(10) Two Daggers and a Prayer v (15) Standing Ground

[Zerith]

Perhaps he made an error, maybe this wasn’t going to be as easy as he thought. It didn’t matter if the one woman didn’t have a clue as to what she had gotten herself into anymore. She had managed to dodge his halberd with a simple tumble backwards and send a cloud of dust at her attacker. That was when he realized that although she didn’t intend on being there, she could handle herself. As for his punishment for underestimating, Zerith was having a coughing fit and had to shield his eyes. Even worse, that made him unaware of the staff that was being thrust towards his feet.

However help arrived in the form of the sentence, “How could you start without me”. Followed by the ringing of a sword being unsheathed, it had to be Torin. He even went further to even block knock away the staff that was about to hurt his comrade. “Go left,” the voice suggested. What did Zerith have to lose?

Although he hadn’t be able to see his teammate, Zerith did as he was advised. He quickly brought his arm down from his face so he could see where he was going and ran behind another large rock. Although he was unable to see where Torin left he concluded that he couldn’t have gone too far, the laughter made that much certain. What was he doing that would make him so amused?

“You didn’t expect me to wait forever, did you Torin?” Zerith asked. He was just assuming this was his partner, or why else would he have helped the youth in the first place? “But now that you’re here, The LCC can officially start for the two of us.”

While Torin was busy capturing the attention of the two women, Zerith was to action. Grabbing a small rock he brought his arm back and threw it further to into the house on his left to try and make it seem like he ran in there. He waited only for a second before he moved right and out from behind his cover. Sometime during the time spent in hiding Torin had taken the liberty of throwing some sand at their competition. “That’s perfect,” Zerith thought. “It nice to see that my companion has some understanding of teamwork.”

The young fighter made another approach while moving as quietly and as fast as he could. Hopefully Torin would be able to hold the women’s attention for a bit longer while Zerith moved closer to his next target. This time he would go for the staff wielder who was probably lost somewhere in the cloud of sand. As soon as he was close enough he attacked, thrusting the spear point of his polearm at her shoulder. Hopefully by utilizing the dust that surrounded them and the reach of his halberd, Zerith would actually be able to deal some damage this time. If this worked she wouldn’t know what hit her until her felt the sharp metal sinking into her skin and digging into her bone.

But then again this woman did ask for it. She did have some idea what she was getting herself into.

[Lin]

By the time Lin was on her feet and ready again there was a new enemy. It seemed all too convenient that the overzealous polearmsman's pal would show up just in time to parry the swipe at his feet that Lin’s de facto partner had made. That just seemed to be her luck so far. Barely able to introduce herself and now two armed men were ready to kill her.

“It is a tournament, after all,” she thought to herself as she watched the new man scurry off into a broken building. All the better, for all his showboating he was leaving his friend high and dry.

“Forget the new one, watch out for Sneaky Mc Chainmail,” Lin shouted as she felt a dusting of sand fall from above into her hair. Foolishly, she glared upwards angrily only to end up with another solid dose of it in her eyes.

She blinked a few times as tears washed it out and her vision became clear again. Just in time to see that her warning was right. The original man was ready to charge her companion. She hoped that the woman was at least as able as she looked, hopefully more.

There was no time to rush over there. She didn’t seem to have the fortuitous timing that her enemies were blessed with. Trusting that her partner could handle herself she turned to the man taunting her from the balcony.

“What a twit,” she sighed to herself. “Some people just generalize all the rules. Take the high ground, even when it’s a broken old building that’s falling apart.”

The sorry old building that her hauty opponent had taken up residence in had seen better days. Massive cracks spread up from its foundations which were little more than fond memories. Picking up a bent piece of metal scaffolding from the ground she slammed it into the largest crack in the buildings structure and pulled sideways. The stone wall groaned and crumbled, but she ignored those sounds. She was listening for footsteps, ready to drop the metal prybar and go for her dagger at the first sign of his flight.

The man had put himself into a trap. A jump from the balcony would only harm him and give Lin a chance to stab him after his nasty fall. Coming down the steps, he’d find a very sharp surprise waiting for him. Staying in the building, it would fall down around him. She wasn’t quite sure which she preferred, any of them seemed quite fitting for his error.

[Raychel]

Raychel had never felt such pain as she did when the warrior's halberd pierced her skin. She cringed and gritted her teeth as she felt her flesh rip. Memories flashed back to her of the time when, as a young girl, she had fallen out of a tree she was climbing and broken her leg. To think that she had thought that hurt. It was nothing compared to this. Granted, it hadn't felt good. She remembered sitting under the tree, gripping her leg and letting tears well up in her eyes. The tree was next to a river, and she sat there for a good half hour, listening to the flowing water and nursing her leg. Eventually she pulled herself up and half hobbled half crawled her way back to her village. The pain in her leg had been sharp, and she had felt sorry for herself at the time. That was the worst pain she had ever been in until now...

