Tournament: Iridonia (Muad Dib)

[Velok the Younger]

The arena was a straightforward affair: sand underfoot, high walls around, a decent little crowd in the stands. Velok cracked his neck and hefted his spear. A traditional Whiphid lance was made of bone and stone, with a hand-knapped edge. Slim weights adhered to the spear at the butt and just below the head. Similar weights bogged down the stone sacrificial knife at his belt.

The rules of the match specified triple-weighted weapons. Old muscles already ached a little. Nevertheless, muscle memory won out, and he stomped away from the gate toward the middle of the arena. The weighted spear served as a walking stick.

Since he carried traditional weapons, he'd gone for traditional attire, just leather and furs. The heat of the arena made him strip off the fur coat in fairly short order. Toola this was not.

[member="Muad Dib"]

 

[Muad Dib]

The man knelt upon the sands that would soon become a makeshift arena. Forearms rested on his thighs as the man breathed in and out slowly, tempering the rage that always existed within. The sun baked upon his bare back highlighting several scars crossed upon the flesh. The light crunch of sand underfoot foretold of his approaching opponent. A light sigh eased through his lips as he opened his eyes.

Glowing, blue orbs viewed the whiphid as he approached. A massive being that would tower over the man and out weigh him by twice. A twitch at the corner of his mouth revealed his pleasure at the challenge. Rising from the sand he stood to roll his shoulders a moment, loosening muscles, tendons, and ligaments as he watched the other fighter carefully. The tusks drew his eye and he grinned at the danger that surely lurked upon the points.

Bending he swiftly retrieved his weapons, a blastsword and shield . At his hip rested the force imbued mythosaur Kal that was created by an old grump of a smith named Ijaat. On each of the weapons was a repulsor emitter that instead of using the planet's gravity to hover, it reversed the gravitational pull which tripled the weight of the items. Gripping the blastsword hilt in his right he shrugged the shield onto his left forearm, being careful of the serrated edges.

Slowly he moved into the other fighter's orbit and gave a light bow, flourishing both sword and shield out to either side in Adumari tradition, before straightening once more. The bare skin of his torso and arms glistened from sweat and applied oil. Leading without his left side, shield between them, and sword at the ready he nodded.

"Shall we?"

All the while he couldn't shake a children's song from filtering through his brain ....

[member="Velok the Younger"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Muad Dib"]

Velok sucked his tusks in thought and watched the blastsword's tip trace a glowing line in the air. Whatever that bit of technology was, he didn't feel like getting hit with it. Same went for the serrated shield, though his hide and matted hair should keep the edges from causing serious damage in most cases. He hefted the bone-and-rock spear in both hands and grunted once.

Without further ado, he whipped the spear up, brought his hands a bit closer together, and snapped the weapon down in a single continuous motion. Why not put the spear's tripled weight to work? He anticipated a sidestep or backstep of some kind, unless this human had a good opinion of his shield arm's resilience. So maybe the big stone spearhead wouldn't connect, but how the human reacted would tell Velok an awful lot about the fight to come. He stank of the Force, this one, and stronger than most. Maybe the future held a good meal.

 

[Muad Dib]

As the whiphid surveyed the Mad Man and his choice of weapons, Muad was looking up. And up. And, still up. Over eight feet tall and over twice his weight by the girth. A grin flashed across his face. This was going to be a fight. Settling back into his stance he waited for the other man to make his first move.

He didn't have long to wait.

@Vekok raised his spear up far over Muad's head and, with a power inherent in the massive figure, brought the spear down intending to split his head in twain. Time seemed to slow as several options filtered into his mind. Leap away, keep his distance, and attempt to wear his opponent out. Or parry the blow, and dance around to defensively block the wrath of the whiphid. Another option was to take the brunt of the attack in the shield and hope the force of the assault didn't prove too much.

Of course in typical Muad fashion he chose a different, and potentially foolish, action.

He leaped forward under the descending spear head into the other man's body, attempting to drive the edge of the bottom of the serrated shield into Velok's stomach (which was about Muad's chest height) before springing up trying to slam the face of the shield into the face of the whiphid above.

[member="Velok the Younger"]

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Muad Dib"]

The serrated edge met leather, matted hair, and Whiphid hide, none of them especially yielding. The impact of the shield's edge was a bit more substantive - bruising, even. Velok grunted in pain. A moment later, the flat of the shield slammed into his triceps. With both hands on the extended spear, his arms were fairly close together.

