The lioness and the leopard. [Open!]

[Rhindeer]

Fine. Fine, he wasn't going to listen to he? Then she wasn't going to help him. He could have it his way!

Arm still clutched to her chest with her wrist throbbing terribly, Yasmin hung back and simply watched, shaking her head slowly. "Alright. Don't listen to me. That's all well and good by me. It's your funeral," she called.

Fine. She'd just let him get stomped by the orc, and once he was out of the way, she would finish this thing properly. Until then, she remained back where she was, ready to spring into action when the time was right, but conserving her remaining energy until then.

[DaGlobster]

Herrick nimbly avoided the stomp, making sure to land another seemingly minor cut on the orc's leg as he passed. Was his new plan near suicidal? Sure. Could it have been a little better thought out? Probably. He tuned out Yasmin's yelling. She didn't get his plan, so she had no real valuable input, except the one last piece she was about to give. He ducked under an axe swing, and cut a smoke bomb off of his bandolier with Cheesecutter, spiking it into the ground with the hilt and jumping away as it exploded into a thick, choking cloud of black smoke. He took the opportunity to take a breather, and looked over to Yasmin.

"Lady, you need to wise up to what's happening. That orc wants nothing but to kill me right now, so you've got your chance." He said, and he grasped Cheesecutter in his teeth for a few moments so he could lay his pistol and an ammo cartridge on the ground. "Make it count." He said, taking Cheesecutter back into his hand and adopting his stance again, waiting for Gutztomp to come out of the smoke.

[Wicked Basket]

Gutztomp had not expected to be suddenly surrounded by smoke. That human was crafty, but it wouldn't be enough.

"Damn you, humie," Gutztomp roared as he emerged from the smoke. "Just die already!"

Gutztomp advanced on the human again. This was getting real old real fast. He swung his axes in rapid succession in order to ensure a full-on barrage of steel. Let's see if that human is clever enough to reattach his limbs like Gutztomp can.

[Rhindeer]

...Oh dear.

Limping over, Yasmin grabbed up the pistol and ammo with one hand, and then just stared at the man, lifting the pistol and giving him an exaggerated shrug, expression incredulous. She knew what it was. The problem was, she'd never used one, never loaded one. Goddess, she'd never even touched one!

And with her broken wrist, she would have to do it all one-handed.

"Fantastic idea! If I knew what I was doing with this!" she called to him.

[DaGlobster]

Herrick looked at Yasmin with an incredulous expression. How could he have forgotten? They didn't have guns in Essyrn. "Under the the barrel, there's this rod you pull out.  Take that and use that to push the bullet in as far as it'll go. Then you gotta...oh shit!" He was interrupted by Gutztomp coming out of the smoke, axes a' swingin'. He jumped away from the first swing, and was now steadily backpedaling away from the orc as he swung his axes. "You gotta pull the thing on the back until it makes a loud click then you're good!" He said, pausing between dodges to speak. He hoped she could figure it out, the coliseum wall was coming up behind him, lurching closer and closer with every backwards step he took.

[Wicked Basket]

"Hold still," Gutztomp roared as he continued his attack.

Luckily for him, the wall was getting ever closer. Once he had this puny little human trapped against the wall with nowhere to run, then he could end it. He would have no problem dealing with the girl aftwards. Things were starting to look up.

[Rhindeer]

"The thing on the back," Yasmin repeated. "So descriptive! Alright, just...don't die, you idiot."

Since the orc was rapidly advancing on the man, its back turned, Yasmin knelt down in the sand so she could have an easier time figuring it out. She had to use her injured hand a bit to load the thing, which was difficult; broken bones were strange, her wrist feeling not only intense, tear-inducing pain but the strange sensation of being disconnected. She couldn't move her wrist if she'd tried, and her fingers barely worked as a result. They all connected to the wrist.

Using mostly her right hand, though, she managed to load a bullet, and managed to 'pull the thing in the back'. It clicked, which meant she was good to go? Better hope so!

Getting back to her feet and wobbling a little on her bad leg, she lifted the pistol with her right hand and took aim.

...Her first shot missed the orc completely and nearly took out Herrick instead.

"Shit! Sorry!" she called, and hurried to load another bullet. He better not complain. Wasn't like she'd ever fired one! Her skill was in melee. Aiming again, she fired off another round.

That one, at least, went for the orc's back.

[DaGlobster]

Herrick nearly shit himself when the bullet tore through the air. His rapier started glowing in his hand, and rather than go right through him, the bullet merely grazed the buckle on his shoulder pad, leaving little more than a scratch. It took out a fairly large-sized crater out of the arena wall behind him, which was now dangerously close. He saw her loading again. "Just a little longer..." He whispered to himself, and he felt his back touch the wall. He didn't have a little longer.

