Bane vs. Kestrel

[Bane]

ooc| This takes place right at the end of the war - I spoke to Bristle last night and suggested we bring this to an end so that all can get back to their normal rp. Afterall, the fights are going slow. Thus, you may choose whether or not your characters have died or not (baring in mind it's realistic that a fair few do die). Check the thread in Warriors Chat if you don't know what's to happen in this hear thread. x3

With every passing minute, more blood stained the battlefield.

With every passing minute, the insane drilling in his brain intensified.

It was hard to keep concentration, yet he tried to remain composed. His mind checked through a list of BoneClan warriors, checking on their whereabouts, making sure they were well. Many coped as he had expected - a mental note told Bane that dearest Panic and his father figure Pripyat were due an upgrage in rank. Though BoneClan warriors fell, he saw many take down clan cats with them. All was as it could be.

Except.

A sensation of vertigo crashed into Bane with extreme force. It almost knocked him off his boulder, but elongated claws clung to the surface as if death dragged at his feet. As soon as it had washed over him, the feeling was gone - Bane was left panting as though he had been fighting the hardest battle of his life. His body felt as though he had been chucked into fire. That frightened him more than the prospect of losing this damn battle - what was wrong with him? Would he last a battle if this happened again?

His thoughts were to get this over with as soon as possible. He couldn't be seen in this state. Five painful minutes passed before he had composed himself as fully as he could. He felt sick; his stomach felt as if it was slowly shrinking. His head throbbed; this was made worse by the thread of panic-sticken thoughts that haunted him. The BoneClan leader jumped off the rock as though nothing was wrong, walked in as normal manner as he could muster. Eyes focused completely on his target - Kestrel. Similar to himself, she had hardly been involved in the fighting so far. Bane attempted to act discreet, yet doubted it would work. How long before all eyes were on him? He wanted this over quickly, discreetly, no distractions, not interruptions.

He wanted her dead. So he could leave this battlefield and get back to safe quarters where he could suffer in peace.

Merely a foot in front of her, and Bane stopped. Dilated eyes pierced into her own, not for the hatred he felt but for he needed his eyes to concentrate somewhere, else he knew that he would collapse. It was not a good situation to be in before entering a battle that determined the life or death of your clan - the only hope he clung to is that once he got into the swing of things, the feelings would go away. The deep concentration on every move would distract him from the pain he was currently in.

Calm. Bane took a deep intake of breath, but only spoke in a whisper. It was all he could muster - fortunately, it sounded deliberate.

"Let's get this over with."

He doubted she could hear him over the fray, but his posture and expression probably told her all she needed to know. He held himself strongly, yet a fair few gaps were in his defenses. Partly for inability to hold them, partly a deliberate ploy to attempt her to attack him.

Always the gentleman; Bane would let her attack first. He always did work better when it was his life under threat rather than him threatening another's life.

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[Kest]

the verdict of the jury hung on

Kestrel watched him approach. Her expression was calm, cool; her composure was complete.
But in her mismatched eyes there raged a fire so fierce, so intense, that many a cat would be forced to drop their gaze.

"Bane," she meowed coldly, the word dropping into a minute silence. The fight was slowing; the intensity was running low. They had the BoneClanners on the run now--they were still dangerous, oh yes, but they were outnumbered. Beset on all sides by the claws of Kestrel's alliance, they were wavering.
They were falling. Fleeing.

A spluttering gust of wind brought a sweet scent to the RisineClan leader's nose. Some kind of flower, blooming high in the hills of her homeland. To her the smell spoke of peace...it spoke of returning home soon, the war won and the enemy destroyed.
Kestrel was just as eager as Bane was to finish this.

Her claws slid out, slowly, cutting into the earth. Her eyes were sharp; she suspected a ploy in his apparent weaknesses. He was too experienced to be so vulnerable.
A smirk flashed across her pretty face. She angled her body, shifting her weight in readiness for combat.
Speed, she thought. Be as strong as they say you are. Few cats can match my speed.

