Aurek (First Round) FINISHED

[Aurek]

"In the north end is Boar the Bloodthirsty!" A wild cheer rose from the crowds. Apparently they liked bloodthirsty as a title. A large brute of a man walked out. He had a look of wild abandon if one was close enough to see it. Hope he isn't my opponent. thought Aurek. "And in the south end..." There was a pause, and a short chuckle. "...Aurek Whitebeard."

"Wait! What?! Aurek could feel himself being shoved into the arena. He quickly turned around but the gate had already closed. "You've got to be kidding me! I'm supposed to fight that thing?" Laughter erupted from the crowd at the sight of the old man who had just entered the arena. Aurek turned back to face his opponent, fear causing him to sweat mightily. I hope he's a pleasant type. Yeah right, he's going to eat me alive! The man began stalking toward Aurek, holding his lance in front. Not knowing what else to do, Aurek copied the man's stance.

As soon as Boar was within range, he thrust forward. Again, not knowing what else to do, Aurek jumped backwards. Unfortunately, his footing was not very good, and he fell. Quickly scrambling to his feet, he noticed Boar had closed in upon him. A dull thud was made as Boar kicked Aurek in the chest, sending him flying backwards yet again. "I'm going to make you regret ever joining the arena. And I'm going to do it by breaking your body," threatened Boar.

Aurek had regained his feet by this time but was grimacing from kick to the chest. "What if I call out my resignation?" The idea had started to look very promising.

"This." Before Aurek could even react, the man had closed the distance between them for the second time and punched him in the throat. Aurek dropped to the ground, gasping. "You won't be getting away that easily." This is very, very bad. thought Aurek.

[Valcrist]

"Aurek, huh? Interesting name..." Valcrist watched the beginnings of the fight with an unreadable expression. Whitebeard? Well surely his beard was white, but it seemed kind of... mean. Like they were simply poking fun at his age. He was here to fight, just like the rest of them. "Go Aurek! Kick his ass!" He cupped his hands over his mouth, shouting as loud as his voice would carry. His faux deep voice kind of straining his throat, but it was sustainable as long as he didn't talk too much. Still he was rooting for the old dude.

The man he was fighting was almost a mountain of muscle, but he was... rather brutish. He had a lance but he didn't seem particularly good with it. Well that was a narrow minded assumption for Valcrist to make, he could be a genius, but first impressions always last. Valcrist's first impression being that this man was strong and fast, but not skilled. Still he hoped Aurek would make it, if only because of the shallow reason he knew him slightly.

[Tuatara 'Tut' Yamen]

"Aw, I hate people like this!" Tuatara said, referring to the beast of a man. "I always cut their belt, it makes for hilarity and puts them in their place." He watched Aurek get thrown around some more. "Seriously? This is Whitebeard? I thought he was a fearsome pir- oh that's another bearded guy. Well white means he's wise and smart right?" Aurek took a kick to the chest. "Nope, apparently not."

This is the first fighter to realy suck I think, Tuatara thought. "ACTIVATE POWER RANGER- WAIT WHATS A - ACTIVATE!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, hopefully giving the old dude a chance to escape. "WAS YOUR MOTHER REALLY A PIG MR. BOAR? CAUSE YOU SMELL LIKE ONE!"

[Edrick]

"Aurek Whitebeard? That seems a bit mean to call him, even if it may be true." He mumbles noticing the greyness of his beard. Sizing the two men up he notices how well muscled the one called boar is compared to the older man. "Either that old man is the best fighter here or he made a big mistake in entering." After taking a kick to the chest and a punch to the throat it did not look good for the elderly soldier.

[Aurek]

Aurek was on his knees before Boar. He could feel his opponent gloating. After getting air back into his lungs, Aurek looked up and simply said, "Fine." Pitching his whole body forward, he crashed into Boar, knocking him down and causing both to end up rolling in the dirt. Both scrambled to their feet quickly, picking up their lances and facing each other once more. As Aurek had rolled out of the way, he felt the bottle of alcohol he had left in his cloak's pocket. Probably should have left that behind. Aurek thought as he leaped backwards, this time without slipping and successfully distancing himself from his adversary.

