Chance [C] (Read 1,023 times)

[Electra]

It had been four days since Ellie found herself in Magnolia Town, and she had enjoyed every moment of her stay here. On the first day of entering the bustling town, she had met with a Fairy Tail mage that went by the name of Kai who had shown her random kindness when she had been expecting a harsh reception like the rest of the townspeople had graced her with. She had gone on to make an absolute fool of herself by drinking too much alcohol, and woke up in a sleepy embrace with the young man she had met only the day before. Her strange sleeping habit managed to make things unbelievably awkward for her if anybody slept near where she was. That aside, the rest of the time she had been here in the town had been pleasant as well.

She had felt guilty about mooching off of her new friend, and as such left the next morning to rent a room at a local inn not far from the Fairy Tail guild. When it wasn’t rush hour in the centre of town, the people were nice and amiable, she found, and the wonderful selection of dorayaki was exquisite. Upon finding a special shop down one of the back streets that sold only sweet things, including her favourite ice cream stuffed pancakes, she had given them almost every jewel she owned. Everything else had been immaterial really. Although… not exactly. She tried to tell herself as much, but her heart was saying otherwise.

Spending time with the white-haired Fairy Tail mage only solidified her original feelings for him, and she felt compelled to leave Magnolia behind to stop this infatuation growing while she was conscious of it. However, at the same time, she wished to stay and get to know the young man better. Due to her drunken state on the first evening she arrived in town, she was unable to truly remember anything that was said or done apart from small scattered fragments. The headache she awoke with hadn’t been wonderful either. She remembered dancing a waltz with Kai, and wonderful dorayaki, but that was literally the extent of what she could recall. Nothing about what the youth had said about him finding her attractive. Nothing about what he shared with her in regard to his past. Those things were gone.

Now, relaxing was all well and good, but Ellie found herself wishing to get back into her vigorous training regime. Having four days off was nice, but she couldn’t slack anymore. She had seen numerous mages around Fairy Tail display their skills, including Kai, and she didn’t wish to be viewed as a weakling. These people were on a whole different level to her, and she had to step it up! That was how she found herself wandering through the Eastern Forest of Magnolia, on the other side of which was the sea. Her long blonde hair sat at her waist, and she wasn’t planning on putting it up out of her way either. The scar she had sustained in earlier life stopped her from doing anything with her hair that might reveal the mark. As per usual, she sported a cropped white shirt tied with black straps, and a short white wrap-around skirt. Black straps adorned her legs too, and a high black collar of sorts was attached to her shirt as if it was a token gesture to keep it from falling down. Thick bandaging had been applied underneath the shirt, binding her chest and aiming to cease irritating movement as much as possible. The bandaging was so thick today that it was visible underneath her cropped shirt, in fact.

The long gloves and boots she always wore helped cover other signs of her weaknesses, and they were a fashion statement besides. She approached a clearing and decided that this place would be as good as any to let loose some of her destructive magical power. With a casual stretch of her arms above her head, she sighed and clenched both fists, pushing a leg back and moving into a fluid fighting stance. Unlike most mages, she liked combat at a ‘up close and personal’ level, which would become obvious as she launched herself at a tree standing in the middle of the clearing, right fist drawn back as white destruction energy glowed around it. “HAH!” She yelled out a battle cry as her fist made its impact with the tree, exploding upon making contact. Smoke flew off in all directions, and when it cleared, she was holding up her fist with a bemused expression on her face.

“Not bad… not bad…”

Ability Used;

ABILITY NAME: Crushing Blow
ABILITY RANK: Novice
ABILITY TYPE/PINNED: Destruction
ABILITY DESCRIPTION: As a rather strange mage that likes to fight up close and personal, this ability suits Ellie down to the ground. She encases her fist with a compact form of her destruction magic, and when it makes impact with anything (be it human or inanimate), a great explosion will ensue. It travels for ten feet, making it a very close-range strike. There is a three feet diameter with this explosion. It causes burn damage and blunt force.
DURATION: 2 turns
COOLDOWN: 2 turns

[Kai]

For four days Kai had been trying to see Ellie again, after that night at the party, but she seemed to have disappeared from the guild. She hadn't returned to Kai's room the night after the party, and no one seemed to have seen her at all around the hall, so, Kai thought she might have left town, which had left him in his regular cold mood. But, at least he could now focus back on his quest to find his sister. He had learned a bit about where she might be from some slavers down at Hargeon Port, but if he was to rescue her, he needed a bit of practice. He hadn't fought in some time, and thus his skills were rusty, yet, with Ellie gone and few enough people at the guild he could call 'friends' he was left with few options.

Still, all he could keep his mind on aside from finding his sister, was the petite blonde who he had become infatuated with. When they woke up after the party it was a bit embarrassing, as they had both walked upstairs looking a bit bedraggled, which then led to all sorts of catcalls and wolf whistles, and yet Kai hadn't told any of them what had gone on that night. He acted as though he cared little for what they did, and in reality he didn't care, but what he did care about was the fact that Ellie had seemingly forgotten most of what had transpired the night before. She didn't seem to remember his words for her, nor her actions towards him, all that she did seem to remember was the dancing. Since then Kai hadn't seen her around at all, he had gone through town to look for her, gone to the local restaurants, the local bars, the local shops, no one had seen her, and so he figured she had left town.

Today he was dressed in what was considered his normal clothing, even though technically it was armor, albeit of a simple sort. It was plain black armor, the same kind he always wore outside of battle, with gold trim on the edge of several of the pieces. And around his neck he wore his black scarf, the same one he always wore, with the tail end dangling below his belt. It all set off a nice contrast with his hair, which as always was a snowy, startling, white.

Now, focusing back on getting his skills up to snuff, Kai had found one option as to how to do this easily, and that was to pick a fight with a guild mate of comparable skill. In the guild there were around a dozen who fit the bill, but four of them weren't around, and of the remaining eight, five were sick, and two were injured, leaving but one who could help him. This one was Moira, a takeover mage whom Kai didn't get along well with. She often insulted his magic, resulting in small brawls, but today he was going to instigate the fight.

This had already happened as it turns out, as Kai had very deliberately instigated her, calling her something along the lines of 'old hag' which brought her to chase Kai out of the guild and through the streets of Magnolia. Moira was currently in the guise of a Sphinx, running all out after Kai who had requipped his Eastern Set to allow him enough speed to outrun the woman. Crowds parted before them, people shouted, cabbage carts were upturned, and all the while, Kai was just laughing to himself and heading for a very specific place, the Forest.

