A Bed of Lace (Solo)

[Aello]

Fall 4, 511 AV Aello's fingers curled around the hilt of her dagger. The blade flashed in the light of the rising sun. The blood sinking into the silver, the glow. Turning into a crusty brown mess, as opposed to a vibrant red splotch. A stain on the skin. As the tip rested just above the girl's right elbow, the hairs on the back of her arm stood at attention. A chill shot through the length of her veins. Causing them to sink further and further into the recesses of her pale flesh. Causing the swirling rivers of blue and green to nearly disappear from view. "Are you sure about this?" Aello called to the man who stood several feet down the street. Tall, with a slight curl to his shoulders, which made him appear hunched. A braid of black hair running down the center of his back. The girl was twirling the blade in her hand now. Watching it reflect the sun's light as it swished, pushing the air that surrounded it aside as it moved along. "Of course," the man replied. "I would not have challenged you unless I knew you to be worth challenging." A slender smile crossed the man's lips. A twin to the one Aello herself wore, whenever she knew she had the upper hand. Whenever she knew she was just about to finish someone off. Send them on their way to her goddess. Aello's dark brown eyes flashed, as the man finally pulled his own dagger from its scabbard, and held it in the opposite fashion from Aello, in the sense that his fingers curled around the hilt, his thumb turned towards the blade. It was twisted out towards her, as opposed to backwards, towards his own body. The way Aello herself, carried her cursed blade. "But you should know, this will be unlike any other fight or training session you have ever held," the man continued. Aello replied simply, by raising her right brow into an arch, which matched the gentle curve of her father's old bow. The bow which was leaning up against her bag, and her quiver, which rested in a pile to her left side. "For you see, there shall be rules to this battle, simply to make things a little more... interesting..." Aello nodded. "I'm listening, name your terms," she instructed, her voice sounding only marginally impatient. The man's smile widened as Aello brought her blade to a halt, letting it rest against her skin once more. "Very well," the man replied, as he pulled something out of his pocket. It looked as though it were a tissue, from where Aello stood. The man bent over, and placed it down on the ground. A white piece of cloth, a perfect square it seemed. No more than a foot wide all around. Aello took several steps closer to the handkerchief as the man straightened it out and then stood back up. From where Aello now stood, she could just make out the slender curls of lace which lined the handkerchief. The initials 'ML' which had been embroidered into the cloth. "The rules of this fight are simple," the man began, once the girl had pulled her eyes off the lace, and forced them back onto his own, dark green ones. "You stand on one corner of this handkerchief, and myself, on the corner to its diagonal. We will fight entirely on this cloth. Take your feet off your section, and you lose the fight, automatically." His eyes seemed to glimmer as Aello's grip tightened around the hilt of her dagger. "Interested?" he asked. Aello nodded. "That was a stupid enough question," she growled, as she approached the bit of cloth, and took up her position on one of the corners. As promised, the man took up a position to the diagonal of her own corner. "Whenever you're ready stranger, our training may begin," Aello commented, as her thumb danced over the hilt of her blade. She was waiting, and quickly growing impatient...

[Aello]

