Round one: Nicholas Gilsworthy vs. David Augustine

[Vidar]

Match begins with Nicholas' first turn.

[Gilsworthy]

The stands were packed out with common people looking for entertainment, seeking warmth in the winter chill, waiting for a good show. 'A show they'll get.' thought Gil, strolling out of his gate and into the arena, ignoring the clapping and whistling coming from the stands. There were some slight changes to his outfit, noticeable by only those who knew him best, and around Avaren that was nobody. Around his chest was looped two belts with many small knives attached, light things that barely added to his overall weight but were sharp as any blade, and he'd taken careful detail in making them razors. A saber was hanging from his belt, strewn horizontally with the hilt poking out to his right. That was a weapon he hadn't used until recently, but he thought he had enough training with it to make it useful. If there was any other differences, it was in the number of sleek pouches at his belt and on his dark overcoat.

He took his spot, and waited for Augustine to arrive. He wasn't quite sure if he should... prepare... he had a few surprises in store for the dragoon wannabe. They'd met before, Gil shuddered as he remembered how tall, strong, and fierce the man was. He would be a tough fight, to be sure. A very tough opponent. A grin stole across his face; this could be fun, after all. One hand rested languidly on his saber as he continued to wait.

[David Augustine]

He heard the crowd roared as Gil entered the arena. He stood on the opposite side and hadn't entered yet. After a few minutes of calming himself down from all of the excitement, he slowly made his way to the dirt circle. He looked around at all the so many faces. It had been too long since the last time he was in a tournament. He saw the so many people cheering and chanting. David entered the center ring as the announcer finished his introduction. The crowd had fallen silent. The name of Augustine seemed to have been something not spoken of for a very long time.

David gazed at Gilsworthy. He remembered Gil, the thief. He had caught him in one account before as he tried to steal from another thief. He sighed and knew that this wasn't going to be easy. He wore the traditional white armor with the white cloak attached. His armor was both strong and light to allow him to move a bit more freely than other armor. His longsword was hanging on his side still sheathed. He had one hand resting on it's hilt. The spear on his back wasn't the same one that he carried when he met Gil, but it would have to do for now.

David let out another sigh and fixed his gaze on his opponent. He slowly drew his sword. One side glowed with shadow and the other with light. This was a very unique sword indeed and would be the first time that he fought with it. He had trained with it and it handled like his old one. He moved it around a bit and got into his ready stance. He wasn't going to hold back. "Are you ready?" he called out to Gil.

[Gilsworthy]

Gil's eyes bugged out slightly at that sword, and as slow as Augustine drew it his brown orbs followed, a sweat springing to his brow. It wasn't totally faked, either. 'If you can make your opponent think you're something that you're not, then you've already half won the battle.' That was one of the many things his father had told him before he was hung for thievery. In a way, he and David were the same. Both had to live now without their fathers. Different sides of the same coin? Gil hoped he wasn't that far removed, he thought that the two of them were as different as the rain was from the earth. Gil had to be the rain, beating down on the Augustine earth.

"Not just yet." said Gil, holding up one finger to ask him to wait. He reached into his coat and withdrew a knife with a slightly elongated handle. He raised it, then threw it directly into the ground at his feet, where it stuck straight up out of the dirt. Quickly Gil pulled two more and threw those out at angles from him, they also stuck up out of the ground. Two more he pulled and threw, these parallel to the last two but closer to Augustine. One more appeared in his left hand, and he balanced it between two fingers. He locked eyes with Augustine, moving the knife in front of his face. 'Look at the knife.' he begged mentally, flipping it into the air. 'Keep your eyes on the knife...' he thought, flipping it for a second time into the air, the sun glinting sharply off it.

