The Magician and the Misfit (Sakume)

The sword, along with the warrior attached to it, came down towards the head of the dark green cloaked warrior. The warrior wielding the sword moved forwards, undeterred as his red haired moved through the air. Ice suddenly encased the sword he used as it fell. A sly grin crossed his mouth; he had won this battle.

Suddenly, from beneath the cloaked man's veil came a gauntlet that quickly swatted the ice innate's sword away, shattering the ice around it with the greatest of ease. The cloaked man dropped down suddenly and kicked the boy's legs out from under him. With another quick spin, the concealed warrior thrust his foot into the swordsman's chest, causing him to roll back into a sign post in the city. One of the signs on the board fell off of it as the warrior struck the sign post.

The posted article fell into the lap of the ice warrior, who merely brushed it away as he rushed to his feet, charging at the warrior that he seemed highly intent on defeating. "I can't lose!" the swordsman yelled, his voice echoing just outside of the town.

Many nearby buildings had lights appearing outside of their windows. The people had mostly settled in for the night, but one nearby building seemed to be bustling still, even at this time of night. That building was the theater, which glowed with all manner of signs that shimmered and other such lighting to attract attention. Some magician was about to make her grand appearance in this town, and she intent on making it big with this show.

To the cloaked warrior, this whole thing was interesting, but the man he was fighting was simply annoying. Holding his right arm up, he blocked the red haired youth's sword. "You can't defeat me, so please stop trying to. You simply aren't strong enough yet," the cloaked man told the boy, pushing the swordsman's blade away and kicking the warrior that used the rune sword in the chest. The attack hit with great force, throwing the ice innate back, winding him slightly.

The red haired boy drove his blade into the ground, using it to help prop himself up. He wiped his mouth, and stood up, his sword held tightly, and the boy ready to continue the battle. "I can't lose to you!" he yelled producing two ice shards and launching them at the cloaked man.

The veiled man simply swatted away the shards with his right hand, like a man swatting a bug, and stepped slowly toward. Beneath his hood, the powerful warrior traced every movement of his foe with the greatest of ease. Even though this boy was fun to fight, the warrior was getting bored. "Can you please hurry this up, I've got places to be," the without an identity warrior spoke, holding up his left gauntlet armored hand and waving on his foe.

"Fine, here I come!" the ice warrior cried as he charged one more time; the warrior dragged his blade along the ground, but before he could do anything, his foe appeared and thrust his armored left fist into the red haired boy's chest. The boy hurtled through the air, falling through the roof of the theater.

"Well... I guess that will really bring the house down..." the cloaked man said staring blankly at what he had just done as he began to walk way from the city.

“Ta-da!” The girl shouted, a few sparks coming from the thin shiny wand in her hand. “Now you see me, now you don’t!” A few gasps emitted from the crowd as the slim girl completely disappeared from view, silence following.

“Where is she? Where did she go? How did she do that?” Whispered wonders followed afterwards, as the audience leaned to one another, completely stumped.

“That’s a simple trick.” One man, also a traveling gypsy remarked, feeling slightly threatened by the presence of this new magician in his neighborhood. He had come to see what she performed simply to belittle her. “Everyone knows how that’s done. Trapdoors, see how she went behind the curtain for that moment? She’ll appear right back on stage any moment now.”

“Is that so?” The young woman appeared next to him in a chair, smiling cheekily as she supported her frail chin upon a milky white hand. The man nearly fell backwards over himself in a fit of a heart attack state. She merely laughed, soft and pretty. She beamed as the spotlight shone over her, waving at the audience members as she made her way back to the stage, readying for her next trick. She performed a few slight-of-hand illusions involving cards and metal rings, each as flawless and smooth as the next. However, she did not use her true talent yet, as her costume was different. She merely used tricks every magician knew, not the ones that required true strain on her body. The trickery was easy; in fact, every magician knew the true secrets. Let the audience see only what you want them to see. It required no magic to stun people; all they really wanted was a little surprise, a little miracle in their every-day lives.

