[Cher] This Is Home

[Ashlee Parker]

[glow=red,2,300]

12:23 a.m.
Fireclan Territory, Eastern Woods

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It was dark. She liked the dark, it gave her and her clanmates cover so they were free to roam the woods as they pleased. Being part of the clan was a dangerous occupation. There were always hunters after them, as well as natural forest predators like wolves and bears. Luckily, everything had been going well in the Fireclan territory for the last few weeks. After making sure that everyone in her clan was sound asleep in their makeshift homes made of wood and logs, Ashlee crept out of their camp and made her way through the woods.

There was a sense of freedom as the wind ruffled her long black hair. Her black cat ears twitched as they searched for any sound except the grass beneath her shoes. Everything was quiet, and it was dark except for the light of the moon. It was safest to explore at night, she had discovered.

Walking between the tall pine trees that she recognized as their own, she began to hum a quiet tune to herself. Sometimes it was nice to get away from the clan and take care of only herself. Her clan always came first, and sometimes it was a hassle. She was only one girl, she couldn't do everything. As she walked through the shadows of the trees above she became more and more lost in her own thoughts until a sudden sound broke her of her mind. Something had moved that wasn't her. Her sharp hearing picked up that it was bigger than a bird or other common forest-dwellers. No, someone was definately in her territory.

'If it's a goddamn thunder NEKO I swear to god...' she thought silently to herself, grabbing onto the low branch of a tree and pulling herself up onto it, climbing up a few more branches until she was a good ten feet in the air. Her eyes scanned the area below until she finally found the source of the sound. It was a girl, strolling through the woods. She had ears and a tail, which meant that she was a NEKO. Ashlee jumped into protective-defensive mode and leapt down from the tree, landing on the girl's shoulders and pushing her down into the dirt. She didn't care who she was, she was on their territory. "Who the hell are you?" Ashlee snapped.

[Cherish Rose Belmont]

The things her company made her do was preposterous. Go look in the woods? For what? Apparently there was some type of bark they needed? Why the hell would you need bark for fashion? It was a question Cherish knew she would never get the answer for, but she particularly didn’t care. At least she was able to get out of that damned office. It was such a hindrance though, walking down to the forest at the edge of the city. She hated doing her companies dirty work, but it was nearly twelve at night, who else would be around to do it? And so the girl found herself walking down the streets of the city in a dark purple mini-skirt that clung to her legs neatly. Atop her torso was a dark brown blouse covered in a purple jacket that matched her skirt. On her head was a lighter shade of purple beanie, and her hair fell in soft ringlets around her head.

Her high heels clacked loudly with the pavement until they met soft grass. You see, Cherish wasn’t stupid though; she knew she was in clan territory now, so she took a few precautions just in case. She let her heels clack loudly against branches to draw whoever out, but there was a twist. Cherish knew a few tricks with mirrors and lighting, and that was always fun. She created a crystal ice mirror and stood behind it, directly in front of the moon light. The moon acted as a projector as she moved behind the mirror, sending a decoy Cherish through the woods instead of herself. She grinned when suddenly her decoy was suddenly struck down into the ground, hearing the girl ask for her name. Cherish wagged her finger lightly, taking out a small dagger she kept within her high heel boots. She was behind the girl in a second, the dagger to her throat in another, speaking in a low voice as the fake Cherish beneath them disappeared.

“Why, my name is Cherish dear. What would yours be? No lying, remember.” She pressed the dagger to her throat lightly, making it freezing cold against her skin.

This girl was definitely up for a challenge.

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[Ashlee Parker]

Everything that happened occured quickly. By the time she was on the ground and had already spoken she was already ontop of the illusion, making her realize that there was really no one there, and that it had just simply been a decoy. Unfortunately in a split second, there was a sharp dagger at her throat and a voice speaking into her ear. Ashlee smirked, having a playmate might be a fun experience, she hadn't been in a real fight for a good month. A little out of practice, but still in perfect shape. She turned her head to glance at the girl behind her, staring her down with her bright ruby red eye.

