Contestants: Ward Bronson, Darion Stromer
Setting:
Status: All contestants have been selected and the challenge has been accepted.
Battle Type: Judged Duel. Please review the Battle Arena Guidelines for rules. The duel will continue until Ward is killed, one of the characters surrenders, or each player has reached 10 posts. Darion cannot be killed.
Judges: King of Hearts, Karubin

I will accept your challenge with Darion Stromer

Alright, I'll judge your squabble. No touching of the hair or face.

Begin.

Brown leather boots appeared from behind a tree and stepped into the forest clearing. The summer air was heavy and silent; there was no sound except for the soft crunch as the archer kicked through old, dried leaves. The hot mid-afternoon sun blazed down through the wide opening of the forest canopy.

Ward took a drag of his cigarette as he surveyed the battlefield. In front of him was the center of the area, a gap amongst the deciduous grove where four large trees had been sawed down to stumps. Around them, the wild grass was spotted with crunchy, withered brown leaves and small flowers reaching the end of their season. To his right was the wooden ramp to a smaller area beyond a wooden tunnel through a tree. The grove up there was much denser. Ward would have to avoid it-- he could only stand a chance against the undead patriot if he was in a wide open space where he could get a clear shot.

He closed his eyes and raised his chin to the sky, allowing the cigarette smoke to float above him like wispy clouds evaporating in the sunlight. Ward wondered if Darion would be wearing his armor. If so, he'd have to aim precisely at the weak gaps in between iron plates-- at the neck, definitely, and some points on the lower body, above the greaves or at the joints in the knee. Of course, Darion also carried a big heavy sword, which meant that Ward could also aim for the axilla region when the Re-Dead knight lifted his weapon high. A small smile surfaced across his thin face. He really should have planned this out better.

Then again, what was the point of all this strategy? Darion could not be killed anyway. The archer could always aim for the face, but who knew how many arrows or what ghastly mutilation of the jaw or neck it would take to stop the Re-Dead? Ward opened his eyes and lowered his head to massage his temples. How did he ever land himself in a duel against this zombie? Oh well. It was too late to back out.

Ward pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it onto the ground, stamping out the dying embers with his boot before they could ignite the dried organic debris. He reached to his side and drew his bow out of its holster before snapping the hinge pieces into place. He reached over the top of his shoulder into the quiver in his bag and selected his first arrow. He nocked the arrow and sunk into a waiting position, vulnerable in the open yet ready to run for cover at the first sign of motion amongst the silent trees.

He could only think of one option. He needed a shot at Darion near the origin of his deltoids at the clavicle, depending on where the pauldrons met the edge of the breastplate. If he damaged the anterior fibers there, it would render the vigilante's sword arm useless. It was the only way to incapacitate the warrior who could not die. If it didn't work, Ward would be in a lot of trouble.

As if I'm not already.

A light breeze rustled the tall grass that populated the denser area of the forest Darion found himself in. There were trees nearly every three or four steps, some wider than two men, some slimmer than one. He knew this was an ideal location to fight, but the ex-Lieutenant knew better than to hope for ideal conditions.

He had heard stories of this Ward Bronson from the few people in the military Darion keeps in contact with. They say he used to be a major, and the best archer in all of Hyrule. Definitely too smart to follow Darion into this dense area of the forest. The archer would stay in long expanses of land, trying to keep as much distance as possible. This would be a very difficult fight.

Darion knew that if the archer had a shot at the openings in his armor, he would hit it. There was no counting on him to miss, Darion would have to anticipate every shot, bait him into shooting with an exposed arm, neck, or anything. He would have to be mentally ahead of Ward if there was to be any chance of success.

He unlatched his sword from his belt, the fearsome blade glistening in the bright daylight. It seemed to hunger for its opponent's blood, signaling to Darion it was ready to rend the Archer's flesh, and Darion was ready to sate its blood lust. He subdued the aura that normally encases the sword, so he would not be seen from far off.

He kept the sword in hand, and close to his body. He didn't want the archer to see the reflection and know Darion's position. The armor shining in the sun was already a handicap in and of itself. To his advantage the ground was soft, so as long as his footsteps were meticulous and light, he could be fairly silent.

Darion took one last long breath before he started to head towards the edge of the thick growth, keeping an eye out for his opponent the entire way. The edge drew closer and closer, the dense green grass became sparse patches of lighter green. The ground was beginning to level out, and cover dwindled. He went into a prone position, slowly crawling towards the edge, not wanting the grass to move more rapidly than a common breeze would move it. The dark armor blended in surprisingly well with the dark grass patch, allowing him relative safety from being seen. He scanned the open land, and finally saw his target. The archer was there in the open, bow drawn, and ready to fire at a moment's notice.

