[PRP][PLOT] Sky Duel (Katya VS Lightning Dust:Faun Token)

[Doof]

Doof Wrote:




High over the island of Telrunya, a lone red and white shape darted between hazy white clouds, its movements graceful yet whimsical as it flew in an eastward general direction in lazy arcs, climbs and dives. It was a demon, a detail that would be impossible to discern from the ground, and she was a common sight in the skies before the wintry storm.

Now, the skies were a little less hostile, though no less overcast, and Katya had a lot on her mind. The Guardians- their will be done- had set for the squires a series of tasks. Her frail constitution had kept her inside during the cold and made her miss many an opportunity to gather the task objectives, and she was well behind the others in many ways by now.

The air was still a little frigid from the blast of arctic weather that had recently struck the isle, and the wind hadn't completely died down, but after having been grounded by the weather for so long, Katya simply couldn't resist a chance to spread her wings and get back into flying, something she loved to do more than anything. The weather on the ground had warmed to a milder temperature, but up in Telrunya City and the skies over the isle, the air was still very close to freezing. For the flight, Katya had taken to wearing a pair of goggles, a white scarf that was wrapped around her face, some adult-size wing-warmers and a skin-tight, white bodysuit that, in the wind, might not have provided too much insulation normally, but the exertion of flying was helping to counter that chill. In fact, Katya was only really feeling the bite of the cold air in her fingertips, toes, ears and tail tip.

Katya bore left, skimming under the lower surface of a flat cloud, occasionally rising up into it, arm outstretched skyward, then pulling it back and looking at her hand. Although much of Telrunya was no longer suffering from the cold, the avid flyer knew that up in the sky, it was entirely possible to ice over while flying through a cloud, and she was relieved to see that her fingertips were clear of any ice. With that, she flapped hard and drove right through the cloud to what she hoped would be blue skies above.

After a few seconds of grey-white cloud surrounding her, Katya did indeed emerge into clear blue skies, and the blinding brightness of the sun. She winced and looked away from it, holding her left hand up to shield her eyes from its rays. That's when she saw something- a shadow, a blur moving at incredible speed just to the right of the sun and nearly impossible to notice sooner thanks to the light and its colour and speed.

What had been a blur against the sun's glare quickly resolved into a feathered and furred creature, around her size, blue-green in colour and coming straight at her. The demon's quick reflexes kicked in, her wings snapping out to their full span and flexing slightly, causing her to snap-roll to the right and downwards, away from the other flyer who was mercifully starting to climb up and away from the near-collision. Her wings trembled and fluttered from the strain of the hard turn, but she had made it. She relaxed a little, widening her maneuver to a long, lazy inverted loop that brought her back down into the cloud, then around and out again to face whoever it was that had almost slammed her out of the sky. She was sure at first that it was an angel but now that she could see it clearly, it sent a shiver down her spine. One of the heretics, a faun by the looks of it, but... different.




Lightning Dust had had enough of being cooped up in the tree and was out for a lovely flight... or more like a serious need for speed craving. She felt trapped constantly inside the tree, with its looming bark walls and lack of wide open sky. Things just hadn't felt the same since they had left Equestria. Not even Spitfire's new Wonderbolt academy seemed to hold up to snuff. And the rest of the Wonderbolts? Pfff. She hadn't even seen Dashie around and she was almost certain that if any pony had felt the same as she did, it would have been Rainbow Dash. But the rainbow faunie had been no where to be seen.

But being up in the sky seemed to change everything. It was as if she left her frustrations at the roots of the tree and took off to some neverland. Not even the n** in the air could phase her, she was focused on speed. Pure speed. This strange place took some of her powers she had in Equestria but gave her one seriously awesome new trick... something akin to RD's sonic rainboom only a little more fancy and she was in the mood to try it out when something caught her attention a little up ahead.

It looked like something... or perhaps someone was coming in her direction. Her exact direction..... right at her.... straight... right... AT HER! WHAT WERE THEY BLIND?!?!

In a last ditch effort to dodge the incoming torpedo, Lightning Dust made a violent jerk twirl upwards to avoid the collision, fanning her feathered wings to force herself to an abrupt halt. Making sure each and every feather was prim and in its proper place, LD glared down at whoever dared take up her air space.

