Welcome to Gaia! ::

Humming was heard from the entrance of the arena, slowly growing louder as the source, a young girl, strode lightly into the room and across the floor. Her steps were light, graceful, and flowing, her lithe figure looking as though she were not just walking, but dancing to some unheard music. Perhaps that was why she was humming.

Her long hair was so blonde it was almost white, and was done up in two side ponytails, tied with pale blue ribbons, what one would call ice blue. Her dress was the same color, a long, light outfit that stopped around her ankles. It didn't seem to impede her movement though, her long strides going unhindered. The girl's very short sleeves showed her arms, skin as pale as her hair.

Somewhat detracting from the general etherealness of the teen were the two sticks protruding from either side of her waist. What the sticks were attached to, if anything, were hidden by pink leather pouches.

She seemed lost in her own little world as she drew closer to Snow, but she finally stopped about 10 feet away, deep blue eyes blinking and staring at Snow as though he had appeared out of nowhere, the humming drifting off into silence. Her confused look suddenly shifted to a happy, dazzling, grin, and she waved enthusiastically. "Hi there! Are you here to fight too?" Even though she appeared to be in her late teens, the girl's mannerisms were much more reminiscent of a young child or preteen. "My name's Jeyme*, what's yours?"

((*Pronounced like "Game" but with a "J" ))

- Arena 36 -

His ears picked up a faint tune from one of the arena entrances. Turning his body to face the tune, the swordsman spotted what seems to be a young girl approaching him, her dress--wait. Dress?

He blinked in surprise. Is this girl a spectator that wandered into this place accidentally?
The swordsman stood there with a puzzled look on his face. Mouth parting open to speak, he paused briefly when he saw two rod-like objects protruding from either side of her waist. Wondering what was inside, he was about to ask if the girl was lost when she, instead, revealed otherwise.

"...Uh.."

Somewhere in the dark part of the swordsman's mind, he swore he heard a bit of Southern Belle accent. With her carefree attitude and how her manner seems...childish, the swordsman shrugged that thought away, remembering that he was in a tournament full of people of different race, gender, abilities and appearances.

Which only meant one thing.
This girl is a trap.

"Yeah. I'm here for a fight." The swordsman replied, responding to her enthusiam with a soft smile. "A pleasure to meet you, Jeyme--you can call me Snow. I'm assuming you're interested in a fight?"

- Arena 7 -

In a short while, a small orb materialized close to the swordsman's presence, revolving around him in a lazy fashion. Highly condensed water, superpacked into the size no larger than a baseball, the orb would be a front that allowed the swordsman to bolster his meta-abilities, allowing him to achieve higher levels of effects depending on the amount he has available currently. Obviously, the more orbs he has the more option he has for use...
But against an unknown fighter, an orb ready for use is always better than none at all.
And as for the current situation--

"...!"

The foe moved his left hand! Assuming that it was a trigger for some potential attack, the swordsman immediately responded to the opponent's motion, his slow pace suddenly speeding up drastically to confront against a potential strike.
Shuffling both his feet against the ground, the swordsman kept his stance intact as he closed the distance between the two rather quickly, bending both his arms somewhat for a readied retaliation. In one flick of his left arm outwards --

-- the swordsman lashed out in a small swing with his left blade first, using the length of his blade to have the tip slash towards the foe's right thigh. The right blade would be held back from the bent arm, its tip angled to point a few inches above the foe's head.

What this may bring, the swordsman wouldn't know. But if he did give a damn right now, he'll worry about the consequences later when the foe responds to his first strike.

Orb - 1

Arena 7

There was just enough time for Athous to finish the turning his page. Well, one page was more than enough for now. The swordsman had made the first move much to the dismay of Athous, however it was for a reason outside of the most obvious one of an attacking foe. It meant he wouldn't be able to turn to the next page when he was done! That would not do at all. Even with his eyes down upon the pages of his book, every move Snow made was as plain as day. Athous was a special person and had an extraordinary field of vision that exceeded human view and even with his eyes down turned his peripheral vision was great enough to see several feet in all directions except behind him. At least without turning his head.

The slash succeeded in striking his right thigh but it would be met with resistance. The black mass that had been meant to be hidden just a bit longer beneath his clothing sprang to life and revealed itself to be a long thin chain that coiled around his leg like a snake. As the blade tore through his clothing and caught into one of the small links of the chain it lashed forward from beneath his clothing. Its goal was to quickly wrap around the blade of Snow's. Simultaneously the chain began to expand as if released from a compressed form. Snow had walked right into a trap.

