Tornament Fight: Ranka vs. Ember

[Senior Master Al'Kan]

:.The shadow lord of the tai-shueldon meditates in the center of the ring, earasing his thoughts, thinking of darkness, anger and hate. He reaches into the force, tainting it with darkness, as a whirlwind sweeps through the ring. A black and red aurora swirls around ember, and flows into him as smoothly as a serphant.:

[glow=black,2,300]What shall the rules be, fellow lord of the sword?[/glow]

:.Ember awaits an answer, from ranka.. Who is perhaps a distant relative of his blood, surely, most likely. Their rivalry has been harsh, their friendship like brothers.. But now, they fight.:

[Veran]

His emotions, cloaked by a mask of inpenetrable shadows and cold as it always has been was still present in the very ring. His now blue coat dancing as the winds flys across the flat space they stood on, which would become in a very near future... a battlefield.

Darkness filled the arena almost in every sence of the word, as blackening aura's clashed almost as if two waterfalls would have suddenly collide...

Yet he knew the darkness of his past friend to hide something which he could not find the right words to describe its matter... Far too bright to be even compared to twin sun's into a distant system from there... Enigmaticly as always, this very light was completly shrouded by the shadows of this beings soul. Even though he could not feel any radiating thoughts within the force itself, the Dematri caried the smell of a inhumaine anger, as if all of his sences would be in an alert state, and even so all he did was simply standing there, in this spot from which he had not move from since he had layed eyes upon ember... Holding an appearent disspointement for far more then a lone reason and simply glaring with a look, holding yet no hostility but which spoke of volume into something that may have meant; I will never forgive you... As he finaly spoke though, his voice resonated with such cold tone that it would have seemed that frost would have fell within the very room like a hammer between them. Not only sending a chilling wind towards Ember, but all who heard these words as they slowly, and faintly echoed into the future battlefield...

[glow=purple,2,300]I would hardly consider you a sword lord Ember... You have vowed to destroy darkness before the elders and before me and now all I see is the shadow of a man who once proudly accepted such burden. A shadow which will fall into the very abyss of hell from which I will make suffer such unspeakable pain that time will no longer exist to your sences and only endless agony will remain into the void that I will make into your shattered soul. Tell me though, in which of your abilities do you feel the most confident of actualy having a glimpse of a hope into defeating me Ember?[/glow]

[Senior Master Al'Kan]

:.Ember chuckles, with ranka's words, for he clearly does not understand the burden which he carries. Ember gets up, and ranka can clearly see he wears the belt of the shadow lord; the leader of the tai-shueldon. A red aurora swirls around the shadow lord, dimming the light int he area, with its undbearable darkness, like a waterfall pounding hard.:

:.Ember had much respect for ranka, inspired by his skill with the sword, like his own. In one ring, stood the two most powerful wielders of the blade, ready to fight each other. But, who would win? An answer yet to be questioned. Ember paces in a circle around ranka, deeply pondering, sucking in darkness. From under his black silk mask, a smirk sweeps across his face.:

"You do not know the burden which one like me carries, Ranka. Again ranka, you underestimate me. Much has changed since we last met. Much. Whoever wins will have luck ranka, for you know we are equally matched. Do not judge me from my outside. Ranka, our fates may be linked, they may not. But, darkness is my path, as yours is the light. Will you shatter my soul? No, you wont. Shatter is a strong word, my old friend. My flame shall always burn, and darkness will smother the light, whether I am at the lead of it, or not. Now, what are your terms?"

[Veran]

Not even looking at Ember with his eyes as the Swordlord stalks around as if he simply did not need to face him directly to make him understand... Yet perhaps he simply didn't care to even waste his energy into looking at one which fell mesirebly low in his esteem...

"You speak Oh, so highly of yourself and mention things of the future... Yet have you ever been revealed of the simplest and smallest glimpse of any posible future? A hard thing to even say, since the very future is always in a constant line which never stops from either turning of curling for it is always in motion..."


Silence yet again seemed to have found a confortable place between both Swordlords as they simply stood, not even looking into each other's eyes to knows the others thoughts... Or so imagine.

