Scene #7680:

Owner	Pose
Qulan Kahkol	Qulan would make good on her promise. She found a nice place she considered...right for such an encounter. The Coerthas Western Highlands were barren, cold, and oftentimes full of the remains of Ishgardian villages, farmlands, and castles. What were once vast farmlands, were now frozen plots. The only thing you could find here in its place were frozen rivers, the remains of farming equipment, dragons, and all sorts of beasts that had come to inhabit the land in the evacuation of the farmers and shepherds. It also made it a nice place to have duels. Qulan, in her armor, thrust the weapon down into the ice and snow and placed her hands on top of the hilt of her broadsword, and waited. This would be what greets Rita when she comes. The helmet is not pulled up, it remains over her face.
Rita Ma	She has heavy armor and a big sword. She's tough and strong, but I don't think she's fast. And she talked about something else with Midway- some kind of war-fueled power. I think she said 'Quietus' at some point. That's the one trick I have to look out for. And she doesn't know anything I can do, or how, besides that I can disappear and reappear. Good. Rita's shivering and sniffling a little bit when she shows up- the cold weather isn't kind to her choice of wardrobe at all. She's in her typical guise as a perfectly normal girl, with a small satchel of medical supplies slung over one shoulder. The illusory handgun is clutched in her opposite hand, but there's no way to tell that it's fake. She stops on the surface of a frozen river, about twenty paces away, and throws her medical satchel onto a snowbank so it won't get damaged in the fight. "Hi, Ms. Kahkol," she says. Both her voice and her expression are hard to read. "I hope you're ready." She raises her fake gun, but the 'gunshot' is real: when she pulls the trigger, an invisible tendril stabs forward and tries to lance through a thin-looking spot on Qulan's armor. It's not a powerful attack, but it is guided by a peerless predatory instinct: it will strike true.
Qulan Kahkol	The shot rings out, the pain was not what was expected. The tendril launched at her from a direction she was not expecting. Rita gets first blood because that straight up impaled her before it would pull back. However, what Rita might not have expected is that there is a realization in her eyes. She can't find the real Rita, but she can at least make things difficult. The blade comes down aiming for the attacking tentacle, aiming to sever it with the blow, trading her own health for a chance to hurt Rita. Trading one opportunity for another. Hopefully, the slab is on vacation today! When she strikes, that baleful energy surges out, striking directly at life force equally than a sword. Though the second part isn't immediate, she is hurting the body's ability to heal with each strike. "Come on, you want to kill a threat! Show me what a gallant guardian of PROPER society fights!" She says, venom escaping her words. Under the helmet, red eyes can be seen watching.
Rita Ma	The tentacle weaves around the sword strike with unbelievable alacrity, briefly visible due to Qulan's blood staining it- then wipes the crimson off on the snow, and fades out of view once more. Rita advances slowly. The gun in her hand dissolves, all pretense gone. "My mother betrayed the upper class, even though it cost her her life," she says. Her voice is trembling, though it's hard to say if it's with anger or with fear. "My father led a revolution against the wealthy, and I was born in exile because of it." She zooms forward abruptly, her claws bared, but that Rita dissolves into nothingness just before making contact- a decoy. Instead invisible tentacles wrap around Qulan, binding her limbs to force her to kneel and shapeshifting into the appearance of chains. From an outside perspective, it's as if the chains just magically appeared on her. "And my brother-" The voice- and the blow- comes from behind, a brutal leaping kick to the back of the head designed to inflict a concussion. Rita shimmers into visibility again only after it's delivered. "Nearly died to bring hope to the poor, while I killed those rich bastards with my own hands." "But you don't fight for the people, do you, Ms. Kahkol? You just fight for your own wounded pride."
