The hidden vixen's eyes snapped open to the intruding sound of her hideout. She waited for a brief moment to see if it was just her imagination or if it was positively real. The sound of rock against rock came again as she slowly crawled upward reaching for her weapon. The sound came again and again until it was finally met with results, and the sound was replaced with a roaring fire. Krystal looked through the vines to see a being sitting by the fire, which it was she couldn't tell but she knew the beings back was faced toward her.
What a fool. Krystal thought as she couldn't believe this being would light a fire on the first night. It was such an arrogant and foolish act, someone could be just around the corner and now you've given away your position. Sure it was a bit chilly down here but she figured most Royalists would deal with the cold, it was better then waking up with a dagger in your gut. She tried to get a better picture but froze in terror as the being looked straight toward her direction. She couldn't make out who it was only that it must have been another female due to her small body structure. The being looked around high and low for anyone but found nothing, after a moment of convincing herself did she sit near the fire once again.
Krystal didn't know how long she had been frozen in place but finally broke her mental block and backed away; she would give it time until the right moment to strike. She wanted to try her luck with the knives but it wasn't the best idea. With the dim lighting she wouldn't be able to make out a dead-on killing throw, and then her position would be given away on top of it. The best solution was to just wait it out until the female was convinced no one was around her as she sheepishly looked over her shoulder from time to time.
Hours passed in Krystal's mind as the surroundings got lighter and lighter with each passing moment. She wanted to try and regain some lost sleep but then her target would be lost if she hadn't awakened in time, and now with a competitor so close there was no telling if she really knew her position or not, and was just pretending not to know. She looked back toward the frozen competitor as her body was lost of movement, whoever this mysterious Royalist is it seems as though she's finally lost consciousness. She was cradled in some sort of a ball form as she had dozed off, a life costing mistake on her part.
Instead of crawling down to claim her life and take the chance she would awaken Krystal reached for her short sword. It was only a bit heavier then her knives and would grant much more lethal results and Krystal could finish her off with the smaller knives. She pushed aside the vines blocking vision through her small cradle of protection as she saw her target down on the spring. She saw her target and silently cocked back her elbow ready to strike but her process was cut short as a loud barbaric howl pierced the morning rise.
The intended target awoken with fright as instincts took over and rolled out of deaths row. She springed onto her heels in the ankle deep spring water as she reached for the daggers placed on her hips and saw her attacker. A male Greyhound Royalist holding some type of purple crystal long sword. He attacked from above as she shielding herself with crossed twin blades and pushed him forward. Although her strikes were quick and agile nothing was connecting. He sliced across her stomach meeting results as she let out a painful yell and spun in the direction he was striking from, and countered attack by cutting him across the face. The Greyhound wasn't amused from her simple counter attack and got her good in the gut, sending the vixen flying across the opposite spring side completely drenched. She emerged completely soaked from head to toe as she got to her feet backing off as her opponent stood their menacingly.
He focused on her from top to bottom, completely soaked as her clothing was gnarled and cut. Her top had been sliced in nearly two as her opponent cracked a modest smile.
"Sorry beautiful, I never intended it to end this way."
"The feelings mutual," she spat out the blood that was storing up in her mouth and beckoned him over as she locked the grip on her knives, "come here. I'll show you something nice."
He didn't need an invitation as she rushed her head on as she went to meet him. The two clashed blades in the knee deep water. Krystal watched as this epic battle that started but was now coming to a close, although it was still unclear who the victor would be in this brawl. The Greyhound had propelled their blades upward as his opponent's core was completely wide open. A hard thrust kick into the stomach sent her flying as she hit a stray large rock on the spring shore toward Krystal's side. His blade descended upon her as she jumped upward to her only escape from death. His blade went right through the stone like butter from a knife as she twirled behind him ready stab him in the back.
As he spun around to stop her assault did he pause midway, as all of a sudden was she propelled the opposite direction dropping her weapons on the ground in the process. In Krystal's eyes it was like magic. One moment she was going to kill that Royalist and the next she was pinned to a tree on the opposite side of the field. The male combatant could only stare in amazement and horror at the picture portrayed for him across the field. His opponent was pinned to a tree by some type of large and deadly yet thin weapon. From this far away it seemed like some sort of spear yet was shaped in an odd way.
The vixen's strange breath pattern brought him back to reality. Blood dripped down her wet figure and tears fell from her eyes as the pain coursing through her body was unbearable. Her torso had been crushed on impact as the deadly weapon was sticking out from her chest and her vision went blurry yet white. She knew her end was coming and her time in the Death Tour was cut short from an unknown assailant. The picture of his opponent hovering a few feet above the ground brought the Greyhound back to reality, someone had caused the vixen's surely demise and he didn't want to end up the same way. He looked up toward the direction the spear had been thrown to see a black vixen standing up above looking down upon him with merciless eyes.
