The Perfect Beginning!

[Samuraii!]

((Closed to Christina Bredith))

The samurai walked on into a large lonely plain as the sun set in the distance. Things started to get darker, and the path in front of him was getting blurred. One of the very few trees in the plain started to shake quite violently and the dust off the path flew through the air. Just a few drops of rain lay on the beautiful emerald grass. Awewa began to notice these things more clearly now and started to see the beauty of everything around him, but as the clouds grew together in the sky; it started to ruin all the beauty that was surrounding him. Large raindrops hammered the once-shiny emerald grass, and soon turned into slushy mud, the path in front of him was washed away and mixed between the grass and many other things that now plague the field.

There seemed no end to this terrible storm, plus there was no path so he didn’t know where he was going. The samurai decided to use his smarts and shelter under a nearby tree until the rain stopped. As he sat down in the slushy stuff underneath him, he felt he needed to rest for a while, so he gradually got to sleep.

The sudden flicker of silver flashed out of the hood of Awewa as he opened his eyes, he felt something moving around him. The samurai wasn’t alone. He got himself up and looked around. There was nothing out in the open, Hm…That bush over there looks suspicious… He crept up to the bush and thrusted his hand into it, Hmph…. Just a squirrel.. Awewa let go of the small creature and walked back into the plain to get a clear view of what was around him.

[Christina Bredith]

“Ugh… where the hell is this trading post, again?”

Christina had been wandering through the rain for some time now, shielding herself from the merciless droplets with an umbrella she got in town. It had seemed like a good idea; even as she perused the Adventurer’s Board she noticed that clouds were rolling in, and if there was one thing she hated more than anything else in the world, it was wet hair. Messy, unattractive, and untamable, wet hair is every woman’s worst nightmare. Without the proper conditioner? Perish the thought! And she did.

The trouble she was here for was in the mountains, she knew that much. But… there are mountains there… and there… and there! Indeed, the mountain range stretched for several miles along the horizon – knowing precisely where to aim herself would be difficult. She had a map, of course, but it would be impossible to look at it in this rain. Those clouds don’t look like they’re letting up, though. Maybe taking this particular mission wasn’t the greatest idea considering the circumstances, she realized. Due to the nature of secrecy required – namely, the fact that the trading post was under siege by goblins, and she would need to enter without attracting their ire – she was unable to acquire a carriage or other means of safe transportation to the mountains. All she got was a map and a pat on the shoulder; she even had to buy the umbrella herself.

But the payoff will be worth it! That was the mantra Christina used to keep herself going. As long as she kept that in mind, no rain would stop her from getting to her destination. Of course, that only solved the problem of her persistence. Thoughts of the reward at the end of the road would do nothing to help her find it. Christina realized that she might as well stop for a while. If she wandered too far, she wouldn’t be able to find herself on the map when the rain did stop, and she was only risking unnecessary fatigue and possibly illness besides. Chances were the goblins sieging the post would not welcome her with open arms; she couldn’t risk catching pneumonia out here in the rainy wastes of Scara Brae. Fatigue was annoying, but easily cured; illness was a much harsher mistress.

A quick sweep of the scene revealed Christina’s only hope of reprieve: the low, swaying bough of a willow tree loomed in the distance, the only pockmark on the otherwise flat face of this part of the island. From the mountains to her north to the village back to the south, the tree was just about the only thing she could see, and thus she marked it as her only shelter for the duration of the storm. Lightning would be problematic, but she would deal with that if it came to it. Her leather boots squished through the mud as she approached, careless but still unheard over the pounding rain. The only thing she heard in particular was the rapid pit-pat-pit-pat of rain drops on the black umbrella overhead, which shielded her from most of the downpour.

Something was amiss as she approached the weeping willow, though. She was not alone here. There was a figure, stepping out from underneath it and surveying his surroundings. Instinctively, Christina’s free hand reached for the hilt of her steel blade, Rosebite. They warned me about bandits, the woman thought to herself as she narrowed her eyes to allow her vision to cut through the rain. Is he from the Scara Scourge? That’s just what I bloody need…

[Samuraii!]

The sun had now completely set, and darkness filled the cloudy skies “Hmph…Not that it’d make a difference anyway,” he said to himself. Awewa stood by the tree and looked once more before he went back to sleep. A figure, not too far away from him was standing there looking straight at him. Who is this I wonder? A bandit? They normally come in packs anyway, unless this ones a straggler. Haha, whoever it is they wont be standing much longer if they try to disturb me! The samurai lifted his left gauntlet and tried to ready himself, but the rain had really made the ground mushy so his foot got stuck.

Agh! Damn slush. Alright maybe I’ll just wait for them to come to me. He quickly grasped his sword with his gauntlet and unsheathed it just a little way for the aura to emit around him. The aura covered the whole of the dark elves body and was clearly trying to make the figure scared to approach, although it could be something even scarier.

