| battle # | opponent 1 | opponent 2 | battle 1 | | A shadow shifts in the stony gloom, surprising you. Liquid as her own element, a tall, brawny sea otter vixen slides into view. Her fur is the same velvet black as is usual among her kind, but instead of the striking silver or blondish guard hairs that lighten the head and chest of most sea otters, the black continues over her head, ending only at the muzzle and eyepatches. Silver rings hang from her ears, tinkling when she moves. Tawdry corsair's silks hang about her, and a long scimitar is visibly thrust into her belt. The otter crosses her tattooed paws over her chest, eyeing you with her large, wild hazel eyes. "Don't stand there starin' at me, bucko." She rasps. "I ain't no Finnbarr Galedeep, an' it won't grieve me none to run yer through fer thinkin' it." Indeed, she looks hard enough to run the famed warrior himself through the heart without a thought. Thoroughly unnerved, you start to reach for your weapon, only to feel a sharp, razoring agony across your throat, you didn't even see the sea otter move when she whipped out a hidden dagger. Long fangs glimmer viciously in her ebony face as she gently wipes the crimsoned blade against your cheek, tilting your face to look into her own, you shake silently at the pure evil brimming in those fantastic hazel eyes with their long black lashes. "Now now, didn't yore mama never tell ye anythin' about pullin' steel on strangebeasts?" She hisses. "Now ye can apologize to me right now an' go on about yore business." Nothing escapes your throat but a hoarse whistling sound, bubbling with blood, you try to reach your sword, as you slowly collapse to the ground. A low, evil laugh escapes the sea otter's throat as she slips the knife into the sheath she carries concealed at the back of her belt. "well, I didn't say yer business were around here, did I? Harhaharr!" You don't hear her, as she seems to shift out of your dimming sight, and meld back into the shadows, her thick, sleek, lustrous fur disappearing out of your vision, with everything else familiar, forever. | A dark figure swept in, accompanied by a screaming wind to chill even the toughest veterans. You shiver in fear. A cold ringing laughter sounds, and your fur stands out on end. The figure’s sea-green eyes lock with yours and you find yourself helpless, unable to move. “Vote for me on this side of Hell’s Gates, or vote for me after a one-way trip to the other side.” You tear your eyes away from that piercing gaze, but you still feel that burning regard. “I’m not a-scareda ye, scum! I’ll take yer on any day, pussy,” you croak defiantly. Your only reply was a wintry laugh cold enough to freeze even Ferahgo’s blue-eyed smile. (Salamandastron will tell you exactly how cold it is.) “That tears it! DIE!” you screech, and lunge at the cloaked kitty. “IMMOBILITY!!!” the kitty yells. You stare in shocked horror as you realize that you are held entirely immobile by the spell. “I would have done time freeze, but that takes all the fun away,” said the kitten in a mock-grieved voice. All around you, you hear vermin laughing and jeering. You turn red as a beet in anger and rage. You realize that you can still flap your jaws. “Yer stinkin’ cat! I’ll gut yer fer this! Lemme go an’ I’ll show yer how ter be gutted gudd’n proper!” you shriek. That dumb cat doesn’t stand a chance! You think to yourself. If only I can get free! The kitten grins mockingly and waves his paws. You realize with a start that all your weapons are floating in the air. The kitten gestured for the weapons to come, and they floated up to him, and dropped to the ground at his foot paws. “Why yew liddle thief! Gimme those back!” “Oh, forgive me. You were saying something?” the kitten mocked. Turning around, he picked up a sword and tossed it carelessly to you. Then, he waved his hand and you topple over. “There. I released you. Now, vote for me, fool. Vote for me or die!” Saying so, the kitten whips out twin dirks and advances warily. You bend over and grab your sword. Leaping to your feet, you lunge at the kitten again. In mid plunge, pain races like wildfire up your arms, down your back, through your legs, suffusing you in unspeakable agony. Searing heat and freezing cold rack your body by turns as you crumple to the floor moaning in sheer agony. The onlookers were wide-eyed and silent. Nobody had seen a thing. None had seen the blurring speed of the fatal strike. Not a single vermin had seen the deadly glint of the twin dirks covered with the rare, beautiful, and deadly plant: Krystalthorn. The kitten