Bay of Parapuck :: Kaitai vs. Reh

[Wulfi]

(((Yeah, I'm really into all sorts of history and geography now, so I stole the landscape from the Bay of Puck in Poland.

Seen here:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Zatoka_Pucka_-_Bay_of_Puck_(8).jpg )))



It had to be mid-afternoon. The gray-blue water stretched as far as the eye could see, and the rough cinnamon-colored dirt and sands were dotted with stones, ranging from minuscule pebbles to five-by-five foot stones, some smooth and some geometrical.

Behind the dirt coast lay a lush, thriving forest, known as the Hethnel Wood.

Peaceful storm clouds stretched high above Neo Kaitai's standing point. He stood, without any sort of foot covering, atop a smooth stone that had its top just above the surface of the water. His light gray muscle shirt clung to his lithe yet well-defined upper torso, perfectly dry. Gentle, pre-storm wind tousled his short dark blue hair. The midnight blue cat ears atop his head were still, as was his tail. The air was fresh, yet still smelt of sea. He wore a simple pair of black slacks.

It had been a long time since he'd fought anyone. He wasn't nervous, just interested in how he'd fare. He was calm atop the stone, his slitted green eyes closed in meditation as he stood with his feet close together.

[Griffin]

Reh had surveyed the location from a high lookout before he considered stepping foot there. But at first sight of the woods, he smiled.

He was currently sitting on the very edge of the woods, wrapped in his gray-green Ranger cloak. The clever coloring worked like camouflage, breaking up the background behind the Ranger. He spotted his "opponent" on a rock, apparently unarmed. Reh emerged casually from the woods, keeping a light grip on the strong knife on the right side of his double scabbard.

He approached with no words. He wasn't sure what this was all about anymore.

[Wulfi]

Kaitai's ears didn't even flick at the sound of a newcomer to the area. He'd known he was there since he set foot on the grassy border which separated forest from dirt. He'd been good at sensing people's presences. After all, with all that he'd seen and all that he'd been through (and only being 19, which was indeed impressive), it was no wonder that he'd had to train his senses to such a level.

Neo Kaitai, age 19, seemed to be unarmed. However, along the upper parts of his arms were dark blue bands, two on each appendage. They seemed like tattoos to the untrained eye. In fact, they were a gift from an enemy turned ally, and he was still grateful to the twin nekos Tidas and Arash for blessing him with such a glorious curse.

He turned on his heel, not swaying in the slightest, and opened his feline eyes to meet his challenger. "Well hello there," he greeted him, smiling a bit with his arms crossed casually across his chest, though his eyes weren't too lively at all. His eyelids fell halfway, showing how at ease he was with this affair. "You're Reh, am I correct?" His normally caustic tone was more relaxed.

[Griffin]

"Indeed I am."

With this up-close look, Reh began to scan his opponent, just as his training told him to. He internally questioned the feline ears and eyes. He'd never seen a creature such as this. His clothes were casual. It could be he was overconfident and felt armor was meaningless or maybe he was just uncaring. The lack of footwear was interesting as well. Aside from what appeared to be strange tattoos on his arms, there was nothing else to him. He quickly deduced that the unfamiliarities, the feline features and the tattoos, were likely linked. The grip on his knife strengthened.

"And you are Neo. You are different than I remember from years ago."

[Wulfi]

He chuckled lightly, he eyes going off to the side and becoming distant. "Well, I know it's cliche to say I was childish back then, but," he admitted with a light sense of humor. The neko put his left hand on his hip, elbow jutting out casually as he closed his eyes. "Once you've seen war, and once you've seen your friends and loved ones die before your very eyes..."

He reopened his slitted, half-lidded eyes to look at Reh directly. "Such behavior becomes meaningless."

He stretched and yawned, a fang glinting the the dim sunlight. "So you want to fight, huh?" He twisted a bit to pop his back. "I don't know if I'll be any good~," he mused as he returned to a normal standing position, hands on his hips. "I haven't fought in over a year. Fighting just doesn't really excite me anymore." He sighed. "But if you really want to..."

