[IC] Ranked Tournament: Tharraleos Polemistis vs LeeRoy

[LeeRoy]

It had been about an hour or so since the introduction to the tournament, and Godfrey was itching with excitment. Or maybe he had been bitten by a mosquito, because the back of his hand really itched. The queue had been set up, and he was against some guy named Thar-something. Something embarassingly long and over the top. Godfrey thought to himself: 'What if this fellow is like twenty feet tall? What if I can't even hurt him?' The old officer rubbed the side of his head anxiously, brushing his hand across the smooth skin of his head. 'Not too much I can do about it now, I already signed up for this tournament.'

A doorway slid open in front of him, through the gateway he saw massive green pastures. A few large structures were in the distance, but they were a bit too far away for it to matter. His doorway lead outwards to a grassy area with just a single tree for acres on end. A massive river ran past this tree, and so that seemed like the prime location for him to wait.

Godfrey stepped through the gateway, his weight dropping to the ground heavily. The grass crunched beneath his feet, the wind between the door and the plains was alarmingly different. The ait inside was stale and unmoving, but the breeze outside was much stronger. The tree bent and bowed to the winds, the grass struck against his heels lightly. "Well, this is much more pleasant than I thought it would be!"

Godfrey raised his hands over his shoulders, five spherical objects began to materialize above his shoulders. The crystaline spheres shimmered and shuddered, quaking their way into existence. "Alright, now, where is he?" The orbitals finished appearing over his body and began to slowly move into position at his side. Slowly rotating around his waist.

[Griffintaur]

Godfrey's question would soon be answered as a set of identical doors opened somewhere across the battlefield. A large and somewhat hulking figure stepped out onto the sun drenched plains. Nothing but grass caught his eye as far as he could see aside from a sole gray colored structure rather far away. The individual was able to determine there was a river on each side of him in the far distance. His first thought after analyzing his surroundings were the whereabouts of his opponent. With that in mind, he set forth.

After much extensive training, Tharraleos entered himself in a tournament in an effort to put his potentially newfound power to the test. Unlike his foe, he was not a mere man and instead possessed more beastly attributes. He was a tall warrior covered mostly in tawny brown fur. A large and thick, dark blonde streamed, black furred mane encircled his entire head, nearly covering his white feathered head and pointed ears. His more distinguishable trait was the oversized dark brown feathered wings protruding from his upper back. One could easily take note of his array of both avian and feline traits. Tharraleos was indeed the formidable hybrid of a fearsome lion and a predatory eagle known as the Griffin.

Tharr always arrived to battle with nothing more than the wisdom he acquired throughout his extensive lifespan. He wore no armor or clothing for that matter and carried no weapons aside from his teeth, claws and talons. He was a warrior to rely solely on his body's natural tools to achieve victory. To others, especially to those who are well armed, it typically seemed foolish to have such a mindset. Despite his boastful physical strength and small amount of other abilities, his most versatile tool was his powerful mind.

The anthropomorphic fighter made his way towards the towering pillar. Firstly, he bent his white fathered knees, and with a powerful leap into the air, he outstretched his massive wings. Still with the momentum of his jump, he began to flap the feathery appendages to increase altitude and speed. As the structure grew closer and closer, Tharr would keep his senses open to any sign of his enemy. He knew nothing of his opponent's abilities, so caution was well advised. It wouldn't be long before he reached the structure, where he'd set his taloned feet on the stone and use the height of it to view a majority of the arena. Hopefully then he'd catch sight of his foe.

[LeeRoy]

At the edge of the river, looking out at the plains opposing him, Godfrey's only sight was of that annoyingly large tower. Not too much to actually look at around here, honestly, the planning must have been extraordinary. But the decoration isn't quite up to snuff with the actual content of the locale. "So, have I been tossed here with no opponent?" Godfrey felt a hot rush slide up his spine, concern that maybe he was just going to be left on this strange floating island alone for the rest of his natural life. Just as he began to panic, a shadow in the distance caught his eye. Just for a moment he thought he saw a shadow on the ground near the tower, the hot rush of panic left his body in favor of stern concern. They're a bit far away, how much time do I have to prepare? The thought rushed through his head, Godfrey remembered that this is a tournament. Even if it's against his nature, he will likely need as much of an advantage as he can get.

The sharply dressed fellow extended his right arm forward, a vein bulged in his wrist as he began producing another batch of orbitals. The shimmering spheres taking shape slowly in front of his palm. A faint humming could be heard from the spheres as they brought themselves into being. "I don't particularly know, to be honest, if what I saw was actually my enemy. But, this is a tournament, so I cannot trust even the smallest shadow." The ex-cop stopped himself, realizing that he was actually talking to himself. A bit ashamed, he shook his head and brought his thoughts inwards.

