New Opportunity - OPEN

The heat continued to blare from Sandra heat lamp, one similar to that of any domestic reptile’s aquarium habitat only at larger scale. The room had many positioned at different areas of her interest. One hovering over her bed, one in front of her monstrous sized television, and one last one fixated on her armchair at the other side of her small room. Despite all the sources of heat she had, she still felt the need to wear a snuggie as she was seated at said armchair. Any way she could maximize heat she would, she didn’t necessarily care how silly a blue sleeved blanket looked on her besides it wasn’t like anyone was going to burst into her sweltering room.

The added heat that the laptop she had resting on her lap was also causing her quite a bit of comfort in the temperature department. She was busy typing away at her keyboard, that being the only source of sound in the room besides the buzzing her lamps provided, but at this point in her life she could easily ignore it. Each crunch of the key soothed her ear, though her contorted lips suggested slight dissatisfaction. Her finger pressed down on the backspace button.

“It’s one thing to have a bad movie and another if its good. What the hell I can I even say, it was so bland I don’t even think there’s even one thing I can say in either direction” she murmured to herself as she closed her laptop. “Eck, maybe I should sleep on it. Think of something tomorrow night, not like anybody would be demanding a review of Night of Horror anyway” she spoke as she set her device aside and made a slow b-line toward her bed.

During her leisure stroll however her skin changed from a pale whiteness into a piercing red within a matter of seconds. As Sandra noticed the rising temperature of her own body she investigated her newly coloured skin. She groaned in anger as her shoulders drooped in anguish. “Yeah, exactly the kind of thing I need right now” she complained, a built up fury weighing down her brow. Not the first time her body’s went into this overheated mode and she still hasn’t adjusted to it. She was ready to just jump into a bath of ice in order to get it over with, but given how weak her body is structured to absorb the cold she was certain that would instantly cause hypothermia. With a second groan, she marched over to her coat rack and yanked her white half burnt jacket. A flash of heat hit her before she could walk out the door however, her eyes bulged at the incredible amount of heat that was beginning to radiate off her body.

Sandra’s jaw began to shutter. This was it, this is how she was going to die. Not by winter, not by water, but the one thing that kept her alive all her life. She felt like a bottled volcano, nowhere for her heat to escape. She had little time, she busted through her door recklessly, not caring about what damage she left behind. She zoomed down the hall, searching frantically for where the exit to the roof was. With luck she found it and just as she did her own door she brutishly slammed into it in order for it to open.

After climbing a short flight of stairs that felt like an escalator working against her, she fell onto the snow covered floor of the roof. She was dreadfully exhausted and inched her way further from the door. She splayed herself on the now snowless tiles of the roof, her tears evaporating as soon as they touched her skin. Her breathing was heavy.

Her eyes drifted around the darkness of the night sky. That is until the area was no longer shrouded in darkness. Soon enough, a shockwave of her stored heat blasted upwards into the sky, the flames of which looking as though it shot into space. She sighed, believing it was over, but much to her dismay a series of similar blasts continued to fire off into the sky, the overwhelming heat of her body never decreasing. Her body shook violently as her heat pulse just continued to go off.

After a good minute or two though, it ceased. She felt nothing, the heat seemed to have vanished with her last fire off, but her body didn’t feel the cold air around her either. Her lips pursed as she shot a confused glare in each direction. She raised her back and looked down at her mid-section her confusion not ending there. A ring of orange energy circulated tightly around her midriff and slightly pulsing with power. She stood weakly. “What the fuck is this? she questioned in genuine agitation.

For the duration of the day, Chase had been having difficulty containing the beast within him, for the pulses and heartbeats of every student around him seemed incredibly amplified. The thrumming of varying rhythms and its tantalizing pattern was too much for the boy to bear, and thus he needed to find some sort of peace. Already, he'd begun to feel his body tremble and threaten to give way to pain and snapping bones, but he wasn't going to let that happen, especially with so many people around him.

