the Rift


Call it what you want, mutiny looks like this [VOLTERRA CHALLENGE]

Tae Posts: 133
Dragon's Throat Alchemist atk: 7.0 | def: 10 | dam: 4.5
Mare :: Pegasus :: 15.2 :: 2 HP: 72.5 |
Mal :: Timber Wolf :: Terrorize & Hel :: Royal Hellhound :: Hellfire Odd
#1


tae

Although a small part of the ghostly mare might have wanted to claim the glory of challenging Sikeax herself, the rational part of Tae’s mind knew that Aithniel was the logical choice. The mare was stronger, possessed more magic and training, and of course, there was the fact that she was the daughter of the Sun God. Who better to be the champion of Gaucho’s herd, if not the daughter of the Sun, without whom, they would have nothing?

And so as Tae steeled herself for what it was she had to do, there was no animosity or bitterness directed towards her (unknowing) half-sister. There was only pride and righteousness, tempered by a small prick of regret, that Gaucho was not here to witness what she was about to do. But then again, if Gaucho had been here, none of this would even be necessary. 

The only truly clever thing Sikeax had done since being promoted (perhaps it was the only thing she had done), was to promote Volterra. Tae disagreed with the choice of course - how could they expect an outsider, a wingless outsider, to protect their borders, when he didn’t even know their history, had never lived on the sands? He was strong, sure, but he was also the father of Sikeax’s child, and it was unclear in Tae’s mind which of those facts was the actual reason for his promotion. And so, for Aithniel’s plan to succeed, someone needed to draw the gladiator away from his post so that he would be unable to help his Sultana against Aithniel. But in order to do so, the mandible-marked mare would have to offer him a challenge that he could not just ignore. Something that he could not simply walk away from.

His title.

Despite her utter and complete lack of training, Tae was going to challenge Volterra for the role of Gladiator. The only thing that helped steel the girl’s mind against what would surely be the most utter and complete defeat she’d ever faced, was that beating Volterra was not what she needed in order to be successful. She only needed to last long enough in the fight to ensure that he could be of no help to Sikeax. 

Despite Ampere’s presence when the trio had devised this plan, the Mother of Companions was still fresh off of a challenge of her own, and was in no condition to fight. Besides, in the wake of all that had happened recently with Nephele's failed campaign for the position of Sultana, the chip on Tae’s shoulder suddenly felt enormous, and being the one to challenge Volterra certainly seemed like it would help with the weight.

“VOLTERRA.” Tae screamed across the bloody red sands. Sands upon which he had lived for a season, and she had lived her whole life. She remembered him from when he was a younger man and she was just a girl, and their meeting in the woods. She remembered him saying his twin had let him down, and to not place much stock in the relationship with her own twin. Even then it struck her as a poor quality, that someone would so openly condemn their family. Recalling his words only solidified the righteousness flowing through her veins: he was not capable of defending her home, regardless of the muscles on his body. The Throat was about more than brawn - her Father had showed everyone that. The Throat was a family, and Volterra had already shown once how quick he was to forsake his kin. 

“I CHALLENGE YOU FOR YOUR RANK AS GLADIATOR.” Her voice, now womanly and strong, rang true on the delicate Orangemoon breeze. “I CHALLENGE YOU UNDER THE LAWS OF THE DRAGON’S THROAT. YOU WILL HEED MY CALL AND ANSWER. PROVE TO US ALL THAT YOU ARE WORTHY OF YOUR RANK, FOR I DO NOT BELIEVE YOU HAVE DONE SO YET.” Part of her wanted to attribute the laws directly to Gaucho and the Sun God, but she stayed her tongue. She did not want to give the monochromatic stallion any reason to think her actions were motivated by her past grief, or by childish ideals. No, this was political. This was just.

This was the way of the Dragon’s Throat. 




WC:
Attack: 0/4


Setting: DT, noon. It’s unseasonably warm out with a light Orangemoon breeze. They are in the dune area of the Throat. 


Tae is challenging Volterra for his rank as gladiator. 

Image Credits

Volterra the Indomitable Posts: 785
Dragon's Throat Sultan atk: 8.5 | def: 11.5 | dam: 8.5
Stallion :: Equine :: 17'2hh :: 3 HP: 80 | Buff: SENSE
Vérzés :: Common Red Dragon :: Frost Breath & Toxic Breath & Vadir :: Royal Gold Dragon :: Fire Breath & Shock Breath Snow
#2


There is a delicious irony to this situation, and it is not lost on Volterra. He suggested trial by combat; look what he's received!

