The final judgment

Aura bristled and began to growl, shoulders hunched and tail lashing. Kero looked over and brushed her shoulder with the tip of his wing, and shook his head worriedly. Aura looked back over at Yue, and slowly let her lips fall back over her teeth as she raised her head and began to sniff the air.

"Keroberos, is this cat supposed to be our new master? Is this a joke?" Yue asked, narrowing his eyes in Aura's direction. Aura's spine fur began to bristle again. Kero looked over at her hurriedly and gave a soft warning hiss. She forced her fur to lie flat, but kept her claws out. Kero almost whined aloud. "Yue… well, no. It's not a joke; I didn't know she was a shape shifter until later, but there's nothing wrong with that, right?" He asked. Yue looked away from Aura and turned his gaze to his brother.

Aura perked her ears forward. "Uh, okay, Kero, who the heck is this guy, and why did he crawl out of a dead wolf?" She asked, standing and returning to her human form, giving Yue an unconcerned glance. Kero set his mouth in a tight, barely contained snarl of frustration. " This is, well I suppose you could call him a brother, and his name's Yue… And, come to think of it why did you crawl out of that dead wolf?" Kero asked, turning curiously to his counterpart.

Yue was also looking annoyed. "That wolf was my false form, when it died I had to escape before I died inside it." He explained. Aura's lips curled in the makings of another snarl at the way he had referred to her pack member. Turning to Aura he continued, "I was in that wolfs form since the book was open. I have been watching you. Unfortunately a wolfs memory is quite poor, so this is the first time I meet you, candidate for mastery of the Cards, chosen by Keroberos the selector." He said. Then he grabbed her under the chin and lifted her face to examine her. The snarl line around Aura's mouth grew larger.

Kero jolted up. "Uh, Yue, I wouldn't do that if I were you-" Kero started. Yue turned to face him, still holding chimera's chin.

"Oh really, why would that be?" he asked, turning coolly to Kero. Aura let out a last low, unnoticed growl, before she snarled full out. She twisted her head around and sprouted her fangs, turning her head instantly and clamping down hard on the winged figures wrist. Yue hissed and clenched his teeth, whipping around, and tugging his hand free of her teeth. She let go agreeably, with one last snarling growl.

"Err, she's slightly territorial with her personal space." Kero dipped his head and grinned apologetically. Yue hissed, turning to glare at Aura.

"I shall now proceed with the final judgment, to determine if this thing," He emphasized thing with a hiss. "Is suitable to be our master. Using the cards you have collected," He swished his hand, and her cards flew out from behind her, "You must defeat me in battle. Should you win, you will become master of the Star cards," He said. Kero looked over at Aura and shuddered, frowning hard. 'Oh no.' he thought, catching her expression.

"Why on Earth would I want to do that? I'm tired; I want to go to bed. Why should I fight you?" She challenged, and Yue's eyes narrowed once again. Kero piped up with an answer he hoped would show Aura how serious she needed to take this.

"Because, if he thinks you should be our master, you get to keep me and the cards, and him as an added bonus. If not, you, and I, and all the cards will forget about everything that's happened with each other up to now. As if it never happened." Aura snapped awake in surprise. That was news to her, and not good news. Yue looked up.

"Are you prepared to begin the fight then?" He asked. Aura tilted her head to the side, and raised her hand in the air as if she were in school. Yue raised an eyebrow as she lowered her paw. "Do I have to use the cards if I think I could manage without?" She asked. Yue thought for a moment and nodded. She raised her hand again and continued. "What about a time limit, is there one? Or stage boundaries? What about those?"

Yue shook his head. "No, neither of those will be in the fight. Are you finished asking questions?" He said tersely. She nodded, dropped to all fours in her tiger form, and took her fighting stance.

"Let us begin then." He aimed at Aura instantly. Then fired off a blue crystal from his right hand. She tensed and darted to the side. She hissed as one of the crystals he sent out grazed her tail.

Dodging from the blasts of ice, she leapt into a tree. She drew out her wings and ducked behind the trunk. Then she floundered into the air nervously, beating her wings for altitude. Yue looked up at her, before also jumping into the sky, with ease.

Aura yelped and dove down back into trees as a crystal hit her right flank. She gasped as she skimmed the dirt, having forgotten the lost lift she might get on warm days thermals, when she flew the lowest. "D'arvit!" She cursed, straining to pull up to the right height. She hissed when she lost a couple feathers to a tree trunk.

Looking over her shoulder a moment, she spotted Yue in pursuit, gathering more crystals. '#* &! I need to get out of his line of fire! Soon too! Where do I have a fort built up that he probably can't follow me?' She thought. She swerved once to miss the crystals, and twice to miss the next tree. She flew and thought, and remembered the perfect place to slip into and hide while she thought up a plan.

