This round is open until 11:59 PM E.S.T. on May 30th. Good luck! Remember, the earlier you finish, the earlier your battle gets judged!
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This round is open until 11:59 PM E.S.T. on May 30th. Good luck! Remember, the earlier you finish, the earlier your battle gets judged!
The red strokes of the sunlight were clinging to the horizon, as if trying desperately to delay the coming night. The houses in the distance already blocked the view of the fiery ball, but the dim splashes of light still soaked the thin blanket of clouds that sat in the sky, and bolstered it's fortification so the stars could not get through this night. It was no longer warm out there on the wharf. Now that the light had abandoned him he was left to face the winds that came in off the waters. The chilly ocean breezes, which seemed to crawl in off the water and slunk up the supports, where they'd caress his ankles, his neck and his hands. Anywhere they could raise the hairs on his skin they found their way to. While he had kept moving he was alright, but now he just stood there in waiting. He had gotten bored several minutes ago, and the tired fishermen had already locked down their boats and taken home their traps for the evening. He was standing on the massive wharf with nothing more than a few seagulls, and the distant clanging of the buoy chimes as the tide pulled back out. Not that it mattered anyway. This would all be easier if he was alone.
He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand to do the bidding of these two old men. They had tested him in battle to begin with, but then they started sending him searching for strange materials. He had recently taken a leather cap from an old wizard's house in the middle of the night, and now they had sent him here. Waiting for a young girl named Khalxaen, who carried the newest item of their fancy. A crystal shard, very plain and very ordinary looking to the naked eye. However, they insisted it had properties that only they could tell. To anyone else it was useless. With nothing more than a vague description they sent him to the village where she had last been seen. According to locals she had been seen around the wharf at night, and so he felt he'd try his luck there first.
They haven't even told me why they're doing this yet. What do they want with all of these things?
He thought quietly to himself, turning for a moment to look out over the ocean. He had agreed to work with them after his defeat in the forest, looking for something to do with himself again. He had been idle for ages now, and just looking for something to do so his thoughts and his memories weren't making him loose his mind. They seemed harmless, they were definitely ‘different’, but there wasn't anything suspicious about them that he could tell when he first agreed. They had gotten him to steal the leather cap from the wizard's basement, but apparently they had tried many times to buy it and were rudely refused. This time they didn't say that had put an offer on this girl's crystal, they just said it's useless to her and means nothing to anyone but them. They were getting him to rob the girl, but evidently they didn't see it as robbery and more as 'forceful giving', if there was such a thing. He'd comply though. It didn't really matter in the end anyway. He'd just take it, get it over with., and then he'd finally get the reward these men promised him. This little girl would probably just move on and forget about him one day.
"Don't keep me waiting too long." Solomon muttered quietly to himself, scanning the entrance to the wooden dock once more. He sat down inside a crevice of stacked wooden boxes and old lobster traps to better conceal himself. When she came, he'd know. He could feel the life force of anyone on this dock, and so far he was the only one. He’d have to wait a little longer still.
There were a lot of things that Khalxaen hated, but the ocean wasn't one of them. She had always loved the ocean from the first time she laid her eyes on it. Since she had been raised in a town very far from one, she had been amazed when she finally saw it. The demon was much older then, alone and on her travels, but still oblivious to the many sights of the world. She loved the sea because it looked so peaceful, and she felt so much at ease when looking at it. Especially when there were no rowdy merchants and fishermen. This was why she preferred sitting on her own and staring off at it when nobody was around, and this ocurred at the dead of the night.
Khalxaen strode to the docks with a huge grin plastered on her mouth. She quickly sat down on a dry crate, tucking her legs under her in a comfortable position. Then she stared at the horizon with a content smile. 'This is awesome!' Then her eyes blinked as she felt something crawl up her leg.
