Opposites In The Moonlight, Slayer and Rider- (moonpearl and rogue)

"Hmm... you're right, but, even though I do think tropical places are more beautiful, I just can't take the heat. Besides, this place is relaxing, it reminds me of my home town, so out of the way So, um, what are the Desert Races?." Phoebe had to admit to herself, that laugh of Static's was quite shaking. And she still didn't understand the fish thing...

More information- Always good. Static tended to thing on things as useful, not interesting when it came to knowing things about a person. Anyway, what was the point in being interested in a person when you were always travelling anyway?
"The Desert Races? You've never been?" Granted, many hadn't witnessed the races, but there weren't many that didn't even know they existed. Static tried to keep her incredulity out of her voice as she explained the experience to Phoebe.
"Every year, there's a big race through the deserts, dragons and humans alike. The first to get to the finish wins. There have been some quite notorious scandals over the years with all the cheats they get." The mention of dragons (and by her own lips too) brought an electric tingle to her spine, just the thought made her excited for the hunt. Maybe the mention might make Phoebe let something out?

Phoebe could tell by how surprised Static looked when she asked, this was something most people already knew about. It made sense, she was only banished a few months ago... Something Static said made her look so strange for a moment... she must really want to see those races! Or win them, maybe? Wow!
"What do you think about... dragons?"

Phoebe looked impressed by the thought of the races, and hoped she hadn't got too far into her charade of going, when in actuality it was the last place she wanted to end up. The next question caught her off guard though, and for a moment she paused, before answering slowly.
"Dragons... I've seen a few in my years, but never very close..." Like that was true. "I suppose it's the experience you have that gives you an opinion, and that, I do not have." She didn't want to dig herself into a hole, and deliberately shortened her answer. That, and working off the fly on such a topic wasn't so easy. She would have to review that one when she was off travelling again.

She stood, seeing movement start to appear in the town not far off. She had lingered too long already. "I must be on my travels. I have a lot of ground to cover before nightfall, and have lingered too long already." Static picked up her blade from where it lay on the ground, buckling it to her belt before starting to pack the rest of her belongings away. Phoebe was dismissed.

Phoebe was disappointed by Static's response. Of course... of course. Any normal person wouldn't have much experience with dragons, but... she had just felt something. Maybe it was when she mentioned the dragons at the Desert Races. Phoebe had thought, just for a moment, that it could be... maybe Static was a dragon rider as well? But no, her hunch was completely off, it looked like...

"Wait." Phoebe stood up in front of Static, a little nervous. She smiled warmly. "Safe travels to you, Static. I honestly hope that you succeed in whatever you are trying to accomplish."

Gathering the rest of her belongings off the ground, Static prepared to load her saddlebags again for the journey ahead. As Phoebe stood up, Static had the horrible feeling that she might attempt a hug, and stepped quickly away, stuffing her horse's saddlebags full before swinging into the saddle and taking the reins in one hand, settling her cloak around her comfortably. She nodded in Phoebe's direction, her encouraging words making her writhe inside with... What? Guilt, no...It was just...Such mushy crap!

She tapped the horse's sides, starting him into a walk along the edge of the lakeside. However, as an afterthought, she pulled him to a halt and turned in the saddle, thinking for one more piece of information...
"What do you think of dragons then?"

'Huh, I wonder why she backed away...? Oh, I get it, she must be able to sense my spear skills and powerful elven magic. Wow, she really knows her stuff!' thought Phoebe.
"...what do I think of dragons? He he he he he." She smiled widely, and just for a moment, her eyes flashed purple. "That's a tough question, because all dragons are different, like people. They're good and evil, amazing and plain, warm and cold... all sorts of opposites. I've, uh... heard tales of such creatures back in home town... and of the people who ride dragons, or even slay them... creepy stuff, huh?"

Static was somewhat taken aback by the unusual fire that seemed to radiate from Phoebe suddenly, but hid it sucessfully, remaining impassive across the short distance between the two. She could have sworn she saw her eyes flash too... Phoebe was obviously more than her diminutive elven stature betrayed. Was she a rider? A slayer? No, she couldn't be, she had just called them "creepy", and she sounded as though she idolised the dragons or something... Yuck. Maybe there was more to staying in the town than she had first thought...

