The Honor Circle (IC) [Fa Teen, for language]

[Gareeku]

Hearing Aisha agree to the terms that he had suggested, Gareeku nodded his head slightly in acknowledgment, before unsheathing the katana at his side, holding it up in front of him in a respectful manner as Aisha did the same with her own sword. Seeing the pantheress shift into a defensive posture as she spoke, the wolf smirked.
"As you wish..." he replied, before making his move.

Without warning, the wolf dashed forward with impressive speed, closing in on Aisha with his eyes locked onto her. Just when it looked he would make an attack head on, Gareeku suddenly darted to the pantheress' side, his leg swinging in for a leg sweep, before bringing his blade up in an upwards vertical slash aimed at her rib area.

Not stopping there, Gareeku immediately began his next move; bringing a knee up and around, hoping to strike the pantheress in the gut, before bringing his blade in for an attempted strike at her chest.

[Aisha deCabre]

As soon as Gareeku drew his sword and made his move, Aisha was as still as a statue, her gaze unwavering from his movements, keeping track of him and especially his weapon.  She was slowly starting to backstep from his almost-head-on move, when he dashed around to the side before she could move to counter.

Her reaction however was almost immediate.  The panther released her coiled muscles to jump away from the leg sweep, her eyes locked on his blade as he brought it up...she brought hers down to block it, gripping the handle tight with both hands as the metallic surfaces met with an almost-musical CLANG, sparks flying from the friction.  There was an almost slow-motion moment as she was suspended in the air, it seemed, before it was broken by the wolf's next move.

She brought her foot down on the ground just as his knee met with her gut, but short of having the wind knocked out of her for a moment, Aisha used that momentum to flip away from his next attack, barely ducking away from his swing, though feeling the breeze from it as she jumped around to his side.  The panthress took a moment to hold her stomach, taking a few deep breaths before forgetting the pain entirely and letting the energy of battle take hold again.

Aisha darted around his side again in a quick zig-zag pattern, keeping always behind him, so as to hopefully not appear obvious as to where she'd strike next.  She appeared next on his right side, skidding a little on the ground to brake...she then put a hand to the ground and used it to pivot in an attempted swirling kick toward his midsection, before finishing the move with her blade cutting upward in a horizontal slash...

[Sunblink]

As though to test the name, Keaton repeated the word Stygian had spoken, rummaging through her memory for any recollection of ever having heard of it. "Dyssea, huh?" she asked, scratching behind a flickering ear. "Considering that you compared it to other worlds, I'll assume that you've done a lot of traveling, so to speak?"

That was an interesting thought. Keaton herself hadn't done a lot of dimension-hopping. In fact, this was the only world she had visited outside of her home planet. Still, the connotations that Stygian's words presented made the jackal snicker under her breath. "Not very saintly, are you?"

Attracted to the battle by a particularly loud noise, Keaton turned her head to the side, following Stygian's movement to the center of the match. It seemed that one of Stygian's companions had entered a battle herself, piquing her interest: she hadn't communicated with them yet, being slightly insular in nature. She, too, wondered intently about the outcome of the battle, nearly fully distracted by the blows exchanged to notice Gareeku's approach.

"Hm?" her ears pricked, and she turned her gaze toward the wolf. "Huh? Oh, you wanna fight me?" she smirked, turning the palms of her hands outward as she cracked her knuckles. "Absolutely. I--"

Unfortunately, Gareeku was challenged to another battle by Aisha, another person who Keaton had yet to introduce herself to. "Eh, s'alright," Keaton said casually. "Come back when you're done, we'll fight then." With a slight nod, Keaton turned back to the counter, ordering another beer and passing the money over. Taking the mug, she downed another mouthful from it and looked to Stygian.

"Dang. I was looking forward to another match," Keaton said disappointedly, but shrugged off her misfortune. "Ah well. You think you're going to fight again soon?"

The battle between Ardaron and Syphon concluded with a bang, the dragon emerging as the victor in an unexpected turn of events. Keaton couldn't help but internally cheer for Ardaron's success—after all, the dragon had been rather benevolent towards her, and he had put up an excellent fight. It would've disappointed her greatly if he had lost. Now, however, she had another match to look forward to: the battle between Gareeku, the wolf who had requested for her attention, and Aisha, an unknown pantheress.

