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Post by Event Admin on Jun 20, 2016 13:29:58 GMT
Contenders: Sky Richardson (Syne) vs. Aegle Vitus (RLR)Arena:Half Ice, Half Forested MountainRules: Each participant has 10 posts each to prove their skills as hunters, less if one participant has no way to escape a certain loss. Stats, HP totals, and MP totals do not exist. Dust is provided. The arena environments are not affected by Semblance. There will be no Godmodding, Metagaming, or Powerplaying, every action made must be reasonably justified. Participants have 24 hours from the time of their opponent's last post to post or themselves or face disqualification. Final posts must be an exit post that includes the bell that ends the match. The match MUST begin today, June 17th 2016. For every day the match doesn't start, both participants will lose one post each.Battle Start!
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Post by Aegle Vitus on Jun 21, 2016 1:24:06 GMT
A broad grin spread across Aegle's blistered face. Her emerald eyes, once again filled with wonder, ran adoringly across the crowded stands that surrounded her on all sides. Her first fight had been a lot of fun, even if it had finished a bit more quickly than she would have like, and the cheering of the crowd which had directly followed her victory wasn't something she would soon forget. Still, the abruptness with which her first match had come to an end had also left her feeling more than a little unsatisfied, and there was nothing quite like having an audience to reinvigorate her. Raising one bandaged hand high above her head, or at least as high as someone her size could reach, she whooped at the gathered spectators, and found at least some of them were paying her very close attention. Enough so that they whooped back. In fairness, the people who were focusing on her were probably doing so thanks more to novelty than charisma; Aegle was a very strange sight after all, and eye catching to boot. Scarcely taller than five feet, what Aegle Vitus lacked in height she more than made up for in being just generally difficult to look at. From the peak of her crown down to the nape of her neck was sprouted a foot tall Mohawk, dyed the most eye rending shade of orange that it could be heard as well as seen. This obnoxious plume of hair would have been enough to make Aegle visible from space, but she had gone a step further by donning a baggy hoody, more than a couple of sizes too large for her, which was the same putrescent shade of orange. The fact that someone had also crudely decorated the hoody in black stripes, using what appeared to be electrical tape, only added to the spectacle. Then there was the scorch marks. Both Aegle's hoody and cargo pants sported numerous patches where the material had gotten just a bit too familiar with some source of intense heat. Efforts had plainly been made to ameliorate the more severe instances of fire damage, but the method by which this had been accomplished might cause someone to question Aegle's soundness in mind. Clearly the pintsized huntress had been pressed for time when it came to repairing her combat attire, because she had done so through judicious use of duct-tape and rubber bands. Fortunately the hoody, as has previously been noted, had more than enough fabric to spare for this particular brand of repair. Thus, despite so much missing surface area that Aegle could be clothed in the absent fabric alone, not a single bit of her showed through the patched up garment. Given all the above, the desultory strips of duct-tape also repairing Aegle's pants seemed quite normal.
Giggling loudly, as if utterly ignorant of how ridiculous she looked, Aegle dropped her hand and scooped up the heavy metal object parked beside her foot. Resembling a steel suitcase, the object shared Aegle's unusual color scheme, though its black on orange stripes were far more uniform than those ornamenting her hoody. With some effort, she slung the weighty case over one shoulder and turned her emerald eyes towards terrain randomizers, which she regarded with a unabashed smile. She stood slightly stooped as she turned in place, like she couldn't quite pull her shoulders all the way back, and had a strangely hobbled way of moving her feet. It wasn't so much that she had difficulty taking steps; To the contrary, she swung each leg out easily like she was kicking something, then swung down onto her extended foot heavily and naturally. Rather it was the smaller details, complete with abrupt stops and subtle hitching motions, which would have given her a limp, except that they plainly didn't cause Aegle any trouble. So much so that it wasn't hard to imagine, just from the confident way with which she moved, that she could use that strange, half limping gait to chase down anyone running conventionally.
As the last of the randomizers clicked into place, so too did Aegle complete her idle revolution. Her emerald eyes cut across the small hexagon in the center of the arena, seeking out her new opponent, before her grin somehow contrived to double in size. "I'm Aegle!" She called out in a voice nearly as loud as her hair colour, which easily cut through the present rumbling of the rising terrain. "S'a pleasure to meetcha!" She released the case she was carrying and let it slide down her back and to the ground, where it struck with an alarmingly deep 'thud'. "Just gimme a sec, kay?! Be ready for ya in just a moment!" Then, without taking her eyes off of Sky, she half stepped back and tapped a button on the case's front with the heel of her steel capped boot. The case promptly cracked open and, splitting apart and reshaping itself in a manner far too complicated for the naked eye, grew up behind Aegle. What it grew into looked like some sinister cross between a particularly sturdy steel coat rack and a headless scarecrow standing with its arms and feet spread apart. Once its transformation, which had sounded like two blenders fighting, was done, a quiet, almost musical, tone emanated from the device. Hearing the tone, Aegle immediately completed her step backward and settled each of her feet into the thinly padded greaves of her battle-ready Oupis. The greaves clanked shut a moment later, guarding everything below Aegle's knees in heavy metal. Meanwhile, her hands slid into place at the end of either of the Oupis' arms. They disappeared into two matching gauntlets that went up to just below her elbows. A dolorous droning abruptly sounded from the heavy dust-pack behind Aegle's shoulders, as the Oupis straightened up and pulled her snug in its rigging, clamping onto something unseen beneath her baggy clothing. "Alright, ready!" Aegle hollered jubilantly. Between her overly baggy clothes and the way the rigging conformed to her body, a casual observer could have been forgiven for thinking Aegle had just put on a pair of, admittedly quite large, punching spikes and heavy metal boots. This was assuming that this same observer hadn't seen the orange haired huntress in her diminutive form just a moment prior. "I hope you'll try your best!" The metal spikes at the end of each of her arms open into three smaller claws, then slammed closed with a sharp clanking sound. "Let's see whatcha got!"