Static's brain whirred in action as she digested the information, piecing her conversation together... What if Phoebe was actually a dragon rider, and the friend she had mentioned was the dragon? Distracted by this thought, she rounded the conversation up quickly; "Yeah, creepy...I shall have to watch out for them on the way. Well, goodbye!" Before spurring the leopard stallion into a canter, following the edge of the lake before disappearing along the dirt path leading through the further woods- And quickly pulling to a halt curious as what Phoebe might do now.

As Static left on her strangely-colored horse, Phoebe waved and yelled into the distance. "Farewell Static, my new mysterious traveler friend!!! Watch out for bandits! ...and dragon slayers, too, I guess! You never know where they might be hiding!"
Phoebe then found a nice clean log to sit on and finished the rest of her cake. She stared at the lake, looking for the slowly reappearing fish. Some of them were beautiful colors... and other looked fatty and delicious. Perhaps she would catch one and eat it for dinner later? Mmm-mm!

Static leapt off her horse, twisting the reins around a branch to keep the stallion in place. Sneaking back to the forest's edge, she shimmied up a tree to watch over the lake, lying along a leafy branch. The greenery blew around her silhouette, her ow green cape blurring with the trees to make her virtually invisible. From her position, she could see the whole of the lake glistening before her in a wide arc, the mountains in the distance and the smoking village by the lakeside.

Static watched Phoebe sit and eat her cake, then watch the lake for fish. Nothing yet... Static settled down for a wait, wrapping her cloak around her to keep off the chill of the wind and laying her head along the branch. She had been travelling for a long time, and had been up early that morning...

The fish were now beautifully swimming around without fear now. This little lake was like a village... Phoebe sighed and looked up at the sky for a moment. To her surprise, she saw a tiny purple dot in the horizon... Evren! How unlike him to come visit in the middle of her vacation, and in broad daylight! "I wonder what he wants... I hope the townspeople don't think it's strange..." It didn't take long before he swiftly landed right next to the lake.

"Phoebe, I'm sorry to interrupt your little vacation, but I sensed danger here..."
"In this cute little town? The most dangerous thing here is the lake."
"I'm serious. I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut your vacation short. Not only is there danger, but being alone in a foreign town doesn't seem to be helping your state of mind at all."
"So I have to leave already?! You promised I could stay here, for an entire week!"
"Oh? Then I suppose you don't want to know about the new information I collected about that particular person..."
Phoebe gasped.
"You mean...?! Tell me!"

Thankfully, Static’s patience (of which generally she had little, being of an impatient disposition), was quickly rewarded by what she had hoped she would find- A dragon, large and purple as wine, which drifted over the mountain tops and came to rest beside who, but Phoebe! Static bared her teeth in a savage grin, stomach knotted with tension and excitement at, possibly, crossing claws with this dragon before the day was up. She slid carefully back down the branch she had climbed with a wince, the cramp that stiffened her muscles making movement painful.

Static dropped the last metre out of the tree, and winced again as the dried leaves under her feet crackled. She stalked back along the path she had rode along, this time on foot, knowing her horse’s dislike for dragons at close range. She reached the edge of the forest, and peered through the leaves of a bush that hid her, camouflaged by the dark green cloak tucked around her shoulders.
“Too far away…” she thought to herself, moving back into the forest to get closer to the dragon- the closer she was, the less time the beast had to blast her off the Earth with it’s fiery breath!

"Phoebe..." Evren hesitated, "It's not safe to talk here, we have to leave. Now. Surely you can feel it? The charged presence in the air... I know you were on vacation, but it's still dangerous to lower your guard."Phoebe pouted immaturely, but then she tensed. "Yes... I feel it. You're right, we should go..." She climbed on the dragon's back, mentally preparing herself for the hours of flying sure to come."Let us hope we are not persued. Did you see anyone suspicious around town?" asked Evren, taking of slowly."Yes, I did. A strange woman, dressed oddly. Weird hair. Weirder horse. She scared the fish away and she was a little creepy." "Hmm... I hope she was not a slayer."

And with that, they took to the skies.

All of a sudden, things were moving much too quickly for Static’s liking: the dragon was looking around; Phoebe was getting on the dragon; Static ran through the woods now, not caring if she was heard, she had to act quickly to catch the dragon now, or she would never catch it! Loose twigs snapped under her feet, leaves shuffled and twisted wildly on their branches as she shoved them from her face. She could still hear the dragon talking to the human (back to the unfamiliar now that Phoebe was prey), preparing for the takeoff, wings open. Last chance!

