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Exactly as the title says. I haven't had a good battle in well over a year, and would love to get back into the fray. I like your writing, and think it'll be a fun fight. We'll abide by the traditional rules, and you may choose the battlefield. If you accept, feel free to make your entrance.

Ooh, a challenge! Well, as I told Vapor, I am currently in a large-scale tournament as you well may know. Know that I probably can't post too detailed, as I also have to write a reply to Vapor. BUT, I accept! I will edit the battlefield and intro in tomorrow.

EDIT: ARGH! Curse my mind for not welcoming such a great member back! Orchis, I believe? We haven't met, but I've read some of your stuff. Good to see you back!

How...how the hell did you figure out it was him?

Thank you for the compliment and the welcome, but seriously. How in the world did you figure it was me?

OoC: Your message history tells all. All I had to do was look at the Championship Battle you and Erdawn had, and that told me instantly who you were. Well, let's get this shindig started...

Alright, Orchis, here’s the battlefield: The Fountain and Sanctuary
A great fountain and water-area surrounded by blue reflections on the walls. It is a deep part within a cavern of red stones, and is wildly different from that cavern. The water is cool and refreshing, but it is evil to drink, for it makes its drinker become old and weak instantly.

And my character is Galefore, on the second to last page of the Book of Warriors.
--------------

Peace can be defined in many ways, but when broken down to a smaller scope, peace is embodied in multiple things. These things were ice, a calm breeze, silence, and of course water. Water and silence were unendingly abundant within the Sanctuary of Water, deep underneath the ground. Though almost undetectable, many had found the sanctuary, hearing of a fabled liquid that weakens those who touch it. Many felt it would make a wonderful war-tool, and began excavating to find it, yet when they did, they foolishly drank from it and shriveled into crumbled bones quickly and noisily. Very few have since traveled to view it’s pleasure, but somehow or another there stumbled upon this place the elemental of lightning, Galefore.

His semi-long, black hair slightly waving in the wind, his heavy, clinking armor noisily rising and falling as he walked, and his ridiculously long moustache being stroked by a hand covered in plated gauntlet-metal, Galefore walked in such an esteemed manner despite his unusually fickle personality. He was quite surprised to be in such a mysteriously place, and needless to say baffled when he discovered the calm, flowing waters in the fountain of weakness. Yet, he gave no sign of wishing to drink of it, and mirthlessly sighed after his journey to nowhere came to a halt. Galefore had a heightened sense of magic, his being an elemental of course somehow bringing a bit more of a salient sense to him of what was and what wasn’t dangerously cursed or harmlessly enchanted. At first sight, he knew not to drink of this demon-water, and merely sat upon the floor, his armor chipping away the stone of the walls as the lightning lord slowly slid down them to take a seat.

Wherever he was, it was boring. Simply put. That was as easy as it was to Galefore, although he was curious as to the presence of this powerful water. Such useless relic was of no concern in actuality to Galefore, however, who prided himself, although not vociferously, upon his own powers and prowess with lightning.

Drawing a curved scimitar that glistened and played as light from small cracks in the ceiling hit it and reflections from the flowing water formed veins of intricate design jumping this way and that as the water trickled out of the fountain’s ornate spraying mechanism, Galefore began to tap the end upon the auburn stone to create a rhythmic beating...

“Heh, guess I could relax here for a bit…” thought Galefore, his eyes slowly coming to close…

Yet noise always made Galefore alert, and footsteps all the more. Galefore’s eyes shot open, his mind racing for a moment, and then a hand falling back upon his sword readied him for defense. Standing up, Galefore removed a long, triple headed spear from a metal loop on his back, and held both weapons as he took a stance in case of battle.