They slid apart, though, just enough to admit Muad into Velok's warm embrace.

Bear hug. Force Lightning. Not exactly rocket surgery.

 

[Muad Dib]

Perhaps not his greatest ploy to date. Aye, he managed to avoid the spear which would have split his head in two. Yes, he'd managed to scour the matted body somewhat. And of course he put himself into a new predicament as the powerful arms wrapped around his body and began squeezing.

"No kisses on .... The ... First ..... Date ...."

He gasped as he felt his body get crushed into the other man's chest. Then lightening began arcing into his body as the whiphid drew on the force. Gritting his teeth as he felt his skin blister and burn, his muscles spasm, his bones ache, Muad opened his mouth and roared in defiant pain.

Dropping the blastsword from twitching fingers he wrapped his arms around his opponent and summoned the force as well. The Mad Man had many abilities in his arsenal, yet favored one above all else. Gripping the hairy hide he summoned the force and fed it outward, a blanket of flame erupting from his hands, arms, and torso while slamming his face forward toward [member="Velok the Younger"]'s neck ... Jaw opened intending to bite down on the other being's throat with a manic strength.

 

[zruyo]

"im baaaaaacccckkk"i chant my mask still on and my lightsaber pike on my back i smirks under my mask then take it off leaving everyone stunned by the burn down the side of my face "NOW COME OUT AND FACE ME SOMEONE HERE HAS A BOUNTY ON THERE HEAD" out off nowhere an innocent looking dude is dragged out and put in front of me "any last words" i say to him "only one" the poor dude said "go ahead" i asked his interest peaked " will you make it quick" he quivers "as quick as possible" i say before cutting his head off and walking away.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Muad Dib"]

As the human bit down hard on Velok's neck, getting a mouthful of hair in the process, fire engulfed the old Whiphid. He closed his eyes against the baking heat. The stench of burnt hair filled his nostrils. He left off doing the lightning thing and put that part of his attention into absorbing or repelling a portion of the heat. Pain raced along his skin where tough leather didn't cover it.

On the plus side, even the strongest humans were like little Whiphidlets, and this one had thoroughly entrenched himself inside Velok's bear hug. So, without further ado, he continued applying his considerable strength to breaking the human's spine and pulping his internal organs. Also, because his jaw alone weighed as much as a human skull, he brought the former down on the latter as hard as Whiphidly possible.

 

[Muad Dib]

Focusing on the fire Muad couldn't help but grin. The smell of scorched hide had a familiar scent. As the whiphid ceased with the force lightning he felt a small victory at the same moment he felt the pressure increase which caused his bones to creak, his chest constrict. Attempting to breath shallowly he glanced up to see the strengthened chin falling toward his head.

"Osik."

The collision threw his head back, a muscle being pulled in his neck. However that was the least of his worries. A ringing in his ears as well as the world spinning caused him to let the fire shaping slip while the whiphid's might continued to contract his torso.

Letting the force flood into his body he strengthened his being, enhanced strength attempting to keep himself by being crushed. Simultaneously he kicked his legs and lower body out, away from his opponent then, using the leverage if the bear hug and the height he was being held at, pivoted his lower body back in a force assisted kick straight for [member="Velok the Younger"]'s knees.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Muad Dib"]

Something went crack in Velok's right knee, and pain exploded up his leg. He felt his balance start to give.

Well, that wasn't all bad.

Still holding Muad in a crushing hug, Velok toppled forward. The goal here was to keep on crushing ribs and suchlike things, to pulp the puny human who'd surrendered himself to Velok's grip. As goals went, Velok had worked for simpler ones, but not often.

As he fell, he opened his heavily tusked jaw and did his level best to bite off the top of Muad's skull. Because why not?

 

[Muad Dib]

As they began to fall he grinned while trying to twist in the vice like grip of the whiphid. As the jaws above opened miss tucked his face into [member="Velok the Younger"]'s neck trying to keep his head away from the mighty bite.

Then they hit the ground.

The oil that had been rubbed onto his skin before the fight did their job of making him slippery as a greased whiphid .... err ... pig. But the strength of Velok didn't give completely. As they landed the weight, even with his body infused with the force, was overwhelming and he felt a sharp pain from his side where his ribs took the brunt of the excessive girth of his opponent.

