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Legend of Lunaria Captain
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 Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:21 pm
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Legend of Lunaria generated a random number between
1 and 11 ...
3!
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Posted: Tue Jul 27, 2010 8:22 pm
• [ THE OUTCOME OF THIS BATTLE: ] • ZhongXian's win.
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Legend of Lunaria Captain
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Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 7:57 pm
Hypocrite.
He rolled his eyes with his back turned to the other. He had heard enough about his short fuse and his irrational ability to jump to conclusions. He had been attempting to improve his rationality, but anything he tried failed miserably. He only blamed it on the way he had been raised when others blamed the fact that he tended to only try things once.
Turning around he leaned lightly on the broom and bowed his head. "I apologize for my rudeness, sincerely, however-" he paused, "I was raised to dislike if not detest noble blood for what they have been doing to this land and to the damage they deal to the hierarchy." His sentences were sincere but curt and cut short. His apology was half-way thought through and he personally didn't care to exaggerate at this moment.
"Now, please leave-" he sighed, looking the other in the eye. Zhong's eyes burned with negativity and his grip on the broom was turning his handles white. If she said anything else, if she made one move in the wrong direction, his temper would throw him into overdrive.
Which led to inevitable fighting. He did not want to anger or fight Shin Mu. If anything he had wanted to avoid this, but he spoke without thought. Nodding his head in disgrace he pushed himself up against the railing and stared at Shin Mu, offering her no gesture or indication of reason.
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Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 8:14 pm
The dark lunarian made no move to leave, but stood her ground, glaring up at Zhong where he stood on the steps. She held no real hate towards the legion, no substantial bias. She believed in the path of the Noble Retainer, supported that governing body, been raised with the political whispering of the high ranking nobles in her ears, and still she held no dislike towards legionaires. That his bias and hate ruled him so completely, blinded him, infuriated her.
"You are a sheep, Zhongxain. Lead blindly by your allegiance. The damage to this land is dealt by the hand of the useless emperor and his ruling generals." Her voice was low, even. Devoid of the full extent of her anger with him. She could have said more, but she was still hoping to avoid a political argument.
She was no master of conversation, no expert on the actions and thoughts of others, but even she knew his behavior was appalling. Hands curled at her sides, loose fists half hidden by the pale fall of her skirt.
Exactly what she hopped to achieve by refusing to leave, she wasn't sure. No doubt something ridiculous like pride kept her standing there outside that shop. If she'd had time to process things, really think about their actions, she'd have simply left, but emotion was over ruling logic.
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Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 8:34 pm
He growled under his breath, attempting to disguise the growing levels of anger that seemed to be boiling within him. Giving her a dead stare the Lunarian listened to the insults with half an hear. He heard all the negativity there was to hear behind them. It was the final scratch in what short temper he happened to possess. Releasing the broomstick he lurched forward and landed a hand on the teapot. It felt foreign to touch, but he expected as such after a noble had laid their hands on it.
Hurling it forward with a wide throw he watched the pot fly through the air. He only hoped he had been quick enough to attack her. After all, this was the first battle where he had been able to maintain some sort of civility- at least until he cracked.
Listening to the pot make impact and shatter as it flew past the shoulder in a different direction, he winced. Zhong knew the damage that solid objects did to the body, he had experienced the feeling many times in battles or skirmishes with other students. Yet, had this not happened, he would have probably never seen it.
The teapot seemed like the only reasonable weapon at the time. Wiping the look off his face he approached her, descending the steps, and examined her closely. "Leave Shin Mu." he ordered, turning and walking a few steps away from her. He did not want to fight.
Not with someone who he had actually established a relationship with.
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Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 9:13 pm
She witnessed the moment his composure shattered and even startled when he lurched forward to grab the tea pot she'd just returned. Of course she hadn't really thought he'd throw it at her, not after all their talk and friendly conversation. Despite the anger and the pure bias he felt towards her.
So when he hurled the object at her head she was slow to dodge. Jerking to the side with an audible gasp that ended in a shrill cry as the heavy clay collided with her shoulder and shattered. Spinning her around to fall heavily to her knees, her entire left arm throbbing. She was lucky it hadn't dislocated or gone numb, for she'd have been nearly helpless without the use of both hands.
