Fable - Ask MY RIVAL!

A roleplay which may be open to join but you must ask the creator first

Visha Sofka

Friendly Fire
Member
Messages
77
Character Biography
Link
"YOU!"

Yes, you. Visha pointed her finger. Right at them! There could be no mistaking it! That person right there. Right over there! Oh what a fluke of fate! After all this time, running into her RIVAL from the College here of all places!

See, Visha wanted to peek into one of those mage academies here in Alliria. They had a reputation. Was it true, this reputation, that they were 'discount' Colleges? Pfffffttt, ha ha ha, probably, but Visha still wanted to see for herself. And she wanted to find a bunch of students trying to cast some half-baked spell, their fingers all doing the tiddlywinks thing and the spell fizzling out, and she wanted to giggle at them. Ha, ha, you suck! LOOK AT YOU! You're doing it WRONG! You gotta believe in Great Maho and then go and find some weird Pilgrim guy and make a deal with him, that's what you gotta do if wanna be any good at it, STUPID!

But, look at what she found here!

Visha had only just waltzed onto the campus of Redbeard's Conjuration Academy. HEY, it's an open campus, she didn't need to get permission from anyone and you can just shut up! Anyway, so she did that. And as she was walking across the green, just a stroll over the nicely cut grass, whistling, as you do, eyeballing the loose groups of students here and there. And then she saw--

"MY RIVAL!"

She made a little circle with her pointing, accusatory finger. Grinned. The groups of students around the green all stopped what they were doing and started to stare. Ha! Looky-loos!

"You thought you could escape me, huh? Just because I got expelled from the College doesn't mean ANYTHING!"

She twirled her staff about, switching hands with it, and then planted the butt of it down hard on the campus green. All in a triumphant sort of way.

"Have you forgot? Oh I bet you did! But it's too late now! Nowhere to run!! Guess what time it is! No, guess! GUESS! Alright I'll tell you."

Visha took in a huge breath, her chest puffing out and her head arching back.

Then she yelled with manic glee, "IT'S TIME FOR US TO DUEL!!"

She slammed her free hand onto her hip, threw her head back fully, and started belting out laughter fit for a deranged, evil overlord.

Of course.

Whether the person across the grounds from her was actually her rival from the College of Elbion, actually had ever been to the College before, or actually had ever even seen Visha before in their life...that remained to be seen.


This a quick write thread.

It's a tag meant to indicate for the thread to be short. These are little stories, quick RPs that can, but don't necessarily, have to go for long. I think "quick writes" would be good for test-driving new characters, odd or quirky situations, little bits of character building, seeing how well two characters get along, establishing an acquaintance between two characters that could be built upon later in other threads, and small slice-of-life events and everyday moments (not every thread has to be epic). That's the intent.

Feel free to make a quick OOC post if you want to reserve the spot, and then edit it into your actually post later.
 
Last edited:
His slender fingers flipped across the pages of the mismatched book he'd compiled just for this occasion, a soft sigh leaving his lips as he realizes just how out of his depth he is here. An academic lecture? Him? Varys San'Seya had learned all of his magical ability through hard work and world experience, not classroom study. Normally, he wouldn't be caught dead in some academy in Alliria, delivering a lesson to students.

Then again, normally an academy wouldn't be offering the kind of money that Redbeard's was willing to pony up for somebody with the last name of San'Seya. Work had been slow the last few months, and Varys was rather hard-pressed to find a source of quick income.

The fact that his name still held some pull behind it was both a blessing and a curse, as while the San'Seya name did offer him respect as a mage, he also hadn't quite evolved his abilities to the level that matched such reverence, not just yet anyway.

It would be enough, he'd decided. He still held abilities far beyond that of a typical student. The unusually sunny weather in the city was putting him in a slightly more chipper mood than he'd been earlier, and the sounds of the students traveling from class to class around him were actually quite soothing. Professor San'Seya, now he could get used to that.

Tucking the hastily-made book under his arm, and tightening the band that held his long silvery hair in a ponytail, he set off for his own classroom. As a guest, he was to teach several groups of students today, who'd signed up for the extra instruction. The elf just hoped they kept quiet and let him work. It was so hard to focus with somebody yelling in your ea--

"YOU! MY RIVAL!"

