Although it was nice to be able to take a bath and relax without any clothes, the robe that she wore was special. It was one of the few items she had left that was from….home. Did that word even fit that place anymore? Tristana wasn't sure. Still this was the robe that she had on everywhere. She did wash it, but she preferred wearing it. The hood of the robe was able to hide her face. The rest of the robe hid the rest of her yet still allowed her to move around without too much discomfort.

It also made her feel protected in some strange way. When she wore something else, like a tunic or a dress, it felt like she had lost her protection. That didn't make much sense seeing how the robe didn't have any sort of armor or magical property that would actually protect a person. But it was able to keep her hidden. Keep her away from other people. Make it so that she was able to stay in the crowd unnoticed. Tristana's attention went back to Eden when she had wrote the word ALLY in the air. Ally did make sense since it seemed that they obeyed her but didn't really talk to her.

Tristana wondered if Eden had anybody she considered an official friend. Maybe. Maybe not. She couldn't read Eden's mind. Well, unless she used a telepathy spell but that would have been incredibly rude to do so without permission. Besides, they were getting along just fine without resorting to magic. Tristana looked up to the sky and could see the sun peeking through the trees. The sky was a shade of light blue and the trees had different spots of green amongst their leaves. It was rather beautiful.

"Would you like to be friends?" Tristana asked Eden, looking back to her.

Tristana hoped that Eden would say yes. There were only so few people out there that Tristana was able to introduce herself to. And it seemed that maybe Eden might enjoy somebody to spend time with them. She could also visit Eden in the forest, Tristana assumed that she lived here, and tell her stories or be quiet and just relax together. That could be fun. 

Eden blinked at the sudden question of friendship. It certainly came from out of the blue, but her voice was filled with so much sincerity that it was nearly difficult to even try and mask malice behind it. No, from what she could tell, malice was probably a foreign concept to her, so she returned a simple nod as her answer. Who knows, maybe she could learn a thing from Tristana like she did with Rizka.

However, before things could go from their, the bushes rustled as the squirrel from before ran up to Eden's side. "They come in three," it alerted her, causing Eden to push herself up to a sitting position. Her ears were focused forward, listening to the crunching of leaves and sticks of the group headed towards them as her tail rested low, moving only slightly. She knew they were coming, but she could not tell much else. NOt knowing what weapons or armor they had would make jumping them too risky. Still, she could feel the fur on the back of her hands grow.

"OH, wow! You weren't kiddin'!" came from the woods as a human and elf broke through the foliage: one armed with bolas while the other a whip. "Two babes, chillin' in the sun, one of them stark naked. Good figures too. I bet we can get a good price on the. What say you, boss?" The last to emerge from the woods make Eden's eyes slit up like a wild cat, tail raised high, and her nails shaping straight to claws as the fur in her hands grew and shaped them more into tiger paws.

An orc with a bladed scar across his eye, as if mirroring Tristana's in image, though not tale or size. "Be sure not to bruise them up too much, boys. I would like to get as much silver on them as we can."

Tristana was thrilled to see her nod. This meant that they were friends! Although Tristana liked to pretended that she only asked the question because she was nice, that wasn’t the main reason why. In truth Tristana had been lonely all of her life. There were some nice people out in this world but they only came by so often. There was a nice orc that she met but she hadn’t seen him ever again. She had met the goddess Shiloh and tried to keep in touch afterwards with letters, but Shiloh had never written back. Tristana could only guess that the letters had been forgotten. Then there was Serci who was great. But everytime they met he would leave before she got the chance to suggest that they meet up again. For all Tristana knew she might never see him again. Those three were the only friends that she had ever had before now. And they all faded away, one by one. Everytime a friend left like that it left Tristana feeling lonelier and emptier than before.

She might have seemed to be abrasive or quick with Eden but that was only because she didn’t want to watch her walk away to never be seen again. Perhaps Tristana was being selfish. Perhaps Eden wanted a friend too. Either way, Eden answered yes. That was what was important. Suddenly the squirrel friend returned out of the bushes and come up to Eden’s side. The squirrel must have said something important since Eden sat upright quickly and be more alert. Tristana herself couldn’t hear much but then again she wasn’t listening as well and didn’t have as good ears that Eden had. But she did know to keep herself quiet while Eden listened. Tristana noticed that the fur on the back of Eden’s hands seemed to grow. She discovered herself what Eden was so nervous about when a human and an elf broke through the foliage.

Quickly, Tristana grabbed ahold of her backpack and put it in a safe area behind the rocks. Then she cast an Arcane Empower spell which would allow her magic to be more powerful. Since she had a greater mana potion earlier, her mana was refilled. She noticed that Eden’s eyes had more noticeable slits and that she had grown fur. It seemed to be because of the apparent danger the strangers presented. The orc boss had a scar like hers but he was much taller and larger. They seemed to be wanting to catch both Tristana and Eden. Tristana let out a small sigh.

“If you leave now we will let you go freely. But I suggest you will want to leave.” She said to the three strangers.

She then leaned over to Eden and whispered to her. “Now would be a good time to ask your manticore friend to come back.” She whispered to Eden. 

"Heh, the little one has spunk. I like that," the orc cackled with a wide grin on her face. "It will be fun breaking her."

