[FIN] Pound Into Submission [Shikoba/Shaheen]

[Seussi]

She didn't shy away from the look he was giving her. She held her own against it, let her own anger, frustration and irritation with the executioner show. If anything she tilted her chin up just a little more, defiant, daring him to continue on the attack now that she was so obviously 'laying down arms', so to speak. Maybe this game they continued to play with each other was beginning to lose something, and that was why it was no longer as fun for her. There were only so many times that she could fight him, to try and bend him to her will only to fail, even when she was also victorious. No matter what, she always failed with him. He just would not bend.

They locked eyes for what seemed like an eternity. Mere moments stretching out into something that felt much longer. The anger inside of her was actually beginning to ebb away, as something else tried to surface. Something she did not understand. Something she perhaps had never wanted to, and thus had kept it firmly at bay. A confused frown might have just started to crease her features, her mouth beginning to open, to say his name as a question, possibly to see if he was having the same problem as her.

But then he pushed her roughly away, the movement so sudden and brutal that she nearly fell on her a** in the dirt. Annoyance flashed through her again, whatever had been threatening to escape her before squashed back down as rage began to boil through her.

"No I am not done!" She practically screamed it at him. She had been on the brink of some kind of discovery, and he had ruined it. He was always ruining everything. And now she was losing control, but not in a way that Shik or perhaps anybody would have ever seen before. She was faintly aware that anybody could be watching them at this point, that what she was about to do and say was not going to be a proud moment for her. But she didn't even care anymore. She regained her balance and threw herself at him without even taking a moment to pause, yelling as she slashed at him with her dagger, shallow cuts, trying to force him back, intent on causing him pain but making it last.

"I will never be finished with you, Shikoba Len. Not as long as you continue to stand against me instead of with me. Not as long as you continue to remind me that I am not as strong as I once was. Not as long as you exist." She hissed the last part at him between strikes and blows, hands making quick movements to try and get around any dodges he might attempt to make, her face beginning to turn a soft shade of pink beneath the bronze of her skin as she continued.

" You are always there. Always mocking me, even when you aren't around...I think about you all the time and I hate it. You make me feel weak and i hate it. I hate what you do to me!" Yes, still screeching at him like a harpy from hell.

At some point, the dagger slid from her grasp. Maybe it was just so slick with blood or sweat that she could no longer keep ahold of it. She let it fall. She didn't care anymore. She reached up to shove at him with all of her strength with both hands.

And if Shik had any brains at all, he might realize that Shaheen was actually making some sort of confession, though it was likely lost in all of the shouting about hate...even if she never actually said that she hated him.

And he thought that her earlier behavior was unbecoming of a chieftain.

HP: 38
Damage: 9

Ol-j-man

Well..uh..this is going well? biggrin DD

 

[medigel]

This was an onslaught worthy of the War Clan. This was raw beauty.

Such was how his mind operated as the cuts grew in number despite his attempts to fend her off. Battle was easy for him to analyze whether he was in the middle of the storm or an observer on the sidelines, and if it hadn't been painfully clear before it was now: Shaheen was stronger. Unless the spray of blood he gave off blinded her, or unless he scored a lucky hit, this was a losing battle. It probably had already been one the moment he'd decided to touch that nerve.

In hindsight that was an idiotic comment. But for some reason at the time he'd wanted to make her angry, knew inciting her would lead to a battle. Perhaps it wasn't Shaheen's fault the good day was ruined after all.

And oh, how those harpy cries echoed and bounced about in his skull as her assault pushed him further and further back, right until he nearly fell against a tree form the final push. Growing lightheaded from the blood loss, her shrieks seemed to double in volume like she had taken root within his head before shouting, warping into a blur of nothing but anger and hate for -

- for his existence?

There was much to ponder over later, as his head (as well as every other part of his body) was aching. And the battle was not yet finished.

The executioner's shoulders rose and fell as he sucked in deep breaths, and when at last, clutching at the worst of his wounds, he pulled his head up to look at her, it was with an unreadable expression and a set jaw against the pain.

It was a curious thing indeed to know how influential he was.

