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 Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:27 am
Alcyone was a bird.
It was an easy part of her lineage to overlook. The connection wasn't obvious. Alcy lacked the soft feathers of her father and the beaked mask of her mother. Where her sisters were hollow-boned and graceful of paw, her muscles were corded and sinewy, and she carried the bulk of a very large and vicious ostrich. The hooked spines that stretched up from her back only hinted at the memory of wings.
But Alcyone was a bird, even if she resembled the prehistoric feathered lizards more than any hawk or dove. And so her first instinct had been not to go behind, but to jump up, using the ravine walls to vault into a tree-branch.
She watched Riddick speed through the falling grit, suspended above the shower of dirt. Later she might be impressed by his evasive maneuvers, but there was no time to admire an unknown opponent during a fight. Alcy had to focus everything she had on the balance of her paws and the beating of her heart.
The femme flung herself off the branch and dropped down on Riddick's position, just as he was about to run out of her range.
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Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 1:17 pm
Alcyone was a bird, and the fact had not been entirely overlooked by Riddick but it hadn't really registered, either. He was used to fighting humans, and occasionally animals. Once he had managed to struggle through a world full of flesh-eating avian creatures that could see in pitch-blackness, and helped two others escape; but they were still only animals, strange and horrible as they might have been. Alcyone was something inbetween, with animal grace and instinct and human intelligence. And Riddick was in a strange body; he was going to have to deal with the learning curve for both situations at the same time.
He wasn't going to be an easy target, all the same. When Alcyone leapt the branch beneath her creaked, and kitsusagi ears were very keen. The ex-con registered the sound, where it had come from, and that it was the direction he'd thought he saw Alcyone move to previously. This caused him to make a leap of his own to the side, followed by a slightly akward tuck and roll to turn him around so he'd be facing toward her when she landed. It took him a moment too long to jump; another moment too long to get his feet back under him. She wouldn't land on him but he was figuring out fast that he couldn't count on his reflexes the way he was used to. And he wasn't about to try and pull his blades during a little friendly competition, especially when his opponent didn't have weapons. Not that he was sure he could use them with these paws. He'd have to work on that later too, probably.
Making the adjustments to the new body was costing him precious time; but hesitation would cost him more. As soon as he'd regained his feet he moved forward, hoping to land a blow to her side or shoulder that might slow her down a bit more before she'd finished recovering from her landing. He had a feeling going for her neck wouldn't be the smartest thing to do with those scales in the way; and besides, that sort of thing wasn't sportsmanlike. They weren't trying to kill eachother, at least not this time around. Maybe they never would, but he seemed to wind up fighting for his life even against people he liked sooner or later. It was frustrating. And he was still moving too slow. Damn it.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:50 pm
In the end, moving in for a close-range attack would prove to be Riddick's fatal mistake. If he'd run, the femme might have worn herself out chasing him. But by charging he'd allowed her to use his proximity against him.
Alcyone was not a dodger. She did not feint gracefully, nor was she the sort to weave delicately across the battlefield, doling out precision strikes and cocky grins in equal measure. Her body was designed for defense. It bristled with spines and scales and horns that insulated the most vulnerable points on her large frame.
And so Alcyone took Riddick's hit, letting his paw glance across her shoulder-blade. The male was strong. She could feel the shock of his blow travel through her bones. Her right foreleg stung, but not so much that she couldn't force Riddick to stand in place by blocking him with her torso. From there it was a simple matter to swivel her head to press sharp horns to the soft flesh at the base of his neck.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 5:36 pm
Riddick had taken on opponents that were stronger and heavier than he before, and more heavily armored than Alcyone. But he'd had weapons, and an intent to do whatever was necessary to take them down. A different mindset on top of a body he new how to use properly had made a rather large difference between the outcome then and now. But Riddick wasn't out just yet.
He'd been poised to strike her and try to roll on by. His inherent loss of agility because of the unfamiliar body had ruined his hopes of that as Alcyone shifted her body to block his momentum in the direction he'd been heading. The horns pointed at his throat meant he couldn't spin around without at the very least risking a nasty cut, and the spines on her back meant he couldn't go over. That left him with the option of trying push himself up and away. Trying to jump away held no guarantee with his muscles not responding the way he was used to. So... what could he do?
