Welcome to Gaia! ::

Jon crouched low taking every aspect of the area in in dead silence. The first thing the archer noticed was the heat. It was considerably comforting and almost made the dessert born feel at home. The unsettling part of the temperature was the sky. He remembered well the cold nights in his home spent shivering from the freezing temperature that so wickedly contrasted with the day. If the same comparisons could be made here then Jon held no desire to see the sun. Then there was the whole humidity issue. Every breath that Jon took was more like a drink. The ground beneath his feet was still soft and moist as if a spontaneous shower had just passed through. The second sensation that came to mind were the scents breezing about the area. To his nose rang the familiar notes f herbs he had spent hours studying and working with in his shed. Even before his eyes he saw a small grouping of White Byrony, a very nasty diuretic if used properly. Swiftly and quietly Jon gathered some of the plant just in case. If he played the area right along with the natural resources that he had been granted this could be ended rather quickly. Low in the grasses barely noticeable he waited with bow in hand. A solemn knocked arrow sat at rest. Someone would be here soon, he was certain of that, but who and of what origin was still a mystery to him.

Jon listened to the target's every last word. It was rather easy to learn much. It was obvious she was worried and wanted to end this quick despite the cover of cockiness that she seemed to shield herself with. Through the grasses he could make out part of her form and Identify that she was about five paces to the right and twenty forward of the archer. Her cry out in attempt to insult told him that she was not used to fighting at long range nor was she accustom to opponents that could not be seen. This well noted a lack of familiarity with just about any strider. She however was standing there leaving herself open for some strange reason. Well once Jon thought about it he knew exactly what she wanted. One shot would give him away, his stealth would be forfeit, she must have had some sort of defense prepared though. Jon would have to take her out fast. Taking a small vial from his belt he silently anointed the heads of two arrows in a small paralysis unguent. While not affecting the entire body as some of Jon's toxins often did the limb struck with these arrows would first go painfully numb and then become useless for about the next two or three hours. That would provide Jon more than enough time if his plan fell into fruition. Holding one shaft gently in his teeth for faster access he did the math if he fore one high arched shot for the head he would have approximately fifteen seconds to fire the next straight shot so that the two would impact around the same time. In fifteen seconds he could move fifteen paces while crouched. So if he took twelve seconds to move and fired in the other three he would still remain relatively hidden and could attack from two sides. Now after his second shot it would be best to keep moving but he wasn't so certain that he didn't want to see what this person's reaction would be to either of the shots. Taking a deep breath to steady himself Jon let loose the first high arching shot, calculating the impact point to be around the girls torso. Then Jon moved briskly and silently crouching low beneath the cover of the high grass and knocking the second arrow. ten...eleven...twelve... Jon pull on the drawstring with all the strength he had in his right arm, thirteen... He carefully lined the shot with the girls ankle holding the bow sideways so as to prevent her from seeing it poke above the top of the grass. Fourteen... His fingers loosened the string once more sending the toxic wooden missile flying through the cover of the high grass. Fifteen... He took four more paces away from the girl and stopped to see what would happen next. If he was fortunate he would catch the girls leg and force it to be useless in about a minute or two depending on body mass. Immobilized he would strike hard and end the fight without ending the girl if he could. This was just a friendly competition after all.

A sly smile, much like that of a fox robbing a chicken coop, worked it's way across Jon's mouth. She seemed intent on finding him as she moved closer. Yet the archer felt no reason to evade or fear this one. No not at all. Her foot steps were heavy denoting a unfamiliarity with the softer parts of the world not to mention the large amount of sweat he saw upon the girl denoting a rather interesting dislike for the warmth of the region. There it was, the intent. She was going to try to strike him but how. It was then that he noticed her fist. Part of it was missing. Maybe it wasn't missing, maybe there was something there that he did not see as the attack came down towards his left shoulder. There was a slight shift in his body as he heard the distinct clank of something hard starting its interaction with the metal piece on his shoulder, there was a slight metallic scraping sound and then a final ripping sound. Jon rose quickly with the twist of his body ushering the invisible blade back along his back. In great haste his arm wrapped around that of the assailant's holding her arm in place while his other hand disappeared behind him. "Mistake number one, rushing into a battle without taking time to study your opponent, mistake number two, tearing my favorite tunic, seriously how am I going to explain this to my wife without her freaking out," His sense of humor seeped through once again despite the severity of the situation, perhaps he was treating this with a little too much levity," and mistake number three, getting to close to me." The entire time he had spoken his free hand had been at work opening a small pouch of powder, knob root ground into a fine dust and combined with fairy's bane on a night of a red moon, known to cause temporary blindness and intense pain. With the powder free and held in a tight fist he threw the dust straight into the girls face at the end of his last sentence. The dust hung in the air for a few moments as a cloud before dissipating while Jon moved his hunting knife from the sheath on his waist to another on his chest. It had taken sometime but years of training had helped him improve himself to where he no longer had to fear the assault of those in close range, this was the result. An absolute flexibility in his technique.