This pain was sickening, and all of the nerve endings in the flesh of Raychel's shoulder screamed in protest.

A million thoughts were flying through Raychel's head.

And I thought it was bad back then... owww... I wonder how much blood I'm losing... this is going to leave a nasty scar... and that halberd looks dirty; I hope this doesn't get infected... maybe the scar will look cool. Wait, wasn't there supposed to be good medical care at the end of this tournament!?! Ohh... if this IS the tournament... I hate this godforsaken island. It's probably a trick and I'll be slaughtered and left here to die. I still have my dagger... why didn't I pick a nice tournament in an arena rather than this dustbowl ghost town? I should be grateful that I didn't get gouged somewhere worse with that halberd... what is that clown doing up in that building? Ugh, searing pain...

Instinctively, Raychel reached out her hands to grab the arm of the halberd that was lodged in her shoulder. She channelled all of her stress and agony into holding the pole with an iron grip. Adrenaline kept Raychel from going into shock from all of pain, but the blow to her shoulder was hard and she couldn't manage to remain standing. While she was still gripping the halberd, her legs gave way and she fell backwards with all of her weight.

[Zerith]

I’m sorry.

Wait, why the hell was he feeling bad for his. It was hers! He was only doing what he came her to do, and this woman should have known the risks involved. It didn’t matter if she was the unlucky one. The truth was that Zerith was doing what he came her to do, to fight. That’s all that he had going for him here. So the only thing he could do was fight, even if it meant burying the point of his halberd in another person’s shoulder. He’d seen worse, he could cause injuries worse than this. No, he would cause more injuries by the time he was through at the LCC. So there was no point feeling sorry anymore.

Between the two of them, he was the one in control now. Why not take it further and stay in control? His opponent was too busy taking in all the pain he had dealt to her to stop him. All she could manage to do was hold the halberd in place before she collapsed. So she fell, no problem with that. Zerith didn’t even attempt to help her, he even released his halberd when he felt her weight begin to pull him forward.

However he did seize the opportunity. With his opponent on the ground Zerith felt like he was moving in the kill. Like some sort of predator about to deliver the final strike to it’s crippled prey. Her hands remained in his halberd, was she going to try and pull it out? He wouldn’t allow that yet. In a flash he was over her, his right foot pressed down on her stomach to pin her in place. Then his hands returned to his grip his polearm, the redwood clenched onto tightly as if to never let go of his trophy again.

“You brought this upon yourself,” He spoke coldly. Then without hesitation, without taking a moment to think about what he was doing, he pushed down and twisted. They’d both feel as the titanium connected with bone, as the tip twisted 180 degrees as it lay buried in the poor girl. He’d show her, he’d show them all that the child they all frowned upon was vanishing only to make way for a seasoned combatant.

Even if it meant killing this woman, he’d show them all.

[Raychel]

Raychel was relatively tough and tenacious for someone of her experience, and her reflexes were not slow. Although this was the first time she had ever been wounded so terribly and she was greatly pained, she exhibited good self-control and did not panic. She had not given up and fully intended to continue fighting even with a wounded shoulder.

If she had been in a fair fight with a normal human opponent, she would have had time to do something after falling with the halberd. However, Raychel’s opponent apparently had astonishing powers of celerity. In less than a split second, he managed to let go of his polearm, pin her down, regrab his polearm, say something (his words flowed so fast that she could not understand what), and twist the polearm in a final coup de gras.

On the one hand, Raychel marveled at her opponent’s ability to break the space-time continuum. On the other, she detested his dishonor. The meaning of a just fight must have meant nothing to him. Why did people who could manipulate time like that even bother to enter a competition?

In Raychel’s dying moments, she spit blood into her opponent’s face. She hoped that word would spread far and wide of his abuse of power and disgrace him to the end of his days. She thought it more likely, however, that he and his comrade would leave the island after slaughtering Raychel and Lin, and spread tales of a heroic, glorious victory.

In Raychel’s last moment as the world was growing fainter to her, she stabbed at her opponent’s foot with her dagger. Not that it mattered- with the speed at which he moved, he had probably already run off, slaughtered Lin, taken a boat back to the mainland, and enjoyed an ale at the pub with his companion. And even if he hadn’t, it still didn’t matter to Raychel anymore, for the fight was now over for her: everything faded to black.

