Doorway to Another Wolrd ~ Durmie Christmas Break Dec MP ~ [Miha}

To say she was a little nervous about going to the spirit pond didn't describe just how worried she was talking to the ghosts who dwelled there and what advice they may have for her. She had asked Gio for any advice, and he had sent her to speak to the spirits. Valda came in search of answers to her mother's illness. Yes, her mother was gone, but that didn't mean she was going to stop learning about the illness and what remedies, if there were any, worked best. She owed it to her mother to find the cure and help others who had the same illness and symptoms as she.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for some help. I was told you might have some answers for me." Some of the ghosts appeared before her. She felt there were more lurking around the edge, watching them. The idea and feeling that she was being watched couldn't be disregarded. If she were to turn around and look at who or what was there, she felt the ghosts may take offense and leave, so she fought the urge to look behind her. Valda continued to tell them of the symptoms her mother had suffered; fatigue, dizziness, blurred vision, loss of appetite, low white blood cell count, slower breathing, headaches, bodyaches, discoloration, dehydration, vomiting, organ failure, and death. Her mother did not die in peace, but in agony and suffering. Each of these had occurred over a long period of time. Some, many of them near the end of her mother's life, occurred at once.

Some of the ghosts had added their two-cents, but it wasn't necessarily helpful. "I remember when I got headaches. They were always so bad just as a storm as about to come." "You give me a headache, woman, with all your yacking!" "Headaches are the worst. Have you tried Chamomile tea? That always helped me if I drank it a day before the rains came." Yes. Valda had tried Chamomile tea. She'd tried any medicinal herb and potions made in this modern age. The bickering between the two was humorous. The redhead wasn't in a rush, so she didn't mind. She just wished she'd leave with some more insight. Soon enough, all the ghosts were in a buzz about headaches and trying to get the first to, and older man and a woman who looked to be in her early twenties, to stop bickering.

She was going to say something when she heard an obnoxious, forever irritant voice that made her skin crawl. Valda couldn't help but turn around and face Miha. She was walking beside an elderly ghost who she seemed to be quite fond of her. The two looked similar too. No way did she want to stay here and talk to the ghosts while the nosy girl was here. She turned to the ghosts, thanked those who were listening, and informed them she would return later to continue discussing.

Valda didn't know her way around the lands of Scoarta, but she wasn't about to walk down the path @Mihaela Lupesco  was coming up. She hustled herself around the pond to an opening on the left she spotted and hoped she could escape before Miha saw her.

"You wouldn't believe it, it was amazing!" She told the ghost of her grandfather as she walked beside him toward the spirit pools. He was one of many Scoarta native ghosts that roamed the village coming and going from the pools but he was by far Mihaela's favorite. She was telling him of the mornings hunt, one she was allowed to go on, with such fervor she might explode. Mihaela loved hunting but more than that she loved winning. Hunts when they got injured or things didn't work out always bummed her but this morning was not such a case. The team had managed to track a family of giant Arahnică back to their cave and successfully lay traps for them. Mihaela understood that not all beasts had to be killed, she was taught that from a young age, but any creature that had tasted human blood had to be put down. It was a very black and white rule in her village. There was no exceptions. And one of the spiders had managed to steal a child in the night three weeks ago and though they had not found his body they had at least killed the creatures that had committed the crime. It didn't stop the boy's family from aching but there was a serenity in vengeance, she had learned that too.

Telling her grandfather of her triumphs and failures had become sort of second nature to Mihaela by now. Although he had died when she was very young that hadn't stopped the two from growing quite close while she was growing up. Death was different in the wizarding world, it wasn't permanent, nothing was. As they walked together she looked ahead of them, the path was so familiar to her she could walk it with her eyes closed, but what she saw was unfamiliar to her. It felt foreign really but seeing Valda in her home town was something she was growing accustomed to. She knew that Gio had invited her here for the winter break and she couldn't exactly be upset about it. It wasn't like she had any right to have an opinion about anything in her former best friends life and if he wanted to bring a new friend home that was his prerogative. Still, she couldn't help but feel like she was missing out on the party when she saw them hanging out. It wasn't like she didn't have Lev or Miki or Meike and Marek but still, Miha wanted to be a part of everything. She typically inserted herself with out warning or invitation and that was exactly what she planned on doing. Before Valda could run off Miha took a moment to say see ya later to her Bunica and then took off in a sprint after the other girl.

