First Meeting {Ciss}

[Anonymous]

Ryiah took in a deep breath as he walked alongside the river, watching small boats go by on his right and small community after small community go by on his left. He loved the smell of baked goods, a common thing among small villages, and the sounds of the hustle and bustle of little farming communities in the morning as people were just getting up to great the morning and get ready for the day ahead. He would pass a few children running by, playing tag and enjoying their youth. He also saw merchants travelling by in their horse drawn carts and enjoying the beginning of their journey, to the next resting place before having to settle before the next night.

Ryiah, himself, was on his way to an old master of magic that had trained him in years past, back when he was first getting out on his own. This man, Ordec, had actually helped him for the first two years of getting out on his own as he learned to fend for himself and become a powerful mage rather than a skilled swordsman.

Ryiah sported his usual garbs, enjoying the cool air of the fall and the little sunlight peaking over the horizon to the east. It was a good day.

[Anonymous]

Ciss, as always, had to make a spectacle of himself. Not only did his robe scream for attention, but the man himself did everything he possibly could to keep all eyes on himself. This time around, he made it his mission to stop at every single village while following the river. It was no noble quest to teach the locals something new, but merely a whim, as the mage couldn't help himself.

Even now, he was saying goodbye to a bunch of villagers by juggling fireballs. Children watched the mage with awe while their parents observed warily. There was far too much wood around – one wrong move and the show could easily turn to tragedy. The villagers knew it, but the question was whether or not the mage knew it. Judging by the grin on his face, most people would conclude he didn't care at all.

"Sir..." One of the grownups finally gathered up the nerve. "Please stop that. You're putting us all in danger."

"Awww" The mage almost purred in reply, the fireballs turning into snakes and swirling around his form. "Where's your sense of adventure, old man?" He laughed, grinning as the villager frowned at him.

But the show was getting old, and Ciss was getting bored. Out of a corner of his eye he spotted someone then, and by the looks of it, it was another adventurer. Instantly, an idea came to the mage. Suddenly, he started to shout.

"Who is willing to bet that I can make that guy..." Ciss pointed his finger at Ryiah theatrically. "...run like his heels are on fire?!" The man shouted out the question with a wide grin.

[Anonymous]

Ryiah heard the comment just as he looking out at nature's beauty and decided to look back and see what man this fellow was talking about. Much to his misfortune, he would find out Ciss was referring to him. He decided he would watch intrigued, wondering what he had in mind before finally interrupting. "I believe i will take that bet," he said assuming that the man probably magic in mind, but who knew for certain. But Ryiah was confident in his ability and felt he would probably be able to retaliate when it came time to.

Ryiah then decided to walk over to the kid, and look around at the crowd that had now gathered, some added on recently as Ryiah took on the "challenge". He looked over the Ciss, seeing his tattoes and having to admit they were impressive. He had never seen anything like them actually. The man was also handsome, not at all what he was expecting to find today. "Perhaps its the loud...blinding colors, but you don't seem so tough," he taunted, smiling at the man before pausing a thinking about spells in his book, and the perfect one to use.

"So," Ryiah started in a low, deep, and calmed voice, "What say we make this a little more interesting?" Ryiah was trying to see if he would be able to get something out of the man, being happy to learn a few new tricks to add to his book of spells.

[Anonymous]

The mage had to resist squealing with glee as the other answered his challenge. Ciss managed to keep some semblance of a cheerful but not downright ecstatic expression on his face. The stranger didn't need to peg him a complete buffoon right off the bat. "See? That's the spirit!" He exclaimed to his audience, ignoring the frowns that littered the crowd.

"Ohoho!" The man laughed at the taunting, starting to bounce on his feet just a little. "Come now, you'll hurt my feelings!" A mockery of a hurt expression flashed over his face, the mage putting a hand on his chest as if to still his heart. "You look like you've got a metal rod screwed to your back, but you don't see me commenting on that." He returned in kind with a winning grin.

