There it is: pain. It shot through her limbs as she colided with the arena floor, and while she made an attempt to recover, Eurydome heard a second thump as Vakornol hit the floor behind her, too. Despite the adrenaline that the pain brought, she felt her muscles tense briefly.

Eurydome wasn't the only one out of practice.

Now would have been her chance to gain the upper hand, though the gladiator's mind lingered on Vakornol's words-- they didn't have to kill each other for someone else's amusement. It was a risk-- but it was the honourable thing to do.

She side-stepped, swept down and pulled her sword back into her hands, and then stepped right back. She didn't attack-- she didn't try to make any moves to keep Vakornol grounded there. She stepped back and she waited in silence for the Valkhound to pick herself back up with her ears flattened against the sides of her skull.

But she was at least, tentative. She watched carefully, half-searching Vakornol's eyes for intent and her limbs for sudden movements to continue her assault-- but for the time being, a tense silence lingered in the air as the dust around the arena slowly began to settle again in the stillness.

ROUND 4/?

ATTEMPT: get her sword back
DEFENSE: watching
INJURIES: bruised, probably

@Vakornol

Vakornol set her elbows beneath herself, putrescent eyes watching but unwilling to back off from her opponent so quickly. The closeness kept them both at a disadvantage (seeing as she couldn't just swing her head down and bite Eurydome in half without breaking their pact of honor) and to move away would be to open herself up to assault.

But, ah— the centaur was side-stepping to her sword, moving away. A mutual moment's reprieve, then. Respectable.

The Valkhound pushed to her own feet without so much as a grunt of effort, tail wagging once or twice before setting back to rights. She figured she could consider this sort of a reset, or a turnover; the manual flip of offense and defense as one sparred. Clearly, they were both not on their A-game.

Also, Vakornol thought it was a prime opportunity to at last have her way, "Rather than me trying to force your hand into taking a shot at me, I'll politely offer: your move."

Her weight settled downward, head lower than her shoulders. That crooked grin never once left her face.

ROUND 5/?

ATTEMPT: No attempt
DEFENSE: Squared-off stance, slight amount of distance
INJURIES: Chin bruised

@Eurydome

The Forsaken Reverant pushed herself up and Eurydome watched in silence, the muscles close to her spine tense as she backed away and-- more importantly --was permitted to back away, even after Vakornol's offer to attack first. As much as it was a polite offer, it was one Eurydome didn't quite want. She was half-surprised that Vakornol even wanted to continue this oddly private affair.

... but fair enough.

Oversized paws twisted thoughtfully in the dirt, claws digging into the arena's substrate. The Valkhound would be expecting usual attacks; charging, swinging, kicking, screaming. Eurydome had to be smarter than that. Her legs took her rightward, towards the dead-center of the arena and she found Vakornol moving with her, covering her flanks, refusing to give her the edge of seeing the Valkhound's sides.

A spell it was, then-- she could pull off something to make sure that Vakornol couldn't move; but where was the fun in that? The centuar came to a stop and steadied herself where she stood, knuckles turning pale as she held her blade in a death grip.

She breathed. A little surge of magicka and it was all she needed; the sound was subtle at first. A distant, far-off murmur of nothing in particular. A beat later it exploded into something anew; a monotone, high-pitched buzz like mosquito wings that only grew louder in volume as if coming closer to the arena.

She hoped it'd be enough, if even a moment, to expose an opening.

ROUND 5/?

ATTEMPT: distract Vakornol with the Worst Sound Ever
DEFENSE: Stanced the fuck up
INJURIES: Minor bruises

@Vakornol

Give no quarter, as they say— even when the fight screeches to a halt and neither are willing to give the inch of space to let momentum do its work. Pivoting to force Eurydome to look at her head-on, Vakornol wondered if she should've just left it up to fate to decide if one of them walked out of this arena alive.

It certainly would have been more entertaining, even if she'd have maybe wound up with round two of a pointy object jammed into her ribcage in twice as many cycles.

