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Post by Griffin on Oct 21, 2009 22:38:09 GMT -5
Weeks ago, Reh and Daniel stumbled upon each other in this rather public crossroads, know exactly as that, the Crossroads. It serves as a major paved trading junction between more than eight major cities and numerous other dirt paths lead to villages and smaller cities.
As it was evening, not many people were traveling at this time. Regardless, the two would not right on the roads themselves unless the battle carried over to them. Reh was positioned strangely out in the open, aside from the roads in the wide open field, without the Ranger cloak on his back. He would face Daniel like a man, after how he made him felt last time they were here.
He stood ready, bow, arrows, and knives strung, loaded, and sharpened.
This time, he would not be made a fool of.
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Post by Golden Emblem on Oct 21, 2009 22:52:27 GMT -5
Daniel was not very impressed with coming back to these crossroads in order to meet with Reh, after defeating him in a battle of wits a few weeks before. It had ended with Reh stealing Daniel's necklace, something he cherished, and now he was out to get revenge on the ranger for such a petty crime.
Upon seeing Reh, Daniel knew a fight would be a necessary evil here. He had brought his jian with him, along with a longer dagger at his side, and several smaller kunai and knives under his clothing. He would not allow Reh to defeat him here.
"I'm glad you decided to show your face."
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Post by Griffin on Oct 21, 2009 23:00:52 GMT -5
Reh smiled lightly. "Of course. I hold to my word."
At this moment, Reh reached inside his shirt and pulled out the tiger's eye necklace he took from Daniel last time in his hasty retreat. "I believe you came for this?"
Reh let the necklace dangle at his chest as he pulled the yew longbow from his back. Forty broadhead arrows rest in his quiver. The long saxe knife and the wedge throwing knife lay in the double-scabbard on his right side. He also remembered a new piece of Ranger gear he brought with him today: his strikers.
Ranger strikers are layered brass disks with a leather loop at the end that slid over the middle finger and rest in the palm. They are used in hand-to-hand combat as a sort of last resort or a hidden weapon. They remained in his pocket for now. He planted his bow in the dirt and leaned against it, waiting for Daniel to ready himself.
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Post by Golden Emblem on Oct 21, 2009 23:11:25 GMT -5
Daniel drew his jian, which looked as if it had been cleaned just for this occasion, and as if it had been just recently sharpened. The jian was a new addition to Daniel's array of light swords, as it was not the same blade that Reh had seen him fight with when they had travelled together long ago.
"You should just pass it back to me now," Daniel calmly stated, trying to keep his anger under check for the moment. His rage was best served to be used in the battlefield. "I don't want to have to beat you down and make you run off like a baby, like the last time we met."
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Post by Griffin on Oct 21, 2009 23:15:35 GMT -5
Reh was secretly hoping Daniel wouldn't play words and bring up their last encounter. After...after what he said, Reh lunged at Daniel recklessly, got into a fist fight he quickly was losing, snatched Daniel's necklace and ran like hell.
This time would be different.
Reh loaded an arrow onto his bowstring and drew to quarter draw. He kept the arrow pointed down, though. He figured he wouldn't get many shots as most of the fight would be up close. So, he had to make the distance between them as effective as possible.
"I think you'll have to try a little harder than that. Maybe if you beg, I'll hand it over," Reh said with a sneer.
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Post by Golden Emblem on Oct 21, 2009 23:30:47 GMT -5
"Me, beg?" Daniel scoffed, a smirk painting his face as he stepped towards Reh with caution. He didn't like long-ranged weapons, so it made sense that his rival would be a master of the bow. Daniel loathed this thing called irony. "We both know who will end up begging here... right?"
Daniel decided that the best way to get this fight started would be to rush forward and try to hit Reh with his jian, but as he charged, he slipped a kunai from under his sleeve and whipped it at Reh's forehead before slashing directly at his bow. If anything, he would knock the arrow out of the notched position it was in.
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Post by Griffin on Oct 21, 2009 23:40:07 GMT -5
Reh was prepared for this. The easiest way to beat a bowman was to get in his face, but Reh was no ordinary bowman. He was, is, a Ranger.
His eyes picked up the kunai being drawn just as Daniel made the motion to do so. He dropped, rolling to his left. In this roll, his shoulders rolled to smooth out the motion, and in doing so, he came out of the roll, kneeling, with a fully drawn bowstring. Taking a split second to recover his target, he released. The deep thrum of the longbow string, the piercing hiss of the arrow rushing through the air, and, hopefully, the resounding smack! of the arrow slamming into flesh.
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Post by Golden Emblem on Oct 21, 2009 23:47:28 GMT -5
Reh would not be completely satified, as while Daniel was hit by the arrow, it was not in a way that ended with a smack. No, in fact, it ended with the sound of a motherfucker then a sonofabitch. It had grazed his left arm upon being fired, and it had cut his shirt and skin.