"Don't worry." he said, "This one isn't for you." he said, and on the final flick he sent it spiraling into the air, in an arc that would pass over Augustine to land behind him. The six daggers formed a hexagon of readily available weapons for the thief, wherever he moved in the ring. His eyes tracked the knife going up, and he figured that if Augustine had human impulses he would automatically follow it as well. At it's zenith, Gil's hand plunged into his coat and flicked a final knife straight for Augustine's armpit, where he thought he saw a gap in the armor. He shouldn't even see it coming.

[David Augustine]

David held his sword of light and shadow ready. He watched as Gil threw the knives that landed down in a hexagon surrounding them. Weapons to be used when needed. he thought. He didn't bother stopping the knives that went past him. He let another calming breathe and closed his eyes.

He kept them closed for sometime. He was meditating and concentrating. He was waiting for the right time. His ears moved slightly as he heard the breaking of wind. He sidestepped out of the way of Gil's knife that he threw at him. This was when David engaged. He started for a straight forward charge. His speed not necessarily fast but wasn't slow either. He needed to warm up a little bit first. He lowered his sword to his left and when he reached Gil, he swung it for an upward sweep. The sword's light and dark illuminations blurred during the motion leaving a trail. He then brought the sword back and went for a thrust. He made sure that he kept his balance in case of a needed escape of sorts.

[Gilsworthy]

'Damnation!' cursed Gil in his mind, feeling like he should spit. Nobody ever saw that one... at least he had the knives at the ready. As Augustine sidestepped and rushed forward like a rhino on the charge. His weapon was heavier than Gil's light saber, but certainly slower and more cumbersome. Perhaps not by much, but any margin could be exploited to good use.

In a moment his right hand had his saber out. Tilting his blade down and bracing it at the end with the flat of his hand, Gil parried the upward sweep with the grinding of metal on metal ringing out across the arena. He came on once more with a thrust, though a well balanced one, to which Gil responded by sidestepping and diagonally parrying the blow near the hilt. As he did so his free hand reached to his side and pulled out a long dagger, easy to wield and much faster than David's weapon. The thrust passed, and as Augustine's arm was outstretched Gil dove in with the dagger at his side, the saber still in the process of deflecting his thrust.

[David Augustine]

"Hhhmm." replied David as Gil made his move. He saw the dagger coming to his side. It was what course of action to take that he had to decide. He could tell that his opponent's saber was well suited for speed and he was counting on his own sword to be heavy and sluggish. He thought he would allow Gil to think that for a few more minutes.

David stopped his thrust and moved his sword back away from the saber and intercepted the dagger. He turned his body while doing this. His eyes narrowed and locked on to one of the knives near by. He turned his body twisting into a roll towards one of them. He reached it with an outstretched hand. He quickly turned and threw the knife at Gil. He stood and then leapt forward following through with the knife throwing with a diagonal slash from the upper left going to the lower right. He made sure that he was within range to hit Gil with the sword of light and shadow and to stay out of range of Gil's dagger.

[Gilsworthy]

When Augustine parried the dagger thrust he wasn't surprised, that sword of his was turning out to be quicker than he had planned, but when he saw the armored hulk of a man drop into a roll Gil was surprised. Was he really planning on using one of his knives back on his opponent? Laughable. As the big man rolled Gil took the dagger in his left hand and launched it at Augustine's back as he was picking up one of Gil's daggers. It wasn't as effective as the smaller, lighter throwing knives, but still light enough to be thrown accurately.

When Augustine's knife came quickly at Gil, he sidestepped slightly and caught it effortlessly as it came toward his face. How much did Augustine know about throwing knives? Not as much as a man who had been using them for years. The throw had been off, it was all in the wrist, not in the arm, but how could David know that? It was a strange attack, and now David was in a bad position to defend. A smirk stole across his face as he stepped and flicked his wrist to send the dagger back at his would-be attacker, seconds after the first dagger, flying past his diagonal slash before it even happened. Gil backstepped out of the way of the slash and put his saber out and down in a defensive posture.

