Lost Studies

Earlier that day… 

Vêlas sat on the small wooden bench with her Gunbai resting on her shoulder, the shade just covering her eyes from the late morning sun. In one hand she held a small book, not the book containing bountys, but a journal of her own writings. In the other, she was putting pencil to paper, carefully writing out words to a screen play of her own design. As she wrote she mumbled out the lines herself, a habit to ensure that what she was writing made sense when spoken aloud. 

“For my lady, your beauty holds no words I can attest. But a rogue such as I can only dream of knowing how lips, delicate as petals should ever feel. How to be locked in a daze with such hypnotic gaze, eyes shining silver like the sparkle of moonlight, I am unworthy of such…” She paused, looking at her work once again, her shoulders then slumped and she sighed. It sounded dumb. How was she supposed to know what a hypnotic gaze of romance looked like? It was one of her first attempts at a love story, but for someone who had never fallen in love, she could only imagine how such a feeling felt. It wasn’t very good of a writer to write things they had never experienced, but she just once, wanted to know what it was like to write a love story. They were such romantic tales, of heroes and villains, of tragedy and heartfelt emotion. She loved stories like that, but to write one herself was a task she couldn’t tackle. Was she being too florishy with her words? Was it too cliché? A rogue and a princess, destined to fall in love, yet never truly find happiness. Unhappiness… that was an emotion Vêlas knew all too well. 

She closed her journal, using her pencil to mark her place and then she set it down on the bench beside her. She looked up at the scene before her, it was a miracle that she had found such a quiet place in the busy market town. It seemed to be a little area of greenery, grass, trees and flowerbeds, a natural setting out of place in a land of stone walls and stone buildings and barren ground. In the stress that came from the days before counting the two she had ran into who were quite skilled, peace and quiet was what she needed. 

She stood up from her spot, Gunbai in hand to keep herself protected from the brightening spring sun. She was feeling a little hungry, it was almost lunchtime, so it was now good to return to the inn she was staying at. Walking away to the main street of the town, she didn’t notice the journal she had left behind… 

Present time… 

A look of terror filled Vêlas’s eyes. Where could it be?! Panic overtook her as she turned her bag inside out, frantically searching for the journal that wasn’t there.“Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?” It wasn’t like she hadn’t lost track of the thing before. But on her journey to madness, she had been over vigilant on not losing her journal. While it was okay to lose her journal when she was in her home in pandora, it was a small town and she hardly ever left the bookstore so it was always bound to be found by someone, she couldn’t lose it in such a big and wildly different place! The land was filled with thieves and rogues and anyone who could’ve taken her journal! 

She decided to calm down a bit, holding her now closed Gunbai tightly to her chest. Think, Vêlas, Think! She screamed internally at herself. When was the last time she had her journal? She had just come from the bookstore, she hadn’t even taken it out then. Before that, she had been wandering the city a bit before she had found the bookstore. And before that she had just eaten lunch at the inn… and before that she had just been writing it in that little park area she had found… 

Vêlas gasped aloud, she didn’t remember putting it back into her bag! She had left it on the bench, how forgetful could she be? Jumping up, she rushed through the streets of Gekidougakure, the evening marketplace suddenly filled with a crowd of people. As she dodged past passerby, she yelled out apologies of ‘Excuse me!’ and ‘I’m sorry!’. Weaving her way through, she finally found the small archway that led to the greenery of trees and flowerbeds. In the fading orange light, she spotted the bench that she had been at earlier that day. A moment of relief was all she could allow herself and she ran to it, her sundress and hair trailing behind her. 

But as she reached the bench, the girl stopped. Her hands once again, gripping her Gunbai to her chest. She blinked once, then twice, her eyes flicking back and forth to search for something that wasn’t there. It wasn’t there. 

Her journal wasn’t there. 

Before she realized it, her vision was getting blurry. watery tears began trailing down her cheeks. Where could it be? What was she supposed to do? How could she have lost it, her most precious treasure? How could she have been so careless? She was devastated. She hated herself for being so stupid. She couldn't have lost it, the gift form her mother. She could hear herself sniffing through the tears as she simply stood there and cried. 

