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Tournament Round 1 - Canace vs. Marcus; Opening Round
Topic Started: Mar 27 2009, 07:56 PM (293 Views)
Jet Blackbeard
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aka Bear
Yafutoma - Tenkou Shrine

As part of Yafutoman's new relaxed attitude towards outsiders many citizens from other nations are now welcomed in their lands. In keeping with this cultural exchange the Tenkou have agreed to sponsor a fighting tournament in which warriors of any race are invited to compete.

The Tenkou Shrine is the setting for this tournament. Its wide stone platform has been washed clean with water blessed by a priest of the Blue Moon and now stands ready to receive the participants. Members of the Tenkou are seated outside of its borders to observe western fighting styles.

Canace is up first. The deadline is one week from today. Make your entry post and the first bout of the opening rounds will commence.
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Bellflower
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Shotgun Hero!
Turning down a challenge like this was something Canace simply did not do. The moment the young pirate had heard about the tournament hosted by the Tenkou she'd rushed in to sign herself up, putting her name down on the list before most of the other participating. What setting could be more perfect for displaying her skills than this? Before these great warriors she would demonstrate everything she had learned over the years and prove just how powerful her blades were.

Well, that was what she hoped would happen, anyway. Canace was a confident young woman when one or both of her swords were in her hands, but several times in the past that confidence had proved to be her undoing. Getting too smug about ones abilities could cost herself the battle. A calm, focused attitude was what was required here, as in all fights, and she'd learned from her mistakes. Never taking any advantage she'd gained for granted and never losing her temper... that was key.

Canace breathed in deeply and nodded to herself. Considering who her opponent was it was doubly important, because he knew her very well indeed. Marcus Sadlaner was to be the one she would face today.

Canace slid her favoured sword, Black Nova, from its sheath and gripped it firmly in her left hand. As always it felt like a part of her, an extension of her own body. This blade would not let her down; it was a beautiful crafted, well balanced weapon which perfectly suited her style. Any mistakes would be her own, not the fault of what she now held.

She performed a few experimental slashes through the air before taking on a stance, readying herself for what was to come. At least she knew Marcus would be a good opponent. They'd never faced one another in the past, not even in training battles, but had fought side by side plenty enough that she knew just what he could do.

This was going to be very enjoyable indeed.
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Gordreg
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He hadn’t intended to be walking into the arena today. Originally, he was to have stood by the sidelines as a second. Captain Cyrus Demittebar of the Ursa had asked the favour of him back in Valua, and Marcus had reluctantly agreed for the sake of their old friendship. For the past two weeks when not in the Captain’s chair of the Crylhound he’d been helping Cyrus prepare as they’d journeyed toward Yafutoma, arranging Cyrus’ practice schedule and his time in the training cages, managing his intake of food and his exercise routine, arranging sparring partners from amongst the Crylhound’s crew and even on occasion duelling himself. Cyrus had practiced against weapons of every class, from Marcus’ familiar and favoured rapier up to the vast combat-mace that had been Cryrus’ own weapon of choice. Marcus had worked himself hard to help his old comrade reach the peak physical state to take part in the duel.

And then Cyrus had slipped upon the boarding ramp whilst in the midst of disembarking, breaking his leg in two places as he landed upon the quay and putting himself out of the contest in traction before it had even started.

Marcus closed his eyes briefly, and scowled silently to himself as he thought of all that time wasted. But the worst part was, as the established second and signatory to Cyrus’ registration, it was now up to him to meet Cyrus’ tournament obligations.

Cautiously, Marcus Sadlanar re-opened his eyes and stared around at the Tenkou shrine. His pale blue gaze passed along the row of waiting Tenkou, and Marcus wondered if they had come for the spectacle or for the blood. Right now most of the watchers appeared surprisingly stoic; if this had been the Valuan coliseum then Marcus was in no doubt that their audience would have already been braying for blood. At least these men were warriors, even if they were warriors of questionable past loyalty. At least he hoped they would look on this fight as an instruction to learn from, and not just as simple amusing cruelty. Not if the cruelty was going to happen to him, at any rate.

