Burn away

Elswor nodded, and closed his eyes, concentrating, before fire erupted in his hands. He surrounded Andrea in fire, and stepped back, periodically adding more fire, to keep the heat constant.

Andrea pulled herself a bit closer, reaching a hand out to the blaze. As the fire lapped at the skin of her hand, she closed her eyes. Her muscles started to relax her pain eventually went down to a dull throb. It took about fifteen minutes in total before she was finally able to push herself up to stand. "Thank...you." she smiled softly. She still limped a bit, as the fire could not heal her completely, but it was enough that she was feeling quite a bit better.

Elswor wiped his forehead, quite tired, but nodded with a smile. "No... no problem, Andrea...anytime, okay?"

Andrea nodded once. She limped back towards her room, glancing at Aisha. She moved over to the bed and sat down, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. ~How long...will he leave me alone?~ She asked, her body still aching for him because of the mix he had given her. She continued to try and fight it, but knew she would not last for long.

Aisha bit her lip. "He said until you were ready and recovered... we can cover for you, you know. Make it seem it's taking you longer to recover than it really is... I'm holding out hope that he'll become his old self before long..."

~I do not want him hurting any of you. I am not fully healed but...by tomorrow I will be. Please....don't get hurt because of me.~ She glanced at Aisha then at Renala. ~I'm...going to get some more sleep now that I am not hurting as baddly.~

Aisha nodded slowly. "Alright, Andrea... sleep well..." She hated this, but there wasn't really anything she could do.

Andrea slept all the way through the night. She stirred in the early hours of the morning. Andrea layed in the bed for a short time, memories of the event playing in her mind. A shiver raked her frame before she finally climbed out of the bed to get ready for the day. After a hot shower, she dressed and waited for her next orders. A hand rested over the stone, her eyes cast down at the ground beneath her. ~Master....~ she muttered with a soft sigh escaping moments later.

One month to the day found Andrea sitting with the rest of the group. She was watching them play the same game they had been the day she had arrived. Andrea met with Raven whenever he called her, and did as he demanded. She was broken completely by that time, and it showed in the way she held herself. She tried to be cheerful around the others, but knew it was not likely to fool them. Andrea had been left grounded, and her only source of comfort had been in the fire that she now kept dancing alone her skin when not around her master.

Andrea had learned english almost fluently by that time, though her accent was still strong. When with the others, she still chose to speak her native tounge more often. At the time, however, she remained silent. A soft, though weak, smile rested on her lips as she listened to the others banter. She had been left alone for the past two days and Andrea was a bit fearful of what that would mean. The last time she had been with Raven had left her bruised a bit, and she was wondering what would happen the next time he called her.

Despite all of this, she had started to think of the rest of the group as friends and enjoyed the time she was allowed to spend with them. She still wished she could have the chance to fly free in the air, but had not pushed the subject as the last time she asked, she had ended up limping for two days.

A soft sigh escaped her lips, but she quickly pushed it aside. She glanced towards Eve with a weak smile then looked back at the game, her thoughts still wondering what her master had in store for her as her hand rested idly upon her stone that remained around her neck at all times.

It was shortly after this, that Renala and Elswor tensed, Aisha and Eve following shortly after. Raven had walked into the room. There was an odd look on his face, however. "...Andrea. Get ready to go to the surface. I promised you would get to fly, it time that I fulfilled that."

Andrea blinked, looking towards Raven in surprise. She had figured by that time that he had forgotten. She bowed her head and quickly left to get ready. A part of her was thrilled with the fact that she was going to get to fly again and take on her full form. It took her mere moments to be back in the room, ready to go. She had mostly just slipped on a pair of shoes, which she normally refused to wear.

Andrea tilted her head a bit when she arrived back in the room. She glanced towards Raven. "Ready to go, master." She spoke softly, her accent still a bit heavy. She blinked a few times while she waited for him to lead the way.

Raven nodded slowly, then led the way to the transporter. Once there, he stepped onto the transporter, motioning for Andrea to do so as well. "Renala and the others will join us shortly. Apparently they want to have a picnic or something..."

Andrea followed after him, listening to what he said. She steped onto the transporter with him once he motioned for her to do so. She was excited about getting fly, but was doing her best to control her excitement. Unfortunatelly...she did not hide it very well. "Master....may I ask why we are now going?" She simply was wondering if she had done something to deserve the reward.

