Whirlwind Begins Pt 1

Lately, I've been having the same dream.

I'm lying on my back, surrounded on all sides by a field of flowers, the petals white and luminescent.

They're… familiar, in a way I can't describe.

The sky above is pitch black. Like a starless night.

It is only dark here. And yet, when I close my eyes, there is light. A cold, encompassing light. A feeling best described as ethereal in nature flowing through my body.

It is all too familiar.

It is peaceful, too… in a way I can't properly articulate.

No. I can't rest. Not now. I have a purpose.

Get up. I can't stay here. I have to wake up.

I have to-

One Month Later

Tanya's Home

Tempest, Jura Tempest Federation

Am I... taller?

Tanya stared at herself in the mirror with a look of minor confusion.

She eyed the white sleeveless and black capri pants she'd been gifted from Rimuru's wardrobe when she first arrived. They were noticeably tighter around her shoulders, and the capris themselves reached only just after her knees rather than mid-calf like before.

The hell?

She twisted around, for the first time in a while taking the time to properly catalogue her appearance. Even her hair was longer, though with the tight ponytail she usually kept, it didn't make that much difference. Not compared to everything else, at least.

…Huh.

Well, it made sense now that it had been brought to her attention.

Her second reincarnation had done wonders for her physical health, the reconstruction of her physical body between worlds apparently having reversed the effects of years of malnutrition and poor diet that were characteristic of a soldier constantly on the frontlines. Furthermore, Tanya had spent the past few months taking in three tasty and filling meals a day, plus snacks whenever she wanted thanks to Shuna's propensity for making extra food.

It stands to reason that she would grow, what with her hitting the peak of her second life's teenage years, her especially active lifestyle – the product of patrols, Skill and magic practice, training with Hakurou, and more recently, training with Rimuru – and an overall less stressful, much healthier environment. It would honestly make less sense for her to have not grown any.

And naturally, since the clothes she'd borrowed clothes from Rimuru were made for Rimuru, a person whose human form was technically genderless (and to be honest, surprisingly small), it also tracked that his clothes were simply not sewn with the intention fitting the her form. Or at the very least, not above a certain height and size.

Milim, who was thousands of years old and unlikely to grow until at least a thousand more had passed, was likely an exception. Tanya, it appeared, was not. Not anymore, at least.

The whole idea was just novel as all hell, given that she was so used to being the shortest person in the room at any given time. But then again, she was... well, year-wise it'd been about... then she'd died again, so her physical body was around... 16?

No, 17, if she included her time in this world.

Fuck, she'd really been fighting for a long time, hadn't she? She rubbed the dark circles under her eyes absentmindedly.

Yeah, she was probably due for a growth spurt.

I need to run by the textile shop, then. Shuna should be in today.

Tanya glanced over at Mary's room, the door left ajar and the sound of muted pained groans escaping every so often.

She needs some too, I imagine.

For a moment, Tanya considered being nice. Sue had been working her ass off as of late, the past month of training with Hakurou already showing dividends in the other girl's overall connection to her mana.

She wouldn't be flying anytime soon – in truth, Tanya didn't know if Mary would ever fly again. Flight seemed like a much more exclusive type of skill or magic in this world compared to their last – but her physical abilities had all rapidly increased in scope. Nowhere near the level she'd been previously, but progress was still progress, of course.

Her skills with the blade… still left a lot to be desired. But that was fine. It had only been a month after all. Wasn't it George Washington that had spent 5 of 6 hours sharpening his axe? The grindstone was a laborious process, and not one easily rushed without imperfection.

Still, she couldn't help but remember her battalion-

Tanya grimaced.

Her former battalion, the 203rd, and how they'd reached near elite levels in a mere month. Truly a talented, hard-headed bunch.

Then again, she was willing to admit she'd rushed their training a bit in her overzealousness. The desire to produce magically powerful meat shields combined with over usage of the cursed Type 95 had pushed her to push them, and in turn that frenzied energy of hers had found itself bleeding into the 203rd.

No matter how fond she had grown of those war maniacs, the fact remained that she was actively trying to avoid war and the fervor it inspired. The 203rd was a mirror of the White Silver and the Ace of Aces that she had previously been. Or rather, they mirrored the mask she had worn to remain sane and alive in the midst of a magic-enhanced World War.

-=-

"...the mask she had worn..."

Art by (@tanjaded)

-=-

The White Silver, Argent, Devil of the Rhine, Ace of Aces and whatever the hell other titles she had accumulated… they were dead now.

And it must be said that the fact that her 203rd experiment had turned out well enough – relatively speaking – was an exception, not the rule. She wouldn't be making the same mistakes again.