The elf stopped in his tracks, turning to face the source of the sudden disturbance. Who in the hell was screaming, and why did he find the sound so uniquely annoying? There was a young woman standing there, her hand extended with a finger pointing directly at him, her other hand wielding an odd staff. Varys wasn't sure what or who she was, but he felt the energy seeping from every pore of her body.

The red-haired woman rambled on, talking about some forgotten grudge and expulsion from a College. Varys didn't have the slightest idea what she was on about, but that fiery glow in her eyes... the longer she shouted at him the more familiar it become... Yes, he had encountered her once before, hadn't he?

When she finally punctuated her dramatic speech by challenging him to a duel, Varys sighed lightly, tucking some hair behind his ear with an amused smirk. "Aren't you the girl I trapped in a pitfall during that whole mess with the Rangers a few months back?"

Visha Sofka
 
Last edited:
Visha's head whipped back to level, and she regarded Varys quizzically.

"What? Rangers? We're not in a forest and you don't have a bow! Besides, I'd never fall for a trap like that! Not in my life!"

Immensely satisfied with her response, she crossed her arms and lifted her chin and smiled. No, no, no, wait! She wasn't satisfied! She almost forgot!

"And I don't even know that big green dragon who was leading those orcs and sacking all those towns!"


BATTLE STANCE! Visha once again planted her staff proudly down onto the academy green, slamming it down as if it were a flag to claim victory. Who'd this elf think he was? HUH? Just walking around, with his white hair that definitely wasn't orange OR red, with those nice unburned clothes, with that chin that could give someone a paper cut, with that nose you could hang a coat on, with those eyebrows that looked like they had their own personal landscaper (each!), with that look on his face that suggested he had a full breakfast (eggs and bacon and a bagel and freshly squeezed orange juice that didn't match his hair!) and was rubbing it in Visha's own face! Well, TIME'S UP! She had been looking for him for a long time! Okay maybe not that long. But long enough!

"RULES!" She announced with a grand flourish of her free hand. "I name one, you name one! Ready, steady, go!"

"No eye-gouging!"


Visha hated dirty tricks! Except when she was doing the dirty tricks. It was okay when she was doing it because she was her and everybody else wasn't her. Flawless logic--they don't teach you that in College!

Varys San'Seya
 
Varys wasn't sure how to feel about the nonsense that continued to spout from the girl's mouth. All eyes were on them now, student and instructor alike quizzically gazing at the odd pair of them in some sort of dramatic stand off. The elf could only raise a bemused eyebrow at her repeated denials, although obviously the detail of her rebuttal was enough to confirm his suspicions. What was she doing here? More importantly, why did he get the oddest feeling that there had been some sort of misunderstanding?

"Miss, I'm really not in the mood to fight right now. Least of all with somebody who doesn't even know who I am." Honestly it wasn't even that he minded a fight, but this place was crowded, and Varys remembered damn well what she'd been capable of before. He couldn't risk an errant spark burning this place to the ground, or for his own powers to lose control and compromise the structural integrity of the buildings here. "Besides, I think you'll find fire isn't much of an issue for somebody like me, so unless you plan on whacking me over the head with that thing..." He gestures to the staff, "I'm not too worried.

It was one thing after another. This was supposed to be a one, maybe two day stop on their journey, and now he had to deal with some crazy woman looking to scrap? She didn't appear to be backing down either; her eyes were flittering back and forth over him, seeming to drink in every detail. It almost made him shiver to imagine what might have been running through her mind. No, better he not even try to imagine.

With a shout, she demanded rules be set. It was evident that 'no' wasn't an answer she was going to accept. Eye-gouging wasn't really San'Seya's thing, so her own proposal wasn't much of an issue. With a sigh, he looked around him. Everything else had grown hushed under all of her shouting. Great... He'd get in a fight on school grounds and probably lose his cushy teaching gig. "No running. We have to stay here in this area." At the very least, that would allow Varys to more easily contain things if they got ugly.

Visha Sofka
 
Last edited:
"Your master is fighting!"

