Phoenix Knight Club Battle - Akira vs. Atma-Noah (invite only)

[Akira]

Tenold made his way past a shrubbery as he saw a flickering light through the thick vegetation of the Dichtenwald forest. In a momence notice, his thoughts dwelled on his current predicament and how he had gotten here.

----

His quest to join the Phoenix Knights had led him to the leader of the PK, the renowned Fenii. He had met the man under quite curious conditions but nonetheless, come into contact. At their meeting, Fenii told of the mysterious Knights sworn to uphold honor and justice and their attempts to rally the fighting spirits of young and aspiring warriors.

When Fenii told Tenold of a possible position in the Knights, Tenold felt he had finally found a goal he could set his sights on. No more roaming around countrysides and getting recruited as a mercenary. This was something worth aspiring for. Immediately, Tenold made an inquiry of the conditions for his possible recruitement. Fenii began to speak:

"Tenold...you give off an eerie aura. One I have never before come into contact with. However, exactly this aspect is what makes me want to know you better. You may be a vital asset among the Knights ranks. But I won't let you in so easily my friend. Every knight must go through a test to see if they are worthy of the title. There is another, a so called Knor. He is a Laguz, a race of morphors. He is not to be underestimated. Knor is also no ordinary warrior. He, just like you, has a certain purpose and aspiration. Anybody getting in the way of that goal may be in mortal danger. You will have to keep your senses sharp and your sword steady."

Tenold smirked sadistically in overconfidence and began to turn around.

"Wait Tenold! Before you leave, take this charm. It is a special keepsake of the Hendrik people and is said to protect its user. Once you depart on your journey, you should make your way towards the Dichtenwald forest. Knor is there on a training mission to hone his skills. You should be able to find him pretty quickly once you're in the forest."

Fenii threw the charm towards Tenold, who caught it in the palm of his hand. Once again, Tenold turned his back on Fenii and departed from the small town. Sometime later, on the outskirts of the village:

"Goodluck charm heh? Yeah right! I don't need this hocus pocus stuff to help me defeat my enemies. My mighty Unholy Hjunir will be my only helper."

He threw the charm into a nearby bush and continued on his way.

----

Moving towards the light, Tenold could hear the sound of metal clashing. Obviously it was the sound of Knor training. He approached cautiously not wanting to alarm the trainee in his work.

"Salutations, Knor, warrior of the Laguz. I am Tenold. I was sent by Fenii to claim my rightful Phoenix Knight position. Don't mind me if I start the fight right away."

With that, Tenold's Black mantle flew up in a flurry and a massive sword catapulted into the sky. Tenold began to rush towards the Laguz warrior, all the while the purple aura surrounding him. He almost seemed possessed by something as he raged onwards with his bruteful attack.

[Atma-Noah]

The forest floor was uninviting to the sandals of the Laguz. He had set them aside days prior and let his feet set upon the leaves, twigs, and plants. Even now his feet still had not become accustomed to the uncomfortable ground. A small fire lighted the clearing Knor had come upon as he began his training again.

Sweat dripped from Knor's forehead, down his cheek, and to the curved lips of his smile. The droplet disappeared leaving a salty taste behind. A soft purr of satisfaction left his lips. Knor had smelled his visitor far before he was greeted. His presence would have been masked from me if he wore the charm. He should prove to be a very interesting opponent if thinks he doesn't need it.

"Salutations, Knor, warrior of the Laguz. I am Tenold. I was sent by Fenii to claim my rightful Phoenix Knight position. Don't mind me if I start the fight right away."

The rhythmic beating of Tenold's feet against the forest floor alerted Knor to the act. He turned swiftly towards Tenold, Knor's left hand pushed off against the ground and sent him sprinting towards the charging swordsman. Knor lifted his axe as they drew nearer to one another.

With the momentum of the sprint behind him, Knor leapt into the air to meet Tenold's sword. He swung his axe so the flat of the two blades would slam against the oncoming weapon pushing it to his left. His left hand clutched the axe shaft above his right and pushed the axe to slash diagonally ahead of him as his feet once again touched upon the hard forest floor. Knor's right hand released his weapon and fell to his side. Using the remaining momentum he swung his left hand back, cross cutting from the right to the left.

His arms now at his sides Knor roared with determination. Birds cried and flew from the forest now knowing that something was amiss. "Tenold, you want the rank of knight but in order for that to happen I would lose my own. I shall not allow that to come to pass. Ready yourself."

With those words Knor threw his axe towards his opponent. Using it to divert Tenold's attention Knor made his way to Tenold's left. Knor snapped his right leg to meet the side of Tenold's left knee. Flowing with the kick he followed up with a punch to Tenold's kidney.

[Akira]

As Tenold's sword was deflected to the side, he only felt as his knee buckled and his side began to ache. His body hit the ground. He flung up instinct-like.

"Hehe......he.........Muahahahahahaaha!!!!"

Tenold's sadistic laugh and the psychotic smirk upon his face were not the typical reaction to being hit. Rather than hurt, he seemed to be enjoying the pain he had been inflicted with.

"Knor, it will take much more than a mere punch to defeat me. I am guarded by dark powers."

