Amarth

This time it was team Light's turn to send out the first competitor. Eldaire was too eager to be held back. He rushed out to await his competitor. When the competitor emerged, he turned out to be obviously elven in nature. He wore a green cloak and carried a shortsword. With a single glance, Eldaire could tell how incredibly fast he was. When they were given the signal to go, Eldaire could hardly follow his motions, but he remained clam. He knew he didn't need to. He discreetly reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small round object with a string coming out of it. He struck the string in a certain way and it began to spark. He threw the ball at the spot he anticipated where the little speed freak would show next. The explosion was violent, but definately not life-threatening. The force was enough to briefly stun the elf though. Eldaire, quick as a flash, had his bow in hand with an arrow already pulled from the quiver. He let fly and the arrow hit the string on the cloak, sending it flying off. The elf stood now in normal garb, slightly disoriented, shortsword drawn.

"I didn't need to miss you know."

"I can tell that, and I admire your morals. However, in a tournament like this, they will do you no good. Do not expect me to hold back."

With that, he was instantly in Eldaire's face. Their two swords met just in time to keep the shortsword from Eldaire's heart.

"Yikes!" he cried out. A barrage of lightning-quick strikes came from the elf, but Eldaire countered every one, each time looking as though he had barely managed it. Eventually, the elf got tired and jumped back. Eldaire wasn't tired yet though, he came on with his own barrage. The elf tried to parry, but found he was simply not strong enough. He dodged a few thrusts, but was met by a strong kick to his ribs. This sent him to the ground. Eldaire went to continue his attack but the elf jumped forwards. He looked back to see Eldaire's boomerang just before it hit him square in the forehead. The force combined with the shock was just enough to make him lose his footing and slip out of the ring.

The cat lady ruled a ring out and the elf stood from the side of the ring. "You realize you barely managed to dodge my attacks, and barely managed to knock me out. Hell, you barely won the battle."

Eldaire retorted, "The only way you can be sure to win every time is to be unafraid to fight on the verge of losing." The elf nodded in copmliance with Eldaire's point and they both walked back to their teams. Team Dim was now trying to decide who should go out next...

bloodyambflint

"Team Disgrace...Team Nutsy...send out your final fighters!"

Annika steps into the ring, walking to the center, the epitome of grace and beauty. She carries her extra long fencing sword with her, the sunlight glinting off of its perfectly polished blade.
The final shadow demon-freak ninja opponent steps into the ring. He is strongly built, and he, too carries a fencing sword.
"I won't be as easily defeated as my teammates, girl." He drawls.
Annika laughs and readies her sword. "Thats what I'm counting on."

"Fighters...begin!"

Immediately she jumps forward, thrusts, parries, knocks his blade away, thrusts, and gets his blade under hers in a position where he can't move it. He looks up, totally surprised.
"What..."
"You said you were going to be a challenge!" She laughs. She spins out, freeing him, and as he tries to attack her, she jumps forward again, overtaking him.
"Now that time I practically GAVE it to you!"
Angry, he pushes against her sword, trying to get out of the block she is holding him in. She doesn't budge. She stares into his eyes, a slow smile spreading over her beautiful face.
Suddenly, quicker than anyone can see, she pulls back, thrusts forward, and smacks him square on the cheekbone with the blade of her sword. The force of the blow knocks him over and he falls, facefirst, into the dirt. At the end of the countdown, he is still facedown.
Annika laughs and cries, "Get a stretcher for this man! And get vodka for my teammates and I! We're moving on!"

The other girls of Team Disgrace whoop and laugh.

"Vodka!" Freya yells. "Shots all around!"

TerresqueÜ

"We're finally up, Tarrae." Pipes Jeriyu

Tarrae stretches his massive arms and pulls his massive sword out of the concrete ground where it had been resting lightly.

"It's gunna be good to get some action at last!" Tarrae seemed excited.

Jeriyu walked in front of Tarrae with the massive man fitting his armored body through the archway. They both got blinded from stepping out of the dark hallway breifly. Then stepped out into the ring. The cat-girl announcer took the mic.

"THIS IS CERTAINLY SET TO BE A GOOD BATTLE. SINCE TEAM ENISHI HAS ONLY TWO MEMBERS THEY HAVE CONSENTED TO FACE OFF AGIANST ALL FOUR OF TEAM RURONI'S MEMBERS AT ONCE! THIS SHOULD BE ACTION PACKED AND CERTAINLY HAVE AT LEAST A LITTLE BLOOD-SHED!!!!"

The crowd cheer at the prospect of blood.

Tarrae grinned and Jeriyu kept his constant scowl. Team Ruroni emerged from thier hallway. All four of them armored in the traditional regalia of a Japanese samurai. The only difference between the four of them was the color of thier armor. One red, one blue, one green, one yellow.

"Look at thier armor, I'll be each one is trained in a different manner, depending on thier armor color. Red, fierce, blue, agile, green, powerful, yellow, fast. I'll take red and yellow." Jeriyu nodded and looked at his companion.

"Power and agility is fine with me." Tarrae was quite ready and move his sword into position.

"THREE, TWO, ONE, FIGHT!!!!"

Jeriyu made a massive leap as two all four samurai charged Tarrae. Jeriyu made his land silent as he leapt, and made a rolling jump unsheathing both of his daggers simultaneously catching the upper thigh of his two marks. They stopped and twitched for a second, then turn to face their assailant. The red samurai started makeing mad slashes at the cat-like samurai while the yellow one ran around making slashes at certain moments. Jeriyu still managing to evade both at once.

"AND THIS FIGHT IS OFF TO A GREAT START WITH THE FIRST BLOOD DRAWN BY THE NIMBLE SAMURAI, JERIYU!"

Green and Blue reached Tarrae proned to strike and that they did. They barely made a scratch on Tarrae's plate. He made a quick blow to the of Green with his gauntlet and swung at Blue with his free hand and Zweihander. Blue jumps away but gets his armor covering his torso cut. Green is out cold from a stiff blow in the face from a metal covered fist. Tarrae starts his assault on Blue with a horizontal strike down and then up. Both get side stepped. Seeing he's getting no where fast with Blue's agility so he decides to back down and go on the defensive to think.

