The Proving Grounds: Airen (SpringsSolace) vs. Ashlynn (Elizabeth16)

[Jacogos]

Colosseum Match

Deciding Factor: Judge's Decision after Allotted Time

Time Limit: 16 Posts, 8 per Character.

Airen O'Conner (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=49043&p=1677732&viewfull=1#post1677732) vs. Ashlynn Trodaire (http://role-player.net/forum/showthread.php?t=53758&p=1806042&viewfull=1#post1806042)



As the two warriors entered the arena, they were greeted by the sight of a barren, dirt field, circular and reminiscent of the Roman Colosseum, right down to the stone construct that surrounded the field itself. Devoid of anything but the dirt, the two warriors would instead likely be drawn to the voice that calling out and echoing loudly upon the empty stadium seating.

"... and should either fall before the allotted time, then we shall appoint a judgement over... 'fighting style', if you will," the voice was saying, coming from a dark individual perched upon a platform far higher up than it truly needed to be. At that distance, you couldn't make out much more than that it was a black-cowled figure, though the voice was distinctly masculine, if cold and calculating.

"Enjoy the show, viewers, for the Proving Grounds is proud to present... Airen O'Conner versus Ashlynn Trodaire!! Make ready, warriors, and FIGHT!!" the voice roared, and suddenly, the two were no longer in a colosseum.

Reality shifted around them as they were sent, instead, to a different familiar fighting ground. Well, familiar in the sense that this was a place you saw every day, if not quite this close up. In the 'sky', the Earth presented itself a bright blue backdrop on a dark canvas littered with white pinpricks, the Moon's distinct lack of atmosphere, light pollution, and what-not making it very easy to see any and every star in the sky.

That's right, the fighters were now on the Moon. However, the two combatants would find that they could breathe just as easily as they could on Earth at sea level and the normal 'no sound in space' aspect was also null. Those were the only changes however; gravity was still extremely low, as well as a lack of wind affecting movement or projectiles of any sort. Fire would burn very shortly before the 'lack' of oxygen would cause it to snuff out. Other things that the writer of this post fails to account for are also still in effect (Yeah, I'm smart :D)

With the toss of an Eenie Meenie Miney Moe, Elizabeth goes first!

Well, there went my points for seriousness...

[Elizabeth16]

Post One

Ashlynn stepped forward cautiously in the coliseum, looking only once at the talking black figure high up in the stands, instead focusing on the man across from her. Her first though of Airen O'Connor was that he was exactly what she would want in the man of her dreams, at least in appearances. Sharp, fierce, bold eyes travelled over her opponents body, half in curiosity and half in study. Muscles were well hidden underneath clothes that seemed so normal and standard it made her feel ridiculous wearing leather armor, as if she was from an older century. Of course, his lack of armor suggested a strength and power that didn't need such protection from attacks, which only raised her interest and curiousity more. Across the dusty arena, as the voice boomed out, the sun caught in his black hair and she caught his eye for a moment before she noticed the necklace, bearing a Celtic symbol, one she was ever so familiar with. Before she could think much more about it, or remind herself that this was a fight, not a time to think back to her homelands, Ashlynn got a strange feeling. The roar of the man's voice called the start of the fight, and then there was a second in which everything changed.

No longer were they in the bright orange and sunlight arena. Ashlynn's eyes left the man across from her, to look slightly to his right, at the Earth. That was the only thing it could be. There were swirls of clouds and oceans- how blue they were- and she could see continents, all at once. She blinked, before looking down. Beneath her, pale grey dust bore only the mark of her feet, the dust still settling. Tracing the gray ground more, she looked further and further, to see the craters and the rocks that could only be, when paired with their lovely skyline view, the moon. "We're on the bloody moon," she mummered to herself. Breathing was fine, she duly noted, with no strain, not even like training on a mountain. A snap of her finger created an interesting reaction. Her fire came, but only for a second, after which her energy shifted. To hold a fire longer than a second or two would use more energy than she could successfully hold onto for long. Strange that she could breathe so well but that fire didn't seem to catch, per say. The man with the voice must have put an enchantment or something over them; with the things she had seen in her fights (and the fact they were on the moon, be it in their dimension or another) she could believe most anything.

