the Rift


Nothing to Lose [Kri Challenge]

Svetlana Posts: N/A
Unregistered
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#1



SVETLANA
the StormChaser



Why was I going to challenge a leader when I had only just joined the herd? Not even, really. I had pledged myself to Leander, and when he had told me of Kri's pride, I had figured I may as well try. Why not? I had nothing to lose.

So I was flying high above, circling the land. It was still early dawn, the skies spangled with glistening white stars, glittering flame. The wind was a quiet whisper in my ears, a steady crooning to me, the familiar currents and waves twisting through the air. Even now, I wondered, really, what I was doing. Why should I not try was the question. For one thing, I believe the sky was in my favor today. It was quickly becoming stormy, the winds a fierce thing, the clouds scudding in swiftly to form a wall of disapproving clouds. My eyes were cool as I studied the shifting air, the masses of raindrops coming in to soak me to the bone and run in sheets off my massive black wings.

I may as well try.

My primaries rustle darkly as they spread wide to catch the air. I tipped onto a thermal, skyrocketing upwards, the wind becoming a sinister hiss in my ears. Soon the black clouds have blotted out the faint pink and gold sky. Soon I will be Sultan, or not. Most likely not. What kind of horse, I wonder, have I become to go and invade another territory on a solo-mission? I'm not sure anymore, not sure of anything.

The rain begins to fall.

It is cold and wet, this rain, the kind of cold that seeps into your very bones and trickles in rivulets down your soaking feathers until you are sodden and miserably soaked through the bone. It swirls down my iron skin, turning it dark storm-gray. It would be nice to have magic, taking on the mighty Kri, or a companion. But I didn't have either, so I would have to deal with it.

In Svikruch, there was no magic and no companions. Enslaved equines, maybe- but nothing else. The battles were complex strategies- not simple, and very bloody. Wounds would cover your pelt and your wings would ache. There in that cold land, wings have become water-proof, practically, due to the amounts of snow and rain and storms that fall. Something which I am now grateful for, and my navigational and storm-reading skills.

Now is as good as any time, I figure. I beat my wings, once, twice, surrounded in the flurries of rain. There is an ear-rattling boom of thunder and somewhere the flash of lightning strikes.

"Kri!" I roar, when the thunder quiets. I will certainly lose this fight, but fuck it all. I may as well try. "Fight me!" I screech into the storm, and I remain, hovering with the strokes of my black wings a sketchy line against the gray of the clouds.


Word Count: 491

Setting: Thunderstorm above Dragon's Throat. Morning. Clouds have blotted out the sky.

Restrictions: 4 posts each, and one defense post for Kri as I assume she will be attacking first.

Summary: 0/4

sometimes i wonder what i'm trying to do in this life.
but mostly i just want to fly.




Kri the Resolute Posts: 243
Hidden Account
Mare :: Pegasus :: 14.3hh :: 10 Buff: NUMB
Boom Boom!
#2


I'LL WEAVE YOUR NAMES INTO MY RIBCAGE,</style>
lock your hearts inside my chest.</style>

A sensible lady would be finding shelter in this storm, but it seems like this idiot has other ideas. With a heavy sigh, I look up into the sky, seeing the wet, black and white body of the bitch calling out my name. I figured this girl was probably the former leader of the Foothills, the one Leander had spoken of during our little spat - Svetlana? With tired eyes I look upward, a raindrop landing with a splat in my eye. Fuck. Did I have to deal with this loudmouth now? When she followed my name up with a challenge, my question was answered: yes, I would. That was risking her life already, floating around in the sky that was thundering rain and the strike of electric light, was simply not enough - she wanted me to put my life on the line as well.

It was my life or my title.

I would have my life over this title, so I pause, thinking about allowing this little wench and Leander to run off into the sunset with their senseless rule. I would be free from the chains of leadership, which had been weighing my heart steadily down, tugging at my frame and making me bow before my own fate as of late. The thought is brilliant, heartwarming, to be able to shake my shackles loose and allow those who would rule stupidly to ruin my land with their own strength. Between a stallion who treats rules as optional and a girl who thinks flying through a thunderstorm is safe, the Throat would surely come to collapse upon itself. The thought lasts only a moment before the faces of my daughter, my Generals, the Oracle, and all of those who placed their faith in me rise behind my eyelids. All of those hearts, their hope placed in my reign, in my own power, still beating in time with my own heart. Before I even take another breath, the thought of these individuals being subject to the torment of thoughtless rule puts my muscles into motion.

The fools could rule their own land, but they would not destroy my family with their carelessness. Who did I work for? It was not for myself, to boost my own ego or pride, it was for those who trusted in my words. I was the leader of the Tuuli. I worked to keep them safe. I would not bow to this idiotic bitch in the clouds today, not as long as my kin still had faith in me.

