2017-07-22: Lady Chloe Alexandre vs. Alisha Diphda
- Log: Lady Chloe Alexandre vs. Alisha Diphda
- Cast: Alisha Diphda, Talise Gianfair
- Where: Lacour Coliseum
- Date: July 22, 2017
- Summary: With the Lacour Tournament of Arms down to the final five, the Princess of Hyland battles the Swordswoman from the Mystery Mare!
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
Alisha Diphda takes a deep breath, as she stands in the tunnel. The princess knight has prepared herself as much as she can and rested as much as she could, after the loss to Garan Dantear. That day, the Imperial Knight proved her match, even though it came close. Her leaf green eyes look out at the sands of the coliseum, and the announcer's voice -- he declares this to be "true badassitude," to her chagrin -- blends into the roar of the crowd.
She doesn't know who Lady Chloe is. She never got a good look at her. That her name is similar to two Dragonmasters ultimately goes unnoticed, as of now. She suspects she may be from Lunar, but she doesn't know for sure.
Her uniform has been repaired -- it's the same white as ever, the same cut as ever, but blue instead of pink. The symbol of the Sparrowfeathers is emblazoned on her back. Lady Maltran is counting on her. Hyland is counting on her. Rose is counting on her.
It's all the motivation she needs.
She steps into the arena -- and the princess smiles at the crowd, then holds a hand up into the air, her spear clutched in it. Cheers erupt from the crowd, especially this late in. Most everyone still in the tournament has fans. A crowd's adoration...
The princess shouldn't love it, but she does. It makes her think. It makes her wonder.
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Lady Chloe did at least one good thing in the course of getting here: She ensured that the title of Champion of Filgaia won't go to the head of Althena's Guard. Even that felt like a bittersweet action because he turned out to be more noble than she expected.
It's still felt like a long, frustrating journey - and so much of it has unfolded in the past three or four days. She's still a little emotionally drained from her earlier battles but it's nothing, she tells herself, compared to what Alisha has gone through.
Up in the announcers' booth, Master Torque is again screaming out the introductions. "AND STRAIGHT FROM THE MYSTERY MARE! THE CHARISMATIC ENIGMA WHO CUTS LIKE A KNIFE! IT'S LADYYYY CHLOEEEEEE ALEXAAAAAAAAAHHHHND!!!"
Behind the mask, Talise blinks. He got the name right.
There's a tunnel this time. The fighter who emerges is obviously female, but far taller than most women at six foot two. She's also pretty obviously at least partly a Lunarian Beastman, judging from the ears, the slightly larger incisors and the hints of cheekstripes hiding behind the green, butterfly-looking mask. Pushing aside a fold of her knee-length green coat with a dramatic crackle, Lady Chloe thumps one gauntlet - they sure are familiar gauntlets - against her immaculately burnished breastplate before drawing her sword - it sure is Rastaban - in both hands and raising it in a salute to the crowd.
The cheer that breaks from the audience buffets the arena almost physically. By now, everyone knows who the Final Six are - the Final Five, actually, with Liro eliminated this morning.
Lady Chloe takes a couple of long steps forward, whirling her two-handed sword and planting the tip against the ground. She clasps her hands atop the pommel, smiling proudly across it at the Princess of Hyland.
Behind the mask, Talise can only reflect on how much she's been looking forward to this. Alisha may be a friend, but she's also a skilled fighter.
"Well met, Princess!" Lady Chloe calls out in a big voice. "Your battle with the man from Althena's Guard was truly one to behold. But now, you and I both find ourselves facing the challenge - victory, or to go no further. And only one of us can be the victor!"
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
There is, undeniably, something familiar about Lady Chloe. She can't put it together, exactly, as she faces her. Something about the gauntlets and the height; the cheekstripes, too. But, it is a skilled disguise, and she can do no more than feel she has seen it before. The princess nods, politely, to the still-masked woman.
"You, too, Lady Chloe. I've heard much of your skill," the princess says with a smile of her own. "And yes, it is. Let's give the crowd something to remember, shall we?"
She knows about impressing crowds. She lifts her spear up, and the bladed end glints in the afternoon sun. She salutes Lady Chloe with it. The crowd grows quiet, and a few grains of sand swirl about her, whisking away -- and then Torque's voice cries out: "GO FIGHT! GET DUNKED ON!"
