If both duelists involved would kindly let me know that they are ready, this duel can begin. If one of the dueling parties does not report in (ready or otherwise) before Wednesday [2/20/2013], they will forfeit the match. If neither report in, both will forfeit.

Whether you are ready or not, please make it known in an ((OOC)) post here in this thread.

This duel concluded [2/23/2013] with Aziraphael as the victor by Killing Blow.

727382
((Snowfall, reporting for duty. I am about to drop the hammer, and dispense some indiscriminate justice!))

727382
Snowfall stood outside the arena, calming her mind and preparing for the coming battle. She knew this would be difficult, that Candy was no pushover, but still..... She remembered what Candy had been through, all the fear she had carried around for so long. She remembered what Emilia had said, what she had been told about that other personality, 'Silynn'. Every instinct she had screamed at her to protect Candy at any cost, and yet they also told her to crush Silynn. But how could she achieve both when they were one and the same?

She stood there contemplating it for a long, long, moment, her mind chasing itself in circles. But after so long, with only more confusion to show for it, she raised her right hoof and smacked herself hard across the faceplate of her helm. The metal on metal contact sent a sharp ringing sound around the hallway as her head was snapped to one side by the impact. Giving a quick shake of her head to clear it, she set her features and nodded. "I'll just have to wait and see what she's become. I'll have my answer after I fight her."

With that decided, she nodded to the changeling standing off to the side and the massive doors in front of her opened. The light streaming into the darkened corridor from the arena beyond momentarily blinded her, before her eyes adjusted and she looked out across the surprisingly bare sand of the arena floor. In the center stood the Changeling King, as well as the two Equestrian Diarchs. Behind them stood a vast array of mages, her own Night Guards among them, looking just as confused as she was.

Snowfall removed her helmet, carrying it behind her shield as she walked out to the center of the field to stand before the three rulers. As she reached them, she set her helmet on the ground at her hooves, giving a crisp salute to the three, flowing into a deep bow to her Princess, as she had done in every match so far. Since none of them seemed inclined to reveal the reason as to why they were in the arena, rather than up in the stands, just yet, Snowfall simply sat and waited for her opponent to arrive.

727382>>728744 [[Ready.]]

Candy took a deep breath, and walked out into the arena, head held high, crimson blade floating at her side. She caught sight of Snowfall in the centre of the arena and kept her gaze focused on her. She couldn't afford to slip up even once here.

That armour might be a pain. Might have to mix it up a little.

Probably. And if things start looking desperate, I'll let you take over.

...Wait. Really? You're not joking?

One hundred percent truth.

Awesome.

Candy halted about ten feet from Snowfall, taking another deep breath before she addressed the armoured mare.

"Hi."

...You...Well, you could have gone for something a little more dramatic. Whatever.

728894
As the doors on the far side of the arena open, Snowfall looks up from where she sits and watches Candy walk out to the center of the arena, blood-red crescent blade hovering at her side. As she approaches, Snowfall stares, more like glares really, her stern, scarred visage searching Candy's for any sign that she'd becomes something different, something less, than the mare she was before the first round of battles.

As the white mare stopped, she took a deep breath before speaking. "Hi."

Snowfall's glare melts as she begins laughing, looking away for a moment as she shakes her head. "We haven't seen each other in nearly a month, and the only thing you have to say is, 'hi'?" she asks with a chuckle, her laughter beginning to fade. Snowfall glances at the three rulers, but sees them still sitting impassively, either watching the stands or observing the conversation with amusement.

"Well, since it seems like we have some time to kill before King Aurus starts the match, what have you been up to? Aside from the fights in the arena, obviously."

727412, 728894
((I am opening this duel. You may now fight one another. Please follow this link to see the list of judges.

You must conclude your duel, either by killing blow (judge's rule), forfeit, or voting decision. A vote will be held by default in the event that the duel is not completed by 12:00 a.m. [-5:00 GMT] on Saturday [2/23/2013].

Fight with honor!))

Today's match was a strange one, for the crowd seemed oddly silent. Gone were the frantic and eager cheers that had often filled the arena even before the contestants made their entrances. The reason for their quieter demeanor was immediately clear, however. Rather than in his viewing box, Aurus was in the center of the arena this day, smiling away as if nothing were wrong in the slightest. Standing next to him were Celestia and Luna, both of which seemed to be incredibly amused by the crowd's reaction.