My grey hooves beat the red mud, my wings unfurling from my back. The wind that follows me quietly now draws up, pushing from under my wings and pulling me easily into the sky. Let this Svetlana challenge me into battle; she will regret it in just a few short moments. "You are on a fool's errand, girl," I call forward, my eyes meeting with the expanse of black wings and the dripping white frame above. "I will not lose to you." I grit my teeth, pushing down with my wings to bring me closer to the ceiling of grey clouds, the wind pushing me from behind and increasing the speed of my ascent. The rain pounds on my body and slides in cold rivers from my muscles. I steel myself against the crack of thunder that booms across the sky. I could not lose focus now. I am not fighting for myself. I cannot fold. I must answer. I must win. I have no choice.

I approach from the left side of the larger mare, my legs pointed out before me like knives as I drive forward, locking my wings to glide easily, increasing in speed. I raise myself so that my ram would be easy to escape; I did not want to make contact only to crumple against her side. I aim to batter her left side and wing with my front hooves, hopefully bruising the flesh beneath, if not drawing blood. I snake my head around to snap at her pole and neck as I would be passing over her back and rump, more of a deterrence for revenge than an attempt to injure. The arch of movement would be ended with a kick from my hind legs as I pass onto her right side, trying to escape her clutches. My wing tips brush uncomfortably with the grey clouds above our heads, rain blurring my vision and likely my aim.

Still, I am unafraid.
""

[ 1/4; 793 words; wind magic is passive and will slowly die out over the course of the battle. ]


KRI the Resolute</style>
I WILL GIVE YOUR HEART A PLACE TO REST AFTER EVERYTHING YOU HAD HAS TURNED AND LEFT.</style>


Svetlana Posts: N/A
Unregistered
:: :: ::
#3



SVETLANA
the StormChaser



I am not sensible. A sensible lady, as Kri was thinking, would be hidden away from the storm. But my name is because of my recklessness at times, and for my love of the storms. One does not become ‘Stormchaser’ by only chasing blue skies.

My massive wings beat slowly and surely. They flap more unerringly then they did not so long ago. But when Kri thinks of leadership as a burden, I think of it as an honor. I am not humble, I will not lie, but neither am I a cocky asshole like the white unicorn who called himself Tribute, one of the last trespassers onto Foothills land before I was so ungracefully tossed from my throne and kicked into the wet, sopping mud that sucked at my limbs until I thought I would drown. This mud, of course, is the metaphor for anger and embarrassment.

I try to recall what Leander has told me of this ‘Kri’, try to attribute it to this face. What had he said? Things are not well here. I somehow doubt he would put this staple to himself. So maybe it was meant towards Kri’s leadership. Only a few moments later did he say Kri was not the leader he thought her to be. That he may leave the Throat himself in order to evade this mare whose legend was ‘the Resolute’. How did that concept apply to her in battle? Did it means, perhaps, she attacked more upfront, less feinting and movement? Or did the name come from an iron will to follow through? Leander had said something of her temper and its unruliness, her inability to keep in check, the temper that drove off the Artisan. Maybe that is something I can work on, but maybe not.

My black eyes settle on her shape far below, a small sodden chocolate-brown dot that unfurls earth-brown wings. I do wonder if she has fought in aerial combat before. Where does she come from? Certainly she would not have fought from the air in her alliance with the Qian to take over the Edge. How could she, when the Edge are unicorns and locked to the earth? I know the skies and I know what restrictions my body has, but does she?

The little brown raindrop approaches and grows in size until it is no so much a droplet as a mare. Small, maybe, but compact. I would not doubt in physical, we are equals, but mental is half of the battle. She does not seem much older than me, but then again, we are both aged in our minds, I do not doubt. I circle, wings coming down and dislodging a thousand glittering droplets of rain from the night black feathers. Just as my black mane sticks, sodden, to my neck, so does her once-flaxen one, now turned more gray by the lighting and wet.

I wonder just how stupid I’ve been, before I stall again in the air, wings constantly pushing and pulling at the air to keep me aloft. I am weakened by my treatment of the Basin, even though I have been healed and now my sides have filled out.

“We are all fools, Kri, aren’t we?” I call out in return, for it is true. We have all done something wrong at one point or another.

She comes in quick, the wind twisting around her to shoot her forward like a stone from a slingshot. My ears are flattening to pin to my soaked neck as she ever increases in speed towards me. Her wings are extended for full glide, but she started below me. In flight, you always want to be above the other.

I curse my slow reaction, but how could I expect her to be host to wind magic? There is a shift in muscle as I power downwards, my wings heaving to hoist me up higher, up to the advantage of being above. Flight is all quick reactions, like the two crows harrying each other I once watched. But she angles above me, and her teeth score my poll, drawing crimson blood. There is pain, as there will always be, but I ignore it. The muscles of my wings strain as hooves kick me, before I am flying up.

Rain pours into my eyes, smearing my vision and stinging, and it washes uncomfortably into the wounds upon my neck. I come dropping out of the sky on top of her, at least, I hope that is her in this shifting light. I do not want to break her wing, for if I do, she may die. So I flare my wings ever so slightly above the dark smear I believe is the mare, so instead of bone-breaking, I will only maim.



WC: 800
Other: 1/4

sometimes i wonder what i'm trying to do in this life.
but mostly i just want to fly.





