[1v1][FIN] A Challenger Appears! [Shikoba + Shaheen]

[NeoSeussi]

Shaheen watched her opponent carefully, trying to anticipate the moment that he would strike out at her again, gauging his every slightest movement. The small shake of his head didn't go unnoticed, though she was not sure whether it was a gesture directed at her or whether he was perhaps still trying to work his jaw back into place. Her eyes narrowed as her grin began to fade around the edges. She wanted him to get on with it, to try and take control once more so that she could prove to herself that she could turn things around.

Finally, a flicker of movement caught her eye, as the large horsemen before her threw a knife that looked a lot like it might be coming at her face. She had little time to react, yet it was still enough. She managed to throw herself to the side, wings folding around her shoulders as she rolled in the dirt, loosing her own dagger in a wild throw that was aimed towards Shiks abdominal area. Her sudden need too move threw off her aim, however, so it was more likely that her dagger would graze past, burying itself somewhere in the ground beyond Shikoba.

HP:26
Damage:2  

[medigel]

Anticipating a projectile retaliation, Shik dodged to the side, lowering his wings to avoid getting them struck. Indeed her aim was off enough that it didn't pierce anything vital, though a fresh cut in his side still belied the sting it left behind. He felt it was time to try and get the blood pumping, lest it go back to another glare-down; time to test other capabilities. With his kris dagger clenched, the giant took to the skies with a mighty leap and, several wingbeats later, was beginning to encircle Shaheen from above.

One rotation in, the dagger dove down at her like a silver hawk.

HP: 30
Damage: 4  

[NeoSeussi]

Her roll across the dirt ended in her springing back to her feet, eyes focusing on the spot where Shikoba had just stood, though she could feel the air against her face as his wing beats brought him above and towards her.

Well, crap.

She hadn't anticipated that he would take to the skies, and he was very quickly above her, circling around, that cruel looking dagger of his held in hand and probably more then ready to spill more of her blood on the earth. Summoning her own dagger back from the ground and into her hand, she brought it up in an attempt to defend herself, but too late. If she did manage to catch Shik's blade with hers, it was only by the barest glinting edge as his dagger drove down into her shoulder that had yet to be mutilated. Pain shot through her arm, and her hand, still grasping her dagger, fell to her side, forcing her to take up the dagger with her other hand, though she was proficient in ambidextrous armed combat, so it was not such a big deal.

"Impressive." She hissed out the compliment from between gritted teeth, the hand at her side clenching and unclenching as blood ran down her arm to her fingertips, only to drip slowly to the ground below. "Clearly I've misjudged you, Shikoba." Another one of her smirks, and a glint in her eyes that may have dictated that her words were laced with sarcasm.

It was so hard to tell, with Shaheen, if she was being genuinely serious or her usual cocky self.

HP:22
Damage: hellz no~  

[medigel]

If he heard the compliment he didn't show it, despite the fact that this was Shaheen who had said it. A battle was a battle - he'd already allowed emotions to cloud him - ego would not join. Shik continued to encircle her from above, resummoning his dagger. "Clipped wings cannot fly, but yours I have missed on purpose. Or have you forgotten how to take wing?" he asked casually, stopping in place when he was opposite of her, fifteen feet up or so.

Goading her seemed the best way to get her to strike him at any rate. Following his words Shikoba sent his dagger flying at her again.

HP: 30
Damage: 2  

[NeoSeussi]

Previously Shaheen had been a little too preoccupied with keeping her wings tucked in close to her back, to keep them from getting stabbed or injured in anyway, knowing that it was better to wait for an opportune moment to arise when she could lift herself upward, rather then jump the gun and end up grounded for the remainder of the fight.

But then Shik was giving her an open invitation to join him in the air, and she answered his jest with a wild grin, her incredibly large wings unfurling behind her, even as Shikoba's dagger flew down towards her once more. This time, she blocked the blade with her arm, the sharpened edge slicing cleanly through her flesh, followed by another warm gush of blood. At the rate this battle was going, she was going to be streaked with red from head to toe.

