Trifling Steal: Something Awful

[Sem]

OOC: So NOT Petty Theft btw. Anyway, another battle topic. I'll leave two spots open for two people to jump in if they want. JUST TWO. As a note, the current characters involved are pretty powerful, so if you join make sure yours can keep up.

BIC:
The library was deathly silent. It was after hours and the only people about were the few guards that kept watch on some of the more valuable books in the city's famous and extravagant library.

Hundreds of thousands of books lined the thousands of shelves in perfect order, patiently awaiting the coming day for their chance to be picked up by and read. A crescent moon filtered dim light through the large skylights as wind gently tapped against the glass panels.

Hidden under a table in the corner of a room a cat opened its eyes and stretched. It was black and entirely impossible to see in the blackness that hugged the floors and walls. Its face was somewhat silvery in color and sapphire-blue eyes stared sharply at its surroundings. The gray hair on the feline's face gave it an aged look, but it still carried with it utmost grace as it slicked out from under its hiding place.

Silently the cat walked along the walls, stopping occasionally and looking around. It would twitch its ears, which had tufts of fur on their tips, and would flick its tail; at the end of which were hairs that were a bit longer than the rest of its body. Swiftly, the animal climbed up one of the shelves and ran across the tops of the bookcases, occasionally jumping the gap of the hallway to the case on the other side. At one point it hopped down onto the back of a couch and then to the floor, narrowly avoiding the flashlight beam of one of the guards.

The cat rocketed across the room in a flash while the man spoke into a headset. Now in a hallway that was pitch black, the cat bloomed upward into a pillar of smoke, out of which walked a human figure. In the light of day the first thought that came to mind when anyway saw the figure was 'witch.' Indeed, she had the signature hat. Her long silver hair flew out behind her as she walked, wavy and wild. Her pale skin only slightly noticeable in the abyss of the hallway. Her leather boots made no noise as she walked; an enchantment she had put on them for this very mission. Her black cloak billowed out behind her and her black dress glided along the floor. A coal gray corset encased her torso and the loose ends of her long sleeves flowed like ribbons as she walked. Sapphire eyes locked on her prize, which lay ahead of her in glass case.

"I'm only borrowing it," she told herself again as she rounded the corner and hid behind another couch. "They'll get it back," her eyes darted about the room as she peered over the back of the sofa. "I wouldn't even have to do this if they just agreed to give it to me when I asked earlier." Leaning back down she removed her hat and began chanting as quietly as she could, making a few hand gestures while her eyes remained closed. After she had finished she immediately sprung up and placed her hat back on her head while walking across the room to the case with somewhat of a bounce to her step. The woman pointed a pale finger at the lock on the case; a spark of raw, blue magic flew from her finger to the lock.

Click.

Grinning, the witch opened the case and then stopped, knowing some trigger would be waiting inside; she figured it was lasers. With another short burst of arcane speech the book vanished from the case and into her hand. She closed the case and looked quite happily at the tome she now held, running her hand lovingly along its spine. "Oh, Sorena," she told herself. "You're good." So enthralled with her book was she that she failed to notice the guard who stepped into the room, which wouldn't have been a problem since Sorena had cast an illusion spell on the room while she was hiding behind the couch, making everything seem perfectly normal.

Only she side happily after opening the book.

"Who's there?" the man barked, flailing his flashlight beam in all directions. He took out a certain device and held it before him, alarmed to find that it was registering not only the presence of a spell but also of a magical entity. He blurted into his earpiece before saying, "I know you're in here," he began walking. "Surrender now."

Sorena bit her lip. She knew that places such as these would have quite competent and useful anti-magic equipment and weapons, well, competent and useful against people who weren't her.

She dropped the illusion, allowing the guard to see her standing there with book cradled in her arms. "I'm only borrowing it!" she tried in her defense. "I haven't seen this book since I was a little girl; would you please let this aging woman look at it?"

Indeed, the guard did not expect the intruder to be a woman of about fifty. (Though she looked forty.) "The book is extremely old, ma'am, I'm not buying your story. Now put it down and surrender quietly, I don't want to have to hurt you."

"I'm telling the truth!" she insisted. The woman was actually telling the truth. Her hopes of escaping through talk, however dim they were to begin with, died out at the arrival of the other guards, all aiming specialized weapons at her. "Oh, sod it."

In a flash a sword flew out of her sleeve and into her hand. The men opened fire as soon as they saw the weapon's glint, though they had found that their shots were stopped by a shield of blue magic. The tome vanished into her other sleeve and she slashed at one guard while a burst of lightning escaped other free hand into the chest of another, throwing him against a wall and into unconsciousness as books tumbled from the shelves. She ran at a guard who was going for a radio on his belt and solidly spin-kicked him in the side and stabbed the radio once it hit the floor.

A magically-aided backhand sent another guard flying after she shielded herself from more attacks. Leaving her directly in front of the last guard who clearly did not expect this much from the woman. They both stared at each other before Sorena leaned forward, flailing her arms and shouting "Expelliarmus!" One arm actually managed to smack the weapon out of his hand.

The man was left looking at her with crazed eyes that could only be read as, "What the hell was that?" Sorena herself seemed rather surprised but nonetheless brought her arms around and pushed the man down onto the floor.

"I'll bring it back!" she yelled after breaking into a sprint. Running to the front entrance of the building she held her hand up to the glass doors, which creaked and shattered before her. Again she was enveloped in Sorena-colored smoke and flew out of the ruined entrance in the form of a raven, with a similar color scheme to the cat. She was outside of the city limits within minutes but did not stop flying until dawn, landing in a small clearing that was nestled in a thick forest against the mountains.

The early morning light warmed her body as she re-assumed human form. Sitting on a stone she produced the book from the magical pocket within her sleeve and opened it, eager to read it.

