There Can Be Only One

[Azrael]

12 Ashan 724

It was only a matter of time until Edasha's son grew tired of the hoops he was jumping through because he'd made a drunken bet. One trial, he'd be fed up with it all. That was not this trial though.

The Bronze Boar was hosting a unique competition and Azrael caught wind of it while sizing up the bottles in the bar to try and find one for his collection. Collection was a loose term. He wanted to start filling the shelf space in his ship with fancy bottles. He'd keep the actual supply for drinking in the storage spaces and bring it out after people picked the fancy bottle. It was a strange thing. He had a tavern sitting on a boat and he could take it anywhere in the world... but it wasn't really a business for him. It was a hobby. It wasn't paying any bills or generating profit. It was self-sustaining... until Azrael decided to really get into the business- but if he did that he'd need to allocate a brawling area and figure out how to make tavern tokens.

Enough about the boat!

Azrael was in The Bronze Boar looking for a nicely made bottle of their white wines- specifically Ashan's Twilight and Saun's Heat. He thought it would be fun to style a shelf with drinks for each season. However after discovering that even if he purchased a bottle he'd be given a plain and entirely unremarkable one, Azrael was a little put out. It was very disappointing until he saw a small crowd shifting from the bar to the upstairs area.

Never one to miss out on a party, Azrael followed them up the old wooden steps.

He hadn't even wondered where the fighting ring was for The Bronze Boar until he saw it but in hindsight, he probably should have been looking. He only needed one more tavern token to get access to The Glass Quarter and then he'd be fighting in front of a whole different type of people. He was hoping they'd be softer due to their luxuries. Even better, he might be able to find fancy bottles. It was called the Glass Quarter after all.

When he reached the second floor he found the familiar atmosphere of all the other fighting rings. Drunk men and women were shouting bets back and forth at a bookie who seemed to be scrambling to keep everything in order. There were about five people stretching within the boundaries of the ring; a man with a goatee, a short woman with big hands, an ithecal with a tail, a hairy man, and a woman with no hair at all.

What is happening up here?

There was a small bar off to the side that Azrael leaned against to try and get a better look at what was happening. Only a trill or so after leaning against the bar, a voice chirped out at him. "Are you fighting? You're a little pretty for a fighter."

Azrael turned. It was the bookie. He must have seen Azrael coming upstairs. Azrael had to admit, he didn't mind being recognized but he wanted to scope it out first. "What's going on?"

"Owner's trying something new. Last brawler standing. Everyone fights at once. In or out?"

"Winner get a token?"

"Yeah, hurry up pretty boy, I need to take bets."

"Alright, I'll play."

"Good." The bookie turned and shouted "We have our sixth!" He turned grabbed Azrael's arm and hoisted it into the air, then gave the mortalborn a stiff push towards the fighting ring. Azrael stumbled forward towards the thin barrier between the crowd and the other five fighters. He hopped over it and landed on his feet. The other fighters didn't seem to regard him at all. They were all too focused on their warms ups to pay any mind to him- well everyone except the ithecal.

Azrael was pretty sure the ithecal winked at him.

[Azrael]

12 Ashan 724

It took less than a trill to realize that the wink was meant to be threatening and not flirtatious.

As soon as the bookie announced that the fight had begun, the ithecal charged at Azrael. He dropped back into a boxing stance, unsure of how to engage the larger, scaly fighter and as soon as the ithecal reached him, he threw a wide haymaker with his right hand. The ithecal ducked under it and began to seize Azrael by his abdomen- no doubt with the intention of throwing Azrael to the ground. Azrael was too fast. He brought a knee up and caught the ithecal's maw, knocking them aside and forcing them to release him.

The ithecal reeled for a moment but gathered his bearings and advanced again with a little more caution. His large scaled hands waved back and forth in the air, attempting to cover up which side he was going to strike from but Azrael saw through it. He recognized the ithecal's footing and knew which attack would be the most effective.

Well... he thought he did.

Azrale brought his arm up to block a swing on the right but the ithecal attacked from the left. The scaled fist came around so fast it might have knocked Azrael's head off, but Edasha's son managed to pull his head back just before contact. He thrust forward with his right foot, shoving the ithecal back so he could re-evaluate his form. He'd been wrong with his first prediction. He didn't want to repeat that performance.

A loud crack rang out beside Azrael and someone roughly the same height as the mortalborn fell against Azrael. Pushing him forward and off balance for a trill. He turned to find that the woman with big hands had knocked the hairy man completely unconscious. She turned her sights on Azrael for a moment but a wicked smile crossed her lips and she turned to attack the man with the goatee who was still in the middle of a boxing match with the woman who had no hair at all.

"What? I'm not good enough for-" Azrael felt the ithecal's arms suddenly wrap around him from behind, trapping his arms at his side as he was hoisted up into the air.

Oh... shit. I forgot about the lizard.

