Andre’s brow furrowed as he returned both the beasts’ glares, eyes darting from one to the other, analyzing their every step as they slowly approached him, snarling viciously with each stride. Taking on both simultaneously was no mere task. Their sheer size gave them the advantage of strength, even only one of them would have posed a real danger. Andre had been lucky with the previous attacker, but the remaining two Ixal were not going to underestimate the misleadingly, ill-equipped hyur in the same fashion.
Â
The cries of terrified passengers from behind him echoed loudly in his head, serving as a reminder that he must plan his next move carefully. It was not just his own life that could potentially fall forfeit should he fail now. Andre tried to drown out the noise, the panicked passengers, the chirping of the spooked chocobos, the clashing of steel and tearing of sinew from the battle occurring a distance behind him, all of it. It became faded, distant, near-absent. He blinked slowly as all background noise drained further and further until all that was left in the world was himself and his two aggressors.
Â
*….<crumble>……<crack>…*
Â
â€..nnghh?!â€
Â
The nearest Ixal grunted in surprise as the ground began shaking and cracking under his feet, causing him to briefly lose his footing and remove his glare from Andre. The hyur was unsure what had just happened but he wasted no time searching for an answer. He charged forward with speed directly towards the afflicted Ixal. Though it had lost its balance, it would still likely manage to parry any strike Andre were to deliver with its towering lance. Instead, Andre rammed into the Ixal, throwing all of his weight into the blow causing it to tumble over backwards on to the ground. He had no time to inspect the damage but he hoped that he had at least momentarily winded the beast.
Â
Andre immediately turned to meet his remaining foe’s glare, but the Ixal was no fool. Predicting Andre’s attempt to take advantage of the situation, he had already begun launching an attack in Andre’s direction. The hyur raised his sword quickly, barely managing a momentary parry followed by a dodge to the side before the full weight of the strike crushed down upon him. Andre winced in pain as his abrupt attempt at blocking put severe strain on his right shoulder. He gripped it lightly with his free left hand, vainly attempting to soothe the pain and numb feeling traveling down his striking arm. The Ixal watched Andre closely, strafing around him momentarily before quickly approaching again for another attack.
<swish> -- <swoosh> -- <whip>
Â
The Ixal offered three horizontal strikes in quick succession. Andre responded hastily, taking a step back each time accordingly, throwing his upper body further away from the Ixal’s blade, the sheathe narrowly missing his neck each time. Pausing for a brief moment, the Ixal let loose a vicious snarl as it threw a final, more powerful strike mimicking that of the previous. Andre saw his chance this time. Having regained his footing, he drew his blade upwards to meet the Ixal’s. The clash of steel rang through the air as he managed a successful parry despite his injured shoulder. Wasting no time, the hyur twisted his blade to allow his opponent’s to catch the edge of his steel and slip more easily before manoeuvring himself accordingly and successfully opening the beast’s defence.
Â
“…Haahhhhhh!â€
Â
Andre delivered a powerful kick to the beast’s stomach, causing it to stumble backwards and drop to one knee. Andre rushed forward taking this chance to deliver the fatal blow. He let loose a furious slash with a hate-filled roar as he aimed towards the beast’s abdominum, one that would certainly put an end to the creature’s life.
Â
<Clink> !
Â
“…?â€
Â
It took Andre a moment to realise what had happened. The beast, despite appearing totally disarmed managed to successfully guard the attack at the last moment. Both combatants' blades were locked togather, faces only a breath away from each other as they stared each other in the eyes. The Ixal’s filled with only contempt and hatred. The beast wasted no time hesitating on the moment. Delivering a shattering headbutt to the smaller hyur, the Ixal regained the advantage. Andre recoiled from the brute force of the blow, releasing all strength he had been placing against the Ixal’s sword. The beast threw Andre off of himself with a mighty heave of their still-colliding blades, causing him to fall backwards on to the ground and drop his weapon. Everything was a daze. The skull-shattering headbutt completely destroyed his senses and orientation. He shuffled and fidgeted against the damp, forest floor as he struggled to reclaim his senses. The Ixal climbed back to its feet and began walking tauntingly towards the hyur. It cried mockingly and it drew closer, ready to deliver the killing blow. Reaching the midlander’s feet, it drew it’s blade up, clasping the handle with both hands as he prepared to take on the role of executioner. Andre’s vision slowly returned, the towering, blurry figure came into a little more detail as it heftily raised its blade, dragging it behind it’s grotesque, horned head.
