Meanwhile...

Just outside the temple ruins a brief disturbance filled the still air as Whisper flashed into existence. It took her a moment to orient herself, but she quickly noted the lack of her opponent. While normally it would be a simple task to locate him, a challenge was a challenge, and she would abide by her own conditions of combat. No weapons. No Magic.

Unable to discern the location of her opponent, given the vast size of the arena, Whisper instead opted to seek out a suitable playing field. Aeryn would find her no doubt, she simply needed to make herself available. With this goal in mind, it was the sound of the waterfall that drew her like a moth to a flame. The raw power of the river, coupled with the deadly height of the waterfall appealed to Whisper's aesthetic tastes within her current state of mind. Dangerous and beautiful, the perfect stage for a deadly dance.

Making her way towards the waters edge, Whisper stood overlooking the rapids where the two shallow rivers converged into the waterfall. There was still no sign of Aeryn, for while she was seeking out the river, he was climbing his way up the temple walls. Picking her way across the rocks, Whisper moved with all the grace and finesse of a dancer, springing from stone to stone with unfaltering balance despite the slick surface and the cool rush of water that licked at her canvas boots. Reaching the edge of the falls she took a moment to survey the view from atop an outcropping of rock.

From that height it wouldn't be discernible that the flower lay just below (not that jumping from such a height would be particularly healthy even had she known) but the view was a remarkable sight to behold regardless, and well worth the trip here all by itself, tournament or no. Though, as she stood there, a part of her urged her to just step forward. to take the fall and let the river overtake her. It wasn't a suicidal thought, so much as a mildly unhealthy interest in the raw beautify of nature, and of the power that lay beneath those currents. A beauty and strength to match her own perhaps. The vain thought brought a brief twitch of a smile to her lips as she waited for Aeryn to locate her.

As the sound of Aeryn's movements caught Whisper's ear, she at first didn't turn. Rather, tilting her head inquisitively to one side she shifted her gaze skyward as a flicker of a smile graced her lips once more.

“This place, it's beautiful isn't it?” she mused thoughtfully as she turned slowly to face Aeryn.

Slipping the strange wand like device free of her sash along with her pouch of crystals, she held each object loosely looped around a finger to either side of her in an almost careless gesture.

“Well, what shall it be then? Given thought to my... proposal?” she inquired innocently as the items dangled precariously within her grasp. A simple shift of her hands would have both objects plummeting over the waterfall and into the river below. However, even within her whimsical state of mind, she hardly trusted Aeryn and her glance towards to his sword would make note of that distrust.

"Or perhaps you would prefer something a little more... phallic," she purred. Men did like their swords after all.

Whatever Aeryn's choice, the nature of this battle, was now in the sylvis' hands.

Aeryn's proposal was met with a moment of contemplation before Whisper at last nodded, her smile widening. Lowering her left hand, the pouch of crystals slipped free to splash into the water at her feet before being swept away with the current and over the waterfall.

Slipping into a guarded crouch with her left leg slightly extended forward and her right side slightly turned away, Whisper kept her left hand in a readied position while her right hand moved into a shielded position opposite her body from Aeryn.

As she took up her battle stance and her right hand tightened around the wand like device in her grasp, the enchantments over the spear deactivated and the object grew into a five foot double-ended spear, angled behind her back.

However, she couldn't rely fully on the advantage of her weapons reach, not with such treacherous footing and limited maneuverability to worry about. With that in mind, her grasp remained on the mid point of the spear haft for the moment, to allow for shorter and more precise swings if need be. However, positioned behind her in such a manner, she could easily flow the spear into a powerful arcing swing, a short jab, or simply a parry. It would offer Aeryn little insight into how she might move next.

“Mmmm. You hate me so very much. To see and feel the look in your eyes, and your heart, while you run me through... the thought is... intoxicating...” she murmured. Let it never be said that anyone ever claimed Whisper to be mentally stable, especially within her current state of mind.

This point would be driven home by the fact that her words were far from mocking in nature. No, she always did have a quirky obsession with something a close friend had once dubbed 'a dance of death'. Whisper had always said that it would take a dancer to defeat her, someone able to lure her into the passion and the emotion of her own demise, to see it to its completion, no matter the cost.

Unfortunately, Aeryn was not that individual. As tempting as the thought, Aeryn was as much an ox as she was a dancer. He was not the one to dance her final dance. As clarity took hold of her once again, that smug smirk of hers returned and she locked her eyes on his.

“Ready when you are,” she stated simply.

Aeryn's words served to raise Whisper's brow inquisitively as they seemed to lack basis to her. She and Aeryn had a history, there was no denying that, but this tournament was the first time she had approached him within this personae, and she was quite certain that never before had they had such a conversation of the nature he accused her of repeating. Not even in their earlier encounters back at the lobby.

Aeryn however... Bitch. Whore. Slut. Traitor. How she had missed the old names he had dubbed her. But amused or not, she was quite certain she hadn't had a conversation with the fiery silvis that didn't revolve around him spewing profanities in her direction.

