The War of the Sects (Peregrine x Laifan)

[Peregrine]

The Fire Sect was careful about who they let through their borders. They had to be, when every visitor had the potential to be a spy, thief, or assassin. Every visitor was put under careful scrutiny, their affiliations confirmed, their reasons for visiting checked and rechecked. With such careful observation, there was no way they'd let an unnatural, unmarked, and unclaimed visitor like Shen through their checkpoint.

Luckily for the young man, there was more than one way into the sectlands. While the sect guarded the common and uncommon paths into their lands, the Fire Sect had far too much territory for them to guard every inch of the border, even with their massive number of followers.

Shen had taken advantage of that. He'd snuck his way into their territory on their wild southeastern border, following a trace of pure fire energy he'd felt drifting along with a breeze. Under normal circumstances, Shen would have likely ignored it. Fire energy was no more tempting to him than any other natural energy, only as useful as a taste of the full magnitude of the universe. However, a week long heat wave had left him trapped and frustrated at an inn run by the sun sect, and now he was antsy to make progress of any sort. Under those conditions, the taste of fire energy had been too much for him to resist.

Of course, there was no doubt that the Fire Sect would be sending someone down to check on whatever was producing the energy, and likely soon, but Shen decided to take the risk anyways. It was almost certain that whoever would be coming down here to collect it would be further away than he was, which meant there was time for him to slip in and snag the natural treasure before the Fire Sect even knew he was there.

Shen let out a relieved huff as he finally managed to pull himself to the top of the cliff he'd free-climbed his way up. The black-haired young man sprawling out on top of the rocky ledge for a couple of seconds before hauling himself back to his feet, unwilling to simply lay there exposed to the full intensity of the sun.

Perhaps it was unsurprising considering the fire sect worshiped Ignis, the god of fire, but 'shade' was an almost foreign concept in their lands. For those who worshipped Ignis, or other gods with a heat-related domain, the glare of the sun was likely nothing more than a minor annoyance, if not completely comfortable, but Shen wasn't so lucky.

Of course, he was more than strong enough to survive a naturally hot day, even bearing the full weight of the sun. But there was a reason he'd been trapped for the last week, and it certainly wasn't because he'd liked that inn's rooms so much. Of course, Shen had the nagging suspicion it was only going to get hotter as he got closer to whatever was releasing all the fire energy.

Shen wound his way slowly up the cliffs, balancing between trying to find a route through the boulders and scree, and making sure he was always moving generally in the right direction. Eventually, however, the ground abruptly leveled off, and Shen found himself on the top of a small mesa that overlooked the nearby cliffs. Surrounding him, vine plants grew across the ground in neat rows, while one of the plants had a bright red fruit, releasing enough heat to cause the air around it to distort.

Shen winced almost immediately after he took in the sight. This was obviously a garden, which meant his guess that he'd be the one to get here first was likely off the mark. There was no telling when one of the Disciples of Fire would show up.

However, rather than doing the sensible thing and getting his ass out of there as though someone had set it on fire, Shen began to creep closer to the fruit. He'd come this far just to get a taste of the fire energy, and he didn't feel like giving up so easily. Besides, if there was one thing Shen was quite convinced about, it was his ability to run away.

After he'd glanced around a few more times, looking for any tell-tale signs of fire traps that might spring if he moved too impatiently, Shen darted forward reaching for the fruit. Just before he touched the burning fruit, a midnight blue haze surrounded his hand, like someone had wrapped the appendage in a starry sky. He grabbed the fruit quickly and tugged it loose from the vine, ignoring the burst of heat that surrounded his body as a mass of fire energy filled the air from the disconnected stem.

Shen took a deep breath, inhaling the scraps of fire energy, ignoring the way his tongue burned as though he'd just chewed up a chili pepper. The heat traveled down his throat, searing his lungs before settling somewhere in the middle of his belly.

This was… a very potent treasure, Shen realized. Even just the scraps from the broken vine had contained so much fire energy. There was no telling if he'd even be able to safely eat the fruit.

The sound of footsteps on gravel abruptly reached his ears, and Shen's head snapped to the opposite side of the mesa from where he'd scrambled up. Someone was approaching, doubtless to claim the treasure that Shen had just snagged for himself. Shen prepared to run, before he abruptly found himself hesitating. The steps didn't sound heavy, and he couldn't help but imagine that the true experts of the Fire Sect would find it beneath themselves to walk to such an out-of-the-way location. A youth, then?

Shen found a smile unconsciously spreading its way across his lips. Already, he could feel his heart rate starting to speed up in his chest. In truth, what Shen really wanted wasn't this fruit, but a heart-pounding fight with someone who could help him dig deeper into his technique. And what would cause a more heart pounding fight than someone struggling to reclaim a stolen treasure?

Prepped to bolt in an instant if he realized he'd misjudged the sound of the approaching footsteps, Shen waited with baited breath for the challenger to appear over the edge of the cliff.

 

[Laifan]

Rubeus narrowed his eyes briefly at the glare caused by the hot sun over at the harsh landscape of the area blessed by the Fire God, Ignis. It was certainly not as verdant as other regions, but it wasn't really arid or as devoid of greenery as one might assume.

The sun's heat on his skin didn't really phase him, nor did it burn his pale countenance as it happened for the people with no fire affinity. One look at his general countenance and his vibrant red hair and eyes quickly gave away his magical element. The fact he hardly needed to cover his torso, choosing to wear a crimson vest that exposed most of his chest, also spoke of his magic level - his body ran hotter than the norm, as if he was permanently suffering from a fever.

He climbed his way up the cliffs steadily over to his destination - the obvious pull of magic as if a flame beckoning a moth. Well, like everything magical in this side of the Fire Sect border, it was technically a flame, only in the shape of a precious fruit. The plant that bore them did so very slowly - only every two years - which was why the resulting fruits had such potent magical properties. Even those loyal to the Fire God weren't meant to go picking Fire Fruit do carelessly - in fact, many had been punished for such a thing, being branded as thieves by hot irons. Rubeus was a loner, not an idiot. He would pick the fruit and offer it to the closest shrine, so as to get rewarded by way of magic or other type of compensation. Besides, if left alone, there might be the danger a thief from another sect might get to it, or just a greedy idiot seeking more power.

His footsteps came to a definite halt when he finally walked close enough to be able to glimpse the plants and the fruit. He also had a clear view of the man who'd beaten him to the fruit.

"I believe that doesn't belong to you."

Even if the man had served Ignis, his right to the fruit would have been questionable. As it was, he could easily tell from the man's aura he didn't serve the Fire Sect. His hand reached for the handle of the large flame sword strapped to his back, Belial.

"You got guts, to trespass onto this land and to steal from it. You will put that fruit down quietly and maybe you won't turn into charcoal."

His expression certainly told the other man his words were more than a politely worded request. Taking into account his fiery nature, Rubeus considered the other man was certainly lucky.