"Ahhh, it's even colder than last year!"
Rain muttered to herself as she stepped out of the local trams station and into the snowy crosswalk of NQSC. Letting out a small sigh, she looked up at the towering building that breached into the empyrean. It was as if the city was covered in a blanket of pristine snow.
'This used to be such a majestic sight when I was younger, now after everything...'
A faint curve gently grew on the porcelain skin of the young woman as she skipped her way through the snow-covered pavements of the siege capital. Her delicate raven black hair perfectly contrasts the lily-white surroundings, catching the eyes of countless civilians who walk past the Princess of Shadows.
"Seems just so ordinary now... Alas, I'm not the same innocent girl as before."
It only been 2 years since Rain had reunited with her brother. Yet in such a short amount of time since meeting him, so much had happened that she couldn't keep up with. Becoming the only natural awakened since the spell descended, the throne wars to making lifelong friendships with her current cohort.
'So much had happened.'
Rain thought to herself as she gazed upon the vast azure sky, her eyes shone with a hint of tenderness in them. Soon, another year was bound to pass.
Her arms quickly got tucked into her pockets, snuggled into the oversized ebony coat, as the frigid winds of winter swept over the city.
"Even though I'm an awakened, the wind is still this cold?"
Rain grumbled silently as she navigated her way through the sea of civilians. Although the city isn't in the best shape, both figuratively and literally, the sounds of people laughing and snowballs hitting their target could still be heard. Perhaps even drowning out the bleakness of the endless winter in the waking world.
"Damn it, I forgot how cramped NQSC can be at times. At this rate, I'm going to be late for the Christmas party later! I hope the others won't be too upset..."
Although there is an ample amount of waking world materials within Bastion, the Princess of Shadows still chose to venture into the waking world. After all, the kind of party that she and the rest of the cohort chose was an NQSC-themed one; so, she wanted to be a little bit more authentic and get the groceries for the food in the waking world.
She even got the NQSC cookbook from the bookstore as well!
'That said... Everything on the checklist is almost completed, just a few more to go.'
Rain pondered to herself as she closed her eyes and hummed her favourite Christmas song.
She wasn't wearing anything exquisite right now, just a basic grey jumper, black leggings... And the oversized black coat that she "received" a few months back.
As her mind drifts towards the coat, she suddenly feels her cheeks getting warmer as hints of scarlet paint across the soft ivory canvas.
'I'd wish Corsair would come to the Christmas party...No, no, I can't think of him like that! We – We're just friends!'
Rain quickly slapped her face with both hands to snap herself out of it.
Though at that moment, the distant smell of cocoa caught her attention as the sweet aroma pierced into her nostrils. Intrigued, the raven-haired woman begins to follow the direction from which the scent came from. Judging from how strong the smell was initially; it shouldn't be far from her initial location.
'After all, the street is starting to clear up, so I probably won't be late to the party after all!'
After a while of searching, she was suddenly bombarded with the smell of baking spices from holiday treats, accompanied by the sight of various food vendors, all clustered together in a small, yet densely populated street.
"Eh? The annual Christmas carnival already started this early?"
Although it might look small now, eventually this densely packed street filled with different foods and people would spread out to the size of an entire district or two.
A small smile could be seen on the young woman's pale face as she reminisced about how much fun she used to have at the Christmas carnival all those years ago with her adopted parents.
Still, it was quite a surprise for her to see how early the carnival started this year.
'Strange. It usually starts in the afternoon; it's barely past midday.'
Rain put a hand on her chin for a moment, as she pondered upon the new starting time of the carnival this year.
"Oh well, I supposed it wouldn't hurt if I go explore for a while."
Letting out a small sigh, Rain walked towards the bustling streets. A glint of excitement could be seen in her eyes as she scanned the surrounding stalls, still looking for the smell of cacao that had caught her attention a few minutes ago.
Eventually, a voice coming from a street vendor in the corner of her eyes caught her attention:
"Warm up those frosty fingers! Get your hot chocolate here, fresh and steaming!"
Rain looked over at the small corner of the street, where the stall is. It was a small stall, no larger than 9 square meters, that was seemingly run by two people selling hot chocolate, something that she's craving due to the cold weather. One man was at the front trying to attract customers while the other was at the back, preparing the marshmallows and hot chocolate, hidden from public eyes.
Rain closed her eyes for a while as she slowly approached the Hot Chocolate stall.