"Eh..." Daniel sighed, after his tirade of swears. "It's only a small injury. It's not as bad as what you're going to have when I'm done with you!"
Since Reh did not have an arrow in his bow this time, Daniel was much more confident in running at Reh. This time, however, he did not go to slash his sword at Reh. When close up to Reh, at the last possible moment, he went to grab Reh's shoulders and knee him in the stomach.
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Post by Griffin on Oct 21, 2009 23:55:14 GMT -5
The non-obvious move did its job in catching Reh off his guard. He was ready to raise his bow to catch Daniel's sword stroke, but when Daniel reached in for his shoulders, he didn't quite know how to defend. Daniel's arms went right past his bow and soon the full force of his knee collided with Reh's gut.
Reh recoiled back, coughing, but he wasn't out of the fight at all. In a quarterstaff grip, Reh swung the more-or-less pointed edge of his bow to jab Daniel in the wound he inflicted with the arrow. Or the head. Whichever was easier.
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Post by Golden Emblem on Oct 22, 2009 0:04:41 GMT -5
Reh succeeded in hitting Daniel where it would hurt most at the moment: the cut he had received from Reh's first shot of the battle. Daniel hissed slightly in pain, but he knew that, if he wanted to win, he would have to grin and bear it past the pain. While he didn't grin, he did move to deliver a kick to Reh. He didn't have the best control with his kick, so where ever it landed would be up to luck.
"Reh, stop acting like an ass and just give it back," Daniel grumbled under gritted teeth. "It isn't exactly a pleasure to have to beat on your like this."
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Post by Griffin on Oct 22, 2009 22:33:09 GMT -5
Reh slid back at the last moment, avoiding Daniel's kick. He took some speedy steps backward and slung his bow on his back. "You're the ass, Daniel. If you hadn't been that way, we wouldn't be here now!"
Reh dropped both hands to the dual knives on his left side and drew them both. He held the knives in the standard offhand grip, throwing in the right, saxe in the left. He faced Daniel with his left arm bent, the point of the saxe facing Daniel. His right arm was bent as well, his fist close to his face with the throwing knife facing out. It was the basic dual knife stance. It allowed for various swipes and stabs from both knifes as well as blocking abilities.
"Let's see if you can keep it up."
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Post by Golden Emblem on Oct 22, 2009 22:43:37 GMT -5
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that."
Daniel decided to take a break at this moment, and was going to allow Reh to attack him, instead of being on the defensive constantly. Besides, he needed at least a moment's pause, and allowing Reh to attack first would let Daniel attempt to see any flaws in his fighting style. For the moment, though, the verbal attacks seemed to be unnerving him, even if only in the slightest.
"I was right, though."
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Post by Griffin on Oct 22, 2009 22:51:13 GMT -5
THAT'S IT!
Reh's teeth clenched into a furious snarl and his calm and steady Ranger persona he developed over the years snapped. He shouted and charged Daniel.
He bent over slightly, leading with the saxe. When he reached striking distance, he brought his saxe up to the right and swung down left across Daniel's chest, quickly followed by his throwing knife in the same motion. Reh then locked his left shoulder and swung his entire body to the right, bringing the saxe screaming horizontally across Daniel's stomach.
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Post by Golden Emblem on Oct 22, 2009 23:15:48 GMT -5
In hingsight, Daniel realizes taunting someone about things like that was not exactly the best idea. Daniel barely managed to dodge the first slashes by recoiling backwards when Reh ran screaming at him, but when Reh threw the power of his entire body into his third slash, Daniel was unable to dodge or parry, and the saxe cut into Daniel's stomach, grazing the skin over it and letting a lot of blood fly. Daniel wanted to bend over and hold his stomach in pain, but he decided it would be best to try and slash at Reh to get some form of revenge.
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Post by Griffin on Oct 23, 2009 23:13:12 GMT -5
Reh's wild attack drew a satisfying amount of blood, but it left him in an awkward position to defend the incoming attack. He swung his left arm out to draw and parry the sword stroke with the strained grip on his saxe knife. The blade struck hard the the knife was jarred from Reh's grip. The sword's force kept coming and dug into the soft flesh of his underarm.
The Ranger stumbled back, the pain shocking him out of his furious rage. He kept moving backward, making it seem like a stumble out of pain. He reassessed the situation and, considering he lost his best melee weapon, range would be in his favor.
Reh stopped in his stumble and quietly readied a throw with his remaining knife. He didn't physically line up a shot, but in his mind, he saw the angle of the throw, the trajectory of the knife, and the blade landing in Daniel's chest.
