Kvothe Algaterra vs Shandari Banaan

[Deleted]

An abandoned city long overtaken by the native plant life. Sunlight streams between buildings that now bear more resemblance too giant trees. Once it lived and breathed but now save for the beasts lurking in it's dark depths the city is quiet and still.

Rumors of ancient artifacts, forbidden treasures, and unimaginable wealth have drawn many to this place but none have ever returned. It is said that evil things lurk within the shadowy places of the run down buildings. Silence permeates what is left of the streets, and any sound that might be made seem to echo on for a little too long.

Now a pair of sentients have entered this forgotten city, each in search of something known only to them. Many treasure lay in it's depths and many of them are worth dying for.

Kvothe Algaterra vs Shandari Banaan

5 Rounds

The Quarter of destiny says that Kvothe Algaterra (Rugs) shall kick this off.

LET THERE BE CARNAGE!

[Rugs]

Quiet.

That's all there was in the streets of the old, dead city, save the roar of a waterfall far off in the distance. Kvothe looked about him, noting the way the streets were more dirt than pavement now. Buildings towered above his head like the preserved remains of long dead giants. But they were only skeletons. The glass and concrete that formed their skin was long gone. The pipes and wiring that served as their veins and arteries had long since rusted away or fallen to the elements in some other fashion. Now the only thing that remained were skeletons that reached up, clawing at the sky in one final act of defiance as mother nature came to claim them as her own. But still, through their battle to hold on to what little dignity they had left, the quiet remained. It was the resounding sort of quiet; the sort of quiet that fills one's senses and leaves little room for thought of anything else.

Kvothe stopped in the middle of what he assumed had been an old abandoned marketplace long ago, though now a giant tree grew from the middle of it, with massive roots that sprawled out in every direction, claiming the square as its own. He had the distinct feeling that he was being watched. Not by any one person, but rather by a multitude of souls that remained, demanding to know what business he had in their hallowed resting ground. It wasn't the first time he'd experienced such a feeling.

There was a city back on Aiaru called Ipilya, on an island of the same name in the massive Atea Ocean. Nearly four hundred years ago, Mount Ipilya, the volcano that formed the island, erupted, leaving the city in ruins and killing nearly eight out of every ten people that lived there. Of course, the city had recovered in the centuries since, and it even prospered now, but part of the old city remained as it had been after the eruption. It was a conscious effort, done to remind the people of Ipilya that every day they lived on the brink of a disaster, and work was occasionally done to keep the ruins as they had been for four hundred years. Kvothe had walked among those ruins. The same silence that filled this city was there, and the dead watched, wondering into the purpose of each visitor, much like they did here.

Kvothe took in the old square for a few moments longer before continuing on his way, heading off down what he guessed had been one of the city's main streets, based on the width of it. Skyscrapers towered overhead, screaming their silent defiance at whatever gods would dare attempt to bring them down. The sky was a brilliant mix of oranges and reds, as the sun began its final descent toward the horizon and the day gave up its last light. In time, shadows would start to fill the streets, and some places would be dark, even before the sun finally sank below the horizon. Of course, that didn't concern Kvothe; one of the side effects of Etherium--a substance he knew the use of well, given that he was a Mythic--was a slightly increased sensitivity to light, which made his vision clearer in the dark. And, when night finally took the skies in another hour or two, he'd still continue on, as he had ways to make light for himself.

If those troubled spirits guessed that he'd come looking for a battle, they'd be about half right. After all, he was certainly dressed for it, with the red and gold armor that he sometimes wore adorning his body. An old, tattered cloak hung from around his neck. His staff was in his hand, as always, and his sword, Orcus, hung behind him through the vibrant green sash that was wrapped around his waist. But the armor, impressive looking though it might be, was only a precaution for the event of a possible encounter.

The search for knowledge had been the original reason Kvothe came to the old, abandoned city. He'd been exploring its depths for a few days now, returning every night to the Masada to rest before going out again the next day. But, earlier that afternoon, when he'd been in the depths of an Etherium-aided meditation session back on his ship, a premonition struck.

He was not alone in the city.

No, there was another being here, and the uneasy feeling he'd gotten gave him the feeling that, whoever they were, they were not friendly. So he took the initiative and set out to find them. He would not be caught flat footed if this other person did turn out to be hostile. For most of the afternoon he'd wandered about the city, searching for who the other one was, but he'd not found them. Not yet. But, when he did, he'd see if they were in fact an enemy, and if they were, he'd deal with them.