Out of her sleeve, she pulled a bouquet of fresh roses, presenting them to a young girl in the audience, a gasp coming from the onlooker as the flowers popped into several long streamers. Carillon waved, popping behind the curtain to take a quick breather, grabbing a hat and a rabbit to pull from it. She happened to glance at the pay she had received so far for admission and smiled widely, her heart leaping into her throat with the view of so many coins. I’m coming, Chris. I’ll make enough money and eventually I’ll bring you back. If I keep going, I’ll get tips at the end of the show, and that should provide enough to move on to the next town! She thought, a shy smile gracing her gentle countenance.

She began to prepare as the intermission continued, hearing people behind the curtain shuffle around the auditorium, either taking a walk to stretch their legs or buying some food. Food, she needed to remember to buy some of that after her work. Her stomach grumbled irritably at her. Boy, performing under these hot stage lights roasted her. She wiped a thick stream of sweat from her bare forehead, feeling incredibly hot. It’s a good thing she wasn’t actually using her real talents yet, or she would be much worn.

She exhaled softly, readying a table, and the rest of the supplies hidden behind the curtain of the stage, wheeling several large boxes and crates to the middle, preparing for the end of the act. She beamed; pleased she had gotten everything prepared so quickly. It was always better to make sure everything was in place before you actually began your act. This went without saying, but since “Carillon the Magnificent” was a one-girl act, she had to do everything by herself. Which actually was very difficult, considering the fact that she was only seventeen, and extremely shy. She sighed, nodding with a pleased swelling of pride in her chest. “Well, that’s good.” Suddenly, the manager popped into the back, giving her a few hand signals. “What? I’m on in five minutes?” Carillon nearly shrieked in panic. She was nowhere near ready for the finale. “Well, at least things can’t get any worse.”

Crash! Something plunged through the roof, causing a shower of wood to rain down upon Carillon. The figure tumbled as it fell, snatching a piece of the curtain and in the process, unhooking it. The foot of the figure hit a prop, which caused a domino effect. The end of the effect resulted in several cages of doves to become opened, the frightened birds scattering frantically towards the rafters. The edges of the sharpened curtain crashed into a tank of water, drenching the magician completely, the rain of feathers sticking to her.

The figure finally came to a stop, standing up just as the spotlight shone on Carillon, soaking wet, blowing one feather from her mouth. The stage, and all its previous setting, was completely ruined. She flushed a beet red, so surprised she could not find words. Across from her, the figure struggled up, revealed to be a young boy, probably around her age. He glanced at his surroundings, and began to curse someone. She struggled to her feet, her clothing dripping water. The audience remained hushed for a few moments, unsure if this was part of the show or not. Suddenly, out of the quiet sullenness of the moment, the man that had previously questioned Carillon began to laugh.

In a chain reaction, the entire theater began to laugh, directly at Carillon. Tears brimmed her eyes, half in anger and half in shame. Suddenly, a gasp echoed out. “Look! She’s… disappearing!”

Carillon quickly glanced down at her hand, which was swiftly becoming transparent. She was humiliated now, and soon she may be worse. What if someone found out she could perform real magic? She had to do something, and soon.

The shear force of the cloaked man's hit had easily sent the young warrior hurdling through the air towards the nearby theater. His body ached from the attacks dealt to him by the mysterious warrior the youth had attacked. It was embarrassing enough not being able to hit him, but being flung through the air into a city was even worse. The young warrior closed his eyes, anger purely on his face as he slowly started his descent.

Well... this is another fine mess I've gotten myself into. I'm not being sent through the air into this city. If I get lucky, maybe I won't hit any buildings... although I think no matter where I land, I'll be in pain, the warrior thought to himself as he looked back and noticed the theater he was about to crash into. Well... suffices to say this is going to hurt... a lot. Without time to think anything else, the ice innate's body slammed through the roof. He truly had brought down the house on the poor magician.

