New Years Joy Festival - The Melee - RPLOG
Participants
Date
12/1/482
Log
It's only a little walk to the next staging-area, really. And already, behind the beings, the next archery-contest seems to be beginning, further lending credence to the idea that those gold, silver and bronze arrows are little more than painted or plated, and otherwise worthless. They still make for a neat trophy, though.
At the melee-ring, the situation is similar, equipment-wise, with roughly sword-shaped pieces of wood, and wooden shields being provided to the contestants. Looks like these 'fights' are being held among groups of eight, with a simple elimination-structure.
Aleera is, of course, still a little sore about being beaten by Lyas in a contest of marksmanship... but bows really aren't her forte anyways. Or that's the excuse that she seems intent on using, at the very least. In any case, she made a promise to hop into the melee if the tabby participated in archery, and she fully intends to keep that promise! She's holding onto the other feline's hand, leading him over to the ring with her and snatching up one poor excuse for a wooden sword for each of them when they get there. "Creators, when was the last time I held a sword...," she murmurs while she passes him a makeshift blade, "Usually I just have a blunderbuss fer when people get close to me. 'N if that doesn't work, I can always smash 'em with the butt of my gun!"
Natska makes her way to the site of the melee tournament, stride smooth and sure as befits one of the Graceful folk. She greets her fellow competitors with a respectful nod, expescially those who she had just watched in the archery competition. "Let us have a fun time with this, friends and fellow Freeswords," she greets, then tests the weight of one of the wooden shields, and the heft and balance of a sword. "... I think this is better made than my first sword. Goodness."
Lyas has made sure to tease Aleera relentlessly about beating her in the archery - despite missing entirely with his final shot! Swinging her hand idly, the tabby's tail jinks eagerly as they head off towards the melee ring. Now, this is his true forte - poking people with sharp things! None of that bothersome aiming they were doing earlier. He's disappointed to see that their weaponry is made of wood, but, well. What did he expect? It's also not his preferred style of sword, leaning towards mid-range rather than light and whippy. Still - there's a good chance he'll get to fight Aleera here, so he takes his piece of bludgeoning wood from Aleera with a smile on his face.
"How d'you think they'll judge this one?" he asks. He's seen marks done by putting red chalk on practice blades, but there doesn't seem to be a chalk bucket nearby, not that he can see.
Cassidy wanders by on her way to the stands, giving Natska a pat on the shoulder. "Have fun," she says with a smile before continuing on to find a place to settle in and watch. Her participation had been finished, now she was content to simply watch the rest of the games and enjoying the atmosphere.
Leighton was still sitting in the stands, though had buttoned her satchel to save the remaining sweets for later, perhaps feeling a little queasy from the sheer amount. She had moved to a different place in the stands, trying to get a little distance between her and the angry bear that glared at her earlier. "So what if I get a little into this...isn't that the point of being here." The squirrel muses to herself. Surveying the contestants, she's a little disappointed to not find her favorite underdog...or ocelot amongst them.
Soon enough, the beings are called into the ring, one by one. "Right! Sixteen fighters, just look at 'em! And only one will be going home with the grand prize!" the announcer calls out with a big smile on his face, gesturing towards the ring. "You off in twos. No blows below the belt, no outside weapons. Fights continue until one of the combattants yields, or the referee declares a winner. "You and... You, first," he offers, gesturing towards Natska, and a rather frail-looking rat-boy.
"I think you'd know better 'en I would, darlin'," Aleera replies while she adjusts her grip on the wooden blade. She's used these before, of course, and even if her soul leaves her more practiced with ranged weapons than melee ones, it does still help. But... it nonetheless takes her a moment to actually remember exactly where she should position her hand. "Maybe we're just tryin' to disarm each other?" she muses, but... a moment later, a referee comes out to properly explain the rules to them and she simply shrugs, "Nevermind, 'en." She simply takes up a position at the ring's edge to watch the two combatants that are called in, once more tugging Lyas along with her.
