2006 TOA R2: Malevolence v. Inferno Mage

[LocoColt04]

OOC: Please forgive me. Nightshade (the split-decision judge) graciously accepted the task of writing the introductions for your threads this round, but had an incredibly long day at work and fell a bit behind. He will still be writing them, so I ask that you do not post until after he does. If, however, the posts are not up by late tomorrow evening, I will write them myself, so know that either way the rounds will be underway within the next 24 hours.

I will edit this post with the running length for the round; it will likely be 15 or 16 days. Good luck to everyone, and thank you for your patience.


Updated information:
The round will officially end sometime on SUNDAY, 16 JULY 2006. Please utilize the time allotted. Everyone, judges and readers alike, would love to see some highly active threads. Good luck to the eight of you.

[LocoColt04]

The sun rose early that day, breaking the horizon and flooding the estate with rays of dancing light. The sky was clear as a crystal; the breeze was completely nonexistant. Though the morning air was heavy, the day was otherwise perfect... perfect for more violence to please the gracious hosts.

It had been seven short nights since the first round of battle. Eight warriors had fallen; not dead, but defeated. Though they would have the option of remaining in their quarters throughout the duration of the tournament, some had already taken the liberty of leaving for their homes. Those who remained were allowed to sit with the hosts if they chose to do so.

It had been seven short days since the first round of battle. Bruises were healed, scrapes were scarred, and deep wounds were still vulnerable. The eight remaining fighters were ready for battle, but unaware of what was upon them.

Without warning, two attendants rushed into each competitor's room. It was barely dawn, and those who were not already awake were forced to rise. The day's battle was meant for sunrise. Each fighter had only ten minutes to prepare, whether fully awakened or not. The warriors were blindfolded and ushered to the courtyard; one was led to the tree in the northeast corner, and the other to the tree in the southwest corner. They were instructed to remove the blindfolds only upon the start of the fight. Without knowing who or what would be waiting, the fighters became antsy with anticipation, and perhaps worry.

The sun continued to rise. Low beams of light were slowly creeping over the edge of the estate, bringing the courtyard to a dim light. The water in the fountain glistened. The courtyard grew brighter, and the fighters continued to stand in their corners, impatiently awaiting the commanding voice from above...

"BEGIN!"

[Malevolence]

((OOC: Unless anyone has any objections, I think I'm going to quit using Times in my RPB posts. I think I've grown out of that. It looks too cluttered. Righto, on to the good stuff!))

Masashi tore the blindfold from his face, and looked over his new field of battle. He had been placed by a tree in the northeast corner of a courtyard, while his opponent stood at the opposite corner. The center of the yard held a large fountain, spouting water that caught the light of the just-risen sun. A prism of color shined from each raindrop, bathing the courtyard in multicolored lights.

Across by the only other tree in the courtyard was Masashi’s opponent. He surveyed him, sensing that he would be much more of a challenge than his last opponent, who apparently had no defense against or no knowledge of iaido. Masashi had expertly used the sword-draw technique to quickly decapitate his previous opponent, who, saving much else, at least died with honor. This new opponent, however, was of a different school of fighting, no doubt, and would prove to be much more of an interesting adversary.

The man facing him did not have the outward appearance of an assassin, as his last opponent had, but carried himself in the manner of a mercenary. Beneath the clean red and white armor he wore, Masashi sensed his opponent’s lust for a quick, stealthy kill, and his want for an expertly trained opponent. One other than Masashi, however, would not have noticed this. The man’s outer armor, enameled white and red, gave the appearance of a royal soldier, complete with crests and seals emblazoned on his chest and armguards.

This outer shell was merely a disguise for the covert mercenary beneath, and Masashi saw right through it. However, he decided to play along with his opponent’s want for a challenge, and made his choice of weapon accordingly. In his left hand, he drew Ki’rin with its rattling ring-bells jingling ominously on the back of the blade. In his right, however, he undid the leather cord that held his kusari-gama to his waist, and let the bladed end drop to the ground with a foreboding clank.