Sue could take whatever time she needed to be honed into an appropriate resource. Well, not too much time, but she was progressing enough that Tanya was sure time would not be an issue.

So, to reiterate her question: how should she approach this?

Tanya made her way across the living room, stepping inside to open doorframe and leaning against it.

I could be nicer than usual. She's been working hard, which is worth something, I suppose.

She raised an eyebrow at the sight inside.

Mary was sprawled out on the floor in the middle of her room, her white tank top soaked clean through and littered with spots of mud.

Wow, she looks like shit. Did she not stop by the baths before coming back? It doesn't smell in here.

Tanya tilted her head.

Hm, I don't want her to break. That would be counterproductive to my goal. But I don't want to be too nice. For both logical and personal reasons. She'd probably think I'm planning something anyway.

She nodded to herself.

I'll go with a bit of the old tough love, then. It worked for the 203rd, at least.

"You know, you really do look like shit."

Mary growled weakly into the floorboards, turning slightly to give Tanya the stink eye.

"I'd flip you off if I could feel my arms. Eat shit and die."

"Yes, fuck you too." Tanya let out an amused huff. "What, can't handle a little exercise?"

"A little-" Mary made to get up, before swiftly abandoning the effort. "Hakurou Sensei's training is absolute hell. Don't belittle my efforts, asshole."

"Oh, I'm not belittling anything. You're certainly trying, I'll give you that." She agreed far too easily for Mary's liking. "Congratulations on making it a month. How do you feel, having accomplished so very much?"

"I feel like I'm going to throttle you when I'm finally able to get up."

"That's the spirit." Tanya clapped once, quite mockingly, "On a more serious note, you shouldn't be so sore. Do you stretch properly? Or have you not been using the onsen?"

"Sensei always makes sure we stretch properly before training." Mary turned her face back down. "And I don't know what an onsen is. Why do you always say such randomly weird things all the time?"

She mumbled the last few words, her face seeming to sink into the floorboards.

Tanya blinked.

Did I not tell her…? Whoops. I can see that I have made a minor error.

"Ah. I believe I understand the problem now."

Well, we'll just call it collateral for the years of bullshit she put me through. Equivalent exchange, or something like that. I don't know, I was never a One Piece fan.

Mary made what Tanya interpreted to be a questioning noise. Or, it was another angry huff. She'd go with her first interpretation, her mind elsewhere.

Er, was it from One Piece? No, never mind. I'll just ask Rimuru later.

"I'll explain later. See, I need to visit the textile shop to update my wardrobe. And you're coming with. "

Tanya wandered inside the room, stepping over Mary's prone form and looking inside her dresser. Then, she glanced out the room's lone window, noting the approximate time.

"I'll give you, let's say, 20 minutes to gather yourself up into not-a-puddle-of-human-exhaustion, change, and meet me outside."

She stepped over Mary again, ignoring the other's weak attempt at grabbing her ankle, and made her way outside the room.

"Ciao." She shut the door.

It was silent for a moment.

"Fucker…"

Mary hissed quietly, before slowly starting to move.

-=-

"Ah, good morning Shuna."

"Good morning!" Shuna turned her way, her expression quickly shifting to one of bemusement. "Sorry, why is, well."

She gestured.

"Oh, you mean her?" Tanya glanced up and to the side, where she had a resigned Mary in a single shoulder carry. "She's being belligerent today, but she also needs new clothes. As do I, which is the reason I'm here."

She walked over to the textile shop's resting corner, unceremoniously tossing Mary onto the couch. Mary faceplanted with a soft "oof".

Tanya wiped her hands and her pants and turned around.

"Right! See, I noticed this morning that my clothes fit tighter and shorter than they used to."

Shuna nodded, making an executive decision to ignore Mary's pained groans.

"Oh! I see, I see." She gave Tanya a once over. "You are taller, I can tell. About… hm, around my height, I think. So, I'll look around the pre-made clothes in sizes…"

The pink haired Kijin went over to the clothes racks, mumbling guessed estimations and debating colors. Tanya nodded along, not really listening other than to give input like 'I'm not a fan of orange, personally' and 'no skirts, no dresses, and no, I won't reconsider it' among other things.

Neither noticed Mary's tired gaze tracking their every move.

It's so…human. Like the demonic beast doesn't exist anymore. Her mind flashed back to Tanya's fight against Milim. No, it's more accurate to say it's sleeping. She really is a different person. Or, well, I guess I just never really knew her.

Mary shifted into a sitting position, her muscles protesting the whole way.