“Peculiar words, from one with such a limited vocabulary...” she retorted as Aeryn moved in to attack.

Something was off about the attack though, something she keenly picked up on. The weightlessness of the sword meant that show or not, the genuine physical exertion wasn't there. The strain of muscles, the whitening of his knuckles from the weight of the sword should have been evident. His movements were fluid and smooth, with little apparent resistance against gravity. Of course it would take more than a hunch to pinpoint the exact nature of the enchantment, but she could definitely tell that something wasn't quite what it seemed.

For now though, she would take the bait, if only to discover for herself the nature of what she was dealing with. Stepping forward with her right leg and bringing her spear around to bear, she grasped the haft with both hands and spun back towards Aeryn to add more oomph to the blow. By bringing the weapon up and around in a vicious right-to-left horizontal arc for the side of Aeryn's shield arm it would hopefully serve to knock him off balance even if he blocked or parried it, seeing as she was stationary and well braced for the impact, whereas he was moving and more prone to slipping. With her marginally longer reach she intended to interrupt him from reaching her with his sword while putting him on the defensive.

The swing left her spear extended forward with her right arm, but still strongly within her grasp and braced levelly against her arm and the left side of her body to keep from overswinging. The new stance would allow for a quick reversal to utilize the other end of her weapon if necessary, or simply to pull back and follow the blow up with a downward sweep, either for Aeryn's legs, or to parry the sword should the silvis make it past and into range to follow up with his lunge.

“For one who speaks his mind so openly, one would think you could find material that isn't two years old...” she added with a mischievous twitch of her lips.

As metal struck metal with a resounding clang, it would be evident that Aeryn's weapons weren't the only ones with enchantments. The brief point of contact resulted in a thin film of ice rapidly spreading across the shield, heavily weighting the object down. However, the reflective nature of Aeryn's enchantment meant that the contact was maintained for only a fraction of a moment. It would take more contact to thoroughly encase the object in ice enough to make it unusable, but even still, the unexpected additional weight would likely throw Aeryn's timing off with utilizing it.

Meanwhile, the benefits of maintaining a controlled stance and swing would be evident as Whisper was already braced for the recoil of her strike. Although the recoil was stronger than she expected, rather than throw her off balance, it simply pushed the spear back up in the very same direction she was planning to move it in regardless. This served to speed up her next maneuver, granting her the time necessary to deflect the incoming sword, despite Aeryn's own speed.

Shifting her spear back up and down across her body she brought it around in a swift and controlled sweep motion, from left to right. However, rather than aiming for Aeryn's feet, it was set to hook his sword and push it down and to her right. Extended across his body in such a manner, it would likely make it awkward to follow through with the shield swing without having to reach over his own arm and leave himself in a very vulnerable position.

Provided the parry was successful, it would conclude with her spear held firmly in her grasp - the mid point grasped in her right hand atop her right shoulder, while her left hand gripped it near the spear head, extended towards Aeryn. A simple downward strike brought the spear up and over to descend down towards Aeryn's right shoulder, hopefully at an awkward angle to parry while his sword was too far off to the side to properly utilize. As before, the maneuver would leave her in a controlled and balanced stance, the spear firmly grasped in both hands, her right arm extended, and her left hand resting near her hip.

[However, should Aeryn have gone through with the shield punch regardless of the parry, rather than bringing her spear down fully, she would stop the maneuver halfway and raise her arms up to intercept his shield edge against the haft of her spear with an upwards push. Provided she had an opening due to his sword being deflected to the right and his shield being pushed overhead, she would bring a booted foot up and aim a kick for his gut to knock him backwards and off balance . Otherwise, she would simply make the block and stand her ground.]

No further words came from Whisper, but there was a fire and a passion in her eyes that spoke volumes. It was battles like this that caught her heart up and made it race with exhilaration. A battle wasn't a battle without emotion driving it, and people like Aeryn provided no end of emotional fuel.

Furthermore, Whisper's dancer nature was rapidly becoming apparent. Every motion and movement flowed gracefully, adjusting to Aeryn as fluidly as the water beneath their feet. Each new stance left her poised and balanced, with all the grace and athleticism that she was well renowned for. Furthermore, each new pose offered her graceful transitions into new attacks with minimal effort on her part. Beautiful and yet disciplined so as to not leave any movement without purpose.

Despite the speed benefits of Aeryn's sword, the chopping motion was simply not as precise as Whisper's more subtle movements, and it was a simple matter to withdraw her left arm while lowering her hand, taking the spear with it. The new position left the spear angled downwards, where she could thrust it out towards his foot, again working to keep Aeryn from getting close enough to use his shield to simply out bludgeon her.

Upon the watery and slick surface, even if it didn't force Aeryn backwards, it would rapidly ice over the already slick rock beneath Aeryn's feet upon contact, leaving his footing less than ideal as he danced across the rocks to try and get around behind her.

As the pair weaved and danced, Aeryn's words simply brought a twitch of amusement to Whisper's lips. “I'm simply savoring the moment,” she purred.

