Subj: [ffml] [MW] Premonition
Date: 00-08-25 14:05:39 EDT
From: skyhall@hotmail.com (Sky Hall)
Reply-to: ffml@egroups.com
To: ffml@egroups.com
"PIKACHU!" said Tim, as he came awake with a start.
He looked about his tent and realized he was dreaming. But as soon as he
tried to remember what he was dreaming, the thought faded in his mind.
Swinging his legs out of the cot, he sat up in bed and held his brow for a
moment, then shook the sleep from his head.
"Bad dreams... again," muttered Tim to himself.
Tim got dressed and came out of his tent, yawning and stretching. The
guards came to attention as Tim came out and he nodded at them, asking them
how they were doing.
Walking down an aisle, Tim made his way to the wall and looked south,
staring at Southvale.
"Afraid it disappeared in the night?" asked Jayel as he strode up to Tim
along the wall.
Tim looked over and nodded at his subordiant officer, who was more like
his friend.
"More like worried what is going on down there," said Tim. "The moogles
are not human, and that much is certain. I mean, look at their strategy:
They take all of Doma, we come to take it back, and they hold back their
reinforcements. It's like they are waiting for the entire army to arrive,
and then defeat us in one big battle. But why? As a message to the rest of
the world?"
Tim shook his head.
"And that one recon by the avariel isn't giving me any clearer a picture.
How many dead moogles are there? And who's killing them? And why are there
different groups sneaking around down there? I'm tempted to destroy the
bridge and let whatever is down there have it, and then we can go south and
finish off what's left."
"But King Cyan wants a final, epic battle?" asked Jayel.
"Aye, it seems to be," said Tim, lowering his eyes and turning away from
the wall. He started walking to the mess hall. "And from what I can see, and
have been telling General Wang, the moogles may have close to fifty thousand
troops in Southvale. I can't be certain, plus with who knows how many spread
out in the surrounding countryside and other forts.
"A stand-up, knock-down, drag-out fight isn't goign to settle this. We
dont have the man power, resources, or the necessary training to stand up to
what a full on battle would entail."
Tim passed by a flagpole which bore two flags, the top one of Doma, the
lower one of Tim's ensignia. A white background with a red dragon holding a
black sword, it was clear to the moogles in Southvale that Tim's Dragon's
were holding the earthern fort.
"What would be better?" asked Jayel, following his colonel.
"To keep a strong enough force here and keep the moogles from crossing
back into Doma, and move the rest of the army south and just pick away at
the moogles. Destroy a unit here and there, cut off their supply lines,
starve them out, harass them to the point where they pull out, not give them
a battle."
Tim sighed. "And I hope Dirke and his squad are fairing well."
He saw Triu, the avariel assigned as his liason, walking through the camp,
looking about herself. Tim noted that she always seemed to be near, watching
him and possibly listening to everything he said.
"If Nighthawk wants such a spy, let it be," thought Tim. "I will prove to
her that I hold no malintent with my very words."
Tim put away a feeling smugness and entered the mess tent.
Tim kneeled in the center of training ground, his practice sword before
him, hilt up, and his right hand on it. His left hand held a dull steel
dagger and rested on his thigh. His eyes were closed, his breathing even. He
had cleared his mind of all distractions and now focused on the trial he had
set before him.
Opening his eyes, the fire began within him. Standing up, he readied his
weapons and looked straight ahead.
"Begin!"
A ring of soldiers stood around Tim, and at the command, one stepped
forward, his sword at the ready.
Tim put on his helmet, as did the soldier, and they began to spar.
The soldier attacked with a lunge, but Tim deflected up and swung at
midsection. The soldier dodged the swing and swung down at Tim's leg. Tim
spun around, exposing his back for a moment and delivered a blow to the
soldier's kidney's. Grunting, the man walked off.
Two soldiers put on their helmets and advanced. Tim moved around a little
till both men were before him. He then let them come at him.
One man swung high, the other low. Tim dodged the high swing, blocking the
low blow. He then made a lunge with his dagger at the man to his right, who
dodged. The man on the left made a lunge, which Tim narrowly dodged. Tim
swung up with his sword, knocking the man's the sword upwards, and before he
could recover, Tim swung his dagger at the man's throat, it's metal grating
against the man's collar, signifying a killing blow.
