Old Growth Forest- Burning_Ice vs. Xootie

Fight re-posted from GI. Yay me.

Burning_Ice:
Torin shook his head as he walked through the forest letting his feet guide him where his eyes had long since failed him. A gentle breeze blew through the grove lighting up the world to Torin's mind. He could feel the leaves on the ground stirring, the branches swaying, even the wind itself, splitting into two streams where it met a tree trunk. He had heard of a group of druids who worshiped the ocean living near here, far to the north of the druids usual place of worship. He had come hoping some elder druid might be able to answer his questions about the Elementals and their Lords. However there were hardly any druids about at all, indeed those few here had yet to even notice him. He had even listened in on a few conversations, it seemed many druids had gone across the mountains to the west, to fight someone named.. barkot? He had not heard the name clearly, nor any like it before. It mattered little though, the only thing that mattered is that the few druids he had found were unlikely to have answers for him.
If I cannot find those with answers I will go where they will find me...
He turned his head towards the center of the grove, where surely the greater druids must gather and walked silently into the dusky gloom.

Xootie:
Flying over the Forest Ursong looked down at the wild growth of trees seeking out for the greater orbs of the wind. Feeling the wind blow into his face he let the wind guide him to the orb. Below was clear opening possibly a grove, little gray objects stood there in a circle lying in wait for something. Ursong's mind was spinning something had to be there.Leaning with his legs to the left Winion quickly took the message and started to descent into the grove. The fog was thick as they drew closer deciding to be on the safe side, nudging Winion who started to descent faster and then land in a nearby tree with lichen.
"Kai" Ursong muttered and winion started to shrink. Resting his back on the trunk Ursong waited.

*note this is running parallel to BI's post*

Burning_Ice:
Torin could feel the grove now. Not just the movement, but the very power that made this place holy to the druids, the push and pull, so like the tides seemed to emanate from somewhere ahead of him, about as far as he had come since deciding to head towards the center. He noticed of a sudden a wrongness, a stillness where there should be naught but the gentle push and pull, something that was foreign, that did not quite belong. He stretched out his senses towards it, and found a simple repetitive movement.
Contract Expand Contract Expand. I was a simple pattern that he knew well. It was a heart. He turned his head towards the tree branch , not able to see that far it was little more than a gesture to show he was aware of the presence. He thought furiously, a druid would not seem so out of tune with this place, it could only be an outsider, someone like him, and in such a place, something to be wary of.
"Il muadbe ar sinum. Quer akvar mar tu locos?" he called. Then cursed himself remembering that this was not his homeland and no one would understand Alorian
He called again in Common "You there in the tree. What business have you here?"

Xootie:
Leaping out of his hiding place Ursong gripping Kaldresh tightly Ursong looked at the strange figure infront of him. A strange aura was enmanting from this person.
"i don't know who u are stranger but you're in my way" He called back in common.
Taking up a battle stance Ursong waited for the man to move.

Burning_Ice:
Torin raised one hand in front of him and murmured a soft word. A fireball grew to the size of a melon before his hand, spinning and burning lighting the surroundings. It was not a real fireball of course, merely an illusion of one created by a rune on his glove, but a helpful tool nonetheless, few dared to fight someone skilled in destructive magics. With his other hand he discretely reached for a knife trusting on the fireball to hold his adversaries' attention.
"I stand aside for neither man nor god. If you have aught knowledge of the latter, speak now and I may leave you unharmed, otherwise get thee from my sight if you wish to see the next morning."

Praying his opponent wasn't sensitive to magics Torin silently opened up a wall of Gray Space Portals behind his foe, forming a wall between two tree's.

Xootie:
hmmmm a fire mage...... Tis to become interesting
Feeling winion touch him Ursong turned around seeing the strange grey portals around them.
so an arena...... this man means business
"Sai!!!" shouted Ursong Winion started to change into a pair of wings attaching himself to Ursong's back. Gaining height Ursong raised Kaldresh into a shooting stance. The wind runes etched into the wood itself started to glow, charging a bullet inside the hollow tube Ursong took aim and fired 4 shots aimed directly for weak points in the strangers armor. "Feel the wing envelop you," chanted Ursong.

