On This Shore

Gallant descends from one of the trees that demarcate the line between the forest and the beach, noting to his satisfaction that there are no parties making a foray from the waters- at least for now, and at least as far as his eye can see. He is a lion, not a hawk, after all.

The relatively easygoing days when an itinerant dventurer could throw caution to the wind were behind Gallant. A definite, unified threat had risen and The Land Was In Turmoil, as some storytellers of yore were wont to say. People had to present a united front now, and the Were Fang felt decidedly awkward thinking of himself as part of any collective framework. He had enjoyed the liberty of his new life, breaking away with things. As he had told Kaydon, this was far more than a game to him.

Which is why he had to take the scouting and the recoinassance seriously, now. Home was in danger.

He stops for a second, his feet perched precariously on a rock on the stony beach, glancing at the water.

"Well... I'm sure a quick dip won't hurt," he says to himsef as he starts advancing towards the shore. He will take scouting seriously, definitely, after that dip.

He stops a few feet from the water and looks behind him, and then sighs, ears back as he makes his way towards the treeline again. "... stupid Palace people and stupid Queen Lollapalooza and..." he starts grumbling.

Fortunately the one other living soul that makes their way through the forest boundry is not one of the invaders that everyone has been cursing as of late. No for some stroke of luck Kauchemar has not run directly afoul of the enemy herself. But being what she is, she's felt the ripples through every nation and Alliance. The Palace Land's presence in Yamato did not go unfelt regardless.

And it certainly kept her occupied. Between her duties to Wake and her job as a Messenger, there was no shortage of places to go and people to see. And tended to take off the beaten path to avoid too much notice. So she just happens to be trotting through the treeline as the leonine figure approaches it. Gives a tilt of the head in his direction, glamrock purple bangs draping down that side of her face. "Well, you're not being chased, so I presume the shores are unintruded upon so far."

Far too intent in cursing Queen Lorelei's lineage up until the fifteenth generation (which, if such curses are real, might end up turning into ottomans or fetching foot stools inhabiting a castle owned by a foul-mooded beast... but he's a Summoner, not a Witch, Jim), Kauchemar's hail catches him by surprise. Gallant's eyes lift from the rocky beach, and he looks genuinely surprised. Were Fangs have acute senses, but still not strong enough to overwhelm the lion's own sense of injury at Her Royal Personage.

He drops the hand that had flown towards one of his sword hilts out of sheer surprise and reflex, and clears his throat. "All is clear on this coast so far..." he responds, moving closer to Inspect Kauchemar- "Are you going to the Fort? I don't think we've run into each other..."

Kauchemar does the 'appear out of nowhere' (meaning no one noticed her arrival) trick often enough she looks more amused by the reflexive reaching for a weapon than anything else. Means people are staying sharp. She's just good at not being noticed until she wants to be.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. Alas, my treks no longer go all ways to Shibuya, but the patrols along the route just waiting for the inevitable march northward need to be kept abreast of the events in other parts of Yamato." She crosses one arm before herself and drops into a low flamboyant bow. "Kauchemar Tenebrae, The Nightmare Bard, Champion of Eas, Twilight Sage of Song, Muse of Midnight and Dark Pony Express, at your service." Then pauses thoughtfully as she stands back upright, canting her head and cusping hand to her chin. "Is that too much? I hadn't realized how many titles I've started collecting until I've had to actually rattle them off."

The lion's muzzle curls into a slight smile at Kauchemar's introduction. The colorful Were Fang had a sense of flair and an air for the dramatic. He liked that in people. "No, no no, I think titles are very important things. Like stamps and coins, there always needs to be someone around to collect them, else they get lost and forgotten."

He returns the bow in his own way, "Gallant Goldmane the Mystic, sadly unaccomplished in the art of title accrual but fairly competent in the disciplines of running towards danger, running away from danger, setting danger on fire, and being set on fire by danger. It depends on the day of the week." He straightens himself up, "I also do some monster wrangling here and there. But, not unlike most, my daily grind has been more or less derailed these days thanks to our 'guests.'"

