Closed [Tall Johnny's] A Cold Wager (Matthew)

[Kaie]

3rd of Summer, 515 AV
Synaset


"Give it up for The Grinder!"
A round of applause, cursing, and wild howls of rowdy spectators erupted throughout the left side of Tall Johnny's booming establishment. Below the amphitheater they reigned within, a mountain of a man cast a shadow over the figure laying face down in the hard-packed arena dirt. One of the casino employees lifted one of the victor's menacing fists up toward the sky to please the ravenous crowd that surrounded them. The calls of praise increased in volume until their exuberance became almost deafening. Splats of blood appeared here and there throughout the enclosure, remnants of a battle hard-won and brutal to the broken bone. A few ticks passed before The Grinder's fist dropped back to his sore side and he trudged mightily from his battlefield. Two other men jogged into the cage and carefully slung the moaning, grounded victim over their shoulders. A trail of crimson followed the unconscious individual as he was hauled away. More of Tall Johnny's employees scattered themselves throughout the stands to deliver rewards for those who had made winning wagers. Another hustled from the crowd after The Grinder, presumably to ensure he was paid what he had earned. Then everything was reset again. The cycle would again repeat.

You've been here. Several times, actually, the woman coached herself within the confines of her own head. She paced in the darkness that concealed her before the mouth of the cage. Outside she could hear the exchange of bodies, wounded wallets leaving so fresher ones could take their place. You've just gotta keep your wits about you, use your head. Be smarter than your target and trust your body and instincts to know what to do. Use the cage. It was uncomfortable to feel the lack of weight upon her body. Gladius, kukris, knives, all were stripped from her person. Not even her bladed boots were allowed to remain on her feet. If nothing else, she had to admit the cage officials sure knew how to spot concealed weapons when they were around. Don't make a scene. Just do what you came to do and be done with it. No strings attached. Just blood. Foot prints marked her pacing at the entrance. Then it suddenly stopped, the Myrian twisting around impatiently.

"When will we start again?" Kaie asked of the dark figure leaned carelessly against one of the walls nearby. A plume of smoke erupted from his lips and framed his face. "Won't be long now. The boys are just looking for a proper match is all. You wanted the money match and, as promised, we're setting it up for you. The trick is just finding another stupid, sodding bastard to agree to it." A stern nod was all his answer earned from the woman. Kaie tore away from him, resumed her pacing. He eyed her with a certain, dark amusement. "Don't look so grim, Myrian." Outside there was a mumble of voices. Bodies were shoving through the crowds again. Before long there was a booming voice that conquered the noise pollution that engulfed most of Johnny's establishment. "Who's ready for a RUMBLE?!" Kaie and the mysterious man found themselves oddly mesmerized for a tick over the commanding tug of the speaker. They weren't the only ones. The new crowd turned its ravenous head to shout affirmations. "Well. Looks like you got your answer. Hope you're ready," the mysterious figure in her midst laughed in a raspy tone. He took another puff on his cigar. Outside the speaker began to take full control of the crowd's attention. "We've got something special for you lot before we shut the cage down for the evening! Get your coins ready!" The smoking man flashed her a grin and shoved himself away from the wall. Kaie squared herself to the entrance to the cage. The voice outside grew louder and the spectators more excited with anticipation. "Returning to bash some skulls comes a vicious, brutal savage straight from the jungles that haunt your nightmares. A killer, a cannibal, a Myrian...The Tigress!"

Kaie's amber stare found her smoky usher, whose grin turned mischievous with a shrug. "I took a few liberties," was all he cared to explain before he gestured her forward while her contender was announced. Blindsided by the awarded title she'd been given for the sake of intrigue when it came down to betting, she didn't even catch what was said about her opponent. It wasn't like it mattered anyway. Feet stepped forward along the packed dirt. Soon enough she was encircled by brighter lights and the crowded amphitheater. No one cared enough to kick away the blood that still speckled the ring. Bronze fingers clenched and relieved themselves from tight fists. Her gaze turned hard and her expression one that leaned toward unrelenting. This time she cared not to make a spectacle of herself. There was no wild chanting in her Myrian tongue to guarantee support and interest. No banging on her chest or ferocious, angry gestures. She merely stood there in menacing silence in all her savage glory, loincloth and all, and waited for her opponent to emerge.

"It's a battle to the death!"

[Matthew]

Matthew needed to learn how to properly fight. It was a weakness that he could no longer ignore. What better way to learn than to simply get into a fight? It was certainly the quickest and most practical method.

