Blood Sport (TSA Tournament: Darth Pyrrhus vs Satia)

[Mr. OOC]

​

Danger lurks in every shadow.

The moon of Onderon, Dxun, was as dangerous as any place in the galaxy. A jungle full of misery. The Maalraas were deadly, but the least of the worries of visitors there that might include Drexl. Quite lovely the idea of being ripped apart by such a beast. Blood and guts splashing everywhere before being ingested. Not exactly a pleasant notion. He definitely didn't relish the idea of having to fight someone there. Fortunately, he wasn't doing the fighting. He and others were having others do fighting for their entertainment. Fun, but it could also strengthen the combatants.

Both [member="Darth Pyrrhus"] and [member="Satia"] would wake up wearing simple robes, vibroswords on their waist. It was their only defense, aside from the Force, against the world around them. Each would rise to see a single crystal set between them that glowed with energy. When both aroused, it would flash with a bright light that could illuminate their retinas, for a short time, with a message for the two of them. The crystal their only clue to how they got there.

'Fight. The victor moves on. The loser becomes nothing.'​

 

[Poe]

​Laying on my back, I heard the swaying of the trees followed by the calls, howls, and screams radiating around me. My eyes still closed, the darkness I saw was soothing; yet my head was vibrating from a minor pulsing deep within my temples. What was that? How did this occur? These were questions dancing through my mind, as I still lied there trying to recall the past twenty-four hours. My mind ached, buy my body was relaxed. I knew that I hadn't been poisoned, I knew poison and her various aspects that attached themselves to her. I wasn't gassed, a quick intake of breath revealed no foreign entities lingering about my lung cavity. There were no throbbing sensations coursing through my skin, so I wasn't injected with anything. Still, this was unsettling to me.

​A small drop of sweat cascaded down my right cheek, alerting me to the fact that I was sweating. I already knew I was removed from the war ship, cause the temperature here was balmy, even bordering hot, where space was dreadfully cold. I clawed my left hand across the ground feeling dirt and grass. How did I get here? I wiped the sweat from my face, noticing that the fabric brushing against my exposed flesh was not the same material my clothes were constructed from. Until this pounding in my head subsided, I didn't risk opening my eyes yet; then a slight panic washed over me. I grabbed at my sash, which was absent, feeling not my hilt but an unfamiliar hilt; which was attached to long blade I now felt on my side. Reaching over with my right hand, as I suspected would be, the wrist hilt I sported on my left was gone.

​Propping my self up on my elbows first, I shook my head side to side in a vain attempt to defeat this vibration. Again, I didn't want to risk opening my eyes. Feeling confident, I worked myself up to my full height and finally, with a deep breath, opened my eyes. A brilliant flash of light seared into my retinas, temporarily blinding me; yet erased the pounding in my head. Shaking off the effects I saw a crystal resting on some makeshift stand. Upon closer inspection, I saw the glowing words briefly before they winked out.

​The tournament had begun! I mentally applauded the Lords for their inventive ways to bring me, and I assume my opponent, to this area. My opponent! I had no idea who I would be facing. The tournament was open to all ranks; Acolytes, Knights, and even Lords. But who did I draw? I gripped the hilt tightly as I scanned the area around me. Had my opponent awoken before me? If so, was he, or she, already stalking me with plans on how to dispatch me? I couldn't afford to wait around. Backing slowly from the impression my body left on the floor, a jungle floor no less, I listened for any sounds not associated with jungle life. My Force Sense is good, but as a mere Acolyte learning herself in the ways of the Force, it was only Acolyte level. If I was paired with a Knight or Lord, then I would need to be creative to defeat him, or her, in this duel. Force abilities against Force abilities would not be in my favor. Looking down at the crude weapon, I was at a disadvantage here as well. I utilized a lightwhip, which is nothing like a sabre. Outside of my shoto length lightsaber I wore on my wrist, I had not practiced enough with traditional swords.

​What I did have to my advantage was the brutal training I received from those pit masters back on Nal Hutta. The desirable drive to survive. Whomever my opponent was, they were not dealing with a simpleton Acolyte; they were dealing with an apex predator, who was hungry for flesh.



[member="Darth Pyrrhus"] [member="Ignus"]

 

[Darth Pyrrhus]

Slowly the world around him was manifesting. The separation between dream and reality became less and less obscure, until finally he drove those demons away and he was ready to rise from deep within the jungles of Dxun. Darth Pyrrhus was not one for tournaments. He had hosted them in the past, but his participation had never been witnessed. It had seemed unwise to willingly surrender so much information. And to a young and prideful Sith well on his way into the upper echelons of their hierarchy, it had even seemed beneath him. This time was different. This time he felt he stood to gain. They were an ambitious lot, the Sith. Time and time again they gathered in coalitions that promised the ultimate victory. He would see for himself the merits of this coalition. Not from rumours and reports handed to him, but from a very intimate and personal observation. Dxun was a start.

