Sparring with CircumstanceIndex | Time Under Chaos | Game Logs | PreGameLogs | Sparring with Circumstance Participants: Amba, Helena The day had been longer than Amba had thought possible. She'd been poked and prodded, while all manner of people had to varying degrees pretended not to poke and prod her. Truly, it was a training of sorts- she had learned a lot. But she also recognized that she was being assessed, and she feared what the results would be if she didn't live up to standards. Where would she go if she couldn't stay? She had received the impression that her adoption into House Heldt was not a little thing, but she didn't know if it could be recinded- after all, it had been done sight unseen. At least this part she knew she was passingly good at. She'd been told to report here- Hendrake was a fighting house, and as a member of one of its vassals, she had to know how. So here she was. It was featureless- the room, that is- plain, amorphous, white... The walls and floors had a spongy feeling to them- all the better to absorb impacts, she'd supposed. Waiting, she went through her stretching exercises, then began to explore the room as an opponent was not forthcoming. She was supposed to be facing Jaleel- apparently, an indication that they thought well of her potential, according to Tatjana. Yawning, she began to go through another exercise, wishing that she had some sort of weapon to practice with. As the thought went through her mind, her hand passed through the surface unexpectedly, throwing her off-balance. As she pulled her hand forth, she noticed that some of the wall came with it- a bit of amorphous fluff that reminded her of nothing so much as cotton candy. Even before her eyes, the fluff began to elongate, the surface taking on the appearance of wood as it became a quite useable staff. She tested it with a series of kata, and it whizzed through the air rather satisfactorily- not too stiff, and not too flexible. Even as she directed the stave through the air in her kata, she was aware of the wall opposite her turning into a door, blistering open into the hallway beyond the practice cube. She turned to look to see who was entering, prepared for anything. Helena, dressed in a light blue training suit, poked her head and upper body in through the doorway. Just the suit itself was noteworthy--light blue when all the other clothing Amba had seen at Hendrake was black, red, or white. "How would you like to put those staff skills to good use?" Helena asked, giving Amba a secret smile. "I have something I want to show you that I think you'll be a natural at." "Sure," Amba said enthusiastically, surprised in spite of herself at Helena's appearance. Then she said hesitantly, "I was supposed to be meeting someone else, apparently- this won't get us in trouble, will it?" The corner of Helena's mouth quirked. "I have Jaleel's blessing for this little foray, so don't worry." The smile again returned unreserved to her face at Helena's words. Amba straightened, holding her quarterstaff at attention beside her as she bowed deeply. After she had again straightened, she said, "By all means, then! I was getting bored waiting." "You can say that to me, but don't ever admit that to Jaleel," Helena said in a low voice as she led Amba down the corridor. "You'll be doing drills until you can't see straight, and then more after that." She flashed Amba a conspiratorial smile. "Believe me, I know from personal experience. Amba returned her smile self-consciously. "So how has your first ten-day at Hendrake been?" She shrugged non-committally. "It's been ... interesting. To say the least. A lot of people seem to be very interested in me, and I don't know why. I mean, I can't do half of the things that many here can- I don't really have a feel for Chaos, and I'm just ... me." She shrugged again, looking at the white featureless floor as she scuffed it with her foot. "And it seems like I don't even really know anything... That people know more about me than I do, but won't tell me." Helena glanced at Amba from the corner of her eye. She looked up again. "Frustrating. I guess that's the right word." She sighed. "So, what did you want to show me?" she said, trying to lighten the mood. "We'll be there in a minute," Helena replied mysteriously. She glanced at Amba again. "You still have that meeting with my stepfather coming up and you might find out some answers there. Are you...interested...in digging a bit and trying to find out what everyone except you seems to know?" "Definitely," Amba said enthusiastically. "But I don't want to get you involved in my troubles- I don't want to cause trouble for you.," she said hesitantly. "Trouble for me? Nah... You're an enigma, a riddle, and the mystery surrounding you is providing me with the possibility of all sorts of interesting diversions in my otherwise mundane and predictable existence. I should thank you," Helena grinned. Amba's answering smile was radiant, as was the blush that suffused her cheeks. "No, really..." she responded, "you've been so helpful, and it seems so inadequate... thank you." Helena smiled at Amba's blush. "You're welcome. Look...here we are." Their corridor opened up onto a wide and long pedestrian bridge spanning a flat plain which stretched into the far distance on either side. Squares lined the plain, all divided into grids, some with ten units on a side, some fifteen or twenty. People stood in the squares, some holding weapons and some empty-handed, or off to the side watching. It took Amba just a moment to realize that some sort of game was going on, though the basic rules or goals were not quite so apparent. All the players wore light blue suits like Helena's, distinct from each other by the colored stripes on the sleeves. "Come watch over here," Helena said as she stopped at the side of the bridge and looked down. From their vantage point above Amba and Helena had an excellent view of the proceedings. A large square, maybe sixty meters or so on a side and divided into a twenty by twenty grid, stretched out below them. Two players stood inside the grid, one on a grid square that glowed purple in color, the other on a grid square of orange. Various other grid squares also glowed purple and orange, the remainder black. Helena raised her hand palm up, like a maestro ordering a crescendo, and the noise from the square below increased even as the ambient noise around them faded away. The player below closest to them, a young man with black hair holding a stave and standing on an orange grid square, called out in a strong voice, "Peacock Fans His Tail!" He took a breath and let it out as he swung his stave and started his movements—fast, precise, and complicated, they joined the warm beauty of dance with the cold effectiveness of martial strikes and blocks. Within a minute or two he was done, his last movement a sweep with the stave over his head. A figure standing on a floating platform and clothed in the dark blue