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@Megaera :D
[JUDGED] I'll spear you where the sun don't shine [Megaera challenge]
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@Megaera :D
10-18-2016, 08:05 PM
They were lies, all of them. What she told Ampere, what she told herself, nothing but the weighty falsehoods she made from grief and regret to build a wall around herself. Oh, she wanted to build that wall higher, to layer stone after stone up and around to guard from this pain she was causing. She had begun to believe those lies; even as they could guard, they could isolate and smother and already the fiery light within the former Sultana burned so very low. "I won't let you.” burned Ampere’s voice and Meg shied from it. All she wanted to do now was slink away to some hole to heal and to hide, to guard her children until they no longer needed her, and then to fade away. The blue wasn’t done, and Megaera’s path was blocked by the spread of dark wings and words that left Ampere’s mouth and struck far too close to home. Taking a half step forward, Meg planted her feet, finding the earth beneath them a strange mix of rock and sand. Her ears pulled back against her head as her dark eyed stared just past Ampere—at anywhere but those piercing blues eyes that saw through her far too well. She should have flashed like Ampere did, should have burned, but every inch was disspassionate, distant because she couldn't force herself to do this otherwise. She didn’t want to fight, not against one she had once stood with. She didn’t want to attack or defend she just wanted to leave. “Ampere, let me pass.” There was that flat voice again, not even enough in her to pretend at conviction. Megaera tried to concentrate, tried to build her own lightning in her eyes (red to face the blue so obviously coming) but though her eyes glowed briefly they fizzled and faded to black again. Was she was just too tired, too torn apart from feeling too many terrible things? Her soul had been to dark places before but there had always been light at the center of it, fire at the center, but maybe she’d snuffed it out or maybe, somewhere in her deepest heart, Megaera needed Ampere to stop her. The wrath of the Mother of Companions was on her. Ampere lunged with enough fury for the both of them and Meg’s eyes widened then, shocked as she felt her potential for magic build only to fail and fade away. She had thought that would have been enough to ward the charging mare, as Meg couldn’t bear to let herself think that what Ampere did was out of friendship, out of belief. No, and obstacle, only and obstacle… She tried again, reaching deeper into her soul for sunlight but her magic wouldn’t rise. Her body jerked as Ampere slammed into it—a wall of emotion come to knock down her walk of apathy. She felt the teeth, biting and brutal at her neck, and with a heavy yell lurched backwards and away from the pain. Her back legs shook at the instant order to carry herself back, but they were nimble and did so. Her front limbs tried to keep up, to shuffle backwards but Ampere’s hooves caught them. The blue’s flints, hard as iron, scraped down her knees and cannon bones over the scars left by fire. The puckered skin there tore, not deep but stinging terribly even as Meg’s neck began to throb. Megaera had never retreated in her life, but she almost did now. Her breath hitched again and again, throat already tightened by the strain of holding in her emotions and slightly winded after Ampere's swift blow. She had set herself upon the edge of the Throat, ready to leave it behind, ready to hurt those she loved if she could only run away. It had worked on Cera but Ampere, fierce Ampere, was even now forcing her bodily back into the sands Meg had just professed to hate. But she couldn't go back, not now! Avery inch her Heaving in a breath, Megaera swerved toward the ocean, making that open stretch of beach her target. She kept her turn sharp, trying to maintain a close proximity for Ampere for seconds more for running would not be enough, they were too evenly matched in speed and Meg knew it. Aimed toward the water, she bucked, lashed out with undirected back legs to ward off a pursuit and then bolted for the water. Above where Kygo rested in his tree, the raptor circled before touching down and turning his golden gaze to watch. ooc :: C'MON BABY MAKE IT HURT SO GOOOD XD Words :: 799 (WELP Gwaihir's intro was gonna be a little more suspenseful but hey, what can ya do...) Attack :: 1/4 Megaera there is a war inside my heart gone silent both sides dissatisfied and somewhat violent FAC FORTIA ET PATERE
be brave and endure
:: permission given for use of magic and force :: please tag Megaera in all posts ::
10-22-2016, 01:56 AM
10-24-2016, 10:26 PM
