Keiri vs Dread

[Roo]

ooc: Feel free to set the stage as you two feel free. You've both earned it for getting this far. I just ask that you keep my previous lead posts in mind when describing the scene.

I can't wait to read this!

[resimars417]

What fortune I have had to make it so far... but is it fortune to watch someone consumed in lightning and fire? I never understood fortune, God's Will, or anything that guided my steps through this world, but it is certainly there. Whatever is ahead of me I pray I can overcome, or at least survive.

The sun was on the descent, the slowly fading light bathed the arena in an orange glow. The sun would probably set in about 30 minutes. The camera crews nearby were setting up towers to see over the final mass of people for the tournament. The higher angle would make for a much better view of the match, but it was potentially more hazardous to them. A stray blast, or attack, or even fighter flung from the ring could bring an end to their fragile lives.

Keiri's breathing was shallow. The shock from seeing Takeru being electrocuted still bothered her, still showed in her eyes. She was afraid that another mishap could happen to her next opponent. She never intended to win the tournament, not even a match in the tournament. She considered herself an initiate in her art, though she was far better than the majority of her village, already a master. Especially considering their recent (or not so recent) disappearance. Her amnesia took care of that. The lost memories of 90% of her incredibly long life continued to hold her back.

Keiri was once again sitting on the roof of the monastery. She was watching the sun as it descended, seeing colors in the sky she had never seen before. Has the world changed so much? It's pretty but it seems impure. The sky never looked like this before. Evil has spread throughout the land and infected the sky. How could I have missed it?

Keiri effortlessly leapt from ledge to ledge, windowsill to windowsill, until she reached the ground. As her feet impacted only the slightest rise of dust accompanied the landing. No noise, just Keiri appearing with a cloud of dust around her ankles. A simple feat for her, impressive to most of the monks, astounding to the crowd of spectators.

The ring was surrounded by people eagerly anticipating the next battle. A few of the more naive spectators believed Keiri the originator of the lightning, but only a few. They were rooting for her, thinking she had a chance. Everyone else seemed to have high expectations for her opponent. Someone named "Dread" by the sound of the chanting. Keiri did not like the sound of that. Memories of Aric's vile deeds wisped through her mind causing her to take an extra shallow breath, more of a short gasp. The Noralin quickly willed it from her mind, still attempting to prepare for the match. Her breathing slowly returned to normal as she began to walk forward.

Keiri's purple uniform seemed almost two tone as she stepped into the ring. The sun was burning brightly to the right of her, leaving the left side almost perfectly black. Her hair shone with a fiery light on the right, but seemed like a flowing river of blood on the left. Keiri was unaware of the effect, but some of the audience must have noticed it as they stared on in awe, or terror. Usually Keiri would have tied tape along her arms and legs, but she knew she had no real reason to hide. She was no longer being hunted. No one alive could identify her as what she once was so long ago. She simply stood, arms crossed across her stomach, hoping to hold the nervousness within.

The stone of the ring had several imperfections: cracks, scorches, even bowed tiles from impacts far stronger than it was made for. It did, however, look better than one would have expected. Keiri stepped into the ring and awaited her opponent; the cacaphony of the crowd seemed to imply he was on his way.


-----------

PL: 18,109
HL: 18,109


Melee: 25% (4,527.25)
Ki: 25% (4,527.25)
Speed: 25% (4,527.25)
Int: 30% (5,432.7)

[Galileo]

Dread once again visited the ocean after his most recent match against an opponent who should have defeated the child with relative ease. Instead, the fight became a full-scale battle between a disguised human child and a powerful mysterious alien Dread never encountered in his life. It was the second time Dread faced someone more powerful than he was and he came out on top of each of his fights victorious. Dread was not complaining about his victories, but deep down he silently wished his battles had been much more difficult than they had been. Dread felt certain both of his previous adversaries had much more power in them than they revealed and he hated having lost the chance to gauge their true strength. Dread promised himself that he would not let his next opponent get off so easily. Not only would Dread fight this person, but also he would not allow them to stick even a millimeter of their body out of bounds. If they passed out, Dread would do his best to revive them until he was sure with absolute certainty that he saw the full limit of his opponent’s body. Dread knew it might be deadly and that his opponent would probably die if they were weaker than he was, but he did not care about being banned from upcoming tournaments. He wanted to conquer the planet before the next tournament.

Dread meditated upon these thoughts as he sat away from the water as all of his clothing rested inches away from his side, including his goggles and shoes. Dread had grown uncomfortable in the clothes due to the hot sun and the tremendous fighting. Dread sat there for more than two hours, knowing he would not have to fight for quite some time. Dread even removed the stitching from his side from where Tristis managed to cut the boy. Dread noticed that as he grew in power, his injuries healed more quickly and wondered if one day he could devise a way to accelerate the healing process of his body. Unfortunately, for Dread, that had to wait because he needed to spend his time alone on the beach recovering from his previous battle and recharging his attack energy in preparation for his next fight. The tournament crew prepared Dread a shaded tent with a bed and provided him with excellent service due to his past victories. However, Dread wanted to relax without having irritable ignorant humans surrounding him. Besides, there was always his disguise to consider. He could not anyone see his true form, even after the tournament. Dread had many enemies who knew what he looked like. Additionally, Dread wanted the participants of this tournament to know very little about him.

Dread’s two hours at the beach eventually expired and it was time for Dread to return to the arena where his third and final combatant probably awaited him. Dread redressed himself in his white outfit, placed his goggles over his eyes, and flew toward the arena. On his way to his side of the arena, Dread noticed that the camera-crew televising the event decided to perch themselves higher in the fight for more angles of the final round. Dread was still too far away for any of the audience to see him and he could barely make out any features of any of the spectators. However, Dread heard many people beginning to chant his name as if to summon him to the field. Dread was no one to command, especially by the insignificant insects that sickened Dread by claiming to be human without knowing their bodies’ full potential. Dread intended to make his entrance one that would not be forgotten anytime soon. “Dread, are you sure about this?” Daniel asked annoyingly, but Dread’s silence signified as a yes.

Instead of landing in the designated area where the fight would begin, Dread unexpectedly descended toward the audience with rapid speed. When the spectators noticed something quickly approaching, their chanting ceased immediately. Instead, they began screaming and panicking for their lives as they scattered in random directions in order to avoid their impending doom. At the last possible moment, Dread ceased his descent ten feet above the ground as some of the spectators shielded themselves and their children from an expected collision. “I cannot believe the crap I go through just to save these insects from themselves.” Dread thought to himself. “I should just eradicate them all and get it over with, and then I will not have to be embarrassed by supposedly my own species anymore.” Dread quickly silently added. “Thanks for calling me, I might have completely forgotten about my fight and missed it.” Dread lied convincingly with a smile in a cheerful tone. “Sorry about the scare, I simply wanted to thank you people, I guess I do not know my own speed.” Dread added jokingly as some of the audience began to recover.

