Red Fire, Black Smoke (Alori)

[Soshakuakamamushi]

The red-haired human before her was just like any other human if not for her mark and penchant for riding giant birds. Aka was not too familiar with the Inartas and their Wind Eagles, she had never visited Wind Reach before, her last vivid memory of Kalea was... Alvadas where she accidentally murdered her mentor in a freak accident. She waited for the girl's answers, but Aka found it strange that she looked increasingly agitated and worried instead of the previous concern for her. "Uuuh... Sissster, what'sss wrong?" Oh this was stupid, she was the one hurting here and she had to ask the girl for her well-being?!

"So..what's wrong with your voice?"

The Viper felt offended at that, she politely introduced herself, called her 'sister', it was an honorable title among Dhanis; and asked for her well-being even though she was the one injured and all this girl could say was about her voice. "Nothing isss wrong with my voice!" Aka slightly raised her voice, but still kept her composure due to the pain constantly shooting through her.

This was getting more and more perplexing by the second, the girl wasn't relieved at finding out Aka was a fellow Azenth, but became intimidated instead because of her voice. Was this girl allergic to her Dhani accent or something? The girl retreated back to its petching giant avian pet, this made the Viper growl with anger at the discrimination being shown.

"Oh great! Jussst great! I *cough* thought we could be sissstersss, you know? As a fellow flame of Ivak! And what do I get? You, girl, being afraid of me? Jussst becaussse of my voice? What isss wrong with my voice? Or are you afraid becaussse I *cough* shot lightning at your pet? Well then..." Aka smirked and with a voice dripping with sarcasm, bowed slightly "I'm sssorry, Bird Princessss..."

[Alori Sai]

Alori peeked out from behind Durveth's wing and watched the shorter girl who was now having a fit. The teen had no proof solid enough to say what, but over the years she had met difference races, beings with strange powers, and not all of them were friendly. She had to be careful, but at the same time, the girl didn't seem..evil.

It was true she had tried to fry Durveth, but she explained that she thought Alori was being kidnapped. The words of the foreigner sounded genuine and Alori believed her.

Now what to expect next, she wasn't sure. "What are you?" she asked, another completely impolite question, but it was too late to try and change it after it was asked.

Slowly Alori pushed her way back out of Durveth's wings and stood a few feet from the girl. She glanced back at Durveth, the wind eagle staring hard at Aka and puffed out her chest to look bigger and more intimating. "I'm Alori, and this is Durveth. I'm Inartan and she is a wind eagle, my protector." Folding her arms, the young Endal watched the girl, this encounter could go either way, but she knew one thing...she couldn't be afraid.

[Soshakuakamamushi]

Aka was getting angry at the misplaced fear the girl had over her, she should be the one who got intimidated by the monster of a bird whom the girl took solace in. Those feathers and size wouldn't help her against the power of lava, unless the bird was somehow immune to molten rock. Aka had the thought, with the bird daring to fly so close to a volcano and dropped her there. Over the course of her long life, Aka had met with various humans, timid girls such as this particular red-haired one were not uncommon. Not saying Aka herself was brave, but by Ivak this girl looked spineless.

"WHAT am I?!" The Viper exploded, not only a coward, but this redhead had no sense of decency at all. Sure Aka acted arrogant and selfish, but by no means she would lower other person at the same level of objects by referring them as 'what' instead of 'who'. Aka forced herself to stand up, holding her stomach with her left hand and pointed an accusing finger full of hostility to the girl. "I'm not a dead object, girl! Even an idiot would know that! It'sss 'who'! Not 'what', redhead!"

The Viper ignored the pain flowing through her body, her emotions reinforced by her gnosis and she plowed on. "But I'll humor you, human!" The girl looked human enough so Aka assumed as such. "I am Soshakuakamamushi, I'm a Viper Dhani. Have you ever heard of Dhanisss, girl? We are a gloriousss race! When you humans die of old age, we haven't even reach our maturity yet! Actually, I'm sure I'm old enough to be your great-grandmother!" Aka looked up to the slightly taller girl and hissed dangerously at the giant eagle. "And you bird, don't even think of eating me jusst becaussse I'm a sssnake. If you do, I'll make sure you go down with me." Aka flowed a small amount of her reddish gaseous res to her right palm and opened it upwards, igniting a burst of fire, Aka felt the heat but was immune to the harming property of the flame. It was to show the eagle that she was not an ordinary girl it could just tear up and eat.

