Chapter 4: Aurya
"Razu is the winner. Now for the next match!" the announcer let out. Aurya got herself up and standing, impressed with Razu's performance. She may have toyed with him a little too much, but she was accepting of her defeat.
"That was a good match." Razu had complimented her, heading off to retrieve his sword and into the crowd of fighters. Aurya debated on whether to follow him and ask him about his fighting, but she caught wind of one of her own nearby. She ducked into the crowd and slithered out of the arena, aiming to leave the city as early as possible.
Autumn had arrived. Aurya had escaped her tracker and peacefully enjoyed the scenery as she traveled the world. She didn't want to return to her kingdom. Not yet. And this tracker of hers was aiming to do so. She was glad she had been trained so well in her raising to the point of being able to escape a high ranking official of her military. Her father was King of the Moon Wolves tribe. That's all he had, though. Try as he might, the Geim family of the Sun Foxes tribe was constantly in success for the royal matches. Every session, they would take back King of the Yeoux title to their tribe.
Aurya had practiced in a youth royal match against the heir of the Sun Foxes. Unfortunately, her low-level ice empowerment fell to nothing against his refined fire powers. She started giving up over time, thinking it was pointless for her to even attempt to take the title of her tribe and try to pry the title of the Yeoux for her people. The burden was too intense for an impossible challenge.
Over time, it broke her down and she chose a life of freedom and exploration. But to fully embrace her lifestyle, she would need a replacement for herself in the tribal standings. As fate would bring her what she desired in her time of need, her parents adopted a Sun Wolf orphan to compete with her for her title. Aurya figured her parents wanted to give her an easier challenge curve to get her hopes and strength up higher. What they didn't expect though; it was her opportunity to escape.
As Aurya was thinking of her recent past while traveling, a city broke the horizon she was looking at. It had been six months since she had entered a city of this size: Dysiurbs. Curious about a new tournament, or fighting of some kind, Aurya decided to enter the city limits. Within the crowds of people, a hand grabbed hold of her shoulder and tugged at her to turn around.
"Lady Aurya. I've found you at last. I can finally bring you home." Aurya saw this man to be the same that had been tracking her. She didn't notice him this time around due to all the strange smells in this city. He had gotten smarter about tracking her closer.
"I'm not going back, Kommet. I like it out here, and I'm doing just fine on my own." Aurya retorted, pushing aside his hand.
"Lady Aurya, please don't be unreasonable. I was tasked with bringing you home, and you know I can't return without you." Aurya refused once again, to which kept them arguing about returning home.
"Hey! Leave her alone." A furious remark came from behind. A pink-haired girl rushed past Aurya and pushed Kommet out of reaching distance. This enflamed the arguing to another level. Kommet commanded for the elf girl to remove herself from his situation. This didn't settle well with her at all. "The only way I'll remove myself is if you beat me in a fight. The city limits are right over there."
"As much as I would like to beat you in, my mission comes first. And Lady Aurya isn't leaving my sights." He grabbed onto Aurya to keep her close.
"Zeri, I found one of those bodyguards." A blonde teen came into the scene, pulling a large man behind him.
"Well, she won't have to now. I figured it would come to this. Thank you Dario." Zeri walked over to the blonde teen and kissed his forehead before waving him away. She then got the seven foot man to lean over to reach her short stature of a couple inches over five feet, and she whispered something to him.
The giant white-haired, mercenary-looking man walked over to Aurya and lifted her up and over his shoulder. "My name's Wally D, little girl. Care for a lift?" He laughed, carrying her to the city limits without even acknowledging her response. Aurya tried to squeeze free, with every wiggle and wailing she could muster, but this giant wasn't letting go of her. Not even using her tail to slap against his face fazed him. "It's so fluffy," he would comment humorously.
After a little while, the giant man placed Aurya down on the ground and sat next to her, holding his arm around her so she couldn't escape. "This is a nice job: to watch a good ole brawl. Hopefully you'll enjoy the show too." Aurya was uncomfortable, very. She could barely even move, just enough to adjust her position so she wasn't sitting awkwardly. There wasn't any up or back and forth.
"Let's get this started." Zeri pulled out her staff in a twirl, slamming the bottom against the ground. "Earth shatter!" From the staff, a jolt of shifting earth jetted at Kommet. He jumped to side, landing on all fours in a sliding motion. He shifted forward and launched at her with a claw swipe.
"An earth user, huh? You'll be easy pickings." Kommet grinned as his attack was blocked by her staff. He twisted his body to land a solid side kick in. Zeri bounced and landed back on her feet.
"The wolf boy is already making errors. If he doesn't have the raw power to back that weakness up, he's done for." Wally directed at Aurya as if he were a commentator. Aurya wasn't sure how she wanted this battle to end, but she did favor Kommet getting a little beat up so she could escape him. Aurya started to release her freeze to try and get the large man off of her. "It's getting pretty chilly in here." He pulled her closer to him and tighter. She gave up, running out of air, and he released her enough to breathe.