Lyas raises an eyebrow at Cassidy as she passes. "Bowing out?" A little disappointing, but the less genuine competitors there are, the higher the chances he'll get to face his favourite pirate. He nods to Natska, acknowledging her joining them with a grin. "I plan to have fun, sure," he says, with a flick of his tail. "Mostly I'd like to win, though!"
A glance to the stands, and he's picked up Leighton's position again. Poor Squirrel - she should never have drawn the contrary cat's attention. He waves his wooden sword at her lazily. "Hey, pipsqueak! You wanna bet on the matches? Try not to lose too much today!" Smirking, he turns back to the ring, allowing Aleera to tug him with her. Looping an arm around her waist, he leans his other hand against the fence as Natska is called forward. That poor rat...
Of course, the wasp had been mostly silent, though, and does make his way to the melee ring. Something to watch out of curiosity, and hopes that someone he knows would show up. Angus was a good possibility, given his skill with a blade. Still, no one he knows is present, and he can usually remember people's faces and names. Either way, when all is said and done, perhaps someone can direct him to where people are. Though that does mean he would have to... talk to them. Something he was never good at.
Leighton sticks her tongue out at the feline adressing her. "Of course not, you'll be doing enough losing for the both of us today, I'm sure." She grins wryly. The squirrel looks around the audience, a bit more distracted now that she didn't outright have someone she rooted for. While not wanting to stare too much, she noted the various species and social classes that were represented. Rarely were they all gathered as such.
Natska raises a fist in salute to Cassidy when she sees where her wife settled in the stands. Then she turns back to the official to listen to the ring master, and gives them a bow as she steps into the arena. Her sword comes up to salute the rat, and she gives him an easy smile.
The rat looks... Nervous. At best. Practically shaking in his fancy shoes. Still, he offers a salute, and then, when the ringmaster signals the start of the fight, the shorter being charges, wooden sword practically dragging over his shoulder, as he tries to go for a single, big, and no doubt, ineffectual strike.
Natska slips to the side as the big charge comes in, her blade snapping up into place and poking out at the rat's side. She winces, then puts on her best encouraging smile as she settles into a ready stance after the attack.
Unfortunately for Leighton, Aleera knows that the squirrel is in the audience and she isn't so distracted when she insults Lyas this time around. She drapes an arm around the tabby in return, holding him against her side gently, and she shoots the rodent a toothy, almost malicious grin, "If'n you really want my luv to lose, why don't you come down here 'n fight him yourself? Er are you too scared of him?" That challenge is even accompanied by her raising up her wooden sword and pointing it right at the poor woman....
However... she certainly doesn't expect Leighton to actually accept that challenge, and so she simply turns her attention back to the actual fight at hand instead. She glances between the two combatants, an amused grin on her face. She can't imagine that this fight will last long, judging by how gracefully the jaguar moves -- and especially when that's compared to the rat's awkwardness.
There's a hint of excitement on the rat's face as he charges Natska and manages to 'hit'... At least as far as he realizes. His eyes appear to be closed during the attack, only snapping open when Natska winces, before hitting him in the back and sending him tumbling forward, only barely catching himself.
And already, he's charging again, convinced that his aggression will win the day, despite it leaving his entire body open to a counterattack.
The crowd, meanwhile, is laughing at the antics...
Cassidy rubs at her cheek, then leans back. It was nice to not be in the area of focus this time. A heavy exhale, an adjusting of her sun hat and she folds her hands in her lap to watch. "At least he's got his heart in it."
Leighton blinks a little as Aleera adresses her, but soon grins. "Need your girlfriend to protect you now?" She giggles, as if getting to enjoy the back and forth a little. "Well, how about you give him a beating from me? Does that work for you?" The squirrel had no intention in getting mixed up with the fighting.
Lyas gives a wolfish grin at Aleera's feisty defence of him. "She should've been scared the other night," he says to Aleera. "I did /warn/ her I was goin' to take all her stuff." The two rogues are absolutely merciless! Not to mention lacking in good taste, mocking an impoverished Squirrel so! Though - seems she's holding her own in the verbal battle. "I don't need it, but I certainly enjoy it!" He calls back to Leighton. "So where's /your/ sweetheart? Don't tell me the smell drove all your suitors off!"