Alisha frowns, momentarily.
And then she explodes forward in a burst of movement. She rushes at Lady Chloe -- though she doesn't leap -- and comes in close. Her foot skids along the sand, coughing some up. Her spear spins around in her hand, before she clutches it in both, and thrusts it towards her opponent with a singular focus.
GS: Alisha Diphda has attacked Talise Gianfair with Whirling Thrust! GS: Alisha Diphda has completed her action. GS: Talise Gianfair critically Guards a hit from Alisha Diphda's Whirling Thrust for 18 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Not too many women in the tournament are six foot two with pointy ears. Nor are too many of the Drifters who've come to town.
Smiling across the arena floor, Talise - Lady Chloe - slides one heel back, turning her body and swinging Rastaban into a defensive stance, angled off to her side. It's not too far off one of Garan's defensive stances, actually, or one of Leo's. She looks like she could be a member of Althena's Guard - but her footwork is all wrong. "We shall!" she shouts across the distance - and then the bell rings.
'GET DUNKED ON'
Lady Chloe blinks.
Alisha hurtles towards her, spear-first and quick. Sand churns in the air but Chloe isn't fooled by it; she knows it'll settle before it reaches her eyes. As Alisha thrusts at her, the woman in the green mask leans to one side and flicks her sword downward. The flat of the blade thumps against the haft of Alisha's spear to direct it towards the ground, the blade nevertheless glancing off of the plates covering one of Lady Chloe's knee-high boots. A plate is left at a funny angle to expose an opening in her defenses.
"Tell me this, Princess Alisha," Lady Chloe calls out - and the reason for her different footwork becomes clear as she explodes forward with a sudden surge of power.
Lady Chloe attempts to slam her shoulder into Alisha first, to try and knock her back just a little. Then she grips her weapon in both hands. "Should you win the tournament," she shouts, "I wish to know what you will ask for!"
As she swings a hard, rising blow towards Alisha's leading shoulder, she shouts, "Tell me what it is you fight for, Princess!"
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Alisha Diphda with Breaking Wave! GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action. GS: Alisha Diphda guards a hit from Talise Gianfair's Breaking Wave for 67 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
Alisha is surprised, but not shocked, when her spear is slammed away. She had a lot of that in her fight with Garan, and in that, they seem not so dissimilar -- both of them are armored sentinels, though Chloe seems to have a single massive blade instead of the sword-and-shield. She skids to the side of her opponent, ribbon snapping out after her.
Then, she gets slammed into by the shoulder plate -- and is thrown backward. Her feet hit the ground, scrape over it, and she finds her balance in short order, and her eyes lock onto Talise's. Those eyes, too, are familiar.
"What I will ask for?" she repeats. "I will be satisfied knowing that... I fought to represent the teachings of my master and a dear friend, and that my performance here did not disappoint either!"
And the princess rushes in again. This time, however, she does not run right at Lady Chloe. Instead, she jumps into the air -- and then angles to the side, ever so slightly. White light glints off her spear's sword-like blade, flashing, and then she rockets at Talise with speed that suggests she summoned more than strength, as she stabs again for the other woman.
GS: Alisha Diphda has attacked Talise Gianfair with Skewering Spear! GS: Alisha Diphda has completed her action. GS: Talise Gianfair guards a hit from Alisha Diphda's Skewering Spear for 81 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
"You're a noble one, Alisha Diphda," Lady Chloe murmurs, her eyes bright behind her mask. She watches the blonde princess-knight, waiting for her next move.
Alisha doesn't disappoint. The woman lunges in, and Chloe once more drops back to guard the attack, but Alisha's reach shines through here; the woman's spear sneaks past Chloe's defenses before she can truly deflect the spear point away, slicing along Chloe's side just above the hip. There's a screech of steel as the spearhead punches through to cut along the tan skin beneath it. Wincing at the shooting sensation of being cut, Chloe is quick to pivot away, shifting her sword to one hand.