Hands on his hips, he cants his head to the side and grins, "But before we discuss /that/... my feline curiosity compels me to ask: what kind of music does a nightmare bard perform?"

"What would look good on any punk metal album cover," Kauchemar replies with a smirk. "But I don't discriminate. Anything that suits the moment is fair game. Especially now, when spirits need raising and morale is awaver." That gets a shake of the head, and then she leans back against one of the tree trucks. "They want us to despair. They want us to feel hopeless, to give up, to not resist... and that is one aspect of war that I can fight against -very- well." Then gives a dismissive twirl of one hand. "Of course, there's actual fighting to be done. But I didn't make semifinales in the Eas tournament on sheer luck."

"Well, thank goodness for that!" The lion chuckles, "Because we certainly need some wind beneath our wings as it is. I am beginning to regret that I spent so much time exploring and mapping instead of seriously training during my early days... I am not exactly the best at fighting."

He pauses for a second, before he adds, "But at least I do look good doing it. It didn't help us much back in Shibuya, though, as we got thoroughly /creamed/. That stupid Sheriff..." he growls and shakes his head, "Until then, I'd never seen anyone just /dodge/ a fireball like that."

He glances back at the colorful Were Fang and grins, "Maybe we should get a champion of Eas to whip us into shape and train us sometime. I have heard training montages are very effective, and it beats having to retreat while dragging Kaydon's tail away from both of us getting pummeled to death!" he laughs.

And then, he grows serious, looking around just in case there are any hidden listeners. "Uh. Don't tell him I mentioned that if you run into him... you can't miss him. He's a big guy. Were fang with Gnoll flavor. I get the feeling he wasn't very proud about that- he was sputtering curses and threats at the Palacers while I was dragging both of us away. It was a mess."

"I hear a lot of this so-called Sheriff. Caused quite the incident with a close friend of mine." For a brief moment there's a much more manevolent gleam in her lavander eyes. "If that one ever crosses my path..."

And then it's like the ominousity never happened. "Pfff. No need to go into details. I am more than familiar with our favorite mangy Marine." She half shrugs. "Attitude issues aside, it's probably a good thing you have some actual military men in your ranks.... we'll likely need them. These intruders are putting the real into real time strategy."

"Mm. Training. Yes, it's good to get caught back up as soon as you can." She snaps her fingers, causing a swirl of black and purple to briefly ripple. And then a sword seems to fall from the sky, landing point down in the ground at her hooves. "Of course, sometimes it's easier to get something else to fight for you." She doesn't say someONE, and it's evidently why a moment after as the sword pulls itself free and levitates into the air beside the Nightmare. It only has a gemstone set in the center of it's gilded crossguard, but one almost gets the impression it's glaring like an eye all the same.

The lion lets out a laugh at Kaydon's description, "Very aptly put! He can be a gruff and cantankerous gnome at times, but I've grown fond of him. We're..." he pauses for a second, considering, "Traveling companions. He has his surprises."

He frowns, then, "That Sheriff went after one of your friends? Anyone I might know, I wonder? It is only a matter of time before he pokes his mangy nose around here without the backing of an army, and /then/..." he trails off. "Well. He'll probably kick my ass. But I will make him workd /really/ hard for it," he says, aiming for the stars so that if he misses he at least gets the moon, right?

But his demeanor changes to one of awe at the appearance of the sword. His eyes are riveted on it as it moves, his golden eyes fixed on that malevolent gemstone. "Oh wow... what... is it exactly? I have learned how to summon some elementals but... that's something else," he says, breathily.

"He trashed Uta's cart transporting Slimes to the monster pens in the Tower," Kauchemar replies, with just that hint of darkness returning to her voice for the moment.

Then dismisses the notion for a much more entertaining one. "It's a Binder. A Spirit monster that posesses other objects. You know the animated armors you sometimes see in ghost stories. Those would be particularly strong Binders here. This one has just posssed a sword. Which makes it arguably more useful." She grabs the sword around the hilt, and the blade starts to crackle with a coating of frost. "I can use it myself, even channel some of my elemental magic through it's 'body'." Then lets go and allows the sword to resume it's hover in her proximity. "But it also handly leaves my hands free for other things. If I need to utilize my instrument or such."