After exchanging a few blows, Zeri stabbed her staff into the ground, "Fire Bolt!" She said summoning an orange bolt at Kommet. It struck fast and hard, bringing him to his knees. "So you are Metal Affinity," she snickered. "Fire Blast!" Zeri's staff started to glow a dark red, with flares of orange and hints of yellow.
"You're one of those damn witches," Kommet sneered as he pulled himself to his feet. He grabbed his armour covering his chest and ripped it off, launching it at Zeri's incoming blast. The explosion vaporized the armour and sent Kommet tumbling across the field. Through the dust cloud, Kommet launched pieces of armour off his legs to attempt a pierce on his opponent. When the dust cleared, a wall of fire stood firm with Zeri unharmed behind it. She swiped her staff, eliminating the flames.
Kommet rushed in, zigzag-dodging all of Zeri's incoming fire balls, which weren't that frequent. She got off four of them before he was up in her face. Kommet snuck in a clean hit on her wrist, disarming her staff, knocking it near Aurya's open side. Zeri was knocked back as well into the ground, near the large man, heftily with a follow up attack. Kommet turned to the man, "I have won. Release Lady Aurya."
"I wouldn't be so sure dude," Wally chuckled.
"Watch out!" Aurya yelled out. She got a glimpse of Zeri charge out from behind what she could see of the man beside her. And she was carrying a sword now. Kommet, aware of Aurya's cry, dodged out of harm's way, or so he thought.
When Zeri lifted the sword in a upward slash, a blade of fire extended from the sword, cutting into Kommet. He was knocked back with a big wound along his chest, burning away at him. Kommet hit the ground and started rolling, putting the flame out quickly. Following up his roll, he landed on his feet, ready once again. "It's a good thing he was wearing armor still. Hey girl! Careful with that sword!" Wally yelled out. His first comment was directed to Aurya in a normal voice.
Zeri dropped her arm low to the ground and swung, releasing a gust of flames across the flowers. Kommet caught sight of the low blast, and he leapt over it. Zeri had already begun swinging across her body again in an upward diagonal slash, sending out a wave of an ice wall. Surprised about potentially being frozen midair, Kommet shifted his weight to narrowly dodge the ice wall, but in doing so he had turned his back on Zeri for just enough time. Zeri finished her third slash by grabbing the sword with her left hand and slashing down over her head. When the sword ended right in front of her, a bolt of lightning ejected. It hit dead-clean into Kommet's head.
"Savage." Wally muttered to himself as the battle ended. The commentary along with watching one of her people drop dead to the ground clicked inside of her. Aurya's hair stood on end and her eyes filled with a blood red. She exploded into an ice crystal, encasing both herself and Wally.
"Thank you for your services and this sword. Here's your pay and good luck dealing with her." Zeri tossed a bag of gold onto the ground as she picked up her staff. "Teleport!" With that, Zeri vanished into thick air, which soon dispersed.
Wally shattered the ice by flexing. "Oh come on. Not even fair lady. Now I have to explain to my guild where the sword went." Right after, when Aurya dashed at him like a dart, Wally grabbed her by the pancho she wore as a top. She tried slashing at him, but he flung her away before she made contact. Wally firmly stepped into the ground, causing pillars of earth to extend up around Aurya midflight. "Calm down little one. We can give him a proper burial." Minutes of rage later, she did so, reverting back to normal. Wally released her, and they began burying the late warrior under the lone tree he was defeated near.
While they were paying their silence after the deed, a group of strangers walked to them. They all had similar appearances to the earlier pink-haired girl, all having darker pink-red hair and pointy ears. The center man had a headband covering one eye and a sword across his waist. To his left, stood a brawler-looking mage. His mage outfit around his waist and hanging off, with just a white shirt and wristbands on top. The other side, stood a bigger man, more likely the wall of the trio.
The shortest of the trio stood ahead of his pack, "Have you seen a short, pink-haired elf girl?"
Aurya snarled back, "What relation are you with her?" She got off the ground, fully turning to the trio. The large man continued in his respects.
"She's just our lost comrade. She has a tendency to get lost." This set Aurya to the edge. She leapt forth, aiming to claw down the leader. The wall of the group jumped in between the two and blocked Aurya's attack, launching her off of him.
"Your comrade killed one of my people!" Aurya cried out as she leapt forth, aiming to take down the leader still. The wall intercepted once again.
"Thanks Onyx, but I'll handle this." The trio leader notified his teammate while drawing his blade. "If she wants to fight, we'll settle this. Where is our comrade?" he asked firmly at Aurya.
