Friendly Fire! - Azura vs. Alvin

[ac-null13]

"..." emotion_sweatdrop Zaul stared with a wide eye and pursed lips, stunned at how close of a call that was. If she were any more unlucky, she'd have actually lost one of her own, one of the final touches toward completely mirroring him...and that roused a rather chilling thought of what she'd always intended to follow that up with after all this was over.  

[Azura Cantarella]

A little blood began to trickle down her face as she smirked and said, "My face. My beautiful face. How dare you," in a playful and sarcastic tone. "No, but seriously—" while she continued, the wound slowly closed itself up as if by magic, though there were no accompanying glowy or sparkly effects, "—I think this would've made for a pretty badass scar, if I do say so myself. It's almost a damn shame I have a condition that grants me...accelerated healing." In the pause in that last bit, the wound completely mended. She dragged a finger down the area it once was, scraping off the still-fresh blood, then flicked it aside after taking a look at it for a moment.

Now, if Alvin were trying to make a move on her throughout this, he would find his feet rooted in place, ensnared in tendrils of oddly-hued shadow; indigo with "outlines" of blue*. And if he'd look down, he'd find that all the while, Azura had been discreetly willing her own shadow to extend and connect with his own in order to achieve this. In any case, the tendrils would proceed to rise from the ground and upturn him, hanging him by his ankles. "You didn't think I'd be prone to committing one of the oldest goofs in the book, now did you?" she quipped, referring to the time-old comical cliché of standing still and practically open to attack to spew monologue or dialogue.

Raising a hand to eye level, she performed a swivel-and-flick gesture that the tendrils mimicked, releasing Alvin at the flick to send him sailing through the air once more. After which, Azura simply stood her ground firmly and remained alert, anticipating how he'd recover from her move. Would he motion to close their distance himself, or do something else...?

((I decided to cut up the responses like this because it felt like it flowed better this way.

*Think Shadowvert for the look of the shadow she's manipulating. mrgreen ))  

[Alvin Svent]

Azura Cantarella

(( Hee, that was AWESOME. I love it.))

Actually, Alvin had paused — not to wait for her to spew dialogue, but to make sure that she was okay. He was a gentleman, and it was supposed to be a friendly fight, even if he'd "gotten a little serious", as he might have put it. In fact, he'd been about to reach into his coat to grab an apple gel for her when the wound started closing on its own. He caught the indigo glow out of the corner of his eye as he was doing so, which led to a swift double-take and a muttered curse as he was yanked off the ground.

"If you were, that'd make this waaaay too easy," he called, as he sailed through the air. He twisted with the momentum, landing heavily, but in a crouch. Wonder how long the range is on those hands, he caught himself thinking, but thrown back into the fight, the flow for him was automatic. He slammed the sword into the earth, with a sharp bark of "Terra Rupture!"

The earth cracked and erupted around the blade, in a deep fissure that ran straight for Azura. As the split closed in a wave, it dragged her back towards him. Pulling up from the ground, he leveled the pistol and a blast of flame spat from its muzzle as she neared.  

[Azura Cantarella]

((Referred to an artes exhibition video for Terra Rupture, hope this interpretation sits well. ))

Alvin Svent

Azura's Shadow Extensions wouldn't last very long, dissipating as her focus was broken once she felt her heart jump upon glimpsing and feeling the ground beneath her become unsteady and loose. In turn, her own ankles were caught this time. As she was pulled along with the wave, she lightly flailed her arms to maintain her balance and keep herself standing upright; however, she still kept her sights trained on Alvin so as to not get caught off-guard even further.

As soon as she spotted a small, fiery glow from the tip of his pistol, she held her hands out in front of herself, palms facing outward as if she were trying to shield against the oncoming flame. But there was more to it than that...a swirling orb of water formed in the gap between her hands. As soon as Alvin pulled the trigger to release that fire, the water shot straight forward into a forceful stream. She was aiming not only to put out the fire, but to also knock him away—it was a short, quick burst, but she managed to put all the pressure of a fire hose into it. Hopefully she'd gain some room to get her feet loose.

((I kinda had a little more going, but I started to feel it was a bit unfair seeing as to push through with it would mean auto-hitting? I started to think Alvin miiiiiiight have something to fend off that knockback? ))  

[Alvin Svent]

Azura Cantarella

(( Oh, I like, I like. Hitting here is fine!))

