975/Battle Unfinished

Battle Unfinished
Date of Scene:	14 November 2014
Location:	Hydaelyn <HD>
Synopsis:	Ysabel seeks out Odin to finish the battle they started.
Cast of Characters:	576, 581

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Odin (576) has posed:
Odin had challenged the hunter some time ago. It was starting to see to the dark rider that the woman had ignored the challenge, which means he need to be ready to carry out his own judgment for her lack of respect for such a battle.

For the location would be clear enough, for only one place would match the woman's description as Odin had given to her and many locals would warn her as well-- to stay clear. For not only does the Black Shroud not care for those from outside, but the living forest has its many dark monsters. Little do they realize they speak to one who deals with many creatures like, and unlike, what walks here in the very forest.

But the greatest fear for her life was the place she goes-- was the home of not only the water elements, but also the resting place of Odin himself.

As Ysabel would arrive, she would be greeted by the beautiful place with its crystal flowers and enchanted glow. Yet the dark presence that lingers here calls out to her over the raging waterfall from up high, "So you have at last come. For I thought I shalt had to come to find you and thus cut you down for the disrespect of the challenge given."

His very voice causes the crystals to chime ever so gently, but his voice lingers in the air still. "Come. Child of the outside world. I long waited for this battle." And for a moment she may catch a glimpse of him. That dark armored figure as he goes to walk away from the waterfall's edge. That black cape of his swinging over the water just high enough to not touch the cascading falls.

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    It may have taken some time, but Ysabel didn't spend it in vain. It was, mostly, spent preparing; preparing for an enemy Ysabel is well aware she doesn't really know how to combat, at least not as well as her usual opponents. And, to top it all off, Odin expected that she wasn't fighting at her full strength. How exactly was she supposed to just make up for that?

    The answer is apparent in what she decides to bring along in her travels. For once, the huntress doesn't journey alone, but instead finds herself followed by a large, sauropod-like Aptonoth, its back weighed down by what appears to be every single weapon in Ysabel's current collection. Giant swords, smaller swords, a hammer, a couple of gunlances, one or two switch axes...it's a wide variety, and fortunately, she's experienced in using all of them. Normally, though, it's only one weapon per quest; what could she plan to do this time?

    Eventually, Ysabel finds herself among the beautiful space of crystals and light, where she comes to a steady halt. It's a nice compliment to her own armor, forged from the pieces of the electric Zinogre, several parts of its structure glowing alongside the space's mystical lights. Her eyes narrow as she looks around the area, trying to figure out exactly where Odin was supposed to be waiting...but, soon enough, he makes himself known.

    Her head cranes back to see him, even if just for a moment. Her frown only hardens, but she doesn't back down. Not now, after taking this long. "Yeah. Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm sure you have a lot of more important people to beat up. Just hold up for another minute, okay?"

    Rather than draw a single weapon, however, Ysabel undoes the ropes on the Aptonoth's back to loosen her entire arsenal. A few more moments are taken as she begins carrying the various pieces across the arena, placing them down not too far from one another, but not too close, either. It's all at an even distance, and once the only weapon that remains is the Azure Rosebloom, that switch axe of deep blue and vibrant pink, she stops. That weapon in particular is held in her grasp, the axe blade shifting up to lock into place at the end of the hilt with a metallic clank.

    Ysabel takes a breath, then lets it out slowly, carefully. One last moment to prepare herself before she looks up toward Odin again, eyes sharp and bright. "Home team gets the first move. Unless you really want me to come beat your ass in first."

Odin (576) has posed:
The Dark Primal watches as Ysabel lays out her weapons and then makes herself ready for battle. Once she does, he leaps down from where he had moved himself and the pools of water rush upward for a moment.

Those glowing white eyes against the dark armor stare directly at her, he raises up his hand as he sword appears in thin air. Constructing itself from the very aether energies in a dark spool of energy. Once it is materialized, his hand grips around the hilt, his leg steps back and he places himself in a defensive stance.