The dark aura glowing from Tenold's body began to inrease in intensity. Tenold let out a loud yell and then a screech of pain. He fell to the ground and covered his face with his hands. It seemed as if blood began to drip from his face. Tenold's face shot upwards revealing bloodshot eyes that were lactating the crimson fluid. What were further screams of pain and agony until they ultimately ceased. Tenold stood up, heaving wildly. The fog in the air began to thicken as he looked upon Knor.

The temperature began to drop rapidly. The air around the two warriors was cool and covered by a blanket of humidity. The scene resembled that of two armies ready to meet eachother in the field of battle but only with the small twist that these two were fighting solely. Tenold glared at his opponent coldly.

Once again, Tenold's mantle flew up in a wave-like manner and two small throwing knives were unleashed from under the cape. As they came whistling towards Knor's body, Tenold launched a further attack towards the abdomen of Knor's body. He held the sword outward rather than to the side in hopes of thrusting into stomache region shortly after the knives had reached their target. The knives would either distract Knor long enough to create a chance to attack or would pin him against the tree standing behnd him. Either way, if Tenold was successful, the ensuing wound may not be critical but would weaken to an almost critical state.

[Atma-Noah]

Knor could not hide his bewildered expression as he saw Tenold's reaction to his attack. Even more so at the actions that followed. Dark powers indeed. I may have bitten off more than I can chew.

Knor growled in reply to his adversary's glare but his eyes wandered the fog looking for his axe. The knives whistled through the fog giving away to Tenold's attack. Knor crouched to the ground hearing the knives pierce the tree's bark behind him. However his ears did not pick up the sound of Tenold moving forward.

Tenold's blade skimmed over and into Knor's collar bone. Knor turned to look at the wound and saw the 3 inches of blade that had missed him. Knor pulled his body to the ground, ripping the blade from the wound. In one fell swoop he swung one leg ahead of him hoping to trip his opponent. The blood that followed from the attack began to run through his fingers and soak into his blue shirt.

Knor scrambled in the fog looking for his axe. Its blade reflected off the light of the fire and gave way to its position. Realizing that the blood would clot he brandished his axe in both hands.

"Tenold let us see just how well the darkness can guard you?"

Knor roared as he initiated his attack. The roar seemed to disperse a little of the fog allowing his to see his opponent. He galloped towards Tenold with ferocity. A deep growl escaping his clenched teeth.

Knor's feet pushed off the ground sending Knor into the air above the fellow Phoenix Knight. As he began his descent Knor curled his body and began to roll in the air. In one quick motion he straightened his body out with the axe high above his head and let gravity and his arms work together. The muscles in his arms tightened as he swung vertically towards Tenold.

[Akira]

Tenold, feeling exaustion beginning to show its effects, looked around the small encampment for his opponent. The thick fog made any real perception impossible and sent a weary feeling of disorientation through Tenold's body.

Suddenly, Tenold heard the rustling sound coming from overhead but had noticed it too late. Knor was already in flight and soaring downwards at an incredible velocity, making a possible parry quite complicated. Nonetheless, Tenold's body instinctively rolled to the side.

Yet, the maneuver had come one second to late, as Tenold felt the cool metal slice first through his cape, and then into his warm flesh. A spurt of fresh blood flew through the fog, tainting the virgen air with its red hew. Tenold screamed in utter agony as his back began to feel the liquid warmth run downwards. He looked up and coughed a blob of bloody mass onto the grassy ground.

Tenold picked his weakened body up and grabbed his sword, lifting and pointing it towards his enemy. However, the location of the wound sent a jilt of pain through his back, causing him to further yell with anguish.

'I'll have to get some good hits in if I intend to still defeat this Laguz. Yet, my wound makes any aggressive hits quite complicated. I'll have to use tactic for this one.'

Tenold ran into the fog and hid behind a tree. He listened for any motions from Knor but heard nothing. At least the thick fog offered Tenold a good refuge to rest for a bit and regain some of his strength. Tenold looked around at the surrounding trees. Some were quite thin and could easily be hacked through the middle. Possibly hacking some of these trees down would create a good obstacle and make Knor trip, creating an oppurtune moment for Tenold to attack. And with the fog creating a good handicap, Knor would have a hard time locating the obstacles.

Tenold grabbed his sword and prepared the trees for his trap. He started rustling wildly in hopes of luring the laguz into his direction. If he heard a thumping sound, it would most likely be Knor falling. That would be Tenold's chance to strike....

[Shan'do Spike]

(Akira asked me to judge this a while ago, and I kinda forgot about it for a bit, so I apologize for that, but here we go).


Okay, I'm going to have to give this battle to Atma-Noah.


Idea-wise, both of you were fairly evenly matched. There was nothing completely mind-blowing, but all-in-all, both of you were very solid. It'd be very very hard to call this match if I only had to go on that.

Where Atma gets the edge here is in the writing. Absolutely no offense intended, Akira, but his writing was just more polished than yours was. Yours was fairly good, but Noah's, yours was actually, in my opinion, extremely well-written and flowed very well, and that's where he got the edge.

Nice battle you two. Feel free to drop me a PM if you have any questions.

*CLOSED (or it would be if this were a year ago and I was still RPB mod. For now, I'll have to wait for Loco to come along)*

[Toph Bei Fong]

Or me. =P