The Sith Lord rose to his feet and started measuring his surroundings. A Lord he was, but titles meant little here. No Zakkeg bowed to a name. Lord, Knight, Merchant, King; they were but wandering bags of flesh, their merit only acknowledged after the fact of their survival. It made sense to him. This was his world. To his knowledge he had never set foot here, but it felt like home. Before he had become Darth Pyrrhus he had been a hunter, brought up within a primitive tribal society on Shili. Technology had been a commodity not awarded to their kind. In many ways, this reminded him of the time right before he was taken in by the Sith Lord Darth Carnifex, then Darth Vornskr. He had been banished from his tribe, in his arrogance he believed it for no other reason than surpassing them all before his time. Then, like now, he would hunt alone with little but a vibroblade and some kind of spear. The way of the hunter was close to his origin but of course since then his lethality had amplified, multiplied immeasurable times. The Force was as much his weapon now as the blade hanging from his belt.

The flash of light really brought his mind back to life. More than conscious, he felt immediately awake as if a wave of iced water had washed over him. He was reminded of his purpose, of his prey. Nameless, unidentified, but there were ways of finding such things out. The hunter stretched out with the Force, his mind reaching beyond his physical restraints to get an overview over his surroundings. He sensed many beings stalking on the outskirts, eager to kill. The jungle was alive, there was little doubt about that. Thus began the meditation and preparations.

While becoming something like a living watchtower, seeing through wood and rock for sources of life, he steeled himself, steeled his mind. Barriers were erected, invocations of the Force uttered as he basked himself in an Aura of Unease. The many predators of Dxun who looked to him and wondered if he would be so kind as to serve as their lunch would find themselves immediately disinterested, uncomfortable, fearful. It would ensure that his passage remained uninterrupted.

And so, not yet having moved an inch, the hunter scoured the jungle for his prey. Extensions of his mind raced ahead like aggressive drones looking primarily for two things. One, a presence within the Force, as he assumed his opponent would have a learned knowledge of it, and two, a being less beastial and more humanoid. The Sith Ascendancy was awfully bipedal.

[member="Satia"] [member="Ignus"]

 

[Poe]

​An unfamiliar sensation washed over me while silently walking through the forest; I was being hunted. This was a new game to me. I was no longer the predator but delegated as prey; and such a mere thought of this carved a smile on my pale face. As prideful and ego filled I was, this was no time to let such flaws override common sense. This game was not for the faint of heart, death was a clear possibility and if not by my opponent, by any creature stalking this forest in search for nourishment. I needed a plan to not just draw out my opponent, but to see who and what my opponent was capable of. However, this was not going to be some simple parlor trick, I still had no idea where I was or what this jungle could offer me in assistance.

​Kneeling by a river bed, I cupped my hand dipping it into the water. While I drank, I noticed two things. First, the jungle had grown eerily silent. Second, I was no longer alone. I didn't want to risk using the Force less I alert my opponent to my position, but on an unknown world in a deadly game of cat and mouse; my options were limited. Carefully I reached out through the Force, sensing what was lurking about. What I felt was not a Force user, but something primal and animalistic. Before I could react, bursting from the underbrush on my right came an animal heavily fashioned in thick knobby scales, four powerful looking legs with talons, and a rather mean disposition that I invaded it's water source. My only reaction was to leap over the creature avoiding it's assuming powerful jaws and land behind it.

​"Now I know your not my tournament opponent," ​I hissed before baring my fangs. I raised my weapon watching as it turned around to face me, and charge again. Once more I lept over the beast, dragging my blade's tip across it's back as I did, landing on my feet; then spun around to bask in my kill. But it wasn't dead and my blade did no damage. ​"What are you?"

​Before we could engage a third time, both beast and I felt a feeling of discomfort and confusion wash over us. The beast fled unaware of why it was fleeing, but I knew what the source of this discomfort was. Sith magic! Aura of Uneasiness. Sith Lord. Now I knew what I was dealing with, and things just got more complicated for me. First I needed to depart from this range of magic, so I hurled myself across the river bed, feeling the sensations subside upon reaching the otherside.

​"So the Circle has sent me an opponent in the form of a Lord! How displeased they will be when the Circle dwindles by one," ​I roared allowing my pride and ego in fact override my common sense..


