A Tale to Last Eons, or a Death Wish? (Ranny)

OoC: This challenge goes Ceto (Lord Ranny), from Alain Marshall (Darius Andreas).

BiC (pens, lol): Alain was on his daily rounds once again, and he had just bought, and stored, some food for later. He kept some dried meat with him this time because he was going to practice. He’d been getting lazy as of late, and after a recent, and rather unpleasant, encounter with someone he decided it’d be best to get training into his daily schedule. He was looking for a lightly forested area with small trees for targets. To his luck, which he’d been short on these days, he found just the right location. The trees were young, and therefore had small trunks, and they were spread enough that he could flip his halberd around freely, for the most part.

There was a field near this small forest that dipped and rose slightly in some areas, while in others it was almost steep enough to be cliffs. There were small patches a flowers around, and a full grown tree here and there. It’d be nice for someone who cared about pretty fields. If Alain wasn’t working on target training, he’d be out there showing off to himself. His eye caught note of something moving in the field nearby. It looked somewhat like a horse, from what he saw, but this lead him to believe it was just a wild horse. This meant little to him, as his training was his main objective.

He was starting to do some stretches before beginning his training. His first stretch was bending back, as well as he could in his armour, and looking into the sky. Something surprised him as he looked into the cloudy sky. He aw two balls of ice fly over his head through the trees. He immediately stood straight and looked in the direction the ice came from. All he saw was the field. He turned to his halberd, which was now leaning against a tree, and as he grabbed it another ball of ice flew swiftly at his hand, striking it, and freezing it to his halberd, as well as the tree. Another ball had whizzed past his head at about the same time, but he took little notice. He was trying to pull his hand free from the tree. He couldn’t do much, so he took his gladius and started to chop away at where the ice was stuck onto the tree. Thankfully the ice gave way in only a moment, and he broke free of the tree. He smashed the rest of the ice on his hand and halberd against the tree to smash that off as well.

Needless to say, Alain was annoyed, confused, and curious to see what had created the ice. He set off into the field, but stopped just out of the forest as he saw the horse again, but it looked different now that he was looking right at it. The creature was no horse, but a monster of legend. He couldn’t recall the name, but the stories told of these creatures as evil beings who would ransack villages and kill all. For a brief time as a child he had wanted to meet one, for the sole purpose of killing it for what it’s kind had done in the stories. It hadn’t taken notice of him yet, so he took the chance to hide back in the forest. There was a bush near a tree he could hide behind, but it was a dead bush. Either way he hid there, and waited for the creature to come closer.

It wasn’t more than a few second after he had hidden that the monster was nearby. He thought of a plan… The creature was a good deal taller than him, and more than likely far stronger, but in his mind he had the advantage of speed, and flexibility. Also, the creature was part horse, and luckily for him, it was the lower body. He was trained well to take on a horse charging at full force, without being knocked over. He was confident he could do some good damage if the creature charged, the he figured his halberd would break.

And as such, he clapped his halberd to his back, strapping it in place, and drew his gladius. He walked out slowly while the creature wasn’t looking at him, and then stood in front of it.
“Beast! I’ve heard of your kind. I’ve been hoping for the chance to meet one of you, in hopes of killing you for what your kind did to us so long ago.” His hand was still very cold from being held in ice for a minutes. “And don’t tell me you have no hostile intentions! If you had none, you would not have stuck my hand to a tree!” Remembrance of the horrible stories flashed through his mind, and only served to fuel his anger. “Face me, monster! I will be standing alone here soon, with a prize that my country would preserve for years to come, and a tale to last through the eons!”

OoC: Haha, I kind of lol'd at Alain getting his hand frozen to his weapon and a tree. XD

BiC: Before responding, Ceto just stared at the armored man before him. Confused and shocked at what he'd just heard, the young Centaur couldn't immediately think of a reply. Never before had he heard anything about Centaurs of the past doing such deeds, nor did he ever hear of any doing anything remotely bad at all. Ceto simply lowered his weapon and changed the expression on his face to an annoyed one as he took his attention away from the armored man. Still confused and shocked, he could only think of one thing to say.

"Oh brother, not again..." Ceto remarked, remembering the last time he had been training. It was then that the first incident dealing with an interruption in training had occured.

"Oh, so I'm not the only one to accuse you of such crimes?" the man replied. "Then I shall teach you an even bigger lesson than originally planned and the name Alain Marshall shall echo throughout my country! DIE!" With that, Alain charged at Ceto almost suddenly, trying to give the Centaur no time to prepare a counterattack.