"Hey, a hermit crab!" Khalxaen grinned to herself as she pinched the little creature between the tips of her two fingers. Her scarlet eyes examined it closely, amused at how it wriggled to get out of her grasp, but to no avail. For a moment, Khalxaen contemplated on crunching it between her fingers out of amusement. Her and a lot of people often overlooked it because her features resembled an Elf's, but her demonic instincts were often there. She hated crumbling under them, though, so she released the hermit crab and shrugged to herself.
Her sword, Skoteinos, was being strange again. It felt warm against her side, a huge contrast to the cool sea breeze. It seemed to be emitting an uncomfortable air, something it only did when something dangerous was about to happen. In the past, Khalxaen just ignored it because she didn't really care. She always believed that she could crawl her way out of anything. This time, though, she was annoyed by the fact that the peaceful air would be disturbed.
The demon looked around. It was lucky her eyes could see better in the dark, as she could make out every single detail as if it was during the day. There were lone and empty crates nearby, but they still had that stench of fish. Huge cloths had been put over the materials on the boats. Everything else said it was the dead of the night, and that nobody had any business at the docks at this time. She could feel something else, though, and it made her frown uneasily.
The girl seemed to look directly at him, even though he was hidden in the shadows and all he wore was his black gi she still noticed him somehow. It was hard for him to see through the darkness, but she just happened to be close enough that his eyes could see her outlines and she had just turned her head towards him and kept it there suspiciously. It was no use sneaking up on her now, it was obvious she knew something was amiss. After looking at him for this long she could probably see him clear as day. She had a strange, almost angry energy concealed inside of her, meaning she wasn’t just a normal girl. Although he wasn't surprised really, it had been a long time since he had met someone who was just 'normal.'
Figuring the girl had seen him now he stood up from his little canopy, releasing a heavy breath as he did so. He had been stationary for so long his legs were a little reluctant to get back to work. He was here for one thing, and the sooner he could get it the better it was for him. He couldn't see what the girl was armed with through the layers of the night, but his own powers had been increasing these past few months. There probably wasn’t much this little girl could do to him. Even though her energy force was a little stronger than most girls he encountered, his was still greater than hers. He'd try and delay hurting her as much as he could, but he would get what he came here for... so long as he could find where she kept it hidden. All he could see was the outline of her figure.
"Evening." Solomon said aloud. He took a few steps towards her, but not so much to alert her. Not just yet. He stood on an angle, still about ten feet away her, and about twelve feet from the edge of the wharf where the ocean rocked the pillars roughly twenty feet below. He stood strong on his feet, but kept his hands loose at his sides.
"You may have guessed already. I wasn't hiding just to enjoy the sights. I need that crystal shard you carry. I'd appreciate you handing it over quietly, but I want you to know I will not leave here without it."
"Crystal shard?" Khalxaen repeated with curiosity as she looked down. A weak piece of string was fit snugly around her neck, but the shard itself was hidden inside her shirt. The only importance it had to her was that it reminded her of that girl she met when she got this shard. She wouldn't admit it to anybody, but that girl was someone she regarded close to a 'friend'. Other than that, she had no other interest in the shard, which was why she never even bothered keeping it more safe. The weak piece of string gave it no justice, and it would have been so easy to snap it from under her nose. "Why would anybody want this useless piece of thing?"
Blinking, the demon stretched her legs out from underneath her and stood up. She focused her eyes on the person who had appeared before her. He was a lot larger than she was, and also, probably a lot stronger. His clothes were strange to her eyes, and she concluded that he probably came from a place a lot further than she has ever reached. His tone didn't seem like he was joking, but she was not amused in how he had demanded that she just hand over something of her posession. If he had asked nicely if he could have bought it from her, then maybe she would have complied, as long as the price was pretty. There was no way that was going to happen now, though. The demon hated taking orders from strangers.
"And who are you?" Khalxaen raised an eyebrow, looking at him from head to toe once again. "You've got some guts, don't you? Can't even make a proper introduction. What makes you think I'm even going to give it to you, or even just let you lay a finger on it? Hah." She stuck her tongue out in mockery at the man, proving to the world that she was still as childish as the day she set foot out of her village.