Kri the Resolute Posts: 243
Hidden Account
Mare :: Pegasus :: 14.3hh :: 10 Buff: NUMB
Boom Boom!
#4


I'LL WEAVE YOUR NAMES INTO MY RIBCAGE,</style>
lock your hearts inside my chest.</style>

My thoughts are not on my opponent during this battle. Even as she speaks, my mind has already shifted; I do not hear her words. Svetlana is little more than a moving target in my mind, and while she may have strategy and plans when it comes to this battle, the only care I have is myself. The beat of my heart, what I am fighting for, the driving force behind my attacks: they are important. The enemy you are facing can use as many manipulations and plots as they want, but to be a great fighter, you must understand your own body. Understanding my limits is all that matters. She may analyze me until her brain begins to boil, but I am a simple creature.

Do not fear the fight. Fight to protect. Protect those you love. Love those who are worthy of your life.

This fight is tricky, though. The rain is blinding, the way it falls from above and tugs my blonde mane over my face in heavy streams. It sinks from my feathers down to the skin, down to the bone, chilling me and making me shiver even as I fly onward. I think not of the distractions, only the beating of my heart like a drum in my chest and the smudges of clarity I see through rain. I am strong. My muscles will hold. I can survive the chill of spring rain; I have survived worse. Without much visibility, my teeth meet flesh, tear skin, and I feel the hardened bone below. The scrape of flesh on my teeth shakes my skull unpleasantly. My neck retreats from Svetlana's, and I move forward, legs retracting just long enough to lunge out in search of flesh. I feel the force of another pushing back, my legs meeting my mark, then slipping of the soggy frame of the mare. There was no time to consider the damage dealt.

I continue to fly, glancing back to see the movement of this other mare, but she has disappeared up into the ceiling of clouds above us. She was fast for a mare who does not have the wind on her side. The rain will not permit me to stare above, even if the clouds would, and I feel a moment of panic rise in my chest as my heart quivers in a speeding tempo; I have lost sight of her. I try to soothe myself, looking down at my legs still outstretched and breathing steadily. Lightning. The sky lights up above me, and I see a shadow upon my leg - a wing. "Bitch," my whisper lost to the clouds, my wings turning, right wing pointing to the ground as the left stabs into clouds above me, cutting a path as I continue to soar. I tilt sideways, the lummox sinking down where I had been. Crackle, BOOM! The thunder shakes my body, but I do not relent.

I continue my swerve upward, losing myself in the clouds, a mist that I cannot see through. There is a light around me, reminding me that above these clouds the sun still shines. I stare up toward it, my body upside down by normal standards now, but the wind carries me yet, a faithful servant, allowing me to curve down into the open air once more. I had no way of knowing if Svetlana would be close, or even where I had ended up after my spill into the clouds above, but my dark eyes located her contrasted body quickly. Luckily for me, the mare was a sizable amount larger than my own compact frame, and her massive black wings acting like a demented beacon. All the better for me to target you with, my dear. Without thought, I dive downward to where she was, front hooves extended once more. This time, I approach roughly from her left side, the angle sharp as I zoomed in from above. I aim for her left shoulder; perhaps, if I struck true, I could ricochet off of her in the sky to escape. I prepare my legs, readying them to meet her muscular frame and use my own strength to bounce off, hopefully sending her spinning in the opposite direction as I scraped away from her. Once more, my teeth snap toward her face and ears, another warning for her to keep her teeth away from my own skin.

If I was not so pissed off to be fighting in the middle of a thunderstorm, I might actually be having fun.
""

[ 2/4; 798 words ]


KRI the Resolute</style>
I WILL GIVE YOUR HEART A PLACE TO REST AFTER EVERYTHING YOU HAD HAS TURNED AND LEFT.</style>


Svetlana Posts: N/A
Unregistered
:: :: ::
#5



SVETLANA
the StormChaser



She is gone. I cannot see the rain-saturated form below me any more, and I stream by her with a silent curse in my mind, before I twist my head up and open my wings. For a moment, there is such extreme pressure on them, coming out of the dive, I want to cry out. But such a move could be fatal, even in the rustling, crackling boom of the thunder, for Kri is somewhere above me.

Like I had only moments ago, she had disguised herself in the weeping gray cloud cover. It was maybe the oldest trick in the book- and a very useful one. If you cannot see the enemy, you cannot see the threat, and you cannot pose the threat. If they were above you, they have the advantage. Right now every muscle of my body was shrieking alarm to my brain, or maybe it was the other way around.

The torrent of rain meets my eyes as I look upwards, scanning the gray cover desperately. My nostrils flare- I can still smell her, but smells are so very difficult to distinguish in this cold wet sky, where in the most evasive maneuvers set you wondering if you are about to crush yourself against the cold earth so far below, break every delicate bone in the body that has, over the ages, slowly become lighter, even if not hollow. For another moment, my heart is pounding wildly in my chest, before I beat my wings downward, and begin to spiral up.

I tip to the left, pivoting around my near-side wing, adding an extra stroke with my right wing. There is a hiss of lightning, the ominous rumble of thunder that makes my teeth chatter and my feathers stand on end. The sky lights up in as an arc of golden white light streaks across to land somewhere in the desert below. The desert.