Still - Leighton doesn't provide nearly enough amusement to keep Lyas's eyes off the fight. "That's right! Swing harder!" he cheers the rat. "I'm sure it'll work this time."
Natska keeps her smile in place, although her ears flatten as she hears the crowd laughing; that doesn't sit well with her. She meets her opponent's charge with a lunging thrust followed by another jab.
And the poor rat goes down onto his butt, looking around him for a moment, before, with some effort, bringing himself back to his feet.
"Ouch! That's gotta hurt, folk!"
And then, another charge, this time with a sideways swipe following it... Poor guy looks exhausted already, but at the same time, there's a huge smile plastered on his face... Doesn't seem he minds the laughter all that much.
Unfortunately for Lyas, this time around Lieighton's words left even Aleera grinning -- and this smile is a lot less scary, too! Still, the insults that the tabby tosses the squirrel's way are what finally manages to make the siamese giggle a bit, herself. It seems that she likewise enjoys the little back-and-forth they have. "He's got a point there, squirrel! You've gotta smell pretty foul to drive every suitor away -- after all, he somehow managed to get me, 'n I'm sure you already know how bad he smells," she teases, but... that teasing is still followed by her giving the other feline a kiss between the ears, "'N I'm gonna give him a beating in the ring, but it ain't gonna be from you!"
Speaking of giving people beatings in the ring.... Like many of the other people in the stands, watching the poor rat get knocked around simply makes the feline woman chuckle and shake her head, simply commenting, "He's got spirit. I'll give 'im that."
Natska braces, shield coming up to meet the blow and deflect it; she grunts a little as she shoves the blow out of the way, then relaxes as she notices he's enjoying himself. Her grin turns more genuine again, and she swings her own blade in horizontally towards his side.
Leighton shirks a little at the insult coming her way, as if remembering something else, but soon straightens up again. "No, we didn't spend enough time together for your stink to rub off on me!" She smirks to herself. "And lucky you, found a girl cat that can't shoot OR smell, quite a find!" The squirrel leans back, giggling to herself.
The wasp remains silent, watching curiously. At the very least, he could offer some level of convalescence post-combat. Though they likely have that covered. Either way, gotta enjoy the show. Somewhat.
"At least /I/ don't smell like the docks," Lyas murmurs to Aleera, ears perked. "All that seawater's bad for you, Firework, I swear." He meets Aleera's assertation that she'll beat him in the ring with a challenging look. It's... mainly playful, but there's a flicker of a more competitive spirit there... hopefully neither of them are going to get hurt, if they have a bout...
Leighton's insult of Aleera's shooting has the Cat snickering - but he at least has the foresight to take a few smart steps back from Aleera as he does so. "I think I've found a friend," he says happily to himself, watching the soon-to-be-active volcano that is Aleera.
And the rat goes down, falling to the side with a yelp, and dropping onto the ground, without sword or shield. Still, there's a huge grin on his face, even as he throws his hands in the air in that classic "I surrender" pose, and he breathes heavily.
"Seems we have our first winner of the round, folks. Give a round of applause to her, and a cheer for her opponent, who fought valliantly!" goes the announcer, He's clearly not the most physically fit, but at the same time, he's clearly excited about the thought of being able to tell all his friends about how he went head-to-head with a real freesword.
Soon enough, though, he's back on his feet, hopping excitedly from one to the other as both he and Natska are ushered off the field... And then, the next match is announced. Lyas versus a young sparrow-girl, holding her weapon and shield quite confidently... And competently, for that matter.
This time around, Leighton's teasing -- or one part of it in particular, anyways -- earns a... less than amused reaction from Aleera. Her eyes, sharp as razors, immediately, flick up to the poor squirrel, she bares her teeth in a snarl, and her hands bunch up into tight fists.... If looks could kill, the poor woman in the stands would be dead right now. She's too fixated on Leighton to really pay much attention to Lyas's teasing, but... it was probably smart for him to step back. "Come 'ere and say that to my face! Er better yet, stay sittin' right there 'n I'll show you how well I can shoot!" she shouts, although thankfully she's... smart enough not to draw her weapon while in public.