was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, a dazzling flash of light burst in the ring. You clutch your legs to your chest and whimper in pain and fear as the kitten takes off his hood and says, “I warned you. See you in Hell’s Gates, mate. Tell them that Nite sent you. You’ll get an extra bonus of pain and suffering!” As you slip toward death, something pulls the other way and you hear the last echoing of a bone chilling laughter as you slip away into the final, everlasting sleep: Death. battle 2 | | You feel a breeze of air as a dirk flies right into your ear pinning it to the woodwork of Marshank's doors. Pulling the blade out with great difficulty and pain, you manage to throw it at the fox who just appeared out of the woods. You can't see his face, just a voluminous black cloak wrapped around him. "What business do you have here at Marshank?" He asks. "That's for me to know and for you to find out!" you spit at him. " " Ah, ah, ah. My, what manners we have." The fox says. " Who are you?" you say. " Wolfsbane is the name." He says. " And what might be yours?" "None of your nosy business!" You say. " Hmm, touchy." Wolfsbane says. " Now leave me be, or I'll pin yer here to this door!" you yell, as you draw your sword. " Shouldn't play with sharp objects, you could get hurt." Wolfsbane laughs. You begin to feel extreme anger at the fox. Who does he think he is? Hisk? You lunge, but you find yourself stabbing down at the ground. How could anybeast be that fast?, you think, but that thought is quickly pushed out of your mind, as you feel a searing pain in the back of your leg. You pull out a dirk, crimson with your blood. You see the fox grinning on the other side of the path. You roar, and charge with the point down at the fox. He merely steps aside, and slices the tip of your tail. He laughs a warm hearty chuckle. Now you think you feel the rage of a badger's bloodwrath, as you hack, parry, and thrust with all the skill you have. But it's for naught. Wolfsbane disappears again, only to emerge from the other side of the clearing. Three blades fly across from the other side of the clearing, and all hit you in your right leg. You limp to the shadows there to rest. After you think the fox is gone, one of the shadows move, and with it, two shining blades. "Now you will know why they call me Wolfsbane." You hear the fox say as the dirks slam into your body. You feel the poison working even before you feel the pain of the dirks digging into your organs. You see the dirks being pulled out of you and wiped on your tunic as blackness blots your vision. You are walking up to that wolf you saw yesterday carrying that beautiful sword. You are a large beast carrying a spear thinking to relieve him of that shining weapon. You come up behind him and make the worst mistake ever, you shove him down hard on the ground prodding him with your spear tip you say "Get up and hand over that sword scum I want it!" He gets up snarling "What gives you that right swampguts, its my sword and if you touch me with that spear I will make you eat it!!" He draws his sword its blue steel blade glitters lightly. You don't feel so confident now, his golden eyes glare at you, he sneers "Are ya gonna fight or run and hide!" You charge him with your spear he blocks the thrust and runs you through. As every thing goes black the last words you hear are him saying "Easy just so easy" battle 3 | In front of you stands a dark shadow. Or is it? A huge wolf leaps out "I am Hooktooth, the hunter. I bet you never saw a wolf of my size, let alone a wolf". He snarls, and you see him clearly. His hard muscular flesh is covered in dark fur, with silver streaks running down his back. He wears a long leather tunic, and a black cloak. At his side is a huge dirk, forged from dark steel, and set with onyx stones and silver. One of his eyes is missing, and is replaced by an eyepatch. "I don't like where you are. You are on my blind side" he says as you qickly move into his staight vision. He snarles happily, showing wicked curved teeth. He then leaps into the air, throws up his dirk, and catches it, the hilt in his massive paw. "Just don't annoy me". Ha! You can't believe it! Your first battle! You are surely going to win....or so you thought. Your opponent appears across the arena. A vixen with flawless black fur and eyes that burn their ghostly impression on your very soul leaps over to you. She stares at you, and you feel the will to live being sucked out of your body. "You don't scare me you ninny!" you yell at the strangely beautiful vixen. She boasts a