Fell Champions

Otter readjusted her pants as Rua fetched a towel and bowl of water and got to the serious business of cleaning Kir up. Kir for her part sat there with a faint blush on her cheeks, but tried to maintain a level of stoicism that no one was really buying. 

“You’ve ruined my makeup,” Kir said. “That took an hour to do.”

“You’re pretty enough without it,” Rua said. “Now sit still, unless you want me to lick the rest off.”

Some part of Otter really, really wished Kir picked that option. Unfortunately, she was back to pretending to be an ice queen. She’d only melted for a moment, and only because she’d been caught by surprise. Well, progress was progress. 

“I am going to be masturbating to this later,” Reyna said. 

Otter gave a polite cough, and even Rua seemed a little embarrassed by that remark. Kir winced, but otherwise pretended not to have heard. 

“Your friend stopped by,” Reyna said.

“Wait, what?”

“The Salassian. Sami I think her name is. I gave her a drink and shooed her away.”

Otter paused, trying to process that. “So, uh, did she see?”

“I mean, not everything, but she definitely knew you were getting your cock sucked. It’s the others I’d be worried about.”

“What others?” Kir said, panicked. 

“Like, five people came up for drinks while you were all doing your business. Including Soorong, one of the admirals. They were joking that you’d finally gone Silayan.”

How wrapped up in things had Otter been? She hadn’t noticed any of that. Her dick had been getting sucked at the time, but she was a good multitasker. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d been doing something filthy in a semi-public area. She normally had some kind of presence of mind.

Kir opened one eye, and made an annoyed sound of pain as Rua hadn’t fully cleaned that area yet. “You’re making that up.”

“Could be. I’m a bit of a bitch sometimes. Guess you’ll only find out once you get all cleaned up and start mingling.”

“You spent too much time with Juala,” Kir muttered. “She apparently rubbed off on you.”

Reyna got an odd expression on her face. Something between melancholy and anger. “Well, maybe it’s my way of remembering her.”

“What was she like?” Otter asked. “Like, when she wasn’t being an absolute cunt?”

“Brave,” Kir said without hesitation. “She was the bravest person I ever knew. First one into a fight, last one out.”

“Never left a soldier behind,” Rua said, pulling a bottle from one of the shelves. She uncorked it, and took a long pull from it before handing it to Kir. “Once saw her dive into stormy waters to rescue a woman who’d gone overboard. Nearly drowned saving her.”

Kir took a small sip. “She was a fierce fighter. Reckless, impatient, left too many openings and depended too much on soul power. But she had a gift. I wish half my soldiers had her spirit. I wish any of them did.”

“And she cared,” Rua said, taking the bottle back. “She was such a bleeding heart. I’ve never seen a person so empathetic.”

“What a load of shit,” Reyna said. “Now you’re telling tales.”

Kir shook her head. “No, it’s true. Juala always felt the pain of others. She just didn’t know how to process it. It’s what made her such a fierce defender, why she made it her mission to protect the Islands. But she was always lashing out, because she didn’t know how to deal with all that pain.”

“Nah, you’re romanticizing her too much. I knew her best. She was just a terrible person, plain and simple. And when she didn’t get what she wanted, she threw temper tantrums. Didn’t know how to control herself, and was constantly afraid. All those acts of bravery of hers? Only happened because she was afraid of what people would think if she didn’t do them. Always getting compared to her mom, and coming up short.”

“Her mom was a drunk,” Rua said. “A drunk and a bully.”

Reyna snatched the bottle away from her, and moved to take a drink, but stopped herself, slamming it onto the counter. 

“Una was a hero. The greatest hero the Islands has ever known.”

“She was,” Rua said. “And she was still kind of a shitty person. Three kids, and abandoned them all on a mad quest to play hero for the Islands. We thank her every day for it, but… what that did to her kids…”

“Nah, fuck that. Juala was terrible, that’s all there is to it. There’s no deeper motivation. She hurt, so she hurt others. She got rejected, so she made sure others felt small. No point pretending otherwise.”

“She was my sister,” Rua said. “And I miss her.”

