A roar echoes through the enclosed brick space, making Kadezna wince. This spirit is not a happy one, that is for sure. Massive claws outstretched, black lips peeled back to reveal blood-stained teeth, the southern spirit lets out a low snarl. Flames wind their way around the thick, human-like body, catching against the thick scales plating the spirit's back. It's beady, solid orange eyes are fixed on Kash, peering out from between two giant spirling ram horns. The human has been teasing the spirit, ducking this way and that, not allowing it to land a hit. It is infuriating to the spirit.
Lifting its head up, nearly touching the top of the subway station, the spirit roars once again, flames flickering between those massive fangs. Lowering its gaze back to the Order apprentice, the spirit takes one step forward and unleashes a torrent of flame from its right hand.
Diving to the side, Kadezna ducks beneath the blow, rolling to his feet unscathed. He could have, hypothetically, taken the fire directly. As long as it was not a sustained blast, the thick scaled, treated leather gear wrapped tightly around his body would have protected him for the fire's effects. Sure, it would have been hot, but his body would have escaped unscathed.
Darting to the side now, the apprentice avoids yet another fire attack and slips behind a thick brick wall for cover. The good thing about a subway station is that it has plenty of corners to hide behind. Seconds after his body is covered by the brick, fire breaks against the wall, washing against Kadezna's cloak.
So much fire is surprising from an Ember type southern spirit. Ember types, while being powerful, usually prefer a physical attack to a flame attack. They are much more dangerous when using fire. To make a fire attack effective, a spirit must be at least mostly in control. It is a streamlined attack. Ember types are usually easily riled beyond the point of reasoning. It is concerning, very concerning, that this one has not tried to use its claws yet. All it wants to do is blast the place with fire.
"Your cloak is smoking," a soft voice observes from over Kadezna's shoulder.
Grinning wickedly, Kash turns to the speaker. His master is standing directly behind him, blonde hair escaping from under her yellow cloak. She looks rather worried. This is not the first mission that her apprentice has faced an Ember type, and last time he nearly got barbecued and spent a week with his arm wrapped. Of course, he recovered quickly with his blood and all, but he still got injured. He is sometimes very… compulsive. She has always found it weird, how someone so logically oriented can have such strong flashes of emotional stupidity.
Unconcerned, Kadezna located the smoking corner of his cloak and beats it into submission with a black-gloved hand. He feels most confident here. Spirits are what he knows. Battling them always makes him feel this intense confidence and joy. No longer in danger of combustion, the apprentice peeks around the corner at the snorting, snarling, smoking spirit. It looks a little confused. There is no prey in sight. There used to be six little items running around, now there are none. Not the brightest things, Ember types. Powerful, sure. Not, however, the most coherent thinkers.
"Why didn't you get out of there sooner?" his master asks, interrupting his observation. "One of these days your inability to listen to me is going to get you killed."
"I was fine," Kadezna returns, turning to look at her once again. She does not look impressed. "This is where I prosper. Besides, and let's be honest, out of all of us here I probably know the most about spirits. These fights are easy for me."
"While I won't argue about your spirit knowledge, someday you are going to take on a spirit that won't be so easy. Then what?" she asks.
"Then you can rub it in my face and tell me how stupid I was being. But until then, I'll probably continue to ignore you," Kash replies easily. These "fights" with his mentor are, more often than not, just playful banter. Sure, she worries, but she knows he can take care of himself. For now, they both need to focus on Collecting this spirit and bringing it back to the Wing, where it will be stored safely.
"I won't be able to. You'll most likely be dead," his master sighs in response.
"Right you are. However, I am much more concerned with this spirit. It's not attacking like normal Ember types. Why? What is different between this spirit and the rest of its type?" Kadezna asks.
His master narrows her eyes, staring past him to where fire is breaking on the tiled floor. She does not, however, respond.
After a long moment of confusion, Kash asks, "Vara?"
Lifting her eyes back to her apprentice, his master murmurs, "You've never come into contact with them before, at least that you remember, but this looks very much like a Wildfire Cult spirit to me. It probably has a handler nearby. We need to disable this spirit as fast as possible."
"A Wildfire Cult spirit?" Kash asks, raising his eyebrows. The Wildfire Cult is known to take and enslave southern spirits. They are usually very discreet, though. "Attacking a public subway station?"
"Weird, yes. But the Cult has been stepping up their game recently. Now, how are we going to take this spirit down without getting fried?"
