East clashes with the West! (Arena: Dunder vs Tsuyo)

[Dunder]

 

Waiting for the gates to open again, there stood Dunder. His own hot breath pushed over his face, blocked by the smiling mask that he wore. Behind the same mask, his eyes locked on the mechanism for the gates. Not a moment too soon, the gears creaked, catching on one another until they turned to heave up the wooden gate. Dunder took in one last deep breath of the dank air behind the gate before trotting forward.

As he entered the arena, he remembered the last time he had done so. Where across the field he faced a friend, Razor, and how they both bled each other. After the fight, Dunder never saw the little bird again.

 

Zelda would have said something by now. He told himself again.

 

He took another breath, this time of fresh air. The cold north breeze bushed against him, cooling the steel of the stallion's armor.

 

Out of his gate, the stallion stood, eyes locked on the raised gate and anticipating the reveal. The stallion flared his wings and reared up, "¡Ven aca!" the stallion whinneyed. He slammed his hooves against the ground and got back up on his hindlegs. The scabbard letting out a stiff rasp as his rapier was drawn. Wings still flared, the stallion stood there.

 

With the popularity of the arena growing, there was no telling who would show their face.

[Bellosh]

 

As the old Neighponese saying goes, a samurai always lived three feet away from death. Such is said because that is how far a katana, the samurai’s weapon, can reach. Tsuyo Yamabushi was taught this by his first mentor, when had been just a colt. For only by learning — and accepting — this truth could a wielder of a sword properly follow the Way of the Warrior. Even though no nation served as his master anymore, the Ryuma ronin always remained mindful of that three feet.

 

Several years ago, Yamabushi would have scoffed at the idea of fighting for money... especially in the gladiatorial arenas of Neighpon's ancestral enemies. Times were different now; the ronin fought not for his country nor his comrades-in-arms, as he had been expelled from the Order of the Samurai. All the veteran warrior could do now was fight to regain his honor, which meant earning money to wipe away his debts. Honest escorting and bodyguard work in Equestria brought a modest sum, but not enough.

 

Yamabushi initially dismissed the notion of battling in the Saar's arenas, thinking all that too uncouth for the likes of him. But the more the Ryuma heard of all the gallant warriors from every corner of the world fighting in the Arena, and the more time his mind was able to consider the potentially huge financial rewards, the less hardened the ronin's heart became. Finally, Yamabushi relented, rationalizing that the paydays he'd receive from gladiatorial combat would enable him to return home faster, with his honor restored.

 

Returning to a life of active combat meant Yamabushi working to bring himself back to fighting shape. Aside from renewed physical training, the ronin also needed to reacquire a suit of armor. As it just so happened, he managed to find an old set of plated, magitech-enhanced samurai armor on sale at a military surplus store in Seaddle. It looked pretty beat-up, several decades behind the top-of-the-line equipment currently used by the Neighponese Army, but the armor and its body-hugging forcefield still worked just fine. Perhaps it was destiny, but somehow, the rustic appearance of the metal armor perfectly complimented the grizzled, middle-aged warrior.

 

As always, Yamabushi's katana and wakizashi were both at his side for the upcoming contest. When the enchantment of one of those swords was activated, one could hear the humming of the vibrating blade. Whenever one of the ronin's magitech swords made contact with an object, it would sparkle and sizzle as if it was a bolt of electricity. If either the katana or the shorter backup sword hit a metal object at the exact angle and with the right amount of force, the magitech enchantments would allow the Ryuma's blades the slice right through the metal!

 

Thus was Yamabushi properly equipped as he stepped out into the fighting pit, facing down a masked, rapier-equipped pegasus wearing light armor and a flamboyant hat. Heh heh heh, so they decided to first pitt the ronin against a swordfighter like himself! Yamabushi appraised that his opponent would probably be quicker and more agile... but such things alone were never fully decisive. The veteran samurai had experience fighting swift opponents, and he knew how to come off on top.

