you could rattle the stars.
you could do anything,
if only you dared

Vhalla truly hadn't meant to let her guard down, her focus entirely on the task at hand. Sweat beads on her forehead the longer she concentrates on that internal magical struggle. Though, when she's distracted by that affinity in the pit of her stomach, she's unaware of the approach of Lazarus, the man leaning against that tree so casually, only revealing himself when his deep tenors echo through the forest. Whirling, she sends that fireball rocketing in his direction, changing its course at the very last possible second. The man hardly having enough time to dive away from the path of destruction, and even he wasn't quick enough to dodge the splinters that flew from the charred tree. Once the moment is over, Vhalla folds her arms over her chest, frowning fiercely at him.

Perhaps she was a touch more shocked than she let on and even a little irritated that he had managed to sneak up on her in the middle of her training. She insults him first, watching as he picks himself up and begins to pick those splinters out of his arm, blood soaking that shirt almost immediately. Her frown only deepens that much more as those blue eyes travel the length of his arm, a prick of guilt tugging in the bottom of her stomach. Immediately, she shoves it away, deciding it was his own for fault for sneaking up on her when he knew full well what she did for a living. When Lazarus responds, Vhal can't help but level a glare at him, entirely pissed that he knew she wasn't paying any attention, "I should have let that fireball hit you," she says dryly then before prowling towards him, eyes locked on the minor wounds across his arm.

When she states that she's certain he wants his ass handed to him, she can see that annoyance flash across his face, a half smile so tugging on the corner of her lips in that moment. "There's no such thing as a cheap shot in a fight," she shrugs, "Plus, I don't know why you're so mad about the sparring, you managed to put me on my back," she says casually, admitting the defeat readily. Vhalla wasn't about to admit that it wasn't a good take down, the man having used the exact same move on her as she did him in that bar all those weeks ago. Letting the subject drop, as she didn't want to discuss what had happened after he put her on her ass, she closes the rest of that distance between them, inquiring if he's okay. She doesn't miss the look of surprise that flashes across his features, as if he were shocked that the assassin could do more than killing and fucking. Unbidden, there's a scowl that settles on her features then. Maybe she shouldn't have asked, yet it was too late now.

He responds simply and Vhalla should have left it at that, instead she reaches for his arm and brings it up to her face, inspecting those bloody marks. Impassively, she reaches a hand up to grasp at the last couple of splinters and pulls them out in silence, the tips of her fingers tinged red with his blood. After a moment of silence, she drops his arm and takes a step back to give the two room to breathe before she allows that coy smile to shift to her features as she makes demands of him once more. Her grin only widens when he responds, her brows arching in delight. "I've never asked for a thing in my life," she says casually, as if she hadn't been begging him the other night in bed. "Anyways, you seem like you enjoy being hit. I bet you're a masochist, huh?" She throws that out there, quiet laughter falling from those luscious lips.

When she finally asks him why he's here, Vhalla can't help but roll her eyes at him, suspicion clearly dancing across her features in that moment. "Sure you were. I haven't seen Ellie for a few days, I just think you wanted to see me," Vhalla states, offering him another roguish smile. "You do realize if you wanted to see me you didn't have to creep around the forest like some stalker," she laughs, those teasing notes falling from her tongue easily, that anger from the other day at the Daray household forgotten, at least for now. "Come on, you're already here, help me out," she states again, those icy eyes finding his green gaze, "Please," she asks him, though that word transports her back to their night in bed. It's almost instant the way heat floods her core, even her breathing hitching slightly. Parting her lips slightly, she has to take several steps away from Lazarus, turning on a heel and moving to the center of that clearing.

That reaction was entirely... unexpected, the woman never having that happen to her before. Even her heart was beating a little harder than it needed to. Swallowing a few times, she cools herself as best as she can, glancing over her shoulder she clears her throat. "If you aren't going to help then maybe you should continue your little hunt for Ellie," Vhalla calls to him before focusing her gaze in front of her. She needed to do something or else she would be closing that distance between them and just maybe she would convince him to take his clothes off in this snow covered winter wonderland. Shoving those thoughts away, she grapples for that power inside of her, trying to ignore Laz as best as she can, as she focuses her gaze on the other side of the pond.

Taking a deep breath, she dives into that power, instantly feeling herself warp into itself as she vanished from her spot only to appear above that pond instead of on the other side of it. A shriek falls from her lips as she desperately tries to throw herself into that power, it's clear she's unsuccessful as she plummets from fifteen feet in the air into the pond. The water is entirely freezing, practically taking her breath away. It takes the assassin a minute before she can find the bottom of the pond so she can kick up. Her head breaks the surface as she takes a huge inhale only to end up coughing and spluttering. Quickly swimming to the edge of that pond, she drags herself out of it, only to flop onto solid ground, her body shuddering fiercely from the cold. As she tries to grasp that fire affinity to warm herself, she realizes almost instantly that the teleporting used too much energy and she couldn't successfully warm herself. As her blue eyes travel to find Laz, she can't even frown at him, her entire frame shaking too much, "Shut up," she splutters out.

Vhalla Solarn

To the stars who listen- and the dreams that are answered