[OOM] Festival of the Red Snow.

[stuck_mynock]

Atton takes Guppy out onto the surface of Kazic III, into a large settlement the centre of which seems to be almost completely taken up by a festival. Which means merchants lining every street with stalls, tents for fortune-tellers, a performance going on at one end of the city centre (it appears to be the story of a particularly bloody war, represented with physical theatre by some very athletic dancers) and a stage at the other end which is currently not being used, judging by the burly men socialising and posturing at each other on it.

Atton's dressed up warm, because even though it's the warm season, it's still Kazic III, which makes it about as cold as a Scottish winter.

Comments

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Similar, yeah."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Do I have to go register or anything?" Guppy asks.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

"Nah. There's no referee or anything. See that guy?" Atton points at a man taller than he is, with broader shoulders, shaggy hair and a lot of tattoos. He has a red band around his arm. "He's last year's champion. You sit around the platform, and he'll call up whoever he feels like fighting - or if he's beaten, whoever beats him will do it - until nobody's left. Fight is over when he - or the guy that beats him - says it is."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Okay. I'll do my best." Guppy grins and goes to sit around the platform.

He'd do it in a half lotus position, but his flexibility won't quite allow it, so he kneels instead.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

Atton slips into the crowd.

Up on the platform, the champion peers around the various gathered competitors, before calling up a very burly looking man. They take their positions, and then the burly man starts offloading blows into the champion's torso. The champion takes it for a minute, without reacting, then knocks the burly man to the ground and bludgeons him with one hand until he's nearly unrecognisable.

When he eventually relents, several people drag the burly man off, and the champion starts looking around again.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy glances at Atton, wondering if he should go and help the guy who just got mashed up.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

Atton gives a shrug, as if to say 'eh, he'll be fine'. He also waves the Cube, as if to indicate that it's still available if Guppy wants it.

On the platform, the champion takes out another contender by knocking him to the ground and, with swift stamps, snapping his legs.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy hesitates, then shakes his head slightly. Atton's not going to let him get permanently damaged, and he'd kind of like to know how he actually faces up, even if he doesn't win.

At the end of the day, this could be a rehearsal for something really nasty he has to fight.

When it's his turn, he steps up and faces his challenger. It would be idiocy to try and beat him by strength, so he's looking for weak spots.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

The champion looks him up and down with a grin, then holds his arms wide for Guppy to attack wherever he likes.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy grins, and walks around slowly.

He raises his hands, as though to punch, but as his hand shoots forward, he instead grabs the champion's little finger and pulls sharply in a direction intended to dislocate it, in the hope he'll pull towards himself.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

The champion looks surprised as his little finger is dislocated, and moves towards Guppy, but he doesn't seem pained.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy steps back, quickly. Maybe this guy isn't human enough to be affected by the usual weak points. Or maybe he just conceals pain well.

He waits for a move, wondering if he can whack a nerve.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

The champion paces about Guppy for a moment before, when behind him, bringing a hand down to try to grab Guppy's shoulder in a vicelike grip.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy swings an arm up fast and whacks the champion hard on the funny bone, in the hope of numbing the arm grabbing him.

At the same time, he kicks back, aiming to use the knee to push himself forward away from the champion.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

His swing hits right where he wants it to, but the arm keeps moving, closing around his shoulder. As Guppy pushes himself away, the champion lets out a small grunt of pain and pulls him back roughly.

With a grin, he tightens his grip as much as he can, hooking a leg around one of Guppy's to keep himself from being thrown.

[guppy_sandhu]

Okay, this is a bit scary...

He shoots a hand down, going for the big guns, grabs something soft and pulls, hard. Hoping he won't catch any horrible diseases as a result. At the same time he throws back his head, hoping to hit face.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

That works, mostly. The champion growls, letting go and stepping back. A second later, a flurry of strong punches come at Guppy.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy spins around, ducks, and punches towards the champion's diaphragm.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

The champion takes it with a grunt, then swings a hand about to grab Guppy by the back of his head.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy dodges sideways, and rolls away.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

The champion looks like he's about to go striding after him, but instead just paces slightly.

[guppy_sandhu]

Okay... it's going to be difficult to beat this guy, even by skill rather than strength.

Guppy waits a moment, catching his breath, waiting to see where he goes next.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

The champion moves in abruptly and quickly, aiming a kick at Guppy's side.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy sidesteps, grabs the foot, and twists the knee in the best direction for a ligament injury.

[stuck-mynock.livejournal.com]

The champion snarls with pain, grimacing, using the proximity to try to grab Guppy and hold him still by the neck and start punching him with his other hand.