The siamese grits her teeth and huffs out a breath, but with that Natska's match comes to an end and... thankfully draws her attention away from the Leighton. The squirrel should... probably watch her back for the rest of the day, though....
She breathes in a deep breath and lets out, but with that she steps back over to the Lyas's side, shoving her anger to the side for long enough to see him off with a peck on the cheek. "Good luck, darlin'. Don't get knocked out in the first round, eh?"
Natska gives a happy laugh and offers to help the rat back to his feet; she congratulates him on the match and gives him a pat on the back as they are ushered out of the way, then she takes up her spot by the side of the ring to watch the next match.
"I don't plan on it," the tabby assures Aleera, slinking past her. "An' while I'm gone? Just be sure if you're goin' to jump into the stands for a tussle, you don't get caught, a'right?" He tweaks her nose, then vaults the fence into the ring. He stretches his back languidly, looking over his sparring partner. Hmm. This one's had some martial training...
He gives the wooden sword a couple of wide, experimental swings, with no form to his technique whatsoever. "It's all fun an' games, right?" he grins to the sparrow.
"Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to not threaten to draw a weapon on another being, regardless of the truth of the matter. If you persist, you -will- be disqualified, and the guard -will- be notified," offers one of the organizing beings, though they do shoot a look towards Leighton, too.
The sparrow, for her part, seems confident, and once the round starts, she... Doesn't move, instead waving a hand at Lyas in an apparent 'come at me' signal... Her shield is raised, and her sword is readied for a fight.
Leighton seems a little taken aback at the reaction from Aleera at first, but quickly interjects with "Come down to you face to face...why? Is that the only range you can hit anything at, point blank?" Just to be on the safe side, the rodent glanced about, to see if there were guards about the place. She almost seems to have forgotten Lyas, despite him stepping up to fight.
"Aleera! If you're goin' to get disqualified, wait 'til I'm back over there an' we can do it together!" Lyas calls, still swinging his sword back and forth. Were the sparrow to close the distance, he'd... probably pay a bit more attention. But right now the distance is safe. "An' you, Squirrel, don't encourage her to start shooting into the crowd!" Well, after all his eagerness to get into the ring, now the Cat's clearly found a better source of amusement...
"What's the matter? Suddenly a scaredycat? Can't handle a little bird?" comes a shout from the bird before Lyas, stepping a little closer, though still keeping her distance. Seems she's at least a practiced fighter of sorts.
"Not much of a cat, are 'ya? More of a chicken!"
"No promises," Aleera offers to Lyas as he slinks away, and as much as the siamese would've liked to pull her weapon on the squirrel then and there -- especially after the point-blank comment -- the reprimanding from the tournament officials manages to get her to stay her hand... for now, at least. Still, as Lyas calls out from the ring, she offers him, "Aye, I think I can wait that long," in response. The siamese meets the squirrel's gaze and, in typical bully fashion, makes a show of cracking her knuckles. With that, however... she gives the tournament official one more look before wandering back over to the ring's edge.
She takes up a position leaning on the fence's edge and watching Lyas... well... not do a whole lot, really. "Pay attention to the fight, darlin'!" she calls out, and as the sparrow starts taunting the tabby, she shoots the bird a look, "Show her why she shouldn't talk to you that way, luv."
Lyas flicks his tail - he wasn't done irritating the sparrow yet! He was intending to see how long it took her to give up and start the fight herself. But... he gives Aleera a wicked smile. "Whatever you want." Her cracking her knuckles at Leighton makes his smile all the more vicious - Leighton might have won a friend in him with her mouthing off, but shll have to deal with the consequences from Aleera on her own.
The Cat turns his attention to the fight at last, not caring how his slowness might be annoying the audience. A couple of lazy steps in, and he's in lunging distance. He drops his bantering attitude at that point, eyes glinting as he swings the sword back-handed. He aims to make his opponent block, then jab straight for the centre of her chest - he doesn't want a protracted fight like Natska's. Quick and dirty is his style. With an audience watching, dirty may be off the table - but he can still make it quick, and if the sparrow gets hurt - too bad.