With all of her observations running through her brain, she reminded herself where she was and why, and she moved her hands up to put them into the position to bow. Almost overshooting, Ashlynn had to exert an amount of control to get her muscles where she wanted them, as they seemed to float, to fly without working hard at all. Her quick action had been slowed and changed. Regardless, she got her hands where they needed to be, one clenched and one open hand, and lowered her upper body, her scarf slowly bunching forwards underneath her. Seeing her bare skin, the passing thought of how she wasn't frozen or boiled or whatever happened to humans in space amused her slightly. What a fight it would be. Clumsily, unfamiliar with the gravity, Ashlynn slowly brought herself back up, and met the man with the green eyes again.

She raised a hand in front of her and lowered her stance into something of a hybrid horse stance, trying to stay grounded in the scarce gravity.

[Aureyon]

Airen had remained silent staring at the Celtic beauty before him even whilst the arena began to change and shift around them, his face still remained impassive. His mossy eyes trained on the woman across from him, a twitch of a smile played upon his features as he recognized the slight discomfort that the woman felt being on the moon. And, in the midst of being transferred by means unknown to him, his energy seemed to slightly lessen, no doubt due to the fact that the moon held a different gravity than that of Earths.

The first thing that came to his mind as he surveyed the scenes around him was the lack of foliage in which he could've blended quite well with, and his natural affinity with wooded areas. He had grown up as a druid, a cult of people who believed in a very old and powerful magic. He kept his eyes trained on the woman the entire time his mind was processing his surroundings and he flexed moving ever so slightly to test the effects that gravity would have on his abilities. He had to be especially careful with the fact that he could jump higher and farther than most other humans, and that the added dangers that the moons lack of gravity equal to Earths would increase his abilities, but also make them far more self harming than advantageous.

Nevertheless, he had to remember the reason that he had been brought here, and his eyes again shifted to his surroundings eyeing a small crater about ten feet to his right. That would be his first move, and no sooner had he thought it than had he sprang into action, darting to his right with inhuman speed and disappearing within the crater before reappearing in the air and landing a few feet to Ashlynn's left. His agility had allowed him to propel himself from the crater wall and propel him through the air to land him closer to the woman so as to avoid any frontal attacks this early in.

"A Celt in looks and voice. It has been many years since I laid eyes upon one of my own Kin, though you are no less an outsider than those who have forsaken the Old ways", his spoke with a thick accent breaking through every syllable making his words near musical.

[Elizabeth16]

Post Two

Ashlynn watched him moved, and thought about following him, still fast in the strange gravity, but held firm for a moment, only to see him bounding back out. He landed a few feet from her. It was strange. She felt like he was built to go so much faster, so much stronger, but he seemed so slow, so easy to track. The thought bothered her; if someone who was excelling in speed was slow, where did she stand?

The familiar accent that left his lips set her blood on fire. A part of her reeled at what he said, he dare say she was an outsider, and a second part wanted to listen to him talk throughout the small hours of the night. "Who are you to judge who is an outsider and who is one of us?" She said to Airen, eyes fierce in rebellion.

She began shifting her weight between her legs, preparing her muscled for whatever could come next. In her mind, she could hear her master, encouraging her to make the first move, but something held her back. There was a reason he had ever so carefully just brought himself closer, and she didn't want to walk into that trap. It was better to wait and to have the advantage of proper reaction the majority of the time than to go blind into a situation in which one cannot control. The gap between them, without fire and in a gravity in which she was unsure of just how fast her reaction would be, might as well have been a cliff passing without a bridge, without a move she could think of that didn't lead to a dead end. Let him move. Her eyes strayed to the symbol on his hand, the same as his necklace, reminding her of her own marking, though the pattern was different.