Thrysta stood there just right above Krystal's hiding place with another one of those spear-like weapons across her back. She jumped down from her planted spot as she descended for the ground, flipping many times until she finally landed with one paw and one knee on the spring floor. His new vixen opponent reached for her weapon as she never let her sights leave the Royalist, he knew what she was thinking. In what cruel way was she going to kill him? He wasn't planning on giving her that chance.
Krystal recognized that design of weapon; it was a warrior's battle baton. A double-sided mace like weapon that was light in weight yet deadly in results, perfect for thrusting or throwing straight into the heart of your opponent.
Without warning did he charge toward her as she didn't even put up her arm in defense, she was merely waiting for him to come in close. He struck vertically downward as if cutting her in two but was easily thwarted meeting deadly results and a horrible end. Thrysta must have struck the blade in the perfect spot for disrupting his attack because the blade had shattered into two as its wielder was pushed back from the momentum being disrupted. She struck high and then low, cutting across the Royalist to weaken his form. Thrysta stuck low to the ground as she cradled her strength and turned around, and then letting it all explode outward. The vixen threw the baton straight into the chest of her opponent with all her might, sweeping the larger Royalist off his feet and being pinned to a tree across the other side of the field.
She saw her handy work and knew it wasn't over yet. Walking quickly toward the Greyhound Thrysta kicked up the upper half of his broken blade without stopping and caught it with one paw in the air. He saw his killer approaching him with the tool to end his life as he knew it to be true. Thrysta walked up a small stairway of rocks and pebbles as she thrusted the blade straight into his throat as a small wave of blood jetted out. As she saw his eyes roll back and heard the release of his final breath did she know he was gone.
A cannon fired off in the distance was heard as it startled Krystal, what was a cannon doing way out here? Thrysta stood up in place as she paused from her bloody killing spree and looked toward the direction of the sound. Instantly another cannon shot was heard coming from the same direction. Thrysta looked back toward the vixen planted in the tree as her head just fell down and to the side, she couldn't have died more then a couple seconds ago.
That's what the cannons were for, to signalize the death of each Royalist that was in the arena, Krystal had fitted the pieces together. The cannons were loud enough to be heard even at night should a Royalist perish, and if only two cannons had been fired so far. That means Thrysta wasn't her only opponent left. Crypt was still out there somewhere stalking through the shadows, just waiting for someone to come his way so he could silently claim their life. Thrysta paid no attention to it as it was only a signal knowing she had two opponents left. She pulled out her first baton from the Greyhound as his body slipped downward as a blood trail was left following his corpse.
She walked over toward the dead vixen planted on the tree as she pulled her second baton. She held one in each paw as she looked out toward the pathway and eyed the opening cut and formed by Crypt. She formed a large 'X' shaped formation over her back with the twin weapons as she headed out the same pathway Crypt had taken to try and stalk Krystal earlier. The hiding vixen finally let go of her held breath, she had seriously misjudged every Royalists capabilities in this fight and battleground.
There was no doubt Thrysta was the deadlier of the two combatants remaining. If it had been her following Krystal instead of Crypt there was no chance she would let Krystal get away. But there's no telling how long Thryta's had those blades. She could have forged those two weapons jut hours before the encounter with these two Royalists. That's when it hit her, the two Royalists! Surely they have tools and utensils and possibly some food on them that they obviously won't need anymore. Thrysta left without even thinking of that thought, or perhaps she left them as they were because she was certain she wouldn't need anything they could possibly have. Maybe she believed she already had this match won or that she was relying souly on herself to win this fight.
But Krystal wasn't in that position, she needed to refuel and energize if she was going to stand a chance against Thrysta and Crypt. She slowly crawled down from her hidden spot and walked over cautiously toward the dead Royalist bodies, still not believing it was perfectly safe. As she passed the downed broken blade that Thrysta had destroyed did she notice something, Krystal withdrew her own blade to compare results. Now that the blade was broken it was practically a twin blade to her own and could make of use. Krystal sheathed the blade that was now her own as she neared the Greyhounds body. His eyes were closed and his body limp and empty of life. She turned him over onto his stomach searching for anything he could possibly have on him. Krystal found some hidden knives, a couple of darts it looked like, and then what she untidily wanted; food.