"Where is Desha?" Kash asks, peering once again at the spirit. It lets out an angry 'ruhh!' and blasts the station with fire once again. "And, for that matter, where are Remmi, Frenn, and Joshua?"
"Desha's over there," Vara murmurs, pointing to a pillar half-way across the station. Indeed, her green, wolf-shaped spirit is hunkered down behind the brick, positioned to be out of the sight of the Ember type. "Joshua and Remmi, I have no idea. But Frenn is right there," her arm changes position, guiding Kadezna's sight up to the thick rafters in the old building. Indeed the smaller, more human-looking, lithe little Fire class spirit is flickering between the metal, peering down at the angry Ember type.
"Well," Kash mutters. "If our help would actually help, then this wouldn't be too big of a fight."
Joshua, an apprentice like himself, has a track record of not being where he is supposed to be in a fight. In fact, the other apprentice has gotten his master, Remmi, hurt more than once trying to save his hide. The boy is a liability and should not be taken on missions. Especially when Kash's own mentor and her spirit are being placed in danger.
As he has the thought, Kash catches a flash of brown from one of the thick pillars.
Immediately after the movement, Remmi's deep voice yelps, "Joshua, no!"
The other apprentice, hair and cloak flying in the wind of his passing, bolts out from cover. In his gloved hand, a very small black plastic box can be seen.
Idiot, Kadezna's inner voice sighs.
"You've got to be kidding me," Kash's master groans softly. "He's never going to get close enough to get the Collection to work. Even if he throws it, he's likely to miss."
As she speaks, the spirit whips around, finally locking onto a target. Joshua should be rather safe, as long as he keeps his distance and keeps moving. And the spirit keeps using fire and not physical attacks.
Joshua nears the spirit, dodging a spout of flame and leaping toward the spirit's chest.
Crack!
The spirit's clawed hand whips around, the back of it catching the apprentice in the side and hurtling him into a very solid concrete wall.
Ah. There it is.
The sudden physical attack is concerning to Kadezna, but not totally unforeseen. However, because the spirit has discovered that he can indeed use his hands, Joshua is now in imminent danger. Kash's master, realizing the same thing, has another of the same Collection devices in her hand.
Kash snatches it out of her hand, bracing himself against the shock of pain that runs through his body. Normally, a Collection device would have no effect at all on a human. Kadezna, however, is not completely human. There is no way he is going to let his master put herself in danger because of the other stupid apprentice.
Ducking out of the cover of the wall, Kadezna lets out a piercing whistle. The spirit, hovering over Joshua's crumpled form, spins once again, roaring in anger. Kash laughs in response, grabbing the clips holding his cape to his gear. He has a plan, contrary to what his mentor is no doubt thinking. The spirit centers in on the flashing cape and lunges for it, claws outstretched.
Kash lets it come, ducking beneath the blow and snapping the cloak off of his shoulders. The spirit's claws sink into the cloak, ripping deep gouges into the fabric. Momentarily distracted by the sensation, thinking it has sunk claws into flesh, the spirit lets out a shriek of happiness. Taking full advantage of this lapse, Kadezna dives directly underneath the spirit, slides between its legs, and snaps the little black box directly onto the back of its calf.
Lightning crackles over the spirit's skin, causing it to shriek in pain and drop the cloak, twisting to the source of the agony. Then, before its shriek stops ringing, a loud sucking noise can be heard, and the spirit disappears in a great flash of light. The small plastic box clatters to the ground, now a sparkling white, released from its place on the spirit.
Rising, Kadezna stretches his arms over his head and feels his back crack in multiple places. The motion feels good and releases some tension. Sliding, rolling, and diving like that always makes his back tight. His master is right about one thing: These fights are way too easy. He has always attempted to do them in a way that his master would approve of, not putting himself in danger and consequently not worrying her, but he has never managed to actually pull that off. To use the tools that the Order supplies, one must get close to a spirit. Usually, the spirits are doing their best to kill you as you do so. To complete the mission, you have to put yourself in danger.
Joshua's groan brings Kash back to the present once again. Now without a cloak, Kadezna turns toward the other apprentice. The brown-haired boy looks a little worse for wear, blood running from the corner of his mouth, but he is plenty alive. Judging by how hard he hit, he probably has a few fractured ribs.
You should go to him. A part of Kadezna's mind murmurs.