His body slammed into something, that sent him tumbling over himself until he came to a stop. He groaned slightly as he rubbed his wounded back. He suddenly began coughing, blood coming up from the blow he had taken to his gut. He groaned slightly, trying to stand up, but not finding himself quite capable just yet. It was bad enough he had been beaten, embarrassingly; and then landed through a building while someone was performing; but now, he couldn't manage to stand up.

"Damn that guy with the green cloak. He's strong, but I'm sure I've seen him before, and I'm sure he's also that green haired fencer, Zorlo. Man, this sucks," the ice innate whispered to himself, listening to the words of the crowd. The all turned to each other, whispering something the ice warrior couldn't wholly make out. Looking to his left, upon the stage, his sword had landed only a few feet from him, and he looked at it, getting ready to stand up and grab it... as soon as he could stand.

“Look! She’s… disappearing!” a voice from the crowd called out, and the red haired boy looked behind himself slightly, seeing a girl who had no hands.

He looked her over for a moment. He noticed that the stage was in ruin, and she was soaked. Did I do that when I came in? he asked himself, slowly pushing himself to his feet as he looked at her, taking in her features. She was roughly his age, if not a bit younger, and she was cute. Her silver hair drew his eyes more then anything, since it made him feel happy, for some odd reason. Silver hair... You don't see that too often. Man, it sure is good looking though, he told himself, walking over and picking up his sword and sheathing it.

"How... how could you do this?!" the girl asked, tears seemingly about to come from her eyes.

"Hey, this wasn't my fault!" he told her, looking at her, noticing she wasn't bad looking either. "It was that guy with the green cloaks. He knocked me through the roof, blame him!" the swordsman stated in total honesty, although the crowd only laughed. "And what are you jokers laughing at?" the ice innate asked.

"That's got to be the stupidest story I've ever heard!" one man said, everyone ignoring the girl for a moment.

"Yeah, and why is that?" the youth snapped back, placing his left hand on his dagger.

"Because what guy would fight a total wimp like you?" the same man responded, soon finding a dagger lingering over his head. The man at the table near the wall looked at the boy in fear for an instant.

"What'd you say? I know you didn't just call me a wimp, buddy. If you want, I'll show you how tough I am," the ice innate stated, looking angrily at the man. He could tell this wouldn't be a good night.

"Man with green cloak? Yo-you expect me to believe that a man with a green cloak punched you that high? So high that you smashed through the top of my show?" She cried, fists clenched, and tears leaking from her eyes now.

He doesn't even care! How could he not care? After what he did! He didn't even apologize! No sorry!

"You, you little..." She clenched her teeth, angry that she did not even receive a trifle of sorry for what he had done.

She turned to the man who had nearly been killed at his statement, gasping and backing up a little. "Y-you leave my audience alone, you big bully!" She shouted, swallowing her fear for the moment. "Leave them alone!"

"Mommy, mommy, look! She's coming back!" A child cried, pulling upon the woman's dress and pointing as Carillon's hands returned, wrinkled from the water.

"You don't show him how tough you are! You'll sh-show me! Come on!" She couldn't believe she would show such anger. She lifted her wand, intent on giving her audience a magic show, either way. "Abracadabra!" She tapped herself on the head. Immediately, a sparkling light surrounded her body. Ribbon, large enough to enfold her, shot out from nowhere, enfolding her body. The fabric, several-layered, poofed out to form her small skirt, followed by the little pieces of trailing ribbon out of the back.

Pink shoes, almost like tennis shoes, appeared once she clicked her feet together, followed by a switch of her sky-blue ribbon to a bright blush color. Her body dried almost immediately, and she moved both braids to the front of her body, trailing to her stomach. "Ready?" She asked, narrowing her eyes. "I'm ready. Let's do some magic!" She twirled her wand nimbly between a few fingers, smiling the whole time.