"Hold up Pavlycheva!" She called out behind her with a wave of her hand, oblivious to the fact that Valda was running from her and not just leaving without noticing that Mihaela was approaching. Valda was headed down an unbeaten path and it wasn't going to lead her back into town and naturally Mihaela now felt inclined to help her. Even if she hadn't asked for the help. Mihaela caught up with her swiftly, the adrenaline from recounting her glorious hunt propelling her strong legs faster than normal.  "You ain't gonna' get back to town goin' that'a way." She told her, the rural dialect she sported whistling through the gap in her front teeth as she tucked curly brown strands back into her heavy fur lined hood. "I been hearing stories bout' you and the wolves. Color me impressed, never woulda' pegged you for a hunter like us, guess you ain't no healer." She meant it as a compliment but the last part of the sentence could of easily been taken in a different way. Mihaela had no idea that the other witch's mother had passed away between the last time they had spoken and now. She had no idea that she had basically just confirmed the fact that Valda wasn't good enough at healing to save her. Mihaela was just trying to connect with her based on their shared battles with creatures in that week.

Valda had noticed how hidden the path was, but she was willing to risk it if it meant she could avoid Miha. Sadly, she didn't make it in time and Miha spotted her. Instead of running off into the woods, she stopped in her tracks. Her foot had been badly mangled, but they had walked so far on it, she insisted she was fine. It was still tender and too much force caused her to whimper in pain. She heard Miha barreling after her and knew she never even had a chance of running away.

Yes, she had fought wolves. Twice. The first time, she had been attacked by the vicious beasts and Gio stepped in to save her. The second time, it was her turn to save Gio. She had used means she couldn't ever imagine using to save her and Gio. They had both wanted to live and she wasn't going to elt them die, not by wolves. Her hand rested on the fang they had salvaged that was tied around her neck. It was a prize, but not to signify she killed a beast, but that she had fought and won.

"...guess you ain't no healer." Unacceptable. She was a healer. Valda just couldn't heal her mom. Time had run out. Anger boiled up inside her. Instead of opening her mouth to say something snappy, she remembered how inconsiderate Miha was about going through her notes, and ejected that hanger through physical force. Her hands balled up into fists. Before she could process her own actions, she spun around on her good foot and threw a punch in her direction, hooking Miha on the cheek. Gio had begun to taught her hand-to-hand combat on their journey to Scoarta and she could now put it to use, whether it was for the right reason or not. "I am not a hunter!" She would always be a healer. Whatever Miha said, that wasn't going to change that she knew how to heal some of the most dangerous and life-threatening injuries. "I'm definitely not like you."

Honestly Mihaela had thought they were having a grand ole chat, catching up like old friends do, and so naturally she hadn't seen the punch coming. Mihaela was like that though. Not only was she gruff, crass, and rude on a good day but she had a tendency to completely miss social cues that might seem utterly obvious to others. She was completely clueless when it came to tact and manners and basically not rubbing everyone she met the wrong way. One of the few exceptions to that rule was Lev but he was quickly becoming an exception to most of her rules. When Valda's hand came to connect with her cheek she heard the familiar popping sound of her jaw being displaced and her teeth clattered against each other painfully. She knew it was going to bruise but more than that she'd managed to bite her tongue in the process and soon she the metallic taste of blood was pooling. Adrenaline took hold of her body quickly, exactly the way she had been trained to allow it, as her heart beat raced.

