View Full Version : Round 2 Da Blue Sky vs. Troy Barnes [J - Wattz]
Wattz
01-28-2012, 05:39 PM
The sky is gray, moving swiftly with muted clouds pushed forth by moderate winds. The area is flat, a gray rocky plain like a pillar raising up towards the heavens (approximately 20 ft in diameter). Each combatant stands on either end, and one step backwards will send them off the side. Though the pillar is thick, it feels as if the edges are slowly... slowly... crumbling off.
The fall is so far the bottom of the world cannot be seen.
Suddenly, winds pick up to a heavier speed, rushing forth in a violent burst, oscillating through the three insignificant forms.
A harlequin stands in the middle of the two, balancing on one skeletal leg. Her blue and white garb is torn, her bells jingled in the silence, and her greasy blonde hair whips around in the wind. She began to speak as if to an audience, walking in circles with her arms held out.
“Behold! Two souls teeter upon the blank slate;
Woman strong with resolve, man true in his course.
Should they look back, should they waver and wait,
well... the price of spilt blood is a pivotal force!"
She laughs, then balances on the ledge using two hands and pointing both feet upwards.
"Though above rests a heaven, below swirls the gray;
it should not be long ‘til one fool is slain.
A swift kick, a quick nudge, they’ll be gone, done away!
Free-falling forever, ‘til the victor remains.”
Rocks crumble beneath her hands, then she flips backwards and down, down, into oblivion.
Not a moment later, another bit of the pillar slid off like an ice burg into the ocean.
---
NOTE: At the toss of a coin, Da Blue Sky goes first.
If you are having any problems posting, such as computer problems or otherwise, please notify me as soon as possible.
Snotgirl
02-02-2012, 02:01 AM
Lily materialized on top of the pillar of rock. The rock on which they were standing looked like it was floating in midair. There were gray clouds being pushed by winds, which for the moment, were bearable. Lily hesitated only for a moment before edging over to the cliff and peeking over. She instantly regretted it as she was hit with an instant sense of vertigo at what she saw. They were suspended in midair, literally miles from the ground. Lily dropped to her knees for a moment, stomach churning, before slowly getting back up and facing her opponent.
She studied her opponent, trying to drink in all the miniscule details most people wouldn’t notice. There were a total of 10 piercings; six on his scalp, and four piercings on his ear. A definite mistake on his part; those piercings would easily be torn from his body. His skin was black, as was his eyes. Lily was taller than him. Another advantage, but he looked like he was essentially made of muscle. She hesitated, considering their physiques and differing species, he had leverage in terms of strength. He was wearing robes, brown and maroon, which looked think and heavy. Lily was sure her blades could pierce those unsubstantial articles of clothing. She also assumed her blades would easily slash through its flesh.
As for the environment, Lily didn’t like it at all. In fact she despised where she was to fight. She trained to be a guerilla fighter, and with his obvious advantages, she couldn’t ambush him. She longed to fight in a forest, or at least a plain. There, she knew how to handle herself. Here, this little arena was an open area pillar of rock, which was precariously crumbling away.
She had to win this little bout fast, or there will be no champion in this battle. All the pressure on Lily had no effect on Lily. She was used to having to operate on very little time. She was never one for talking to an opponent before a battle anyway. She flipped two dainty little throwing knives from sheathes and flung them at her opponent, watching as they sliced through the air, directed at its chest.
Moeketsi shimmered into the arena, appearing on the rear of the slab. His foot slid a little further back and the sensation of falling filled him. It forced him to take a quick step forwards, and yet he didn't bother shooting a glance back at the abyss behind him.
Well worn boots from hardened travels had allowed his thin soles the added pleasure of feeling every raise and drop in the earth beneath his feet. He felt the edge of the rock under his heel and the loose stone slip under the pressure.