sword that would make even the craftiest badger glow green with envy. It had a solid gold handle embedded with a rose-colored pearl, the blade has an engraving on the middle. A crescent moon, the symbol of her power. She has a skirt of minktails of pure white, embedded with diamonds so it glitters in the sunlight. Around her neck, a necklace. A silver chain, with a brightly polished silver pendant. On the pendant, the crescent moon carving again appears, the stars that surround it are diamonds. You stare at this figure of immense beauty, thinking of how you will wound her first, when she produces a silver flute, and starts to play. The haunting melody lulls you, then you feel your strength and life ebbing away. "Wha-whats happening to me?" you manage to stutter before you fall to the ground. You notice a powder flowing from the flute, and recognize the smell. A deadly poison when ground and inhaled. She whispers one word into your ear as you die, "Nightshade." battle 4 | You see a black cloaked figure across the clearing. As you advance, you see that it's a fox. He doesn't look so tough you think as you draw your sword. Maybe he even has valubles on him! you think to yourself. "'Ey, what are ya' doin' on my clearing? You ask. "Yours? Hardly my ill-mannered friend." He chuckles. Who does he think he is talking to you like that."I'll challenge ye to a battle." you say but will soon regret. "To the death!" you add. He's probably not so tough you think. " Or, ye' can give me all ya valubles, an' I won't hurt ya'." You say. "Valubles? The only valubles I gots is dis-" Suddenly, you feel a burning pain in your paw. You find a dirk buried in it. Went right through your paw. You pull it out, and lunge with your sword. You fight with all the skill and every trick you know, but all of your blows are countered by the fox's dirks. Suddenly, you feel a sharp pain, followed by relaxation. You drop your sword, and fall on the ground. And the last thing you saw was the fox leaving the clearing. And the last thing you realized was that the dirks were smeared with wolfsbane. As you wait for someone to fight you scan the room full of fighters. Of all the beasts in the room your eyes fall on a large wolf on the opposite wall. The wolf turns and stares straight back at you. His eyes are devoid of emotion no fear, anxiety, nothing it sends a shiver through your spine. The first fight begins a strong looking stoat is to fight the wolf that had been staring at you.The battle does not last long the wolf emerges victorious.Many more fighters fall to the wolf then it is your turn. You step toward the wolf and shudder from fear you have never known. The wolf lifts his fearsome blade a double headed battle axe. Even without his axe the wolf is a living arsenal, his long killing claws to his fearsome canine teeth. You have to look straight up to see into his eyes. You lash out with your sword but he deflects it easily. With one punch he sends you to the floor in a heap clutching your stomach. The wolf raises his axe as to kill you. No mercy please sir you yell knowing that you were about to die. The wolf kicks you in the head and you slip senseless to the ground. The wolf steps out of the room leaving you surrounded by half a score of dead fighters. battle 5 | You see a figure in the distance. It’s not clear since it’s a foggy day. You walk over too the cloaked figure, and see that it seems to carry no weapons. After a while, you realize that it’s a fox. “What are you doing on Marshank territory?” The fox asks. “Why should I tell you?” you say. “ Cuz if ya’ don’t, I’ll pin yer eyebrows to that blob ya’ call a brain.” He replies. “Ha. You?” you laugh as you draw your saber. “Mind yer manners fox, or I’ll mind ‘em for ya.” You say. “Well then, thankee kindly for offerin’ but I care for myself.” He laughs. “Why ya’ frogwalloper, I’ll betcha can’t beat me in a fair fight!” you say. “Hmm. Ya’ want ta play with sharp objects now? Ha, you better put that sword down, afore ya hurt somebeast.” He says. “ The only beast I’m goin’ to a hurt will be you!” you yell as you lunge at him. “Ah, ah, ah, my, what manners we have.” He says, as he dodges your blade and strikes you on the back of your neck. You begin to feel extreme anger and fury against the fox. You lunge again, trying to hit him between his eyes. You hack and thrust at him, but after awhile, realization dawns on you: you are becoming tired. The fox seems very content, dodging all of your saber thrusts with ease, winding you every chance he gets. You now have him backed up to a rock, and before