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Post by Sky Richardson on Jun 21, 2016 17:12:26 GMT
Sky had on a broad grin on to match that of his opponents as he made his way out of the stands. Aegle was the rambunctious girl's name, and Sky was pumped to fight her after seeing the girls first fight, and that gruesome mech the girl wore... His grin split his cheeks even further as he hopped the barrier that divided the arena from the stands. His eyes were glued on his opponent, and he was feeling the effects of nervous energy on his stomach, which was thankfully well-fed. As the randomizers whirred, Sky closed his eyes and centered himself, focusing on his breathing as he calmed himself down. His eyes snapped open to fix upon his opponent, who some might easily consider ridiculous. Sky considered his flamboyant opponent neutrally however, not letting his biases impede his perception of her.
The boy, pushing 5'6, was not much to look at. Wavy brownish red hair floated in the wind, slight of stature Sky was no less slight of presence. Dressed in a black hoody and some jeans, the most impressive aspect of his wardrobe was his armor, the most dominating piece of which was his breastplate, adorned with the image of a fierce thunderstorm spitting out droves of rain and lightning. However, the boy also wore vambraces, gauntlets, greaves, boots as well as elbow and knee pads. Sky's smile grew smaller, but lost none of the intensity as he replied to Aegle over the roar of the crowd. I'm Sky! The pleasure is all mine, I assure you! he said with a wave. His knees bent and his hands dipped down to his sides, drawing Wind and Rain from their scabbards, their respective silver and blue glares flashing in the midday sun. He watched passively as the girl suited up in her weapon, his smirk growing fractionally, bursting back into a grin as Aegle expressed her desire for him to try his best. He rolled his neck from side to side, satisfied with the resultant series of cracks. He performed a quick series of stretches, designed to loosen up the muscles.
Ready now too, the boy stood up straight with his feet shoulder width apart, body half angled to the right, bowed deeply to his opponent, vicious grin still plastered onto his face. Lose or no, and right now he had no idea; this was going to be one helluva good fight. Ready! In a few short seconds, the randomizers had made their selections. Half Ice, half forested mountain. In the few seconds left, Sky was busy making a few last minute rapid calculations. He could head into the Ice, where mobility would be a lot harder for the both of them, or they could take it into the mountainous region and play off the height differentials. As he thought, he crouched into a runners stance, and concentrated, bringing a flickering, sky blue spark into existence underneath his each of his metal plated feet, using the repulsive nature of electricity and metal to give himself a speed boost. The instant the bell rang Sky was off like a rocket towards the forested mountain, aiming to lock down the higher grounds-advantage. He was angling towards the mountain in such a manner that he could easily keep Aegle in his vision.
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Post by Aegle Vitus on Jun 22, 2016 0:38:09 GMT
Aegle couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed when, rather than attacking her head on, her opponent instead ran towards her flank without even looking like he planned to engage her. And after she had made it abundantly clear that she wanted to see what 'he got' too. This was a problem in her first fight too; Despite an expressed desire to slug it out in close quarters, her opponent had failed to oblige. She really hoped Sky didn't do the same thing as Teale did. "Aw, come on..." She called out, smile faltering just a tiny bit, as she turned to watch Sky's passage. "I'm not that scary, am I?" Strangely, Aegle presented this inquiry, not as a facetious rebuke, but a literal question. She genuinely sounded concerned that she might be too intimidating which, given that people kept running away from her, wasn't necessarily an unreasonable conclusion to have arrived at. Granted, he wasn't running away from her, per say, but neither was he coming right at her. Instead, he was running for the perimeter of the arena. Having yet to do anything other than track his progress across the concrete, Aegle briefly glanced ahead towards the logical conclusion of his path. Her expression soured a little further. Mountains hardy suited the style of combat she preferred, which anyone who'd seen her fight with Teale would know was as close quarters as physically possible. It wasn't necessarily the verticality that bothered her so much as it was the limited sight lines which the irregular peaks represented. It was so hard to keep a good scrap going when one's opponent kept ducking out of sight. Then again, Aegle's train of thought continued, it would be a neat little challenge, keeping up with someone in mountains. If she thought of it that way, then duking out in such a vertical arena would be a great opportunity to show off her, not inconsiderable, climbing skills. Smile returning, Aegle gave a simple nod in affirmation of her own thoughts, which had managed to wrap up just before Sky reached the border of the mountain cell. "Alright!" She yelled after him, "Mountains it is!"
Without any neat semblance trick to augment her own speed, all Aegle could do was give chase. That being said, she also knew better than take the same route as Sky, and instead set off to intercept him instead. After all, it was a mistake to assume the combat rig, for all its evident weight, wasn't also fast enough to match any huntsman it came up against. With the dolorous howl of numerous heavy duty motors, Aegle lurched right into a full on sprint without all the pre-amble of actually getting up to speed. "Wait for me!" the fast moving, mechanically enhanced huntswoman called out as she lumbered across her side of the arena with alarming alacrity. She made it into the mountain biome just a little after Sky, though her interception course meant she was still nowhere near close enough to engage. "You're really fast!" Aegle called after her opponent, as she weaved deftly beneath a few low hanging branches on a course intended to cut her foe off. "Is that your semblance? S'really neat!" The next branch in her path, too low to duck beneath and too high to safely hurdle, invited a devastating right cross which reduced it to splinters without so much as slowing Aegle down. Another branch met a similar end a moment later. Looking through the sparse foliage that remained between herself and Sky, it occurred to Aegle that, even despite her unimpeded progress through the thin copse at the base of the 'mountain', she wasn't going to reach Sky before he reached the cliffs. Given that she wasn't concerned about engaging him in vertical combat, there was nothing keeping her from simply letting him reach the mountains ahead of her. Then again, there was nothing keeping her from trying to beat him there either.