Static burst into the open, her green cloak flapping around her as she bolted from the trees. “Too late!” cried her thoughts, as the dragon took off, it’s wings beating the air and stirring up a wind. “No, it will not get away from me!” She set her jaw, frowning, and lifted her hands into the air, reaching for the crackling, live static electricity that she got her name from, and sending it into the air in a wide arc. “That’ll stop them in their tracks…”

The electricity soared through the air and shocked Evren. "Agh..." groaned Evren."
"Evren, what's wrong?! We're falling out of the sky!"
"Electricity... how did you say she scared those fish?"
Phoebe turned around and saw her there, the creepy lady, Static, running towards them with her cape flailing. As soon as they were close enough to the ground, Phoebe jumped off of Evren to face her. In Phoebe's right hand, what appeared to be clumps of darkness were forming the shape of her spear. Her grey eyes tuned steely.
"Static. You just shocked my dragon, didn't you?" Then, as fast as she could, Phoebe recited her spear's main power incantation.
"Bythebloodwhichyouhavespilledembracethedarkcoldnessofthepowerofablackhole,consumeatmycommandleaveatmycommand, shouldwebedeafeateddissapearintonothingnessandtakemineenemieswithyou."
She and her spear, named Black Hole, were now radiating a somewhat disgusting and slimy purple aura. She began running towards Static.

Static gave a mean smile as she saw the dragon start to list and fall from the sky, twisting in an ungainly fashion as it tried to regain its balance. It just rescued itself from crashing into the ground and landed with a heavy thump, making the ground tremble with the impact. Phoebe leapt from the dragon’s back, catlike, her warm face turned to ice.

“Your dragon’s hide” she spat, feeling for more electricity in the short space of speech, “will be mine!” Ambition leapt in her heart as she looked at the dragon, its deep blue scales sparkling with reflections from the sun on water. It would fetch a pretty price on the market, if she could capture the dragon in one piece. However, first she had Phoebe to contend with. What looked like a spear was now clasped in her hands, not a dangerous weapon if kept at the right distance- that is, close. She started to run towards Static, aiming the spear, but it wouldn’t come close if Static took care. She continued to hold on hand flat, palm outwards to gather electricity, while with the other she reached underneath her cloak, withdrawing the long scimitar and holding it deftly in defence.

A scimitar. Ordinarily Phoebe would have swerved around to the back and try to stab her, but right now she had to protect Evren, who was behind herself. With a weapon like her spear, being this close a distance would not be good at all. The electricity was dangerous, too. But she shouldn't push Static away, she would have to start retreating back to increase distance unlesss... She didn't like doing this. It took energy, and the element was not at all kind to your mind or body. It took over you, slowly at first, then more and more until you were nothing but a servant to it. Black Hole. It swallows everything into nothingness.

Phoebe stopped and held Black Hole out in front of her. She seemed almost possessed.
The disgusting darkness clumps formed around the tip of the spear and moved quickly, they started to cover Static's scimitar, almost looking as if it would disappear.

Static narrowed her eyes in distrust as she watched Phoebe’s every movement, and the dragon behind her. It was a perfect specimen, apart from the scorch marks she had just given it- But those would come off. As Phoebe took a step forwards, her eyes dark with magic, Static instinctively stepped back, knowing that this was one foe who she was more likely to defeat using electricity, rather than swordplay- That spear looked nasty.

When tendrils of dark started to creep up her scimitar, she flung it away from her side, snarling in anger and discharging a bolt of electricity in Phoebe’s direction. Magic was not going to get the better of her. Reaching for more electricity (thankfully she had charged overnight!) she brought her crackling hands together, concentrating the green energy into a whirling ball of pain.

The scimitar that Static had thrown to the side began to distort. It faded, it melted, its essence was swallowed whole and spat somewhere in the vast universe, never to be seen by anyone on the planet for eternity. Even the grass and some of the ground around it had been taken. Which is why, in only an instant, Phoebe willed more darkness clumps out and covered her body in a thin layer of them. Electricity was a deadly element. It's more precise than fire, certainly. Less predictable when wielded by a person. So even though it could possibly kill everyone in the field and in town, this was a crucial move. The energy would be distorted and thrown into space, as long as the electricity was not larger than her.

