The trees made a wall, an oasis. They blocked out the rest of the world. A large, but shallow lake stood in the center, providing a cool and refreshing drink to all those that happened to find their way into the ring of trees. The tall grass swayed in the gentle breeze that managed to make it through the natural barrier, hiding all the birds and wildlife that lived below its top. The field was set, contestants ready, judge prepared, the winner would move on. The one that was defeated would be eliminated.

The stillness, the serenity, the peacefulness, was all disturbed as the wildlife sprung to life. Birds of all types, pheasants, falcons, and more, all flew away to a safer place. They could all sense the approaching presence. The watter rippled as a dark form stepped into it. He looked down at his distorted, rippling reflection and smiled. The time had come for his tournament to commence.

The Drow Weapon's Master reached back into the long grass. He pulled out a large bulging sack and placed it by the water's edge. Quickly pulling it open he knelt down beside the sack. Reaching in, Nafalen began systematically pulling out various weapons, pieces of armor, rings, and more. He made two piles.

The first pile held Twin Katana, Kooru Akuchi, Kiyomeru Akuchi, a
Custom Winter Wand, Hyouzou, and a Ring of Jumping.

The second pile held a Staff.

Gathering up his sack, the Drow left the arena.

Winter had woken up pretty late today, possibly due to the lack of sleep she got, however once she was awake she departed from the B.A.D.I guild hall within the space of a few minutes, she had no need to pack anything since all the things she needed had been entrusted to Nafalen. Winter had been reluctant to give him Hyouzou before the beginning of the tournament and certainly would have similar reservations when she may need to use Libra in a fight, however she didn't voice her complaints.

To date this was the third tournament she'd entered, the first one being the one held by the arch angel of life, Zenith in which she'd only fought with a female dwarf before the tournament was called off. Her second one had ended rather dismally, of course she had been pitted up against the fire and shadow guardian in the first match, and there was barely enough time for fighting. Winter didn't see her past performances as a reason to judge how well she might do in this one, after all she'd grown stronger since then and there were no guardians in this tournament, however she'd heard rumors that Death was participating.

She spent a good few hours walking across the grasslands between Lomedor and the location she'd been told to meet at for the first round of the tournament, it made a good warm up before the fight and the fresh air would probably do her good. Of course, it was hard to believe that Winter spent most of her time outside, her pale skin seemed to be completely resilient to tanning even under the desert sun.

After a long time Winter saw a ring of trees ahead of her. As she got closer and entered the circle she noticed a shallow lake sitting in the middle of the field, and the items that had been taken off her lying in a small pile just a few feet away from her. She moved towards them and took them up once again, slipping her ring onto her right middle finger and Hyouzou, a talon made from a Winter Wand, onto her left. Finally she took up her twin katana and strapped them to her back once again, finally ready to begin the fight.

She walked a little way into the lake and bent down, splashing water over her pale face and giving her hair and neck a brief wash before standing up again. She looked around to see what her opponent would be using, but saw nothing but a staff lying on the ground. Odd. That meant that her opponent was either way in over their head, or they had something else up their sleeve she needed to watch out for.

Mia was studying in the guild foyer when she noticed that Winter was leaving. Winter was supposedly her opponent in a tournament she had entered. She quickly slipped out through the front door and began following Winter, keeping her distance as not to disturb her.

As she walked along the road towards Salquedor Plains she wondered what it would be that Winter would use against her. Mia supposed that she would use her katanas as she had seen many times before. Mia planned on keeping a distance from Winter, not permitting her the chance to get close enough to land a blow.

The blue sky clung high above her, looking down upon her ant sized body. The clouds swirled around as the wind blew from the south. The lake that they had been told to report to shown with magnificent colors of blue and green. She noticed that Winter was standing near a pile of equipment, Mia was correct about one thing. Winter was of course going to use her katanas, but Mia was going to use spells that would give Winter a run for her money.

Mia walked down to the waters edge, she looked at her reflection as it rippled in a clear blue wave like formation. She kneeled down and scooped a handful of water and let it run throughout her fingers oh so elegantly. She smiled as she knowticed her staff sitting next to Winter's equipment.

Mia walked over to the pile and picked up her staff, she turned towards Winter. Beutiful day isnt it. Mia smiled then she sat down and began letting all her thoughts go as she began to meditate. If she did not meditate the chances of her winning would be impossible, but meditation seemed to call to the magic within her. It unlocked the gates of restraint, and granted permission of use.

