Trees, flashing past incredibly fast, faster than the normal eye could register. But it was not a normal eye that watched them. They were huge, ancient things. Their leaves grew so clustered that little light could filter through to the ground below. What did was so indirect that it had turned to an odd greenish-grey. The effect it caused was almost spooky.

The scene flickered and changed. A barren wastland, sand stretching for miles. The air wavered with heat, and the sun beat harshly on anything and anyone unlucky enough to be caught under it's wrath. The scene was void of the usual suspects - insects and scorpions, hardy desert scrub - it seemed truly lifeless. It almost looked like there might be some tracks in the distance, but a desert wind soon blew sand over the area, covering it. Useless.

Changed again. Another forest, this one younger than the last. The trees were mostly elms, tall and slender. Yellow-green leaves rustled and flickered in the wind. The whole thing was just so... *bright*... and *cheery*. Ugh. It reeked of the sort of place Bella would spend time. The girl was a fool, limiting her magic to places like this. Earth magic, *true* earth magic, encompassed all forms of the earth, not just foliage.

The leaves rustled musically. The wind whistled happily through the trees. And then... over the sounds of the forest, something foreign. Voices? The scenery flew past as she sought the source. Surely, she was close now...

The vision suddenly flew away. A grinning, shifty figure occupied the space that moments before had been filled with trees. It flickered and crackled, flames reaching out from it to lick at the room.

Luna stared at the elemental for a moment, rage building within her. She had been so close! Closer than she'd ever gotten before... The silence didn't last for long, and she began cursing the thing. In her fury, she loosed a blast of fire at it. This had no effect, of course, other than adding a few more scorch marks to the plan stone walls behind it, but it made her feel slightly better. Slightly.

The elemental seemed unphased by Luna's rage. In fact, it almost looked as though it were grinning, though it was hard to tell. It waited until she had quieted. "So sorry to disturb you," it's voice hissed and crackled. It didn't seem very sorry. "I just thought you might find it interesting to know that you have a guest."

"What?" Luna's voice was sharp, dangerous. She turned her attention to the spell that surrounded her fortress -- a sort of variation of a shield, but with a trigger to alert when the barrier was breached. Sure enough, she discovered that someone was right outside the fortress. "Well, go and deal with him!" she snapped angrily at the fiery creature.

The elemental's expression grew dark, it's grin slipping away. "Be careful not to overstep your bounds, sorceress. Remember who your are servents, and who aren't." It disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, leaving the room considerably darker.

Luna stood fuming for a moment. She her attention to the breach in her spell, which gave away the intruder's location. She had been moments away from finding Bella! The wretched fool that had broken her concentration would come to regret his trespassing, she would make sure of that...

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Panique made the sig, chibis by Andrea. The squee-inducing avy is by DQ. <3
BA Characters: Sarah Hamilton, Bella, Luna