The other apprentice has managed to sit up, groaning softly once again and coughing.
No. He's fine, see?
The cough is immediately followed by a scream.
Nevermind. He definitely broke ribs.
Kadezna approaches the apprentice, crouching next to him. "Don't try to get up, Joshua," Kash says. He has never been good at comforting, but he has always been good at orders and logic. "It will hurt a lot worse if you try."
Joshua takes a shuddering breath, gasping, "Stuck up jerk."
Kash raises an eyebrow, unimpressed.
Why am I here again? Some things never change.
You are the bigger person. You're being kind.
"Just hold still and take deep breaths. I'm sure Remmi will carry you out and the Order will get you medical attention," Kadezna mutters.
Joshua immediately tries to move, attempting to sit up more. He is interrupted by his own shriek of pain but refuses to stop. Kash reaches out, laying his hand on the other apprentice's shoulder.
"Joshua," Kadezna growls, his patience rapidly wearing thin. "Stay still."
The other apprentice bares bloody teeth and reaches up. His hand closes firmly around Kash's wrist. Immediately, the pain hits and Kadezna recoils sharply with a bark of pain. The brown-haired apprentice had taken his own Collection device and pressed it directly to the exposed skin on Kadezna's arm. The pain is shocking and hot, much like that of a branding iron.
With a barked curse, Kash leaps to his feet, flinging the box off of his arm and clamping his free hand around the burning wound.
That's it. Forget kind. Kick this ungrateful brat in his already broken ribs.
Snarling lowly, the sound much more animal than human, Kadezna takes a step toward the helpless apprentice. Immediately, an arm is around his chest, hauling him back and simultaneously startling him. He was so focused on Joshua he did not even notice Remmi and his own master's approach. While he is restrained, both spirits and Kash's master appear between himself and Joshua. Entirely unnecessary. A sharp word from either master would be enough to shock him out of his anger.
Allowing himself to be removed from the situation by Remmi's thick arm, Kash turns a glare on the man. Remmi's skin is dark against the dirty white of the tile surrounding them, his answering glare cold through chocolate brown eyes.
"You can let go," Kash snaps, open-palm striking the massive man in the chest. The strike will have little effect and serves no purpose other than to file protest.
Remmi does as told, his eyes dropping to the red skin of Kash's right wrist. The wound is thinking about blistering, the mark perfectly rectangular. Remmi scowls, before saying, "I'm assuming that is the thanks that Joshua gave you for saving his life."
"Your assumption would be correct," Kadezna snarls softly.
"I'm sorry. I'll have to talk to him about that. Thank you, for saving him." With that, the massive man walks right past the apprentice to his own, crouching down and saying something sternly in a low voice. Immediately Joshua starts sniveling and crying.
Kash is silent, watching the proceedings from across the subway station. He cannot hear the words being spoken, but there is much blubbering on Joshua's part. He is mildly surprised that Remmi even bothered to say those four sentences. Most members of the Order evade him at all costs and if they do come into contact they silently and quickly make themselves scarce.
Eventually, Remmi does indeed pick Joshua up. Deeming it safe to approach, Kash walks up to his own mentor. He is mildly confused as Remmi glares at him.
"Keep that half-breed freak away from me!" Joshua whimpers, fresh tears running down his cheeks. Kash rolls his eyes, keeping his own hand clamped firmly around the burning at his wrist. Some things really don't change.
Laughing softly, Vara murmurs, "I don't know what that kid was thinking, but apparently you were purposefully pressing on his broken ribs to hurt him."
Kash grins slightly. "More like I was trying to keep him from getting up so he wouldn't hurt himself further."
"I don't know how people can think such awful things about you, Kash. Or how Remmi can believe his apprentice when the nineteen-year-old bursts into tears over some broken ribs," Vara chuckles, shaking her head.
"Should we go after the spirit's handler?" Kash asks, basically ignoring her statement.
Vara shakes her head, replying, "No. They'll be long gone by now. The best we can do is return to the Wing with the Ember type."
"Alright," Kash murmurs.
After another moment of silence, the car upstairs starts and the engine revs as it is pointed away from the subway station. Only when it has faded into silence, does Vara speak again. "I thought we should walk, so you don't have to endure the blubbering of Joshua and the judgemental glances from Remmi."
Kash laughs at that and starts up the stairs.
"I appreciate the sentiment, Vara, but next time I would much rather drive twenty three blocks then walk them."