There wasn't much opportunity for him to linger on the fact that he'd nearly lost his life the moment he'd appeared on the battlefield. His eyes wouldn't allow him to turn away from his female opponent, not when her eyes averted from the battle at hand to chance a glance at the world behind her; unfortunately, his own temporary loss of composure at involuntarily fleeing the edge of the cliff slowed him enough to only allow his hands to pull free his tomahawks, Blood and Stone, but the moment had not granted him the time to actually throw either of the axes.
Damn, moment's gone, flashed across his mind for a second before being washed away by the desperate search for a new trick. It was right then that a little more of the pillars broke apart at the edges. Up! Centre. Down! Centre. Left! Centre. Right! Centre. A second with his eyes away from his opponent was a second too long - and one he wasn't willing to spare - so the surroundings had to be taken in with tiny flash glances.
Examining the girl didn't take long. There was nothing spectacular that truly made her something to look at, compared with other human females; At least, outside of her overall body, which drew his interest. She was taller than him, which meant he'd have to come in on her to avoid being at the disadvantage of distance. She was wiry - not as much as him - but quite a bit for a human; it was unexpected as he'd hoped to be fighting hulking behemoths, not a disaster to his fighting style.
The look upon a person was just a start, however; there were magical beings within this battle and there was nothing magical about him. All he had was strength, and hopefully, enough cunning to cut this woman's head off... Mostly so he could have something to eat after. It seemed a waste to try and throw her over the edge.
Taking in the cool air of the high ground, it dawned on him just how tricky it would be to get to her with the winds blowing the way they were. High points weren't unknown to his species and wind wasn't new to him either; it was one of the reasons he had such long hair. The pull of the wind on it drew a picture of direction and strength better than most instruments over the years in battle. But when more of the pillar fell, he realised that he wasn't as confident as he should have been - the size of the arena, the pull of the wind on his unnaturally light frame, the body build and eyes of his opponent - told him that he was going to need more if he was to win this.
As if to confirm this fact, it was at this point that the battle was declared with the enemy's attack. Her movements were swift enough to catch him by surprise as twin throwing blades were hurled at him. They came as silver blurs. He fought back against instinct and pushed forwards instead of side stepping or jumping back. The first blade he deflected with the flat of his tomahawk and the second slid under his raised arm and struck him. It missed his flesh by a millimetre, instead tearing into his clothing where it stuck.
The robes were too heavy, the clothing too thick for him to get away with free movement. Using the blade caught in his attire, he cut all his knotting lose and shrugged heavily, dropping the multi-layered war coat off of him, baring his chest, where soft leather bindings exposed the other weapons tied underneath his person and behind his back. Instantly, he felt worlds lighter. "Good, again." His words condescending, before he raised his arm to her and slapping his finger tips to his palm, giving the universally known symbol for 'come'.
Wattz
02-07-2012, 08:10 AM
Due to excessive school work on Da Blue Sky's front, I'll be extending his deadline until Friday at 2:12 AM (GMT -8).
Further details may be added to amend the decision accordingly, such as a further extension if necessary.
If Troy Barnes requires an extension at a later date, he will receive the same time span given to Da Blue Sky.
Snotgirl
02-08-2012, 05:36 PM
Lily’s face twitched a little when her opponent, for the most part, managed to deflect her knives. Of course, she did score a hit, but the wound itself was so miniscule it wouldn’t hamper his ability to fight. Despite this small victory, she felt a twinge of anger when her enemy, ever so superior, looked upon her and said “Come.” There was more crumbling, Lily stole a glance over shoulder, more of the arena was falling off. The…thing…must have noticed the folly of wearing such burdensome clothing because he started tearing off his heavy coat, which hit the ground with a thud. But it was a still a bit of a surprise when she finally noticed he wielded tomahawks, much like hers, but some were fully made of metal.
Lily gave a slight grin, before composing her face into the usual impassive mask. So, he wielded weapons that she was familiar with. This meant that this was going to be an interesting battle because it would most likely be decided by who had the most mastery over said weapons. But he had 5 tomahawks or, more accurately, axes. All she had were two large knives, a plethora of throwing daggers, one tomahawk, and her power. So it was about even.