After running for around ten minutes, Kai had managed to maneuver through town into the thick forest just outside Magnolia, and yet, Moira was still raging behind him. They crashed through the trees, the sound would easily be heard from hundreds of meters away, and yet, Kai knew exactly what he was doing. Quickly, he ducked behind a tree and broke through the clearing that he knew well, one where there was a certain girl already training. Though he hadn't seen the occupant, and instead turned to face his pursuer. In a flash of red light his Southern Set was changed out for the Burst Set, and his weapons of choice were held in his hands, a pair of long trench knives. He watched the trees closely spotting Moira before she got too close.

"I don't care what the Guild Master says, I'm gonna kill you, Kurokawa!" she roared in the Sphinxes throaty rumble.

In response, Kai simply grinned and pulled back his fist, causing a small amount of light to concentrate on the blade. As soon as Moira had broken into the clearing, he ran headlong at her. Before she could react, he brought his right knee up under her chin, releasing a burst of magic that sent her several feet of the ground and exposing her belly. "Really Moira? Doesn't look like you'll be able to though." And with the wind whistling across his blade, he brought his wound up fist forward into the Sphinxes exposed underside, blasting her with magic and sending her flying, crashing through the forest back the way she came. "And that's Burst Drive." he muttered under his breath. When the sounds of Moira's crashing ceased, Kai listened for any signs of her coming back, though when none came he let out a sigh and turned to the clearing before him.

SPOILER: Click to show

ABILITY NAME: Burst Drive
ABILITY RANK: C
ABILITY PINNED: Burst Armor
ABILITY DESCRIPTION: With this armor on Kai able to fire a conical burst of energy from either trench knife or the boots of the armor, producing concussive damage along with the knives cutting damage. These blasts extend for five feet from the source and grow to be three feet wide at the end.
DURATION: 4 posts
COOLDOWN: 2 posts

[Electra]

That spell never got old, no matter how many times she performed it on numerous foes or objects, she still loved the impact it had and the explosion that ensued. Hell, she was a little odd in that respect; what with her love of big bangs, huge amounts of destruction and sheer power over the logical mind. Thus far, her style of battle had suited her well, all the way down to the ground, she could happily say. She flexed her hand, curling it into a fist and uncurling it, all the while watching the way her strong muscles moved. Most of it was concealed underneath her long black stylised glove, but some of it remained.

What happened next was rather odd and unexpected. She had ventured deeper into the Eastern Forest to avoid being disturbed, and yet she heard loud sounds of approaching… she wanted to say footsteps, but they were inhuman footsteps either way. Trees were crashing and cracking, and a pathway was being carved out right in her direction. Her magenta eyes opened wide with shock as she stared at the spot opening up in front of her, instinctively backing away while she watched the scene unfold…

She was rather surprised to see a flash of white hair, but put it down to her imagination as other colours flashed in front of her too. That being said… the young man that entered the clearing was wearing armour. Wasn’t that a basis for Kai’s magic? The Re-Quip? A huge Sphinx burst into the clearing soon afterwards, roaring and claiming that it would kill ‘Kurokawa’, assuming that this ‘Kurokawa’ was the armour-clad stranger. Well, Ellie assumed that it was a stranger until he spoke using Kai’s voice. He attacked and effectively KO’d the huge bellowing Sphinx with ease, all while the blonde stood watching with her eyes wide in disbelief. And here she had been avoiding this young man to stop herself growing too attached… it seemed that fate decided to play with her heart, as per usual.

She stood for several seconds, absolutely shocked to the core while she looked at the white-haired mage. He had just done THAT to a huge SPHINX?! And more importantly, he was here. Of all places. That being said, the Eastern Forest was a common place for mages of Magnolia to train in, so she should have expected it in all honesty. “Kai?!” She called in disbelief, finding herself walking across the clearing to stand in front of the Re-Quip mage.

“I… I…” She spluttered and floundered for words to say, her eyes still wide while she gazed at him. When she realised that she was staring, she shook her head and a blush crept up her neck to flush her cheeks pink, causing her to avert her gaze and try talking again. “I didn’t expect to see you here!” She claimed, finding her initial confidence with a vengeance. A huge grin had spread on her lips, and she truly was glad to see him… even if she had purposefully been avoiding him. By that token, she had been staying away from him because she knew that she liked him. More than that, a feeling that she never wanted to admit and she couldn’t believe she had resorted to it so quickly. She couldn’t even say it, and thinking it was hard enough.

Love.

Deciding to keep her mind off such things, she cleared her throat and clasped her hands behind her back, moving a little closer to him. “That was pretty cool.” She told him, referring to his attacks only moments ago.

[Kai]

Kai let out a loud huff as he recoiled from his punch, swinging his arm in a large circle and then pointing with one finger at the distant body of Moira, feebly stirring. "Come on back if you think you can still fight!" He grinned to himself and let his arms rest at his sides, and as he turned he heard a familiar and welcome voice calling his name. His eyes flew open and he looked around wildly for the source which he knew to be Ellie, the girl whom he had been trying to find for the last four days.

"Ellie?" he replied, spotting the girl as she walked towards him. He didn't move form his spot, and yet Ellie continued to close the distance between them, which was promising. She only stopped when they were a short distance from each other, and here he found her to be wide eyed and staring at him. He raised an eyebrow as she shook her head and blushed, now then did she like him? Even though she didn't remember his confessions? If she did, well, that would mean that there was some truth in his chance at getting together with her. He was brought out of his thoughts by her exclaiming that she didn't expect him here, to which he just grinned. "I come here to train a lot. I haven't done much training lately though, so I figured I'd aggravate Moira into chasing me, which now that I think about it, she should be waking up soon. Though it looks like you've been training too." he said looked first at the crushed trees where the now human form of Moira, dazed and leaning against a tree that wasn't toppled, then to the tree that Ellie had obliterated.

