A/N: Alright, so I've decided that, while writing and publishing stories is a good way to improve, it might be more effective to focus on certain aspects for now while I get a good grasp of various situations.
Thus, this story is less of a story and more of a demo of a certain idea. Keep in mind, i'm absolutely workshopping this idea, so there very well could be no other stories like this, if I deem this method inefficent.
That being said, it is incredibly important that you guys give me feedback on this! I don't give a damn how tiny your issue is with any part of this; if you think it could use improving, tell me regardless of how big it is!
And if you want to get in contact with me in a less one-sided way than a review, then I recommend hitting me up on Discord, where my username is: Brisngir#9413. Well, the number isn't part of the name, but if you've used Discord you know what it's for. I'm not advertising this or anything, it's just a lot easier to discuss any ways I could improve on there.
Sorry about the long note, but I just wanted to get that stuff out there and to brace you for a potential lack of plot. So without further of this tedious ado... my first dedicated fight scene!
Pyrrha brought her shield up just in time to intercept Blake's strike, before retaliating with a cleave of her own. It was clumsy, a vague attempt at gaining some distance between the two. For all of Pyrrha's renowned skill, her true strengths lay in her overwhelming versatility and ability to operate at most distances.
However, the cost of her jack-of-all-trades weapon was that it was not specialized for any specific form of combat, but rather a blitz of shifting between javelin, xiphos, and rifle alongside peppered use of her semblance that left her opponents dizzy and defeated before they knew what hit them.
Blake weaved past Pyrrha's swing, jumping backwards and using a clone to propel herself into the air, before quickly bombarding Pyrrha with a barrage of dust munitions. As she fell, she unsheathed her cleaver and brought her dual blades before her, arcing down and slamming into Pyrrha's unprepared guard.
She quickly bounced back from the impact, using the leftover momentum to sheathe her sabre form into her cleaver, before transforming the motion into a weighted spin that struck Pyrrha in the flank, sending her careening into the arena wall. Or it would've, had she not magnetized her armor and corrected her flight.
Whereas Pyrrha was versatile but balanced, Blake was focused mostly on melee; pull them in with her whip if she must, then dash them apart with her cat-like agility and keening-edge blades.
Whereas Pyrrha was a stamina fighter, able to go for long bouts, where she would use her ability to maintain range to study her opponent and calculate their weaknesses, Blake was focused on hit-and-run tactics, ending the fight quickly before her lower stamina and durability got the best of her.
Having recovered from the knock-back, Pyrrha shifted her blade into it's rifle form, planted the weapon into the divet in her shield, and began firing at Blake.
Blake weaved through the blasts like a dancer through the open air, like a ninja (of love?) through a crowd, as she dashed to and fro in a zig-zagging pattern, using various types of her shadow clones to block, evade, or otherwise counter the shots until she got within medium striking distance.
Here was where many fell into her trap; they would think she was limited to close range, and be caught off guard when she shifts her sabre into a whip-like weapon, and pulls them in for a brutal and decisive finisher.
And she did just that; she lashed out with her whip at what for most would be impossible speeds, thinking she had victory in hand.
But for her vulnerabilities, Pyrrha did not win the Mistral Regional Tournament four times in a row by pure luck. She's always had a few tricks up her sleeve, surprisingly not the greatest of which being her semblance.
She dashed forward to intercept Blake's attack, catching her off guard and causing her blow to slow marginally. But that was just the opening the champion fighter needed.
She skidded to a stop, planted her feet, and quickly executed what would appear as nothing more than a run-of-the-mill parry with her shield, and for all intents and purposes, it was. But this parry was schooled into her by her mother. Hours upon hours for this one parry until she perfected it, and from a riposte off of it, she wound up single-handedly winning her second tourney.
Blake's whip was knocked aside, but Pyrrha quickly grabbed a hold of the ribbon, yanking Blake in before grabbing her by the back of the neck and heaving her over her shoulder. Following this, she spun around, dropped her knees, and consequently her armored leggings, onto Blake's chest, and pressed the tip of her xiphos against the Cat-Faunus' neck.
"And the victor is Pyrrha Nikos!" Ms. Goodwitch announced, as Pyrrha helped Blake to her feet.
"Well fought!" Pyrrha exclaimed "You caught me off guard multiple times! Though I must say, your strength needs work. I was able to pull you towards me with ease." she advised.
"Oh.. hah... believe me... whew... I know" she said, still panting heavily.
"Would Jaune Arc and Yang Xiao Long, please step into the arena." she called. "Ms. Nikos and Ms. Belladonna, if you would please take your seats?"
With that, they sat down to watch the next fight, and Pyrrha braced herself to watch Jaune get thrashed again. He really should invest in a ranged option...
A/N: Whew. I hope that wasn't too mind-numbingly slow. I tried to make it as fast as possible while still providing actual filler, but I can't quite tell if it's okay or not. So please, leave a review and tell me! Even if you don't have an account, guest reviews are fine. They count just as much as registered reviews, though some would say otherwise.
It also occurs to me that this story is much shorter than I realized. Oh well, a fight can only go on for so long.
Also, the tourney-winning riposte is a reference to another fic called When a Plan Fails by Aetheling. If you want fairly fluffy Arkos stuff where Pyrrha isn't...ahem...defeated at the tower, this is a great one.
Oh! And I actually managed to hook up my Raspberry Pi 3 Model A for typing and browsing, so this was typed using a keyboard. Hooray for being able to review and edit your work!
Anyhow, that's all for now. Until next time. Take care all of you! Oh, and happy late holidays/new year!