robes of a judge raised his hand in acceptance of the player's effort. Scattered applause wafted up to Amba and Helena as the player bowed to the judge and moved three grid squares closer to his opponent, each square turning orange as he stepped on it. "This is the Karin Sword Dance. The winner of the original game played in the shadow of Karin became king after he killed his opponent. The Hendrake version is not quite so deadly," Helena explained. "The man that just took his turn is Tam from Orange Squadron. He's one of the better players." Amba watched, rapt. "The movements... though you call them by different names, they seem like kata that I have learned in my studies," she said, her attention still fully on the game. "See- that one is Swallow in the Grass," She said, pointing to Tam's opponent. "But if it is truly the same form, then he did it badly," she added, matter-of-factly. And sure enough, the judge did not raise his fan, and another voice announced Tam's turn. She had become fully engrossed in the proceedings, watching as Tam slowly restricted his opponent's possible moves. Finally, after performing the particularly spectacular form of "Serpent whips his Tail", Tamm bowed to his opponent who was next to him. "Tam challenges Selucius to duel for Endgame," the disembodied voice announced. Selucius bowed towards Tam, then in a clear voice said, "Dray." The judge nodded, and both combatants held out their hand, grasping the weapon that appeared from the nothingness. Leaning forward over the bridge, Amba asked in sparest words, "They fight now?" "Yes," Helena replied. "In this version they only fight for points, but other versions are more...bloody." As the weapons began to rezz into being, it seemed as though they were ordinary quarterstaves, but their full appearance marked them as anything but. Orbs of a copperish looking metal weighted both ends of the staff, adorned with runes that seemed to twist and writhe in the grey light suffusing the ground. Amba noticed that the sparring seemed to draw more of any audience than the actual game, for the crowd had begun to grow thicker as people migrated in from other arenas. Tam stepped back, holding his weapon at guard, while Selucius almost lazily twirled his in his hands. "Tam challenges Selucius for endgame control of the board," the voice chimed again. "3 minute match commencing in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ..." "Start." Tam began to circle counter clockwise, attempting to flank his opponent, while for his part, Selucius merely turned, his motions smaller than his opponents. As he finally moved to close with Tam, Selucius skipped from tile to tile, staying on the sparse areas of his colour with an agility that was incredibly controlled, never losing sight of his opponent. Tam cut diagonally towards him, and if he had been more decisive could have attained the flanking position that he seemed to desire. But he was too cautious, not taking advantage of his opponents reduced mobility agressively enough, allowing Selucius to meet his charge. Amba's eyes narrowed at the clash, her lips parting slightly as she drank in the sight. Spinning quickly, Selucius hooked the ball of his dray against the rear of Tam's foot, which was placed slightly off center. Amba had seen the opening also, and expected that Tam would fall- but not as he did. For as contact was made, the ball on the end of the dray lit up with energy, throwing Tam back in his fall. It seemed a rather uneventful fall, but Tam looked inordinately nervous at his positioning- and Amba made the connection. They were limited to their own colour, and Tam had come dangerously close to landing in the Selucius's sparse territory. Selucius grinned ferally, as he began to spin his dray once again, stepping lightly to squares of his own colour. "They have to stay on their own color, or they lose the match, I take it?" Amba asked Helena half rhetorically, not taking her eyes off of the match. "So Tam is the better strategically, but must defeat Selucius in skill at arms to win- where Selucius is obviously his better... Interesting," she said. She fell silent as Tam began to circle, reluctant to engage. "Tam holds so much of the board- Selucius can't really get the upper ... Oh!" Amba breathed, watching as Selucius put her theory to naught. As Tam jumped over neutral territory, retreating from his opponent, the spin of Selucius' dray increased, as the ends lit with sorcerous power. The dray left Selucius' hands arcing as pure energy towards Tam, clipping his shin just as he was in the midst of his leap. Tam fell solidly in the monochrome space, even as the dray rematerialised in Selucius' hand. "Point to Selucius," the voice chimed again, as the color of a third of Tam's territory reverted back to neutral. "I think I could grow to like this," Amba said, looking to Helena, her eyes almost aglow with excitement. "Will you teach me?" "That was sorta the point," Helena chuckled. "When do you want to start?" Amba thought for a moment- but only a moment. "Now?" she said, hopefully. Helena laughed. "All right—now. Follow me." Helena led Amba across the bridge, the sounds of the games—weapons striking, spectators cheering, subdued conversations—wafting up as they walked. As they proceeded to cross, Amba stood towards the edge, dividing her attention between Helena and the competitions in progress. "This game was a godsend for me," Helena confided in Amba in a low voice. "You see, you're not allowed to use shapeshifting or sorcery, unless it's a special variant. As Helena's voice became quieter, Amba focussed more of her attention on her, to better be able to understand what she said as they walked. "I can't shapeshift—well, I can some, but not beyond what's needed for survival—and this puts me at a disadvantage in just about anything I do in the Courts." Helena carefully avoided looking at Amba as she continued talking. "I found that I can do this game, and it's one thing I can do here better than most everyone else and it _doesn't require shapeshifting_." Amba looked quite thoughtful at Helena's words, the games forgotten as she focussed on the other woman. They reached the end of the bridge and Helena led them through a closed wall and into a staging area. Players congregated here, some talking and joking, some demonstrating technique. A small demon with eight arms passed out practice weapons while another taller demon with red skin doled out uniforms and towels from behind a counter. Helena walked up to the red-skinned demon and signalled to it. It smiled back, showing yellow fangs, and passed a folded, light-blue uniform to her. Amba cocked her head, studying the demon. She noted it's reaction to Helena, and took it that she was here a lot for her to be known. "Here," Helena said, tossing the uniform to Amba. It was like the one Helena was wearing, only where her arm stripes were red and grey, on Amba's uniform they were red, blue, and black. "I