Daniel then lifted Dread from the audience and guided him toward his side of the arena as Dread’s annoyance in the humans changed into something deadlier. Dread saw Keiri in all of her feminine beauty, but he did not stare in admiration. Keiri’s beauty reminded Dread of another person who brought him more pain than any attack in this tournament ever could. Dread remembered Mindy and her deceptive kindness as Dread’s eyes became hot and tears foamed at the sides. Eventually a couple dripped down from the goggles and onto his scarf that soaked the cloth only slightly. Dread’s vision blurred greatly until he had to close his eyes tightly and began sobbing uncontrollably and loudly. “Mindy, why did you have to betray me?” Dread silently and mentally asked in his own mind. “I loved you! Why did you have to betray me?” Dread added as he fell down onto his knees and began crying without any control over his own body.

Dread caught himself with his arms and remained that way for the minutes that followed as some members of the audience wondered what was going on. Dread eventually stood back up and stared angrily at Keiri. Even though she was not Mindy, she angered Dread simply for coming here and bringing back the painful memories. Dread killed Mindy out of anger, but now he began regretting his actions and wished things could have been different. “Why did you come here?” Dread telepathically asked. “You humans are all the same; you care for nothing other than yourselves and backstab your friends and family when they no longer become convenient for you.” Dread added. “I will devote this battle to all the pain I acquired during the last couple months.” Dread swore. “I WAS ONLY A CHILD!” Dread screamed into Keiri’s mind as something changed about Dread’s body.

Dread’s body began emitting a strange aura that increased in darkness as it slowly changed into its complete form. It eventually became a flaming darkness unlike any other. Not even the darkness of a lightless room compared to the darkness in Dread’s aura. This was the aura of someone who absorbed true pain and misery unfairly over the course of their existence. It was the aura of someone wrongfully abused, used, and mistreated. Despite everything Dread tried accomplishing for what he believed was the best for the human race, humans continued tormenting him both physically and emotionally regardless of his age. Something else began happening as Dread’s cold energy began affecting the environment around him. The temperature on the ground reduced to 35 degrees Fahrenheit for the entire arena and the audience that surrounded it even though the sun shone brightly enough to keep everyone warm. “I will not hold back, especially against someone who brings back so many painful memories whether it is your fault or not.” Dread telepathically warned Keiri.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PL: 32,607
HL: 32,607

Melee: 1%. (326.07)
Ki: 1%. (326.07
Spd: 48%. (15,651.36)
Int: 55% (17,933.85)

Ki Bar: 100

[resimars417]

Keiri was not watching the sky as Dread approached, at least not the direction he had come from. She heard screams and looked over to see people running. She instinctively reached for the blade that was tied behind her back, but it was not there. She had left it put away so that she would not accidentally harm someone. Keiri was good at causing harm with the blade. She knew how to strike and where to strike to maximize the damage. With the blade she would be far more deadly, but that is not what she wanted. Keiri resented killing, and avoided it where possible. But sometimes there was just no other choice.

Her right hand slid back in front of her in time to see Dread hovering in the air. His voice spoke out to the crowd. He sounded like only a child, and he sounded like he meant what he said. Keiri saw his movements and was uncertain she believed it. He was quite possibly powerful enough to destroy all of the spectators in a single attack. "Human life seems so fragile. Why is it that they have not uncovered their potential like so many others?

That is when she heard something in her mind, something painfully, something jarring her from her moment of reflection.

“Why did you come here? You humans are all the same; you care for nothing other than yourselves and backstab your friends and family when they no longer become convenient for you. I will devote this battle to all the pain I acquired during the last couple months. I WAS ONLY A CHILD!"

The voice in her head brought back painful memories of her own. Someone she had spoken with using a voice without words. Whenever she looked into his eyes they could speak. The memories tugged at her and tormented her for not being abnle to remember. She had only a moment to see his face flicker, incredibly handsome, strong features. Truly a man gifted with God's graces. But the momentary glimpse of the man who was once her husband caused a tear to run down her cheeks. A hand idly went to her stomach as if feeling for the child in her womb. "What is happening to me? I feel these things... things that have happened so long ago, but I don't remember them..."

She looked toward him and saw him standing in the arena, a bit shorter than herself, and staring behind hidden eyes and a cloaked face. There was the tiniest glint of light reflecting outward, to low to be his eyes, to high to be teeth. A tear? Is he... crying, too? Keiri was still experiencing a tightness in her throat. She simply wanted to hold the child in her arms so that they could cry together, but his anger, his hatred, his sadness primary among them was keeping her at a distance, and outward from him crept a tangible aura of coldness.


“I will not hold back, especially against someone who brings back so many painful memories whether it is your fault or not.” The voice came back to warn her of the impending danger. The voice in her head still stirred up memories, but she had never spoken in the voice without words to anyone but... him. She couldn't remember the name. For the life of her she could not remember the name, and right now that is all she wanted.

"I am sorry for the grief you have felt, and that I have brought back those sad memories, but today we will share those memories," Keiri spoke aloud. She tried with all her might to use the voice without words, but she simply could not recall how she did it so long ago. "For you too are bringing to my mind memories that, I'm not sure I have experienced... and that make me realize how terribly I miss whatever has fallen away. I hope that someday, you can look back, and remember joy, and life, and love. You are still young, with so much time ahead of you, and you have come so far that I know you will one day understand happiness.

"But now as we stand against each other... I know why the monks had asked me to fight in this tournament. They are wiser than they will ever know. Before you came, I had no idea how to recover my lost memories, but mere moments after your arrival and I am flooded with the thoughts that were mine long ago, and will be fine forevermore. I wish to thank you in advance for the retrieval of my memories, the good and the bad. And I hope today, that you can start making good memories, that from today, whatever grief has befallen you shall no longer grip your soul."

Keiri realized that he had called her a human, and that she truly wasn't one. She wasn't entirely sure how to tell him, and thought that maybe later she would get the chance.

The crowd listened to Keiri's words and was a little bewildered. Some of the younger members of the audience seemed to listen to those words and respect them. Most of the rest of the audience seemed to believe it was the sound of a kid's show, or the ending to a bad movie. They grew restless hoping that the fight would soon begin, and that it would actually be a fight. Keiri really had no desire to fight the child, but she knew that it would uncover memories, and her mind ached at the loss of the one she loved. Anything she had she would give if only to recover even the memories of her love. If there was anything more to give after that, she would give it, if only to spend a moment with him.

And so the two fighters stared at each other, eager for the fight for complety different reason, yet both expecting the same thing. Restoration. A restored state where the memories were no longer haunting them. If only it could be done more peacefully. Restoration was never meant to be as gruesome a process as this fight was about to become.

