NoW: Kuraudo Sutoraifu vs. Phantom

[Skallagrim]

FIRST POST: Kuraudo Sutoraifu (Cloud Strife)
SECOND POST: Phantom (GreviousKhan)

Start: 3/3/2013
End:3/24/2013

BATTLE GROUND: The White Lagoon

Bracketed Rounds
1: Rounds are scheduled in 21 day intervals. You have 21 days to complete the fight.
2: You have 48 hours before a connection post.
3: You have 48 hours after a match to file for dispute resolution.
4: There MUST be a winner/judgment at each match. A judge will be assigned to the match.
5: Winners will advance and face the winner of the other match in their bracket.
Combat is to be conducted following

This is a T1 fight-If you are unaware of what it is here are the most basic of rules.

Type 1 [T1] combat is a type of textual combat designed with logic, precision and detail in mind. It’s a turn-based style, allowing every player involved equal time and space to post their character’s move. There are four types of ‘turn’ that a player can make in a T1 fight: Prep, Attack, Defense and Connection. The fight is split in to 'tiers' which often consist of some/all of the aforementioned turns. A turn begins when a prep or attack is posted and ends when either a successful defense or connect is posted.

Prepping

A 'prep' is a turn in which the character prepares to launch their attack. Some special abilities require a certain amount of prep's before an attack can be successfully launched. As a player, it is your responsibility to be aware of which abilities require preps and then to adhere to these rules. Missing a single required prep will probably result in Eden's combat judges voiding the applicable tier of the fight.

A prepping move should state clearly what ability is being prepared for use and provide some imaginative description of this process, whether it be an elaborate ritual or a intense concentration etc.

Special abilities that do not require maintained focus/concentration can be combined with another turn. For instance, whilst a mage is launching a non-magical attack with his sword, he might be muttering an incantation in preparation for using a special ability later. Specifics must still be provided.

The Battleground:

The White Lagoon, once a lively forest is the site of many tragic love stories. It is said that because of this, the trees wept and flooded the forest, and left the leaves of the trees to become snow white in the purity of love. The water, standing at 3 feet, is often used by nearby villages as drinking water due to it's cleanliness. The ground under the water is remnant of the forest ground that used to be there, with various rocks and plants that have survived under the water, though no animals now claim the lagoon as their home.

General Size

The size of the White Lagoon is approximately 200 acres, with only several small villages bordering the Lagoon, splitting two nations.
Participant Limit

Unlimited

Restrictions

Due to the thick water of the Lagoon, those who are moving through the water are slowed considerably. Water users gain an advantage of having a considerable amount of water to work with as well as the thickness of the water, making it heavier than normal. Those trying to use the plants and trees of the Lagoon are at a disadvantage as they do not respond to normal plant or Druid style abilities as they are possessed by the souls of lovers. Blood gives the forest a strange effect. When blood hits the water, it is instantly dissolved into the water and sends the forest into a silent frenzy, causing the trees to appear to leak water, causing the water to rise One foot every Two post. This gives a disadvantage to blood magic users, due to their blood vanishing when hit by the water.

Suggested Character Level

Any

[Kuraudo]

The gateway leading into another foreign realm has been opened. Kuraudo emerges from the portal sitting on the bench of an eldritch laguna. A place called the White Lagoon. Down below, where the water is as red as cabernet, is the forest. Though unlike any other wildwood, these trees have leaves liken to the color of snow. It also has a lovely air, an atmosphere he cannot dismiss.

It's a view full of pulchritude from where the ex-SOLDIER is treading. On a trail roughly three meters high, sloping into the rubric shallows. What he'll find at pool's end is the incubus of man. A being whose gall vexes the amative forces housed within the woods. Beware of the one known as "The Phantom"!

[GrievousKhan]

War Of Change

It seemed fear had griped the heart of his previous opponents, for they had not revealed themselves for the entirety of the time The Phantom had waited for their arrival in the frozen wastelands. Time had little meaning to an entity that could not age and could not die as time progressed. So it was to much surprise that the Phantom soon found himself yet again spirited away once more. This time it was a region even more outrageously opposed to the Desert wraith then previously. Adorned seemingly in heavy dark cloak and black robe, and wrapped in chains of iron, all affixed to the large gourd on his back and the gleaming hourlgass continng his animus at his waist, The Phantom observed his new battleground, located conveniently above a stone that was partly submerged in the water of the lagoon surrounding him. The Phantoms veiled face absorbed his the sight, silenlty cursing the Dreamers for their accursed choice for a battleground. It would seem so far, the odds were steadily stacked against him. Perhaps the forces that be wished only to see him fail?

