Quest Of The Valkyrie

Chapter 7

7

"How to make a potato salad," I muttered to myself, pacing back and forth through the room. With all my classes cancelled, the week had flown by way too fast and suddenly, it was Saturday morning and my dinner party was right around the corner. If only I hadn't wasted all my time hanging out in the dormitory halls trying to make friends with the other Valkyrie students or glare at the dust bunny under Ryoko's bed.

I couldn't fail at providing my contribution to Flavia's dinner. On top of that, I needed to figure out what type of gift to bring her too. I couldn't arrive without a present for the host. That was just against Wind Child tradition.

But how was I supposed to make a potato salad in my dorm? I didn't have a cooker, or a pan, or potatoes. Not a great start...

"Why are you mumbling about potatoes?" Ryoko asked, looking up from her books. She hadn't had a single lecture this week either but somehow decided that meant she needed to study more. Whatever.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm supposed to make a potato salad for a party later."

"I see." She nodded to herself and returned back to her stack of books. I didn't know much about the Shinigami 101 course, but it couldn't be as interesting or important as Valkyrie 101. But then, a Dragon or any other elemental could never serve Odin the way we did.

"What are you reading?" I asked, checking my pillow for the dust bunny and thudding down on my bed.

"I'm revising the lecture I had a couple of days ago. It's about Yomi-no-kun."

"Yomi-no-... What?"

"Yomi-no-kun. Or the World of Darkness, if that's easier to remember."

"What is it?"

Ryoko closed her book to turn and talk to me. "The afterlife I serve."

Right. Every afterlife required different assistants. Valkyries brought warrior souls to Valhalla, but I didn't know much about any of the others. I should've had a general afterlife class this week, but it got cancelled. I didn't really care about the other courses, but there wasn't much else to do than chat with my roommate.

"So... Who gets into your Yomi-something-something?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Ryoko tilted her head, her nose wrinkling in confusion.

"Who deserves to go to your afterlife?"

She frowned even harder. "Everyone? Well, everyone that believes in the World of Darkness."

"Hah... Okay then. So there are no requirements for the souls? Anyone can enter?"

Ryoko shrugged again. "Yes. Isn't that the point of being an Afterlife Assistant? To guide the souls to a place where they won't corrupt the universe?"

"Yes, and because we give them an afterlife, they help us. The warrior souls will fight one last battle in Valhalla."

My roommate shot me a look I couldn't decipher, a silence hanging between us. Just like it had many times since we'd become roommates. Whatever brief conversation we had, it always seemed to die out quickly.

For a moment, it looked like she was going to argue with me, but instead she nodded. "Okay."

"Okay? So you agree I'm right?"

"No, I'm just acknowledging your statement." She turned back around and flipped her book open again. Dust fluttered up in the stripe of sun cast along her desk, speckling the pattern of scales on her skin. Every ridge defined by the playful shimmer of sunlight, almost similar to the markings Wind Children earned when they matured.

"Fine," I muttered under my breath, grabbing my own book to read. If my whole semester was going to be so boring, I'd just shoot myself between the eyes. Living with the Dragon wasn't actually a nuisance, in fact, she was as invisible as a person could be. But that was exactly what got on my nerves.

She didn't argue, she didn't fight, she wasn't loud, and she didn't shower at unreasonable times. No matter how foul my mood was or how rude I behaved, she stayed polite and considerate.

So annoying.

This was why the dorms were split up between the different elementals and courses. The different races just didn't mix well. Certainly not with their everyone-gets-into-the-afterlife attitude. What was the point of that?

Grim, I turned on my side. "Ouch!!" Not again. "You stupid dust bunny!"

Pickles shot me a guilty look from on my pillow, nestling herself into me with her prickly spines.

"How did you even get here? You were just in your cage. Shoo. Go away." I shuffled as far back as I could, pressing myself into the wall to get away from the animal. "Ryoko!"

"I'm so sorry. I don't know what's up with her. She usually doesn't do that." She rushed to my side of the room and scooped Pickles up in her arms. "It's okay, my little bunnyhop. She didn't mean to scare you with the screaming. Aww, good little bunny."

"Why does she keep escaping?" I asked, holding the wrist she poked. Her spines were so thin, they just jabbed straight through my skin and into the flesh underneath. For such a small thing, she inflicted some serious pain.

"I don't know," Ryoko admitted as she put Pickles back under her bed. "She doesn't usually like other people, but she seems to want to snuggle with you."

"If she wants to cuddle, she should stop stabbing me," I complained. "Look what she did to my wrist!"

"She'll learn to control it when she gets older. She's still a baby."

I growled softly, holding my annoyance back. "Then why doesn't it hurt for you to pick her up?"

"Oh, dragon scale skin. Virtually impenetrable."

"Ah. Figures. So only I get stung by your dust monster." I rolled my eyes. "Great."

"I'm sorry for your troubles. Does it hurt?"

