S҉h҉a҉t҉t҉e҉r҉e҉d҉ But Alive (Rainimator Story)

Chapter 5

Bright lights flooded her eyes as she opened them slowly, wincing at the sudden change in brightness. Astra could hear soft breathing from next to her, and turned her head to see a very familiar brown haired bandit. Sleeping. 

"Daryll...?" The name slipped out of her mouth softly and he groggily lifted his head, blinking a few times. 

"Astra? You're awake?!" He shot up from his seat and she laughed slightly, causing him to cross his arms, trying to retain the 'I-don't-like-you' image, but he couldn't fool her. 

"So," she asked, getting up shakily. "You said one week right? Do you trust me yet?" 

Daryll sighed defeatedly when he saw her reaction, running a hand through his hair. 

"I have to admit, yes. I guess so. You truly care about everyone here, don't you?" 

Astra just grinned. 

"Yeah. Do you want to train? How long was I out anyway?" 

He gave her a quizzical look, as to why exactly she would want to train right after she had, well, collapsed, but eventually replied, "Fine. And you were out for just three hours." 

She nodded, before walking out of the medbay, calling, "Meet me at the training room in 15." 

The bandit rolled his eyes, but chuckled softly.

After their extremely intense training session, they both took their cups of tea and Astra raised hers, Daryll mimicking her action. 

"To a truce. And hopefully friendship," she spoke jokingly. 

"You wish!" he laughed, taking a gulp of his tea. 

"Why did you hate me so much anyway?" she shot him a questioning glance. 

"...Honestly, I have no idea," he muttered. Astra sensed something more behind the answer, but didn't prod further. 

As they were cooling down, a certain brown-blue haired woman poked her head into the room, yelling, "I SHIP IT~" 

"I-" Astra choked on her tea, coughing. Her face was bright red, and Daryll was blushing too. 

"DEXTER!" He shouted, chasing after her as she laughed, running down the hallways. That left Astra to her own thoughts in her training room. Daryll... something about him... captivated her, made her happy, carefree. 

And yet... she didn't want to step so far in... There was a war, and she knew that her trust had been misplaced more than once. There would be more time to think about this later. She shook her head, ridding it of thoughts before walking out.

Astra let out a long, heavy sigh, desperately yelling at herself to snap out of it as she returned to her room. 

"Ooh, Astra! Anyone on your mind? Maybe a certain bandit?" Dexter smirked deviously as she suddenly appeared before her, causing her to jump. 

"W-What?! I-I have no idea what you're talking about! Besides, we're in a freaking war! There's... no time for this." 

A frown crossed Dexter's face. Well. Looked like she had work to do.

A few months later...

The days grew colder, well, if they could even be colder. Average was around -20 celsius right now. And yet the Frostbourne were more than comfy with walking around in shorts. Ebony- no, Nightmare hadn't been seen in quite awhile, only a few more skirmishes with mobs, but definitely, the Undead had the upper hand, leaving villages in constant fear. 

And Astra and Daryll's friendship? Let's just say that it has been growing, developing. Their bond was strong, everyone could tell, just that they didn't dare to point it out, in fear that they might just disappear mysteriously, courtesy of Daryll. Astra, however, was equally scared to step close, so their time and actions together was still purely platonic. 

Of course, Dexter running down halls screeching "ASTRYLL!" was not helping. It had caused a lot of Astra-chokes-on-tea-incidents- Still, Daryll turned his own suffering into enjoyment, instead doing the same to Patrick and Azura, on more than ten occasions. 

That left a blushing Azura mess and a speechless Patrick. Astra and Patrick had formed a close friendship too, more than often sharing fighting tips and just talking about life.

"Astra," Daryll greeted as he walked towards her. She just nodded silently, watching as the cold water lapped at her feet. The moon was full tonight, the waters of the frigid river calm and sparkling. 

Sitting down next to her, he inched slightly closer. Astra paid it no mind, it was cold after all. 

"How was your day?" 

She shrugged. "Eh, normal mostly. Not much to do anyway." 

He arched an eyebrow before asking, "So, are you invited to the Christmas party tomorrow?" 

"That one? Yeah. I'm pretty sure you are too." 

Daryll laughed. "Theo and Hilda are chaperoning." 

Astra smirked before looking at him and saying, "Well, then our number one mission is to get Pazura under the mistletoe. There... will be mistletoe... right?" 

"No Christmas is complete without one," the bandit rubbed his palms together in mock evilness, making Astra laugh before facing the river again. 

"I'm cold..." she mumbled absent-mindedly after awhile, cuddling up to him, causing him to stiffen before deciding to make the next step, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer to him. Astra thanked the stars for her mask, which hid her blush. 

Did she want this? Yes. Was she scared? Yes. Did she know that there was not much time for love in war? Yes. And yet... Did she trust him with her life? Yes. So the two 'not-lovers' sat silently on the riverbank, huddled up against each other. 

And, to be honest, both of them wanted more. 

So yes, I have returned after 2 weeks! :] Here, some fluff and uh as per usual, hope you enjoyed, please like and comment! Stay safe y'all! <3

~Lightningstar out