Duel:Rhocielle v Satoshi
Round 2 of the Kelovath & Jacklin Tournament
Knee-high grasses have made home atop this hill, all about the crown. In the center is a small pool of water, which ripples without cause or reason. The ripples never seem to cease, and even though the water looks clear and healthy, one should think again before deciding to sip from the pond. The hills roll eastward.'
*Judges: Nicholai, Mahri, Portea *Winner: Satoshi, unanimous
Rhocielle approached the vampiric feline with a casual gait to his digigrade legs. Standing tall in what appeared to be the form an anthropomorphic wolf, he was an odd sort of lycan. There was no feral expression to his wolfen face, but it was not to say he was a harmless beast. Satoshi appeared to be a rather small creature by comparison, cute and innocent if he bothered to admit such thing. That was what worried him most. Cyllarus had been a large and imposing figure and Rhocielle's grey eyes could see what he faced. This was different. No sooner had he offered a polite dip of his muzzle in greeting that his bow was immediately draw to a horizontal position. Only the flicker of black pupils expressed the magic being conjured up by his paw like hand as its furry digits pulled back on the bow string. Another slight movement of eyes and a bolt of energy spanned from the arc of the bow to the paw. No sooner had the first arrow formed, that it was soon followed by two more; each missile held in place by the spacing between four spread fingers. The release of multiple magically created arrows was still something new to the black furred male, but it had been steadily progress. A harmonious twang of string and the projectiles flew in a vaguely aimed trajectory. One flew towards her general direction, while the remaining two graced the air in diagonal paths intended to hit their mark in the case of a quick dodge to either side. No sooner had he released them that he immediately sprinted towards her while forming a slightly larger and more magically draining missile.
Satoshi offers no more than a faint smile in response to the lycan's nod, already preoccupied with selecting a spell. The twang of an arrow's release finds the feline still standing in place amid the tall grass, no dodge attempted as the single one set toward her buries iself in her left shoulder and provokes a pained growl between clenched fangs. As if the wound is the cue for action, Satoshi's growl shifts into a lilting hum, her magic spreading with the sound to reach the pool of water beyond them serving as jewel to the hill's crown. The waters ripple further in response before suddenly leaping skyward in a geyser, the rainfall of droplets descending to earth halting unnaturally feet from their target. Or rather, their former target, for the feline's spell has coaxed them into neglecting gravity and taking on the form of lengthy, icy needles with each frigid point levelled at Rhocielle. In a mockery of the ranger's arrows, Satoshi orders the needles' release with a sharp sound, loosing a veritable wall of frozen projectiles to chase after Rhocielle's charging form. And, of course, the feline is hardly unaware of his second attack, for her hand is already dipped into the blood pouring from her wound, urging it to freeze solid upon her fingers, stretching and narrowing into a crimson extension of her own claws. Claws of vampiric blood now striking out in three swift slashes at the lycan's chest to rip through leather and flesh, and feed the sickening taint of her vampirism through his equally altered blood.
Rhocielle surprise was evident in his grey hues at the odd manifestations of water from the hill's pond, but there was hardly time for that as he closed the distance further. What brought on a more a startled expression to his wolfen face was the sudden barrage of icy daggers in pursuit of him. The larger arrow formerly aimed for the feline was suddenly aimed downward, its release producing a deafening crack of the frozen soil beneath him to form its own reverse cascade of earthy chunks to shield him from the numerous stabbings. Ice sinking into cloth and the dense coat of his winter fur, he withheld a canine yelp of pain to the few that graze his flank. The eyes set on the canine face narrowed as continued outer calm belied a growing inner fury. Snarling as he turned his attention wholly back to Satoshi, his wrist twirled the held bow to not only bat away at the slashing claws, but attempt to entangle her hand in the bow's string afterward. At close range, the weapon would prove rather useless to launch further arrows, and yet it still had some advantages to it if one were ingenious or desperate enough to utilize them. The remaining free paw brandished its own short claws with intent to maul at the bloodless hand of the feline. To add to the psychological and auditory distraction, he inhaled sharply to utter a series of loud and savage barks, each flailing infectious lycan saliva. He knew that vampires were immune to such things as the lycanthrope curse, but the disgusting nature of being coated in sickly canine drool during combat was enough to be used as another distraction while he attempted to further scratch and punch at his opponent.