"Oh, don't you act that hossstile, bird. I'll not shoot lightningsss at you anymore unlesss you attack me." Aka waved her hand, as much as she disliked the bird, she didn't want to kill it. The girl came out of her hiding, good, and introduced herself and her eagle. "Sissster Alori," Aka put both of her hands to her hips and slightly cocked her waist to the side. "Inarta? The redheadsss who live on a volcano?" Inartas were famous for the stories involving them riding great eagles who could dwarf most other birds like they were ants. Those stories were true, as evident of Durveth's presence. "So, giant bird hasss a name? Durveth." She glanced at the wind eagle, apparent dislike on her face but her hostility visibly dropped. "A wind eagle protector huh, neat. Look here, I didn't know you are her protector inssstead of a kidnapping giant bird. Can't blame me alright, I almost got eaten by a giant white glowing bird once, the bird was almossst asss big asss you." Look at her, talking to a bird. "Not sssure you can underssstand me, but, whatever."

Aka also folded her arms as she stared at Alori in the eye. "Ssso, Sissster, you hate Dhanisss and sssnakesss or sssomething? That'sss rather racissst don't you think? Do you eat sssnakesss in your home like eaglesss too?" Little did Aka realize she was also being racist by deeming all giant birds to be kidnapping no-good avians.

[Alori Sai]

This had to be the most outrageously disrespectful foreigner that she had ever met. She expected stuff from a person she knew nothing about, talked as if she could tell her what to do and even threatened a wind eagle. It was all crazy and to make matters worse this girl was a dhani. She admitted to being one. Alori knew of them, had heard stories about what evils they committed and how shy and manipulative they could be.

"Petch!"

Alori jumped back and pulled her talon sword free of it's sheath. She could handle meeting other races, and even if those races had bad reps, the teen could ignore them if they behaved themselves. From where she stood, there was nothing about this girl that made her think she could be trusted, nothing at all.

"Racist? Racist? You're a petching snake and I've heard of your evils. After everything your kind has done, you're judging me for being racist?"

With a girly growl, Alori took a swing at the girl with her talon sword. A swing that drew from a full rotation that didn't stop until she slammed her boot into the ground and took another swing in case the girl tried to attack. The little huntress didn't care that this girl was supposed to be blessed by Ivak. The God of fire had never made his intentions clear, and she still had no idea what side he was on.

Just as she was about to attack again, Durveth ducked her head down and bumped the tiny teen aside. The giant bird stared down at Aka, one huge eye pouring into the soulless viper, before...

CHUMP.

Durveth snapped her beak and collected the snake into her mouth and chewed her like so many vegetables and then spit her back out. Alori stood by in shock and disgust at the display and covered her mouth. "Eww..Durveth..really?"

[Soshakuakamamushi]

"...." Aka couldn't believe it, the girl turned from being timid to brave in a manner of ticks. The Viper's scarlet eyes widened as she saw Alori pulled out her weapon. "What are you doing?!" She hissed in disbelief, she had to defend herself if the girl decided to attack. No... no! She's a fellow Azenth! The notion of the girl being her fellow kin stopped her from even making a single offensive move. The girl looked clumsy and unsteady when she wielded her weapon, whatever it was, the mark of a novice. "Take it easssy, Sissster! Why are you ssso upssset?!" Aka jumped back in quick reflex as the girl's sword swung at her, Aka's acrobat body already preparing to dodge another strike.

"Woah! Ssshyke!" Aka dodged by ducking her body, Alori's swing whizzed pass her head. This girl hates Dhanis! Petch! She may be secretly a Myrian! The Viper had the assumption one of this girl's parents must be a Dhani-hating Myrian, with her words about hearing stories of the Dhani race's 'evilness' and the seemingly vile acts her kind had done. Aka must admit that some of her kin were indeed vile and evil, but not all of them. It was unbecoming of the girl to judge all of Dhanis as Siku-worshipping torture-loving serpents. Last time she remembered, Aka didn't say that all Inartas were evil, did she?

"Jusst ssstop, Sis- AAAAH?!" Her pleas were interrupted when Durveth loomed over her then decided to take the small Viper as a little chew toy. "N-n-mmmpph!" Her screams were muffled as she felt warm sensations caressing all over her body, it was Durveth's tongue and oral cavity. Aka was tossed up and down in the toothless eagle's mouth. "Ummppph!" She felt ticklish, horrified, and nauseous all mixed into one twisted mess of sensations. The sight from inside the eagle's mouth was so alien to her, Aka couldn't help but let it be branded into her mind. When the eagle spat her out, Aka launched from Durveth, her body covered from head to toe with saliva, and crashed back into the ground. More bruises and sores formed on her due to being tossed here and there inside the eagle's mouth.

