Queen's Mettle V – Lost in the Woods
The next demesne was another forest similar to the one she saw in the far distance when she faced the Wind Archon. Maybe it was the same one. She didn't know how these realms and their borders worked.
The trees contained within the forest were massive titans compared to her. The smallest trunk of one was wider than she was, and they all towered over her by at least a few hundred feet. If she had to guess, she would have said that they all had to be over a hundred years old. The canopy above her was so thick and tightly condensed that she couldn't see the sky. Nor could light filter down to the floor, meaning she was working with very little light. On more than one occasion, she tripped over a tree root and nearly fell flat on her face had she not caught herself in time. "This is so annoying," she grumbled.
[COLOR="#8B4513"]"Welcome, young fighter,"[/COLOR] came a voice from somewhere within the forest. [COLOR="#8B4513"]Are you ready to begin your next lesson?"[/COLOR]
She looked around, but couldn't see where its voice was coming from. "Where are you?"
[COLOR="#8B4513"]"That is for me to know and you to find out. Come find me, if you can."[/COLOR]
"For fuck's sake! Hide and go seek?" She sighed tersely and powered up her aura. At the very least, it would provide some light so she could see what she was doing. This was a game her little niece and nephew liked to play when they were bored. It was annoying because they didn't know how to play right.
It sounded like she didn't have a choice but to play this stupid game. With another sigh, she continued walking within the deep and tightly-packed forest. [i]Okay. I'm guessing this Archon looks like its element like all the others, meaning it looks like it's made of tree bark or something.[/i] The problem was that every tree, literally every one of them, looked the same. If this creature looked like a tree, then it could literally be anywhere.
A sharp wooden dagger shot from somewhere within the trees pierced her left leg. "Ah damn it!" She hobbled to a nearby tree to balance as she pulled it out. A pained grunt trickled out through her gritted teeth. "Son of a bitch!"
[COLOR="#8B4513"]"Surely you didn't think it would be easy."[/COLOR]
She didn't, but it didn't have to be a dick and make it even harder than it already was going to be. It wasn't like it could perfectly blend into its surroundings. Meaning it could have been anywhere.
Another wooden stake flew in from somewhere behind her and pierced her shoulder, then another one landed through the back of her thigh. She stumbled forward and fell to a knee. Another grunt escaped her as she yanked out the one sticking out of her thigh. She was bleeding profusely, though those wounds would close up relatively quickly. What she was worried about was how she was going to find this bastard. [i]I think I got it.[/i]
Assuming it couldn't just fire stakes remotely, all she had to track where the stakes were coming from, then fire her own blast in that direction. It was simple, but she felt it was the right way to go. Her steps were hobbled and slowed and would continue to be until her thigh healed enough to put her full weight on. [i]I have to stay quiet,[/i] she thought to herself.
The forest was eerily quiet. There weren't any species of animals that inhabited these realms, so the locales were deathly silent. It sent a chill up her spine, but it also allowed her to listen clearly and hear when there was a stake coming for her. It started with a soft cracking, like wood being split, then a whistling in the air. The only problem, she realized as it clanged off her prosthetic arm, was that she didn't know which direction it was coming from or which body part it was aiming for. She was going to have to focus even harder.
She stopped walking when she reached a small clearing with a patch of tall grass and purple flowers. She stood in the middle of the grass and tilted her head down. Her breathing slowed. [i]I have to trust my senses,[/i] she thought to herself.
There. In the distance, she heard another soft crack and a whistling noise coming from...her left! She ducked forward, just barely avoiding the stake that nearly stabbed into her neck. She fired a blast in that direction. A dozen trees were reduced to splinters and toothpicks before it dissipated harmlessly in the air.
[COLOR="#8B4513"]"Close, but not close enough,"[/COLOR] the creature said from elsewhere.
She had the brief idea of leveling the entire forest, but that was needlessly destructive. Besides, it wasn't sporting. She just needed to be faster. She needed to trust her senses and react faster. And she knew how to make that happen.
She lifted her hands in the air and unleashed countless orbs of ki into the air. They spread out through the forest, permeating every possible inch and corner. A tether flowed through each one, connecting all of them together into one massive web. Done and ready, she waited. If it moved, she would know. If it didn't, she would find it. Either way, she had it trapped. The tethers extended even underground, but she doubted it could move underground.