Suddenly Ellie was grinning widely and stepping closer to him. When she commented on the attack he had done, he scratched the back of head modestly. "Eh, it's just my magic, like I said, I channel it through my armor and weapons. But, yeah, that one is one of my favorite abilities. Burst Drive. Though...I don't think I hit her hard enough yet..." Kai trailed off, hearing the sound of running from where Moira had been. Quickly he turned to see Moira, once again charging, but now in the form of something worse than a Sphinx. She was charging in a form that she had recently acquired or so Kai had heard. She was in the form of a Dire Wolf, at least two times the size of the Sphinx, and she was loping at them, teeth bared, she really did want to kill Kai it seemed. Kai knew she was just in a rage, but still, that form of her was powerful. He would need another clean blow and then some to get her to stay down.

"Ellie, take my hand and prep one of your combat spells. We're gonna hit her at the same time form above." he said, holding one hand out. At the same time a yellow flash burst around his hands, pulling the Southern Set, a pair of Twin Swords, from his Pocket Dimension.

Once Ellie had a hold on him, anywhere really he would activate the ability of the blades. One moment Moira would be entering the clearing and Kai and Ellie would be standing in her path, the next Kai and Ellie would disappear in a flash of yellow light and with a whistle like fireworks, reappearing above the beast. Kai would switch his weapons back to his Trench Knives and, at the same time that Ellie attacked, he would attack with his Burst Drive again, aiming a punch at the same area that Ellie did. "Hit her at the base of her neck!" he would call as they fell upon Moira. "Stay down!" If this worked like he thought it might, their attacks would combine and form one more powerful than either alone.

SPOILER: Click to show

ABILITY NAME: Flight of Thunder
ABILITY RANK: C
ABILITY TYPE/PINNED: Southern Set
ABILITY DESCRIPTION: While wielding the Southern Set Kai is capable of teleportation, allowing him to disappear and reappear anywhere within 100 feet of himself when this is cast. When he disappears a sound similar to that of a firework is produced, along with a quick, bright yellow flash. However, when he reappears the edges of the southern set are brittle for a few seconds prohibiting attack right after use.
DURATION: 1 post
COOLDOWN: 3 posts

[Electra]

Her white-haired companion stated that he visited this area to train a lot, and since he hadn’t been doing a lot recently, he decided to annoy the woman he called Moira, undoubtedly the one currently struggling to stand in a dazed fashion in amongst the felled trees. So that was why he had been chased by a Sphinx, even if that magic was unbelievably… odd to say the least. Kai commented that the blonde had been training too, if the obliterated tree in the centre of the clearing was anything to go by, and she brightened up considerably to smile and nod her head enthusiastically. “That’s right! I’ve gotta keep getting stronger, after all!” She claimed determinedly, gloved hands turning into clenched fists.

He stated that the woman who had been chasing him probably wasn’t down just yet, after being embarrassed and modest about his magic that she had praised rather highly indeed. Kai waved it off as being nothing, about him channelling magic through armour and weapons for attacks. Ellie still found it unbelievably cool. Not long after mentioning the fact that the strange woman wouldn’t be through just yet, the sound of running met their ears.

Upon turning to face the direction that the felled Sphinx had flown in, a huge wolf was currently charging at the clearing with its teeth bared. Now that was scary. The blonde looked at the huge form in awe, wondering how on earth such a thing could be accomplished. Before she could ask her new friend, however, he stated in a tone of urgency for her to take hold of his hand. She looked at him quizzically and his outstretched hand, wondering why on earth he wanted her to do something like that. He stated that they would hit the enraged Moira from above at the same time. Ellie didn’t have much time to consider, however, as she noticed that the wolf was approaching much faster. She took a deep breath to ready herself and grasped hold of Kai’s hand tightly, already beginning to knead the destructive power for her chosen spell. In a flash of strange yellow light, the pair of them disappeared and reappeared above Moira’s form, falling towards the wolf from above.

How thrilling!

Ellie held out the hand that wasn’t holding onto her companion’s, creating a ball of pure condensed destructive energy that she would launch at full power at the wolf below them. She heard the designated area for her to strike and brought her arm back, yelling out a battle cry of sorts as she threw the compact explosion at point-blank range. And then, the strangest thing happened. The two mage’s attacks combined in midair, swirling and making something much larger, much bigger as it impacted with the back of the Dire Wolf’s neck. With a yelp of surprise and pain, the wolf was pinned and with the impact of Moira hitting the floor, smoke and dust were thrown up as well as the ensuing blast from Ellie’s spell. When it all cleared, it was easy to see that the woman below was down for the count.

The blonde cried out delightedly after seeing their combined victory, her fist clenched as she punched the air as a sign of their success. “We did it!” She yelled as they… continued to fall. Her eyes widened and she instinctively moved her body to wrap her arms around her companion, watching the floor below them approach rather quickly. She had an idea, but… it wouldn’t be the safest of landings to say the least. She was hoping that the white-haired mage could use that special flash ability to make them disappear and reappear again, but if not, she would channel erosion energy in her feet and wriggle to make them touch the floor first in order to make the ground soften and dissolve, softening their impact.

SPOILER: Click to show

ABILITY NAME: Compact Explosion
ABILITY RANK: Novice
ABILITY TYPE/PINNED: Destruction
ABILITY DESCRIPTION: Ellie will mould a small, one foot in diameter circle, that upon being launched at at opponent or other target, will implode and explode in quick succession. It can be thrown ten feet, and explodes in a ten foot radius. The explosion itself will cause burn damage, and damage from blunt force.
DURATION: 2 posts
COOLDOWN: 2 posts

[Kai]

Pure concentration was the only thing that crossed Kai's face when he and Ellie reappeared above Moira Dire Wolf form. In the split second they had before they made impact, Kai requipped back to his Trench Knives, one in his free hand and the other tucked into the sheath on his belt. Ellie was there, and she had her magic charged up in the palm of her hand, good. Kai brought back his fist, the knife glowing faintly as they fell upon their prey. "This is it." he thought, "Gotta make it look cool." If Ellie thought that Kai's last attack was cool, well, this was sure to be far cooler than that was. Then, Moira was in range. At the same time, Kai and Ellie fired their spells, and yet, Kai knew from the instant he saw the blast fire from his Trench Knife, and Ellie throw her sphere of magic energy, he knew that something was off about both attacks.

As the spells flew at Moira they collided. The light of the sphere surrounded the blast that Kai had fired, and both grew larger, forming a beam that focused on a single point, aimed at Moira's neck. Kai's eyes widened at this, as he had an idea as to what was happening, and that the significance of it was far deeper than might be realized.

