((You heard the man, hurt him. Hurt him very very much.))

It felt cold, his staff that is, not death. So this was the power of the fool who was to force his way inelegantly. Antoinne shifted his weight away from the end of his staff that was still held up in the air, letting it fall as he acted as a fulcrum, allowing the opposite end stuck in the sand to rise. The blade slide along the staff, as was a logical consequence of Snow's action. Well it would have slid off if not for the hooks of the centipede sectioned staff. Right then, Antoinne wished to separate his staff and render the flesh of his victim from bone but he soon noticed a flare of light in the corner of his eye. Experience had taught him that such flares could vary from fire to an incoming car. Still, he was not sated and only swung the staff free from the sword, bringing it in an arc that would at best glance off the back of his adversary as Antoinne shuffled backwards.

Snow stopped for a moment, slightly confused.

His opponant hadn't disarmed him, and had only managed to land a rather weak blow to Snow's arm, nothing that was particularly deadly, wounding, or extravagant.

Then it hit him, the reason Antoinne had backed off, if only for a moment: a large fireball coming from an unknown assailant.

Of course Snow, who was knocked back by the fireball was surprised,
"Was this some sort of trap?" he thought as he steadied himself.

The fire was of a similar kind to that of his brother's, completely based in magic and fell arts.
With this knowledge, Snow he didn't have the chance to be careless again, as death would most likely follow.

Not pausing any longer than a second Alayna quickly conjured another ball of fire, lengthening and stretching it thinly around her in an intense spiral, flashing brilliantly white for one second, transformed into a great vine anchored to the ground at her feet. Pointing her staff at her target, the runic staff glowed green as the vine split into three smaller vines each surging purposely toward the man.

The main vine charged head on, thorns bristling and revolving magically along its green stem. The other two vines surged into the ground. One vine periodically went in and out of the ground, like a great needle and thread, throwing up sand and dust as it did. The other vine remained unseen and stayed below ground, she had another purpose for it. The runes along her staff flickered slightly as she held it before herself, she would be ready.

"This is not funny," Antoinne shouted at Snow.

He could vague make out a woman in the distance and then she was obscured by growth. Plants? In the desert? Who was she? What was she doing and why?

"Hey Snow, you sure you didn't break that girl's heart did you?" Antoinne asked, nodding his head in the direction of the approaching vines, "After all, Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

That was all he said, retreating even further but still remained within earshot. His target it seemed, had many enemies. Something he didn't consider. Right now, the feeling of surprise and wariness over powered any thoughts of combat. If his mark were to be extinguished here, that would be all and well, though he wouldn't know what to do with the blood lust. It wouldn't be nice to take it out on an innocent bystander. So there he made a resolution, if his mark could survive it, then he would make sure Snow wouldn't survive his centipede sectioned staff.

Snow was slightly insure of what Antoinne was backing off for, but this question quickly left his mind as he noticed the vines coming towards him at a high speed.
He thought only for a moment before sheathing his sword, and kneeling on the ground.

"Imperial, Ice Crystal Guardian."
Soon, cold ice energy poured out in every direction creating a massive and quite thick shield around him.

He needed time to figure out how to stop his opponants, and with his spherical shield he now had that time.

(Skip the colored text if its TL;DR. Its simply the precursor to her entrance into scene. Involving information on equipment she will be using for this rp, as well as a little back-story. The dark blue parts are relevant to what she will be wearing, the rest is simply prologue. )

Clouds filled the sky in an ominous grey, whilst a duststorm raged across the arid desert in a torrent of sand and wind. Through roaring winds and churning billows of sand, a cloaked figure made their way towards a particularly large sand dune overlooking an tiny oasis. The figure's garments flapped harshly against their body to the wind, each step slow and labored, fighting through the mighty gusts. Eventually they made their way towards a side of the dune.

Raising a hand to the large mound of sand, they pressed their palm inward against it and began to wipe side to side, revealing underneath the glossy glass of a window. Peering in intently, the figure then knocked the back of a gloved hand against the glass lightly, met with the inaudible response of a gruff voice.

In a moments time, sand shot up from the top of the hill like water bursting out of a blue whales back; followed by the muffled churning of large machines and a smoking metal chimney rising up from the newly formed hole atop the hill. Sand burst out beside the window as a thick, oak door shoved open. A stout man, presumably dwarven, wearing a pair of goggles upon his face and an engineers vest complete with wrenches and screwdrivers secured into pockets, beckoned the lone stranger within with hasty gestures, eager to be out of the way of the flowing sand falling from the doors overhead.

