~Pearl~

I kicked the tangle of Scott's robes and cloak into the corner of the room just as the door burst open. 

"Scott what in the name of Malevolent—?" Xornoth, closely followed by the Phoenix gal, practically charged through the doorway, nearly getting hit in the face as the door swung backwards from all the momentum. 

"Uh, hi." I said as the two stormed inside. 

Xornoth blinked, skidding to a stop. "Where's Scott?" 

"No clue." I shrugged, bringing out my best gaslighting voice. 

"But— he was just with you—" Phoenix started.

I shrugged again. "Went a different way. Why?" My heart practically jumped in my chest as Xornoth disappeared. Like, actually, completely gone from the room in a blink of an eye. 

About ten seconds later he was back. So the teleportation thing isn't just an Exor thing? Noted...

"Not in his room." Xornoth said, eyes flicking around the open space. "Are you sure you didn't see where he went?"

"Yep. He'll probably turn up soon though." I said, attempting to change the subject. I took my first good look at the room since I had gotten in here. Wooden beams crisscrossed the ceiling, several arched to give the room a more open feel. Chains hung from the center; large lanterns as big as my head dangling from them to cast an orange glow over the floor. 

The floor itself was interesting to say the least, a wooden walkway lining the outside where all the entrances were. Then it dipped into a pit made of packed dirt, a couple of scuff marks and footsteps imprinted into it. A fighting ditch. Just my style. 

"Might as well entertain ourselves while we wait for him." I began, starting on the "distract them" phase of Scott's very vague instructions. I walked along the wooden boardwalk on the opposite end of the room to the doors. 

Mounted on the walls were metal brackets, latches holding the handles of an array of different kinds of training weapons (in other words, they were dull and boring). Bows, different styles of arrows, maces, and more swords than I could count at first glance. Several double-bladed axes, ranging from three feet long to nearly seven, were lined up next to each other, practically calling my name. 

Phoenix's brow scrunched, almost nervously. "...how so?" 

I glanced at her. I thought it had been obvious. "A spar, of course." 

"Oh no." Phoenix's eyes widened behind the lenses of her glasses. "No, no, no, no, no—"

I stifled a grin. "Why not? It'll be fun." 

"I don't think death would be considered fun." Phoenix said, looking as if she wanted to take a step back. God, even I preferred Erin over her. At least she was up to a challenge. 

"And you?" I asked, turning my gaze to Scott's brother. 

He shook his head quickly, apprehension pulling his lips taut. Zeer, these royal versions of the elven half of the corruption crew were boring. 

My face fell slightly. "Well, no need to be a spear in the mud." I grumbled. 

Phoenix had opened her mouth to say something, right before all of our attention was diverted upwards. A creak sounded from above, short and sharp. Like a footstep. 

My hand flinched towards the racks of weapons just as a floof of jet-black hair, practically blending in with the shadowy ceiling, peered over one of the wooden beams far over our heads. Two amber eyes shone out of the darkness, blinking down at us. 

"Lo!" Phoenix's voice startled me, I tried to keep my eyes on both the new figure I realized to be perched on the joist, and the girl. "How'd you get up there—?"

"I climbed." Was his simple answer, their voice slightly echoing off of the ceiling. There was a light pattering, a new array of footsteps, right after the top half of his face and bangs disappeared, heading towards the wall. 

I soon realized that the boy was tiny. Maybe five feet tall. They scurried down one of the pillars along the walls connected to the strut with the elegance and scrawniness of a kitten. His ears flopped as he dropped to the ground, hanging by his head and poking out beneath his messy hair. 

"Hi," they said, voice quiet and almost squeaky, hands stuffed into the pockets of his very oversized blue hoodie. 

I stared. 

Xornoth was staring too, though his gaze seemed sharper than mine. Clearly they didn't seem to like the boy as much as his sister did.

"Eh, Princess Pearl—" My shoulders tensed at the title. "—meet Orlo?" Phoenix introduced awkwardly, gesturing towards the boy. 

Orlo waved, hand immediately slipping back into his pocket. 

"Hello," I said, continuing to glance the new elf up and down. By the way he was addressed, I could tell he was a friend. At least, to the princess. I didn't think I'd have to worry too much about them. His neck looked pretty snappable if he tried to cause any trouble. 

"I've never seen this room before." They said shortly, words directed at nobody in particular. 

"How'd you find us in here then?" Xornoth asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Heard your voices." They shrugged. "Something about sparring?" 

"Yeah, but we got a couple o' cowards over here so I guess I'm going to have to bask in my boredom." I said with an overdramatic sigh and a teasing grin aimed in the direction of the Majors. 

