You have 2 weeks to complete this battle. May the best man win!
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You have 2 weeks to complete this battle. May the best man win!
“Have you ever felt your heart pound in your chest as though trying to escape from what stands before you?” She asked the question to no one in particular. Kyla bit her lip as she stared hard at the large steel door that separated her from what could be her deathbed. She silently cursed her father under her breath as she imagined the million ways a person of her size and stature could be killed. When Niche handed his ‘little girl’ his invitation he had made his stake here very clear. There were six Orlouge brothers; and she was to represent them all. Kyla was proof to the world that the mystic race was in no danger; their young would be as great as the generation that preceded them. The problem with his plan, Kyla thought solemnly, is that I’m not.
Her blue eyes stayed wide open waiting for the moment that she would be asked to enter the arena. She twirled a strand of her long brown hair around her finger before pulling it tight to the back of her head and twisting it into a bun. She knelt down on the white marble floor to check her shoelaces and felt her knees shaking as she stooped. A pair of large leather boots caught the corner of her eye and Kyla looked up slowly. The gray pants he wore had seen better days and his belt was torn and tied to fit around his ample waist. His size was that of a giant and for a moment Kyla worried she had met her opponent. That was until she saw his face. The bright blue eyes that matched her own smiled down at her. She sprung from her position and into his arms. “Thank Thaynes you are here!” Kyla planted a kiss upon her uncle’s cheek as he held her nearly a foot off the ground in an embrace. She pushed her upper half off his chest and looked him deep in the eye. “I can’t do this!”
His smile grew wider as he sat her down and looked deep into her features. “Kyla Marie, you were born to do this.”
A monk approached quietly and cleared his throat to pull her attention to him. “They are ready now.”
“But….” The young girl searched for any final excuses to get out of this battle, quickly glancing back and forth between the two men. Her uncle Steppenwolf simply leaned over and kissed her on the head as he opened the door to the arena and used his massive arm to push her inside.
“Smile Kyla,” The giant laughed. “They’re going to love you.”
The crowd roared as the young mystic entered the arena and Kyla could not help but feel a bit empowered as the symphony of blended voiced reached her ears. She searched around for a friendly face in the massive crowd surrounding her but was unable to place any of the onlookers. She swallowed hard before giving her biggest smile and waving at a few young girls who hung over the barricades trying to get as close to the action as possible. She took several steps toward the center of the stadium. The arena was large, but not as impressive as some she had seen at that Citadel. The cement walls were cracked in places and the barricade bars rusted. Something about the place made Kyla feel as though she were re-living history. This place even smelled old, filling her nostrils with that old dirt smell that you can taste in the back of your throat. Something about the familiar smell and taste soothed the girl. She had been told of the greatness this tournament had discovered in the past and she could only hope her own memories of this place would be filled with pride and not embarrassment. The large rusted metal doorway her opponent would enter through lay across the dusty battleground, and Kyla fought to keep her attention away from it.
Instead she stared up at the beautiful white clouds surrounded by a bright blue sky like a promise that this would all turn out okay. Kyla smiled and said a short prayer under her breath for both her and the unknown who would walk through that door shortly. She pulled Sophia’s Mane up to her elbow before kissing the lion encrusted glove and forming her shadow sword just to ensure it would work. She lifted her right foot and tapped her sword half-heartedly against the sole to knock some of the dust off the white leather. Another roar from the crowd pulled her attention back to the moment and she finally allowed herself a glance at the opposite side of the arena.
Three days had passed since the Aspect had received instructions from his creator. He still couldn't believe Vincent had been so goddamn concise. I mean, really, "Head south. Step into the arena after three days from today." Those words barely gave him any leads. South, yeah, through that fucking forest filled with outcasts, bandits, and beasts. It couldn't have been more awesome, could it?
"... At least he could've given me clearer details. Luckily enough, I managed to get here..." Kirisame sighed, closing his eyes for a brief moment in a sign of pure relief. He took a sip of the water that filled the glass in his right hand, shifting his azure eyes toward a nearby customer - a young lady, probably an adventurer judging by the way she was dressed - who appeared to have been listening to him. Both her gaze and the way she leaned forward on her seat, toward Kirisame, not toward the bar, were clear as day signs that she wanted him to continue speaking. And so he did. He had nothing to lose, just time to kill.