Casting her eyes about as she ran, Aegle searched for a likely candidate for what she had in mind. Then, just ahead of her, she saw a tree slightly taller and somewhat narrower than the rest. She would need to deviate from her present course a tiny bit, which meant doing something other than charging straight at her opponent, but Aegle decided that the ends justified such desperate means. Ducking and weaving, as well as simply ploughing right through whatever she couldn't avoid, Aegle found a straight path to her goal. This was good, because she was going to need a run up. This would have been a great time to wonder if her plan would work, or even wonder if she could even accomplish what she had planned, but concepts such a doubt and uncertainty were foreign to Aegle Vitus. And then she was at the tree. Flicking her gaze towards the obscured blur that was Sky, half glimpsed through the remaining trees, she decided it was now or never. Then, just because she couldn't resist, Aegle yelled "TIMBER!" as loud as she could.
Moving at a full sprint, the pintsized pugilist delivered a colossal cleaving haymaker to the unfortunate tree just a few feet from its base. The poor plant shuddered and found that a portion of its trunk, vital to remaining upright, had up and disintegrated. In light of this development, what remained of the tree decided it had best have a bit of a lie down to think things over. It fell, amidst the agonized crackling creak that can only come from tortured wood, on a collision course with Sky.
Aegle, meanwhile, had continued on right past the falling tree. She saw now that it was going to be long enough to reach the mountains as it fell, not that she actually expected to hit with it. It would have been nearly impossible for her to adequately aim the falling tree, even under ideal circumstances, but it would hopefully serve as an adequate impediment to Sky's progress if nothing else. Besides, it had been a freaking awesome idea and she couldn't have lived with herself without giving it a try. Grinning like a maniac, her cheeks scraped and nicked from all the brush she'd run through, Aegle finally broke cover at the base of the mountains and searched for somewhere to make an ascent. She didn't have a single idea of what she might do once she actually got to the top, or even to one of the smaller shelves that jutted out at semi-regular intervals along the mountain's face. All she did know was this was where Sky had wanted to fight, and she was determined to make the best of it. Spotting a likely fissure that might accommodate the Oupis, Aegle scrambled up the shale incline leading up to the mountain, before starting to climb. She could see an outcropping that might be big enough to stand on a dozen or so feet up, and that was what she made for.
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Post by Sky Richardson on Jun 22, 2016 18:52:49 GMT
Sky hesitated for less than a half second in his dash as Aegle asked if she was too scary, surprise almost costing him his footing. He adjusted, and called out Scary? Not Hardly! Intimidating? Sure! It wasn't that Sky was too scared to fight Aegle head on vs her and her mech. it was a simple matter of practicality. Sky knew his limitations well, it was why he was able to compete with basic weaponry against far superior technology. Head on, him, his swords and his electricity didn't stand much of a chance vs her hulking strength, even if he was fast and knew how to use momentum. With that mech, all it might take was one misstep, and One misstep, as he had just experienced, could come all to easily. Sky was the furthest thing from a planner you could find, this boy wasn't the sort to plan his next meal, let alone his future. However, one thing Sky excelled at was quick, reactionary thinking in the heat of battle- his mind was bred for tactics. If he could read his opponents mind, Sky would laugh his heart out, not out of ridicule or scorn or anything negative, rather the two combatants were of practically the same mind, though they differed widely in methodology. As he ran towards the mountains, he registered the movement and speed of his opponent. At first, it seemed like he hadn't heard Aegle's remark about his speed, but then he hollered Not my Semblance, nay, merely an application of it! As he now had to maneuver around trees, which he did with remarkable agility for his speed, he had to take his opponents bearing by sound alone. Thankfully, she willingly obliged as she crashed through the forest.
His heart light and beating free, a laugh tears itself from his lips, primal and unbidden. He didn't know what may come mere seconds from now, but he had his tactic, for the moment, which was pretty simple. 1:Beat Aegle to the mountain, as it seemed the fight had semidevolved into a race for the rocky protrusion, and 2:Whether or not he succeeded in beating Aegle to the mountain or not, once there he would have an advantage; what with his speed and agility, the variable elevations the mountain presented would aid greatly in maneuvering around his opponent. Or so he hoped. In his minds eye, backed up by what his ears told him, Aegle was coming towards the mountain diagonally from his left-"TIMBER!" His darting eyes registered a thick tangle of trees up ahead, even as his head turned to the side to assess the present threat his mind was analyzing the variables needed for him to make it through. Gonna be a bit hard with that tree coming towards me, he thought. Two instants later, there was no room for thought, so he flowed into action, his legs bending into a jump, his body flipping around so that he passed swords first through a gap in the tangled copse, feet tucked flat to avoid catching on any roots. He rolled right back onto his feet and into a dead run again, not paying mind to the huge THUD sounding behind him. He too broke out of the treeline with various nicks and scratches, that already seemed like they were beginning to fade without losing his speed. His gaze shot to his foe, making her way up the side of the mountain via a fissure in its side. The thought briefly crossed his mind to zap his opponent while he had the chance, but he brushed the thought from his mind.
Never mind that such notions might very well cost him the match, he was more honorable than that. Before he reached the base of the mountain he leaped while switching his grip on Rain, the black-blue sword he gripped in his right hand. He landed with both feet, as well as Wind and Rain planted. He bounded, using his swords for leverage while utilizing his semblance on his boots, seemingly flying up the slope. As he ran, he searched like a madman for the most ideal place to hold his stand. There, about halfway up there was a large outcropping big enough for the girl and her mech to maneuver around in, but it had a wall and several large crops of rock which he should be able to utilize well to his advantage. As he bounded up the slope, he shot a grin and a wink at Aegle as he passed her. He had a few seconds before she would join him, and their fight would take place. Sky took the few brief moments to scour a couple gauges at random across the surface of the wall, before he heard Aegle clambering up to meet him. He still wore the same fierce grin as the one that he had held at the outset of the match, and the one he would be wearing afterwards, no matter the outcome. Wild look in his eye, he crouched low to the ground, knees almost bent double, Wind and Rain held out to either side in front of him, their tips slightly swaying. He focused beneath his feet, building up two sparks of wild energy and holding them there, his body vibrating slightly due to the pent up force. Shall we dance?