Spitting in a rather unceremonious and typically brutish way the Romanian hunter lunged at the other girl. Outstretched hands pushed Valda's shoulders forcefully back. She hadn't been looking for a fight but that didn't mean she wasn't about to accept the challenge. She didn't often get sucker punched but it did something special to the fire she always kept burning inside of her. Mihaela spent more time than pretty much any other person she knew training for moments like this. Sure in her mind she was fighting vampires threatening to kill her baby siblings and demons wanting to set her village on fire, not redheaded teenage girls spending way too much time with her once best friend, but in this moment that didn't really matter.

"You're right your not like me." She said defiantly, stepping closer to the other girl in order to push her again but this time she followed up with a quick swing to the other girls abdomen. "You got lucky with those wolves. Good thing Gio was there to save you." She spat out at the other girl, her anger coming to a boiling point even though she never wanted to insult Valda. Spitting out remnants of blood onto the hard packed cold Romanian dirt beneath her combat boots Mihaela spoke once more, her stance becoming bold and confident and personifying the warrior she was always destined to be.

"Real witches don't need saving."

I just punched Mihaela Lupesco in the face. I've never hit anyone before! Striking Miha the way did had not been planned. Unexpectedly, the skin-to-skin contact Valda had just made felt good. The physical contact of it all hurt like the dickens, actually, but the rush she got from the adrenaline pulsating through her body was exhilarating. Valda couldn't describe what and how she was feeling, but it felt really good to make the strike she did.

Instead of feeling guilty for making the Lupesco girl's jaw pop, a sound the orphan had never expected or experienced before, and causing for her to spit out blood, she felt the girl finally got what had been coming for so long. This was her lesson: to keep out of other people'a business and for her to remain silent at the most inconvenient of times. Of course, Valda could never really "teach her a lesson" liked shw hoped. There had been so many instances that she thought she had made her point clear, but Miha continued to act in the same manner she did before, never unchanging and ever persistent. Perhaps, now, she had made her point very clear.

The next moment, Miha seemed to move like lighting as she struck Valda with impeccable strength. The angered Klyk was forced to step back to keep herself from falling over. A seering pain raced through her upper right side when her should had received the blunt of the contact. It felt like a wildfire apreading down her arm and up the side of her neck. Valda eyed Miha carefully as the girl contimued to step forward. This time, she managed to throw her arms uo just in time to deflect Miha's push, which then resulted in a sharp pain, but blunt force, thrusted into her abdomen. She gasped sharply as her entire body tensed. Not only was the wind knocked out of her, making it difficult to breathe, but the healing scar on her stomach felt much worse than it had when the wolf had cut her, leaving a long scrstch from her waist on the rightside and traveling down over her stomach, almost to her hip. She was certain Miha had reopened the wound on imoact, but Valda didn't have time to inspect it.

Valda could feel her legs wanting to buckle underneath her, but she knew the moment she was lower than Muha, that would open her up to being even morw vulnerable than the lack of combat practuce made her. Instead, she stumbled back, one hand hugging her stomach, the other rested against her legs to keep her upright. There were a few moments where the witch found herself being frightened more than anything. Her body instinctively flexing to allow her to breathe, but for some reason or another, she struggled to fill her lungs with air. She pushed her hair to the side so she could have a clear view of her enemy.

"Real witches don't need saving."

The words made her heart pound and her chest ache. The cutting wirds spat out of Miha shocked Val more than anything. It was eniugh to get her to breathe again, gasping deeping to let the air fill her lungs. It burned, but a sense of relief rush over.

Valda didn't move, not yet. She wasn't sure she'd be able to after pain had made its home within her belly. Bent over like she was, she carefully watched Miha's attacks, something Gio had explained to her about fighting, but never demonstrated what he meant. Now, she was getting her first physical lesson in fighting.

