The Paths of Tragedy

OOC: XD this'll be interesting. I've been working on perfecting my skills. :P


IC:

Zeria quickly turned enough to move away from the attack, it just barely missing being hit as she felt the attack's strength brushing against her. She also moved backwards a little. He'd copied her move, just like Julius had a long time back.

"There's a reason for that move, Cairn! I'm surprised that you, being a knight of such high quality, didn't realize it's how I guage my opponent's abilities. And so what if my defensive skills aren't that good without my magic?! I can still protect myself if I have to! I can protect Julius like he protected me!"

Anger was fusing with sorrow in her eyes and posture as she darted towards him again, this time rotating on her right heel and swinging both blades almost as a scissor cut, one coming from each side. She hoped that he would block one attack and completely be open to the other. At least a small wound on him would make her happy.
 
OOC: I might sound like Yoda now :gasp:
IOC:

"Wrong again...." Cairn jumped away from Zeria, parrying both attacks with a single upward slash. As the weapons clashed, the momentum caused was great enough to push Cairn even farther from Zeria, something Cairn used to his advantage as an evasive move. Cairn remained standing several feet away from Zeria, holding his blade with his right hand as he placed his left hand on his forehead. He sighed, soon retaking a defensive position, grasping the hilt of his sword with both hands. "Zeria, anger leads to sorrow, sorrow leads to hatred, hatred leads to darkness which can poison our hearts and turn us against everything we love. Your recklessness is made much more noticeable seeing that you can't seem to control yourself. By driving yourself into battle without thinking and plunging yourself into rage, you are burning out your stamina even more. Try to keep emotions under control. I am sure that Julius constantly repeats this to you...now defend yourself!" Cairn sprints forward and when he sees that Zeria is close, he made a faint leap forward, spinning and unleashing a circling slash ending it with a powerful horizontal slash from left to right. Subsequently, Cairn withdrew a few steps from Zeria, retaking a defensive position as he awaited for Zeria's next move.
 
Zeria's mind was clouded too much, and she took one of the attacks to the side, wincing and holding back a cry as blood began to drip down her side.

"You know nothing about Julius! You just don't understand, Cairn! The desire to protect him and be with him is what keeps me going. But when people speak things to me, things that fill me with anger and sorrow, I can't help but fuel my fighting that way...especially after the life I've lived!"

She was moving even quicker now, trying to find any possible opening in his defense. ~Come on...come on...strike!~ Zeria made like she was going to swing with both blades, but quickly sheathed the Hellfire Blade, and drew one of her guns, aiming for Cairn's legs and firing, then doing a backflip to bring down her Punisher on his shoulders.
 
It was a truth that Wylliam had always considered possible. And yet, having heard Cairn say it, he now found himself without strength in his legs, both knees planted into the ground, his spear prostrate at his side. Skaol had stayed with Aldabra. Not only that, but he had become a driving force in their imperialism. Confusion raged in his mind while his thoughts tried desperately to fight its current. Skaol had always put the destitute above himself, had always promoted benevolence for all men. It was he who had taught Wylliam his optimism... and yet...

"Skaol wouldn't... no. A mistake. It has to be. The old man's memory must be fading," he petitioned himself desperately. The ring of truth, however, had not stopped reverberating in his ears. He watched the fight before him with unattentive eyes. The confusion had formed a whirlpool, against which his thoughts were helpless. Skaol had always put the destitute above himself, had always promoted benevolence for all men. It was he who had-

Wylliam punched the ground. His resolve to find his friend had no less than quadrupled. He would have his answers straight from Skaol's mouth, perhaps after punching it a few times. For now, however, he would make do with winning this little tournament. He got up, completely ignoring the two combatants... and froze, his right eyebrow twitching. Nature called. Now. He had forgotten, during his morning routine, to relieve himself before putting on his armor, and now he was suffering the consequences. He scanned the area wildly for a place with some privacy and noticed a small house, not too far away. With speed that can only be obtained through situations of this kind, he dashed toward it, planning to relieve himself behind it.

