(The OOC thread for this topic can be found here.)

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The coliseum stood tall; each pillar casting a magnificent shadow onto the illuminated battlegrounds below. A subtle breeze blew throughout the building, shifting the dirty that covered the floor of the pit, and though the stands were not filled with thousands of screaming fans there was a feeling of suspense. Upon the far end of the pit the wrought iron gates opened, and stepping from them was the first of the combatants this evening.

Dyne's gentle silhouette stepped onto the plane of battle, the tip of his sword sweeping across the ground disturbing the gently shifting grains of sand, letting himself be consumed by the silence of the coliseum. He felt unusually at home there in the sandy battlefield. He could feel the wind blowing past his form whispering to him of all the past victories, and the battles won and loss. However, he wasn't here to kill.

He did not relish the macabre; there was no infaliable hate that drove him. He tried his hardest not to walk the path of maggot ridden corpses and tears of primal red. Nature hadn't entended for him to kill without due cause, but it had entended for him to be prepared if he needed to defend himself. But it had been a long time since he had faced an adversary with a blade and he wondered was he still competent enough to wield his weapon. He spun the blade in a circle, and waited. The oppresive silence was enough to shake a normal man's resolve, but he stood firm. A spar was all he needed to keep himself fresh.

The sun was going down slowly on the world and the pit was still. Only the shadows of the great stone pillars kept him company, and only his breathing made a sound.

'It was the deep breath before the plunge.'

Kitsu passed by the stadium and looked up at it and blinked in curiosity.
"What on earth is that for?" She muttered.
Ashi's image, slightly transparent, appeared beside Kitsu.
"Looks like some kind of arena to me," she said.
Kitsu looked over at her.
"A what?"
Ashi didn't look at Kitsu but still answered, however she kept her gaze on the stadium in front of her.
"Think of it this way, gladiators, in other words people who fight for money, battle in here. Either each other or animals, and the crowd watches for entertainment."
Kitsu blinked and looked back up at the building.

"Don’t people get hurt? Or killed even."
An evil smile crossed Ashi's face. "Yeah," she said "that's part of the sport."
Kitsu took a step backwards feeling slightly intimidated by the tall building in front of her.
"Who'd make a sport like that?" She asked, her voice shaking slightly.
Ashi chuckled for a bit and looked down at Kitsu. "Humans," she replied.
Kitsu's amulet suddenly glowed and a light spread out and enveloped her, after a moment it slid off her and revealed her to have transformed into her darker side known as Ashi.

She looked exactly like Kitsu except for her purple hair and scarlet eyes.
"And it's just my kind of sport."
Ashi walked through the entrance and outside into the long rows of seats surrounding the main arena, she looked about feeling slightly disappointed that there was hardly anybody here.
"Typical," she sighed "you can always count on mortals to ruin your day."
She looked about and then spied the half elf standing in the arena; it looked pretty empty around him too. Ashi's expression changed immediatly; she walked towards the arena and leapt onto it, landing softly on the ground.
"Hi, not bored at all are you?" She asked.

Through the clouds of his own thoughts he was, at least, partially conscious of his surroundings. Catching the faint sound of voices, almost like hushed whispers in the distance, he blinked. His eyes probed the landscape thoroughly, until a strange figure emerged before him. He did not recognize it at first, his mind was still foggy, but when the mist departed and the veil’s raised he saw clearly the image before him.

“A little bored, yeah,” he said lazily, then, twirling his katana in his hand again he asked, “Think you can liven my day up a bit?” The strangely arrogant Dyne was not unusual. In battle he placed himself equal to no one, and in turn felt no disdain towards his attitude. If anything he prided himself for his courage and disposition.

The fading light of the noon sun cascaded across the landscape, caught slightly by the edge of his blade. Dyne wore no armor, only a cloth tunic and breeches, leather boots and wrist-wraps – along with his cloak, which had been removed beforehand and left in the chambers below the stadium. He kept only a makeshift leather sheath for his weapon, which lay girdled at his waist by a leather belt with a gold buckle, but it stood naked at his side.

For a moment, as he walked towards her, he seemed to glow; his sun-bronzed skin beneath the mane of silvery-blonde hair radiated warmly, while two blazing emeralds lay beneath. Within his eyes lay a sense of volcanic might and it appeared that a hidden power lay beneath them only biding it’s time. Oh yes, he was ready for battle.

On closer inspection Ashi's impression of the man was that he was in a slight daze, after all it seemed to take him a little while to register that she was actually there.
“A little bored, yeah,” he said handling his weapon almost carelessly “Think you can liven my day up a bit?”
The same smug smile that Ashi regularly had crossed her face once more.
"I don't see why not," she answered "after all I have to do something in my free time don't I."