had a feeling you'd want to try this, so I went ahead and ordered a suit for you," Helena explained. "There are stairs outside this area to your right. Go ahead and change and I'll meet you at the bottom. Bring your staff—we can start with that." Amba nodded, once briefly, as she caught the uniform- barely for her attention had been more focussed on the demon. Helena left Amba and the wall closed up behind her, leaving a red circle to mark where the door was. Smaller rooms led off the main staging area, presumably one of them a place to change. Amba quickly found a place to change, and though several things piqued her interest, none enough to distract her from her single minded dedication to the task of dressing. Seeing nowhere immediately to place her own things, and lacking the patience to figure it out, she folded her own suit and held it under her arm as she dashed out towards where Helena had indicated, almost running into another combatant as she did. "Sorry," she said abashedly as she made her way to where Helena was. She led Amba away from the bridge and main areas. Somewhere Helena had also acquired a staff like Amba's and she spun it idly as they walked, humming a tune under her breath. The path they followed was wide enough for both to walk abreast, and it wound around a bend of rock and through a short tunnel, afterwards which it branched off at seemingly random intervals. Helena took a branch to the right made of brick pavers set in a herringbone pattern that followed a dry creek bed the color of old bone. This path was narrower and they were forced to travel one behind the other. Though nothing grew along the brick path or the creek, within the dry bed little lizards startled at their approach like skittish fish, something unseen sang in the shadows of the rocks that stopped as they passed, and the rather large, hairy leg of what was perhaps a spider or similar arachnid disappeared behind a boulder. "Stay on the path," Helena warned ominously. They walked over a stone bridge that spanned the creek bed and through an archway on the other side. Once Amba stepped through the archway, she found herself high in the clouds of a stormy purple sky, a ten by ten grid marked in front of her in the turf grass of the plateau they stood on. Behind her stood an identical archway to the one at the foot of the bridge. "I spend a lot of my time here working on forms, " Helena told Amba as she twirled her staff again, this time in figure-eights. "When I first started coming here, the sky was pale grey and the plateau bare. Then I noticed grass growing, and then the sky started to shift to violet. Sometimes it's not overcast and you can see stars." Helena stopped her twirling and leaned against the staff as she regarded Amba. "What are you most afraid of?" she asked. Taken slightly off guard at the unexpected question, Amba looked at Helena in silence for a moment, before answering. "Rejection, I suppose," she said hesitantly. Helena gazed back, her expression solemn. "I can see that, given what you've told me about your Guardian. If you look at it dispassionately, why do you think he meant for you to feel that way?" Amba was silent for a long moment, and it was obvious from her expression that she was not noticing the surroundings, or even Helena- but was in some past event. "I ... don't think he meant for me to feel this way, really." She shrugged, "I don't think he even really knew... how to relate to anyone, much less me." Helena straightened. "In my experience," she said softly, "everyone has an ulterior motive, parents and guardians more than most." "Oh?" Amba said. "Your relationship with your father seems to be normal. Well, at least to me, from what I know." Helena smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Remember I told you that I can shapeshift, but only enough needed for survival? A reflex, not something I can control. You might wonder how I found this out." She exhaled and started her figure-eights again. "One afternoon, when I was fifteen, during my midday meal I ate a poisoned pear. I was by myself in my rooms at the time when I suddenly felt my throat constrict. There was no time to even call out for help. "Within seconds I couldn't breath at all and I fell to the floor choking, sure I was going to die. As my sight dimmed, I felt...my body shift. It felt like flowing water. No, silkier than that, like squeezing custard in my hand." Helena smiled briefly at the unlikely simile but then shook her head. "As I writhed on the floor I saw my stepfather come into the room. He didn't interfere, even though he's a doctor--he just watched, and I saw him put something away in his vest pocket, something that glinted. "I was breathing by that point with some sort of gills on my sides--I know those are the respiratory organs of aquatic animals, but that's what they looked like. Torren talked to me quietly, and as I calmed down I reverted back. By this time the constricted feeling was gone and I could breathe normally. Torren told me that the poison was one that broke down after a short period of time so that it couldn't be detected in the dead person's bloodstream. Effective against those that couldn't shift, and wasn't it lucky that it turned out I could?" Helena slammed the end of her staff into the ground. "I thought about this later. Whoever poisoned me had a very small window in which it would be effective. Luckily they just happened to choose to taint the pear, and pears just happen to be my favorite fruit so I ate it first. Luckily my stepfather just happened to step into my room at the right time--I don't remember hearing him knock first. And luckily--or not--while he knelt beside me I caught a glimpse of what he had in his vest pocket--a hypodermic syringe." As Amba absorbed what Helena said, her eyes began to grow wider. "You don't mean... I mean... you don't think he...." "I think he did poison me, and I think he came in when he did to make sure I survived. I think his syringe held the antidote, which he put away when he saw I was indeed shifting. "So when I say everyone has ulterior motives, I say it from personal experience, and I believe it applies even to your Guardian," she finished grimly. Then Helena broke into an ironic smile. "Present company excepted, of course. I have no ulterior motives. Do you?" "One would have to have motives to have ulterior ones," she answered. "I fear that I am much too undirected when it comes to such things." She was silent a moment, absently looking down at the field beneath them. "If you don't mind me asking- what is your worst fear? You seem so confident, so self-assured, that I wonder if anything scares you or makes you apprehensive." She looked up, waiting. Helena smiled faintly. "You answered me, so I owe you." She paused for a moment, considering, then replied, "My greatest fear is to be used by others in some game that I have no knowledge of nor control over. My initial reaction, rather than to