Categories > Games > Soul Calibur > Destination
noisee: GUESS WHO'S BAAACK. Yea. Latest update EVER. But I've seen the error of my ways and, being the lazy ass that I am, have tried to write this chapter in a way that you needn't have read the earlier chapters to get the rest of the story. I guess this counts as filler, and I'm sooo sorry. D: But thanks to everyone who reviewed (especially cpt_frozen_hotdog, I appreciate your thoughts, 'coz you rule) and I hope this'll set you in the mood for more!
It's a new noisee (writingstyle) and a new arc! Let's goooo!~
Chapter Eight - Deception (A Year Ago)
The weekend was such a joy. There was nothing to wake up early for, so one was able to lie in bed and wallow in their own warmth, burying themselves in covers in drifting in and out of consciousness. Talim very much enjoyed Saturdays in particular: after a stressful school week (as the most recent had become), she took great pleasure in the ability to rouse from slumber of her own accord, her pet bird, Alun, chirping cheerily, and the sun filtering in soft and benign through the blinds.
This particular morning, however, Talim was not slowly greated with these peaceful blessings but with the loud, excited shriek of one of her best friends.
"TALI'! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
Before Talim had even started on getting over the initial disrupt, Cassandra had pounced on her sleeping form, squeezing the younger girl's breath out through the many layers of fabric.
"Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy BIRTHDAAAY~"
"My, someone's cheerful for the morning," Talim tried to say, only to have grogginess transform her sentence into: "Who... Whatsit?"
Heavy footsteps were rapidly approaching from the hall, and the two girls turned in time to find Kilik and Link standing in the doorway.
"Jesus Christ!" Kilik bawlked. "Tita Lili told you to stay in the living room!"
"But I was too excited! I wanted to be the first to say 'happy birthday'!" Cassandra huffed, releasing the blue-faced Talim from her death grip.
Kilik snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "What's with you? Stuff like this is more of Mina's thing."
"Well, she's not here to do it, so-"
"- She's not here?" Talim interrupted, mildly surprised. She supposed she shouldn't be, but still...
"No, she had a family thing or something."
"Ah..."
Silence hung in the air between them, thick with the words they dared not speak. Cassandra was the first to break the silence.
"Kilik! Get outta here! Tali' needs to get dressed!" She chided, pushing him and Link out. She poked her head in to give Talim a little wave before closing the door.
Talim hated watching doors close after someone.
`~o0o~`
"Cassie, cut that out."
Cassandra abruptly halted her humming, eyes sliding over to meet Kilik's. His stony gaze made her cheeks warm, and she bit her lip. There was annoyance in his eyes, something she hated to see there but had long before him gotten accostumed to. "Sorry."
"Are you okay?" He asked, his features softening. "Really?"
"Yea, I'm fine, I'm just..." Cassandra let out a long sigh, glancing away to where Link was being talked at. "Family troubles..."
"Ah." Leaning back into the sofa, Kilik stretched his arms along its back. "Sophie didn't get suspended with the others, did she?"
Cassandra shook her head. "She wasn't involved with it at all- she's been staying after school a lot for extra credit. But she blames me, though, as usual. It's always my fault when her friends whine to her."
The doorbell rang, and Cassandra jumped, as though she had be caught comitting a crime. She turned her attention to the door, ignoring any sort of reply Kilik could have given. "Who's that? I thought everyone was here!"
Kilik grinned, his dark eyes sliding to the door. "It must be the /special guests/."
`~o0o~`
Having just chosen to wear a simple t-shirt with her corduroys, Talim was startled by the doorbell ringing. She jumped, tripped over a pile of dirty clothes, and fell to the floor with her arm in the head hole and her head stuck at the arm hole. It was because of this delay that she could not go out in time to save her 'special guests' from what they had to endure. She walked out to a surreal sight:
Save for Cassandra, all the girls- girls/, as in not only Cassandra was there, all of her family were, as well- were clustered around something she couldn't quite see, fawning over the center of their attention with relentless squeals. Cries of "Dep zai!", "Pogi!", and "Guapo!"/ led her to believe that there was a very attractive male in the midst of it all.
And then she saw it.