"Home advantage doesth not interest me. Show me your strength and I shalt judge if you be worthy." With those words, the sudden sky darkens, the very crystals seem to take an almost dark light to them as a ripple of dark energy blasts outward and the area seeming to be engulfed by his very energy-- or the simple fact he altered it around him.

"Now come! Strike me down warrior!"

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    A slight wince comes over Ysabel's expression when Odin prepares for the battle. It's intimidating, definitely. She probably shouldn't be surprised that he knows how to make an appearance, particularly after his visit to Dondruma, but...it feels like more than that now. Her grip on Azure Rosebloom tightens. This...doesn't seem like just some show.

    "...fine, if you're so sure," she mutters. Another quick glance is given to her surroundings, one more check to make sure her weapons are in place...and then she runs.

    It's a straight rush to Odin, no more waiting or holding back. Once she comes close enough with her huge weapon, she pulls it back and then gives it a solid thrust straight for his gut. Unlike the Brisant Demolisher, however, there's no burst of slime; instead, the Azure Rosebloom's blades are coated in a potent poison, one that puffs off as a small purple cloud to become briefly airborne if the cut doesn't take hold. Considering the man's armor, and his fighting ability in the first place, Ysabel is doubting it will.

Odin (576) has posed:
Odin stands ready, not even moving when Ysabel comes to strike in. Yet when the blade moves in, Odin's stance quickly changes. The blade swings around to counter blow the other weapon. The two steels impacting, with sparks flying off.

Though if the gas cloud should come from the other weapon, the Dark Knight slides his blade along the axe and then goes to break, moving his cape around to actually move through the gas and shove it away.

As Odin comes back around, he then steps in quickly, almost getting on top of her, trying to make her larger weapon harder for her to swing, as taking advantage of this difference in weapon length by closing in with his own sword.

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    Switch axes aren't made for blocking and parries. Too many moving parts make it difficult to hold up against sturdy assaults, and while she can make do, it's not the best situation by far.

    Ysabel braces as much as she can, though she's not at the best angle to make use of her position. Teeth clenched, muscles tensed, the most she can do now is just try to hold him off so /he/ doesn't take advantage of the position. Soon enough, though, his superior strength takes that over; she finds herself shoved back, the unweildy switch axe is tossed aside, leaving her wide open for the moment.

    It's a split-second moment of intuitive action that saves her. As her weapon is thrown open and Odin moves in to attack, she takes just a second to pull the switch axe's trigger. The axe blade clanks down toward the hilt, and just before Odin's blade comes crashing down, Azure Rosebloom's sword blade flips up and locks into place with a burst of sparks. The more agile form allows Ysabel to quickly yank the weapon back into a guard in front of her, just barely in time to meet Odin's blade and catch it against her own.

    Fortunately for him, there's no poison bursting off the wyvern-made weapon. Ysabel just braces herself for the moment, holding him off from getting any closer.

    "...gotta get used to swordplay," the huntress mutters through gritted teeth, before she suddenly moves again. The large switch axe is twisted in her grasp, and rather than try to best Odin's strength, she instead attempts to make use of her leverage to redirect his sword slightly while swinging the tip of her own weapon against his torso.

Odin (576) has posed:
Swordplay was something the Elder Primal was remarkably good at, for whatever his dark secret he held behind all the aetheric armor and power he wielded. Odin did not back off his advance, which though played into Ysabel's court nicely. For when he came to strike, she parried his own blade and before the Dark Knight could recover, the woman's blade slashed against the dark armor.

Sparks released as the two physical forms impacted. Dark aetheric smoke release from the gash, only to slowly repair itself it would seem. Yet such a strike, only slightly knocked the taller foe back, for he move with the kinetic force and then came to strike right back in with a flare of his cape being a distraction to the very sword stab that was coming from behind the cape.

The other hand though free, had a dark tendril of energy running along his gauntlet and across his hand. Ready for who knows what plan Odin may have in mind. Be it a dark chain or his lance. It was all but uncertain.

