When Aspra comes to later that evening, she had already been moved to another room. Rouge wasn't next to her, she was already up and talking with Roz, she wasn't sure what they were saying, but it's clear they were conversing.

Outside her room theres a set of stairs, leading down. Alongside two other rooms on either side of hers, she explores them for a little while, seeing what she could get her hands on.

When she makes her way downstairs and into the main part of the dojo. It wasn't occupied, so Rouge and Roz were using it to sit around and eat.

Rouge notices her entry.

"You're up!" She smiles excitedly, forcing a smile in return.

Roz side-eyes her and waves for her to sit down besides them.

As she does so, she feels a bit uneasy, like she's invading their family time.

Rouge hands her a bowl of soup, the first meal she's been presented with in days. It's almost like she forgets her restlessness as she digs into the food.

"Thmank ywou!" She manages to say while scarfing down her meal.

Roz giggles softly at the sight of her eating so hastily, but she's not quite ready to scold a child.

In the moment, she doesn't notice Rouge staring at her.

She looks conflicted, her head is clear now, when Aspra found her, she was a mess emotionally, in truth, she didn't even register Aspra for a while, you could have told her she'd only imagined that someone helped her and she'd believe it. Now she has to watch as a stranger is welcomed into their home, not knowing anything about her, or if she's dangerous.

Her cousin senses that something is off about her, but dismisses the concern. What Roz sees is in the moment is just an abandoned child who was lucky enough to make her way here, selflessly helping Rouge along the way.

"Aspra was it?"

She looks up at Roz slowly and nods.

"I'm a little impressed by your endurance. That was a marathon you walked, with her slowing you down on top of that." She strokes Rouge's hair, who looks not so pleased at being called dead weight.

Aspra gives off a sly smile, but she's not super interested in speaking.

"I've been training since i was a toddler... and my father used to tell me that my magic is boosted in some way, it helps me recover..."

She lets out some small flames out of her hand to give her an example.

--!

Black flames, black coloured magic is a trait most commonly found in the Mavra family, Roz knows this. Hell, everyone does.

"What's your full name?"

Her eyes narrow before she takes a big breath.

"Aspra Skura, why?"

"Oh, nothing..."

There's always a chance that her black flames were a blessing rather than a trait from her lineage, it's the same reason why Rouge's lightning is pink, it had nothing to do with her parents. Still, she's suspicious. King Ble is the head of the Mavra family, and he has been rampaging within his own borders, striking down those who oppose him.

Rouge's entire village was wiped out, and from what she learned from her, it was definitely him... black lightning and all.

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She brushes off her suspicions, a child has no threat attached to it.

Once Aspra and Rouge finish eating, she shifts her attention to another topic, not wanting to make Aspra feel tense.

"Listen here kids. If you're gonna be staying here, there's a couple things youre gonna have to get used to."

As she looks over both of them, she acknowledges that infront of her are two powerful sorcerers, and if she can nurture that strength, they'll go far in life, further than herself.

She points her hand to them.

Swoosh! Roz uses her wind magic to mess up their hair, looking more serious.

"Whaa-!" Aspra and Rouge frantically try to fix their now raffled hair, Aspra's dark red hair looks like a lions coat when its all puffed up.

"Alright... lets set up some ground rules." She looks serious as she starts speaking, almost looking excited to put them to work. "You'll both train as my apprentices. And i expect you to be useful around this damn place if you wanna live here."

Rouge hides behind Aspra, who doesn't understand why she's concealing herself in mock fear.

"L-last time i trained with you i was so exhausted i couldn't use magic for days... and you said it wasn't serious..."

Roz chuckles devilishly.

"Oh, it wasnt serious." She leans over to look her in the eyes. "I'm gonna train you to be stronger than me. No room for mediocrity."

Aspra looks back at Rouge, trying to avert her gaze from Roz, whispering to her.

"I-I''m sure there's another village nearb-"

Roz grabs both their necks before they can get the chance to scheme together.

Aspra tries to look up at her, but her hair is obstructing her face.

"You two aren't going anywhere, far as i'm concerned, i'm your legal guardian now."

Aspra squirms under her grip, the only thing she manages to accomplish though, is to obstruct her vision with more of her own hair.

"N-no you're not! This is kidnapping!"

Roz chuckles and lets go of their necks, dragging them towards an open area of the dojo.

She throws them on the floor firmly, looking down at them.

"Do it. Show me how strong your magic is."

There's many ways to showcase ones strength, but these girls are young, so their choices are limited, both by their physical and mental capabilities.

She hands Aspra her staff, giving her a look that screams to "get on with it."

She's never had to put on a show of strength before, so she's completely baffled by what she's being asked to do.

"I... uh..."

"Go on. I'm not asking for much."

Aspra looks over at Rouge anxiously, she's holding onto her wand, fingers trembling, both of them are baffled and on edge.

Roz sighs and grabs her own wand from a table nearby, before pointing it at them, closing her eyes.

"Sharp mistral wave."

---! Swish! in a flash, her wand lets out a powerful wind, trapping them up against the wall, unable to move forward as the powerful wind keeps them pinned against it. Each pass of the wind feels like they are being stabbed by thousands of tiny, cold needles.

Like they are being tortured for a crime they didn't commit, the pain is bearable but still torturous.

Crash! She suddenly stops the spell, letting them fall to the ground.

She lets out a long sigh, "Weaker than i thought..."

--! Aspra points her staff directly at her face once her guard is down, unleashing a barrage of black flames directly at her.

Her flames quickly start growing out of control, the entire room being set ablaze in a matter of seconds. Rouge's terrified screams fill the room alongside the smell of burnt wood.

As quickly as it had spread, it vanishes in one large sweep of wind, pushing the staff out of her hands. Roz emerges from where she was covered in flames, her look all too punishing as she wipes the ash off her face.

"Hah... bahahhaaha!" She starts laughing with a maniacal glint in her eyes, looking down at them.

"Had you been a grown up... we'd all be smelling like pork now." She sniffs a burn on her arm, her muscles are all tensed, as if she's prepared for combat.

Aspra steps back confused at her reaction, she wasn't trying to showcase strength, and she hadn't lost control. At that very moment, she had gotten so insulted that she had tried to kill her. "I'll paint your face in the fire..." she whispers to herself.

"Yeah... had i been a grown up." She smiles bitterly. Her eyes twitch, the next time she points her staff, she doesn't plan to let her live.

"Clean up your mess... we'll get back to training tomorrow."

Rouge steps forward hesitantly, "I-i'll help clean up..."

Roz doesn't bother looking at her, simply nodding and walking off, mumbling something to herself.

Aspra watches with indignation as Rouge scurries off to find two brooms, reaching down to grab her staff a little too firmly. "Insolent nimrod..." she bangs the staff on her head out of fury, once, twice, but stops right before the third hit as she hears Rouge coming back.

She doesn't notice the blood running down her forehead as she lets her staff fall, grabbing a broom from Rouge's hands rather roughly.

Rouge moves away from Aspra to broom the opposite corners, not wanting to be caught in the middle of whatever she was experiencing. She looks at her angrily sweeping through the corner of her eye, a stark contrast to the girl that had helped her before.

Was this her real personality? That she doesn't know, but she's aware now that in life, anybody who seems too sweet is only putting on an act to slither their way into someones benevolence.