Round 1: Preston Andrews vs. Amelia Mclochland

He'd already fought Miss Mclochland before, or at least he'd thought that he had. The Mclochland that he knew hadn't been one and the same. He'd been expecting and easy fight, seeing as the match he'd had last year had ended in mere moments. He didn't know shit about this new chick. Who she even was, her house, what her gift was. The Autumn was going in completely unprepared.

Preston leaned on his weapon, digging it into the ground. Well, fuck it. There was nothing wrong with just winging it every now and again. "Tell me you'll put up some sort of fight." He called out, looking rather bored.

Everything was so bright, merry, even. It made her happier just looking at it. Now, her opponent, where was he? He was one of the older students in her house and that was about all she knew. Her sister had fought him in the last tournament, beating Allison with ease. For his own good, he should know their powers were nothing alike.

Only when she heard him speak did she find him. Her small fingers grasped the handle of the knife sheathed at her side. “I’ll try! Better than Allison, I assure you.” Amelia grinned at the taller student, bouncing on the balls of her feet. She didn’t seem to be taking this fight seriously at all; the short blonde was even laughing. “I’m also Regina’s sister. Got second place in the Easter games too!” She wasn’t paying much attention to what she was saying, her eyes scanning and her ears listening for any signs of animal life around her.

If she couldn’t find one, her words would mean nothing at all. She’d be left to her agility and the butcher’s knife against whatever he had to throw at her, and that fight would last about a minute.

That would be great, and this girl might've been able to color him a little more impressed, that was if he had actually even heard of those people before. He didn't catch on to the whole Addison thing, though she was on the same page as he was, and he hadn't a clue who the hell Regina was. The whole scoring-second-at-the-world's-deadliest-easter-hunt thing had him a little more at attention though. Still, it was one thing sneaking little eggs from under the nose of a few monsters and giant animals. It was another thing entirely fighting another human being.

"Don't take any of this personally." He called out, eying the the butcher's knife in her hand. That was a pretty brutal weapon for such a cheery girl. Whatever reason she had for wielding a fucking cleaver, he wanted it out of her hands as soon as possible. Preston pulled up his weapon, twisting it around his hands until he got the most comfortable grip to run with and took off towards her. Once he was close enough, ripples of electricity began to surge up and down his polearm. The young swung it at her. In reality, he was aiming to break handle out of her grasp.

ooc; on a side note, you know who Amelia reminds me of?:

And the match was on. As soon as the bell rang she ran as swiftly as possible away from her opponent, taking sharp turns and switch-backs through the bright forest. "I'm not."Then something zapped her hand holding the cleaver and she squeaked in surprise, taking more turns than she could count to get away.

In the corner of her eye, another hunt was happening; between a vaguely deer-like predator and a smaller, very afraid looking biped rabbit thing. These were strange animals; who made this place? Ah, never mind, this was her chance! She veered off the path, right towards the horned creature. “Sorry!” was her cry when she brought the knife down on its skull, eyes closed. They’re illusions, right? So I didn’t really kill anything? Amelia couldn’t look at it as it crashed to the ground, killed mid-stride. The tiny mammal continued running off, escaping through the bushes.

It was far too heavy to drag away, she knew that. She shook her zapped hand, seeing a red burn mark across the side, and sheathed the bloodied knife again. The branches above would be a good place to catch her breath safely. She’d have to stay hidden and take control of the predator when the boy was nearby…

Ooc- fight me ;-;

Preston recovered from his swing, staring awkwardly for a few moments as the girl started to sprint off through the forest. He hadn't even managed the knock the butcher's knife out of her hand and yet she was still on the run?

Yeah...

... She was on the run, and that meant he was going to half to chase her down to get anywhere with this match. His face twisted up in laziness and annoyance. "Oh, come on." He held back a groan then, pulling his weapon up closer so he wouldn't have to snag his way through any undergrowth and took off into a run, sprinting quickly down the area she'd first turned on. Thankfully, the place wasn't all that big, and she didn't exactly leave the most hidden trail.