He raised an eyebrow. "I told you when we made the deal, that when we were close enough to the planet to do so, that I would take you down to fly. Until now, we haven't been. It's not like I was deliberately keeping you from flying."

Andrea looked down, fearing she had upset him. "Forgive me." she muttered softly, bitting her lower lip. "I...after the way I had acted that day...I did not know if you would....still allow it." She still thought that she was the one who had done something wrong that day he had bound her. And she feared it happening again if she crossed the line, per say.

Raven was silent for a long moment. "...I crossed the line that day, so put it from your mind." He then nodded, and they were instantly transported down to the surface. When they arrived, it was in a wide open grassy meadow, surrounded on the far edges by forested land. "This is an isolated area, so have fun, I guess."

Andrea nodded once at his words. She was a bit shocked at the change in him from when she had first met her master. However, as soon as they reached the meadow, her face filled with joy. As soon as he told her to have fun, her shoes were off and she was running. Once she was a short distance from him she looked up towards the sky. Her body quickly covered itself in flames and within moments a large pheonix towered where Andrea had been but moments ago.

Large wings spread and with a happy cry, Andrea shot up into the sky. It did not take long before she was twisting and diving in the sky, showing off a bit as she did so.

While Andrea did this, Renala and the others arrived, and they indeed planned a picnic, setting it up while Andrea enjoyed herself. After, they simply relaxed and watched Andrea, while Raven sat back, seemingly napping.

Andrea landed a short time later. The flames melted away and soon she was in human form once more. She had a smile on her face and there was laughter in her eyes that had not been there for some time. She moved over to the others, a little bit of fire still tingling along her skin. Andrea was almost like a completely different person after being allowed to fly once more.

As Andrea sat down with the others, she glanced over at Raven. She wanted to thank him, but since he seemed to be napping she kept quiet. Glancing towards Renala and the otheres, before glancing down at her arms with a shake of her head. "Why my fire reacts to my emotions." she shook her head with a soft laugh. Her laugh was light and airy, almost like a childs. This was also the first time she had really laughed at all since arriving at their home.

Renala directed the smile that she always had at Andrea, though the look in her eyes suggested that the smile was genuine, as opposed to simply a mask. Aisha grinned, Eve smiled softly, and Elswor gave her a 'thumbs up'. However, Raven spoke, surprisingly. "Should smile more. It's more attractive."

Andrea felt her ears heat up a bit, as they turned red from Raven's words. She looked away from the group, her smile faltering a bit. She was not sure why Raven had said what he did. His attitude that day was confusing her.

When Andrea finally looked back towards the others, she stole a glance at Raven. She had wanted to say something but could not find the voice to say anything at the moment. She chose to remain silent instead. She sat indian style, glancing at the others with a slight tilt of her head and a slight smile still resting on her lips.

"So....what now?" She asked softly, blinking a few times. She wanted to fly a bit more, since she was there. Andrea did not want to be rude, however, so she remained where she was at the moment.

Renala and the others seemed as lost as Andrea was, so Raven spoke up. "Well, we have a bit more time before we have to get back to the ship, so do what you want. Renala, Aisha, Eve, Elswor, go back to the ship. Take all of this stuff with you." They nodded, and soon left with everything, leaving Andrea and Raven alone.

Andrea was standing by the time the rest left. She stood a short distance away from him, rubbing her arm. She was a bit self concious at the time, not really sure why at the moment. Andrea finally glanced up at him, wondering if there was anything he was wanting her to do.

figuring there wasn't, she finally gave in to her desire to fly again. She pushed herself off the ground and into the air, her form changing as she did so. She stretched her wings and soared high through the air, enjoying the feel of the wind, despite her form being made of fire.

Raven just sat there, watching her idly, before closing his eyes again, seeming to nap once more. His motives really were a mystery now.

Andrea did not land until a few minutes before it was time to leave. Her form shifted back to human before she moved towards Raven. She stumbled a bit yawning softly. When she neared Raven, she rubbed her eyes before looking towards him. She was tired, but would not sleep until he told her to. "I am ready to leave when you are, master." she spoke softly, the tone of her voice betraying even more, how tired she really was.