The Rend

Xinder Ouquid

---

The printer was beginning to enter its final cycles, which Xin could tell from the fact that the shell was beginning to cool and the skeleton of a cube that was the printer itself. It was almost done. Then the motion tracker flared up as the small object, just barely big enough to register, was thrown towards him.

Not having time to quickly break his attention from the printer Xin caught the small crystal sphere without turning his head. Turning himself back to Khojin in reaction to the small object that was thrown to him, Xin examined it only for a moment before another beep came. Looking up, Xin caught the coat... with his face. Eventful.

Taking the coat from his face Xin caught only a few moments' worth of Khojin before she took to the skies. It wasn't the best jump that the soldier had ever seen, however, considering that she was in her birth body that was impressive. Then three little hops. Something is different. What the hell is different? Then hand on the ground and within another moment she practically soared into the sky. It was still a jump and, as such, she came back down.

This better not get in the body glove. Thought Xin as the dust cloud washed over him, along with the sound of coughing. Almost as soon as the dust cleared, Xin got both a full view of what the coat hid. Well, primitive clothing does have a tendency to hide things.

Khojin asked how high the jump was, catching Xin a little stuck in thought. Returning to the world outside his head he drew a line in the sand almost exactly a yard long. "Almost ten of these." With another moment's pause Xin registered the bit about tossing a rock. With a simple shrug he picked up the small stone. Light. Durable. Xin would have been more than able to chuck the rock well outside of what Khojin could reach, which he contemplated doing for a moment, before saying "You might want to get ready." When Khojin gave some signal of readiness, the soldier tossed his rock in an arc that tipped about 31 feet off the ground right over where Khojin stood.

Khojin was in the air the same moment her eyes locked on the small stone. She caught it at its peak, right when it began its downward arc. She bounced the pebble in her palm after returning to ground. "Were you even trying?" she teased, tossing it back to him. "I'm almost insulted."

She thumbed her nose and spread her feet slightly, waiting for the next toss. For a moment she forgot she was meant to be testing herself, not playing. When it finally did register, she shrugged it off; no reason she couldn't have a bit of fun with it, right?

---

My, there was so much happening. All around people were talking about battling each other and testing their abilities. He did not find any appeal in that. He had just marginally missed being thrown into the arena in his own world. There was no way he was willingly going to participate in this fiasco. He didn't have much physical ability and he wanted to keep what talents he did have secret from these people. Though he did come to realize that no on here was indeed going to hurt him, he didn't trust them. He straightened himself completely and made a show of dusting himself off, loosing interest in most of the others around him. They were all strange to him but he only took real interest if they themselves came over to him.

He looked between the cross dresser and the human with the shadow creature. Thus far they were the only two that took an interest in him so they would have to be watched. Why were they interested in him? There were other manner of creature here that were far more interesting than him. He crossed his arms and gave them both a fanged smile. He was momentarily distracted when one of the others came to him and offered him a pill. He accepted it and rolled it between his fingers. He didn't want to just swallow something. The man said something about being radioactive but he didn't really know what that meant. What if this pill was the real threat? He did note that others had swallowed the medication but just as many didn't. "Thanks," he offered before pocketing the pill for now. He'd decide if it was worth it later.

"I won't participate in this battle royale thing you are doing. I find it quite the bore. And that lecture sounds even more so. I'll pass thanks." Hell, maybe he'd be lucky and they'd all kill themselves. Fights like this never went well in the end. He would leave, but if there was a desert outside, staying in the arena sounded more appealing. There were walls all around and could choose a better vantage point. The desert sounded hot and annoying.

The spider turned his attention back to Madison and Verge then.

"I'll leave the dresses to you. You do look ravishing in it," he grinned. "And these aren't tattoos. They are natural markings," he explained to Verge. "Did you want to touch them?" he asked suggestively and let one of his fingers trace one of the lines on his exposed abdomen. He couldn't help it. He loved flirting with others and see how far he could get them into his tangled web before they realized their mistake or good fortune, depending on whether he was actually hungry or had a deeper desire.

Azai walked over to one of the bags on the ground and picked up the one that had fallen on him earlier. He didn't know what was in it but if it was something useful, he wanted to keep it. "I'll go to the benches," he said then to the two interacting with him and walked over to the wall. One his way, he made sure to reach a hand out to caress them both. He tossed his bag over the tall wall and easily climbed over it thanks to his sticky hairs and dropped down on a seat. He rested his feet on the row of seats in front of him and pillowed his head with his hands, effectively stretching himself out a bit.

