Shiori Novella One-shots

Shiori's Capture(?)

So, it is true. The legendary traveler is finally captured after all her adventures. You don't believe the news at first, but now that you see her being escorted away, you have no choice but to accept that truth. Why? What did she even do?

Her name is Shiori Novella.

Before the knights can bring her any further, she stops, causing the knights beside her to block off any paths with their polearms. She sighs, and her shoulders slump as she tries to readjust her restrained arms.

"How embarrassing," she complains. "Could you guys at least not arrest me in front of that person?"

In response, they raise their weapons closer to her neck. You want to scream, shout, or say anything, but the sheens of their blades make you hesitate. Before you can utter a word, you see a small spark light up between her hands. It traces along the bindings around her wrists, and they start to disintegrate into ink.

"Oh please, don't look so surprised." She turns her head and smiles at you. "You did say you'd come see me, didn't you?"

~~~~~

"Not likely, woman," the guard leading the way sneers. "Where you're going, no one will be able to see you."

Your breath hitches as you realize you'll probably never see her again, and your heart drops.

The woman tilts her head, and clears her throat to cover up the sound of ink dripping to the ground by her feet.

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Shiori smiles, and you see the guards around her shudder as her eyes begin to glow golden. "We'll be going now, ok?"

The shadows around her feet begin to warp and spread across the ground. In the corners of the hallway, you can see small flowers...? You recognize them as the flowers Shiori uses to keep watch over things, but this time, all of them are focused on the guards. Shadowy tendrils wrap around the guards' legs.

"W-what is this? Soldiers! End her!" the guard in front shouts, realizing Shiori is responsible for this somehow.

The guards around her aren't in a place to listen, though, as panic sets in and they break ranks around Shiori.

Shiori's smile widens, as she walks out from the encirclement. She walks up to you, looking up into your eyes with an adorable tilt of her head.

"Sorry about that, that was a bit closer than you would've liked, huh?" she asks apologetically, looking down a little at the end.

"Well... Yeah. Was this really needed?" you ask her, exasperated.

This isn't the first time this has happened. Now, you're just worried that next time, they might just kill her, or come at her with such overwhelming force that she can't do anything about it... That said, it's hard to imagine her losing to anything less than literal gods...

"Hm..." Shiori puts a finger to her chin in thought as she stands back up. "Well, if they're gonna come at me, they should come at me with something more impressive than those guys, right?"

She looks back at the guards who are being pulled into the inky shadows.

"You won't get away with this!" the lead guard shouts, hatred dripping from their voice.

Shiori snickers. "What a two-bit villain thing to say!" she laughs. "Seriously, try being more interesting!"

Shiori takes your hand and leads the way out of the area, inky knights popping up out of the shadows every now and then to block the way of other guards who are trying to arrest her.

It takes about an hour for the two of you to get out of the city, and into the nearby forest.

"Ready?" she turns to you and asks.

"I... Yeah. I'll never get used to the feeling."

She smiles sympathetically, and, still holding your hand, opens up her inky portal to Inkwell Castle, and guides you through the portal. The feeling of going through these portals is still nauseating, but you're glad that she hasn't left yet.

Stepping through, you can't help but smile at her thrill seeking, and hope she stays for a while yet. You miss the elven forests, but the Inkwell Forest isn't bad either.