Gallant's eyes narrow, "... he attacked /Uta/? Now that is just low. I've only briefly met her, and I accidentally almost drank one of her slimes, but all on all she seemed like a real sweetheart. Oh, that does it... I am going to get good enough to rub that dog's face on the ground or I'll die trying!"

His attention returns to the sword, and he 'aaaahs' at the explanation, eyes focused on the deadly weapon frame. "I see, that is incredibly useful. There is clearly much I need to know, and not nearly enough time to learn it in. " He rubs his chin, sinking into thought. "Perhaps there's a dangerous quest to undertake somewhere that will help me become more useful. Of course, getting anywhere with the invaders on our soil isn't going to be easy..."

The summon isn't needed for its actual purpose right now so Kauchemar dismisses it in another swish of black and purple miasma, back to wherever such spirits lurk until they're called. Though there is a faint smirk in her expression.

Sometimes it just takes a little of the right motivation to get people moving on their proper course.

"Despite the ongoing affair the Hunter's Guild still offers regular quests for clearing dungeons and dealing with other threats. One big problem does not mean the smaller ones should be ignored... or they too may become big some day."

"Of course, the Hunter's Guild... I forgot about all of that in the commotion of... you know. Everything." The lion waves his hands dramatically, "It's good one of us isn't lost in Cloud Cuckoolander, at least," he gives Kauchemar a wink and leans against one of the trees, "By now, you probably have gathered I am slightly hopeless. But I do have my moments. Some dungeon cleaning will do me some good, I think. Unless, of course, the whole war happens while I'm somewhere down there," he laughs.

"You were on your way to deliver a message, you said earlier? You are more than capable of handling yourself- do you mind a tag-along? Just in case you run into some trouble and get to trounce a Palace-pest and I get to watch. I might actually learn something!"

"The first step to improving is the desire to. Everything else falls into place from there. I myself learned the proper art of subtefuge from Wake so I did not have to rely on only my familiarity with Darkness." Hands lower to press against the tree and push herself back to standing. "Back from delivering messages, technically." A nod is given in the direction of Ouph. "Seeing as many of the New World have taken up refuge there to plan towards retaking their town. But of course you already know that."

She takes a few steps away from the tree. Now it would be noticable that there is a shield slung on her back... and while it's not moving or anything it has a gemstone 'eye' in the center much like the sword did. This one seems to be more benevolent with it's role being defensive, and may be why it's actually accompanying her rather than being called when needed. "Thankfully no pest interferences. But if you ever want to spar you only need to ask." Flicks a hand through her mane to clear part of it from her face, making the smirk a little more obvious. "I have a way with making people realize their own shortcomings in combat."

"Some people might see it as that, I suppose," the young lion grins, "Others might see it as a chance to know exactly in which direction they need to grow- who would pass up that level of instruction? It's better than meandering uselessly all over the place." Crossing his arms over his broad chest, he adds, "I would be thrilled if you'd consent to a spar. The way I see it, the more that I learn is the more chances I get to trounce that Sheriff. I've got an axe to grind with him."

And then he reaches back to touch the two hilts attached to the back of his minimalist chestplate, "Or swords. But you get the gist."

Kauchemar takes a few more strides apart, then turns to face Gallant. "Well, here we are, out in the open, in the kind of place such a battlefield might occur. As good of time as any, unless you'd rather take some time for extra preperations." She slids the shield off her back, but afterward sure enough it drifts at her side rather than being bound upon her arm. "A fight can break out at any time. Your oppritunity to do as you desire may not be at point of foresight to ready for it."

