Fight:A Sibling Rivalry
Schezerade Road
A marble fountain takes up the majority of Schezerade’s central square. In its centre, a ring of golden fish peek their heads out of the water, spewing streams of water from their mouths. Stacked on top of that ring lies a platform with a ring of majestic eagles, wings outstretched, chests puffed out proudly as jets of water shoot out of their beaks, into the sky. In the very centre of this beautiful fountain, placed on yet another platform above the eagles and fish stands a marble statue of Schezerade’s founder, a beautiful avian woman sporting a metallic arm. Passersby's stop to watch the living fish swimming in the fountain and the statue of the powerful woman with wonder. Some can even be seen tossing coins into the fountain as well, in hopes that their wishes will be granted.
Satoshi waits, like a proper, scheming hunter, perched among the marble eagles and tucked at the statue-Cerinii's feet, as immobile as the rest of her 'companions'. Just what the foxkin is waiting for becomes obvious with the first soul to wander down the quiet, twilight street. A strangely dulcet growl, barely audible above the splashing of the fountain's water, comes as the only warning to this possibly unfortunate wanderer as the waters being spewed by the ring of golden fish abruptly change their course and consistency, tinkling eerily with a sound akin to breaking glass as the streams become half-frozen. Snaps and pops echo throughout the street as the frosty water whips--thorns sprouting along their lengths--are coaxed to life with the whispery song of the Frost Singer, her arcane words directing the cords of water up and out toward the unidentified target with quicksilver speed, four to coil around limbs and immobilize, while the rest lash out in a wild dance of cutting ice and blunt force. A violent flogging for seemingly no reason than her own--or Asorial's--twisted amusement.
Riss was, in fact, wandering. It was what he did: wander, and look for trouble, and he found it in the form of tendrils of water which lashed toward him with such intense speed. Had Christian been more prepared, Indignation's empowerment of mind would have allotted ample time to analyze the situation and produce an acceptable counter; but, it didn't, and Christian could never have been prepared for something of this nature. If it hadn't been for being quick on feet, the partially solidified, slushy water would have completed hindered him, but with an irritating screech of rubber-soled boots, the swordsman managed to pivot against the road and flat-out run. It wasn't all good, however; he still did take a lashing, an odd tendril slamming against his back, propelling him forward, and knocking him from his feet. The collision which followed was inevitable: face against the road, a cracking reverberating through the immediate area: he had broken his nose, the blood which spewed likely the first to have graced the new city. Christian crawled to his knees, emerald gaze having shifted to his assaulter, only to see a familiar face: Kitten, but that wouldn't stop what came next. Eyes glazed over, childish bliss replaced with absolute apathy; an enhanced state of mind, an active form of meditation. The swordsman's clothes seemed to flicker at the edges, passing in and out of reality, causing ivory fabric to fade to nothingness, from existence itself. Another piercing screech, rubber against road, was the only prelude to the oncoming onslaught, Sebastian, the Sage Blade drawn from its sheath, chain drifting aimlessly throughout the air. Blink, and you'd have surely missed it: the blur that Christian had become, feet having placed enough pressure against the ground to send him into the air, on a direct course for Satoshi. It wasn't the blade which sought after her-- no, it was the chain, which rattled its way into his hand, and was slung as an attempt to wrap around his opponent's neck, and drag her with the momentum he had gained. This was the downfall of his speed: he couldn't stop himself, and he'd surely over-shoot the feline.
Satoshi's initial pause in reaction to recognizing Riss--or rather the familiar scent of his blood, first--costs her heavily, as she soon discovers her brother-in-law blurring towards her, sword and chain drawn. No time. Feline reflexes are no longer present to save her from complete harm--only a vampiric agility allows for her forearm, bracer'd in metal and ice, to come up before the chain wraps around its target. With a strangled cry the bard is torn from her perch by Riss' momentum, dragged along by the makeshift leash in the time it takes for her to shove her arm outward, forcing enough slack in Sebastian's chain to slip free and skid to a painful halt on the street. With a snarl, Satoshi is back on her feet, stance wide to keep her steady as a shuddering hand draws her own blade from its metal sheath. Humming, Ko'tar gleams eagerly, finding its natural place in the vixen's grip as she begins what seems like a wild swinging, hacking at the air left and right and whistling a rhythmatic tune to match the motions. These swings are not empty, however, for each one sends a shockwave of razorsharp ice outward from the frost-blade, cleaving the air and forcing its invisible water molecules to join in the violent rending of Satoshi's target: Riss. Or more specifically, the blood dripping from his face. Blood and water, liquid kin, and easy for a Frost Singer to direct into rejoining one another. Be he in front or behind her, the shockwaves will follow in their short-lived bursts like arcane seeking-missiles, locked upon his blood signature by Satoshi's magic.
