Test of Character through combat (Kegan)

[Tristan Knightrhode]

Tristan walked into a clearing of woods in the Training grounds. His reasons were plain and simple for once, he had challenged someone to a fight. It was the wolf he had mistaken for a target. Tristan had learned that he went to the academy and decided to fight him on fair grounds...more or less. He didn't have his hunting rifle, nor silver bullets in his handguns...did say more or less.

The hunter had gotten a new coat, this time made from black dragonhide as he had intended after having his leather coat burned off by Kinkatsu Nanashi. He'd also gotten a new sword holster, also made from dragon hide. The same dragon infact. It took Igneus a while to cope with the fact that his partners new apparel was made from the same stuff of that covering his stomach, but was relatively used to it now.

Tristan leaned up against a tree, having chosen to fight Kegan in a relatively natural habitat for the wolf.

[Kegan]

Kegan had his cloak up. He had gotten the invite, and accepted it willingly. They were no longer strangers, but also teammates. It was to be a sparring match, and one that wouldn't endanger the life of the other. The spot picked by the hunter even put Kegan at ease. Whether it was a real forest or a holographic simulation, the site was real enough to be believed. He could smell the hunter, and he walked over to the tree Tristan was leaning against. He dropped the hood, revealing his face to the man.

He had seen him transform right in front of him that day they fought together against Grey. it was an impressive site, and he wondered what would happen if he was to fight Tristan in that state. It wasn't a pleasant thought, and he dismissed it almost immediately. He nodded to the hunter as he removed his cloak, and tossing it out of the way.

"So, how are we to begin? I'm not exactly used to this type of training. When you live alone, the only training you get is survival." It was the truth, at least for Kegan. He had lived in the forest, hunting for food, and protecting the land. He had fought humans, both fighters and mages, thieves and the like. None of it was on fair or friendly terms. The idea of "friend" was even new, and he was still adjusting to being a part of a team. Hopefully Tristan would at lease grace him with an explanation, and set forth some rules to follow. Then the could "play."

[Tristan Knightrhode]

Tristan nodded to Kegan and with a twitch of the head, Igneus flew off into the branches high above. He pushed off from the tree and took a light stance, fighting was fighting, friendly or not. "We just fight...The academy has medical mages that can heal any thing short of cursed wounds. So as long as we don't kill one another we'll be fine." He said simply as the wolf stood a few meters away.

He gave a slight nod of the head, bent down for a moment, and took off at top speed. His boots made heavy thuds on the grass as he was only quiet when he needed to be. He came in on Kegan quicky enough, not bothering to bring out his gauntlet blades. A quick left jab would serve to distract from a sharp left knee and a right hook. Simple enough for the opener and not fully powered, though close to it.

[Kegan]

Kegan already held a respect for the man based on what he witnessed the day they fought together. However, now was not the time to dwell on that. He had to react, and fast. The hunter was a hair weaker than Kegan, and only slightly faster. This would give him an edge. There was no need to transform right now. The man wasn't using any weapons, nor was he using any powers, and Kegan would meet him on even terms.

He rush forward as well, mirroring his opponent. The left jabs would connect at the same time, both opponents getting hit. However, as Tristan threw the right hook, up came Kegan's knee to the gut. Kegan would take the shot to the face in order to get his attack in. His gaze was focused, his mind set on the fight. Tristan was not someone to take lightly. Neither one was fully aware of the others powers, and so this fight would prove to be not only good training, but a learning experience as well.

Kegan hopped back after the attack, his face warm from the punches. Hmmm... he is strong. I'd be a fool to think that those punches were his best though. Need to keep sharp. Kegan decided to take full offensive. He leaped forward, leaning back a bit in the air and extending his right knee aiming for Tristan's face. Hit or miss he would land crouched on the ground. Once there, he would spring up and perform a right uppercut. He would follow this with a third and final move. Kegan would spin his body clockwise and extend his right leg as he crouched down again, an attempt to sweep the hunter off his feet and have him land on the ground.

[Tristan Knightrhode]

Tristan's own knee stopped Kegan's and the joint twinged with a bit of pain. He jumped back as the lycan did and cracked his neck. The wolfs tanned face was slightly red from the hits. Metal hit hard and Tristans gauntlets were of the hardest. He rushed in as Kegan did and bent back when the knee came in.

He kicked out in a harp mule kick with his right. There was little chance for Kegan to avoid it, being in the air, and it would send him flying back with some troubled breathing. The hunter would then stand back up to his full height with a small smirk. He stood with no particular stance, waiting for the next attack.