Her ears twitched as the water slapped rock and wood harder. Even the sea was starting to get restless as the tension grew thicker. Khalxaen stared at the man before her, waiting for an answer. She hadn't expected this at all. It had been weeks since she got into a little action, and maybe this was just what she needed at the moment. The demon was starting to think that her travels were getting more boring everyday, and she even contemplated once about going back to her hometown. That was, if she ever remembered where it was.
She snapped the string around her neck and tucked the shard inside her left pants pocket, making it much more difficult to take. If he wanted to take it from her, he'd have to do it by force. And Khalxaen was never content to make others people think she was a pushover. That would be the ultimate disgrace for the demon.
She's not going to try and fight me over this is she? Solomon wondered as the girl he had startled lifted herself up to her full height. He still couldn't see her in great detail, the wharf was too dark for that. However, he had a fair glimpse of her from where he was. She was a scrawny little girl, making him actually think for a moment he could snap her in half with only his hands. Not that he'd ever actually do that to someone, it was just something that had come to his mind. The height and spunk of her voice easily gave away her adolescence. She was basically what he had been anticipating, even up to the shadow of the sword she carried on her. However as she moved about he still couldn't see where she kept the shard. So long as she'd hand it over calmly he wouldn't have to worry about searching her for it... although it wouldn't have come to that. He could take care of this quickly and easily, no matter how much spunk she had.
"It doesn't matter who I am." Solomon replied, after she had finished questioning him. He took in a sharp breath and loosened up his shoulders as he answered. "I know that crystal doesn’t mean anything to you, but there are other people who need it and I'm going to take it to them." He moved his left leg out a little farther, and lowered himself in his stance. His muscles all tightened as he got his energy flowing inside of him, and with another breath he channelled the power into his fatal vision attack. It wasn't his strongest move, but the blue haze that glowed in his eyes often frightened people away. He couldn't tell if she was wearing armour or not, but if she was it didn't look like it could be anything more than a mail undershirt or a leather garment. Anything bigger and he'd most likely be able to see it. The attack would do something rather nasty to her skin if it hit her, leather would weaken it but he could still cut through it. Still though, it should be more than enough to get his point across. She really didn't want to fight him.
"I'll ask you once more to hand it over." Solomon said to her, feeling the power build up inside his eyes and change his vision of the world slightly blue. "If you don't throw it down at my feet, I'm going to shoot you. And, I guarantee that it will hurt."
Khalxaen's ears twitched in annoyance as she listened to the man talk. 'Just who is this idiot to say if this shard is important to me or not?! Well, it's not really that important... how arrogant! Hmph.'
No matter how much she looked at the situation, though, she was confused. For her, the shard served nothing other than being nice for the eyes. Maybe if this was all over and she actually got this man under her foot, she could manipulate him into telling her it's worth. If he was as clueless as she was, then she could at least make him tell her who the people who want it are.
The man got into what Khalxaen could conclude was a battle stance. The demon couldn't understand why, but the atmosphere was becoming thicker. It was probably just her getting more nervous, though. As much as she sounded oblivious to most things, she could tell that this man was strong. Khalxaen just wasn't sure how strong. 'Well, whatever, it would be interesting to find out, won't it?'
"Shoot me, huh?" Khalxaen smirked, baring sharp fangs as she did so. A rustling sound could be heard as she brought out her sword from it's seath, grasping the hilt tightly with her hands. She got into a more defensive stance, as if provoking him to prove his worth. "I don't really care, just go ahead and shoot me." She said the word which she stole from him in a tone as if she was testing it. "Go ahead, I dare you."
