The Hard Fought Victories (Open)

[John A. Downing]

His left arm would shift down to strike her in the face as she ducked and slashed. Her move was smart- her blade did indeed smash into his chest. But it didn't cut, since it wasn't sharp. It made dodging his second sword problematic, however, and would mean she was likely to end up with a broken nose.

"An even more foolhardy mindset. Who cares if you die in battle, because people can mourn together? Pointless sentimentality. The end result is the same- you're dead, and If I wanted to go find them after and sell them to slavery, or kill them too, you're not there to stop me."

[Allison Kazim]

Oh look, pain. Lots of it. Right where his damnable blade hit her, though it was more cheek than nose by the time she pivoted. Still, it did leave her open to another blade attack, the moment of pride replacing the focus of the lesson. If only one enjoyed getting hugged by blades.

She opted to slam her elbow in his gut to knock the wind out of him, instead, and hopefully get her out of immediate danger of a double-take from them. If she succeeded, she'd follow up with a nose to the face, much like he had her.

"Surrendering does nothing but give them permission to do the very same," she said flatly. "I would rather fight to save my loved ones and my home than hand it to them on a silver platter."

[John A. Downing]

Her elbow drove the wind from him, preventing a retort. What it did do was allow him to drop his left handed sword and grab her bicep, preventing her from ducking as his Qi sword hilt would aim to smash into her temple/eye area. This would have the added bonus of allowing him to block the additional blow, and get a little breath in.

"Surrender means survival. Waiting for a future opportunity to escape and take revenge. Death leaves nothing else."

[Allison Kazim]

The blow to her temple landed, sending sparks and stars across Ali's vision from the solid strike. She blinked, trying to clear her vision as her ears rang and John continued talking. Rather than pull away, which would have likely been smart, she slammed the back of her head against his face instead, hopefully breaking his nose and concentration.

"Is that what you did?"

[John A. Downing]

As her head smashed into the bridge of his nose, blood spurted out onto her hair. The pain made his eyes water, but rather than shift away his free arm released the Qi blade and would attempt to wrap about her neck in a modified rear naked choke. He'd fall backward onto his back to bring his legs up to wrap around her waist, intent to choke her out. His response was soft, surprisingly, despite the force he was trying to use.

"Exactly."

[Allison Kazim]

Given the fact he had her successfully pinned to the ground, John would be able to feel a small shudder from her at the shift in tone, followed by a nod as she grabbed the arm wrapped around her neck, tried to pry it away to let air in. That was the downside to using words for foci: you could get cut off from them. She would need to find a new way to handle that in teh future...

For now, she gave a grunt in response to his and twisted, tring to pull away at the side rather than straight forward since he had the advantage of weight and blade.

[David B.]

As she grabbed him, he'd begin by headbutting the back of her head, his other arm coming up after the drop an elbow repeatedly on the back of her skull. The choke out was the easy way. If he couldn't have that, he'd bludgeon her unconscious.

[Allison Kazim]

Unfortunately, Ali never took the easy way on anything. The headbutt that came from behind made it feel like her brain was rattling around in her skull, the world shifting and churning along with her stomach as she continued to try and break free, slamming her foot into his knee as she twisted, but unable to stop the second blow to her head. The redhead's face twisted in rage as she struggled before falling unconscious, blade hanging on by the curved fingers of her lip grasp as the world went dark.

[David B.]

Her kick did it's damage, causing him to wince, but he still got what he wanted, the girl going limp. He felt bad, because now he could DEMONSTRATE what he meant. He could die her up for the wolves. He could kidnap her to show her a lesson....but thankfully, he wasn't that far gone.

Instead, he lifted her body and, with his wounds, limped back to the infirmary. He grabbed some pretty flowers along the way, and once she was in her bed, he'd leave them in a little vase he stole from the nursing station on his way in.

Then, he would stumble his ass into another room, to find himself some medical care of his own.

[Allison Kazim]

/end!