Re: Incarnation Death Match 6 Respite

The heat was oddly comforting.

It wasn't a simple warmth from the stove, or the comforting warmth from the fireplace amidst the bitter, dry cold of a long winter. It was a searing, burning heat, similar to when one gets close to the volcano. Yet, it felt nice, similar to a super-heated blanket.

The cliffs were steep, and the red lava rocks kept either rolling down or falling down towards the golden lava river down below.

"After all that stunt on insulting the Vermilion Bird and his firebird lackeys..." The figure sighed in dismay. "The Origin Lava, huh... If others knew, they would gladly just climb and roll the way down there because the books say so."

"Are you jumping down, too?" A soft, airy voice came from the left. Like a message from the wind, the voice sounded distant, yet close, creating an odd feeling.

"Of course not." The figure answered.

"Then, do you want to go to the other side of the river?"

"I don't even know who you are." When the figure turned around, it was greeted with the sight of a beautiful, attractive woman made of wisps of wind. Refres.h.i.+ng green-colored swirls spun around her, before disappearing into the all-consuming heat, yet she was not perturbed in the slightest. On her head, the wisps looked more playful and less p.r.o.ne of dispersing, creating an illusion of long, green hair.

"What is a wind spirit doing here?!"

"Don't worry, I'm not out to hurt you." The wind spirit raised both of her hands, or at least what could be hands on her odd, almost amorphous body. "I'm merely pa.s.sing here."

"Then, where are you going?"

"Nowhere in particular." The spirit spun around. "Well, if you aren't jumping, then where are you going?"

"Why do you even bother?"

"Nothing, in particular, just…"

A gust of wind sent the figure tumbling down while the wispy figure simply watched.

--

Claire, in her half-asleep state, saw the corners of Fiora's lips curl up into a small, serene smile, before it disappeared into a frown, slight but stark against her usual empty expression. It was no exaggeration to say that it was the widest range of expression she saw from her, a ma.s.sive improvement from the usual.

As with all good things, it was certainly short lived.

Perhaps, she sensed someone watching her, or it was the continuous beep from Claire's phone, but her eyes fluttered open, exposing the empty stare that belied her earlier smile.

"Is there something on my face?" Fiora asked.

"No, there's nothing. Just wake up, alright? I'm going to take you somewhere." Claire jumped out of her bed, took out some clothes, and walked towards the door. "Let's go, there's no time to waste!"

"If there's no time to waste, shouldn't we make haste?" Fiora asked.

Claire froze, all trace of sleepiness vanished from lher face. 'Oh, right...'

"I take that back, we can take our time. Just take a bath in Ivanna's room, alright?" Claire poked Ivanna until she finally woke up, "Hey, sleepyhead, stop dreaming. It's already noon."

"What?!" Ivanna jolted awake. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"

"Nah, I'm just s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g with you. We're going out, can you call Ronan and ask if he's going?" Claire smiled.

"If you haven't literally saved my life, I would've unleashed h.e.l.l on your a.s.s." Ivanna grumbled. "Fine, fine. I'll call him."

Fiora watched the whole exchange, still without expression, but it was clear that she was bewildered, unable to make sense of what is happening between the two friends.

Sensing the quizzical expression from her partner, Claire simply smiled. "Don't worry too much about it, just do as I say, alright?" Claire patted Fiora's head, ruffling her long, black locks.

"… Alright." Without being able to shake off her confusion, Fiora opted to just nod.

**

The fair was packed, the visitors showing how many people took advantage of the weekend in full force. However, there was still enough room to walk comfortably, without b.u.mping into anyone.

The sights and sounds made Fiora kept glancing around with a mixture of confusion and bewilderment. It was like she was a kid knowing about the candy store for the very first time.

"… Claire, now explain it again, why are we going here, out of all places?" Ivanna asked, her voice tinged with confusion. It was clear, even though she was told that today they're going somewhere, she did not expect that they would go to a place like...

This.

"Well, I'm bored?" Claire shrugged. "Besides, I want to give something to her." Claire glanced at Fiora, a glance returned with an odd look. "Well, I mean, she finally took her share of Rouds, but she practically has no idea on… some things?"

"Are you competing for the Understatement of The Century Awards?" Ivanna snarked.

"Does this place has any relation to our fight?" Fiora asked.

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"Nope."

"What is the purpose of this place, then?"

"Uh, well..." Claire rubbed the back of her head, feeling the dread of an imminent, awkward explanation.

"Let's just try it out!" Ivanna cut in, and Claire internally thanked her lucky stars that she decided to bring her friend along. Without further ado, Ivanna stopped at one stall featuring a shooting game, with several mid-sized plus.h.i.+es hanging on the top and the side.

"Let's go, Fiora." Claire pulled her companion's hand, and without resistance, she followed along.

