Chapter 12

After saying that Violet finished her cigarette and the three headed back downstairs, Sy & Naira taking a seat on the sofa whilst Violet walked to the fridge, grabbing herself and Sy a bottle of beer before turning to Naira “do you want a soft drink Naira? Memory tells me you’re teetotal”

“Yeah not massively through choice” Naira replied “anything not fizzy?”

“We’ve got apple juice?”

“Perfect”

With that Violet grabbed a bottle of apple juice and joined the other two, handing each their drink before hopping onto the chair and lounging sideways across the arms, causing Naira to emit a small chuckle

“What?” asked Violet, one eyebrow and one ear raised quizzically

“Nothing” Naira replied smiling “It’s just good seeing you being more, well, You”

“What do you mean?” 

“You seem more how you used to be, more….help me out here Sy”

“More feline” added Sy

Violet looked from one to the other, one eyebrow raised and one ear down showing her bemusement, before literally rolling her eyes as she snapped the top off her beer “Whatever” Taking a long drink she looked from one to the other.

“So” she began, turning to look at Sy “how are we going to get out of here?” 

Sy looked thoughtful “we can get out of CityScape easily, as long as you hide in the back. And crossing the border is just a case of bribing the guard sergeant, something I’ve already got in place from prior trips”

“You’ve crossed before then?” asked Naira

“Yeah” Sy shrugged “usually to collect a vehicle or part from a supplier not approved to trade under the Amalgamation Act here in merry olde england”

“So no issues then?” asked Naira

Sy gave a wry smile “not if you can pay”

Violet snorted “yeah, figures. So we’re good with crossing the borders, good to know. We’ll be ok between them as well”
Naira looked confused “How can you say that Vee? Ins't there like road gangs roving between the cities isn’t they?”

Violet swallowed a mouthful of beer before answering with a slight smile “yeah, but I’ve got idea’s how to deal with them”
Sy scoffed slightly “I assume they involve fire right?”

Violet smirked whilst raising an eyebrow “Of course, amongst other things”

Naira rolled her eyes “Some things never change eh Fire Kitty?”

“If it works why change?” replied Violet “besides it’s not the only idea I have. But anyway, Sy what’s the plan then? How long do you need before we leave?”
Sy looked thoughtful before answering “Give me a day. I need to check my contacts still work & are available”

“Cool” Violet answered with a slight nod “In that case I’m going to go practise, I’ll be on the roof”  with that she finished her beer and stood, and left towards her room above the garage, putting the empty bottle to be recycled as she passed the kitchen

“What do you mean practise?” called Naira after her but Violet didn’t respond, so Naira turned to Sy and asked him “what’s she mean by practice?”

Sy gave a small smile “you’d do better going up to the roof in a few minutes and watching” after a pause he added “oh, but stay back”

“Um, what?” asked a confused Naira 

“Ten minutes, you’ll see” smiled Sy

Meanwhile Violet had gone to her room, to a sturdy locked cupboard against a wall, and once its triple key locks were unlocked a quick flick of the handle with it’s inbuilt thumb scanner the door opened revealing a collection of weaponry, ranging from a powerful looking rifle and scope, a slight rough pump action shotgun and a old side-by-side double barrel shotgun, which Violet lightly caressed the stock of, to a selection of samurai swords. Violet’s eyes focused on the swords, going past the matched pair of tactical katanas, and the one given to her by a close friend, eventually settling on the most strange looking one of them all. With a slight smile to herself she withdrew it from the cabinet, slung the sword in it’s holster onto her back, shut the cabinet & locked it back up, and leaving the room, and heading back up to the roof

Once on the roof Violet proceeded to light one of the many stand alone fire torches positioned around the roof, making sure there was plenty of space near it, stepped back and started to perform warm-up stretches before checking her boots were tied tightly. After a couple of minutes warming up she withdrew the sword smoothly from her back, and examined it. At first it looked like a katana with a slightly thicker blade and chunkier hilt & grip, but on closer inspection the blade had three small grooves along almost its entire length, instead of the usual singular blood groove. Focusing on the hilt Violet twisted the pummel end of the grip and extracted a mechanism containing a purple tinged liquid. Appearing satisfied with the container she reinserted it into the hilt of the sword, and gripped the sword as if to use it, lightly resting her right thumb onto an indent just below the hand guard, upon which a small purple LED glowed on the guard. Clearly satisfied Violet replaced the sword into its holder on her back, and attached the straps of the holder making sure they were tight but comfortable

Once she was ready Violet assumed a final posed, her tail swishing slowly behind her, and with a final muttering of “for Krymson” she reached her right hand onto the hilt of the sword on her back, and with a feline hiss she withdrew the sword and went into a rapid routine of attacks and dodges, getting faster and faster. 