The aura went after a period of time and his sword sheathed itself. Awewa leaned on the tree and awaited the figures approach. As he looked into the horizon there were all sorts of things going on. Bushes had been blown out of the ground, trees just knocked over, and the rain hitting even harder on the ground.

A huge clap of thunder was heard very close to the samurai Oh great! This means lightning now…doesn’t it? Unfortunately he was right, but not in the way he thought it would be. Several bolts of lightning burst from the clouds and burnt into the mushy soil very easily. Hm…if this is any sort of bandit or attacker I could use this weather to my advantage…although it could horribly backfire…ah well a risk I’m willing to take!

There were many bolts getting closer and closer to the samurai, but as they got closer, they decreased in quantity until it seemed the clouds were charging themselves. For a while there was thunder but no lightning, just a very intimidating electrical cloud. The dark elf pushed himself from the tree and looked up to the cloud.

The whole cloud formed into a lightning bolt and struck itself into the earth and lit up the area with the samurai and the stranger. Awewa caught a glimpse of the woman infront of him as the light faded. She looked quite tall in the distance, but couldnt be much bigger than the dark elf. Long golden hair fell down past her shoulders, she wore a crimson waistcoat with black markings over it. Also black trousers and a sword in a sheath which she appeared to be grasping quite tightly.

Awewa stepped forward and asked her, "Hm..What is a lady like you doing travelling these Desolate plains?"

[Christina Bredith]

Christina watched quietly as the newcomer stared straight back at her. It was so difficult to see him in the darkness; the sun had already set, but the clouds obscured even what little light the moon could have given her. All she could see were brief flashes of vision whenever lightning danced across the sky; from that, she could tell that he was a deeply blue-skinned elf with hair just as dark. That’s a Dark Elf, she knew. Christina had never seen such a creature before, but she knew about them from books, and from her parents’ stories. They hailed from Alerar to the north, she knew that much. Apparently they were the world’s leaders in technology, utilizing such strange contraptions as “steam engines” and “airships”. Christina had even heard about strange boom-stick weapons called muskets, which could fire small balls of iron at extremely high speeds at their target. Could he be carrying one of those? What if he uses it? I can’t dodge something like that! Maybe he’s friendly… maybe he’s just wondering why I’m here, just like I am about him. Yeah, of course!

Those thoughts had been meant to comfort Christina, but she quickly realized how empty they were. Just moments after they spotted each other, she noticed that a strange aura was beginning to appear all around her opponent. Darker than the night itself, she could almost swear that the rest of the night scene was clearer to her than it had been a moment ago. Her eyes strained themselves just when looking at the aura, for it was the visual equivalent of a soundless room. Okay… not friendly, then. Her body shivered slightly, and whether it was because of the cold weather or the dark aura, Christina wasn’t entirely sure. She was already prepared to defend herself, however, because she felt certain that this strange brigand would attack at his first opportunity.

Much to her surprise, he did not. The aura disappeared as suddenly as it had been conjured, and the stranger stood perfectly still again. That did nothing to calm Christina’s nerves, though. She was still on edge, worried that this Dark Elf was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. There was undoubtedly a large measure of paranoia in her mind, though. The stories she had heard in town didn’t put her in the best frame of mind. Everyone and their grandma was worried about bandits and robbers that patrolled the plains, many of them connected with an infamous underground organization known as the Scara Scourge. In the wake of suspicions like that, how could Christina be anything but defensive at a time like this? A bolt of lightning struck the ground several meters away, and it caused the woman to jump in fright. What a freaking night!

As soon as the Dark Elf began to march towards her, Christina steeled her nerves and withdrew Rosebite in a flash. Its steel blade glinted briefly against the light cast from a lightning bolt, and a silver gem on its flat glowed quietly into the night. With a steady arm, the woman pointed her weapon directly at the approaching stranger. “Alright, that’s far enough! What do you want?” Even if Christina wasn’t feeling quite so brave on the inside – blame it on the darkness and the terrible storm – she could at least put on a good show.

The Dark Elf didn’t appear to be looking for a fight, though, at least not immediately. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at his question. Oh, sure, it could have been harmless enough, but she knew better! There was some hidden meaning behind the words that she was just not grasping immediately. But what? Christina didn’t have time to think. She decided just to respond, carefully and vaguely. “I’ve got work to do. You?” Yes… that would do the trick, she was sure. At the very least it would give her time to figure out just what his game was.

[Samuraii!]

After the horrific bolt that struck into the earth the lightning faded away slowly from the plain. The thunder remained, but it was seldom heard. The hard beatings of rain had now turned to a soft gentle pitter-patter on Awewa’s head. The elf still kept his hood up though, which was quite unusual, normally he would try and frighten any stranger who approached him. The woman withdrew her sword What can she do with that I wonder… The dark elf wasn’t intimidated much, but his eyes were drawn to something, the silver gem that seemed to gleam through the darkness What a beautiful gem! I must have it…

“Alright that’s far enough! What do you want?” The woman exclaimed as she pointed the beautiful blade towards the samurai.