The figure closed the door behind them-self, the howls of wind outside now drowned out by the sputtering engine of a large mechanism built into the sides of the hard-clay walls of the dome-like home. A fireplace burned fiercely at the base of the chimney, giving the entire area an orange glow. The dwarf waddled his way over to a stool beside a low-table brandishing the dislocated pieces of a rifle. He stroked his graying bear with his right hand as he pulled out a screwdriver from his pocket with the other. Nonchalantly, he finally spoke. "I suppose you're here for your order. You know you could've waited until AFTER the storm lass, it'd have been in the same condition then as now" His voice crackled with his old age and blackened lungs from inhaling too much smoke.

The figure now pulled down the hood from their head, revealing a young woman with short green hair, sand-colored skin, and hazel eyes. "Would it help if i said i was in a bit of a rush?" She replied, seating herself in the only chair proportioned for human size, the 'guest' chair, she supposed.

"Not at all" The dwarf replied coldly, both hands now returning to work upon the rifle before him, fitting piece after piece back together with masterful precision. "Its in the container to your right, do me a favor, Niniva, and place it upon the table" He continued, as he finished assembling the weapon and placed off to the side, making room.

"Sure sure.."

With both arms, Niniva hauled the large, rectangular container over and slid it upon the table. The dwarf then immediately went to flicking the clasp with his pudgy hand and pulling it open.

Within lied a garment of several pieces.

A sturdy black leather sleeved-suit with a series of three belts strapped in to cover over the stomach area. Each belt featured iron buckles and plating along their bands; upon the chest region, rising from underneath the belts, a slim breast plate panned over the bosom and inverted to its point at the base of the collar. The plate seemed ingrained with the leather underneath it. Niniva noted that thin, inbuilt, pipes stretched from either side of the plate and went along to meet together in the back. The sleeves stretched down towards elbow length and featured no armor.

The lower half of the suit was sparsely armored compared to the upper half, the only plating lied along the lower thighs. Like the body-plate, these featured small pipes going around to meet one another in the back. the leggings themselves stretched down to ankle length. Making the full suit go from ankle to mid-neck.

Leather long-gloves lie within as well, with marginal plating upon the back of the hand areas and along the wrists towards the end of the gloves where they'd presumably meet with the sleeves of the suit. Upon either of the over-handed plates, lied in red markings, the seal Niniva often uses to cast magic. It seemed the dwarf did indeed think ahead.

Finally, at the very bottom of the case sat a pair of knee-high, buckled, steel toed boots. Every piece of leather of this outfit was tinted black, whereas every piece of metal was tinted dark violet, per request.

The dwarf quickly went to explaining.

"What ye have here is in every way an upgrade from your original enigma suit" He started, pulling a pipe from one of his many pockets and stuffing the tip into the edge of his mouth. "After ye'r latest near-death scuffle with that mage in the north, i took the initiative to make this one more protective while sacrificing as little mobility as possible." One smudge-spattered hand grasped the larger end of the pipe as his other used his screwdriver as a pointer, prodding it around the suit. "Atop of that, there will be no need for magical enchanments to protect you from the cold. If ya unstrap those buckles , there'll be a chamber for a capsule of concentrated fire-oil grafted into the bodyplate. The device is set to go off when the temperature reaches 0 Celsius. It will run off the fire oil for the better part of 2 hours, when it'll need a new capsule. Wiring worked into the leather, along with the metal of the plates, will keep everything heated. A human would find it sweltering, one of yer kin should find it nice n' cozy. Keep yer body from shutting down under the cold n' all that"

"I never required metal of any kind" Niniva remarked sourly, skeptical of the suit. Its iron-workings reminding her of the steam-engine powered armored units of Tarvinian Empire way back home. Memories she'd rather not endure.

The dwarf seemed offended at the doubt of his masterful work. "Quit yer belly achin' That body o'yers is as brittle as a twig. You needed it. Besides, its thin and light weight. Should hardly notice a decrease. Far as im concerned, there was plenty room for improvement." The dwarf scowled. His face then lighting up as if remembering something. "OH! Fore i forget.. " He went on, diving a hand into the case and pulling open a secondary compartment near its top. "I took the liberty of adding in this beaut right 'ere" he said, prodding his screw driver at it.