Darion waited, the archer would have to look in all directions eventually, and as soon as Ward turned his head, the redead would charge. It seemed like an eternity, waiting for the ex-Major's line of sight to shift, but finally he looked away. The time for stealth was over. Darion stood up in his patch of grass and dashed at the archer, ready to sidestep any arrows that might come his way.

Narrow blue eyes preceded the quick snap of Ward's head to his left, where the expected snapshot of an onrushing 6'2" zombie in metal armor registered in Ward's mind like a pictograph. The archer's lightning reflexes brought the bow to eye level as he pivoted around to face the oncoming warrior. In an instant, he aimed in the general region of Darion's neck and collarbone and released the bowstring; he could have refined his aim and narrowed it down to a more specific area if he had had more than a split second to do it. The arrow departed the rest with a loud SCHOPP that reverberated through the dense air; it was followed by the characteristic TWANG of the string. Before Ward could see if the arrow connected or not, he was already backpedaling into a spin before retreating into the trees at the edge of the clearing.

He restrained himself from looking over his shoulder to check the success of his shot, instead scanning the forest in front of him and analyzing the position of the trees to find advantageous cover. He pushed himself to use his lanky legs to gain some distance over his opponent, who was weighed down by armor. Spotting a good position, the archer crouched down and took cover behind a thick tree to catch his breath and prepare the next arrow.

As he pulled the bow string taut, he opened his ears to listen for approaching footsteps. If Darion remained on the offensive, Ward only had a matter of seconds before he'd have to abandon his cover and skirt the edge of the arena. It'd be impossible to lose him-- it was only the two of them here-- so he'd just have to stay one step ahead of the Re-Dead's sword.

Darion was dodging the second he saw Ward's hand that held the loaded arrow move even slightly. He took a massive step to the left, and the arrow came sailing by, missing Darion by inches. He regained his composure and continued to pursue the archer, who had fled into the safety of the trees that lined the clearing. Darion couldn't afford not to chase him down, he would be incredibly exposed if he sat in the clearing while Ward had the tree line covering him.

Darion had his eyes set on the tree Ward disappeared behind, hoping to catch Ward at an inopportune time, or at least force him to keep running, where firing a bow accurately would be near impossible. He ran through the forest, he didn't care about how much noise he was making, Ward knew he was coming in close, it was the redead's only option.

Darion took a left, and seemed to be running in an opposite direction of Ward's location, but in reality it was so he could see the archer before the archer saw him, he would come from a different angle than the archer expected. He slowed down his steps and silenced himself as best he could. He would approach Ward from the side rather than coming directly around his tree. The archer no doubt was ready to fire as soon as the opportunity was given, so a surprise would slow down his reaction time, Darion hoped. He sat back, before he made his attack he would need to tighten his armor, any openings at that close distance Ward will hit it easily. He clamped down his pauldrons tighter against his shoulder, and made sure that if his head was angled down the helmet would protect his neck. With all vital weak points covered he continued on.

He was close to Ward now, and started to make his dash to the tree he was taking cover behind. He ran as fast his legs would allow him and charged right at Ward, closing the already small distance between the two combatants.

As the Re-Dead had hoped, the altered angle of attack caught Ward by surprise, and it wasn't until Darion was only a few meters away that the archer pinpointed the source of the footsteps to his left. He scrambled to his feet and turned to his right to flee through the brush, keeping his head ducked low to avoid potential swings from Darion's glowing serrated blade. Playing defensively, he weaved through the trees, listening back to track the zombie's own movements and holding the bowstring taut and ready. He expected that his opponent would try to take the straightest path as possible in his pursuit in order to compensate for Ward's relative agility.

In the horror stories that you hear as a child growing up in Hyrule, the Re-Deads are always slow, stupid, and lumbering. So what the hell was the meaning of this? Cutting a slalom path between the trees, Ward tried to form a pattern with which to trick Darion, just to test the unusually heightened brain function of the living dead. Two times in a row, he took a sharp turn around a tree before running diagonally to the next. However, the third time, he feigned left but as soon as a thick tree trunk came between him and Darion's line of sight, he took advantage of the split-second blindness to double back and spin off to the right into the main arena.

Ward dashed back into the clearing, hoping that his primitive trick would give him enough distance to aim and shoot. He fired off two more arrows in Darion's direction before ducking behind one of the large tree stumps in the center of the arena.

Ward was vulnerable out here in the open while Darion remained protected from the arrows by the trees, but at least now he had placed the zombie in a paradoxical position. Would the undead vigilante hold his position and forfeit the momentum he had on the offensive charge, or would he expose himself for the sake of closing down the archer's distance?

