Silent Hunter and Spotted Beast

Raye's whole body started shaking when a flame sprang up from her hand. Her red eyes widened in fright and her ears flattened against her head. A load keening whine wrenched from her throat as she stood paralysed. One thought ran through her head. RUN!!

Solasta halted the creation of her fires upon realising Raye was staring her down like a frightened deer. She tilted her head peculiarly, not sure whether to be dissappointed or ecstatic. She'd finally found a weakness that would surely win her way to victory! On the other hand, she'd realised her 'companion' would be entirely useless in assisting her with what she really signed up to the academy for.

She looked at her with narrowed, judging eyes, both of her arms limply hanging by her sides. "Yo' not scared of the fire, are you?" It was said with geniune interest, but there was a slightly mocking tone behind it.

Another whine wrenched from her throat at the question and she stumbled back a step on shaking legs. Fire and water were the two things she was terrified of to such an extent.

"Aww," she cooed with mock sympathy, stepping forward lightly and arching her back down to an equal eye-level. "De poor lost puppy is afraid of de fire." Her hand was raised towards her to pat her on the head, but she didn't assume that she would let her, given the notion that her arm could set alight at any moment.

"I won't burn you," she slyly assured, although it could be doubted if she truly meant it. She jutted out her chin in a superior manner, smirking down at Raye. "You can... trust me."

Another whine escaped her lips and she flinched when Sol reached forwards.

When Raye flinched, Solasta drew her arm back, assessing her briefly. "Poor thing," she murmured, stepping towards her in a slightly dominating manner. Her tone was teasing, yet it almost carried a sense of motherlyness as she looked at her with artificial pity. "The fire's all gone," she softly mentioned, wanting to reach out again, but resisting. "There's nothing to fear."

Raye slowly stopped shaking and stared up at Sol with terrified eyes. "Please...don't do that again," she pleaded, bowing her head and clutching her arms around herself as if hugging herself. "Please..."

Solasta smiled as she bowed her head, unable to quell her feelings of pride for establishing her superiority so easily. "Don't you worry," she said, reaching an arm out to stroke Raye's arm slightly, seeing as she didn't seem to be paticularly unstable anymore. "I will treasure dis memory. There is no need for me to repeat it." She smirked jokingly, but she did have somewhat of a slight intention of actually upholding her promise. "You should have seen yo'self. You were so terrified~" she grinned, her lips splitting into a silent cackle.

Now she had calmed down, Raye only flinched slightly when Sol touched her. "Yeah, well, I was nearly burned alive in a forest fire when I was a pup. Fire scares me. A lot." She shuddered at the memory.

"What a shame..." she mused, her hand moved towards Raye's hair as she twirled with the ends slightly, disregarding how she still seemed to be on edge. She surely had no need to know of her past - she had encountered more fire than she'd ever need to know of. All those wildfires, those charred corpses, the searing hotness, every single scrap of it. If only she knew...

"Are you a pup now?" she questioned, raising a brow, hoping she'd understand what she was implying.

She smiled a little when she realised Sol was trying to console her. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of Sol toying with her hair. It was calming. Like being stroked when she was a wolf. "Fears are hard to get rid of."

Solasta was surprised that Raye seemed to be at ease with her contact, and with interest, she moved her hand towards her chin, giving it a slight, soft tickle. "Fears can be overcome," she stated, as if it were the absolute truth. "But'chu have to face dem head on." She smirked at the thought - she couldn't recall any fears of her own that she had. After all, fear was often an exaggerated emotion - there was no need for it.

A content noise rumbled in her throat when Sol tickled under her chin and she gave the girl a mock-dirty look. "I'm not a common pet dog." But she didn't make a move to pull away or swipe at the Junkai. "I know they can be overcome... But it's easier said than done. Maybe I'll be able to face fire eventually..."

The hand travelled to her face, rubbing her cheek slightly with her thumb. "Never said you were," she stared, rather cryptically. A grin played on her lips, and her gaze was almost decietfully soft. "Yo' facing fire right now," she reminded her gently. "Any moment, I could burst into flames, like dynamite." Her head tilted slightly as she addressed her with a questioning gaze. "How do you feel knowink that?" It was exaggeration, she at least had some degree of control when it came to using her powers. In a way, she was sort of testing her trust.

