1 v 1 Argentum Astrum vs. The Bandit Brotherhood

[Call me J]

This battle will end in two weeks. Best of luck to all two competitors.

By the request of both competitors, this battle will be suspended from March 3rd until March 10th, but will have a total of three weeks instead of two, including the time between the 3rd and the 10th.

[Ceidon]

The sun began to set, casting a scarlet glow over the ruins of Teria in Corone. Built along the banks of the Niema River, the ruins are the only remnants of dwarven civilization on the continent. Teria was once the capital of the dwarfs on Corone, but was destroyed nearly 1000 years ago by an invading force. Nature had taken its toll on what the dwarves had built, now all that remained of the city were vine covered stones. However, the ruins were not the spectacle of the evening. It was a new moon and in a few moments the sunset would be interrupted by swirls of emerald light dancing in the heavens.

The origin of the light is disputed. Corone's canon mentions an evil creature in the mountains that casts green light as a warning to all who enter its sacred realm. Visiting dwarfs assert the lights are made from ancient magic, meant to honor their fallen brethren. Most people dismiss both claims, deeming the lights as only a magnificent feature of nature common elsewhere in Althanas.

However, one engrossed in Althanas secrets believes all three claims could be true.

Ceidon Lorè lay with his back against a rock, watching the sky. Ceidon was visiting the ruins to prove a theory of his, while his friend, Caduceus Grimaldi, excavated a site in a nearby desert. The two had met while studying in Tel'Han with the monks of the Comb Mountains and discovered a mutual interest in Althanas’ secrets. History often told of great powers hidden within the world and both believed the powers existed, though not always as described. Encouraged by the monks, the two left the monastery to discover and protect Althanas’ secrets. Their efforts eventually gave rise to the Order of the Golden Dawn.

It was believed that the green lights of Teria hid one such secret. Ceidon had travelled around the world many times in his adventures and only saw a similar display of light in the far reaches of Salvar. However, those lights appeared daily, the lights of Teria appeared only at the new moon. To the best of his knowledge, this pattern was unique to this one place in Corone. It was shaky evidence at best, but from it Ceidon believed the lights were the “X”, or some other part of a map. He did not know what the map hid, though.

Without the moon luminating the sky, the eerie green lights finally began their dance, set off against the silhouette of the setting sun. “That’s my cue,” said Ceidon. He jumped to his feet and began scanning the area.

[Kyo]

It was going to be a splendidly dark night.

The sun was hanging low over the horizon, desperately reaching to cover the land in its last rays of light before the darkness set it. It washed out the bright and brilliant blue that the sky normally portrayed and bathed it in shades of orange and red. Like some sick and twisted painters pallet, one who had forgotten the many other colours that reigned within the scope of the rainbow and only chose to work with these two. It even covered the grey stones of the vast ruins before her, splashing across them and staining them even as the last drops disappeared behind the mountains for the night.

Crouching along one of the many crumbling walls that littered this place, Kyosku tore her eyes away from the scenery and turned them towards what would soon be her battle ground. They snaked along the intersecting trails of stones, worn and broken by the elements and the helping hand of any man or woman who had come across this place looking for fame and fortune in a pile of sand. The man she was looking for was here somewhere, hidden within the vine covered stones, hidden within the growing shadows and the walls that once made up home and haven. He remained lost to her for now, but she would see him soon enough and she had the patience to spare. The longer he waited to show himself the more confident she became.

The night was her realm. Her blanket and her comfort zone. It was where she stalked and she killed and once within it, he would not be able to escape from her. Whether or not he even realized she was stalking him meant little to her. She was here for the tournament, had tracked him down for the tournament and would defeat him in the tournament to further the goals of The Bandit Brotherhood at all costs. She had put too much effort into it to fail and come back empty handed. She would not be able to face Molotov or Jared if she did something like that. She would not be able to face herself. So this battle was already won in her mind. She just needed to fill the spaces in the middle with something tangible. Something like blood.

From the corner of her eye, the ninja spotted an anomaly.