Kora's skepticism at being offered her 'Gift' was not missed by Rasteva. Mortals were often wary when being presented with strange magical objects, the Daemon did not expect her to be any less wary.

But the promise of the powers they could grant often made that skepticism short lived.

The armored figure let out a deep rumble of satisfaction as the woman accepted both the Daemon's gift and apology, filled with no small amount of humor as she requested that Rasteva warn her ahead of time before attempting to cleave her in two.

The Daemon was sure they could do something as simple as that.

"Very well then. We are on even terms for the time being. Now let us attempt to get this Tourney underway. The sooner we can begin, the sooner Rasteva can beat everyone senseless."

Rasteva began to shoo the non combatants away towards the edge of the Arena, voice ringing loudly through the area. "Either gather up near the wall, or find your way to the stands. This One is sure you may find an entrance to them somewhere along the outer wall of the Arena. The Daemon paused to glance down at the woman that was just saved from drowning. "Is she well enough to stand, or will she need to be carried?" While Rasteva was more than able to help both the woman and the still weakened Eze to the stands should they need it, the armored figure was none too excited about the prospect of ferrying people in and out of the Arena.

Gazing up at the stands, the Daemon rumbled lowly. "There is much shade up there, you are sure to more comfortable there than here on the ground." The fact that it would be considerably less dangerous for everyone to be in the stands once the brawls started was left unsaid. Injured or worse still DEAD spectators tended to suck the fun dry from an event after all.

Xinder Ouquid

---

She can reach up. A useful skill indeed. The soldier picked up three rocks, rumbling them around in his hands for a moment. He then placed on of the rocks on a nearby "table" as he said "Two for the test, and one to see how good my arms are. Haven't had a chance to truly put this body through its paces."

The moment his little speech ended, Xin tossed the two rocks into similar 34 foot max arcs to the first, each deviating from the middle slightly. With little pause he took the rock that he had set down and tossed it with an almost shot-put like swing. The ensuing rock barely even showed that there was gravity as it flew out of Xin's hand, breaking apart slightly as it spun and flew seemingly towards the sun.

"That's definitely an improvement over the last model." Xin said to himself as he watched the three rocks and his leaping ally. And they fixed the joint locking issue!

Ezenvare Queem

---

Eze sighed as he looked in at the arena. He had been sitting partially in the shade for some time now, but had been trying to get as much water as he could. As he had been standing around, weakened, the rest seemed to be gathering for some kind of battle royal. The last thing that Eze wanted to see right now was other people proving just how powerful and useful they were.

With a small grunt, the half-dragon shifted his weight back to his staff and began walking fully into the shade of the exit. It was time for him to see what was outside, and likely suffer the fate of a water dragon in the desert. The few minutes that it took him to move towards the desert Eze enjoyed the shade that the hallway offered. Although, it didn't help the fact that it was arid.

The half dragon emerged from the entry way with a bucket over his face as he downed the water within. As the sun shown on Eze he was certainly glad that he had gone and drank that bucket when he did. It went from unbearable head and dryness to true desert.

As he put the bucket back into his bag, the half-dragon saw the man with the four glowing eyes and the leaping... Well, she looks like a tiefling. For the most part. Eze simply took a few deep breathes, preparing for the horrors of a desert conversation.

Khojin caught both stones easily enough. The instant she did, however, a thought struck her; she twisted in midair, transferring both rocks to her left hand and chucking them behind her in one fluid motion. Still turning, she felt energy crackling in her right hand. She reached it out in the direction the rocks were presently ascending in as she herself began to descend. The energy in her hand surged, and an instant later a bolt of dark energy fired from her open palm, striking the closer of the two stones and causing it to explode into pieces. It was quickly followed by another bolt striking its cousin.

She took a couple steps back as she landed, watching the broken stones rain down on the desert floor. It was good to know she still had some of her abilities, even if she wouldn't get an accurate test of their power until she used them on something living. She also had to admit Xin's arm was impressive; she wondered briefly if the stone he'd thrown would turn up again at some point. Given how far it had gone, she liked to imagine stumbling across its shards at strange, utterly random points in their upcoming travels. Maybe if she found them all she'd get a prize.

She shook herself from her strange, rock-based fantasy and turned to see the Hei-Senn watching from the gate. She hadn't noticed before, but he seemed to have sprouted wings at some point, which were apparently wreaking havoc with his balance judging from the way he was leaning on his staff. "Enjoying the show?" she called to him, flexing slightly.