You Burn Me, I Burn You [Altair, Nell]

Altair didn't know whether or not to trust Nell. The Earths were always too kind and genuine for their own good, so maybe the information Chase got was legit. She wouldn't be too surprised. They were pussies, after all, never lift a finger against anyway. Nell certainly didn't fight her, even though the bitch did have a smart mouth. Fucking cunt, I hope Chase messed her up good. She spent some time on the cliffs to smoke, but never suspected that there may be an entrance to the dorms there. It seemed reasonable enough. She lit a smoke as she followed after her fellow leader, looking out for a few moments at the lake before returning her attention to the mission at hand.

Of course, there was no entrance in any of the caves that it would make sense for there to be an entrance in. She breathed out the smoke through her nostrils, eyes cold. Oh Nell, she thought. Chase's reaction was a lot more noticeable than hers, and she stamped out the cigarette before heading back to the school, hands in her jeans pockets. She knew what Chase had in mind because she was thinking the same thing. However, she also wondered if the bitch's boyfriend would be around her. He was in college, she didn't know what grade. He won't be able to handle the two of us, she thought. Two on one would be unfair, but that didn't matter. She didn't even count Nell in. Cunt wouldn't lift a finger, would she?

She rolled her eyes when Chase kicked at the doors, as if she wasn't one for dramatics either. They spotted the girl quickly enough, sitting with her Earth friends, all of them looking at the interlopers on their peaceful meal. There were murmurs, some people had even returned to eating, ignoring the angry outburst. Altair looked around, and then her eyes slid back to Nell. "What, Joshy not around?" Her tone could almost be considered pleasant. "A real shame, isn't it?" The intent was there in her eyes, and she was sure the Earth girl would be able to tell that she was prepared for a fight. Maybe Dale's presence would have prevented this, since he did a good job of kicking her ass last time.

Nell made it a point to ignore Altair, she didn't look about ready to attack her like Chase did. But there was still a warning in the other girl's eyes, clouds forming for the storm. She would have rolled her eyes at the 'stand there in die' comment, the absurdity of it, if he hadn't sent his flames in her direction. You're not afraid. With that thought, she summoned up one of her bramble walls to protect her from the majority of the flames before it burnt. At least she was defending herself, that was a good thing.

She knew some of her friends were sticking around, a sign of support or concern, she didn't know, and so she said calmly, "Guys...get out of here." She didn't want anyone else to get hurt in this. It was his turn to bring up Josh, and she eyed him carefully, expression unreadable. Her eyebrows shot up at his claim. "Oh really? You're going to kill him? You're a cocky high schooler, ain't ya?" Then her expression turned more venomous. "Touch him and you'll be eating from a straw, youngblood." She didn't take well to threats against Josh, and he knew that. She could understand that he was probably just egging her on. Still, she also knew that there was malicious intent there.

Her gaze found Altair, and she tried to keep both the Fire leaders within her line of sight so they couldn't pull anything over on her. She moved out of the way of the girl's flames, knowing that it was only a mock move. And unfortunately, it sent her in the direction of Chase's fire. She tried to match the direction of his fire with a funnel of flowers, manipulating it to send the Fire away. She couldn't keep this up for long, these dodge and avoid tactics. College helped with stamina, but she just wasn't a fighter. "You're really going to fight me here, with teachers around?" she challenged, wondering if this would help. Probably not. But she needed something.

The flower funnel worked well enough before it burned away, leaving her with some minor irritants in her arms. She could deal with that, it was like touching the seat belt on a summer day. Nothing, really. Or that’s what she needed to convince herself for mind over matter. Two against one was hardly fair, they were ganging up on her and she’d told her friends to leave this, she didn’t want them to get hurt. Nell rolled her eyes, quite underenthused herself with Chase’s comment. ”Wow, it’s incredible how much your opinion really matters to me, Chase,” she said dryly. She liked talking, it staved off the fighting. Even now her stomach twisted. Her friends who kickboxed or did MMA liked to go on about the rush, the adrenaline, but she liked that rush when it came to different things. Fighting was not one of them.

Chase was lobbying attacks at her. The mess hall was a difficult place to fight in, but luckily nearby people had vacated. She wondered if it was possible to flip a table over like they did in the movies, and almost laughed at the idea. Instead, she dodged what she could and skirted her way down the tables. Running, of course. She did it very well. When she felt the heat getting close, she tried to negate it with her own earthen powers, and it worked in buffering the attacks. Not cancelling them, unfortunately, and she was already smarting something fierce. ”Yeah, and you’ll be passed out,” she told Chase, wondering if he honestly believe shooting out attacks like that wouldn’t exhaust him. Sure, she believed he had pretty good stamina, but no one could just hand out blows like that without a drain. And in terms of stamina, she was the one with the upperhand. She was in college, this is what they trained for.

She gasped when Altair slipped behind her, not having kept an eye on her considering she was focusing on Chase’s attack. She was a smart fighter, and Nell bit her lip, actually feeling the fear as she looped her arms through Nell’s, bringing them behind her back. ”Hit her with your best shot, Chase,” Altair said, and she could hear the sneer in the other girl’s voice. She struggled, trying to break free, but the Fire leader was not only taller than her but built more like a fighter. There were muscles there, muscles that Nell did not have.