Hm…Haha! This could prove to be a very interesting battle, when it comes to it! Awewa stared at the woman just for the fun of it, a radiant silver beam shined through his hood as he took his eyes off her and looked towards the desolate field.

“I’ve got work to do. You?” She said as a reply to Awewa’s question

“Haha! I have no work little girl, I am here to search for my comrades,” The samurai said as his face turned towards the ground “(or atleast the battlefield in which their corpses lay…) You dare to unsheath your blade to me, taste my gauntlet!” Awewa thrusted his left gauntlet at the womans neck quite swiftly, yet not to grab her, just to push her to the ground, he turned his head as he tried to hit her, so the chances of the attack hitting her wern't the highest. No matter what the outcome it would surely give a quick fright to his opponent.

“I do not see the point as too draw my blade to such a rude individual as you!” The samurai stated as turned around and walked off.

He expected an attack to his back soon after he walked off, but this is where his strategy came in. Since the ground was still mushy it would be likely that the warrior would get stuck, or it would go horribly wrong and Awewa would get stuck. If the samurai would happen to get stuck, then the likely thing is he would draw his sword. It all depends now on the action of his foe

[Christina Bredith]

Christina stared unflinchingly at the dark elf in front of her, satisfied that he had stopped his approach when she drew her blade. He was still acting pretty confident, though, and that only increased the woman’s worry that he might be a member of the infamous Scara Scourge or some other plains-roaming group of bandits. She couldn’t really afford to get tangled up with the likes of them while she was on her way to complete a mission. Even if her time in Scara Brae was hopefully going to be very short, a run in with an organized group like that could spell big complications and even bigger trouble.

The woman’s face hardened when Awewa mentioned that he was here looking for his comrades. In her current state of mind, she took that in a very bad way: she interpreted it as him looking to meet up with the other members of the Scara Scourge or whatever organization he belonged to. The lightning and darkness are really working her nerves and fueling her paranoia, that’s for sure. Even so, she keeps a steady hand as Rosebite points towards her target. If there’s one thing she knew she had to be good at, it was not crumbling under pressure or fear. Even if she was nervous, she had to act like she wasn’t.

And in this case, she may have been taking it a bit too far. When Awewa thrusted his gauntlet toward her, Christina was ready: she immediately crouched and ducked to one side, pushing his hand away with the flat of her sword. By the time she was upright again, the man was already walking away. The man mentioned not seeing the need to draw his sword against someone as rude as her, and Christina chuckled in spite of herself.

“Is that Drow-speak for ‘Please don’t kick my ass’?” she taunted. Inwardly, however, the woman was laughing nervously at herself. Haha… tell me you didn’t say that out loud. You didn’t say that out loud, right? But no, the words were still echoing through the air quite clearly, despite the rumbling of thunder above. To be honest, Christina had no idea why she had said that, why she had decided to egg him on. Didn’t she just decide that she had no time or inclination to get entangled with someone like this? People were waiting for her to finish a task, and there was a reward waiting at the end of the road! But the words had been said, the deed was done, and there was no turning back. Maybe the Drow had a good sense of humour…

[Samuraii!]

Awewa could see that his attempt to push the woman to the ground had failed. Everything seemed calm around him, the clouds had shed their rain, and the storms were gone completely now. The ground was now free of its mushy state and was hardening beneath the samurai’s feet. Out of the corner of his left silver eye he could see the woman crouching there, full ready position, still with the silver gem gleaming through the air.

“Is that Drow-speak for ‘Please don’t kick my ass’?” She replied as if to seem as a taunt to the samurai.

Awewa turned round, his hood blew down revealing his Dark elven face and silver-gleaming eyes, his long black hair came out and blew with the wind. He looked at the girl, and tilted his head a bit. The samurai started to laugh, yet there was a little evil tone revealing itself in Awewa’s voice now.

“Hah! You have quite a sense of humour little girl!” Awewa’s face immediately changed, his head tilted back into its normal position, and the elf looked angry, “Unfortunately, it will not save you here!” The samurai drew his cursed blade and the aura emitted everywhere making the area around Awewa seem darker than it really is. He ran towards the cocky human and lunged his sword straight into the woman’s blade.

