Round 2: Reaver (Vee) VS. Animator (Pied Piper) - Judge x Kiki x

[Kiki]

Spoiler:  

As if prodded sharply, you awaken. Upright. Not so much as standing but as stuck. Thick like cement, a nasty, churning bubbling stew brews around your legs, dense as molasses, finicky as quicksand with a potent, unpleasant smell. You experimentally wiggle your legs and find movement difficult, slowed.

What is this place? Vines dangle lazily about your head, just out of reach. It is a dark place, the swish of bats wings heard above, the sky darkened with swirling, putrid smog - the tree tops out of view through the haze so pungent, it makes your eyes water. Every lungful of the air makes you nearly gasp for the oxygen is too low here. Everything about this place is seemingly meant to slow you down.

And yet.

In the distance, you can see another figure, stuck much as you are. In between you, there is another shape outlined through the murky water: a rowboat.

To get to the rowboat and assume it as your own, you must fight.


(After each combatant makes two (2) posts, the GM will make a post on any changing conditions.)
(You have 5 posts per person and 72 hours to respond between each post. By the flip of a coin, the warrior will go first.)

By the flip of a coin, the first to post is the Animator.

[The Imposter]

The sudden awakening mixed with a flood of past thoughts. The concoction of physical and emotional made the Pied Piper cringe, or perhaps that was the smell of the air. The air hung heavily in the new battlefield. The small creature could not be certain but there was a small twinge in his gut that he had won. Celebration however was a vain thought; this mystic swamp hampered not only his body but weighed on the piper’s simple mind. Although vastly different than his previous arena, there was a striking similarity. The feeling of being confined was all too familiar, reminding him of the orb he had just been taken from and maybe even perhaps an ancient memory.


Hmph...Is this the best they ca....


‘Gzzzaarfpshzzlll!’


The sneeze startled some of the flying creatures in the bog as much as it sprung up on the author of it, utterly shattering his train of though. A long nail crept up to the his blue, obtuse nose and began digging vigorously. The long finger's movements ceased instantly seemingly finding whatever had caused the sudden outburst. After a quick snort and shake a tiny plop hit the strange mixture below. Trilling his lips the goblin peered to the opposing side of the arena, passing over the odd boat to his new adversary. The shape was hard difficult to decipher, the haze masking gender or race, straining his yellow eyes any more seemed futile. A picture of a man came to his mind, someone from his hidden passed, he could remember the flute in his hand, the scoffing words, and the desire for the item. Visibly agitated by the sudden thought the creature stiffened his jaw and jutted it forward. Quick shallow breathes followed suit, and the shiny magical trinket was brought forward to the pursed lips.


The melody that proceeded was reminiscent of a funeral dirge. The quivering notes hung sharply in the air in juxtaposition to the ambient noise that had been there since the beginning. The lack of technique became more apparent when the misfit flutist began to pick his feet up out of the mire and soldier forward to the rowboat. Fiendish orange, watery eyes now narrowed as he focused on the unnatural shadow that stood passed the vessel in the haze.

Despite the waves of memory, emotion, and the disgusting environment there was a sense of clarity with the tiny musician. Am old desire that swirled in his throat burned the Pied Piper to play on, or perhaps that was the smell of the air...

[Mystress of Shadows]

Vee had enjoyed herself at the end of her previous battle despite the ever-swirling sandstorm that was surrounding her and her opponent. She had relished in the arrogant fool’s screams of terror and the sound of flesh ripping from the bone. However, even after she had drunk every last drop of his pitiful blood, her thirst seemed only to have grown. She hungered for more victims, but in that barren wasteland, she wouldn’t find any.

Eventually, she had been forced into slumber. It was there were she began to regain the seemingly forever lost memories. With them came a rage a million times more ferocious than anything she had presented to the boisterous foe she had recently sent into an endless rest. She know remembered the injustice that fate had presented her with to live eternally as a monster in the eyes of those she was once like.

The laughter they shared and the smiles that accompanied them all seemed to taunt her never-ending existence. They mocked the fact that she was an outcast and could never return to the way she once was. The careless joy that those humans shared ridiculed her every day she dared to take another breath and caused the familiar rage to seep through every one of her pores and cover her in the somehow comforting blanket of anger.

