Six years later
Six years later
Immersed in her sketching of the Ravkan landscape, Alina Starkov reminisces about the time that she spent together with two of her closest friends.
Who went through it all with her, Mal and Ria.
Ria, a nickname she thought of for Valeria the first time her 10 year old self had the courage to ask the polite girl if they're friends after a week of spending time with one another, which Alina always delighted in. But also confused her and made her doubt herself that she could ever be friends with one so bright.
Because Valeria is very different from her, she shines brightly whenever she makes an entrance in a room, ensnaring everyone's attention towards her person.
With the girl herself being oblivious to it all.
While she herself, when people did not ignore her existence, was always met with ridicule, sneers or in some cases, blatant abuse. Which stopped when Valeria came into her life…which she'll always be grateful to the girl for.
Well, back to the matter at hand.
After hearing her question, Valeria only quirked an eyebrow in amusement all the while nodding and adding:
"Of course we are, you silly girl." ,
at which Alina who couldn't contain her excitement, crashed into the girl's chest with tear filled eyes, which almost made the girl in question almost crash on the ground by the force of it, but at the last second, Valeria righted herself.
Smiling because of the memory, Alina almost didn't hear the scoff that is directed towards herself by someone in her unit, who she is currently seated with in the moving wagon.
Which she ignores, and doesn't let anything show on her face.
Another person, Alixei, a friend she made in her unit, then piped up when she continued working on her sketch "How can you do that here?"
At which she answers that the bumps help with the texture, at which another cartographer across from her looks at his map before glancing back at hers, all the while remarking "The Fold looks different on mine. I need to get a better view from your country."
'And there it is', she thought, if her friends were here, they'd not stand for someone making such remarks about her.
Especially Rie.
It was always Riethat made the bullies lose their tongues with just a couple of words and a look, words she would always have a hard time discerning herself, those words were meant for the bullies ears only. Words which would make their pallor suddenly turn pale.
Even from a young age, Alina understood that her friend was different from them all. She was something other, someone that should not have graced their presence in the first place, but deigned it nonetheless.
Lost in her thoughts, she almost doesn't hear Alexei, who suddenly shoved his head away from her work, defending her.
"She grew up here, come on!"
Upon which another cartographer then added:
"The Shu Han didn't want her either,"
As you may have noticed, Alexei was her only friend in the unit.
Because people did not exactly want to get along with someone that resembles the enemy.
Yes, she thinks, Rie would've definitely shut their mouths.
She misses her friends and can't wait to be finally reunited with them both.
She then turned her head back to her work, but before she could resume her sketching, the head cartographer opened the flap of the wagon.
"Cartographers, listen up! We're almost there. Pack up and be ready to leave, and if you lose anything, you won't be getting a replacement."
And with those words, everyone began to gather their things.
However, movements suddenly paused when a loud growling filled the air.
It seemed to echo through her ears for an eternity, which sent chills upon Alina's spine.
When the wagon stopped and all of them got out, they were met with the sight of darkness.
The Shadow Fold.
Staring at its Shadowy mass, Alina was frozen on the spot. Stopping a few steps behind her was Alexei who gazed at it as well.
"We're never going to see it go away." he says while adding "This abomination is here forever."
Raisa, a blonde cartographer then answered, whilst she walked by:
"You don't go to church. A saint who can summon the sun will destroy it.", she said with absolute certainty.
The same person who spoke about her map, then pitched in "I'd like to see even one person who isn't scared of that."
At which the blonde woman then replied, "I bet I know some people. Mal and Valeria. They aren't afraid of anything. "
Which made Alina chuckle and whisper under her breath "You'd be surprised."
When it concerned Mal, Rie on the other hand…Valeria, she thought with full belief, was someone she knew who feared absolutely nothing.
Faint cheers were heard, when Malyen Oretsev's only focus was making sure that the wraps on his hand were properly bound.
Taking a deep breath, after he made certain they were bound correctly, he bent over and pulled his shirt off.
The large tent he found himself in, was filled with First Army soldiers, who were gathered around in a circle.
The cheers then became louder as Mal turned to face his opponent and a bell rang.
"Final bets, final bets. Keep it clean, boys, go on!"
At which Mal then readied himself and approached his opponent, whilst the people that surrounded them were making bets on who'd finally win.
His opponent struck first, and then Mal was fully swept into the fight.
After landing the last punch that would send his opponent face down, which made him the victor of the fight, he was suddenly jumped on by his friends. Michael and Dubrov.
He then walked to his opponent and offered him his hand to help him up.
After, they all began to clear out, until a voice suddenly said "I'll take a turn."
Turning to face the person, they were met with a Squaller.
"How about it, just you and me.", the man in blue said with his arms widely spread.
The man then proceeded to use his Small Science to manipulate the air to throw dirt in Mal's direction. Which Mal then covered his face, to protect his eyes.
He then made way to the arrogant man.
Mal took two steps into the direction of the man, before his friend Mikhail stopped him with a hand on his chest.
"Don't. If you lose, you'll be in the medika. If you win, they'll throw you in the brig…" At which Mal was pushed towards the exit.
Looking over his friend's head, Mal then barked into the direction of the Grisha, in a challenging manner: "Try me without that magic, huh?!"
At which the Grisha only released the air he had used to create a small, loose tornado.