become afraid, is to get angry. Really angry. The fear comes later, in my bedroom, when the lights are out and I'm alone. "Enough introspection," Helena declared as she raised her weapon defensively. "Try to knock my grip from my staff." Amba was a bit slow in response, still thinking of what Helena had told her. She smiled at her words, nodding. Finally, Amba spun her staff, feeling, rather than seeing it thump into the ground beside her as she drew erect. Bowing to Helena, she drew herself up, slowly, spinning the staff in the opposite direction. Bringing the staff around, she struck towards Helena's staff, the smile gone from her face. Helena spent the rest of the session testing Amba in her skill with the various weapons used in the Sword Dance and in her knowledge of various forms. Sessions after that were devoted to developing Amba's already extraordinary potential. Helena treated her new student with kindness and respect, patiently pointing out mistakes and areas where Amba could improve. This was much unlike Amba's previous guardian, and perhaps that was the point Helena was trying to make. Amba discovered that the Sword Dance was just that most of all--a dance. The forms, though martial in nature, required an element of grace to perform well--especially the advanced ones. Helena, tapping from her previous training in dance, taught Amba the forms from a dance perspective moving into the martial, rather than from the more traditional martial perspective moving into the dance. Amba discovered in herself a natural aptitude for the forms and excelled at them. Although there was an established teacher/student relationship in place between the two of them, Helena was pleasantly surprised to discover a friendship growing as well. Amba helped fill an empty hole in her soul left when Clytemnestra was taken away, a hurt Helena had lived with so long she'd forgotten it was there. Though Helena had more experience, it wasn't long before they were playing the Sword Dance on more equal terms. During the learning phases, while Amba became oriented to the game, the women practiced in the privacy of the gardens. This was perfectly fine with Amba- she and Helena seemed of a like mind, and not only in their sparring was this evident, but in everything they did together. Though she knew firsthand the importance of practice against a variety of opponents, she was not in a hurry to move to the level of practicing amongst the other players. But, eventually that day came, sooner than she would have wanted. Every fortnight, there was an informal competition amongst Sword-Dancers, and all that enjoyed the sport, whether competing or not, showed up for the event. Workshops drilling common, and not so common strategies were held, and the use of various weapons and tactics were demonstrated. It had apparently started with just a few rivals showing up, fighting amongst themselves and showing off new moves to gain face, but had morphed into something much larger. Even though it was 'informal', the practice of fighting rivals was still existed, and was taken very seriously. Though serious injuries happened rarely in Sword-Dancing, a disproportionate amount of them happened at this event. This was the very event that Helena had taken Amba to for her first introduction to the sport- but now Amba found herself on the sidelines with Helena rather than on the far-away bridge. Though uncomfortable at first, as they received a lot of attention from Helena's status amongst the Sword-Dancing community, Amba found herself drawn in, cheering for one combatant or another, and commenting on various styles. So engrossed was she, that she didn't notice the pair of Sword-Dancers that approached them until they were almost upon the women. The pair were a mismatched sort- one almost rail thin, his skin slate grey and his face almost featureless, other than a pair of eyes stuck into his sallow flesh like coals, and a slit for a mouth. Though an expression would be hard to read, it was not hard to discern that he was not the life of very many parties. He faded into the background when compared to his companion, a man of red-tinged skin, his perfect physique outlined by his jumpsuit, an easy smile on his face outlined by the almost reddish orange goatee and moustache that impeccably surrounded it. His aquiline features were almost perfect, marred only by a slight scar on his right cheek, though most would say that it gave him character and a roguish air, rather than detracted from his beauty. Two almost vestigal horns jutted from his forehead, framed by the long locks that flowed down his back. It was he that bowed to the ladies first, his comrade only following suit after a brief pause. "Lady Helena, it is a pleasure to see you this fine day," he said, the dulcet tones of his voice very charming, to go along with the exterior beauty of his countenance. But Helena knew otherwise- Crygst was one of the more aggressive Sword-Dancers on the circuit- very good and very dangerous. Though it was hard to cheat in an officiated Sword-Dance, it was less so in these impromptu matches on the field, and he was most wily when it came to skirting the rules to win at any cost. His companion Grsnk was actually more palatable to be around- at least he was honestly surly rather than hiding his true nature behind flowery words. "And this young woman must be the reason that we see you so rarely," he continued, his golden hued eyes focussing on Amba. "Aren't you going to introduce us?" "Crygst, a unique pleasure to see you, as always," Helena replied levelly, though the tinge of sarcasm didn't pass by Amba unnoticed. Used to Helena's biting wit, Crygst took it in stride, his perfectly formed expression never changing as he bowed at the introduction. "Amba, this is Crygst and his friend Grsnk--" the sound Helena made when pronouncing Grsnk's name sounded as if she was clearing her throat, "--both of House Hendrake. And this is Amba, of House Heldt." "Ah," Crygst said. "This is the much talked about Amba. You have created quite a stir... And I can see why." Though a benign enough statement, something about the way it was delivered sent a shiver down Amba's spine, though she suppressed it admirably. Helena cocked her head and regarded the pair. "I heard that Tamarren from Orange had an recent accident involving a wild basilisk. Weren't you supposed to compete with him tonight? That's lucky for you, since I'm positive he and his partner would've wiped the board with you and Grsnk. Lucky and so...very...convenient." She paused a beat and smiled sweetly at Crygst. This time, Crygst's expression did change, if only briefly, as he looked back towards Helena. "If he couldn't handle a wild basilisk, he surely couldn't have handled us." He stopped briefly to compose himself, before continuing in a feigned offhanded tone, "Besides, the oddsmakers didn't seem to agree with your assessment even before they had to unfortunately bow out." "Which