Hold Your Nose (Open)

[ZekeBK]

Zeke woke up from a deep sleep, a real deep sleep, a sleep that could only be described as deep. He wouldn't have been woken up if someone stabbed a knife in his arm. Although the sleep was deep Zeke woke with a start. He had a wierd dream that he'd gotten in an epic battle, with someone, he'd no recollection of who, or where, all he remembered was a fight. Zeke didn't even know where he was.

Zeke saw a monk standing over him, squinting at him, wispy white mustache hanging off of his face. "Am I in a nursing home?" Zeke said aloud "Who is this old geezer?". The squinting man's squint seemed to turn arngry after that, it just confused Zeke. The man slapped Zeke across the face, and Zeke sat up rubbing his cheek. "For an old man, you got a strong arm" Zeke said staring at the man. The man motioned a finger at Zeke, telling him to follow him as he walked away. 'Better do what he says' thought Zeke 'or he'll backhand me into next Tuesday'.

They walked down a narrow stone corridor with blood stained and water damaged walls. It was like walking through a bloody sewer, because it stank too. Little pipes let out small amounts of green slime, rats ran left and right into thier little crevasses. Zeke glanced for a moment at the curved ceiling, which was only about a foot above his head.In the idle time they were walking down the pipe like hall Zeke was paying no attention to where they were going, just to the rats, giving the monk the ability to push him off into a dark hole. A deep dark pipe of a hole.

Zeke landed in a puddle of murky borwn water that had gathered on the rusty metal floor from the dripping ceiling. The stench of this place almost overwhelmed Zeke, it was as if everything was giving off it's own unique, but equally putrid stench. When Zeke put everything together; pipelike, metal, and smelly, he realized he was in a sewer, he was going to have a fight in a sewer.

[Tsukiko]

Tsukiko had come to the citadel to practice. She was good with the sword but after months of nothing but sparing with her mother and brother, who always held back because they didn't want to hurt her. It was fine for keeping a little rust off but it was nothing that would tell her if she could handle herself in a real adventure again.

But that's why the grand halls of the citadel were built. The great stone walls that made Tsukiko feel small always greeted her and it never changed, as if the building would grow if someone got used to them. The kitsune walked gingerly with her sandals making an echoing clack only to stop when she found her first monk.

“Hello sir monk.” Tsuki bowed with a smile to show respect.

“Greetings miss.” The monk bowed back with a solemn face that would not smile.

“Well I'm sure you know why I'm here. Do you think you could get a forest for me to fight in?”

“Haha, well we could always do that but I can tell you are used to the forest and would learn little by fighting there. How about something a little more urban?”

“A little more urban?” Tsuki asked while swishing her tail and scratching her head, intrigued.

“Yes, I have a combatant waiting in a very urban arena.”

“Well I guess that it would be a nice change.” Tsukiko agreed and the monk Nodded before he led her down the hallway to a worn and rusted door.

The Ripe smell should have been a warning as the fox girl entered but once the girl had gone through the door it slammed shut as if expecting her to escape. There was a fragment of a moment that Tsukiko had, where things didn't seem so bad but then the wave of stench hit her, forcing the poor girl to gag.

After the wave of Nausea passed the girl cursed in her native tongue and screamed. “Urban! This place smells like hot poo!” Tsuki was feeling a little dizzy as she held her nose but that wasn't going to fix the problem, for it only made her taste the stench on her tongue.

The Room was a series of tunnels with many pipes and many of them leaking foul fluids. Tsuki hardly could believe the sick trick that the monk had pulled. He had sent the fox girl into a hellhole that smelled of feces, urine with a twinge of vomit and algae. Oh! if only the algae was the dominate stench! At least there was mercy in the fact that there was an iron catwalk to keep her from falling into the sewage.

Tsukiko looked through tear streaked eyes to see her opponent. Great, he was in heavy armor and looked tough. Tsuki just wanted the fight to be over quick so she could enjoy a nice bath with lavender bubble bath and tea leaf oil. But since Tsuki was brought up to act better she would postpone her attack for the pleasantries.

“I'm Doji Tsukiko. I'll be your opponent today.” She bowed but could not erase the awkward grimace from her face. Also despited the unpleasant setting, the girl would wait and let the fighter make the first move so she could gauge his skill.