And the worst part is, I'm actually jumping at shadows if there isn't anyone there. The spheres finished taking shape in front of him, blinking once before becoming actual orbs. They rotated in place before moving into orbit around his waist with the others, Godfrey was well equipped right now. But how useful would they be if he wasn't fast enough to position them?

These thoughts plagued him for a moment, his confidence was rather quickly waning. He had seen some rather impressive foes before the round began, what was his foe? Who was his foe? And worst of all; Where is his foe?

(Orbital count, 10.)

[Griffintaur]

Moments had passed since the avian feline began scanning the surrounding area. His pupils had increased in size as they acted as a telescope of sorts to enhance his vision. Still, with the radius of this area, it could be potentially difficult to find his foe assuming he was far away at least. He let in a deep inhale, soaking the crisp air through the nostril pits of his curved and goldenrod beak. It was at this point he began focusing on his other senses as sometimes mere eyesight ceases to suffice. Mote time passed and there seemed to be nothing, only the smell of grass and water as well as the sound of the calm wind.

Then he briefly felt something faint; a strange disturbance in the air. Instinctively, he turned his head to the left, pivoting his body to face forward right after. It was then the hybrid was able to detect a small blur out in the far distance. Tharr was able to detect the spheres of energy his foe was conjuring for a partial second, enough to give him an idea of which direction to face. Or at least the warrior was hoping this was the one he seeked. From here, he was able to vaguely visualize the outline of a man. It would be most wise to proceed with the utmost caution. Tharr had encountered a number of gunman in his extensive life and the more long distance rifle wielders were the ones that were most troublesome. For all he knew, this was one such individual. Although until he got a closer look, this was but speculation.

Still with his wings agape, the brown furred, white feathered combatant took a couple steps to the edge where the black claws of his taloned feet dangled . With another powerful leap the air followed by series of wing flaps, Tharr set off towards the blur. He would keep his eyes locked on Godfrey the entire time and not allow focus to stray away from him. The time had come to engage in combat and the thrill of battle began to dwell within the Griffin. Opening his beak, he let out a signature battle cry. The high pitched screech of an eagle pierced the air. This transitioned into a deep, booming roar of a lion that echoed throughout the plains. If Godfrey didn't see the massive creature flying toward him, this would surely catch his attention

[LeeRoy]

Through the air rang the most hideous combination of sounds that Godfrey had ever had the misfortune of hearing. To be totally frank, it was slightly offputting. Godfrey feared that perhaps he was actually going to be fighting a demon, yeah, when he was a kid he had always wanted to be a hero of god. Smiting demons and casting evil into hell, but this is real life, and he realizes that he's only so powerful. Godfrey shook his head, pushing those stupid self-doubt thoughts out of his head. Think critically, whatever it was, it had just given away its position. That noise came from a certain direction. which way? With a few quick turns of his head he looked around the battlefield. Not on the ground, it has to be in the air. The white clad man turned his head towards the sky, the outline of a flying figure appearing in his vision. Not a small figure either, he could just barely make out claws and wings.

Okay, now I'm certain I'm fighting a demon! Though it was only the barest silhouette, it had wings, a tail, and claws. These are all pretty obvious traits of a demon, and though it wasn't near enough to him to be a noticeable issue yet. That was a demon. Shaking his head again, he smirked. Realizing that he always has had the upper hand when it came to range. The orbitals moved to his will, spinning into place in front of his hands as he raised them. They formed a perfect ring as they rotated in front of his hands, Godfrey always loved saying his next line. "Orbital Gatling!"

Each and every one of the ten spheres began glowing, shortly after emitting a dim light they began to release blasts of pure white energy. Like bullets they rocketed outwards from his orbitals, sailing through the air on a collision course with Tharraleos. "Thanks for giving me your position, Demon!" It is noteworthy to state, that the orbitals are moving in a perfect spiral pattern in a straight line. Each blast following the next by a few inches.

[Griffintaur]

As Tharr continued forward, the blur gradually became more and more visible. It was now evident this was the foe he searched for. Upon closer inspection, The Griffin could see the energy he sensed previously, but couldn't quite tell what it was or what threat it possibly harbored. But he would know soon enough as Godfrey had unleashed a flurry of spheres towards the Griffin.

