[Flashback]A Solo becomes a Duo (Vexrea Hawke)

[Kale]

Kale came to his senses as something positioned itself over him, casting a shadow over him. It was instinct more than anything else that saved him. He managed the roll to the side as the longsword plunged into the sand. The twin that Kale was engaged with must have used the opportunity that was presented when Kale fell, to recover his weapon. The force being exerted behind the sword caused it's blade to sink a few inches into the ground. That depth of penetration held the sword firmly as Kale rolled his body back in the direction of the sword. For the second time Kale managed to disarm his opponent. The man's face contorted with anger. Obviously he did not enjoy getting disarmed. Moving as quickly as he could, Kale rolled to the side again, narrowly missing a boot to the head. He continued to roll as another boot came crashing down towards him. He was in the midst of dodging the third boot strike when he grabbed a hand full of sand and threw it into his attacker's eyes. This tactic gave Kale the opportunity he needed to get back onto his feet. He rolled his tongue around inside his mouth, the wet metallic taste of blood filling his mouth due biting the inside of his lip as he fell. He spat the glob of blood to the side as they began to close on each other again. This time the larger man was more cautious. He did not just rush in to grapple as he had the last time. He stayed back, attempting to through a jab at the smaller man. The areas of unarmed combat were Kale's domain. The man was fast. Kale gave him that. However, Kale was faster and far more experienced in this type of combat. Kale moved into the punch, bending his knees as he did. As their bodies closed in Kale's previous maneuver caused the larger man's punch to pass harmlessly over his shoulder. Surprise ran over the man's face a moment before Kale's right fist impacted his stomach. Kale danced back, ducking under another feebly thrown punch by the larger man. He let the man press in with another punch before he responded. The twin came in attempting to land a jab with his right fist. Kale stepped to the side, grasping the man's wrist with his left hand. By a combination of yanking the man towards him and stepping in, Kale managed to bring his right elbow into the man's face. He moved back opening a small space between the two of them. Kale kept a firm grip on the man's wrist as he thrust his forearm into the man's elbow from below. A loud crack filled the air as the gladiator's arm bent the wrong way. The man shrieked in pain. Kale continued to grasp the man's broken arm by its wrist. He gave the arm a yank causing the man to stumble forward. His elbow met the man's face. This time Kale felt the man's nose give way under the blow. He let go of the man's wrist, doing a quick spin, and brought his heel into his opponent's knee. This time the man did not shriek when the bone gave way. Perhaps it was simply shock that allowed him to cope with the pain. As the man began to list forward Kale grabbed each of his shoulders and brought his knee into the man's stomach for good measure. Kale backed away from fallen man. He posed no threat to him anymore. He turned his eyes to the crowd and looked up definitely. "Is this what ye want!?" the warrior exclaimed to the spectators. "Ye want to see a man end another man's life!?" The crowd obviously did because they roared their approval. He looked down at the man that had moments before been trying to kill him. The once formidable warrior was trying to get to his feet. He was not having much luck with it. An almost gentle expression passed over Kale's face as he addressed his fallen enemy. "Ye fought well", he said to the man. "I will make sure it is over quickly." Kale rose back to his feet. He closed his eyes for a moment. Kale began to concentrate, manipulating the djed in his body. Gradually he felt power begin to build in his arms. He was still not very practiced in the use of flux but he could use it to augment his strength. As he channeled the djed, the veins in his arms began to darken. By the time he was done manipulating his djed the veins in his arms were obsidian. Outside of the color change, the use of flux did not seem to have any other adverse side effects. The crowd had become hushed when they saw the veins change. Kale knelt down and picked the larger man up. He held the man over his head as he turned to face the crowd. The man's body seemed to have grown much lighter than it had been moments before. He knew that that was just an illusion created by his magic fueled strength. He looked up at the crowd. The blackness in his arms grabbed their attention more than anything else. "IS THIS WHAT YE WANT!?" he roared to them. The watchers roared back. Kale dropped to one knee. The man's spine shattered far more easily then Kale would guessed it would. The crowd loved every moment of it. OOCIf any mods wish for me to explain why his veins turn black when he uses flux let me know. I will explain why it happens

[Vexrea Hawke]

She pulled her fist back after landing the blow. The air was suddenly full of the coppery scent of blood . Warmth, covered her face as a few droplets splattered her cheek. She grinned as she drove her fist forward again, connecting with his face with a sickening thud.

She battered her opponent , right cross after right cross. She felt the blows land, her blood lust rising with every hit. She was aware of her opponent fighting back , a few clumsy blows , weakening with everyone one of hers that landed. They both knew it was over, he did not have enough fight in him to stop her.

She raised her fist.. but stopped for a moment and she heard it. The crowd was crying out for blood. Their howls , they drove her, encouraged her. They promised power, they promised wealth and fame.. Her fist connected, pummeling the man's broken and distorted face. No healer could put that together, no magic would set it right. If it where not for the net, she would have stood, given herself more room to beat the man, to show the crowd just how far she was willing to go to keep them shouting, to keep their promises of coin and fame .


The first time, her first match finished. She reached her hands forward to the now unconscious mans head. “ Your dead to me and the world...” Her words another incantation, much like her partners her Flux would be the means to a end. Her Djed focused to her arms as he took the mans head, almost gently and with a quick twist, snapped his neck. To her, it felt like she sat there for a few minutes , looking at the dead man. It could only have been seconds as the crowd showed no signs of boredom, no signs of displeasure. Only the slowly dieing cheer for their current champions.