"Hey wait, what the--!" Ceto started. He brought up Blizzaron just in time to block Alain's attack and send him to the ground. But the man wasn't going to give up that easily. He scrambled to his feet again and prepared to charge again, but this time Ceto wasn't going to allow it.

"I'm sorry, but you're forcing me to do this," he said firmly. Ceto twirled Blizzaron in his hand once and fired an Ice Blast, securing the man to a tree behind him, his wrists and ankles now encased in ice on the trunk. Enraged by now, he tried breaking free, but it was useless.

"HEY! Let me go, you monster!" he screamed. "I REFUSE TO DIE LIKE THIS!"

"Will you just shut up and listen? I will not harm you," Ceto assured. "I have absolutely no clue what you were talking ab--"

"You fiend! You LIE!" Now getting annoyed, Ceto used an Ice Beam to freeze the man's mouth shut.

"No, I do not. Neither me, nor my girlfriend, nor my herd have ever harmed a single innocent soul in our entire lives," he explained. "I do not know whether your story is true, but I do know that Centaurs of today are not evil monsters." The man didn't seem to be listening to much of it, however, as he was still struggling to break free of his icy imprisonment. Knowing it would begin to melt soon, Ceto decided to prove his claim by leaving the man alive at the tree and bidding his farewell. As he started to trot away, however, he suddenly heard a shattering noise behind him. He turned around to find Alain attempting to jump onto Ceto's back in order to strike with his unusual weapon. His mouth was still frozen shut.

"Now you leave me no choice, Ice-Mouth!" Ceto exclaimed, shaking Alain off and pointing Blizzaron at him. "You want a monster, then you've got it!"

The beast was quick to throw Alain off it’s back, sending him crashing into the ground. In the tales the monsters had never been able to use magic. Alain had to think of a new plan. An assault from the front or back wouldn’t end well. Alain had dealt with horses, and he knew what it felt like for a normal horse to pound you with it’s hind legs, and he imagined it’d be far worse with a beast this large. A frontal attack would lead him right into the creatures staff, and it was quite clear that jumping onto the creature was not a wise move.

This left him only one option. He had to get to the side of the monster, though what damage he could do was unclear at the time. He swiftly gained his bearings, as that fall from the beast jarred his head a bit. He still had his gladius out, as he wanted to use the halberd only if the creature charged.
“Mrph. Merferf mf moof mf, mr mof moof mrf.” Alain tried to speak, but the ice was stuck fast.
‘Damn creature. What spells does it have that it can so easily rob me of my speech?’

He took a moment to pry off the ice but it was stuck fast. It would just have to melt on its own it little first. He turned his attention back to the monster. He charged, but just as he would have been in the approximate range of the staff he ducked and rolled just past the creature’s left leg. He stood up and swung his sword around at the creature, slashing it’s thigh slightly. It had a tough skin, so it wasn’t a very deep wound, more like a paper cut. Alain took a swift, small jump back to avoid getting hit as the creature spun around. But his jump wasn’t enough and the beast’s staff slammed into his pualdron, knocking him to the ground on his side. He sat up and felt his mouth.
“Yes, the ice has- Oh goodness!” Alain fell back onto his back and rolled away as the monster’s staff slammed into the ground. He got back up, somewhat dizzy, and stood his ground again. The beast was still too close for him to use his halberd. He had to distract the creature so he could gain enough distance. Running would do no good, as the creature would catch up with him in a second. But no time… his plan would have to wait a moment. The creature was coming at him again with it’s staff.

This guy is good... Ceto thought as he decided to activate Snow Staff and see what snowballing the man would do. However, Alain simply put a shocking look on his face for about a minute or so and then continued to fight. With the now snowball ends of Blizzaron, Ceto attempted physical attacks again, trying to stay as close to the man as possible. To Ceto, Alain appeared to be the kind of guy who was trained to battle someone on a horse, even though the horse body was part of him, so he dared not attempt to charge.

"I see you know how to handle a horse. But I'm afraid Centaurs are different, especially those who use magic!" Ceto warned. Somehow, he thought it'd be a good idea to get rid of the long axe-like weapon strapped to Alain's back for fear that the man might use it to try to gain more range. Then again, how could he when he moved around trying to attack so much?