Â
“I won’t…. I can’t….†Andre exasperated, though his words failed to reach his lips as he struggled to breathe. His eyes turned to find his gladius that lay just barely out of reach. He struggled for it in vain, as the beast continued mocking him with blood curdling howls.
Â
<SWOOSH>
Â
The blade came searing down, piercing the air with a distinct sound of impending death. Andre’s eyes widened and flashed in anticipation and instinctive response. Tucking in his limbs he quickly rolled out of the blade’s path, the strikes just narrowly missing him and striking cleanly into the soft soil just below where he had been lying only a fraction of a second ago. In a moment of adrenaline-fueled response, he reached for his Gladius and threw a low slashing attack to the creature ankle, slicing through flesh and tendons alike. The creature howled in pain as it crumbled under it’s own weight. Andre delayed little, taking a couple of brief breaths to regain his strength before offering a fatal slash to the creature’s chest.
Â
The blow was deep and forceful. Finally it was dead.
Â
Â
Andre climbed to his feet. His foe has proved more of a feat than he had hoped but at least he had emerged victorious. He remained on the spot, staring down at the fallen creature as he panted heavily in exhaustion for a moment. His fringe hair clung to the stream of blood that was flowing down the side of his face, from where the Ixal's headbutt had made contact with his forehead. He hardly had any time to recover before he became distracted by the snapping of a branch and shuffling of leaves behind him. Andre turned just in time to see the previous beast he had knocked down a few moments earlier, one he had naively forgotten about in the heat of the battle. The beast threw a winding attack towards the hyur’s chest as it charged towards him. Andre attempted to raise his sword and parry the attack, but this time he was too late. The blade slashed through his clothing and stained the ground with splashes of deep crimson. The force sent him stumbling backwards, forcing him down on to his knee. He clasped his wound with his free hand as he glared up at the approaching beast, still panting with exhaustion. The pain was almost non-existent with the adrenaline rush… but at this point he was fatigued and weak…
![[Image: 5lii.png]](http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/4770/5lii.png)
Â
The cries of terrified passengers from behind him echoed loudly in his head, serving as a reminder that he must plan his next move carefully. It was not just his own life that could potentially fall forfeit should he fail now. Andre tried to drown out the noise, the panicked passengers, the chirping of the spooked chocobos, the clashing of steel and tearing of sinew from the battle occurring a distance behind him, all of it. It became faded, distant, near-absent. He blinked slowly as all background noise drained further and further until all that was left in the world was himself and his two aggressors.
Â
*….<crumble>……<crack>…*
Â
â€..nnghh?!â€
Â
The nearest Ixal grunted in surprise as the ground began shaking and cracking under his feet, causing him to briefly lose his footing and remove his glare from Andre. The hyur was unsure what had just happened but he wasted no time searching for an answer. He charged forward with speed directly towards the afflicted Ixal. Though it had lost its balance, it would still likely manage to parry any strike Andre were to deliver with its towering lance. Instead, Andre rammed into the Ixal, throwing all of his weight into the blow causing it to tumble over backwards on to the ground. He had no time to inspect the damage but he hoped that he had at least momentarily winded the beast.
Â
Andre immediately turned to meet his remaining foe’s glare, but the Ixal was no fool. Predicting Andre’s attempt to take advantage of the situation, he had already begun launching an attack in Andre’s direction. The hyur raised his sword quickly, barely managing a momentary parry followed by a dodge to the side before the full weight of the strike crushed down upon him. Andre winced in pain as his abrupt attempt at blocking put severe strain on his right shoulder. He gripped it lightly with his free left hand, vainly attempting to soothe the pain and numb feeling traveling down his striking arm. The Ixal watched Andre closely, strafing around him momentarily before quickly approaching again for another attack.
