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When Two Forces Collide

It was dark. The air was cold. A figure was making their way down a hallway, their movements slow and somewhat clumsy as they seem to have trouble staying up. The woman giant naga with long reddish brown hair and candy brown eye's was doing her best to make it down the hallway. Her black kimono was all torn up and the metal shoulder patting on her left shoulder showed many dents and scratches that were still fresh from battle.  Her face was also showing signs of a tough fight, her mouth was even dripping some blood. But the biggest issue was the wound in her side. She made her way down the hall using her left arm tp hold her right side as a trail of dark blood had already bled through the kimono and now trailing down her orange tail unto the floor as she went on. Her right arm was dragging like it felt heavy, clutched in her hand was the hilt of her long katana style sword that was also covered in fresh drying blood.

"Huff... Huff... G-gotta... move fast... Huff... Huff" she mumbled to herself as she was using ever ounce of strength she had left just to get her battered body to move. "Hurry... I have to... have too hurry... They should be up ahead... They.... they....." the young woman's words were trailing off as the blood loss was beginning to take effect. Her vision was blurry and she had to fight to keep from passing out. "Not now... I won't.... give in just yet... They'll be waiting... Gotta hurry... They may be... in...gah... danger... Have to... move..."

Some minutes later, which to her felt like years, she finally arrived at a large heavy wood door. They were there, she could feels it. The surprise attack on the fort was unexpected, but they had a little secret chamber through that door that was to be used in just such an emergency. It was an escape tunnel that led away from the fort she was in. The attackers hit them hard and fast, took out most of their forces. But she and several others managed to get away. They were to meet in this chamber and make their get away together. The giant naga took a little longer than she thought getting to this room thanks to several highly skilled enemies who tried to end her life while she was making her way to it. But obviously she was the vector in that encounter, but not without battle wounds to showcase the fight. Kai put her hands on the door and pushed it open with a loud creek that echoed through out the hallway. "Guy's, sorry I'm late... got a little held up ba-"

The naga swordsmen became too stunned for words to finish what she was saying as she opened the door and looked into the chamber. Inside was a sight she most desperately was trying to deny. Bodies lettered the chamber grounds, blood was everywhere, and signs of a large battle was evident all over. "No..." the words escaped her lips as she looked on horrified at what was in front of her eye's. One body in particular caught her eye. An older looking woman with very bronze skin clad in a full body suit of armor lay on the ground. Her black hair lay wildly around her. The giant naga instantly rushed to the woman's side.

"Master!!"

Kai opened her eye's swiftly and sat up right. Her body was covered in a cold sweat and her heart was pounding. It took her a while to collect her thoughts before she finally could calm her nerves down. Putting one hand to her forehead, the giant naga let out a sigh. A dream. Or rather, an old memory she would never be able to escape. She looked around her and saw that she was still in her home. Her home in Felarya. It was a huge chamber build by humans long ago, but it was large enough that even a person of Kai's size could live in it comfortably. There were some massive pillars that were taller than she was that held up the ceiling and the space in-between them was vast enough she could slither her way through without any trouble. This once was a great man made temple back when it was still new. But who knows when that was. Kai found it long ago and decided to make it her home. In the time the naga had been living in it, she had decorated the place with many hand made knick-knacks, such as pottery for storing water and fruits as such things. There was many different weapons hung up on the walls and the pillars ranging from swords, spears, hammers, knifes and even bows and arrows, all of which were made by Kai herself. Most of these weapons had not ever seen any real action of course, Kai just liked to make them has a hobby. But that was not the only hobby she liked to decorate the place with. Many different styles of kimono and other clothing also hung up on the walls around the place, all with their own design, all hand woven with great care. Kai had always loved using her hands, and smithing and making various clothing's were two of her all time favorite things to do.

