Out of Sight (Xalet)

[Aello]

Through the connection Aello could see him moving. Reaching for weapons to cut, others to dig, a final one to bury. She paused a moment, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her heart pounding. She was practically panting as she turned her head towards the Akalak, and watched him, her eyes barely blinking. As she began to regain her breath, she cocked her head to the side, following the last of his movements with her magic. As he kept on acting, and she, silently observing, she began to wonder all the more what he was up to. She was certain that in their previous battles, he had never tried something quite like this; whatever this was. The girl considered his having held back the last few days, only to pull out something brilliant, or perhaps even a little more reckless in the final battle. Smiling to herself, Aello slowly shook her head. That simply could not be. Surely the billowing blue couldn't have found a way to stop her. Not yet. Shrugging as she watched the placement of his form, and of his belongings, she whispered, "no way to tell until we're near." She took a deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth to steady herself before turning away from him, and towards the path she had just left in her wake. With one final breath, she stared at what lay ahead, and to her sides, before turning back, running through her trail. Through the snow Aello tread for several chimes, before veering back in, moving around the area in which Xalet had seemingly camped himself. It would be but a matter of moments before she struck. Unless he had found her too.

[Xalet]

Xalet had only the barest abilities of dealing with the Wilderness, but still they existed. In the short times he had gone out and roughed it on the command of his Patron, he had done such things as hunted for his own food, built his own fire, and prepared his own shelter. He remembered something in particular when he was bowfishing on an empty stomach. A skillful Knight, well versed in traveling and living within the wilderness mentioned that sometimes hunting is not about how you approach your target, but how you watch and allow your target to approach you.

The patient hunter could prepare an environment that was to their favor, allowing the prey to come to them. It was the path Xalet had to take with the fish all those seasons ago. The slightest movement scared them, changed their trajectory within the stream. Instead if he stopped his movements and quieted his 'presence', for lack of a better word, he could allow them to swim into the area where his aim was the surest. It wasn't about stealth, or being hidden, instead it was about making a negligible impact upon the surroundings.

Aello's bow was one of the most dangerous parts of her, hence why he had chosen to stop in an area where the trees were the most dense. Her speed was difficult to keep up with, hence why he had to re-arrange the snow in his immediate area. And her daggers were more effective than his own short sword style up close, given the variance of their skill levels, hence why he had to have a card to play to create distance. Battlefield Manipulation, as it were. A way to change the field of combat in a way only predetermined by you, so as to force your opponent to waste at least a moment processing a change they were not prepared for, and altering their strategy. That would be his opening. For now he just had to focus everything he had on ensuring he spot her before or at the same time she spot him.

[Aello]

Aello crept through the line of trees, her bow coming high as she moved along. Slowly stamping down the snow, so as to reduce the noise she produced as she stalked her prey. She practically held her breath as she kept her eyes peeled, fixated on the lights. The string crept back, her fingers shaking as a tendril of silver smoke left her lips. Her left eye shut as she tightened her stance, and moved the point of her arrow over her target. "Sorry horsie," she mouthed as her fingers strummed her weapon for a breath before the release. The string ricocheted as she turned and darted away, back into the thicket as she watched the arrow soar through the colors. The projectile wavered in the wind as it neared Parchello, whose tail swished as he began to pick up on the subtle sound. His ears prickled, as it came closer. His head came up a little, dragging on his line, as he gnawed the bit in his mouth. He seemed to snort a little as grey smoke left his flaring nostrils, and finally, the arrow, came right across him. Deathly close to the leather throng that strapped his harness around his head, by the connecting portion close to his mouth. Saliva dripped from the edges as he moved about, still, seemingly startled by Aello's arrow which had settled in the nearby snow. As she ran, the girl smirked. This is too easy, Aello though as she kept on running, reaching for another arrow as she did so, and quickly nocking it onto the bowstring. She pulled it back only a little, as she maneuvered herself through the trees, watching the action with the aid of her magic. She ignored her quickening pulse as she glided along, her shallow breath. She knew she had him.

[Xalet]

She had grown closer than he expected, but his senses were becoming more keen and more refined with each pressured practice. By now, even if Xalet didn't realize it directly, his eyes and ears were potentially further trained than most Knights. Spending most of his time watching and listening, ignored or avoided by the Humans in his past had its advantages. As would be expected Xalet took cover behind a tree, apparently attempting to keep something between him and Aello.