It was a possibility, after all he could hardly say he trusted them, however if such was the cause, they would find they had underestimated the Phantom, and he would be pleased to disappoint them when he emerged victorious. The Phantom had not existed these countless decades to be placed at a disadvantage by a few feet of water. Thankfully the state of his being, a wraith composed of none organic matter he imposed complete control over, allowed him an easy solution for the immediate future. With a small current of wind he floated further off the ground, creating small ripples across the water surface which soon faded. As he rose just 3 feet above the water, he followed with a quick action of extending his left hand outward in a quick motion. Silently he caused his attuned sand to quickly spread out as in a radius and float as individual grains of sand in a 60 foot area from his current position. With that done he would feel where his sand was located at as well as a general idea of the shape of whatever it collided with. Having spread his sand out into a cloud of dust, it was now almost invisible to the naked eye. Any creature of a small size or larger would disturb the dust to a degree that only the Phantom could sense, thus revealing their presence.

With that done Zubili merely lifted himself using his attuned sand to almost vanish in the treeline and foliage above the murky waters. The game was simple really, with his precautions in place. It would be a simple task to find his target before they discovered him. Then in doing so, strike them down quickly while they were unaware. Silent and naturally unmoving as he was, it would be a feat to discover him, unless one actively searched above. Unlikely for even the most wary of enemies, more likely to fear a surprise attack from the watery depths. Not to mention when his target came within range he could simply use his art of illusions to appear like his wooden and white leaved surroundings.

[Kuraudo]

Kuraudo continues his quest. He walks down the incline with the wind caressing the docile wild. Every fabric of the laguna, land and loch alike, moves with the eastern airflow. Though as bona fide as the breeze may be, it's defiled by a malevolent presence. So much it disquiets the harmony of the amatory of souls. But at the same token, they sense the will of our hero. The desire to protect those dear to his heart.

Coming at the foot of the path, the ex-SOLDIER steps into lake. Little did he know, Kuraudo has entered the perimeters of his wicked adversary. A dusty trap under the guise of its surroundings, allowing Phantom to track the movements of his foe. Water sloshing with each footstep as Kuraudo nears his opponent. A sixteen-yard stretch that separates the two contenders.

He goes deeper into the revenant's nest, unknowing of its whereabouts. Though as Kuraudo delves further into danger, something warrants him to stop. The shoal and forest, in their entirety, blanches out. It's as if the lagoon has been washed from existence, and a white void is all that remains. Could it be the effects of the land itself? Only the ex-SOLDIER knows the answer to this question. He's been to this place several times before.

This world--this dreamworld--is revered as the Promised Land; the starry cope of happiness. The ideology of the Promised Land resides within the individual. Their utopia varies from the other like opinions or perceptions. One could have a golden city as their paradise, or an endless ocean for another. The 'white void' is Kuraudo's Promised Land, seen only through his eyes. An exclusive world where he meets an old friend from days' past.

A well-built, 6'1" man with an X-shaped scar on his left cheek appears. He has long spiky black hair, eyes compared to the color of the heavens and dons the wears of a 1st Class SOLDIER. His name is Zakkusu Fea, a guy who befriended Kuraudo when he was an infantryman. Zakkusu stands behind Kuraudo, a yard or so away, with the famous Buster Sword resting on his right shoulder. "Looks like you'll have a tough road ahead of you, my friend."

"Zack."

"You're strong, Cloud. You have the strength of SOLDIER. But you're going to need my help." Zakkusu said. "This thing ahead of you is in a class of its own," referring to the sand wraith. "And I think they," the lovers' spirit, " don't want it here."

The denizens of the White Lagoon, veiled within the woods, has opened a surreal passageway. They've used Kuraudo's feelings, like a network, to connect with those he cherishes the most. Extending to the 'Shangri-La' of the ex-SOLDIER, and allows the deceased--such as Zakkusu--to cross the bridge.

Now that he's here, the crossway is closed. The classic battle between good and evil is impending.