So, he sought out to climb up to the loftiest area in Foresta, believing that nobody would be crazy enough to venture that far up. He sprinted through the halls, scaling each set of stairs with a surprising amount of speed. Due to the crowded corridors, he was forced to shove a few people aside, muttering apologies as he fought his way through. At this point, he didn't care if he was making unintended enemies, it was more important that he wasn't going to be the one providing pain for others. In what seemed to be a painstakingly long time, however more like a span of seven minutes, he was able to locate the frost covered top of the school. His breaths exhaled in staggered gasps as he attempted to regain his composure, leaning against the ground as he fell upon his knees. However, he wasn't left in solitude for too long, as an unbelievable event unfurled before him. A girl had also taken refuge on the roof, collapsing onto the ground as soon as she arrived. Bewilderment filled Chase's face as he disregarded the beast for a few moments, wondering what would transpire next. He didn't know whether or not to approach someone that had just entered in such a fashion.

But, his questions were resolved almost immediately as bursts of flame literally erupted from the girl. He winced, recoiling at the substance in sync with the monster. The brightness and intensity of each blast confused and angered him, causing the boy to clutch his head and try and block out everything else around him. Chase emitted no noises, restraining himself as best he could. And, if this wasn't bad enough itself, the girl was a living, breathing person, and instinctively his listening honed into the delectable sound of blood pumping through her veins. "Grrgh," he groaned quietly, his eyes gaining a few flecks of yellow within them. Why did it have to be fire that shot up from her, the very element that brought out the beast at his worst? Although anyone else in this situation would've been angered, only a slight irritation passed through him, for anything else would surely bring on an unsavory transformation. Finally after the explosions had halted, Chase uncurled himself, rising up to stare down the female with a steely gaze, "Is there any way you can control that more efficiently? I do not wish to bring harm to you, however there is a fair chance that I may transform involuntarily, and you won't want to deal with that." His tone was calloused and completely professional, holding no personal qualms behind it.

Sandra was not very mindful of her surroundings, how could anyone be after the storm of flames that had just finished spitting out of her? Her furrowed eyes continued to investigate the ring that had recently developed around her body. Her sentiments from before still followed through, she wasn’t in the best mood and mixed in with that she was horribly confused. Her hands slowly reached for the radiant orange ring and as soon as he fingers got close, they retreated quickly. There were very few things that actually burned her and whatever matter the thing was made of nearly did just that. She frantically waved her hand in an attempt to cool it down faster.

She shook slightly, unsure of what to make of the strange development. Was it a power she hadn’t known of until just currently? Was it a way to contain her heated shockwaves? Either way she didn’t know how she summoned it or why she would want to activate it, it was just another power to ruin her clothing. Sandra was still spooked and fearful along with her curiosity and aggression, so it was not a pleasant feeling for her all around.

It wasn’t until the boy started to speak that she noticed him. He might have been at a distance from her, but she could already tell he was significantly larger than her. Frankly that wasn’t something that entirely new to her. No matter how nicely he worded his sentence, Sandra was undoubtedly going to shoot him a nasty glare. If he was on the roof the entire time why didn’t he help her? She was scared witless during her time of most vulnerability, knowing that there was at least someone around would have comforted her more than thinking that she could lay there for hours before someone came to her aid.

Despite her weakly demeanor, she stood her ground and stood it hard. “How about fuck you, okay?! I have enough of my own shit to deal with, this power hula hoop or whatever the hell it is just being one of them! You don’t like it, get your own damn roof!” she lividly spat at the man, not giving the slightest care about what he was saying. Her mind sort of went into a blind fury after he asked her if she could control her power. Her scorching baby-blues shot right back at the hulking man. She cared little about what his reasoning was, she wasn’t going to be silenced by some obnoxious pretty boy looking for some brooding alone time on the roof.