“Are we gonna start this fight, or keep insulting each other till it hurts?” Awewa pulled his sword back and readied himself, he lifted the blade up to attack, and ran towards the woman, as he got closer he lunged his blade again, yet he had not aimed for her sword this time. This may get nasty. Haha…

[Christina Bredith]

Christina still had some small hope that maybe, just maybe, the Drow would take her comment as a joke. ‘Small’ was the key word here, though – after all, how could it really be taken as anything but a challenge? In retrospect, Christina had no idea why she had even said it in the first place. Was it to defend against being verbally accosted? The Drow had insinuated that she wasn’t even worthy of his time, and that’s pretty offensive. Maybe she just wanted the last laugh, but didn’t realize he’d still want to continue laughing afterwards. It was just one of those things that you do on impulse, and then looking back on it, you call yourself crazy for having ever even imagined it.

As the moments passed, Christina realized that it was a matter of having the last laugh – indeed, her opponent was laughing at her comment, even as he drew his blade and once again incited the aura of sheer, overwhelming blackness around him. As soon as he even began unsheathing the weapon, Christina was tightening her grip on Rosebite’s hilt and preparing herself for the inevitable. She had gotten herself into a fight now, and damned if she was going to let herself lose. The man’s first attack was surprisingly easy to block; in fact, she found that it had been aimed directly where her sword was held. There was no flair to it, no deception, no attempt to strike at an unguarded quarter of her body. Is he really just that bad?

The next attack suggested otherwise. The Drow was thrusting forward with his katana again, but this time the attack was not aimed for her blade. Even so, she found that it was pretty easy to just swing her sword to the right and nudge his out of the way; that caused it to strike the thin air beside her shoulder harmlessly. Immediately, Christina threw herself backwards with a powerful leap, trying to put some distance between her and her opponent. With every passing second she was judging her surroundings and weighing her options. The rain had stopped, but the ground was still very muddy; that meant that any leaping through the air with her Sonic Sable would be difficult and dangerous, as it could result in a graceless landing accompanied by any number of injuries. But maybe I can use the footing to my advantage…

Having put some distance between them, Christina was ready to strike back. Although she had already determined that the muddy ground would provide a hampering difficulty in one regard, it would also give her a very useful advantage in another. She held Rosebite in both hands and pointed its tip at her opponent; her right elbow was bent and her left arm came across her body so that the blade was held at her right side. Her voice rang out like a clear bell into the night: “Scream, Rosebite!”

The silver gem glowed fiercely in response to her words. Swinging the blade in a wide vertical arc, Christina conjured up a large, blue, moon-shaped crescent of energy that tore across the ground like the fin of a giant shark. It splattered mud in all directions as it traveled – Christina’s intent was to hamper her target with a muddy blindfold, and then the crushing force of her Sonic Sable would send him flying, freeing her up for another attack. Her clothes were already splattered with mud, but battle was one of the few times when fashion was not Christina’s top priority.

[Samuraii!]

Awewa was still too slow with his attacks; his foe had swiftly nudged the tip of his cursed blade to just miss her shoulder. The woman jumped back and distanced herself from the dark elf, and stood there perusing her surroundings. The dark elf couldn’t help but stand there and admire how fun this battle had become. Hah! I remember this feeling; I haven’t felt it in a long time. The only thing that could make this battle even better was if I could win it. Hm…that would require me to conjure the darkness…Yes, but I need some time…

The samurai thought carefully on how he was to summon his ‘Darkness Blast’. He glanced at his opponent as she positioned her beautiful sword pointing to Awewa.

“Scream, Rosebite!” The woman shouted as the silver gem gleamed once more into the samurai’s eyes.

She swung her blade in a large vertical curve conjuring a moon-shaped crescent across the ground splattering mud onto Awewa. His cloak suffered the most, while the mud across his face only covered one eye. The dark elf fell for the woman’s plan and flinched while the force of her attack pushed him to the ground.

“Haha! Smart girl! I suppose I should have seen that coming.” The samurai said as he laughed aloud.

Awewa had figured out how he would pull off his attack, he had already figured out that he’d intimidated his opponent enough before the battle started, so he sought to pull it off again, while he conjured enough darkness to blast at his foe. He took his cloak off, revealing his thick-sleeveless leather shirt, with an old bloodstain at the shoulder. The armour that was once used to protect him was now revealed as well, along with the dark blue jeans that were stained with a bit of mud.

The samurai got up and left his cloak on the muddy ground, deciding to abandon it for now. He grasped his katana quite firmly and hid his left gauntlet behind his back and glanced at his foe once more. The silver out of them shone throughout the plain, as if to intimidate anyone near. He started to talk to his opponent to stall her for a few minutes so he could complete the summoning.

“Tell me, what is your name?” He said as the darkness had almost completed its summoning. “I hope your ready for what’s about to happen next. The tide of this battle will change completely, and the feel will be much more scarier.” Awewa felt the darkness in his gauntlet completed, and he knew he could not go back from this. “Everything’s about to get darker little girl! I hope your ready!” The dark elf said as he swiftly revealed his gauntlet and threw it at his opponent, making a wave of pitch-black darkness into his opponent, hopefully hitting. The forces of the blast made the whole of Awewa’s gauntlet burst off and sink into the mud at some speed. It pushed the samurai back onto his cloak. Wow! This must mean that it’s one of my strongest. The only thing Awewa had hoped for now is that his attack had hit. Otherwise it would mean the rest of the battle he would be ‘out of it’.

