Edric vs. Ilona (Idarian and Blonde Panther)

Discussion in 'Battle Arena' started by Idarian, May 31, 2012.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Idarian

    Idarian Imperator of Known Space reg

    Messages:
    221
    Trophy Points:
    16
    The sky gazed down upon the arena with a blazing, orange hue. Evening was descending upon the land, taking its own time as two souls came together for a test of blood and iron. The arena itself was nothing more than an enigma to the young swordsman who found himself with his feet planted atop its marble surface. Inward from the edge of the area was a collection of trees, not unlike a small forest, whose soil was punctuated by shoots of green grass, and scored by the strong roots of healthy trees.

    Edric looked behind himself a moment, spotting a wide ditch filled with sharp, wooden stakes.

    No escape from this, it seems...., he thought to himself, dryly.

    Beyond this ditch was a set of seats carved in solemn, grey stone. These bleachers sat not one single living soul, but Edric could swear he felt some unearthly gaze watching his every move, as if thousands of ghosts filled the seats upon which he had set his eyes.

    He turned himself back to the center of the arena, now. Riding upon the otherwise clear air was a sense... almost a scent of blood and sweat from ages of combat between heroes and peasants, brave and cowardly.

    That soil has probably soaked in more blood and tears than I could hope to witness in several lifetimes.

    He felt a pair of red eyes drilling into him. Indeed, as he looked over, he spotted Ghost sauntering his way, his pale, white-grey coat rippling as he walked. Suddenly, the great wolf stopped and raised his ears. His eyes drilled deep into the vegetation, searching for something, and his nose probed the cool, evening air. Edric, too, turned his sharp gaze toward the trees. Slowly, he stepped forward and stood near the first or second tree from his edge of the arena, placing his left hand against its aged bark. Between the trees ahead of him, he saw the figure of another near the other side of the stage.

    He immediately thought to brandish Longclaw, but halted himself, instead contemplating the trees around him.

    Do I have the space for that sword in this little grove? He asked himself, doubtfully. Yes... Yes, I do, he decided very promptly thereafter, but perhaps I should hold a moment.

    Ghost stepped forward to stand beside his master. Edric ran his fingertips through the white fur on the top of his wolf's head. Waiting, the young man flexed the fingers of his burned sword hand, the scar tissue stretching over his bones. He raised that hand slightly, preparing to remove Longclaw from the scabbard upon his back, but only stood, waiting for the figure across the arena to make some sort of gesture...
  2. Blonde Panther

    Blonde Panther Not always sweet and delicate vet

    Messages:
    2,266
    Trophy Points:
    48
    3DS Friend Code:
    4270-0958-9582
    Ilona yawned. Sure, she had complained to Denolle that she was sparring with the same people and against the same styles too many times and that it was getting stale, but had it really been necessary to shove her into an arena battle... at this hour, no less? And how was sparring similar to a battle to the death, anyway?

    She decided to give it a rest, peering at the grove in front of her. No use worrying about it. She was here to fight, so she had to fight. That was how simple it was. For the occasion she'd brought her full armory over, seeing as she was not allowed to see her enemy beforehand. It would be good practice. Real missions didn't give her that luxury either.

    She did see a figure, two actually (were you allowed to bring a partner? Maybe she ought to have brought Jayden...), but they were too far away to see their weapons or armor. And definitely too far to get an arrow in them. Her best bet was probably to protect herself for now...

    With that thought, she took her shield off her back and grabbed it tightly, while unsheathing her broadsword. It was the most basic of combinations, but because of that, often the most effective. If it turned out she was dealing with a specific kind of enemy, she could always switch weapons.

    ...actually... While she started walking towards the grove, she opened the pouch on her belt and reached into it with the hand holding her shield. pulling out a Bombchu, she gave the key on its back a couple quick rotations before setting the explosive down on the ground.

    If it reached and damaged one of her foes, all the better. If it exploded on its way there, it would do so in the grove, flushing out any traps that might have been in her direct path.
  3. Idarian

    Idarian Imperator of Known Space reg

    Messages:
    221
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Edric watched as the figure stepped forward on the other side of the grove. He saw that his opponent was a girl, first of all. He stopped a moment to consider this. Perhaps he should not fight a woman... Although, this was rather a matter of necessity. This was hardly a case of Edric simply assaulting defenseless women and children.

