[IC] Black Mountain Tournament: Sigurd vs Gigue

[MelonHead]

Sigurd’s blade bit into flesh as he rolled and blood ran down its length in a sudden torrent that just as quickly thinned. Then, the tide truly turned and the Northman’s right hand buckled under the sudden stress as Gigue’s great weight muscled his blade backwards in his hand. He was forced to relinquish his hold before his wrist reached breaking point, leaving a weighty encumbrance in his enemy’s body as the blade had bitten deep enough to get stuck. The next thing Sigurd knew was the sudden weight of the massive man collapsing on his chest, forcing out what little breath he had regained from the take-down. The damage could have been far worse but Gigue made one small miscalculation, he had dropped directly down onto Sigurd’s stone arm and the plate the Northman wore on his chest deflected out the force.

Sigurd couldn’t wrestle under those conditions however, even if he held any hope of defeating the wrestler at all. The only thing he still had to his name was arguably his greatest weapon, his cursed arm. An arm with strength so great it was legend, adding to the mythology surrounding the warrior known as the Dragon Slayer. He was the Stoneheart and death for him meant death for his people. That was never going to be an option.

Sigurd’s right forearm sank into soft earth and with all his strength he turned his body clockwise, his left arm underneath the man rising swiftly at the elbow and effectively shunting Gigue up and to the large man’s left, with such force that Gigue’s weight would not be sufficient to stop it. Sigurd’s left leg had bunched with the knee up and suddenly pushed off diagonally rightward to further accentuate this instability, Gigue could truly be a master wrestler but he was running out of limbs to grapple with. With only an injured leg bracing him on the left hand side Gigue’s ability to stop himself falling off his precarious mount would be sorely tested. Even as Sigurd’s body twisted he did all he could to remove his head from danger, pulling it back as he turned, it was a token gesture but Gigue may have held on long enough to strike and it could turn an execution into a graze.

Presuming Gigue was thrown off the Northman, which was likely the only situation where Sigurd lived to carry out any follow up at all, his momentum would halt as he fell upon his right side and he would prepare to scrabble backwards, earning himself space to stand up and perhaps deliver a kick for good measure.

[Vordak]

With Sigurd exactly where his pugilist approach needed him to be, it seemed like the best opportunity yet for Gigue to go ham on his opponent and start crushing bones, stamping jagged shards into flesh with his brazen fist – however, the circumstances under which he had got the pin were far from ideal. Body battered, left arm hanging limp and a sword stuck in his leg, it would be nigh impossible to keep the fight under his control, Sigurd needing just the smallest amount of effort to unbalance Gigue and bring the advantage back on his side. If the brawler were going to win this tug of war, it would be not through monstrous strength, but through his sharp cunning.

Knowing this, Gigue held back and kept a clear head, retaining acute situational awareness; and when he landed right on top of his opponent’s arm, it did not escape his attention, as it may have in an adrenalin fueled rage. Bad news, as it was now in a position where he couldn’t lock it down, leaving it as a loose factor that crippled his chances of success in a grapple. However, Sigurd’s options would be limited, and with a bit of endorsement, Gigue intended to puppeteer him: as he moved in for an attack, the brawler intentionally took a position which was easy to unbalance, making a push or shove an evident and easy escape; no doubt, Sigurd would take the bait, hurrying to get out of the pin and failing to realize the significance of one crucial detail: a foot, placed square on top of his shoulder.

The ploy worked indeed, and within a second, it was already carried to completion. The foot rammed down on the stone encased shoulder, metals heel biting into marble, leg heaved his torso upwards and hips spun it around in a counter-clockwise motion. Rather than falling onto his side, Gigue would roll onto his left knee, thigh brought off the ground, and then set down his right foot next to it, amplifying the push Sigurd gave him to assume an upright position, left side turned to his adversary. A tricky move to pull off if not for his strength, which allowed him to alter his momentum in such a manner with the subtlest of moves.

Why would he pick this over an immediate assault while he still had the warrior mounted? Perhaps it was him being overcautious, but with the body crippled, Gigue but more trust in a knife to finish his opponent than his fists, so he chose to setup a perfect situation for just that. All Sigurd would be able to see now was his back, anything he held in his hands hidden from view; and the sword, still stuck, but hanging loose in the wound. The man was left unarmed, and getting back his weapon would be tempting - little would he know that it would be certain death: hand held close to his chest, Gigue had a blade of his own at ready.

