The lioness and the leopard. [Open!]

[DaGlobster]

Herrick's confident smile slowly melted off his face like a chocolate in an oven when his dagger bounced off of Gutzomp's head. He was starting to doubt the craftsmanship of Adelan enchanted weaponry, especially the bit that said the dagger could cut through steel plate. The ork turned to face him again, and slowly started stepping towards him. He stood paralyzed for a brief millisecond before his hand shot down to his belt and clasped around the handle of his dragon-hunting pistol. It came off of his belt with a clink, and the hammer sounded off with a hearty click when he pulled it back. He'd used it before, and turned another man's chest into a distant memory. It was a firearm designed to kill dragons (if aimed right), and was a last resort at this point.

"Too thick skulled for a dagger, eh? take this then, you tough bastard!" Herrick yelled as he leveled the foot-long barrel at Gutztomp's center torso, and pulled the trigger. The pistol kicked back in his arm like an angry mule, a billowing cloud of powder smoke and deafening noise taking up his senses as the extra large bullet exited the barrel with all the force and vengeance of a runaway carriage being pulled by rampaging elephants.  Firing the gun in one arm (although it was a pistol, it was meant for two arms) sent lances of pain running up to his shoulder as he visibly flew back a foot or two. it wouldn't put him out of the fight, but it still hurt like hell. While the powder smoke was still thick, he scrambled to his feet, wincing away the pain.

[Wicked Basket]

Orks maybe dumb, but Gutztomp was familiar with what a gun was. Gutztomp dove out of the way just in time as the gun was fired. He stood, brushed himself off, and rolled his shoulders.

"Now then," he said. "Let's get down to business."

Gutztomp continued his advance confidently. The human had used up his ace in the hole and was dumb enough to hurt himself. It was almost too easy now.

[Rhindeer]

Had to fight hard not to sink her face into her hand. "That was the complete opposite of what I suggested you do..." she groaned when the man's own master plan failed epically.

Looked like he wasn't going to listen, the pigheaded man. Just had to hop into the ring and try to save the woman he viewed as a damsel. Fool was going to get himself killed!

Skirting around the orc, gritting her teeth at the pain in her leg, she retreated with the man and jabbed her elbow into his side to get his attention. "Listen to me! Would you? Instead of doing this? Because this isn't working!" she hissed at him. "Look, he wants you. You pissed him off. So I suggest you stop with the hacking and get running! Tire him out!"

[DaGlobster]

Herrick huffed some air out of his nose, shaking the last vestiges of pain out of his arm. "Worth a shot..." He muttered to himself as he shook the sand off. "What do you think I was going to do afterwards, sit around and gawk? Cut me some slack, woman, I could be sitting in the stands, watching tall green and cumbersome over here floss himself with your spine instead of being down here!" He retorted, not taking his eyes off of the orc as he started backpedaling. He had to admit, after his displays of hippopotamus-like agility, he wasn't expecting the orc to be dodging anything anytime soon. "Besides, it would've probably put him down if it hit..." He muttered to himself again. He took up a proper combat ready pose, and stood his ground. He was done screwing around, and if was clear that the orc was too. He tried to give Yasmin some kind of signal to flank around, which consisted of tapping his rapier on the ground behind him, and then leveling it at Gutztomp. "Right then, you want to have a bit of a tango? It takes two, big guy. Let's dance." He  said confidently as he held his stance.

[Wicked Basket]

Now we were talking. The man was finally ready to fight. His sword was awfully puny though. How could anyone fight with a sword that skinny? Gutztomp approached the man and started swinging his axes. There was no way he could stop him with that toothpick sword, especially when there were two axes being swung at him at the same time.

[Rhindeer]

Yasmin puffed her cheeks out, biting back the comments she really wanted to say, because there was no time for snarking amongst themselves when there wan an orc to fight! Instead, she gave him a look and said, "Just...keep him busy," she hissed. "We're not gonna win by fighting him."

Hopefully he would listen, because the orc seemed intent on ignoring her and taking him out first.