[Kegan]

Kegan wasn't an air bender. He had noway to change direction once airborne, and so was hit with the kick. He slid back, though his breathing was only slightly effected. He looked up, at his opponent, and saw the smirk on his face. Kegan wasn't big on emotion, and he had proved that with Maria's over hyper tackle. He was attracted to her, but tried hard to hide it.

He stood, though in his human form he was not nearly as tall as his opponent. "Nice kick. I'll have to be a bit more careful. Should have known better than to try that move on you." he thought about shifting, but it was to soon for that. Instead, he shifted his stance. He lifted his foot, and stepped down hard, causing a wave of earth to head right for the hunter. He steadied himself to wait for his reaction. If Tristan jumped or dodged, Kegan was going to fire a barrage of fire streams at him. By alternating his punches and kick, the streams of flame would fire forth at his target. They were not impossible to avoid, and Kegan did have to wait until Tristan showed himself. If the hunter didn't move, then the approaching wave of stone would due more than give him a pat on the head.

[Tristan Knightrhode]

Tristan took his own small stance, expecting a rush. What he saw instead widened his eyes. He didn't realize the wolf was capible of an attack such as that and Tristan took to the air. Using inhuman ability, he shot up and forward, high over the wall of stone. The hunter prepared to launch a counter attack until Kegan made motions with his body that sent fireballs into the air.

Not really surprised by this development, Tristan simply followed his path in the air and let the flames hit him dead on. The hunter didn't even flinch as his body passed through the numerous flames and as he soared down to his opponent. If he pursued in throwing fire balls, the wolf wouldn't see Tristan coming down at him, feet first to land on his shoulders. The hunter wasn't even singed, he was truely immune to fire and one would have to literally throw him into lava before he would burn.

[Kegan]

Kegan saw that he had hit Tristan dead on with almost all of his strikes. He had jumped straight up, as Kegan had hoped. After about the fifth or sixth shot, he stopped, only to find the hunter not only unharmed, but heading straight at him for an attack. Fire doesn't work? Damn, scratch that plan. He leaped to his side and rolled, avoiding the attack. He wasted no time in taking advantage of the (hopefully) momentary recovery. He stomped on the ground again, this time a man sized boulder rising form the ground . He stepped forward with a punch, sending the large rock straight at Tristan.

If fire bending wouldn't work, he would use his primary form of Earth bending, the one he was much stringer with. However, if he was forced to keep this up, he would become drained at a decent rate. He would have to shift form and fight close. But, that might trigger Tristan to change as well, and Kegan didn't want to think about that.

Earth bending was an ok offense, but a tremendous defense. If he could keep it up, perhaps he could outlast the hunter and come through victorious in this little sparring match.

OOC: A little bit different than fighting me on 552, huh? ^_^

[Tristan Knightrhode]

OOC: little bit XD more or less the same as fighting kaji only with powers.

The hunter landed with a bit of a start. He'd landed straight instead of bending down and rolling out like he usually did, so the hard ground sent a small shock wave through the mans body. Tristan turned to rush to see a huge boulder, just about the size of himself, flying straight at him.

He thought quickly and drew his sword. The hunter rushed head long at the massive stone and sent his energy into the part diamond blade. A blue-white flame errupted around the blade as Tristan shot in. He came up on the rock and swung down hard. It would be iritating to slice in half without the flames, but with them it was like a hot knife through butter, or at least a warm one.

The Shireiutz melted into the boulder and made a clean slice all the way through. Cleaved rock glisened as it was split aside, past the charging crusnik. As it fell aside and crashed into the ground and Tristan put away his precious blade, having dispelled his fire magic. Tristan came in on Kegan and went for a hard left palm heel strike followed by a hard side kick with his left.

[Kegan]

Kegan watched in slight awe as Tristan blazed through his attack. He was so stunned that he didn't move in time to avoid the oncoming attack. The two strike sent him into a nearby tree. Kegan slid down the trunk, in pain and breathing hard.

"Shit." He mumbled as he stood. "Well, that sucked." He stood and faced the hunter, not wanting to give him too much of an opportunity to attack him. He crouched down, and began punching the ground, his eyes focused on Tristan. With each punch, a pillar of stone shot up from the ground heading in Tristan's direction. The move was powerful, as the pillars would be like being hit form below with a great force, as well as all the ground shaking. The problem was this move was very draining, and Kegan wouldn't be able to bend for a bit after the move was stopped. He would have to shift form, if he wasn't to drained to move.

[Tristan Knightrhode]

Tristan stood, waiting for a physical attack. When he didn't get one he wondered what the hell it was that Kegan was doing. He felt the shaking of the earth beneath his feet, then saw the pillar of stone. He jumped back hard but found that the stone would be persistant. Deciding on what to do, Tristan shot to the right, digging deep into his core for his chakra.

