Huntress Vs. Temptress

[Huntress]

Shindayru K'ren stroked the grainy oak door of the Citadel reverently with calloused fingers. So many people had entered through the doors, and thanks to the monks, come out again. So many people had shed blood inside these walls. So many people had established a reputation, an instinctual habit they always relied on, in this building. And now she was to become one of those people. One of the people who'd either won or lost. Well, Shindayru was determined not to become just another statistic. She would win. She would make a name for herself, and she would prove that training with Sona for ten years of her life was not in vain.

With that thought in mind, Shindayru wrapped ragged hands around the ornate steel handles that opened the doors to the Citadel. She pulled hard, and weathered slabs of wood opened with creaking that she thought would put her cheap old bedframe at the Peaceful Promenade to shame. As she entered the building and self-conciously shut the door behind her, not noticing the high-pitched whine that was emitted this time, Shindayru gaped at what seemed to be the most magnificent building in all of Althanas. She saw high, arched ceilings that seemed foreign to her since Shindayru had long since adopted the idea of low doorframes and ceilings.

Shindayru unconciously sidestepped a robed monk while admiring the stonework that was impossibly delicate and subtle, yet still seemed to be shouting the hundreds of stories that had taken place here. The monk finally had to step in front of her and shout for her attention before she gave it. "Yes?" She asked archly, finally regaing her composure.

The stranger surveyed her build and Sona, her sword. She watched as he examined the muscles she had earned working with both. Staring into her eyes and appearing to come to a decision, he merely beckoned to her flippantly with his- hand? Shindayru was not certain. His entire body was covered by a voluminous robe with a hood that was large enough to hide his face. She assumed that it was meant to convey modesty to anyone looking at him. Shindayru snorted inwardly with the thought. It was unlikely that anything that poetic was an idea welcomed by the man she was following down many cramped corridors to who knows where.

When the man stopped suddenly at another door, identical to all the others in this hallway: Iron lined with what seemed to be plynt. But why would they need absorbant metal around a door? They couldn't have... No, there's no way they would fill a whole bunch of rooms with water. But when Shindayru saw that the floors were plynt as well, she began to have doubts. "I really don't think that this room is for me," She began. "Perhaps-"

Shindayru stopped short when she saw a flash of white inside his hood that might have been teeth curled into a sadistic smirk. "In you go, dearie," With strength Shindayru hadn't imagined the old man capable of, he shoved her in through the door, which he quickly attempted to shut before all of the water in the room splashed out onto him. Unsurprisingly, he failed.

Normally Shindayru would have laughed as the sour old man was left drenched and spluttering on the quickly drying plynt floor. But normally she wasn't trying to swim to the surface of what seemed to be an indoor lake before she drowned.

[Temptress]

So many stories. So many lives lost and regained. So many reasons to go. It was overwhelming, the way that the Citadel almost seemed to disappear into the clouds.

People either came out of this monstrous behemoth of a building with their head held high and a reputation, or slumped shoulders and lack of eye contact. Soldiers she had overheard at the Silver Pub last night had been talking about how sometimes it was better to remain dead at the Citadel after a loss rather than to be healed by the monks and have to deal with mocking laughter from people who'd heard of your defeat. In general, though, Coronians mentioned the Citadel in awe.

And so Isodel had come. Had come to see why all the citizens of Corone revered this place. Why they seemed to almost bow to it in the streets, and why stories of battles here were passed down through generations. When Isodel opened the doors, she had her answer. The subtle carvings in the stone under her feet seemed to glow with energy. When she looked closer, bending over to trace what she now recognised as runes with her delicate fingertips, she saw enchantments for long-lasting protection and endurance that she assumed were all around the Citadel.

The power pulsing from these enchantments was almost tangible. Isodel shook her head. "Amazing," She muttered to herself. "Simply amazing."

She jumped, startled from her reverie, when a monk tapped her on the shoulder and asked her if she was here for a battle or not. "Oh, I'm here to fight," Isodel's eyes seemed to glow. "I can't wait to see what other magic this place has farther inside!" Such childish enthusiasm was beneath her, she knew. But how often did one get to see magic as advanced as was here? This was the perfect time to practice her own magic as well. Who knows, maybe she'd learn something new. Isodel continued watching the runes carved into the floor for any changes or patterns.

