SHIERA VS SOULCRY (Pandora's Swamp)

Despite the fact that Shiera had joined the tournament intentionally, she was still quite surprised she had actually gotten in at all, and, quite frankly, mildly terrified. The manticore had primarily joined mostly to impress her master, but perhaps for other, darker ulterior motives, though what these motives might be was a mystery, even to her. Perhaps some hidden, deeper desire, built from the fires of rage that, up until that point, had been merely embers, waiting for the right wind the brush along and ignite them once more. She had joined in a rush of adrenaline, only comforting herself in the fact they would never allow a manticore to join the tournament. After all, she was only a lesser species, and from what she knew, there were no other lesser species competing. Only dragons.

Nonetheless, Shiera wouldn't let her ancestors down. She had the blood of a once proud manticore clan running through her veins. She had trained with her brother to know the feats one could accomplish. But how had those feats landed him last time they had had a run in with a dragon. The mere thought made Shiera wince. No... she thought quickly. She needed to keep those thoughts out of her head. If she allowed herself to be demotivated, she wasn't sure how well she would last in this tournament. She quickly squared her shoulders, taking a deep breath, and continuing on her path. She would win.

The swamp in which their battle had been chosen was quite ominous. But definitely not unfamiliar. It was, after all, within NightWing boundaries. She had run into plenty of these swamps before, having lived here and allowed to roam free for about three years. But this was certainly one that had an unusual feel to it. It was almost as if the entire surface, from the trees to the ground to the water, were all alive. Yes, she knew trees were alive, but it just felt like the very ground she stood on was breathing. Quite creepy and foreboding....

The actually scenery of the terrain was mildly difficult to see, considering the fog, at least seeing distances of over about 15 meters in front of her. She blinked, attempting, but having no avail in seeing past that point. Besides that, many of the trees were coiled, tangled up, like the trees you'd find in the marshland, and rather close to the ground, with low hanging leaves, and lots of potential climbing space. The ground was rather spongy, and there were only about four patches of land that she could see, all roughly 10 meters in radius. The land would get softer and squishier the closer you got to the water.

As for the water itself, it certainly wasn't as high as some swamps. Rather, when Shiera examined it, the water only appeared to reach about three feet deep at most. It was also quite murky, giving a blackish brown appearance. There was a bit of vegetation on the small plots of land, mostly lichen and small bushes and the like. However, there were several water plants and trees that grew from the murky depths. It was a relatively dense forest, but nothing Shiera certainly couldn't handle.

The scene was set. Now all the young manticore needed to do was wait for her opponent. Apparently their name was Soulcry. She knew pretty much nothing about him, other than that he apparently was a rogue. Ah, what it must feel like to have that freedom. In a sick taste or irony she almost felt jealous.

Almost.

But then she remembered who it was that killed her mother and brother. Dragons. That spark was still glowing deep inside her. She may have given up her manticore pride long ago, after she was imprisoned, in favor of the domestic life of a servant, but she'd never forget her heritage. As long as she lived, that wild, adventurous demeanor would still reside inside her somewhere, just waiting for the perfect time to pounce. The manticore lay in wait, positioned on a spot of more stable spongy land, with her back to a tree, her face directed towards the swamp's abyss, waiting for the one she'd rip the shreads.

Ooc: will post on teusday or Wednesday. I have been very tired with work, but don't worry, I have it all figured out in my head. I just don't want a poor post just cuz I'm exhausted I hope you understand. But I'm not forgetting about you I promise! You have my word.

(OOC: Alright, I understand. But do be aware they will start enforcing the 72 hour limit roughly after you post. Hope your work doesn't stress you out too much.)

Ooc:/ it does but you don't.

It seemed Shiera and Soul had something in common, for neither did Soul know why he was admitted into the Tournament.

Soul was a proud rogue overall, though upon first being banished, he tried to give an impression of his humility to the Gods for some kind of redemption through prayer.  It's as though no matter what he tried to do or say, nothing could redeem himself for what he had done.  See, in a fair competition in the Skywing city, Soul had brutally murdered by mistake another Skywing.  The competition was meant to be a fair fight, and he has had flashbacks ever since.  Though he almost lost, he ripped the throat out of the other dragon with his sharklike teeth, thrashing and biting at any cost to win.  That's the spirit of him.  He didn't know any other mindset other than to win.  He was deeply wounded, both physically and emotionally when he was banished, and initially sworn to never again fight unless for self defense, but here he was.

And it's very true, as a free rogue he did have fun.  But he was mostly disciplined and in his many days of solitude he kept a strict diet of fish, and had plenty of excessive building stamina.  Soul was in great shape, but his biggest downfall, was perhaps his inability to function should he find himself in a flashback, which is how he coped with his first battle to, perhaps in a way, prove his humility and discipline to the Gods.  Winning wasn't everything for him anymore, he just wanted a second chance.  But that wouldn't stop him from trying his hardest to put his discipline to practice.

Soul lurched deep in thought in a treetop as his flashback of his vivid memory slowly faded to his ultraviolet, electrostatic echolocation.  Where he intently scanned, the surrounding arena, penetrating the fog and trees...

Shiera was not alone for noticing the liveliness of the arena however, either.  He could sense intuitively through the fog there was a mysterious, ominous essence that wanted to make itself known.  

He couldn't see the ground, he was too high up, his echolocation only reached as far as 150 feet.  But with his menacing foreye and penetrating intuition and intelligence, he had faded from his flashback with an utmost confidence he had never felt before, embracing wholly the air as he breathed and fell into the abyss of the sky tops.

He screeched like a raptor, making a louder but similar high pitched echo like his pulsing echolocation, as he began a search and destroy, whole hearted attack mission as he dove from above.  He let out a screech like a raptor and embraced the ground as it slowly began to fade into his vision, but much to his surprise it was mostly water.

As it approached he swooped forward and curved ninety degrees, with one of his wings gently grazing the water.

He could see bogs, the depth of the water, and small islands scattered here and there.  And he wove between the trees, with little luck finding his opponent.  So he landed on a small island, as his echolocation faded and halted its sound.  He began to make daring remarks into the open, where he felt safe roosting on the island, just barely big enough for his feet to stand upon with his body arched upwards, and his posture straight. His echolocation faded from use, and thus so did the high pitched sound it made.

"Manticore, show yourself..." He said, as he paused.  And he blinked awaiting in silence as his echolocation began to recharge.  Although proud and a bit smug, he looked down at his body, and realized in the dark he could perhaps be seen radiating a glow, but he thought it probably balanced out his keen vision, even without his echolocation, he could probably see better than most dragons under these circumstances.  Again he shouted; "I will find you, or you will reveal yourself," though he thought uncomfortably, if this were a dragon, he might not be demonstrating a whole lot of confidence like he was in this fight.  After the hesitation of thought he said, "So choose."