[IC] The Safe Haven

[Dutchess Sarah]

Sarah was impressed with how Cole was handeling what she was throwing at him. She watched him claw his way out of the hole, and onto the wall. She took this time to reposition herself near another puddle, a big one this time. "throwing" Sarah suddenly knew what to do. As Cole walked across the wall, Sarah raised the whirlpool of water above the pool and concentrated it into a beam of water. For good measure, she added the muddy water she had dumped on him earlier to the beam. She took a moment to gauge his speed. "He's fast" flashed through her mind. She divided the enormous beam of water into smaller beams, and shot them in Cole's direction at high speed. She made sure to aim not only at Cole, but also behind and in front of him. Sarah was hoping to hit him, and maybe knock him off the wall, with at least one shot.

At the same time she concentrated, ready to regroup the rest of the water into the big puddle close to her feet. She was sure she'd need something to shield herself with.

edited for stylistic purposes. (forgot the colour)

[Drakey]

@Kazemitsu

Eira blanked for a moment when one of the contestants got changed up. Sarah was her name, and apparently water was her friend. Eira laughed, in a sarcastic way. Her smile was simply blood curdling. "Damn, I wish that I had gotten to go against her. She wouldn't have lasted half a second."

She watched as the boy, Cole, changed. Damn, he was fast. Definitely faster than Kaze. However, Eira guessed that he had a lower body temperature, which would make him more susceptible to her flames. Either way, Eira wuld have wiped the field with either of these contestants.

[Raptra]

Cole saw the water rising, and imagined that she intended to have the entire column of liquid slam into him. Well, he turned out to be partly right. The large stream splitting into smaller streams came as a little surprise, but he was confident in managing it without much of a problem. He sprang into action, bounding across the wall as he swiftly dodged the smaller jets of water.

However, one in particular landed slightly too close for comfort, interrupting his concentration. He lost his grip on the wall, but landed expertly on all fours as another jet headed straight towards him. Using his tapered claws, he diverted most of it to shoot to either side of him, greatly reducing its impact. Considering the fact that he was back on the ground, he was almost immediately on the move again at top speed.

Seeing that Sarah was concentrating on a nearby puddle, he made his way around the arena and charged straight at her from the back with a claw raised, intending to deliver a strike before she could turn liquid again, or establish any form of defence.

@Dutchess Sarah

[Kazemitsu]

Kaze just pet Eira on the head with a couple fingers. Each touch was announced with a soft hiss from the cold meeting the heat. "Now now, it's not a competition." He said before giving her a grin. "Besides, you can freeze the water...but it's still water. Just solid. So you'd give her cudgels instead of whips." He stated, attempting to dampen the girls ego. "The boy could probably move faster than you can react aside from just coating the area in your icy fire. I got through and I'm slower." He continued on while he watched the water bender and beast boy fight it out. Neither one of them really landing a hit yet.

Then again it wasn't until the end of their fight that Eira and himself actually touched each other. But they had both probably been holding back.

[Aphelion]

@Enalais

Lucky's eyes followed Lain as the nervous girl ran away from the confrontation. She wasn't surprised, however, she was rather disappointed instead. Lucky understood not wanting to use your powers, especially not in a setting like this. [[Especially not surrounded by monsters like this...]] She thought to herself as the battle between Cole and Sarah sprang into action quickly. Sarah had initiated the combat with a cheeky move.

"Shit!" Lucky cussed when she realized she didn't have her phone recording and hit play just after Cole began his first charge at Sarah. She set it up hurriedly and then glanced back at Eric. "How do you think these two will do?" She asked. She took a handful of trail-mix and unceremoniously crammed all of it into her mouth at once. Her cheeks puffed out to the sides like a squirrel's might while she munched on it happily, and she shook the bag in Eric's direction so he could take more if he wanted to.

[DELETED324324]

The other girl Elaine ran away, Eric watched as she left the arena, but as the teachers called the other girl down. Eric's attention turned away from Elaine to Sarah, he was pumped to watch this fight. "Good Luck!" He shouted after her as she made her way down. But on the inside he was wondering how she was going to do, these fights had been made with certain pairs in mind and now this was a random variable, but he shrugged and sat back.

As the fighters introduced himself he noted Sarah's ability to control water as they had the arena form small puddles of water. She dumped some muddy water on her opponent which solicited a laugh from him. But then as they started their fight, he saw the full extent of Cole's abilities. And then they went at it, the fight was intense and as he watched he felt less and less sure about himself and his ability to fit in here. He couldn't do anything, he would probably flunk out. Maybe even get kicked out, who knows he certainly didn't. This showed plainly on his face, and on the way he was grasping the bench his knuckles white, his usual smile a frown of concern. "I'm not going to make it here." He said in a hushed whisper, he took his eyes off the fight and down to his feet. Staring into space.

