[Flashback] An Unexpected Gamble (Stitch)

[Dimitri]

Dimitri saw the man beginning to remove the bandages over his eyes, his own curiosity piqued. Dimitri took the time to remove the last of his armor, now left with just his shield. Dimitri saw the dead white eyes, confirming the suspected blindness. He shuddered slightly, the eyes seeming to see all and nothing at the same time. Dimitri couldn't read anything in those eyes, his vision tracing the scars. He watched the man begin bandaging the injured ankle. Dimitri bounced on the balls of his feet so as to be able to react a bit faster, his knees slightly bent. Dimitri tried to focus, pumping himself up. His opponent was quick, powerful, and had quicker reactions. Dimitri had his bullheaded stubbornness in combat, a powerful shield, and strong body. He knew if either of them got a proper good hit in, it could be over in one shot or turn into a regular slugfest.

Dimitri surged forward into his charge, attempting to force the man from his position and abuse the man's ankle. The man leaped at him. Amazingly high, up and over his shield. Dimitri's stoicism faltered as the man was coming at him high. Dimitri was struck hard in the face by the man's solid shoulder, his face exploding in pain. Dimitri's head snapped back his body still rushing forward. He struck the ground hard, his nose throbbing in pain, as he rolled from the forward momentum. He finally stopped and struggled to get up, his hand touching something hard as he pushed up. He saw blood dripping down onto his practice sword. He grabbed it and stood up, a little wobbly, blood streaming down his front.

[Stitch]

A spray of blood hit Stitch's face as his shoulder connected, crushing something underneath the poor squire's skin. And blind man did not falter, simply hit the ground with that same shoulder, tucking his lithe and limber body up into a quick and tight little roll. He came up, hobbling lightly on his injured leg, a bit of dull pain streaming through his body. He could put a little weight on it due to the bandages, but not that much. He would be slowed, but not an incredible amount. Or perhaps... The feeling of the Flux flowed through his legs like a sweet nectar, pleasuring him with warm waves of caressing liquid. It felt like his very veins were getting a sensual massage, causing his body to shiver in delight. Biting his lower lip, he slowly flexed his muscles, bending at the knees, his upper body leaning forward a bit. Eagerly drawing upon the energy he had stored within him, he pumped more of it to his legs, even further increasing the power of the muscle mass laying there. Once again, Dimitri would see something of a flex moving from Stitch's body, ripples of movement traveling down to his legs. Once they had reached that area, his legs actually flexed to a bigger muscle size, and stayed that way. He was somehow manipulating his body, and putting it into a permanent flex, almost increasing his muscle mass. The blind man kicked off, blurring towards the staggering Dimitri. The ring shook with his take-off, showing how much power he actually had in those Flux-charged legs. As he came upon the Squire, he spun, a single leg used a pivot foot, the other leg snapping out in a spin-kick. He aimed it at the side of the Squire, hoping to catch his stunned figure off guard. His flurry wouldn't stop there. If blocked or dodged, he would continue with the kick, spinning into another one aimed at the legs. Then another, aimed at the head. A flurry of spinning kicks, aimed one after the other at differing areas of the opponent.

[Dimitri]

Dimitri was able to see the man finish his roll as he turned to face him. The roll ended in an awkward hobble on his bad ankle. His muscles did something strange, as if growing or pumping up or something unknown to him. It gave him a strange vibe, it didn't seem natural. Dimitri focused. He slowed his breathing, relaxed his muscles and looked down at the stage floor. He prepared his joints to respond in reflex, his mind emptying. He centered his mind, and could feel his body on a more basic level. He could feel the fatigue starting in his back and arms. He could feel the pain in his forehead and face. He continued to loosen up, his mind becoming as steeled as his shield. He was ready. He wasn't close to done. He lifted his gaze, his determination flaring within him.

The man sped toward him, much faster than before, Dimitri could feel the boards beneath his feet shake as he came closer. Dimitri saw the man stop and a leg start flying toward his ribs. Dimitri was going to block with his sword but it would be useless if snapped. He stabbed high at the man's face. He let the breath leave his lungs, and braced himself as the leg crashed hard into his ribs. He quickly refilled his lungs, and pulled the stab feint back. He attempted to wrap his sword arm around the man's leg. Meanwhile he used a tactic that worked earlier and slammed the shield down at a slanted angle towards the pivot foot.

[Stitch]

His leg slammed forward, and at the same time, he saw the rush of a wooden blade, aimed straight for his face. Falling for the feint completely, he leaned back on his pivot foot, his kick wavering a bit, smashing into Dimitri's side with much less force than he had intended. He cursed, ready to spin into the next kick, but his plans were quickly foiled as the young squire wrapped an arm around the leg. Stitch grimaced, instantly using the Flux to flood the extra energy out of that leg, trying to use his magics to transfer extra strength to the other leg. He was about to be in a very bad position, and this was about to be his desperation move. The squire slammed down with his shield, but Stitch was ready this time, hopping the foot back a mere inch, the end of the shield missing the toe of his boot by a breath. The foot throbbed in pain and Stitch buckled, yelping out with the sudden sharp spike of agony. Hurriedly getting weight off the foot, Stitch flexed his abs, used the leg already trapped in Dimitri's grip for a bit of extra leverage... ...and sprung his last leg up in a kick aimed for the side of Dimitri's skull. The kick would be a little slow, and a little weak, due to the throbbing ankle. It had the power of the extra energies provided by the Flux, although Stitch was fairly sure he hadn't been quick enough in transferring them from his trapped leg to this one, therefor not getting near as much as he could. He was still bad with it. He couldn't switch energy from one area to the next with any resemblance of speed. He was hoping he would be fast enough to get his foot over the shield though, as he was praying the man wasn't strong enough to yank it back up quickly with his one arm. If anything, Stitch could manage to catch his injured ankle upon the shoulder of the man, hooking his foot behind his head. Then, with both legs to be used as leverage, Stitch flexed the powered-up muscles inside them, the Flux serving him well... and actually sat-up, his abs throbbing hard, his entire chest rippling as he whipped himself forward, smashing his forehead at the forehead of the knight. He was going for a headbutt. A hard one, too.

