Silver Rose: Chapter 4
Rayvn was feeling good. She was bruised, tired, and hungry, but still, she was feeling up to any new challenge. She stood proudly second in her line, waiting for Jaguar to announce her as part of Crimson.
"Yarevi." Jaguar annouched, his voice soft but somehow drifting above those of the other leaders.
So she had been feeling good. Now, as Rayvn heard the name and saw that creature step forward, she tensed. What was going on? Was Jaguar out of his mind? She and another alone had made first and second rank to go on to duel for the winner and, to then duel the other lines winner to become Crimsons' newest member, and Yarvei had not. He had made third!
"Third. You will not duel first and second place, and likewise you shall not duel the winners of the other lines. You are however not dropped from training, as the rest of you are." Yarvei's face grew with rage, but he kept his mouth shut, and Jaguar continued. "Yaska, first place. Rayvn ranking second. You will duel for the the opprotunity to duel the other lines winners, and then for the title. Understood?"
Rayvn gave the shadow of a victor's smile, but otherwise remained calm and collected reciving the news, though she had already known.
"Alright, then. Winners B, winners C, winners D, step up to the head of the line." Jaguar waited as each pair of victors moved up and stood side-by-side silently. "Good. I will annonce the winners of each line. But before that, does anyone have any questions?"
So it turned out, none did. Jaguar agian proceeded. "Line A, Yaska, Rayvn. Line B, Jacob, Stroke. Line C, Silver, Midnight. Finally, Line D, Kallios, and Demetro." He paused for the words to sink in. "Tomorrow, lines A and C will fight their other member. When they have their winner of the line, B and D may compete. Agian, questions?"
"When tomorrow?" Rayvn asked curiously, and Jaguar grinned.
"As a human, that is a question you would think to ask. But to we vampires, tomorrow is when the sun rises, not a moment later. I take it there are no more? Then get on." Jaguar answered, and Yaska turned to her.
He was dark skinned, with light brown hair and black eyes. Softly, he whispered, "If I where you, I would not even show, human. There is no chance of your victory."
"We will see about who wins, Yaska. You did not even imagine I would come this far, so what makes you think I will not exceed your expectations for me now?" Rayvn spat at him, and he laughed.
"You are wrong, I did look for you to win. You are strong as a human, but I tell you, I am more than your match." This eyes did something to her for a moment as they bore into her, making her feel weak and ungaurded, but she the feeling shook her as a clear, calm voice interupted their conversation.
"Yaska." It was a voice Rayvn would come to know all too well.
*
A silver rose. Rayvn studied it before daring to pick it up. Her experiences in life had taught her to always be wary. Now, as a shaft of moonlight held the rose in a soft patch of light, Rayvn felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth before turning into a frown.
A thought had come unbidden to her mind, but it was a good thought. The black rose had been the vampires symbol for over six hundred years. So then, the rose was a deathly gift, as was Pandoras box delievered by the swift feet of Mercury, this rose would surely bring swift woes.
Stepping over the beautiful and unearthly gift, Rayvn entered Brujaa early. The large room was not empty. Yaska stood haughtily waiting, and his face caught sight of Rayvn immediately, turning into a mask of open hatred and scorn. In return, she simply did nothing, and walked to the large whip.
Quickly, as she reached for it, someones hand knocked hers away, and Rayvn immediately recoiled. It took her a moment to realize Yaska had swung at her, and she grabbed the whip and sliced him neatly on his left patella unexpectedly, tearing open his black jeans there.
As the action barely completed its due pain, Yaska reacted by snatching the whip from her hand with superior speed, and pinning her down on the floor roughly. Rayvn knew not to struggle agianst him, and seethingly, she glared up into his eyes. He opened his mouth to taunt her, and just as he did, she shot her leg around his and rolled to the left. Quickly, she recovered to stand, but to find Yaska armed with the whip. Lightly, she ducked, and slide close, kicking him hard in the breast bone, a move that would have possibly killed a human.
"Fool!" Yaska hissed, grabbing her by the shoulders, but quickly, Rayvn rotated her arms in a circle swiftly, and knocked his hands off.
