The wind of Shannon's Blackway blows Queen Nalani's braids to and fro. The wind's hands eventually tug the braids free and the loose ends of Nalani's black curls blow free in the wind.

Sighing in annoyance, Nalani ties her braids back up with a spare piece of leather. This is the fourth time she has had to re-tie the ends of her braids and her pieces of leather are running out.

Nalani is annoyed anyway. Annoyed and frozen to the bone. The weather in Rolanth is always temperamental and ever changing and instead of a beautiful sunny day, they have a cloudy grey day with horrible strong gusts of wind.

Perhaps she could stop it, perhaps not. Her gift is strong but not that strong, especially with her affinity for fire mostly.

Technically she is not supposed to be using her gifts today, as Morrigan and the cadre told her that when they spar she couldn't use her powers and that she should get used to not using them for one day. But the cadre are not here yet and they can't stop her.

She won't have much luck stopping the wind but she can move those pesky clouds blocking her warmth.

So Nalani wills the clouds above her to move and they comply, letting in a small stream of sun that instantly warms her considerably. But she prefers to be warmer.

So she simply calls fire to light the ground below her. But she controls it. And the fire only stays small, not burning the ground outside of the small circle she forces it into.

It is easy for her. To compel the fire to her will. And she likes using fire, it brings her a strange comfort.

The flames are hotter, brighter and bigger than normal flames thanks to Nalani's extra magic. The heat warms her, the bright flames illuminating her skin to a golden glow and she closes her eyes to savour the heat.

Truthfully, the combination of warmth and closed eyes makes Nalani tired and as she is about to fall to sleep a loud sound jolts her awake.

Her eyes snap open in a fright. She sees Morrigan's face staring at hers, followed by the rest of the cadre. That's what a group like this is called in Bastian anyhow.

Nalani scowls at Morrigan who returns it with a scowl of her own; the Fire Queen smiles at both Kaiden and Nimue, who both return her smiles. Finally her eyes find Rowan.

He is especially handsome today, with all his fighting leathers and he is armed to the teeth with weapons. Nalani would much rather just kiss him all day, maybe even more.

They soon catch each other's eye and they both smile, Nalani can't help but blush slightly to her embarrassment

Morrigan catches that and rolls her eyes at Nalani whose expression goes back to her usual scowl, reserved only for Morrigan.

The warrior's eyebrows raise up and the two have a staring contest for a moment, both of them scowling like mad before Kaiden steps in between them,

"Can you two stop this little staring spat and go to train?" He asks, raising his hands up. Nalani remembers him vaguely, they had a brief introduction on the boat that day she was rescued. He isn't bad looking with his messy dark blonde hair, tanned skin and a good physique but he doesn't equal to Rowan in any of those ways. But what gives him his looks is his smile, it lights up the rest of his face.

All the girls attentions and glares immediately snap to him and he gulps. Soon a low thrilling voice pipes up in the background,

"Us girls will be doing the training Kaiden, you Milone boys are all the same, sitting on your lazy arses in Wolf Spring while all us girls do the hard labour."

Everyone turns to look at Nimue as she rises from her sitting rock and walks next to Kaiden who doesn't take his eyes off of her as Nimue strolls over to him, her black waves swishing to and fro behind her back.

Nalani certainly remembers her and she is still as charming, calm and pretty as ever. There's something so familiar about her as well.

Nalani's eyes widen as she sees the large wolf trailing behind Nimue. She forgets that the large thing is Nimue's familiar, after all there aren't many naturalists in Rolanth. And none with a familiar that big.

But Nalani does laugh at Nimue's words and gives her a smile which Nimue returns with a wicked one full of mischief.

"Hard labour?" Kaiden questions, flicking his golden brown hair out of his face, "I wouldn't call going shopping and scaring the locals with Nox hard labour Nimue."

Nimue scoffs, crossing her arms defensively over herself as she sizes Kaiden up, her face having to look up to find his. Suddenly she flicks her long black hair over her shoulder,

"Spare me your wrong opinion Kaiden," she says loftily, staring him straight in the eye.

Everyone around them smirk at this and Rowan lets out a laugh but smothers it when he sees Kaiden's death look in his direction.

"Nimue, you wouldn't survive one single hunting day in Wolf Spring," he says, chuckling to himself and Morrigan and Rowan exchange glances as they both smirk as they watch Nimue and Kaiden's usual performance. This must be normal then.

"Kaiden, I'm a faster and better hunter than you any day," she retorts.

"Please," Kaiden says and laughs, "you've lived in Bastian your entire life."

"And? I'm still a better hunter than you," Nimue shrugs.

Kaiden moves closer to her, so they're almost touching, "Want to prove it?" He taunts.

"Alright," she says immediately, a determined gleam appearing in her eyes, "what do you have in mind?"

"Beltane is in a few days and at Beltane there is also The Hunt," he says, waiting for her reaction.

She nods, "Go on."