Things seem to explode, volcanic, from nowhere. First there's simple simmering embers from the aftermath of the herd meeting, and now there's fire consuming all in its path. From peace grows chaos. From a seemingly resolved situation grows a whole world of unrest, and Volterra finds himself at its centre.

The reaction to him in the meeting had been vociferous and unanimous. Sunjata's support meant the world to the blackened leviathan, but it wasn't enough. Sikeax herself promoted a woman who'd failed at leadership before (but was, alas, popular) to rule alongside her, and the young pegasus Tae turned his efforts in the Threshold against him. Everything he's done, everything he has tried to build here, has crumbled to dust. He remains loyal to a leader and a friend that nobody else does - he stands alone in his defense of Sikeax, and a baying pack of wolves snap and bark at his heels for his perceived sins. They do not focus on what he does do, such as recruitment, only on what he doesn't; they ignore the fact that he attempted to bring warriors into their ranks because his existing ones stood idle, and they ignore the fact that none of them sought him out either.

Volterra is not sensitive enough to let their dislike of him upset him, but he would be lying if he was to say it hadn't played a part. He is wingless, unknown, unwanted. They haven't trusted him from the start, and thus his postion is untenable. He is at the eye of a storm not of his creation, and he thinks that even if he had been an exemplary Gladiator to them, they would still not have accepted him. He is not, and will never be, one of their own.

For a herd that proclaims itself a family, they are awfully quick to condemn their brother.

It becomes clearer and clearer that this is not a herd Volterra wants any part of. He is not blameless, of course he isn't, but the denizens of the Throat are all too quick to pick on his failings and all too slow to pick up on theirs.

A voice he recognises as Aithniel calls out for Sikeax, and despite everything, despite how his faith in the champagne mare is shaken, he is about to go and answer for her. He is about to choose her in the most obvious way possible, by fighting for her against one of his other lovers. He is about to forsake his senses and be her Gladiator, her champion, her friend.

Then another voice joins hers, and the stallion's gut gives an ominous twist. It is the voice of Tae, and she wants his rank. Fuck. The beast stands, torn, ears spinning wildly between the two challenges. Does he fight for a rank he doesn't want, or for a Sultana who appears to have forsaken him?

For the first time in his life, Volterra thinks about running. He thinks of closing his ears to the shouts of coward that would undoubtedly follow him, and simply becoming the rat who flees a sinking ship. For a moment - one beautiful moment - he genuinely contemplates it.

Until he comes to his senses. Then, his fragment of doubt is smothered beneath a tidal wave of fury, a roiling blast of wrath that engulfs him like a storm cloud.

The sand thunders beneath his hooves as he canters towards the girl, the enemy, before grinding to a skidding halt about fifteen feet in front of her. She'd intrigued him during their first meeting, then frustrated him during their last. She is a child of the old regime, and she embodies every bit of animosity shown towards Volterra during his two seasons in the Throat. "You've got balls, I'll give you that," he growls, his ears flattening against his scalp. Profuse levels of sweat already bead his powerful frame and his mane hangs in tattered strands down his damp neck, but if anything it only enhances his fearsome air. He's wild-looking, a tower of muscle and raw masculinity, stood between the dunes of his not-home. He is dragonless for now; they've been hunting, but they're coming.

The leviathan stands stoic and fixes the girl with his cold crimson gaze. "Your move."

__________________

@Tae !

0/4 - 747 words

Vol is wearing his leg-guards and horseshoes, but not his skull mask.

FOOL ME ONCE, IT'S SHAME ON YOU
FOOL ME TWICE AND LET THE WOLVES COME CRASHING THROUGH
image credits

[ you can't stray from what you are, you're the closest thing to hell i've seen so far  ]
[ use of force/magic on him is permitted aside from death/maiming ]




Tae Posts: 133
Dragon's Throat Alchemist atk: 7.0 | def: 10 | dam: 4.5
Mare :: Pegasus :: 15.2 :: 2 HP: 72.5 |
Mal :: Timber Wolf :: Terrorize & Hel :: Royal Hellhound :: Hellfire Odd
#3
tae

Volterra's arrival caused a ripple of youthful confidence to permeate through Tae's body. As excitement pulsed through her veins, her magic caused the exterior edges of her form to appear to bleed away in ghostly tendrils of vapor. She was still quite solid, despite how transparent her edges had become. 