OOC: GODS that was long... I had fun though. Anyway, if you are thinking of joining do wait until Yoshimitsu posts.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Yoshimitsu crouched on the top of a building, watching as the events below him unfolded. It had been a simple matter of bargaining with a friend to acquire the scrying spell he was using, watching the scene in the library as it happened. One time only. That was a bit disappointing, he would have liked to have been able to use it a few more times. The feline creature he was watching was about as agile as a cat should be, graceful and elegant in her movements. Yoshimitsu winced as he saw the two guards get struck down. Poor men. The blue-haired teen only had limited sympathy, however. Guards did tend to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As the feline fled, Yoshimitsu stood up. His figure was not altogether that impressive. Standing at about six foot tall, with a slim physique. There was something undoubtedly attractive about him, his vibrant blue hair matching his eyes, his slightly pale skin. His attire was simple, a plain blue t-shirt with a low v-cut neckline that clung to his frame loosely, and darker jeans that were fading slightly, hanging from his hips and showing a glimpse of his white boxer shorts. Hanging at his waist, however, was a sword with a dragon head shaped hilt.

As the feline burst from the library, Yoshimitsu began to move. Even though he did not account for the shapeshift, it barely perturbed him. A lifeform was a lifeform, and he could track anything. With a mighty leap, he was on the rooftop of the next building, his eyes locked on the fleeing animal. As far as he could tell, its purpose was just to get as far away as possible. Yoshimitsu was not worried. Chasing it would be child's play. With small effort, he supressed his powers so that he would be undetectable to sensing, and followed the raven.

It was dawn by the time that he stopped. The pursuit had lead him to a forest adorning the base of a mountain. He felt a slight rush of nostalgia, not due to this particular forest but for hunting through woodland. He watched through the trees as the raven transformed again, into a human this time. It was the same human that had incapacitated the guards. Wondering silently whether this was the individual's true form, Yoshimitsu stopped just before the clearing.

"You're good, I'll give you that. Those guards really didn't stand a chance. It was kinda impressive, but not really," Yoshimitsu commented, his voice loud and clear. With no attempts to hide himself now, he stepped into the clearing with his eyes locked on the woman in front of him. "I've been following you for a while. Now, what could possibly be in that book that's interesting you so much?"

Yoshimitsu's posture was relaxed, as though he was talking to an old friend. His eyes told a different story. They burned with resolve and caution, flickering around the clearing for any anomalies.

"Of course, I could just skip the formalities."

 

[Sem]

Sorena's eyes flashed up from the text she was reading, staring at the young man that had appeared to her. Closing the book she listened to the boy speak with a content smile on her face.

"Of course, I could just skip the formalities."

"That would be quite rude of you," the witch observed, once again hiding the book within her sleeve. "Kids these days," she rolled her eyes as she leaned back on the rock, supporting herself with her arms. "No respect for their elders. My name is Sorena in case you're interested," the woman smiled rather sweetly. "I like your hair."

She sat silently for a moment, taking the time to actually observe the clearing she was in in a casual manner, twirling a lock of her on hair around her finger. "It's a nice day, isn't it?" She inhaled the pine scent of the forest deeply before speaking again.

"The book is extremely rare see, and the last time I had a copy in my possession it was taken from me before I could finish it. Rare enough that it has certain spells found no where else," she stood, pacing around the cleaning. "I don't see any harm in reading it, though admittedly most of them are now illegal..." she said under her breath. "And I'll tell you exactly what I told them!" she stopped and wagged a finger at him. "I'll bring it back."

Silent again she looked at the grass and the trees and even peered at the mountains behind them. "Gods, I did pick a nice place to read a book." Twirling around once on the pointed heel of her boot she stopped and faced the young man. "What's it to you anyway, boy?" she inquired. "Why do you care that I have the book?" Sorena put her hands on her hips. "I'll let you read it when I'm done if that's what you want." She started to walk away before stopping, putting her hands to her hips again. "Why are you following me anyway?" the witch asked with a raised eyebrow. "I haven't had a stalker in forever, I'm quite flattered actually," she sighed.

Taking her seat again on the boulder she folded her hands in her lap. "And skip formalities for what? Some self-righteous duty to give the book back?" Her smile turned rather wicked. "Seeing as it's nowhere within your reach you'd have to hurt me to get it; you wouldn't hurt an older woman would you?"

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"Looks can, and regularly are, deceiving," Yoshimitsu replied. "I'm just an eighteen year old kid, what threat do I pose to someone so able with magic?"

His tone was borderline mocking. There was a dangerous glint in his eye, one that gave away his next move before he made it. The movement was remarkably subtle, little more than a flick of the wrist hanging at his side. However, the result was much less so. A ring of fire spread along the ground around the outside of the clearing, flames rising high against the trees and threatening to start a widespread blaze.

"I don't actually care about the book. I was just being polite," Yoshimitsu commented conversationally. "I'm easily more interested in you. It's been a while since I had a decent, life-risking fight. You're the first person in a while who I've actually been able to sense." Yoshimitsu paused, his index finger running over the hilt of the sword.

"What d'you reckon?" Yoshimitsu asked. "Fancy a brawl?"

 

[Sem]

"Hnn," Sorena pondered, not particularly bothered by the dangerous ring of fire. A life-risking brawl did sound fun, and if anything did go wrong she could simply send Sem on another fetch quest. "I accept."

She stood, dusting off her dress and rolling her shoulders. Her sword slid out of her sleeve and in her hand, and she stood with one hand on her hip. "Course considering you haven't given me a name I'm still under the impression that you're very rude, so allow me to say it; ladies first."

Jumping back onto the rock she stood twirling her blade. In an instant the ring of fire retracted, centering in on Yoshimitsu's position.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"Not bad," Yoshimitsu said. Almost too fast for the eye to follow, his sword was out of its sheath and whistling through the air. The force of the swing was more than enough to cut through and disperse the flames, leaving him unscathed though slightly warmer than he had been second ago. With a smirk, Yoshimitsu raised his blade slightly.

"Yoshimitsu," he said simply, running at his opponent with more speed than should be possible for a human. With a powerful strike, he sliced through the rock that Sorena was stood on, then turned and thrust his palm at it, sending a burst of heat. The rock exploded violently, sending chunks of rapidly melting stone in all directions.

 

[Sem]

Sorena teetered on her heals as Yoshimitsu cut through the rock on which she stood with his sword. She really didn't expect him to be that fast, but she was fast too, though not nearly as. Stepping to one side of the she jumped up into the air and twirled, just barely avoiding being hit by magma. An enchantment in her boots activated and she found herself hovering above and behind the young man.