[David Augustine]

The first dagger barely missed David. In fact it nicked his armor causing a scratch against the white. He had managed to dodge the main point. It was true that he didn't throw the knife with perfect accuracy. It was more of a diversion to give him time to close the gap once more between them. He crouched and ran to the side out of the way from the second dagger coming at him. He dodged it much easier than the first.

As Gil moved out of the way from David's attack, David decided to turn around as he approached Gil with a side slash with his sword of light and shadow. He didn't aim for Gil's body, but his saber instead. The two blades met and David's overpowered Gil's with ease. He then thrusted his shoulder into his opponent to cause him to move back and possibly fall on the ground, but even if he did manage to hit Gil on the ground David thought it would be very unlikely for him to stay down very long. David then followed through with a vertical slash going down. It was perpendicular to Gil's body.

[Gilsworthy]

The man moved fast, even with all that armor. Before he knew it Augustine had not only closed the gap, but nearly disarmed him and rammed him full on with a plate mail shoulder. His breath left his lungs in an explosive burst as he was sent for a flying lesson before a quick introduction to the dusty floor of the arena. Luckily the blow hadn't knocked him unconscious, and when he struck the ground he still had the strength to suck in air. He must be getting rusty.

Augustine's sword was headed in a downward swoop that would undoubtedly cleave the poor thief straight in two, but all Gil could see was that it was taking enough seconds arcing up and over for him to get out of the way. His mind raced, and in a split second he had made his decision. He brought his knees up to his chin and sprung into a low roll that took him between Augustine's braced legs, just barely, right as his blade clove the ground where he'd been laying. It sunk nearly half it's width into the ground with the strength and weight of the blow, even a strong man like David would have a hard time uprooting it.

In a blazing moment of brilliance, Gil saw his chance for a reversal. Now at Augustine's back, the spear that was holstered there was readily apparent. Unfortunately, his saber was on the ground to David's left, out of reach. The only other option was his second dagger, sheathed at his right, which he whipped out and in an instant used to sever one of the straps holding it there in a single swipe. Whether it would totally dislodge the weapon was beyond Gil, and his time was fast running short. The thief moved quickly to the right and snatched up his blade, the dagger remaining in his left, and stepping out of range.

While it all seemed to have happened in slow motion, the entire sequence occured in a flash. He had rolled underneath Augustine, sprung up, slashed the spear holster, grabbed his saber and moved away. Gil breathed heavily, still trying to get more air into his lungs.

[David Augustine]

David realized his mistake. Putting too much force in that one swipe of his sword. He tugged on it a little bit, but not enough to losen it totally. He saw has Gil had rolled underneath and behind him. Without further thought, he jumped away and onto the hilt of his sword. He then moved his hand back and grabbed his spear as it started to fall from his back.

The thief had actually scrapped the what was holding the spear on his back. David quickly took off the piece of clothing seeing that it would only hinder him now. He braced his spear with both hands and now looking at Gil. He smirked, Gil was fast, probably faster than him.

Now that he held his prefered weapon in hand, the dragoon lept from the hilt onto the ground. Then with another leap he started his charge toward the thief. He thrusted with his spear and kept his balance. He followed through with rapid slashs from different directions. The first coming from the right, then downward, diagonally upward, from the left, diagonally downward, then up.

His attacks here quick and balanced. The spear head was a blur of motion as it followed the movements of the spear. He noticed that Gil had gotten his saber back and had his dagger ready. David then started aiming his slashes and thrusts toward deflecting any blocks or counters that Gil would happen to attempt.

[Gilsworthy]

'Shiiiiii-' Gil cut the curse short in his head just short of escaping onto his lips. It would seem that freeing up the spear was quite a bad idea, the thing was like a live snake in Augustine's hands. Darting in and out, here then there, barely fast enough for Gil to keep up. As they came he moved his saber and dagger in concentric spirals, batting away as many thrusts as he could, some getting through and tearing at his sleeves or tearing barely deflected gashes in his side. He couldn't keep this up very long, and he knew David could go for hours on the attack.