It was an unfamiliar figure, with rather large wings and web shaped like a bat. She would have thought them impressive if the other hadn't almost just taken her head off. "Watch where your flyin, what are you blind?!" she shouted down at the other, hands on her hips as she fluttered in place.

Katya internally recoiled at the aggressive tone of the creature opposite her. There wasn't any harm done but here she was, getting yelled at as though it was her fault. Perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn't, but she'd been practically blinded coming out of that cloud, and not going terribly fast. She was certain the other one should have been able to see her first, and get out the way sooner.

Of course, her mind seemed to selectively forget she'd just flown out of a cloud, and was mostly wearing white.

The red demon held her hands up as she flapped and circled to try and remain within earshot of the heretic pae that had just tried to chew her out, her voice defensive as she replied. "Hey you, I'm sorry, but there was no way I could have seen you. Maybe you should have been keeping your eyes open for me if you were going to be flying that fast." Katya had always been keen to try to avoid conflict, but she wasn't about to let herself get lectured by a heretic, whose race belonged on the ground anyway. That, and her adrenaline was kicking in, which tended to produce rather unexpected results.

She flapped a little closer, raising the goggles off her eyes and onto her forehead, revealing her bright yellow eyes. The other individual was in fact very slightly taller than her, but seemed to be older, with a fuller and more developed figure (although granted, with Katya, that didn't take much). It was at this point that Katya realized she was dealing with an adult, and she'd never spoken to an adult that way, not even a heretic. The demon's dealings with races other than angels and other demons were few and far between, and as time passed she was becoming more and more uneasy here, without any of her friends to back her up.

Deciding that she'd made her point, Katya started to flap away. "Well I'm sure this has been a learning experience for both of us. See you later." She warily turned her back and began to dive back to the cloud layer.

Oh, so she was leaving already? Well fine then, good riddance! Who needed some weird red weirdo in an equally weird get up in her skies anyways. Little priss.

Lightning Dust snorted, flaring her wings and taking off in the direction she was going... but her thrill flight was over now. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't summon up the same feelings and gusto about being in the sky anymore. Stopping, she cast a glance back at the quickly fading figure.

No. Oh no. No it wasn't over. No, it wasn't ok. How dare she talk to her that way, who did she think she was?!

Giving it her all, showing the reason for her name, the reason she was nearly the best flyer in Equestria (cursed Rainbow Dash!) she put the peddle to the meddle so to speak and took off after Katya. "Hey! HEY YOU!" she shouted, nearing the girl in no time, slowing only enough to keep the same pace as the other. "Do you think you can just lecture me and then take off? I don't think so! Who even do you think you are!" she snorted, eyeing the girl over again. This was her sky... at least in her mind. And besides, she had never seen anyone quite like the other before... were even did she come from?

Stretched out before Katya was a sea of grey cloud, occasionally broken in places, and nigh impossible to see through. She knew that she needed to pass through it to get back down and that there was no high ground obscured by the cloud layer in the area. Although quite tempted to give the fauny behind her more of a talking to, she felt that discretion was in order and was, at first, keen to leave the scene. That's when that blue-green blur flashed into her peripheral vision again.

Katya initially pulled away from Lightning Dust, a reflex out of seeing the movement out of the corner of her eye, but when she found herself being yelled at, she steadied her flight, and stayed out of the clouds for the time being, although she continued to fly in the same general direction. "I was not giving you a lecture." Hesitation. "Although you seem to be asking for one." The demon turned to make eye contact with Lightning Dust for the first time since she'd turned away.

"And who I am isn't of any concern to you, Faun. I'm a servant of the light, and that's all you need to know. Maybe if you told me your name first I'd be a little less guarded." She was still assuming this creature was a faun, anyway. Maybe it had some angel blood in it, that would explain the feathered wings. But the skies were the divine right of the servants of the Guardians. That's why they were gifted with wings, after all. Somehow the heretics had stolen that gift. Katya flared her wings out and slowed to a near hover, retaining just enough forward movement so that she didn't wobble in midair. "And I can arrive and take off through these skies as I please." As much as Katya's stomach was rapidly filling with butterflies from the act of talking back to an adult- heretic or no- something was tugging at the back of her mind, a challenge- this creature seemed to be a talented flyer. And fast, to boot.

