Arena! Khamsin VS Razor! (ATTN: Shadowwalking)

[Pretzelparty]

 

The soft clop of hooves echoed down the hallway was a blonde pegasus made his way to the Arena. Just before he had begun his leisurely stroll to the battleground that was sure to be the stage for an amazing show of battle. This was going to be nothing short of awesome! Khamsin had neither been to Sarvaarbelg before or it's famous arena, He'd heard his mother had indeed fought here before and given the audience back then quite a show when she was younger, Now Khamsin could only hope to live up to her legacy in the ring. So far, the stallion was showing immense promise with his multiple wins in the Mixed martial arts circuit of Equestria and taking home plenty of first prize medals and trophies which were on display in his studio back in Canterlot. 

 

Soon the horse-pony hybrid walked out into the bright light of the arena, wincing reflexively before his eyes adjusted. He grinned widely as he heard the roaring of the audience for a good fight, and by Celestia was this pony ready to give it to them.

 

Khamsin, at first glance would only appear to be slightly stronger than an average pony due to his lineage and his above average height. However as his opponent would soon learn, looks could be dangerously deceiving. Underneath his admittedly handsome mocha colored coat, the stallion was a mass of lean muscle that was trained to near perfection by an exercise routine that had him working out and training his body for about eight to ten hours a day so he could fight at his best at any given time. The stallion had made sure to eat light as well so nothing would way him down and make him any less fast than he usually was; which was needless to say... VERY fast. 

 

The roaring of all sorts of creatures could be heard in the stands. Griffins (undoubtedly rooting for his opponent), caribou (obviously), Ponies, goats and even a couple cows of the non caribou persuasion. Khamsin let that atmosphere of excitement soak in to his mind and soon the stallion got up on his hind legs and gave the crowd a bow, "Thank you! Thank you! ... that's right, the STAR is here!" 

 

The pony soon got back on all fours and stared at where his opponent should be coming out of. His blade held it's sheath for the moment, but his reddish eyes clear and focused on the opponent who was sure to be making his entrance soon enough. Oddly enough, The stallion seemed to not be in his stance just yet, just trying to gauge his opponent for the time being. For his choice of weapon, he used a unique single edged blade that a friend of his mother's had made for him. It was a strong blade with a small almost non-existant hoofguard and a long ever so slightly curved blade of clearly exotic design.

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor felt a shiver of excitement run up his spine as he entered into the arena. The roaring of the crowd was enough to make his blood pump with a force that made him feel as if he could do anything today. He had never really been in arena of Sarvaarbelg, but he had heard plenty of stories. His father had actually entered once in his youth. It was a tradition he said, that young Ironclaw clan members to enter the arena if they desired to prove themselves before their family. And Razor had a strong desire to prove his metal. Win or lose, this would be as was claimed, an experience.

 

Stepping out, it would be well apparent to any that this griffon was....smaller...then most. Razor felt his feathers stand on end a bit. Feeling as if all the eyes about him were judging him, mocking him for his short size.

 

Well...he'd show them. He'd show them all.

 

He wasn't a soldier by trade, but his family held a strong military history and tradition. Growing up he had been sent to the finest military academy in all of Aquilla, as all members of his family did. He learned not only various academia skills, but also learned the forms of combat of the Aquillian Army. And always he kept up a regular practice schedule to keep in shape and practice.

 

But road brawls and scuffles in towns were not the same as this. He would be fighting somepony or griffon that was as skilled, or more then he. He would need to be swift, agile, and cunning to win.

 

It would be a good challenge.

 

"This is gonna be fun."  Razor said as he drew his sabre. He gave it a few test cuts in the air, the curved blade slicing through the air. He gripped it tight as he spread his wings, and crouched low slightly to lift off into the air.

 

He turned to his opponent, an odd looking Pegasus. Razor smirked, "Hope you're not a sore loser." He called over.

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

"This is gonna be fun."  Razor said as he drew his sabre. He gave it a few test cuts in the air, the curved blade slicing through the air. He gripped it tight as he spread his wings, and crouched low slightly to lift off into the air.

 

He turned to his opponent, an odd looking Pegasus. Razor smirked, "Hope you're not a sore loser." He called over.