Wally got up and pushed Aurya away and stood in the way of the tiny trio in front of him. "Don't get yourself killed little one. You three, where is your comrade heading? I should probably chase her down as well."
"I'm coming as well," Aurya asserted.
"With me here, I bet you are little one haha. But not today. You're after revenge. You need to return to your people." Wally asserted himself back. "As for you three, you continue on that way." He pointed eastbound. "I'm going to step into the city real quick." Wally picked up Aurya and flung her over his shoulder again. They went at it like before with her unpleasant remarks to him holding her and his nonchalant, cheerful demeanor all the way back to where he first picked her up.
He knocked on a door to a tavern-like building. When the door opened, he tossed Aurya over. She landed in another man's arms, smaller but still a giant compared to her. "Here, Klaue. Watch her for a minute. I accidently lost the sword again," he laughed.
"You best stop loosing it before they take it away from you. This may be your last straw." Aurya flailed, but this man had a tight grip. "What's with the girl?"
"I was playing with her. Trying to ditch her before she gets me in trouble. Aight, I'll be back with the sword." With that, he ran off waving to Klaue.
"Let go of me!" Aurya struggled again but she couldn't bust free from this guy's metallic arm. Seconds later, he placed her down.
"Minute's up. You best do what he said. Good luck." He closed the door. Aurya was confused about how long he held her, but she took her chance and dashed out of the city. She was sure she could catch up to him. When she arrived at the tree, there was still no trace, but she kept going eastbound like he directed the elves to go.
Aurya rounded a hilltop but stopped immediately when she saw a giant lion monster. She ducked back under the hilltop and ran around to scope it out. She needed to make sure if it saw her, she would be somewhere else. A high-level monster would have the timing to show up on her chase. They were pretty rare in the central human territory.
"Lightning Larry!! I've come to tame you!" An overbearing yell came from the distance. Aurya reached the edge of the hill so she could see the monster. There stood a party of eight or so people wearing armor and drawing their weapons.
"Alright. My lucky break." With the group of warriors distracting the beast, she would be able to continue onward quickly. As she circled the combat arena, she glanced at the battle a few times to make sure she was safe. During a moment she was watching her other surroundings and the path she ran, a person gained distance on her from the air. She noticed him before he got too close, dodging where he was going to land.
Before impacting the ground he blasted a large amount of air into the ground and softly touched the ground. "Apologies, my Lady. Didn't intend to end up over here." He gave her a look over and smiled. "Name's Vaelior. I would love to have a girl like you on my monster taming team. Though you are a little on the weak side at the moment. What do you say?"
"It sounds fun, but I'm on a mission to hunt down an elvish girl." Aurya started to walk away, so she could make up for lost time.
"Wait cutie! What did she look like? I may be of assistance." He nonchalantly launched a blast of air out of his left hand toward the monster and his party. Aurya looked over to see a strategic hit, hindering the monster and letting his teammates go in for strikes.
Aurya described the elvish girl, having pink hair and being slightly smaller than herself. She was wearing golden armour and a long cosmic-designed green dress. "Oh, the short elf girl! She's quite unusual for our species, along with her little boy band that was following her. She was heading to Dysiurbs, I do believe." Aurya questioned the absence of the large man that was supposed to be with them. "Wally? I have the sword he was hunting her for, so he's helping me conquer Lightning Larry." Vaelior patted the sheathed special sword on his side. "I was surprised the elf girl traded such a sword for the information I gave her. Though, I could inform you as well for a small price," he winked.
"No thank you. I'm just after the elf girl." Aurya tried bolting off again, but he grabbed her to get her attention.
"Well I helped you, so I do think you owe me something in return. At least a name to go with such a pretty face."
"Aurya." A large rock descended from the sky to land nearby the two of them, but out of harm's reach.
"Oh, the heiress to the Yue clan? Now, what are you doing so far away from home?"
"Vaelior, sir. Lightning Larry is ready." A young teen girl with braided hair in the front and tied up long black hair in the back was standing nervously, her voice was quiet. She hid her hands in the sleeves of her chocolate sweater that cut off the top to show her shoulders and part of the tank top she wore underneath. Her panda belt hung loosely and transitioned into her black miniskirt. Right under she wore opaque black stockings. Her style of clothing was similar to Vaelior's golden robe-like attire. Did his whole team not wear armor against such formidable beasts? After a little silence she continued, "Excuse me."
"Thank you Celia, dear." Aurya took her chance of this distraction to break free of this guy, and this time it worked. She didn't want the elvish girl to get too far ahead. Plus, that guy was getting weird for her with his knowing of position of the Yeoux. Was she that famous? 'Back to Dysiurbs, huh?' Aurya thought.
Sprinting day after day, and resting just enough to keep going, Aurya finally arrived back in Dysiurbs. She was hoping to catch Zeri before the city, but as long as she was able to find her, she would make do with when. As she entered the trading post area surrounding the city, she heard a call-out.