The other opponent made a quick swing at Tim's head, but Tim blocked and
countered with an attack. The man took the defensive and started backing
away, blocking and deflecting all of Tim's swings. Tim made a pass with his
dagger and the man used his sword to block. Tim held the man's sword in
place and came up with his sword, striking the man's midsection. The man
walked off.
Three men approached Tim. The Lord of All That Kicks Ass saw that he could
not securely back up to a wall, and instead aggressively attacked one man.
The man was a little unprepared and offered a weak defense, keeping his
sword between Tim and himself. Tim swung his sword at several angels, making
the man back up and turn to the point where he stood before another
opponent. Tim then made a quick lunge, the man not being able to deflect in
time, and taking the blow to the chest. He stumbled back.
Tim then narrowly dodged a swing from a man to his left. As the eliminated
man walked off, he cleared the way for the third opponent, who also made a
lunge. Tim found himself pinned between the two and backed up, his
periphereal vision blocked by his helmet slightly.
Tim took to the left and used his dagger and lock up with the man's blade,
keeping it busy while his sword deflected and blocked the other man's sword.
Pushing the man to his left away quickly, Tim then advanced to his right,
his sword swinging about frantically and eventually catching the man in the
kidney.
Tim quickly turned and faced the last man, who had recovered and made a
quick lunge. Tim narrowly missed this, and deflected with his dagger,
keeping the sword busy. The man pulled free in time to have his sword block
a low swing by Tim. Tim then made a high swing with his dagger, with a quick
step, slicing the man's collar. The man breathed a heavy sigh and walked
off.
Tim was now panting.
Four men put on their helmets and advanced.
Tim aggressively attacked one before his helmet was completely on and
managed to make the man trip and fall onto his back. Tim then turned to the
next man to his right and made him stumble back and hit another opponent. In
this brief moment, Tim had one opponent not pre-occupied and quickly
attacked him.
The man chose to attack and lunged. Tim deflected his dagger and swung low
with his sword. The man narrowly missed and swung around, exposing his back
to Tim. When he faced Tim again, Tim's dagger was to the man's face. He
walked off.
Tim then faced the two men who had stumbled into each other. The first man
righted himself and advanced on Tim. Tim aggressively attacked again,
causing the men to change directions again and stumble back into the other
man again. With this brief distraction, Tim turned to the man who had gotten
up off the floor and made a lunge at the man's chest. He deflected that, but
Tim made a quick turn, exposing his back, and made a swipe along the man's
collar with his dagger. The man grumbled as he walked off.
Tim faced the last two opponents and saw that this time they had separated
themselves and now stood side by side. The two advanced.
Tim used his sword and dagger to block and deflect each attack. He took a
step back, then two forward, his arms waving frantically as he kept his
opponents at bay.
Swinging his sword awkwardly to the right, Tim deflected both of his
opponent's swords and took out the man on the left with his dagger. He soon
took out the last man as well.
Tim lifted his visor a moment and wiped some sweat from his brow as five
men now entered the ground.
From outside of hte circle of men, Triu watched.
"What is this, Captain Jayel?" she asked in her soft voice.
"It is called The Gauntlet," said Jayel, not taking his eyes off the show.
"One man goes up against greater and greater odds for as long as he can. It
is either like this, with more and more opponents each round, or it can be
one opponent after another. The object is to last as long as possible."
"Do many men make it up to five opponents?" asked the avariel, watching as
Tim was finally pegged. He had blocked to two swords to either side, ducked
his head to avoid a high swing, but a fourth blade struck his shoulder.
Righting himself, Tim chuckled and removed his helmet and shook hands with
the soldiers who participated.
"The opponents don't usually present that strong an opposition, so a good
swordsman will make it up to three. I've made it up to five opponents only
once. I've seen Tim do it five times so far."
"I wonder who else among you is as good."
Jayel looked at the avariel. "Evan has made it up to five three times so
far. Ricca has said he has done something similar in Norland, and that he
made it up to six once. I shudder to think how he did that."
Triu knew that Jayel referred to the Norlandese and their elite warriors.
The Norlanders seemed to love combat and all seemed professional warriors in
every way. Triu then wondered how exactly Tim beat Ricca to become a Lord of
All That Kicks Ass.
The young avariel then watched Tim go through the second type of gauntlet
and watched him square off against fifteen opponents before finally being
hit.
--Sky
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Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2000 11:04:05 PDT
Reply-To: ffml@egroups.com
Subject: [ffml] [MW] Premonition
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