The combined spell whistled through the air before it impacted, right between Moira's shoulder blades, and the resulting blast was far greater than what could have been done by either spell individually. Upon contact the spell fired a shockwave downward, forcing Moira to the ground, even pushing her several feet into the ground. Then, a second blast exploded from the spell, a sphere of energy that expanded outward, blowing back the trees on the edge of the clearing and slowing Kai and Ellie's continuing fall. Kai aimed a derisive laugh at Moira, who was clearly knocked out, she really had bitten off more than she could chew, especially since it appeared as though Kai and Ellie could form a magic known for its fierce power, the Unison Raid.

Now that Moira was taken care of, there was the issue of Kai and Ellie falling, they were around twenty feet up and falling quickly. However, Kai already had a solution to that. As Ellie cheered for their success, Kai was planning how to stop them from breaking their ankles upon impact. Beside him, Ellie's eyes widened and she swung over to wrap her arms around Kai. This caused them to fall more quickly, but if Kai had calculated it correctly, that wouldn't be a problem. He couldn't use his Running Thunder to teleport them again, but he could slow them to a point where the fall wouldn't injure them. Holding Ellie close in his arms he bent his knees, the bottom of each boot glowing with magic. Not only could he fire magic from his trench knives, he could also fire blasts from his boots, which was what he aimed to do.

"Hold on tight Ellie, this might be bumpy." When they were about ten feet up, Kai kicked the air, hard, firing his bursts and slowing them to a near standstill. Then he kicked again when they were just off the ground, stopping them and landing with Ellie in his arms. "Well, there we go." he said, grinning and glancing over at Moira, returned to her human form. Gently, Kai set Ellie back on her feet, and looked her up and down, checking for anything amiss, any clothing that had slipped or anything else really. Not noticing anything, Kai put his second Trench Knife into the sheath with its twin. With that, he sat down, looking up at Ellie. "So, now that the old hag is down, whatcha wanna do? She'll find her way back soon enough, so you wanna go hang out somewhere else?" It was a rather round about way of asking, but really Kai was asking Ellie if she wanted to go on what might be called a 'date', or at most a walk with some friendly conversation, and maybe, just maybe, some training together.

[Electra]

As they fell and with the ensuing blast of sheer magical energy flew in all directions, Ellie’s long blonde hair was lifted high above her head, and because of the situation they were in, she didn’t even notice. Usually, she would be fighting to pull it all down and cover the nape of her neck, but right now it was at the bottom of her list of priorities. Just how on earth had their attack done so much damage?! She knew that she was a weak mage in comparison to a lot she had seen on her travels, and although her companion was much stronger than her, they weren’t top-class mages by any stretch of the imagination. And yet, they had created… that.

She honestly didn’t know what to call it, and if only she knew of the immense power that they had both utilised together she would be much more impressed. The Unison Raid was a lost magic that relied entirely on deep latent bonds between people, and so many mages had tried and failed to perform the strange, powerful magic. Perhaps she would learn its importance and significance one day, even if it was currently lost on her for the time being.

Practically all of her attention was on the fact that they were falling, much faster than before because of her ‘smart’ move of holding onto her companion tightly. It had been an instinctive reaction that backfired rather badly, and yet, Kai didn’t seem fazed whatsoever. She shut her eyes tightly, her grip around the white-haired mage at her side tightening considerably as she anticipated a rather painful, bumpy landing. The young man she was holding stated that things might indeed be bumpy, telling her to hold on. Heck, he didn’t need to tell her twice! Because of her eyes being shut, the fact that they suddenly seemed to stop moving absolutely baffled her. Slowly, she cracked open one eyelid and saw that their fall had been stunted by something, and they landed on the ground without much of a hitch. She was still holding onto her companion tightly, looking in awe at the ground that had been so far away beforehand, and now… well, they were here and alive having not been squished from the impact somehow.

She realised that she had been gripping so tightly to Kai that he had to prise her off, and she hadn’t even realised that she had wrapped her legs around him for better protection from whatever had been waiting for them while they were falling. With a sheepish giggle, she set her feet down on the stable floor without much protest, even if it took her a little while to unlock her arms from their rigid position around her companion’s body. Upon being placed back down, she patted her body down to check for bruising, and made sure that everything about her outfit was still in place, returning Kai’s grin with a wide one of her own.

He proceeded to sit down on the floor to look up at her, something she felt rather strange after having to look up at him otherwise. She quite liked this ‘feeling tall’ malarkey. She couldn’t help but laugh when the white-haired mage stated that Moira was an old hag, but it was rather obvious that the woman wouldn’t be getting back up for a while. Kai proposed that they could go and hang out somewhere else because their opponent would soon wake up again, and left the decision up to Ellie. She blinked wide-eyed, raising a hand to rub the back of her head thoughtfully, ignoring her current ‘wind-blown’ look as her curly, wild hair had become… even wilder. “We could go further into the forest or something! That way we won’t be disturbed by anyone, let alone Ms. Weird-form-lady over there.” She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of Moira who was still down for the count. A cheeky smile was spread on her lips at the prospect of being alone with her companion, and she had greater plans in mind too.

“If you don’t mind, of course, we could do some training together or something.” She suggested casually, shrugging her shoulders and folding her arms across her chest briefly, as if to let him reflect on the decision. Before he could answer yes or no, however, she reached down for his arm and yanked him up to his feet, taking off at a gleeful run with delighted laughter leaving her lips. “So c’mon, slow poke!” She teased playfully, turning her head and sticking her tongue put at him as a prompt for him to kinda hurry the hell up. She liked to take charge of things…

[Kai]

As Kai looked up to Ellie he found himself exploring her curves as she chatted with him, remembering that first night, when she had responded so oddly to him staring at her breasts. And even now, he couldn't resist the urge to look her up and down. However, he was still paying attention, and laughed when she referred to Moira as 'Weird-form-lady'. He had forgotten that she was less versed in the types of magic than he was, a point that he had no doubt would come up often in the future.