"AND THIS FIGHT CAN GO EITHER WAY AT THIS POINT. BUT TEAM RURONI IS ALREADY DOWN ONE MAN. HOWEVER SAMURAI BLUE IS KEEPING TARRAE OCCUPIED!"

(Tarrae thinking) "Long as she and everyone else including Blue thinks that..."

"You are both formidable together. Now let's see how you do alone." Remarks Jeriyu as he jumps and flips over the two and nailing Yellow in the back and out of the ring as he lands.

"You think I rely on my team mates you are mistaken!" Samurai Red looks around to find Jeriyu and cannot. SKUSH! Goes Jeriyu's favorite dagger as it pierces Samurai Red's flesh and he falls, unconscious.

"OOOOOH! THAT'S GOTTA HURT! PERHAPS THIS BATTLE IS ALREADY OVER, BUT BLUE IS STILL KEEPING TARRAE AT BAY!"

(Tarrae thinking) "A ha! I got it. The next time he charges me to strike I'll use his force against him..."

Not too many seconds later does Blue do just that and at that moment Tarrae side steps and takes a massive and powerful swing, right through Samurai Blue. Tarrae holds his sword up as not to get ichor stained.

"JUST AS I PROMISED, BLOODSHED!!!" The crowd goes wild. Team Enishi simply walks off.

Jeriyu to Tarrae - That was a good warm up.

Tarrae to Jeriyu - Yeah, but we gotta clean off these stains for our next match.

Jeriyu to Tarrae - Yes, we do not want to look like animals like the Ruronis.

Tarraue to Jeriyu - You think we should have left those other two alive?

Jeriyu To Tarrae - It will be fine. They won't be foolish enough to challenge us agian...

__________________
Say yes to the 'Tilted Roleplaying' Forum

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1932&highlight=petition

Amarth

All of team light (except Amarth) was disgusted with the performance of team enishi.

"How could they take the lives of the samurai? They never stood a chance anyway!" yells Eldaire. Heero and Matt merely looked down.

"There's nothing we can do Eldaire. These are the rules. We can't change anything but the way we fight. When we're out of the ring, we have no say," spoke Matt.

Amarth on the other hand was about to burst with excitement. "They're great fighters! I can't wait to battle them!"

Heero calculated a strategy, seeing the obvious skill of team Enishi. Matt is far more agile than the blue samurai. Amarth is far faster than the yellow one. Eldaire is far stronger than the green one. The red was just a joke anyway. I doubt the fact that we have far greater abilities than the samurai team provides an accurate calculation though. Team Enishi's victory was not sealed by ability alone. They were also calculating, strategizing, and improvising. We're gonna have our hands full any way about it. They're solid and brutal.

[OOC: Everything above took place after Enishi's match. Everything below will take place during my match.]

Team dim finally sent out another competitor. This one was a fairly large man who came out unarmed.

"He's unarmed! He's definately mine!" called Matt.

Matt leapt high into the air, coming down right in front of team Dim's competitor in the center of the ring.

"My name is Gunther. I wish you luck. May the best fighter win."

"I am Matt. Good luck to you as well Gunther."

By the look in his eyes, Matt thought Gunther could already tell he wasn't going to win. Matt admired his bravery and his honor. Well, we've already won two, and Heero's gonna win. I see no reason we can't afford just one loss. Gotta make it convincing though. When he heard the word fight, Matt instantly landed a fierce punch to Gunther's face. Matt saw the counter-kick coming and made a feigned attempt to dodge. The kick landed in his side and both competitors went to the floor, but only for a moment. An instant later they were both back up and engulfed in a series of punches and kicks. Seeing this wasn't going anywhere, they began moving all about the ring. There movements were near impossible to follow. To an untrained eye, it looked as though they were teleporting around the ring as they fought. Eventually, Matt allowed Gunther to land a solid punch. Matt feigned a stunned look and Gunther followed with a kick that sent him out of the ring. The cat lady quickly called a ring out and announced Gunther the winner. The crowd was going nuts (none of them liked team light and all wanted to see them out in the first round). Gunther was also excited. He could barely contain his joy as his teammates ran out and lifted him on their shoulders. As Matt walked back to his team, he felt sure he had convinced everyone. "Too bad Matt. That guy was really tough," said Eldaire, trying to comfort him. Matt assured him that he was fine. He could never tell what Heero was thinking. Matt went and leaned against the stadium wall a little ways away from his team when Amarth appeared next to him. "That was disgusting Matt. Why did you let him win? It makes no sense. Have you no pride?!"

Matt countered with, "Look over there at Gunther." At the moment, his face was lit up with the biggest smile the world had ever seen as his team continued to poor congradulations on hiim for beating the famous Matt, many time hero who has saved the world time and time again. "There's your explanation." For a brief moment, Matt thought he saw a smile on Amarth's face, but it quickly vanished.

"I still think you're a fool."

Matt only grinned.

SSJwrestler

Just as the last match got under way, the cat-judge stepped in to the middle of the ring and announced, " At the completion of the prelimiary round of the tournament there will be a great feast given in honor of the advancing teams. All are welcome."

The crowd roared with approval, but they soon stopped after the cat-judge then said, "Oh sorry. Read that wrong. Only fighters are allowed. Sucks to be a fan, but so long as I can go. Anyways onto our last fight."

Team Ohtar listened to this announcement very intently. They had not eaten in a while due to the rigorous training schedule, and a nice feast seemed perfect. They all smiled as they closed their eyes and envisioned mountains of piping hot food.

Amarth

Heero wasted no time in his fight. He didn't even bother to get a good look at his opponent. He knew his weapon was long, probably a spear. It didn't matter. He saw the blur that some people would have labeled as a weapon coming at him and dodged. He continued the spin into the air and kicked his opponent hard, sending him out of the ring and out of consciousness. Heero paid no attention to the senseless rantings of the cat lady. He merely walked back over to his teammates and sat down. Matt and Eldaire were chatting away while Amarth was training himself again to the side. Heero closed his eyes and began to meditate.

Amarth

[OOC: I'm done and ready for the feast now! How far is everyone else from finished?]