Lights danced through the sky. They were eerie and green and beautiful all at the same time. They played within the paling sky, dancing to a song that she could not hear. Like the beacon of so many fireflies before them and so many dazzling stars, they shivered as the coming darkness began to cascade over the world.

Then she saw movement and she tore her gaze from up above and once more towards the ruins. There she saw it, or rather him. He was a grey form that moved throughout this arena as if he were a ghost, as if he had always been there and belonged there. His body was mostly covered from her view by a bulky and grey cloak that tried to hide everything, even his weapons. But it’s impossible to hide a bow and almost as hard to hide a long sword. Other than that, she could not make much of anything out.

One melee and one long range.

No worry crossed her mind over them. She had her own weapons to counter his with.

Taking a deep breath, Kyo felt the void begin to overtake her mind. It was an endless sea of darkness where she could dump her emotions and her worries and force herself to think solely about the battle to come and the mission to come. Emotion would not cloud her judgement here and her reactions would be swift and deadly and hopefully end this battle quickly.

Moving her hands from their place along the rough and cold stone, the ninja grabbed the handful of black, loose material that was pooled around her neck and pulled it up to the bridge of her nose. It covered her face, leaving nothing but her distinct, ice blue eyes for her victim to see, though if she was good enough he wouldn’t even have a glance at them before his world came to an end. Inching towards the edge of the stone wall, Kyo dropped down to the rough dirt and grass covered ground leaving only the lightest thud to mark her landing. Straightening her body rather quickly, she dashed forward, slinking from one shadow to the next as she headed towards her victim.

[Ceidon]

((Please note we've received a one week extension on our battle in lieu of battling during the second week. Thanks.))

“Nothing…” Ceidon said after scanning the heavens for awhile. There was no pattern to the lights or anything else that would catch even the most astute archeologist’s eyes. Ceidon frowned. Perhaps the lights of Teria were nothing more than a theater for astronomers. Feeling rather dissatisfied, Ceidon jumped off of the rock. But when he landed his right leg gave way and Ceidon lost his balance, sending him face first to the ground. Ceidon raised his arms as he fell to protect his head, but still managed to bump a nearby ruin. Overcome by dizziness, Ceidon closed his eyes.

When he opened them moments later, Ceidon was greeted by a collage of stars obscuring his vision. He rubbed his eyes to make the stars disappear more quickly, but they were proving to be quite resilient. The adventurer must have bumped his head harder than he thought. After a moment of this, Ceidon turned onto his back, and then sat up. He looked forward and saw a large shadow looming on the horizon. The shadow grew larger, causing Ceidon to blink several times. By the last blink the shadow was nearly upon him. Startled, he scooted back several feet until his back smacked against the side of a ruin. When he looked again, the shadow was gone.

“Is someone there?” Ceidon asked as he slowly stood up. The stars were gone. Ceidon looked closely in all directions but did not see the shadow. “Hello?” When he received no response, Ceidon shook his head. “There’s no one here, you idiot,” he thought out loud. “You just bumped your head and are imagining things.” With time running out before the lights disappeared, Ceidon resolved to ignore his imagination and continue his search of the area. As he turned to go deeper into the ruins, though, the adventurer swore he saw something moving nearby. When he turned around to double check, it was gone. "You've lost it..."

[Kyo]

The man was definitely not sure of foot. Merely stepping down from the rock he had been standing upon landed him on his side and his head slammed against a rock. The display made her roll her eyes and sigh almost audibly, wondering if this whole thing was going to be a waste of her time in which he just miraculously killed himself without needing any intervention from her. It was an interesting thought, but then she’d miss out on ending his life and though she didn’t particularly enjoy killing people, she didn’t dislike it either. After all, it was bred into her very soul. She was a killer through and through and nothing was ever going to change that, not even the pragmatic ways of Jared, especially when he too killed. And sometimes he killed far more viciously than she did. At least she knew where to strike to end the person’s life quickly. He was a little on the messy side.