Arrayed behind them were the vast number of mages who usually lined the walls of the ring to prevent the crowd from being injured, both unicorn and changeling alike. These creatures all talked amongst themselves in a manner similar to the crowd, curious and confused.

It was apparent that whatever was going on, it had yet to be announced publicly.

At last Aurus speaks up as the contestants draw nearer, his voice augmented so that all can hear, yet sounding only at normal volume no matter how close the duelists grew.

"It's that time again, my friends. Time for you to show the world what you can do. But this time it is a special occasion. The tournament's quarter-finals begin this day, and at this point there are none who can doubt your courage, tenacity, and strength," he said, smiling between the two fighters.

"But though none can doubt it, you will find it further tested. For now you face only those who have fought ferociously to prove themselves your equals in these Games. I regret to announce that this simple coliseum has grown too small for your magnificent duels. So today, you will fight in another place entirely. A place deep within the heart of T'rahk Enox," he said simply.

At this point, the changelings in the crowd suddenly exploded into chatter and some scattered cheering. Clearly wherever it was, they knew exactly the place Aurus spoke of. The rest of the crowd murmured their confusion, for if the contestants did not fight here, then where? And what sort of spectacle would it be then?

"Worry not," Aurus chuckled, raising a hoof. "You will still see the match here, as you have before. Our most skilled illusionists will display the match in its perfect entirety in this very arena. Those of you who have come to see the battles shall see them."

The crowd cheered happily for a brief moment before Aurus continued.

"But to you it will be another place entirely, removed from all of this. Their cheers will not reach you where we are going. It will simply be you and your opponent in the heart of my realm," he said quietly, and it was clear that only the contestants heard this, for his powerful voice did not echo with magic this time.

Portals of fire opened in the ground before the duelists, and Aurus smiled. "When you are ready, enter. We will be waiting for you. Fight with honor, friends, and enjoy the serenity of Cloud's Calling for a moment before you begin. Keep in mind that if you fall from its heights, your duel will be lost."

In a flash of midnight blue and golden magic from Celestia and Luna, the two princesses, Aurus, and the mages vanished.

Stepping through, you found yourself in a place you would never have expected.

728894
Before She could answer, the King's voice rang out across the arena and two portals of fire appeared at their hooves. Snowfall reached down with her left hoof, once again picking her helm up behind her shield.

"Well, looks like the pleasantries will have to wait until after the match." She reached up and placed her helm upon her head, taking a step forward to fall through the fire portal. Before she did though, she stopped and looked back to Candy. "Oh, and at some point, I expect to fight Silynn, not just you. I have questions for her to answer."

With that, she gave a final nod and stepped into the portal.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As she came out the other side, she found herself standing on a wide plateau with a large, though shallow pool in the center. The big problem though was the five foot drop to get to it. Ending up in there would be......problematic. Around the edges of the plateau were a few scattered trees on the uneven terrain before everything fell off into a cloudy void beneath them.

Under any other circumstances, the place would have been beautiful. Not so much as a cold winter's night back home in the North, but still pretty good. At the moment though, all Snowfall could see were obstacles, places she could use to her advantage, and places to avoid. She stood on her side of the pool, waiting for Candy to step through the portal and appear on the other.

728994

As Candy opened her mouth to answer, Aurus began speaking. Once he was finished and the two portals appeared, she looked back to Snowfall, just in time to catch what she was saying and nod in response before she stepped through.

Well, looks like you'll have to let me out at some point no matter what.

Yeah...Looks that way. Oh well, Candy sighed, stepping towards the portal, keeping her blade close to her side.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Emerging on the other side of the portal, Candy gasped in awe. She had been expecting something walled off, at least, but this was...An interesting development. As she looked around, she caught sight of Snowfall across the pool, and immediately remembered what she was doing here.

Dropping into a battle stance, Candy watched Snowfall to see what she'd do first.

[[I guess you can take the first actual action, seeing as you went through the portal first.]]

729010
((Well.......I was gonna post.....but since the only judge that seems to be online atm is.....you.....I don't think it's gonna happen. I'll be back around 5:30pm est [gmt -5]. If you can find a judge and want to get things rolling, go ahead, and if not, then I'll be back to continue this later. I need to get at least a little bit of sleep today.

Hold that....one just logged on.