A forest. Of all the places, they had to go on and choose a forest for him to fight in. It only gave this chick a million places to hide. He gripped his spear tighter, moving in a circle, looking for any sign of the Mclochland girl. That's when he saw the beheaded deer-like creature-thing laying with it's head split open a few feet away. "What the fuck...?" He muttered, only able to stare then.

Hearing something approach, Amelia peered below her from a fork in the branches. It was him! Calming herself, her eyes focused intensely on the kill, taking over its mind. Young, experienced. About three years old, female, despite the horns sticking straight out of the skull. Now that her mind was calm, she could see the details on the creature. Three-toed hooves and a two foot long-haired tail, pointy ears and narrow eyes. Something found in the background of a sci-fi film.

The thing blinked in confusion. Wasn’t she dead? Pain flashed behind her head and striking white eyes gazed up, only to see a strange animal staring at her. It was tall, walked on two legs, and partially hairless. From somewhere in her brain an urge to attack him sparked. It made sense, this creature seemed to be the only thing capable of hurting her. A voice other than her own spoke up within her head. “He hit you. He hurt you. He is dangerous and should be taken care of.” Well, if the voice so insisted.

She rose slowly, the pain in her skull fading fast; the wound was healing. Powerful muscles rippled underneath the mostly tan coat. Dark brown stripes framed her face as she stared at Preston with her dead white eyes. Amelia remained silent, focusing intently on the scene below her. The beast, which she had nicknamed Gloria, in hopes that she would be victorious, and for Night who is running out of ways to describe her. Gloria let out a growl like the distorted sound of a panicked moose and tumbling rock. Her tail stood stock still and her hackles raised as she watched the student before her.

Ooc- Christmas colors. Didn't realize that'd what it'd look like, but oh well.

He took a step back as the thing started to find it's way back to it's feet, it's eyes a soulless white and the deep wound on it's head slowly disappearing, although all the blood that was there before seemed to remain. So, was this her pour? Either she was the ugly zombie deer thing or she was controlling the ugly deer thing. But from where? His gaze shot left and right, not thinking to look up in that moment. If he looked away for too long, he had a feeling that this thing would charge right at him. A deer horn to the abdomen wasn't exactly how he wanted to go.

"I don't have time for this." Preston muttered. If there's one thing that he learned from the stupid deer movie as a kid, there were two things that these things were afraid of: men with dangerous metal sticks (check) and forest fires, both of which he could handle. "You got ten seconds to run before I turn you into barbeque." He said lowly, wondering if this thing even understood him. 'As long as it flushes out that Amelia girl.' Blue and white bolts shot out from his arms, running lengths again up and down his polearm. One touch from his weapon and the thing would be in for a nasty surprise.

"One..." He sniffed, twisting the staff in his hands before making a sudden jab forward, aiming to slice the creature right through the neck.

Amelia watched with narrowed eyes as they seemed to size each other up, wanting to jump down there herself and fight, but she was so little, it would be worthless. Her nails dug into the bark, annoyed that she could only somewhat watch.

Gloria lowered her head to the ground and bared her teeth, a set a sharp yellow fangs. Obviously a deadly carnivore. The horns now clearly visible branched off into four points, each in at a ninety degree angle, the interior pair fused at the tip. She began a curving walk, slowly approaching as she listened to his mumbles and growls, until he decided to engage. Unable to react quick enough, it sliced her neck and cold, useless blood dribbled out. Not much pain at all.

She shoved away her confusion and charged, letting out an unholy screech and aimed her horns at his side. The thrice-cloven hooves easily gained traction on the soft grass; she was made for this habitat and would not allow another top predator to take control.

Oh, oh. So it wasn't just a zombie deer, it was a mutant carnivorous zombie deer. Who in the hell came up with these sort of things? He might've laughed then and there if there wasn't the possibility of him dying at any moment. He supposed he should've been surprised at how easily his blade had sliced through the creature, and how little it paid attention to all the blood it spilled on the ground. After all, dead things never really gave a shit about keeping that sort of stuff inside, now did they?
What he was surprised about was how the moment he touched the thing, it should've gotten a healthy dose of electricity. 'It did nothing because it's already dead?' He wondered. No, that was impossible. Dead or not, that thing was still a walking pile of water and muscle. It should've spasmed and crumbled at his feet like any other creature. Maybe he should've turned up the voltage? All he knew was that he didn't have time to take many chances.