She kept her back to the ruins of what might have been a house as she watched the man. He was attempting to get his bearings after having knocked them from his skull and now was quite possibly the perfect time to strike but the distance made her pause. Twenty feet, no more no less. She could get him with a shuriken, but they were more for distraction than real damage. Perhaps if she hit him in the neck, maybe then, but her aim was not perfect and if she missed he would know she was there. No, she couldn’t risk it, she needed to get closer.

Kyo was just about to move in closer to him when he all of a sudden he scooted back as if seeing something rather terrifying to his eyes. She paused and narrowed her eyes as she looked around, making sure she was completely hidden, which she was. Then his voice rang out throughout the area and the ninja cursed. Had he somehow been able to see her? But his eyes were not even looking in her direction. There couldn’t be another person here though...could there? It was a possibility, but she could not hear them and she had no senses with which she could detect them. No, as he continued to ramble on to himself she quickly realized it was his eyes that deceived him, set forth from the knock the side of his head had taken against the stone.

She watched and waited though, her blue eyes cutting through the darkness as he began to move once more. His steps echoed throughout the stone walls, grinding down on the loose debris and shuffling through the weeds and the grass and she used it to disguise her already quiet steps. Reaching behind her, the ninja felt along the hard sheath of her right ninja-to. The hard, metal cord wrapped around it brushed the tips of her fingers and finding the end she quickly jerked it and began to pull it from the sheath.

May you leave this world quickly.

With a burst of speed, she covered the distance between them as the cord fell free from the sheath and she wrapped both ends around her hands. With a quick and practiced motion, she tossed the thin rope around to the other side of his neck and jerked back, motioning to cross her hands behind his head and keep the hold as tight as possible.

[Ceidon]

Still somewhat shaken, Ceidon continued travelling deeper into the ruins. Ahead of him, the remnants of larger structures stood in decay—a rare sight considering dwarfs preferred staying close to the ground. Ceidon guessed that they could be guard towers, protecting whatever was hidden on the other side. But they couldn’t be anything special. Surely the hundreds of others who visited the site could have hypothesized the same thing.

Then Ceidon saw a strange light reflecting off something hidden in a bush. It too was odd, because there was nothing in the sky to reflect such a vibrant light. The sun was down, and the moon was hidden. Ceidon doubted the blue green light above could produce such a display. Curious, Ceidon walked over to the bush and kneeled down. “Retched bow,” he cried when his weapon hit the ground first and nearly lifted its hardness above his shoulder. The bow was much taller than him crouched, so this happened almost every time he sat down. Ceidon cursed again and adjusted the bow so the strings were facing away from him. That way it would slide away on contact. Feeling comfortable, he reached down and picked up the object.

It was a metal shard, but it was unlike anything the young adventurer had ever seen before. The material was incredibly light and was surprising clean. It must have been dropped here recently, or else someone would have already claimed it. Fascinated, Ceidon moved his fingers around the edges, making a small cut on his right index finger. “Ouch,” Ceidon exclaimed. He passed the shard into his other hand and put his bleeding finger into his mouth. The sharp angles of the shard made it look as though it had been shattered from something larger—a sword perhaps.

Then Ceidon stood up while still examining the object. Suddenly something caught the string of his turned bow and sent him flying forward. The harness zipped off his neck and the bow soared ten feet ahead of where he landed. He managed to hold onto the shard, but each of the fingers on his left hand was cut above the palm. Without waiting even a moment, Ceidon scurried to his feet and turned around. There, standing in his wake, was small human clad completely in black. The human had shoulder length messy hair and looked very much like…a ninja. “A ninja?” Ceidon thought out loud, “Dear God, I’m hallucinating.”

[Kyo]

Kusa!

She wanted the curse to leave her mouth and hang in the air between the man and her, but she wouldn’t allow it. Her attack had not even been blocked or manoeuvred around. No, it had been destroyed before it had even come close to the man’s neck, stopped by her negligence. He had ducked down to pick up something in the grass and she hadn’t been able to compensate for his sudden change in position. When he stood back up his stupid bow had caused the cord to become trapped upon its surface, so instead of finding its way around his neck, all it had done was serve to give away her purpose and her presence.