Suddenly the winds picked up again, her hair whiplashing her face. Annoyed, she quickly tied up her hair. Since her opponent was so kind as to give her another chance of attack, it would be very rude of Lily not to take it. She threw another pair of throwing but instead of flying straight at her enemy as they did before, the wind plucked them out of the air and sent them spinning of the cliff, into the abyss.
Lily cursed as she watched the little knives spiral away. Going ranged wasn’t going to work here at all. She grabbed one of her regular knives, a think combat blade, and rushed at her opponent. But instead of slashing with the knife, she reached with left hand behind her, unclasping her one tomahawk, and brought it to bear on her opponent…
Wattz
02-11-2012, 01:18 AM
Due to work problems on Troy Barnes's front, I'll be extending his deadline until Tuesday at 9:36 AM (GMT -8).
Further details may be added to amend the decision accordingly, such as a further extension if necessary.
The falling rock behind him, the winds demanding that his body move in almost every direction, his opponent's ability to attack faster than he'd expected... All reasons for him to fall back and evaluate an attack that would best suit the situation, but there was no time and no such chance. He was going to need to use instinct earned from many human-to-Ufeleyetsimbi combats. His heels dug in and he took a deep breath. The attempt at goading appeared to have worked well; his opponent was on the move.
She grinned at him, apparently not put off by the mocking gesture; unfortunate, but it wasn't enough to change his plan for a temporary defensive motion.
To his relief, the winds picked up behind him; they pushed him forward a step, dropping his sense of fear, for a split second, that the entire world behind was falling away to nothing. They gushed forwards in time with the woman's attack. Moeketsi found himself stunned that the winds had had enough of an effect to fling steel projectiles away from a gap that had been cut down to less than twenty feet.
Her moves were quick. The most he had done when she'd tossed those knives was raise his arms in a defensive motion, his tomahawk held loose in a swatting angle. It appeared to work for him as he had shivered from the cool winds, limiting him for a split second. The cold cut through him for the moment when he was caught off guard by it, but gritted teeth put it in the back of his mind, forcing him to be limber.
The attack wasn't over in the least. She came right at him, pulling his mind frame back into his defensive motion. Her movements suggested the type of attack he was better used to, direct. There wasn't really that much of a gap between them in the first place and, with the sound of rock crumbling right behind him, he was sure that whatever momentum she created would be the most there would be in the battle.
Pulling back one step and slashing down with both tomahawks would have been the star strategy, but that was lost with the reduction of the arena and the inconsistent pull of the winds. Although, at that moment, the pushing sensation on his scalp told him that the winds would be behind his back once again. He needed just that as the woman's axe was brought to bear on him.
There was no retreating or side stepping, only forward movement. The winds on his back bolstered his confidence as Moeketsi pushed forward, both tomahawks tucked in under his wrists and both arms extended at a blocking angle, connecting with the axe.
The impact was impressively heavy; he hadn't expected it at all. His entire attack ran the risk of completely failing when the hilt of his own weapon struck his funny bone with enough force to loosen his grip. It left a bruise in his skin, lost under the pitch black of its tone.
This is a human! My kind eat humans! We Ufeleyetsimbi are strong! He screamed within the confines of his mind, which translated out of his lips as a gargled roar. His heels lifted higher and he dug his toes hard into the crumbling rock, using any and all momentum he had into a blade-to-blade push. He wanted to take back ground that had been lost by his lacklustre start. Within the surge, he pulled both arms in ever so slightly, risking his neck to try and score a headbutt in order to gain full ground.
Snotgirl
02-17-2012, 09:09 PM
Lily’s opponent let out an incomprehensible roar and tried to charge her. The attack was almost expected, however, his speed was not. As she tried to twist her body away, a part of his head, enhanced by the heavy winds, smashed into the side of her abdomen. The impact sent her sprawling away, a few feet from him. Unsteadily she got back to her feet, the winds offered little resistance as they died down, and tried to regain her breath.
