Unmei Force: Inherited Wills
Chapter 6: Wolfskin vs. Kitsune, Duke vs. Lord
With Velouria...
The wolf-girl slowly made her way through the corridors, as she was quite pumped up to fight in all honesty, as she wonders what kind of opponent she would face, before she then passed through the door.
She found herself in a coliseum that seemed to be quite familiar, with the stands and the banners of Nohr and Hoshido draped everywhere, the ground made of tough earth, as she slowly paced forward, as she was standing right in front of one of the ground entrances to the arena itself. She looked around, as she too in the view of the place around her.
"Huh... Never thought that I would find myself in this sort of place again..." Velouria remarked. "It was quite fun fighting in the arena. Wonder what kind of person they would put me up against. Whoever they are... They're going to be torn to pieces by me, even if the worst I can do to them is leave them slumped over bleeding."
"Hehehe... You really are always the same, Velouria!" A peppy female voice was heard, as Velouria recognised the voice immediately, quickly turning to the speaker themselves.
Right before her, was a young girl with short golden hair and fur, with fox ears filled with white fluff, and a golden white-tipped fox-tail behind her, that was swaying gently, and yellow eyes filled with cheerful and energetic spirit. She was dressed in a furry tiger coat, with a long blue hakama, with a black symbol made of diamonds, inscribed on one leg, red geta and tabi on her feet, as well as a purple and white shimenawa on her back, tied into a bow with blue cloth on the ends, and there was a large naginata tied to her back.
"Selkie?" Velouria asked back, with genuine curiosity.
"Aha, that's right!" Selkie cheerfully stated, smiling brightly. "You still remember me, Velouria! I'm so happy that we're able to meet each other again, after so long! Aren't you supposed to be back at Gensokyo?"
"Well, at least now I know that you're THAT Selkie, not the one I have to deal with back home." Velouria sighed, with a faint smile that she tried her best to hide from the fox-girl. "You're fairly better, but by not much. You're both too pushy towards me, but at least you're able to do a lot more, and actually try to take things slowly, so that I won't have to be blasted by your overly cheerful attitude each time we meet."
"Mou... You can't just say that, Velouria..." Selkie pouted, with a mock hurt expression. "Don't you like to be around me as well? After all, you never did try to drive me away."
"Fair." Velouria simply stated, before she then drew her claws. "I suppose that you're here to have a play-fight with me? Or are you here just to talk to me?"
"Both!" Selkie exclaimed. "I wanna know how much you have been doing with Richard! I wanna know what you have been doing all this time we haven't seen each other!"
"Well, there isn't much." Velouria answered back. "But recently, I been through a lot of crap, like really grim crap that makes the war back where we came from, seem like a mere squabble, and there was a lot of demons, all far worse than the Faceless. But as you might expect, we handed their asses to them, and I even got to enjoy myself a little. You could say that I had much fun there, and not for the reasons you may like. Just a word of advice, if you want to ask about going there, Don't. Take it from someone who actually spends her time raiding and fighting."
"Aw... But I wanted to know if there are any fun places to go to..." Selkie pouted. "So far, Siege really doesn't take me out as much as he used to, since he had a lot of things to deal with... And although there is a lot of friends to play with, when I'm still in the Hall of Origin... I really miss playing with you."
"I'm touched. No, really. I am." Velouria deviously smirked back. "Well then, you want to play, then you better not go easy on me. Because I won't, and you don't want to get hurt just because you wanted to spare my feelings. I'm not that kind."
"Don't worry, I'm really going to give it my all!" Selkie exclaimed, before she then grinned back with determination, spinning her naginata around, before then pointing it at Velouria. "Now then, let's play pretend with the Wolfskin vs. Kitsune scenario! The dark and broody wolfskin, against the bright and peppy kitsune! Who will emerge victorious! Let's find out!"
Velouria's grin grew wider, before she then rushed at Selkie, with her claws raised, as she swung them down on the kitsune, who deftly raised her naginata in defence, as the pole managed to block the slicing weapons. They pushed against each other for a while, before Velouria went for a flip-kick, that knocked Selkie's naginata upwards, before she then tried to slash at the fox-girl again. However, Selkie used the momentum to her advantage, as she swung the weapon around, and smacked Velouria under the chin with it, causing him to choke on her own saliva from the sudden blow, and stopping her attack cold in its tracks.
Selkie then reversed the direction of the naginata's spin, in order to bring the blade down onto Velouria, only for the wolfskin to dodge to the side to avoid the attack. She then followed up with a series of wide swings and quick thrusts, which Velouria was forced to parry or dodge. Velouria tried to counter amidst the series of attacks, but Selkie stopped her from trying, with a twist of her pole to knock the claws away.
