December,
Sabres vs Stars

Coming back from the rather long, yet entertaining and fun winter break, Val Nichushkin and the Dallas Stars have the Buffalo Sabres on the schedule as the first game. The Sabres are in Dallas for the game and one of the players, Nikita Zadorov is planning to get together with the Stars’ Russian.

Val has extended the invite to him, given that he is a Russian player and that he is the only Russian NHL player he doesn’t yet know. And also, he knows that the poor guy’s two Russian friends on the team are injured. Nikita is alone and Val feels for him.

However, before the two get together, he has promise Evelyn O’Reilly a special date night in Dallas. It isn’t really nighttime yet though and the sun has yet to set. There is a nice chill breeze in the air.

Val walks out of the American Airlines Center, after a quick practice and heads toward an awaiting car, an orange BMW IMB. It is his car, however his beautiful redheaded girlfriend is behind the wheel. She looks at him lovingly.

“What took you so long to get your ass out here?”

Val opens the door to the passenger seat and throws his stuff in the backseat and then closes the door. Evelyn has one of her interesting CDs playing. It is pop country music and Val recognizes the song. “No be like that. I have talk with lineys you know that. And hey, I let you drive my car.” He flashes her a sweet, playful grin and buckles his seatbelt.

“You’re a piece of work, Valeri Nichushkin!” She laughs and shifts the car into drive and pulls out of the parking lot.

“Piece of work?” Val questions.

“It’s a saying, sweetie, don’t think too hard about it.”

Val folds his arms. “When in my car, maybe speak Russian for harder English stuff.”

“Oh, I’ll speak Russian alright…” Evelyn sneers, snorting with laughter. “Or maybe I’ll teach you some French words, you know.”

Val sends her a frown. “No French. Only Russian.”

“Whatever, baby.”

The music crescendos to the chorus as Evelyn sings along in an off key pitch. Val remembers the title of the song in his head. He shakes his head and slaps his palm to his head.

“Really, Eve, you have listen to this ‘Damsel’ song?” Val remarks, looking at her.

“I like it. It’s catchy. And hey, maybe I am ‘more than a pretty face in a dress’. I mean, come on, I’ve had to save you twice already!”

“Yeah...maybe I the ‘damsel’?” Val questions, sarcastically.

“No. You’re getting better. You’re a hero now and as a hero, you should be able to save yourself. But...I am the damsel in one way.”

“What that?”

“Love, Val.”

“Oh.”

Evelyn cuts the wheel and they head into the heart of Downtown Dallas. They pass by a soccer field which has an archery range next to it. Val turns to look out the window. As they pass by it, he spots someone in a Sabres’ jersey shooting arrows at a target. He blinks and cocks his head. The person turns and runs a hand through their short brown hair. Val gasps and spins to Evelyn.

“Stop car!” he shouts.

Evelyn rolls her eyes and pulls to the side of the road. She turns to him. “What’s wrong? Is PyroHab back?”

“No! I know that guy...at the archery range!” Val points back behind him at the park and the field.

Evelyn spins around to look back. Luckily, they haven’t driven too far from the range. The person is back to shooting arrows. The redhead turns back to her boyfriend. “Who is he?”

“I don’t know his name...but he’s a Buffalo Sabre.”

“Wait...Nikita Zadorov?” Evelyn questions.

“Uh. Maybe...I no pay attention and we no play Sabres a lot.” Or care.

Evelyn pulls back onto the road, turns around at the next light and then pulls into the park’s parking lot. She parks in front of the range. Now that they have a clear view of the person, Evelyn smiles.

“It is Nikita!” she exclaims and pushes open the door. She gets out and shouts, “NIKITA ZADOROV!!”

Nikita spins to her and blinks. Evelyn hurries from the car, leaving Val leaning against the passenger door, gawking at her. How does she know a Sabre? The brunette Russian puts an arrow back in his quiver and walks over to meet her.

“Do I know you?”