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Post by Aegle Vitus on Jun 22, 2016 23:44:54 GMT
Aegle thought she was making good time as she clambered up the rockface. The Oupis augmented her strength enough to easily lift itself with her in it, so climbing was simply a matter of picking appropriate hand and foot holds. She hadn't expected her opponent to fly past her, and doubly hadn't expected him to be running at the time. It was for this reason that she answered Sky's passing grin and wink with open mouthed astonishment as he zipped rapidly by her. She remained gobsmacked even once he'd mounted the lip above her head and disappeared from sight. "That..." She said flatly, before her grin returned in all its glory, "Was freakin' Awesome!" Aegle slammed one fist into the rock face, then plunged her free hand in a couple of feet higher. She repeated this process, hand over hand, all the way up the cliff side, and soon rose up over and just slightly to the side of the same ledge which Sky had mantled onto. Without ceremony, she retracted both hands and dropped heavily onto the jutting shelf of semi-level rock, just across from her dual wielding foe. Then, because Aegle lacked the fundamental inhibitions which might prevent someone from peaking over a ledge while suspended high above the ground, she cast a cursory look over the edge beside where she'd landed. To her credit, her grin didn't falter as she gauged the thirty foot drop to the craggy shale below, though she did think it hadn't looked nearly so high from ground level. "Shall we dance?" a voice made electric with excitement asked her, drawing Aegle's emerald eyes away from the ledge. "You bet!" She replied, eyes flashing. The Oupis sounded its own approval with a thrumming, mechanical groan, as the small girl inhabiting it brought up her hands and spread her feet. There was something classical in the pose she assumed which, without the added artifice of her exo-suit, clearly resembled a standard boxing guard. Aegle rolled her shoulders, causing even more mechanical muttering from the Oupis, then opened and closed her claws with a definitive clank. "I just gotta see what else you can do!"
A little over fifteen feet separated the pair on the broad ledge, whose almost level surface was infrequently broken by uneven rocks an crenulations. This made it a venue almost perfectly suited to Aegle's preferred method of engagement, that being a headlong charge followed by a furious frontal assault. Another huntsman might have taken account of their surroundings, seen Sky's suspiciously hunkered posture, and rightly hesitated. Aegle didn't. Her surroundings were little more than window dressing while her opponent's readied crouch, though odd, barely raised any warning bells in her mind. She did not, not even for a moment, suspect that Sky had already assumed she would charge straight at him, nor that he was ready for her to do just that. What she saw before her was less an opponent whose expectations were best left subverted, and more an opportunity to see what other neat tricks her foe had up his sleeve. Thus, she saw predictably charging at him, less playing right into his hand, more as a means by which she could force him to do something cool.
So Aegle charged. She hurled herself forward, immediately assumed her top speed, and thundered ahead. To her credit, this wasn't the same heedless sprint with which she'd chased Sky into the Mountain biome. Rather, there was a compacted quality to her charge. Her hands, and the wicked spikes they preceded, did not scythe wildly as she ran, and instead rose into controlled guards just before her face and chest. It was no mean feat, maintaining a standard guard whilst simultaneously running full tilt, but it was evident that Aegle had put a lot of practice into being able to do just that. Her posture remained guarded and poised as she closed the distance, giving nothing away about her intentions. While it might have been obvious that she intended to attack, the precise form this attack would come in remained a closely guarded secret right up until the very last second, approximately four and a half feet from where Sky was crouched. Aegle had closed the intervening distance with truly alarming alacrity, concluding her charge in only a handful of thunderous steps. As her foot touched ground at the conclusion of her final step, the chugging, whining whirring of the Oupis hiked up to an earsplitting tenor, and her hands finally showed her intention. Her left hand fell from its guard, and lashed out with a wicked back hand, while her right followed behind for a cleaving hook. It was a classic closing combination, wherein the left hand distracted the target with a telegraphed swat, while the right cocked and swung close enough behind to punish any attempt to dodge. It wasn't especially flashy, and its utility was somewhat lacking as an opener, but it applied immediate pressure and required very little space and time to execute. It was also a combination which Aegle, huge proponent of extra-close quarters combat that she was, had practiced to the point of perfection. Her left, as it lashed out, perfectly masked all the tell tale movements of her right, and her right was propelled, not merely by Aegle's arms, but by the whole of her body, as it compressed all her saved up momentum into a single, devilishly fine point.