Orlo blinked. "I'll fight you."

I paused. "What?"

"Lo no—" Phoenix said after several seconds of stunned silence. "Bad idea, very bad idea—"

"Why?" They asked, raising an eyebrow. The small, almost expressionless, frown on his face twisted the freckles sprayed across his pale skin, dark eyebrows drawn together. 

"Because it's asking to get murdered?" Xornoth intervened, eyes flickering in my direction. A little wave of satisfaction bloomed in my chest for a moment, and I had to stifle a smirk. 

This Orlo kid seemed unperturbed by the siblings' opinions. "Hold him." I stared as the kid pulled a whole, live ferret from the front pocket of his hoodie, passing them to Phoenix. They were white, and squirmy, with big blue eyes. He was getting weirder by the second. 

Phoenix gave Orlo a look of exasperation, one that I could tell she probably gave a lot, as she took the ferret in her arms, and it scurried up to her shoulder. "What would you like on your headstone?" 

"I won't be needing one." The amount of absolute sass radiating from his voice could have killed a small child.

I liked this kid. "Your pick." I said, gesturing towards the wall of weapons with both of my arms. 

"Ladies first." He countered, though their tone was relatively polite rather than condescending. They were being strategic. Smart. 

"Alrighty then." I didn't have to really think about my choice of death instrument. I unhooked a crescent axe from the wall, the thinning point as long as my forearm. Then I grabbed a shield from one of the racks, hooking the leather strap over my wrist. It was...simple to say the least. A slab of leather with two even ridges meeting each other in a point at the top, sloping down to a second point towards the bottom, with a border of gold along the edge. I missed my old shield. 

I nodded towards Orlo once I had finished, stepping away from the armory wall. 

He immediately went for a shield, eyeing my own. They nearly dropped it after lifting it from its hook. They were heavier than they looked. 

After they had managed to drag the shield to his side (this one rimmed in bronze), they looked up and down the wall, thinking. The corner of their lip twitched; their hand flinching forward. Then he walked down the lineup, pulling a dagger a little less than a foot-long from where the knives were hung closer to the floor. 

I raised an eyebrow, twisting the handle of my axe in my hand, almost as if to remind him what he was up against.

He didn't change his weapon. 

"If you die, I get custody of Enzo, right?" Phoenix asked, now cradling the goofy looking animal in her arms. 

Orlo gave her a blank look. 

"I'll take that as a yes...?"

The glare they next gave their friend was a mixture of annoyed disappointment and an emotionless twinge of pity. "No."

"Well if you're dead there's not much you can do to stop me, is there?" Phoenix countered, sticking her nose up into the air as she held on tighter to "Enzo". 

"You underestimate my abilities from the grave." Orlo said, small lines curling around his lips as if he were trying to suppress a smirk after the overdramatic statement. 

Phoenix pouted. "Oh whatever."

"Ya ready?" I asked, swinging my axe upwards to rest the end of the hilt where the wood melded into the axe head over my shoulder. "If not, feel free to keep chatting. Not like I have anything to do later—"

"Let's do this." The dark-haired elf cut off, dropping his dagger-wielding arm to their side as he began to trudge down into the fighting pit, sneakers turning a dull shade of orange after picking up the dirt. 

I followed, veering off a couple of feet before turning to face the small kid. Actually, couldn't have been much younger than Phoenix— but still —he was tiny. Despite being absolutely against my moral code, I might have to go easy on them. 

"Xor!" I called, causing the guy to flinch. He looked startled as he met my gaze. "Count us down?"

"Uh— sure." They said, stepping down to the edge of the wooden platform with his sister. "Three—"

"Wait, wait, wait." I cut off, holding up my hand supporting the shield. "Are we going on one or after one?" I asked Orlo. 

Orlo was already in form, shield vaguely raised up towards his side, knuckles white around the hilt of their dagger. Their eyes are narrowed, jaw set. "On two." 

I blinked. Then I shrugged. "Alrighty then. Now you can." I replied, tilting my chin towards Xornoth. 

The man pursed his lips, as if they were reconsidering all of their decisions about being involved in this. Their eyes flicked between us, standing at least twenty feet apart. "Three. Two—"

By one our weapons had met. 

The footprints I had left in the dirt were deep after charging. I had wasted no time in chopping my axe down, an angled cut slicing down towards Orlo's shoulder.

With a dull thud the blade smashed against stretched leather as Orlo swung his shield up above his head, thrusting his dagger forward towards my torso. The point glanced off the gold of my shield with a sharp clang. 

