Duel:Merle v Neema
Location: Outside Kelay Tavern
Stakes:
- If Neema wins, she gets Merle's fangs.
- If Merle wins, she gets Neema's wings.
Winner: Neema
Neema was in the mood for shedding blood. Lots of blood. That awkward waddle of hers out of the tavern's doors was one with an air of confidence, despite being rather humorous to anybody watching from behind. The octopus-topped staff clasped tight in her hand is given a little peck on the top of its ivory top for good luck while the avian beekeeper waits for her target, while her free hand chucks that gigantic purple hat of hers off to the side somewhere. Those fangs were going to be hers. She swivels her heels to make a sharp turn, facing her combatant with a sneer that twists her face so much it makes Neema cringe. No words are spoken. The 'Smoke Goddess' wasn't going to be a challenge. Not. At. All. Despite her staff carrying magical properties within, the avian gathers her natural, druidic energy with assistance from the enchanted phoenix pendant fastened to her neck. She inhales deep, taking in an excess amount of air to over-inflate her lungs. With cheeks puffed, her lanky figure bends, leaning toward her opponent, ebon wings that she so desperately wanted to keep spread to their fullest extent. Thin, cracked lips part, expelling a gust of wind that is targeted right at Merle, with the full intent of knocking her to the ground and kicking up any sort of lightweight debris in the wind's path to send them careening toward the vampire. Neema follows suit, practically hurling herself from the ground to fly the air she forced forward. Halfway through her flight, she flips her staff around, hand over hand so the bladed end is facing outward and the blunt end is toward the rear. From there, Neema jabs blindly. Slicing, shoving, waving the weapon before herself with the full intent of slicing Merle to shreds. She presses on, stopping right behind the vampire. Her tiny, sock constricted feet graze the ground below as she descends from her short flight, then whirls around with a distinct lack of grace and sweeps the blunt end of her staff in an arc, to bludgeon the vampire in the back of her supposedly perfect noggin.
Merle came to a stop as her gaze shifted over the form of Neema, a sneer would cross her marble face as she tilted her head up just slightly. A purple aura would pulse around the vampiress as her eyes closed. Beating as if her heart would. The air around her would turn still and cold. Hearing the wind begin to blow, she held her hands out as if opening then into a cross figure. Letting the wind wrap around her, the vampiress took the wind and slid back just a bit. Merle would use this to her advantage. As the wind would wrap around her small frame, she would hold her hands to her side, the wind kicking up even more than it had. Shifting her gaze back to the figure of Neema. Her now crimson hues stared blankly at her. Jumping up, smoke began to wrap around her as the air would follow it in a rather fast manner. The smoke would curl and bend along the edges of the wind, causing half of her body to turn into that of smoke. Taking a deep breath in, the vampiress's body would spin around forming a tornado of smoke and rage. As her body rose into the air, flashes of thunder and lightning would flash through the center of the tornado. A loud laugh would escape the vampiress's lips as her hair would levitate in a strange and ghostly manner. Quickly Merle would shift her now spiraling body to try and dodge the many attacks being jabbed at her. "Want to play with Sharp objects?" She would say mocking the avain. Raising her hands up as if she was picking up something extremly heavy; many daggers would appear around the body of the swirling vortex of storms. Bouncing and spinning almost as fast as the winds around her. With each second, a new dagger would reveal itself. As the daggers began to stop appearing around her, there seemed to be atleast twenty to thirty daggers surrounding her. Using her tornado to her own advantage, each weapon would escape into the dark and thick fog which danced around her. Each one being hurled at the woman at very high speeds. Little did the Avain know that twenty-three of the thirsty daggers were smoke. As the flipped and rotated in the air, they began to locate on to the frame of Neema. If making contact, the smoke daggers would make an impact but just enough to knock her back a few feet. After each smoke dagger was unleashed, the real daggers came into play. Aimed at her stomach, arms, legs, and whatever else that was in view. Lightning began to spark off of the daggers towards the hilt, showing how fast they where going.