Faltering a little, Shik raised his free hand and summoned his dagger, holding it perpendicular to his body as he gazed at Shaheen. "Then...finish me," he said between pants, sweat and blood mingling. "Prove your title . . . and erase your weakness."

HP: 15
Defending for: 1

(( OH MY ******** THIS THING ATE MY POST. MY LONG a** POST. ******** YOU, IPOD.

AND DICE. OTL ))

Seussi

Otherwise, it's going peachy~

 

[Seussi]

She was breathing hard after her attack came to it's conclusion, her chest rising and falling with each long inhale and exhale, sweat and blood dripping down her face, into her eyes, stinging and blurring her vision ever so slightly. She kept her gaze steady on him though, waiting for a retaliation that never came. His body was crisscrossed with shallow wounds, though some were deeper then others and were welling up more blood. The small feeling of regret from the long and deep cut from earlier was gone, and replaced once again with a deep sense of satisfaction. But still, as she took a step forward, and he summoned his dagger, she halted, listening to his words.

Then she glowered at him, wondering if he had not been listening to a single thing she had just said. She knew she had said it, and she knew that he was not deaf. Her throat was raw from the shouting, proof that she had indeed screamed something at him. One hand came to rest on her hip, her other hand held out to her side as her dagger was summoned once more, the blade still stained with blood. Did he truly believe that finishing him off would be enough? No, she had come to a grim sort of realization during her attack on him, and it was one that she didn't like in the slightest. "It won't make a difference." She growled, taking that second step forward to close the distance between them, free hand whipping out to grab for his wrist, attempting to twist it back to the point of breaking, trying to make him loose his dagger. She wanted him unarmed, so that she could say what she needed to without the surprise of being stabbed in the belly. Not that she didn't deserve it, at this point, but she wanted to be able to speak first. If he still wanted to stab her afterwards, then so be it, but it wouldn't change what she had to say.

"It won't make a difference, because even if I defeat you now, you'll never give up the fight." A small smile in the form a smirk. She actually did admire that quality about him. "You will never bend. You will always stand against me." She moved up closer to him, pushing him back against the tree that was right behind him roughly with her hand that still held her dagger, the cold blade pressed between the palm of her hand and his chest, one leg sliding between the two of his, bare skin against bare skin. He made her so weak, she had said as much, but she had a feeling that he still did not understand why she felt that way. And she wasn't one for words, usually. The little screeching fit that Shik had coaxed out of her had been more then enough for her to say on the matter.

Besides, he was being so stupid, and she needed to make him understand. Actions spoke louder then words, did they not? So she let go. She let her dagger go, she let his wrist go. She reached up with two hands and pushed them up behind his head, into his hair. She jerked him down, she pulled herself up.

Before she could stop herself, before she could even think about it any further, she was pressing her lips against his, roughly, digging her fingers into the back of his head, tasting blood. But this was how she was going to show him, how she could make him understand.

He made her so weak.

HP: 38
Damage: 6

Ol-j-man

*flails* ohgodi'msorry

 

[medigel]

The dagger was wrested from him without much exertion for his grip was greased with blood, his teeth clenching as pain shot up his arm from the twisting; on that front he did fight to ensure his hand wasn't broken, as little good as it did him with her so close now. Even with defeat inevitable he could not help but struggle, to be an annoyance to the very end as she just observed. What would it be, oh mighty chieftain? A dagger in his gut? Or perhaps she would finish the job with his chest? The quickest method would be her original plan, to slit his throat - yes there it was, his head was jerked -

- In the completely wrong direction. What -

What?

"Confused" wasn't a strong enough word to describe Shikoba's reaction when she pressed herself against him. Neither was "baffled" when he found himself tasting something other than blood or sweat. "Stunned"? "Perplexed"? "Bewildered"? What had possessed Shaheen?

Whatever it was, it was contagious and he did not fight it. Thinking was too hard right now. If she was going to kill him soon anyway, he might as well enjoy himself. And so he did, with one hand snaking through her hair and what knots that might have came, pushing her more, insisting for more, more. And when he felt that one more second would cause him to pass out from the air he so very much needed, he pulled away and, in a strikingly familiar movement, grasped her shoulders and forcefully turned them about until it was the chieftain's back feeling the grain bark.