Lottie opened her mouth to correct the other student, and not the first, that Varys was not her Master. For these students that seemed to be the most logical explanation of a relationship between someone who had very little mastery over her gifts, even if she had raw power, and someone who was skilled in his artistry of magic. It was the word fighting that caught her tongue before it offered a sharp retort to the child who was staring out of the tower window pointing. There was a tiny part of her that wanted to push them outside but she resisted the urge as she made her way over to see what it was that the girl was looking at. Sure enough, there was Varys. He was hard to miss with his blonde hair that looked a snowy white in the midday sun. She could recognise from his stance that he was annoyed - was that why a fight was happening? Her eyes moved curiously to the other person stood in a growing circle of students and teachers.

"I have to go," she said to nobody in particular and gathered up her things in a rush before bolting from the classroom. The teacher shouted something after her but she paid it no heed. She wasn't a student here and even if she had been, Lottie had never done well with figures of authority. Perhaps a tiny part of her felt a little guilty, the teacher with the head of a bear had been a surprisingly gentle and kind tutor who had agreed to take her on for the week they were here, but it wasn't a part that made her hesitate for a moment.

Pushing past people on her way down the stairs offering nothing in the way of apologies, Lottie burst out of the door and swore at the sheer amount of backs in her way. Conjuring a small illusion of a dog-sized spider that scuttled through the group, it had the desired effect of moving several people from her path so she could squeeze to the front and watch.
 
  • Orc
Reactions: Visha Sofka
No running. Fine! She could walk wherever she pleased then! Oh we have to stay here in the area. Alright, double fine! Yeah, you know what, she wanted to stay here anyway. What was outside of Redbeard's Academy? Hmm, hmm? Well hold your horses, struggling duckling, Visha's gonna feed ya. Ask yourself this: what wasn't out there? That's right! A big, invested crowd to watch Visha finally singe the eyebrows off her rival! All these silly student mages were going to see the power of Great Maho AT WORK!

And besides, there weren't any dormitories outside the Academy that she could light some cheeky fires in afterward. Oh no, where's my underwear, and why is my room on fire, she could hear them asking (just like old times!). See, count on Visha to give these quill-neck, bent-back students a proper College experience!

"No running? Ha! You've cornered yourself! Next rule!" Visha inhaled sharply through her nose, and announced, "Keep your shirt on! Now you."

Ah! She regretted it immediately after saying it. How was she supposed to embarrass her rival now?? Now that she couldn't burn off all of his clothes and let everyone point and laugh at him? She just wrecked her whole strategy. Gah! Time to think of a new one!

Stall. Stall for time!

"And how dare you accuse me of not knowing who you are. I know exactly who you are!"

Quick. What's an elven name? Just any old name. Just one that sounds really elven. It didn't matter. Ah ha!

"Nairth!" Now put a little stank of accusation on it. "If that is your real name...!"

She crossed her arms and lifted her chin so much that her hair went cascading down over her shoulders. "And of course you know who I am, don't you!?"

Varys San'Seya Lottie Beaufort
 
The longer that the odd woman decided to go on, the better for Varys. While she seemed to hold entire conversations in her own mind, the expression on her face changing rapidly each minute, Varys was gathering his strength. If he truly was going to have to fight her, he would need to be on the ball if he wanted to keep anybody around them from getting hurt, and mitigating damage to the school. The Elf didn't have any way of knowing how precise Visha's control over her power was, but if it was as chaotic as her behavior then things didn't bode well at all.

His opponent didn't seem too concerned about Varys' choice of rule. Good, then she didn't plan on burning the entire place down. His breathing grew deeper as she continued to announce her own rule, his eyes glimmering with energy as he focused on that heat building in his stomach. The mage could feel his pores opening, his vision sharpening...

"My shirt? What, are you afraid you'll end up attracted to me? I'm quite flattered! You're cute, but I'm afraid you're a bit too loud for my taste."

Varys parted his lips in a wide grin. This would be so much better than delivering a boring lecture to equally bored students. For however long it lasted, why not give them a proper demonstration? He hadn't stretched out in what felt like months.

"I'm doing laying down rules, let's get on with this. Or are you going to take all day to figure out what to call me?" She seemed to be racking her brain for any scrap of memory, but the slender elf knew they'd never been properly introduced.