Kitsu walked further into the arena and stopped just in front of the stranger wither her hands in her pockets causing her silk shirt to billow out a bit behind her, she eyed the stranger carefully, his weapon was clearly a sword, or something like it, that looked to be made more for speed than for power, but he carried no armour at all. So all in all it looked like a pretty even match up in Ashi's opinion, apart from the fact that her own weapon was only 200mm long, she stilled however drew it from the back of her belt and flipped it over so that the blade was facing behind her once she let her arm drop loosely.

I guess I was lucky this ignorant brat had anythingn at all she thought luckily I know how to make the best out of what I've got.
"Well, you're move then," she said "and to avoid unnecessary questions, my name's Ashi."

“Dyne,” he responded.

With little warning his blade was reversed. He’d have taken a step inwards with his right leg, and in that corresponding hand was his respective weapon. The katana basically now ran up the length of his arm, and moved outwards. He swung as if he were boxing. His blade moved like a right hook punch, but the blade made it more deadly. It was slightly angled upwards and came from his low side, so he encompassed a greater range of movement and also gave less a chance he’d be stabbed in the side. Also, while his right hand attacked, his left blocked. It went downwards under his other side across his chest and abdomen to protect his ribs. Obviously, however, his center of balance was still in the same place.

However, he was already analyzing the fight. His eyes scrutinized over her form as he made his initial attack. He noted how her eyes moved, any twitches that might signal a bluff or feint, and he also went to judging power. He was also looking for a weapon. Dyne hadn’t noticed the dagger yet, but he suspected that if she carried a weapon, due to her appearance, it would be either a short sword or dagger, which could be concealed quite easily. His main focus, however, was guessing what would come next. If possible he suspected she’d try to hit his vital parts – to get in close – so mostly all of his attacks, as he planned them out currently, involved him keeping her at bay until he could disarm her and take her down.

If she had the opportunity, however, she would probably note that because his weapon was a katana it was meant for speed. Now, due to the shape of the blade it was suited for stabbing, only slashing, but despite that one fact it could produce extremely damaging lacerations almost comparable to those induced by a whip.

“Dyne,” the stranger responded.
Ashi nodded in reply and braced herself for his first attack; she'd never seen anybody use a katana before so she wouldn't know what advantages it had. She eyes the man carefully and made sure he could see all of his limbs, she also noticed he held his weapon backwards too which left her usual strategy useless.
Well there goes that plan, she thought feeling slightly disappointed.
Still there was no need to give up just because one strategy didn't work.

Dyne moved to attack and made a punch like movement to her side with his right arm, Ashi's own weapon was in her left hand so it was an easy matter for her to raise it and bring it down to collide with his weapon, and although it was smaller it had its advantages.
"Not bad," she said "you actually caught me off guard,"
She then broke the lock between their two weapons by continuing her downward movement and then reversed it aiming to hit him as high up as she could.

Dyne spared no words for her nor anyone else he met in this scenario. As their weapons broke apart his right leg would retract back behind him just as her dagger descended. The leg would move opposite so his left side would be facing her, and there would be more distance in between them, and his sword would flash out from behind him like a scorpion’s stinger.

As he reversed his stance to gain leverage in the fight he’d turn his sword back behind him with the same fluid movements as before. There would be virtually two foot in between them, and his sword would lash out. His movements from break to second attack were smooth as before, and his left arm was kept tucked at his side to defend his ribs while he pivoted at his waist and struck. Notably, his head would still peer over his left shoulder though the blade would lash out from his left.

He seemed almost ready to continue his rotation and make a complete circle if required. It was almost as if at any moment he could become a whirlwind of steel striking and blocking from every direction.

Ashi rammed her dagger upwards but Dyne had evidentially managed to get out of the way without her noticing, clearly this person wasn't a novice unlike most people she'd been fighting since her release.
Perfect, she thought with a grin I've been looking for a decent bit of fun for ages
since her attempt to puncture his ribs had Failed Ashi flipped her dagger around and steadied herself on the ground.

This wasn't the way she was used to holding a weapon but the thing was tiny and she may as well try something with it. Whilst Dyne was preparing his next movement Ashi's thoughts were going like clockwork, this wasn't a fight she was used to as it was using weapons she'd never seen or used before, her opponent appeared to be an expert with his weapon but she barely used daggers at any point in her life before.
Oh well, she thought[/I] unlike him, I know how to make the best out of what I've got.[/I]

She stepped backwards and raised her dagger to collide with his weapon again, the brief experiment in style seemed to fail miserably as she felt her arm shake and nearly lost her grip, instead however she took advantage of the extremely brief pause whilst Dyne prepared his next movement and tossed her dagger into her other hand, flipped it backwards again and brought it down to knock his weapon out of the way and attempt the same thing as before only aiming a bit lower down this time.