It was pair of goggles, the iron components matching the rest of her armor in color, while the buckling straps matched the leather. It featured layered lenses, A small gear lie half-exposed out of the right side of the pair. The dwarf prodded specifically at this. "Turn that and the lenses within the right socket will start to focus, not unlike that scope on that rifle i made. Should help."

Niniva found herself surprised at the dwarfs meticulous work. "You've really outdone yourself this time, Thorgrim.." She remarked. Truly, it was his passion to refine, enhance, and forge. It was for as long as she could remember, long before either left the lands of the far west.

"All in a days work." He remarked, getting the case closed up again. "I received your payment already, it's all yours."

Niniva grasped the container and hoisted it upon her shoulder. Outside, the storm had died down, and given way to the beating sun of the desert.

"Ill see you again sometime.. take care of yourself out here." Niniva stated calmly, heading towards the door.

"Aye." He replied back, bringing the rifle back onto the table to tinker with it. "No Tarvinian patrol is going to find me way out ere'. I'll be fine. Best of luck to ya".

"Yes.. lets hope that." She thought to herself bleakly, before making her way out into the wastes.

______________________________________________________________

It was quite a few hours ago now, she recollected, trudging through the sandy peaks, enroute to who knows where. She now wore her newly purchased suit, al beit however, she realized he did forget something. There was hardly any room for her weaponry. Nonetheless, she did what she could. Her jagged throwing knives sat secured within the top belt, blade-side down; littered along towards her sides. Secured to her back, her customized rifle sat snug and strapped in through the lash running diagonally along her chest. Her blades, Hemera and Nyx were sheathed at either side of her hips. She had found a place for almost everything bar spare ammo and other menial supplies. Over the armor, she wore a dark green cloak which trailed behind her with every step and lie opened over her chest, revealing the outfit underneath. A cowl over her head, the rim of which draped just over the goggles, leaving only the lower part of her face revealed.

Out in the great distance, she spotted numerous figures. 3 in total, the 3rd however was too far back to truly distinguish. Niniva bent down upon one knee and fixed a hand upon the side of the goggles, using it for the first time. 3 Lenses slowly squeaked out from the goggle, enhancing her perception of the area. "Nifty.." she thought to herself. Even zoomed in, they weren't completely available for full detail. However, it was clear to see that two of them were engaged in combat. The magical essence drifting off of spells tingled her, alerting her to their presence. From this distance, even with her acute hearing, she could hardly discern what any were saying. However her sense of smell picked up upon them quite well.

One smelled of beasts, a stagnant smell that was easily discernible. The other of much sweat, most probably due to sheer heat of the area. However, the smell that coated either of them even more so, was that of dried blood, lingering death, a smell she had become accustom to; it was the trademark of anyone who killed often. This aspect heightened her interest substantially. "What irony.." she thought callously to herself. "Im on a peaceful journey, and even then i find battle brewing.. someone up there must have it in for me"

What reason would she have to take part, or otherwise get herself involved in this. It was not her business, she could have easily turned back the other way. But something about it allured her. They were not unlike herself in their bloodlust.

Just then, she could smell the scent of the third person.. a distinctly feminine aroma. She never made it a habit to prey upon women, it was a rare and far between occurrence when she was made to do so. This much had her rethinking her actions, but not enough to deter her rising fascination. "Ill be careful.." She said to herself, turning the gear the other way as to zoom the lenses out. Still sat upon her knee, she pulled the modified arquebus rifle from her back. It would matter not that such skilled warriors would easily either evade the bullet, or not take too much damage from the normal shot she had locked within the chambers. She didn't plan on relying on this weapon as much as she did with her battle with the red mage, especially being without her specialized ammo.

Aiming the rifle, the scope pressed against her right goggle, finger on the trigger, she swayed the reticule over the two men, as if choosing a target or lying in wait. It was all like routine to her.

Time to test their perception.. she thought to herself.

The Icy shell Snow had created shattered sending razor sharp bullets of ice in every direction, and Snow stood at the centre of the blast completely untouched by the ice shards.
Knowing that he either had the choice of dealing with the staff wielding man, something he was used to doing, or dealing with the magic toting woman who had it out for him, which wasn't exactly his cup of tea.

In the end he decided that since he was still a tad confused about the whole situation, and since the man had backed off, he would take out the woman first, as he knew her magical skills could severely hinder him.

