Lessons in Victimology: The Red Death Vs. A'rei Ngoyu

Out of Character:

The entirety of the Gardens may be used, being of rectangular shape, and and one hundred yards by five hundred yards. Neither fighter may go past the guards and enter the castle, such is forbidden, both by the Dajas Pagoda, and Queen Valeena's personal edict.

"We're sorry, but all of our warriors are occupied at this time, however if you like you can go tour Queen Valeena's exquisite gardens for a few hours while you wait." The monks would reply to the next challenger seeking an opponent. There was little doubt that the offer to tour the queen's private gardens would be refused, for such an honor was a rarity indeed, and only reserved for special individuals.

The gardens were in full bloom, and at the moment, empty of anyone else enjoying their beauty. Then again, there was plenty of business to be attended to inside the castle.

There were small sections of flowers like Tulips and sunflowers, bushes and trees, even some vegetables, a veritable cornucopia of color and delight, and the scent in the breeze was delightful. The breeze itself was strong enough to be refreshing and cooling, but not strong enough to do anything more than toy with loose strands of hair or clothes. Paving stones were set here and there as stepping stones so the ladies didn't have to soil their dresses in the mud and wet grass when it came, and in other areas were wooden benches for simply enjoying the moment.

In the center of it all was a fountain, depicting a trio of playful dolphins, water trickling out of their open laughing faces. As the water cascaded won the fountains, laughing and playing with the dolphins, a sense of calm exuded the area. It was a nice pleasant place to sit and wait.

About that time, one noticed the exorbitant amount of guards posted at the entryways to the castle. Here and there servants, lords, and ladies peeked out of the windows, and even the queen herself watched from a balcony as she took a break from her day's work.
Then the monks exited the castle, twenty in all, and they stood before the guards, and sets of twenty monks stood at each side of the Gardens.

Right at the apex of wondering what was going on, ominous steps filled the air, the excitement of the onlooker's faces visibly grew.

Coming up behind his opponent, Destrudo hoped this would be a good fight. He stood there for a second, appraising his opponent from head to toe, enjoying the sight of her female form.

His height and physique alone would be enough to intimidate most people, but Destrudo was perhaps the only person in the world who naturally glowed red. His red hair and eyes matched his glow perfectly, and was accented nicely by his black leather.

"Welcome to The Dajas Pagoda, I shall be your murderer today. I am Destrudo, known locally as The Red Death, for no one has survived my onslaught yet, no one. The first was a disappointment that couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag, the second was better, a real honest to the gods summoner who called up a fearsome Minotaur, but they too fell before me. Now it is your time. The monks tell me your name is A'rei. Come then A'rei, and give Death it's due." Destrudo said, utilizing his supernatural voice to unsettle A'rei. Hopefully any game plan she might have had would be thrown off by his unsettling appearence.

"But let us not be rude to royalty." Destrudo said, turning and bowing to the Queen where she sat on her balcony.

Then, without wasting any more time, Destrudo switched to fighting mode and rushed in close to A'rei to shatter her jaw with an uppercut from his right hand, or at least try.

Her muscles were stiff as she entered the garden. The return to her home had been long and boring, although she had learned much from her latest endeavor. Dan Lagh'ratham left her to die to Draconians in hopes she would make herself stronger. And so I did... She thought in the silence.

She carefully observed the garden, noting the pleasant aroma and the bursts of color that accented the greenery. Shades of pinks, crimsons, blues, and yellows were most present. Compared to her time spent in Dheathain this was almost too pleasant for her. She resented the beauty that the Queen showered herself with. It was a grotesque display of wealth.

A'rei slowly let herself get ready for the fight that was going to happen. The Dajas Padoga, something new in Scara Brae... She stood in silence and flexed each muscle, preparing them for the huge amount of exertion that would be necessary for her to fight. As she relaxed her muscles, she let out a sigh. It had been too long, far too long since she'd been to her home.

Memories flooded her, but she tried to shake them out. She wanted to put the past where it belonged.

