Academy days (Book 2 of IA)

[15] Moving on...

The first rays of dawn flashed in my eyes like unwanted paparazzi cameras. I pried my eyes open and looked around. The once blazing fireplace I had set up was now no more then ashes in the wind and right beside me, lying on my shoulder, was none other than the vice president herself, Veritas.

Uhhh...

All I could do was stare at her dreamy innocent face slumped against my shoulder. It took all the willpower in me to not jump away. As I lay there, her head against my shoulder, my adolescent male fantasies grew. I was forced to remind myself that this wasn't some Rom-Com anime scene where the girl falls for the main protagonist, but rather one of the great illusions of life.

"Against a sleeping defenseless pretty lady, what would a single male like you do?" Rin's voice crept out of nowhere.

"Shut the hell up, I am not going to do anything!" I said irritated, mainly because she was right about the single part.

"My mind is telling me no! ...but my body! My body, is telling me..." Rin sang with a deep male voice that wasn't hers and at the same time Veritas began to shift.

"Crap, you're waking her!" I hissed.
Slowly, like a fairy waking, Veritas blinked at me a couple times with those stormy grey eyes of hers. Then she pulled herself away from me suddenly causing me to jump back.

"Apologies that I fell asleep..." she blushed, pressing a worried fist to her lips.

"It's fine." I said, my voice much calmer then I expected, as I got up and stretched my arms. "Oh, look its day already. One more night and day to go!"

"Correct." She said, getting up from her position. "But would you mind accompanying me to find a spring?"

"Sure, no problem." To be honest I would probably follow her around anywhere, since being around her gave me the largest chance of survival. Plus there was no point seeking more foes, cause those monsters she defeated gave us more then enough points then we need.

"Achooo!" I sneezed, as I intuitively wiped my nose with the back of my hand.

"Bless you." She smiled.

I guess being half cyborg, doesn't stop you from catching a cold, though, at the very least I wouldn't have to worry about frostbite on my limbs.

"Veritas, aren't you cold? You're wearing even less then me..." I shivered.

"Not at all. Members of the House of Wind are born cold resilient, since most of our training is done in the sky..." she said, standing at the mouth of the cave and gazing at the sky.

"I see."

After the next 5 minutes of chattering and walking, we stopped at the foot of a glacial cliff, and there was a trickle of a stream dripping to the ground.
Veritas, with no hesitation, held her hand forward and cupped the dripping water, then drank from it a moment later. And a few cups later, she moved and gave the spot to me.
One thing I am thankful about my robotic arms is that they feel no cold, otherwise my fingers would have already frozen off. But still the icy chill from the fresh water lingered in my throat. A shot rang out of nowhere stopping me from taking another drink. I spun around, only to find a bullet frozen in mid-air, just centimeters from my face. My lips quivered and my eyes widened at the sight. And before panic could make its way through my whole body, Veritas whipped around and snapped with a single chant:

"Ictu!"

A small portion of a nearby cliff broke off, and a black MS came tumbling down from the side of the hill. And when the MS landed waist deep in the snow, it was then magically uprooted several feet off ground and drifted towards us, with the MS head fidgeting and hands trying to pry away the invisible force choking her.