Fight:Eelltsu vs Krice & Korenai
Kelay Way
Krice exits the tavern with his eyes on Eelltsu's back. However, somewhere between the last step off the wooden floorboards and the first step onto the gravel of the Way, he lost sight of his focal point. So, he exits the tavern with only Creechy in his immediate sight - and Korenai behind him. He doesn't address the woman, nor does he engage the thief. Instead, he steps out into the center of the road and looks both east and then west, his acute gaze searching the shadows for sign of the werebear.
Eelltsu hiccups in plain sight. He is hard to miss as that seven foot tall frame towers above most beings that are of human height. The man slides his right foot behind the left, a common stance, and prepares for whatever decides to answer the call for blood. Eelltsu breathes heavily as that bestial rage threatens to tear forward, completely unhindered.
Korenai watches Krice, the cold aura of the woman intensifying, anyone near her would feel its icy touch, however right now just a slight disturbance in the moderate heat of the summer. Long white hair cascaded down the small frame, stopping at her waist. Poking from the side of her head were the vixen's furry ears, and lower on the body was the glittering, floofy tail, reflecting what light shined upon it. Icy-blue gaze stretched to one person over the other, and amongst others of much greater stature, she stood boldly challenging any who would dare defy the five foot five and hundred pound girl. Her body was lean with muscle, covered in thin leathers for mobility, but at the same time she did wear select armor, for instance her gauntlets and boots, each fitted to apply to the slim nature of her body. Over her waist was the rather large pelts of her parents, carved from their bodies expertly.. Their furs hid all her weapons which were slung to her belt.. Right now she was waiting, daring for someone to make a move of ill intent towards another.
Creechy points a finger menacingly at Korenai. "Wot a you wont? You said we was square. An now 'ere you ah following me in an out a taverns. Oi'm startin a think you really got a thing fa me." Of course he didn't really think that, but a jest here an there was inevitable. He didn't know if she was even following him, but he had an ego, and thought he was pretty important. "Anotha toime perhaps." Then he looks to Krice, "An you too. Wot a you wont?"
Krice spots Eelltsu dead ahead, after barely a second of searching. The warrior remains in the middle of the street, staring at the riled werebear. The silver-haired man himself is six-feet tall, toned, and solid - definitely no slouch, but even then, Eelltsu is a hulk of muscle and animalistic aggression who seems ready to charge at the blink of an eye. Double damn. The warrior inhales through his nose and, despite his obvious size difference to Eelltsu, harbours no obvious fear or apprehension. He extends his right hand. " Take it easy." The warrior feels the fringes of ice coming from Korenai but he doesn't dare divert his gaze from Eelltsu. Never mind Creechy's curiosity. The thief gets a steady, " Shh.". Danger lurks just ahead. The warrior is reluctant to make anymore noise than is of the utmost necessity.
Eelltsu shouts. It is as if the mountains could be brought down with such a vocalization. The shout is mere sound, pure wrath, without any intelligible words. Eelltsu's ice staff, which is strapped neatly to his back, is lifted from its fixed position, and thrown halfway between himself, and Krice, lodging itself in the dirt road, "You have answered the call! I am prepared to die! May your gods carry you up high in the end!" He charges now, an inhuman roar that rivals the former shout in volume marking the beginning of what could be a bloody, gory fight. Eelltsu's metal knuckles fall to the ground as his hands become too large to fit, white fur sprouting from his white skin, his size more than doubling in height. The beast has lost complete control of himself now. A creature that seems to comprise of both man, and bear, towers above all present, even above the largest of bears. Now he closing in on Krice, dagger-like claws thirsting for blood, and the wearbear attempts to slam directly into the human warrior, his right arm brought back so that the clawed hand can lead the collision into Krice's chest.
