Lightning Bringer: (Lighting Seeker Book 2)

Gentle Creature

Movement pulled Vale from sleep. Her face brushing against soft material. A pair of bright blue eyes smiled down at her. Golden hair caressing her cheeks. Sky, warm and bright sat watching her sleep. She reached for him and watched him shatter into a thousand pieces. A delicate illusion vanishing before her eyes. She sat up, startled.

Vale was back in the safehouse, the space next to her was nothing but a pile of blankets. Dash was gone. Running her fingers through her wild and knotted ink-black hair, she looked around the room. Dash sat next to the burner, a small table propped up next to it in the dim flickering light, hands tinkering with one of his boots. His eyes narrowed in concentration as he adjusted a small gear on the side, earning a small groan of protest from the metal.

Running his fingers through his hair, he leaned his chair back on two legs and swore. "You're up early," Vale said, startling him enough to make him lose his balance. His chair teetered back and then slammed back on all fours with a crack.

"Well, I didn't like how stiff my joints were. Thought I'd get a head start on fixing these," he said after a moment, tapping the two boots on the table, the steel reverberating with a loud clunk. He rolled up the hem of his pants and reattached his boots to his metal legs. The steel was an intricate design of power and mobility that matched the design of Vale's metal arm, both of their pieces created by Mortem.

"But it looks like we are grounded for now," he said standing up and stretching out his legs. Kneeling, he tugged on several gears on his right boot and stood back up. Rotating his boot, he gave an irritated shrug. "And based on the state of these, I won't be able to go far on foot without risk of damaging them further. Getting these back up to working order is beyond my expertise."

He walked over the shelves and tugged on a grey vest, buttoning up the silver buttons across his chest before pulling on a large leather trench coat that went down to his heels. Running his fingers through his hair, he pushed his locks back out of his face and pulled on a large brimmed black tophat with a deep green feather making up most of the right side.

Vale snorted from where she sat watching him on the edge of the mattress. "You look ridiculous."

Dash shot her an amused look. "You laugh now, but just wait until you see what clothing is left for you to wear out of here." Vale jumped to her feet and moved over to the shelf scanning the shelves. Her eyes went wide and she let out a groan. Yanking up the clothes, she stalked to the bathroom, muttering herself as she went. "Stupid girl clothes. Why do they insist on this form of attire?"

Walking out several painful minutes later, Vale ignored Dash's eyes as she walked back over to the mattress and pulled on her boots from the night before. Several daggers sat inside and she wasn't going to lose those too. Standing back up, she looked down at herself with a defeated sigh.

A grey corset sat snuggly across her chest. A white frilly tunic sat underneath it, the collar laying far lower along her collarbone than she was comfortable with. The sheer tunic material tickled her forearms where the material ended, scrunching together, tied down with ridiculous and unnecessary ribbons. A large pleated, tulle, skirt in a hunter green sat high on her waist, spreading out wide around her, reaching her ankles. Her hair was pulled back into a casual braid that went down to her ribs.

A pair of black gloves entered her view. She snatched them from Dash, angry that she had to hide who she was underneath a pair of elbow length gloves again. Squeezing the left glove over her metal arm, she adjusted it until it matched the glove on her human flesh and blood hand. How on earth am I supposed to get around with so much pointless material on? She adjusted her skirt. I can't even kick anyone in this green behemoth!