"No... you haven't disappointed so far. To come to the ranks of the final five... you've shown your mettle, Alisha," Lady Chloe calls as she comes back around and bulls into close range. This time she's trying to keep closer to Alisha, trying to get inside the arc of that spear in the hopes of making it harder for the knight-noble to bring it to bear on her.
Wetting her lips, Talise - Chloe - takes Rastaban in two hands once more. She levels a hard blow to try and smack Alisha's spear off to one side, following it up with a heavy backswing aimed to cut across the woman's upper body, then another lightning-quick slash to finish it all off. She's not as heavily-armoured as Garan, but she's a little quicker and her sword has more reach.
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Alisha Diphda with Infinitely Rippling Stream! GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action. GS: Alisha Diphda critically Guards a hit from Talise Gianfair's Infinitely Rippling Stream for 29 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
"Mm. I suppose, but I have a long way to go."
Alisha's response is cut necessarily short, because Lady Chloe is bulling down into her. She swings her spear up, shortening the grip on it the way she had to in the fight with Garan. That makes it easy to shorten the arc of the spear -- and then swings her spear's blade up, as she sidesteps--
CLANG!
--and the two weapons meet in that terrific shower of sparks as steel scrapes along steel. She twists around, then, and her blade spins as she has her side facing Chloe. The second slash is caught with it, too, though that clash of metal is less noisy than the first.
And then she thrusts backward, under her arm, to pierce at Talise's guard in a different angle. Alisha steps around, then, and puts herself at Chloe's flank for a moment.
"And what about you, Lady Chloe?" she asks, turning the question around as she turned her display of force around.
GS: Alisha Diphda has attacked Talise Gianfair with Impulse Drive! GS: Alisha Diphda has completed her action. GS: Talise Gianfair guards a hit from Alisha Diphda's Impulse Drive for 57 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Well, well, Talise reflects as her weapon slams into Alisha's. So the woman can defend herself just as well as Garan. Her eyes lock on the princess's past the clash of blades, before Alisha thrusts back and comes at her at an odd angle.
The move seems to throw Chloe; she whirls out of the way, once more attempting to bat away the spear. Blade and blade crash together but Chloe doesn't get all of it, the spearpoint cutting across her left arm and slicing away a fold of her coat to mark the firmly-muscled arm beneath it.
Then Alisha hits her with something more troubling: A question. Chloe's eyes darken a shade.
"All that I seek is to test myself against the best Filgaia and Lunar have to offer. To me, that is good enough!" she calls out, though she's not sure she believes it. With a long leap, she carries herself backwards.
The symbologists standing at the edge of the arena begin to chant something. As Chloe lands, the arena-scape shifts and ripples. The simple arena terrain blurs and manifests itself once again as the deck of a ship docked at a harbour, sails and masts and deck creaking as the two fighters move across it. It's familiar terrain to Chloe - not so much the specific ship as the setting.
Keeping a few more metres of distance, she shifts her blade to her left hand, the other darting beneath her coat and coming out with an ARM. It's a shotgun-style gunsmoke weapon with 'SPONSORED BY THE EVERSTEAD-REY COMPANY' painted on it.
"The Shepherd you travel with is the Champion of Lunar," says the woman named after no less than two Dragonmasters, firing a blast of buckshot at Alisha from range. "Shall we of Lunar also be the champions of this world? The shadows Lunar has cast already darken the land of Filgaia!"
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Alisha Diphda with Shotgun Blast! GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action. GS: Alisha Diphda critically Guards a hit from Talise Gianfair's Shotgun Blast for 16 hit points! GS: Talise Gianfair takes Cover! She gains 50 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
"I see. That is a noble goal," Alisha answers. "There is much to be said for seeking to improve ourselves as much as we can."
Her eyes widen in sharp, desperate shock when she sees the world change -- and the land under her feet shifts into the deck of a ship, which even seems to have the slight sway of a real ship docked at harbor. "I-Incredible...!" She remembers how well Symbology worked from her match against Arleph.
She is also surprised, however, when this fighter of Lunar brings out a very Filgaian weapon. Alisha gasps -- and it doesn't give Chloe the advantage that it would have some months before, as she has grown much more accustomed to fighting against such weapons. Alisha throws up her plate mail gauntlet, and much of the buckshot hits that with bursts of sparks.