Was it cruel of the archer to put the girl through such pain? No Jon had known full well what this contest had meant and so had she, besides she had cut his favorite tunic and at the moment he could feel the sensation of blood slowly weeping from a wound on his back. It wasn't enough to really bother him but in the back of his mind he knew he would have to tend to it later. Though the fact that things were going rather well for him was a nice thought still despite not noting one important observation. The girl was sweating rather profusely in fact it made it hard for him to retain his grip as she slipped away and started to run off. Now where is she going, the poor thing won't be able to see for a few moments and running around like a chicken with her head cut off is not the best strategy. At least before she had known where I was and now she will have no clue once she comes out of this. The instructor in Jon's mind was speaking these words, not the fighter. In silence he picked up his bow and moved. She seemed to have ducked down, though he had a theory of her whereabouts based off the direction of her flight. Based on her previous rush he was certain that she knew no ranged attacks so Jon had the distinct advantage once again. He stopped at a point thirty feet west from his previous position and crouched once again into the tall grasses. He only had twenty arrows or so and she would not return until she could see most likely so he would have to wait. Then he heard her voice as a snake heard a mouse scampering among leaves. Stealthily Jon pulled back a newly knocked arrow aimed for the origin of the voice. If she was so certain of that then why was there doubt in her voice. The heat was getting to her, he could tell by the sweat he had encountered on her skin even though she felt so cold to the touch. It was a rather disgusting feeling really, almost inhuman. Crap. A realization came to his mind. He was fighting a demon. Spending as much time as he had with Mori he had learned the signs of such an entity and a strange body temperature had been one of the first things he had noticed. Great, I don't have any bane for that, but... His eyes wandered around the field for one quick instant, theere might be some here. I'll have to keep my eyes open, some fire root would be nice too. Considering that his first plan had failed somehow and his second had gone awry thanks to sweat, this third would have to be almost fool proof. He had control of the situation he just had to hold on to it and he could end this rather briskly, especially with his dagger soaking in another paralytic.

Jon's eyes grew wide as he eyed this new beast a mere fifty feet away. Well this was quite a game changer. A few plans ran through his mind of what to do but all of them seemed to have the same risk unless. His hand fell to the five black arrows on his thigh. He could take care of this beast with one shot of the lotus though the lotus might take longer to affect something that big. He did some rather quick math, sixty seconds judging from eyesight. It would take one shot a solid minute to affect the beast and then another thirty in order for the beast to die after suffering the effects, starting with dizziness and numbness and then ending with complete neural shut down, but all he would need was a scratch. He had promised the captain not to use the arrows against anyone in the tournament but this creature wasn't a combatant. He had only worn them so that he weighed and moved the same as normal but if he could take this beast out and get to the girl before she regained her sight he would be in good shape, especially if he caught her with the paralytic dagger, though he would be cutting it close, really close. He placed the previous arrow in his quiver and knocked one of the black ones. Then with a slight hesitation he stood, "This is going to hurt." He took in a deep breath gathering his courage, "HEY UGLY COME AND GET IT." Jon was not about to waste a lotus arrow on a long shot with so many variables. He had the same feeling in his gut he had had upon seeing Oberon's true form, sinking so deep that he thought he was going to vomit. His heart was thrumping at an increased rate. He couldn't believe what he was about to do. His fingers held tension ready to draw in an instant when the moment of no return came. He was probably going to hear from the captain about this later but he was fairly certain that he was justified in this. Especially since he was fighting the girl not the beast.