reminds me," he continued, "I didn't see you on the lists this evening... But I did hear sources say that you two have been practicing quite fervently. Why is..." He stopped himself in mid-question. "Ah... You couldn't get on the lists because they were already full- that must be it. But with Tamarren dropping, there is a free spot, and I'm sure we can get you on... Though your mother might be of questionable heritage, if you drop the Ishtar name, they'll put you on- after all, *everyone* is curious about your new... Partner." He looked back towards Amba, "So what do you say, are you up to it?" Though she didn't back down, Amba was quite surprised that the question was put to her, and found herself without words to respond. Amba could see in Helena's face anger barely controlled. Though she knew Crygst was purposefully goading her, part of her was so very tired of the half-breed remarks that she didn't much care. "Half-blood is still far superior to anything I see here tonight. Shall we prove it to these arseholes, Amba?" Helena asked, not taking her eyes from Crygst's face. Bolstered by her friend's aggressive stance, Amba answered, "Actually, I don't think there's anything to prove." Crygst shifted his attention from Helena to Amba, taken aback as much by her change in attitude as her words. "Oh, wait. Let me rephrase. I don't think that we have anything to prove. But we can most certainly allow them to try to prove that they aren't as ... impotent ... as they appear to be." Crygst flushed a putrid green, even as he struggled to regain his composure. "We'll see you on the field, then," he said in measured tones as they backed away from the women. "On the field," he said lamely as they finally turned to stalk away. As she stood on the field, the crowds around abuzz with excitement and anticipation, Amba was strangely calm. The rules for team events were a little different than those that she and Helena had been practicing, but after they were explained, Amba knew that they didn't matter overmuch. The only real differences were the fact that on their turn, either of them could move, but not both- well, unless they did synchronized forms, which were apparently very rare. Add to that the fact that they both used the same colour, and any challenge included all 4 players, and that both players had to be eliminated separately, and you had the bulk of the changes. She looked over at Helena and smiled, even as a huge red raven alighted on the platform above the field and shimmered into the form of their judge. Helena gave her a thumbs-up and turned toward the judge at the sound of the announcement. "Tonight, we have a special challenge- a last minute addition," the disembodied voice said. "Crygst and Grsnk of House Hendrake will oppose Helena of House Ishtar, and Amba of House Heldt. As Crygst and Grsnk are ranked, their team will have first move." Amba had expected this- usually the higher ranked goes first, but even though Helena was ranked higher than either of their opponents, since Amba was unranked, their team would lose the advantage. Crygst took the first turn, and performed a surprisingly difficult form flawlessly, immediately taking a movement askew towards Amba's edge of the board. Wanting to wait to see how his next move developed, Amba nodded to Helena to take their move. Helena chose an advanced form--cocky for this early in the game, for it raised the overall standard of what the judge would accept for subsequent turns--but if completed correctly it would afford her a move of substantial distance diagonally to the opponent of her choice. Essentially martial in nature, the form took her arms through a series of precisely placed arcs as she performed elaborate kicks, ending with a back aerial flip with a half-twist so she landed in a ready position facing the opposite direction. The Monkey Escapes the Tiger was one of Helena's signature forms, enamored as she was with the back flip and half-twist. She performed it excellently, her movements graceful and flowing, and stuck the landing of the back flip with no noticeable bobble. The crowd around their field applauded and whistled, enjoying the show. Their fervor increased when the judge signalled acceptance of the form and Helena, a smirk on her face and swagger to her step, took a position diagonally of Crygst that placed her near Amba. Either Helena had little faith in Amba's ability to protect herself--Why then would she have suggested the challenge and started off with such an advanced form? That made no sense--or she was singling Crygst to take him out personally. Knowing what Amba did of Helena's pride, the latter was much more likely. Grsnk motioned to Crygst, but Crygst only had eyes for Helena- with both beginning movements being so advanced, they had pretty much dissected the board. If Amba and Grsnk didn't start to develop soon, they would definitely be at a disadvantage. Though Grsnk looked on angrily, Crygst took the next move, slightly more conservative as he performed a simpler tier 3 kata flawlessly. While it was true that he could only move forward and to the sides, he took that opportunity to move directly into Helena's path, waggling an eyebrow at Helena as he cut her off. Since they were far from initiating endgame, her only options were to try to move around him, which would require another advanced tier 3 kata, retreat, or let Amba form up with her, which would effectively cut off Crygst's gambit. Amba looked on concerned, but left the choice to Helena as to who would move. Helena smiled wickedly at Crygst and signalled to Amba that the next move was hers. Amba nodded, her return smile confident. She brought her hands to her sides, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and brought her right hand in front of her watching as it lowered to the perfect point at the perfect angle, feeling her left hand come to the correct place. For the first time, she was using her skills in a way she chose, not according to her guardian, or a fight for life and death, but in support of a friend in a benign environment. As her arms flowed through the Mysterious Bamboo Hand of Calmness form, her body was merely exercising muscle memory as she meditated on her life and what it had been up to now. She realized that all that her life had been was her fault- for not taking the initiative in it, and not standing up for herself. She had to take control of her own life, and only in that way would she ever be satisfied in herself, or confident in her abilities. She had to decide what she wanted, and go after it. As she finished the difficult technique- made all the moreso by the limited space she had to operate in, she resolved that never again would circumstance dictate her life. Opening her eyes, she looked at Helena, smiling. It was only then that she realized that the sound that she was hearing was applause at the execution of the form. She blushed slightly as she scribed an arc, cutting off Crygst's