"Besides, 's not as if you could stop me if I just decided to lecture you then cut and run." Katya looked Lightning Dust up and down. "Which makes me wonder, who do you think you are?"

Ld slowed herself down as the other turned to face her, hands on her round faunie hips. Her tail flicked and she smirked. This kid looked no older than a teen.... even if she had rather large funny wings. Bat like wings... maybe she was related to one of them vampire apple bats? Too bad LD didn't have an apple to test this theory....

And the thing just kept on talking to her! As if SHE were the adult. Puh-lease. As if. "Me? Me..." she huffed. Well of course this strange apple pae wouldn't know the best flyer from Equestria... she probably didn't even know what Equestria was. Poor dear. "I am Lightning Dust. Best flier in these skies for you're information. And did I ask for a lecture now? None of those words left my lips. Nope. Not a one." she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Man was she tough stuff, this kid would turn tail and flee any second now. Lololboy if she could only see how immature she really looked.

Servant.. of light? What a load of hay fries and daisies. Man this kid was really starting to tick her off, really. As if the great LD should be afraid of this little punk? Nah, nah. These were her skies, and this brat was intruding. Snorting, she laughed. "I could stop you with one wing tied behind my back, you don't stand a chance against me. I hope you can put you're words where you're wings are." LD snorted, glaring down the other.

And then it hit her. Put her words... where her wings were. A challenge! It would be so simple. "You. Me. Race. Right now. Winner takes all. I'll show you who you messed with." she mused, smirking. Oh man this would be almost too easy, she was already bored just thinking about smokin' this gal.

"Lightning Dust..." Katya repeated softly. What a truly peculiar name, different even from other Faun names she'd heard. It did carry an air of power about it though. Perhaps names like this were given as titles after a particular display of prowess? "I suppose I owe you my own name now." Her voice was reluctant, but the Faun had seemed honest enough about her name. "It's Katya. And no titles. I don't need them." Katya suppressed a smirk. So this was what 'being smug' felt like.

The scrawny demon's big wings bobbed her up and down with each flap, more like a butterfly than a hummingbird. This girl seemed to still be growing into her shape, something that might have emboldened Lightning if she noticed it. Katya too had an air of confidence around her, but it was definitely more of a quiet confidence; she was not about to turn down a flying challenge and that determination showed in her yellow-eyed stare.

A wave of irritation rolled over Katya's mind as the fauny opposite her talked herself up. It had gotten to the point that when LD struck her intimidating pose, Katya just took it like it was another overlown boast. She snorted and simply rolled her eyes, paying little heed to most of the words being said, until her ears caught the word 'race'.

Air race. The teen had been tearing through the skies over Telrunya city for years, faster and more skilfully than her friends, but what good was being 'fastest in town'? Perhaps it was time she really put herself to the test. perhaps there was more than one opportunity at work.

"Winner takes all, huh?" Katya flapped closer. How interesting was Lightning Dust willing to make this? "When you put it that way... I've always wanted one of your lucky Faun protection tokens. what's your price?"

Titles... what the hell was this weird girl talking about. And her name was funny too. Katya. What kinda name was that? Oh well, it didn't matter. Looks like she was going to agree to the race anyways and that meant out of her mane in no time.

But the girl wanted something? LD snorted, rolling her eyes. "Fine fine. If you win, you can have the trinket." she mused, flicking at the thing tied around her neck. What was her price? That was a good question... this girl didn't look to really have anything the bright colored fauny was interested in... besides maybe gloating rights. That might work.... "If I win, you have to tell everyone that I, Lightning Dust, am the best flier in the sky and I whopped you're tail." she smirked.

Yeah, that'd do.

"So? That good enough for ya?"

Katya hid her surprise at the Faun's apparent lack of concern over her protection token. Surely it must have been something of great value for the guardians to demand its acquisition. Probably. Perhaps the Faun themselves were completely unaware of how important these tokens were.