That particular line of thought was what had led Matthew to the situation he was currently in right now. When he had asked around about a good place to fight he had immediately been recommended to Tall Johnny's. The Harlot had headed right for it, wanting to quickly get started on what would no doubt be a long and hard process of evolving himself. Having little trouble locating the brick building, Matthew had approached the two Akalak that appeared to be guarding the front door and had explained his intentions. After giving him a look that seemed to be somewhat disbelieving, they had told him to wait outside for a bit while one of them went to see if there were any fights immediately available. It hadn't been long before the Akalak returned with a tall and elegantly-dressed human that introduced himself as Tall Johnny. Remarkably polite for someone who lived in Sunberth, he had informed Matthew that there was one open slot in an upcoming fight. He was quick to assure the Harlot that it was not a death match of any sort, which would make it perfect for a beginner like Matthew. There would still be the potential for broken bones of course, but that wasn't something that Matthew was particularly concerned about. After clarifying a few other details about the whole process, the Harlot accepted and was led into the building. After getting checked for any hidden weapons, he was escorted to a small room that he would be held in until it was time for the fight to begin. Matthew had yet to discover he had been completely duped.

The small room was unlit, leaving him engulfed in blackness. He merely leaned against the nearest wall and waited, not nearly experienced enough to know if there was something he was supposed to be doing in order to prepare. He figured that would come in time. The Harlot had briefly considered a short moment of meditation to perhaps prepare some of his magic, but then had quickly decided against it. He was here to learn physical combat so he would solely focus on that. He could hear shouts and roars outside but was completely unable to discern any particular voice from another, only catching little bits and pieces of whatever it was that they were yelling about. He was almost positive he had heard something about a savage. Perhaps a Myrian, then? That would certainly make this a baptism by fire.

The crowd outside was roaring even louder now, drowning out all else. The announcer tried to introduce Matthew but was unable to be heard, the entire audience chanting in favor of Kaie. They wanted blood and were utterly convinced that she was going to give it to them, not even considering for one tick that her opponent would be able to put up an appropriate fight. Everyone in this place knew what brutalities Myrians were capable of.

Suddenly, the door to the small waiting room swung open, Matthew taking this as a signal to move forward and into the cage arena that lay beyond. He emerged from the darkness of the waiting area and slowly made his way into the cage, a small entrance opened for him and then locked tightly once he had passed. For a brief tick the crowd actually quieted down, all of them staring in genuine disbelief. The opponent of the Tigress was a pretty man, one with not a speck of dirt upon him. Even worse, was he wearing a tie? The silence only lasted for a moment before the roars for blood returned even louder before, mocking laughter mixed with it now. Matthew ignored it. All other sound had faded. He had just laid eyes on the opponent that stood waiting on the other side of the cage. It was Kaie. His bright blue eyes blinked once, then a loud shout from the nearby announcer make them blink rapidly once more. "Let the battle to the death BEGIN!"

To the death? His brain quickly clicked the pieces together. He had been tricked. He had no idea why he had been tricked, but he knew for certain that the stakes were much higher than he had been originally told. What would the crowd do if the promise of death was not delivered upon? Even more importantly, what was he supposed to do now? He knew Kaie. He knew her better than he knew just about anyone else. He knew that she outmatched him when it came to combat. She completely outmatched him. Calculations and strategies blurred through his mind in the space of only a few ticks, dozens of them examined and discarded before he settled on a single one supported by a few different backup plans. He wasn't sure if she would even hesitate to kill him. He certainly wouldn't be angry if she did, as he knew combat was important to the Myrians and their Goddess. He wasn't sure how all of that would calculate into this whole mess.

They'd just have to figure it out as they went along. Matthew offered the Myrian a polite smile, his soft voice speaking as if it was just another conversation between the two. While he spoke he slowly loosened his tie, leaving it dangling from his neck. "Hello, Kaie. I did not expect to see you here. I must admit, it is a mildly unpleasant surprise." Then the Harlot suddenly moved. There was little martial skill involved in his initiating move, only what little acrobatic talent that he had. He lunged forward and then leapt, hands outstretched and eyes focused, face as stoic as ever. He resembled a wild animal that was pouncing upon prey. He wasn't aiming for anywhere in particular, Matthew merely wanted to get his hands on her. That was important. He had to get a hold.

[Kaie]

The way they cheered for blood could've been any Syliras knight sick. The spectators' eyes were wild with desire and bloodlust. Their cries begged for a thrill and a test of their judgement, demanding a show to earn them a chance at fattening their coin purses. Torches lining the outside cast a spotlight down on the fighters below. Kaie stood in the center of the arena once she'd reached it as firm as stone. Fingers wrapped and unwrapped in fists. Her chest rose and fell in a calculated rhythm. Like everyone else invested in the battle to come, Kaie's attention was fixed on the silhouette that wandered out of the door opposite from her own. The mysterious opponent with no grand introduction at all, much to her surprise. When his identity was no longer a secret, the Myrian woman wanted nothing more than to turn around and bang on the door to escape a mutual mistake.

