Tam Tenderpaw vs. Raynare - A Battle of Grace and Wind

Magnus National Park was a relatively idyllic location, all things considered. It's great outdoors, scenic forests, lakes, hiking routes, and wildlife made it an ideal location for being a tourist hotspot. And even then, it was often very quiet, all things considered. Crowds of tourists would come but nothing too large, and even then, the scope and scale of the park easily dissipated most noise. Camps were often set here and there, but a general green thumb rule was respected and littering and other forms of trash were avoided, along with loud music being prohibited from the more naturally dense parts of the park. In general, the vibes and atmosphere of Magnus National Park remained relatively modest, serene, and mostly quiet as it had for many decades.

Until today's evening. Even the noisiest festival that had taken place before was nothing compared to this.

There was a large field that was often reserved for parties and special events, and today, there was an arena ring set there, and one most hadn't really seen before. Machines were setting down ring posts that were nearly 15 feet in height, with very long ring ropes attached on them, at least 5, and covering a rather large square area. A few more posts were being set down and planted firmly into the fresh green grass, these of varying heights and with bars sticking out across them like strange training props. Bleachers had been set down for a large audience, and it was certainly crowded today! Stands had popped up for serving refreshments, and camera crews were running all over the place to record this battle. A titantron, stage, and ramp was set up leading to the ring, and the audience was getting hyped as the fated time for the match to begin drew near. Even nearby campers and tourists came by to see what this was.

The lead park ranger, a middle aged baykok, was one of the park staff present here, and he was not happy with this. He had had a heated discussion with the representative the Sovereign Reign Wrestling organization had sent, a plantman named Cirkot, the end results of which was being seen today. Though he had voiced his concerns, ultimately, the board had been bought out by the monetary offer provided. The last words he remembered from Cirkot were "I'm just their representative and secretary here. Theres nothing I can do about what my superiors ask." Grimacing at the sight of it all, he had put all the staff on alert for keeping an eye on the nearby wildlife to make sure they stayed away from the event, and that they weren't too disturbed by the noise.

And finally, the clock struck right, and the show began! The lights set up everywhere flashed on, and the audience roared and cheered as the commentators began announcing.......

It had been a treat to get outside of the towering architecture of Tsubar after being crammed in the tightly packed streets so full of hustle and bustle. The amount of times she had her tail stepped on or caught in automated doors was something beyond counting so she owed it to herself a day to relax. Well, an afternoon at least. Magnus Nation Park had been a nice taste of wilderness without the dangers that lurked in the actual wild. She had found a nice perch tree to lounge in not far from the site of the arena that had been in construction for most of the day.

It had been a great chance to mingle with her fellow Sovereign Reign members and make some connections. She was from a mercantile house after all, schmoozing with people was practically in her blood. She had instead drifted off and napped away all that potential. She justified the laziness as saving her strength for the fight to come.

An unleashed match… her first one. This was a pretty big deal. She had signed herself up over the protests of Shin who just kept going on and on about how dangerous these matches could be… Well duh. That's why she wanted to take part, to show everyone watching just how tough the Sciuro could be. She wasn’t just all fluff and fun… there was a third F in there, which stood for FIERCE!

With a yawn Tam dropped down to the ground with a gentle plop, taking the fall easily on both feet and her tail to soften the height she came from. Reaching back she pat herself down blindly before finding the tonfa hooked in a cross pattern behind her. She let out a small sigh of relief, unsure if she had remembered to bring them… they were a pretty important part of her spellcasting so thankfully they were still with her. It was time to get to work.

Theme:

Tam Tenderpaw:

The young Sciuro girl burst out from the woven archway of living wood that served as the entry into the arena proper, throwing up her arms with an excited cheer. The reaction was rather impressive, though she wasn’t sure if those were fans of hers or just people happy to be out at the event. Either way, she soaked it all in with a huge grin on her face.  She charged down to the event ring, scurrying up the side of one of the massive high-rise ring posts. She kicked off the post, backflipping into the ring with the practiced ease of an acrobat. She turned on her heels, spring in her step as she looked to the archway to watch for her opponent.

The spotlights had come on the part where Tam would make her entrance, as the commentators announced,

"Coming in, weighing at 122 pounds, from beyond the Waygates, full of passionate energy and spunk, and as fierce a fighting style that you don't wanna get on the bad side of! The Fuzzy! The Furious! TTTAAMMMMMM TTENDERPAAAAAAAAAW!"

As the scurio made her entry, the audience erupted in cheers for the fighter, loving her energy and theatrics as she wowed everyone by how quickly she got up and over the ring posts in a short amount of time! A chorus was already singing, "TENDERIZE THE OPPOSITION!" to Tam, egging her on to destroy any opponent she gets today. One of the people in the audience even raised a sign saying "SCURIO SPECIAL ME", which was blocked by another sign being raised in front of him saying "THE GUY BEHIND ME CAN'T SEE".