I can't really talk about other people acting like beasts anyway. Can I?

Her eyes narrowed.

She's still an asshole though. I would have rather crawled here then be carried like a sack of potatoes, yet she "doesn't want to waste her own precious time, no matter how funny it would be" or whatever.

Mary tuned back into the ongoing conversation. She blinked.

That was fast.

"…you'd be surprised how much colder it is just a few hundred meters up. Even in summer." Degurechaff said, arms extended straight outwards. Shuna let out a hum of acknowledgment, moving to get a better angle with her measuring tape.

"You'll need something warm then. Did you want it as a one-piece garment like your old flying outfit?" Shuna moved on, reaching around Degurechaff's waist with her measuring tape. "Reach your arms up a bit more, please."

"Right."

When'd she unbutton her shirt? Mary mentally shook her head. Her eyes briefly caught on the blonde woman's midriff, her black sleeveless undershirt riding up slightly. Tch. Show some more decency, woman.

Degurechaff shook her head negatively.

"And no, thank you. To the one-piece. I want to add more protective pieces to this. Leather bracers and maybe greaves. A multi piece outfit should allow more flexibility for that sort of thing."

Shuna nodded, crouching down and smoothing back the black fabric to measure the length of Degurechaff's leg. "That's perfectly understandable. Do you have any preference on color?"

"Black, maybe. Dark green? My flight suit was this muted dark blue color, but I wore that because I had too." She shrugged. "I prefer green, honestly."

"Black on bottom and dark green on top, then." Shuna stood, having gotten what she needed. "Any other preferences?"

Degurechaff seemed to think it over for a moment, before shaking her head.

"I'll trust your judgement as an experienced seamstress. All I'll say is that it should use fasteners rather than just being a fold over garment. Less likely to slip mid-flight or fight, I'd imagine." She snapped her fingers. "Right, and those buttons would need reinforced stitching and holes as well."

"Inner buttons would work. Like Lord Rimuru's blue overcoat." Shuna paused in rolling up her measuring tape, "Actually, I can use his overcoat as a base and have Garm modify it for your preferences and new sizes. If you're okay with that."

"That would be more efficient, wouldn't it? I'm-" Tanya yawned, cutting herself off "-completely fine with that. I should be able to fit armor pieces over the forearms still. Right?"

Shuna nodded in confirmation, a small frown crossing her face.

"Then it's perfect." Degurechaff started buttoning her shirt up, "Let's go with that. All that's left after that is to pick up some commissioned items from Kurobe and Kaijin."

She finished buttoning her shirt, moving to adjust her collar. Before she could, Shuna quickly reached up and adjusted it for her.

Degurechaff held her hand up for a moment, before dropping them. She raised an eyebrow.

"I can fix that myself, you know."

"It's never wrong to accept help, even if it's unneeded." Shuna finished her adjustment, smoothing the collar out and brushing nonexistent dust off of the other woman's shoulders. "That being said, I wonder how much trouble you're expecting in the future? Two months of near constant work for Tempest's sake, including fighting face to face with a Demon Lord. I think it's alright for you to take a step back and let others work for a bit, if you're that worried."

"It's not so much that I expect trouble. I just know." Degurechaff said quietly, "Somehow, trouble always seems to find me, no matter who or what is involved. I've found it best to be diligent, to mitigate the damage when it inevitably comes."

Shuna watched her closely as she spoke, expression contemplative.

"…Have you been getting enough sleep?" She reached a hand up, tracing her fingers along the upper edge of Degurechaff's cheekbone. "You have bags under your eyes."

"I haven't had a consistent sleep schedule in years, so I'm not sure." She replied evasively,

"Tanya." Shuna pulled her hand back, shooting the other woman an unamused look.

Mary suppressed a wince at the tone, though she wasn't even involved in the conversation.

"Huh." Degurechaff stared at her for a moment, before letting out a huff of amusement, "You remind me of Visha."

Visha? Mary blinked, sitting up a little straighter. That's somewhat familiar.

Shuna tilted her head. Degurechaff took that as her cue to continue.

"Right. Visha was my adjutant and flight partner for several years. Up until my, ah," She glanced Mary's way. "passing on, we'll say."

Mary winced, avoiding eye contact.

"She was also the closest thing I had to, as childish as it sounds, a 'best friend'. I'd like to think we were rather close." Degurechaff's face bore an expression Mary could never have imagined on the other woman. A smile, half fond and half wistful. And shoulders that once again seemed heavier than the world. "Close enough to… well, in any case, she'd scold me for overworking or not getting enough sleep, much the same way."