Round 4: Reaver (Vee) VS. Druid (Fiona) - Judge Kicks

[Kicks]

When the players blinked their eyes the scene had completely changed before them. Possibly they had been knocked out to get here, or maybe someone had cast a spell. But where the players now were happened to be something that only astronauts could be capable of. They were in a space arena.

The arena itself was a clear cube as far as the eye could see. They were trapped within the arena. Outside the arena was nothing but stars. No moons, suns, planets, etc. The cube itself kept out solid objects.

It appeared that the cube provided them gravity, much like earth's gravity pull to the dirt they were to the bottom side of the stationary cube.

It was within this galaxy cube that the contestants would fight until an obvious winner was made.

There is no life within the arena, no dirt, nothing like the earth's crust. It's just a cube. Like being trapped within a box the length of half a football field.

The cube is solid. Once more, like being trapped inside of a box. It's solid, and they can't break through it until the cube dissipates by itself.

That being said, there is a limited amount of oxygen given that they are trapped inside of box in space.

No water, nothing like the earth atmosphere. Just pure oxygen. Like how you might be given pure oxygen in a hospital setting.

(After four posts each, the cube will fall apart and the players will be thrown into space to continue their battle.)

Important note: Extensions will be limited to emergencies only for this battle. You can still put in a request for one, but don't be surprised if your request is denied. This is quarter finals. It will be a challenge.

By the flip of a coin the Reaver shall go first.

[Mystress of Shadows]

Once again, Vee was made to remember remnants of her past. She was once again reminded of the man who stole everything from her: her life, her humanity, her soul. Ever since that day, that dreadful, miserable day, she lived as nothing more than a shell of herself, a slave to the blackening rage that kept her alive.

I want to feel.

But, she could feel. She could feel when she killed. That persistent rage was only ever replaced with glee as she watched other souls suffer and perish. The tender flesh of even her own kind twisting in unnatural ways beneath her claws, her strength, gave her a high like no other. She was superior to them. She was still surviving while they wallowed in the afterlife.

However, that high was only ever temporary. Like a waning candle flame, it always vanished from sight as quickly as it appeared. And with its disappearance, that inferno returned.


I want to feel alive.

To live instead of just survive.

And, in order to do so...

That’s all she wanted...

...I must continue to...

...and all she needed to do was...

...KILL.

And that was exactly what she would do to her next opponent, the one she now faced.

The petite gal looked so delicate that it caused Vee to frown. There wouldn’t be any challenge to defeating her; it wouldn’t give her the high she yearned for. What was more was that they were in an open area. There would be no places for this girl to run and hide to entertain Vee in the slightest. She would be forced to wait until the girl was screaming in terror and agony to enjoy herself.

Ah, but she refused to wait. She wished to hear her screams right then and there. She wished to hear the pleas for mercy and the sweet, sweet tearing of flesh from bone. She couldn’t wait, and she wouldn’t. Swiftly, she would bring this child to her knees in just one blow, and then, she wouldn’t have to wait.

A smirk played at the tips of her lips as she turned and ran towards the edge of the peculiar cube. As she neared it, she felt for the cover of darkness and drew it around her. At the edge of the cube, there was plenty of darkness from space to utilize, and with a flicker, she disappeared into the solitude of black.

Of course, she hadn’t left the cube. Space would kill her in an instant! No. Instead, she hung to the edge of the cube as she made her way towards her opponent. She was nimble, each fleeting footfall leaving no trace of sound, and within seconds, the pitiful girl was a mere meter from her. That was all that was necessary for her to strike first.

And she did. As swift as an owl swooping down towards its unprepared prey, Vee attempted to snatch the child by her ankle and pull her off of her feet. Her cloak would vanish after this maneuver no matter if it succeeded or not, but if it did go as planned, not a half second more would pass between the pull and her follow through where she would attempt to place a powerful strike with her claws extended towards the girl’s abdomen or back depending on which way she fell.

Though, she hardly expected the girl to be able to retaliate quickly against an invisible person. She planned to have the battle finished right then and there and enjoy her prize. She would enjoy her high as she had failed at receiving one in either of the two previous rounds.