Phoebe didn't even try to dodge the killing green ball of energy. She stood there and watched it make contact with her now discolored skin. She watched it disappear, in a way even more disturbing than the sword. Of course, if she used this type of shield for about an hour, everyone would die. The first priority now was to knock Static out, and escape.

Static hardly saw her sword disintegrate, concentrating as she was on her electric bolt. When she took a glance in its direction, she was horrified to see that nothing remained, just a smoking place where it had once laid. Hot anger swelled within her; not only was that going to cost a bomb, but she had had that sword for a few years now and it had never let her down once! Phoebe was going to pay dearly for that, and so was her precious dragon! She concentrated more energy into the green sphere of electricity, her anger giving her strength, more that she would have had otherwise.

But even now, she couldn’t make any headway, even with this much power! Her electricity just crackled and jumped for a moment when it touched Phoebe, lashing out erratically before disappearing. And Phoebe was still standing! Now that her vision was not obscured, Static could see that Phoebe was not as she was before, she was darker somehow…The mechanics of such black magic eluded Static, and that was more frustrating than ever! She gave a yell of irritation, firing another, smaller bolt of electricity at the dragon cowering behind his rider. If she couldn’t touch Phoebe, maybe she could touch the dragon?

Even through her anger, which gave her extra strength, Static could now feel her powers draining. With the long night she had had before, she had not charged to her full potential, and these were not small, harmless bolts of energy she was firing off! Nevertheless, she stayed where she was, hands spread wide. She would not let herself go down before every speck of power was spent.

Letting her last blast tail off, Static turned from Phoebe towards the dragon behind her. Quickly, she cast another sphere of electricity, but it wasn't spherical for long, because she shot it directly at the blue and purple dragon, the green force stretching as it travelled, then exploding over the scales of the dragon as it hit, zapping the beast with a high voltage across it's front. She would have aimed for its head, but it might have moved before she had even hit.

Evren was in great, severe pain. It was all he could do to not cry out. The lighting, cold at first but then searing hot and burning zapped mercilessly, some of it went past his scales, through his body and made every cell quiver with pain. His vision was blurring, but he could faintly see Phoebe standing several feet away. She looked dark, angry, cold, and she was covered from head to toe in a dark purple or maybe black aura... just as he passed out, he realized, in panic, that it was from Black Hole.

At first, Phoebe didn't realize what happened. Wasn't the lightning aimed for her? Why didn't it hit? Where did it go? Then, she heard the explosion and, despite herself, whirled around to see the damage. It was bad. A section of the scales on Evren had been burnt black... he was still breathing, but he was clearly seriously injured and out cold. There would be no flying out of this one. She secretly shamed herself for not coating Evren in Black Hole clump dust instead of her. After all, he was the one she was supposed to be protecting. On second thought, Phoebe had never covered anyone in it who was as big as a dragon. It might not end well. Not enough control.

Even through all these thoughts, her feelings got the better of her. A mind shattering, ear destroying, Black Hole assisted, high pitched, anger filled scream escaped her lips. If Evren were awake, he would have passed out again.

That was it.
Phoebe grew darker as did Black Hole and even the horizon seemed to dim when over a dozen eel-like tendrils of darkness spreading out on the ground and moving quickly towards Static with the intent to vaporize and send her to a cold, airless place to die.
A cold.... evil smile spread on Phoebe's face as they reached Static's boot and started to melt it.
Her dragon would stay alive.
No matter how many people needed to die.

Static’s look grew cold as the dragon collapsed, a faint sense of triumph stirring inside her. She was tired, most of her energy spent, but there was no way that Phoebe could escape with the dragon now, the prize was hers! Her eyes flickered to Phoebe from the dragon, looking the younger woman in the eye, before a unearthly scream rent the air, unbearably loud- it forced her to her knees, even with her hands pressed hard over her ears, seeming to reverberate inside her head again and again and again. It was as though someone was pressing cold spines into her skull, splitting it in two… She couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t even breathe while a sound of such anguish was made.