[Aureyon]

Airen listened as her voice and eyes took on the taint of rebellion and anger as he had so hoped. She had a fire in her, and not just a normal hate-fire, but an actual fire that could've been unleashed on him at any moment had they been in a normal location. However, they were on the moon, and a lot of his, and obviously her, abilities were null and void. Although he had no weapons as of yet, he still had fight in him, and this gravity would allow him to fight though not as well as it would have been on Earth.

"You are an Outsider to the Druids, though the old blood flows through your veins.", he spoke simply before stepping slowly until he stopped two feet away from her. "So, you must forgive me for what I am about to do", his voice was rife with regret and a sorrow for one attacking their own kin.

No sooner had he finished his words than had he sent his left leg in a sweeping motion to knock the woman off of her feet, and just in case he missed his target he had prepared a spell whilst talking to her, and as his right hand touched the dirt and solidarity of the moon, he released the energy the earth flowing up his arm like a stream and hardening like concrete across his body. When the spell was finished he resembled an knight with armor made of rock.

[Elizabeth16]

Post Three


I of the Old Druid blood? Ashlynn turned the thought over in her head only for a moment as she looked into his green eyes, which was like looking into the forests of Scotland and Ireland themselves. He moved closed to her, and she tensed almost visibly, her muscles shaking within their frustrated power. Airen's voice was distracting; but not enough to blind her to the twitch that gives away the next move. She jumped up in the air, leaping a little higher and a little slower, but enough to clear his leg. Already committed, she reached down with her hand on his moving leg and used his motion to swing herself around to make a clear kick for his head, only to watch the pale gray stone slide over his body like plates.

Forget that part about being fast, she mentally cussed to herself; with armor like that, on cue, one didn't need armor. A slow worry entered the weightless feeling one got when fighting, but this was the feeling of realizing you may not have the upper hand on a fight that should have been easily in her power. It was too late to change her course of action, as the gravity here didn't like to allow for the quick changes that would have made it possible. "Airen." She said instead, a musical note before she would make contact, as if to remember him for this moment, or to search the darkest areas of her and his hearts for a memory that would make sense. There was something more to the name as she said it, be it the loneliness and sorrow his accent and words brought to her, the thought of a love or a dream in his image, or the frustration and anger of him being the cause for her fire being almost useless, almost like it was gone.

[Aureyon]

Airen jerked his head up when his name left her mouth and his mind ached as if wanting to remember something that couldn't be remembered. Nevertheless, he felt the impact of Ashlynn's foot across his head even through the Earth that protected him from the blunt of the blow. The armor where her foot impacted splintered and cracked spreading like a spiders web before sending chunks falling back onto the earth from which it had come. That kick had been far hard than he had planned, which meant that she did not yet know her own strength on the moon.

He had nothing to fight this woman with, his powers were virtually useless to him, and he had no weapons that he brought with him. He would have to rely on his limbs to deliver him from this awkward position. And, he would have to steel himself from thoughts that would cause him to feel things for this woman that would hinder him from completing this task and returning home.

"Forgive me, Ashlynn of the Old Blood", he said again before swinging his leg in an upwards arc and spinning on his right arm attempting to deliver a swift blow to her right rib-cage with his armored leg. He didn't know if the attack would succeed or not, but he did have one more trick up his sleeve, the entrapment spell, but it was only to be used in only the most dire of times. His mossy eyes glanced around him again before finding their way back to hers.

He didn't know what it was, but this girl was entrancing. She had a familiarity about her that he could not place. The silver circlet on his head seemed to be humming with an energy which told him that he was right in that she was familiar, but it could tell him nothing further. His memories wouldn't allow him to know any further than that. It was maddening to him, and as such he let out a terrifying scream, almost to the likes of a Banshee that caused the loose dust around him to fly up and clouded his vision from her, but thankfully he could hear her still breathing, and the blood flowing in her veins, his ears were still ringing from the scream.

His ears had always been sensitive to loud sounds that were around him, which was another reason why he lived in isolation. When he unleashed the scream his had dulled his hearing slightly, but not enough to prevent him from hearing her breathing.