As usual, Chase was oblivious to the girl's emotions, and her irritation became evident once he heard the tone of her voice. He didn't flinch or let any expression pass over his face as he fixated his eyes upon her, and although she vexed him, it wasn't enough to fully bring on actual rage. Instead, it was akin to being disappointed in a coworkers performance, if that was the type of situation to compare it to. "So you have no control over your abilities? You are not the only one," he commented idly, running his fingers through his tousled locks briefly. With every movement of his lips, his white, pointed teeth revealed themselves for a concise moment, before slipping beneath the safety of flesh. He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly as his form quaked a bit under the pressure the beast was applying, unable to rip his gaze from the almost hypnotic ring of light around the female. "It appears that I am unable to move myself without the risk of potentially creating an opening.. So, as reasonable it may be to leave, I cannot, and there are too many students below for me to even consider absconding," he stated simply, since he was so close to breaking that even a movement could result in disaster.

However, he knew that remaining in such a tense situation surely wouldn't bring on anything productive. "Because of this taut atmosphere, I ask you to rid yourself of any qualms you may hold towards me right now," Chase said in an authoritative yet rational tone, "I don't know if your powers are effected by emotions, but mine are incredibly influenced by feelings, and I do not wish to involuntarily bring my ability out. If possible, we should try to maintain tranquil minds, however, if not, we will be treading upon dangerous grounds. I apologize if my actions upset you, I am not very skilled socially." It wasn't like Chase to apologize, especially when he felt he'd done nothing, but he was throwing out every tactic in the book to try and resume a temperate feel to the air, and that meant calming the girl. Her intense heartbeat seemed to drum relentlessly against his ears, and the temptation was growing almost unbearable for him to endure, so the sooner she rested herself, the better. For a moment, the young man glanced down at his simple, black t-shirt and jeans, hoping that they won't have be obliterated like countless other garments he'd once owned.

The boy, or if she could even call him that, gave off little reaction to her temper tantrum. She wasn’t sure if that made her angrier that she wasn’t able to get through to him or that she was calmed down by his lack of reactive emotions. At the moment she felt like a barrel of mixed emotions that someone decided to shake in order to stir them up even more. In short, she wasn’t sure what she was feeling exactly so that only made her pissed off even more. Sandra wasn’t sure if the boy was a robot or a standee with a voice box taped to the back of him, he made no movements and his inability to emote made him a likely candidate for either category.

Sandra began to breathe in the cold night air and felt it run through her warm body. Her breaths became less and less as she tried to calm herself down as the android had suggested. She still hated the man’s attitude despite the fact he had no inflection in his tone, she was left to guess what he was aiming for when making his words and given her negative mood her assumptions were such as well. “Yeah, well you should know that it isn’t an easy fucking thing to deal with” she snapped back at him, though her tone less rage-full this time around. “Asking me to calm down is like asking an atom bomb to not detonate.”

Whatever the boy was holding back seemed to be bothering him just as much as the heat inside Sandra’s body. That was all speculations from what he said though, he didn’t really show much emotion outwardly that suggested anything like that. “Yeah, okay. Next time your body erupts flames you try to keep a calm mindset” she sassed as she crossed her arms. She was going to try to contain what control she had left over herself, but at the moment all she wanted to do was fall over and nap. Her vision was already becoming more blurry than normal which was never a good sign. Her quivering and meek stance should be evidence enough of how weak she was feeling.

The contradicting emotions swirling within the female became apparent at her constrained facial expressions, but Chase didn't comment on it mentally or audibly. But, thankfully enough, her breathing pattern began to decrease, which slowed the blaring heartbeat that pounded in his ears as well. If she hadn't done so, it would've been incredibly likely that the beast reveal himself right then and there. The young man placed his hands inside of his jean pockets with a sense of gratitude and relief washing over him, for now the urge to clutch his head in a futile attempt to block out all sounds was lost. It wasn't until her stern outburst that he was wrenched back into reality, releasing his previous tranquility to focus on her words. "I never said it was a simple task," he countered calmly, permitting his voice to fluctuate a bit more normally, so that he just sounded like an austere individual rather than a creature constructed from metal. Of course, the boy didn't sound condescending or flinty when saying this, since he couldn't risk angering the impressionable female again.