Winter crouched down again, staring at her own reflection in the water. A cold, pale face face stared back up at her like a dead body floating just underneath the surface, Winter even felt a chill run down her own spine just by looking at herself. She heaved a sigh and stood up, staring about at the scenery. Mia was right, it was a beautiful day, and a beautiful scene too, it was a shame they were about to taint it all with the tournament Nafalen was holding. Winter suspected the other matches would be far more gory and violent than the one she was about to engage in, she had no intentions of drawing blood from Mia or even severely harming her.

Mia was clearly an underdog in this match, and Winter wasn't about to tear her own honor in half by taking advantage of that. From what she knew about the girl she spent quite a bit of time studying and should have good skill in improvised tactics, and possibly a good use of spells judging by the staff she wielded. However despite all the assets Winter could find that would help Mia in this fight her own still outweighed them, despite her own weakness to magic.
Nafalan might be toying with me, she pondered Or trying to force me to go against my beliefs. It's a pity I won't get to fight him in this tournament otherwise I'd give him a piece of... Winter suddenly broke off from her line of thought, staring at her reflection in horror What on Earth...Was I thinking?

She looked back at Mia, currently meditating on the grass. Winter wasn't going to attack her while her guard was down like that. Mia was, after all, another member of B.A.D.I and despite Winter's apparent disregard for the guild she wouldn't attack a fellow member without good reason, although she had somehow got tangled in fights with other members in the past and fate had an odd way of repeating events like that. She heaved a sigh and reached up, drawing one of her twin katana and letting it rest by her side.
Whatever Nafalen has planned, he's going to pay for any harm that comes to Mia, whether I caused it or not,

Mia lifted the vail of darkness from one eye and looked up towards Winter. She stood up and brushed off her robe. I suppose we should get this show on the road. Mia smiled then looked out to the water, it was so beutiful, it glistened in the morning sun with such elegance.

Mia did not plan on doing any harm to Winter, and she hoped that Winter had no plans on harming her. Mia may recieve a few scratches, bruises and burns but a deep wound seemed logically impossible. Mia thought back to the day she had first arrived to B.A.D.I. She was one of the first people that she had met.

Mia looked to Winter then opened her mouth to ask a question. Do you think that Nefalen is a good person, he is offering a chance to earn prizes and gold but couldn't stuff like this be held in Lomedor. Mia smiled and before she let Winter answer she thought back to a time in her life that she had been in a serious fight.

It was night and she was at a monastary up in the Erod Annon Mountains, it had been peaceful up into the time that a band of bandits had assaulted the monastary and nearly wiped out the whole population. She had been very lucky, if it were not for her magical abilities she may have not been able to escape the monastary alive. There was only one instance where she had been wounded by a bandit, he had been hiding in the shadows and he surprised her with a blade in the side. The next thing she knew she was in serious pain, and eventually passed out.

When she had woken up she felt very weak and was barely able to cast a spell to heal the wound. She discovered that the bandits had left and only a few monks had survived the assault.

Mia spaced back into the live world and raised her staff, shoving her hands out in a pose that presented Mia as ready.

Winter looked up at Mia as she finished her meditations and spoke to her in a tone that didn't really suit the event the two of them were participating in. Winter couldn't help but let the doubts creep across her mind, she didn't want to appear like a bully by fighting someone who appeared weaker than her, nor did she want to appear as a weakling. Winter may have been a short individual but Mia was far smaller and definitely less armed, in a way Winter could have been envious of Mia's courage at facing her with nothing to aid her but a staff and her knowledge of magic. Winter had no magic capabilities in her current form, however she was very agile and athletic, able to pull of feats that few others could with little effort and had also mastered using a weapon in each hand even if she hadn't mastered the weapon itself.

Mia spoke again, this time talking about Nafalan. Winter felt her gaze pulled towards her twin katana, however she was unable to feel any anger towards the man for laying hands on her weapons, she'd hate to think how she'd react if she needed Libra in any upcoming fights.
"It's not my position to judge people," Winter answered Mia's question "However I do believe there is another reason behind all this besides providing himself with a little light entertainment."
She heaved a sigh and gazed back at her reflection in the water.

Think nothing of your enemy, all they desire is your defeat. All you desire is your survival, and as long as they stand in the way of survival they will be your enemy and as long as they are your enemy you cannot survive. An old voice swam through her mind If you know someone to be your enemy do not hesitate to dispatch them, lest they dispatch you first. Remember that and you will survive.
But I don't want to dispatch anybody, Winter told the memory I'm no murdered
Murder and victory are two very different things
Winter banished the voice to the back of her mind and turned round again to face Mia. She was prepared to fight and Winter could tell. Again, Winter felt a slight admiration for Mia's display of courage in the face of danger, Winter had never had any such thing as courage, she didn't need it.

