RE: Grand Battle (S?) (Round 1: Matmor Atoll)
07-25-2013, 04:53 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-25-2013, 04:55 AM by Elize.)
Sari couldn't quite parse all of Volter's words, but she did get the gist of it. She knew that this was the one who had done something strange and bright and painful earlier, but pain wasn't inherently bad, and causing it wasn't indicative of malice. After all, he seemed trustworthy enough. There was surely some higher purpose in this.
"Duel," Sari parroted, nodding her head.
"That's the spirit I like to - woah!" Volter made a panicked leap to one side to dodge the trident flung at him so unceremoniously by his new sparring partner. She'd swept the crude thing up and sent it flying without a moment of braggadocio--he didn't even know for what glory she fought, what strange shores she called home, what reward she sought to gain. "That's not how you do it!" he shouted, feeling the heat rise in his face. Did she just enjoy watching him panic? The uncertainty was stalking in again. "Where I come from, you don't skip the foreplay!" Volter rooted his feet in the sand and let loose a deadly volley of psionic energy.
Sari may not have experienced much in her few minutes of awareness, but this attack was something she was now familiar with. She crouched and leapt, bright flashes crackling in the sand below her. Volter had anticipated this. In the split second after her leap, he'd judged her trajectory and flung himself willfully through the sky to intercept it, halberd pulled back like a coiled snake anticipating a strike.
Except, he didn't intercept. This slick cerulean aberration was so alien to this world that it seemed to have little interest in pulling her any closer. Rather than arcing back down to the ground as gravity would seem to dictate, she simply turned in midair and bobbed in a different direction. Volter, having no such scorn for the world's embrace, sailed past his intended target and tumbled on the cracking shoal.
Volter turned his unexpected tumble into an artful roll over one shoulder, landing with a heavy clank on his seven-league boots and skidding to a stop. His heel tore into the shattered coral and flung a cloud of calcified detritus billowing into the air behind him. He'd missed, yes, but he made it look good. That was the measure of a seasoned warrior. Twice, this malformed creature had made him look like a green recruit simply by being odd, not by any skill. Well, it wouldn't happen again. His boots fired and he took to the air once more.
Sari's heart beat excitedly. This was exhilarating! She didn't know what she was doing, but she was doing something and it seemed to matter and that was all that counted. Her new friend sailed into the air once more, firing more of the glowing bolts. She pushed herself solidly to one side, only to realize too late that the bolts were not focused on her location, but rather raining down everywhere around her. She leapt frantically, but too late. A sizzling ball of energy erupted on her position with a deafening crack. Sari was slammed down into the ground, rebounding against a strange blue light.
Volter hit the center of the erupting crater he'd made in the sand just in time for the last wisps of energy to dissipate. Eyes locked on his mark, he swung his explosive-tipped halberd in an arc he judged most likely to catch any attempted escape routes. "Finia Victa Gandeera!" he cried. The ordinance detonated in a bright flash that erupted with blue sparks. There was the sound of glass shattering as Sari, her staff, her mask, and her two teeth were flung separately across the beach, no longer bound by whatever strange force had anchored them to her person before.
Sari's gangly limbs flailed with the force of her uncontrolled plummet into the beach. She hit the ground once and bounced, unable to right herself in the air like she could moments ago. She hit the ground a second time and blacked out for just a second, coming to as she finally stopped in a cloud of sand near the shore. She coughed reflexively as the grainy crystals entered her mouth, pushing herself away from the stuff as well as she could. Searing pain shot up her right arm. She was shocked to find one of her fingers was twisted back and would not bend. Thick blue fluid welled up from tears in her arm and face, and there was a persistent, deep pain in her back and head. Was this what was supposed to happen? Did she do it right? She pulled the tangled mess of blue hair, now failing to float elegantly out of her field of vision, away from her face. She looked up with a pained expression at the man who had just put her through this.
Her heart dropped. He did not look happy either. She had done it wrong. She had gone through all of that, and she had still done it wrong. Why was this so complicated? Why did everyone else seem to understand what to do? But most importantly, why didn't she? The scuttling fishmen approaching her position on the beach seemed confident enough in their actions. Laying there prone on the beach, she suddenly recalled the one of the fishmen's compatriots she had attacked earlier. They were approaching her like she had approached him. They were going to leave her there on the beach with her head spilling open like she had done to him.
Panic overtook Sari. She shook her head. Her good hand shot up to her mouth and grabbed one of her front teeth. She jerked and pulled and twisted desperately. Bone snapped. Her eyes welled up and she winced, but she didn't cry out. Extracting her own tooth and shaking it at the approaching warriors, she called out, "No duel. No duel!" Sari nodded and held the tooth in shaking hand, directing it at each of them in turn. "Reward! Take reward." Her eyes widened and she turned to Volter, an expression of dumbfounded shock on his face. "Reward! Please take reward?"