((OOC: If it is not blaringly obvious, that is the house behind which Mikhail is hiding. Your choice, Jimmy. Run to a different hiding spot so Wylliam can do his business in peace, or stay there for a confrontation. Of course, choosing option two won't make Wylliam need to go any less :P))
 
Jonad Sizoc

Jonad awoke with a jerk, looking around himself. "Oh, thats right" he stated to himself.
He remembered what happened. At least most of it.
He healed Cairn, and was forced to use Purigato, after that, he awoke in this bed. He wandered to the bridge, and asked for Cairn, but he had left, but in prime health.

Jonad slimed to himself, he wondered how long he was out.
A day, 2.
He got to his legs, he felt perfectly fine now. the pill did its job, and the rest had given him the energy needed.
He looked around, and gourd a private shower. He entered, and washed his face.
Luckily, Jonad had not been sweaty in any way. Thus, he had nor real reason for a shower.
Though, he took one nonetheless.

After he had dried up and gotten clothed, he headed out the door towards the exit. Since he noted that they where on the ground.

After following various signs, and logical turns, he found himself with the morning breeze on his face. The feeling where almost intoxicating.
He smiled as he exited the door, only to be interrupted by clashing of metal.
Which had the distinct sounds of swords.
He jogged around the corner, only to note that it was a spar.
He sighed with relief, and supported himself on the railings.

Jonad was now clear on it, Cairn was completely fine. He need not worry about it any more.
He just continued standing there, enjoying the friendly spar.
The girl that Cairn was fighting, did she introduce herself?
Jonad could not remember, he sucked with names from before.
Nonetheless, she seemed to he a friend of Cairn, and she seemed to have been hurt.
Jonad smiled, slightly disappointed. Cairn should carry a training word for these kinds of situations.
Nonetheless, he was hired to be a healer to Cairn, and his friends. He assumed that it was true about The girl as well.

Jonad headed for the nearest ladder, and climbed down.
After, he walked over closer to the sparring ground. Staying well out of reach, to make sure he was not dragged in.
He just stood there, with a smile, surveying the battle.

-----------------------------------
Alumar Loren

"Wake up!" a voice shouted. Alumar looked in its direction in a slight haze.
It seemed that morning had come.
Both from the clear fact that the guard had nagged at him, and that Alumar could see the beginning sunrise out the small window.
He closed his eyes for a few seconds, but where interrupted but a bucket of cold water.
Alumar had started to get used to this.
He tilted his head towards the pole. "37 days" he muttered.
If that was the exact number, or if he had forgotten to put in some lines, he did not know.

He was still alive, thus still being tortured.
It had been more infrequent, perhaps Gorgack had understood the fact that Alumar would not speak. Or just gotten bored.
Alumar did not know, all he did know, is that some times, Gorgack came back, and gave Alumar a 'few' hours of hell.

The guard that woke him, threw in a bowl of the unnamed substance they conveniently called food.
Oh how he longed for a good steak. Followed by a perfect glass of wine.
It almost brought a tear in the corner of his eye. Almost.

His head dipped, as he grabbed the bowl of... Whatever it is.
Still the rats preferred to go hungry then this. They probably roamed in the garbage from the kitchen.

After Alumar had eaten the thing, he was forced to give the guard the bowl.
Alumar lobbed it at him, but had little force to do anything of harm.
"How bout a change of clothes" amulet started in a humerus tone, "This... loincloth is beginning to fall apart" he grinned, referring to the thing he wore now, whatever it was.
The guard laughed, as he left. Thus most likely a no.

An hour later. Or, at least what Alumar thought was an hour. Liandra arrived.
She looked at her best from side, to side. Before tossing in a piece of bread.
Alumar grinned, and a word of thanks. As he ate the loaf of bread.
It was better tasting then anything he had gotten in there.
He was indeed grateful, but he kept telling her not to come. This was no place for a child. Though, she would not listen.
So, she came back almost daily, often with a scrap ob 'toss able' food, to give him.
She left shortly after talking to him, and told that again to her friends.
She liked the fact that Alumar had known a Liandra in the past, and that the past one was an expert sword user.
Thus, the word of a prisoner, being tortured, named Alumar, was getting more spread.
 