Nairth.

The name hit him like a ton of bricks, the force of it threatening to send him to the ground. He knew that name, it rang in his head like a bell echoing off the sides of his mind. Why did he know that name? From where? The air around him seemed to fog for a moment, powerful and indescribable emotions running through his head. Something was wrong, something...

Focus.

He caught sight of Lottie, in the corner of his vision. She'd gotten here in a hurry, hadn't she? A magnet for trouble, always. He shakes his head clear of the cobwebs, white locks flying over his shoulders as he pressed his teeth together and set aside the new questions on his mind for later. It was time to fight.

"Doesn't matter who you are, only that you put up or shut up."

Visha Sofka
 
"This is insane."

Lottie hadn't realised she'd said the words out loud until a few heads turned towards her with wide, startled eyes.

"What? It is, look at them," she gestured between the woman who seemed to have spent too much time in the alchemy labs without the proper breathing apparatus and Varys who, to anyone with a hint of magic talent, could no doubt feel the slow beginnings of him drawing on his powers. As if to demonstrate her point the woman demanded he keep his shirt on. Even some of the scornful looks she had received begun to waver: mages didn't demand shirts were kept on. What she wasn't counting on was for a name to make him look so pale and she took a tiny step forward as if to go to his side until he recovered.

"Yeah, get on with it!" she shouted, her hands cupping her mouth. It won her a few more looks but she carried on regardless. "You're disturbing lunch hour!"
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Visha Sofka
My shirt? What, are you afraid you'll end up attracted to me?

"Yes, no, and shut up!"

A clever one, her rival. A most clever one. Throwing her off! She could respect that, you know. Respect it so hard that if it were a walnut, she could crack it with her bare hands. What? Did that confuse you? SURPRISE, you've been thrown off! See?

But shirts were deadly weapons. Deadly, she said! For all sorts of reasons. Only one being what her rival had said. And besides, her strategy! What...what was her strategy again? Thinking about the walnut had thrown her off--AH HA! That's right. Burn and embarrass. Don't forget! Burn and embarrass!

Also, she wasn't loud, she was polite, there was a difference! Okay so that was a lie on both counts. But it wasn't her fault everybody around her was so quiet all the time. Like, what are we even whispering about? Visha LOVED being herself. And loudness was just big, smothering hugs being thrown at you through the air. Ever think about that? SURPRISE, you've been thrown off again!

Hey. Why was her rival grinning? Nevermind!

"Ah ha ha! Ah ha ha ha ha haaah! You're right, Gella, ifthatisyourrealname, the time has come!" Oh wait, did she say Gella? Whoops. This wasn't Gella, this was her rival. Gella was that guy in the College she played the "explosive chamberpot" prank on. Heh. Easy to get things confused. Wait. Had she been thrown off? CURSE YOU, NAIRTH.

"I can put up, and shut up, and divide by zero! You'll see!" Flames shot up from her eyebrows, from her shoulders, in thin and furious gouts as she giggled maniacally and her eyes were as wide as saucers and expectant as a berserker on the charge toward a battle.

And then, "Wait, wait, wait, hold up, hold up, hold up, I'm not ready, I SAID I'M NOT READY!" The flames disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared, and with her free hand Visha started wiggling her fingers over her hair, her clothes, humming. Gotta be responsible! Cast that Flame Resistant Ward on herself. Or else she was going to end up in another stuffy hospital. Urchin was nice to meet though. Kindling and tinder, he was!

"Gimme a second. Fix your hair or something."

Whether or not Varys's hair actually needed fixing was another story.

And, while Visha was prepping herself with Flame Resistant Wards, she heard something tasty from the crowd. She glanced that way as she worked the subtle Wards upon herself. Said, "Hey, what's for lunch, and why wasn't I invited?"

Varys San'Seya Lottie Beaufort
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Lottie Beaufort
She just kept on talking and talking. Varys could almost feel the blood pumping through his head with how frustrating he was becoming. Was her aim to jabber jaw him into submission? Honestly, that might be her best shot, since she so obviously had the talent for it. What was worse is that the constant yammering actually did manage to hinder his concentration, and he had to strain to remain focused.

