Sirya vs. Long Shin II - Arena Battle

[CaptainL]

As Long continued, asking Sirya about any weaknesses she knew about her captors and how to exploit them, the girl fell silent, then let out a sigh as her shoulders slumped dejectedly. It was then that she realized just what a disadvantage she was at. The Panther Women were feared through the Northern Forests for picking off unsuspecting travelers before they even knew what had hit them - but they relied on mobility and the cover of the woods to protect them, taking advantage of their familiarity of the terrain. This, though, was different. Now Sirya was being faced with fighting out in the open, where there were no trees to climb or bushes to hide in. Guerilla tactics would fail her here, and she was left needing to rely on only her natural aptitude.

"Whadda I know?" Sirya muttered with a pout. "I've always fought in the woods. We usually try to surprise people or set traps...how am I supposed to do that here?"

Even as Long responded, it meant little to Sirya, who let out a sigh and lay back down on the cot. A long period of silence passed, in which both were absorbed in their own heads. Sirya stared up at the dark stone ceiling above her; she didn't even have the familiar stars to remind her of her home. A sigh left her, and she murmured softly under her breath. "Doesn't matter...I'm still gonna win..." With that being said, the girl too drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow was when they would really be put to the test.

[Mkmd13]

Sirya was right. When Long first met her in the forest, it was a trap that was almost set off by him that alerted her to his presence. The way she moved around the forest during their fight made it hard for Long to get a solid hit on her. Knowing your terrain better than your opponent has a huge advantage during a fight and with Sirya now on an even playing field with everyone else, he wasn't so sure if things are going to go the same way again for her.

A small stream of light hit Long's eyes as the sun rose up. This jarred him awake as he almost forgotten where he was for a second and sat up with a fright. Long then looked down at his hands and saw that they were covered with sweat, along with his forehead. He knew he wasn't going to sleep well here, but nightmares must of plagued his mind while he was asleep. He just couldn't get any rest at all. Long then looked over towards the direction of Sirya's cell and said, "Hey... Are you awake yet?"

[CaptainL]

Although Sirya had some trouble falling asleep, when she did sleep, she slept hard - and even when she was on the cold, hard floor of a dark room, far from the open air she was used to, this would be no exception. She was sprawled out on her back, snoring rather loudly, when suddenly she heard a voice that broke her from her slumber. "GAH-!" Sirya jerked up straight off the ground, sitting up as she panted. Even after she had realized it was just Long, she was still a bit shaken.

"Yeah! I'm awake now, no thanks to you," she grumbled. "What's it to ya?" Crossing her arms, the girl pouted, wondering how long it was going to be before she got to win back her freedom.

[Mkmd13]

Long laughed slightly at her response to him waking her up, "I'm sorry if I woke you, but the sun's up and it seems like there is some stirring above us." As he said this, there was a couple more stomps upstairs that seem to now be walking away. Long summarized that they must be setting up for the tournament now. It was close to night when the man said that they had 24 hours to prepare. With no clocks on the wall, Long had no real gauge to how much longer they have, but it has to be less than 12 hours now.

"We don't have much time left. Are you ready?" He asked her, knowing full well that she probably was, but he just wanted to be sure. Another thing that was on his mind is who's going to be his first opponent?

[CaptainL]

"The sun-?" Sirya looked around, seeing the sun coming in through the small slits between bars set in the wall high up above her. While Long may have struggled with the lack of a clock, Sirya was used to telling time based only on the position of the sun, and in a dark room like this she was at even more of a disadvantage. Needless to say, she had lost track of the time - which meant, in turn, she didn't realize how close she was to being called up.

"Gah-!" The girl jumped in a panic, but before she could say a word, another man in blue and yellow came down towards them, taking a set of keys and unlocking their cells. Sirya growled at him, but he shot her a glare, clearly not taking the matter seriously. "Follow me." As the slaver turned down the hall, he would guide both of them to a small side room stocked with swords, spears, axes, and other weapons, as well as shields and helmets.

"Take whatever weapons you wish to bring and proceed to the floor above," he said. "As the newest acquisitions, you have first pick. Choose wisely." He then fell back to guard the doorway, watching the two fighters closely. Sirya grumbled to herself, going to the corner where she found her old spear, knife, and panther skin, all of which she was quick to put on. Better to stick to what she was used to, she thought. After this, she eyed Long, curious to see what he would go with.

[Mkmd13]

Just as Long was asking her if she was ready, one of the guards appeared in their view and unlocked both of their cages. Long kept his eyes fixated on him to make sure there was no funny business going on until her got out of his cell and saw Sirya emerge from hers as well. He could see a couple of bruises on her from when she was kidnapped, but besides that, she looked like she was in fighting shape. The guard then requested them to follow him and were led into a small room. Weapons of all kinds were littered throughout and Long examined each one with a glance around the room.