The man's green eyes glimmered, taking on the appearance of a leaf caught out in the sun. His lips curled into a slender smile as he nodded his head, but only slightly. "As you wish," he whispered, as he whisked his hand upward, and extended his arm. His elbow unfurled a bit as he reached for Aello, pushing the dagger forward in an attempt to stab her side. The move, being so basic, was one that Aello had often seen used by those who held the blade in the same fashion as her opponent. The knowledge of such an attack made it easy for the girl to turn her body from the waist upwards in the direction of the blade, to raise her arm and hold the blade out to her right, effectively blocking the man's attack. Metal met with metal, producing a low clacking noise. As soon as their blades had brushed, Aello pushed against her blade with all of her might, and then, suddenly let up, pulling her dagger away in the process. She allowed her body to turn back, to return to a place in which she was facing her opponent head-on. But she did not remain this way for long. Instead, Aello twisted her body from the waist up in a clockwise fashion, until her left shoulder led the rest of her slender form. Her left arm bent at the elbow, curled in front of her form. It was raised into a position which gave the illusion that it may have been able to shelter the girl from the oncoming storm. Aello's right arm, in the mean time, was being drawn back, bent firmly at the elbow. She was pushing it slowly towards the ground, until the very last second, when she was certain the man was about to attack, at which point she snapped her arm back up. She twisted her arm so that as she moved it as though she were about to perform an uppercut, the blade curled outwards, and towards her opponent. It was about to rake over the center of the man's chest, and slice upwards, in a relatively straight, vertical line, when the man slapped Aello's blade away with his own. There was another loud cracking sound, with a familiar edge. A metallic ring. Aello's hand went flying off to the right, until a time in which she managed to halt it, and suspend it in space, off to her side. During this time, she pulled her shoulder back, and twisted her body, providing her chest to the man as a target. The man, then, chose to take advantage of this opportunity by thrusting his arm forward, attempting to strike the area just below Aello's left shoulder. The girl, noticing this, pushed her dagger-wielding hand to the left as swiftly as she could, just managing to swipe the man's blade away with a loud clinging noise, a few moments after he had dug the tip of his dagger into her flesh. As she pushed against his blade with her own, Aello drew her blade across her own flesh. It was unavoidable. An angle she could not use to her advantage, since she'd have to get close to the tip of the man's blade with her own, to push it off and safely away. Aello bit her bottom lip as she noticed a shallow cut forming across her flesh. A small ribbon of red. She could see it out of the corner of her eye, even as she pushed each of their blades farther to the left, and then rapidly, swung her arm back around in a wide arc. Allowing the blade to swirl alongside the length of her fingers, towards her opponent. Now, Aello had the right angle, the proper position. For the man's blade was too far away to be of any use to him. Thus, she easily swept her blade across his collarbone. Severing the ties of his tunic, a thin layer of flesh that lay beneath. Spilling a small line of blood which seemed to burst into crimson bubbles around the edges. Now each player had left a mark. Now each had an injury. Twin reminders of what they were dealing with, what the other could do. But it was not enough to keep them from the battle. To convince them to step off their bed of lace. On the contrary, it made each of them long for more. The chance to inflict more damage. The chance to acquire more. The chance to make the other beg for mercy, even after they had won.

[Aello]

As soon as Aello's blade had slid as far as her arm could reach, she rapidly swung her arm back in the opposite direction. Her opponent, more than likely thinking it best to take advantage of the fact that her hand had veered into a position so far away, one that left her chest entirely defenseless, brought his dagger back inwards, towards the center of Aello's stomach. Their blades met in the middle, crashing angrily against each other. Sending tiny tremors through the arms of those who wielded it. Tiny vibrations through the veiny green rivers which coursed beneath their flesh. Pulsing. Rising with each of their exertion. Each blade master grit their teeth, as their eyes flashed menacingly. Each could feel the pressure the other was exerting upon their blade. Trying to sway their hands from one side of their bodies to another. Trying to turn the tides in their spar. But neither could be budged. Sweat began to trickle down each of their brows as their hearts picked up the pace. If they were quiet, they could hear the thundering beat they drummed. Starting in a weak manner, and growing stronger which each passing moment. After growing tired of their dead lock, Aello pulled her hand away, and steered her dagger towards the man's left shoulder. The man easily blocked with his blade, before aiming for the girl's hip. Aello brought her blade into its side, and blocked the advance. From there, Aello moved to strike the man's middle, but was kept from meeting his flesh once more. Well this is getting pretty petching annoying, Aello thought, as she pushed her blade around rapidly in order to block any more advances while she thought of another tactic. No one is gaining or losing any ground. No one is losing any more blood. Spilling any... makes this fight hardly worth having. Aello raised her blade once more, meeting with her opponents. There has to be a better way. A weakness, a manner in which to convince him to submit to me. A way to defeat him. Their blades hung in the air for several moments, their arms trembling as they kept them locked, and then, the girl swept hers around in a small circle, knocking her opponent's away. She forced her blade forward then. Pushing it with all of her might. Letting it twist towards the man she wanted to cut, but it was easily deflected. What did he say the rules were? Something about staying on your corner of this handkerchief... Aello's mind whispered. Trailed off into a series of thoughts. Musings. Her lips curled into a slender smile as she drew her arm back in the opposite direction, planning to sweep it along the incision she had already inflicted. As she had expected, her blade was blocked. She curled all of her fingers into her palm. Balling her left hand into a fist. She bent her arm at the elbow, and lifted it a little higher as the man made to strike her again. She blocked the attack without giving it much thought, before raising her fist and punching the man in the gut. As soon as she had made contact with the man's flesh, Aello pulled her hand back to her side. The man's eyes grew wide, as Aello dragged every last breath of fresh air from his lungs. His arms ran inwards, threatening to strike her legs, but Aello ignored this. She watched as his body curled inwards, giving her time to twist her body from the waist up once more. In a counter-clockwise fashion. As she did so, she lifted her right leg off the ground, and turned it onto its side. She swung it around, and struck the man in the hip, just as he was straightening himself back up. The man smiled. His eyes flashed. He pulled one of his fingers off the hilt of his blade and pointed at Aello. "You lose, you pulled your foot off the handkerchief." Aello's smile widened. "I lost nothing. Fool. If anything, I weakened you," she commented as she pulled her leg away from his waist, and placed her foot back down on the frilly white cloth. "You said you lose automatically if you pull your feet off the handkerchief. I, took only one foot off. The move, then, was completely legal." Her eyes flashed mischievously as she watched the man curl his finger back onto the hilt. As she tightened her grip around her own. "Semantics," the man growled. "Precisely," Aello replied, as she pulled her right hand back, and returned her body to a position in which it would face her opponent head on. "But that's not my fault. You were the one who set the rules... perhaps you should listen more closely to what it is you say next time." The man merely growled in response.