When she felt she had found the strength to keep fight, Valda lunged at her, pushing any attack Miha sent her way. This was the adrenaline. If Valda wasn't so angered, so flustered, so astonished at what Miha had said, she would have gotten up and retreated down the faint path ahead of her like a wounded rabbit. Miha would've won. Instead, a spark of energy was ignited and she found herself charging at Miha with enough force to knock her off her feet. The pain she felt in her abdomen and shoulder was beginning to numb, allowing her to fight ferociously, unaware of the more damage she was causing herself.

Valda didn't think abiut her wounds, her pain, or her actions. One moment, she was gasping for breath, the next she realized she was sitting on Miha's chest, delivering blow after blow. She was srnt into a blind fury.

Shoving the other girl was almost cathartic but in a way Mihaela also hated it. She hadn't wanted to fight with Valda, it was never something she'd planned on but more often than not her ignorance and temper got the better of the Romanian witch. It was hard for her to set it aside once the fire had started and this was a prime example. What she had wanted was to be friends with Valda, to add the girl to the wonderful little group that was starting to take shape, but instead she was managing to alienate herself from said group. Valda was so close with Gio and that would make already weird things weirder but even more so she worried about Lev. She had a feeling he kind of liked it when she got into physical fights, they were similar in that way, but she wasn't trying to get him involved in any drama either.

The Romanian continued to shove Valda, hitting her where it hurt both physically and verbally, until she was surprised once more by the other witch. Sure Mihaela had years of training but she was distract able, impatient, and lacked focus, it wasn't hard to catch her off guard. And that was exactly what Valda did when she basically knocked the wind out of Mihaela's lungs bringing her to the ground. Before Miha could finish rolling to the side the Klyk, who was apparently deceptively fast, was on top of her and the punches started coming. Like her father had taught her Miha protected the sides of her head with her forearms and angled her elbows in front of her nose. It left her stomach open to a few blows but her core was strong and defined and it could take it. Her face was important to her but it was far easier to break the little bones in her ears and cause ruptures so she did her best to avoid being hit on the side of the head. Mihaela wanted more than anything to strike back but her father's voice rang in the back of her head, "Wait for your moment Mihaela.." she heard him say. It was easier said than done but in only a moment she found her opportunity and she acted quickly to create her opining.

She'd noticed during their short lived fight that Valda was favoring one side of her stomach to the other and realized she must of been on the mend after the wolf attack. As much as Mihaela hated to pour salt in a wound she knew it was the best way to distract Valda long enough to push her off and with decisive and heavily practiced moves the Drakonya Krov managed to hit Valda as hard as she could in the side. She saw the pain on the other girls face as she used both arms on one side of the other witch to force her off of her and onto the ground next to them. Without skipping a beat Mihaela swapped places with Valda, throwing her forcefully onto the ground before crouching over her, using her weight and knees to pin down Valda's arms before invading her privacy even more. Mihaela pulled up Valda's shirt just enough to see the wound that was slowly healing that spread across her torso. It was a grimly sight, bruised and split open from their altercation, and it needed healing.

"Girl what chu' doing you can't be fighting in this shape." She scoffed at Valda, her anger suddenly taking a back seat to her concern. It was a hunter's mentality to take care of the team regardless of personal feelings. Mihaela was never going to be a leader, not really, she lacked the patience and direction for it, but she had been raised as one. Heir to one of the most important positions in the town the Lupesco witch had been taught what was important and taking care of Valda was suddenly top of that list. They could, and probably would, fight some more later but for now Valda needed to tend to the gash that had reopened.  She was still hovering over the other girl, one hand holding Valda's shirt up to expose the wound but nothing else, the other propping her up near Valda's head. "Damn them wolves got you good didn'they?"

Something deep inside of her was sparked. She wasn't angry that Miha had stated she wasn't a real witch, but the words she used connected to something deeper. "...don't need saving." In that moment, all she could think about was her mother who passed not more than two weeks ago. The mental wounds and scars she had seemed to be fresher than those from the wolves, though the later happened much more recently.

