Var v Koth

[Rugs]

Go

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Varulla'aba walked down the picturesque forest road, black boots making soft sounds in the dirt, kicking up the occasional pebble but having very little in the way of disturbance for the natural beauty. It wasn't as if her footsteps could disrupt the idyllic forest around her, with golden sunbeams wafting from between the tree tops, bathing everything in a warm glow that was both intimate and reassuring.

It was a warm place, green and welcoming, and it made the slender Twi'lek woman with alabaster skin... happy. Yes, it made her think about all the good things that had come into her dark life. Her friend Donnie, her love Koeing. Yes, she was pleased thinking about them on a sunny and warm day. Her Echani armor didn't seem heavy, and the lightsaber resting at her hip seemed wholly unnecessary, a formality for her security rather than a dire need.

She was right to be taking this break, this intermission from the demands of everyone and everything. She was torn between obeying the Sith and obeying her heart, her conscience and her self-preservation instincts distinctly at odds with each other. Since learning her mother was alive, and since she'd been unable to take delight in revenge against innocent people, the Sith had lost appeal for her. In fact, so had the Dark Side. The problem was that as normal as she wanted to be, cruelty and malice were like old leather to her, worn and comfortable to the touch, something effortless to slide into and comfortable to stay in. Leaving behind that way of life might have been essential for her soul...

But it wasn't an easy thing to do.

Maybe right here in the quiet she needed to think it over, to contemplate her own place in the universe, to figure out what to do with her life, what path to follow. It wasn't too late for her. Not yet.

Var paused in the middle of the road and took a deep breath, looking around for a place to stop, to possibly rest her back against a tree trunk and sit on the grass, to relax without a care. To sleep blissfully without worry in total solitude.

Only she noticed something was far from ideal. The dirt of the path was disturbed, with footprints. Recent ones she guessed, and that prompted her instincts to flare, her senses to pique. It was possible the Sith had gotten wind of her departure from her mission and sent someone to force her into compliance, or worse.

Sure enough, she could sense someone nearby.

She reached down to her lightsaber, and she pulled the metallic cylinder from her belt with gloved hands, holding it tightly without activating the red blade. There was no sense in doing that just yet.

"Who's there?" She asked loudly and clearly in a voice that exuded more confidence than she felt.

[Dalton]

Koth-Durr awoke to several rays of sunlight bouncing off his face, he had took refuge up in a tree branch for the night. You never know what you'll encounter in these ancient forests. He was propped up against the trunk of the tree and his long, muscled legs were across the branch. His search for a new Master had led him to this forest road, perhaps today would be the day he found one. Unlikely as it was he couldn't help but to think he was getting steps closer with every move.

"Time to move out." Placing his ungloved hands on the branch, he turned himself around to face the road below and pushed. He maneuvered through the air like a duck in water. He missed several branches and landed on the dusty, forest road.

"Not to bad. Need to work on the landings though." He smirked and then a strange feeling came over him and he started to stare at his surroundings.

The forest felt almost idyllic, like it knew the bigger plan for Koth and it wanted him to know that he was on the right track. For him not to worry about anything. The joyful sunbeams, bouncing off ground and Koth alike, were rays of hope in his life. The swaying trees danced for him, entertaining him almost as if they were waiting for his presence to show up in this very spot. The feeling was that of Bliss for the young Iridonian, an emotion he very rarely had the privilege to feel. He took a deep breath and enjoyed this last moment of bliss before taking off on the road again.

The slight breeze felt amazing on his face, not exactly what he needed to wake him up from his slumber though. As he quietly took off walking through the forest it seemed as the cheerful moments he had just experienced never happened. He once again felt cold, irritated, malignant, and cruel. The forest seemed rather empty, dangerous, and secretful. His emotions were once again back to normal.

As he continued on he noticed the grown was disturbed, two sets of footprints on the road. He took blame for one set, though who would the second set belong too? He wouldn't have to ponder for long when he noticed a shadow up the road. Within seconds the shadow has dissipated and a beam of light jetting through the air caught the figure and blasted it with sunlight. It was a female Twi'lek, she then began to call out to someone. Perhaps Koth, since they were the only two people he could sense at the moment.

Quietly he walked closer to the woman, noticing she had a metal artifact in her hand; a saber.

The Zabrak male pulled his hood over his head and extracted his own saber from his sash and held in tightly in his right hand. They were now just several yards away, perhaps around fifteen feet, when he activated the purple blade.