The Aspect figured he'd start telling his tale by addressing how exactly he'd gotten to the settlement. It'd took him two days to get to the city, but the walk there couldn't have been closer to Hell on Earth. The crimson one followed the closest trade route at first, until a bunch of bastards decided to jump him. God. Damn. Them. The leader of the pack stepped forward with faux determination, and Kirisame could see it in his eyes. The guy was barely holding up and the others weren't really that much better either. They looked like they hadn't eaten, drank, or washed up in days. And their smell! He'd have preferred taking a dip in sewer water and roll around in a pile of mole-rat shit before smelling that again.
Y'see, Kirisame didn't take kindly to people barking at him "hand over your valuables or we're going to kill you right here and now." He flat out refused, kicking the first son of a bitch who tried to stick a sword into him straight in the face. It was all downhill from there - for them. Two malnourished bandits, guy and girl, tried to rush him from his sides. All Kirisame did was unsheath his sword and, faster than these poor sods' eyes could see, deflected their blades. It only took two movements in rapid succession to send the dagger of the first one flying through the air and the broadsword of the girl headfirst into the dirt.
And then he went on the offensive. Like a blur of red and white, Kirisame circled around the figure of the guy first, sending the blunt side of his sword toward the back of the man's neck to knock him out cold right then and there. As for the woman, who was trying to make a hasty retreat, all the crimson one had to do was catch up with her and slam the sheath of his steel sword against the side of her neck. She suffered the same fate as her companion.
What happened next was waaay worse. The leade--
"Hey! The tournament is starting! I wonder who's fighting today..." The girl interrupted him as a mob of enthusiasts roared and bellowed as they made their way toward the local arena. She seemed excited about it, like she'd been waiting on it for a damn long while. "Are you going to fi--"
"I uh... Remembered I got something to do. I'll see you after the match, if you want to hear the end of the story!" Kirisame quickly spouted before running off toward the cement building which towered over most of this part of the city, leaving the girl in a confused stupor. He had no idea what the hell was this district called, but he assumed it must've been important. Why, to attract roughly half the city, it had to be a mighty heavy place.
To Kirisame's surprise, the guards at the front door let him through. Not like he complained, though. It was the first time they'd seen the young Aspect and, somehow, they already knew why he was here; both men led him through a dark hall, though stopped before reaching the large metal doors that led to the dust-ridden battlefield. He sighed. He knew his next opponent would be waiting for him. He could hear the roar of the crowd, the ground trembling underneath his feet, and thin lines of dust falling from the ceiling.
"This is it, I guess..."
Kirisame stepped forward and pushed the doors, which, oddly enough, were lighter than he expected. Sunlight filtered through, the glare from the sudden change in brightness causing him to bring the palm of his left hand to cover up, at least until his eyes got used to it. Kirisame didn't notice his hand was still held up until he made his way a good ten feet into the battlegrounds, though he concealed his confusion well, waving to the crowd once he realized it.
"Oh, Hell. A woman as my opponent. Just great." He annoyingly muttered to himself as his eyes trailed on to the side of her and down toward the dirt. Muttered wouldn't exactly be the word, considering he pretty much was barking it. Kirisame's voice wasn't as strong as the crowd's screams but it was enough for the girl a few meters in front of him to hear each word.
"Say..." The Aspect shifted his gaze, fixating it upon the girl. "You -are- my opponent, aren't you? I didn't get many details. I just want to make sure before we even start this." The last thing Kirisame wanted to do was start a fight with someone outside the tournament Vincent had got him into.
As the stranger entered Kyla took in his appearance. Her first thought was that he was one of the Ai’Bron, coming to tell her that some crazy twist was being added to what she had been assured would be a simple battle. Her last few run-ins with Ai’Bron magic had left her less than confident in their assurances.
When he took the time to acknowledge the crowd she became a bit more interested, noting how his robes were closer to scarlet than the dark brown the monks running the Serenti were wearing. All doubt about his identity fled her mind when he asked if she was his opponent. His politeness almost brought a smile to her lips as she took in how tall and thin the man was. She had never seen him before in the Citadel, but she supposed he looked like someone with some fight in them. She looked him over once more, ending at his immaculate boots.
“I suppose I must be. Are you sure you want to fight in those?” She cut her light blue eyes quickly from his shoes to his face as she gave a twitch of a grin. The mystic did not wait for a response from her opponent, knowing full well that the more she began to like him now the harder it would be to kill him in a little while.