[member="Darth Pyrrhus"] [member="Ignus"]

 

[Darth Pyrrhus]

Darth Pyrrhus continued reaching out into his surroundings, crafting up a mental overview that was drawn into a map within in his mind. As a thing of memory, of course, it was vague and fickle, but it gave him the general idea. Soon, however, he found the thing which he had been searching for. Faint at first, passive, but bursting more into life as time went by. Perhaps a run-in with the local wildlife? He could sense no great effort made on the mark to mask his or her own presence within the Force. Even so it might not have sufficed. Although he could not tell yet for certain, it could all be a ploy to lull him into a false sense of security, he did not recognise the presence as belonging to any of the Lords within the Ascendancy that he had previously acquainted himself with. He had made a point of learning of the existence of them all. Disappointing, if it was true. Later, then.

The mark was close. She had to have been, well within what was expected to be the range of his little spell. Yet this displeased her, as one might expect, and she was quickly moving away. Shame. Yet... There was something else, stirring on the edges of the treeline. A being, devoid of sentience, that had been curiously observing the passed out Sith Lord before, and perhaps marked him for dinner. Yet with the erection of the Aura of Unease it seemed to have experienced a change of mind. But it would not get far before the mind of the Lord of Ruin caught up to it. Pyrrhus knocked and it roared in reply.

It was an impressive creature, over four meters long and sporting an imposing outfit thick, knobbed scales. The small number of scars upon its scales suggested that it only recently had come into adulthood, with only a few collisions with others of its species in a battle for dominance. There were few other beings that threatened it, aside from other males of its own kind. The large red lizard-like creature stopped in its tracks when Pyrrhus engaged.

The battle of wits commenced. The Zakkeg was a strong beast physically speaking, but as far as brains went it left much to be wanted. Right now it suited the Togruta just fine as he imposed his will upon it, forcing it into submission. He made sure to keep its predatory instincts intact. Instead of fighting against its nature to shape it into something it was not, he would allow its desires to run free. He imprinted an image in the mind of the beast, pulling up memories of from countless hunts throughout the forest; the rending of sinew and bone while feasting upon the prey's still warm flesh after a successful hunt. Oh, beasty liked that. Pyrrhus ensured that the desire to do so again was amplified. He ensured that they were in agreement who would become its new prey. With the Force he compelled it to obey. Wasting no more time it gave chase after Pyrrhus' tournament opponent. The hunt was on.

[member="Satia"] [member="Ignus"]

 

[Poe]

​I stared across the riverbed, waiting for the Lord to attack; but he just stood there. And sadly I found out why. From the bushes came another one of those beasts, it's eyes drawn to me and the jaws salivating uncontrollably. Once more my ego drew me into another situation of life and death. With the beast slow stepping toward me, and one Sith Lord across the riverbed, I had only one choice. To flee. There was no shame in a calculated retreat when you knew the fight was unwinnable. The concept of Sith was survival, to fight another time when the advantage was in your favor.

​I had a considerable lead over my pursuer, but there will come a time he does catch me; then it's game over. I needed to find away to shake this mad fiend, and my first visit to theses beasts reminded me my current weapon was useless. Looking around my surroundings, I caught some kind of movement in the trees above me. Upon closer inspection I noticed these were not normal plants hanging up there, the jagged teeth filled mouths was a pleasurable sight. I ran toward them, and as I felt through the Force danger was forthcoming, I dodged to the left just as vines from above shot down missing me; but catching my mad fiend.

A massive Crasna's vines​, a plant I would learn about later, caught the beast snaking it's tendrils around the beast. I stopped to watch the scene. The creature struggled to break free, then another set of vines floated down from another monster plant, and wrapped it's vines around the body of the beast. Slowly and physically exhausting, the beast was lifted into the canopy. Several howls were chased by the beautiful sounds of ripping flesh and snapping bones filled my ears. A bloody piece of flesh fell from up above, an offering from the plants for feeding them. I spat on the flesh. Looking up to the plants as they indulged in dinner, I said, ​"I appreciate the gesture. But I'm eating Togruta flesh tonite."

​I dug my heels into the soil, ready to face this Lord once and for all.


[member="Darth Pyrrhus"] [member="Ignus"]

 

[Darth Pyrrhus]

The beast pressed on, [member="Satia"] clear in its sights. Comparing her size to its own, it likely came to the conclusion that the hunt would be both brief and successful. How wrong its instincts were, as distracted by the dream of an easy prey it did not notice the great threat it was charging right into. Even a beast such as this had enemies, even within plant life. Rarely could the plants feast upon such a prey. He was quite the catch.

