10-11-2015, 04:43 AM
The Arena itself was a vast, sandy bowl of nothing. Not all that impressive by Weiss’s standards - she’d been to the Vytal festivals, after all, and the Vytal arena made this entire place look like a child’s sandcastle - but big. Weiss wondered if this fight was really going to be just “one on one.”.
As in answer to her question, she heard the amplified voice of a woman echo across the coliseum. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have quite the match for you - one that might totally change who you root for in the upcoming primes tournament.
“In the blue corner, we have a ferocious beast that’s taken down all challengers until today - The Dire wolf, Redfang!”
The crowd cheered, and Weiss was more than a little shocked. Cheering for an animal raised to kill people was… Weiss focused on her breathing instead. She knew better than to let this get her worked up. Not before a battle was about to be joined, at least. It was odd. She was more bothered by the crowd, the announcer’s shrill voice, and the sand getting on her jacket than the idea of fighting a massive creature. Even now, knowing that she was going into deadly battle in only a few seconds… it somehow didn’t faze her.
The next thing Weiss heard was a snarl, and she immediately brought one hand down to myrtenaster, drawing the weapon with a twirling motion as the portcullis in front of her raised.
“and in the red corner, and a prime entered in the very same tournament this match opens for, I bring you our new challenger, fresh from anonymity but raring to fight… Weiss. Schnee!” The woman yelled into the audience.
Weiss entered to an odd mix of cheers and boos. She’d been outdone in popularity by a homicidal wolf. She guessed it made sense.
“Now, if miss Schnee wins, we’ll probably see her at the tournament tomorrow, fresh and ready to fight. If she doesn’t meet an unfortunate end in Redfang’s stomach, anyways!”
The crowd cheered far more unanimously at the idea of an animal eating her than Weiss would have liked. If nothing else, she’d learned one thing from this experience already:
She was not a fan of Camelot.
“The wolf, Weiss, you idiot” she mentally reminded herself, and as she stepped out of the portcullis, she finally saw him.
Weiss had never seen a wolf, but she’d heard stories of the creatures, beings a little larger than the biggest dogs, all teeth and leg muscle, with a keen intelligence to their eyes.
In physical form, this creature accurately fit the description… with one exception. Redfang was at least as tall as a horse! Red eyes stared back at Weiss, and while there was intelligence there, it was mixed with insanity. All this creature staring back at her wanted to do was to rip her apart, and as it began to circle her, looking for an opening, Weiss could see the restraint evident in it’s eyes.
But still
Was this it?
Weiss almost grinned. When she heard people say things like “dire wolf”, she was thinking of something closer to an ursa or something. The creature in front of her was big, sure, and it had some nasty teeth attached, but…
Weiss had fought Ursa three times Redfangs size with claws bigger than this guy’s teeth, Giant birds that would have been able to simply swallow this wolf whole, and Giant mechanical robots with blades and lasers and cannons.
Even as weakened as she was by the omniverse, she couldn’t find herself being that scared of a big wolf.
Weiss circled in turn, realizing the wolf was checking for openings he could exploit in Weiss’s defenses, and moved in half-steps, keeping to a firm, tight stance the entire time. One arm placed behind her back, the other holding Myrtenaster close to her chest, ready to spring into deadly action at a moment’s notice.
The wolf growled spittle at her, and Weiss realized it had found some perceived opening.
Of course it had, after all. Weiss wasn’t just someone who’d picked up fighting from instinct or perception. She’d spent a decade training. she knew how to feint even with her feet, purposely make it appear that her leg was just slightly too far forward, and it looked like the “champion’ she was fighting was opportunistic but not cautious.
The creature charged forward in a blur of motion, and Weiss barely managed to pull her leg back in time to avoid losing a very precious leg to a bite from a jaw bigger than her arm.
Weiss made sure the wolf wasn’t so lucky, and in the same sweeping motion that pulled her leg from Weiss’s front to her right, she countered with a quick slash of her blade, the attack cutting a thin line of red in her enemy’s flank as the wolf clumsily dodged away from her blade.
Redfang turned to look her directly in the eyes again with an audible snarl, the wound doing little more than to tick it off, and it sprang, throwing it’s whole body into a quick motion that would have probably broken more than a couple of Weiss’s bones without any effort just on impact.
If Weiss stood still for the blow.
Redfang was fast for a wolf, and Weiss wasn’t nearly as fast as she had once trained to be. But as she jumped backwards, using her offhand as a springboard back to her feet, she knew she’d have to be a lot slower than this to take a hit from this brute.
The dire wolf audibly growled as he stuck an unsteady landing, and Weiss activated Myrtenaster’s dust chambers, reversing her grip on the weapon as Redfang charged straight at her.
Weiss struck the ground with her weapon, and flames erupted from the ground, licking at the surprised hound’s feet. The effect on the creature was immediate, and Weiss saw the fear in her opponent’s crimson eyes. No matter how mad it was, it still feared fire, she guessed, and as a row of flame burnt at the dire wolf’s footpads it jumped away from a mixture of instinct and pain.