And then he looked across the stone platform, and got his first sight of whom it was that his fight was to be against. A familiar face; a very familiar face. And quite a familiar body as well, now he came to think of it… his face twisted into a smirk as he contemplated the irony of it all, and he gave the figure opposite a nod of recognition.

“Well… there’s a surprise.” He stated, looking her over. Canace already had her weapon drawn, and Marcus could remember just how well he’d seen her use it in the past. Calmly, he likewise drew his own weapon, and gave it an experimental slash through the air before pulling it close to his chest and holding it there. The weight still seemed balanced, though with all Cyrus’ training against various weapons, Marcus wondered if he’d gotten enough practice with his own.

But even if not, there wasn’t time to correct that now. Keeping his rapier held close to his chest in his right hand, Marcus kept his eyes upon Canace, focussing them upon her, watching to see how she would start off. His left hand, he held upon his waist… his fingers prickling as they felt the shifting energies of the moonstone nearby seeping slowly into him, his body starting to feel more invigorated as he focused himself for the upcoming battle.

He smirked again, and gave a slow wink to his opponent as he adapted an appropriate stance.

“Of all the duels, on all the islands, in all the world, you had to walk into mine…”
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Bellflower
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Canace raised a slender eyebrow, snorting. It was typical of Marcus to make that kind of remark.

"Don't ya even think of saying anything about fate..." she muttured.

The arena was clear and without anything to hide behind, making this a test of pure swordsmanship. She was fine with this. Since she was a teenager she'd been devoted to mastering her blades, working carefully under her master until she broke free into the skies and honed her skills against real opponents who were usually looking to kill her. Today was not a day in which her life was under threat, but her pride sure was. To be defeated by Marcus would probably change the balance of their relationship somewhat, and she didn't want that to happen. She liked things how they were.

The young pirate looked Marcus up and down briefly, checking to see if there was anything different about him. Stance was the same as ever, his body structure was no bulkier or skinnier than she remembered. That didn't mean he hadn't learnt a few new tricks, but it gave her an idea of where to start.

"Moons... empower me!" she yelled suddenly.

An aura of red energy briefly flared up around her and she felt the warm tingle of her Increm spell flood through her body. Black Nova ready in her hand, she darted quickly forward and slashed lightly into her opponent's left shoulder before side-stepping and preparing to lunge at his side.
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Gordreg
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Marcus gave a wry smile at his opponent's reaction.

"Oh, I hadn't even considered it... until just now. Perhaps I should, then?" he queried lightly, taking a few careful steps as he did so.

The stonework of the courtyard appeared quite solid and well-prepared to Marcus; the Tenkou had quite evidently spent some time sweeping it down and washing away any vestige of dirt. Yet the stonework was dry; If washed recently, then the high winds of Yafutoma had done an exemplary job of carrying away any traces of moisture. All this preparation had left them with an arena unfettered of loose stone or puddles - and that meant neither Canace nor his self would have to mind their footing much.

With open ground, that meant that the scenery would likely favour Canace. Marcus' lip twisted - ideally, he would have preferred a few obstacles around the place. Even just a few boxes or fence posts might have leant this bout an additional tactical edge on which to compete; but as things stood there were none. So this would be raw swordplay, stripped of both the strategic edge required in bloody combat, and of the elegant formality present in a civilised duel.

He looked Canace slowly up and down as she did likewise, taking a pointed moment to admire what he saw. She didn’t seem to have changed too much from his memories – perhaps her hair was a little longer, but not significantly enough to have been anything too much more then a few extra days without visiting a barber. If anything else had changed significantly, then it had either changed right back again or else changed somewhere that wasn’t usually visible…

A flare of red energy broke Marcus from his ponderings, his grip about the hilt of his rapier tightening gently as Canace’s body was also invigorated by Increm. That he had half expected. But a quick lunge forward so soon after Increm hadn’t, and the strike caught him off-guard. Canace’s blade slashed quickly, cutting a quick tear through the outer sleeve of his uniform and through the skin beneath. Marcus winced, his teeth clenching as he took a backward step and bought his rapier around. Canace was no longer there, however; but he could see her stepping sideways in preparation and took a sideways step himself.

