Rain Dance

(Its not that Kimi's race is strong, well some of them are but that's beside the point, but they're damn near indestructible because of infighting and sheer numbers. The males have adapted to the point of being impervious and unaware of pain. The females are easily slaughtered. And they will have specific reason, don't worry, you'll see. though I don't doubt the changeling will kick ass)

Trevor watched Voltaire's stiff movements with little interest. "Do you need healed, fire breather?"

Voltaire sat up and felt some of his back muscles cramp up briefly as if shocked. He knew what that was: demonic energy build-up.

"Wouldn't do me much good. More demonic power upon built-up demonic power will just make me feel worse," said Voltaire, standing up. "I'll be fine."

"Do you need to use some of the energy then?" Trevor asked "To get the energy level back down to a safer amount?"

"It doesn't work like that," Voltaire explained as he did some stretches. "The human body isn't really meant to process demon energy. You build a tolerance to it, but the body can't break it down that well, so it builds up if you use too much of it too quickly. Only real remedy is to rest and not use demon energy for a while, or as little as possible. But I've got a match coming up, so that's not going to happen until later."

"Hmmm. Sounds problematic. Are you sure that that is good for you?" Trevor asked

"Hell, I know it ain't good for me," Voltaire answered as he continued to do exercises to loosen his muscles. "If I get a critical amount of it built up in my system, then I'll be forced to evolve into a demon."

He glanced at Trevor, and then at Kimi.

"...I know that's probably not a big deal to you guys, but it is to me. Well, it probably wouldn't be such a big deal if it didn't wreck a person's memory, but it does, so it is."

Trevor cocked his head. "Perhaps you could lessen the strain if Kimi healed you." He stated cryptically. "She heals by taking the affliction into her own body, where it is usually less threatening and heals quickly. It works well for everything but poison."

Voltaire decided not to mention how Kimi had taken poison out of him earlier. And no, it hadn't been good for her either. But she was a demon, albeit a demon different than what he was used to, so she could probably handle excess demonic energy better than he could. He wondered if he should ask Kimi, but she appeared to be meditating.

Kimi shifted as she felt Voltaire's eyes on her. It was slightly unnerving because of her guilt. She was doing this to avoid talking to him.

Voltaire turned back around.

"Hey, would it better to do this in two smaller doses or one big dose?" he asked Trevor. His match was coming up soon, and he wondered if he should wait until then to get some of the demonic energy cleared out of his system. He wasn't so sore that he couldn't fight, and was feeling a bit better now that he had done some stretches.

Trevor shrugged. "Whatever you feel is best" the demon replied simply

Voltaire thought about it.

"I'll wait until after the match," he replied. "Give her more time to recover from it afterward. Meanwhile I'm going to get something to eat like I meant to earlier."

He went outside.

(will probably skip to the start of the match until you have something else in mind)

Kimi sat up with a sigh.

Trevor padded over and laid in her lap.

Kimi pet him lightly. She placed both hands on his back and chanted lightly, sending him back to where he came. She wouldn't need him again soon.

(Go ahead)

After a quick breakfast, a quick interrogation from all changelings other than Adair ("So who's the new chick?"), and a quick warm-up, Voltaire found himself at the arena again. Across from him and Adair were Ruben and Omen, the Ravens. Omen, in his usual bright-red parody of gentleman attire, sneered at them. Ruben, in a more traditional heroic garb, just stood there seriously. Both were hung-over.

Well that levels the playing field a bit, thought Voltaire with both amusement and relief. They hadn't been the only ones drinking hard last night.

The Ravens' familiar stood behind them, the shortest of the three. Zahri had the appearance of a child rather than a bird, but that showed his power. He was a genius class demon, a demon in human form. Having a more physical manifestation, he did not have to have others believe in him just to exist, though extra belief never hurt a demon's power. This also made his powers stronger and more stable, not to mention letting him blend into society when convenient.

Genius class...that was what he would become if he was forced to evolve. If it weren't for the memory problems, he just might have considered it.

"C'mon! What's taking so long?" demanded Omen, twirling his cane around in impatience. He wouldn't be allowed to use the cane in battle, since no man-made weapons were to be used in a changeling fight. Outside of battle though, he was never seen without it. Ruben, sitting down, glance at the pacing Omen but made no comment.

For once Voltaire agreed with the red-clad Raven. He wanted to get this battle over with.

A screech cut through the murmurings of the crowd. It was clearly not humanoid, but something primitive. A group, no, a crowd of beings cloaked in deep red appeared at the entrance to the cavern. The leader held a chain restraining a large one eyed, horned purple creature.

The creature was fighting the hold, snarling and gnashing its razor sharp teeth. Its short fur looked to be matted with grit and blood, and its eye was wild. This beast wasn't a pet, it was a killer.

"We are looking for one of our own." the leader of the cloaked group spoke briskly. "A runaway. She is our princess and If you are harboring her, we will kill you." It pulled a scroll from its cloak and tossed it forward. Its hand was a dark stone gray, and looked just as hard with long black claws. "We already know she has been here, our Ramledok has scented her familiar."

(like I said, I have somewhat of a plan.)

Both Voltaire and Adair breathed out fire lowly.