"Matthew?" Her voice was drowned out by the screams and the banging ipon the cage. She might as well have lost her voice altogether. The sight of his ensemble certainly accomplished that all on its own. Part of her wanted to engage him if only to punish him for his idiocy. A tie?! Even after the announcer reminded both crowd and combatants of the stakes, even going so far as to command the fight to commence, his velvet words found purchase on somber ears.

She could feel her narrow shoulders lower, the muscles of her face relax. A strange combination of emotions pooled within her eyes. Regret? Guilt? Apologetic? It didn't matter, because by the time her lips had parted to voice what it was, Matthew had already attacked when her guard was down. Kaie exhaled little more than a surprised gasp before she hit the ground, taken out the moment she allowed the man's perfectly manicured hands to find themselves around her. Oxygen vanished from her. She wheezed, eyes blinking rapidly. Yitmah's coaching never came. Her head was silent. The world was loud. Only her instincts awakened without the hindrance that came with emotions.

Tick after she hit the ground like a lead ball, her right fist swung across her body in a vicious hook aimed at the side of Matthew's head. The left hand would merely come up as a guard, warding him off while the other dished out just punishment. "Mildly?" Something more wild and uncontrollable dictated the energy through her veins than simple will. Adrenaline combined with fury, body synced with the indignation of the mind. Thus came the continued rain of her fist upon him in rapid succession, hoping to force him into a retreat or create room for herself to knock him back with her heel.

[Matthew]

It was odd how quickly the surrounding roar of the crowd seemed to quieten until it was nothing but a dull silence. Their bloodthirsty cries were replaced by other noises, sounds that Matthew was familiar with, but not to this extent. He could hear blood thumping somewhere within his ears, hear the thudding of his heart against his chest, make out the gasping of his breath as he leapt toward his opponent. He knew that it was likely due to the fact that he was focusing right now. He had just never focused in a situation like this, where combat was for sport and people where cheering him on. Well, cheering her on.

His weight managed to find the Myrian, landing upon her and bringing her crashing roughly to the ground. He ignored the bit of breath that was now missing from his lungs, struggling to move quickly and take advantage of the moment. He knew he was slower and much less graceful than Kaie when it came to combat, making him painfully aware that he would have to keep her continuously off balance if he had a hope of catching up. He raised, straddling her waist, blue eyes staring down at her as she uttered a single word. For a brief tick that seemed to last forever for the Harlot, their eyes made contact and something pulsed through his veins. It felt like the warmth of sunbeams was somehow suddenly buried beneath his slick and dirty flesh. It was a completely and utterly alien emotion, one that triggered almost instant anger as it was registered. Why could he not understand? Why did it not go away? That single tick of pause proved important, the Harlot failing to notice the sharp blow thrown by the Myrian. He was simply too petching distracted. He had actually lied when he had spoken. It hadn't been a mildly unpleasant surprise at all. The realization of that only infuriated him more.

But none of that mattered when her first strike landed, jolting his head to the side and rocking his body, sending pain exploding through his skull and lights dancing in front of his eyes. He had somehow cut something on the inside of his mouth and could taste blood. Had he bitten his cheek? Another blow rocked him, making the world spin and more pain buzz through his brain. His lush lips had parted this time, droplets of blood flying from between them as his head was whipped to the side once more. He was hurt. He needed to retreat. He needed to run. His voice came out, mixed with a shuddering gasp as blood leaked over his lower lip and down his chin. "Yes, mildly. While I certainly enjoy rolling around with you-" His sentence was interrupted, more blood sent flying and his body rocking once more, the Harlot starting to have a hard time knowing left from right. The dancing lights were starting to turn dark. "-should we come up with a plan? I don't want to kill you. You are-" His voice was trembling. Tanroa, it felt like hammers upon his skull. His sentence was never completed, Matthew losing the focus required to transform thought into spoken word.

His muscled thighs were squeezing her sides, blood dripping down from his chin to fall towards her as he tried to steady himself, another blow blurring towards his head as he reached down and simply grabbed ahold of her guard hand. So that direction was down? Showing a sudden and perhaps surprising amount of strength, the Harlot attempted to simply overpower her and pry that hand to the side while also slamming his forehead straight down. While he certainly hoped to duck under the hooking blow, he also wanted to plant his forehead into her face. For some reason, brutality between the two seemed... appropriate. The Harlot hadn't yet realized that he was fighting very differently than he had ever fought before, even with his limited experience. This was something much more primal. Something much more violent.