The mage managed to calm himself a little as the stranger proposed an addition to the bet. "Really now? I'm all ears!" He chuckled, the two burning snakes around him fusing into one, sprouting wings and settling upon his shoulder in form of a small dragon.

[Anonymous]

Ryiah smiled now that Ciss took the bait. He looked over at the dragon and then back at the man. "Ok, if i can get you to jump out of your skin, then you teach me that little trick of yours?" he said, pointing to the fire dragon smiling. "I think that looks interesting?" he said as he then looked over to the villagers and then back at Ciss. "Unless you're just...full of hot air?" he taunted.

Ryiah was always a fun-loving man, enjoying most of what life had to offer, even a little challenge every now and then. The other villagers watched now even more intently, the children excited at the chance to see some magic in action, always a treat. Of course the adults just wanted to this to be over.

((sorry such a short post))

[Anonymous]

((Hey, don't sweat it. <3))

Ciss adored challenges, no matter how big or small. The mage eyed the stranger, trying to appraise his skills by outer appearance alone. He gave a hearty laugh at the taunt, a long, perhaps a bit awkward one. Ciss tried hard not to burst into flames for a while now, but he could contain the energy only for so long.

"It's a DEAL!" The mage shouted with a cackle, and the little dragon upon his shoulder vanished.

Or rather, it was swallowed up by flames that leapt all over the mage's form, engulfing him head to toe and collecting gasps from the villagers. Not missing a beat, Ciss threw his will through fire, sending a torrent of flames Ryiah's way with a mad cackle. Yet, wild as they may have seemed, every single flame went to safely swirl around his opponent, not bringing the man a trickle of damage unless he decided walking into them was a good idea.

However, Ciss didn't intend the same fate for the man's boots. Like a rabid hound, the fire moved to eat at Ryiah's heels, trying to set them ablaze. Eyes burning yellow, the mage observed, lips peeling back into a devious grin.

[Anonymous]

Ryiah smirked as he was encased into a fiery cascade. He looked at the fire, feeling the fire at his feet, smiling a little, it not burning just yet, his being pretty thick. He heard the villagers gasp and looked around at them for a moment before looking back at the mage and then his face went from a smirk to a full grin as he said, "Nice, I'm impressed," but he was not surprised.

Ryiah examined the fire a little longer and then finally deciding to retaliate, as it started to get a little hot. "Alright, my turn," he said with a smile. Just then, his body seemed to change color. Starting from his boots, a white, seemingly thin layer of frost began to cover his body. It spread over his body quickly, running first from his boots, up his legs, around his waist, up his fingers now and over his chest, until it slowed, encasing his head and face. He then smiled, appearing as nothing but a man of ice, as some of the villagers "Ah'd" at him while others cheered at his apparent upper hand for the moment.

Ryiah looked at the villagers and then back at the other mage and then stepped threw the fire, not being phased at all, it not being able to harm him in this form. "Evocation magic had its advantages," he thought as he then came to stand directly in front of Ciss. He took in a deep breath and then blew straight at Ciss, letting out a cone of frost that was not made to be harmful, merely cause a layer of frost to form along the front of Ciss's body. Trying to get a little bit of a jump from the man.

[Anonymous]

A tinge of pride appeared in his burning yellow eyes as the other acknowledged his skill. He gave the stranger a chuckle, and nodded to his claim that it was his turn. Curiosity gnawing at him, Ciss observed with a confident smile on his face.

Ice, why of course. It was about the first thing people were willing to throw at any fire mage, and Ciss knew it all too well. The mage grinned a little, watching as the other became covered with ice and strode through his fire. And the man still kept smiling, even when the other came far too close for comfort. It didn't mean Ciss didn't suspect some kind of foul play. With a flick of a hand, he threw up a quick wall of fire, softening up the approaching frost. It still hit him, and made him cringe to the cold. He sucked in a sharp breath, and didn't let the smile upon his face falter.

So, the fellow thought he knew all of his moves? Why, Ciss wouldn't have lived this long if he didn't have a trick or two up his sleeve. A vicious grin leapt to his features, and the mage retaliated.