After a few oo's and ah's from the crowd, the little child spoke out again. "Mommy, mommy! Look how pretty!" She was talking about Carillon of course, but the magician didn't realize.

The girl pointed her wand at Zachary. "Now you do what you should do!" She meant apologize, of course, but never said this in her anger.

Suddenly, the crowd began to clap. It was clear that they all now began to assume this was part of the act, the actual finale, and well, if they wanted to believe that, Carillon thought, let them. She would make it the best finale she could.

The ice innate laughed a little bit, drawing his rune blade and placing the blade against the ground, grasping it firmly in his right hand. "You've got to be kidding me. That little trick of yours was impressive, but don't think you are tough simply because you changed your cloths," He told her, trying to sound as tough as humanly possible. Man, she's really pretty. Maybe I can impress her by defeating her in this battle? Who knows, but it's worth a try, the ice innate assured himself, getting his own magical energy flowing through his sword. All the runes were glowing, and two ice shards formed, one on each side of the sword.

"Wow, look at that trick, he's making ice out of thin air!" one man stated, pointing at him.

The ice innate was distracted for a slight moment as Carillon revealed her sleeves to the crowd. The boy looked at her and cast her an odd glance. What in the world is she be doing, slowing that she has nothing in her sleeves? She must want me to think she's unarmed, he told himself as she turned towards him and wrapped him in multicolored cloths that suddenly shot out of her sleeves. A magic trick! Ah, now I see. She's merely a stage performer, she isn't really a warrior. I have an edge, the red haired boy told himself.

"You won't steal my crowd from me," she told him, pointing her wand at him. She was a pretty one, there was no doubt, and feisty to boot. The only question that stood before her was: Could she defeat him?

"I don't gave a damn about your crowd. I'm trying to get the hell out of here and find that guy with the green cloak. He knows where the man I'm looking for is!" the ice innate said, anger expressed across his face as he waved his hand forwards shooting the ice shards at her.

She nimbly dodged and evade around the attacks, suddenly holding her arms out again as cards shot out of her sleeves and cut away at the youth's body.

Three cards shot past, one cutting past both arms, and one past the left side of Zachary's face, causing blood to drip down the wound. He looked at it as best he could and smiled. "Not bad. I can't say I'm not impressed. You're pretty good, after all. I guess it's my turn then," he told her, looking at her and smiling.

"Your turn... what do you-" the magician was cut off as the ice innate moved his sword, cutting through the cloths. He held it before him and readied to fight again. "Humph!" the performer stated, holding her wand at him. "This is my show, and you won't ruin it for me," the silver haired girl called out.

"Your show? Whatever! I didn't come here to be part of your show! I came here following the green hooded guy that defeated the wielder of the Hellfire Sword, Vaskalen. After he defeated me and sent me through the roof of this building, I wound up in this predicament. Man this is annoying," he groaned, looking to the side, and then back to her.

"Whatever, I don't believe your lies. And I'm also not going to let you defeat me! I'm going to give this crowd the best performance they've ever seen."

The audience watched in awe at the obviously not pre-practiced thing that they thought to be part of the show. Expressions of how impressed they were seemed to come from each person as they watched, wondering what would happen next. This had probably been the best show most of them had seen in a long time. A magic show and a battle, what better could one ask?

"I don't gave a damn about your crowd..." Those words echoed in her mind, hardly fazing her at first because she felt them so harshly. She caught sight of ice shards flying towards her and twisted her body just in time to avoid them. Her lower lip quivered. I don't give a damn about your crowd... Tears filled her eyes, and she furiously blinked them back.

"Fifty-two pick up!" She shot out her wrists, the cards flying past him. She never meant to cut him. She never meant to hurt him at all. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" She whispered, meaning for it to be louder. Her heart thudded in pain at the sight of his blood. She didn't want to hurt anyone. Her gentle love would not allow it.

