Welcome to Gaia! ::

As Val arranged and sparked the fire, Scarlet started pealing the sopping wet clothes of off Ciro.

"It's not like you can get the sniffles, but no sense in staying wet, precious," she cooed. He didn't seem to mind, and just as she snapped his boxer's elastic playfully, the fire flared, filling the cavern with warm golden light. Scarlet smiled and hung up her bodyguard's clothing next to hers.

Then she settled down next to Mouse. Scarlet's bone-white skin contrasted with Mouse's peachy complexion, and where Mouse shivered, Scarlet was as still as the stalagmites next to her.

"Poor thing," Scarlet said pittyingly. She wrapped her cool arms around Mouse and started to rub her arms and shoulders vigorously. "Let's warm you up some--wouldn't want you joining our kind sooner than you need to."

The friction--and perhaps Scarlet's closeness and too familiar touch--brought a healthy flush to Mouse's skin. After her arms had been thoroughly rubbed dry, Scarlet moved on to her shoulders, neck, and back. Then she sat behind Mouse and her hands traveled around to her stomach, deftly wiping away all the moisture before slowly massaging warmth back into them.

"Mmm, I almost forgot what it's like to play with warm flesh," Scarlet sighed heavily.

"I almost regret giving her to you," Scarlet murmured as her fingers traced the lines of Mouse's undergarments. "But I suppose I was in one of my moods...and there's my own acquisition..." Her eyes flicked up to Ciro seductively glinting like rubies in the firelight as she nibbled on Mouse's ear.

"Two birds and all that," Scarlet teased. She hugged Mouse closer as her hands traveled upward, caressing and massaging. "Her internal temperature has rocketed up to nearly 100 degrees. And look at this--Val, are you using your pet to smuggle tictac's?"

“Ciro,” Scarlet called with a wicked look in her eye. “Would you be a dear and keep an eye out for those dastardly pirates? Just go to the mouth of the cave and keep a weather eye out—and don’t turn around.”

She giggled and turned her attention back to Mouse.

Time passes with much heavy breathing, moaning and screaming. (There is a description of what happened here, but I can't post it as it would violate the TOS. PM me if you want to see it. wink )

When Mouse had been reduced to a curled up, trembling, whimpering ball, Scarlet sat up and preened.

“Tasty,” Scarlet hissed with obvious revel. “Better than blood on a cold day like this.” Then she looked up at Val. “Thank you darling. I owe you one. Well, one more.”

((That's my cue. xp ))

"You insolent fool. I thought I told you to never enter my sight again."
"Hello, 大蛇 [Daija], it's good to see you too." Alfons responded sarcastically. He took a few steps up the stairs to the dilapidated dojo Daija was standing in front of. The sun started to poke through the clouds.
"Alfons, who is zis man?"
"My former master." What Alfons didn't say was that he was the monk's brother.
"SILENCE! Now explain to me what you are doing here before I kill you both." Daija shouted with a face full of burning rage. evil
"We need your assistance with a purification ritual. It's to pay for th--"
"Unnatural storm that occurred earlier today?!"
Alfons looked down. "Yes." The look on Daija's face changed from anger to one of disappointment. "If I do nothing, something truly terrible will occur. I will help, on one condition."
"Name it."
"You must show me that your skills are on par with what they were when you left here. Spar with me." Alfons locked eyes with Daija and nodded. The two took their stances, prepared for anything.
---------------------
Ciro looked out the cave entrance, in the general direction the humans went off in. He felt something in the distance, and it made him uneasy. "I don't know what's happened to the others, but I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Oi, rosuke! Kisama o isasaka ni atojisareba!" Daija shouted as he jumped over Alfons, heading for the spot Dmitri was standing. Dmitri leapt out of the way as Daija landed to deliver a sweep kick to Alfons. Alfons non-nonchalantly dodged the kick and delivered a quick jab towards Daija, who blocked it.
"Ei, Alfons, vhat did he say to me?"
Alfons ducked under a kick. "This is not the time to ask me that!" He yelled as he attempted an uppercut. Daija countered it with a quick smack to Alfons's side. "Oof!"
"I still vant to know." Dmitri muttered.
"Fine!" Alfons grunted as he did a low kick. "He said 'You should back up a lit--'" Alfons was interrupted by a hook that he barely managed to dodge. "Little, and he called you a Russki b*****d! Ha!" Alfons managed to deliver a solid punch to Daija's face.
"Kick him in the groin for that insult for me!"
-----------------------
Ciro managed to pick up on the energy being released by the fight.
"The German and the Russian are fighting someone remarkably strong." He felt an urge to join in rise up within him. "Curse this sun! I want to help!"

((It took me a couple hours to come up with that Japanese and make it grammatically correct gonk "Oi, Russki! b*****d should step back a little!" 「オイ、露助！貴様を些かに後退されば！」 [Note: Kisama is actually the rudest form of "you," usually translated as" b*****d"]))

Alfons and Daija exchanged blows for several more minutes. As the fight dragged on, Alfons noticed that his old master's attacks were becoming more and more aggressive. "This isn't good. If we keep this up, he start unleashing the truly dangerous stuff." As if on cue, Daija released a blast of ki out of his hand. Sidestepping that Alfons quickly closed the distance, whipping his hidden pistol from his sleeve. Daija raised a ki powered fist for a powerful strike. Less than a second later, Alfons's pistol pressed against Daija's head, and Daija's fist was but a millimeter from contact with Alfons's head.
"It's over, Daija." Alfons stated as he stared into darkened eyes. As Daija cooled down his eyes returned to normal.
Daija lowered his fist. "Well then, shall we go see what we can do about your debt?" He then walked towards the others, as if nothing had happened. Alfons retracted his pistol into his sleeve and followed, with a bewildered Dmitri not far behind. "Your master is scary man."
-------------------
Ciro smiled at Scarlet. "It has absolutely nothing to do with an allegiance, but I will admit to wanting to fight the mystery man." He turned and walked towards the fire. "I suppose I can wait though." He lost track of the other's location once Daija suppressed his power.

Scarlet sighed and followed Ciro. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind and nuzzled his neck.

"Whatever comes, if all my kingdom falls, at least I have you," she whispered. She waited tensely. She could feel conflict approaching from at least two directions, and if one of them was Alfons, that meant the other had to be the pirates that shot them down. It was hardly even noon, and the storm was just a memory in a few fluffy clouds.

She hated being this helpless. She really had no special powers as a vampiress, just her charm and sex appeal--which usually did the job better than most special skills--but at this moment, she would trade her beauty and her perfectly curved body for a little of Devonte's battle mage skills or her father's pyrokinesis or even her little sister's hypnotism. She hated taking after her mother; she hated even admitting she took after her mother. Oh, her mother was certifiably insane, that was for sure, the madness compounded by her rapid conversions between human and vampire that enabled her to give birth to 3 children. But going crazy wouldn't solve any of Scarlet's problems.