10-13-2015, 04:01 AM
Alexyana took a deep breath as she entered the arena. As she waited for the unknown man in the center to initiate the combat for them, she examined the wall behind her and the items on it. Crossbows, longbows, swords, halberds, spears, clubs... the Colosseum hadn't spared expenses to make this fight interesting. She then turned her head back to look down the arena and involuntarily grimaced at the sight of her foe. She hadn't thought that her opponent would be someone wearing a mask. She couldn't read his - no, her - facial expression and she couldn’t tell what type of combatant she was.
"Let's hope for the best!" She told herself. The moment that the gong resonat-ed through the arena, she spun around and reached for whatever weapons she could get her hands on. With no idea what to anticipate from her foe – they might just be a ranged mage for all she knew - she dropped forward as if a fireball would whizz over her head. She grabbed a medium-sized crossbow with a leather pouch holding a few bolts attached to its stock, and her tail wrapped around the hilt of a small spear intended for throwing.
Courier reached for the weapons herself rather than bringing out her own from the start, and took hold of a large crossbow which, like Alexyana's, had a pouch with a handful of bolts in it attached. She knelt down to use the walls between them as makeshift cover as she loaded the crossbow, then aimed and fired across the arena. The size of the weapon she had selected meant brutal recoil, but she had handled bolt-action weapons before so she was prepared and handled it. Due to the great distance however Alexyana was able to move away in time, and the bolt only hit the wall.
"We'll see about that." Alexyana mumbled and pointed her own crossbow at her opponent, then fired. However, she had picked out a smaller crossbow than Courier, thus its reach was far shorter. The bolt lost its momentum and harmlessly dug into the ground almost five meters away from her. Cursing, the dragoness hooked two claws into the bowstring and, rather than using the rewinding mechanism, pulled the string back by hand with raw physical strength. Whilst holding the spear with her tail she loaded a new bolt in and rushed forward, then stopped behind one around halfway between the trench in the center of the arena and the armory behind her. She briefly caught her breath, then emerged to attack again.
Because Courier lacked the strength to imitate Alexyana - although, to be fair even the dragoness would have had trouble rewinding the big crossbow - so while moving to the closest low wall for protection she discarded the crossbow and instead drew Ratslayer, her bolt-action rifle. Alexyana was just emerging from her cover and aiming her crossbow for a second shot. Before she could fire, Courier took aim and fired before chambering a new round without waiting to see if she had hit.
Alexyana had been entirely unprepared for a follow-up move and much less for one this early after the crossbow shot. The shot hit her forehead, not aimed perfectly how Courier had tried because she had lined up the shot rather rapidly, but the bullet caused the dragoness to stumble backwards and growl in pain. She was damn lucky that her forehead was one of the more protected parts of her body, had she been hit in the eye things would have gotten ugly. But even so she fell on her back behind the wall, dropped the crossbow and was dazed for several seconds before she recovered enough to pick the weapon back up.
She put the bolt back in its place, took a deep breath to contain the pain and moved, briefly peeking out around the right side of the broken wall as if she was going to try to retaliate - only to slip back behind cover after a second. Her ruse worked out as planned, Courier aimed and fired a second shot just as she withdrew her head again, missing it entirely. While she was busy chambering a new round Alexyana emerged from the top side, briefly aimed then fired her crossbow. While she was far from an expert with weapons she knew where her op-ponent was, and a crossbow was a weapon she had used before on occasion. Perhaps this second bolt would strike more accurately?
"Let's hope for the best!" She told herself. The moment that the gong resonat-ed through the arena, she spun around and reached for whatever weapons she could get her hands on. With no idea what to anticipate from her foe – they might just be a ranged mage for all she knew - she dropped forward as if a fireball would whizz over her head. She grabbed a medium-sized crossbow with a leather pouch holding a few bolts attached to its stock, and her tail wrapped around the hilt of a small spear intended for throwing.
Courier reached for the weapons herself rather than bringing out her own from the start, and took hold of a large crossbow which, like Alexyana's, had a pouch with a handful of bolts in it attached. She knelt down to use the walls between them as makeshift cover as she loaded the crossbow, then aimed and fired across the arena. The size of the weapon she had selected meant brutal recoil, but she had handled bolt-action weapons before so she was prepared and handled it. Due to the great distance however Alexyana was able to move away in time, and the bolt only hit the wall.
"We'll see about that." Alexyana mumbled and pointed her own crossbow at her opponent, then fired. However, she had picked out a smaller crossbow than Courier, thus its reach was far shorter. The bolt lost its momentum and harmlessly dug into the ground almost five meters away from her. Cursing, the dragoness hooked two claws into the bowstring and, rather than using the rewinding mechanism, pulled the string back by hand with raw physical strength. Whilst holding the spear with her tail she loaded a new bolt in and rushed forward, then stopped behind one around halfway between the trench in the center of the arena and the armory behind her. She briefly caught her breath, then emerged to attack again.
Because Courier lacked the strength to imitate Alexyana - although, to be fair even the dragoness would have had trouble rewinding the big crossbow - so while moving to the closest low wall for protection she discarded the crossbow and instead drew Ratslayer, her bolt-action rifle. Alexyana was just emerging from her cover and aiming her crossbow for a second shot. Before she could fire, Courier took aim and fired before chambering a new round without waiting to see if she had hit.
Alexyana had been entirely unprepared for a follow-up move and much less for one this early after the crossbow shot. The shot hit her forehead, not aimed perfectly how Courier had tried because she had lined up the shot rather rapidly, but the bullet caused the dragoness to stumble backwards and growl in pain. She was damn lucky that her forehead was one of the more protected parts of her body, had she been hit in the eye things would have gotten ugly. But even so she fell on her back behind the wall, dropped the crossbow and was dazed for several seconds before she recovered enough to pick the weapon back up.
She put the bolt back in its place, took a deep breath to contain the pain and moved, briefly peeking out around the right side of the broken wall as if she was going to try to retaliate - only to slip back behind cover after a second. Her ruse worked out as planned, Courier aimed and fired a second shot just as she withdrew her head again, missing it entirely. While she was busy chambering a new round Alexyana emerged from the top side, briefly aimed then fired her crossbow. While she was far from an expert with weapons she knew where her op-ponent was, and a crossbow was a weapon she had used before on occasion. Perhaps this second bolt would strike more accurately?
"(Note to self: insert quote & picture once I find stuff)"
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