She was shaking as he approached to check on her, but not from fear or pain, no, Shin-Mu was pissed. She didn't even look up when he spoke and turned to return to the shop. Instead she reached behind her back to free her dizi from the metallic band that cinched her slender waist, drawing it up to her lips as her breath eased out slowly, regaining her composure and concentration before laying fingers against the holes and breathing life into the dark wood of the flute.
It was a soft song, low in tone, but slightly odd to the ear. It was eerie and dark, and fit the spell that was woven betwixt the notes perfectly. Hauntingly beautiful and soft enough to reach only those within a 20 foot radius. She had been practicing, learning to control to the spread of her magic, as well as the weapons in her arsenal.
It was illusion, something to fool the mind, and this particular song spilled "fog" through the street to distract and handicap. She would confuse, disorient, then strike back.
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Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 9:44 pm
Zhong had only made it back to the porch then the air around him began to thicken. He did not expect an attack, he did not even Shin Mu was capable of attacking him. With a breath he turned around to look at the figure on the ground. Instead of seeing the curled body of Shin Mu he spotted a thick velvet of white spreading through the air. He had no idea if the cloudy sky had suddenly decided to descend upon them or if his mind was playing tricks on him.
Regardless he was caught off guard. Standing still he retreated a step up the stairwell and stared into the fog. There were no sounds, no movement, no shadows. The only sounds in the air were the hushed footsteps of those passing by, unaware of what was happening right by them. He was beyond perplexed at this point.
Looking further into the fog he listened to the silence. Nothing, nothing came out, and no sound was made.
He wanted to find her, destroy her, prevent her from doing any harm. With his eyes burning in incurable hatred and his senses flaring out of control, he stepped forward again- taking hold of the broom handle and silently pulling off the end. He would find her.
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Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 10:11 pm
The cover of the fog would shield her so long as she played. It wasn't fool proof though. If he wandered into her, or thought to cover his ears or disrupt the spell enriched waves of sound directed at him the illusion would slip away. Thankfully he didn't seem to realize what she was doing, and slipping back to her feet, she retreated a few steps away from where she'd fallen, taking up a balanced stance in the middle of the street(Which was miraculously empty at the moment.).
Of course she couldn't hide in her illusion forever, and it wasn't her intent to simply huddle in safety. No, she wanted him to hurt, the feel something similar to the throbbing ache that was a constant distraction at her left shoulder.
The song faded of as she switched tunes, and with it the fog began to fade. Revealing her by inches where she stood, the dizi pressed to her lips. The new song was nothing half so harmlessly passive, but would take a moment or two prepare. To gather up the soul magic and channel it into the notes of the song. It was high and shrill and brought to mind flocks of screaming birds.
The purpose of the spell was to disorient, to throw off balance, and finally to subdue. Attacking the fluids in the inner ear. But it was new, and she hadn't practiced it enough for a speedy delivery. It would take a minute at the least to build up the power needed to deliver anything so crippling. The notes she played now as the fog dissolved between them would serve only to distract, perhaps even steal some of his balance.
If he came at her now, got to her before the climax of the song, he'd have her, and she would near helpless to stop him. Physically, she simply couldn't compete. There was a dagger hidden away in her garments, but she couldn't draw it fast, and it would be a gamble to cease playing and go for it.
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Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 9:48 am
The fog disoriented him and caused him to retreat a few feet when it finally began fading. It was at that point that he noticed the key of the situation. The dizi. The music. Everything she played was power to her. He'd have to stop her for a long enough time so he could get away. He could not just run, no, that wasn't fair in this situation. A knock-out seemed like the best choice for the time being. Dropping his head with a sigh he held the pole rigidly in his hands.
He heard the winding spell of the new musical tune. It was slowly beginning to hurt him. Whether it was the birds or the spell itself, he winced, his ears screaming in pain.
With a breath he held the pole by his side and stared at her. She was attempting to play some sort of tune, and it sounded horrid. With his ears ringing from the screeching bird calls all around him, he retreated. He did not know what she was doing next, but whatever it was, happened to be making every bird in the world try to talk.
He had to get to her before whatever it was she planned to do happened. He didn't know the powers that soul conduits had, and he didn't want to find out.
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Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 2:48 pm
She watched him moving near the stares, watched for the effect of the spell, and was pleased to see that pained expression flicker across his face. Of course now he was quite pissed and she had nothing left to hide behind.