Reach the water, get into the sky, find the twins… Megaera recited the order rapidly in her mind, the thought of her goal trying to drown out the knowledge of what she was leaving. She’d felt the firm collision of her hooves with Ampere’s body but didn’t stop to glance back as her winded opponent struggled for breath. It was a desperate scrabble to pick up speed and her wings spread wide even as she struggled to build momentum. Her forelegs screamed in protest, scoured fronts bit by bloody tears and now the sharp stings of oxygen and gritty sand. On this uneven ground they wouldn't let her prepare for take-off. Where one step would press off firmly against red rock, the next would sink into craggy sand and slow her. She’d have to run, have to get to the base of the bridge. To her astonishment the bay warrioress lurched, the movement in her limbs suddenly sluggish even while her upper body wanted to continue moving forward. Surprise, terror, disbelief, all flashed through Meg’s mind and her brain screamed over each to tell her traitorous legs to move but for several long seconds they simply would not respond. And then they were turning… Turning! Realization hit Meg like a bolt and even as her body turned against her will her black eyes locked onto Ampere. Outrage: the fierce flames of it kindled, spinning past the guards Megaera had thrown up because unlike the self-loathing Ampere was pinpointing so accurately, outrage at this intrusive violation could be turned outward. Boom! It knocked sharply at the wall she had built around her emotions, and the stones of it quaked. "You feel like everyone hates you, because you hate you.” — Boom! Another knock against the wall, and Meg, stunned by emotions too numerous to name, didn’t even realize when the hold Ampere’s magic released. She stared at the blue, eyes glassy as a frozen lake, shining with some grotesque mix of childlike terror and inhumane rage that tore out from the place that the former Sultana had locked it away in ”She’s right. You know she is.” Not Meg’s inner voice but Gwaihir’s echoed in her mind. BOOM! Megaera’s attention faltered as the walls shook, started to crumble…She turned for the briefest second to look for her companion, to plead with him for help and the flying dagger sliced across her turned cheek, leaving an angry red slash from the bridge of her nose to the base of her skull. From his perch, the eagle felt the bloody bite of the dagger as if it had scored his own face. As much as he would have liked to close himself off from Meg after they had been at odds, he could not leave her alone to feel that pain, or any pain. He felt everything that she did, but in a filtered way that left his mind clear to see the truth where Meg had blinded herself to it. It went against practice, against instinct not to rush to her side, not to defend his Meg, but he approved of Ampere’s actions. Perhaps the blue mare’s uninhibited violence could succeed where his attempted conciliations had failed; he knew Meg’s heart down to its very core, he knew she could thrive nowhere but in the sands of Dragon’s Throat. "NO!" The violent scream was rent from her throat, a vicious and desperate denial of everything she faced: Asavvi’s disappearance, Gaucho’s death, Cera’s accusations, Ampere’s insights, Gwaihir’s betrayal. Had she thought she could be cold? Had Meg really thought she could wall herself away? Even now Ampere’s final words were like a battering ram and Meg’s palisade of indifferent disgust was no match to the iron force of the truth. Meg didn’t want the truth, couldn’t handle the truth. Her life had crumbled around her around her proud ears because when things had gone wrong, when life had gotten messy, she hadn’t leaned on her friends, on her herd. She hadn’t trusted them to help her, to love her; hadn’t trusted that they would believe in her because despite The Sun God’s belief—despite Gaucho’s belief—Megaera hadn’t believed in herself. With tears streaking from her eyes to mix with the blood that dripped from her cheek, Megaera twisted to clamp her teeth on the shaft of gilded steel at her side. She wrenched it free if its holding position and heaved her body up into a rear, arching her head back. Crashing her ruined forelegs to the earth again she hurled the spear at the symbolic center of everything she wanted to run from: Ampere. @Ampere ooc :: Companion knows best. Words :: 771 Attack :: 2/4 Megaera there is a war inside my heart gone silent both sides dissatisfied and somewhat violent
10-27-2016, 12:38 AM
10-29-2016, 08:57 PM