[Megilwen]

Back in her cell after her fight against the dual wielding swords-woman, Fiona slept, curled around her little mouse friend. And as she slept, she dreamed. Dreams filled with nature. The sounds of nature. The smells of nature. The feel of nature. And the truth behind her nature. It reminded her of the depth of her will, of her focus. How with just a whim she could grow an entire oasis for the sole purpose of having an afternoon nap. Most of all it reminded her of her mischievous side.

Waking from her dream, the mouse awakes to and tickles at her fingers with its tiny feet. Holding it up to her face, she presses her nose against the tiny cold mouse nose, staring into its beady black eyes. “It’s time for the fun to start, love.”

---

When she next awoke, she found that her mouse friend and her cell were gone again. Meaning it was time. Time for another game. Another challenge. Another opponent. She was ready. She was going to enjoy the event. Really play for it what it was. A game. If anything Fiona was a Master of Play. A Master of Tricks.

Standing in this new arena, she saw the woman across from her. She could feel the danger she represented. So much more danger than the last woman. Her instincts screamed at her. She was a predator by nature. The top of the food chain, but there was something about this woman that caused a sharp fear to streak across her mind and for her heart to speed up. The woman before her was deadly. A cat to Fiona’s mouse. It was not a feeling she was used to nor a feeling she liked.

However, that was even pushed away when she realized what the other weird feeling was. She had always been in tune with nature, so much so that she rarely was without knowing where the earth was, where the water was, or without feeling a light breeze against her skin. Here in this new cage there was none of that. No comfort of home. No nature. No water. No earth. No wind. The air felt sharp in her nose and mouth, not even any moisture within the air. It tasted dead. It smelled dead. Though looking over at the woman across from her again. The smell of lingering death, could have been her.

Panic slowly sank in as she stared at the woman. Not so much because of the woman’s predatory gaze. No. It was solely due to the cavernous hole that sat in the back of her mind. The place where her connection to nature always was. Something that in times of trouble had always been there. A constant comfort. Gone. Nothing but a vast emptiness.

A sudden movement drew her eyes, the cube they were trapped in wasn’t large, maybe 50 yards in total so it wasn’t hard to miss the woman moving swiftly forward. However, what did cause Fiona pause, was when the woman disappeared. The box was clear, with light coming in from every angle and there was nothing to hide behind in this empty cube. She’d grown an oasis from nearly nothing before.

Suddenly a rainforest appeared from nowhere, filling the entire cube. The tops of the great trees brushed the top of the cube, a thick loam covering the floor, effectively blocking out the light from the stars. It still wasn’t like the truth. She could still feel the absence of nature, but seeing the lush trees she selfishly was able to pretend she was back hidden in the forest. Leaning her head, back she inhaled the smell of the wet earth that now filled the air. Here she was safe.

Safe until a hand closed around her ankle to pull her feet out from under here. At least, that would have been the case, had she still been there. As the clawed fingers closed about their prize, the once warm feeling flesh vanished in an instant and a childish giggle echoed from somewhere in the forest.

“What’s wrong NightWalker? Your tasty treat disappear on you?” Another giggle from behind a nearby tree as she taunted the creature. She’d been close enough to get a good look at the woman. Recognizing her for what she was in an instant. She did appreciate the creatures. They were the apex predator. Responsible for thinning humanity, who were slowly encroaching on and destroying her home.

Soft footsteps rustled in the undergrowth, as Fiona darted around through the trees. Her giggles echoing all around the woman. Green eyes flashed first from one shadowy place and then another, until it seemed like green eyes danced mockingly all around. Fiona was no mouse.

[Mystress of Shadows]

The spider wasn’t as quick as she thought she was, and she had been outsmarted by a butterfly. Indeed, as Vee was thrust into new surroundings once again, this tiny girl she now fought was a butterfly. Her beautiful wings had carried her away from her inevitable death, their colors teasing the predatory creature analyzing every detail around her.