When the carvings in the floor switched position to the wall at the same time the stone floor seemed to melt into plynt tiles, she looked up to see another hooded man drenched in water sitting in front of a door. It appeared he was still recovering from what seemed to be a very wet occurance. When she glanced at her guide, he was smiling merrily at the disgruntled man on the floor. It seemed that the other man was not well liked by his colleagues.

She was assessing the door to her immediate left, occasionally poking at it with her steel staff when her guide returned his attention to Isodel. The door appeared to be iron lined in plynt, and since plynt was absorbant... "Hey, are these all water-based rooms?" She asked her guide.

He beamed at her. "That is correct. You're a smart girl." Isodel concealed a small smile at his words.

"Is it possible I could go in one of these arenas?" She wondered. Water containment magic was pretty rare. Oh, sure, common items like canteens enchanted to hold larger amounts of a water or wine were pretty basic, but to really hold a lake or pond indoors? It took years of study and extreme skill to do so.

When the guide nodded at her, he warned Isodel to hold her breath. They were confusing instructions but she did as she was told, inhaling hugely and waiting for the door to open. She was engulfed in a huge amount of water as the barrier was pulled out of the way, and reacted. Kicking forward purposefully, she strived to reach the surface of what looked like a lake before she passed out from lack of oxygen.

[Huntress]

When Shindayru's head burst through the surface of the water llike a cork, she expected to see some sort of tropical environment, maybe a beach or an island, but the reality was quite different. She was currently treading water in an obviously manmade circle maybe ten meters around, and beyond the circle of water she was encased in a giant metal box. It seemed to be an alloy of steel and plynt, with some sort of rough texture not found in well worked metal.

When she pressed her hand against the wall nearest to her after climbing out of the water, the area it covered pushed outward, making a bump in an otherwise smooth, cubic room. Shindayru snatched her hand back, rubbing it as though she had been stung, while regarding the bump thoughtfully. What made it stretch? She wondered. She looked back towards the large pool in the center of the room. Small ridges had arisen where Shindayru had stepped to get to where she was now, she noticed absently.

What had made it rise? She asked herself again. That's it! She knew what the metal reacted to now: Heat. That's why pressing her hand against the wall affected it- her body heat had made the bump. And the foot-shaped ridges? The heat emanating from her feet through her leather boots had made those.

To test her theory, Shindayru conjured a small sphere of fire in her right hand and pressed it to the wall. The small section of wall seemed to jump, extending about three feet away from it's normal position. She darted out of it's way, realizing that the temperature affected how extreme the change in the wall is.

Having established that, Shindayru drew Sona from it's sheath on her back, and settled down to wait for her opponent in the corner of the room. The second another wet head popped up through the surface of the water, Shindayru would hit. And Shindayru hit hard.

I drew a picture of the room on MS Paint and put it here: http://s259.photobucket.com/albums/hh304/HermioneGranger4ever/?action=view&current=ThreadDiagram.jpg

[Temptress]

It was not a pleasant way to recuperate from a draining swim, running around a room wildly with bruising iron bands banging into your back. Oh, add in the factor of a crazy blonde high elf chasing you with her sword, and you have a pretty horrible situation on your hands. And we can't forget the fact that the floor is alive! A bitter voice mentioned in the back of Isodel's head. She waved that thought away. She'd cross that bridge when she came to it, but now was not the time to puzzle over an impossibly constructed room that moved whenever she touched it.

Isodel accelerated desperately when a dangerously close swing sheared off a few wet hairs. She narrowed her eyes, almost stumbling. That drokshi, drow for bitch, did not just screw up her hair. It would just have been a few hairs to a lesser person, but to Isodel? Well, her inner sadist silently screaming bloody murder was a pretty big hint.

Isodel noticed a large bulge that must have been created the last time she came around and pushed off against the wall. Narrowing her eyes even further, Isodel stopped in front of it, fully expecting another blind vertical swing from her assailant. If that occured, than Miss Let's Ruin Our Opponent's Hair would be saying hello to her throwing knife's blade buried in her ribs. Isodel grinned savagely, thinking, this is going to be fun.

[Huntress]

Shindayru narrowed her eyes, suspicious. When the dark elf- Scum! an uncontrolled part of her mind shouted- halted abruptly, Shindayru was more then a little suspicious. The savage grin was more than enough to warn her of a devious plot running through her opponent's mind, and a hand drifting towards what was probably the partially concealed knife Shindayru had seen earlier was not especially encouraging. But now Shindayru had the chance she had been waiting for. She acted.

