[center][h1]-Collab Between Pezz570, 13org- [color=6ecff6]Karina[/color] [b][color=c4df9b]Tayla[/color][/b][/h1][/center] [hr] [hider=View Post] Karina watched as Jewl's unconscious body was thrown into a small, dark room. It would be a good deterrent in case she woke up later. At least she would take a while to be able to get out of there. With Jewl's illusions disappearing and her out of combat, her companions quickly realised that they were now in a very disadvantageous position, with one of them running up the stairs, screaming for help while the rest of them tried to recompose themselves. Using that brief moment of respite, Chres immediately opened the door wide, speaking to the people of Shimmertown and pleading for their help. The inflamed shouts of cheer of the population made it clear that they also had enough of the cult. Good news for their group, since the cult would have to deal with that on top of their little plan. While the people of Shimmertown were more of an angry mob than an organized force, the confusion they would make would buy them some time. Despite the strange crashing noise coming from above them, much like Chres, Karina's mind was focused on completing their task as she nodded to him when he mentioned they should go. Before they could do anything though, another strange noise came from above them, a second crash. For some reason, it was closer to them this time. Close enough to make Karina stop and look up. The moment she did so, the ceiling just above them began to groan, with several loud cracks just after that. When Karina realized what was going on, it was already too late. A moment after Chres shouted for them to get down, the ceiling above them came down. Karina was lucky to avoid any wounds other than a small bruise due to having thrown herself to the ground, but the dust and the rubble made it difficult for her to see and understand what had just happened, other than the obvious fact that the roof had collapsed over them. Unsheathing her rapier, Karina quickly got up, looking around in complete silence, waiting for the dust to settle. That wasn't just an accident. The way the roof had collapsed... Karina was almost certain that the cult was behind that. Almost immediately proving her suspicions to be right though, she heard the sound of someone getting down and landing just next to her. Before she could swing her rapier though, the ground suddenly rose beneath her, throwing her and presumably, whoever was that landed near her, several feet into the air. Away from the dust caused by the collapsed roof, Karina could now see herself flying through the air as the ground approached quickly. She was thrown to the fourth story of the gatehouse, away from Chres and the others. Thankfully, she had rested enough to use her powers again and was able to break her fall by making a small ramp of ice as she fell. Getting up after sliding through the ramp, Karina quickly looked around, still a bit disoriented due to the ceiling collapsing and her having been thrown in the air, she quickly recompose herself, trying to find whoever was responsible for all that. The moment she turned her face however, she was met with a familiar face... The moment Tayla called her by the same nickname she hated so much, Karina looked at the woman with a cold expression. Just after Tayla said that though, she threw a handful of coins towards Karina, flying through the air with a deadly velocity. Seeing her hands the moment Tayla threw the coins, Karina knew she wouldn't have time to dodge properly or block them with ice, so instead, she immediately threw herself towards where the ramp was, using her ability to extend the ice from it just enough so it would be able to intercept or at least change the coins' trajectory enough so they wouldn't hit her. While it wasn't a gracious or elegant movement, the fall wouldn't be enough to give her anything other than a small bruise, which was much better than being pierced by Tayla's coins. Karina's body fell to the ground with a thud as she rolled behind the ramp. [color=6ecff6] "It appears you won't ever leave me alone unless I kill you..."[/color] Karina said with a cold, grim tone. [b][color=c4df9b]"Or I’ll kill you!"[/color][/b] Tayla raged back. [color=6ecff6] "You are blinded by envy and rage... So much that you can't see what your precious cult is doing."[/color] Karina continued. [color=6ecff6] "Listen to the voices of the people of Shimmertown! Can you still say you're doing the right thing?"[/color] she asked. [b][color=c4df9b]"Fuck Shimmertown! All Seeing knows these people wouldn’t give a damn about me!"[/color][/b] Tayla began circling the ice ramp in a jog. Mindful to keep her distance. As her bare feet touched the floor, she used her magic to lay traps with each step. Modifying the stone’s friction to become comparable to ice. [color=6ecff6] "Open your eyes and stop blaming others for what you don't have, for your mistakes or your own weaknesses!"