Fresh Arival [Come one, come all]

Set was not distracted. In fact, he probably hadn't even heard Lark. The second Aluna had hurt Nefret, his decision was final. Gathering the darkness within him, he focused it outward. Murky tendrils of blackness spilled out of his body, sucking all of the light out of the places they touched. The blackness spilled from him until he was completely engulfed in it. More, more, it poured out in a tidal wave of pure malice. The darkness carried the chill of death, anger, and hatred. Within seconds, the almost tangible shadows had covered both the wolf and Set. Lark was on the outskirts, close enough to feel the icy brush of Set's powers without being touched by them.

Set wasn't stupid. He knew he didn't have the advantage yet. Wolves had an amazing sense of smell. Fortunately, Set had more than just shadows up his sleeve. Calling to the boiling rage within him, he let himself be ripped apart by the shadows. The molecules of his body brutally separated as he merged with the evil he had created. Now his scent would be erratic and useless. He was virtually intangible. There were simple ways of destroying him in this form, but he was sure a simple mortal--an animal--would be unable to figure them out.

As he waited for her next attack, Set began calling upon his other power. While darkness was a wonderful defense, it had limited attack capabilities. That's where the storms came in. Perhaps it was irony that Lark and Set were calling upon similar powers at the same moment. Set began rearranging molecules in the air, pulling positives and negatives away as he readied lightning to strike at Aluna.

The wolf faltered slightly as the darkness surrounded her. She couldn't see, but she could still smell his scent. She moved toward where it was strongest and pounced. She was shocked when she landed on nothing but the floor. Spinning around, she found that he was gone. Growling, she sniffed the air, searching the blackness. His scent surrounded her. He was everywhere, yet he was nowhere.

How was she to defeat an intangible enemy? The wolf's anger was slowly being replaced by fear. As her anger lessened, Aluna gathered enough energy to come out of the darkness in her mind. Weakly, she whispered to the wolf, 'Shadows...can't survive...in the light...' Her voice faded away, and she was once again trapped in the dark.

The wolf understood. Her fear started to lessen, and she try to think about what to do. She knew her enemy might not follow her outside on his own. She had to force him out. She thought back to the snake she had flung against the wall. Racing towards it, she grabbed it and ran towards the entrance, breaking free of the darkness. How was she supposed to get through the doors? She listened, and heard footsteps on the other side. Students coming in. She spun around to face her enemy, the snake hanging limp in her jaws, but still alive. She growled, the raced out of the doors, startling the two students coming inside. She just hoped her enemy would take the bait and follow her into the sunlight.

((OOC: You'd already flung Nefret against the wall, though))

((OOC: I know, I'm taking her again and bringing her outside. I said the wolf thought again about the snake she had flung against the wall. I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear enough.))

Lark saw the wolf running away. Saw that her enemy had turned into a giant...well...what he could only describe as a blob of darkness, despair, and general feel-bad emotions. "Oh, that's great," he muttered as he then witnessed the doors open up to a pair of frightened school children. "Just fricken' peachy." He lobbed his little ball of chain lightning into the shadows, illuminating the place brightly for a split-second. Then the hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he felt the electricity building around the darkness that used to be an arrogant, cocky bastard. ((Pardon the language, people.))

"Well. That's no good."

Set hissed in anger as the light hit him. The sound echoed loudly as Set's anger fueled the blackness. "Master..." Another, softer hiss came from Nefret as she called out to Set. She was hurt and afraid, but prepared to die for her attack. Her call was merely meant to say goodbye and to warn him away. In her opinion, it was better to die in defense of her master's honor than to live at the expense of his injuries. Not that she believed he would lose, that is. She just didn't want him to be hurt.

Calling himself back together, Set stormed angrily out of the school, his gaze still locked on Aluna. Lark was of no concern to him at the moment. Using the energy he still had gathered around him, Set called a rain cloud into being above himself. It began forming slowly, casting a shadow over Set. Set smirked, a deadly gleam in his eyes. "You will put Nefret down and you will apologize or I will have your pelt as a new rug. I have had almost a century to learn how to compensate for my weaknesses. Your only form of defense is to transform into an animal controlled by senseless instinct. You have not been poisoned, nor permanently harmed and quite frankly, this is a childish fight not worth my efforts."

Set was not afraid of fighting in the sunlight. It was not even that he truly cared for Nefret. He'd had pets die before. Snakes didn't live long and he wasn't one to mourn death. Really, the only reason he was fighting was because Aluna had insulted him. Fortunately, Set wasn't foolish. He actually preferred solving issues rationally to fighting it out. Fighting was for mortals who were too stupid to resolve their issues properly.

The wolf did not care to listen to her enemy's words. She was too mad, too angry, to listen to reason. She was uncontrollable with Aluna locked away in her mind. The wolf padded silently toward a few bushes out of the way and gently placed the snaked down to hide amng them. The wolf then turned to her enemy, growling. She would not apologize. If Aluna had been in control, then she would have. But Aluna was not in control, the wolf was.