“Yeah, who is it…?” loudly called Galefore…

As Galefore traveled through the deeper parts of the massive cavern, a man following behind him went unnoticed. His boot heels sounded lightly on the hard stone with each step, but the racket of Galefore’s heavy armor easily drowned out the quiet noise. He had been tracking the elemental for some time for the sake of a battle, even into these mysterious caves

The man wore faded denim jeans, a plain blue shirt, and a long tawny colored coat. His boots were worn and faded to the color of desert after many years of use. A wide brimmed hat rested upon his head, and hair of deep black ran down to his shoulders. The belts that he wore were the most noteworthy. On either of his hips hung a holster, each carrying a large, ancient looking revolver made from a blued steel, and the grips worn from decades of use. Along either belt there was also lined seemingly countless numbers of shells.

He followed behind his opponent, careful not to be noticed. Shortly before Galefore reached his destination the hunter stopped, and let his opponent move out of earshot before beginning his work. He drew a dish from the inner layers of his coat, and filled it with a bottle of yellow oil. He then retrieved a knife, and made a cut in his left forearm. From this wound, he squeezed a small amount of blood into the dish, using his finger to mix it with the oil. He then drew his revolvers and began oiling and cleaning them with the solution.

The oil had been specially treated to counter the rusting caused by applying blood to steel, but this ritual was necessary for this day’s combat. It was an old ritual, which he had learned during his years of travels. He used his holy wet (blood in this case) to sanctify his weapons. This ritual was meant to both negate the effects of magic on the weapons, and make them able to bring magic creatures low if one’s aim was true. After what he was told of his opponent, he knew this enchantment was the only way to protect his weapons against the elemental’s manipulation. This was an old and strong magic, so it would not be broken unless under phenomenal circumstances.

He holstered his revolvers after he was finished with them, and began to oil each of his shells, one at a time. It was a short process, as his hands worked at an astonishing rate. After this task was completed he emptied what was left of the oil into it’s original container, and hurried after the man he was hunting.

It was not long before he began to hear a steady rhythmic tapping, and approached a yet more massive cavern. He was aware of the dangers the water the represented and was appropriatly wary. All he cared about was his opponent, who was at the moment tapping his sword lightly on the stone. The stranger stepped into the room, his footsteps now echoing across the fountain cave.

Upon hearing his footsteps, Galefore quickly stood, his spear now in hand, and called loudly, “Yeah who is it?”

All he had for an answer was one word: “Hile”, but he quickly dismissed this oddity when he laid eyes on his opponent. He was dressed strangely, to say the least, and Galefore quickly assessed the enchantment of those weapons. He knew he would not be able to affect the weapons themselves, but he was also aware that the man himself could be harmed just as easily as any other man. However, the most striking feature of the stranger was his eyes. They were a deep brown, and looking at them, one knew the feeling behind them. Here was a man who knew what his adversary was capable of and what he was capable of, yet was not the least bit afraid of the outcome. They were strong, fearless eyes, and in a man lesser than he, would inspire great fear.

“What is your name?” Galefore asked inquisitively.

“Asnabel” was his reply, followed by silence. For this man was a gunslinger, and dealt not in words, but in lead.

^Ah, don't worry, I won't break your spell. I'm not one to stop a person's defenses from working unless I can amply explain how they stopped. Still, emphasizing the word strong made it all the more obvious that you wish to keep your magic, so unless I have your leave, I won't disable it. Nice! Post pending, maybe tomorrow now that I have some free time.

Bump

Augh, I'm honestly sorry for this wait. I'll edit the post into this later, as I've started on it. It'll be finished sometime...

No point in asking, that was the supposed thing to do for Galefore. He silently stared at the man of mystery, a gunslinger no doubt from the guns he bore, and stood in an agonizing silence for a few minutes.

“So…can I help you? Was it some sort of coincidence that I ended up with company in a remote place such as…”

Boom. This noise was so much a perspective changer that the very sound split Galefore’s vision for a millisecond at last.

There was no chance to truly give much else other than a gurgle. A bullet flung towards the elemental of lightning, his hand waving to stop it, yet…

The bullet found its way through the air without trouble, tearing through with velocity and small amounts of sound. This flying ball of led made its way in a slow-motion spiral to Galefore, yet a flashing second to Asnabel. The hand was still in place, dangling to stop it and exerting lost comically as tendons tensed and pushed themselves to stop their possible demise…

An unutterable noise, gasp, and breaking calamity followed…

The bullet found its place of peace in a wall behind Galefore, yet it has traveled through a ‘few’ impediments to reach its goal.

