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Ellie nodded, "Was nice to speak with you." She would bow in return, her fiery silver streaked hair falling over her shoulders. "Good luck."

Straightening she smiled, "I think you'll need it."

With a chuckle, Ellie strode back into the hotel, and would make her way back to the bar, taking a seat at a table.

Terra was still at the bar, finishing off a drink, and listening to the conversations around her. Hearing Robyn speak up, her gaze turned back to the fox girl, and she chuckled. "So out of curiosity, who would you like to see return, and who would you rather not return? I have only heard of this tournament, would check in time to time, but never did actually come to watch in person."

The death knight delighted in the exchange, and moreso the heat of Cale's body, a feature notably lacking from her own. She pressed the fighter close to her as she played, nipping at Cale's lip and sending her hands on a light terrain expedition. A shudder ran down her spine at the closeness of that beating heart, that permeating warmth that she would never be able to recapture.

Still, all good things must come to an end. Aetyra released Cale, letting her up for air, and smiled at her sweetly, from where she was mounted on top of her. Licking her lips, the death knight winked at Cale and slipped a keycard down into the lower portion of the boxer's one-piece, taking the opportunity to run her fingers down that beautifully toned abdomen.

Rising slowly, the elf took this opportunity show herself off as she carefully readjusted her own bikini, then with a parting small wave to Cale and the pool area at large, she took her leave, a noticeable bounce in her step that had not been there before. If her eyes could have twinkled, they would have been fireworks.

Aetyra looked up from where she was lounging near the re-kindled fire to see the flustered form of Cale stumble into her room. Dripping wet and still quite drunk, nonetheless the death knight was happy to see her.

"That was fast.." she remarked, and tossed Cale a towel from the nearby chair. "Close the door and have a seat, hun." The elf gestured to the small table next to her, upon which were arrayed a variety of small drinks and glasses. "I would offer you a drink, but..." She let the implication do the rest, grinning.

The night elf snickered.

"Weakling." Still, she poured a glass of water and handed it to Cale, before walking over and vigorously helping to towel her off.

"I may be immune to it, but we can't have you catching a cold. You're far too... delicious." One could almost hear a sort of guttural snarl in Tyra's throat as she said that, though it was muted and faint.

"Sure you aren't, babe. Sure you aren't..." she practically cooed in Cale's ear, licking it lightly, and letting her snatch the towel away. It would be a meaningless victory however, as Aetyra's hands continued to administer the rubdown as if nothing had changed.

The girl's excitement was tangible, and Tyra could practically smell it, so the predatorial assault continued, unabated.

Two months ago, somewhere in the mountains to the far north of Durem.

There was a sharp crack and the smell of burning ozone. A man burst into existence out of thin air some ten feet above the ground and fell into a snowdrift with an audible paf and a plume of white. Thrashing about, the man managed to pick himself up off the ground and dust the snow off of the dense mountaineering jacket and his leggings before anyone could see his teleporting faux pas.

Of course, there was no one to see it - the nearest settlement, human or otherwise, was at least a hundred miles of way. He was in the somewhere just south of the middle of nowhere, as far as he was concerned, staring up at the staggered line of barren trees and resilient pines that sparsely covered the base of the jagged mountains.

Reaching up, he tapped the small comm bead in his ear, the small device giving a chirp as it swapped from off to active, "Was that some kind of joke - dropping my a** onto the ground like a brick?" he asked irritably.



The voice warbled in his ear and Jack gave an affirmative before cutting the feed with a grunt. The mountainous area was viciously cold and most of the snow had become hard-packed into a tough, craggy mixture of rock, soil, and ice. He had been lucky to fall onto one of the last few snowdrifts left. Ignoring the cutting wind, the man cinched his jacket tighter around his form and began to trudge north, towards the gray peaks that strained upwards towards the sky like the fingers of a grasping hand.

How long had he'd been walking through that desolate landscape, he didn't know. The mountain range's enormity made him feel like he were trespassing in the birthplace of some forgotten god. The forest at the foot of the mountain was easy enough going; the slope was gentle, despite leading up to those monolithic monstrosities. The further in he went, the more he heard; the trickling twinkle of a hidden creek, the shuffling of animals and the flitting of birds' wings. How any sort of life was still active this far north at this time of the year, Jack didn't know.

Unfortunately, the animal life was more than active, prey and predator alike. A low, warbling growl cut through the ambient noise of the winter woodlands, stopping the young man in his tracks. Jack came to an abrupt halt and turned about, surveying his surroundings. He managed to stifle the urge to leap away when he saw a powerfully built feline body emerge from the copse of lifeless trees behind him. Sleek and strong, the mountain lion's amber-gold eyes regarded the man coolly as the animal momentarily bared its teeth to emit another angry rumble from its throat.

Jack stiffened and began to idle away from the encroaching snow panther, as if by inching slowly away from it he could avoid further scrutiny from the beast. He was born and raised in the cities, and had only spent a little time in the wilds adventuring or traveling. He never went too far off of the beaten path, had never come face to face with a predator before. Certainly not one capable of rending him to shreds - metahuman or not. He twitched his fingers, pooling his energies for when the inevitable lunge came.