He had to get his throat away from her horns first and foremost. Jumping away might or might not work. He wasn't that much faster than she was at this point. He did have his hind legs bunched up for a jump since it had been his initial plan to move in for a strike and try to put some space between them again afterward. He just wasn't fast enough right now. So then...
He lifted his head back, put his paws against her shoulder, and sort of hopped and twisted to the side. Push his throat up and away from her horns and then drop toward the ground. Twist sideways a bit. Aim his hind legs at her foreleg and try to use the lower one to sweep the limb from under her, and the other to push her a bit off balance and give him the rest of the momentum he needed to roll over his shoulder and at least a little bit away from her.
If this worked he'd keep his head low and aim for a some body blows around that leather padding guarding her ribs. Maybe he could outrun her right now if he put his all into it; but he was a mix fighter, good amount of brawn and better than average speed, but right now he couldn't count on the speed. It even slowed down his reflexes. A misstep on some loose gravel at high speed and an akward landing afterward could possibly leave him with a sprain or even a broken wrist. It was run away or lose; losing was forgivable in the situation, especially if he could get a couple of good knocks in. Running away was not.
This all depended, of course, on if his little tactic worked.
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Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 6:25 pm
Psh. What did this guy thing he was doing?
Alcy had to admit to herself that Riddick's pull back from her game-ending strike had been pretty impressive. But he was fighting like she only had two legs. Four canine paws planted firmly on the ground were inherently much more stable than a tall monkey body resting on a pair of skinny little feet. The center of gravity was much lower. Not to mention that the sideways motion of his blow was totally unnatural to kitsusagi joints.
And no one - no one - out-muscled Alcyone.
"Cute." She smirked, as the male's leg lashed out behind hers and met a solid wall of resistance. The femme paused enough to allow Riddick to pull back, but she didn't trip or lose her balance.
That'd be another bruise to add to her collection. It was too bad that Riddick couldn't see her smiling.
"Do they not have anything like us, in your world?"
Alcyone followed up with a lazy attempt to move in and pin one of his tails under her paws. She wouldn't strike. If she landed the hit, it would hurt him dearly, and Turan would be disappointed in her if she dragged in some strange male 'cos she'd cracked his ribs.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 6:14 am
The arms and legs moved in different ways. There were no kicks and punches in the way he was used to thinking. The adjustments were not as simple a matter as he might have thought at first. Yes, he was still thinking like a human, but he was realizing the error quickly enough. What he would do about it was another matter.
He wasn't used to having to think about tails, either. She was playing around now, though; he could fight, yeah, but in this instance she was far the superior fighter. He flicked his tails away and shifted his body so that only his head and shoulders were facing her, keeping his head down just a bit so she couldn't easily pull that trick with her horns again.
"Not anything that thinks like people." He shrugged slightly, eying her contemplatively. Can't out-muscle her, no. Might could out-run her, if she'd chase him in the first place. He wasn't counting on that. "Regular animals are easier." They way kitsusagi and other animals moved was the same though. But he wasn't used to it. "Also helped that I could punch them." He ghosted a smile after that comment. It also helped that he had no qualms about doing anything that could prove fatal if they attacked him. It made a fight akward, this being nice.
He lashed out then with no real warning, a swiping blow that was meant to rake his newly minted claws past her mask, along her neck, and across her shoulder. If she did nothing, the mask and the scales would protect her up to the shoulder part. He by no means expected her to just stand there, though. This was just a test blow to check her reaction. Not that he was by any means holding back with it.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 10:03 am
Riddick had it the wrong way around. The bone mask didn't protect Alcyone. She protected the mask. No one aside from her mother had ever seen her true face. And Alcyone was determined to make sure that didn't change.
No one should have to look at her. Better they see peach-colored bone, with pretty eye-paint and a permanent smile.