Names were of no importance to her anymore. This "Cherish" girl wasn't going to get off easy now. Ashlee was almost disgusted with the sight of her. She looked like some sort of pet. Nice clothes, no scratches, just a pretty NEKO girl. At least she knew tricks. "Nice one. I really wasn't expecting that decoy." She had a few tricks of her own, though. The fire neko clenched her fists and summoned heat to the palms of her hands until she could feel embers burning between her fingers. Hot fire burned in her hands and she reached up, grabbing Cherish's arms and leaving scalding hot handprints. She used the oppritunity to yank away from the girl's grasp and face her, knocking the dagger out of her hand and grabbing her wrists with the same heat intensity.

"Unfortunately you're on my territory now." And if there was one thing that Ashlee knew how to do, it was defend her territory.

[Cherish Rose Belmont]

Cherish did not like being toyed with. It was not very wise, nor was it very acceptable to toy with the girl. She felt amusement as the girl spoke. It was always fun to have someone to play with, especially someone to spar with. Cherish liked taking her anger out on people, especially after being cooped up for such long periods of time. She didn’t like the girl in front of her one bit. She seemed like a snob. She was pretty rude too. The girl let her eyes stroll over the other NEKO; this girl was definitely a wild one. She had ratty clothing and a terrible, terrible fashion sense. Too bad for her that only made Cherish hate her even more. Then she was moving. Cherish was about to press the knife to her throat more, but then her hands were being scorched. A shrill yelp erupted from her before she growled at the other girl.

“You’re a very stupid little bitch, aren’t you?” Cherishes tail lashed out, wrapping around the girl and pulling her close. Their faces were inches apart when Cherish smiled. Ice began to form and crystalize around the other girl, seeping over her clothes and up her torso, down her legs. She would be a complete crystal in a matter of minutes.

“It’s not polite to be rude. It’s also not smart to play games with someone way outside of your league.” She let a snobbish laugh pass through her lips before she smiled sweetly at the girl. Ice began to form over her scorch marks and crystalize around the girls hands as well.

“You wanted to play cat a mouse. I’ll be the cat. Oh look, I caught you, guess that means I’m having a good dinner tonight.” Cherish was surprised how much pent up anger she had in her, but with each ticking second her ice began to form further and further over the girl’s body, causing a smile to continue to spread over her features.

This was turning out to be very fun indeed.

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[Ashlee Parker]

Ashlee was becoming more and more ticked off. This girl was snobby and an ice NEKO, obviously. Why she wasn't in the territory with the other snobby ice mutations, she had no idea. Why couldn't people just stay out of her stomping grounds? Why couldn't they stay away from her clan, and her neck of the woods? This girl definately wasn't a walk in the park to fight with, but that is what made it fun. Ashlee wasn't the type of girl to give up just because she seemed outmatched. And she definately wasn't outmatched. Obviously this girl didn't know who she was, or the intensity of her powers.

She felt no fear as ice crept up her body. Her temperature was a casual 140 degrees anyway, so it would take longer to freeze her over. It gave her enough time to focus on the heat within her body and melt the ice right off, leaving it all in a puddle of water at her feet. She hated water. And she hated this Cherish girl, too.

"If you want to talk dinner, let me provide the fire." she hissed, unsheathing her razor-sharp claws and raking them across Cherish's chest. It tore her pretty blouse right open and sent splatters of blood flying sideways from the deep cuts that she had just formed. Ashlee leapt ontop of Cherish and pushed her down on her back, kneeing her in the stomach with all of her strength and wrapping her claws around the girl's tender neck. With her lips parted, Ashlee's fangs were bared close to the girl's face, threatening to deliver a bite to the throat. She wasn't afraid to tear the girl's neck out- it would serve for a good meal for the young ones in her clan.

"You ready to give up? I'm not the alpha for nothing." she snarled in her ear.

[Cherish Rose Belmont]

It Oh yes, did Cherish enjoy a challenge. She didn’t like winning so easily, and the fact of the matter was, there was no way this girl was going to out-do her. She smiled as she watched her ice gently melt off; she figured it would, in fact, she planned on it. She smiled as the water seeped into the ground; it was all part of Cherishes little plan, one she intended on springing any moment now. There was hissing from the other girl, and then she was talking. Ha. Provide the fire. How funny. Who did this girl think she was? It amused Cherish to no end, but soon her amusement was clearly gone from her face as the girl ripped into her blouse and dug her nails at her chest. A shrill gasp was heard from her, before the girl was moving again. There was a knee flying towards her stomach, and that’s when it happened; that’s when Cherishes trap sprung.