The lock only lasted seconds before I twisted out, throwing Orlo out of balance. His footsteps were quick, he steadied himself even quicker. Now how do I break that? 

The bottom of my shield hit the ground as Orlo lunged, leaning forward to meet their attack. I hooked the backend of my axe towards the elf's temple, and despite being blunt that end drew down to a fatal point. 

Like set on a pair of loaded springs Orlo dropped to the ground, popping back up as soon as my weapon had lobbed itself far past his head. 

Unfortunately, I don't think the poor boy took into consideration my strength. I stopped the axe's swing, redirecting its momentum back towards Orlo's head. 

A yelp left their lips as soon as they had realized. He attempted to duck beneath the dulled blade, dagger clattering to the dirt while his hand shot up to try and grab onto the axe's handle. 

Instead of halting it, like I bet Orlo had hoped, the axe kept going. Bringing Orlo with it. 

I heard Phoenix's shriek from behind me as her friend was flung across the room, slamming into the wall shield first. Somehow, they had managed to keep a hold of it, regardless of the fact that it was probably half his weight. 

As both Orlo and their shield fell towards the floor, the elf caught himself in the basin of the backside of the shield, directing it at an angle point-first like a sled. The result? He rocketed back down into the fighting ditch, crouched low on the shield-turned-surfboard. 

Man, this kid was putting up a fight. I loved this. 

They skidded across the dirt, tumbling off his shield as it began to rack up dust into the air. He rolled for a yard or two, before jumping back to his feet, amber glare piercing the air now hazy with dirt. A sheen on their eyes almost made his pupils seem slitted, thin. The lighting in here was pretty weird. 

Neither of us moved for a moment, before he pounced. Without a weapon or a shield, he darted in my direction, footsteps light. Wow, they were surprisingly fast. 

I locked my knees, grounding my feet and readying my stance for their impact, my palm sweaty around the grip of my axe. 

Orlo leapt up, drawing their arm back like he was going for a punch...before last second hitting the ground and slipping right between my legs. I sucked air between my teeth, my axe was too heavy to reach him in time, after I felt a sharp heel to the back of my knee, and their elbow nail me in the tailbone. That was going to leave a bruise. 

I stumbled forward, whipping around and launching my shield like a frisbee in their direction. It caught them in the shoulder, sending him sharply to the ground onto their back. The flat of the shield landed on his chest, giving me enough time to step on it and press them even further into the dirt before they could have gotten back up. 

I lightly pressed the (dulled) sharpened side of my axe to his neck, grinning. "I think that's game, kiddo. You put up a good fight." 

Orlo's nose wrinkled, gaze watching the axe closely. Their face was coated in a thin layer of sweat and patchy with dirt, their hair even wilder than it had been before. He wheezed slightly beneath the pressure of the shield, breathing heavy. "Whatever."

"Oh, come on, don't be a poor sport about it. You did good." I insisted, pulling my leg away and letting him shove the shield off his chest. There was a light thudding of footsteps, Phoenix was soon at Orlo's side. 

"That was awesome!" She said, wearing quite a wide (but vaguely worried) smile. Orlo simply grumbled to themself, brushing some of the dust off of their hoodie. They didn't flinch as Enzo leapt from Phoenix's shoulder onto his, draping themself around Orlo's neck like a mini scarf.

"Gotta admit, that was pretty impressive." Xornoth added, he too now in the fighting ditch with the rest of us. "I thought you were going to get beaten to a pulp sooner than that—" They received a very harsh "shut up right this second" glare from Orlo. 

"Come on, give him a little more confidence. That was a decent fight." I smiled, holding out my shieldless hand for a handshake. 

For a second I didn't think Orlo was going to take it. They seemed to stare at my hand with a flickering expression of apprehension and disgust, before they shook it briefly. He pulled away almost immediately, wiping the access sweat on Phoenix's sleeve. 

He was odd. But, to be fair, so was I. 

Now what was taking Scott so long?

***

ANDDD WE'RE BACK! Thought I should throw in a little filler chapter here- how'd ya like it? :D

Alsoooo more Orlo context, I think they're pretty epic >:D

Credits yet again to Tsuki for the character!

I think this is the first Pearl pov since that one time in CF when Erin tried to assassinate her- but yknow, I thought this would be pretty cool

Lemme know what y'all think about this, comments and votes are always appreciateddd~

Also, I need a name for you guys- yknow how youtubers have names for their viewers? I need something for y'all- any suggestions??

Word count: 2581