"That was a perfectly good stone you know!" she shouted. Looking around she realized that it had been a perfectly good clearing too; though now singed black. Lightning surged and flowed from arm to arm and she continued hovering back. The witch focused all of it into the index finger of her free hand and shot it at Yoshi.

 

[Chadwyck]

A crack escaped as lightning sliced through the air, as it flew toward it's target, the energy redirected and struck a tree lining the clearing. The force of the attack caused the tree to splinter into tiny fragments. Standing just behind where the tree had just been seconds before was a man about six feet tall. On his left arm, up to about his elbow was a black gauntlet, the fingers of the gauntlet extended into knife like claws, and at the moment it was surrounded with a blue aura as sparks leapt off of it.

The man stepped out into the clearing. He was dressed in a black dress shirt, the sleeves were rolled up past his elbows and the stitching was white. He also had faded black jeans, and boots that were faded from wear. Over his Hazel eyes he had black-rimmed eyeglasses that reflected the sunlight, he reached up and flicked a piece of dark brown hair out of his eyes that was just barely long enough to be annoying.

The most noticeable thing about him, other than the gauntlet that it was now evident was grafted to his arm, was the silver sword strapped on his back. It was almost as long as he was tall, and about a foot wide. Even though it appeared his musculature was average, it was apparent he had no trouble carrying the massive thing.

His right hand was relaxed in his pocket. "That attack was more powerful than I had expected, that poor tree didn't stand a chance. Of course, redirecting it was easy, just a matter of some simple electrokinesis. It was drawn to the tree like a lightning rod." He smiled as he looked to the two fighters in the clearing, "You two are making quite a racket. I heard it from my camp at the base of the mountain, and it sounded like it might be fun, so I thought I'd join in. You're obviously stronger than most of the rabble out there, and it's been too long since I've had a fight even worth mentioning."

He started to reach up for the hilt of his sword with his right hand, but he stopped momentarily, "I think I'll start off with something different," He muttered and then dropped his hand to his side, "My name is Chadwyck, by the way. I didn't catch yours." He chuckled as he rushed forward and jumped, far higher and faster than an average person should be able to. He twisted in the air and threw his hands forward. As he did so a ball of fire shot toward the ground, and when it made contact, it spread out in a wave of flames that erupted in a ring shape from the center of the clearing.

 

[Sem]

"See?!" Sorena yelled after landing on the ground, pointing at Chadwyck while looking at Yoshimitsu. "Why can't you be polite like him?"

The witch watched as the newcomer launched himself up into the air and created another ring of fire. She continued walking, raising her free arm up into the air. Flames blew around an invisible shield that surrounded the woman; the fire directly touching the shield turned blue as it was directed around her.

"I'm Sorena by the way!" she informed Chadwyck with a wave. "And this field is now sufficiently black..."

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"Yoshimitsu," Yoshimitsu said again, slicing the fire as it came close to him. The flames, rather than incinerating him, split off to either side, not a single ember touching the teenager.

"And that's a common side effect of any area where I fight in. It all gets ruined, and quickly," Yoshimitsu continued, holding his relaxed stance. "So, Chadwyck eh... Three super powered people fighting in a forest. I give it ten minutes before the entire place gets ruined and we start on the mountain instead."

Yoshimitsu jumped back, out of the clearing and into the surrounding forest. He was just far out enough that he was invisible to the other two, but not so far that he could no longer see his opponents. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he started moving, running through the trees and up to the branches, keeping himself off a steady path and changing his speed rapidly. As he ran, he pointed his palm inwards towards the clearing and fired a series of beams, each one of a different element.

 

[Sem]

Most gracefully, Sorena jumped from side to side, front and back, to avoid being hit from the beams that were fired from within the forest.

Standing on the charred grass, she began moving her arms rhythmically, mouth moving soundlessly as blue magic surrounded her sword before turning green and then fading away all together.

At once the forest came alive.

Branches moved and vines writhed, bushes grew. Even new grass came in under her feat, wild and untamed. Bark groaned as it grew rapidly and roots tore at the ground, snaking upwards into the air. "Ready or not, here I come!" Sorena shouted, as if they actually were only playing hide and seek. With that she rushed into the forest, with the speed of a gold-winning Olympic runner and the agile-grace of a famous dancer; she left Chadwyck to deal with the raging grass of the field.

Her sword seemed to glow faintly even in the darkened environment of the forest. The spell she had used would make the forest seek to trap any person who was considered her enemy. "Let's see how resourceful you are, blue-boy," she murmured with a grin as she jumped off of a branch.

 

[Chadwyck]

Chadwyck created a shield of fire around himself as he side-stepped the various beams being fired from within the forest, he stuck close to the ground so he could quickly change directions.

Chadwyck watched as the forest came alive in front of his eyes, the grass around his feet began to intwine itself around his legs.

"Ready or not, here I come!" He heard Sorena shout before she disappeared into the forest after Yoshimitsu.

"That's a nice trick." Chadwyck said with a slight smirk, his muscles flexed as he concentrated for a moment, a burst of flames erupted from his core and the grass that was attempting to ensnare him turned to ashes. However, the grass was only the first part of the attack.

The field was growing rapidly, vines and roots were bursting from the ground, and they were seeking to coil around him as though they were pythons. He pointed the index finger of his gauntleted hand and proceeded to fire small balls of fire at the rapidly approaching foliage. The were faster than he assumed, and more were growing every second. "Pfft, I've had just about enough of this." He reached up and drew his sword in a fluid motion with his right hand. Sunlight danced across the polished, silver blade, the sword had black flames emblazoned down the flat edge.

He quickly went to work, slicing through vines and roots as they rushed toward him. They were attacking from all sides, he twisted and slashed, barely keeping them back. He leapt up again to get out of a thicket of vines that were encircling him, he landed at the opposite end of the clearing, the grass immediately turned toward him again. "All right, that's enough." He stated, obviously annoyed. He held out his free hand and a mass of lightning leapt from his palm, the mass of foliage blackened and charred before crashing to the Earth in a heap of fried plants.