Water ripped out of the pores of her body, freezing into icicle spikes the girl wore than willingly shoved her knee into. Then there were fangs and hands. More water ripped through her neck as the spikes drove into the girls hands, giving Cherish enough time to gently do a back hand spring, fott aiming for the girls jaw before she gained some distance.

“Well, I’ll let you know, I am a CEO for a company. So, technically, I am above alpha.” She gave a sweet smile before bending down, placing her hands onto the ground as the water before began to erupt and freeze into a large dome of Crystal, rectangular mirrors that were very, very thick with ice. Cherish smiled with malicious intent, falling back and letting her hand touch the wall of mirrors behind her.

“I’m not playing games with you anymore. Show me what you can do.” Then, ever so quietly, Cherish let her own figured morph into the mirror (the point of making them so damn thick) as her reflection was seen in every single one of them. When she spoke up next, her voice seemed to echo from no real direction as she put her hand on her hip, smiling at the girl from every mirror.

“Now then, little girl. Show me what an alpha can really do.” She laced the world Alpha with such clear venom, it would take a complete moron to miss the insult within it.

Cherish sat in the sanctity of her ice as she waited for the girl to make her next move.

This was all like a game of chess to her.

And now this girl was in check.

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[Ashlee Parker]

Spikes of ice weren't the worst thing that had happened to her, but they did hurt as they were shoved into the palms of her hands. She yanked them back, examining the tiny slices that had covered her palms and the deeper cuts of the icicles themselves. Wincing, Ashlee wiped the blood on her torn skinny jeans. She didn't care who this girl was, she was going down.

Ashlee was fast, and she had excellent vision that Cherish must have been ignoring. As the ice dome began to develop around them, Ashlee counted every angle and every edge of each piece of ice that was put into making it. She could see every wall and its thickness, and even as she was staring at hundreds of reflections of the prissy ice NEKO, she could tell exactly which direction she was facing her from.

"Enough talking." Ashlee was fed up with her games. She wanted to end it here, and now. She could melt the ice with a single burst of flames, but she wanted Cherish to know just where she was coming from, and how smart she actually was. Ashlee lunged at the correct reflection, shattering the ice and sinking her claws into the girl's shoulders, throwing her back into a tree and knocking her head into the wood, enough to make her head bleed. As she was stunned, the fire NEKO jerked her hand towards the dome and engulfed it in flames, melting it to a large puddle of water in the grass. Turning back to Cherish, she grabbed her and threw her back into the puddle of her own water. "Get out of my territory, now. Before I fry you to a crisp."

By the way she spoke, it was obvious that she wasn't kidding. She was at the edge of her temper, any more and she would have the entire woods in flames. "I can leave you with a lot of scars on that pretty face of yours, or you could leave. Unless you prefer I call my clan to help me?"

[Cherish Rose Belmont]

To say that Cherish was ticked off was an understatement. To say she was angry, yet another ludicrous remark. The girl was livid. She could feel the anger bubbling up inside her, and if she had her way the whole entire woods would be covered in ice by the time she was finished. She glared evilly at the girl who decided to crash through her beautiful sculpture of ice, and that was when her temper had it. She growled at the girl, bearing her delicate fangs in the front of her mouth. She found herself being abruptly shoved against a tree, and then she was bleeding. Blood was…Cherish was not…blood was bad. When Cherish saw blood…coming from her…that was when she lost it. She was thrown back into the water that now covered the field, and she listened to the girl threaten her. As the threat was done, Cherish got up, smiled, and then bust out into fits of hysteric laughter. She kept laughing for a few moments before feeling the back of her head. When she brought her fingers back in front of her, they were covered in blood. There was more laughter.

“Oh, you are much dumber than you look. With your disgusting, ratty jeans and repulsive obscure hair. I will finish this now.” Her laugh turned into a frown, her eyes forming into a glare as the wind chill around the area dramatically dropped. The ice on the ground begin to harden and freeze, and soon there was a rumbling.

“Your first mistake was underestimating me.” she said as the ground began to crack and shatter, blocks of ice erupting from it beneath them both.

