8- Chaos
Kero tucked in his wings, concentrating on a rabbit down below. He dove down with his claws ready. He snared the animal and bit it's throat in a couple seconds. The other rabbits all bolted for their holes as Aura dove, her claws raking the fur on one as it slipped underground just in time.
"D'arvit!" She swore, landing next to Kero. Kero looked up concerned.
"Aura, it may be just me," He began, "-But lately your hunting seems to be getting worse and worse. You're using up too much energy every night, and this isn't all I mean by it being harmful to you." He continued. Aura tried to yelp in a point but Kero kept talking.
"Not only is it tiring you out, but if the cards get stuck halfway between Star and Aura cards, they could get confused and attack anything and everything in sight. You can't go change them without a good reason." He finished, while holding the rabbit that he had caught out of reach to keep Aura listening.
"I do have a good reason," She growled. "They're starving and I need to keep them from dying. If that isn't a good reason then nothing is. Now give me my share of the rabbit." She said, hooking her claws into the rabbits flank. Kero surrendered it to Aura as he began to search for sticks to put in a fire.
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Aura flapped her wings, rising into the starry black night. She turned her tail feathers; coasting off into the clearing where she changed her cards every night.
"Even if it is dangerous, I won't let my pack starve. Kero doesn't know what he's talking about. I have a good enough reason." She muttered to herself. Then she thought another moment. "Well, Kero probably knows what he's talking about, but this is good enough reason for me." She corrected herself.
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Aura dropped tiredly onto the grass and pine needles at the clearing's edge. She shook her head, trying to clear out the cobwebs settling on her brain from lack of sleep.
'After this, I'll take a nice long nap in the woods and go to school about third hour. Yeah, that'll work.' She thought to herself, pulling out her staff and Earth.
She held her staff-blades in her teeth, and the card in the teeth at the front of her mouth, tossing the card into the air, tiredly.
--
Kero circled irritably overhead, watching Aura change yet another card, just after he had warned her not to. She was swaying on her feet as she tossed it into the air.
'If she plans on skipping class tomorrow,' He thought sourly, 'then she'd better think again.'
He watched as she touched her nose to Earth… and as she swayed on her feet doing it. Then his ears perked worriedly.
Something was wrong…
--
Aura slumped and lashed her tail for balance as she staggered back. She felt power flowing through her staff as she changed Earth. Her legs gave way and she dropped to the ground. There was one loud shriek of confusion, panic and instinct before she felt Earth's power surge through her staff and into her teeth, her fur, her paws, tail, eyes, and all through her.
And then she blacked out.
--
Kero shivered as he felt Earth plow her way into Aura. This was bad. This was so bad news.
--
"Uh oh, that looks bad." Eriol muttered, watching in his magic circle as Earth took over Aura, turning her face to the sky. He watched as Aura's staff turned brown at the main rod, and stone gray at the blades. As Earth glared up at Kero and snarled, turning to rush to the cliff area in the east.
"I think you might want to follow her, and make sure this doesn't get too out of control." Eriol said over his shoulder.
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Earth loped through the trees, making a long, mad dash to the bare, stony cliffs where she could use her power. She could hear Keroberos flying overhead, tracking her, probably figuring out by now where she was headed.
Earth poured on speed, waving Auras tail wildly for balance.
---
Kero dove for the stony rocks of the cliffs, set on blocking Earth from a place where her power could be used.
"Dang it! I told her this would happen, but would she listen? Noooooo! Dang it!" He growled, landing in Earths path.
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A shadowed figure watched Kero fight with Earth. With a grinding sound, he pulled out his sword, and a slip of paper with some writing on it.
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Kero growled, lunging at Earth, trying to pry the staff out of Aura's jaws. 'This is just what happens with Sword.' He thought, swiping at her mouth. 'Break physical contact and Aura will regain control. In the mean time,' He ducked a heavy swipe from Earth. 'It seems that Aura's trying to fight Earth off. Or maybe it's just that Aura's body's hard to control. Oh well, no complaints. WHOA!' Kero dodged a sharp set of claws, loosing some of the short fur near his nose in the process.
Earth shrieked and pounced on Kero, but was thrown off balance by a sudden wind. Earth regained her footing and whipped her head up to the cliffs, snarling at the figure standing there.
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'Oh no, Earth is in Aura, she'll catch my smell! I can't believe I forgot about that!' He thought, jumping into the trees before he was seen. 'Now I'll have to wait till she's distracted again.'
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Kero dodged to the side of one of Earths swipes, and Earth took the opportunity to use Auras tail and sweep his feet out from under him. Kero flopped onto the ground with a thud. Earth darted past him, leaping onto the cliff face and sinking her power into it.
Kero pounced, trying to grab Earth off the cliff before she could attack. Earth growled, and a long, sharp lump of stone shot out at the guardian. Kero barely had time to dodge as it clipped a couple feathers from his wing. Earth grinned nastily and pushed more of her power into the cliff. Another shard of stone came at Keroberos…
Kero flapped out of the way of the main point, but the edges rammed his stomach, and the next spike crashed into his head.
The guardian fell, dazed, to the ground below. Earth grinned and stood on her ledge as it grew out of the cliff. She peered down at the nearly unconscious form below and smirked, taking aim at him… But the…
A blazing pain on her shoulders! The feel of blood seeping into the fur. A stumble forward. Turning to look behind. A human. A sword. Another cut, this time on the chest.
Earth gasped, stumbling backwards over the lip of the ledge, gazing, dazed, up at the person who had gotten her. His sword gleamed in the moonlight as he held up a slip of paper with writing on it, throwing it into the air and putting the flat of his blade to it. A wind knocked Earth, belly up, into the ground, and kept pushing her out of Aura. Earth gasped as she felt her hold on Aura weaken.
The smell of blood. Her blood, and her packs. And fear.
Aura fought to regain control when she realized her body wasn't hers. She pushed at Earth, trying to force the card out of her head. Earth shrieked and held on bitterly for control.
Kero snarled holding a paw over Aura's neck. He glared into her eyes, and earth growled through Aura's voice, admitting defeat and reverting to a card as Aura slipped into unconsciousness.
The staff slid onto the grass, returning to its blue-golden yellow coloration.
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Aura groaned and rolled onto her side, opening one bleary eye to look about the room. Kero lay curled up next to her bed, staring into space, and Yue was fast asleep in his corner again. Her head flopped back onto the pillow tiredly as she drifted back to sleep.
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Eriol watched As Aura began to snore softly. His circle faded out as he looked up at the sound of the door opening.
"Ah, you're back. I hope that wasn't too much trouble." He said.
Syoran laid his sword against the wall and held his arms out into the air in a stretch. "Nah," He said turning to leave the room. "But I think you're right, She is going to need scenarios set up for her to change the cards. Safely. You might want to keep an eye on her, make sure this doesn't happen again at some other time." He said, closing the door behind him tiredly.
"Yes, I suppose you're right." Eriol murmured thoughtfully.