You say that the weapons we bare are evenly matched, and so I would find it most... Entertaining for our blades to battle. Yet, I find absolutly no objection into you, using any reserve of power you may have at your disposal... Thus, strike me with the blade you weild and the force, if you can manipulate it with as much finess as you do so with the sword.

[Senior Master Al'Kan]

"Your words are high too, my old friend. Only one of us will walk out as winner."

:.Ember raises both of his hands, the lights dim, making the arena as black as the night sky, as black as darkness gets. Ranka looks up, to see a tornado of what seems to be crackling lightning, surging with darkness. Then, like a flicker of light, it forms into a sphere, and then a horizontal funnel. Ember makes a smooth flick of his wrists, so smooth it seems as if he is playing a melody with the motion. The lightning swirls, like a raging wolf, and soon sweeps across the air, looking for its intended target. Ranka.:

[glow=black,2,300]There is much of me you yet know, old friend.[/glow]

[Veran]

Almost as if the Taï-Shueldon master ignored the innevitable attack, he simply stared with the corner of his eyes, peircing beyond the shadows that established themselves into the nightly climate that has suddenly shrouded the once well illuminated arena, making it appear more as an executionary hall then a proper duel ring... Which seemed awfully fit for the upcoming battle.

He saw the emotions, still raging throughout his former partner like the lightning which fluidly took shape with every second he spent studying the... Sith. His cold stare, seemed so focus that the one being looked upon might have felt such thing as a burden under the constant glare of frost that radiated eternaly into the Dematri's eyes... Until he removed them from the silouette of a former friend.

Soon, the whirlpool of lightning found its prey and without and could almost have been seen making something that may have been considered like the growl of a fearsome beast as if rejoice from its foe that may already consider itself dead as it lunged towards the Nem'vaah with the very ferocity of its image represented; Embers anger, passion... And hate.

The wave of power vacuumed the very air around it creating a fearsome storm of winds, raging into the pit like a hurricane, become far more intense with every moments it came closer and closer to its far-too-calm target which itself did not even seemed to flinch even to the storm of elements around him, simply looking through his hairs which danced into this very same storm... It is only in this fatefull moment that Ranka had been carying his sheated weapon in his left hand, hid from his view simply because of the angle he had chosen to watch upon the so called 'death' of Ranka. And so he did not even need to see the future feats shown by both his attack and his foe to know the outcome...

A metalic clash could be heard even across the walls of noise created by the mighty and enraged wolf of lightning, and so the Blade of the Unholy Divines was being weilded by its rightfull owner and creater into a laughable defensive stance as he brandished the exotic blade over his head, by using a single hand and seeming like he was hardly putting any effort into this stance... Even a half smile could be seen beyond the infernal light made by the tiger, revealing Ranka's teeth until all became blinded as blade and claws encountered...

All that could be seen was pure whiteness, until finaly Ember's eyesight came back to him simply to stare at emptyness between him and his rival and also seeing that his rival hadn't move the slightest bit from his initial stance, his arm, proudly weilding the Katana high into the air, as lightning and energy of a pruple and white haze flickered into the blade, to simply vanish into nothingness as if they had been absorbed by a vortex...

The only noticable change was the shadow which cloaked any emotions from his opponent's figure... Yet he could ask himself if this being could feel any emotion at all. Until he finaly saw this same grin he had seen only mere moments ago, talking of a voice that kept itself true to its coldness yet this time, it truly made him want to simply kill Ranka on this very spot he had been so happy to stand into for quite some time since he had arrived...

[glow=purple,2,300]And there is so little you understand about anything... old friend[/glow]

[Senior Master Al'Kan]

:.Ember simply sighs, knowing that the lightning would be absorbed into Ranka's katana. Ember reaches towards his back, drawing his katana. The very sheating of the sword seemed to be like a desperate cry for battle, engulfing the arena in sharp echoes, without a moment's pause.

Ember walked to the side of the ring, scraping his katna along the side, making a deep cut in the wall, along with another devastating screeching noise. What was ember doing?