OOC: I would like to have a one on one duel but if i fought you now then my presence would be discovered and everyone would find out about my identity, or at least discover that i was not there for sightseeing. Also remember i'm dressed as one of Seseus soldiers.

Mikhail

Focused on the battle between the woman and Cairn, Mikhail did not notice the man with the large spear getting closer to the house, until he was only a few feet away. At first Mikhail thought about simply drawing his blade and slit his throat, but upon looking at the man's face he recognized him as being Wylliam the Dragoon Knight, Skaol had talked about him once and his amazing skills, and even if he did not Mikhail had already heard of his accomplishments.

("He is far from being a normal opponent, if i fight him now the battle will probably prolongue itself, and the others will notice my presence...")

Having no more time to lose, Mikhail thought of the best course of action possible, he could jump to the roof which would make him visible from where Cairn and the woman were fighting, he could lift himself on the air and with luck Wylliam would not see him, or he could try a different approach, which seemed the better one in his opinion...

Checking to see if his helmet covered his face entirely he walked out from behind the house and walked in the direction of Wylliam.

"Excuse me sir, i did not want to interrupt your conversation with Master Cairn but i have been told to search for you, and tell you that breakfast will be served in 20 minutes."

His voice sounded calm and secure, so he hoped that Wylliam would not doubt him.
 
Zeria Iiyasei said:
Zeria's mind was clouded too much, and she took one of the attacks to the side, wincing and holding back a cry as blood began to drip down her side.

"You know nothing about Julius! You just don't understand, Cairn! The desire to protect him and be with him is what keeps me going. But when people speak things to me, things that fill me with anger and sorrow, I can't help but fuel my fighting that way...especially after the life I've lived!"

She was moving even quicker now, trying to find any possible opening in his defense. ~Come on...come on...strike!~ Zeria made like she was going to swing with both blades, but quickly sheathed the Hellfire Blade, and drew one of her guns, aiming for Cairn's legs and firing, then doing a backflip to bring down her Punisher on his shoulders.
Click to expand...

"Wrong again...the best offense sometimes is a good defense..."
Using his large blade as a shield by placing it before himself, Cairn managed to block the gunshots aimed to him. "If you allow your emotions to control you, you will never be able to protect anyone. You are too selfish, thinking that you are the only one with problems in this world. Guess what? You are not. Now child, mark my words: Everyone in that airship, in this country has something to fight for. They've suffered, and some of them have endured far more unbearable tragedies than you. You will fail to strike me if you just let your rage to guide your sword....pity..." The bullets were repelled, ricocheting from the blade's hard surface, Suddenly, while looking above the edge of his sword, Cairn noticed that Zeria was rushing towards him and he sighter her sword clearly aimed to strike him from above. Since it was a vertical move, Cairn predicted the route that the attack would follow, so he opted for the best action; a swift side step to the right would make her attack to miss. Evading the sword by a few inches, Cairn followed up his movement with two more steps to lengthen the distance between Zeria and himself. Seeing that his sword was longer than her Punisher Gunblade, Zeria was still in Cairn's range area.

"Stay focused, Zeria! Now watch your guard again!!!"

Quickly, he tightened the grip he had on the hilt, and brought his sword to his left to gain momentum. In addition, his eyes were fixed on Zeria's hands, clearly with the intention to disarm her. After summing up his power, Cairn unleashed a swift, stone shattering horizontal swing from left to right. The fast sword swing made the blade cut through thin air, forcing a gust of wind to be instantly hurled towards Zeria. In anticipation and expecting a counter attack, Cairn leaped backwards, quickly taking a defensive position.
 
Wylliam was so shocked by the man that he very nearly relieved himself on the spot. With out slowing down, he yelled as he ran past, "Yeah, great, OUTTA THE WAY!" His eyes were beginning to water from the extreme effort needed to keep himself dry and run at full speed at the same time. None too soon, he reached the secluded area behind the house.