Satoshi begins dancing backwards the instant her claws fail and the bow becomes an improvised club, but not before those same claws manage a hint of success. Rhocielle's bowstring is caught upon a crimson edge and severed with a final 'twang'. And moving backwards as she is, the petite feline is given that hint of extra time to duck and weave around the the lycan's strikes for body and unenchanted hand, growing confident with each slip around a potential mauling. That is... until the sudden barks startle her enough to trip up her movements, sending her sprawling upon her back as she catches a sweeping paw across her stomach, tearing the coat's thick fabric and grazing across flesh. There's already a sickening feeling spreading from where lycan claws have torn vampire skin. And as if to add insult to injury, the feline finds herself the unfortunate bearer of lycan saliva upon face and torso. With a building fury, Satoshi hisses out a magic-laced curse for Rhocielle, her cryomancy demanding his own saliva into obedience. First to respond is the spit he's left upon her, as it freezes into miniscule arrows that hurl themselves at the lycan's eyes. But second, and likely to Rhocielle's surprise, is the call to the liquid still within his mouth. Ice works to build rapidly in and around his jaws, heavily spiked tendrils snaking around fangs and fur in an attempt to clamp his maw shut within a frozen muzzle of razor-edged ice designed to shred his sensitive snout. And as if that isn't enough, Satoshi attempts to use the potential distraction to scramble into the knee-high grass from her prone place on the ground and take her small form from sight.
Rhocielle chucked the damaged bow at the cyromancer with such pathetic intent as that of a small child tossing a plush toy at a parent. The purpose was after all simply to lure or avert the eyes elsewhere, so the lycan did not care of the discarded weapon at the moment. The brutality in his eyes was cast aside in the blink of an eye as his acute sight noticed the molecular transformation of the previously warm spittle on the feline's figure. Resembling the icy daggers that formerly pursued him, he flared his nostrils in surprise and shut his eyes tightly. Shaking his muzzle to and fro to allow most of the small projectiles to melt against the thicker portions of fur on his face, he did not notice at first the frigid strapping around his mouth. Attempting to bark again, he gritted his canine teeth in pain to the icy barbs that sank into his flesh, but it was only frozen saliva in the end and the jaws of the black furred male were used to crushing bone in need be. Had he been a crocodile with their reversely weak jaw muscles, things would have been different. Fragments falling from his bloodied face, he lunged into the increasingly higher brush with his both palms exposed. The leathery padding of his palms initially glowed with a Healer's light, but further exertion into it caused the light to flare immensely into a bright if unstable blue flames. It was relatively harmless and in fact was a by product of the lycan's growing experience in treating more gruesome wounds. However, he counted on the ice mage considering it to be a powerful weapon of sorts and therefore provoke a more frantic reaction on her part, rather than a controlled and precise one. Wounded as he was, her scent and blood was still strong and he lashed out with glowing claws again into the grasses. Approaching her again with increasingly feral intent, he lunged the remaining feet towards her.
Satoshi's hiding has more intent than to simply evade Rhocielle, and steady her wavering sight as lycan poison spreads slowly. No, rather than remain idle, Satoshi puts to use the time it takes for the lycan to locate her with a quietly worded spell. This call, like the others, flows outward to touch upon the grass covering the hill. A ripple--originating from her hiding place and giving her location away--runs suddenly through the grass, the inner fluid of each swaying blade solidifying with the flashfreeze and building a field of knives around Rhocielle and Satoshi. But the feline's spell falters here as she becomes aware of the lycan's lunge and his flaming paws. With a hiss, laced as much with anger as fear for the fire, Satoshi's bloodied form backpedals with every ounce of her feline and vampire agility to avoid being caught by Rhocielle's fiery paws, and loses her hold on the magic with that frantic evasion. With a sound of breaking glass, the ice encasing the grass shatters violently, throwing algid shrapnel through the air in a haphazard eruption. Satoshi, like Rhocielle, is not spared from this destruction of her spell, and being still low upon the ground leaves her open to the full-force of the unintended assault. It's all she can do, to curl up tightly around herself and bear the barrage of ice shards that pelt her, embedding into the every inch of her small frame that's exposed, dying the once white cat a deep crimson. Pity Rhocielle is such a large target, for that just leaves all the more razors of frost to find him in the magical explosion.
Rhocielle landed just shy of tackling his would be victim as his feet and palms impacted on land. Standing up with both arms coming up in swooping arms to thrash her with claws imbued with harmless flames , his ears perked up to the subtle nuances to the air around him. A split second warning came as he became entirely aware of the majestic glistening of frozen pikes all around them. Crouching suddenly on his haunches, his arms came around to encase his head. Whimpers and hushed yelps were exclaimed as his side was bristled with the frozen lances. Succumbing slightly to the pain, a knee fell to the ground once the barrage had ceased. Wincing and groaning as he struggled to stand, he immediately swung his arms to break off the jutting portions of the ice fragments. His internal body heat would be enough to dispose of those that did impale him. He was panting raggedly and at the sight of the laying feline, he gave a somewhat sorrowful whimper. Regardless of the seriousness of their bout, it had never been his intention for them to become so bloodied. The still raging fires of his palms dimmed to softer glows as he approached the feline more tentatively with the open palms of a Healer.