"G-gahak! Aaaaagh! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!" She screamed in horror as she felt the slime covering her whole body. So this what it felt like to be swallowed whole while being alive. Aka suddenly felt sympathy for all those animals swallowed alive by her Constrictor cousins. Good thing the Viper never ate her preys alive, they were all dead due to her venom or fire. She lay on her back, her dress so torn up that she was basically naked with bits of black fabric here and there.

"Y-you..." The Viper felt so angry, she wanted to burn them both to crisps! It didn't matter if Alori was an Azenth, she couldn't withstand lava. However, precisely because of that reason, Aka didn't dare to make a move for she was afraid it would anger Ivak. He wouldn't want for his agents to fight each other. "No... I won't fight back... becaussse you are my Sissster... under Ivak himssself. I hope you understand that, Sissster... Alori." Aka lay her head back on the ground. "Ssso, you want to kill me, Sissster? *Cough* I'm not sure... God Ivak would be happy..."

Would the girl kill her? Or would the eagle do it instead? She would find out soon enough.

[Alori Sai]

Alori had no idea why the girl kept calling her sister. The teen Endal knew many people in the city and had met only two she would call sister. These two were very close friends of hers and they had been through hard times together and so much more. This girl knew nothing about her and she wanted to be sisters because of Ivak.

The god of fire seemed to be very important to this girl if she was willing to make a complete stranger a family member, not to mention a human which would normally be a meal for her kind. Alori on the other hand wasn't as devoted to Ivak, and she still had a few choice words to say to him, but she never bothered because he wouldn't answer. He didn't bother to answer her prayer so that was enough to say he wouldn't answer her whining either.

She stood beside Durveth, one hand covering her mouth and the other still holding onto her weapon. She had heard that wind eagles ate dek, but to actually see it was something new all together. This was also different, more of a chew and spit than really eating and she wasn't sure what to make of it. Despite all the weirdness, Alori still hadn't figured out that she was dreaming.

The girl looked horrible after being chewed on and spat out, ruining her clothing and her hair. It was almost funny in a way, but the teen didn't laugh. Instead she stood there confused and at odds with her choices. Dhani were said to be vicious and evil, but she didn't get that feeling from this girl. Alori still didn't trust her, but to attack someone who refused to fight didn't seem right to her. At the same time, the girl's continuous talk of Ivak was starting to get on her nerves.

In the city she knew very few people that worshiped him and so it wasn't often that she heard others talking about him. But in the short time that she had known this girl she had said Ivak's name for every chime that Alori had been alive. In truth, she had no idea what she was supposed to do in this situation. "Uhh...petch. So you're crazy about Ivak huh? So, what does that mean? What does Ivak want, what do you want?"

[Soshakuakamamushi]

"..." Even when being drenched in saliva, Aka still found the girl's attitude to be confusing. The Viper mentioned their patron god several times, but Alori seemed to be unfazed or at least disinterested in the God of Fire. Why would that be? Surely if this teenage girl was a fellow Azenth, that meant she worshipped him too, right? The notion of a marked individual not actually worshipping the corresponding god was alien to her. As far as Aka knew, Siku's marked always worshipped Siku while Caiyha's marked always worshipped Caiyha. Ivak's marked should worship Ivak.

"E.. ehn..." Aka tried to get up, but the slime made her slip and she fell back down to the ground, her hair wet. "E-eeeeeew!" She couldn't contain her disgust, she would smell like bird-shyke for a whole month after this. She disliked overgrown birds even more now, they should have stayed small. Like Constrictors, they were just too petching big for their own good. It seemed Durveth's actions surprised even its rider, the girl was putting her hand to her mouth in shock. "Gah!! Tell the bird to not swallow people on a whim! ...Yeah I know some of my Constrictor cousisss did it, but not me! I'm a Viper! Like you humansss have all kindsss, right? Sssurely you wouldn't put yourssself in the sssame regard as uhm... Non-Inartansss!" She tried to reason with the girl through her sub-race. She just assumed humans were like Dhanis in that they didn't like to be compared among their sub-races.