[GrievousKhan]

Phantom: Master of Illusions

The strings of fate had been plucked, their sing song echoing loudly the demise of the Phantoms foe as they unknowingly wonder into his cunning trap. The particle field of sand the Phantom had weaved had been disturbed, announcing the entrance of his enemy into his web and immediately alerting him to the approaching threat, and at the same time quickly feeding him vital information on his soon to be opponent. Their height, shape, size, and distance from his current position. It would seem their current path would lead them to him, though if they would think to look upward and discern the presence of the Phantom was another. Gathering a gentle breeze the phantom hovers now just above the treeline of the forest. Now aware of where his adversary was, presently just 48 feet away with only trees and heavy foliage between them. The sand he had spread out now moved again with renewed purpose. A few grains having clung to the high-collared vest the man wore, it was a simple task to pin-point his location and track him.

Swirling his hands in a circular pattern, Zubili stirred the air just twelve feet to the left of the coming ex-SOLDIER, some of his attuned sand gathering to become just visible as a dust cloud. When the cloud had settled there hovering just above the water was the ghostly image of the Phantom. The phantom image lifted it's right arm and appearing in it's clutched fist was a sickle like blade connected to a length of black chain. It spun the sickle above it's head, seeming to disturb the surface of the water. The phantoms eyes narrowed, boarded by the slits of it's veil that covered his face. It swung it's chain and blade, extending it outward in a fierce slash, aimed not at the SOLDIER, but at a low hanging branch just 5 feet above the mans head. With well timed trickery the mirage of the sickle blade, though it were, was quickly combined with a fast moving hardened flow of sand that sliced the branch just as the sickle met and passed the gap as if it had created it.

The severed tree limb fall down toward the ex-SOLDIER, meant to cause injury as much as drew attention. The phantom armed with chain and sickle retrieved it's weapon with a quick and simple pull as it quickly drifted backward. Prepared to weave through trees and avoid any counter-attack as quickly as they presented themselves. All the while the masterful puppeteer was already in motion, moving to increase the gap between the false battle and himself. Both of the Phantoms hands where held close together before him, as if in mid clap. He began to harvest his animus as he drew his attuned sand from his Gourd into a sphere of wind, all the while keeping six feet above the treeline so to allow the foliage to hid his form and keeping the range of 60 feet between him and his enemy while they were distracted by his treachery.

[Kuraudo]

There's no reason to doubt the words of his friend. The ex-SOLDIER trusts Zakkusu's judgment and agree to fight as a team. With the Buster Sword brought to a lowered position, next to his right leg, Zakkusu says, "It's closing in. Let's show him what we're all about." After that, he fades away and merges with Kuraudo to become a single entity. It was fast and simple, nothing too drawn out to acquire what's needed.

The Promised Land, as swift as it came, disappears. Kuraudo is brought back into reality. A reality where the shallows has risen two feet in short time. Not only that, the sand wraith slunk around and rended a two-meter long branch from a tree. Phantom floats above the forest to see the ex-SOLDIER's reaction. Whether he'll be trounced by the weight (20 kg) of the limb or act out in defiance.

Kuraudo, after hearing the crackles of the branch before it fell, looks up. He ducks into the water with the First Tsurugi overhead. Its broad frame, laying on the face of his left palm, shields him from the girth of the bough. Though it seems the heft keeps him pinned underwater. Or is this a feinted struggle?

[GrievousKhan]

The Phantom looked on from a safe distance as the branch fell atop the ex-SOLDIER, seemingly resulting in them being pinned underwater. The mirror phantom hovers over the cool water surface it's chain and sickle still in a tight twirl at it's right side as it stays in it's position awaiting for the man to resurface again, if he was going to at all. The true Phantom remains cautious in return, the sphere of wind and spinning sand between it's palms continuing to grow as more of it's animus is focused into it. Still hidden above the tree tops and at a respectable distance, Zubili continues it's preparations for what was to come.

That is if the warrior he faced did not drown first, something that seemed most unlikely, this one, it sensed, would not be defeated so easily.

[Kuraudo]

While being submerged in a lake of rubicundity, the ex-SOLDIER tunes his new ability. He is now able to sense chakra as a result from uniting with Zakkusu. Kuraudo becomes more alert; more aware of his surroundings. He experience new sensations that was, until now, closed off. It's as if a dam has been broken and the floodwater gushes out.

