Open Chronicles Underground Fighting Ring

[Diedrick]

"Wait, WHAT?" Urchin asked, his eyes going wide in horror. Damn, and he had felt sorry for the state that Diedrick had left the guy in. Now he wished that he'd just finished the bastard off while he had the chance. "The fuck didn't ya tell me that before?" turning around, he scanned the room for Alain and, as he expected, saw that pretty little Lidia was attending to him. "Lidia!" Urchin called out to the girl as he pushed past the crowd to get to them. "Lidia, you get away from 'im!" he ordered the girl as he stood between the pair, pushing his arm out in front of the girl to separate them. "I dun care if 'e fuckin' dies! Dun ya go anywhere near 'im! He's a bad guy, Lidia! Rotten to the core!" Sadly though, it looked like the healer's work was already done, and Alain picked himself back up. "Keep far away from 'im," Urchin whispered to the girl, starting to pull her away. "An' warn Mr Isak. This guy's trouble. Should probably throw 'im out before 'e 'urts someone." Of course, Urchin would happily have thrown him out himself, but... ... ... Well... Watching the scrawny little Urchin try to throw this giant of a man out of the warehouse would've been an entertaining spectacle to say the least.

"Ah, well," Diedrick chuckled, shaking his head, "he's a horrible person, that much I know, but Alain isn't a personal enemy of mine." With fingers dragging lines through his hair, Diedrick's messy ponytail came undone, allowing the ensuing mess of strands to obscure his face. "I respect his prowess as a fighter, plus, it ain't like I can bar him from fighting, can I?"

"There's a whole lot of shady people down here. Alain might be the worst by far, yet others are hardly saints themselves."

"Careful..." he uttered, observing Urchin's unsteady steps as the boy approached Alain intending to start a fight. It was almost painful to look at, and Diedrick remained on his tiptoes in case something happened.

"Aww, why so harsh? I've done nothing to earn you contempt," pleaded Alain, dramatically gasping. He placed a hand to his forehead, amplifying the theatrics. "The fine lady was merely tending to my injuries, nothing more and nothing less." The vermillion-haired male was back at it again, all but rejuvenated b healing magic and his own passive regeneration. He licked his lips somewhat nastily, gazing at Urchin from above, eyes unmoving despite the relatively relaxed posture.

Alain's expression morphed into a broadened smile when Urchin mentioned removal by force. A slasher grin of a sort, threatening to split his face in half vertically. It ticked him somewhat wrong that a runt of a child would so brazenly stand up to him, but alas, Alain couldn't hide his amusement anymore.

"Could it be that you are scared of lil ole me?" He got a tad bit closer to Urchin, arms swaying by the sides with an exaggerated swagger. Alain suddenly circled the boy with a frightening quickness. Before Urchin could as much as react, Alain snaked his way behind him, laying his hands on Urchin's exposed shoulders.

"It is true that I could snap your neck like a toothpick. It is also true that I could reach out, intending to touch your face, only to crush your skull like an eggshell." Alain spoke nonchalantly, with no more or less emotion than someone looking to purchase a bag of milk or a batch of eggs. His iron grip seized Urchin, preventing his escape while Alain monologued. For a brief moment, he considered shaking the boy for shits and giggles but stopped himself just in time to detect Diedrick's piercing glare. With his head half turned, he nodded at the broader male before addressing Urchin once more. "But worry not. None of that is going to happen, and you have your big friend to thank for that. I fleetingly admire his handy work, enough so not to target his...friends."

Alain laced the phrase 'friend' with thinly veiled disgust, signifying that he didn't consider Urchin as much more than a rug rat.

 

[Alima Aiken]

"Poor timing to 'chuck up' unused healing powder it would seem." Though it would also seem no one had any idea as to what if any role the ring played, nor how Alima had been so injured. Curious. Well there seemed little point trying to interrogate the woman into saying more than she already had. Her focus was entirely on the urchin running about outside.

"Very well. I will go find Urchin. My name is Samara, by the way." The Dark Elf's blue eyes lingered on the woman for a moment. Then she turned and strode toward the door. "And please don't try to leave. Our resident healer doesn't have it in her to do this again." Samara turned to look back at Alima with a small smile. After all, they didn't know what had happened in the first place. To invite it happening again... Even if the idea of someone magically injecting a woman with a ring did sound preposterous, let alone twice.

Ryna watched the woman whom went by the name Samara. She hadn't know Samara long but felt a bit safe around her. Ryna grabbed the water that was given to her and sipped it lightly.

