Duel:December vs Nadya - Unjudged

##### Date: 1st April 2009

December steps into the grove, taking in her surroundings and inhaling the scent of wood and moss with closed eyes. "Mm I remember this place well." with no further explanation. Her figure, some inches over six feet, fits perfectly to her pants and blouse, dressed for most anything that may come her way. Her left hand rolls her emerald ring toward her palm, a princess cut that seems innocent enough but this princess is not found in any towers waiting for a Knight like a damsel in distress. In fact, this one has a little bite of her own. She entwines her fingers casually, rolling her wrists to face palm out and give a little stretch to the miniature limbs before releasing and rolling the left crystal sparkle to inner palms as well. Nadya, letting the other know she is ready. The mage seems to talk to her hands for a moment, a small mumble of play nice.. again can be heard, a guttural sound then a smirk upon her pink lips. Her palms turn upward, the right hand with protruding emerald begins to illuminate tendrils, the shape finding it's way into a ball practically immediately. She sandwiches the collection of spiraling etherealness between her cupped hands and lugs it toward Nadya's legs. It would seem as if she meant to hit her with the orb, no bigger then an orange, but the true intent was for it to reach the ground. Should it succeed, roots from the surrounding trees, thick gnarly darkened streamers would slink silently forth along the newly budding grass then shoot up while weaving into a cage from all sides of the Bard. If it failed and would be batted away in some manner, the orb would dissipate as it found the air.

Nadya smiles delightedly as the earth magic that December weaves teases her senses. This would prove to be interesting, earth versus earth, it was merely a matter of who had more practice at this point. The Bard of Earth does not move to back away from the orange-sized ball when it lands near her feet, making its mark. The roots writhe from the ground and wrap themselves about Nadya's delicate figure. At first, it would seem all is going to plan but Nadya's already green eyes begin to glow vibrantly as her own magic begins to course through her body. There is no fancy show from this Bard, not this time, but she does manage to manipulate the roots to her advantage. Instead of having a cage formed about her slender frame, they elevate her off the ground, twisting themselves into a pedestal that will grow until Nadya has been lifted high above the much taller woman's head. A slow smirk crosses the earthly witches lips as she surveys December. The Mage's own creation is only further turned against her as wicked looking green points grow along the sides of the earthly pedestal, each one about six inches in length with blood red tips. At once, every single spike that was just grown rips off of Nadya's safe perch, ripping through the air in every direction. If December is struck by one of these, and there are a lot of them to avoid, not only will she have to pull one of the massive spikes from her body, but the red tips will inject a drug into her with some very hallucinogenic properties.

December watched with interest as the other, clearly more powerful and skilled, manipulated her magic to bend and twist into a cruel, humbling lesson and yet this was only a test! She crouched in the ready, quite unsure of what to expect but betting something would go flying as she had sent. The square cut crystal twinkled with jealousy at the emeralds fun, stealing her attention only slightly. Her left hand reached out, the shine absorbing and concentrating, pulling the very essence of light itself deep into it's core. A burst of intrusion flashed just as the thorns released their venom at her. The flash was only a moment, but the moment she needed to set the clear jem mocking it's collection gathered from filtering trees and concentrated it into a pole of light, a mage's quarterstaff developed to which she immediately twirled into a blured-shield, deflecting most of the daggers. One slipped through and managed to dive into her shirt, the billowy top slowing it to land inside and hold, another glanced her hip but only a tear in her clothing "Darn it...I just bought these!" she mumbles to herself. Her attention still on the sorceress at hand. Not to be out done, she turned slightly, letting the tumbling momentum of her beam aim at the other but as it did, it thickened and spread, changing it's shape into something of a blanket to billow out and smother Nadya. Unlike fabric, this wouldn't hinder movement if it landed, instead it would burn with the vengeance of two suns as was the way of the crystal's creation.