[Wicked Basket]

Gutztomp smiled as he finally had the human trapped. Before he could finish the job, he felt something impact his back. Gutztomp grabbed a hold of Herrick's shirt, lifted him up, and turned to see that Yasmin had the gun. He couldn't leave her to just fire away at him like that. Gutztomp slammed his forehead into Herrick's and then went for Yasmin. Breaking her arms should keep her from bothering him anymore.

[Rhindeer]

Finally! Yasmin's heartbeat quickened when the orc started for her, but it was exactly what she wanted this entire match. Hopefully the man was still conscious--or alive--to see this.

"Oooh, you don't like this thing, do you?" Yasmin said with a pained smile, waggling the pistol and retreating fast. "Better come get it!"

She kept her retreat circular; going in a straight line meant getting backed against a wall (like a certain someone!) which meant death. She also made sure to keep a safe distance away; the orc's reach was long and she was not about to risk it.

As she moved, she struggled to load another bullet, and dropped one in the process. No time to retrieve it from the sand. She kept on moving, and managed to get another in. "Better hurry up, you snail!"

[DaGlobster]

Fortunately, Herrick was able to move his head away from the incoming wall of skull that was Gutztomp's forehead in a way that diverted most of the force to the side, but he still took a hell of a hit. When Gutztomp dropped him, he fell flat-arsed on the ground, head swimming and spinning in all directions. He could vaguely make out Gutztomp moving towards Yasmin, and he slowly tried to get onto his feet. His attempt was met with failure as he fell over again. He wiped some blood off of the corner of his mouth.

"Looks like you'll be short 100 pieces, AND your life!" A mocking voice said from above him, and he looked up. It was the asshole he bet with. Herrick threw up his arm, middle finger extended prominently as he attempted to stand up again, bracing himself on his rapier. He made it to his feet, and promptly spit out some blood that was pooling from a cut inside his mouth. He could only hope that the damage he did was enough to hasten the orc's downfall. He might be ignoring his wounds, but it didn't change the fact that he was still bleeding from all of the cuts Herrick made.

[Wicked Basket]

Gutztomp angrily stomped after Yasmin as she continued to avoid him. She was awfully quick for someone who was injured.

"You won't be so quick once I rip dem legs o' yer's off," Gutztomp growled.

This one was quicker than the man. At least the man would fight back, this woman just kept running. Surely she would tire out eventually, but so would Gutztomp. The question was, who would tire out first? Yasmin was injured, but Gutztomp had to carry around a lot more bulk than she did. Only time would tell.

[Rhindeer]

Yasmin was quick, but only out of necessity. Her leg was throbbing, but when the choice was either endure and survive or stop and die, she could deal with the pain; she'd experienced more grievous wounds than that. Right now, though, it wasn't the pain that would get her, but sheer exhaustion. One fight against two leopards, and now this long, agonizing battle, and her with a wounded thigh and now the dizzying pain of a broken wrist.

She felt ready to drop, but pure adrenaline kept her standing.

Even that wouldn't hold much longer. The sun was beating down on the both of them, the heat scorching, and Yasmin's body was slick with sweat. Even if she had the inhuman stamina to keep on moving indefinitely--which she definitely didn't--the heat and dehydration would get her. She was losing water rapidly, through sweat and through blood, and as she moved she stumbled and nearly fell, but managed to right herself an keep going.

If the orc hadn't been so distracted with the man for so long, which had given her time to stand back and rest, she would have already been done for.

She had no more teasing comments for him. She had to save her breath, and she prayed he'd tire soon, because as she aimed the pistol to fire off another shot, the world spun, and she didn't pull the trigger because she wasn't sure if she was actually aiming at him.

[DaGlobster]

Herrick stood there for a few moments, watching the woman run away from the orc and avoiding his blows. She wouldn't last much longer, he needed to do something. He shook his head, but the spots wouldn't go away. He finally felt something warm trickle down his forehead, but it didn't take a genius to tell that the orc had just busted him open. He had very few options as of this moment, and time was running out. Even he was breathing hoarsely, not used to the sweltering heat. He raised Cheesecutter, the blade singing with energy. His eyes went from the blade, to the orc, and back to the blade.

He flipped Cheesecutter into the air, grabbing it by the blade like a throwing knife, and following up by throwing it at the orc in general. He didn't care where he hit, as long as he hit somewhere where it hurt enough to take his attention off the woman again. Cheesecutter straightened itself out mid-flight, orienting so it would go in point first.