That, or this airborne Faun was so supremely confident in her skills that she simply did not consider the idea of losing.

The reverse possibility, that Katya might have to sing this gratingly arrogant creature's praises to the rest of the sky was peculiar, unendurable and entirely unenforceable. And they call me naive. So be it. A little humiliation wagered against the chance at getting one of her four necessary artefacts? There was no hesitation.

"Good enough." Katya flapped herself around in a tight circle, before ascending a little higher above the cloud layer, scanning the sky for a course to run. It wasn't easy, since there were still several scattered layers of clouds around, and there weren't any towers or mountains this high up to use as corners. Unless...

The little demon knew from previous overflights of a striking vista below the blanket of cloud- there was a slight rise in the ground underneath them. Although mostly clear of foliage, a single, tall tree stood at the top of that mound. It would be a good checkpoint.

"You know about a small hill in this area, with a single tree at its crest?" Katya asked, looking down at the clouds and trying to guess its general direction. "Maybe we could race each other down there, fly under its lowest branches and straight back up towards this cloud layer. First one to break through to these sunny skies with a twig or leaf from that tree in their hands is the winner." She turned her attention back to the braggart slightly below her. "Happy with that?"

Sheesh did it really take this long to formulate a simple yes or no? Sure took the little thing long enough. Maybe she was shakin in her little flying sweater and had to summon her strength to agree. Yeah... yeah that was it.

Ooh but she was getting brave. Maybe too brave. LD didn't like it... but her proposal sounded acceptable. "Yeah, I've seen it." she huffed, bobbing in the air a bit as she flexed her arms. This was going to a piece of cake and then some. It was a shame. This almost felt so easy that it was mean. Clearly this little demon had no clue about the feats and stunts she pulled back at the Wonderblot Academy. Her name wasn't Lightning Dust for a reason. "Sounds simple enough. Let's do it then." she grinned.

razz umping herself up, she flexed her wings and positioned herself in the direction she had remembered seeing said tree last below the clouds. "You, Me, that tree... on the count of three..." she grinned cockily.  

[Doof]

Katya's large wings once more prevented her from hovering, so she flew a tight circle before bobbing around as she had been. She pulled her goggles back over her face. The faun's smaller wings relative to her body kept her more stable while hovering, and they could be good for speed, but Katya knew her wing size would be more useful in the turn, and could help her keep pace in the climb if she had the shoulder and chest strength.

Which she knew she did.

The demon was satisfied with Lightning Dust's suggestion. "On three, then. I will see you when you get back here." She didn't show any expression on her face, though she was smirking internally. For this informal race, there would be no starting line. They would just float next to each other until 'three', then the first one back above the cloud layer would be the winner. She brushed off a shiver as the northerly wind picked up, ignoring the chilly discomfort. Concentration dominated her features as she began a countdown.

"One..." Katya did a quick mental checklist. Her wings were as warm as they were going to get in this weather. Plenty of blood flow. On the dive, they would be tucked in, then she needed to flare them out on the turn without spraining them, stalling out or hitting the ground or the tree. Too tight a turn would bleed too much speed and kill momentum on the climb. Too gentle a turn would unnecessarily increase the distance she had to travel. And of course she had to pace her climb.

"Two..." This other flyer was very skilled, but seemed to be ruled by her passions and pride. Katya, too, had pride in her skills, but it was more of a quiet confidence that only occasionally spilled over into arrogance. Of course she couldn't count on the possibility that Lightning Dust would make a mistake through that arrogance, but it did shift the odds just slightly in her favour.

"THREE!" The demon's upright posture did not lend itself to a quick start, so she flapped hard while leaning far over backwards. While this had her facing the sky, it also had the effect of an upside down wingbeat, immediately driving her down. After completing her backwards lean, she was face down towards the clouds, plunging ever quicker as she kept flapping to aid gravity in dragging her down, before she guessed that she'd reached a speed where her wings were causing more drag than power, and she tucked them in close to her body, like a little red missile aimed at the ground.