 

Ah... he was finally here, "Well you took yer sweet time now didn't ya?" he said with slightly derisive smirk, "I was worried ya weren't gonna show."

 

Khamsin sauntered with a sort of confident swagger that few could match. His body still relaxed and loose as usual, his sheathed blade idly dangling at his side. He stopped about three yards in front of the griffin and chuckled as he looked over his opponent. He was a bit smaller than your garden variety griffin, but Khamsin knew that a small opponent was not someone to be taken lightly. Luckily since Khamsin was only slightly taller than your average pony, he was on equal terms with razor (give or take a few inches). "At least we got some common ground, pal; WE both know this is gonna be fun... and we both are opponent is gonna lose gracefully." 

 

The blonde pegasus reared up and spread out his wings, feathers outstretched and the extremities they were attached to looking powerful. The stallion's mane fluttered lightly in the wind as he grin grew wider as he spoke, "I don't know about you, buddy." The pony went back down on all four and his body tensed up for only a second, "... But this feelin' is what I -live- for!" WIth a mightly flap of his wings that kicked up an fair amount of dust the stallion was almost immediately in front of him. A powerful attack met Razor's sabre and then pulled the griffin's sword's blade to the ground along with his one which was held in only a single hoof. "I'm ABSOLUTELY CRAZY about it!" the equine practically shouted before using his free hoof to deliver a strong forceful punch to razor's chest and hopefully push him back an foot or two, uncaring whether he held on to his blade or not.

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor grunted as he staggered back from the blow. He let himself go with the push, giving his wings a flap to blow up dust and dirt and propel him farther back. He let his momentum carry him to the ground and he ducked and folded himself into a roll, leaping back onto his feet. His grip still tight on his blade and he gave it a flick as he stared down at his enemy.

 

"Not bad. You got a good strong punch there." Razor said, coughing some. He then made a dash to the side, using his wings to give him boosts of speed as he began to circle, going left and right around Khamsin. He kept his distance as he circled, a planning form in his head.

 

'This guy is tough. I can't risk getting locked into close combat now. He'd cream me for sure.' He thought. Razor wasn't as strong as most griffons. Oh sure, he could lift some impressive weights, but in long term fights he didn't have a chance against most opponents. But he never bothered to overpower others, he out maneuvered them.

 

Razor snarled as he went on the attack, starting with a feint at Khamsin to make him drop his guard, then pulled back and went for the real attack at an undefended area. His blade worked fast, and he scored a cut across Khamsin's leg. It wasn't a deep cut, but it was the first. He jumped away soon after, and circled again. Over and over he went, making mock charges, before going into a different attack at an undefended opening. He managed to scare a number of cuts, though none of them were serious injuries.

 

Razor smirked as he circled, "First blood to me." He mocked, flicking his blade.

 

Of course, Razor knew he couldn't keep it up forever. Khamsin was sure to see the pattern in his movements. With a snarl, Razor went for another strike at his opponent, hoping to score another blow....

 

 

 

[Pretzelparty]

 

"Not bad. You got a good strong punch there."

 

 

Razor smirked as he circled, "First blood to me." He mocked, flicking his blade.

 

Khamsin Coughed twice after the griffin had managed to bring himself aloft, kicking up a small cloud of dust and dirt from the force of his flapping. The stallion kept his eyes locked on his furred and feathered opponent as he circled him. The griffin feint had manged to succeed and bring a light cut to his left leg and then repeated this tactic scoring several small cuts to the stallion's body. As Razor went around and continued his attack pattern it didn't take too long for his opponent to figure out a countermeasure for it. 

 

Once the griffin dove down to try and get yet another hit on the pegasus, Khamsin grinned devilishly. his wings spread out and flapped with remarkable speed and before Razor knew it, the pony hybrid was up above him and dodged him, the griffin was about to pass without incident but the stalllion had other ideas as he slammed right back down and took the griffin's tail in his teeth and spun around, using his momentum against him and sending him sailing to the other end of the ring; Khamsin not too far behind. Once razor collided with the stadium's wall, Khamsin dashed forward and swiftly left three light cuts over the griffin's chest. They weren't deep cuts but enough to draw blood and reveal that the way the stallion had cut , Razor know had a "K" on his chest!

