Starlight Life Of The Sage

Cara and Zara both decided to spend a day on their cultivation. The decision came about after some enlightenment from both parties, though neither could see through the other's thought process. It was serendipity (and nothing more) that their wills aligned.

Cara, herself, thought it was a good change of pace. She spent a large portion of the previous day running around the city, and she did need to reinforce her realm a bit. The two passed their time in peace, each focusing on what they lacked and the road forward.

-

Cara stood from the bed and stretched her legs, finding them a bit numb from the meditative pose. Zara was still in the throes of her own meditations. Cara didn't disturb her as she passed by.

The downstairs of the inn was lively. Cara found her way to one of the tables, her stomach hungry and her mind unfocused. The tablecloth and the chair were of a high quality and felt smooth to the touch, almost like silk. Cara rubbed them a few times with a bit of a goofy grin on her face.

"Look at that hick over there, astounded by a mere cloth," said a young woman a few tables over. "How did someone like that even get into this place? Is the Dancing Fire Inn going to shit?"

Cara's eye twitched at the sudden insults. She looked up to see a girl in her late teens wearing a teal-colored brocade dress. The ugly color sparked Cara's memory. It looked identical to the color that that Mage wore, the one who was from the 'Four Families', the one who used an identification spell on her and said Cara looked like someone from the Stonelight lineage…

Cara took a deep breath and tried to pay the taunt no mind. She couldn't let every arrogant child get a rise out of her.

As soon as Cara decided to let the slight go, the entire building almost seemed to shake. A familiar aura overwhelmed the dining room.

"Oh no," Cara muttered under her breath while pinching the skin between her eyebrows.

"What did you just say?" Zara's voice echoed from the top of the staircase in the back of the dining area. Her words were directed at the sharp-tongued noble girl.

"Tch, are you talking to me?" said the girl in the teal dress. "Do you know who I am?"

"Do you know who -I- am!?" Zara echoed her question but louder. Her tone was almost sarcastic.

"You damned bumpkin, I am the Enra Zeitgar! Granddaughter to Elron Zeitgar, the head of one of the Four Families! Who are you to raise your voice at *me*."

"I am Zara, one of the twelve direct disciples of The Sage! And you just insulted the person most precious to me in all the world!" Zara's voice echoed over the room like thunder and she jumped the railing on the stairs. She landed on the main floor with cat-like grace. Her green hair fluttered behind her and her old patchwork robes were gone, instead replaced by a tight-fitted, blue cultivator's robe, a powerful artifact properly weaved with arrays and strong magic. She looked ephemeral, almost otherworldly.

"Disciple of 'The Sage'? What nonsense are you spouting?" The noble woman stood up and her chair screeched as it was dragged backwards across the floor.

Cara held her head in her hands off to the side, almost in defeat. She swore she could hear the hissing and screams of two cats in the background.

Cara closed her eyes and decided to just wait the argument out. She didn't think Zara would actually do anything other than run her mouth…

And that thought was a terrible miscalculation.

Because Zara originally did plan on just fighting with words, but her foe held no such inclinations. The young woman of the Zeitgar family pulled one of her white gloves free and used it to try and slap Zara, driving it with the power of a lower Xantian Outer Cultivation.

Cara's eyes snapped up. She immediately moved and intercepted the slap, grabbing the woman's hand with her own.

"That," said Cara, "Was a mistake."

A loud sound echoed in the dining hall. Cara's own hand was slightly red, but the Zeitgar girl's face was redder, with a distinct palm mark on it.

Cara's eyes were serious and sharp. Words she didn't mind. A few spitfire insult sessions never hurt anyone. But the moment someone tried to slap one of *her* precious disciples? That was when things hit the fan.

"Teacher, y-you defended me?" Zara asked. Her voice was so full of sugar and joy it could send a healthy man into a diabetic coma.