Abruptly, she moved--exploded forward, closing the short distance between herself and her archenemy in less than a second.
Her unnaturally long claws flashed for his shoulder, his sides, his rear leg, and then she darted back again.
A feint.
She would do it again. And again. Over and over, as many times as it would take to make Bane attack her first.

Dance with me, Bane.

the weight of what has become.

[Bane]

Speed. His weakest point - but for every weak spot you've got a strong one to counter it.

At first he tried to move out of the way of these attacks - he headed straight for her claws, slicing a small mark on his shoulder, just large enough to allow a trickle of blood.

It was that trickle of blood that stopped the nausea. His mind suddenly cleared - then all became like clockwork.

He remained still, composed, not following her movements, but concentrating on a spot ahead of him. Ignoring the moving figures - it was like entering a trance. He now knew these were all feints, and even if they weren't they would do little damage the way she slashed at him.

Wait. He waited until she came to feint an attack on his left shoulder.

In that trance he moved as swiftly as possible. A strong thrust, sending all his weight and force into that shoulder, hoping to knock her leg which now stretched for him, thus creating a domino-effect that would knock her off balance. When moving at fast paces, it's difficult to recover when someone with strength on their side attempts to knock you over.

He hadn't the intentions yet to attack. He could have - he could have wrapped his teeth round her jaw as she fell off course. Let her run. Even the most frightened rabbit eventually loses pace.

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[Kest]

Utilizing her amazing agility, Kestrel flipped away from Bane's shive and landed paws-down, skidding, turning to face him again.
And with barely a pause, she launched herself forward again, her mottled form seeming to blur.
She slashed at his side, braced for his next attack.

[ crap post ^^' ]

[Bane]

She'd recovered surprisingly well. But the time for feints was over now. She'd better bloody attack for real this time.

True to form, she aimed for his side. A simple dodge in the opposite direction would have been too easy. Bane ducked just before her claws could make contact, and in that moment of close proximity thrust with all his weight forward and up, jaws wide to try and grab hold of her upper neck, at the same time trying to claw at any underside/inner leg he could get at.[/size]

[Kest]

Kestrel twisted, wrenching Bane's jaws away from her throat. His fangs scrawled blood across her skin, and at the same time his claws opened a cut along the inside of one rear leg.
Kestrel hissed in pain and anger, but did not physically seem to flinch.
It was her natural instinst to want to put distance between herself and her enemy. She denied this; Bane would be expecting it.
Instead, Kestrel shifted to dig her claws into Bane's skin. They were very long and sharp--they woyuld bite deep.
She tensed, ready to take any chance she could to make an escape. This was crazy-dangerous.
And best of all, totally suprising.

[Bane]

Her claws dug in - to move away was like a predator walking away from it's prey. They were in close proximity - to move away meant he'd have to work back to this stage again. Take advantage of the close proximity while you have it. Deny her the ability to step away and begin her circling game again.

He did not even acknowledge the claws that dug into his skin. They did not dig into dangerous places - only blood would be the loss to where they struck. The tiniest step back to release him from her claws grip - then instantly in again before she had time to step away. This time aiming for the flank - again, forcing all his strength into it so as to knock her off balance.[/size]

[Kest]

Kestrel allowed herself to fall. The claws that gored her flank she ignored; it would bleed, but the wound would not be dangerous.
Once on her back, she raised all four paws, claws fully extended and lethally sharp.
If Bane tried to attack her on the ground...well, then her claws would go deep indeed. The black tom's own weight would force them through muscle and tissue...there would be real blood.

She waited. She was playing below her game right now; let Bane think it was all she had.
Let the fool underestimate her.

[Bane]

He had succeeded in knocking her over - he moved so that his body would be directly above hers, essentially pinning her down. A dangerous position, yet potentially the best position you'll ever manage to get into in a battle.