Boar bull-rushed Aurek, lance extended to gore his opponent. Aurek dove to the side, barely escaping his approaching death. He could feel his palms sweating, although he wasn't sure if it was from nearly dying or the exertion. What he did know, was that if this fight lasted much longer, his body would not last. Clearly too old for this. Are you just going to lay in the dirt or are you going to fight, you old geezer?" Boar taunted from the place where he stood.

Aurek did not appreciate that. As he hoisted himself up by his lance he called back, "Where I lay shouldn't matter to a swine like you. I understand why your sow of a mother named you that though." Boar's breathing became very short and rapid, extreme redness overtaking his features. Apparently, Aurek had struck a nerve talking about this man's mother. Blind rage had seized Aurek's opponent. The man began rushing in, swinging his lance in a most erratic pattern. Aurek did his best to weather the onslaught but still felt as though he couldn't defend for each time the lances collided, Aurek nearly lost his grip and the vibrations were exceedingly painful. With nothing else to do, Aurek began jumping out of the way as best he could. A few scratches were made on his armor but no damage to his actual person. If I can just survive this part.

[Wyatt]

Wyatt had been slightly amused with the start of the fight. A big burly man versus someone one foot in the grave...seemed like it might be interesting. But it also seemed like the old man had no real desire to fight.

And the pig, urgh. This was the stereotype that followed axe users around. Burly, stupid and rude. Bullies and brigands. Wyatt hated people like this, just because they gave them all a bad name.

And when Aurek gave his rebuttal, Wyatt laughed. He couldn't help it. The remark was expertly slung, and it cut through his opponent better then any blade could. It seemed to have the intended effect as well, making the axe user get mad and try to attack recklessly.

[Clair Feldsky]

"Whitebeard.... This match isn't even.... This isn't fair!" The crowds still cheered, but Clair's perspective had her viewing the match as a waste of time. Wrong even. There was no honor here. Only blood. One hardly seemed to want to fight, and the other seemed only to want to inflict pain to the applause of the crowds. How had this even happened.

She left her place by the arena edge, and marched down towards one of the entrances There she saw someone watching the gate.

"Stop the match!" She said coming up to him. "The Boar is going to break him apart if it doesn't stop."

The man looked down at her, idly cleaning his fingernails with a small knife before disinterestedly turning back to his personal hygiene. [brown]"Well, this match goes until a yield or a collapse. Unfortunately for the Whitebeard, I've seen neither yet."[/brown]

He took a swig from some kind of drinking skin hanging by the gate as Clair's jaw worked. "But he might die!"

[brown]"He might.... It's what he signed on for. Now away from here. You'll get your own turn soon enough."[/brown]

There wasn't really anything else she could do, so Clair instead went back to watching the ongoing fight through the chains, hoping the stranger survived.

[Calvin Toros]

Calvin smiled anxiously as the voice echoed through the stadium announcing the combatants of this match. He cheered loudly from the crowd; his childish cry was probably very noticeable to anyone close enough. He watched with awe as a large brute of a man walked out. He was so heavily built, Calvin couldn’t help but wonder who was going to be pitted against the beast. Thus, Aurek Whitebeard, with a slight chuckle, was announced onto the field. Maxell looked around curiously as he heard the laughter of the crowd but he was at a loss. What was so funny. The laughter disappeared and he leapt from his seat in a loud cheer.

“Woooo! “

Calvin was oblivious to the fact an elderly looking man was fighting this beast of a youngster. All Calvin saw was the super cool fight about to happen. He didn’t much like fighting, but he’d often daydreamed of being strong and skilled like warriors from fairy tales. Calvin watched anxiously from the edge of his seat as the battle unfolded. Calvin didn’t like this boar character, he was so mean! Calvin couldn’t think of any reason to be that mean. Calvin pouted as he watched the fight, it didn’t seem quite fair.He turned to the strangers around him rapidly tossing words and sentences in their general direction.