The archer knew what he was doing, Darion gave him that, but unfortunately there was one variable that he forgot. The grass in these woods is wild and tall, any disturbances would be noticeable from the rest, and thus an easy path for the redead to follow. He noted that Ward weaved, and even doubled back towards the center. This was smart, it left Darion two options, charge and be exposed to shots, or wait and let the archer catch his breath to prepare an even better shot. Neither option sounded favorable.

But Darion had a trick up his sleeve that no doubt Ward had no idea about. He approached the clearing again, and saw the archer staring in his general direction, whether or not he saw Darion or not was unimportant. Now knowing where Ward was, Darion emerged from the woods and began a charge right at Ward. His sword was consumed again by the dark energy, and Darion's left hand, the one not holding the sword, began to glow also. He let a burst of dark energy fly from his hand, and then another following close behind, but on a path more to the left of the first. This would at least daze the archer, forcing him to dodge while giving Darion essential time to close in the gap. Darion even controlled the direction of the dodge, Ward would be forced to dodge to the right, or he would be forced to lay on the ground to avoid the incoming energy projectiles. He tried his hardest to make himself run faster so he could be ready when Ward finished dodging, hopefully he would be able to rend ward's clothing and flesh with the serrated part of his blade when the distance was finally closed. He raised his sword higher, and continued the charge, the blasts now closing in on the ex-major, and he would have to make his choice soon.

Shit! Ward had forgotten about Darion's dark magic energy. He barely had time to think-- the swirling black and green ball was zooming towards him at great speed. He jumped to his right, but he had been so surprised by the first energy ball that he didn't notice the second one flying toward him on the right flank. By the time he realized that he should have dodged left, it was too late. There was only one choice: he threw himself at the ground as forcefully as possible.

Just as Ward's face collided with the ground, the energy sphere zoomed overhead and straight into the nearest tree. In a cacophonous explosion of sound and bolts of green electric light, the ball tore straight the trunk like acid and dissipated in the air behind, leaving a steaming tunnel of destruction in its wake.

The archer lifted his eyes to observe the damage, realizing that it could have been his torso. He couldn't help but to break out in a little chuckle-- he wasn't sure if it was because he was pleased that he had bought himself a few more seconds of precious life or because his gut was twisted with fear. Nevertheless, there was still a giant angry charging dark magic-using zombie warrior that he needed to fight, so he didn't have more than a moment before he had to scramble to his feet again. He ran a few meters before spinning around to face Darion.

Darion, who had probably expected Ward to dodge left to avoid his strategic energy spheres, had indeed charged that way and missed his target. Ward was almost flattered that Darion had judged him smart enough to fall into his trap; in fact it had been his stupidity that had bought him some more distance.

Both men were now standing in the clearing, about fifteen or twenty meters apart, facing each other, with no objects obstructing the distance between them. Ward's bow was hung relaxed at his side. A light breeze whipped a few dried brown leaves around their feet.

Ward wiggled his fingers, waiting for the moment to draw...

Darion had his eyes locked on Ward, waiting to see what the archer would do next. It was a long drawn out stare down, neither wanting to make the first move. Darion held his sword in his right hand, the dark energy engulfing it, giving and eerie glow to Darion's already black armor. A light breeze made the trees around the two shake and rustle, but his gaze was fixed on the archer's arrow loading hand.

"I've heard stories of your marksman ship," Darion said to him, the dark, deep undertone in his voice almost making it sound as if two people were speaking, "and the stories are proving themselves true." He hoped to break the archers conversation with idle chatter, hoping for his guard to temporarily drop so that he could move in and strike. The archer still stood there, just as stoic as before.

"They said you used to be a Major in the Hylian army! That's quite impressive, I used to be a Lieutenant myself," he paused and smiled as he said the next part of his sentence, "But apparently Redeads don't make good soldiers, so I was kicked out." He was careful not to give the archer any openings during the conversation, the last thing he wanted was an arrow to the shoulder or neck.

He gathered dark energy in his left hand, and it engulfed it in much the same way it engulfed his sword. He was ready to fire another volley of energy, should the archer make an unfavorable move. Darion really would prefer up close combat if possible, nothing like rending the flesh of your opponent, spilling their blood, and possibly internal organs, on the battlefield. It was such a satisfactory thought that Darion smiled as he stood there. So it was now the archer's choice of what happens next, Darion had spoken to him and now stood with a sword drawn and energy collected in his other hand. If he tried to run, Darion would fire volleys to at least slow him down, and if he charged, he would be met with Darion's blade. Dairon even contemplated fighting him hand to hand, since it was apparent the ex-Major carried no blade.