She was either unbearably inane or deceptively clever, and Varys couldn't tell which. From the gathering crowd, the Elf could hear his apprentice shout out obnoxiously, acting as if she wasn't with him. Shooting her a glare, he bit his tongue; she wanted to act like she wasn't involved, she'd better not hide behind him if things got hairy.

"Your words don't mean anything, and I'm done listening to this white noise coming out of your mouth, woman!" If he had to hear one more inanity, one more nonsensical claim from the young woman's lips, he was going to knock himself out and save her the trouble of trying. Muttering hushed words into the air, he raises his hand up high as the wind begins to spiral around his arm, twisting between his fingers. It heeded his call, bent to his will, and he would bring the full force of the air itself against Visha with a mighty--

"Wait, wait, wait, hold up, hold up, hold up, I'm not ready, I SAID I'M NOT READY!"

"GOD DAMNIT!"

The mage held his arm in the air, having been about to bring it down in an attack, but his scatterbrained foe had broken his concentration again, skittering her hand over her form as though she were sprinkling something onto herself. To the untrained eye, it would look like she'd gone even madder than she clearly already was. To Varys and anybody who knew their stuff, it was obvious she was preparing some measure of defenses.

"You can do whatever you like, it's not going to help you, lady! Let's get this over with already!" But she wasn't even listening to him, now her attention was on... Oh for the love of-- Lottie! Now they were talking about food? No, nope, nada. This was done. He wasn't waiting another moment. She'd asked for it, now she would get it. Bringing his hand down fully, a powerful burst of wind rushes towards Visha like an invisible tsunami.

Visha Sofka
Lottie Beaufort
 
Lottie threw Varys a grin when he looked in her direction. It was a half-hearted attempt at innocence but it fell several yards short and fell more into the 'cheshire cat' category of smiles instead.

"Heckling isn't proper etiquette for duels," a woman to her left in the apprentice white sniffed and folded her arms in a sulky manner. Lottie wouldn't have dignified it with a response even if she had been given time to before Varys launched his first attack. There was an audible gasp from the crowd which she figured meant starting so suddenly was also not proper etiquette, but that only made her smile more.

If only someone was selling popcorn...
 
  • Popcorn
Reactions: Visha Sofka
A little dab here, a little touch there. Oh, better not forget to Ward her hair again! Do you know how HARD it is to find a mage who specializes specifically in hair restoration? Do you, really? Because most of them are all, "Oh, ungh, me cast lightning bolt, me so cool." Not even pyromancy, what LOSERS! Alright, so you get past all the hoity-toity combat mages, find a healer, and what does this upside-down sausage biscuit do? COMBAT WOUNDS! That's right, combat wounds, if it isn't a cut or a stab or a broken bone he's all like, "Oh, ungh, me only healy-fingers wounds, me no understand hair." How hard is it to find good help anywhere, huh, huh? Great Maho would burn the lot of them if he was still here!

Now if she could just get this Ward fixed on her hair--

A powerful burst of wind smacked into Visha, and she was lifted off of her feet and hurled backwards across the campus green, landing on her back and rolling and coming to a most unflattering stop with her buttocks up in the air and her legs dangling down over her face.

"Ahhhhhh..."

Visha grinned as she lay there.

"....hhhh ha ha ah HA!"

She scrambled back up to her feet, somewhat in disoriented fashion. Hey, where was her staff! Shit, lost it. Somewhere over there. Stupid wind! The most flatulent of all magical disciplines! She expected more from her rival!

"Wind!? HAH! Good one, Cassidy! What are you, A BIRD??"


Visha spun her hands in front of herself, channeling her pyromancy into a ball of fire before her. It wasn't gonna be great--she needed to get revved up, see something burning, before she could conjure a flame worthy of Great Maho's notice.

"Knock, knock, it's for YOU!"

And she launched the Fireball in a curving arc toward Varys, not particularly caring how its arc curved hazardously close to some of the onlooking students.

Varys San'Seya Lottie Beaufort
 
An unashamedly confident smirk plastered itself across Varys' face as the powerful burst of wind hit Visha flush, the sheer force lifting her off of the ground and sending the fuming fire spark tumbling wildly onto her back. Maybe not that she'd been knocked around a bit she'd stop treating this like a game and fight back a little.