It remains one of the few circumstances that can humble the proudest of men. He walked back from behind the house, slightly flushed. However, Wylliam's conceit returned full swing in no time as his highly selective memory discarded the unflattering event. He wasn't hungry yet, so he returned to the sidelines of the battle between the old man and the red head, distracting himself from thoughts of Skaol.

------------------------------------

"You have a very uncanny sense of direction," Skaol mumbled as he once again took and unfurled a missive from the same hooded messenger of Aldabra that had found him twice before. Though his eyes were hidden in the hood's shadow, the messenger's cunning, toothy smile was impossible to miss. Skaol scanned the scroll's contents, memorized them, and handed it back to the messenger. "How in the world did they find out I was on my way back?" he wondered aloud. He had just been about to cross into Aldabra when the messenger had halted him. "Also, how are they so informed on the location of these guys?" Seeing that he would get nothing from the messenger but his wide, knowing smile, Skaol turned to leave, but the messenger caught his arm.

"One moment. There is one last item," the hooded man said with an even wider grin, reaching into his bag and producing another scroll. "This contains a list of names, members of the target party. The Empire thought you would find it... enlightening." This last sentence was said with a certain relish that had not escaped Skaol's attention. Before he had a chance to ask him about it, however, the messenger was already long gone. Stifling a yawn, Skaol unfurled the second letter and began reading it. When he reached the last name, his face, for the first time since his graduation, did not contain a hint of being drowsy. He stared with quiet intensity at the last name for what seemed like an eternity before folding the note and putting it in the inside pocket of his tunic, right beside his small dagger. "'What was lost is now found,' as they say. If it only could have stayed lost." With that, Skaol turned and once again headed for the Royal City, with a forged Seseuan order for an airship to Celeste in his hand.
 
Zeria winced and braced herself, tilting her gunblade just enough and rotating on her heel again to avoid losing her blade, but unfortunately lost her gun, which went sliding across the floor several feet away.

"Grrr, I hate this!"

Her frustration was beginning to show. Especially because she so badly wanted to use her spells, but Cairn had said no spells. Unfortunately, the gust of wind caught her off guard, and she was sent skidding back a few feet, almost knocked to the ground.

"I've got to...calm down"

The wound on her side was beginning to throb much harder, and the blood dripping down her side felt warm and wet. It made her uncomfortable. Instead of letting it cloud her mind, she cleared her head again, quickly drawing her gun again and firing three times, then darted towards him again, swinging for his legs this time.

"I know other people have sorrows! But right now, I'm searching for the man who is the reason I fight!"
 
Zeria Iiyasei said:
Zeria winced and braced herself, tilting her gunblade just enough and rotating on her heel again to avoid losing her blade, but unfortunately lost her gun, which went sliding across the floor several feet away.

"Grrr, I hate this!"

Her frustration was beginning to show. Especially because she so badly wanted to use her spells, but Cairn had said no spells. Unfortunately, the gust of wind caught her off guard, and she was sent skidding back a few feet, almost knocked to the ground.

"I've got to...calm down"

The wound on her side was beginning to throb much harder, and the blood dripping down her side felt warm and wet. It made her uncomfortable. Instead of letting it cloud her mind, she cleared her head again, quickly drawing her gun again and firing three times, then darted towards him again, swinging for his legs this time.

"I know other people have sorrows! But right now, I'm searching for the man who is the reason I fight!"
Click to expand...

"Fool..." A furious, yet focused Cairn shielded himself again against the bullets with his wide sword, ending up giving up to teach her a lesson of self control. To avoid being hit by her last attack, Cairn opted to counter attack with a barrage of sword swings to parry each of her moves, ultimately ending with a leap to the right to avoid her. Subsequently, he stepped back a few feet away from her and sighed, it seems that he no longer desired to fight. At first, his burning soul was reluctant to withdraw, but then he realized it was a hopeless battle, she would not learn to control herself no matter what, at least not for now.