[Elizabeth16]

Post Four

It came as a surprise when her bare foot landed a contact against the freezing cold rock that was around Airen's
body. She had thought for certain that such an obvious straight forward move would had left her on the ground. Just as she began to curl her knee to land on the ground from the kick and immediately begin attacking as she was locking in such close quarters, the man spoke again. He gave her a title, a title she didn't understand, a title that served only to send a rage through her, something she so rarely felt. Fights were emotionless; except the joy and the calculations and the freedoms. There was no rage and anger in the purest fighting. Years among monks had broken anger as one of her responses, so to feel this rush was overwhelming. An actual growl of frustration was her only response to his litting words. That was, until, as she was suspended still for the moment, only a second away from leverage on the ground, an armored leg began rushing towards her side. She tried to curl, to reduce the impact to vulnerable ribs, but it did little.

She was flung to the side, away from the man she had been so close to a moment ago, slammed as gently as the gravity would allow into the side of a hollow of a crater. A small gasp, hardly audible, pushed the air out of her lung, though the sound was covered by a scream that was less human than something else. Dust seemed to try its best to fly away from the sound, creating an almost unsettling mist. Breathing the dust caused her throat to immediately dry, and she reached up to pull her scarf over her nose and mouth like the Arabs did in the deserts. Ashlynn pushed herself up, a strand of red hair falling on her freckled nose, and she slowly, but swiftly began moving through the mist towards the encumbered Aerin, careful to land as lightly and as quietly as possible, dagger now in hand.

[Aureyon]

Airen could barely hear her walking the ringing in his ears overpowering her steps. He made no sound, instead stilling his breathing and letting the silence of the vast emptiness around him to wash over him and clear his senses away. As hard as he tried to do it, he could not keep his own feelings out of the fight, he was definitely not fighting as hard as he could be, maybe it was because she was kin in a way, or maybe it was the rising feelings in the pit of his stomach. He did not know, but he couldn't seem to force the images of her from his thoughts.

He stood erect and at his full height, the ringing in his ears having dulled slightly, but as he turned in the general direction of her breathing he couldn't see her. Normally his vision would have allowed him to see her, but at this point the sun shined down on the two of them and affected his vision slightly. It wasn't as bright as it could have been, but it still did affect his more than sensitive vision. Now, he just had to wait for what he was sure to be an attack from the woman.

[Elizabeth16]

Post Five

While she couldn't see him, just as much as she could bet that he couldn't see her, she had to depend on her senses. She closed her eyes briefly as she moved, her dagger held sideways in front of her, just in case, breathing only every so gently into the soft fabric of her scarf. In her mind, she pictured everything she remembered about the arena, where the craters were, where a unbalanced rock waiting to be stepped on was, and where the man in the leather jacket with the black hair was. Instantly, she corrected the thought, refusing the let the messy black hair enter her thoughts again. Focus. She imagined the cracked plate on the side of his head, the little threads of cracked moon stone that ran into his neck, and where the plates came together. It would take either a decent amount of quick attacks to get through the armor, or one well placed blow to spread those cracks that had already found a home.

As she came within just a few feet, her eyes opened the the dust storm again. Things were bright, and everything seemed to be reflecting, but she kept her mental image still, trying to calm the fury in her blood and the constant pain from her left side each time she inhaled. She was in front of him, and she imagined for a moment she could smell him, a smell of wood and the sea, but the scent was gone just as quick as it had come.

Ashlynn's toes gathered on the ground and she jumped forward, spanning the several feet between them. As she landed, she aimed her elbow into the very lowest portion of the crack, just below his neck, and got her knife ready to slam into the shoulder/neck area. The goal was to allow her elbow to contact first, to spread the crack, if not shatter it completely, and she would use that motion to slam the knife down. If the armor was only cracked, assuming it landed, the dagger would serve more to create a point of shattering in such a sensitive area, but if it had shattered, the blade would find home in the muscles on the back and shoulder, away from the spine and major organs.

Pulling a knife so early wasn't like Ashlynn. In most of her fights, it had been only a last minute resort. Her fire and her martial arts training had been enough to turn fights into dances. This was entirely different. The fire was building inside her, but she knew it would simply burn out, leaving her with just herself, her scarf and her dagger.