Dyne rotated his body completely around, turning his head to follow so that his weapon would stay in relatively the same position and would defend him while he turned so that only his right side faced her. From this position he needed to shift the placement of his weapon to gain an advantage, so he’d let it be battered away, and as she came to strike again his full body would face her though his left leg would be slightly further forward than his right.

‘Perfect.’ he thought.

With her aiming at his midsection he would’ve sidestepped with his right leg, putting it behind his left so as she attacked he wouldn’t be in front of the strike, but beside it. He'd drawn out her attack, and now her guard would be open. His grip would’ve changed on his blade , and he’d step forward with his left leg and the two would be extremely close. His sword would’ve slipped down and forward with a curved upward arc, almost like an uppercut, to penetrate her defenses. This meant that with her attack extended he meant to go for the kill. His katana would’ve been aimed for her ribs.

However, Dyne was no killer. It would stop before it hit. It would stop and he would stop to see her reaction, and defend if she attacked wanting to continue the fight. However, this was contingent upon if she didn't pull out another dagger from somewhere else or try something funky.

Ashi's strike swung and missed, she stumbled slightly but managed to regain her balance before he noticed. That trick usually worked but now it had failed twice, either wasn't doing it right or this man was allot better at this than she first thought.
Or maybe I'm using the same trick too many times, she thought guess I'll have to improvise, kind of hard with nothing better than a sewing needle for a weapon
She placed her dagger back into her left hand and made sure she was within arms reach of Dyne.

When she looked up to see thought she almost forgot what she was doing, the style this man was fighting in wasn't one she'd ever seen before, and perhaps fighting had changed in the last millennium.
Oh well, only one way to find out. She thought.
She made a casual step to one side but kept her front facing Dyne and raised her arm so that her dagger was going across her face but facing away and spread her legs out and bent then slightly preparing to spring.

Having spent a little too long than she'd planned getting ready she saw the flash of his blade and rammed her dagger down to knock it aside, but due to extreme miscalculating it missed.
Damn it,
She improvised however and tossed her dagger behind her and caught it in her tail. She then quickly passed it to her other hand and raised it in Dyne's direction suddenly realizing that he'd stopped with his weapon pretty close to her front. She looked down at it; however Dyne made no movement, either because he didn't want to or was also taking into account Ashi's dagger waving dangerously close to his neck.

He could have just cut me open and I wouldn't have realized it, she thought am I really that slow?
Dyne still made no movement, so Ashi took the opportunity to step backwards and place her dagger back in her belt before returning her gaze to him.

Dyne was unafraid of the taste of cold steal. His eyes were solid and his gaze unfaltering and when she pulled away he too stepped back. His hand grasped the make-shift sheath at his side, and slid his katana into it though it shifted once inside. The blade wasn’t meant to be stored in that casing. When it was safely secured his hands came out before him, one clenched into a fist and the other overlapping it right in front of his chest. He then bowed low.

“An excellent bout,” he said quietly. His voice was hushed and calm, almost as if the physical activity of their fight had not diminished him at all.

Ashi watched Dyne stow his own weapon away, she barely acknowledged his bow however.
Perhaps I need to find a better weapon than the one I have now, she thought glancing down briefly at the dagger she owned.
She looked back up at Dyne keeping silent, he clearly hadn't wanted to kill her but if he did want to he certainly could have, and if Ashi would've been in his position she probably would have as well.

She stowed her hands back in her pockets and curled her tail round behind her, and the smug grin returned to her face.
"Thank you" she said bowing very slightly herself "I've been looking for a good challenge for a long time, a very long time in fact."

Dyne smiled genuinely; he nearly chuckled out loud. He nodded his head a few times, and he took in a deep breath and closed his eyes for just a moment. Then, opening his eyes and looking back at her he said, “This will be a day I wont soon forget. Thank you. I look forward to our next encounter.”

He turned slightly on his heel and moved to their left. One of the four large wrought-iron gates opened, and he moved to re-enter the lower cells. He had to retrieve his cloak before departing. However, as he walked, despite the outcome of the match, he walked like a champion. He held his head high and looked to the sky, which was slowly darkening. Dyne could only imagine the cheers and hollers that the true champions of the arena received. A ripple of pleasure ran down his spine, but no worries entered his mind.

This had been a good day.