Here, she found herself in a jade forest, dim and claustrophobic. Damp earth glistened in the limited light like crystals, just as the trees loomed over her. And yet, it still seemed silent and abandoned. They were still alone in the web, the spider and the butterfly. The butterfly who continued to struggle against the sticky strands and taunt the spider.

Maybe this girl will prove to be some fun after all.

That was the first thought Vee had. In what she could recall, it had been a long time since she had been tricked, and the fact that she was tricked allowed Vee to feel a trickle of respect for the creature. That is, before she realized what this creature was.

The mischievous attitude, the animalistic behavior, the connection with nature; it all lead to one conclusion.

A druid. Yes, that was what she was. She was no normal mortal. She was not like the weakling she had faced in the previous round, the mouse. She was the butterfly. A trickster. A tricky prey for a spider such as herself. Because of this, there was a certain fondness of the child that dared to show itself within Vee’s heart.

However, that mere droplet was immediately washed away in the torrent that followed it. A bubbling, boiling torrent of the deepest hatred and envy.

For, this spider, this survivor, was nothing more than abandoned. A freak with extra parts to be shunned by all.

Even by those who love all else.

Druids, those self-centered toddlers! The very mention of their existence caused her eyes to become daggers, and her hatred steroids rather than fuel. They dared to accept the predators of the wild. They dared to accept those who were too weak to do anything. They dared to accept and love all of nature.

Except the freaks. They would never accept a spider who had become so twisted with parts exchanged for others.

Weak. Fear makes them weak.

That’s what she would have liked to believe. She wanted to believe they were only scared for their safety, but she knew better. Anyone who would pet a lion did not fear for their life! They were self-centered, and superficial. Kindness only gave way to betrayal. That’s how they worked.

She would rip the wings from the butterfly who dared to show her colors. She would squash the false righteousness from her before anything else. She would not allow a hypocrite to fly free.

Let us watch your world come tumbling down, little insect.

Yes, this fake world needed to go. Vee knew all along it was fake. While she was not one with nature as her butterfly was, she knew a trick when she saw one. After all, she was a Mistress of Tricks herself, crafting web after web to snatch the life of anybody who dared to cross her.

The forest towering over her was well-crafted, but it was only strong in sight. The smell and touch would fool a normal foe, but to someone who had experience in such things, they were off. They were fake, a simulation. And simulations were her thing. Not the girl’s.

“You want to play a game?” she called out to her escapee. “Okay, I’ll oblige. Let’s play a game of tag.” A devilish smirk appeared as she stood straight and still in the middle of the fabricated forest, waiting for the terror to begin. “Better start running.” Running from yourself.

The spider was casting the first strand of her web. The butterfly was just as fake as the dim forest she had conjured, and Vee would bring that to light by revealing her cowardly nature.

You can’t run nor hide from your darkest nightmares, but let’s see you try. Let me see you fight what isn’t real.

[Megilwen]

“A game! I love games!”

Fiona giggled while skipping and scampering through her dark forest. The sounds echoing around the trunks of the trees as her eyes flashed from the shadows. It was only after a few minutes that she realized that the woman wasn’t playing with her and instead just standing in the middle of the think loam. The girl stopped in her tracks on the other side of the woman with a petulant pout on her face.

Why wasn’t she playing? She said she wanted to play!

The girl stomped her foot angrily as she watched the woman through the trees. Standing there looking so smug. Like a cat that got the canary. She’d tricked her, escaped from her grasp and yet the vampire just stood there.

How dare she agree to play and then not give chase?

Fiona didn’t like being the one played and she felt a trick in the works. The look on the woman’s face screamed secrets. Before Fiona could really think on it, another thought came pressing through her mind and her imagination generated forest faded from view.

It was slow at first, just the tops of the trees fading, looking blurry along the edges. She couldn’t feel the trees, couldn’t feel the earth. She could feel nothing of the earth. A large gaping hole in her mind. A black hole. It sucked all feeling and thoughts from her mind. The panic from earlier returning. Her large doe eyes widened as the thick trunks of the trees become transparent as the starlight pierced through the illusion.