He came to a stop in the middle of another street. It was more narrow than the main street he'd turned off of, and it was littered with rubble left over from the decay of the once splendid civilization that'd exited here. To his surprise, some of the buildings had walls, which were covered in vines that crawled up their sides, searching for any position that could better provide them with the light they needed to survive. Sunlight filtered through the spaces in between the buildings, that stretched toward the sky, creating beautiful shafts of light through the motes of dust that drifted lazily through the air. A gentle breeze blew down the street, which set the auburn hair that hung around his head to gently rustling.

On a whim, he took hold of the Mythos and reached out with his senses. He wasn't the best in the school of sense, though the ability he had was certainly nothing to scoff at. As he felt around him, probing the area for signs of his mysterious quarry, he felt it. The other was near. Their presence stood out, loud and stark in the silence that hung through the dead, forgotten city. A smirk touched the edge of Kvothe's lips. Found you. Now the only thing that remained was for them to reveal themselves, and what unfolded from there was entirely up to them.

[Hotel]

The lithe Rilan stood there, perched on top of one of the many ruined buildings. Her cold, black eyes scanned the landscape as she thought to herself. She had been here for days, but had not found what she had come for, and it may very well take many more, maybe even years before she might ever discover it, though she knew she did not have that much time to search for it. Once more her gaze looked searchingly over the ruins, as if trying to spot anything that might point to where she should even begin her search, but she found nothing. With a silent sigh, she stretched her wings out and took to the air.

She had come here in search of a rare artifact for the Order, and she knew the Dark Overlord would not tolerate failure. She blamed no one but herself though, having been eager to take such a mission, just to get away from the temple. Ever since their defeat at Subterrel, things had not been good for her. Many blamed those that had been sent for the defeat, and to make matters worse, the one person in the entire order that she had even the smallest feelings for was ignoring her. She had not seen him since they had returned to Korriban after their defeat. He had almost immediatly taken off without even letting her know. In a way, it brought sorrow to her, made her feel like she had someone let him down. She had just needed to get away from it all, have a chance to clear her head, and she had taken this mission with just that in mind.

But this mission was turning out to be more trouble then she thought it would be. As she flew, she scanned the ground below, her eyes lingering on the ruined buildings, the glass long gone from the windows, the central squares where silent fountains stood crumbling, the water having long ago stopped flowing through them. She dived down to an empty area she spied not to far away, near the edge of the river that seemed to flow from the nearby mountains. With a graceful land, she pulled her wings in and pulled up her hood. It was still midday, and the hood of her robe would help block the sun from her eyes as she searched.

She began to make her way through the city on foot, coughing as she kicked up dust while she did. This was one of the reasons she had been scanning the city from the air. Everywhere around her was covered either in dirt, dust, rubble, or any sort of combination of the three, and it easily got into the air while she walked through it. All of a sudden she heard a cracking sound above her as part of the building near her had begun to break off. With a hiss, her lightsaber was out, cutting through any of the debri she could not dodge, while she ran, trying to get away before she wound up being crushed. The larger chunks of the ruin hit the ground with a crash, sending up a large cloud of dust that seemed to both choke and blind her. She pulled her hood over her face and continued to run, using her instinct to guide her. While she was doing this, she used her senses, weak as they was through the force, to try to perceive any other danger of falling debris. It was through this she stumbled upon the stranger among the ruins with her. In the state she was currently in, her mind seemed to link the stranger and the falling rubble together, instead of seeing it for what it really was. Anger took over her as she began to head for where she sensed the person.

She looked a terror as she searched for the person, her wings tucked into her robes, which were white with the dust, making her look almost as if she was a ghost. The glow of her pink saber seemed to only add more to the otherwordly effect caused by the dust clinging to her. She turned a corner, only to finally see him. This trespasser in the city. This man that had dared to attack her. This interloper effecting her mission. She was angry, stressed, upset... she didn't even know how to describe everything she had felt ever since returning from their defeat of the Jedi, but she had finally found something to take it all out on. With a charge, lightsaber raised, she went in for the attack.

[Deleted]

ROUND ONE.

Kvothe Algaterra - Rugs

Effort: 4
Fairness: 5
Detail: 5
Coolness: 4
Bonus: 0

Comments: D00D, epic first post (y) Can't wait to see how Kvothe handles being charged at like that.