"Thank you, Samara. I'm Ryna." She said, hearing her voice much weaker than it should be. The Dark Elf seem somewhat like a Mother. Ryna would listen to this woman and begin her recovery. She laid back and put her arm over her eyes, blocking out the center light. Ryna was one of many that was targeted by most. A lonely Assassin trying to be assassinated. She sighed, shaking her head. "They barely know me....Urchin barely knows me and yet, they help me...Why?"

The thought wandered and swam about in her mind. The person she'd met so far was Samara, she had met Urchin a while back. It was odd how they cared for one another. Like...

...a family...

 

[Charity Briarthorne]

"Och, so the braw wee lass has some rammy in her?" Angus said with a smile as he picked himself back up and adopted a defensive pose. "Mah ill, missie. I'm afeart I baillied ye wrong. Ah willnae be making tha' mishanter again." It seemed that the dwarf had a new found respect for the girl and would be taking their match seriously from now on.

Once he was upright, he charged at Charity with his knees apart and arms lowered in a clear attempt to tackle her out of the ring. The dwarf clearly had the advantage when it came to physical strength and weight. The only question was whether or not he could actually catch her.

Charity easily sidestepped around Angus and with a vicious kick, sent him rolling to the side of the ring.

An annoyed frown spread across her face as the dwarf hauled himself up with the ropes, gasping for air. This was no fun. What was the point of fighting if she couldn't enjoy herself? Charity had trusted Urchin to pit her against a challenging opponent. They were going to have to have a little talk once this fight was over.

"That the best you've got dwarf?" Charity taunted. "Did you really expect charging straight at your opponent to work? Well, I guess you must be stupider than you look. Try losing that beer gut and you might have a chance of catching me!"

 

[Urchin]

"he's a horrible person, that much I know, but Alain isn't a personal enemy of mine."

Urchin looked extremely shocked to see Diedrick so dismissive of the presence of such a dangerous man. "Well maybe you ain't got a single woman in the world what ya care about, but I does, an' most of 'em are 'ere tonight. Ain't gonna let that sick fuck get nowhere near 'em!" Urchin insisted, before marching off to pick a fight with a man twice his size.

"The fine lady was merely tending to my injuries, nothing more and nothing less."

"Yeah, well she's done with ya now an' she ain't got nuthin' ta say to ya, so back off," Urchin insisted, making sure to stay standing between Alain and Lidia at all times. From the sound of it, Lidia was exactly the kind of sweet young girl that Alain liked to prey upon, and Urchin wasn't going to give him the opportunity, even if it meant picking a fight that there was absolutely no way he could win.

"Could it be that you are scared of lil ole me?"

Yes, he was definitely scared... But there was no way he was about to admit that. Instead he returned the question with a scoff and a scowl. "Me? Why the fuck would I be scared o' ya? From what I 'eard, ya only go after 'elpless little girls what ya can drag behind an alley. Big brave man, ain't ya? Attackin' little girls what can't defend 'emselves none." Honestly, the absolute crap that pretty women had to put up with in life for the crime of simply being pretty women. As far as Urchin was concerned, there was no fate in this world crueller than being born a pretty girl. Luckily for him, Urchin had the good common sense to be a scrawny, freckle-faced boy, and thus deter the interest of creeps like Alain.

And suddenly, the man was behind him, threatening to snap his neck or crush his skull with his bare hands... And he could too. He could do it so easily. Urchin's life would be over in a second and he wouldn't even be able to even lift a finger to stop it. All he could do was hold his breath and freeze, waiting to see if the end would come or not.

... Luckily for him, Alain decided against killing him... For now. Once Alain released him, Urchin leaned forward, resting his arms against the table as he took in a few heavy breaths to calm his nerves. Damn, he really had to learn how to pick his battles. Hopefully by now Lidia would've managed to get someone a bit less useless to help.

---

No doubt, Charity would've come to her little friend's rescue if she'd known what was going on. But at that moment, she was a little preoccupied with a dwarven warrior who was not providing her with much of a challenge. Obviously, Angus had no predicted so much strength and speed from such a tiny girl. He had expected to take Charity out without much of a struggle, but no only had she completely humiliated him, she also had the nerve to mock him while he was down. That made the berserker angry... And everyone knows what happens when a berserker gets angry. There were no more barely intelligible insults from the dwarf once he got to his feet, only great loud roars and enraged battle cries. His face turned almost as red as his beard as he lunged straight for Charity. As usual, her incredible speed managed to dodge most of the dwarves attacks... Until he finally got lucky and managed to get a firm grip on the girl's hair. "Ye hackit fud boot!" the dwarf yelled at Charity, enraged... Which probably sounded hilarious to the crowd, but might not have been so amusing if they knew what it meant. Once his insult was screamed in her face, Angus proceeded to smash Charity's head down on the ground repeatedly, not easing up at all when her face turned bruised and swollen and her nose turned bloody. In his enraged state, the dwarf just continued to pummel the girl's face into the ground, and would continue to do so until either his arm got too tired or Charity managed to overpower him.

