Friendly Battle(Vega)

OoC: For some reason my thread didn't edit.

IC: Tamriff looked behind his shoulder for the tenth time that morning, and saw nothing. He sighed and kept walking.

All that morning he had had the unpleasant sensation he was being followed. He wasn’t usually prone to paranoia. He was sure someone was behind him.

He kept trudging along the forest path, occasionally sitting down for a rest… and then he heard a small “crack”. Not a natural one, the one you hear when you step on a branch.

I knew it, he thought. Slightly turning his head towards the direction of the sound, he tried to seem as if he were looking for a bird. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a small, feminine shape, possibly a small girl. A foot moved, and there was another audible crack.

The young man appeared to take no notice, and simply started to improvise a song:

Me name’s Tamriff and I’m a traveller,
Through the landscape I do roam,
With my guitar on my back
And the food in my pack
Since I don’t a proper home.

It seems quite alone on the roads, you know,
And I’m still looking for a friend;
Oh sure there are birds
But they’re not much for words
And they don’t really stay in the end.

So I travel alone on the roads, you see,
And I have a fight once in a while
Though I may not look strong
Be sure I’ll prove you wrong
When you’re all lying down in a pile!

And so you’ve just heard me story,
I hope you enjoyed the song
Now come down from that tree
So I can please see
The girl that’s been here all along.

Then he turned to the higher branches where he had seen the girl and said, in the friendliest voice he could muster, “Well, I always appreciate an audience, even if it’s hiding in trees and stalking me all day. Why don’t you come down where I can actually see you?”

Mia peered through the branches at the face of the man she had been following. She had had every intention of revealing herself to the man eventually, though she would have preferred to gather some more information on him beforehand. Knowing that he knew of her presence, and reassured by the fact that he was not quick to turn to hostilities, Mia jumped down from the branch she was perched on, landing softly on the mossy ground in a crouched position.

“Looks like you found me,” said Mia, rising to her feet smiling.

“I’ve saw you around before,” she said, her hand on her hip, head tilted slightly to the right.

“You don’t look like any of the other fighters around here. Most are more concerned with who’s the strongest, but your different.”

Mia walked toward him, her whip coiled up, attached to her waist.

“I’m not concerned with who has the biggest sword, or who has defeated the most people, I think to battle with style is far more important don’t you? Huh I can tell by how you’re dressed. Hardly the uniform most of those barbarians would wear.”

Mia herself was a testament to that statement. She was wearing a deep purple, slim dress, the sleeves barely reaching her elbows. The contours of her chest and waist were defined by the tight fittng garment, before the material relaxed around her legs, sweeping to the side at her knees, before elegantly curving off at her calf. A slit ran up either side of thighs, ending at the wait, giving her legs more manoeuvrability.

Her hair was pulled tightly back, gathered at the back in a neat bunch.

“No,” she said, “You’re not like the rest of them at all are you?”

Mia walked closer to the Tamriff, stopping inches away from his being.

“You see,” she said softly. “I want to be the best, and to do that, I have to learn from the best. I’m not talking about some clumsy oaf who prefers to bludgeon their opponents to death, I mean someone who I can really learn from.”

Taking her whip in her hand, and shaking it out to its full length, Mia turned from him, and walked away.

“Ever seen one of these before?” Mia asked.

“Of course you have,” she laughed, before he had a chance to answer. “Its just a whip right? Wrong…”

Mia snapped her wrist behind her, spinning around to face the man, sending her whip soaring towards him, only sending it high into the air and bringing it crashing back down besides her when it has fulfilled its lengths, barely missing Tamriff’s face.

“Just like I can surprise you, I’m confident that you can surprise me,” Mia whispered.
“You intrigue me,” she said, falling back on one leg, clutching her weapon with both hands. “And now that you’ve seen what I can do,” she smiled, “why not show me what you can do.”

OoC: do I smell a possible relationship here? Mia seems to have come in in quite a flirtatious way.

IC: "Why not? I'm as intrigued as you are, milady," replied Tamriff. "But first… why were you following me?"

"That… is my own personal business," Mia replied. "I might tell you in time."

Tamriff thought for a moment. If the woman was as strong-headed as she was beautiful, then he wouldn't be getting an answer any time soon. He go up from the damn, rotting log on which he had sat down.

"So how about a friendly brawl, to show off our skills?" he asked Mia. The latter only looked back questioningly at him. "You want to see what I can do, and I want to see what you can do. I'd say there's no better way to do it that to have an actual fight. Besides, I could use the exercise," he added.

Mia nodded in approval, and Tamriff couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked in the sunlight. "You're right," she said. "The only question is where? I don't know of any clearings nearby."

"Why not here?" Tamriff suggested, looking at the trees around him. "It seems comfortable enough. The trees are tall, the road is wide, and there'll be no sun to blind us."

"All right," Mia replied.

"Good," he concluded. "Just give me a minute to put my guitar case away and I'll be ready." Tamriff took the case and placed it in front of him, then pushed down on it. It started to slowly sink into the leaf-riddled ground. Mia watched in wonder as the case disappeared gradually until it was no more.

"Wouldn't want to break it," explained Tamriff. "It cost me two hundred dollars to bring it back to its original state when a previous challenger stepped on it."

"H-how did you… do that?" Mia stammered. She wasn't that scared; only impressed, but it would be good to make him think she was.

"Earth Magic," Tamriff replied simply. He unsheathed his sword and got into a defensive position. "You start."

OoC: You heard the man.