Post by The Animal Spirit on Nov 2, 2013 13:28:19 GMT -5
Udyr watched as Riven readied her blade, and when he heard her response, "I am Riven, the Hope of Noxus," he grinned.
"Hope. Tch."
The beastman fired his fist forward, then started to pull back. It felt like the air itself was being dragged by Udyr, the sound of a vacuum heard from the force he was pulling back with. All of his fire, all of the wind, all of his aspects seemed to fly towards his clenched fist then disappeared.
"Hope is for the weak. Hope is for those that want something but are unsure of themselves. Hope is what the dying think in their last moments. Hope crumbles."
Udyr stood in place as he tightened every single one of his muscles. Then, he roared as he fired his fist towards the incoming Wind Scar. Riven would discover something new about Udyr: He was also a Ki-user. Ki was the life force of a being that flowed between the person and nature itself.
When Udyr punched, the air around the edge of his fist seemed to explode, followed by a sound that resembled the crack of lightning. The combined ki of the Tiger, the Turtle, the Bear, the Phoenix and even the Monkey all rose up from Udyr's fist. If Udyr had actually struck an object, Riven would have no doubt in her mind that the beastman could actually break a mountain in twain.
The Ki of Udyr would meet with Riven's Wind Scar, and promptly explode, sending a torrent of hellish flames flying every which way. Udyr fell to the ground and stabbed his hands into the earth. The resulting shockwave from the impact of two powerful sources of Ki would have sent him flying if he had not bunkered himself down. His fingers created ten deep scars into the earth as it pushed him.
His blood seemed to fly out at his sides and create a thin, nearly transparent scarlet cloak. His already damaged face seemed to peel more and more from the harsh winds, exposing bloodied bone and the cracks that Riven's sword had caused. When the air died down and things started to settle, Udyr would rise up once more. His fingernails had been torn off from his efforts, his legs, though he walked, resembled jelly more than anything, but the beastman did not fall.
Every three steps, Udyr would fall to one knee, cough a torrent of blood, finally revealing that behind the stoic demeanor, even his legendary constitution had its limits. But after his coughing fit, he would rise up and take another three steps. "If you have no hope...does that mean you will stop fighting...?"
Another violent series of coughs, another torrent of blood, but Udyr did not relent in his stride. "Is this where you say you give up, or do you rise again and fight once more?"
He was mere feet away from Riven when he fell to his knees for the last time. Udyr's body started to quake from his exertion. If Riven wanted to end this once and for all, all she would have to do is to stand up and stare the mighty beastman down. Up until this point, he had been telling her everything. He had been speaking, he had been the one who attacked her, up until this point, she was at his mercy. This was her final chance, to show Udyr who she was. Was she a killer, or was she more? Was she hope, or was she the light?
The proof that the state is a creation of nature and prior to the individual is that the individual, when isolated, is not self-sufficing; and therefore he is like a part in relation to the whole. But he who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god.
Riven's entire body shook as Udyr's did. Blood trailed freely from her nose, her mouth. Her eyes were bloodshot, her vision blurred, tunneled from the damage she had inflicted upon herself with her last attack. She coughed, a feeling of being underwater almost, pounding in her chest. She hacked a cough, crimson landing upon the ground below her. Her blade had been decimated, the broken fragment being the only thing that remained of the weapon. The white of her tunic was stained with red, and the scarlet substance trailed from exposed skin, mingled with dirt and grime from the field. She felt...cold...
Her body was shutting down from heavy injury. The damage spread from the leylines her form used to channel her power, and had caused serious injury and internal bleeding. Still, though, as her body threatened to fall, she stood, her teeth gritting with spirit and determination. She would not fall. She would NOT fall. A single step brought her within spitting distance of the kneeling Udyr. She coughed and forced herself to speak.
"No... You're wrong..." She took another step, her eyes trained on the man before her. "Hope...makes us reach beyond our means...it dares us to keep going because we believe in something stronger, greater, than ourselves..." Her lips trembled with emotion.
"I am...that thing for others... Their light in the dark, their hope. And I will never allow myself to fail...so long as...they still need me, seek something greater than themselves... I carry their hopes, their dreams...on my back, and in my heart." Tears fell from her eyes even as she stared into Udyr's very soul with her gaze. She had broken her body, torn through her limits, but her spirit still drove her onward. She stepped forward and gripped the shredded fabric of the man's clothing and yanked him to face her.
"I am the hope, the light...of Noxus. And I WILL burn brighter in the dark than anything they have ever seen if it means not failing those that I wish to save, to protect." Her hands trembled with force, determination, and resolve as she spoke. "I will not end your life today, Spirit Walker. I have proven my point..." She paused and cast the man back and away from her grip.
"But...if you challenge me again, I will remind you just how brightly my spirit burns when my goals are threatened..." She swallowed a thick mix of blood and coughed, still shaking. "I WILL save Noxus. No matter what it takes... I will rise to defeat any challenge... And if my blade must draw blood, take lives...then I will not hesitate if there is no other way."
Post by The Animal Spirit on Nov 13, 2013 13:30:47 GMT -5
The beast man stared at Riven as she spoke to him. When she grabbed him, a grin cracked across his otherwise stoic face. When she pushed him away, his grin changes into a broken, bloodied but somewhat toothy smile.