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    Another distraction. Ysabel doesn't seem to do so well with those, particularly when they come from a human opponent. She sees the thrust of the sword, but by the time she does, there isn't much she can do to avoid it. It's coming at her fast, and she's not exactly an agile fighter.

    Her sword is cast to the side again in an attempt to deflect the strike, but all she succeeds in is getting it off-center, striking along a wyvern plate at her side with a flare of sparks and barely digging in to the flesh beneath. Ysabel winces, but in the position she has right now, she finds an opening.

    With a shout, she thrusts Azure Rosebloom forward in a stab, the blade glowing with a yellow aura, but that's not the extent of the attack. Even if it's parried, Ysabel keeps it held forward, and the axe blade clanks into a slight pivot as if it were about to transform again. It doesn't, though; the whole weapon shudders and shivers as it seems to build up energy, until, once Ysabel can barely hold it anymore, it all finds release at the end of the poisoned blade in a grand explosion.

    The blast is enough to knock Ysabel back, skidding along the ground several feet as the switch axe's sword blade flips toward the back and the axe clanks up to the top once more. The question now is whether that poisonous kinetic blast was enough against Odin in that moment.

Odin (576) has posed:
Odin manages to parry the blade, unaware of what is to come. "Is this truly thy best? Where is your heart in the battle!" However when the weapon suddenly shifts and the glow forms, this catches Odin's attention. "..Hm?"

Like a predator caught in the deception of the moment, he tries to break away, but to late when the Elder Primal does so. The sheer force knocks the armored figure back. He form rolls into one of the waters, till he is able to roll back up onto his feet, which slide back ever bit more.

The very poison though, he can feel its effects trying to pierce his body and his own aetheric energy fighting to keep it away. "Honor does not find you it seems.." Odin rumbles gently. It is then with the distance now between him, does the lance form in his other hand. With a force twirl, he swings out the lance, then with another, he sends it outward. The very lance swing around, almost acting like a bludgeon weapon to knock her off her feet once more.

If successful, he would swing it around more time before moving it to strike down at her with tip down like a scorpion's own tail.

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    Seeing Odin go flying is more than a little satisfying for Ysabel. The huntress cocks a brief smirk before tossing Azure Rosebloom aside and running to pick up another weapon to mix things up some more. She's already shown the strangest trick the switch axe has; best not to rely on that too much more.

    By the time Odin gets up again, Ysabel is grasping another weapon in her hand: the Oppressor's Skyfall, a gunlance made from Zinogre materials with a strange double-barreled shotgun style of cannon. This means she has an actual method of blocking now, too, considering the large shield in her right hand.

    "Sorry, when you make a job out of fighting for your life against things that don't even know honor exists, you kinda don't bother with that shit," Ysabel remarks with a tinge of sarcasm. "Besides, you're the one who wanted to see me at my best."

    And, it seems, Odin is returning /his/ best. The lance is a surprise, and while Ysabel is able to properly defend herself with her current weapon, mobility is a greater issue. It's difficult to move hefting two such heavy things, and so she instead resorts to blocking. Her shield is lifted just in time, but not exactly braced properly; the strike of the lance against her shield sends Ysabel skidding back several feet, just barely managing to actually /stay/ on her feet in the process. By the time she's recovered, the agile lance is coming down on her again, this time in a downward thrust. With a hiss of effort, Ysabel leaps with just enough space to keep the lance from running her through...though it instead jabs right into the strange 'skirt' of plates that hangs from her waist.

    Ysabel curses even before she lands on her back with a hard crash, her momentum suddenly stopped in that moment. Quick thinking is all that saves her as she swiftly undoes that skirt's hold on her waist, rolls to the side to leave it on the ground, and, as soon as she finds her footing, she immediately moves in a charge toward Odin to attempt to strike with the gunlance's electricity-imbued tip.

Odin (576) has posed:
"That I did.." Odin says calmly as he voice reverbs in the air. Her quick thinking does save her from being pinned down, but Odin does not pull the lance back to his side. Instead he leaves it in the very ground itself.

