Ephraim vs. Shara Nguyen

[Ephraim the Lunar Warrior]

(OOC: Well, this is a change from Cyrus. So much as gender! CBK, such leading on! jkjk)

A battle. Yes, that is exactly what he needed on this frozen terrain of –well—who-knows-where! He could use a nice, long bath of hot water…. Knowing Ephraim, one would think that he would have made one right then, but he wasn’t that foolish in that he would immediately waste some of his wonderous power. Yes, wonderous… don’t be hatin’… as the young whipper-snappers say nowadays.

Either way, Ephraim’s power over wind would come in handy too, climbing the mountain, but then again… it was a tall mountain, and he was not one to do such a thing as waste his energy. As a matter of fact, that is probably what his enemy would want him to do: Easy prey. Heck, Ephraim would want his battler to do that! If only… if only…

For some reason, Ephraim figured this would not be an easy fight. Ephraim just had that feeling in the pit of his stomach that he was gonna’ die. His mother always said that “with your attitude, Ephraim… you’re gonna’ die,” and he could just tell that he was gonna’ die.

Great morale booster.

He took his grapple and through the cord into the air, blowing slightly with his wind affinity to make the grapple go much farther than Ephraim’s normal strength would allow. Hence, he started to climb, pike at hand, picking away at the ice. Little-by-little he would plunge his pike in, using it as leverage and a third arm… in his second arm, making it simply a powerful second arm… but Ephraim thought of it as a third arm. Euphemisms were always better, and optimism was always a morale booster. And, guess what? Ephraim needed morale like there was no tomorrow (but one wouldn’t want to tell him that there was no tomorrow, of course… that would not be the greatest thing in the world.)

As he got to the end of the grapple, he threw it again. Blowing the same way as before, it reached an even higher height than before. As a matter-of-fact, it could not have gone farther! Any farther, and Ephraim would not have been able to ascertain it into his grasp. Nevertheless, he grabbed on and, just as before, continued climbing, reserving his energy for the fight ahead.

Nervousness was a plague that never could be cured, alas, and it plagued Ephraim badly as of now. But, he had put in his word, therefore, he would not back down from a fight! He had sworn to abide by the Code of the Holy Faction, and he dared not break the laws of it. He would fight fairly, and he would not hold back at the same time. If he could avoid the opponents (or, more importantly, his own) death, then he would.

Soon, he arrived at the top. The top had a type of cave in which he knew he was to enter. The entrance to the cave was slightly jagged and dangerous, posing threats in the forms of very weakly held icicles. Nevertheless, he walked past and stood firmly as a few fell in front of him. He did not flinch, but my was his blood-pressure sky-rocketing. Those icicles had been deadly and gargantuan. If he had been hit, forget frost-bite, he would have died for sure. All he could do now was hope that the person he was to fight would fight fairly. It was not a Paladin, of course, therefore, he would either be fighting an assassinating brown-clothed, or a nescience-filled black-armored. Either was formidable, therefore, to win he had to be careful.

He saw a person in front of him and it surprised him just how calm and collected he, or she, looked. From a distance the person looked male, but when he came closer he could definitely notice that she was female. Would he be able to fight a girl? It would be disrespectful of him to attack her ruthlessly, but it would also be disrespectful to not respect her enough to be willing to go all out. Such a dilemma. Well, there was a simple solution: in Ephraim’s world, whose life was more important? Ephraim’s or this girl’s? Well, solution made and question solved, he was going all out. The brown-clothed archers were very powerful, and Ephraim would have been foolish to have even considered holding back.

But, then he noticed something. What was most useful to a girl? Her feelings. He could use her feelings against her, right? (Well, let us hope that wouldn’t back-fire.)

He began to speak, clearly and melodiously as an angel would. Four-wings on his back proved he was an angel… no one could doubt that. Nevertheless, once more, he spoke.

“You are quite beautiful, fair maiden,” he began. “Fighting against one such as you would be as close to sin as fighting a goddess. Of course, if the goddess orders for the minion to attack, then the minion has no choice, but once more… the goddess does have the choice. She can accept that the minion is capable and need not fight to prove his valor, or the minion can fight to prove his valor to the clearly holy deity in front of him. You seem reasonable by appearance, will you not drop thy soft hands in acceptance?”

Bull’s Eye.  

[Ephraim the Lunar Warrior]

(OOC: Yes, Miss CBK told me through Post Messaging. Your character has quite little faith in herself, doesn’t she? Hehe, let’s see how long that lasts.)