About five feet in diameter and a rough dome shape, roof was full of sharp edges and a pile of broken glass brushed against the wall, three tunnels leading out of the den, winding around themselves, and a lump of almost soft stuff on the floor.

The old junkyard construction site, from the day she had captured Rain. With a few beats of her wings, she rocketed into the sky. Then taking off in a beeline for the site, southeast about a mile or so away. It seemed shorter in the air. Her heart beating in panic, it lent speed to her wings.

Feeling the bite of more crystals brushing her tail tip, she dove and landed in the junkyard. Then she took off through the metal waste, to the area she thought the nest was. Yue raced after her, mentally sneering at her apparent cowardice.

His right hand raised, he aimed carefully at the chimera as she ran in a straight line for now. He summoned a crystal. Then, taking one deep breath, he let loose a volley of icy darts.

Panic lending its last push; Aura leapt headfirst into her tunnel. She scrabbled around the first bend just in time to see the crystals shatter at her tail. She slowed slightly as she reached the center of her mud and metal cave, and lay there panting for a moment, puling out her cards and beginning to think. 'I guess I will need your help after all.' She thought, turning behind her with a snarl.

'Okay, let's see, what's the main problem? His crystals. If I stay away he fires at me and I can't get close enough to attack. But if I could sneak up, could he use crystals at close range? But how to sneak up?' She sat down and began to think, pulling her cards out and asking them for what they knew about him, and grateful when they warned her of certain things that would interfere with the plans she plotted.

"Aww, man, that takes a bunch of you out right there! Having to listen to him, that stinks. So who's out then?" She began to question and plot and plan, and soon a scheme was worked up.

"All right, Twin, Illusion, Dash, Jump, and Create, stay ready. Twin, Create, Illusion, get working." She said, as she slipped out of the entrance to the right of the tunnel she came in.

Twin picked up Create and began to write, Illusion glowed. They worked together to create something that would cause no harm if it were attacked. Dash slunk out of the main entrance, donning the Illusion and adding in threads of his own power. The plan was ready to go.

Yue circled the junkyard, watching for a black and white striped shape to run past his line of sight. 'Is this master such a coward that she will not even face me in battle?' He began to wonder to himself. He looked down to a pile of junk, as he saw a shape slink under some overhanging metal. With a couple swift strokes, he flew down at Aura. She tensed and bolted, running franticly through the junkyard.

Dash ran about, gripping the Illusion, in a form like a fabric, in his teeth, forcing it to follow his movements as he ran faster that any other card could. He heard wings beating, and some crystals coming close. 'Too easy.' He thought, dodging the slow shards with ease.

Yue ground his teeth in frustration. This candidate was using Dash to flee, and doge his attacks, yet was still too cowardly to turn and face him.

'I think it's time now.' Dash thought, turning to weave and twisting through the maze. He headed to a tall tower of metal. Then he saw who he though he would, and let go of the illusion, slipping into a hiding spot among the debris. 'Get it, get it!' He thought as a little shape grabbed the illusion from the air.

Jump looked down one last time at the exhausted Dash, and changed out Dash's power threads with his own. He bounded to another towering pile of scrap, bouncing as fast as he could. He winced and almost cried aloud as a crystal hit him right in his leg, bringing him down. But not before he reached his checkpoint.

'What does she hope to achieve by running, first with Dash? And now Jump?' Yue shook his head and pursued Aura. Her eyes bulged in terror and her tail bushed out as she fled away form him, gasping for breath.

Aura slipped onto a thick I beam and peered down from her perch. Keeping her wings stowed, she crept along to the edge of the beam, and crouched as Jump, carrying the cloth with the Illusion in it, bounced to the tower, with Yue in pursuit. ' Don't #* & up, don't #* & up!' She chanted silently in her head. And then the moment came, Yue was in position. With a roar she leapt down at him.

Yue turned and looked up in surprise as Aura roared, and snagged his long clothing and a good chunk of his leg in her claws. He hissed and kicked, shaking her off. She fell down to the ground, then summoned her wings. She tried to regain an altitude advantage. She screamed as a Crystal shot into her leg.

'I *#*ed up!' She roared in her head. She watched as Yue drew closer, his left hand glowing in a cutting spell. He brought it down on her belly. She fell. Though the spell didn't actually physically cut her, it still had the same effect. She kicked. She tried franticly to dislodge him so she could get away. He swooped back. Then used his right hand to blast out more shards of ice. She roared and fell. Falling closer to the ground.

She let out one last burst of flame. It knocked him back far enough for her to beat her wings and fly up out of reach. Yue glared, soaring after her.

Aura looked behind her. She saw Yue coming up after her, closing the distance much to fast. She shuddered. He brought up his left hand, curling it into a claw shape and getting ready to deliver a final strike.