Even if I were to win, the herd would not trust me, not for a while anyways.

In the brief moment the sky is lit, I catch sight of a flickering wing-tip, before it disappears. I do not allow myself such a feeling as excitement as at least now having a chance of knowing where the Sultana is. Instead, I flare my wings, down-stroke, and begin upwards. Up here, the air is more turbulent, a monstrous cat who wishes to play with my slender frame. Slender from build, and skinny from hunger, even if now my flanks have filled out.

This time, I cannot allow a blow to land on my body. I use every evasive technique I have learned to escape detection, spiraling and draft-dropping, thermal-catching and white-washing. There is the tell-tale sizzle as ozone crackles, and the lightning crashes again, so very near to my skin. It evaporates the relentless torrent of rain around me, and for one bizarre moment, my skin is dry, before the rain begins its assault again. Soon my forelock is plastered to my face, obscuring pieces of my vision, but I care little for it.

Where is the Sultana? How much time has passed? I flap my wings once, twice, three times, glancing downwards. Have I somehow gotten above her? Yet the wind increases again. Wary, remembering her first assault, I try and search for a possible source. That is how I find her, the mare escaped into the clouds. She comes diving downwards, at a sharp angle to my left shoulder and wing. I remember the hot pain as her hooves had landed on my wing before, and in the brief time before she hits, I allow my instinct worn into me through hundreds of fights to take over again.

My left wing crumples under me as my right wing twists tight to my body. For one terrifying and adrenaline-filled moment, I barrel roll suspended in the sky. Yes, I do drop in height, but only a few feet before I hope to collide with Kri. After completing the roll, I spread out my wings, expand the massive beings, and take to the higher skies.

I am nearly vertical now, and it is no easy ascent, but it is faster and more direct than a slow spiral. The muscles in my shoulders torque and tighten as I move upward. Soon I will be a frozen horse and the two of us may fall out of the sky, but for now I can and will make it above the wet clouds. With every breath the oxygen grows more scarce, but my massive lungs inhale quicker, deeper, until I break above the stormclouds in a shower of droplets that flash and sparkle in the light. There I hang suspended, the clouds laid out in a glorious display below me. She will have to get me.



WC: 799
Other: 2/4

sometimes i wonder what i'm trying to do in this life.
but mostly i just want to fly.





Kri the Resolute Posts: 243
Hidden Account
Mare :: Pegasus :: 14.3hh :: 10 Buff: NUMB
Boom Boom!
#6


I'LL WEAVE YOUR NAMES INTO MY RIBCAGE,</style>
lock your hearts inside my chest.</style>

I skid in the air, missing flesh completely and slipping by this mare in space. I can almost feel my wings brush against her, but that could just be the rain splattering upon my frame once more. As soon as I am clear of her large body, I shoot out my wings, nearly sideways in the air. I had expected her body to stop me, but now I was left with the strength of my own body to do so - my strength and the wind. It pulls painfully against my wings, more sluggishly than usual as the battle wears on, a loud booming noise in my ears as the wind buffets around me. I had called upon my old friend too many times already, and my tricks would not hold me afloat in this fight for long. Shaking my head, my mane splatters against my body before clinging, the water not being so easily dislodged as the heavens relentlessly pour their tears. Even the sky mourned this girl's foolish challenge.

I do not have long to catch my breath, for as I glance upward, I see the white body dropping like a stone. In a desperate attempt to give myself more time, I call upon a stronger, darker magic within my bones. One breath, I close my eyes and focus on the space between Svetlana and myself. The next breath, I begin to squeeze upon the air, which condenses quickly. Her descent would be slowed, her body also likely affected by my strong grip upon the air. I hold the grip upon it, shooting forward from underneath her. Still, my reaction time was not quick enough. Her hooves scrape down upon my rump, a searing pain which radiates. Thankfully, the lubrication of the thick water layer clogging my fur kept the skin from tearing underneath her weight. I grit my teeth, knowing a bruise was inevitable, but I refuse to give this girl the satisfaction of knowing it hurt.

The pressure of the air builds, hopefully making her already troublesome vertical ascent all the more difficult. Releasing my grip after I have altered my flight toward the clouds as well, the magic was becoming too much for me to maintain, drawing away from my strength but not my will. Instead, I follow Svetlana in close pursuit at first, but with the wind at my back I overtake her in speed, launching through the clouds and leaving nothing but a trace hole in the clouds to note where I had come through. The ice shards that cover my wings and fur are launched off in one brushing sweep of my body, the vibrating shooting out the crystals haphazardly. Perhaps a few might prick the white mare as she comes out of the clouds, but that would be a small feat.

My wet body is already freezing in this thin air, and my lungs scream for larger, longer breaths just to keep my oxygen levels steady. I cannot breathe deeply and take in the glistening world of clouds at my feet, for even as the sun melts the ice crystals growing on my sodden coat, a continuous struggle between the energy of the sun and the chill of the air, I surge forward toward the mare resting easily, likely waiting for me to arrive below her. I drive forward, my breaths coming heavily, weariness taking over my body, wings pushing me at faster speeds, calling upon a reluctant wind. I gather as much speed and power as I can, rushing toward the mare's right side, only to tip my right wing down toward the clouds, folding it and turning sharply sideways, my ass in the direction of her face and my head dipping downward toward her legs, but turned away to avoid a possible cowkick to the face. I throw my left wing up harshly, throwing my left shoulder at her right hip and my rump toward her right shoulder.