Galefore’s hand was a mess. The gauntlets Galefore bore were twisted inward, jagged edges digging into the exposed muscle and torn flesh, and Galefore grimaced and gasped with every attempted move of his fingers. ‘Luckily’ enough, it was the left hand that suffered, but the spear was lost to the ground without being picked up or thought about for the ticking seconds. Asnabel was obviously ready to shoot again, but Galefore ignored this, watching fluids from his hand pour to the stone cavern floor.

“…Hostile, are we? Fine, dammit, here’s my answer to your ice-breaker…” rasped Galefore.

Galefore hopped forward, another shot ringing and near-shattering the eardrums of the Lightning-Lord, who was now beginning to single handedly rise from the ground. He held his other hand behind his back, a sick after-trail of blood-drops signifying every move he made. Asnabel prepared once more to fire, yet… Too late.

With energy dug from his very soul, Galefore fell and brought his blade with him. Wind came about him and made his fall breezier, a cool breeze from the water even further helping the enjoyment. No such thing as true pain when enjoying a breeze. Galefore’s mind raced with temptation to dip his wound in the water, but remembering the side-effects, he decided otherwise.

“An arm for a hand, I always say.” shouted Galefore quite violently whilst he plummeted.

The scimitar plunged as Galefore’s heavy lading reverberated throughout the cavern, drowning out the noise Asnabel made as his wound was inflicted. The blade dug through the very center of his forearm, barely missing both radius and ulna, and came clear through the other side. Also, as luck would have it, it likely missed major veins and arteries on its descent as well, as it had fallen in an angular position. Galefore left it there, sprinting to his spear.

“Alright, there’s a warning. What the hell do you want, kid?” boomed Galefore. He expected only another attack in reply, but that was the price he was prepared to pay.

OoC: Sorry for taking so long. Been really busy and sick.


As Galefore dashed backwards, aiming to retrieve his dropped trident, Asnabel sprinted towards an outcropping of rock large enough to provide him cover. Just as he ducked behind the rock he heard Galefore grasp his trident and turn speedily around. “Alright, there’s a warning. What the hell do you want, kid?” was the call of his opponent. Despite the agony coursing through his injured arm Asnabel nearly laughed at his comment, but replied only as a matter of gaining time. “Kid?” he called, “A bit cocky aren’t you?” As he shot this reply back, he was in the process of wrapping the deep wound of his arm, and strapping it to his stomach. Asnabel continued “I have no reason to believe you are older than me, and that besides, I have seen more in my travels than most will see in their entire lives.” Meaningless prattle, he knew, but it bought him time while his good hand worked furiously at reloading his massive revolver. He knew this man was his superior in terms of natural combat ability, but it had been a mistake to hold back. He had gained a rough measure of his opponent’s ability, but it had cost him dearly. Asnabel knew it was time to show this arrogant elemental what the true meaning of being a gunslinger was.

“As a matter of fact, I would say that I may have see-“ and in mid-sentence Asnabel leaped from behind the rocky outcropping. Galefore began to step towards him, and it was at this moment he learned what this man was truly capable of with those two old weapons. Things seemed to slow down for the elemental, and the gunslinger’s hands seemed to disappear with a motion so fast that his eyes were rendered useless. Before Galefore’s heel could even leave the ground two thunderclaps rang throughout the cavern. He felt one of his feet taken from under him as the two bullets tore through his ankle, rending apart the bones and leaving the foot a useless dangling piece of meat.

There was only a fraction of a second for him to begin to fall while the gunslinger adjusted his aim. The old revolver barked its war cry another three times, this timed aimed for the chest of the wizard. Galefore felt a small pang of relief as the first was stopped by his armor, but this was soon wiped away as the second shot impacted exactly where the first had hit. Horror dawned on his face as the third struck in the same place pierced his armor brilliantly at the weak spot. He felt a sickening sensation as it ricocheted several times within his armor, ravaging his midsection.