"I'd bet they'd kill to have you back if they saw you fighting now," Ward replied nonchalantly as he subtly shifted his weight from one foot to the other. His feet were about shoulder width apart and his shoulders were down and relaxed. The fingers around his bow had a loose grip; the weapon seemed to float weightlessly in space. He was ready to pull it into an aiming position at any moment, but he was waiting for Darion to sacrifice an opening in his position. "Thanks... but I've decided that those ranks don't mean anything. What's more important is what you know. And right now I wish I knew how to win a fight to the death with someone who's already dead. Any hints?"

The chasm between the two men was filled with nothing but dense, warm air. Even though they were about fifteen meters apart, the distance seemed like it could be much shorter or much longer. It was hard to tell. Except for the light breeze that rustled the leaves of the trees and on the ground around them, there was absolutely no movement or sound. It was like being underwater. A fly buzzed past Ward's ear, but he remained absolutely still and kept his eyes trained on his opponent-- if he relinquished his focus for even a moment, he would lose.

A single bead of sweat dripped off of the archer's brow and plummeted to the earth in slow motion. Ward knew he couldn't move-- one step forward or backward and the ReDead's dark energy spheres would reduce him to nothing but a smoldering crater. He resolved to holding his ground, wondering how much longer Darion could patiently wait like this. As soon as the undead warrior moved, Ward's arrow would be in place and it would be a split second away from Darion's right deltoid or left sternomastoid, depending on whether he decided to charge with the sword or fire the dark magic first.

If the zombie didn't give in and attack soon, then Ward would have to and pray for the best...

Darion watched the archers hand stay fixed on the bow, ready to fire at a moments notice. The redead was tiring of playing games with the archer, but wanted to find the best way to attack with out exposing himself to greatly to the archer. He knew firing another energy volley would just allow him to dodge, and a direct charge would result with an arrow through his throat. The breeze blew and rustled the leaves and loose dirt in the small clearing of grass between the two combatants. 'Dirt...' Darion quietly mused to himself. He could work with that.

Darion did not move anything except the hand that burned with the dark energy, and it was a subtle movement. He merely changed the direction it faced slightly, aiming at the ground directly in front of Ward. Before another breath could be taken, the sphere of energy raced from Darion's hand, colliding with the ground in front of the archer, causing a plume of dust to rise and obstruct his view. Darion quickly sidestepped to the right so the archer wouldn't just fire at where he was, and began a charge at where he presumed the archer was. The column of debris wasn't too wide, only about four feet in width and about seven in height, so Darion would have to move quickly to not allow Ward to regain a good view on his position.

Darion was now close to the spot the archer once occupied, and swung his massive sword at about waist height in a long arc, the emerald green and dark energy that engulfed the sword cutting through the large cloud of dirt, which had by now begun to dissipate from the air. The mighty blade neared the point the archer once occupied, hopefully he was dazed by the energy ball and would be vulnerable to the attack.

The thick cloud of dark clumps of dirt and pebbles engulfed the two heroes, effectively destroying the direct line of sight between them. When the plume reached the peak of its ascent, Ward caught the glint of Darion's armor as the ReDead moved to his right; the archer followed suit and strafed in the opposite direction to keep as much of the cloud between them as possible. Ward's slightly dazed yet still determined blue eyes met Darion's through the flecks of dirt that hung suspended in the air before gravity could resume control. The soft hissing of Ward swearing under his breath was drowned out by the cacophonous aftershock of the energy ball and the metallic SWOOP of Darion's blade cutting through the falling dirt. Ward thrust his hips backwards and the tip of the sword narrowly missed the front of his belly.

In a split second the rocks and soil were falling back to the earth with a dense patter like hailstones. The symphony was punctuated by the rushed fluttering of fabric sleeves as they hastened to the quiver and back to the bow repeatedly until a flurry of arrows was cutting through the dissipating cloud of brown dust that remained. Because he and his opponent were circling around each other in a sidestepping motion at point-blank distance and incomprehensible speed, the arrows pierced through the cloud and missed Darion by centimeters, whizzing off into the distance.

It all happened in an instant-- and Ward was not even sure how he was able to keep up. The only explanation was that his years of archery training in absolute focus and subtlety of awareness were coming through in the heat of battle. Indeed, his reflexes were now being tested to the very limits of his ability. He let go of his mind and left his survival in the hands of pure, raw instinct.

Darion was now too close for the archer to attempt another shot-- if he paused to reach for his quiver, he'd be sawed in half by the serrated sword that bristled with tendrils of dark green magic. Now that the sword had forced its way inside the effective range of the bow, Ward would have to compensate and get inside the range of the sword! He had to resort to close combat and put himself as close to Darion's core to avoid the sword. As soon as there was an opening, Ward launched a flying kick at Darion's abdomen region. Even if the blow could not dent the Re-Dead's armor plate, the force was distributed widely enough that it could halt the juggernaut's onslaught. If it connected, the archer could kick off and use the spring action to propel himself away to regain advantageous distance.