She passed her hand over the right side of her abdomen and winced in pain. Lily slowly lifter her shirt a little and peered down. She was repulsed at what she saw. A huge bruise covered her side, mottled green and a sickening color of yellow. She tentatively touched the bruise and hissed in pain. It was clear it wouldn’t be good for her health if she allowed her opponent to strike in that particular spot.
Lily stared at her opponent and took a few steps back. He’s strong, no doubt about that, Lily thought. I can’t let him hit me like that again. The winds picked up a little and she noticed something. She still held her tomahawk, but her knife was nowhere to be seen. She cursed, and then noticed something; the buffeting winds only seemed to blow from one direction. Maybe if she could time it right…
Lily had an idea. But it required expert timing. The winds were barely stirring. Lily hoped they would pick up again. The wind started blowing slowly. Then a little harder, that’s when two throwing knives flew out of her hand. They were silvery glints as the whooshed right by the things head. Of course, she wasn’t aiming directly at him. The winds picked up full force, and she saw the knives almost stop in midair, and start tumbling the opposite direction they were thrown. The idea was that if the wind could knock her knives away, maybe they were strong enough to make the knives fly back. The attack was a bit...unorthodox, but maybe he wouldn't see it coming.
Snotgirl
02-17-2012, 09:10 PM
Lily’s opponent let out an incomprehensible roar and tried to charge her. The attack was almost expected, however, his speed was not. As she tried to twist her body away, a part of his head, enhanced by the heavy winds, smashed into the side of her abdomen. The impact sent her sprawling away, a few feet from him. Unsteadily she got back to her feet, the winds offered little resistance as they died down, and tried to regain her breath.
She passed her hand over the right side of her abdomen and winced in pain. Lily slowly lifter her shirt a little and peered down. She was repulsed at what she saw. A huge bruise covered her side, mottled green and a sickening color of yellow. She tentatively touched the bruise and hissed in pain. It was clear it wouldn’t be good for her health if she allowed her opponent to strike in that particular spot.
Lily stared at her opponent and took a few steps back. He’s strong, no doubt about that, Lily thought. I can’t let him hit me like that again. The winds picked up a little and she noticed something. She still held her tomahawk, but her knife was nowhere to be seen. She cursed, and then noticed something; the buffeting winds only seemed to blow from one direction. Maybe if she could time it right…
Lily had an idea. But it required expert timing. The winds were barely stirring. Lily hoped they would pick up again. The wind started blowing slowly. Then a little harder, that’s when two throwing knives flew out of her hand. They were silvery glints as the whooshed right by the things head. Of course, she wasn’t aiming directly at him. The winds picked up full force, and she saw the knives almost stop in midair, and start tumbling the opposite direction they were thrown. The idea was that if the wind could knock her knives away, maybe they were strong enough to make the knives fly back. The attack was a bit...unorthodox, but maybe he wouldn't see it coming.
Wattz
02-19-2012, 08:47 PM
Due to personal problems on Troy Barnes's front, I'll be extending his deadline until Wednesday [Thursday at the latest] at 1:10 PM (GMT -8).
Further details may be added to amend the decision accordingly, such as a further extension if necessary.
If Da Blue Sky requires an extension at a later date, he will receive the same time span given to Troy Barnes.
Moeketsi's forehead ached, but it was in the best way imaginable. He'd often relished in the smells of victory; the aches of triumph were always of greater value than any other sensation the Ufeleyetsimbi body could release in the midst of battle. It meant nothing to beat a man with an arrow and bow when none of the sense of victory could be won from it. At least the burning sting of a heavily flung axe on the tips of leathery fingers offered some form of true reward.
The thick slapping of his head on her form, landing an effective impact upon her although not anywhere near what he wanted to get out of it. Ideally, he should have been panting with excitement, watching her body be flung from the edge. Instead, she was still there. They were planted on a patch of rock only a few feet wide and he'd hit hard, but still, she was there.
Grounded, but still there.