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Post by Sky Richardson on Jun 23, 2016 20:22:55 GMT
Sky blinked as his opponent declared that she wanted to see what else he could do. He would likely have been surprised, except that he was sure of something he had felt in increasing parts since the beginning of the match. This match had the feel of destiny, from the way the moments dropped paradoxically heavy and light at the same time, to the way the whole experience felt not like something new happening, but like something very old. His grin had still not faltered at all. He felt himself loosen, that was the only way he could describe it. His mind, his soul felt light and free in Aegle's presence, the dark and heavy sadness that had insinuated its way to dominating him were banished. His eyes were locked onto hers, and his mind was working overdrive. The quality of the present took on a liquid aspect, seeming to linger on just enough for the difference from normal register in his mind. As Aegle began her charge, Sky waited. Perhaps another might have been calculating the various success rates of the various dodges or courses of action to take, but not he. He was impressed with the quality of her charge, he could tell it was a practiced gesture, and he let out a slight whistle of appreciation for it. Now! as he moved, there was a flash of light and a dull whump, excess energy from his overcharged semblance trick bleeding off.He dipped Rain(left), still held in a reverse grip, into the ground next to him as he sprang forwards and slightly left, and just slightly up into the air using rain as leverage. This placed him directly in the path of the Oupis' backlash, sending him flying. However, Sky controlled his flight path(He activated his semblance between his breastplate and the metal of the Oupis' hand, using the repulsive power to send him flying more to the side. Right after he did this, he started building up power in his swords. Sky was used to being tossed around by people much bigger than him(the advantage of having several older brothers) and he was normally very accident prone so he had a much better grasp of how to control his fall than most.) allowing him to send himself flying into one of the large rock piles near the edge, and angle himself to land against it feet first. He still had electricity built up under his feet, and he used this to avoid breaking his ankles against the rock by slowing his velocity as he landed, and with a much smaller pulse he jumped again, sparks disappearing from beneath his feet as all the energy was either bled out or put into his jump. he flew right back at Aegle, perhaps two seconds after she launched him. Blades first, of course, by now crackling with wild blue electrical energy. As he closed half the distance between them, he let the energy burst out, his sword tips crossed to provide a single channel for it all to travel through, and right after building up electricity under his feet again. The raw electricity(Sky felt envious, and resultantly embarrassed as always) was twice as fast as he, so by the time he had travelled half the 4 remaining feet it slammed into her again bulding up electricity in his swords, and he torqued his body into spinning like a top, swords flashing as the came in for a windmill strike. If unimpeded, the sequence of hits are: Wind(right) would strike first, followed by rain, then a left kick, using the pent up electricity to attract his foot to her armor and use that as leverage to come around with rain and then wind, a right kick, wind and then rain again.
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Post by Aegle Vitus on Jun 24, 2016 1:38:46 GMT
For all her bravado and confidence, there had still been some small and secret part of Aegle which doubted her attack would be successful. The emerald eyed huntress had actually spent the last decade doing everything she could to squash this descending voice, to the point where even valid concerns struggled to piece the shell of self confidence and assurance she'd erected around herself. That being said, that secret voice had still held enough sway in her mind for her for Aegle to be surprised when her punch connected. And it hadn't felt right. She never thought while she fought. Thinking slowed her down, requiring extra steps between cognition and action which the frenetic, moment to moment nature of close quarters combat simply could not allow. Thus, she acted on a complex combination of muscle memory, intuition and instincts which wholly bypassed her conscious mind. Reacting autonomously, Aegle recovered swiftly from her opening barrage, drew herself up in a mixed guard and advanced a step after Sky as he was thrown away from her. It was her inclination to press the attack, to charge ahead and punish Sky's loss of footing, but instinct and training vetoed such brash action an instant before Sky's ploy became apparent. With a sensation like white hot ice sliding up her spine, Aegle excitedly recognized the makings of a counter attack even while her well trained body was moving to deal with it. She adjusted her footing, tensed, and trusted her reflexes to respond to whatever Sky inevitably threw at her, rather than try to predict his method of attack. This was the way she usually dealt with being attacked, and it would have been more than sufficient if Sky had only lunged back at her, even at the high speeds he was capable of. That is, if it hadn't been for the added, unexpected pairing of electricity that accompanied his strike. Contrary to what everyone seemed to believe when they looked at Aegle, The Oupis was not armour. It provided protection only for her hands and feet, while leaving the rest of her body entirely exposed and vulnerable. For Aegle, the added speed and flexibility this afforded her was more than worth the risk, but it also left her far more vulnerable to forms of attack she could not block or counter. Electricity was one such form of attack. She could evade a stab and parry a sword thrust, but there was no amount of mitigation which she might muster against lightning.
Save one.
When the bolt of electricity preceding Sky's actual attack struck Aegle, it sank right through her metal clad hands, raced across her nerves and plunged into her bones. It lit her synapses up like a firework and made her muscles spasm in convulsion. Most alarming of all, it literally made her heart skip a beat. In the split second it took Aegle to realise what was happening, the damage had already been done. Her vision cleared of static just in time to register Sky's opening slash, but not soon enough for her to do anything about it. So Aegle didn't even try. As the sword flashed up towards her torso, Aegle worked deadened muscles to away from the blow. The sudden fidelity of sensation that quickly followed crashed through Aegle like molten steel, clearing her fuddled mind as Wind bit into her ribs just beneath her shoulder. The next blow, delivered by rain, chased any remaining numbness away with a complementary bolt of pain almost exactly along side the first. Taking two blows like that in such quick succession, not to mention a decidedly unhealthy dose of electricity, would have been bad news for any huntsman. Aural protection could render fatal blows as little more than passing annoyances, but to do so meant rapidly depleting one's stamina. That was why Aegle seldom chose to mitigate all incoming damage, and instead focused on damage resistance instead of damage immunity. It meant she got hurt, but it also meant she could last longer. That was kind of what she was banking on when she let Sky get two uncontested hits in. The fact that two blows did wonders for clearing her mind of the cobwebs the electricity had left there was just an added bonus.
Side throbbing, eyes clear, Aegle took note of her opponents movements and, without consciously realising it, knew what the follow up would be. As Sky turned his back on her for the kick, the mechanized huntress faded forward, into the kick, and caught Sky's leg with her side. It hurt. In fact, given that it had struck pretty near to where his swords had hit her just a second before, it hurt quite a lot. But this time, Aegle showed no sign that she even felt it. The pain registered, but as something distant and irrelevant, like it belonged to someone other than her. Part of this was due simply to the fact that kicks hurt less than sword cuts, but Aegle's stoic reaction had far more to do with the faint, fiery glow that had burst into being all across her body. Her arm scythed down, bringing with it all the considerably strength the Oupis could muster, and clamped Sky's leg against her wounded ribs. Having moved into the kick, this meant her vice like grip would fall over his thigh, depriving him of his flexibility and holding him unbalanced on one foot. Even if he could coat himself in electricity, the fiery glow of Aegle's own, subtler semblance would let her weather the onslaught for what she had planned next. For, as she dropped her arm down to capture his leg, so too did she cock back her free hand for the gut punch to end all gut punches. It wouldn't have nearly the raw power of her previous blows, lacking both the momentum and the wind up for each. What it would have, if everything went to plan, was an unobstructed target which couldn't move with the force of the impact.