"You," Shik murmured as he leaned his face closer, "are a conniving, egotistical, brazen woman. But above all, you are confounding, Shaheen. One moment someone to celebrate with, the next a harpy howling in my ears, and now this...temptress is who greets me in battle." Their noses almost touched as he bore into her with dark eyes. "Do you even know what you want?"

HP: 10 (5 dmg due to defending)
How Much Love Hurts: 5 dmg

Seussi

awwyeaaaah
also my bad @ double quote

 

[Seussi]

She half expected a blade to slide it's way into her belly at any second. Surely that's what happened when one left themselves this open. Especially when the one she had pitted herself against was Shikoba. She knew him as ruthless, relentless, a tireless killer who was only out for more. More blood, more carnage, more death.

Apparently he also wanted more of this as well.

A shiver of excitement climbed it's way up her spine when his hand found it's way into her hair, somehow managing to pull her even closer against him, his mouth pressing back against hers now as he returned the kiss that she had started with exuberance. She decided to take that as good sign and continued on, her head swimming dizzily and not just from the lack of oxygen, giving him the more that he seemed to want, her hands clutching harder at his hair, likely even pulling at it painfully. She had never done anything like this before, but it almost seemed natural. It felt right. Well, it actually felt kind of wrong, but still, something about it felt right.

When he pulled away, black spots were dancing in front of her eyes, her heart beat was pounding in her ears. She gasped for air, her eyelids fluttered open.

She was spun around so that her back struck hard against the tree that moments before she had been pushing Shik against. Stupid. She had been so stupid. Annoyance flashed in her amber eyes as she looked up at him, her mouth opening to protest, but he cut her off, his face suddenly just inches away, his eyes almost staring straight through her. She was still a little breathless from the kiss, from the sudden movement that had her locked in this new position. At some point her hands had fallen away from the back of his head and were held in loose fists at her side. His words cut into her, but it was hard to argue with what he had to say. It was all true, was it not? But was that such a bad thing, to be all of those things? The way Shik said it, it was quite possible that yes, yes it was. Still, she actually did have an answer for him. That was at least something.

"And you, are a stubborn, unyielding, clueless, brutish animal of a man who has not been paying very close attention if you have to ask me that question." She retorted, her jaw setting, her lips pursing into a straight line just before she began speaking again.

This was actually the hard part. Admitting what she wanted. Admitting that it was him.

"I want you, as you are, to stand beside me instead of against me. You won't submit to me? Then don't. Be my equal. Be my---" She had to stop there, her words faltering a little as she realized what she was saying. "Just be mine, and I will be yours. Maybe it doesn't have to be a weakness. Maybe...we could both be stronger." Her words sounded more angry then gentle, her eyebrows furrowed, her head turned away from him a little bit as she chewed on the bottom of her lip. This was awkward. She hated awkward. She also hated when things were no longer in her control, which this situation certainly no longer was. She had a sudden and inexplicable urge to push against him, to get herself out of his position, and so she did, pushing against the force that was pinning her shoulders, testing how much strength he had left, and how much he was applying, trying to decide if it was worth it to try and break free.

HP: 33
Accidental? Damage: None. Her love is far too gentle >_> (aka troll dice)

Ol-j-man

rofl @ that gif

 

[medigel]

Shik didn't so much as blink as she listed his qualities, for they were all true. He knew these and had accepted it long ago, under a master with a barbed tongue and a penchant for overusing it to boot; Shaheen might as well have been stating what color the sky was currently for how much it mattered what she thought of him, good or ill. It was well oiled self-defense mechanism not even the chieftain's sudden confessions would be rusting anytime soon.

Yet even so, it was obvious that the latter half of her retort finally seemed to strike him, what with whites of his eyes being more evident and his mouth gaining a new twist at one corner. Her final statement seemed to hang in the air before him, like a tangible object waiting to drop on his head, with the implied expectation that he was supposed to answer right then and there. And briefly he felt a flare of indignation in response. How could Shaheen expect to toss something like this on him and expect him to say yes or no so simply, as if the question held no merit? As if he wasn't having trouble standing, let alone forming cohesive thoughts?