Shandari Banaan - Hotel

Effort: 3
Fairness: 5
Detail: 4
Coolness: 5
Bonus: 1

Comments: Equally epic :3 Docked a point in effort for typos but you get it back in bonus. Loved how she blamed the building falling over on Kvothe and your description of her afterward made me go " WOAH"

Total:

Hotel: 18

Rugs: 18

Overall comments: looks like the two of you are pretty evenly matched, this duel is gonna be awesome X) Alright, I know you both can take up a notch so DU EET.

[Rugs]

Kvothe continued to stand where he was, hazel eyes shifting about warily as he continued to probe outward with his senses. The other was drawing nearer, that much was certain, though he could not yet tell who they were, or exactly where. But it was no matter. Such things would become apparent soon enough.

A crashing sound off in the distance suddenly drew his attention, and he turned around to face down the old street in the direction the sound came from. If he'd been closer to the scene, he might have heard the faint buzz of a lightsaber, as its wielder desperately defended herself against falling the debris that fell down, as one of the dying giants started to fail in its struggle to resist the inevitable. But, as things were, he could only hear the sound of things falling apart: the tortured groan of metal as it gave in, the quiet, muffled roar of stone and drywall as they slammed into the now earthen streets. It all faded away after a while, though, and that loud, resounding silence took hold of the city once more.

For his part, Kvothe didn't pay much mind to the sounds of the collapse. The city was old, and in an obvious state of disrepair; it was to be expected that things would collapse like that. Perhaps those dead spirits that still lingered on had grown weary of the other and made an attempt to put an end to them. The attempt apparently failed, though. The other's presence lingered on in the Mythos, and they were drawing near. Kvothe paced around for a moment, biding his time until the point where they would reveal themselves. It didn't take long.

Shandari appeared around a corner at the end of the old road a few moments later and Kvothe came to a halt to regard her. He stopped in one of the breaks in between the dying buildings, and the deep golden rays of the evening sunlight fell onto him, reflecting brilliantly from the red and gold metal of his armor. It was a stark contrast to her, who stood in shadow, covered in dust like some lost thing returned from the dead.

For a few moments, the two stood there, measuring each other. If an observer were to think that the city could not get any more quiet (not counting the steady din of the distant waterfall, of course), then they'd find themselves amazed at the way things seemed to go even more silent as the two stared each other down. Those dead spirits started to gather amongst the skeletons of the buildings, looking with genuine interest to see what might come of the two living ones who'd found each other in this long-forgotten place under the growing red of the evening sky.

Kvothe's eyes shifted to the pale blue of interested curiosity as he took a moment to size up the woman that suddenly appeared. She was tall and willowy, with a frame that did not look to lend itself much to physical strength. What she lacked in brute strength would probably be made up for in agility, though. He barely gave the pink lightsaber in her hand a second though; he could deal with that, if things came to a battle.

Though they did not look it, either of his weapons could take a hit from a lightsaber unscathed. That had to do with the way they'd been constructed. There was a method used by the forgers in the Tower that imbued an almost unnatural strength into the staves and swords used by those in the order. It was very similar to the one the Matukai used to make their famous wan-shens strong enough to stand up to a lightsaber's wrath. Of course, said method didn't make a weapon sharper, or any more potent to bludgeon with, but the strength afforded by it was near-invaluable.

The thing that caught Kvothe's eye the most was nothing physical about the woman. It was immaterial, and surrounded her. It was something only he or others like him could see. It was the sort of thing he'd not seen in a very long while.

It was an aura.

Black and red swirled about Shandari, in a way that Kvothe had not seen since he'd last seen his brother, or his parents. The colors were different, but it was there, and instantly, he knew that she was a Rilan. The aura was something they all had, even him, and it was something they could all see around each other. Perhaps she's not an enemy, then he thought.

She quickly proved him wrong.

Shandari suddenly charged, weapon held in a way that could only be an attack. Kvothe snarled, and his eyes shifted from their interested blue to an irritated orange, with faint streaks of the gold of determination running through it. "So be it," he said as she ran at him. If she was so eager to start a fight without reason, then he'd give her one.

A soft note of contempt crept into his annoyance with the woman as she rushed on. She was quick, but she had a fair deal of ground to cover between where she'd appeared and the point he stood at. And she'd decided to charge, of all things. The heightened reflexes of a Force user would make that risky enough at a closer distance, but from range? Kvothe shook his head. "Idiot," he muttered under his breath in the Rilan tongue.