[Christina Bredith]

The woman was quickly aware that her attack had not been enough. Awewa had recovered too quickly for her to get a second strike in. She didn’t want to just rush in and go on the offensive, because for the most part she was still unaware of her opponent’s abilities. His first attacks had been nothing spectacular, but Christina herself has been known to lull her opponent into a false sense of security by making herself seem less than she was. She couldn’t judge his abilities properly until she was more certain that he was fighting at full strength, and until then, she couldn’t risk rushing in head first.

As such, Christina remained on the defensive as her opponent approached her. The first thing she noticed when he stood up and addressed her was that his stance was unusual. He was holding his katana more like a fencing sword, with one hand hidden behind his back while the other grasped the blade’s hilt. She may not have been extremely familiar with that type of weapon, but she knew enough that it was not a typical stance. Was this just another style of combat that she wasn’t aware of? An attack could come from anywhere, then, and she had to be prepared for anything.

“Christina,” she responded in a threatening tone. Her grip on Rosebite’s hilt tightened at her opponent’s next words. What was going to happen next? Her legs tensed as she prepared herself for anything. Silently she damned the muddy ground, knowing that it would hamper her mobility here, and that would put her at a disadvantage should he try anything particularly dangerous. But the Drow wasn’t moving… what was he talking about? How was everything going to change?

It all happened so quickly. The wave of darkness that rushed forth from the man’s gauntlet barely gave her time to react. The situation was made all the more difficult by the pitch blackness of the wave, which blended in with the surroundings. She was just able to kick off with her left foot and propel her body to the right, but immediately she realized it wasn’t enough. The wave was too large; the only thing she had managed was keeping *most* of her body away from damage. Her left arm, however, took the full brunt of the attack, and parts of her left leg were battered as well. She landed hard on her right side, still clutching Rosebite, and looked up at Awewa with a grimace.

“Pretty sneaky, you bastard.” She lifted herself up roughly, still resting on her right leg and bringing them both underneath her body. “But I won’t be defeated so easily.” Christina thrust Rosebite’s tip at the man again, and once again the silver rune flared to life, just milliseconds before a concentrated burst of sonic blue energy tore through the air aimed at Awewa’s legs.

[Samuraii!]

As the elf looked up and saw Christina lying in what had now turned into almost solid mud. His plan had succeeded, all that was left to do now was to finish her off, or atleast force her to surrender, but the chances of that were quite slim. What the samurai didn’t know was that the blast only struck one side of her body. Awewa lifted himself up and stared at his cloak, Well, I guess it belongs to the mud now. It’s gonna get a lot colder of a night now…

He turned around and looked at Christina, his eyes once again shining in an intimidating manner. The girl muttered “Pretty sneaky, you bastard,” as she slowly lifted herself up, “But I wont be defeated so easily.”

Horror struck the samurai as he saw her getting up, yet he didn’t show it, he still kept the same expression. How could this be? I thought that move was meant to keep them on the floor for ages…Bah, I’d better stay strong, if another one of them fancy magical attacks hits me to the ground again I doubt I’ll be on my feet for a while.

The woman suddenly thrusted the tip of her blade again, with the beautiful silver gem gleaming in the darkness. This could only turn out to be hell for Awewa. A large burst of blue energy soared across the ground, yet it didn’t blow too much mud the samurai’s face this time. The magical blast blew through Awewa’s legs and cut them in several places. One of the cuts was luckily thrown onto his rusted shin guard, but the force of it breaking was still quite painful. His right shin was covered in little cuts, which were bleeding a bit.

“Gragh…Didn’t see that one coming either,” The samurai muttered as he fell to his knees. “You’ll pay for that Christina…”

The dark elf gathered enough strength to lift himself up and go for an unguarded-attack to his opponent. His left hand was still very weak from the force of the gauntlet bursting off his hand, so he could only hold his cursed blade with one hand. As he approached his foe he used all his force in one horizontal strike with his sword. The blade corresponded with the force Awewa put into the strike and emitted the dark aura once more around the samurai, but covering more of the radius around him making the whole scene between Awewa and Christina seem much darker, still enough to see, but a lot darker than it was.

After the dark elf’s attack he quickly leaped back to put some distance between each other, and Awewa went into a defensive position, panting rapidly.