"I've half a mind to burn this forest to the ground after that stunt. I'm not going to get anywhere waiting here, it's only a matter of time before they grow back." He said before he turned and noticed the trees around the edge of the clearing looked much more ominous than before. He raised his sword and sliced through the nearest tree, leaping through the opening before some new plant could take it's place. He narrowly avoided branches that reached out for him, "It's like a bad horror movie in here." He sighed as a vine wrapped around his ankle. Irritated, he set the tree the vine originated from ablaze with a ball of fire.

"Oh, Sorena! Yoshimitsu! Here I come." He called into the dark forest with a mocking sing-song voice.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Sorena's voice, despite being quiet, carried to Yoshimitsu as he swung through the trees. Swinging gracefully around a branch and jumping to the next tree, Yoshimitsu kept his eyes open and alert for the next hostile plant to attack him.

"Resourceful doesn't come into it, this is all about movement," he replied as he jumped from his tree and landed back at ground level. A vine shot out at him like a violent snake, but missed his shoulder by inches and speared itself into a tree instead. Yoshimitsu took that as his cue to move again, and was back at tree top level in seconds. He had noticed, so far, that the plant life was trying to ensnare him instead of kill him. With no intention of letting that happen, he shot to the next tree like a bullet.

Mid-jump, a branch came out of nowhere and shoved itself through Yoshimitsu's shoulder. With a grunt of pain, Yoshimitsu sliced through the branch and shot into the sky, our of the forest but into plain view. He was an easy target, but all he needed was a few moments. With another grunt, he tore the branch from his shoulder. Green sparks started to play over the cut, sealing it cleanly as he hovered above the forest.

"Where are you..." He muttered to himself. Looking for his opponents in the forest was futile. The plants were too alive and active for him to notice any more sinister movement. Instead, he chose to leave himself exposed. Any attack, he would be ready to counter.

 

[Sem]

"Heh," Sorena breathed, jumping from a lower branch to the ground. Still moving, she caught glimpses of her opponent above the forest, watching carefully.

"This might be cheating, but here it goes," she thought to herself with an amused smile.

Stopping behind a tree, she made sure she was out of Yoshimitsu's line of sight. Gripping her sword, she moved her arms, gathering the magical energy of the forest and focusing it into a few trees directly under the teenager, causing the rest of the plants to calm down and return to the way they were. The huddle of still-magical trees under the boy shot their branches up at him at an alarming speed, the amount of magic in them allowed the length of the branches to extend until they could reach him.

With a smirk the woman then vanished in a wisp of Sorena-colored smoke. She reappeared not even a second later behind Yoshi in the air and slashing her sword at him.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Yoshimitsu's gaze froze. The forest below him had stopped moving. All of it, suddenly stopped. A frown formed on his face as he tried to figure out any possible reason to stop this leafy assault. As soon as he came to a conclusion, he moved and not a moment too soon. With a mightly mid-air leap, he jumped out of the way of both a sword and a multitude of vines that were ready to tear him to ribbons. Spinning in the air, he thrust his palm at Sorena and fired a concentrated beam of ice energy. If nothing else, it would freeze the vines and prevent any further pursuit from them.

"Shit, you're not bad," Yoshimitsu muttered, twirling in the air gracefully, his sword whistling faintly as he moved. Somewhere below him, the other fighter was still there. Not wanting to get caught by surprise again, he formulated a new plan.

"Okay, sure, you're not bad in a fight," he commented cockily. "But how fast are you?"

 

[Sem]

Sorena felt the ice beam chill her body as it send her flying back down towards the forest. On instinct she activated a spell that made her body heat up rapidly, stopping any ice from encasing her. Landing in the branches of of a taller tree.

"Oi," she groaned as melted ice sizzled off of her. After adjusting her hat she magically lifted herself out of the tree, supporting herself in the air. The witch rose up to Yoshimitsu's level, dusting off her dress and pulling leaves out of her hair. With a dismissing wave of her free hand she allowed the rest of the forest to go back to the way it was, lifting her spell. She wondered briefly where Chadwyck was and hoped that he wasn't out of the game already.

"You're not bad either, dear," she replied, rolling her shoulders. "And not as fast as you; but go easy on me," she grinned. "I'm old." With a snap of her fingers a spell was cast on her that doubled her speed, which was already at the human limit. The fact that she cast it so quickly really meant it was only a one-time only boost, but it worked all the same. Sorena rushed at Yoshimitsu and swung at him again with her sword.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

The increase of speed took Yoshimitsu by surprise, but not so much that he was defenseless. With an almost casual movement, his sword met Sorena's with an echoing clang. In one forceful movement, Yoshimitsu threw Sorena's sword away from him and spun his sword in a wide horizontal arch. This would hopefully give him exactly the advantage he needed.

"Catch me if you can," he challenged with a cheeky wink, before turning and apparently vanishing. The speed at which he was moving made him almost invisible, a blur against the sky as he made his way to and up the mountain. As he passed the rocky surface, he noted the vast quantity of caves, alcoves, hiding places. He weaved around the cliffs that jutted out of the mountain, up and down through the cracks and crevices, taking note of every potential area for the fight.

"This seems like a good spot," he commented conversationally, stopping on a sizeable flat patch of stone. It was at least as big as the clearing, though the ground was uneven and littered with stones. Yoshimitsu waited for a moment to see if they would follow.

 

[Sem]

Sorena wrinkled her nose, watching the blur with her eyes and following right after him at her own pace. She too noted what advantages the mountain could give for the fight. As soon as Yoshimitsu was within her line of site, having stopped at a new location, she vanished again, wisps of smoke flowing outward in her wake.

The woman reappeared across from Yoshimitsu in a burst of the same smoke, revealing her form once it cleared. "Take me by the arm next time; we'll get wherever we're going quicker," she suggested, playing twirling another lock of hair around an index finger. Twirling her sword, her pointed heels clicked together as she stood waiting for the boy's next move with a hand on her hip.