With her neck still at full extension from the throw, Megaera’s eyes were trained on the spear as it left the grasp of her teeth, as is soared at Ampere and was deflected. Ampere’s shield—because of course she had her shield—was pulled to fast and the golden spear glanced off the metal surface with a clamor. For a moment looked like it might do some damage too the wing, but the loss of a few feathers was hardly critical. Megaera’s eyes narrowed and her teeth were bared as she seethed. Angry breaths hissed through her teeth as she watched the spear clatter to the dusty ground: sent, spent, and useless. She hadn’t wanted to hurt Ampere, not really, but the horrible symbolism of the impotent attack fanned the sparks that Ampere had been trying to kindle in her. Just a spear…Just a spear: thrown, fallen, forgotten, useless. Ampere spoke again, stalking towards her, and Meg’s dark eyes flashed upwards to meet the the piercing blue ones. Tears swam across her vision: hot, any, and useless. Useless! But they fell anyway and mixed with the blood on her cheek and dripped to the ground. Useless. She should have recognized the was the other mare moved, they way the blue gaze flitted to search for ins and opportunities, but Megaera’s mind wasn’t in this battle, it wasn’t really anywhere. Her thoughts and emotions were so scattered that she couldn’t summon the mental fortitude to resist and Ampere had the Sunspear under her spell. Though anger and desperation and grief shook her, though her lungs heaved from heavy breaths and her legs hurt and her neck ached and her cheek stung, Meg was captivated by the confessions that poured out between them. How could they have been so similar and still so distant from one another? In their own ways they had lived their separate lives but each checked in on the same points. Both were warriors, neither built like the stallions they fought alongside and against but just as valiant. Both had been raised to sultana though they had not sought or expected the position. Both had been given their first child by a god, one by her body and the other by her heart. Both had failed, in one way or another; Ampere had run and Megaera was running now. Megaera stared into Ampere’s eyes and saw her own reflection. Two separate souls cut from the same cloth. she thought, “But you’re so much stronger than I, so much better…” The words were barely audible, the last gasping threads of her despair that trickled from her lips to die upon the air. When had Megaera every given up because someone else was better than she was? When had she ever been able to hide behind a stony facade? When had she given up on fighting to get what she needed or failed to fight for those that needed her? "So what are you gonna do Sunspear?” How could Ampere speak Megaera’s own thoughts? Meg didn’t have time to ask because the lighting mare collided with her in a heavy, violent thrust of power. She’d been completely off guard that tactics, attack, defense all flew even farther from her mind and even as Ampere’s front slammed into her own she lifted her chin up and away. Across her chest the muscles were battered by blunt force, vessels ruptured and beneath the skin blood pooled and tissue swelled. It hurt, yes, would ache for days, yes, but the true danger was the flash or teeth that caught the tender flesh of her stupidly-exposed throat. She felt the tear of skin, the rip of muscle and sinew; it was the kind of pain that made you dizzy, and your head spin and your stomach want to retch. Even as she staggered she wanted to scream, needed to scream but the only thing that came from her throat was a guttural sound that was half a moan before it bled into an earth-shaking yell. Hide. Hide? FUCK. THAT. The flames erupted in her heart and light, pure, unbroken light poured out of her. She was sunlight and fury and Megaera let the power of that rule her, fire her up, steel her against pain and despair. What was she going to do? By all the gods, she was going to fight! She didn’t think about who her opponent was, didn’t think about what had been done or said in the past or what would yet come to pass. For Meg there was only now. Her hooves dug into the dirt, holding ground, advancing and she threw herself back at the other mare’s body. Megaera’s own teeth snapped for the top ridge of Ampere’s neck to hold there and force the other mare to the ground. @Ampere ooc :: Oh thank god, though she'd never snap out of it xD Words :: 800/800 Attack :: 3/4 Magic Used :: [ Magic: FirexLight | Body emits a burst of sunlight that can be used as a beacon signal or to temporarily blind opponents - Restrictions | the signal takes considerable energy and can only be used once in battle and long distance signals can only be used once per 5 posts ] Megaera there is a war inside my heart gone silent both sides dissatisfied and somewhat violent
11-01-2016, 12:06 PM
11-04-2016, 01:16 PM
Megaera's jaw snapped shut around nothing but air and clack of her teeth reverberated in her skull. Her body stuck nothing and her ringing head could not make sense of it, Ampere had been there, close, so close, and Megaera had still missed. That sensation alone was enough to send her reeling. She could never put much power behind her strikes but at least she usually hit where and when she aimed to. Her head lashed, searching for Ampere and found her, not at her front as Meg had intended, but at her side and already hovering above her in a rear. She didn't have time to move before Ampere's hooves struck the hard muscle of her shoulder. The force of it sung down her already injured leg, making the tendons and muscles there want to shake loose their tension and