She still gasps, shoved backward by the impact, and feels where her entire stomach will be a bruise come morning. The buckshot may not have pierced her spell-reinforced chainmail under her uniform, but it certainly hurt. She lets out a shaky breath, and then she runs forward, and leaps to the side.
"If we must!" Alisha says. "We cannot well ignore the problems that have come to Filgaia from our world! To do so would be irresponsible, even if we cannot claim responsibility for their arrival!"
The princess knight slams into the mask, and the illusionary wood creaks in a way that is quite real. Alisha comes crashing down, then, and she swings her spear back over her head. Light dances along the edge of its long blade as she lands with a slash that leaves a white afterimage in the air after it.
"Rondo of LIGHT!"
GS: Alisha Diphda has attacked Talise Gianfair with Rondo of Light! GS: Alisha Diphda has completed her action. GS: Talise Gianfair critically Guards a hit from Alisha Diphda's Rondo of Light for 33 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
You'll have to thank Ida for teaching Talise how to gun. She learned her lesson reasonably well, mostly because she seems to have no actual magical potential.
The gun goes off, and Lady Chloe slides it back into her coat, her eyes flashing as she watches Alisha bear down on her. "No. No, we cannot," she rumbles, her eyelids lowering just a little. "We have a responsibility to Filgaia now, Princess Alisha... we must do all that we can!" She has time to say no more before Alisha drives into range once more. That radiant spear shines -
Lady Chloe steps into it.
The haft spear doesn't land solidly; Lady Chloe pushes in close enough that the shaft thumps against her shoulder armour and the blade grazes across her back, cutting a rip into her coat. The impact itself is enough to jar her and the shining light nearly blinds her. Wincing, she pulls back a foot or two, squinting through luminous blobs left in her vision by the radiant attack. She's close enough to Alisha that she could do some damage, she realizes.
Rolling her shoulders, she sets her jaw and angles Rastaban, then leans into Alisha, swinging the two-handed blade in a hard, ascending arc. The blade practically sings in the air, the steel almost vibrating as Lady Chloe aims to drive her blade up Alisha's front, aiming to tear into the armour she no doubt wears under that pink and white tabard. "HooooooooAAHT!"
She does not yell Tidal Blow as she does it but let's be real here, it's a Tidal Blow.
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Alisha Diphda with Tidal Blow! GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action. GS: Alisha Diphda has activated a Force Action! GS: Alisha Diphda guards a hit from Talise Gianfair's Tidal Blow for 75 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
"Yes," Alisha agrees, "we must."
She is surprised -- and enormously impressed -- to see how Chloe blocks the blow. Her blue outfit is ruffled, in contrast to the usual pink, and some of the white stained black from where the shotgun struck. Before she can step back, Chloe gets right up with her -- and Rastaban comes crashing down with her cry, even as a mighty wave of force rips off the blade and into her. The air vibrates as much as the steel of her spear.
And it blows her backward with a panicked yelp. Alisha slams into the railing of the ship, and the wood cracks in a way far too real for her. "You do hit hard, Lady Chloe," she says. "I am... impressed. But--I won't simply back down!"
Light still flitters and flickers around Alisha's spear. Chloe may have warning of what is coming, as that light intensifies. Alisha spins the weapon in the air, a half-trail of white light left there, before she sprints forward. She leaps -- and comes down in a two-handed slash. To say it is the same as the technique she just used would be wrong, because Alisha comes up in a shorter jump -- and her slash is shorter in its arc, and turns into more of a stab at the end.
But the way the light explodes off her blade, at Chloe's defenses, is familiar. And while it may be different, she isn't fighting a neophyte -- Chloe might see the difference in time to ajdust for it. "Hyah!"
GS: Alisha Diphda has attacked Talise Gianfair with Rondo of Light! GS: Alisha Diphda has completed her action. GS: Talise Gianfair critically Guards a hit from Alisha Diphda's Rondo of Light for 33 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
There are a few places on Chloe's lovely green jacket where blood has begun to leech through from the cuts Alisha's inflicted on her.
The heavy blow buys Chloe some space - but she doesn't want a spear-wielder to have space. Aggressively, Chloe goes barreling after Alisha, beginning to breathe a little harder as a sense of urgency takes hold of her. "I wouldn't ever expect you to back down, Alisha. I've seen how skilled you are and I want to see every bit of it, because a Champion of Filgaia must not hold back, even against a friend!"