And so she reacted to his strike out of instinct rather than training, bringing up her forepaws to shield her mask from being ripped off at any costs. Riddick ended up raking his claws across her legs, down her neck, and over her shoulder, drawing deep gashes in her flesh where it wasn't protected by hard scales. Thick blood spurted onto the male's face.
With a fierce growl, Alcyone moved to grab him about the middle and crush him to around. Playtime was over.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2008 1:23 pm
That particular reaction caught Riddick off-guard. He wasn't one for being attached to things, or even generally people, whatever the reason. He was protective of his goggles, somewhat, because they were a necessity for him during daylight. He was effectively blind in bright lighting without them because his eyes were made to see in the darkness and lots of light overloaded them. He could function minimally after a few moments to adjust but it freaking hurt all the same. Maybe he'd be more watchful of them here; before he could always be sure to find a new pair if something happened. But that was still not like what Alcyone had just done.
The other thing that caught him off guard was getting blood sprayed in his face and up his nose. That was a peculiar sensation. He sneezed even as he shifted his weight to move when he heard the growl. But he wouldn't get out of the way fast enough to dodge between his suprised pause and the already slim distance between them. Not with his current reflexes.
He leapt at her instead, or rather dove, turning his body in the process so that his shoulder would be aimed at her chest when they collided. It ought to knock the wind out of her. There was a small chance he'd roll right on around her like gears in a clockwork, but he couldn't really avoid getting pinned. She couldn't bite him with that mask on, and this should keep him too low for her to readily bring her horns to bear in the short space between them that was rapidly diminishing. And if she moved to try and pummel him after they landed he had no qualms about kicking into her exposed abdomen with his clawed hind feet, nor about sinking his puppy-sharp teeth into her already injured arm. He was only being nice as long as this stayed a friendly match.
((We can wrap up the fight now if you want. XD I'm tempted to have him make that one comment... XD))
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Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:42 pm
Riddick could certainly try to kill Alcyone, if he thought it would help. It wouldn't be the first time that a creature had tried to open her belly and end her life. She lived for such moments. No child of half-departed spirits could truly fear the trip to the other side.
One day, Alcy would finally find a fight that satisfied her, and the loss of it would send her home to Zanarkand.
Riddick sailed over her, and Alcyone twisted under him, and they rolled like clockwork into the dust. When they stopped she had all four of his limbs pinned to the earth with her immense strength.
Alcyone assessed Riddick's condition with inscrutable golden eyes. Then slowly, dispassionately, she pressed one paw to his left shoulder, putting pressure on the same place where he'd wounded her own.
"Tsk. If you're not gonna play nice with someone who's tryin' to help you, honey, then I'll have to make us even."
And if he so much as thought about touching her mask again, it wouldn't be play at all.
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 5:14 am
Alcyone didn't seem to intend to beat him senseless or kill him yet, so he wasn't going to do anything rash. He normally tried not to show any weakness, or any real emotion, in the face of defeat but he couldn't help a grunt and some gritted teeth when they finally came to a stop. Sharp stones dug into some bruised feeling ribs upon impact, and he was pretty sure the shoulder she didn't have a paw on had dislocated.
An ear flicked at her words and he snorted after a moment. "I am being nice, Princess." He turned his head so he could look at the paw she had pressed oh so bluntly into his shoulder. "In my experience you wear things to protect you, not the other way around. Mind reading isn't exactly my forte'." Pause. "Pardon me for expecting you to move."
Honestly. If she'd been thinking about it, payed any attention, she would know that he was by no means gunning for her with that strike, and even if she was kind of slow she could have blocked or shifted at least mostly out of the way. He wouldn't likely have apologized anyway, but he definitely wasn't apologizing for this. "You got some really mixed up priorities, Princess, if you care more about that mask than keeping yourself in one piece."
He looked back up at her and, totally deadpan, said, "You know normally I ask for at least one date first before I let a girl pin me down and have her way with me." He tried to shift his potentially dislocated shoulder and was greeted with pain. "If you're gonna have your little revenge, Princess, get it over with and let me up."
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 7:38 pm
Alcyone was a little mixed-up sometimes. She was young, and there were ways in which she still hadn't quite grown up. But she wasn't a berserker, nor was she a sadist. If Riddick said that he hadn't been trying to crush her bony facade, then she'd give him a chance to prove that he was as good as his word.