Princess? thought Voltaire. Don't tell me these are the guys looking for Kimi.

The demonic crowd muttered but were not particularly scared by the threat. There were many more of them than there were of these interrupters. In fact, they were annoyed more than anything, since many changelings were in fact fugitives. There wouldn't be nearly as many competitors if the criminal changelings were taken away.

"Familiar? She's a changeling then?" asked Ruben. "Then she has every right to be here of her own accord. If you have issues, go talk with her familiar, not us."

"Yeah, we're trying to have a match here!" added Omen, tilting his top hat back. "And go get your pet a bath. Even I'm not that filthy."

"You insignificant insects know nothing about demon familiars." The leader hissed. "You are all but pawns to your demon masters. They feed upon those weak enough to relinquish their hearts." It pointed at the scroll. "Her likeness is encased there. If you relinquish her location, we will leave peacefully. If you choose to withhold that information..." He let his threat hang with a growl.

"If you're that barbaric it's no wonder your princess doesn't want to see you," remarked Zahri, his tone playful yet with a unfriendly ring. "You're some of the most uncivil folk I've met in a while, and that's saying something considering Omen here prides himself in being uncivil."

"Damn right," Omen said smugly, studying them as he paced back and forth. "Guess I should take some lessons from you guys...let's see, walk around with big ugly mean pet, barge in on matches about something unrelated to the match, carrying around some big fancy-looking scroll..."

Ruben groaned quietly, knowing Omen might actually attempt these things later.

While the guards were distracted with the Ravens, the Phoenixes had huddled closer together to discuss things.

"So what should we do?" hissed Adair. "If it really is her they're after, we don't want to be stuck here in the match. Forfeiting all of a sudden would seem odd."

"I think I got this," Voltaire whispered back.

"You do?"

"Alright, we might as well come back later if this crap is going to be going on," Voltaire announced loudly, sounding overly annoyed as he turned around to leave. "Wake us up whenever they're done looking for Miss Whatever."

"Kimireth Hell'Ruc Tal'narchi Oni." The demon growled. "She calls herself Kimi."

The purple creature made a lunge for Voltaire, scrabbling madly to get to him.

The leader turned his head to the hunter. "The Ramledok smells her familiar on you, insect." He hissed.

"I'm a Phoenix, not an insect," Voltaire corrected flatly. "The Bees are down the corridor. They're insects." He glanced at the raging purple creature with more annoyance than intimidation. "By the way, our familiars don't like their changelings being threatened. They have a lot invested in us, you know."

An lowly-hissing Ava came stomping over to the beast, the feathers on her neck standing up and her pupils slits. She slammed on of his claws down on the one-horned fiend and spewed fire all over it. She gave a loud warning hiss to its owner.

The beast was silenced, but not yet dead.

It was uncertain what the leader of the cloaked group was up to, but he turned back to the other demons.

(feel free to do what you want. Those guys are going to heckle some more then start a fight you don't have to participate in. Kimi kinda poofed btw. She left to hide somewhere else.)

"Heh, beastie didn't like that too much, eh?" remarked Omen. "Ya know, why don't you leave before more of us get here to kick your asses out?"

In a flash of feathers Omen transformed into his raven state, though his black feathery body was more snake-like than raven-like. He flew up in a the air and screeched at them. Ruben was also up, probably debating on whether to transform himself.
The commotion was already drawing some of the other competitors and other curious demons.

"C'mon, let's go," Voltaire muttered to Adair, as they both slipped away. Ava stayed behind to keep an eye on the intruders, but would probably join them soon.

------

Kimi was nowhere in the cave room. This didn't really surprise Voltaire. If she knew anything about what was going on outside then she wouldn't have wanted to stick around. He wondered, with a slightly sick feeling, if this was why she kept trying to leave earlier. Maybe it had nothing to do with them knowing her past at all.

Still he was worried. He didn't know how many soldiers there actually were, and some could have been outside waiting for her to flee. Or, worse yet, someone may have already captured her.

"Adair, stay here in case she comes back," the Hunter suggested. "I'm going to see if I can find her and make sure she's okay."

"Watch your back and make sure none of them are following you," Adair warned.

"I know that," Voltaire answered irritably.

Kimi wasn't even in the caves anymore. Under a guise of a human girl, Kimi sought shelter in the town, but not before bathing in the hot springs and using sweet smelling oil to mask her scent.

The demons would be furious if they knew their prey was an hours walk away in the human town.

Voltaire searched the caves, trying to be brisk but not hurried-looking. He didn't find her anywhere in the caves, so he assumed she had gone outside into the rain. He debated on whether he should go out to further look for her, but he decided not to. A couple of dashes in the pouring rain was one thing, a rambling search was another. Besides, the rain would help dilute her scent, if that was what they were using to track her.

She's probably long gone. It's just as well.

He turned back around and left the mouth of the cave.

It sounded like the scuffle they had left earlier had turned into a brawl. He wondered if he should fight for the hell of it. These people wanted to take Kimi back to that person that hurt her. This might be the closest thing he could get to striking at that person.

He headed for the brawl.

In the brawl, there was only one thing for certain: There were a lot more cloaked demons than originally thought.

(Skip ahead to the end of the tournament? Or at least the end of the brawl)