson Hound clenched her fists, gripping the reins of her horse tighter. Was that all it took to turn someone to the verge of complete apathy? A few battles and some misteps in life? But who was she talk? She had her own share of bad stories and since she had lived the longest, aside from Solomon, she bore those memories harsher than anyone else.
Still, she had managed to move on and not let negativity get to her. So of course, hearing Harley and Hazel speak so nonchalantly about the whole issue made her grit her teeth slightly.
"It's a lovely day today, isn't it?" Harley grinned, "And we're all getting along so well, like a pack of thieves, peas in a pod." Harley sighed and continued sarcastically. "Really enjoying your company, guys."
Amadeus sighed a bit, thinking this whole converastion was his fault. He looked up at the clear sky, "It really is a nice day."
Hazel shook her head. At least by now she stopped producing fire like it was sweat. The 'Black Devil' certainly may be handsome, but he was definitely beginning to grate on her nerves. It didn't help that this day was abysmal, as far as she was concerned. Clear skies reminded her of her homeland, which she didn't want to think about. She kept her bad mood to herself, however, deciding to just stay quiet, lest the group suddenly break into argument about weather.
"I'd like to apologize for Amadeus, he is an ass" Harley joked, trying to lighten the mood. Sticking his tongue out at the boy. "Also, I am not an ass, whatever you're told."
Amadeus chuckled at this, "Ah yes, I am so sorry. Thankfully my oh so subtle friend here keeps me on track." He said sarcastically with a smirk.
"Still think he's got the goods?" Solanne asked Hazel in a whisper, pointing to Harley.
If Hazel's face was before red from anger, it was now red from embarrassment. "You better shut up right now, before I toss a fireball at you." She whispered back angrily.
Solanne's response to that was a silent smirk.
Keeping an eye on the group, Solomon stoically watched the group interact with each other with quiet detachment. Hazel's attempts to hide her interest in Harley would have been amusing in a way, if her elitist tendencies and selfishness hadn't colored his perception. Harley lived to his name, a devil with a heart black as night, callous, confident and carefree. Amadeus was a kind soul that Solomon worried over, like a little brother who was just about to strike out on into the world, fresh faced and idealistic. Solanne was an mystery, a sad clown who smiled and jested to hide her pain, though Solomon could see the cracks in her visage when she was quiet and thought she was alone. His musing was cut short by a loud howl that came over a hill. Spurring his horse onward, Solomon was the first to see the burned husks of the town, with the remains of caravans attempting to escape surrounding the ruins like scattered toys. And in the center, he saw it, the Beast they had been sent to hunt.