He cut nimbly through the scarves, a spark in his eye of a radiant fire, ironic since he seemed to be ice-based. Maybe he could do magic, too! But she was better. "This is my show, and you won't ruin it for me." He would not stage her up, especially when she tried so hard. Did he really search and want to defeat that green-hooded guy? Carillon didn't know if she truly believed him or not. She rolled her eyes. "If it's so annoying, you can deal."

What a difficult situation for the magician. The audience loved the act, yet they didn't know it wasn't an act. Who did they want to win, she wondered. She had to win, had to express herself. If she didn't win, there would be no money in store for her, right? And if that was true, she'd never make it to the next town.

"If you want to fight, girl, then come on!" Another ice shard shot past her, barely missing her. Or was it on purpose? She looked up in a shock, watching a glass of wine she had been using in her act just above his hand as the liquid rose in the middle of the air, forming thin projectiles that shot towards her. She missed a few, the final one piercing her wrist. “Agh!” She clutched it, tears now running down her cheeks. She wasn’t sure if he meant to hurt her, but she looked up, obviously very much in pain and sadness.

She pointed her wand down, and then behind Zachary, teleporting in a flash. How did I do that? I’ve never done that before without thinking like that! She asked herself, thinking quickly. What should she do? She couldn’t just attack him… She gave him a slight push, merely moving him forward a few inches. He turned around and gave her the same push, but now much stronger, as if taunting her. The crowd laughed at Carillon’s feeble attempt to defeat the boy physically, the show turning quickly into a comedy rather than entertainment. She flushed a deep red, frustrated with this show-wrecker.

“Give it up, you can’t hurt me.” Zachary stated, confident-looking. “You’re weak.”

Carillon’s eyes sparkled. “Is that so?” She walked over to a nearby table in the theater, snatching up something behind her back.

“Whatever that is, it’s not going to help you.”

Carillon narrowed her eyes, pointing her wand once more. She appeared behind Zachary, and smashed the wine bottle with all her might into the back of his head. “Is that so?” She snapped.

She stepped over his slumped body, pleased with herself. He would wake up soon, that was certain. “Abracadabra Alakazam!” She tapped herself once more, the costume re-appearing as a sparkling scene. She straightened her gloves, completely ignoring the gasps of the audience as they saw a bit of blood leak from Zachary’s head. Carillon seemed shocked as well a little, making a mental note to heal him afterwards.

“Rabbit out of my hat!” She pointed the wand at Zachary’s figure, so full of anger, she didn’t realize what she did. Sparkles enveloped the boy for a moment, and the audience oo’d as in the place of the boy, a red-headed rabbit appeared. Carillon bent down, snatching the boy up by the nape of his neck, which didn’t really hurt, since rabbits were used to that sort of thing, and watched him awaken. She could only wonder what he was thinking as she smiled. “Good morning, bunny.” She walked over to a table, and placed him down for a moment, just so he could see his reflection. Quickly snatching him up, while gazing at his sword on the floor, she placed him inside a top hat, making him “disappear.” He re-appeared near the opposite side of the stage, inside a plastic ball which was good for small animals and their exercise. While he rolled around inside, obviously not happy about his situation, Carillon broke into a sweat.

She leaned over, knocking a table off the side of the stage in her exhaustion. Too much power had been spent. She panted, her clothes sifting off her body in a few sparkles, completely gone soon as she reverted back to her normal form. She looked to the sword on the ground, curious as to what it felt like to hold one. Something about it… She walked over, glowering down at Zachary as he bumped repeatedly into her. She crouched now, exhaling. Her breath came in a puff of vapor, shocking. It wasn’t this cold in the theater before, was it? She reached a hand towards the sword, nearly touching it.

He watched as his wine needles drove into her hand, and the blood that followed. Her eyes, the tears in them nearly broke his heart. He had never fought a warrior that had cried before and no matter how tough he thought he was being, it hurt to see her cry. Zachary had never been much of a person to think of whether or not a person who wanted to fight was a warrior or not, but at this moment, it dawned on him that this girl was not a warrior.