[/color] Karina shouted, touching the ice ramp in front of her and making it explode, sending hundreds of sharp shards of ice towards Tayla, using that distraction to close the distance between them. [b][color=c4df9b]"SHUT UP! YOU DON’T KNO-"[/color][/b] Tayla’s voice cut off. The woman’s eventual attack had finally occurred. By this point Tayla had come to expect such attacks. This woman was fast. Tayla needed to be faster. Tayla stopped laying traps, Instead she modulated the floor’s friction to create a shorter lasting effect. [b][color=c4df9b]"Fuck Shimmertown! Fuck you!"[/color][/b] Tayla shouted. While the ground beneath Tayla still became as slippery as ice, she used this to pick up speed and to skate across the stone floor. Gliding swiftly, she reached into her pouch of coins, avoided the ice shards while also firing back a spread of coins of her own. [b][color=c4df9b]"FOR ONCE EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE WASN’T GOING TO SHIT! THEN YOU FUCKING CAME ALONG!"[/color][/b] Tayla screamed, while blinking back the tears. Tayla popped a salty cotton tuff into her mouth. The woman’s ability to break off shards of ice and send them flying was nifty… but perhaps Tayla could do something similar with stone. Karina dashed towards the woman with her rapier on hands as Tayla tried to dodge all the shards of ice Karina had sent towards her. While Karina didn't expect them to do much damage, it was still surprising that Tayla not only managed to dodge them, but also had time to throw some of her coins as well towards Karina, forcing her to halt her advance for a moment in order to dodge them with a sidestep before continuing to close her distance once more. Unfortunately, the very moment she resumed running towards Tayla, the moment she stepped forward, the ground below her feet made her slip, forcing her to stop her advance and kneel down in order to regain her balance. It was a neat trick Tayla had used... But it wouldn't work on Karina. [color=6ecff6]"You're just a hypocrite, Tayla. A foolish child throwing a tantrum... Do you believe that having a tough life gives you the reason to ruin innocent people's lives? To make them suffer? Everything you conquered in the cult was by trampling on the lives of innocent people. You spilled innocent blood for your own, selfish desires, for your own benefit."[/color] Karina continued as she stood up. Instead of advancing towards Tayla though, she swung her rapier in front of her, with a frigid cold wind emanating from her, quickly covering the ground in a layer of ice. By using her own ice and her ability to effortlessly move on it, she would deny whatever little surprise Tayla had put on the ground. Tayla cursed. She hadn’t planned for the woman to trigger her traps quickly. Tayla adjusted to the now icy ground. Ignoring the cold on her feet. Instead of slippery traps, she began laying traps to drastically increase the friction of the ice. Tayla readied her weapon in preparation this time. [color=6ecff6]"What makes you different from the people who made you suffer when you were younger? Maybe you're even worse... After all, the cult does things way worse than just killing someone..."[/color] Karina said, with a cold tone in a very cruel remark to the already emotional Tayla as two ice blades appeared from the ice layer on the ground around her, floating and hovering above her. [b][color=c4df9b]"We are not a cult!"[/color][/b] Tayla shouted back instinctively. [color=6ecff6]"Don't feel like you're someone special though, Tayla... Do you think I came here specifically to ruin the lie you call 'life'? You're nothing but an obstacle to me. You threw your honor and dignity away, selling yourself as a tool to the cult, trampling over innocent lives for your own benefit... You are undeserving of respect, mercy or even my time."[/color] Karina finished as she sent one of the ice blades flying towards Tayla, skating through the ice layer on the ground as she approached her faster than she was when she was running. Should the ice blade miss Tayla, Karina would simply make it turn around and continue chasing Tayla while keeping one of the blades near her in order to defend herself in case Tayla somehow found enough time to throw more coins at her despite having to focus on evading the ice blade. Tayla stood her ground, turning to face her opponent. This time she would be ready when little miss perfect triggered her traps. [b][color=c4df9b]"My honor? MY DIGNITY?!"[/color][/b] Tayla trembled as she spoke. She would fight back those tears! She refused to fall again before this woman! [b][color=c4df9b]”No, little princess, never did I throw those away. My honor, my dignity... Those two things were stolen from me…”[/color][/b] Tayla warped the ground beneath her bare right foot, attempting to intercept the blade shooting straight for her. Unbeknownst to Tayla, the icy blade changed course to avoid the wall as it obstructed her vision. Tayla’s eyes widened as the blade avoided the wall, coming for her from her left. Using her left bare foot to quickly warp the floor beneath the blade and catch it from underneath. Tayla continued warping the floor until it met the ceiling above. She had learned the hard way that shattering the woman’s constructs only allowed her to use the shards as weapons. Unfortunately, this