Before long, Ellie got to the point he had hoped for, she indeed wanted to go deeper into the forest, as well as train. Well, he couldn't object to that, not when he had asked for it himself, and even if he hadn't, he would reject an invitation to train with Ellie. She was far too fun, far too compatible, and far too beautiful to turn down. So, when she reached down and grabbed his arm, he moved to make it easy for her to pull him up. Quickly she took of running, laughing with that delightful trill of hers. Of course she called back to him and teased him, just as she had done when she caught him looking at her chest. "Right, right." he replied, touching his toes in warm-up. He was an athletic mage, it was required for a good requip mage without strength increasing armor. And though he did have a set that did that, he still kept his body in peak physical shape. And with that, he was perfectly suited to run and catch up with Ellie. And yet, he had quite the idea, one which was cheeky enough to entertain Ellie.

Straightening up, Kai pretended to yawn before moving into a starting position, his armor still had enough charge for a few more bursts, and he could easily overtake all but the fastest runners with that. With an intense stare at the forest ahead of Ellie, Kai pushed off with his back foot firing off a burst from the same foot, causing him to rocket forward. Leaving a small crater behind him, Kai blasted towards Ellie, the wind whipping behind him. He pushed off with his front foot, firing another burst, now passing Ellie and looking back, his own tongue stuck out. Of course, he only flew ahead about ten feet before standing and waiting for her.

Once she caught up he would lead her further into the forest, holding her hand as they went. He knew she might turn it away, after all she had no recollection of his admission of feelings for her. He was determined though, and would hold her hand so long as she did not shake him off. As they walked he thought about just what he would need to do to let her know of his feelings, for a second time. He couldn't let her get swooped off her feet by someone else, not now that he was determined to gain her love.

They ventured deep into the forest, where Kai knew there was an even more protected glade, one where he had practiced by himself often in the last three years. Here was their destination, where they would train away from prying eyes. Here they could be open and free, here they could speak their minds and only they would know the contents. Here, he could tell her once again of his attraction to her.

He would release her hand now and walk to one side of the glade, requipping out of the Burst Armor and back into his black leather armor, along with the Southern Set, his twin swords from before. He turned to face the girl he sought after, moving into a fighting stance and ready to play. "Shall we dance?" he questioned playfully.

[Electra]

Ignorance was bliss, it seemed, as the blonde was completely unaware of her companion admiring her womanly curves. Ellie was just so happy that she had met Kai again that everything else seemed rather immaterial, aside from wishing to impress him with her skills. Her strength was something she took rather seriously indeed, especially since finding out about her magical leaning at a young age. It had been the only way to fight back against anybody or anything that threatened her, even if most of the time it did little to stop bad things happening.

She pushed such depressing thoughts from her mind, however, as she focused solely on the young man in her company. She glanced back over her shoulder, still laughing delightedly as she saw that the white-haired mage seemed to be… stretching. Wasn’t he going to chase her like she wanted him to? All of a sudden, he crouched down into a starting sprint position, turquoise eyes focused dead ahead determinedly. ‘Holy crap! This doesn’t look good!’ The blonde thought, upping her casual running pace to a much more appropriate sprint, not wishing to get caught so easily. She heard the ground behind her give way, cracking in a telltale sign that something powerful had pushed off against it. She didn’t even have time to look over her shoulder and check what was happening before Kai’s figure passed her in a blur of speed, easily overtaking her.

He even had the audacity to stick his tongue out at her in return, and simply stop ten feet away as if it was an easy win. Hell, he should have completed it all with a casual blow across his nails, like an artist might do if they were cocky about their work. That being said, Ellie would be more inclined to do that, as her arrogance knew no bounds when provoked.

“Hey! That was a running race and you cheated!” She shouted at him while catching up, pouting and furrowing her brow slightly in a mocking kind of irritation. She wasn’t truly annoyed whatsoever, and in fact she found it rather funny. She reached his side with her chest rising and falling, although she was not particularly tired, she was mainly… exhilarated. When Kai made a move of taking her hand, she received it without hesitating, wrapping her small hand around his larger one. It was rather strange how she practised Destruction magic, and her hands were so small and soft despite her chosen craft.

They didn’t have to walk far to find another clearing, this one much quieter and smaller than the one before. The trees kind of swept into the centre, creating a serene atmosphere where they wouldn’t be disturbed, she was sure of it. A smile brightened her face while she looked curiously around the area they had entered, knowing that this was somewhere that her companion must come to since he had led the way, after all. After being drunk on the first night of meeting the Fairy Tail mage, she was unable to recollect what happened the morning afterwards, but her memories began to return, albeit slowly and fragmented, the soberer she became. Just thinking of what he had told her made her heart pump faster and louder in her chest, so much so that she wouldn’t be surprised if Kai heard it. Had he been truthful, or had the alcohol he had consumed taken its influence instead? She wasn’t sure, and she didn’t want to get her hopes up either.

Judging by the fact that he hadn’t solidified what he said to her that night with any further comments, she assumed that he hadn’t meant what he said. She was acting tough about this realisation, but it really hurt deep inside as she knew that her feelings for this young man were beyond something of a fling. She was, however, a typical tsundere type; never admitting to anything romantic, including the feelings she had for somebody, and fighting it every step of the way.

Upon reaching the picturesque glade, her companion let go of her hand and walked his own way, stopping opposite her and equipping a new armour, or rather, one she had seen before. The white-haired mage playfully suggested that they dance, a common saying used for sparring or fighting in a teasing fashion. Ellie rolled her eyes, slipping into a fighting stance of her own; supporting leg pushed back with the other forward, and both arms held loosely with clenched fists at each side. “Ladies first.” She stated in a sweet tone of voice, tilting her head to the side innocently before springing into action. Her lithe body went from stationary to frantic in little more than a second, and she was dashing at her now-opponent/ love interest preparing a spell to launch. She held out both hands, leaping gracefully into the air and flipping over twice before slamming both palms onto the ground in front of her.

By this point, she was close to Kai, possible within five or ten feet, if he hadn’t already moved. The spell took effect immediately, and a harsh chemical hissing sound split through the air as the earth was burnt and broken apart beneath them in a thirty feet diameter. Any chance to show off, and Ellie was all over it.

