The Pit Of Death. Two Enter, One Shall Leave. Dadashi vs Nevermore

Rules are as listed in most other topics here. No godmoding, no cheating, etc.

Post limit is 3 days unless a reason for longer is stated beforehand.

Battle environment is a gladiator arena. No areas to hide, no environmental hazards.

This is a 1v1 realistic rp between two characters. No magic shall be used.

Rain looked her opponent over, having her sword drawn in her right hand, with her round shield at her left. She held it at her side in a guarding manner, while she kept her sword lifted ready to strike. She assumed her opponent was a fairly skilled fighter, and she did not want to be attacked while off guard.

The sun beat down on her, sending a silver shimmer through her hair. She dug her feet into the ground and set her defense. She lowered the tip of her sword slightly and smirked. She nodded to her opponent and made sure she was ready before saying. "Let's go."

Gawain looked over his opponent, scrutinizing her. He hated fighting girls, but it had been necessitated by his... Ahem, deficit... in currency. He was a skilled swordsman, a knight of the age, and he would not be defeated by this scrawny-looking, underfed excuse of a warrior. Sir Gawain, the Greatest Knight, unstrapped the kite shield that rested on his back, making no rush of it. Now defended, he let his longsword slowly rise so that it pointed at his foe. Around them, crowds cheered and soldiers stood at the ready to intervene if one of them decided to "cheat". They were at a perfect ten foot distance, measured by expert mathematicians who now stood side by side with the Emperor. This was definitely going to make him a very rich man. He had, of course, absolved himself of greed and desire when he had taken his vow on the Knight's Oath, but nevertheless he could feel emotion... such as pleasure. And destroying this woman would give him much pleasure, indeed. Gawain didn't know for sure, but he suspected she had killed many people before, and therefore was a valid target for his wrath.

A shrill shriek from a whistle quieted down the raging roars of the plebeian peoples. The duel had begun, without doubt. The gates behind each of them would not be reopened till their blood stained the sweltering sand, till one of them lay here forevermore. Corpses were not moved to the arena, merely dragged to the outer rim and left to rot - he refused to be a malodorous cadaver left to deteriorate in this godforsaken place. On that thought, he yelled (in his sophisticated English, of course) his battle cry, some brief tangent about the fall of the Catholic Church and the ultimate knight, and charged. Gawain's sword abruptly feinted in an overhead slash, and then quickly alternated so it was a vicious uppercut.

Sir Gawain was not going to die here, of all places, in a stinking gladiator pit! "Sorry, sweetie, but I hope you wrote a will."

Rain studied every move the man made. She had indeed killed many people, and she looked at the opponent before her as just another victim. She however was not to be over zealous and attack as such, she would wait for the right moment, and make her strike. She, being a woman fought with much more finesse and agility. Even if she was overpowered by the knight before her, she was not to be out maneuvered.

She moved herself back a foot or so, just enough to dodge the upwards strike of his attack. Her feet being giving her a good shove off, she made her move as his sword was moving overhead. She changed forward a step, leading with her left foot. As she stepped forwards and brought her shield up over her head, striking under it, while defending from his possible strike downwards as a counter. Bringing her right arm around and under in a powerful thrust, she made quick jab; bringing the tip of her blade inwards towards the left side of his abdomen just below the ribs.

She knew very well he was clad in some form of armor what appeared to be chain mail, and she didn’t expect a fatal strike. Never the less, if the tip managed to break away enough of the chain mail’s links, she’d score the first blood. Instead of slashing at the metal, she’d have to force her way through it with a strong jab, sliding between the links and hoping to spread them enough to penetrate flesh; a slash just wasn’t going to work at the moment.

Interesting. This girl wasn't a bad fighter - a shame she'd be dead within a few minutes. His knightly instinct took over and the shield, which he had (in a stroke of ingenious luck) placed on his left arm, moved to guard his torso. The tip of Rain's sword bounced harmlessly off its sturdy center, saving him both pain and a weakened defense. Gawain moved his shield aside and swung his own blade obliquely, going for Rain's neck. A nick on the spine was all it would take to kill her. Sir Gawain, heavenly knight, had studied the human anatomy extensively in his time with the scribes, who had taught him what they could with today's science. He was aware of several places that would make for good striking points besides her chest, but this was the cleanest and most concise way of going about it.