SSJwrestler

Team Verdan's Dragoons- Finished
Team Ohtar- Finished
Team Disgrace- Finished
Team Enishi- Finished
Team Jesters- Finshed
Team Lahrien- 2 of 4
Team Light- Finished

Team Lahrien the only one left

Dixie

(OOC: oops. heh. sorry bout that.)

__________________
talk is cheap, so i buy every word you said.
scared me half to death, now i'm half dead.

Dixie

Lila could hardly contain her excitement (or her appetite).

"I'm fighting next!" She announced, jumping up and darting out into the ring.

Her opponent was a small, befreckled elf with a large toothy grin that irritated Lila for some reason.

So she kicked the elf in the mouth and the elf fell over.

"Yay! I won!"

__________________
talk is cheap, so i buy every word you said.
scared me half to death, now i'm half dead.

TerresqueÜ

Back behind the scenes in the hallway team Light stands watching the bout, scout out the competition. Tarrae and Jeriyu approach them from behind. Jeriyu puts his hand on Eldaire's shoulder. He turns around with a start.

"Hello, Eldaire is it?" Jeriyu quizzed.

"Yeah, and lemme tell you that you two disgust me! Those samurai weren't at all up to your level of skill and slayed 2 of them just the same!" Eldaire was furious.


Heero and Matt agreed with a "Yea!"

Tarrae stepped into the conversation, out of his armor now except for his greave, gauntlets, and chain mail. He was only slightly smaller than with his entire armor on.

"We both fight to our fullest, take the strikes that get dealt to us, we do what we must to win. Does that make us evil?" Tarrae asked calmly.

Heero moved in to speak.

"You should watch yourselves. If you do whatever it takes to win then you must be fighting for the wrong side!"

"That's not what I said! You mis-interpret my words, Heero. I said we do what me must, if we are forced to spill blood to achieve victory then we shall! However, I don't think we'll have to spill yours. You're all much stronger than those samurai."

Amarth steps up to Tarrae. "It was an honor to see you two fight. You work so well together and apart. I can't wait to meet you in combat!" He extends his hand, it's met by Tarrae still armored hand and a firm shake.

"i like this guy, Jeriyu. Lemme have first shot at him when our fight comes up!" Jeriyu and Tarrae walk into the hallway away from team light laughing together.

__________________
Say yes to the 'Tilted Roleplaying' Forum

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1932&highlight=petition

Dixie

And Ageha kicks some elf ass, too.

Dinner time, gentlemen (and ladies)!

__________________
talk is cheap, so i buy every word you said.
scared me half to death, now i'm half dead.

SSJwrestler

" All fighters, if you would please follow me, thne we will make our way to where the feast will be served." the announcer said still usuing her microphone. In response, all teams stood up and began to follow.

The announcer led the parade of warriors out of the arena entrance down a path that winded through heavily dense forests. The night air was warm, and the smell of the sea filled the noses of the warriors as they walked.

The teams had been walking for what seemed like a while since it was now ptich balck out when they came upon a large clearing in the forest. They were greeted with the sight of many servants graciously welcoming them, offering to take their weapons and armor and cloaks, and a large bonfire in the middle of the clearing.

The bonfire illuminated a large number of tables arranged in the shape of a circle around the clearing. each table had 4 chairs and were piled high with food. The food varied from lush green veggies, to fresh fruits, to deserts, to large turkeys, has, and chickens. The teams stood awestruck at the siight of this spectactular feast.

"This is the payment for you courage and strength. Not everyone can win the grand prize, so this is a slight consolation. Enjoy, and god luck in tomorrows quarterfinals." the anouncer said with a pleasant voice. " O yes, there is an open bar to the right and beverages can be found to the left."

TerresqueÜ

"What a spread, guess this was the right thing to do entering, Jeriyu" Said Tarrae to his friend picking up a glass of sake.

"Yes but doesn't it seem odd that we're eating a gaint meal in the middle of the forest. Maybe they intend to put us through some ordeal while we are here." Jeriyu stated, being cautious and observant like he is. "They took our armor and weapons, doesn't that seem odd?"

"Yeah but we always keep spare weapons on us just in case someone is plotting against us. Don't we?" Tarrae mentioned while taking a piece of turkey.

"I fear that something else may be in the minds of these tournament organizers. Something darker and more twisted." Jeriyu stood up and approached the announcer and questioned "Where are our weapons and armor?" He querried a bit irritated

"uhh...Uhm...We put them away until tommrows events, just so you all don't try to assassinate eachother in the night. You'll be making camp here, we've provided accomodations for that too!" The announcer said a bit on edge. "Please join your friend in food and drink!" She walked away to talk with the other tournament organizers.

"Well *chewing* what'd she say? *takes a drink* AHH! That's refreshing!"

"She said they put our weapons and armor away for safe keeping, I don't trust her or this whole set up."

*gulp*

"Hmm, I say we should tell one of the other teams, just in case there is something up. Sound good?"

"Yes, it sounds sensible, I say we tell Team Light, to show them we aren't really the evil beings we seem to them." Jeriyu a bit annoyed at the whole goings on.

"Yeah, let's go tell 'em now. So we don't get drunk and forget." Tarrae stood up and so did Jeriyu.

They walked over to the table Team Light had placed themselves at. They all looked back at them collectively. Eldaire wiped his mouth and stood up asking "What do you want?"

"We just came to warn you. I smell something odd about this whole takeing our weapons and armor. It hardly seems right. We're all honorable warriors, why would we assassinate eachother?"

Matt stood up "Eldaire I think there may be something to what he says. I thought it a bit strange too. Let's keep our wits about us." He sat back down.

Eldaire and Jeriyu shook hands. "Thank you for the heads up. Perhaps I perceived you wrong at first, Jeriyu. Should it come to pass that we need allies you'll be the first to my mind." He sat down with that and continued his meal.

Jeriyu and Tarrae returned to thier table. "They are good people, and strong fighters at that." Jeriyu remarked quietly. "Let us keep our relations with them on the positive." Taking a drink from his personal flask of water and biting into a carrot.