“Don’t you think that guy is so mean? There’s no need to be that mean right? This is mean AND unfair!”

Calvin continued watching with a frown. Fighting is so mean… He would leave but, what if Aurek needed help!

[Aurek]

Boar was quickly tiring. Aurek wasn't doing any better though. Both were gasping for air, though Aurek was definitely in a worse position. There was a small lull in the fighting as each fighter leaned on their lances. "I'm... going... to kill... you." Boar cursed at Aurek between breaths.

"Just... try... it." Not very creative, but it was the best Aurek could come up with. This was the moment he had been waiting for, a calm in the fighting. The time for planning had come. Aurek was so busy just trying to stay alive that he hadn't had time to think. Clearly this guy is faster and stronger than me. The fact that I haven't been skewered yet is amazing. He isn't very intelligent though, so I'm pretty sure I've got him beat there. Neither of us seem to be very skilled with the lance. Lucky, otherwise I'd be dead before this fight even started. This guy's main weakness is he rushes in blindly. I'll have to use that to my advantage. He suddenly straightened up. "I've got it!" he yelled. Aurek finally looked back toward his opponent and saw the man rushing towards him again. Clearly, the rest had done Boar wonders, for he seemed to have gained his full strength.

Aurek was not so lucky, he was still out of breath and everything ached horribly. Suck it up. He told himself. It'll be over after this anyway. Diving out of the way of the most recent rush, he scrambled to his feet and put as much distance between himself and Boar as possible. He turned and faced his opponent for what he hoped would be the final time. Aurek stuck his lance into the ground, put up his fist and yelled at his opponent, "Your mother would be ashamed of all your wallowing you sorry excuse of a man!"

[Richter Abend]

Continuing in the apparent theme of the day, the next fight was another mismatch, and a really bad one at that. Clair had even bothered to make an appeal to a tournament official, an appeal which had gone expectedly unheeded.

But really. A withered looking old man up against some giant beast of a human bearing the title "Bloodthirsty"? The terms were so unequal even Richter couldn't bother a laugh. In fact, the only thing they looked to stand equal on was choice of weapon. The disguised Ilian was almost tempted to chalk up the victory already, but, after what he had seen in the day so far, was willing to watch the fight play out.

It wasn't a very rewarding fight to watch, really. Boar, as he was so aptly named, had the complete upper hand, and demonstrated it by beginning the fight with a blow to the old geezer's windpipe. The fight then proceeded to continue as such.

Richter felt like he was back in Ilia, watching the bears feed in the springtime. This Boar brute was obviously the bear, and Aurek, blow after blood knocking about his creaky old frame, was like the fish out of water, flopping up and down on a river rock before getting swiped up and eaten.

After diving out of the way of a brutal charge, the old man then proceeded to run, and ironically it was his best tactic yet. It was embarrassing to say the least, watching this old man fight, but Richter had to give him credit. Not every old bone would jump in the arena with a boar like this. It was just a wonder he was still alive.

[Valcrist]

Using his emotions as a weapon when you lack one that can do the trick, clever play. Valcrist personally didn't like doing such a thing, but in a battle like this Valcrist realized Aurek needed every advantage he could get his hands on. His gambit was a little... odd. What was he planning? He stuck his lance into the ground, and taunted the man again. What would he do? There's only a small handful of things Valcrist could think of that he could possibly do in a situation like that, and half of them involved physics that were better delegated to kids stories.

Still, Valcrist was a stubborn old goat. He would root for Aurek until the end. "Come on Aurek!" He's seen worse comebacks.

[Tuatara 'Tut' Yamen]

"Are you kidding me?" Tuatara said to the strange boy nearby. "This is the best fight ever! Pure genius! This should be written down in the books! Never has there been such a graceful, comical fight! Even I would be hard pressed to create such art."