The crowd screamed again, drowning out the officials who tried desperately to maintain silence for the competitors. Even the Emperor himself looked on with anticipation, unable to divine which of the two gladiators would be successful. His guards looked nervously to each other, hoping that warriors like the two standing before them never attempted to assassinate their liege, because they didn't stand a chance. They had seen fearsome, Herculean barbarians settle their claims in the arena, and it was a grisly place. Someone always died, be it by the Nymean lions that lay in waiting for when the Emperor did not approve, and so on. Their king was a kind man, but...

He loved his entertainment. Most masculine identities did, in any of the various forms offered by the world, desire the thrill of adrenaline that only certain events could trigger. This was one of those. Gawain fully intended on making good on his promise to the Emperor that he would offer him one of the best matches he had ever seen, and then collect the ample sum that would weigh down his pockets for quite awhile. He would have preferred to fight a man, of course, but he supposed the Lord had wanted this woman dead, and decided that Sir Gawain was the perfect emissary to commit the deed.

Rain, having lifted her shield up to protect from such an attack, was lucky enough to have her arm between her neck and Gawain's blade. This was just enough for her to be saved from almost certain death. His blade collided with her steel arm gauntlet and was harmlessly deflected; leaving noting more than a small nick in the forearm of her gauntlet. Acting quickly, Rain used her previous momentum to continue through the movement and dodged off to her right, being on the side of Gawain where he had his shield.

She dodged and spun herself around to face Gawain again, now being about 5 feet apart. She raised her guard again and kept it at the ready to protect herself once again. "Seems we're fairly matched." She said, looking him over as she readied her next strike. She kept her blade upright this time, appearing ready to do a slashing strike should the need arise.

The crowd roared in disappointment, they were sure blood was about to be spilled, but when it wasn't, they were a tad disappointed. Surely someone was to die, surely someone was going to be littering the ground, writhing in heir own blood.

Sir Gawain ticked his head a centimeter to the left, observing his foe. She was an excellent duelist, no doubt about that, and it was a shame she'd be left a trodden, desecrated body on the floor today. "What say you, girlie, if I simply cut off your hands? I'd rather not kill you, but I have no choice." She was on his left, so he turned briskly to face her. "We're not equals, silly. I suppose that I'll have to end this, then... Cheerio!" He walked forward slowly, taking small steps as he approached. Rain wouldn't attack him, would she? That would be silly. He had a shield; he'd just catch her blade and decapitate her... albeit, a beheading might be a tad messy. No matter.

The crowd screamed savagely, yelling in some disgruntled tongue about blood and combat and death. They wanted this to end. The Emperor feared his warriors would have to intervene if they continued, or even hurl javelins to skewer the two competitors - at least then someone would have to die. In each corner of the coliseum there stood a thrower, ready to toss spears with their trained eye and aim to kill those who hid. The armored fellow might be a tough shot, but the Emperor needed him dead more - and his bid was placed on Rain, anyway. He hadn't thought the fool would stand a chance! It was quickly growing apparent that there was no clear winner, however, and that was a problem. He whispered something in his guard's ear and the man hurriedly scurried into the bowels of the Underworks, where the rest of the troops stayed. Oh dear.

This was the ultimate moment. The epitome of Gawain's power was about to be revealed in a thrust n' flurry that should bring this maiden to her knees, just begging to be finished off. He spun his sword (a fancy trick he had learned in the academy), pretending to attack, and then moved to slam the lady with his shield. The kite-shaped object was nearly the width of his body and in this position covered his face up to his eyes, leaving him some room to see. They were too close to leap away, and Gawain had no idea what else she could to. If Rain fell down, it was over.

He hoped the Lord would forgive him.

Topic is locked and I forfeit because he refused to see reality and denied possibility of defense. The fight is his, but what does it really matter? A winner by forfeit is a pitiful win indeed. I hope you enjoy it ^-^