Never a dull moment here.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[ardaron]

Ardaron took the hint, and shut up, turning away from facing Syphon and towards the two Circles and the rest of the bar's patrons.  He gave a nod back to Aisha, along with a somewhat proud smile.

He took the glass of water, putting a small, dark purple ceramic coin down on the bar.  It could either pay for the water, if Stalker wanted to charge for it; otherwise, it was a tip, for the good service and better entertainment.  He took a drink of the water, pouring it into his mouth and letting it cool his dry throat.

It was hard to decide which battle to watch.  One seemed to have two magic-based combatants, while the other seemed to contain a purely physical duel.  Ardaron's gaze flicked to the magic Circle as he saw the impressive tornado of fire, and the construct's blasts of energy.  He leaned back against the bar, watching more for the sake of enjoyment now, rather than trying to learn anything from the match.

[Gareeku]

Watching Aisha flip off to his side, Gareeku immediately assumed a defensive stance with his blade, his locked onto her as she began to advance. The wolf could start to feel the adrenaline pumping in his veins; the thrill of battle.

With his eyes trying to keep up with Aisha's movements, the wolf was then thrown offguard somewhat as he suddenly appeared in front of him, not having enough time to block or parry the pantheress' attack. As her foot connected with his midsection, Gareeku jerked forward slightly from the impact, grimacing slightly from the shot of pain resulting from the blow.

However, Gareeku quickly forced his composure back just in time to see Aisha bring up her blade in an attempted slash. Thinking quickly, the wolf brought up his own blade and pushed his opponent's away. To him, these movements seemed to go in slow motion, watching as Aisha's sword grinded along his own as he parried her attack. Not stopping there, Gareeku then spun on the spot, bringing up one leg as the other left the ground slightly, bringing his foot round and intending to strike the back of Aisha's head with a kick.

[Stygian]

Stygian kicked back and eyed the wolf with skepsis. He would probably have had a handful with Keaton, if that sword was all he was using. Fortunately, his challenge was retracted, and he seemed to find a more suitable opponent.
   "No, not very..." he responded to Keaton's question. "Guess I was, once. But that proved to be a mistake. And besides, who ever heard of the assassin with a heart?" He laughed. Having another drink, he kept smiling, and looked bemused by the whole conversation.
   "I've collected a few billion frequent flier miles, yes," he said. His voice took on a bit of a bitter tone. "Most of it has been in vain, but I keep it up just in case that I strike luck some time..."

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha held her ground as her swipe was parried, her feet and claws digging into the ground while her grip quivered against the blow.  The rush was getting stronger, slowly, more exciting as the match continued.  As her blade was pushed away, she leaped back, though not all too successfully as his foot swung around.

Damn, he's quick, she thought, her mind rushing as she pivoted to catch the blow on her shoulder rather than her head...the pain shot through her nerves, but again it was but an inconvenience as she growled with slight frustration.  Using the force from the kick, she threw herself away to his side, quickly switching hands with her blade and catching herself on the ground, attempting also to catch his foot with hers and trip him with it.

The panther didn't try to stop there however as she took a bit of time to get herself up, swiping again with her sword...this time towards his own blade, hoping while he was caught off-guard to knock it from his hands...

[Sunblink]

"I don't think I've ever been saintly," Keaton remarked thoughtfully, mouth twisting into a slight smirk at the corner of her sable-outlined lips. She folded her arms behind her head, still managing to regain her balance thanks to a discreetly-concealed tentacle planted in the ground. "You didn't come across as the kinda guy who would be that way, but then again, I've only known you for a few hours, and the majority of it has been of you kicking my ass."

Not readily aware of Stygian's bemusement, but completely comprehending of the acrid tone in his voice, Keaton decided it would be best to tread lightly around this line of conversation, even avert it if she didn't want to get on this his bad side. "You've been traveling for a particular reason?" Keaton ventured, sipping lightly from her beer instead of taking one, mighty gulp.

When Ardaron returned to his seat and ordered some water, Keaton decided to greet him. "Hey!" she said, waving boisterously to him. "Congratulations on th' win!"

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Gareeku]

As he finished his string of attacks, Gareeku was then caught by surprise as Aisha grabbed his foot with hers, tripping him as his feet were swept out from underneath him.
Shit...looks like she hasn't lost any of that speed of hers...not to mention that agility... the wolf thought to himself as he quickoly repositioned and landed on one of his hands.