From under Lynette's arm and above Hualin's head peeked out a flaxen lock, a startled, azure eye- It was /Siegfried/.
Talim burst into laughter, bringing everyone's attention to the normally introverted girl. She covered her mouth with her hands but couldn't muffle her chuckles, laughing only harder at the look of consternation on Siegfried's face. Raphael, who looked totally relieved to be free, had on a wan smile, his disheveled blond hair making him look quite boyish. Once Talim's laughter had quieted somewhat, he cleared his throat, bringing all eyes on him.
"Happy birthday, Talim."
Chuckles mostly out of her system, Talim grinned at him, nodding. "Yea, thanks! And, um, nice to see you again, Hualin, Lynette." The two girls pounced on her, hugging her much tighter than Cassandra had been earlier.
"We've missed you!"
"Sophomore year is boring without you!"
"I don't have anyone to copy off of!"
While the birthday girl was losing all the air in her lungs, the elder women (read: Talim's mom and grandmother) were turning their attention back to the special guests.
Siegfried paled.
`~o0o~`
"CHEATER! CHEATER! CHEATER!"
"Cassandra, calm down!"
"NO! KILIK'S SO CHEAP! ARGH!" Cassandra threw down her controller, the force of it making all parties present wince. Kilik, on the other hand, was leaning back into his seat, looking only more relaxed if he had a cigar hanging from his smirk.
"Aw, chill, Cassie. Just 'coz you suck at /Tekken/..."
"I do NOT suck! You're just so cheap!" When he only chuckled, her narrowed eyes twitched, and she had pounced.
Link, who had an eggroll in one hand and another in his mouth, sniggered at the sight of Kilik being beat up by sweet-ol'-Cassie. Sitting next to him, Lynette was hiding her giggles by studiously examining the orange-coloured noodles she had spooned onto her plate. Across the room, Hualin and Raphael were reaching for the controllers behind the harpy and her punching bag. Next to them, Siegfried sat ramrod straight next to Talim, every once in a while eyeing the door.
"It's okay, Siegfried, they're not coming in," Talim told him, unable to hold back her grin. He rose a quizzical brow, looking like a child after his mother had told him that 'it really does taste good'. "Oh, really! There's no reason to be afraid of my mother..." He blushed, just a light dust of red on his cheeks, "Or my /grandmother/..."
"I am not afraid of your grandmother!" He hissed, averting his eyes. "I would just not like to go through all of... that again..." This did nothing to cease her laughter, so he abruptly changed the topic. "How're you doing?"
She had to think about this. Within the first week of school, she had gotten on the bad side of the most popular group in school, befriended two people who were the type T.V. warned you to stay away from, been framed for a mural-sized graffiti job, been saved at the last minute by said person to stay away from, and lost one of her best friends in the process.
"I'm doing pretty good."
Siegfried laughed. "Bullsh't."
Talim laughed, too. "Yea, I know."
As the next round of the game rang in, they were still laughing.
"What's so funny?" Raphael asked around a straw, one of his thumbs firmly on the 'guard' button.
"Maxi's haircut!" Talim blurted, a Cheshire Cat's grin on her face.
Raphael snorted, never once losing his hold on the straw or his footing in the videogame. He ringed Hualin out as soon as she let up on her combos. "That's /hilarious/."
"Who's Maxi?" Hualin asked, imitating Raphael's tactic for round two.
"Some Elvis-impersonator at Regelus," Raphael replied. Talim thought that, in comparison to Kilik (who was recuperating quietly with a soda), the blond looked terribly at ease uttering such words. Kilik was not one to speak ill of people he did not know, let alone one of the most popular people at school. Of course, Raphael was also in that high-ranking, despite the recent conflict. Heck, his and Siegfried's feud with Maxi and Ivy probably skyrocketed them all to the top of the proverbial popularity chart.
"So what happened with them?" Kilik asked. Cassandra scratched her cheek with one finger, concentrating on the drink she stole from him.
"They got suspended- Maxi, Ivy, Taki, and Xianghua. Three weeks without them skulking around the halls."
"They only got three weeks?" Talim was appauled. After she had been threatened with expulsion, they were only out for a measly twenty-one days?