That glittering light streams from the Princess's spear and Chloe - Talise - assumes she's got a pretty good sense of what's coming. Then she checks that assumption; Alisha isn't stupid, she realizes, nor is she going to allow her to defend it the same way. And indeed, Alisha comes hurtling in with a shorter jump -
And Lady Chloe hits the brakes a few feet from Alisha.
The Princess of Hyland descends, and that hurtling leap ends up driving the spear mostly into the deck, though Alisha's follow-up thrust finds its mark just before Chloe can leap to the side. It slices through the sturdy black trousers she wore there, marking her thigh with another cut. "I see your fight with Dantear gave you some ideas," she murmurs, setting her jaw and charging forward again.
Lady Chloe seems to have a pattern with Alisha: She always seems to want to get inside the arc of the princess's spear and engage her as closely as possible. She does just that, actually taking her left hand off her sword and attempting to physically shove Alisha's weapon out of the way as she bullies her way in close enough to see the whites of Alisha's eyes. Only then does she strike, flicking Rastaban out in a couple of quick, startling slashes, before she wheels and attempts to slam the flat of the weapon across the back of Alisha's wrist, almost as if she's trying to spank the spear out of her hand, somehow.
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Alisha Diphda with Infinitely Rippling Stream! GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action. GS: Alisha Diphda guards a hit from Talise Gianfair's Infinitely Rippling Stream for 84 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
"To hold back would be an insult!" the princess knight cries out.
Alisha's wrist is, mercifully, well-armored. It is lucky, because Rastaban's strike hits it -- and keeps her from losing her grip on her spear. She gasps, her hand clutching the spear even tighter in the face of that blow. She dances aside from one slash, but the other cuts in -- biting through chainmail, and part of her tunic blooms red. She shakes her head sharply as she meets Talise's eyes. She wonders, for a moment. She called her a friend. Does she know this woman?
She rushes forward, lowering her shoulder. The shoulder blow is far from decisive -- enough to potentially push Talise back, but more importantly, to push Alisha back. She moves out of Chloe's reach and her feet slide along the sailing deck.
And then she lifts her spear and lunges forward. Her chosen element ignites along her, all aglow on the blade, and then she stabs the weapon in a quick, hard downward stab aimed at smashing through those defenses and at the weakened plate she caught sight of at the start of the fight.
GS: Alisha Diphda has attacked Talise Gianfair with Skewering Spear! GS: Alisha Diphda has completed her action. GS: CRITICAL! Talise Gianfair guards a hit from Alisha Diphda's Skewering Spear for 101 hit points! GS: Talise Gianfair enters CONDITION GREEN!!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
The eyes behind the mask may be familiar. So might be other things. Lady Chloe does seem to have dyed her hair - it's a distinctive shade of bottle blonde.
As Alisha pivots away from those hard slashes, Talise watches her blonde friend juke away and prepare for another attack. A wolfish grin plays across her face, not unkind, but full of excitement. "Of course it would be!" she shouts. "Then let's give it everything we have, Alisha! Show me your best!"
Elemental light blazes to life as the gallant princess comes hurtling at her. Planting her feet, Lady Chloe stands her ground. She bunches her shoulders and attempts to intercept Alisha's spear, aiming to try and catch the blade and deflect it away - but Alisha's momentum is simply too great, and the shining spear cuts through, slashing downward across Chloe's leg and biting into her calf. She clenches her teeth and chokes back a pained cry as the blade nearly hamstrings her, leaving blood running down her leg, but she's able to pull away.
When she does, she's noticeably unsteady, coming around with a lurch. She starts forward again, leading with a push of her uninjured leg in the hopes of keeping her weight off the bad one as much as possible.
"Alishaaaaa!" Chloe shouts as she bursts at her again, leaving spatters of blood on the heaving deck of the ship. She clenches her teeth, channels power through her gauntlets to amplify her strength - and yet the strikes that come are not monstrous and heavy, but incredibly quick and ungodly refined. It's like a symphony, the way Lady Chloe sweeps Rastaban through the air in a series of elegant slashes, high, low, arcing, descending - a storm of slashes borne of pure skill and finesse, backed by incredible strength yet not driven to excess, aimed to cut away Alisha's defenses and finish with a hard blow across the midsection!