It was Lucky who brought him back, it was an innocent question about the fight. "What? Oh, I think both of them are great fighters. It's probably going to be really close." He said, his voice sounded nervous but he forced a smile on his face, but refused Lucky's offer of a snack. He looked over at her and thought about what she could do, he wondered if he would last five seconds against her if they fought in the arena.

[Dutchess Sarah]

Cole did exactly what Sarah had expected, he tried to use his speed and agility to avoid the jets of water. He actually managed to dodge quite a few of them before one of them forced him to leave the wall.
She was impressed by the way he managed to claw his way through the water, and saw him coming at her again, trying to attack her from behind.

Instantly, she raised the contents of the huge puddle at her feet. She made no attempt to attack Cole with it, but surrounded herself with it instead. The water formed a bubble around Sarah. In order to keep it together, she made it flow around her in strong, solid circles.
Cole's claw attack hit her, but not with the force he intended. However, because of the rapidly moving currents in the bubble of water, Sarah felt the nails run all the way across her back, leaving a diagonal pattern reaching from her right shoulder to just above her left hip.

"Let's not do that again" and "That was my favourite shirt" flashed through Sarah's mind. She traded places with Cole, who was now stuck inside her bubble of water. Wincing at the stinging on her back, Sarah used the water from a small puddle nearby to cool her wounds. Then she prepared herself for Cole's next move.

@Raptra

[Drakey]

@Kazemitsu

As Kaze patted her head, Eira snapped at him. A snarl was on her face as she spoke. "It is always a competition. WHether it's here or on the streets of New York, it is always a competition." Turning back to the fight, Eira watched as the boy, Cole, got knocked from the wall. "I know that he's fast, but his body temperature has to be that of a normal human, which would mean that one touch of my flames and he'd be down for the count." Breathing deeply, something clicked in her mind.

All of a sudden, an image of Kaze as he would have looked if he was human. A tall, fair-skinned man with long brown hair and rough stubble flooded her mind. He was still wearing the skirt around his muscular hips. His muscles were defined and easily noticeable. Eira's mouth, against her wishes, began to drool. Scowling in response, the girl snarled at Kaze, a thick blush coming up on her own pale skin.

"Damnit Kaze. You have no idea how much I can actually do. We didn't know that we could go all out. As such, I think you were holding back, same as what I was doing. " Hoping to change her thoughts, Eira was battling with herself, and she was losing miserably.

[Raptra]

Sarah's water shield did not surprise Cole as much as the trap that followed. Finding himself suddenly immersed in water, he immediately dug the claws of one hand into the ground to anchor himself, while using those of the other to slice through the strong flow of water that circled around him. Jets of water shot out in several directions as he broke through the surface, though, it took a few more seconds for him to completely tear himself out of the water sphere. He then quickly latched back onto the wall in time to catch Sarah tending to the injury he had inflicted on her.

Seeing her bleed was strangely... satisfying. He wanted to do it again, to cut her more, to draw more of that blood from her flesh, which he simply wished to rip- No! What are you thinking?! Get a grip! His rational thinking kicked in, letting him focus once again. How long had it been since the start of the battle? He could feel the savage instinct that would always come with his beast form start to creep in. That was not good. Consciously suppressing it, he crept over to her slowly, intending to quickly strike again the moment she attempted something else.

@Dutchess Sarah

[Kazemitsu]

Kaze just shook his head. "It's not always a competition. We're supposed to be learning, either how to control or better use out powers." He said, now getting some backstory on the girl. She was from New York and the streets...well that could mean anything. Was she disowned? Run away? Just thrown out? She'd let him know when she was ready and wanting to. "Also body temperature rises with work. Aside from insulated clothing people sweat in the middle of winter." He continued on while relaxing and watching the fight.

His ears swiveled when he heard the sound of water not in the ring. Looking to her he noticed she was drooling which got a loud laugh from him. Her ferocity was a little ruined by that face engulfing blush she was sporting. He had a major shit eating grin on his face even while she talked at him. "I knew we could go all out. I didn't want to tire the teacher out by destroying the arena." He said before letting that grin fade. "I've never really tested my strength, the most I've done is throw a car but even that felt light." He said. He had made the ground in the arena tremble by hitting it, he was obviously a powerhouse and was holding back for fear of causing too much damage.

@Drakey

[Dutchess Sarah]

Sarah was beginning to get pissed. She was hurting and getting tired. And that bloody mutt didn't have a scratch on him. There he was, back on the bloody wall!

