Novice Tournament: Reize vs Avira

Novice Tournament: Reize vs Avira
Date of Scene:	28 March 2013
Location:	Traverse Town - Coliseum
Synopsis:	The tournament has started out in Traverse Town. Reize decided to enter the fight in order to try his luck against the group. However, his opponent was Avira, who decided to try her luck in the events as well! Let's see who comes out on top!
Cast of Characters:	Reize Seatlan, Avira

---

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Traverse Town is generally a peaceful place. Even despite of the attacks of the Heartless and recent events, people are still able to enjoy life. With the restoration of Manhattan, the numbers of refugees have lessened. However, people still come to the town after making friends with the residents.

This special occasion is the hosting of the Novice Tournament. It is a small time, local event for people to gather together and fight against one another. The coliseum is the location of the event, many of the fighters have gathered together.

Of course, it was also known that Reize Seatlan decided to compete in this tournament, mostly out of sheer curiosity. Though, he has also not had a chance to fight against anyone outside of monsters in a while.

In this large arena surrounded by large columns, Reize is emerging from one side with both hands behind his head. He brightens with a smile from ear-to-ear, waving towards the crowd as he makes his way towards the center.

Avira has posed:
What will no doubt be a huge shock to everyone is the appearance of Avira in this tournament. Hadn't she just participated in the Hades Cup? Wasn't she a part of...the winning team?

Keyword there was team. In every case they fought, she was usually the first to fall. Even in light of all that she's done lately, she felt that she still had lots of growing to do-especially in the ways of combat. She'll ignore the piercing stares and grumbles her presence earns from the other competitors. This participation was for nobody but herself.

From the opposide side of the arena, Avira strolls out, her hands at her sides and her back straight. Her position is anything but relaxed-as if there's a lot on her mind right now, which isn't such a good place to be when one is about to engage in battle! Shock overcomes her face when she spies her combatant already halfway out to the center.

"Reize?!" she calls out, "YOU entered? ...seeing you here is pretty much as baffling as /me/ being here." Reize can see she's all geared up for a fight too, with her small buckler shield already strapped to her left forearm. The hilt of the spine can be seen over her left hip.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Why did Reize enter this tournament specifically? All in all, compared to everyone else, Reize is still a novice. At least, he considers himself so. That is what brought him into his tournament. It would be a good opportunity to test his will against other fighters. Hearing that people often gathered, Reize figured that he could try his luck to see how he fares against other fighters. After all, he only fought amongst his friends.

In a way, Reize has something to prove.

It is when he sees his own combatant that he brightens. "Ooooiiiii!!" He waves a hand her way excitedly, "Avira! I didn't expect you to be here!" He rubs the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. "You see, I've always fought with my friends." He exhales a sigh, shaking his head. "...I never fought on my own." Even as he did try to leave to go on his own, it did not end well. "So, I figured I'd compete to see how I fare up against other fighters." He frowns, "I am not exactly as gifted in swordsmanship as Ivo. He had a lot of training!" Then, he furrows his eyebrows, "...I'm not great with magic like Lily and Lenn... or good at archery or accurate like Leida."

He heaves a heavy sigh, "I think most of the Shard Seekers have a lot more training and more experience than I do." He sighs, mumbling, "...I still question why they all follow me, of all people."

Blink.

"Oh!" He looks back at Avira, "Are you my opponent! This will be our first time in a fight against each other!"

Avira has posed:
Casually, Avira rests a hand on her left hip once she's drawn into close enough range with Reize. She finally seems to relax a little since she knew Reize had some experience and thus would put up a fight. Sure, he was a lot younger than her, but at least she wouldn't have to beat up some completely green kid. Faram knows there are a LOT of those running around, out to prove themselves.

"I think a lot of people didn't expect to see me here." she says wryly. One of her eyebrows twitch at the mention of Ivo and his swordsmanship. She never did get her rematch with that scoundrel. He kept running away!

"Well as cheezy as it sounds..." Avira's left hand moves to slip the Spine out of its sheath. "Maybe they gather around you because you have a good heart and pure intentions. There are a number of people in this world who flock to that kind of innocence over the...cleverness of others."