Jump watched wide-eyed as Yue mercilessly slashed at Aura. She yelped and screamed, kicking franticly, and losing feathers and fur to the struggle. He looked at those cold, cold eyes Yue had, and felt his fur bristle. After one last scream from Aura, he tensed his legs. He flew through the sky and straight at Yue. He screeched out a battle cry. Then Jump watched as Yue turned to face him, hand still glowing from his last attack.

Aura flapped away as she suddenly felt the stinging vanish. She looked down, and saw Jump. He was heroically distracting Yue to his very best. And his best was pretty good. She even brought out a smile as she watched how Jump got the job done.

Kero circled the area, staying well out of the way, and he couldn't believe his eyes at what he saw. Then, his muzzle slowly formed a smile. This was what Aura needed. This would be enough to give her the advantage she needed.

Yue screeched furiously. He tore at the clinging ball of pink fur. The fluff covered his face, mouth, nose, and eyes. His head hurt as Jump pulled and tore at his hair. Jump was pounding with little fists on Yue's head. The tail was curled around Yue's neck determinedly trying to choke him. Furious battle screeches echoed the area, both from Yue and Jump. Then a third cry came. Yue felt a weight pummel his back, and sharp claws attach themselves into him. He screeched and tore the fur ball off his face. He turned to try and shake off Aura next.

Aura waited another heartbeat in the sky, before diving down onto Yue's exposed back. She fastened her claws in, and turned her head. Then snapped her jaws into the back of his neck, where she'd usually find some sort of a scruff.

Her hind paws swiveled into his sides; digging in for grip as her front paws let go. They reached quickly for his left wing. One sharp yank inward. She heard a satisfying, sickening sound. Yue screamed and fell from the sky. His left wing streamed uselessly behind him. Aura let go of him, and circled where he had landed on the ground.

Yue got up, staggering with pain and trying to cradle his broken wing, where it dangled uselessly on his shoulder. He clenched his fist, slowly, angrily, raising up his right hand to let loose a volley of crystals at the circling chimera.

Aura flapped out of the way of the ice easily. 'It would seem someone isn't used to pain. I never thought his aim would get this bad.' She thought in relief. She dove in again. Then pulled up as he slashed at her with his left hand.

She grinned as something occurred to her. She began to circle counter clockwise, and dove again. Yue turned and raised his right hand, summoning ice. She turned to circle clockwise. He tried to turn. She turned again, getting closer, staying away from his right side.

Then, a few feet out of reach, she turned sharply. She put herself out of the way of his left hand. He turned, his left hand glowing. Aura raked her claws down his right shoulder. She darted off, keeping to his left again.

'So I was right, his left is for close range, his right for distance. This makes it so much easier.' She thought, repeating the dive, raking her claws across his face, picking up fear and desperation in his scent.

Yue cringed as he felt her claw him once again. He staggered. He was almost to the point of collapse. He fired off more crystals, missing as she wove to his left.

Aura landed on the ground, still running. 'There! I should be able to give a couple more blows to the legs! When he falls over, I'll use that chance to finish this.'

She ran in circles. Narrowed the distance with every loop. With a growl, she hopped away from some crystals. Then she chomped down on his leg a moment. Then sprang back again. She circled, leapt, bit, released, and hopped back! Circle, bite, back! Circle, bite, back! Circle, bite, back!

And then it happened. She tugged his leg in her teeth, and roared triumphantly as he fell onto the ground. She snarled and jumped at his neck. She sunk her teeth, not into the spine, like she would if she were hunting, but into his windpipe. She clenched her jaw, just hard enough to cut off his air.

'No!' Yue thought, as he tried to breath. 'I lost? This is going to be our new master? I don't want her to be my master! But I said… I have to keep my word.' He thought as he miserably stopped struggling and lay limp, trying to signal he had given up. He felt the pressure on his neck lessen, and he gasped for breath. Then, hearing a low growl, he began to recite his speech.

"The judgment is complete. I, Yue the judge, acknowledge Aura as our new master." He gasped.

Aura, still loosely holding Yue's neck, looked up at Kero, and tilted her ears. Kero nodded, and she let go of Yue's throat, letting his head fall to the ground as he gasped for breath, while repressing screams of pain from his wing and his scratches.

Kero bounded over, licking Aura's muzzle briefly, and then looking down at Yue. He winced. "That looks like it hurts." He stated. Yue growled at Kero. Aura sniffed her new guardian, then turned to Kero. "Kero, can you stay here and keep everything under control? I'm going to make a flight to the tree, I need to get some stuff and patch him up. Hey, Jump, Are you okay?" She called.

Jump limped out on all fours, one of his hind legs clutched tight against his belly, but there was no blood, so she guessed it was just bruised or something.

Spreading her wings, she took off to the east. Kero watched her go, and then turned to Yue.

"Don't worry, once you get to know her, she's actually pretty nice."

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By the way, the card changing arc will be a second story, so this half is done. If you review, I'll note you when I post the first chapter of that. Because if you reveiw, I'll know you exist, and want to read the next half of the story.