Splitting the water in the massive bubble, Sarah shoved half of it back towards the ground near the wall. The water seemed to disappear into the ground, which now looked as dry as before. Underneeth the now thin layer of dirt and dry sand, a pool of quicksand was forming. Sarah watched Cole for a second and realised he seemed distracted. She shot a quick jet of water towards him, and knocked him off the wall, straight into the quicksand. Cole seemed to be sucked in. let's see him claw his way out of this one she thought to herself, as she added more water to the bubble she was still holding afloat behind her, and deepened the pool of quicksand for good measure.

(edited for continuity)

@raptra

[Raptra]

Sarah's next move confused Cole. What was the point of shooting water into the ground right below him? He expected something to pop out of that very spot, and he readied himself for whatever it might be. However, while concentrating on that area, he was completely caught off guard by a jet of water that came at him from another direction, causing him to plummet into the point of interest which he immediately realized was what could be compared to quicksand. The ground was quickly dragging him under, and he had to do something, fast. His claws managed to grab hold of some solid earth, which he assumed was the side of the pit, just as his head disappeared below the sandy surface. He had stopped sinking, but the pulling force of the quicksand was much too strong for him to simply climb out of it.

The entire experience was nerve-racking. Cole tried to remain calm and think of a way out, though, it was not easy. He was about to suffocate, and the monster in his head was fighting for control. He had been under all that sand for some time. Were the teachers not supposed to intervene? Perhaps they were expecting him to be able to do something about his current situation. There was no doubt that he actually could, but that would mean... Were they really planning to drive him to that point? He realized that he did not have a choice. He was trapped, and there was no other way. Fine, just for this one time, save me...

The creature suddenly tore out of the sand as if a rush of adrenaline had been gained. It skidded across the ground to a stop and let out a savage, animalistic shriek before making a headlong charge at the driving force behind all the water-based attacks and traps. It moved just as quickly as before, but this time, in a significantly more wild and frenzied manner. Now mostly driven by bloodlust, it had the full intention to tear the girl to shreds. It was obvious that 'Cole' was no longer all there, if he was still even there at all.

@Dutchess Sarah

[Kaesus]

The moment the beast show signs to be in control the teachers were ready. Professor Jacob was ready, in a blink of an eye the no longer was watching the fight, the had Cole restrained from the back holding his arms behind it's back. "Control it, restrain it's hold on you, your are the beast you have control over it, you and the beast are one, and it does not matter if you THINK you cannot control him past 10 minutes. Try it and push it back to it's hole."

At the same time Jacob moved, Lady Jade froze the water, not ice frozen, it was still liquid, but it didn't move. "It's over water girl, release the water and leave the arena. Now Cole has to fight himself."

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Mentions:@Raptra@Dutchess Sarah

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[Dutchess Sarah]

holy shit what just happened?
During the battle, Sarah had never doubted that Cole had been in control, even in his altered form. It was obvious that this was no longer the case. The teacher's words rang in her mind. Had it really only been 10 minutes? Sarah was scared, hurt and tired, but suddenly she was rooting for Cole.

She headed for the edge of the arena quickly, ready to join the others. Before she exited, she looked back and said "come on Cole, don't give up now. You've got this, buddy." Without checking if he'd heard her, she sat down near the others and closed her eyes.

[Raptra]

Something had taken hold of the beast, stopping him before he caused any severe damage. He struggled to break free, switching his focus to the one responsible and desiring for nothing more than to bite the teacher's head clean off his shoulders. However, Professor Jacob held strong, and... was he speaking to him? Whatever little that was left of Cole's consciousness managed to comprehend some of his words.

"You are the beast you have control over it, you and the beast are one."

You don't- you don't understand... I want to... I need to kill you, but... it's not me. It never was me... it can't be...

There was then another voice, which called him by name. "Come on Cole, don't give up now. You've got this, buddy."

Was it really all on him? That was what scared him. It seemed easy to hold the savagery of the monster accountable every time he was not in control. It had helped him cope with what he had done the first time he had discovered his abilities and shifted unintentionally. It was not him who did it, he could not control it when the urge was too strong, that was what he had kept telling himself. Even now, as the beast continued to lash out, he wished that Professor Jacob would simply hit him in the head so that he could avoid all this, but the teacher was not allowing that.

With the beast still mostly in control, even that little bit of rationalizing was draining him mentally. He could not keep this up much longer. He had to focus on regaining control. He was afraid of what the outcome might imply, but he had to accept that it could be done, at least for the time being. Part of him did not want to try, but he had to, he needed answers!

I'm in control... I don't need you, not anymore. I'm not letting you hurt anyone. Get out... get out of my head!

