Friendship is Pain

Mappy | Best Dog-11/15/2016

Perhaps surprisingly, the wyvern rider who had helped out Finn's groups at the Haspian seige of Mariansville followed the prince's squad all the way to Freyland Village. Valerie didn't have time to do the duel immediately after the seige ended, as Finn had kept his soldiers in position to march during his negotiations, and they left later that day. Kristyn didn't want to lose the chance, and she knew Valerie wouldn't back down, so she followed her - Diane told her to go to Arcias to assist the Archduke in defending his borders anyway, as rumors of an upcoming attack from Haspian have been heard. ======================================================= During the first full night at Freyland Village, Valerie was finding it hard to sleep… in fact, since the battle at Mariansville Valerie was struggling to get any sleep. She was just nervous about what she had told Kristyn. ”Why didn’t I take the chance there? Why did I need to hesitate?” Valerie asked herself as she leaned against a tree not very far from the camp, though far enough that nobody could easily eavesdrop. With tired eyes, Valerie stared down at the ground, hoping the serene surroundings of animals and late workers would help tire her out and distract her so she could go back and sleep. A shriek suddenly pierced the soft bustling sounds around Valerie as she knew exactly who it was: Zoralth, which meant Kristyn was here. The Wyvern Rider and her Wyvern landed down in front of the tree Valerie was trying to rest under. With almost no hesitation, Kristyn drew her axe to Valerie, and pointed it right at the sword fighter. “Ready?” Kristyn spoke in a deep, eager tone. Valerie meanwhile simply spoke back “No.” When she was done saying that, she looked to Kristyn and Zoralth, got her hands around her katana and drew it out. “But you’re too prideful and stubborn to care otherwise. You just want to win, so let’s get this over with.” Valerie moved away from the tree and more into the open.

Valerie vs Kristyn --- Valerie attacks! Hit! 5 damage! (??/??) Kristyn counterattacks! Miss! Valerie attacks again! Critical Hit! Kristyn's Nihil Activates! 3 damage! (??/??) Valerie attacks! Hit! 5 damage! (??/??) Kristyn attacks! Miss! Valerie attacks again! Hit! 3 damage! (??/??) Valerie attacks! Hit! 5 damage! (??/??) Kristyn attacks! Miss! Valerie attacks again! Hit! 3 damage! (??/??) Valerie attacks! Hit! 5 damage! (??/??) Kristyn attacks! Critical Hit! 56 damage! (0/36) Valerie is defeated!

With a final, heavy swing of her axe, Kristyn stuck Valerie clear in the chest, causing the sword fighter to drop her katana and clutch her chest in pain. “H-How…” Valerie softly muttered in defeat as Zoralth stood over Valerie as the woman fell down onto one knee. Kristyn got off her Wyvern and approached Valerie on foot, axe still in hand, though not aimed at Valerie for once. “You’re still weak: last time was a fluke.” Kristyn chimed with a dark confidence and an eerie grin. After some coughing, Valerie managed to get out “Why… why were you hunting me down?” Deciding to humor the loser, Kristyn spoke back with in a softer tone “Because you’re the best friend I had. I wanted to see you again, mostly to show you who is the better fighter, but also because I missed you. I just wanted you to come back, but you never did. So I took matters into my own hands: I hunted you down. Why you fight for this Finn guy I don’t know, but hopefully you’ll reconsider now.” Kristyn got back onto Zoralth at this point, who stopped standing over Valerie, moving the katana closer to Valerie. “But I hope you come back after you’re done, or else there might not be a next time.” After that, Kristyn and Zoralth took off into the dark, star-scattered skies, but not before Valerie muttered “After I help Finn, I will.”

Dropped by Kristyn afterwards was a singular ring. It rolled over to Valerie. She picked it up and looked at it... Valerie obtained the Friendship Ring!