However, neither the agony of these wounds or the blinding speed of the attack meant Galefore was in any way helpless. Even as the last bullet rent apart the his torso, he raised his trident and threw it with all the strength in his arm. It sped through the air, crackling with small arcs of lightning, and found its way into Asnabel’s thigh. The gunslinger spent the next several seconds in furious spasms as the electricity coursed through his body. A smell of burning hair and cooking flesh wafted through the cavern, and once the spasms were done, Asnabel was left kneeling on the ground exhausted.

This moment of peace, caused by their mutual injuries, did not last long. Asnabel lifted his six shooter, and leveled the barrel in the direction of the elemental’s head. He summoned all his discipline to steady his hand, and fired the last bullet in his gun at Galefore’s head.

OoC: I’ll leave it to you to how to handle that.

Seriously. I’m really sorry for taking so long

Bump.

Dum de doo.

OoC: Sorry for the suckiness of this post. I had no inspiration of what to do...

A bullet in the darkness, serenity of water yet washing over the warrior Galefore, and a deep and putrid hatred forming between the other and the aforementioned elemental. Their bodies were slowly breaking; a hole in the hand, a useless foot, a blood-pouring stomach, each afflicting Galefore and ripping plain thought from his mind… And Asnabel, so lifted up by higher technology, had a skewered arm, a ravaged thigh, and had felt, as many had before him, the sheer suffering felt by all who taste lightning’s fury.

The bullet, one aimed and shot by discipline and likely planned out by foolishness, was so fast that not many could have seen or even dodged it. But, by a pure stroke of luck, Galefore forgot his wound and stepped on his ruined foot as he prepared to duck. In suck a way, he grimaced and fell forwards in time to have a few hairs torn from his head. A few hairs, not even worth mentioning… Not even noticed, not even considered. They fluttered to the ground, and Asnabel hoped that, before he saw the bullet hit the wall and fully realized its fate, that Galefore had been hit and was dying…

“Water… Water. That’s what this place is all about. Water that’s cursed so even the thirstiest must resist temptation. Hey, kid… Bet your real thirsty right now. I’m pretty sure you’re far younger than me. My lineage carries my age on its wings…” Galefore rambled like this simply to calm the other warrior down. In a water-cavern, Galefore desired peace, and only peace. He wanted to get up, and he wanted to surprise his opponent for sheer fact that he had survived. ‘My age is not limited, in a sense, to your boundaries. Sure, I spit it out all of the time that I’m in my forties. Does that mean its true? Could I be a liar? Nobody who knew me when I was born is alive. Who’re you gonna ask? I am well over your age. Trust me.”

Galefore wasn’t truly bluffing with this comment… Yet, he tried to make it seem a bit taunting to draw out a response from his opponent. If he received his response, he would take advantage of the situation and utterly destroy the gunslinger within a second’s time.

No response came immediately. Water continued to flow in a subtle way, intricate patterns spelling themselves out on the cave-wall as they had been before. Neither warrior stirred, so Galefore decided that a question was needed to draw out a response… That could wait. Galefore was already wasting an opportunity to act on an opponent with no working weapons and likely a slight paralysis from the spear’s flight…

With little incentive, and no fore-warning, Galefore’s hand shifted towards the pool of water, electrocuting it… It was unknown what effect this would have in the water or lightning, but… It would have to work. Oddly, it flew towards Asnabel…

OoC: Endlessly sorry about how long this has taken.

Asnabel was not content to merely sit and listen to the elemental’s monologue. The endless rambling was beginning to anger him, and the gunslinger began readying his weapons for the next part of his conflict. He was still in slight paralysis from the shock and his hands fumbled at the shells occasionally, but still they loaded the guns with a speed that almost approached supernatural. It was only at the end of the little speech, that he could feel the paralysis having mostly passed, and had readied his revolvers in full. He drew the ancient weapon with his good hand, and sprang forward just as the elemental waved his hand to unleash the deadly lightning into the water.