"Mm-hmm." Raphael executed a flurry of punches and kicks. "You know Ivy, she's got her ways." He had to speak louder to be able to be heard over Hualin's screech of defeat.
The doorbell rang, startling the party. As all was quiet, they could hear muted voices and footsteps quickly heading their way. Before anyone could joke about Siegfried's tenseness, the door swung open, revealing a face with almost nostalgic familiarity.
"Happy birthday, Tali!"
"M- Mina!" Talim stammered, akwardly patting the girl on the back as she dove to hug her. "I thought you had a- a family thing!"
Cassandra left the room, mumbling something about the washroom.
Siegfried and Raphael rose, as well.
"Ah, Talim, I've got to go pick up my kid sister from her fencing class," Raphael said, an apologetic smile gracing his lips. "Sorry, though, and happy birthday. Sieg's gift'll more than make up for us leaving early."
"Sieg's gift?"
"Mine's not ready, yet, but you'll love it, too," Raphael chuckled, as though he had heard a joke nobody else did.
Suddenly, her mother outside screamed. It sounded like Siegfried had tried to leave unnoticed. With a sheepish grin, Raphael left, off to provide distraction for his friend's getaway.
"Whoa, I sure can clear a room," Mina remarked. Nobody tried to say otherwise.
`~o0o~`
Talim flopped onto her bed, tired, but content. She felt like she truly had friends, people to rely on and smile with. It seemed like ages since that first day of twelfth grade, when she was reading a book in a tree and her two best friends were teasing each other.
A flash of red hair in her mind's eye; it was suddenly hard to breathe.
She squeezed the object in her right hand, its smooth, cold feel against her palm seeming to cut the constriction on her lungs. Siegfried had given her a bookmark for her birthday: a silvery vine with a single, metallic-green rose blooming at the end. Not even Kilik's gift had been so thoughtful, and Kilik had known her all her life. Why would Siegfried get her something like this? And how had he gotten the idea in the first place?
Talim turned out the light, left with darkness and silence to accompany her thoughts.
noisee:Tita - The Tagalog word for 'aunt', used when addressing elder women and family friends and whatnot. Expect to learn Tagalog here, because Talim's the sh't. xD
Oh, and if you know what orange-coloured noodles Lynette was eating, drop me a line and you win a oneshot of your choice. xD If you want one. Here's a hint: It's often served with sliced boiled eggs. And I loves it muchly! :D
It's a new noisee (writingstyle) and a new arc! Let's goooo!~
Chapter Eight - Deception (A Year Ago)
The weekend was such a joy. There was nothing to wake up early for, so one was able to lie in bed and wallow in their own warmth, burying themselves in covers in drifting in and out of consciousness. Talim very much enjoyed Saturdays in particular: after a stressful school week (as the most recent had become), she took great pleasure in the ability to rouse from slumber of her own accord, her pet bird, Alun, chirping cheerily, and the sun filtering in soft and benign through the blinds.
This particular morning, however, Talim was not slowly greated with these peaceful blessings but with the loud, excited shriek of one of her best friends.
"TALI'! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
Before Talim had even started on getting over the initial disrupt, Cassandra had pounced on her sleeping form, squeezing the younger girl's breath out through the many layers of fabric.
"Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy BIRTHDAAAY~"
"My, someone's cheerful for the morning," Talim tried to say, only to have grogginess transform her sentence into: "Who... Whatsit?"
Heavy footsteps were rapidly approaching from the hall, and the two girls turned in time to find Kilik and Link standing in the doorway.
"Jesus Christ!" Kilik bawlked. "Tita Lili told you to stay in the living room!"
"But I was too excited! I wanted to be the first to say 'happy birthday'!" Cassandra huffed, releasing the blue-faced Talim from her death grip.
Kilik snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "What's with you? Stuff like this is more of Mina's thing."
"Well, she's not here to do it, so-"
"- She's not here?" Talim interrupted, mildly surprised. She supposed she shouldn't be, but still...
"No, she had a family thing or something."
"Ah..."
Silence hung in the air between them, thick with the words they dared not speak. Cassandra was the first to break the silence.
"Kilik! Get outta here! Tali' needs to get dressed!" She chided, pushing him and Link out. She poked her head in to give Talim a little wave before closing the door.