"Do not charge an enemy you know nothing about," the voice of an old combat instructor at the Tower echoed within his head. Kvothe remembered that day well. It was after a sparring session in the days of his youth, where he'd attempted a charge at Vorian, hoping to catch his older brother off guard. Needless to say, Vorian had embarrassed him for his failure."And above all else, Understudy Kvothe, never charge from range unless your foe is disabled or otherwise distracted. It gives them time to react, and that reaction could be the end of you."

And so a plan formed in his mind as Shandari rushed on, running in and out of the shafts of light and shadow that hung through the dusty air, switching with them from angel to demon. To be honest, there were a number of things he could've done to answer Shandari's charge. It would be fair to say that he was a master of telekinesis; he had a knack for it, and a strength in that field that was equaled by few, and surpassed by even fewer. He could use a single strike out, to wrap her up in telekinetic bonds so that she couldn't move and hoist her up into the air to get answers out of her. Or he could fill the narrow street with a blast strong enough to send her careening back to where she'd started, which, in turn, would leave her momentarily open for more reprisals; not to mention the damage the she'd take from running headlong into a wall of air that was moving in the opposite direction with much more force than she was. Or he could strike down at the earth, digging telekinetic fingers into the soil to rip it up as she came on, to put a stop to her advance, and again, open her up for more reprisals. But no, if she wanted to play this game, he'd play it. For now.

He reached out to lay the preparations for his plan as she came at him, though time was short. He lashed out at the ground, once to kick up up a cloud of dust around him, and once more to thicken it and make it grow. Then he stepped forward and out of it, to see that she'd be within striking distance with a few more paces. He'd have to trust his ability both to gauge distance and the Mythos for the next step. Kvothe stood, waiting for the Mythos to give him indication of when to move. When he felt it, he set things into motion.


Kvothe took a half step forward, to make it look as if he was starting to move forward to meet Shandari's advance. But that was a ruse, and he quickly shifted his weight so that he spun off and to the side so that she'd continue forward and into the cloud of dust, sweeping out wide enough to be out of the range of her blade. As he came 'round, he reached out with the Mythos to reach out and take hold of her ankles with strong telekinetic bonds. Then he would yank bank, to pull her feet from under her, and to then to the hard to the side, to slam her into the wall of one of the decaying buildings next to them.

Kvothe didn't know who this woman was or what reason she had for attacking him, but he planned on making one thing abundantly clear to her: if she didn't back down he'd put an end to her. Perhaps, were he a Jedi, he might try to talk his way out of the fight. But Kvothe was a Sword of Diligence, and he did not treat those that attacked him kindly. If this woman could not be shown sense, then he hoped for her sake that the spirits of this place would welcome her into their fold. And if not? Well, she'd have an eternity to try to convince them otherwise.

[Hotel]

She continued with her charge, only realizing too late her mistake. Like an angry spirit, the silent woman charged into the cloud of dust, only to find she missed her opponent. Only then did her senses seem to overcome her emotion. She had made a text book mistake, one many died from, but she was no novice, even if her opponent might mistake her as one, and she could work that to her favor. As she was thinking what to do, her ankles were grabbed by something, and she was yanked into the air.

Once more she silently cursed herself as she flew in the direction she knew a wall to be. This man was not giving her any time to think. If she was to beat him, she would have to rely on intuition and instinct. She prepared herself for the blow, concentrating on hardening her body and dulling the pain as she hit it with a crash. She gasped for air as it managed to knock the wind out of her, and bruise her, but other then that it didn't do much. Still, she slumped down to the ground for a moment before standing, quickly unfurling her wings and shooting up through the cloud of dust to the clean air above. Hopefully her opponent would think her still there, in too much pain from slamming into the wall.

As she took to the air, an idea struck her. Why not do to him what he had done to her. She rolled in midair so she would face where she had just been, and lashed out at the nearest building with a powerful bolt of lighting. Her bolt tore through it, the crumbling ruins not able to offer much resistance. She did this several times, to several different buildings, constantly moving as she did so he would hopefully be unable to pinpoint her position.