When, in all the rings of hell, did this turn from a day of celebration to a day of drama?

At first Shaheen met with resistance when she pushed, but slowly Shik eased off until his hands fell by his sides. "My mind is still clouded by battle," the horseman at last said with a stony expression, a second timeworn mechanism. "As is yours. This is not the time or place to bring such talk, Shaheen, This battle should finish before you wage a new one upon me." As he spoke, the executioner took several steps back to put distance between them once more, wings all but forgotten.

Summoning his dagger, Shik attempted to focus his FEAR and give himself a second wind, but his concentration could not be kept long enough. Shaheen's words were painfully hard to dispel, as was the hodgepodge of sensations from her empress act. He uttered a low curse yet still spread his legs in a battle stance, watching. Waiting.

HP: 10
Heal for: nothing because troll dice gonna troll  

[Seussi]

Maybe after he had kissed her back, she had gone and assumed far too much. This was not something she was used to, or a thing she understood very well. But she had thought that when affections were returned in kind that it actually meant something. She was apparently to learn the hard way that she was wrong, and his words bit into her painfully as he released her, backing away, encouraging her to continue with there fight. A fight that she had already decided was over, considering how little of it he left in him to give.

Still, she felt like she could do this. She could ignore the fact that she had just confessed something to Shik that she had only just come to realize herself. She had always known things were different with him, but had never been able to quite place why. Had never managed to figure out that maybe her anger towards him stemmed from a different source altogether. Maybe they could both just pretend it had never happened, and go on with life as usual.

"As you wish." She spat his earlier words back at him, the bitterness in her voice hard to hide, though she did manage to control her features enough to hide her feelings behind her own carefully blank mask. She stepped away from the tree, turning slightly to the side, crouching, watching him for movement, before her something flickered in her hand, and she drew back and flicked her wrist forward in one quick and smooth movement, sending her dagger whistling through the air towards him.


HP: 33
Damage: 1

Ol-j-man

 

[medigel]

The clang of dagger upon dagger jarred his arm painfully, and again the executioner growled a curse as her weapon fell harmlessly at his feet. This was stupid, he knew it, and she knew it: a pointless delay when he should have just yielded and tended to the abundance of cuts on his person; he couldn't even retaliate this time, his usual dagger arm failing him.

But pride would go before the fall. Shik tossed the dagger to his other hand, adjusted the grip, and resumed his stance with narrowed eyes, Shaheen's name repeatedly cursed in his thoughts.

Though not quite as much as his own.

HP: 9
Damage: 0  

[Seussi]

This was absolutely pointless. He was being so stupid. So stubborn. So Shik. Still, had she really expected any less? She openly eyed his weak deflection of her blade, shaking her head slightly, holding her hand out as she re summoned it to her side, criticism hardly even needing to be spoken out loud. She watched as he switched hands, wondering if he was as strong with that one as the other.

Probably not.

She sighed inwardly, wanting very much to just turn and walk away from him. He didn't know when to quit. She had quit, and he had refused to just let it go at that. The air around them had gone so silent. No teasing insults thrown back and forth. No laughter. No yelling. Just the quiet sounds of the wind down of their battle.

Without warning, Shaheen's wings spread behind her, and jumped towards him, flapping wings, spinning in the air, her dagger tossed up into the air and landing in her opposite hand before she turned to slam the hilt of it across Shiks face, willing him to fall down, to give up so they could just move on.

"Do you yield?" Her voice was still slightly tainted with bitterness. She had landed back on her feet with her back towards the man, arms crossing over her chest. It would be an opportune time for him to retaliate, though she was more ready for it then he might have thought. "Or will you continue on until I leave you sprawled out unconscious on the forest floor."

If that was the option he chose, she would probably more then eagerly comply at this point.

Stupid man.

HP: 33
Damage: 5  

[medigel]

He was too slow to react and was rewarded with the tang of blood and a burst of light and pain as he staggered back, teetering dangerously for a few moments before he planted his feet once more. Defiance was something that defined Shik, for better or for worse. He was fully intending on drawing his out to his last breath, yet . . . There was something about her bak being turned him to, about the quality of her tone, that made him reconsider. Or maybe it was just the blow to the head giving him some sense back.