Not even a brief smile elated his features as she grumbled about remaining calmed in such dire situations, but perhaps if he were a different man, he would've. Chase spoke smoothly now, having mimicked a solemn yet oscillating tone, "I cannot imagine it would be possible in the heat of the moment, however, right now you appear to have mastered most of your emotions." Although she wasn't as spirited as before, her pulse never ceased its thrumming deep within him, like hanging a long thread of savory meat before a ravenous lion. He noted how she trembled now, but although the morally correct thing to do was approach her, he wasn't sure if that would jeopardize their safety, both for her erupting if he advanced, and if the beast took advantage of a moment of vulnerability. Trying to will himself to quit his subtle shaking, he met her gaze with his cool, blue one, "What can I do to aid you right now? I'm not very experienced with anything related to magic, however, if you require me to escort you to the nurse or something of the sort, I can be of service." If she was taken care of and he saw it through, then he would be free of the guilt and fear of harming someone unintentionally, for that was the most horrific thing in his mind.

Sandra’s feet were oddly twisted, both the ends of them being pointed in strangely different directions and unnaturally so. An assumption that her body was trying to maximize on surface area could be made since her stumpy legs were trembling more than a Jenga tower reaching the climax of its game. Her breathes may have been slower, but she still wasn’t respiring in a normal or natural manner. The only thing stopping her from just falling over was her attitude. She hardly had the strength to just walk off from what just happened. Her body slouched to reserve whatever strength she had left.

She watched the blobby blur, having difficulties differentiating him from the night sky. The way he spoke was so proper and lacked emotion that it didn’t help her from blacking out, his voice just made her want to sleep. Besides that, his words were so proper it made her feel like he was trying to assume a higher authority or prove that he was more civilized, that too gave her another reason to spite the cyborg. “I have a habit of showing less emotion than I feel” she grumbled her tone still shimmering with anger. Her anger was mostly a guise for her fear, she wasn’t the type who openly admitted to being scared or fearful especially not around strangers and particularly ones she didn’t have a liking to.

The offer the man made with his eyes fell on blind ones. “The school nurse isn’t going to be able to do anything for me or this thing, whatever it is” she pointed at the radiant orange ring hovering above her waist. It was a curious little bobble, however, her mind wasn’t in the mood to dissect and discover at the moment. For now she just wanted it gone and she could find a way to reactivate it later when she had the patience for it. “YOU don’t need to do anything, I can get myself to where I need to be just fine” she snapped at him once more as she turned herself around and began to make very careful steps. The way back in was quite a distance back, about a meter or so, which would take an eternity to reach at her pace.

Her hatred for him was evident, but that didn't bother Chase in the least. It was usual for others to mistake him as a condescending and snobby individual, and no matter how he tried to explain the situation to him, it would be futile in the end. What kind of method could display his genuine feelings other than speaking without disturbing the beast? There would be nothing gained from trying to prove himself, and thus he accepted the grim fate of being eternally despised. To be truthful, it was all he could do.

Although the girl appeared to be fiery in spirit, her body suggested otherwise, seeming upon the edge of collapsing. However, approaching this student would be incredibly risky. He observed her awkward stance and slow shuffling back to the school's corridors, knowing that it would be futile if she continued at such a sluggish pace. Something about her was offsetting, seeing that her once vivacious and furious demeanor had been dimmed by exhaustion. After she'd justly snapped at him, it became apparent that unless Chase fully offered himself up, he may run the risk of permitting her to become injured, and the fear of being responsible for something like that possessed him as he took a step forward. "If we approach this from a sensible perspective," he began, taking a few, slow steps forward, "It would seem that you would move much more quickly if someone were assisting you, correct? At your current speed, you will not get anywhere swiftly, and that could prove to be a danger to others, for if you're caught in a densely populated area without the capability of secluding yourself to a safe area, you could create a catastrophic event." When discussing matters like these, Chase sounded more human, seeing that this always surged some sort of ghastly memory from his past to pop into his subconsciousness. He took yet another bold step forward, resisting the beast from pouncing on him with all of his might, "I'm aware that I'm not really required to do something, but I feel obligated to take some sort of action.. You're not well, despite what you've stated before, and your posture further proves this theory. I wish to minimize the severity of the situation at hand, so is there some place or medicine you can take to exert your power or unwind from the tension you've built up?" Once more, Chase dared to take a step towards her, but still kept a fair amount of distance between them, unsure of how she'd react.

