Ariel - Sirius The Jaeger - 1215 Fanfiction

Episode 11

I waited for the others to land safely before I took off again towards our destination. I smiled as I thought of Willard sighing in frustration - he thought that once Yuliy was gone he would have a more organized team.
"Yuliy!" I whisper yelled, still a little worried about someone spying on us somehow without Yuliy's knowledge of it.
Without a moment of hesitation, when the male was in range I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his neck. Somehow I even forced a laugh out of him as he wrapped his arms lightly around my back in reply.
"You've grown."
I stepped back, smiling lightly, "Is that so?"
"Yes. So has Philip, though not as much as he's hoped I assume."
My eyes widened slightly and I turned to look at the others coming up behind me, Philip front and centre with a slightly annoyed look. Though when Yuliy came into his view his shoulders relaxed, his feet moving a bit faster to catch up with the two of us, stopping short in front of the taller male.
"It's good to see you're alright, Yuliy." Philip began, a slight hesitance to his voice.
"You as well, Philip-"
"HAHA!" Fallon cheered, pulling all three of us into a huge bear hug, even managing to lift us off the ground, "It's good to see ya! Yuliy!"
"It's good to see you too, Fallon." He coughed slightly as Philip whined, "I see nothings changed."
"Actually, miss Ariel here has become just as reckless as you! You bad influence!"
"Philip." I frowned at the boy, but he only crossed his arms and frowned back.
Willard stepped forward in between us, smiling down at the boy he'd raised and pulling him into a tight hug. It was evident that before our involvement with the arc that changed our lives, Willard had always been far more hesitant around Yuliy than he is now. Now, it's good to see that he's letting himself be affectionate as he always should have been.
With the two reunited, we moved on through the open plains to Yuliy's stay.

I was a bit uneasy with such a small, old place and a vampire in the room. She was one of the twins and seemed a lot more calmer than the last time we encountered each other, more gentle and wise, even. Dorothea helped Yuliy prepare some tea with the little supplies he had and Fallon took deep breaths of the air coming through the open window.
We were in his home land after all, and even though Philip could care less about it, I found it absolutely gorgeous. As we huddled around the floor and held the cups in our hands to gather all it's warmth, we forgot about our weapons and our guards and allowed ourselves to relax. Yuliy told us a bit about his travels and the patterns he'd been moving in to keep others as far away from him as possible, and how he'd always made sure we were alright from afar. It was reassuring just to hear his voice, just to look at him, the one who we hardly got to say goodbye to so many months ago.
"You know, we've run into Ryoko a few times." Dorothea began, "She keeps asking about you."
Yuliy chuckled, "Is that so?"
I rolled my eyes, wishing Dorothea didn't have to mention it.
"Not a fan of her, Ariel?" Yuliy asked, noticing my discomfort, "You never really did make an effort to be kind to her."
"She's a good person, I don't hate her." I quickly said, looking down to my tea for a moment to think, "But at this point... she's gotten rather annoying."
"Yeah... Ariel and Ryoko have formed a sort of... rivalry." Philip explained, "I guess it is a little frustrating how she always seems to turn up when we're near by."
"I see." Yuliy hummed, glancing to Willard as he sipped quietly in thought. Willard had never before voiced his opinion on the matter of Ryoko, who clearly would rather tag along with us despite how she had made it clear that she decided to stay and finish her schooling. Before when we were still with V Shipping and killed vampires on mission schedules, I think she would have done good along side us. But now that we were more than that, now that we had to be more careful with our movements and experience, and team work was key to our success, Ryoko would most likely struggle with us.
Though, I had thought it over maybe a little too much, and it may just be the fact that I don't like the change. I wanted things to stay the way they had been, with the Professor, Yuliy, Fallon, Dorothea, Philip and I all together.
Philip noticed my distance, and carefully placed his hand over mine, squeezing lightly. I edged closer to him, our legs overlapped and our elbows touched. Just us, no changes.

-

"Wake up!"
My body lurched, I coughed and sat up quickly. Philip was taking a deep breath beside me, pulling his arms away from my body to rub his eyes. Fallon was yawning and it sounded awfully like a bear, and Dorothea was already up and loading her riffle, Willard no where to be seen.
"What was that?" I asked, trying to remember if it had been in a dream.
"It was Yuliy calling us." Dorothea replied, "There's something coming."
"Shit~" Philip groaned, "We can't even have two flipping days."
"Well, you did sign up for this." Fallon shrugged, standing up and walking towards the door, "How far away are they?"
"Far enough for now, I suppose. Yuliy just told us to get ready and head south."
"Well, then I will head north for my morning dump."
"EW!" Philip screeched as I sighed, "Seriously, you brute?! I did not need to know that!"
I grabbed onto Philip's arm, leaning forward quickly to kiss his jaw, before moving to get up myself. I pulled my jacket on and brushed out my hair with my fingers. It had grown out now, and was a little too long for my liking.
Strapping my belt on and sheathing my blades, I quickly ate the bread that was laid out on the counter with Fallon and Philip before Willard came back to fetch us.
"Did Yuliy disappear again?" Philip asked. He didn't get an answer.

It got quieter the farther we went into the forest. I felt myself getting angrier with every step, frustration fueling me for the upcoming fight. I had waited one year, one year for peace and a moment to smile without any other worries - and whoever, or whatever, took that away from me will pay dearly.
"Ariel, stay close to me." Philip whispered. He said those words far more often these days, especially in situations like this when we were surrounded by open space. I never answered him, mainly because I could never ensure I'd keep the promise if I said I would.
When it came down to that deciding moment, I tended to do what I believe Yuliy would have done, and that doesn't fly well with Philip. He might never understand why I admired the male so much, but in the end I would prefer to act quickly like him even if it might be reckless. It might do me well in saving Philip's life one day.
I breathed out slowly, silently, and turned slightly to the left, looking past my shoulder and blinking at the sight of a moving foot.
I stopped, the others stopping quickly after as if on reflex, their eyes moving to look where I looked. With the silence of our own, gentle heart beats, we could hear the low growls of the undead.
"Open fire!"

"Disgusting." Philip groaned, using his handkerchief to wipe the blood that splattered on my cheek.
"Sorry, I'll buy you a new one."
"Don't worry about it." He folded the cloth and shoved it into his back pocket, smiling lightly as he looked up at me. His birthday was in three days time, and I'm sure he's wishing he was looking down at me instead of slightly up at me.
I didn't mind it, though, I never have.
"Professor! Look at this." Fallon called out, Dorothea close by his side with her head stretching over his shoulder. Philip lead the way over, and when I got myself a glimpse, ash fell from Fallon's fingers and a pendant laid in the middle of his palm.
"On one of the vampires?" I asked, "That doesn't make sense."
"Correct." Willard hummed to himself for a moment, "Vampires never carry identification such as this... unless..."
"What is it? Some kind of new cult?" Philip asked, grimacing at the thought of it.
"The vampire system has been pretty thrown off ever since Yevgraf's death. How could there possibly be a skilled order?" Dorothea asked.
Fallon finally stood, turning to face us. My body froze when I saw the look in his eyes, I'd never seen Fallon worried, let alone almost... scared? He clutched the piece of metal in his hands and swallowed hard, "I don't know... but I swear the vampire said something before I shot it. I just... can't shake the feeling that someone told them where to go."
Willard took a moment to stare at Fallon, his eyes hardened and I waited for his words. As usual, he seemed to know something the rest of us couldn't guess.
"It may be time to consider... the possibility of us not only having to fight against vampires, but humans as well."