 

[Kalseng]

The teen's amber eyes were carefully watching the battle, disguising his power level as he hid behind the rocky outcrop. Landric was hard to hide, but this was apparently doing the job. Landric measured in at about 6' 3", with a broad frame and toned muscles. His brown hair was kept nice and short to avoid any vision interference, and was always well kept. Landric watched the battle unfold until the two main battlers stood still, and Landric took his turn.

The man began glowing a faint brown, unlocking his powers and revealing his power level. The man exploded the dust and dirt on the ground around him, creating a smokescreen of sorts. He stepped out near the pair, and Landric revealed his figure completely.

He was wearing a white, long-sleeve shirt and thick, brown jeans. Strapped to his arms were pair of iron bracers to save his sword arms, along with some iron chest armor across his torso. Similarly, he was wearing leg bracers of a similar metal. Strapped to his back was a long claymore, coming to about five feet and a good foot wide. Slung in a scabbard at his side was a more slender bastard sword, which was strapped in. Landric unsheathed the large claymore, holding it with two hands as he approached the other two.

"My name is Landric, of the Terra Knights," the teen said, looking the pair over. "I'd be pleased to know yours," He bowed to the woman after this, and gave a brief nod to the boy. His gaze lingered slightly longer on the male. "And I'd be especially pleased to get my hands on that book of yours." Without warning, Landric stomped on the ground with his right foot, and two blunt columns of earth shot up from the ground. Both were aimed towards the woman and the man, attempting to strike from behind and send them to the ground or stun them.

 

[Chadwyck]

Chadwyck shook loose some bothersome twigs that were stuck in his hair. "Damned forest." He mumbled after the trees had stopped moving. He leapt up into the top of a tree, and followed Yoshimitsu and Sorena's brief fight in the air with his eyes. Yoshimitsu disappeared, becoming nothing but a blur. No matter, Chadwyck thought, I'll just follow Sorena.

Sorena followed after Yoshimitsu, she was fast, but not nearly as much so as Yoshimitsu. The mountain was filled with places to continue the fight, should the need arise. Chadwyck got a good view of them as he followed Sorena by leaping from rock to rock up the mountain side.

Sorena and Yoshimitsu were standing off at a large, uneven area that was about the same size as the clearing. Before he had a chance to jump back into the fray, a new fighter appeared. He said his name was Landric, before attempting to strike the others from behind with pillars of earth. Chadwyck decided to ignore the pillars of earth and let them deal with the attack themselves. He was interested in finding out who this new fighter was. Almost at the same instant that Landric launched his attack, Chadwyck leapt up, his sword was encased in flames. "What? Am I not special enough for you?" He shouted as he swung his sword downward, as it made impact with the ground, three streaks of flames raced along the ground, spreading out from the point of impact.

As they came closer to Landric, the flames began to close in from three different directions, each of them was like a snake coming in to strike at him. "And even though you didn't ask, my name is Chadwyck." He said as he slung his sword up onto his shoulder and dashed after his flames to follow up with a close ranged attack.

 

[Sem]

Sorena took note of the unnatural movement of the dust, as well as the rugged look of this new teenager who presented himself as Landric. "Earth elemental?" she pondered to herself. She was about to give him her name when she felt the brief movement of earth beneath her. Quickly, she jumped back and found herself being carried up by the spire. The woman teetered on the edge, waving her arms to gain balance.

"Thanks for the bow, knight, but it's also proper to wait for me to answer before trying to make me eat dirt," she snickered lightly. Still on the end of the newly created spire, she curtsied before giving the newcomer her his name, though he was obviously now preoccupied with Chadwyck who had caught up with them; Sorena waved at him when she noticed him.

Looking around from atop her perch she folded her free hand over the one that gripped her weapon. "You know?" she asked aloud, to no one in particular, but loud enough for any of the three to hear her if they wished. "There's a particular smell in the air," she sniffed, looking around and then at the three males. Her voice fell into a whisper, as if she were speaking to someone very close to her. "It's testosterone, really," she nodded. "Things are bound to get intense, but allow me the favor."

The woman began to float off of the stone, rising up and away from the group. Her form spun around absentmindedly while she said, "Now that we've got a nice little group we should really have some fun." Before she even finished speaking a very faint, clear ring of runes appeared around her body and spun as she began to wave her sword and moved her lips. More runes appeared and rotating opposite of the main ring, making the whole thing look like the inner-workings of some machine.

A light gust of wind blew through the clearing.

Then, out of nowhere, on a clear day, a spiral of cloud touched down in the center of the rocky place, turning into a very large tornado in a matter of seconds. The diameter grew to quickly take up the whole area that Yoshi had found, and the wind lashed at everything around it, picking up stones and debris. Sorena clenched her fists, and a great and powerful howl cut through the growing noise. The tornado spun faster, generating more powerful winds and picking up even boulders. The ground beneath it cracked and the earth shuddered, moaning against the elemental attack.

"Watch out for cows!" she yelled.

Sorena herself hovered in the center of her creation, hands burning with the almost transparent wind magic. Being a witch that practiced weather magic originally, she was best with any kind of weather phenomena, and did not hesitate to show it with this high-class ruin spell.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"Looks like I still have as much of an impact as ever," Yoshimitsu commented, swinging his blade round as he spun on the spot, cleaving straight through the incoming stone. Just as he was about to counter attack, Chadwyck arrived back on the scene and attacked the newcomer. With a slight grin, the blue haired teenager allowed himself a second to observe the action. Chadwyck was, apparently, using some kind of fire manipulation to assault the new opponent. Rather than attack Sorena again, or join the brawl about to start, he slapped the ground then vanished again.

 

[Kalseng]

Landric looked at the two incoming attacks, and figured a strategy. He stomped on the ground again, and a round platform of earth underneath him shot into the air quickly, the fire passing underneath him harmlessly. As Sorena kicked up the wind, Landric let go of his claymore with his left hand, and brushed his right arm. A series of runic patterns underneath his shirt began to glow through, the same shade of brown that Landric himself was glowing before.