Gallant's expression at first is the same one that Saint George might have sported while, sitting idly at a pub, he turned around to utter 'There is a WHAT heading this way?' at the town cryer. But then he composes himself with a nervous little grin and says, "You've got a point! It's not like they call ahead to let you know they're going to attack you so you can get your bells on. And in my case, at my current state, whether I take a day to prepare or a second, it won't make much difference in the outcome. This is a learning experience, and if you are gracious enough to teach me, I'll gladly take it up!"

He reaches back and draws his twin swords, taking a moment to admire that floating shield. "That is /very/ fancy, by the way."

"Plus we can use the in-game Duel command, so we don't, you know, accidentally kill each other." Or she punk the less experienced fighter, but she's not going to say that. She's occasionally a troll, not a complete asshole. A flick of the resist to bring up the menu commands and issue the Duel challenge. Then she steps back, bracing herself with one leg and guiding the Binder Shield to a ready position at her proximity. "They're a matched pair, but the sword being a sword, is a little too... aggressive to keep about casually."

Then a flashy wave towards the lion-man. "I am the Rival of the Duelist's League, after all! My role is to give people the challenges they need to learn overcome to better themselves. So, come, bring all you have to bear forth!"

The lion salutes Kauchemar with his blades, making an 'x' in front of him as he grins, "We who are about to get totally trounced salute you!" he says, and then he slams the blade onto the ground tip first, calling upon the elemental blessings of the Earth.

Upon imploring for the boon, both swords are lifted skywards, where they flash briefly in facsimile of lightning, as glacial rain begins to fall down towards his duel opponent.

Knowing it's going to hurt but that he's not going to die does have a nice sense of relative safety to it. Of course, that's something that will distinctly /not/ happen next time he happens upon a Lander...

Kauchemar sweeps her arm upward to angle the shield over her head, where it ignites in ghostly flames to resist the bombardment of ice. "Not bad for an opening salvo."

Then the last fiew shards of ice only hail upon the ground as the Nightmare Were Fang... it's hard to really describe entirely. Part of it is just moving really fast. Part of it is doing so in a manner that shifts through the shadows of the forest and skimming the fringes of one's awareness. The end result is the same as Kauchemar is now standing off to his left side. "Inexperienced or not, you clearly have some grasp of how techniques can compliment each other." She clenches her fully free hand, ribbons of water briefly swirling around it, then congealing into a stream of water erupting from with the fist. Which she turns and snaps towards Gallant like it was a whip, each strike leaving a brief chilling cold in it's wake.

"Whoa."

That's Gallant's reaction to Kauchemar's graceful dance of darkness. Cats are fast, but /that/ type of move is in a league of its own. He pays attention to her words, and almost forgets that he's in a duel as the lesson is imparted. Almost too late, he realizes that there is a whip of frosty liquid heading his way, and he crosses his swords quickly to try to summon an empowered aegis. "I was going to say 'that's cool', but you'd probably punt me into next week for the terrible pun, right?"
th his attempt at defense, he also unleashes a two-fold frost attack- one being a direct elemental energy surge aimed at weakning her defenses, with a reprise of the previous turn's icy rain... because they are fighting water with water, and it somehow feels like the thing to do when standing so close to the shore. His defense is pierced, however, and he takes some scratch damage...

But he does seem absolutely amazed that he is not flat out on the ground just yet.

Again the Binder Shield positions itself in front of its master... but the surge of icy energy quickly starts to coat over it. The spirit seems to realize it won't be able to do much for direct defence while frozen up, and instead releases some of it's supernatural energy out the gemstone at it's center to cast an ominous dreadful feeling over the lion-man for his assault.

Kauchemar appearently realizes similar herself, as she bolts into action. Water sloshes in her wake as she uses it to wet the ground and hydroskate away, zigzagging through all by the trailing end of the ice barrage managing to pelt her a few times. Though oddly she seems to just veer around Gallant, yet than attack him directly.

Which should really be his first warning that something is up, considering what he saw her showing off earlier. Her conjuring draws off the environment though, and instead of the usual skeletons and zombies it's the partially rotted corpse of a salt-water crocodile that arrises to her call and charges with it's still functional jaws at her opponent.