Talim hated watching doors close after someone.
`~o0o~`
"Cassie, cut that out."
Cassandra abruptly halted her humming, eyes sliding over to meet Kilik's. His stony gaze made her cheeks warm, and she bit her lip. There was annoyance in his eyes, something she hated to see there but had long before him gotten accostumed to. "Sorry."
"Are you okay?" He asked, his features softening. "Really?"
"Yea, I'm fine, I'm just..." Cassandra let out a long sigh, glancing away to where Link was being talked at. "Family troubles..."
"Ah." Leaning back into the sofa, Kilik stretched his arms along its back. "Sophie didn't get suspended with the others, did she?"
Cassandra shook her head. "She wasn't involved with it at all- she's been staying after school a lot for extra credit. But she blames me, though, as usual. It's always my fault when her friends whine to her."
The doorbell rang, and Cassandra jumped, as though she had be caught comitting a crime. She turned her attention to the door, ignoring any sort of reply Kilik could have given. "Who's that? I thought everyone was here!"
Kilik grinned, his dark eyes sliding to the door. "It must be the /special guests/."
`~o0o~`
Having just chosen to wear a simple t-shirt with her corduroys, Talim was startled by the doorbell ringing. She jumped, tripped over a pile of dirty clothes, and fell to the floor with her arm in the head hole and her head stuck at the arm hole. It was because of this delay that she could not go out in time to save her 'special guests' from what they had to endure. She walked out to a surreal sight:
Save for Cassandra, all the girls- girls/, as in not only Cassandra was there, all of her family were, as well- were clustered around something she couldn't quite see, fawning over the center of their attention with relentless squeals. Cries of "Dep zai!", "Pogi!", and "Guapo!"/ led her to believe that there was a very attractive male in the midst of it all.
And then she saw it.
From under Lynette's arm and above Hualin's head peeked out a flaxen lock, a startled, azure eye- It was /Siegfried/.
Talim burst into laughter, bringing everyone's attention to the normally introverted girl. She covered her mouth with her hands but couldn't muffle her chuckles, laughing only harder at the look of consternation on Siegfried's face. Raphael, who looked totally relieved to be free, had on a wan smile, his disheveled blond hair making him look quite boyish. Once Talim's laughter had quieted somewhat, he cleared his throat, bringing all eyes on him.
"Happy birthday, Talim."
Chuckles mostly out of her system, Talim grinned at him, nodding. "Yea, thanks! And, um, nice to see you again, Hualin, Lynette." The two girls pounced on her, hugging her much tighter than Cassandra had been earlier.
"We've missed you!"
"Sophomore year is boring without you!"
"I don't have anyone to copy off of!"
While the birthday girl was losing all the air in her lungs, the elder women (read: Talim's mom and grandmother) were turning their attention back to the special guests.
Siegfried paled.
`~o0o~`
"CHEATER! CHEATER! CHEATER!"
"Cassandra, calm down!"
"NO! KILIK'S SO CHEAP! ARGH!" Cassandra threw down her controller, the force of it making all parties present wince. Kilik, on the other hand, was leaning back into his seat, looking only more relaxed if he had a cigar hanging from his smirk.
"Aw, chill, Cassie. Just 'coz you suck at /Tekken/..."
"I do NOT suck! You're just so cheap!" When he only chuckled, her narrowed eyes twitched, and she had pounced.
Link, who had an eggroll in one hand and another in his mouth, sniggered at the sight of Kilik being beat up by sweet-ol'-Cassie. Sitting next to him, Lynette was hiding her giggles by studiously examining the orange-coloured noodles she had spooned onto her plate. Across the room, Hualin and Raphael were reaching for the controllers behind the harpy and her punching bag. Next to them, Siegfried sat ramrod straight next to Talim, every once in a while eyeing the door.
"It's okay, Siegfried, they're not coming in," Talim told him, unable to hold back her grin. He rose a quizzical brow, looking like a child after his mother had told him that 'it really does taste good'. "Oh, really! There's no reason to be afraid of my mother..." He blushed, just a light dust of red on his cheeks, "Or my /grandmother/..."