"Vengeful Child!" Landric shouted over the wind. As his feet left the ground, dust and small rocks near him floated upwards and began to twists and consort until it formed a cross-shaped round pillar of earth, a brown glow covering it. The wind almost stopped instantly, the magic in it draining directly out of it and flying straight into the pillar, where the attack ended for good. The pillar seemed to momentarily ripple, and then faded completely from sight, disappearing entirely. Landric felt himself drop to the ground, no wind pulling him up. The earth he stood on was still floating in the air, and Landric stomped down again. The earth kicked down slightly, before splitting into two pieces, the top carrying Landric, the bottom detaching and flying of towards Chadwyck.

"Sorena, ma'am?" Landric asked. "You'll have to try a bit harder, honestly."

 

[Sem]

"Sorena, ma'am, you'll have to try a bit harder, honestly," Sorena repeated in a childish tone. "Who does he think he is?" she hissed to herself as she leered out from under her hat at Landric and Chadwyck; Yoshimitsu had vanished off somewhere. "So much for my high class ruin spell..."

Quickly, the woman ran through a list of options in her head. The first and foremost being to only attack with magic that was too quick for Landric to crucify, but she refused to let him limit her like that. The second option being to set up a temporary guard that would make her magic attacks very hard to absorb. It could still be done, but would take so much longer with the guard fighting against it that it would be unwise to do. She liked that idea.

"Brb, as the kids say!" Sorena chimed before vanishing as well from where she stood. She reappeared not far off from where she was, though made sure she was out of sight from the clearing. "Bloody Landric," she muttered as she stirred the air in front of her with her sword. "What's with all his high and mighty speech, anyway? Honestly," she spat. "I'll teach him a thing or two about magic," she continued as she finished her sword motions. A set of symbols spun in the air before her. "He can take his rocks and shove them-" Her English rambling turned into an arcane and ancient chanting that even the majority of magicians did not speak anymore.

The runes turned from glowing white to sapphire blue; the color of Sorena's own raw magic. The set of symbols dispersed and revolved around the witch in a variety of orbits. After a moment they all stopped suddenly, and were blown away on the breeze as if they were mounds of fine dust. "Hm," she nodded in approval.

Sorena reappeared at the clearing. "Let's try that again!" she shouted as she hovered. "I'm being really petty right now, so forgive me." Once again the same runes from before circled her and within moments the tornado was back, this time her magical guard in place.

 

[Chadwyck]

Chadwyck stopped rushing forward when he saw Landric shoot up into the air. He grunted in disapproval as he watched his fire attack miss its target and struck a large rock that was in its path. Chadwyck watched the explosion of molten rock with a satisfactory smirk, at least something had been blown up. It wouldn't have been much fun if it had hit Landric too early, anyway.

Before he had a chance to even think about a follow up attack, Sorena's spell was cast. The wind picked up, and within seconds the tornado was devouring everything within the area. Chadwyck clasped his sword onto his back once more, and he held his arms out in front of him with his elbows bent at ninety-degree angles with his palms facing up toward the sky. The space immediately in front of him began to glow blue, an electrostatic cloud was forming. Small bolts of lightning-like energy could be seen within the cloud.

"Vengeful Child!" He heard Landric suddenly shout.

Chadwyck jumped back as a new pillar of earth erupted from beneath Landric. Chadwyck's electrokinetic spell dispersed as he evaded. As suddenly as it had appeared, Sorena's spell was now gone. Chadwyck instinctively drew his blade once more, "Did he just absorb that tornado into a big-arse rock?" He mumbled to himself. He looked up at Landric and saw his next attack, he had sent a piece of the pillar straight for him. "Oh, look, another big-arse rock." His right arm flexed as he leapt toward the incoming projectile, his sword began to glow a hot red as he flew through the air.

With an expertly timed twist, he was running along the hunk of earth; dragging his sword behind him as it sliced through the rock as if it were nothing but a stick of butter. The area that had been in direct contact with the sword was glowing from heat, and as he reached the end of the pillar, he jumped toward Landric.

Sorena had disappeared some time ago, but managed to reappear just in time to interrupt Chadwyck's attack again. Without many other options to choose from, Chadwyck kicked off of the floating earth that was holding Landric, in the direction of Sorena. He created an electromagnetic field around himself with a small effort of will. He used the energy to propel himself through the air, and it had dramatically increased his speed, while rendering gravity's effect on him virtually useless. "You know, I really hate being interrupted." He stated as the wind began to pick up again, it tore into him as it passed, several fragments of his shirt were torn. However, he was soon beside Sorena in the eye of the storm.

"Oh, my. It's getting awfully drafty around here." He said sarcastically as he flew up beside her, lightning infused his gauntlet's claws as he attempted to stab them into Sorena.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Yoshimitsu grinned. With the three combatants, this was almost too easy. Nothing had come to pursue him so far, and at this rate he doubted that anything would. In actual fact, he was not that far from the arena they had been fighting at, barely a hundred meters away. As he ran, a disc followed him. The disc looked highly unusual. It had no shape to speak of, nor did it seem to have any substance. However, it was displaying an image. It was the three combatants, seen from above. The blue haired teenager kept an eye on the scene at all times as he apparently defied all gravity, hovering well below the arena next to the rocky wall.

"This spot here, I think," Yoshimitsu muttered, placing his palm on the rock face. He spared a glane to the disc following him, then twisted in the air to kick off from the rock face. The mountain was easily the ideal place for him right now. The sheer number of nooks and crannies for him to hide in were perfect. As he looked around, he noticed another crack in the rocks, easily big enough for three people. With a graceful mid-air leap he shot off towards it, skidding to a halt just in front. Again, he placed his palm on the stone and left.

"Maybe I'm too harsh on him," Yoshimitsu mused. "This is probably a really effective way to fight. Shame it wouldn't work in a normal fight."

The blue haired teenager launched himself into the air, flying upwards like a bullet but with the elegance of a swan. The disc behind him slowly faded until it vanished entirely. There was no need for it any more, since he was about to re-enter the fray.

 

[Sem]

"Mmhm!" Sorena nodded. "I think I left the window open!"

She spun, blocking the claws with her sword and flying back. The blade of her weapon began to glow a bright blue; she slashed at the air, sending a sickle-like wave of raw magic back at Chawyck.