Then, ember engulfs himself in force flow, a feat of the nem'vaah. In an eye's blink, a kick meet's ranka's stomach, barely distracting his fellow lord of the sword, as it would him. He re-entered force flow, and was standing back where he was at the wall, with the devastating speed.:

[glow=black,2,300]Cai-Shan, Dai-Al Mungi![/glow]

:.Ember's words seem familiar, yet distant to his foe. In the old tongue, the words ember just said meant For the sword, for the shadow! Ember then twirls his katana in his hand, making it looks effortless. The twirl seams to be like a melody, working as smooth as a song.

A purple haze slowly drifts from the blade, as ember nears the sword lord. Ember seems to be moving as smooth as a serphant, not making a flinch. Ranka can then feel himself being circled, but ember was right infront of him.

Ember then slowly approached ranka, cautiously, as he raised his katana in the air. Then, as if there weren't a moment left in time, ember made a swift thrust, and the blade sung through the air, towards ranka's ribs. As the blade neared ranka, ember began to grin evily, like a devilish smirk swept across his face.:

[Veran]

An expression, which itself had been swept away as swiftly as it came, since he knew both that his adversary was neither a fool, nor a stranger to the arts of battle... This detail became far more appearent though as he looked towards the Dematri, who seemed less then suprised by his attack even with its intensity which screamed its power through the air...

Yet, as if time slowed down for both of them, the Sith could see every movements done by his old friend as fluidly and in as much detailed as if he would have been able to analyze them for entire hours... It seemed as though the same phenomenan was felt by Ranka, from who the eyes an his expression remained as cold as always, neither showing any compassion, love, pity or even mercy... After all, they had never stated anything about the restrictions of using deadly arcanes of war.

The Nem'vaah firmly griped the hilt of his weapon with both his hands as he pushed it into a vertical position exactly where Embers blade was about to strike, and so without any further interuptions, the metalic razors clashed togheter, letting out a malevolant song of death as the blade of Ember slowly derived from its rightfull target area to move merely centimeters away from the Dematri's back... Yet, they were so dangerously close to each other, both him and Ranka that their weapons locked togheter... Both had the time to glare into each others eyes, so that fire and ice could be simply felt fighting into a telepathic battle between the two for an anormaly long second...

Until finaly, Ember realised an exesive amount of energy conducting itself through the blades... An electric energy which he recognize as a far more condensed and focused deflection of his previous force attack against Ranka and sadly enough, he had to admit that simply letting go of his Katana to evade this rather... painfull blow would mean a death in even more humiliating means! He'd get his revenge... Though now, his thoughts only wandered around the surge of energy that chanelled into his blade to finaly arrive to him...

[Senior Master Al'Kan]

:.Ember eyes, peaking through his silk mask seemed as cold as ice, yet as expressionless as his foe. He could feel the surging in the force, rushing through Ranka's blade, finding its way to his. Ember simply waited until it neared him, knowing a few tricks of his own.

As it neared the tip of Ranka's blade, and began to surge arcoss to ember's, an glowing green aurora swirled around ember, absorbing most of the power at the mere touch of his blade.

Ember made a quick twist, and his left leg made an arch in the air as he commited a spin kick. The kick met ranka's shoulder, only slightly pushing him of balance, but yet enough to neutralize the attack from slightly breaking his opponent's concentration. Even though he stopped the surging of power, he can feel a disturbing, and chilling presence within him, a burning. The attack wasnt fully stopped.

The very chill in the air gave the onviewers in the seats a small taste of the rivalry between the two. Ember slid backwards, gripping his katana with both hands. The way he gripped the katana demonstrated the shadow lord's hatred. But yet as most hatred blinded people, it fueled ember like a burning couldran of boiling water.

Ember slowly raised his katana, and pointed it down in a diagonal motion. His eyes calmly locked onto ranka's, showing no fear of him, no emotions. Ember quickly lunged his katana in one smooth motion towards ranka, only to be met by ranka's blade, crashing together in a whirlwind of blue light.