 

Trotting to the center of the Arena floor, Yamabushi paused when he was several feet away from the swashbuckling pegasus. "Ha ha ha ha ha!" The Ryuma affably greeted his opposite number, his face more clearly visible than the other; "Two swordfighters from opposite ends of the world, meeting in a place foreign to the both of us! Truly, we have been fated to encounter one another. I shall remember to share a splendid feast with you should the opportunity present itself!"

Once the pegasus exchanged his own reply, Yamabushi stepped back a step and with one fluid motion, swiftly drew out his magitech katana to impeccable effect. One dragonbreath of air later, and the weapon's vibro enchantment was activated. To the roar of a crowd thirsty for violence, Yamabushi slowly started to close the distance between himself and the swashbuckler. The ronin would let his foe make the first move, while he would bide his time for the right moment to strike.....

[Dunder]

The tips of Dunder's wings flapped. Blood rushed to the stallion's face, the heart picking up its pace to distribute adrenaline throughout the body.

 

There he stood, faced with the suit of iron and leather scales. Peeking from under the helmet was the dragon-like muzzle of a ryuma. The sight uncommon, even in this foreign land where creates from all over the world congregated. The stallion remembered seeing some suits of similar design floating around ever since contact was regained with the far east. Whether is was a poser behind the armor or a legitimate ryuma of the blade, the heavy armor could easily take a lunge from the rapier. That meant that his opponent had more room to make mistakes, however the ryuma behind the armor was just as squishy as the pony.

 

As the ryuma got closer, Dunder's muscles tensed ready to evade a strike. The point of his rapier, aimed down at the ground, hung there precariously as it anticipated his opponent to spring one of his culture's quick draw and strike techniques.

 

Instead, the ryuma stopped a good distance away and began laughing. Dunder flinched, rapier point stayed trained on the ground, but his eyes stayed locked with the ryuma's. Behind his mask, Dunder grinned a grin the ryuma wouldn't see. The pegasus wondered for a moment if it was fate, hardly ever did two sides of the same coin come face to face. "Sounds good to me, loser buys the drinks. I hope you're not in debt!" The pegasus quipped back and raised his rapier, the point now on the face of his opponent. "En garde, hermano."

 

The pegasus watched as the samurai carried out his flourish. He had to admit, it was an amazing sight to see, even more amazing up close. Along with the crowd's clamor for blood, the pegasus was ready to dance. He took a high guard foreleg extended and point aimed right at the samurai's face while the katana's point aimed at Dunder's chest. Dunder expected the samurai to be ready to block an ending strike to the face. When the samurai began to close the last bit of distance, the pegasus took a step at the same time, but to catch his opponent off guard the pegasus took the angle by stepping to the samurai's left. Not only that, Dunder simultaneously used his metal bracer to smack the side of the katana blade and dropped his rapier point to aim a lunge down at the exposed inner hindleg of the samurai.

 

The samurai, however, was more experienced than the pegasus anticipated. The samurai managed a wider stance to protect himself, while he also retaliated by flipping his sword blade side up and delivered an ascending cut that would have ended a greener pony. Dunder, however, flapped his wing once and raised his grieve again to pretect himself. White sparks flew as the rounded piece of armor got a flat face cleaved into it by the katana.

 

At a safe distance, Dunder hissed. He looked down at his hoof to see his sliced hoof beginning to leak red. He saw the grive too, a chunk of it missing sliced clean off. Those white sparks. He looked at the katana. That buzzing.

 

Wasting no time, Dunder quickly pulled up his buckler and tapped the rim of it to his forehead. The gold sun on his buckler and mask beginning to glow brilliantly, casting an aura around him, one that negated most magic in its field just big enough to protect the pony.

[Bellosh]

 

Yamabushi couldn't help but chuckle at the swordpony's retort. Whoever the stallion of the west, he was of good humor and spirits. That was a good sign; no doubt the upcoming fight would be a lively one.