collapse from the strain. Megaera felt her right front knee quiver and give, dropping her shoulder under Ampere's hooves, just as the blue executed the grip Meg herself had tried. With a grip on the crest if her neck, just behind the bay's ears, Ampere's swift tug sent Meg careening out of balance. She stumbled, listing to her right and toward Ampere but in no position to attack. The weeks of searching for her daughter, the sleepless nights since returning to the Dragon's Throat, the strain of emotional turmoil all compounded into an exhaustion that reached down to her bones. Her soul may have been dragged back from the brink by Ampere but her body wanted to go down for the count. The trickles of blood from her cheek and neck made her head spin and that with Ampere's latest attack made Meg's battle to remain upright a difficult one. Her front legs shook and she scrambled to keep them under her, managing only because her hind hoof met a patch of softer sand and sunk downward using Meg's own weight to finally balance her out, but precious seconds had already been lost. The kick hit her square in the ribs. Air exploded out between her lips in a low cry that was echoed by a high shriek from the predatory bird that had sat silently by and let his bonded take hit after hit. He'd felt the echos of every strike, every slice, but had Let Ampere do her work. The blue mare had been the conscience that he could not be, removed enough that Meg could hear the words she needed to hear aloud like Gwaihir could never speak them, and Ampere had won where it mattered and so he had seen enough. Meg would stay, he knew the depths of her heart to be sure of that now, and so with a mighty stroke of his wings her was soaring through the air toward the dueling pair. The eagle fell toward Ampere's head with reaching talons, aiming to grasp the hair between her easy and pull her eyes and attention away from his Meg. He gave another screech, though Ampere wouldn't understand: You've done enough. Thank you. That's enough. Drawing air into her lungs again made her chest feel like it was screaming, but Meg did it, forced herself to gulp and the dry desert heat like it was the coolest water from the purest spring. Keep going. Keep. Going. with and effort she whirled herself around as the eagle tried to distract. She squared her hindquarters toward Ampere and with a heave, assisted by a swift downsweep of her wings, launched herself into the air and aimed a double-barreled kick. ooc :: SKIN OF MY TEETH Words ::595/800 Attack :: 4/4 Megaera there is a war inside my heart gone silent both sides dissatisfied and somewhat violent FAC FORTIA ET PATERE
be brave and endure
:: permission given for use of magic and force :: please tag Megaera in all posts ::
11-06-2016, 12:58 AM
11-10-2016, 11:33 PM
By my verdict: AMPERE is the winner!
AMPERE Realism [4] LOVED how you wrote Ampere taking Meg's damage roll of 1 in your 3/4 post - having Ampere flair her wings instinctively seemed a great way of realistically taking that damage. This read as fairly declarative to me: Though Ampere had dodged Megaera's rush, it was just barely, and that would have left the two of them pretty close together still. Although it makes sense that Meg would have been close, she ended her post with the attack. It's possible that in her ext post (for example) she immediately uses teleportation magic and disappears entirely - meaning that she isn't still pretty close. Overall, very realistic. You used the similarities between Meg and Ampere to her advantage (and as a way to explain some of Meg's attacks) several times, and were both realistically aided, and hurt by the desert terrain. Emotion [2] Sometimes holding onto something was worth ruining it a little bit. Ampere was furious, but she was also in mourning, and not just for the Sultan they're already buried, but for the Sultana trying to bury herself. Prose [3.5] Electrical impulses from the brain tell it to lift and bend and fall, and Ampere could strum those energized strings better than an air guitar Of course, Megaera didn't have to rely on just her feet, but neither did Ampere, and sure as a horse shits, she'd block the airways too - the evidence was in the taut way her skin pulled over her bunched muscles, in the way her mouth was such a tight line the edges wrinkled and the lips pulled up over her teeth in a snarl. From LOL to "oh damn" in one sentence. p1: both fought like wild animals back into a corner (backed) p1: Teeth flashed as Ampere aimed to bit at Megaera's neck, (bite) p2: Amperes face (Ampere's) d: that came mewling our of Ampere's craw. (out) d: slanting off a bony portion off your body, (of) Minor spelling errors. But Ampere is always a joy to read, and your writing is always easy to understand. Readability [+3] *You missed the 1/4 on your first post, so I almost skipped it until I saw the roll. Don't forget! * I know I mentioned this to you, but your word counter was hella off. Good readability. Finally tally: 46.5 + (12.5*2) = 71.5 *******************************************
