104 Vol 2. pt. 41 Patch 7.0: The Defiance of a Wolf and a Serpen (1/2)

”With that being done, I am sorry to say that I must depart,” Nell tells them.

”You sure you can't stay?” Serra asks.

”I don't want that bastard to get his hands back on you,” Cassiel says.

Nell shakes her head. ”I do not wish to return, but I must. The longer I stay here, the higher the chance of being found here and all of you getting in trouble. I doubt that you would be spared of punishment a second time, so for your own good, I must leave,” Nell explains.

Serra and Cassiel look at Fenrir, wanting him to stop her, but he knows that he cannot. ”Alright. I'll get you back here with us soon, alright?” he says.

Nell nods her head and hugs both of the girls before hugging Fenrir, then she goes on to try and hug Bonekraka only to be rejected as he steps away, and she ends her partial hug session with Tabitha. ”Thank you all for being so wonderful to me. I truly look forward to when I can stay with you for good,” Nell says with a polite bow before grabbing the cloth that she used to cover her in the crate. She tosses it over herself and carefully walks up the broken stairs.

”I'll rescue you from him. Promise,” Fenrir says.

”I know you will, my hero.”

With that, they hear Nell step above deck and walk off of The Shoebill.

”I feel like I'm goin' crazy. Haven't you all only known each other for like a week? How in the heck are ya all so attached already?” Tabitha asks.

”Shut up. You were acting like you and Fen were best friends for life the moment that he brought you on,” Cassiel calls her out.

While those two start bickering, Fenrir focuses on the feeling that he's getting. He feels exactly where Nell is. He knows how far away she is, whether she is higher or lower than he is, how fast she is moving, and he can also feel himself growing weaker the farther away she goes.

It only takes a few minutes of her being in the open before he can also sense her distress. Whereas she was walking normally before, now she is being forcibly carried.

But he can also feel something else – something that she didn't explain.

He can sense exactly how she is feeling, and right now, he feels her hope. He feels her faith in his promise; he feels her belief in him saving her.

Maybe Tabitha is right. Maybe this is all moving quickly with little time had to properly think things over, but that doesn't matter. No matter how quick it all may be, the only factor that matters is that the feelings he is sensing from Nell are real. He has direct access to her pure, unfiltered heart.

If she truly has this much faith in him then there is no way that he would ever even consider letting her down.

”I'm going out,” Fenrir says.

”Huh? Where?” Cassiel asks.

”We need to get ready for the next round. What we have right now isn't good enough to win. It's going to be us against two stupidly tough bastards, and they both really want us dead. Tabs,” Fenrir looks at Tabitha, ”get this ship in even better shape than she was before the tournament. Do anything you want to her if it means getting an edge over our enemies.”

”Anything?” Tabitha asks as a grin slowly spreads across her face.

”Anything. Bone, Cass,” Fenrir looks at those two now, ”I want you to spar until you can't any longer. We've been seriously neglecting training our combat skills, so I want you to boost them up as much as you possibly can before the next round. We've got one and a half in-game days to get ready, and we're going to need every last bit of help that we can get. If you don't want to spar, go hunt something outside the city. Take Rock with you as well to get her some experience, too.”

Both Bonekraka and Cassiel smile and nod when they see the determined, fiery look in Fenrir's eyes that they both admire.

”Serra, I know this might sound boring, but I want you to go and watch fish swimming around. If we're supposed to catch a small serpent in this final round, you're going to need some great aim with that ballista. We've gotten skills before from watching fish swim around that's been helping us catch them, so get that skill up as much as you can since the ballista will be all yours.”

”Got it,” Serra replies with a thumbs-up.

”Tabs, when Corwin and Olly are back, I want you to tell Olly to get more practice with his magic and to work on that spell he cast earlier. Have Corwin stay with you and help you however you want,” Fenrir says.

”What about you?” Tabitha asks.

”I'm going to get some training in and see if I can't make my partner open up to me a bit more.” Fenrir climbs up over the broken stairs. ”Sorry about this, by the way.”

Tabitha shoots him a quick glare before sighing and returning to working on her new engine.

”I'll see you all later.”

Fenrir gives Rock a few pats on her head, tells her that she'll be hanging out with Bonekraka and Cassiel, and then picks up Rod to go off and get some of his own training done.

He makes it halfway down the pier before feeling something sting his heart.

Or rather, he feels Nell's heart sting.