<swish> -- <swoosh> -- <whip>
Â
The Ixal offered three horizontal strikes in quick succession. Andre responded hastily, taking a step back each time accordingly, throwing his upper body further away from the Ixal’s blade, the sheathe narrowly missing his neck each time. Pausing for a brief moment, the Ixal let loose a vicious snarl as it threw a final, more powerful strike mimicking that of the previous. Andre saw his chance this time. Having regained his footing, he drew his blade upwards to meet the Ixal’s. The clash of steel rang through the air as he managed a successful parry despite his injured shoulder. Wasting no time, the hyur twisted his blade to allow his opponent’s to catch the edge of his steel and slip more easily before manoeuvring himself accordingly and successfully opening the beast’s defence.
Â
“…Haahhhhhh!â€
Â
Andre delivered a powerful kick to the beast’s stomach, causing it to stumble backwards and drop to one knee. Andre rushed forward taking this chance to deliver the fatal blow. He let loose a furious slash with a hate-filled roar as he aimed towards the beast’s abdominum, one that would certainly put an end to the creature’s life.
Â
<Clink> !
Â
“…?â€
Â
It took Andre a moment to realise what had happened. The beast, despite appearing totally disarmed managed to successfully guard the attack at the last moment. Both combatants' blades were locked togather, faces only a breath away from each other as they stared each other in the eyes. The Ixal’s filled with only contempt and hatred. The beast wasted no time hesitating on the moment. Delivering a shattering headbutt to the smaller hyur, the Ixal regained the advantage. Andre recoiled from the brute force of the blow, releasing all strength he had been placing against the Ixal’s sword. The beast threw Andre off of himself with a mighty heave of their still-colliding blades, causing him to fall backwards on to the ground and drop his weapon. Everything was a daze. The skull-shattering headbutt completely destroyed his senses and orientation. He shuffled and fidgeted against the damp, forest floor as he struggled to reclaim his senses. The Ixal climbed back to its feet and began walking tauntingly towards the hyur. It cried mockingly and it drew closer, ready to deliver the killing blow. Reaching the midlander’s feet, it drew it’s blade up, clasping the handle with both hands as he prepared to take on the role of executioner. Andre’s vision slowly returned, the towering, blurry figure came into a little more detail as it heftily raised its blade, dragging it behind it’s grotesque, horned head.
Â
“I won’t…. I can’t….†Andre exasperated, though his words failed to reach his lips as he struggled to breathe. His eyes turned to find his gladius that lay just barely out of reach. He struggled for it in vain, as the beast continued mocking him with blood curdling howls.
Â
<SWOOSH>
Â
The blade came searing down, piercing the air with a distinct sound of impending death. Andre’s eyes widened and flashed in anticipation and instinctive response. Tucking in his limbs he quickly rolled out of the blade’s path, the strikes just narrowly missing him and striking cleanly into the soft soil just below where he had been lying only a fraction of a second ago. In a moment of adrenaline-fueled response, he reached for his Gladius and threw a low slashing attack to the creature ankle, slicing through flesh and tendons alike. The creature howled in pain as it crumbled under it’s own weight. Andre delayed little, taking a couple of brief breaths to regain his strength before offering a fatal slash to the creature’s chest.
Â
The blow was deep and forceful. Finally it was dead.
Â
Â
Andre climbed to his feet. His foe has proved more of a feat than he had hoped but at least he had emerged victorious. He remained on the spot, staring down at the fallen creature as he panted heavily in exhaustion for a moment. His fringe hair clung to the stream of blood that was flowing down the side of his face, from where the Ixal's headbutt had made contact with his forehead. He hardly had any time to recover before he became distracted by the snapping of a branch and shuffling of leaves behind him. Andre turned just in time to see the previous beast he had knocked down a few moments earlier, one he had naively forgotten about in the heat of the battle. The beast threw a winding attack towards the hyur’s chest as it charged towards him. Andre attempted to raise his sword and parry the attack, but this time he was too late. The blade slashed through his clothing and stained the ground with splashes of deep crimson. The force sent him stumbling backwards, forcing him down on to his knee. He clasped his wound with his free hand as he glared up at the approaching beast, still panting with exhaustion. The pain was almost non-existent with the adrenaline rush… but at this point he was fatigued and weak…
![[Image: ecec20e41f.png]](https://puu.sh/xvMxb/ecec20e41f.png)
Characters: Andre Winter (Hy'ur) / K'nahli Yohko (Miqo'te)
