"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
better beware, i go bump in the night; devil-may-care with a lust for life.
Let us establish the leadership now, @[Rael Fire].
With permission of Magnus, we will fight for the position Head of War of Tephra.
If I win, you will serve beneath my leadership - and if I lose, I will serve beneath yours.
Terms:
- Two posts each.
- Two attacks/counter-attacks per post.
- No complete dodges; some damage must be taken.
- No substitutions.
- Three days between posts.
- One extension allowed.
- Traits allowed. *
- I will go first.
* Ellyse only currently has her wings; her bone-bending has not been returned to her and will not be used in battle.
better beware, i go bump in the night; devil-may-care with a lust for life.
The sun breaks free over the sky, but her once weary eyes had been open for some time - the gentle stirring of color in the otherwise dark blanket of stars pulls at the awakening horizon. Thoughtfully, she watches as the soft pastels of periwinkle and tangerine paint its canvas, the sun gently peeking up over the plain, shedding light as far as the eye can see. The dawn has arrived, and with it a deep, penetrating feeling of anxious enthrallment that settles deep within the hollows of her sinewy bones. Her hazel eyes are bright, wide and eager - her limbs are flexible and spry from an early morning jaunt, in spite of the frigidity of frost that remains clinging to the dying brush beneath her. Summer has begun to wane, and a brisk breeze carries through, weaving through the delicate and tightly woven feathers of her wings.
She spreads the breadth of her own wingspan, bending and twisting the delicate bone within as her blunt teeth gently tug and preen at the bright feathers that bristle within the light breeze that has begun to sweep through the barren plain before her, rustling the drying stalks of wheat as autumn moves in, heavy as sin. An uneasiness pulls at the fibers of her being, and slowly it begins to crawl across her caramel skin, leaving her agitated and impatient. She aches to begin, and a growl of frustration rattles within her throat as her long legs begin to pace to and fro, adrenaline surging within her veins. To remain still would be a foolish move, one she refuses to make.
Leaving the sun to rise behind her, she can faintly trace the approaching shadow of another in front of her, emerging from the thick of pine and oak that line the plain - though Rael Fire is built with delicate finesse and with similar height, she is no match for the hefty brawn of her own broader chest and powerful legs (or so she thinks, in her humble opinion). A wry smirk reaches her whiskered lips, and not a word is spoken as her hazel eyes meet with hers. Words were unnecessary, and only stood idle in place of action.
With a sudden lurch to the right, her powerful legs begin to churn, pushing her into a gallop. With her wings held tightly against her sides and the length of her neck outstretched, she encircles the other female with a pivot to the left, widely rounding her flank to make an effort to avoid any backlash from her hindlegs. She hardly anticipates that she will remain idle (again, what a foolish move it would be for anyone - but if Rael Fire does maintain her stance, it is all the more convenient for Ellyse), and she seeks to align herself to be parallel with the other female.
Seizing the opportunity, she tenses the brunt of her shoulder and lunges left towards the mousy gray female, attempting to push the force of her weight into her to knock her off balance, or to perhaps bruise the tender muscle beneath. In the best of circumstances, it could result in soreness - maybe even a limp, to hinder her movement.
Though slightly jarred herself (and with a dull ache in her own shoulder), she then relies upon the heavily muscled strength of her own hindlegs, launching herself up into a rear with both of her forelegs flailing out towards her. While her hooves are hardly more than heavy or blunt, the sheer power behind their striking force could be enough to batter her barrel, cracking or bruising a rib with any shred of luck, but hopefully at least bruising and damaging a vital abdominal muscle.
While heaving breaths emerge from her parted lips, her long legs again meet with the dry clay beneath her, her hazel eyes watching the other warily as she launches her pace into a loping trot, rounding herself to face her once again. With fiery eyes, a smug sneer and with baited breath, she awaits the next move of her mousy gray opponent. Give me your worst.
Ellyse spent little time getting into the fight. She managed to stay on her feet, but her shoulder would certainly bruise to an ugly purple - having a horse slammed into you never stayed hidden completely. She had whirled before Ellyse's next lash, and it hit her on the flank. She lifted her leg; it was intact, but is would be painful soon.
She charged, biting at the golden mare, nipping part of her left wing before charging to her front.
{Had to post a partial post because we had to travel - here's the full version}
Ellyse spent little time getting into the fight. She managed to stay on her feet, but her shoulder would certainly bruise to an ugly purple - having a horse slammed into you never stayed hidden completely. She had whirled before Ellyse's next lash, and it hit her on the flank. She lifted her leg; it was intact, but is would be painful soon.
She charged, biting at the golden mare, nipping part of her left wing before charging to her front. Wonder what strategies she'll use.. She wonders for a moment as she stands still. She uses potential surprise to lunge behind her, skirting her kicking range, and lunging at her neck on the right side.
better beware, i go bump in the night; devil-may-care with a lust for life.