"Ma'am, please stop antagonizing the contestants," calls out one of the referees to Leighton, while the match below continues. "Cheep cheep cheep cheep cheep," goes the bird, still not too intent on actually striking at Lyas, letting the cat have that very first strike.
Leighton calls out, "It's impossible not to make a low blow on him, I'm pretty sure he's all d-." She halts as the referee shuts her up, leaning back and crossing her arms. "Spoil sport..." Huffing, she awaits the results for now.
Hmm. That shield may be a problem. Well, no matter then - she can't fight if she can't hold her weapon. He'll just break her fingers. Lyas grins at the sparrow disarmingly. "What, you're bored? Gotta practice for the choir during our match?" He lunges straight for the shield, a showy blow that he knows will do nothing - but perhaps distract from his follow-up attack. He bounces his wooden sword off the sparrow's shield and uses the momentum to add force to his second-vicious strike - directly at the fingers clutches around her sword.
At the very least, this whole day is being interesting. Fighters fighting, people in the stands shouting such antagonizing things at each other and the contestants. Perhaps he could manage to talk to someone at this point, though... he glances to the squirrel. Given her mouth, she's likely not the best choice for him, though he could probably manage it. Somehow. Just don't cast anything TOO bad on her...
That first hit is blocked. Easily. The second, however, connects properly, despite the bird's attempt to dodge the strike. And she'd almost succeded at it, too, only for that wooden sword to connect with her fingers, causing her to yelp and drop her sword in surprise.
Luckily for her, her fingers are mostly fine. Unluckily for her, it does mean she dropped her sword... And then, the referee. "You. Off the field. We will decide this one -after- deliberation. And medical attention."
And then, with Lyas's fate left up in the air, Aleera is greeted with her opponent, a sizable bear.
Leighton stands up as the bird's hand is hit "Booo! Cheater!" The sticks her tongue out in the general direction of Lyas. Huffing a little again, she at least smirks when Aleera steps up. "Seems they've taken mercy on yo and given you an extra large target!" She giggles. "Even you ought to be able to his something that big when up close!"
"What! Show me where it says that weren't allowed," Lyas protests, innocently. "I listened to the rules, same as everyone!" That's... probably a lie, actually. He doesn't listen much. Still... he wanders off with a final, light-hearted grumble... and a silent reflection to find something nasty to do to that referee later on. "Well, good luck, love," he says to Aleera, as she steps up to the ring. He cocks an eyebrow. "Apparently we're not allowed t' actually hurt anyone... I'd ask what sense that makes, but well." He kisses her on the nose for luck. "We'll do sommat about it later." He gives her a sly grin.
That hit, though... makes the wasp cringe, even stand up afterwards. He steps closer to the ring, antennae bobbing as he does, until he's at the edge of the stands, at least as far as a spectator is able to go towards the ring. He looks to the closest referee and then states, flatly, "I am able to offer some assistance in convalescence if needed." He figures they have it covered, but it doesn't hurt to offer, does it?
Unfortunately for Aleera, she can't even focus her seething rage into watching violence because the sparrow is evidently intent on this being the most boring fight possible! She drapes one arm over the fence while resting the elbow of the other on top of it, but beyond that she simply watches with a bored, vaguely annoyed expression. But... she perks right up and laughs aloud when Lyas finally manages to land a blow! Although... what the referee says makes her pout a bit.
"/I/ think you won that one fair 'n square, luv, regardless of what these judges say," she says to the tabby while she herself makes her way into the ring, and the kiss on the nose that he gives her makes her smile widen a bit, "Aye.... We've got a lot we're gonna need to handle after this is all over." With that, however -- and without so much as a glance to Leighton -- she steps into the ring.
She takes one look at her shield... before simply tossing it off to the side and opting to hold her sword in both hands. The way she's standing, the way her fingers are flexing and the malicious smile she's wearing.... She in no way intends to fight defensively. No, she's just happy to finally have someone to fight. "You sure ya don't just wanna surrender now, big fella?" she taunts.
For the most part, the bird is alright, even if her fingers ar a little mangled. One of them is showing bone, for goodness sake!
Still, it looks like the bear has no intention of surrendering without a fight, grinning a big, bearish grin.
