The Silver Lining Of The Wretched Cloud (2)

"Nick, is everything okay? You've been acting weird since Tyrion came to the table." Sakura says as she taps me on the shoulder.

"I'm just worried. We aren't strong enough to stand alone, yet someone may take us as an easy target."

"I think everything is going to be fine," Sakura says with a smile.

"I hope you're right, but I need to be prepared for the possibility that you're wrong."

"Okay... Are we still going to make clothing for Woohee?"

"Of course. Let's head to the tailor." We arrive at the shop shortly after.

"Here for more gloves?" My suspicion rises as the tailor correctly guesses the reason for our visit.

"Yes!" Sakura jumps up in excitement at her comment.

"That's great. I've got a new selection here." She leads us to the wall on the left side, where a bunch of gloves has been laid out.

"Is this everything?" There's clearly a little disappointment in her voice when she asks.

"Yes. That's all we have right now. We make more as the stock goes down, so please return later if you don't find anything." The shop owner bows slightly as if to apologize. She has a very polite smile on her face.

"Thank you." Sakura is already digging through the stack of gloves before the tailor has even finished speaking.

"Let me know if you need anything." The tailor leaves us to figure out what we want. I've basically decided that I'll leave everything to Sakura. She quickly picks out ten pairs of gloves and leaves the mess for Josh to clean up. I follow her to the counter and pay for the apparel before exiting the store.

"I've got some great ideas for what I want to make."

"Do you want to make all of them this time?"

"Yes!"

"That's fine. Let's all head home for today; just make sure to show up early tomorrow. I don't want to know what Jezabel will do to us if we're late."

"Okay." I walk back to my house after leaving the tailoring to Sakura. I find a book in our library regarding the basics of sewing, skimming it before training my Ironflesh skill. Draining all of my stamina by using the skill leaves me exhausted, and I fall asleep almost immediately.

"Faster!" Jezabel's voice cuts through the air. We all push ourselves to the brink. Winter is fast approaching, and the chill air digs into my lungs. The habits I developed last time are paying off, and she isn't focusing on punishing me.

"You're falling behind." Josh seems a little out of it today, so she's picking on him. He's wearing both the light and medium weight straps as well as two parachutes. He holds it together well for the first ten laps, but I can see he's at his limit. After crossing the finish line one more time, he collapses to the ground.

"Get up!"

"I... Can't," he gasps out words between haggard breaths.

"If you have enough energy to talk, then you have enough energy to run." Jezabel picks him up with one hand and shoves him toward the tree. The moment's respite gives him enough to run one more lap, but he collapses again after returning. "What the hell did I just say?!"

"I... Can't... Breathe."

'Whomp!'

Jezabel kicks him in the side.

"How about now? Can you breathe now?" The shock of being hit causes him to sit up.

'Whomp!'

She kicks him again. I'm so tired I can barely think, but even then, I can feel a pit of rage boil in my gut. After taking the second hit, he stumbles to his feet and makes for the tree. It looks like his soul has left his body as I pass him.

'Whoosh!'

Sakura flies past me at an incredible pace. I don't know how, but she seems to have more energy now than when we started. She manages two more laps by the time Josh finishes.

"She's running laps around you. What the hell are you doing?!" Jezabel jeers.

Josh doesn't even say anything this time. He knows what's coming next. The boy crosses the finish line and doubles over as he vomits all over the ground. It's getting hard to watch, and I debate whether or not to intervene.

'Shing.'

Jezabel draws the blade at her side.

"Don't think you can keep getting away with a couple of kicks. I'm gonna start taking fingers if you don't run another lap." I'm halfway to the tree when I hear her threat and immediately turn to help him. I can't have one of my friends injured to that degree for any reason.

"Stop it!"

"Oh, looks like princess is a little angry." Blood drips from Sakura's balled fists where her fingernails have pierced her flesh. That horrible red glow has returned to her eyes, and she's baring her teeth. Her muscles are bulging, and she looks larger than usual. She's only standing a few feet away from Jezabel.

"I'll rip your face off if you lay another finger on him."

"Go ahead and try." Jezabel's lips rise in a cruel smile. The point of the sword moves to the back of Josh's neck. I'm still running at her, but I'm too far away to do anything.

"AHHHRHH!" Sakura bursts forward so fast that she leaves two small craters on the ground. Like lightning, she appears before Jezabel in an instant. Completely unfazed, the guild master sticks one hand out to grab her by the shirt.

"The god of wrath is a two-sided sponsor."

'Boom!'

Jezabel slams the flower girl to the ground so hard that blood flies from her mouth.

"Gaining strength at the cost of rationality will get you killed."

'Whoomp!'

A fist digs into Sakura's solar plexus. During the commotion, I finally reach Josh and rip off the weighted straps as fast as possible.

"We're not done yet. I never said to take those off." Jezabel turns to me and takes a step in our direction.

I have to do something. Josh is going to die at this rate.

I, more than anyone, know what Josh can take, and we're reaching that limit. Not knowing what else to do, I confront her. I'm so scared I can even put a sentence together. I pull my fists up to my face and take a stance. My knees are shaking so much from fear or exhaustion that I can barely stand.

"Is this the hill you're going to die on?"

"…"

"Good."

'Whoomp.'

A fist digs into my stomach this time. All the air is ripped from my lungs, and I collapse to the ground. I couldn't even see her coming. Before I'd even registered that she had moved, her strike had already landed. She made Sakura's attack look like it was moving in slow motion. The gravity of the power of this world dawns on me as I hack up blood. I gasp desperately, trying to catch my breath.

"This isn't a fucking game. The monsters in the forest are much less merciful than me." And with that, she walks back into the guild. I almost pass out from lack of oxygen but eventually manage to take a full breath. With my faculties somewhat restored, I take off my straps and walk to Sakura. She doesn't look severely injured, but the indentation caused by her skull hitting the ground is beginning to fill with tears.

"Sakura, Josh is okay. Everyone is okay."

"Shut the fuck up!" She hops to her feet, seething. She seems even more pissed off than she was earlier. "AHHHHHHH!!"

Her ear-splitting scream causes me to wince. She then runs over to the stone wall of the guild building and clenches her fists.

'Crack!'

She punches the wall as hard as she can.

'Crack, crack, crack!'

Okay. Maybe she just needs to get this out of her system.

'Crack, crack, crack, crack!'

My concern turns to horror as her blood splatters across the stone.

"Sakura, stop!"

'Crack, crack, crack, crack, crack!'

[Ohfuckohfuckohfuckohfuck!]