[Zerith]

So with one quick twist half of the opposition would disappear. Leaving only one more for Torin and Zerith to deal with. Perhaps she wouldn’t be anymore difficult than her unfortunate companion, considering the fact that Zerith took care of her by himself. So by logic, if this girl had the same amount of skill as the one beneath the young fighter, then this fight was already done. Besides, now the odds favored Zerith.

However the poor girl on the ground had a few things to give Zerith before he could go and help Torin. Of course that was if you could consider having blood spit in your face a gift. Did she feel some sense of accomplishment for doing such a pointless thing? He could easily wipe the crimson liquid off his face. However, she would definitely feel better with what she did next. With her last bit of strength she managed to drive her dagger through Zerith’s left foot and into the ground. Leaving the halberdier groaning in pain while she left the world of Althanas and departed for the Antifirmament.

“Bitch,” Zerith muttered through clenched teeth. Although it was probably only fair that he would suffer from some sort of injury, that didn’t change the fact that it still hurt. It even sent more pain through his body as he reached down and pulled it out of his foot with his left hand, making him stop to catch his breath and wait for the pain to fade away. But now with that hindrance out of the way, it was about time he starting to bring this battle to a close.

As he looked around to see where that other girl had run off to, Zerith unsheathed his dagger and held it between his teeth. He’d leave Amenzanil where it was, standing like a monument to show what happpened to the staff-wielder. What would that other woman think when she saw it, would she be outraged? Would her emotions lead her on a direct course with Zerith, forcing the two to get up close and personal? As the young fighter drew Trithdursil, he was beginning to hope so.

Then he spotted her, waiting outside the building that Torin was still probably in. That’s what he’d do, he’d distract her to allow his comrade a chance to escape. Then while Zerith was the object of her attention, Torin would come from behind and finish her with one swing. Then this would all be over and the two of them could move on to the next round.

After aiming the best he could Zerith took a chance and threw the blood covered dagger at the girl. Then as the small blade flew through the air he switched his serrated blade over to his only free hand. So with the dagger in his left and Trithdursil in his right, the fighter slowly limped his way to towards the only other person that stood in his way.

With luck, he would find her no more difficult than the first. Regardless of a small injury or not.

[Ashiakin]

TWO DAGGERS AND A PRAYER

Just a note to the both of you: While you technically did nothing wrong by posting in quick succession in the beginning of your battle, it's generally considered courteous to wait 24 hours before posting again after each of you have posted once.

Lin
Introduction – 6 (I liked your intro and the way you worked with Raychel, but I didn't like how you both posted in quick succession.)
Setting – 7
Dialogue – 7
Character – 6
Rising Action – 6
Climax – 0
Conclusion – 0
Writing Style – 7 (Very good and without all the fat that most people on Althanas include. Impressive for a round one tournament battle.)
Strategy – 7 (The bit with tearing down the building was nice, but I'd be careful with such tactics in the future--doing something like that to an object/structure that your opponent created could be considering bunnying if you take it too far.)
Wild Card – 5

Total Score – 51

Raychel
Introduction – 5 (Check my note up top and what I said to Lin.)
Setting – 5
Dialogue – 5
Character – 6 (You seem to have a good grasp on your character, but you need to do a little work on your dialogue and thoughts before you'll be able to express your character totally effectively.)
Rising Action – 6
Climax – 5
Conclusion – 5
Writing Style – 5
Strategy – 7 (Although your character died very quickly, you made it seem believable. It worked with the rest of the thread well.)
Wild Card – 6

Total Score - 55

Team Average - 53

STANDING GROUND

Zerith
Introduction – 5
Setting – 5
Dialogue – 6 (You did a good job of having your character speaking and showing your character's thoughts when appropriate.)
Character – 5
Rising Action – 5
Climax – 5
Conclusion – 3 (I can't give you full points here because you didn't conclude. This wasn't entirely your fault, so you get some points.)
Writing Style – 5
Strategy – 6 (Your initial attack made your opening post feel a little rushed, but I think that it was an effective and believable strategy--you saw that Lin and Raychel were just talking, so you attacked them.)
Wild Card – 6

Total Score – 51

Torin Reahkari
Introduction – 5 (You only posted once. That says it all, really.)
Setting – 1
Dialogue – 1
Character – 1
Rising Action – 0
Climax – 0
Conclusion – 0
Writing Style – 1
Strategy – 0
Wild Card – 0
Total Score – 9

Team Average - 30

Two Daggers and a Prayer advances to Round 2!

REWARDS:
Lin receives 836 EXP and 150 GP.
Raychel receives 860 EXP and 150 GP.
Zerith receives 51 EXP and 100 GP.

[Thoracis]

Rewards Added!