"Right here." He stated, his words escaped his lips and became like ice to anyone's ears who had the misfortune to hear them.

[Rugs]

Round 1

lmr
Effort: 3/5 Good opening post. Effort tends to go up as the fight goes on. Gotta have somewhere to go.
Fairness: 5/5
Detail: 4/5
Coolness: 1/5 Not much happened. Understandable for a first post. Also, see the above
Bonus: /2
Comments: Solid opening post. I'll be expecting more as the duel progresses



Dalton
Effort: 3/5
Fairness: 5/5
Detail: 4/5
Coolness: 1/5
Bonus: /2
Comments: The same things I said to lmr apply here. Different writing style, but still good. Had the occasional typo, but nothing too bad. Nice work.

Total:

lmr- 13
Dalton- 13

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Var spun on her heel at the sound of a lightsaber activating behind her, her own thumb hitting the ignition switch on her weapon. With the familiar snap and hiss, a red blade spat forth from her saber hilt, shimmering through the air as it glistened, humming with power. Immediately she raised it into a Djem So stance, resting the red blade over her head, both hands positioned to bring it crashing down with force at the slightest provocation.

But her green eyes focused on the man across from her, summing him up as a threat. And a threat he surely was. He'd activated his saber first, and even if blade color alone was no indicator... After all, her own Sith master hadn't had red blades like her. But Jedi or Sith, light or dark, it didn't matter. The Sith wanted her dead as a traitor, the Jedi wanted her dead or captured as a Sith.

And Dark Jedi? She'd walked their path for too many years. They were cunning, they were ruthless. She wouldn't put it past them to kill her purely for thrill. And around here, no one would ever know. Someone could die easily, and be left for the scavengers, lost without a trace.

The man across from her was a Zabrak, easily eight inches taller and many pounds heavier than she was. Light red skin with patches of yellow, and piercing purple eyes. His robes were light grey and had absolutely no indicator of his allegiances. Her foe was a mystery to her.

Mysteries weren't good.

She placed her feet a little further apart, correcting her stance as she watched him carefully, appraising what strategies to use. Djem So was about power, which meant in a prolonged fight she might be at risk of exerting herself too much. She'd go about a carefully planned approach, something to maximize her chances of winning.

There'd been one doctrine deeply ingrained in her mind over the years. Fight smart. It was especially valuable when you weren't the strongest one or the fastest one. When your opponent was better, you had to outthink him. When he was stronger you had to use traps and dirty tactics to level the playing field. Today she might not be the lesser duelist, but she was less gifted with strength. It would take the Force enhancing her muscles to perform the way she needed to today.

She'd wait until he made the first attack, already planning for a quick Djem So assault, executing the falling avalanche in the hopes he'd crumple under a powerful initial attack. And if he didn't, she'd fall back on Shii Cho and try to outlast him, looking for opportunities to exploit. But he had to attack first.

"Bring it!" She yelled to the Zabrak in her silky voice, as if this was just a sporting event rather than a matter of life and death.

[Dalton]

Koth swung the ignited saber in his right hand, flashing purple light through the air, then catching it in his off hand. He repeated the gesture as he quietly took a few steps towards the slender Twi'lek female. The purple, saber light bouncing off his face mixed in so well with the red and yellow skin tones of his face, he appeared to be a rainbow in a set of gray robes; a deadly rainbow.

"So beautiful." He thought to himself as he began sizing her up.

She had a pale, cream colored complexion with a small, slender build. Her saber showed her allegiance; Sith. He had dealt with there type before. They drew their energy off emotions, usually passion and anger. A fight with a Sith is much more chaotic and varying than fighting a Jedi. They could be down, drawing their last, gasping breaths and still bounce back for the kill. He had to be careful on this one. Or she might bounce back on him.

For someone so small, everything she was emitting seemed purely evil. Even her dark, lightly armored attire proved menacing. Even her already in an attacking stance showed how intent she was on doing harm to Koth. She was wicked, no doubt. So was Koth though, this should be interesting.

Koth was going to try and play this battle smarter than his previous duels, usually he underestimated and came up on the short end of the saber. Usually that end was glowing and pressing up against his neck. Not this time. He was going to size his adversary up better, play to her weaknesses and hopefully live to fight another day.

He slid into a basic Shii Cho stance, actively ready for the woman's attack. Moments seemed to crawl by. Their eyes locked together in a duel of their own. A few more moments passed before she yelled at him again, she was obviously waiting for Koth to deal the first hand in this deck. So be it.