Cairn lowered his sword and then stared at the grass below his feet, seeing how it waved so elegantly due to the gentle wind. Cairn took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, showing a slight sense of disappointment. Soon he shifted eyes to Zeria, who had missed her target long ago. He smiled, though a sadden look was seen on his eyes. Finally he put his sword back in its sheath, which was placed on his back diagonally, several leather bands kept the sheathed sword attached to Cairn's body armor. Cairn then folded his arms, remaining silent for a while. Suddenly he decided to break the silence to find out what was driving Zeria into madness. "The battle is over. Come back and face me again once you understand how to learn from your mistakes. Rage is useless if we allow it to fully control us. I knew Julius' father, he was a kind and passionate man. We even fought together during many great wars and learned many lessons from each other. Though I may have not meet the adult Julius, I sure knew the children of Lord Alexander. Julius and Lucius. If what they say about them is true, I am not sure if I could bear to see either of my friend's sons turned into a monster. Now, you may leave." Cairn turned his back on Zeria and remained standing for an instant. "Do not even think about attacking me while off guard....if rage leads you to it I will sure be less reluctant to hold back this time. Be forewarned." He sighed, heading now to the small village.
 
Hera and Jake sat on the rooftop of a cabin, staring at the contest between Zeria and Cairn. "They've got skills," Jake said, "I'll give them that. I haven't seen many warriors like them..."

Hera shook his head. "No, they're quite literally one in a million. Or two, I suppose. Either way, I've been to planets that don't have a single fighter of merit, much less warriors like them." He stared off to the east, towards a procession moving towards the ruins of Celeste. It wasn't even a mile from where they stood. "Well, there goes the tournament. Let's get a move on." Hera flared his wings and shot off.

Jake stole a look towards Zeria and Cairn before taking off. The two were going at it tooth and nail, and Jake could see neither one giving way, despite injuries inflicted. He shook his head in amazement. They were amazing fighters for their races, and both had their personal needs for fighting.

Without a further thought, he turned and flew towards the procession. The wind blew through his hair as he thought of what he might have to face in the tournament. With luck, it would be he and his grandpa duking it out.
 
Zeria frowned, sheathing her blades and looking at the ground. She was still shaking.

"I have the honor not to attack an opponent like that. But I will fight you again when I have cleared my head, Cairn. And I will win. You can be assured of that. I hope to face you in the tournament..."

She winced again, then took off running past him, scooping up her gun and placing it in its holster, before running off into the city. She was making the furious attempt to hide the tears trickling down her cheeks, and her disappointment in losing...plus, the wound on her side was beginning to hurt far worse now...and the blood loss was pretty severe too. Eventually she stopped, pulling out some bandages and working on wrapping her injury...
 
IOC: The underlined text is an optional event. It can be avoided if necessary.
OOC:
As he walked through the road leading to the village of Baid, Cairn thought about Zeria and her devotion to Julius. He laughed, somehow the fact of seeing her so passionate when speaking about the man she loved reminded him of the days when he, too, was young and passionate as Zeria. He kept his way to the village, now thinking about Hera Ledro and Jake. Since he knew that Hera was a being of great wisdom, he was looking forward to meet him yet again, at least once before the tournament. Finally he arrived to the village, the townspeople were kept busy in their daily chores. Cairn made a sudden stop and found himself standing on the middle of a small plaza, with beautiful trees and a small fountain in the very center of the plaza. Houses were all around him, mainly built with wood and materials found nearby. The peaceful atmosphere was relaxing, the best way to prepare one's self before a challenging tournament.
 
Now that the fight had concluded, Wylliam had become very aware of how hungry he was. Remembering what that Seseuan soldier said about breakfast, he rushed back to the ship and leapt from balcony to balcony until arriving at the mess hall floor. He entered and set straight away to eating as much as humanly possible.

--------------------------------------

So this is Baid, Skaol thought to himself as he walked through the town. It didn't seem very prosperous, but it was certainly a lively place. Skaol was once again dressed as a civilian, though still refused to be without his rapier. His armor was stored safely at the town inn. He smiled warmly to a passing family who graciously returned his warmth. This is why I fight, he thought to himself, looking sleepily into the sunrise, to see a world ruled under a single government, where war would not, could not, exist.