Jeyme flashed her dazzling smile again. At least this one had some sophistication about him. He wasn't rude and crude like some of the meanies she usually found. Maybe they could be friends! She wanted to clap at that, but her hands were occupied. Plus, he was pointing those swords at her.

"Dance we shall."

Seeing as neither one had moved since she'd come to a stop, they were still roughly ten feet apart. A little close, for her liking, especially since he could reach her with those pointy swords if he was quick enough. That wouldn't be likely though. Her hand flicked, pointing the wooden stick towards him, and like a little puppy, the ribbon followed the direction, spinning out from it's spiral to dance around his right arm. It didn't aim to wrap around his arm, or to grab or pull anything, no. The instant it neared his arm, she snapped her wrist back, causing the pink silk to start to return to her. This also caused the end of it to extend before it snapped back, twisting in just such a way that the side sliced against the clothing on his arm.

Yes, sliced. For, if he wasn't quick enough, the glittering and flashing's purpose would be revealed. As the ribbon crossed Snow's arm, a slice would appear in the fabric, a short, quick cut that was mainly just testing his defenses. It wouldn't do to try to really hit him in spots that wouldn't be able to be cut, after all.

The whole "attack" was very quick, the motions similar to someone using a whip. The weapons were alike, after all, although hers was much lighter and maneuverable.

In those couple seconds, her other hand was doing something as well. Her thumb had pressed against the crook of her pointer finger, much as if she were holding something between them. If he hadn't been occupied with the darting ribbon, he might have been able to notice that those fingers seemed to be...wet? Something on them glistened in the artificial light, and it seemed to be dripping. No, not dripping, but dropping. The line was thin, maybe a centimeter wide, and extending somewhat fast, reaching the ground and coiling. Not that she knew about him, but Snow, being the master water user he was, would likely easily identify the glistening line as water, nothing more, nothing less. Although the fact that it was holding it's shape like that was unnatural.

Arena 7

Shear luck had given the swordsman a second chance but how long would the luck hold? Even as the chain missed its mark Athous didn't seem to flinch at all. He was enjoying his book. As the strike came in to his left shoulder his left arm would quickly raise in response. Forearm connected with blade where the sound of metal striking metal would ring in both of their ears. For a second time chains came to life from beneath the clothing of Athous aiming to lash grip the blade that had struck against his arm. Unlike last time, Snow wouldn't have the chance to quickly pull away like the last time. Simultaneously, the chain that had aimed to attach itself to Snows left blade did not halt its extension but merely found a new target.

The body of his opponent.

Quickly it flew though the air like a snake slithering under the cover of lush grass and it would attempt to wrap around the waist of Snow. If it were to secure itself without problems Snow would find himself in a mass of trouble. How would he fair?

"Oh?" Jeyme's confused voice drifted through the air as a burst of water shot towards her ribbon, then froze, seemingly of its own accord. She seemed to focus more on the ribbon than on his quick movements forward, but even as she stared at the weapon, her right hand flicked, the ever growing whip of water lashing out much like her ribbon had. This time, she aimed to catch one of his blades in the attack, the water looping around his right sword, the one aiming at her. The instant it touched the weapon, the tip of her water would freeze, tying itself to the metal, and she'd take a couple quick steps back, jerking her whip along with her, hoping to disarm him. If he didn't let go, her water would only stretch, causing no strain on her arm.

Her left hand, meanwhile, had been pulling the same trick as her right, just much more subtly through the ribbon. As her water line finally reached the tip, she fused it to the ice that held it down, and with a snap of her wrist, the ice would shatter, freeing the ribbon with apparently no damage to it. The pink silk would return to its casual spiraling at her left. "It seems, Monsieur Snow, that we are kindred spirits! Water and ice, indeed!" She finally focused on his face again, and her pale skin, quick movements, and water whip would most certainly mark her as anything but a normal human.

Whether her disarming move was successful or not, Jeyme would continue moving backwards, her skipping steps looking somewhat odd. Almost as if they were "literally" skipping, the eye not fully able to follow the entire movement. The same with her wrists, whenever she flicked her weapons, it was as if they jumped, rather than moved fluidly, although all her movements held a natural grace.

[water whip: active:
left hand: 20ft (through ribbon)
right hand: 15 ft ]