The next dagger flew through the air from her right. She threw her arm up and blocked it with the katchin bracer. She turned in that direction and waited. Several beats passed without consequence.
[COLOR="#8B4513"]"A clever ploy,"[/COLOR] the creature admitted. [COLOR="#8B4513"]"It seems you have me hemmed in with little means of escape.[/COLOR]
Since she knew what direction it was located, zeroing in on its voice was a lot easier than before when it seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. She disengaged the tethers and quickly closed in. "Found you." She would have hit it and said tag, but that was a little much. Besides, it was still training and training was never a game.
[COLOR="#8B4513"]"Indeed. Please, follow me to the next demesne."[/COLOR]
Queen's Mettle VI -- Hearts of Ice
Sarada had faced five Archons already and still had four left to go. "Fucking...why the fuck does there need to be [i]nine[/i] of these fuckers? Who the fuck needs some asshole to control sand and fucking wood?" she grumbled. She felt the four core elements - fire, water, earth, and air - was more than enough to get across whatever point these creatures' creator had in mind. She felt whoever it was was just flexing the fact that they could make elemental creatures. "Ooh, look at me. I'm making a talking tree and a pile of seaweed with a soggy vagina. Gimme a fucking break."
Despite her disgruntled attitude toward continuing this learning quest, she had no intention of quitting. She was going to get a sweet tech out of it and she wasn't about to miss out on that. Besides, it wasn't like she wasn't learning anything. Fighting with her brain made for some pretty cool results. She couldn't wait to use her ki web on someone in an actual fight and actually explode them. [i]Maybe I'll use it on Tundra. Nah, I'm definitely using it on him.[/i]
Speaking of tundras, the next demesne was a frozen tundra. Ice and snow accumulated on the ground for as far as her eyes could see. In the far distance, tall mountains tickled the sky, giving the horizon a jagged edge. The temperature was freezing. Puffs of vapor billowed out of her mouth with each exhale. She wasn't cold, and she was even better at dealing with the cold than she was the first time she faced the Icy Archon, Oighear.
[COLOR="#00FFFF"]"Back for more, I see,"[/COLOR] Oighear remarked from a distance. Sarada turned to face it. Or her, as its form was blatantly female. It only then occurred to her that she had been referring to these creatures as things rather than people. A mistake, she supposed. [COLOR="#00FFFF"]"I was told by my kin that you would cross my path again. That you have made it this far is impressive."[/COLOR]
"Not like I'm actually fighting anyone," she said morosely. "It's only been escape this sinking sand trap or play hide and seek with a tree." She sighed. "I'm guessing this is going to be more of the same."
[COLOR="#00FFFF"]"Not necessarily. My kin chose various means of testing you, true, but that does not mean the remainder of us will. I do not know of Tintreach's intentions, but myself, Lasair, and Criostalach will cross fist with you for your own benefit."[/COLOR]
At hearing those words, Sarada was overjoyed. "Are you serious?! This is the best news ever!" She got into fighting position and powered up. "Ready when you are!"
Oighear chuckled, as if she knew something Sarada didn't. [COLOR="#00FFFF"]"Very well. Let us begin."[/COLOR] With that, she dashed in to engage Sarada.
Sarada met her head-on. She remembered what happened the last time they crossed fists, and the burn of the frostbite that somehow affected her prosthetic hands. She very much wanted to avoid that this time. As such, she formed two small barriers over her fists, tight enough to fucntion as a second pair of gloves. The first clash was met with a dampened sensation and no burn.
[COLOR="#00FFFF"]"Hm. You have learned. Very good."[/COLOR]
The two darted through the icy tundra, creating shockwaves every time they clashed. Before, Oighear was the clear stronger of the two. This time, it was reversed. Sarada never realized how much stronger she was when she was fighting Parsley because they were improving at the same time and only had each other as a reference. Once she fought someone who had previously mopped the floor with both of them, she found out just how much stronger she had become.
She was dancing around Oighear, easily dodging her strikes and attacking her blind spots. Yet, for all the damage she was doing - which was substantial - it was mended and back as good as new within moments. [i]She must be healing from the cold in the air.[/i] It wouldn't matter if she was stronger if the person she was fighting could heal from an wounds almost immediately after they were inflicted. The only possible outcome was Sarada succumbing to exhaustion and losing.