"It's just air," he said tauntingly "come on, anyone!?"
Mal and his friends then made their way out of the tent, and went their separate ways. While Mikhael and Dubrov went to collect their biddings, Mal made his way back to his tent.
After he put his clothes back on, he then crossed the wooden bridge that connected two sides of their camp.
He then suddenly spotted a familiar head of black hair.
"Alina!"
The girl in question spun around at the familiar voice that just called her name, and lit up when she recognised her dearest and longest friend.
The both of them then ran towards one another.
"When did you get in?" she asks, at which Mal then replies as he slung his arm around the girl's shoulders "Yesterday, everyone's getting their assignments."
At which she chuckled and said that Cartography is headed south.
They then continued to talk while making their way to camp together.
Alina realised something was different about the camp when they arrived.
"Oh they moved our tent." She observed.
"Yeah, it's down that end now." Mal replied while gesturing to his left.
As they walked to their destination, they noticed that there were soldiers everywhere, doing this and that.
"There are so many First Army here, we look like a halfway house accepting donations." Alina commented.
"Well, actually, I won't be accepting any donations. Because I won this in a fight." Mal proudly proclaims, as he pulls out his winnings.
Slipping out of his arm, Alina then took his winnings to futher examine them.
"Look at you flush with 5 whole…Kruge?" She then looked up at the boy in front of her with a confused look, "What are you going to do with foreign money, we aren't in Ketterdam."
"Oh don't crush my dreams." the Corporal replied.
Before they could continue their conversation, they were interupted by a voice shouting from their side,
"Again. Inferni!"
Both of them then turned towards the direction of the voice.
"This is why our tents got moved. Grisha wanted more space."said Mal.
"Ugh, Grisha." Alina replies as they continue to watch the people in different coloured keftas throw around their respective powers.
"Show-offs, they're always picking on us when their general's not around." Grumbled the tracker.
"It's like home all over again." Alina said, as the two of them turned away from the Grisha and started to head through the camp again.
But before Mal could get a word out, they heard a familiar voice behind them.
"Well, well, well. Don't let them hear you say that. They might decide to burn something off of you, or more…well you never know, with how prickly they can get. Well, those that I had the pleasure of meeting, that is."
The two then immediately turned around, with Alina being the first to react.
"RIE!" said the girl, rushing over and trying to glomp her other dearest friend.
Smiling the girl teased the much smaller girl to be careful not to crash her to the ground, at which Alina brightly smiled at.
"Good to see you too, Lina." Said the girl with with the bright, enchanting green eyes. And she also turned to their other friend.
"You too, Corporal."
At which the boy raised an eyebrow at in amusement, glancing to the shiny sword on her hip, all the while greeting her back.
"You as well, the youngest Sergeant Major of our time or should I say 'The Black Knight'? "
At which the girl sent him a suffering look.
"Har har, hilarious, Mal."
"What? That's what they're calling you nowadays!" The tracker guffaws.
Alina only looks towards her dearest friends in fondness, happy to have them back.
That they're back together again.
She hopes it'll stay that way.
And if not, she'll make certain they will be.
The three of them continued on in the direction Alina and Mal started going before Valeria surprised the both of them with her presence.
While they were talking, their attention was then drawn to a skiff to their right.
"That looks new." Alina remarked.
"Brand new. Grisha call it ultralight made by their own Fabrikators. It's supposed to be faster." Mal informed the two women beside him.
"Well, it's not going to be ultralight with their big ego's on board, is it?" Valeria scoffed, while tilting her head at the skiff.
But her remark went over their heads, it seemed, such a shame.
"What happened to the last one?" Alina asks.
"It never came back." Mal answered.
He was then called by Mikhael, when he spotted Mal.
"There he is!"
"Here we go.." Mal lowly said to the women beside him.
As the two trackers, Mikhael and Dubrov made their way towards them, Dubrov upon reaching closer then said "I would have made a killing on you, but no, he refused to loan me money so.."
Before his companion could remark upon it, Valeria beated him to it "That's because you're a child in an even larger child's body." She said with a bright smile.
Mikhael beside him then snorted in amusement, before he looked at the woman with the shiny, but deadlyswordthat could literally kill you by touch, that is attached to her hip and nodded in agreement.
"Thank you Val, at least someone understands."
At which Dubrov then retorted to Mikhael, "You're shorter than I am.", all the while gesturing to their height difference.
Mal then intervened between the two, while gesturing to Alina beside him "Alright, Dubrov, Mikhael, this is Alina."
At which the girl in question gave a wave in greeting to the both of them.
Mikhael then teasingly remarked "Your little friend from Keramzin? This is her?"
Looking from him to Mal at the comment, she then asks "Little friend?"
Mal chuckles, while looking away and replies "How is that wrong?"
"He talks about you all the time." Dubrov then told Alina.
Alina smiled slightly and tilted her head in curiosity, while asking him to tell her what Mal says about her.
Chuckling, Valeria then adds " He can't stop talking about you, love. It's getting him to quiet down that is the hardest bit."
At which Mal then started defending himself, all the while trying to deflect the conversation with the three guys then messing around with one another, laughing the whole way through.
The two women of their small group stood back and watched the whole spectacle in amusement.
But their fun then came to an end when a loud horn echoed across the camp.
"Well, that's our cue." Valeria then said.
And with that, they made their way to the tent.