Asnabel felt the air become electrified, causing all the hair on his body to stand on end. He saw out of the corner of his eye as the lightning arched through the water. It moved sluggishly, an unforeseen effect of the time altering waters. It spread through the air, a brilliant light show to illuminate the attack on its master. While the electricity spread through the air, Asnabel reached his target and smashed the butt of his gun furiously upon the elemental’s brow. He reached back as the lightning drew closer and brought the revolver down on Galefore’s mouth, smiling at the crunch of breaking teeth. With only a brief glance over his shoulder, Asnabel pointed his weapon in the mage’s general direction. The whole attack had taken place in only a few seconds.

Then the lightning struck.

Though it had been slow, the lightning struck with a savage, amplified fury. As it coursed through his body Asnabel could feel his hairs begin to burn. He could smell the skin cooking like raw meat over an open flame. He could see parts of his clothing burst immediately into flame. He could taste his own blood as it filled his mouth. Most of all, he could hear a terrible, deafening thunderclap. The sound alone was almost as painful as the lightning itself.

It did not, however, all bode well for Galefore. Asnabel still held a loaded gun, and when the lightning struck, the gunslinger’s hand went into spasms. Six shots went wild, all of them pointed towards the elemental. Two missed completely, colliding with the wall behind Galefore. Two struck his chest, impacting him like small freight trains. One tore through his ear, leaving it a bloody stump on the side of his head. The last hit Galefore in the jaw. It ripped through his lower jaw, tearing it asunder and leaving it attached by only the barest of flesh and bone.

Asnabel threw his coat on the ground, putting out the flames which threatened to consume him, and then looked upon his opponent. He found it impossible to read his opponent’s face, since he had made such a mess of it. The gunslinger gritted his teeth through his injuries, and stomped towards his astonished opponent. Wordlessly, he gripped the elemental by the shoulders and turned him to face each other. He followed this by driving his knee as hard into the crotch of his opponent as possible. Galefore emitted a sort of wet scream from his ruined mouth, and Asnabel took great pride in what happened next.

Galefore was in a state of agony as the gunslinger reached up very calmly and grabbed what was left of his jaw. Relaxed he said to the mage, “It does not matter how many more years you have than me if you are foolish enough to forget I’m a man holding two loaded guns. However, I tire of this mincing of words. Let it be done.” On this last note, Asnabel yanked down on the ruined jawbone as hard as he could, ripping it from the little flesh and bone keeping it together. He pushed Galefore to the side, and studied the jaw. He looked carefully at the scraps of flesh, the tendons, the blood vessels, the nerves, and most of all the bones and shattered teeth still attached. He put it in his pocket, a gruesome, horrid trophy to be cleaned and kept on his belt.

Galefore was not stopped long. He returned to his feet, sword in hand, ready despite his injuries, and prepared to fight. Asnabel holstered his empty gun, and again drew the other, blindingly fast. His hand swung up almost imperceptibly and three shots rang again through the cavern.

OoC: Yes, that feels satisfactory. Again, sorry for the time.

^...DAMN.

Now you're playin' SERIOUS, eh? All right. I'll play that too...

Heh, yeah, that was pretty brutal. You definately got that brutal streak in ya that I've seen from warriors from back then. I suppose I'll have to match it, 'cuz ol' Galefore don't take it nicely when his jaw get's ripped off.

Excellent. Serious is good. And I hope he wouldn't enjoy it

A brass masked researcher sits far towards the edge of the sanctuary, casually surveying the fountain and the surrounding grotto. He watched them trade blows while maintaining no more than a shadow's presence. He calculates their power, the strategies, and the victor. Useful information if either of them survived, perhaps one of them would make a useful addition to the Order, then again, power is best tapped from youth.

He yawns faintly and patiently waiting for the warriors to finish before advancing to collect a vial of the precious fluid.

I bump it away from oblivion!

Bumped