However, Velouria knew that Selkie could only keep swinging for so long, as she waited for Selkie to stop her assault, before she made one of her own, as her claws sprung onto the kitsune with ruthless efficiency and speed. Selkie was having a hard time blocking all of these blows, as her weapon was being knocked around with the various strikes that Velouria was doing, before Velouria managed to finally land a grazing blow on her, as the claws scraped against her fabric clothing, eliciting a yelp from the kitsune.
"Almost had you there!" Velouria exclaimed. "Come on, you wanted to prove who's the best! You don't have the stamina to keep up with me!"
"No... But I do have a lot of skill with my weapon!" Selkie retorted back, before she then spun the naginata around, as she aimed the blade at Velouria's waist. The wolfskin was surprised at how fast the blow came, as she was actually hit by the blade, although it only pierced through her armour.
"Damn sly fox... You won't get away with that one!" Velouria roared, before she then swung her claws down with inhuman might, knocking Selkie's naginata down. She then followed up with a swipe that she followed through with her body, as she managed to cut through the fabric and leather of Selkie's armour, and managing to draw some blood. "How's that!"
"Not fair... You're too mean, Velouria! I'm going to really punish you for that!" Selkie growled back, looking fairly miffed at the wolfskin, as she slammed the flat end of the blade against Velouria's forehead, dazing her, before she then thrust the weapon towards her stomach, as it made a huge hole through the armour, and the blade managed to cut through her belly's flesh, leaving behind a small bleeding gash. Selkie then pulled the naginata out, as she seemed to be quite satisfied for her payback. "Now you know how rough I can play!"
"Tch... You really like to take games like these seriously..." Velouria chuckled, while in pain with her abdomen wound. "As much as I love to have us transform and make this an actual fight, I rather we settle this as we are. We're not just instinctual beasts, now, are we?"
"Hear, hear!" Selkie exclaimed back with joy, as she seemed to be fairly undisturbed by her own wounds. "Now then, let's settle this!"
"I was thinking the same thing! You ready to get yourself torn to shreds by my claws?" Velouria growled, as a dark purple aura appeared around her. "Because I'm really heated up right now, and I'm going to let all these tension, all this bloodlust in me, into a concentrated strike to end this!"
"Cool! I'm going to do the same, although I'm not going to be as dark and brooding as you, Velouria!" Selkie exclaimed, before a shining golden aura emanated all over her. "I'm going to focus on the positive, and put all this energy and determination! I'm going to win this one for sure!"
Both of the girls, who were rallied in their own manner, charged at each other, letting out war-cries, as their attacks collided with each other, with enough force to cause a massive shockwave to be created from their clash. Standing past each other, at the end of their attacking paths, they remained in silence, as if they were waiting for something, or their attacks sapped the last of their strength to move.
Soon, the auras over the two girls bearing animalistic features faded away, as they fell onto their knees, looking relatively unscathed, despite all of the force put into their attacks, which made it seem as if the auras formed from their spirit stopped each other's attacks from dealing physical harm.
"Hah... Hah..." Velouria huffed. "Oh geez... This is really the worst way to end this... I can't believe that we couldn't beat each other. So much for determining who's the victor of this fight..."
"I'm tired too... I don't wanna play this anymore... It's really starting to hurt bad..." Selkie groaned with a unhappy expression. "I guess that means that you're going to forfeit, right Velouria?"
"You muddled in the head, you damn fox!?" Velouria exclaimed. "Just because I'm tired, doesn't mean that I won't fight to win. Please, that wound you gave me was nothing at all compared to what I have to take, each time I'm stuck with a mission with that reckless leader of mine! YOU give up, I'm not going to lose this fight, just to spare your feelings. You wanted this fight, you finish it."
"Velouria... So mean..." Selkie pouted again, with stinging tears on the corner of her eyes. "Fine... You win... But did you at least have some fun? I'm sure that you really enjoyed this fight."
"And the thing is, you're not exactly wrong." Velouria answered back. "Beating you with all I got, is kind of therapeutic in a way. Guess it's has the same relaxing effect when I look over my collection of all sorts of 'treasures' and shiny stuff. After all, that's my one and only hobby, other than having to fight all these bastards in the way of my friends."
"Hahaha..." Selkie laughed heartily. "I'm pleased that I've done a lot for you, Velouria. After all, since we've been away from each other for so long... I guess this makes us caught up with each other right now?"
"...Yeah." Velouria answered back, before she then saw the door form in front of her. "Anyway, although I love to stay with you a little more, I got other things to do, and my friends need me right now. So if we bump into each other again... I'm sure that we'll do some more playing. But no more of this fighting game. You don't want our leaders to see us bleeding ourselves out, right?"
"Mhm, kitsune's word!" Selkie swore with a hand gesture, and a serious tone and expression.
Velouria let out a simple 'Heh.', before she then entered the door, and disappeared from the arena.