Water met fire, and the natural result ensued — an explosion of steam followed by a diminished but no less forceful aqua ball. It drove straight over Alvin's shooting arm, water splashing up his sleeve and into his shirt, over his coat and half his scarf, and up into his hair, and shoved him back a handful of steps.

"Nnnngh." Between the water from her attack, and the heat from the steam that had melted the remaining snow in his hair, trickles of water ran down into his eyes. Buy a moment! He needed to get his vision clear. That'll work. The pistol snapped up toward the sky, and as if Azura had primed it for him with her attack, a ball of bright-blue energy shot from the muzzle.

That roiling ball of blue split into a dozen smaller ones, and they rained down all throughout the alleyway, splashing hard. The mercenary backed off another pace and wiped his face with his dry sleeve — quickly, very quickly. He didn't dare let Azura have too much time without his eyes on her; she seemed to have plenty of little tricks on her.  

[ac-null13]

Alvin Svent

Now calmed from his previous worries as the action resumed, Zaul couldn't help but make an intrigued look at the arte Alvin just pulled off. A hand to his chin and a smile playing at the corner of his lips, his interest as a gun and water specialist was piqued. He did turn the Icicle Rain spell into a pistol arte for himself, why did the thought of trying the same with water only occur to him only now?  

[Azura Cantarella]

And that was the break she needed. As Alvin began staggering backward, she immediately squatted down and placed her palms flat upon the ground between her feet. A small spell circle glowed around her and a low rumble could be heard. While she concentrated on charging up that magic, she listened carefully for Alvin's actions—a click, a bang, and splashing all over the place, some of it she felt upon her back. She waited until the bullet rain subsided, for even though water attacks weren't very effective against her, a splash to the face could distract her from unleashing the full force of what she was preparing. She wondered a bit why on earth he'd pull that if she'd clearly shown herself to be a water mage, but guessed he was trying to buy time or something.

After the splashing ceased, what appeared to be a small geyser burst from the ground and freed her feet, carrying her high into the air. During the ascent, she stood and raised her hands above her head, palms facing each other, but made sure to stare down at Alvin as well. The ice claws covering her fingers glowed and dissolved into an aura, which went on to reform into the Frostbite Blade, fuming with cold energy.

Securing a firm grip on its hilt, she leapt off and tucked into a forward somersault, bringing the sword in front of her and letting out a glee-filled cry of "Banzaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiii~!" Her tumbling motions seemed similar to the Tempest sword arte as she fell down toward Alvin, and the pillar of water she had created instantly collapsed.

((Heh, had the follow-up saved somewhere! Just a few tweaks and voila, it still fits. mrgreen Hm, I'm not sure I explained the Tempest-like move very clearly, so here`s an accompanying visual.))  

[Alvin Svent]

Alvin had, in fact, bought time — enough to clear his eyes and shove his pistol back into the clip on his sword. It clicked into place with a hiss of energy and a soft blue glow.

Staring up at the column of water she'd formed, he realized that if all of that came tumbling down on him, he'd be flat on his back again. There was no way he was planning on giving in that easily, even if it did mean a pretty blue-haired sorceress would be sprawled on top of him again.

Azura's downward-forward tumble was met with the clash of sword on sword, as he leapt to face her charge, swinging his own blade up in a blazing, crackling arc. "Take that!" They seemed to hang in midair for a moment, pushing against each other edge-to-edge...  

[Azura Cantarella]

Alvin Svent

...but that force, coupled with the element that could oppose her ice, was enough to completely disintegrate her blade into a cloud of white steam. A wave of heat permeated the air, and out of instinct, Azura couldn't help but close her eyes and bring an arm up to shield her face, leaving her completely open for the follow-through.  

[Alvin Svent]

Azura Cantarella

Alvin hadn't expected the blade to dissipate — in retrospect, maybe he should have, but no one he knew actually made magical weapons out of nothing. Either way, it was remarkably good timing.