Tae's pale eyes were forced to look upwards to find the gaze of the monochromatic monolith before her. Suddenly there was a feeling of too much saliva in her mouth, but despite the urge to swallow it down in one big gulp, she choked back the instinct and let the liquid pool heavily on her tongue. She wasn't sure whether Volterra would assume the ghostly aspect of her body was caused by fear or not, but gulping at the sight of him would surely push him in that direction. The mandible-marked mare also wanted to scan the skies for signs of his dragons, but that would also likely look more timid, and so her pale eyes remained focused on his ruby ones. Besides, she had Mal and Hel with her. If the dragons came, they would alert her of their arrival. 

The mare was surprised to hear a compliment fall from his lips. She'd expected a lecture, a defense of Sikeax, or even laughter at the absurdity of her challenge, but not some sort of round-about praise. Perhaps that was Gaucho's influence on her. Regardless of the situation, her Father had always given legitimacy to any who entered into the arena with him, and he had always fought them with all that he had. To go easy on an opponent was to dishonour them, and that was something the Wildfire had never done. The compliment wasn't necessarily unwelcome, but it did rattle her somewhat. After all, expectation was all Tae had, for experience was something she was still chasing. 

As Volterra indicated that the first move was to be hers, for a moment Tae hesitated. Was it possible that she could merely draw this out verbally? Volterra towered over her, and made her scrappy and lean body look emaciated compared to the voluptuous swell of his muscles. The point of this challenge was only to ensure that he could not aid Sikeax against Aithniel ... they didn't actually need to fight for her to be successful. They only needed remain in each other's company...

Harshly, Tae bit down on the inside of her lower lip, hard enough to draw blood. Coward, she seethed silently to herself. What would her Father say, if he knew the traitorous thoughts rumbling around inside of her brain? Talking with Volterra would indeed be the easiest and certainly the least painful way of ensuring Aithniel's victory, but when had Gaucho ever taught his daughter of the easy paths in life? When had the Wildfire ever shown her anything less than complete dedication and honour? To circumvent her part in this simply because she was afraid of a little pain, would be a smear on her Father's legacy.

With a smile slightly tinged with blood and a strengthened resolve, Tae took the first move. 

Her body appeared to become fully-ghost with the effort of her attack, as she reached inward for her magic. Though she bore a body marked with the signs of her father, it was magic surely given to her by her Mother which was at work now. Though speed was Tae's biggest strength, from having watched Volterra train she thought that despite his cumbersome size, he was more agile than he looked. But she also knew that he never trained at home, and for all of his trips to and from the Threshold, she'd wager that he wasn't as accustomed to these sands as she was. The only advantage she had over him was the home she was trying to protect, and she was betting that she could use it against him now.

Reaching out with her spirit-magic, she tried to grab a handful of the blood-red sands all around them, and thrust it into Volterra's eyes. Bigger, faster, more powerful? Of course he was - but he needed to see in order to hit her, didn't he? Hoping this assault would blind him or at the very least distract him, Tae lunged forward and to the left, leaping into the air with her wings spread. Though this wouldn't be an aerial battle, that didn't mean she couldn't use the sky as her ally. Trying to position herself in the air so that the sun was behind her, she dove towards Volterra's face. If the sand hadn't blinded him to her attack, hopefully the sun would. With hooves outstretched, glinting with shoes once worn by her Father, she aimed for the wide spot between his eyes, or his poll if she overshot the angle. 




WC: 799
Attack: 1/4


Setting: DT, noon. It’s unseasonably warm out with a light Frostfall breeze. They are in the dune area of the Throat. 

Tae is challenging Volterra for his rank as gladiator. 







Image Credits

Volterra the Indomitable Posts: 785
Dragon's Throat Sultan atk: 8.5 | def: 11.5 | dam: 8.5
Stallion :: Equine :: 17'2hh :: 3 HP: 80 | Buff: SENSE
Vérzés :: Common Red Dragon :: Frost Breath & Toxic Breath & Vadir :: Royal Gold Dragon :: Fire Breath & Shock Breath Snow
#4


He begins to assess her coldly and shrewdly, trying to force aside all the drama surrounding the fight and simply focus on what lies ahead. She is younger and smaller than him, but if Volterra has learned anything from his past battles, it's that he should never underestimate an opponent. He can't tell what breed she is, but it is quite obvious that he is stronger than her - she, however, is probably more nimble, and it hasn't escaped his notice that she's winged, too. He's fought pegasi before, but only amidst the trees where they couldn't take off. Out here in the open, there's nothing stopping her launching an aerial assault on him.