Before he could react, she dropped to the floor to kick his already healed patella. Her booted foot barely struck it when he grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her violently. Roughly, memories flashing through her mind, Rayvn kicked straight her his face violently, and when his grip slackened, she did a back flip, landing on all floors barely a second before striking agian.
But Yaska was the vampire, not she, and he was intitled to superior skills. He grabbed her fist roughly before twisting it, and Rayvn struggled and turned violently to prevent him from breaking it. Gasping, Rayvn dropped to the floor, realising that was where his weaknesses lay, and slid between his legs, barely avoiding his kicks, to do a back flip and batter his chest just as he turned.
Yaska grabbed her firmly by the legs, and Rayvn reacted the only way she imagined: curling up and trying to strangle him. Luckily, before he could make her mistake fatal, the calm voice of Silver interupted us agian.
"Yaska." He said smoothly, and Yaska growled in irritation, throwing me off.
"You are saying that too much Silver! I will be damned if you kept interupting. What is it you want?" Yaska breathed icily, before cursing under his breath.
Silver stood his ground carelessly, but firmly. Rayvn was beginning to think he let on the careless manner, but truly, he was tricking those around. "I don't think you should care for my answer."
Rayvn shook her head, leaving them to their bussiness, trying to fathom a way she could win agianst Yaska. She knew his weakness was his lower boby, mainly his legs. But what else would led her to victory? That skirmish had told her enough to know that she would need more information to win the battle.
But what was it? She only wished she had more time to think of the answers. What was Yaska's akeelies heel? Certainly, evey vampire and human alike had one. The problem was figuring out what it was. Humans, they where realitivly easy, but a vampire you have sparsely had contact with... That is another story.
Snapping her out of her concentration was Jaguar's enterence and calling to begin the battle. Slowly, pasting her confidence on, faced her enemy.
"Weapon: whip. No other means except for natural weapons such as hands and legs. No fangs. Begin!" Jaguar stepped back, and immediately, Yaska had her pinned to the ground in a more difficuly move than before...
Rayvn was feeling good. She was bruised, tired, and hungry, but still, she was feeling up to any new challenge. She stood proudly second in her line, waiting for Jaguar to announce her as part of Crimson.
"Yarevi." Jaguar annouched, his voice soft but somehow drifting above those of the other leaders.
So she had been feeling good. Now, as Rayvn heard the name and saw that creature step forward, she tensed. What was going on? Was Jaguar out of his mind? She and another alone had made first and second rank to go on to duel for the winner and, to then duel the other lines winner to become Crimsons' newest member, and Yarvei had not. He had made third!
"Third. You will not duel first and second place, and likewise you shall not duel the winners of the other lines. You are however not dropped from training, as the rest of you are." Yarvei's face grew with rage, but he kept his mouth shut, and Jaguar continued. "Yaska, first place. Rayvn ranking second. You will duel for the the opprotunity to duel the other lines winners, and then for the title. Understood?"
Rayvn gave the shadow of a victor's smile, but otherwise remained calm and collected reciving the news, though she had already known.
"Alright, then. Winners B, winners C, winners D, step up to the head of the line." Jaguar waited as each pair of victors moved up and stood side-by-side silently. "Good. I will annonce the winners of each line. But before that, does anyone have any questions?"
So it turned out, none did. Jaguar agian proceeded. "Line A, Yaska, Rayvn. Line B, Jacob, Stroke. Line C, Silver, Midnight. Finally, Line D, Kallios, and Demetro." He paused for the words to sink in. "Tomorrow, lines A and C will fight their other member. When they have their winner of the line, B and D may compete. Agian, questions?"
"When tomorrow?" Rayvn asked curiously, and Jaguar grinned.
"As a human, that is a question you would think to ask. But to we vampires, tomorrow is when the sun rises, not a moment later. I take it there are no more? Then get on." Jaguar answered, and Yaska turned to her.
He was dark skinned, with light brown hair and black eyes. Softly, he whispered, "If I where you, I would not even show, human. There is no chance of your victory."