As Ysabel comes in with her electric tipped lance, Odin step back, sword to the side and as she goes to strike, he suddenly whisks away into dark aethic mist, allowing her blade to strike at the rock surface behind him.

Odin then appears behind her, those glowing eyes staring down at her, the tip of the blade pointed to her backside. "And you impress me, even with the lack of honor-- for even I am fully aware," If she was to turn and attack, he would simply appear at her side as he continues, "that sometimes-- Honor has no place on the battlefield."

Once more he vanishes, though where too is unseen, at least until his reflection may be seen in the pool of water near her feet, for the elder primal is dropping in from above, striking down his sword in a cleaving motion to claim her below.

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    The sudden burst of mist is certainly a surprise for Ysabel, even more so when her gunlance abruptly crashes against stone. Surprise and frustration flit over her expression as she glances around to where he could have gone, until she suddenly hears his voice right behind her. As expected, she whirls around with a violent shout to try and swing the side of the heavy gunlance against him and knock him away, but his next disappearance leaves her once more swinging into empty air. Again she spins, swinging the weapon up in a slash, but he evades that, too. And now where is he?

    Ysabel has faced enough things that leap and fly to know that the first place to look when something is nowhere to be found is up. When she does so to see Odin falling down onto her from above, her eyes nonetheless grow wide in reflexive shock before her shield is brought up again.

    Ysabel buckles under the cleaving strike of his sword, but her shield holds. Wincing under the effort of holding Odin back and also keeping her own weapons in check, she nonetheless manages to make use of the brief close quarters. Her gunlance is swung up again at a slightly awkward angle, but not close enough to stab into the great knight. No, instead it stops just in front of his chest, where she pulls the trigger to release a powerful cannon blast whose recoil hurls the weapon off-target in the process.

Odin (576) has posed:
The Gunlance swings around and the sheer cannon blast knocks Odin back, at least he skids back and nearly falls over due to being off balance. He stares at the lance-like weapon, staring at it for a long time. "...urth.." slowly escapes from him, be he shakes his head and the thought away.

Ysabel at least ha a moment there to breath, though not for long, for soon Odin comes at her again. His blade this time dragging across the water's edge, parting it unnaturally as it starts to take a glow around the edge. Then with an upward swing he goes to strike.

As soon as he brings the blade, up, he steps around, using the cape to seemingly get in the way. Though as he does this, the cape blasts into aetheric fog as it vanishes in front of Ysabel. Once this happens, Odin comes around still to bring the blade right back down.

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    Once Ysabel has a minute to push to her feet, she finds herself staring at Odin with a vaguely confused look. His stare toward the gunlance doesn't go unnoticed, nor does his slow muttering. "...the hell is urth," she finally asks, only a moment before he's rushing at her once more.

    Well, she probably shouldn't expect exposition tonight.

    The speeding rush gives Ysabel a moment to prepare this time, bringing up her shield as is no doubt expected of her by now. The upward swing is blocked, barely causing Ysabel to flinch against the crash and burst of sparks, but just as she's about to retaliate, his swirling cape gets in her way again. She thinks, of course, that she's wise to his trickery by now, and she fires another explosive shot from the gunlance...and, as she learns a second later, into open air.

    "What the-?!" She doesn't manage to get much more out before Odin's blade slices down against her back, drawing out a pained shout and forcing the huntress to stumble forward. There's a clear gash along her back, cutting through the glowing lightning bolt tattoos formed on her skin, but after gritting her teeth, Ysabel pushes through it to offer another retaliation.

    With a cry, the huntress whirls around and /slams/ her gunlance down where Odin is, crashing against the ground if he chooses to move. That, however, isn't the extent of her attack: the moment the gunlance comes down, she discharges every single one of the remaining four shells simultaneously in a shotgun blast that sends her stumbling back once more with the force of the blow. A technique the blacksmiths continue to frown on hunters for using, telling them 'that's not how they're supposed to work', but it's not like they've /fixed/ it or anything.