Of course, this dive was where the smaller-winged Faun would have the advantage. She could flap faster, and in exchange for less drag. Katya supposed she would have seen the blue-green blur shoot out ahead had they not just entered the cloud layer. Katya's eyes widened slightly as tendrils of ice formed and quickly melted off at the corner of her goggles. Had the temperature dropped again in that short time? A few more seconds of dive and the tendrils stuck, confirming her fears. As if the bite on her exposed skin wasn't enough confirmation. She quickly pulled the long neck of her thermal wear up over her nose and mouth before once more tucking her arms away at her sides. No way would the demon quit this race for a little ice, but she needed to get out of this blind grey mess of a cloud unless she wanted to be an icicle dropping to earth.  

[Fea Line]

On the count of three, the teal fauny gave a flap of her wings and angled herself downward for the descent. She had done this many times, both here in their new land and back in Equestria. Easy peasey. She was sure even RD could do this in her sleep. But she couldn't get cocky now, she had a teen to make worship her flying abilities.

Flexing her arms a bit, she continued her descent, wings tucked against her back, eyes squinted as she waited for that moment when she broke through the clouds. She could almost taste sweet sweet victory as the last bit of cloud layers ebbed away and the said tree came into view. "Get ready to taste the burn!" she grinned.

Putting on a burst of speed, a thought struck her head. Oohhohoh it was such a mean idea but hey, there were no rules on just how to get to the tree and back. Her Lightning Warp ability. But should she? She could... be fair? Well... was LD ever fair?

Smirking to herself, the teal fauny decided to go for it. Why not. That little whatever she was smarted off, she deserved it.

Mustering up her will, she gave a stern flap of her wings to get herself going faster and faster, the magic in her boiling over until the teal faun seemed to disappear from her current place and warp to distance in front of her, leaving a lightning explosion effect in the sky as the fauny seemed to enter hyper drive.

Winning!

The tree was right there, she was sure to win now, not that she wasn't going to win before.

Or was three right there...

Now it was over there?

Or there?

Or... maybe... nope, it was definitely right there as the teal fauny failed to hit her breaks in time, or at all, and slammed into the branches above. Groaning and now with a piercing pain in her wing, Lightning Dust cursed, not sure what had happened. "This...this is..imposs..." she slurred, her head spinning.

How could she have forgotten she already used her power previous without enough cool down to prevent injuries.  

[Doof]

As Katya's red form shot out from the frigid cloud around her, plunging at extreme speed towards the ground, she yanked the goggles from her eyes, since half her vision was blocked by the rime that had accumulated on them. Her face was freezing, and there were probably icicles sticking to the tips of her ears, a fact she could be sure of if only she could still feel them. Throwing her forearms in front of her nose helped deflect some of the wind blast, although she still had to squint hard against the oncoming rush of air.

She saw- she wasn't sure what she saw. One moment the teal Faun was ahead of her at least two dozen yards, the next moment she had vanished in a blast of light and noise. The red demon gave a little squeak as she blasted through the jagged lightshow, half expecting to be electrocuted, but she came through no worse for wear, except the ice on her clothes and body.

Katya scanned the sky ahead of her, wondering if that was some sort of distraction tactic, and she was by now especially wary of crashing into the other flier. When she finally did spot Lightning Dust, she cursed under her breath. The faun was leagues ahead now, having obviously used some sort of ability to increase her speed, or possibly even teleport. A hotness rose to Katya's cheeks, partly out of anger at what she was starting to consider as foul play, and partly out of her own embarrassment that she hadn't anticipated this possibility. She should have known better than to think a heretic would play fair.

With a slight tweak of her wings' angles, she widened the arc she planned to use to pass under the tree's branches, dipping lower and planning to make a broader turn, covering more distance but allowing her to keep a higher speed throughout, and hopefully into the climb. As she did so, she lost sight of her opponent but figured at this point she had nothing to lose, being so far behind. The ground rushed at her at a dizzying rate, but Katya didn't feel any trepidation. This was a maneuver she had done countless times. This time was just... faster. Much faster. The red demon tucked her arms in to her sides and tensed her slim muscles, becoming rigid as a board while her wings began to pull her out of her dive, straight for the gap between the tree's lowest branches and the ground. To help, she flattened her tail's spade relative to the ground and lifted it slightly, adding a slight push to her turning ability. A slight grunt escaped her clenched jaws as the centrifugal force kicked in, the tree growing from a green speck into a large enough object to fill her vision.

