Good morning, Jump City! [Mana/Invite]

[Buse]

Irkalla was facing nightmare after nightmare, not even dimly aware that they weren't reality. All possible ghosts from her past had visited her again and again, to the point she started wondering why she was still alive, only to be thrown at an even more sinister scenario. A massive shadow approached her, calling her name and taunting her in the voice of her father, leaving her no choice but to run. And she almost managed to outrun the fearsome figure, but with every step she took, she found herself bound by more and more chains, tied around her arms, legs and torso, pulling her back, wielded by a large number of beings, from many different alien races. The weight got heavier and heavier, and the chains started to turn red with heat from an unseen fire, burning skin where they made contact, but she still slowly trudged forward.

A stone then struck her forehead, followed by another, and soon she dropped to her knees and started crawling away from the still-present shadow that loomed over her, pulled back by burning chains and under a storm of sharp rocks and boulders. When she finally gave up, she felt a chain coil around her neck and pull her up, forcing her to stare directly into the eyes of... herself. There was another Irkalla, pulling her up by a chain noose and laughing at her face.

And then she woke up, quickly sitting up, sweating bullets from a mix of intense fever and fear from the nightmare. She coughed, clutching her chest in pain from the sudden movement, and started looking around to try to situate herself.

[Blackfire]

"Ya know usually when people part ways, their reunion doesn't involve one of them face first on the ground like a carcass out to dry"

Mana shook her head in slight irritation, what kind of reckless factor caused Irka this pain? She reminded her of Devan, oh high and mighty Alpha always running straight into danger, but then Devan had a shield Irka, she supected-did not.

But that caused a bit of a dilemma for Sarah as well. Mana was no medical expert but to her Irka seemed to be in pain... and yet she didn't bare physical signs to match the pain she saw on her face, the sweat... was the condition mental? Allergies? Infection? Mana couldn't be sure, but what she was sure of was that the alien girl ether was or had been in pain.

For a moment she made reach for the communicator at her waist. The thought at first was Maybe Star and the others could help her But then her thoughts turned to her brief history with Irka-a history unlikely to make her any more popular with the Titans than Mana had been before Starfire saved her. Of course that only left one logical option in her mind.

Care and protect her yourself

That's all she could think of.... but what would she be protecting her from.... hiding her from? She couldn't be sure.... but.... she did hope they were easy to scare off.

After her talk with Starfire any will to actually fight... to hurt anyone had drained from her being.

Funny... a joke Irka might laugh at even-a protector unwilling to use her 'sword', instead she could only make one more sentence stumble out.

"What happened to you?"