GS: Talise Gianfair has activated a Force Action! GS: You have activated the Force Action Full Clip! GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Alisha Diphda with Savior's Storm! GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action. GS: Alisha Diphda used Mystic on Alisha Diphda! 100 Temporary HP gained! All statuses cleared! GS: Alisha Diphda has activated a Force Action! GS: Alisha Diphda has activated a Force Action! GS: Alisha Diphda critically Guards a hit from Talise Gianfair's Savior's Storm for 36 hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
Bottle blonde...
"I shall!" the princess cries out. There isn't time for pride at seeing the way her spear struck true on Chloe's leg and drew blood -- nor is there time for celebration. Despite that lurch, Chloe charges with gauntlets alight with power. It forms a blur as Rastaban strikes down, in a storm of crashing steel, and it meets Alisha's spear-blade as she swings it and narrowly blocks each in turn.
Sparks whip and fly, and one blow slams her spear to the side. Words cut through the wave of panic that threatens her: "Alisha. Never let your opponent overwhelm you with speed. Your spear can't match that. Stand firm."
And so she does, grabbing the spear with both hands, and then catches Rastaban's mighty blade on the haft -- and it slashes in over it, a groove cut in the well-treated oak. It slashes along her cheek, a line of blood drawn, and a princess forced back -- but not down. A few strands of blonde hair, where the sword cut, drift away.
Alisha smiles, for a moment, and then speaks in a quiet whisper: "Oh, hello, Talise. I shall keep your secret safe."
And then she throws her spear upward, into the air. It is a feint -- it knocks the great sword away and goes soaring. Alisha runs, then, before she leaps onto the ship's railing, and jumps to catch the spear in the air -- and then comes down with it in a dive for Talise from above. White light ignites around her -- and as she stabs down, a dozen spectral spears of light stab with her.
"LIIIIIIIIIIGHT BLAST!"
And it is punctuated by a tremendous burst of energy that fires at her foe, just as Alisha's feet set down.
GS: Alisha Diphda has attacked Talise Gianfair with Light Blast! GS: Alisha Diphda has completed her action. GS: Talise Gianfair guards a hit from Alisha Diphda's Light Blast for 97 hit points! GS: Alisha Diphda takes Cover! She gains 50 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
It helps Alisha's cause that Talise is trying to fight on one leg at this point on the fight. She swings - and Alisha does something clever. The woman in the mask blinks as she's recognized, and her weapon is deflected away before she can do much more damage. She doesn't have all that much time to say anything.
Alisha comes at her with something a little more serious than she's prepared to defend against while on one leg. As the princess comes hurtling at her, Talise sets her jaw and plants her bad knee against the deck, holding her weapon at an angle and preparing for the woman to descend on her - and she does, pounding her with celestial spears that she can't quite knock away. One of them punches through her armour and digs through her side, coming out the other end in a bloody spray. She swears under her breath and rolls gracelessly backwards, managing to come back to her knee with visible effort.
"You-- you seem to have me mistaken for someone else!" she calls out, though the way she blushes suggests Alisha's right on the money. She'd really prefer that the Guard not give her shit in her personal life. She's already got a bounty on her head and she doesn't want it to increase.
Remaining down on her knee, Talise draws in a slow breath, then lets it out, collecting herself. Behind the mask, she closes her eyes and concentrates on the rhythm of her heart.
Thump. Thump.
With a roll of her shoulders, Chloe comes to her feet. She tosses her hair back and plants one heel, bringing Rastaban back into a ready stance.
Then she lowers the sword, draws her shotgun again and fires off a round at Alisha, once more aiming to gain some distance on the spear princess.
GS: Talise Gianfair has attacked Alisha Diphda with Shotgun Blast! GS: Talise Gianfair has completed her action. GS: Alisha Diphda guards a hit from Talise Gianfair's Shotgun Blast for 47 hit points! GS: Talise Gianfair takes Cover! She gains 50 temporary hit points!