…Or at least what she thought was food. She felt the texture and durability of the strange green and purple plant. That's when it hit her, it must have been part of an edible stalk plant, if her memory served her correctly she had seen these types of plants before around here, as she turned back toward the watering hole. She went into the knee-deep pool and could see the same type of plants hiding between the cracks of rock, sand and vines. She went searching around the spring until she got herself a small salad going. Krystal took a slight pause as she walked on over to search the vixens body. She found the flint she had used to start the night fire and also some type of small fish like creature. Krystal's mouth began to salivate as she had just found some meat meaning protein to go along with her salad, why the vixen didn't cook it to eat last night she would never know. Possibly to keep predators like herself away and possibly give away her position. She also took note of a small satchel across her waist and stripped her of that also, and seeked shelter above the ground in her hiding place.
Krystal stripped the small fish of its meat and threw the carcass down onto the forest floor; perhaps some creature will eat it later; if there were any animal life in this strange place. As she ate her small meal did she look at what she had scavenged from the two corpses. Some knives, a couple of throwing darts; the food she was eating, a blade, the flint the vixen had used to create her fire, and this satchel of goods. Krystal opened up the satchel a bit disappointed with its contents. Only some dry tinder and some sort of rectangular shaped piece of stone that was the same material all the weapons were made from. As she picked it up did she instantly take notice of what she was looking at, she was looking at the vine covered rock behind her, that's when she realized.
"It's a mirror…" That vixen must have been using it to make sure she wouldn't get flanked from the rear, and to make sure certain pathways were safe to walk on. If Krystal had it earlier she wouldn't be stuck down here now from her clumsy step, but that clumsy step could have possibly saved her life so she didn't know. If used right the mirror could be a very valuable asset. The knives were practically useless as they were no better then her own and she had yet to even use them. The darts on the other hand could be very valuable. They were the same material of all the other weapons but the tips were coated with some sort of red and yellowish color blend. She got the idea they could be poisonous in some way but whether it was lethal or just something to slow the enemy down she didn't know. But there was some very valuable information obtained with these past belongings, the roots were still a bit moist. That means this isn't the only watering hole in the arena, and there is some animal life around if she needed to hunt or fish for food.
The sound of some kind of insect crawling got her attention as Krystal looked down to the forest floor, some type of scarab like creature was busy crawling around toward the dead fish carcass as it sniffed the remains. Krystal decided to test out her darts, and tossed a single dart straight into the back of the scarab as it let out some shriek of pain and fell on its side. She took note of how the legs were slowing down until they finally paused yet stayed frozen in the air, and a few moments later fell down without a warning.
Krystal came to the conclusion that they must have been paralyzing darts, yet if enough used could be lethal to a being her size. A single dart was just enough for the small scarab. Krystal's attention was brought back to the surface floor as she heard some type of burrowing sound. She looked down to see about half a dozen scarabs appearing from the ground as they all surrounded the fish completely ignoring the poisoned scarab. She watched in horror as they completely began to devour the fish carcass until it was down to nothing but bone and a matter of seconds. They then turned their attention back toward the dead scarab and moments later started feasting on its carcass.
It's like a horror movie came true as more and more of those strange brown and gold scarabs began to pop out of the ground beneath. Soon dozens, maybe a hundred scarabs started swarming about and quickly scattered toward the two dead Royalists. Krystal's body heated up and her heart beat fast as in a matter of seconds the two Royalist's bodies were completely covered with the scarabs being devoured whole. She couldn't watch anymore, she was about to see the very valuable food coming up again so she held it in. Krystal looked back to see if the strange creatures were gone only to see the horror of it all.
The two dead Royalists were completely stripped of their flesh, organs and even the fabric of the clothing they had been wearing. Their skeletons were completely barren and bone dry as there was nothing spared in the scarabs meal. Their skeletons looked as though the bodies could have been laying there for years yet it was only a few minutes after their deaths. The creatures scattered about searching for more food but found nothing, and the whole lot of them began descending back underneath the ground. Krystal was about to lose her meal as she turned away again, it was a good thing that she scavenged what she could off the Royalists otherwise it all would have been devoured by these strange creatures, and that could possibly mean her life wouldn't have been spared in the end.
Krystal was afraid to get down from her hiding place now, what if those creatures returned to claim her own flesh and she wouldn't be able to get to safety in time? But she fitted the pieces of this puzzle together, the scarabs showed up only after the deaths of the Royalists. They must only eat the dead and not the living, scavengers feasting off of what was left behind and this time they found a huge banquet in their honor. She knew it was time to move on and find somebody to kill if she didn't want to wait until the two day time limit was up, and they were forced toward one another in some manner of a horrible way.
Krystal re-hydrated herself, reapplied her mud camouflage and picked up what she had taken and headed off in the same direction, strapping on the satchel and attaching a weapon on each side of her hip. The vixen now ready to move out looked down the same pathway cut by Crypt and followed by Thrysta. By following this pathway she knew eventually she would find one or the other, and for some reason she wanted to find Crypt or neither of them at all, hoping that one would kill the other.