Korenai sprints into action, all of Creechy's comments ignored, her gaze zeroed in on Krice and the wearbear. She tensed her leg muscles, focusing her chi into her body and increasing her physical capabilities through the concentration of energy pumping through her veins. Dashing forward as the wearbear drew his spear, she growled, pulling a flask of water from beneath her pelts and ripping the top from it. The lycanthrope's strength and extensive training easily allowing her to do this feat. Water poured into her hand, but it did not drip, instead it began to form into a spear of solid ice. She stepped in front of Krice, ignoring his presence now. The cold aura had concentrated into a visible mist, wrapped around her like a cloak of glittering crystal. She was focused and ready for battle. The small female took her stand as she howled at the bearman that came forth, her hands ripping the pelts from her waist where they stopped on the ground. All her weapons, daggers, swords, even her kusarigama and razor whip were visible. Most of all was her little ball of light, a part of her soul materialized into a magical entity bobbing at her side. Grasping the ghroudium chain and the mythril hilt of her kusarigama, she dropped the weight to the ground and swung it to wrap about the left arm of the werebear as she dashed around, hoping to get onto the back of the beast, the sickle end held tightly in her grasp. Korenai, in her light weight, attempted a feat of acrobatics, an attempt to leap onto the back of the wearbear and latch on, going to pin his arms to his chest with the chain that would be wrapped around one arm and restraining the other by now if all went according to plan.
Creechy was ignored by everyone and that hurts him deep, deep inside where his pride and honor reside. Fortunately for those two a spectacle was unfolding right before his eyes! "Moy, moy, wot 'ave Oi stumbled onto?" He stood back and watched for now, the loser was likely to wake up empty of pockets. Depending on which way the tide turned, he could force himself onto an allegiance. Such are the things that he considered.
Krice has seen this werebear before. Eelltsu was not so remotely as aggressive then as he seems to be now. Something must have happened. He winces when Eelltsu's loud proclamation reverberates off the surrounding buildings and bounces back, amplified, into his ears. Though the volume would hurt any normal human's head, -his- hearing is acute. His eyes dart briefly to the staff tossed into the ground between himself and the werebear and he presses his lips together grimly. Diplomacy doesn't work with madmen. Or... mad bears, as it were. Krice probably is thinking something along the lines of just how unlucky he is. Or maybe he doesn't think that way at all. Eelltsu seems to have considered Krice's attempts to calm him down as -acceptance- for the challenge. Triple damn. At the very least, he is well aware of the danger in which he has put himself. With riveted intensity, the silver-haired man watches Eelltsu's transformation from seven-foot human to sixteen-foot hybrid. Nature couldn't be less fair if She planned to be. And then, all at once, the werebear is charging at him with even more roaring and the warrior is forced to shut out the sounds around him - doing so whenever Eelltsu opens his mouth. Korenai is suddenly in front of him and he looks down at the back of her head. Immediately the silver-haired man doesn't like this idea and, as Korenai readies her weapons and her ice, the warrior darts around her with easily the speed of a vampire, dirt spraying outward from the edge of his right boot in a low semi-circle band that skitters to the ground in his absence. Rather than allow the female to assist him in any way, thereby putting herself in danger, the warrior acts. Within the space of three seconds, possibly two or three of Eelltsu's large strides, the warrior crouches, right hand grounded, and then forces every muscle in his legs to function simultaneously to offer him the momentum of a running start from a -standing- one. He moves so fast that he blurs out of sight in front of Korenai and bursts into Eelltsu's left flank behind his foreleg, jumping into a shoulder charge to hopefully at least -nudge- the bear off course, deflecting its reared, clawed paw from hitting Korenai. Even if only by inches. Upon impact, the warrior will give the werebear an almighty shove, one definitely tough to achieve given the hulking difference in size, but also noticeably more effective than a regular humanoid's attempts would be. He grunts, clenches his teeth behind closed lips, and reaches for Eelltsu's fur on the side to grip him and also to aid in his sideward shoving. If Korenai saw fit to go through with her attack, then now would be the best time for that to take place. When the warrior has at least distracted Eelltsu."