Bringing both weapons to his side then throwing them at the spearhead, Gil did his best to whack the weapon off course, then quickly stepped back. Prayers going up to whoever would be listening, the thief quickly sheathed his off-handed dagger and started pelting Augustine with throwing knives, as many as he could in as short a period as possible. It was exhausting his resources, but if he could get the spearman with just one it could end the fight. Knives flew in at every part of his body, knees, then shoulder, then chest, then neck, in a glistening barrage of metal, Gil backstepping all the time to stay out of his range.

[David Augustine]

David couldn't help but smirk as Gil deflected his spear with the saber. He countered this by simply twirling to knock his saber out of his hand once again. He was continued with his attacks with the spear. He had him it was checkmate. The thief had nothing left. Time to give up. he thought. He was then going for a downward slash.

He stopped suddenly and his eyes widened. David was now watching the barrage of knives coming at him. He knew there was no way he could possibly deflect them all with his spear. He leapt a few feet back in rapid succussession to make some space between him and the knives. He managed to deflect the first wave, but they were fairly spaced out. The next wave was to be in quicker succussession. He charged toward Gil, he stopped as the second wave came. He then started running in a circle around Gil. He was barely outrunning the knives. He could feel them cutting through his cloak.

He then turned suddenly and started to sprint right toward the thief. This was going to be it. He was going for a downward slash. He wasn't going to back down. Not now, not after coming this far. As he charged David and his spear seemed to glow with a holy aura. His eyes were a light with flames. It was all or nothing...at least that's what he wanted Gil to think.

[Gilsworthy]

Gil's hand stopped in his coat as he saw Augustine begin a dead rush at him, spear upraised and ready to spit him like a pig. He had... oh... three, or four seconds before the man's long strides would bring him within range. There couldn't be more than six knives left, not enough to stop the charging bull.

For some strange reason, an old, old story his mother had told him as a child came to mind. The tale of a young boy bringing food to his brothers in the army, who saw a giant of a man, the champion of the enemy forces, calling out a challenge. Seeing nobody to step up, the boy's immense courage and bravery showed forth as he came up against the massive giant, perhaps as tall as Augustine or taller, and slew him with a single stone, thrown from a sling. The army moved to an immense victory that day.

The entirety of the story ran through his head in the blink of an eye. He had no sling, but his hand entered the pocket where rested a wide, flat stone, perfect for casually skipping across a pond. If Avean was in the audience perhaps she would notice it from their fight earlier. The thief's hand came out of his pocket, David moving closer by the second. The holy fire burning in his eyes. The righteous aura he gave off like the chosen of God. The pristine white of his armor, shimmering off his spear. It made him sick. A sarcastic sort of smirk crossed Gil's face, in the way of the fury of Augustine and his fiery lance, all he did was smirk.

In a blur of motion, Gil brought the stone back and with all his might and all his mind hurled it sidearm toward Augustine's forehead, the only spot vulnerable on him. The stone left his hands like an arrow from a longbow, from nearly point blank range, blurring the air with it's speed, and as it went Gil ducked quickly down and to the side, ready to move quickly around Augustine's armored hulk when the rock would smite his head and knock him out cold.

[David Augustine]

David watched Nicholas as he took the stone out of his pocket. It was as if it was in slow motion. He saw the very motion of him winding back and launching it. However, he started to take his precautions. He knew that something was going to end up being thrown at him. He planted his spear firmly into the ground and used it to launch himself high in the air.

However, in real time this occured very fast. It would have seemed that Augustine had just disappeared and the rock never met it's target. David had taken his spear with him in the air. He started coming down toward Gil. His spear in the ready to strike has he descended faster towards his opponent.

As David continued to descend, he gripped the spear with both his hands. His eyes wide open. He looked from Gil to where his sword was at. He had to be ready for anything. He saw what the tiny speck of Gil starting to grow into the normal sized thief. He was unsure about how his next few manuveurs would turn out.