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 Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 9:48 am
Kin stood with his arms crossed and decided to stay out of the conversation. A team battle? Who would I get stuck with?
Kin asked, sort of undecided with the idea.
how we fight.> Vix hissed. Vix reminded Kin. Kin stayed quiet and decided to keep this subject to himself.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:26 pm
Lessir stood quietly listening to Sai and Raidek, her tail curling back and forth thoughtfully.
she growled softly to the creature guests.
"That is a good plan."
Vilya and Tura turned around together to see an aged man in long green robes come to stand next to the head of the water dragoness. His face was long and slender, time putting deep creases around his eyes and mouth. A beard, white as ash fell to the middle of his thin chest.
He rested a gentle hand on his dragon's nose, "Welcome combatants, to my home."
Vilya smiled her excitement to the others in her group before bowing to the sage. "It is an honor sir, my name is Vilya, and this is Tura"
"A black gryphon. Most unusual..." The sage trailed off in thought, he knew full well that gryphons did not naturally have black feathers.
"My name is Brantalis, you may address me as such, I hate formalities."
He looked past the southern combatant to the rest of the troop, his eyes falling first on the feathered dragon.
"My! I haven't seen a skydrake in many many years!" He strode over to Sai and Stratus, gazing up at the feathered dragon in wonder before offering a small bow. "Brilliant."
He stood back, sending a thought to the dragons he had chosen for the battle.
"I gather you have met Lessir, she will be one of your opponents. I think you should meet the others..."
As if on que, dragons began appearing slowly, stepping into the garden to stand before them.
A firedrake swooped from behind them, banking sharply and dropping gingerly behind Brantalis. His scales were a bright scarlet, fading to orange and yellow as they neared the heavy plate-scales covering his underbelly. His neck was long and slender and at a glance he resembled the water dragon. A pair of proud horns spiraled upwards from his brow to end each in a wicked point. The most striking feature however were his eyes. It was like staring into an active volcano. Bright rings of liquid magma, a reflection of the fire he controlled.
Vilya could feel the heat from his breath even though she stood a fair distance away.
"Svalin" Brantalis said his name with pride. "The youngest of my companion dragons."
A second dragon burst straight through the solid ground just beyond the gate. This dragon had no wings. He trundled past the group on all fours to stand next to Lessir. His fore claws though were massive, and razor sharp. His scales were black as ebony and his eyes were an opaque ice-blue. He had no pupils at all, but seemed to see them without trouble. His head was short and rather brutish, rows of glittering white teeth could be seen poking down past the gray scales that lined his mouth.
"Quellar." The dragon sage said putting a hand on the earth dragon's head (Which came up to his shoulder).
A third dragon snaked its way through the sky behind the castle. This dragon also had no wings, yet seemed to keep aloft as well as any dragon with them. He wove back and forth, his body following perfectly after him. Its motion reminded Vilya of a serpent in water. Upon closer inspection she saw a mass of fur lining his exaggerated nose in a great beard that slid back into a stunning yellow main. His horns were more like antlers and just below his nostrils there sprouted two thick, trailing whiskers. His legs were short and bird-like, yet he landed with all the grace of a swan, coiling his long body around the fountain. His scales seemed to shift from white to blue and his eyes matched his brilliant mane.
"Chi-linn."
There was along pause, but no more dragons appeared. Brantalis looked puzzled and turned, seeming to call again for his last dragon. Nothing.
"This won't do, where is Kusanagi?"
((Sorry I took so long, lot's going on right now.))
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 9:52 am
Sai and Stratus had both returned the mans bow and then stood politely and also somewhat awestruck as he introduced his dragons one by one.
"Wow." Sai thought.
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Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:33 pm
The dragon sage stood very still for a moment, then nodded and quietly turned back to the group of combatants. "My final dragon will meet us at the arena, come, I will take you there now." As he said this Lessir lowered her head and stretched out a delicate wing to help the old sage onto her back. That done she leapt into the air, circling once as she waited for the group to follow. Vilya vaulted up to Tura's shoulders and gripped the leather harness tightly, not bothering to hide her excitement. "This is going to be a tough battle." Tura started at a lope towards the high stone wall, spreading her wings and letting the wind slide under them. Suddenly she sprang up, brought her wings down and caught the wall, pushing off from it and soaring upwards to join Lessir.
Once the rest of the party was ready they were off.
The ground was a flat patchwork of fields below them, the creatures resigned to the ground would have no trouble keeping up with Lessir.