"Surrender yourself thief!" The formation of a swirling ice wall started to appear before her, trapping in some dirty-looking boy inside. At the top when it finished, a light blue-haired girl came out from a blur and dove straight down the middle. Before she could enter, a pink rope wrapped around her and slammed her into the outside of the wall.
The guy leapt out from the roughly ten foot wall, showing his abnormally long tongue, which was wrapped around the girl still. He rolled in the air, bringing her in the roll a little later on, and slammed her into the ground. When he landed, he twirled to launch her back at the ice wall, letting go of her this time.
A familiar figure caught her before impact. He quickly placed her down and drew his wooden sword. The short black-haired boy launched his tongue at the drawing sword and wrapped his tongue on it. Razu tried to wrestle his sword free with twists, but he was stripped not too long after contact. The thief immediately turned and hauled off. Razu, however, had to hold back the wounded girl as she seemed to want to chase after him still.
Aurya decided to give chase herself. She ran parallel to him down the market streets, staying hidden while slowly catching up. The thief directed himself toward the inner wall. Before he made it there however, he made a pit stop to rob another victim. Out of all the people for him to steal from at this point, Aurya was shocked to find it was Zeri. The shock wore off quickly as she dashed in to target Zeri rather than the thief, which ended up as a tag team attack on Zeri.
"So you found yourself a friend and found me? Unfortunately, it won't work," she smirked. Zeri smashed her staff into the ground, cracking the earth around them. Aurya sidestepped and closed in further, getting in close range with Zeri. She wasn't able to get any direct hits as Zeri blocked each one with her staff. At least she kept her on the defensive until a big rock landed on her. Zeri dodged it, and started focusing on the boy who threw the rubble.
Aurya rotated herself with the rock to jump off of it before it hit the ground. When she settled and retargeted Zeri, a blur of blue flashed past her and straight into the thief. The impact brought him into the inner wall and a prison of ice encased him against the wall.
The whole incident left Zeri unguarded since the thief managed to snag her staff. Aurya charged in and swiped at Zeri, tearing up her attire and blocking forearm. Now was Aurya's chance of revenge. She continued her onslaught of attacks, tearing into Zeri with each swipe of her claws.
"Help!" Zeri shrieked in terror. Before she could land her next attack, Aurya was tackled by the ice girl.
After rolling with her tackler, Aurya push her off. She tried to regain her fight with Zeri but was interrupted immediately. An ice wall was forming in a circle around her, just like she saw with the thief. Aurya punched out, getting her timing right. She was able to see the ice girl, yet she almost missed her. Aurya leapt out of the half-formed ice wall, dashing at Zeri again.
"I won't let you harm the innocent." A hand held onto Aurya's ankle just as she broke free. Aurya was tripped, and by the time she got back up and in range of Zeri, Zeri pulled her staff and activated her teleport, barely escaping her battle.
Aurya let out a roar to the sky before turning around. "You let my chance slip away." She dropped to all fours, snarling. "I really don't like you right now, Ice Bitch."
"My name is the Cobalt Comet!" The two clashed, closer to Aurya's starting point since she was slightly slower. Aurya was snagged into a rising ice pillar, but she quickly melted the ice down and freed herself. Aurya stayed on the defensive, being slower and a close-range fighter. She was, however, able to nullify each of the attacks, keeping this match at a constant stalemate. Luckily for Aurya, her opponent decided to charge in for a change of attack pattern. But before the two met, a small blue blob appeared and grabbed both of their attacks, pinning both of them to the ground.
"The authorities arrived." The blue creature explained as a seal formed around him and the girls. All three vanished just before any witnesses were available. "Both your targets got away. Rather than end each other, let us talk it out."
"No! She let her get away after she killed one of my people. It took too long to find her just to lose her now. I'm going to find her again." Aurya tried to race off but was interrupted by Majik.
"Wait, what if I told you she's staying here in this city and you'll be able to find it faster if you team up with Uliyani, Razu, and myself?"
"I don't like the idea of either of you joining with my sidekick and me," Uliyani interrupted.
"With what is about to go down in this city, you'll want Aurya and myself for teammates. You won't be able to protect this city alone." Majik reasoned.
"How do you know my name?" Aurya was stumped. This was the second time someone knew her before she even met them.
"I've done a lot of research on the Yeoux. Your people are fascinating. I'm not sure why you left them, but if you'll allow me, I can help you on your mission."
"What are you getting out of all this?" Uliyani questioned.
"Nothing major. Just my own satisfaction that justice is brought for her people."
"Do you know where she'll be?" Aurya pondered, getting pulled into Majik's offer.
"Guaranteed. It just won't be immediately. That will give us time on working together first."