"We will see about who wins, Yaska. You did not even imagine I would come this far, so what makes you think I will not exceed your expectations for me now?" Rayvn spat at him, and he laughed.
"You are wrong, I did look for you to win. You are strong as a human, but I tell you, I am more than your match." This eyes did something to her for a moment as they bore into her, making her feel weak and ungaurded, but she the feeling shook her as a clear, calm voice interupted their conversation.
"Yaska." It was a voice Rayvn would come to know all too well.
*
A silver rose. Rayvn studied it before daring to pick it up. Her experiences in life had taught her to always be wary. Now, as a shaft of moonlight held the rose in a soft patch of light, Rayvn felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth before turning into a frown.
A thought had come unbidden to her mind, but it was a good thought. The black rose had been the vampires symbol for over six hundred years. So then, the rose was a deathly gift, as was Pandoras box delievered by the swift feet of Mercury, this rose would surely bring swift woes.
Stepping over the beautiful and unearthly gift, Rayvn entered Brujaa early. The large room was not empty. Yaska stood haughtily waiting, and his face caught sight of Rayvn immediately, turning into a mask of open hatred and scorn. In return, she simply did nothing, and walked to the large whip.
Quickly, as she reached for it, someones hand knocked hers away, and Rayvn immediately recoiled. It took her a moment to realize Yaska had swung at her, and she grabbed the whip and sliced him neatly on his left patella unexpectedly, tearing open his black jeans there.
As the action barely completed its due pain, Yaska reacted by snatching the whip from her hand with superior speed, and pinning her down on the floor roughly. Rayvn knew not to struggle agianst him, and seethingly, she glared up into his eyes. He opened his mouth to taunt her, and just as he did, she shot her leg around his and rolled to the left. Quickly, she recovered to stand, but to find Yaska armed with the whip. Lightly, she ducked, and slide close, kicking him hard in the breast bone, a move that would have possibly killed a human.
"Fool!" Yaska hissed, grabbing her by the shoulders, but quickly, Rayvn rotated her arms in a circle swiftly, and knocked his hands off.
Before he could react, she dropped to the floor to kick his already healed patella. Her booted foot barely struck it when he grabbed her by her shoulders and shook her violently. Roughly, memories flashing through her mind, Rayvn kicked straight her his face violently, and when his grip slackened, she did a back flip, landing on all floors barely a second before striking agian.
But Yaska was the vampire, not she, and he was intitled to superior skills. He grabbed her fist roughly before twisting it, and Rayvn struggled and turned violently to prevent him from breaking it. Gasping, Rayvn dropped to the floor, realising that was where his weaknesses lay, and slid between his legs, barely avoiding his kicks, to do a back flip and batter his chest just as he turned.
Yaska grabbed her firmly by the legs, and Rayvn reacted the only way she imagined: curling up and trying to strangle him. Luckily, before he could make her mistake fatal, the calm voice of Silver interupted us agian.
"Yaska." He said smoothly, and Yaska growled in irritation, throwing me off.
"You are saying that too much Silver! I will be damned if you kept interupting. What is it you want?" Yaska breathed icily, before cursing under his breath.
Silver stood his ground carelessly, but firmly. Rayvn was beginning to think he let on the careless manner, but truly, he was tricking those around. "I don't think you should care for my answer."
Rayvn shook her head, leaving them to their bussiness, trying to fathom a way she could win agianst Yaska. She knew his weakness was his lower boby, mainly his legs. But what else would led her to victory? That skirmish had told her enough to know that she would need more information to win the battle.
But what was it? She only wished she had more time to think of the answers. What was Yaska's akeelies heel? Certainly, evey vampire and human alike had one. The problem was figuring out what it was. Humans, they where realitivly easy, but a vampire you have sparsely had contact with... That is another story.
Snapping her out of her concentration was Jaguar's enterence and calling to begin the battle. Slowly, pasting her confidence on, faced her enemy.
"Weapon: whip. No other means except for natural weapons such as hands and legs. No fangs. Begin!" Jaguar stepped back, and immediately, Yaska had her pinned to the ground in a more difficuly move than before...