What am I, a Freezer?
Ignis and Stella walk through out of the forest, into the clearing towards the small cave entrance. Ignis carrying two of the Bull's legs in tow, "So, are you carrying those along for a specific reason?" Stella finally asks, after glancing at him for the 100th time.
Ignis look's over at her, "Oh, the legs?" He smile's hefting them to chest height, "I figured we could have steak, and what we can't eat, you should be able to encase in Ice. If not we can try to dry them..." He trails off, seeing her giving him a weird look.
"So... you want me, to freeze one of those?" Stella asks slowly, as she stop's walking.
"Well, it'd secure us food for the next few days... Is there a problem with that?" Ignis slowly ask's as he stops to look at her over his shoulder.
The sound of air rushing into Stellas lungs draws his attention, as a wry smile crosses his face, Stella looks up at him, her fists clenched by her sides. "First you go off into the forest, leaving me to practice alone." She begins speaking while slowly walking towards him, "Then you get hurt in said fight, and lie about having been hurt." She looks up at him, poking a sharp finger into his chest, "Then you...you see me like that..." She huff's for a few second's before continuing, "We should be fighting like a team, we need to help each other, but you've got some battle complex, or just seem to think I don't want to fight with you!"
Ignis swallow's, opening his mouth, " I-
"I'm not done yet!" Stella say's loudly, "Or worse yet, you think I shouldn't fight, and want me to stay away from fighting, so I stay safe! I'm awakened just like you, I might not have known as much about my powers, or how to be a hunter, like you do. But I'm trying to learn, I want to help, You're all I have in this shitty cave. The last thing I want...Is to rely on you and loose you like...like..." Stella's voice trembles as she tries to control her breathing.
The wry smile that had slowly faded, now replaces itself with a determined look. The sound of the two leg's hit the ground, and Ignis grab's Stella's hand's. Squeezing them lightly, "I'm sorry I worried you, and I wasn't planning on fighting anything on my own, let along excluding you. I saw that bull alone in the forest, and saw an opportunity to see how they act in a fight. I'm trying to help you learn all that I can while keeping us fed, and exploring the area as much as possible. I'm not going anywhere, Stella." Ignis patiently waits for her to look up at him, a gentle smile on his face.
Stella slowly look's up at him, her wet eyes, slightly red meet his own. Ignis reaches out brushing the tears from her face with the pad of his thumb, before softly kissing her eyes that had fluttered closed. "I'm sorry if it seemed like I was trying to keep you away from fighting, and maybe I was...but I'll stop doing that, okay?" Ignis smile's at her flushed cheek's, "and I don't want anything to happen to you either. About me getting hurt, I can heal myself so long as I have Mana, so don't be worried. I'm really not hurt anymore."
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Ignis and Stella sit in the cave, on piles of the grass from outside the cave in place of cushions. The crackling and sizzle of the meat filling the surrounding, as the aroma of the meat fills the area. Ignis looks up at Stella, "Do you think you can give freezing over the leftover meat a try?"
Stella looks at him quietly, her face still slightly red, "W-What am I, a Freezer?"
Ignis presses his lips together, struggling to keep a straight face, eventually giving up as he starts laughing. "Then that makes me a fire started, and pan huh?"
"You're the worst," she grumbles dragging her feet over to the meat, she reaches out a hand. Staring at the meat they'd cut from the leg intently, as she imagines ice forming around it. After a while Ice slowly creeps around the meat in a small layer, before growing larger.
"That should be plenty, let's hope that keeps it cool, then we can have more. Otherwise we'll have to hunt more of those," Ignis says with a smile, "Now that you have your armor, and our mana is full, we should go try and find some more strays."
"Before that, shouldn't we make a plan?" Stella looks over at him incredulously.
"Huh, why would we do that? I mean I though what we did last time would work, I'll distract them while you use your ranged attacks?" Ignis tilts his head a bit, not seeing her point.
"W-Well, but then it's just you in danger!" Stella protest's, her eyebrows scrunched up.
"I might not be that higher of a level then you, but I'm still higher level. Plus I know how they move, so at least for the first one. Not to mention we don't know how sturdy your armor is." Ignis say's casually, starting towards the exit.
Stella chews her lip for a bit before nodding, "I guess that's true, I'm only level 2 after all... It should be good practice for my aim anyways!" She says as a smile grows on her face while they walk towards the forest.
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As the duo moves through the forest slowly, Ignis notes the lack of diversity on this level. Having traveled quite far, in the larger cavern, and finding mostly brush and trees. Occasionally their view crosses paths with 2-3 of the Bull like monsters.
"Are the Bulls the only thing on this level...?" Ignis ponders quietly to himself, attracting a look from Stella, accompanied by a shrug.
"I don't know, but I think we should pick one of the groups of 2-3 bulls we spotted, otherwise we should just head back and rest for the day."
Ignis stops walking, "Yeah, you're right, night should be falling soon." He smiles as they return to the cave.
As they cross the clearing to the cave entrance, the vibrant red and yellow mushroom's slowly dim, as the purple mushroom's growing in the rocky crevice's slowly start to brighten. Casting the forest in a dim purple glow.
Ignis whose following behind Stella, notices her silver hair start to gleam in a purplish hue. He swallows' as his eyes linger on her long flowing hair, unable to pull his eyes away from her figure that seems to glow in the dim light. "Beautiful," he mutter's under his breath.
Stella twist's around to look at him, coming to a stop, "Did you say something?" She asks, the silence around them filled by her voice.
Ignis scratches the back of his head, "Oh, it's just, your hair's a really pretty color under the lights..." He says shyly, "Sorry, you can forget I said anything..." He say's when he doesn't receive a reply.
"No, I don't think I will," Stella say's spinning around and continuing to walk into the cave ahead of him, leaving him standing there stumped.
"ah, so is she weirded out or...?" Ignis mumbles in confusion, shrugging after pondering it for a time he walks into the cave entrance, a deeper cool on this floor compared to the last one.
Walking in he see's Stella sitting by the fire, hugging her knees to her chest. Walking over he pulls some more broken branches over and leaves to add to the fire, the cave lights up in the dancing flames. Stella sits still, watching him work over the fire, his tanned skin gleaming in the fire light. "T-Thank you, for earlier..." She blurts out suddenly, causing him to pause his movements.
Ignis meets her eyes over the fire, with a slight smile, "It's nothing much, I just though it looked pretty. You were practically glowing, after all."
Stella tilts her head to hide it behind her arms and leg's, "Y-you're glowing right now too..." She mumbles.
Ignis blinks a few times, before looking down at his arms and exposed torso, having lost his clothing when he was forced to transform. "I-I guess I am, it's funny, you know. I've always loved the way fire dances, the way it has a life of it's own. Guess I was meant to have an affinity for it, huh?"
Stella look's up, a slight smile on her face, "True enough, I mean I grew up listening to stories about the sun and the moon. All different kind's, though my family always started them out as people that grew power's and chose to help people. The sun brought light into our lives, made it easier to walk and work through the day, while the moon that comes out at night to remind us to rest. Though they did always say they were close, but their choice brought them ever so far apart." As Stella roughly summarizes the stories she was told, her head tilts upwards as if she were looking through the earth surrounding them at the sky. A far-away look in her eyes, with a small, yet shining smile in the dim light of the cave.
Ignis who was stirring the fire, find himself entranced in the look on her face once again. A small smile plays on his lips, blinking he eventually places the stick back on the ground. "You should get some rest, Stella." He say's once she returns from her thoughts, he smiles at her. "Good night, Stella."