"Then let's get started." Aurya looked up to see Razu perched on a rooftop. He leapt off and joined the new team.
"That was a good match." Razu had complimented her, heading off to retrieve his sword and into the crowd of fighters. Aurya debated on whether to follow him and ask him about his fighting, but she caught wind of one of her own nearby. She ducked into the crowd and slithered out of the arena, aiming to leave the city as early as possible.
Autumn had arrived. Aurya had escaped her tracker and peacefully enjoyed the scenery as she traveled the world. She didn't want to return to her kingdom. Not yet. And this tracker of hers was aiming to do so. She was glad she had been trained so well in her raising to the point of being able to escape a high ranking official of her military. Her father was King of the Moon Wolves tribe. That's all he had, though. Try as he might, the Geim family of the Sun Foxes tribe was constantly in success for the royal matches. Every session, they would take back King of the Yeoux title to their tribe.
Aurya had practiced in a youth royal match against the heir of the Sun Foxes. Unfortunately, her low-level ice empowerment fell to nothing against his refined fire powers. She started giving up over time, thinking it was pointless for her to even attempt to take the title of her tribe and try to pry the title of the Yeoux for her people. The burden was too intense for an impossible challenge.
Over time, it broke her down and she chose a life of freedom and exploration. But to fully embrace her lifestyle, she would need a replacement for herself in the tribal standings. As fate would bring her what she desired in her time of need, her parents adopted a Sun Wolf orphan to compete with her for her title. Aurya figured her parents wanted to give her an easier challenge curve to get her hopes and strength up higher. What they didn't expect though; it was her opportunity to escape.
As Aurya was thinking of her recent past while traveling, a city broke the horizon she was looking at. It had been six months since she had entered a city of this size: Dysiurbs. Curious about a new tournament, or fighting of some kind, Aurya decided to enter the city limits. Within the crowds of people, a hand grabbed hold of her shoulder and tugged at her to turn around.
"Lady Aurya. I've found you at last. I can finally bring you home." Aurya saw this man to be the same that had been tracking her. She didn't notice him this time around due to all the strange smells in this city. He had gotten smarter about tracking her closer.
"I'm not going back, Kommet. I like it out here, and I'm doing just fine on my own." Aurya retorted, pushing aside his hand.
"Lady Aurya, please don't be unreasonable. I was tasked with bringing you home, and you know I can't return without you." Aurya refused once again, to which kept them arguing about returning home.
"Hey! Leave her alone." A furious remark came from behind. A pink-haired girl rushed past Aurya and pushed Kommet out of reaching distance. This enflamed the arguing to another level. Kommet commanded for the elf girl to remove herself from his situation. This didn't settle well with her at all. "The only way I'll remove myself is if you beat me in a fight. The city limits are right over there."
"As much as I would like to beat you in, my mission comes first. And Lady Aurya isn't leaving my sights." He grabbed onto Aurya to keep her close.
"Zeri, I found one of those bodyguards." A blonde teen came into the scene, pulling a large man behind him.
"Well, she won't have to now. I figured it would come to this. Thank you Dario." Zeri walked over to the blonde teen and kissed his forehead before waving him away. She then got the seven foot man to lean over to reach her short stature of a couple inches over five feet, and she whispered something to him.
The giant white-haired, mercenary-looking man walked over to Aurya and lifted her up and over his shoulder. "My name's Wally D, little girl. Care for a lift?" He laughed, carrying her to the city limits without even acknowledging her response. Aurya tried to squeeze free, with every wiggle and wailing she could muster, but this giant wasn't letting go of her. Not even using her tail to slap against his face fazed him. "It's so fluffy," he would comment humorously.
After a little while, the giant man placed Aurya down on the ground and sat next to her, holding his arm around her so she couldn't escape. "This is a nice job: to watch a good ole brawl. Hopefully you'll enjoy the show too." Aurya was uncomfortable, very. She could barely even move, just enough to adjust her position so she wasn't sitting awkwardly. There wasn't any up or back and forth.
"Let's get this started." Zeri pulled out her staff in a twirl, slamming the bottom against the ground. "Earth shatter!" From the staff, a jolt of shifting earth jetted at Kommet. He jumped to side, landing on all fours in a sliding motion. He shifted forward and launched at her with a claw swipe.
"An earth user, huh? You'll be easy pickings." Kommet grinned as his attack was blocked by her staff. He twisted his body to land a solid side kick in. Zeri bounced and landed back on her feet.
"The wolf boy is already making errors. If he doesn't have the raw power to back that weakness up, he's done for." Wally directed at Aurya as if he were a commentator. Aurya wasn't sure how she wanted this battle to end, but she did favor Kommet getting a little beat up so she could escape him. Aurya started to release her freeze to try and get the large man off of her. "It's getting pretty chilly in here." He pulled her closer to him and tighter. She gave up, running out of air, and he released her enough to breathe.