"Damn nightmares..." the words came out soft and quite like a whisper. Kai hated it when her mind brought up the past when she was asleep.  Shaking it off she rose up on her tail to her full hight and stretched her arms out, letting a long yawn escape her mouth before returning her arms to her sides.  She looked over towards a corner of the chamber were many big rocks were piled up, well to a giant like her they were rocks, to a human they would probably be huge boulders. The pile of "rocks" was build into a make-shift fire place that sat under  a large opening in the ceiling that led directly outside, above the hole where the fireplace was, Kai build a little rain guard to keep water from spilling into her home and onto her fireplace when ever it rains. "Suppose I should eat something"

Later that morning, Kai was now out and about. She was wearing a red kimono with darker red diamond patterns. Her hair was put into a long braid, and her sword was, as always, ready at her side. Today she was going to go looking for a rare plant called "Foimosorus", a special kind of flower with violet colored petals with white zigzag strips. A fully matured one is about the size of Kai's fist, which is pretty huge for any human. The flower was very hard to find however and does not grow in many places on Felarya, usually it's growing someplace hidden away from the sun unlike most other plants. Which maybe why it's also nicknamed, "The Shun Flower". Kai was all set to go out an look for the plant and headed up the rubble path that led out of the buried temple and into the jungles outside. As the light hit her eye's, the naga had to pause for a moment putting her hand over her eye's as she came fully out of the temple and was greeted by the sights and sounds of the wild that surrounded her. But these were not the only things that awaited Kai's arrival to the outside. The naga had to stop when she suddenly saw someone else who was standing there in front of the opening to her liar. The woman giant who was standing there had a very exotic appearance, her red hair was long and fell her bronze colored skin and her body was rather slim, and there was some kind of large bag sitting next to her. Kai had no idea who this woman was, she'd never seen her before, but the naga-swordswoman did notice that the newcomer was looking at her with those green eye's and a friendly smile. Though Kai just looked back at her with a grim look on her face, she didn't like that smile one bit. To others it may have been perfectly welcome, but to Kai it felt... artificial in some way, and she didn't take it very kindly.

"..."

"..."

At first the two just stood across from each other watching the other. The giantess didn't seem to really know how to approach Kai's more than a little unfriendly expression. The look in the naga's eye's was almost like a warning sign trying to drive the giant away in silence. "ah-hum" the exotic giantess finally broke the few second silence. "Hello there, you must be Kai. I've heard quite a lot about you the past few days. My name is Temono, and I'm-" Temono suddenly stopped as she saw the look in Kai's face go from unfriendly to cold as ice in seconds after she told her, her name.

"Temono? Right, I've heard about you as well... The Lunch Lady" Kai said back, but her words were no where near friendly and warm. Temono's eye's became a bit narrow at the sudden icy words.

"Beg your pardon? Lunch Lady? I'm a very well known Chef who's made quite a name through out many different worlds"

"So what do you want Lunch Lady?" Kai asked completely ignoring what the giantess just said.

"Humph... Well, I see the stories I heard about you weren't really all that exaggerated after all..." Temono said as the two of them stared at one another, the giantess stilling keeping a smile, though a thiner smile than before now.

"If your not going to answer me, than get out of the way" the giant naga said with a very harsh tone.

"Not one for chit chatting are you? Very well, I'll get to the point than. I had heard you are very shut in person who doesn't get along well with other people. You also have a reputation for being very... physically violent when someone gets your temper going-"

"Your about to find out how true that is unless you get to the damn point" Kai hissed intruding again.

"Well, have it your way. I came here to have you try some of my cooking, to see if I couldn't bring  just a little bit of civility and class to such a person"

"I'm not even remotely interested in eating any of your tasteless garbage"

The air suddenly seemed to get quite a bit colder all of a sudden. The two just looked into each other's eye's and anyone watching would probably swear up and down they could see lighting sparking between their gazes.

"Well, you could have just said NO, if you really didn't want to eat my cooking. But to call it... "Tasteless Garbage" is going a bit too far" Temono said with a controlled voice.

"Sounds about right to me" Kai added, her words still cold and icy.

"You know... You are a uncultured, primitive, knuckle dragging barbarian"

"And your an egotistical, self-righteous bitch trying to bring this so called 'cutler' and 'civility' to a world that doesn't need it, all because of your own ego that can barley fit inside you're own skull" Kai stated with a straight face and a dry voice.

The two giants were glaring at one another, the tension between them would have been enough to turn the darkest horrors crawling back into the void out of pure terror. The whole jungle around them was dead silent, like their confrontation was the direct cause.

"I hear you are a vegetarian, correct?" Temono asked the giant naga, her tone was still surprisingly controlled inspire of all that has been happening.

"So what if I am?" Kai answered back.