Before beginning, Masashi said his traditional warrior’s prayer, “I pray now to the forces that guide my hand. Let the wind be swift by the air and my sword, and let the air be clear through the sky and mine eyes. May my blade be cleansed in blood of mine enemy, and may his blade never but even taste of my soul.”

Masashi then raised Ki’rin across his chest as a defensive weapon, and whipped the chain of his lashknife with his right hand. The bladed kama at the end of the chain leapt up into the air, throwing up sparks as the chain and edge of the blade scraped along the tile on the floor of the courtyard. The chain followed the blade up, creating a helix of whipping chain as the blade hovered in the air about eight feet above Masashi’s shoulder. Masashi then dashed forward, heading directly toward the fountain in the middle of the arena. When he reached it, he bounded up the tiers to the spouting apex, and leapt off, flying through the air while whipping the lashknife forward. The razor-edged kama zipped past his opponent, while Masashi came down from the air with Ki’rin raised across his chest. He made a downward slash with the blade, causing the rings threaded through the back to vibrate and ring with a spine-tingling peal. As he brought the blade down, Masashi pulled back suddenly on the chain of the kusari-gama, causing the blade to whip back toward him, and, more importantly, toward his opponent’s back.

[King Fenii]

After Kenji’s previous match in the Tournament, he felt a bit displeased, and hoped that this battle would satisfy him. He stared at his opponent and hoped for a reaction as he twirled his katana in his right hand. He saw how his opponent mumbled something. Kenji’s eyes were then caught on the fountain and how the drops of water glistened in the sunlight. Before he could even blink, he saw his opponent jump off the same fountain. Kenji knew that without any time to prepare, all he could do was improvise.

Kenji witnessed how his adversary made a vertical slash right in front of him. He had little time to react, and with his blade still holstered, he had little choice but to hold his katana before him, with casing and all, hoping he would block the attack. Kenji was thrilled when he saw he actually blocked his opponent’s blade. But he also noticed the smirk on his face. Before Kenji even knew it he was swung to the side, spinning as he did. He managed to kick his opponent, knocking him down.

They were now both knocked down, but Kenji was the only one that was injured. It had seemed that his opponent’s lashknife had hooked Kenji behind his armour; right behind his right strap. Kenji felt the pain of the cut in his right shoulder blade. He then stood up slowly: “Yeah…many thanks for the heads up. By the way, the name’s Kenji. And you are…?” Giving his opponent about a second to answer, Kenji didn’t hesitate in preparing his attack.

Kenji used the wall near the southwest corner of the courtyard to boost him in to the air. He deliberately leapt to his opponent’s left side, as Kenji now had problems using his right arm. As he was in the air, he swiftly drew and threw his dagger at his adversary, almost reinsuring that he would dodge it. Kenji then tilted his weight to his left, in which he slashed in mid-air with his left arm. He was now able to land on the same arm, and roll over to boost him in the air again. In his roll, he drew his broadsword for the few seconds he was in the air afterwards.

In this short moment Kenji held both swords over his shoulders, behind his back, in order to release a fairly powerful attack with both blades. Kenji did this at a rather fast pace, meaning it would be hard to dodge for his opponent or hard to follow for Kenji himself. It was at that moment that he would find out…

[LocoColt04]

OOC:
Hate to be so brief, but it's a friend's birthday and I'm not exactly at home right now. That said, round two is over, and judgement can be expected within the next 72 hours. I look forward to reading the posts for this round, and I can only assume the other judges share that sentiment. Enjoy your evenings.

[Shan'do Spike]

Okay, this one was very close. I'm giving this to Malevolence.

I wish there were more to judge, because basically, here's my thoughts: you both were good, but not so good that I was blown away. I just felt that overall, Mal's post was of slightly better quality. There was really very little I could say in the area of improvement for both of you--both of your posts were very solid, it just turned out that Mal's were slightly better.


Well done both of you, and best of luck in the next round.