Lastly, I toss my heavy, soaked and freezing mess of a blonde tail like a bat at the bitch's face. Surprise.
""

[ 3/4; 709 words; 1/2 magic ]


KRI the Resolute</style>
I WILL GIVE YOUR HEART A PLACE TO REST AFTER EVERYTHING YOU HAD HAS TURNED AND LEFT.</style>


Svetlana Posts: N/A
Unregistered
:: :: ::
#7



SVETLANA
the StormChaser





Maybe I was fool to think so, but I hoped the sky was crying for the end of Kri’s reign, just as she thought it symbolized the foolishness of my challenge. I felt, I felt… I might actually stand a chance against her. Perhaps it would be close. But so long as I had the ember of hope, surely I might. You never know, maybe, just maybe, I could pull it off.

Her body streamed past me in a flurry of damp flaxen mane and wet body, the sting of water hitting my face. It stung, maybe, but there was always something to pay for victory and battle. If I was lucky, or if I kept my wits about, hopefully some water running in my eyes would be the worst of it, and she would come out of it worse off. May the gods be on my side.

It is unfortunate then, when I turn to come down triumphantly upon her, that there is a pressure building up in front of me, like- like—a monumental wall formed of air that stops my descent from hitting her full on, that squeezes me and makes me feel… desperately trapped as the flow of time seems to turn to a thick liquid that oozes. It doesn’t flow swiftly, it trickles by agonizingly slow for a few moments, even though I know it is not time but the air stopping my fall upon her. As it is, my hooves scrape her hind, leaving two furrows on her copper hide. I hope it hurts, I hope it stings, just as her blows to me leave my wing and shoulder sore all over.

Then she moves with a stroke of her wings, and I cannot help but feel a budding, grudging, admiration for the quick, stocky mare. Clearly she knows what she is doing, at least with the use for her magic. Today, in this early morning day, I feel more like a hopeless blundering fool now, that flower of pride that had blossomed in me long gone. It was shredded by a late winter snow in the spring, I think.

It is at that point I turn to ascend, but her sorcery, as I have come to think of it, still pushes at me, makes my muscles ever more weary, filled with lactic acid that is as relentless as the rain, and unlike the rain, it only grows in its thickness and weight, not retreats. The thunder booms and cracks again, and I continue my climb.

It is sudden, then, when the magic retreats back home, and the Sultana climbs by me. It is a petty, rather stupid thing of me, but I admit to my jealousy and annoyance at her being faster than me; I prided myself on my speed of flight. But perhaps she forgets the thermals that can be found, even in this twisting playground of cold wet rain pouring over our bodies. I do find my thermal, weak as it is, and with the warmer cycle of air at my back, go and rise to the height of the world.

Only once have I ever been higher than this in flight. It was when I had flown so high I could see the curve of the world, and my breath had stopped a while ago, and my brain had become muddled and confused. Then, I had dropped out of the sky like a stone, until I began to function again and threw everything I had into stopping before I hit the ground, and hard. I can still remember that sight, the sight of different countries, of Loorien. It was amazing.

Here, the air is so very lacking in air to breathe and sustains. The sun is hot on my coat, but the air is frigid. Below me, there is an ugly storm, but up here, I admire its curls and twists, watch it for its crazed beauty. My eyes are also searching, searching for Kri, who I had lost track of in the midst of that storm.

Distracted as I am by searching below, not above, it is not until I hear the whistle of air coming off high-speed wings that I note her coming down swift. For a moment I am stunned- it must have been so very difficult to breathe up there. My head is thrown up to see her, my wings come back to back-stroke. The whistle builds in strength as it passes over her airfoils- before there is a sudden, abrupt silence as she curves away, her hooves coming across swift.

I drop down, furling my wings to sides, and I plunge down five, six meters before pulling open my wings. I am below her now, and immediately go upwards, nipping at her forelegs.


WC: 800
Other: 3/4

sometimes i wonder what i'm trying to do in this life.
but mostly i just want to fly.





Kri the Resolute Posts: 243
Hidden Account
Mare :: Pegasus :: 14.3hh :: 10 Buff: NUMB
Boom Boom!
#8


I'LL WEAVE YOUR NAMES INTO MY RIBCAGE,</style>
lock your hearts inside my chest.</style>

My body does not meet the flesh of another, and my rump continues to spin like a top for a moment before I come to a stop. I look around, side to side, wondering for only a moment where this girl has gone to now.

The first disappearing act by the mare had been slightly amusing, but this time her complete evasion of my attacks just pissed me off. Was I not faster than this larger girl, who had no wind on her side? Were my attacks so predictable she could slide from them with without so much as a brush of feathers? I curse under my breath, sucking in what little air was left up here, above the clouds. Thankfully, my eye sight had not yet failed me, though the thin levels of oxygen threatened with small spots of black in my peripheral. I can see if figure sink down; without the rain stinging in my vision, I can follow her movements. I have time to right my wings as she falls, allowing herself underneath me. What a fool.