"Crazy?" The word confused her, why would she be crazy about Ivak? She just worshipped him like a proper follower would. The girl's nonchalant attitude towards him annoyed her, she didn't deserve to be an Azenth with her attitude. However, Aka was unwilling to say that to her face out of fear the bird would actually eat her this time. Sure she could cause an explosion of fire inside the bird, roasting it from within, but going inside that beak again? No petching way.

"Aaaargh, thisss slime!" She couldn't take it anymore, The Viper wanted to get herself out of this slimy mess, she poured out her res from her pores in the form of reddish slime, it gathered around her in a circle, she then ignited it, causing the saliva on and around her to evaporate. She could still feel the heat of the fire, but endured it knowing no flames shall harm her. After her body was cleansed by the fire, she transformed them into harmless air with her res. Aka then stood up, so many questions flooding her mind.

"Sissster, why do you sssem confusssed? When God Ivak marked me, he told me to be hisss agent... I ssshall be one of hisss many flamesss, carrying out hisss will. What did he tell you?" Maybe Ivak didn't tell Alori the same thing he told Aka, she couldn't exactly figure out a Divine's thought processes. "I want... to know you, Sissster. Knowing that you're a fellow Azenth, doesssn't it excite you? To finally meet your kin?" The conversation was getting more awkward, Aka first assumed the girl would share her enthusiasm. "Why... do you ssseem to not worssship him, didn't he mark you?"

[Alori Sai]

The stories about how weird dhani were hadn't been over exaggerated. This girl was out there and mouthy to boot. Alori didn't know what to do or think at this point. Azenth or not, could she trust a snake? Ivak was a strange God, and his motives had never be explained to her or anyone that she knew. The teen shivered as the girl fought the slime on her body, and in a small way, she wanted to help her.

But before she could, or at least before she could decide to, the girl used her magic to burn the slime away with fire. Was this from Ivak? Was this her fire? It was different for Alori, she didn't know reicmany. Her fire came from within, the passion to rise above the hate, and the ability to feel strong emotions in others, and the need to unleash her own emotions into the world. Actual real fire had little to do with it, other than the fact that it no longer burned her skin.

Alori remembered what Ivak had said to her, and in a way it had come to pass. He told her that she would do good things, and the teen had been an Avora at the time and was now an Endal. She hadn't done anything of greatness, but she had done good....just as Ivak had said. "Wait..How did you get here? Why hasn't anyone seen you before?" The thought suddenly came to her as she looked at the girl and her flamboyant ways.

Someone had to have saw her, and to think they were the first that she had attacked seemed odd in the least. Durveth started her strange clucking again and snapped her neck to nip her beak at Aka. She puffed out her chest again and lightly flapped her wings.

"Alright, we can talk about Ivak. I worship and he's shown me things. So what do you know about him? Tell me everything." There was a dark cloud forming overhead, a cloud with the mixture of red heat and dark smoke. Something was coming.

[Soshakuakamamushi]

"Eh..." Now that Alori mentioned it, Aka didn't know why she was here on the volcano in the first place. Her memory regarding her arrival on this mysterious place was all jumbled up. Did Ivak bring her here to meet with her fellow Azenth? Most likely as she couldn't remember being anywhere else before this but resting inside her cavern-room in Zinrah. "Uh... I think Ivak brought me here becaussse well... I live in Zinrah and they sure don't have volcanoesss there, what isss thisss place anyway?" The other question was simple enough to answer. "Becaussse no one isss here other than me, you, and giant birdy here. Can't imagine people leaving near a lava mountain." She shrugged, Aka didn't know much about Wind Reach so she figured if there were people living in places like these, they must be crazy.

Oh shyke... I'm naked! Petch! By now, she realized her little fire 'bath' earlier burned what little scraps of cloth covering her body. The petite girl then covered her chest with her right hand. "Hsss... petch thisss." Good thing the only sentient person around her was another female, Aka didn't think of the eagle as sentient, just a very smart bird. Still, she became very self-concious, she needed to do something to cover herself, but... how? "Uuuh... got sssome ssspare clothesss?"

