RULES OF COMBAT:

1. 10 post each limit, if you wish to have this amount reduced, get in touch with me.

2. Each player is allowed to make one introductary post.

3. Mark which number post you posted at the end of your posts.

4. Deathblows allowed, play to win, play for keeps, whatever. But the character will be regenerated after the fight.

5. YOU KNOW WHAT THE JUDGES WANT, read their screenings, no whining because of the judges decisision, you know what they are looking for in each fight.

6. Judges shall give their scores out of 10, highest totaled player wins.

7. Every character that's not participating in battle may be observing the match and may post whatever they like IN CHARACTER during fights as long as they do not interfear with the combat.

8. There is an audience of bumbling idiots, sure what the hell.

9. I DO NOT want matches taking more than a week to finish, I will put on more than 1 at a time if need be.
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Choice of Arena by our Judge, Natalie: Forest Arena (dense field lined with trees)

First post choice as a result of a coin toss: Heather; Heather chooses Brian to post first

Both of these warriors fight for the same goal, two hearts with a single purpose must now battle.

((Post 1))

*Clara was much more than surprised when the retrievers had come to gather both her and Kael Destiny to lock in combat. As she first heard them announce it to her, Clara's heart immediatly sank. Kael was probably the only person in the whole tournament that she hadn't felt odd or out of place with. Something about him was just so familiar. And though she had a small inkling of what that aura could have been hatched from, she was in no position to inquire. After all, if this boy truly was related to the Dark Destiny that had allowed Clara to have life, how could she bring herself to attack and defeat him?

Clara stepped into a bright light which the retrievers had lead her to and had emerged in a dense forest. It was like the one she had come from, but it harbored much more life within it's deep reaches. Kael had stood a few yards away from her, as she was told would be by the organizers of this competition. Clara reached up and tied her long carnation hair back into a ponytail and unstrapped her silver bow from her back. It was a gift from her mother, who had told her that her father, Cross had kept it for ages...it was a memento of his first love, the one that he had...damned himself to a pitiful existance for.

Clara was worried about Kael, he was a good person, she was able to tell. He was a much more interesting and admirable person than Lisa or Edmund were. Though she may never see him again after this tournament ends, she had to make sure.
We...We can still be friends no matter what's going to happen during this, right? I won't hold back! She declared to Kael, before immediatly starting on the offensive.

Whenever Clara used this weapon; this bow, she was reminded of her father. She would remember with a bright happiness and a sligth embitterment at the same time...whenever her mother would tell her the story of what had happened to him, she'd secretly curse his stupidity...and she used the bow as a reminder of what she should never do. With an inhuman speed that her build would seem to never allow and throwing one of her dazzling, yet broken wings backward she had pulled a long arrow composed of a light steel based alloy, one in an assortment of different arrows each with their own use. This particular arrow was designed to pierce. Clara drew it back on her bow; which was tailored for her to draw with ease. The entire action had taken a fraction of a second. The leather wrapping around her wrist had hand was endowed with notches, one for each time she had taken longer than a second to draw the bow...both sides were all marked up and down with these notches...

Leaning over, with a keen eye that her symbolic makeup had pointed out as the origin of the swirling black designs about her powdered face she spied Kael's shoulder. If she could just incapacitate him...take a justice shot, then the match may end. She hoped and prayed for a quick outcome, something that couldn't escalate in a deep personal vendetta. Silencing the world around her she applied a focus so concentrated that she seemed to slow everything around her. The chirping of the lone birds turned from a high pitched song into a long bellowing series of notes. The rustling of the leaves stopped in her mind with a single breath inward as she struggled to keep her body rigid as she fired, she released the arrow.

He inwardly cursed his luck.. It was as he thought.. facing someone he had started to like.. it would be harder then facing someone he had never met.. or facing angry villagers filled with stupid prejudices. He removed his pack and laid it just outside the ring, then took off his long black cloak. Holding it gently he put his face into it and inhaled. "Mother.." he wispered as he quickly folded it and placed it on his pack. He needed to be free from all that might hold him back. He would need all his speed and training for this match. Quickly he took his place across from clara. He couldn't fail his mother.. he had to win. He had to get his wish.
Still without the protection of his cloak.. he felt strangly naked. He stood in a slightly loose tunic of cream color, with brown breeches and brown leather boots that reached to his knees. His hands were protected by black fingerless leather gloves that allowed full exsposure of his only weapon.. his claws. His long tail twitched with anticipation and his ears perked.
Then Clara spoke
"We...We can still be friends no matter what's going to happen during this, right? I won't hold back!" He tensed and focused like he had been taught. Suddenly it was as if every thing had slowed. Every blade of grass that rustled every stray flower... clara's fingers as they drew her arrow and fired. His mother had taught him above all things how to judge the path of an arrow and avoid it.. for what other weapon would a hunter use against them? With the speed of the arrow itself he dove forward into a roll then used the moment to turn the roll in to a springing leap. Despite his manuver the arrow had torn his tunic on the sholder and nicked his skin. At least it had not been poisoned. His leap and roll had quarted the distance between him and clara, and he charged forward to close the distance his claws fully out. He Didn't want to kill her.. so he aimed his slash at her bow hoping to disarm her instead.
((post 1))