There's that troubled, almost bitter look again. Something was clearly bugging her.

Grinning, she points the tip of the Spine at Reize. "I am indeed, so draw and get ready!"

Reize Seatlan has posed:
 !

Reize looks up at Avira once she explains why his group tend to follow him. It is something of a reminder by the voice of what he should not give up. That light. His light must not waver. A large grin forms, cheeks flushing as he rubs the back of his head. It's pretty much out of embarassedment, "Thanks, Avira! ...I'm glad your group is doing well and that you're doing much better!"

However, it is time that the talks are left behind. They are in a tournament for a reason. There is a twinkle in his eye as he glances at her spine, "So, it looks like it is about time that we cut to the chase."

Both hands slide to his side, then he grips upon his boomerangs. Sliding his foot forward, the boy shifts his stance to the right. His eyes focus towards Avira, shifting his leg around until he finds his stance comfortable enough. Both boomerangs are drawn up, he bounces a bit.

"Ready whenever you are, Avira!" He puts on his game-face, ready for action.

Avira has posed:
Avira's smile falters.

"...actually my group is not doing so well. Between Katyna outing herself as the Shadow Lord Ember and Vespa randomly deciding to resign..." she shakes her head and tightens her grip upon her weapon, "But we can talk about that later. Our audience desires a show, so let's give it to them."

She sees him shift and right away her muscles tense, the air about her changing somehow. She seems still-too still, before she actually moves, dashing at him. Her Spine is held high and if Reize looks closely enough, he'll see that the edges have been 'capped' with some kind of foam or clay to blunt them.

There are no intentions to permanently harm her opponents here today!

The Spine pulls back for what would no doubt be a two handed blow, but Avira takes that extra step inwards which is the only indication that she might not be gearing up for a strike with her weapon. Her true attack turns out to be Avira ramming the crown of her head into Reize's face.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Reize tenses upon that faltering smile. The bad news regarding her group has Reize furrowing his eyebrows. Instead of talking about the events, Reize decides on concentrating on the fight, "...We'll talk afterwards." There is so much for them to discuss, not just as clan leaders, but friends as well.

Glancing towards her weapon, he can notice that there are some cappings of some so fer material to dull them from being lethal. Of course, Reize's boomerangs are naturally blunt, so no modifications were made to them. It is when Avira is leading the charge that Reize yelps.

What was not expected was th incoming blow towards the face. Her crown smashes against his jaw, forcing the weight of his head to twist the other way. His neck twists upon the impact, forcing the rest of his body to follow suit. What stops him from doing so is both hands shooting at her shoulders. Reize grips along her shirt while leaning back, falling along the motion. Rolling himself backwards, he brings her down to a rolling flip. Holding onto he and the boomerangs is a bit difficult, so the boomerang grip loosens, clattering to the ground. In the midst of the roll, Reize flicks his right leg out to vault her off and aside from the ground.

Using this as his chance to attack, the boy swings back up to his feet and grabs his boomerangs. A foot vaults him forward to a dash to close the distace with Avira. As if trying to time it right, he moves forward with his right foot launching towards her chest, his boomerangs following through with a double strike towards her chest, and then he springs off of his feet, launching forward with his right foot aiming for her head, his body twisting along backwards for his left leg to come at her with a mid-air hook kick.

"Sparrondo!"

That final foot launches outward to smack her across her head.

Avira has posed:
Her feint was successful! Avira feels a ping of joy after the impact that rapidly disappears once he grabs her by the shoulders of her breastplate and throws her to the ground with him. Distressingly enough, despite being a grown woman, she's still small enough that even Reize can fling her around if momentum works in her favor. She rolls along, huffing as Reize kicks her off to the side.

Continuing the roll, she puts a slight bit of distance between him and herself before managing to roll back up onto her feet. Once up, she's already moving, dashing backwards to first evade his incoming kick. The boomerangs are each deflected in turn by her own weapon, pushing off after a moment of impact.