Her mother.

She had spent the last ten years of her life trying to help her mother through her sickness, figure out what it was, and save her from the claws of death. Her entire life seemed to have been wasted. Durimg this semester, she had found a spark of hope. There was one more method Valda had studied extensively and she felt she was prepared to do it. She felt it would have been the thing to save her, even if it meant using magic outside of school. Valda was deperate. The opportunity never came for her to try to save her mother, however.

Her thoughts and actions came to a screeching hault when she felt a sharp pain in her side. The unexpected blow from Miha snapped her out of her zombie-like trance. Her grip on Miha's shirt loosened and her hands withdrew. Now, she was scared of herself and what she had done, more than anything. The anger seemed to vanish almost immediately. Guilt plastered her face now, too afraid to move.

What Miha did next caught the Klyk Vampira by surprise. She was flipped onto her back with Miha pinning her down. Rather than return the blows to Valda like she had imagined the brunette would do, she was shocked (and embarrassed) to have Miha pull up her shirt so abruptly to examine her abdomen.

Her eyes were squeezed shut, trying to keep the tears back that felt they would fall soon. A flood if mixed emotions swept over her. She felt guilty, frustrated, embarassed, uncomfortable, gloomy, angry, flustered, and depressed. Her body wriggled unerneath Miha as she tried to break free, glancing at her busted and bloody knuckles for only a moment.

There was a sound that slowly began to fill the air coming from Valda. At first, it started off as a soft sob, but gradually grew louder and higher in pitch as she found her body reacting to thr recent events through laughter. It was thr most inappropriate way to feel at a time such as this, but she didn't know how else to react.

"Don't you understand," Valda gasped in her fit of laughter as she gavr up trying to break free. "She's dead! All I did was try to save her, and she's dead!" She was angry at Miha, yes, but not as upset as she was with herself. She had turned Miha into her punching bag to release ten years' worth of built of anger and frustration. The pain, which was doing all it could to make itself known, was the only reason why she had'd given up in the short exchange of blows.

Once she could look up at Miha and focus through the tears, she interpeted thr expression was that Miha was unaware her mother had passed. Valda was certain everyone knew by now. She had told Gio and Lev. She made Lev promise to tell their closest of friends why she was leaving school early before the break had brgun. Had he not told Miha?

Valda was unsure of what to do now. Her reopened wound was exposed not only to Miha's eyes, but the chilling temperature too. Now, she had placed both of them in a rather awkward position regarding the words she had just stated. "I may have survived the wolves" Valda breathed once she couls supress the laughter and relax a little more. She didn't have the energy or adrenaline ti keep fighting. "But I am not a fighter. I'm a healer." Now, she was attempting to apologize, but it sidn't feel right the way she had said it. Once she was composed abd had time to reflect on qhat had just occurred, she may be able to form a more coherent apology, if she felt it was needed. Her stomach dipped and rose heavily with a couple twitches that accompanied every breath ahe took. "You got me pretty good too. What now? You aren't going to beat me up? You should. I deserve it.

Things were moving quickly, faster than most might of been comfortable with, but the high emotions, adrenaline, and fast pace changes were exactly how Mihaela liked it. She hated drawn out conversations, holding onto emotions, and found slow pace events boring. Bouncing from making fun of Valda, to being sucker punched by her, to being concerned about her wounds in a matter of seconds what was Miha was good at. She had a difficult time connecting with others on a normal emotional level. Everything was heightened for her, fast, quick, explosive, and so she thrived in situations like this when everything was whizzing by. Not even Valda's abrupt fit of laughter could throw the Romanian off her game as she let up a little from where she had her pinned down. Brown curls fell into her face as she gave the other witch an impressed look, finding a smile of her own. "Your crazy." She told her, laughing a little before things got real.