 

[Chadwyck]

Chadwyck avoided the incoming wave by quickly moving to the side with a mid-air side flip, clasping his sword in place on his back once again. He raised his hands above his head and pressed them together, then he flipped forward bringing his arms downward as he did so. A crescent shaped bolt of electricity formed along the path his hands fell, and was launched towards Sorena. As Chadwyck continued to spin forward, he created an identical crescent shaped burst of fire that formed along the path his legs followed as he spun.

He stopped once he completed a single rotation, then he extended both of his hands in front of him, and released multiple balls of energy that scattered around the eye of the storm. They were, essentially, explosions waiting to explode. The force of the explosion was sealed within a sphere of energy condensed into prisons holding back the force within. Any moment Sorena, or anyone else for that matter, came too close to one, Chadwyck could remove the sphere and watch the fireworks, so to speak; his own take on proximity mines. "Do watch your step, miss." Chadwyck wore a smile on his face, but something darker was in his eyes.

 

[Sem]

Sorena spun into another slash, launching another wave of magic at the incoming electricity, though giving only only barely enough time to duck below the fire. The witch wimped when it caught the tip of her hat, pinching out the flame as Chadwyck set up mines about the tornado.

"Oh, you're such a gentleman," Sorena mock-teased. Thinking to herself, she knew he must be diverting some of his focus to keep the explosions in. Grinning, she rushed up at him, bringing her sword straight down onto him when she was high enough. Using the momentum, which she gained whether he blocked or not, to flip herself over so that she was directly above him. The woman kicked down with her pointed-heel boot towards his head. A stun spell activated within the boot, which would stun the young man for a second or two if she managed to spike him.

 

[Chadwyck]

Chadwyck moved back, the tip of Sorena's sword barely caught him and sliced a button off of his shirt. He was too preoccupied to notice the next part of Sorena's attack, and he was sent flying toward the earth. All of his thoughts became cloudy causing him to no longer be able to focus on the numerous spheres, each of them were set off and explosions filled the area directly around each sphere.

Chadwyck picked himself up off of the ground and shook his head to clear his thoughts. "I really liked this shirt," He said with a disapproving frown. "Fine, let's see you deal with this." He cracked his neck and looked up at Sorena, He pointed the index finger of his right hand at her like it was a gun. "Bang." He said as a small, glowing ball of blue energy shot out of his finger.

It continuously expanded as it flew toward Sorena. He pointed the index finger of his left hand at her in the same way, "Boom." A beam of orange light shot out and caught up to the now fairly large ball of lightning. It pierced into the center of the ball before it infused itself into the lightning, the ball became a blend of orange and blue, and as it drew near Sorena it exploded into a flurry of purple lightning bolts poised to strike Sorena a hundred times.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"Shame you don't cover your back nearly as well."

Yoshimitsu's voice came out of nowhere, and his body soon followed. It was time, he decided, to show just how fast he was. While the air behind Chadwyck had been most still and clear only seconds ago, now it was occupied by the blue haired teeanger holding his sword and ready to strike. With a solid, swift movement, he swung his sword in a wide arc, trying to slice Chadwyck's head clean off.

 

[Chadwyck]

Chadwyck impulsively spun round, sparks leapt off of his gauntlet as he barely managed to use it knock away Yoshimitsu's sword, while simultaneously thrusting his palm toward his blue haired opponent's stomach, with no time to draw his own sword, the next best option was to use another fire spell. If nothing else it would buy him a few seconds.

"That was too close. For. Comfort!" He grunted out the last two words as an explosion formed in his palm, the force of the explosion would blow any normal person apart, but it would probably only manage to separate Yoshimitsu's legs from his torso if it made contact.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

As soon as his sword was knocked away, Yoshimitsu jumped back. A counter attack was expected, inevitable really, so he already knew that staying too close to anyone this fight was a stupid move. He was right. Chadwyck had already started to retaliate with some kind of fire attack. The blue hair teenager, now stood ten meters away, just stood there with a confident expression on his face.

"You're not fast enough yet," he taunted, shifting his grip on his sword. He charged at Chadwyck, raising his blade, but at the last minute he vanished. In the blink of an eye, he had looped around Chadwyck and was coming from the side instead, throwing a powerful punch aimed at Chadwyck's head.

 

[Chadwyck]

Yoshimitsu did just as expected, he stood a little ways away from Chadwyck after avoiding the explosion. "Or maybe you're just too fast." Chadwyck replied drawing his own sword, "But that can change. How fast do you think you can move without legs?" He held his blade at the ready as Yoshimitsu charged foward, he lunged at him before he vanished.

He didn't see the punch coming in time, he attempted to move back, but only lessened the impact of the punch causing him to slide back a few meters. "Damn, you are too fast." He began to levitate only inches above the ground, creating and altering another electromagnetic field around himself, he seemed to glow as he continued to increase the power of the field. He flew forward, his speed had increased dramatically, he just hoped it'd be enough. Chadwyck brought down his sword in an overhead swung, looking to cleave Yoshimitsu in twain.

 

[Sem]

The twister lit up brilliantly from the inside and a mighty boom sounded. The resulting explosions from the connection of her kick with Chad's head was something Sorena had anticipated. She spun once, waving her sword hand around herself, creating a magical bubble to protect herself.

Flying back, she also drew a circle in the air at the incoming ball of energy. Sorena twirled and pushed against the circle with the palm of her other hand, sending it at the sphere. She did not expect the second attack though, nor did she expect it to hit the ball and cause it to burst into countless bolts of lightning that arced safely around the disk she had created and straight towards her.

"Oh, fffff-" was all she could manage. She thrust her sword at the incoming lightning; knowing it would absorb much of the energy. Her body convulsed as the electricity overflowed out of her weapon and into her body. Her body itself could absorb weaker energies, (due to insane and quite frankly suicidal spells she cast on herself years ago.) though she doubted that it was helping much if at all. She gritted her teeth in pain, her eyes squeezed shut as her form lit up like a light bulb. Her control on the tornado failed and it faded away as if having never been there; of course, the ground was totally ruined and there was debris everywhere.

And the attack finished as soon as it began, leaving a dizzy Sorena wavering like a drunkard, only, a flying drunkard. Smoke hissed as it came off of her body and her hair was now even more wild and crazy. The woman held a hand to her head as she fought for control over her senses. Once she had that she put out the various fires that had started on her and fixed her hair. "I feel a little energized..." Sorena muttered as she adjusted her hat. "So wasn't worth it though."