[Dimitri]

Dimitri caught and held onto the man's leg, receiving a small amount of pain in his ribs as payment. He gripped onto it tightly, not intending to let it go. The weight of the leg increased as the man kicked up toward his head. Dimitri wouldn't be able to hold the leg and the shields weight in his unbalanced position. He dropped his shield, landing in a skewed angle, an edge facing upwards as it leaned against a piece of armor. dimitri stumbled slightly against the shifting weight. The foot struck behind his head, a bump more than anything, but the foot stayed. Dimitri felt the leg press into him as he suddenly saw what was happening. The man's head was starting to barrel upward toward his own. Dimitri couldn't evade it, couldn't stop it. So he had to attack. He stumbled a step forward, and he attempted to match the headbutt with his own. He didn't have much position to do so, nor the skill, but tried to make up for it with boldness and pure stubbornness.

A loud thud filled the gambling house followed by the hisses in sympathetic pain from the crowd. Dimitri felt himself falling forward, his vision quickly steeping black. He lost all grip on his surroundings, not noticing that him and the man fell toward the upturned edge of his shield. If the man's back landed on that, it could severely injure him. A cheer erupted among the crowd, as clearly the boy was defeated.

A single man walked onto the stage to assess the situation. He scooped up his unconscious squire in his arms. He didn't look to see how the other combatant fared. He merely said to him, "You cost me five gold mizas. But one must always bet on his own, despite the odds," alluding to the fact that only one person had bet on Dimitri. He looked at a worker, "Have the armor and shield delivered to the squire dorms. I will know if anything is missing." The man started down the stage, carrying the limp Dimitri in his arms, heading back to the dorms. He smiled down at the boy. He hadn't won, but he had done splendidly well. He had learned much in this single bout alone. His squire would grow strong.

[Stitch]

Stitch tried to adjust the headbutt at the last minute, attempting to aim his forehead at the bridge of the oncoming nose. Headbutts could potentionally hurt the attacker more than the person defending against it, if done wrong. Their heads collided in a great crack, sending both skulls snapping backwards. Stitch had a bit more momentum going in, and managed to win the clash, the muscles in the Squire's body flexing tightly, then suddenly going slack. Stitch had split his own skull open a bit, a stream of blood running down the center of his face, his world fuzzy and foggy. The Flux running through his body was like molten lava, heating and massaging the tired muscles. He still felt so alive, even with his ankle practically useless, and his head flaring in aching agony. He still wanted to continue, still wanted to use all this pent-up energy. Faintly, Stitch realized they were falling toward the shield. Using the remaints of Flux he had lingering around in his legs, he twisted at the waist, keeping his legs hooked over Dimitri's shoulders. With a yell, he sent both of them awkwardly stumbling down to the side, missing the upturned shield by just a breath. They both laid there on the floor, Dimitri out, but Stitch exhausted. As he let the Flux be, and let the energy slowly swirl back to it's proper location, a new wave of aching hit him. He had put extra energy into places that it wasn't supposed to go, and this was the price he would always have to pay. The feeling of furry worms crawling all over his muscles, just under his skin, his body flexing and tensing in such a way that he felt he might burst from his skin. He shivered as he laid there on the ground, absentmindly casting an Auristic eye over to Dimitri, just to make sure the young Squire was okay. Ah, someone was here to gather him up. Stitch offered the man a weak smile, whispering out a thanks, even if the man wasn't paying him much attention. He was glad someone was there to take care of the boy, and make sure he got back to wherever he needed to go. Stitch slowly staggered to his feet, one or two of the nicer patrons stepping up to help him. With a few more whispered words of thanks, he was led to a nearby seat, where he could rest and recover. Who knew, maybe he could get one more practice session in before the day was over. The Welcome Home kids were all gone for the day, giving him more time than he knew how to handle.

[Archon]

Illumination of Development Dimitri +5 Tower Shield +3 1-Handed Longsword +2 Unarmed Combat +1 Intimidation +1 Bodybuilding Lores: Never tell me the odds, Refusing to back down, Headbutts don't always go well Care to see more? : Combat skills experience for your fighting, Intimidation experience for dealing with the crowd, and Bodybuilding experience for the bit of exercise. Stitch +5 Hand to Hand Combat: Martial Arts +4 Auristics +3 Acrobatics +3 Flux Lores: Aura of a Squire, Fighting against a Tower Shield, Watch your feet Care to see more? : Pretty much straight forward here, you got what you used. Notes: A very nice sparring match, kept me on the edge of my seat! One little problem, Dimitri entered the ring, in the first post, without his armor on, and then squirmed out of his armor in the middle of the match. Also, properly worn plate armor composes of many straps and buckles to distribute weight and make it more comfortable, so I think it's a little unrealistic to be able to get completely out of full armor in the middle of a fight. It wasn't enough to really detract from everything else, but something to keep in mind for the future.