Feeling the bruise coming on, Shik turned his head, spat out blood, and gazed at Shaheen's back for . . . he didn't know. As long as it took to trace the contours of one of her wings. Then he spat again and let his weapon fall to the ground with an audible thump, a shock of pain emanating from the injured side of his face as he answered through tight lips, "I yield."

And then, feeling himself getting another dizzy spell, the executioner fell to one knee and steadied himself with a shaking hand on the ground, drained and vulnerable.  

[Seussi]

Shaheen waited with her back turned for what felt like ages. Really, how long was it going to take for him to answer? She hadn't heard his body thud to the ground, so she knew he must have still been standing. She also somehow doubted he was going to be spreading his wings and taking flight after the blow she had just dealt him. Really, she was actually about to turn around and check on him, wondering what exactly was taking so damn long, when his voice cut through the air.

He yielded.

....He yielded??

The chieftain did turn now, just in time to see him collapse to one knee. Well, really, he deserved it. She would have just rolled his eyes at him, but instead she just stared down at him for a time, eyes narrowed, wondering what to do now.

It was actually rather tempting to walk over and knock him one more time on the back of the head, just for the satisfaction of seeing him face plant into the dirt. An evil smirk played along her lips for the just a slight second as she let that little thought play through her mind like a silent movie, before she realized what she was doing and stopped, pressing her lips in a firm line again.

Not that he was looking at her or anything.

With another inward sigh, she walked back towards him, turning, crouching beside him, one wing extending to almost wrap around him, more for support to try and keep him from falling to either side then for comfort. She tilted her head down and side ways, face very close to his as she peered up at him from below. "Do you have somewhere I can help you get to...maybe a place that you can lay down?" There was absolutely no compassion or gentleness to her tone. This was just business as usual, and besides that, she was still quite irked with him.

And yes, apparently Shaheen had no idea where it was that Shik even slept at night.  

[medigel]

"Yes," he managed to gasp, raising his head painstakingly slow (though his hair managed to obscure most of his face anyway). ". . . Not far. A tent on the eastern outskirts of camp, by two trees bridged by a hammock." He paused for a moment to gather the remnants of his flagging strength before, grunting, he eased himself onto trembling legs and out of the shadow of Shaheen's wing. Each breath brought stabs of protest from the scabbing scars on his torso, and each worse brought new bouts of pain from where the pommel had found its mark; now he had the test of traveling home before him in his exhausted state.

Well, these punishments were deserved in one way or another, he supposed. The executioner began forward and masked the fresh new waves of nausea and pain biting at him, one step at a time. His wings remained slightly unfurled as an extra pair of limbs to help maintain his balance, even as keeping them up taxed him more.

Honestly he was surprised Shaheen would bother to offer him help home after that. He had expected something more like some choice bitter parting words before taking wing and leaving him to mull over things. Hell hath no fury and all.

Not once did he look at her, though. Not even when her face was in such close proximity. Consciously or unconsciously, Shik was feeling the beginnings of regret and guilt, neither of which he was used to in any capacity.  

[Seussi]

Stubborn man. Foolish man. She pulled her face away from his when he answered, but remained crouched as he slowly pushed himself to his feet, noting with some amount of satisfaction the trembling in his legs. Yes, she had done that too him. Yes she was proud of her handy work. Her wing curled back in behind her, apparently no longer needed as he turned and began to make his way towards his tent.

She thought long and hard about just leaving him, narrowed eyes boring into his back as he staggered slowly away. But again, she just rose to her feet, striding easily up to walk along beside him, ducking down beneath one of his arms and coming up so that it was strewn around one of her shoulders, supporting him as he moved along, keeping her comments to herself though there were many that threatened to escape her lips, and none of them very kind.

It was with some effort and a whole lot of restraint that she kept her mouth shut...until she couldn't do it anymore. "Can I add foolish, reckless jerk to your list of faults, please?" And then something unexpected, as a smile spread across the chieftains face, and she was forced to raise a hand to stifle the giggle that threatened to escape, coughing instead, but amusement glittering in her eyes.