Tuatara gazed at the amazing fight. This is some good stuff. Yes indeedy. "GO AUREK, YOU GOT THIS MAN!" He turned back to the boy. "I have to agree, this fight is totally unfair, but that doesn't make it any less awesome."

[Aurek]

Boar did not seem to be taking the bait at first. Aurek had counted on this. After all, why would someone rush into so obvious a trap? But there were more ways than one to get the job done. Aurek reached into his cloak and pulled out his bottle of alcohol. This should get the job done. Taking a quick "swig", Aurek gave Boar a huge smile despite still breathing heavy. "Poor little piggie can't even hurt an old man. Better run back home to all your little piggie brothers and sisters."

"I'm going to kill you!!" screamed Boar. Apparently he was very stupid. Again he rushed Aurek, lance poised to run the ancient-looking man through. Suddenly, Aurek's cloak was in the man's face, his speed preventing him from dodging. The fair fight is over. thought Aurek. By the time Boar had pulled the cloak out of the way, Aurek was no longer in front of him and the lance was gone as well. A bottle entered Boar's vision from the right side, Aurek in his peripherals. The old guy had charged while Boar couldn't see. The huge man pulled both arms up to block the bottle from smashing into his face. As the bottle broke, some of the alcohol had splashed into Boar's eyes.

"AUGH!! MY EYES!!" Boar screamed as he double over in pain. Bright lights then exploded in his darkened vision. Aurek had moved behind him and taken a cheap shot with an upswing of his lance. The likelihood of there being young children from this man suddenly was lessened. It wasn't over though.

"Time for payback." Aurek whispered in the man's left ear. He was now on the other side. Aurek stepped back and swung his lance, making a solid connection with Boar's throat. The man was now blind, choking and in serious agony. Aurek walked back toward the front and kicked Boar in the chest, sending the man sprawling flat on his back. Aurek slowly approached the writhing body. "Let's see how thirsty for blood you really are." Aurek plunged his lance into the man's face, snuffing the life from his opponent and ending the fight. Aurek stared at the bloody form in front of him before summarily collapsing into a heap from exhaustion.

[Edrick]

The man named Boar was now blind, choking and in serious agony. White beard walked back toward the front of the man and kicked him in the chest, sending the man sprawling flat on his back. Whitebeard slowly approached the writhing body then he plunged his lance into the man's face, snuffing the life from his opponent and ending the fight. Whitebeard stared at the bloody form in front of him before summarily collapsing into a heap from exhaustion.

Edrick stood there a surprised expression on his face "......wow, just, wow......" Edrick expression then turned to one of no emotion, "I guess if he would not surrender then this was the only choice....." Edrick then lets out a sigh, "I hope my match will not have to come to this also."

[Richter Abend]

What...what a surprise! Had the old geezer actually won? Richter blinked twice, not quite believing his eyes, as he ran through the events that had just occurred.

The pig man, Boar, had had Whitebeard completely on the run, battering him at every turn. It had looked so pathetic. So what had the old man done? What any old soldier would do: He drank, then started tossing insults. It had seemed like a swan song at the time, but what had followed next completely contradicted the entire rest of the fight.

The insults had been baits, obvious ones at that, but they had worked, and Boar had run straight into a trap. With a spryness unexpected of him, the old man disabled the brute's sight with his cloak before shattering his bottle across his opponent's face. That left Boar howling and blind, and Aurek had taken plenty of relish in turning his own pain back upon the pig man. One smack to the throat, one kick to the chest, all with a coup de grace to the face.

And like that, Boar was dead. Yes, it really had happened. Of all the things to happen, Whitebeard impaling Boar the Bloodthirsty through the face had not been the first to jump to Richter's mind. In fact, it had probably been the last. But as the incredulity of the situation wore off, the Ilian was reminded of a very important fact: in this arena, while arguably safer than a battlefield, death was still a very real threat to both him and his future opponent. He would have to take care that should a death occur, it would not be his.