Ma'to grumbled as she stormed out of the little store without the groceries she had been trying to get for herself and her big buddy bad home. But said big buddy had emptied out her wallet leaving the blue haired woman without a penny to her name on her. Which meant more importantly she didn't have any way to get a god damn drink legitimately. Of course that didn't stop her exactly as she made her way over to another store to get herself the drink she wanted. A little careful Singularity in the corner making a mess, and the store owners were so distracted that a fairly inconspicuous girl picking up a crate of bottles went completely unnoticed with how calmly she just walked away.

Half way down the street she was already tossing an empty bottle away and deciding what else to do with her time. She didn't wanna head home to Krogan yet, big bastard would just take her beer for himself. Plus he had her money! Lovable asshole could rot in whatever bar he was in for now. She slipped out of the crowds, found herself in a little garden, all to herself. "Sweet," She muttered to herself, planting herself down on a bench, only to feel she was sat on something. Looking down she found the little journal. "... Huh. What's this then?" She glanced about, smirking to herself as she found a balcony overhead to a building closed off from the front. "Perfect," She Biotic Charged her way up and got herself comfy in the little alcove with her second bottle of beer, getting herself in to a little light ready. It wasn't half bad.

Ma'to was oblivious to everything else until the sounds of crying below shook her from her stupor, and the 5th beer. As she clambered up she knocked two of the bottles off the ledge. "Hey what..." She called down before seeing the girl real upset. With a groaned sigh she leapt off the balcony falling the two stories and landing perfectly, finishing her 5th bottle whilst she held the 6th unopened the same hand she was holding the journal. "What's up kid, lost your mom or somethin'?" For as rough a tone as she spoke with, there was little actual threat. She was just bored, tired, a little drunk, and didn't like seeing kids cry.

The thought of losing her, her journal. It wasn’t just the book itself, it wasn’t even that she left her story unwritten. It was that notebook she had kept it for so long, it was a memento of her mother, a blank journal that Aunt Iris had given to her before she set out on her journey. The girl had kept journals before, kept and lost so many, but this one was special. Every page in it was special and she was careful not to waste any of it. She would only write things her mother would be proud of, but now it was gone. She didn’t have anything she could hold left of her. 

But then something caught her ears, the sound of a voice from the nearby and the sound of words from a women.

To put it plainly, she didn’t exactly like being called a kid. But to the young woman before her, she must’ve appeared like a lost little girl, crying all alone. She was older than her or at least she looked it, she could tell very easily, though she had a very youthful appearance, cute yet not overbearing. She didn’t blame her for thinking that she could have been younger than she was. Petite, slender, and small, she did look as delicate as doll. She didn’t say anything at first, through the tears it was hard to speak out. She sniffled a bit more, trying to calm herself to some sense before she did attempt to answer him. 

And then she saw it. Her journal. 

She held it casually at her side along with the bottle. She looked up at the girl in a new light now smelling the distinct smell of liquor and the obvious fact that this women was mosy likely drunk even if Velas could not tell.

"The boom your holding is mine can I have it please"

"Huh? The book?" Ma'to repeated back, looking first at her empty hand before realising... of course it was in the other hand. A small groan as her she realised she hit that point to pace herself, but at least she only had one more bottle. Clearing her throat she split the load between her hands and held up the book. "Oh right, y'mean this..." She gave the cover another look over before she shrugged. "Yeah sure kid." She then just handed it over, unaware just what it actually meant to her. "You err... guess you're more mature than I thought then if this is your writing. It's... really pretty good actually. What's your name kid?"

A new, complete look of utter terror, panic, and embarrassment plastered Velas’s face. If all three emotions could be displayed in a deeply tinted blush of red, then Velas had certainly come to master it. “You read it?!” It was a question that didn’t need an answer, as the evidence had already long been presented. “Please! I’m so sorry! It’s unfinished and so messy a-and I’m not really the greatest writer, I’m… sorry you had to read that...” She blurted out the apology before she could really think about, then trailing off on her words and looking away from her yet again.

"Velas that's my name what is yours?"

Ma'to simply gave her the blankest of expressions as she was freaking out right there in front of her. She maybe sorta understood why, like it was an inkling in the back of her mind, but so long with her partner had left her... rather unfeminine at times. "Hey seriously, if it can keep a girl occupied whilst she drinks in privacy, I'd say it's pretty good." She shrugged, speaking so bluntly it was just as clear if she didn't like it she would have said. "Name's Ma'to Shanti, Monarch of the Blue Suns mercenary group by the way,"