__________________
Say yes to the 'Tilted Roleplaying' Forum

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1932&highlight=petition

bloodyambflint

The girls of Team Disgrace saunter in, Claudia dressed in a white babydoll dress, white tights, and black maryjanes, her golden curls perfect as usual. Her ice-white skin glows in the moonlight.
Freya is dressed to break hearts, as usual, showing off as much skin as possible while still leaving a lot to the imagination. Annika wears a simple black dress that clings to every curve, and dara wears tight black pants, a studded belt, beat-up doc martens, and a tight red T-shirt. They all make their way first to the bar and sit, taking their promised vodka shots.

After 4, Freya stands up, flipping her long shiny red hair over her shoulder, and turns around, facing the other fighters who are absorbed in their feasting.

"Us girls don't like to drink alone...anyone care to join us?" she says, a smile playing on her cherry-red lips. "if we're all gonna be fighting eachother tomorrow, we may as well be friends tonight!"

Annika laughs and throws back another shot, while Claudia looks around meanly at everyone, as is her nature. dara, not much of a people person, looks down into her drink.

Freya cocks her hip to one side and places her hand on it, looking expectantly at everyone.

SSJwrestler

Team Ohtar still stands at the entrance to the clearing, when they watch Team Disgrace make their way ot the bar. Hearing the girls invite, Elrohir turns around to Amras and says, "Sounds like fun huh? LETS GO!"

However, his progress is immediately stopped by Amras hwo grabs him by the shoulder. "We're hear to fight. Not to fornicate. Keep your focus and think with you head," Then sensing the oncoming dirty remark from Elrohir, Amras added in "The head on your shoulders."

"Let's find a seat and get some grub."Aranel suggested leaning closely into Amras. "Sounds good to me.' Amras replied. The trio then made there way to a table on the side of the clearing, allowing them to watch their fellows fighters.

bloodyambflint

Freya notices the lad walking towards her and then being pulled away. She frowns a little, then pouts her lip out and lowers her eyebrows flirtatiously, keeping her eyes on the trio for a second, then shrugs, and spins on her heel, walking back to the bar, her hips swaying with every step. She sits down and flips her shiny curtain of red hair back again.

Now that her facial expressions are out of sight, she leans over and whispers to Annika, "as if i'd fornicate with any of THEM!"
Annika chokes and laughs out loud, and they both turn and look at them, laughing.

Claudia rolls her eyes. "come ON, lets eat!"
The girls stand up and walk over to a table near the middle.
"I hope they have RARE steaks." Claudia mumbles, then, finding an entire platter of them, proceeds to voraciously shovel the meat down her throat, sucking it hungrily first to get the blood out.
Freya crosses her legs and sits on the bench facing outward, towards the company. Annika does too, sitting across from Freya. they survey everyone, sizing them up. dara continues to sit quietly, chewing on a piece of bread.

losthellhound

The Dragoons sit down, each watching the other teams with an air of a merchant buying horses.

Simon leans over to his father "You think we'll find new employees here?"

Thomas nods. Then takes a healthy pull on a tankard of something frothy.

"Just keep your eyes open and your senses about you. We'll hire a couple before the tourney's out"

__________________
"Life is possible only with illusions. And so, the question for the science of mental health must become an absolutely new and revolutionary one, yet one that reflects the essence of the human condition: On what level of illusion does one live?"
-- Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death

dragonhawk

The Jesters pick a table.

Tragedy is quickly on his second turkey, eating like he hasn't eaten in days.

"Leave some for us brother" Comedy tells him.

"There's plenty for everyone." Harliquin tells him, grabbing a leg from the turkey before Tragedy can bite him.

Flipping across the ground, Harliquin lands besides Freya, turkey leg still in hand.

"The lady didn't want to drink alone?"

__________________
----------------------------------------------
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

bloodyambflint

Freya blinks and looks at the harlequin who has just landed beside her. She smiles a little and takes a sip of her drink, sizing him up, one eyebrow raised.

"Its dangerous for a lady to drink alone, you know", she says, her lips curving into their accustomed flirtatious smile. "Especially around all these big, tough men! Why, I'm just quite sure I wouldn't be able to defend myself!" She purrs, batting her eyes.

Annika looks like she wants to burst out laughing, her ice-blue eyes sparkle merrily.

Freya tilts her head, her long hair spilling over her shoulder to one side, then flips it back. "Drink with me...if you wish it."
She throws back another shot and looks at him expectantly.

dragonhawk

"I'll drink with you, and too you!", he says, throwing back a shot.

"May the gods smile upon you in the ring tomorrow, and may they not laugh out loud!"

Prankster is looking around at the other contestents, and pulls out a deck of cards.

"Anyone for a game?" she says to the crowd.

Tragedy is still eating...

__________________
----------------------------------------------
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

bloodyambflint

Freya crosses her legs, cocks her shoulder to one side, raises an eyebrow.
"And to you. May your victory be..." she smiles and licks her lips, "...fruitfull." She now picks up her other drink, a tall foamy mixed drink, and sips it from her straw.

Annika looks around, sipping an ale.

Dixie

The girls of Team Lahrien hang back from the others momentarily, talking amongst themselves.

"There's something not quite right about this...." Ageha purrs, leaning close to Serendice.

Nienna clutches her bow as the servants approach the team. She and the others reluctantly hand over their weapons and sit down at a table.

"Good God, Nienna! Look at all this grub!" Lila shrieks like a child in excitement and begins to stuff her plump, dimpled face.

Nienna, Serendice, and Ageha whisper in solemn conversation, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the teams around them.

"Team Light seems to be a bit on the dull side, if you follow me. Their strength far exceeds their wit," Ageha hisses, glaring at Team Light, who are seated nearby.

"And it seems to me that Team Disgrace are too self-possessed for their own good. Fem-nazis on a mission to prove the strength of women, but that could be their downfall," sighs Serendice.

"Team Ohtar and the Dragoons seem to have their wits about them," Nienna granted, "but I can't help but be suspiscious of any team with familial ties or close friendships."

Lila interrupted abruptly, bread crumbs and turkey skin spewing from her mouth. "I like those silly jesters! They look funny!"