"Duel," Sari parroted, nodding her head.
"That's the spirit I like to - woah!" Volter made a panicked leap to one side to dodge the trident flung at him so unceremoniously by his new sparring partner. She'd swept the crude thing up and sent it flying without a moment of braggadocio--he didn't even know for what glory she fought, what strange shores she called home, what reward she sought to gain. "That's not how you do it!" he shouted, feeling the heat rise in his face. Did she just enjoy watching him panic? The uncertainty was stalking in again. "Where I come from, you don't skip the foreplay!" Volter rooted his feet in the sand and let loose a deadly volley of psionic energy.
Sari may not have experienced much in her few minutes of awareness, but this attack was something she was now familiar with. She crouched and leapt, bright flashes crackling in the sand below her. Volter had anticipated this. In the split second after her leap, he'd judged her trajectory and flung himself willfully through the sky to intercept it, halberd pulled back like a coiled snake anticipating a strike.
Except, he didn't intercept. This slick cerulean aberration was so alien to this world that it seemed to have little interest in pulling her any closer. Rather than arcing back down to the ground as gravity would seem to dictate, she simply turned in midair and bobbed in a different direction. Volter, having no such scorn for the world's embrace, sailed past his intended target and tumbled on the cracking shoal.
Volter turned his unexpected tumble into an artful roll over one shoulder, landing with a heavy clank on his seven-league boots and skidding to a stop. His heel tore into the shattered coral and flung a cloud of calcified detritus billowing into the air behind him. He'd missed, yes, but he made it look good. That was the measure of a seasoned warrior. Twice, this malformed creature had made him look like a green recruit simply by being odd, not by any skill. Well, it wouldn't happen again. His boots fired and he took to the air once more.
Sari's heart beat excitedly. This was exhilarating! She didn't know what she was doing, but she was doing something and it seemed to matter and that was all that counted. Her new friend sailed into the air once more, firing more of the glowing bolts. She pushed herself solidly to one side, only to realize too late that the bolts were not focused on her location, but rather raining down everywhere around her. She leapt frantically, but too late. A sizzling ball of energy erupted on her position with a deafening crack. Sari was slammed down into the ground, rebounding against a strange blue light.
Volter hit the center of the erupting crater he'd made in the sand just in time for the last wisps of energy to dissipate. Eyes locked on his mark, he swung his explosive-tipped halberd in an arc he judged most likely to catch any attempted escape routes. "Finia Victa Gandeera!" he cried. The ordinance detonated in a bright flash that erupted with blue sparks. There was the sound of glass shattering as Sari, her staff, her mask, and her two teeth were flung separately across the beach, no longer bound by whatever strange force had anchored them to her person before.
Sari's gangly limbs flailed with the force of her uncontrolled plummet into the beach. She hit the ground once and bounced, unable to right herself in the air like she could moments ago. She hit the ground a second time and blacked out for just a second, coming to as she finally stopped in a cloud of sand near the shore. She coughed reflexively as the grainy crystals entered her mouth, pushing herself away from the stuff as well as she could. Searing pain shot up her right arm. She was shocked to find one of her fingers was twisted back and would not bend. Thick blue fluid welled up from tears in her arm and face, and there was a persistent, deep pain in her back and head. Was this what was supposed to happen? Did she do it right? She pulled the tangled mess of blue hair, now failing to float elegantly out of her field of vision, away from her face. She looked up with a pained expression at the man who had just put her through this.
Her heart dropped. He did not look happy either. She had done it wrong. She had gone through all of that, and she had still done it wrong. Why was this so complicated? Why did everyone else seem to understand what to do? But most importantly, why didn't she? The scuttling fishmen approaching her position on the beach seemed confident enough in their actions. Laying there prone on the beach, she suddenly recalled the one of the fishmen's compatriots she had attacked earlier. They were approaching her like she had approached him. They were going to leave her there on the beach with her head spilling open like she had done to him.
Panic overtook Sari. She shook her head. Her good hand shot up to her mouth and grabbed one of her front teeth. She jerked and pulled and twisted desperately. Bone snapped. Her eyes welled up and she winced, but she didn't cry out. Extracting her own tooth and shaking it at the approaching warriors, she called out, "No duel. No duel!" Sari nodded and held the tooth in shaking hand, directing it at each of them in turn. "Reward! Take reward." Her eyes widened and she turned to Volter, an expression of dumbfounded shock on his face. "Reward! Please take reward?"