Liv Aegis vs. Skulrig

[BrookSkimmer]

Please READ and SIGN the dueling rules document before posting here!

Liv Aegis vs. Skulrig

Setting: Sandy beach with water on one side and salt marshes to the other.

Skulrig has first post!

[Tam and Martin]

* Sculrig ducked behind a rock suddenly as an arrow came whizzing overhead. He hit the sandy beach with an ominous thud as the arrow pratically skimmed his cheek. Sculrig stood up quickly and ran to another rock where he threw himself down again on his stomach. "Whew," He thought, "That was close! He peeked over the top of the rock where he watched some of the battles taking place on the shore.

It was then when he spotted a female mouse with a round shield and a short sword standing a few yards away. The fox laid himself flat as quick as he could hoping the mouse might not have seen him. If she hadn't then he might have the element of surprise to kill her.

He creeped up on the mouse who was still standing there and drew an arrow from his back satchel. He placed it on the string as quietly as he could and pulled the string back slowly. The bow tightened more and more until it was almost a full circle! He took aim at the mouse's neck and let fly! He didn't even bother to see if it hit or not because he was already up with his scimitar drawn and charging towards the mouse yelling out a warcry,
"Viiiiiiiiiiissssseeeeeeefffffffaaaaaaannnng!"

[Icefire]

As she approached the battle on the shores, Liv Aegis quickly observed the ensuing chaos and attempted to determine where she was most needed. The sound of metal clanging on metal rang in her ears and mingled with the cries of the wounded. The smell of blood filled her nostrils. Everywhere she looked it seemed one of the Swords was locked in battle with the vermin crew. She saw Marcus attack a fox, vengeance burning in his eyes. She spotted Vannøyne engaging a ferret in combat. Her heart raced when she saw her cavemate, Sora, fighting the huge fox who must be their leader if the crown was anything to go by. She was still judging where she would be of the most help when she spotted Spera.

She could only just make out her young friend through the rain, fighting what seemed to be a young rat. She watched in horror as the rat sliced the squirrel's forehead. Surely that was where she was most needed!

However, before she could make a move to help any of her friends, she heard a hiss and instinctively raised her shield. She barely lifted it in time, catching the arrow on the very edge of the top of her Aegis. She gritted her teeth and heard her father's voice ringing out through her memory, "Letting down our guard in the middle of a fight, are we? That is how a good many warriors die, Liv! A split second of distraction can be all it takes!"

As this memory rang out, Liv faced the fox who was now running towards her, scimitar drawn. She raised her shield a little higher and lifted her sword to a ready position as she glared at the vermin who dared threaten her home and yelled her own warcry, "FOR FREEEEEDOOOOMM!!!!!"

[Tam and Martin]

As Sculrig ran with his scimitar drawn and held high, he saw the mouse turn towards him."Hellgates" He thought, "Now she's seen me!"!
He saw the mouse raise her shield and at that moment he skidded to a halt and brought his scimitar crashing down upon her. She was quick enough to raise her shield though.The reverberation of medal against hard wood made his paws numb for awhile. He backed off eyeing the mouse closely
"So, you'se t'were smart 'nuff to bring your's shield up but dis time you'll be fish bait! Wait 'n' see mouseymaid!"
With saying that he ran at her and held his sword high for a crashing downward cut but quickly turned his sword sideways for a slash across her stomach.

[Icefire]

As the fox spoke, Liv ignored his words and instead focused on searching for any sign of weakness she could use against him as her father had taught her. She took note of the fox's milky left eye as well as his over confident attitude. She remembered  her father's constant warnings against cockiness. How often she had been defeated in practice when she believed she had every advantage! Perhaps she could use this against him...

When he lifted his sword for the downward cut, she tilted her shield upward to catch the blow. His quick change surprised her a little, but she was just barely able to twist her sword down to catch his scimitar with the edge of her sword. The shock of the two blades connecting caused reverberations to shoot up her arm, but she held strong. She quickly twisted her body to the left and thrust her shield forward hoping to hit him with the spike or at least confuse him. She then jumped back, disengaging her sword and twisting it back into a ready position while she watched for the fox's next move.