The feeling of foreboding that settles into the young lion's bones prevents him from expressing admiration at how slick, and how fluid, the water movement is. As someone with a large water affinity, it's poetry in motion.

However, that poetry turns out to be Edgar Allan Poe, as the rotting corpse of Captain Hook's Worst Nightmare comes to lunge for Gallant, and the lion enters into a panic response immediately- he releases a frost wave almost by instinct, maybe reacting to the chill that runs down his spine upon seeing that creature.

But then his next reaction is perfectly understandable.

"AAH! KILL IT WITH FIRE!"

His hands reach back behind him and two sparks become buring embers that explode into twin fireballs, which he lobs with a quickness that is born of fear and desperation, even as the Crocodile manages to sink his teeth into his arm as the fireballs explode.

And suddenly there is music- coming out of nowhere! But, then again, he is fighting a Bard, so that shouldn't surprise him, right? He whirls around as that ghostly voice begins, and the crocodile burns away.

~The trees are growing taller, the fight is getting hairy
I'm not gonna lie, this is really downright scary~

As Kauchemar erupts through the flames, the feline is taken by surprise and takes significant damage from her attack, even as he tries to put up a flimsy defense- it nevertheless gets penetrated. Another burst of that frosty power comes forth.

~And now I'm being cornered and the devil wants to dance
So I hope that for my pride's sake I don't just wet my pants!~

The burst of magical elemental water escapes from his hands, directed towards that dastardly dancing demon of darkness, that marauding mare of music, the shadowy steed of... something that begins with 's' but which at the moment escapes him because he is too busy trying to dance-fight without losing his footing on the frosty ground.

And some people used to say dance-fighting wasn't a thing!

There is only one thing to expect when dealing with someone like Kauchemar -- The Unexpected.

The musical retort amuses her, though the frosty air is a bit of a downside. Mmmm. Hopefully he'll realize he's getting predictable on his own and she won't have to beat it into him like she just beat her last attack. Pun intended.

Her eyes shimmer, that heliotrope shade only getting more psychedelic for a moment, as she catches glimps of something that really isn't actually there to see. She backs away a few quick steps... and the music stops.

It stops because when she does Kauchemar plants her hooves firmly into the ground, and opens her mouth wide. Wider than should be possible. And unleashes a horrific wailing sound that would put Death Metal screamers and proper Banshees alike to shame!

The lion's feet falter for a moment, and the disappointment on his face is very evident- clearly, he was rather getting into the musical exchange. But it is clear that this is one Bard who will not be duetted with against her consent, as that terrifying attack comes his way. Before the sonic wave reaches him, he falls to his knees and plants his hands on the ground, palm first, and sends out a desperate cry to the forces of the earth, the perpetual mother, for succord and aid.

The stone dome that reaches out from the ground to encase him seems to be the response he hoped for, as it takes the brunt of the attack for him, letting a minimal amount of it through to him... but the eldritch effects associated with it are not evaded, however, as a miasma of darkness seems to hover over his golden eyes, leaving the world in half-shadows.

He raises his hand and attempts to direct a jet of water at Kauchemar's open mouth, hoping to cut the recital short, aiming while blinded.

The shot of water isn't half bad in it's aim. Though Kauchemar manages to stop and spit it out before she chokes and severely hurts herself. Followed by a sputter, and wiping her snout with the back of an arm. "Well, you're not doing too badly Gallant... but it's all very stock in trade. I really didn't need to use Divination to see what your likely actions would be." Though that would explain the mysterious eye glow. "An experienced warrior is going to catch on quickly. You need more variety. Versatility."

There's a pause, and then she starts tapping a hoof. Her tail sways from side to side, keeping beat as well as an metronome as she gets going. There is already a dark and ominous feeling starting to settle over the area. Oh boy here she goes again with the musical interluding.

o/~ This is a tangled mess... Totally under stress
But not as much as you... will be once I compress
Your spirit deep inside... the spells of demise...