The vendor in the front of the stall had sharp facial features, curly ginger brown hair and a beard. His manner of speech, which he used as a means to attract customers towards his stall, has a degree of crafty slickness to it that fits him quite well.
"Hey, young lady! Would you like to have some of this cocoa? It's only 20 credits!"
The ginger vendor suddenly called out to her as she was approaching the stalls, which surprised the Princess of Shadows, as Rain thought she was being quite inconspicuous with her approach.
Regardless, without waiting a moment, she dashed towards the hot chocolate stalls.
"Ah, yes, I would like to have a hot chocolate with a little bit more marshmallow, please."
The ginger-haired man smiled, adjusting his rimless glasses as he typed on the cash register on his side.
"Okay, with the extra marshmallow... That would make it 25 credits, please."
"Ah, sure, here."
As Rain summoned [Bag of Withholding] in her hand to get her credits out to pay for the drink, she noticed something was off.
Why did the second vendor at the back seem to freeze the moment he heard her voice?
"Hmm? What's wrong?"
The front vendor asked, seemingly picking up the fact that Rain is quite suspicious of the guy at the back.
"Oh no, it's nothing..."
Rain gave him a small smile while raising both of her palms up.
However, it was too late as a mischievous grin gradually grew on the man's face. He soon turned around to the direction that his coworker was standing at and asked in a roguish tone.
"Hey, this young lady over here seems to know you."
The man in the back replied in a cold and mechanical tone, without a hint of hesitation.
"Is that so?"
Now that she's closer, Rain could see that the person in the back has a statuesque figure, with dark sable hair that complements his inky apron quite well.
"Hey, what's up with the sudden cold demeanour?"
The man in the back of the stall sighed as he glanced over at the cashier.
"You're overthinking this, Cambus. I'm just going to go back to preparing the cocoa."
Rain's pupil widened, even though she had only caught a glimpse of his azure eyes for a fraction of a second, a thought slowly crept up in her mind. Black hair... Tall, somewhat of a cold tone and blue eyes? Is that...
"Corsair?"
All of a sudden, Rain noticed that the vibes around the ginger-haired vendor, Cambus, seemed to have changed. A small mischievous smirk could be seen on his face as he looked back at his co-worker.
"Ah, so you do know this young lady over here, don't you June."
Corsair let out a long, deflating sigh, his shoulders slumping as if in that moment the accumulated weight of every poor decision he'd ever made—culminating in this precise, mortifying instant—had finally settled on his back.
Slowly, he turned around to face the damn mischievous fox that is Cambus.
"Yes, I do know her-"
The ginger-haired man suddenly interrupted him:
"Wait... She even knows you by your black-market nickname?"
Cambus walked closer to June with a wide grin carved on his face and whispered into Corsair's ear.
"Tell me, is she your girlfriend?"
'What is this guy talking about?'
June thought to himself as a look of confusion could be seen on his chiselled face.
"She's not my girlfriend, Cambus. We just became friends after meeting a few months back at the bank, that's all."
"Oh, so she's a friend, is she?"
Corsair froze for a moment but quickly regained his composure; his face was filled with a sense of disappointment towards the man in front of him.
"I already told you; she's just a friend of mine and nothing more."
"Ah, that's what they all say in the beginning. Listen, when I first met my fiancé a few years ago, I also said the same thing."
"I'd advise you to stop talking about this. It would be beneficial for the both of us."
The two men continued to bicker with each other for a while, making Rain feel quite left out. Whatever Corsair and this 'Cambus' are talking about seems interesting; it was just that... She couldn't hear what they're discussing.
'What a pity, if only I could hear what those two are talking about, then there would be so much more material to gossip about later...'
However, after a while of just standing and waiting, the feeling of being left out is starting to get unbearable for Rain. It somehow feels like she was living under a rock, considering how those two are bickering with each other. Eventually, she decided to speak up, with a voice filled with curiosity.
"So... What are you two talking about?"
Her question, akin to a dagger, that pierced into the veil of private discourse that June and Cambus were in, taking both by surprise.
It wasn't long after, that Cambus turned back and approached her with a smile that was hidden underneath his ginger facial hair.
"Miss, can I ask you a small question?"
Rain was taken by surprise, as she wasn't expecting the ginger-haired vendor to ask her anything.
"S- Sure, what's the question?"
She could see the grin on the man's face getting larger and larger.
"Are you perhaps alone today, miss?"
"Y- Yeah?"
The Cinder fox then winked at her for some odd reason. Before she could question it, he turned his head back towards Corsair.
"Hey, June, I'll handle everything today. You're free to go now, buddy!"
