Testing one's own skill. (Closed)

[Dark_Blossom]

Closed to Ell

Drip drip drip... The sound of falling water echoes thru the arena. It was dark, and there were many different corridors with extending bridges from one side or the central room to the other. Everything was made out of wet cobblestone, and there was plenty of places to retreat to in needed. The main room as illuminated but the light only illuminates about four feet into any of the scattered corridors on each side. There wasn't much time before her opponent would appear and their fight would begin. Lilith was wearing her traditional circus garbs, and she was carrying all of her weapons.

Then a light from the other side of the room, was it her opponent? She wasn't about to let this person get any type of upper hand on her. She fallowing true to her training stretched her arms and legs quickly before starting to sprint towards the light. There were about twenty scattered corridors and bridges between her and the light. At about top speed Lilith grabbed her chain from around her waist and within an instant swung it upwards. The top portion of the chain wrapped around one of the bridges above, as the chain grew tight her momentum swung her up in a circle. With great precision the young acrobat landed gracefully on top of the platform, and as quickly as before wrapped her chain back around her waist.

Here is good, ill wait until my moment. She thought as she awaited her opponent to appear, from up here she would be completely hidden from view. Her training with both the dark circus and from the crimson hand would make this an easy battle, or at least she hoped so.

[Ell]

Blinding light, but pitch darkness beyond. That is all Elias saw as he stepped through the portal. While moving through it he closed his eyes so that when the light was gone he would be able to adjust his eyesight. He moved forward surveying the arena. Corridors, twisting turns, and large, old, free-swaying bridges were everywhere. A light,at the end of the current hallway. He moved toward it.

He could not see his opponent. Elias was challenged, so normally he would enter second. Mayhaps his opponent was late? I wonder... I would hope they made the appointment...

He decided to search the corridors and doors and bridges. Maybe his opponent had gotten lost after arriving? He turned to his right, where a large, ornate, old looking wooden door stood in his path. Elias tried opening it but it was affixed to the wall like a decoration, and could not be moved. Well then, I guess I need to move to another.

Wandering for what seemed like hours and none of the doors opening, Elias grew tired of this game of cat and mouse. He called out in a fit of rage, "Warrior! Come out and fight! I tire of searching for you!" He stopped beneath a bridge, and waited.

[Dark_Blossom]

Here goes nothing! She thought after her opponent moved directly under her. A fluke? Any way she took it as a blessing and moved to attack. She reached up towards her hair she had up in a loose bun, with one quick motion grabbed one of her three long seven inch hair pins. These were her weapons of choice when it came to quick and lethal assassinations. Carefully she crept to the side of the hanging bridge, making sure to allude to her presence. With her weapon readied she gazed over the edge of her platform, her opponent was completely unaware she readying herself to deliver a deadly strike.

Then she dropped, quietly directly behind Elias. Her training made it her a silent thief, a deadly killer, she was excellent at being silent until the last moment when she would whisper in her prey's ear. The last words you hear would be hers, cursing you to the pits of hell. Standing up straight she stared at her victim, he had no idea what was to happen. Slowly she stepped to him, every step her heart raced, she excited about her next kill. A sense of bloodlust possessed her as she started to twirl her hairpin between her fingers.

As she got mere inches away from Elias she leaned into him practically touching him. "This wont hurt, I promise." She quietly whispered as she thruster her hairpin towards the back of the mans neck, she was telling truth he wouldn't feel a thing. Then she halted herself, this was an arena meant for fighting, meant for show. And this was no show if she ended it quickly. She instead simply tapped her opponent on his shoulder before quickly cartwheeling backwards to show off her agility.

[Ell]

Elias felt something tap his shoulder and quickly turned around to be kicked in the face by the cartwheel done by the female. It landed under his chin, and he was knocked to the ground. He got up quickly, and instantly drew his fans from his sleeves. "Wretched wench!"