Tearing into their weak bodies did nothing to ebb the flow of her rage, leaving her to continue her death-riddled path in an attempt to find justice against the injustice fate had provided her. Until she did, she would make sure no one she came across would go without experiencing that unforgiving pain she had felt. They would know her helplessness against her anger. They would know the writhing pain that overtook her when she had changed. They would know it all before they took their final breaths. That was something she would be sure to have happen.

It was with these overflowing thoughts of revenge that she awoke in new surroundings. Her eyes flicked from left to right and a rapid attempt to take in the entirety of her surroundings. The rank air caused her to gag and her eyes to water just as the thick sludge she appeared to be standing in made it impossible to move with ease. All around her where thin trees stretching towards the sky with dipping vines just out of her reach that almost resembled an intricately woven web of spider-spun fibers.

Everything about this placed was vile, but it belonged. The one thing that didn’t was a rowboat sitting between her and a shadowy figure whom she assumed to be foe rather than friend. She had failed to realize it before, but now she knew she was in some sort of tournament. That fact alone filled her with the need to fight and tear into this person’s flesh, and she relished in that feeling, allowing her adrenaline to flow through her as her mind formulated a plan to overcome this new opponent.

Vee had hardly managed to take a single step through the foul muck when a repugnant sound reverberated through the dense smog. She wrinkled her nose in disgust as she realized that her opponent had been the source of such an act. What’s more, not even thirty seconds had effectively passed when a new sound began to resound. Each note screeched incessantly at her ears, the lack of experience showing without issue through each one.

As each note slinked its untalented way towards her, she grew more and more vexed. Whoever this was that she was facing apparently lacked any sort of proper mannerisms. She had yet to see him up close, but she could tell that he was shrewd, and it was all the more reason to rid the world of such a bothersome creature.

“Cease that impudent noise!” she shouted, even as she was sure her words would do nothing to stop the ruckus. She didn’t wait for a response as she began to trudge through the sludge once again, her feet causing strange suction sounds to occur as air was shoved out of the areas she now occupied. Her path was set in a diagonal towards the rowboat as she began forging her way to something other than the boat, which she was sure was her opponent’s destination.

Each frustratingly difficult step fueled her rage, and she couldn’t wait for the moment she managed to get close enough to cause some real damage to this other creature hidden behind the loathsome smog.

[The Imposter]

The self proclaimed despot had barely made it halfway to the odd rowboat before his opponent’s appearance shattered through the veiled haze. The mental image of the man dissipated and from its seed bloomed yet another vixen. The flutist couldn’t help but feel a twinge of relief as the memory of the man faded back into the recesses of his mind. Had the goblin been inclined in the opposite sex both his opponents obvious beauty would have stopped the tiny beating heart of the dark creature. Twice now he found himself in this ridiculous competition against creatures well endowed in appearance. Even her pale skin seemed to glow in the marsh, the soft illumination seemed to pull attention away from all else and rest on her. The vampire’s fixed gaze on him was piercing and her lips, those voluptuous lips spoke words so harshly yet strikingly lovely.


“Cease that impudent noise!”


The echo bounced around the make shift arena before being swallowed by the piper’s dirge. His mischievous heart relished in its disobedience to the woman’s command. The dirge picked up a half step in a obvious crescendo and small clumps of the sludge began to rise to the surface of the swamp, the small pieces lying in wait for a further command from their new conductor. Truthfully the smaller, weaker musician wasn’t quite sure how to size up his new opponent. His mind searched for a term to match with the appearance of the creature of the night. Fampyr? Succubus? Vamp...vampire? Could she truly be a vassal of darkness? Always thirsting and never sated? Mmmmm...I won't let her fangs touch me, how could she even consider biting me. ME?! The audacity of such a lowly creature! I'll show her!!


Suddenly the piper’s dirge faded, the al niente was the final beckoning to the battalion of small clumps to attack. Slowly they skimmed along the surface toward the approaching enemy, like an approaching predator to it's prey. Swaying and drooping they bobbled in and out of the bubbling brew before shooting forward and spiraling in a barrage toward the Pied Piper’s new enemy’s eyes. Beginning to chuckle the wielder of the magical flute began to chide, perhaps even giving up the true motive of the approaching fleet of sludge.