Still screwing around with Snow Staff, Ceto soon came up with an idea, a rather bizarre one, but it was bound to work. With a strategic twirl of Blizzaron again, he made sure to hit Alain so he landed on his stomach when touching the ground once more. At the same time, Ceto secretly used Ice Cube to create a hand-sized cube and once Alain was down again, he crouched, unstrapped the back of the armor, pulled on the man's pants, and stuffed the freezing-cold cube down them.

"WHOAAAAH! AAAAH!" Alain screamed, jumping up from the coldness pressed against his rear end. Although it was strange, stuffing ice cubes in people's clothes was a strategy Ceto used quite often to distract his opponent. While Alain was struggling with the cube in his pants, Ceto carefully aimed Blizzaron once more and fired at the axe weapon.

Instead of hitting the weapon, however, the ice balls had corrupted Alain's path, causing him to accidentally let go of his gladius and send it flying right into the path of Ceto's gut. Ceto, just barely quick enough to evade it, lost his balance and tripped over a small rock behind him.

"AAAH! DAMN IT!" he shouted, frustrated at his own dumb mistake. Luckily for him, though, Alain still had ice down his pants.

Alain was incredibly upset with this creature. Cold wasn't something Alain would be concerned with in a normal battle, but when it's ice put right to his skin...
This creature doesn't fight! It pranks, like a Goblin would prank a child in the night!
"You are a coward, beast. One with honor would fight. But... how foolish of me." He paused for a moment to see what the monster would do. "How can I expect a beast that would destroy entire villages, and murder those in it, to have even a hint of honor?"

When he had been jumping around trying to get the ice low enough down his leg to be less of an issue, he had made sure to get a noticeable distance from the creature. "If you will not fight, but rather act as a pathetic Goblin, then your kind has become weak. This will be news for those of my country, when I return one day. They will hear of how pitiful you are, hunt you down, and eradicate you for what your kind did to us!"

Alain was attempting to taunt the creature into a real battle, as he did not care to fight an opponent that wouldn't be a challenge. He quickly pulled the straps on his halberd loose, and whipped out the weapon. The monster could use ranged attacks, it seemed, but now that he knew, he could better attempt to avoid them. Marshall flipped the halberd into a position from which he could either strike at the creature if it passed him, or put it to the ground to stop a possible charge. He glared at the creature and, under his breath, said a single word, "Monster."

Ceto stood there and folded his arms, chuckling a little to himself as he listened to what Alain was telling him.

"Ha, your words amuse me. My strategies are not to be mocked," he said.

"You're insane if you call freezing my butt a strategy!" Alain retorted angrily as he picked up his dropped gladius. Finally, he had drawn the long axe-like weapon he had strapped to his back. Ceto, now frustrated at the man's skill against horses, decided Alain expected him to charge now. He had to think quickly on how to deal with being such a distance away. A ranged attack will not do, as the man might try hitting the ice attacks back or dodge them completely. There was only one thing Ceto could try, and it involved a little acting. However, he was not positive it would work.

Without anymore hesitation, Ceto reared up on his hind legs, and started to dash towards Alain at the fastest speed he could go. The man now had an expression on his face that looked confident, but Ceto had tricks up his sleeve. Just before the Centaur could get into Alain's range, he quickly raised Blizzaron and froze the ground below the man's feet with a Sleet Sheet, spreading it several feet around him. Alain, unable to keep his footing, slipped and fell before he could attempt to counter Ceto's continuing charge. His helmet fell off due to the impact.

"Why you---!" Alain started, his anger building. Ceto, ending his charge, soon clashed Blizzaron against Alain's long axe-like weapon, which he apparently called a halberd. Pushing against one another, their strength nearly canceling out, the two fought it near the ground, Alain on his back while Ceto was leaning over almost right in his face.

With confidence that he'd defeat Alain now, Ceto pushed harder and quietly drew his dagger for a planned sneak attack. He then, without hesitation, jabbed it into Alain's arm, letting the man scream in pain. However, almost suddenly, Ceto felt something jab into his own flesh of his right foreleg as he kept pushed against Alain's strength. Ceto looked down to see the man's gladius sticking part way into his leg.

"AUUGGGH!" he hollered, rearing backwards in pain. Because the ground was still frozen below him, Ceto lost his balance due to the pain and fell over, unable to control where he was falling. Blizzaron had, as a result, knocked Alain squarely in the head from Ceto's reach. The impact caused both warriors to be knocked unconscious.