((Post 2: Using Derek's idea of posting the physical description of the character))
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Physical Description: Clara uses a bow and daggers at close range for her repitore of weapons. Her hair is long and pink with two yellow antenne, crowning her thin head, painted a pure white with elaborate celtic black streaks over her face; which features coal black eyes, a full nose and full lips, painted red. She wears a form fitting burnt-red leather costume inspired by images of her father standing proudly during the civil war with a thin black cape drapped over it reaching down to her waist. She also has a pair of tattered wings that are unable to carry her human weight, however they are tough and leathery. They feature a flourishing array of pinks and blacks.
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*Clara was astonished by the speed of Kael, which nearly rivaled her own as he pivoted under her arrow and leapt into the air. He crashed down on her notched formarm before she could react; try to slap the bow out of her hands. A small gasp rose from her throat as she quickly turned to her side, keeping one hand on her bow as it fluttered around in her hand, trying to escape after Kael's hit, and her other hand quickly gripped one of her wings, which lay limp at her side and casted it into the air over her body. It erupted upward, exposing the vast tapestry which was patterned on it for the second it ascended before being stretched over Clara's body. This would provide her with defense for a second, and if she had been fast enough and Kael close enough, it may have knocked him back! She admired Kael's fighting powress, it was a smart decision to just try and disarm her...her special gifts allowed for any pain she felt to be given back if she made physical contact.

She only hid under her wings for a few seconds...but it was long enough for her mind to wander ceaslessly as she began to decide that she didn't want to continue. She was able to see it in his eyes...Kael, he had something to fight for, he had a goal. He had something that he truly wanted more than anything...though Clara didn't know what it was, she knew it to be bigger than any desire she had even harbored. How could she bring herself to victory if she didn't even have anything to fight for...any wish....sure, it'd be great if she could actually have met her father if she won this...but did she really want to bring him to earltly existance after he had suffered for so long? Whatever Kael wanted, Clara wanted so desperatly for him to have it....and yet...

He had remained silent when Clara asked if they could still be friends....
Silent! He didn't give her a responce...maybe he didn't give a damn about her! He certainly didn't care as much as she had been...she knew for certain that he wasn't outside of her wings pondering the same thoughts. She came to her own truth...they had be playing for keeps, their one shot at desire could be gone if they hold anything back...and though she had told Kael that she wouldn't...she knew that she was lying.
Kael would want her to fight back with everything she had...

Her sorrow quickly became anger as a lone tear which she gave no effort to push back streamed down her face. There was no other way, she realized. Placing her bow on her back yet again, she decided to use a diversion as her opponent remained close by, taking a heavy arrow from her quiver, one made for short distance shots intended to break bones, she slid it forward past her body, it landed at her side with a thud. Hoping to take advantage of the distraction if he had looked, she took a dagger from the fastenings at her waist. It was only a simple dagger, no special designs or anything, they were just sharp tipped daggers, a dime a dozen. And since she had gone through so many through virtue of hunting mishaps and other failures, she decided to buy in bulk. Kicking her wings upward, though still staying low, she turned with a yell, trying to dig her knife into the back of his knee.

