Facing The Sun

Meet HQ! (and everyone in it)

It had taken Vedrith more than a few minutes to convince Ivis that the food here would just be given to them at no cost, the concept was very difficult for her to grasp.

"Everything comes with a price" Said her mother, once. "Just as every action comes with a consequence."

Ivis supposed that she was right, even in this case. The consequence of taking the free food was a bland meal.

"Uh oh." Vedrith exclaimed quietly. Ivis tied her words to a group of three entering the 'cafeteria', as the timing was too close to ignore. Her antenna picked up their movements—none were sudden or alarming, but Vedrith's concern made Ivis concerned.

"Well. Would you look at what the cat dragged in."

Ivis turned her head to the voice, surprised to see Tsara, along with two other people who seemed to be of the same species. She stood with her arms crossed, a smug smile on her face.

"Fancy seeing you two here." She said, glancing at Ivis. "She still being nice to you? The three of us made bets to see how long it would last."

"Oh shut up Tsara." Vedrith grumbled. "Just because I'm not nice to you doesn't mean I can't be nice."

"You're full of it, Vedrith. And you know it."

Vedrith sighed, and ran a hand down her face. "Ivis, meet the TDC team. Or DTC, or CTD, or whatever order that decided to put their names in today." She waved a hand haphazardly towards the group. "You've met Tsara, that's Clodi, and that's Dia. Only Dia is worth being nice to. You can bite the others for all I care."

Tsara hadn't changed at all in how she looked, except now she adorned a bomber jacket that looked similar to Vedrith's. Clodi and Dia, though, were yet another new sight.

Both of them had light brown skin, accompanied by symmetrical, thin black stripes on their faces. Clodi had three on either cheek, and three on his nose, whereas Dia only had two in those places. His hair was lighter than Clodi's, too.

"Well isn't that just nice." Exclaimed Clodi, glaring at Vedrith. "Does this mean I won the bet? Look, she's being an ass again." He turned to Tsara with an annoyed expression.

"Nope. Bet ends when she's caught being mean to Ivis, remember?" Dia piped in.

"That's rich coming from you, Dia—given what Vedrith just said." Clodi grinned, ruffling the hair atop Dia's head. Dia giggled, and pushed his hand away.

Vedrith rolled her eyes, exhibiting her disregard for the group. Clodi noticed, and scoffed, turning to Ivis. "How did your first meeting go? It couldn't have been too swell if she was acting like this."

Ivis blinked. "I shot her." She said honestly. "With my bow."

Clodi stared at Ivis for a few moments, silence falling over the room. He broke it with a cackle once he realized Ivis was serious.

"You shot her?" Dia exclaimed, a concerned expression on his face. "Vedrith, are you okay? Where did she shoot you? It didn't get infected, did it?" Dia took a step away from Ivis, and reached out to Vedrith.

Vedrith waved him off nonchalantly, and if anyone else were looking at her—they would think she didn't care. But Ivis sensed guilt in her words, however faint. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. She shot my shoulder, but it's fine. Turns out arrow wounds heal pretty fast, It's just a bit stiff now." Vedrith rotated her upper arm on the previously wounded side, demonstrating its state.

"That's pretty damn bold," Tsara chuckled, "I already liked you before, Ivis, but I think your rating just went up more."

"Why? You shouldn't shoot people!" Dia argued with a huff. Ivis struggled to find him as intimidating in the slightest, be it his height, or his light voice, but he didn't look like he could harm anyone, or anything.