Her forest was disappearing. So much like the forests of the earth. As humans came through harvesting the trees, leaving nothing but bare, dead fields. She was trapped, with no place to hide, nowhere to run anymore with her forest gone. Standing there Fiona looked like a young gazelle. She stood still, frozen like the gazelle that watched and listened for the predator that it couldn’t see. Except Fiona could see what was hunting her. She could see the devious grin and the look in her eyes as she plotted her next move.

All the girl’s muscles were tense as she waited for the woman to move first. She was the prey waiting for her hunter to attack. She was on the defensive. Not knowing where to run or even where she could hide the girl waited. She had nothing to fight with. No place to hide in the empty cube. And her fear ate at her. Was it finally her time after all these years?

Suddenly the girl’s head cocked to the side as if curious. She couldn’t die. She was immortal. A dryad. She feared nothing, no animal, no beast, no monster. The most she feared was the destruction of Mother Nature. It was clear there was no nature here. So why had her heart been pumping so quickly? And why were her legs trembling as if barely able to hold herself up?

“Ohhhh. You’re a tricky one!” She laughed with a giggle as she reached back to the wooden staff on her back picking a piece of the bark from it. Fiona played with the bark in her fingers, it was warm still almost like it still held life. She could feel its connection to the nature so far away and smiled softly before she flicked the piece of bark toward the Vampire.

As it flew the distance between them, Fiona used her power and the piece of bark suddenly grew in all directions at an alarming rate. Branches shooting out toward the woman in all directions like grasping hands, meant to wrap her in a wooden coffin or to impale her through the heart.

[Mystress of Shadows]

Foolish.

As the lithe girl slipped between the trees in a seemingly gleeful way despite her position, that was the one thought that echoed through Vee’s head. The girl was naive, so consumed in the thought that this was a game that she didn’t realize her impending doom! She was taunted by the strongest creature of the night, and she laughed!

As the vermin continued to race through the trees, Vee waited with high anticipation for the time when her oh so perfect world would disappear into fear and confusion. And, as it always did, it arrived. The child eventually stopped to stare in confusion at Vee’s stillness, but her face was soon contorted with fear. Whatever she was seeing, the result was exactly what she wanted. The strand of her web had successfully been cast, and was now winding itself around its prey.

Slowly, the forest began to fade. The emerald leaves coating the cube with hazy light slowly slipped into oblivion with the dewy earth following shortly behind. No more forest meant she was in charge again.

There won’t be any more pathetic tricks such as what she just pulled. I’ll make sure of it.

It was time to bring her to her knees, this time for real. There would be no running, and certainly no flapping of wings.

But, that wasn’t meant to be. The terrified insect appeared to snap out of the fake reality Vee had forced her to experience, and she was once again addressing her.

Why? Why must she be so persistent?

Ah, that’s right. She was facing a druid, a child. A child! A snobby, ignorant child. She was worse than a butterfly which would actually know what it was doing. This girl, this toddler, was pathetic, always thinking about nothing more than games.

And it made Vee’s blood boil. She watched as the girl fingered the staff slung over her back, and she could only think of how incredibly stupid the girl was. She was fighting nature’s one true imbecile.

However, before Vee could retaliate, the druid flicked something towards her, something that began to expand the instant it left her. The miniscule object erupted into a mass of tree limbs, all reaching for her, all attempting to reverse the spider’s web onto herself.

It succeeded. Within seconds, the scaly wood had restrained her within a new web, one she had not encountered before, but one with much irony. The druid had constructed a coffin for her. She had constructed a coffin for someone who had already died once but continued to live.

There was a distinct silence that came from the wooden coffin. Vee stayed there, wrapped in an uncomfortable blanket as she replayed thoughts in her head. It would not be surprising if the druid began to think she had died.

She’s winning. The child is winning. She’s making a fool out of me, and for what reason? She doing it because she thinks this is a game. The impudent wretch! Vile! Spoiled! Naive!