He stepped back, and once again he hurled fire at the frozen man, which may seem like a pointless move. Yet this time around, the flames ate at the ground around his opponent, setting bits of leaves and branches on fire. The rest of the flames lingered around the man's face, openly licking at the ice as Ciss no longer fretted burning the man.

Then something strange happened. The flames around the foe began flicking back and forth between normal-looking ones, and Ciss' own special yellow ones. The mage purposely was letting go of them for slithers of a second, allowing the fire to eat away at the air around his foe's face.

He may be covered in protective ice, but undoubtedly he still needed to breathe to survive. Smoke billowing from the ground, coupled with fire that was using up the air, was bound to make the man think twice about underestimating the fire mage. Though naturally, Ciss kept a close eye on his opponent, and if he began to give any signs of pain Ciss would make all of the flames vanish momentarily.

[Anonymous]

Ryiah raised a hand to his face, fanning the smoke that was now pillowing into his face. He coughed a few times, and sneezed once, enjoying the display. "Nice!" he coughed, "I have to admit, that was a surprise." He then stood up right, looking around at the people that had gathered, there being more and more by the minute, some coming over from the other side of the river to see the spectacle.

Ryiah smiled in return to his opponents smile and then winked. And just as he did, all the smoke and fire that the other had created was pulled over to him, in a fiery, smoke fulled tornado like swirl, the elements coalesced and gathered around him, until the swirl shrunk and vanished from site. The fire was gone, along with the smoke, and there was no sign of him. All the villagers gasped in 'Ah', not have any knowledge of magic to understand what had happened. They all looked around, trying to figure out what was going on, some looking at the other mage to see if it was actually his doing.

But soon their curiosity was sated as a voice came from a nearby tree back behind Ciss. "Up here!" The tree was about 40 feet high and it had a few low hanging branches that were thick enough to hold a person's weight, and there Ryiah stood, on hand on the tree and the other at his side, while laughed and then said, "Perhaps you could give it another try? I'm probably all out of tricks." He gave him another wink as he stood there, waiting to see what the other would do next.

[Anonymous]

Ciss grinned at his opponent's comment, watched him wink and then pull some more magic out of a hat. Smoke and fire swirled around Ryiah, and at that distinctive moment the mage felt something pull so strongly on his flames that they were torn right out of his control. The man winced at that, feeling as if someone tore a part of him away.

The mage frowned lightly, the flames upon him dying out and eyes returning to normal. For a moment, he looked around, about as confused as the rest of the folks. There was slight smoke billowing out of his robe, the smell of burnt clothes permeating the air, but the mage didn't seem to mind at all as he searched for Ryiah.

Then he called, perched upon a tree, and the mage swirled to face him, joy leaping to his features. For a moment there he was worried his opponent was gone for good. With a grin on his face, he leisurely walked up to the tree, and leaned with a shoulder against the trunk. Pausing, he crossed his arms and grinned up at the man.

"Oh come now, you don't expect me to chase you up a tree, do you? I'm too old for that!" Ciss laughed, putting one hand to his back as if implying that he might get back pains from going after Ryiah.

"Come down here, you whippersnapper!" He suddenly cackled, jutting a hand out towards his opponent. Once again fire appeared, running along his arm and forming an orb as it leapt from the man's hand. Unaffected by gravity, the burning sphere flew over to the root of the branch Ryiah was standing on, and exploded upon impact, gathering gasps of shock from the audience as it did. Wood moaned and creaked, the long branch succumbing and falling to the ground.

"Whoops, did I just do that?" The mage said quietly, eyes growing yellow again as he sent more of those fiery orbs after Ryiah, each one homing in on the man. Yet unlike the first one, the new fireballs would merely hiss and vanish upon impact, causing hardly more than a mild burn should they hit his opponent. That is if he was no longer covered in ice.

The mage grinned gleefully, almost viciously as he sent the little fireworks after the man, absolutely having the time of his life.