"I suppose, the sooner we start the sooner we can finish," she said at last "I guess there's no avoiding it."
She reached up and drew Kiyomeru Akuchi, one of her twin katana, and let it drop by her side before turning to face Mia. She had no intentions of fighting unfairly so using both her katana at once was out of the question. A few minutes passed and Winter still stood there, staring at the girl.
It can't be avoided, she thought If there is more going on here than meets the eye, I won't find out about it by standing around.

Winter broke the silence and charged towards Mia, ending her sprint in an upward slash towards her but using the blunt side of her blade lest she cause an injury she didn't intend to.

Mia understood that Winter was not a person of judgement, neither was Mia but the thought of this man's form of entertainment bewildered her. Could he have not just held the tournament in the Colloseum in Lomedor, no he needed a more realistic environment, a place where the participants could pull of nasty tricks and be the unexpected.

Mia had no plan on using any leathel force, but she would use magic and blunt weapons as her choice. She looked at her staff which was in her right hand and though about how much pain a piece of wood could cause, it did show knowledge about the wielder but it was just a plain piece of wood carved to enhance the casters magical abilities, a way to channel the magic.

Mia snapped back to reality and noticed Winter had sprinted towards her and was on the way with an upward slash, which unfortunately Mia could not avoid in time. As the blunt of the blade made connections with her lower jaw she gasped and flew backwards. The blow was very powerful and gave Mia a sense of fright, but she only smiled to reveal more courage than she had before.

Wow Winter, I didn't expect that. Mia smiled then stood up and looked with playful eagerness in her eyes, a healthy competition had grown between Winter and her but they would be friends for all time. Mia took a deep breath then pushed her hand outwards in a shoving motion and a lick of blue was sent flying from her hand, this concentration of magic resulted in an arrow form, it would not kill her nor leave any significant damage. It may leave a bruise and a soar muscle but it was very weak compared to a deadly magical arrow.

The blow seemed successful, after all Winter had succeeded in catching Mia off guard, evaded her defenses and managed to land a blow without causing any lasting or serious damage. At the monster Mia would receive a small bruise under her chin. Winter retreated a few steps back, Mia might wield a blunt weapon but that was no reason to underestimate her capacity to use it. Surprisingly enough, Mia came out of the attack smiling, and even complimented Winter on the attack.
This isn't the time for talking Winter thought, almost as though Mia could hear her You never know when your opponent might strike.

Of course, it was obvious now that Mia was about to strike, however she was too far away to attempt a physical assault on Winter, so there was only one other option she could be going for.
Oh dear...
Despite having use of it herself, magic caused Winter's body to 'crack up' so to speak. If she let whatever spell Mia shot at her hit then Mia would have caused more damage than she intended, even if she shot at full power.
Relax Winter told herself You shouldn't have any problems with this one.

Apparently Winter had been thinking too long, as Mia's spell suddenly rocketed out of her hands before Winter realized what was going on. She snapped back into reality with precious few seconds to go and swiveled to the side as the missile approached, hoping her reactions were fast enough to dodge even this. The spell just grazed past Winter's left shoulder and carried on, vanishing as it lost energy. An angry burn spread from the area where the spell had hit, but no major damage was showing, Mia was holding back just as much as Winter was. She glanced at the wound and then back over at her opponent. She shouldn't underestimate the mage just because the two of them were holding back, she may end up fighting more powerful opponents and she would do well to be wary of every aspect of them as she should be with this girl.

Winter bent low again, gripping her katana in both hands and then charging at Mia once again, holding her weapon low beside her. She came close to Mia and it looked like she was about to strike again when she leaped up into the air, soaring high above Mia and hopefully catching her by surprise. She landed gracefully behind and span about, sweeping her foot out in an attempt to trip Mia up. Disarming or Disabling an opponent were just as effective as killing or mauling them in her books.

Mia sighed as Winter barely evaded a full on blow from her spell, but she could see that there was a small mark where she had just evaded the spell. That must mean that Winter was very vulnerable and fragile when it came to magic. Mia began doubting using magic and sticking to defense, but that would lead to Winter being the victor.

Mia laughed then braced herself as Winter once again began charging towards Mia. Mia felt as if time was going very slowly, Winter's charge was the slowest thing that was going on in her mind. She felt as if the real world was slowing down and that she was once again entering into a trance, but before that happened she shook herself awake.