Burning_Ice:
As his opponent leveled a strange hollow staff at him Torin blanched, from the way he held it it was clearly a ranged weapon.
Wait for it... his arms will tense up and expand just before he shoots to absorb the recoil...wait...wait... There!
Torin rushed forward in a mad dash, narrowly avoiding the first bolt and clearing the following ones.
After he felt the fourth impact on the ground he tossed the knife he had palmed into the air ahead of his adversary, squeezed his eyes shut and cried out "Illios!"(Light!).
The knife started to glow almost as soon as it left his hand, and when it was well into the air, let off an incredibly bright flash of light.
Now with any luck, he can't see

Xootie:
Seeing the man dodge his attacks and instantly dive to the ground warned something in Ursong. But all too late the light from the knife exploded around him beams of light going everywhere in a dome shape. Blinded by the shot Ursong toppled to the ground Winion barely managed to keep him afloat. Landing with a huge Crack! Ursong quickly tried to assert the situation. Chanting words at a incomprehensible rate slowly a grey smoke started to form around Winion and Ursong. Encasing himself in the smoke allowing the opponent unable to see what he was planning as he would with him.
This should even the odds greatly.
Spinning Kaldresh faster and faster slowly shaping into a large shuriken of wind. A jabbing sensation pierced Ursong's body 3 of the orbs had quickly lost power losing the greyish glow and swirling movement.
"So how does a man of fire know the colours of light ? unless of course you've got a pact as do I," Ursong called over the loud sounds of the wind.
A surprise is about to hit you stranger

Burning_Ice:
Torin whipped around, his new assailant already wrapped in what appeared to be a barrier of some gas. It mattered little, Torin's sense of movement "saw" the spinning staff and felt the powerful winds, becoming almost blade like in their ferocity.
A wind user
Then the words he had just heard sunk in.
A pact user! He may have the answers I seek. Now all I have to do is beat them out of him, hopefully without killing him in the process.
Torin drew his staff, and rushed in on a curving path, hoping to approach from the side rather than into the teeth of whatever that viscous wind spell was going to be.
As he approached he made a powerful jab, aimed just below elbow level.

Xootie:
It was almost too late for Ursong when he saw the staff draw towards him. However expecting something because of winion's touch Ursong barely managed to deflect it with his wind glaive. A deep trench was created from the aftermath of the attack. Clouds of Dirt floated into the air turning into dust.
"Kai," whispered Ursong. Winion slowly began to float into the air a bright glow of aquamarine irradiated from his body. With a flash Winion became a harness for the torso with wings attached. Floating to attach itself to Ursong it started to merge into Ursong's body until it was just wings.
Holding his hand to his abdomen Ursong started to burst into the air. Feeling a jab of pain Ursong's flight started to falter slowly almost to a stop. Winion could barely keep him in flight.
damn it curse that man he shall pay with his information......

Burning_Ice:
In the air again? Torin thought. This was bad, his foe was clearly a ranged skill user, and so long as he was airborne there wasn't much Torin could do to stop him. Unless... Suddenly grinning fiercely Torin planted his staff butt first into the ground, and reached into his jacket, taking out 4 knives, two in each hand. He looked at his opponent and grinned.
Careful now... the timing has to be just right. he thought. He tensed himself and opened up six grayspace portals, forming a cube around his opponents head. Not harmful but shocking, and a normal humans' first instinct would be to get out of it.
Even as he finished forming the portals he launched his knives, one aimed to the left, the right, above, and for his chest.
As quickly as he could he grabbed his staff and rushed towards his opponent ready to grapple him should he dodge by flying low.