Riss found the ground once again after Satoshi had freed herself from his chain, feet forcing a stop as they turned, leading him to once again face the feline with a skid, boots having left naught but black lines in their wake. Ice, not ice! Christian hated the cold, but in his current state, he had no emotion, only ambition, feeling tossed aside in order to achieve the goal at hand: demolishing his opponent. As a response to its partner's body, Indignation had been stirred from its dormant state just before the feline had begun propelling arc after arc of that razor-sharp ice toward him. Light, pure -- holding an aspect of holiness -- began sprawling from Christian's back, or more accurately: the dove-wing tattoos that spanned across his shoulder-blades, seeping through the fabric of his shirt to take form in two, pristinely symmetrical wings, and as those wings unfurled, ethereal feathers took flight, four, forming the points of a rectangle in front of his body. Snap of fingers, and light strung each feather together, forming a barrier that spanned his exact height and width to shield him from the oncoming attack. With each collision, the barrier weakened noticeably, until with that last arc, it shattered, but the attack wasn't completely stopped. It broke through, and Christian was left with one option: taking it head-on. Had he become faster? Was it possible? Not likely, but his movement held a new aspect of grace, a result from the wings he had summoned. His speed didn't give Satoshi's attack the chance to switch direction, allowing him to change his position to where it wouldn't be able to unite with the blood that still dripped from his nose. No, instead, his on-the-move side-step resulted in it leaving a deep gash, spanning collar-bone to shoulder blade on his right side, undoubtedly severing some nerves essential to the movement of his right arm, but it didn't matter; in this state, there was no pain, no pleasure, no feeling. Limp as it was, it hung there, useless. Despite knowing better, Christian decided for another head-on assault, but it wasn't the chain that sought after Satoshi this time around; the blade was the better choice, to end this quickly. Analytical mind having picked up on the feline-now-fox-kit's diminished reflexes, Christian's course didn't change, not one bit; blade sought after her gut, yearning to cleave her in two.
Satoshi's reaction is a simple, albeit unexpected, affair: a single hop back, bringing her closer to the fountain's edge and not entirely out of the path of Riss' blade. Just as she wants, as is evident by the smirk of gritted fangs that creeps onto her face as her torso is deeply sliced, and instead of the traditional cry of pain for such an injury endured the foxkin... sings, of all things. A wordless song, a hauntingly cold melody, a tune that calls to the blood freshly spilt by Christian's attack. Before it can even hit the ground, her blood is brought to life, freezing instantaneously into myriad crimson needles, hovering for the briefest moment upon the air before a lilting whistle from Satoshi sends them exploding forward in a close-range volley for Riss--the woes of getting into melee range with the cryomancer. As if that isn't enough, a stumble backwards from the Frost Singer with the triggering of her spell sets her legs against the fountain's marble rim where her sword-wielding hand can dip into the pristine waters. A unified hum from vulpine and blade summons the waters to them swiftly, coiling around the frozen sword as Satoshi pulls her arm free, trailing a stream of fluid off Ko'tar that crackles with sinister delight. In a renewal of her prior assault on Riss, the katana-turned-whip lashes out for him in rapid succession, leaving pockets of frozen air wherever its snapping tip strikes.
Riss had reached the full duration of his increased speed without taking too much internal damage; sure, he could push further, but it'd likely result to being driven to the point where his body couldn't reset itself. For this reason, apathy faded from his eyes, childish bliss alighting within them once again, and pain had set in as well, from both the wounds Satoshi had delivered, and his now less-than-healthy internal organs, but something unfamiliar had come to his lips: an amused smirk. He wasn't going to give up-- not now, not ever. No movement was taken as a precaution to the vixen's barrage of blood-turned-ice needles, each one shallowly finding way into his torso, scattered, and despite taking such a blow, he still held that bemused expression. Adrenaline had began coursing through his veins, bringing a desire to push through the pain and end this all. It was then that whip sought to rend and freeze flesh, and as a defense, he switched his grasp on Sebastian, holding it upside-down by its hilt. Chain met whip, metal curling around it and chilling; the swordsman knew it would become brittle, so before it froze, he did something unexpected: abandoned his blade, tossing it to the side with enough force to hopefully tear the Frost Singer's whip from her hand. That wasn't all, though. No, his hand couldn't be left empty. Just as his sword was tossed aside, the wings that floated above his back began to shift matter, flowing swiftly into the palm of his hand and materializing into a sword: a katana, white metal giving an eerie glow by the moonlight. With one final forward assault, Christian pressed boot soles against the road, pushing him toward the fountain's edge, where he could attempt dragging Indignation's blade across the fox's neck.
Satoshi finds herself abruptly without bewitched whip and Ko'tar, the combined weapon torn from her grip by Riss' unexpected manuever and leaving her seemingly defenseless against his following approach. But if Satoshi is anything, it's never defenseless. Even as Indignation's keen edge dives for her throat, the bard moves backwards, instinctively away from the holy blade... and directly into the fountain, as she's left with no where else to move. The slightest of slices across her neck is the reward for not moving fast enough, but that simple cut is agony in itself to the kit-vampire. Writhing in pain, Satoshi barely manages to trill out enough of a song to freeze the waters up and around her, locking Riss out and herself in, and sufficiently stalling their bloodthirsty activities--pity those poor live fish have been made into part of the ice wall as well.