It was in no time at all that they came before their battleground, and Vilya immediately saw why the dragoness had called it 'unique'.
A vast basin, carved right from the living rock, easily stretching the length of ten fields across reared up to meet them. Huge pillars of stone stood scattered inside it, the tallest in the center of the basin and growing shorter as they reached the rim, all coming to roughly the same height.
"There are two battlefields here." Vilya commented to Tura, who listened as she took in the sights. "The one in among those rock pillars, where agility is key, and in the sky above the basin, where you can move freely but are also a sitting duck."
"That depends on whether you think you can out fly those dragons or not."
Tura thought about this.
Here Tura meant the Lion-like Chi-Linn, who moved like a snake through the air and had no need of wings to refine his flight.
"Good idea."
Tura sent a quiet thought to the rest of the creatures as Lessir began her decent.
((Do we have everybody? I'm not sure who's active or not anymore.))
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 8:06 am
Sai followed the example of Vilya and the Sage and vaulted up to land smoothly across Stratus' shoulders. Stratus quickly beat his wings and rose quickly into the air before beating them at a slight angle and launching forward to catch up with his ally, and his competition. Once he had gained some momentum he was able to turn it into elevation and was soon soaring high above the earth. He followed along behind the Sage until they came to the basin. Sai thought, the awe evident in his voice.
Stratus agreed.
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:48 am
Raidek jumped onto Fenrir's back, the large wolf letting out a growl before pushing itself forward, speeding over the ground, doing his best to keep up with the rest of the group.
Raidek and Fenrir came to a halt at the edge of the arena, Raidek himself, smiling behind the mask he wore. "Its beautiful..."
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 11:42 pm
Not caring much or bothering much, Minatsuki followed the group without a protest. When they finally arrived at the battlefield, Minatsuki's eyes seemed to twinkle, though her face seemed not yet recovered from its paleness.
this I can work with for now.>
Asako gave Minatsuki a worried look, but because of her size, all she could do around the pillars were close her wings and wobble behind her, trying not to touch the pillars with her fiery wings.
<... Are you taking into account the team battle?>
Asako let out another sigh at Minatsuki's carelessness, with a mixture of relief that Minatsuki knew she should not overwork her body with harsher strategy.
<... Now, that comparison is a little harsh.>
Minatsuki smiled, thinking back to her training days, but her smile quickly turned into a smirk, her eagerness rising.
((Sorry for not posting for the longest time. I had a test that I needed to study for, not to mention two other ones coming up.))
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Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 7:08 am
((I hear you, tests are not fun. That'll be me in a few days, someone else might have to lead the charge.))
With a few strokes of her graceful wings Lessir lighted on the earth, letting the weathered Brantalis slide safely to the ground.
Tura landed beside her just as the black-earth dragon appeared from the ground.
Vilya looked to the old sage for direction but his attention was on three figures approaching them. The first was about the size of a large pony and upon sighting them, gave a squeal of excitement and bounded forth, nearly knocking poor Brantalis from his feet as he slid to a halt.
It was a dragon. His scales were deep forest green on his flanks and belly, but faded into the most brilliant of copper hues on his scaled back. From his dulled beak and claws, and his altogether pudgy appearance Vilya concluded that he must be a baby.
Her suspicions were confirmed when a different, much, much larger dragon stepped behind him. This dragon was the size of a two story house and by far the largest Vilya had seen. His color was almost identical to the baby's.
She saw Brantalis smile. "Kusanagi, my old friend."
A low rumble came from deep within the drake's throat that reverberated through the ground. His words were only for the dragon sage.
"And I see your son is as well as ever!" He laid a hand on the little dragon's nose before returning his attention to the combatants.
"Now you have seen all of your opponents. The rules of this match are simple, it will be a traditional combat, the human partners will be at the rim of the arena and the creatures will battle. Either human or creature has the ability to surrender if they feel the fight should not continue. The battle is won when all of your opponents are either defeated or knocked to the earth out of the arena.
"So it's touch the rim of this big bowl and you're out." Vilya said quietly, then asked the sage: "The arena's very big, how will we keep track of our creatures?"
Brantalis smiled at the question. "Glad you asked." He held up one hand and motioned to the human figure who had accompanied Kusanagi and his son.
This was a thin man with a weasely face and what seemed a permanent scowl attatched to his features. He brought forward several pieces of leather with light colored gems fixed to them in silver bindings.
"These you will attach to your creatures."
Vilya accepted a band that would fit around Tura's foreleg. "The gems look like creature summon stones." She matched the gem with the one in the hilt of her sword.