Reaching a small plaza, Skaol noticed a sturdy looking swordsman (Cairn) with a large broadsword on his back who appeared to be waiting for something. He was unsure, but felt that he had seen the man somewhere before. Assuming the man had come to participate in the tournament, Skaol walked up to the man. "The tourney, right? Hard to resist an excuse to test your strength, and possibly walk away with a prize." He held out his hand in a gesture of sportsmanship. "My name's Preston. With whom do I have the honor of speaking?" It was a false identity he had used several times, so the lie came quite naturally.
 
OOC: Teal is Julius and Red is Armgeddon/Archzil

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

IOC:Hejaloki was being ran down by the darkness. He had to slow it.

He changed back into his humanoid form in mid air flying. As did Julius, though he started looking more demonic. Julius readied an attack and took it. Hejaloki raised his shield to deflect the attack. He used his shield to force Julius off balance.

"Hejaloki you have no idea who your dealing with." said Julius in a demonic voice.

"No old friend I know you were once the mighty angel Archzil and my friend."
said Hejaloki. That enraged the darkness in Julius and he tried to slice at Hejaloki but he parried. Hejaloki countered but his attack was dodged by Julius.

"I am no longer Archzil, I am now the harbinger of Armgeddon. Soon I will decimate this world and all other worlds in the universe, thank to two travelers from a distant world." said Julius and he took a attack at Hejaloki again. Hejaloki tried to dodge but was sliced in the left arm.

Hejaloki winced in pained and managed to stab Julius in his thigh.

"Aggh...NO I will not lose control...Help me...You will pay for your insolence....ZERIA... YOU WILL PAY HEJALOKI!" Julius said as he was in a struggle from Hejaloki's attack. Julius launched a dark bolt at Hejaloki.

Hejaloki used his shield to reflect it back. Stunning Julius long enough so he can get a lead on to Vistoria...
 
"My name's Preston. With whom do I have the honor of speaking?"

Cairn turned around to meet face to face with the source of that voice, probably a man due to it's tone. Slowly, he came to meet a young warrior that came from afar, presumably to enter the well renown tournament. Even though the man seems to be a good man apparently, Cairn simply couldn't shake out of his head the thoughts that made him distrust this person. Of course, not willing to show his suspicion towards this person, Cairn greeted the man and decided to respond to his question.

"It is an honor to meet you Sir Preston. I am Cairn Crey Rosencrant Valthere, former Commander of the Royal Armies, now a retired knight. My journey for adventure led me to these regions, to participate in the tournament schedule to be held in two days in the Colosseum near the Celeste Ruins."
 
Mikhail

After the brief encounter with Wylliam, Mikhail kept observing the duel of the woman which he now knew was called Zeria and his half brother Cairn, he memorized their moves. He decided to keep following Cairn's footsteps, he followed him keeping a certain distance, he stopped near the entrance of a tavern, located near a small plaza, he noticed a man approaching Cairn it did not take long to recognize him...

"(Skaol, what is he doing here!? I was not informed by the Emperor that Skaol was going to show up!)"

Apparently Cairn had not recognized the legendary soldier of Aldabran, as they were talking normally to each other. Mikhail wondered if Skaol was sent to kill Cairn, if this was true then the tournament would be the perfect opportunity to do it, sense he knew that Skaol did not work in the shadows pulling the strings, like he liked to do. Perhaps he had come for Wylliam, this was indeed most intriguing and he had to find the truth.
 
As Zeria bandanged a shadow from behined her drew close as Samael slowly walked up to her still wearing his traditional white mask.

"Hello.........My love."
 
Last edited:
A chill raced down her spine and she turned quickly and her heart began to pound fiercely in her chest.

"S-Samael?!"

She moved to quickly jump to her feet, but pain raced through her side and she dropped back to her knees, drawing a gun and aiming it for him.

"Stay away from me! You've caused enough trouble!"
 
"My dear Zeria.."

Sameal said as he began to bow to Zeria.

"I have not come to fight with you."

In a flash Sameal disappears behined her with his head over her shoulder.

"Besides...With such a wound it looks like you would not be able to stand up to me right now."

He said as he placed his hand over her wound.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top