After exchanging a few blows, Zeri stabbed her staff into the ground, "Fire Bolt!" She said summoning an orange bolt at Kommet. It struck fast and hard, bringing him to his knees. "So you are Metal Affinity," she snickered. "Fire Blast!" Zeri's staff started to glow a dark red, with flares of orange and hints of yellow.
"You're one of those damn witches," Kommet sneered as he pulled himself to his feet. He grabbed his armour covering his chest and ripped it off, launching it at Zeri's incoming blast. The explosion vaporized the armour and sent Kommet tumbling across the field. Through the dust cloud, Kommet launched pieces of armour off his legs to attempt a pierce on his opponent. When the dust cleared, a wall of fire stood firm with Zeri unharmed behind it. She swiped her staff, eliminating the flames.
Kommet rushed in, zigzag-dodging all of Zeri's incoming fire balls, which weren't that frequent. She got off four of them before he was up in her face. Kommet snuck in a clean hit on her wrist, disarming her staff, knocking it near Aurya's open side. Zeri was knocked back as well into the ground, near the large man, heftily with a follow up attack. Kommet turned to the man, "I have won. Release Lady Aurya."
"I wouldn't be so sure dude," Wally chuckled.
"Watch out!" Aurya yelled out. She got a glimpse of Zeri charge out from behind what she could see of the man beside her. And she was carrying a sword now. Kommet, aware of Aurya's cry, dodged out of harm's way, or so he thought.
When Zeri lifted the sword in a upward slash, a blade of fire extended from the sword, cutting into Kommet. He was knocked back with a big wound along his chest, burning away at him. Kommet hit the ground and started rolling, putting the flame out quickly. Following up his roll, he landed on his feet, ready once again. "It's a good thing he was wearing armor still. Hey girl! Careful with that sword!" Wally yelled out. His first comment was directed to Aurya in a normal voice.
Zeri dropped her arm low to the ground and swung, releasing a gust of flames across the flowers. Kommet caught sight of the low blast, and he leapt over it. Zeri had already begun swinging across her body again in an upward diagonal slash, sending out a wave of an ice wall. Surprised about potentially being frozen midair, Kommet shifted his weight to narrowly dodge the ice wall, but in doing so he had turned his back on Zeri for just enough time. Zeri finished her third slash by grabbing the sword with her left hand and slashing down over her head. When the sword ended right in front of her, a bolt of lightning ejected. It hit dead-clean into Kommet's head.
"Savage." Wally muttered to himself as the battle ended. The commentary along with watching one of her people drop dead to the ground clicked inside of her. Aurya's hair stood on end and her eyes filled with a blood red. She exploded into an ice crystal, encasing both herself and Wally.
"Thank you for your services and this sword. Here's your pay and good luck dealing with her." Zeri tossed a bag of gold onto the ground as she picked up her staff. "Teleport!" With that, Zeri vanished into thick air, which soon dispersed.
Wally shattered the ice by flexing. "Oh come on. Not even fair lady. Now I have to explain to my guild where the sword went." Right after, when Aurya dashed at him like a dart, Wally grabbed her by the pancho she wore as a top. She tried slashing at him, but he flung her away before she made contact. Wally firmly stepped into the ground, causing pillars of earth to extend up around Aurya midflight. "Calm down little one. We can give him a proper burial." Minutes of rage later, she did so, reverting back to normal. Wally released her, and they began burying the late warrior under the lone tree he was defeated near.
While they were paying their silence after the deed, a group of strangers walked to them. They all had similar appearances to the earlier pink-haired girl, all having darker pink-red hair and pointy ears. The center man had a headband covering one eye and a sword across his waist. To his left, stood a brawler-looking mage. His mage outfit around his waist and hanging off, with just a white shirt and wristbands on top. The other side, stood a bigger man, more likely the wall of the trio.
The shortest of the trio stood ahead of his pack, "Have you seen a short, pink-haired elf girl?"
Aurya snarled back, "What relation are you with her?" She got off the ground, fully turning to the trio. The large man continued in his respects.
"She's just our lost comrade. She has a tendency to get lost." This set Aurya to the edge. She leapt forth, aiming to claw down the leader. The wall of the group jumped in between the two and blocked Aurya's attack, launching her off of him.
"Your comrade killed one of my people!" Aurya cried out as she leapt forth, aiming to take down the leader still. The wall intercepted once again.
"Thanks Onyx, but I'll handle this." The trio leader notified his teammate while drawing his blade. "If she wants to fight, we'll settle this. Where is our comrade?" he asked firmly at Aurya.
Wally got up and pushed Aurya away and stood in the way of the tiny trio in front of him. "Don't get yourself killed little one. You three, where is your comrade heading? I should probably chase her down as well."