As fingers danced along the length of the dizi pale eyes flicked from his face down to the pole he held down at his side, brows lowering. The broom handle nearly doubled his reach. Being a warrior, he already had a leg up on her physically, the length of solid wood seemed down right over kill. Though with her spell and music wreaking havoc within the channels of her inner ears she could appreciate his anger, even if she disagreed with the original root of it.
The dark lunarian took a step back, then another. Repelled by the rage on his face and the lethal promise of the broom handle. She'd hopped he'd simply cease his attack on her, go back inside, or submit, but she didn't think so now. She had to get away.. No. He could still go after her, pursue her and use his strength against her, and she wouldn't have little but her own feeble strength to stop him. She needed to finish the spell, needed him to drop to his knees with hands clasped over his ears and cry out.
If he could endure the effects of the magic woven song long enough to get to her, then the battle was lost. Even if she had gone for the dagger, the extended reach of the pool would rend it useless. She'd never get close enough to use it. She had a sinking feeling she would lose this duel, but if she was going to fall, she would cause him as much pain as she could before he got to her.
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Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 3:02 pm
The sound was becoming unbearable.
Whether or not the birds were the source of the sound, he knew one thing clearly, Shin Mu was causing all of it. He had never experienced a soul conduits power and vowed to himself that never before would he again. He could stay his blade if needed against a warrior, but he felt compelled to use every last bit of the strength he had against her.
Zhongxian summed up the amount of strength that he had remaining and analyzed it carefully. If he was going to attack he had to do it quickly. He could not afford a loss, not here, and not now.
Taking a breath the lunarian began moving quickly towards Shin Mu. His feet were moving as fast as they could carry him. Using the broom stick he swatted once at the dizi, then again at the side of her head. He felt the wood crack on impact as the wood made contact with her head.
He winced a bit, imagining the depth of the pain that the attack had caused. Quickly enough the body fell to the ground and the once painful and empty air rebuilt itself around them. There was no body to see the fight but only spectators to see them now.
Bowing his head the lunarian covered his head. He was ashamed of how he had acted, turning against an good acquaintance. With a sigh he dropped the sword and vanished up the staircase and into the shop door before anybody could pin him as the culprit. He only offered a short prayer to her in hopes that she'd survive.
She was a noble after all. She wasn't worth much more.
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Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 3:28 pm
Hope swelled within the young noble's heart as the young man appeared to be slowing, succumbing to the brutal harassment she was directing at him. Perhaps winning was not yet out of her reach. She focused, drawing on more of the magic soaked energy, forcing it to weave and intermingle with swift, sporadic notes she was playing. Ignoring the ache and throb of her shoulder as she moved her arm and hands to maintain the careful, ear splitting melody.
Pale, lily green eyes widened through when he advanced, and that flicker of hope was snuffed out as he swung that pole, knocking her dizi from her hands to send it clattering along the street to roll to a stop against the side of a nearby building. automatically she reached for it, turning to fetch it before any harm or theft could come to it. It was more important then pride, it was more important then winning.
The separation stirred the spirit attached to the dark instrument, and Liu materialized like a cool wind at her side. She felt his presence, heard the urgency in his voice as she called to her watch out, but turned in time only to take the blow to the side of her head rather then the back.
The crack of the wood impacting with her skull was loud beside the sweep of her ear, resonating through her entire head as star bursts of white and gray ate away at her vision. She fell, too stunned to react, to her knees and then to her side as blackness swallowed her and consciousness slipped away. Liu was powerless to anything but shout mutely at the young man as he returned to the shop. His spiritual voice falling on deaf ears.
She lay there unmoving until Chen, her devoted attendant, finally discovered her. He'd been following her, but she'd managed to slip away from him unknowingly, and without that delay, perhaps none of this would have happened. Lifting the smaller girl easily in his arms, Chen retrieved the dizi, much to the lingering Liu's relief, and rushed her home. Calling to her softly as he tried to rouse her, fearful that she was hurt worst then he knew.
She'd survive, and she'd be stronger for the lose, but recovery would take at least a weak. The dark welts of bruises were already blossoming on the side of her head under the fall of snowy hair, another set to match the black and blue of her shoulder.
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