It was then however, that the pantheress came in with a strike with her blade, attempting to knock his own out of his hands. However, as he landed on his feet, the wolf had moved his blade, exposing his shoulder.
It was then that Gareeku felt a deep stinging pain in his shoulder, causing him to breathe in sharply and wince. Looking, he found that there was now a cut from where Aisha had caught him with her blade, his fur being being stained red from the blood oozing out of the wound.

However, Gareeku had no time to think about this; there was a battle to be fought. Regaining his composure, the wolf the advanced, making a stabbing motion with his blade. However, he appeared to miss his target; his sword ended up less than an inch from the pantheress' side. As he did this, however, Gareeku lunged forward, thrusting up his knee in the hopes that the stabbing motion with the sword would provide a distraction as he attempted a powerful knee strike to his opponent's gut. Not stopping there, Gareeku then brought up his free hand, balling it into a fist as he attempted a powerful uppercut to Aisha's jaw, followed up an upwards diagonal sword slash to his opponent's torso.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha grimaced briefly when she saw that her sword didn't take to its intended target, and hit Gareeku instead...she had quickly drawn away then, but the wolf was already on his feet, the wound only a mere distraction from the fight.  There was a quick grin on her face, not a cocky one for having hit him, but one of pride for fighting such an opponent whose resilience was to be admired.

Then, the concentration was back on the fight as Gareeku made his assault, Aisha's sword having been in a defense position while side-stepping around him.  She had been trying to keep track of both his body attacks and the katana now, as by know she knew he utilized both.  At the blade's stabbing motion, which almost put a hole in her shirt, Aisha put her own sword to the side to meet it, the points of metal clanging and being driven against one another...she pushed away on a diagonal angle, missing the knee kick and attempting to make a head-on strike, were it not for the next move...

She clenched her jaw tightly as the fist collided with it, the pain rocketing through her nerves...she let the energy take her, flipping her body up through the air as soon as it hit, hand gripping the handle of her sword tightly.  As she made a hard landing, almost falling to her knees, her eyes caught the sword coming up at her, and she parried it quickly, holding her blade against his with a determined look, blood trickling down her jaw.  Heh, merciless, like always.

With a hard grunt, Aisha pushed off and darted away to his side on one foot, attempting to make a pivoting kick against his knees with the other, while taking her sword handle with both hands and raising it over him, hoping it would distract him so that the hilt could hit the back of his head...

[ardaron]

Ardaron, his gaze flicking between the battle between construct and flame master, caught Keaton's congratulations.  He waved back, and said, "Thanks!  I think I owed that particular match about as much to luck as to skill, though."  He said the last part with a slight tone of modesty, as though not wanting Keaton to think he was a better fighter than he really was.

He continued to watch Gareeku and Aisha's battle, the two of them delivering blows and dodging them like an elaborate dance.  Ardaron couldn't help but note how different this duel was from all the battles up to that point; all the other battles had involved magic from both sides, and this one was based on swordfighting alone.

[Cogidubnus]

Giles said something unmentionable at Moira's continued, and rather accurate, barrage, and did the only thing he could think of. As the energy bullets whined past his ears and dinged off his armor, each one making the salamander on the front flash brightly, he swung down sharply with his spear, almost in tempo with his movements. Fire raged from his gesture, and the hard stone beneath him bubbled with the heat - and with his other, melted-stiff arm, he clenched the fingers. A gout of fire rushed upwards, and the bubbled stone flowed with it, creating a pile of slag in front of him. Giles grinned - he hadn't really expected that to work.
From behind the stone, his movements began to take on a beat, a rhythm, his spear hitting the ground in time with the movements. The fire around him responded, and began to swirl around him, coalescing around the glowing tip of his weapon...