Immediately he lowered his body by bending his legs. This gave her own legs less room to move - thus less area to kick, though undoubtedly kick she would. Bane had coped with damage to his stomach before, and knew where his limits were - he hoped to get this over with quick so he wouldn't have to endure too much of her kicking.

Instantly he went for it - jaws wide open and aiming straight for her throat. It was the quickest way to dispatch of her, though if it did fail he moved one forepaw to try a slice across her open chest.[/size]

[Kest]

Silly, unimaginative tom.
It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye, as the saying goes.

Just as she expected, Bane shifted his greater weight and pinned her down. Instantly, she raised both rear legs and braced them against his prone belly. But she did not drag her claws, not yet. Instead, she pushed--using all the strength in her powerful legs to force her long claws through layers of skin. When her claws bit deep enough to satisfy her, then she would cut, and such a cut would be much more dangerous.
Perhaps Bane would even find himself...disembowled. An ugly, wonderful thing. He was a demon who deserved such a painful death.
Kestrel's eyes sparked at the thought.

Again, as expected, Bane's teeth flashed for her throat. Reacting with every ounce of her lightening speed, she raised both paws, knifing claws fully unsheathed, and slashed at his face.
At his one remaining eye. If he wanted to bite open her throat, he would have to lose his sight to do it. And if he moved his weight to use his claws, Kestrel was sure she could slither free. She was particularly agile, after all.

An eye for an eye, she thought savagely. Only for you, this isn't figurative at all.

[Bane]

Too predictable. This insane pounding of his brain against his skull was making his moves amateur.

Still, he had to try. She poised ready to take out his one remaining eye - he turned his head to the right to try and deflect the move. A pretty gash was scored from the corner of his right eye, across the bridge of his nose and into his blind eye. It would bleed badly, but atleast he was not completely blind.

Now, for the proper attack - jaws wide, he went once more for her throat.[/size]

[Kest]

> > the other side of the coin.

[/u]

And once more, Kestrel blocked the blow with her claws, tearing viciously at Bane's face.
The smell of his blood thrilled like fire through her veins. Her mismatched eyes flared with battle rage; she bared her teeth, her face looking absolutely feral with the passion of it. She could not remember hating anyone so much before.
Or wanting to hurt them so badly.
Some would lose their heads when faced with such an all-consuming fury. Fallingsky had, and now she lay dead in the center of the battlefield like a dead sun, the marks of her sister's claws in her fur. But Kestrel was well-used to strong emotion--she lived in a hurricane. Her self-control was almost perfect, and instead of breaking under the strain of the fight, it held her rigid. It fueled the fire.
It gave her strength.

[/color][/size][/blockquote]

[Bane]

He'd underestimated her. It had cost him a savage blow to his head.

Blood had begun to seep into both eyes, from a deep cut along his forehead. He could afford to waste precious time attempting to get at her neck - this was seconded by the second insane wave of vertigo that crashed onto him. He almost fell over there and then - he managed to stay upright, attempted to act as if nothing was wrong.

Every single hiss, scream, shout - in his head it screeched ten times louder.

He had to get this done with. Lifting his right forepaw, this gave Kestrel access to a way of escape. However he couldn't just let her leave without attempting something in such a position. The right paw went crashing down, aiming for her chest/nape region, hoping to score deep or wind her. He attempted similar with his back legs.[/size]

[Kest]

Kestrel instantly rolled away, toward freedom. Bane's right paw crashed into her, knocking the breath from her body; she felt flesh tear, and a bright spear of pain lanced through her, but she did not falter.
She wanted to throw some distance between her and Bane.

Her paws strained for the earth. She twisted, getting her feet beneath her, and stood with her legs spread and her head down defensively. In her escape, she had allowed Bane's claws to score deeply into the nape of her neck. Blood welled beneath the fur and spilled down her neck in a steady flow.

Kestrel gritted her teeth against the pain. It stung like hell, but she bit back an angry hiss of pain.
Poker face. She was good at that.