June was quite baffled by Cambus' sudden, impulsive action, it was just yesterday that he remembered the Fox had begged him to help with the stall.
"What? Didn't you said that this year would be more bothersome than the previous year?"
Cambus, with a cheeky smile carved on his face, laughed.
"It is, but I got it under control now. Besides, don't you got more important things to do?"
With a wink, Cambus quickly turned around and walked back, after shoving June out of the stall.
Letting out a defeated sigh, the Corsair turned around to face the Princess of Shadow, as a strange thought rose in his mind.
'That coat that she's wearing…. It looks familiar somehow.'
After dismissing his thoughts, June opened his mouth.
"So, what are you planning to do today, Princess?"
Rain scoffed as she responded back in a low voice.
"June, I told you to stop calling me Princess when we're together, it's so weird!"
Confused, the Corsair raises an eyebrow at Rain's sudden comment.
"Then what do you want me to call you?"
The young woman took a moment of silence, glancing back at June with both hands firmly placed on the curve of her hips, face beaming with a confidence that's brighter than even Changing Star flame.
"Please refer to me as 'The Dark and Murky Goddess of the Twilight Sky' from now on. Like I told you last time we met!"
This statement makes June want to physically recoil, crumble down and fall through the floor. Though he didn't show this, of course. Keeping a calm and cool demeanor, he sighed.
'With all the stress that was preparing for the Christmas festival, I completely forgot that she's just like her brother!'
The raven-haired woman let out one more cheeky scoff at him, then continued.
"But for your question, I'm supposed to meet up with Tamar, Telle and the others later. Though, as the 'traffic' is decreasing, it seems like I have an ample amount of free time right now."
June looked at her and let out a small smile, which caught Rain off guard as her pupils were dilated again.
'C- cute, that smile, although it doesn't appear often, oddly matches his chiseled facial features really well. And there's also his chest….. Wait, stop having weird thoughts about your co-worker Rain!'
Scratching his head, June looked back at Cambus, who was currently serving another customer, then back to Rain.
"Well, considering how Cambus just kicked me out, I guess it's the same for both of us."
Rain, regained her composure last second before June could catch onto her… thoughts, smiled in an attempt to further mask it.
"Then… wanna take a walk with me downtown, in the meantime? Considering how we both have nothing to do."
June went silent for a second before shrugging his shoulders.
"Very well then, I've got nothing better to do here."
A small smile could be seen on the young woman's delicate face as she excitedly pointed over her shoulder.
"Alright, let's head over in that direction! If I remember correctly, there should be some fun activities to do there."
With that, the two shadows began to walked over for the direction that Rain had just pointed to. After a short while, June asked in a curious tone.
"You come to this festival a lot, Rain?"
The Princess of Shadows chuckled before replying.
"Well, yeah! I used to come to this festival every year with my family. Though this year, for some reason, it started much sooner than before."
An index finger rested upon her chin as she pondered herself for a while before asking the Corsair.
"You haven't been to this festival much, June? I thought you said that you were born in NQSC?"
June signed.
"I went to this festival a few times when I was a kid, though shortly after my parents died, I mainly lived with my late grandfather overseas."
"- I see. Also, who was that ginger guy with you?"
The blue eyed shadow let out a small chuckle.
"Oh, you mean Cambus? He's an old acquaintance of mine from the Antarctic campaign. Don't let his cheerful demeanor fool you, among all the irregulars I've encountered, he's one of the most cunning personnel."
Rain's eyes widened upon hearing that the ginger-haired man from before was one of the irregulars. Although she doesn't fully understand the term, she had a brief idea of who they were from her Kim and Luster.
"Wait, what? Then what's he doing here, operating a Hot chocolate stall? Actually, why were you even there with him?"
June scratched his neck before replying to the Princess.
"Well, the Antarctic campaign… took something away from the guy. Which gets worse every winter, so to take his mind off things, he decided to start selling Hot chocolate. Though this year it seems that the traffic would be more busier than usual, so he reached out to me for help."
Rain went silent for a moment as she took a sip from her drink.
"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that. Actually, June?"
She gazed back at the man beside her with a gentle smile, as she tapped his shoulder.
"You know, despite your cold reputation among the Shadow Clan, you're actually pretty kind. Just try smiling more!"
With that, she grabbed his sleeves and started to hop over to the direction of the crowd, dragging June along with her.
Unknowingly to Rain, her companion was left stunned for a second, as a tint of rose crept up on his neck.