Qulan Kahkol	Those chains wrap around Qulan, forcing her to the ground. They crush armor and cause bruising all through her body. If she were a lesser woman she'd be dead right now, or at least barely able to breathe. The chains have to come from somewhere, she thinks, and instead of staying on a knee, she uses her...IMPRESSIVE strength to try and stand. The more she struggles the more she tries to tear at the things binding her down. Should she get enough momentum she tries to TEAR her way out, releasing an impressive amount of that dark energy that surges across her body. Those eyes, stare, scanning her area as best as she can. It'd take everything to try and hurt Rita tearing out...so let's focus on the next exchange, she thinks. "My father died getting my mother and brother out. My mother died crossing the border into Ishgard. My brother died from illness later. The rest of my tribe killed or scattered...I in fact do not know if any of them live or not." She reaches out for that sword again, picking it up. "My brothers in arms are missing. Instead of going to pick a fight with the Ishgardians, I helped them with their cultist problem. I helped root out traitors that had infiltrated their ranks." "I protect the people from the nobility that exploit them..." she says and snaps her eyes around again. "I chose to suffer to shield them, and that means rubbing my elbows with unsavory people." She comments again, "I will not, however, say you are a liar. I am still a sinner like everyone else..." "You didn't even give me a chance to explain what I had planned. Instead, you jumped on team Lilian against me, without even hearing out what I had to say, despite the nobility there accepting what I had to say as discourse. Lilian jumped at me because she only considers herself competent.." "And you stood with her against me, without even hearing my voice. Then you told me I should have stayed in the second class. Then you also accepted Lilian's command to choke me out. You chose to be here to 'end a threat'." "So do it," She says with a fury. "I am not running...you think yourself a hero, so prove my path wrong with your deeds, because the only words you listen to are yours and those you look up to. Not those who walk beside you."
Rita Ma	The chain-tentacles do still bleed when they're ripped apart, which must be inflicting some measure of harm- but it's hard to tell just how much, and she doesn't seem to show any pain from them. The bulk of Rita's tentacles are wrapped around her to form her disguise, or otherwise invisible and poised to strike. It's safe to assume she's still well within fighting shape. "It's not like that at all," says Rita as she circles, real distress evident in her voice. "Those awful people in first class, I hate them just as much as you! They didn't lash out at the time, but they had eyes on you." "I wasn't really going to choke you then. I just wanted you to stop digging your own grave! I wouldn't betray you on a mission, especially not one so important, but I'm not surprised you don't get that." "... But there's nothing stopping me now." Rita slams the ice beneath her and Qulan's feet with a large tentacle, cracking it instantly and plunging them both into the deep, freezing river below. In the murky water, she doesn't even have to turn invisible; it's hard enough to see already. Of course, the apex predator of the seas has no issue maneuvering even in glacially-cold, lethally fast waters. Her tentacles wrap around the dark knight, squeezing her torso to try and crush the air out of her, and holding her down from surfacing again!
Qulan Kahkol	The water wasn't where Qulan was a master of, because she's not that type of lizard! She can feel the air being crushed out of her lungs, those tentacles taking full advantage of her superiority in this situation. Qulan is very quickly losing oxygen. In fact, the shock of the ice bath had knocked her out for just a moment. Being unable to breathe had quickly dragged her back to consciousness, but for a moment her body screams at her. Instincts threaten to take control, which would undoubtedly give Rita the match. However, her hand snaps out, aiming to try and find a tentacle. The second is her blade, it slams into the ground...and a burning wave of darkness washes out across the air. Earth slams out of the ground and causing the land around them to snap up. Qulan would hit the new earth and start coughing out water. Dizzy, but not defeated, she grabs the broadsword again. It doesn't get rid of the water though. A literal river is still flowing through the battlefield, but dark fire is keeping it up and flowing...````normally````. She looks like she's about to speak again, but coughs up some more water.
Rita Ma	There are no fancy illusions this time; no sophisticated abilities, no shell games. The wave of darkness washes over her, but that's not going to be enough to put her down. Rita, still dripping wet, walks up to the coughing Qulan and uppercuts her jaw with ferocious strength, despite the helmet that could break normal human knuckles. Even as the least of Rita's attacks, it could decapitate an ordinary man. "Could you hold your tongue if people depended on it, Ms. Kahkol? Could you give up your pride if it got in the way of helping the poor and hungry?" Just as Qulan seems to steady herself from the first strike and the water in her lungs, a followup kick strikes her abdomen, unpracticed but still shockingly fast. "If you have it in you to put down your pride and concede, I'll admit I was mistaken. I'll admit you're a real hero. But if you can't... the people deserve a better champion than you."
Qulan Kahkol	The punch goes across her face, staggering her...which is odd because that should have sent any other normal person flying. Instead, she snaps her face back, eyes staring right at Rita. Those eyes just glowing the deep crimson as she speaks, her voice raspy, barely full of the oxygen needed to speak. "If you think I need praise from others, then you don't know what a dark knight is at all.." she says and attempts to headbutt Rita back, enough to try and stagger her as she grabs the sword. Her arms and legs are numb, she can barely feel her chest to breathe, but she keeps pushing forward. "It isn't about pride, or about what others think about me..." "Their eyes were on me. Not you, not captain harpy. On me. If they had revealed themselves early, then it'd make the mission go smoother, it was a calculated risk that only put one person in danger..." "Me. I risked my ass so that we could learn more, and because of it we DID confirm something important," she spits, and comes back with the sword, aiming to cut down the middle. "You couldn't /trust/ me because you only rely on your own sense of justice, and whatever else that fucking harpy put into your starry eyes." "It doesn't matter if the whole world hates us, or if the authority outcasts us...we defend the people, by any means necessary, from anyone. I take pride in my skill...sure, and I hate being silenced...no I can not stand it...it comes down from my very fucking soul. To be silenced is death, to exist in silence is a fate worse than it." "I don't care if you think I'm a hero, but betraying my trust? Putting your own ideas above others? That's why I exist...now let's finish it!"