"I am not afraid of your grandmother!" He hissed, averting his eyes. "I would just not like to go through all of... that again..." This did nothing to cease her laughter, so he abruptly changed the topic. "How're you doing?"
She had to think about this. Within the first week of school, she had gotten on the bad side of the most popular group in school, befriended two people who were the type T.V. warned you to stay away from, been framed for a mural-sized graffiti job, been saved at the last minute by said person to stay away from, and lost one of her best friends in the process.
"I'm doing pretty good."
Siegfried laughed. "Bullsh't."
Talim laughed, too. "Yea, I know."
As the next round of the game rang in, they were still laughing.
"What's so funny?" Raphael asked around a straw, one of his thumbs firmly on the 'guard' button.
"Maxi's haircut!" Talim blurted, a Cheshire Cat's grin on her face.
Raphael snorted, never once losing his hold on the straw or his footing in the videogame. He ringed Hualin out as soon as she let up on her combos. "That's /hilarious/."
"Who's Maxi?" Hualin asked, imitating Raphael's tactic for round two.
"Some Elvis-impersonator at Regelus," Raphael replied. Talim thought that, in comparison to Kilik (who was recuperating quietly with a soda), the blond looked terribly at ease uttering such words. Kilik was not one to speak ill of people he did not know, let alone one of the most popular people at school. Of course, Raphael was also in that high-ranking, despite the recent conflict. Heck, his and Siegfried's feud with Maxi and Ivy probably skyrocketed them all to the top of the proverbial popularity chart.
"So what happened with them?" Kilik asked. Cassandra scratched her cheek with one finger, concentrating on the drink she stole from him.
"They got suspended- Maxi, Ivy, Taki, and Xianghua. Three weeks without them skulking around the halls."
"They only got three weeks?" Talim was appauled. After she had been threatened with expulsion, they were only out for a measly twenty-one days?
"Mm-hmm." Raphael executed a flurry of punches and kicks. "You know Ivy, she's got her ways." He had to speak louder to be able to be heard over Hualin's screech of defeat.
The doorbell rang, startling the party. As all was quiet, they could hear muted voices and footsteps quickly heading their way. Before anyone could joke about Siegfried's tenseness, the door swung open, revealing a face with almost nostalgic familiarity.
"Happy birthday, Tali!"
"M- Mina!" Talim stammered, akwardly patting the girl on the back as she dove to hug her. "I thought you had a- a family thing!"
Cassandra left the room, mumbling something about the washroom.
Siegfried and Raphael rose, as well.
"Ah, Talim, I've got to go pick up my kid sister from her fencing class," Raphael said, an apologetic smile gracing his lips. "Sorry, though, and happy birthday. Sieg's gift'll more than make up for us leaving early."
"Sieg's gift?"
"Mine's not ready, yet, but you'll love it, too," Raphael chuckled, as though he had heard a joke nobody else did.
Suddenly, her mother outside screamed. It sounded like Siegfried had tried to leave unnoticed. With a sheepish grin, Raphael left, off to provide distraction for his friend's getaway.
"Whoa, I sure can clear a room," Mina remarked. Nobody tried to say otherwise.
`~o0o~`
Talim flopped onto her bed, tired, but content. She felt like she truly had friends, people to rely on and smile with. It seemed like ages since that first day of twelfth grade, when she was reading a book in a tree and her two best friends were teasing each other.
A flash of red hair in her mind's eye; it was suddenly hard to breathe.
She squeezed the object in her right hand, its smooth, cold feel against her palm seeming to cut the constriction on her lungs. Siegfried had given her a bookmark for her birthday: a silvery vine with a single, metallic-green rose blooming at the end. Not even Kilik's gift had been so thoughtful, and Kilik had known her all her life. Why would Siegfried get her something like this? And how had he gotten the idea in the first place?
Talim turned out the light, left with darkness and silence to accompany her thoughts.
noisee:Tita - The Tagalog word for 'aunt', used when addressing elder women and family friends and whatnot. Expect to learn Tagalog here, because Talim's the sh't. xD
Oh, and if you know what orange-coloured noodles Lynette was eating, drop me a line and you win a oneshot of your choice. xD If you want one. Here's a hint: It's often served with sliced boiled eggs. And I loves it muchly! :D
Sign up to rate and review this story