Hefting Sona with unexpectedly tired arms, Shindayru prepared to take another vertical swipe at the other woman's unprotected shoulder. Her adversary's eyes widened, almost mockingly, Shindayru thought, as the sword descended to where the (agile) dark elf had stood not a second before.

It was all a ruse; the surprise was faked, the tensed muscles were planned, the whole shebang- to get Shindayru to this point. When she realized this, she tried to redirect the course of her blade before it got lodged into the bulging mass of steel and plynt, but she was too late. Almost in slow motion, Shindayru felt the cold metal of her weapon get jammed into a small hollow the low temperature of her blade had created upon impact. She was stuck, and Shindayru was sure that was what the other woman had planned since she had started shielding this bulge from view with her delicate frame.

Shindayru watched her opponent apprehensively with darting eyes, still recovering from the shock of being outsmarted by a dark elf, of all things. Her hands seemed to be glued to her sword, and Shindayru was unable to do anything, paralyzed by her disappointment in herself. She could imagine her parents' reactions to this event, could almost see the shimmering shame of her failure in their eyes, and even though her parents would say that it was alright, she could try again, she couldn't wipe away his failure, or her memory of it, and it would constantly be a reminder this battle and the dark splotch it would leave would make her sad to look back on and- Shindayru's anger at herself, or the situation, or maybe even the bulge she was anchored to seemed to make her regain her strength. Right now, Shindayru wanted to punch the living daylights out of this woman, sword be damned. She still had her daggers after all, even if she only had ever used them to cut up food with.

Inexperiance was evident in the clumsy way she took out one of her freshly sharpened, shiny steel daggers. If she continued this way, she'd only take down her adversary because she was laughing too hard to defend herself. What kind of glory came with winning a battle like that? None. But more self-rebuking later. Shindayru abandoned her sword and the dagger she had tossed down after becoming duisgusted with her own clumsiness as she saw the glint of light reflecting off the blade that the other woman had drawn (Much more gracefully) to hit Shidnayru with.

Oh, now it was personal. Shindayru narrowed her eyes. That coward. She had been planning to take down Shindayru with a long-distance weapon - a throwing knife! That was the lowest trick in the book. That was what rapists used in back alleys to weaken their victims. And even then, they didn't kill them with the throwing knife! Even rapists had more respect then this- this- High Elven didn't have a word strong enough to describe the woman surveying her with wide eyes. Evidently she hadn't planned for Shindayru to move once her sword got stuck. "I suppose I have to allow for stupidity with Aleraran trash. But really, assuming I wouldn't get out of the way? That's pathetic, even for a dark elf." Shindayru said condecendingly. She was tired of keeping her mouth shut, and the fight had been bought to a standstill for now. "I don't know about you, but I'm not going to wait until you're no longer struck dumb by my beauty." Shindayru tossed her head, sending a fake smile in her opponent's direction. The phony smile quickly turned into a snarl. "You're going down, bitch," Shindayru brought out the knife she had drawn from the back of her belt while the dark elf had been distracted by her insults. Charging towards her, Shindayru readied the knife at shoulder height. She was going to drive this blade down deep- and make sure it didn't come out again. From what Shindayru had seen so far, this woman was not experianced in close combat. Shindayru would use that against her.

[Temptress]

When Isodel saw the immobile form of her high elven 'friend', her dark expression seemed to grow more malevolent. The sadistic part of her she had held back during the beginning of the fight had come loose, all of it's mental bonds released. Now Isodel was going to get serious- and serious meant some things many people wouldn't even like to hear about, let alone do. Oh, sure, Isodel was peaceful, compared to other dark elves, but every single one of her species had a dark side that very few ever tried to hide. Returning her attention to the drokshi she had lured into a perfectly constructed trap- with little to no effort on her part- Isodel noticed that her quarry was getting much angrier then Isodel was used to. This wasn't blind rage anymore: this was cold, rational anger spawned form a train of thought Isodel didn't like. She had seen this type of emotion before, in the some of the men she had 'worked with' who realized where she was from before she could get her knife into his back. It was unsettling to see the way their face would contort form pure anger to sadness and pain before their muscles relaxed and their heart stopped beating. She always returned to her government-supplied apartment with a heavy heart those nights.

In the corner of her mind, Isodel noticed the clumsy try to grip a dagger she had brought to the arena with her. She almost laughed out loud. This was an attempt to kill her? Isodel tossed the throwing knife she had drawn absentmindedly from hand to hand, always catching it by the handly every time. It seemed that this woman that now regarded her with disgust and- pity? After seeing her knife. Isodel could not tell. Then the blonde spoke, and Isodel could see red.