Skoteinos burned under her touch. Now she couldn't tell if it was warning her, or as excited as she was because it would finally get some action after so long. It still stranged her out that a sword could have it's own personality, but lately, she just didn't make an effort to find out it's story. As long as it served it's purpose, she was already fine with that, and Skoteinos was one of the most useful swords she had ever touched; not that she had held a lot.
'Careful, he's strong.'
There it was, finally. It had been a while since she heard her sword's raspy voice.
"Shut up." Khalxaen mumbled under her breath, directed towards her sword. She had learned some time ago that she was the only one who could hear the voice of her weapon. "I'm blaming it on you if I die here."
She's not backing down. Solomon thought quietly, standing hard and ready in his stance. His eyes burned away, but all she did was edge him on. She wasn't afraid at all, which meant he'd have to give her good reason to be. She drew her sword out from its sheath. He heard the sound of it before he saw the shape of it. It seemed fairly short, but through the shadows he couldn't even wager a guess as to it's design or it's metal. Hopefully it wasn't sharper than steel. His alien heritage made his skin a little resistant to steel, and in the hands of such a tiny girl he really didn't have much to fear. She was obviously willing to fight for this. That was a mistake on her part. He was set on seeing these two men fulfil their promise to him, and he had to keep his part of the bargain. No puny girl was going to stop him.
"So be it." He said quietly to himself. He pulled back so that he stood even higher, really trying to show the girl his towering presence over her. However, she didn't seem worried in the least bit. She only made a few gestures, which he didn’t even see clearly, and then muttered quietly as he stared at her with his ignited eye. For a moment he thought she was talking to herself, which seemed very odd, but then he figured she was probably uttering some last minute threats to him or something. Although now, had stopped paying attention to her mouth and only to the fiery flicker of her energy sign. He couldn't see her image too well, but he could feel exactly where she was. Honing in on her energy signal would ensure he didn't miss, it was a much more definite target. The only problem was he wasn’t sure whereabouts he’d hit her.
Without another word Solomon fired off his fatal vision beams. The colours in his eyes became even deeper as the beams sizzled across the air and towards his little opponent. If this didn't make her hand it over, then he still had much more to send her way.
"Oooh, cool eyes...!" Khalxaen said under her breath with a huge smile, obviously interested by how his eyes seemed to change color. She ignored the fact that it was probably a lethal attack coming up, that is, until it happened. A pillar of light came shooting out towards her, and her eyes widened as she instinctively ducked to the side. Khalxaen, being as small as she was, was quicker than most creatures. Even though this was something that came to her advantage, the eradicating light still hit a huge portion of her right shoulder.
There was a painful burning feeling as it hit her tan skinned, and she accidentally dropped her sword as she grasped her shoulder tightly with her free hand. The short sword made a lout clattering sound as it fell to the ground, just a short distance away from her. Khalxaen's scarlet eyes furiously glared at her opponent, obviously showing hostility towards him. She muttered curses under her breath and decided to move quickly, rather than waiting for his next move. 'Fine, I get it! I shouldn't have underestimated him!'
It took her a few more moments, but not that long, to mutter a few chants under her breath. The air around her became colder as the moisture in the air materialized into thick spikes of sharp ice. Then, the spikes launched themselves towards her opponent. Since this certain spell never seemed to do the trick in the past, she had learned to accompany it with other attacks which would probably do more damage.
Quickly, and ignoring the pain in her shoulder, she grasped Skoteinos back in her hand and charged towards him. He was quite a distance away from her, so it took more steps than she expected. Her blade came down in a fast swipe, aiming for the space between his right shoulder and neck. The demon wasn't in the mood to try and hit someone straight in the head, after all. That was too brutal, even for her, and he still had answers to her questions. Khalxaen had observed from before that he didn't seem to have any weapons on him, and so maybe just attacking him head on would work.
His vision returned to darkness as the burst of energy left his body. Khalxaen didn't seem to move until it was nearly to late, and the beams dazzled the darkness as they burned into her upper body. Although he could not see where, he knew the strike was fairly potent. He could hear the cry of her voice and the sound of her sword dropping to the oak planks at their feet. The ocean rocked below them, as nothing more than a supple sound as it rolled against the supports.
