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Saline studied him for a moment, holding the sword balanced delicately on her outstretched arms. With a sigh she laid it down carefully to stretch the kinks out of her muscles, finishing by shaking herself in a dog-like manner. With a yawn she picked up the blade once more and leaped gracefully to the ground, her long hair streaming behind her.

She walked out further into the open grass and gripped the handle in both hands. She braced the tip of the blade against the ground and closed her eyes. With a deep breath she thought, Okay sword, if you're mine now you're going to do as I say. Give me your power. Make me stronger!

“Your new name is Oshaku! Give me your strength!” she called. The smoke enveloped her even faster than the night before. It shot quickly over her hands, swallowing her arms and wrapping around her body down to her feet. Saline held her breath as it floated over her face and soaked her hair. Yet there was something different about it this time; it felt warm. Hot, in fact. The heat was steadily increasing, until it felt like it was melting through her skin deep into her body. Forgetting about holding her breath, a quiet whimper escaped. She couldn't move, save for the growing siren reaching past her lips. Soon she was almost screaming as the changes began.

Her feet slowly lost their contact with the ground, her body leaning back at a slight angle as the smoke around her form starting to glow like sunlight, sword held close against her chest. The changes seemed to be the opposite of the night before. Her hair was a beautiful flowing gold, and the fur upon her ears and tail turned white with black tips. The diamond mark returned to her arm, which now had gold bands on her forearms and wrists, the ones on her wrists each bearing a large ruby. Her halter top seemed to be made of liquid gold, as was the skirt. Her skirt was almost down to her ankles, yet again slit up to her thighs. She even had several gold anklets on her left foot. Her claws had turned gold.

Finally Saline met the ground once more. Her scream died along with the light. Panting, she plunged the end of the sword into the soil and dropped to her knees. Last night wasn't painful, what was so different now? She finally noticed the cloth wrapped around her leg was different. She lifted her hair and studied the jewelry.

“So it reacts differently during the day...” she said softly. (Long post, zomg!)

Saline looked at him and sighed. There were too many rules for this thing. She sat forward on all fours and shook herself, the sunlight shimmering in her hair and clothes. Stretching out like a pup after a nap, she sat back and flicked a few golden strands of hair over her shoulder. The pain had passed now, though the power that was overflowing within her body still tingled in her fingertips. She got to her feet and glanced at the sword, then at the tattoo upon her arm. Purely out of instinct, the girl raised her hand palm-up before her and concentrated upon it. Instantly her hand ignited, ruby flames snaking quickly down her wrist.

She accidentally cried out in surprise, shaking her hand as she killed the flare. That wasn't right at all. The fire was supposed to be blue, it had never been any other color in her two hundred years of living.

"Sworda," she said shakily. "This thing... It completely changed the energy pattern within my body. My fire comes from the energy within, there's no possible way it could be changed!" Saline held her arm out farther, raising to a higher angle. As if it had been called, she suddenly found the sword's handle grasped safely in her outstretched fist.

Saline watched the short display with a bored look, free hand perched skeptically upon her hip. She yawned as he continued to laugh before walking up to him and lightly kicking the side of his head.

"There's no hope for you, is there?" she said teasingly. "You know you can't fool my nose, you smell the same no matter how you look." With a sharp exhale she examined the sword yet again and asked, "So, if this changed my energy pattern, that must mean that I have some new powers. Should we find out?" With that she hopped a few feet away and slowly took on a battle stance. The red flames covered her hand once more, but this time she let them consume the blade as well. She raised it higher above her head and began to twirl it in a slow circle.

The fire crept past the tip of the blade, creating a small tornado of fire. She swung it faster and wider, until the flames split into several vines that looped around her. Her body began to sway with the growing current, the ropes of fire growing thicker around her. Saline didn't stop even as her feet were lifted from the ground, raising her higher and higher into the air. With one great thrust, she hurled the fire down at Sworda. There was an explosion of grass and soil and smoke all around him, but soon the gentle breeze cleared the air just enough to see the results. The prince was untouched, but a large ring had been scorched deep into the soil around him. The girl was still in the air, a small disk of fire supporting her feet.

"Perfect shot!" she sang happily.

"are you shure?" said sworda as he turned arround and you see all the back of him is burned "your still getting used to this i know but dont use me as a target!!!!!!!!" just then sworda rose up and took the burntness off of himself "and what do you mean i cant fool you? one day i will fool you and you will be mad and i will laugh" said sworda as he turned to kara as she was going in "I wana give kara a hug sad " just then sworda attempted to give her a hug but fell over then got up " I must go practice something" said sworda as he hopped into the woods

Saline sighed and let him go. She saw Kara walking off and decided to follow. Slowly she descended once more beside the tree she'd slept in the day before. She planted the tip of the sword firmly into the ground and examined her transformed body. Her eyes closed and her hands pressed together as if in prayer. After a few moments of concentration she felt a shock in her chest, like a bolt of lightning had been thrust into her heart. Eyes peeking open slightly, Saline could even see a beam of light shining out of her body and spreading quickly down her arms and legs. It was cold this time, and no less painful. But the change was faster this time, and in a few quick seconds she dropped to her knees panting.

Black hair spilled around her shoulders and in front of her face. Even though her body was back to normal, something still felt out of place. She pushed those thoughts aside for now and gripped the handle of her sword, using it as a lever to push herself to her feet. The girl swayed once and steadied herself before running to stash the blade in the house. Soon she had dashed off to follow Kara's scent. Upon reaching the pool she said, "Mind if I join you?"

Saline smiled and replied, "Thanks. I can't smell him anywhere near, so I'm sure he didn't follow. If he comes too close I'll set his a** on fire." She stripped down to underwear similar to Kara's and draped her clothes over a nearby rock. She stepped into the water with a content sigh, dipping her head back to soak her hair.

"Sorry if I've been neglecting you sweetie," she said. "It's been crazy the past couple days, you know? This sword deal is going to kill me."

Saline sighed and said, "I hope so. That thing does seem special, so I can't really give up so soon." The half-demon thought about how fast things had been going by the past couple days, especially with Sworda's little 'plan'.

"Hey Kara, I've been wondering," Saline said suddenly. "What do you really think about Sworda?"

Saline stretched her arms back casually. "Just wondering. We should probably track down him and Weenus later today before they cause any trouble." She wrinkled her nose in annoyance and added, "Maybe we can do something about Weenus's smell. I swear, he's going to have the whole forest smelling like nacho cheese!"

Her elegant features smoothed once more, then slowly took on a sly grin. She took a deep breath and slipped under the water. She swam quickly up behind Kara and promptly seized her leg.