Sandra’s attempt at retreating to the indoors was just as futile as she had thought previously. Her frail body’s stiffened muscles were not up to the task of walking the short distance, but for her own sake she had to try. It was around this time that she wished her body was in some sort of shape, her inclination towards being lazy was getting the better of her more than ever. One weakly step after the other she felt even dizzier, her blurred vision didn’t help that fact either.

The man was quick to switch gears from his monotone bossy attitude to one more concerned of her and helpful. Again she wasn’t sure how to feel about this, though she was more so leaning toward irritation as her current mood was mostly dominated by this emotion. Her Sandra’s head feebly rolled back over to the instigative boy. Her arched brows and dreadful beady eyes symbolized annoyance more so than it did rage anymore. “How about I show you the sense in the subject” her eyes flared as she held up a fist and raised a finger each time she counted off. “First off, fuck you, I don’t need you to tell me the dangers of my power especially since you don’t even know the extent of them. Second, I’ll be going a hell of a lot faster after I fall down these stairs. Third, what the hell could you do to help me at this point? You gonna act as a crutch for me or something? That isn’t gonna work, the fucking power hula hoops gonna burn your ass” she retorted with intense vile in her tone.

Sandra’s view honed back in on her path even though she couldn’t even see it clearly. Her movements were so slick and so fast that she could potentially beat a sloth in a foot race, however, the odds were stacked highly in the sloth’s favor. Her breathes were low and deep, but unnaturally so. “Despite what I state before…” she slowly whispered to herself as the boy finished his speaking. “What gave you the impression that I ever thought I was hunky fucking dory? And no, I don’t have any medication. If I did I would be taking it right now, hell I’d be downing pain killers if I had any, make me all nice and numb so I can stumble down the stairs without pain. I just need to get to my room, the walls are lined with fire proof materials.”

Chase was never one to play the hero, or if he was, it was for selfish purposes, really. And, since it was so uncommon for him to even consider doing this, that he expected at least some shred of gratitude from the girl. Frustration entered his mind like a poison, unable to destroy it now that this female chose to be so stubborn. "Your inflexibility is persistent," he stated idly, sounding even more mechanical with those neutral words underlain with the faint hint of irritation. "So then you wish to harm yourself to move at a swifter pace?" Chase asked plainly, his gaze narrowed ever so slightly in suspicion, "I must say that it's one of the more unique statements I've heard in quite a while.. Still, the logic behind it, though brutal, appears rational, and you of all people should know the limits and patterns of your abilities." He then winced slightly as he felt his teeth begin to involuntarily elongate, having instigated a reaction from the beast due to his thinning patience.

"If you need to get to your room," he ventured thoughtfully, his tone still stony and professional, "How far is it from here?" Now, Chase was growing anxious to separate himself from the girl, unsure of how much longer he'd be able to fend off the restless creature inside of him. And, the constant glowing emitting from her torso didn't aid him in the least, giving an inexplicable surge of rage to course through his veins like liquid fire. As he attempted to regulate and force the size of his already sharpened teeth back to their natural size by placing a hand across his jaw, he said in all seriousness, "If, for some reason, I.. Change, do not hesitate to attack me with everything you've got." He winced slightly as a few more jolts of pain wracked his face, however there was no way he'd reveal what he was to the girl if he didn't have to.

    Restricting air. Enclosed spaces. Unpredictable tenants. Insufferable water.
    I loathe this realm.

    The broiling flame stampeded down hallway after hallway, groping at heavy wooden doors with futile desperation. The pouring rain steamed at its back, eliminating all attempts to spread the elemental's fury. It did little to hinder the source.

    Burn. Burn! BURN, DAMN YOU!

