Saving Soul

"He won't listen to me." Anja snapped. "What do you think I've been trying to do for the last three days."

"Drown him?" Voltaire guessed lazily.

"Fiery's just concerned," Ava replied. "He doesn't like seeing other people hurt, and you're hurt."

Adair himself remained silent on the subject.

"Make him leave me be." Anja snapped. "I happen to like him a little better than you. Even if he was a hero"

"Even if he was a Hero?" Voltaire questioned. "You don't like Heroes?"

"She's...had bad experiences with them," Adair replied vaguely.

"Whatever, let's just go already," grumbled Voltaire. "And if we don't take you we'll have to put up with Mr. Hero's angst all the way, so you're coming."

Before Adair had the chance Voltaire swiped her up and put her on Ava's back.

Anja yelped in pain when Voltaire jostled her leg. "You ASSHOLE! That HURT!" Anja yelled, lashing out at him. Though her summoning skills were nothing to be triffled with, her physical strength was quite laughable.

" 'Taire, be careful dammit!" Adair snapped at him. Anja was already hurt enough without her ankle being injured more by Voltaire's recklessness.

"...Whatever," the Hunter growled, sitting toward the back and crossing his arms.

Anja glared at him, tears of pain barely visible in her eyes. "Get me down." She commanded crossly.

Adair debated whether he should take her down or not when he heard growls nearby. A pride of demon lions had appeared, and they all looked hungry. He could have fought them off, but since they needed to get going anyway he decided to hop aboard Ava instead. Swiftly the red-and-gold phoenix lifted off high into the sky, far from the feline pack's reach.

Anja growled in frustration. "I don't want to come with you!" She snapped "So why does it seem like the world is conspiring against me?!"

"You can still jump," Voltaire offered, pointing to the distancing ground. "If you do it now maybe you'll only break your leg."

"Why don't you jump?" Adair growled. "I suspect the ride will be more peaceful then."

"With her on board? I doubt it."

"Fiery, Volty, stop it," Ava chided.

Anja growled in frustration and pressed her hands together. "Brekke Areo!" She snapped, trying to summon. She recoiled with a cry of pain, holding her now burnt hands to her chest. Her summon backfired because she didn't have the energy to complete it.

"Anja, you alright?!" asked Adair.

"Is she alright? She just tried to attack us!" Voltaire snapped.

"I was going to leave!" Anja whimpered. "Brekke's my only flight summon!" She glared at Voltaire.

"How was I supposed to know that?" Voltaire growled. "Why should we even believe you?"

" 'Taire, shut up," Adair interrupted.

"Make me."

"I want down." Anja whimpered. She sniffled pathetically and curled in on herself. "I just want down"

"Can we go down for now Ava?" requested Adair. This was not going to work at all if Anja and Voltaire were going to be fighting the whole way.

"Almost to a hill. We'll land there," replied Ava.

Anja sniffled again. All the fight seemed to have just vanished out of her.

Voltaire too was finally quiet, which gave Adair some relief. He just hoped they wouldn't start fighting again once they landed.

Upon reaching the hill, Ava settled down under a tree. The tree itself wasn't big enough to support her and her riders.

Anja didn't move. Now that her hands were hurt, she was essentially useless and couldn't do much of anything.

"Hey Adair, how long do you want to stay here?" Voltaire asked. "If we're going to be here for a while I could go hunt. We never did get to eat earlier thanks to those lions."

"...Probably a while. Go ahead," Adair answered. Let Voltaire blow off some steam and wear himself out some. Maybe then he would be feeling less combative.

"Alright then," Voltaire answered, sliding off of Ava. "Later."

"Careful Volty," Ava called after him.

"I'll be fine," Voltaire called back, slightly annoyed. He soon disappeared into the brush.

Anja remained curled in on herself, tears dripping silently down her face. She was useless as a summoner. What kind of summoner had trouble summoning when she was hurt?

Adair felt alarmed and guilty as he saw her crying. Why did everything have to be going so badly?

"...Hey, um, let me see your hands. If it's just burns I should be able to heal them."

Anja held out her hands without a fight.

They were pretty torched, but there were some strange cuts as well. They weren't bleeding because the burns seemed to have sodomized them.

Adair blew out some white flame on Anja's hands to see if he could heal them. Ava watched but didn't say anything.

The cuts healed, but the burns did not.

Anja sniffled again. Her hands were throbbing.