Breathless though she may have been, her mind has already surged ahead, hazel eyes burning with a bruising flame as she traces each feminine line of the one before her. She had observed her in silence for many hours over many days, even long before her own biting words had given gentle promise to a war fought with gnashing teeth and flailing limbs.
Though Rael Fire had been cradled beneath the proverbial wing of a scarred King, it had become evident in no time that she lacked the refinement of strategy or the knowledge of basic weaknesses in battle - she, herself, had little to stake a claim to in battle experience but she had spent exuberant amounts of time quietly delving into the complex bone and muscular structure of the most acrid corpses over the years. Those that sat most rancid, drifting in the wading tide, rotting among the dried, salty bones of ancestors long passed had been her favorite.
It was her own fascination with death, and her curiosity with manipulating both the brittle bones and the torn, but sinewy muscles of the dead that had led her to better understand how to cause damage; how to maim. She had seen enough fatal injuries to both know what could merely bruise and what could end the life of another, though she hardly desired any such demise for Rael Fire - she could be a powerful ally; a companion in time - but surely she knew too little of anatomy and diplomacy to lead. Perhaps, in time, she could be proven wrong.
She could not deny the flash of writhing pain as the other lunged towards her tightly coiled wing, flattened teeth gripping the hollow bones and feathers in a nip, sending adrenaline and anguish through the length of her barrel and to the very pit of her stomach. A grimace of disdain and dismay soon dismantles the once smug sneer that had previously graced her whiskered lips - though painful, a nip was hardly crippling or engaging. Mere seconds go by and the grulla female has withdrawn, charging towards her front.
With such little distance between them, only their shoulders are engaged and not with any impressive impact - her left shoulder touches with Rael Fire's right, and she pushes forward with as much strength as she can muster within her hind legs to push her off and to gain leverage. The sudden ache from her weight pressed so forcefull into her aches within her tiring bone, but her mind is racing too rampantly to pay much mind to the inevitable soreness now (though it wears on her).
Alas, Rael Fire then makes a fatal mistake - with her eyes curiously lost in thought and her posture at a complete stand still, she has left herself vulnerable and open. A lack of movement is a fatal flaw, one that a furious and fiery Ellyse cannot ignore. Taking a step back, she again launches herself back onto her hind legs, the full length of her wingspan still hidden away but each opens just enough to balance her as her legs strike out towards the delicate skull structure of the other female. Having stood still for even a moment too long, Rael Fire has left her cranium and neck in a compromising position, and the winged female lashes out with wild abandon, hoping to strike an eye socket, or to at least make contact with her throat.
If successful, she could cause permanent damage to her eye - a risk any true warrior would take in battle to defend his or her own, and so she targets her with little remorse. If Rael Fire were to veer away, or to turn her cheek, Ellyse might instead bruise and damage the delicate tissue of her neck, causing eventual stiffness and lameness. Though her bones are tucked away beneath layers of muscle, it would hardly be easy to maintain her composure with such damage to the tissue beneath.
Eventually, gravity pulls her once more towards the dusty clay below, but before she can regain her bearings, the other female has somehow managed to encircle her entirely. She lunges towards her neck, but she does not seem to have any particular attack in mind. What had she been attempting to lunge at? Had she intended to bite Ellyse? To use her own body as a battering ram? Her lunge has no purpose and lands flatly, though the contact made with her already aching body causes her to nearly lose her balance. The winged female leans too hard onto her front right foreleg, causing a shock of pain to ripple through her body. She will undoubtedly have a limp in the days to come; her leg is worse for wear.
Finally, with an infuriated cry of frustration, Ellyse swings her body to the right towards Rael Fire with her whiskered lips drawn back, bare teeth shown in a sign of irritable aggression. She cannot turn her back to her; it would be a foolish decision! With her hind legs still strong and unharmed, she manages to hop onto them several times, balancing her weight carefully as her forelegs strike towards her chest and shoulder, seeking to ward her off.
Further damage to her bruising shoulder would be ideal, but she knew any tissue damage to such an important area could leave her in pieces. A torn muscle or fractured bone was always a possibility. Breathless and covered in a thin sheen of sweat beneath the rising sun, Ellyse steps away several paces, encircling her in a wide arc, never taking her eyes off of her.
They both dealt extensive damage to the other, and Rael, too, was sheened by sweat. She had risked being still too much, and barely avoided losing an eye. She thanked chance as she continued the battle. The new attack of hooves to her bruising shoulder brought her to attention as she used the opportunity to back and swerve around the front of her opponent.
She tore into the wing she nipped before, lunging and slashing at the end of her wing with her opened maw, teeth gleaming in the bright morning sun. The bloody remnants of her bite's target she did not ponder over as she started weaving in front of the mare's side about a horse-length away.