"You hear them, do you not?" Udyr raised his arm upwards, his knuckles cracking from the pressure his fist created. "All of those you have trampled on to get here. All those who died to your hand, you hear them, and you thought it to weigh you down. How does it feel to fly, not roll about, not to be content, but truly fly, on your own, for the first time in your life, Falcon?"
His fist wavered, then lowered. "Your strength is not enough if you can only match our strength. Those who stand in your way will use what ever methods necessary to win, unlike us. The Noxians in Ionia are already more than a match for us, because of their leader." Udyr's voice became a low growl. "You cannot hope to compete against him if your ambition, your desires, what you are willing to do to achieve your goal, are anything less than equal, or greater, to his. He moves while you sleep, while you rest, and you expect to do much more? Tch...ha ha..."
Udyr paused here and wiped away the blood from his face. He bowed his head, and spat on the ground. His broken teeth hit the soil, and he started to walk away. "Rise? Do not make us laugh..." The beast man pumped his fist into the air, his back facing Riven to show her every one of his muscles taunt and strained from the fight, with a trail of blood dripping onto the ground with every step he took. "Fly, or crawl. There is no in between. When next we meet, we expect to have to look up to the heavens to find you."
The proof that the state is a creation of nature and prior to the individual is that the individual, when isolated, is not self-sufficing; and therefore he is like a part in relation to the whole. But he who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god.
Riven did not respond as she watched the Spirit Walker rise and leave the field of battle, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She knew of what he spoke, though she did not like what she heard. She knew Swain had gathered at least two powerful entities and made or coerced them into joining the ranks of Noxus' Military. The Butcher of the Sands was a near unstoppable juggernaut of rage and ferocity, while the Burning Vengeance has always been a force of destruction, even a force of nature. Their might said nothing of the Grand General's strength, and who knew how strong the others were?
Her thoughts were interrupted as her vision blurred extensively, and the world around her spun. She fell backwards onto the ruined ground below her, her eyes heavy. Just how much damage had she done to her body? Her breathing weakened somewhat and her body felt like lead, cold. She fought to lift her arm to her tunic, reaching into the folds shakily. Her fingers curled around a small vial, and she pulled it free, popping the top with practiced ease. The bitter, foul-tasting red liquid poured from the vial and into her mouth. She hacked, coughed and gagged at the health potion... It was her last one, one she had been saving for a true emergency such as this.
Her stomach and gut began to warm from within as the magical brew began to take effect. Her arm fell limply to her side as she felt the healing energies go to work. She detested needing to use such a thing, but if she had tried to push herself in this condition, she could have wound up dying from her self-inflicted wounds. If her life had taught her anything, it was that being prepared for every contingency was the best way to stay alive in any situation. As she lay on the ground, staring up into the clearing sky, her thoughts began to wander...
The Spirit Walker's words carried great weight. As she was, she was not strong enough to combat Swain, Renekton, Brand, and the rest of Noxus. She had trained every day of her life, improved her skills, hardened her body, and yet, still, her power was beyond the limits of anything she could hope to utilize with her body alone. Something finite could not contain an infinite amount of anything... Vessels eventually overflowed no matter their depth... But, perhaps... Perhaps she could increase the size of her vessel...
Her head lolled to the side, still drained, her amber eyes resting upon the blade that she still gripped tightly in her fingers, trailing along the shape of the green rune "strength" etched into the side. Her Runeblade channeled her energy, condensed it, made it easier to give it form and shape, and allowed her to unleash all she was in ferocious attacks, held back only by the fragility of her mortal frame. Runes... What if she were to enhance her body with runes? She shook her head. No, that was foolish. It would still require her body to soak the energy of her will... However...
The runic symbol on her glove was simply for show, but what if it was not? What if she had a suit of armor created to channel the energy more effectively than her own body, and to act as an overflow for her excess Ki? It could not replace the process of her body, but it could be used to remove much of the strain, place it on the armor and runes themselves, and allow her to reach new heights of power she had thought impossible for her to reach before.
For so long, she had tried to force herself to rise above her limits, to reach higher and farther than they might allow. Only now, with her laying on the field, broken, battered, and bleeding, her life hanging on by a thread of her own tenacity, did she realize that she had reached a limit that she could not surpass on her own. Her body was at its peak. There was no higher limit for a flesh and blood being alone. Udyr himself had managed to reach the same threshold as herself, perhaps barely surpass her. She was not a divine beast. She was not tied to a force of nature, nor was she an otherworldly creature. Yet, these were what she would have to overcome to save Noxus.
To do so, she would have to become something greater than herself, and the only way to do that was to seek ways to supplement her own ability. She had worked hard, endlessly, to bring herself to this point, and now, the only way to grow further was to give herself the tools to do so, just as her sword had originally done when it was given to her by General Marcus Du Couteau. The armor was a tool to empower her, to allow her to reach her true potential. She had hit a wall, and with her determination, she would find a way to break through, and continue to better herself. Without the baseline that she had worked her entire life to achieve, this step would be useless, but now... Now, she knew what she had to do...
For the first time in a long time, as she allowed the potion to regain enough of her strength to return to the Kinkou Sanctuary, Riven, once more, knew her path...
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