“Feeble feeder, chew on these! Y..You won’t take a bite of ME, especially if you cannot even see me! Kikikiki.”

[Mystress of Shadows]

Every tedious step she took seemed to grow more and more difficult as her boots accumulated what felt like an endless collection of muck both on the inside and the outside. Each step was rigid and inhibited, followed by a small struggle to initiate the next. Soon, Vee could almost hear the words "pull, step, pull, step" repeating continuously in her head. Pull, step. Pull, step. Pull, step. This cycle continued off-beat of her opponent's strained melody. The troubling out of tune tone intertwined with the steady sound of streneous steps sythesized a sham of a symphony liable to cause any person to cringe. Even the natural inhabitants of the area had abandoned the two and their battle in order to find a peaceful place to rest, away from shrieks and shouts of music and fighters alike.


Keeping her rythym of advancement had occupied Vees mind completely. The pull, step, repeat cycle remained uninterrupted until she noticed unusual movement in her peripheral vision, and she paused just as her foot fell once again into the murky depths in order to observe the source. Clumps of mud were slowly rising to the surface all around her like dead fish massacreed through sudden and deadly pollution of their water. They rose above and dipped beneath the surface of the foul mixture silently, but in an almost uniform fashion. The solid up and down motion each one followed simulated each step in a determined march of soldiers going to war in order to defend their homeland. The momentary thought crossed her mind that perhaps that was what was happening, but it was soon dismissed as she realized that the peculiar movement of the lifeless clumps followed in step with the primitive string of notes coming from her opponent.


It was only then that she raised her eyes to examine who this opponent of hers was. He appeared to be some sort of goblin at first glance, shrewd and vulgar in appearance. What caught her eye though was not the stout figure, but instead the coldly glinting flute resting between his fingers. Either he or that flute were what carried the power to control what should not be controlled. She would be sure to break both so that she could win. She would be victorious if it was the last thing she did.


She was itching to wrap her fingers around his scrawny neck and squeeze until the sweet sound of cracking bones resonated in her ears, but she first had to reach him, and at the rate she was moving, that wouldn't be any time soon. As each note of the song in the air grew louder with every passing second, they seemed to stress to her the importance of moving and getting within range of her opponent to attack. Regretfully, she knew that in order to do that, she would have to sacrifice something herself.


Hardly seconds had passed in the time it took for her to observe what was occurring around her and analyze it. It was now time to act. Her feet began to move once again, but not towards her original destination. Instead, they drew together as one heel hooked beneath the toes of her opposite foot, and she pulled. Even though the boot seemed determined to hold tightly onto her feet, she finally managed to slide it off and begin working on the other. To her opponent, it would look like she had become trapped by sedimentary flooring, but it would free her instead. The thick, heavy boots could not impede on her efforts if she was not wearing them, and it was with this in mind that Vee sadly relinquished her boots to the greedy grip of the sludge and would continue her path barefoot.


There was no hesitation in Vee as she finally took her next step towards her destination just as her opponent stopped the bothersome string of poorly played notes. However, the clumps of mud and anything else that may have made its way to the floor did not sink back down. Rather, they began slinkly slowly towards where Vee stood, quickly increasing their velocity with each moment that passed. She had hardly anytime to think as the goblin began to taunt her. She continued performing each labored step as she listened to him and realized what his goal was, or at least part of it. It was just as she reached her destination and attempted to block her face with part of her arm that the vile attackers charged at her.


The barrage of earth hit her from all directions, covering her with the filthy substance. While she had planned to cover her face and thwart the creature's plan, she knew that her own plan could not be completed without the use of both arms. Vee reluctantly squeezed her eyes shut as she drew her arm away and instead used it to grip a part of the tree in front of her. The rough bark beneath her fingers was a welcome feeling as it told her that she was near her goal. Her second hand climbed the surface of the tree and found a handhold just as quickly as her first had. She wasted no time in beginning her journey up the tree, her feet and hands desperately hunting down every hand and foot hold she could find in order to scale it effectively in the midst of a mud attack.


