[b]Dalious vs. Tihn[/b]

Dalious smiled as he looked upon one of the most beautiful woman he had ever encountered. Her hair was long and white and her eyes golden as the sun. She lie next to the man giggling in his ear, as he gently brushed his hand down her nude form. He had no idea who she was or where she had come from, but her presence was relaxing for the rugged pirate. He touched her soft hair and brought her face toward his for a kiss.

"You're beautiful, love," the man whispered as their mouths connected.

Yet, it wasn't as he expected. Something was off. The woman started licking his face furiously, slobbering all over him.

He suddenly awoke from the dream. There was a small goat hovering over him, licking him to death. Simultaneously the beaming brightness from the morning's sun blinded the pirate.

"...the blooming hell!!?" Dalious shoved the animal off and sat up.

As he wiped his face from the disgusting slobber, he saw a small dirty round man staring back at him. He was holding a bucket of water and shaking his head.

"You're a certain kind of sick, mister," the man spat, then tossed the bucket's water all over Dalious. "Get out of here and leave my Tabitha alone."

"Oh, piss off!" Dalious spat back, shaking off the chilling cold water as he arose. "...Where the bloody hell am I?"

He realized he was just outside of the city in some farming stable, near to the entrance. A few locals were around shaking their heads. Dalious took off his wet clothing and tossed it, now only wearing his sand colored under tunic, sleeveless and armorless. He wobbled around for a moment trying to get his footing back, as his head ached from the night's drinking before.

Dalious eventually made his way back to the arena. By this point in time he was himself again, except still hungover. Being weaponless, he was led through an armory on the way through to the others. He observed the various forms of wood and metal, wondering what kind of weapon he was to face off against. He found a pair of rusty, yet sharp, steel daggars and strapped their sheaths around either side of his waists. It had been awhile since he held steel, but as he gripped the leather handles the feeling came back to him quickly. He spun the blades around and twirled them a bit, until he was satisfied and ready.

Moments later he was among the others he was to fight alongside. As the preparations were beginning, he turned to his side and patted the mage on his shoulder.

"Drosil, shall we wager?" he asked. "Whomever finishes their opponent last buys a round of shots?"

It wasn't but seconds later that they saw what they were up against. A few woman, a few seemingly capable men, and a scorpion folk little person. After he looked at everyone, he paid his attention to the man he would be facing. Similar weapons, though he wore a sort of armor and had various bags attached to him.

"I suddenly feel a bit underdressed," he muttered to no one in particular.

[i]"Begin!"[/i]

As the prince went forward, Dalious found himself at a calm walk toward his opponent. He smirked to the man as he unsheathed his daggars, spinning one impressively between his fingers and wrist. The two formed their own circle within the arena pit, off to one side away from the others. He eyed his opponent, cautiously awaiting an attack.

"Nice armor," Dalious said. "It would look better on me, mate."

He spoke to the man to see if there would be any distraction in him, but the pirate paid most attention to his foot work, without eyeing down. Dalious could fight in either stance, orthodox or southpaw, and depending on how the man stepped, he changed his own footing very subtly. He waited until the angle was right, then cross stepped inward the circle and drove a straight blow toward the man's face. He expected the man to duck from the attack, while at the same time bringing his second blade in a swiping manner at the chest. 

Dalious' opponent watched him with disinterest as the two circled one another. He hadn't seemed too impressed by the pirate's display of drawing his daggers, nor did he seem too impressed with what he had to say about his armor. He just gave a slight scoff even as Dalious went on the attack. Rather than ducking as Dalious expected, the man brought up one dagger to deflect the more deadly of the pirate's blows while he turned and leaned away to avoid the more blunt punch. Sparks flew as their blades slid along one another.

"I don't think you could make anything look good, mate."

With that the man suddenly moved, bringing up his second dagger in a stab towards the pirate's chest as he pulled the blade he had blocked with back, keeping it readied even as he attacked.

Dalious rolled to the right and out of the way, swinging the daggar in his left hand at the man's heels during the motion. The pirate stanced into a kneel and brought both blades across his front in the form of an x. He huffed at the opponent's comment and blew his hair out of his face.

"Now you've crossed the line!" he said.  

Dalious spun the other way, pushing off with his legs and jumping into the air. He brought his blades around in a whirlwind toward the opponent.

The man had jumped over the swing towards his feet in order to avoid the blow entirely, not pursuing Dalious any farther. He allowed the pirate to come to him, flipping both daggers around into a reverse grip and holding them defensively as the man approached. With the pirate's sudden attack his opponent blocked with minimal movement, adjusting his arms back and forth slightly to block with the daggers before suddenly pushing with both forwards to force a lock with Dalious.

"Pretty sure that line was already crossed when you came in smelling like a barn, just so you know."

Dalious gave the man a nerved look and a raised eyebrow. He pushed off from the connection and backed away to sniff his pits. He then nodded in agreement.

"You have me there..." he said. "Damn you!"

He lunged forward again, this time with consecutive strikes from left to right in a rapid motion. Then right to left, and a continuous mixture of the two.

Keeping his daggers in the same reverse grip, the man continued to focus on block. As it became more and more apparent that Dalious was resorting to similar strikes in his speed, the man made his move. Suddenly using one dagger to block, he thrust with that arm to throw Dalious off balance. In his other hand he flipped his dagger around, suddenly stabbing forwards. The dagger sunk deep into Dalious shoulder and was ripped away quickly after he kicked forwards, hitting the pirate in the stomach and knocking him back.

Slowly straightening, the man ran his hand through his hair briefly, before shaking his head slightly. "The name is Tihn, by the way. Doubt you'll remember it, though."

The pirate rolled a bit backward, gripping his wound which was parallel to his previous one.  He looked across the floor and realized he had also dropped one of his daggars.  He winced and stood back up, cracking his neck and gripping his blade tighter.

"Well, you're right about that Todo," he said.  "Lets finish this."