It took all of his willpower and concentration to toss the beast out, which allowed him to eventually shift back into his human form. The boy went limp in the teacher's grip, panting from both physical and mental exhaustion. He was shaking slightly from the trauma, and it took a moment for him to calm himself down.

"What are you saying, Sir?" He muttered in between deep breaths. "What does this all mean? It couldn't have been me. H-How is this possible? Does this mean that the whole time, I could have... No... I don't even remember much of what it had done..."

@Dutchess Sarah @Kaesus

[Kaesus]

As the boy went back to his human form and lost his strength Jacob lifted him up and held him with both arms speaking softly to him. "It is normal to loose control when we have our first power surges, when it first happened to me I passed out exhausted before I could slow down. And the best wait to start getting grip of our powers is pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone." He continued now addressing to the whole class, "And that's our objective in this first class, we want you to push yourselves, to leave your comfort zone and to improve. The best way to control your powers is to understand how they work and what limits you can reach and break."

With a smile in his face he left the arena still holding Cole, "So little one, do you want me to take you to your room to rest or do you want to watch the rest of the fights?"

When Jacob left the arena with Cole Lady Jade addressed the class. "As everyone could see once again, we want you to push your limits with no worries of harming or getting harmed, next duo can enter the arena, Luxianne and Eric." She walked towards the control panel of the arena, pushed a few buttons and the water dried out at the same time the ceiling was opening letting in the sun rays from outside.

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Mentions:@Raptra@Enalais@Aphelion

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[Drakey]

@Kazemitsu

Eira was shaking. She was shaking bad. The girl hadn't known that she could go full out, but now she does. A feral grin was plastered to her face as her wild, brown eyes scanned the field. That last fight, between beasty and aqua, was exhilirating. Damnit, why couldn't she go up again.

Eira's flames were sharp, jagged spears that danced around her form as she gripped the railing in front of her. The metal slowly froze in her grip, eventually shattering from the extreme cold. A heavy mist escaped her lips as she exhaled.

"Hey, Kaze," Her twisted voice, darker than anything the dragon could remember hearing, came out of her throat. "Wanna have a rematch?" Her feral, wild eyes turned towards Kaze. Eira's snow white hair flowed down her face as her head tilted backwards. Her black flames, exuding cold and darkness alike, danced around her in a bloodthirsty frenzy. If there was anyone who embodied the arctic in the dead of its eternal night, then it was Eira.

[Kazemitsu]

@Drakey

Kaze watched how Eira seemed to change during the fights, shaking first, then her powers getting a little more out of control. He was naturally wary of her at this point, mostly because she held his weakness. But also because she seemed to be a little insane. Why are the cute ones always crazy? He thought grumpily before she shattered the metal in her frigid grasp. When she turned to look at him he was surprised she said his name, she had continued to call him Scales even after they fought.

He turned his full attention to her. "We're here to learn to control ourselves, Eira." He stated, his voice firm. "I don't know if the even Lady Jade can bring back the dead with her time abilities. That's why I hold back, and didn't fight you to my fullest." He said before shaking his head. "Seriously, it didn't take much strength to make the ground tremble when I tripped you up." Kaze explained, letting her know the seriousness of what she seemed to want.

When Kaze had first gotten to the school he had no limiters set and he had broken many things. Learning control had allowed him some semblance of normalcy despite his appearance. He'd want the teachers and the principals permission to go all out before even really thinking seriously about letting the control go.

[DELETED324324]

Eric watched the two combatants go back and forth, the fight was intense. Sarah seemed to have the upper hand with her water powers, making traps for Cole. She was certainly clever about how she was fighting, she managed to trap him in quicksand. But that managed to be quite the mistake, that's when things went crazy Cole seemed to lose control. The teachers intervened, and Sarah returned to her seat.
"Hey you did a good job. Just don't beat yourself up." He said, and nodded to the teachers telling him to come down to the arena. His heart sounded like a drum, and it seemed to get louder as he took step after step.

It felt like a lifetime for him to reach the grounds itself, as he stood he nodded to Cole still being propped up by the teacher. "Dude that was awesome, good job controlling it." He gave a small smile, and a thumbs up. Before taking his position, waiting for Lucky.

[Dutchess Sarah]

Sarah had opened her eyes again and saw Cole regain control. It took most of his strength, and Sarah watched anxiously as Jacob carried Cole out of the arena. She wanted to get up and follow them, but wasn't sure if that would be okay.
When Lady Jade announced the next fight, Sarah saw Eric and Lucky get up and enter the arena. "Go for it, guys!" Sarah got up and walked to the edge of the arena. She couldn't help it. "he'll be okay, right?" She whispered to Lady Jade.