Bruno vs Rachelle

[22:29] The battlefield was vast enough to where she was due to run into another worthy opponent sooner rather than later. This time around, they proved to be a bit more... human. It was a face she hadn't seen in some time either.

Her blades are unsheathed at once and, in spite of the tension, she smiles. Some showmanship still lied in the Chieftess's heart even after retiring from her fun and games.

There were people counting on her now, after all.

"Bruno, right? I wish you were half as cool as your brother! But you look similar to him enough to where fighting you might feel a bit weird."

Then again, she didn't have a whole lot of room to hesitate. Earth rises above her to guard her and she readies herself.
(Rachelle)
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[22:35] After having opened up the front with the first shot of this battle, Bruno found himself locating yet another troublesome magi. Though she seemed to have spotted him, too. The opportunity for a surprise attack was lost, and instead? The occasion to exchange rare words was granted.

"If you speak of Cyril you speak not of my brother." Cold. Harsh, perhaps. Though traitors had no room to be in Achyon. Despite his grief on the day that Cyril had been kidnapped by the tribes he managed to hold a strong front, to show little emotion. He'd cried and yelled plenty enough in private. Blue eyes laid upon the rabbit as he spoke again.

"When we last met you bemoaned the fact people were hurt by battles. That you were hurt during your time with the Docro. Yet now you stand in a position where you could shift the world and decide to set your sights upon revenge. An endeavor most inefficient."

Bruno's right hand still held upon his weapon, yet his synthetic left rose up, allowing sparks of red to course along its length.

"Was it a mask you wore or are these mistakes you're making?"
(Bruno pyr Aertas)
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[22:43] It truly was a cold thing to say. Nevertheless, to her, Cyril was quite precious. She could hardly blame his brother for feeling betrayed.

He had been betrayed, after all.

"Revenge? Right now, we need to get Starfall for Yaluk's purposes. Then we're probably going to take a step back and start focusing on our own growth for a bit," she patiently explains.

It was entirely possible there was a misunderstanding floating about somewhere in the midst of it all. It could hardly be helped.

"In all honesty, there's a lot I'd like to do for Moxtli now that I'm a Chieftess. It starts by proving we're not simply savages, but a people dedicated to protecting the spirits as well as our beloved forests. If we lose ourselves in battle entirely? We really won't be anything more than unsightly beasts."

She twirls her daggers and stands tall.

"Of course, Achyon's a threat to the spirits and the nature we hold dear. That's why battles like these are necessary."

Pausing, Rachelle looks him over.

"...perhaps someone like you would be good for Achyon's future, unlike the Docro."

There was something about him that made him slightly easier to talk to than most Achyon soldiers, yet it was entirely possible she was fixated on his physical similarities to Cyril.
(Rachelle)
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[22:53] "There is but a single Primordial that has earned my respect. Those who merely demand worship from humanity without aiding them in their evolution are selfish. Irresponsible. Unworthy of the blood that flows through their veins." He says, casting his own opinion of spirits for her to understand, and perhaps, to see beyond the façade of the Machine they all took in unison. Individuality was hardly praised in the Empire, yet those who had reasons to be proud of who they were should maintain that pride.

And Bruno pyr Aertas may have been one of the most prideful individuals of this generation. His title and the blood that coursed through his veins were nothing but wasted when laid to rest upon the battlefield. Painting the grass crimson should be reserved for the masses. His ichor was far more precious.

"We see you for the beasts you've shown yourself to be. It builds rage and... blinds you to our true purpose. To our goal. Our mission when it comes to spiritual entities has been accomplished. Only those who require more from them will address them.

Your people will hardly understand that. They will refuse to see our aim to eleveate mankind as a whole. To unite the world under a single banner."

The Empire's goals were pretty. Strong. Solid. It's no wonder they stood this tall upon Aegis, taking the whole continent for themselves.

"My future lies not at Achyon's head, but as the shepherd who will usher humanity towards their future. Those who are born with greatness in their blood ought to share it as they take their seat atop the world.