Immediately he chased after the girl, yelling obscenities in her direction. Where did she even come from? He searche and searched but to no avail. There had simply been no sign off her presence. He had to calm himself and think rationally about his opponent. She was fast, and very silent, a fact that may ultimately meet his demise. He stopped dead in his tracks, as did the woman.

Ever so slightly, he undid the latch on one of his fans. As he did so, he spoke calmly, "You're a sneaky one, wench. Where have you come from?" While speaking, he slowly inched forward. His thought was that hopefully his opponent was inexperienced enough to notice the change in distance if it happened slightly. When he was within range, Elias threw his fan, and hoped to wrap it around her arms and midsection, to remove two-thirds of her movement capabilities.

[Dark_Blossom]

Do you jest? Lilith thought as she saw then man throw his unorthodox pair of weapons at her. They flew through in a direct pattern, nothing she was incapable of avoiding. During her time spent with her circus family she would have to avoid arrows for the pleasure of the crowd; this was mere child's play in comparison. The fan flew true to their destination, but neither were as accurate as any of the professional archers she had met in her time.

"A weird choice of weapons," She said as she dropped low to the ground, her breasts laying flat against it. The two fan flew directly over her head as she rolled to the side. Once clear from the path of the projectiles, she pushed of the ground with her hands. With one strong push she moved into a handstand and then lowered her legs down in front of her. Her head affixed at the man, "And you will never strike me with them." A menacing smile wafting over her face. With a slight tilt of her head she placed her legs on the ground and she contorted her body to stand up straight.Now it was her turn, though she did keep in mind the fan still in the air around her. She spun her sharp hairpin around in her hand twice before clutching it firmly like you would a dagger.

"Ready?" She asked not awaiting an answer, not wanting one. She began to sprint towards Elias, slowly picking up speed but not nearly at her top speed. Then with an abrupt turn she started at the wall, a low hanging bridge started just above their heads. With one, two, three steps she was at the wall and kicked off of it. Launching herself in the air just close enough to grab onto the lowest part of the bridge. Her one hand supporting her weight as she lifted herself on top of it, she would have a perfect vantage from up here.

[Ell]

Elias stood there in stunned silence as he watched the girl contort her body to dodge the fan. It was both an ugly and graceful action, as she fluidly moved from that to a handstand. This girl's strength rivaled his own, however hers was completely different. It was the strength of a circus performer, one trained in the performance at for years.

He tried to change the path of the fan, but she moved too quickly. Instead he reeled the fan in and reset the latch. He would need to change his tactic and go for a more direct approach. "How long have you been a fighter, wench? Long enough to be that fast, but the time it takes to gain the strength to do what you do..."

Elias watched in awe as the girl ran towards him, then hanging a hard turn towards the wall, kicking dirt in his face. He watched as she ran up the wall and kicked off, grabbing hold of the cobblestone bridge ten feet above them. Good, she's moved up. Let's see how quick she actually is!

Elias unlatched both fans and threw one towards her feet, and waiting for another moment before throwing the other to her belly.

[Dark_Blossom]

"Again with this!" She said aloud, gawking really, he had already missed once what was he trying to do. She clearly saw the first fan as it was thrown, so like before she readied herself to dodge. With a quick jump and a strong twist of her upper body, she was flung into a horizontal spiral. She must have made four or five rotations before she realized that the man had thrown his second aimed directly at her figure suspended in mid air. She had no way to avoid it, but she was not going to let this be a free hit. Just as the second fan entered the air she jerked her wrist forward with as much force as she could muster and set loose one of her iron darts flying directly at the mans chest.

The two objects pass each other in mid air, only barely missing each other. The fan came fast and directly at her spinning form. The man must have sensed his fan would hit the mark and the second it reached her, he pulled back his hand and released the blades from the fan. The blades of his fan cut Lilith along her arms and back as she rotated around the fan before she knocked it aside with a powerful kick. If only she waited just a few more seconds she could have avoided the second as easily as the first. She landed hard on the bridge but clung to the ground, as if she did there was no way he could see her at this angle.