[Tam and Martin]

* Sculrig was greatly surprised at the mouse's action. Anger and hate flooded through him because of her move and even more anger was added when her shield skimmed across his stomach making a minor scar! And she even had deflected the move he had always used to destroy other opponents to make matters worse for him! "She must be better than I imagined!" He thought.
                                                                                                                   
Now Sculrig had to try something different. As he backed away from his opponent slowly he remembered his dirk in his side pocket. He also noticed a stretch of marshes far behind where the mouse stood. An idea started to form in his mind. If he could get to the marsh he could hide and wait for the mouse to follow then kill her. Yes, that would be what he would need to do but he couldn't keep his scimitar out because of its weight so he started distracting her while he sheathed the heavy sword. He drew and arrow forth from his quiver and started flicking it idly through his paws. Once his scimitar was in it's sheath, he pulled his dirk slowly while still toying with the arrow.
"You're gonna die nice and slow once I gets ya".

Sculrig's dirk was now fully out. Now would be the time to act but he would need to do it quickly if he wanted to come out the victor. Throwing the arrow next to the mouse's footpaw with lightning speed , he ran straight at her and somersaulted around her legs. As he went, Sculrig skinned the dirk across the mouse's pawpad and then stood up on his legs and ran as fast as he could to the patch of shrubby salt marshes. It was a huge swamp-like area but it had some minor hedges and scrubby bushes. There was a patch of small bushes right before the marshes so he crawled under one of them and waited for the opponent to follow. "This will be the day of reckoning for that little mouse," He thought to himself, "O yes I'll gut her once I catch her!"  

                                           

[Icefire]

(See OOC)

When the arrow was thrown, Liv quickly sidestepped to avoid it, but this brought her into the perfect position to take the full force of the fox's next attack. The fox tumbled near her legs and sliced his dirk across the top of her left footpaw. Taken by surprise, Liv gave a cry and swept her blade down at him, but he was already on his paws and running towards the marsh. The pain from her sliced paw kept her from racing after him right away. She knew it was only a small cut, but any wound to the paws was sure to slow up the fighter and perhaps lead to worse wounds. She took a deep breath to control her anger at this handicap knowing the anger would only cause her to lose her head and make poor decisions.

She quickly scanned the rest of the battlefield. Liv could see most of her fellow Swords locked in their own battles within the battle. She took in a sharp breath and scowled in fury as she saw that several of her friends were wounded and some seemed ready to fall. Her first instinct was to run to their aid. After all, it was only one fox.... However, that one fox was now between her and the caves! Who knows how much destruction he could bring about if he made it to her home!

At that horrifying thought, Liv followed the fox into the marsh. The rain had lightened to the point where it felt more like a mist than actual rainfall. Liv squinted through rain and raised both sword and aegis in defensive positions as she carefully searched her surroundings for the enemy.

[Tam and Martin]

While under the bush, Sculrig watched his opponent moving about scanning her surroundings. He needed to wait till she got closer to make his next, and hopefully last, move to successfully win the duel. The fox stayed as silent as he could and watched as she moved closer to the bush. It was then that a huge insect crawled up Sculrig's back but he dared not to make a move for she would see him if he did.

It was then that the insect made an unnecessary move. It bit him sharply on the shoulder causing the fox to jump slightly and let out an agonized yelp. The mouse must have heard for she was walking closer! Once again Sculrig had lost the element of surprise but he still had a risky chance to take. Without thinking he set himself tight in a curl and then lunged straight forward at his enemy's stomach.

As he leapt through the air, Sculrig was able to curl his back and hit the mouse. That was his first mistake. He hit the aegis with a direct sensation almost fracturing his backbone but he was still able to bawl her over. That was his second mistake. Her sword was already up and as he hit the shield his shoulder was cut almost to the bone! His whole body went numb from shock but the shock quickly turned to anger and he curled his paws and brought them down in a massive punch to the nose. He wouldn't have it said that a mouse, let alone a mousemaid, beat Sculrig in a battle.

