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[color=00aeef]"VALHALLA!!!!"[/color]

Screaming and splintered wood filled the air in the marketplace as a large Russian man was thrown through a fruit stand, scattering the crowd and flinging melons in every direction. Seconds later there was an earthshaking 'thud' as Klara landed in front of her opponent. With a faltering roar cry he tried to rip himself from the wreckage of the fruit cart and was met with an ice totem that slammed him right back into the cart. Thus, with a shuddering groan as the totem fell apart, the Russian slumped to the ground, his eyes going fuzzy as he went limp.

[color=00aeef]"Done already?"[/color] Klara boasted, sounding jovial despite the screaming, retreating crowd of people around her. [color=00aeef]"I was expecting more of a...oh!"[/color]

Klara paused as she reached to brush off her chest and felt the handle of a knife lodged tightly in her stomach. Regarding it with mild curiosity, she reached down with both hands this time and deftly yanked the knife out. Tossing the blade aside, she noticed the puddle of water growing under her feet, and tenderly felt the wound. The Russian, it seemed, had made a very lucky blow. Perhaps lucky enough to take her out of a completion that, while she liked, just wasn't worth melting over, she realized with a pang of sadness. 

As the crowd subsided, however, another sound greeted Klara's ears. Turning around suspiciously, she saw an odd looking woman sitting on an overturned fruit stand, clapping for her.

[color=39b54a]"A fine show, Klara,"[/color] she said sweetly, like a proud teacher praising their student. [color=39b54a]"A most splendid performance![/color]

[color=00aeef]"Who are you?"[/color] Klara demanded, sounding a bit unfriendlier then she usually did. Something about this woman seemed off to her, maybe even unnatural.

[color=39b54a]"Oh, just a distant...admirer,"[/color] the woman said in her saccharine tone of voice, almost gliding towards her. Her green eyes darted from Klara's blue to the nasty knife wound in her chest. [color=39b54a]"It's unusual to see a Jotunn these days, especially one with such skill as your own."[/color]

[color=00aeef]"I...well, thank you,"[/color] Klara said, a little confused by her tone. [color=00aeef]"I take it you're following the tournament, then."[/color]

[color=39b54a]"Following it enough to know you won't last long with an unpleasant injury like that,"[/color] the woman said, her green eyes still darting back and forth methodically. [color=39b54a]"Here, have this."[/color] Without warning the woman shoved a frosted flask of a blue liquid into her hands, which bubbled in spite of the chilled contents.

[color=00aeef]"...how did you find this?"[/color] Klara asked in amazement, easily recognizing the Jotunn alcoholic salve. [color=00aeef]"This has been a closely guarded secret for as long as I can remember."[/color]

[color=39b54a]"Oh, ancient secrets are something of a specialty for us."[/color] the woman said cryptically as Klara quaffed the healing brew, the gruesome wound on her chest freezing over and turning to flesh again in a matter of seconds. [color=39b54a]"Besides, I would hate to see someone of your caliber drop out of the tournament."[/color]

[color=00aeef]"Odin's eye, the tournament! I almost forgot! Thank you for your assistance, friend!"[/color] Making sure to step gingerly over the spilled fruit, she immediately set off for the tournament area at a jog to prepare to face her next opponent. The woman waved goodbye kindly, then looked around to make sure she was out of sight before turning around to face the grounded Russian. As she strode over, her body began to shift and transform like flowing water, her common clothes fluttering as they morphed into an elegant set of robes and her legs melting together to form a great serpent's tail. Smiling in satisfaction at being in her own skin again, Vindani Zaman slithered over to the ruined fruit cart just as the Russian man's eyes fluttered open. Catching the cold glare from her eye, the man smiled sheepishly and tried to stumble to his feet.

[color=39b54a]"When I told you to document the Nomads fighting the human terrorists,"[/color] she said coolly. [color=39b54a]"I did not intend for you to actually kill one of them."[/color]

"It was an accident!" the Russian man said indignantly, his voice suddenly high pitched, feminine, and tinged with a Japanese accent. "Besides, you saw how big she was, I- YEAAH!"

The Russian man was lifted off his feet as a glowing snake shot from Vindani's sleeve and snared him around the leg. There was a pop and a shower of sparks as the Russian man was instantly replaced by a young girl in a kimono, held upside down in the air by several of the nine fox tails growing from her back.

[color=39b54a]"Then I will be blunt,"[/color] Vindani said in an icy tone, her face inches away from the kitsune girl's. [color=39b54a]"If you stab another Nomad like that, I will stab you, and there will not be any Jotunn brews to save you from it. Are we clear?"[/color]

"Cr-crystal, boss!"

[color=39b54a]"Good,"[/color] the Naga said, dropping her on the ground like a sack of books. [color=39b54a]"Go finish the assignment I gave you. I will continue observation of the tournament."[/color]

"You got it boss!" the kitsune said with a salute. There was another pop as the kitsune took the form of a normal woman dressed in body armor and the Massacre Soldier colors and headed back towards the other nomads. Shaking her head in irritation as she slithered back to the tournament area, Vindani thought of the haughty ice giantess again as she transformed back into the green-eyed woman, 

Klara Grimolfdottir would make for a fine pawn.