For a brief moment, I am almost stunned into immobility that she is actually trying to attack my legs. As she soars up, mouth agape, hungry teeth searching for flesh, I can do little but laugh. Had the thin air made me delusional or was this girl really just a fucking idiot? Instead of the flesh on my legs, I attempt to feed her something else, much harder. I have but to shift forward a few inches before I can pull up on my back legs, and slam them down with all the force my tired limbs have left toward her open mouth and face; that is exactly what I do. A crack on the skull might actually do her some good. "Fool," I coo, using the momentum of my legs reaching back upward from their assault upon her to curve my front end back downward, wings curving, the thin air curling around them and send my front hooves in quick pursuit of my last attack.

I reach out my front hooves toward her left shoulder or, at least, where I vaguely assumed her shoulder would be in the air. My body turning vertical, ass to the sky, wings stretching out valiantly behind me, a cape of soggy brown feathers. Out come the knives, my teeth, reaching out toward the left, seeking the gentle feathers of a wing, wishing to meet them with anything other than tenderness. Should my teeth make purchase, I would clamp down and continue on my conquest downward, back toward the swirling carpet of clouds and the thunderstorm below. She fights for selfish gain, and I cannot forgive her for trying to usurp the family I had guarded for so long. If this is where my reign ends, I would have her pay such a hefty sum. Forget the cold growing on my body; forget the breaths with run ragged in my lungs. I would not bow to another fool seeking to relieve me of my duties. The last time I had, the price we all paid was the ruin of my home.

The red Cliffs had fallen, but my desert home would not crumble beneath the hooves of another.
""

[ 4/4; 570 words; 1/2 magic ]


KRI the Resolute</style>
I WILL GIVE YOUR HEART A PLACE TO REST AFTER EVERYTHING YOU HAD HAS TURNED AND LEFT.</style>


Svetlana Posts: N/A
Unregistered
:: :: ::
#9



SVETLANA
the StormChaser



I was cold. I don’t think I have ever been this cold, not in my whole life. The rain just keeps on pouring as we begin spinning downwards, the beat of our wings hardly keeping us aloft. Mine at least, are soaked through, even with their water-shedding properties- they are big, freezing things that have iced over towards the tips. Slowly they have become heavier and heavier through the morning, the only reprieve they ever had when I was nearly struck by that flash of lightning; but that did not last even a second.

The water dripping from the Sultana does hit me, and I can faintly smell the anger emitting from her. Maybe I was right- she is a little hotheaded. It seems we are quite alike. Where do our differences lie in our minds? I think the difference is… I’m not sure. She does not strike me as the same type of honorable as Leander, the Lionheart, but she does not strike me as a conniving thief and stealer. What do I think of her? I know hardly anything.

Just as I have evaded her, apart from the first attack, she has slowly and annoyingly become so that none of my attacks have landed on horseflesh; her skin is not bruised, not now. It seems that each of us only has landed one, two blows. I do, of course, understand that, and prefer it; but it is annoying neither of us can seem to really knock the other out of the sky. Flying is a difficult game to end, unless it is of endurance, in which case, after hours of flying, eventually one would lose. But neither of us want to take hours.

Do I, did I, know of the risky, reckless movement I had just taken coming up to bite her legs? Well, yes. I’m Svetlana, not an untried filly. What other choice do I have? I bet I would hardly be able to fly past her with her damned wind magic. Her voice is silky and filled with anger- perhaps she is sick of this fucking rain too. She does land, but I will not allow my wings to be touched again. My left shoulder stiffens in pain, crying out as she drags me downwards. The wind is a howling, buffeting thing as we enter the midst of the storm, rain slashing in my eyes, thunder grumbling in my ears.

It is a lightning strike that saves me, the blinding white cracking down hardly more than a meter away. My left wing, which has been folded tightly to my flank, in order to avoid any blows, has made me move perpetually right, as I distribute most of my mass onto my off-side flank with a tip of my body. But even as I feel her weight pressing down on me as we go flying through downwards, I pray the gods will be on my side.

To describe the next move is like trying to describe something filled with unknown words to someone who speaks a different language. I flip over, so in the sense, my back is to the earth still very far below; and my wings, the wings I have always loved, snap open; and there is the wind-whistle from speed and pressure. And now, Kri has no shoulder to hang onto; and if I am lucky, she will be free-falling towards earth in a scramble, and so I flip over again, with difficulty.

There I come after her, ignoring the condensed blood on my poll and the scrapes my wings and shoulders, there I come with my wings pulled in close, there I come with my teeth bared and ears pinned. My wet mane— no, wet is too gentle a word, it was soaked through, clinging to my satin neck as I tried to follow her in this mess of a storm. Somewhere I catch a downdraft, and I come speeding up next to her, wherever we are now for I cannot tell in this blend of gray clouds and rain; and I squeal at her, for lack of words.