Sucking air deeply through his teeth and into his lungs, Xalet's leather and metal shrouded hands gripped the trunk of the tree in front of him as he lowered his body weight. A short time ago he learned exactly how much stronger he was than the average Human. Though muscular strength and endurance training had become part of his life, he rarely had someone to directly compare his physical abilities with. When the time finally came, he found he wasn't simply twice, or even three times as strong as a Human man of similar stature. Xalet was nearly three and a half times as strong as a Human of similar size. Part of it was his training, but most of it was his Akalak blood.

"Hnnnggg..." he shoved against the tree he had weakened with his blades with a force that was altogether, inhuman. Wide ruts were dug into the ground as his boots skidded slightly until finally a large snap resounded throughout the forest. Like a fresh snowstorm brilliant white began to pour down to the ground as all of the precipitation, both snow and ice that had been caught upon the limbs of the tree shuddered free, pulled by gravity. Indeed, the entire tree began to fall, and even as it did Xalet drew both of his short swords and followed the enormous shaft of wood as it collapsed horizontally. His speed grew slowly as heavy footsteps slapped down upon the ground. Like a bull, once Xalet got his momentum moving he actually had some speed to him. Aello had her way of seeing what lay beyond her mundane eyes, and so did Xalet. He would engage her and give her everything he had this time.

[Aello]

Aello turned to the crackling of wood as it split, the grating of metal, snow falling and being displaced. She could see the rush of color from afar as the last of the white powder settled, and Xalet drew his weapons. He was coming for her, they both knew it. But was he enough to overcome her superior speed, and time spent elluding countless foes? She doubt it. She couldn't so much as begin to imagine, as cocky and self-assured as his kind could be. The thought made her smile as her grip tightened around her bow and she quickly pivoted, turning her body around one hundred eighty degrees. Her right arm came back, past the ear, drawing the string as the arrow's point was pulled over her target. Within a heartbeat, she let go, firing her arrow at the oncoming Akalak. With any luck, it'd strike him under the arm, a small weakness in his armor, and if not that, at least it could slow him down a bit, as he took the time to dodge. With the arrow in the air, Aello couldn't help but widen her smile as she strung her bow up the length of her arm. As soon as she had finished, she pulled her cursed blade from concealment, and gripped it tightly, metal point turned towards her tracks. Within a breath, she was running at him, and he at her. Within another, she was pushing the blade upwards, into his own, as she tugged the spare from its sheath. Seconds later, she was bringing it forward, into his chest as she retracted the weapon she had used prior, pulling it back into her side. She grit her teeth as her eyes hardened. Her feet slid against the snow. This was going to be a fight to remember.

[Xalet]

Xalet's muscles screamed at him to move, it was quite the unusual situation. It took a moment for him to understand where their haste to make such a drastic change in trajectory was. The Evantia aura was notifying his senses of Aello's actions, but his skill with it was still not quite as honed as it could be. A Gnosis that required constant practice and tempering with trial and use, so much more different then the rather simplistic light he could generate with his palm. "She has some incredible accuracy, even though all this debris." he thought to his other half as his body attempted to jerk away from the arrow coming at him. The point bent the rings of his chainmail and ended up slicing a nice notch into his gambeson. Somewhere beneath there it struck the meat of his latissimus muscle.

Stumbling slightly Xalet thanked his previous planning. The downed tree was meant to provide lateral cover as he closed the distance. Against a lesser archer it probably could have served to keep him completely safe. Apparently against someone of Aello's caliber it was barely enough to keep the arrow a few centimeters off of a much more damaging target. Quick enough he yanked the shaft from the layers of armor it had become entangled into as he tossed it to the side, trying to keep up his forward motion. "I'm not sure how well I can utilize two blades at once." Xalet admitted.

"Who cares? It doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to work. Don't let up, keep pressure on. We are Akalak, offense is primary, defense is secondary." that passionate inner voice came. Xalet was a man filled with uncertainty. The biggest weakness in his faith was that he didn't have enough of it in himself. Xuphim had to fill those gaps.

