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With the laugh cut off at his throat, the naga started making a croaking noise. "So- close- aren't you?" He hissed, his hand reaching to grab any part of Alek that he could. Get his magic... Make him weak... He started thrashing, even as a black unconciousness crept around the edges of his vision, blood from the punches flowing into one eye.

Both females gasped when the flame wall went up. "Alek!" Ashierra yelped, rushing forward, except that Tuula tied her back with some plants. The red female fell flat on her face, amber eyes burning back at the stranger, who was shaking her head. Who the heck was this anyway?

What was this pain? No mear words could describe what made the naga's body writhe and squirm. Thoughts of winning or losing no longer mattered. Survival! When the blackness ended, he felt something else as well. His magic. All his hard earned magic... it wasn't there anymore. He hadn't the strength to test his thought but he knew it was true. Whatever that was, it had, one might say, burned off any magic that wasn't originally his own.
He lay weak, gasping on the ground, his entire body weak. His one eye gazed at Alek. Mother had said not to play with fire, before he had killed her, of course.

"Alek!" She couldn't hear anything. It sounded like the fight had stopped, only the crackle of the hot wall burning wickedly in her ears, taunting as it blocked her sight. She looked down at her hand, burned from the last time she had tried to touch the flaming wall in her weakened state of mind. She barely remembered doing that. She looked back at Tuula, then to the wall again. No point trying to walk through it again. "Alek!" How useless could she get?

Nodding once, Tuula took the naga with vines like a slingshot, watching as he soon flew over the trees, assisted by her wind, his limp body flapping slightly until he fell into a densely wooded area for from the town. She walked over to Ashierra. "He's been humiliated and weakened. He won't be bothering anyone anymore."

Ashierra started to reach out a hand to Alek, but the strange heat radiating off of him made her pull back, hand to her chest. Her body shook as her adrenaline dropped, the exertion of the day taking a tole on her. She looked down at her hands, eyes cool. "I'm going to my room." She muttered, following in Alek's tracks until she reached the building Jade had first ushered them into.
Inside, she collapsed onto the bed, too tired to shower or even feel anything.

Sighing, she followed after to sit in front of the housing Red had gone into to, in a word, keep guard. Also, she could watch Alek as he walked unless he turned somewhere. Where had that other green cattaur gone to when she had vanished anyway?

Tuula looked up, ears perked. 'Ask and you shall recieve.' She smiled pleasantly, fluffing her hair. "Why thank ya darling." She heaved up the jug, taking a few swift gulps before drinking slower to savor it, not bothered by the heat. She caught Jade's look at the inn and shook her head. "I took a peek in that there window. She was out before she hit the matress I bet."

Tuula cocked her head. "You took her out to eat. That's how they found you." Her eyes went down, feeling a little guilty herself. "I noticed we both have that wind magic going. I fear they may have mistook you for me." She shook her head. "I got a bit o' history with them buggers. I's not your fault for them being such buttheads. If I hadn't taken Orangey boy with me, he coulda been here to help ya sooner."
At the mention of the flying naga, Tuula had to smile. "That felt so good. I don't think he'll be troublin this town anytime soon again."
"Jade." She said, tasting the name with a purr. "Lovely as your face. I am Tuulitaika, but you may call me Tuula. Much easier ta say."

Tuula smiled thankfully around a mouthful of drink. At least Jade didn't seem angry about the mix-up.
"Naw. He done been broken. When you're new to the feelin', it's hard to deal wit. I'll be spreadin' the word 'bout him, so his tricks won't be working anywhere. He can threaten, but big whoop." She chuckled, feeling a relief light her shoulders.
"Alek, you say?" She tasted the name as she had Jade's. "Very nice. Though, I had expected a big long name, something a king might use. Alek... like a young princeling then." She chuckled. "And what might Red's name be?" She asked, poking a finger at the window above them. "And if it's not too much prying, how'd the three 'ya end up in this mix?"

"I'll bet 'e was." Tuula said, sharing the laugh. She could just imagine in even her short time knowing the male.
"Ashierra. That's pretty too. She seems like a determined feline."
Her eyes darkened ever so slightly at the mention of the gap, but not as must as it had before. "Aw, me. I live up in them mountains." She said with a vague reference of her hand directed at the mountain tops. "Lived there pretty much my entire adult life so far. Heard Red- er- Ashierra yell and went to investigate. I don't often get many noisy strangers up here."

(( I understand now. School can be a time and brain devouring pain depending on the schedule and classes. <3 Hope things go smoothly for ya! ))

At first surprised at Jade's reaction, a small smile of understanding formed. "I don' know much 'bout fate, but a stubborn teenage mind does funny things as well." Having been mocked enough for her reason for moving from her colony in the first place, she kept the rest of her life behind a mysterious smile.
"I've thought about it, but got used to being up there. By the time I thought 'bout going back, the mountains had become my home."
She tilted her head. "So, you follow the wind. Might I ask what it has led you to so far?" She smiled bashfully. "I got the wind magic prominently myself, so mehby it's 'bout time I should be lis'nen to it myself."