Mia looked from side to side wondering where Winter had dissapeared off to, but before she knew it she felt something sweep her off her feet, Winter must have made it behind Mia and tripped her. Mia gasped as she landed hard on the ground with a thud, the breath knocked from her lungs.

Mia stumbled to her feet and only smiled. Winter was the most worthy opponent Mia knew, she was ellegant beutiful and very talented. You fight by the book. she said very quietly. Mia took her staff and raised it in the air in a circling motion, she was going to try and catch Winter in a net; providing that Winter would not escape.

Mia stared at Winter and said, Sorry about this Winter. A net came from the sky only five feet above Winter's head. Mia crossed her fingers for good luck, hoping that her spell would be a success. If she could catch Winter in her net then it would be futile for Winter to continue on, if she did then Mia would be in big trouble.

The move seemed successful, Mia had been taken completely by surprise and hadn't noticed that Winter was behind her, thus Winter had managed to pull off her tripping motion without any problems. She could probably finish her off while she was on the ground right now, however Winter was neither the sort of person to strike an opponent when they were down nor did she want to do Mia any serious harm. Mia had already shown a great amount of courage just by entering this tournament and fighting against Winter, and the half angel wasn't about to shatter her confidence just as soon as it built up. From what little understanding Winter had of emotions or feelings, she did know that courage was something no person should be without.

So was she courageous then? Did she have what it took to stare down an opponent far greater than you and be able to fight on equal terms? Or was she just a cold hearted fighter who didn't bother finding courage when fighting anybody? No matter which way she looked at it the latter was almost the most likely. If she had been capable of feeling, she would probably be feeling envious of people like Mia right now, although that would eliminate the reason she had for her jealousy.

She pulled her mind back to the fight she was currently having. Despite her attack, Mia was back up on her feet and still willing to fight despite Winter's superiority in close combat, but had Mia noticed Winter's weakness against the arcane arts. Noticing Mia's actions Winter guessed she was about to cast another spell and she took a step back, ready to dodge whatever she threw at her, however Mia stopped enchanting and nothing flew at Winter.

For a moment Winter didn't know what was happening, but then Mia spoke and something about the tone in her voice suggested she was doing more than giving up. Winter's gaze shifted upwards and she rose her arm over her head as a net fell over her, somehow having materialized above her. So, Mia had cast a net over her, not a bad move considering. Winter attempted to throw the stringed trap off her but only succeeded in getting herself more tangled. In another effort to throw it off her Winter's finger curled around one of the ropes holding the net together, the finger that had Hyouzou attached to it.
Damn,

Winter was too late too stop it: A layer of frost crept up the net and spread about the trap, after only seconds the frost grew into a thin layer of ice and completely consumed the net within it, turning it into a rigid net of frozen water. Winter pulled at it and the net smashed, falling to the ground in pieces. She fell down on one knee, one hand grabbing the her middle finger, her katana lay, discarded, beside her and her right eye had become blood red.
Damnit, Winter thought That wasn't supposed to happen.
She took her hand away and a few drops of blood dripped out through Hyouzou. She took up her katana again, panting slowly as her eyes returned to its normal color.

She looked back up at Mia and tightened her grip on her katana, aiming another slash at Mia's shoulder, still using the blunt side of her blade.

Mia frowned at the site of blood, this was not something she had expected. From Mia's experience with the net spell, she had never seen it harm anybody. What's this? Mia said very quietly so Winter could not here her. Winter is bleeding, that must mean that just the smallest traces of arcane magic can be a leathel blow to her. Mia quickly realized that winter was running at her again.

Mia once again went back to thinking about this incident that confused her. I can't use my magic anymore, the only time I can use magic is if I need to heal up a wound. Mia raised her staff in the air and began twirling it in a circling motion. She was not using magic but preparing for a one on one combat fight.

Bring her staff down she pointed it directly at Winter. Instead of letting Winter get all the way to her she quickly began charging at Winter. The staff in her hand she spun it behind her bag slamming it into the ground swinging herself around Winter to behind her.

If Winter wanted to win she would be up for a very long fight. Mia would go all day or all week if she had to until she could not fight no more. The staff raised in her hand she swung it at Winter trying to trip Winter, if this worked she would make a hasty retreat of 20 meters just to keep Winter active.

If Winter played right into Mia's hands then she would be done for. But Mia had no intentions of using magic, just clever tactics and tricks. Mia smiled as she watched the staff close on Winter, but she waited to see if Winter had any tricks up her sleave.