Odin (576) has posed:
Odin does not answer's Ysabel's question right away. As he is to busy dealing with her weapon that fires off explosive cannon shot rounds and easily shoving herself back while doing so!

When the actual strike comes, Odin uses his bracer to allow the lance to slam upon his arm. The sheer force knocks his arm down a bit and cracks the very armor plating it hits. When the shells are fired, Odin swings his blade around and actually /cuts/ the bullets in half as they blast around his form.

The Elder Primal then points his blade at her, answering perhaps her original question, "Urth is the one whom imprisoned me for thousands of years. Only to be awoken by one of you outsiders by the name if Marrik."

"Urth still lingers, I can sense her very stench upon the soil. She whom stood along side the warrior and she whom betrayed me!" Odin then suddenly vanishes once more, only to appear next to his lance. He yanks it from the very ground. He then twirls the lance in one hand taking a slightly defensive stance with the lance behind him. "You are simply a choosing of my own testing. As my own world has merged into something far greater, but the flow is weak beyond the sea."

"Your world called to me by the battles it fights. Your warriors blood rings into my own vague humanity." Odin's eyes can almost be seen narrowing as he lowers his head slightly. "I giveth a choice, hunter of beasts. Take the chance to summon me for one moment of your needing.. or battle me still upon the land which those my betrayers call home."

"But make the choice wisely."

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    Ysabel is very uncertain of what to make of all this. First he cuts right through the bullets, then he's expositing toward her rather than trying to attack her...

    The huntress stands there, the barrel of her gunlance smoking slightly as she stares wary and uncertain at Odin. Every swift movement he does makes her reflexively flinch, uncertain whether he's going to attack her or just keep talking. She stares, tightly gripping her weapons in her hands...

    ...and he gives her a choice. That makes her pause, confusion visibly showing on her face. "...a...summon? Really?" She stares for a moment more, blinking her befuddlement. "I...well, shit, okay. Sure, I'll take that. I mean...it'll be helpful to have someone with your strength when I need it, even if it's only once. Kind of out of nowhere, though, man."

    She lowers her weapons, then, shaking her head for a moment as she looks around the arena. "Well...I haven't heard of Urth or Marrik, so I can't say I'm familiar, but...hey. You're not that bad of a guy, after you get past the fighting spirit." A slight frown shows on her face. "...you're looking to get revenge on them, aren't you?"

Odin (576) has posed:
Odin stands there, tall and unconcerned, but both weapons are held at his side. Ready at any time to be moved into an offensive or defensive stance. He remains silent for a moment, even as the air starts to clear up around them, showing the slow rising of the night sky above. Just how long have they been fighting? Or was it really that late when they started?

"Marrik freed me and has a favor which he may use.. Urth.. Urth I desire vengeance on and all her kin." The Elder Primal explains as he goes to take a step back. "For the wrong that was committed, shalt be corrected. For I shall not be simply forgotten again. For my name is Odin and my blade will cut down all whom get in my way." Odin says with a cold calmness in his voice, before he turns around and then seems to vanish into a smoke of black aetheric energy. Vanishing away to not be seen or even heard further of.

Ysabel Thibault (581) has posed:
    Ysabel finds herself, for once, at a loss for words. Odin's statement is a grave one, but not one she doesn't sympathize with. Isn't that something not unlike her own motivations, after all?

    The huntress' expression hardens somewhat. No, that's not something to consider for now. She'll just have to accept her victory, be grateful she can still walk, and be on her way. Maybe, if she's strangely lucky, Odin will be a little talkative next time.

    Just as she starts to pack up her weapons, she realizes that she forgot to ask exactly /how/ she's going to summon him when she needs to. That's troublesome.

    Ysabel just sighs quietly and shakes her head, continuing to set her weapons on the Aptonoth's back once more and preparing to head out. She'll just have to consider that later. Consider it like everything else on her mind on the long walk back home.