Then there's the surroundings themselves. As Tae has noticed, the Gladiator has not yet fought upon the sands he calls home, and that is rapidly looking like one hell of an oversight. He's fought on sand before, but moist beach-sand is a world away from the dusty, hoof-absorbing grains that he currently finds himself on. His size, whilst useful in that it gives him the advantage of raw power, is a distinct disadvantage for the fact he's more likely to sink into the sand than his much smaller, lighter opponent.

Unbidden, apprehension knots in his stomach. If he loses this...the humiliation will be crushing. This is the first fight of his life where winning actually means something, yet also where a loss would carry crippling consequences. The odds are almost all in his favour, but that means nothing on the battlefield, when a single act of God can allow David to defeat Goliath, can bring even the hardiest of warlords to their knees in submission. Volterra is unaccustomed to feeling nervous before a fight, as combat is the one thing he's actually good at. But the repercussions of a loss here would be colossal, and it hasn't escaped his notice that there's a crowd gathered to watch, too. The last time he had an audience for a fight, it was Roskuld whilst he was summarily beaten to a pulp by Isopia, so the omens are not good.

He has to focus. He can do this.

Suddenly, Tae blurs into a ghost. He remembers her phantasmagoria from their previous meeting, so whilst the sight of her spirit-self is quite disorientating, it isn't enough to put him off.

A faceful of sand, however, is.

One second his sight is crystal clear, the next his eyes are full of gritty, agonising granules that cause a savage snarl to erupt from his lips as he blindly thrashes his head. Anxiety rips at his stomach, coupled with a palpable anger at his own stupidity. How had he, experienced warrior, fallen for the oldest trick in the book?

He's never felt more like an outsider; even the fucking Throat is conspiring against him.

Blinking harshly to try and clear his vision, Volterra desperately uses his other senses to hunt for Tae. His frantic blinks make the grit scrape like sandpaper across his eyes, and his ears flatten as pain rips through him. Yet he can't hear her, can't smell her - she is like the ghost in the skies, and there's nothing he can do about it. He's been blinded before, against Seanan. As a result, he'd slipped over and almost had his leg broken by his miniscule opponent, something he does not care to repeat.

But saviours are coming; angels dressed in red and gold, twists of fate armed with teeth and claws. Suddenly Volterra can see the battlefield through their eyes instead, and relief surges through him.

Until sees Tae coming for his head.

Desperately, he flings his skull to the right. This redirects Tae's hooves to the top of his neck on the left, and they clatter into him with agonising force. He staggers backwards to try and lessen the impact, but it's of little use. A deep bruise explodes into life, and the muscles in the area immediately seize up. He can't move his head to either side, and that is less than ideal at the start of a fight. His instincts tell him to reach up and nip her as she passes overhead, but his stiffened neck prevents it.

Make her land, he roars at his dragons. He cannot enact his revenge if she's in flight, and his revenge needs to be sweet; outrage glows livid in his bloodsteam, a righteous fury that he knows he must harness if he is to make her kneel.

The dragons obey. They circle above her, swooping down towards her to try and force her to the ground, where Volterra eagerly waits like a shark in the water. An inferno erupts from Vadir's jaws, aiming for the filly's back as they try to coax her downwards.

__________________

@Tae

1/4 - 793 words


FOOL ME ONCE, IT'S SHAME ON YOU
FOOL ME TWICE AND LET THE WOLVES COME CRASHING THROUGH
image credits

[ you can't stray from what you are, you're the closest thing to hell i've seen so far  ]
[ use of force/magic on him is permitted aside from death/maiming ]




Blu the Bootyful Posts: 443
Administrator atk: 99 | def: 99 | dam: 99
Mare :: Other :: 5'7" :: 25 HP: 99999 | Buff: TWERK
Blu
#5
Tae exceeded the time limit and defaults to Volterra. Volterra earns 0.5 VP and keeps his title as Gladiator.
 HP: 1100

Helovia Hard Mode


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