Grunting as sharp pain echoed he finally was able to look into the whiphid's eyes as his arms slipped free while his opponent's arms were still wrapped around his waist. Reaching up he grasped the tusks with either hand and, utilizing the force once more, tried to twist the other man's head around attempting to twist it like a top.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Muad Dib"]

Gigantic neck muscles clenched, but something went crik at the top of Velok's spine, and just like that he couldn't turn his head to the right. Gorrammit. As if he didn't already have enough trouble finding a non-quack chiropractor who could work on Whiphids. He unclenched and rolled off the squirmy, oily little human. That oil smelled like char; between the human's pyromania and Velok's lightning, it had to be fairly toasty.

Now there was an idea. Toast. Get the human nice and medium-rare, cooked in his own oil - were humans normally that greasy? The doctor had said to watch his cholesterol, but one little human wouldn't hurt, right? Especially if this one had been properly tenderized already?

Velok scrambled to his feet without much grace - his knee hurt quite a bit - and cracked his neck. He raised one shaggy eyebrow as if to ask what else the human could offer.

 

[Muad Dib]

A great weight was lifted off of Muad. Literally. The whiphid had gotten off the human which left him gasping for air. Getting to his knees he grimaced at the sharp pain shooting through his left side. Snarling out a barking laugh he rose to his feet once more as he embraced the pain.

Pain, for many, was a warning that something not quite right was happening. These people would regroup and get medical assistance. The pain could overwhelming the senses and cause one to retreat from danger. Pain meant something was very wrong. Muad, however, fell into a second group of beings.

Pain was a tool. The sensation echoing through the body, if you could control the sensations, could be utilized. Adrenaline would be pumping. Your senses heightened in an instinctual awareness that every moment could offer potential danger and death. But more then that, pain could be absorbed. One could enter a berserker rage, or focus the radiating pain into a mental clarity of cold calculation, or even use the resonating sensations seek a single purpose of repaying your pain in kind.

Glowing eyes watched the other man carefully. Weaknesses were assessed. A limp and potential range of motion lost in [member="Velok the Younger"]'s neck. Slowly Muad circled to the man's right taking into account the possible limitations. His body ached as his skin was burned and blistered, exposed nerves screaming in agony. His breath was labored at the pain in his side. Blood dripped from the corners of his mouth where he had bit his cheek when they fell.

"Come on Sonic, we ain't done yet."

His right hand slipped to the kal at his waist and pulled the blade free from it's sheath. Holding the curved blade in a reverse grip he continued circling, slowly closing the distance. A feinting slash at the other man's midsection was followed with him switching his grip in mid feint and lunging forward attempting to plunge the blade into the other man's midsection.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Muad Dib"]

Knife fighting was a young Whiphid's game; Velok had only brought his stone sacrificial blade in case he got the chance to eat, or needed a weapon in an emergency. Old, massive, and injured as he was, mobility contests would not be to his advantage. Therefore, when the human pulled a knife and moved in, Velok did the sensible thing.

Thus far, other than a burst of lightning and a bit of tutaminis, he hadn't called on the Force. He did so now.

Muad's knife hit air and stuck. The telekinetic barrier became a hefty push, aiming to throw the little human across the arena.

 

[Muad Dib]

When his kal hit an invisible wall Muad had a mere moment to prepare. Telekinesis at its finest. He knew what had stopped his blade and altered his footing and stance as the wave of the force slammed into his body, raising him and sending him skidding across the sand.

Grunting from the shock in his side he raised his left hand, blue sith runes running from his forearm to hand, and pointed it at the whiphid. Gathering the force from thought to action he grinned a bloody visage of war.

"Sticks and stones mate, sticks and stones."

Behind [member="Velok the Younger"] a wall of flame burst into existence and came slamming at the rear of the other man while Muad advanced once more, waving his knife in flowery motions in an attempt to keep his focus on him as he closed the distance between the two again.

 

[Velok the Younger]

[member="Muad Dib"]

Without hesitation, Velok threw himself backward. Something popped in his stressed knee, and he knew getting up again would be a challenge. Flame rushed around him for a painful moment, but his tough hide clothes took the brunt. His long, matted hair caught fire in earnest for a few stinking seconds. Then he was skidding on his back, sand choking out the flames, looking past his feet at the wall of flame. As the flame's hammering momentum carried it toward Muad's advance, Velok raised both three-clawed hands and shoved.

The goal here was pretty straightforward: since Muad and his fancy knifework were converging with the wall of flame anyway, Velok accelerated the process. Fire closed in around the oily, flammable, tasty little human. Maybe Velok would get to use that butcher knife after all.