[ardaron]

Two dragons flew over the grey mist, having come through the same portal that Ardaron had used.  One of them flew effortlessly, performing the occasional aerial maneuver to amuse himself, as though having to match pace with the other, slower dragon bored him.  Everything about him was built long and thin; his torso, neck, and tail combined gave him the look of a snake, his long, thin tail waving in the wind.  His skin was smooth, like a dolphin's, but a midnight blue shade, which faded into a periwinkle blue on his underside.  His head was swept back into an aerodynamic crest, which terminated in a dull point.  His snout resembled an eagle's beak, but filled with small, sharp teeth.  His slitted eyes were amber, and as alert as a hawk's, as well as cunning and intelligent.  His wings, built much like the rest of his body, were long, thin, and narrow; unlike those of Omni Dragon, they were bat-like wings, composed of what looked like liquid quicksilver.  Marring their surface were the only indication of this dragon's Fire Dragon heritage; stains of reds and oranges, which seemed to flow across the surface of the wings like fire (whether this was simply a trick of the light, however, was difficult to tell).  He wore nothing more than a pair of tight black shorts, with a strap over his tail.  He was a Flash Dragon, and his name was Ethriel.

Flying below and behind the first dragon was another, who was obviously struggling to stay aloft, as she looked enviously at her friend's ease of flight.  This dragon was the color of polished hematite, resembling a very dark steel color.  Her skin was iridescent, reflecting different colors as the light shone on it in different angles, but the most predominant colors reflected were a forest green and a light orange.  Her skin was smooth, with the faintest outlines of diamond-shaped scales etched onto her hide.  Her skin was jointed at her elbows, knees, wrists, ankles, and finger joints, as well as all along her neck, torso, and tail, allowing her movement, but also giving her the distinct appearance of a living, draconic suit of armor.  Her bat-like wings were likewise jointed, and matching the rest of her hide in color and texture.  Between her wings, two paper-thin, inch tall ridges of skin crisscrossed in diamond shapes, from the back of her neck all the way down her tail, with breaks to allow for the joints in the skin of her back, the ridges shortening and tapering off towards the tip of her tail.  Her forehead sported a twisted, unicorn-like horn that was iridescent to the point of not being able to tell its original color.  Her snout resembled a duck's bill, but much thicker, and lined with formidable teeth.  Her slitted eyes were forest green, and showed her shyness, but also an adventurous curiosity; they also had a certain femininity to them, such that even though the dragon didn't share the typical female build found in humans, you wouldn't mistake her for a boy.  She wore a green cloth tunic and dark blue leggings, and on each wrist she wore a very plain-looking, purple-tinted light silver bracelet.  She was a Mithril Dragon, and her name was Shaera.

"Okay, okay, how about this one," Ethriel said, having paused in their earlier conversation to think.  " 'Your aim is so terrible, you couldn't hit your own body if it weren't attached to you!' "  Shaera merely shrugged in midair, not exactly caring deeply about Ethriel's well thought-out battle taunts.  "Oh, come on!  That's one of my best!  An insult, plus it makes you have to stop and think about it," the Flash Dragon said rather proudly, trying to prod Shaera into talking to him.  He'd been talking to himself, more or less, for most of this time, and he was getting lonely.

His prodding wasn't working.  Shaera was much more focused on staying above the strange mist than on Ethriel's babbling, her wings making a slight metallic scraping sound with each beat.  She wasn't as light as most dragons, on account of her hard metallic skin, and was having to work to stay aloft.  Despite her focus, though, it was Ethriel who spotted what they were looking for first.

"Hey!  I think I see an island-ish looking thing!" he exclaimed, flying in a little loop-de-loop to backtrack to where Shaera was.  "How descriptive," Shaera said sarcastically, to which Ethriel responded, positively oozing sarcasm, "Oh my claws, it talks!"  This comeback turned out to be counterproductive for Ethriel, as it shut Shaera up again, and she didn't say anything more until they landed.

The two dragons touched down on the island in the mist, Ethriel standing on his amber-clawed, monkey-like feet, and Shaera on her silver-clawed wolf-like paws.  They headed to the door leading to the Circle, Ethriel leading the way.  The Flash Dragon looked up at the imposing building and said, "That looks like the place."  He was smiling deviously, a fact which made Shaera more than a little nervous.  Ethriel pushed the door open and walked in, heading to the bar with only a momentary glance at the Circles.  Ardaron was in the middle of taking a drink of water, unaware of the presence of his two friends, when Ethriel spoke.

"There's my little fighter!  Mommy and Daddy are here to see you!" Ethriel said completely unabashedly, the devious grin now replaced by a slightly more sincere-looking one.  It was all he could do to keep from laughing at himself as he introduced himself as the father of someone older than him.  Meanwhile, Shaera stood behind him, eyes wide and looking like a deer in the headlights, utterly confused.