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Physical Description: ((might as well join the herd baaaa)) Kael has only one weapon, his sharper then steel claws. He can retract them and exstend them at will. His hair is wild and unkempt with bangs that fall into his eyes. This doesn't bother him because her relies on more then just his sense of sight. His hair is golden blond with the spots of a jaguar. His ears, although they are where human ears would be, on the side of his head are cat like. His eyes are emerald green with flecks of gold and slit pupils. His features are delicate and feline almost feminine. he has a small black goatee on his chin. His skin is tanned from exposure, and although tougher then that of a human it is NOT covered in fur (except for his ears and tail). his build is slim and wiry he does have muscles but they are not bulky.
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There was no time. No time to speak of friends. Not time to say that he had never had a friend and no time to explain that he probably never would. No time as his claws failed to slash through the bow and disarm his opponent. The world had slowed.. but still there was no time.
He needed every breath, and she gave him no time to expend one in words that would only harm him as she ignored them. He could not trust one he had spoken to only once in the past. Not when the one asked about friendship while aiming an arrow. He knew never to trust someone who was a stranger and knew nothing about him.
The smell of the field and of his opponent was in his nose as her wing expanded to cover her and its wind carried it to him. He was pushed back by the same wind, but instead of being put off balance he turned the motion into a backwards handstand, as he was in the middle of his action her wings went up and he heard the rustle of an arrow falling, but not the sound of a drawstring. It had been meaningless. As it fell she turned with a dagger going for where his leg had just been. If he had not been raised to never lose a single motion he would have been hamstringed. He would have lost the fight. As he pushed off the ground and landed in a fighting position fear awoke in him. He could lose. He could never have his chance. He would be alone with no answers and the rage and burning desire would eat at him until there was nothing until he was worse then dead. He would never be able to leave the burden of her murder behind him and would be forever tied to her grave. He couldn't let that happen.

The fear was enough to awaken his rage and he let it fill him, let it define him in its agony till it poured out of his eyes and from his fingers into his palms. His magic was different then his mothers, he needed no words to bring out his flame, he didn't have to waste his breath. He flung a fist sized ball of his whire flame at his opponent and leapt side ways to avoid any on coming attack. Then he threw another hoping that his fire that burned like a blacksmiths forge, like his heart itself, would give him another opportunity to get closer once more. He didn't want to hurt her or kill her.. he had never wanted to kill anyone.. but he couldn't lose. He had no choice. He was burning inside and he had no choice. He never did.
((post 2))

((Post 3))

Clara leapt to the side to evade Kael's bolt of flame. The expression on his face as he threw it at her, a pent up rage that was reflected in the fire. It hurdled across the forest, throwing it's gentle pianissimo into a crescendo of destruction as the intense heat of the ball soared over the landscape, searing the tips of each blade of grass as it ever so slightly flew harmlessly past her side, and burst into fire a flew feet behind her, causing an eruption of smoke to shoot into the air. Of course she had to hold back her sometimes cumbersome wings, lest they be burnt right off of her back right in that instant (not like she would ever miss them). She pulled out her bow again along with another one of her steel piercing arrows in another quick manuver...it didn't look like she would need to put any notches on her bracers tonight. Waiting for the smoke to clear as she descended to the ground, her wings fluttered far above her, giving her fall a gentle glide as the smoke rose to the air, clearing her site...

As she drew her bow and looked ahead, she realized that she had made a great error...he had...he had known she was going to jump! He matched her movement exactly! He was right in front of her! And he threw another fireball, one with just as much rage as the last, just as pure white as the last! It soared easily and collided with her ankle, immediatly dissapating and sending Clara sprawling face first into the ground. She only felt the deep burning sensation on her ankle from the fire for only a moment before she dug her face into the dirt below her, snapping her neck back and slamming her body into the ground, face first, shocking pain from the tip of her nose, which she thought had broken on contact. Then her chest and legs came tumbling after, and the sting as the ground smashed relentlessly into her had shot burning sparks about her. Her wings; conversly, had a peaceful fall, quietly draping themselves over her sides.

Ugh...She let out a long groan of pain. She grinned a bit as she peeled herself from the ground, letting out a small laugh as she held her body with her right arm. Her left arm pinned her silver bow to the ground, though lightweight she still struggled to pull up in the shocking pain that circulated through her body. She tried to pull herself up, but her ankle too refused to work with her as she tried to get up. The burn had mangled her boot, and a deep black mark which was applied to the side of it indicated this.

A cold sensation ran down her face, and she gave in a deep sniffle, she was bleeding. Still on her knees she pulled her free hand up to her face to wipe away the mess. As she pulled it from her face, she was greeted with a mix of blood and facepaint. She had been sweating her elaborate mask off...exposing her cherry skin to her opponent. There was no way for her to stop the bleeding, so she'd have to make due, and hope that she didn't sustain any unnecessary injuries that could cause her to lose some more...the need for blood was just about the only thing her unique body structure and a normal human's body had in common.