And unleashing fear o/~ Kauchemar clamps her hands together, and at the same time the darkness congeals into true oppressive despair, tightening around Gallant. "NIGHTMARE SPHERE!"

And then moments afterwards Kauchemar uses her shadow stepping to appear RIGHT NEXT TO Gallant within the darkness, and must of summoned that ghostly sword on the way, as she punctuates the end of her little dirge with its strikes.

The music starts up again, and he gets to his feet quickly. ~A lion's gotta do what a lion's gotta do,
I'm still young and unlearned, with a stripe to earned- it's true~

As Kauchemar's attack presses on and takes him down for a significant amount of damage, the ghostly sword cutting through him, he turns the yowl into a song-scream that Twisted Sister might be proud of, ~And I might be sinking, every second a mile,
but if I'm going down, at least I think it'll be in style~

The twin blades lash at Kauchemar, glowing red-hot with the power of a summoned fire elemental, temporarily present the its twin blades.

In a combination of lightning quick reflexes and fluid grace Kauchemar uses the Binder Sword in her hand to cross blades with the fiery ones her opponent now wields. "That's a little more like it! I was starting to worry those swords were just for show." Though she still gets pelted by some of the hot sparks flying from the colliding weapons, then uses the defensive stance to push the two of them apart once more.

And then the ghostly sword disappears.

Someone else familiar with summoning might notice that it wasn't dismissed.... But that's not really going to warn Gallant of the Binder Sword suddenly dropping on him from where it transpositioned to above the fight, with a piercing shadow-infused dive!

"Yikes!"

This is one time where Gallant wasn't trapped in the machinations of his mind, and thus his sharp ears were able to warn him via the very faint whistlig sound that the weapon made as it bore down on him. The feline is able to somersault away from the incoming weapon, the blade causing only minor surface damage as his leg hastily gets out of the way. Although he is not terribly experienced in combat, he does have a fair share of experience in acrobatics, which is why he is capable of somersaulting away in a loincloth while keeping himself perfectly decent. It's like how some ballerinas learn to twirl during the Swan Lake and manage to balance the swan tiara on their heads withoutflinging it as a weapon of mass destruction into the audience due to centripetal force: it's a skill learned to survive- lawsuits or embarrassment.

He lands in a crouch some feet away and the swords start glowing again- one blue, and one red-hot. "I guess sometimes you just have to try out the extremes to find out what works, right?" And in saying so, he slams the blades together, expelling an enormous cone of icy energy, quickly followed by a roiling fireball, hot on its trail in antipodal fury.

Kauchemar snaps an arm out to the side and then makes a pulling gesture. This calls the Binder Shield back to her, which hovers in front of the mare as it ignites in ghostly flames. It moves with her as Kauchemar charges with the sort of speed one would expect from a horse, plowing right through the frost wave and the fireball with minimal harm.

As she passes she reachs down to grab the Binder Sword from where it stabbed into the ground when Gallant maneuvered away, pulling it free.

Though it's with the flaming shield that Kauchemar attempts to slam into him first with her charge, and then take a quick paced slash with the sword.

As Kauchemar moves towards him in her 'Galop Infernal'*, the lion quickly attempts to improvise further, the blade that was still glowing blue gets slammed on the ground, releasing a wave of frost- and a new onslaught of freezing rain. The ground is once again covered in slick, glittering ice.

At first it might seem that Gallant merely slips on the ice, but this actually seems to have been part of his plan as he crouches low on his knees and sweeps away out of the path of the strike, the blade barely nicking him as he sweeps away, the freezing rain falling down in sheets on his wake. He quickly gets to his feet and strikes a pose, arms akimbo, as he spins once on the ice before coming to a stop- because if you are going to use ice as an evasion tactic and an attack all at once, you need to at least try to put a minimal effort to look like a figure skater.

*Footnote: Thank goodness Offenbach is dead and can't sue for copyright infringement!

The ground is frozen, ice whips through the air, Gallant is spinning around like a skating fool.

And somewhere in the midst of the chaos Kauchemar seems to have outright disappeared.