“I miss her, too,” Kir said. “And when I next see Il-Su, I’m going to do what I should’ve done the first time I saw him.”

Reyna waved a hand dismissively. “Nah, fuck that. If anyone’s killing that limpdick, it’s me. I’ve got a score to settle. And I’m going to use Juala’s spear to do it.”

Kir snorted. “Her family will never let you have it. The artifice it took to make it cost a lot.”

“And no one can use it except Juala. It’s not like they can sell the thing, or use it themselves. It only made lightning for her. Ain’t of us to anyone except to poke a big fucking hole into that Il-Su prick.”

“Maybe you should steal it,” Otter said.

There was a pause. Rua let out a small bark of laughter. Reyna picked up the bottle and took a drink.

“Maybe I should.”

“You’re going to make enemies of the Moseinas if you do,” Kir warned.

“Fuck ‘em, they already hate me. Besides, they’ll owe me.”

“For what?”

“For making sure Sureya doesn’t get her claws on Moami.” She took another drink. “You don’t know what that woman did to Juala. I’m not going to let her do it to Moami.”

“I know exactly what Sureya did to Juala,” Rua said. “You think she was the only one who received Sureya’s… guidance?”

“I think you got off light. She was happy to belittle you and strip all your power away and let you live alone in your house. She wrote you off immediately because of who your mother was. Juala… Juala, she wanted to make sure was a perfect little soldier, in her own image. Someone to carry on Sureya’s legacy when she finally kicked it. But of course, Juala being Juala, she had to be difficult.”

Rua finally finished cleaning up Kir, who stood and took the bottle from Reyna. “Everyone knew how difficult she was.”

“Well, did you know about her crush?”

“On me? Again, everyone knew about that.”

Reyna snorted. “Get over yourself for a bit. She wanted to fuck you, who doesn’t, but Juala never did anything by half-measures. You think you were the only controversial crush she had?”

“Oh really? And who else did that oversexed spear pole want to…” Kir trailed off, and her eyes widened. She put a hand over her mouth.

Reyna looked away, her gaze falling to the floor. Realization hit Otter next, and she snickered.

“What?” Rua asked. “What am I not getting?”

“Now who’s the dumb sister,” Kir said with a small smile.

“What?”

“She wanted you, stupid,” Reyna said. “She’d jerk herself off nightly moaning your fucking name. It was pathetic to hear.”

Rua blushed brightly, and then looked mortified. “She… she… what?”

“Doesn’t matter now. Bitch is dead.”

“She never said anything.”

“She literally confessed her love to you the last time you met, you dolt.”

“She meant as a sister!”

Kir smiled. “I’m not the dumb sister anymore.”

“You shut up. Otter, I’d like to talk to you about your hiring methods, the woman you picked as a bodyguard seems defective.”

“Well?” Otter asked. “Is she lying?”

“Never mind that! What she clearly believes is idiocy! It doesn’t make it true! Juala hated the Criobani, and I’m half-Criobani.”

“Hate fucking’s a thing, you know,” Reyna said. “I can definitely tell you, Juala herself wouldn’t even be able to explain it.”

“I… I can’t listen to this.” Rua stood up, looking around, seeking an exit. 

Otter could feel the panic coming off her through their link. It was like a wounded animal, being pursued by a predator. There was something pained, something furious and angry and terrified, and if anything came close, Rua was likely to lash out.

Otter tried anyway. 

Rua turned away and hopped over the bar, fleeing.

“She always runs,” Reyna said. “Every single time with that one.”

“Yeah, you’re gonna apologize once she calms down,” Otter said.

“Yeah, that’s fair. I just… she was romanticizing a terrible fucking person. And something about it pissed me off. So I said something I shouldn’t’ve.” 

“And make it a good apology. Or I’m not teaching you Element Weaving.”

“Fine! I said I’d do it, don’t get your dick in a twist.”

“We’ve spent too long here,” Kir said. “There are duties to be about.”

“Yeah yeah,” Otter said. “Fine, let’s do the boring part of the funeral.”

“You really think any part of this funeral is going to be boring?” Reyna asked.

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