"Time to crush a kitten."
"We want a -fair- fight, folks," the referee reminds, looking, in particular, in Aleera's direction, though a short glance at the bear follows, too.
Leighton seems to finally choose to dash off, making her way through the stands, disappearing into the crowd without much notice. Perhaps she had other arrangements, or she wasn't much of a fan of the fighting.
The wasp blinks a couple times. "...as in take care of, assist in healing and recovery," he remarks, flatly. Though his tone doesn't even hint at annoyance. He's not terrible at this, but... well, his interpersonal skills are terrible.
"Aye, aye...," Aleera offers dismissively to the referee. Really they could probably throw her out for her attitude alone by this point... but with Lyas seemingly kicked out of the competition too, she really couldn't care less. Besides, she has her weapon in hand and the fight has already started, so she might as well get a few swings in before someone throws her out.... "'Crush'? Ha! That ain't happenin'," she calls out, and with that, she dashes forward....
The siamese's first instinct is, of course, to ram her shoulder right into the bear's chest... but she also fully realizes that that'll probably get her immediately kicked out. So instead of hitting him with her shoulder, she dips to the side and swings the wooden sword in a wide sweep, aiming to hit the big bear right in the stomach. The spot is sensitive, sure, but it isn't below the belt....
"Right, yeah. Uh... Right this way," the referee offers, still looking a little dumbfounded at Falx's choice of words. The sight of those fingers isn't exactly pretty, but most of them seem to only need minor work. The one with the bone poking out, on the other hand, is plenty mangled for the rest of them.
Aleera finds her strike to be... Less effective than she might have hoped, the bear's ample bellyfat making the strike do little more than cause his body to wobble a bit.
And then, the sword comes swinging wildly at Aleera's side, with a remarkable amount of speed!
Natska watches the fight, clapping and cheering as appropriate; at Lyas' hand-strike her fingers instinctively clench... that's why she wore gauntlets, though. Few quicker ways to win a real duel than to disarm the opponent.
A nod, and Falx follows along when beckoned and directed, looking towards the injured hand. That... is pretty bad. Either way, he does what he can, at first, to ease any pains the person might be feeling, performing simple mathemagic equations mentally to cast some earth and water magic, like that of a Hearth Magician, before focusing his attention on that mangled finger. Okay, this one will take some more effort than the others, though still not TOO much... hopefully.
Really the bear picked a... kind of unlucky time to try to fight Aleera. She's still fuming from her prior interaction with Leighton, and... well... ultimately, she isn't really concerned with /winning/ anymore.... As her sword collides uselessly with his belly, the siamese simply laughs, evidently happy that he isn't going to be dropping so easily.
Still, she does notice that strike swinging in at her side, and she hops backwards, moving quickly enough that the tip of the bear's sword /just/ manage to hit her side. She staggers a bit but nonetheless rolls with the blow, doing a little twirl as she moves with it and using the momentum to try to slam her sword down... right on the back of his elbow. It... probably won't cause any breakage like Lyas's attacks had, but it'll still hurt if she hits....
The help Falx is provided the bird does seem to help, although it mostly seems to dull the pain, not actually fix the fingers properly. Still, the bird seems thankful not to be wincing in pain every two seconds.
Aleera, meanwhile, has only barely managed to avoid -most- of that hit, before her own wooden blade comes swinging from the bear, who finds his lower arm hit by a swing of Aleera's blade. Luckily for him, his arm was moving in the same direction, lessening the blow, even if the hit clearly connected, and the bear seems to be taken aback for a moment... And then, the next swing comes, just as heavy, and aimed at Aleera's other side.
Step one completed, dull the pain. Now, step two is to actually deal with the injured finger. This time, his intended elements are that of fire and water, aiming to perform at least some level of restorative care to the finger like he would on a battlefield. Something quick, efficient, and, though likely not going to heal the fingers completely, should hopefully get them to the point that bandaging will be viable. Also hopefully reduce the amount of bone that can be seen. That'd be good, too.