Of course that's not entirely accurate. One of her favorite defensive moves is not so much a teleport as it is a tranposition, done so with such speed and misdirection that when she's spotted standing off to the side, it certainly appears like she had somehow teleported out of the middle of his assault.

"I think that performance deserves a prize. You know what that prize is?" Turnabout is fair play, and in this case in the form of a powerful spout of elemental water aimed directly for the spinning lion man. "A DRINK FROM THE FIREHOSE!"

Gallant stops in time for the firehose. With a quick thrust of his arms, a column of stone erupts from the earth to intercept the water, allowing him to only get some splash(heh) damage from the whole ordeal. "Are you implying we're all wet here?" he asks the Nightmare Bard, as the water sprays upwards from the rock. "Because I think that might just be not too far from the truth!"

A brief flash of blue-white, as a glittering elemental is summoned and darts through the air in order to freeze the water and bring the drops raining down, once again- because recycling is important.

The shadows around Kauchemar seem to ripple in a life of their own before the Nightmare breaks into motion. With the aiding darkness her form seems to blurr and waver, making it hard to pin down where to hurtle those ice projectiles to score a proper hit.

Music comes to life for her once more, this time the rising chorus suitable for a battle theme. The Nightmare Bard's ability to spontanious create music through magic is key here, as it leaves her hands free to do other things. Like rush Galant to apply a furious blow just as the music hits the peak crescendo, and follow it up with a spin to do the other thing horse's do well -- kick. It may not be a double backleg buck but those hooves are still nasty customers to contend with!

The lion doesn't have much time to put up a proper defense against that onslaught, so it behooves him to at least try to minimize the damage as much as he can. The crossed swords create the magical aegis, but the very short time means it doesn't have time to form completely and some of the attack penetrates the magical defense, sending the feline sliding back with an "Ooof!", a trickle of blood coming out of his muzzle as his health bar goes into that orange-red section that nobody likes. With a flick of his wrist, he summons a fireball aimed at the Nightmare Bard- partially as an attack, but also in big part to get her to back off while he catches his breath!

The tactic to a degree works. Rather than advance on him Kauchemar calls the Binder Shield back to her... and then sends it hurtling into his fireball to intercept, sending a shower of embers scattering in various directions from the dispersing impact. Having weapons that can move on their own has some real perks at times like this. Also means that Kauchemar doesn't have to worry about focusing on making it come back to her, the shield will do it on it's own being the more dependable of the two Spirits.

Still the Nightmare holds her distance. She snaps her fingers, causing tongues of flame to lick into the air and start to swirl together. "Anything you can do, I can do better~" she singsongs, just as she grabs the elemental sphere and lobs it's explosive force at Gallant much the same way one would throw a grenade.

Panting, the lion quickly whips his hands before him, the swords clattering onto the ground for now- for all the exertion, though, he does look like he has been enjoying himself, or at least relishing the chance to test his mettle, however poorly he may be doing. Countering Kauchemar's song, he chants one of his own: ~Come on baby, light my fiiiiireeeee...~

A similar ball of flame is generated, wooshing towards the one Kauchemar just lobbed at him in hopes of intercepting it and thus causing it to explode before it has a chance to singe his mane.

"I think it's time we doused some of these fires," Kauchemar remarks, even as mimicries of tidal currents swirl to being around her. Which she unleashes towards Gallant in a surging wave of water along the ground.

The thing is that she -rides- the wave with the waterstriding ability her technique grants her, until the last moment she jumps off, leaving the wave to potentially slam into the young man and drag him roughly through the forest. Not to mention under that torrental force it might get a bit hard to breath clearly.

"I think it's time we doused some of these fires," Kauchemar remarks, even as mimicries of tidal currents swirl to being around her. Which she unleashes towards Gallant in a surging wave of water along the ground.

The fireballs are engulfed by the tidal surge, harmless save a few gouts of steam from the temperature extremes flash evaporating some of the water.

The thing is that she -rides- the wave with the waterstriding ability her technique grants her, until the last moment she jumps off, leaving the wave to potentially slam into the young man and drag him roughly through the forest. Not to mention under that torrental force it might get a bit hard to breath clearly.