Keeping in motion, Whisper spun and ducked low, letting the shield sail past over her head while she herself kept her spear moving along the ground towards Aeryn's feet or legs, whatever she could catch up with the blade to force him to keep moving back away from her on the icy surface. Though, care would need to be taken that she didn't overdue it and compromise her own footing. Especially with the unfortunate situation that her back was now to the waterfall, giving her no backwards maneuverability.

Aeryn's words had Whisper's pulse quickening, not from fear, but rather from anticipation. The lure of defeat was always there in the back of her mind, ever present. It was capable of taking hold of her and drawing her in like a moth to flame if she weren't careful. It was the lure of a dance she hadn't danced before, a dance that demanded form, and expression. A dance that would spell her end...

But no, Aeryn was not the one to dance her last dance. “Perhaps, but not today,” she replied with a chillingly serious note to it.

As Aeryn lunged towards her, she abruptly sacrificed the reach of her spear by jerking the weapon back towards her. However, crouching as she was, proved to be both a blessing and a detriment all in one. Low to the ground, her center of gravity was solid and her footing sure, sure enough to brace against the likely hood of Aeryn sending them both tumbling over the waterfall. Unfortunately, it also meant that the back end of her spear would get hung up on the ground behind her if she tried to raise the forward point too high.

With this in mind, she aimed for something lower, but suitably crippling, the groin area of his inner thigh. Even a nick of an artery would spell disaster for Aeryn, and his forward momentum paired with a forceful thrust of Whisper's spear would in theory, leave him brutally impaled.

As the spear sliced Aeryn's skin, the enchantment would take effect once more. The blade had only grazed his flesh, but it was enough to bypass his shield and rapidly spread ice through the wound via the graze. The likely outcome would be extensive and painful internal numbing of his thigh and groin area as well as spreading ice across the surface, hindering mobility and painfully freezing the flesh. The surface damage would be very much akin to a rapid onset of frost bite, albeit with more bite.

Furthermore, Whisper's position low to the ground proved to be an asset once more. It allowed her to simply roll onto her back, her left foot coming up to catch and hoist Aeryn over top of her and off the waterfall. The spear caught between his legs would add further force behind the throw, and in all likelihood, send him well clear of the rocks. Unfortunately, as close as she was to the edge, Whisper herself would be sent tumbling backwards as well.

However, unlike Aeryn, Whisper would be close enough to make a desperate grab as she slid over the side. Dangling precariously by one hand, she cast a look down below, but the sudden onset of vertigo hit her hard and she nearly lost her grip. Snapping her eyes closed tightly her stomach lurched and her breath caught in her throat as she tried to pull herself together.

For the first time since the fight, her exhilaration turned to a moment of panic. It was an instinctive panic, seeing as she could well survive the fall if hard pressed. But the reflexive fear that comes with an unexpected fall is a powerful thing and coupled with the roar of water all around her she was thoroughly disoriented. Atop the rock, the river had parted to either side, but below it, she was quickly soaked by the cold spray of water cascading down either side of her precarious position.

To add to the situation, she had lost hold of her spear in the fall which left her suitably unarmed should Aeryn survive.

Dangling from her rocky outcrop, Whisper's knuckles had turned white from the strain of holding on. Everything inside her told her to just let it go, succumb to the fall and let the river take her. But instinct warred against her and she held tight, unwilling to relinquish her precarious grip on the slick rock. It wasn't until she sensed movement behind her that she was able to shake the fear that gripped and immobilized her. She couldn't see Aeryn, which was in itself a deadly situation, and so she took a deep breath and simply... let go.

Overhead, Aeryn's energy disc struck nothing but rock and his awkward landing would likely slow him up from immediately pursuing her, but Whisper never saw it as the water swallowed her from view and washed her away. It was exactly as she had imagined it earlier atop the waterfall. The sense of freedom, of falling, and the roar of water all around her. It was bliss.

However, she was still lucid enough to shake herself out of her nearly delirious state to rapidly envelope herself in a telekinetic bubble at the last minute to try and slow her velocity before she struck the water. It served to both lessen and disperse the impact of what would normally have been a fatal fall. Though, buffeted by the crashing water, she was driven to the bottom of the river bed where she tumbled along trying to right herself. It was an oddly surreal experience, almost like being in the safety of a cocoon, warm and comforting.

Letting the current carry her away from the worst of the waterfall she caught sight of her pouch of crystals, the drawstring snagged upon a rock. Grasping it in her hand she kicked off the riverbed and broke the surface of the water with a loud gasp as the last of her telekinetic shield dissipated. Chilled to the bone and sopping wet, the moment of peace was shattered and the chaos of the frothing river overtook her once more.

Fortunately there was land near at hand and she dragged herself up out of the water onto a small grassy island where she rested a moment on her hands and knees. She couldn't afford to rest for long though, as she was sure Aeryn wouldn't be far behind her. And while she had reclaimed her pouch of crystals, her spear had been swept further downstream and was nowhere to be seen.