 

"Yer not the only guy who knows how ta fly!" With that comment, Khamsin mimicked the griffin's earlier action and pushed off the ground with a powerful buffet of his wing before circling about in the air.

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor roared and snarled as he felt his tail being yanked on. He grabbed for the ground with a talon, but it was dragged through the sand as he was lifted up and spun by his tail.

 

"Ooooooooooowwwwww!" He yelled as he was spun. Didn't anyone know how bad it hurt to spin something by its tail? The tail wasn't as strong as say his legs.

 

Finally he was thrown off, and Razor spun in the air as he collided with the wall. He felt his head and back slam hard against the stone, and his vision went fuzzy for the brief moment before there was new, searing pain running across his chest. Razor coughed as he shielded his face with a talon from the burst of air and felt himself slide from the wall and land onto the dirt ground of the stadium. He coughed and arched his back in pain as he rubbed the back of his head.

 

"Gahh, darn it!" He growled, pulling his talon back from his head and seeing some blood on the talons. The collision with the wall had not been an easy one, though he was lucky to have a tough and thick skull otherwise that might have been worse.

 

Razor shook his head as he got up, and looked down at the "K" carved onto him. He snarled and looked up at the flying pony.

 

"Forgot the prize. Now its personal! Nopony brands me like that!" He yelled as he spread his wings and took off. He flew straight after Khamsin, and though he was angry, he was also excited.

 

Aerial combat after all was the best.

 

Razor picked up speed, but he kept going, flying past Khamsin higher into the sky. And higher. And higher and higher till he felt the pressure of the air press down on his ears, and the air itself thin. Razor paused and stood there, glancing down at the world below.

 

"Ahhh....no view is better....then this." He said ideally to himself. He glanced down at the sabre still in his talons and let it slip from his grip and let it fall to the stadium floor far below.

 

His keen raptor eyes easily made out the tiny speck far below that was Khamsin. There was the target...and now it was time to strike.

 

"Get ready now, cause here I come!" He shouted, before folding up his wings and going into a stoop dive down to the ground.

 

Razor kept his eyes locked on his target as he fell. His body angling to cut through the wind, and as he fell he picked up more and more speed. Faster and faster he fell, his speed reaching levels that ordinary flying could never reach without exhausting oneself. The distance gap between him and Khamsin closing in nearly the blink of an eye.

 

Razor roared as he twisted himself to dodge a strike, and extended his talons out to meet Khamsin as he collided with him at top speed. Everything after that, he could barely keep track of. He felt his talons slash across the large pony tail that Khamsin had, cutting a good size of the mane off, as his body crashed into his and he felt them both heading to the ground. He snarled and snapped his beak, biting into Khamsin's shoulder. He scratched and slashed at him with his claws and talons. The ground grew closer, and finally Razor spun him and Khamsin around before releasing his grip and bite and sending Khamsin flying off into a random direction.

 

Of course, he still had to keep himself from splatting into the ground and he spread his wings in the last moment as he neared the ground and pulled himself up and went shooting straight toward the wall at a high speed.

 

"Shoot! Stop! Stop!" He yelled as he flapped his wings toward the wall, and lowered himself to dig his talons and paws into the ground to break his speed. He dragged a deep furrow across the ground before finally coming a stop not a few inches between the wall and his face.

 

"Oh thank goodness." Razor sighed in relief.

[Pretzelparty]

 

Khamsin whistled as the griffin shot past him like he was fired out of a cannon. The stallion had to admit, Razor had spunk! The pegasus kept his eyes locked on the griffin even as he became a tiny dot in the sky and threw a smaller dot away that soon slammed into the ground on it's blade, revealing itself to be the sword the griffin was wielding before.

 

"OH! We've ditched the swords, Awesome! No more holdin' back then!" With a cocky grin the stallion threw his own sword to the side where it joined Razor's. Just as he looked back up to see the griffin come back, he only saw enough to see that now razor was close enough that he couldn't dodge this attack now that razor was about to-- scratch that, had collided into him. The stallion felt hard talons cutting off a good portion of his tail , oh now it was on. The pony felt a whirlwind of sensations, the least of which most certainly not being pain as Razor but hard into his shoulder and rapidly slashed at his body. Khamsin did a decent job blocking some of those slashes with his hooves and super tough horse-shoes and once he made sure he had read his proponent's movements he caught one of the griffin's clawed forelegs in a hoof and then slammed his other hoof down upon it, grinning as he heard the music of cracking bones that he was sure razor would feel once he let go...

