After 2 hours, Hirune just sat with Tundra, resting her head on his shoulder. Her eyes looking down, taking in deep breaths as she calmed down. After she finally stopped crying 10 minutes ago Tundra managed to bandage up her head and hand. When he asked her how she got such a bad burn on her hand, she said that she wasn't sure and recalled what happened. Which allowed them to come to the conclusion that the jaws only limited the damage to one spot of her body.
Now they just sat here, waiting for Ellen and the other two to finally get to the room they were in.
Hirune then turned her head to face Tundra. "I guess I owe you a little more than just a coffee now for putting up with me huh?"
Tundra looked at her and smiled a little, "Don't worry about that. I actually think it'd be better if we just went and got some chicken wings instead."
Hirune smiled, "Yeah, chicken seems pretty good right now..." She said as she yawned and fell asleep.
***
It took Ellen, Kala and Clint 3 hours to get to them. As they door opened, Tundra got ready to send icicle spikes towards whoever walked in, then allowed them to melt when he saw it was just Ellen. Ellen looked at him and Hirune, then looked at the frozen body.
"I take it you took care of him?" Ellen asked as she poked Hirune's soft cheeks.
Tundra nodded and moved Ellen's hand. Ellen scoffed, "Come on! I'll never get a chance like this again!" Tundra shushed her.
"She's asleep, also quit being distracted and dispose of the body," Tundra responded in a serious demeanor.
Ellen smirked a bit and winked, "Oh I see~" she said as she walked towards the frozen body and slid the cube out of the room, a sound similar to an explosion following. Ellen walked back in and watched as Tundra stood up while carrying Hirune bridal style. Before she said anything he shushed her again, "She's still asleep."
As Tundra and Ellen left the building, Ellen explained that the reason it took so long to get up to the 4th floor was because the pyromaniac had filled the halls with logs of firewood that were burning. So, they took a while clearing the halls on the previous 3 floors. She also said that Clint and Kala were making sure that the building was fully cleared out.
Tundra nodded, then looked down as Hirune woke up. Hirune blinked a couple of times, the sun suddenly hitting her eyes. She looked around, then stopped when she noticed something was off and looked at Tundra. "Put me down," Hirune said trying to sound polite.
Tundra put her down, being careful to hold her up a bit as she stumbled around a bit. Hirune then looked at Ellen, "Oh, hi Ellen." She said while trying to avoid eye contact, not sure how Ellen would react to what she'd done.
"Did you have a good nap?" Ellen asked, seemingly as if she didn't know what had happened in there.
Hirune blinked a couple of times. Then looked at Tundra. He looked back at her, then he looked at Ellen and said, "Go ahead of us. We'll catch up." Ellen looked at him for a moment, then grinned as she walked away. They watched as she went, then Hirune turned to him.
"Didn't she see what I did to him?" Hirune said with a shaky voice. Not wanting to remember how it looked.
Tundra simply answered, "The reason I froze the body was to make it seem like I did it. Now let's go get those chicken wings. I'm also going to need you to tell me everything you know about your powers. After all, we've both been in the same place before."
Hirune looked at him for a moment as they started walking somewhere, "Wait what do you mean we've been in the same place before?"
Tundra looked at her, "I'll tell you over the chicken wings."
***
They eventually reached a small place that sold chicken wings and ordered them with some sodas. Hirune took a sip of her while feeling the bandage on her head, "Well... You go first. After all, trust is gained, not given."
Tundra looked at her and slowly slid down on his seat, his head being at the same height as Hirune's shoulders as she sat up straight. 'How childish,' Hirune thought. He took a sip of his own soda before speaking, "You see, when I first joined it was only Ellen and Clint in the group. They were set up far north, and we were all still but mere kids. I won't get into the nitty gritty details because as you said, trust is gained, not given, but when I first joined, I had learnt that lesson the hard way. So, I kept as much as I could hidden from them, especially Ellen because she seemed to know the most.
"After a while I did tell them about some stuff, and when I did, I saw a bit of growth. Obviously, it wasn't instant, but it was better than being at a standstill. There were also a lot of other benefits, but I'm not good at this sort of thing so I won't say it in case I mess this up. Now I'm not saying you have to tell the others about this, but I understand were you're coming from and I'd at least like to know what you're hiding to some degree. Try to help you out while you get comfortable with us."
Tundra took a sip of his drink as he waited for Hirune to respond. Hirune seemed to consider what she should tell him, she wasn't used to someone being so patient and nice with her, so she wasn't sure how much she could trust him. Yet according to what he said, she could benefit from it. Yet she dismissed that selfish thought, it probably took Tundra a bit to open up to her even if it was to a small degree, so it was only fair to respond in the same way.
She hesitated for a bit, then finally told him about Namulenza, the Shadow Jester and how she came to speak with Namulenza and what she did to see the Shadow Jester. she went over it in minimal detail, but that didn't seem to bother Tundra. Instead, he seemed to be taking every word she said and dissecting it in order to understand what she was saying.
By the time the chicken wings came, they had already finished speaking and they ate in complete silence. Hirune glanced around a bit, then kicked Tundra in the shins. He flinched hard and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Would you mind telling me about something?... Anything? I feel awkward."
Tundra looked at her and shrugged, "I don't know what to talk about."
Hirune nodded in disappointment. Then with a lump in her throat said, "You see... It's not that I don't want to trust in you all, I truly do. I just don't know how to." Hirune flinched when she said this and focused hard on eating her wings, not wanting to look at Tundra.
Tundra looked at her for a moment. Then kicked her in the shins. She jumped and raised an eyebrow at him. "I'll tell you a story, and in return, you'll tell me a story yourself." She stared at him as he started the story.
They ended up storytelling to each other for hours, only heading back to the car where the others waited for them when they saw the sky turning orange.