"I will be the hunter and you shall be my prey," he announces but catching the angry look in Nimue's eyes he hastily continues, "what I mean before you bite my head off is a small game where you go into the woods and I will follow soon after, if I find you then I win and if I do not then you win."

Nimue nods slowly, "So you want to play hide and seek?" She questions dryly.

"No," he says, "hunters need to be able to find their prey that will be my part but hunters also have to be quiet and stealthy and that is your part."

Nimue's grin is terrifying as her face lights up with mischief, "Alright," she agrees, "but what will be the reward?"

"What would you like it to be?" He says suggestively, raising his eyebrows.

Nimue scowls at him as she answers, "If I win, I get Sven for a week," she says.

"But I need Sven, he is my familiar!" Kaiden protests. Ah Sven, the sleek red fox of Kaiden's whose no doubt enjoying some rest at the place they're renting in Rolanth.

Nimue tilts her head at him, "you're not scared of a little wager are you?"she taunts and he goes to protest but she cuts him off quickly, "those are my terms or the deals off"

Kaiden nods, "Alright Nimue," he says in defeat and then a mischievous smirk appears on his face, "but if I win then you have to kiss me."

Nimue's mouth flies open but after the shock passes she shuts it,

"will do no such thing, I won't do it!" She snaps and angry thorns start to grow out from the bushes around, going dangerously close to Kaiden's skin, taunting him and she smirks. He notices this and counters it with his own gift and at his will, the thorns shrink back into the green bush but not all the way. It is clear whose gift is stronger. Kaiden may be a Milone but he certainly doesn't have a wolf as his familiar.

"Well if you're too much of a coward to play," Kaiden begins but then Nimue cuts him off,

"Fine," she says, rolling her eyes, "you better start saying your goodbyes to your fox."

Kaiden only gives her an infuriatingly large smirk again, "If you say so Nimue."

"Oh and Kaiden," Nimue says sweetly, "if you cheat then I'll cut your balls off."

Nox, her wolf, growls at bares her sharp fangs to emphasis the point but Kaiden is used to it.

Kaiden barks a laugh, "Is that a threat?" He asks, mischief dancing and sparkling in his brown eyes.

Nimue moves her face closer to Kaiden's as her blue eyes stare back at his with nothing but cold unflinching steel,

"It's a promise."

- - - - -

The sound of punches, kicks and shouts of pure frustration are the sounds that echo in the winds up on Shannon's Blackway.

They have been sparring for a while and Nalani bares her teeth at Morrigan as Morrigan sends a powerful kick straight into Nalani's torso, sending her sprawling to the ground. Nalani hisses in pain as she rises and gets back on her feet. Unfortunately for her Morrigan insisted they first learn hand to hand combat and to Nalani's disappointment there's nothing to bash the warrior with. Only her fists which Morrigan is swift enough to deflect or avoid

The red tiger and the black panther circle each other, both predators ready to attack. Both queens in their own right and both with powers beyond measure.

Morrigan and Nalani both grit their teeth as they circle each other carefully, each not taking their eyes off of the other. Nalani sends a surprisingly fast kick to Morrigan's torso, the same move that the warrior had previously done to her.

Nalani is fast but Morrigan is faster as she catches Nalani's leg and makes her trip up and fall to the ground again for about the hundredth time. She hits the ground yet again with a loud thud as she shouts a string of vulgar curses to the amusement of her little audience.

"Beltane is in a week!" Nalani protests, gingerly rubbing all the bruised body parts where Morrigan had hit during their sparring, if you could call it that, without her powers it was hardly a fair fight. "Shouldn't we be doing something more advanced considering we don't have much time.

Morrigan just laughs at Nalani's question as she reaches her hand out to Nalani who is on the floor, wincing in pain.

"Trust me if you can't handle this your majesty then you couldn't handle anything remotely advanced," she says condescendingly, waiting for Nalani to grab her hand.

Nalani, wanting to keep some of her dignity, refuses and gets up by herselfwith a determined look engrained on her face. Though the independence costs her, every bruise and cut on her body sings in pain as she rises from the ground and brushes herself off.

There was a time when she wanted to be war gifted, that desire is long gone - no one told her how much energy was required to be a warrior. Goddess. It's bloody awful. She almost resents Vivianne for making deals with Pele, she didn't know how much effort her alleged 'advantage' was going to be. Still she trusts Vivianne and will do what her guardian wants. For now. And at least them arriving from Bastian City brought Rowan back home.

When Nalani sees how dirty her fighting leathers are and how mud and dirt are matted into her dark braids, she scowls at Morrigan and the warrior only smirks in return.

They both get into their fighting stances and prepare to spar again.

When Morrigan strikes again, as fast as an asp, this time Nalani is ready though she barely sees the strike coming.

She uses some footwork techniques that Rowan taught her yesterday in preparation almost like he knew how bad this session with Morrigan would be. Pity he couldn't train her instead. Nalani certainly wouldn't mind some hand to hand combat with him.