 

A caribou announcer cried out; "LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!!!!" The crowds roared with anticipation!

 

With the duel officially underway, Yamabushi got a closer look at his foe as they inched closer to one another. Of particular note was the swashbuckler's face-concealing mask. The veteran Ryuma never thought highly of wearing masks in battle; they excessively limited one's field of vision. In battle, a warrior's helmet had to achieve a perfect balance between protecting the vital areas and letting him or her see every movement of the enemy. Should one element is granted undue consideration over the other, then balance is not achieved and the entire helmet is doomed to fail its owner.

 

Concerning the Equestrian's mask itself, while it provided vision towards the rear, the user's sight of things above and below would be considerably wanting. With all the armor Yamabushi wore, he would be hard-pressed to exploit the upper blind spot... but the lower blind spot was fair game! In addition, one more blind spot might be present right between the swordpony's eyes. Attacking at such an angle would be difficult without the Pegasus noticing out of the inner corners of his eyes... but it wouldn't be impossible for the ronin if he was swift enough.

 

According to plan, the swashbuckler commenced his first attack, which Yamabushi effortlessly countered. Having fought so many battles, knowing when to defend and knowing when to go on the offensive came naturally. Trusting in his instincts and his assessment of his opponent's mask, Yamabushi swung his sword from below... and was promptly rewarded with the sight of a damaged greave and blood dripping onto the Arena floor. First blood!

 

The other stallion had a trick of his own, however. Unexpectedly, a glow as bright as sunlight briefly radiated from the swordpony's buckler and mask, forcing Yamabushi to momentarily cover his eyes with one foreleg. While the initial glow subsided in seconds, that was all the opening the other combatant needed. In practically an instant, he used one swift strike of the rapier to disarm the ronin of his katana, then quickly followed up by swiping the leg used to cover Yamabushi's eyes. The rapier hit true, cutting through a weak point in the ronin's magitech armor and nicking his flesh!

 

Yamabushi grunted in pain as he gave ground, covering his retreat by pointing his antlers at the Pegasus. The Ryuma's foe could have tried pushing his luck, but he had no desire to test his light armor against a pair of mean-looking horns. Better to wait for the Ryuma to make another unforced error, then safely exploit it!

 

Now back at a safe distance, Yamabushi first used his uninjured foreleg to unsheathe his backup sword. After activating the blade's vibration enchantment with one breath, he next scanned his surroundings to see where his katana flew off to without taking eyes off his opponent, which was safely possible when one didn't wear a mask. Finding his katana laying a distance aways towards the side, the ronin finally checked his injured leg to ascertain the extent of his wound. Strangely enough, while the swordpony's rapier penetrated the armor and the area hurt like hell, no blood could be seen dripping out!

 

It dawned on Yamabushi: it made sense that a pony of Equestria, a land known for its pacifism, would wield an enchanted weapon designed to minimize the chance for needless maiming. Alas for the Pegasus; this meant that Yamabushi could tank more blows from the enemy's rapier. The Ryuma would have to be careful though; all weapons were designed to inflict injury, and as such, a weapon could never be fully stipped of its lethality. One foolish mistake would still cost Yamabushi quite dearly.

 

Stuck with fighting defensively, Yamabushi began to move around in a circle, backstepping in the process towards his lost katana. He planned to recover his primary blade in an orderly fashion, but another part of the Ryuma wanted to bait his foe into attacking. The swashbuckler currently held the range advantage with his longer sword, Yamabushi could take more of a beating with his heavy magitech armor than the enemy warrior. Sooner or later, the enemy warrior would have no choice other than attack to prevent the Ryuma from recovering his katana and losing what offensive advantage he has.

But Yamabushi was a samurai; taught to fear no pain! Should the Pegasus lunge forth... he'll pay grievously for it.....