Vee needed a distraction on top of her plan if it was going to succeed, and she knew just what to do. As she continued her climb towards the tree tops, she began to reach out towards his mind with her own. It was easy enough with his position known and him being the only other person in the area. She effortless pushed upon him his greatest fears. The spectral images would surround him and taunt him. Her hope was that he would believe they were actual people or things there with him, and with that, give her the upper hand.


"You may have impared my physical sight," she retorted, "but I can still see your biggest weaknesses with ease and bring them to life right in front of you. I know everything about you." The last part was a lie, but she had hopes that her opponent would believe it and become too scared or frustrated to think straight.


No one can have the upper hand in a battle exept for me. If I don't have it, then no one can have it.

[Kiki]

** GM POST **

In the silent swamp's darkness, you sense a shift. Subtle at first, but there's movement in the corners of your eyes. At the peripherals, the tree branches begin to sway. It's easy at first, but as if they too have been stirred awake, the creaking of their wooden bodies, the rustle of their leaves, the rasp of their shifting roots becomes apparent. The trees are alive. A handful of moving trees becomes a group, a small swarm. They swing at you with their sturdy branches, try to push you with their trunks, whop you over the head with their limbs. There is magic here at work, and their preference is to neither of you - they will attempt to kill you both.

[The Imposter]

The playful trickster reveled in his attack as the barrage had continued and followed the swiftly moving undead. His devilish grin seemed to contort his face as it grew increasingly with the creature’s retort. How proud and confident she seemed even now with her impairment. However, in all the Pied Piper’s celebration and glee he had failed to see the trees begin to sway and move. His own hubris had clouded his vision just enough for him to miss the change in atmosphere. The whole swamp seemed to begin to shift and in one collective sigh shook off an eternal slumber. Had the goblin been even slightly keener of his surroundings he may have even been inspired by the sheer power expressed in animation of the trees about him.


The vampire’s assault on the simple mind of the musician began to take shape. At first the hazy form from earlier instantly came into focus in the musician’s sight. The decorated man smiled and twirled the magic flute. The suddenness of his appearing caused the orange eyes of the piper to widen. A quick glance at his seemingly empty hand caused the twisted grin to vanish. IT’S MINE! Snarling the piper found himself frozen in place, crippled by a long hated feeling. Helplessness, it hit him in another wave as the imposter began to charge towards him. As the flutist approached the animator, the creature’s hands began to shake. The familiar yet vague enemy seemed to begin to change and evolve into something all the more terrible in the eyes of the Pied Piper. The masculine form shifted and wings sprouted from its back. Long curly locks drooped out from the cloth cap around a now curvaceous figure. The creature that stood before him no longer was a man with a flute, but something divine, something that ruptured the very heart of the goblin combatant. It stood now clad in armor with one outstretched hand and a single finger resting under the piper’s chin.


“KRRRRSSSSSSS”


The sound gurgled from his throat, altogether new it shook and shattered the creature. Unable to find a will to move the goblin stood with all things beyond his control. The divine judge struck blindingly quick with her other hand stabbing forth into the stomach of the animator. The misty form of the angelic figure began to solidify, her charcoal curly hair began to unfurl and becoming stringy with petit misshapen leaves sprouting forth. The lumen in her skin darkened and twisted becoming scaled and knotted. The strange expression dissipated altogether revealing and etched face in rotten bark. Her pointed hand became a gnarled branch that seemed to begin or end in the gut of the piper. The creature gasped as he was lifted from the mire and tossed forlorn into the row boat. His small body slumped together in a heap as he landed hard against the fine oaken surface.


Choking on breathes the piper stirred, his faded orange orbs watched as dark red pooled around his form, soaking his shirt and sticking to his hand. Unable to rightfully comprehend what had taken place he sat up with his back against the foreign vessel in the boiling muck. His own essence seemed to float like oil along water.

The creature’s eyes were quickly drawn to his trusted flute as the revelation of what had taken place began to settle in. His eyes began to burn once again as the stinging feeling of having lost control took root. The Piper’s free hand began to clap along the boat in a mocking applause, increasing in volume as he slammed his fingers and palm against the hardwood. His nails began to crack and bleed and the creature began to scream.


“I REFUSE, I REFUSE, I REFUSE!”


The chanting fell silent only once the piper drew his flute to his mouth to once more play a tune. The creature’s fractured ego spurning him to find a way to regain control.