.....Never mind.......he's gone again.....my op is now back to being valid because I'm logging for sleep now.))

729060 [[Fair enough. Well, in that case...]]

[[Approved by Kapuchu]]

[Reaction] While she watched Snowfall, Candy realised she might as well do something seeing as there was quite a bit of distance between them.

[Action] She drew the red crescent blade across her foreleg, drawing the blood into the air in front of her to form another, identical blade, which she levitated at her other side.

Health 99%, Stamina 100%, Mana 98%

((729060
Sorry, you sent me your submission just as I was leaving class, and I couldn't handle it till now.))

729214
((Approved by: Doorknobs))

Health: 100% Mana: 100% Stamina: 100%

Action: As Candy came through the portal on the other side and readied herself for the match, Snowfall decided to cut out one of the dangers right off the bat. She began walking casually around the pool to her right, as that was the wider of the two ledges by at least double the other side.

Though she was walking casually, she never took her eyes off Candy, keeping ready to move her shield into position to block any incoming attacks if it became necessary, and she made sure to stay roughly in the middle of the ledge to avoid being knocked in either direction suddenly. As she reached the halfway point between their two sides, she stopped and called out, "Let's give the audience back in the arena a bit of a show. Fighting in the middle of a ten....maybe fifteen foot wide ledge is way more exciting than fighting over in the big open spaces where we started. Trapped in a pool if you fall to one side, death if you fall to the other."

729220
((It's cool, life comes first, so don't worry about it.))

729565 [[Approved by Kapuchu]]

[Reaction] Watching Snowfall get closer and closer as she casually walked around the pool, Candy started to edge slightly closer as well. Be careful.

[Action] Will do. "Yeah. Could be a short match if either one of us falls out of the arena. What kind of show would that be?" Candy called back, levitating her blades forwards to form a criss-cross pattern in front of her chest.

Health 99%, Stamina 100%, Mana 96%

731129
((Approved by: Man Gell))

Health: 100% Mana: 100% Stamina: 98%

Action: Seeing Candy ignore her call, Snowfall once more began her casual walk over to the other side of the pool, still keeping a watchful eye on her opponent and ready to react should the need arise. What is it with everypony in this tournament and making me come to them. Clearly walking is a bigger strain than I ever imagined it to be, she mentally grumbled to herself.

As she approached within ten feet of her opponent, she once again stopped, raising her shield in front of her. "So, now that I've walked all the way over here, why don't we get this show on the road." With that, she charged forward, shield protectively in front of her, apparently intent on bowling her opponent over.

731218 [[Approved by Man Gell]]

[Reaction] Candy grinned despite herself as Snowfall charged. She dodged to the right, barely avoiding taking a dive into the pool, and slipped around Snowfall as the armoured mare barrelled past.

[Action] As she passed Snowfall's side, she lashed out with one of her blades, the one already on her left, to cut at the armour. She knew it probably wouldn't do a great deal, but hopefully it would set her opponent off balance, if she was lucky.

Health 99%, Stamina 98%, Mana 94%

731609
((So that hit's coming down on my back, yes?))

731752 [[Sideways swipe, aimed at her...Well, side.]]

731762
((.....right. For some reason I kept orienting things the opposite way in my head, and I have no idea why......I kept thinking you were attacking with the other blade for some reason......))

731926 [[No problem.]]

731609
((Approved by: Man Gell))

Health: 100% Mana: 100% Stamina: 96%

Reaction: As Candy dodged on Snowfall's left, she brought one of her blades across, trying to cut into Snowfall's side. Snowfall had been expecting the other mare to go for her unshielded side. This actually made her counter even easier.

Dropping her haunches low, she pushed off with her right foreleg to turn her momentum into a left spin, her shield coming across in a backhoof to deflect the blade and, hopefully, slam into the blood mage as well.

732002 [[I thought the shield was in front of her?]]

732019
((It was, but since it's attached to her left arm, when she spun left it came across in front of her. For a diagram, think of it like this shield, except that it doesn't extend past Snowfall's hoof at the tip so she can still walk))

732082 [[Aha, gotcha. Thanks ]]

732002 [[Approved by Dracmatais]]

[Reaction] Candy gasped as the solid chunk of metal connected with her flank as she rushed past, sending her into a spin as her momentum carried her forwards. She tripped, her balance having been thrown off, sending her sprawling across the rough rocky ground, still worryingly close to the pool in the centre. She came to a rest after sliding a few metres, hissing in pain, and slowly picking herself up, frowning at the long scrape down her side.