--------

PL: 18,109
HL: 18,109


Melee: 25% (4,527.25)
Ki: 25% (4,527.25)
Speed: 25% (4,527.25)
Int: 30% (5,432.7)

Ki Bar: 100

[Galileo]

As Dread's black aura flared violently and the winter temperatures it produced plagued the arena, its occupants, the entire audience, and even the judges, Keiri verbally spoke to the child. Her voice sounded full of kindness and warmth causing Dread's pain only to increase simply because the qualities of the voice of the woman standing before him were nearly the same as the qualities he once found in Mindy's voice. Dread’s aura already reached its limitations, but Dread’s anger and sorrow knew no bounds at that moment as more tears trickled from beneath his reflective goggles. Meanwhile, Dread clenched his jaw tightly as he softly grinded his teeth from the rage he was experiencing simply by staring and listening to the woman standing before him. She apologized for Dread’s past unfortunate and terrible traumatic experiences caused by Mindy. She had nothing to apologize for and had nothing to do with Dread’s awful agonies. However, that was not why Dread’s anguish increased even further than it already had. Dread’s fists were clenched so tightly that he came to the point of cutting off all circulation to his fingers. The sincerity of this woman’s voice sickened Dread because it sounded exactly like Mindy’s compassionate voice when she apologized and offered to help Dread after she “accidentally” hospitalized him.

Keiri then sounded as though she wanted to offer Dread her sympathy by sharing Dread’s painful memories, but the twelve-year-old believed that humans for the most part were incapable of true feeling and consideration. Unless this woman could turn back time, Dread did not need this woman’s help and steadily became more infuriated every second his opponent spent talking to him. Not long after Keiri offered Dread her sympathy, she revealed that Dread brought back memories for her, but Dread knew nothing compared to the pain the child unfairly experienced. Dread nearly ignored these words and Keiri’s following statement nearly caused Dread to forget about her previous comments completely. She wished joy and happiness upon Dread, but such sensations were nothing more than dying memories that existed solely in Dread’s dreams. The last time Dread ever experienced sincere happiness was with the very person who betrayed him. Even Dread’s own parents betrayed him, but because they unwittingly turned him over to his enemies and considering they were his parents, he managed to forgive them both. Dread stopped reminiscing on the past long enough to return his attention to his adversary. “Do not pretend you give a crap about me!” Dread telepathically shouted at Keiri with incredible fury. “Imitating sincerity and kindness is something that pisses me off almost as much as betrayal.” Dread quickly added with nearly as much rage as before, but definitely with more misery in his tone.

Dread was under the impression Keiri had finished talking which was one of the reasons why he spoke to her at that moment. Dread also believed that it was the right time to respond to her comments, but it became unfortunately obvious that this fighter was extremely naive as she continued talking even after Dread made his statement. She thanked Dread for bringing back memories she lost, but this woman did not know what Dread would give to forget about Mindy entirely for the incredible torment she inflicted upon him. Once again, Keiri wished happiness upon Dread, but as sincere as she sounded Dread would not give into her kindness. Dread heard people speak with just as much convincing kindness before without actually meaning a word they said. If Keiri wished to acquire Dread’s trust, she would have to try a lot harder and continue trying for a rather long period of time. However, Dread was not sure if he would ever be able to trust another person as long as he lived no matter how long or hard anyone tried earning his trust. No one could truly blame him though, his life nearly ended when he befriended and trusted a seemingly kindhearted woman. “Like I said before, cut the crap.” Dread telepathically repeated. “We are participating in a tournament and we should be fighting, not exchanging sentimental comments.” Dread pointed out.

Even though there was not a single member among the audience that could here Dread’s word, they seemed to share the same belief as Dread. Many of them seemed restless as some of the spectators began booing the participants for standing still without doing anything for nearly five minutes where several attacks could have been made. Some of them even took drastic action by throwing their trash out onto the arena, but Dread did not take any notice. The only thing Dread noticed about the audience is that it halved in size. The decrease in spectators was caused by those who were forcefully escorted back to either their boat or to the airport for disruptive behavior and those who simply left after witnessing the dangers involved in the tournament between the unexpectedly overpowered fighters. The audience soon quieted and settled down as Dread clasped his wrists together in front of him as he began gathering dark telepathic energy into the palms of his hands. Dread already used this attack more than once in the tournament, but never landed a successful hit with it. Dread hoped that in this fight, things would be different. If not, he would at least be given the opportunity to fight this woman at her best before he claimed the championship and the prize money.

The dark energy that gathered into Dread’s hands started out as a dark gray cloud that almost looked like a miniature storm. Within the seconds that followed it slowly developed into a solid object until it finally became a black sphere. However, it adopted the characteristics of the boy’s black flaming aura, making it appear different from the other times Dread used this attack. Dread soon finished adding the final unseen touches to his attack and finally felt ready to release. Almost immediately after Dread completed forming the energy ball, he launched it toward his opponent without any intention of activating its homing capabilities. Dread knew that his attack would most likely fail, but even if it did, it was no loss to him. The sentient missile would simply return to Dread in its basic energy form as it always did. Dread knew he made a good decision when he decided to create the Sentient Missile. It possessed the characteristics and deadly power any true fighter would want in their list of abilities. It made an excellent opening move and a precise weapon for assassinations as Dread discovered when he brutally murdered Mindy for her treachery. As the dark orb approached its target, Dread could not help but remember that moment in North Hospital when he visited Mindy not long after she saved his life. “It was the second time she saved me after nearly causing my death.” Dread reminded himself. “I killed her because she was too dangerous to live. So why am I crying?” Dread questioned as more tears trickled down to his scarf.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PL: 26,085.6
HL: 32,607
Ki Bar: 80

(OOC: My other stats remain the same, PL reduces by a percent equal to the amount of ki you spend.

[resimars417]

The sunlight illuminated a lush, green garden where Keiri knelt on the ground, tending with great care a crop of herbs. She looked behind her to see a child crying, a stream of tears running down his cheeks. "Mommy... Kuro died..."

Keiri gave the child a warm smile and stood to approach. Before she could take more than a step forward the boy came running to her arms. "There there now, my little son. Kuro loved you very much, and I know you loved him very much too, but now Kuro will be in Elysium, waiting for you." She paused to stroke his cheek, carefully lifting away the tears. The boy looked up, the sadness still in his eyes, and Keiri kissed his forehead. "There's nothing to be sad about. Would Kuro have liked to see you crying?" The boy shook his head. "Then make him happy and be happy. Go run and play. I think your sister is nearby. I'm sure if you ask, she'll be happy to play with you." The boy smiled and gave his mother a hug. The short little legs ran off into the forest and Keiri returned to the garden with a warm smile on her face.

