Rain Dance

Kimi cuddled closer to the changeling with a sleepy Murmur.

Voltaire smiled and rested his head on top of hers, soon drifting off again.

----

When he woke again the headache had dulled and he was feeling hungry. He debated how to get up without disturbing Kimi.

Kimi stirred on her own and opened her eyes. "Are you awake?" She asked with a small yawn

"Yeah," Voltaire answered, sitting up and stretching. "Gonna go get something to eat. After that it'll be warm-ups and then the match."

Kimi sat up, rubbing her eyes gently. "Can I watch?" she asked

"Sure, as you as you feel up to it," Voltaire replied, though he wasn't that worried. If yesterday make-out session proved anything, it was that she was feeling much better. "Just be prepared to duck."

Kimi nodded eagerly. "Can I stay with Ava? or do I have to sit in the stands?" She asked

Voltaire thought about it. "You could probably sit with Ava. You're not in the tournament but you're her changeling."

Kimi smiled and hugged him. "That way I won't be by myself." she stated. She still didn't like being around strangers.

"And less likely to get trampled by excited demons," Voltaire added. "Though you can always roast them if they give you trouble. Anyway, being with Ava would be best."

Kimi nodded. She stretched up lightly and kissed his cheek. "You're the best, Taire" she smiled

"You are too," Voltaire replied, kissing back. Then he got up and went to get ready for the upcoming match.

(fast-forward to match getting ready to start)

(Aye-aye cap'in)

Kimi was perched on Ava's back cheerfully. This was the first match that she got to watch and she was excited.

As usual it seemed like the match was taking too damn long to start. Voltaire tapped his foot impatiently while leering over at Curtis and Barrett, who seemed more bored than annoyed. Adair stood at full attention like a soldier.

The dog demon howled, starting the match.

The Phoenixes rushed forward, blowing fire at their opponents. The Cats quickly evaded while summoning bones from the ground. Barrett grabbed a large thigh bone as a club while Curtis took the backbone of a snake as a whip. Two sets of bones reassembled as skeleton dogs, which soon lunged for the Phoenixes. Voltaire evaded one bone dog and then burned it to ashes with his firebreath. Adair directly countered the other one and broke it with a few good swings of his flaming arms.

Kimi covered her mouth with her hands and watched in excitement. She had never seen fighting like this before.

Voltaire headed for Curtis while Adair headed for Barrett. Both Cats used some extra bones as armor against the blows and fire. Both sides guarded and evaded against each other's attack, with the occasional hit leaking through the defense.

Kimi watched closely. She figured that she ought to pay attention because she might have to fight with the phoenixes one day.

Curtis used his bone whip to knock Voltaire off his feet, but Voltaire rolled out of the way of the next oncoming blow. The Hunter spewed fire at the zombie, but Curtis jumped out of the way. His bone whip broke into separate vertebrae and showered down on Voltaire. The Phoenix crossed his arms and set them on fire to minimize the damage from the bone hail. The vertebrae then shot back up, hitting Voltaire from behind, and reassembled into a somewhat charred but still usable bone whip.

"Dammit," Voltaire growled, back to avoiding whip strikes. If he could get a couple of good hits on Curtis then he could probably take him out. His zombie state was somewhat fragile after all. The trick was getting the hits in.

(I'll try to wrap this up in the next post or two)

Kimi frowned in worry. Voltaire didn't look like he was doing too well.

Voltaire spewed out smoke, obscuring the battle area. He relied on hearing instead of sight to avoid the blows. Bones were anything but quiet and easy to detect. Voltaire refrained from using fire, knowing it would quickly give away his position.

"What's he doing?" Kimi asked Ava n a whisper.

"Blocking their sight," Ava whispered back. "He's harder to hit if you can't see him. And both Fiery and Volty have better eyesight than most humans so they can see through the smoke a bit better. The Cats have good eyesight, but it's mostly nightvision."

Voltaire saw a fleeting shadow in the smoke, soon followed by a clinking of bone.

There!

Voltaire shot out firebreath at Curtis, who was only able to partially guard against the attack. Before the zombie could recover and counter Voltaire accelerated by forming a fireball against his back and ramming into him. Both of them were pushed out of the smoky area as Voltaire launched a series of flaming arm strikes.

Curtis evaded the last blow and retreated back, dazed but still standing. He did not count on Adair to be already done with his fight and to strike him with a firebreath from behind. With a yell he crumpled to the ground. Barrett laid several feet away, also charred.

The demon dog howled again. "Winner! The Phoenixes!" the announcer cried.

Banged up but still standing, Voltaire sneered and then blew a stream of fire high into the air. Adair just stood seriously looking at the crowd, catching his breath. He had several cuts and bruises himself.

Kimi grinned and clapped with the crowd. She felt proud that they had won.

"Looks like you got the crap beat out of you," remarked Voltaire to Adair, as they walked back over toward Ava and Kimi. The crowd was quickly dispersing, the spectacle over.

"I could say the same for you," replied Adair. He limped slightly. "Hey Ava."

"Hi Fiery! Hi Volty!" Ava greeted, lowering herself so they could get on her back easier. "Time for doctors."

"We know."

"That was amazing!" Kimi gushed, sliding off Ava's back and rushing over to embrace Voltaire.