Kuraudo perceives everything and anything, including two very distinct presences. They are like night and day. One has a cold, sinister outpouring and the other is like spring heat. "You can feel them now, right, Cloud?" Zakkusu said within the cortex of Kuraudo's mind. "The spirits of this place wants us to ward off their uninvited guest," his voice reverberates. "He's like a poison that needs to be remedied."

The ex-SOLDIER feels the gravity of the situation and understands. Like Sefirosu before it, he's ready liberate the bane of this realm. Kuraudo calls upon his newly attained strength and channels it throughout his body. The water begins to effervesce, slowly breaking the ataractic layers of the basin. The bubbling intensifies as his power continues to elevate. It jounces the branch like a boat on raging current. Then, like gas pressure, an explosion takes shape. The outburst launches the branch into the air and heads for its airborne adversary.

The lake geysers althrough the lagoon, reaching such heights as thirty feet. Its spread stays within rim of the bank, the intermediate space that encompasses Kuraudo.

Our hero emerges from the magnificent red spray he'd created. And within his clasp is a different sword. A brand that is said to be his most powerful tool. He used his power to transform the First Tsurugi into a new commodity. Something that is known as the Ultima Weapon.

[GrievousKhan]

As the Phantoms observes from afar as his opponent seemingly struggles under the branch in the shallow waters, all the while he continues his preparations for the first stage of his plan. The fragments of sand that had clung to the man earlier had already dampened and grown heavy. However the clouds of dust still provided a decent view of his opponent through the Phantoms power of the Desert King. The extension of his sprite which inhabited all the sand he controlled. It took only a moment to notice disturbance on the water surface the branch still remained. The meaning of it become clear in little time, as the water around the soldier burst skyward in a mist of water, and most curiously the branch that once trapped his foe now launched itself toward the Phantom.

Only moments to act, the wraith made no move to avoid the makeshift missile. When it came within striking range, it struck hard the surface of 1 cubic foot of attuned sand that had sprung up seemingly of its own accord to defend the Phantom from harm. It pierced partway through the rapidly built defense, inches from the Phantom's face. The sound of the of snapping wood was almost audible over the spray of rushing water several feet away. The branch snapped in two and fell to the watery forest floor bellow, catching in tree limbs as they fell earthward once more. The sand shield that had formed from the Phantoms gourd shifted and flowed about his form. Zubili had not expected this man able to sense the sprites of the dead, yet he had managed to pin-point his location despite the vegetation between them. The false image of the Phantom had faded as the water settled into a light mist. The area around the ex-SOLDIER had been momentarily depleted of water after it was launched into the air.

It seemed his enemy had the ability to sense his presence, yet it was to soon to unleash the storming sands. In his time Zubili had faced enemies possessing sensory powers before and the solution was simple enough. Continuing the swirling motion with of his hands, the Phantom's animus had achieved the desired speed as he continued to shape his attuned sand into a ball, making it churn and spin, now creating a signification amount of friction to charge it with a considerable amount of electricity. Small electric sparks now occasionally shot out of it, betraying its nature. Now the first stage set Zubili wasted little time and blew out after sharply inhaling. Spraying a cloud of dust before him as he fall back further, increasing the distance to 70 feet. His foe might be able to sense his presence, but the Phantom had delved a portion of it's sprite in each grain of sand, thus creating a field of animus, making it impossible to locate his exact location without visual conformation. As the share amount of dust would overwhelm his opponents extra sensory abilities, or so it hoped. In either case, delving on the side of caution while it prepared for it's first true and final strike seemed most wise.

[Kuraudo]

His skyward approach meets with an unexpected matter. Kuraudo feels the surging evil all around him. It just permeated the area like a cataract. But there's more to this superseding act; this out-and-out hoax. The dust cloud pervasion is imbued with electric pulses that overrides sensory-type faculties. It's Phantom's recourse to remain undetected and avoid intimate confrontation.

Though undettered by the situation, the ex-SOLDIER presses on. He lefthandedly twists the mechanism at the base of the handguard to activate Battle Mode. A mode in which both sides of the Ultima Weapon widens, showing a sophisticated system of railed crystals. These sparkling creations siphons the energy from each granule. It converts and stores the energy to be used at a whim. Coupled with the 25% received from the Fea infusion, the fully assembled Ultima Weapon reaches half strength.

The assimilation, unknowingly to him, wanes the power of the dust cloud. A slight decrease enabling Kuraudo to faintly sense the sand wraith. Though the signal is not prominent enough to pinpoint a fix.