[Action] She stood up, scowling at Snowfall. Why does that sting so much?! She screamed in the back of her mind.

Oh, get over it. Anyway, that clearly didn't work, try the mace now. Crush her.

Candy nodded, narrowing her eyes further, then pushed the two blades together. The weapons appeared to melt into one, their forms collapsing into a different shape entirely. The liquids merged together into a short pole and a large, heavy ball forming on the end. Candy gave the new weapon a few practise swings, smirking at the results. Awesome.

Isn't it just?

Health 89%, Stamina 98%, Mana 92%

732242
((Approved by: Nathan Traveler))

Health: 100% Mana: 100% Stamina: 95%

Reaction: As Snowfall's shield impacted the sword, she grunted a bit at the surprising strength behind the attack. She was still able to over power it, driving her shield into Candy, but still; that strength was not to be underestimated. As her swing finished, she staggered for a moment to regain her balance after the somewhat wild attack.

Action: As Snowfall regained her balance and turned her attention back to Candy, she saw the two blades of blood converge and merge themselves together into a large mace. She was tempted to charge ahead again and press her advantage, but she saw that Candy's back was to the pool of water and decided against it. She wasn't known for her agility after all, so one wrong step would send her into the pool herself.

Instead, she crouched low behind her shield, waiting for Candy to make the first move this time.

732514 [[Approved by Dracmatais]]

[Reaction] As Snowfall dropped down behind her shield, Candy started to edge closer. She wasn't too far away anyway, so it wasn't too long before she was in range.

[Action] She raised the large club into the air, then let gravity do its work momentarily before spurring it on with her magic, guiding the heavy weapon down through the air to smash Snowfall into the ground.

Health 89%, Stamina 98%, Mana 90%

732560
((Approved by: _Medicshy))

Health: 99% Mana: 100% Stamina: 93%

Reaction: Snowfall watched Candy raise the mace high as she hesitantly stepped forward. When she let the mace fall, using gravity to aid the force of her magic, Snowfall was ready. She knew from the last attack that Candy could put quite a bit of force behind her swings, so rather than blocking it straight on, Snowfall raised her shield above her, angled to the left, so that the mace would deflect off to the side as it fell.

Action: As the mace impacted the shield and deflected to the side, her powerful muscles straining under the force of the blow, Snowfall used her crouched position to propel herself forward, charging at her opponent to deliver a punch to the face with her armored right forehoof.

732687 [[Approved by Medicshy]]

[Reaction] Dammit. Deflection... Candy berated herself as she dove to the right, keeping out of the way of Snowfall's heavy armoured hoof. Yeah. You should have swung from the side. Duh.

[Action] Candy noticed the position she and her opponent were in. ...What about from the back? She grinned inwardly, bringing the mace from its position back just to the side of where Snowfall had been standing rushing towards the guardspony's unguarded hindquarters, aiming to slam her forwards while she was still off balance from throwing the punch.

Health 89%, Stamina 96%, Mana 87%

732746
((Approved by: _Medicshy))

Health: 99% Mana: 100% Stamina: 90%

Reaction: As Snowfall's punch came forward, Candy dove to her right, dodging the heavy blow. As the punch sailed harmlessly through the air , Snowfall pushed off with her planted left foreleg and dove hard to her right, rolling as she did to absorb the impact. She had seen Candy's other matches and knew that the mare was no novice. She always paid close attention to where her weapons were and used their locations to her best advantage.

Action: After rolling once, she planted her hooves and rose to her feet, seeing the mace now floating off to her right, likely after it had flown straight through where she used to be. Underneath her helm she smiled as she once more raised her shield defensively. This was the kind of fight she had been waiting for since round one, and she planned to enjoy it.

As she readied herself, she kept a close eye on both the mare and her weapon. She had plans for that thing if Candy tried to attack with it against her unshielded side.

732790 [[Approved by Medicshy and Helrumyc]]

[Reaction] Candy grumbled to herself that the attack missed, picking herself up off the floor as she levitated the mace over to her side.

[Action] Something new?

Something new.

The mace dissolved back into semi-liquid form, separating into two separate objects, although they didn't return to the familiar crescent shape of Candy's favourite blades. Instead, the two streams of gelatinous blood fixed themselves to her shoulders, the tips forming razor-sharp points which twisted to face Snowfall, staring her down.