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Post by Golden Emblem on Oct 24, 2009 0:05:58 GMT -5
Daniel took a moment to take a breather, taking a section of his jacket, ripping it using his blade, and wrapping it around his stomach gently in order to halt the flow of blood for the moment. He was quite pleased with the fact that his jian had blood dripping from it, as it meant he had hit Reh with his swing.
This time, he didn't speak to Reh, instead choosing to draw a dagger and begin tossing it in the air, playing with it and preforming tricks. It seemed as if he were trying to taunt Reh.
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Post by Griffin on Oct 24, 2009 0:14:45 GMT -5
Reh didn't recall Daniel having skill in throwing knives, but that didn't mean he hadn't acquired it. He remained confident in his own skills, figuring he could hit Daniel in the nose blindfolded if he didn't try to dodge it.
For the brief moment his mind left the battlefield, Daniel's last spoken words poked at his subconscious. He felt lightly ashamed for breaking the calmness of the Ranger. Reh had to redeem himself. He stood as he had been, knife still in the defensive grip, and spoke to the point.
"No...you're wrong. You're dead wrong, Daniel."
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Post by Golden Emblem on Oct 24, 2009 0:30:58 GMT -5
"Okay, so I'm wrong," Daniel admitted, which to anyone who knew him was a bit of a shocker. "Are you just going to stand there and politely inform me of it and later invite me to teach, or are you going to prove me wrong and at least attempt to kick my ass?"
After this, Daniel threw a dagger at Reh, hoping to see how he would react to it.
Too bad someone failed their accuracy roll badly and ending up missing the ranger by a few feet.
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Post by Griffin on Oct 24, 2009 12:25:25 GMT -5
Reh hardly flinched when Daniel tossed the dagger at him. He could tell be the release of the throw that he would be fine. "Then why the hell did you bother saying all those things?"
Without missing a beat, after he spoke, and twirled the knife from the offhand grip to a forehand grip, bringing back his arm in the process, and released the knife with a masterful flick of the wrist. It spun furiously, aimed for Daniel's sword arm.
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Post by Golden Emblem on Oct 24, 2009 22:34:58 GMT -5
Daniel managed to bring up his sword to block the knife from hitting him, although he wasn't sure if he could do that a second time. The amount of blood he had lost from being struck in the stomach was giving him a serious disadvantage at the moment. He would need to end the duel soon in order to get his necklace back.
"I like a good fight, I won't lie. You're easily provoked, too. Do I regret taunting you using the subject I talked about? Maybe. But it'll be worth it at the end of the day."
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Post by Griffin on Oct 24, 2009 23:06:52 GMT -5
"I loved her! I did all-!"
Reh bit his tongue. This is what Daniel wanted. He wanted to get Reh off his game again. In a way, he did. Reh didn't have his knives anymore. If he tried to draw his bow, Daniel would have that jian in his face by the time he got an arrow ready. The only melee he had left were his strikers, but it would be impossible for those to block a sword slash.
To hell with it.
Reh dug quickly into his pocket and slid the loop on the end of the strikers over his middle finger. They rested nicely in his palms. He squeezed his hands, feeling the cool brass, and slowly advanced toward Daniel.
"I won't kill you, but I'll bring you to an inch of your life. I don't know how you found out about her, but you weren't there. I died that day."
Which was entirely true. After that day, Reh retreated into the deepest wood where he stumbled upon the elusive Ranger Corps. There, he left his old life and most of his positive emotion behind.
When only twenty feet separated the men, Reh stopped.
"I did I could to save Lidda."
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Post by Golden Emblem on Oct 24, 2009 23:29:18 GMT -5
Daniel was feeling a lot guiltier for chastising Reh about Lidda, as he knew, somewhere in that heart of his, that he would die if anything were to happen to Emiko. Maybe he shouldn't have been so cruel to Reh. Maybe he should have tried to understand his pain...
Nah...
"You won't be beating me to near death anytime soon," Daniel chuckled, glancing at Reh's weapons. He had never seen anything like them before. "No one has, and I'm not about to start with you."
He doesn't need to know that's a lie.
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Post by Griffin on Oct 24, 2009 23:48:58 GMT -5
"Well that'll change today."
Reh put his hands out in front of him, fingers bent, making his hands look like claws. This was for more control of his strikers. This was a new fighting style for the both of them and it would be interesting to see how things played out.
He charged, not wanting to try his luck blocking or dodging a sword stroke. He vaguely recalled battle tactics for the strikers. Their intent was quick, incapacitating strikes. The design makes them easy to maneuver with and strike accurately, but have very little defensive properties. Reh never had to resort to using them in battle before today.
When he was only a few feet away, Reh crouched and lunged. He swung his arms at the same time. His right went sideways, aiming for Daniel's knee. The left jabbed forward, hoping to strike Daniel's abdomen and break a rib or two.