Planting her feet firmly, she finally deflects the incoming feet, each in turn, aimed at her head with the buckler shield strapped to her forearm. The impact is enough to send Avira sliding backwards.

"Nice!" she says, still feeling the bones in her arm rattling from deflecting the kicks. Somewhere along the line, her grip upon the Spine had shifted to one handed-curiously, she seems quite capable of wielding it in that fashion and demonstrates this by leading with a lunge once Reize has landed himself on the ground. Regardless of whether or not this creates space, ice shoots up the length of her sword, making her follow up strike even more painful.

The third suddenly rachets up the magic to where it can be seen swirling around the Spine in a minature blizard. Avira swings the blade down at the ground, but what follows is the snarling head of a beast weaving itself out of the magic and rushing forward. "Icewolf BITE!"

Normally she doesn't yell these things...but hey, it was an exhibition match against a friend. Might as well play up the theatrics and have some fun.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
It looks like Reize timed it too late. He wanted to give Avira a chance to get up, but he did not want to give her too much time to recover. Just because he is not going to kick a person while they are down doesn't mean that he wouldn't keep the pressure on them. It is because he gave Avira too much time to recover that he lost the pressure from the momentum.

The first kick is quickly evaded, followed by the clanking noises from the clash between the Spine and the boomerangs. Sparks manage to emit, thanks to the mythril material colliding with the Spine's.

That foot only manages to smack against the buckler shield, which sends the boy off-balance upon his landing. He stumbles backwards, which gives her ample time to just lunge at the boy. "Gah!" The young adventurer brings himself towards the side, but the blade manages to pierce along the side. And then, the coat of ice shoots up from the lunge, tearing against him. It feels pretty bitter and cold.

Lastly, that magic swirls around as the boy attempts to distance himself. Unfortunately, he falls prey to the incoming blizzard tht surrounds him. He yelps, shivering from the miniture blizzard covering him down.

Those large fangs tear against the boy, but he manages to spring forward. "Haaaaaaaa!" Like a bullet, Reize charges forward as his stance shifts to a more aggressive stance. He springs downward with a foot sweep towards Avira's legs, then he spins around for another kick. That kick is used as a 'feeler' for him to spin back and spring off of the ground.

"Sky Raider!"

He dives down at Avira, seeking to send his heel at her chest.

Avira has posed:
Fortunately, the ice magic is going to hurt a lot more than the blunted edges of the Spine. No intentions to eviscerate the youth here! Reize will, however, feel the bitterness-as if Avira's channeling her sour emotions over all the recent events into this strike.

She's quick to shift into a different stance, swapping her Spine to her other hand. Always keep them guessing, never let them able to adapt. Could it be that Avira was ambidexterous when it came to wielding her weapon?

Unfortunately, her new position seemed ill-equipped to handle Reize's sudden burst of speed and her feet are promptly swept out from underneath her. For a few seconds, she is sent airborne. The follow-up kick doesn't hurt as badly as the final Sky Raider, which spikes her back onto the ground.

She lands on her back, sprawled, though managing to keep hold of her weapon. In a rush, all the air escapes her chest and she stares up blearily.

Though she doubted Reize to be the type to kick someone while they were down, she's quick to roll off to the side and keep rolling until she feels herself far away enough to stand safely. "You're pretty handy with your feet, Reize. I don't think I've noticed that before."

The comment is not given much time to reflect upon as Avira suddenly darts in again. Once more, she feints with her weapon, the true attack coming as she rams her shoulder into his midsection and pushes upwards, aiming to throw him over her back.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Reize can definitely feel the bitterness. As the sourness is instilled through the chilling ice from the blade. Once the feeling of the sour emotions pass, the boy winces and he squints his eyes towards her swapping the Spine to her other hand.

...Heh.

"So it looks like you're ambidextrous as well!" This will be really fun!

After Reize regains that momentum and agressiveness, he uses it to knock her back and away, just enough for him to catch a breath before shifting back to his more defensive stance. Both boomerangs drawn, the boy bounces from side to side.