MEGAERA Realism [2] Ampere's attack 2/4, only rolled a 2. That you allowed Ampere's magic to be successful and turn Meg around, and that Ampere's dagger cut Meg from her nose to top of her skull, seemed a little much. Similarly for Ampere's 3/4 attack, I know she rolled a 6 and all she did was bite, but you interpreted that as Ampere knocking into Meg, and tearing flesh. That seems a little extreme. Again, I know a roll of 6 with a relatively 'minor' attack like a bite is hard to interpret, but remember you can have Meg take the damage other ways! If she'd gotten the bite and then tripped in the sands and twisted an ankle or something similar. This, for me, counts as powerplay: Her hooves dug into the dirt, holding ground, advancing and she threw herself back at the other mare’s body. Megaera’s own teeth snapped for the top ridge of Ampere’s neck to hold there and force the other mare to the ground. The first sentence is a relatively minor instance - it would have been better to say that she threw herself in the direction of where Ampere had been, or that she tried to throw herself against Ampere's body. The second sentence though is very declarative. I would rather see sentences written with too many trieds (as in, "Meg tried to reach for the rop ridge of Ampere's neck, meaning to hold on there and try to force her to the ground") and have it read slightly awkward, than have it be a powerplay. I also found this attack very awkward: She squared her hindquarters toward Ampere and with a heave, assisted by a swift downsweep of her wings, launched herself into the air and aimed a double-barreled kick. Horses can't fly backwards, and they can't just fly straight up into the air from a standstill. So if she had her butt aimed towards Ampere, by achieving any sort of lift, she'd have to move forward a significant distance, meaning her buck would have no chance of being anywhere close. You did a good job of using the desert to both help and hurt Meg. I was also surprised when Gwaihir intervened, since he was happy with Ampere's attack? Emotion [2] Angry breaths hissed through her teeth as she watched the spear clatter to the dusty ground: sent, spent, and useless. She hadn’t wanted to hurt Ampere, not really, but the horrible symbolism of the impotent attack fanned the sparks that Ampere had been trying to kindle in her. Megaera stared into Ampere’s eyes and saw her own reflection. Great emotion from Meg! Prose [1.5] She didn’t want to attack or defend she just wanted to leave. Q__Q He felt everything that she did, but in a filtered way that left his mind clear to see the truth where Meg had blinded herself to it. The weeks of searching for her daughter, the sleepless nights since returning to the Dragon's Throat, the strain of emotional turmoil all compounded into an exhaustion that reached down to her bones. Her soul may have been dragged back from the brink by Ampere but her body wanted to go down for the count. p1: Her ears pulled back against her head as her dark eyed stared just past (eyes) p1: inch was disspassionate, (dispassionate) p1: Was she was just too tired (repeated word) p1: No, and obstacle, only and obstacle… (should be 'an'?) p1: even now forcing her bodily back into the sands (body) p1: Avery inch her sister (every) p1: agin in order to escape (again) p1: She kept her turn sharp, trying to maintain a close proximity for Ampere for seconds more for running would not be enough (super awkward, don't even know how to fix it?) p2: It was a desperate scrabble to pick up speed (scramble) p2: The violent scream was rent from her throat (?) p2: Her life had crumbled around her around her proud ears (awkward) p3: flashed upwards to meet the the piercing blue ones (repetition) p3: Tears swam across her vision: hot, any, and useless. (many?) p3: She should have recognized the was the other mare moved (???) p3: When had Megaera every given up because someone (ever) p4: He'd felt the echos of every strike, (echoes) p4: but had Let Ampere do her work. (let) p4: of his wings her was soaring .. (he) p4: grasp the hair between her easy and pull her eyes (eyes?) p4: Keep going. Keep. Going. with and effort she whirled herself around as the eagle tried to distract. (awkward) Spell check! Lots of these posts felt rushed as I was reading them - both because of some of the obvious spelling errors, but because of sentence structure as well. Readability [1] Lots of these posts were difficult to read for me. There were lots of instances where I felt as though you dropped a comma or two, which made parsing together what was happening very difficult, because I couldn't follow who/what was being referred to. As mentioned above, I think lots of these posts were written in a bit of a rush, and your sentence structure definitely suffered for it. Finally tally: 37.5 + (6.5*2) = 50.5 HP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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