~ 1x1 with HoleyPaladin [M]

[Owl0430]

Akira
" hmm.... well, in that scenario I suppose once I would be clothed again you would have to strip. It would only be fair. Other than that I see no alternative, as we are not in a more-than friends relationship, let alone married. " the fox girl had a slight tone of amusement to her voice as she examined the outfit further.

" mm... yes, the material is extremely impressive. Now if only the others could learn to weave this cloth in the traditional clothing style of the kitsune. With this material the garments would be beyond stunning.." she then thought more on what he said in regards to her cryomancy. " yes. We are vulnerable normally to ice especially, so rather ironic that I can wield it hm? None the less it's an advantage in battle. Just imagine what my abilities would be at five tails, let alone the full nine!" She smiled at him, clearly enjoying the new outfit. " while my natural ice provides me some resistance against ice elementalists, it does lower my core temperature, so I have to use my fire to keep things balanced. It is amazing though to have clothing that'll actually shift with me though, so- hey, why do you look so surprised?'"

It was that moment in which she realized the outfit lacked undergarments. The top at least had a little built in padding. The bottom though.. ya, she was out of luck. Blushing slightly she hoped he couldn't tell

[Holeypaladin]

Listening to the words of the kitsune, the knight chuckled a bit. "Is that all?" he asked, finding it amusing how she would speak of a desire for him to strip in front of her. "Well... it seems like a much more preferable option than the first one..." he said, finding it flattering in a sense that the kitsune would consider seeing him naked to be a fair enough exchange. "I'd think that your pledge to protect me is slightly more than simple friends," he pointed out as he examined the outfit along with her.

"I imagine the traditional clothing of the kitsune varies somewhat depending on their region and culture," he remarked. "But I think you look good in that outfit, and since I'll be looking at you a lot from now on it seems... it has my vote of approval," he said somewhat teasingly. "So you're a balance of fire and ice... no wonder you fluctuate between hot and cold so much." He was referring to her personality, as she seemed rather indecisive in a lot of areas, though he figured it was largely because she was still young and inexperienced.

"Do I look surprised?" he asked. "Well... I suppose it is a little surprising to find a kitsune cryomancer... though the oneiromancy is less surprising," he remarked. Noting her blush, he wondered why exactly she was blushing as he reached over to stroke her soft tails. "We should prepare our ambush..." he pointed out. "The hunters won't stop killing your kind along with ordinary foxes wherever they find them... so we'll need to stop them." For every kitsune the hunters managed to eliminate, there were at least a hundred ordinary foxes exterminated out of fear that they might be kitsunes in disguise, which was a needless mass slaughter of wildlife along with the murder.

[Owl0430]

" hm.... I dunno, Heinrich. Are you sure that's your preferred option? At least the other way you still get to keep your dignity. You'd be foolish to trust me to not plan something extra like covering you in honey and dumping feathers on you. Truth be told I could really go for a good laugh right about now. " she then took his comment into consideration. " don't mistake my oath to protect you for something else. At least for kitsune around here, if our lives are saved then we are too protect them until we die or they die a natural death. In a sense, its simply repaying a debt. Though should we deem an individual worthy enough, we can grant them one to two gifts. It could be riches, it could be the youth and lifespan of a kitsune. Though even our abilities have limits."

" I appreciate your flattery, Heinrich. Keep your eyes to yourself though unless your talking to me or protecting me." She teased. " their is indeed possibility though traditional clothing varies from place to place for pur kind, but i suspect there would be at least one thing in common though."
After speaking she looked at him in the eyes. " you can call it a balance I guess... between the wild, unpredictable flame and the calm, withdrawn personality of ice. Its I guess a yin-and-yang sort of thing. " continuing to look him in the eyes, she smiled. " and if you haven't noticed, my eyes give away my abilities. One is silver and the other goldish in color ."

" your surprise of that is understandable. You were not wrong about us generally having a weakness against ice. However, I agree we need to plan the ambush. A shame though I haven't seen any foxglove flowers. They would've been helpful. "

[Holeypaladin]

Chuckling at the words of the kitsune, the knight figured her teasing would have been much more effective on a younger man... but he himself didn't take the bait so easily. "Just keep in mind that anything you do would be done to you at some point as well..." he remarked. "There's a lot of uses I could find for honey... and everyone who attends the Arcane University is taught to be creative and think a bit outside the box..." Stroking her ears a bit more, he listened to her words and shrugged. "I don't have much use for wealth, beyond that which I can obtain by my own hand. If you do decide to give me a gift... you should let me come up with some options for it."

Smirking somewhat at the kitsune's words, the knight said, "Well, aren't I always protecting you or talking to you? In that sense, you can expect my eyes to remain on you indefinitely," he teased her right back. He listened to her words and shrugged somewhat. "Eyes can mean any number of things... I just figure they make you special, which they do." He gazed into her mismatched eyes, finding her smile to be rather appealing, making him figure that she wasn't at all angry with him looking at her.

