Lina scrunched up her face before finally opening her ruby colored eyes and blinking them as a particularly fat raindrop spattered on the bridge of her nose rudely. She went to wipe the moisture off of her face reflexively but froze when her hand met resistance.

Apparently the redhead had somehow managed to tangle her fingers quite thoroughly in a certain half elf's hair while she'd been asleep.

Was I playing with her hair in my sleep or something? The sorceress thought to herself blushing slightly as she tried her best to de-tangle her fingers without waking the ex-assassin to no avail. Wha- - what is she…doing..?? She exclaimed to herself, her blush deepening all the more.

(K) I fell asleep? I'm still tired, and sore too…Katibree thought to herself groggily as she buried her face a little further into her pillow and nuzzled it somewhat before freezing in her tracks- - Pillow…? Oh Gods please don't let her be mad, please don't let her be mad…I'm too tired to be set on fire right now…

Katibree lifted her head up off of Lina's chest carefully as her shocked lavender colored eyes met and locked with just as shocked ruby colored ones.

(K) "I….ah…" The ex-assassin stammered as she reached up to help Lina detangle her fingers from her own mostly platinum colored locks.

(L) "uh… eh, heh…"

(K) "………"

(L) "………um..."

Just then the rain, which had only been drizzling up to that point, began to come down in buckets. Both girls broke their uneasy eye contact with one another to look up at the sky as the torrent of rain poured down on the two of them, drenching them almost immediately.

Katibree stared at the sky a moment longer before looking back down at Lina and flashing her a dazzling smile before rolling off of the younger girl and onto her back while laughing.

The redhead looked over at the half elf with a bewildered expression on her face at first before finally joining in on the light hearted laughter herself.

The two girls laid side by side that way for a long while, just laughing and enjoying the sensation of the rain on their faces before a flash of lightning followed by the sound of thunder snapped them out of their impromptu moment of euphoria.

(L) "I'd say that's the prompt to get going." Lina said as she stood up with a grin.

Katibree merely looked over at the sorceress and nodded as she stood up herself.

"Come on Kat, I know a place we can go that's really close to here!" The redhead said cheerfully before taking off in a dead run toward the direction of what looked like an alcove of some type.

Where does she get all this energy from, I don't think I can run anymore…The ex-assassin thought to herself as she looked after the sorceress, but as tired as she was, the half elf soon found herself running to catch up with the redhead none the less.

(K) What happened around here? Everything in this area is just… dead it looks like… The mostly platinum haired warrior thought to herself as the two girls came to a stop at a rocky wall near a strange looking lake.

"Here it is." Lina said as she closed her eyes and placed a hand on a large rock protruding slightly from the wall, while murmuring an incantation quietly.

The rock moved forward and then rolled over to the side, revealing what looked like a good sized chamber of some sort.

"I practically lived in this place when I was a kid…" Lina explained as the two girls entered the stone room. "Watch your eyes Kat." Lina said before casting a light spell to get a general idea of where all of the various candles were placed around the room, before snapping her fingers to light them all and dispelling the light spell.

Katibree walked around tracing various runes and symbols that were written on the walls with her fingers in wonderment as the sorceress continued to talk.

"I came here to study and test out new spells mostly… But back then, that's pretty much all that I ever did." And you're the first person that I've ever brought here. The redhead thought with a quiet laugh as she watched the ex-assassin examining a huge magical circle drawn directly in the middle of the cave.

(K) "What's this circle all about, Lina?" "It's a lot bigger and more complex looking than any of the others in here." The half elf asked while kneeling and tracing the patterns with her fingers. I can still feel some traces of magical energy from this…

"That's actually kind of a long story..." Lina sighed as she opened the cave air vents before starting up the fire pit. "You can put all of your wet stuff here by the way." The sorceress said while gesturing at a few hooks hanging above what looked like a stone vent. "I designed this place so that the natural ventilation would suck up some of the heat from the fire pit and force it out over the clothes here."

(K) "The whole lay out of this place is amazing; you could have been an engineer, Red."

"No way, I don't have the patience for anything like this unless it's magic related." Lina laughed as she began to remove one soaked article of clothing after another.

(L) "Anyway, as far as that magic circle with all of the runes on it goes…" "It was for a ritual I did when I was younger." "I'm sure you noticed how creepy this whole area is, with everything being dead and all of that." Lina added.

The ex-assassin merely looked at her and nodded quietly from her position in the middle of the circle.

"Well the ritual did all of that…" "It kind of, just sucked the life energy out of everything in the general area of this place… it even killed the lake outside, nothing lives in there even to this day."

(K) "Sounds like some pretty hot stuff."