Keiri's eyes filled with stinging tears as the memory came back, sparked by the child standing before her crying. Keiri pressed her hand against her stomach, wondering when, how she had borne a child. It seemed so incredible, like a dream too good to be true. Keiri could feel her heartbeat skip a little as she remembered her own children. Two of them, a son and a daughter. "How... could I have forgotten?"

Keiri's reverie was broken by Dread's harsh words, his hatred as it flowed outward from him. “Like I said before, cut the crap. We are participating in a tournament and we should be fighting, not exchanging sentimental comments.”

"Cut the crap?" Keiri repeats aloud, not quite understanding the slang. "I am unfamiliar with that phrase of yours." She shook her mind clear of the clinging memory, trying to remove the fog from her mind. She had a bit of assistance.

An eruption of energy exploded as it impacted Keiri. The distracted fighter was thrown several feet away and directly into the ground. The impact was beyond amazing, truly an awesome sight to behold. One hit was all it had taken. The child's single attack was extremely powerful; powerful enough to defeat Keiri in one blow. Was that all for the match? A one hit knockout in the final round? The crowd immediately responded with a chorus of boos and hisses exclaiming that this was the biggest waste of time there ever was. Surprisingly though, the orb of energy still persisted, unfazed by the illusion's short-lived existance.

Keiri had managed at the last possible second to leap aside, just barely avoiding the powerful attack. She masked her power and her image by activating the first level of her Hidden Step training. What Keiri didn't know, was that no matter how well constructed her illusions were, Dread could identify them for what they truly were.

Keiri did as she always did in fight, she manipulated the shadows and clouded the minds of all who saw her, but one mind was too powerful. "I need to at least attempt to stay in the fight with him. The longer I can stay near him, the more I may learn about... my past," Keiri thought to herself.

Keiri, invisible to the world, but not to Dread, ran forward leaving an illusion on the ground of herself, in pain, struggling to get up. With all the speed she could muster she moved to grab Dread and toss him into the air hoping to get some leverage on the battle from there.


--------

PL: 15,935.92
HL: 18,109
((Reduction in PL due to the use of 12 out of 100 energy))

Ki bar: 88

[Galileo]

Keiri appeared lost for a moment as her eyes looked like they were staring at something that did not exist, something in another time and place. Dread saw the facial expression of a person reliving memories and from the look in the woman’s eyes, it appeared as though these memories carried incredible power and meaning. Only people like Dread who experienced this incredibly powerful and mind shattering event knew what it looked like. Dread remembered the time when he needed his entire collection of memories in order to save his life and they came so suddenly that he felt as though he would die from the unbearable pain. Dread’s eyes widened with fear and all sadness and rage washed away in an instant as he remembered the darkness and the pain that came just before he recovered his memories. Dread nearly fell again, but he had already collapsed to the ground once from his overwhelming emotions. Instead, Dread steadied himself and suppressed both the memories and the fear of his past painful experiences. Dread redirected his attention to his opponent and wondered if this woman experienced the memories differently than he did when he escaped Jacob Dreck’s virtual prison. Dread noticed tears in her eyes as she groped her stomach as Dread quickly read her aura and confirmed his suspicions from what he sensed. “If you are reliving or recovering memories, please tell me if they are brining you physical pain or if you are simply experiencing emotional anguish?” Dread telepathically inquired.

Something else sparked Dread’s interest as Keiri spoke just before he sent the telepathic transmission as he began reconsidering his opinion about this woman. She actually sounded naive, innocent, and clueless from her response to Dread’s comment. Dread knew she could not be foreign because there was no hint of an accent in her voice and she spoke the English language without any conceivable errors. Either she was putting in a ridiculous amount of effort in an elaborate attempt into fooling Dread into believing her innocence or she actually was the innocent and naive woman she appeared to be. If the latter of the two possibilities was the truth, then Dread had made a critical error in judgment when he first saw Keiri. As a better sense of judgment returned to Dread and most of his anger and sorrow became nearly unnoticeable he began doubting himself. Dread had lashed out against someone possibly innocent due to a personal grudge he already settled. Dread never even met this woman before and he already decided to attack her relentlessly without giving her a chance. That was not like Dread at all, only someone incapable of feeling any emotion toward anyone other than themselves performed such actions. Only truly evil people took their problems out against undeserving victims. Worst of all, Dread felt for a moment that he wanted to kill Keiri as he did to Mindy. “Oh my god!” Dread thought to himself. “What have I become?” He asked himself. “I am disgusting!” He added with horror returning to his eyes.

Dread looked toward Keiri and noticed she bare managed to avoid his oncoming attack. From Daniel’s constant transmission of information on Dread’s enemies, Dread realized Keiri had spent some energy on a technique that seemed to fail. Daniel also sensed that the technique was still in effect, but somehow it did not affect Dread in the least. Dread was curious to know what Keiri had done not realizing that his intelligence naturally enabled him to see past her illusions. However, Dread had little time to think about that as Keiri quickly made her approach. She was nowhere near as fast as Dread, but if the twelve year old remained in the same position without making any effort to defend himself, she would most likely attack him within seconds. Therefore, Dread quickly dissipated the Sentient Missile and ordered its dark energy to return to its original host. The telepathic energy easily complied as Dread’s skin quickly absorbed the energy and his power level returned to normal. When Dread finished absorbing the black energy into his body, he knew it was time to deal with the foolish woman. “What exactly is she trying to accomplish?” Dread silently questioned himself. “Is she even aware that my power level is larger than hers or is she like me? Is she incapable of sensing power levels unless aided by someone or something capable of ki-related abilities?” Dread silently theorized, but he knew standing motionless would only get him into trouble in this fight.

Just as Keiri tried latching onto Dread’s body, the twelve year old quickly jumped several feet in the air without having to apply his after image ability. Keiri obviously had no chance of victory in this tournament, but Dread knew that did not eliminate the possibility that she would win. After all, Dread’s last two opponents were much stronger than he was and he managed to defeat both of them. However, Dread was not about to lose against someone nearly half his power after he worked hard on defeating two fighters who possessed greater power than he did. Truthfully, it was a combination of hard work, determination, and an ass-load of luck that brought him this far in the tournament. From what Dread heard about his opponent, Keiri became and alternative fighter for the second round fight because the person scheduled for the fight decided not to show up. Dread could not judge her though because she was just as lucky to be here as Dread was. Besides, who was to say her previous opponent was any less difficult than what Dread had to face so far? As far as anyone was concerned, both participants were equally deserving of the victory and the championship title. In the end it came down to whoever won whether through luck, strategy, or power. Dread had an abundance of all three, but he was careful to subdue his confidence before it became a liability for him.