SPOILER: Click to show

ABILITY NAME: Erosion of Earth
ABILITY RANK: Novice
ABILITY TYPE/PINNED: Destruction
ABILITY DESCRIPTION: By powering destruction magic to her hands, Ellie can transfer from her point of touch to the ground and cause erosion to afflict earthen terrain. It burns in a thirty feet diameter from the point where the caster is stood and causes the ground to crumble and collapse. Those who come into contact with the erosion will experience chemical burning sensations, and if they fall into the area affected where the ground is corroded, they will be subject to typical blunt impact of the loose earth.
DURATION: 2 turns
COOLDOWN: 2 turns

[Kai]

When Ellie caught up to him, seemingly indignant with his 'cheating' he simply laughed and reached out, ruffling her hair the way he did his sister's when they were growing up. It had been a long time coming, but Kai's heart, which had so long had holes in it, was feeling somewhat whole once more, and all because of this girl, this girl who, despite all odds, was still in his town for whatever reason. And that would let them come together often he predicted.

---

In the glade he stood in the position of an experience sword fighter, his weight balanced, his swords not to far from his body to offset him, and his feet wide to create a strong base. Ellie quickly made to her spot, making a coy comment at him before rushing into action. She ran at him, and yet, he didn't move, he watched her go, reading her movements. She was fast and agile, closing the distance between them quickly and acrobatically flipping through the air. It was when she made her jump that Kai began to move. Being a destruction mage Ellie would have a number of options of attack, Kai inferred. She would have close range attacks, like the one she used on Moira, and likely an area of effect attack or two. There was one way to avoid both types of attacks, and that was by getting out of range.

As Ellie moved through the air, Kai backpedaled, running backwards as Ellie hit the ground with both of her palms. It was a good thing he did, because immediately after Ellie had struck the ground it began to fall away, quickly catching up to Kai as he moved back. The earth below him was nearly at his feet when he managed to find solid ground once again, the only injury from Ellie's attack being that the toe of his boot, which had been caught on the edge of the spell, was burned away, showing his exposed foot inside. "Damn, that was my only pair like that!" he called out with a mock frown. "Alright then, how about a little taste of my magic?" Flipping the swords in his grip, Kai stabbed the ground with both of them, causing a bolt of lightning to fly through the ground, throwing the loose earth high in the air as it went. Aimed right at Ellie, the lightning would be closely followed by Kai, who would be aiming to close the distance between them while Ellie ran or fought his spell.

Each blade was now crackling with electricity, which flickered and threw frightening shadows over Kai's face in the dark gloom of the glade. A determined and slightly demented looking grin crossed his face as he ran, intimidation was often a blade stronger than steel, though he did question if he could intimidate Ellie when she was such a headstrong girl. In any case, he was ready to fight close distance now, and his swords were charged as the lightning in the ground was. Moving with the prowess of a Braavosi Water-Walker, Kai aimed to close in on Ellie and attack with his blades. However, he wouldn't aim to cut her, not in the slightest, instead he would toy with her a bit, if possibly, slipping on of his blades under he guard and catching her leg on the blunt edge of one of the spikes that came from the side of the blade. He would aim to trip her, and send her to the ground gracefully and hopefully unharmed. "A beautiful lady you may be, but that matters little in the time of sparring! he called out cheekily.

[Electra]

SPOILER: Click to show

She landed crouched like a feline, and if she did indeed sport ears and a tail, they would imitate her current tense demeanour. Ellie loved fighting and everything about it, especially since it gave her the opportunity to exercise her skills and make herself better in the long run. She lifted her head from the ground quickly, finding the spot where her target had fled to. Damn, he had completely avoided her spell! Well… give or take. He had been caught on the toe of his boot, something that he didn’t seem all too happy about. It was playful banter, however, something that she was not unfamiliar with. As soon as Kai had mentioned his boot being burnt by the chemical destructive energy, he was already moving into action with showcasing some of his own magic.

He caused a large surge of lightning to tear up the ground, and it was heading right for her; as offensive spells often did, believe it or not. She waited until the last moment to dodge out of the way, leaping to her feet and twisting her body to avoid the torn up earth and lighting heading her way, landing on the balls of her feet as she was ready to address any other pressing matters at hand. This was namely Kai, wielding his blades that crackled loudly with electricity while he charged at her in the wake of his initial spell. She barely took any notice of the strange grin plastered across her opponent’s face and instead paid more heed to the live blades that he was wielding. Now those would hurt if they made contact and sliced her, she knew that much, and she would have to do something to ensure that Kai couldn’t get too close to her, all the while mixing up her spells to keep him on his toes.

As he drew closer still, he shouted that it didn’t matter whether she was beautiful or not when they were in the midst of a spar, and that seemed to spark an idea in her mind. She always thought of the most unconventional, off-the-wall methods ever formulated by a human mind, but somehow, they always managed to work. She raised both hands, taking hold of her cropped shirt and pulling it up over her head, removing the black straps and collar in the process. Unbeknownst to Kai, more than likely, she was wearing a thick binding of bandages around her chest avoided anything to be seen, but they were the same colour as her shirt so it might be confusing to his eyes as he was still a safe enough distance away (and gaining quickly, she noted). “Oh, it’s just… getting so hot, don’t you think?” She cooed in a distressed tone, fanning her face with one hand as she stood purposefully presenting her almost exposed chest to her opponent.

What was wrong with using a woman’s wily charms in battle? Nothing had been said about it being against the rules, after all, so Ellie would use any and every trick in the book to give her an upper hand. A huge smirk grew wide on her face as she clasped her hands tightly together into fists, mimicking the way she was honing her magical power inside her body. She unclenched her fists and pushed them out to the sides, making the sizeable extras bounce rather nicely. And in the same movement, a great amount of stored heat energy was expelled from her body in a spherical direction.

“Oops… looks like it really is getting rather… hot…” She placed a finger to her cheek and winked, teeth slightly gripping her bottom lip in a pleasing manner as she bent over with her chest pushed forwards in between her arms.

SPOILER: Click to show

ABILITY NAME: Scorch Wave
ABILITY RANK: Novice
ABILITY TYPE/PINNED: Destruction
ABILITY DESCRIPTION: Focusing her magic to a centre point in her body, Ellie will release it in all directions, creating a wave of burning energy that effects anybody in range (thirty feet diameter). It travels at 20mph. This ability inflicts burn damage on those affected.
DURATION: 2 turns
COOLDOWN: 2 turns

[Kai]

Ellie was quite agile to say the least, Kai had to admit that she was pretty good at adjusting to attacks on the fly. She had been nearly stationary, crouched on all fours, and had only dodged his lightning attack at the last second, which alone was an impressive feat for someone who hadn't seen magic like Kai's before. And as she stood there, and Kai continued running, a spark seemed to ignite behind her eyes, Kai could see it in the way they seemed to glow with anticipation as he neared. However, the idea that had spawned was one that he hadn't been expecting whatsoever.