[Christina Bredith]

Christina was still finding it extremely difficult to actually stand up. Although her leg had taken a less severe hit than her arm, the pain was still prominent. Christina imagined this must have been what it felt like to get hit by one of her Sonic Sable blasts – it wasn’t an attack aimed at cutting or slicing as much as crushing and slamming. In fact, the more she thought about it, Christina was sure that some bones in her arm had been fractured by the blast. As far as she could tell it wasn’t anything too serious, but she did know that her left arm would now be useless for the remainder of the battle, unless absolutely necessary – if she placed too much stress on that arm, such as blocking attacks with it, she knew she could easily break it completely.

It was extremely fortunate, then, that Christina’s leg injury wasn’t as severe, or she might be ground-bound for quite some time. In fact, out here in the middle of nowhere, who knew what might happen to her in a condition like that? Her opponent certainly wouldn’t help her out, so she’d be lucky to survive at all, let alone get to the mountains for her mission on time. If he keeps up with crap like that I won’t be getting out of here with my spine intact. The dilemma was great: Christina had to play it safe now to avoid serious injury, but she didn’t have the time to do so.

Before Christina could even get a real chance to stand on her feet, Awewa was leaping towards her and attacking again. At the very least, she knew her sitting position would keep her firm on the ground, whereas standing up on only one really good leg would leave her somewhat unstable. She knew she’d have to try eventually, but this would do for now. The horizontal strike was easy to parry; Christina simply swung Rosebite perpendicular to her opponent’s sword. Even in the unnatural darkness surrounding them it was easy enough to see. The woman was beginning to see just how complicated her opponent’s weapon would make things, however; darkness like that, while not completely blinding, would still affect her reaction time and judgment considerably.

As soon as Awewa leapt back to put some distance between them, Christina knew she had to go on the offensive. She scrambled to her feet, revealing that her sturdy black pants were covered in mud, and pushed off with her good leg to close what little distance remained between her and her foe. The woman swung hard, diagonally; her attack came from the Drow’s right side, knowing that since he only had that one hand with which to wield his large, heavy blade, it would be more difficult for him to get a solid parry. The attack itself might not be decisive, but Awewa’s reaction would set the mood for her next move. Already Christina was planning ahead, hoping to end this as quickly and painlessly as possible.

[Samuraii!]

Though his attack missed his opponent Awewa tried to stop panting, but immediately after he could see his opponent going for an attack. The samurai leant on his sword and looked at his opponent to try and intimidate her, but there was almost no hope for that now. Christina swung a diagonal attack to Awewa’s right arm, the dark elf worried for a second, but he knew if she hurt his right arm he’d have to abandon his sword. Pah…I will never abandon this sword if anything. It has kept me remembering the lives lost on that plain…And what the wizard did…He cursed me along with this blade. With my Cursed Soul I will win this battle, no matter what.

A huge surge of adrenaline went through Awewa’s body, he quickly moved out the way of Christina’s attack, but he suffered still. His right shoulder was wounded, not too severely but enough not to lift his sword too often. Smart girl… Awewa moved the sword into his left hand and held it with a lot of difficulty, but he knew he couldn’t show it.

“You have proved a worthy enemy, Christina. But it’s time to end this battle…” The samurai said as he held his trusty Katana with both hands.

Awewa did not care for a response from the woman, all he thought o was what he was going to do next. The adrenaline surge had left his body now, and the dark elf stood up straight, showing no pain to his foe. Awewa charged at Christina and went for a thrust straight into the girls back, although there was a high chance that would miss he quickly jumped back and parried. The samurai was worn out completely, but he thought to himself I cannot stop, I must win this battle, but if I fall, I will fall with honour and with pride… With haste he leapt towards his opponent, not letting her think for a second, Awewa went for a diagonal slash into Christina’s left arm. Then he ran just to put a bit of distance between each other.

The samurai looked to the skies and let down his guard, open to any attack, just to see what was about to unfold. A huge burst of light came across the sky and filled it completely within moments. The morning was still quite cold, but not too much, slight breezes blew across Awewa’s cheeks as well as blow his hair out of his face. The samurai didn’t care of the outcome, he hoped his attack had hit somewhere, but considering what he saw earlier, the likelihood wouldn’t be much.

[Christina Bredith]

Christina’s attack had not gone entirely according to plan. She had hoped her opponent would attempt a feeble parry with his one arm, and thus leave himself with an opening that she could exploit for a decisive blow. Instead, he sidestepped her slash such that it only barely caught him on the shoulder. As a result of the fact that her blade sliced through more thin air than she was expecting, Christina’s left foot slipped on the muddy ground, separating her legs and nearly bringing herself to the ground before she regained control of her own movements. The unnecessary exertion on the muscles of her left leg caused her to let out a sharp cry of pain. The Drow’s wave of darkness may not have been crushingly definitive, but it was certainly beginning to show its sinister effects.

