Xiao La Rouge vs Tabitha "Starlight" Aimes

In spite of Xiao's elegance there were times when it paid to try and be quick on it, after all with a pin all that was required was to keep the opponent still for 3 seconds. In battle it could feel that a second could be a lifetime, a poetic point of view to say the least. This victory condition sounded promising to the oriental rose, after all only three seconds of course.

Still it seemed fate didn't work out that way for Xiao, the young lady felt that maybe Starlight lacked the endurance she did. But it was clear that Tabitha's experience in taking hits in the squared circle aided her in his endeavour, Xiao lightly gasped as she was sent off of her enemy. Before taking a small sigh and thumbing her nose, it was going to take more effort to secure the victory it seemed.

Xiao wasn't exactly considering delivering dynamic attacks after this, it might be best to take things a bit more slower for now. With that in mind the oriental rose proceeded to attempt taking Starlight's closest arm and get her standing back up with her, and apply a basic wristlock. Perhaps targeting the arms of the enemy might help in this battle.

Starlight and Xiao would lock up once more as they both got to their feet after the attempted pin. Xiao would again get the better of the situation has she had outmaneuvered starlight once more. Moving in a method that starlight was unfamiliar with, Xiao would apply a simple wrist lock. This would allow her to guide starlight around the ring, as she had control of Starlights arm now.

Now this was more like how Xiao wanted it to be, sure the oriental rose knew of many powerful strikes. That could leave even tall and strong men flat on their ass, but sometimes it was more advantageous to work on the limbs and other parts of the enemy. When it came to this Xiao preferred simple holds for the most part, and save the more elaborate stuff for when it was clear the enemy wouldn't escape.

It seemed that Tabitha wasn't ready for when Xiao had gotten her into this situation, Xiao licked her lower lip as she felt a bead of sweat drip down. A good thing she wasn't wearing any makeup. The oriental rose had gotten up with Tabitha trapped in the hold, good. Now this meant that A the enemy was close and B Xiao could better dictate the course of the fight.

How to go from here was simple in the eyes of the Chinese/French woman, take a few steps back. To the centre of the ring, keep gaze on the enemy at all times. Then quickly try to lift Tabitha's held arm up, and quickly attempt to shoot a knee into those exposed ribs. And then try for another, Xiao knew that Tabitha would probably figure a way on how to turn this around. But the chance was a golden one and the oriental rose hoped to use it for some offence, the more worn down the opponent the better the chance of victory.

Starlight would be learning on the fly as it were. This was a position she had never experienced before so it was disorienting that she was being led around the ring by her opponent. Xiao essentially had control of Starlight as she maintained the wristlock. Taking advantage of the position, Xiao would land a knee and then a second one into the ribs of Starlight.

The first one did considerable damage, as Starlight wanted to recoil in pain. Xiao having control of her wrist however was controlling her posture. The realization that the situation was getting desperate would become more apparent as Starlight tried in vain to get her other arm around to soften the blow of the second knee that Xiao would throw. Noticing that the wristlock would loosen a little as Xiao delivered the knees into her body, Starlight would become desperate. Launching her feet forward, Starlight would manage something that looked almost like a mule kick in an attempt to gain separation from her opponent. The worst that could happen from Starlight's point of view is that they would end up on the ground if Xiao held on. Maybe Xiao was not so good with grappling, and Starlight wanted to get out of this disadvantaged position.

So far the battle had been going for the most part in the favour of the oriental rose, which was how she desired it. Xiao could feel that which each strong attack that was delivered onto the enemy was setting up to conclude this bout, the sweat that glistened on the bare skin of the Chinese/French woman served as proof for the effort that had been exerted in the battle.

As Xiao wished her attacks had connected, though it was not without a trade-off. Which was what the oriental rose had felt would occur. Again however it was what Xiao had intended, because of how the opponent was close. And the focus on striking was placed over keeping the grip on Ms Starlight's wrist meant that sooner or later it would be broken, but the output had been what the oriental rose was looking for.

But what she didn't expect was for Starlight to break free how she did, perhaps it was out of a sense of desperation combined with the wrestling background. Tabitha launched her feet forward and blasted them out like pellets from a shotgun, and Xiao was caught with it point blank. The oriental rose had only enough time to go wide eyed and mouth agape as that strike would make her Brother proud, and Xiao was sent reeling back. Landing hard again on her rump in a rather undignified manner, with a hiss under her neck Xiao had one arm clutched in her affected area. That took the lady of war completely by surprise there.