only path forward. As she, Helena, and Crygst stood adjacent to each other, she saw the frustration and anger in his eyes, and the pride in Helena's and was content. Stymied, Crygst was preparing to take their teams' turn, when Grnsk made a fierce sound, chopping with one hand across his lean neck. Crygst turned to look at him with eyes of fire, but finally nodded. His options cut off by Crygst's rush to get to their opponents, Grnsk had the choice of either wasting a move to get into play, or attempting a hard form of his own. After seeing Helena and Amba's performances, there really was only one choice. Beginning in the stance Vision of Crane, Grnsk began a kata that was uncharacteristic of the dour combatant. Soft in form, his hands flowed before him in the Ten Hands movement before he took to the sky in a triple spin, lashing out at imaginary opponents as he moved through the form for View the Sky. One gray foot darted out, abruptly ending the spin as he rooted into the ground, not wobbling at all, bringing his other foot down as he advanced into Cloud Hand form, its deceptive motions showing a grace that one would not have thought the gray skinned man had. When he finally stopped, applause sounded for his execution as the judge accepted the form. He moved diagonally into the previously unoccupied space, claiming virgin territory for them in an area that had been heretofore neglected. Murmurs rippled through the audience as they realized that at only the third turn of the game, they were almost at endgame, where sparring would play a role. Again, Amba deferred to Helena to make the choice of movements, as she knew the other woman had a greater understanding of the tactics involved. There were not enough squares captured yet to issue a challenge--over one-half of the board needed to be claimed first. "I'll be back," Helena whispered to Crygst before turning away from him to study the field. They'd effectively blocked out Crygst from the rest of the game. He was left to either amuse himself by capturing squares that required less complicated forms--thereby losing some face since Helena had already established such a high standard--or try to move around the block, which would cost him several turns. Helena considered implementing a similar strategy with Grnsk. She and Amba had a distinct advantage in accomplishing this, though it was possible Crygst would defer his movement to his partner so Grnsk would have a chance not to suffer a similar fate. It was with this in mind that Helena attempted another tier 3 form which would let her move askew so she didn't inadvertantly block out her own partner. She chose the Windmill, for successful completion of it would put her in the square directly leeward of Grnsk. The Windmill was a form that required neither grace nor had movements to memorize, instead focusing on power and flexibility. A series of rapidly performed consecutive back walkovers that required her hands to touch the ground beside her heels so she stayed in the same spot, the Windmill ended with another back ariel flip, though this time with a full twist instead of a half as in her previous form. Helena stuck her landing again--that was rarely a problem--but she did travel a bit to the left with the back walkovers. She knew this--as did Amba and Grnsk, due to their vantage points--but did the judge see it? She forced herself to stay still, not to give away her trepidation as she waited for the judge's decision. He paused as he considered her performance, taking what seemed to Helena to be nigh on forever to make his decision, and finally indicated acceptance of the form. Helena bowed to the judge amid the applause and cheering, then grinned as she jogged to take her place on her new square. Chagrined by his position, and knowing that Grnsk was in a better position to restrict their opponents' movements, Crygst allowed his partner to develop his position. After Helena's last turn, Grnsk needed another advanced tier movement to take himself up the diagonal into clear space. Again he delved into the softer portion of the art, utilizing a form that relied on careful steps, but no aerials. It was an exacting form, but one that he had practiced many times for when he was in just such a situation. Though the pressure was on, he was sure that he could pull it off- in fact, too sure. For though he completed the form- flawlessly to one that did not know the exact movements, he stepped outside of the space by a miniscule amount during the central portion of the kata. As he stood, expecting the judge to call it, the dreaded words sounded forth from the disembodied voice. "Turn passes to Amba and Helena." His eyes grew large, even as he avoided looking in Crygst's direction. A relatively simple form by Helena sealed his fate, and only an advanced tier form would get him back into the game. Unfortunately, Crygst was not planning on taking another chance on him. Performing relatively simple katas- ones that still allowed full movement, but no diagonals, so that he could claim as much space as he could, Crygst took every movement from then on, even to the point that Amba was able to close off both opponents' movements so they had no way back into the larger portion of the game. It seemed that based upon territory, the women had things under control, so that when the 61st square was taken by Helena, their opponents had almost nowhere to move. At her smug smile, Crygst's eyes glowed a cold red, with the heat of a dangerous fire within. Instead of beginning a form, he bowed towards Helena, and the disembodied voice called out, "Crygst challenges Helena for Endgame. Choice of weapon falls to Helena." "Sword," Helena called without hesitation as she sauntered to a square of her color adjacent to Cryst. Despite the name, the sword was a less commonly used weapon in the sword dances, the trisp or the dray currently more in vogue. This didn't bother Helena--she had her reasons for preferring it to the other weapons. Since traditionally the noncombatants left the field during a challenge, Amba and Grnsk walked from their squares to a position on the sidelines. As Amba took up a position off the playing area, she sat down in what was known in the shadow she was from as the warrior's seat, her feet crossed beneath her legs, ready to propel her to her feet in a moment. It was an uncomfortable position to any who was not used to it, but having had to sit in it for hours at a time, it was very natural to her. She ignored Grnsk as he sat next to her, focussing her attention on Helena. Cryst's sword materialized magically on the ground next to him, as did Helena's next to her. The embedded emerald in the bottom of the hilt glinted at her as she picked hers up, as if greeting her as an old friend. Thin and straight, it resembled a schiavona more than a rapier. Fiona gave it to her when she started playing in the Sword Dances, and it seemed only apropos to Helena that she use this weapon again