"I'm coming as well," Aurya asserted.
"With me here, I bet you are little one haha. But not today. You're after revenge. You need to return to your people." Wally asserted himself back. "As for you three, you continue on that way." He pointed eastbound. "I'm going to step into the city real quick." Wally picked up Aurya and flung her over his shoulder again. They went at it like before with her unpleasant remarks to him holding her and his nonchalant, cheerful demeanor all the way back to where he first picked her up.
He knocked on a door to a tavern-like building. When the door opened, he tossed Aurya over. She landed in another man's arms, smaller but still a giant compared to her. "Here, Klaue. Watch her for a minute. I accidently lost the sword again," he laughed.
"You best stop loosing it before they take it away from you. This may be your last straw." Aurya flailed, but this man had a tight grip. "What's with the girl?"
"I was playing with her. Trying to ditch her before she gets me in trouble. Aight, I'll be back with the sword." With that, he ran off waving to Klaue.
"Let go of me!" Aurya struggled again but she couldn't bust free from this guy's metallic arm. Seconds later, he placed her down.
"Minute's up. You best do what he said. Good luck." He closed the door. Aurya was confused about how long he held her, but she took her chance and dashed out of the city. She was sure she could catch up to him. When she arrived at the tree, there was still no trace, but she kept going eastbound like he directed the elves to go.
Aurya rounded a hilltop but stopped immediately when she saw a giant lion monster. She ducked back under the hilltop and ran around to scope it out. She needed to make sure if it saw her, she would be somewhere else. A high-level monster would have the timing to show up on her chase. They were pretty rare in the central human territory.
"Lightning Larry!! I've come to tame you!" An overbearing yell came from the distance. Aurya reached the edge of the hill so she could see the monster. There stood a party of eight or so people wearing armor and drawing their weapons.
"Alright. My lucky break." With the group of warriors distracting the beast, she would be able to continue onward quickly. As she circled the combat arena, she glanced at the battle a few times to make sure she was safe. During a moment she was watching her other surroundings and the path she ran, a person gained distance on her from the air. She noticed him before he got too close, dodging where he was going to land.
Before impacting the ground he blasted a large amount of air into the ground and softly touched the ground. "Apologies, my Lady. Didn't intend to end up over here." He gave her a look over and smiled. "Name's Vaelior. I would love to have a girl like you on my monster taming team. Though you are a little on the weak side at the moment. What do you say?"
"It sounds fun, but I'm on a mission to hunt down an elvish girl." Aurya started to walk away, so she could make up for lost time.
"Wait cutie! What did she look like? I may be of assistance." He nonchalantly launched a blast of air out of his left hand toward the monster and his party. Aurya looked over to see a strategic hit, hindering the monster and letting his teammates go in for strikes.
Aurya described the elvish girl, having pink hair and being slightly smaller than herself. She was wearing golden armour and a long cosmic-designed green dress. "Oh, the short elf girl! She's quite unusual for our species, along with her little boy band that was following her. She was heading to Dysiurbs, I do believe." Aurya questioned the absence of the large man that was supposed to be with them. "Wally? I have the sword he was hunting her for, so he's helping me conquer Lightning Larry." Vaelior patted the sheathed special sword on his side. "I was surprised the elf girl traded such a sword for the information I gave her. Though, I could inform you as well for a small price," he winked.
"No thank you. I'm just after the elf girl." Aurya tried bolting off again, but he grabbed her to get her attention.
"Well I helped you, so I do think you owe me something in return. At least a name to go with such a pretty face."
"Aurya." A large rock descended from the sky to land nearby the two of them, but out of harm's reach.
"Oh, the heiress to the Yue clan? Now, what are you doing so far away from home?"
"Vaelior, sir. Lightning Larry is ready." A young teen girl with braided hair in the front and tied up long black hair in the back was standing nervously, her voice was quiet. She hid her hands in the sleeves of her chocolate sweater that cut off the top to show her shoulders and part of the tank top she wore underneath. Her panda belt hung loosely and transitioned into her black miniskirt. Right under she wore opaque black stockings. Her style of clothing was similar to Vaelior's golden robe-like attire. Did his whole team not wear armor against such formidable beasts? After a little silence she continued, "Excuse me."
"Thank you Celia, dear." Aurya took her chance of this distraction to break free of this guy, and this time it worked. She didn't want the elvish girl to get too far ahead. Plus, that guy was getting weird for her with his knowing of position of the Yeoux. Was she that famous? 'Back to Dysiurbs, huh?' Aurya thought.
Sprinting day after day, and resting just enough to keep going, Aurya finally arrived back in Dysiurbs. She was hoping to catch Zeri before the city, but as long as she was able to find her, she would make do with when. As she entered the trading post area surrounding the city, she heard a call-out.
