Nadia Vs Kalissa

[Creejak]

Nadia vs Kalissa

Info here. Good luck.

[Nadia]

Her last fight had been a wash. The stupid fox hadn’t even shown up. Nadia was starting to realize why some beasts grumbled at the end of a round. It was hard to sit in the tavern with such a deflated feeling while there were others around you celebrating their win or drowning their loss in ale. The feline had felt neither emotional extreme and so an evening in the tavern had not seemed right to her. Instead, upon returning from the arena she had padded up the stairs to her room above the tavern, shutting the door and locking it. Nadia had laid her unused sword and dirk out on the small table before deciding that the best cure for her seemingly listless state would be sleep. Pulling back the covers from the bed, she had curled up against the cold that was already starting to push its way through the walls. Strange. It was so nice and sunny earlier today. She had fallen asleep to the thought, tail tucked up under her chin.

She awoke the next morning with a sneeze. Somehow her tail had ended up moving and covering up her nose. That was odd. She flicked it away. She had been contemplating for some time if her tail actually had a life of its own. It was strange the way she could consciously control it, yet at times, it seemed to go off and do its own thing. Like when it poofed itself up whenever she got startled. The femme would have loved to know how to make it stop doing that.

Nadia pushed back the covers, but immediately burrowed under them again. It was cold! Well, a clear day usually means a cold night, silly. She reached out a paw and pushed back the curtains, raising her head to see what it was like outside. It was white. Snow. Great. Her least favorite form of precipitation. It had a nasty habit of sticking to the ears and whiskers instead of just dripping off like rain did. There wasn’t any sun coming in the window which probably meant it was also overcast. She lay in the bed for a few minutes, eyes roving slowly from the window to the ceiling and then back again.

Did she really have to get up? Before going to bed last night she had checked the tourney posting board and hadn’t seen her name on it. They probably dropped beasts after they had fallen too far behind in the standings. It had seemed a little odd to her seeing as she wasn’t that far behind, but she supposed the judges knew what they were doing. She could get up, go downstairs, and have breakfast like a normal warrior might have. But, she wasn’t a warrior. She’d only signed up for the tourney because it had sounded fun at the time. She was more a scout, a sneak, than anything. So to ‘Gates with what a warrior is expected to do. The feline turned over, curled herself back up again, and returned to her realm of sleep.

What time it was when she awoke again Nadia did not know. All she knew was that she could not sleep any longer. After dressing warmly, the cat wandered down the back stairs and out into the small town’s streets. The weather wasn’t actually as cold as she had thought it might be, but the snow was thick and packed as a light dusting came down. Inside was better. However, she forced herself to take a short walk just to wake herself up all the way. She returned to the front door of the tavern, breathing more deeply, fur fluffed and whiskers twitching in protest at the flakes of snow that kept choosing to land precisely on the tips of them. She pushed open the door, rubbing her paws in the warmth. Her eyes glanced automatically at the tourney board before she even looked to see if she knew anybeast that was sitting at the bar.

My name’s on it! Now that was new! It must have been changed since last night. The cat stood there, gaping slightly at it. Suddenly, she was bounding up the stairs to her room, ignoring the looks that she knew were being thrown at her. She fumbled with her room key before finally hearing the lock click and bursting into the space. Her frantic paws, still fumbling from the outside cold hurriedly strapped on her weapons. Oh my gosh! Am I going to be late? I don’t want that! Then again, how can they expect me to be ready when they don’t even send a blasted messenger. Calm down, calm down. Breath slower. Now, what do you need girl? Darn! Boots… With bad grace Nadia pulled on a pair of sturdier boots over her footpaws. She didn’t want her toes being frozen or her footwork being slowed down by the cold snow underpaw. However, that also meant she couldn’t use her footclaws for purchase or for combat.