With Virion...
Virion slowly made his way to the door, before he found himself inside a large barren plateau, with little greenery, as he looked around for anything of interest, only seeing the various cliffs around him. As he looked around, he was curious about the place, as it didn't seem to be familiar to him at all, despite of his knowledge of many places.
As he was left thinking, he was eventually met by someone, who seemed to be patient enough to wait for the blue-haired archer to finish looking around, before he then finished looking around, and his eyes then met with the person. Right before him, was a man with green eyes, and dark-brown hair that seemed to have some parts of it creased into a bent shape. The man was also clad in a thick and baggy armour for himself, which was in beige colour, and seemed to be made of thick material like leather and durable fabric, with a woven fabric sash around his waist, made of yellow and black patterning, with one end sticking out, that had a jewelled charm attached to it. He also wore a yellow cape, which seemed to be attached to his shoulder from his left side, under a golden shoulder-plate, while the other shoulder bore a black cloth that bore a shielded crest that Virion was not familiar with, but knew that it represented an faction. He also wore black gloves and boots, and he had a bow that seemed to be made of ancient bone, with spikes along the length of the bow itself, and a round slot over the arrow rest, which had a large spherical object stuck in it.
"Hey. You look a little lost around here." The man spoke to Virion, before he then lowered his bow with a disarming smile. "You looking for a way out of here?"
"...Not quite." Virion shook his head gently. "I'm actually looking for my opponent. I was brought here by a strange power, in order to see if I am worthy of success, by defeating the one who would challenge me in turn."
"Huh. That sounds quite peculiar, don't you think?" The man asked back, before he tilted his head slightly. "Name's Claude. Claude von Riegan of House Riegan, and current leader of the Leicester Alliance. Funny enough, you wouldn't expect someone like me to be wandering places like this, but I'm a bit of a free spirit, you see."
"You are quite intriguing, Claude." Virion admitted. "My name is Virion Altreni, duke of Rosanne, a humble country in the land of Valm. Strangely, I have never heard of any talk of your house, or the alliance that you have stated. But then again, I am far from my own lands, so I don't expect someone like you to know about the lands I hail from."
"Yeah, you're fairly right on that." Claude nodded. "By the way, you didn't exactly answer my question earlier."
"About the event being peculiar... Yes, I do harbour my doubts about it, but agonising over the matter is not exactly going to help me at all." Virion answered back. "If you suspect me, then you have fair right to do so. I have no reason to hide anything from you, lest I be cut down for my resistance and deceit. Perjury is also not a smart choice now, as I can see that sharp look in your eyes, which seem to be carefully examining myself and my words."
"Huh, pretty smart of you." Claude answered back with a nod. "I never thought that you would be able to catch that part of me, right on the first time we met. Either you're fairly paranoid about meeting new people, or you got a good judge of character. Well, I won't lie, I was actually seeing how you would respond to me, since right now, the world is a little bit messed up these days, what with all of the war happening between the Kingdom of Fareghus and the Adrestian Empire."
"Is that so?" Virion asked back. "I'm sorry for being fairly suspicious about you, since I don't know who I'm facing right now. With a person like you, I could expect arrows from anywhere and at any time. Either way, I did my fair bit of studying up tactics and knowing my various enemies fairly thoroughly, as much as I practice my own mastery with the bow."
"Then I guess that this is going to be a fight that could go either way." Claude smiled back, confusing Virion.
"What...?" Virion asked, before he then saw that Claude was reaching for his bow, as Virion did the same, with both of them lifting their bow up, arrow nocked at the ready. "You were my opponent all along, and you sought to distract me with words."
"Well, I'm a lord in war. All's fair in love and war, so people say." Claude smirked back. "I was hoping that this was going to be an easy fight, and I was just about to drive a few arrows to keep you down, not kill you, since I rather not kill unless I must, after we finished chatting. But finding that you're a fairly good archer, makes me want to pit myself against you, for the sole fact that I want to see a real master on archery in action against me on a fight."
"I'll be glad to oblige." Virion answered back. "You wouldn't hesitate to use tactics that are frowned upon in general war conventions, which makes you fairly dangerous and unpredictable... I never expect that I would meet a person who takes a different path to tactics than myself, and be skilled at it, like one of my friends."
"Don't get me wrong, I genuinely said all that talk before, to get to know you a little, and see what you're like." Claude answered back. "No hard feelings, but I knew that we're going to fight right here and now, and I wasn't sure of my odds against you, until I have discerned it myself."
"Hmph. A slight advantage that is fairly minimal." Virion answered back.
They then both fired their bows at the same time, and quickly dodged away from the arrow aimed at their heads, moving back to create some distance from them. After they were a safe distance from each other, they started firing on each other again, as arrows were exchanged between the moving combatants, running and shooting at the same time.