Instinctively she jumped away from him, expecting an immediate counter, only to not receive one at all. Dropping the cord from her hands, Kyosku’s mind began to race over the possible ways she could remedy this situation. A surprise attack was no longer an option; he even knew exactly what she was. But, he seemed slightly off guard and because of that she could still get the drop on him if only she could act quickly enough.

Hallucinating, no, not yet, but he would be by the time she was done.

With her hands now free, the ninja reached into the hidden compartments on the underside of her armguards. Her fingers ran across the hardened leather and searched for the small slits that made up the hidden compartments. They found them, easily enough having used them so many times and quickly and produced two shuriken. The steel of the throwing stars were coated in black and allowed no light to glint off them, making them extremely hard to see and detect, especially on such a night like this and in such a location. Still, she knew he would see them coming and as such she knew there was a good chance he’d be able to block them, but she had to take the chance and hope for the best. If he could block one, maybe the other would get through and cause the desired effect she was looking for.

Keeping a light grip on the weapons, Kyo gave a powerful and quick flick from both of her wrists and sent the two projectiles sailing through the air towards the man. If they succeeded in scratching even just a small section of his skin then he would be in for a rather unpleasant surprise. They were coated in a hallucinogenic that would overpower his mind and turn his world upside down; making ninjas not the only thing he would be seeing on this night. Her attack did not finish their either. As the shuriken left her hands, she quickly reached behind her and wrapped her fingers around the worn, leather wrapped handles of her ninja-to.

She pulled and the sound of ringing metal filled the air. Tempered, steel blades emerged from behind her, their surface also coated and allowing them to blend in with the shadow. Her legs tensed, the muscles pulling and stretching until she released them by springing forth from her stationary position. If her shuriken missed, then the double slash she aimed at the man’s chest would hopefully succeed.

[Ceidon]

Before Ceidon could move, the ninja was upon him once more. The adventurer could not see the shurikens as they were withdrawn, but could tell something was thrown from the movement of his attacker’s arms. The first shuriken flew just above him. It caught Ceidon’s hat, causing it to fly off his head. Surprised, Ceidon lifted his hands to his head and turned to see where his cap had gone. It eventually slammed into a tall ruin directly behind him and then dangled in midair from the edge of the shuriken. While Ceidon was turned, the second shuriken passed under his right arm, tearing a hole in his cloak. It struck the ruin directly below his hat.

Fearing more projectiles, Ceidon jumped to the side, narrowly escaping the ninja’s advance. When he hit the ground, he tucked and completed a forward somersault before turning around to face his attacker. Though he had missed Ceidon, the ninja had cut his hat with the blade, removing a diagonal slice from the rim. “My hat!” Ceidon exclaimed. He had to do something or else he feared his assailant might never stop.

In the waking moments, Ceidon tried to think of any person who might want him dead. Nothing came to mind. Then it donged on him. His attacker…this ninja…must be an ancient warrior protecting the secret of Teria. “Wait!” Ceidon cried. “Why are you trying to kill me?” He paused for a moment, realizing the metal shard was still in his bloody hands. “Here, you can have this…special shuriken…that I found. Just please don’t kill me.” He held the metal out to the ninja with his left hand.

A moment passed then Ceidon began to rant, trying to give the ninja an excuse not to attack. “I swear I’m not here to claim the weapon. I only wanted to prove to my friend Caduceus that it exists. I’m part of a group trying to protect Althanas’ secrets. You see, we both have the same goal.” As he spoke, an odd sensation erupted in his head. For a moment, he swore that he saw three ninjas instead of one. While trying to blink away his confusion, Ceidon did not see a small drop of blood fall from his right sleeve to the ground.

[Kyo]

She paused when he cried out to her. She didn’t know why, the ninja rarely stopped her assaults when those she was trying to kill got the nerve and the sense of mind to call out for her to stop. But she did. As he jumped away from her and his voice echoed out in the silence of this ruined city, bouncing off the stone walls and rising into the night sky, she paused. Her weapons stilled and staying in front of her should he make any kind of move, either for his sword or his bow. His hands were motionless at his sides though as his mouth continued to move. He asked questions like why, as if he didn’t know that there was a clan tournament going on, as if he didn’t think involving himself with people made merely to keep secrets would not be such a dangerous occupation. As if it wouldn’t cost him his life.

