Demonia Trial: Red vs Musicmuse

[Aerif]

The footsteps of the final spectators taking their seats echoed throughout the marble walls and columns. Aerif, the supervisor of the trial, was standing rather silently in the middle of the grand marble hall, staring at the fountian to the right of the room.

The arena for the match was a rather classical and old-fashioned building that was ready to collapse yet still in a beautiful condition, thanks to the countless hours of polishing. The hall was a large size but well-lit by the enormous sky-light, the ony source of light and the window that the spectators could see the match from. The guests had been warned that that parts of the ceiling where liable to fall in if one of the supporting colums where broken, yet still the Demonia Trial was popular enough to recieve a fair amount of spectators.

The coaked, elegant figure that was Aerif diverted her gaze from the water and raised her arm. A small, white ball of energy appeared and floated towards her voice-box, amplifiying the voice loud enough for all spectators to hear clearly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, guild warriors and supporters. I welcome you to another Demonia Trial, this time an expectadly epic battle between the young, yet powerful Niah Hatua and the rather unheard of Kai."

Upon mentioning the names of the combatants, came a white smoke at the opposite ends of the great hall. On opposite sides, the fighters appeared. Likewise in a darker red smoke, the judge vanished from the middle of the stadium, in an attempt to avoid any possible crossfire.

"And so, let the battle begin!"

[Red]

Kai jogged through the white smoke screen only to come to a halt inches away from the center of the battlefield. Kai noticed his opponent was still on the other end of the arena and took this time to take note of his surroundings.

The marble hall was big, Kai would defiantly have enough room for battle. There wasn’t much to this place except an open space with a fancy fountain to the right of the room. Kai looked around, eyeing every little detail around him when suddenly he lost focus and realized the mass amount of fans all screaming and cheering expecting a good fight.

Kai started to get that feeling in his stomach, he had never really been in a fight like this before, only the odd sword duel or street fight here and there. “This Demonia Trial is serious.” Kai thought to himself. “I have to concentrate, for this is more important than anything I’ve done before.” Kai tapped his foot against the ground nervously, what seemed like minutes waiting for his opponent was mere seconds, then finally she appeared through the white fog as what looked to him like a black blob.

Kai took his sword from his sheath and stood ready and waiting for his opponent to come near. Knees bent, arms out, hands gripping his sword so tight his knuckles were white, Kai waited…and waited. Then finally the smoke cleared revealing to him his opponent.

[Musicmuse]

The chalky white smoke billowed and swirled, spilling outward like a serene fountain as Niah strode out from under its cover. She took long, graceful steps and gently swung her hips as her piercing gaze scanned her opponent for the first time. She was taken aback by his age, but was pleased that he was male. Niah much preferred to do combat with a man, or in this case a boy, because they seemed to become more easily distracted by her grace and beauty than most women she encountered.

Niah's eyes darted around the once-majestic structure she had entered, and she quickly made note that there would be few opportunities to take cover or catch a breath. The only escape would be the crumbling pillars, and even then it would only be a moment's reprieve.

A cascade of light from above had illuminated her adversary completely, and he stood squarely in the middle of the arena clutching his dragon-inspired blade. Her azure eyes narrowed and she told herself not to underestimate this boy. If anything he seemed to be quite healthy and slim, and Niah had an annoying feeling she would find herself in hot pursuit more than once during this bout.

She stopped her advance a few yards from the center and drew her two warhammers, poising the one in her left hand above her head and the other at a slight angle from her body out in front of her. Her left foot was planted as a base, and her right swept outward in a semicircular motion as she mentally gathered herself.

The crowd had hushed and there was barely a whisper from any of them as they all leaned forward anxiously to see who would make the first move. The only sound was the soft murmur of the water as it trickled peacefully from the top of the fountain.

[Red]

Kai's expression changed from determined to shocked, he had not expected to fight a girl…well woman. He quickly shook his head and re-focused. He looked at her again, she was a sight for sore eyes, someone you'd see on the catwalk but not the battle field. Kai took a glance at her weapons "I'll have to stay away from those" he noted "if I'm hit even once by them I imagine they could do some lethal damage."

"I didn't expect to be fighting a woman" Kai said with a smirk on his face. Although Niah's facial expression was so blank, Kai got the feeling she didn't like that comment too much. After a while of staring dumbly at her Kai decided he would make the first move.

Kai looked to the ground ahead of him, he measured the distance between them. "Good spacing" he thought to himself, and with that he pulled his hands close to the right side of his face with his blade out in front of him, and ran at his opponent.

The crowd grew louder and louder as Kai ran toward Niah, this only edged him on further, he was pumped now. Kai noticed a slight opening in Niah's left Torso and decided that’s where he’d strike. Only a meter away from Niah, Kai put on the breaks and started to slide towards her, then with precise aim, he swung his sword and directed it right at the torso of Niah.