Eelltsu is attacked on two sides after his quarry darts to the side. Though he misses his target, the massive bear creature is no less determined to devour all present that would dare take up arms against him. Eelltsu is however taken by surprise as Korenai's chain wraps itself around his left arm. The werebear roars, almost forgetting Krice, and pulls back on the chain as the kitsune takes to the air, and spins the balled arch of his right foot. Krice's shove manages to land, but the werebear is already spinning, Krice's force giving Eell more momentum in fact. The werebear then tries to swing the werefox into Krice, the chain still in his powerful grip, even as the werebear spins away from the vampire to give room for the attack. Unless Korenai let's go, she will plow into Krice, and both of them will be sent injured, and hurtling who knows where!?
Korenai watches as Krice steps ahead of her, and her fury only escalates, her cold aura concentrated now, the tendrils lashing about her as she made her way around the incredibly fast male. He dashed off but she couldn't waste a second, her pride surging as her chain wrapped about the arm of the werebear. However a gasp was all that came out of her mouth when she felt her slight hundred pound form lifted from the ground and then swung about towards Krice.. However instead of allowing to be used as a weapon she let go of the chain and was sadly thrown farther than anticipated as she crashed into the road, rolling for several more feet, covered in bruises, cuts and other minor abrasions and with the wind knocked out of her. Growling she would take a few moments to gather herself up before she watched on, waiting for a moment to strike.
Krice has a handful of werebear, so he can't help Korenai as much as he wanted to. The warrior withdraws as Korenai goes flying, skidding away from Eelltsu. Gravel kicks up from behind his boots, -scrrch- sound accompanied by the song of his katana, which he withdraws with a swift jerk of his left arm. He manages a peripheral look in Korenai's direction but he does not deviate from Eelltsu. He rushes forward speedily and pulls his arm back. Once close enough, the warrior spins into a drop on his right leg and uses the momentum of his whole body to swing his katana into Eelltsu's closest grounded paw, searching for unprotected tendons and flesh to slice through in an attempt to at least slow down the hulking mass of rage."
Eelltsu laughs, his vocal cords still being half-human, but no words can form. That sound is almost demonic, the hoarse rasp of a bear fused with the sadistic expression of human glee. But the celebratory moment is time wasted: Krice, now a spinning disk of death with his katana, careens for his right leg. The werebear roars, and steps backwards to evade, but is not fast enough to avert the attack completely, and suffers painful wounds to the targeted leg, but not so much as to hinder movement significantly. Eelltsu then circles around, rage boiling within, but a still human level intelligence working to devise Krice's end. Trees. Several of them line up nearby and the werebear targets a smaller one which can be brought down with less effort. Both clawed paws steadily pull, countless pounds of pressure coercing the massive plant to give up its life for Eelltsu's pride, and so it does after a few precious seconds. The werebear moves in a circular motion out of its falling path, and subtly guides it to fall on Krice, or so he hopes. There is no reasoning with the monster. Blood is the only cure for his malice."
Korenai watches as the werebear's path brings him ever dangerously close to the pelts of her parents, the ones whose memories she dearly loved. Anger and other emotion flooded her entire being, clouding her mind as the ice surrounded her body, the tendrils wrapping around the slender, broken frame. Her hair shrank back and her armor wrenched free of her body, leaving her essentially in torn strips of leather that barely covered more important areas of her form. Thin fur poked out all over her body, covering her in a pelt of snow white fur. It got thicker as her bones snapped into various shapes, screams of agonizing pain ripping through the air while she spat up blood, tears running down her cheeks. This was only the second time she had gone through the blessing of her patron. Ice crystals covered her body, freezing her in a larger chunk of ice, but quickly it was already breaking, her spirit melding with her body and attuning to her more natural and wild dire form. When she was rising to her paws she was at the height of five feet, and still growing. The fox yipped, the guardian form of her tribe far to the south assumed once more, but the pain naturally still flowing through every muscle, but she wasn't able to complain. Digging her claws in she dashed forward, the glittering trail of ice crystals left behind as they lightly dusted the ground. As she zeroed in on the werebear she let loose a savage growl, her saliva dripping onto the ground and freezing on contact. Lunging forward, she landed on the tree he knocked down, using it as an extra boost, throwing herself at the bear and hoping to dig her claws into that pelt of his only to bite deep into the flesh and let her icy magic freeze the very blood in his veins.