    The smokeless fire rushed over smooth stone and licked at lacquered wood, unable to catch hold or spend the time to burn through, rendering the torch incapable of breaching into wood and paper rich classrooms. With only brick and mortar in sight, the Antient swelled, gathering its weakening flames before exploding with fury. Glass shattered all around and lights popped with fright. The swirling nova had changed its form to carry a distinctive resemblance before blitzing down the hall to escape the wet.
    The raging phoenix streaked throughout the Academy, warping paint and charring tables with wild abandon. At the first sign of an opening, the Antient rushed in to find itself at the bottom of a steep, spiraling stairwell. The fire control system had limited access here. With renewed vigor, the flame shot straight up and exploded again, filling the entire stairwell with a flash fire in its ascent.


    Sandra would still be paces away when the inferno erupted from the doorway, twisting magnificently into the night air while spilling out over the roof. The tail end of the fire raced up to meet the hovering being, its perfectly spherical awareness taking into account the entirety of its surroundings at once.

    Another flame? Absurd. I demand to know your provenance, mortal!

    The Antient, by observation, merely sparked and flared while hovering overhead, completely unintelligible to these kinds. Frustrated with the inevitable lack of recognition, it turned its attention outward. The more pressing matter proved to be the vast forest nearly surrounding the Academy. Recollections of nymphs crying out in anguish filled the Antient's memories with twisted pleasure. Certainly, these physical manifestations would not give it the delight of those screams, but the foliage would ensure that the inferno never died.
    Distantly, Adrian kept his pursuit, but by now his fire extinguisher had run dry, the hallways and their furniture and decor smothered in carbon dioxide gas. After the repeated explosions, grandeur, and general maintenance, Adrian finally felt the limitations of his ability hit him. He stumbled with heaviness, stopping at the bottom of the stairwell with no way to ascend. The walls and stairs proved too hot to touch in the Antient's wake.

Sandra glared back at the boy once again, ‘what a stiff’ she thought. ‘He actually believes my plan was to fall down the stairs.’ Then again, it would be difficult for anyone to believe it was merely a joke, she sounded just as serious when saying it. Most didn’t understand Sandra’s idiotic humour. Idiotic meaning; she sometimes just like saying stupid things regardless if anyone would catch on whether or not she was joking. It was odd to even speculate that she would jest during a time that she indicated as a crisis. “I was more so stating facts than actually forming a plan” she rolled her eyes at the android.

“It’s just down the stairs and… Wait, what?” she stated as she turned back to the boy with his mention of changing. Admittedly, it was her own folly for choosing to instigate the boy despite his warnings, but it was equally his own fault for pursuing her after she had established her less than tolerant attitude (let’s go with that). Attack him? Attack him with what? Excluding her powers that she didn’t know how to wield, she was a scrawny figure that couldn’t even walk, much less fight. Her only way of winning would either be somehow overheating in the winter air or holding the boy down for about thirty minutes. Those were odds she’d bet on, unfortunately her money was on the physically fit boy who was no doubt even more powerful in his other form. She screwed herself very efficiently, she could admit that. She already had fears for her life, but the boy’s statement increased that twofold.

Her troubles didn’t end there though, oh no, while her eyes were delayed the stairwell behind her instantly engulfed in flames. The flames themselves weren’t to be any issue, fire had a difficult time burning her. The school might be in jeopardy, but Sandra would be fine by it, there was a better possibility of many other things that would kill her sooner.

Sandra’s ears perked at the sound of a new voice approaching the scene. She attempted to turn and look at the creature, but her impaired vision didn’t help any. It mostly looked to be a small bright blob, like some kind of ball of fire. This was the time when Sandra stopped believing she was conscious, she must’ve blacked out after so many repeated discharges. The power hula hoop, the boy who was undoubtedly a machine, and the talking ball of fire, all a figment of her twisted reality. Given the extent of weirdness at Foresta though, she had to at least believe it for the time being.

“I’ll answer you when you start using real fucking words” she sassed, ignoring the consequences since a ball of fire couldn’t harm her and she was dazed out of her mind. Logical thinking wasn’t going to be output by her anytime soon.