"Thanks, Avira! I---" And she lunges forward with the feint, causing Reize to step back to bring his boomerang downward in anticipation of deflecting the attack. However, it proves to b a feint for the ramming shoulder. To this, he shifts his back leg over, getting the slight brunt of the shoulder impacting against is own, but he manages to slip out of her attempts to fully catch him off-guard.

He shuts his eyes, feeling the atmosphere around him calm.

"...I can do this.."

That is when Reize springs back, tossing his boomerang out towards Avira. That boomerang ricochets from the ground to strike her, then it moves towards one of the columns of the coliseum. It keeps bouncing from surface to surface while aiming to strike her down.

Avira has posed:
"Heh, well, I try." Avira smirks doing...something odd with the grip of her weapon. She seems to be adjusting her fingers and hand just slightly.

This time around, she finds Reize responding to her fake-out a lot faster than before. This time, she can't get her attack to fully land and the boy slips himself out of her path before she can shove her full weight beneath him. Her momentum remains and Avira staggers forwards a few steps before regaining her balance.

Whirling to face him, she discovers him already well on her way to attacking her. The boomerang, as it slams off the ground, bounces right into her chest and knocks her back, hard enough to dent the breastplate she wears. Staggering backwards again, she doesn't notice it bouncing off the column to return at her, receiving a blow to the back for her inattention. That second hit was all really needed for her to learn the lesson and on the third pass-through, Avira swings the Spine ahead of her and bats the boomerang away.

Two can play at that game! She swings her left arm and-huh, seems she switched sword-arms again. But there's nothing there but her shield.

The shield comes flying off her arm like a discus, sailing at Reize's stomach. This is but a distraction, it seems, because Avira leaps into the air behind it, lashing out with a round kick of her own at Reize's head.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
The throw gives Reize a chance to catch his breath. He is already getting worn out in this fight. Avira is definitely a stronger opponent than Reize thought. He got a few good licks in, but considering the outcome, it definitely looks like that Avira may come out on top. Reize has to pick and choose his tactics-wisely. The distraction does work nicely in buying him enough time to consider his strategy.

When she knocks the boomerang back towards his hand, Reize extends his right hand out to catch the weapon--only to see that she swings her arm, hurling away the shield. His eyes widen when the large weapon flies out like a discus towards his stomach. Running ahead, Reize is getting a head start in his charge towards Avira.

Unfortunately, the run was timed very badly. This earns him a blow towards the stomach by the incoming discus-shield. The wind is knocked right out of him, causing him to stumble backwards. "Neggghh!" He gasps, trying to suck in air for his breath. This further leaves him opened for Avira to take advantage and strike him with her own roundhouse kick.

Except, Reize decides to take a gamble.

He lunges straight towards Avira, moving forward into the blow. Both boomerangs are drawn backwards, only to lash out to strike at both of her sides as he passes by her. That kick, however, manages to belt him over the head. His head twists, but the boy continues to charge forward with his strike. "Hunting Hawk!"

He coughs up a bit of blood, then he grimaces. "Nggghh..." He is feeling a bit dizzy, but he knows that he can persevere.

"This is my will!"

There is a burst of an aura around him. Now, the boy is glowing as he achieves Overlimit. That glowing energy of his bravery manifests as he takes several steps foward. And then, he shifts his stance, leaning backwards as both boomerangs position itself with one over the other.

"Haaaaaaaaaaa!"

He dashes towards Avira, blinking out of existence. He re-appears behind Avira, aiming to strike her from the side with a slashing of the boomerang, and then blinking out and back in with a strike from a roundhouse kick. This process repeats itself twice more, and then he blinks out entirely, replaced by a whirlwind surrounding her.

It is then that Reize is striking from everywhere. In this blinding speed, Reize continues to use that to strike at various parts before he springs out of the whirlwind wih a spinning roundhouse kick.

"Storm's Eye!"

Avira has posed:
Sometimes the most effective thing is a good-ol' boot to the head. Today seems to be no exception. Incurring the blows upon her sides by the boomerangs seems to be an appropriate trade-off for that particular strike.

