EPTFood was the last thing on the mind of prophecy_. From his tent at the rear of his forces, he gazed at a map spread in front of him, while his commanders brought him information on the progress of the battle. The Courage Clan was not doing as he had expected, indeed, they were doing worse than everyone expected. The Courage Clan was among the mightiest in the land, whereas the Stealth Bunnies were mere fools, sprouting up and pretending they were a something, when they were a nothing, ready to be crushed by his mighty force, as he had done to all who had challenged his might before. Still... the battle was unusual. The reports from the field suggested that there were several mighty warriors among the Stealth Bunnies, who were besting even his mightiest men. And the tactics of the Bunnies were unorthodox, too. An entire platoon of men had been burned to death after being coated in oil by the saboteurs of the Bunnies.
Even as he thought of it, KazeHydra stood before the burned bodies, an expression of disdain on his face. The Bunnies would pay for what they had done to his brothers...
He charged back into the fight, using his whirling blades to slice through the enemy. More and more of the faceless enemy continued to pour towards him, but he took them down with ease. But suddenly, there was a lull in the battle. And before him he could see a man facing him calmly, almost casually. TheMarine smiled back at the bloody warrior, to KazeHydra's surprise.
"Come to die at my hands, fool?" he said, his voice echoing metallically through his helmet.
But still the smile persisted on TheMarine's face.
"I've killed hundreds like you!" KazeHydra shouted at his merry opponent.
Those white teeth were beginning to look like gravestones...
"DIE, FOOL!" said KazeHydra as he charged into battle, swinging his twin curved blades at his unarmoured opponent. But TheMarine turned slightly so that the blades missed, and suddenly he had two knives in his hands and had cut KazeHydra's shoulder armour! He was lightning quick, but was he fast enough for KazeHydra? No one had ever bested him in combat before...no one since EssBee, in that fated match of wills...but his thoughts were interrupted by TheMarine jumping into the air and slicing down with his knives. KazeHydra quickly blocked and struck again at TheMarine, but his opponent was gone again, jumping behind KazeHydra to slice the back of his thigh. The armour was much nearly non existent there and KazeHydra shouted in pain and surprise. Angrily, he spun to strike at his enemy but TheMarine had rolled back out of the way. He jumped on his feet, charged forward and stabbed once-twice-thrice at KazeHydra's head, trying to take out his eyes. KazeHydra blocked and was ready to fight again, until he felt a sudden pain in his stomach...
He sagged down onto his knees, and moaned, "How?" before finally slumping down on the battlefield, surrounded by the burned bodies of his brothers, and the enemies he had slain in retribution.
TheMarine still had that smirk on his face as he strolled away from the fight, looking for another Courage Clan member to kill.
Not far away, two more soldiers were battling on. Arca(Crema) and Nagisama were slugging it out, both holding giant battle axes in their hands, and both with massive dents and cuts in their armour. They had already been fighting for half an hour and neither showed any signs of giving in...Nagisama was forced to have a grudging amount of respect for his Stealth Bunnies opponent, but he feared no man, least of all an upstart fighter from an upstart clan...
"RAAA!" Arca(Crema) roared as he smashed his opponent with his mighty axe, forcing Nagisama to give way. Both men were built like oxen, with huge muscles, huge armour, and huge egos to match. But when an unstoppable force meets an immovable rock, something is going to give way, and when it does, it isn't pretty at all. Not that there was anything remotely pretty about either man to begin with...
Arca(Crema) tired of this foolish test of physical prowess. He slapped his hand against his chest, where a gem rested, and shouted, "FUSSSS DOOOOOO RAAAAAA!"
A shockwave exploded from the gem set in his chest plate, smashing into Nagisama and throwing him to the ground. Before he had a chance to recover, Arca(Crema) launched himself into the air and and slammed his battleaxe into the windpipe of Nagisama. A gurgle came from his throat, and then he was silent at last. Arca(Crema) gripped his axe above his head and roared in joy at his success, before charging back into the fray.