"How about we do something a bit more... interesting than just me cooking for you" Temono suddenly got this thin spill on her lips as the wheels in her head began to turn. "You have insulted my honer and pride as a cook, seeing how you are a worrier, I trust you understand that I simply cannot let this go unchallenged"

"What do you have in mind? Surly you don't me to fight me in a duel?" Kai replied with a bit of a surprised, and uncertain look on her face.

"Oh no. I wouldn't dream of challenging anyone, let alone someone who's a trained killer, to a fight. No, no, no" the exotic giantess said as she waved her finger in front of her. "What I prepose, is a cooking duel!" she finished with a big grin.

Even Kai was taken off guard by the challenge. This giantess really just called her out... to a cook-off? Kai had to admit, in all her year's, this was the first time such a challenge had ever been made to her. Usually she just fights people to the death or something like that. But this was something totally out of the norm for the sowrds-naga. It took her a handful of seconds to gather her thoughts enough to even reply.

"Let me get this right... You want me... too go up against you... in a cook-off?"

"Of course. You did say my food was, how did you put it again? 'Tasteless Garbage'? I think it only fair you put that claim to the test. If I truly am such a bad cook, than I dear you to show me how it's done"

"No way" Kai said without hesitation, even putting both her arms across her chest like an 'X'.

"Whats the matter? Your not scared are you?"

"Of course not, but I'm a warrior, not a chief"

"Oh? You say your a warrior, and yet you refuse a direct challenge? How two faced of you" Temono mocked.

"What did you say...?" Kai's face flared up again at the insult.

"Any real worrier would never backdown from a challenge, no matter what kind it was" the giantess continued to goad the naga on.

"Grrr..." Kai clinched her fists tight as her whole body tensed up. She could feel her warrior's pride boiling over. "Fine... I'll take you on..." the naga hissed.

"Wonderful!" Temono said cheerfully. "And just to keep it fair, the only dish we are allowed to make, is vegetarian based! No meat, no humans. And we'll have a group of four people as judges. I'll get to pick two, and you'll get to pick two. Fair?"

"Sound fair enough" Kai agreed.

"Great. Though why not make it more interesting?" the exotic giantess added.

"What do you mean by, 'interesting'?"

"Lets make a bet on it"

Kai looked at Temono with a raised eyebrow. "What kind of bet?"

"If I win this cook-off, than you have to eat a human prepared by yours truly!" the giant said with a wink.

"Sure thing" it was to Temono utter surprise that the naga that is famous for her views against eating humans would just so easily go along with the bet.

"Er... Really? Did you actually understand what I just said?" the red haired giantess asked a little confused.

"Yeah, I heard you clear as day. If I lose, I have to eat a human. Lets do it" Kai said with a dry voice.

"Oh...? Well, alright than, it's a-"

"Hold on" Kai interrupted. "Since we're making bets on this... Isn't it only fair that I get to make my own stipulations as well?"

"I suppose so" the giantess agreed, wondering what this naga had up her sleeve.

"If I win this cook-off..." Kai started and paused with her armed crossed over her chest, looking as though she was in deep thought. "... Than you have to give up cooking forever and become my apprentice"

Temono went silent for a few seconds as the words sank in. If she loses to Kai, than she has to give up on cooking forever and become Kai apprentice...?

"Heh... Hahahahaha!!" Temono suddenly let out a laugh as she thought about it. "Oh, sure thing. IF I lose to you, I'll have no right to be cooking anyway. Though that's not going to happen" she said full of confidence.

"Good. Than it's agreed"

"Yes... We'll meet up back here in a three days. You have your two judges ready by than, as well as your strategy on how to beat him. And I'll bring my two judges as well. The one who can make the best impression on all four with their dish will be the winner"

"I trust your pick of judges will be fair of course" Kai chimed in.

"Of course they will. I have no need to cheat to win a cooking competition" Temono answered with pride. "And I am sure yours will do no different?"

"Of course. I am, if nothing else, a true warrior. I do not dishonor myself or my opponents with dirty tricks"

"And I actually believe you... Well then... See you in three days... Be ready to lose" the giantess said holding out her right hand.

"Took the words right out of my mouth" Kai replied putting her own hand out and the two giants shook on it before they parted ways. For the time being.

And so the epic battle of cook VS warrior begins...