As the whips writhed in the air, the deadly points never once shifting, Candy grinned. Something new indeed.

Health 89%, Stamina 96%, Mana 83%

732873
((Approved by: _Medicshy))

Health: 99% Mana: 100% Stamina: 90%

Action/Reaction: Snowfall Saw Candy call the mace back over to her and break it back down into a floating mass of blood, before breaking it apart again into two separate whips that sat on her shoulders, swaying back and forth as they prepared to strike if necessary. Cautiously, Snowfall set her distance to be just out of reach of those two creations.

Attacking too soon could be disastrous for her. She knew that they would try to find a way into her armor, and if she failed to predict where that attack was supposed to come from, it would work. Therefore, after her small movement, she instead chose to simply stand there and wait for Candy to take the offensive.

732907 [[Approved by Man Gell]]

[Reaction] Hey look, she thinks she's out of range. How cute.

Zip it. I need to focus. Candy narrowed her eyes, edging tentatively closer to Snowfall, trying to look for an opening.

[Action] Candy blinked. There was an opening right there, possibly the most obvious one. Make her blind.

With...Not with pleasure, but okay.

Keeping one of the whips held back in reserve, Candy sent the one on her right shoulder spearing towards the gap in Snowfall's helmet, specifically the leftmost eye-hole. Any range advantage Snowfall may have gained was negated by the short walk Candy took towards her, plus the fact that the whips were gelatinous, or in other words, stretchy.

Health 89%, Stamina 95%, Mana 78%

733240
((Approved by: Kapuchu))

Health: 98% Mana: 100% Stamina: 87%

Reaction: Snowfall watched Candy take a few shuffling steps forward before launching one of the whips straight at her face. Given that Candy already knew she couldn't cut straight through her armor, there was only one target she could be aiming for: her eyes.

Why always the eyes? It's like Arcantos all over again..... she grumbled to herself as she watched the whip approach the left side of her face. As it neared her, Snowfall turned her head to the right at the last second and bracing for the impact. Almost immediately after, she felt the jarring impact of the bladed whip against the side of her helm as the heavy armor deflected the blade.

Action: But as the blade impacted, Snowfall pushed off the ground with her right forehoof, turning her head back to the front as she raised it across from her left forehoof, both parallel to the ground with a gap of six inches or so between them. As the momentum of her push carried her briefly up onto her hind legs, she waited for the tether of the whip blade to pass into the opening between her hooves.

As it did, she slammed them together, aiming to cut the tether and sever the part of the whip that had been sent out to attack her in between the crushing force of her right hoof and the edge of her shield on the left. As her hooves slammed together, she just as quickly let them separate so she could land back on three of her four legs, her shielded foreleg still raised in front of her.

733240
((Incidentally, if you're ever wondering why there are deleted posts by me here and there, it's because my mouse is failtastic, and sometimes clicking once, comes out as two simultaneous clicks to the computer. The end result, in this case, being that I accidentally double post a lot. So any time you see a post of mine that got deleted, it was a duplicate of whatever is right next to it.))

733277 [[Approved by Garion]]

[Reaction] Candy watched impassively as Snowfall attempted to guillotine the elasticated whip, her hooves doing no more than squash it momentarily, the weapon bouncing back into shape as her hooves left it, dropping back into a defensive position. The whip continued back to Candy's side, coiling and uncoiling as the bladed point stared down at Snowfall.

[Action] Okay...Well that was less than successful.

Very true. Her defence is certainly something. Try a grapple next.

Candy nodded, sending both whips forward this time, the crimson lashes screaming through the air towards Snowfall. One aimed at her right foreleg, just below the knee, the other at her neck, just below the jawline.

Health 89%, Stamina 95%, Mana 71%

733384
((Approved by: _Medicshy))

Health: 98% Mana: 100% Stamina: 82%

Reaction: Snowfall saw the gelatinous whip simply compress under her attempt to break it with no visible damage. Annoyed, but not surprised, she had settled to wait for her opponent's next attack. When it came, she could tell that Candy was finally ready to get serious.

As the two whips came forward, Snowfall launched into a short charge towards her opponent, who wasn't far in front of her to begin with. As she charged, she lowered her chin down, deflecting one of the whips off the faceplate of her helm. The one heading towards her leg she kicked aside with her charging hooves, the dagger bouncing off the shinplate of her greaves.