It was not long before a rumbling began. Sweet music to her ears. If he had not known her goal before, he surely would now. the rumbling was followed by creaks and crashes as the ruins slowly began to shift. Once more she began striking the buildings with lightning. Finally, the sound of falling rubble began to echo around them as the ancient buildings began to fall. Some fell in front of him, some behind. These were the ones she had gone for first. As the largest pieces of rubble hit the ground, they shot great clouds of dust into the air. She smiled, hoping it would blind and gag him. Now the buildings to either side of him began to fall. While she did not know if he would be able to stop it, and somehow doubted that he would not find a way to do just that, that was not her intent. If the rubble managed to crush him, all the better, but she wanted it to distract him, make him forget she was there.

She closed her eyes as she concentrated, unable to see him through the cloud of dust. She would need to find him from above, sense just where he was. Aha! Finding him, she held her hand out toward him, and a bolt of lighting flew straight at him. She hoped it was enough, but she was not willing to take any chances. As soon as she had struck out with her lightning, she dived into the cloud of dust, her other lightsaber now in her free hand, though not yet ignited. Feet now once again on the ground, she stood ready. If he managed to survive this, then the fun could really begin.

[Deleted]

ROUND TWO.

Kvothe Algaterra - Rugs

Effort: 5
Fairness: 5
Detail: 5
Coolness: 5
Bonus: 0

Comments:Perfect score across the board :3 need I say more?



Shandari Banaan - Hotel

Effort: 4
Fairness: 4
Detail: 4
Coolness: 5
Bonus: 0

Comments: Darn good post Hotel, Just a few things that bothered me. Using force lightning to knock over buildings and there was a lot of rushing from one action to the next. Maybe a little more on what she is thinking? internalize a bit. Helps to engage the reader.

Total:

Hotel: 35

Rugs: 38

Overall comments: A small gap in the points in round two, is this a sign of things to come? or is Hotel falling back for a come from behind victory? xD Let's find out. LET ROUND 3 BEGIN!

[Rugs]

The plan worked flawlessly. Shandari continued on, carried by the forward momentum of her charge into the growing cloud of dust, as Kvothe stepped to the side. As she ran onwards, Kvothe's attack commenced, and he pulled her back and into the air before slamming her into the wall. The tremors of impact ran up through the bonds that he held her by, and he snorted softly in satisfaction as he released her.

"Stand down," he said to her through the dust. "You've attacked me without reason. Don't think that I'll hesitate to kill you if you continue with your aggression." Apparently, his warning was either unheard or ignored, as he saw Shandari shoot up into the air on black wings out of the lingering dust. Perhaps she'd meant the display to cow him. Or perhaps not. Perhaps she'd forgotten that he stood outside of the cloud, so as to not be blinded by his own creation, and went up, seeking to surprise him from the air. Whatever her intentions, Kvothe merely closed his eyes and shook his head for a moment before he turned his gaze skyward. "You really are a fool," he muttered under his breath as the hazel and orange of his eyes gave way to determination's gold.

Again, though, in her haste, Shandari had created a moment were Kvothe could do any number of things to take whatever it was she had in mind and bring it crashing to a halt. Maybe she didn't know that telekinetic attacks were his bread and butter, but taking to the air against a foe such a him... Well, it was stupid, to say the least. But he filed the plans for counterattack away for the time being, and decided to wait to see what it was the woman had in mind.

A few thoughts went through his mind as he watched her rise, most of which had to do with the wings that sprouted from the woman's back. Her aura told Kvothe that she was a Rilan, as he was, and as such, had a 'true' form, which involved wings sprouting form one's back, among other things. Of course, Kvothe knew that that form was not something that came about until one was in dire straits--the kind of which there'd be no way for this woman to be in so quickly into the fight. That narrowed the options down, then. His parents had told him and his brother, when they were young, that, though the occurrence was very rare, Rilan could sometimes be born into their true form. It often came with defects of some sort, and wasn't something to be desired. Is that what she is, he wondered as he watched her climb up. Some sort of freak?

Shandari did a short roll when she reached the apex of her climb. She turned about, facing the direction she'd come from, and made her move. However, instead of attack Kvothe, she took the opportunity to strike out at one of the old, decaying buildings. Kvothe shook his head again. While she might have had something in mind, she continued to leave herself open, leaving room for him to launch reprisal after reprisal if he wished it. His instructors back at the Tower would be red in the face to see him do such a thing. Vorian would outright embarrass him, and would mince no words that it was his intention to do so. But Kvothe's confidence was swelling at the woman's display, so he decided to humor her. For the time being, anyway. After all, he wasn't in any particular rush. A few minutes wouldn't take much away from the time the woman would have to get to know the spirits that lingered on in the city.