She brought her attention back to the audience of the fight; so many eyes on her always gave her an energy she could not bolster on her own. “Thanks for showing up,” She screamed the words for the enjoyment of the crowd. A huge smile graced her lips as she turned her back to her opponent and walked a few feet away. “I’m Kyla Orlouge, and I promise to make this fun.” She turned and smiled at the man, hoping that her joking would not irritate him too much.
She flexed and then stretched her fingers, watching the way the gold gems on her white glove danced in the sunlight before hoisting her shadow sword and charging with all her might. She jumped into the air, the claws of Sophia’s Mane ready to pop out at a jerk of her fingers, and aimed her sword directly at the monks head.
Kyla brought her sword down with all her strength, waiting for the resistance that would prove she hit her mark. Everything around her seemed to fade away as she struck, with hundreds of trees popping up where only dry dirt had lain before. Kyla fell from about five feet, roughly hitting the ground with her sword still outstretched. She landed with her own nose merely an inch from her blade. How did he do that?
The mystic pushed herself up, using her sword to balance as she quickly checked herself for any injuries. Her knees were muddied from the damp ground and her bare arms had scrapes from various debris, but overall she was okay. She looked around as she brushed the grass and dirt from her forearms, noting that her opponent was not in eyesite.
“Hello?” She screamed the words, half afraid that this was a trick and he would be right behind her and half afraid that it was not a trick and she was alone in a strange forest.
She had a sharp tongue, that much he could tell. And it wasn't because she enticed the crowd - because her words made them roar even louder-, it was because the crowd enticed her. Kirisame cast a slow glance to the battlefield, panning over to the crowd and then back at his opponent.
The Aspect smiled, slowly sliding his right foot in front of him whilst the other one remained behind. Most of his body's weight leant forward this way, as he did indeed rely on his right leg as a support. This was a classic stance he'd learned while training, and watching a few other fighters. It was battoujutsu, the very technique the samurai of old back in Earth used. He'd become quite adept at it, to the point that it was foolish to attack him head-on. But he was sure this girl wasn't a fool.
It was evident in the way she moved, and in the weapon she was holding - a sword that was far from normal, unlike his. Kirisame's impassive gaze remained fixated on the woman, even as she charged and leaped in midair toward him...
Now this is where things started to get freaky.
He flicked his thumb against the hand guard of his steel blade, propelling the handle of the weapon toward his waiting, right hand. She'd just brought her sword down, aiming to behead him in one fell swoop, but the contours of her body blurred all of a sudden. Neither sword met its mark. Well, his own did...
... Against the trunk of an ancient oak tree.
Thud!
"What the...?" He felt slightly dizzy and confused. She was right in front of him, what the hell had just happened? Who put this tree in the way? And why the heck was he standing on a bra--
He looked down. He was roughly ten meters above the ground, on a remarkably weak branch that looked like it was about to give away. "Oh, crap!" Kirisame quickly reacted, pulling his blade clean out of the tree. And just as he did this, the branch snapped and fell to the ground, landing on the grass with a snap not as loud as he'd expect it to be.
Luckily enough, he was able to kick away from the branch right before it broke, landing on a relatively stronger one. And that's when he heard it.
"Hello?" A scream coming from the south. He was sure it pertained to that woman who'd almost cut his head in twain, but he was also certain his position had just been given away by that stupid branch. "I'm over here!" He shouted toward the scream's direction, as he hopped off from branch to branch, making a hasty descent for the ground. Wherever the chick was, he was going to find her and finish the little match they'd just begun a while ago.
Hopefully, the forest would remain the same. Hopefully...
“I’m over here!”
Kyla heard the reply coming from a short distance away. The girl turned her head from side to side, trying to pinpoint the general direction the shout had come from. It was obvious that both her and her opponent had been transferred to this setting together, only now each of them were unaware of the other’s location. They both now had the element of surprise with them.
An element both of them gave up when they had called out to one another.
Kyla sighed when she realized this, thinking of how Sei would have scolded her for giving up such an advantage in battle. The mute had this notion that just because he was some sort of great strategist, everybody in his family must have been as well. Unfortunately, Kyla did not think like Sei, so such things were quickly lost on the girl.