[Griffin]

Reh's eyes closed at Neo's words. Memories of years past began to surface, but he forced them back. He copied Neo's casual demeanor, poking lightly at him.

"Well, here I was under the impression you wanted a fight. You posting a message on the Challenge Board and all."

Reh shifted slightly. He could not get a handle on why he was invited here. But, really, he had nothing better to do.

[Wulfi]

He huffed a bit, shifting he weight to one leg. "Actually, I was just looking for someone to talk to. Do you really want to fight? I don't like killing people, and I'm afraid I might be out of your league." He smirked a bit, that familiar glint of determination returning to his eyes, ever so slightly.

[Griffin]

Reh sighed and quickly weighed his options. He didn't know his guy that well, nor did he really care. He wasn't much of a talker either. But every fiber in his body told him not to pick a fight while standing in the open.

Oh well.

He flipped up the cowl of his cloak, instantly hiding his face in the deep shadow. He whipped his arms onto his back, one grabbing his trusty bow, the other plucking an arrow from his quiver and placing it ready on the string. He stood with the arrow facing down and spoke, "I say, we fight."

[Wulfi]

He sighed again, smiling in defeat. "Well, I did say I'd accept the option if wanted. This will be good for me."

All of a sudden, as if out of nowhere, the air became thicker with raw power. It seemed as if it was a bit harder to breathe, but Kaitai didn't seem to be affected at all. The tattoo rings on his upper arms seemed to form very faint, thin, translucent light blue wings. They couldn't be more than nine inches each and seemed like they were lighter than air. As soon as they appeared on his person, the pressure that had consumed the area had nearly disappeared.

However, the energy had just collected into its source, the four miniature see-through wings on the young man's upper arms. He held up his left arm, palm open, and out of smoke-like streams of energy that came from the tiny wings formed a blue bow. He took hold of it and put his arms by his sides.

"So you're an archer too? Wow, this'll be fun, I suppose, since the last time I fought a projectile-user was in the war." He smirked, the determination flaring in his eyes. "First move belongs to you, if ya want."

[Griffin]

"Oh...so you can fly now," he said casually. This would be interesting. The obvious approach against a bow user is to go in close with melee, but that would prove difficult with these...wings. Adapt. That was the name of the game.

With that thought aside, he raised his bow, drew, and fired at his torso with the smooth, single, second-nature motion he did uncountable times in training. Just as the arrow left the string, he ran straight back into the woods that may just be his greatest advantage. With another arrow in place and his cloak hiding his location, he realized he may have underestimated his opponent. Regardless, his training told him not to take unnecessary risks.

Remaining in the open to a foe who just grew wings seemed unnecessary.

[Wulfi]

"Pfft!" Kaitai had to keep from laughing. "Fly?! With THESE little things?! They're not even solid!"

He jumped high into the air when avoiding the enemy's shot, and saying he jumped high is truly no exaggeration. Neo Kaitai was, undoubtedly, akin to the feline race, which gave him great speed, flexibility, and senses.

When he was still airborne from his upwards leap, having pricked his index finger of his right hand with a sharp nail from just before the jump, the blood droplet burst into a small sparkling pale red light which circle his finger. He swiftly put it to the notch of the bow and drew back, forming an energy-based arrow made entirely of pale red light, and let it fly, aiming for where he assumed his target's left thigh would be.

The smirk never left his face.

[Griffin]

OOC: Well...wings usually mean flight so...XD

Reh watched carefully as Neo made his attack. Everything except his body seemed to be totally ethereal: the wings, his bow, even his arrows. It was confusing to say the least.

As he watched, he caught Neo's arrow in the corner of his eye, land a little distance to his left. He still had stealth on his side. It's what his cloak was for anyway. Reh raised and predicted where Neo's right wing would be coming down from the jump. He aimed for the wing just to see what his arrow would do. If it did nothing, he could leave it alone.