Now. Time for a little wordplay. She wanted to see how far Bane's self-control went.
"I expected better from a cat like you," she meowed cooly, stepping slowly backwards to relative safety.

[Bane]

She escaped his pin, but not without going unwinded. She was pained, no matter how hard she tried to cover it. Bane couldn't even manage satisfaction - he hardly moved even as she elegantly lifted herself off the floor, and turned to confront him. She could have attacked him right there, but she was obviously more interested in playing with him.

Quite frankly, he couldn't be f**ked. He slowly turned his body to face her, his breathing ragged - and he didn't even try hiding it. For how tired he was, you would have thought the fight had been going on for creeping into the tens of minutes. It hadn't. It wasn't even 5. But his brain kept telling him it was time to stop, time to sit down and rest. He wanted water, food, more oxygen than his lungs could comprehend.

What was this? What was wrong with him? Slowly, his head lifted to stare a bloody-eyes stare at Kestrel. He paused, the silence between them emphasising how loud his breathing really was.

"f**king...... whore."

The words seemed to give him energy - in that moment the exhausted old cat had gained momentum, the driving force needed to keep him going. He ran directly at her, staring directly into her eyes - swerved off to the right only a few milliseconds before they were ready to collide. He went behind her, not with speed but at close calls so it would be harder for her to follow him. Literally, fur brushed against fur, tail against tail as he turned around her, then went straight for the nape, once more forcing all his strength into her side, claws under her stomach - this time the real need for her death was evident. The safety and well-being of his clan was at risk here - if he didn't succeed... he couldn't bare to think of what would happen to the others. Of course, he trusted Darkangel and Sharpfang to remain alive, and keep the clan going. But would the clan lose faith in the whole point? If Bane died, would they lose faith in his bastard daughter?

And so he would not die; could not die. He dared Kestrel to defy that.




EDIT| aww man, word filter? >D I love Bane, he's like a punchbag that helps me to vent my anger. Cause heck to I have a lot of anger right now - thus more Baney fun.[/size]

[Kest]

"This is pathetic."

Kestrel hissed, her tail twitching above the ground. She was still--she was the epitome of stillness, the antithesis of action and motion.
So much stillness, spinning around her. An aura of calm so deep and strong it seemed to suck the noise and chaos from the fighting around her.

She waited, the wound at the nape of her neck slowly clotting.
She waited, listening to Bane's ragged breathing with a kind of savage joy.
He would grow tired. She could wait a little longer.

And then, at last--as minutes passed like years between them--Bane spoke.
And then attacked.

Kestrel pivoted, keeping time with Bane as he whirled around her. She moved half-a-second late; his claws bit into the back and side of her neck. But she barely winced, even as the blood ran across Bane's claws. Her claws flashed at his face, his throat, sharp points stabbing for the bone.
Sharp points for hooking and gripping and pulling...

She angled her body away, keeping her balance only by prodigious effort. Bane's claws scrawled red lines against her ribs, but these were mild. And her fur was thick, a baffle for his teeth and claws.
"f**king whore," she spat. "This is the best you can come up with? I thought Bane would be more eloquent. Perhaps it was an illusion. Perhaps you are not nearly as strong as you seem--you, or your Clan."

Many tail-lengths away, a siamese she-cat screamed and fell, lashing out in a fury. She dealt her attacker a glancing blow, and then the strength left her. A quick breath of wind threw the siamese's scent sideways. She was BoneClan.
Another BoneClanner dead. And another. And here another.

[Bane]

She thought he cared for her words.

He didn't give a sh*t what she thought.

She seemed to link eloquence with strength. Odd.

Similarly, she failed to see the cats from her "side" that fell in similarly bloody situations.

Essentially, Bane was outnumbered. Insanely outnumbered. Many of his clan fell, dying as heroes. Yet an equal amount of RisingClan also fell. The different was that Kestrel had more cats - whilst the amount of cats that had died remained about the same, she was left with more surviving. Bane hated it - it was why he had started this fight early. He wished no more of his clan to die for him. It tore him up more than he let show.