Action: She approached her opponent and raised her shield arm at her side, bringing it across in a left hook as she charged forward.

((I apologise for this post taking so long to get out. I sent it to every judge I could get a hold of over the course of the past six hours, and none of them responded in any way.))

735151 [[Approved by Dracmatais]]

[Reaction] Candy stared at the charging mare like a deer caught in headlights. Oh, shi-

WHAM

The impact of the shield against her jaw was jarring, to say the least. After rolling across the ground a few metres, she sat up shakily, trying to focus her eyesight after the dizzying blow. Her whips had been dispelled, the only evidence of their existence was now two trails of blood along the floor, leading back to where she had been standing a moment ago. She raised a hoof to where she had been hit and winced, finding a small cut where the shield had hit her.

Damn. She hits hard.

Tag out? I wanna play.

It's disturbing enough that you would call this 'playing', but go ahead. She wanted to fight you sooner or later, may as well be sooner.

Candy shut her eyes...

[Action] Silynn opened her eyes, quickly snapping her head up to glare at Snowfall, a twisted grin present on her face. The small cut began to stretch, growing to cover her entire jawline from her chin to her neck, the blood from the wound flowing out and dancing in the air, forming another mace. The difference between this one and the last one, however, were the many spikes that covered it. [[Much like this.]]

Silynn stood up, grinning and tilting her head, idly spinning the mace through the air around her. "Shall we?"

Health 79%, Stamina 94%, Mana 69%

735357
((Approved by: Kapuchu))

Health: 98% Mana: 100% Stamina: 75%

Reaction: As Snowfall charged forward, she saw Candy's eyes widen just before the shield came across, landing solidly on her her jaw. As the other mare rolled away across the rocks, Snowfall blinked a couple times in mild surprise. .....I really wan't expecting that to actually work.....

With a shrug, she turned to watch her fallen opponent rise to her hooves. She seemed....strange for a moment. As though her body had gone limp for the blink of an eye before returning to normal, as though nothing had happened. When Candy looked back to her, it was with a predatory gleam in her eyes that Snowfall had never seen before.

She narrowed her eyes as 'Candy' widened the existing cut on her jawline to fashion another weapon from the blood. A wickedly spiked mace formed in the air, and as the white mare spoke, Snowfall knew she wasn't facing Candy anymore.....

Action: Snowfall knew that mace could be trouble; it had all of those spikes for a reason after all. But even so, she wanted to take the measure of her new opponent, and that wouldn't happen by just standing still.

She charged forward once again, bringing her shielded foreleg up in another left cross. She knew that Candy, or rather, Silynn, wouldn't get hit by the same attack twice in a row, but that was ok. The cross wasn't supposed to hit anyway; her roll after Snowfall's last attack had put her back to the pool, now only a few feet behind her.

((I'm pretty sure I've been keeping track of our positions right, but since I've been wrong about it before, if I'm off let me know and I'll get edits approved for our proper locations.))

735450 [[Approved by Man Gell]]

[Reaction] Dropping low to the ground, Silynn let the heavy shield pass over her head, missing by mere centimetres. She scowled. Not this time.

[Action] From her position on the floor, she brought the mace that had been hovering off to her left swinging round, using the end of the handle as a pivot point to slam the heavy spiked weapon into her opponent, aiming at Snowfall's back leg, specifically her knee. Hopefully the blow would cripple her, but at the very least it might put her off balance for a follow-up attack.

Health 79%, Stamina 91%, Mana 67%

735571
((Approved by: _Medicshy))

Health: 93% Mana: 100% Stamina: 73%

Reaction: Snowfall saw Silynn drop under her shield swing, the metal plate passing harmlessly over her head as she swung her mace towards Snowfall's back leg. She could have tried to dodge the blow, but she was right where she wanted to be, so instead she simply braced the muscles in her leg, letting her armor and her strength absorb as much of the blow as it could.

As the mace connected, the ringing slam of the heavy, spiked weapon impacting solidly on her armor rang across the arena. It hurt; it hurt a lot. But she had dealt with worse before, and since she was only inches away from her opponent, it did nothing to diminish the momentum of her charge.