Koth took off sprinting toward the woman, saber dragging behind him at a sharp angle. The purple blade reflecting off the cold, dirt road beneath him. He was building up speed when he was just a mere several feet from the woman. He tossed his saber right over her head and jumped, purposely kicking up a generous amount of dirt toward the Twi'lek's protected face. He landed behind her and caught his saber. He took rest for a split second before jumping again, this time jumping directly overhead. But again he had kicked up another small dust storm and sent it the slender woman's way. He wasn't losing this one, even if he had to throw dirt at her.

In mid air, over top of the woman's head by mere feet, he arced his saber down in a piercing motion toward her pale head. He was going to try to plunge the beautiful, purple blade into her skull...

[Rugs]

Round 2

lmr
Effort: 3/5
Fairness: 5/5
Detail: 4/5
Coolness: 2/5
Bonus: 0/2
Comments: Nicely written. Good descriptors and imagery, nice flow. However, since not much happened, I can't really give you more points. It happens sometimes when you opt to wait and let the other person make the first move. I'm sure you'll recover.



Dalton
Effort: 3/5
Fairness: 4/5 Be careful with doing a string of actions when you're attacking. If they flow together, like one stroke of a blade that goes into another, for example, then it's alright, but try not to do so much with jumping a bunch without allowing the other person a chance to respond. It makes things on the other end a bit more awkward. At least in duels like this. On the boards, when you're writing for story and you have permission or have talked with the other writer over what's going to happen, you can be a bit more loose.
Detail: 4/5
Coolness: 3/5
Bonus: 0/2
Comments: Not bad. Most of what I have to say is right there ^

Total:

lmr- 27
Dalton- 27

Still tie game. Carry on, gentlemen.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

Varulla'aba tracked the movements of the Zabrak very carefully as he charged her, saber trailing behind him. That suited her just fine, because the further it was away from her the larger a distance she had to strike with impunity. And the further his blade would have to travel to block hers. Yes, this attack profile had a vulnerability that she was ready and willing to exploit.

Fight smart.

But rather than bring his blade around to swing or straight ahead to stab, he leapt up into the air, kicking up dirt that went flying straight into her face. She slammed shut her eyes of course, but it wasn't fast enough to prevent all of the damage. Not even her long Twi'lek eyelashes could help the dirt in her green eyes.

She spat out a stream of curses as she heard the man land in the dirt behind her. In prime position to stab her in the back. This fight wasn't quite going the way she'd hoped. His acrobatics had denied her the easy chance to lop his head into two pieces. Possibly he was a practitioner of Form IV, Ataru. She'd dabbled with the form herself, most notably in speed of attacks. It wasn't precisely her area of expertise. To be honest, no area was her expertise.

Luckily her lightsaber was still over her head ready to cascade down on a charging opponent, and with a stretch of her back she dropped the blade down behind her to buy her time to escape from the inevitable stab...

That didn't come.

Instead she heard what she guessed was another leap, and immediately the Force sang to her, warning of imminent danger from above. And when the Force made warnings, only a fool didn't listen. And Var was no fool. What was more, she wasn't a stranger to combat. Sparring, fighting. She'd done both, and she had a strong connection to her senses, with good timing. Her instincts in battle were solid, and she knew how to survive.

Right now she knew there wasn't time position herself to face his attack, to block it with her lightsaber. Even if she did raise it in time, he could use his superior strength to force it into her body when their blades locked. That meant her only option was to disengage. And that didn't mean defeat or run. It meant backing off and reevaluating your options.

Like a bolt of white lightning, the pale Twi'lek threw herself forward and out of the path of the lightsaber. She hit the ground in a forward roll, promptly skidding over onto her back. The Echani armor sheltered her perfectly from sharp rocks that might have embedded into unprotected skin, and she was essentially fine. Particularly given what she'd just avoided.

But now there was the problem that she was lying on her back on the ground with an opponent much larger than she was who would instantly be barreling down on her with the express intention of gutting her like a fish.

Through teared eyes she made out his blurry figure, and she sent her own gloved hand up with a violent urgency, summoning a telekinetic push with all her might, one intended to push him away from her and buy more time.

Even as she pushed, she was rising to her feet and blinking the dirt away from her eyes. And she was angry now. What had been a pleasant stroll in the forest had now turned into an attack by an enemy, and an enemy with dirty tricks up his sleeve.

Well, she'd just have to fight back.