"There's plenty more where that came from." Solomon said against her curses. He stayed strong and ready, keeping his stance low and centered. He focussed on keeping his energy level up, just in case she needed another 'fatal vision' to prompt her to hand over the jewel.
"So, why don't you just hand it over and we'll get out of here?" He finished off, however, it seemed she had no intention of surrendering the gem. Not just yet anyway. Solomon could feel the shift in her energy as she prepared something unusual. The air became cold, and objects began to sparkle in the darkness, catching the little trials of light that drifted in from the nearby village. Immediately the cold spires darted towards him, and he dodged from side to side as they came whirling by him, one by one.
There was one that came at him head on, and when he realized he didn't have enough time to get out of the way he threw his thick arms in front of his face. A natural defence instinct. He flexed the muscles in his forearms and the spike shattered upon his natural armour, had the girl been any stronger they probably would have gone right through him. However, it seemed the attack didn't have as much power in it as he thought it would, and so his heavy arms took the blow in stride, whining only a little as the ice shards burned the skin. Although he was not out of the woods yet. The little girl was charging him. He couldn't see her from behind his arms, but he could feel her energy suddenly bolting towards him. Perhaps that's why the attack was a little weaker than expected. Maybe it was just conjured to distract him?
She was naturally fast, but thanks to his heritage, Solomon was supernaturally fast. His speed may not be as impressive as his strength, but he had been putting to the test enough to know how to rely on it. The girl came at him, trying to get to him as the ice attack was finishing. Solomon put his arms back at their ready, and he waited a moment to see what she was going to do. He watched her figure coming ever closer to him. He rolled up onto the balls of his feet, giving him the spring to quickly lunge in any direction. He was ready, and waiting. The burning in his arms making him all the more eager to deliver a punishing blow.
A sword suddenly appeared, crashing horizontally from her shoulder's height. The moment the blade flickered in his eyes he made his move. He lowered his neck and cast his feet apart so he fell below the short sword; knowing it was far quicker to bring his head out of the way than to try and get his body out of the way. There was less to try and move. He grinned slightly to himself as the blade passed over his head. If she his power didn’t threaten her when he did his fatal vision attack, then she'd definitely see the kind of power he had now. He was faster and stronger than she was. She's be lucky if she could touch him!
Now that he was lower to the ground, doing a split with his legs, he fell back onto his left arm and whipped his right leg around at her feet. He'd bring her to the ground, and then get her to surrender the gem.
’Crap!’ Khalxaen hissed between tight lips. She couldn’t really tell quickly enough just what had happened, in the span of only a few seconds. The demon could recall charging at the larger man, Skoteinos tightly in her hands. Khalxaen had been confident that her attack would work, and so her eyes widened in complete surprise when he skilfully dodged from serious damage and retaliated even before she could take a breath in. A sharp pain hit her leg, causing her to stumble backwards violently and falling on her back in a very excruciating drop. Several wooden crates from behind her crashed underneath her weight, several splinters getting caught in her skin.
“Ow!” She screamed in pain. Her shoulder and arm was still sore from his first attack. For the second time, her blade escaped her grasp and clattered noisily against the damp wooden planks. The wood was cold underneath her as she struggled to sit up, and there was a throbbing pain travelling all over her body. The demon was starting to feel numb – her fall had been a bad one.
Cursing under her breath, she tried to roll on her side and grasped blindly for her sword with a wandering hand. She could feel something colder than the wood underneath her, and she concluded that it was probably her blade. She couldn’t move her hand further, though, and she couldn’t find the hilt. ’Need to act fast, or this barbaric giant will kill me…’
Maybe this was a good time to just hand the shard over, but that thought never even reached Khalxaen’s mind. She had never surrendered to anybody before, and she wasn’t planning to do it any time soon. The crystal shard was still hidden deep inside her pocket, emitting a strange heat like it always did.