 

Or once he threw him, that worked too. As Khamsin sored through the air, he angled his wings and changed his path and then was airborne once again before he spun around in place making his own little tornado as he bulit up speed and fired back at Razor. The force of Khamsin's charge was enough to knock the air out of the griffin if Razor took it full on... but really that wouldn't matter too much as just before Khamsin made contact, He raised his hooves and pounded each one repeatedly against Razor's center of mass then once again put him against the wall. The force and speed of the pegasus' punches made his forelegs seem like a pair of blurs as they repeatedly battered the griffin before Grabbing razor, flipping him over and slamming a hind-hoof onto the griffin's foot, hoping to cause a fracture.

 

"Should've stuck ta swords, lil guy... and noone touches the do" he said cockily.

[ShadowWalking18]

As Razor turned to regain his composure after his near faceplant with the wall, he suddenly became very aware of a dull throbbing pain from one of his claws. He glanced down at the appendage and saw that it was bent and broken at a wrong angle. The bone was protruding out, and blood poured from the gash caused by the bone. The rush of adrenaline was the only saving grace that kept him from feeling a more intense pain then the mere numbing sensation. Though now that he was aware of his hurt, he did feel the pain more acutely then before.

 

"Buck!" He swore, clenching his talon. Pain raced up his leg, though he found he could still move the digits.

 

Barely.

 

Before he could react further, Razor felt his body crashed into with the force of a bullet, his body smashing into the wall with a heavy crunch and his head snapped back to slam against the stone. He felt a slight crack once more, and as his head snapped forward he left a small patch of blood smeared on the wall. His vision blurred and spun for a moment as he became aware of the beating his body was now taking. His body now pressed up against the wall, and being slightly indented into the stone by the force of the blows.

 

Agh. Agh...ah...gah!" Razor choked. He felt his ribs crack, and break and he spat up blood.

 

The stallions hooves were like a gale of wind, incapable of being noticed or seen until it was upon you. In this case, instead of a nice breeze it was pain and breaking bone. Razor gasped as he was then flipped and he felt his foot being smashed down on by the heavy weight of a pony's hoof.

 

Razor would always remember this day as they day he realized that hooves....were amazingly very dangerous. Even if they didn't have claws or sharpened points.

 

Razor coughed as he lay upon the ground, he turned his head and spat. Spittle and blood mixed as he took ragged breathes. He glared up at the stallion as he mocked his decision to relinquish his blade.

 

"I..*cough*...don't need.....a blade."  Razor coughed, as he tightened his muscles. He then spun, his feline body arching and twisting with dexterous ease as he got to his feet, ignoring the pain of his protesting injured limbs to holding his body weight. His unbroken talon scooped up a wad of sand and he flung it at Khamsin, giving his wings a powerful flap to propel it enough to blind or block the stallions eyes for a moment as leaped forward with a roar, talon extended as he swiped it down across Khamsin's face, the sharp appendages cutting through flesh and across his eye.

 

"My talons are all the blades I need!"  He screamed as he attacked.

 

As his talon struck, Razor twisted to plow his shoulder into Khamsin's body and send them both tumbling to the ground. Pain sparked across his body as Razor hit the dirt, but he rolled and pushed himself into another pounce, using his wings for propulsion and aid to leap atop of Khamsin's body. He roared as his bod slamming ontop of Khamsin's once more.

 

Razor had no illusions he was on his last legs. If this was gonna be the end, he was gonna make it a right bloody and nasty one. Never let it be said he went down without a fight! He was an Ironclaw! Iron was his blood!

 

The two rolled about on the dirt, as Razor pecked with his beak, creating deep puncture wounds into Khamsin. Whenever Khamsin rolled on top of him, Razor kicked up into his stomach with his cat paws, letting the claws drag and cut across him repeatedly. His talons cut and sliced when he could, blocking attacks when they came. Though Razor mostly abandoned defense entirely now, and focused all his attentions on hurting his opponent.

