StarLight

Chapter 27: Arya and Bular

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Arya
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I wanted him dead.
Skylar was only slowing me down.
They were distractions.
Now she  was following me, whining about how reckless this was, how this wasn't me.
I wanted her to shut up and leave me alone.
I stopped, the entrance to the sewers standing before us.
"Arya, think about this. You aren't in the right headspace to do this. You'll get your revenge for whatever it is he did to you, but not now." She stated, causing me to turn to her, dagger in hand.
"Stop talking." I ordered, glaring her down.
Suddenly, her features hardened.
"Do you really want to do this right now?" She asked, her tone cold.
"Nothing will stop me from ending Bular. Not even you." I replied.
Her armor activated, her sword appearing briefly before turning into two.
"You know I will." She spoke, my glare hardening in response.
We stared each other down, the tension growing thicker.
A roar echoed through the sewers, Skylar's eyes widening as she turned to face the troll.
"Trollhunter." He growled out, ignoring my presence.
"Hey, great to see you. We were just leaving." She stated, gesturing to me.
His eyes turned to me, a sneer coming over his features.
"An elf." He growled out, his glare hardening.
"Yeah. An elf." I stated before rushing towards him.
He roared louder than before, drawing his sword and swinging it towards me.
I fell to my knees, leaning back as I brought my daggers up, slashing at his arm and chest before getting back to my feet and moving away.
He roared again and I leaned back, avoiding another swing in order to lodge one dagger into his shoulder.
Skylar was suddenly by my side, blocking a swing I did not see coming.
"I told you this was a bad idea." She spoke through grit teeth, glaring at me from over her shoulder.
"I didn't ask for your help." I spoke back, blocking Bular's other sword so the two of us were back-to-back.
We both shook from the effort.
Suddenly, she pushed back against me, forcing Bular's sword away and turning, effectively kicking him in the nose before grabbing my arm and running down the tunnel.
"What do you think you're doing?" I asked, pulling against her grip.
It was unusually strong.
"Getting this out of this situation." She spoke, turning and grabbing the grit-shaka.
With one harsh tug, she broke it, throwing it to the ground.
My chest suddenly felt tight and I looked at her with wide eyes.
"Skylar." I spoke softly as she glared at me.
"This was irresponsible. Why would you ever even think that using a grit-shaka, something used by the gumm-gumms, would be helpful in any situation?" She asked.
I was at a loss for words.
What was I thinking?
She sighed before looking around, her wings spreading slightly with alertness.
"We'll talk about this later. I've already contacted Jim and the others, they'll be here soon. You find them and get out of here. I'll throw him off our trail." She spoke.
"No, I got us into this mess, let me help get us out of it." I argued.
Her features hardened even further.
"You are obviously not in the right mind. Get. To. Safety. Don't do anything stupid." She spoke.
She then let go of me, running back the way we came.
"Skylar!" I whisper-shouted after her, getting no response.
The only sound was her footsteps fading.
"Arya?" A voice asked, causing me to turn to it, seeing the group.
"We need to get out of here. Skylar said so." I stated.
They were silent, Jim walking up to me.
"Where is she now?" He asked.
"Leading Bular away." I replied.
He nodded.
"Blinky, Arrrgh, get out of the sewers. Arya, Toby, and I will get to the surface and open up a manhole for her to fly out of." Jim spoke.
I nodded, the others agreeing.
And so, we made our way out, following Jim.
"This one." He spoke, pointing to a manhole in the middle of the street.
I grabbed onto it, Jim and Toby each grabbing a side.
We pulled up, the sounds of a fight growing closer.
"Skylar!" Jim yelled, catching her attention.
She opened her wings, pushing herself up.
Before she could reach us, Bular grabbed her ankle, throwing her against a wall back first.
She groaned the sound accompanied by a cracking sound before she slid to the ground again.
She stood slowly, her wing looking slightly bent.
Suddenly, the blue flame surrounded her, causing my eyes to widen as she faced Bular, glaring him down without a trace of fear to be found.
This was why I thought I needed the Grit-Shaka.
Because compared to her, I felt insignificant.
Suddenly, the flames grew around her, her hands willing the blaze to move forward with a violence you could only find in a wild fire.
The fire formed a wall between them, growing higher and higher.
Skylar then looked up at us, taking a running start towards the wall, jumping and pushing off it, catching the amulet as it deactivated.
Her hands reached towards us, Bular roaring as everything seemed to slow.
Her hands clasped around my left and Jims left, both of us pulling her up just before Bular could reach her.
His roar echoed as Skylar pushed the manhole cover back into place without help.
I could only stare at her as she panted, her grip tight around the amulet as she stared at the manhole.
Slowly, her gaze moved to us.
"We are never doing that again. When we go after Bular, we need an actual plan. Am I understood?" She asked, tone hard.
I only nodded, receiving one from her in return.
"Good. Let's go make sure Blinky and Arrrgh are alright." She stated with a heavy sigh before turning away and walking.
Jim, Toby, and I looked at each other with a stunned silence before following after her.
"Skylar..." I began softly once reaching her side.
She glanced at me briefly in response, nodding for me to continue.
"I'm sorry." I stated.
"As long as it doesn't happen again, we're good. I will always be your friend." She stated, relief flooding into me.
"Now, tell me what happened. The full story." She then spoke, causing me to look back at her.
"What?" I asked.
"Why you hate Bular. What did he do to you that made you hate and fear him so much you would turn to something that wouldn't help you in the end? Why does your rage for him blind you, take over you so completely?" She asked.
My gaze moved to the ground, watching where my feet were going.
I didn't know how to respond, so...
I told the truth.
"He killed my brother." 
She only turned her gaze to me, seeming to not be completely surprised.
She kept moving.
I admired that.
"I have these 'dreams' where my brother talks to me, saying if I was stronger, faster, I could have saved him. But I wasn't. Then I saw how you... You can do everything without an ounce of fear." I stated before sighing.
"I thought if I had the grit-shaka, I'd be able to do what you do." She then stated.
"You're wrong." She stated, catching me off guard.
"It's rule number one. Always be afraid. I am afraid, especially of losing someone I care about. That's where your true strength lies. You are strong and fast. I may not have met your brother, but I am sure that he wouldn't want you to die because you were reckless and believed you weren't enough. Because you are. Not every sister would give their life to do what you are, but you shouldn't throw it away no matter how willing you are to sacrifice anything and everything to avenge him." She spoke.
Again, a loss for words.
"From now on, if something's bothering you, let me know. We're in this together, alright?" She said, causing me to smile softly.
"Alright." I stated, causing her to nod.
Skylar then offered a smile before we continued on our way.