Ageha stares at Lila in disbelief, then turns back to Serendice and Nienna.
"I say we go get our weapons back."

The other girls nod in agreement and they begin to look for opportunities to slip away unnoticed.

__________________
talk is cheap, so i buy every word you said.
scared me half to death, now i'm half dead.

TerresqueÜ

Jeriyu looked around at the rest of them teams after another swig of water. "Look at Team Lahrien, Tarrae. They look a bit pre-occupied. They might be planning something."

"What could they be planning, besides to get thier weapons back?" The thought snapped in both thier heads at the same time "That's just what thier planning." Said Jeriyu calm as ever.

"They seem to be waiting for an opportunity. I say we make our own. Got a piece of flint on you?" Tarrae asked Jeiryu, knowing he would, the prepared person he is. Tarrae went to the bar and grabbed a bottle of whiskey and took the flint and picked up a small rock. He dumped the whiskey on the ground making sure no one was looking. "I'm gunna light this place up, when everyone is confused its our time to make a run for our weapons." Jeriyu nodded in agreement.

*Shinck shinck* The whiskey lit up just as planned and Jeriyu and Tarrae made a jolt pretending they had caught flame on themselves. They noticed the girls from Team Lahrien run off to the right of them. "Well one of us is bound to find the gear." Tarrae said confidently. "Let's stick together so we don't get lost, Jeriyu. Jeriyu?" But he had already disapeared on his own. "Well we both still have our hidden knives, we will be okay." Tarrae hadn't walked for ten minutes before he ran into two of the girls from Team Lahrien.


*Bump* "Owwww" Said Ageha having run into Tarrae's well built chest, neither of them looking where they were going. "Here lemme help you up." Tarrae extended a hand, Ageha accepted it. She dusted herself off and said "Hey, looks like you guys were the trouble makers." Ageha stated. "Uhh uhm..." Tarrae stuttered at the beautiful ladies before him. "Good job, we were waiting for a distraction!" Serendice piped up "Yeah, we wanted to look for our weapons. What's your name? We didn't happen to catch your bout." Serendice seemed a bit like an interrogater and a confused child at once. "I'm Tarrae. Maybe It's better you didn't see Jeriyu and my match. We shed some blood." Tarrae seeming a bit embarrassed. "Oh so those were the screams we heard." Ageha and Serendice didn't seem bothered by the bloodshed at all. "Lets get looking for our gear." Tarrae said pulling out knives from his greaves and tossing one to each of the ladies. "You sure are prepared aren't you?" Ageha questioned...

-With Jeryiu Now-

Jeriyu had been discovered by the other two ladies of team Lahrien. But Jeriyu had heard Lila and Nienna coming. They had exchanged introductions and decided to work together.

"Sooooo Jeriyu who's your partner?" Lila quizzed in her child-like way.

"Did you see the large man wearing greaves and gauntlets? His name is Tarrae. He is my partner and one of my oldest friends."

"Do you have a lot of friends." Lila continued the questioning.

"Not many. Neither of us do. But Tarrae is much more social than I."

Lila taking a bit of a hint stopped the questions.

"Jeriyu, why did you and Tarrae come to this tournament?" Asked Nienna in a much more intelligent fashion.

"We wanted to test our skills. We hadn't entered into any fights in quite a while. Since...We we're 15 and 16 respectively. We commanded armies under a king. Many of our troops didn't like getting orders from some so young and our king was a monstrous tyrant. However we took over many lands together. But one day that evil tyrant snapped us, and we killed him and left the kingdom forever. After that we spent five years honing our skills and learning new techniques and styles. We came here to test out our new strengths. We were not concerned with any prize being offered or anything like that."

"Do either of you have families, or wifes, or girlfriends?" Lila asked being chilidish again.

"I'd rather you two didn't pry that far into our personal lives." Jeriyu let out a yell after that statement, in an attempt to find Tarrae. He waited for a few moments and recieved nothing back. "He must be out of our range. Let's keep moving"...

__________________
Say yes to the 'Tilted Roleplaying' Forum

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1932&highlight=petition

Dixie

Lila bounded on ahead, humming a song, not at all phased by the shouts of confusion and crackling flames they had left behind.

Nienna stuck close to Jeriyu, taking in every aspect of his mannerisms in the hopes of gaining an advantage. She was slightly embarassed by her young teammate's raging curiosity, but she couldn't help feeling a tad curious herself. Shaking off her interest in Jeriyu and Tarrae, she utilized her acute vision to examine their surroundings and better guess where her precious bow and quiver might be, as she was feeling increasingly more vulnerable with every passing minute.

__________________
talk is cheap, so i buy every word you said.
scared me half to death, now i'm half dead.

Dixie

Meanwhile, Serendice and Ageha picked through the brush, careful to keep Tarrae between them.

Serendice was lost in thoughts of what traps could possibly lie waiting for them and her suspiscion of Tarrae was increasing as she pondered it. Serendice didn't trust nice people and the fact that Ageha seemed to be taken with Tarrae only made her discomfort grow.

Ageha fondled the knife Tarrae had given her and stared blankly ahead. She had maintained her cold exterior for so long, but she was having difficulty disguising the fact that it had been ages since she had been this close to a man that she wasn't trying to kill.

__________________
talk is cheap, so i buy every word you said.
scared me half to death, now i'm half dead.

Amarth

Matt and Amarth had both gotten thoroughly drunk and full by this point. There were mountains of plates on their tables from all the food they put away. I say their tables, because the sheer amount of food wouldn't fit on one, so they each moved to one of their own, then got seconds, thirds... anyway, you get the idea. Eldaire had eaten just a normal meal and drank conservitavely, keeping his wits about him. Heero ate nothing. He merely sat at the table with Eldaire half making conversation and half thinking about his fighting. He instantly noticed the disappearance of the other teams, but said nothing. He considered warning his teammates about getting their weapons, but decided they were well enough trained to win with no weapons anyway. After the fires had burnt out, shouting broke out a little ways away from them. Heero and Eldaire knew who it was immediately. They were a drunken Matt and Amarth... again.

Amarth - "I'm tired of this. I am a prince and I do not have to deal with your orders!"