Avira is a little impressed that Reize manages to keep his balance so well afterwards. Especially since he seems to be coughing up some blood. Inwardly, Avira feels a little bad for this and resolves to end this quickly so whatever internal bleeding Reize may have incurred could be dealt with swiftly.

This glow of his, though-somehow it strikes her as familiar, though Avira couldn't say why. Maybe she's seen Reize do it before. It's enough of a warning to make her take a step backwards in anticipation. However, that anticipation did not include predicting a strike from behind when he was clearly in front of her seconds before. She staggers forwards, losing her balance.

It's only Reize's follow-up kick that keeps her upright afterwards. In fact, this seems to be the case with several of the follow-up blows. If there was an upside to the pain she was enduring, it was that she had not fallen on her face. She may not have her shield at this point, but by the time the whirlwind comes, she is able to set herself up so she can deflect blows with the Spine.

Avira does not permit the final roundhouse kick to get her in the head, throwing up her arms to block the blow, keeping her palms gripping the base of the skull while her bicep bares the brunt. A groan escapes her as she steps backwards and gathers her thoughts.

"Ugh.." she squints her eyes shut suddenly, finding it far harder than before to respond to this assault in kind. Right away, that wellspring of power is discovered to not be there, reduced to that tiny, flickering light. Her heart sinks a little, but she grasps for it, eager to use whatever she's got.

Avira does not 'overlimit' like Reize does, but their is a perceivable change in the air around her as she moves, a faint silvery aura clinging to her skin. All around her there seems to be a distortion similar to that caused by heavy heat.

Her charge is fierce and quite straightforward, but her blows seem to be anything but as she attacks in a flurry. Each strike comes at a different angle, made possible by how Avira continously adjusts her grip upon the Spine's hilt. The pelvic-bone shape seems to give it plenty of places to hold, of which Avira makes use.

The strikes come so rapidly that, unless Reize can evade, he is juggled right into the air. Once he is conveyed high enough, Avira leaps up after him, exceeding his height, the Spine held high overhead. What looks like might be a chop turns out to be a downward smash using the "handguard" of her unique weapon.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
There is usually the calm before the storm. However, even the storm can come to a slow end. In that respect, Reize had saw himself in the midst of the course where that storm is subsiding. In the storm, it all fades, allowing Reize to get the feeling of his equilibrium. After the final roundhouse kick, Reize drops to a descent, landing on a knee with a hand outstretched.

Sucking in a breath, the boy slowly rises to his feet to look at Avira. There is a bit of furrowed eyebrows at the light. Although the air has a slight change, Reize is barely able to see it...

... Until his pendant glows.

That is when Reize is able to see the power that is manifesting from Avira. His eyes widen before he brings both boomerangs up to a guarding position. It is when she charges that Reize is now acting on the defensive. That fierce, straight forward charge is met with the boy being quick on his feet; he steps back, springing back in a skip each time as he tries to draw away from the strikes at the angle. When one aims for the head, the boy weaves his head away, when a strike aims for the side, the boy weaves his body away, shifting his body while kicking his leg back.

"Gah!"
"Whoa!"
"Ack!"

/_\

Avira will find that Reize is going to gain a bit of air-time, just not in the way that she'd want it. He springs over her shoulder to spring himself up high, his body twisting as he springs up. He lifts his arms up to reveal the boomerangs, which swing upward in the midst of her downward swing.

That swing produces a clanking clash upon the impact with her Spine.

"Whoaaaaaa....!"

It is then that Reize descends back towards the ground quickly, then he springs forward to gain some closeness with Avira. He lunges forward to start swinging his legs at her quick a multitude of roundhouse kicks. "Ha-ha, yeaaahh!" And then, he pushes forward with his boomerang rising upward to catch her into the air, and then the other one swinging downward to smack her onto the ground.

"Talon Blade!"

Avira has posed:
It's nothing like before. This whole time she had assumed that this was a 'quickening,' a special sort of energy that those who trained hard enough in Ivalice could master. But today she realizes that, with these reults, it must be something else entirely.

Or it...was something else entirely. Every strike she makes fails to hit, regardless of how hard she tries, and with each swing her frustration grows.