meant that Tayla was left at mercy of whatever the woman had planned after lowering her shields. Focusing on her bitter cotton tuff, Tayla weakened the floor beneath her feet, making it as brittle as a thin sheet of glass. A single stomp with her left foot caused the floor beneath her to crack into shards of ice and stone. Tayla lowered her ‘shields’ while sweeping the shards of stone and ice with her bare foot. The stones launched into the air after the white haired woman, Tayla had made sure to apply velocity only to the shards of stone and not the ice. As the stone launched towards her opponent, Tayla then warped the remaining ground beneath her feet. Tayla shot up in the air, arching over the white haired woman. She launched coins from above and landed a good distance behind the woman. [b][color=c4df9b]"My honor and dignity were stripped from me!”[/color][/b] Tayla spoke. She quickly laid a new friction trap on the icy floor. [b][color=c4df9b]”Stripped away before I could even understand what that dignity was! "Don’t speak of honor. Don’t talk to me about dignity! I had to fight just to maintain whatever scrape of those things that I have left! While you breezed your way through life, I’ve had to struggle and fight to avoid getting swallowed! “Tell me princess. What have you ever had to fight for? You, little miss perfect, sit atop a cold, cool pedestal of privilege from which you judge.”[/color][/b] [i][color=6ecff6]I am giving you an opportunity. Don't throw it away.[/color][/i] The white haired woman’s words echoed in her head. [b][color=c4df9b][i]Damn it, Tayla! YOU WILL NOT CRY![/i][/color][/b] Tayla thought to herself. [b][color=c4df9b]”You see me not as a person to understand, but as a problem to solve. I’m not a child whose hand you need to hold! I’m not your damn puzzle to solve! I’m a fucking person! Not an object, but a goddamn person!”[/color][/b] And now the tears flowed. Damn it! [b][color=c4df9b]”You’re just like everyone else in this fucked up world! Nobody fucking cares! You talk of me trampling over the lives of innocence but the only person I’ve ever [i]tried[/i] to trample over, in this stupid town, is you! And let’s be honest, princess. You are not among the innocent. “I can see it in those eyes of yours. If you ever deemed it necessary, you would trample over the lives of these people in an instant. Faster than the clan ever would! So who’s the real hypocrite here? Who is the real one undeserving of respect?”[/color][/b] Karina continued skating through the ice, towards Tayla, closing their distance while making use of the distraction the ice blade could give her. While Karina didn't expect the ice blade to last forever, she still expected it to buy some time and was surprised when Tayla dealt with it sooner than what she had expected, using her power to warp the ground and catch it. Instead of shattering it, she continued warping the ground until it reached the ceiling. Apparently, Tayla was indeed paying attention to how Karina fought and wouldn't make the same mistake again. [color=6ecff6]"Hmpf... Troublesome."[/color] Karina muttered as she made another blade of ice after Tayla dealt with the one she had sent towards her. When Tayla stomped the ground, making shards of stone fly towards Karina in the same way Karina used her ice, she couldn't help but let out a twisted grin. Was that girl copying her moves? Just as she did so though, Tayla warped the ground to jump over Karina, shooting coins towards her as she did so. [color=6ecff6]"Smart, but no enough!"[/color] Karina said as she continued skating through the ice, using the added mobility to dodge the stone fragments, jumping and weaving through them almost like a professional ice skater would while she fused the two ice blades, making two sheets of ice and fusing them in a triangular shape above her, in order to deflect the coins to the ground, instead of trying to block them. While she was dodging the stone spikes though, just the moment one of her feet touched the ice again after a jump, she felt her feet slide way more than it normally would in the ice, which made her lose her balance for a brief second. While she did not fall to the ground like before, that moment of distraction was enough for one of the shards of stone to almost hit her, grazing her side and leaving a long, but superficial cut. Even though the cut did sting, Karina seemed to be unfazed by the pain, instead looking more irritated by that than anything else. The look she gave to Tayla after she felt the blood slowly trickling down on her side was incredibly cold and frightening, a look that truly made others understand that judging Karina for her delicate appearance was a deadly mistake. [color=6ecff6]"As long as one keeps their head up, do not give up and continue walking the path they believe is the right one, no one can take their dignity and honor away, Tayla. You gave up yours the moment you started trampling over others, judging your own struggle, your own fight and yourself to be more important than anyone else."