She was filled with so much anger. She was angry at the snake, at the snakes master, at Aluna, at herself. She was angry at the people who took her mom away, at having to live without her. She was angry at herself for leaving the pack she loved, angry that she couldn't control herself, angry that she took control of Aluna's body, angry that she couldn't back down and let Aluna take over again. The wolf was fueled by her anger, and she couldn't control it. She was consumed by anger. It filled every part of her, filling her with a dark energy that needed to be let loose. The wolf wanted to control it, to beat the anger, but she couldn't. Her strength was her weakness. She knew only one thing: she had to fight.

Losing the fight against her anger, the wolf crouched, growling fiercely. Gathering the strength within her, she pounced, aiming for her enemy's chest.

"This is getting ridiculous," Lark muttered. "SOMEONE has to put a stop to this, and it doesn't look like either of them have the right mind to do so." Lark sighed and started gathering his energy to a very focused, small bolt. "Sorry Aluna, this may hurt a bit," he apologized to the air as he finished his fabrication of a nerve system-deadening lightning bolt.

"Well, as long as she isn't moving, this shouldn't be too hard of a shot," he remarked to himself dryly. He squared his shoulders, took aim, and threw the lightning bolt right into Aluna's furry neck. The lightning penetrated her fur and skin and poured electricity into her nervous system. "That should knock her out for a while," Lark said hopefully.

((Please don't assume things, Aluna. You assume you hit him, knocked him over, and inflicted a deep wound with Set doing absolutely nothing.))

((OOC: Sorry. Fixed it.))

((Uh, guys. I'm waiting on you. Don't kill each other OOC, either. We do enough of that IN character.))

((sorry...I have jealousy issues...))

The rain cloud Set had been conjuring above his head cast a shadow over him. As the wolf landed on his chest, Set spread out into the small area of darkness. He hissed at the scratches on his chest. They weren't as deep as they could have been. If he hadn't started forming the cloud sooner, the wolf might have done serious damage. "Idiot wolf," he murmured angrily, his voice sounding odd as it echoed.

Suddenly a bolt of lightning cut through Set's darkness, heading straight for Aluna's neck. Seeing his chance, Set attack from the other side, striking out with a newly-formed hand. He aimed for her nose, the most sensitive part of any canine. He aimed to maim but not kill. He wanted to leave her something to think about in the future.

She now had only two choice. If she dodged the lightning, Set's fist would collide squarely with her muzzle. If she dodged Set, she would run the risk of getting hit by the speeding light.

The wolf was shocked as she felt her enemy dematerialize beneath her paws. She landed on the ground with a thud, growling. She saw a flash of light from the corner of her eye, and at the same time, sensed danger from the other side. She turned her head in time to see a dark hand come towards her face. She ducked her head, feeling the hand brush the fur of her muzzle. Before she could collect herself to attack, though, she felt a burst of energy hit her in the neck. It was strong enough to knock her off her paws and onto her side a few feet away. The wolf struggled to get up, fighting the force of the lightning still coursing through her. She stumbled to her paws, then let out a howl as the pain forced her back down. She growled one last time, then her head sank down in defeat as her mind went numb, plummeting her into darkness.

Lark's eyes flashed with sadness. So much for a friendly first encounter. Then he glanced at his other greeting party, and put his hands in the air. "You can relax now. She's kind of incapacitated." He felt an unexpected surge of anger. What the hell was with this cocky, arrogant bastard? "What were you thinking? You and that freaking snake!" he yelled, angry sparks flashing around his fingers.

Set pulled his form together and glanced at Lark. "I thank you," he said in his usual above-it-all monotone. "I would have accepted an apology from her, but she insisted on fighting. Animal instinct, I suppose." Looking down, Set noticed again the gouges in his chest. It had been awhile since he'd felt physical pain. The sight of his own blood gave him pause. He touched it almost reverently. "It is redder than I remember..." he murmured to himself.

Nefret, who was quite close to death, did not call out to Set. She could not. She was far too weak. Remembering his beloved pet, Set walked over to her and knelt by her side. "I am sorry, beautiful one." His voice was soft and infinitely sad for the pet whose death he couldn't mourn. He was sad not because of her death, butt because it hadn't been necessary. "May Anubis judge you worthy." Slowly, carefully, Set sent his darkness into her mouth. It traveled down her body and stopped her small heart. Nefret went still as her soul left her body. She was grateful to her master for stopping the pain. Her only regret was that she couldn't do more.

Still holding her limp body, Set stood up. He turned around to face Lark, expression blank. "Nefret was my favorite. If you will excuse me, I must see to her burial. When the dog awakens, tell her to stay away from me. I fear my anger may grow too strong for me to hold back." With that, Set began walking away.