The Zeitgar girl, on the exact opposite of the spectrum, wore a scowl so twisted and full of salt it would make a pretzel jealous. Tears were bubbling up in the corners of her eyes.

Three guards, originally waiting at the sides of the room, all stood. Two of them were in the Xantian Rungs, and one actually was in the Zong realm. He seemed to have two cracks in his core.

"You," Cara pointed at the approaching Zong cultivator. She released her own aura, letting the others sense it. "If we're gonna fight, let's do it somewhere outside."

Cara's smile split her face and resembled a crescent moon. She had been wanting a chance to fight someone to help test out and reinforce her current cultivation.

"Tabby," said the slapped girl as she turned to face the same man. "I want you to kick this woman's a.s.s for me and, when you're done, hold her still so I can deliver the same slap back to her afterwards."

The Zong realm Knight bowed his head, "Yes, young Miss."

Just as Cara was about to ask where they should take their fight, two hands wrapped around her waist and picked her up into a tight hug.

"Zara, can we do this later?" Cara asked through grit teeth.

"But you protected me in such a gallant manner!" said Zara, her voice almost a squeal.

"Yes, yes, you can hug me later. We're being stared at."

"Let them watch~"

-

Cara followed behind the young noblewoman's entourage as they walked out of the Inn and towards the City Gates. Their fight would take place just outside the East Gate, in the small field before the Soldier Garden.

Numerous stragglers and spectators followed. News started to spread of a Broken Soul Knight slapping a daughter of the Zeitgar family. Not just any daughter, either, but a person in the direct line of inheritance.

Without Cara knowing about it, the situation started to escalate. The news rang like thunder in the ears of several important people, most significant of all were the Guard Captain and the Dixon Family Head.

News also traveled to the Twin Birds Auction House. Everyone who was anybody soon heard of the impending battle.

No one was certain where it came from, but rumors soon spread that the Broken Soul Knight, the young girl, was actually a long lost member of the Stonelight family. The gossip spread like fire through dry brush, igniting already candid conversations into something bigger.

Messengers were springing about, running this way and that, and the situation started to get out of hand. A gathering of people managed to reach the location ahead of the two fighters, even, and bleachers were being set up by opportunistic men. Several vendors took advantage of the situation and set up stalls nearby.

A once empty plot of field, a place once known for settling grudges and duels, started to look more like a circus.

Both Cara and the young Zeitgar girl were speechless at the sight when they arrived to find an absolute ruckus taking place.

"This wasn't here yesterday," said Cara, her eyes wide. She remembered passing by this lonesome field on her way to the city.

"This wasn't here ever," said Enra, the previously rude girl, as she shared a moment of connection with her newfound enemy. At this moment she started to wonder if she had been set up. She wanted to know why so many people were here for a simple grudge. Being so young, she lacked a robust information team of her own, and the situation at hand blindsided her.

Cara sighed. She didn't mind an audience, but she never intended for such a large spectacle. She just wanted to have a good fight against someone near her cultivation level.

"Let's get this over with," said the Knight as he walked into the opening in the middle of the chaos. He unhitched the sword scabbard on his waist and tossed it to the side. "Since you don't seem to have a weapon, I'll not use one either."

"I highly recommend you pick that sword back up," said Cara as her smile returned. She jumped into the ring as well and released her cultivation fully, driving it and drawing extra mana from her contracted Earth Spirit. Her hair danced behind her and her sword-like brows arced up. Her smile was radiant and her teeth shined like starlight. She cut a gallant figure.

"I don't need it to fight a little girl," said the Knight as he took up a fighting pose.

"I'll make you eat those words," Cara replied, and she took up her own boxing stance.

Off to the side, Zara watched her teacher get ready to fight. Her eyes were hazed over and she looked to be in a strange mental space. "Teacher is so dreamy in that body," she whispered, her voice too quiet to hear. "I just want to lock her up and keep her like a pet. No, wait! Better idea! I want her to be my little sister~"