"Surrender yourself thief!" The formation of a swirling ice wall started to appear before her, trapping in some dirty-looking boy inside. At the top when it finished, a light blue-haired girl came out from a blur and dove straight down the middle. Before she could enter, a pink rope wrapped around her and slammed her into the outside of the wall.
The guy leapt out from the roughly ten foot wall, showing his abnormally long tongue, which was wrapped around the girl still. He rolled in the air, bringing her in the roll a little later on, and slammed her into the ground. When he landed, he twirled to launch her back at the ice wall, letting go of her this time.
A familiar figure caught her before impact. He quickly placed her down and drew his wooden sword. The short black-haired boy launched his tongue at the drawing sword and wrapped his tongue on it. Razu tried to wrestle his sword free with twists, but he was stripped not too long after contact. The thief immediately turned and hauled off. Razu, however, had to hold back the wounded girl as she seemed to want to chase after him still.
Aurya decided to give chase herself. She ran parallel to him down the market streets, staying hidden while slowly catching up. The thief directed himself toward the inner wall. Before he made it there however, he made a pit stop to rob another victim. Out of all the people for him to steal from at this point, Aurya was shocked to find it was Zeri. The shock wore off quickly as she dashed in to target Zeri rather than the thief, which ended up as a tag team attack on Zeri.
"So you found yourself a friend and found me? Unfortunately, it won't work," she smirked. Zeri smashed her staff into the ground, cracking the earth around them. Aurya sidestepped and closed in further, getting in close range with Zeri. She wasn't able to get any direct hits as Zeri blocked each one with her staff. At least she kept her on the defensive until a big rock landed on her. Zeri dodged it, and started focusing on the boy who threw the rubble.
Aurya rotated herself with the rock to jump off of it before it hit the ground. When she settled and retargeted Zeri, a blur of blue flashed past her and straight into the thief. The impact brought him into the inner wall and a prison of ice encased him against the wall.
The whole incident left Zeri unguarded since the thief managed to snag her staff. Aurya charged in and swiped at Zeri, tearing up her attire and blocking forearm. Now was Aurya's chance of revenge. She continued her onslaught of attacks, tearing into Zeri with each swipe of her claws.
"Help!" Zeri shrieked in terror. Before she could land her next attack, Aurya was tackled by the ice girl.
After rolling with her tackler, Aurya push her off. She tried to regain her fight with Zeri but was interrupted immediately. An ice wall was forming in a circle around her, just like she saw with the thief. Aurya punched out, getting her timing right. She was able to see the ice girl, yet she almost missed her. Aurya leapt out of the half-formed ice wall, dashing at Zeri again.
"I won't let you harm the innocent." A hand held onto Aurya's ankle just as she broke free. Aurya was tripped, and by the time she got back up and in range of Zeri, Zeri pulled her staff and activated her teleport, barely escaping her battle.
Aurya let out a roar to the sky before turning around. "You let my chance slip away." She dropped to all fours, snarling. "I really don't like you right now, Ice Bitch."
"My name is the Cobalt Comet!" The two clashed, closer to Aurya's starting point since she was slightly slower. Aurya was snagged into a rising ice pillar, but she quickly melted the ice down and freed herself. Aurya stayed on the defensive, being slower and a close-range fighter. She was, however, able to nullify each of the attacks, keeping this match at a constant stalemate. Luckily for Aurya, her opponent decided to charge in for a change of attack pattern. But before the two met, a small blue blob appeared and grabbed both of their attacks, pinning both of them to the ground.
"The authorities arrived." The blue creature explained as a seal formed around him and the girls. All three vanished just before any witnesses were available. "Both your targets got away. Rather than end each other, let us talk it out."
"No! She let her get away after she killed one of my people. It took too long to find her just to lose her now. I'm going to find her again." Aurya tried to race off but was interrupted by Majik.
"Wait, what if I told you she's staying here in this city and you'll be able to find it faster if you team up with Uliyani, Razu, and myself?"
"I don't like the idea of either of you joining with my sidekick and me," Uliyani interrupted.
"With what is about to go down in this city, you'll want Aurya and myself for teammates. You won't be able to protect this city alone." Majik reasoned.
"How do you know my name?" Aurya was stumped. This was the second time someone knew her before she even met them.
"I've done a lot of research on the Yeoux. Your people are fascinating. I'm not sure why you left them, but if you'll allow me, I can help you on your mission."
"What are you getting out of all this?" Uliyani questioned.
"Nothing major. Just my own satisfaction that justice is brought for her people."
"Do you know where she'll be?" Aurya pondered, getting pulled into Majik's offer.
"Guaranteed. It just won't be immediately. That will give us time on working together first."
"Then let's get started." Aurya looked up to see Razu perched on a rooftop. He leapt off and joined the new team.