Fighting back the urge to growl, she uses the collision to push away from him and land, crouched on the ground a few feet away. Sweat beads off her forehead and she pushes her anger away, "I must not be trying hard enough today." she remarks with disappointment directed at herself. A grunt escapes her and she stands, lifting both her forearms to block the rapid roundhouse kicks, which she has grown used to seeing during these past few moments of battle.

The boomerangs throw a wrench into her plan, catching her underneath her raised arms. She's knocked into the air, but on her descent she suddenly throws a fierce punch downward onto Reize's chest. When she lands, she keeps herself low, sweeping out with a kick along the ground to take out his legs and knock him off balance.

Reize may notice a flash of blue light as he falls. Avira uses her spinning momentum to deliver a backslash behind her at the airborne Reize, using her ice-imbued Spine to do so.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
There are signs of the frustration from Avira that the boy can see. In a way, the boy feels bad, but he knows that he has to continue his fight. No sense in feeling sorry for her now! The battle has to continue!

Even when he throws the wrench in her plan, his final part of the follow-up is cut short when she strikes him in the gut. "Hggngnkk!" He immediately drops down to a knee, gasping for air. It is rather difficult for him to get back onto his feet, but the young adventurer tries his hardest to pull himself up.

His body is straining on him, he is drenched in sweat, and he is still facing that internal bleeding. Ow. He grimaces, trying to get back up. When she sweeps at his leg, the boy attempt to shift his stance to block and maintain strong stance, but the weakening of his body has him on his back.

"Whoaaa!"

And that light blue glow takes him. The ice-imbued Spine strikes true and the boy lands on his back harshly. The body twitches.

Reize attempts to get back onto his feet....

And then he thuds onto the ground once more, unable to move.

Avira has posed:
Avira's one of those people that will get kind of angry if people start feeling sorry for her! To be pitied meant to be regarded as weak and Avira had enough of being /weak/ lately.

When she completes her backswing, she turns to face him completely and holds her weapon behind her, lifted in such a position that she's ready to defend against another incoming blow. So far that had been the outcome of her own strikes-Reize had proven to be very effective at countering or following up each one.

Except the boy doesn't stand back up. She sees him struggling and, after a few moments, she sheathes her weapon and leans over him.

A hand extends downward for him to grab onto.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
And the fans start cheering. Everyone is cheering out towards the fighters. It is then that Avira is announced as the winner.

tGrunt...

Reize is slowly starting to stir to life, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. It is then that his eyes open up. He sees her hand over his way. Brightening his smile, Reize extends his hand at Avira.

"Congratulations!" He coughs a bit, wheezing and trying to shake the cobwebs out. "...You're definitely a strong fighter!"

Avira has posed:
Now would be a great time for a victory pose!

But Avira opts to helping Reize up instead. It's a bit of a relief to see him coming to as he does and happily, she pulls him up to his feet. "Thank you." she says quietly, returning the smile.

That hand lets go so she can loop her arm under one of his arms and hold onto his shoulder. It's mostly so she can prop him up and they both can wave at the cheering crowd.

"Strong? No. I have a lot of growing still to do. Believe it or not..." she confides quietly, "I don't have the experience you do."

Reize Seatlan has posed:
While Avira helps Reize to his feet, the boy manages to settle well once more. When the arm loops around him, the boy is propped to be able to stand and he turns his head over to start waving at the crowd along with Avira.

Then, he blinks at Avira with a blink.

"...Really? I figured that you had more experience than I did." He laughs sheepishly, "...When we met, it was the first time I began adventuring..." But as the crowd continues to cheer, Reize tilts his head towards her, "Let's talk more after this at the cafe." He brightens.

Avira has posed:
After some time spent giving the audience some 'scream time' for the participants, Avira turns and starts heading for one of the entrances to the main arena floor. Or exits, rather, to get them out of the center. Reize is pulled along until he starts walking on his own.

"Well...maybe a few weeks of mark-hunting experience when we met. But as for handling a weapon or fighting..." she shakes her head. "Weeks at most at that time. I spent most of my life in school." Avira explains before nodding to him.

"The cafe sounds good."