The pair of shadowhunters walked silently down the dark streets of London. Will's blue eyes popped drastically against his grey and black tailored coat. Walking just in front of him was a small black cloaked figure, the black hood draw on top of her curly brown head so that the only thing visible were her glowing eyes. Neither of the two had said a word since they left Magnus. The walk back to the institute was a lot longer than they expected and the silence had grown almost unbearable.
As the sun went down the people on the streets grew more menacing and Will stiffened every time someone very obviously regraded the pretty fifteen year-old in front of him. Of course girls that age were already thought of as women but, it bothered him to no end when someone past eighteen looked at a girl in such a way. Zelie looked older than fifteen yet, Will always thought of his younger sister, Cecily, who Will knew had just turned fifteen, when men regarded girls that age in such a way.
Zelie seemed to pay them no mind as she manoeuvred through the streets. That was until some old drunk bastard bothered her. "Ditch the pretty boy and let a real man show you how to have some fun. All night long." He croaked and the two other men that were with him, if you could even call them that, laughed. The smelly man reached to grab Zelie by the waist with his filthy hands. Will launched to strangle the man but, Zelie beat him to it. She drew her left hand back and struck him square in the jaw, not slapped, punched. The fat man stumbled back, losing consciousness from the force of the blow, and was only stopped from falling on the floor by one of his companions who caught him.
The man set him on the ground and growled at Zelie. "You fucking whore! I can have you hanged for that!"
Zelie snapped Will out of his shock by laughing. He had never seen a girl do that to man in anything other than battle. Will paraded the fact that women were more brave than men but, that was something he had never actually seen. "No you can't." She smiled before punching the man and bringing his head down on her skirt clad knee. Another man tried to throw a punch at Zelie but, Will grabbed him by the collar and began to punch him.
By the time Zelie got Will off the man a crowd had formed. "Come on Will, get off the twat." Zelie pulled at his shoulder, roughly yanking him back. That only helped for a second before Will pushed Zelie back and launched at the man again. "William leave the poor bastard alone before you kill 'im." She pleaded and that finally snapped Will back to reality. He stopped seeing white and got off the man, with one last kick he turned to Zelie.
She was looking at him with wide blue eyes but, she didn't look scared she looked annoyed. Will looked around, in shock by the crowd that had formed. Zelie rolled her eyes and did a curtsy. "Show's over." She grabbed Will's hand and dragged him through the crowd.
After a couple seconds of Will feeling completely at easy with the cold soft presence in his hand he became aware that the source of relief was Zelie's small hand in his and he snatched his hand back, as if Zelie's was on fire. "Don't touch me."
"It's not like I have ticks." Zelie rolled her eyes but kept walking, they were almost at the institute.
Once they finally reached the institute Sophie hurried down to greet Zelie. Her blue eyes went wide when she saw both shadowhunters. Neither one said a word to the other as they walked away. Zelie left to her room with Sophie, to catch up and so she could help her get ready for bed.
"So, you covered the boy who tried to gain your affection in honey?" Sophie asked amusedly as she brushed Zelie's chocolate brown hair.
"And feathers." The bright eyed girl smiled but frowned at the pointed look Sophie gave her. "He was horrid! Always trying to touch me and saying he was a better shadowhunter than me! Me, Zelie Archfeild! Can you believe it?" Zelie exclaimed to which Sophie jokingly rolled her eyes. Zelie was arrogant, yes but she had every reason to be. She had been in more missions than most shadowhunters attend in their life time. She was the fastest, swiftest, cleverest, snarkiest shadowhunter, she even outshined Will which was hard to do. Whenever Zelie stayed at the institute over the years Charoltte made them spare, when their bickering became too unbearable. It always resulted in broken bones on both ends and in Zelie coming out on top. She traveled from institute to institute, training with their best warriors and practicing with the silent brothers. Sometimes she would go to the most remote corners of the world just to meet up with older shadowhunters and philosophers. Zelie was already a living legend at fifteen years old.
"I can't imagine." Sophie stated as she gathered Zelie's hair into buns that helped define her big curls. Sophie helped Zelie change into her powder blue nightgown after Zelie had washed her face. "So, what were you and Mr. Herondale doing out so late?" Sophie asked the way old friends do and not the way maids do. Which was the right way since they had been friends since Sophie arrived. The two girls completely at ease with each other.
A small laugh came from Zelie's pink lips. "It was eight when we arrived, Soph. Not late at all, it's not my fault you people sleep before dusk." She joked. "We ran into each other at a friend's house that's all."
"That warlock you're so fond of?"
"How did you know?" Zelie gasped. When Sophie raised her eyebrows suggestively she laughed loudly in the most unladylike way. "By the angel, not like that!"
"I hope not that would be like me-like me facying Mr. Lightwood." Sophie struggled for words but, giggled after the example she had given.
Zelie sat up hapazardiously and turned to face her friend. "You say that as if it was a bad thing! Any man would be fortunate to gain your affection." Zelie stated, placing her hands on her hips. "You're Sophie Fucking Collins, name someone as beautiful and determined as you."
Sophie turned her head down and her fingertips tenderly touched her scar, feeling selfconsious at the gaze the beautiful Zelie Archfeild was giving her. She could name hundreds of girls more beautiful than her. "You, Miss. Gray, Miss. Lovelace, Master Will." Sophie cracked a smile.
Zelie only waved her off with a frown. "I'm talking about actual beauty, one that doesn't fade as time goes on. One that is more radiant with every passing moment. Tessa's contradicting nature will get boring and god knows her appearance is nothing special, Jessamine's golden hair will turn gray, all the food I eat will catch up to me at some point, and Will's eyes will stop shinning." Zelie jumped on her large bed and folded her arms behind her head. "I don't know anyone stronger and more hard working than you."
Sophie smiled and wiped her eyes with the edge of her apron. She was very insecure but it seemed that every time Zelie visited she managed to bring up Sophie's self-esteem, and Zelie loved it, Sophie deserved to be happy. The two girls didn't see each other frequently but they were very close none the less, even more than Jessmine and her were.
As fond as Zelie was of Jessmine the girls were polar opposites and couldn't always see eye to eye but, Zelie understood what the other girl felt and therefore had grown some kind of affection for her and vice versa. Not only that but, Zelie admired Jessamine's stubbornness and her bravery of never backing down. Just as much as she admired Sophie's hard work, and honesty, and don't even get her started on Charoltte. When Zelie was a little girl she used to say that she wanted to be Charoltte when she grew up.
"Th-thank you Miss. I'll let you get some sleep. Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?"
"I'd never though I would say this but, no I'm okay." Zelie smiled while hopping into bed and smiling innocently at Sophie.
"We both know you're going to get up in the middle of the night. Don't try to fool me." Sophie smiled while leaving.
YOU ARE READING
Ugly Duckling ¤ Will Herondale
Fanfiction"Last I saw you, you were an ugly duckling. Actually, not even a duck should be insulted like that." A horribly infiltrating smirk played on his full lips as he eyed me amusedly, making me want to kick his shins.