Ardaron immediately started coughing on his mouthful of water, completely taken by surprise both by Ethriel's sudden appearance and his . . unexpected . . statement.  "Ah, don't worry yourself," Ethriel said to the sputtering Ardaron as he came up to the bar, Shaera following behind him, "I'm just seeing if off-worlders are as gullible as they say.  And embarrassing you, that's always a perk."  He looked around the bar to see how the various patrons had reacted to his act, grinning like a loon.

When Ardaron had stopped coughing enough to actually talk again, he said, "Yeah, it's good to see you too, Ethriel."  He spotted Shaera and added, "Hey, Shaera."  The female dragon was looking around, quite obviously nervous of all the people she didn't know, and somewhat shakily replied, "H-hey, Ardaron."

As the two of them took their seats at the bar, Ardaron politely introduced them to the bar's patrons.  "Shaera and Ethriel, these are Keaton, Stalker, Risky, Sebastian, Stephan, Syphon, and . . . well, I guess I don't quite know everyone here yet," the Omni Dragon said, pointing at each of the bar's patrons in turn, but blanking when he came to Cogidubnus and the mysterious pool player.  "Everyone, these are Shaera and Ethriel.  Don't mind Ethriel, he only acts like an idiot to throw people off guard.  At least, I'm /fairly/ certain he isn't really one."

[TheGreyRonin]

Syphon picked up the clothing from the table and got to his feet. Gathering his cloak as well, he walked slowly into the men's room to change.

Something brightly colored in blues and black fluttered in through the front door at high speed, zipping back and forth. It paused for a second, showing as a little blue woman with striped back and blue hair and blurred wings fluttering on her back. Her pupilless black eyes widened as she saw the battles going on in the circles, and she blurred into motion.

Her tiny form arrowed out into the courtyard to describe a blurred figure eight around the active circles, her tiny nose pressed against the invisible barrier that protected those outside from the effects of a duel. After at least nine or ten circuits she stopped, wobbled midair, then zipped inside the bar again.

She flew past Risky, circled the furry pool player twice, then arrowed over to the new dragon arrivals to reach out and touch them, then flew upside-down past Cog to hover before Stygian and make random wiggling motions with her hands that looked like bat wings, then looped three times around Keaton before heading for the bar.

All of this took about five seconds, and you could hear her chattering in a high, excited voice: "Ohheylookthey'refightingoutthere! andinhereissocool!whatchadoin'? areyouplayingpool? whydoyouuseastickwhenpawsaresomuchfaster? ooooooloookdragons! yourscalesaresoosmooth! canItouchthem? heyawolf! woofwoof! batman! lookIcanmakebatwingstoo! wowyourfurissopretty! howdidyougetyourspots? howcanIgetyourspots? doallofyourkindhavespots?"

As she finished this stream of words she reached the bar, where Stalker slammed an oversized hand down flat on her. His hand wriggled as she continued to move underneath, and you could still hear her voice rattling on, only muffled.

Stalker sighed. "Wonderful. We have Flits. At least we have a healer."

[Boog]

Tock was astounded at the new arrivals. First dragons, and then what appeared to be a fae! Dragons were rare where he came from, seeing as giant magical lizards, while good at many things, were bad at keeping low profiles. As for faeries... He knew a bit about faeries. He'd had the faerie experience. He waved good naturedly to the dragons and walked over to introduce himself, remembering his drink at the last second.
"Good afternoon to the both of you. I am Tock, one of those fellows your associate here doesn't know," he smiled, slightly, and took another sip of his drink, "I assume you're here to compete? it would appear that both circles are occupied, but at next opportunity would you, good sir," he nodded in Ethriel's direction, "Be interested in a match?" He jumped slightly as Stalker's hand came down on what had seemed to be a fae, but what on earth is a Flit?

[Stygian]

Moira couldn't target Giles as easily anymore, yet she still continued her barrage, letting the streams of energy rip and tear into the shield he had set up before him. The two power cores on her back worked in turns to provide cooling and energy for her torrent of fire, and she was charging a second weapon again, one that wasn't as direct as the lightning cannon or this burst cannon, but that packed more of an area punch. Trying to keep back and out of range, she kept firing until about a dozen seconds were left, when she stopped and a solid rod-like conductor within a sort of trap coil swung down beside her...