As his own sword swung through, suddenly freed from impediment, he made a grab for his pistol, disconnecting it from the clips. He'd thought he'd need to make a shooting play, but as vulnerable as she was right now, that struck him as unsporting. With Azura's arm covering her face, there was no way she'd see something that lethal coming. He turned his hand over instead, and slammed the butt-end of it into her exposed jaw. The two of them tumbled earthward, landing solidly together, Alvin temporarily with the upper hand.  

[Azura Cantarella]

Alvin Svent

During her fall, Azura made sure to twist to her side so that the back of her head wouldn't end up smacking against the pavement and result in a concussion. After hitting the ground she flopped onto her back...but before she knew it, Alvin was on top of her. He kept her pinned down by holding his broadsword flat across her arms and abdomen. That it all happened so fast got her heart racing, and her breathing deep.

She locked eyes with Alvin. What was he trying to achieve right now, though? Did he think he was restraining a mage's "channelers"? She could very well show him that spellcasting wasn't entirely hand gestures. The corner of her mouth curled into a smug smirk as she was about to make a witty remark about their current positioning, as well as voice her thoughts.

But that feeling was cut short as she began to feel the heat in her body skyrocket. Heck, it was rising off her body; even Alvin should be feeling it. Her face went flush and glistened with sweat as her expression sharply turned to surprise, and the whites of her eyes turned black.

"...Aw, mother-of-balls," she muttered.

Snap. Snap. Snap... It sounded like bones were breaking, but it was really Azura's spine starting to reposition itself. Her lips curled back into a snarl and she gritted her teeth as they began to grow too long and pointy for her mouth.  

[ac-null13]

Arms folded, Zaul grinned and calmly walked over to where the two were. "Hoooooo boy. Now ya've done it," he began to explain with amusement in his tone, "Now the wolf in her wants ta come out n' play. Normally, she tries ta hold it back as she thinks it's overkill, but Ah guess ya got her adrenaline rushin' enough."

A pause for Alvin to take that in, then he continued, "Hey. This's 'bout ta sound n' look purty gruesome, but don't you freak out too badly. Ah assure ya, she's totally alright."  

[Azura Cantarella]

(Hokay. Wasn't expecting this at all. But...let's see if I can run with it.)

Azura relaxed and closed her eyes, letting the changes flow—but boy, were they noisy. The constant cracking of bone and shifting of flesh sounded worrisome and highly unsettling. She would occasionally grunt or growl softly but it never sounded any pained, it was merely out of slight discomfort.

It might have felt like she was squirming beneath Alvin, but it was really that the shape of her body was growing and changing drastically in such a short amount of time. As it burst through her inner clothing, exposed skin was quickly overtaken by a coat of soft fur. Thanks to some conversion magic infused into her coat (and skirt, to take care of the lower half), it appeared to absorb the shredded clothing in order to expand and fit her changing body.

Her hair darkened though remained a shade of blue, having a gradient transition to a lighter, icy color at the ends. Her ribcage rounded out, making her barrel-chested. Muscle mass increased all over. Fingers thickened and shortened as joints fused and nails extended into curved claws; her toes changed similarly as the arches of her feet stretched. A tail crept out from beneath her as her neck slightly lengthened. Finally, the growth of fur crept up to her face as her nose and mouth pushed out into a muzzle, and her ears took on a more triangular shape and shifted to the top of her head.

The transformation complete, there now was a she-wolf beneath Alvin as big as he was, and considerably more muscular to boot.

As Azura opened her feral-looking eyes, she locked her gaze with his again and made as much of a wicked grin as she could with her wolfish face. The hold he had down on her relaxed enough that she could free her arms from underneath his broadsword and grab his wrists. With a sharp roll to the side, she was able to yank him down on his back and pin him to the ground this time, her paws heavy but not crushing at his shoulders.

Then she shot her head down and—"...rrrrRROWF!"—snapped her jaws within an inch of Alvin's exposed throat. His life was in no real danger, this was meant to be a simple scare. She was still in her right mind, but that was something the mercenary didn't know yet.

Drawing her head back, she could see the contained expression on his face but it wasn't fooling her as she could practically smell the surprise and fear off him and hear his racing heart. She made low, growling laughter and continued, "If you thought the spin toss was surprising, I'm afraid you're practically a ragdoll to me as I am now. You still game?"

((The color scheme of her fur is...well, as you might've guessed from the title already...the Ice Werewolf. xp ))