The distance between them increased only momentarily; but Marcus stepped to the side in preparation for Canace’s lunge and slashed to cut at her belt as she came forward. He stepped back again quickly, and raised both sword-arm and rapier to parry and turn aside the expected retaliation.
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Bellflower
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The slash at her belt was not expected, and thus she was unable to stop it; it cut straight though the leather and into the skin behind it. Canace felt a brief flash of pain and the wetness of blood dribble down her skin, but that wasn't what worried her. It was a minor wound and something she could easily deal with.

What worried her was the fact that her trousers now felt very loose indeed. They were still secure around her waist, just about, but it wouldn't take much for them to fall to the ground. Was Marcus hoping to get himself a bit of a show in this fight? The young pirate woman felt a genuine flare of anger. If that happened, she'd be humiliated in front of the crowd of Tenkou that were watching! What kind of reputation would she have left amongst them after that? Being known as the 'Pirate Cinderella' who ran away from the ball was bad enough.

Perhaps this wasn't going to be as enjoyable a fight as she'd thought it would be. Canace scowled, blue eyes shining bright with irritation. Why did this man always cause so many problems for her?

He'd stepped back and raised his sword up, obviously preparing for their swords to clash once more. Canace brought her own blade around, moving as if she was going to strike with it... but instead, as she stepped into range, the sandy-haired woman stamped down as hard as she could possibly manage onto his left foot.

It was something she'd done to him many times in the past. A blow she'd used to punish him when he'd done something lecherous or rude, though never had she utilised it with such force before. It didn't occur to her that there was a chance he'd not slashed at her belt just to see some skin. All she knew was that this was a battle, he'd offended her, and he was going to pay for it.

"That was a move ya'll regret making!" she yelled. "What under the moons made ya think it would be a good idea?"
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Gordreg
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The expected retaliation came, but not in the expected form. Instead of a blade striking toward him to be turned aside as he’d planned for, the move was made as a bluff that Marcus fell right into. The blade of his rapier had been well placed to push back or turn aside a clash of their swords; but it made no provision for a single boot rising briefly upward then bringing itself down heavily upon his foot. He heard a slight crunch at the moment of impact; either a small toe-bone breaking or else cartilage popping one out of joint; and gritted his teeth just in time to brace himself for the waves of pain coursing quickly up the length of his leg.

It hurt like blazes, but the pain at least was mostly bearable, and Marcus considered himself lucky that Canace had gone with her old habit rather then using her sword in the same place. A broken toe or two was far preferable to having one’s extremities lopped off slowly one after another by a sword; or even to having a great gash torn within the flesh of one’s leg by that same weapon. Angering Canace hadn’t been a part of his plan – he’d hoped to try to immobilise her before much blood was shed, or at least make movement that little bit more difficult in the ensuing fight – but perhaps it had paid off a little for him anyway, considering anything else that Canace might have done rather then stomp at him.

But in any case, it was time to abandon the mentally of a formal duel. Both himself and Canace had long since scored their first blood, and he couldn't quite bring himself to step up his duelling strokes by thrusting for her heart.

Despite the pain coursing in his foot and the throbbing of the bleeding wound on his Shoulder, Marcus forced himself to smile toward Canace.

“The fact that it seems to have worked for me, perhaps?” he answered with a smirk. Standing face to face with the woman standing forcefully upon his left foot, he looked her in her bright angry eyes, and winked quickly.

And then he struck out, his left fist balled as it left the empty holster at his hip for the underside of her extended knee; his rapier – hand bought backward from the failed defensive stance to try and collide his weapon’s hilt with the hand that held Black Nova.
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Jet Blackbeard
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aka Bear
Per Aurora's withdrawal Gordreg wins by default. Marcus will advance to the second round to face the winner of the Colaya/Vadik bout.
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