It was time for her to start playing this game the right way! Clara didn't want to seem like some fairy weakling to Kael! Unable to walk well and easily, she tumbled forward and sprang deep into the air above, unbuckling and kicking off the ruined boot on her way up. Surveying her surrounding and finding the best course of action, she leapt into the dense trees surrouding the warriors. Leaping from branch to branch, keeping up as best as she could despite an injured angle, causing her to repeat a similar jumping pattern over and over instead of a flowing step, slowing her down greatly, she again sniped at her opponent with her bow. This time she used wooden shafted arrows with a unique spear head designed to take a long swooping arc, arrows designed to decieve and surprise her enemies. Still trying not to aim at anything vital she pinged off about 3 arrows whilst circling the trees on one foot. She was now doing her best to make sure that he couldn't get close to her, as she became more and more injured, she became more and more dangerous at a close range...and if anything went wrong she could very well kill Kael...she didn't want that...she had seen a warrior die. Shortly before being taken for her match she saw the contestants of the second round brought back into the waiting room, the vampire nearly-destroyed and the young boy...well, he was dead, his skin wet and blood streaming down his face...she did not want to see a similar outcome in this fight...but that may have been impossible...especially if she stood in Kael's way of achieving his goal.

C'mon Kael! It's lots of fun up here! She laughed, though she had been injured she realized that up here she could quickly turn this match around. Kael would have to come up to the trees to continue this fight, she figured...and she'd have a clear advantage up there, if she had read Kael's abilities right, his option to throw a fireball into the trees could start a deadly fire, and quickly shrowd their vision and hamper their breathing. Clara could use her wings to clear the air about her, and again put her at an advantage as she was pretty sure Kael could not reach a similar solution. As she darted from tree to tree, branch to branch, hoping to successfully land a shot on her opponent and end the fight without any serious injury.

He had hit her! He grinned with pleasure and felt the blood pounding in his ears. A wild carnivores joy came over him as the scent of burnt flesh filled his nose, as well as the scent of spilled blood as she slammed into the ground. She was bleeding hot fresh blood. A desire came upon him then.. it was unlike any he had felt before. He desired to.. to kill her. To drink her blood as it flowed from her throat over his claws. He desire to hunt her and rip in to her, to spill her guts to the heavens in a glorious still living feast! He could hear her heart beating in her chest each thump pulsed through him with a heavy rush of blood lust. The images filled his eyes and he felt...
Sick. He grabbed his head and stomach and nearly lost his last meal. he had wanted to hunt a sentient being! Was he.. was he no better then a beast? Was he.. a monster? Was he what the villagers had thought he and his mother were all along? What they had killed her for? Clara had asked him if he would still be her friend.. and he had nearly killed her... He had not wanted to kill someone who had attacked him.. but desired the death of someone who offered him the possibility of something he had never known. All over a contest battle! Was it worth it? Was his desire so strong he would lose himself to it all for knowledge? Would he tranform his mind instead of just his body? Was the life of someone else worth answers to a life he had never know?
While he had fallen to his knees with guilt she had gotten to her feet and taken to the trees. His ears perked as the first arrow was loosed.. but too late and it thudded in to the upper part of his left arm. He screamed the cat's call of anguish and surprise, and was on his feet, but again too late, the second hit his right shoulder releasing another scream from his throat. Struggling to summon all his will, his rational thoughts slipping from him, he concentrated through the pain and lunged across the field on all fours, the last arrow leaving a deep gash across his back.
She had taken to the trees outside the ring. what she did not know was that he had been leaping through the trees before he even able to run properly on flat land.
"C'mon Kael! It's lots of fun up here!" She shouted to him. He grinned all fangs and leapt. His own blood flowed coating the air with it's coppery scent driving him almost mad with rage. The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt.. except for the pain he had known as he had held his mother's corpse in his arms. The memory of that agony drove him now as he began traveling in the opposite direction from his foe trusting the circle to bring them together. Each branch was a new launching point and each time he used his arms to catch him self a surge of pain from his shoulder, arm, and across his back throbbed through him. Despite this he was just as fast as he was on land. His speed in the trees was normally unthinkable.. but his wounds slowed him and continued to do so. If he had remained on the ground he would have been really sluggish.
He struggled to contain the cat crys of rage that wanted to stream from his throat. He had to control himself.. if he really lost it and transformed with out holding back.. Then She was right in front of him and he launched himself into a forward flip that turned into a downwards strike with both of his boots aimed at her head.
((post < 3))

((post 4))

*Clara had winced in awe as she heard the first arrow sink into Kael with a thud as it pushed through the flesh and sinew of her adversary. She hurt him! He wasn't unbeatable after all. She quietly praised herself as she leapt from branch to branch. Though her inner victory was short lived, something was wrong with the warrior that the half-nymph had so cautiously attacked. She worried for him deeply, no matter how many times she had told herself that she needed to attack, she needed to win...she couldn't find the path to her victory...she had felt so much sorrow for the boy in front of her, that battled with himself and with her.