One more minor adjustment put her cleanly between the branches and the ground. There was a blur of darkness as she passed under the tree's shadow and her tail snapped up, hooking a small twig in the crook of its spade. Katya winced as it bit slightly into her skin, something that would have been impossible to avoid at that speed, but she expected to be pulling out splinters later on. Back out in the open sky and with the tree behind her, Katya arced up into a climb, letting momentum carry her for a short while before she started to flap, climbing as quickly as she could back up to the cloud layer. She scanned ahead for the Faun, and was perplexed that she could not see her, not even a trace of her. Had she used her ability again? No, that would have left a very distinctive light pattern if she had. Surely Katya hadn't pulled ahead already?

Knowing it would increase her air resistance, but unable to resist the temptation, the teen flier hazarded a glance back to see if she could find Lightning Dust somewhere behind her.  

[Fea Line]

Spinning.

Turning.

Somersaults and loops.

Swirls, flips, twists and twirls.

Everything around Lightning Dust was doing these and then some. The more she shook her head to try and ground her surroundings, the more violent the landscape seemed to perform its acrobats. Groaning, she shoved a hand to her face, spitting and cursing pony swears under her breath.

She stumbled and tumbled, rolling to some sort of weird flat position to where she could hoist herself up on her hands, yet still caught and tangled in the branches, leaving her rear and and one wing useless. "Oh for Celestia's sake..." she hissed again, trying to tug herself free, only to no real avail. "That little brat.... is probably... miles ahead by na..AAH.." she shouted, pain searing and shooting through her left wing the second she attempted to move it.

"No way. I can't believe this! AAHUG." she shouted again, kicking and struggling, not doing a very good job of getting herself free. Her gaze tore through the clouds and branches, trying to find sight of the little red thing, in front of her, behind her, in any direction so long as it wasn't winning. She had finally managed to get herself free from the vines, only to stand, wobbly, on a branch, just barely able to balance herself as the spinning seemed to finally slow itself down.  

[Doof]

No sign of her. But Katya wasn't about to fall for any tricks. Higher she soared, as she turned her eyes back to the sky above her, determined to finish first.

The cold air was becoming harder to breathe as the demon pumped her wings up and down, hauling herself upwards to the grey cloud layer, her lungs burning, heart pounding and breath coming in heaving gasps as she left nothing to spare in a final sprint for the finish. Even though the wind was rushing by her body, it seemed like minutes had passed before she broke through the clouds to the brilliant sunny skies above.

The little figure wobbled in her flight path slightly as she made a long, arcing turn to recover from her exertion. She searched the sky for her rival, and began to indulge in a breathless laugh when she realized she was the first one up. She circled lazily, waiting for the pegasus to break through the clouds. Katya couldn't wait to see the look on her face.

A minute passed. Then two. The demon began to wonder if her opponent had retreated to the earth to sulk, or had simply flown away to avoid honouring her end of the deal.

No, that wouldn't make much sense. Lightning Dust was irritating and proud, so if she had legitimately lost, she would probably be up here blaming it all on a cramp or something. Katya puzzled over it for a second, then simply sighed and, having recovered her breath, she rolled inverted and once more plunged through the overcast.

There was still no sign of the teal pegasus, which led to quite a bit of furstration on Katya's part. Once descending close to the ground, however, she caught a little colour to her left, and recognized it as Lightning Dust. Hiding in the tree? No, not exactly- she looked hurt. The young demon frowned and flew to the branch she was standing on.

"What happened, you hurt your wing?" Katya asked cautiously. "I won, by the way."  

[Fea Line]

"I think its pretty obvious what happened..." the teal fauny hissed in pain as she tried to adjust her wing, only managing to send shooting pains through her entire back and shoulder. Groaning, she clasped a hand over her shoulder, massaging it roughly as she eyed the red thing up and down.