“No, I’m Evelyn O’Reilly, just a huge hockey fan. I make it a personal habit to learn all the Russians in the NHL though.”

Nikita nods. He leans to the side and looks past her at the car. He spots Val, who has moved to the front of the car and is sitting on the hood. “You want me to sign something?”

“Nope, Valeri Nichushkin spotted you.” She nods her head in Val’s direction.

“Valeri Nichushkin?” he questions, bewildered. He cocks his head to the side. “He’s Russian?”

“Correct, he’s a Dallas Star.”

Nikita suddenly tenses up and grabs an arrow, notching it quickly. He raises his bow up and aims at Evelyn and Val, who runs over from the car. “Убирайся отсюда Даллас звезде! Я не хочу, чтобы у вас стрелять. Но я, если вы спровоцировать меня! (Get out of here Dallas Star! I don't want to have to shoot you. But I will if you provoke me!)” He pulls back on the string, narrowing his eyes at them both.

Val holds his hands up. “Легко Никита. Никто не больно кто. (Easy Nikita. No one's hurting anyone.)”

Nikita keeps the bow trained on them both. “I no trust Dallas Stars, get out of here and leave me alone!”

Evelyn pushes the bow down and looks into Nikita’s cold brown eyes. “You’re not a killer, Nikita. And you’re gonna learn to love this Dallas Star. He’s an archer too.”

Nikita spits to the side of him and snorts. “A Dallas Star being tough archer like me? Yeah right!”

Evelyn nods to Val, who retreats to the car. He reaches into the backseat and opens his hockey bag up. He reaches in and snatches his recurve bow and a few arrows. He slams the door shut and returns to them.

“Believe it, Sabre!” Val snarls, walking past him and taking a stance on the mark. He sets the arrows down on the grass and flicks his bow open before him. Then he notches one of the arrows in it’s place.

Nikita gasps and softens up as he watches Val take aim at the target and let an arrow fly. It hits the target perfectly in the center, splitting one of Nikita’s arrows already in place. Val lowers his bow and turns to face Nikita, who is stunned.

“Want another look?” Val asks.

Nikita shakes his head, unable to speak. He finally manages to say, “How did you--when did you?”

Val walks back to him. “Practice and…” He looks at Evelyn, who nods to him. “The Hockey Avengers.”

Nikita drops his bow and arrow and steps back. “Hockey Avengers?”

Evelyn nods. “I’m the leader. Judging by your aim and if you are willing to agree to terms, I’ll ask you to join the club. It’ll be nice and cool to have two Russian archers on the team.”

Nikita looks at her. “How do I know this is true?”

Evelyn pulls back the side of her jacket and reveals a Dallas Stars symbol on her waist. She taps it and instantly transforms into her hero form with the victory green dress and white angelic wings. She spins around and blasts the ground with a ball of purplish-pink energy from her hands. It singes the grass and makes a nice circular patch. The Sabre gasps and steps back more.

“Do not be frightened Nikita. Не бойтесь.”

Val joins her, unphased.

“You’re--you’re a superhero...and you know...Russian?”

“We both are. Arrow Hawk, Master Archer and I am Zvezda. In my hero form, I know Russian, I can understand you.”

After a few seconds of silence, Nikita shakes his head and resumes his composure. “Честно говоря, летом я работаю с людьми в России. У меня есть кодовое. Они называют меня "Sabrebow". (Honestly, in the Summer I work with people in Russia. I have a codename. They call me ‘Sabrebow’.)

Nikita walks forward and snatches his bow and arrow back up. He drapes the bow over his shoulder and picks at the tip of the arrow, removing blades of grass from it. “Мне всегда нравится смотреть фильмы о супергероях. И, будучи одним, я ни разу не подумал о. Однако было бы здорово. Я подумаю об этом. (I always enjoy watching superhero movies. And being one, I never once thought of. However it would be cool. I'll think about it.)”