Xootie:
Seeing the gray space portals appear right around him Ursong by instinct started to chant. Putting his hand out a force of wind started to form swirling around his hand. "Gust Wall!" Ursong screamed as the force of the wind started to push him through one of the grey spaces. Seeing for some unknown reason 4 orbs were drained as well as the 2 from gust wall. Checking if Kaldresh was alright found that some of the runes were glowing dimly.
He shall pay for his insolence with his body
"Sai," whispered Ursong as winion started to turn back into a dragon fly. Falling down to the earth, putting his clenched fist out in front of him.
Feeling the drain of another 2 orbs and gray mist flowing franticly around his fist pulling his fist back prepared to engage in the earth.
With his other hand at the same time Ursong was forming a sphere in his hand waiting for impact.

Burning_Ice:
Torin rushed forward, feeling his opponent first fall then slow, he shifted his grip on his staff, sacrificing speed and balance for more leverage, more power.
End this with one blow...
He swung hoping to catch his opponent on the side of the head, for if he didn't he would almost certainly be unbalanced from the force of the swing.

Xootie:
Seeing the staff swing towards him at a ferocious speed Ursong had no choice but to divert his fist to block in the incoming blow. Together wood and flesh collided in a deadly array of unseen force.Pushed back at the sheer force of the encounter Ursong landed flat into a nearby tree. Recovering quickly he quickly divided the sphere in his other hand into 5 sphere spread to the tips of his bony fingers. Bracing his body against the tree and feebly pressing his fingers to the ground, Cracks started to form throughout the ground in front a grumbling sound started to be heard. With a sudden silence the earth erupted in a massive spectacular array of rocks and beams of gray wind. Grinning at the site and the reinforced fact that the stranger wasn't seen anymore Ursong lay there for a rest

Burning_Ice:
The stranger struck Torin's staff, and somehow released a terrible power. Far from striking the stranger or merely missing him, the powerful counter-blow sent Torin spinning in the other direction and launched him off his feet before he lost his grip on the staff. Not moving for a second he heard a low rumbling, growling noise.
Then the world went mad. Dust and rocks fountained into the air, powerful bands of wind stirred the dust clouds ever more. Torin gripped his head desperately, his sense of movement picked up on every piece of dust, every tiny pebble. It was like trying to keep track of each individual grain of sand in a sandstorm. It was chaos, it was maddening. He couldn't take it.
No more, no more a feeble voice in his head pleaded, as little by little he shrunk the field of detection until it was little more than a foot outside his head.
I cannot fight like this he thought desperately as he crawled on hands and knee's, groping for his staff, once more truly blind for the first time in years. He crawled forwards, feeling for his staff, afraid, truly afraid for the first time in years to open his mind to the movements of the world around him.
As he crawled his shoulder struck a tree, quickly he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small black knife, sunk it into the tree, then crawled on into the underbrush.

Xootie:
Sensing the disappearance of the stranger Ursong hoppled off into the dense thicket of woods in front of him. Using what was left of his orbs Ursong summoned a nearby wind sprite to cover his tracks and conceal him from his surroundings. Stabbing his staff into the ground Ursong incanted a command word, repeatably launching air bullets into the ground increasing the pressure in the ground till Ursong was thrust into the air like a rocket speeding increasingly."Sai," shouted Ursong over the sound of the clouds. Winion enlarging deftly caught Ursong and rode into the foreboding horizon

Burning_Ice:
Some minutes later, Torin cautiously let the world back in. He was dimly aware of the dust storm behind him, but he pushed away from it, refused to see it. He cast about for his staff, but all was still. A brief moment of concentration and a muttered word and he felt it, it's newly formed blade pushing it along the ground a few inches.
It was not far and he went to retrieve it.
Sneaking, cautiously, oh so cautiously back to the scene of the battle he stopped. He braced himself and let the whole area in.
The dust storm had settled somewhat and wasn't as bad, but more importantly he did not feel the beating of a heart nearby.
It appears our quarrel is over for now wind user. But so help me god I will have answers.
He turned and pulled the black knife out of the tree, and abandoned the others to their fate
He sighed wearily and turned his feet once more towards the center of the grove. Now mostly hoping for some mild healing.