[Round 4] Esouna vs. Jurie

Premise: With half of the participants remaining, GTB is now halfway through with a few more rounds until its conclusion. Through a series of three rounds, fighters have proved themselves of their prowess and ambition to win thus far, and move one step closer to their destination: the championship. However, as the numbers dwindle down, the competition increases, as the best are narrowed down and each comes with an equal amount of skill. It is going to take experience, intelligence, and even luck at this point to determine who goes on and who goes packing home.

Midus Sonners has also decided to increase the presentation of the fighting arenas that the fighters are going to be taking place in for the duration of the tournament. While keeping with the Colosseum theme, Midus will be including variations of themes to keep things interesting and not as boring as a plain sandy ground with some walls and people watching you. That is why he has sent all the fighters to another venue for their fights. This time, with all fighters on board a plane, the crew flew themselves to the southern coast, a place caused Myamu Beach. Normally a vacation resort, the entire span of the beach has been reserved for the entirety of round four. People will be scattered around each fighting site to watch the fighters go at it in a nightly beach arena. While to them it seems like entertainment, to the fighters this is life or death.

Description: The sun has set, bringing about the darkness of the night over the entirety of the beach. Instead of artificial lighting being used, natural fire has instead become its substitute, bringing about a constant changing hue of orange overlaying the beach and its occupants. The beach spans for a good amount of distance, so each fight will take places in its own "section" which will make it seem separate from the other far away fights.

Each fight takes place in a ring of fire, which is basically a large circle of the sandy beach. Outside this fire, spectators watch, either standing or sitting in chairs, laughing and talking as they enjoy their drinks, food, and conversation. While this may be a competitive tournament, this scene of "entertainment" has placed increasing obligations on the fighters themselves to keep the audience entertained. Unlike the normal arena, the people are closer than before and their boos, cheers, and comments can be heard a lot clearer and louder. This means the fighters will have the psychological element added to the fight, much like the closely watched fights such as wrestling and boxing. Expect a noisy atmosphere.

Field Measurements: The ring of fire has a diameter of 45 yards, which is 135 ft. For those who need a comparison, just look at a football field and see the distance from one touchdown line to the 45 yard line. On the boundary of this circle is a series of lit fires on wood, which are as tall as only one to two feet. Spectators are spaced twenty feet away from this boundary in order to avoid possible injury from the fight.

Ten Count Boundary: Going outside the ring of fire will result in the starting of the ten count. The flying rule remains intact.

Added Penalty: Harming spectators is a no-no. Any intentional action against them that ends up hurting even one will result in a DQ. This can be either direct (going up to one and hurting them) or indirect (using a very dangerous attack that has a possibility of hurting the spectators). Accidents will be gauged to see whether it counts as an accident or was considered recklessness by the user.

And as little Esouna took her nap Jurie was struggling to keep herself together in the plane. Already accumulating a slight fear of heights, and not to mention things that went hum in the night, the gentle blacksmith was giving it her all to simply ride this sucker all the way out. She was a bit envious of the small creature who bundled up so neatly in her tray.

All things aside, she looked pretty peaceful in her little corner of the world.

It was that thought alone, strangely enough, that kept her at ease until the plane touched down and deep down inside Jurie was feeling a bit wishy-washy after the whole ordeal. So many fighters and yet only one held a true sense of honor about them, only one had truly earned her trust on the battlefield. While she believed in giving any and all the benefit of the doubt... Recent events have set up a new stage of skepticism within the young woman's mind.

"Please..." She'd sigh out to herself, hands clenching the seam of her pants. "Please don't let me down."

Sometime later...

It was time for the brawl and the blacksmith felt a little on edge with the crowd coaxing on the fight like it was some sort of fiasco. It was round four in the GTB and surely enough the two fighters were starting to gather a good section of fans. Truth be told, this just made the youngin' a little more anxious and nervous, oddly enough making her feel even further out of place. But rather than linger on the thought for too long the maiden would shake her head around a bit and trudge her way into the circle with a elegant, gentle smile crisp upon her lips.