"See what happens when you run your mouth? Now get up and fight."

Her staff had been knocked about a dozen feet behind her, resting up against a building in the shade. Good, he didn't know how vital it was to her offense, but he'd take any advantage on offer. Visha was already cackling maniacally as she scampered to her feet.

The elven mage could have hit her with something with a bit more 'oomph', but that was more of a warning shot than anything else. Being addressed by an incorrect time for what was the third time now didn't bug him, he was beyond being baffled by her behaviors.

"Try throwing something back and see where it gets you, Sparky." His voice was light, teasing. This wasn't so much a life-threatening battle so much as it was a game with a workout mixed in. There wasn't any escaping it, so he'd get out of it what he could. Sliding the jacket he wore from his shoulders to the ground, Varys takes several steps back and readies himself for whatever retaliation was coming his way.

Retaliate she did, bringing her hands to her chest and sparking a ball of flame, small at first but quickly growing into an impressive sphere of fire. It was far from anything too incredible, but it was still enough that he'd need to remain on his toes.

Stumbling a few more steps back as Visha hurtles the fire at him, he tries to drown out the cries of the students around him and the heat that beat against his skin. He needed to focus, close his eyes...

His hand shot out towards the fireball, his lips parting in a booming command from deep in his chest.

"STOP!"

So long as this fire was not magically bound to Visha even after separation, the Speaker could communicate directly with the fire itself. Flame was aggressive and stubborn, but Varys was confident in his ability to sway the oncoming attack, eyes opening to stare directly into the fire as it careened towards him.

Visha Sofka Lottie Beaufort
 
There was a shriek by several students as the comet ball careened over the onlookers heads. Its tail caught on banners sending them up in hungry flames and more than a few were patting at their robes where the embers fell like snow. Others with gifts or knowledge of spells to do with water quickly jumped to douse the fires amongst the audience which subdued the screeching to a general muttering of irritation and excitement.

Lottie barely paid it any mind.

Her sharp green gaze was focused entirely on Varys and Visha. As much as she enjoyed the lessons she had been having, Lottie was not a bookworm. She preferred to learn by watching and what better thing to watch than Varys in his element? Quite literally.
 
  • Smug
Reactions: Visha Sofka
Visha blinked.

And with a twist of her head and slanting of her eyes, she watched with a face that was the absolute definition of "perplexed." Hey. Wait. This bird-brain was supposed to be a wind mage, how...wait. No wait, seriously, huh. Why'd her fireball just stop like that when he said stop? This had to be some sort of trick! YES! That's right, a trick! Why'd he have to take his jacket off, huh?? HUH? She was on to him!

"You better keep your shirt on! Or that's cheating!"

Time to show him! HA!

"You think you're the only one who can do that? Well GUESS WHAT! Not only can I do that, and I can do that better than you! Watch, watch! Butter up your best floofy wind spell and flick it my way, you fancy pants, sharp-chinned beanstalk!"

Visha clapped her hands together and rubbed her palms vigorously, widening her stance and hunching forward as a wrestler sizing up their opponent would. It was almost as if she intended to catch whatever came at her.

Varys San'Seya Lottie Beaufort
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Lottie Beaufort
Varys had been holding bated breath in his lungs without realizing it as Visha's fire bore down on him. There were too many unknowns to be sure that his magic would work on the mad pyromancer's attacks, and when he called out to the fire with no verbal response from the fiery inferno, he closed his eyes and prepared to feel the searing heat char and melt his fair skin...

It never came.

Varys' eyes shot open to see the fireball suspended in midair, embers falling idly from it's sides and burning the grass underneath it, leaving small brown charred spots. Finally, he heard the voice of the flame, loud and booming against his ears alone. "Why? Am I doing wrong?" Oh, wonderful, Visha's fire wanted to argue philosophy with him. That figured. Angling his head to look past the flames at their caster, it did at least give him some satisfaction to see how baffled she was.