Far more entertaining than the disorienting buzz rattling through her eardrums. Putrescent eyes narrowed into half a squint, the reverberating hum of air akin to standing too close to a metal detector or the Spire. It didn't quite throw her off balance or give the world a nauseating smear overlay, but it was enough that a shooting headache lanced through her skull.

Eyesight subconsciously impaired by a momentary inability to focus on anything but the noise (sue her, the arena's been quiet since the new age began) Vakornol weighed her options.

The best would be to knock the centaur off balance, catch her off guard. Cut off what attention was sustaining such a spell. The distance between them meant Eurydome could move away before she managed to compensate for the change in position.

So, as reasonable people are wont to do: the Valkhound tried to send a shockwave of energy toward her opponent's feet, to fling her off them altogether.

The thing was, she could only project such a blow directly in front of herself. Eurydome may have already moved out of the way even as the wave moved forward with a pop-pop-pop! of air.

ROUND 6/?

ATTEMPT: Remove The Source Of The Bad Noise (Fling Eurie away)
DEFENSE: Squared-off stance
INJURIES: Chin bruises, disoriented

@Eurydome

Eurydome shuffled; and Vakornol was blind to it. Dust spilled from the arena floor where her paws had been only a beat before and she knew that now was her chance. While the spell was still making impact with the air the centuar began to charge forward, her sword drawn.

If she were lucky, Vakornol wouldn't have the chance to move in time. If she were lucky, the amaranth sword wouldn't skid off the pebble-like scales on the Reverant's ribcage. If she were lucky, Vakornol wouldn't turn around and kill her where she stood.

Hell, she swore quietly-- but the fight had gone past entertainment alone for the centuar. There was no time to regret her actions, especially while she was still filling them out.

Her spare hand gripped the hilt of her sword as, once in range, she moved to plunge the blade into Vakornol's ribs.

ROUND 6/?

ATTEMPT: Stab Vakornol
DEFENSE: None
INJURIES: Minor bruises

@Vakornol

The buzz petered out, and in its place came the drumbeat thu-thump! of paws in the sand.

Vakornol twisted away at the last moment, backpedaling preemptively when she just barely comprehended the centaur's approach. A sharp exhale escaped her as the amethyst's tip grazed her pebbly hide.

Then, totally on instinct, she threw herself forward; head slightly to the side, front half lowered to the ground. Shoulder bared, she made to slam it into Eurydome's upper half. Of course, the Hound had the sense to mind the massive spike atop her own shoulderblades, but still... it was a rather forceful blow.

Again, too, rather blindly attempted.

She hoped it seemed tactical, like an attempt to get her fellow combatant away to make a follow-up assault, and not a slightly-blind, severe-and-continuous-lapse-in-judgement reflex; because to no one's surprise, Vakornol thought it'd be quite embarrassing to wind up sleeping again due to being stabbed.

ROUND 7/?

ATTEMPT: Slam shoulder into Eurie
DEFENSE: Stanced.
INJURIES: Chin bruises, lightly scratched across the chest, minorly disoriented

@Eurydome

Shit.
There was a delicate snap of ribs cracking in Eurydome's upper torso as Vakornol's shoulder connected with her sternum. Even as blind as Vakornol's attempt was, it was a hard hit-- and out of her own blind instinct, Eurydome reacted immediately.

She snarled, mouth open and face crinkled with pain. Her sword-arm lifted and then sent the amethyst blade in an arc downwards for Vakornol's ribcage-- this time, from the shoulderblade that was still in close contact with her own chest.

Maybe it was a good thing no one was here to witness the fight, after all. It had quickly turned embarassing.

ROUND 7/?

ATTEMPT: just fucking do it again lmaooooo
DEFENSE: None
INJURIES: Minor bruiises, broken ribs

@Vakornol

Foul language was commonplace on these hallowed grounds. Just as often as blood sprayed the sands, vile words trumpeted through the air. Vakornol had never really subscribed to such potty-mouthed misdeeds, but her swear word repertoire was worthy of being catalogued in a library with how many creative (and... not creative) insults had slid past her like water off a duck's back.