She wouldn’t stand for it! Her rage escalated with these thoughts of losing to the animal, and she felt herself gaining strength. Her nails began to extend, just as teeth did, both becoming much more deadly than before. With a great roar, Vee used her rage are a propeller, one that allowed her to shatter the wood with her strength. She fought the wood with all her might, ripping it, tearing it with her teeth and claws until it stopped moving, stopped growing. Her skin was covered in the wood’s dust and small cuts from the bark, but she didn’t noticed. Nothing would stop her.

Only then did she turn towards the girl. Her breathing was heavy as she glared at her prey, her teeth bared and nostrils flared.

“You think that life is all fun and games?” she growled, her voice deep with pain and anger. “Well then, would you like to tell me what it means to have fun without ripping someone into shreds and feasting on their life source? Tell me. What does it mean to be free of blinding rage? Tell me what it means to be happy! Tell me!”

Vee was quickly turning into nothing more than an animal. She was slowly being blinded by her incredible hatred for this being and her hatred that she was losing. And, though she wouldn't admit it to herself, she was being blinded by envy of the girl's joy. She had to win. She had to win! She had to win, and nothing was going to stop her!

[Megilwen]

The laughing grin stayed on Fiona’s face as she watched the wooden branches pin the Vampire in a sealed coffin. The irony of putting the woman in a coffin didn’t go over her head. That’s where the creature’s slept during the day after all. Right?

Fiona waited. The smile slowly fading as she began to grow bored. Surely a little wood box wouldn’t keep the beast trapped. It would be so disappointing if that was, in fact, the case. She’d been promised a game, but she was quickly losing interest in this fight.

And waited. Moving over to the wooden coffin of roots, Fiona knocked on the wood, pressing her ear against it to see if she could hear the woman through the wood.

And waited. Hearing no movement Fiona walked over to the edge of the cube and pressed her nose and hands against the clear wall, feeling a slight tingle from the magical energy there. Finding the a little interesting she poked at the barrier curiously, watching as the clear material sparked different colors as she touched it.

And waited. Running around the outside of the cube with one hand’s fingers running against the surface, Fiona created beautiful rainbows of sparkling colors that followed her dancing on and off. It was enough to entertain the girl for a little, but she quickly grew bored of that too.

And waited. Fiona glanced around wondering what she could do next and when she’d be set free of this prison, for she’d surely won at this point, when a scratching noise reached her ears. Excitement alighted her face. Maybe the Vampire hadn’t been taken down so easily. Watching and waiting, she could hear the clawing, the growling, and the roars. She clapped her hands together gleefully as the woman finally escaped her tomb.

Their game could continue!

However the woman speaking caused her to pause. She sounded angry. The game had been her idea and now she was upset that the game wasn’t going in her favor?

And everyone thinks I am a brat and prone to tantrums.

As she watched the woman, she noticed the changes as the Vampire was slowly losing herself to her emotions. Becoming more and more like the trapped animal that Fiona herself had felt before in the cell that they’d kept her locked. Locked away in except for these few times that these game masters had released her into the arenas. It pulled at her heart a little….but only a little.

“Life IS all fun and games.” She said standing there with her hands on her hips. “You have to find your own enjoyment out of life. I can’t tell you what it means for you to be happy. And it’s just ridiculous of you to think that I can.”

Fiona tilted her head to the side as she observed the woman. “You don’t accept your nature.” She said suddenly, making a realization as to what Vampire was really agree about and what was the difference between the two. Fiona accepted her nature as an immortal. As a Druid. But to her, it didn’t sound like Vee had accepted the nature of a Vampire.

“Your nature is to drink of your prey’s life source. Telling you to try and find joy elsewhere would be like telling a lion to not eat meat anymore.” Fiona laughed, her grin returning as she rocked on the balls of her feet, looking at the elongated long teeth and nails. She could tell it wouldn’t be long before the creature would come after her again. The look in her eyes was a hungry one. Hungry for that lifeblood, she seemed to hate and yet craved. The animal with in her would snap and the Game…the Chase would start again. Fiona was excited for that prospect, ready to run and play again. She knew the Vampire was quick, but she was willing to bet her life that she was faster.