[Aello]

The man curled his left hand into a fist. Each simply stood. Waiting for the other to move again. Their eyes locked. Their fingers twitching. Their skin seeming to glide across their bone. Aello moved her head slowly. Stretching out her neck by rolling it onto her right shoulder, raising it into a standard position, and then lowering it onto her left shoulder. She repeated the process until she heard a crack, at which point she smiled even more widely, and righted her head. "Any time you want to resume feel free... unless you still need some time to recover from the fact that you were outsmarted by someone who appears about half your age," Aello commented, her eyes sparkling. The man growled once more, before raising both of his arms into a defensive position. They were held before his chest. Curled at the elbows. His left hand held beneath the one that wielded the dagger. A little closer to his body as well. Aello, on the other hand, stood pretty relaxed. Each of her arms were bent at the elbow, but each dangled by her side. Her left hand was raised a little higher than the left, but both dangled seemingly without use, around her waist. After another moment of silently staring each other down, the man lifted his blade a little higher, and then brought it crashing back down, towards Aello's right shoulder, at the same time, he released his left arm, and reached for the center of Aello's chest. As swiftly as she could, Aello raised her blade. She turned inwards, turning her body so her right shoulder led a little. Seconds later, her blade came crashing into the underside of her opponent's, sending it spiraling back in the direction it had come. Meanwhile, Aello's left hand was inching upwards to block her opponent's punch. Her fingers were unfurling so that she may catch his fist, but she failed to move fast enough. The man's fist brushed past her fingers, forcing the largest back a few inches, causing it to crack and to ache, as he easily slid past and assaulted her chest. The girl's chest curled inwards, absorbing the brunt of his force, as her opponent pulled his arm back. Aello's left foot inched off the lace. She placed all of her weight upon it, allowing it to brace her body for a few seconds, before she bent it at the knee, and thrust it forward, into the center of the man's chest. The man grunted, as he too, lost each breath of air. As his body curled forward. Aello pulled her leg back down, returning her foot to the lace. Aello watched as the man struggled to regain his breath. She had finally righted herself. Thinking it best to take advantage of the fact that the man was still recovering from the blow, Aello brought her blade inwards, in a wide arc, planning to swipe it across his neck. But she was not fast enough. The man righted himself, and easily deflected her blade, before raising his left arm rapidly. Sweeping it upwards from down low, towards the underside of her chin. Instantly, the girl took her right foot off the lace, and put it about a foot behind her. She leaned into it, and jerked her head back, out of the man's reach. She watched his fist sail upwards, towards the sky. No more than an inch or two away from her nose. She could feel the air it displaced, as she curled her body towards the right, and swept her right arm upwards, as though she were to punch her opponent. Instead, her blade curved out towards the side, and made a small incision alongside her opponent's elbow. A single droplet of crimson red blood fell from the tip of Aello's blade. Another from the man's flesh. They fell, side by side, silently, onto the street. They splashed, sending even tinier droplets skywards, and then back down towards the earth. One fell across the side of the lace bed. Seeping into the edges, as the girl drew her blade back. She smiled wickedly. Well that's more like it, she thought.

[Aello]