While the manticore would certainly be a surprise aid to drop on them, she knew he would watch and observe first before acting, meaning it was up to Eden to start the aggression. She pushed herself to her feet and into a dash at the foes before her, eying the hands of the elf as he spun the bola in his hand. He was not going to use it as a weapon directly, but instead tossed it out to catch her legs and immobilize her, so when he moved to throw, she already got ready to leap into the air, making sure her legs were not close together when the tool left his hand and flew into the air. Unfortunately for her, they were able to tangle up a single leg, the weights upon them impacting her leg and affecting her landing. However, adrenaline flowed through her blood and pushed through the pain to get into his face and launch a kick into his side, using the weights as an addition to the kick's potential, though also doing more recoil back because of it.

"That bitch," spouted the human, lifting the whip into the air before cracking it in her direction, forcing her to step back. All this time, the orc stood and watched, grinning as he watched the spectacle of struggle before him. The tigerkin was clearly trained for close quarters. That probably meant the collar was there for arena status. Still, it meant he could easily take mental notes about their skills in case the other two crumbled too quickly.

She was highly disappointed in the response from these strangers but was not at all surprised. Instead of rushing out, she closed her eyes and curled herself into her own body. Her mind was focused entirely on concentration. Tristana snapped back up normally but something was different. The woman’s eyes were extremely intense. They were almost wide in surprised but entirely focused. She was staring directly at the three foes. They were the enemy. She also needed to take care of her ally. Tristana ran over to the human with the cracked whip and leapt into the air. He had been facing Eden and had clearly not been expecting Tristana to actually fight. He had tried to use his whip to fend her off but she was too close for that to properly work.

The worst she got was a crack of the whip to her leg which she was able to ignore. She had felt worse in her lifetime. Tristana ruthlessly took his surprise to her advantage. She snatched his head in her hands then got her face extremely close to his. This added even more surprise to him since most fighting involved weapons and staying away from the opponent. Tristana opened her mouth and fire sprang out from it. Blasting all directly onto his face. It was her Fire Breath spell. All of this happened in a matter of seconds. She wasn’t just out to maim or attack. Tristana was out to kill. The burst of fire that had hit the man’s face also burned his neck. The scent of burning flesh lingered in the air as the screams of the man could be heard through the forest.

Tristana finished her attack and dropped him to the ground. Then she backflipped over to Eden. She raised up her hands and cast a spell called Archcure at Eden so that any injuries that she had gotten would vanish. Then she cast a spell of Archprotection. Archprotection would give both Eden and Tristana protection from minor attacks and ranged attacks. Tristana had a number in mind of how many spells she had left that she would be able to do before she had to get another greater mana potion. Her battle fighting style was a mix of magic and acrobatics. That's how she fought.

But she also knew that her attacks were not very strong unless they had magic or speed involved. She was not physically strong or had high defences. On top of all of that Tristana did not have any weapons or armor except for a simple bo staff. Magic was a part of her life and a part of fighting. However, she could not fight alone. Which was why she used Archcure and Archprotection on Eden. They needed to work together. 

In combat mode, Eden's senses were always heightened. After all, if they were not, she would have most many more matches in that stone cage her previous owner called the arena. Every moment mattered, including ones where she could catch her breath, allowing her to quickly undo the tangle of weights that bound her leg, only doing half its intended job. As she did, another presence came close, but it was that of an alley than foe. Magic washed over her, a tingling feeling felt within her bruised leg as the pain washed away and color slowly returned to normal while another enveloped her in a mana shell, granting some extra protection to her naked body.

By the time she felt ready, fur quickly enveloped the hands and forearms of the tigerkin, shifting her structure to more like paws, sharp claws replacing her nails being branded out. A small growl escaped her throat as she kicked herself forward, slashing the face of the elf, leaving gashes across his nose as he reeled back in pain. It was at that time the orc stepped forward.

"I see. Guess that  means I need to get my hands dirty, huh?" Holding his arm out, it seemed as if a massive hammer fell from the sky and into his possession, with that moment showing a string of rune-like tattoos slashed down his arm. "Guess it has been a long time since I had the joy of making you slaves break down into obedience…"

Making no movements, Tristana stood by her friend. When the orc moved forwards her mind jumped to all the things she could realistically do. Transformation. Her eyes glanced up to the trees hiding bits of the sky. There wasn't enough room. She could end up destroying the forest. Fire was out of the question too. Her magic was limited. An idea popped in her mind. The sword. Eden had a sword earlier. If she could only get close enough to grab it, they would have a weapon. Knowing that the fight would be impossible without some sort of weapon, she leaned over to Eden.

"I am going to cast a spell. You need to get your sword." Tristana whispered to her.

Lifting up her hands, bits of magic pouring out of them, she muttered unheard words. Fog appeared out of nowhere. It covered both her and Eden.

"Go!" She shouted to Eden.

The fog would obscure the enemy's vision. Racing to her bag, she attempted to snatch it up. One more spell. It couldn't be anything above basic. All she had left unless she was able to drink another mana potion. Her foot hit a rock as she ran. Surprised by it, she became off balance and fell to the ground. Face first into the dirt. Ignoring her pain, she attempted to scramble to her feet. Would her clumsiness be her undoing? Tristana must have hit a rock. Drops of blood trickled down her arm. Had Eden gotten to her sword? Tristana hoped dearly that she did.