What surprised him even more was how fast that this thing moved. Preston tried to leap out of the way, but it wasn't fast enough. One of the thing's ugly horns stuck deep into his side. It hurt like a bitch, and the wound didn't come without it's fair share of obscenities, but there was still no way in hell he was going to be beaten by some dumb-as-shit imaginary animal. He swung back his polearm and beat the creature with the end of his weapon in the head, forcing it back just a bit to where he could get his body free again.

Pres coughed up a bit of blood, not bothering to wipe it away. Fine, if that's how it was going to be...

The Autumn pulled his staff back, stabbing it into the ground. He swore then that he was going to burn this thing to a crisp. He gave a sharp yell and the clearing exploded in a flash. Lightning crashed out from his body and into the ground. It moved through the earth, through everything that touched within a sharp radius of where Preston stood: through the grass, the deer, even the trees where Amelia hid - though they'd be weaker up there. While it might not have done the zombie much damage, he still felt he had the advantage now. All around them, small patches of grass had instantly started to grow into flames, including under 'Gloria's' feet.  "I warned you." He huffed, taking his blade back out, getting his grip again. The young man wasted little time, swinging it sharply at the back of the creature's front leg.

She was caught between cheering and flinching when Amelia saw the deer-beast hit its mark. It tore through his flesh easily, a knife through butter. When he hit it with the polearm on its head she winced herself, feeling a tad of pain in her head as well, but it was nothing compared to when he electrified the clearing. She covered her ears at the sound, nails digging into the backs, and a wave of electricity shot up her spine. She lost control of Gloria for a moment, and the predator seemed to faint for a moment before catching herself. The girl eyed the flames below her warily, was he trying to set the forest ablaze?

Blood dripped from her horn to the bright green grass when the creature knocked her back, the hole in his side showing where she’d stabbed him. Suddenly lightning exploded from where he stood, it travelling along the ground to essentially “short out” the muscles and tendons in her legs. The world seemed to spin for a moment, legs jerking and spazzing, her white eyes rolling back into her head for a moment before she could focus again. Those soulless eyes were now a pale pink, the capillaries in them busted from the shock. “Be deceased,” her tongue made a series of clicks and grunts, primitive speak that was in no way understandable.

The flames licking hungrily at her hooves were soon put out by her pawing and stamping. If this was a hunt, she didn’t know who the prey or who the predator was. Again, the student struck first, aiming for her leg. At the exact moment before it hit, she lurched forward, not bothering to move her leg. She bared her teeth and took hold on the boy’s arm, biting down. Hard. The taste of blood made her want to take him down right then, right there.

Preston didn't waste much time as the thing tried to recover itself, slicing his blade into the tree closest too him and sending another shock of lightning through it's body, setting the dying leaves and smaller branches quickly ablaze. By the time he'd turned around, the deer had recovered, and was making fucking weird clicking noises at him. It had made it pretty clear that damage to one leg wasn't going to do much at all the freak from coming after him, but that was to be expected, he supposed. His weapon should've had no trouble slicing through most of the dead bone, and that was all he needed.

The young man stared down the monster for a moment, his blue-green eyes sharply narrowed. Every now and then, a few flicker of embers would fly by or land on his skin, but they were harmless to him. His body was more than adjusted to take a little heat. What he wasn't exactly used to was nasty yellow teeth biting down suddenly on his arm. Preston let out a loud groan, trying to jerk his arm away, but it only tore more the harder that this thing bit down with his jaw. Fuck it. He'd had enough playing around with her fucking toy!