[ZekeBK]

Zeke saw the fox girl bowing at him, he could tell she wasn't happy to be battling in this place, this stinking purtrid place. "Yeah hi, Doji?" Zeke began "Yeah I'm Zeke, this place smells like a burning pile of s**t, so I don't really think that we have time for a good introduction." "Because I want to get out of this place as quick as you" Zeke now pulled out his sword. "So if you want to ramble on about yourself, thats fine, we'll get out of here easy" Zeke continued "I don't want to offend you, I actually do want to hear more about you, I just, I don't like smelling like this". "You can try and kill me, but I won't accept losing" Zeke slid his fingers up the blade of the sword. Zeke suddenly lunged at the girl, she looked too fast to be hit with the attack, but hitting with this attack wasn't his main objective. Not yet.

[Tsukiko]

Tsukiko's face hardly changed when the warrior spoke up. Sure the place smelled but that was no excuse to be rude. The man did introduce himself but the fox girl was sure he was being sarcastic with her. But he was confident in his abilities as a warrior when he said he wasn't going to accept losing. The fox girl's tail wagged a little when the warrior drew his blade.

Tsuki didn't draw her swords but put her hand on one of the Twins' hilts. She was going to start with only one blade as her opponent had a heavier weapon than her short swords and he also had a strength advantage. The vixen kept focused when she saw the man begin the lunge.

It was a gambit of an attack, close the distance and strike a hard blow in one move. Tsuki felt a twinge of excitement now that the battle was under way and even for a short moment she could forget the rancid smell that assaulted her nose. The problem was that lunges are easily avoided for a fast fighter and Tsuki simply jumped back out of range.

“That's a bold move.” The vixen smiled slightly yet truly for once. Sure the smell was still there but the start of the battle had given the girl a bit of respite where her mind could focus on her next move instead of the scent of sewage. “Now it's my turn.” The girl perked her ears playfully as she lit a ball of fox fire in her hand and threw it.

The spell may have not been the best idea since it seemed to burn the foul gases and made the stench even worse. Tsukiko whimpered and hesitated as her fireball flew towards the target. She meant to follow the ball and attack with her own blade but instead shivered and gagged once again. Damn the smell.

(OOC: Sorry for the wait. my internet modem died during a big storm so I couoldn't get online for a few days.)

[ZekeBK]

Zeke felt as if she thought he was being sarcastic when he was speaking, he was good at reading people. Zeke meant every word he said, but now wasn't the time to apologize, now was the time to fight.

As he expected the girl simply jumped backwards out of the range of his sword to dodge the attack. the next move sort of suprised Zeke a fire ball, it also sort of almost made him barf, it smelled like someone just blew up a dead skunk with a rotten egg bomb, but more over it made him happy. This was the perfect opening.

Zeke added up everything and formulated his plan while the fireball was hurtling towards him. Zeke held his hand out and caught the fireball in his hand and it melded with his armor, turning it a bright red. Zeke channeled the fire's power up his other arm into his sword. The sword lit up in a red-orange blaze.

Zeke had a feeling about the sewage. He dipped his dagger in the putrid liquid, and touched it to his sword. The dagger lit ablaze with a little explosion, oh how it stank. Zeke aimed his sword, slightly tilted down at the girl, and shot the blaze of fire back at her. 'Lets see you dodge that'

[Tsukiko]

Tsukiko's eyes were big as she watched her magic get absorbed by the armor. This man had some nice toys, too good for the average merc and he was too skilled for the average rich ninny that bought magic items to make up for lack of skill. The Vixen took a defensive stance and drew both blades as Zeke made a show of lighting his dagger aflame with his now flaming sword.

Tsukiko had to think, her foxfire was worthless against this foe. And while she had plenty of tricks, she didn't know the best way to get through the armor. For the moment she had to be careful. Tsuki took a defensive stance when Zeke pointed his blade at her. Something wasn't right about that stance and in an instant the blade flashed and a fireball that was similar to her fox fire shot out. Even before the taunting warning came forth, the vixen had gone into the air to jump over the missile and into melee range. It was a gambit but Tsukiko wanted to be in melee.

She was ready to attack but only used one to stay on the defensive. Her right blade moved to thrust at Zeke, aimed for on of the contours of the fine plate armor. She was hoping that the blade would get in and get a bite out of her opponent. It was likely only going to wound the warrior but it would be an advantage if she could slow him down even more. But she needed something that would get her victory.

