#353 - [6] - Fire Emblem - Velouria/Nina - pearl

[mayemerald]

Title: N/A
Fandom: Fire Emblem: Fates
Pairing: Velouria/Nina
Rating: G
Prompt: 353 - pearl
Word Count: 900

Summary: Velouria and Nina come across a rare treasure in the woods.

Velouria’s ears twitched. Nina’s eyes flickered over to the other girl.

“That means something’s got your attention, right?”

Velouria nodded and sniffed the air, turning her head around to catch the wind from different angles.

“Yes… I sense treasure.”

Nina’s eyes glittered, but… “Treasure like something Niles would want to get his hands on, or treasure like the kind of stuff your dad likes?”

Velouria frowned. “I don’t know. It’s a new scent to me.” With that, she took off, tail straight out behind her like some kind of hunting hound. Nina could do nothing other than scramble to follow her, their capes trailing in the wind behind them as they sprinted through the woods.

The wolfskin skidded to a halt right before a small clearing and crouched down by a copse of trees. She began to dig, uncaring of the dirt smearing into her gloves. Nina dropped down beside her.

“I’ll help. Where should I…?”

Velouria cut her off with a yelp of delight, tail wagging furiously as she lifted something out of the dirt.

It was… a clam.

Nina took a quick look around them, to see if she was going crazy. No water in sight. No ocean, no river.

“That’s… unusual. Can you tell how long it’s been here?”

“Not more than a day… it doesn’t smell quite as good as the meat from last time.”

“So you’re gonna crack it open and eat it?” Gears began to churn in Nina’s brain.

Velouria shrugged, holding it closer to her face and turning it around as she sniffed. “Probably. I might keep the shell, too. Daddy will like it.”

“I bet there’s a pearl inside. Do you know how much one of those would sell for? That kind of money could do people a lot of good! Get the pearl, sell it to some rich schmuck, heck, we could steal it back and sell it to someone else… We have to get that thing open!”

They stared at it, considering.

Velouria acted first, turning and throwing it with all her might into the trunk of a nearby tree. A startled bird flew out of the tree with a cry. The clam only thudded dully to the ground, no cracks in sight.

Nina retrieved it and turned it over carefully. She ran a finger along the line where the two halves of the shell met, then around the ridged edges of each half. “Let’s try a more precise approach.”

The clam was hanging from a rope, secured by a tight knot to a tree branch. Nina was standing a few yards away, bow in hand. Surely the precise strikes of the arrowheads along the right part of the clam’s ridges would be the delicate touch needed to splinter it open. Velouria was a few feet away, watching intently.

One. Two. Three. Four! The arrows flew. The last one she even imbued with magic from her bow. The first two hit the clam. The force of the arrows sent it swinging backwards on the rope. Nina was no slouch, and had accounted for that of course, and the other two still hit home, the last two striking at almost the same time. The clam went flying backwards. The rope snapped, and the clam soared off through the leaves.

Velouria was after it in a flash, and re-emerged from the brush a moment later with it in her mouth.

A wry smile appeared on Nina’s face. “Good dog,” she couldn’t help saying.

Velouria stuck out her tongue, a human gesture she had definitely learned from Nina. “You’re welcome. Well, I suppose there’s only one more thing to try.”

Velouria placed the clam on the ground. Nina backed up. Velouria took a deep breath, shaking her head, and then transformed. Light enveloped her as she grew, fading to reveal her 7-foot monstrous wolfskin form. Thick, muscular, furry limbs pounded at her chest as she howled, preparing herself.

Then Velouria used all of her wolfskin might to curl her paws into fists and slam her arms down onto the clam.

Nina instinctively raised an arm to cover her face just in time. Shrapnel from the shell, rotten, squishy flesh, and watery grit alike exploded into the air, coating both of them with various disgusting flecks.

Velouria whined in response, ears lowering to press flat against her skull. There was another flash of light as she reverted back to human, staring mournfully at the bits on her gloved hand. Dirt, and now this. Yet still, Velouria attempted a lick. The combination was foul enough that even Velouria scrunched her nose at it, and didn’t return for a second taste.

Nina approached the center of the explosion, hopes not particularly high. Sure enough, there were the remains of a beautiful pearl, smashed to pieces, nestled among what had survived, crumbled into a shard of shell.

“Well, I guess we both lose.” Nina announced with a sigh, flopping backwards into the grass to lie flat on her back.

Velouria blinked down at her. “I guess. But wasn’t it a fun treasure hunt?”

Nina laughed. “You could definitely say that. You smell another one of these and you let me know. We’ll get it next time. Now, get down here. We didn’t come out here for that.”

She reached up and grabbed the edge of Velouria’s cape and tugged, toppling her over to lay down beside her.