The Autumn freed one arm up, grabbing the head of the creature where it bit him and let out the largest shock that he could. It hurt like the biggest bitch. For a moment, he'd only hurt himself more as the muscles of the deer bunched up, almost locking the thing's jaw shut; but the moment it was dazed, he forced the things mouth open and shoved it off of him. "Piece of shit!" He shouted. Preston quickly got a grip of his polearm again, ignoring the pain of his wounds and slicing his weapon through the back of the other animal's knee - right through the bone. "Try running at me now!" Even if the thing did somehow manage to get up again, it wouldn't be going very far, nor very fast. It was hard to move when one of your legs was broken, and another on the edge of the same thing.

'I've had enough of this.' It was high-time to stab it between the eyes and leave it to the flames.

She shook the tree she hid in with shock when the tree across from her burst into flames. Keeping herself hidden from sight was a challenge when Gloria began making groans of pain, anger, and frustration, it paining her to ignore her physical and mental distress. Looking back through the fork, she saw her creature unable to move forward. Knowing this part of the fight would end quickly, she bought herself some time to escape again.

Feeling like she was slipping away, the apex predator made a few jerking movements forward, snapping her jaws at his legs before going limp. Amelia had let go of the brain, giving her a painless second death. Soon enough, the girl was on the run again, fleeing towards a large clearing.

In the center lay a pool of crystal clear water, the opposite bank lined with large brown lizard-rhinoceros like animals. Fearing them too large to take control on her own, she quickly hid among them. They were so large that they didn’t seem to care about the tiny animal “drinking” the water next to them.

Preston's gaze flickered upwards towards the branches above where the Amelia girl had been hiding the entire time. He stared for a second, gripping his polearm and gritting his teeth as she made an awkward leap out of the tree and broke into a run. "Cowardly..." The Autumn groaned, side-stepping around the now-finally-dead deer and making a spring after her. For a good while, Pres refused to let this girl get away again, or let her out of his sight. For the most part, adrenaline had him rushing forward, though eventually he had to slow down and catch his breath. Blood was still running down his arm and his side, and by the time he'd reached the pool, he'd seen but a flash of her amongst the large freakish looking animals. For a moment he wondered who the hell had the imagination for this shit?

So, this was going to be her game, was it? To run and hide and throw dead animals at him until he was too worn down to win by default? How well did she think that was going to work? For how long did she expect it to? In the tournament last year: they had dry deserts, empty street warehouses, and literally just vast amounts of nothing - just standing around in darkness. Without something to kill and hide behind, this chick was screwed.

Anybody who had to have a zombie deer do their dirty work from the shadows didn't deserve to win the tournament anyways, he thought bitterly.

He peered out at the animals again. Knowing his luck and the entire situation so far, they'd turn hostile the minute he'd showed his face; however, unlike the deer, they were very much alive - and very much more prone to his power. They would be easy to kill. The only problem he found was, if he killed them, there was always the possibility that she'd bring one back to life on her own - then he'd have a whole new issue to deal with. And the things were beyond huge... But she hadn't killed one yet. If she had, he was almost certain one would be after him already. Maybe she couldn't control it?

The young man leaned against the tree, weighing his options. Funny how things always seemed to work right out for her. He could've definitely used a miracle in that moment. His only options were to try and do something right now, or wait for her to come out on her own - which he wasn't sure that he on time for, and there was always the possibility of her running again and finding another miracle animal to bite his other arm off. He supposed that that was his only chance though, refusing to fall into whatever trap this might've been.

The fire that he'd started was quickly spreading throughout the forest, and it was quickly coming their way. It'd spread out in a radius, he knew, but the way the wind was blowing would help carry embers in different directions for miles. There was a reason forest fires were so dangerous.
If she were to run, it'd have to be around the opposite side of the bank. And so he moved through the cover of the trees and the undergrowth, keeping a close eye out for the Amelia girl. Luckily, the animals that she hid behind also shielded her view of the area he hid in. Preston moved until he was on the complete other side, the only way left to go. The moment she dared step outside, she'd either get struck down with thunder in the clearing or - if she actually got near him - a spear straight through her heart.

Either way, he wasn't going to let her run anymore.


tl;dr Pres is salty. He gun get hurr.