Mandalorians in the Mist

[Varus Wren]

Kashyyk - Dueling Arena​

Varus had always had a respect for the Wookies of Kashyyk. In many ways, they were bred to be the perfect warriors. They were strong, fast, and intelligent. So when his clan had been invited to celebrate Life Day among them, he had been eager to attend.

He had arrived late the night before on the Forest world alongside a good number of his clan. He had been excited to participate in the dueling arena ever since he had heard about the tradition. The Wookie elders had extended an invitation to the leader of Clad Wren to select two warriors to face off against one another in the first morning of the competition.

He had been chosen alongside a woman by the name of Solonne. This duel was about showing off his clan's own combat prowess but also would define their own rankings within the clan. Warriors were always fighting and training against one another to see who was the strongest warrior among them and today would be no different.

He grinned as he stepped out into the large circular arena cut into an ancient tree. All around them were towers of branches that had observation decks built around them. He met eyes with his opponent. He knew this woman, but not well. Today that would change he was sure.

The morning mist had not yet faded and gave the arena a hallowed feeling. He approached his opponent. "Good Luck today." he said, smiling in anticipation before bowing. "May the best Wren win."

 

[Solone Wren]

They had to be first in the morning; the life day celebrations went late into the night and into the early morning hours. As much as Solone enjoyed the drinking and feasting, especially the drinking, but not so much her inability to hold her alcohol. She was a lightweight and wouldn't admit it, but all her friends knew it was so and therefore there was really no need to be vocal about it. They must have thought it to be a cruel joke as she was wakened hastily from an hours rest and a full-blown hangover. Her stomach felt like someone had reached inside and was squeezing it as last night's meal still threatened to come up; she was almost tempted to have someone gut punch her before entering the ring. However, running as late as she was, there wasn't time to even tie her dark hair back.

The sun was rising and its rays were filtered through the leaves of the trees but it was still painful enough as the sounds seemed to compound the situation. She was going to get an earful from the clan leader about this if she ended up looking like a fool in front of the Wookiees. Solone glanced at Varus, she had seen him frequently, but did not know him as much as she preferred to know about her brothers and sisters in Clan Wren. He grinned and bowed to Solone and she grimaced internally as she followed, bowing at the waist and praying to the gods that she did not vomit on her way up.

"Yeah, best Wren..." she sighed wanting this to be over so she could go to bed. However, now she had to suck it up and give a display for all to enjoy while still retaining her honor. She waited for the signal and the crowd of Wookiee and Wrens fell silent until they were greeted with the low bellow of a horn. Cheers erupted and Solone winced at the noise, but breathed deep and hard through the pain, her heart felt like it was pounding her throat.

She cautiously approached Varus, her fists clenched and relaxed prepared to make the first move; she sped up and took a swing to an unarmored side, more so to judge her opponent's reflexes.

@Raydo

 

[Varus Wren]

Solone looked like she had a hell of a night previously and was still living with the after effects. He grinned warmly. It was not a foreign experience for him so he could have some empathy as she squinted in the morning light. He was also certain that, just like he would for her, she wouldn't want him to hold back just because of she hungover.

As the horn rung it, he thought the sheer sound of it would end the fight as she wavered slightly but she recovered and moved towards him. He readied himself as she approached, but she exploded with speed at the last second. As she wobbled, she came in from an angle that he didn't expect.

The punch connected, but he stumbled back out of the way taking most of the blows power with it. It still packed a good sting to it. Recovering quickly he jumped towards her, at the last second ducking and spinning backward with his right leg as he attempted to knock her legs out from underneath her.

 

[Solone Wren]

She managed to land a hit and she felt her confidence boost, but the adrenaline did not do well for her stomach as she felt it turn uncomfortably. The sounds of the cheering crowd for the first hit didn't help either and she felt herself fall back into early training days, where she was worn and tired after days on end of training, no real rest in between. It was in those moments did she surely feel like vomiting but didn't allow herself just like now. Varus had stumbled backward, but his reflexes were much quicker than her own as he leaped at her, she began to over think on what he was going to do and in that process, made herself look like a complete fool in the process.

Solone's back hit the ground hard and there was a collective groan from the crowd as they shared her pain and possibly embarrassment from the Mandalorian woman's lack of prowess in the fight. She could hear her Aunt's scolding her for her lack of discipline and possibly the shame of dishonor from this battle display. The woman rolled over to push herself up, keeping a close eye on Varus to make sure he didn't try to pull another fast one, but to her right now, any move he made seemed like a fast one. Taking a few steps backward, Solone created some distance between the two of them, fists raised to protect her face and ready to strike if he would get close enough.

"Ok, c'mon..." she said breathlessly, her own voice was painful to hear; she really wanted a drink to sooth things until she could get some proper rest.

@Raydo

 

[Varus Wren]

Already shaky, her legs buckled as his kick connected. Varus' heard the wind escape from her lungs as she thudded the ground. The crowd gasped as well. His fellow Mandalorians grew silent as they watched they watched on.

Varus didn't pay the crowd any attention. Some reveled in the glory given by a crowd, but he was not such a person. The glory of victory was enough for him.

He moved back a couple of steps out of range of any counter attack. He wasn't going to kick her while she was down and if her reputation was correct, she wouldn't crack that easy.

He waited for her to push herself to her feet, before he spring forward again. He launched himself forward abd punched with his right arm. Un her condition, if it connected it could have very well ended the fight.