Isodel could feel her blood boiling. All those insults, all those thoughtless, horrible barbs that dug deeper and deeper with every second that passed would stick in her memory for weeks until another bad event replaced them. She heard her companion's final verdict on what would happen as the battle commenced again, and Isodel snarled as the blonde rushed forward with another dagger in hand (how many did the other woman have?). She hadn't known there was a way of actually snarling at someone unintentionally, but it had happened.

Isodel decided that now would be a great time to use her magic. Blast would work well enough, based on this woman's straightforward running. Tossing her largely ignored staff into the air and catching it again, she pointed the end with calli on it at her adversary. "I'd have to disagree with you there, blondie. I believe the only one 'going down' here will be you," she said coldly. Gripping the shaft harder, Isodel realized with a jolt that this would be the first time she had used a spell in combat. Until now it had been practice. Oh, now was not a good time to think that, she thought to herself. "Blast!" She whispered harshly under her breath. With luck, it would hit her opponent directly and give Isodel enough time to dart around her body to get the dagger that was thrown down digustedly by a certain disgruntled woman earlier. Daggers were much sturdier then the flimsy, aerodynamic blades of throwing knives, so they would be able to hold under vicious blows to hard objects like bones and skulls and other pleasant things.

Ah-hah. The blast had hit. No, there were no disastrous explosions that involved guts spilling all over the room (sadly), but then again, the spell only conjured an orb that travelled slowly in a straight line towards the target. Since her opponent had done the moving for her, she needn't worry about the speed of her spell. Isodel had only needed to wait for her quarry to run into her attack. And she had, causing her to stumble briefly because of the push equivalent to one Isodel could give herself that the spell made the target feel, but that brief stumble was all Isodel needed.

Dashing around the woman, she snatched up the dagger and held it tightly in one hand, the other holding the throwing knife she had gotten out before. And then Isodel waited. Waited for something to happen. Waited for the spell to stop affecting her opponent, and waited for the target to turn around and give Isodel that perfect view of where her heart should be. Just one look, and then- no more heartbeats falling in a steady rythym. Not for this lady.

[Huntress]

Shindayru was, to say the least, surprised when whatever her opponent had thrown at her made her stumble slightly. She was even more surprised when the opportunity wasn't used to attack her, but rather ran around her to pick up something. Shindayru assumed it was her abandoned dagger, and mentally berated herself for allowing the enemy another weapon. Waiting apprehensvely for the final blow, Shindayru was curious when it didn't come. One would think that this was the perfect opportunity to attack.

Either her opponent was waiting for the right chance and position to drive the stolen blade through bone and muscle, or she was injured. Shindayru highly doubted the latter, so remained prone even as her body begged her to move from the strenuous postion she was in (leaning forward and bent at the waist, with all of her body weight on her right leg).

Shindayru's legs were quivering after 20 seconds of staying in the same place. She knew that she would have to move soon. When she moved, she had to move fast. The dark elf had already proved herself to be silent and absurdly agile- Shindayru wouldn't put it past her to be quick as well.

Shindayru tensed, flexing already hard-put legs. Three... Two...

[Temptress]

Isodel could see the muscles in her adversary's legs ripple as she prepared to jump away. No, Isodel did not have supervision. Actually, she had snuck up on the other woman after deciding that it would be silly to wait for the prey to make the first move. It was something Isodel was good at, sneaking around. She had had alot of practice with it during her service in the SBIA.

At any rate, Isodel was in a dilemma. She wanted so badly to end the battle here, to declare herself victorious. But a strike from the back... That was a coward's way to win. Isodel was no coward, and she certainly wasn't going to become one now. Oh, sure, she used throwing knives, but they were useful when hunting. The much stronger dagger she had in her hand now was her weapon of choice, hands down.

[Temptress]

Discontinued by consensus. Huntress and I have decided that we can't continue this thread, what with school and (my) family issues. Oh, for the record, we made our characters opposite and yet similar because we've been in contact over the past three years by email. It was coordinated.

[Taskmienster]

Due to the fact that this thread was incomplete and did not meet the 10 posts or 10,000 words necessary for a all out judgment I will be closing it. However, you both recieve 100 exp and 25 gold.

[Taskmienster]

Exp and GP added!