I... made her cry? he asked himself, feeling bad about it. I didn't know that'd make her cry... Well, she asked for it, she picked the fight. I just want to get that guy with the dark green cloak! This pain she has is her fault, he justified himself, looking at her as she pointed her wand at him. He held in a laugh at her feeble attempt to be threatening, but the ice innate just supposed the magician was trying to put on a show for the crowd. Whether or not he knew he was putting on a show for them, that part was unclear to him, but the crowd seemed to enjoy the fight.

Suddenly, she vanished, seeming to fade from existence all together. A group of sounds of awe came from the crowd, but the ice innate just thought she had vanished to try to run away. Then he felt it, a strong push sent him stumbling forwards. As he stumbled forwards, he tripped and stabbed his sword into the ground, driving the pommel into his gut. He was annoyed now, and in more then a little pain from his battle with the green cloaked man. This girl had to be taught a lesson.

He turned, relinquishing hold of his sword and shoved the frail girl back, forcing her to the ground. "Give it up, you can't hurt me. You're weak!" he told her, looking at her blankly as his sword remained embedded in the stage. That was a bit mean, wasn't it? he asked himself, looking at the downed girl. He felt bad for her, but he couldn't let her push him around. It simply couldn't be let happen.

"Is that so?" she asked in protest as she rose to her feet and walked over to a table, grabbing something and hiding it from his view.

"Whatever it is, it's not going to help you," He told her confidently, and then poof! She had simply vanished again. That's when it hit him, literally. She had smashed a wine bottle across the back of his head, and he fell to the ground. A resonating noise filled his head as the pain lingered, but slowly, he got up. Suddenly, he noticed her clothing had changed, and she was pointing that wand of hers at him.

His blood ran down the back of his head, along with the wine. Both fluids dripped onto the ground as he looked up at her, finally standing to his feet and reclaiming his sword. Brandishing the blade tightly, he readied for his next round with this girl. Man that hurt. Note to self: She can teleport, so be careful when she grabs things.

"Rabbit out of my hat!" she called out, and suddenly, he suddenly found himself engulfed in sparks. Suddenly, he found himself looking up at her. He had sworn he was taller then she was, so why did he suddenly need to look up to her. What made it stranger was he really had to look up, and even then, could barely see her face. She transformed back to normal, but what had she done.

"Good morning, bunny!" she told him as he suddenly found her hoisting him up.

Bunny, what the hell does she mean? What in the world is this crazy girl... he thought to himself as he looked at his reflection. He was a little white bunny with a tuft of red hair on top of his head. SHE TURNED ME INTO A BUNNY! he thought as he looked in disbelief at what she had changed him into.

"Disappear," she said suddenly, and he appeared on the ground, in a small, plastic ball that he found he could wheel around.

Slowly, her hand moved towards his sword, but he bumped into her in his ball, trying to stop her. Don't touch my sword! That is my sword! he yelled at her mentally, knowing it did no good. Little did the magician know that if she grabbed that sword, there was a chance she cold be corrupted by the evil that was in it as well. I don't know how things could get any worse, the bunny told himself, very angry at his predicament.

Carillon extended a hand towards the sword, unsure of what to do with it. She merely brushed Zachary back, watching the ball roll back a little, although he continued to bump into her. She enclosed a hand about the weapon, intent upon placing it in a place where he could not get to it. Her breath escaped in a thin stream of vapor, a shiver going down her body. “Cold…” She whispered. “So cold.”

Kill them all. A voice, somewhat soft, almost too quiet to be heard, echoed in her mind.

“Kill them? But they didn’t hurt me…” She mouthed out loud.