[Aureyon]

Airen stood still as a statue listening for any traces of the Celtic girl, Ashlynn. No matter how hard he tried to keep his mind from thinking about her in any other way besides an opponent, he couldn't do it, he always found his mind wandering back to the girl and how familiar that she seemed to him. This had been bothering him, like a constant nag at the back of his mind since the she had said his name and it was a nag that was driving him mad; almost like an itch that can't be scratched.

As he stood there listening for any sounds of her, he caught a brief intake of breath before he felt more than heard, her launch herself at him with a blow aimed at his neck. He also believed that he heard the sound of metal scraping lightly against leather, but he couldn't be too sure of that, and he braced himself as he saw a shadow coming at him from within the dust storm. His eyes burned from the touch of the dust and the slight brightness of the sun that was so far away.

He huffed as his breath left his body when the woman tackled him to the ground and delivered a blow to his neck that sent his earth armor shattering across the entirety of the armor and eventually pooling off into a pile of tiny rocks and rubble, and with his body exposed without armor he felt the searing pain of a dagger entering his skin and embedding itself in his flesh. He winced before kicking the girl off of him and rolling on his stomach before reaching back with his left hand and ripping the dagger from his shoulder so as to minimize the pain.

With the dagger free of his shoulder, his right arm became slightly numb before slowly regaining feeling. The outside elements, whatever may be there, caused the open wound to sting slightly, which was a good thing, it meant that his arm was still able to be used, and now with the dagger in his left hand, and her weaponless, as far as he could tell; it appeared that he had gained the upper hand. But, one could never be too careful with an opponent.

[Elizabeth16]

Post 6

Ashlynn's blow landed on his chest. She felt herself fall on top of him, her dagger having buried it's blade in flesh, her body, if only for a moment, stretched out on top of his. Her green and blue eyes were shining with a mixture of rage and curiosity as she looked down into Aerin's face change into a cry of pain. It was only a moment, and she didn't think he even noticed the slight red flush that came across her cheeks before a strong foot was slamming into her stomach, pushing her backwards. As she floated through the air, she worried that she wasn't going to be headed back to the surface, but soon enough, she was on one knee, her pants covered in the gray dirt.

It was a relief to see the rubble on the ground. The dagger, covered in Celtic twists and whirls, was balanced carefully in his hand. The dagger didn't bother her; fighting weapon less against such a small weapon was a closed-eye task, but if magic or some trickery got involved, that was when training mattered a little less. Ashlynn stood, shaking her hand to make sure her gauntlets were secure, for should this turn into a bad spot, the thick leather bands could save her skin, literally.

She was hesitant as ever to start another attack, she knew she was running out of time. Each breath caused a sharp pain to break through her rib cage, bruised more than the chances of a fracture. The man across from her was standing again, the dagger glinting ready to inflict a wound such as his on her. Behind him, she saw a few drops of red blood floating in the lesser gravity field. Ashlynn's eyes focused back onto his green flecks, and she slowly, calmly began walking forward towards him, until she was just out of arms reach. When she hit that point of where she wanted to be, a easy smile brushed her face for a moment, either to smile at him or to lower her internal frustration, before she rushed forward, body lowered in a fighting stance that could have been dance moves for how fluidly she moved. Her open hands would deliver two blows to the stomach, then reach with her right arm to block an impending dagger move, before she would step even closer in, her left hand to fall swiftly on the elbow joint of the arm holding the dagger after she spun in his grasp so that her back was against his chest. If it were to succeed in its entirely, the move, done with as much speed as she could handle in the gravity, would shatter the joint of his elbow, after which most men would drop the dagger. But it would leave her open, as her toes would be resting against the dirt only an inch in front of his feet.

[Aureyon]

Airens' breath came ragged as he stood across from Ashlynn, the fire in her was strong and fierce, pride rushed through him seeing his kin still as strong as the Old days. Those of the Old Blood valued tradition and honor above all things, and the woman standing across from her had honor and skill beyond that of the average Celtic Druid; she had magic as well though it came in a different form than the traditional sense, but that was likely due to her heritage outside of the homeland. She brought so many memories flooding through his mind in a series of unintelligible conversations and blurred images.