 

[Samara Asenta]

Samara strode forward and dropped a hand on Urchin's shoulder. Her blue eyes bore down at the young man for a moment in silence. Likely the touch would unnerve him, but then what he'd done deserved a little reproach didn't it? Just saunter off and tell a crazy person you were going to take them down a notch? Bluster like that came from people with brawn, power, or authority. Urchin had none of them -- too young, too uneducated, and too poor. All things that could be overcome in time, which the youth had very nearly run out of tonight.

"Ryna's waiting for you. Come find us in the backroom when you're done out here." The Dark Elf's voice was as stern as her features. Perhaps Urchin did not need a kind reminder of his foolishness, but only a complete fool wouldn't have seen what just transpired and pretend it had never happened.

Before she turned to leave, however, Samara fixed Alain with a look of foreboding promise. Diedrick might be keeping him in line, but she'd happily fill in if the crazed man thought himself free of the bulky man's oversight. Monsters came in all forms -- being hideous or possessing countless limbs were hardly necessary -- and Samara hunted monsters.

Unless called to stop, the Dark Elf pivoted to stride back the way she'd come to check in on Alima Aiken. When she'd left to fetch the lad, Samara hadn't thought someone would have been away for such a time. Hopefully there'd been no new medical developments.

 

[Alima Aiken]

When she'd left to fetch the lad, Samara hadn't thought someone would have been away for such a time. Hopefully there'd been no new medical developments.

Ryna was a tough one. She could take any foe her own size and under, but give her anyone even an inch taller...well, let's just say she wouldn't do so well. Ryna took out a locket from her pocket and looked at the tiny picture that resided inside. Her mother and father were standing great and tall.

" I will find you both...I swear." She whispered to herself. She sat up looking to the door, feeling quite lonely. Ryna couldn't move to make sure she wouldn't cause further damage to her body. She took a deep breath and swung her legs to the side. Ryna winced slightly.

"Damn..." Ryna looked back at the door. "God, I hate this." Ryna grabbed a piece of material and wrapped it around her upper chest, covering her breasts.

 

[Charity Briarthorne]

Charity giggled as Angus charged her. She easily dodged his attacks while grinning like a madman. Yes! This is what she had wanted! This was fun! Angus' attacks were stronger, less predictable and way more difficult to dodge. Now Charity would surely have the challenge she was looking for.

She laughed loudly as they danced around the ring. Charity was having fun with a fight for the first time in ages. Her speed was still too much for poor old Angus though, and the thrill of the fight quickly began to wear thin. Charity sighed, and slowed enough to keep herself just out of the dwarf's reach.

Charity felt a sharp yank of her hair as Angus somehow caught her and pull her down to the ground. Her face was repeatedly smashed into the ground over and over until one eye was swollen shut and her nose was bloody. She desperately tried to think of a way out and one immediately presented itself. First step was getting Angus off of her.

As swiftly as she could manage, Charity got her hands underneath herself. With a miniscule surge of magic to her arm muscles to amplify her strength, and a roar to rival Angus', she pushed herself up knocking Angus' grip loose. She sprang to her feet and picked the dwarf up by the shoulders setting him on his feet. Her fists were a blur as she pummeled him as if he were just a punching bag. A savage kick to the groin sent the dwarf to his knees while Charity swept her leg around, her foot connecting with the back of Angus' head knocking him out cold.

Charity stood there catching her breath. A quiet giggling could be heard from her that quickly soared to maniacal levels as Perrault and came to check that Angus was still breathing. The laughing died off as exhaustion overcame Charity and she flopped to the ground panting.

 

[Honey]

Honey did her best to keep on top of drink orders whilst Charity's fight was going on, but always peered over the customer's shoulders to see how her friend was doing. Turned out she didn't have to be worried after all! Charity was absolutely slaughtering that dwarf! She was dodging absolutely every move he made. It was an absolute wonder to behold... Until it wasn't.