Ember drew his katana away from the lock of the two blades, and brought it down low in a matter of seconds, and arched it to about the height of ranka's chin. As ember thrusted it down, towards ranka's chest, ranka could feel something within the blade itself.. Some surging of power, some surging of the darkside, a powerful, focused concentration of lightning, brewing in the blade... Ready to electricute ranka in anymeans. The meeting of their blades, or the meeting of ranka's flesh.:

[Veran]

Having been forced to sidestep slightly because of Embers previous kick to his right shoulder, Ranka still maintained his Katana into both his hands, not even being worried or suprised by any of the blows and attemps from the Swordlord, the electrical energies short circuiting the many lights on both the floor and ceiling around them, raging and storming through the air like the wolf that had previously been seen by many around the world of Taris only moments ago...

Yet, another arrogant smile flew across Ranka's expressionless face, as if he had just teached Ember something that might have been usefull into defeating him that he did not even bother to remember...

And so the powerfull blade came, as he hammered it to the left only with one hand, his other arm forming a cross patern with the other as his palm was facing directly Embers veiled visage, locking it yet again because of Embers own charge as this one waited the innevitable effect of its electrical charge onto Ranka's body, feeling it through the force and seeing it with his eyes... A second passed.... And then another, nothing happened, the Dematri still stood there just as he sent an incrediable force wave directly into Embers face...

The universe swirled around him as his back met the curved wall of the arena... He felt some sort of pain, of course, nothing as pedestial such as physical pain but the anger and questions echoing in his head about how this could happend!

Ranka had not move from his defensive stance, with his palm and blade still as they were when he blocked the attack of Ember... Surely the Sith was angry, yet he still didn't loose his focus and it is then that he still saw the energies swirling around the Nem'vaah... Disipating to finaly vanish into a void of nothingness like with his previous force based attack just as it encountered the enigmatic aura around the Taï-shueldon ancient... Like a membrane against the very force itself? He refused to admit such thing would exist as he got back onto his feet and that Ranka moved back onto his passive stance, which he knew as quite... Explosive in terms of fighting.

[glow=green,2,300]I see that even though you'Ve aquired the rank of master amongs the Nem'vaah, Ember, that you barely understand any principles about the very essence of the orders power itself...[/glow]

[Senior Master Al'Kan]

:.Ember simply says nothing in reply to ranka's echoing words, and instead channeled a tiny flow of the force. Ember could now hear nothing, and could see nothing but his foe and his actions. It seemed as if the world stopped moving, comming to a sudden hault. Ember was the void now, nothing could interupt his focus. His goals were made, and now it was achieving them.

He slowly raised his katana, so it smoothly lined up with the middle of his body. He made his actions look like nothing, as he really wasn't thinking. His eyes never drifted from ranka's, or made a single twitch.

A pruple haze, swirled around the blade of ember's katana, making the katana glow, emphasizing the darkside. With all this power in his hands, ember's eyes still were locked on ranka's. Ember moved his katana upwards, and leveled it to a diagonal angle.

A gust shook the arena, rumbling and howling through the walls. Ember's red and white belt, the belt of the shadow lord, gently quivered in the gust. But then, the gust picked up, like a rampaging serphant, and knocked ranka to the ground. Ember followes his opponent's eyes, as ranka fell to the ground.

Ranka had to know that ember could do the same as he did before, on the same caliber. Perhaps ember was hiding something, like a cheetah ready to ambush its prey. Ember's firey, but yet cool eyes stayed upon ranka, without a flinch, without a fear; like there was no one left but him.:

[glow=black,2,300]Perhaps, old friend, there is still much you yet know about me.[/glow]

:.As ember's words, as cold as ice slid out of his mouth, ember's eyes did nothing, still not even a twitch. What was he up to. Ember slightly adjusted his grip on his katana, and reached out into the force.

He could feel the surging in the force ranka causes, and the pulsing of the force he creates, and the light he smothers. The very presence of ember is growing, entoxicating, if considered so. Ranka can feel ember's now red-pulsing eyes upon him, still not twitching, and the shear darkness, hatred, and anger emitting from them, and fueling ember.:

[Veran]

Seems like this is getting rather personnal the emotionless voice whispered into his head as the rather oppressive glare of Ember's eyes radiated with Hatred in its purest of forms, yet strangely enough to Ranka, Ember still didn't loose any of his focus... He was actualy getting into such a level of concentration that it actualy suprised him... Lihsto had indeed learn new things into the Sith ranks, and by the hands of an extraordinary master... Was it this new Empress he had heard so much about? If it was, she had indeed caught his attention by knowing how much progress his old apprentice had made into the last months; he actualy cared to remember her teachings while he so reluctantly rejected and forgoted his... You cannot defeat any foe with hatred...