Catching his signal, she limped around to the orc's other side to flank him as he advanced on the man, axes swinging. Good, good. Those axes looked heavy; he surely wouldn't be able to keep up such fancy maneuvers long! She cut her eyes to the man as he got into position, but only briefly, before she hefted her scimitar and lunged, favoring her left leg, and swung her scimitar as hard as she could at the orc's side. She didn't expect it to do much; what she was going for was annoyance.

[Bringer of Fenrir]

     Laughing could be heard from the edges of the area in all the shadows. "You thinks that will work!? hahahahaha truly this should be good!' As the voice muttered talking to itself a shadow revealed a body raising from it the shadows themselves coiled around the body then fell away, no they more oozed away like a lifeless mass fo tar sliding off a bone removed from a tar pit. Revealing a elf clad in leather armor and cloak and three blades on his back was all that could be seen of the figure.  "Well go on try and fell the beast!" The voice mocked

[DaGlobster]

Herrick kept up with the orc, dodging his axe blows. Thankfully, the orcs fighting style was as sophisticated as a tavern in a pirate cove, so he was able to sidestep and jump away from the swings. He looked over to Yasmin, and saw that she had actually caught his message, and was moving in behind the orc. Herrick hoped that she'd be able to get him to turn around, even for a few moments, their survival depended on it. He reached down to his belt, and pulled out a climbing hook, brandishing it in his hand like it was a weapon. He started running his idea through his head. Could he pull this off? Maybe. He'd seen big bruisers like him before, and with luck, Gutztomp's overly muscular nature would keep him from being able to reach behind him. At least, that's what he hoped.

[Wicked Basket]

Yasmin's strike managed to draw blood, but in his rage Gutztomp had not noticed it. He was intent on killing the man in front of him. All this jumping and ducking was getting annoying. There had to be some way to hit this guy. Gutztomp stepped up his efforts and advanced on the man as he swung. He couldn't dodge forever. One hit was all it would take.

[DaGlobster]

Herrick was not sure how much longer he could keep this up. The axes were like a wall of blades that kept him out, and the arena wall was getting closer with every swing he avoided. He ducked one swing, jumped away from another, and then it happened. His foot slipped on a wet patch of fresh blood and his other buried itself in the sand, leaving him teetering on one foot.  The magic in his rapier kicked in, and his foot promptly slipped out from under him rather than burying itself in the sand. He fell backwards, and the axe grazed his chest, ripping through his light armor like it was nothing and leaving a cut across his chest. The blade caught on a strap, and he flew to the side, and came to a rolling stop. He quickly got up to a crouch, teeth clenched. The blood flowed down his armor, but it wasn't a major wound. He stood back up, took his dagger out of its sheath again, and wordlessly tossed it to Yasmin. If she caught it, she'd immediately know it was magical, because it hummed with power.

Herrick resumed his stance, a smile still on his face. "That all you got, sack for brains!?" He called out, gritting his teeth.

[Wicked Basket]

"You'll be da one with yer brain in a sack," Gutztomp retorted, advancing again.

He'd finally got him. It wasn't much, but he still hit him. There would be a lot more blood coming out of him soon.

[Bringer of Fenrir]

     Nogard watched with amusement and slight curiosity, then it happened the orc landed a blow! Nogard quickly drew his largest blade on his back a black blade with an green set of veins flowing through the blade the green pulsed with magical energy. Whispering something and then plunging the blade into the shadows before him suddenly copies of the blade emerged from the shadows of the man on the ground bleeding and started to spin and act as a wall. "Get up fool!!" Nogard wasn't truly taking sides he merely wanted to see a good fight.

[Rhindeer]

Shit. Yasmin grimaced when the man slipped and took a hit, but thank Hakeshna he had some protection. Not enough, though; not for a creature that strong with blades so sharp.


Thankfully, he got back up and got out of the way. For a moment, she thought he was done for--and he might still be, judging by the way he was bleeding. Someone was going to tire out, and with the damage he'd taken, and the way the both of them had been running around...

They needed to do something fast.

Catching the dagger he tossed her way, she almost dropped it when she did. It thrummed with energy. Magic? Was this his plan? Because she was behind the orc now, and she'd opened a wound up in his side--and like a chink in armor, that was exactly what she went for.

