Cross-dimensional Combat

A horn sounded, marking the beginning of the tournament. A crowd of faceless observers cheered wildly, before taking their seats and watching as, before their eyes, the plain auditorium’s field began to contort, and shift in size. Plain, cracked ground molded back together and grew grass of the top, which was quickly covered in a light blanket of snow. The tundra picked up fast, as mountains began to form, the crowd’s seats being elevated up higher to reach a greater viewing point.

The contestants were warped into their proper places on the battlefield, and the audience cheered.

On the right of the highest peak in the stadium, sandals tore across the unkempt snow. A woman dressed in a high-rising skirt and iron-clad corset viewed her surroundings suspiciously. Xena of Amphipolis was decked with armor; leather bands across her arms, steel pads protecting her shoulders, and in her right hand sat a firm discus, good for slicing through any soul who had the misfortune of coming into its path.

Her gloves dug through the snow. The snow-like powder, that was - dressed in no outfit for polar temperatures, Xena observed quickly that she felt no bite of ordinary freezing cold. The snow fell off her fingers like baking soda, a lukewarm substance that was her first clue that everything around her was fake. Yet, as she looked up, gray skies and looming clouds blocked her view of the outside world of watching eyes as the audience sat on the edge of their seats.

Huffing to herself, the Warrior Princess wasted no more time. With a few more steps, and a firm grasp on the edges, Xena pulled herself up and atop of the cliff. The top of the mountain was long, and barren - save for a solid wooden log cut and placed vertically that sat near the middle.

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Lydia grabbed her longsword from her hilt and held it at the ready. One moment she had been carting goods for the dragonborn, the next she was here, getting ready for battle with someone she had never seen before, but she appeared to be a warrior such as herself.

Lydia's long, dark brunette hair flowed down the back of her metal plated armor. She carried a shield of both wood and metal and other than her upper arms and head, there was hardly a part of her that was unarmored.

She looked around and there were thousands of people cheering and roaring for something. Perhaps this was some form of arena combat like back home. But where was her opponent? Ah, there she was, climbing up a cliff. Why had her opponent had to start off a cliff? Well, either way, Lydia knew she was expected to defeat her in battle. This woman must have a very different fighting style, she wore much less armor and did not appear suited to this climate.

She knew she must be careful though. Lightly armored warriors were often faster and more agile. Lydia took a defensive posture with her shield facing the enemy and her sword poised at the ready.

Scraping her hands together to rid them of any residue that had hitched a ride during her descent up, Xena squinted through the snowfall to see the outline of a woman clad in armor sat on top of the hill. A cocky smirk formed on her lips as she began to approach, a hand to her hip and one on her Chakram. The snow reflected off of her body and dropped down to the ground, harmless as dirt, as she approached. The beaming light of a generated sunrise peered from behind Lydia, giving her the appearance of a deity. Combined with her random transportation here, Xena began to draw some conclusions.

“And who might you be?” The warrior princess asked. “A fellow lost traveller, or the devil who brought me here?” Her face smiled back sardonically, as she tossed her disc up into the air and caught it on the way down, it’s sharpened blades resting thinly across her gloved hand. “Better yet, how well do you fight?”

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Lydia takes a few steps toward her mysterious opponent. "I am sworn to the service of my thane, and if he wants me here, then you must be my enemy." Lydia continues to slowly approach her opponent, shield and blade at the ready. "And where I come from we don't speak of how well we fight, we show it."

Xena squinted suspiciously. She read Lydia’s face from the distance put between them, and could see she was being serious… after a decent pause, she crossed her arms, and smirked. “Ha!” She laughed, her voice bellowing powerfully across the gulches. “You let a man tell you what to do? I answer to no one!” Xena proudly boasted. Her finger ran down and began to spin her Charkram within inches of her face, like a hula-hoop around her finger. She stopped it, mid-run, and held it above her head.

“I am Xena! Destroyer of nations, slayer of gods! And who is this girl with cute braids, asking to fight?” The warrior princess cockily looked around, with outstretched arms, as if speaking to an unseen observer. The crowd that had placed bets on her began to cheer, a reign of applause accompanying Xena’s powerful brags. “Just surrender, and spare us both the trouble.”

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"Just because I am in service to a man, don't think you could be my superior. I am Lydia, housecarl of the thane of Whiterun, and I know not what gods you've slain, but mine are still very much alive. You have insulted them, now pay the price." With that, Lydia leaped forward with her blade pointed at Xena's chest and shield still up in a defensive position.

With a vicious smile as Xena eagerly prepared herself for a battle, she took put one foot back and held her discus out behind her. “Then once I’m through with you, I’ll seek them out for a real challenge!” She promised, before unsheathing a mighty blade from behind her back, and taking one step back. As Lydia was upon her, she deflected her blade by swiping her own to the side, aiming to throw the woman off-balance.

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Lydia's sword arm was forced to the side and she was thrown off balance by Xena's defense and rather large blade, but Lydia quickly brought up her own shield with her left arm and hit Xena in the face with it with as much force as she could muster to knock her off balance. Lydia then quickly rolled to the side and regained her balance, quickly returning to her feet and putting her shield back in a defensive position. "Then come and get me, killer of false gods."

Her face now intense with the heat of battle, Xena prepared her weapon to strike, but was caught off-guard with a heavy-winded blow to her face. She backed away with surprise, holding her cheek sorely as she did so. One eye opened to see Lydia at a safe distance, brandishing her shield again. “With pleasure.” The princess muttered, gripping her weapon with both hands and dashing forward as she began to wail on the steel shield, every strike with her trusty sword putting an impressive dent in the defense. “Why hide behind your flimsy shield?” She asked, stopping her assault to press her blade down into the barrier. “Don’t you have any courage?”

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Lydia just smiled, she let Xena attack her shield several times but suddenly pushed up hard with her shield, forcing Xena's weapon into the air and struck her right knee with her blade, causing a serious injury to it. "Not hiding," Lydia replied. "Just waiting for the right moment to strike!" Lydia's shield was now battered and dented, and the wood had been pushed through in a few places, but it would still be good to deal with a few more harsh blows. "Still anxious to come at me or am I not divine enough for you to kill?"