It seemed then that the beast's fate had been sealed the moment it had become a pawn of the Sith Lord. Such was the way of the weak, to be used and discarded at the pleasure of the strong. Pyrrhus hardly mourned the loss. Although it would've been great if it had finished his opponent, he had not counted on it. The Zakkeg had served a purpose. The Lord of Ruin had during all of the commotion crossed the riverbed and closed the distance between the pair. This little cat and mouse game had come to an end.

Now the Togruta had his prey clear in his sights. His suspicions were confirmed as he did not recognise her, nor did he sense this was the result of a trick. She was tall, perhaps even reminiscent of the Epicanthix species. Though her white hair had her stand out against the norm. This could of course be dyed, but it was far to early and pointless to make guesses as to her origin. By the looks of it, experience should favour him. And the Dark Side was forever with him, he was sure.

Pyrrhus raised his hands on either side of him, a gesture looking as if he was to greet her. He had something more sinister in mind though. He would not be lenient. Time to harass. Within the next moment his ploy became clear as he commanded the Force to do his bidding. Pyrrhus called, and the river answered. From behind him, the riverbed that had found itself riddled with pebbles and rocks of small to medium sizes saw itself deprived of a fair few of them. They shot up from behind him and raced ahead with a distinct purpose to strike at the adversary ahead of him. There was no shortage of ammunition, and he was generous enough to make sure it was not all aimed directly at her. A volley should cover her immediate surroundings to prevent an easy roll to solve her problems.

A nice way to say hello.

[member="Ignus"]

 

[Poe]

​I was still recovering my breath as my adrenaline remained elevated even as I dug into to fight this Lord of the Sith. The physical toll it takes on one when they are running is a facet people ignore, regardless of adrenaline. The body is not designed to run unchallenged on pure flee instinct alone, no matter how conditioned the body is. So when I stopped, I felt the physical toll in my legs, my sides, and in my lungs. Only the adrenaline kept me from collapsing onto the forest floor. My opponent had taken the opportunity to press me further, having seized the distraction the beast infected me with; appearing on my side of the riverbed. My only ally was pain. I allowed the burning sensations in my body fuel my hatred for my opponent.

​Watching with slight confusion, my opponent raised his hands to the sky. I suspected this was my chance to strike while he posed for me. I took a step toward him until I felt the energy of the Darkside grow substantially through the Force, my eyes catching the ripples and bubbling in the river. One moment I was mesmerized by the display, next I was being hounded by an aerial assault of pebbles, stones, and other river debris. If this was just a natural occurrence, I would have scoffed. This was, however, an attack by a Master of the Darkside, and such there would be some gusto behind this attack.

​Just learning about my own capabilities in the Force, I had very few options to cycle through. I quickly tossed up a black shimmering Force Barrier, repelling most, but not all, of the attack. My barrier broke after the second wave, and I was pummeled by the contents of the river's stomach. My bare flesh took the brunt, quickly swelling in some areas while other spots began to paint my pale skin with bloody droplets from scratches and cuts. This only furthered to enrage me, and for the second time I siphoned my pain into both anger and hatred.

​A guttural howling sound erupted from my throat, and I charged my opponent closing the gap between us with long calculated strides from my long legs. Still with few options, I called upon the Force using my knowledge of telekinesis gripping broken and sharp tree branches strewn about; hurling them toward the Sith Lord's eyes. Following on the heels of my Force attack, I swung my sword in a downward slash in an attempt to remove his legs.



[member="Darth Pyrrhus"] [member="Ignus"]

 

[Darth Pyrrhus]

The first harassment in their engagement began, the opening skirmish before the final clash. She took it well, but fortunately for him, she took some. The howl that followed signalled her eagerness to move on past this stage. The anger and hate he evoked in her fuelled her, although had she discovered how to ride the waves of fury yet, or were they the ones riding her? Only time would show, and Pyrrhus had every intention of investigating every facet of her persona that she made available to him.

The Sith Acolyte charged ahead, blade in hand, with the aid of the Force to cover her advance. Pyrrhus opted out of both and sought to maintain the distance once held between the two for a little longer. However if she maintained this attitude it would likely not be long before they did come to physical blows.

Darth Pyrrhus kicked off and pushed himself backwards and slightly to the side with a leap that saw him gain little in the way altitude, staying close to the ground, but more in terms of distance. It would put him out of the path of the twigs and branches, but only keep him away from her for so long. But before he would watch her simply continue her charge and run towards him, he had one simple gift he wished to leave her with. As his feet touched ground, sliding backwards before coming to a halt, his rusty-red hand was already extended. Without much further warning it lit up as suddenly a wave of Force Lightning was sent her way. A classic that ought to have its place at least once in their engagement.

​

OOC Note: Gonna be gone on a trip until the 11th, so won't be able to post again until Tuesday!

| [member="Satia"] | [member="Ignus"] |​