an opponent who earlier had questioned her heritage. "It figures," Crygst remarked to Helena in a low voice as they both stepped up to the edge of their squares. "The sword is an ordered weapon, to go along with your ordered half-blood. You lost the war, you know." "Shut up, Crygst, or I'll ram my sword down your throat and out your other end," Helena growled back. "Temper," Crygst smiled. "You know this is only to first blood." There was something in the way that he pointed out this obvious detail that gave Helena pause. "Begin!" The judge commanded, and there was no more time for reflection. Crygst, perhaps sensing she was slightly unbalanced from his remark, dispensed with any polite saluting and attacked immediately with a thrust to her sword hand. Amba's eyes narrowed, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see the line of Grnsk's mouth set in disapproval. Though he was a surly one, Grnsk did seem to have some sense of honour after all. Bad manners, Helena thought. This guy was really starting to annoy her. She easily parried with a flick of her wrist and followed with a riposte to his chest. Crygst barely managed to step aside to avoid the thrust. He brought his sword around to bind it with hers and force her blade down. "Half-blood," he whispered across the line of their colored squares. Lucky for him it wasn't legal for her to cross that line. "Despicable demon," she returned, getting angry as she disengaged and recovered back to garde. This is foolish, she told herself. He was provoking her to get a reaction. Well, screw it, she'd show him a reaction. Amba shook her head, furrows forming on her brow as an expression of her concern despite her conditioning. She worried her lower lip with her teeth unconsciously, willing Helena to calm down. Helena struck with a cut to Crygst's high inside line to bring herself in closer to him. It was slower than a thrust and she knew he'd successfully parry it by turning his body sideways and sliding his blade between her oncoming cut and his vulnerable back shoulder. Distracted by her blade, Helena used the opportunity to snap a kick with her front foot to the side of Crygst's exposed knee. The kick went a bit high and though his leg buckled, Crygst didn't fall as Helena intended. "Gyvie," Crygst snarled. "Half-blooded gyvie." He used both hands on his hilt to provide extra strength to push Helena's blade out of the way and followed with a cut to her sword arm. She stepped back and quickly parried from terce to quarte, knocking his blade off line, then stepped forward with a sidekick to his face. This was a foolhardy move. A lower sidekick to his already hurt leg would have effectively ended the challenge, but Helena was angry and wanted a showy finish. She wanted to hurt Crygst and prove to him and everyone else watching that even though she was a half-blood, and even though she was gyve, she was still damn better than they were. Amba had watched in detached interest, seeing from the beginning and their stances that Helena was better. Crygst was more cunning than she had thought, using those last moves to make a platform from which to fight and retreat, but it would make no difference in the end. Then as Helena stepped forward and chambered her leg, everything slowed down. She rocked back and forth in her warrior's seat, seemingly ready to spring forward to stop the catastrophe she saw coming. Crygst responded by catching her kick with his free hand and deflecting it up. Helena completely lost her balance and fell to the ground, landing with a foot across the line of their squares. Crygst lost his balance as well and fell on top of her, his sword between them. When Crygst rolled off Helena his blade stayed in her belly where it had struck. She laid stunned on the ground, staring up at the striped sky above her, trying to ascertain exactly what had happened. Amba sprung immediately to her feet, running towards the field, Grnsk not far behind her. Cryst reached over and pulled out his blade, donning a sorrowful, guilty expression. The challenge was void, even though Helena was incapacitated, for they'd both stepped over the line. Helena locked eyes with him as he stood over her. "You fell on purpose," she said, a simple statement of fact. "Don't be ridiculous," Crygst replied, the corner of his mouth twisting up in a hidden smile. Even in his gloating, Crygst noticed a blur coming in from the side, but his turning to see what it was only set himself up for a worse strike as Amba hit him as she came running onto the field. To an observer, it looked like she merely pushed him to get him out of the way. But the fall he took belied that as he impacted with an expelled breath on the multicoloured squares, stunned out of his wits. Amba immediately turned and knelt next to Helena, checking her wound. "That looks ... bad," she said, hurt evident in her voice. Behind her, Crygst was getting to his feet, helped by, then held off by Grnsk. The gray warrior pulled his hot headed comrade away from the women, talking to him in low tones. "What can I do," she asked, her voice almost breaking. "We have to get you out of here- where should I take you?" She looked around to see if anyone was coming. People from the sidelines arrived a few steps behind Amba and Grnsk. They huddled around Helena and Amba, watching. "Finish the game," Helena told Amba emphatically. "Beat that bastard. That's all I want." "Black team, challenge is forfeit due to overstepping bounds," the judge called out--black team was Helena and Amba. "Blue team, challenge is forfeit due to overstepping bounds." "I invoke Chafford's Rule!" Crygst shouted from behind Grnsk's shoulder. A low murmur swept through the gathered crowd. Chafford's Rule was an obscure option that allowed an offended party in a challenge a chance to regain his honor and his colored squares--this was assuming the judge thought Crygst falling on top of Helena was Helena's fault. "Who will you fight?" the judge asked. "Your opponent is down." "That one will fight in her stead!" Crygst snarled, pointing at Amba. The judge paused while considering the request, then nodded assent. "If she agrees, Amba of House Heldt may continue the game." "Move aside!" a voice called out, pushing people away to drop beside Amba. Helena recognized Brogan, a medic from Ishtar. "We've got to get you off the field," he told her, starting to reach under Helena to pick her up. "Wait!" Helena said, knocking away Brogan's hands. "Amba...what will you do?" Amba took Helena's hand, concern still evident on her face. But there was something else there too- something that Helena had not seen in her before. "I'll join you, soon," she said turning, "Right after I beat this diseased codpiece of a whore." She smiled at Crygst's flush of green, then looked back at Brogan. "Take care of her," she said, then stood, watching as they bore Helena off the field. After Helena was gone, and the crowd settled, Grnsk walked off the