They laugh… Kill them. She paused, struggling greatly to lift the sword, a dark sparkle in her light eyes. She pointed the sword as best as she could at the audience, crossing it with her wand, first at the man that first laughed at her, questioning her act. “Disappear.” A chute of snow-like substance shot from her wand, most likely gained from the sword. It was moments before the weight of the sword weighed her down. She panted, looking up at the man, who now seemed as if pure liquid nitrogen had been enveloped over his body.

She took the sword, dragging it off the stage with a thunk, approaching him. Screaming, tears streaming down her cheeks, she swung the sword, completely cutting off the man’s frozen arm. Panic streaked the whole audience, people now scrambling for the exit, curses and screams echoing out over the large setting.

Chairs and tables turned, fire catching some of the tablecloths. Carillon turned, eyes flashing. “Abracadabra!” She cried, a swirl of not just sparkles, but snowflakes encircling her as she assumed her first form, strengthened by this new urging within her mind. Her skirt became trimmed with a white fancy lace, looking more like a wicked ice queen every moment.

“Nothing up my sleeve!” She extended the sword and her wand both again, instead of normal scarves, icy strips of cloth wrapping about the fire, stopping it.

“Pick a card!” She shot a razor-sharp card straight towards Zachary inside the plastic ball, watching him quickly roll out of the way, obviously very dizzy. Just like bowling… She shot a few more, the top of the ball cut off.

The sword’s weight began to become too heavy for her to carry, or drag, as it was. She screamed as the voice continued to penetrate her mind, dropping the weapon just as Zachary hopped out of the broken prison. Snowy ice-like mounds covered the existing surroundings, some larger than others, side-effects of Carillon’s transformation. She fell to her knees, worn and tired from the deep reservoir of magic she had been tapping. Sweat beaded her head, turning to a frozen stream along with her tears. The magic that she felt was indeed from the sword, although she didn’t like it. Is this what he felt? She looked up, watching him escape and began to stumble a little, obviously unused to his new body.

She pointed her wand towards him, pausing. She couldn’t do it without shifting to her higher form. Standing up, unafraid of doing it to help him, she tapped herself, switching clothes once more, stumbling as she pointed her wand at him. “Rabbit… Out of my hat.” She panted, the magic surrounding him, returning him to his previous form. “Please…” She whispered, unsure if he could even hear her. “Please just go.” She collapsed in a heap, the magic building in her every moment. When it escaped it would cause a sonic boom effect, knocking everyone and everything in the building back, possibly destroying the building in the effect. Unless she could stop it.

The ice innate watched with interest as the young woman went berserk on the crowd, the power of his sword amplifying her magic greatly. She had killed the man that had so foolishly challenged her skills, and that was that. As the red haired rabbit looked on in envy at her insane power. Suddenly though, when she came after him, he fled in terror, trying to avoid an almost certain, and unavoidable, death.

Okay, I can understand her attacking me with that sword, but to attack the crowd she cares so desperately for... something here is amiss, he said as he continued to run the ball, trying to avoid getting cut down. The young girl seemed to have problems using the unwieldily sword, but it didn't prevent her from trying to kill him with his own sword. This is embarrassing! I'm gonna get cut down by my own sword, and I can't do anything about it! I can't let this happen! he told himself, avoiding the sword, but also having the top of his prison cut off.

The white bunny hopped out, looking at the young woman as it looked like his life were about to end. Suddenly, a loud clang rung out as the rune blade fell to the ground. The girl looked at at him for a moment and then ascended to her next form. With a sudden burst of magic, he returned to normal as his sword lay on the ground. He wasn't sure what had happened until the magic faded and he could see clearly again.

As the magic faded, he could see at his normal height. She had turned him back to normal, and he jumped for joy once for this fact. He moved over to his sword and picked it up, sheathing it and looking at the tired girl. She had put up a good fight, but it looked like she had worn herself out with her own magic. The ice innate didn't care, now he could go after the green cloaked man. Suddenly, a dagger shot into the wall to the ice innate's side. The dagger was indeed Zachary's, although who had thrown it was unknown.