Something sharp hit her fingers amidst all her struggling, and blood trickled down her hands. It was her sword, she realized right after she accidentally cut herself against the blade. “Darn it…” She cursed again as she grasped a piece of wood beside her and heaved herself up, reaching out for Skoteinos. Her legs felt almost numb as she did so.
Finally, her sword was back in her hands, even if she was grasping it's blade instead of the hilt. She really didn't care at the moment. With her free hand, she brought it up to the air and pointed an open palm towards her opponent's direction. The wind around her gained speed and pressure, forming small cyclones that suddenly swept theirselves towards where she directed them. This attack was meant more for disabling and buying herself time, and she hoped it would do so even for just a while as she got into a more defensive stature, predicting that he would come at her any moment now.
Khalxaen grit her teeth. She probably shouldn’t have underestimated him.
He could hear the young girl hollering against the crash of the fall. His boot had rolled right on through, under her feet, and she had fallen from his vision into the array of discarded shipping crates and old traps. Her sword had missed him completely, although his arms still stung a little as he held himself up. Other than that he was unscathed, and appearing as the victor of this little scrap. Perhaps she was ready to hand over the little trinket now and he could get out of here already.
You don't want to hurt her anymore. His mind warned him. Just take it and get out of here. He pushed himself back up onto his feet, trying to narrow his eyes in over Khalxaen as she was pushing herself through the mess of boards and nails. He didn't advance on her just yet. Instead he stood before her with authority. It was true, he didn’t want to cause her too much pain, but enough to enforce his will. She was beginning to see how powerful he was, and truth be told, so was he. He was stronger than he had ever been in his life. This little girl's attacks weren't much against him. There was no way she could beat him. He was going to be marching out of this town with the crystal in hand; he had no doubt about it.
The girl wasn't ready to give up though. She had propped herself up, and so he began to stride towards her, letting his boots thump upon the heavy planks as he approached. Once again there was a shift in her energy, and the winds around him started to twirl. Immediately he planted his feet hard into the wood and brought his arms out in front of him, squinting to see. The force of it began to push him back, and make him stumble from one side to another as the winds seemed to swoop upon him in one great gust after another.
He snickered to himself as all the winds did was heave on his brutish body. His boots fit snugly into the ruts between the planks, and he leaned forwards into the wind with his fists out before him. Even this wasn't all that powerful, all it was doing was delaying the inevitable. He couldn’t get forwards, but it wasn’t putting him out of commission either. If she hadn't been afraid of him before, she definitely would be now.
As the winds died down Solomon picked up speed and honed in on the presence before him. She came into his vision, ready to defend, but definitely wounded. He came at her quickly, ready to dodge or absorb whatever attack came at him. She was wounded, and his energy was still strong inside of him, an almost electric feeling pulsing throughout his body. When she attacked he’d be ready for it, and so he prepared his left arm to grab her by the collar and push her up against the support pillars at the edge of the dock.
“Hand it over!” He grumbled to her, preparing to stomp right on through her defences.
Good battle. A close one, too.
Here is the run-down:
Solomon
Story
Continuity - 6
Setting - 6
Pacing - 4
Writing Style
Mechanics - 5
Technique - 5
Clarity - 5
Character
Dialogue - 5
Action - 5
Persona - 6
Miscellaneous
Wild Card - 6
Total Score - 53
Khalxaen
Story
Continuity - 6
Setting - 5
Pacing - 4
Writing Style
Mechanics - 5
Technique - 5
Clarity - 5
Character
Dialogue - 6
Action - 5
Persona - 6
Miscellaneous
Wild Card - 5
Total Score - 52
Solomon wins and moves on into the Finals.
Solomon receives 1250 EXP and 100 GP.
Khalxaen receives 375 EXP and 100 GP.
EXP and gold added.