Out of her peripheral vision, she saw some activity outside of the castle walls, and assumed that they were getting ready to watch. She stood still, acting as though she were still admiring the garden itself, however she was not foolish enough to do such a thing, as Dan had taught her. She was searching every bush, every shadow for a sign of her opponent. It was then that a bird flew in fright from behind her, another then followed. She knew her opponent was here.

That's when she felt the hot breath behind her, and its words. Trying to scare her no doubt, but she faltered only a bit before she took action. As what she had discerned to be a man spoke of no disrespect to the Queen and bowed, A'rei took her opportunity and rolled forward, assuming he would attack from her back. She was correct and successfully avoided a blow to what would have been her face. As she came out of the roll, her legs began to pedal, propelling her forward as quickly as she could. She turned a sharp left, ducked behind a large hedge and drew her blade.

It was a familiar sound, that blade, and she took her moment to eye it quickly, admiring the craftsmanship that had been put into it. Focus. She told herself. She rose to her feet and her legs began to pedal again, taking her around the other edge of the bush into the open, where she quickly saw her opponent and took the opportunity to strike, taking a stab straight at his body, but perhaps too straight.

She dodged, and quickly too. She dodged behind a bush where he couldn't get at her, and took the time to draw her blade. Something told Destrudo this one was going to give him some pain, this time around, he was going to truly earn his position in the arena.

He watched her come around, and it was obvious she was going to strike at him. He imagined a cutting blow from the left or right, or maybe a dashing overhead swing. Maybe some fanciful and exotic technique. To his disappointment she stabbed straight ahead. He turned, sidestepping it, even as he moved forward. He used his reach to grab for her hand wielding her sword to pull her close to him so he could really do some damage, like break her sword arm.

Infact, if his grab succeeded that was precisely what he was going to do, by jamming his other hand up against her elbow and breaking her arm at the joint, to even the odds.

Damn it. A'rei thought to herself. Her blade had come too straight on and it was easy to dodge, an amateur mistake. For a split moment, her vision was blurred and she felt a tight grip on her wrist. Oh shit, he's got-- and she was dragged to her opponent where she got the first clear look at him.

Her eyes widened at the sight, it seemed that the man was almost glowing, and in the short time she realized that he was glowing. His eyes were also an eerie shade of red. What the hell is this thing? A'rei thought to herself.

It was then that she felt the sharp pain in her arm, heard the crack of bone. She let out a cry of pain, feeling her throat swell up as she became short of breath. For just a second the grip on her loosened and she yanked her body free, turning and sprinting to the large fountain in the middle of the courtyard. Quickly, she dipped her arm in and took a deep breath and looked back at the man, who had been seemingly stunned by her agile escape from his grip.

Because of her injury, her hand was numb, and when she realized this, she realized another important fact. Her sword had been dropped from her hand. She glanced and saw its metallic surface laying on the ground. With his towering height, he would easily reach the blade before A'rei would. Instead, she took her arm out of the water and reached into her pocket and found a small bottle of booze she would have to use as a weapon.

Slowly, she stepped up onto the ledge of the fountain, arm hanging limply at her side and waited for her opponent to approach. This way, there would be no surprises. She gripped the bottle tightly in her good hand, staring at the burning eyes of the man across from her.

Destrudo was stunned only in that an opponent he thought would be a difficult match, was an easy and now desperate victim. He let her go and watched her run to the fountain, standing on her sword as she went.

He suppressed a chuckle as he realized she was serious about welding a liquor bottle as a weapon. A liquor bottle, against a man that fought without weapons on a regular basis. It wasn't even her dominant arm, he had broken that.

He stepped off the sword, and picked it up. Holding it by the handle he spun around twice and threw the sword at A'rei, sending it spinning diagonally at her end for end.

Not one to let distances remain for very long, he followed behind the sword quickly, his eye trained on A'rei.

The sun's rays danced off of her blade as it spun in the air toward A'rei's body. She quickly side-stepped, turning her head to watch the blade crash into the body of the fountain. The fountain was a beautiful marble dolphin, carved with great care and skill, imported from Raiaera before the troubles with the undead. The fountain was made of stone to match. The carving was now imperfect, a small dent in it from her blade, and no doubt there would now be a flaw in the steel of A'rei's weapon.