The one she chose to use upon hearing ribs snap was "Shit!"

A perfect mirror to Eurydome's thoughts.

Rather than swing to deflect the sword blow, the Hound nearly bit her tongue off trying to twist backward and give herself enough room. A foreleg came up, claws grasping for a hold on a comparatively tiny wrist. If she even got that far, Vakornol merely locked her own arm in place, trying to keep the sword from connecting and to keep the Amaranth still.

"Hey," she huffed from behind her outstretched arm, regardless, "let's call it before either one of us ends up with worse than embarrassment whatever the Hell just happened to you."

ROUND 8/?

ATTEMPT: Grab Eurie's sword arm
DEFENSE: None
INJURIES: Chin bruises, lightly scratched across the chest

@Eurydome

Eurydome was hardly breathing.

Heart beating hard against fractured ribs; blood rushing in her ears. Was it the adrenaline, or something else? The knowledge that at in the blink of an eye, Eurydome could lose her entire arm to the rows of teeth in Vakornol's jaws? The skin beneath her fur was hot and the centuar fell unnaturally still; muscles tensing in the Reverant's grip.

"I think it's clear," she said, barely above a shallow whisper, "that both of us are severely out of practice."

Embarassing might have been one word for it, sure, but if this had been a real fight, with a real audience, they'd both have been punished for a terrible display. If they were particularly unlucky, they might have been culled to create something that could show more... tact.

Her arm twisted and then bent at the shoulder; she only just managed to scrap her wrist out of Vakornol's grip with minimal damage (the slightest gold buds dripping from her fur) and her paws brought her backwards-- but she made no more attempts to bring herself upon Vakornol further. She licked the blood from her wrist and frowned, looking over the Valkhound.

She shook her fur out after a moment. As the adrenaline faded from her limbs, she was suddenly aware of the thrumming of pain throughout her body. "I have an offer," the centuar said-- "you may not like it."

A pace-- a few steps to Vakornol's left with a wide bearth, her brow furrowed and her sword settling onto its resting position: hanging idly on her shoulder. She needed to find the scabbard for that thing. "What if we worked to train each other back up? Together," she added.

"We could have a rematch when we are both back to our best."

@Vakornol

ROUND 8/8

ATTEMPT: Retreat from Vakornol
DEFENSE: None
INJURIES: Minor bruises, cracked ribs

A heady pause.

Vakornol sighed, "Perhaps."

Fur shifted under her grasp, and she relinquished her hold a moment too late; the scrape of calloused pads had already started to draw blood. She took a few backward steps of her own, regarding Eurydome with what appeared to be vague indifference. At the mention of an offer, the Hound fell back onto her haunches. With just a cursory glance (just in case there were... any bright ideas) upward, she took to a very cat-like position preening at her outstretched forearm.

You may not like it, one of her many rivals posited. She paused mid-lick, brow ridge quirking and eyes imploring her to "go on."

And it was a simple proposition, really. A truce to put on the greatest show; a spectacle to behold for anything old enough to remember their titles. Vakornol nodded along, and without hesitation, made her decision, "Sure thing, Eurydome." Her toxic, glowing Cheshire grin spread wider. Imagine the intensity of such a matchup—at the end of this, they'd be fighting not only one another, but the potential cycles of intimate knowledge of one another. Perhaps Vargas would be inclined to host another series of Deathmatches in the Arena. This time, she'd not be so foolish as to assume the modern-day Gembound didn't have the capacity to slay dirty.

Exhilarating.

"We'll just pretend that didn't happen. Funny what a couple thousand years of hibernating does, eh?" A statement cushioned by humor, she hoped. For good measure, Vakornol punctuated it with a huffed laugh; as if falling asleep for millennia was a normal occurrence.

She set her jaw regardless, and just before she lapped at her forearm: "What woke you up?"

Had they just missed one another in the past two years? It was entirely possible.

@Eurydome