Two flaps of her wings made her airborne, dust and dirt swirling on the ground in her wake. Once she was in the air her movements became more swift, like she was more sure of herself. Indeed, as a warrior she did a lot of her battling from above, with her war-sisters (and sometimes brothers) at her side. She wasted no time in throwing herself at Shikoba, hoping to take him by surprise as she drew back her dagger, then drove it forward, aiming for his chest.


HP: 20/30
Damage: 3  

[medigel]

To his surprise? Not so much. To his delight, however? Pretty much.

Shik looked practically eager to have the dagger incoming at his chest, grinning as Shaheen threw herself at him. He grabbed the dagger before it could slash him, blood running between his fingers as the sharp blade cut deep into his palm; pain was registered of course, but it thrilled more than it bothered him. An aerial fight had its charms, such as the lack of solid ground, the whimsy of the wind, the complete dependence on one's own strength to keep in the air - he was reveling in this.

And he was craving more.

With a bestial smile, Shikoba let go of her dagger and brought his legs up as if to kick Shaheen away, but instead as before he took advantage of his naturally sharp nails and let his feet arc into an X shape, cutting deep into whatever laid before them.

HP: 27
Damage: 5  

[NeoSeussi]

Now Shaheen might have loved battle. She might have, in fact, craved it. She could happily exchanged blows with Shik all day long, of she didn't bleed to dissipation first.

That was not, actually, an unlikely scenario at this point.

The pain did little to bother her, and not unlike Shik, she may have even enjoyed it more then was necessarily normal. The way he stopped her blade with his hand brought a smile to her face to match his own. He was, in his own way, probably more insane then she was and that thought actually made her laugh. Yes, in the midst of all that blood and pain, Shaheen began to laugh, almost hysterically so.

Shiks clawed foot dug into her already blood streaked stomach, just below her ribcage. Her fear shield kept her insides where they were supposed to be but another hot spray of blood spilled forth, regardless. She de-summoned her blade, grabbed ahold of his foot, and pushed him away even as she pushed herself backwards in the air.

And still she laughed.

HP:15
Damage: the dice, they troll~  

[medigel]

Music. His feet had swept across the air like the motions of a conductor, and the choir sang to him with laughter and blood. The kick that sent him back barely registered under that alluring concert. More. More.

There was something wrong with Shaheen, yes, but there appeared to be something off about Shikoba as well. Whatever it was, their issues were calling to each other in a most beautifully destructive manner, and he wasn't going to question it here and now. Thoughts later. Actions now.

How he came to be behind Shaheen, Shik wasn't quite sure. Some points in battle, when things grew heated, he would find his memory a bit hazy and his body acting as if it had a mind of its own - muscle memory, from the times taught by his mentor as a hatchling. For whatever reason he deemed it prudent to grasp the chieftain from behind with his arms and legs, setting his grip back into her arms in a painful clutch as he pulled his head atop her shoulder. It could have been mistaken for a lover's embrace from behind even, had it not been for several details:

One, that he was trying to stop her wings from beating by pressing himself tightly against her back. Two, that his own wings had stopped their flaps. And three, the low and husky chuckle in her ear.

"Clipped wings, hmm?"

HP: 27
Damage: 2  

[Seussi]

Why couldn't she stop laughing? It was distracting and...very unbecoming of a chieftain who should have been putting the large executioner in his place by now. Surely at any moment she was going to stop, and start raining blows down upon his stupid, stoic self. But no, the more she tried to stop herself, the more the laughter seemed to just build up inside of her and then it would just spill forth all the louder. Her arms were crossed in front of the new gash in her stomach, her eyes full of tears, from the searing pain, from the laughter that she just couldn't keep contained. Shik should have stopped. Any normal person would have just stopped.

But no, not Shik. Never. Shaheen had always known that something was off about him, but now, even though her mind was a haze of whispers that she couldn't understand, it was like she was seeing him more clearly then ever before.

She couldn't have even said how he'd managed to get behind her. It seemed like one moment he was there, directly in her line of sight, and then he was just gone, and pressed up against her back. Her laughter stopped now, though her body trembled, ever so slightly, as though it could start back up again at any moment. Having her wings flattened against her so that they couldn't move, so that they could no longer keep her suspended in the air, was utterly terrifying. But even so it gave her a thrill of adrenaline, and even a small surge of pride for Shik, who was her war brother, and who was proving to be more then a match for her. He was showing her just how strong they still were, even after everything they'd been through.