As the cheering eased, the commentators then turned to the stage again and said, "AND THE OPPONENT! Weighing in at only 90 pounds, from skies unknown! Watch out, and repent, because here comes.....RRRRRRAAAAAAAAYNAREEEEEEEE!"

The name was quickly met with a *lot* of booing compared to Tam. There were some cheers, but it was a pitiful amount drowned out by the much stronger dislike chorus.

Nonetheless, everyone's followed something quickly taking off skywards from behind the stage. The spotlights turned upwards to illuminate the tall, slender figure of Raynare.

Raynare, Servant of Pain:

She was there, floating in mid air, her arms down by her side, straight and stiff, like a statue, as she slowly descended towards the ring. The audiences boos didn't seem to bother her much, or...perhaps, because nobody could really read her face. Even the cameras catching her on screen and displaying it on a titantron showed a cold, emotionless face with no mouth or eyebrows, only 2 rather evil looking blank eyes with no pupils, a face utterly alien as her long faded dark blue hair flowed in the wind. As she slowly descended, she then suddenly dropped out of the sky, picking up speed, sticking a 3 point landing not far from Tam.

As she straightened herself, it was clear how much taller Raynare was than Tam, at least by 3/4th a head. Raynares eyes narrowed as she stared at Tam, tilting her head sideways.

And then Tam heard a feminine but gaunt voice echo inside her head. It wasn't in her ears she heard it, it sounded like it came from inside her thoughts.

"Why is a healer such as yourself out here? To heal my opponent I'll be beating up?" as the voice echoed, Raynare straightened her head again, looking around as if Tam wasn't her opponent she had come to fight.

The fanfare was great, it felt nice to have some genuine crowd engagement compared to the middling showing she had at her debut. It hadn’t been bad for a no-namer on the scene, but this energy was far better. After a full day’s name, time basking in the shade, and an electric crowd, she was ready to take on the world. Tam clapped a hand on her shoulder, giving her arm a few rotations as her opponent was announced.

Her bright eyes trailed upwards to the sky at the introduction, ears twitching to try to pick out sounds of interest in the rising chorus of boos. What did all of these people know that she didn’t? She had almost missed Raynare entirely high up as she was, blending with the darkness. Even then, she wasn’t entirely sure what she was seeing… The other woman made her feel a bit unease, the fur of her tail standing on end.

When the figure plummeted to the ring it nearly gave the Sciuro a start, but the resilient young girl was determined to show no fear. She met the other woman’s empty gaze with a steely glare of her own, keeping the chill running down her spine from reaching her face. She was ready for whatever this woman could throw at her.


“Eee!” Facade thoroughly shattered as Tam lurched back away from a voice that was distant but somehow entirely too close. Her eyes darted about confused. Was this some sort of a dummy puppet? Was her opponent a ghost? When her gaze settled back to Raynare, she could feel it in the woman’s eyes that whatever this was, the voice was coming from her. She didn’t like it… the way it was just… there, over the boos, over all the sounds, like she was sitting on her shoulder. Tam’s ears drew back slightly, dejected by what was being said.

“W-what? What’s it matter to you if I’m a healer or not, huh? I’m your opponent, dummy!” Tam clenched her fingers into a tight fist, giving it a firm shake in the air at Raynare’s direction whilst stamping a foot like a child. “Keep talking down to me and you’ll need me to heal the fist-shaped hole I’m going to put in your face!”

Raynare's gaze slowly turned to rest upon Tam's face, making direct eye contact. It seemed she was processing what Tam had just said. She stood there for what seemed an awkward length before the eerie psychic voice came into Tam's head again;

"If that is so. Then know if you wish to step up to a fighter's mantle, I will spare you the same mercy I did to all the rest." With that, Raynare's small wings, that looked like they only reached from the length of her neck to her shoulder blades, flapped and straightened themselves upwards, cast a powerful gust of wind that blew dust outwards from Raynare in a circle pattern.

"Which is to say, none."

Raynare then seemingly shook her neck left and right in a neck cracking motion, as she gently walked towards one of the large posts (there were 5 of these of varying height inside the large ring limits, and positioned in a clear pentagon) and rested her back on it, arms folded. As she did this, the commentators voice boomed through the speakers, "And now, ladies and gentlemen, the big moment you've been waiting for! Today's Unleashed Match, where all powers are fair and clear to use! Don't worry, dear benchsitters, we have a runic field around the ring so that no magic that inadvertently comes toward you actually is of no danger for you. Who shall win today's battle of Wind and Grace?! Spunky Tammy Tenderpaw, or the deadly Raynare, Servant of Pain?! We shall see soon! Prepare your butts!"

With that Raynare stood straight again, and faced Tam's direction again, her eyes locking onto the scurio's, before a psychic riling jab came into Tam's head.

"Don't scurry."

Tammy stook in total defiance, chest puffed out, fists clenched, and her tail coiled up behind her in a furry knot of aggression. As she heard Raynare’s words claw into her mind, her jawline shifted with the grinding of her teeth, determined not to let this woman intimidate her. When the wind whipped outward, she took a bracing step back as she was buffeted by the strong gale forcing her to narrow her eyes against the air.