"Shooting game… Really, Van? Are you prepared to lose?" Claire quirked her eyebrows, an amused smile lighting up her face. "Let's not forget what happened at the arcade, shall we?"

"Don't forget you lost at the darts game before, and this one won't end differently." Ivanna smirked, her red hair fluttering in the wind as if emphasizing her point. "Besides, can you shoot with your left hand?"

"You got a point. Hmm... Fiora, how about you do it?" Claire glanced at her, seeing the pale girl eyeing each of the plus.h.i.+es with oddly critical eyes.

"Me?"

"Of course, who else?" Claire chuckled. "I'm pretty sure you can."

"Do I have to win?" Fiora fingered the blue glowing chain wrapped on her wrist, right below the left sleeve of her hoodie.

"No, no. Just do your best. Relax, and it's fine if you can't land a hit." Claire reached out, trying to grab Fiora's right hand and deflect the attention from her left wrisr.

However, it was too late, during the exchange, the stall attendant looked at the three with an odd, almost accusatory gaze, only hidden beneath the thin veil of a fake smile to attract customers. While pretending as if she wasn't perceptive enough to realize, Ivanna quickly gave the attendant twelve Rouds, enough for ten shots at the target. According to the rules, if one managed to shoot down at least three targets in five attempts, they would be eligible to obtain the prize. The more targets one managed to knock down, the bigger the prize would be.

"We get 5 shots, I'll go first, and you can try afterwards, how about it?" Ivanna took the provided toy gun, along with five plastic pellets. "Fiora. If you lose," ivanna looked at Claire and winked. "I'm treating it as your loss!"

"Hey, that's unfair! Technically, you aren't competing with me." Claire huffed. "Besides, you want to count a victory from someone who has no idea about the rules? Loser!" Claire stuck out her tongue slightly.

"Hey! Low blow!"

"How about you shoot first, and we can talk about win and loss count later?"

"Yes, yes, dearest Claire." Ivanna hummed and turned away from them and focused on the booth. The targets seemed simple enough, if a bit small, consisting of several red target circles, four at the top, five at the bottom. The bright yellow toy gun looked pretty normal, as well.

"Well, here goes nothing!"

Clack!

The bullet hit bullseye on the target standing on the top left side, however, it simply stayed on and did not budge.

Clack!

Again, another pellet hit the same target, and finally, it went down.

Deciding to change things up, Ivanna aimed at the target second from bottom right, and without hesitation, shot another pellet from her toy gun. This time, as the plastic bullet hit the bullseye, the target was knocked down without resistance.

"Two bullets for one target. You get half of a win, I guess?"

"Of course… Wait, half? What the heck?"

"You'd be up against Fiora, and she doesn't know the rules before this." Claire hummed. "Be happy I even considered counting it a win."

Clack! Clack!

Ivanna shot the target on the top right twice, knocking the required three targets in five shots.

"Congratulations, here's your prize." The attendant smiled and handed Ivanna a small plush. The plush looked like a sitting hamster, with a small white flower clutched between its paws.

"Well, your turn, Fiora."

She nodded in response, and took the provided toy gun along with the five plastic, brightly colored bullets. With nary a word, she closed one eye, and aimed towards the second target from the bottom right.

Clack!

The target went down in one hit.

Seemingly getting a handle of the game, Fiora decided to shoot the next one, the target on the bottom right.

Clack!

"… How the heck did you...?" Ivanna's eyes went wide, and she gasped, almost inaudible under her breath. "I'm sure each target took at least two shots to take down…"

Without answering, Fiora looked at the bottom left target and took another shot.

Clack!

The target was still standing.

Clack!

Finally, the target was knocked down.

"Aw, a tie with a complete newbie." Ivanna laughed.

"Hey, don't forget that she still have one shot."

Clack!

As expected, the top-middle target was still standing.

"So, can we say this is half a loss since you tied to a complete newbie, Van?" Claire said, her tone of voice changed like she was trying to hide her laughter. As the prize for winning, Fiora obtained a small, cartoon gray wolf plush, with bright, blue gla.s.s eyes.

"Half a win, half a loss, where did you get those from? Besides, if I got half a win, wouldn't my win count went like 40.5? Where am I supposed to obtain another half a win to counteract that?" Ivanna replied, watching Fiora stare at the plush. Finally, Fiora left the counter and walked towards the two of them.

"This is yours, right?" Fiora offered the plush with both hands. The way she held it was strange, almost like she was holding a living, breathing creature.

"Keep it. More importantly, did you have fun?" Claire asked.

"It was... A good way to pa.s.s time." After a period of silence, Fiora answered and gave them a slight nod, while carrying the toy in a more relaxed manner.

"Puppy!" A high-pitched voice broke the three out of their personal bubble.