Weiss didn’t give it the respite it wanted though, and her image blurred as she charged forward, lunging at a speed too fast for the human eye to track as she inflicted a heavy wound on the animal’s right side.
Redfang retaliated with a quick, biting lunge, but Weiss was already a step ahead, and as she stepped forward Redfang’s bite cut only a strand of white hair. “cutting it a bit close there, Weiss…
Weiss, however, was now on the side of Redfang’s body, and she capitalized immediately, her body already pivoting into an elegant twirl as Weiss slashed a crescent arc on the side of Redfangs body.
The wolf pivoted as well, turning just a little faster than Weiss expected, and she found herself suddenly on the defensive, blocking Redfangs teeth with her weapon as he tried to use his superior strength to just push through Weiss’s guard.
“And after a rousing combo of attacks by Weiss Schnee, we have a vicious comeback from Redfang, as he corners her with his superior strength. It looks like this is probably the end of our competitor, folks, but let’s give her a hand for-”
Weiss smiled. It was going to feel good to shut that stupid announcer up.
Redfang pushed forward with brute force, again, and Weiss knew what to expect as the wolf lurched forward.
If Weiss had tried to block the wolf, she would have been crushed under at least a thousand pounds of muscle.
If Weiss let myrtenaster go, she didn’t believe she could kick him hard enough to make him feel it.
So instead, the huntress Jumped,, her feet flying up just as Redfang charged, still gripping Myrtenaster.
The wolf would have been able to just grab the Weapon away from Weiss, normally, and she knew it, but with his body already travelling forward, he couldn’t do much about when Weiss jumped up.Redfang’s face suddenly bent upwards - the body always follows the head, and in this case the head had just been rudely yanked sideways from the body - and the wolf let his grip on the weapon go as he clumsily fell onto his paws, unprepared for the sudden stop to his deadly charge.
Meanwhile, Weiss found herself directly above Redfang.
A slight smile found it’s way to her lips, as ivory white runes glowed on her blade.
Then, only a heartbeat later, Weiss’s boots kicked up dust as they touched the ground, the beast that was meant to kill her was fading into dust behind her, and the audience finally heard the sound of a slash that had occurred a heartbeat earlier.
“Well, uh, folks… It looks like my predictions were all wrong. Please remember that my opinions are not sound betting advice and, uh, take responsibility for your own financial choices, folks! But what I should really be saying is... Ladies and gentlemen, your winner… Weiss Schnee!”
As in answer to her question, she heard the amplified voice of a woman echo across the coliseum. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have quite the match for you - one that might totally change who you root for in the upcoming primes tournament.
“In the blue corner, we have a ferocious beast that’s taken down all challengers until today - The Dire wolf, Redfang!”
The crowd cheered, and Weiss was more than a little shocked. Cheering for an animal raised to kill people was… Weiss focused on her breathing instead. She knew better than to let this get her worked up. Not before a battle was about to be joined, at least. It was odd. She was more bothered by the crowd, the announcer’s shrill voice, and the sand getting on her jacket than the idea of fighting a massive creature. Even now, knowing that she was going into deadly battle in only a few seconds… it somehow didn’t faze her.
The next thing Weiss heard was a snarl, and she immediately brought one hand down to myrtenaster, drawing the weapon with a twirling motion as the portcullis in front of her raised.
“and in the red corner, and a prime entered in the very same tournament this match opens for, I bring you our new challenger, fresh from anonymity but raring to fight… Weiss. Schnee!” The woman yelled into the audience.
Weiss entered to an odd mix of cheers and boos. She’d been outdone in popularity by a homicidal wolf. She guessed it made sense.
“Now, if miss Schnee wins, we’ll probably see her at the tournament tomorrow, fresh and ready to fight. If she doesn’t meet an unfortunate end in Redfang’s stomach, anyways!”
The crowd cheered far more unanimously at the idea of an animal eating her than Weiss would have liked. If nothing else, she’d learned one thing from this experience already:
She was not a fan of Camelot.
“The wolf, Weiss, you idiot” she mentally reminded herself, and as she stepped out of the portcullis, she finally saw him.
Weiss had never seen a wolf, but she’d heard stories of the creatures, beings a little larger than the biggest dogs, all teeth and leg muscle, with a keen intelligence to their eyes.
In physical form, this creature accurately fit the description… with one exception. Redfang was at least as tall as a horse! Red eyes stared back at Weiss, and while there was intelligence there, it was mixed with insanity. All this creature staring back at her wanted to do was to rip her apart, and as it began to circle her, looking for an opening, Weiss could see the restraint evident in it’s eyes.
But still
Was this it?
Weiss almost grinned. When she heard people say things like “dire wolf”, she was thinking of something closer to an ursa or something. The creature in front of her was big, sure, and it had some nasty teeth attached, but…
Weiss had fought Ursa three times Redfangs size with claws bigger than this guy’s teeth, Giant birds that would have been able to simply swallow this wolf whole, and Giant mechanical robots with blades and lasers and cannons.