OoC: Alright Dave, all you need to do is have one of them wake up. But don't make anyone defeated yet, this thread should go on way longer.

Alain's vision was hazy and darkened. The creature’s blade was jammed right through his left arm. Alain knew the beast had strength, but he didn't expect it to go all the way through his hauberk, gambeson, and arm. Luckily the blade had missed his bone. Marshall sat up, not knowing how long he'd been out, and pulled the blade from his arm. The pain was immense, but he pulled slowly. He looked around as his vision cleared to see of the creature was still there... And it was. Like he had been, the creature was unconscious and not far from him. Alain waddled a distance from the creature, and sat up against a tree, starting to use his healing powers on the wound. He couldn't actually heal the would, but he could ease the pain enough so that it wouldn't bother him so much to use the arm.

As he was leaning against the tree he put his head back, and closed his eyes.
With this beast down, I could kill it. But there's little honor in that. But maybe I could at least take it's weapon. Damn prankster. I don't care what it says, those are in no way tactics of a fighter.
Alain numbed the pain a little longer before getting up and opening his eyes. He looked around but the beast was gone.
The coward must have run...
But he was quite mistaken. He heard the sound of hove steps behind him not a moment later. Turning slowly he saw the beast, limping on the one leg he'd stabbed, but still standing tall over him. Alain was rather terrified, but it didn't show though his stern look well. He backed away slowly, pulling out his gladius, which he pulled out of the beast and put back in it's sheath. He'd forgotten to clean the blade, so it was still covered in blood.

Alain seemed to think the situation was not going in his favor at that point. He could only run, or try to roll past the beast again. He made the decision to attempt another attack. There was a pause between the two... as if this would end in a stalemate... but Alain wasn't going to let that happen. He made a quick dash and rolled right under the creature. But the beast had twirled it's staff around and slammed it into Alain's right hip. This threw off Marshall's roll a bit, but he still made it out the other end. He quickly jabbed the upper right leg of the creature and turned around to run. But as he started to run the beast's other leg shot out and impacted with Alain's back. He felt the pain spread all over his back, and the wind across his face as he flew forward.

He slammed into the ground a good distance away and tried to get up. He was far too stiff to do so, however, and only laid there, waiting until his body loosened up. His halberd was back where he'd been before, so it was no use to him now. Luckily for Alain, his armour covered his breathing so, unbeknownst to him, the beast thought it might have killed Alain as it got closer. If his body would not be so stiff he could turn when the beast got near, and stab it again. He opened his eyes, and without moving, looked around at what he could see. There wasn't much other then the empty field to be seen, and than a few trees dotted around. He didn't dare turn around to see if the creature was upon him or not... He just laid there, listening. But he didn't have to long before he heard the hove steps of the beast again... it was very close now... and there wasn't a thing he could do.

Ceto stood there and looked over Alain. It seemed as though the man was either dead or just unable to fight anymore. Not the kind who would beat a dead horse, Ceto took back his dagger, turned around, and trotted off into the distance even though it hurt to use his injured leg, hoping the man would not find him again. Feeling hungry and in pain, Ceto stopped at a stream and carefully scrutinized for fish. He cleaned the blood off of his dagger, and once he spotted the right species of fish leaping out of the water, he plunged the dagger into the flesh of the animal and took it into his hands. He gobbled it up as if he hadn't had food in more than a day.

Ceto just continued to rest there afterward, appreciating the warm weather and the water he was using to soothe the wound in his leg. By now the sun was beginning to set and the energy was returning to Ceto's rather exhausted body. After a few minutes of much-needed rest after battling, he got up and took a stroll down the stream. What he didn't know, however, was that Alain was looking for him this very moment. The man was frustrating himself trying to find him in the direction the Centaur had gone. Alain spotted Ceto walking at a normal pace down the stream around a half hour later.

Wanting to sneak up on him, Alain kept following Ceto and moved quietly behind him. Perhaps this time jumping on him would be a good move. When Alain could get close enough, he bolted right to Ceto's behind and jumped as high as he could. Luckily for Alain, he landed right on top of the Centaur's furry back.

"GOTCHA!" Alain shouted, grabbing the back of Ceto's shoulder cape to hold on to him.

"Hey, what the--?!" Ceto exclaimed. "DAMN IT!" He started jumping around wildly as if he were a bucking bronco, but Alain held on tightly. Still, Ceto was moving so much, Alain had trouble drawing a weapon.