"You might still be able to find some..." he suggested, "But don't stray far from me, and keep your ears and nose open. Remember the scent they used to mask their presence from you before." He figured even the most skilled of poachers wouldn't be able to sneak up on an intelligent fox who was already aware of their scent, and so long as she could cry out to him in time... he should be able to assist her if necessary.

Locating some of his own tracks, he began to place traps of his own for when the poachers came close. Taking note of the rainfall, he realized that fire elemental magic would be hampered by the weather... yet lightning and frost would be amplified. "Use frost over fire magic in rainy weather," he said to the kitsune as he contemplated this, before locating some key locations and incanting, "Lorit di shochraos." The spell caused a static charge to build up, and the knight added, "And stay away from these lightning traps. They're explosive." He placed several other similar spells around the area, noting the most likely approach that the hunters would take in their pursuit.

[Owl0430]

" hmm, well then I suppose it would be a war to see who could have the last laugh then. Though you'd be sorely disappointed if you covered me in honey- i'm rather fond of the stuff. So you probably wouldn't get much satisfaction out of that. " smiling she listened to his request with amusement. " we usually do let the person choose their gift. It'd be rude to force a gift upon a person. Some people don't want fortune or a long life. Some just want a peaceful existence with a lush garden or something. But as long as it's within our abilities, we can do it. "

" true though. You are always talking to or protecting me. Though you are quite talkative" laughing slightly with a smirk she spoke again. " so I suppose you can look at me. Just don't forget my eyes are up here " however, the fox couldn't deny that she was tempted to kiss him when he was gazing into her eyes.

Sighing in acceptance that their time of peace and laughter was over. " alright, I'll be careful. I promise if there's anything suspicious I'll let you know. " walking a few steps, she looked back at him. " oh, and I know fire is weak in the rain. But my own ice still takes a toll on me. I have to keep my
My internal temperature in check. None the less though, I'll be staying far from those traps. They look painful. Anyways, I'll be back soon. " she stated as she walked away

[Holeypaladin]

The knight smirked somewhat at the way the playful fox teased him. "I'll keep that in mine," he remarked. "Well whatever sort of gift you decide to offer... it would have to be a really good one, to make up for having you follow me around for the rest of my life," he said equally teasingly. He wasn't against the idea of having a beautiful fox girl who never seemed to age following him around... so long as she remained pleasant company, of course, like she had been so far.

"I'm not usually very talkative..." he remarked. "But then, I don't usually have anyone to talk to either. A summoned spectral steed doesn't make for very good conversation, you know." He gazed into her eyes as she told him where they were. "Yes they are... such very interesting eyes..." They were beautiful in the way they were different colors, and now that he knew the meaning behind her heterochromia... it made them all the more attractive and suited to her personality.

He gave the girl a nod as she walked away, noting how her new outfit clung to her rather shapely body as she walked away. As he continued to prepare the ambush site, it wasn't long until some of his outer spells indicated the arrival of several humans. "Akira," he hissed in the direction of the fox in order to alert her as he took up his own ambush position with his crossbow, alerting her in case the poachers were using something to mask their scent from the fox girl while the rain falling on the leaves masked the sound of their footsteps.

[Owl0430]

" I owe you for following you around hm? And here I thought you would've been pleased to have a pretty woman following you around. " she laughed slightly, amused by their playful banter. " none the less, whatever gift I so choose to give you will be beyond great. If you can help me save the kitsunes, I might just give you anything you want. "

" no, though, I would suppose such a creature wouldn't be good company . Though if it could talk I would bet that the topics of conversation would be quite unusual. " she joked, happily enjoying a moment of silence afterwards.

As she walked away, something caught her eye- a glimpse of orange beneath an extreme amount of overgrowth near a tree. Wandering over to it, she tried not to get her hopes up as she dug through the overgrowth. As she dug through it, she heard Heinrich speak. Flattening her ears, she looked around, slowly continuing to shift through the plants. Then she noticed that what she had been digging for was indeed there- the very flower she had been looking for. Excitedly she grabbed a few petals and a few seeds, hurrying back to Heinrich. However, as she was running to him, a strange feeling overwhelmed her. Instinctively she placed her hand to her neck, only to find her fox marble wasn't there. It wasn't good if it was gone...and if the poachers had it..... the strange feeling overcame her again, and she looked at Heinrich, her eyes fox-like slits. " I'm sorry..." she muttered, a small tear falling. " Heinrich.... run " that was the last thing she said before using one of the foxglove petals to shift into her warbeast form, growling at Heinrich. Though she wasn't in control of her actions- the poachers were. When that arrow had nicked her, it must've cut through the thin string that had kept her fox marble around her neck. One of the poachers must've grabbed it, meaning they could control her.

[Holeypaladin]

Smirking at the way the kitsune teased him, the knight remarked, "You certainly have a high opinion of yourself, calling yourself such a pretty woman..." Gazing at her for a bit, he said, "Though you're on the young side to be calling yourself a woman... maybe I like them a bit more mature." Though he said this, the truth was that Akira was the perfect age at which Heinrich found girls to be at their most attractive, give or take a couple years perhaps.