The real problem with that was that he'd kept to his imagined scenario, panting heavily with excitement. The pull and push of the gale force winds attacking them, disabling his ability to use his unnaturally light weight as a weapon against the humans. Now a sense of vertigo continued to hold him anchored to the ground below.
The goal was to pull a run up and slam the woman with a punt kick; it would do to drop her. All he had to do was aim right for the centre and take the win, but the moment passed. She was as fast as she was strong.
"Remarkable." He breathed out heavily, impressed at the speed and continuity of her moments. Unfortunately, he wasn't finishe. He didn't want to eat her anymore; he just wanted her off of the rock. Thin man like him - although generally quick to recover - only had so much in him, and everything on this tall rock was draining him in some way.
The only path to getting back to his home was ahead of him, and so forwards he marched, both his hands numb and sore from the impact of her attack. The left hand lurched forwards, dropping the tomahawk in front of him before sliding back and clutching Hammer. The smaller of the duet of Hammer and Anvil - Moeketsi's most prized axes.
Hammer's longer handle drew itself generally as a major problem in such close quarters. The dual axes weren't exactly the greatest of close range weapons; no axe was. It didn't slow him though. Instead, he drew the blade back until the head was between his fingers, cutting down range issues until it was small enough to move the blade around in closer quarters.
The motion had been solid fluid and the way he wanted. Unfortunately, it wasn't without his opponent moving an inch. She attacked, only it wasn't him she was attacking. He'd not see anything like it in any fight he'd ever been in. Perhaps it was magic in the works - he didn't know - but he knew how to deal with the magic, speed. Luckily, he was moving at a sprint as it was, and the wind was still at his back in a way.
What he hadn't expected was to be struck in the back. It brought his every action to a crashing halt. Two blades. The first throwing knife clanged hard into the flat end of his axe, which impacted against his back. It left a circular cut, a far greater alternative to what could have happened had the axe been elsewhere.
The second knife on the other hand didn't offer such fortune. The blade cut in deep, managing to work in an angle behind the shoulder blade, but stopping between the ribs before hitting his lungs. His entire left arm froze, dropping him down to the blade in his right hand.
In the space of a split second, the entire initiative had been lost to him, and he was effectively missing an arm. The sense of shock and confusion hadn't struck thanks to the rush of battle, but it put a severe time limit on anything and everything.
He stopped in his tracks, eyeing his opponent, his posture switching and his body swaying back and slightly to the left. The weight on his body shifted from his toes to his heels in a defensive motion. All out attacking was gone; now, it would a game of precision timing.
...If only time were actually on his side.
Wattz
02-26-2012, 06:05 AM
I apologize, I forgot to post this sooner. Da Blue Sky's three days will begin on Monday due to limited computer access on the weekend.
Snotgirl
02-29-2012, 08:26 PM
Lily smiled in elation; it seemed she had actually scored a major blow. The way her opponent was letting his left arm dangle, she knew she had inflicted a debilitating blow on his arm. She prepared to throw another knife when pain wracked her side. Of course, she thought, I forgot about my own injury. She didn’t really relish the thought of having to do close quarter’s battle with wound like this. She could always heal herself, but she didn’t feel like wasting her power right now, when there could possibly be more grievous injuries in the future.
She drew her one remaining combat knife and waited….
(sorry it wasn’t longer, motivation problems)
The waiting had been a bit of a bluff, there'd been quite the awkward moment within the confines of his own mind where he'd been unconfident in whether or not he would have gotten away with the kicking manoeuvre he had had in mind. She was supposed to have came after him so that he could time him drop kick at the right moment. Kick the chest with one foot and kick the side of the enemy's head in a insanely fast one-two manoeuvre. All he'd needed was that right moment.
The moment had not come. Her opponent stood just as motionless as he was.
The pain was coming back and the blade in his shoulder needed to be taken out, only that would come at a cost. He'd of course the run risk of bleeding out, but with his opponent immobile there appeared to be no better opportunity.