 

Unwise. Reckless and perhaps utterly insane. But for Razor that was just right.

 

Finally, Razor managed to get back ontop, sitting on Khamsins cut and bloody gut and his talons grabbed him by the head and he slammed his head down to give Khamsin a good old fashioned, hard skulled griffon head butt.

 

In that, Razor learned another thing. Pegasi also had pretty hard heads too. Not too surprising, since flying always involved a lot of....crashing. But with all the head smacking he had received earlier, Razor's head was just near being scrambled. He was pretty sure scrambled brains was not a good thing.

 

Using the momentary daze, Razor shot off Khamsin and landed away from him and staggered. His breathes coming in deep gasps, and his legs shaking with effort to stand.

 

"You....*gasp*...you're good......very good.*gasp*....but....only one of....us can win." Razor said, gasping. His vision spun slightly, and he was finding it hard to keep standing or see straight.

 

This was gonna end in the next blow. One way....or another.

[Pretzelparty]

 

 

Khamsin shielded his eyes as best he could from the sand, but the following powerful flap from Razor's wings greatly limited his vision. The stallion's eyes darted back and forth looking for anysign of his opponent, the only hint he got was a split second before he took another hit; a glint off the griffin's claws. The stallion only had enough time to retaliate with flipping back, lifting up his legs and slamming them, HARD, into the griffin's ribcage, smirking as he heard another musical cracking of bone from his counter attack, even as he felt those claw's raking over his eye. 

 

As the two combatants rolled about in the dirt, Khamsin made sure to think of the best way he could end this battle sooner. This griffin was tough but even he knew he couldn't last for much long... but he had an insane amount of ferocity on his side. The stallion was battered and bleeding all over already, and each time he was on top of the roll his stomach got a good kick to it as well. Eventually Khamsin's gut was positively throbbing... in a way he felt he was lucky his innards weren't spilling out. Just as he was going to try and slip out of the griffin's grasp but Razor's hard skull rushed to meet his own and left him dazed and stumbling once the griffin took off again.

 

After shaking all the dizziness out fo his head he smirked at the griffin with his only useful eye, "Yep... and I already know who it is." Khamsin was very winded, her knew he had to end this soon and make it something devastating. It was then that khamsin realized something, while he'd thrown away he sword, he had still kept it's sheath at his side. The pegasus formulated a plan of attack and braced himself, he'd have to put all of his strength into this next series of attacks...

 

The Hybrid pony rocketed towards his opponent in a blur of brown and blonde colors, Just when it looked like he was going to hit the griffin full on in the center of the chest and repeat his attack from before.... he veered slightly to the side and slammed the sheath of his blade into one of the joint's of Razor's wings, the force of his attack bending the extremity to a painful degree; if anything that was sure to rob Razor of his flight for now. While Khamsin was still airborne he chucked a now broken and splintered sheath to the edge of arena, "In case you haven't guess; the winner is gonna be me... now lemme introduce you to what I've been named after."

 

Ignoring the pain on his midsection, Khamsin channeled all his might and energy into his wings. The stallion circled rapidly around the griffin, his wings and tail hitting the floor and creating a massive trail of dust and debris in his wake, which he only stirred up more and more of on each pass until it was swirling with incredible ferocity around Razor's body. Visibility was down near zero and it was time to strike. Khamsin's self-made sandstorm churned and spun violently around his battered combatant and from various angles the griffin would feel a powerful strike slam against his body... then another, and another and another. Eventually the speed of each punch began to push the griffin skyward and the attacker shot high up into the air then slammed hard with one of the strongest punches he'd ever delivered right into the griffin's solar plexus and effectively raining more punches down upon the fighter all the way down until he hit the ground.

 

Once the two were back on the floor and the dust had cleared, Khamsin coughed and held a hoof to his bloodied gut as he pulled himself off his opponent. "Heh..." The dark brown pegasus brushed some dust off his coat and smirked, "Thanks for cuttin' my eye, bud. I heard there's more than a few mare's who like a stallion with an eyepatch." With that, Khamsin slowly made his way back to the exit of the ring, eager to recover.

[SteelEagle]

I missed the PM for this. A few things: the match ended at Razor's last post. Four posts for each side. Having said that, this was a tough one to grade. It was close, but the winner is Razor!