Matt - "I'm not givig you any orners you phhhhhhhukin' jerk."

Matt had obviously had a drink or two more than Amarth. Regardless, the situation continued to Escalate. Eldaire moved to intervene but was caught by Heero, whom Eldaire had thought was not paying attention till now.

Heero - "You remember what happened last time."

Eldaire - "It doesn't matter. I should still at least try to stop them."

Heero - "It's your life."

Eldaire walked over and attempted to pull Amarth away but suddenly noticed himself flying through the air. Damn he thought as he crashed into one of the tables. After a moment or two of being stunned he crawled out of the wreckage, stood, brushed himself off, and let out a big sigh.

Eldaire - "Don't know why I try. I can't stop them."

Suddenly, Amarth was behind Matt. His speed was obviously superior, but Matt dodged the oncoming kick by leaning forwards, not even looking behind. The lean, however, proved too much where the kick hadn't and he leaned his way straight into the dirt. Amarth tried to come down with a series of punches, but Matt began rolling on the ground, dodging them. Matt continued his momentum to his feet, but saw a flying kick coming his way. He jumped over Amarth, who went crashing through the table ahead. Amarth quickly turned and sent the debris flying with a series of punches and kicks. Matt gracefully dodged the oncoming cups, spoons, knives, chairs, and pieces of the table, but one of them flew over and knocked over the drinks of Team Disgrace. Matt, who up till this point had a huge drunken grin on his face, suddenly became aware of how terrible a mistake that had been and jolted into attention. Even Amarth calmed down enough to stop fighting for a moment. As they looked around, they realized there wasn't a ton left standing after their little brawl. Team Disgrace looked fuming mad to them, but then, they were both drunk and their judgement was skewed. Matt leaned over and whispered, "You've done it now Amarth."

Amarth - "It was your fault!"

Matt - "Regardless..."

Amarth - "Should we run?"

Matt - "Absolutely."

With that, both Matt and Amarth began speeding off into the woods. Amarth was much faster, but Matt was definately not slow and they had both covered a lot of ground in seconds. Neither stopped to look and see if they were being chased. Their run was stopped though as Amarth found himself colliding with a large group of people. A few seconds later Matt arrived on the scene.

Matt - "Crap Amarth! We haven't gotten away yet!"

Amarth - "You drunken fool. We're many miles away by now. These teams had already left."

Matt - "Oh. Uh, hi."

Matt extended a hand to the man, or woman, (he was too drunk to tell) standing in front of him.

Amarth - "That's me you idiot! They're over there."

Matt - "Oh."

Matt turned and extended the same blind handshake. They had both temporarily forgotten about the womanly fury that may or may not be on their ass.

TerresqueÜ

(OOC just to help keep things striaght at this point I'll note what story we're following at the time by noting -Tarrae's Party- or -Jeriyu's Party-)

-Tarrae's Party-

No one had said anything for at least 10 minutes. Suddenly Serendice stopped walking. "What's up Serendice?" Ageha and Tarrae asked at almost the same time. "I think i see something shining up ahead. It might be some of our gear!" With that she bounded on ahead leaving Tarrae and Ageha a bit behind. "Come on. We don't wanna get left behind, Ageha." Tarrae grabbed her hand she looked up a blushed a bit. They ran after Serendice.

Only a few moments later they found her. In a rope net. Tarrae stifled a laugh at how foolish someone could be to get caught in such a primitive trap. Ageha let out a little giggle as well. "Hey Serendice, how did you not notice that a trap was lying there?" Tarrae letting out a laughing sigh. "Does it matter, you jerks! Just get me down!" Lila yelled agitatedly. "Hey I gave you a knife don't you remember?" Tarrae yelled back. "Oh yeah...heh heh." Serendice giggled and cut the rope falling down hard. "Ow, help me up!" Tarrae and Ageha both gave her a hand.

"Someone must have set this trap for us." Tarrae took a good look around and then made a howling cry. Ageha looked confused. "Are you mourning someone, Tarrae?" "I'm trying to call Jeriyu, my partner. If he heard me he'll answer back with another call." They waited a moment and heard a faint reply. "They must be very far, let's get moving in that direction." Tarrae pointed east.

"You and your partner sure are together. Extra weapons, flints, callls, everything. We aren't quite that organized. As you can see." Ageha said motioning towards Lila who was staring at the sun. "We've got aot of ground to cover. Let's get moving you two." Tarrae smiled at them both but more warmly at Ageha. She put her head down a little so he wouldn't notice that she was blushing. Serendice just kept her same blank expression. Tarrae could tell she wasn't fond of him.

-With Jeriyu's Party-

The three of them had been silent except for Lila who was a bit ahead and happily and obliviously humming. Jeriyu broke the silence. "Did you hear that? Tarrae just called. Let's head in the direction of the call." He pointed west. "We should be able to reach them soon if we're all traveling in the right direction." Jeriyu started to move that way. "Just hold on. How do I know you're not trying to trick us and trap us." Nienna butted in. "Well here are two reasons I'm not tricking you. One, I'd have little to gain out of it because I'm an honorable fighter, if I intended to fight you I'd do it in the ring, and two neither I nor my partner Tarrae have been into this forest up til now. So you'll just have to trust me. You've have no better options." She begrudingly follows Jeriyu and Lila happily skips along. "Oh and one more reason you should trust me." He reached under his shirt and pulled three knives. He tossed one to Lila and one ot Nienna. I've armed you, if I was trying something you'd outnumber me." Nienna seemed appeased and went along.

__________________
Say yes to the 'Tilted Roleplaying' Forum

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1932&highlight=petition

bloodyambflint

Team Disgrace had fled at the beginning of the fire, in the direction of the two drunken idiots who had knocked over their table. Freya and Annika seemed to be the only two of them who were effected at all by the alcohol they had all drank, but then again they were the only two who had continued drinking after the rounds of vodka.