Nadya squeaks softly as something that resembles a blanket ripples through the air towards her. Her instinct reaction is to have her safe perch grow higher into the air. Up the roots twist and climb until Nadya is safely above the burning blanket, but not for long. As the light passes through her plant creation, it bursts into flames and collapses upon itself, sending the poor Bard tumbling towards the ground. While she may avoided being severely burned, she lands with a sickening crack, though nothing appears to be broken. She groans slightly as she gasps to catch her breath and struggles to find her way to her feet. Her eyes narrow faintly, though it was all in good fun, and soon the Bard limps towards one of the large trees that grow near by. She clings close the wide trunk of the wall tree, hugging it tightly, before suddenly melting inside the center of the trunk. The tree groans in protest and seems to come to life, bending forward towards December so that she is covered beneath the trees thick canopy. The large plant turns a strange shade of brown from branches to leaves, which was not a good sign. Droplets begin to form on the flat surfaces of the leaves and drifts down to the tips before dropping to the ground. Every time a droplet hits the hard earth it sizzles and smokes, causing the grass to turn black and eating holes into the vegetation. The mysterious droplets begin to form at a more rapid pace on the sickly tree until a steady downpour is raining upon December.

December winces, her arms raising as if to deflect the fall for herself "Ouch.. eh.. sorry!" she shouts even though she knows it will do absolutely nothing to help the situation; the narrowed eyes confirm. Crap. She watches, raising her hand to her necklaces upon thick strands, her babies as well as her friends though sometimes they tended to have a mind of their own which was half of her problem, lack of control. The emerald and crystal now used twice in a short time, the sodalite used the other day with the Great Druid, ohhhh her ruby was furious! She could feel it burning, pulling her energy into a lagooned source and demanding nothing but full access. "No!" Her jade eyes wide with panic just as the tree fell. A crimson sheath coated her body, a wicked gleam trickled through the diseased leaves while the rain began to fall. Slowly, inside the cocooned entanglement of twigs and branches, her coating seemed to explode into splinters and shards. Trickling limbs seemed to jet everywhere including at Nadya, the closest branches to December ablaze for within that chaos, the woman tried to grip her jem, to cover it to no avail but managing to mute what sprang forth. The rain, acidic brown concoction nay reaching a drop to her flesh but the spear that landed in her shirt pressed into her ribs, piercing through the soft flesh just below the bottom left. She stumbled and rose, left hand upon her throat, right hand on her ribs. She wobbled some but awaited the next challenge.

Nadya watches on curiously from her place within the trunk of the tree itself, though December could not actually see her. A strange talent this one had, she thought to herself, as a ruby shell formed about December. At the moment, Nadya was a very big target, so when the crimson coating exploded and ripped through the air towards the Gemstone Mage's friendly foe, every single shard hit its mark. Thank Karn that the tree's protective surface was thick and kept the Bard of Earth safe from damage. Still, the tree itself was not happy and once again it seemed to groan, going rigid as it does this. It forces Nadya outside of its trunk, unhappy with the woman and the pain that she has caused it because she slipped inside its being. It was too much for the tree to take, first the illness and then the shards. It would even seem that the trunk is bleeding. A gentle frown is sent to the sick and injured tee and a hand is once again placed on its trunk. This time a soft light forms about the tree, mending it quite rapidly. Even though it seems Nadya's attention is focused on repairing the tree, vines being to push their way out of the earth with brilliantly colored flowers growing upon them. They remain closed for now until about five flowers grow and then they all open at once. A bright pink gas is released into the air and if December gets a breath full of them she might find herself very sleepy. So sleepy that she will be quite content to curl up on the ground for a brief nap.

December tugged at her shirt, completely clueless to the events of her opponent while the trippy experience from the hallucinogenic tip began to take hold. Absently she managed to free the pointed object, looking at it with child-like wonder. The teen held it with her right hand while stroking the bloodied injection, "So... fuzzy, pink.. and warm.... Here bunny, bunny... Aww so cute!" Which was clearly nothing like her. Her attention was quickly pulled to other things as her shirt colored with sticky fluid, completely undiscovered however seemed to stop on it's own after a few minutes. It's wasn't deep enough for true injury. "Oohh! Pretty flowers! Yay!!" she giggled... giggled? Yup, this girl is goooone. "Can I?" she asked to Nadya who, undoubtedly would prefer the woman to before any more damage occurred. Without waiting, she crouched down, her left hand reaching to a blossom and was directly sprayed "Hmmm night night" she managed before flopping gangly to the ground, the soft moss as her cradle and thumb in lips "Strawberries" she smiled just as her eyes closed gently.