The ithecal put all its strength into its arms as it began to squeeze all the air out of Azrael's body. The mortalborn's hands twitched as he tried to wiggle his way free, but the grip on him was too tight. If he had his arms free, at least he might have been able to turn or throw and elbow but all he had was his legs and they were dangling in the air too. Someone ran towards them. Azrael heard the steps and sounds of a battle cry. The ithecal swung him and Azrael pushed his legs out, causing them to strike the man with the goatee across the head- a fitting reward for someone trying to sneak attack.

If Azrael thought the momentary alliance meant they were friends, he was wrong. The ithecal spun again and hurled Azrael into the dazed goatee wearer, causing them both to crash hard onto the ground. On the bright side, the man with the goatee did soften the landing. Azrael rolled off of him and pushed himself back up onto his feet, ignoring the fading pain in his abdomen and arms. His eyes darted around the ring quickly, trying to recenter himself.

The girl with big hands had been caught in a headlock by the girl with no hair at all and the ithecal had been delayed by the hair man who Azrael thought had been knocked out. Apparently he was playing opossum to let the others wear themselves out. He stomped on the ithecal's tail and was getting a series of progressively more brutal punches to the face as a reward. The ithecal was holding him up by his long beard. Each punch dropped him back to the ground and the ithecal lifted him up by his beard again for the next.

Azrael took a step towards the ithecal but the man with the goatee had begun to rise. Azrael kicked the side of his abdomen hard but it didn't knock him down. He glanced back at the ithecal who was still beating the hairy man.

"Hey!" Azrael shouted as he punted the man with the goatee in the ribcage, knocking him back to the ground. "Put the fuzzball down, we aren't done yet!" He heard a few laughs among the audience. The ithecal was happy to oblige. He dropped the hairy man and began to lumber towards Azrael. Once he got in close, he began to swing his hands deceptively again. This time, Azrael recognized the pattern. He caught the hard left hook with his right forearm and delivered a hard uppercut to his opponent's scaly maw. The ithecal reeled back slightly- not because Azrael hit very hard but because he'd been surprised.

Azrael stepped in, closing the distance between them with a probing kick that the ithecal sidestepped. He pushed in as well and tried to bear hug the mortalborn again but Azrael remembered the move. He turned, not fully able to prevent being grabbed but able to do enough that his arms were free and he was facing the ithecal now. When the mortalborn felt the squeeze begin, he started hammering down on the scaly bastard's shoulders and head.

First hit, nothing but a little stumble back. Second hit, he could feel the grip loosen slightly. Third hit, he felt someone shift under the ithecal's shoulder. Fourth hit, his feet touched the ground again and the ithecal's arms slipped down to his sides.

Then Azrael did something entirely for show. He hooked his arms under the dazed lizard's and crouched down so he could push with his legs. In one fluid motions he pushed up and tossed the ithecal over him. The big boy was heavy thought and it took a bit more wind out of Azrael's sails that he thought it would. Still, the sound the crowd made was worth it. Azrael took a moment to catch his breath and when he looked up, the woman with no hair at all was waiting for him.

Waiting? Why? Why not attack while he's winded?

It was a little creepy. She watched him through the ridges where her eyebrows should have been. Her head bobbed from side to side somewhat like a snake in the grass and she had an unsettling grin.

Not Azrael's type really but who was he to judge. He was only Edasha's son.

He pushed up onto his feet and help up a finger. He wasn't asking for another moment. He was reminding the woman what they were fighting to. Last one standing. There could be only one.

He bounced on his feet for a moment and moved in to attack. Whether the hairless wonder knew it or not, he had the advantage now. The numbers might have overwhelmed him if they had all come after him first but they attacked each other instead and cut the work in half for Azrael.

He threw a probing left jab and the hairless woman bobbed her head out of the way. He threw a right hook and she slipped under it. He tried for a front kick and she turned her body side face, slipping completely behind Azrael due to his own momentum. He felt a sudden and sharp pain on the side of his neck and then on the upper part of his back so he stumbled forward to get away from the hairless lady. He turned quickly, one hand reaching up to where he'd been struck and the other extended to defend himself if the woman pursued him. She didn't. She'd returned to the same stance she was in when she was waiting for him to attack.

Azrael felt an irritated growl begin to rise. She'd just made him look fairly stupid. He took a deep breath and moved in again. He attacked with the same moves as before but each one came in quick concert with the others. A jab, a fast hook, and a front kick. She dodged them all again but this time when she moved to slip behind him, he spun suddenly and swung his right arm out. The spinning back fist caught the her on the side of her bald head and she stumbled. Azrael stepped in and swept her leg, bringing her to the ground in two moves.

He dropped to the side and raised his fist to end the fight but stopped himself. Her eyes were miles away. She had a glass jaw and the backhand had done all he needed. No wonder she was so good at avoiding attacks. She couldn't really do anything if she was hit by one.

There was an uproar in the crowd. Some cheering, some booing, some shouting about collecting the winnings from their bets. Azrael rose to his feet slowly and raised his arms to his sides, basking in the sounds of the crowd like a plant in sunlight.

He'd collect his tavern token and have a drink on his boat. Everyone was invited.

[Azrael]

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Notes/Warnings: Brawling violence, language.

Thread: There Can Be Only One
City/Area: Rharne

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