[Mystress of Shadows]

In Vee's mind every moment that passed without her launching a proper attack of her gave her opponent that much more of a chance to beat her. Even though she knew better, it felt to her like she was running away as she drew herself higher and out of her opponent's sight. The bitter possibility of defeat welled up within her with every new grip she found amongst the torn bark and weak limbs, and she found the familiar coat of rage wrapping itself around her tighter than before. It urged her forward with thoughts of this creature escaping her and possibly even killing her before he even understood her pain and what she had gone through. It's not fair, it whispered to her, That he can live and find joy in the simple things. He has everything ahead of him. He doesn't have to live his life as a monster. She clenched her teeth at that thought and continued her climb. She couldn't let him get away with this. She wouldn't.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft sigh that seemed to shake the entire area around her. Even the tree she was in felt like it was stirring from a decade long slumber much as a bear would after winter. This sudden shift in the air her was quickly followed by the mud attack diminishing, and it caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. She needed to see what was happening. She needed to be able to defend herself and fight back against whatever her new goblin friend might be throwing at her. With this somewhat startling development, Vee stopped and grabbed hold of the first tree branch she could find while her other hand shot to her face to wipe the gunk away.

The tree she was perched in began to sway as the waves in the ocean would a boat, causing Vee even greater alarm as she flung a glob of goop she collected from her face towards the murky depths below. It was three more frantic wipes after when she could finally open her eyes at least, but also when the trees went from softly swaying to moving. A great groan sounded from the tree with shudder, and it was free from its rest. Several branches swung close to her, close enough that she could feel the breeze of them, and suddenly, she knew what was happening. The trees were alive and launching an arsenal of attacks towards her.

A strange sense of panic began to fill her as her heart began to race faster and she realized her horrible position. Her sight was still hindered, and she was in the midst of an attack by something she had no clue how to fight. Hoeplessness crept up on her as she attempted to analyze the situation and find a way out of it. It was a sneaking pool of hopelessness that a sensation she was well-acquainted with arose. A distinct burning sensation built up quickly in her throat. Her fangs began to throb. Her instincts were fighting to take over. She was experiencing a thirst for blood. Her opponent must have spilt blood in some way, and her body could sense it. The mere thought of blood being lost burned a hole through her strategic thoughts, and she was no longer thinking of how to survive, but instead of the fastest way to sink her fangs within the flesh of that creature below her and relish in the metallic tang of his blood. Her instincts had taken over, and she gladly let them.

Vee began to move almost instantaneously. With her instincts having taken over, all she had to do was trust her body to guide her to safety, and to her snack. She pushed off of the tree without a moment's hesitation and found herself free-falling straight towards the source of the blood. The wind rushed past her as though trying to restrain her, and as Vee squinted through the few splotches of mud remaining, she could make out her opponent and the flute he used as he brought it to his lips and began to play a new tue. The rage that had presented itself to her billowed out and encased her. Her mind became clouded by rage and bloodlust, and the thoughts only spurred her forward even more as she planned to make both him and the person who set up this battle in the first place pay.

Vee's mind had become so focused on the creature she was falling towards that she had failed to notice a sturdy branch swinging right for her. Sharp pain ricocheted through her right leg and up her body as the branch broke the bone without mercy. She was sent spiralling through the air until she landed roughly in the little rowboat. Upon her landing, the boat was little more than rattled as the sludge-like water sloshed into the boat and soak everyone within it.

Vee was shaking as she rose from her slumped position and met the eyes of her foe with so much venom that she would be surprised if he wasn't even startled by it. She forced herself to stand, attempting to ignore the pain in her leg. She failed at blocking out all of it as a wince crossed her face and she was forced to put her weight on her left foot.

Vee snarled at her opponent for hardly a few seconds before the scent of his blood and the irritating sound of his flute urged her to attack. She pushed herself forward with her left foot towards the the scrawny figure, and finally, her own attack was launched. With the lilac color of her eyes blazing with the need to rip him open, she aimed to grab hold of him. One hand shot towards his throat, while the other would aim for his flute. Her aim was to destroy either him or his pitiful instrument, if not both.

"You're mine!"

[Kris]

Mystress moves on to the next round.