Unaware of what was going on on the opposite side of the orc, she lunged at the creature and stabbed the dagger into his bleeding side.

[Wicked Basket]

The spinning shadow blades gave Gutztomp pause. What was this sorcery? His thoughts were interrupted by a dagger being thrust into his side. Gutztomp roared in pain and anger. He grabbed hold of the arm that stabbed him, and hurled the owner as hard and as far as he could. He then pulled out the dagger, grumbling to himself. That had actually hurt. There were a lot of people butting in on his fight. It was beginning to get annoying. No more holding back.

[Rhindeer]

"Ah!" With a yell, Yasmin went flying, and when she came back down...

Crack!

Thankfully, it wasn't her head. Out of sheer luck she'd managed to get her hand under her as she came down, saving herself from worse injury at the cost of her wrist. It snapped under her weight as she hit and she fell into a tumble, rolling several feet before coming to a stop. Her body was bruised, several nasty cuts and gashes on her bare skin where the sand had dug into her, some still embedded in the cuts. Biting back a scream of pain as she clutched her wrist to her chest, Yasmin scrambled to her feet, wobbling unsteadily.

And winced as something hot and wet dribbled down her leg.

The fall had jostled the gashes the leopard had given her, soaking through her bandage. Great. Just wonderful. And her sword? She found it several feet from her, and looked from it to the orc before making a limping dash for it.

[DaGlobster]

Herrick looked on in unexpressed horror as Yasmin went flying. That tumble looked nasty, and he supposed there wasn't much he could do about that. But there was one thing. He had his chance. The orc was distracted, and now was his chance. He reached down to his belt again, and his hand clasped around the hilt of Cheesecutter, his magical short sword, specially forged to be used in conjunction with his rapier. He drew the straight, two-foot blade out of its sheathe, and it rang out. Both his rapier and Cheesecutter started glowing magically, the link between the two weapons activating.

He moved forawrds. Whether the black blades surrounding him moved with him or not, he didn't care. He'd duck out of the way if they didn't. His sprint towards the orc was as quick as lightning, and his blades were twice as fast. Cheesecutter was enchanted to break any armor, and he was fairly confident this orc's "armor" would stand no chance. He opened up with a slash aimed at the achilles tendon with Chesscutter,  and a subsequent stab with the rapier at the same spot. Then he leaped, intent on burying two feet of magical short sword into Gutztomp's back, all the way to the hilt.

[Wicked Basket]

Now that the annoying woman was taken care of, Gutztomp turned to face Herrick. He had not been expecting Herrick to come flying straight at him, but dodging wasn't his style. Instead, he swung his axes at Herrick as he flew at him. Gutztomp knew full well that he could take a hit better than a human, so he would probably come out on top despite any injury he received.

[Rhindeer]

Sword in her good hand, Yasmin turned to watch--

And gaped.

Because something was crazy-wrong with the stranger's shadow (what the hell!) and not only that, but he was still intent on attacking the orc with brute force. Why wouldn't he listen to her?! She had only attacked the orc to try to get his attention, and it failed because he was so intent on murdering the man. And now this guy was probably going to wind up another smear in the sand.

"You idiot! Stop that and run!" she yelled. "You need to wear him out!"

[DaGlobster]

Herrick ignored what everybody else said. It was his one fatal flaw as a thief. He was never really open to the idea of running away. He ducked under the orc's axes again, and rolled under him. He found it almost ridiculous how this bastard just seemed to ignore injuries. For Christ's sake, he had cut his Achilles, and the bastard didn't even stumble. He had to hit him somewhere important, somewhere where he couldn't just shrug off the pain and ignore the bleeding. As he finished the roll under the orc, he stopped himself with his heel, and he switched Cheesecutter to a reverse grip, and thrusted towards the orc's spine.

[Wicked Basket]

Herrick's blade stopped dead as it hit one of Gutztomp's vertebrate instead of the sweet spot in between. Gutztomp spun around to face Herrick with a sweep of his axes, and he even attempted stomping on Herrick as well. This human was awfully annoying, and he wouldn't hold still and fight properly. The single-minded ork had forgotten about Yasmin by this point, intent on breaking Herrick in two.