I try to knock her first, for I am mostly even with her, trying to avoid buffeting wings, and so I veer, sharply-so, towards her, even though it is easily avoided—and my wing comes slipping down under hers so it would hit her flank, for it is longer than her wings, at least, I think; and my neck turns and my teeth bare to nip her wing strong and good. If I were to get a solid hold on those primaries, I could rip them out, condemn her to be distracted to saving herself- and fly on to victory.

Maybe if I got a mouthful of feathers I would win.

""



Word Count: 800
Attack: 4/4

sometimes i wonder what i'm trying to do in this life.
but mostly i just want to fly.





Kri the Resolute Posts: 243
Hidden Account
Mare :: Pegasus :: 14.3hh :: 10 Buff: NUMB
Boom Boom!
#10


I'LL WEAVE YOUR NAMES INTO MY RIBCAGE,</style>
lock your hearts inside my chest.</style>

There are certain things that are risky, and other things that are flat out stupid. I am not sure if my hooves met her jaw, but perhaps if they had, she would learn not to bite at a horse's legs without fear of retribution. As I curve in the air, rivaling an acrobat in my quick movements, my hooves come to slam onto her shoulder. Somehow, the mare has been angled such that just this pressure from my body is tugging her down in our fall. Even though my teeth to do make contact with the soft black feathers, I am still pulling her down, down through the clouds. Crackle, boom! Lightning lights up the entire cloud, a flash of blinding white, and I am reminded that we are vulnerable up here in the kingdom of heaven during this storm. It is not my wish to stay attached to her for long, though, not without a sure grip on her wings. Instead, I curve my own wings, stretching them out horizontally and gliding easily off.

My path is altered, carrying me off of her, straightening out my flight even as we spill back under the clouds and begin to be flooded under a storm of fresh rain and thundering booms. The calm, serene world above the clouds was gone, and now our turmoil was brought back to a more fitting scene for the final stage. Svetlana has rolled, a late attempt to shove my own body from hers, as I have already freed myself from her mess of a body. Had I maintained my straight path, her hunt for my feathers might have succeeded. However, unlike this wench, I had fought Adalwulf the Steadfast. The missing primary in my left wing, hardly noticeable to all except myself, was never to grow back since the poison of his mouth had ruined the cuticle of my flesh, tearing out feathers that would never return. I had learned my lesson during that battle on the Cliffs to always protect my wings. A love of flying being the incentive.

My reverie is shattered as I hear her squeal, eyes scouring a mess or rain for her body, and immediately tip a wing downward toward the earth below, my body careening dangerously. I have no fear; I was not so easily knocked from the sky. The rash movement brings my body around, Svetlana's massive wings slapping my head with a strong downstroke. The sodden feathers had more weight, and I will dare to say it was quite painful, like the crack of a strong whip. Perhaps under my chocolate coat a black eye would form, and I close my blue eyes and try to steady my frame in the air, gritting my teeth against the sting of pain. Her teeth, previously reaching for my delicate wings, come to land upon my ass on the right side. They do not catch a grip on the wet skin, but only suit to irritate the area already injured by her ogre hooves earlier, a sting of pain new and sharp radiating from my backside.

Who would have known that the girl would be a literal pain in my ass instead of just figurative?

I right myself in the air after passing the girl in the sky, unsteady and weak winds finding me finally after our plunge from above the clouds. I glide, breathing heavily and shivering in the fresh spring rain.
""

[ Closing defense; 599 words; 1/2 magic]


KRI the Resolute</style>
I WILL GIVE YOUR HEART A PLACE TO REST AFTER EVERYTHING YOU HAD HAS TURNED AND LEFT.</style>


Official Posts: 847
Administrator
Stallion :: Equine :: ::
Official
#11




K r i | S v e t l a n a
- - - - -
By my verdict KRI is the winner.

KRI -- post 1 (attack only)

[Realism]
+ 1| Attack: front hooves
+ 1| Attack: bite
+ 1| Attack: hind kick

[Prose]
+ 2| Emotion
+ 1| Flow
+ 1| Easy read

SVETLANA -- post 1

[Realism]
+ 1| Defense: took the bite
- 1| Defense: no mention of her front kicks?
+ 1| Defense: took the hind kick
- 1| Injury: did not describe injury of hind kicks
+ 1| Attack: dive

[Prose]
+ 1| Emotion
+ 1| Flow
+ 1| Easy read

KRI -- post 2

[Realism]
+ 1| Defense: evade the dive
+ 1| Attack: hooves
- 1| Attack: bite – how can she push off Svetlana but also reach out to bite at the same time? Opposing directions.

[Prose]
+ 1| Emotion
+ 1| Flow
0| Easy read – some confusing areas

SVETLANA -- post 2

[Realism]
+ 1| Defense: evade with barrel roll
- 1| Attack: collision – how can you collide if you rolled away? If you rolled towards, just the nature of it, as you said, drops you in height so you two should have missed each other.