He had scored blood. She managed to score across his face, and rip an ear - more blood that would blind him temporarily.

Ignoring the blood, he landed as elegantly as he could infront of her, knees bending allowing him the ease of a quick jump back up - and directly at her. Claws aimed for her nape and underside, whilst jaws opened wide, hoping the force of his confront would leave her stunned, and allow him an easy opening to her neck. The same old trick - but he was desperate.

Just metres away, DuskClan's deputy was felled. He died silent - not a scream left his throat, as blood slowly welled up, eyes slowly glazed over in peace. Bane prayed he would be the last to die.[/size]

[Kest]

Like liquid Kestrel almost seemed to pass through Bane's claws, shifting fluidly away from his blows.
She leaped out of his reach, this time unharmed. Amusement showed on her face--she could see how desperate the BoneClan leader was becoming.
It pleased her.

Kestrel began to back up, slowly, one paw at a time.
Oh, Bane...eloquence equals intelligence, and that is a higher prize than mere strength.
And Kestrel had made a choice to use her best weapon...her new knowledge of Bane's weakness.

She wound up and then exploded into motion, accelerating to her top speed in the wide space between herself and Bane, gathering herself and leaping with barely a pause.
Impossibly fast.
If she struck Bane now, her pure speed and momentum might be enough to carry the larget cat off his paws--but she didn't intend to strike him head-on. Her leap could carry her right over Bane, and with a casual movement of claws she could tear into his back, his neck, and with lightening speed land unscathed on his other side, paws-down and ready to move.

Through all of his her mind remained clear. She launched her attack with all the swiftness of a striking snake, but at some point she found time to say, her tone hard but almost conversational,
"Oh, by the way, Bane--I met your cousin."

He would know. Would he react as she expected?

[Bane]

ooc| If you mean Meloy then he's more like a brother in law haha xD

Oh so brilliantly timed.

As Kestrel landed on his back, another wave of pain made his eyesight blur. Unable to see, and the feeling half gone in his legs - he crumpled slightly, though managed to stay standing. He felt skin tear around his nape and some areas around his back - and so brilliantly timed Kestrel found time to speak words that ended up repeating themselves painfully within Bane's mind.

It could only be one cat. Meloy. He wasn't surprised - he had scented his old rival the last time he stepped on RisingClan territory - the beginning of the confrontation. But Bane hadn't seen him, and had decided to ignore it - until now it seemed. Within the bodies Bane had sworn he had seen a cat he recognised. There was hope yet.

For now? He didn't know. Kestrel seemed intent on getting a reaction out of him. He knew if he attempted an attack again it would be slow and lazy - and so he turned around, and simply stared at her. His sides heaved, blood dripped from his back - he was not in good shape yet his eyes still managed to glow a threatening green. He stared directly at her, speaking not a word. Just waiting to see what she did.[/size]

[Kest]

Kestrel looked on coldly, satisfied. There had been some kind of reaction there, she was sure of it.
Bane was no longer moving. Like water stalled on a beach, lacking the torrential energy of the wave it had been, he stagnated.
He was tiring. Kestrel was not. She was not powerful, but she had stamina.

"He and I..." a sly grin crossed her face. It was part showboating, part real triumph. "...had a little chat. About you."

She padded a few steps sideways, not approaching Bane and not moving away. Suspended. Everything in balance.
Dark. Light.

She reconized the weakness now. He was panting. Kestrel's breath rushed cleanly and evenly into her lungs--and now out--and now in again...a perfect rhythym. Her beating heart set the tempo. Strike up the band.

There's a show on tonight.

Kestrel was only still for a fraction of a second--a fraction that spanned years. She hovered and then drove forward, circling Bane, circumnavigating the space between them in a breathless instant.
Her claws flashed at his sides, swiped swiftly up for his throat.

ooc : Sorry...I could have sworn it was cousin. I recently read the thread... ^^'