"Good evening Miss!" She'd call out with a cheer, ignoring her doubt from moments ago the best she could. "My... It is a fine night my friend, a fine night indeed! With pleasant company and wondrous sights to hold one could only hope for a grand event tonight!"

Well the two surely did differ much when it came to preparations, but really such chatter was for better times. Right now the blacksmith had a shin capper on the way and wasn't about to dawdle around long enough to be on the receiving end of that deal. So rather than just stand there in bewilderment of the creature's sudden outburst the blacksmith would charge in to meet the fairy about a quarter of the way out.

A nice little jolt for a start and it roused the crowd into a bit of excitement.

And things would only get better. For as soon as the two got within range Jurie would give the ground a nice little stomp from her left before sending her body sailing straight into Esouna, her right knee jutting out like a Thai fighter aimed straight for the fairy's face.

It was a perfect target, being low and all, and an easy target for a flying knee. Of course not knowing before hand whether or not the fairy was making a strike the hit could land just about anywhere, but that really wasn't any of the blacksmith's concern right now.

All the while she'd build some energy up in her right arm, preparing it for a bit of use later on down the road. And even though they got off to a bit of a quick start...

The blacksmith was feeling pretty happy right about now.

Who said a thing about dodging?

The blacksmith's eyes flickered over the fairy as she rose to the occasion and though it was a fine counter on Esouna's part... it wouldn't be enough. For as the fairy darted up Jurie's hands would go down, palms down against the uppercut to slow its progress while she flew through the air with that knee of hers. Albeit she couldn't stop the blow, it wasn't going to be fast or powerful enough to reach her face by the time that knee made contact.

Shin to face was a long way to go, plenty of time to glance that one out.

Collision or not Jurie only had one way to go with the flying knee.... forward. And with all that momentum she fully intended to keep on going through with that strike. Needless to say the early downpour of action already got a few murmurs going, the voices rolling to a silent rouse for the time being. Given but a few moments though...

And the place would spring straight into the action.

Onward she went! All 142 pounds of her. As said before... she was going forward, forward, forward, and with such direction she'd go through anything that was in her way. This, of course, included the fairy. Even as she knocked those little feet of Esouna's, even as she blocked that incoming uppercut, she was moving ever forward in her course.

So really... Jurie had no reason to block the blow. She didn't have to. What with being well over five times the fairy's weight and with that lil bugger in mid-flight she only had to crash her body into the opposition and the rest was history.

Going for a blow or not, body to body contact was going to be hard to get any good force in. It did make for a good crash though. But by all means, if Esouna thought she could get a nice hit in with that lil jab of her she was more than welcome to try.

She felt that body bounce back and the blacksmith would use this to bring herself to a full stop, planting both of her feet to the ground and her arms in front of her. It was then that she noticed the fairy's movement, and at that time she could only really do one thing.

Make the 'oh shit!' face.

Her lower-body would shift back and arms would come down to knock those legs down a bit more, notching off a bit of that power away from her diaphragm. Instead the kick would land against her pelvis. With a bit of a groan, she'd take the blow and balance herself fully a few steps away from where her opponent would land.

"Good, good Miss Stranger! Now break me... if you can."

A flash of energy would erupt from her right hand and something small would remain concealed within. Though if Esouna was careful enough to glance at the right spots she'd notice some sort of newly formed ring wrapped around her rim of her finger.

What was it? Well... who could say. The display did leave the crowd in a bit of a hush though. A rare occasion for the blacksmith and her wide array of tricks.

Object 1- Off: 1 Def: 1

She wasn't really expecting much of a response to be honest, never really did in cases like these. But unlike her opponent she cared a bit more about being entertaining for those peering in. Would it distract her? Probably just a little, but she took a few steps back for just such an occasion. That's when the bugger zipped in with her sandy screen attack.

This just made her step back even more and keep her guard up all the better. After all, one was allowed to act and talk at the same time, weren't they? So as Esouna came in for the torso blow she could recognize the body flying towards her a split moment after it came out of the sand. She was expecting it after the last move and really who wouldn't?