    Even more convincingly to the argument that one should take up arms and fight was that, so far as Snow could tell, this woman was drawing an arming sword and a steel-plated shield. Perhaps drawing his blade would an appropriate reaction. Edric readied his arm in anticipation, flexing his fingers over and over, seeming more a nervous habit now than therapeutic exercise.

    Ghost sensed the tension and bared his teeth, a growl boiling up in his throat. The fur on the back of his head and neck stood on end, and he made ready to dash forward.

    Edric saw the woman pull something from her kit. It was shaped not unlike a large, iron beetle without legs. It took Edric a minute to process what he was seeing.

    I know that device... Pollux used them in defense of Northwatch... Edric thought back to Pollux, a thin man with a keen eye and a quick thrust with the spear. He had used bombchus to defend Northwatch during the great frosts. Then, as Edric vividly remembered, he had his chest opened shoulder to waist by a chilfos' frozen razor edge.

    When Ilona set the bombchu on the ground and let it loose, the whirring, buzzing sound it made as it scurried along the arena floor reminded Edric of precisely what it was and what it was meant to do.

    He made to run sideways and avoid the bombchu, but Ghost interpreted this move as an indication that he should charge forward. Ghost leapt fiercely toward the bombchu, but halted at Edric's stern, piercing command.

    "Ghost! Back, now!"

    The wolf drove its hind legs into the earth and threw his front legs around while the rest of him skidded forward. He ended the maneuver bounding in the opposite direction. Snow, on the other hand, picked up a rock and threw it at the ground near the bombchu. Either he could cause the machine to detonate prematurely, or he could disrupt the path of the bombchu just enough to deflect it at a tree or a rock.

    As luck would have it, the rock did not strike the bombchu directly, but only struck the ground before its front right corner. This hardly did anything to stop the bombchu, but it did set the machine some degrees left of its original course. Both Edric and Ghost made away from the bombchu, running to their left (the bombchu was traveling to their right). Ghost stayed wide, as if ready to circle the woman in the forest as a wolf typically does its prey, while Edric elected to hook toward the center of the arena, trying to move from tree to tree in the direction of his foe. As he cut to the inside of the circle, he reached his scarred, right hand over his right should and grasped the tightly leather-bound hilt of Longclaw. The bastard sword came free to serve its bastard lord with the melodious sound of sharp, oiled steel scraping against wood and leather.

    Meanwhile, the deflected bombchu drove itself into the base of a tree, throwing about large splinters of wood and shards of broken iron as its explosives detonated. Edric managed to find safety behind a tree at the fringe of the bomb's casualty radius. He made to rush toward the woman as the whistling of shrapnel in air died down.
  4. Blonde Panther

    Blonde Panther Not always sweet and delicate vet

    Messages:
    2,266
    Trophy Points:
    48
    3DS Friend Code:
    4270-0958-9582
    Well, the Bombchu was deflected and thus missed its mark horribly, but it did do part of its job. It somewhat distracted her opponent and threw them off, as well as buying Ilona precious time she needed to get closer and assess her enemy. A single man, she now saw, accompanied by a giant wolf. She knew better than to peg either for the bigger threat. For purposes of staying alive, she had to assume both were capable of killing her.

    Using the trees for cover, she made her way to the middle of the arena. There was a small clearing there, one that didn't allow either warrior to use trees for cover and sneak attacks. Holding her shield close to her body, as well as her sword, but with both arms ready to pounce forward at a moment's notice, she walked to the middle of the clearing, keeping her ears perked for her foe.

    Her foe came running at her, strangely enough without his animal companion. While this did mean that she had to stay alert and expect it to come out of hiding when she could least use it, she wasn't supposed to forget the immediate attack. He wielded a sword between four and five foot long. The metal looked unusual- very different from ilona's own weapons. When it connected with her shield, it felt heavier than her own broadsword, although not by too much. As her eyes flitted over his form, she also spotted a bow and a quiver on him.

    Now knowing her enemy had not only an auxilary, but also range as well as pure strength, Ilona gave a push with her shield and stepped back, hoping to create distance. once she had that distance, she swung her sword in a very short arc upwards in front of herself, releasing energy in an arced blast towards him.

    OOC (open)
    Sorry for any bunnying, I just assumed he kept running at her, rather than stopping his attack, for purposes of keeping the pace. Also not to have a two-paragraph post. I also assumed that Ghost is not in position to attack yet.
  5. Idarian

    Idarian Imperator of Known Space reg

    Messages:
    221
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Edric brought Longclaw down over his foe, only to feel the shock of it being stopped against her shield. When his opponent began to push back, he yielded some and let the blade of his weapon come back off of the shield. Rather than lose his balance completely, and probably the fight soon thereafter, he just scrambled back several feet as his opponent forced some space between them.