"Terrified," she replied honestly, leaning into the girls hand. "But you have some control, right? You're not going to spontaneously combust on me, are you?"

Fingers stretched out to scratch behind her ears, in an almost soothing, comforting manner. "I can't guarantee that," she murmured, smiling dangerously. "Not on purpoose though," she added after a moment's pause. "I'd die if I did that." The statement was mentioned in a rather matter-of-fact tone, as if she didn't really care.

One of Raye's ears perked up and the other laid limp on her head as Sol scratched behind them. She may not have been a common dog, but she was still canine.

She didn't know what to say to Sol's comment. She was never good with talking about death. She just...surged forwards through life most of the time and if she died, she died. Nothing to worry about. So, she just stayed silent.

"Hmm," she mused, removing her hand from Raye's face and tilting her head thoughtfully. Raye's silence intruiged her slightly, but she decided to drop the subject, seeing as it wouldn't provoke much of a conversation. Her hand was then set against her waist as she shifted her weight. "So what do you do?" she questioned. "I already show you what I can do, it would onleh be fair, no?"

"I'm a Kendoka," Raye gaave in way of answer. "I prefer to use a Katana, but I can cause some severe damage with a Bokuto and, if push comes to shove, a Shinai as well."

A proud grin pulled at her lips. She wasn't the best Kendoka around, but she was a 6-dan practitioner and she had worked hard to get there. She still had a long way to go until she could receive 8-dan status (the highest status someone of this day and age could receive) but she had the determination to reach that level. She was gonna do it even if it killed her.

"I do some other martial arts, too, but I'm not very good at them," she admitted with a sheepish grin. "I've just started getting the hang of bojutsu, though. It's quite an interesting art."

"Huh?" Solasta looked a little confused at some of the vocabulary she used, her bafflement shown clearly by her squinted eyes and raised lip. Foreign words, she assumed. Being from the Amazon, such Japanese language wasn't paticularly familiar to her. "Is dis stuff with weapons?" she asked, looking a little unimpressed. "If you ask me, I prefer it bare fisted," she smirked, cracking her fist inside the palm of her other hand. She winced a little as she did this - forgetting she'd just set that palm on fire a little over a few minutes ago. "I don't get all dis 'bokotsu' or whatever, dey all sound the same to me!" she huffed in disblief.

Raye grinned and chuckled a little. "They're types of weapons. A Katana is a sword made of Tamahagane - a type of Japanese steel. Bokuto's are hardwood weapons in the shape of sword. And Shinai are bamboo weapons in the shape of swords that we use when training in Kendo."

"I'm not the best at fistfights, but I can fight quite well as a wolf." Her grin turned feral, revealing two sharp fanged teeth.

Swords swords swords! Solasta didn't seem to be too impressed at her weapon choice - why slice and dice when you could split and crush? The mention of bamboo did momentarily arouse her interest - but she never did think them as being suitable for swords - at the very least, she used them as chutes to fire small projectiles like pebbles.

She tutted and shook her head as Raye bared her fangs, and she looked to the ceiling, smiling slightly, yet maintaining an unimpressed tone of voice. "Very nice," she said flatly. "Now how 'bout'chu show me some moves?" she challenged, lifting her arm, gestuing towards herself, smirking. "Impress me."

Raye stood awkwardly. She was never good with following direct orders. Or impressing people, for that matter. She raised her arms as if to do something, but dropped them again in the next second. "Uh..." Her ears laid flat on her head and her tail tucked between her legs. She was not good with being put on the spot.

Raye's reaction was unimpressive to say the least. A frown marred onto Solasta's face as her tail flicked behind her. "Really?" she snorted. "Is dat really it? C'mon, I know you got somet'ink in you!" She gestured with her hand, opening her arms wide as she taunted her to attack her. "Yo' not chickening out now, are you?"

"What d'you expect me to do, pull an awesome move out of my arse?" the Jinn snorted with a frown. "I'm not good under pressure. Never was."