Dread flew through the air above Keiri and landed just a few dozen feet away from the woman’s position. Dread nearly moved in to attack Keiri with is Frisbee, but decided against it for a few moments. Dread knew that nothing good could come from hesitating, but he felt curious about this particular woman. Additionally, Dread felt guilty for his earlier attitude toward his opponent and felt disgusted in himself for wanting to kill her even if it was only for a second. From Keiri’s position, she looked like she had no intention to bring harm to Dread at that moment, but he could not be sure. Appearances are easily deceiving and considering Dread knew a lot about illusions, he knew that better than almost everyone else did. Besides, what good would it have done if Keiri decided not to attack Dread? Was she trying to accomplish something by getting into physical contact with Dread? If that was the case then were Dread’s earlier suspicions about Keiri and her attempts to recover lost memories true? If all of these theories were true then Dread had enough evidence to believe that he had something to do with her memories and that she needed him in order to recover what she lost. However, Dread was not sure if any of his theories were true. Even if his theories were true, there was nothing Dread could do for Keiri. Dread had absolutely nothing to do with Keiri’s past and never saw the woman up until the beginning of their match against one another.
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PL: 32,607
HL: 32,607

Ki Bar: 100

[resimars417]

((Also, in the case of illusions, I think that Dread would know, assuming you wanted him to, what Keiri was doing. He would ismply understand that the apparitions Keiri created were only illusions and could follow whatever movements she made normally. But I believe that would be the player's choice. Since Dread's int stat is so much higher, it's possible that the illusions were just flat out ignored by his higher brain function. Either way works, just letting you know the way I would see it.))

Keiri stopped after Dread managed to evade her feeble attempt to grapple him. She shivered for a moment and looked back toward him. He had asked her how the memories were affecting her. She looked him as close to in the eyes as she could get and said, "The memories I have just recovered... are memories of things more important to me than anything else in the world. I do not... feel any real physical pain, at least no more than a head ache, but I can remember, on some level, the immense pain that I have been through... but I would do it again, and I would gladly relive every moment, make every choice exactly the same, despite how much it hurt me... because even the bad things brought about good things in the end... wonderful things..." Keiri paused and wiped the tears from her eyes, "Because of you I can remember my own child..." Her hand returns to her abdomen, lightly pressing against it. Before speaking again she trembles slightly, "I do not understand why I can't remember it... but I want to remember, even if it means I must fight alone. Even if I must travel the world 10 times over... even if I must once again confront an enemy far beyond my own strength.." Keiri's tears pour down her face in streams as she looks to the ground. She clenches her eyes as if that could stop the flow, "I do not wish to hurt you, and I am not even sure I could given the chance... but seeing you reminded me of my own son... and I can't ignore that... Maybe I'm just weak... but I have chosen my path... I don't want to hurt you..."

Keiri's aura would have revealed an immense amount of information to Dread. In the instant Dread looked upon it he would notice Keiri had an aura unlike anyone else he had ever met. It was fundamentally different, burning with a light unlike any human's with colors flickering showing the unbelievable amount of experience and wisdom. There was also a tint of death, or the life there is after death mingled in with her aura. The oddity that was her aura could take years to explore every aspect, but what could be gained at the surface was certainly a new experience for anyone. The few monks that had managed to read her aura, to a lesser extent, discovered this same thing, and became enthralled with studying her aura.

As Keiri spoke, she masked her ki which was actually more normal for her. It felt strange for her energy to be broadcasting to the world, when it was meant to be her inner strength. It was also similar to curling up into a ball and hiding. Keiri spent a good portion of her life in hiding, or acting as though she were someone else. In this new place and time, she was unable to recall any of what had helped her through her past life. It may have been for the better, as this new world had changed all the rules. There was a child powerful enough to stand alone in a tournament of the greatest fighters in the world. There were no kings, no lords, no one in command of the lands. Horses were rare, and in their place were metal monstrosities. The forests, her village, her enemy's village, everything she remembered was gone. It may be a blessing that she had amnesia.

During Keiri's heartfelt speech, the spectators grew bored, waiting for some sort of action. The monks watched on wondering what was to happen. A wad of garbage landed at Keiri's feet. The people were growing restless and they would not allow Keiri's reverie to complete itself. The crowd wanted to see a fight, and Keiri no longer had the desire to oblige.

Keiri had yet to figure out that Dread was more powerful than her. She simply felt that attacking a child would harm her more than it would harm him. She didn't feel right attacking a child, even if her was her opponent in the tournament. She never expected to join it anyway. The monks had really only asked her if she would like to fill in as someone else had walked out at the last minute. Keiri didn't mind either way, but she was beginning to second-guess herself. There was a nervousness about this fight that made Keiri regret entering the tournament, but not enough to regret the recovery of her memories. There is something good in everything, at least, that's what Keiri believed.

A cup filled with bubbling brown liquid exploded at her feet, drenching the cloth shoes she was wearing. Keiri looked over to see a man screaming, who was being pulled away by the monks. "What.. am I supposed to do?" Keiri says aloud, thought not truly meaning to.


--------

PL: 16,841.37
HL: 175

Ki Bar: 93

[Galileo]

Dread listened to his opponent's words as she spoke to him and confirmed the young fighter's suspicions further than his quick aura read had done. However, from what she explained, Dread realized that he had made a mistake in his earlier assumptions. Keiri sounded like she recovered her memories in a rather different way than Dread. The only similarity was that she had spaced out and her expression resembled Dread’s emotional experiences when he struggled to recover from temporary amnesia that he brought upon himself. Additionally, Dread recovered his memories out of necessity where Keiri wanted hers out of simple desire. She explained to Dread that her pain was nothing more than a slight headache at best and that she wanted to bring back the memories she lost despite the possible consequences or requirements. Dread felt no regrets for mentioning his thoughts about Keiri's abnormal reactions to his presence until she mentioned something else. Keiri mentioned remembering her son and how Dread resembled her child, but that could not be possible. Dread kept his physical appearance hidden thoroughly behind white clothing and thick bright goggles that made his eyes invisible in the bright sun. In addition, Dread began feeling slight discomfort upon hearing about her lost child and nearly felt ashamed of himself. Unfortunately, almost meant he did not as his curiosity about this woman increased and overwhelmed his better judgment.

Dread decided to continue reading Keiri’s aura thereby constantly forcefully unmasking her true intentions in case at any moment she decided to attack Dread as he lowered his guard in order to learn more about this woman. However, even though Dread’s aura reading ability was one of the most advanced anyone in the world could produce due to his high level of intelligence, it still possessed its limitations. Aura reading alone did not enable Dread to read the hidden thoughts of other people or look into their memories and past. It only allowed him to predict the upcoming actions of other people and sense their current emotions in order to determine whether they were whom they said, they were. Additionally, it allowed him to learn whether someone was trying to deceive him whether verbally or through other more complex methods. Even with these limitations, Dread saw an aura within Keiri unlike any other and much was revealed about her. In fact, this aura seemed beyond human or any other race Dread ever encountered before. Only someone centuries old could possess such a powerful aura. This answered some of the questions Dread had for his opponent, but only provided him with even larger questions and in greater supply. Dread was nearly prepared to interrogate this woman even more, but he felt he needed to find out more without speaking before he asked any more questions.