For what is a New World without a population?"
(Bruno pyr Aertas)
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[23:04] His words left her with a considerable amount of food for thought. He was, in many ways, different than the typical emotionless soldier she was used to bumping into. The Aertas had a distinct goal in mind and seemed to have come a long ways from their last encounter.

Rather than another cog, he reminded her more of a part. One whose function was clear and held genuine merit.

"Beasts, huh? I suppose a lot of us are pretty temperamental- ah, including myself if the situation calls for it. Some of us seek to destroy humanity, some of us only wish to understand..." Rachelle looks off to the side, smiling softly. It was a beautiful day.

Being on a battlefield didn't distract from the beauty about her.

"Me? I just want what's best for my people. It's good to be ambitious, Bruno. Though I can't help but wonder how much destruction the path you walk holds in store. We're not blind to Achyon's goals entirely. A lot of us are just... wary. The biggest issue for us would be those who manipulate the dead in ill ways, but I'm sure you're well aware."

At this point, amber eyes drift back to the resolute white-haired man before her. He certainly made Achyon seem more respectable than most.

"It's easy to hate people just because they're a 'human' or 'cog', but at the very least? I'm glad we were able to have this conversation. If I'm going to be a good leader, I need to be open-minded and cautious. It's a promise I made to myself."

"I'll keep what you said in mind at least."
(Rachelle)
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[23:12] "Your future is going to be interesting, struggler."

He says, finally bringing his all-too-human left hand down upon his weapon, readying for the inevitable.

"Those were the words that Primordial spoke to me when he accepted me. The respect I hold for him lies not in the strength he obtained, but the path her had to take to reach it. He was further below than any other magi upon Esshar, with naught but potential to his name.

My path is one that will be carved by my own hands. To forsake my own soul for a shortcut would be to betray my own ideals."

His words were clearly depicting something that had happened to him, yet the details of such were shrouded in mysteries. The spirit of it was all that mattered.

"I suppose you won't surrender even knowing the path I walk."

Final Answer is brought up, risen and adjusted in Rachelle's direction. The bear's mawappropriately ready to bite at the pull of a trigger.
(Bruno pyr Aertas)
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[23:21] It was as honorable and noble a goal as any. If nothing else, he'd gained some of the warrior's respect. His background lied separate from it in her eyes.

He, as an individual, was something else.

"It seems we both have rather unique perspectives on the paths our people should take. Let's see what the future will bring, shall we?"

With his weapon raises her way, Rachelle puts her guard further up. The minor wounds she'd sustained in her recent battle stung yet, bravely through them, the Lapine would fight.

"If I were to surrender, I wouldn't be able to face my people with pride-"

A small gasp passes through her lips and a look of horror befalls the woman. She looks to the left, the right, and seeing nothing?

The Chieftess fears the worst.

Her hands tremble ever so slightly and, anxiously, the pallid woman murmurs, "Dreadful. Someone like him, truly? An enemy is an enemy, so perhaps..."

Her heart squeezes uncomfortably in her chest and she kicks forward without further ado to begin fighting.

There was no time to waste.
(Rachelle)
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[23:30] {Won Dangerous RPB against Rachelle}
[23:56] The gap between the both of them was a narrow one. The battle could have gone either way, really. Her mastery of the battlefield was one that could hardly be topped. Thankfully for Bruno his sheer speed and ellusiveness was going to wrangle the win out of the woman's grasp. Hellstorm bolts rained from the heavens with reckless abandon only to strike naught but protective mist. Entrapping sands caught his ankles, summoning forth hungering dragons who's maws would close upon manifested darkness rather than flesh.

It seemed impossible for a moment. To force a win out of her hands was no easy task; maddening curses were withstood and seemed far from intimidating as waters rose into a prison of their own to protect the lapine. Waves of occult and dark lightning alike could hardly pierce through the protection offered.

The Aertas took in a deep breath, realizing what must be done. A running start was taken before he dove right into the heart of the waters. Mana coalescing at his fingertips. Blue eyes meeting with hers.

I can't help but wonder how much destruction the path you walk holds in store.