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Post by Sky Richardson on Jun 24, 2016 20:08:26 GMT
One hit, two hits, but when he came around for the kick, Aegle with a quick burst of motion absorbed the blows and moved to capture his leg, simultaneously rearing her other hand back for a gut punch, ominous tip glinting in the sunlight. With his leg trapped, Sky had no way to control his fall, so he met the ground in a far more intimate manner than he would have liked, the impact of his head hitting the ground sending stars lancing through his vision. When the dancing lights faded, he found himself staring directly into Aegle's eyes, not even caring about the deadly spike pointed straight at his gut. One misstep, he thought wryly. You got me, he said jovially, as if he weren't at the complete mercy of his opponent. His grin threatened to split his face in half as he sheathed his swords and half joking threw his hands up in surrender, before one hand went behind his head to rub his neck as a laugh, pure and clear bubbled up from within his soul, while his other hand grasped onto Aegle's arm to stabilize himself. That sure was something, he said, excited gleam in his eyes Thanks!. There was so much that he wanted to express as he looked into Aegle's eyes, but as they gazed at each other the words he was grasping for fled from him. The moment had a crystalline aspect to it and each moment seemed to drag on far longer than it should have. He was aware of his rapidly beating heart, of the wind caressing his hair and skin, the heat from the midday sun a blessing on his tired muscles, aware of each feeling to be had, and yet all that dimmed in comparison to what was stirring in his heart. His cheeks were now slightly stained red, and his mouth was open as he was still trying to fit the words in that he so wanted to express. His eyes dropped away from Aegle as he managed This dance of ours has stirred a hunger in my heart that refuses to be sated. Aegle, I can think of no partner I would rather have than you as I go through this life. Would you take a loser like me to Dance with? His eyes anxiously returned to her face to gauge her reaction to his forwardness, which had surprised even him even as he closed his statement with a wink, a waggle of his eyebrows and a flash of a grin; though the grin, obviously happy and joyous, had a rather haunted aspect to it. He was worried about how she would react, and even though his cheeks were even redder now as he waited, his entire presence was focused and at ease, which he marveled at. His actions were true expressions of his heart, so he would not regret them. Though, it occurred to him now, it might not have been the brightest idea he'd ever had to announce his feelings for her while she had his impalement(or, Monty forbid, dismemberment!) literally at hand, in front of thousands of people...
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Post by Aegle Vitus on Jun 25, 2016 0:40:21 GMT
Aegle had been prepared for any number of things as she wound up and prepared to put a sizeable dent in Sky's aura and stomach. Like just about everything else in her arsenal, grabbing Sky's leg to leave him vulnerable to counter attack relied quite heavily on maintaining momentum. Giving her opponent so much as a second to regroup meant leaving herself open to reprisal, and even Aegle didn't want to get hit anymore than was absolutely necessary. Her side hurt quite enough already, thank you very much. Before she could complete her strike and, if not shatter Sky's aura, at least wind him enough to discourage further acrobatics, the pinned young man threw up his hands in submission. This was one of the few reactions Aegle had not been prepared for. "You got me." He told her, grinning from ear to ear. Such a response fell so far outside the realm of expectation that even Aegle, single minded to the point of blunt force trauma, was stunned into inaction. Before she could even adequately comprehend what Sky was trying to do, her opponent continued. "That sure was something. Thanks!" It bears mentioning that Aegle had been in a lot of fights before this one. Fights which had been and fights that had been bitter, against friends looking to train, cold killers seeking only to carry out a mission, and just about everything in between. She'd fought human, faunus, androids and Grimm, and never once had she been thanked. Still trying to comprehend his apparent surrender, Aegle wasn't even sure where she could put the idea of being thanked in the mental junk drawer that was her brain, let alone figure out how she felt about it. It was like she had been handed a square peg, but had only round slots to put it in.
At this point, it should be noted that Aegle had a singularly open face, upon which whatever she was feeling at any given moment could be read. It was an unfiltered reflection of her inner feelings and, at that moment, it was filled with the nearest thing to uncertainty that Aegle had felt in half a decade. "This dance of ours..." Sky told her, capitalizing on her stunned silence to get a few more words in, "Has stirred a hunger in my heart that refuses to be sated." His eyes remained on her's, even as the anxiety and discomfort showed elsewhere on his face and posture. "Aegle..." Sky continued with evident gravity in his otherwise jovial tone. "I can think of no partner I would rather have than you as I go through this life. Would you take a loser like me to Dance with?"
A hush filled the arena, as the audience waited on an answer. Most of the spectators were just as stunned as Aegle was, but the more imaginative or romantically inclined among them were already filling in the blanks with their own, personalized stories of star crossed love and destined meetings. Some of them wondered if Sky had been watching Aegle from afar, and decided to take this as his chance to confess his feelings to her. Others, the more cynical of the watchers, speculated that this was all some trick to put the mechanized power house off balance.
