Light Up The Night

Once, twice. thrice and many more times after, a venture to the forbidden forest now feels routine. The first time Raella was well on guard, ready for a dangerous beast to lurch at her from the dancing shadows. However, there has never been such an occurrence. Creatures which roamed this vicinity were dangerous but nothing most of the residents in this island couldn't handle. Stepping across the fine line which separated the forbidden forest from the rest of the evergreens and spruces, Raella sharply inhaled, indulging in the mixed scent of the woods.

Folding her wings neatly behind her, she ensured her pace was slow and silent, not wanting to attract any unwanted attention. Though the punishment was light, there were still consequences for entering this restricted area and Raella wasn't exactly in the mood for a lecture. As she leisurely continued her stroll, took a few moments to appreciate her surroundings; sequin silver stars carpeted the sky while the crescent moon cast rays of light to illuminate the otherwise pitch dark forest. The chill breeze caused trees and ferns to flicker slightly, breathing life into their shadows while a faint scent of shellfish lingered from low tide, staining the crisp, fresh air. Felt just like home, yet there was a gaping difference.

Eventually, Raella picked up voices across a long distance. It was definitely rare to meet a civilian much less a fellow student of Starlight Academy within these boundaries. Who knows, perhaps she'd end up encountering a hot lady or something. With that thought in mind, she decided a little investigation would do no harm. Stretching out an arm, she studied the drifting threads of energy and weaved them together to conceal her presence; a perfect illusion.

She did encounter a hot lady. Well, a hot lady and three shady looking men. Sheathed in a violet jacket and a simple shirt resembling the night sky, the woman had violet hair which framed her angular face. Though a mask covered most of her facial features, her eyes were a robust magenta and she gave off an aura that was just seething with confidence. Not only that; tendrils of energy and power clung onto the woman, circling her like she was the eye of a hurricane. It was as if she was a magnet attracting the vigor of the universe. Raella definitely did not want to get on the bad side of this woman. That being said, a friendly duel couldn't hurt, right? Besides, they were in the perfect location; it was highly unlikely anyone would stumble upon much less interrupt them on forbidden ground.

Settling down by a bush nearby, she patiently waited for her transaction to be over. Indeed, the whole thing felt amiss and sketchy but that was none of Raella's business anyway; she couldn't be bothered to be caught up in other people's mess. Once the three men were well out of sight, Raella released the illusion of concealment and rose gently from the ground, brushing down any folds and creases on her onyx dress as she did so.

"Beautiful night isn't it?"

Closing the awkward distance between herself and the other woman, Raella then continued, keeping her voice low and ensuring her tone contained no sign of hostility.

"I apologize for eavesdropping so rudely, I won't spill anything; not that I saw much to begin with. I just couldn't help but notice the natural flow of power somehow being drawn to you. Would you perhaps grant me a duel?"

As expected, the woman was intimidating. Powerful, skilled and more importantly, deadly enough to kill her. Keeping in mind that they were no longer on school grounds, Raella felt slightly warier having offered a complete stranger a duel; Sevina might be some bloodthirsty murder for all she knew. However, it was too late to take her words back and Raella wasn't one to back out of her own suggestion. Tilting her head up to match her gaze, Raella then addressed Sevina, her sentences coming across in a smooth and languid manner.

"Of course, neither would I."

As she drew out what seemed to be a weapon, Raella slowly conformed herself into her usual battle stance: knees bent, one foot behind the other and arms protectively in front of her chest. Almost as if she were mimicking the other, her lips curled cooly into a smile edging on sadistic. She too had been craving for something just a little more serious than a practice match: all or nothing, no holding back. Judging from the spiraling and converging lines of energy swarming around the vicinity like houseflies to light, the fight about to take place would be exactly that.

Raella observed, letting a delicate silence settle between the two for a few moments as the gears of her mind churned to come up with a strategy; underestimating a powerful opponent such as her would undoubtedly be a grave mistake. Yet amongst all the anticipation, a single question surfaced: Given the chance, would this stranger actually kill her? In any case, this only presented a slight trepidation that fueled the already rising eagerness.

Awaiting the other's attack, she spoke once more, her voice escaping in a more serious manner. "Well, I'm ready whenever you are."

Raella stilled herself, watching silently and calculating the other's every action. Upon spotting her opponent hurl three foreign sphere-like things toward her, she instinctively doubled back and gave her wings a quick flap to widen the distance between them. If she had learnt anything from her past experiences it would be to pick her battles wisely and that for her, distance meant advantage least she had a weapon. Since she already failed the former, she decided to go with the latter. Whilst airborne, Raella barely escaped the explosion caused by the spheres and was close enough for her to feel a harmless radiating heat. Recovering from the shock caused by the first attack, Raella's vision swept across the vicinity to find the location of her opponent.

Time to strike back.

Grasping hold of the other person's senses, she manipulated them swiftly and weaved an illusion to hide herself in plain sight. In her place was now a deception of multiple ice shards, their spear-like points facing the other. In a flash, they charged towards the other all at once. Intercepted or not, the illusion would then shatter into multiple pieces before dissipating into nothing, as if it never existed in the first place.

Taking advantage of the short amount of time she had, Raella landed back onto the clearing and tried to come up with a strategy. Tiring the other out by continuously creating new illusions seemed feasible, however, it was unlikely that alone would be enough to defeat her. Raella had seen the amount of power residing in her opponent and she will not make the mistake of underestimating her. Using her claws, she then made a sharp incision along her forearm before crystalizing the oozing blood into a pair of longswords. With her legs resuming their first defensive posture, she raised an elbow to head level and pointed the tip of the sword toward the woman while Raella's other sword remained defensively positioned in front of her torso. After releasing her illusion of invisibility, she waited for the other's move.