"You're full of surprises!" Gallant pants, staring up at that tidal wave as it reaches him. "But fire is a lot more versatile than that!"

Reaching into his elemental affinities, he taps deep down into the earth's telluric depths for the fire therein, and he quickly pulls it up through the soil, through rock and dirt until it erupts from underneath him, bathing him in a glowing aura of heat that expands. A huge fireball belches from the shining aura, aiming to evaporate the mass of water that moves to him, not unlike how Kauchemar extinguished the fire with her water earlier.

Opposite elements collide once more, resulting in an explosion of steam spraying out from the point of emersion.

A boom not unlike thunder can be heard.... and then much like she did earlier with the bonfire started on the dead gator's corpse Kauchemar comes leaping -through- the scalding mist, suffering some burning from the superheated vapor but chugging right on trough it. "You fight on, but this is certain, the show now nears it's final curtain!" She unleashes a wash of bitter darkness over the other werefang, followed by once again going for fisticuffs and reminding everyone that she is fair from a 'squishy mage' that's no good in a melee fight.

Battered and scruffy, the lion still tries to put up his best defense, despite his fur being matted with blood and his mane looking disheveled... and signed in places. The blows cause him to swing from side to side, and at one moment it looks like he is about to fall over...

But instead, he uses the momentum of the sway to grab one of the swords from the ground, still glowing white-hot from the fire eruption, and then proceeds to swing it at Kauchemar, hoping to at least make a mark since she is within melee range.

~For life is quite absurd
And death's the final word
You must always face the curtain with a bow
Forget about your sin
Give the audience a grin
Enjoy it, it's your last chance anyhow!~

The thing to remember is that when you fight someone with a summoning class, they are rarely alone.

Case in point, Kauchemar summons a posessed shield. Not the standard one she typically uses. This one is a full on tower shield, that slams into the ground in front of her, unleashing haunting spectral energies as it does so.... and pretty much that's it, it's there for Gallant to slam his attacks into like a wall.

And then Kauchemar pushes it leaning forward, using the heavy shield to push him down into a prone position, rather than strike him personally. It was one final lesson, one to remember that not every attack has to be a direct assault.

And finally, the sword clatters to the ground once his last bit of strength has been exhausted, prone with his mane falling over his eyes, fur damp with sweat.

"Okay... that was... intense..." he says, gulping. Parts of him are going to be very sore, and he isn't immediately sure if he's learned something or not- but that's merely the adrenaline's tunnel vision. Such things take a moment of reflection and calm to process.

Kauchemar dismisses the haunted tower shield, and leans down to pick the exhausted lion-man back up. "Well, other than the lack of variety making you rather predictable at times, you didn't do too bad. Considering you were sparring with a much more experienced opponent." That may or may not of gone a little easy on the newer fighter.

Though that begs to question what she's like in a -serious- fight... Or maybe one doesn't want to know.

"You did put the counterpoint between fire and water to interesting use though. You just need to mix it up a little. Don't be so the enemy can see what you're going to do a mile away."

Getting to his feet, Gallant nods, his broad chest expanding quickly as he takes deep breaths to calm his heart rate down, "I'll try... but that's all I've got for the moment. I'm going to have to diversify a little more. My portfolio of moves is a little..." he glances to either side, "Restricted. And man, shadows have some *nasty* effects. I'm almost regretting my choice of alignments," he chuckles and stretches a little, glancing back to the forest.

"I'm heading back to the fort... to recover some. Do you want to share a meal? My treat. Maybe we will run across Mangy and convince him to join in for some. Or pay for it!"

"As I was headed back to the Fort anyways," Kauchemar replies. Her normal Binder Shield is recalled and returned to her back, while the companion sword is dismissed properly. The thing does it's one job very well but it's just too aggressive and bitter to keep around all the time. Especially in towns. "And using a lot of magic like that burns great amounts of energy. Eating something is probably what I need the most right now."