The Dragon's concern was a meagre consolation. I didn't need her fussing over me like a mother over a child. I was strong and powerful, even if I didn't have impenetrable skin.

"It's not that painful," I lied, covering up the red spots forming where Pickles pricked me. "Just annoying to have her on my bed all the time."

Ryoko bowed her head, another weird thing she did. "How can I make it up to you?"

"Ehh, no need." I waved her proposal away. I didn't want her to owe me anything. I just wanted as little contact with her as possible. Despite her beautiful scales that rippled in the sunlight and her strange, but polite mannerisms, I didn't care for it. Her eyes were too piercingly dark and held something mysterious in them. Their vibe suggested that if I looked too long in them, I might just lose myself. And I wouldn’t even dislike it.

"I can make you a potato salad?" she said, capturing my attention.

"You would?" I asked before I could stop myself.

A triumphant smile graced her features. "Yes, I could."

"Hmm..." I didn't want to owe her anything or even admit I needed her help. That being said, she did say this was to make up for her dust bunny attack and if I showed up without the salad, Flavia would probably cast me out. I didn't want that...

"Fine, you can make the potato salad and I'll consider you forgiven," I stated haughtily. I wasn't sure why she brought this side out of me, but there was just something about her that rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it was how she behaved? Like she thought she was better than me?

Okay, so she had no temper and knew how to keep her composure? Big deal. That didn't make her better than me.

Ugh.

Ryoko rummaged through her dresser and took out her rice cooker. "One potato salad coming up. Anything else you'd like?"

I frowned. Was I going to be that person that took advantage? I could have her whip up all sorts of things and really impress...

"No, just the salad," I grumbled, deciding I couldn't be that awful to her. I did have to live with her for at least a semester and I didn't actually want to be rude. She just made it so easy.

"Understood. I'll start right away." She rose from her seat in an annoyingly elegant manner. She had all the hallmarks of being pretty, for a Dragon.

I didn't like admitting it, but a twinge of jealousy shot through me for the way she held herself. Her flawless hair, her eyes dark and bright at the same time, with a body that had curves in the right places. If only I looked like that. Not that beauty really mattered in my society. It was all about strength, power, and influence.

Regardless, there was a grace to the way Ryoko moved. Almost like she floated on air, and that was big praise from someone with a tornado brewing in her chest. My wind magic wasn't elegant or sparkly. It was meant for brute force, to shake the world at its core, and to dominate everything in my way. If I so wanted.

Right now, I didn't have much desire for any of that. All the desire for power somehow seemed irrelevant next to the calm Dragon.

"How many people are coming to your dinner party?" Ryoko asked.

"Not sure... At least six?"

"Okay. I'll make enough portions."

Her rice cooker hummed to life as she plugged it in and switched the dial on. From underneath her desk, she pulled a bag of potatoes and a whole box of dry goods.

Hah. I didn't even know she had all that stuff. Why? We had perfectly acceptable food in the dining hall. But then, Flavia was having her own dinner party, so maybe cooking inside the dorms was more common than I thought?

In any case, this was certainly convenient for me. If I kept being invited though, I'd have to invest in some cooking gear and brush up on it. I couldn't keep using the Dragon in my room to bust me out. No way.

I didn't need her help or assistance. This was just a one-time-thing so she could make up for her dust bunny attack.

Curious to how she would make the potato salad, I perked up on the edge of my bed and watched Ryoko pour some water in a bowl to scrub the potatoes.

"How are you going to make it?" I inquired, leaning forward so I could see better. All the labels were in a language I didn’t understand, but I recognised flour, sugar, and what looked like an assortment of spices.

"Boil and season some potatoes, half-mash them with carrots or apples, some spicy mustard, and mayonnaise to make it creamy."

"Sounds tasty," I admitted, licking my lips. I did love a good potato salad, but I'd never made one before. Came to think of it, I hadn't done much cooking in general. It wasn't my thing.

"I'm putting on the potatoes now so they can boil for twenty-five minutes. I'll have to go look if I have a carrot or apple."

"Okay. Is there anything I can do to help?" I offered before I could stop myself. Why? Wasn't her making this slaw the whole point of her gaining my forgiveness? It wasn't her fault she made it look kind of fun.

The Dragon tapped her chin. "You could cut up the onion?"

"Oh, no. That'll make me cry," I quickly replied, already regretting my suggestion of getting involved.

Ryoko chuckled, her laughter rare.

"What?" I asked, glaring at her.

"I'm just surprised you know how to cry," she pointed out, humming to herself as she dug an apple from her bag. With some lightning quick chopping, she broke the fruit down into small cubes.

"Hey, I'm no stranger to a good cry," I argued.

"If you say so," she replied, her lips curled into a faint smile.

This was kind of nice. In a weird way, her making fun of me was familiar. This type of banter, it almost felt like something friends would do.

Friends.

That was a weird thought and something I hadn't considered yet. Ryoko and I could become friends?