Neema wasn't too pleased that her whack to Merle's head didn't strike true. She re-gripped her staff, and went back into a steady stance before her opponent, clearly a bit put off at the lightning and windy display she showed. Aerial advantage was something that Neema liked to have, so she promptly kicked off of the ground, and flew higher than Merle in order to try dodging whatever was about to come her way. Even with what the avian believed was an advantage in the sky, she hadn't taken into account that a massive amount of daggers were on her tail. The thunder and lightning weren't what unnerved her now, especially when one of the real daggers happened to hit her right in the side, cutting deep. The rhythmic flapping of her wings slowed while Neema began to try balancing herself within the air, crying out in a pain filled screech. Blood was seeping through her robes, which caused a wave of rage to zip on through her. Not at the dagger puncturing flesh, mind, but the fact that the dagger happened to tear her robes in the process of doing so. That rage only grew worse when another of Merle's daggers hit her. Neema tried covering her face with both arms quickly raised, but the conjured smoke daggers left her flabbergasted when they did nothing. If Neema wasn't concerned with wanting to rip Merle in half, she would've made a comment on that. Instead, she gnawed on her lower lip and wrenched the first dagger from her body, and promptly hurled it right back at Merle's less smoky half. Right at her throat. The other dagger was treated just as the first, only this one went for the thunder and lightning smoke..half, just to see if there was anything solid. Whether or not either blade hit their targets, Neema forced herself to press on, bringing with her a flurry of strikes with the bladed end of her staff. Her midair attack went without pattern. She circled, dipped, flew over head, with each passing move at Merle aimed for her torso or head. Neema as going to knock her down. She just knew it.
Merle laughed as the daggers did as what they were told. A eerie smile creeped on her face as if she had got much pleasure from hearing the screech come out of the Avain. Now, seeing one dagger being thrown at her throat, the vampiress let her body absorb into the tornado rather quickly. She was safe for now. Letting herself sit there for a moment, the second dagger had pierced through the wind, hitting the spot where the thunder and lightning was born. A glare came upon her normally calm face. Quickly letting herself jump out of the tornado, the cylinder of wind exploded only to cause severe burns down her right leg, smoking heavily. Merle's face became enraged as the Avain woman was able to hit her, but by her own magic. A snarl would become present in her throat. The daggers would follow her as she jumped up onto the rooftops now. Running rather fast to let herself creep up to where Neema was. Letting her small body jump into one of the tall trees nearby, many daggers would hurl at the avain. This was amer distraction for the vampiress knew that Neema would dodge them being so high up. Silently, a black crackle of what seemed to be lightning or maybe fire escaped the tree. Merle followed behind the burst of magic, jumping up high in the air to only meet Neema's gaze. A smirk would follow as she looked into Neema's eyes. Dark clouds of smoke would appear under Merle as she jumped from cloud to cloud quickly, letting her daggers swing around her. The daggers blade would be aimed at her once more, yet another distraction. Letting her clouds get her even higher, Merle would jump into the air, her body arching as she held her right hand out, almost like a floating statue. Clouds would form above her just as dark as the vampiress's soul. A crackle of lightning could be heard from somewhere far off. In only a matter of seconds, an orb of lightning would appear in her hand. Sparking and sizzling within her grip, letting her body seem to fall through the air it would give the thought of Merle giving up and just letting her body crash to the dusty ground. Letting her opposite hand reach up and grab hold of the orb, a small groan of pain could be heard from the vampiress. The odd color lightning would travel down her arms as it traced up towards her tattoo as if began to glow a deep red. A crazed look in the vampiress's eyes, she would hurl the orb towards Neema. As it hit the air, it would only begin to grow rapidly, a horrible screech would come from it. If it would hit Neema, the avain should fall from the sky, body almost paralized by the strong electricity. Letting herself fall from the starry clouds above, the vampiress would only turn quickly in the air as she landed on the tavern's rooftop.
Neema found maneuvering herself out of the path of the next wave of daggers to be simple, but sluggish. The wounds in her side caused her movements to slow, but not enough to make her ridiculously slow. Her desire for keeping her wings in addition to wanting Merle's fangs ripped from her skull made her push forward. She makes no visible reaction when the dagger she threw toward the vampire's cloudy lower half solved the thunder and lightning problem. In fact, once it did what she hadn't expected, the avian pressed on again, flying headlong toward Merle for yet another wave of staff whacking. At the appearance of a tree in her path bursting into flames, or lightning, she couldn't definitively determine which, Neema comes to an awkward halt, but she resumed her movements when Merle's figure was once again in full view. As the vampire rose, so did she. Higher and higher, until she pounced. Ever seen a body slam before? Try one midair. Neema threw herself at Merle, latching onto the woman for dear life, and thrust herself downward with her lanky figure positioned right on top of the vampire's. From there, the avian released her grip on the staff in her hand, allowing it to plummet to the ground below, right in front of Kelay Tavern. The orb of lightning Merle conjured and threw at Neema obviously hit its mark. Neema flew right into it, but what with being latched onto the vampire and all, her temporary pain and paralysis from the electricity would make the avian nothing but dead weight constricted around Merle's body, resulting in the pair plummeting to the ground. They met a little bump in the road so to speak, on the way down. First came the tavern's roof, which made Neema yelp but hold on tighter as the pair smacked against it. The weight of her body and wings combined made them roll, tumbling the rest of the way down to the ground in an unpleasant looking heap. From there, Neema tried to move, but found it difficult to do so fast enough after such a lengthy fall.