It was now that Clara decided what she wanted to get out of this contest, she wanted to lose that weakness, that compassion. She needed to show that she was a good warrior, what if such feelings had cause her a battle and let an enemy kill someone she loved?!

And yet she wanted to win this fight! She wanted to show Kael that she could fight, that she wouldn't hold herself back any longer, no matter how much it made her stomach turn, and no matter how much weight it would add onto her heart...she had to endure the pain and get the job done. That's what Kael would want to see, right? She laughed slightly at the notion as she ran through the trees, how the heck would she know what Kael wanted to see, she's barely talked to him. Maybe he wanted to stomp over her, just another step on his way to achieve his goal. Well she wasn't going to be some pushover. He'd have to work for whatever it was that he wanted. And this was the motivation Clara came to, the heat of the battle, a sturdy opponent, and the will to victory, to prove that she was the greatest...she'd show all those guys that simply looked over her, that womanizing dog man, the princess, all of those quiet folks...besides, it's not like Kael would be down and out if he lost, you were able to lose twice, right? Finally casting the feelings of doubt aside, Clara drew her attention back to the fight...

And it appeared that the list of abilities Kael had processed were maybe endless! At least when limited to a forest setting. He leapt up into the trees after her, meeting her as she circled around the brush by travelling in the opposite direction. The light shimmered a kaledioscoping pattern of shadows over him that danced up and down him as he jumped across the trees with ease, more ease than she could muster with her injury. The patterns would still cavort through his body even as he leapt into the air, trying to land a swift kick to her head with both feet. Clara was dissapointed by such an easily avoidable attack, especially when she considered the fiery onslaught he had released on her moments ago. She strapped her bow again and leapt with him. Meeting him in midair, Clara grasped a branch that swayed overhead and pulled her legs up, allowing Kael to pass under her without making contact. Swinging on the narrow shaft of the branch, she swung in a wide swoop before letting go away, taking a handful of pine needles from the evergreen on her way down. Turning to face Kael, who she had hoped had descended by now she placed her hand close to her mouth and puffed the needles toward his face as her wings started to bloom during her descent. If she got some of the pine dust or the needles themselves to irritate the boy she could again try to capitalize and the--

She couldn't finish the thought. The canopy of this forest was far too dense for her wings to spread in, and they snapped back when making contact with the trees, causing her to again fall without direction or any sembelance of control as she slammed into a branch on her burnt ankle, breaking it further as the branch quickly pulled forward, trying to bear the weight of the collision, despite Clara's light weight, she had still fallen with a considerable force. Damnit... She whispered as she again forced herself to her feet, this time only on one foot Unable to walk properly, she faced Kael again, with uncertainity. What a stupid mistake she made, acrobatics in such a dense area. She knew that her wing span was both large and cumbersome, and her thoughts lapsed as she tried to dodge the attack. If she wanted to win this fight...she knew what she was going to have to do. Only a little bit...ok, Clara? she told herself, praying that her months of trying to control herself would pay off...though as she looked down to the notched bracers on her arms as she reached for a pair of daggers her heart grew heavy and her thoughts uncertain. Pulling the daggers to a combat ready position, she hobbled out to his plain view, and beckoned for him to meet her blade...