When Phoebe finally stopped, Static’s head seemed to still ring with the noise, her head pounding. She had sunk onto one knee, head cradled in her hands and covered as much as it could be by her hands, face covered by one arm. A little electricity crackled around her fingers, involuntarily summoned in any attempt to try and block the sound. As she slowly looked up, a headache throbbing behind her eyes, she saw a new threat heading towards her, black, slimy twists of the dark magic that Phoebe seemed to conjure sliding their way towards her over the ground. Even now, one of the wisps of darkness had wrapped itself over the nearest boot, and the fabric was distorting, burning… A strange sensation came over her foot, and unthinking, she started to tug her foot free, knowing that something that could destroy metal and vaporise fabric would certainly burn flesh too.

Static pulled her foot free most of the way out of her boot frantically, the black goo following her doggedly. Looking up at Phoebe, she saw a crazed, furious look across her face- She was smiling. Suddenly a cold wash of horror slid over her- Was this what she was like when she fought? She had found herself smiling enough at the pain of others, but to see, it was…

Even with thoughts such as these, Static knew she had to do something- Fast. Ignoring her new consciousness, she flung a hand in Evren’s direction again, electricity curling green around her arm.
“Stop, or I’ll blast him into the next world!”

Phoebe panicked and quickly called back her Black Hole eels, but the fact that Static had said something was good; it meant she was starting to talk. Phoebe had a lot of questions, but she decided it was best not to ask them all rapid-fire, or else Static wouldn't answer any of them. She considered what knowledge was most important to her at that moment. At the same time, it was driving her crazy that she couldn't protect Evren. Travelling with only two companions was dangerous, even though it allowed for more speed and a smaller chance of being noticed or feared by townspeople. If only we had just one more person, she thought. But now, although she showed no signs of it, her time was dwindling. The power she was using is simply dangerous.

Phoebe shifted her position as to better protect Evren in case Static decided to fire anyway.
"Why do you threaten me and my dragon?" she demanded.

Static gave a pant as Phoebe started to call back her magic, it had worried her more than would have liked to admit. She slid her foot back down to the bottom of her boot, feeling a little cold air whistle around her toes. Another thing to replace when this was over. The electricity still wrapped around her arm, but it was getting harder and harder to sustain- and control- it. She would last a minute more at the most, and then it would be gone, and she would be completely helpless. Not a good position to be in. It started to spark off her arm, draining every time it hit the ground. Okay, so maybe less than a minute…

Static saw Phoebe shift closer to the prone dragon, still coated in the oily black magic. As her question came, her voice sharp, Static grimaced, her eyes narrowing. She wasn’t giving up information easily, if Phoebe thought the position was in would prompt her. But there might not be any choice on this first question if her electricity was about to fail…
“Why does anyone do anything?” she growled. “To better themselves. To get out of whatever hole they’ve dug themselves into. To show people that actually, you should give a damn about who they are and what they do.” Her voice started to rise in pitch slightly, and her hand wavered. The green was fading from her arm, and it was about to spark off, then she would be left unprotected and out in the open… Against an opponent who was armed with something that seemed even more dangerous than her own power, and seemingly still powered.

It sparked, and all traces of electricity left.

((Is this the end *gasp gasp*?! Please don't kill her if you attack again...Just kinda knock her out or something.... *pleading look*))

The electricity was gone. Static had no weapon. Phoebe stared at the helpless woman before her with intense eyes, contemplating. Kokokokokokokokoko... Common sense said that the power she was using was dangerous and unstable, and would eventually kill someone if she kept trying to use it, probably herself. On the other hand, if she didn't kill Static now, she would undoubtedly have to battle her again someday when she was at full strength again, and unless Phoebe had found what she was looking for and everything worked out alright... well, she could die in that situation too. With Evren incapacitated, she was forced to stay in this town until he recovered enough to fly again. So, she figured, she had two choices. One, demand Static to leave on her strange horse. Two...

Phoebe released the incantation that summoned her spear. Black Hole returned to darkness clumps and disintegrated, as did all the dust. Slowly, the darkness faded from her eyes and body. Some of the exhaustion showed on her body now. "I think I understand a little. I tried to slay him once, too."

» Polar Immersion & Ghost (Sometimes, a Slayer is just a Slayer...)
» Moonpearl's Eggs/Dragons
» Akira-----Just a cute little rider ^^ (Human)
» Rogue and El- A Chance encounter
» Rogue X Saphire [title to come]