The man growled as he whipped his blade forward, striking ferociously towards the girl's chest. Aello's smile widened as she brought her blade alongside her opponent's and swept it out of the way. As she did so, she ran her tongue over the roof of her mouth, producing a low clicking sound. "Oh dear, aren't you getting to be a little sloppy," she teased. "Well," she said, as she swept her blade towards the right to block another attack, "you're going to have to do better than that. Far better..." The man growled, and dragged his blade downwards, in an attempt to rake it over the girl's chest. Aello easily slid her blade beneath his own, to block, just as he raised his empty hand towards her cheek. His palm was lain flat now, fingers unfurled. It seemed to fly faster this way, for a fraction of a second later, it had met with the girl's flesh. Causing her head to whip around in the direction his hand had been moving. Her cheek stung, and was beginning to turn warm. Red. The lines of his fingers traced themselves across her pale skin. A red shadow of what had once been. The man retracted his hand as Aello whipped her head back around. She could see him smiling now, at his small victory. You shall wipe that petching smile off his face, Aello's mind hissed, as she whipped her left hand around, allowing her fist to inch closer and closer to the man's side. He easily blocked the advance by bringing his dagger-laden hand down on her own. Causing their knuckles to brush. To mold into each other, and crack, before splitting and going their separate ways. Shortly after their arms had returned to their sides, the man lifted his left leg off the ground, and twisted it onto its side. He swung it towards the girl, who took a single step back. Her left foot rested a foot behind the bed of lace. Aello placed all of her weight upon it and braced herself, waiting for the man to strike her. Watching his leg soar out of the corner of her eyes. Trap it, her mind whispered, urging her forward a few seconds before their flesh would make contact. Causing her to curl her arms beneath the man's leg, and slowly, cause the circle they formed to shrink, catching his leg. The force of it, the momentum he had built up, caused them to swing. Caused the insides to sting as she held it there. Curled into the crook her left elbow made with her arm. She held it tightly, curling her fingers around the fabric of his pant leg, as he slid around on his right leg, as he tried to jerk his left out of reach. As he tried to swipe at her with his dagger, and distract Aello enough where she would let go. But it was no use. Even with one arm occupied, Aello could easily deflect the man's unbalanced attacks. Fall! Aello's brain hissed, as she tugged on the leg some more, and lowered her blade to block another of the man's advances with his dagger. But the man would not stumble. The girl's eyes hardened, as she finally lowered her blade, and drew it across the center of the leg she had caught. The ties that held his clothes together ripped apart, she was just about to push against the blade with more force, when the man's blade knocked her own away. Aello growled, as she jerked even more forcefully on his leg, tugging it to her. Finally, the man stumbled, falling onto his back. Aello dropped his leg as soon as she heard his head slam into the ground. She could see him holding his eyes tightly shut. Hear him groaning as he rolled around, his toes still resting upon the edge of the lacy kerchief. Well, we're going to have to fix that, Aello thought, as the man finally opened his eyes.

[Aello]

Aello sank into a crouch, bending her knees heavily so that her behind came dangerously close to resting atop her feet. Her muscles ached, and her bones creaked as she lowered herself as close to her opponent's level as she dare go. The man swung his leg at her, as she tightened her hold on her dagger, as she turned it so the blade ran down, towards the ground. The girl simply took it, allowing him to sink a blow into her side. She braced herself with her left hand, allowing it to sink to the ground as her body shook. Seconds later, she was pushing up against her palm, and righting her body into its crouch. At the same time, Aello pushed her dagger downwards, towards the man's right leg. He pulled it off the lace, dragging it off to the side, and out of the way. Aello lifted her blade, and then dove it downwards, towards the man's left leg. He inched his right foot back onto the lace, and moved his left leg away. Aello smiled, before thrusting her blade into the space between his legs, before pushing it to the left. The man kicked her again with the right. But Aello ignored this, allowing the foot he struck to ache, but nothing more. The young spiritist's smile widened as she lifted her blade once more, and then brought it down towards the man's left leg, forcing it even farther away from the cloth. At the same time, she forced her left hand onto the man's right leg, and grabbed it about the ankle. She tugged on the cloth, pulling it away from the lace. The man fought her the entire time, knowing what she was trying to do. Trying to get his left leg back onto the cloth, but failing, for each time he did, Aello would stab at it with her dagger. For a long while, neither of the two opponents seemed to gain any ground. The man unable to get up, for Aello's attacks were relentless, Aello unable to force the man to surrender, for he was so bent on winning. Sweat poured down each of their brows as their hearts pounded, as their eyes blazed. As the fresh blood upon Aello's dagger began to dry. As her left arm began to ache with the effort it took to try and get his right leg to budge. It seemed as though the two would be locked in battle forever, until an idea came to mind, causing the girl to sweep her hand over from the man's left leg, to the right, dragging her blade across the area just above his ankle. Spilling another ribbon of blood. The man shrieked, "I surrender!" Aello smiled, a part of her had always known she would. She stood up, and sheathed her dagger. Held her left hand out to her opponent, and helped him up. "Until next time," she whispered, as she turned and gathered all of her things, and then disappeared into the maze of nearby canals and roadways.

[Cantrip]

Did you want something? Aello: XP Award: Dagger +5; Brawling +1 Lores: Hanky Shanky Additional Notes: For writing lots and lots about fighting with a dagger, you get lots of lovely experience.