He fell as she leaped. Then the scent of pine.. the sound and feel of a warm breath realized... then pain as the dust hit his eyes. They shut in time to dodge the needles but the damage was done. The cat like snarl of rage escaped from where he had kept it pent up deep inside. 'no.no.nonononoo.' were his thoughts as his control slipped, unlike his hands which had grabbed a branch instinctively and swung him into up, allowing him to land in a crouched position back to his opponent grasping his branch perch.
The crack of her wings and ankle filled his ears but he was for the first time not listening. "noo!" He released his first wasted breath in slight moan. But the pain from his body and the rage in his mind was too intense. His green eyes red rimmed with irritation snapped open their slit pupils drawn as tight as a knife's edge. He began panting inhaling and exhaling heavily as his transformation took place. His tail lengthened and his ears scrunched up and moved to the top of his head. His hands became more paw like, his gloves were eaten by white fire leaving behind jaguar fur to his elbows. His boots as well were eaten by the fire leaving clawed feet that also had grown fur and become more cat like in form. His fangs extended and he as he turned his face was twisted with rage. His whole body had subtly taken on a more wild carnivorous look. It was all he could do to keep from transforming completely. It was all he could do to keep himself and not lose his humanity to the demonic urges. He had to finish this battle quickly. He knew that if he failed to end it now.. the ending might be truly tragic for both of them. She might be forced to take his life.. to stop him from killing her. Because if it came down to it he would rather be put down then to harm someone inoccent of any real crime.
He twisted to find her standing with her daggers daggers challenging him to battle. His feral grin and maddened eyes displayed his inner desire to do exactly as she pleased. With a stroke of his claws his sliced off the ends of all the arrows leaving no painful hand holds for her to grasp. Then he leaped and it looked as if he was lunging for her face with his fore claws. Instead he fell short and grasped the branch below her the pain only feeding his desires, swinging up twisting and aiming a sliding kick full of claws at her feet

((post 5))

*Clara leaned back in awe as Kael transformed. His list of abilities, they were just as her mother had described to her since childhood. The creature that her father died for...she also had the ability to transform and a control over fire! As he leapt into the air toward her, Clara kept her daggers at her front, refusing to switch to her bow. Arrows weren't easy to replace here, she wagered, but was thankful that she didn't have to use some of her more...difficult to replace arrows such as her explosive tipped arrows or the incredibly hard to forge tearing arrows which featured heads faced with prongs to resemble the flesh ripping effects of barbed wires.
Keeping her eye; no longer marked by the elaborate make up that she had long since sweated off of her face during the fight, leaving only the dried up blood from her broken nose, on her opponent as he leapt toward her she crouched, keeping her blades up front. Waiting for that moment when a pouncing creature's chest would be exposed and she could jab the dagger deep into him. She knew that he was fighting with his own inner demons as well as her, and if she wanted to continue, she was going to have to start playing for keeps. But, what if she killed him? What if Kael came out of this match like that little boy did? Dead and bloodied? Even worse, what if she came out of this match like that?

As he leapt into the air, Clara braced herself and looked away. Her chance to jump forward and dig her blade deep into him came and passed without her passing any action, she needed to know who this boy was, how did he have these abilities that she was told for so long belonged to another? She opened her eyes, angry at herself. What the hell was wrong with her?! This stupid rationale, it was going to cost her the whole thing if she didn't cut it out!

The lapse of combat focus cost her, when her mind came back to speed she couldn't see the creature, with a tiny jump foward, putting in extra effort to stay on her healthy foot she darted to the end of the branch, where was he? She didn't see him below, or above. And he certainly wasn't agile enough to swing under the branch.

But he was, and in a single moment he had rised behind her, taking advantage of her injured ankle he sliced deep into her feet. Clara let out a long scream, one filled with anguish and pain as she collapsed, trying desperatly to stay on the branch where the fight had been secluded. Her daggers thrown from her hands plummeted back to the surface of the forest ground. The scent of decaying and diseased flesh filling her nose, he had cut her burnt ankle even deeper, causing it to swim in a pool of blood and pus as it flowed freely from the cuts. She looked to it with shock on her face, she wouldn't be able to walk the rest of the fight, much less stand! And if she didn't do something about it quickly, it'd get infected and she'd never be able to walk again...she cursed being a hybrid...useless wings and a weak body, what a combination.

The rage. The transformation. The white-hot flames. Clara now knew, she knew that this was Dark Destiny that she had been fighting, and it was just as her mother described her. Full of rage and anger, this Kael Destiny. He...he needed the vessel. Just as Clara, needed to thank the dark one, because it was the dark one that gave her a life to live.

Clara turned onto her back, and began to crawl toward the beast, struggling to talk and breath at the same time as she dragged her legs behind her, the weight of those and her wings also dragging behind her was difficult to overcome, and she let out a cry as she forced her body onward. She looked at the cat boy, and beckoned to him, trying to concieve him that she could help, which was what she wanted, but she also wanted to win...
I can see your rage, Kael...this is what turned this fight into what it was. This isn't a competition anymore.... She reached out her hand and slowly began dragging herself toward him.
I....I can eat your pain, Kael... A small delusional laugh escaped from her as she still insisted on pulling herself toward him. A trail of blood from her destroyed ankles oozed behind.

