Kaia the Argent Wing

"Okay, I think I've calmed down," April said sheepishly as she returned to the room with the schoolbag. "I'm really sorry about kissing you. I mean, it was nice don't get me wrong… but I'm not really interested in you like that. Romantically—I mean. You're hot as fuck and if it weren't going to cause all sorts of problems I'd be so down to bang but—"

"April," I laughed, waving for her to sit down. She was so goofy.

I could still feel her lips on mine though, and… I was very confused. It was like the kiss had broken a barrier in my mind, and now I was looking at her with… potential? She was really nice, really kind, but also intelligent as heck and she'd already gone to bat for me multiple times. The way she moved, too—Just so strong and sure, but gentle…

April glanced back and forth between the armchair she'd flopped into before and the sofa where she'd kissed me. She chose the sofa, but shooed me back a bit in the process.

"I'm really sorry," she said after a moment of staring down at the bag. "I don't want you to get the wrong idea. You—Silver you, I mean—are pretty much exactly my type. Tall strong femmes are my biggest weakness and… I got carried away. Plus, it's sort of difficult to reconcile that the person I've been working and bonding with at the workshop is the same person beside me."

The little spark of a crush that was beginning to form in my chest began to fizzle out, but I nodded along with her despite… my brief unvoiced hopes.

"Couple that with how I see one half of you as a guy still, plus the age difference…" she shook her head. "So yeah. Sorry…"

"It's okay," I murmured. "I understand."

She nodded once, as if to herself, then blew out a long whistling breath. Her usual confident smile returned—a little battered but still as bright as ever—and she opened the bag.

"Anyway… here," she said, and pulled out… an axe? It had a smaller blade than, say, a wood chopping axe, but with a long, hefty spike out the back. "I know it's a little on the nose for a lesbian to give the girl she just kissed a hand-crafted axe… but it's yours."

I took it out of her hands and turned it over, inspecting it. It was obviously made of squiron—the metal from those feral monsters had a subtle red tint to it. The weight was nice—lots of heft—and the spike was sharp as heck. The handle uh… it could use a little work. There was an edge that jutted into the joint between my thumb and forefinger that was annoying. Still, the metalwork was very good.

"Thanks, April," I said, chopping the air with it. "This is perfect."

“You’re welcome,” she said proudly. “I admit the handle is a little rough… but the axe head is as good as I can manage with the tools we have. I cast a rough billet, then worked it, sharpened it, and tempered it all myself. Folding the metal around to make the hole for the handle was a bitch, let me tell you.”

“I can already tell it’s going to be a beast. I’ll sand the handle down with my tools if it gives me trouble.”

“Right,” she said, staring at me, eyes trailing lines over my face. “Right. Yeah.”

Out of concern I almost reached out and touched her again, but that was probably a bad idea. Instead, I asked, “You okay?”

“Yeah,” she said, then sighed and slumped back into the sofa.

“No. I think… I think I need to go.” She said, and stood up suddenly.

Oh no. Oh no. I knew exactly where this would end up. Shit. What should I do? If she left and ruminated on the kiss and all that crap, it would mean the death of our friendship as it was now.

Thinking fast, I flipped my class inside out and stood at the same time. April, seeing my whole body shine with silver light then shrink and change, gasped in surprise.

Once I was Kai again, I grabbed her in a hug and began to speak straight from my scared little heart. “Please don’t let things get weird in your head. Don’t. I need you, I need my workshop buddy and the only person who knows my secret. I just… it was a fun, silly little kiss, okay? No reason to think any further.”

She was stock still for several seconds, then groaned and returned the hug. “Yeah. Okay. I think I need you, too. All my friends are dead or so far away that they may as well be. I moved to this town to get away from the twisted web of relationships that the queer scene was becoming in my hometown, so I’m completely on my own. I'm scared, and I think I'm touch starved.”

“Right,” I said, stepping back to give her space again. “We’re buddies. We got each other’s back.”

A lopsided grin tugged at her lips, and she nodded. “Yeah. Buddies.”

I gave her a little smirk. Then I transformed again, filling out the clothing that’d become baggy on me the moment I switched. “And as Silver too.”

Her cheeks flamed up again and she waved a hand at me like she was trying to shoo off a bad smell. “Oh my god. I swear. Fate just fuckin’ scooped my deepest darkest fantasies outta my head and turned them into Silver. This is so unfair."

"Hey, at least you got a taste before we decided to plant the flag in platonia," I winked.

"A taste?" She hissed, jabbing a finger at me. "You… are too powerful for your own good."

I giggled and hefted the axe again. "Yes I am. Now… I've spent long enough kissing people."

"People?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The hot firefighter," I shrugged, feeling myself flush again. That kiss was nice too. I felt so small and safe in his arms…

"Finn?" She squeaked indignantly. "I got

"Technically no. He kissed me as Kai," I shrugged nonchalantly. Then I gulped when I realised… I'd just accidentally outed Finn.

Her eyebrows rose slightly, and she chuckled, "Oh… okay. Wow."

Now I was feeling really embarrassed and… gosh, I needed to go do things. People could be dying and I was stuck in a YA drama novel.

"I'm going to head out." I said, walking past her in the direction of the front door. "The house should be warded against most small monsters and even people. Feel free to stick around."

"Oh," she said, then glanced thoughtfully upstairs. "Mind if I go and check out the hot water cylinder? If there's space, I could rig a fireplace and heat it… then we could have showers. Assuming it's gravity fed. Might need to—"

"Go ahead," I laughed, and left the room.

Crisis contained. Thank god. What a trip. Just randomly making out with my friend. No big deal. Although, I guess it made a strange sort of sense? I'd lowkey checked her out multiple times, after all. Whatever, best to move on like I said we should.

Outside was still cold and snowy, but wading through it all was a lot easier now that I was six and a half feet tall. I kept my axe at the ready as I turned a corner and began to approach the elementary school.

The two schools in the neighbourhood were built by the same non-profit entity if I remembered correctly. That was the reason for their proximity to one another, but since then they'd become their own things.

From memory, I recalled that the school layout had a walled entry courtyard in the corner of the street intersection, then buildings running down the side of both streets it bordered. Behind those buildings was a small grass field and play area. It wasn't the biggest place.

As I got closer to the school, I began to see the fog that others described. It covered the grounds and obscured all view into the place. The windows on the building that fronted the street were also opaque with the stuff. It was a pretty disturbing sight, made all the more eerie by how clean the line between the fog and the outside was.

While I was approaching, a shape I'd assumed as a dead body moved, and I froze. It resolved into a figure, too tall to be a Redcap. The figure stood before the foggy gates of the school for a second, checking something on their belt. Then they stepped into the fog and vanished. What the heck. Who was going in there alone?

I resumed my slog towards the school in confusion. I know I was planning  to go in alone too, but still. Very strange.

Approaching the gate was creepy as fuck. All detail inside the dark fog was lost as soon as five feet beyond the main gate's threshold. It was like the whole property had been consumed. Was that true? Was it actually just certain death or maybe worse?

I guess I could ask Cynath… but she'd been very distracted recently. Ah well. I guess I would just have to step inside and see what happened.