Valen: A Collector's Item

Father

"Okay, now water." Shuri instructed as she circled Valen. A tablet was in her the crook of her arm where she took her notes. The blue glow illuminated the right side of her face.

Valen stood on a circular stand in the middle of an empty training facility. Before her stood a block of ice her height that she put there a couple of minutes ago. She could feel the chill it let off as she reached out her hand. The block instantly puddled onto the floor already spreading to fill out the free space.

Valen looked at Shuri waiting for her next instructions, but Shuri shook her head. "You know what to do."

Valen slowly slid her hand from the left to the right. The water followed the movement until it raised into the air. It circled itself into a ball before taking the form of an eagle. Out of annoyance for being forced to repeat the same instruction for the past week, Valen made the eagle soar straight for Shuri until it was released from holding its shape and drenched the girl.

"Whoops." Valen smiled innocently. "Lost control."

Shuri pressed a button on her tablet that had the floor Valen was standing on start to spin. It gradually picked up speed until Valen lost her balance and stumbled onto her knees. She retched when the floor came to stop.

"Whoops." Shuri copied Valen's earlier smile. "Finger slipped."

Valen flipped her off. "Got it. Won't happen again."

Shuri chuckled. "You just started controlling water. We will keep going over the basics until you've mastered them." She paused as she stared at the hunched-over girl. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah. Yep." Valen didn't move or dare to open her eyes. Even though she was not moving, her body still felt like it was in motion.

"Whenever you decide to get up I have something in the lab to give you." Shuri was already halfway out the door as she finished her sentence.

Valen's head immediately lifted from her piqued interest, but the sudden movement made her extra dizzy. She gripped the side of the stand and crawled toward the door until she could get up on her own two feet and follow Shuri through the halls to her lab.

The lab was her favorite spot because it was where Shuri let Valen be her test bunny. Any new toy or outfit that was created, Valen was the first to see how it worked. However, T'Challa almost banned her last month for setting a wall on fire as she tested out a flame thrower. Unsupervised.

As the two girls walked in, Valen's suit was on display beside three other mannequins. She hadn't worn it since she fought Laufey, and the sight of it made her hands twitch.

She breathed. Inhale, exhale. Flashes of images from Laufey's forcefield flooded her mind. Her being slammed into the top before dropping to the ground. Sometimes she could still feel the pain.

"I made some adjustments. Stark did a good job, but I did better. All three are made out of vibranium that can redistribute kinetic energy." Shuri's voice pulled Valen back from her memories.

Valen nodded her head as if she understood what that meant. Being in Wakanda for longer than she expected, T'Challa set her up in school every day but on the weekends. She passed the first couple of grades with ease, but she struggled in classes such as math and science.

"Why is T'Challa here?" She pointed to Shuri's brother who stood at the end of the display. He was trying to seem collected, but Valen could see the tiny smirk he was failing to hide.

"I asked him here." She didn't further specify as she stood beside him waiting for Valen to pick which of the designs she liked best.

The three mannequins were empty besides a dainty snowflake bracelet of different colors. One was silver, another bronze, and the last gold.