[Dunder]

Brilliant light covered the pony's attack. As his opponent covered his face, Dunder pressed the attack with his newly enhanced sword. With a mighty flap of his wings he was propelled forward, rapier extended with one goal. A swordpony without a sword was at a distinct disadvantage at a distance, a disadvantage that would spell death with the rapier. The rapier slipped between the katana and the samurai's grip, lodging the sword loose. The loosened grip along with the samurai's volatile reaction sent the sword flying off into the dirt.

 

The pegasus pulled the rapier back, landing this time to aim another thrust. The sharp tip caught on the armor, bent, then the armor gave way, letting the blade straighten back out into the Ryuma's flesh. Before the ryuma could counter attack, Dunder flapped his wings again to pull away from the attack before the samurai could retaliate effectively. As close as he was, he wouldn't need the katana to do serious damage.

 

Instantly, though, Dunder regretted not pressing the attack. For the samurai exposed himself in a dangerous way! A fight-endingly-dangerous way. As the samurai gave ground himself, Dunder cooked up in his mind a way to exploit this fatal flaw.

 

However, the accursed baby katana of the samurai seemed to be enchanted with the power to slice through metal as well. The mask allowed for Dunder to keep his front and sides open for view of enemies and not much else. Not that the stallion needed to focus on much else than the samurai right in front of him. Dunder figured his opponent was making a subtle retreat for the katana.

 

Then it hit Dunder. The ryuma could fly, but hasn't yet. The samurai hasn't even tried to. Maybe all that protection had a trade off that initially slipped right under Dunder's nose. Another weakness to be exploited.

 

 distance had to be maintained, though. Up close, the ryuma had a much quicker weapon, and had access to breath magic that could grill the pegasus real quick. The pegasus would have no choice but to put the pressure on!

 

Up his buckler went, holding it extended next to his rapier. Then he pursued his opponent who kept his wakizashi close. Even if the rapier was vulnerable to attacks beyond the reach of the tip, the pegasus still had wings to carry him to a safe distance. As long as his wings were quick enough.

 

The fencer, however, had a plan to take advantage of his aerial advantage.

 

Just as the first attack, a step to seize an angle of attack! Again, the stallion kept his hoof, guard, and buckler high but dropped the point to go for the legs. However, the stallion's attack was punctuated by the rapier flying out of the fencer's hoof, headed straight for the face of the samurai. The samurai lowered his head to protect his face with his helmet and knocked the rapier away with his hoof and horns, knocking it away.

 

With the proverbial smoke cloud activated, Dunder jumped and launched himself over the ryuma with a flap of his wings, landing behind the samurai. What Dunder didn't account for was how quick the samurai would catch on so quickly.

 

Just as Dunder landed and got low to prepare a full force headbutt, Tsuyo spun and white sparks flew. Hindleg muscles flexed, extending to launch Dunder's forehead straight into the snout of the enemy.

 

The attack sent Dunder crashing into the ground. He rolled over to look down at his torso, where his chestplate was gnawed open by the teeth of the wakizashi. Under, he could feel his coat and shirt getting damp. Still, the adrenaline was running strong in blood. "Mierda." He grunted as he hoofed at the ground until he got grip enough to stand. Even then, his legs quivered. His breath, however was controlled and didn't taste of iron to warn of lung injury.

 

Behind his mask, now speckled with blood and the red dripping into every groove, he scanned the ground for his rapier. When it was spotted, he made as quick of a gallop as he could for it.

[Bellosh]

 

Yamabushi anticipated that the Pegasus would use his lighter protection to grant him an aerial advantage. Given the ronin's strong defense, it would be irresponsible for his opponent to rely on his own strengths. What Yamabushi didn't count on however was the swashbuckler throwing his weapon away! By the snows of Mt. Kaminichi, why did that pony recklessly toss his rapier like it was a disposable shuriken?! Stupid, stupid, stupid!!! Maybe if the Pegasus was staring down a solo arbalist ready to shoot a bolt into him, that desperate move would be justified... but not here!