It was then that Kyla heard a sound that sounded strangely like the rustling of a bush. The girl turned her head to the northeast, a smirk creeping across her features. Just ahead of the young mystic were leaves falling slowly to the ground. Normally this would not be such an odd thing (it was autumn after all), but it was not so much the leaves themselves as much as it was how many were falling at the same time, mostly in correlation to the rustling sounds.
He’s jumping through the trees.
Kyla gauged the distance between herself and her opponent, trying to find an opportunity to gain the upper hand now that she had this knowledge. She shifted her eyes to look at how much more distance there was between her and her foe in these woods. As she tried to measure, her vision caught something on one of the hardwood towers that could give her the chance she sought after.
She raised her arm up while jumping backwards, hoping to keep a decent pace away from her foe. Her target was a knothole planted almost squarely center in one of the oaks. A small white light shined for a brief moment within the hole, the bright beacon quickly enveloped by an inky blackness and then compressed. She smiled when she saw the explosion of black and white completely obliterate the mid-section of the tree, trying to estimate that the now falling object would have been roughly where her opponent was trying to land next.
A strong wind provided an after-effect that blew across Kyla’s face, brushing her face with leaves and harmless, small pieces of wood. With any hope, her temporary enemy would find himself falling face first to the ground. It would not be the mot pretty of Serenti battle victories, but at the very least it might provide a quick end to this battle. Broken necks tended to do that.
( OOC: Short post, but I feel it encompasses most of what I wanted to write!)
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A sudden light coming from a nearby oak forced the Aspect's attention to shift soon as his foot had left yet another branch. The explosion that followed was a clear sign that he was in trouble. And boy, was he in the right.
"Oh, dear god." Kirisame uttered in midair, and his eyes widened. A slight touch of fear was depicted in his gaze, but it that fear couldn't even hold a candle to the confidence with what he handled the situation. Seriously, if anything, this was a challenge to him. A challenge that he'd gladly take on like a bull - head on.
Luckily, the next branch in his descent was closer than the rest. Hell, if it wasn't, he'd probably be eating the upper half of the falling oak's bar and trunk, with a side dish of dirt and grass dressing. Kirisame was far more agile than your average human, too, so aside from making the short landing an advantage, his natural dexterity allowed him to exploit his momentum.
Every little bit of it.
Kirisame jumped toward the falling acorn tree and grabbed onto one of the several strong branches growing from its trunk. With a simple pull and thanks to the momentum he carried, the Aspect was able to literally ride the oak's half all the way to the ground. Once it touched down harshly, all he had to do was jump off of it - hopefully still outside the woman's line of vision - only to hide behind another tree.
"Well, well... She's a crafty one, isn't she? Let's see what this warrioress will do when I choose to, say, switch over to the offensive, shall we?" The crimson one muttered to himself as his left hand sparked with the sudden, yet dim glow of mana being concentrated within.
Settling against the trunk of this undamaged tree, his impassive gaze scoured the area carefully. For now, this was a small haven, but the Aspect was sure it would change soon enough. And he didn't really feel like waiting for her. Cautiously, but swiftly, he began to walk toward the eastern side of the forest, looking left, right, and in front of him as he moved all nimbly bimbly from tree to tree. He'd hide behind the trunk of each tree for a few seconds before continuing to seek her out.
The forest remained silent throughout it all...
When Kyla did not hear the thud of a body to accompany the sound of the dropping tree, the girl silently cursed under her breath. It seemed as though her opponent would be more resilient than she had originally thought. The mystic waited for a moment, anticipating some sort of counter attack from her foe so she could determine his location. When she found herself not being attacked, the girl began to worry. Maybe her attack had actually defeated her foe.
"No," Kyla spoke softly, the black flames of her shadow sword swirling around her hand, "if I had won, the arena would have disappeared by now. He's here somewhere, the question is..." Kyla turned a full circle quickly, trying to find some sort of indication of her possibly pacifist opponent, "....where?"
She sighed, half tempted to make herself more obvious and provoke the enemy into attacking her. This thought faded when the girl realized that she had already given herself a big enough target over her head thanks to the display of power she used on the tree. Sweat began to slide down the mystic's forehead, a combination of her worry as well as the toll that actually using one of her mystic bomb attacks took on her body. Mystics were never meant to be able to use both light and shadow magic, it was so dangerous that simply having the gift of both could kill any other mystic. Luckily, the girl's family devised a clever way to keep her alive, an anklet that kept the powerful magics at bay.