As Aello's first blade came out Xalet brought his short sword in to connect and both his weapon and her dagger came together. He couldn't be sure just how much effort she was giving it at the moment, but the squire found himself struggling to keep up regardless of how many advantages he tried to give himself. He sucked his breath in as his opposite weapon went about for it's own attack. If he could just catch her, maybe even tear her clothes that would be enough for him. The previously parried hand collapsed inward on itself, causing the point of his elbow to jut out which he sent toward Aello. Unarmed arts mixed with swordplay, that was the style he learned. He had to stay true to it. As another of her stabs came at his chest he bladed his body and felt the edge skimming against his plate. Switching up his stance a flurry of powdery white swished up from the ground as his left leg swung low in an attempt to sweep or unbalance. "That's it, push, push! Attack and defend in the same movement!" growled the sidelined second soul.

[Aello]

Her second blade came up to meet his own. Within an instant, they had met with a deafening ring. For a second, Aello's weapon held with that of the Akalak, before she tore it away, spinning just out of Xalet's reach as his metal plated elbow came for her. Her arm swinging around for another strike that was parried, and then another in the opposite direction, which was met by his leg. Startled by the move, the flurry of snow that buffeted the lower portion of her body, her hand shook. She could feel the metal vibrating against her frozen palm as they both pulled back. She tried to tighten her hold on the hilt, to regain her composure, but it was of no use. Soon, the space between her fingers was widening all the more, her hand was unfurling against the continued strain, the relentless rise of the pain scourging her palm. Within a heartbeat, her grip was gone, and her weapon, sent tumbling against the snow. She could hear it sink into a bed of white, comfortable, even without its master. With chest heaving, and heart pounding, Aello dove towards the ground, hoping to miss any more advances of the Akalak as she went after her weapon. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see his foot coming down, his arms twisting. Her eyes widened, for she knew he was coming for her, and if she kept on trying for it now, she'd be too late. She wouldn't be able to reach her second dagger, before he happened upon her, and then all would be lost. Frightened, for she was unsure as to whether or not the Akalak had received enough training to stop his blade short, or turn it on its side, so as to reduce the injury of his opponent or opponents, she pushed her body back up, pushing the cursed blade forward as she went, to ward off any further attack. As soon as their blades had met once again, however, she would have to find another tactic to bring the man down, for this one obviously wasn't getting her anywhere.

[Xalet]

Were it darker outside, the shower of sparks from the two mystic imbued blades could have been glorious to behold. As metal screeched against metal, Xalet found his blade skipping against Aello's cross-guard, causing him to retreat his hand back slightly. It was a moments hesitation that he most likely would not have shown against someone like the Ebonstryfe, and Xuphim was quick to chastise him on it. "What are you doing!? That was it, you were starting to get somewhere! Why hold back? It took everything you had just to get that far!" in a way, even Xuphim couldn't believe what he himself was thinking. The desire to be victorious overrode his personal decision never to fight against women, even if it was Xalet carrying out the physical actions. The competitive nature of an Akalak was natural, but Xuphim was the concentrated desire that existed within Xalet. Though the light half felt that desire as well, the darker Xuphim was more apt to capitalize on any scenario in order to appease that lust for victory. Xalet didn't have so much of a restriction, he had been thoroughly trounced by his own Patron, whom was a woman after all. However it was his own inner perception that made him realize his lack of mastery over his weaponry made things extra dangerous. He could end up injuring someone rather severely, while having no intent to do so. Instead he had to move forward with a less lethal form of combat, a ground based segment of his Syliran unarmed training. As both combatants weapons clashed together in the most recent exchange, Xalet allowed the pressure to linger against Aello's dagger for just a moment before he simply released his grip upon it, pushing his arm and fingers forward in an attempt to grapple one of her limbs. If he could isolate an extremity from the rest of the body, the hefty Akalak had a variety of ways to ground and neutralize an opponent without causing much physical harm. The problem was timing. The longer the fight would wear on, the heavier that armor would start to feel, laying across his shoulders, his hips, and overall against his entire frame.