[MelonHead]

As Sigurd’s mind drove him to do no more than distance himself from the great strength of his enemy by any means possible, Gigue’s machinations were of little consequence. He heaved the man’s great weight from his chest and rolled semi-rightward, his forearm and elbow digging into the earth just behind him. With an ungainly desperation the Northman dug in and then thrust himself backwards by driving his elbow into the ground and thrusting it forward like an oar, even as his rock arm dropped to his left side to further aid his flight. The end result saw Sigurd shimmy backwards on his back as Gigue himself settled into his new crouching position. It was not exactly quick, but the Northman’s flight was necessary, escaping the range of the larger man was paramount.

Sigurd readied himself to lash out with a quick kick if Gigue made a lunge for him, making it as difficult as possible for the man to gain a hand-hold on his leg. With Gigue facing the wrong way there was a good chance Sigurd could escape at last, as with another two oar-like ministrations he would be a whole body-length away from Gigue and safely out of grasp. At that point only would Sigurd be prepared to slide his legs underneath him and kneel, ready to propel himself up onto his feet.

[Vordak]

Gigue well remembered that there were two axes and a shield lying nearby, so when Sigurd chose flight over fight, it came to him as no surprise – the warrior would be putting himself in a far better position if he got either of those. Likewise, he too would be expecting Gigue to try and stop his retreat – yet what he wouldn’t be prepared for was the knife in the brawler’s hand.

A viper quick thrust, aimed for the closer foot, plunging deep and leaving only a split-second window of time to react: Sigurd wouldn’t even see the blade coming, its path obscured by his opponent’s large body. The only sign of something coming would be the movement of Gigue’s arm; however, seeing as the warrior prepared himself to answer with a kick, rather than simply pulling his leg back, that might’ve just further ensured the imminence of his doom. If only by luck, Sigurd could be spared of what was to come next; but if he had none to spare, a painful trip was waiting ahead.

With the knife lodged in its target, Gigue would wrap his hand around tighter, turning the looser saber into a firm hammer grip, and twist it around, so that the blade would no longer be in line with the wound channel, effectively making it stuck in his opponent’s foot. A violent yank, and the brute would reel Sigurd in, pulling the man’s ankle underneath his left armpit, with the foot hooking around the front of the shoulder. Standing higher allowed him to lift the man slightly off the ground as he did so, reducing traction and thwarting any attempt to resist; overwhelming strength coupled with better positioning would prove to be decisive, bringing the advantage to his side.

Maintaining the hold would cost the wrestler a few moments of hell, as he'd have to fight against Sigurd's foot with his badly injured left side; arm crossing over his body to grab onto the right shoulder, he hoped to at least elevate the strain and recruit the strength of his uninjured muscles - the pectoral, bicep, deltoids - to buy himself a few extra seconds.

Fortunately, Gigue knew exactly what to do in this time. The knife would slide out and plunge into flesh again, seeking to now bury itself near the femoral artery, on the inside of Sigurd's right thigh; punch through the leather, force it handle deep and then slice through it all on the way out, leaving a large, gushing hollow in the leg. If there wasn't enough blood pouring out - rinse and repeat, to make it a fact that Sigurd's death would be minutes away.

A method as good as any to make to strip the man of his defiance - that is, if all went smooth for Gigue.

[MelonHead]

As Sigurd dragged himself backwards so that only his lower legs lay in line with his enemy Gigue made the move he had suspected, his upper-torso moving counter-clockwise by necessity to reach for him. The Northman had been prepared for a move of its kind, though it was not the exact one he predicted, he was ready to react at the slightest inclination with a kick. His target however was not an obvious one at first glance, though that depended upon how one looked at combat. In tandem with Gigue thrusting across his body with his knife, Sigurd’s right leg darted low in a whip-like motion that would earn itself little damage had all things been equal. However, all things were not equal, and Gigue had a weak-spot. His left leg was wounded, the blade still hung from it, and Sigurd’s leg was to drive his heavy boot directly into that blade and that wound, creating a moving target for Gigue to deal with while simultaneously inflicting great pain upon him.

Sigurd’s somewhat underhanded kick would of course be punished by the knife thrust, but all things being equal it would only cut across the top of his boot and slide down the left side, leaving an inch deep cut about three inches down from the big toe and cutting free. Ignoring his own pain, Sigurd intended to use the distraction of his kick to make good his escape, pulling himself away from Gigue so he could climb onto his feet.