The land below them both would find itself devastated with a snap of his fingers. The ground desecrated by the vile influence of the occult; plants dying off, waters of her own creation boiling up to wound any who would dare claim the battlefield as their own.

The path ahead of him was far from an easy one. He had made that decision on his own when Achlys' outstretched hand had been refused. A struggle he felt the weight of right away. If his flesh had to burn for him to rise, then so be it.

Humans were full of weaknesses, imperfections. Flesh could be replaced, mended by steel as his grandfather put it. The cost of victory was nothing compared to feeling his own body give way before those who deserved not to spill his blood.

His breath held, Bruno unleashed a slew of spells. Occult magic intermingled with lightning in a perfect pas de deux, wreaking havoc towards the Chieftess with neither mercy nor feelings held behind them. To remain would bring the cold embrace of death. To surrender would be to turn traitor.

To run would be to accept Bruno was superior.

Could Rachelle allow her own mastery of the battlefield to be overtaken?
Could she accept it?
(Bruno pyr Aertas)
[00:11] It was an eerie situation she was faced with. In a time where concentration was absolutely crucial, the Lapine's demeanor had taken an abrupt shift. She seemed terrified and paranoid of something.

Something that lied deep out of sight and further beyond her own waves.

Crimson tinted lightning breaks through her sands and scatters immense waves of water, transforming the field into a shell of its former self:

A field far segregated from the natural elements where the two battled for dominance to prove the superiority of the burdens they each shouldered. Ever so slightly, they'd come closer to understanding one another.

Yet the Chieftess was at her wit's end.

"SILENCE! MY DECISIONS ARE MY OWN!" Rachelle cries out. In her state of instability, his curses would prove all the more effective.

But what was it that had shaken her so?

Her eyes meet his own in that fateful moment. By his will, the delicate landscape was sullied. Her water was unable to revitalized and, soon enough, it was buried by her sand.

She's shoved back, in the end. It was a fight that could've gone either way though, this time, Bruno's conviction had proven stronger.

There was no shame in a defeat like this in her eyes.

Her daggers are shoved back into their sheathes with a firm snap and she turns on her heel, gritting her teeth. No longer desiring for her foe to see her in such a pitiful state.

A Chieftess had to be strong. She, as an individual, needed to be strong. Her promise wouldn't be broken.

"I-I'll change things... just watch, Bruno..."

The Lapine's retreat would be hasty. This time, he'd triumphed over her.

A fact that she very well may have to change some day should their interests come to conflict once more. After all these years, she was still unable to best him.
(Rachelle)
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[00:20] Whether it was his presence alone that made Rachelle lose her mind bit by bit or the fact that the world screamed under his touch was unclear, though even in defeat the woman would be able to feel the touch of those blood-soaked bolts.

Scorching. Yet cold.

Sharp. Much like death itself.

Bruno was an individual who sought not to merely win through strength alone. An opponent's defeat came not when they laid on the ground, but when their gaze could not meet your own. Her retreated was filled with shame, with guilt of being unfit to face him as long as he could go.

His will had triumphed over her own, even if hers was fierce. One final message was thrown her way. An issue he had not spoken of until she could no longer face him.

"Cowardly acts towards my sister speak of a different woman than the one I've fought."

Threats could only be reciprocated or feared, but truth? Truth was much more difficult to turn away from. The Lapine had fought with her heart on the line. Dreams, will, and goals that were all clear for the both of them.

Her attempt on Amelia was unlike any of that.

Perhaps the freezing embrace of death seemed alluring for those few seconds.
(Bruno pyr Aertas)
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[00:25] "I did it for him- for Cyril. There's a reason I never drew my blades against her that day. Take it as you will."

The final truth he had to offer was one met with her own. In reality, she hadn't expected anyone from Achyon to realize her intent. Perhaps it'd escaped many of her own as well.

But here, on this day, he would be the one to know just why she had sought to take a non-combatant from her people.

An act far more selfish than she cared to admit with the obligation she now held to her people.
(Rachelle)