Ephraim had begun to think during the time of his opponent’s contemplation. What would I eat for dinner? he began. Surely someone such as himself should eat something exotic! What would it be? Oh, there were so many possibilities it made Ephraim gag. Such… hunger… must… eat…. Oh, the hunger it brought to his salivating glands as he thought of the possible food that he could have had at night! “Disgustingly tasty” someone might say about it.

However, Ephraim had just eaten. There was such food to Ephraim that no matter how full he would be, his body would not mind eating it. Such… good… food… However, he was not so naïve as to be seduced by food so early in the battle. He had to win, of course! However, something told him this battle would be slightly more difficult to get the opponent to forfeit than he thought.

As he continued pacing, his thoughts started to jumble once more. I have to go repair my jeweled rapier in the jewelers’ today. Eh, I’ll do it after this battle. His rapier’s center jewel had cracked and he needed it to be replaced. You had to look good in a fight, after all. Ephraim looked good without effort, obviously. After all, if he remembered correctly, who didn’t think he was awesome?

Well, nevertheless, the woman in front of him started to speak. What came sputtering out was – well—somewhat expected, and somewhat not expected. She was, of course, amazed by his appearance and was, of course, secretly fawning all over him. After all, he was Ephraim! A better question would be that who didn’t fawn over him?

Nevertheless, Ephraim had not expected the woman to have simply ignored his wishes. Instead, she acted as if she did not even hear the last parts of what he said! Addressing him as if he had only given her flatteries, is what she did, and it irritated the hel—Heck—outta’ Ephraim. How dare she ignore what he asked of her! She was nothing in front of him, he could cut her up and eat her for supper. Heck, he should have already, for she was a dark knight!

Ephraim tried to cool himself down. He rubbed with his index finger and thumb in-between his eyebrows, his temple, and the sides of his skull. Slowly, his thought processes became normal … well, “normal” to Ephraim, not any other biological creature that he had ever met.

Ephraim had felt a little better, for she chose to flatter him. And, because of this, she asked his name as well! Oh, what a nice little dark knight she had become. Wait, where was her dark helmet? Dark armor? Dark gauntlets? Dark greaves? Dark… well… anything? Had Ephraim been hallucinating the entire time that he had been noticing her? She wasn’t a dark knight at all! She didn’t even look or act like a dark knight! Here she was, polite as a rabbit grazing on carrots—wait, can you graze on carrots? Either way, here she was, polite as a rabbit grazing on uprooted carrots. (Oh, genius Ephraim… you stun me with your calibre!) She was not a Dark Knight at all, at least, she couldn’t be! (If she was a dark knight, then she would be very unorthodox in her behaviour and clothing.) She was, obviously, a Dawn Strider. Or... once again, a Dark Knight in disguise. Those Dark Knights were cunning, but no so much as to outsmart Ephraim. He would keep heed of this little woman's ways.

Back to formality.

“Who am I, you ask, fair maiden? I am Ephraim of the Faction of Light, Warrior of Truth, Paladin of all Holiness. But, I, personally, think that is a very long and wordy name; therefore, you may simply call me Ephraim. And yourself, Miss?”  

[Ephraim the Lunar Warrior]

(OOC: Actually, Ephraim’s not good at showing his internal feelings outside… but I’ll let you slide this time XD… just ‘cause you love my character ^^)

Not even a Dark Knight! Why would he have to fight someone so undecided? This was so unfair it prickled his skin. Yes, skin prickling was a common response to unfairness for everyone, wasn’t it? Either way, while he scratched his skin in irritancy, he continued to contemplate the unfairness of this match-up. Whoever set this up was a big meanie. (OOC: Who… CBK, you know I’m not talking about you…-.0… xD). Ephraim couldn’t even feel mad when going up against a Dawn Strider. Sure they sickened him, yadayada, but he just could not make himself hate a Dawn Strider. They were just too fickle. Traitorous to their original race, they were scum… but then again, they could have been right about choosing their path for whatever personal reason they had.

Ephraim’s head hurt… all this calculation made him dizzy. He had to be intelligent, did he not? Why was he cursed with such a beautiful brain that could understand and deduce, but could not withstand the pressure? Oh, beautiful brain, I beseech thee to muteth! Yes, ‘muteth’… God save me.