After he shot, he began creeping to a new location in the forest. With another arrow already on the string, Reh placed himself behind a tree, leaning his shadowed face around the trunk to watch.

[Wulfi]

As the pale red arrow of light hit the ground beside Reh, swift yet just a bit off, it gave a small flash before disappearing, leaving a small spot on the ground that seemed to be burnt yet not aflame. It was a small gray circle, the result of this energy's impact. The light color of this mark may have meant that Kaitai didn't put too much power in that certain attack.

Upon landing on the smooth, surrounded-by-water stone, Reh had fired again, and Kaitai barely dodged. "Woah," he muttered, a bit off-guard, and tilted just in time to avoid the arrow hitting the base of the wing, where it connected to his skin. That area was vital. Indtead, it cut through the tip of the wing.

The pressure from before, when Kaitai had first invoked his weapon, the Entwined Soul, returned for a split second. It disappeared just as swiftly as it came, seeing as how the wing, made completely of translucent and ghost-like material, mended itself simply.

"Geez, that scared me a bit," he muttered to himself absentmindedly. If the arrow was to hit and sever the connection of the wing's base to his flesh, not only would he lose valuable ammunition, but a massive wave of raw energy would be released, quite possibly demolishing at least an area of 500 meters. It would either gravely wound him or kill him.

Kaitai peered into the forest, his smirk sliding into a sideways frown. "...He wants to lure me in?"

The young man aimed and fired into the forest, the arrow hitting a tree and giving off a brief and extremely quick flash of white light on impact with the bark. He caught a glimpse of Reh's resulting shadow. So that's where you're hiding, huh? he though, smirking a bit. He readied his bow again, bending his knees.

"If ya come out now, I won't kill you!" He grinned like a fool, like he had in days long gone.

[Griffin]

As Reh's eyes followed Neo's descent, he noticed the increase in pressure that he felt earlier as his arrow clipped Neo's wing. Nothing notable happened, so Reh decided to leave the wings alone.

Now that Neo had landed, Reh aimed another shot around the base of the tree, . He stood there, stock still, as Neo's shot came at him. It hit the truck of the tree and blinded Reh momentarily with the light it gave off. "Shit..." he muttered under his breath. He hadn't moved an inch, but was sure the light gave off his shadow. Ignoring Neo's words, he fired once, loaded, and fired again. As the second shot was on its way, Reh climbed the tree and squatted, hopefully, unseen. As his routine would give off, he watched, but this time, with a hand on his throwing knife.

[Wulfi]

"Aw, come on!" He dodge the first one with a jump, but didn't expect the second one. He barely managed to dodge the second one, only able to move so much on the water-set stone, and as a result was scratched on his right side, right under his ribcage.

"Heh," he chuckled, looking at the woods again. "Maybe I am rusty."

Kaitai darted off into the woods, quicker than the average man, and weaved in between tree. Perhaps the human would give chase.

[Griffin]

Reh swore to himself as Neo ran for the woods. The woods were his biggest advantage. And if Neo was so keen to enter them, it meant had must have some decent melee capabilities. He stayed calm though. He stayed perched in his tree and drew his throwing knife. He looked for a patch of forest where he could see easily and silently threw his knife into a thicket to his right, making a rustling sound. Reh then proceeded to load an arrow onto his bow and aimed at the same thicket.

[Wulfi]

Kaitai's sharp hearing heard the knife go in the ground, so he skid to a halt on his feet, loaded another arrow of pure energy and jumped up into a tree in a single bound, scurrying up into the foliage with skill. He glowered at the area where the knife was, then scanned though the thick leaves to try and find Reh's figure, not moving an inch.

[Griffin]

"Clockwork."

Neo took the bait just as he planned. His attention was toward the thicket and he was right in line with Reh's arrow. He let the arrow fly and then dropped from his tree, moving further into the forest and hiding behind another bush. The methodology of his movements and attacks was textbook Ranger. Something told him it wouldn't last the entire battle, but it worked while he still had it. With another arrow resting on his bowstring, Reh waited for the next hint of movement.