    Rather than press her attack by closing with Edric, the girl swung her sword low-to-high from where she stood. By instinct, as he had expected her to charge him before attacking, Edric turned to his right and stepped back (effectively sidestepping to the left), box-stepping Ilona's attack as the blade of her sword flashed brightly and shot forth an arc of light.

    The arc flashed in front of Edric, missing him by just enough, as he shifted his weight to move forward again. Covering the few feet of distance he needed to close in a few moments, he brought his right arm around to attack. He started the arc high, but quickly swung low, aiming his blade for the girl's legs.

    At the same time, Ghost made his return, prowling among the trees several meters from Ilona on her five o' clock. He made no move yet, but his red eyes were fixed on the young woman.
  6. Blonde Panther

    Blonde Panther Not always sweet and delicate vet

    Messages:
    2,266
    Trophy Points:
    48
    3DS Friend Code:
    4270-0958-9582
    The results of her attack were somewhat disappointing as her adversary simply sidestepped and dodged it. Yes, it was true that the Power Beam was slow and that in the event of too much distance between originator and target it was largely useless. But Ilona had hoped that they would have been close enough for the technique to have its use.

    Her opponent then closed the distance between them and attacked... up? No, down! But Ilona realized that too late, and her shield was above her head when the man's sword closed in on her shins. Her mind was already leaping back to dodge, but her body took a second too long to actually process and execute the command.

    Fortunately her boots were padded, not unlike riding boots, so instead of cutting her, the impact the blade made on her left shin would leave a bruise. A nasty one, to be sure, but nothing more than that. As she landed a few feet back, her eyes flitted to a side and she spotted two red eyes. Whether it was an arena hazard or the wolf she didn't know, but she didn't want to let it catch her wile she was a sitting duck and pulled out a Bombchu, throwing it in the direction of the eyes.

    It wasn't wound up, but started running nevertheless as it hit the ground. Ilona herself started running at the man, with her shield in front of her and her sword slightly back, before swinging it out from her right upwards to her left, hoping to at least wound her enemy.
  7. Idarian

    Idarian Imperator of Known Space reg

    Messages:
    221
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Longclaw swung low toward the girl's legs, but she managed to jump back just early enough to dodge the brunt of the attack. While a direct blow from the sharp edge of Edric's bastard sword would have likely gone through the padded boots, the strike delivered was merely by the tip of the sword at the extent of Edric's swing, effecting striking on the follow-through, biting into the padding with little power. The girl would suffer a bruised shin, but nothing more. Edric could have made to strike another blow and press the attack, but such a lunging maneuver as he had just done left him open to retaliation. Instead, he shifted the weight of his sword in his hand almost effortlessly, bringing his left hand to join his right at the hilt and hold the weapon on high in a guarding position while he doubled back to retake a firm fighting stance.

    At that point, the girl produced another bombchu from her kit and lobbed it in the direction of Ghost, who saw the machine grip the earth and and begin to drive his way. The wolf retreated into the undergrowth once again, circling the clearing away from the bombchu, still refusing to enter the fight just yet.

    Edric, in the meantime, moved in a bit closer as Ilona threw her bombchu, but never made a strike as the girl advanced, bringing her sword up in a slashing motion. Snow turned his sword over, holding the hilt high and the blade turned down, to parry the strike on its low pass. Steel cried out as the blades met and locked, then pulled apart as Edric released his left hand from the hilt. He shifted his footing, keeping his right leg forward, shuffling toward his foe. Longclaw danced back from Ilona's steel, Edric's right hand bringing it in an arc around behind his head to swing from the left. His one-handed grip was slightly less solid, characteristic of fighting with a long-sword, but allowed him to have sudden longer reach, and be more nimble.

    The swordsman pressed his attack, deflecting Ilona's strike and responding with his own, from high on his left. His was to be a quick strike from Ilona's right, where her sword was very recently low, hoping to fall above her guard and let steel bite into her upper arm or shoulder, perhaps cutting through her shirt or iron rings, perhaps not, though a successful blow would at least fracture bone. Edric reinforced his grip as Longclaw returned to its line and he began to force it down toward its target, air whistling around its polished, oiled steel blade.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.