He shook his head, clearing his mind of the memories and images, as he realized she was calmly approaching him he steeled himself for an attack, but not the one in which she intended. He let out another cry of pain as his elbow shattered and the knife fell from his hands to the cold alabaster surface of the moon. In an effort to drive his opponent away from him, he threw his right fist up in a swift jab at her wounded ribs. Hopefully, if the blow landed it would shatter a few of her ribs and provide him the needed opportunity to get away from her. This opponent was strong, she was fierce, her fire was attractive to him.

His time was running short, he could feel that internally, the battle would end soon, so he would have to do his best to create and inflict decisive blows to his opponent. He had never fought in an arena before, no less on the moon, so he wasn't sure exactly how well his injuries would be healed, if at all. However, he had a job that he had to do, and as such he would do it to the best of his abilities. He picked up a small piece of earth that had fallen from his armor in a thin-plate like fashion with his right arm which still tingled with a slight pain.

[Elizabeth16]

Post 7

Ashlynn felt the simple break underneath her palm. The shock of a bone shattering under a move that was so easy, so directedly simple, she always felt some awe for the martial arts that men had practiced for century. She felt bad for causing such an injury in the battle arena, but it was a fight she intended to win, if only to satisfy the burning frustration she split between the judge's choice of arena and the Celtic reminiscence of her opponent. The way that he had watched her as she approached him sent a shiver through her, as she relaxed from her movement to bring her balance back to the center, for the place she stood, in front of him, her back resting only an inch away from his chest, was so vulnerable. Instead of a dagger move, she had been open to a jab at her ribs. A cry broke out from her mouth as she felt the break. This time the bone snap was not her opponents, but her own.

With the pain searing through her, making breathing the most excruciating thing she had felt, she took a few steps back, still maintaining the careful movements and balance of a trained fighter, eyes furious. It had been so long since an opponent had landed such a hit on her. There was only one thing left to try, to set him upon his knees with the asking of mercy. As he reached down to pick up the rock, her right hand was holding her injuried side, trying to take short, rapid breaths to make the circulation she so needed to continue fighting. Her legs felt strange on the earth of the moon, her muscles screaming in fight of the way they couldn't exert their force correctly, how the stone underneath her bare feet felt cold and burning not at the same time, and how the air seemed to pull her in all the directions except down at once.

And so she stayed, for all outward appearances just watching him, one eye blue and one eye green, with strands of red hair finding their way to hover just out of place, floating in the distance that it could around her. Freckles reflected bright sunlight off the surface almost looking at if to burn her pale skin, but she felt nothing. Her side was covered in a pale grey dust, the moon around showing only signs of the battle, footsteps and sliding sand, particles only just beginning to settle from their misted state. On the inside, her energy, her Chakra, magic, whatever name one man would call it, was flowing in high force to hands and feet, warming her skin to the cold air.

[Aureyon]

Airen had for the lack of a better word, begun to sweat; his wounds unable to do anything more than bleed, and the blood drift of into the vast expanse of the space around them. He was tired, he could feel the ache of weariness and over-exertion creeping into his bones like a cold nights chill upon his skin, only there was no fire to take away this tiredness or pain; with every move he made his right shoulder responded with a sharp pain. He held his left arm close to him, unable to move it without a searing pain coursing through his body.

This fight had taken a lot more energy than he realized and now it was drawing to a close, his exhaustion was catching up to him. He had too keep moving or he would fall to the ground unable to continue the fight; beads of sweat drifted from his forehead and floated around him. He gripped the sheet of rock in his right arm and moved his feet forward, taking off in a blur-ish sprint in Ashlynns direction.

As he neared her, he took in a deep breath and threw the sheet of rock at the woman, hoping to distract her from his real attack, which happened to be a right hook to her opposite ribs. If anything he hoped that it would send a shockwave of pain through her. It was a desperate attempt at getting the upper hand; he wasn't entirely sure if it would hurt her, as the leather of her armor seemed quite sturdy.