She needed to find a way to keep Oighear from mending her wounds before she started to lose steam. As of the moment, she wasn't in any danger, but that could change in a heartbeat. [i]Think,[/i] she silently urged herself as she disengaged and retreated to a safe distance.
[COLOR="#00FFFF"]"So, you've finally figured it out."[/COLOR] Oighear chuckled. [COLOR="#00FFFF"]"It is impressive that you have managed to gain this much power in such a short time. That, I suppoose, it the fighting prowess Inanna told us about. However, superior strength does not always guarantee victory. My kin, Lasair, learned that lesson well many of your years ago. So, how will you proceed now?"[/COLOR]
She had an idea. She knew that salt could melt ice and prevent it from re-freezing, which was how Oighear was healing herself. However, there wasn't any of it to be found and she didn't know how to make it herself on the fly. Nor did she feel she was going to have the time.
Her teeth gritted together. She ran through her techniques in her head, even the ones she only used a few times years ago. Nothing in her arsenal could help her. For the first time since this stupid quest began, she realized what Criostalach wanted to teach her. She couldn't brute force her way through this.
[Color="#00FFFF"]"Having trouble? Allow me to jog your memory."[/color] Oighear clenched her fists. There was a still lull of sorts in the air, then everything warped. A wave of pure cold washed across the distance between them.
Sarada didn't know what it was going to do, but she knew it was bad. She took to the air to avoid it, but her cape got caught. The fabric, which was strong enough to survive several explosions without so much as a wrinkle, instantly froze solid. She quickly detached it from her armor before it could spread to her.
Another beam of ice barely missed her, followed by another. She countered that one with ki blast, only to gawk in utter amazement when it was frozen solid. "What the hell?" The actual hell? She was almost certain it wasn't physically possible to freeze pure energy. Was it? Science stuff was boring and beyond her, but she was pretty sure that it wasn't possible. It was like freezing fire or something like that.
[COLOR="#00FFFF"]"I may now be the weaker of the two of us, but you would do well to be wary, child."[/COLOR] Oighear suddenly sunk into the ice below and disappeared from view.
"Shit. Where'd she go?" Sarada took to the air to put some distance between them and to think of another strategy. [i]Okay, I know she can heal from pulling in cold air. Or something. I just know it has something to do with re-freezing. If I can block out the cold air, then that should keep her from healing. And I think I have just the tech for that.[/i]
As she was thinking, the ground started to rumble. Massive pillars shot out of the ground, nearly skewering Sarada had she not gotten out of the way in time. The pillars continued, spiraling around each other to created a tapered roof. [i]A cage?[/i] There was just enough space between the pillars for her to slip through, but there were also films of ice between them.
Oighear emerged at the bottom of the cage. [COLOR="#00FFFF"]"Try to escape if you dare,"[/COLOR] she said. [COLOR="#00FFFF"]"Or come and face me."[/COLOR]
Sarada had a feeling she was in a lose-lose situation. If her gut was right, the films of ice could freeze her solid on impact, or at least burn her like Oighear's touch did a while ago. There was also no telling what the Archon had in mind. Regardless, Sarada felt she only had one choice in the matter.
Without a word, she quickly descended and prepared to fight again. As they clashed again, she put her plan into motion and completely enclosed the both of them inside a large barrier.
[COLOR="#00FFFF"]"Interesting,"[/COLOR] she commented.
As she hoped, the barrier blocked out the cold that was permeated the outside world. And just as she hoped, any damage the Archon suffered at her hands didn't heal as quickly at first, then not at all.
[COLOR="#00FFFF"]"You figured it out,"[/COLOR] Oighear remarked with a smile in her voice. [COLOR="#00FFFF"]"Very good, young Queen."[/COLOR] She held a hand up to call Sarada's assault off. [COLOR="#00FFFF"]"I believe that is enough. I must admit this has not gone the way I initially thought it would. That is good. You have improved greatly. Perhaps enough to secure another victory."[/COLOR] The cage poofed out of existence. [COLOR="#00FFFF"]"You will need this strength for your next challenge. He has been very keen in facing you again."[/COLOR]
She had a feeling she knew who she was talking about. That fiery little piss ant who tried to kill Ishtar for something he wasn't even around for. "I've been waiting for this," she said while clenching her fist.
[COLOR="#00FFFF"]"I had a feeling."[/COLOR] She gestured for Sarada to follow.