Even as weakened as she was by the omniverse, she couldn’t find herself being that scared of a big wolf.
Weiss circled in turn, realizing the wolf was checking for openings he could exploit in Weiss’s defenses, and moved in half-steps, keeping to a firm, tight stance the entire time. One arm placed behind her back, the other holding Myrtenaster close to her chest, ready to spring into deadly action at a moment’s notice.
The wolf growled spittle at her, and Weiss realized it had found some perceived opening.
Of course it had, after all. Weiss wasn’t just someone who’d picked up fighting from instinct or perception. She’d spent a decade training. she knew how to feint even with her feet, purposely make it appear that her leg was just slightly too far forward, and it looked like the “champion’ she was fighting was opportunistic but not cautious.
The creature charged forward in a blur of motion, and Weiss barely managed to pull her leg back in time to avoid losing a very precious leg to a bite from a jaw bigger than her arm.
Weiss made sure the wolf wasn’t so lucky, and in the same sweeping motion that pulled her leg from Weiss’s front to her right, she countered with a quick slash of her blade, the attack cutting a thin line of red in her enemy’s flank as the wolf clumsily dodged away from her blade.
Redfang turned to look her directly in the eyes again with an audible snarl, the wound doing little more than to tick it off, and it sprang, throwing it’s whole body into a quick motion that would have probably broken more than a couple of Weiss’s bones without any effort just on impact.
If Weiss stood still for the blow.
Redfang was fast for a wolf, and Weiss wasn’t nearly as fast as she had once trained to be. But as she jumped backwards, using her offhand as a springboard back to her feet, she knew she’d have to be a lot slower than this to take a hit from this brute.
The dire wolf audibly growled as he stuck an unsteady landing, and Weiss activated Myrtenaster’s dust chambers, reversing her grip on the weapon as Redfang charged straight at her.
Weiss struck the ground with her weapon, and flames erupted from the ground, licking at the surprised hound’s feet. The effect on the creature was immediate, and Weiss saw the fear in her opponent’s crimson eyes. No matter how mad it was, it still feared fire, she guessed, and as a row of flame burnt at the dire wolf’s footpads it jumped away from a mixture of instinct and pain.
Weiss didn’t give it the respite it wanted though, and her image blurred as she charged forward, lunging at a speed too fast for the human eye to track as she inflicted a heavy wound on the animal’s right side.
Redfang retaliated with a quick, biting lunge, but Weiss was already a step ahead, and as she stepped forward Redfang’s bite cut only a strand of white hair. “cutting it a bit close there, Weiss…
Weiss, however, was now on the side of Redfang’s body, and she capitalized immediately, her body already pivoting into an elegant twirl as Weiss slashed a crescent arc on the side of Redfangs body.
The wolf pivoted as well, turning just a little faster than Weiss expected, and she found herself suddenly on the defensive, blocking Redfangs teeth with her weapon as he tried to use his superior strength to just push through Weiss’s guard.
“And after a rousing combo of attacks by Weiss Schnee, we have a vicious comeback from Redfang, as he corners her with his superior strength. It looks like this is probably the end of our competitor, folks, but let’s give her a hand for-”
Weiss smiled. It was going to feel good to shut that stupid announcer up.
Redfang pushed forward with brute force, again, and Weiss knew what to expect as the wolf lurched forward.
If Weiss had tried to block the wolf, she would have been crushed under at least a thousand pounds of muscle.
If Weiss let myrtenaster go, she didn’t believe she could kick him hard enough to make him feel it.
So instead, the huntress Jumped,, her feet flying up just as Redfang charged, still gripping Myrtenaster.
The wolf would have been able to just grab the Weapon away from Weiss, normally, and she knew it, but with his body already travelling forward, he couldn’t do much about when Weiss jumped up.Redfang’s face suddenly bent upwards - the body always follows the head, and in this case the head had just been rudely yanked sideways from the body - and the wolf let his grip on the weapon go as he clumsily fell onto his paws, unprepared for the sudden stop to his deadly charge.
Meanwhile, Weiss found herself directly above Redfang.
A slight smile found it’s way to her lips, as ivory white runes glowed on her blade.
Then, only a heartbeat later, Weiss’s boots kicked up dust as they touched the ground, the beast that was meant to kill her was fading into dust behind her, and the audience finally heard the sound of a slash that had occurred a heartbeat earlier.
“Well, uh, folks… It looks like my predictions were all wrong. Please remember that my opinions are not sound betting advice and, uh, take responsibility for your own financial choices, folks! But what I should really be saying is... Ladies and gentlemen, your winner… Weiss Schnee!”
![[Image: 1403536693-tumblr-mnt768ec7u1qcjxmlo2-r1-500.gif]](http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2014/26/1403536693-tumblr-mnt768ec7u1qcjxmlo2-r1-500.gif)