And...And you can eat mine... the vessel thought. She didn't know if it was the pain, the bloodloss, or maybe she had simply begun to lose her sanity after being exposed to the dark one itself...but she had pulled herself to her knees, and lunged forward with her arms outstretched, trying desperatly to touch him.

WHO IS DARK DESTINY?! She yelled in a tone that was both in severe pain and full of a joyous ecstasy. Trying so hard to grasp him. Then her powers would work, she'd absorb his pain and project hers unto him...leaving his body as broken as hers. But she knew that she may inherit his rage, his pain, if she had succeeded. A chance she was willing to take if she wanted to win the fight. Her legs, they hurt so badly. She just wanted the pain to end, and her mind refused to let her slip out of consciousness. She only hoped that if she did steal his rage, the match could end soon enough before she hurt him badly. Though in the back of her mind, she started to think that maybe that wasn't such a bad thing... Look what he had done to me! She thought, as she felt the strain of her legs pulling behind her as she had to drag herself to him moments before to form a challenge, he had made her look pathetic, be pathetic...and she was going to make him pay.

updated, just delete this post when the reply comes.

An unholy joy filled him as he sliced her feet. Blood, life's fuel spilling. He landed next to her on all fours on the branch only a short distance away. He fought the joy fought the desires tried to hold on to himself only.. the pain and the rage.. the beasts in him were so powerful. She cried out and her scream echoed his own internal ones. His pupils were still as tight as a drawn bows string. She was speaking now crawling towards him
"I can see your rage, Kael...this is what turned this fight into what it was. This isn't a competition anymore.... " she spoke the truth her hand reaching toward him.
"I....I can eat your pain, Kael..." He snarled and began backing off not understanding. he began to tense the predatore in him not likeing to be pressed back.
"WHO IS DARK DESTINY?!" she screamed. His mouth fell slack and his pupils dilated as if to absorb the shock. Suddenly all his rage was gone and their was only pain. His mother's true name spoken aloud.. He hadn't heard it in so long.

and suddenly he was back in that moment.

"Mother!" he screamed as he saw her surrounded by those men. In that instant her eyes snapped to him. In that instant a most deadly arrow charged like a loosed hound for her heart. In that instant time stopped. Her pure blue eyes like the sky on a cloudless day were filled with shock and pain. Her hand was going to her heart. She looked down, his eyes following hers. "MOTHER!" he screamed in agony. Then he was killing. He slashed and clawed until nothing moved, nothing but the blood oozing from his fangs and claws and his cheast as it heaved in ragged gasps. Then he held her. Held her as the blood mingled with the tears and the bile rose in the back of his throat never to be released. He was rocking her back and forth in his arms as the warmth left her, his body trembling as his own sobs racked him. he choked on the wordless cry of misery that struggled in him. He had never had a chance to know..
"MOTHER!" He screamed as her touch like a bolt of lighting dragged him back to reality to the present where his own life was in danger.
It felt like she was draining all the agony from him. The pain from his eyes and the arrow wounds drained away leaving him with only the pain in his heart.. and then that too was gone and he was empty. The feeling of bliss lasted for only a micro second. Then his ankles felt as if they had been torn with the sharpest knives and one burned with the hottest of flames. He delicate nose snapped as if he had been punched hard in the face. He screamed in a cat call of pain and confusion.. clinging to the branch as his hind legs gave out. His rage was lost the moment her name was spoken, and his sorrow was gone now as well. All he could feel was pain and desperation for the battle to end in his victory. "have to end it" he said wasting more precious breath. Gathering up his desperation he formed a weak ball of fire in one hand then flung it at the form on the other end of the branch.
(5)

*As her own pain siphoned into Kael, Clara was able to feel his agony and madness settle into her mind. She grunted as she vied for a more secure grasp on him, each time she'd claw forcefully with her arms more agony crawled into her mind. She began to breath in short spurts as she tried to build mental barrier after barrier to lock away the crazed frenzy. He wasn't the first troubled soul that she had remedied on her journey throughout the world, she was used to locking away pain, fury, hatred, and suffering in her body; just like her father before her. Then he spoke again, shouting.