Anyway, Ephraim blamed this girl for being so damn confuzzling. To confuzzle him once, child’s play… twice and he would just have to kill an inanimate object… like a stuffed-animal or something. Something worthy of an angel’s feelings… better yet, a Paladin’s feelings, would be nice. A squirrel— or better yet, a bunny— would be nice! Yes, bunnies are cute, cuddly, adorable, attractive, beautiful, clever, coy, cunning, dainty, precious, pretty, sharp, and shrewd. Can’t get any better than that!

Then the girl began to talk. At first, she seemed to be going pretty well. At least she had remembered, and all Ephraim did was smile that mysterious, girl-magnety, beautiful smile of his during the time of her babble. And she continued talking, yadayadayada… and then it hit him what she had said and that he had been smiling like an idiot (but no one could notice because one would just think he were being polite, or twisted… either way would be adequate ‘cause she was his opponent, and either worked to either scare her, or make her love him. Oh, Love, what a powerful thing it is. If she began to lurve Ephraim… everything would just become a whole lot easier… my, what fun there would be winning against that pitiful mind of hers.)

But, back on topic from before… she had said WHAT? She wouldn’t forfeit against him? Did she value her life? Was she really that imbecilic as to go against “teh Ephy”? Yes, “teh Ephy” was his Internet nickname… many people called him that as a fancy way of simply calling him Ephraim. It gave Ephraim power… power to brainwash those innocent minds of the Internet to follow the Faction of the Light blindly.

Fun, but totally too much work. Think of it as an avocation that asks for too much more than what is really part of an avocation. That’s what it was.

But BACK to topic ONCE again… how could she dare to say something of that accord to him? And there she was thinking that a cheesy little awkward bow, no matter how cute it was, would make it all better. How dare she be that pretentious? Pretentiousness was a sin of the utmost accord! Right next to Pride in the hierarchy… or was it the same? Or was he mistaken? Either way, it was present in Ephraim’s book of sins. (Yes, the seven sins weren’t enough… he had to make a book… kinda’ like an “enemy bible”. What an enemy has to do {“sinfully”} in order to make Ephraim mad… or glad as the commercials say.)

But, he just couldn’t make his heart not forgive her… she just was too adorable… too pretentious to not forgive. After all, to go against someone’s pretentiousness is a sin in itself! It is like not accepting to do a guest’s wish! What if a god were to visit, or in this case, a goddess.

One more try to lessen her guard wouldn’t hurt.

“Well, I wouldn’t expect anything less from a goddess such as yourself,” he said, smiling, though thinking just how much he wished she had forfeited. Who could resist his charm? Either way, it was working… no one could resist… no one … (OOC: muwahahahahahhaah *cough*).

“Ready thy sword/weapon,” Ephraim continued, “and mention to me when you will begin… or you may begin without mentioning, either is fine… though I would prefer the former.”

Ephraim chuckled… oh, how he hoped she did the former… or he just might have to hurt her.  

[Ephraim the Lunar Warrior]

(OOC: “Hehe, I find it amusing that you call it a little battle at the end, and what you really feel is that it is a life-death situation. A little battle, indeed. ^^ Nevertheless, just a word of advice: blasphemy is lying, sacrilege is a term used to express the act of stealing something of holy value, or gross irreverence toward a hallowed person, place, or thing. Nevertheless, I feel that maybe you knew that, it’s just that you were being very abstract in your usage. I think you meant not worthy of sacrilege, but “worthy to be called sacrilege.” I think that sounds more right. At least, this is to the point of my knowledge, maybe you are right. Nonetheless, don’t worry…. I liked the rest of your post ^^)

Ephraim raised an eyebrow at the girl. Was she stupid? Why didn’t she just quit already? Who would be foolish enough to go against “teh Ephy?” Who? No one dared challenged him, ranging from, well, um, uh… little children! to… um, well, animalia. Yes, that is good. Animalia and little children. From the fiercest bullies of school to the most fiendishly domesticated cats, not an atom on their little bodies would dare to even go through meiosis if the process threatened “teh Ephy!”

And here was this girl… this girl in rags in front of him, boiling his blood because she wouldn’t quit. How dare she? How dare she do as such? Blasphemy sacrilege! (OOC: forgive my plagiarism ^^; wink Blasphemy in that she spoke of her power to him as if she could dare to win! (at least to Ephraim…) Sacrilege in that she dared to steal his seat of power within Animalia! (I don’t know where he received this new obsession with this new country of nature… forgive the poor soul…).