"Whomever that was had really bad aim," he spoke to himself, knowing that the magician was unconscious and everyone else had fled. He stepped of the stage, moving towards the exit, but suddenly, something odd ran up his spine. A feeling of terror seemed to manifest itself in him as he turned towards her. He sheathed his dagger back up and noticed what was happening to her, and he couldn't help but feel he was in a bit of danger.

Her body seemed to be enlarging, some great power welling up within her. The swordsman couldn't explain what it was, but even if he could, he knew that it only meant one thing: He was in trouble. Without any more time to think, magical energy burst from the girl, destroying the building around them and launching the young boy outside, causing him to slam his back into a pole and fall forwards, staring up at her.

OoC: Oh, no! So short! ; ;

BiC: Carillon felt a thrum in her head as she awoke. She struggled from the debris, pushing aside pieces of broken wood and rubble, pleased with herself, but quite dizzy. She blinked a few times. What? What happened? Her theater... The guests... She looked at Zachary, a rage welling up inside her. He did it. He must have done it. How dare he. After all she did for him. How could he? How could he? She rose up, tapping herself with her wand, some magic left over, although she was, by this time, running extremely low.

"Woman into tiger!" After sparkles fading, a powerful animal replaced her, ebony fangs bared as she roared in anger. Her tail powerfully twitched as she crouched, shoulder blades rolling back as she readied to pounce. Her white fur coat shimmered brightly, the fur blowing playfully in the wind.

She panted as she began to follow his running, tongue lolling out of her mouth, fangs bared while she snarled. She leaped in strides, easily catching up. With a final jump, she pinned him down, a beast impulse telling her to go for his jugular vein. She opened her mouth, and found his sword lodged in her mouth, keeping her from biting down. A cool sheet of ice filled her mouth, and she growled, backing away.

Her tongue stuck to the ice, although it slowly began to melt. She roared and growled angrily, dragging her head against the ground in hopes that it would shave off. He's done nothing but hurt me! Why can't he just leave me alone?

OoC: YAY SHORT! Short is good!

BiC: The ice innate shook off some of the debris. The blast of magical energy from her was cataclysmic, and she wasn't happy for some reason. "Hey, what's the matter? Why are you in such a bad mood?" the ice innate asked, seeing her looking very angry as she tapped herself with her wand. "Okay... I'm sensing this probably isn't a good thing," he told himself, wrapping his fingers around his sword tightly. Odds are she was just trying to find someone to vent on for the failure of her show, and poor Zachary had found himself right there.

"Woman into Tiger!" she yelled, magic engulfing her this time. It seemed like things were about to become tricky, mostly since the beautiful silver haired girl had just become a white haired tigress. Her claws were massive, and an angry look even came out of the tiger's eyes. It stalked a short bit, the wind blowing its hair about slightly before it pounced.

The attack came so quickly that the ice innate had no chance to evaded, as the girl pinned him to the ground and went in for the kill. Her fangs shot at his neck, but with a swift movement, he blocked her fangs with his sword, freezing her mouth slightly. Carillon the tiger suddenly jumped back, dragging her teeth along the ground, trying to chip off the ice. Cute though she was, to Zachary, right now, she was just being a nuisance.

Over what? he asked himself. It isn't my fault that the guy with the green cloak punched me through the roof and into her show. Anyway, the crowd loved me! Her and my fight made people watch, and they loved every second of our battle. I don't see what she's so mad about? Well, I'll just stop her and find out, he thought to himself, standing up and holding his sword in front of himself.

"You've sure got a lot of nerve, you know that? Getting all mad over your show just because you had to share the stage with me," he said, turning his head to the side in disgust for a split second. "When I showed up, the audience loved our battle, so I don't see what you are so mad about!" he yelled at her, stepping in a circle movement around. "I guess we'll just need to see who the real star is," he told her, smirking as he charged. He quickly made a swing down at her, knowing it would miss, but intent on scaring her.