Weaknesses ((SINBAD X OC))

Chapter 4

"I see what you mean," said the blond. "But wouldn't it be better to know how to use one if you ever needed to?"

Farren glanced up to him. "I'm never away from my Metal Vessel, an opportunity such as that would never have the chance to present itself."

"Sure," Alibaba sighed. "But what if it was stolen, or you misplaced it? Or maybe, during a fight, your sword was knocked out of your hand and the only viable weapon was a smaller sword?"

"I'm half Fanalis," Farren countered. "If anything like that were to happen, I'd be fine."

"Too much confident in your own abilities can be a bad thing, Farren," called Sharrkan over his shoulder. "One day that confidence will get you killed."

"You're one to talk." she shot back, narrowing her eyes into a scowl.

"Sure, I'm confident," he turned forward again. "But not confident enough to pass up your teaching opportunity."

Farren's squinted eyes widened at that. She never thought she was over confident, but she never considered that she'd be weak enough to go without her Metal Vessel, either. Maybe Sharrkan was right, or maybe she needed to enhance her hand-to-hand-combat skills while she was there. Masrur would help her, she was almost sure of that.

"Here we are." Sharrkan declared, pushing open the two large doors leading to the armory.

The walls were lined with spears and swords and battle axes. Tables littered the room, all of which were filled with small weapons and silver bows with intricate designs etched into their surfaces. The very top of the building had windows lining the walls, granting soft light to bounce off of the metal of everything in the room.

"Heavier weapons are probably up there," Sharrkan told her, pointing a finger up the stairs and toward one of the walls that was littered in swords. "You can probably guesstimate their weight and use yours as a reference."

Farren followed his finger and unsheathed her blade before picking off one sword that was closest to her. It wasn't exactly heavy to her, so she turned over her shoulder.

"Alibaba, come here."

The blond did as he was told, and as he stopped before the halfbreed, she plopped the handle into his hand. He caved slightly, but not as much as he did when he held her Metal Vessel the night before.

"Too light." She observed and quickly replaced the weapon with another.

"Should we really be going off on how heavy your Vessel is?" Alibaba questioned as Farren examined that walls.

Her fuchsia hues flicked over to him for an explanation.

"Wouldn't it be better if we went off my swords weight, and... y'know, steadily go up from there?" The blond clarified.

Farren hummed, and after a moment of thought, stepped away from the wall to grant its access to Alibaba.

"Shouldn't you be doing this, too?" Farren called over her shoulder to Sharrkan, who was busy zoning out.

Shrugging, the white haired man trailed up the steps and mimicked Alibaba in his weapon searching.

Farren leaned against the railing and absently rose her hand to the necklace around her neck. Thoughts on the night before filled her head, and Farren questioned what Judar meant about the Organization. Was Judar right to make her believe that they were growing weary of her assistance? What did they really hope for when they sent her to Sindria? That Sinbad would kill her? That she'd betray them after all? Farren bit her lip, and in turn clutched the jewel in her palm.

"Um, Farren?" Alibaba's voice pulled her away from her thoughts, and when she looked up, she saw his side-smile, his own sword, and the one he chose from the wall. "How's this?"

Farren reached out her hands, and in taking them, lifted them steadily aloof. After a moment of debating, she confirmed that his choice was a well enough weight to be satisfactory, at least for now.

"This'll do," Farren nodded and handed them back, and as she did, Sharrkan's attention was captured by something behind her.

She followed his green hues toward the entrance of the armory to see Masrur standing there, looking up at them.

"Hey there, big guy," Sharrkan greeted, raising his preoccupied hands in the air. "What brings you here?"

"I need a word with Farren," he said, not detaching his stare from the halfbreed. "Now."

Farren's eyebrow arched at that, and with a final glance toward her new pupils, walked down the steps and out of the armory with Masrur. They walked a ways away from the entrance, and when the Fanalis deemed it a good enough distance, he turned to Farren.

"You said you were from a place that snowed often," Masrur summarized, and to that Farren slowly nodded. "Where was that place exactly?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Just answer the question."

He was rigid suddenly, and as a reaction, the halfbreed took a discreet step backward. "The mountains north of Sindria, across the ocean."

Masrur's naturally narrowed eyes squinted even more, and at his lack of a reply, Farren began to feel uncomfortable.

"Do you know who your parents were?" He asked after a while, and at that her eyes widened.

"No," she replied flatly. "Why?"

Masrur shook his head again, seemingly to get rid of a thought he had dwelling in his mind.

"Masrur," Farren said softly. "What're you trying to put together?"

"You can't tell me that you don't have that feeling, too."

Farren, only slightly unsure, knew what he meant by that. Though, taking from Masrur's current state and strange shimmer in his eyes, it was eating at him much more than it was at her. She noticed their similarity in looks. How easy it was for Farren to hold a conversation with him. Their nearly identical, stoic personalities. The only differences between them really was hair color, gender, and the fact that Farren's skin tone was at least two shades darker than the Fanalis'. She thought for a moment, and before she knew it, Judar had found his way back into her head again. Even if the concept of that was true, Farren couldn't allow herself to get too close to Masrur. She, despite what Judar had said the night before, wanted to return to Kou as soon as possible. There was still a possibility that what Judar said to her was a lie, something to get her back on her game.

"I don't know what you mean," Farren said rejectingly, turning her back to the Fanalis that could very well be her half-brother. "Whatever you're feeling is entirely one sided."

As she tried to maneuver her way back toward the armory, Masrur called after her. "Don't reject the possibility because you still think you're aligned with whoever sent you here."

"I don't 'think' I'm aligned to my people," she shot back, glaring over her shoulder. "I know."

And with that, Farren walked back into the armory, leaving the possibility along with the idea of training with Masrur behind her.