With these thoughts in mind, Nalani manages to half dodge and half punch Morrigan, with Nalani still earning a blow to the ribs and Morrigan earning her first bruise on her jaw. The warrior doesn't wince in the slightest at the impact and laughs instead. The war gifted are a strange lot sometimes especially when it comes to pain.

It isn't much but Nalani lets herself smile in triumph as she regains a little part of her pride.

Wiping some blood from her mouth, Morrigan straightens and looks at Nalani with her glowing green eyes and her gleaming cat smile. The smile is half predatory and half respect. Although the smile is more a bearing of teeth and it makes Morrigan look like the tiger she is.

If Nalani wasn't such a pain Morrigan's arse, the fiery warrior thinks that Nalani would've been fun to hang around with.

They would've made quite a pair in Bastian, Morrigan thinks grinning like a fiend as she swipes Nalani's feet from under her, making the Fire Queen land in the dirt yet again. If only Nalani had the war gift, then she would be a true opponent.

Groaning and gritting her teeth, Nalani hoists herself up, despite her aching muscles complaints and gets in the fighting stance that Kaiden and Nimue taught her earlier.

Nalani had asked them what to expect when sparring with Morrigan. The two just exchanged glances and Kaiden laughed while Nimue had a slight smile playing on her lips.

When Kaiden kept laughing at Nalani's bewildered face, Nimue punched him in the arm, causing Kaiden to fall into the dirt and the two raven haired beauties had exchanged a smile of comradery.

Nalani and Nimue are remarkably similar, both with the same alabaster colouring, the same raven black hair and the same features.

They could've been sisters, even twins and Rowan had told Nalani that when he first arrived at Bastain that he had mistaken Nimue for Nalani and had tried to hug her.

It earned him a bruised jaw and a kick in the groin from Nimue and another punch from Kaiden who had always been protective of Nimue though he would never admit it.

Nalani smiles, eleven year old Nimue and twelve year old Kaiden must've been a delight to deal with. Regardless, those two are the nicest of the cadre along with Rowan, in fact they are all nice, apart from Morrigan.

Though the fiery wildcat isn't too bad, she just gets on Nalani's nerves. They both have a similar temperament that's why they both clash. When fire and fire collides, an inferno erupts.

Nalani doesn't think that the red headed warrior is horrible but she could certainly never be called nice. Definitely not the right word to describe her. Nalani doesn't have to like her but she respects her.

Morrigan is the best Bastain has to offer and is a force. Like Nalani and her sisters, Morrigan doesn't crave power she is power. Her warrior blood hums to the rhythm of the island along with the queens and a few other chosen ones. It is as if sometimes the Goddess cannot keep herself contained to just three triplets; sometimes she needs more. More unique children that she can infuse her power into. Morrigan is one of those few, Nalani is sure of it.

This green eyed predator is a weapon, forged and honed for battle. Years of training and just her blood alone have made her into this machine of war.

That's the other half of the Goddess, Nalani supposes, the warrior half. The half that is more bloodthirsty and calls for death and war.

Much like the many war queens that came before and ensured that all Fennbirn's enemies were destroyed. Queen Aethiel, who first started constructing the Volroy Palace, Queen Emmeline, who continued constructing the Volroy and Queen Hadly, whose war gift came on her sixteenth birthday. Even Queen Halia, the last queen crowned.

Yes. The island has seen their fair share of war queens.

But elementals, particularly those whose affinity was fire also called for war. Queen Elo, the fire breather, is a fine example. When Fennbirn was at war, she burned the entire fleet of their enemies ships. That is the power of a Fire Queen. She could be like that if only she dared.

Smirking at her inner thoughts, Nalani doesn't break Morrigan's stare for she is a predator as well and her touch is lethal. She is a raging storm and she won't concede to anyone.

Perhaps she is one of those elemental spirits whose essence was bound into mortal bodies. Sometimes she feels something beneath her skin, something desperately trying to reach the surface and she is storm just waiting to be fully unleashed but something else hums in her blood and it always has. Perhaps it is just her queensblood.

After another half hour of sparring they are both tired and bored of fighting each other again and again. Though Nalani knows that she looks and feels a lot worse than Morrigan, she still feels a little bit proud of herself.

"Alright, come on little Fire Queen," Morrigan says, "we're leaving the rabble and getting you back for some rest."

Sighing in relief, Nalani accepts Morrigan's hand, as the warrior hoists Nalani up from a rock she had been sitting on.

"Why?" Nalani asks.

Morrigan cocks an eyebrow up, "Why?"
Morrigan echoes slowly, "because tomorrow you're going to feel like hell."

Nalani rolls her eyes and puts on a massive smile as they start to trek back to the Westwood Manor,

"Lovely," Nalani says sarcastically, "well if I'm destined for hell anyway I may as well embrace it."

Morrigan offers her a small genuine smile, "That is the first intelligent thing I've ever heard you say," she says.

Nalani says nothing in return and chooses to take it as a compliment as they both take their first steps to battle the raging winds of Shannon's Blackway.