[Wicked Basket]

It wasn't long before all this running and axe swinging made Gutztomp begin to tire. However, being an ork, he continued on. Rest was for the weak. As he continued after the woman he tripped over his own big feet, causing the knife thrown at him to miss. Gutztomp got back to his feet and continued on. She was still managing to outpace him. How well could she outpace an axe? Desperate to land a hit, Gutztomp hurled one of his axes at Yasmin. If it missed, it would take a sizable chunk out of the arena wall.

[Rhindeer]

The orc was getting uncomfortably close, and for a moment Yasmin thought she might be in trouble, for she was having difficulty keeping ahead--but then he tripped over his own feet and fell.

Which was also unfortunate, as the blade whizzing by missed him.

Damn!

But the distraction at least gave her the chance to summon up the dregs of her strength and put a little more distance between them.

At least, until he threw his axe.

Too weak and exhausted to nimbly dodge, Yasmin did the only thing she could do--she let herself stumbled and fall backwards, landing flat on her back, as the axe wheeled by overhead and slammed into the wall behind her. It was a costly move, even if it saved her life--now that she was down, she was simply too exhausted to get back up, and even though she tried to scramble to her feet, the world pitched dizzily and she toppled back down. Blood dribbled from the reopened wound in her thigh, dripping into the sand, and Yasmin swayed unsteadily for a moment before she began to crawl away backwards, which was awkward because she only had one hand.

She paused only to throw her scimitar at the orc, not hoping for injury at this point, but only for distraction. He was tiring, too; even a big brute like him couldn't last forever.

[DaGlobster]

Herrick watched Cheesecutter miss. The dagger zipped back around, and headed towards Herrick, embedding itself in the ground in front of him. He was too weak to reach down to pick it up. He gave in to the urges of his legs, and he plopped down to the ground, his back against the arena wall. He closed his eyes, dropping into the inky blackness of unconsciousness.

[Wicked Basket]

Gutztomp lazily swatted the scimitar aside with his remaining axe as he continued his advance. His feet were dragging through the sand as he walked, and he was breathing heavily. Finally, he had made it to within striking distance of that bothersome human girl.

"Now I've got you," he panted.

Gutztomp raised his axe to finish Yasmin, but instead of swinging his axe forward, the rest of him went backward along with. He landed with a loud thud, a small plume of sand accompanying his impact. The he was too much, and he was tired out all the quicker by his own bulk. Gutztomp lay unconscious on the sand. It was going to take more than a couple men to move him out of the arena.

[Rhindeer]

For a moment, Yasmin thought this was it. Maybe this was how she was going to go, snapped in half by some stupid brutish thing. As opposed to some other stupid, brutish thing, of course. She always knew it would be in the ring; she had just always hoped for something more...memorable.

She watched the axe rise, scrambling backwards as fast as she could, but it wouldn't be enough, that thing was big enough to split her down the middle--except, apparently, also big enough to to pull teh orc backwards.

She watched him fall with wide eyes, utterly floored by what she was witnessing, but down he went, the ground vibrating under his weight, and...

He didn't get back up.

With a relieved groan, Yasmin let herself flop backwards onto the sand, panting heavily and feeling on the verge of heat-stroke, but it was over, goddammit. It was finally over.

And around her, she heard the roar of the crowd.

It was a draw. Today, they were all coming out of this alive.

Rolling over onto her side, she had been about ready to shout something out to the man, but that was when she noticed he was kind of unconscious, too. Or dead. Hopefully not dead. A group armed attendants strode out into the arena to collect the bodies--in this case, living ones--and two hauled her up between them while a group went to try to handle the orc. They dragged Yasmin past the man right as two others hoisted him up.

It was straight to the infirmary with them.

[DaGlobster]

Herrick came to in the infirmary, slowly awakening. At first, the world seemed like a blurry mess of colors and light. It smelled like blood and misery,  and the air was stuffy as all hell. In the distance, he heard a man scream out in pain. He blinked again, and his vision improved slightly, and he was able to make out a stone roof. He tried to sit up, and was able to do so after a bit of effort and some pain. He looked at himself, and found that he wasn't in his armor. He had a single bandage around his chest, and when he felt his head, he found another wrapping around the spot where Gutztomp's headbutt connected with his temple.

He looked around to see more beds, both unoccupied and occupied, and it dawned on him that he was in the coliseum's infirmary. He looked to see who his neighbors were, and found that to his left, there was a sleeping man missing an eye, and to his right was Yasmin. Herrick smiled. "Hey, you awake?" He called, laying back down and turning his head towards her.