Her sword was glowing like mad with the extra power inside it. Grinning, she flew down at Chad, converting the electrical energy in the blade into her own magic and sent the powerful burst right back at the boy with a swing. Still flying, she turned slightly towards Yoshimitsu and swung her leg at his head, a magical burst was waiting to be unleashed if her kick hit.

 

[Kalseng]

The tornado roared at Landric, the blue seal quickly identified as a magical guard. In a flash, Landric was practically absorbed into the ground beneath him, rocks moving like liquid and wrapping around him until he was dragged under, safe. Landric found himself in a pitchblack cave with oxygen sucked up when he was. The wind echoed loudly overhead, and Landric calmed himself down, to slow his breathing.The wind was loud and overbearing, until it slowly fizzled out, calming. Landric made his move.

The teenager shot out of the ground like a teenager-shaped ground bullet. As he flew above the ground, his arm shot towards the ground, and pebbles from all over flew to his limb, completely covering it in a coil pattern. Landric hit the ground softly, and pointed his arm up towards Sorena. He pointed his hand, the fingers straightened and pointing outwards, directly at the witch.

A concentrated burst of his earth-based magic exploded underneath pebble after pebble, the coil sliding up his arm and twisting to the tip of his middle finger, rock after rock flying about as fast as a minute gun, wildly shooting in Sorena's direction. Any other casualties were sad, but unavoidable. He needed that book.

He needed it.

As a side note, he'd try and not hit the attractive, blue-haired teenager's face. Just as a side objective.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

Yoshimitsu grinned. This was the challenge he was looking for. With surprising strength for someone his size, he threw his sword up and blocked the incoming vertical slash from Chadwyck, the impact of the strike sending a shockwave into the ground that caused it to crack and explode violently. With a simple shift of his stance, he sent Chadwyck flying past him as his sword slide from the blue haired teenager's blade. As soon as he had done so, he spun into a slash that caused Sorena's converted attack to split and dissipate into nothing. The incoming kick, however, caught him by surprise. Even thought he threw up his sword in defense, the magical impact threw his guard down and the kick still connected with his jaw, sending him staggering to the side.

"Ahaaa, here we go," Yoshimitsu said, rubbing his jaw. As far as he could tell, it was not broken. Rather than enter the fray in hand to hand again, he jumped back and sheathed his sword, placing his hands on the ground below him.

"Let's see how you handle this one, then," he challenged, his hands glowing a violent red. Barely a second passed. The entire arena seemed to explode. Cracks appeared, criss-crossing and spreading across the rock as though it was glass. From the cracks, a burning inferno blasted upwards, sending chunks of fire, rock and magma flying in every direction except Yoshimitsu's. With a smirk, Yoshimitsu stood up and unsheathed his sword again, getting ready for the next attempt to injure him.

 

[Chadwyck]

Chadwyck didn't expect Yoshimitsu to block his attack, let alone move just enough to send him flying past his intended target. Chadwyck skid to a halt, even though his feet weren't touching the ground dust arose as he stopped his forward momentum.

Yoshimitsu's attack also caught him off guard, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. The earth rumbled and cracked, and fire, magma, and rock erupted from beneath the fighters, Chadwyck smirked as he held out his free hand, and raised himself higher up off of the ground. Immediately, all of the fire coming up from the earth was drawn to him, a giant ball was formed. "Right back at'cha, Yoshimitsu!" He shouted as he sent the miniature sun hurling at Yoshimitsu at blinding speed.

 

[Sem]

Sorena's eyes turned into a glare as they shifted towards Landric. She threw her sword upwards, catching it with her right hand and held her left hand before her, a blue gem on her finger glistened. The incoming rocks hit an invisible wall, each impact sent out blue ripples along the shield. The woman sneered at him when the pebbles had finished their assault. "Maybe next time, dear!" she waved at him.

Then the ground the exploded.

Sorena kicked off the ground, flying up from the heat and stones and the lava. Breathing in she summoned more of her weather magic, spinning on the toe of her boot as if still on the ground. Pointing her palms at the ground, she exhaled, swirls of magic swam around her hands. It got cold very quickly, and then it got REALLY cold. The fire was being called away from everything else, so the witch just focused on the stones and the magma. The ground super-cooled rapidly, ice spreading along it, freezing the lava and rocks in place, creating a strange visual.

Her form descended and the moment her toe touched the ground the ice shattered everywhere, floating up in to the air. Then with a wave the shards rushed at each other, forming a super condensed sphere which she proceeded to blast at Landric at an obscene speed.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

"Oh, nifty," Yoshimitsu commented, watching the incoming attack. "You do what I do, that's pretty cool."

However, the attack did not hit its intended target. The patch of ground Yoshimitsu tapped earlier suddenly exploded, throwing more rock into the air. Out of that patch of rock, a tendril of pure white shot out like a lightning bolt. It cut through the ball of flames easily, causing it to explode and dissipate into nothing. The tendril of white stayed in place, swaying like a tentacle. As it did, more tendrils exploded out of the mountain side, more blades of pure white extending out of the rock and stone.

"I betcha wondered what I was doing while I wasn't around, didn't ya?" Yoshimitsu taunted, flourishing his sword. "It's a neat trick I picked up. I can discharge some elements into a surface, and they act as my shield. It's no good in one-on-one combat because it's a dick to set up, but with all three of you... It was just too easy. No ranged attack will hit me now. Those things can extend indefinitely and absorb pretty much any element. Unless you overcharge them, which takes a fuckin' lot, they'll stay right where they are."

The ground froze over.

"Are you a weather witch?" Yoshimitsu asked Sorena, shifting his grip on his sword again. Almost without warning he shot through the air, his feet not even touching the ground, the ice not hindering him at all as he moved. He darted gracefully between the shards of ice that were sent at Landric, his movements appearing blurred as his spun and weaved. With an elegant spin, he threw himself into a violent vertical strike with his sword at Chadwyck, one again aiming to remove his opponent's head from his body.