Realization finally sunk in to her less than clear brain as the other boasted about winning. Her fur prickled and if she had any cat like qualities, her pony tail would be one giant bottle brush of fluff by now. "You can't claim victory, I was injured, that means the race is off! Highly unfair!" she hissed, taking a few teetering hoof-steps forward. "Were going to re do the race....when my wing is better...." she grumbled, arching her head to peer at her broken wing.

Which would be....when. She had no clue. She wasn't even sure how she was going to get back at this point. Walking took to long, and not to mention just sucked in general. But she clearly wasn't about to fly any time soon...

More low grumbles, mumbles and curses filtered from the faunies mouth.  

[Doof]

Katya folded her arms and did her best to mask her irritation at Lightning Dust's insistence the race wasn't valid. Hadn't she been the one to pull some sort of teleportation spell in the middle of what was quite heavily implied to be a flying race? And now she was talking unfair, after she'd managed to lose the race afterwards!

Still, Katya had expected as much from the arrogant pegasus. The teen demon stepped closer, arms still folded, doing her best to look serious, since looking intimidating would probably have been a bit too much of an ask. "You seemed pretty capable before the race." It didn't take much of a tracker to notice the broken or splintered tree limbs that dotted the approach to the branch they were standing on. One even had a teal feather stuck in it. "I'm not sure how they do things where you're from, but if you crash out of a race, that's your own fault." She pointed at the damage she was observing. "Admit it, you took a risk and paid the price." This was getting ridiculous- Katya was sure she won fair and square, and now she was owed a wager.

A thought crossed the teen's mind. Lightning Dust still stood a shade taller, was probably a little heavier, and even injured, was likely to be able to put up a good fight. Taking the token by force was a possibility, given Katya's martial training, and would probably teach this heretic a lesson. But the last thing Katya needed to do was wind up injured herself, especially this far away from the castle. And there existed another possibility, one which might not satisfy the desire to give the irritating Faun a backhand (by the guardians, Lailah was a bad influence) but which would likely be more efficient and have them both on their way in short order.

"You know," Katya began, unfolding her arms and placing her left hand on her hip. "All I really want is to collect my end of the bet and get going back home." She held her right hand up and a faint golden glow seemed to appear around it. "Maybe I can heal you wing, sweeten the deal. You give me your little coin thing, I heal you up, we both go separate ways, and never speak of this again, how does that sound?"  

[Fea Line]

Lightning Dust bit her lip in some sort of half assed attempt to restrain herself from chewing the pulp out of the snotty little teen thing. The pain in her wing, as well as her pride, was far too much to handle at the moment in and of itself. It almost felt like Wonderbolts all over again.

Sighing, LD grimaced at the demon. She had forgotten this was about some silly little coin thing that all the faun had or something. She then cast her eyes suspiciously towards the demon's hand as it began to glow. Her eyes narrowed as she clasped her other free hand over the coin, the one still rubbing and poking at her shoulder blade.. "And how do I know you wont just cripple me further..." she said testily, faintly holding out her hand with the coin, though her fingers still grasped tightly over it.

Forgetting this...ever happened... was tantalizing and tempting. Anything to feign that this never happened, no one would be the wiser that the self proclaimed greatest flier just bit the dust mid air and messed herself up so bad that even a rookie have known better.... "Better yet, how do I know you wont come back? Never having to hear your voice is payment enough at this point and I'm willing to make that bargain...... if I can trust you." she snorted, now drooping forward slightly and still grasping at her shoulder from that irritating pain feeling.

By Princess Celestia had she really messed up this time.....
 

[Doof]

Katya didn't withdraw her glowing hand. "Really, if I had wanted to injure you further, I would have just done it." By now, she was resigned to the Faun's lack of respect and simply rolled her eyes. "And what do you mean 'I won't come back'? If you think I'm not going to fly wherever I please, you're very mistaken. Although if I saw you coming, I'd probably fly the other way, to be honest."

Katya regarded her rival's wing which was starting to swell at the joint. Not good for Lightning Dust. Without waiting for permission, she held her hand out and simply brushed Lightning Dust's wing. The healing magic briefly flowed over the limb, which repaired it- but only slightly. Enough to be noticeable, but not enough to allow her to fly back. "That was a sample. Give me a little time and I can heal it, at least well enough for you to fly home. It might still be sore, though."