That moment of imbalance in Christina allowed Awewa to move away and regain his own footing, a mistake which the woman cursed herself for mentally. The plan had been to throw her opponent off guard with a flurry of strikes, but instead she was the one whose leg was screaming in pain and whose stance had been compromised. She recomposed herself as quickly as she could, gripping Rosebite’s hilt with just her right hand as Awewa held his own sword in both of his. She watched closely for the first sign of movement, preparing a possible counterattack. Even if she had made one mistake, she still stood a chance of parrying and striking now. There was still hope. There was always hope.

There! Her opponent’s first strike came directly at her torso, a thrust which she simply avoided by stepping to her right. But he immediately followed up the attack, slashing at her left shoulder. Damn! she thought quickly, bringing Rosebite up across her left side in a feeble attempt to block the attack. With the pain in her left leg having grown stronger, she had all but forgotten the near uselessness of her left arm! Her parry was not enough to completely stave off Awewa’s attack, and so his merciless katana sunk into her shoulder, thankfully not enough to cause permanent injury, but certainly more than enough to spray blood and evoke a scream of pain from her ruby red lips.

Christina gritted her teeth after the initial wave of torment. Her blade was still in contact with Awewa’s for that split second, and she took advantage of it: with a circular motion she forced her opponent’s blade out of her arm, swinging it away and over her head even as he stepped back to put some distance between them. He keeps darting in and out, she observed, breathing heavily. I’ve got to stop him here!

Barely a single moment passed before Christina struck again. Awewa was looking toward the sky now, and she was determined to make that moment of distraction his biggest mistake. The woman leapt forward, propelling herself with her right leg and then landing with her left, ignoring the pain as best she could. In a fluid motion she thrust her sword directly at the Drow’s midsection – but it fell short. There was still a good three or four inches between them, not much by most standards, but it may as well have been a mile in combat.

Christina’s grin never faltered. “Scream, Rosebite!” she commanded as her feet hit the ground and her blade lashed forth. Even though the sword itself didn’t come close enough to even graze her opponent, she was concentrating her energy into a powerful blast aimed at his midsection instead. The silver gem tore through the darkness that remained during that twilight hour, and another burst of blue energy roared forth, spraying mud to the left and the right as it passed like a screeching sonic boom. Christina could only hope the attack would hit. It was so perfect, she thought! At such a close range, how could he dodge? It would slam into him with crushing force, sending him reeling backwards, and hopefully take him out of the fight entirely. A mere second later she would know the outcome, and yet it felt like an eternity…

[Samuraii!]

He did not care of the outcome now, one of Awewa’s attacks had hit, but it wasn’t much. The samurai still stared at the sky; still open to any attack Christina would throw at him, yet the elf did not expect what was in store for him next. She tried slashing his midsection, but it failed due to the distance. A death in this plain would be suited for me…as the sun just comes out…yes…. As Awewa stared at the sky still, Christina took advantage of it. Her voice echoed through the plain as she prepared the magic attack again.

“Scream, Rosebite!” A shiver went through the samurai’s body as he heard her voice.

I know that attack…Oh no not again!! Awewa suddenly snapped out of it and stared at his foe Hm…what was I thinking? I’m not going to die He held his katana with both hands and tested a parry This isn’t gonna be enough, I need to move, but that would sacrifice my left hand… The elf thought quickly and decided to quickly shift to the right. He planned the move just to skim his left hand, but he was shocked at how fast the magical blast was coming, it caught his whole left forearm.

“Agh…blasted woman…don’t think that this is over!” He cried as he held his left forearm.

Awewa couldn’t stay open to attack still, he had to ignore the injury, no matter how painful it was Hm…It’s not broken atleast…I doubt if it’s even fractured, gotta focus…
His katana somehow reacted to the pain, and covered his left forearm in a black aura, that even Awewa couldn’t see. He couldn’t dwell on the injury any longer, the elf decided to go back on the attack and be quicker this time.

The samurai grasped his katana very firmly and darted in once more, yet he leaped into the air and slashed downwards this time. Immediately after he swiped his blade in a circular motion, then jumped back for a few moments. As he panted rapidly he couldn’t help think why there was an aura around his arm, and what was it doing? Hm, gotta concentrate still…Darting in has helped me a bit, but I need to confuse her, I need a new tactic… He guarded himself and stared at Christina, the silver in his eyes still gleaming. My darkness blast tactic worked earlier, but I can’t do it without my gauntlet… The samurai grinned as he hatched a brilliant plan, Haha, but she doesn’t know that. All I need to do is position myself exactly right…

Awewa slowly walked up to Christina, not too close, infact quite a bit away, but it was the only distance where his opponent, hopefully, wouldn’t get suspicious. He hid his left hand behind his back again, knowing the reaction of the woman, he guarded immediately. Awewa started to move around a bit, circling the woman.

“Its about to get much darker, little girl, are you ready?”