Having not much experience with jokes, he only shrugged at the girl's statement, disliking that she could even find the time to crack something made for jesting at a time like this. He continued to keep his hands upon his face, closing his eyes so that he didn't have to focus on the bright lights before him. Even if this girl couldn't control the fire, that didn't mean he had to look upon her, for that was one of the triggers he was facing at the moment. As expected, she was utterly confused and perhaps a bit fearful, if he translated that emotion correctly. "You'll understand when you see it," he said between ragged breaths, wishing that somehow, this was all avoidable. However, that slim chance dissipated almost immediately once an enormous ball of fire entered the vicinity, for Chase had just begun to peek open his eyes at the immense amount of commotion.

Now, the beast, even more furious with the new light source, was unable to permit Chase to overrule him, and the transformation began. The boy released an agonized scream for a moment, before his form crumpled upon the ground, excruciating pain ripping through his body and matched with a vengeful rage. He was incapable of even giving one more warning to the girl as his bones began to snap and regrow themselves, ligaments stretching past their limits to elongate his body. His fangs elongated considerably as well, matched with rows of sharp incisors. His body continued to contort and twist violently upon the pavement, dark brown hair spurting out all over his body until any human-like signs of Chase Thorne had been weeded out. Instead, an anthromorphic, brunette lion of sorts stood snarling in Sandra's wake, his lip curled upwards in extreme distaste for both the girl's glowing hoop and the Antient's incredible amount of fire. He unhinged his jaw and released a thunderous roar then, his muscular arms hanging threateningly at his sides. An irrational agitation continued to flow through him, causing the werecat to slink forward on all fours, prowling towards both the girl and the brighter being. Now positioned menacingly before Sandra on all of his paws, the beast emitted yet another, deep-throated outcry, but unable to advance and close the few feet of distance between them due to the glowing object encircling her. Without being able to comprehend exactly what both that and the angry, loud fire-consisting creature, he continued to bellow random and ferocious roars, his strikingly blue eyes surveying the pestilent duo frantically. Chase was acting like a frightened animal, really, only the beast chose to manifest this as anger.

Kestrel's body loped after Adrian, slowing down to an easy walk about halfway through the chase. Why, you might ask? Mostly just curiosity, or perhaps a sick fascination with all of the chaos the fires were causing.

Regardless of the motivation, two things happened when they reached the stairwell.

First, Andras stopped dead in his tracks and said bluntly, "Noooope." He moved Kestrel's arms into the gesture of 'not even gonna touch that', and turned to leave. "Might be a good excuse for a stiff drink and some cavorting."

Mid-turn, the body's shoulders shuddered violently. After shaking her head several times, Kestrel drew in a shaky breath that resulting in coughing due to the smoke from the fires. She stepped closer to Adrian, intending to ask him whether he was all right. Then a roar from the rooftop made her now-green eyes widen. "Are there people up there?!" Without waiting for an answer, she tried to ascend the steps.

Andy wrenched forth to utter, "Be careful, you idiot!" seconds before the bottoms of her shoes melted and she seared her right palm on the wall. Kestrel reeled back with a cry of pain, the skin on her hand already blistering and her feet reaching a point just beyond mere discomfort.

Martina had been by the greenhouse when she had gotten a call from one of the teachers that there was fire elemental that had gone loose (that was to put it lightly). Looking toward the castle, the Headmistress spotted the fire being almost immediately. Realizing that she couldn't run in the heels that she was wearing today, Martina took the shoes off and started off toward the school - getting in closer range of the roof. By the time she got there, it appeared as if the fire being was interested by the forest around the school.

Already regretting what she was about to do, Martina dropped her shoes into the grass and focused her attention toward the fire on the roof. In a quick precise movement, Martina swung her arm out in such a manner that allowed a slice of force to be emitted from her. Transferring her power through air had always been one of the more difficult things for her to do, since direct connection of course was always the easiest. Nonetheless, Martina watched as the force she had sent traveled toward her intended receiver. The negation she had sent out made it's way over the rooftop, the only possible way someone could avoid it being if they were laying completely flat on the ground. Otherwise, all effected would be powerless as soon as the force went through them.