Then she extended her left arm and held her hand underneath Lightning Dust's, under the token she was tightly gripping. "Remember, that was just a taste, though. Honour our wager. Pay up and I'll heal you. If you don't, feel free to walk home. What is it, a one or two day hike from here?"

Part of Katya hoped Lightning Dust would do the stupid thing and walk off. She could fly back to the city and be back in the area inside two hours, with a couple of friends would would be happy to play debt collector for her.  

[Fea Line]

Jerking slightly as the glowing hand came forward, she turned to view her wing as best she could, noticing some, but not all, of the pain had been alleviated. Maybe she should just give up the coin and be done with it. The faster it was over, the faster she could go home and sulk in private. Opening her hand to let the coin fall into Katya's, Lightning Dust eyed the demon. "Fine. There. Happy now?" she grunted, turning herself sideways so the other could work her magic on her wings. She cast her a glance, as if to say 'hurry up', but crossed her arms and stood... somewhat patiently... as she tapped her hooves on the branch.
 

[Doof]

With deft speed, the demon's hand closed tightly around the faun token. Because she was lacking her flight bag at the time, she stretched the collar of her flightsuit and neatly dropped the important item under her garments in one swift movement. "Yes ma'am. Happy enough." Katya's tone had suddenly become less irritable and much more respectful. "That's all I was asking for."

Katya stepped forward and once again touched her hand to the Faun's wing. "I don't know if you've experienced healing magic to a muscle trauma injury before, but just in case, don't be alarmed. This'll tingle a little." The glow around her hand brightened and began to radiate outwards, flowing over Lightning Dust's feathers. Pinpoints and streams of brighter light seemed to flow into the wing, rejoining torn sinew and generating that 'tingling' feeling that Katya had warned her about. Her hand slid down the wing, away from its shoulder and towards the tip. Her gentle touch and the soothing, tingling feeling faded once the healing was done and she withdrew her hand.

"All done." With a quick visual inspection of the limb, the little demon nodded an approval of her own work. Not bad. She wasn't great at healing, but she was certainly not bad at it either. "Give it a stretch. If everything's fine, I think we're done here."  

[Fea Line]

Watching as Katya quickly pocketed her coin, feeling it strange the teen was so interested in the thing, LD simply shrugged, waiting for the girl to hold up her part of the bargain. Once the girl's hand shot out to touch her wing, she fidgeted slightly from that said tingling sensation. Though as soon as it began, it seemed like it was over with.

Eyeing Katya sidelong, LD stretched out her wing slowly, as if unsure it had actually worked at first, though she was quickly pleased to find her wing at least worked now. Sore still, a bit tingly yet, but she could at least manage a slow leisurely flight home at least.

Flicking her tail, she turned towards Katya once more. "So that's it then? You have your 'precious' coin, I can fly home and be done with this, yes?" she huffed, though her tone was miles less hostile now. There was a tiny hint of gratitude in her voice, though the stubborn faun wouldn't dare admit it any time soon. The girl would have to pick it out herself if she were keen enough.
 

[Doof]

The short demon let the barest of smirks curl the corner of her mouth at Lightning Dust's appallingly weak attempt at bravado. She could let it slide though, their 'race' was over and Katya had what she needed. Doing her best to hide the smugness she was feeling, the teen dusted her hands as though she'd just performed heavy labour. "Yes, I think my work is done here. You should be able to make it home now."

With that, she spun on the ball of her foot and looked out towards a gap she could see in the leaf canopy ahead. She glanced back at the pegasus behind her and, for a moment, seemed thoughtful about something, but seemed to shake it off and simply said, "Guardians guide us. Farewell."

Katya began to run down the length of the branch, causing it to wobble slightly, especially as it got thinner underneath her. Then, just as it seemed like it wouldn't be able to support her weight, Katya leapt off the side and flung her wings out, descending below the branch at first, then flapping hard and rising out of the tree's foliage, out into the grey sky above.