"Thought I was a one-trick pony, did you? I'm offended." He quipped over to Visha, moving his hands in a swirling, clockwise motion as he called out to the fire, closing his eyes once more. "See that pretty lady behind you? She's gonna catch you! Certainly, she's more appealing to me, look at that hair!" A pause, then response. "She looks very angry..." This had to have been the dumbest conversation the Speaker had ever had with an element in his life, but he needed this thing to turn around. "She's waiting for you! Don't keep her held up!"

There was a silence in the air, as Visha seemed to do her best impression of an ape readying to battle its own reflection in a mirror. The elf bit down on his lower lip, hoping, preying the flames above would take the bait. Sure enough, after only another second, the fireball began to move once more, this time hurdling back towards Visha!

"Try catching it with one hand, lady!"

Visha Sofka
 
  • Nervous
Reactions: Lottie Beaufort
"They're playing... tennis."

Lottie got several sharp sideways glares for her common comment but she wasn't sure how anyone could see it as anything but that. The fireball leapt from one, paused, then was batted back by Varys. If this was what wizard duelling was then she was incredibly disappointed.
 
  • Smug
Reactions: Visha Sofka
Back and forth, back and forth.

This wasn't the time for games! No, this was a time for tricks! That's right! There were times to show off, and there were times you needed to show off HARDER than the divvy across from you! Starting off by catching the fireball with one hand was child's play (hey, good thing she remembered her Flame Wards!). Visha needed to get flashier. Gaudier! Look-at-me-morer!

Whoosh! Kick up one leg and swoop the fireball under and lob it back!

Swish! Catch with one hand and fling it around the back of her head to her other hand and toss it back!

Wazzow! Bend her back and let it go sailing over her and cartwheel backward onto her feet and reach back and command the fireball to stop and reverse direction and DUCK and cartwheel forward and send it sailing back!

The crowd was loving it (exceptforonelittlesauerkrautbutheyexceptionstoeverythingamiright). This. WAS. FANTASTIC!

But, after getting very wrapped up in devising newer and better tricks, Visha seemed struck with a sudden realization. She stopped the fireball when it came back and let it hover above her palm, and she had a puzzled look on her face.

And Visha asked her 'rival' quite honestly, "Hey wait, what were we doing? Before playing catch with my fireball?"

Varys San'Seya Lottie Beaufort
 
  • Popcorn
Reactions: Lottie Beaufort
Varys swore loudly as the blazing orb of flame collided harmlessly with Visha's hand. Of course, she'd been casting wards, and fire would have been one of the simpler ones. Careless oversight on his part, but this wouldn't be a problem as long as he kept his head on straight. That was, if he could think past the sound of the roaring flames hurdling back towards him again. Damn! That was like nothing to her!

Several more times he was able to redirect the fire, but it was quickly becoming clear that it was a pointless endeavor. Sending the fire back to far more effort from Varys than it did from Visha, and by the time she'd begun pulling off childish and fancy tricks with her returns, Varys was struggling to keep his breath, his muscles aching with exertion.

When finally she stopped and seemed to question what exactly they were doing, her elven opponent had dropped to one knee, exhausted. With one more rebound, it was entirely possible that she could have finished him off then and there. Varys had closed his eyes, ready to feel the heat against his skin, charring his flesh...

But it never came.

The mage opened his eyes to see his foe with the fireball hovering in place, the rage temporarily gone from her eyes and a purely quizzical adorning her face. "Ah... you thought I was somebody you knew. You wanted to fight?"

He took the opportunity to rise to his feet and collect himself. Varys wasn't down and out yet. If she insisted on continuing, he would just have to put her down with all of his might. Varys just hoped that he didn't damage the grounds too much. They'd take that out of his pay.

Visha Sofka
 
Some of the other students were growing bored too; they had wanted action and explosions and perhaps a little more maiming than what was currently happening which was - as Lottie had said - an extravagant game of tennis. She and half the crowd breathed out a sigh of relief when it ended. Perhaps now things would get more entertaining.

Lottie did throw a somewhat concerned look in Varys' direction. He hadn't been looking quite so good just then - had he been that close to losing? He played it off well and nobody else seemed to notice it but she'd seen him tired before.

"C'mon, Varys..." she muttered beneath her breath.