"Ergg...ugh!" Alain grunted as he held on.

"Get...off...ME!" Ceto replied. Suddenly, Ceto wasn't looking where he was going and began to stumble, causing both warriors to go plunging into the stream. The splash soaked both of them, though Alain still gripped Ceto's cape. Still, with water everywhere, neither of them could see where they were trying to attack and Blizzaron, after Snow Staff had been activated again, ended up being thrusted right into Alain's "area." Ceto struggled to get up as the man made a strange face and began holding himself between his legs.

"Eeeeeeowww..." Alain stammered, not able to holler even though he was in much pain. Because his attention was on the pain, the man was not getting up. Ceto then attempted to make another escape because it was now apparent to him that Alain was not giving up until one of them was dead...or escaped for good.

OoC: *made herself laugh*

That… Damn… Beast…
The pain was intense, and Alain’s thoughts couldn’t even come out clear. As the two had struggled around in the shallow stream the water had splashed into their eyes, and impaired the vision of the two of them. As a result the creature had flung one end of it’s staff directly into Alain’s crotch, stunning him, yet again. He couldn’t, and wouldn’t, move for a short time, while lightly using his healing abilities not to heal, as there was no wound, but to ease the pain much quicker.

The creature had gotten up and regained it’s balance during this time. It hesitated only for a moment before it started to leave again. Alain couldn’t wait any longer! He had to get up now, despite the pain, if he were going to catch the beast again. He slapped the water and planted his hands into the ground of the stream. Pushing himself up, he turned and ran to some reeds near the shore of the stream. He had hidden his halberd here incase he had a chance to get it again. He picked it up, strapped it to his back, and swiftly fished his gladius, which he’d dropped in the stream, out of the water. He looked around to see which way the beast had gone, and saw it was quickly limping away to the North-West.

There was only a slight chance Alain could catch up. He had to keep the creature running long enough to let the motion of galloping make the wounds hurt enough to force the beast to stop. But Alain’s own lack of energy, and the pain, was slowing him down. He couldn’t keep up now… There was no way… He had to rest… But to his luck, so did the beast. However, he was too tired to run now. He merely shuffled along the ground, closing in on the creature, hoping to get close enough to attack before it got away again. If it did, he’d never be able to catch it.

“You… my friend… are a coward…” He stammered. “How can… you run from a battle…?” He was close now, but still not close enough. “As your opponent… I ask of you… to face me… Here. Now. And without cowardice, fight me.” He was close enough to attack, but he was re-thinking his strategy. “I will spare you, beast. I can see it would take… more than one soldier to… subdue you. And as such, whoever… can knock the blade from the other first… shall win.” He saw that the creature was lying down, facing away from him. He lay down near it, and took off his halberd, throwing it aside. He took his gladius and cut a strap from his back. He looked again at the beast, which was still facing away, seeming to think about his proposition. He took this moment to tie his gladius to his hand with the strap, and while doing so talked to the creature. “I must say, your tracks are easy to follow. I chased you at a distance all the way to the stream with little trouble. But now, beast. What is your answer? Will you face me with only your sword, against my sword?”

Ceto put an annoyed look on his face and folded his arms once more. Running was no longer an option it seemed, and Alain was not going go easily without a fight. Ceto simply sighed, sheathed Blizzaron, drew his dagger, and pointed it in the man's direction.

"And you, your cockiness, have just about gotten on my last nerve," he replied in annoyance. "I flee for a reason. I can plainly see you will not go until one of us is dead, and I do not wish death upon either of us. However, you leave me no choice. If it's a swordfight you want, then it's a swordfight you get."

Now annoyed at Ceto's constant remarks where he calls him something, Alain charged forward and the two clashed blades in a one-on-one duel. Despite the fact that Ceto was not proficient in any kind of swordfighting style, he decided to pretend in a way that the dagger was Blizzaron and used similar maneuvers as before, such as the thrusting and normal striking. It seemed that each time their blades clashed, however, they didn't get any closer to getting a hit on either one of themselves.

However, due to both of them getting too focused on their duel, Alain and Ceto didn't notice that they were headed towards a tree again and approached it quickly. Before he knew it, Ceto felt something get caught to his cape and discovered a tree branch lodged into it. Alain, who was by now used to getting pushed back by Ceto's weight and strength, fell over backwards again. Ceto struggled to get free, but the branch would not give. The Centaur was unable to reach behind him and undo the branch himself.