The renowned gladiator, Sentenal, strode through the debris of the ruined bridge, searching for any fallen enemies he could finish off. His time in the colosseums had taught him to never leave an enemy behind you, no matter how sure you were that they couldn't fight any more. Noticing an arm sticking out of the shattered wood, he pulled out a small knife, reaching down to slice the man's throat.
But suddenly someone exploded from the wreckage, slamming into him and pummelling him to the ground! LCC gave one final blow to his head before jumping back out of range of the knife. "Looking for someone?" he crowed, as Sentenal sprang to his feet and lurched towards him. LCC quickly pulled out a short piece of wood from the sheathe on his back and held it ready. "Ha! You think that puny piece of wood will stop me, boy?" Sentenal exclaimed, quickly pulling out his gladius and swinging it towards his opponent. But he shouted in sudden pain as LCC slammed the wooden weapon against his wrist and knuckles, forcing him to drop his sword. "No matter, I won't need my gladius to take you down!" Sentenal yelled as he slammed his shield into LCC, knocking him down from the mound of rubble he was standing on. "Aha!" he said as he jumped over the mound, ready to slay his opponent...who had disappeared! LCC had vanished from sight...or had he...
Suddenly a hand grasped Sentenal's ankle and pulled him down, and LCC was there again, smashing his wooden baton against Sentenal's knee, breaking it. He screamed at the sudden pain, and again LCC struck, this time hammering his head into the ground. "How could you beat me with just a piece of wood?" Sentenal gasped, as LCC strolled casually over to the dropped gladius, picking it up and spinning it in his hand. "What are you? A demon?" Sentenal moaned in sudden fear, as LCC walked back towards him. A second later, LCC dropped the gladius, letting the water of the river wash it of the blood that had coated it from Sentenal's heart. Three down, two to go...
Far above the battlefield, standing on a mountain, stood icedraco. Clothed in simple, dark robes, he stood with a twisted staff in his hand, with a small white crystal embedded in the crown of the staff. His eyes were closed and he was facing a mountain opposite, where a small figure was standing. FireHaven was shouting words into the air, words that twisted the air and broke sound and made the very essence of your being shudder in agony, as he stared across at his deadly opponent kilometres away. Both mages had vast experience in killing the weaklings who had no magic to aid them, but never had they had such a challenge as this.
icedraco twisted his staff and shook it at the clouds, shouting "MELANDIL! SURRODAN! AKHINTOH!" Dark clouds swirled and lightning stabbed down towards FireHaven, but a barrier repelled them and he stood, unaffected. FireHaven responded by smashing a glass globe onto the ground, from which a terrifying creature hurled itself, looking for the one its master had commanded it to eat the essence of. icedraco shuddered as he realized what had been released, but he was not without tricks of his own. He took a small wooden amulet from his robes and kissed it, then whispered something to it that turned one's insides out and made the hair stand on your head. A bright light shone from the amulet, and suddenly spread into a beam and stabbed towards the demonic creature that was fast approaching, making it shriek in agony. The soldiers far below shuddered and fell to the ground, holding their ears, as the being screamed and screamed, as its essence was being torn away by the blinding white light.
Then icedraco took yet another amulet from his robes, this one a blue steel amulet, in the shape of a dragon. A mere breath of a whisper came from his lips and the air above him immediately rippled. It was as if the very sky was being torn in two, and the creature that stepped out burned the eyes and blinded whoever looked at it for two long; not from the brightness, but from the wrongness of its existence. Nothing about it was comprehendable to the human eye. It strode in just two steps to FireHaven, tore him from the ground, and stepped back into the crack in the heavens, vanishing as quickly as it came. icedraco breathed a sigh of relief, relief that what he had summoned hadn't destroyed this globe in the process of doing his bidding. He then proceeded to turn his attention to the battlefield below, and continue sending lightning bolts towards enemy soldiers
Another mind turned his attention back to the battlefield, away from the spectacle of the otherworldly creature that had suddenly appeared. Birdie had a bird's eye view of the battle, as he was currently morphed into the shape of an kiwi, which admittedly did look a little odd, soaring far above the ground. He had finally worked out which of the tents was the commander's tent, so he began his descent, swooping towards the enemy command tent. Just before he hit the tent, his form rippled and suddenly a tiger smashed through the roof of the tent, clawing an unsuspecting lieutenant to the ground. prophecy_ jumped to his feet and pulled out his glass sword, ready to do battle with this creature which let loose a terrifying roar which could be heard far and wide. The tiger quickly ran at prophecy_ and swiped at him, but prophecy_ was ready with his sword and cut towards the tiger...which had vanished.