Straightening up, he dropped his axe, head first before stomping of the tip of the handle and holding the axe in place with the soul of his boot. It seemed as though some extent of the bluff was working, after all he wasn't being attacked, hopefully the raised pose would intimidate enough to stall.
He reached behind his back and yanked the blade free, with a heavy grimace he straightened up further. There wasn't much time at all now, he could feel his strength and will to move on draining out of him with every burst of blood that streamed down his back. The blanket of red, sapping him but not defeating him just yet.
With the girl waiting, just as he was a change of strategy would be needed. With his fastest foot work, he stomped hard on the hilt, digging it in with the tip of his feet with his toes tugged in. The act was successful in the act of loosening the strength in his boot.
Heal twist and ankle lift on the other foot, loosened the other boot before he kicked out, with the raise boot first, launching the boot and then the second in a one-two motion. Kicking both boots at her with the intent of moving after them.
Wattz
03-07-2012, 10:19 PM
I apologize, I've been totally slipping >_<. Da Blue Sky has been given an extension. He has until today to post.
Wattz
03-20-2012, 08:03 PM
I apologize for the wait! At last, I’m getting around to a full review. Even though the fight was cut short, I’m still determined to give at least some kind of analysis.
Da Blue Sky:
Writing Style— A bit stilted at times, but it was interesting reading Lily’s rationale over Moeketsi’s strengths and weaknesses. I would have liked to see a bit more character development. It seems kind of hard to do in a battle format where both characters don’t necessarily want to talk to one another, but there are ways to make at least the inner dialog have a bit more story elements, like memories and the like, or felt emotions. There were a few spelling errors and wrong word errors such as “think” instead of “thick” that some extra proof-reading could have helped. One of the posts was also very short, and could have been used to really do some extra damage to Moeketsi while his arm was dangling off.
Effectiveness of Combat— Very interesting choice, to use the wind to make the daggers fly back and hit Moeketsi. I thought the combat was assessed fairly in terms of Lily’s strengths and weaknesses. However, I would have liked to have seen Lily take more initiative while Moeketsi was weak from his arm being chopped off.
Control of the Field— The field was not ignored, which was wonderful. The erratic wind was not forgotten, recognizing that throwing daggers might not work when the wind picks up, (or using the wind with Lily’s dagger attack) nor was the crumbling rock. Trying to use the wind to Lily’s advantage was an effectively creative move.
[Pure] Troy Barnes:
Writing Style— There were some attempts at storytelling even within the confines of a battle environment, namely in his desperation to return home, which added some nice flavor to the writing. There were some grammatical and spelling errors which could have been mended with a little extra proof-reading.
Effectiveness of Combat— It was an interesting choice, having Moeketsi attempt to goad Lily into attacking more before making a first attack. I certainly was not expecting it, and it did bring the fight to a slight standstill, but I think it played into his character very well. It was very daring to make Lily’s wind-dagger attack work so well, to have his arm so badly injured. It was also quite clever to use his own boots as an attack, very unexpected.
Control of the Field— I would have liked to have seen more interaction with the field. There were more moments of this earlier on than later on, though it’s possible that this would have improved if the fight had gone on longer.
Rationale:
I know that Pure goes on by default because Da Blue dropped out, so there’s really no reason to give a full rationale. I hope the above helps out a bit though, to see where both of you were heading in terms of this tournament.
And now the result….
--
The wind picked up, and Moeketsi’s boots came hurling toward Lily, knocking her off balance. The rock shook violently as another hefty landslide came crashing down, lessening the foot room for both opponents. The attack was just enough, and the wind flew in at such a high speed that Lily was swept off, down, down, into the abyss.
Moeketsi was left, with just enough room for both of his legs to stand on the rock.
The harlequin was nowhere to be seen, but her wicked laugh rang out through the roiling clouds.
“Oh dear, oh my, what a terrible waste!
So joyous you must be, your face all aglow
to be the last standing in such admirable haste.
No matter, move forward, onward we must go.”
The skies became dark, and with a flash of light, Moeketsi disappeared.
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