Thinking he had an opportunity to win now, Alain scrambled to his feet and charged again, but Ceto was fast enough to notice and turned around so his hind legs faced the man. He suddenly began to rear on his front legs, picked up Alain with his hind ones, and tossed him into the tree branches above, Alain with a look of shock spread across his face.

"What the--GAAAAAH!" he hollered as he was carried up and went soaring through green leaves and wood. Now with Alain out of the way, Ceto continued trying to get free.

"Ugh, C'MON!" he exclaimed in frustration.

OoC: 'kay, now Ceto's caught to a branch while Alain is sitting in a tree.

Alain was hanging from a branch, somewhat above the creature, and could see a clear way down. He slipped down, even though his muscles were aching like crazy. The beast was stuck fast to the tree, and Alain could move relatively freely, though climbing down was a but difficult, as his gladius was still tied to his hand. He slipped down the tree until he was at the lowest branch, which was directly across from the one that had a secure hold on the beast. He balanced himself as he walked along to a part of the branch which held the creature. He raised his gladius high, and the creature assumed it was to make a final blow. The sword came down with incredible force. It struck the branch, shattering it to pieces where the blade impacted. The beast was surprised, as the Alain had seem to only want to kill the him. Alain jumped from the branch, as stood, facing sideways to the creature.

“You were wrong. I no longer desire to decapitate you, or whatever it is that would kill you. I now wish only for an honorable battle.” he turned to the creature, and stood in a position, as if to taunt the beast. “I have freed you ONLY to allow this battle to be finished. I feel no compassion for you, and my hate for what your people have done still burns in me.” Without letting the creature respond he hollered out, “Now then, monster, take up your weapon and face me!”

The beast took the short sword it had, or that’s what it seemed to be to Alain, and faced him. “You will never listen, will you?” I told you, my people have-”
Alain interrupted him, shouting, “FACE ME, BEAST!” With that he ran to the tree, jumped at it, and kicked off of it’s trunk, and onto the creature’s back, taking it completely by surprise. The beast reached behind it’s back and took a quick stab at Alain. The blade pierced Marshall’s pauldron and jacket, but didn’t get through his hauberk. The impact knocked Alain to the side, however, and in an attempt to regain his balance, Alain accidentally jammed his sword into the top of the creatures upper right leg. The blade sank in a good few inches before Alain pushed himself off the beast, taking his sword with him.
“RRAAUGH!” The wound was burning with pain from the sharp blade be driven in so far. “YOU…!” He was again cut off as Marshall had gotten behind him, and took a slice at his lower, hind, right leg. “GRAAH!” Another cry of pain came from the creature. His leg kicked again, striking Alain in his left shoulder, and sending him spiraling into the ground. Alain was half conscious at this point, and not getting up. The creature was bellowing in pain, also not fighting now.

There was a few minutes of not one single strike of either sword against the other. Both combatants were indisposed at the moment, with one only beginning to regain his consciousness, and the other in too much pain to fight. Finally the creature got up enough resistance to the pain to walk over to Alain, who was himself just sitting up. It spoke to him again. “This is no time to laze! Get up, human.” he grabbed Alain’s shoulder and stood him up on his feet. Alain was quite surprised at this, but took the opportunity to act. Without the slightest warning he grasped his gladius harder than ever before in the battle, and sent it right for the creature stomach, but missed it slightly. The beast had predicted Alain would do something of the sort, and had taken the same action, jamming it’s sword almost into Alain’s belly. There was a consecutive series of cries from the two.
“GAAAH!” Yelled Alain.
“AARGH!” Shouted the creature.
“DAAAGH!” Alain was screaming louder now, almost as if even their screams of pain was some sort of a contest.
“WAAARGH!” It went on like this as the two stumbled away from each other, and fell over. As each hit the ground they fell silent, but grimaced at the pain. Now, though, neither could get up. Alain’s body couldn’t take much more now, and the beast’s own body had too many wounds in just the right places. The creature finally spoke to Alain. “I was right, you know.”
Marshall took a moment to get the strength to respond. “A… About what…?” He said coughing up a bit of blood.
“You do know much of horses. How else could you-”
“-Strike you in just the right places… to hinder you so well? I’m a cavalry rider myself, and have also… urk… fought against many mounted soldiers while I was on foot. After many battles… against a horse, you learn a thing or two.” There was a deathly silence after this… All that could be heard were the crickets of the night. The two of them had fallen unconscious from their blood loss.