He was saying something to her, but she could barely hear it over the pounding in her ears, over the uncontrollable feelings welling up inside of her. She wanted to scream, she wanted to laugh, she wanted to shout curses at him for making her look so god damned weak.

But instead she just nodded, her lip curling back from her teeth in a half smile, half snarl. "Do it." It was almost a command, permission to throw her to the ground. She deserved it, for letting him get the best of her like this. She would take her punishment.

She'd probably even enjoy it.



HP: 13
Damage: hahahahaha  

[medigel]

Without warning, they were falling. How far up where they? Fifteen feet? Twenty? The ground seemed to be like a roiling brown and green sea as they plummeted, a dizzying blur that threw his insides for a loop and made. What would a crash feel like with someone underneath him? How many bones might break, how much skin torn, how much blood shed? Would he be spared the worst of it, or share the worst of it? That morbid curiosity threatened to keep them on the path of a graceless collision, highlighted by the white crescent of her teeth, the hissed command that echoed in his ears, the rush of air against his face that made him shiver against her warm body.

And then, just like that, their descent began to slow infinitesimally: there was only so much one set of wings could do for two rather tall people, regardless of the span, but they were flapping furiously nonetheless. The world spun as they turned and tumbled in the air until, like an egg, they were split upon hitting the ground. Dizzied, Shikoba managed to mitigate the momentum leftover into a dodge roll, ending on his side with heaving pants and a mess of feathers and new scratches.

The exhilaration form the fall was leaving him bit by bit, leaving him quite spent on the ground. A few seconds after his stop the executioner managed to pull himself into a sitting position, swaying a little; the world still turned in his vision.

HP: 27
Damage: 0  

[Seussi]

The air buffeted against her face as they fell, the world below her spinning, though she could not tell if that was because their fall was uncontrolled and haphazard or if that was just the dizziness in her head from all of the excitement, terror, and adrenaline. This was not at all like the controlled dives she would make from high in the sky, to drop onto an enemy from above. This was so completely different then that. She knew that if Shik landed on top of her, she would likely be crushed. hurtling towards the ground from the air at that height, even without a massive, muscular hunk of horsemen, would have almost surely meant a few broken bones, if not a broken neck, at least. With Shik's weight crushing into her back as well, she was fairly positive her spine at the very least would be snapped.

The fall seemed to go in slow motion, and at some point, the fear began to melt away, leaving her calm and ready for what would inevitably come. Her senses seemed almost heightened, colors were brighter, she could even feel the slight trembling of the horseman on her back, though if it was from his own terror, or over eagerness, she could not tell for certain, not without seeing his face.

Probably not even then, as smooth as he always seemed to keep his features.

And then, just as suddenly as their horrifying descent began, it began to halt. Or at least, it slowed down dramatically enough, as Shik beat his wings furiously in an attempt to,,,keep them both afloat? She had no idea what he was thinking. In her alarm she began to struggle against him, breaking her arms free, writhing in his grasp. If he wasn't going to go through with it, then he needed to let her go, right this second.

Somehow, just before they hit the ground, she was already partially free. She was able to roll in such a way as to save herself from serious injury, though minor scratches were inevitable. Also, somehow, as she came to a halt, though she was dizzy, she was able to push herself to her feet. Her hair was a tangled mess with grass and dirt stuck to it, obscuring most of her face as she stumbled towards Shik. She came to a stop in front of him, head cocked to one side, before she lifted one foot and kicked at him, aiming it for his jaw once again, though her dizziness made her aim less then perfect.

"What the hell was that?" She spat out at him, eyes narrowed behind that mess of hair. "Are those chicken wings growing out of your back?"

Ya, that's the best insult she could currently come up with in her disoriented state.


HP: 13
Damage:TWO 8D  

[medigel]

Even if Shik had the focus to block her foot, he wouldn't have. He truly felt the blow was deserved because, well . . . what the hell? One moment bloodletting, the next trying to prevent a spectacular crash. As he took the kick to his face and spat out some blood, he gazed up at Shaheen with a curious expression, as if hoping the hit would knock some sense to him.