[Musicmuse]

It had become apparent to Niah from her competitor's confused expression that he too had not expected the opponent presented to him. The boy's comment about her sex was low-brow in her opinion, but also gave Niah a slight indication that he viewed her as inferior. Her expression remained unchanged, however, as she let it slide off of her back like the smoke she had emerged from earlier.

The lad's eyes had strayed to the ground between them, and Niah could see him calculating his next move. She kept her stance and locked her stare firmly onto his eyes, scanning for an indication of what he intended to do.

Niah only had to wait a moment as his hefty sword raised up to his face. The crowd reacted accordingly with hoots and restless cheers, and the sound crescendoed as the boy charged her. The skylight made the shadows around his grimace even more severe, and Niah could feel his determination emanating from him with each step.

A few feet away, her adversary startled her by slowing his advance into a heroic slide while thrusting his blade with alarming precision toward her midsection. Niah's mind flashed as she saw his sword seemed to glide through the air as if it weighed much less than it appeared to. There was definite skill behind this attack, regardless of what she had perceived about his training, and it snapped her mind into a state of excited adrenaline.

The speed of the slide made it fairly easy for her to dodge, but instead she crossed her warhammers in front of her body and brought the spiked ends down in an "X " to trap the young lad's sword against the ground, simmultaneously sliding backward to steady her footing.

Rather than just twirl deftly out of reach, Niah wanted to look her assailant in the eye and feel his passion up close.

[Red]

Kai looked down at the ground where his blade had been smashed against, then up at his rival Niah who pinned it there. He looked into her eyes, and although Niah's expression had not changed, Kai could tell just by that look that she was determined just as he was. Niah remained motionless, Kai was not afraid of an attack just yet so he stood up to confront her head to head.

Kai stood, relaxed, sword in hand still ready for anything. "That was some nice defense right there." Kai exclaimed. "Maybe I underestimated you. Anyway I hope these next moves will finish you off". Kai rolled backwards away from Niah not wanting to waste anytime with confrontation. He planted his feet firmly on the ground and put his sword back in it’s sheath. He pulled out a Kunai from his back pocket and held it out, blade going to the left of him in his left hand. His right arm that was lying limp at his side was now flexed and in a right angle as if doing an arm curl.

Kai grit his teeth together and the wrinkles on his face began to show as he looked angry. His arm started glowing an orange-ish red-ish colour, and a small ball of the same colour energy was hovering over his palm. Suddenly the ball of energy in his hand sparked, then twirled and morphed into a ball of fire. Another smirk stretched across Kai's face and his features relaxed.

The audience’s cheers and cries were at a standby once again, nearly 1 minute had past since the last attack. Kai's arm was warm and sweating, but it was good sweat, sweat of satisfaction. As time past Niah, and the entire stadium noticed that the little flame hanging over Kai's hand had grown from the size of a tennis ball to the size of a small bowling ball. The flames danced around with such grace, with no wind around the fire was so still yet very much alive.

Kai took his left arm and held the middle of his right arm with it for better control, and waited for the moment he would launch the blazing ball of fire at his adversary Niah.

[Musicmuse]

"His name is Kai," Niah told herself softly, suddenly remembering.

She knew she had remembered reading it on the trial write-up, but honestly it had seemed inconsequential at the time as to whom she would be fighting. Now her opponent had begun to conjure an energy of sorts, and for some reason it had jogged Niah's memory.

Admittedly, Niah thought that Kai was completely overconfident. His commentary was both unneeded and insulting. For anyone to think Niah would just crumple to the floor after a slide tackle and the standard fireball was ridiculous. What was even more entertaining was that this boy had actually smirked at her upon completing his fiery summon, as if the combination of fire and swagger would somehow intimidate Niah.

She reverted back to her original fighting stance, warhammers back in the ready position, and observed as Kai steadied his right arm by supporting it with his left. Obviously this move took great effort on his part, and Niah further speculated that such a sizable flame would most likely throw Kai off balance until it was dispatched.

Even still, Niah wasn't so reckless as to think herself invincible from such a blow, so she would be sure to stay light on her feet. She would either make Kai hurl that flaming projectile at her right away, or she would find a way to send him tumbling clumsily to the floor.

Niah brought her warhammers together as Kai stood holding his flame and ground, and the twin hammers locked together to form a much longer and more effective polearm. The ends of the deadly staff gleamed in the light of Kai's fireball, and Niah flipped her hair out of her eyes and prepared her attack by widening her footing.

Niah began to twirl the weapon above her head with both hands as her icy stare remained locked on Kai's face. An end of the polearm shot out suddenly as Niah's right arm thrust it toward Kai in a low, sweeping motion. Now she would see just how much control he had over that projectile.