[Mystress of Shadows]

Lies! They’re all lies!

It felt as though a chorus of voices screamed this out to her, telling her not to believe what she was being told.

What reason do you have to believe her? She knows nothing of the world. She knows nothing of fear and anger. Nothing of what it means to be used and tossed aside.

Yes, that was right. That was where her anger stemmed from, where it all came from. It was the undeniable anger that she had no choice in becoming what she became. It was the anger at her “creator” for forcing her transformation, for forcing her to become a monster for all eternity, a slave to the bloodlust that allowed her to live. The black flame was stronger than what most would ever come to experience. It was the flame of vengeance, the flame that grew stronger and darker with every passing day.

And accepting what she had become sounded like she would be giving up. She would be letting that man win. And she couldn’t allow anyone to be better than her. She needed the last word, the last laugh. Why else would she continuously search for her offender? She didn’t want to accept herself because of that.

You’d be stronger if you did. You’d be able to win if you did. Always. No one would be able to stop you, and all it takes is one word.

Did she dare do it? Would she stop resisting? Winning sounded so delectable a prize, and perhaps she would be in control. Maybe, just maybe, if she accepted who she was by nature, she would finally be able to track down her “creator” and end him once and for all.

In this series of thoughts, Vee’s struggle was apparent in her tense stance, and the confused scowl painting her features. She stared at the ground as slowly, her anger was ebbed and her nails and teeth shrank back to their normal size. Her face also shifted into a vulnerable one for just a moment as though she might begin to cry. Those bitter droplets, of course, were forbidden from showing themselves, and just as quickly as the vulnerability showed itself, it vanished into something of insanity.

A laugh, barely noticeable resounded in the arena as Vee pushed the hair out from in front of her face. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” This single statement was not meant for the druid, no matter what she might think. No, that statement was meant as her submission to her nature, her predatory instincts.

And it worked. She felt herself slipping, and she let herself. She would let her bloodlust drive her towards the win. She would let her instincts control her rather than strategy. She would not attempt to control every detail from the blood pumping through her veins to the next move of her opponent.

Let her come. Let her fight. We will break her in the end, but for now, let’s loose ourselves in the battle, yes?

“Yes, let’s.” With another soft laugh, she began to speak to the druid. “I do believe I had promised you a game,” she stated. “I’ll give you a five second head-start where neither of us use any tricks. Ready?” Here, she paused for a second before announcing quite clearly...

“1!”

Ready or not...

“2!”

Vee’s eyes raised a bit to follow the child’s movements as a grin of insanity slipped into her face.

“3!”

Here I come...

“4!”

Her eyes raised even more, and she prepared her stance as though she were starting a race.

“5!”

So, let us dance, yes?

And dance they would. As Vee launched herself forward, perhaps faster than she ever had before, the chase had begun for the spider to capture the butterfly before it escaped her once again or even won.

Each of their steps sparked as though the cube could sense their excitement and reacted to it just as their pulse did. Soon, that cube would be a waltz of colors until one side won. Soon enough, the battle would end with one side the victor. The open arena had officially become a web, albeit one constructed by a different spider, and for once, the butterfly had a chance to dominate the web rather than the spider.

[Megilwen]

Fiona watched the Vampire and waited, growing impatient and bored quickly with the constant wavering. She could see the war going on within the woman as she tried to decide what it was that she wanted. Whether to accept her true nature or not.

Silly thing! Doesn’t she understand already?

Fiona understood. There was no going back from a change like hers. Years ago, Fiona became a Druid. She accepted her immortality, embraced her decision to leave behind everything and everyone in order to live forever. Accepting meant being stronger. Accepting meant opening herself up to the earth and everything in it. A constant connection she could always feel, always use. The possibilities endless. Fiona had opened herself to what it meant to be a Druid and had grown because of it. As long as the Vampire continued to deny herself, she’d grow stagnate.