Well, no sense was to be earned. But he could at least tell where the ground was, and consequentially her feet. "I don't know," Shikoba replied, his voice betraying that inner disquiet. "I've lost more than focus since that day." And the longer he stared at that crack in his mind, the tenser he became. He summoned his dagger and plunged it at the nearest foot as he fought for room to get back up.

HP: 25
Damage: 3  

[Seussi]

His words were not what she had expected, and it made her pause before she could bring her foot up to kick him again. Yes, she wanted to see him spit more blood on the ground, but no, she would not attack him again whilst in his sudden odder then usual state.

That proved to be a mistake.

She barely had time to react, his dagger was suddenly in his hand and all she caught from the corner of her eye was the glint of the light on the edge of the blade before he was burying the point of that blade through her foot and into the ground. It was highly unexpected, but the pain...the pain was immediate and somehow more intense then the other attacks had been, possibly because her fear shield was now so much weaker, possibly because it was just..such a brutal move. She bent over double a small whimper of pain escaping her before she could stop herself, before she could clench her lips tight in a straight line. Her hands clutched at her lower leg as she tilted her head up and glared daggers at the large horsemen, who was pushing his weight down on the dagger that was speared through her foot, making the pain all the more worse, as he rose to his feet. She glared because he had made that pathetic noise come from her, but even while she glared, she managed a shaky smile, her lips twitching with the pain.

"That's better.." Her voice might have been a little breathy, trembling only slightly. She paused for a quick moment before she continued. "It could be worse, Shik. Things could always be worse." her voice was a little louder now, though slightly strained. Things could be worse, unless, of course, he had the voices in his head too, and she was almost tempted to ask him such. But no, somehow she doubted he shared her affliction. He seemed..normal enough. Normal for him, at least. It was her that had something wrong, and this battle was only driving that realization home for her.



HP: 10
Damage: heck no~  

[medigel]

Ignoring her pained sounds, he leaned on the dagger as he got up before sliding it out with a quick motion. The blood was no longer a siren's call to him, and after a moment's pause to stare at the gleam of red on his weapon he flicked it off to the ground beside him. Violent and chaotic one moment, pensive and somber the next. His head was hurting from more than just the rattling it got from the fall.

Without preamble the dagger was desummoned from his hand - Shikoba no longer looked as though he would be fighting, not aggressively at least. "Worse like your grey affliction?" he asked, turning to Shaheen with a deep frown, wanting to turn the conversation off him lest the headache turn to a migraine. "What has happened to you, Shaheen?"

HP: 25
Damage: No action taken  

[Seussi]

Having the dagger pulled out of her foot was almost a relief, though it brought with it a fresh wash of pain and more blood bubbled up out of the wound to trickle down to the dirt below before her fear shield was able to shield it off. She was now able to take a limping step back, keeping the pressure off of that foot for now, straightening back up to her full height and tossing her head so that her hair flew back out of her face, revealing fully the dangerous glint in her eyes.

"Why are you stopping?" She asked, her voice suddenly dropping to a tone that was cold and even, her eyes snapping to his dagger, which he was now fading from view. He wasn't allowed to just...stop! She hadn't lost yet...hadn't yielded or surrendered! What game was he playing....

"I didn't say you could sto--" His words cut her off, like she hadn't even been talking to begin with. What was wrong with her?

What was wrong with her?

She ignored the question, face becoming like that of a statues, immobile, passive. No emotions here. She couldn't hide the anger blazing to life in her eyes, however. Anger at herself for letting too much show. Her pain, her self-doubt, her weakness. He had seen it all, and now he believed that there was something wrong...no, not believed, he actually knew.

With a deep breath she walked up towards him, closing the small distance she had put between them with two long, even strides. She forced herself not to limp, to make herself look strong, to hold her head up high as she clenched her hand into a fist that she then swung up into a hook aimed for the side of his face.

"I.Did.Not.Tell.You.To.Stop." She had to struggle not to scream the words at him, to keep her voice controlled, even if each syllable dropping from her lips was laced with venom.


HP: 10
Damage: