Garbage Day

Full Version: Rematch [Vel & Victor Snapshot]
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[ This encounter was rolled in Fantasy Grounds, then I wrote it up with a read over and adjustments by Eric for characterization ]

There was a soft crunch under Velameestra’s boots as she took her stance across from Victor a small distance away from where the majority of the militia was camped for the evening. She hitched her shoulder, trying to adjust the more constricting fit of her armor as she twisted her slender longsword in her hand.

Victor smirked from across the way.

“So you’re actually fighting in the armor instead of just wearing it around camp this time?” he called.

The tip of the elf’s tongue ran across one of her canines, the pale reflection of her eyes flickering in the fading sunlight.

“I figured it was wise. Before it’s legitimately needed,” she replied, giving her sword another twirl as she settled into a fighting stance.

She wasn’t attempting the same trick she had done last time. It was likely he would be looking for it, thus she waited for her sparring partner to also take a readied stance before the snap of her fingers triggered the icy blue flames to flare across her body and illuminate her silhouette with cold light.

Her own lips curled into a faint smirk as the magic in her eyes flared again, and she twisted abruptly, an aura of icy magic flicking around her blade as it started to distinctly hum in her hand.

“...plus I have a new trick,” she added.

“Oh. Well. This just got fun,” he called back, his lips parting in a grin before he raced to close the distance. He spun with a fury, the flat of his blade slamming into the side of her leg as his own foot shot out, promptly flipping the elf onto her back amidst a flare of recoiling blue fire.

Shit!

Vel’s eyes widened as her balance was promptly stolen, her body twisting as she tried to land in a more advantageous position. Snow was cast up in a flurry, but before she could even consider scrambling back to her feet, a foot closed on her wrist and jerked her sword from her grasp, the amber streak of a firebolt dancing off her chest and mixing with the raging blue flames that continued to rage in response to the strike.

The mage struggled, grabbing for her sword amidst a continued rain of blunted strikes that left their impact points stinging.

Get out. Get out now.

Her thoughts were rapid fire as she managed to close her hand on the hilt of her blade, the inklings of sudden fear edging into the perimeter of her consciousness before she abruptly vanished, the flurry of her blink mixing with the thrown snow that had started to drift back to the disturbed ground.

The elf materialized behind her opponent, her hair thrown astray and snow still covering the leathers of her armor. She took a fraction of a second to catch her breath and scramble to her feet, hurling her own icy frostbolt in Victor’s direction as she twisted her body in a sudden arc, the crackling energy releasing at the apex of her retreat.

Her teeth clenched as she forcibly stopped the storm from following.

Vel spared a glance as she ran to put more distance between them, and managed to catch Victor parry her attack, the crystalline ray of ice shattering against the hand that held his blade and disperse outward, giving the finely crafted blade an icy hue as some of the energy was deflected and collected.

...absorb elements. Clever, she mused, the praise on her tongue, but unspoken as the man behind her suddenly disappeared in a flash of light and fiery cinders.

Vel’s eyes widened again.

...he took my advice. I should have countered it. Shit.

Her own self-criticism was interrupted as Victor reappeared with another fiery flash, and it was all she could do to raise her sword to parry the incoming strike with an arcane shield that flashed as it turned the blade away.

“Useful, isn’t it?” she said, her tone betraying an underlying pride.

“Very,” he replied, swinging in for another strike that the elf also managed to turn aside with a shriek of connecting steel.

His blade occupied, Vel dug into her mana again, the effect of the spell virtually imperceptible amidst the still-raging flames as her body magically steeled itself with the borrowed energy.

But it was a short lived opening as the prince interrupted her dance-like maneuvers, shoving his foot between her legs and forcing her to the ground again. He loomed over her, once against seizing the advantage as he brought his sword slamming into her side. Vel coughed, winded by the strike empowered by the remnants of her own magics and unable to try and conjure any sort of defense beyond the flames of the molten armor. He struck again, and then a third time, the last blow erupting into bright flames that seared her armor.

“I don’t like being on my back,” the mage snarled, digging her free hand into the snow for support as she managed to kick Victor away with a firm boot to the gut before she used her momentum to jump back to her feet and follow through with an arcing strike with the flat of a rime-touched blade.

The storm followed, the rush of adrenaline materializing in the cold snap aura that whipped around the pair of them.

“Yield?” she asked. Her blade was held in a ready position, though her posture was less secure than it had been, her shoulders heaving with the effort of catching her breath even though the pounding of her heart remained silent.

...controlled experience. Likely a good display for him to see. This is when a mage will get desperate. This is when I would get desperate. No holding bac--

“And leave you unsatisfied?” Victor returned, also panting, but much better off than the winded elf. A smirk crossed his lips. “Perish the thought.”

Vel’s mouth flapped for a moment, her thoughts interrupted by the comeback, but without further hesitation she drove her sword into the ground, the characteristic, snowflake-like rune of her frost nova flaring to life around the pair of them and blasting Victor onto his back with an audible curse while it left the elf standing, unflinching, in the wake of her own icy tempest.

She reasserted her mind, forcing the cold snap to subside before she closed the distance between herself and her companion. Vel held out a hand to help him back to his feet, while she wiped the beginnings of the blood from beneath her eyes with the other.

“We can take a moment to run through that encounter,” she said. “After I breathe for a second. You have… consistently put me through paces.”

...which I need right now I think.

“For what it’s worth, Velameestra,” Victor replied, accepting her hand. “I much prefer it when you are on your back.”

There was a long, punctuated moment where the elf simply stared at him, the double-meaning of the statement not lost on her, but also catching her entirely off-guard. A distinctly pink hue touched the tips of her ears, before she abruptly released his hand and let the off-balance prince fall right back into the snow.