There was another way to preserve her modesty, but it would involve her transforming into her snake or Dhani form. What was stopping her were the problems would most likely happen from switching to her non-humanoid forms. If she switched to her snake form, she wouldn't be able to speak in Common and all interactions would be pointless, not to mention the bird could see her more as a prey than as a person. Eagles ate snakes after all; if she shifted to her Dhani form, Aka was afraid it would spook the girl and the eagle as a Dhani's Dhani from just screamed 'abomination!' to most people. In the end, Aka decided to stay in her human form, all bare and naked. She really hoped Alori had some spare clothes somewhere. "Or pluck out those feathers for my clothes, haha..." She chuckled dryly at her bland humor. If Alori gave her some clothes, Aka would immediately wear them. If she didn't, the Viper would just have to swallow her embarrassment.

"Oh..." The Viper made a raised eyebrow 'huh?' look to the redhead. She said she worshipped Ivak but had shown no signs of affection whatsoever towards the flame god. What did Ivak show to the girl? Did he ask her to just act nonchalant about him? So many questions inside her mind, but Aka figured she should answer the girl first. "Well uuh... He's the god of fire, magma, and emotional upheaval. He'sss alssso the one who causssed the Valterrian. He'sss a very kind god, he sssaved me from certain death." She rubbed her right arm with her left as the memory of her rage against the jungle came back to her. If it wasn't for Ivak, she would be smoldering ashes along with the devastation she spread with her fire. "Like I sssaid, I am to be hisss agent and one of many flamesss. He also sssaid there were not many worshippersss of him in Falyndar, I can guess know why. It'sss a jungle after all. Junglesss don't like fire."

She answered the questions, it was the eagle-riding girl's turn. "What about you, Sissster? How did God Ivak mark you? Did he sssaved you asss well?" She figured not all 'marking' cases would involve saving the would-be marked from certain death. Ivak was a god after all, he could do as he pleased.

"W-what'sss that?" Aka became worried at the ominous cloud gathering above them. It surely didn't look good despite her liking the red hue and dark smoke, it matched Aka's eyes and hair. "Uh... isss sssomething going to happen?" Aka wanted to ask if she could ride Durveth should things go south such as the volcano deciding to belch its molten belly, but would the bird even allow her that? "Uhm... c-can I come with you? Thisss doesssn't look good." Heck, riding an eagle would be better than dying.

[Alori Sai]

The girl was odd, there was no other way to see her. Her actions, way of speech and even the assumptions that she made were off. Alori never thought of herself as special, and it was hard to believe that Ivak brought this girl from around the world just to meet her. What purpose could there be, and it wasn't as if Ivak had told Alori anything about his plans and what he needed her to do.

Then the girl was naked, having burned off her own clothing in a mad fit. Alori shook her head, it was all to weird to be real, but she still didn't see it. Asking about clothing, Alori suddenly snapped to it and spun around to reveal her wardrobe. They were still by the volcano and yet there it was right behind her. A full Endal sized wardrobe complete with stylish Brydas, fashionable Vinati, with and without jewels. Boots of small and tall sizes and even Katinus.

Alori smiled, the teen was in loved with her new clothing, and she simply couldn't have enough. Even the mention of clothing set her off, and Aka had done just that. Standing with her arms folded she looked to the girl and stepped aside so that she could browse. "I guess you can borrow something, but don't get it dirty, and you better not burn it." With that out of the way she allowed the girl to look and pick from it what she wanted to wear. Aka was shorter than she was, but they were about the same size, only Alori was a bit...fuller.

"Eh..yea." Aka answered her question, but she didn't tell her what she wanted to hear. Alori knew his tale as much as anyone, and since he had been released, the knowledge of him and his imprisonment no longer vanished from her mind. "Did you know that he was imprisoned right there?" she asked and pointed to the volcano that Aka had once rested on. "He didn't really save me, but he did open my eyes to the truth, and my feelings about a lot of things the city that I come from. He taught me to unleash my emotions completely, and well..that was that."

Alori dared not say more, and she didn't have time too. The dark cloud rose overhead and just as it reached them it started to rain..ashes. Tiny, white, dry flakes floated down from the angry clouds and turned the ground into an ash pit. "No, no! Not this again!" Alori cried and turned to Durveth, who was now sporting a Vinati top, and Bryda pants. She also had colorful feathers in her...feathers, and appeared to be smiling.

The teen paid no attention to it and hurried to climb aboard. "Hurry up!" she called to Aka and reached a hand out to help her up. "Go! Go! Go!" she called to the eagle, who took off into the sky at lightening speed. Alori looked to make sure that Aka was still with them and glanced over her shoulder. In the distance she saw it, a giant bird, raven in color, but in truth it was made entirely of burning molten lava. It soared closer to them, moving at a much faster speed than any eagle could.