you can finish him off, you feel searing pain in your chest, like it’s on fire. You never even saw the two dirks fly into you. You slump onto the ground. You feel weak and helpless, and sob for breath. And the last thing you hear is, “ Tell my ol’ friends at Hellgates that Wolfsbane sent ya’.” And your world becomes a blackness that is darker than the midnight sky. You blink...as your eyes open, you see a soft gleam of reflected moonlight... Your eyes focus and you see a darkly colored wolf standing before you... His deep brown eyes flicker over you, assessing you, and a slight, distainful, smile plays at his lips...You shudder at that confidant gaze... You hear a sound like metal against leather and see his steel staff, carved with strange letters from the North, slide out of it's place on his back... It also glows with moonlight... You blink... and he is gone... or so you think until the dark cape he wears unfolds from around him... again he smiles and whispers, so soft that you are sure only you can hear it, "It's going to be a beautiful moon out tonight... I can tell... Tell me? What does the moon see when it looks down?" You shudder as his deep, soothing voice and then relax. Your gaze lifts up to the sky where, in the horizen, you can see a sliver of moon almost in the sky... You never look down again... The last thing you feel is a strange, cold burning, as his staff thudds against you're chest, right where the ribs join, the last thing you hear is his voice "It certainly is a beautiful moon, isn't it?" and the last thing you see is the moon... Your last though "What Does the moon see, as it looks down?" and then it is black... battle 6 | You are a lone traveler, wandering through the forest. You finally reach a clearing, so you set down your walking staff and rest. Suddenly a hoarse voice reaches your ears. "If you want ter rest 'ere, I advise ye not to. Tis Marshank territory ye know." You have no idea where the voice is coming from; there is no beast in sight. Suddenly a black ferret appears right next to you. He is wearing a patch over one eye that he has obviously lost in a battle, but his other eye glares at you. A sharp-toothed smile escapes his lips. You are startled and angry by the sudden appearance of this warrior. Now he says, "You really should. I'm a fighter at Marshank ye' know, a great warrior, I've slain many beasts! Now yew liddle weakling, I'm advising you to get lost!" The ferret dissapears again. Enraged by this statement, you yell, "If your such a warrior, patchface, then how'd yew loose that eye!" You snatch up your staff as he reappears, flaming with rage. He bellows some curses at you and yells that his name is Patcheye, then turns. Since he is obviously unnarmed and is clad only in a black tunic, you decide to take revenge upon this ferret and take a flying leap! The ferret swings around, rips a huge battleaxe from his tunic, and knocks you down before you can touch him. You quickly jump to your feet. The ferret now pulls a plant that you recognise as deadly nightshade from his pack, and wipes it upon his blade. The ferret charges you! You take a defensive position with your staff, but the axe snaps it and brings itself down upon your shoulder! Colored stars burst before your eyes as you screech in pain. Patcheye wrenches his axe from your shoulder, adding to the intense pain. You can already feel the poison seeping through your veins as the ferret smiles coldy at you and chuckles. But now you can't see him, everything is blurred, out of focus somehow. Your legs collapse and you sink to your knees. From far off somewhere you can hear Patcheye say, "So yer kneeling to me now, eh? Well yer too late, hahaha!" Mists circle over everything, you fall to your face but the familiar feeling of the grass is gone. You are already at the gates of dark forest when the battleaxe bears down onto the back of your neck, slicing off your head. battle 7 | You stand uneasily, sweating in the stuffy, humid, overcrowded arena, waiting impatiently for you opponent to arrive. After what seems like an eternity a great gasp goes up from the crowd at other end of the arena, and some back away nervously. Straining your eyes to see in the black void of the other entrance, you begin to make out an even darker shadow, one that fills the confined space with an aura of evil.... "What!?" you think to yourself. "NO! It can't be!" The ferret Captain, her once marvelous cloak now filthy and in tatters, her ragged tunic threadbare to the point of uselessness, stalks sinuously into the arena. Murmurs ripple through