The lightning surged forward from her fingertips toward the giant's skeleton and slammed into some of the material that still clung to it. Kvothe didn't think her strategy, whatever it might be, made much sense, considering that the strike, which was electricity, shouldn't have done anything more than leave a burn mark, or perhaps knock a few small pieces of rubble loose. But alas, to his surprise, she continued on, striking out at the other structures, and rubble started to fall. Interesting. It made no matter, though. Her attacks continued, and more of the material that made up the skin and muscle of the forgotten giants started to slide and fall free toward the ground. If one had an ear for such things, they might have heard the angered yells of the old spirits, demanding to know why this woman would come before them to vandalize what little remained of their once proud monument to civilization.

Kvothe, of course, could hear none of that, and went in to action as pieces of rubble started to fall near to him. He reached out as they fell, using his telekinetic strength to grab those that threatened him and take control of them. Down they continued to fall, though gentle weaves that hung in the air guided them around him, to slam harmlessly into the ground. Dust rose up as they hit the earthen road, though Kvothe paid little mind to it. There were specializations of telekinesis other than the basic telekinetic techniques taught to many Mythics in the Tower; Kvothe happened to specialize in ventakinesis, which focused on taking control of the air around the user and using one's telekinetic influence to manipulate it. Clearing the air of dust was a simple thing, and nothing to fret about.

The Mythos whispered a warning to him, and he looked up to see one particular large piece of stonework falling down toward his head. Kvothe reached up with both of his hands and grabbed it, stopping its fall and making it a captive of his will in the process. Another warning rang out, and Kvothe felt some attack coming at him from above. He didn't have much time to act, so rather than dropping the slab and erecting a barrier of Mythos around him, he shifted it, bringing it into the path of whatever was coming toward him, and not a moment too soon.

A bolt of lightning slammed into the big piece of stone, though, given the properties of a rock, did absolutely nothing more. Kvothe nodded in satisfaction as he tossed his rocky barrier aside. To stop a Mythos-based without having to expend much of his own energy... That too was filed away.

He reached out through the Mythos when the rumbling came to an end. His hands moved about him, and telekinetic currents worked the air, gently coaxing it to move about him in a circle. And the dust moved with the air, and Kvothe increased the strength of his weave, forcing the air to move faster and faster. Suddenly, he brought it to a halt, and struck out with a blast of energy, sending the air--and dust--flying off in every direction.

Golden rays of the evening sun sang out to his face once more as the dust cleared. His armor was, of course, covered in a fine layer of dust now, and would need a good cleaning--much like the rest of him--but save that, Kvothe was unharmed. Now where did she- ah! There she is!

The fleeing dust revealed Shandari, black wings held behind her, with two lightsabers glowing in her hands now. And again she'd made a mistake. She'd had the chance to attack Kvothe while the dust was still thick, but instead she'd done nothing, waiting to see what damage she might have done. Kvothe's auburn hair swayed gently about his face as he shook his head and he started to laugh. It was the last mistake of hers he'd allow to go unpunished.


Telekinetic bonds shot forward to wrap around Shandari at a motion from his hand, with the intent of pinning her arms to her side and her wings to her back, with a stray bond to force her ankles together. "What fool taught you how to fight, woman," he asked, contempt clear in his voice. "You've done nothing but make error after error from your first attack." He would tighten the bonds as they closed around her, working with the goal of leaving her completely immobile, save for what movements he willed. "I would think that, were I going to attack someone at random, I'd at least have the sense to do it right." Kvothe snorted derisively. "Or did you being born the freak you are leave you with some mental deficiencies?" His head shook, and look that almost might have been pity passed over his face as he moved the bonds up, intending to move her off of the ground and into the air. "I gave you an opportunity to stand down, but you ignored my warning. Do not think our common blood will save you." He smiled mockingly at her for the briefest moment. "Though I suppose you should be thankful you aren't fighting my brother. You'd be dead by now if you were."

With that, Kvothe started his attack. He swung out, with a motion that would send Shandari crashing into a wall once more. However, this time, he would not release her upon her impact; the time for giving her warnings was past, and he had a plan in mind. Instead, he would move her again to slam into the wall on the opposite side of the street. Again though, he would not release her. Then he'd pull her back, and with a powerful blast, launch her up, toward a sky that was the nearly the color of fresh blood. A smirk grew on his face. Fly away little bird.