She dodged his attack. He knew he had left himself open. He scrambled to halt his momentum but it was too late.

 

[Solone Wren]

His leap at her was not too impressive, she managed to step just to the side to dodge his attack and without making contact with the woman, the moment caused him to stumble further. The crowd gasped and Solone threw her arms up comically, gesturing the victorious defense and earned herself a couple of laughs, which was quieter than the cheering and for a brief moment, her head stopped pounding.

"/Varus, c'mon, that was absolutely a novice-/" she paused, realizing the sheer willpower of keeping herself from not vomiting in the arena had loosened just for a moment and she bent at the waist, spilling the contents of her stomach onto the floor of the arena. With her hands on her knees, she heaved a couple more times. "/Kark me.../" she grumbled and wiped her mouth with the back of her palm and then her palm on her pant leg. Solone stood straight up, the pounding intensified and then subsided and the crowd was unusually quiet; she looked around and then down at the mess she made before kicking some dirt over it. Her aunts were going to skin her for this show.

Solone waived two hands in the hair and the crowd began cheering again and started to close the distance between her and Varus who by now would have been on his feet and ready to go at it again. She took a swing and knew he would dodge, but she would step into him, grabbing his right arm as she pressed her back into the Wren warrior to throw him over her shoulder.

@Raydo

 

[Varus Wren]

His expression narrowed as she jabbed at him verbally. Karma came quickly for the woman as she bent over and vomited on the arena floor. "and here I thought Mandalorian women could hold their liquor." he said a grin returning to his face.

He readied himself as she approached. He doubted the alcohol had too much effect on her actual fighting ability. In fact, the display probably only fed her desire to win.

As she moved in, he dodged the punch easily enough but the woman was fast and as he began to counter the punch, she stepped in and grabbed his arm. Using his momentum, she ducked and throw him over her shoulder. He landed with a thud onto the wooden arena floor which was not forgiving in the least.

He rolled away before she could press her attack further while he was on the ground. It had been a good move, and had won back some of the dignity she had lost from getting sick.

He would need to be careful, but aggressive to end this fight. It was almost certain that she was faster than him, he would need to use strength it was going to win. This time he advanced slowly, looking for that perfect opening to attack.

 

[Solone Wren]

She had successfully flipped him over her shoulder and the crowd went wild; Varus tried to scramble away in order to put distance between the two, but with the purging of her stomach she felt paradoxically better. Her head still pounded, but she pushed herself, then she would reward herself later with sleep...or possibly more drinking...more drinking...who was she fooling. Grabbing Varus around the waist, she needed to pin him to the ground; the woman threw all her weight at him and if he was not ready he would succumb to the pin, allowing the Wren woman to dig her elbow, rather uncomfortably into the center of his back.

"C'mon, you know you're not going to win this." she growled; it wasn't that he couldn't best her, but she was not going to return to her clan after the earlier embarrassing displays and try to explain herself to the matriarchs in charge, more particularly her aunts - family just seemed to make all the chastising the worst. She would be more than happy to listen to anyone else, but some how they all knew she would watch herself closer if it were members of her family.

Regardless of what laid ahead, Solone continued to weigh down Varus, pressing her elbow deeper into his back.

@Raydo

 

[Varus Wren]

He pushed himself up, already moving forward and away from his opponent when all of her weight crashed down on him. His arms buckled on the weight and he was pushed back to the arena floor.

Pain surged as she pressed down on his spine, elbow digging deep. He moved back and forth trying to throw the woman off balance. If she had given even the slightest opening he would be able to escape.

He was given no such opening. He struggled a bit longer before the end of the match was called. He was frustrated with himself, as he picked himself up. He did his best not to show any of the emotion. He wasn't mad with Solone, she had fought just as any Mandalorian should, even when sick. She was a strong warrior, and to be bested by her was to bested by one of the best of his clan. He would train harder, become faster, and next time he would be taken down so easily.

He offered another bow, this time a bit lower, signifying respect to the victor. "Perhaps you can show me that throw sometime." he said grinning as he stood. Standing beside her he raised her arm as the victor which elicited a cheer from the crowd. "I'll make sure to drink more before our next fight." he said so only she could hear as he slightly squeezed her arm before lowering it.

"Until next time, Solone." he said as he backed out of the arena, leaving the woman to her glory. Perhaps it was time he found himself a drink.

 

[Solone Wren]

Solone was not going to let him go as she dug deeper with her elbow until she heard the call that the match was over and she immediately let him up, knowing it was a painful dig, physically. The crowd cheered and Solone did her best to hid her head of pounding misery behind her smile in victory; even with herself winning this one, she wasn't looking forward to the lecture back on Krownest.

Varus returned to his feet and respectfully bowed to Solone and congratulated her on her victory, another cheer and internally she grimaced from the hammer pounding on the inside of her skull. She almost wondered if he did that on purpose, especially with his quip about drinking. "I don't advise it." she groaned, knowing her lightweight drinking abilities were witnessed by half the clan; some would call it shameful for being a Mandalorian, but she assumed those who drank regularly were unaccountable alcoholics. Solone placed her hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze, "Next time, any time, Varus." she told him with a grin.

"C'mon, the only way I will get rid of this hangover if we drink some more." she told him catching up with her brethren and walked out of the arena with him to the festivities and feasts that were firing up for the holiday.

/END THREAD