Krice 's sword slices right through its target until his left arm is completely across his chest with the weapon pointing right. Blood sprays behind the swipe but Krice doesn't wait for it to settle. As droplets splatter across the ground between himself and the werebear, the warrior rises and immediately gives chase, his sword held behind him with his fist at the small of his back and the blade pointing upward past his head. He runs at Eelltsu as the beast works to release the tree from its roots. And as that trunk is liberated from the earth, Krice spins into another pirouette of death with his katana once again brandished, and he makes a slice for Eelltsu's lower back of hip or thigh; wherever there is the least amount of protection--depending on armour. The tree is falling toward him by that point, so whether or not his attack meets its mark, the warrior pivots away and turns backward whilst Korenai, in a form he had yet seen, charges at the beast of a werebear. The falling tree hooks the back of Krice's shoulder and he spins the opposite direction with a grunt, his right foot grounded whilst the left scuffs dirt and stone. Silver hair whirls around his head, sliding across his eyes and back into place as the pivot completes - his back to the tavern and his gaze fixed on the fox and werebear. Ripples shudder through the earth within the immediate vicinity of the fallen tree as it lands, but this does not seem to disturb the warrior's balance. He rushes forward again, attempting an attack similar to his first: he runs, slides into a skidding lie-down, and swipes his katana out for Eelltsu's opposite ankle as he skids by, on his back, from behind the beast to in front.
Eelltsu can see the werefox coming now as the tree falls. While she makes her approach, a much closer Krice attempts to eviscerate his rear. The werebear waits until the fox is closer to make his move, and Eelltsu, with speed that only a monk could manage in such a large form, spins to his left, again using the ball of a foot, his left this time. Krice manages to graze Eell's right thigh, which is painful, but not crippling, invoking another roar from the werebear as he spins. The kitsune is by now in range to bite him, and he arches his right hand's fingers, claws ready to tear flesh, and steps out with his right foot to alter the direction of his spin, allowing for the werebear to bring himself to the kitsune's side, and quickly bring his clawed hand towards the kitsune's side, and close it around a huge chunk of her waist, and attempt to rip her apart. Although he has turned the werefox's attack into his own assault, Krice is quickly coming at him again, and regardless as to whether the kitsune evades somehow, the werebear will move his spinning form again to the right, almost bringing himself in a full circle back to where the fluid motions began, and evade the charging warrior for the moment.
Korenai remains aware of her opponent, still growing to the point where now she was six feet, but retaining her lithe form. The fox growled as her opponent moved and clawed into her, but immediately after as he dug flesh in, blood ran free, steaming over her fur, but then quickly freezing over, the wound freezing back together as well as she crashed to the ground, for now out of the fight until she can recuperate her strength. Slowly her regenerative abilities would make the wound less, but that would take time for something of this severity. As the gouges in her hip made her left side worthless for now.. Aching all over she could only drag herself away and lay limp on the road, whimpering and furiously licking herself until she would be fine. For now it was up to Krice..
Jerralith doesn't leap into the fray just yet, as Krice seems to be handling himself well enough. Instead he drops his gaze to Korenai when she moves off the side of the road, kneeling by the kitsune. "You alright there? Did the jerk bear start all this stuff?"