The feline bounded down the stairs faster than she had gone up them, slamming the tavern door in her wake. She trotted down the path the directions had pointed her towards. She didn’t run. No matter how big her hurry she was not about to waste all her energy when she had a fight ahead of her. Nadia pulled her cloak tighter as the path led into the trees. Fifteen minutes later she arrived at the clearing. Will this Kalissa be here before me? There wasn’t a sign of the ferretmaid and she couldn’t hear the sounds of another beast either. She relaxed a little, pacing around on top of the packed snow.

Now it was time to turn her attention to battle strategy. She kept her cloak on. It wasn’t all that cold, but it still wasn’t the sort of temperature you went traipsing about in with no warm outer garmet, especially if, for most of your life, you didn’t live in the perpetually icy northlands like some beasts did. Nadia stood for a minute in the middle of the clearing, looking around at the snow-laden tree branches. How much do you really want to win this fight? She found that she actually had a very large desire to win it. However, she doubted she’d be able to if she stuck with what her routine had been so far. She knew this Kalissa came from a vermin fortress and had proven herself a skilled fighter already. Nadia needed to do something unexpected, something that, if the ferretess had ever looked at her fighting pattern, would not expect.

But, can you sacrifice your conscience? Nadia’s ears flicked as snow kept falling down slowly. One of the few ways to surprise the ferret would be through trickery. So far, she had respected her opponents in the tourney as fellow fighters and, as such, she had always presented herself visibly in the battlefield whenever she arrived at the arena. It’s not my conscience. It’s just unwritten rules that goodbeast society expects you to keep. Nadia rather liked the idea of breaking such rules. Giving a slight puff of breath in decision, the cat swung herself up into a tree. She climbed slowly, careful not to dislodge the snow. It wasn’t too hard. After all, she was small even for a cat.

Nadia stopped climbing about six feet off the ground. She left her sword in its scabbard on her back, pulling out her dirk instead. The lighter and smaller blade would be easier to use. She stretched out on the branch so that her dark fur would blend in with the bark should the ferretess happen to walk beneath her branch and look up. The feline hoped Kalissa would. Her advantage would be best if she could jump down on top of her opponent. Her body weight and the element of surprise would be a great advantage in starting this fight.

[Kalissa Silvertail]

OOC: You would leave tracks, so Kalissa knows where you are. However, maybe you can still get the jump on her; she's not all powerful after all. =D

Kalissa wasn't a beast to lay about in bed, even on winter mornings, when most beasts would be curled up as deep under their covers as they could get. The ferretmaid didn't like cold very much, but she was used to it, as she visited the Crystal Forest near Tatterack often enough to accustom her body to freezing temperatures. This morning, though quite chilly, really had nothing on a bad winter day in the Crystal Forest.

Kalissa was up and dressed in her usual outfit of black breeches, with knee high black boots and a gray blouse-like shirt, slightly loose, with sleeves that had some puffiness to them, but were tight around her wrists, so they didn't get in the way of her fighting. She was wearing her necklace, with its leaping dolphin pendant, bu nobeast could tell as she had tucked it away inside her shirt.

Kalissa had polished her saber the night before, though she wasn't sure if she was still in the tourney or not. She hadn't recieved word since her last fight, which had been, as all her fights had mostly been this tourney, an annoying disappointment. Yet again, her opponent had failed to show up, and Kalissa had quite been looking forward to that round, for she had been scheduled to fight a male otter, a goodbeast. Kalissa had a rather strong dislike of goodbeasts, especially otters, and she had been hoping to kick the said otter's butt. But he had never showed, and Kalissa had returned to her room in a temper.

Now, in the early hours of the morning, Kalissa was sitting in the tavern towards the back, staring quietly at the board across the room from her, which had the announcements for the tourney posted upon it. It seemed she was still in the tourney, and was scheduled to fight somebeast named Nadia, a wildcat by the board. Kalissa had never met a wildcat before, but she was glad it was a cold morning. This Nadia wouldn't be able to go barepawed, which would take away at least one set of claws.

Kalissa left the tavern, and set off toward the clearing where the fight was to take place. She ignored the snow crunching beneath her boots, and ignored the icy cold wind which whipped past her, carrying bits of snow to sting any exposed part of her body. She was wearing her black cloak, but besides fastening it at her throat, Kalissa made no attempt to hold onto the fabric, and it whipped and snapped around her body as she walked. The lump on her back was formed by her saber, safe in its sheath from the snow.