For her part, Aegle had finally reconciled the events of the past few seconds, though not to the point where she really understood what had just happened. Rather, she had managed to organize everything so she could begin trying to understand it all. "W-wait, just hang on a sec..." She said uncertainly, as redness rose in her own cheeks to mirror Sky's. She wasn't the sort of girl who blushed easily, nor did she blush often, but then she wasn't the sort of girl who'd ever had an dubiously charming boy with an infectious smile confess his feelings to her either. She was trying really, really hard not to think too hard about that little detail, given that her attention was already taxed to its limit just trying to catch up with events as they unfolded. "I don't think you're a loser." A agitated murmur rose among the hushed spectators at this dissonant declaration. "I mean..." Aegle continued, the faint glow of her own semblance still gently smoldering across her body, "I know I'm about to punch you, and I'm gonna do it pretty hard, and it's probably gonna really hurt, but that doesn't mean you should throw in the towel..." Gaining momentum, growing more certain, a hint of reassurance entered Aegle's tone. "I mean, you're pretty strong, aren't you? You could still win this, right?" A smile, uncertain at first but steadily growing broader and more confident, spread across her lips. "Come on, I know you can do it." She told Sky encouragingly, "You just gotta buck up and try your hardest, and I'm sure you can pull through." For someone sharing greeting card platitudes, Aegle sounded as though she sincerely believed every single word. Her eyes danced as she spoke and, once she got going, her voice never faltered. All this, in spite of the patch of wet red slowly staining her hoody where Sky's twin blades had struck moments earlier. "Whatta ya say? Give it your best shot." She urged, smiling and blushing and radiating confidence, "I believe in you."
It should say something about Aegle that, though Sky had just confessed his feelings to her, she thought it more important to address his expressed feelings of inferiority to her. She would get around to giving him an answer, but a pep-talk, in her mind, took precedence.
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Post by Sky Richardson on Jun 26, 2016 23:18:12 GMT
It was certainly an awkward position. His left leg trapped in Aegle's left arm, his right leg dangling, right arm gripping her left and his right arm still behind his head, while her left handspike was pointed straight at his gut. Sky's eyes still had not left hers as he devoured each moment with anxious uncertainty. W-wait, just hang on a sec... she said with uncertainty. Oh, no. Certain of a vicious rebuttal delivered with either words or a spike, or perhaps both, he closed his eyes, cringing slightly. He felt a familiar heaviness begin to settle itself back onto his shoulders. So sure was he that what happened next took him by surprise more than anybody. I don't think you're a loser. The words dropped heavy into the silence, splitting his fears and worries open like a watermelon. His eyes snapped open, widening fully in pleasant surprise and wonder, his jaw dropping slightly. I mean... she paused slightly, Sky was hanging onto her every word, as was the entire audience. I know that I'm about to punch you, and I'm gonna do it pretty hard, and it's probably going to really hurt, but that doesn't mean that you should just throw in the towel. Sky's lips quirked into a smile as they stared at each other, even as a small voice in his head told him that she was right. He laughed a crazy mans laugh, this woman was really giving him a pep talk!
Her voice growing more certain, the words came out stronger, more meaningfully. I mean, you're pretty strong, aren't you? You could still win this, right? He considered this as he broke their eye contact, his eyes finding the big hologram where their auras were displayed. His was about half left, just a little over. His eyes returned to hers, he could think of only one way. Behind his head, in his clenched fist he created as big a spark as he could fit without excess light leaking out, and he sent the spark whirling around its own tail. Aegle smiled, slowly at first but growing in confidence. Come on, I know you can do it, she said earnestly, her words sparking a fire into his Soul. You just gotta buck up and try your best, and I'm sure you can pull through. Her words, though corny and somewhat clichéd, were etched with sincerity and struck Sky harder than any fist could. Maybe. Their eyes danced together, and a small part of his mind was dimly aware of the audience at the edge of their seats, eating up every morsel. Whatta ya say? Give it your best shot, she urged, smiling and blushing prettily, her confidence infectious as her aura gently flickered against her body.
I believe in you. Those last four words smashed him against himself like a sword on an anvil, her words the hammer that strengthens and straightens, and removes iniquities. Indeed, the fact that Aegle had set aside his confessed feelings for him, and hers as well in order to address his feelings of inadequacy struck sky to the bone. It spoke volumes about her, reaffirming and renewing that which he had learned of her soul in their brief fight. He thought it would have been harder to do, but he set aside his own personal feelings, they had no place in this matter. He would return to them later, after their dance was completed. Calm, and singularly focused Sky smiled a small smile that radiated more power, more confidence than any other smile hed ever worn. He nodded firmly and said
"Aegle? You're awesome. I meant every word."
Then, eyes still locked, he nonchalantly brought his hand out from his head and opened it, closing his eyes at the very last second to avoid the very bright flash of light. With the same motion of his hand he touched attempted to touch Aegle's right foot and pushed the pent up power out, releasing with a small boom the repulse between his gauntlet and her boot sending both flying backwards if it was successful. Utilizing the remaining energies in his gauntlet he used his semblance to aid the motion of his hand, bringing it in a circle around his head and back across his torso with as much physical force as he could muster in order to block the punch he was sure was coming.
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Post by Aegle Vitus on Jun 26, 2016 23:50:37 GMT
With an unconsciously shy smile, it seemed as if Aegle had not considered what the immediate ramifications of her pep talk would be, IE: An immediate continuation of hostilities. She'd wanted that, when she had been encouraging Sky not to give up, but clearly hadn't done the extra leg work necessary to actually prepare for it. Thus, when light exploded across her vision, a dumbstruck expression quickly blanketed her face, right before her foot, firmly planted in the earth, grated back two whole feet in a sudden, wrenching jerk that strained muscles and metal alike. To her credit, Aegle was only caught flat footed for a moment, and determination immediately entered her watering, unfocused eyes. She tried to react quickly enough, to conclude the attack which she'd already made evident moments prior, but the main problem with letting your opponent know what you were going to do was giving them a chance to react. Thus, it shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise when, muscles and motors crying out, Aegle's attempt to skewer Sky through the stomach was indelicately deflected. The point of her spiked fist was thrown just enough off course that it tore a hole in Sky's shirt while wholly missing his side. Next, it plunged into the stone beneath and cut a deep gouge across its rocky face.