[Dalton]

Koth was stunned with the reflexes of his opponent. He was almost sure that his blade would taste Twi'lek flesh and blood, instead it was apparent that he would just taste dirt and cold, hard ground when he noticed the female tuck and roll from the impending saber jab from above. He'd never fought an enemy as small as her, so he wasn't sure just how nimble and quick she could react to his attacks.

He didn't like it and he also did take kindly to a Force Push hitting him while he was unbalanced in the air, tumbling him backwards like a plastic bag in the wind.

She was more experienced than she'd led Koth to believe. She was able to protect her eyes from his dirty trick and her body from his saber stab. Not only that, she'd also went on the offensive, using the Force to put space in between the two. She was smart, and if left unchecked, surely just as deadly.

While in midair, Koth tried to reposition himself to land on both feet instead of biting the unforgiving, cold earthen road. It half worked. As he went shooting backwards from her attack, he managed to land with both feet on the ground but too far apart. With the weight of his body causing his feet to rapidly slide even farther apart, unintentionally causing the Zabrak to do the splits.

He felt the burn.

It was better than taking a chunk of the ground into his mouth, but not the affect he had tried for. He couldn't let the mishap throw him off however, because his enemy could use the extra split second to attack and Koth just couldn't let that happen. His cold and calculating enemy could examine his weaknesses and exploit them. Effectively ending the skirmish before it truly began.

He placed a hand on the ground and pushed hard against it, applying enough pressure and force to push his body back up and allowing him to get normal footing. He felt sweat from his face hit his hands and arms, but when he realized the occasional droplet turned into a light downpour then he inferred that it was starting to rain. First a light drizzle, but within moments it had turned into a strong downpour, followed with several gusts of high winds.

The hard, dusty and dirt covered ground was soon changing into a mud pit.

This could make or break either one of them. Mud certainly had its' pros and cons. But Koth wasn't thinking of this when he took off toward the Twi'lek yet again. This time the saber was held closely in front of his body. The saber blade just inches from his body.

"It's time to gut this beauty."

As the gap closed between him he twisted the saber to the right and tried to bring it up at a slight angle. Hopefully he could pierce her armor and slice through her soft underbelly. If nothing more they could engage in a saber fight, putting skills up against skills. Koth wasn't the best duelist, specializing in nothing. Hopefully his opponent wasn't in a better position. If not, this close combat duel could end in disfavor for the young Koth.

He could never live it down if a tiny, beautiful, Twi'lek female gave him a what for. If he didn't watch out though, he might not have to live with it.

[Rugs]

Round 3? I think?

lmr
Effort: 4/5
Fairness: 5/5
Detail: 5/5
Coolness: 2/5
Bonus: /2
Comments: Good. Getting better. High level of detail in this post. I think the only thing really holding you back so far is that you're being a touch passive. Don't have to go balls out crazy and get Shardy on me, but you can push a little further. I might have a bit of a bias here, cause I've seen you do better in the cool department :P But still, very solid post overall


Dalton
Effort: 4/5
Fairness: 5/5
Detail: 4/5
Coolness: 2/5
Bonus: 1/2
Comments: I don't know why it did, but the burn line made me chuckle. So there's a bonus point. The downpour from nowhere was... an interesting touch, I suppose. Summer rains, eh? :P However, the same thing I said to lmr applies here too. Push a bit. This is for practice--if you go too far I'll let you know :P



So, to both of you: Don't mistake my low coolness scores as saying your posts are bad or the action is lacking. They're good, solid posts. But I have a feeling--and have seen, in lmr's case--that you two can do more.

Total:

lmr- 43
Dalton- 43

Y'all are killing me with these ties xD I thought they'd been broken this round until I tallied the score. I swear I'm not doing this on purpose, though tight scores do have ways of pushing writers. So carry on. Break the tie.

[Lemur, The Kool-Aid Guy]

With her opponent flying back from her, Var took the time to wipe her eyes with the back of her black, leather glove before blinking rapidly, expelling the dirt from them. It was working, and her vision went from a useless blur into something approaching clarity. She could see the Zabrak was on the ground, legs splayed out to his sides in a position that wouldn't even be comfortable for her, least of all him. However, she had no desire to small in amusement at his discomfort.

Her jaw was set, and her alabaster lips were pursed together tightly. A hard look was in her large, improbably green eyes, and she looked both determined and serious. It was, she knew, wholly appropriate for the circumstances. Any duel was a matter of life and death, even if both parties lived through it. One errant move and you could find a lightsaber sticking in your side, or even lose your head. She'd been trained to recognize those mistakes, those errant moves, and all her masters had taught her to exploit them.