Feeling her blow connect -- even if only glancingly -- makes Aleera smile, and feeling the bear roll with the blow only makes that grin widen... even despite the fact that his sword is swinging right for her. Her adrenaline is already starting to pump, and she's in a state where... well. Taking hits is still going to hurt, of course, but the judges are probably going to need to call this if they don't want her just getting up until she's unconscious. Just like before, however, this blow is simply a glancing one, the siamese dodging back far enough that it only clips her. She still winces a bit, sure, but that's followed by a toothy smile.
The feline follows up her backstep by dashing forward in a lunge, raising her sword up to once more take a swing at the bear's arm -- though this time around, she's aiming for his wrist instead of his elbow. It seems that she's rather intent on getting him to drop his sword.
"Thanks. Fecking cheater of a cat. Ugh," the bird spits as Falx works on her hand, trying to wiggle her less-inujured fingers.
The bear, for his part, manages to dodge Aleera's next attack, only for his next swing to come in full force and sweep her leg...
Aleera was fighting recklessly. Again, how much she wanted or even expected to win was debatable... but it felt damn good to hit something for a little while. Still, she lets out an annoyed growl as that sword sweeps her legs, causing the cat to flail her arms a bit while she tries to catch her balance... only to fall flat on her bottom and toss her sword off to the side in the process. She winces and grumbles, her hands balling up into fists.... For a second, it almost seems like she swing at the bear despite the fact that she just lost. But... not even she's willing to do something in /that/ poor of taste. No, she grits her teeth and slams her fist into the ground before offering the big man a grin. "Thanks fer not goin' down easy. I needed to smack somethin' a few times," she compliments while she climbs back to her feet, only wincing and stumbling a little while she regains her balance.
Despite her loss, she moves with her head held high and that typical swagger of hers in her step. She almost immediately finds her way over to Lyas, of course, and she takes the tabby's hand, offering only a toothy smile and an explanation of, "Come on, luv. We've got things to take care of." And... assuming that he's willing, with that she leads him off to... whatever mischief it is they're planning, exactly.
The wasp isn't about to cease working on the hand, at least until it's presentable. Even then, he nods to the avian. "Their force was unneeded, but the intent was good enough," he remarks. "These injuries are definitely too great for simply disarming." Another nod, and his magic continues to work on those fingers. "Is there anything else I can help you with, ma'am? I would like to ensure your health and wellbeing while I am present."
Natska gives the fighters a polite round of applause, grinning. "Well fought, you two!"
Lyas has been watching Aleera's fight with a grin - he knows she won't go down easily! Swords may not be her strong suite, but she still puts up a good fight, throwing her full energy into the bout. When she ambles over to him, he reaches a hand to her face, cheekily inspecting her for damage. "Hmm... looks like we won't have to return you to the shop," he eventually decides. "Unlike that 'un over there..." he seems to have not a whit of shame about busting the sparrow's fingers. She entered a fighting tournament without gloves, after all! "Things to take care of, hmm? Well, how could I say no?" He has plenty of plans for mischief himself - but he may give in to some of Aleera's ideas, if they're good enough!
And with that, the third fight comes to a close. Another fight, and another round, and then, the finale. Natska versus the bulky bear, a fight to watch, for sure. Again, the bear stands, ready for a fight.
Entering the ring, Natska gives the bear a small bow and then readies her weapons. She's never sure what to say to someone she's about to fight, but hopefully the respectful gesture says it well enough.
The bear offers a big grin, a bow himself, and then, he rumbles out. "Another cat to crush," he offers, holding up his shield, as the first sword-swing comes. Compared to that earlier rat, the bear is quite the fighter, at least. Not a professional, but for a fight with wooden swords? He's been doing just fine so far.
Natska lets out a short laugh, bracing her stance and lifting her shield to block as her own sword swings under and up. "I won't crush so easy, friend," she replies.
For the most part, the bear doesn't even bother blocking or dodging, simply taking the hit with his gut. "Oof," comes a simple rumble, and then, the next swing comes, the sword heading for natska from the side,
Natska pulls her shield in tight to help her take the hit, with her own matching 'oof' from the bear's blow. She responds in kind with another swing, seemingly intent on going blow for blow with the bear - at least for now.