The tiny girl sighed and pouted, rolling her head around in boredom, looking though every face of the cube. All around the cube was the same thing. Up, Left, Right, Forward, Backward, Down. Just the same clear surface and a vast boring space. Tapping her foot against the floor she noticed the sparkling lights that appeared again as she placed pressure on the surface and a delighted smile crossed her face. Something to do! Something different!

Tapping individual toes, created different lights. Different pressures made the lights last longer. Fiona experimented and played, her boredom at being trapped in the box momentarily forgotten as she played and explored. So enthralled with the dancing lights, she nearly forgot about the Vampire until a quiet laugh broke her thoughts.

Green eyes glanced up to look at woman a slight surprise written on her face. Surprise, partly because she’d forgotten about the Vampire all together in her moment of play, and partly because of the laugh. A grin spread across Fiona’s face, quickly covering the surprise. She liked jokes. She wondered what the joke was. She wanted to know what was funny! However the woman didn’t offer the joke, didn’t share the reason for laughter with Fiona. She just told her she was right. Well of course she was right! She was ALWAYS right. People just seemed to forget that the girl was more than just that. Her body looked childish and sure, she behaved very childish, that didn’t mean she wasn’t wise as well. Children had a wisdom that most adults seemed to forget and when faced with Fiona’s child-like nature everyone only saw the way she looked. It was so frustrating!

“Of course I’m right!” Fiona responded with a stomp of her foot. “Why does everyone always seem surprised by that?!”

However before she could continue down that train of thought, it was pushed aside by the offer of a game.

FINALLY!!!

That’s all she’d been wishing for since she’d gotten stuck here. The Vampire was finally fulfilling the promise that she’d made what to Fiona felt like hours ago. When rightfully, it had probably only been a few minutes.

“I’ll give you a five second head-start where neither of us use any tricks. Ready?”

Fiona bounce on her feet itching to go, though she wasn’t really sure what a head-start would do for her. The space wasn’t THAT big to begin with, nor was there any place she could hide. The game was going to be simple and straight forward. A chase. The Vampire chasing the Druid. Predator trying to catch her Prey. Not that it would be easy of course, but no tricks. She didn’t like that rule. At least it was only for the first five seconds. At her core, Fiona was a trickster and to give up who she was now after lecturing the Vampire on “finding herself” would just be hypocritical.

“One!”

Fiona’s grin spread widely across her face as she nearly shivered in anticipation, dancing on the balls of her feet. The lights generated from the pressure sparkling hypnotically on the cube’s surface.

“Two!”

The girl saw the insanity slip across the woman’s face and new that this time would be for real. The Vampire was going to come at her with her whole being, instead of this Vampire pretending to still be a human.

“Three!”

She could feel the adrenaline rushing through her veins as she stood ready waiting for the countdown to finish. Part of her was curious as to who would be faster on the start. Fiona couldn’t stop the excited giggle that flowed from her lips.

“Four!”

She watched the woman crouch, ready to spring the moment she said five, and time seemed to slow. The girl watched the woman’s lips as they formed each syllable of the next word.

“Five!”

As the Vampire launched herself forward, so too did Fiona darting away and to the right. The monster was fast, but the girl believed she was faster. Their feet danced musically across the floor, the colors seeming to echo in a symphony of their own across the empty air. Running next to one of the walls, her thin, tiny fingers reached out adding to the music of the chase.

Running at an angle to one of the walls, Fiona hit the wall in front of her feet running against the wall of the cube for a few seconds before she pushed off acrobatically spinning through the air to land behind her pursuer to run in the direction she’d just came. Every step of her feet creating tiny stars as, she played with the woman. Sometimes she’d dart ahead and play along the walls, other times she’d just let her near enough to almost catch her before sprinting forward out of her reach again. It was an entirely separate game for Fiona, one with a whole other level of danger.

That was her problem. A simple game of cat and mouse, it was too boring for her. The same old, same old. Everyone wanted to catch the Druid, for one reason or another and she always got away. She always had another trick. Another surprise up her sleeve, so that when the chaser got too close, close enough to touch at the girl’s loose clothing, to grab at her arm, or to grab her leg…

Fiona shattered into a dozen hummingbirds, darting even more swiftly away toward the top of their prison. She was growing tired of their game.