   Eyeing the two dragons very carefully, Stygian thought that Ardaron probably came from a world where certain magical rules applied all around. Or, at least, for its natives. He wasn't sure about the magical power or concentration, or the hazards of it, but at least it seemed interesting. As did these creatures. He decided that he could probably have a bit of fun with them.
   Slowly, he leaned back and ran a hand through his hair, and then he moved slightly as he made white-feathered wings begin to grow from his back. He smiled at the two dragons with one of those sharp grins that he seemed so good at and made a bit of a nod toward them.
   "Pleased to meet you."

[Cogidubnus]

Amidst the roiling inferno of flame, Giles let out a laugh. "You can't stay away forever, my dear!" he said, suddenly hafting his spear. "And you can't run anymore!" he yelled, throwing his weapon into the air. The spear arced towards and passed Moria, the weapon trailing fire behind it, leaving a afterimage of flame in the air. It landed with a thunk behind her, the burning tip easily penetrating the stone.
Giles suddenly quieted when it landed, and concentrated on the fire around him, his movements becoming large and broad, and the fire around him responded. His rhythm again changed, almost a meditative tempo – his arm and his body rising and falling in a steady beat. The fire lurched, and the wall of fire suddenly rushed forward, a tunnel of flames heading straight for the spear behind Moira.

[TheGreyRonin]

Risky watched as Stalker slammed his hand down on the winged woman, then sighed. "Great, time to hide the breakables." She turned back to the pool player, and smiled. "Mind if I join you?" she asked.

Stalker lifted his hand, and the tiny winged woman stood up, brushing at her outfit daintily. She smiled again, her eyes going wide, and she fluttered down the bar to hover in front of Tock.

"Oooo!" she chirped. "Pretty! How do you work? What's your name? Where do you come from? Does your face come off?" She pointed at his face, a look of childish wonder and amazement on her face.

[Stygian]

Shit, the machine-woman thought, rearing back with a bitter look on her face. She slammed those arms from her back into the ground, spinning and then throwing herself as quickly as she could away to the side, hopefully far enough that the flames wouldn't warm her heat exchangers too much. She didn't have time to charge up a shield - she had not expected him to be able to reach her anyway, and now she cursed as she paid the price.
   "Right then..." she said to herself, and swore. "I'll just have to make sure he doesn't move!"
   As a part of the fire flashed over her, burning over her metallic skin, she locked the conductor into place, and then, with a rapping, sizzling electric sound that ripped the air apart, the thing fired. There was no visible projectile. Rather, its discharge reached its goal nearly instantaneously, a small perfectly round hole being smashed in the fire before an explosion tore up the ground not far from Giles, and sent a shockwave as if from an artillery shell at him.

[ardaron]

The moment the Flit entered the room, Ethriel's alert eyes locked onto her; he missed nothing when it came to movement.  His form blurred slightly as he used his Agility, his senses speeding up until time seemed to slow down from his perspective.  He cranked it up until Flit seemed to be moving at a perfectly normal speed to him.  He grinned, as if to say, 'See?  I can do that too.'  He was able to do all of this before Flit had even made it to the Circles.  He watched the Flit's movements, tempted to follow her around just to see who was faster, but decided against it.  Still, he decided he liked the little creature, and as she flew around the room, he asked her, "D'you have a name?", speaking faster than average, but at a speed much closer to normal than the Flit's hyperactive voice.  When the Flit asked to touch him and Shaera, Ethriel held out an arm, indicating that he didn't mind at all.

Shaera, on the other hand, saw little more than a blurred figure except for when the Flit paused.  She watched the moving figure with all the interest of a cat watching a bird, paying little attention to what it was saying.  Interest turned into a slight sense of alarm, however, as the Flit zipped towards the bar patrons and began to fly erratically around the bar.  Shaera leaned back, trying to get out of the way as the Flit came up to touch her skin, and gave a low, barely audible growl to communicate that it might be in the small creature's best interest to stay away from her personal space.

Ardaron merely watched Flit with a slight smile at her cheerfulness and curiosity.  He then heard a different voice, and turned to see Tock, and his face showed that look that people have when they realize that they forgot something.  "I knew I was forgetting someone," he said, having heard Tock's name right before his own battle with Syphon.  In the confusion of the battle, it was no surprise that Ardaron had forgotten it.