"MOTHER!" He yelled, and Clara immediatly recoiled. Mother! Clara knew that this boy had to in some way be related to the dark one...but her child? Clara couldn't believe it...she had...she had a child. What had happened to her? The hybrid pondered. Shrugging off whatever impetious and unimportant questions she had in her mind she turned her attention to the battle again. Letting go of her opponent was a mistake, and though she tried to lock away Kael's insanity, her vision turned a deep crimson and her clarity maddened. She struggled to keep the insanity within her control as a dull pain jabbed into her shoulder. Ah yes, the physical pain she inherited from Kael, 3 wounds opened on her torso and her eyes grew irritated. This too Clara had tried to swallow, trying desperatly to keep her focus on the combat. "The Darkness" she told herself, with a pleasured grin on her face. Her mother had told her that the first time she had met her father, Cross, he had fancied himself "A Warrior Against The Darkness'. Feh.

Flinging herself back, she again allowed her opponent to escape, a habit that she needed to break if she had any hope of winning this tournament in future bouts, if she even made it that far. She also let go of him, she cursed herself when she again realized the mistake.
Kael now hung freely from the truly tired branch yet again. His legs hindered from her siphoning and a glow in his hand. He had intended to throw another fireball at her. This one fueled without his rage, without the maddness...without the power. This fireball was weak, fueled poorly by last-ditch desperation. Clara couldn't even feel it's heat. Only the heat of Kael's ravaged state of mind there.

Screaming in an uproarious battle cry, she threw herself toward the end of the branch where Kael hanged. Throwing her wings in front of her, she slapped Kael's weak fire plume away. As she darted, she felt the branch rock and sway under her newly restored legs, this was what she, in her blinded rage wanted, as was indicated by each light snap she could hear as she stepped. Leaping down in front of Kael she gave another tug to the worn branch with one hand and tried to land a kick to him with her feet. The branch had seen it's fill of battle and motion, and had given. Snapping from the mighty tree it was rooted to, it hopefully sent both combatants down to the earth below.

Clara's wings began to bloom and the air around her started to slow. For the first time since the match started, she had finally felt that maybe the fight was going to end...maybe she won.

((Post 6))

He was.. Almost empty and it chilled him to the core. The agony of his limbs.. it was nothing. Nothing to him anymore. She had taken his sorrow.. taken his pain. The pain she had given him in return was nothing. She had slapped away his feeble attack like it was nothing. Like he was nothing, because in truth.. he was nothing. He could die. He could slip in to the cold darkness and join his mother.
and he didn't care.
That scared him more then anything and the shock of it shook him back to himself. He wanted to live! He wanted answers! He wanted... to win! He wanted life! His desires had risen anew. He felt a tiny spark of determination re ignite in his chest.
Then she landed a blow to his ankles and he let out a purely human scream of agony as his legs slipped from the branch. He was hanging from only one clawed paw like hand. Then the branch snapped.
He was falling.
He was failing.
"Mother." He whispered.
Suddenly it was as if she was there with him again in the forest of their home once more.
"son.. I have taught you how to conquer your inner flame.. and how to summon your inner beast and for the most part tame it.. but the greatest lesson I have to teach you is the secret to true control and our true powers. The secret that you may not be able to conquer for a long time because it is my hardest lesson. It is the secret lesson that you had a part in teaching me."
"mother?" He was only 7 then and didn't understand.
"love. The hottest flame.. the greatest transformation.. True and complete control.. for us.. it comes not from anger.. but from love. For the longest time I only had anger... and it nearly destroyed me." Her smile was as bright as her eyes as they gazed at him. "Then.. love saved me. My love for you.. has helped me to keep my control."
"I fight for you." She vanished her last words echoing from him.
He turned his body so that he as he fell his back was to the ground and his face was to his opponent. His eyes filled with white flames that then exploded and nearly engulfed his whole face in a mask of fire. It poured from every inch of both of his hands and from his feet as well. He was smiling, finally understanding what his wish would be. Before.. before he wanted to know who his father was and how to destroy him. That would have been his wish as he hungered for clara's blood.
Then.. his pain had been stolen, and it had been taken in by clara who almost had destroyed him with it. It was only then that he knew what he really wanted.. to live. He wanted life... for both of them.
His wish would be to revive his mother. To give her life again.
"I fight... for you!" he whispered the tears in his eyes evaporating into steam.. He threw all of his flame in a ball as wide as his torso was vertically. It burned hotter then his rage had ever been.. it burned with all his love. As soon as he released it He slammed into the ground... and fell into oblivion.
((post 6))
((he's not dead so don't say he is!!! he is just out cold... NOT DEAD!!))

((match over, please pm judgements to me and I will post them once I recieve them all))

Judge One: Jeff.

Judge Two: Fezzod

Judge Three: Natalie

Final Averages:

Brian: 7.83
Heather: 7.17

Clara Def. Kael Destiny