Rita Ma	"All that just to say your pride really is the most important," Rita responds. Her expression's colored with a lot of complex emotions: sadness, residual anxiety, rising frustration. "'Silence is death'... you sound like a child." She steps backwards to evade the headbutt effortlessly. The heavy overhead swing, she tests by raising her arm against it; it glances off of her supernaturally-toughened forearm, drawing a trickle of blood that isn't quite human-colored. I can't let this drag out. Her blood... I came here sated, but it's already intoxicating to me. We could be here for an hour like this, and eventually, the hunger would get too much. "But I'm here because you promised this is something I could beat out of you. So I will. I don't like fighting you at all, Ms. Kahkol, but... if this can make you a better hero, I'll do it." Rita's foot stomps on the back of Qulan's lowered blade before it can be raised again. A half-dozen translucent blue tentacles shimmer into visibility around the black knight, each one tapered to a spear-like point; most thinner than Rita's forearm, two of them as thick as her leg. There's no possible way out. They have every angle covered. They converge all at once, like a half-dozen snakes lunging to strike, aiming to pierce into her flesh. None of them are aimed for vital organs, but she's taken the time to judge how tough Qulan is, and this is intended to be at the limit of what the dark knight can tolerate.
Qulan Kahkol	"Then I guess we're not going to hear each other then..." Qulan says, with a growl. She goes for the attack, but then she is /absolutely impaled on every single tentacle. Everyone...all of them digs into her, pierce her armor. Blood is everywhere, she is even coughing some of it out of her. However, for an absolutely terrifying moment, Qulan grabs the largest of the tentacles. Her vice-like grip on it hoping to make it more difficult for Rita to pull away. Her body is visibly radiating darkness like a heat haze. She did say she turned her pain into power. "Quietus!" she commands, and she radiates an explosion in all directions, anything it touches attempts to simply wipe it out. Snow, ground, tentacles, Rita. It's intense on a level something like this has no right to be, hitting with both the force of an explosion, but also eroding life force away. Once the attack ended, however, Qulan drops to her hands and knees. She's bleeding out pretty badly. She refuses to go down while she can still fight, but if she didn't finish it here? Well...it didn't matter, Qulan was pretty sure she'd die here in the snow anyway.
Rita Ma	This body is awful. It's the worst thing to exist. Every day I can feel my organs moving inside me, following a plan I don't understand. Every day colors look a little different, and I'm scared I'll forget how they used to look. My tongue doesn't feel at home in a mouth full of foreign teeth. I hate it. But it is, at least, good at hurting people. When it moves on its own, I don't think I could ever lose. Rita's body is burnt. Rita's body unravels. Rita's true form steps out of her mummy-like camouflaged wrappings, shedding her ordinary-girl disguise, and closes the distance to Qulan. Her now visibly mutated body is elegant blue, organic lappets and fins forming something in the vague shape of a dress. Her pale skin is shot through with veins of azure flesh; one of her eyes is still human, but the other is an icy blue with a cross-shaped pupil. Her singed tentacles- now visibly sprouting from her upper back- pull out of the black knight's body, leaving open flesh-wounds behind. The dark knight's on her hands and knees, so Rita walks forwards and delivers a sharp kick to her visor so swift that it makes a noise like a whipcrack, aiming to send her sprawling down on her back. "You told me I could beat this out of you. 'One trouble, or the other, will go away'. Do you understand why I'm doing this, Ms. Kahkol? It isn't because I'm betraying you. It isn't because I like hurting people." Rita straddles the dark knight's chest. Tentacles pin her wrists down to the snow. The girl rips off Qulan's helmet, and delivers a harsh single straight punch to the knight's face. She draws back for another, implying a willingness to do that again, and again, and again if necessary. Those mismatched eyes stare down at her. The human eye is tearing up just a little, but the monstrous one is glassy and cold. "Tell me you lose. Tell me I'm better. Not because I need to hear it, but because you need to say it. Because if I'm going to trust you, I need to know that you don't value pride over everything else."