Krice skids past Eelltsu on his back and once out of range, digs in the heel of his right boot to stop. Again gravelly soot spits out from underfoot and he immediately pushes to his feet in a flurry of soil, black fabric, and silver hair. He huffs out a breath and takes a single step backward, crimson eyes flicking swiftly across the situation to calculate when his next opportunity will arise. The smell of blood and ice assaults his nostrils, the taste of copper settles at the palette of his mouth, and he grimaces. He does not yet attack Eelltsu. His originaly intension was to calm the werebear down before this fight could happen, but now... He watches closely, and if Eelltsu moves toward Korenai, the warrior will sprint forward from behind and leap toward his back, katana held behind him and right hand reaching out for a handful of fur, to which he can anchor himself. And then he'll rear his katana upward and drive it down, hoping to pierce flesh and tendon and muscle between joints, or ribs, or that spinal column. -Any-where to cause debilitating damage.
Eelltsu roars as if to shout in victory as the werefox is nearly defeated! The beast smells her blood, senses her weakness, and despite Jerralith's presence, the werebear wants to finish his prey, which unbeknownst to him, will give Krice another chance to attack. The charge is relentless and full of ursine fury. The sixteen foot tall hybrid monster lumbers towards the weakened Korenai. But he never gets the chance to even get mid-charge as Krice is suddenly upon him! The werebear is too busy thinking about a midnight 'tea and crumpets' to notice the strange warrior behind. When Krice grabs his fur, the werebear doesn't give the warrior a chance to plunge his blade, as the werebear pivots on one foot, and slings his entire upper body to the right, no doubt throwing Krice off balance, and if not shaking him off of his large form entirely, at least disrupting the attack enough to back into the tavern's southern walls, and perhaps fatally crush the human warrior at last should he not manage to escape.
Krice is indeed thrown off balance but he shifts his right foot outward and digs it into the groove of a large, swelling muscle on Eelltsu's back to try compensate, the grip on that fur tightening. The dislodging spin of the werebear forces gravity against him and it pulls his sword out of his hand. With a sharp snap of the gaze to his airborne weapon, Krice's accuracy is made all the more pinpoint as he extends his left arm out to the extent of its reach, fingertips finding the butt of his katana's hilt and pulling it back into the cradle of his palm. He grips it with more firmness now and brings it in to scrape it through Eelltsu's flesh. However, with the beast's huge backward lunge into the tavern, the warrior has no choice but to abandon his attack. Knees straighten, muscles uncoil, and he leaps from Eelltsu's back -just- in time to miss the edge of the tavern's roof. However, the lip of the gutter clips the back of his right ankle and pulls him down, sending him careening into an upward roll across the tiles. He grunts, grimaces, and the edge of his blade slices through the front of his shirt as he rolls. He stops himself after the fourth revolution and pulls up onto his knees and right hand, huffing out a breath. He glances down at the mammoth hybrid, waiting for sign of its next move. If Eelltsu goes to attack again, then so too will the warrior seek to run from the roof, launch himself onto Eelltsu's shoulder, and drive his sword into the creature's throat. Otherwise, he will remain on the roof and watch the beast depart.
Jerralith will hop in if Eeltsu attacks again, so he's waiting to see.
Eelltsu has nearly burnt out all of his rage. The feral wrath that courses through his veins is drying out quickly. Though he can sustain his full bear form indefinitely, the hybrid war form is fed by rage, and it has been two hours since the fight began. The beast starts to weaken almost suddenly! That familiar pain and spark of human sanity beginning to etch through him from head, to toe, and everywhere between. The beast shrinks down, more than half of his height diminishing, fur shrinking back into skin, and the ursine skull reforming into that of a human. The hulk of a man, who stands at over seven feet tall, kneels naked in front of the tavern, the fight clearly over. He cannot face Jerralith while he is at full strength. The werebear quickly snatches his ice staff and sprints to the south, his naked form colliding with the forest. Though a son of the north, he knows how to hide in a forest.