Future of Calamity [Under Rewrite]

Chapter 14 - Scorned

Even after a simple night away from the constant battering of nature's hammer, the wind still cast an unexpected weight over the group as it hugged them as tight as possible. The crunching of snow and distant growls overcame nature's call, daemon's finding comfort in the safety of the white curtain. Velvet's orbs of gold scanned the hazy horizon, past the tall pine and cascading flakes; while the great walls of their target bore down on them. The samurai emerged from the clutches of the dark Hadlow Hollow - the glistening crystal unnoticeable in the shadowing mask cast over its entrance - with a twist of his shoulder as he prepared himself for the upcoming battle. Lastly, the half-malak crept out with a single finger already pressed against the dense blanket; hair completely camouflaged in the wallowing weather, as he attempted to concentrate.

However, his sense took a few seconds too long, and the ravenette's impatient tapping in the snow caused his face to scrunch up in difficulty. As Velvet was only moments away from breaking his concentration with a single cough, his eyes lulled open with a flash of tiredness. "Got it, but I'm having difficulty sensing enemies in this area," he explained with a hint of annoyance, standing up from his crouched position and dusting off the mass of formed snow.

"Must be the blizzard," Rokurou stated with a hum, his expression cracking slightly as a flake landed perfectly on his nose.

"And your teleportation?" Velvet inquired with a slight brow raise as she tapped her bicep, already beginning to figure out how the man at her side worked.

Sarid chuckled slightly, his methods becoming clearer to the unlikely allies he had acquired, for better or for worse. "We'll have to move to the city ourselves from here, but I should have no trouble getting to each bomb once inside."

The daemon woman sighed with a frown, her silent hopes at getting to past this storm without trouble going up in smoke. "We can make do, but you're the human here; don't collapse on us, or I'll use your power myself," she dismissively threatened with a mild look, before stalking off into the icecaps. Sarid rolled his eyes and jogged after her through the veil, with Rokurou not far behind with his hands itching upon his blades.

"That reminds me," the samurai called out as he arrived into a stroll with the pair. "Where do you think the boy who took the compass ran off to?" he asked with a far-off gaze.

"That blonde kid? He's in Hellewas, with Exorcist Teresa and the other child," the half-malak answered after a moment of recall. "I saw him as I was scouting the city for our distraction."

Velvet cast a look over the man as he mindlessly spoke about his solo job, "Makes sense, malakhim are always tethered to their exorcists after all." The slight pause in her sentence brought her a moment of consideration, "Most of the time," she added, separating her sight from silent wanderer.

"Hmm, that means we might run into him during our attack," Rokurou expressed with a hint of potential discomfort on his face.

Velvet rolled her eyes with a sigh as she felt a hint of deja vu come over her, "Are you getting squeamish about killing the boy because you feel indebted to him healing you?" she accused with stern tone.

However, the samurai turned his expression over in a second, a confident grin running over his lips. "No, if he gets in the way, I'll take him down. But..." The half-malak and ravenette both lowered their gazes with mild annoyance.

"But?"

"I have to remember to thank him first," the daemon admitted with a sly smirk. Sarid almost slapped his forehead with his palm as the samurai failed to let go of his ways.

"Right." Velvet's look was full of judgement, before staring straight ahead with a mind full of disappointment.

"Does that bother you at all?" Rokurou questioned, as she turned to slightly look over again.