[Elizabeth16]

Post 8: Final Post

And so she was, only a few feet from her opponent. She knew this was it. For her energy reserves, for how long they both could take the abuse, for how long she could keep herself from just wanting to scream at him, to make his disappear. She hated the way he got to her head, the way he made her smile fade away. This dream of a man; bleeding from her wounds across from her, only still for a moment. Little time remained to react, or to react well, as the dust kicked back in the weightless air under his swift feet.

He came faster than she was expecting, but she whirled as the rock was flown at her. She stepped left, into his attack, away from the rock's path, though it went over her shoulder, dangerously close to hitting her bare head with a sharp corner, twirling in the strange gravity, floating for eternity. By stepping straight into his path, she stepped into his punch, which battered soundly against her side, the leather giving a sickly amount as her ribs simply moved under his movement. By moving into him, she had kept his full power from building. That did nothing to stop the pain. My ears that couldn't be resisted gathered in her eyes. Ashlynn forced herself to bring herself for on last try, she didn't know where she could end up the next move. The power within her began to swirl, only growing stronger as she caught that smell again, the smell of her lonely dreams and bored past.

She spun into him, so that her body was right up against his, chest to chest, and she swiftly raised her knee to kick him in the stomach, a blast of fire from her foot against his pants, while her hands moved in a painful and graceful quick power draw before pouring every ounce of fire contained in her towards his chest accompanied by a strong flat open palm, to land on the strong chest of his underneath that leather jacket and necklace, with the best of hopes that it would be enough, enough to leave her a victor.

Her eyes were a little less bright as she poured forth so much power into trying to make the fire burn, worried about the air. The Air. Breath. Breathe. Breathing was becoming harder, and she felt cold. Such a handsome green, she thought, vision blurring as she only saw his face like the hills of her homeland, his black hair the hills and the grass and his green eyes the flowers and the trees and the future. A small, hardly noticeable smile came to her face as she began to shiver and shake.

[Aureyon]

He hadn't expected the ferocity of the attack that came from the Celtic beauty known as Ashlynn. He hadn't expected to experience the wrath and pain that came with fire, and most of all he hadn't expected the hit to his chest that managed to splinter both ribs and cause one to pierce his lungs. His breath came out ragged as he flew across the surface of the moon from the force of Ashlynn's hit and he hit the ground roughly, creating a trail of dust and rock as his back dug into the surface of the moon. He could feel the rocks tearing into his skin, opening flesh and giving way to his life essence that began to pool where he landed.

He lay there for minutes attempting to allow the breath to rush back into his body, and relief flooded through him as it did so, granted it was no less harder to breathe for him. He stood shakily, making his way to the woman as she began to lose consciousness. As he strode towards her his eyes found silver glinting on the surface and he made his way to the silver that lay there and bent down, a wave of pain and fire sweeping through his body and he collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from his mouth in a stream before he coughed violently and spewed forth a fountain of blood. He stood again, shakily with the dagger in hand and staggered over to the weakened Ashlynn and fell to his knee's.

He held her close to him, her back resting on his legs and her head in his arms, he bent close to her and whispered in her ear,

"Ashlynn na fola d'aois, tá tú i chéile comhraic fiú. Tá tú onóir na bealaí d'aois", and he drove the dagger through her broken ribs in an attempt to weaken her beyond recovery. Despite his feelings for the girl, he was here to prove his mettle in battle against all opponents. He just sat there and held Ashlynn until the time came that the victor would be announced. A single tear slipped from his mossy green eyes and onto the battered leather armor of the Celtic warrior.

She had fought honorable, and now they would wait to see who had been chosen as victor.


**Translation***
Ashlynn of the old blood, you have been a worthy opponent. You have honored the old ways.

[Jacogos]

ART THOU READY FOR JUDGEMENT TO BE RENDERED?! THEN PREPARE THY ANUSES, FOR YE ARE NOT WORTHY OF THE GAVEL THAT IS ABOUT TO COME DOWN ON YE WARRIORS OF OLDE.