“Your second mistake was taking me as a joke.” Soon all the grass was gone, and the whole entire field was covered in a chunky sheath of ice.

“And your third mistake was pissing me off.” The wind gently ripped at the other girls hair, carrying little splints of ice within it, gently raking at her glossy skin. The field began to quiver beneath their feet before large glacier-like rocks of ice ripped through them, surrounding them, cutting off all entrances for miles and miles going.

“Just so you know.” Cherish began, twirling her hair lightly as the wind pushed at it once more.

“This ice is arctic. It will take a lot, and I mean a lot of heat to melt it. So good luck.” She smiled before ice began to crystalize in the palm of her right hand, and after a second a large Cycle was inside her grip, sparkling within the moonlight.

“This is my game. You play by my rules.” And then the girl was gone, disappearing behind a flurry or snow that was gliding through the air.

She wouldn’t be beaten that easily.

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[Ashlee Parker]

Now that Cherish had begun to destroy her territory, Ashlee had gone off the edge. Her only thought was that her clan was in trouble. That, and the fact that the girl had just called her repulsive. Ashlee was one of the most attractive girls in Hawthorne between NEKO and human altogether. In no way was she repulsive.

Cherish's little playground did not make her fearful, it made her even more pissed off than before. Where there was supposed to be warm grass was ice cold tundra. The trees were frozen over with icicles. All warmth was gone from sight. Ashlee clenched her fists and felt flames engulf her hands, and as Cherish prepared her weapon, Ashlee simply laughed.

"You forget who I am, apparently!" she screamed at her through the icy winds. She hated the cold, it felt like she was getting weaker and weaker as the moments passed by, but she kept up her strength by focusing the heat in her body. Ashlee lept off of the ground into one of the ice-covered trees, leaping from tree to tree until she was over Cherish, jumping down in front of her and blocking her path. "This is my territory, you play by my rules." she snarled. No more pretty fighting.

Ashlee grabbed the girl by her neck once more and threw her back into the ice, leaving a deep impact and sending cracks shattering. Where the cracks parted, Ashlee put her hands over the ground and began to weild the lava from beneath earth's surface, hundreds of miles beneath the soil, until there was a heavy rumbling. "And you've lost." Lava burst through the cracks of the ice, blowing steam and ice into the air for a hundred feet up like geisers. The sound was so loud that they could hardly hear each other over it. Ashlee pushed the girl into one of the paths of the geisers, scalding half of her body with the molten lava.

They didn't call her alpha for nothing.

[Cherish Rose Belmont]

Cherish scowled deeply at the girl as she laughed. She didn’t like when people refused to take her seriously, but not that this girl wasn’t really playing games anymore, Cherish decided it was time for her to stop as well. She smiled when the girl laughed; if she wanted to play it like nothing was going to happen, and she was going to walk out of his unscathed; she was dead wrong. She couldn’t help but smile when the girl started jumping from tree to tree before landing in front of Cherish herself. It was her plan, because this girl wasn’t exactly as smart as she thought. There was lava erupting from all around her, and she could feel the heat beneath her.

“Predictable. Stupid. You’re not fun to play with anymore.” Cherish smiled wickedly as the girl spoke to her. This was her game? Oh no, when you play with Cherish…it is always her game. You don’t win. You never win when you play with Cherish. There were very few people who compete with her, yes, just like this girl; but actually win? Never had it happened before in her life. She couldn’t help but laugh as the girl pushed half her body into the way of the lava. She kept laughing, but something was wrong. The laugh seemed almost…distant, really. Then it happened. Half of “Cherishes” body suddenly melted off, and then the other half began to see cracks running through it, before completely shattering, leaving the fire girl completely open.

“Game over. You lose.” And if the girl even had time to turn around, she would have seen Cherish, standing at the tip of a glacier, both hands into the air with so many crystal-like threads attached to her fingers, leading up to an arm of hundreds and hundreds of icicles. The girl flung her wrists forward before all of the weapons smashed and plummeted into the entire field, not leaving an inch of it open. Cherish stood there, the wind still ripping cold and violent, her face pressed into a hard line.

“I don’t lose.” And then there a silence that left the area colder than Cherish could ever make it.

It was a bitter silence cloaked in crimson.

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