"You know... The way you fire off those arrows, it makes it hard to dodge all these shots." Claude answered back, as he rolled backwards to dodge a arrow shooting ahead of him. "You seem to have a fairly better grasp at predicting the movement of your enemies than me, and more accurate than me."
"Like I said, I have spent as much time training archery, as I have remained duke for." Virion answered back, as he weaved to the side to dodge Claude's arrow, before he then fired one at Claude, who barely dodged it. "You'll find me quite tough to beat, unless you have a plan of your own."
"A plan of my own... Not quite there yet, but I do have something else to level the playing field a little." Claude answered back, before his bone-made bow began to glow, with the orb in the centre of the bow the brightest of all of the parts. "Time to show you that Failnaught really lives up to its name!"
Claude then rested an arrow onto Failnaught, before he then fired it, as the arrow turned golden, as it sped towards Virion, veering towards him, as it managed to strike onto the side of his waist, causing the blue-haired duke to let out a gasp of pain.
"Well, that is quite a powerful weapon you have there..." Virion groaned, before he then ripped the arrow out of the side of his waist. "I had my eye on your bow... It is a relic of some sort, is it not?"
"That's right, this bow only answers to the bears of the Crest of Riegan." Claude answered back, spinning his bow around. "You're quite out of luck, since this bow of mine is actually powerful enough to slay even large beasts with the right targeted spots."
"Even so, you underestimate me, if I would be cowed by your strength with your weapon." Virion answered back, before he then lowered himself into a firing position. "Because I survived through all of my battles, solely through hard work, and I'll demonstrate it, like so."
Virion then pulled out his bow, and grabbed a bundle of arrows, before he then quickly fired and nocked them at a frightening speed, which caught Claude off-guard, as he tried to dodge the barrage of arrows coming his way, all surprisingly accurate despite Virion's rapid and wild firing, as most of them managed to land hits on his limbs and torsos, knocking him back slightly, and damaging his armour quite a lot. After Virion's bundle ran dry, he then grabbed another from his quiver, before firing again.
Claude clicked his tongue, before he then fired back with Failnaught, as the guided arrows soared towards Virion. Virion did his best to dodge the honing arrows, managing to succeed in evading some of the arrows, although most of them did hit him, yet he didn't flinch or stagger, as he fired back at Claude, paying him back for each hit he took.
As time passed, the quivers of the two archers were running dry, until they were left with one arrow each, their bodies riddled with holes in their armour, and blood where the arrows pierced flesh.
"Well then... I guess that last arrows win the battle." Claude huffed, before he then slowly nocked it. "I'll be sure that this one will be the one to put you down."
"Don't be ridiculous." Virion growled back, before he then nocked his own arrow onto his bow. "Even if you take me down, I'll make sure that this final arrow of mine will land as well. The worst I'll have to accept is a draw, and I have endured so many blows, that I have grown to be able to bear them. Such is what an archer needs, should they be unable to evade one's attack."
"Well, try to bear this one then! Fallen Star!" Claude challenged, as the arrow on his bow glowed purple, with roaring energy surrounding it.
"This will be one for the bards!" Virion exclaimed, as his grip over the arrows tightened, his full strength focused right onto his arrow.
The two of them fired their arrow, as they brushed past each other, neither of them interfering each other's paths, before they landed on their respective targets. Claude's striking Virion on the chest, as it tore right through his armour, leaving him almost bare-chested, and giving him nothing more than a strong burn on his chest, as the arrow itself vaporised from the impact onto his reinforced armour. Virion's shot completely penetrated Claude's armour, as the arrow's entire tip drove right into the centre of Claude's ribcage, almost piercing bone, as Claude was thrown back onto the ground.
With both archers on the ground, none of them moved for a moment, as they were both in great amounts of pain. After those bouts of pain subsided, they rose back onto their feet, looking directly at their opponent.
"I suppose that this is where our duel ends...?" Virion asked back, clutching his burn wound gingerly.
"Yeah... I think that you got me as good as I did with that final shot." Claude responded back, before he weakly chuckled, despite the pain. "I think that I'll need some real help to get this arrow out of my chest. I felt it drive into my own ribcage."
"You shouldn't underestimate someone, just because they don't use magic. My arrows are made to pierce armour, and rend magic." Virion answered back. "That's how I survived through wars with beings of fantasy,and warriors of great skill and renown."
"That so... Well, I guess that it's nice knowing you." Claude responded back with a faint smile.
"Likewise." Virion nodded back, before he then noticed the door reappeared behind him with a audible whoosh.
The two of them looked at each other for a few more moments, before Claude gestured for Virion to continue, which the duke complied to, as he trudged through the door, and left without another word.
"A good archer, and a man of smarts..." Claude pondered. "If only there were more people like him and me, we might have something interesting."