Charms, sweet-talk, utter groveling (in Ephraim’s perspective) did not even work! What would make this woman seek forgiveness in front of him and forfeit? It would be much easier for him, and he would, obviously, prefer it. Why didn’t she understand that? Was it that difficult of a concept that she could not comprehend? Once more, it brought back the thoughts that whether or not this girl was stupid. Were women truly this stupid? Stupidity had a limit, did it not? (OOC: Naturally, no offence to your character, it’s Ephraim that is stupid XD).

Ephraim was a man of peace (no matter what anyone said…). He did not fight unless it was direly needed. This girl was going against his normal, lethargic putridity. How dare anyone? (You see this pattern of “how dare, how dare, how dare”… this might go on a while, so I shall cut it short: )

“But, you are a goddess. Therefore, I shall battle against you just as if you were one. A goddess goes against someone to test, and I shall think of this as a test of my calibre, my ability to unarm a person armed, my ability to defeat those whose feats have no bounds. I challenge thee, maiden, beseeching thy nature to enact upon my humble power. I can only hope that it pleases the goddess before me.

“Let us begin.”

And that is where his speech ended, his staff at hand, his cloak fastened around his neck. The centurion jewels adorning Ephraim’s pallid, lucid body, glowed brightly as they were invoked. Next the ancient jewels within his staff glowed brightly as they were invoked. Ephraim’s expression changed to that of one of quite seriousness. He meant business henceforth, no more trailing thoughts. This was an entirely different Ephraim: mature, noble, angelic. He would not disgrace his honor unless it be fated.

Ephraim grasped his staff tightly as he spoke some incantations. Unintelligible droning could be heard as the magic of nature came to be. In its effect, the creation of a wall of air, and photolithic light appeared, besieging his opponent.

Let us make this quick, Ephraim thought, as he stood panting, having exerted much energy already. I’m not in the mood anymore to joke around.  

[Ephraim the Lunar Warrior]

(OOC: Fine, picky!)
Ephraim’s figure began to chant complicated verses once more, not intending to let the Dawn Strider a good distance from him gain the upper-hand. His mentality began to contort and his thought processes became much more narrowed, yet broad at the same time. Basically, he began to concentrate and not wander his thoughts too much.

His perception broadened; his senses keened. Everything started to change in his mind. Every little detail he took in, and his teachings started to become clear as to how to use them. Chant upon chant he started to speak while he thought.

His technique started to contort just like his mentality. The prison he had created started to change forms from the rectangular prism it had been to a dodecahedron, to a cone, to a pyramid. Slowly, the walls began to close into his opponent, or so was his aim. Spikes appeared at the walls, showing just how serious he had become in just a few seconds of battle.

Ephraim might have seemed to have been a person of no care, but that was how he was portrayed, or how he wanted to portray himself. Truly, he was a very serious person and not one to be underestimated. In fact, those who tended to do so, usually were disarmed before the true battle even began in Ephraim’s eyes. It would just have been too much work to fight someone so simple in Ephraim’s mind (hey, it was Ephraim… he wasn’t entirely bi-polar. Entirely, being the operative word.).

Nevertheless, he was not what most saw him as, or as most didn’t see him as. Those close to him knew just how he was, and that he was not entirely. That was how he was to control himself. Self-control was a large part of Ephraim. Magic was an art in which he, Ephraim, as a sorcerer, has to have perfect self-restraint. The way he has self-restraint is by his being haughty, arrogant, pompous, and poodley (Yes, poodley, as like a poodle. I like poodles… snooty mutts, they are. Precious, truly precious.) self. Some might find that contradictory, others—like Ephraim—would find it simply common sense.

Then again… it is Ephraim.

Then Ephraim’s attack stopped. Why, you ask? Well, he had heard something. All he could assume it to be was one of the opponent’s powers. The ground began to shake, his concentration began to break as his eyes opened back to the place he was (for, that was how his attacks worked… his eyes would close and his onslaught would embark with his 4 other senses (yes, even taste. Everyone’s a critic….). It almost made a sixth sense, if I may.

Nevertheless, as the earthquake continued, a third eye in Ephraim’s forehead opened. It destroyed his attack, for he could do nothing else. Did this girl look like she could make such an earthquake? Was he doing just what he, himself, hated to do? Was he underestimating this girl in front of him?

“Was that you, Goddess? Quite exquisite. Though, I have my doubts.”

(OOC: If you want to lengthen your post, you can also make it so that you thought it was Ephraim who was making the earthquake, but once he spoke, it was clear that it was not him.)
Ephraim, didn’t, however, wait for her to answer. It’s Ephraim, after all… impatient as ever… or resourceful depending.

“On second thought,” he thought, “why take my chances with conversation? If it was you, then, I have no choice. Time is running out.”