He was still a reasonable distance away when Ellie reached into the air, grabbing her shirt along the way and pulling it up over her head. At first, Kai believed that her upper torso was now completely bare, something which was both puzzling and intriguing, and caused his eyes to widen and his face to suddenly feel hot. But, when she tossed the shirt and buckles aside he saw that she had a large number of bandages wrapped around her chest as some sort of support. He quickly shook his head to clear the fuzzy feeling that had surfaced, as well as chase the blood out of his cheeks. It was just after he had cleared his thoughts when Ellie assumed a pose and spoke in a distressed tone. The pose she had taken was one which presented her chest in a way that was most certainly intentional, and now that she mentioned it, Kai was feeling a little hot in the face and chest. He knew what she was doing now, and he knew he shouldn't fall for it, but she was just too good at it and he far too attracted to her to fight it.

He continued to run, his cheeks a very visible red, and grimaced in spite of his pleasure at seeing more of Ellie's body than every before. Suddenly, when he was nearly on top of her, she changed stances, holding her fists as her sides and then throwing them outwards. Of course Kai noticed the bounce the motion caused, and that moment of hesitation made him realize only too late that an attack was coming his way. The heat wave caught him off guard, hitting all of his unexposed body and send him backwards and to the ground. He slid backwards as the sphere expanded and came to rest underneath a break in the trees where some of the little sunlight that lit the glade spilled through. The first thing he felt was the pain of burns covering his face, forearms, and exposed toes. The second was the insane desire to laugh at the sight of Ellie acting sultry with her charms.

Kai's list of interests wasn't very long, however, it did include Ellie for sure, and this made him a bit reluctant to use the magic he had learned long ago. It was powerful, and it was known only to a few as it was a lost magic, and yet, he wanted to give her a show, after all, she was giving him one. Gasping at the pain that he felt from the burns covering his body, Kai looked up at the opening int he trees, at the light falling through and onto his body. Once the pain was starting to subside, he opened his mouth and began to inhale, and as he did the glade grew dark as the light that came through the break of the trees faded. As he 'ate' the burns covered themselves in new skin and he felt the energy returning to him. He continued to inhale as he pushed himself off the ground and brushed himself off. But the time he was back on his feet, the burns were mostly healed, feeling a little raw, but not too bad.

Returned to fighting condition, Kai looked determinedly at Ellie, an intimidating grin aimed at her. He would tone this down a bit, but still show her what he could do. He put his feet into a wide stance and pulled his arms back, inhaling deeply through his nose. He could feel it, the power building inside him again, rekindled after little use for a long time. In his mouth a ball of light formed, growing larger and larger, until his cheeks were puffed out to contain it. Throwing his forward, Kai opened his mouth, and from it, a white beam fired from his gaping maw, blasting through the clearing, right at Ellie. It was only a two feet wide now, but it would grow once it was past where Ellie stood, to 20 feet wide, creating a hole in the trees identical to another that was in the clearing. Kai closed his mouth once the beam was fired, wiping away a little drop of drool that had gathered at the corner of his mouth. "Roar of the Light Dragon."

SPOILER: Click to show

ABILITY NAME: Roar of the Light Dragon
ABILITY RANK: C
ABILITY TYPE: Light Dragon Slayer Magic
ABILITY DESCRIPTION: After taking a large inhale, Kai fires a highly concentrated beam of light, a laser if you will, from his mouth. The beam can be up to 20 feet wide and travels for 130 feet before dissipating. It can be brought down to as little as two feet wide to extend its range to 150 feet.
DURATION: 1 turn
COOLDOWN: 2 turns

[Electra]

To say that she was satisfied with the effects of her ‘distraction’ would be an understatement in itself. Ellie continued to flaunt and make the most of her nearly exposed chest, realising that if the bandaging came loose, well… Kai was in for even more of a show, it would seem. Of course she would try and make sure this didn’t happen, but it was hard in a battle to stop such things because, well, one’s attention would be on the spar at hand. She knew that much, and she began to subconsciously worry about the bandaging unwinding, especially since she had thrown her cropped shirt too far away for her to easily reach it.

She could see the glowing redness on her sparring partner’s face; it was hard to miss, after all, glowing brightly almost like a beacon. In all honesty, she found his reaction rather adorable. Had he honestly never seen a woman’s breasts before, or was just naturally flustered by such things? The blonde had grown up with a mass of perverted male ‘friends’ and she was used to the banter, the actions and the teasing that went with it. They had taught her pretty much all she needed to know about the lack of innocence that many would call whorish, and because her mother was never present in her life, Ellie grew up with teenage boys as her role models since she would rather hang herself than have her father as somebody to look up to. Something was bound to go wrong somewhere, and it was wrong on so many levels that she could perform such actions without even the slightest hint of embarrassment.

The heat wave had hit him square on, both to her delight and terror. She was delighted because her attack had actually worked this time, but she was scared of hurting Kai. That being said, she knew that he was strong and that was probably nothing compared to what he was used to. He was probably dealt worse by that Moira lady, who was still unconscious and obviously not coming around any time soon. He fell backwards and skidded into a patch of exposed sunlight from the thick tree canopies above, and she started forward a couple of steps to check and see if he was okay. He got to his feet and looked up at the sunlight streaming down on him, and she couldn’t help noticing how… attractive he seemed in such a pose with his hair highlighted brightly and turquoise eyes alive with brightness. And then, he did something rather strange.

Kai opened his mouth and inhaled deeply, seeming to suck the light out of the glade. What was stranger, was how his visible burns were healing. He directed his attention at her and grinned determinedly, as if saying ‘Hey, look at me, I’m so much stronger than I originally let on’. Ellie knew she was in trouble the moment he positioned himself in a wider stance, drawing something from the air around him as a great ball of light glowed in his open mouth. When the spell was charged, it flew from his mouth like a bright white laser, and… it was barrelling straight at her.

She let out an undignified squeak in surprise and brought her arms up to cover the back of her head instinctively, dropping to the ground to avoid the ensuing destruction. What she didn’t bear in mind was the fact that the beam grew in range the further it travelled, and while she was falling to the floor to avoid it, it clipped both of her shoulders and sent her flying back into a rather (in)conveniently placed tree. She opened her eyes slowly upon realising that she had closed them at the impact, and groaned as she pushed herself up to her feet. Damn, that had impacted HARD! Her shoulders felt a little scorched and badly bruised, and she was unaware of them bleeding down her back.