X
Krystal had a blade in one paw and the mirror in the other; she had been hiking for hours and yet found not a single being in sight, not a single sound or track to follow from. After stepping through some thick vegetation did she take a moment to sit down and catch her breath, the dense jungle climate wasn't making it any easier to track down the last two Royalists. As she rested she thought about what her strategy could possibly be when the confrontation would occur. Crypt was paws-down the strongest of the three, but Thrysta was the most quick and agile foe, and if Crypt hadn't found another use of a weapon she was definitely the best well equipped. But as the blue vixen thought about it maybe that wasn't the case anymore, she now had two twin blades and some poisonous darts and twin knives if need be. It looked like a three-way draw but that wouldn't happen, only two will walk out of here alive.
That's when it hit Krystal, two days; forty-eight hours are supposed to pass until they would be forced to clash. How much longer could that possibly be? She had no idea how much time had passed, it could have been very close to that forty-eight hour mark but she had no clue. Krystal stood up in place as her break was now over and continued to follow the path but was caught in place. Out of nowhere did a glowing blue containment shield fall all around her as she was panicking, maybe that forty-eight hours was up and now it was time to fight and time to die, and right now she wasn't ready.
A similar voice rang in her ears, "Hello Royalists, it has been twenty-four hours since the arena battle had began. You have twenty-four hours to find one another before you are brought together into conflict. But first a high-light of what has happened in the past twenty-four hours!"
Firion's voice filled her mind as she looked up to the sky to some type of view screen floating in the sky. Clips of fights ran through as she looked to see Royalists meeting, fighting and dieing.
Her attention was caught as she saw Aeon being thrown across the arena as she slid down a tree but caught herself from falling down; perhaps her arena wasn't the easiest. A large grey lupine with crimson eyes was her attacker; his entire left side of his body was some type of harbored mechanical destroyer. She wondered if he was like that when he entered the tournament or perhaps somehow obtained the wounds during the tournament. He was horribly crippled with burnt marks and scars all across his body and tattered cloth wrapped around his head. He was like some kind of monster in a freak show.
Aeon breathed heavy as the blood rushed down her forehead and dripped down to the forest floor as blood leaked out of her mouth, there was no beating this opponent in single combat, he was just to much for her to handle. He had no weakness and offered her no peace of battle, he was truly invincible at this point but obviously wasn't always this brutal. Her only choice was to run, run and hopefully recover in time and try to win this fight.
He began to chase after her but was flanked from the rear from another Royalist. The large lupine swiped away the forged weapon with ease as it shattered into pieces with no trouble at all. He picked up the light Royalist with ease in his right grip as his claws swiped upward in his left arm. The raccoon Royalist was completely cut into two equal pieces as his right side slid off without a problem. Another Royalist to fall with no problems at all. The video clip ended as he quickly chased after Aeon leaving the halved Royalist in pieces.
The video clip transferred to her own arena, as the two Royalists earlier had duked it out but Thrysta had cut their battle short and ended them both. With the clip ending did the containment field fade and Firion's voice rang up again.
"Just a quick highlight of what's been happening. Good luck you remaining Royalists and remember, the real fight begins in twenty-four hours from now!"
Krystal was possibly given the edge as the beam faded. A blue beam rose high into the air from the West and another from the North-East. Those must have been the locations of Crypt and Thrysta, but to who was in which location there was no way of telling. This place got stranger by the second as the sound of thunder rolled in; Kew was definitely an interesting planet. Strong sand storms, tropical climate and wildlife, and now thunderstorms from nowhere? What was this place? She had been to Kew before but that was back in the city, back in another life that seemed so opposite but so similar to her life now.
But pushing memories aside did she know what she had to do; she had to make a choice. To either head West or North-East and face whoever would be there. She continued heading north for now knowing she would soon come to a crossroad. Krystal couldn't help but wonder how Aeon was doing, in that small segmented clip it showed her being pushed up between a rock and a hard place with no escape. There was no telling how old that confrontation was, she could already be dead by now. But she knew Aeon was a strong warrior and a better survivor, it was in her blood after all.
Krystal soon came to realization that she had her own problems right now. Time was running out and within the next twenty-four hours a fighter must perish. She kept a steady pace as the rain became heavy and her mud camouflage ruined cleansing her body, but she didn't care. The 'hint' given to the Royalists couldn't have been her own, Thrysta and Crypt must know her whereabouts and were coming; she sliced through some thick vegetation hardening her heart and swallowing her emotions. Within the next day someone would die and she knew she would see the place she hates and hopefully the man she loved again.
"Twenty-four hours to go, let them come."