After the brief side-step, the girl stepped into the pool and quickly looked into the crystal-clear water for her blade, dropped the bottle and swiftly scooped her blade up into her right hand, the uninjured of the two.

A'rei saw the grotesque excuse for a humanoid coming at her at a speed almost matching that of her blade as it had cut through the air. She acted quickly, twisting her feet and grabbing onto the tail of the carving. She swung herself with her bad arm, feeling the ripping pain shoot into her should. She suppressed a scream and focused on her maneuver.

As she swung around counter-clockwise, the girl stuck her blade out, arm fully extended and glanced to where her opponent was and she estimated him to be in range of her blade. She could feel her hair swinging and her stomach had the butterflies from the speed, but she focused still on what she was going to do, putting her sensations aside. After nearly a full rotation, she let go of the fountain, lunged forward and sliced at her enemy horizontally, hoping to slice into his arm, or perhaps sever it.

Destrudo was bound to disapoint A'rei if she was hoping for an arm, for as he ran forward he missed his step and fell off the paving stones. Though they did provide for good footing, they were not designed for battle, and so the spaces between them had caused Destrudo to trip and fall, twisting his ankle in the process.

Destrudo held his leg in pain as he rolled around in the ground, A'rei's strike going over him.

He slowly got up on his feet yet remained crouching close to the ground, wincing in pain as he put pressure on his twisted foot. He crawled into the thick bushes and plants where A'rei would have to watch her step, least she trip and fall over an exposed root. Even still, all the poking, scratching, moving branches of the bushes was sure to be a distraction.

He felt he was safe enough as he crouched in the bushes, one more spot of red amid a sea of rosebushes. If she fell for Destrudo's bait, he was going to stand as quickly as he could, which wasn't actually all that fast on a twisted ankle, and give her an uppercut.

When the man fell, A'rei found herself slicing through nothing but the humid air of the garden. She let go of the post, running off of the fountain entirely and turned to catch only a glimpse of Destrudo ducking behind a bush. Shit! Her thoughts raced quickly. She did not want to follow him into the bushes but it was the only way. He was injured now, as well, and would try to avoid danger until his pain had lessened as A'rei had attempted to do with running to the fountain.

Gripping her blade, she began to walk toward the bushes where her opponent was hiding. "I'll find you if I have to cut every bush, A'rei!" The memory flashed through her mind. That was it, she'd have to just cut the bushes to find him without endangering herself. Her father had once cut her own leg doing so. She touched the scar lightly through her pants. She focused back on the matter at hand, defeating her opponent.

As she approached the tightly trimmed hedges her enemy had hidden behind, she gripped her sword tightly and began swinging at the bushes. Bit and pieces of leaf were flying about as the sword cut branches crisply. The sound soothed her and made her unfocused, sloppy. It was then that her sword hit something fleshy and she heard an inhuman cry. A small cat tried to limp away from out of the bush, its black tail being completely severed. Damn it!

A'rei stopped for just a moment, catching her breath.

Destrudo had barely gotten to his feet, when he heard the cry of the cat, and barely managed to get a glimpse of the now tail-less cat. Destrudo was a cruel person by nurture, raised around someone that would've taken the time to chase the cat down just to kick it. As it was, Destrudo could barely stand, and so the most he could do was laugh, incredibly hard at the misfortune of the poor puss, as A'rei took a moment to catch her breath.

The woman seemed determined to cut down the whole of the garden down just to get at him, so he knew he'd have to go somewhere just as good, yet less susceptible to sword blows. He retreated, limping as he went, occasionally stumbling over the occasional root, and mostly catching himself, but also falling too, when it was his hurt foot that he had to catch himself with.

His goal, was a series of tall hedges, that one could hide and get lost in, if one was either very stupid, or directionally challenged. He limped down a short bush hall, and turned right at the corridor, intending to ambush A'rei at that corner. His foot screamed in pain, and he knew he was in trouble, because if he couldn't move quickly, he couldn't dodge her sword strokes as well.