 

Going by the samurai's instincts, the only reason his foe would commit such a foolhardy gambit was for the purposes of misdirection; a classic ninja strategy. But Yamabushi was too smart to be fooled; even as he used his sword and hooves to redirect the rapier projectile, the Ryuma was already in the process of turning his body towards the swordpony's likely angle of attack. Thus when the swashbuckler landed, Yamabushi's wakizashi was all set for another taste of steel and blood.

 

Admirably though, the Pegasus managed to get a decent headbutt into Yamabushi's jaw; the heavily built ronin wasn't fast enough to avoid that point-blank charge. Too bad the swordpony didn't have... well, a sword on him to fully capitalize on the moment. Even though Yamabushi could taste blood pooling in his mouth, he was the one who remained standing, while his foe was reeling on the ground.

 

In this moment of opportunity, Yamabushi swiftly cantered forward for his katana. Wasting no time, he sheathed his backup sword, picked up the katana, and blew a dragonbreath puff on it to make it come back to life (the ronin's swords automatically deactivate their enchantments when not in their user's grip). The other swordpony was back on his hooves by the time Yamabushi reacquired his weapon, but things weren't looking too good for the the Pegasus. Not only was his own weapon gone, but the pony's legs looked to be drained of strength.

 

Tsk tsk tsk, thought Yamabushi as he spat blood out of his numb mouth and pointed his sword in the swashbuckler's direction. The other fighter should have realized that he couldn't afford to trade blows with a giant. What the Pegasus needed to do was use his superior agility to slowly pick at the giant, waiting patiently as he weakened the giant little-by-little. Had the other fighter done that, he'd have a fighting chance right now.

 

As it was, the Pegasus was in a position of extreme vulnerability, which was made painfully obvious to all as he attempted a mad dash for his fallen rapier. Yamabushi wasn't having any of that however; the time had come to reveal his secret dragon technique. Just as the swashbuckler had gotten within tantalizingly close range of his sword, a huge gust of wind burst forth from the Ryuma! His legs already wobbly, the dragonbreath gale was enough for the swordpony to lose his footing and fall over. Complicating matters, Yamabushi's wind blew dust from the Arena's floor onto the fallen Pegasus, clouding his vision and polluting his lungs.

The ronin kept blowing for several seconds before satisfied with the end result. Yamabushi's killer instinct tingled; the best chance to finish this fight with a victory was soon at hoof.....

[Dunder]

Ears perked, blood rushed, instincts took hold. The sight of the samurai standing there, then a gust of dusty wind. Dunder had to admire the samurai's ability to withstand an armored headbutt from another stallion. Wind especially one as magically charged as the gust the Ryuma blew, was easily detected by the pegasus, especially one whose ancestors adapted to survive harsh desert environments of the west. Dunder, himself, was no stranger to the painted pinto desert, as few other Equestrians were as adapted to the desert as he. Like a sack of potatoes, Dunder fell to the floor as the gust scooped his legs from under him, and without thinking about it his wings formed a protective, aerodynamic shell around him. Like a rock, he withstood the storm. Forelegs over his head, quick shallow breaths through his shirt allowed minimal effect of the dust.

 

Besides the samurai's inability to predict Dunder's storm resistance. The samurai's second mistake with the gust of wind was allowing the pegasus breathing room. Smothering dust and whipping wind. A fresh wave of sweet adrenaline pumped through his veins forced the stallion's senses to heighten again. The perfect combination for a warrior to catch a second wind. As he lay there, he remembered how everything was falling into place. The samurai, with a mouth and nostrils full of blood. The perfect target for the magical buckler with one last spell in it. Until his last, dying breath the stallion would give no quarter!

 

Soon, the magical tempest was over. The samurai appeared to have completely vanquished his foe. In his wake there was no trace of the pegasus. All that was left where he stood was a mound of dust. A mound of dust, though, he would not remain. Pink shirt and grey hoof erupted from under the dust, and the rest of the stallion followed. As he stood, his legs showed no sign of shaking. His mind could not process pain, all it could process was its overwhelming desire to end this fight in blood. Blood.