First had been Nedar. Harsh, demanding, and unyielding. Nothing she had done had ever been enough for him, and his desire for success was insatiable. When she had needed a soft and tender touch, he had nothing but a blunt one. The kindness he deprived her of had surely aided in her fall to the Dark Side. And after him had come the shadowy figure known to her only as 'the master.' He'd been a dark and brooding presence of few words, who demonstrated by technique. However he excelled at dirty tricks, and had demonstrated most of them in combat with her. And she'd never been entirely sure whether or not he meant to actually kill her in a duel.

And last had been Koeing, her master among the Sith. Talented, skilled, and so much... more... than any of the others. He embraced a pantheon of emotions, and he'd shared concern for her, and loved her. It was odd to think that two Sith could find love, but maybe... Maybe he wasn't a Sith in the same way she wasn't. Perhaps the two of them weren't cut out for the Order, or even for the Dark Side. If she ever lived to meet him again, she'd talk with him long and hard about that.

Her vision fully cleared as the Zabrak Dark Jedi, or what she guessed was a Dark Jedi, started to charge at her through the rain. His saber was held close to his body, by his chest, and as he drew closer it was clear he wanted to attack from a low angle, to aim for her belly.

There were ways to counter it.

He swung from his left, saber moving right as he struck for Var's left side, and she made her move. The red blade of her saber dipped down to catch the blade, working to lock it in place, buying her time to make a better move.

She jumped, pulling her legs up into a ball and tilting herself forward, making an Ataru-style leap from the ground, clearing his impressive height. It was a Force-enhanced jump, though not by much. As she hovered in the air she switched to a back-handed grip on her saber, a staple subform of Shien, a versatile form she enjoyed more than Shii Cho.

She was finished as she hit the ground, landing in a crouch. Quite promptly she stabbed up and behind her to pierce the Dark Jedi's flesh, hopefully hitting vital organs in his abdomen. However, she had to admit she had no idea of Zabrak physiology and what would or would not hurt him most.

Perhaps she should have tried for decapitation...

[Dalton]

The Twi'lek's skills were impressive to say the least. If someone would of told Koth earlier that day that he would engage in a fight with a dainty, female, Twi'lek Sith and have a potential margin for failure then he would have back handed them without thinking. The fight wasn't over yet, however, and he wouldn't let it end without one of them leaving with a few less appendages. He'd had a few extra that he could spare, though he couldn't say the same for the Twi'lek.

Koth couldn't help but admire the Sith as she leaped over him, switching saber forms in midair, and landed behind him in only a few moments. This was no small feat, Koth towered over her and for her to completely clear his full height with ease was spectacular. He had no time for admiration, and after hearing her small feet gently land on the ground behind his being he did a quick tuck and roll with his saber held out to his side. It wasn't graceful or fanciful, but it got his body away from the red blade aimed for his stomach and that's all he had wished for.

The ground was lightly muddied by now, and thanks to his quick maneuver so was Koth.

The muscled Zabrak came out of his roll on both feet, a lot better than his previous landing, and with his back to the Sith. Perhaps it wasn't the smartest idea, leaving your back open to attacks by a quick, cunning, and calculating foe. But as much as Koth would hate to admit it, he was starting to realize that his saber skills failed in comparison to the Twi'lek's and a close quarters duel might not be the right approach to take.

Hopefully the six or so feet in between the two was even enough distance to safely secure all of Koth's limbs and organs.

While training back on Iridonia his teacher was more adept to the Force, so instead of learning advanced saber techniques she had chosen to practice Force tricks and abilities. Her being Koth's sole teacher and trainer, Koth practiced more with the Force rather than with a lightsaber. Not by much, mind you, but he swayed more towards destruction abilities in comparison to Shii Cho and Makashi; the only two saber forms he's studied.

"Maybe we should light some candles to add some ambiance with this lovely stroll through the woods!"

Koth screamed out to the Twi'lek. Silence wasn't his strong suit and it was extremely hard for him not to shout out sarcastic remarks and rhetorical questions whenever he did choose to speak.

The Zabrak deactivated his saber and quickly tossed it into his sash around his waist, but rapidly brought both hands back up and jabbed them through the air towards the Sith. Jets of lightning streaked through the air at high speeds, both phloem's heading straight for the woman.

If he was lucky, something he almost never was, then he would have some deep fried Twi'lek here soon.