He didn't feel bad for her as he started his attacks. No, he'd given her an opportunity to stop this, but she'd carried on, either too prideful or too stupid to know that he'd meant it when he said he would kill her. It was just another error in a string that she'd made so far. And, just like the others, Kvothe intended to make sure she paid for it.

[Deleted]

Well it seems as if it's been months since this was posted in. So I'm going to declare the duel over. Rugs as last poster and points leader wins by forfeit.

Last post is yours if you still want it.

[Rugs]

{I do, in fact, still want it. And now that I'm bored and not in the mood to post in any of my real threads, I believe I'll take it. Usual finisher-post need for a bit of controlling of the other character applies}

The bird flew.

Kvothe watched with a grim satisfaction as his raw strength in the Mythos tore Shandari this way and that, tossing her like a toy caught by the whims of child. She slammed into the side of the old decrepit building and then he whipped her back and launched her to the sky.

Up she flew, finally free of his power's influence. The dying day's red light cast an almost wicked pallor onto his face as he stood there, smirking to himself as he watched her sail. "I gave you a chance, bint." He started to walk forward. Slowly. Menacingly. His eyes never left her tossing form. "What happens from here is your own fault." He opened himself to the Mythos' call, and it filled him to the brink.

No regrets.

No remorse.

No looking back.

Kvothe raised his left hand toward the heavens and wove. Strands of the Mythos danced through the air toward the falling Rilan. They converged on a single point: one of her wings. As his hand closed, his power spread around the wing's surface, enclosing it completely. He caught her and held her there in the air, suspended only by his grip on her wing for a heartbeat. Then he pulled.

Down she'd fall, accelerating both and the behest of gravity and at the command of his pull in the Mythos. She did not fall straight down, however. Instead he pulled her at an angle, so that she'd head right toward her. As she got nearer and nearer to him, he began to let off of the pull--gravity and momentum could handle the rest.

If Shandari had the mental wherewithal to feel such things as she streaked down through the air toward Kvothe, she might have been able to feel the sudden spike in power that he was gathering within himself. The Sword had something in store for her. Something special.

As she closed the last final meters toward him he let his pull die away completely. He took Pietas on both hands, and bracing himself for the impact, brought the staff up so that the foot of it stuck out in front of him. The single blade at the end glinted hungrily in the evening light. It'd get its fill soon enough.

Kvothe stepped forward as Shandari's body came into him. Pietas jabbed out and rammed into her waist. The blade flowered out into the sunlight again from the other side of her, slick and wet with blood. Her momentum carried her forward, up the shaft of the weapon and into Kvothe. While his armor took the brunt of the impact, he still had to move back with the blow to keep from falling over, and he did just that, taking quick steps back until he could plant his weight and bring them both to a halt.

"You were a fool," he muttered to the woman. The Mythos flowed again as he started to push her from his weapon. She moved back slowly, but that was the plan; he had something else in mind to finish his business with her.

All of that energy he'd been calling on had focused itself down to a singular point within him. Kvothe let it free.

It exploded out, creating a visible sphere of energy around him that slammed out in every direction. The repulse cracked the earth beneath his feet and scooped it down into a shallow crater. It tore at the crumbling walls and supports of the old dying buildings. The buildings groaned and shook, and pieces of rubble flew free from them, but they did not collapse completely.

Shandari would take the full impact of the repulse. Her body flew free of Pietas. It flew until a building caught it and even then it continued on, breaking through the weakened old wall.

Kvothe merely grunted when it was done and looked at Pietas. The wood was wet and streaked with blood up to where his hand had been. Even his hand had bits of blood on it from where her body pressed against it. "Hmph."

He wasted little time moving over to see where she was. Her body was laying in a heap on the ground just inside the old structure's walls. Her body looked broken, but he could still feel her barley clinging to life. Her fight wouldn't last long, however. The pulverized bones and internal bleeding would see to that.

"You had a chance to stop this," he said flatly, "but you didn't take it. And now, you'll die like the fool you are." He snorted as he looked down to her. "Perhaps you simply could not help it, being the deformed freak that you are.

"Whatever your issue, you'll be dead soon." As he turned to leave, he paused and looked back at her. "And you'll be better off for it."

With his business with the woman concluded, Kvothe walked back out into the slowly dying city. No matter what, he refused to feel pity for her, Rilan or not. He'd warned her and when she continued to attack him, he dealt with her was he would have any other assailant.

At least now the old souls might welcome her into their fold. She'd have plenty of time to convince them.