Facing The Sun

A Bird In Headlights

 Vedrith could only imagine the shock on people's faces.

To think; Vedrith, who was infamous for how she changed and acted after losing her wings, who always kept the wounded mesh hidden beneath her clothes, was marching through HQ with them out and seemed unbothered whilst doing it.

Further adding to others (and a bit of her own) surprise, she wasn't alone, either.

Hand in hand, both Vedrith and Ivis strode to Whitlock's office. For entirely different and yet similar reasons, they were united in their anger.

Vedrith had been robbed of a proper chance to find her mentor. She knew the odds of finding him were slim no matter when she started—but they would have been higher if she began right away. Whitlock robbed her of that choice. Of that chance. No matter how slim.

Ivis had been robbed of a chance of being found by her father, Vedrith had come to learn. Navir, or whatever his name was, turned out to be another person who had a decision made for him. And Ivis had gotten the brunt of it. The chances of them reuniting had been slim no matter what, but Whitlock had made them even slimmer. Much like Vedrith, he could have chosen to try. Whitlock robbed him of that choice. Of that chance. No matter how slim.

Vedrith suspected that her and Ivis's respective reasons didn't entirely revolve around themselves, either. Ivis was also angry because Vedrith had been hurt. And, akin to Ivis, Vedrith shared the same sentiment.

It was one thing to go through pain. It was another thing entirely to watch someone else go through pain. Specifically someone you cared about.

Vedrith could only imagine the shock on peoples faces. She could only imagine because she didn't care to look—that wasn't what her mind was on at the moment. Her gaze was locked in front of her, her mind going through each and every little thing she wanted to say to good ol' sunshine and roses.

She was done with hiding. She was done with being a coward. She was done with letting him play his stupid little mind games and him playing with his employees like a sick god.

Maybe he had good intentions, sure, but Vedrith could care the fuck less. It sure as hell didn't give him any right to do everything he did, and Vedrith was not going to accept it as an excuse.

After all, that's why he kept Vedrith around Ivis. She wasn't stupid, she could tell. The first time Vedrith introduced Ivis to him, when he pushed Ivis's buttons, he did it to see how Vedrith would react. And when Vedrith showed genuine care, genuine concern, he used it as a possible gateway to get Vedrith out of her self-isolation streak. Which did work—she had to hand it to him—but that didn't mean there weren't better ways to go about it.

The path to his office was one Vedrith had walked many times. The first was with Zenith—and she remembered how she felt. Nervous. On edge. And also, maybe, a bit excited. Then, after that, she'd walk there with her old team from time to time. To give more detailed reports and answer specific questions when needed.

Those memories couldn't feel more distant now. It became a tread she grew used to taking alone.

And then one day, Tsara got a weird signal, and Vedrith got assigned a weird mission, and went off to bring back someone weird to walk beside her.

If Vedrith had been told back then that that weird person would become one of her closest friends, she would have laughed, and insulted whoever it was who said that. And then maybe bug them some more while she was at it.

But now? All Vedrith could think about was how nice it was to walk beside someone again. How nice it was to no longer march alone.

She loudly pushed open the door to Whitlock's office, stepping inside with Ivis.