Seven of the Saber Holders

Chapter 24: Markswoman's Ambitions

A/N: This is the design for Trinity. This was actually drawn quite a bit ago, so my artstyle is a little outdated. Maybe I'll redraw this for the next chapter if I'm able to. But, I hope you enjoy this visual aid and the new chapter.

Chapter 24: The Markswoman's Ambitions

"The food rations have been stored in Valcria's main pantry, the supplies have been safely added to our artillery cache, and the train car was torn up as extra scraps for any emergencies. Looks like our mission was a success, Sawyer!" Faron cheered with a bright grin as she patted the said boy's back with a firm smack that caused him to slightly lurch forward from its strong force.

"Y-Yeah, that's good. The mission could've gone a bit smoother though..." Sawyer laughed lightly with a slight grimace, rubbing his hand on his now stinging back as he and Faron were casually making their way through the bustling Valcria. His emerald eyes scanned the vicinity for a bit and his attention stuck on a group of children running along the stone walls. They held handfuls of winter decorations--such as hand-cut snowflakes and shimmering string--in their arms and hung them around before dashing off to the next untouched wall. "Oh... I completely forgot that it's nearly the Winter Solstice, with so much that's been happening lately. Does Valcria celebrate it?"

"Yep! We don't really have much to do here in celebration for it or any other holiday with our lack of resources and restrictions of the underground, so we can't really do the whole gift-giving thing. But, the people love having the festive spirit of it and use this time spend it with their loved ones." Faron replied, holding her hands behind her back as she walked.

"Will you and the others be celebrating it as well?"

"Trinity doesn't really like participating in these sort of these, but Kai absolutely loves them. He and I like to bake cakes for the children with some leftover ingredients from stolen rations and our livestock. But the cakes usually turn into giant, misshapen lumps with bad frosting skills on it, haha..."

Sawyer was quiet for a second, "...Wait, you guys have livestock here?"

"Oh, yeah. We stole them too, heh. Cows, chickens, and all. We practically stole everything that's in Valeria." Faron informed with a cheeky smile.

"You guys are the ultimate hobos. You know that, right?"

"Yeah," Faron responded nonchalantly. "Anyways, no time to waste waltzing around the streets. We have to meet up with Lilith, apparently, we have a new mission coming up."

"What? Another?" Sawyer instantly groaned. "I still feel the movement of the train from the last one..."

"Oh, stop being such a baby. Just think of the last mission as a simple exercise."

"Yeah, maybe for you... Not so much for a sleep-deprived college student..." Sawyer sighed out heavily, slouching his shoulders in a grimace.

"Hey, I'm a depressed college student too, y'know," Faron huffed in response with her arms tightly crossed. "Whatever. We should pick up the pace, or we'll get an earful from Lilith for being one second late..."

"She doesn't get any less strict and bitter, does she...?" Sawyer sadly questioned, but he already knew the answer. He had been on many missions with Faron and the rest of the team now. They had all been assigned those operations by the one and only Lilith, and no matter how many times they met her, she was still as sour as ever. Sawyer thought that the older woman would eventually soften after a while, but there was nothing hinting at that yet. At this point, Sawyer was beginning to accept that Lilith was just permanently irritable, most likely from her lack of sleep and constant work.