Attempting to blink the blindness out of her eyes, Aegle found herself in a very awkward position, thanks to her dislodged foot and over extend fist. Her acute blindness only made recovery that much more difficult, as she recovered her hand from beneath Sky, attempted somewhat clumsily to throw him away from her with the leg she was still clutching, only to drop awkwardly onto one knee and wholly lose her grip. Grunting, confused and disorientated, Aegle lashed out at where Sky, so far as she could tell, had last been. In fairness to Aegle's skills, even despite her uprooted state and utter lack of eyesight, her punches remained controlled and precise, though they were really only as effective as what they managed to connect with.
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Post by Sky Richardson on Jun 27, 2016 1:56:07 GMT
It was ridiculous, Sky knew it, but the only thing he could think after deflecting Aegles punch was: Oh no, not my hoodie! The pliable, stretchy-tight material had been with him for two years now. He didn't remember where he had gotten it from, either. Then, he considered the spike stuck into the rock a hairsbreadth away from his side and promptly forgot his worries. Next thing, he rose into the air and slightly to the side and felt aegles grip on his leg loosen. Instantly he lashed out with his freed foot, not kicking Aegle so much as pushing off her, at the same time he let go of her arm and created as big a spark as he could in less than a second between her arm and his hand and both of his feet. Which wasn't very much at all, just enough to send his hand slightly back, though he would continue to build up energy under his feet. He would flip in the air so he was facing down, bringing his left arm around to the ground, bringing himself into a handspring he would jump as far away from Aegle as he could. Not a moment too soon either, as Aegle lashed out with her fists even in her akward position, the first punch landing less than solidly but more than enough to send Sky into an unexpected spin, causing him once more to encounter the ground in a far more intimate manner than he would have liked.
Untangling himself as fast as he could without causing himself to trip over his swords. Seeing his opponent still disoriented he wasted no time, quickly sinking into a crouch and then jumping, releasing all the energy under his feet to push him up 12 feet in the air. Drawing his swords, he arced towards Aegle, building up a charge under his get he would crouch into a ball as he fell feet first towards Aegle, he would spin Wind and then rain across her back, then use the electricity under hisfeet to try and get out of her range as fast as he could.
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Post by Aegle Vitus on Jun 27, 2016 3:53:14 GMT
"Ha!" A cry of victory burst out of Aegle's mouth when she felt her fist connected, and heard the tell tale 'whump' of something heavy and fleshy strike the ground just a few feet away. She squinted vainly as bruised purple after image, depicting, of all things, Sky on his back, bobbed super imposed over her vision. She caught snippets of movement, heard the tell tale crackle of electricity indicative of Sky semblance, and lunged forward. Once again, she executed her closing one-two combo, but this time she struck only empty air. It would have been an understandable response, had Aegle taken even just a moment to puzzle over this conundrum. She hadn't heard Sky backing away, couldn't see anything moving in her pained line of sight, and thus had no conception of where he might have gone. It would have been an understandable reaction, had Aegle's brain not flipped back into the reactionary, impulsive mindset which close quarters fighting so often called for. Instead, she strained her ears and, still trying to blink the figment of Sky's grin out of her eyes, adopted guarded stance. As impulsive and single minded as Aegle was, even she was able to recognize that her usual, mobile form of combat was probably not well employed while blind and elevated. What she intended was actually a far riskier plan anyway.
As she stood there, Aegle took short account of her injuries up until that point. She was burnt where the lightning had struck her, and could feel the stinging throb where it radiated across her forearms. She was also sporting two injuries on her side, one of which might have been bleeding. Her aura had done some work muting all of those hurts, but had allowed every single one to get through in some capacity as well, and they all hurt. The pain remained disconnected however. Despite the ache in her side, which might have been indicative of a broken rib, she took deep and regular breaths. Despite the burns on her hands and arms, her limbs and fingers moved with as much delicacy and dexterity as always. This phenomenon was one of her tricks, one of the few things that kept her from being a dumb pair of fists, and it was a trick she'd already employed to score one hit on Sky. Hopefully he would not have learned from it yet. That was why, despite hearing the crackling of energy above her, accompanied by the telltale of blade slicing through air, Aegle made no apparent move to defend herself. Instead, she closed her eyes, drew a deep breath, and let the faint glow dancing across her skin grow a little brighter. Then she turned, and as she turned, she swung. Sky's swords struck Aegle in the chest, slicing twin gouges into her modified hoody that showed the black and slightly bloodstained tank top beneath. The report of pain flashed like a firework in Aegle's mind, but she ate the full force of the impact without so much as breaking stride. And she swung high. She had used the impact to guess where Sky was as she swung, betting just about everything she had on being faster to retaliate than he was to retreat. Given that she had picked the moment that he struck her to strike at him, it seemed like the odds were in her favor. The surprise had to count for something. After all, what sort of mad woman would let herself get hit just to have a chance at hitting her opponent?
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Post by Sky Richardson on Jun 28, 2016 2:35:17 GMT
It was one of those weird bubbles of time in which it seemed to drag on forever. Just as wind was about to bite into aegles back, rain following on its tail, she turned into his attack, tanking the blows to return her own colossally devastating blow. As fast as her punch crept towards him, electricity moved faster, but only just due to his human reflexes. He extended his legs against the sparks under his feet. He took the blow just under his groin, the spike ripping open the insides of his thighs and glanced off his steel cup, actually piercing it a little and ripping it off with the force, using enough aura to protect his vitals. The blow caused stars to dance across his vision, but to his credit did not make him forget his battle instincts. Her blow had sent him into a spin and he aided it with his body, his torso still curled up, sending Rain glancing down her sides and his feet slamming into her face with wind coming right back around, and then assuming she didn't grab him and slam him to the ground like a ragdoll she would gets face full of electricity as he would jump as far as he could as fast as possible.
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