Qulan Kahkol	Despite her condition, she is gripping at her weapon. The kick comes, and she attempts to block with the blade, putting everything into it. She staggers back, she didn't have enough to push through, because the punch sends her down. Her helmet kicked far off from the very first blow. She tries to rise but fails...instead of rolling over to see the blue monster standing over her. Qulan doesn't flinch, she doesn't look afraid or call out in fear. She coughs up some blood, her head turning to the side to do this. She's forced to listen. Blood is escaping out of who knows how many holes all over her body. Qulan, is definitely guilty of the sin she is being accused of. She is prideful in what she's amassed. She's prideful in her skills, and while she says she's for the benefit of others, there is a part of her that is because it's to benefit her. It is why, right now, she is about to say something incredibly stupid. "You won, so get it over with," she says. "You know how to silence me."
Rita Ma	Crack. The second punch to Qulan's now-unprotected face comes near-instantly after she speaks. "I don't want to silence you," Rita says, and her voice is flinching and a little hoarse. She regretted the second punch, just a little, as soon as she threw it. "I just want you to say it. Not 'Rita wins', but 'Qulan loses'." All that blood... I can patch her up after this, but I'm starving. It's like I'm being stabbed in the gut. I want to grab her muscles in my teeth and shake my head until the ligaments rip. I want to break her limbs off and shove them down my throat one by one. ... But I won't. I remember what I came here for. "And I want you to promise this will never be a problem again. That you'll be a better hero. Can you promise me that, Ms. Kahkol? Then I'll heal you, and we can leave."
Qulan Kahkol	Qulan rolls her head from the punch, this time she doesn't move it back. She's not unconscious, but she just refuses to turn back. There is a long moment of silence before she speaks again. It's soft and tired, "You're crying," She says, it's hard to tell if it's a matter of factly, mockingly, or surprised. Qulan's got a pretty horse voice. "You have the keys to the kingdom right now, you could do it right now and make sure that I don't do that again right now..." he says, calmly. "Instead you're slapping me around asking me to do better. I thought my words were pretty clear yesterday, that only one of us was walking out of here." "You want a recording...? Me to admit I'm a shitty hero? Get the Dark Knight of Ishgard to say she's a loser? What is the game you're playing here?"
Rita Ma	"Of course I'm crying," she says, and then wipes her face with the back of her sleeve. "With how awful all this has been. What do you expect me to do? Smile and laugh? I..." Then she jolts upright, pieces finally falling into place. 'You know how to do it. You could silence me right now.' 'One trouble, or the other, will go away.' '... only one of us is walking out of here.' "You... you really thought I'd kill you? You were going to kill me?" Rita's eyes flash shock, horror, and disgust in rapid succession. "When you said the trouble would go away... I thought you meant you'd be willing to change. Not that you were coming here to kill or die."
Qulan Kahkol	"I...thought you wanted to kill me, you know..." she sighs, "Because I didn't live up to some standard, that I am considered by some to be a second class citizen...that I'm not a good person," Qulan says. There is a long period of silence. "I lose," She says after a moment. Her tone is a bit reserved. She wants to say something but right now the whole situation is...incredibly awkward. She absolutely doesn't know what to say.%
Rita Ma	Rita's eyes widen further, somehow. Her expression's gone from teary and almost apologetic to cold and appalled. "That's disgusting," she says. "You're disgusting. Assuming I'd do something like that... what kind of a teammate are you? Were you even listening to a single thing I've ever said?" Rita gets up off of Qulan's chest and walks away, as if to leave. But she comes back, carrying her medical satchel from earlier. She bandages Qulan's wounds in silence, uses a wax caustic pencil to cauterize what can't be plugged with sterile gauze, and leaves the knight with a small bottle of fortifying drink to give her enough strength to walk back home. Then she walks towards the hole in the icy river, preparing to dive in and depart for real. Just before she does, she looks back over her shoulder. Her voice is hoarse and a little quivery again. "Lilian was completely right about you. You're an animal. And I ought to keep you on a tighter leash."
Qulan Kahkol	Rita calls her disgusting. It's a blow that hits so hard it shocks her into further silence. Her hand reaches out to grab the other woman's though there is no strength behind it. She is just in fact trying to refuse the aid now. "Then go. I don't need your charity," she says, but with no real emotion behind it. It wouldn't be hard to do it anyway, but she's non-cooperative at this point. At some point, she grabs her helmet. She only turns to stare at Rita as she gives a final comment. The helmet slams down, and the front of it closes. "Just use your own words, Rita. I'm a monster."