"What the hell would you know about what my priorities should be?" She snorted, a hint of a growl still in her voice. "You've been a kitsusagi for all of five hours."
Was that how he spoke to someone who was trying to do him a good turn, after he attempted to slit her neck open? And what was that crack about dates? It- it couldn't be aimed at her.
"I'm not a Princess. I'm not even a lady." Alcy continued, in a low, quiet tone. Her hackled were no longer raised. She seemed to have calmed down. "You'll meet that type, if you look for them, but they live in the great houses, away from the wilds."
Alcyone eased up slightly, allowing Riddick his breath. The femme was testing him. Seeing if he'd take the opportunity to finish what he'd tried to start with that swipe at her head. He was a craftier fighter than she had expected, and if he was any real threat, she wanted to deal with him now rather than later, when he had some practice in.
"There are mages and scientists and mutants. We have all kinds here. So where do you belong, newcomer? Tell me, and I'll take you there. You put up a pretty good fight."
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 9:22 pm
Alcyone might be mixed-up and have a little growing up to do, but Riddick was jaded and never really had a childhood. They probably both had a few things to learn.
"I dunno, Princess. Just seems like a mask shouldn't make you take that kind of risk." He cocked his head as well as he was able as she continued, denying the title and role that would have followed along with what he'd called her if it was actually at all serious. "Sure you are. A real fairy princess, right?" He grinned a bit. Riddick didn't forget even inane things like that bit of their earlier conversation very easily. Remembering details usually helped you stay alive longer.
He made a barely audible grunt when Alcy's weight shifted, turning his head to try and get a look at his shoulder to see if he could tell if it was dislocated or not. It felt like it was but he couldn't be too sure with this new body if things really felt the same or not. And as for continuing what he started; that wasn't exactly his intention in the first place. Unless Alcy decided she wanted to keep going, Riddick was finished fighting for the time being. He flicked his eyes up to Alcy and then back to his shoulder. "Are you gonna let me up, or not? I need to have a look at that."
Mages? He knew of elementals... but the only people who claimed to be magicians that he was familiar with were the smoke and mirrors kind. Scientists and mutants weren't entirely uncommon, but he had a feeling that what she was talking about was different from what he knew. "Usually when I hit a new place I find the main attractions. Get to know the landmarks. And then... I go where I feel like. I don't like to stay in one place too long, and most of the time I don't like staying around people." They usually attacked him or got caught in the crossfire.
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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:30 pm
Oh. Fairy princess. Riiight.
"You know, we got one of those, too." Alcyone barked out a laugh, before rolling off Riddick and into the dust of the dried-up ravine She hadn't even been the kind of kitsusagi to hold a grudge, and as soon as the tension was broken, her mood snapped back into place. "Butterfly wings and everything. You better watch out, though. Word is that the Fairy packs some serious heat."
She glanced over at Riddick's shoulder.
"You gonna be okay? I got connections with a white mage, if you really tore it up."
Alcy wasn't inclined to apologize for battlefield injuries either. What happened in the training ground stayed in the training ground.
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Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 7:16 pm
Riddick grunted a bit as he got up. He could feel his shoulder sliding around a bit. Dislocation was always fun. "Fairies and all, huh? Sounds like things can be... interesting around here." Wasn't that an old Earth curse? 'May you live an interesting life'... He was kind of tired of his, honestly. Not that he was tired of living... just... was a break too much to ask?
"White mage? That some kind of medic?" He examined the ravine wall nearest him for a moment before walking over to test it. Hmm. Pretty solid. He back up a bit and then rammed his shoulder into it, recieving the old familiar and painful sensation of it sliding back into place. Riddick grunted slightly again as he rolled his shoulder just to be sure. "Happens once in a while."
Alcyone was a little bit weird, but all women were. And at least she wasn't the frilly sort. He'd have to say he lucked out on his first meeting with one of the natives here. "So where we headed again? I got turned around a bit." He eyed the path of their tumbling finale. Turned around in more ways than one. Snort.
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