The water around him began to collect into several places, suspended in air. The newly created missiles around him of ice from the obvious humidity of a ice-capped mountain were sent flying towards the girl. “Terribly sorry, I must say… but I have no choice, Mademoiselle.”

He wouldn’t actually kill her, after all. In fact, all he wished to do was immobilize her, maybe give her a few scratches, but enough for her to quit before the true bloodshed would ensue. If the spiked projectiles fastened her to the wall, then everything would be simple hence. The battle would be short, sweet, and he would win. Simple, no one hurt, and only a few scratches to hinder no movement.  

[Ephraim the Lunar Warrior]

(Hehe, that’s fine. Don't worry about length. I want you to use your mind more on the challenge, 'cause if you don't... your character'll be toast, and it won't be god-moding when your character is defeated XD.)

Ephraim eyed her suspiciously as she countered his move. He watched her movements, her style of battle. It seemed rough, yet flawed (to him). It, at the same time, however, seemed elegant and pleasing in turn.

As the crystalline barrage that Ephraim had sent burst into snow-like particles, the image around his opponent was spectacular. The snow danced around her like little water nymphs would around their puddle-like home.

The ground still shook, the earth still trembled in alarm. The alarum of the snow, which he saw falling while looking through a crack in the cave wall, was enough to let Ephraim know that he had to get his act together.

The attack he had sent towards the girl in front of him had left him tired… it had been a powerful one. Yet, she had managed to turn the onslaught into a beautiful display of her strength. Damn it.

He, of course, thought it would have proved at least somewhat of a challenge to the opponent, but in turn it turned out into a mocking display. What to do, what to do?

Then it occurred to him: you cannot “kick” fire. She had karate kicked her way out of the ice… but fire is simply energy! He’d use fire!

He, of course, didn’t know how to use the fire element, therefore, that attempt went in vain. However, that thought of his had sparked an idea. What element is like fire, in the effect that it cannot be blocked? Wind. If Ephraim used wind to subdue his opponent, she would fall like a pancake into a pan! (Welcome to the Department of Redundancy Department, Ephraim!)

But, it would be difficult. Wind is one of those elements that require much energy to control, but no resources like water, fire, or light. For Fire to be used, a spark must be created; for water to be used, water must be present, even if in humid water droplets; for light to be used, light must be present, or created. If wind could not be used, you’d either be one: in outer space; or two: dead. Seeing as Ephraim wasn’t either, he went for the use. Sure, he was exhausted, but he was lazy more. Try to make sense of that sentence, for it does make sense.

The thunder rolled as the snow fell, and the earth rolled with the premonition of impending hindrance. The sky shook with hearty entrails of water, and the sea in the distance burned with fury. The little hole he had to peep through was enough to see all of this, but alas it was not enough to stop him from keeping his attention from the battle. His opponent’s commentary was of course a wake-up call, of sorts, to him.

He thought of several more mantras with which to use in the battle, and with it, his onslaught of terror began. All he had to do was stall until the avalanche arrived, he could control it with ease. Sure, it would be a great amount to control, but on the contrary it would not tire him very much. Mostly, it had to do with Newton’s Law of energy administration. If movement (energy) is present in an elemental extreme, all one must do is direct the energy. Directing energy is simple (at least for Ephraim; for others, on the other hand, it is very trying), it is the administration of energy that is difficult.

Nevertheless, Ephraim knew that once the avalanche reached him and his opponent, it would be game over. All he had to do was tire out his opponent, and defeat her earlier than usual if he could.

The wind he created, beset (surrounded) his opponent in the form of blades as she had leapt into the air to greet Ephraim. Blades that no normal, un-magician-y person could block were the result, for no one—not even Ephraim—could block while in the air. It was almost impossible, for there would be no support in which to redirect the energy administered through the blades. It wasn’t almost impossible, it was impossible. This girl, by leaping towards Ephraim to attack, had sealed her own fate in stone.

“I think you have no reason to apologize… I shall keep you busy until—“ Ephraim paused to look at the avalanche’s position, “—well, you shall see, My Lady Goddess.”

(OOC: Your character’s scary… after all, Ice is one of the advantage elements given to us by CBK. How powerful is your character?!?!?! Looks like Ephraim’s gonna’ have to break a few sweat droplets. But, let us see your powerful character, and your wit, get your character out of this “impossible” situation. Can you make it possible to not be sent back towards the wall, in which Ephraim will immobilize you? I shall see through your response.)