But the inevitable never came - the mountain lion halted in its tracks, ears flattening, its growl growing into a whine. The animal lowered itself to the ground, and like a shot it was off, turning away and darting off into the wilderness as if spooked. Jack's heart dropped out of his throat and his lungs began to work again. Big cats had heightened senses beyond that of a human; maybe the animal had sensed some aspect of his metaphysical powers and decided to flee. Turning away from the once-tense scene, he began his steady hike again, only to find himself frozen in place yet again.

Where once there was only nature now stood another man, darkly tanned with a brooding glare that suggested the young man was trespassing where he ought not to be. Tall and pantherishly lean with the densely corded musculature that suggested violent athleticism, the figure had seemingly appeared out of thin air; where the man might have come from Jack could only guess. He knew this much though: the wild, black-maned figure before him was definitely the purpose of his visit to such a remote and desolate locale.

"Deitric-- I'm Jack Tryg; Mr. Farragut sent me to find you," the man explained hesitantly, suddenly aware of just why the mountain lion had fled. Jack had the distinct feeling as if he were staring down the barrel of a gun, only able to guess when the trigger was going to be pulled and hope that he wouldn't be in the crosshairs. At this, the tribesman seemed to relax. He no longer dominated the world around him, but became one with it, like any other wild animal.

"I picked up the electrical signature of your comm unit. Decided to see what was causing it. Lucky I found you." Deitric grunted noncommittally. Even while relaxed, the man had an air about him, as if violence just spontaneously ignited in his presence. Jack was a fighter by trade and training, but the man before him seemed as if to be a fighter by nature and by birth. Even though he had been raised in a city as a teen, the hint of the barbaric had never been truly civilized in Deitric, and the laws of prey or be prey still ruled. It was only ever masked, no matter how urbane he might have appeared.

"Yeah, uh, thanks. I'm s'posed to comm them with our coordinates--" Jack began to explain before the other man cut him to the quick.

"Done. So - what are you s'posed to be, anyways? Why didn't Johnnie send one of my Thunderguard?" Deitric asked casually. He was already beginning to shift back into form - he had reverted to type in the wild, and in contact with civilization, he began to change, that strange sense of foreboding and danger beginning to fade from his person. He was just a man again, albeit a man of considerable talents wherein the application of violence to his fellow man was concerned.

"I kind of.. wanted to join. So he sent me out here to find you," Jack said. Deitric peered at him inscrutably and only shrugged, giving an indefinite "Maybe." to the to the suggestion.

"Time to go."

There was another audible crack of electricity discharging into the cold winter air, and the pair of men were gone from that mountainous place, transported far to the south where Deitric's base of operations lay. He had been away for a long, long time.

[1/???]

After a night of rest, Doji left the room with the dragons in tow as he made his way to the elevator. His head was a tad painful from the drinking the night before, a drawback to his age and his no longer iron liver. From behind him the two dragons talked to one another about how they were going to beat the s**t out of one another when this was all said and done.

When the elevator finally dinged Doji left the box quickly and made his way to the bar where he ordered a hamburger and a water. His attention was now pressing to the many TVs showing each fight that sat behind the bar top. His condition from the drinking mixed with a lack of a good sleep resulted in his decision to stay in the quiet almost empty bar during the first round fights.

Drinking from his glass, he looked over the monitors as his eye caught a glimpse of Clash, an individual who had caused him moderate trouble over the years during random run-ins. Doji smiled as he watched the action unfold. "Clearly, Clash has the upper hand on this piece of s**t. Good luck you son of a b***h, just don't die." His words were less about sincerity versus his own personal want to kill the b*****d. He had tried many times before, but every time Clash would return in some fashion. It was almost a haunting reminder of Doji's inability to finish the job after each fight.

Turning his head he looked at the next monitor and seen his previous night's drinking buddy locked in a close combat back and forth. Doji let out a laugh as he watched the silver haired individual attempt to do a million things in one section of combat, only to be shut down by the probably still drunken man. "This one will be interesting to see, still a close match...". To himself he wanted to see the drinking buddy win, just based on the fact his opponent seemed to be trying to do too much in so little time.

The next monitor was interesting to the older gentlemen as he took a bite out of his fresh hamburger. The son of Sieg, Tres, was doing combat with... a kid? The immediate impression Doji had was the owner of the tournament was a monster to allow kids to fight in this thing. It was when he noticed the child using supernatural abilities he let out a sigh. "Probably one of those bullshit looks 13 really 9 million years old bullshit kids, ******** those guys".

He started to chow down as his stomach was vacant from a night of dealing with forcefully expelling his previous meal. His focus would go to the monitors again after he finished this burg session...

Terra also would make a appearance at the bar, silver hair tousled by a rough night of sleeping, dark circles beneath her eyes, and a aura of irritation surrounding her. The previous night she had said goodnight to the fox girl, then somehow had made it to her hotel room. Upon waking, she instantly regretted the night of drinking. She whispered soft curses to herself as she shuffled to a table, vowing to never drink again.

Now taking a seat at a table, she groggily ordered some coffee, then turned her attention to the tv screens situated through out the bar. It took a moment to figure out who was who on the t.v. It seemed most were well underway. Seeing who Darius was fighting, Terra couldn't help but laugh at the irony.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted Kuro, and a warm smile graced her lips. Standing she made her way towards him, then took a seat.