Action: Silynn may have ducked under the swing, but because of Snowfall's forward momentum, this just meant that she was now crouched on the ground with the heavy plates of Snowfall's armor trapping her on all sides. As the mace impacted on her back leg, she reached out with her right foreleg, keeping her left hooked as it came behind her opponent. She let herself fall forward with the momentum of the charge to catch Silynn in a grapple, aiming to wrap the white mare in a tight hug.

736861 [[Approved by Traveler]]

[Reaction/Action] Silynn's eyes widened as she realised the predicament she was now in. Not wanting to be caught in Snowfall's insanely strong grip, but not seeing a way out, she did the only thing she could think of at the time.

Gritting her teeth in preparation for the inevitable pain, Silynn dispelled the mace back into liquid blood, bringing it flowing between herself and Snowfall, placing a flimsy semi-liquid barrier between them. She narrowed her eyes as Snowfall drew closer still, the membrane pressed between Silynn's fur and Snowfall's armour.

Got you...Right where...I want you.

Health 79%, Stamina 91%, Mana 65%

736953
((That seems like an awfully fast movement of the mace. Since you swung at my knee as you ducked under my punch, that would put the mace at my back leg practically as I'm running into you. Not to mention that with the mace on your left side, and my shield on my left side, even if you did somehow get it back in front of me, underneath you, AND make the levering motion in time, it would just push you straight into the back of my shield, doing nothing to prevent the grapple. We're on four legs, and since I'm falling forward at the last second because of only having 2 legs on the ground and the mace hit, the already small clearance range under the shield would be even smaller.))

737010 [[Ah. Hadn't considered the shield, my bad. I don't suppose you have skype? Or some other form of instant messaging, keep ooc comments to a minimum and stuff]]

737010 [[Alrighty, fix'd.]]

736953
((Approved by: _Medicshy))

Health: 93% Mana: 100% Stamina: 71%

Reaction: Snowfall slammed into Candy and sent them both tumbling back on the rock as she latched on, the thin membrane of blood in between them. They slid beck only a few feet, but since they were only a few feet from the drop into the pool of water to begin with, it was enough to send them tumbling over the edge.

As they fell, Snowfall summoned her wings, calling on their power of lift for only an instant. Just enough to make sure that Silynn was the one who landed on the bottom, crushed under the weight of Snowfall herself, as well as her armor.

As they had collided, Snowfall had done one other thing. It was small, but it could be the difference between a win or a loss at this point. Snowfall turned her head completely to the left and pressed the bottom edge of her helmet as hard as she could against the chest plate of her armor, closing off the only immediate gap in her armor leading to any of her vital areas. She had seen the fine control that Silynn had over the blood the wielded, and she had already used it to make spikes once. She wasn't taking any chances with her opponent trying that again.

Action: As the pair settled in the shallow water, Snowfall realised yet another problem......though the water was shallow, it wasn't shallow enough. they were both underwater now.....

Hoping that she would be able to hold her breath longer than her slightly squished opponent, Snowfall began to squeeze as hard as she could, intending to crush the air and the life out of her opponent before whatever counter Silynn had planned could overwhelm her.

........and before she ran out of air. That too.

737818 [[Approved by Man Gell]]

[Reaction] As Snowfall began to crush her, Silynn almost released the small breath of air she was holding. She winced as the pressure became unbearable, feeling her ribs start to shift and give way under the unrelenting force. Better finish this quickly...

[Action] Sliding the membrane of blood up Snowfall's armour to her helmet, Silynn allowed herself a small smirk as the vital fluid began to surge towards the eye-holes, intending to move the entire volume of blood to the other side of Snowfall's nigh-impenetrable defence.

Health 68%, Stamina 86%, Mana 59%

737978
((Approved by: Kapuchu))

Health: 93% Mana: 100% Stamina: 63%

Reaction: As Snowfall tightened her grip on the white mare beneath her, she began to feel something.....strange.....moving through the eyeholes of her helmet. It didn't take much for her to assume the worst. She turned her head to face forward again, slamming her head forward as quickly as the water would allow. She knew that even with her formidable strength it would be weakened, but she hoped enough of the force would get through for the impact to at least break Silynn's concentration.

Action: All the while, she redoubled her efforts to crush her opponent, pressing as much weight as she could down onto her forelegs as they squeezed up, fully intending to snap her spine or crush her ribs if Aurus' magic or Silynn's own didn't stop her first.