Waiting for the poachers to approach, he held his weapon ready to shoot down the first man to cross his path. Glancing over to the kitsune, however, he noted she was acting... strange. Watching as apologized to him for some reason, he said, "For what?" Before he could say anything else, she told him to run, for some reason... as if he could outrun a war beast on foot. He was of the impression that she would be in complete control of her actions even after transforming, but when she leaped at him, it was all he could do to incant the first spell to come to his mind... something to push her away, but not lethal force.

"Jedark tersha," he incanted in Draconic as he pushed a hand towards the kitsune girl. The spell caused a telekinetic force to throw her away from him, with approximately four hundred pounds of force... enough to send her hurling away from him while he tried to figure out what had gotten in to her to cause her to attack him. Though he wasn't sufficiently proficient in Divination to use the True Sight spell... he could use the next best thing, and use a spell that would let him see magical auras, as his immediate thought was that she wouldn't be attacking him of her own will.

"Toma, suiaerl," he incanted again, the spell causing his eyes to glow with a blue light as his vision was amplified. Now able to see auras, he noted a line of magic connecting the kitsune to something on the edge of his vision... a poacher. The man who wore the eight tailed fox pelt as a trophy, it seemed, yet... he was not a man, but rather a magical creature himself. "Unseelie sidhe..." he growled, the realization now making more sense... ordinary hunters would stand zero chance against an elder kitsune in combat, but a winter fairy... was a different matter.

Before anything else, however... he had to sever the magical reins that compelled his companion to fight against him. Gesturing towards the poacher, he incanted, "Leor arcaniss vers!" The spell managed to accomplish the job of nullifying the magical fox marble that controlled Akira... as well as the glamour that allowed the sidhe to maintain a human disguise.

Revealed to be an incredibly pretty, white-haired man with elf ears and butterfly wings the look of confusion on the faces of his fellow poachers indicated that even they were unaware of their leader's true form. "Stop staring and continue the hunt!" Heinrich heard the fairy barking at the other poachers, who began to step forward... into the magical minefield he had laid for them, the electrical explosions taking down three of them before they knew what hit them.

"Are you alright now?" he asked Akira as he raised his crossbow and squeezed the trigger, putting a bolt through the neck of another poacher that had wisely begun a more careful approach now that the magical traps had begun to explode. He was beginning to feel the effects of using spells in rapid succession, which limited him to martial weapons against a powerful fairy sorcerer, and would need all the help the fox could give him, provided she could regain her sanity.

[Owl0430]

Akira had wanted to make a sassy comment of sorts about his tendency to flirt with her in regards to his comment about her maturity, but in the end had been unable to due to their current situation. Every ounce of her willpower had been poured into stopping herself from attacking Heinrich, but she had lost the battle. Hence why, even though it hurt like hell, she was grateful he had been wise enough to use a spell to send her flying. Her shoulder having taken the blunt of the impact felt injured, but was easily able to be brushed aside for the time being as she stood up again.

While Heinrich was looking around chanting spells, she slunk away to the side carefully before going behind him. She had just begun to leap as he broke the connection between her and the starorb, causing her to crash to the ground behind hum.

When she came too, she didn't even hear heinrich. She was focused on the fairy. Despite her attraction to faeries and elves, she felt no attraction to this one. This was quite obvious as she ran towards him, not paying attention to the mine field, the ground burning to a crisp beneath her feet. It was clear how truly furious she was .

About halfway to the fairy she remember heinrich's presence, and looked back at him shamefully, unsure on if he needed her by his side at the very moment

[Holeypaladin]

Heinrich was rather grateful that the fox girl was no longer trying to kill him, but judging by the way she began to recklessly charge towards the pointy-eared prettyboy who had been controlling her, she was likely to do something reckless. There was little he could do from his position, however, except continue to snipe at the poachers with his crossbow, taking down two more of them with precise shots during the confusion and disarray caused by the detonation of his lightning traps.

Having expended so much of his magical power, he hoped no further spell usage would be needed... though judging by Akira's reckless charge, she was going to detonate some of the electric mines on her own. "Watch for the mines!" he called out to her, grateful that she had regained enough sense to look back in his direction... though the pause gave the fairy time to use his cryomancy.

With the rainy weather amplifying the affects of frost magic, the fairy began to freeze the air around Akira. Were it not for her own fire, she likely would have been turned into an ice cube instantly, but as it was, and with the weather working against her in such a way, it was only a matter of time. Heinrich took aim at the prettyboy and fired, but the crossbow bolt passed clean through his form without hitting anything... an illusory mirror image indicative of fairy glamour.

"It's an illusion!" he called out to the fox, "The real fairy is most likely invisible!" With his aura sight active, he attempted to look for magical fields to indicate the true location of the fairy... but the fairy was smart enough to use false magical fields in order to trick him, any one of which could have been the real fairy. "Come back to me!" he called out to Akira, as the addition of a powerful glamour-using cryomancer had suddenly made this situation far more dangerous than he had originally calculated.