As he withdrawn his arm from his back, he showed it to Christina, hopefully making her flinch, giving Awewa the chance to strike. He slashed at her shins, knowing there might be a chance she would jump, he used the pommel of his sword to hit her, aiming it at her face.

[Christina Bredith]

Christina didn’t know how her opponent had managed to dodge her Sonic Sable at such close range, but now she realized that his speed was not to be underestimated. She would have to be clever, not just fast, if she wanted to overwhelm him here. Although her blast had still injured his arm, just as his had injured hers, she knew much more was required. Furthermore, his arm seemed to be covered in a dark aura after her attack. Was he planning to use another darkness blast, or was the darkness somehow protecting the damaged limb? Christina prepared herself for either instance.

The samurai’s next attack came from above, but as with all such attacks, it was fairly easy to see and block. Christina lifted Rosebite and parried the overhead cleave, and then swung it to the side to block his circular swing. Her right arm burned with pain from having to block so many attacks, and she wished she could use her left arm as well, but right now it was still hurting and she didn’t think it was safe. Against a much larger weapon like the drow’s katana, it would provide her with added reinforcement, but in this case she knew the cost would be her arm entirely.

Immediately after his circular attack, her opponent placed his left arm behind his back, a motion that was all too familiar to Christina. Her eyes widened with the realization that he was now going to try another blast of darkness against her. Every muscle in her body tensed up in preparation. She was determined not to let the attack best her twice. Whenever he decided to finally unleash it, she would be ready.

The drow’s plan of using his left arm as a distraction was entirely unknown to Christina, and in the grand scheme of things, entirely ineffective. This was not the same woman Awewa had known just a few moments ago – she was determined now, her entire being focused on the battle. And so, when he revealed his left arm, her body responded on reflex this time. She spun Rosebite around in her hand so that its blade was pointing behind her and towards the ground, and immediately she unleashed another burst of sonic energy. By the time Awewa actually swung his sword, Christina had already been carried into the air, only a foot or two over his head, to land directly behind him.

She spun immediately. Pain screamed through her left leg which was still somewhat battered from his previous darkness blast, but she didn’t care. She had left her opponent unguarded and she was not about to let him weasel his way out of this one. Christina swung Rosebite horizontally against his back, hoping to bring him to his knees with pain, and then pulled back and followed through with a stab to his midsection. All the while she prayed that, this time, it would be enough.

[Samuraii!]

Disappointment filled the samurai’s mind as both of his attacks missed. He had no time to turn around at all. The woman swung her blade in a horizontal motion across the dark elf’s back. “Aghh! Ugh….Heh, smart girl….” The samurai mumbled as he fell to his knees in pain. Awewa swiftly looked behind him and rolled out the way of her blade. The gash across his back looked quite severe, blood poured constantly from it, but it wasn’t about to worry him. He remained kneeled on the ground, gasping in pain every so often.

The elf took a risk and stood up, he kept his katana in his hand, but it was doubtful he’d use it now. The pain was overwhelming, blood still poured out of his back. But, the katana reacted the same way as his arm, and covered the wound, not easing it in any way just, stopping the blood from pouring. Awewa glared at Christina in an intimidating way again, knowing it would not stop her from doing her next attack.

“Hahaha….Hahah….Haha” The samurai laughed maniacally at the girl as the sun shone in the sky.

A few drops of rain fell on Awewa’s head as he walked closer to Christina. The laughing stopped, and all was silent, apart from the few drops of rain about. The drow looked slightly intimidating, but the scariest thing about him was the evil grin he had on his face, it seemed that he had suffered no pain during this time. The darkness that covered his arm and back had grown even darker, his katana was reacting to the samurai’s emotion as it covered all of Awewa in a dark aura. He held his blade in a ready position and stopped.

“Haha….Hm…Hm…This is where it ends Christina!” The elf leapt at the girl at quite a speed, he slashed his katana in a horizontal motion once at her midsection. After the delay he threw in a string of slashes and swipes quite immediate, in horizontal and vertical motions, until he reached a certain amount. Awewa jumped over behind the girl, and carried on with his multiple attacks behind her. For a finisher he jumped into the air, about four or five feet above her, and came down with a grand vertical slash.

Awewa had acted this as a finishing attack against the woman, considering all the injuries he had sustained, it was unlikely the samurai would do much else but parry from time to time. Agh, I do hope this works…. Nrugh ugh… The drow stepped back and guarded just in case she retaliated in any way after. The drow couldn’t help but pant after that assault, his eyes strayed off his target and stared at the ground for some time. The rain pitter-pattered on the ground beside him, yet not enough to soak the ground back to its mushy state. The darkness that covered Awewa had now been completely removed, even on his arm and back.

[Taskmienster]

This thread has been sitting for a full year. Since no response has been made to create activity I am going to be moving this. If you would like it to be reopened please feel free to PM myself or another admin and they will be able to move it for you back to Scara Brae.