the crowd. She was supposed to be dead. Hadn't she been slain on a special assignment, a tough-as-nails mission, or a battle or something? Nobeast had seen hide nor hair of her in seasons, you had been told. Silently speculating to themselves, the bystanders gaze intently on. You look her up and down, sneering in contempt. She's very short for an adult female ferret, barely up to your height! Who does this scurvy raggamuffin think she is? Then you begin to notice little things about this ferret that unsettle you. The cold, burning light in her eyes. Her smoothly but strongly defined muscles, the sleekness of her body which would suggest great speed. Her slight frame is lean, but sturdy as an oak. Her fur is dark brown, tainted with hairs of black, the color of darkness and evil. Thrust in her belt, the one item of clothing still in fair condition, is a fine, lethal dagger. Slung over her left shoulder is a small bow, and on a strap hangs her quiver full of arrows. Pushing down your apprehension, you crouch and bare you teeth at the ferret. "Well, you scrawny little rag doll, you gonna stand there all day or do you plan on fighting me?" "Oh, I plan on fighting you alright, mate." Her voice is cold as steel, sending icy shivers up your spine. "An' I plan on winnin', too. Let's see what you can do, bushelbum." Growling fiercely, you leap and slash with your dagger, only to find you are cutting through thin air. As you land hard on your chin, you turn your head to see the female ferret standing in the same easy yet wound-and-ready-to-go-like-a-spring position, only a few feet to the left now, raising an eyebrow at you and cocking her head mockingly. Gritting your teeth, you shove yourself off the ground and rush her in one movement, stabbing at her midsection. To your utter shock, she braces herself, then bowls right into you, the surprising force knocking you back. The ferret has your daggerpaw in a grip of iron, tightening, her claws digging painfully into your wrist. You scream as she twists savagely, firey pain shooting up your forearm with the realization that nerves and tendons have been ripped. As the ferret vicously tears her claws from your wrist you drop the dagger from your now useless paw and scrabble to pick it up with the other, then lash out angrily at your opponent. She draws her own dagger and counters the attack, metal rings against metal, sparks fly as steel clashes and the both of you weave around each other, seeking an opening, each watching for a fatal error on the other's part. Falling back suddenly, you kick out strongly at the ferret's legs. The blow sends her stumbling backwards, struggling to keep her balance and not topple over. Stooping down, for a rest it seems, you think with a triumphant smirk, the ferret bends down on one knee and leans her right arm on the other, drawing in a deep breath and closing her eyes. The fool! This is your chance! Fast as lightning you streak across the ground separating you from your enemy, then leap high and long the last few yards, ready to slam your dagger down into that insolent ingrate's thick skull. In midair time seems to slow. You're hurtling towards the ferret, feeling the adrenaline surging through you, revelling in the thrill of victory, coming down upon your defeated foe.... Agony like that which you have never experience before surges through your upper body as, with a slam that knocks you clean out of the air and down onto the dirt, something hits you hard. Falling down with a jolt on the ungiving earth, pain springs anew into your chest, redoubling, choking, unbearable...you can't breath.... Laboriously tilting your head to the side, you see the two shafts sticking out from your ribs. Even before you begin to choke upon your own blood you know at least one of your lungs is pierced. You blink slowly, and when again you open your eyes you see the female ferret standing over you. The hate that wells up within you is so strong it hurts, like the wounds in your chest. Those eyes, like tannish-umber stone, bore into you, and even now when death will soon bear you away a feeling of dread rises fearfully, and with the last of your ebbing strength you try to scrabble back, away from the creature. Staring impassively, blood-chillingly, she rips the arrows from your body with a swift jerk, and you shriek in anguish. Through quickly clouding eyes you glimpse your last sight in this world: a victorious smirk on the ferret's face, hitting you like one of her barbed arrows, and though you can barely hear them, the words forming on her lips. "Koaba's back." |