Chapter 12: Chapter Twelve: Understandable Anger
Elaine dragged them throughout the city, Drake and Midnight looking amused at her enthusiasm while Jack did his best to keep up with her. He tried to match her mood, seeing as she was so excited to show them around, but she seemed blind to how the other elves were reacting to this. Most of them simply shook their heads and turned away, but a few shot them dirty looks, wrinkling their noses in disgust and speaking softly in Falvelen, clearly not wanting him to understand what they were saying. This did not escape his notice, and it prevented him from truly enjoying himself as Elaine showed them areas of the city that were filled with wildlife like deer, showing them the barracks where the warriors stay and train, the marketplace where the elves trade certain vegetables, fruits, and meats.
She was so cheerful that he couldn't bring himself to ruin her mood, and simply let her pull him along as they finally stopped at a public place for eating, multiple wooden tables with benches placed there as Elaine picked one out for them. She skipped away and gathered some food for herself, joining them at the table and smiling as she ate some vegetables Jack had never seen before. Just like before, the elf failed to notice how her people were reacting to this, and the tables nearest to them cleared away quickly.
Midnight noticed this as well, leaning over and whispering to Jack.
"Jack, maybe take off your armor that is stained in elven blood?"
He looked down, having completely forgotten about the condition of his armor with everything that had been going on. Elaine stopped talking and watched as Jack started taking his armor off piece by piece, confusion filling her eyes as she reached out and stopped him.
"Jack, what are you doing?"
He slowly looked into her eyes, unsure of what to say. How do you casually tell the princess of the elves that you are taking your armor off because you don't want to offend the other elves with the blood of their fallen warriors? Luckily for him, he would not have to, because Midnight had no problem spelling it out for her.
"Are you blind princess? Do you not see the way your people are looking at us? I thought that Jack's armor may be offending them because...well, you know..."
He sighed, gently shaking her hand off and continuing to remove his armor. Her excitement quickly faded away, but to his surprise, she began to pout, looking more upset than sad.
"They don't understand; they did not see Jack kill his own kind to protect me, they didn't see Midnight worry about me wearing a vamp's clothes, didn't hear Drake call me cute despite being an elf. They weren't there when you were all risking your lives for me, so I don't really care what they think."
Jack and Midnight were stunned by her words, but Drake only laughed loudly, leaning over and ruffling her hair.
"Spoken like a true princess! But why would you being an elf have anything to do with you being cute?"
Elaine giggled at him, Jack nearly having all of his armor off while Midnight frowned, looking around them.
"I understand their anger and distrust. They are on the losing end of the war, and have been seeing their warriors get slaughtered, their cities burned to the ground, their women raped and their children killed. Remember how I reacted when I saw you the first time? They have plenty of reason to feel the way they do."
"That didn't stop Jack from saving me. He had plenty of reason to leave me to my fate, or kill me. If we all think of each other as the enemy, then how can we expect anything but violence from each other?"
Midnight gaped at the elf, having no response. Jack was impressed with how kind Elaine had been throughout everything, taking off the last pieces of his armor and grunting as he yanked his thick gambeson off. He sighed in relief, feeling the breeze hit the bare skin as he looked up, seeing Elaine's eyes glued to him, specifically his arms. He raised an eyebrow, realizing that she had never seen him without his armor on. Under all of the metal and thick cloth was a simple sleeveless shirt, showing off his muscular arms that were covered in scars.
He crossed his arms, breaking her from her trance and seeing her blush as he pulled out his rag that he kept in his sword belt. He lifted his helm, using some water to clean the blood off of it. It was long overdue, and he frowned as he already saw signs of rust. He finished his helmet, setting it down and picking up his breastplate.
He was going to continue, but suddenly his armor began glowing. He watched as all of the blood slowly lifted off of it, along with the rust, and was slowly moved to the ground. He looked at the breastplate, the metal shining like new, before turning to Elaine, who was still red and refusing to meet his eye. He loved his armor, the memory of his younger brother praising it flashing across his mind, and Jack smiled gently, thanking her and putting the breastplate down.
They grew quiet, Jack looking up from his armor and frowning at the sight of them looking at him like he was crazy.
"What? Is there a problem?"
Elaine also looked puzzled, Midnight shaking her head as Drake chuckled and pointed at him.
"Of course there is a problem. You smile at her for cleaning your armor, but not at my jokes? As your brother from a different mother, I demand an explanation."
Jack continued frowning, not seeing what the problem was and saying nothing. Drake crossed his arms and pouted as Midnight pulled out a water skin of blood and drinking out of it. Elaine looked like she was going to speak until the sound of singing filled the air, all of the perking up and listening. Jack admitted that the elves had lovely voices, and even without understanding the language, he could tell that the song was a sad one.
All of the talking ceased once the singing started, one elf standing and singing while the others listened. The song was somber at first, but soon a couple more elves stood up and started singing all together, the mood lifting and some elves getting up to dance. Drake nodded his head along, Midnight pretending she didn't care while Jack listened, humming along once he learned the song well enough.
He was content to sit there and listen, glad that he got to witness something new, when Elaine suddenly stood up. He guessed what she wanted to do, and frowned when she grabbed his hand and yanked him to his feet. He felt his face heat up as she started dancing, giggling at his reaction and looking him in the eye.
"What's wrong? The mighty Night Stalker scared of a little dancing?"
"I'm...never been much...for dancing." was all he was able to say, the elf only giggling more and continuing to dance, making his heart race and face heat up more. He growled, surprised at her teasing him, and gave in as he slowly started to dance along, slowly and awkwardly at first. But he began to loosen up and relax, and soon he was dancing with her, matching her pace and seeing her eyes light up as she looked up at him, her emerald eyes keeping his gaze as they moved.
He was pleasantly surprised at how much he enjoyed it, and would have kept dancing with the princess as long as she wished it. But the other elves stopped dancing, moving aside as a group of elven warriors made their way over. Jack noticed them and stopped, Elaine still dancing until the singing stopped, the elf freezing and looking around for the cause of the disturbance.
The warrior's stopped in front of Jack, ten elven warriors all glaring at Jack like he killed their dog. He frowned, crossing his arms and looking down into the warrior's eyes. He did not know what they suddenly wanted, but he doubted they wanted to join in and dance with him.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone