A Crash Course in Butt Kicking

[Brigid Cassidy]

Note: continued from 'Meeting at the Fanum'.

FIONA'S LIVING ROOM

:: Brigid looked at Nara in total bewilderment ::

"ARE YOU CRAZY, MCKENNA??? YOU'RE GONNA GET TRASHED!!!"

[Nara McKenna]

"Perhaps. Perhaps not," Nara said, not phased by Brigid's outburst. "It needed to be done. Even if I loose, I still win because I honor my Tribe since I stood up to him."

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid looked over at Fiona, who was sitting quietly at the bar with an iced coffee ::

"She's crazy, right? No way she can take him. Are you listening to me???"

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona took a sip of coffee to keep from smirking. It was rare to see Brigid this flustered ::

"I think she can, with a bit of training."

[Nara McKenna]

"Training?" huffed Nara, seemingly insulted. "I've been trained by my Tribe. Besides, I have something that will help me in the fight. I'm not stupid, Brigid."

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona slid off the bar stool and left her drink behind ::

"Come with me, both of you."

:: She made her way to the fitness room ::

[Nara McKenna]

"Be there in a minute." She walked off towards her belongings that were pushed up against the wall in the living room and started ruffling through a large duffel bag.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid muttered in gaelic, and reached for the comfort of a beer before following ::

[Nara McKenna]

Nara pulled out a polished wooden box made of oak that was a little over a foot long. Carved onto the top was the McKenna crest, a griffin set inside the bordure pattern, painted gold, green and blue.

She tucked it under her arm and went into the training room. "I appreciate what you want to do, but I need to do this alone."

Garou pride had much to do with Nara's attitude.

[Fiona Devlin]

"Aye, but you are my champion, so indulge me."

:: She smiled, and bowed respectfully to Nara ::

[Nara McKenna]

Fiona had a point. She was being represented by Nara and the Immortals honor was at stake too. They should have a small say with the challenge.

Very small ...

"Very well," she replied begrudgingly.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid wandered in and took a seat ::

"What's in the box?" she inquired.

[Nara McKenna]

Nara set the box down on the table and reverently placed a hand over the seal. "Cormac's Klaive."

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona's eyes lit up as she recognized it. She and Cormac had been good friends ages ago. The sight of seeing it now as Nara took it out of it's case brought back a flood of memories ::

"Cormac's Klaive!!!" she squeaked.

[Nara McKenna]

The 11" blade was crafted in silver, as all Klaives were. The handle was carved into the body of a Griffin with it's wings expanded out as the rest of the hilt. Gaelic runes were chiseled into the first 2" of the blade on either side that represented strength, power and truth.

Nara held the weapon gingerly with both hands, hefting it up so the weight of the Klaive could become familiar once more. She only used this weapon once when she assisted a Theurge in completing the Rite of the Broken Vessel. A powerful Wyrm tainted Klaive needed to be destroyed. It was whispered that the blade was touched by the Wyrm itself and to speak it's name would bring death to the one that uttered it.

All that had powerful Fetishes stepped forward to use them in destroying the defiled weapon. Few were able to survive it with their magicks intact. Cormac's was one of them, but few knew that it had survived. The power that she had in her hand was practically immeasurable.

"Yes."

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona looked upon it with reverence ::

"I never dared to think it was in your keeping." she gushed.

[Nara McKenna]

"That was the general idea," she smirked proudly. "I've been keeping it safe until the proper time to use it. I feel that time is now."

[Brigid Cassidy]

"Aaaahhhhhroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooo ..."

:: Brigid gave a gleeful howl at the sight of it, but faded out as Nara gave her the oddest look ::

"... sweet." she grinned. ;)

[Nara McKenna]

"What was that about?" she questioned with a raised brow.

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona laughed ::

"I've always wondered that myself. Sometimes I think she should have been born a Garou." :D

:: She took a pair of Kodachi (short japanese swords) from the wall and began warming up ::

[Nara McKenna]

She chuckled, "Probably why we're er ... um ..." She almost let it slip but recovered as quickly as she could. "Get along so well."

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid touched the tip of her nose with her tongue when Fiona wasn't looking ::

[Nara McKenna]

Her eyes went wide for the briefest of moments.

Stop that!!! she said inside Brigid's head.

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Brigid straightened up as Fiona turned, and tossed one of the Kodachi for Nara to catch with her free hand. Going over to the wall, Fiona drew up a cutlass, formerly owned by Silas Balan. The combination seemed unorthodox, but so was Fiona ::

[Nara McKenna]

Nara caught the Kodachi with her left hand and took pause to examine it. "The balance will be different then fighting with my fang daggers. I prefer using the Klaive with one of them."

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona nodded, tossing the cutlass over to Brigid ::

"I'll use the kodachi then."

[Nara McKenna]

"What're we goin' to do?" she asked, pulled out the fang dagger from it's sheath, hidden behind her back under the jacket.

[Fiona Devlin]

"We're going to fight." ;)

:: Taking back the Kodachi again, she twirled both blades and gave a ready salute ::

[Nara McKenna]

Nara looked at Fiona with a different set of eyes. The Garou was facing an Immortal with who knows how many centuries of experience with sword fighting. This fight would be exceedingly harder then facing Gregor and finally understood. Even if she could barely hold her own against Fiona, that fool of a Get would be nothing.

But she had forgotten one thing, "You realize that this won't help completely, right? Gregor can shift and that changes the fight really fast. As Brigid knows ..." She added the last line with a hint of a smirk.

[Brigid Cassidy]

"Don't get cocky, McKenna." she replied, pointing at her friend with the cutlass. "You owe me a rematch." :mneh

[Fiona Devlin]

"Aye."

:: Fiona grinned as she circled Nara ::

"Don't hold back."

[Nara McKenna]

Nara moved into a defensive posture, her left hand holding the fang dagger closer to her chest with the Klaive out in front of her, eying Fiona carefully. There were no come backs to Brigid's taunting. The Fury's mind was focused on the fight and watching the Immortal like a hawk.

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona moved like a dancer as she took the offensive, pushing Nara to the limit. On the occasions when she made contact with the Garou's body, it was done with the flats of the blades ::

[Nara McKenna]

Nara couldn't take Fiona in human form. The Immortal was too fast and far too many blows were hitting her.

Trying to gain some distance, the Fury rolled under another attack, shifting into her Crinos form at the same time. By the time she was crouched four feet away, she had fully shifted into a seven foot tall Werewolf with an immaculate shiny black coat of fur, her white snout snuffing the air before curling into a snarl.

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Nara towered over Fiona's 5'7" form, but the Immortal didn't stop moving as she switched to defense ::

[Nara McKenna]

Nara took a swipe with her fang dagger and missed Fiona. Twirling it in her massive paw, she flicked the dagger at the Immortal.

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona deflected the dagger with her right, ready to defend against the klaive with her left, or evade a martial attack. She'd dueled with Garou before, and knew how deadly they were. Her eyes will filled with excitement as she waited for the next attack ::

[Nara McKenna]

Nara closed the distance on all threes, wanting to stay low to the ground for easier maneuverability and to protect most of her body from Fiona's weapon. She hunched over and took a swipe at Fiona's legs with a clawed paw and came down from above with the Klaive next.

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona leapt up and rolled backwards over Nara's furry back as she parried defensivley. She landed on her feet to flank the Garou, giving her a playful swat on the rump ::

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid chuckled where she sat ::

"Come on, McKenna!!! You just got spanked!!!" :lol

[Nara McKenna]

Nara didn't take the comment well and snarled at Brigid. "Shut up!!!"

She snatched Fiona's neck with a big paw and started to squeeze with a growl, lifting the Immortal up off her feet. Unfortunately the rage within was starting to creep forward. Brigid's attitude reminded her of how the Get would behave at the fight, mocking and making fun of her ...

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona choked, dropping her weapons as Nara yanked her off her feet. She dangled helplessly as she fought to breathe ::

[Nara McKenna]

Her brown eyes showed nothing but contempt. Before her was Gregor, fighting for air as she deliciously squeezed the life out of him. She would show them! She would show them all not to mess with her honor, her tribe or her friends!

Nara brought the Klaive back and was readying to thrust it forward for the killing strike ...

[Brigid Cassidy]

"NARA!!!"

:: Brigid leapt from her seat, running and clipping Nara's legs with a hard baseball slide to take her off her feet ::

[Nara McKenna]

Nara was momentarily taken by surprise, but her stance afforded her to easily compensate and not fall over. It did stay her hand.

She tossed Fiona away mercilessly and turned to face Brigid. This was the one that had insulted her!

A ferocious growl rumbled forth as she took a wild swing. Unfortunately, her senses had gone over from the angry swelling inside and Nara could not distinguish friend from foe, a by product of being in tune with her moon, which would be present tonight. Keeping her anger in check was most difficult ...

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid rolled low, away from Nara and stood ready with the Cutlass ::

"You need to chill, Girlfriend."

[Nara McKenna]

She stopped midway towards Brigid, brown eyes softening with confusion. This Get had mocked her yet she couldn't help be feel a pang in her gut that something was amiss ...

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid had backed up just near the edge of the doorway and stopped, noting the change in Nara's eyes ::

"Nara ..." she said softly. "... Chill."

[Nara McKenna]

Her voice was soft and soothing. Nara liked the way it sounded and crouched down, ears perking up as the growling subsided. It was hard to understand why she was so mad. Her mind felt befuddled, like a fog was still hovering inside it, making it hard to focus and understand what was happening.

[Brigid Cassidy]

:: Brigid lowered her weapon, kneeling as she set it on the ground. She held out her arms wide, waiting to hug the garou ::

"It's okay. Come to me."

[Nara McKenna]

The words made sense and they made her feel safe. She whined, discarding the Klaive as she approached Brigid on all fours. Brigid's arms couldn't make it around the Garou's waist, but ever so slowly they began to come together as Nara shifted back into her human form and hugged her properly.

Nara's head rested against Brigid's shoulder and held her tightly, trying to stop the shaking. She was horribly exhausted and felt foolish for loosing control.

[Brigid Cassidy]

"I'm sorry."

:: Brigid held Nara, stroking her hair to calm her, and kissed her on the cheek ::

"I love you, Nara. Don't ever forget that."

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona had remained silent as she recovered, and finally got her breath back to speak ::

"I Knew It!!!" :D

:: She coughed, rubbing her throat, but was grinning madly in spite of it ::

[Nara McKenna]

Fiona's giddy declaration did not lighten the mood. With a humbled sigh, she broke away from Brigid and faced Fiona. "I am so sorry about what happened ..."

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona looked up and coughed again, but managed a smile ::

"Worry not." she replied. "I'm alright."

:: She reached out to take Nara's hand and pulled herself up ::

[Nara McKenna]

"I know," she said grimly. "I haven't lost control since ..."

Nara's nose twitched in disgust at herself. "... since my first change."

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona placed her hands on Nara's shoulders ::

"Whatever you feel you've done wrong, it's forgiven, and I am at your service."

:: She stepped back and gave a gracious bow ::

[Nara McKenna]

"Um," Nara was mildly confused by this behavior. She cleared her throat and rubbed the back of her hair a bit embarrassed. "Thanks?"

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona laughed ::

"Have a rest. We'll continue in a little while."

:: She excused herself, leaving the two alone to talk ::

[Nara McKenna]

Her eyes followed Fiona out of the room, but then quickly diverted under Brigid's gaze. She had no idea what to say to her. What happened was intense, and the Garou knew that if she didn't have strong feelings for the Immortal, she probably would have end up ripping through the two of them.

She wasn't sure how to feel about that. It was like she was giving up a part of herself to Brigid and that scared her.

[Brigid Cassidy]

"Hey."

:: She walked over to Nara ::

"You heard the Mom. It's cool."

[Nara McKenna]

"Yeah ..." She said, turning her back on Brigid to pick up the fang dagger that Fiona had deflected.

[Brigid Cassidy]

"Don't beat yourself up over it. There's no damage done."

[Nara McKenna]

She replaced the dagger back in it's sheath underneath her jacket and nodded. "I know."

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona walked back in again, scooping up the cutlass with her foot and catching it. She gave Brigid a wicked swat across the backside with the flat of the blade ::

"Come on."

[Brigid Cassidy]

"IIeeeeeee!!! >_< Dammit!!!" :grumble

[Nara McKenna]

Nara quietly replaced the Klaive inside the box and left the room. The Immortals antics failing to crack a smile.

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Fiona blinked as she saw Nara leave the room, and she followed ::

"Where are you going?"

[Nara McKenna]

She carefully placed the box back inside the duffel bag and answered Fiona with a gruff, "Out."

[Fiona Devlin]

:: Brigid was about to interject when Fiona stopped her ::

"No. Let her go. She'll come back when she wants to."

[Nara McKenna]

She grabbed her gloves and sunglasses and left without a word. What Nara needed was a nice long ride far away from the Condo to get her head screwed on right and sort out feelings that she never had before.