[Mystress of Shadows]

The swirling colors, the rapid, complicated steps, the excitement radiating from both entities. This was a rare dance to be seen between predator and prey. It was not the delicate waltz, nor the playful tango. It was not the harsh hip-hop style, nor the graceful ballet. It was something much more intuitive, something much more primitive yet majestic where even one wrong step could destroy the perfect beauty of the battling instincts.

For Vee, every little detail of the dance through the web heightened her excitement for the chase. Back and forth, up and down, Vee allowed her instincts to guide her after the butterfly, the prey who had survived against her deadly nature the longest with little injury. The chaos rose with every close call, but her kind thrived in chaos. Chaos was where she belonged, and chaos was what she caused.

And now, she had embraced that. She had opened herself to that prospect, even if it was only because she wanted to win, and she could feel the power of the chaos rushing through every pore of her being. This new, exhilarating, power would guide her where she wanted to go. She was sure of that now.

However, as the chaos grew monotonous, she became bored. The chase was no longer fun. It no longer carried the dynamics of an interesting fight. As the time continued in this way, Vee began contemplating a more efficient way of capturing her prey, a way that wouldn’t waste her energy.

She had just conjured such an idea when, finally, she had the girl cornered. She was going to win! All she needed to do was grab hold of her, and the fight would end. Thus, she began reaching...

...and reaching...

...and reaching...

...only for the girl to shatter in her hands. She shattered, painting the already colorful dance with more brilliant colors. All that remained in Vee’s grasp was a minute blue feather. The butterfly had once again escaped, this time flapping her wings for real, transforming herself into the darting hummingbird to be chased once again.

Yes, once again, she would have to chase her. She was constantly running; she was meant to run. She was an opponent quite different from previous others. Humans were weak as they couldn’t fight or run effectively, her own kind constantly fought, and the others she had fought doing this series either fought back or gave up, or at least that was what she thought. This girl ran. She lived her life in flight, and thus presented Vee a unique challenge.

“I must congratulate you,” she shouted, “on not fighting like others have but still surviving.” She paused as a grin swept her face. “But do you run from every problem or have, or just me?” It was a taunt, an effort to get her to at least stop running, but she knew it was a weak one. She needed something else, something better. But what?

In these thoughts, an odd cracking sound attracted her attention. All across the cube, small fissures appeared. They stretched and expanded, leaving a maze of cracks behind. There was a tense moment between that moment and the next as both fighters were given but a few seconds to prepare for what would happen next.

Each glass-like piece of their strange arena seemed to simultaneously disintegrate.

The oxygen rushed out as though it had never tasted freedom.

And the two of them were left in deep space to try to survive...

...and die.

After all, no one could survive deep space useless they didn’t have a body or were a machine. No one.

As Vee felt the breath yanked from her lungs along with the fleeing oxygen, she began to panic. She couldn’t draw breath. She couldn’t move around as she had before. She could feel the uncomfortable changes in her body as the harsh reality of space took over her. What the hell had she been dragged into?! She was going to die.

Not unless you can survive the longest.

That was right. She only needed to outlast the child. She only needed to survive longer than her, and she would continue to live.

...Right?

Yes, she would win. She didn’t try to breathe, only stay conscious. If she could stay conscious longer than the girl, then she would win.

Her limbs prickled with pain as her insides began react to the change. Her insides were boiling. She was feeling more and more light-headed with the lack of oxygen. And there was nothing she could do about it except watch her opponent suffer the same fate.

I don’t want to die.

That thought kept her conscious as the velvety darkness began to trickle into the corner of her eyes like spindly threads. No. She couldn’t fall just yet! She had to live! She needed her revenge!

Ah, but the sad truth of it all was that she couldn’t continue to fight. She couldn’t defeat Mother Nature as she had many of her previous foes. And, as she continued to struggle against the inevitable, she was forced to succumb to the rich darkness of death.

Slowly, the fighter who was just finding herself, who still had unfinished business, was forced to close her eyes and become forgotten.