Or had it...down on the ground a beetle was climbing towards the mystified Courage Clan leader, waiting for the opportune moment. Finally prophecy_ decided the apparition had gone, but that was right when Birdie morphed yet again, changing from a beetle into massive bear and smashing prophecy_ through the tent wall and out into the camp. Birdie changed to human form and strode out to do battle openly with his opposite, as armour shimmered into life around him and a sword and shield appeared in each of his hands. But prophecy_ was more than ready to finally deal with his opponent face to face.
"So this is the one everyone is talking about...you do realize no one can best the Courage Clan, right?" prophecy_ said grimly, as the two mighty warriors circled, each with a catlike grace borne of years of fighting experience. "Not one, but many will best you. For too long your tyranny has brought fear and suffering on the people of our tribe, but at last we have thrown off our shackles and shown our true might! Even if I fall here today, the idea of freedom from the Courage Clan has been spread throughout my people, and until the last one draws his last breath, that idea will never die."
"Very well. If total extermination is what is required, that is what will happen."
"Of YOU perhaps!" shouted Birdie, as he ripped his sword towards his dreadful opponent, smashing it against the glass sword. The sword did not break, however, and prophecy_ responded in kind. The pair exchanged a quick flurry of blows before stepping back again, Birdie with a small cut on his left arm and prophecy_ with one on his ankle. Birdie quickly activated a small gemstone embedded in his armour, and suddenly his opponent seemed to be moving oh so slowly, along with the rest of the world. But then as he strode amazingly fast towards the man with the glass weapon, prophecy_ also sped up, whether through magic or some other means. The onlooking attaches of the Courage Clan looked on in amazement at the blistering speed with which Birdie and prophecy_ fought, exchanging blows so fast that it sounded like the drum roll of an execution. Surely one of them would break through the other's defence...something HAD to break soon.
"TINGGGGGGG!" was the sound the glass sword made as it shattered at such a speed that several bystanders fell to the ground, impaled by small slivers of glass. And there they stood, Birdie standing above prophecy_ with his sword in his hand, judge, jury, and executioner of the person who had conquered his people and brought death to his family. He swung once and prophecy_'s head and body parted ways, just as his troops burst into the encampment.
Birdie, TheMarine, Arca(Crema), LCC, and icedraco stood together, having finally conquered their bitter foes and freeing their people. Now that they were free, they had big plans...plans to bring death and destruction and tyranny to all the surrounding tribes and clans. Such was the way of the people of Dranteleag; endless war and strife was a way of life to them. And so it would continue, for time immemorial.
+ Show Spoiler +
Arca(Crema) <Neo Chain Reaction> 
prophecy_
sB.LCC <Outsider SE> SentenalsB.TheMarine <Circuit Breaker> p:KazeHydra
sB.Birdie <Fighting Spirit> 
NagisamasGs.icedraco <Gladiator> 
FireHavenWeek 9 of the D Ranks Team League is finally here, the last week before the playoffs. This match will decide which team ends in first place before playoffs, Team Stealth Bunnies, or Team Courage. Of course, as this tale shows, it will be a 5-0 in the Stealth Bunnies' favour. Shake in your boots, Courage. Your bravery will do you no good in this coming battle.
You can view the current league standings at BWCL.de. Currently I don't know who might cast it, as I don't have time. However, the results will be posted on this blog and on the DRTL thread.
Team Stealth Bunnies hwaiting!
![[image loading]](http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y255/darksentenal/1320530683959.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Kj3Wr.jpg)