Merle found herself in stream of more staff attacks. Trying to quickly move from them, the blade still caught her quickly. Not letting out a sound as the flesh ripped, she got big eyed at what Neema had done. Trying to get Neema's grip off of her, it did not seem to work. The lightning orb hit them both in a rather massive amount. Letting out a wince now, their bodies had hit the roof of the tavern and rolled off. As they hit the dusty path, the vampiress would groan as she would shove Neema away from her, letting herself float back just a bit, lightning would roll off of her body, shacking her at every other second. Her body would shake a bit at the attack and the horrid fall from the sky. Holding her arm, which was now gushing blood, she stood staring at her now paralized foe. Merle would try to move as the lightning that shackled her stopped her, letting her body to begin to smoke as the smell of burning flesh would fill the cool air which surrounded the area. Falling to her knees, the vampiress would twitch slightly. Panting, Merle would try once again to stand, her legs were a bit uneasy but she did not care how much it hurt to move, her fangs were on the line here. Looking towards Neema's wings, a sly smile would creep on her face. Letting her shaking hand trace her side to where the last dagger was located, the vampiress ran towards the laying foe. it was now or never, though it was a cheap shot to hit a paralized enemy, she did not care one bit. The paralzation could been seen wrapping her wrists and legs causing the vampiress to move rather sluggish. She held her breath and let the pain surge through her, the dagger which rested in her hand only made the burns worse. Seeing that this was the last bit of her energy, she made sure that it was going to be known that she wanted to keep her fangs and wanted to place Neema's wings as a trophy in the living room at her home. Shivering, the vampiress made her way and began to stab at Neema, murderous almost. Her strength was drained, letting the dagger fall from her hands, she could see that her attack had failed. As her eyes began to grow larger at her missed attacks, the paralazation finally got to her. One last shock and Merle's body went down.
Neema had no feasible way of defending the stabs thrown her way, what with being stuck in temporary paralysis. All she could do is make involuntary twitches as Merle's blade cut through and left her body repeatedly in different areas, while trying to cry out in agonizing pain. It was just too much. Far too much. She wasn't going to throw in the towel just yet, though. As feeling and a small amount of possible movement returned to her, she clenched her fists, and forced herself to sit up the moment Merle fell down. Not necessarily a smart move on her part. The avian felt dizzy, and swayed while trying to bring herself back to her feet. She wobbled a considerable deal, thanks to her wounds, the blood loss, and the shock of being hit with a ball of electricity while falling from the sky. Her fogged vision managed to make out her octopus-topped staff, and Neema made her way over toward it, tripping along the way of course. Upon dropping it, the bladed weapon landed in a manner that the bladed end was embedded deep within the ground. It took a bit of time, but eventually it was wrenched free and within her shaky grasp once again. She's quick to turn, which only adds to her trembling figure's continual wobble, and approaches Merle's body, which is stared upon with a sneer. "Get up." No hand is offered. It's a command. Neema waits while trying to keep herself balanced with the assistance of her staff.
Merle looked up to Neema and gave a glare towards her. Not feeling anything, the vampiress would stand up a bit uneasy; groaning as she held her arm. Her body would shake violantly as she looked over Neema, she was damaged pretty badly. Merle's arm felt numb and cold, more than usual. Her eyes would shift back to the glowing emerald color as she would lean up against a tree which was only a few inches away from her broken feeling body. "What..." She would manage to say in a strain.
Neema couldn't help flashing one of her out of place, oversized grins, before morphing it back into a disgusted sneer, of course. She spat at the ground before Merle, and made another step closer. "I hope you've learned your lesson, 'goddess'." The avian quipped, while snatching a handful of Merle's hair and giving a very sharp tug, in order to yank her head back. "Try not to talk down to so-called peasants anymore." She let her staff clatter back on the ground at her side, and reached into the thick sash holding her bloodied robes to her body. From within the confines of that sash, a rusted blade is produced. Sharp, but rusted. Perfect for teeth removal, you know? After wrenching Merle's mouth open, by way of tugging on her lower lip between thumb and forefinger, Neema sets to work with claiming her prize. The blade is shoved just enough into the vampire's mouth so it pierces flesh behind the first fang, and is ultimately pried free. It's done slowly, of course. The avian wanted to savor every last moment of pain she caused for the vampire. Once the fang is removed, its tucked within that sash that the dagger came from. The process is repeated with the second one, just as slow and tedious, as if Neema were trying to imitate a dentist. An maniacal dentist, but you get the general idea. Once the remaining fang is removed and stowed away, along with the dagger, the avian gives Merle a sharp kick in the stomach. Hopefully one that'll cause her to double over. A cheap shot, but Merle threw one too. "Talk down to me again, and I'll just have to remove something else next time around." With that, she gives one final kick, then picks up her staff and turns to leave after retrieving her hat. Blood was leaving her body fast. Time to pay a visit to a healer.