Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Something Better

Verity

Vessel turned to face me, their blue-white eyes sparking with a sudden intensity. They wore a humanoid form molded out of sand. Something shifted underneath. Whatever it was caused a constant cycle of cracks forming that sand shifted to fill in. I felt like I was watching a storm cloud try to make do with other materials.

I knew the look in their eyes. I had worn it well just days ago. Vessel approached me with violence in their heart.

Why then did it feel like an echo from another life? Phantom echoes of once familiar pains now felt distant and numb.

The moment passed and with it the feelings of pain slipped away.

It was okay.

I was okay.

Vessel was not.

Oh Vessel. I wish I could have stayed. Lifted you into my arms and told you everything would be okay.

But I see now that you're not ready to hear those words.

There was no time for reason. Not when faced with a wounded soul carrying a heart of Storms.

 

A bolt of energy lanced through their outstretched arm and crackled at the fingertips. Their hand clenched into a fist. Sand swirled to close any gaps the lightning made. Despite the constant struggle to maintain their form, Vessel lunged for me all the same.

I cast aside a black hairband to let down hair of vaporous clouds. The mist grew to fill the room before sweeping me gracefully and casually off my feet. There was something to be said about choosing a body filled mostly with water. Not everything that reminded me of being a Storm felt wrong. There was a lot I could do to alter and redistribute the weight. Flying still felt so very very right. Shifting clouds carried me up beyond Vessel's reach before depositing me gently atop a nearby desk. I picked one at the front and away from the other students.

My attacker reached up and out in vain. Coarse hands tried desperately to grasp at water that softened, warped, and deformed Vessel's fingers before leaving them empty handed. Their hand needed a moment to shift and reform using material drawn from elsewhere.

Vessel could not wield the vapor I blanketed myself in. Not once did they cry my name aloud or send lightning in my direction. Instead it remained bottled up. Why imprison it so? Surely they would not cling to what they could not wield. Something was stirring beneath the layers of sand, but Vessel seemed slow to call upon it.

I began to thicken the mist into more of an obscuring fog. If nothing else the exposure might give Vessel more reasons to pause and reform. They seemed set on withdrawing any saturated sand in favor of maintaining a dry exterior layer. Letting down my hair had an added benefit of limiting visibility. This wouldn't slow Vessel, but I hoped it would encourage the students to remain passive. My intent was to limit the damage. I could always withdraw the cloud to me if it became more of a risk.

Vessel spun awkwardly on their heels before finally pushing with the explosive force only a thundercloud could muster. The strain of the maneuver caused their legs of sand to break off at the knees. What remained was propelled towards me. Vessel collided a with desk adjacent to mine before resuming their assault with impunity. Sand rapidly redistributed to regrow the legs during the leap between their desk and mine.

It hurt me to see what kind of harm Vessel was willing to endure if it meant gaining an edge. I watched vapor and heat puff from the open wounds in Vessel's legs, confirming my suspicions. Did they not understand how little they had to work with?

"Vessel?" Asked the student with colorless eyes and orange ears fitting the folk tale description of a fox.  "Give me something here. What's going on? I cannot help if you are the aggressor." A spared glance confirmed the presence of a well groomed tail poking out from layered clothes she wrapped herself in.

"She's the one that took everything we had, everything we were, and threw it all away!" As if to punctuate the point, Vessel lifted and hurled two desks my way. Only one demanded I make the effort to drop into the fog's embrace, leaving the desk to soar overhead. I could not afford to underestimate the strength of Vessel's deteriorating body. "She left me broken and alone on the beach!"

It was true. Vessel was still hurting. There was nothing I could say to change what I did to them. This violence born out of grief came with a blindfold. I knew more now and was confident I could help. Barring that, I could attempt to stop Vessel from hurting themselves out of ignorance. If they pushed past after that, well, we'd figure it out together.

The buzzing swarm of insects that had been content to play keep away from the fog was next to speak. "She reminds me of that storm that rolled in a few nights ago."

Oh if everyone here only knew the depths behind those words. Vessel most of all. I could not just cast aside the parts of me I loathed. Those parts of me had to wash ashore somewhere. It was little wonder they grew legs and clung to a loathing of me. The most unwanted aspects of me was all I gave them to work with.

This wasn't going well. The other students seemed inclined to take Vessel's side. I needed to sway them. If they thought me worthy of harming, I had to make peace with the possibility that I might have to give up something of myself here. I tried to swallow those thoughts.

This wasn't about me. "Vessel. I hear you. But please, this isn't worth destroying yourself over."