[Kaie]

It was almost poetic. How else would the world have expected the Harlot to have bested the Myrian at her own game, even if it was only momentarily, than atop her hips where he could bask in a familiar position of dominance. It was shameful. Something similar registered in her gaze when their eyes met, but it didn't last long. Dark eyes tightened and teeth grit something fierce. Matthew might've caught the familiar curl of her lip before she had struck him the first time, the same feral facial gesture he'd seen each time the pair had woven themselves in between the fingers of mortal danger once again. Ironic that the two had eventually found themselves wrapped up in one another in a way that abandoned the intimacy and carnal lust of the bedroom. Time was beginning to prove they had been each other's bane from the start, the way they tested one another and pushed each other to their breaking points. Perhaps the only trouble they'd really been intertwined with all along was their shared presence. All ropes and twines had their ends. Would theirs end in anonymity within a filthy pit of blood-speckled dirt and surrounded by a gambling mob?

Her second hook turned his other cheek with an efficiency that made her stomach twist. Some of the blood that fell from his mouth when she'd struck him found its way across her cheek. She was paralyzed by the sensation and yet awakened by it all at once. The woman was gone but the Myrian remained. Judgement, too, ghosted away to make way for the superior presence of instinct and muscle memory. Her brain swallowed his words but her mind willed her fists onward anyway to complete the initial objective. On your back. Enemy. Fight! Escape! A well-manicured hand caught the simple guard she'd created like a vice. Eyes caught the tension in his attached bicep, the strain in his face before she realized his plan. Overpowering an opponent with sheer force was common practice within amateur rings. She thrived on such mistakes. Right when the man wrestled her to move her arm, the Myrian made up her mind. Her left leg wrapped behind his. Simultaneously as his head made a go at hers, her right palm came up like a jaw to catch him by the throat, while her hips rotated upward and toward her right shoulder. Between him clasping her guard hand and her hold on his neck, it was no trouble successfully turning the tables upon the Harlot so that, after they rolled once, she ended up on top. The crowd roared its approval. Only then did the familiar furrow of Kaie's brow appear.


"What are you doing here?!" she hissed at him, finding herself retaining control of his waist as she straddled him for a change. The hand over his throat never capitalized on its placement. Fingers adjusted themselves upon the flesh, but never did they find the strength to squeeze. "What possessed you to enter a gods-damned match? To the death, no less?!" The trickle of crimson that colored his lips weakened the curl of her own. The violent blush that she'd created on his cheeks vaporized the rage that focused within her hands. She swallowed hard. "Petching hit him, you bitch!" Kaie's gaze shifted toward the restless crowd. Some began to bang on the links of the cage, egging the two fighters forward. "Be a man, damn you!"
"I just bet my season's wages on this shyke!" Bronze index and middle finger wandered together to feel at her cheek. When they withdrew, she stared for several seconds dumbly at the blood there. Matthew's blood. Her mind raced backward, images of a different slaughter terrorizing her memories until another slam on the cage brought her back.

"Oh, petch this! I can't kill you, Matthew. We both know it." The Myrian roughly dismounted her friend in a motion that was almost resentful. Standing up on her feet, she backed away from the man. For a tick, a sly grin twitched at her lips. "Not even as badly as your stupid tie is begging for me to strangle you with it still attached to your neck." The thrashing at the cage and insults flew down at the pair like never before, someone even daring to hurl a knife downward at the pits. Kaie narrowly avoided it with a last-minute duck. A storm rolled over her expression before she retrieved the knife and gave it a good chuck back in the direction it came from. The "petch you" was certainly implied.
"This shyke can't go on! Fight now!"
"Savage or not, she's a bloody girl!"
"Look, you little twat! Either one of them kills the other, or I get every petching coin I paid back. You hear?"

"You might not want to kill me, but I don't think we'll have much of a choice. If you don't fight, we're both dead anyway." Both hands extended outward toward the man and fingers gestured for him to approach and get on with it. Now it was up to the Harlot: officially challenge the Daughter of Myri in mortal combat, or join in her rebellion.

[Anarkhos]

_______

GRADE
AWARDS
_______

 

Kaie

Skills
Unarmed Combat-2

Wrestling-2

Lores
Combat is life for a Myrian
The pain of fighting a friend
When heart and mind collide
Anticipation of a fight.

Comments
It's a shame that the thread couldn't be finished, I was really enjoying it. I like how emotional Kaie is as a character, even whilst in combat. Good job.

Mathew, please pm me if you are to return so I can give you your grades

Enjoy your grade, and if you have any questions, please send me a PM.