She pulled the net off of her as she stood, dropping it unceremoniously on the twin. She looked up and raised her fist. She stopped , turning her head to look at her would be partner. Without a word she reached down, pulled up her temporarily discarded gauntlet and started making her way back to the holding cells. The time for talk, was outside of the public eye..

[Kale]

Kale let the dead man's body roll off of his knee and fall limply to the ground. The warrior rose to his feet. He did not say anything as he looked at the tightly packed bodies in the stands. Kale hand long since let go of the djed that had fueled his magical strength. The color change when Kale began to use flux was almost instant. The pigment in his veins darkening at as djed pooled into nearby limbs. The effect took longer to fade. Even now the color change seemed reluctant to fade. He paid little mind to the color in his arms as he turned his attention back to Vexrea. It was hard to make out just who had the upper hand under the net. He began to move over to intervene when he clearly saw Vexrea's body on top of the other man. He began to hear the loud impacts of her fists as they impacted the man's body. It did not matter how tough you were. If someone that skilled with their punches were landing such solid blows on you it would do a great deal of damage. She did not let up her assault. As she continued her fists began to get spattered with blood, causing droplets to fly in every direction with each impact to the man's broken face. As he watched she continued to beat them man. He was beginning to think that she meant to beat him to death. It did not really matter to him if she did. He had no right to tell her how she should end her opponent. The crowd however seemed to enjoy her actions. Abruptly she halted her attack on the man. Anyone that had had time in the arena know what this was. She was gauging if she should spare him or kill him based on how the spectators reacted. She got her answer almost immediately. She reached down and grasped his head. Kale had no way of knowing that she was using flux to augment her strength when she killed the man. It did not take a great deal of physical prowess to snap a man's neck. What Vexrea did took more strength then her body could have exerted in such a small space. She snapped the man's neck yes, but in doing so she nearly twisted the entire head off from the rest of its body. Kale simply looked on with indifference. When she had finally managed to untangle herself and move over to him, he knelt down and grabbed a hand full of sand. He moved the sand over his hands until it had removed most of blood that had not yet dried from his hands. The barbarian rose to his feet and watched as Vexrea moved closer to him. The woman did not speak as she passed him but their eyes did meet briefly. The look she gave him was the only thing he needed to know. She obviously wished to speak with him. She continued walking and disappeared back the way they had come. Kale shook his head faintly and followed. His eyes were used to the bright light outside and took a few moments to adjusted to the dimmer passageway. He left things become more discernible before moving further down the passage. He did not go far before he found his partner leaning against a wall. He moved closer so that they could not be over heard before he spoke to her. "Ye did better than I would have giving ye credit for", he praised her. "I get the feeling that we're going to be put into more fights with each other. Next time lets work together. We might not get a break like we did this time." He held out his hand for her to shake in a show of friendship. The words that Kale spoke held no ill will towards Vexrea. He knew that he was as much to blame as she was. After she had shaken his hand he grinned for perhaps the first time since the two had met, "Now let us go get what that bastard Shale owes us."

[Vexrea Hawke]

The adrenalin pumping through her veins lowered to a steady hum, enough that she could still feel the exhilaration of what had happened moments before, not not enough to cloud mind, nor judgment anymore. The steps of her partner drew her eye to his. She lowered her voice to match his, no need to let others listen in on them.

“ Ye did better then I would have given ye credit for” She couldn’t help but feel moderately surprised. She didn’t know this man beyond the moment, but he did not strike her as somewhat who would give credit easy, apparently she had passed his judgment. “ I get the feeling that we're going to be put into more fights with each other. Next time lets work together. We might not get a break like we did this time” She noticed the hand. Taking a moment to unbuckle one of her gauntlets, she took his hand, giving it a firm shake. She did not bother putting on the gauntlet, keeping it in her off hand

“.. I wont lie it went a lot better then I expected it would. And your right, why only offer two fighters entertainment when they can offer four? “ she shook her head a bit at the thought

She grinned at the mention of coin” Perhaps the second best sound I have heard all day." 'A hard days work, with pay well earned' she thought to herself, walking abreast with Kale. Perhaps there was something to public fighting, after all if she wanted she didn't have to go searching for another job. Best to stay here awhile, help build a name for herself and see if she couldn't command a few higher paying contracts once she was ready..

[Cantrip]

Did you want something? Kale: XP Award: Short Sword +2; Unarmed Combat +3; Flux +1; Observation +1 Lores: Fighting in a Pair, Uses of Sand in Combat, Executions by Flux Rankings: 10 points Vexrea: XP Award: Unarmed Combat +3; Flux +1 Lores: Fighting in a Pair, Uses of Sand in Combat, Dealing with Nets Rankings: 10 points Additional Notes: A simple concept, very well executed. I felt you both played well to your skills, and to the arena. The use of ‘ye’ was a bit abstruse, though. Vexrea, just saying that you focus djed to parts of your body is kind of a lazy way of depicting flux. Also, when you’re caught up in a net you won’t be able to move quite so freely, so keep that in mind. I was a bit puzzled by how her opponent could hit so hard while lying on his back, too. Kale, the only thing that bothered me was the first disarming. You may not be cut by trapping a sword under your arm, but wrenching so hard that the blade is jerked away from its wielder would probably result in some minor cuts. I would've given you both tactics if you'd followed through with the plan to stick together. On the whole, this stood out as a very good arena thread. I can’t give wages, though, since this is a flashback.