When his hand extended towards her, her fingers tightened and she had to fight the urge to remove the appendage from his body. His words were steadily getting even strange though.

He—he is offering me something in order not to kill him?

Ridiculous. He thought that she could be bought with a mere trinket, and a shuriken at that. She had plenty in her possession and could easily acquire more should the need ever arise. She was about to move in on him again, to close this small distance he had created and go right for the neck. The man seemed to have an absurd amount of luck on his side, having avoided her attacks twice more—three times technically, idiot—but luck would only last for so long before sheer skill won out in the end. And unless she allowed him to even get a grip on the weapons he carried, she was rather certain her skill would overpower his own. He could only trip on his feet so much and blindly jump away from her, avoiding the bite of her blades. Eventually, they would touch skin.

Then he ranted. His voice filling her ears and her head as it continued to bounce throughout this place. At the end of it she smirked. He seemed...confused and he was continually blinking his eyes as if trying to clear them of some kind of disturbance. Perhaps his moves had not been enough to save him from the bite of her shuriken. Kyo had thought both lost to the stones, having missed their target and merely cut into his clothes—the lucky bastard—she was now beginning to suspect that one had grazed him somewhere. The drug was beginning to take effect, slowly but surely and she had a few minutes until it wore off and he would be back in his right mind. Until then, she wanted a bit more of an elaboration on this weapon that man had been talking about. If it was something she could use to help The Brotherhood than she wanted to hear every scrap of information he had on it.

Dropping her hands to her sides, Kyosku moved towards him. Her steps were quick and purposeful as she sheathed one of her blades. Knocking his outstretched hand away from her and grabbing him by the shoulder, she shoved him against the wall. Moving her fingers with purpose, the ninja began pushing them into a pressure point at the base of his neck, though not too hard. Not yet anyway.

“Tell me more about this weapon if you want to keep breathing.” Her voice was harsh and cold as it finally found it's own place within this ruined city.



((Bunnying approved.))

[Ceidon]

((Bunnying approved))

Ceidon did not struggle when he was slammed against the ruin. Instead, he suddenly found himself fascinated with his situation. “You’re a girl!” the adventurer exclaimed. “My name is Ceidon Lore. Do you like flowers? I would love to get you some.” She did not seem amused. Ceidon gave her a puzzled look. “Oh right, the weapon…well, you see, I’m not 100% sure that it exists.” In response, the ninja pressed harder against Ceidon's neck.

“But I’m pretty sure it does." Ceidon coughed. “Look around. Do you see these pretty blue and green lights dancing in the sky?” Suddenly Ceidon reached out with his free hand and grabbed at the air. One of the lights had swooped down and was trying to tickle the ninja’s ear. “Stop that,” he cried, swiping again at the air. “Damn! It got away.” The ninja raised her eyebrow. Ceidon focused, “Where was I? Right, the lights are unique to this spot on days when the moon is hiding. I think they’re part of a map. X marks the spot, you know.”

“Do you know what this is?” Ceidon asked, losing his train of thought. He brought the metal shard in his left hand to his face. “This metal is shining even though there is no light to reflect. It looks elfish, but elves don’t come here. These are the ruins of a dwarf city, you know. Dwarfs make really strong weapons and other stuff.”

The ninja briefly glanced at the shard. “It’s Prevalida,” she said coldly, mocking the adventurer’s ignorance.

“Prevalida!” Ceidon responded. He had never seen the metal before, but knew that it absorbed and aided magic. “That means there’s magic here! I mean, it's possible that the lights themselves are magic, but magic wouldn't linger on particular days. It must have a source.” Ceidon began to wiggle to try to escape the ninja’s clutches. When she did not budge, he became erratic. “Come on! Put me down,” he begged, “the lights are about to…” Ceidon was interrupted when an owl wooed. “Ooh a butterfly,” he said.