The guard then informed them that they can take whatever weapon they would like and then to go upstairs. After he said that, the guard then went back to the doorway and watched them from afar. Long watched as Sirya dashed for her own weapons and panther skin and equipped them. After that, Long shook his head and told the guard, "I have no need for weapons. My body is all that I need to win this tournament." Long then started to causally walk out the door and headed for the stairs.

[CaptainL]

Now finally allowed out into the hall, Sirya got a good look at Long for the first time since she had arrived here. She tilted her head to him somewhat, but ultimately shrugged her shoulders as she proceeded to the room indicated by their captors, grumbling to herself. She had bigger things to worry about, as far as she was concerned - after all, Sirya had a tournament to win, and she wasn't going to let anyone stop her.

She donned her equipment before turning out towards the door, passing by Long as he explained to the guard he didn't need anything. All Sirya did was roll her eyes. "Whatever, loser," she muttered, apparently not caring or not concerned with his previous display in which he turned himself into a hulking tiger-like beast before her eyes. All that said, Sirya went to a door as indicated by the guard, ready to face whatever was ahead of her.

When Long joined her too, they would find themselves standing at the edges of a great darkened room, but one where they could hear faint voices in the shadows. As more and more figures took their places in a circle, light would gradually rise on the scene, revealing they stood in an arena of sorts set up in what seemed to be a basement - if a very spacious one, where crowds of onlookers were standing around the room and chanting; they lined all sides of the walls. Before this audience were a number of men and women of all shapes and sizes, with skin and hair in numerous hues and armed with all sorts of armor and weapons; it was indeed an extensive selection of humanity. Beneath their feet, sand covered the floor, and directly in front of them, the man who had brought them here in the first place.

"Citizens of this fair city," he spoke, "I bid you welcome! Gathered tonight are my fine collection of warriors from the far corners of this world, standing before you ready to determine who is the greatest fighter of all! It is only they who may prove themselves worthy of such a gift who may win their freedom!" Sirya crossed her arms, letting out a huff at this. She was, rather noticably, the smallest of all of them, but it didn't seem to bother the girl.

While the crowd cheered, one particular warrior stepped out, a rather large and imposing man carrying a tall shield in one hand and an axe in the other. A helmet topped his head, crested with a vivid red plume. "Who wishes to be the first to fall?"

[Mkmd13]

It seems as though the show was about to begin. Sirya and Long walked side by side into the arena and watched as more men and women would join them. Lights began to flicker alive and lit the faces of all the other combatants, each one looking fiercer than the other one. The crazy thing was though that there were just as many females as there were males. Back on Earth, this kind of thing is completely dominated by males with a few females sprinkled in, "Interesting... Very interesting. Long would comment about this.

The leader of this began to speak and explained to the audience on what was going on. Sirya didn't seem to pleased by this as Long watched her cross her arms. Then, a male warrior walked to the center and gave out a challenge. Long wasn't sure how this tournament is structured, but I guess it's a first come, first serve basis. Long thought to himself for a quick second before stepping forward, "I shall be your opponent."

With that, Long walked a few more steps before he reached the center of the arena and met face to face with his foe. Long then turned towards the leader of all of this and waited for further instructions on when to begin the fight.

[CaptainL]

Hearing Long comment on the composition of the fighters, Sirya looked over in his direction and raised her eyebrow. As someone who grew up around warrior women, the sight of armed females was hardly unusual for her, even if it may have been for even some of the spectators - but variety and uniqueness was what drew eyes. The young panther merely shrugged her shoulders, waiting for the time for her to join the fray. When the first contestant stepped up, even despite the considerable discrepancy in size, Sirya began to smirk - but she was cut off as Long stepped up to meet his challenge, and she let out a huff as her shoulders slumped. She'd have to wait more, it seemed. And she just wanted a chance to fight something already.

For now, she would stand back, crossing her arms and tapping her feet as Long stepped up to face the armored man. He laughed, pointing his axe in Long's direction. "You? Bah...this should be over quickly enough!"

Looking over at the officiator of the tournament, Long saw him step back to sit on a throne against the side of the arena, where he gave a signal. "Let the games...begin!" he said, and his proclamation was punctuated then by the sound of a gong echoing through the room. The warrior before Long was quick to act, coming charging in closer as he held his shield before him and his axe above his head, ready to strike.

[Mkmd13]

As the warrior pointed his weapon right at him, all Long did was just stare straight down it and into the eyes of his opponent. His glasses would flash from the flickering lights and didn't flinch an inch. With a little bit of a huff, Long said to his opponent, "Cockiness is the first sign of a weak opponent." He would then push up his glasses to his nose and waited for the officiator of the tournament to signal for the beginning of the match.

When he did, Long wasted no time to get the first strike on his opponent. Once the ax was out of his face, Long crouched down into a fighting stance and quickly leaped forward off of his back foot with his right fist outwards. With how quickly Long moved, it looked like a blur to most of the audience and depending on how keen his opponent was, it may just be the same thing to him. His fist aimed directly for the bridge of his nose.