Disclaimer: I own the totally awesome Kalina, and her really cool sword skills. I own the incredibly sweet Taren, and his fun levitation trick. Other than that, I don't own a darn thing. Not even my mind...

Chapter 2: Walk Softly and Carry a Sharp Sword

Taren slowly opened his eyes. It was dawn; the sun just peeping over the clouds. The air was chilly, as it often was before the sun warmed it. Taren threw off his covers, and quickly got dressed for the day. After pulling on his boots, Taren bound down the stairs to the common room. He quickly passed to the door. Stepping out into the hallway, he looked neither right not left, but focused totally on the day ahead.

His first task of the day was to meet Kalina in the dining hall. They would eat breakfast, and then go out somewhere to practice. Professor Mogonical had said they could go to the 'quidditch' field. Whatever a quidditch was...

All this time, Taren had been walking towards the dining hall. Along the way, he had passed, and ignored, several very surprised students. He had reached the doors to the dining hall. Passing through the open doorway, his eyes scanned the hall for Kalina. She wasn't there. Taren blinked in bemusement. Where was she?

"Excuse me," a small voice spoke from behind Taren. "Mr. Elf?" Taren turned to see one of the children who had been sorted last night. "Um," the child said nervously, "Kalina said to tell you she's already at the field."

Taren smiled kindly at the child. The poor little Man was terrified, and Taren wondered what Kalina had done (or said) to instill that fear in him...The child gave a nervous grin back, and ran away.

Taren stopped short. At Kalina's instruction he had hurried to the quidditch field. The sight that greeted him was not what he expected. The field was a smooth emerald oval of grass surrounded by majestic stone towers. On the very top of the tower opposite Taren was Kalina. She was practicing with her weapons, and her sword was a blur of steel in the shining sun. Although Taren knew she had been practicing for hours, she showed no sign of fatigue. As he watched in amazement (she really was very good), Taren saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head and looked. Sure enough it seemed that a number of Slytherins with brooms were entering the far side of the field. At eh head of this rather large group was that Malfoy boy. Malfoy had made some rather pointed comments about Kalina last night. He seemed the kind who would love to cause trouble...Taren sprinted for Kalina's tower. Meanwhile, the Slytherin team had spotted her. The stopped, stupefied. As Taren finally located a set of winding stairs, he heard Malfoy yelling.

"Get a move on!" Malfoy screamed. Stop watching that stupid elf and start flying!" By this time spittle was flying out of his mouth and his face was a strange puce color.

Taren dashed up the stairs towards Kalina. At the same time, the Slytherin team was launching itself into the sky. Most were still gazing at Kalina. This seemed to annoy Malfoy, who glared at her.

"Stupid elf," he muttered. "Thinks she's so much better than us because she can swing a sword. Show's what she knows. Humans haven't used swords for years. Not to mention she's a girl elf, which means she probably isn't even any good with the silly thing anyway." Malfoy snorted as a mental picture of Kalina accidentally cutting her own arm off flitted through his head. The picture amused him so much that he decided to try to make it a reality. With and evil smile on his face, Malfoy grabbed a beater stick, and released the bludger. He swung his arm in a mighty arch, and the bludger sailed straight for Kalina.

Kalina continued to practice. Her back was towards the field, and she faced the steps. As the sound of Taren's mad dash up the steps penetrated her consciousness, Kalina slowly swung her sword, point down, to the ground and leaned on it. She cocked her head quizzically to the side, and waited to see who approached.

Taren had a very bad feeling. That Malfoy boy was trouble. If he could only get to Kalina in time to warn her...When Taren's head broke the level of the last step, he witnessed an amazing sight. Kalina was leaning on her sword, totally at ease. Behind her, a rather large ball hurtled towards her head. Before Taren had a chance to warn Kalina, she whipped around, raising her sword at the same time. The sun reflected off Kalina's sword with a flash as she watched the ball divide itself into two pieces on the sharp edge of her blade.

As the two halves tumbled to the ground on either side of her, Kalina's eyes snapped upward and impaled Malfoy. She touched the sword to her forehead, as if to acknowledge an enemy. With a small smile, Kalina straightened. As she did, her hand dipped into her tunic and blurred out again. The knife she had drawn out flew straight and true, and imbedded itself into Malfoy's broom. A centimeter closer to Malfoy, and the knife would have saved the world from future generations of little Malfoys.

Kalina, the grin still in place, slowly sheathed her sword. She turned smartly, and walking past Taren, gave him a wink and patted his shoulder. Taren heaved a giant sigh, and followed her down the twisting staircase.