Perhaps she could find a more advantageous area in the stinking sewers. The girl had to concentrate on her attack to keep the sent from distracting her. Perhaps if she could wound the soldier, she could have a chance.

[ZekeBK]

Zeke had successfully aniticipated the opponent's move, Zeke simply stepped to the side and covered his face, and the blast of fire that he had launched at her previously lit up almo the whole pipe. Fire seeped into the tiny nooks and crannys of the pipe. The only thing that saved Zeke from a flaming death was his magic conducting armor and sword, and still he got a bit of a burn. Hopefully the fire ousted the flame of life in the fox girl. How could it not have?
(OOC: sorry for the shortness on this, it was sort of required I think)

[Tsukiko]

The Vixen almost had her fangs sink inter her prey but there was a slight problem. The fireball that the girl had avoided had ignited a pipe with volatile concoction that was ready to go at any minute. The hiss of burning caused the girl's ears to pin back and then it was followed by a bang. The force and heat caused Tsuki to scream in pain as she was hurled head over heels to land in a puddle of foul fluid.

The girl's kimono was scorched and the flesh of her back was pink with minor burns and gave her a burning itch to her where the kimono touched skin. “Uhhh, that was a lucky shot.” Tsukiko whimpered as she picked her body off of the floor. Sewage ran down her hair over a bruise and dripped onto her kimono. It was the last straw and Tsukiko was forced to grab her stomach and empty her stomach.

It was humiliating to wretch in front of a complete stranger and while Tsuki wanted the fight to end but she wanted to win to make up for the dishonor of vomiting during a fight. The scent was even worse now that the pipe exploded and her face was covered in foul fluid but no that her belly was empty, it was a little easier to take.

Tsuki needed a way to fight this man, that armor was too tough, he took the blast better than her and he probably could take a blow from her sword as well. There was one option and that was to find a better position to fight. The Tunnels were winding but there were some wide areas to fight as well as tight tunnels, but what Tsuki wanted was a place where the fetid pool was open and deep. The girl turned and ran, her ears perked back and sometimes glancing over her shoulder to make sure her opponent didn't pull another ace from his sleeve.

She stopped and spun around like a dancer once the tunnel opened up into a chamber with a bridge over it. It was a bridge over a pool where the sewage was treated with sorcery to yield drinkable water. The pool smelled the worse than the rest of sewers as must of the undesirable material was made into a mist that hovered over the pool to be sucked out by huge vents. Tsukiko wrinkled her nose for a second as she held her blades at the ready, she was going to use the man's armor against him.

[ZekeBK]

Zeke watched the fox girl hurl and run away. 'How'd she just run away?' Zeke thought 'she just exploded!'. Zeke just walked along after her, 'Easy, easy, easy' Zeke thought to himself.

Zeke's plan to shoot the fireball and have it ignite the whole sewer worked like a charm. The sewage amplified the power of the fire, therefore increasing the power of the magic, letting him absorb a bit of it, 'Yes, it was the perfect plan'.

Zeke reached the room with the fox girl, a spherical room with olive-green and brown liquids in a big chamber beneath. Mist floated above them, it stank almost as bad as the liquids below, or was it the liquid that stank almost as bad as the mist? Zeke started walking towards the girl "Do you... like the smell, why go somewhere where it smells worse?". Zeke simply could not understand it.

"Oh well" Zeke sighed. He shot a blast of fire from his sword, and then followed up with a lunge. Once they got into close combat, she was through.

[Tsukiko]

Tsukiko smiled despite the pain on her face and in her nose. Did he really think she led him here because it had a better smell? “Oh, I just thought it was a good tactical decision.” The Vixen said with a wink. She was sure that this room was her best bet for victory.

Tsukiko was thinking of a story her mother told of when she was a young fighter and got into a duel that honor required but neither opponent wanted to kill the other. Her mother Ki had brought the fight to a lake and faked her death by falling in and letting the armor make her sink and using fox magic to transform into a fish to escape. The younger kitsune girl got the idea from that story that this man couldn't swim in heavy plate mail, magical or not.

It was a cruel trick for the girl but the warrior was playing into her hands. Somehow he still had magic in the blade to shoot another fireball. That was a problem that threw a wrench into her plans. There wasn't much room to dodge on the bridge but there was just enough for the girl to teeter to the side and let the ball explode to the rear of the room.