Evelyn and Val share a look with one another. Evelyn deactivates her hero look, returning back into her mortal look.

Suddenly Nikita points the arrow at Val threateningly. “Но это ничего не меняет в наших отношениях на льду. Ты русский брат на льду, а не на. (But this changes nothing about our relationship on the ice. You're a Russian brother off the ice, not on.)”

Val shrugs and pushes the arrow to the side. “Понятно, Никита. Сегодня вечером, я разобью голову в советах, чтобы вернуть вас на указывая стрелку на моем лице! (Understandable, Nikita. Later tonight, I'll smash your head into the boards to get you back for pointing an arrow at my face!)”

“Вы находитесь на, Валерий. (You’re on Valeri.)”

Nikita slips his bow of his shoulder and takes aim at the target, notching the arrow in his hand. Val smiles and takes aim as well, snatching up another arrow from his small pile. They both let their arrows fly and hit the target in unison, side-by-side. They both frown and look disgustedly at one another. But after a few seconds, Nikita smiles and winks at Val.

Evelyn folds her arms and grins in amusement. She can sense a friendship budding between them. The hostility is done. She knows that neither will hurt each other and the Hockey Avengers have another archer to add.

“Итак, вы Валерий Ничушкин, России Даллас звезды? (So, you're Valeri Nichushkin, the Russian Dallas Star?)” Nikita asks, eyeing him up and down.

“Я. И ты Никита Задоров? (I am. And you're Nikita Zadorov?)” Val replies, dipping his head.

Nikita looks to the side, surveying the grass with keen interest, before he turns back to Val. “Да, это всегда приятно встретиться с другой русский в НХЛ, но у меня есть один вопрос, откуда ты в России? Почему я никогда не слышал о вас до сих пор? (Yes, it's always nice to meet another Russian in the NHL but I have one question, where are you from in Russia? Why have I never heard of you until now?)”

“Вот два вопроса, Никита. Но я из Челябинска. Сергей Гончар, Никита Нестеров, Евгений Кузнецов, Артемий Панарин ... они все оттуда. (That's two questions, Nikita. But I'm from Chelyabinsk. Sergei Gonchar, Nikita Nesterov, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Artemy Panarin … they are all from there.)”

“Челябинск? (Chelyabinsk?)” Nikita questions with a cock of his head. “Я там не была. (I've never been there.)”

“Откуда ты? (Where are you from?)”

“Москва. (Moscow.)”

“Я был в Москве. Я играл с Динамо! (I've been to Moscow. I played with the Dynamo!)”

“Ох. Ну, я получаю знать вас сейчас. Итак, как это все, как играть со звездами? (Oh. Well, I'm getting to know you now. So, how's it like playing with the Stars?)”

“Мне это очень нравится. Они все так красиво и очаровательно. (I like it a lot. They are all so nice and charming.)”

“То же самое с саблями. Надеюсь, мы сможем восстановить и стать, как динамично, как Чикаго Блэкхокс. (Same with the Sabres. Hopefully we can rebuild and become as dynamic as the Chicago Blackhawks.)”

“Да, каждая команда стремится быть как Чикаго кажется. (Yeah, every team strives to be like Chicago it seems.)”

“Потому что они так хорошо. (Because they are so good.)”

“Hey, easy on the comments about Chicago. Val, don’t poke the Blackhawk, you know Jonny won’t like it!” Evelyn scolds them both.

Val turns to her and sighs dramatically. “I no say Chicago bad. We say Chicago is good...is….what English word for a team that is very good?”

“A dynasty?” Evelyn suggests.

“Sure!” He spins back to Nikita, who is smiling.

And thus Val Nichushkin gains a new friendship and a “hockey brother” in Nikita Zadorov. And Arrow Hawk finds his “archery twin brother” in Sabrebow. Forgetting about the date, Nikita and Val chat with and get to know with one another. The Sabre and the Star continue to warm up and eventually become close friends, caring about each other and setting aside their petty rivalry.

Notes

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