Smokescreens of kinds were made to cover up moves such as these. So the only real counter was to be prepared.

As the blow came in Jurie's body would have already twisted into a side stance and her arms would cover her front in a guarded pose, covering her side and stomach a few inches away from the body. It really wouldn't take long to prepare this at all, considering she wasn't even moving forward or doing anything elaborate at all. So as Esouna threw that punch to the heart she didn't need to move very much at all to simply parry the blow to the outside of her body with her left ((forward)) before thrusting forward with her right for a quick jab at the fairy's own incoming body.

All small and simple movements, without a single word this time too. But a very doable counter with how everything was set up.

If it was that easy Jurie would've been just a little disappointed. All the same she wasn't a psychic. She only had reflexes and experience to work off of. So as the little bugger came twisting in Jurie could only react in the way she deemed fit...

Flinch!

The blacksmith's face would twist in surprise as the fist came skimming across her jaw in a bit of an awkward twist partially do to her opponent's spin and partially due to her sudden jerk away from the blow. The blow would burn a little and the clip would feel fairly potent, but it wasn't as well as the opponent might have wished for.

All the same it was time for a counter strike.

THUNK!!! The sands below would shift at a sudden weight dropping to the ground, the item within Jurie's right sinking into the sand and distorted from view. Whatever it was it had a cord of some kind attached to it which, naturally, led back to the hand it fell from.

But that was irrelevant, at least for now. For as the object fell the hand would snatch up that fairy's leg as it ascended ever higher to yank the bugger back down straight into a follow up jab from the left into the gut as she yanked that bastard back in.

Not too hard to do were the grab to nitch off as planned. But as we all know... things don't always work out like we want it to. So just in case... The blacksmith prepped something in the back of her mind when things went awry.

Fuck that!

This little cat fight wasn't going to go down like that. Biting, scratching, pulling hair, these were the things that Jurie just didn't stand for. So as she caught the bugger by the foot the blacksmith would keep her hand thrusting forward for the jab, readjusting it as it came in due to the lack of grip she had around the intended target. That sternum would still get a nice little smash from that metal gauntlet of hers, especially since those nubby hands of Esouna's were now gripping towards Jurie's head, leaving her wide open.

THWAP!!!

Needless to say, a bear hug would be difficult with the force coming in so high after a punch like that, though if the fairy persisted through the fist she'd sway her right arm between the two to brace the two apart. Esouna, at best, could still get a grip of her head, but a bear hug would be impossible at such a range, especially since that arm would keep the fairy at bay until another followup could be prepared.

All the same she prepared herself to move her body if needed, possibly to deal with any blows to the face that the fairy might try. In these coming moments the blacksmith flickered over a few possibilities the best she could as the coming moments pressed down upon the two, threatening further pain to those whom kept themselves in lighter wits than the other.

Oh no she wouldn't.

So fistful of hair sure, but really... grabbing a cheek wasn't all that stable to pull up on. That would slip in the moment Jurie recoiled from the hair grab, due to the pain of course. And even then with enough pulling her hair was going to rip. And naturally that's just what happened.

Jurie would let out a screech of pain as her hair tore free, her right arm yanking back as she shifted backwards. Were the fairy perceptive enough she'd notice the string tugging back something from behind them, but really with the sudden jerk she might or might not be able to react in time for what was coming.

INCOMING!!!

The object created from the start of the fight would come barreling towards the two from its sandy tomb, reawakened by Jurie's beckoning call. Were it to impact the fairy would feel a round, heavy ball snap across its back, feeling much akin to a metal small metal sphere of some kind. Even still, were she to dodge the ball would simply retreat within the blacksmith's grasp, her eyes seething deep lines of anger within the fairy's gaze.

A surge of power would pour into the object after this, the textures seeming to glow a bit more dimly afterwords, though it seemed deadly all the same. The crowd would cheer a bit at this, excited to see the blacksmith ready to get serious with the action.

Now is where the fight really began.

Yo-yo- Off: 0 Def: 2

((Edited to add weapon stats))