Saving Soul

"Agreed," replied Adair. He had enough of this dark damp cave.

Upon reaching the outside he saw grasses, mossy rocks and Voltaire sitting on one of the mossy rocks. He noticed first his little invention, then its followers.

"Hey, look who made it," he greeted with a smirk. "Ava went out hunting a while ago. She should be back soon."

"So I heard," said Adair. "Loudly."

Voltaire just laughed.

Anja wasted no time in relaying her opinion. "Your contraptions are annoying and utterly hideous." She stated with a small glare. She preferred Adair's company well over the blonde's.

Adair groaned inwardly. Though he agreed with what Anja said, this was not how he wanted to start things.

As predicted, Voltaire leered her. "I'm sorry they aren't decorated with rainbows and flowers. They helped get you here, so they did their job."

"Well the first one almost got us killed." Anja snapped. "Luring the damn bear demon so close. You're lucky Adair is light on his feet"

Voltaire let out a huff. He didn't have a retort for that one.

"Where are we going after this?" Adair asked, hoping to change the subject.

"The next tournament," Voltaire replied simply.

"Which is?" asked the redhead.

"Somewhere over those mountains," the Hunter answered, pointing to some purplish mountains in the distance.

Anja sighed in agitation. "You can put me down anytime." She grumbled

"Ah, right," Adair answered in slight embarrassment, setting her down on some grass.

"...So she's coming with us, I assume," Voltaire said, looking at Anja.

"Well...yeah, that was the plan," replied Adair. He was somewhat glad that he didn't have to bring up the subject himself, considering how awful Voltaire and Anja got along already.

"I thought so," answered the Hunter, lying back on the rock. "She can't get far with her injury and her angry complaining would attract every predatory demon within the mile.

"...Can you at least try to be polite?" Adair requested, irritated.

"No."

Anja glared at what she could see of the hunter. "Are you sure I can't let Alfres eat him? You would be much better off as well."

"I'll just shoot your wolf and eat him instead," Voltaire retorted smoothly. "I'm a Hunter. It's my job to hunt monsters."

Just then a large gold-and-red bird swooped in, carrying in a couple of deer. The wind created by the avian's sudden stop nearly blew Adair over.

"Dinner!" Ava chirped. "Welcome back Fiery! Where's Volty?"

Adair glanced at where Voltaire had been on the rock and found he wasn't there. Instead he was behind the rock in an awkward position, an irritated look on his face. Apparently Ava's arrival had blown him off his perch.

Anja snickered. "Well I can always call back my pretty blue friend again." She stated, amused by his interrupted relaxation.

Voltaire grimaced at that thought. He could fry or shoot coils of water.

Ava, now noticing Anja, wandered over to examine her.

"Hello!" she chirped, before turning to Adair and Voltaire. "Friend?"

"His friend, not mine," Voltaire clarified.

"I'm not anybody's friend, demon." Anja snapped with a glare. "So stay away from me."

Ava seemed a bit surprised at Anja's reaction, and gave Adair and Voltaire a puzzled look.

"Anja's got a broken ankle," Adair replied. "I couldn't leave her there like that."

"Oh, so she's cranky because she's hurt," Ava reasoned.

"I dunno, I get the impression she's like that all the time," Voltaire replied, now sitting up.

"You're not helping," growled Adair.

"You know what, demon boy? Fuck you" Anja snarled.

"Yeah, fuck you too," Voltaire replied.

"Stop it you two," Adair groaned. It was going to be a long trip if this was how it was going to be.

"Why?" Voltaire growled back. "She nearly drowned me earlier. How the hell am I supposed to feel comfortable traveling with someone like that?"

"Big woop. Leave me here then. I certainly wouldn't complain." Anja replied. "I'd gladly drown you if your friend would let me. But he won't so we all have to deal with your annoying ass."

Adair tromped over to Voltaire, grabbing him by the arm.

"You, over here," the redhead growled, pulling Voltaire along. For all the Hunter's determination, Adair was still the physically stronger of the two. He walked a good distance until they were out of sight and hearing range.

"What the hell is your problem?" Adair asked, finally letting go.

"I thought I already said what my problem was," Voltaire answered curtly. "I don't like her and she doesn't like me. End of story."

"Look, I understand that, but this area is too wild to just leave her crippled here," Adair pointed out. "I'm not saying that she will be traveling with us for the long term. I just want to find a good town where we can leave her with a good doctor."

"You might have trouble finding either one of those," Voltaire answered flatly.

Anja glared at the two men. They were still within sight, but just out of hearing range. She didn't want to be here. She didn't want to be alone with a demon.

Ava sighed sadly.

"Volty usually isn't so mean. Fiery's usually nicer too," the phoenix said apologetically. "I don't like it when they're fighting."

-------

"Look, I just think it's a bad idea," Voltaire growled. "She doesn't trust us, we can't trust her, and nobody really wants to do this. I don't want to just leave her here if she's that hurt, but-"

"But what? We leave her here so that she gets eaten?" growled Adair.

"Doesn't she have summons? Anything that tries to eat her she can make her own lunch."

"She's not strong enough to summon them all time."

"She didn't seem to be having much trouble before," answered the Hunter. "I don't think she's as weak as she pretends to be. I just don't trust her."

Anja grumbled something but didn't respond to Ava. She was feeling feverish all of a sudden.

"Hmm?" Ava asked, tilting her head. "You okay?"

---------

"Well, whatever. I see whatever I have to say doesn't matter," Voltaire growled, turning and walking away. "Let's just go so we can get rid of her sooner."

" 'Taire-" Adair protested, but the Hunter wasn't listening. He sighed and followed.

"I don't associate with demons." Anja snapped. "And If I had it my way, I wouldn't be associating with either of them either."

"Oh okay," Ava replied sadly. This treatment wasn't new, but it still depressed her.

The two Phoenixes came back, both leering at each other.

"Hey, we're going to find you a decent place to stay so you won't have to travel with us long," announced Voltaire flatly. "Until then you'll have to deal with us."

"Just do me a favor and leave me entirely." Anja snapped. "I'd rather be on my own."

"I'd gladly leave you here to rot," growled Voltaire. "It's Mr. Hero who has issues with it. Go talk to him about it."