THRANDAL: The Phoenix and the Siren [UNDER EDIT]

GLASS EYES

CHAPTER 3 - GLASS EYES

The gods watched as the two warriors of opposite race reached for the green flag.

"The girl is Kitara Fang of the Fire Nation, age eighteen. She grew up alone under the provision of the Fire Queen and King. At age fourteen, she became one of the four captains of the fire clan's troops, making her the youngest in their history. At fifteen, she was the first female to ever reach the top four of the warfare and she's been consistent since, though she has never won. But still, it is very obvious that she has a chance. We all did see that ripple she performed and we all know that only those who are nearing High Phoenix can perform such difficult trick", a Maester dictated to the gods as they watched.

"She has grown up to be a fine warrior", Ethoran said to Akira, the Goddess of Fire.

"The blood of a goddess has given her such gifts", said Theion Wolfe, the God of Water, which made Akira glare at him.

"She abandoned that blood a long time ago."

"The boy is Nero Siege, half-Lunar, half-Siren, age eighteen. Both his parents died at the Great War and he was raised by the Lunars from then on. He then decided to abandon his Moon blood and moved with the Sirens. Since then, he's been one of their best warriors. Both Kitara and Nero advanced in their first warfare and at age fifteen, they were both in the top four. But, this is the very first time the two has crossed paths."

"I see", Ethoran said as he leaned towards the cloudy figure that gave them a view of the match.

"It is decided"

After the battle, a feast was held in the Central Island. But because Kitara was not one for parties, she decided to head home first. The streets of the Fire Island were quiet for most of the people were at the Central Island and those who stayed were probably asleep. Kitara has nothing to do so she took this opportunity to go back to the cliff.

With a single snap of her fingers, her right hand set ablaze, illuminating the dark hidden path. Again, after much struggle, she finally emerged from the thick forest and was greeted by cold winds and faint sounds of clashing waves from below the cliff. Kitara smiled to herself as she took in the view once more. She walked to edge of the cliff and stared at the starry sky that held the three moons. When her gaze reached the horizon, she saw the certain white-haired Siren that she fought and won with earlier that day.

He had his back turned from her and his head was slightly tilting up, as if he was also looking up at the skies.

Kitara didn't know what hit her but she suddenly wanted to catch his attention. She looked down at her palm and created a fire ball. With great force, she threw the fire ball at Nero who was at a good distance from her.

Nero was surprised by the sudden fire ball attack which landed beside him. But he grinned for he knew who exactly it belonged to. He turned around to see a red-haired girl standing at the top of the nearby cliff. Upon seeing her, his smile grew even wider. Nero didn't know why, but he actually felt very attracted to Kitara. To him, she seemed very mysterious and a feeling of curiosity rose within him. Truth is, Nero knew Kitara ever since he first saw her 3 years ago in his first Warfare. So when he saw her at that very place she was standing right now a few weeks ago, and the very first time their eyes met, his curiosity about her grew even more. Unlike other people, Kitara wasn't one to visit other nations besides the Central Islands, so it was weird to actually see her outside of the battlefield.

He wondered why after all those time and all those battles, their paths never once crossed, until today.

Kitara saw his mischievous signature grin under the moonlight and she couldn't stop the small curve from forming on the edge of her lips. He saw him raise his hand and point to the left side of where she was standing. She followed where he was pointing and saw a small cove in a distance. When she looked back, he was gone. She figured that he went to that cove so she walked towards it.

Kitara looked down to see him sitting on a rock. She couldn't help but notice his features for this was her first time seeing an actual Siren up close. She watched as he messed his wet white hair that covered a portion of his face. His skin had a hint of bluish glow and he had small scales on each side of his shoulder blades. He shot his head up and his glassy blue eyes met her hazel ones. He smiled.

"Can you come down?", he said, loud enough for her to hear. Nero was a bit concerned when he saw that there was no path that led to the bottom of the cliff but when he saw Kitara smirk, he knew that she had a trick on her sleeve.

Kitara closed her eyes and allowed herself to fall down. Nero's eyes widened in shock but before she reached the bottom, the entire cove lit and huge flaming wings spread from her back. Her wings flapped once and she zoomed back up. Kitara opened her eyes to see Nero's jaw drop, making her laugh.

Still in awe, he watched her slowly land herself in the sands. He grinned and dove back into the water. Kitara almost took a step back when he suddenly emerged to the surface with his entire body turned to water. Once his foot touched the sand, the water cascaded down from his body like waterfall, revealing his normal form.

Kitara laughed as he stood in front of her.

"What? You thought you're the only one who has tricks?", he said.

"No, it's just that, I thought you'd be naked", she said between her giggles.

"I can take my clothes off if you want", he wiggled his eyebrows and let out his signature grin.

"Heavens! don't", she said. "I'd much prefer to see you with clothes on"

"But you haven't seen me naked"

She cringed and rolled her eyes. Kitara walked away from him and sat herself down on a nearby rock. Nero shook his head and released a quiet laugh as he sat himself down across the red head.

"So, why'd you made me come down here?", Kitara asked.

"Can I not?", he said and once again grinned. Kitara's expression turned sour at what he said and attempted to stand. Nero laughed and placed both his arms on her shoulder to sit her back down.

"One moment, we were trying to kill each other and the next, we're sitting here", she said sarcastically.

"Well that's how things work around here, love", he said. When she didn't respond, he spoke again. "Actually, I just wanted to properly thank you", he said as his face softened.

"Thank me? What for?"

"You know, about earlier. It's not everyday I come across someone who has a sense of justice. I didn't think you'd actually share that victory with me", he said.

"I just realized that none of us was going to win. We'd end up wasting our strength and mana if we kept fighting", she said.

"If you ask me, I wouldn't really mind losing. We won last month anyway so I was planning to give the fire nation a chance", he grinned.

"A cha-? How dare you?! It's a game of luck!", she defended.

"Ooh sorry, did I touch the ego?", he grinned.

"I don't speak nonsense, Nero Siege", she shook her head and stood up and began to walk.

"Hold on", he stopped her. "We should meet again sometimes"

"Unlike you, I don't waste time on that kind of thing."

Again, her blazing wings spread and it lit up the entire cove. But before she left, she looked back at the white haired boy.

"The next time you'll be seeing me would be in the battlefield", she said. With one flap of her wings, she zoomed up to the top of the cliff.

"As always", Nero said before he turned and dove back into the sea.