- - - - - -

The morning sun was beginning to shine over the wide open field, and the birds were starting to wake. Alain woke up, feeling rather refreshed, but very stiff. He didn’t move a muscle, but rather channeled his healing around his body. It was a very slow way of soothing the pain and loosening the muscles, but it was better than nothing. But suddenly he remembered about the beast he’d been fighting the night before. He managed to jerk his head up and look around. To his luck, which had been returning during this battle, the beast was still on the ground, only breathing. He took this time before the best awoke to continue easing his pains.

After what felt like a long enough time Alain got up. He was stiff still, but not too much as to prevent him from getting up. He stood, staring at the beast… thinking. He made a choice. As he approached a wound on the beast, that was nearest him, he knelt down, about to start healing the creature. But he was caught off his guard, as the creature grabbed him by the throat, holding him tightly. It stood up on all it’s legs, at it’s full height. Alain was just dangling now, trying to free himself from the beasts grasp. The creature put Alain’s face right up to it’s own.
“I… am sick… and TIRED… of this battle. I didn’t come to this field to FIGHT! I only came here to TRAIN. ALONE! It’s as if… any time I want to train in peace… SOMEONE comes in and starts a fight! I’m tired of these games, human, and I will not play them anymore.” The beast's grasp tightened, and Alain’s eyes started to roll back. “I don’t care about YOUR honor, and I don’t care about YOUR tactics. I follow my OWN!” Alain couldn't do a thing now. He just let go, and hung, limp, in the beasts hand. His vision was failing, and he couldn’t breath anymore. His face turned a sickly red, and he made one gasp before falling unconscious, saying, “y…o…u…w…i…n…” The creature let Marshall’s limp body slump to the ground, all curled up. There was nothing more to this battle now. The Centaur, Ceto, walked away to find somewhere safe to wash up, and heal himself.

OoC: I didn’t intend to end that battle… I swear…
I just… kinda… kept going. So sorry.

I mean, that’s pretty conclusive, though. I don’t really think there’s any way of continuing this now.
Alain’s just about dead from Ceto choking him, and Ceto’s gone off to clean up and what-not.

But hey, it was fun, and soon we can battle again, yes?

OoC: Now just a minute, Dave. Ceto wouldn't just grab someone like that if he's just going to try healing a wound, but we can work around that. Also, I have a bit I want to add to that awesome finish. ;D

BiC: As Ceto began washing up and soothing his wounds, he thought about what Alain was telling him, his claims of Centaurs being as evil as he said. Perhaps in the past there were creatures like that? If so, then how did they change their way of life? Or does Ceto's herd have no connection to these beasts at all? Many questions kept ringing through his head and he didn't want to blame Alain for being upset about such acts. Deciding to stay at the stream for awhile and rest, Ceto just lay there and began to regain some energy. In about an hour however, the opportunity to find some answers to his questions was right nearby, as the man was now crawling up to the same water nearby trying to wash up himself. Ceto stood up and turned to face the severely injured man.

"Hey, you. I have to know something. Your claims that my people have done such terrible things to you...I cannot say it is true or false, but why do you believe such tales?" he asked. "Do you not think that while one tribe of Centaurs is evil, another is peaceful? Do you not think that maybe I have no connection with the evil ones, if they really exist? You will get yourself into this kind of trouble when you jump to conclusions and don't think twice."

Alain was silent for awhile. He had trouble admitting that Ceto was right and that he was in the wrong from the beginning. Why didn't he think properly? On top of that, the Centaur did say at first that he would not harm the man. Finding words for a reply, Alain slowly sat up from soothing his own wounds and using his healing ability to give his input. Although the exhaust from the fight had really gotten to him, he managed to speak.

"You...I...you're right..." Alain started. "I nearly put myself to death...out of anger..."

"And now you see why I tried to run? I didn't want to end up killing you because of your foolhardy decisions," Ceto replied. "It would only make me look bad and you would have wasted your life."

"Yes...another thing...the Centaurs in the stories did not wield...magic."

"Indeed, as you stated before. As one of the Centaur Ice Warriors, I fight to protect and for what is right. It is what we do," Ceto finished. "I also declare this fight a draw, as I believe we both took our share of defeat. Now, I shall take leave of you." With Blizzaron and the dagger sheathed, Ceto turned his back to Alain and galloped off into the distance, not giving the man a chance to answer him again. And this time, Alain did not attempt to follow.