They stumbled into the clearing, and Freya spotted the two lads and clasped her hands together. "Look, Annika! Boys!" Annika laughed, grabbed Freya's shoulder and peered in to get a closer look.
"Gentlemen!" She said, stepping forward, graceful though drunk.
"They're the ones who knocked over our stuff!" Claudia said, mad. "I bet they started that damn fire, too!"
The two lads stood drunkenly staring at the four girls, surprised that they weren't at all mad. Well, as surprised as they could be with their impaired judgement.
Freya stepped forward.
"Well starting a fire if they did start it was a clever way to get me...err...us...*giggle* into the woods. Hahahaaha." She laughed so hard at her drunken wit that she stumbled, falling right into the arms of one of them, which one, she couldn't yet tell.

Dixie

Serendice caught a glance of the warm smile that Tarrae shot Ageha and shuddered. She was surprised at the resentment she felt for him. It was something more than just a dislike of an opponent, it reeked of jealousy. Serendice had always been possessive of Ageha since they were children. She knew that Ageha was the better fighter, but rather than envy her, Serendice had always admired and nurtured her young friend. She couldn't bear the thought of anyone coming between them, especially a man.

Serendice grabbed Ageha's arm and hissed into her ear. "Remember, Ageha, he's the enemy. Only one team can win."
Ageha pulled free of Serendice's grasp and smiled lovingly at her. "Don't worry, Serendice, you know I'd never let my defenses down, especially not in battle."

Ageha, doubting her own words as soon as they had left her lips, consciously kept her distance from Tarrae as they moved toward Jeriyu's call.

---

Nienna, feeling slightly less defenseless with the knife in hand, followed Jeriyu through the dense woods. She was impatient to find Serendice and Ageha, but reluctant to be in the company of both Jeriyu and Tarrae.
Unknown to Jeriyu, Nienna slipped silently through the brush until she was alongside Lila. Placing her hand gently over the child's mouth to keep her from betraying their conspiring, Nienna whispered low to Lila to be on her guard.
Lila was naive and childish, but she was incomparably skilled in battle and she knew when to play and when to fight.

"Lila, listen," Nienna cooed, "I don't trust these guys any farther than I could throw them. I say when we find Serendice and Ageha we ditch the duo and get our weapons back as a team."

Lila pouted a bit, sad to lose her new friend so soon, but she readily accepted Nienna's plan and went back to her humming.

__________________
talk is cheap, so i buy every word you said.
scared me half to death, now i'm half dead.

TerresqueÜ

-Jeriyu's Party-
Jeriyu let out another call to find if they had gotten much closer to the other three. He got a response this time. He seemed somewhat close. Maybe a mile and a half at most. But the darkness was gathering quickly. "The night will be coming soon and who knows what creatures may prowl these woods in the dark." Jeriyu looked back at the two ladies they both nodded. "We'll need to make a fire. I have another piece of flint. We need some dead leaves and logs to start a fire." Jeriyu started picking up rocks to keep the fire contained when it burned. Lila reached into a pocket and pulled out a small bottle of liquer. "Hey will this help start the fire? I did plan on drinking it but the fire is a bit more important, right?" Lila seemed pleased with herself. "Hahahaah! You're great Lila." Said Jeriyu happily.

"That's the first time I've seen a smile cross your face. I was beggining to wonder if you knew how to, Jeriyu." Nienna seemed a bit more relaxed after the laughter of her very solemn travel companion. They gather up logs and poured the liquer over it and started a fire. The party laid down over rocks and moss beds and went to sleep.

-Tarrae's Party-

"Another call from Jeriyu." Tarrae looked back at Serendice and Ageha who were a couple of yards behind. "It's getting late, we should set up a camp." Serendice said expressing her concern to the rest of the party. "You're right, Serendice. We'll be able to find Jeriyu in the morning. They made a fire and small camp. Ageha fell to sleep quite quickly. Tarrae and Serendice were awake staring into the warming flames.

"Serendice, may I ask you a question?"

"You just did, Tarrae, so I guess so."

"Why do you seem to resent me and feel obviously protective of Ageha?"

"You're a lot more perceptive than I thought you were. Ageha is almost like my little sister. I've always looked out for her. I trained her to be an even better fighter than I. You seem to be playing her heart and I won't let you hurt her." Serendice snapped to Tarrae.

Tarrae sat up, looking offended at Serendice's comments. Tarrae said in his warmest voice "I don't think you fully trust her. She may have needed protection and guidance when she was younger, but she is now an adult. She can make her own choices and if you are truly a good team you must trust every decision your partners make. It can become conflicted when there are many people on your team. That's why I choose to have few friends and even fewer people I can have as partners in battle. Mine and Jeriyu's past is much like yours and Ageha's. We have been friends and partners since childhood. He the powerful and very tactical fighter, and I the strong willed, minded, and defensive person. He chooses not to show his kindness very often unlike me. If you think I seem over friendly you should have seen me before I was betrayed by a king I used to serve..."

Serendice seemed to be cut deep by Tarrae's words. As if she knew exactly what he meant and where he was coming from. But she still didn't like him for his obvious interest in Ageha. "You've asked your question now I have one for you. Why did you enter this tournament with Jeriyu?"

He smiled and laughed a little "It's quite simple. We're always training. This is just another training session. Perhaps one more violent than our tastes generally are. But we didn't come to win, we came to learn. Can you say the same for yourself?"

"Guh...Hmph...Perhaps you have a good mindset afterall." Serendice lightened up a bit. "But I still don't like you taking such interest in Ageha. She kills men like you for a living. She's taken many a life and has chosen to not get romantically entangled with anyone for a long time. Until you prove yourself a truly honorable and worthy person I don't fully accept you."

"That's fair enough. You are being a good big sister to her. It's always nice to have someone to look up to. I wish I did" Tarrae layed down and closed his eyes.

"Hey, what do you mean?" Serendice seemed sympathetic for the first time.

"Let's save it for another time."

__________________
Say yes to the 'Tilted Roleplaying' Forum

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1932&highlight=petition

Dixie

(OOC: i clearly remember saying "unknown to jeriyu.")