Starlight would notice that Xiao was just as good, if not better when it came to hand to hand combat between them. Having a boxing and kickboxing background would help keep her in the fight, but simply put Xiao just had a more varied set of tools to draw from. Starlight in desperation would be able to kick Xiao away from her, but she herself had been given a few good shots to the body as well. Looking across the ring, she would notice they were both clutching their bellies.

Standing back up, Starlight would attempt to make more over the top and rash decisions as in a straight up fight she felt it was simply a losing proposition. The idea was to simply run at Xiao and try to knee her in the head as she ran on by. Worst case scenario Starlight figured, is that she would miss and little would come of it.

Xiao was pondering what just hit her there, she had prepared for the enemy to escape from her grip. It was bound to have happened. But still Xiao had her chest plowed into, it wasn't in the somewhat ample bosom of the oriental rose. But she doubted that would have helped cushion the impact at all, did Leon teach her that move behind Xiao's back? As some kind of prank that only the likes of him could conjure?

The how and why didn't matter right now, what mattered was the fact that Xiao's pacing of the fight had been taken completely away from her. And she was down on her back again, and she hadn't been very graceful either. Though right now cultivating the persona of the oriental rose was in the back of Xiao's mind, her priority was trying to get things back into her favour.

Only Tabitha was getting on the offensive and seemed to be intent on taking the advantage offered to her, and Xiao's long and impressive hair had served to block her view of Starlight rushing in and clonking with a good knee to the side of the head.

"Augh!" Xiao sharply yelped out as she was sent back down to the mat, that attack just came out from nowhere. The oriental rose at least felt she hadn't been crowned there, but she was certainly dazed and seeing little Chinese writing above her for the time being.

Starlight was starting to get momentum to start swinging into her favor. She had a crazy idea pop into her head, and her gamble paid off. She was able to get herself free from the wristlock and had sent Xiao to the ground. Her hair seemed to get in the way as she started to sit up and Starlight tried to take as much of an advantage as she could.

With the follow up attack of a knee to the side of Xiao's head connecting, it would cause Xiao to fall back to the mat and it looked like she was in a prime position to be pinned. Tabby would splash herself down atop of her and try to grab one of her legs. Attempting the pin, Starlight would look to win the match in a rather unceremonious manner.

The referee would start to run into position and her hand would slam into the mat, "ONE!"

Xiao was no stranger to taking blows to the head, she had been busted open before in the past. It came with the territory of fighting, and Xiao had conditioned herself for the most part to withstand the rigours of combat. But in spite of the training and will she put into her effort she still couldn't block the body's natural reactions to pain, the noggin was a target that could be covered but never fully protected after all.

The oriental rose had kept her eyes tightly shut, the better to try and at least let the pain subside quicker. Plus it would prevent the effect of having eye damage from staring up at those lights above the squared circle, Xiao had put aside her graceful demeanour for the moment to show that she was gritting her teeth too. Starlight was taking advantage of this chance, to attempt for the pin.

In response to this Xiao grunted, she felt the weight of Starlight on her. The battle thus far had taken a toll on the Chinese/French, and the young woman felt Tabitha hook one of the legs. The ref had been right up close to Xiao as she heard the number one, that meant she was getting pinned here.

"TWO!"

Xiao dug down deep, relying on her years of taking beatings to keep the flag flying. With a deep breath the oriental rose would quickly shoot up her right arm, getting one of the shoulders up. The pin would be broken, but Xiao had no clue what she might attempt from this. She would be just grateful for having stopped the pin, thanks a little in part to the ref shouting in her ear.

Starlight was in a good spot. She was about to pin her opponent, and win the match. The referee would slam the mat for the second time, and her hopes would be dashed when the referee started to bring her hand down to the mat for the third time. Xiao would recover quickly enough to throw her right arm upward and break the pin.

Starlight would be forced off of her body, and into a seated position. Xiao would roll herself in the opposite direction as they both recovered to their feet after the pinfall attempt. She was so close to being pinned, but it was not close enough as Xiao still had some fight left in her. Turning around to meet her opponent, starlight would almost bow her head for a short second as a sign of respect torward her.