Miha didn't know that Valda's mother had died, the last she knew the woman was very sick and Valda was working tirelessly to help her, but she had not idea it had come to an end. Honestly there was very little she would of done differently even if she had known. Mihaela was used to death. It happened entirely too often in her village, death and winter were the only certain things she knew. In the same sense she didn't view death as permanently as some other individuals might. Because of the strong magic she'd grown up inside of she knew her loved ones were always close by, even if they hadn't figured out how to take ghostly forms yet. "No one is ever really gone." She offered, hoping to comfort he almost friend even if just a little. "One day I will show you." And she meant it, even as she began to push herself up off of the other girl who'd just caused her quite a bit of pain.

Not that she showed an ounce of it.

Her lip was still bleeding and it was sure to swell but in a way she kind of looked forward to showing it to Lev. She knew he liked bruises and wounds in a similar way that she did, they were exciting. Holding her hand out to help Valda up she shook her head. "I ain't gonna' beat you up, who beats up a wounded girl?" It did kind of take the fun out of it. On a normal day, all things aside, Mihaela would of made sure to teach Valda exactly who she was messing with, but today all of that seemed less important. Valda had lost her mother and she was severely wounded, it wasn't like Mihaela would be able to collect much of a trophy from that fight.

"Come now, I'll take you to my uncle." She waited for the other girl to get up before leading them back down the path, away from the spirit pools and toward the center of town where her cousin Miki's father lived. He was the best healer in town and if Valda really did want to be a healer maybe she could learn from him. "But if you hit me again so help me Mihai you will regret it." She stopped dead in her tracks, turning abruptly to stare as menacingly as she could at the other girl, fire back in her eyes as she switched easily from helpful friend to terrorizing bully, "You got that?"

[[ooc: im sorry its terrible, trying to find miha muse again]]

Valda froze under the girl as she continued on that those who passed were never gone. Was she crazy? Valda had lost her mom forever. There's no way we'll be able to reach her. She was a muggle, Valda was sure of it. Since she was a muggle, that meant they would never be able to reach her. She wasn't a ghost who could easily dwell at the pool of spirits here in Scoarta. She was gone. Vanished. No more. At least, that's what Valda thought she knew. The orphan wasn't fully informed on how to travel between the different planes to communicate with her mother. Should she entertain Mihaela's fantasies that they'd be able to reach her? She didn't want to risk getting her hopes up, so she stuck firm to her belief that there was no way to contact her mother.

Her enemy's hand was before her though. Her pride made her want to stand up on her own, but her injury made her humble as she took the outstretched hand. She inhaled sharply and deeply with her other hand over her wound as she stood. The pain hurt like a thousand blades cutting through her. Before she could follow behind the brunette, she had to pause and catch her breath while she found the strength to continue on down the path.

Mihaela wasn't going to fight back? That was something new Valda had never experienced. She was more thankful than shocked that Miha didn't beat her up as a way to teach her where she stands and show that Miha didn't deserve to be hit the way she was. Valda knew that. Her eyes went wide and she froze once again when the oddly composed girl turned around and threatened her. Now, she finally got a good look at how badly she had beaten Miha up. Her head quickly nodded "Yes. Yes," as she tried to show she didn't want to fight the girl again.

She applied more pressure to the wound, trying to subside the pain. Though she felt incredibly uncomfortable, she couldn't help but reach out and grab onto Miha's shoulder as she she limped behind, trying to remain standing and keep her balance. "Ugh-" She couldn't keep the grunts quiet like she had wanted. "I'm real sorry, Miha." For most of the walk, she was quiet, holding onto the girl's clothing tighter in places she struggled to step. Valda wasn't sure what to say. But as they drew closer to Miki's home, she felt relieved that the Drakonya Krov was helping her. Valda wasn't sure she would've been able to make it without the escort. "Thank you," she whispered quietly, not even sure if the girl had heard. But she meant it. She didn't know how else to say or show that she was thankful for Miha to be the bigger person in this situation.