And so he only returned his own glare as awnser, the fiery hatred of Ember against his emotionless stare of frost, almost making a battle of its own within the very air as both their aura clashed into an almost paradoxal event; Fire against ice, day versus night and hell with the heavens... All could be senced in between their simple glare at each other, with such ferocity that if something would have had the unfortunate fate of being in the very center of these two beings, it may simply have died from the very force itself... Yet being focused does not nessesseraly mean paying attention to the present events, for as Hatred and anger gathered into Ember, he had not realised how Ranka had lifted his blade horizontaly behind him, ready to strike yet at nothing! Was this simply some sort of ruse trying to trick him, or simply another one of the feats that would be soon executed by Ranka, which itself brought far more questions then awnsers on how it could actualy be done...

And so, as another awnser to his unspoken question, Ranka sliced the air in front of him at nothing less then an invisible speed with the very intensity of a comet... So swift, that the air actualy riped and created a shockwave of absolute void within dimension, charging towards Ember at lightspeed... Anti-matter created from a simple slash of a sword, cuting everything in its path, from which even the pure blade of a lightsaber would not withstand, not even the entire power of Ranka and Ember combined could withstand such deadly arrow of death, flying towards Ember... Making the flame of his life, dangerously closer to the wind of death that shall instinguish it...

[Senior Master Al'Kan]

:.Ember seemed emotionless towards ranka's frosty stare, even when the weaving of air sore through the air, nearing his very flesh. With a quick crouch, ember lauched up into the air, seeming to split the air with his own speed. Ember smoothly waved his hands infornt of him, almost like a mime. A light red wall formed infront of him, transparent in its looks. The air thumped into the barrier, but the air got neutralized, along with the barrier.

Ember flew backwards, like a gunfire round soaring through the air. He crashed into the wall, and slowly drifted to the floor. Dust covered his black robe, along with his shadow lord belt.

One would think that is all one could withstand, but ember simply sits on the ground, and pats off the dust on his black robe. Satisfied, he got to his feet, and his same expressionless glare met ranka's eyes. Consumed in the void he was.

He raised his hand, and gently flowing through the air came his katana, with its exquisite blade. As it came into ember's grasp, he gripped it with both hands, his eyes still not twitching. Nothing would exceed his focus.

Ember could see the atoms of the force flowing in the room, especially around his weapon, and his foes, considering the power emitting from them. Suddenly, the atoms around ember's katana condensed, and turned the blade on fire.

Moving towards ranka, he "flew" across the floor as gracefully as a flowing serphant, so smoothly it seemed as his feet hovered over to smooth floor. As he twisted his katana, small embers fell to the floor, marking the ground with scorch marks.

In one stabbing motion, the sharp edge of the katana soared with ease through the air, nearing the very ribs of his fellow lord of the sword. But, as it neared, ranka could feel the very firey heat of the ablazed blade.:

[Veran]

It seemed as though he'd need to fight with far more then a last second plan to defeat his old friend. He had make... More progress then expected, and it was appearent in more ways then simply his dexterity in combat; he was inventive nontheless, by using an opposite current of void, he had deflected his own attack and his blades that raged with elemental fury's would be of somewhat, a little problem into not only defending, but evading the strikes. For if they came to close, they would surely burn and by the sight of such flames, he knew it would indeed burn...

And so the lethal weapon of Ember, which was now composed of hellfire and metal came came towards his heart with the speed that was going faster then its very image, he could only truly see the blade through the force, echoing and shining like the thousand rays of a sun... He knew he needed the force to protect himself and so, he released his shackles of restraint and let his very soul flow through the force, as his soul slowly meld with the weapon he bared and so, the blade itself became one with the force...