As such, he sheathed his sword and raced towards her, mere inches behind his deadly barrage of ice shards flying every which way and freezing anything they touched. This made it quite difficult for the vines to do much, finding themselves stuck frozen to the ground. The third vine however, still underground was completely untouched as the ice could not reach it there.

Snow burst from his icy shell, sending flecks of them flying. It was razor sharp as they bit in to Antoine's flesh after slicing through his suit. They were minor scratches of course but in the desert, the stinging pain will be coming from the sand and not what caused the wound itself. But that was not the problem right now, the problem was that his mark had ignored him in the mean time and was going after the woman he thought he saw. Sharp senses, Antoinne thought. At the same time, he vaulted forward with his staff, gaining extra momentum as he raced after his prey.

"Hey you! COME BACK HERE!" he shouted, "I'm not done with you!"

The next few moves could determine whether he had to use one of his trump cards or not.

Alayna did not expect the man to escape from the shelter of his impenetrable shell of ice so soon. The shards of ice, flew by her, many of them piercing her flesh, causing minor nicks, she covered her face with the back of her arm. As she moved her arm away she saw the man racing toward her menacingly, an aura of cold and ice surrounding him, freezing the vines that she had sent after him. The golden butterfly took shelter in the girl's hair.

Stabbing her staff into the ground, a shock wave of power caused the earth to tremble. Spinning her staff above her head as golden sparkles fell about her she stared at the man "Ancient spirits across the land, I call your powers to my staff, Thorin, your fury it is quite frightening, upon that man I call your lightning" Her eyes glowed yellow, and the butterfly glowed in sync with her. Storm clouds gathered, despite the lack of clouds in the arid desert air, without any further warning lightning struck, and thunder called, then another bolt struck, it was clear that the magical lightning was searching for its target as the lightning continued to search. Sliding her staff into her sling she drew her elven blade, singing a pure note as it was drawn out of its scabbard.

At her distance, the shards would spread too far out at their angles to hit her much at all. However, two or three small shards managed towards her, darting through the dry air; Given their drop in velocity over such a stretch, the humid conditions surrounding them, and their small amount of natural inertia due to their petite size, she would would be able to have enough time to understandably make an evasive maneuver or let the shards bounce or nick her suit. In any case, it wasn't anything she hadn't dealt with before.
She rolled backwards from her knelt position, rifle clung against her chest as she swiftly slipped from her roll into a prone stance against the sandy surface of the desert. The particles flew just overhead, one whisking by her ear, cutting through the material of her cowl and narrowly missing her flesh. This roll, though efficient, garnered her target time to charge at the woman. "I think i have my prey" she thought as she grinned to herself.

pulling herself back up into her knelt posture, weapon held steadily against her shoulder, watching intently down the barrel. The reticule soon panned over the fox-tailed warrior. Factoring in their range and the velocity of her shot, she aimed the reticule slightly passed him and pulled the trigger.

The sound of thunder rocked from her position, perhaps masked by the sound of the woman's own magical lightning as it tore from the skies. Smoke erupted from her red-hot barrel, swaying to the wind, as her shot pierced through the air at high-speed, the ball hastily turning on its side, the heated lead heading straight for just in front of the foxtailed man. At her angle, the round was heading straight towards the corner of his back. Were he to take notice and make evasive action, it would fly across the field into a sand dune, far out of the way of the woman she found herself oddly in defense of. Otherwise the round would hit him for a minimal, but not keenly ignorable flesh wound. The point was to buy the woman and suited-man some time, of that, in the very least it could do given the situation.

Just after the shot, Niniva pulled on the built-in lever to the special reloading mechanism and with a clank, prepared a new round in the chamber with military-level efficiency. But she wasn't planning to shoot her second of three shots, not quite yet. Right after the reload, Niniva burst forward in a sprint. Holding the rifle's side against her chest as the other arm crossed in front of it. Her empty hand was closed in a fist, and the red seal coated against the iron began to ignite in dark yellow-light. With the wind rushing against her face, Niniva began a soft chant in ancient Krah. In such a place, filled with so much earth, the effective of her earth spell should be heightened, she reasoned. But she was far from range to put it to good use or intitiate any kind of combat outside a few shots from her rifle, the Corne du taureau.

Quickly, she was closing the distance between herself and the location of the battle, drawing within 20 of 30 meters towards the battle site. By now, her spell was almost ready, and the sand at her feet churned elegantly around her lower legs in a controlled, almost beautiful, non-obstructive rhythm.