[/color] Karina said, getting up as she separated the ice sheets into two ice blades once more. [color=6ecff6]"Don't think you're special, Tayla. Don't think you're the only one who has to fight, because you are not. Everyone has their own struggles that they need to fight for. Have you thought about the thousands of people who live in Shimmertown or the ones that either died or became insane thanks to your little cult? About their struggles? Do you know what difficulties they had to face? What do they need to do to feed their families and keep their loved ones safe? How many people died or lost their loved ones directly or indirectly thanks to your actions? Can you judge your own difficulties to be worse than theirs or your own needs to be more important than theirs?"[/color] Karina asked in a cold, harsh tone. [color=6ecff6]"Such irony... Aren't you the one standing over a pedestal made of your own self-righteousness? Believing that everyone is trash and your well being is more important than anyone else's?"[/color] Karina said in a cold tone. [color=6ecff6]"Do you think I was born being who I am today, Tayla? All the respect I have in the military, my position, everything was conquered by my own effort and talent."[/color] Karina continued. Tayla cocked her head. [b][color=c4df9b][i]The military?[/i][/color][/b] [color=6ecff6]"Because I was the daughter of the general, every single achievement I made was justified by others, saying I was only able to do so because the general was my father. Every single promotion I got, conquered by my own effort, was always discredited by others. Even though I had to face more hardships than anyone else, with the general being stricted and asking more of me than anyone else in the military specifically because I'm his daughter, many still refused to recognize my talent, effort and competence."[/color] Karina said. [b][color=c4df9b][i]General Frost’s daughter?![/i][/color][/b] Tayla’s eyes widened with realization and, perhaps, a little fear. [color=6ecff6]"Even now, they refuse to take me seriously. Even after I said that the cult was something dangerous, they ridicularized me."[/color] she continued as she sent one of her ice blades flying towards Tayla, making it follow her the same way as it was doing before, but making it explode in a million small sharp shards of ice the very moment Tayla tried to catch it like she did with the other one. [color=6ecff6]"Do you know the difference between me and you, Tayla? I did not give up my honor and my dignity. I didn't try to justify my weakness by throwing the blame on someone else, like you did nor I tried to use it as an excuse to do whatever I wanted."[/color] she said as she finally got close to Tayla once more. Paying extra attention to any change in how slippery the ice was, Karina was able to adjust her body in order to counteract Tayla's traps, which was much easier now that she was skating on the ice she made instead of running. Push the fear aside, Tayla prepared her blade as the murderous woman approached one her traps. She warped her blade, striking at the woman. However, her opponent didn’t not trip up like Tayla expected her to. Instead she adjusted her movement accordingly and effortlessly dodged Tayla’s attack. [color=6ecff6]"Stop being such an entitled brat! Do you think I came here specifically to solve [i]your[/i] problems or to make them worse? You are not special, Tayla! The world isn't against you. The only one against you is yourself! Stop trying to make excuses and accept your weakness and your failure and learn with them!"[/color] Karina said as she lunged towards Tayla with her rapier, sending the remaining ice blade around Tayla to aim towards her back and prevent her from escaping. Tayla cursed, her extruded blade made her incapable of using the weapon to parry the woman’s attack. She pulled out her second blade, intending to parry the incoming lunge with that. Whoosh. The remaining ice blade shot past Tayla… Oh no... [color=6ecff6]"I am a soldier, Tayla. I have a reason to fight. If I am really that guilty, then ask yourself Why am I trying so hard to make the people of Shimmertown to stand up for themselves instead of just calling the army to raze everything to the ground? More importantly... Why didn't I kill you before, when I had the chance?"[/color] Karina finished as she lunged towards Tayla. Tayla braced herself. Swinging wildly with her left in hope of deflecting the lunge while warp another wall hoping to catch this blade like she had with the one before. Only… she didn’t expect the blade to splinter. While the wall blocked some shards of ice, the remainder maneuvered around the wall. [i]Useless to the end.[/i] her dad’s voice whispered in her head. Tayla shut her eyes expecting death. However… death never came. Tayla opened her eyes. Their fight had taken them to the gate room. Behind Tayla, lay the wheel for opening the inner portcullis. All around Tayla hovered death, but death did not strike. Yet again, Tayla found herself at the woman’s mercy. Tayla’s eye twitched in annoyance, but rather than striking back in anger like every other time, she let her swords fall to the ground. Tayla couldn’t beat this woman. That much was clear. [/hider]