When they reached the bottom, Malfoy was waiting for them. He dumped Kalina's dagger to the ground at her feet.

"Never try that again, elf" Malfoy said in a threatening tone. Both Kalina and Taren raised an eyebrow at him. Malfoy smirked at their 'insolence'. "You'll regret this," he sneered. With that last word, Malfoy spun around, sweeping his robes majestically around him. He motioned to the Slytherin team and stalked off the field as his team ambled behind him.

Taren and Kalina spent the next few hours practicing magic. Of course, Kalina couldn't really do magic, so she bravely stood still while Taren tried various spells on her. Thankfully, nothing too terribly bad happened. She was levitated and had to block a few flying objects, but remained relatively uninjured. By the time a student was sent to fetch them to class, however, they were both very cranky. It is very unfortunate that, Kalina already cranky, and always easy to provoke, was scheduled for Potions class.

"Sit down and pay attention!"

Kalina jerked around to face the owner of that ominous voice. It was a man, striding furiously towards the front of the room.

"This man is really rather intimidating," Kalina thought. He had shoulder length, greasy, black hair. His nose was rather beakish, and from the expression on his face, he did not want to be in this classroom.

Kalina watched in bemusement as this man (Professor Snape, one of the kids had said) proceeded with a well practiced speech that seemed to have been rehearsed. Kalina had no idea what he was talking about, but when he said something that sounded like "put a stopper in death" she couldn't help but laugh.

She realized immediately of course, that laughing was a mistake, and she tried to choke it back, but by then it was too late. At the first chortle that escaped Kalina's lips, Snape's head had whipped around and his fierce eyes pinned Kalina to her chair.

"Something funny, elf?" Snape sneered.

Kalina laughed again. "First you sweep in here, making a grand entrance, and then you start that stupid speech. What did you do, practice it in front of your mirror?" Kalina shook her head.

With each word she had spoken, Snape had drawn himself further and further up, until it seemed he towered over the sitting elf. He glared down his beak nose at her and opened his mouth to speak. The other students, having heard stories of Snape's vicious temper, cowered back in their seats. Kalina alone sat tall, staring calmly at the Professor.

"No one laughs at me!" Professor Snape bellowed so forcefully that his eyes bulged outward and his hair stood practically on end.

Kalina took exception to his tone of voice, and placing her hands gently on the table in front of her, she drew to her full height. She cocked her head to one side, and just to infuriate Snape, she allowed a smile to slowly spread across her face.

Now Snape was the one being towered over, and he did not care for the sensation at all. Just as he opened his mouth to begin his rant again, there was a small tap on the door.

"What!?!" Snape yelled. The door swung open. In the door was a house elf. "What do you want?" Snape inquired belligerently.

"S-so-s-sorry to disturb you sir" the elf squeaked, "but Professor Dumbledore..." here the elf stopped, quaking in fear.

"What about him?" Snape snapped.

"Well, sir" the elf began again. "He wants to talk to..." The elf trailed off again with a pointed glance at Kalina.

Snape swore. The students, many of whom had never heard such language, listened in amazement as their eyes grew bigger and bigger with shock.

"Can it wait?" Snape asked impatiently. The house elf shook his head.

"Professor Dumbledore said to bring Megiltura to him right away sir." The house elf stated. "Those were his instructions...right away." The elf nodded for emphasis.

"Megi-whata?" Snape asked.

"Megiltura," Kalina replied. She was tired of standing aside and listening to these two talk about her as if she wasn't even there. "It means...nevermind, it is one of my titles. Although how this little one knew I do not know." Kalina threw a curious glance at the house-elf, but it only blushed and lowered its head. Kalina shrugged and turned her attention back to Snape. "Anyway, your elder wishes to see me. I must go." She turned and walked towards the door, but paused as she remembered something she had heard one of the students say earlier. An evil grin crossed her face, and she turned slowly back around. "It's been real" she told Snape. A shocked look crossed Snape's face, and his mouth opened and closed like a fish's. Kalina laughed, turned once more, and walked out the door.

Author's Note: Yay for an update! My favorite scene of this has to be when Kalina cuts the bludger in two. That is such a cool mental image...at least in my head. Sorry it took me so long. I kinda lost my place for a while there. I wasn't sure where the story was going, but I think I have a good idea now. It's a short chapter, but it has some entertaining parts. An obvious set-up for more strife between Snape, Kalina, and Malfoy. Anyway, I hope you like it.

Quote: "What's better than cheap books? Free books." Me (give me a break...it's the best I could come up with on short notice.)