Rushing headlong into danger once more Snow continued on in spite of the lightning, this of course would quickly prove to be a dangerous mistake. As the lightning continued to follow him the loud thunder impaired his sensitive hearing.

On top of that, he knew now that since he was also being followed by Antoinne, he had to think of a way to defend and do so quickly.

He stopped stood still and drew his sword as a bullet passed right in front of him.

"Wha...?"

Surprised by the bullet, he had waited too long and was cast down by the lightning.

The lightning cackled after Snow until he stopped in his tracks. It was then that Antoinne heard the crack of a bullet that had passed by, for it was impossible to hear something supersonic before it even passed by you. From the sound alone, he could approximate the location of the shooter. But the shot was aimed at his mark and not himself and Antionne paid it little heed. Boy this guy had a lot of people out for him. Snow may have dodged a bullet by stopping and drawing his sword once again but it was costly mistake, seeing as he was lit up by lightning not long afterwards.

"I have you now!"

That was the chance Antoinne was waiting for as he closed the distance. The staff he held horizontally and he swung it, depressing the switch mechanism of his staff, detaching the eight sections from each other. They flowed outwards until the chain that held them together, ten links in all, was taut and even if Snow blocked the strike, there was little to be done as it would wrap itself around him. The only release would be death, and such was the grim finality of Gosetsukon's Grip.

Snow lay on the ground, the lightning had shocked him into a temporary state of motionlessness, his muscles unable to react very well till the electricity left his system.
Taking hold of his sword, he used it to hold himself and eventually stood up.

"Alright. Since there are three of you I'm not holding back any more."
He shouted out as loud as he could.

The assailant with the gun was too far away to tell the gender of, as Snow's nose could only smell so far. The other two definitely had it out for him, Antoinne from behind, and Alayna in front. As Antoinne closed in, Snow continued to stand still, save for sheathing his sword.

He didn't resist at all, as Antoinnes multi sectioned staff came into contact with his skin.

((Right, so how does a 3 hour browser error make you do that? Even if the error is corrected, you should include a better description of your abilities in your profile next time. And I have no idea what the Shakunetsu Hadouken is. It sounds like a Street Fighter move though.))

His target did nothing as the hooks sank in to flesh and the staff coiled around him like a serpent. Antoinne didn't even bother to listen to Snow's statement. Heck, even the fact that his opponent sheathed his sword was almost ignored by Antoinne. If Snow didn't want to defend himself, then that was not Antoinne's problem. The only thoughts crossing Antoinne's mind at the moment was now fuelled by unadultered blood lust and it spoke to him in a commanding voice, "KILL."

So he shall, and with great pleasure, as the staff finished wrapping itself around Snow. With an almost child like glee, he pulled the staff back like a horse's reign. Even his expression was all smiles, anticipating the ripping of flesh and the bloody twister from his victim who would be spun round and round until the bloodied and battered body could take no more. Even those pristine black feathered wings will fare no better.

Alayna turned her back on the men, it was clear that the battle appeared to be over, and the man who had wrapped his staff around the other seemed to be entering a joyous berserk frenzy, she didn't intend to battle someone who the fates had not decided for her to battle. Clouds from the conjured storm dissipated, along with it the somewhat comfortable shade that the clouds had provided. The merciless heat returned full force, much like the sun, and its children.

Alayna rolled up her sleeves, and walked away, her butterfly floating around her head, its golden wings shining brightly in the desert sun. She had to admit that she was slightly disappointed in the battle, she had expected better from the creature she had been told to vanquish. However, such were the ever changing wheels of fate, one could never be sure what would happen in the next moment. Sheathing her sword and taking out her staff which she also used as a supportive walking stick she continued her musing. It had seemed so easy, perhaps it was a trap? Though would anyone be able to escape alive from the clutches of that unusual weapon and the madman who possessed it?

"At least I got to use an incantation" she said cheerily. The butterfly landed on her shoulder and Alayna chuckled "We are one in the same Corona, one and the same" She looked back once more to where the men stood, perhaps she would be able to spot the demise from her current position, she hated death, but it wouldn't seem fit to leave her opponent without gazing at him one last time before his spirit left his body. She also noted that there had been a shot in the battle, it worried her a bit. Another contender? Why had the fates assigned so many for one man? Perhaps all was not what it seemed.