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
Alisha frowns at that. "Mistaken you..." She sighs, then. Perhaps she did -- or perhaps Talise wishes to maintain the charade. If so, she won't call her too much for that. She watches -- and she is ready when the shotgun comes out. The round fires -- and she swings up her armored gauntlet again. The slug bounces off it, but it scrapes her bicep, and splashes blood back onto the deck.
Her brow furrows for a moment, before she nods. Then, she sprints forward, and rushes in closer to Talise. She swings her spear backward. Motes of light dance in the air, and at her command, they gather. The blade of her spear lights up -- and she swings it hard, leaving another after image, as she tries to knock Rastaban aside -- and then cut into Talise's defenses once more.
"You've adapted well to Filgaia's arms!" she calls out, mid-swing. "I commend you for that!"
GS: Alisha Diphda has attacked Talise Gianfair with Rondo of Light! GS: Alisha Diphda has completed her action. GS: Talise Gianfair takes a solid hit from Alisha Diphda's Rondo of Light for 198 hit points! GS: Talise Gianfair has Fallen! She is no longer able to fight!
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Talise swings the shotgun back into her coat and comes out with her sword again, taking the weapon in both hands and planting her heel on the deck -
Her left leg buckles under her. She draws in a short breath, glancing down and stumbling back a few feet as she tries to bear weight with the injured leg - to no avail. Soon enough she ends up planting her knee back against the deck, grimacing and holding her weapon as defensively as she can while trying to fight from a kneeling position.
Alisha comes at her and she squints through the woman's defenses, biting down to her bottom lip and realizing she could probably stab the woman from down here --
She closes her eyes and shakes her head. That would mean getting angry. Instead, she begins to lower her weapon - and attempts to roll herself to the right.
She succeeds mostly in getting Alisha's spear arcing up and slashing across her upper body, leaving an angry cut that tears away part of her chestplate. Chloe topples backwards and lands with a heavy crash.
Nothing happens for a couple of seconds, though she's moving. She pushes herself to a standing position.
She's smiling broadly and holding a hand out to Alisha. "I yield!"
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
Alisha sees Talise get slammed down like that. Her spear swings down, point aimed down towards her -- even as she falls to her knees -- and for a moment, she seems ready to press the attack. At the words 'I yield,' though, she relaxes. The spear flips up, immediately, and she slams the haft of it against the deck with a little celebration.
She refrains from a full touchdown dance, though.
"Thank you," she says, with a nod of her head. "That was well fought. And your use of Filgaian arms was truly impressive. I do hope you'll consider a few exhibition matches, before the end of the tournament."
<Pose Tracker> Talise Gianfair has posed.
Mask or no mask, Lady Chloe doesnt seem all that upset with the outcome, though there's a hint of wounded pride somewhere behind her eyes - tempered by a simple peace. She came in fifth overall and beat White Knight Leo twice.
More than that, she won't have to encounter Lunata again - and she won't have to see the girl forced to torture herself to win a tournament, or raise a hand against her. That would be more than she could bear.
With some effort, Lady Chloe pushes herself to her feet, though she's unsteady, balancing more atop her good leg than anything else. Her smile is broad and genuine. "I just may do that, Princess," she says in a tired voice. It's not just her leg that's hurt; the fight took a lot out of her. She wipes her forehead with one arm, then limps forward, offering her hand - and should Alisha take it, she'll raise the princess's hand to the crowd and gesture to her with the other, leading the audience in the cheers Alisha so richly deserves.
Only once the noice drowns her voice out does she murmur something discreetly. "Be careful if you come up against Lunata. I don't know what that lich familiar is doing to her, but I don't think it's anything good."
<Pose Tracker> Alisha Diphda has posed.
Alisha's eyes widen, but she raises her hand -- and the cheers do boom out, even as the Symbology circles stop their glow. The ship fades away, leaving the princess standing on more mundane sands. She looks sideways at Talise and their joined hands. She nods, then, to her. "I shall," she answers quietly. "A lich familiar...? How troubling..."
She didn't know Lunata was even in the tournament. Her brow furrows, but those concerns are fleeting. Instead, she looks back at the crowds and realizes, belatedly, that they're cheering her name.
Yes, she thinks. She smiles at the thought. She could get used to this.