[Wulfi]

As the arrow came at him, as if he was on automatic, Kaitai let his own arrow fly. It went straight and managed to hit straight through Reh's own arrow, burning it into mere ashes that floated down towards the ground.

His eyes were sharp, as were his ears. He saw his movement with keen feline eyes and listened closely, and thus took his chance to attack, his face having come back to its characteristic stern facade.

Idiot. You want to die that badly?

He swiftly prepared another arrow and shot at the bush where the Ranger was hiding, firing two right after it.

[Griffin]

OOC: Last post for tonight.

"Shit, shit shit!"

Reh was amazed that Neo could track his movements so well. But on the other hand, he was terrified of this exact fact. Stealth was out of the bag right now as three "arrows" flew in succession right at him. He dove straight backward, using the flashes of light from the arrows to cover his movement to the left. He wrapped himself completely in his cloak, trying to quiet his breathing, crouching in a bush near the tree he was in recently. His hand was placed firmly on the large knife on his side. He wasn't going to die.

[Wulfi]

Kaitai, sadly, had missed the man's movements, and so he yawned and sniffed the air, trying to smell where he was.

"You know," he said, breaking to sniff. "I won't blame you if you give up now. I really don't like it when I have to kill people."

He sighed, eying the bushes around the area where he was hiding. He could catch his stronger scent somewhere around there. "But you were the one who picked the fight, so it's your choice."

[Griffin]

"Damn, he's right. But since when does Reh the Ranger worry about losing a fight?"

Neo hadn't moved. He was sure of this. He would have heard. He could either stay here and wait to attack with his knife, or try to aim another shot down range. The latter would suffice for now. He's knife was meant to be a last resort anyway.

Still feeling safe in the fibers of his cloak, he crept forward until he was out of sight behind another tree. Using this tree to cover his movements, he slowly readied an arrow on his bow. He crouched again, moving slightly to the right to aim up a shot at Neo's left leg. This time, after he fired, he didn't move, but simply covered up in his cloak again, seeing how well the cat could pick him out.

[Wulfi]

His ear twitched as he heard the Ranger's movements, but his eyes were closed. He sighed to himself, shaking his head a bit, and reopened his tired eyes. Well, if this is what he really wants...

A shot from a different area. Kaitai barely managed to dodge it, leaping to the branch at his right. The head of the enemy's arrow cut the outside of the lower portion of his left leg, but it didn't bother him too much. He'd sustained much worse before. A small splotch of deep crimson stained the pants leg of the black slacks he wore.

The shot came from... he thought to himself, his face serious and calculating. ...there.

He prepared another arrow, jumped high, and landed in front of the tree where Reh was hiding, swiftly jumping to the side and standing in front of his opponent with his legs apart, the red arrow of pale light aimed directly at his face.

"Give up," he told him without much emotion at all. "I'm not fond of killing."

[Griffin]

At this point, Reh was utterly dumbfounded. He was certain that Neo was not at all human. No human could possibly detect a Ranger, hidden, in a thick wood without some superhuman power.

When Neo landed in front of him, Reh lightly fell from his squat to a normal sitting position, legs bent in front of him. Slowly, he let the tension come out of his bowstring and tossed his bow and the arrow to the side. He looked down solemnly and put his hands at level with his head, but his cowl was still up.

His cowl never dropped until the battle was complete.

From his squat, he was doomed. But in this sitting position, his legs were in the perfect place. With a strong, swift jerk, he swung his left leg at Neo's ankles, trying to sweep him to the ground. Simultaneous with that motion, his right hand drew the large knife at his side and aimed to hamstring the creature.

[Wulfi]

Kaitai had a feeling he wasn't going to give up so easily. He barely managed to dodge his attack, leaping back a good meter or so, but tripped on a tree root and hit his head on a fairly good sized stone, knocking him unconscious. His arrow and bow faded into nothingness.



(((lol, I had to. This battle was going nowhere and I was getting bored.)))