[Aello]

The metal of her dagger screeched. Inwardly, Aello cringed as she retracted her blade, pulling it against her middle in a simple defensive stance. She could see his arm coming for her, causing her to bend backwards at the middle, narrowly missing the limb that was reaching for her. Her waist and back ached with the strain of keeping her body steady, as her hair dripped onto the bed of snow, her hands fell back. The free one touched first, and she used this one to kick off. Her legs pushing away from the earth as she bounced on her hand, and then twisted away, flipping several steps back. She landed heavily in the snow, sending a flurry of white swirling madly around her tanned boots. Her eyes fixated on her prey a moment, before she pulled her arm back, and then thrust it forward. Releasing her weapon. The dagger circled through the air; a hawk eyeing its latest target. The metal shimmering in the light as it neared its intended mark: the space at the base of the Akalak's neck. An attack that would prove lethal, should he fail to be careful. Smiling wickedly, Aello darted forward. Her head tucking into her chest, as her hands shot forward. Her palms directed towards the ground, fingers held together. The left came down on the hilt of the dagger. Effortlessly, her fingers furled, encasing the dark sheet. Her legs pushed up against the ground, and then folded, as she rolled herself past the Akalak, only to come out on the other side. Within a heartbeat, she had eased herself onto her feet, snow falling from her hair, while some clung to her clothes. Like a matted fur coat. Breathing a little more heavily, tendrils of silver mist escaping her lips, she eyed the second dagger. That one would not come to her on its own. She would have to retrieve it. Taking a single deep breath, in through the nose, and out through the mouth, a breath that cut through her innards was all she needed. Within a fraction of a second, Aello was running for him. Her arm swinging out and to the side, before she swept it back in. Intending to smash it into the Akalak's side, before she dipped, grabbing the remaining dagger, which rested against the ground. As soon as she had each in hand, she'd come up, making sure to keep low until she had gone forward a step, so as to avoid any attacks raining in from her sides. As soon as she had done that, she'd pivot, so that she may face him head on once more. Each of her hands coming up from their lowly places, coming under each of his arms, to jar and mar his joints.

[Xalet]

Xalet tsked himself as his hand barely missed it's mark, leaving himself to torque his body rearward in order to create some distance. His open hand dragged across the group to fish up his recently discarded short sword, and at first it appeared she had a similar idea to create a gap between the two of them as well. His low dip toward the ground was an unlikely ally as he noted a dagger coming straight toward him. At first it was only a glimmer in the sky, the point cutting through the air at his upper most body. Only it didn't fly as a normal dagger. "What...the..." the squire's mental endurance was quite taxed, a side effect of putting his Evantia Aura to the test against a superiority skilled opponent. His feet continued to carry him backward. The man that always pushed forward was retreating. Or at least it seemed that way. When it struck down upon him his arm reflexively came up to his face, regardless of his prior training. The weapon cut into the rawhide of the underside of his gauntlet, sketching it's mark into the palm of his hand just where his thumb met the handle of his shortsword before skipping against the cheekguard of his helm and twirling onto the ground. The bite of the fresh cut upon his palm made his breath suck past his teeth as they clenched together. Falling backwards upon the ground, Xalet pushed his hand clenched into a fist upon his short blade downward to right himself back onto his feet, his palm leaving a red imprint upon the pristine white canvas of snow below them. The cold felt good when it came in contact with the wound, it soothed and numbed the skin. Xalet couldn't spend much time icing down his injury however as he continued to back pedal with Aello right in top of him. As she swept into him he accepted the blow, slicing his own weapon outward awkwardly, merely testing the distance before snapping his left leg low at the knee and then high at the shoulder and head, an impressive display considering the amount of armor he wore. It was too much though, all the ground he had covered had been retracted, and he was back where he started as indicated by his shield laying thrust into the ground. His long knives jabbed outward trying to keep Aello back as he regained a proper foothold, but eventually her pressuring him backward was just too much and he flopped completely onto his backside, his hot breath pouring out into the air. He kicked into the ground with his feet and relinquished his short swords, as if he was desperately attempting to retreat. Finally though he stopped and dipped his injured hand into the snow, like a blacksmith would cool a red hot blade. Pulling backward, a large object was revealed from the powder, it was the crossbow that had long since been forgotten, buried and hidden since before their initial clash. He leveled it at Aello, an unexpected bit of weaponry to add into their combat, and squeezed the trigger, firing from his seated position upon the ground.