"Fuck..." She slurred as her body seized in pain, it wasn't a deep wound and not life threatening, but damn it sure did hurt. "My arms are gashed badly." She had no time to focus on the pain, if she did her chances on surviving this fight would fly out the window. As quickly and quietly as possible she stood and ran into the dark corridor to her left. In here she would have the advantage, plus if her dart had hit she would have a good moment to recover before ending this fight.

[Ell]

He watched as the girl twisted and spun in midair. While she was spinning, he saw something fly from her hand. It glinted in what little light there was in the cavernous corridor, passing his fan in the air. He knew he couldn't move move while controlling his fans while they were flying. He needed to do something or it would hit him straight on.

He quickly yanked on his left arm and pulled his fan back, moving the fan within range of the object, but not close enough to block. Instead it glanced of the side and in that instant, a pin dug itself into his side, deep enough it couldn't be moved or taken out. Elias's face contorted with pain. A steady flow of blood running down the outside of his thigh.

He would need to staunch the wound soon, but the girl was running away. He had struck the evil wench, but she was still able to move. Elias needed to think quickly, so he wrapped his body with the fan that was closest and drew it tight. The bleeding stopped, but now he was without a weapon.

He could not see where she went, the wench. Elias decided to run to his left through another corridor, hoping it would take him to her. Dammit! Where did she go now!?

[Dark_Blossom]

"Shit," She said as she ran down the darkening corridor, her wounds were definitely starting to take their toll on her. She couldn't see well in this darkness but she could feel two large gashes on her upper arms. The pain as excruciating but this was not about to cripple her. She was sure that her dark had struck the man, she was sure her was hurt just as bad as herself. "Im sure these corridors all meet up somewhere." She said to herself wishing she wasn't telling tale.

The darkness of the tunnel, would play to her advantage only in the aspect of her stealth. If she was to run into him she would have to end it quick, one on one she would not make it with her arms in this condition. It will all be left to fate, and maybe blind luck. She began to drag her hand along the wall, there was no light anywhere, if there were to be other halls this was to be her way to find them. Sure enough after only about a minuet of running she felt it. An opening to another passage, she turned and started on this hall. Is this a labyrinth, I didn't ask for this. She thought back to when she requested this arena. But then she saw it, a glimmer of light. Is that the main hall? She moved slightly and then noticed an obstruction in the light casted down the way. A figure, her opponent she was sure.

She stopped dead in place, considering all of her options. She needed to end this before it could even start. With a quick flick of her wrist launched another dart directly in the past of the figure. The silent aura she casted made this a silent throw with precision accuracy.

[Ell]

Running again. Always running after something. He hated that feeling. Elias wanted things to run after him. Instead, this bitch of a wench was hiding in the shadows, forcing him to go after her. He hated this.

After a short time, he decided to use his last resort. Elias stood still, collected and calmed himself, and closed his eyes. He had to concentrate.

The darkness of the corridor blinded him entirely. He was running down the hall, heavy footsteps echoing around him. He was getting woozy, breathing ragged. There wasn't any light, save for what was behind him. He thought he saw movement, but in this darkness, the mind plays tricks. He continued running, when all of the sudden, something struck him in the throat. He fell, gasping for air, a hole in his throat, obstructed by another pin. He heard a voice echo in the darkness. "I told you this wouldn't hurt..."

Elias doubled over in pain. It was a hassle, having learned this ability. His Future Sight caused immense pain in his eyes, almost too unbearable. He had to stay alive.

He knew what was going to happen. He ran forward, an inch to where he was in his vision. The pin would hit him in the shoulder.

And it did. He used this as an opportunity. His free hand had already unlatched the garrote wire hidden within his fans. With the force of being hit in the shoulder, he threw his fan into the darkness, towards where this wretched pin came from, and aimed low. After a moment he fell to one knee, exhausted. This fight had taken a lot out of him. He hoped it had ended...