[Prose]
+ 1| Emotion
+ 1| Flow
0| Easy read – some confusing areas

KRI -- post 3

[Realism]
+ 1| Defense: rump bruise
+ 1| Attack: magic air pressure
+ 1| Attack: ice crystals
+ 1| Attack: body slam
+ 1| Attack: tail slap

[Prose]
+ 1| Emotion
+ 1| Flow
+ 1| Easy read

SVETLANA -- post 3

[Realism]
+ 1| Defense: air pressure magic slowing
- 1| Defense: no mention of the ice crystals
- 1| Defense: evade by dropping – just dropping wouldn’t evade as Kri is also dropping and she is so close to you, you’d have to also be moving away from her.
- 1| Injury: slam – you don’t state if you avoided or took her slam
- 1| Defense: no mention of her tail slap
0| Attack: biting forelegs – you and she were both falling, and as far as you know, she still is. So you flew up to bite the front legs of someone who is falling down on you and could easily kick or bite.

[Prose]
+ 1| Emotion
+ 1| Flow
+ 1| Easy read

KRI -- post 4

[Realism]
+ 1| Defense: avoid teeth with attack
- 1| Injury: bite – you don’t state if you avoided or took her bite
+ 1| Attack: rear kick
+ 1| Attack: front kick
+ 1| Attack: bite

[Prose]
+ 1| Emotion
+ 1| Flow
0| Easy read – a few confusing parts with the attacks

SVETLANA -- post 4

[Realism]
- 1| Defense: no mention of her hind hooves
- 1| Defense: no mention of her front hooves
- 1| Defense: avoid wing bite – you don’t say how they avoid the bite.
- 1| Defense: flip over – if you are falling down, with a pegasus on top of you, and try to open your wings upsidedown, the pressure would likely not allow them to open or function very well. Not to mention just flipping over doesn’t mean Kri is any less on top of you.
+ 1| Attack: ram
- 1| Powerplay: “and my wing comes slipping down under hers so it would hit her flank…” only she can decide where you wing goes or hits on her bodt, you can only aim/hope/target/try etc.
+ 1| Attack: wing bite

[Prose]
+ 1| Emotion
+ 1| Flow
- 1| Easy read – confusing because Kri was only going to drag you down if she bit your wing, which you said she did not

KRI -- post 5 (defense only)

[Realism]
+ 1| Defense: avoided slam
+ 1| Defense: Slapped in head
+ 1| Defense: bite to ass


KRI

[Bonus]
+ 2| Surroundings
+ 2| Breed

[Injuries]
None.

[Creativity]
+ 1| Reflecting on Adalwulf fight

Comments: You are an experienced fighter and its shown in the grasp you have for the fighting mechanics. Your only deductions within realism were for minor wording or confusion with wording regarding evasion or injury. I think in some cases you were pressed for word limit or assumed the movement you explained to be enough, but it always needs to be clear of an injury was avoided or taken for each attack. Otherwise I have little input as for how to improve, you did great utilizing your surroundings (lightning flash to spot Svetlana, clouds to hide you, rain in your face) and breed (her large wings helped you find her) as well as putting emotion into every post, although I definitely felt it more in the first. Excellent job!

SVETLANA

[Bonus]
+ 2| Surroundings
+ 1| Breed

[Injuries]
None.

[Creativity]
None.

Comments: You had some good ideas for attacks and defense in this fight, but aerial fights are incredibly difficult to imagine and explain realistically, so this is a hard placing you put yourself into. The biggest issue you seemed to have was not so much with an attack or defense being plausible (although in some cases that came up), but that you didn’t seem to fully read your opponent’s thread and would respond with something that wasn’t intended or different, or would just seem to miss responding to an attack altogether. I know this fight started and ended rather quickly, so I would urge you to read thoroughly and take more time next fight to ensure you are not missing anything. Many of your point deductions could have been avoided with more attention to detail and clarity – like Kri, you need to make it apparent if an attack was taken or avoided for each attack. However you did very good with using your surroundings! I would like to see a bit more emotion, there was some but I still didn’t feel much of Svetlana’s presence in this fight, you used a lot of your words on describing the setting every post instead.

TOTAL
KRI - 81
SVETLANA - 57


Image Credit: dirkjankraan @ Flickr

Kri the Resolute Posts: 243
Hidden Account
Mare :: Pegasus :: 14.3hh :: 10 Buff: NUMB
Boom Boom!
#12
Thank you, judge! <3

Ázzuen the Ardent Posts: 94
Deceased
Stallion :: Pegasus :: 15.1 :: 8
Whit
#13
The dark steed watched, listened to the challenge that rang out amidst the storm. He always lingered by Kri, she had earned his loyalty when she promised him a home for his family, she had protected him and he protected her. She was a sister to him, bound by a tie stronger, thicker than blood, similar to deep, undying love he felt for his family. He stood far away, a dark smudge in the background. A regular pegasus would not be able to discern what went on.

He was no regular pegasus, however.

Azzuen had heightened his sight, he watched with a critical eye, the figures dancing in the raging skies above. The storm rocked his body, but he stood firm against it, intent on seeing the outcome of this fool's errand.

With relief, he saw his leader rise the victor. With further happiness, he acknowledged now that the Throat had outcast two members. Numbers were something that a herd needed, but those numbers needed to not be tainted by fools and rule-breakers.


With this knowledge in his mind, he nodded to himself and then sought out shelter from the thunderous weather.


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