"Oh it was, and it was really stupid of me to try too, but I guess I came out of it OK minus a side effect or two."

"Side effects?"

"Yeah, I didn't always look like this Kat, if Naga saw me now; she probably wouldn't even recognize me…" Lina said quietly while finally stripping down to her bare essentials.

"Look like what?" Katibree asked, genuinely confused.

The redhead chuckled quietly before walking over to the half elf and sitting down in front of her. "Well my hair for one, was originally closer to mouse brown instead of flaming orange…" Lina explained while gesturing at the ex-assassin with a lock of her hair to stress her point. "If it gets any brighter, people are going to start thinking that I just… walk around with my head on fire all of the time or something."

The mostly platinum haired warrior couldn't help but laugh at this quietly.

"But, I guess that the biggest change was my eyes, and I know you've noticed those, everyone does…" They were closer to a chestnut color before the whole ritual deal." The sorceress explained.

(K) "And all these changes happened over the course of a few years?" Katibree asked.

"Yeah, a little over two actually… And I suffered some memory loss as well…" The redhead added.

"Well, did you get anything out of the deal that was useful?" The half elf asked finally standing and beginning to remove her own drenched articles of clothing.

"You could say that…" Lina answered evasively.

"Uh, Ok then…" Can't begrudge a girl her secrets, Gods know I have more than one…"Well what do you say we chow down on some water logged beef and chicken jerky over by that nice warm fire pit over there then?" Katibree said while hanging up her gear on the aforementioned hooks that Lina had pointed out earlier.

"That sounds like a plan Kat!" The sorcery genius laughed as she stood up. "I'll grab some blankets she added while still grinning.

The ex-assassin plopped a pack down wetly in front of the fire pit and began digging through it for the bag of jerky as Lina retrieved some blankets from a shelf that had been formed out of the stone wall.

The redhead draped a blanket around the half elf's shoulders before sitting down next to her and holding her hands out to warm them near the fire.

"Thanks Red." That was nice of her… Katibree thought to herself while blushing slightly.

"Hum…?" "Oh the blanket?" "No problem Kat…" Lina replied distractedly.

(K) "So, what are you thinking about right now?"

"Well, I'm not really thinking any thoughts right now…. They're closer to memories, flashbacks I guess you'd call them." "This place and I have quite a history together…" And up until now, I'd always come here alone. I always kinda wanted to share it with someone but I guess… I was always kind of afraid of what someone else would think about me if they ever saw it…If the sorcerers' guild ever saw any of this stuff I'd be black listed for sure! The redhead thought to herself with a smile as she watched the half elf who was tracing yet another rune on the floor of the chamber with her fingers.

"What does this one mean?" The ex-assassin finally asked.

"That one is just a compound rune, it's used to join other runes that wouldn't normally fit in an incantation together, the whole thing kinda works as a puzzle piece with endless combinations." Lina explained.

(K) "So this rune joins and activates these two?" Katibree asked while placing a hand on the symbols on either side of the middle rune.

"That's right." "Just keep your hands there, close your eyes and imagine your energy flowing out of you and into the runes." Lina instructed.

"Ok… I feel tingly…" The half elf said nervously.

"That just means you're doing it right." Lina giggled. "Now concentrate and say 'Nivos Servas' Infernium."

"Nivos… Servas'…" The mostly platinum warrior began before trailing off…

"Go ahead." The sorceress urged with a grin.

"…Infernium - - "Whoa!" She exclaimed as she snatched her hands away from the runes, causing the blanket around her shoulders to slip off when a surge of energy coursed out of her body and into them.

The half elf then watched in fascination as one after another, the symbols around the base of the fire pit began to glow until every rune surrounding it was lit. And she watched with even further fascination as the flames in the fire pit began to burn more intensely before beginning to change colors, alternating between blue and gold.

(K) I… I did that…?

(L) I can't believe she got that on her first try, she's a natural… I'm really impressed. "Look who's making magic now." Lina teased while elbowing the ex-assassin.

"I'll stick with my blades thanks." Katibree replied while picking up the now drying bag of jerky and tossing it in the redhead's lap.

"Hey Kat?"

"Yes Lina?"

"…How come you always let me get first pick of the food?" The sorceress asked quietly as she grabbed a piece of chicken jerky out of the bag.

Do I…? I've never really thought about it…I guess it's because I know how much she enjoys eating…Her eyes light up like the sun itself whenever foods' mentioned…

"Kat?"

"Hum…?" "Oh well it just because I'll know whether it's poisonous or not if you eat it first is all…" The mostly platinum haired warrior replied coyly.

WHACK!

"Ow!" "What??" Katibree laughed before reaching into the bag and grabbing a piece of jerky for herself.