With that done, all was left was goading the warrior to attack, but even then the girl didn't really have to do anything. The warrior was going to attack on his own and all out with a gambit lunge. The vixen really couldn't understand the move. Who bets all his coin when his opponent's grinning as if she has a sure Mahjong.

Anyway it's time to play the tiles. Tsuki did not back from the lunge, she stayed still until the blade got close then she pivoted and and turned, sending her tail to counter her balance. The girl danced around the armored fighter and then when she was partly behind him she went low and made a sweep at his feet. It was a simple use of ninjutsu that stressed using an opponent's force against him. She hoped the sweep would connect and do what she had planned, redirect Zeke's momentum to fall into the pool. Tsuki really doubted that he could swim in that armor.

[ZekeBK]

Zeke knew that the fox girl had agility, but, he didn't know if he could really hit her any more. She had just tilted her head to dodge the fire blast, and then danced out of the way of his lunge, DANCED! Zeke was getting angry now, but he wouldn't let it get the best of him.

If Zeke had learnt anything from training with his father, it was to never show more confidence in your opponent than yourself, and don't give up. Zeke had lost countless times sparring with his father, but he never gave up. It took him six years to finally defeat his father in a duel. He knew he could beat the fox girl if he just persisted... even if it took him six years.

Zeke watched the girl go for a sweeping slash. Zeke hadn't really come across a lot of people who used sweeping attacks, he used them all the time, and was trained to defend against them, but never really had to. Everything seemed to go in slow motion, as Zeke thrust his sword into the metal, creating a blockade against the sword attack, and a point to redirect his inertia.

Zeke took the dagger in the other hand and stabbed at the girl’s neck, hopefully landing a shot. This shot could end the match.

[Tsukiko]

Was he really so graceful? Tsuki wondered how a warrior in full plate mail was able to defend against one of her best executed maneuvers. She thought she was too quick for Zeke but he was full of surprises. The man not only parried her low attack but he had twisted and countered with his offhand weapon. That dagger was aimed at her neck but the vixen was too quick.

Tsukiko dropped her blades into the water and simply leaned to the side and brought her lithe arms to grab the dagger hand. “Good try, but no rice ball for you.” The Vixen smiled as she fell back into the water and hoping to take him with her.

Tsuki was only wearing a kimono and she had swam in the garment, to her mother's chagrin, before. But Tsuki knew that if the man fell into the pool, he would probably drown. Tsuki wasn't sure what would happen.

With a splash, Tsuki fell into the water. All she could hope was that the warrior was to follow her. The water felt slimy and made the girl shiver and hold her breath even harder as she swam down for a little way and then deciding to surface near the wall. That breath was painful as some of the water got in her mouth and treated her tongue with a foul flavor to accompany the odor.

Tsuki looked about the room hoping that her foe would have fallen into the pool and sunk with his heavy armor. After such a horrid ordeal as to fall into a pool of the stuff that assaulted her nose was a little too much. All she really could do was hope for a bath in pure water with a bit of sweet soap and maybe even some oils. Anything would be better than this pool.

[ZekeBK]

(OOC:Kinda had writers block for awhile)
Zeke gave a quick tug with his arm to keep from following the fox girl as she fell into the Vat of Stench, as Zeke now referred to it as.

Zeke still had a bit of fire energy stored up in his armor, and he could have used it and lit the whole Vat of Stench up and made it one big fireworks display. But when he looked at the girl, really looked at her, he was reminded of his sister. She looked alot like her, aside from being a fox girl. If he killed her it'd be like killing his sister, and he already blamed himself for his sister's death.

Zeke sat down on the catwalk and sighed. He wasn't thinking about the fight, he could care less if he died right now. He was thinking about his sisters death, and wishing he had a bottle of rum.

Zeke laid down now, eyes watering. "Why do people do the things they do?" he called down to the girl. Zeke knew he was being hypocritical, he had killed, stolen and committed various other crimes. Zeke hadn't committed a crime since the day he received news of his sister's death, but he knew he was still a horrible person, just like everyone else. Except for his sister, who never did anything wrong, and was murdered ruthlessly, because of him. Zeke never forgave himself and the world for the injustice that had befallen his sister.

Zeke just stayed where he was, and waited for the fox girl to come back up and kill him.