Quills shuddered and clacked against its armor. Breaths came shallow and hot despite the relative coolness of the air. Verdigris pupils already contracted to minuscule points of light. Yet the selenite welded its feet to the arena floor with a bracing grimace, a preemptive snarl of lips. Its tail hung limp, knocking against its calves as it plodded forward.

Nemean bellowed her grand introductions, voice knocking off the sands in high-pitched peals of laughter. "GUILLOTINE, THROTTLER, KITTY-KILLER..." Her palms smacked against the worn ridge of stone lining the stands. "IIIIIT'S SELENITEEEEEEEEEEE!"

V-Selenite-One shrunk in on itself, halfheartedly wrapped fingers (stumps, stumps, it reminded itself) pantomiming clutching at its bicep. There was still blood caught in the channels between chitin and softer joint tissue; it glinted in the light. Sparkled, even, as it contemplated withdrawing then and there—but, it glanced to the seats, flinty eyes just barely catching sight of its Master and its fellow Forge.

Nausea swam in its guts, and yet there it stood plainly. Unsteady and prone to falling to pieces, but it stood.

It'd... it'd fight...

@Galleon

"AND FROM THE OTHER CORNER, GALLEON! THE WARSHIP OF THE UNDERWOOOOOORLD!"

Galleon entered the arena much as she had the last time. From beneath. She was a swell of sand growing as it raced towards the center. Her fin snapped open. Galleon shifted the membrane against the wind and angled her arms to slow her speed. She stopped near instantly, but could feel the burn of sand and the ache of joints from such a quick stop.

She needed practice, she rumbled silently. With the near silent rasp of claws on sand dug herself high enough to eyeball her opponent. She shook the sand from her face, a spray emitting from her blowhole, her slit cyan eyes searching for her opponent-- ah, there. She watched Selenite, her face too rigid to show any emotion. But her scales rippled with color.

Something larger! Thank goodness! It was a relief to fight something...more near her size. The last fight hadn't really felt like a fair shot, although the little civet was more agile than she'd thought. Her whole body wheezed with a massive sigh of relief. But the more she watched them, the more this one seemed...off. The way they clutched at their bicep with...stumps? The blood staining it. Nor could her memory provide much assistance. She couldn't recall watching it's match. She envied those who had though--it must've been killer!

Galleon hummed in thought. But clearly they'd still wanted to fight. After all, what other reason would they still be in the arena. She threw the rest of her head her above the sand after her silent observation. Galleon opened her jaws, a deep throaty voice uttering: "Hey, good luck. Y'got real balls coming back to the arena looking halfway to chrysalis. I envy you." Her bulk resounded with an earthy chuckle. "You'll feel better after a good fight. We're gonna have fun, yeah?" Her bone sheet teeth clicked together, for lack of a grin. She dug herself beneath the sand, until only her bright eyes and bright sail remained above, waiting for the other's reply.

@V-Selenite-One

It was a damn struggle to keep itself from glancing at Vargas in a wide-eyed panic when the sands themselves heralded the Galleon's arrival; an instinctive urge to stay deathly still had it crouching slightly in preparation, though its clacking quills betrayed it. The selenite knew, reasonably, that it lived with beasts far worse than the one hauling herself halfway to surface (shit, there was Draconua!) but—

Pointy ears pricked forward. A beat passed while its mind slogged back to the present, and it took a half-step backward. Balls? fluttered through its mind as it clung tighter to the plates of its arm. "Thank you," V-Selenite-One managed without too much of a stutter. Galleon's envy was misplaced, it was sure.

And, somehow, it supposed it would not feel better after a good fight, but... at least— this one would be more difficult to kill. Perhaps, she would be the one turning that on it.

The humanoid bristled at that and shook its head once. It dropped lower to the ground, shoulders rolling in a piss-poor attempt to relax like it'd seen other combatants do. A pair of arms interlocked in front of it—forming an X, and another hung at its sides. Fingers flexed with anticipatory nerves, and it half-mumbled to the sand (and the glinting eyes) it now stared at. "You first."

ROUND 1/5

100%

ATTEMPT: Bracing self for impact??
DEFENSE: Wide stance, arms crossed
INJURIES: All previous injuries (but, like... slightly healed.)

@Galleon

Galleon gnashed her teeth in excitement. This was sure to be more fun. Less injuring the other the worry about. "Your choice." With a massive intake of breath, Galleon dove. She was beneath the sands within seconds. But the mound was still visible. And it began to speed towards Selenite. The sand rumbling louder as she approached. Relying on instinct to tell her when to stop, she burst from the sand again with the sharp flick of her tail and the push of her arms. Galleon's teeth clenched into a death grip and her bright blue eyes glared. Her head poised to ram into Selenite.


@V-Selenite-One

((sorry for taking a while to reply!))

ROUND 1/?

#100%

ATTEMPT: Body slam
DEFENSE: none yet
INJURIES: Cuts on the underside from previous battle

As it turned out, there was a world's difference between facing an opponent you could see and one that you could not—and most obvious of them was the pistol-shot of instinctive fear putting a damper on its heartrate. Verdigris pupils pinholed, silvery quills clacking noisily against one another. Something in the back of its skull nagged, screamed for it to stand still and not make a sound, but a sharp whine bubbled out nonetheless.

The mound erupted beneath its feet, and it could only gasp as thousands of pounds of weight slammed upward into its chest.

When Galleon inevitably flopped back down to earth, V-Selenite-One continued to sail through the air. It landed at least twenty feet off, gasping and wincing as bruised—maybe even cracked—ribs and chitin smarted. Barely an upward glance was spared before it scrambled onto all fours (... sixes) and took off into a limping run for the nearest exit, favoring a leg that'd been landed on wrong.

It fell flat onto its chest, eliciting a muffled yelp into the sand, and rolled onto its back with a wobbly "I s-surrender!" Hands clutched at its pectoral plates, at its sides, and it curled in on itself.

selenite is forfeiting/attempting to escape! [also, i dq'd anyways oops]
@Galleon

DEATHMATCH

Well, that was fast. Nemean half couldn't blame Selenite; Galleon was huge, and terrifying. Fighting a goddamned sand shark--well, it was awesome to watch but probably not so awesome to do. Then again, a bunch of other Gembounds had fought to the death, or even won against larger opponents. So that was sort of disappointing.

And they'd hardly even started!

She rolled her eyes, and spun in a brief curl of light. Suddenly an old white judge's wig hung down to her shoulders, and she rapped a gavel in her hand atop a podium that'd materialized before her (all of it slightly translucent). "RIGHT! Forfeit; that makes the WARSHIP of the UNDERWOOOORLD our winner! Get good, Guillotine," she added instructively toward Selenite-One.

The fanfare was brief, spotlights illuminating Galleon's scales. While Nemean's judge's trappings fell away, she watched closely, curious as to whether the giant sharkthing would continue her assault, or accept the forfeit and back off to take her win.

_____________

DEATHMATCH WINNER: GALLEON

Character: V-Selenite-One Age: +5 (15 Cycles, capped) Magic Level: +1 (Fledgling) ROUND 1 Attempt: +14 Penalties: - Total: 20

Character: Galleon Age: +5 (7 Cycles, Capped) Magic Level: +3 (Brawler) ROUND 1 Attempt: +12 Penalties: - Total: 20

NUMERICAL WINNER: Tie!

@Galleon @V-Selenite-One