When the dwarf finally managed to get hold of Charity's hair and started pummelling her face into the ground, a very audible scream escaped from Honey's lips as she watched as blood splattered over the floor or the ring. "Charity!" Honey cried, abandoning those waiting at the bar for drinks and pushing through the crowd until she got to the edge of the ring. "Get her out of there!" Honey demanded of Perrault. The man did his best to calm the woman down and keep her away from the fight, explaining that nothing the dwarf was doing was against the rules, but Honey was having none of it. "I don't care about your stupid rules, he's going to kill her!" Honey cried, watching in horror as Charity's head was smashed into the ground over and over again.

---

Luckily for both of them though, it seemed that Charity had other plans in mind. Getting her face smashed in was only a minor set back to the wily young lady. A magically induced burst of strength and Charity was on her feet again, hitting the dwarf where it hurt the most.

"Och, bugger, mah baws!" Poor Angus groaned in pain, both hands automatically going to shield his tender privates, leaving his head completely open to Charity's kick, which had the poor dwarf keeling over. Perrault began his count to ten but there was no hope of the dwarf recovering from this attack. He was completely unconscious.

"And Charity Briarthorne is the winner!" Perrault declared, grabbing Charity's hand and holding it up high as the crowd cheered out for her. Honey wasn't cheering though, she was much too concerned for Charity's welfare to be happy with the results of that fight.

---

"Charity!" Honey cried out when she saw the girl drop to the ground in exhaustion. "Charity, are you alright?" she asked, putting her hand gently under Charity's head and lifting it up to get a better look at her. "Oh sweet Gods, I think your nose is broken. There's blood everywhere. What about your skull? It's not fractured is it? Tell me if any of this hurts," Honey suggested as she very gently put her hand on Charity's forehead, followed by her cheeks and then both sides of her head. "Are you dizzy? Can you see me clearly? Whatever you do, don't fall asleep. Just stay with me until one of Eilerias's healers comes to sort you out? Oh Gods, where are they?" she asked, looking around desperately for someone who could help.

 

[Urchin]

"Ryna's waiting for you. Come find us in the backroom when you're done out here."

Urchin breathed a heavy sigh of relief when Samara came to check on him. He was getting worried there. A psychopathic mass murdering mass raping maniac on the loose in the warehouse, getting healed by a beautiful, vulnerable teenage girl and only Urchin to stand between them... Yeah, he was about as effective as a sheet of tissue paper. "Thanks Samara," he said. Both for letting him know and for having his back against Rapey McGee. "Wait, who's Ryna?" he asked, confused... Then suddenly realised that must be the name of the girl he'd befriended. Weird, he'd been trying to find out her name since he'd met her and now he was finally learning it from Samara. "Oh, 'er! The pretty lady! How's she doin'? Eile fix 'er up okay? I was real worried."

Suddenly a cry echoed throughout the room and... Hurray! Charity had won! "Wooooooh!" The lad screamed excitedly, jumping up and down with excitement. "Yeah, Charity! That's my girl!" he cheered out, throwing his arms up in the air as he cheered for his best friend... And then she fell down.

"Oh bugger, she's looking pretty rough. Lidia, hun, ya think ya could go fix 'er up? Gotta get 'er all spick an' span fer 'er next fight. An' ta think I were worried about 'er. She's tougher than nails, our Charity." And so now, he just needed to give Perrault the names for the next match. So, it looked like it'd be Samara against Mortimer and Charity against... "Uh oh." Charity against Diedrick... That was not a fight that Urchin wanted to see. He'd seem the state that Diedrick had left Alain in. Hell, the guy was lucky to be alive. No way was he putting Charity in the ring against that guy... Now, to scribble some symbols out, switch them around, and... "So, the next fight's gonna be 'gainst you an' Diedrick. You alright with that?" That way Samara and Diedrick could beat the shit out of each other and Charity... Well, he'd see how she fared against Mortimer and worry about the finale later.

"Come on, let's go visit the patient," Urchin suggested, heading to the back room to where Ryna was resting. "Hey, Miss, ya doin' okay?" he asked her, clearly concerned considering the state she was in when Eilerias had shooed him out of the room.

 

[Alima Aiken]

"Hey, Miss, ya doin' okay?" he asked her, clearly concerned considering the state she was in when Eilerias had shooed him out of the room.

Ryna looked up to see Urchin. She smiled lightly. "I'm doing better now that you're here." She said softly. She saw something in Urchin that she believed no one else did. Brotherliness. Ryna huffed. "Thank you...for what you said, well, what you were going to say..."