[Red]

Niah attached her two war hammers and created a newer longer weapon, Kai felt a little intimidated by this, and he knew that now he would have to take a few steps backwards to even out the distance between them. Kai was dazed by the way Niah swung her new weapon around and around over her head that he almost lost focus on the glowing ball of burning energy in his hand. Kai had no time to take a step back instead he would have to launch his fireball.

before he had time to do anything Niah was on the move she lunged her right arm forward and down toward Kai's feet, Kai noticed and quickly jumped up and kicked the end of the pole to the ground, Kai knew Niah could still attack and so he couldn't leave any room open for an attack. Kai took a step up the pole and leaped off of it and up doing a front flip over Niah, he landed and swiftly spun around.

Kai was now behind Niah facing her back, he knew this was his chance. Normally Kai would have been able to do acrobatics like that with ease, but having a hot ball of fire crawling up your arm was like doing a marathon in the scorching rays of the sun. He was sweating even more now, and a bit exasperated. Kai knew this fireball would consume his energy even more but it had to be done before another of Niah's attacks. He underestimated her that move was quick, and it probably would have knocked Kai to the ground if he had been hit by it, leaving him open for any attack.

Kai squeezed his right arm with his left hand, and flexed his right arm then stretched it out ward toward Niah. Kai's whole arm began to glow and once again his face housed many angry wrinkles as he let out a howl and launched the blazing ball of fire right at the back of Niah.

[Musicmuse]

The moment Kai had mounted her weapon, the added weight had made Niah's posture buckle inward. Her shoulders sagged and she stumbled forward a step as her attacker floated overhead, fireball still blazing.

The speed with which Kai had pinned her polearm was alarming on its own, but what had really caught her attention was that he had vaulted over her in the process. Her confidence wavered as the arch of fire and flesh soared over her head, and Niah could almost predict what would come next. In moments she would become a charred memory unless she could maneuver quickly and intelligently.

Turning to face a raging jet of fire hardly seemed like a good idea, so instead Niah decided to resort to a move of desperation. She threw her polearm out in front of her as she dove forward, letting it skitter across the marble floor. Her body caught the sunlight above as it stretched into a graceful horizontal leap, and she couldn't help but imagine herself as a jaguar pouncing its prey... except that her adversary was still behind her. Her figure twisted in midair, leaving her to land on her back as the deadly inferno zipped parallel to her body just inches above her. Her momentum slid Niah a few feet across the cool surface of the floor, and she leaned up slightly to stop herself and see what had become of Kai.

The positive spin was that she had managed to escape her fiery fate, and in the process she had also succeeded in facing toward her opponent once again. The downside, of course, was that Niah was now sprawled out on her back looking up at the boy who was hell-bent on killing her. Her only hope was that all of this activity had perhaps slowed Kai for a moment so that she could reclaim her weapon, or at least get to her feet.

[Red]

Kai was over-all impressed by her stunning performance, and he could tell the crowd was too. He had never seen such moves preformed during combat. There was no time to just squat around amazed by the attack, Kai had to do something while his opponent was vulnerable. Right about now any normal person might be drained, but Kai was no normal person. He went through allot of training and through it all his stamina became a big asset of his overall skills. It wasn't so much that he could take a beating and still be able to stand, but the fact he never gives up.

Kai stood up slowly and began to run, his opponent wasn't that far away so he was at her in seconds, many thoughts were going through his head, he didn't know what to do. This upcoming attack was not planned at all. He reviewed his options, he could pull out his sword and go for multiple stabs while his opponent was on the ground, but he noticed that his opponent was about to get up and he had no time for that. He remembered the Kunai he held in his left hand. He wasn't exactly good with his left so he quickly changed hands while running.

Kai was now closing in on Niah and decided that now was the time to strike. He quickly leaped over her tucking in his feet so he could jump longer and landed on her weapon, he almost lost his balance from the force of landing but quickly regained it. Kai squatted with his feet on either end of the pole and quickly threw his Kunai, aiming right for the Chest of Niah, who was now in front of him on the floor.

[Musicmuse]

As Kai used Niah's warhammers as a surfboard, she got the distinct impression that the battle had taken a turn for the worse. The scraping sound of the metal tips of her warhammers against the marble floor seemed amplified because of the towering ceiling, and the noise seemed to echo the screeching inside her brain as she cursed her luck and Kai's skill.

Within moments he had unleashed yet another attack as he sat squatted firmly atop her fallen polearm, and the crowd seemed to enjoy Niah's misfortune. There was a collective gasp of excitement as the kunai whizzed across the arena, its piercing tip darting in a direct line for her chest.

Once again Niah found herself on the defensive, but at least she was in a good position to dodge this latest attack. Still on the floor, she quickly flipped herself over so she was now in a push-up stance, one she had been in countless times before during her physical conditioning. The kunai scuttled across the floor harmlessly now that Niah had adjusted her position, and she finished the maneuver by flipping her body into a handstand and then springing to the side, once again on her feet.

The crowd applauded appropriately and beckoned the two combatants to continue the festivities. Niah paused a minute to devise a plan, tiny beads of sweat forming at her temples and running down her softly curved jaw, and decided that perhaps she was better off without her warhammers. Kai's speed had been his main asset so far, and Niah was confident that she could match if not beat his agility while unarmed.

An idea popped into her head, and she ducked behind the safety of the nearest massive pillar, putting some distance between herself and Kai. Next she hastily ripped her riding pants across the bottom of the pant leg on both sides and tethered the ragged scraps around her fists. Surely diamond-studded makeshift gloves could inflict some heavy damage if she got close enough...

Niah lowered her head, closed her eyes, and concentrated on the sounds of the arena. If she wanted to hear Kai coming, she'd need to focus intently. Her fists were clenched as tightly as her teeth, and she waited expectantly for his next move.

[Red]

Kai had seen stuff like this done before, he would need to devise a plan before going in there like a berserker. Niah was still visible although standing behind a pole. Kai got off the War hammer pole and picked it up, he thought it might be best if he were to fight Niah without her weapon, this would surely give him the advantage...or so he thought.

The audience was not as loud as they used to be but not exactly silent, Kai threw Niah's weapon effortlessly across the floor and to the opposite end of the arena. He slowly sidestepped away from his opponent and thought up his next move. Let’s face it Kai was tired out after all this. He could still move fine but he figured it'd be best if he not use his magic for awhile. He had 4 Kunai's left plus the one that was somewhere in this marble hall.

Kai was at a large distance away from Niah and realized it'd be easy to throw more Kunai's at her, but she dogged the last one with ease and something told him she'd dodge any others that came her way. The only thing left for him to do was take out his sword and try to fend her off until he thought up a new strategy.

Kai slowly tiptoed his way toward Niah now facing the left of her so that both could see each other and waited, plenty of feet away, with his sword in hand in a fighting position.

[Musicmuse]

Niah's breath came in and out slowly and rhythmically, almost as if it had been set to a hidden metronome. Little creases formed at the edges of her eyes as she squeezed them shut even tighter in her trance of concentration. There was the faintest hint of footsteps crossing the marble, and although the scope of the grand hall helped to amplify them, it also helped to scatter the noise, making it impossible to pin down accurately.

Niah's eyes fluttered open once again, and she exhaled sharply. The movement had ceased, so apparently Kai had the same strategy of waiting in mind.

"Well," Niah muttered to herself, "Looks like it's showtime."

Her chin lifted, immediately correcting her posture and sending her back into a perfect 'S' curve. Her arms floated out gently from her body like waves rippling outward until they were poised at shoulder height, and she raised herself up onto the tips of her toes.

Her arms led her body into a sweeping turn out from the safety of the pillar, and as she spun elegantly across the cool marble, her determined stare never left Kai's face. The sunlight danced with her, illuminating her beauty and highlighting her grace, and there was a murmur of surprise from the gaping spectators. She sprung into a long horizontal split leap with her upper body squarely facing Kai now, and imagined that she looked something like a bird of prey descending upon it's next meal with the way her arms spanned out like two encompassing wings.

Landing, Niah immediately launched her body into a spinning series of kicks, and her eyes burned with passion as she drew near her opponent. The impressed cheers of the roused crowd only fueled her energy, and her twisting body hurtled toward Kai, leg outstretched and ready to strike.

[Red]

Kai watched Niah carefully as she hid herself behind the large pillar. She began to move, Kai tensed up. She gracefully spun and streaked across the cold hard marble floor, as if it were a dance floor. "Fancy footwork" Kai mumbled silently.

Niah came closer to Kai when she changed her footwork pattern, instead of coming closer she began to spin toward Kai with her legs outstretched. It was just a spin kick, nothing Kai couldn't handle, he was really just afraid what might happen afterwards so instead of trying to doge and counter he would doge and defend.

Kai was only a few feet away from a back wall, he did somewhat of a backwards cartwheel. But sprung off his hands and jump kicked off the back wall and to the right of Niah. He knew her agility seemed matched by his. he think he finally understood, he could probably outrun her as he was faster on feet, but she seemed faster at hand to hand combat, especially without a weapon.

Kai landed and began to run away, he wasn't very proud of this tactic, but he needed to ensure victory and if he could run and take cover behind the fountain to the right of the room then he could regain his energy and wait for her to come to him to launch another attack.

He met with the large fountain, he hid behind it and closed his eyes so to sharpen his sense of hearing. He would now listen for Niah's footsteps and than come out for the attack, he listened inventively to the sound of the trickling water, so soothing he had nearly forgotten about the battle at hand.

Kai held his sword in his hand lightly and squatted there just waiting behind the security of the large fountain.