PPalace - Round 2

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She had thrown herself to battle even before the judge was done announcing its start. She was faster than his last opponent, and stronger too, he dared to admit when the weight of her hits made his arms invoke all his strength. And whenever he tried to gain some distance she was already there, pushed forward by the deep hum of her wings. Donner gritted his teeth, hissing behind them in a desperate sigh. No matter how many times he managed to escape from her brutal (but not quite thought up) attacks she followed him like his shadow, barely at a sword’s distance. Donner, who had been in quite a share of escapes, thought bitterly that the only comparable persecutor was Tiorus, Eric’s horse, in both speed and stubbornness. His eyes grew wider as an idea hit him up. He would never beat Tiorus in a straight line race, yet he had managed to escape from it by taking advantage of his surroundings. Of course, that had been back then in the streets of Oneiros, where narrow streets and lampposts were at his disposition. This arena, on the contrary, held nothing but the dust that flew up from under their feet as they ran. Their swords cut the wailing air around them, and once again sparks flew from the clashing metals. Keeping up the rhythm would only tire them both, and the mercenary didn’t know how good this warrior’s endurance was. He could take no risks. The only certain things around him were the cheers from the crowd that surrounded them with burning eyes and the swords that bared their teeth from under his grip.

That was it!

Pushing the girl off him one last time he broke into run, knowing the Paladin would follow like before. Her eyes were tired from the battle and their golden shine desired for nothing but the end of it. Using all his strength he dug his sword deep into the ground and holding to it for dear life his own speed made his feet fly from the ground. In the half second that took him to spin around he weighted his possibilities:

The plan was to take the boost of her wings out of the competition.

Were the spin be faster than the girl he’d turn around just in time to find her back and slap her wings with the flat of his sword. If the girl managed to get further than the reach of his flat, he would use the sword in his hand to pin her down by the cape she was wearing around her hips, stopping her dry on her tracks and giving him an opening big enough to achieve his goal. In the case she would be even faster, then surely she would see the spin happening and would try to stop herself. Just like with Tiorus, the speed would make her slide before regaining full control of her movements, and so he’d have the time and the impulse to throw himself towards her in a tackle. The violent hit against the ground and the extra weight over her would do the job just as fine.

Once her wings were out of the fight, it was just a matter of time. She would tire herself with the constant chasing, and the speed of her swords would fade out little by little, giving him enough openings to slap the swords off her hands with his blades. That would be the end of the fight.

He was still in midair when the cold air that brushed his nose brought him back to the combat. He spun around perfectly fine, but his sword gave out at the last moment, sending him off with perhaps a little more speed than he had foreseen. This, however, was his only chance. Here goes nothing!


It loops! The fight goes on forever!

AHHH it's done . v . it's done it's done it's done. I've been working nonstop in this, from the thought up to the choreography, then the keyframing, the inbetweening.. ;;; I'm glad I got it down! and it looks way better than I expected! ♥♥♥ I must say I am quite happy!


First of all I want to apologize to ~4nimeCub3 for not doing Valeria any justice ; 7 ; her hair was difficult for me to understand so I'm sorry if it's not right ;;;; "OTL And also I had to take out so many of her details because well lol animation ; V ; _{samegoesfortheircrests pleaseuseyourimagination}

Then I want to thank the comissioners who gladly accepted that I could take some time with their sketches because of this ; 7 ; ahhh I'm sorry about it, I'll work on them real hard now!

PHEW-- this was just so much work ; 7 ; Life got in the way, there were many important IRL things going on that took time from me, everyone kept scolding me for staying up to 3 am working on this for several work days (and not sleeping at all one of them!) but I'm glad it's out here. I hope you guys enjoy it! ; 7 ; ♥♥♥