Ryna rubbed her head lightly. She put her feet on the ground. "Come here...I'm going to try and stand up." She was afraid to try but it was for Urchin. Once she was on her feet, she wrapped her lengthy arms around him, squeezing him lightly.

'Don't leave...Please...' Ryna wanted to say, but she knew it would come out as a cry for help. She just didn't want to see him worry.

 

[Eilerias]

Eilerias sat at the edge of her seat, biting her nails as she watched Charity and the dwarf fight. "He's going to kill her." She repeated over and over in a whisper.

Her panic died down temporarily as it seemed like Charity's agility was no match for the berserker.

Okay, she's good. She's faster than him. Maybe she can continue dodging him until he tires himself out. Yes, I'm sure of it-

She shot out of her seat as the dwarf somehow managed to get a grip on Charity's hair and began smashing her face into the ground. "Oh dear god. He's going to kill her!" She cried, watching as her sister's face grew swollen and bruised. "Someone's got to stop him or she's going to die!"

She hurried away from the stands, intending to get to Charity before any of her acolytes could, catching small glances of her comeback through the crowd as she made her way where Honey was already tending to her.

Of course it hurt, Eilerias thought, hearing Honey speak as she approached. She could feel every cut, every bruise the poor girl had on her face. "I'm here," She panted, "Just get her out of there, I'll take care of her. Please just help me move her." She moved over to the two girl, grabbing one of Charity's arms. "It's okay, you're going to be okay." She reassured her, using her soothing touch to bring Charity into a more calm state of mind, hopefully easing at least some of her pain while they moved her.

"Honey can you lead the way to somewhere more quiet?" She asked, pushing some of the people out of there way as they dragged Charity along.

 

[Charity Briarthorne]

Charity could barely stand on her own as Perrault held her hand up and announced her as the winner. She slumped back to the ground as he released her.

"Charity!" Honey cried out when she saw the girl drop to the ground in exhaustion. "Charity, are you alright?" she asked, putting her hand gently under Charity's head and lifting it up to get a better look at her. "Oh sweet Gods, I think your nose is broken. There's blood everywhere. What about your skull? It's not fractured is it? Tell me if any of this hurts,"

"Oh, hi beautiful!" Charity said with a grin, trying to ignore the pain in her head. "I'm fine. Really. Just a broken nose. Nothing I haven't had before!" She laid there looking at Honey as she gingerly touched around her head. Charity was glad that Urchin wasn't here to see her like this. She knew it would kill the poor lad to see her all bruised and bloodied.

"Are you dizzy? Can you see me clearly? Whatever you do, don't fall asleep. Just stay with me until one of Eilerias's healers comes to sort you out? Oh Gods, where are they?"

Now that Honey mentioned it, she was feeling a bit dizzy and sleepy. Charity did her best to follow Honey's directions but it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay conscious. She did her best to focus on Honey's face and make small talk. Luckily for her, Eilerias soon arrived.

"I'm here," She panted, "Just get her out of there, I'll take care of her. Please just help me move her." She moved over to the two girl, grabbing one of Charity's arms. "It's okay, you're going to be okay." She reassured her, using her soothing touch to bring Charity into a more calm state of mind, hopefully easing at least some of her pain while they moved her.

"Hiya Angel..." Charity couldn't make eye contact with her sister. Not after Eilerias had begged her not to fight, knowing the condition she would probably end up in.

She felt a comforting warmness spread through her as Eilerias grabbed her arm. The sharp pain in her head dulled and the dizziness subsided thanks to Eilerias' healing. She looked over at Honey as the woman grabbed her other arm, and she was gently lifted partway off the ground. Charity was whisked away by the two women. All the while her head was in a haze and she insisted that she just had a broken nose and a headache.

 

[Alima Aiken]

Ryna wasn't feeling too well. As she looked at her skin, it grew quite pale. "Oh god...", she managed before vomiting into the table side bucket once more. It was a yellow-ish brown color. One thought came to mind. She shook the thought away, looking to Urchin.

"I'm sorry you have to see me like this Urchin...It's not the best looking for young ones." Ryna said softly. She looked a the young lad standing slumped over and looking worried. Ryna was fine, just recovering. Nothing to be afraid of. She laid back on the table, the sweat dripping from her forehead. She wiped it away and took a deep breath, only to start coughing aggressively. Nothing came up but mucus.

"Goodness, excuse me..." Ryna said after catching her breath. She took one look at Urchin and smiled. "Urchin, did you ever think that..." She stopped herself.