His body sped up almost instantly as his double time ability activated. Going all out, Tristan rounded his turn and headed straight at the wolf, leaping high over any pillars of stone that got in his way. He loosed a growling yell as he came in close and sent his fist toward the wolf head, "Tarenken!" Gatling punch. His chakra flowed into his arm and sped it up past his double time spells abilities.

His attack was a multi strike punch as his torso twisted toward Kegan. What the lycan would be faced with was an attack of cataclysmic physical proportions. The hunters left arm would be a blur as ten strikes flew right at his opponent. If any of them hit, those to follow would hit as well from the shock of the first attack and Kegan would be slammed into the tree behind him over and over.

[Kegan]

Kegan kept his eye on the hunter as he seemed to fly upward. He could have extended a pillar to smash him, but it would have drained him. Plus, at the blinding speed Tristan was moving, Kegan was unsure he could correctly time it. Doubt would prevent the attack from succeeding, and his best course of action, it seemed, would be to move. He leaped to his side, rolling before springing up to face Tristan, a blur of hand movement skimming his arm.

Kegan was reacting by instinct now. He was on all fours, his teeth were bared. He was trying to keep from shifting, to face Tristan with only bending, but he was still getting used to using it during combat. He wasn't used to sustaining it for long periods of time, and the focus required took a lot out of him. He only hoped his decision didn't trigger the change in Tristan, or the fight would not only become viscous, but also would look bad for Kegan.

The hair grew into fur, his teeth grew sharp. The nails on his hands extended to claws, and the ear-piercing howl sounded form his mouth. Kegan was at his full glory, the hybrid form that would give him added strength and speed, hopefully enough to keep up and possibly win over his teammate.

He gave a growl all his own as he raced toward Tristan. He zigzagged back and forth, almost exactly what he did when he tried to doge him in their very first encounter. When he was in range, he lashed out with his claws, slashing at the hunter with controlled fury. Being a natural lycan he not only could control the change, but also was in full control after he shifted.

His attacks were dangerous, but not deadly. If Tristan moved, they would square off again. If they hit, then Kegan would continue to follow through, hopefully forcing a defeat from his opponent.

[Tristan Knightrhode]

Tristan's tarenken smashed into the tree and put several deep dents into the wood. His left arm felt numb though he could still move it. The hunter's eyes and perception were enhanced slightly, a possible new side effect of the double time ability, and he saw Kegan shoot to the side and kept track of him with relative ease.

He quickly turned to face his opponent to see the transformation taking hold. When the hybrid lycan lept forward with his claw strike, Tristan bent back on his knees and threw forth his right arm. "Tarenken!" He would yell, using his new ability for the second time in a row, and probably what would be the last. As Kegan's claws passed over the sped up hunter, his chest and torso would be wide open to the rapid ten shot attack from the right arm.

If it hit, Kegan with his hybrid form would be sent flying straight up into the air, but take less damage than if he were in either of his other forms. If it missed, which was extremely unlikely with the proximity, speed, and time to react, The hunter would pursue and go toe to toe with the beast.

[Kegan]

Kegan was faster, but the spell which gave Tristan his speed held an advantage over the man-wolf. The ten shot hit, and Kegan was airborne and winded. He fell back to the earth, doing what he could to guide himself to the ground away for the hunter. He tilted his body, shifting his position. He managed to come down a few feet away, landing on all fours. He moved quick, putting some distance between the two.

He was breathing hard, the effect of the rapid fire punch had left it's mark. Thankfully he had transformed prior to the attack, or the damage might have done more than wind him. He was in a little bit of pain, and he looked over to the tree that had receive the first onslaught. If I hadn't moved, that would have been the end of the fight.

The problem he now faced was this... he couldn't bend unless he was in his human form, but he couldn't take much more punishment unless he remained as he was. But, could he keep up with Tristan? He could only find out by doing.

With a grow, he stood, waiting. It was Tristan's turn to attack first.

[Tristan Knightrhode]

Tristan's attack had worked almost flawlessly. Things were going near perfect for the hunter. He hit the ground with his left fist to get back on balance as trying to balance, bent at the knees didn't exactly work. He watched the wolf shoot off, allowing him to gain some distance and give Tristan a little time to recover from the tarenken.

He flexed both his arms, the left wasn't numb any more, but the right was. Tristan shot forward, relatively satisfied with his condition. He came in quickly in an all out running stance. His left arm shot forward in a clawed position that would rake up across Kegan's ribs. Tristan wasn't sure of the thickness of Kegan's bones as he usually cut through or shot through werewolves, so there was a chance that the strike would break the ribs.

There was always the chance that they were stronger than that but it didn't really matter. A simple yet hard and fast right jab would follow to about the same spot.