She reached the clearing, and glanced keenly around, ears twitching and senses heightened as she searched for any sign of her opponent having arrived yet. But she didn't need these senses to know there was somebeast here before her -- she simply had to glance at the ground and spot tracks, made by a pair of boots similar to her own. The tracks were very light, however, and not quite as deep as her own, which meant her opponet was smaller than Kalissa had first thought.

Snow was continuing to fall, even though there was quite enough on the ground to be getting on with, in Kalissa's opinion. It would be hard enough to move as it was, without the sky dumping yet more of the chilly white stuff on the ground. She sent a glance skyward, then brought her eyes back to the tracks, letting them travel along them, and moving forward a little to follow. They suddenly ended and vanished, right near the base of one of the pine trees which were dotted around the clearing. Kalissa kept her eyes on the tracks though, and didn't look up at the tree. She didn't want the wildcat to think she knew where it was.

Instead, Kalissa shook her head, getting rid of some of the snowflakes which had settled on it, then unfastened her cloak and went to hang it on a broken branch sticking out from another pine tree. She then rolled her shoulders, loosening her muscles, but didn't unsheathe her saber. Instead, she looked around a few more times, her nose quivering, as though she was trying to scent out her opponent. Then Kalissa moved slowly towards the pine tree, staring up at the sky, as though watching the snow. She moved underneath the pine trees branches...

[Nadia]

OOC: Silly kitty, forgetting about her paw prints. xD

BIC: Nadia’s wait was not long at all as she finally spied a ferretess entering the clearing. She was clearly dressed for battle, although she didn’t seem to mind the cold. Must be one of those northerners. The feline stayed still and quiet as Kalissa looked around the clearing. Would she just hurry up and start walking around? Nadia wanted to get moving before her paws and nose got any colder. Almost as if she were only too happy to oblige, Kalissa did start moving around the clearing, glancing at the ground, the sky and the trees, taking everything in.

The lump beneath the dark cloak showed Nadia where she kept her weapon. Odd. The ferretess hadn’t drawn it, but that was all the better for the femme. Her muscles tensed as the ferret maid wandered closer and closer to her tree. C’mon now. A few more steps. That did it. She was almost directly below Nadia’s branch.

Releasing her clawhold on the bark, Nadia dropped down, aiming for Kalissa’s back. She didn’t yowl, figuring that the element of complete and total surprise would be better than trying to frighten the ferret. She didn’t look all that easily frightened. Her dirk was in her right paw just in case Kalissa actually had fast enough reflexes to draw her blade. Her left paw was stretched wide open, the claws extended to their fullest length. The back of the ferret’s head presented the most inviting target and that’s where she aimed for.

[Kalissa Silvertail]

OOC: Meh, muse. ><

Kalissa had known the wildcat was going to jump as soon as she stopped beneath the tree. It was cold outside and her opponent surely wanted to finish this fight quickly, before limbs started to freeze. The ferretmaid tensed slightly as she heard the smallest of sounds above her, the swish of fur against the branch as the wildcat released its grip on the tree and descended upon her.

She was sure the wildcat would probably have all front claws out, and maybe even a blade handy. However, the wildcat would be at a slight disadvantage, as she would be falling through the air, with no solid purchase on anything but her weapon, while Kalissa had both paws planted firmly on the ground and could dodge quite easily.

Kalissa waited until the wildcat was almost upon her before she went into a roll, tucking her head and arms in as she moved quickly away from the tree. Rolling through almost two feet of snow wasn't the ferretmaid's cup of tea, and the freezing cold flakes clung to her fur and clothes as she surfaced. She didn't even bother to stop to glance at the wildcat, but instead leapt to her feet and slid back towards her opponent, her freezing paws drawing her saber swiftly. She swung it back and aimed at where the wildcat had landed, not really caring if she struck snow, or body.