This was to be expected from most enemies. Tharraleos himself preferred introducing himself to his competition and wishing them luck on the forthcoming battle. But diplomacy was commonly outweighed by hasty attackers and the bird cat understood completely why some would. Pushing his mild disappointment aside, he swiftly and thoroughly analyzed the speed and trajectory of the incoming orbs. Alight gasp escaped his beak as he determined he had very little time to react and his body wasn't exactly made for quick evasions. A hefty roll to either direction would be necessary, but doing so would likely result in losing control, where he'd be forced to the ground. Given Godfrey seemed like a ranged opponent thus far, it would be most wise to remain airborne as that gives the most variety of evasion options. But given his current predicament, he had no other choice.

While still moving forward, the hybrid pivoted his body around to where he was essentially lying in the air with his back parallel to the ground far below. He gave his oversized wings a massive flap, which propelled the large warrior downwards at high speeds. He watched the projectiles sail right above him as he flipped back around to face the ground. His wings remained outstretched and acted as a sort of parachute to float harmlessly to the ground. He continued his decent towards the dark skinned man and would be much more cautious of projectiles. He was well aware that the closer he got, the more chance he had of being struck. He wanted to fight after all, and would not enjoy the battle if he spent a majority of his time waiting around in the sky for his foe to lose strength. He wanted to combat him at full strength anyways. All the Griffin could do was hopefully get within striking distance.

[LeeRoy]

Whatever it was, it didn't like his projectiles. Not like he could read minds or anything, but those movements weren't exactly offensive. The beast in the air didn't merely dodge his barrage, he danced around it. So it didn't seem like it wanted to be kept at a distance, Godfrey would have considered this. However, Godfrey wasn't considering honor at this point in time. Knowing full well that a physical confrontation would not be in his favor, he rearranged the orbitals into a cross shape with small gaps between each sphere. This positioning offered him a wider strike zone for maximum impact.

The cross began rotating slowly in front of his hands, a second wave of blasts would take him a moment. He had exhausted all of his shots, hoping to press his opponent back as far as possible. Instead it hadn't even impressed them, so Godfrey floated backwards away from where the unnamed opponent was going to arrive. Trying to put a bit of distance between them ahead of time. They had demonstrated even more flight speed than him, so a gap was necessary. What have I gotten myself into?

[Griffintaur]

Tharr's advancement towards his opposition had been delayed tremendously. The maneuver he performed had already slowed him down a great deal, but now it appeared his foe was traveling backwards. It was quite clear getting within striking distance would prove to be quite the task, so perhaps it was time to vanish from sight. Remaining in the air left him in clear view and more vulnerable to projectiles. The hybrid wasn't one for stealth, but had to make an occasional exception depending on who he fought.

With this thought in mind, Tharraleos angled himself more downwards to reach the ground much quicker. This also increased his overall speed and it seemed he was moving at dangerous speeds, especially since he was nearly going head first. But as the ground drew near, the warrior positioned his body straight once more by thrusting his legs out with great force. One last hefty flap from his wings was necessary to slow the fall. He still made quite the landing, forming a small crater and creating a decent sized billow of dirt and debris that hid him from sight. He was mostly unharmed, only with his wings aching from overuse. His legs throbbed with pain as well as he was well aware beforehand that this was too harsh of a landing.

Ignoring his discomforts, the combatant swiftly capitalized on being shrouded in dust as it would clear up in a number of moments. He was hoping Godfrey was unable to see through the haze. Tharr had landed much closer to his opponent to where he'd likely get a much better view of the Griffin. But this wouldn't be for long as once the dust cleared, nothing would remain. Tharr seemed to vanish into thin air and was nowhere to be seen. He had burrowed into the earth, one of his more uncanny abilities, and began traversing towards his foe. He was submerged just under the surface, enough to be covered. While not being able to be seen, this was in turn rather noisy and Godfrey would be able to feel the earth tremble a fair distance away once enough distance was cleared. Tharraleos was familiar with these drawbacks and was advancing in rather erratic and unpredictable patterns towards the man

[LeeRoy]

Honestly, Godfrey didn't know what the beast was doing. The plume of dust had done quite a bit to conceal his movement but the loud noises were enough to dissuade him from staying near the ground. With his orbitals maintained in the wide coverage pattern, Godfrey ascended vertically. Putting himself parallel with the ground, keeping his eyes pointed downwards. At this point in time he wasn't going to take any sort of chance, to this point he's managed to kite his opponent. Keeping them at a reasonable distance to prevent himself from being wounded.

Now, while he was at a distance, he doesn't quite know what this monster is capable of. If this thing is like some kind of landshark that can leap from the ground faster than it can fly, well, Godfrey doesn't know how well he can deal with that. The only thing that he can have confidence in is the spacing between them, if the gap closes, he doesn't know how well he can trade blows with them. "God save me." The cleanly dressed hero muttered quietly to himself, this constant flow of fear burning through him.