No but seriously, I'm about to get all technical up in here. The sheet you're about to see me use was stolen from the lovely Wattz, per her usual form of judging matches in Rumbles seen before. I tweaked it a bit to be a bit less spoiling, but you can see where I took from her :P

I apologize in advance if points seem like I was nitpicking. However, seeing as how you are both rather well written, I think it makes the judging a little more... interesting xD


Writing Style


Ideas

Elizabeth16: 3
3 :SpringsSolace

Both of you work very well at providing extra details that add to the fight, making posts much more interesting to read rather than just straight up fighting and descriptions of each others last move.


Flow

Elizabeth16: 3
3 :SpringsSolace

Other than grammatical problems, the post-by-post fight flowed very well, neither of you slacking much in taking what the last person said and incorporating it nicely into your own reaction. Both of your writing styles are easy to read and smooth on the eyes, though there are some problems I'll mention in the next part.


Conventions

Elizabeth16: 2
2 :SpringsSolace

It might seem like I'm nit-picking here, but I don't think I can find a single post from each of you that doesn't have at least one error in typing, spelling, or grammar. You both are also quite adept at run-on sentences XD Of course they really don't detract from the overall impact of the writing, but they are annoying to one such as me. I'd make avoiding run-ons a priority over proof-reading small errors.


Effectiveness of Combat


Character Consistency

Elizabeth16: 3
3 :SpringsSolace

Both characters stay rather consistent throughout the fight, though I beg to wonder if their little 'wordless romance' was necessary xD I did not read their backstories, so I cannot be sure if they actually DID know each other in their pasts, but even if they did... I dunno, I'm just silly I suppose.


Ingenuity

Elizabeth16: 3
2 :SpringsSolace

Considering that BOTH characters were heavily disadvantaged in this arena (Go me!), they fought amazingly well and cleverly. HOWEVER, I have to cut Aiden a bit simply for being too passive. He mostly just reacted to Ash's attacks. Perhaps that is an unmentioned part of his character? Either way, I'm cracking down a little because I need to actually give someone a win and it's been rather even until now xD


Interaction

Elizabeth16: 3
3 :SpringsSolace

Their 'banter' was interesting throughout the fight, particularly when it came down to how they viewed each other inwardly. But Jac, didn't you just say that their little romance thing was unnecessary? Doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it!


Control of the Field


Environmental Awareness

Elizabeth16: 2
2 :SpringsSolace

Again, cracking down a little hard. Maybe it's Aiden's lack of movement that makes me think that he's not feeling the arena's effects. I ponder that even as I move on. Both of you seemed to 'forget' about the moon's gravity and lack of drag-inducing wind as the fight moved on. Part of me wants to think it's part of the fighters 'adapting' to the environment, but another part of me wants to blame y'all for something. *shakes finger with a smirk*


Strategic Awareness

Elizabeth16: 2
2 :SpringsSolace

I'm only human here, so I won't claim that I do this any better than y'all would: there didn't seem to be much thought put into each attack. It seemed more like 'Ooh, I could do this here, so let's do it!' Of course, that wasn't EVERY time, but half of the time is still bothersome. The fighters didn't really seem to focus on what their attacks were going to do, they just did them and moved on to whatever else they were thinking about.


Control of the Fight

Elizabeth16: 3
2 :SpringsSolace

Coming back to my earlier complaints: Aiden was far too passive. All reaction, little proaction (That's a term, right?). I didn't quite sink you all the way to 1 because there WERE some times when he took the offensive, but overall, Ash was in control of the pace of the fight.



In the end, you both were quite evenly matched. However, I had to crack down a bit (How many more times am I gonna use THAT term? xD) in order to decide on a winner. It was an amazingly enjoyable battle, and I'm honored to have been chosen to judge it. However, I must now play the bad guy and say that someone actually won out over the other.


And that winner is...

Ashlynn Trodaire, as written by Elizabeth16

You've both been wonderful combatants ^.^ Come back to the Proving Grounds soon!

[Kris]

*Moves to Valhalla*