Oh good, there was the tent up ahead now!  

[medigel]

Ah, there we go: a small sense of normalcy. Rather than speak, however, he gave a grunt that pretty much agreed with her and then spat out a little more blood to the side. And he remained silent as they entered camp, scanning for the tent and directing them towards it. There was no music heralding his return, so Catori was probably still out haunting the forest. A shame: some music would not have gone unappreciated to fill the hollow hole within him, left behind when the vortex of strange anger emptied itself.

"Thank you," he eventually told her, the first words in what felt like an hour he had uttered. Believing that to be the extent of the aid she'd give, Shik slid away from her arm and ducked into the tent, returning outside with a roll of fresh bandages. From there he hobbled towards the trees, specifically a wide stump that he all but collapsed on. Issuing a sigh, the executioner held the bandages before him for a moment.

"Shaheen . . . Why is it we are always at each other's throats lately?" he suddenly asked. "What is it that causes this turbulence? We have had our problems before, but never to this degree." It was something, he realized, that truly bothered him. Friction was an assumed ingredient to their relationship, but ever since he had thrown speculation about those grey streaks, things had become shaky between them.  

[Seussi]

The grunt she received in return from her comment had her struggling yet harder to keep the amusement bubbling up inside of her under control. She had beaten him. No, not just beaten. She had absolutely slaughtered him. And now she was actually helping him back to his tent, because she actually -ya get this- she actually ******** cared, and wanted to make sure he would be okay before she left him.

Really, what wasn't hilarious about that?

"You're welcome." She tried to hide the warmth in her voice, to keep herself cool, to continue the charade of indifference towards the executioner that she had been putting on, but likely failed at it miserably.

She watched him as he pulled away and hobbled into his tent, then began to turn on her heel to leave. He hadn't invited her to stay and keep him company, after all, and he had made it painfully obvious that he wanted little to do with her outside of the battle, though her thoughts were already drifting back towards that kiss, her tongue running over her lips, the taste of salt from sweat and blood. She'd never done that with anybody before. That had been her first. And with the way things were going, it felt very much like it might have been her last as well.

Still, even as she went to walk away, she paused, glancing back over her shoulder towards the tent as though debating something when Shik suddenly emerged once more with bandages in hand, watching him now as he found a place to sit.

Again, she got the distinct impression that now was the time that she should probably leave, but as she began to turn once more, his voice caught her attention, and she turned back towards him, eyes questioning, brow furrowed. He asked a good question, and she was not quite sure how it would be best to answer it. All she really knew was that at this point, she did owe him some kind of answer, and she sighed very audibly before she strode over towards him, crouching down on the ground across from him, staring at the ground for a time, a finger reaching out to trace lines in the dirt before she looked up at him with amber eyes surrounded by grey.

"I can not speak for how you might feel about me, Shikoba. The reason for why you feel a need to lash out at me I really could not know. I---I am not the same woman you once knew, however. Maybe that is why. Maybe you do not like how I have changed." She let that idea sink in for a time before she continued.

"Where were you, when the isles were destroyed? I can tell you where I was. I was there. I was almost destroyed with them, with our home. This..." She pointed to the greyscale on her face, then gestured to that which streaked her hair. "This is my price that I paid for survival. It does not look like much, really, but it is not always what you see on the surface that is important." She stopped again, let that sink in as well, knowing full well how thick he could be and wanting to give him time to process these thoughts before moving on to the grand finale.

"I hear voices, Shik." She said, rather quietly, her tone bitter once more. This was not something she had admitted to anybody else, but she knew that there were others who shared her affliction. "They don't often make sense, just a quiet stream of whispers barely within hearing. Sometimes they become louder, but even then I can't understand what they're saying to me. It...it makes focusing on simple things rather difficult, at times. I seem to also struggle more with emotions, especially, it seems, around you." Though she hoped she wouldn't have to explain why that was again. Once had been enough.

There was, of course, more then what she had told him, but she was going to wait for him to respond, wait to see if he had any other questions that she might be able to answer. Really, it was a miracle that she had chosen to speak as much as she already had.

Ol-j-man