__________________
talk is cheap, so i buy every word you said.
scared me half to death, now i'm half dead.

TerresqueÜ

(OOC Fine I'll fix it just for you)

__________________
Say yes to the 'Tilted Roleplaying' Forum

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1932&highlight=petition

Dixie

OOC: gracias, querido

__________________
talk is cheap, so i buy every word you said.
scared me half to death, now i'm half dead.

SSJwrestler

[OOC: Seems I've missed quite a bit and that Team Ohtar is quite the bunch of squares. Suppose I'll have to remdy that. O yeah, just a question for you all, but why all the suspicion and such? The feast was just to get to know one another, you didn't have to give up your weapons, the servants only offered to take them. Al lot easier to sit down and eat with out a huge axe or sowrd by your side right? Not that I'm displeased with where this has gone, but just curious.]

SSJwrestler

Throughout the course of the evening, Team Ohtar had witnessed quite an array of spectatcles, from the arsen of Team Enishi to the drunken fighting of Amarth and Matt. None of the team's members had taken part in the alcohol being served; settling for tea instead. Although, Elrohir and Aranel had begged for it.

"Come on!" they both pleaded together, trying to sway the only voice of reason on the team, Amras. "Just one shot, Please?"

"No." Amras said coolely. " You know what happens when you two drink....I have to stay up all night listening to it and you both are a wreck in the morning. Settle for some cider or tea and shut up."

When the fire was lit by Team Enishi, Team Ohatr had opted to stay back at their seats. However, considering the fact that they were ina forest, they were eventualy forced to get out of their seats and help the servants put out the fire. It was pitch black by the time that the fire was put out.

"What do you make of the scattering of the other team?" Elrohir asked Amras and Aranel "Do you think they just wanted their weapons."

"Who knows," Amras replied "If they had really wanted to keep their weapons and such, they could have. I mean..we did, but then again we all have relatively small weapons. I ccouldn't say exactly why they went."

"I imagine that they suspect whoever put this tournment together of foul play or somthing." Aranel projected.

"Well, however they feel is their problem. We have to keep our focus on ourselves and the tournament. Now let's say we get some sleep."

By then, the servants had replaced the tables with tents and the bar with basins of warm water. They had provded everything needed to accomodate the fighters as promsied.

Team Ohtar made their way to a tent on the outskirts of the clearing and lay down to go to sleep, weapons still at their sides.

Dixie

(OOC: i think perhaps the intention was to turn it into something more than a simple tournament... think of it as plot development.)

__________________
talk is cheap, so i buy every word you said.
scared me half to death, now i'm half dead.

dragonhawk

"Till later then, " Harliquin tells Freya and makes his way back to the rest of the team.

"Prank, what do you make of this mess these other teams have started?"

"Well, there was some strange betting going on today, and we didn't cause it for a change. Maybe there is someone behind the scenes."

"Maybe it's those teams that caused the problems. They are a lot more paranoid than most?" pipes up Comedy.

Tragedy nods in agreement.

"We'll watch how the betting goes tomorrow. Till then, keep your extra toys around, in case someone decides we need to lose before we get to fight." says Harliqui. "At least we didn't have to pay to feed Tragedy tonight. That's a good amount of cash we saved" he says with a smile.

Tragedy just burps in agreement.

The Jesters go to sleep, after setting making preperations for uninvited guests.

__________________
----------------------------------------------
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Amarth

Amarth's face instantly turned red. He stood stunned for a moment with the beautiful woman in his arms. The trance was broken by Matt's chuckling. When he heard it, he snapped to and forcefully (so as to still look tough) brought her back to her feet.

Amarth - "Stay off me you foolish woman!"

With that he stormed off feeling a burning rage fuelled by his embarrasment.

Matt - "Aw. Cmoln Amarth. I thot you made a cewte cupple."

Matt was hit square in the forehead by a rock travelling with the speed of a bullet. The blow sent him to the ground.

Matt - "Ouch."

Matt sat up and fingered the spot where Amarth had hit him and chuckled a little. With a lot of effort he managed to return to his feet (though it was a shakey return, he looked as though he may fall again at any moment between the alcohol and the blow to the head). He saw Amarth still stomping off into the dark woods. Matt turned to the beatiful warriors next to him.

Matt - "Fergut hm. Any of you betful gals can fll into my arrrrrms any time."

With that, he held out his arms with a stupid drunken grin on his face. A moment later, he began to teeter and started to fall forwards.

Meanwhile Eldaire and Heero were sleeping peacefully in their tent. That is, until they were awoken by a fumingly angry Amarth stomping outside their tent. That was not unusual though, and they both returned to sleep. Amarth made his way to his own tent and went to sleep himself. The forest was only a few trees short after his stress relieving workout before bed.

bloodyambflint

After being shoved rather forcefully [and MEANLY] back to her feet, Freya widens her eyes and sets her mouth, trying to look mean, but she is really too drunk to care. She turns to Matt, pushing on his chest with one finger so that he is upright again.
"Wow you're friend seems to be kind of shy around girls!" She giggles incessantly and Annika joins her.
Claudia steps forward, playing with the hem of her dress. She speaks in a small, little girl voice.
"Oh, sir, we seem to be lost! We are so TERRIBLY afraid! After that fire and all..." She walks up to him and holds up her arms to be picked up [she is a little child, about 7 to the eye, after all].
The drunken warrior does so, somehow unable to resist the adorable little girl.
She begins to weep softly, and buries her face in his neck. "Oh sir, we are so scared..." she opens her mouth, fangs bared...
"CLAUDIA!" The other three cry, and all lunge forward to pull her off of him. She screams in fury and wallops dara across the face. dara seems used to this and picks her up and carries her, kicking and screaming, off to one side. "I'm so hungry!!! I haven't had HUMAN blood..."
"calm yourself down!!! you agreed you wouldn't feed on humans during this tournament. we PROMISED we'd give you someone AFTER the tournament is completely finished! so just calm down!"
Claudia did, making a pouty face.
"Come on, dara, lets go find somewhere to sleep. I'm tired."
dara takes Claudia's hand and the wander off to where they had set up their camp before the feast, and fall asleep.
Meanwhile, the force of three women pulling a child off of Matt had caused him to fall over, as well as Freya and Annika, who were really too drunk to deal with Claudia. Both of them land on top of him.
The situation is really just TOO funny, and they erupt into a fit of laughter that they cannot seem to stop, barely realizing that there is a whole person underneath them both.