It was during the first 5 minutes of this action that Naira quietly made her way onto the roof, and and sat transfixed watching Violet’s almost dance-like routine with the sword go on, moving from lunges and hacks to dodges and parrying imaginary blows, her ears back, her tail acting as a natural counterpoint to each movement keeping her in balance and with a unnerving amount of feline grace and fluidity to each movement.

After ten minutes of this Violet paused about six feet from the still burning torch, the sword angled down towards the ground, in a casual attack pose, and gently held her thumb over the indentation again, causing the LED to glow & a faint hiss, which only Violet could hear. Just before Naira could say anything to alert Violet to her being there Violet snarled and lunged at the torch.

This time upon reaching the torch the blade of the sword ignited in a gout of violet flame, and kept burning as Violet once again went through a rapid mock sword battle, this time even faster than before, the flaming sword bathing her in a ferocious purple glow that showed the wildness in her eyes, the control in her expression and movement, and the fluidity of her movements in an almost ballet like dance of death to her imagined opponents.

After watching transfixed for another five minutes Naira was about to step forward and alert Violet, but Sy, having joined unnoticed behind her grabbed her should and calmly said “I’d Really not do that”

As soon as he said that Violet span on the spot and lunged, thrusting the still blazing sword at the pair of them, just stopping mere inches from Naira’s face, which caused Naira herself to stumble backwards against Sy, who expected it and caught her, saying “I told you to stay back”

As Naira recovered Violet turned off the fuel to the sword, and with a gentle shake the flames went out.

“How long were you watching?” she asked, slightly out of breath

“About twenty minutes I think” replied Naira “Vee, what the hell was that?”

“That?” asked Violet “That was Tai Chi” she answered with a shrug

“Not the martial art!” exclaimed Naira “I recognise that and remember you starting to learn it. I meant that sword!”

“Oh this” Violet said, smiling “this is just a little toy of mine. I found out about how to make a fire sword years ago on youtube. This is my evolved design. It’s got a blade folded sixteen times to perfection, with my own design cut into it. It then uses a thin viscous fuel pumped along the grooves at the optimal pressure to ensure coverage whilst striking, making sure the blade stays aflame even in the event of an impact”

“That kinda makes sense, but why is the flame purple” Asked Naira

“Why Wouldn’t it be??” answered Violet “all it is is a high potassium content to the fuel giving the purple flame“

“That’s pretty cool to be honest” Naira said with a smile “I guess you’re taking no prisoners on the road then”

“Oh this is just one of my toys” smiled Violet “I’ve got some of my dad’s guns still after all”

“....you’re quite scary you know that Vee” mused Sy “Did you still need the torch lit to ignite the flame by the way?”

“Oh, no! Your technique and wiring work perfectly, thank you! Also the thumb reader for priming the system is also excellent, thank you dude!” as Violet said that she sheathed the sword, and stepped over to give Sy a hug, the tightness of which causing him to grunt slightly 

“we should probably get some rest” he said once she’d released him “g’night you two” and he headed back into the building

“He’s probably right” answered Violet with a feline-esk yawn, and she went and snuffed out the torch

“Before we do Vee, that was phenomenal to watch by the way” Naira said “have you always been that fast?”

“Truthfully no, that’s the best that’s ever felt.” she replied with a slight blush

“Wow, that’s incredible! It shows how well you’ve taken to your implants!” Naira smiled 

“Maybe, thank you soo much Naira” With that Violet gave her a hug, the height difference between them bringing a smile to Naira’s face

Once Violet let her go as they were about to head in Naira paused, in thought

“Hey Vee” she said “could we nip to my studio tomorrow before we set off?”

“Sure thing, did you forget something?”

“No, I’ve just remembered something that might help you” Naira replied with a slight smile

“Curious” said Violet, as she shut the door after they’d gone inside