"You are right, in fact they are made of the same stone. These however act upon the little piece of your spirit infused in the creature, with this you can share mind space with your gryphon, as well as cast spells through her."
Vilya stared at him.
"What do you mean?"
"Simply that you can see through her eyes, she will be in control of course, but it will enable you to be right in the battle with her, without her having to worry about your safety."
Brantalis well knew that few creatures were as big as dragons, and to have so many to fight at once it was more than likely that serious injury or possibly death could come to the human caught in a battle with them. Humans were so fragile. Hence he had designed a way for the battle to take place where both spectators and human combatants alike were safely out of the way.
((Hope I didn't step out of line with this new contraption, and sorry for the long posts, so much to explain >_<))
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Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 8:40 am
"It sounds like you have been doing for quite some time." Sai said to Brantalis.
Sai thought to Stratus.
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Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 10:46 am
Vilya watched as a steady stream of townsfolk made their way through the narrow field roads, escorted by several green dragons. They were here to see the battle no doubt and it made Vilya a little uneasy.
Tura said, sensing her unrest.
Vilya nodded, climbing back onto Tura's feathered soulders.
"I say we investigate this new arena, we can meet its the center and discuss a battle plan."
Here she was addressing all of her group, looking at each in turn as she spoke. Even Raidek was included, now that he was an ally (at least for this fight) she put her personal feelings aside and treated him as such.
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Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 2:16 pm
Raidek accepted the band, and he would place it on Fenrir like a colar.
Raidek nodded.
Raidek looked to his fellow teamates, nodding in a sense, knowing this was going to be a good battle.
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Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:18 pm
"I agree. Sage Brantalis here has the advantage of being very familiar with this combat ground. We should take the time to plan out how we intend to compete against him." Sai said to his allies. He then turned to Sage Brantalis "Master Brantalis, were you agreeing earlier to allowing us to fight in teams?"
((Sorry if he already did, I just wanted to be sure because I was slightly confused over that...))
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Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2007 4:48 pm
(( Sorry guys, I'v been having problems... Guhh...))
Kin staggered behind, his mind still wandering and not at all focused on the match. Kin walked up and stood behind Sai. "So, who is with who? Because I don't really care." Kin said bluntly.
Vix hissed back as he continued downward into the earth.
((I plan on making a big mess in this battle... So yay... -.-))
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 7:28 am
((Are you all right Azure?))
Brantalis nodded to Sai's question.
"You may battle however you see fit. The mark of an excellent warrior is not only his skill, but his ability to adapt and work with the resources he has."
Vilya nodded, the words were true. With that she and Tura lifted into the air and swooped down into the arena.
The gryphon had little trouble getting between the pillars at a slow speed, but doubted she was going to be given that luxury in battle. They landed not far from the center and continued on foot.
The first thing Vilya noticed was a faint rushing sound that seemed to come from all around her.
"Water?"
Tura fluffed the feathers on her neck and shoulders (The gryphon equivalent to a shrug).
Vilya pressed her ears cautiously up against one of the large stone stacks.
"You're right. But its coming from underground too!"
Tura closed her eyes to better see the bright blue veins that represented the water flowing beneath them.
"Hmm." Was all Vilya replied. No doubt the sage would try and use the water to his advantage. But the sage was not the only one who could.
"I'm more worried about our team. As it stands, you will not be able to fly if your wings get wet, I think the same would go for Sai's Stratus. Minatsuki's phoenix would have a severe weakness to water. That leaves Raidek and Kin who would not be greatly affected if the water becomes part of our battle."
"None of his dragons have feathers. But I think we can say that the fire dragon Svalin would stay at the other end of the arena."
"But not where Brantalis would want him."
They both nodded, the semblance of what should be done taking root in their minds.
"We should discuss with our team."
Both headed toward the center and awaited the others.
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 2:33 pm
((Just to clear things up a bit, I was reviewing posts and realized that I never posted that Stratus landed, obviously he did because Sai is conversing with other characters that already landed. Sorry about that. Also xMARRERx has been having some trouble with his account, for the time being he will be posting using another of his accounts: creed_master.))
Sai had not yet dismounted from Status' back and urged him toward the center of the ring where Vilya and Tura had already gone. Stratus flew out over the center of the crater and then dived down. Right before he would impact the ground he flared his wings and canceled his momentum with a quick flap before coming to a soft landing on the hard stone. Now Sai leapt from his back and walked to Vilya.
"So, any plans?" He asked, content to listen first and voice his own thoughts later.
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