 

Of course, the samurai was quick to move. However, the armored ryuma was slow to close the distance, giving Dunder a wide timeframe to cover himself.

 

The ryuma wished just as badly to end the fight as the pegasus and the pegasus agreed by twisting his body, flexing his wings out one right after the other, tossing the dust built up on the wings back at its conjuror. The two gusts of wind from the pegasus's wings also revealed the rapier, jutting from the ground as the ryuma's torrent blew the sword quiillon and blade into the ground. The ryuma recoiled back, his attack thrown just enough off for the agile pegasus  to circumnavigate the attacker and recover the rapier, waning magic flowing back into the sword.

 

Dunder widened the distance between the two by flying off and turning to face the samurai who finished recovering from the surprise attack. As the pegasus landed, he drew the buckler again.

 

The two were back on even terms, something that Dunder didn't want the samurai to know. The pegasus feigned the severity of his wounds, he touched his chest, suddenly appearing weak, coughing and legs shaking again. The samurai clunking through his armor pressed the attack again with his katana, blade in the air, hilt at the shoulder eager for another taste of steel and flesh, this time to end the pegasus. But, as the samurai got closer, Dunder's feign showed less and less until it was too late for the ryuma.

 

Just as the ryuma raised the katana for a finishing blow, the pegasus thrusted his buckler out, the sun on the front let loose a magical shockwave. Where the ryuma was able to witstand a blow against muscle and bone, he succumbed to a blow striking softer areas. The heavy armor on the ryuma took the shockwave easily, but armor always has its weak points. The blood that was flooding the ryuma's mouth and nose slammed back against his throat and the sensitive insides of the nose, causing the ryuma to gag on his own blood.

 

The small window was all Dunder needed. His rapier, quick and trained, rose. The point sliced through the greaves of the dominant leg, and the hoof behind the buckler struck and uppercut into the non dominant foreleg all while Dunder got close to miss the deadly arc of the katana cut. The pegasus twisted the blade, widening the hole as it shaved off muscle and sinew right before pulling off the attack.

 

The samurai armed only with one weapon, both forelegs shocked and unable to grab the wakizashi, had only one weapon left: horns. What Dunder waited for, the ryuma did. The samurai lowered his head, using his horns to cover his retreat. And like that, Dunder descended upon his opponent. His wings flapped in unison once, propelling him into the air, rapier pulled back for a downward stab.

 

Crack! The rapier, with it's last burst of enchantment, pierced the skirting neck armor of the samurai's helmet and the point did not stop until it was embedded in the dirt. As Dunder landed next to the ryuma, he could see the blood drip down the edge of the rapier blade into the dirt.

 

The samurai would feel only a flesh wound, and a difficulty to move his head. The rapier stabbed through the armor of the helmet, but cut only through the fleshy part of the neck, leaving a cut not deep at all.

 

"You have brought honor to your warrior order, and dignified your bushido, compa." Dunder grabbed the sword by the base of the blade and carefully began pulling out the rapier with care until it was free of the samurai's helmet.

 

The crowd booed. They wanted death, and the despair that went along with it. Despair that Dunder would leave for another day.

 

"¡Come chile, pues!" He shouted to the crowd's onslaught of dissapointment, but the stallion didn't care.

 

He also, pulled off his mask so he could see his opponent face to face. "Now." The stallion grew a wide grin, "About that food. I know where we can get some drink and food for free. They'll want to hear this story!" The pegasus chukled, wrapping a foreleg around the samurai. "Have you ever been to the hall of a jarl?"

[Bellosh]

 

Even before he ceased his gust, Yamabushi went on the offensive. His gallop wasn't particularly speedy due to his heavy armor, but it wasn't too fatal of a flaw when the swordpony had been covered by a mound of dirt. That forced Yamabushi's foe into having to get rid of all that dirt before resuming swordfighting. No matter how fast the Pegasus could clean himself off, those were several precious seconds that'd be lost in the process. More than enough time for the ronin to end this fight on a decisive note.