field, passing Amba closely. As he did, he said in a low voice, "Chafford's rule. He'll get to pick his weapon, and he'll choose the Dray. He's very good with it. You'll both be able to use the whole field to fight. Good luck to you." As he walked off the field, Amba looked towards him for a moment, then back towards her opponent. "Chafford's rule has been invoked by Crygst of the Blue Team," the disembodied voice said, and all of the claimed area turned gray. "As the aggrieved party, Crygst has the choice of weapons." "Dray." He said, and before them, the globe ended staves materialised. Taking hers and testing it for weight, Amba did not take her eyes off of Crygst as they waited the mark. "Begin," the judge said, and almost as soon as the mark was announced, Crygst's weapon turned into energy, launching itself at Amba. Taken by surprise, she bore the brunt of it, getting knocked from her feet and almost sliding outside of the playing area. The weapon rematerialized at his side, as he looked at his opponent disdainfully. "Did I mention that I'm quite good at this?" he said as he took it in his hand. Coming to her feet, Amba regained her weapon, inspecting her chest where the bolt of energy hit. Her eyes narrowing, she moved towards her opponent, circling him counterclockwise. For his part Crygst lazily mirrored her actions, allowing her to come to him. As they closed, Amba feinted to Crygst's midsection. At the last moment, Amba shifted slightly and brought her dray in under Crygst's, hooking his weapon and swinging it out of the way. Kicking at his exposed knee, she mirrored the move that Helena had performed earlier. As he fell to his knees, Amba brought her dray over his shoulder, and struck him with a backhanded strike to the base of his skull, following through completely with the weapon. To his credit Crygst anticipated the follow through, rolling, releasing his hold on his weapon to save his consciousness. Completing his dodge, Crygst spun, looking at his weapon now at Amba's feet. She smiled, and for the longest moment it seemed that she would follow up, as was her right. But she backed away, allowing Crygst to retrieve his weapon. "Stupid move, girl," he said as he took the dray in his hands. "You'll pay for that one." And he did his best to make it true. The next few minutes seemed like an eternity of hell as she was continually on the defensive- it seemed that Crygst wove a cage of energy with his dray, always there, blocking her way. She had not a moment to regain her bearings as he continually pressed her. Knowing now that she was better than he in close combat, but was lacking in the skills to make effective use of the dray, he kept her at distance as he hammered at her- enough to punish her, but not enough to strike a decisive blow and end the contest. There was a grumbling in the audience as people began to figure out what he was doing. It wasn't clear if it was the fact that the disapproval filtered in, or Crygst just grew careless, but Amba saw her opportunity and took it. She had identified that like most fighters, he preferred to mount his attack from right to left so that he could get his strong side, which appeared to be his right side, into the fight with more velocity. He was coming at her faster now, with even more abandon, and left himself open to counterattack. As the dray rose up, its globe radiating the massive energy that Crygst was pouring into it, she dropped her weight to miss his strike, continuing the downward move as she spun 180 degrees until her back was to him. Her left leg shot out so fast that Crygst never saw it. Her heel struck the center of his solar plexus with about half of the force she could have delivered. She stepped back rather than press the attack, allowing Crygst to bring his forearms down and his elbows in to protect his midsection. As he paused for a beat, angry that she had gotten inside, he blocked out the pain, saying, "Is that all you can put behind a kick?" Amba shook her head. "Not even close." Enraged, Crygst brought his dray around in an ill-advised move now that they were so close to each other. Amba merely stepped inside his swing, dropping her dray and hammering his midsection with a palm strike. "Back off," he growled, trying to enforce the words, but she stayed close to him, frustrating his attempts to gain distance. "Back off, before I give you what I gave your precious gyvie!" Amba's eyes lost their focus as she kneed him in the midsection, then extended the leg, crumpling him over it and dropping him to the ground. As he struggled to recover from the full strength kick, she backed up to the dray. It had been her worst weapon in practice with Helena- she couldn't bring up the mindset to energize the weapon no matter how she tried. It took a focus that she just didn't have. But now, as she hooked it with her foot, kicking it up into her hands, the orbs began to glow, visibly pulsing with energy. Rotating it in almost a lazy motion, she focussed on Crygst's face as his eyes opened in surprise as she slid her hands together towards one of the orbs, swinging it upward catching him in a perfect hit under his chin. There was a sickening crunch as his jaw shattered, and Crygst was propelled into the air, coming to land on the ground in an insensate heap. A stunned silence covered the yard, before it broke into thunderous applause and yells of encouragement. As medics rushed out to see to her downed opponent, the judge's voice said, "The winner of the challenge is declared to be Amba of House Heldt. The winners of the match are proclaimed to be the black team, Amba of House Heldt, and Helena of House Ishtar!" Amba bowed, and the crowd again erupted in applause, but her mind was elsewhere, so she didn't really enjoy the attention that her win had garnered- in fact, as soon as she judged she had been gracious in her win, she dashed off to find her friend. She found Helena just off the sideline on the ground, propped up by a not-very-happy Brogan and holding a blood-soaked cloth against her stomach. "You did great," Helena told her, forcing a smile though it was obvious she was in pain. "I despaired some when he chose the dray...not your weapon...but you did great!" "What are you doing here," Amba said, surprised. "And... Your side! You should have gone to see about that!" "She wanted to stay and watch you finish," Brogan complained. "Now can we go? Lord Torren told all us medics that if you ever got hurt doing this we needed to bring you back to Ishtar or he'd turn us into little newts." Helena chuckled, though it hurt. She reached inside her suit and drew out her trump case and handed it to Amba. "Father is the top trump. Would you call him? I'm... indisposed." She bit her lower lip. The trump case looked and felt like it was made from bone. It had a hidden catch, but Helena had shown Amba its secret. "Thanks," Amba said to Helena, "for everything."
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