Kyla's expression became one of excitement when she thought of her family. After learning both light and shadow magics, the girl had trained with each of the Orlouge brothers in an attempt to control her abilities better. One of the lessons she had been taught by her Uncle Steppenwolf would provide the perfect way to find her unseen opponent. The girl pointed upwards with her left hand, closing her eyes and concentrating once more. As if on cue, a bright blue light shot out from the forest, rising high above the trees and exploding in a cascade of various colors. The fireworks were bright, causing the trees to form darker shadows, but providing a decent light for any area not covered beneath their girth.
Kyla opened her eyes as the fireworks still popped high above the sky, turning all around once more. It took the young mystic girl a second to realize that the entire scenery had once again changed in the brief moments it took for her to use her firework ability. Instead of trees, the girl was now surrounded by what seemed to be hundreds of soldiers. The grass that she had been standing on had been replaced with scorched earth, darkened crimson splattered upon the dirt. The roars of various soldiers attacking one another drowned out the sound of her dying pyrotechnics, and amidst all the chaos, Kyla simply stood dumbfounded at the change of background.
She did not even realize that her opponent stood out in this sudden war just as much as she did.
The Aspect wasn't sure what his opponent was trying to do. He was sure the girl had blasted that tree which threatened to squish him; he was sure that she had her eyes on him before that happened; but if he was certain of one thing, is that he'd been extremely careless. This wasn't his usual modus operandi, in fact, it was far from it. Stealth, cloak-and-dagger tactics... Those were fit for rogues, not for magisters. They were tactics fit for the physically weak scourge that roamed the lands hidden in the shadows, begging for coins during the day and assassinating innocent people and criminals alike. Sure, Kirisame realized his weakness in front of the young warrioress, but he should not have needed to hide. He was not like them.
He was about to lean against the trunk of another oak when he saw her standing there, with a somber expression upon her face. The Aspect smirked, noting that he could get the drop on her right away, but stopped right as he'd jumped out of his hiding place. She'd undergone a sudden change, and her semblance turned around a hundred and eighty degrees - she was excited, and probably eager about something. That something was an act that Kirisame witnessed with his own eyes a brief moment after, and as the girl outstretched her left arm toward the heavens, pointing at the sky, the forest silently lit up with a vibrant, bluish glow.
"So... A wide-area flashlight? I'd heard about useful, but this...? We're in the midst of a forest in the middle of the day!" Kirisame comically complained to himself, as if he was saying all those things to the magically apt female. His hand was brimming with mana and his whole arm was beginning to light up as a consequence of the quantity of energy gathered within, a beautiful cerulean shimmer enveloping the extent of the limb. It was not a glow as strong as hers, but it warned anyone who could see these kinds of energies to keep away.
He remained still, even as she turned around, even as the land began to shift and change, even as the whole battlefield blurred just like it occurred the first time. And just like that time, the space completely metamorphosed. The grass would've sank down into the loam, the trees would've lost each and every single one of their leaves and dried up, and any feeling of peace that could've been gathered within the forest was replaced by a continuous bloodlust assailing the new battlefield: a barren, forgotten land where soldiers of opposing armies spilled their blood without any room for mercy in their minds. But it didn't occur gradually. It happened in the same way that someone took a picture or clicked on something when surfing the internet. It wasn't a technological wonder, however; it was an amazing dimensional disturbance.
Bodies piled up to the left and to the right, and wherever the eye gazed upon, barbaric men were stabbed, slashed, cut, impaled, garroted, skewered, dismembered, and disemboweled. Rivers of crimson flowed freely through the cracks on the charred earth, but no one had noticed the woman and the magister yet. Even though they were dressed differently, even though they'd stumbled in the midst of a massacre, no one looked at them; everyone's minds were already full with defeating the other force.
Kirisame stood frozen for all but a second. He'd already been through this change, so it didn't surprise him as much that the field had shifted again, and whilst he saw the female dumbfounded in place, the Aspect decided he'd take a risk. Making a sudden beeline for the woman's location, Kirisame held onto his sword with his right hand, and kept the left one's palm aiming directly in front of him as it remained next to his left side's ribs. Midway through his rush, wherein he still had quite the long distance to cover, he uttered a string of words - the beginning to a small incantation.
"Veniant spiritus glaciales...!"
Amber Eyes advances through to the next round!