Yet the force was not alone, it was combined with over three millenias of intensive training and conditioning. With this combined might, the Katana itself flew faster then the actual force aura it was atuned with. Faster then light, faster then the force. And it hammered Embers sword away into an electric blast wave which resonated across the entire arena and even further beyond its walls of durasteel which so proudly stood into the Tarisian city...

The parade came so quickly, and at such an unexpected moment that Ember had indeed lost his focus in this fration of second where the only thing that was seen was a pure blur of crystaline white... He remembered getting Ranka, yet... He had been able to avoid a blow that should have been fatal. The only thing that was appearent from the previous attempt was only a flaming hole into the blue coat of the Nem'vaah, which he threw away, leaving him in an outfit as black as his. Black boots, pants and a sleevless shirt... They're state of mind was so different yet their taste for combat gear seemed awfully similar, odd, yet a detail that was indeed noticable...

After such terrible shock though, he also remembered the explosion of force he had felt as both their blade collided. Yet this wasn't actualy him that had so instantly concentrate such force energy at the very last moment of Ranka's attack... It was impossible to store that much energy and release it at the same time in a time inferior to a second! Impossible he thought and re-thought to himself. Yet, as he looked back into his ennemies emerald glare, he knew that it couldn't be that impossible after three thousand years of training into the force...

Only then did he seemed to realise another detail that was quite flagrant to both of them; a fissure, in both their blades that had been well known of being indestructible to the effects of combat and time... Apparently they were both wrong as they glared back into each others soul.

To his stupefaction though, the Dematri had thrown his weapon away, back into its sheath with the force, without even letting his eyes getting a glimpse of the world outside Ember's. Finaly, he noticed something that he had never saw until then about his former master; a lightsaber, cliped onto his belt, on his back. The hilt slightly golden and black, marked with age and yet he knew he had seen this lightsaber somewhere... Back in the Nem'Vaah temple, in a statues hand... The lightsaber of Kel, the Nem'vaah master and it is then he realized that he wasn't just fighting a simple Dematri... But Kel himself. A blade of the same emerald glow extended from the hilt, radiating of the purest green he had ever saw... He knew something though;

He had made a dangerous ennemy

[Senior Master Al'Kan]

:.Just then, as the legendary lightsaber of kel was taken from his belt, and ignited, ember knew even a tai-shueldon made katana would not be a match for it. With one smooth motion, the katana which was in ember's hand, laid in its case.

Ember saw ranka threw the force, the force slowly, yet strongly radiating from his foe, especially this lightsaber which was just ignited. Ember now had a bright red aurora swirling around him like a raging wolverine.

Ember knew one weapon which could counter the weapon which lied in the hands of his foe. As ember slid back, his blank expression, and motionless eyes still held upon ranka's, showing no fear, when most would be running.

A sudden glow, of a golden tint, illuminates ember, like the site of an eclipse. The weapon which was not used for thousands of years was about to be used by the only person who could use it.

In both of ember's hands, lied a sword of pure light, made of the force; fused with darkness. It was a sword, but it wasn't a sword. Gripped in ember's hands stood Tai-Dek-Shar, the blade of the shadow lord. In ember's hands stood over 3,0000 years of wisdom, power, and knowladge. The darkness slowly radiated from the ancient sword, like a poison slowly drifting from its source.

Ember raised the sword of light in his hands, gripping it with shear might. As he just raised it over his head, he archs it diagonally downward, in a defensive position. Still, without a single blink, ember's eyes stare upon ranka's. They are emotionless, like they are dead, but they are not.

There is no telling what ember is doing, except that he is focused now more than ever, and almost nothing could disturb him. As his eyes pulsed red looking into ranka's, ranka knew something also.:

He too made a dangerous opponent.

:.Ember adjusted his grip on the sword of light, and thusted it in an arch, whirling it around him. Thevery movement of the sword seemed to be horribly intoxicating. With each movement, it seemed as the force moved with it, weaving itself to the very blade of Tai-Dek-Shar.

Ranka stared at his opponent, burried beneath his black silk mask. Ember's emotionless, red-pulsing eyes seemed to be stinging ranka, not leaving his stare. Who knew what to expect?.:

[glow=black,2,300]Mai kwan el-kuin ha Tai-Dek-Shar![/glow]