Ethriel turned sharply to Tock as the construct addressed him; actually, from his perspective, he turned at normal speed, and it was Tock who was simply speaking incredibly slowly.  Ethriel's form blurred again as he slowed his senses and his movements back down to normal.  "I'd be glad to fight you, metal man.  If, that is, you think you can handle me."  He gave an arrogant smirk and adopted a matching arrogant pose, positively flaunting his blatant ego.

Ethriel nodded back to Stygian.  "Nice to meet you too.  . . Sebastian, right?" he said, thinking for a second before he remembered what Ardaron had said his name was.  Ethriel looked approvingly at the shade's wings.  "You can shapeshift, I take it?  Not bad," he added as he extended his own wings for comparison.  Shaera simply gave Stygian a nod to acknowledge his greeting, saying nothing.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

The pool player glances up at Risky, grunts something incomprehensible, nods, and waves a hand, as if to indicate that the current game needs to be completed before he can play anyone else, would Risky mind waiting for a moment.

He leans forward, focuses on the cue, and fires, sinking, in sequence, six or seven balls, before the black ball drops into a pocket, and the white spins to a halt, dead center of the D.

He glances over at Risky, and raises one eyebrow. "You want to rack up, or shall I?"

[Boog]

Tock raised an eyebrow at the speed with which Ethrial moved under normal conditions. Before answering, he raised a hand in a universal guesture for "gimme a sec" and rummaged in his bag for a minute or two, pulling out various small gears which disappeared into Tock's wrists, his neck, anyplace with exposed gears. Of course, this is when Flit chose to buzz by. Taking a couple seconds to mentally sort out what the creature had just said, he smiled good naturedly and replied as he continued with the gears.
"Thank you, by clockwork, Tock, New York, yes but don't try to do so yourself," He clicked one last gear into place, reached around to give his key a couple twists, and continued speaking a little faster than the Flit had been, "Anyotherquestions? Andasforyourinquerygoodsir,Imostdefinatlyplantotry."

[Gareeku]

No sooner had Gareeku finished his assault, Aisha was on the move again. Seeing her swing in for a kick, the wolf threw out a foot of his own, cancelling out her first move with his own kick. However, the pantheress' distraction attempt worked, as Gareeku stumbled forward after Aisha's strike to the back of his head worked.

Quickly recomposing himself, the wolf whirled around, not knowing if Aisha was continuing her assault. However, if she was, Gareeku held his sword across his body in a defensive style, ready to fend off any future attacks.

[Aisha deCabre]

While trying to execute her kick, she yelped in slight surprise as she was suddenly tripped by Gareeku and was starting to lose her balance, though at least when she fell that only brought the sword down a little less harder than she had intended...but it hit, which brought a sort of triumphant smirk to the panther's face.

She caught herself with a hand on the ground and instantly flipped back up again, starting to come up with another assault only to notice that the wolf had been ready, pausing with her sword held over her head before quickly bringing it down in front of her.  "Heh, scared you, did I?" she smirked, taking a humorous poke at his defensive position before walking backward a little bit and, surprisingly, taking out her boomerang.  He was at par with her on a close level, such so that it might have been a deadlock.  It was time for a new approach.

Aisha then hopped backwards a few feet through the ring, smirking in challenge...this time, she would see just how good he was at range, and her sword would be only for use as a shield.  "Catch me if you can," she said, flanking him from some feet off, before letting the thing fly...

[Cogidubnus]

Giles cursed violently at the earthquake-like shaking and stayed behind the wall of stone. The girl just kept running, just kept shooting. If this kept up, he was going to die, he knew. Growling from deep in his throat, his blue eyes began to smolder, and red points began to fleck the blue irises. "I am the LORD OF ASHES!" he suddenly yelled, the fire around him suddenly raging a superheated blue. "I have destroyed armies! I have brought kings and generals to their knees!" he screamed, the black iron armor softening in the inferno. He bent his arm and shattered the joint on his previously immobilized limb, freeing it, and suddenly brought himself to a standstill. The fire seemed to go of it's own volition, then began to fade.  It didn't matter - it wasn't hurting her anyway. But she could only run so far, after all, and there was certainly more than hot air that he had to throw at her.
He gripped the air in his hands, and deep somewhere beneath the earth you could hear something crack and break. He growled deep in his throat again, and his mouth gaped in a feral grin. He slowly raised each fist, the earth seeming to crack with each inch, and with a terrific roar the earth finally broke, rocks flying up from twin holes in the middle of the arena, followed by terrific gouts of liquid fire. The lava began to pool around the base of the hole and spread quickly, gouging holes in the stone where it flowed.
Giles laughed manically, the red spots in his eyes growing, and fire began to flow and swarm around his body.