As Dread continued wondering about Keiri, something else began to happen that either Dread did not notice or he simply did not care. Dread’s aura slowly began to diminish as the raging black flame ceased to flare about violently as it slowly became a bold outline of darkness surrounding the child’s entire body. Not long afterward, it continued to fade away as the black outline continuously thinned until it no longer existed. Unless Dread truly felt terrible anger, rage, or fury, he was unable to maintain the visible shape, motion, and color of his aura due to his ki ineptness. Dread ignored his own aura, as he felt more interested in his opponent’s aura and nearly forgot he ever made the darkness of his spirit visible. In doing so, the temperature soon returned almost immediately after Dread‘s aura stopped influencing the weather around him. Dread did not even notice the changes as if he was unaffected by the cold weather his own spiritual energy emitted during extremely stressful situations. “Dread, there is something strange happening with your opponents.” Daniel announced and his interruption with Dread’s thoughts bothered the child a little. However, he could not bring himself to feel irritated by Daniel, considering he was his only friend. “She is hiding her power signature, making it difficult for me to detect her through my ki sensing abilities.” Daniel informed and this troubled Dread a little.

Dread mistook Keiri’s instinctive actions to hide her power level as a preparation for an attack as he decided the time for conversation had ended. Dread was not sure what Keiri planned to gain from revealing so much information about herself, but her aura was a riddle that Dread had difficulty reading at that moment. Perhaps she had the ability to distort it in order to confuse her enemies, but Dread was not sure what she had to gain from doing something like that. Was she actually trying to convince Dread to lower his defenses through pretending innocence and naivety as Dread earlier suspected? Dread suspected that she was exactly like Mindy in almost every way. Mindy had done the same to Dread as he acted defensive around her until she revealed a large portion of information about herself in order to obtain Dread’s trust. It was because Dread decided to trust that treacherous woman that he fell into her trap. Within seconds, Dread truly honestly believed Keiri had similar intentions because she could not obtain victory through direct combat. Dread decided that he would not allow another person trick him and silently declared that no one other than Daniel was trustworthy in his eyes. Dread was simply the human equivalent of a wild animal that risked trusting a human being and later came to harm before escaping back to his natural habitat upon learning from his mistakes. “I do not care whether you are telling me the truth or not, this is a fight and I intend to win.” Dread stated, unaware of the fact that Keiri truly meant him no harm.

Dread cleared his head of any previous thoughts he had about Keiri that he felt would hold him back from victory. Dread even ignored the audience as they booed and hissed loudly at the combatants because he truthfully hated the pathetic excuses for human beings who watched from the stands. According to Dread, even the judges and security were invisible to him. The only things that existed at that moment for Dread was himself, Daniel, Keiri, the arena he stood on, and one other thing. Even the words that drifted out of Keiri’s mouth fell upon deaf ears when they quickly reached Dread. He was finished with being betrayed and no longer felt guilt for ending Mindy’s life because in his heart he believed that woman and anyone like her deserved nothing less than death. Therefore, Dread summoned the only other thing that remained visible in his eyes to his left side. Dread’s enormous Frisbee slowly rotated as he glanced at it while Daniel knew what was about to happen. Dread accelerated the speed of the Frisbee’s rotations until he felt satisfied within a mere second. Afterward, Dread sent his Frisbee flying at its maximum velocity toward its target Keiri. “I refuse to hold back any longer, anyone who remains my enemy will receive my merciless wrath.” Dread declared in his own mind as his weapon quickly closed in on his opponent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PL: 31,954.86
HL: 32,607

Ki Bar: 98

[resimars417]

The intensity of this match was not what would have been expected for a Martial Arts tournament. There was a moment where it looked about to escalate, yet now it lulled, the two combatants sharing a moment of understanding. Keiri could not begin to understand the pain the child had gone through, but as a mother, she could not allow a child to cry in pain like he was. It was a weakness, but Keiri did not see it that way. Everyone deserves the kindness of someone in their moment of pain. All this mother wanted was to walk up to him and stroke the tears from his cheeks. She had no kinship to this child, just an outlook on life that seemed long abandoned.

The thoughts of kindness only lasted a moment and were quickly replaced with shock and confusion due to the sudden impact from an unknown source. The smashing blow of the disc sent her spinning violently and launched her in an arc as if the earth had fallen, and she stayed still, in a sickeningly fast rotation. She felt weightless in the air for a moment, feeling the force of the spin settle in her stomach and then hit the ground rolling, causing even more pain than she would have expected it to. With an effort, the girl stopped herself suddenly on one knee and one hand on the ground, swaying with the end of the inertia, and feeling the nausea as it hit its strongest. The pulse in her stomach warned her that she was moments away from emptying it. Keiri took a deep breath and let her eyes refocus. They were still seeing a whirl of strange lines and color. The lines were simply the cracks in the stone of the arena, but the colors didn't make sense. There was red and brown pooling in grey. It was a pained few seconds, but her eyes quickly came back to focus.

There was the drink from thrown before, it had flowed into a brown sticky mess, and now there was blood dripping into it. The thickness of the blood tried to stand alone as the pooling drink flowed over it. A soft hand reached toward her cheek and it came away with blood. Her cheek was marred with a deep gash and around it heavy bruising from the first true hit she had taken in the tournament. She had taken a couple of hits in her first match, but nothing like this.

"I didn't even see it..." Keiri said to herself more than anyone else, "Have I let my guard down so much? It is still a fight..." She struggled to her feet and looked to the child. Was he the originator of the attack? Why would he attack with such force? Keiri had no intention of attacking him, yet still something drove him to attack her.

With a wobbly shake Keiri stepped toward Dread. "Did I do something wrong? I don't understand..." A thought occured in her mind, it almost felt as though it was not her own, but seemed so familiar it had to be. "Are you trying to fool me into believing that you're something you're not, so you can strike me down?" The words felt like someone else's still, and held an authoritative sound very unlike Keiri's own voice.

"I could never believe a child to hold such terrible intentions... A child should never be swayed by such awful forces." Keiri said it, now her own soft and kind voice returning, more to herself than to Dread, trying to reaffirm her own beliefs. With effort, Keiri stepped forward again. The child was so far away but they were still in the arena, the small stone circle that held them within. A terrifying thought came to her mind. After it had sunken in, Keiri spoke it to the child across the arena from her, "To understand betrayal at your age is frightening... what has happened to this world? I almost feel like... it isn't the same one at all..." Keiri held a curled hand over her heart, as if trying to clasp the pain within her. Her eyes held what most would consider fear at first glance, but truth be told, was closer to pity. "What must I do this time?" her voice was only a whisper, but the wind took it as it were a part of her own voice. The words carried, but they were in a language from so long ago, it was beyond forgotten.