“Oi! You didn’t mention anything about that! You cheated, you cheated!” She claimed like a child, pushing herself forwards from the tree trunk (which had bowed slightly in the middle from the speed of the blonde’s impact). She grabbed hold of her long hair and pulled it forward over one shoulder, leaving the back of her neck covered but exposing her bleeding shoulders.

[Kai]

"Eh...maybe I overdid it..." reflected Kai as he watched Ellie duck frantically to dodge his roar. Contemplation turned to shock which turned to terror when he saw that even with her dodge down to the floor the shot had caught her shoulder blades, picking her up and trowing her backward into a particularly stalwart tree. Light blue eyes grew wide and before he knew it he was rushing to her aid, running and fearing the worst. He hadn't meant to hit her with it, just shock her a little and if she was injured, or worse...dead, then what was he supposed to do? He hadn't used the spell in years, so perhaps that was why he hadn't as fine of a control over it as he had thought?

She had fallen to the ground and he didn't see any signs of...He let off a sigh of relief as he saw he pushing herself to her feet, groaning. Kai was still running to the girl whom he loved and feared he had hurt badly though inadvertently. "Ellie!" He was now close enough to her to see that she hadn't sustained as much damage as he had thought, but had left a sizable dent in the tree from impacting. Then, she opened her mouth, and neither a scream of agony or fear came from it, but rather an accusation of cheating. This was something that Kai hadn't expected. Perhaps a cry of fear of what he was, or maybe a shriek of pain, despite Ellie being very strong in Kai's regard, but definitely not another accusatory cry of him cheating. Though, as he thought about it, Ellie was the type to focus on that sort of thing rather than the injuries sustained...

As she walked towards him she pulled her hair to her front, revealing that he hadn't just blown her back, but had caught her shoulders enough to make them bleed. Kai paled at the sight. He wasn't squeamish, blood had little effect on him, even his own blood, but for some reason, and he thought he knew why, the sight of Ellie's blood coming from the wounds on her shoulders made him queasy. Quickly he ran behind Ellie and in the bushed lining the clearing, he wretched, spewing what had been that morning's breakfast on the ground before him.

Once it was all out, he returned to the glade to stand beside Ellie, some color returning to his face as he avoided looking at her shoulders. "First off. It wasn't cheating. You never asked if I could use anything other than Requip magic, so I never told you. Just because you didn't know about it doesn't mean that using it is cheating. Second, we should go back to the guild and get those wounds bandaged up, and uh..." Kai stopped mid sentence, as he had just noticed something. As the attack had hit Ellie's shoulders and a bit of her back, the bandages wrapped around her chest had been partially ripped, and a few had slid off, revealing a little of what Kai had coveted on that first night they had met. In contrast to the lack of color he had sported at the sight of Ellie's blood, a flood of red rose up again in his face, and now with the addition of a small trickle coming out of his nose.

Quickly looking away he finished what he had been saying, "Also uh...you might wanna put your shirt back on, and uh, get some new bandages for your chest..." He pinched his nose, trying to staunch the nosebleed. He was less worried now that Ellie was showing clear signs of being okay, but still, in hindsight he felt he really shouldn't have used his Dragon Slayer magic so recklessly.

[Electra]

In all honesty, Ellie was used to worse injuries than the ones she had sustained from her friend’s latest attack. She circled her left arm round to work off the ache it had, groaning a little but otherwise not complaining much. Her tolerance of pain was much higher than the average person’s, what with her father’s damned actions when she was a mere child, and to her, this was nothing more than ‘a scratch’. That was why she felt so confused as to why Kai seemed concerned about her, and wondered why on earth he rushed past her into the bushes behind them.

That was when she heard him… wretch? Was he throwing up back there? She turned with her eyes wide as the white-haired mage walked back from the bushes, colour returning to his face to make him look better than he had done previously. She noticed how he couldn’t look at her shoulders for some reason or another, and when she glanced down at her left shoulder, she could see the steady flow of blood dripping down. Upon seeing it, she merely shrugged and gave it an indifferent look, as if to say ‘Eh, had worse’. Kai proceeded to say that he didn’t cheat, and that he had never said anything about not using a different magic than the one she knew about, something that made the blonde grin and giggle to herself. When he trailed off in his sentence about getting the wounds she had sustained cleaned up, she simply shrugged and moved over towards him, placing a strong hand on his shoulder and patting him roughly with the same boisterous smirk tugging on her lips.

“You worry too much!” She told him cheerily, placing her other hand on her hip. “I was joking about you cheating, by the way. It just caught me off-guard! That’s some power you’ve got there.” She nodded sagely, whistling through her slightly parted lips as she remembered back to the impact she had made against the tree from being clipped by a single attack. “Maybe just a little more than my own.” She joked, winking at him.

She noticed that his eyes were elsewhere, and she followed his gaze down to her improvised shirt of bandage bindings. Huh… looked like the beam had caught her back and singed through a few of the bandages to leave them a little looser. They had only come loose at the top and bottom, revealing (a lot) more cleavage and a lower part of both breasts. She gave him a quizzical look, wondering what his problem was with this. Kai blushed insanely and pinched his nose to stop a nosebleed, something that made Ellie laugh. “They’re only boobs!” She claimed, obviously not understanding why anybody would be bothered about seeing such lumps of flesh. Hell, if it wasn’t inappropriate, she would actually walk around with them on full display and not feel embarrassed about it.

She did, however, take his advice and pick up her cropped shirt from the ground. She dusted it off and pulled it back over her head, adjusting her breasts for them to sit comfortably before dusting herself down. The wrapping at her skirt had come loose as well, probably from the impact as the straps hadn’t been singed at all. She undid them and re-did them quickly, tying a tight bow at her left hip where the skirt was tied in place. “And I’m absolutely fine. No need for any bandaging on my shoulders! C’mon Kai, bring it on, I’m still ready to fight!” She playfully launched a soft punch at his arm before tackling herself straight into him. Her shoulders had stopped bleeding now, and the blood began to dry and scab over. In many cases, Ellie was more man than woman, what with how she dealt with being injured…