 

The simple fact of the matter was that the swashbuckler was the one caught in a desperate situation... and desperate situations called for acts of desperation. Thing was, a warrior forced to desperation cannot perceive the flow of battle... to clearly understand oneself and anticipate what the enemy intended to do. A warrior left with no choice but to act frantically is cut off from all access to knowledge, and thus doomed to certain defeat. All samurai like Yamabushi learned this ancient wisdom of waging war.

 

Regrettably for the swordpony, he was just about to learn the cost of letting Yamabushi dictate the flow of battle. Managing to get out of the dirt mound, the unarmed pony scrambled to defend himself in the manner that came especially naturally to a pegasus: by flapping his wings to create a retaliatory gust of air and dust. Of course, had the swashbuckler been in a proper state of mind to reason that ryuma could blow dragonbreath gusts while on the move, he probably wouldn't have bothered with that time-wasting trick. As it were, Yamabushi countered with another magical breath of air, which was enough to prevent dirt from getting into his eyes.

 

All the swordpony had going for him was that a dust screen temporarily shrouded him from Yamabushi's line of sight. Unfortunately, the ronin's counter-gust meant all those particles obscured where the swashbuckler's rapier laid. Yamabushi's opponent required a second of furious scanning to locate his weapon, whereupon he scrambled to recover it. But it was all too little, too late.

 

Thus as the pony's hoof came in contact with the hilt of his sword, he failed to notice the ominous, fast-approaching shape through the dust screen in time. The swashbuckler's warning came with a deafening "HI-YAH!!!" from Yamabushi; a war cry so intimidating that for a split second, the Pegasus trembled in shock. That brief moment of registering the source of the startlement proved costly, for Yamabushi instantaneously emerged out of the dust with a katana in one hoof and antlers pointed forward. He was going for a ramming attack!

 

With only milliseconds to spare before impact, the swordpony did the only thing he could do: go out swinging by thrusting his rapier at Yamabushi's exposed face. All things considered, the pony actually managed to get a good last hit in, wedging his sword into the massive Ryuma's cheek. But Yamabushi couldn't care less: he was a samurai, and samurai never let fear of injury get in the way of landing the final blow.

 

One blink of the eye later, and the swashbuckler's head experienced the extreme discomfort of a metal helmet's blunt impact. The Pegasus was unceremoniously tossed across the Arena floor, clutching his forehead which reeled from the aches of Tartarus times one-thousand. His mask was fractured near the center, his hat had fallen off, and his sword and buckler were who knows where. Realizing his absent equipment, the Pegasus prepared to make one last move when he felt the cold steel of a katana press against his neckline.

 

The pony looked upward, not daring to move a limb. Above the fallen swordpony stood the mighty Yamabushi, looking as stern as a samurai could be when rubbing his aching cheek, the cheek that the samurai's foe managed to piece in his last moments of glory. The swashbuckler's sword hadn't finished fully reactivating its enchantment when Yamabushi moved in, ensuring a flesh wound to the afflicted area. Yamabushi would be fine though; it'd probably be less than a hour before he celebrates this victory with a delicious feast.

 

Salivating over the prospect of a victory meal put Yamabushi in good spirits. Severity turned into a grin, then a hearty laugh. "Ha ha ha ha ha!" the ronin sheathed his sword with the flourish that only a samurai could pull off, and helped the swordpony back up onto four legs. "I haven't faced a warrior as skilled as you for a long time. Now, I hope you know where we can fill our stomachs; these fights make you work up an appetite!"

Yamabushi was just about to head out of the Arena before suddenly turning back towards the Pegasus with a smirk. "Oh, don't forget your sword," he pointed towards the stained rapier on the ground; "Your weapon is your life... so never lose it!"

 

 

*FIGHT CONCLUDED*

[SteelEagle]

After several days of consultation, a decision has been reached.  Tsuyo Yamabushi is the winner!