As he punched her nose he also rolled her over and put her in a headlock. He didn't know it but that would be his last mistake.

[Icefire]

*Liv was seeing stars as she desperately tried to draw a breath. She had first lost her breath when the fox had knocked her down flat on her back. Her mind was in too much shock to process that two of her ribs had broken. All she was aware of was the explosion of pain in her chest. Then, through the pain she could dimly make out the fox raise his fist just before it made contact with her nose. Then the fox disappeared from her line of vision. The few shallow breaths she had been able to take in were suddenly cut off and she felt a deadly pressure around her neck. Liv's hands flew up to her neck in a feeble attempt to free herself as she racked her confused mind for some way out. She had dropped her sword  in her fall and her shield would be of little use to her in this position. All she could think of was one of her father's first instructions to her when she started training with a knife: always have a back up plan! If only she had had a back up plan this time...

Wait.....knife....My dagger!

Just as her vision started to fade out, she raised her left arm and brought her elbow crashing down on the fox behind her. She felt his grip loosen a little bit and took the opportunity to drop her right paw down to where she kept her dagger sheathed on her belt. She drew it quickly and began stabbing behind her, hoping to catch the fox with the small blade. Then she twisted herself in an attempt to break the fox's hold.

[Tam and Martin]

Sculrig's breath was knocked from him when the mouse's elbow came painfully down upon his stomach. He tried regaining his breath but then the mouse moved again. Sculrig saw the mouse draw her knife so in desperation he rolled on his side to prevent the knife plunging into his stomach but it still caught him on the hip.

The fox gripped his side in pain as blood started to pour out of the wound. Sculrig flailed his paws everywhere trying to regain a hold on her but his actions were to no avail. Then there was a deep pressure pressure on his head and he started getting pulled downward. It was not the mouse but it was the marsh! He was lying on a muddy sinkhole! He tried to pull himself out but his head was going under first! The first thing he grabbed was a piece of the mouse's clothing which he pulled on frantically! He tugged trying to pull himself out but then his head went under.

Muddy Water flooded in through his eyes, mouth, and nostrils but he wasn't able to pull himself out. Next he knew was his whole body was going under and he flailed frantically to grab hold of something. Then he started to lose breath. His mouth was swallowing water as he tried to breath in air. He knew it was lost as his heart beated slower and slower. Then it stopped. His body went limp and his legs stopped kicking. Sculrig, First mate of Visefang the Red, was gone from sight.

[Icefire]

*Liv had managed to crawl to the edge of the marsh and collapsed there. She watched through the stars that still danced before her eyes as the fox sank beneath the mud. How long she lay there, she knew not. Each quick breath she drew led to a fit of coughing and she was aware of little more than the sharp pain in her chest and the pounding in her head. She felt a warm liquid on her paw and tasted blood as she coughed.....where was that coming from? Gradually, she recovered enough to breathe without choking and take stock of the situation. There she was, sitting in the middle of the marsh in a torn and muddied dress with naught but a shield and a dagger as her sword had sunk in the marsh when she first dropped it. As far as she knew, the battle was still raging outside the marsh and all she had was a dagger and shield! Still, there was work to be done.

Slowly, she dragged herself upright and took a step only to collapse again with groan at the pain radiating from her sliced footpaw. All she wanted to do was sit there and focus on breathing, but that was impossible as long as the vermin threatened her home. She took a few deep breaths and then steeled herself against the pain as she stood up once more. She slowly limped to the edge of the marsh and looked out on the battlefield.

Pain, hatred, and horror filled her heart as she watched the battle unfold before her. She watched as her friends fought the evil ones. She watched as some fell, in death or in pain she could not tell. She saw how few they were and how weak they seemed in comparison to the vermin. She felt a hot tear roll down her cheek as she considered how hopeless the situation seemed...

She looked down at her aegis. In her memory, she heard an echo of her father's voice, "We cannot get the dead back, Liv, but we can fight to protect the weak and the helpless."

She slowly raised her head and her shield as she whispered, "We can fight."

Liv Aegis entered the fray once more with a cry, "FOR FREEDOM!"