-------


PL: 17,746.82
HL: 175

Ki Bar: 98

[Galileo]

Keiri looked at Dread sympathetically as if she was not even aware of the approaching weapon, as Dread wondered why the woman did not move out of the oncoming Frisbee’s course. Dread guessed that it was coming in far too quickly for his weaker opponent to notice its existence during that millisecond. Dread was unaware that his opponent only wanted to walk toward him and comfort him as she cradled Dread in her arms. Even if Dread knew, it probably would have only angered him further because he long since stopped trying to make any sense out of Keiri’s puzzling aura. In fact, Keiri’s facial expression of sympathy and pity only increased Dread’s fury. Dread’s black aura soon returned as powerful as before and his eyes were dry and completely empty of their tears. Even Dread’s previous guilt for taking out his pent up anger on this young woman had vanished. Dread’s face reddened as his veins bulged dangerously from the stress induced by his unhealthy rage. Fortunately, no one saw the fury hidden safely behind his white outfit. Only his clenched fists, tightening themselves with every passing moment served as an example of his anger. Dread wanted to strangle this woman and empty her body of life every time he looked into her compassionate eyes and nearly decided to disregard the tournament regulations in order to make an attempt on her life.

However, Dread decided against murdering Keiri because so far she had done nothing terrible in comparison to Mindy’s actions. Keiri’s only crime was reminding Dread of that terrible woman. Dread’s spinning disc soon collided into its unsuspecting victim. Dread heard the sickening crunch of his large metal disc crashing into living flesh. Dread watched behind his thick goggles as his intended target spun uncontrollably a few feet into the air before collapsing into the stone arena tiles and rolled painfully several times. To Dread’s surprise, Keiri eventually found control despite her physical condition and brought an end to her nauseating and agonizing movements with one arm and a leg. Dread was severely disappointed when he realized the woman he fought, who continuously reminded him of Mindy, was recovering from a direct hit from his Frisbee. Dread had suspected that the blow would have at least knocked her unconscious, but she actually managed to keep her eyes open and her body moving. Dread knew that he could inflict more pain upon Keiri, even if for only a little longer before her body failed her. However, Dread did not want to cause anymore suffering, he only wanted the agony to end along with this fight. “You should take full advantage of the knockout policy of the tournament by lying down for ten seconds in order to spare yourself more pain. It is a miracle you survived all things considered.” Dread transmitted telepathically with an actual hint of sympathy in his tone.

No sooner had Dread said those words had Keiri revealed that she was bleeding heavily from her head due to the several hardened collision into the stone arena she suffered from. Dread almost smiled when Mindy’s image returned to his mind and thought that what he had done to Keiri so far should have been the way he dealt with Mindy. Dread nearly thought that it was unfortunate that a treacherous wretch like Mindy could only die once. However, he knew that even if he could kill Mindy more than once, Dread had more important things to deal with other than worthless worms like her. Dread heard Keiri say something to herself and heard enough of it to realize the content of her comment. She said something about letting her guard down and Dread wondered if she was talking about lowering her defenses enough to lower his even further. Dread could not see any other reason why she would say something like that only loud enough for herself to her. Dread would not even consider the possibility that he actually made a serious error and that Keiri was authentic at that moment. Even if Dread was mistaken, he knew this was a fight and not some tea party where the participants spent time together discussing their personal lives to their closest friends. Therefore, he believed he made the right decision in attacking whether the reasoning behind his attack was justified or not.

During these thoughts, Dread barely noticed Keiri stepping toward him after she managed to stand up after recovering somewhat from her injuries. Dread allowed her to come within a few feet of him because he knew once she was close enough, he could finish the fight with one or two physical attacks not powered by any additional energy. It seemed strange to Dread that he needed to resort to such actions because he never relied on his frail physical power before in a fight. His increase in strength was merely brought on by his past intense experiences, but warriors of his power usually possessed several times more strength than Dread contained within his entire body. Dread prepared himself by clenching both fists tightly even though Keiri saw his actions as she approached him. Dread did not think she would notice much though because he had been tightening his fists a lot during their battle and he was certain that she was already accustomed to seeing Dread’s hands firmly closed. Dread was just about to strike, but once again, he hesitated to pull his arm back. Dread tried tricking himself into believing he was hesitating for the right moment, but he failed. Dread knew he was hesitating because he wanted something that every other child his age wanted. “I want.” Dread began telepathically, but he could not bring himself to say the words.

Even if Dread wanted to state what he wanted to say at that moment, Keiri did not give him a chance as she began to speak. Her voice and tone sounded much different this time and Dread wondered if she finally decided to show the side of her that he suspected was her true form ever since the near beginning of their match against one another. Keiri’s words mirrored Dread’s own thoughts all this time and began reconsidering once again if he had made an error. Keiri sounded as though she began suspecting Dread of trying to deceive her instead of her trying to deceive Dread. If this was a complicated and elaborate strategy planned out by Keiri, it seemed too sophisticated even for some of the most brilliant minds. It also seemed overly excessive considering Dread finished attacking her and nearly killed the woman in the process. Dread tried remembering why he decided to attack her so brutally and remembered he acted upon instinct the moment she hid her power level. Dread considered that Keiri tried hiding her aura when he tried reading it, ended up hiding her power level, and failed in masking her aura. Dread seriously asked himself if that actually could be true and after calming himself down and his dark aura dissipating for a second time, he quickly weighed the facts. Dread realized that his past traumatic experiences were making him overly paranoid and realized the horror of his actions and the even greater horror of his previous amusement.

Keiri continued on about how Dread was trying to trick her into lowering her defenses and Dread could not blame her for believing that was the truth even for a moment. Dread temporarily became almost everything he hated about humans and despised himself heavily at that moment. Therefore, Dread lowered his head in shame and his hands loosened as his fingers opened up and hang at his sides. Even though Dread wanted to win, he wanted this fight to end soon because of all of the terrible things that he caused on this woman. It was apparent to him then more than ever that Keiri truly meant him no life long harm. She was not driven by selfish desires and did not want to devour Dread whole once he gave her the perfect opportunity. Then as Keiri spoke again, Dread nearly froze when she stated exactly what was troubling him. She realized that Dread had been betrayed and even though she was not aware, it was caused by the only other person Dread called friend beside Daniel, it was still enough to frighten him. As Keiri clasped a hand over her heart and spoke softly in a language unknown to Dread, he wondered if she had been betrayed before. “I want to have friends and have people I can truly trust.” Dread said and realized that it was the first time he spoke verbally instead of telepathically during the entire match.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PL: 31,954.86
HL: 32,607

Ki Bar: 98

[Roo]

ooc: Make sure you guys are taking into account the +5 to the ki bar that is awarded for each post where energy is not spent.