"You didn't ask before dashing us against the rocks!" I flinched as if they managed to strike me. The Storm inside of Vessel must have been reacting to their anger. With their eyes alight, their shoulder exploded with heat. Vessel leaned into the reaction, pressing against desk at just the right moment to send it exploding across the room. "Why should I listen to you now?"

This wasn't something I could dodge. My hair was so much lighter and quicker than my feet. I focused my intent and drew vaporous hair close. An entire room's worth of vapor condensed to catch the incoming projectile. My clothes, flesh, and the thoughts Vessel conjured up of that night all exploded to fill my entire being with pain.

Vessel was left with their own gaping wound to nurse and wouldn't be capitalizing on my vulnerability. I had time to think and stagger back to my feet.

"I didn't know dashing myself against the rocks would create you! You're a part of me Vessel!" I brushed what remained of the desk aside before looking down to examine the damage. I'd only had this chest for a few days. Its softness was now marred by cuts bleeding vapor that severed from my control. I plucked out splintered bits of wood and was left to watch the pale skin bruise. "You're a small and unstable part of me Vessel. I'm worried you'll harm yourself beyond repair."

Vessel finished recovering and seemed intent on continuing the fight.

"She's right." A voice cut in. Its fox-featured owner stepped in now that there was no fog hiding what had happened. "Sorry Vessel. I can't allow this to continue."

"Out of my way Amari!"

Amari spared a moment to flash me a smile. The two collided and went tumbling to the ground. All the sand and fur left in their wake was cause for alarm. Every blow exchanged lessened everyone involved. This had to stop.

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"Vessel. Is what this lady saying true?" A worried plea from the swarm of bugs. 

Sand slipped from Vessel's control as they pried themselves away from Amari. "I woke up broken and deteriorating. Gone was my ability to command water and heat." Puffs of vapor and heated air escaped before the gaps in their body swirled shut. When Vessel rose to their full height, they stood a whole head shorter than before. "A majestic storm no longer. I have my other half to thank for that."

Amari seemed to be intact enough. When she rose, she seemed more concerned with making sure her tail and clothes no less worse for wear.

"What are you trying to accomplish here?" I asked.

"I'm taking back what was stolen from me."

"Vessel." Bugs again, this time accompanied by an agitated buzzing.

"WHAT?" Vessel bellowed with a thunderous cry. Windows and desks rattled in place.

"You can't." The bugs had to take a moment to collect themselves. "I mean. I don't think that's possible." 

My hair quivered, an anticipation by the vapor in the air that marked a thunderous storm reaching its peak.

Vessel reached for another desk. This time it took effort and concentration to lift it overhead. Large cracks split along Vessel's back, allowing a stray lightning bolt to escape and strike a desk.

Vessel was going to explode again. I suspected they were trying to time it with their toss. Something in me was afraid this next outburst would have far less control.

I panicked. "Vessel. No!" I couldn't let anyone else get hurt. This was my mess. Into the air I flew, with no real plan. I didn't want to hurt Vessel, but I couldn't let Vessel hurt anyone else.

No. I had a plan, a bad one.

I landed on the desk mere moments before Vessel could send it flying. "I'm sorry."

Unable to support the added weight, the desk and I fell from Vessel's arms, one of which snapped at the shoulder. The wound exploded with a thunderous roar that sent me and my perception of the world spinning.

 

I hope you survive this, truly.

 

I could only will the thoughts. There was no telling if the thoughts had become words. I ached everywhere, but the state of my body was up in the air. I'd known these sensations well too, only after dashing against some rocks and slipping out of consciousness.

"Vessel! Stop!" The meek swarm of bugs found her voice. Or maybe she'd been speaking a while, and I was just now tuning back into what was happening around me.

"Shut up, Whisper! And you.  I won't ask you again. Stand aside Amari." 

Whisper and Amari were both defending me. If I survived this, a part of me wanted to kiss them.

"If you can't control the elements of storm inside you, it means they're not yours anymore."

The voices were growing distant and getting harder to make out. I could no longer make out one voice from another.

"What does that even-"

I wondered if I'd get to dream again.

"It means you can't take anything from her even if you wanted to! Stop this. You're hurting yourself for nothing!"

If this was all I got, I would like to thank the lady of dreams for the opportunity to really live. Even if it was only for a few days, Vessel was hopefully in good hands.

I felt a pair of hands on my head. They were not Vessel's. The hands were soft and delicate as they lifted me from whatever position I had landed in.

My vision could barely make out a figure stepping through a fog shrouded doorway across the room. A familiar tail of fur gave her away.

"You can rest now Verity. We'll take it from here." A voice, quiet and gentle, whispered sweet assurances to me. "It's okay. You're safe. My sister brought help."

Whoever it was had called me by name.

My name. I could not describe the tender sensations that accompanied me into unconsciousness.

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