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Post by Golden Emblem on Oct 25, 2009 0:39:44 GMT -5
Upon seeing Reh crouch and lunge at him, Daniel tried to slash back in return, but he was not quick enough, nor did he anticipate such a move from Reh. Bother strikers hit their mark, and while his kneecap wasn't broken (yet bruised badly), his ribs where not so lucky. Two broke, and Daniel crumpled to the side, as pain shot through his body. He needed to use his jian to get back to his feet, and he was trembling.
"You've gotta try harder..."
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Post by Griffin on Oct 25, 2009 1:00:09 GMT -5
A wave of satisfaction flowed through Reh as he felt Daniel's ribs snap under his attack. When he stumbled backward, Reh presumed Daniel was too injured to pursue him as he retrieved his saxe knife he located when he was preparing his strikers. He slid the knife back in the scabbard and stood away from Daniel.
"Tell me, do you know what happened on that day?" Reh said as he cracked his knuckles and tightening the striker loops on his fingers. "If you knew, I doubt you would have said what you did."
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Post by Golden Emblem on Oct 25, 2009 1:21:06 GMT -5
"I know some of it," Daniel began, breathing in slowly as to not cause any more pain to his ribs. "I saw it... your force was assigned to what was essentially a death mission. I don't know how, but you were the sole survivor of it. Maybe you just got lucky, I don't know."
Realizing that the battle was on pause, Daniel took the time to begin cleaning his jian. He didn't want it to stay bloody all the time.
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Post by Griffin on Oct 25, 2009 1:36:07 GMT -5
"You...saw it?"
The day of discussion was a day over three years ago when Reh and his childhood friend and then lover, Lidda, led a force of guardsmen along side a larger force. The captain of the larger force, a man named Reynard Trevek, had Reh lead his troops into a clearing to attract the enemy's attention before the main force crushed them.
Instead, while Reh's men were being attack, Trevek led his force around the battle, turning Reh and his men into decoys. In the middle of the fighting, Reh noticed a faint red light. He called a retreat and began running. Seconds later, an enormous fireball engulfed the area and all of Reh's men were killed, including his love. After that, he wandered off into the woods until he stumbled upon the Ranger Corps.
As far as he could remember, Daniel was not in Reh's force.
"You were with Trevek..."
The battle faded away in his mind as the foul memories surfaced. As he regained his senses, he actually took notice of the gaping cut on his underarm, strained by his continued offense.
Reh struggled to keep the tears forming behind his eyes where they were. "Then you can understand how horrifying that day was for me. Imagine if you had to watch Emiko die and bury her, knowing there's nothing you could've done to stop it."
Bringing Daniel's wife into the situation may have been a low blow on Reh's part, but if anything could cause that cold bastard to be mildly empathetic, this would be it.
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Post by Golden Emblem on Oct 27, 2009 20:03:22 GMT -5
"Don't even think of bringing her into this."
Daniel's voice was cold and harsh, seemingly not as empathetic to Reh's situation as Reh might have wished he would become. In fact, Daniel was growling under his breath, his hand gripping his jian so much that the knuckles turned white. If it weren't for the fact that he had several cracked ribs, he would have gone after Reh right then and there.
"You know what? I was with Trevek. But I didn't know what was going to happen until the fireball had already hit. I'm sorry you had to lose her in such a way, and hell, I'll even apologize for bringing it up. But don't use Emiko as a way of making me feel guilty."
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Post by Griffin on Oct 31, 2009 23:27:38 GMT -5
"Then you have no reason so exploit Lidda's memory! I was happy back then Daniel! You knew me in the past. I. Was. Happy! Now look at my life! I haven't felt a moment of happiness since my apprentice, hell, I've mostly felt neutral. But you...you brought back Lidda's memory and I have to go through this all again."
Reh's anger was rapidly climbing and he was completely unnerved. He walked forward toward Daniel, hands clenching around his strikers with risk of bursting the veins. He sped up his pace slightly and aimed his right striker and Daniel's right shoulder.
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Post by Golden Emblem on Jun 25, 2010 0:20:24 GMT -5
Daniel was prepared enough to realize that Reh would attempt to charge for another attack, and even though his ribs were in bad shape, he managed to duck under Reh's striker attack, making sure that he didn't break anything else. He didn't want to attack yet, so instead of slashing, he jumped back a few steps, using his free hand to hold his side. He had to try and think of a way to beat Reh.
"Yeah, and you'll keep going through it if anyone mentions her again, right?" Daniel huffed, not smiling at the moment, instead glaring at Reh. "I understand it was hard, but if you don't move on, you're going to be like this the rest of your pathetic life. Do you even want to be happy anymore, Reh? Or are you using her death as an excuse to be a whiny little bastard? I'm sure Lidda would move how you're acting."
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