[resimars417]

Despite all the pain and awful wounds, Keiri was still able to move. Her incredible recovery prompted another remark from Dread's telepathic voice which still unnerved her. “You should take full advantage of the knockout policy of the tournament by lying down for ten seconds in order to spare yourself more pain. It is a miracle you survived all things considered.”

Keiri shook her head and tried to smile. It hurt, but she managed one. She spoke softly, as if trying to muster her own voice without words. "It's not my pain I'm worried about... it's yours. You're in pain... not me..."

Her staggered walk toward Dread had the audience in complete silence. One slow, painful step after another and the audience was hanging on every motion. Surely there would be a retaliatory strike. Something that might sate the bloodlust of the hardcore spectators and horrify those of softer hearts. Anyone who could read an aura would feel something far from it. Keiri's mind was calm, at peace. If she died here she may not even notice. The near-fatal blow seemed to jar something from her mind. The words that were not hers only brought Keiri into a more compassionate state. Hearing his words again, spoken as if he were here. If only...

The pain from her head resonated through the quiet girl. Like waves brushing across the side of a ship, each pulse increased her sense of uneasiness. There were times where she had been closer to death, but of course, he was always there for her. Where was he? Who was he? The only answer that came to her mind was "the most important thing in the world."

"My reason for life..." Keiri said to herself in words unknown to all but herself as she traversed the arena. Dread stood watching her. Keiri could not see into the boys cloak, could not determine what he was thinking. The only thing she could see was the reflection of the goggles. Even the tears had finally dried away. What would make him hide? Was he on the run from someone? Keiri knew the feeling; she was in hiding until recently.

Finlly she stood, just a few steps away. Her words in the Noralin tongue were lost on everyone but herself. He responded though, with his own voice, “I want to have friends and have people I can truly trust.”

Keiri smiled, it was what she wanted to hear. She offered her hand to him, not like a handshake, but like someone offering to simply hold his hand. "I need new friends now too. I'm not sure who I can trust in this world, but if you trust me, then I can trust you." If the boy were a little younger, or at least shorter, she would have knelt to get eye level with him, but as it was she barely stood an inch taller than him. Human children were always so much bigger than Noralin children. Now human children were almost as tall as Noralin adults. Granted, Keiri was small for Noralin standards, but it still was something she noticed among humans recently. They seemed much taller than before, or maybe it was because Keiri felt much smaller. Buildings today were far bigger than anything but castles and towers, and people seemed to try and keep up with them. It was all alien to her, a strange feeling of futility looking up at the world, this world that was hardly at all like her own.

Keiri wanted to understand this world, almost as much as she wanted to remember her own. Dread had been, so far, the most effective at bringing back memories. She wanted to stay close to him, at least for a little while, to comfort him. The compulsion seemed too familiar to ignore and Keiri had no intention of ignoring this feeling.

--------

I wasn't sure if the energy recovery happened when you took a hit, so I haven't added it in yet. But this time I added it.

Edit: there was one other post that I noticed I did nothing in.. I'm editing it now...


PL: 18,109
HL: 175

Ki Bar: 100

[Roo]

ooc: For future reference, it happens regardless of any damage taken. The restoration takes place because your attacking/ offensive energy has not been utilized. Therefore, it may even be to your benefit (in some circumstances) to take a hit in favor of gaining some energy. It's all part of the stratagey of the zensou system .

[Galileo]

Dread could hardly believe himself as the words he spoke came out of his mouth and reached Keiri’s ears and the ears of those closest to him among the audience. Dread was not surprised by what he said and he was not shocked by the fact that he spoke them verbally. In fact, Dread meant to say those exact words and he wanted to speak them verbally in order to make himself sound more authentic and sincere. Dread was surprised by the tone of voice he used to speak with because it sounded much more genuine than he had anticipated. As the words escaped his lips, they sounded like they belonged to an entirely different person. They did not sound at all as though they came from the cold and hardened child that once held only hatred toward Keiri. They did not sound as though a child who deprived himself of emotion spoke those words either. Dread spoke with a voice that he had nearly forgotten altogether and continued feeling surprised. The voice belonged to someone Dread believed had lost all hope and desire to continue on living. The voice belonged to Dread’s former self before he stripped himself of all feelings of attachment in order to continue on living without having to fear being betrayed ever again. In that single moment, it was Johnny Dark speaking, a child who wished to improve humanity by eliminating all of its suffering even though his methods were unethical.

It certainly was a questionable debate on whether or not the change in Dread’s tone was an improvement or not, but it only lasted for a few seconds. The protective and near impenetrable exterior known as Dread soon returned, but he looked at Keiri with a little more compassion than before. Keiri seemed to return his stare as she slowly came closer to him with a hand, no larger than his own, extended outward. Dread knew that she wanted to assure their mutual feelings for one another by holding his hand. Keiri slightly assured Dread’s suspicions with her following statement and Dread knew that there was no likelihood of her attacking him in that moment. Unfortunately, Dread could not accept her hand at that moment despite the circumstances. Dread’s reasoning was not because he continued holding distrust for her though. Dread continued remaining cautious because his injuries inflicted upon him by Mindy’s betrayal were many and they ran deeper than just into his flesh. Dread’s physical injuries were already completely healed, only emotional wounds existed within Dread’s spirit. Ever since Johnny Dark became Dread, he believed that no one could ever heal his emotional wounds and additionally believed that they were permanent up until that particular moment with Keiri. To his relief, Keiri somehow managed to begin healing some of Dread’s injuries and relieve him of some of his agony. Because of that, Dread wondered if Keiri was the one person who could help heal him completely and truly hoped that it was possible.

Dread continued to refuse Keiri’s gesture to hold her hand though, but he hoped that he could befriend her and hold her hand one day. However, they were both participants in a fight no matter how unfortunate it seemed during that inconvenient moment. Dread knew that he was obligated to fight Keiri, otherwise, he would have to forfeit the match and that was something he could not do. Unfortunately, Dread did not want to take advantage of Keiri as some people had tried taking advantage of him. Dread only wanted to fight Keiri when she felt ready and he trusted her and believed that Keiri would resume the fight soon enough. Currently, they needed each other though, Dread needed Keiri as a friend and she needed him in order to recover memories that she had lost. As far as Dread was concerned, he received more than enough for the time being. However, Dread knew that it would have been unfair of him to attack Keiri when she was not finished gathering what she needed after she gave Dread what he wanted. Dread decided to speak again after a minute had gone by since he last told Keiri he wanted her as a friend. “I apologize if I have offended you by not taking your hand.” Dread began softly so that only Keiri could hear his words. “I am not quite ready to commit myself to another friendship until I have been given a chance to heal which may take some time.” Dread explained glumly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PL: 32,607
HL: 32,607

Ki Bar: 100