[Gareeku]

Watching as Aisha backed away, Gareeku listened to what she said with a smirk of his own.
"Me? Scared? Please." he replied playfully. It was then, however, that the wolf saw the pantheress reach for her boomerang.
Shit...I don't have any long range attacks that aren't magic... Gareeku thought to himself with slight frustration.

When Aisha let the boomerang fly, Gareeku immediately made his move. However, instead of trying to dodge the incoming weapon, the wolf instead ran straight at it, towards Aisha's position. When the boomerang was at just the right distance, Gareeku jumped up into the air. As he flipped, he slashed out with his sword, the blade colliding with the boomerang in the hopes it would be knocked off of its course and away from him.

Landing back on his feet, Gareeku immediately resumed his run, closing in on Aisha as he brought his sword around in an effort to knock her's out of her hands. He knew that the boomerang would be returning, as boomerangs did, so he needed to be fast...

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha flinched slightly when Gareeku immediately parried her boomerang, causing the flying sawblade to be diverted and thrown to the side.  Clever... she thought, her mind racing while she tried to call the boomerang back to her hand and holding up her sword as a shield with the other.

The wolf was fast when he certainly wanted, and caught up to her as she started to zig-zag as a tactic to throw him off.  She was too distracted with trying to control the boomerang's path through the air, however, that her grip on the sword wasn't as tight.  With a CLANG as she tried to parry his blow, her blade flew from her fingers, the tip of his katana nicking her arm.  With a slight hiss, nothing more to acknowledge the pain, Aisha ducked away from him and swerved on the floor, attempting to trip him with her leg and buy some time before running up to catch the boomerang in her hand from behind him.

Whether it worked or not, she was now on the run, her sword lying just behind Gareeku.  She tossed the boomerang around again as a distraction while running to the side and hoping to grab it back...

[Gareeku]

Feeling a sense of inner satisfaction as he successfully knocked Aisha's blade out of her hands, Gareeku merely glanced at the nick the tip of his blade had caused before continuing. He knew Aisha was a strong warrior, and knew that a little cut like that wouldn't slow her down one bit. With this in mind, a sense of pride of fighting a talented individual welled up within him as he fought.

He would have no time to think about anything other than the battle, however, as out of the corner of his eye he saw the pantheress attempt to trip him. Not having time to react, the wolf was swept off of his feet, before quickly repositioning himself so that he landed in a one handed handstand before flipping back onto his feet.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, Gareeku was on the move again. However, he then noticed that Aisha's boomerang was again flying straight at him. However, his flipping would be fast enough, as the wolf felt a stinging pain on the side of his face. Shrugging this off, Gareeku continued to chase Aisha, a line of blood now running down the side of his face where the boomerang had nicked him.

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha watched her boomerang's path for just a moment, with satisfaction as it served its purpose of distraction, before she simply left her attention away from it.  She had been dashing around Gareeku, her eyes kept partially on him and on her sword on the ground.  As soon as he had started his pursuit, she dove for her blade, grabbing the handle and rolling on the ground past the wolf and behind him.

She stood to face him with the sword raised, pausing only to lick the blood from her arm, relieved to just stick with close-range as she was winded from running.  She started to catch her breath, the blade held up horizontally over her chest in defense as he came for her, claws digging into the ground.

The boomerang meanwhile had reversed its course and was starting to return, practically diving for them from practically in the wolf's line of vision to his left.

[TheGreyRonin]

Risky grabbed a cue stick from the rack and deftly began applying chalk to the tip. "You rack; I'll break," she said. "I'd like to get at least one turn in per game." She smiled wryly.

Flit clapped her hands as Tock changed parts and speed, like a four-year-old child watching a magician produce her birthday cake. "Oooooo! Tricks! I like tricks! More tricks! More! More!" she cried gleefully, whirling outwards in a spiral while giggling.

Stalker watched the winged creature flutter and sighed, then focused on the duel in the nearest circle. The man's abilities and talents where fire were concerned were impressive. "Most impressive indeed," he said out loud to no one in particular.