“You don’t scare me.” The Sciuro said in defiance to the fur of her tail and ears standing erect and alert to the perceived danger in play within the arena. She could do this, she just had to get pumped up and… her gaze shifted towards the distance announcement table well past the wards and barriers. “Why is she deadly and some pain guru and I’m just spunky?! Come on!”

With a growl Tammy swept her hands back, fingers gliding over her tnfa. They came loose easily at her touch, being thrust forward with a fanciful twirl when she brought her fists up. Silver and gold cross guards, etched with small runic characters. They were arcane magnifiers, tools used by practitioners of magic to help focus and direct magic. She brought her fists together, allowing the tonfa heads to strike one another with a resounding impact that sounded more like a shotgun blast than metal-on-metal contact. A cascade of bright pink and green sparks flew, bouncing harmlessly off the ring floor around her.

“Lets go!” Tammy’s tail shot out behind her, pushing her off the ground to jump-start her headlong charge toward Raynare. Though a larger arena than the normal ring, she made short work of the distance between them as a fluffy blur of movement. Just as she neared, Tam would twist her body sideways and stamp a foot down to plant herself solidly, throwing the weight of her shoulder forward to try to ram into the fallen angel.

The crowd got more and more excited as Tam showed off her twirling tonfa trick, and the shotgun blast of force caused an uproar of cheers at the show, with some leveraging boos at Raynare for not having anything that showy.

And that was when the bell rang and the fight was on!

As Tam announced her battle cry, rushing forwards toward Raynare at frightening velocity, Raynare seemed completely unfazed! For as Tam approached, Raynare firmly planted one foot back herself, and her small wings again lifted up and fluttered, causing another stormg draft of wind that lifted her off the ground, narrowly avoiding Tams shoulder tackle! Shooting upwards like a bullet, Raynare flipped herself just as quickly, using her strange shaped feet to grab one of the monkey bar side attachments on the pole closest to her, and hung upside down it, gripping the bar with her feet and now her hands as well, while looking down at Tam from where she was, her blank, cold eyes staring dead straight at Tam like an evil hawk staring at a prey.

While she had braced her boots on the canvas, it had only been to better throw all her force into the shoulder blow. Just as she was meant to collide with Raynare, all she was faced with was another buffet of air pushing back against her as the fallen angel took flight, limited as it was. Once the wind had died down and nothing was there to push back against her, an overextended Tam was left teetering off balance windmilling her arms to keep from falling on her face. Her tail did the heavy lifting though, swishing out behind her as a counterbalance so she could stand steady with a few well-placed steps.

“Tch! Whose scurrying now?” Tam craned her head, cheeks puffing up as she stared up with indignation at Raynare suspended above her. The Sciuro girl extended her arms out in front of her and gave her wrists a sudden twist. The metallic bracelets she had clicked, securing the tonfas to her arm down the length of her forearm without the need of her to hold them any longer, freeing up her hands. Gripping the ropes along the edge of the arena zone, Tam nimbly hoisted herself up to stand perfectly balanced along the top in a crouch before springing away from the ring to one of the pillars situated outside of it.

She caught herself on one of the horizontal bars jutting out of the side, kicking her feet out hard to send her around and into a handstand on top of it. Twisting her body she turned herself around to face the way she came from. Eyes narrowed at Raynare as she held the pose for a long moment before swinging her legs and tail behind her to whip her backward, spinning around the bar to launch off it in a flip straight towards her opponent. She tucked her knees in flight, balling herself up as she twisted her wrists again, ejecting her tonfa back into her hands. With a battle cry she flew at Raynare, rearing back with an arm to try and bat her off of the bar with a large overhead strike from her tonfa.

Raynare barely moved, the only motion being that of her head tracking Tams movement. As Tam did her dramatic flairs, taunt, and made her way up to the high ground, Raynare would straighten herself out, still hanging upside down, hands on hips, her hair dangling like a dark blue curtain in the area lights. Her unconversing eyes simply observed Tam as she made her acrobatics before eventually launching herself at high speed at Raynare!

Raynares small wings readied, and in an incredible display of reaction timing and instinct, flapped them, causing another gust of wind that not only spun Raynare backwards on the monkey bar her feet were still clinging onto, but she spun back around with vicious velocity, sticking one foot back out straight in a rather non chalant looking spinning reverse axe kick aimed right at Tam's back!

Her arm snapped through the air with the heavy blow, shifting the air enough the audience could hear the ship of the wind as it managed to catch nothing but empty air. Tam’s eyes went wide as she whiffed, eyes starting to trail where Raynare was had gone. It was a brief moment where she floated there, suspended in motion as her heart sank.

Time came rushing back all at once with a heel planted in her back. The blow stopped all of her forward momentum in an instant, sending her careening down to the arena with the wind whistling past her like a missile shot from orbit. Her impact into the ring was thunderous, leaving a permanent indentation where she had been flatted to the ground.  She lay still, sprawled out along the mat as her frazzled tail stuck up behind her, twitching.