~ The sound of crackling lightning and whirling wind filled the arena as two competitors were set to face off, one coming back from a serious injury, learning how to fight with the way his body was now and the other, while being out of practice for a while, was still in the better of shape between the two. Ion and Zephyr were the best of friends, they are like brothers, they are mates and now here they were enemies, though only temporarily. The sound of the bell rang as Ion quickly closed the gap, within seconds he was right in front of Zephyr, catching him off guard a bit, swinging his sword down, Zephyr quickly reacted to guard, as the sword clashed against the scythe, sending sparks flying. Ion didn't let up his attack, as he continued to strike, pushing back Zephyr who could only guard against the ferocity of the attacks coming his way. Seeing some openings in Ion's defenses, as he was a bit sloppier then the last time they sparred years ago, most likely due to his injury and condition, though he tried his best to hide these faults, if Ion was going to give him an opening, he had to take it. Zephyr swinging his scythe back on the offensive, with Ion quickly back flipping away, dodging the attack though Zephyr could see something was off. As Ion landed, Zephyr could see his mechanical arm was shaking a bit, as he was starting to grip his sword tighter in a effort to stop it. "This is too much for him right now, he is overdoing it" Zephyr thought as Ion grit his teeth and dashed back over to him and continued his attack. Zephyr back on the defensive was scared to counter attack, Ion was giving him openings but he didn't want to take them, he didn't want to hurt his mate. "Please Ion you don't have to continue doing this, your body might not be ready yet for this kind of pressure" Zephyr continued to think in his head as he just kept on defending against Ion's attacks, looking him the eyes, with a gaze of his own almost telling Ion to stop, a look of sadness and pity. Then suddenly Ion dug his sword into the ground, confusing Zephyr as he was trying to figure out what Ion was doing, then a sudden blunt pain began to stem from his cheek, as Ion's fist connected to the side of his face. The force was not enough to break anything but it did knock Zephyr to the ground, sitting there dazed for a moment.
Looking up he could see Ion staring directly at him, his eyes looked full of anger and disappointment, as Zephyr put a hand over the area where Ion had punched him, rubbing it slightly. "With his mechanical hand no less" Zephyr thought as Ion continued to stare angrily, directly back at him, "I know how you feel and you are right, I do need to take this more seriously, you don't want me holding anything back." Zephyr started to stand back up, "sorry I have been such a disappointment" he though as he got back to his feet, "no more this time, I will not hold back, I will give you the fight you are looking for" he continued to think as he met Ion's stare with one of his own, this time with intensity, with fire and with passion that he will not let Ion slide with anything. Ion's gaze shifted from anger to one like Zephyr's, as a smile cracked his face knowing that his mate must of got the message, that he wanted a fight that they both could be proud of, one where Zephyr didn't hold back on Ion's account. With renewed passion, the two boys readied themselves again, before they both dashed towards each other, sword and scythe clashing as both tried to strike blows when they could and ferociously defending any incoming attack. The battle went back and forth, with each not giving an inch and each punishing each other's mistakes, pushing themselves further and further. As the intensity of the battle grew for the audience onlooking, inside the mood had changed, Ion and Zephyr started not to feel any of the pressure that was weighing on them before, the feeling of intensity had changed to something they had not felt for years, they were just having fun, enjoying every moment of their fight. It didn't matter to them who won this fight at this point, all that mattered was that they were enjoying themselves, like they used to when they were kids, sparing under the watchful eye of their master Arturo, until they both just dropped from exhaustion, laughing about all the mistakes each other made and bragging about all the complex moves they were able to pull off.
The battle started to wind down as exhaustion started to hit both Ion and Zephyr, with the end coming as Ion was able to knock Zephyr to the ground, with one last attack with all of his remaining strength. Planting his sword in the ground, Ion leaned down on it, panting heavily, trying to catch his breath as he looked in front of him to see Zephyr sprawled out on his back, also panting heavily to catch his breath. Ion lifted himself up and stumbled towards Zephyr, standing over him, breathing heavily and reaching out his hand asking "want...'huff', want to...'huff', want to call it a draw?" Zephyr tilted his head to look up to meet Ion's eyes, raised his hand up to grab Ion's before knocking it away, "No...'huff', you can have...'huff', this round and...'huff' besides...'huff', it is probably better for you to compete in the finals, you need the training and all more then I do." Ion just smiled and laughed, "ok but I am still calling this one a tie, as I still don't think this is a proper win with the both of us at the end of our limit" "Fair enough" Zephyr responded as he tried to get up but could not muscle the energy to do so, "ok, maybe I will take that arm of yours..... if you still want to put it out, I can barely move." Ion just smiled as he put the arm Zephyr knocked away back down towards him, clutching Zephyr's hand and helping pull him to his feet. They both just smiled at each other before they went in for an embrace as the crown cheered loudly with Ion being declared the victor. Coming out of their embrace, Ion helper Zephyr off the arena grounds, to a side bench where they watched the second semi final match to see who Ion would have to face in the final. When that was all decided, Arturo came down out of the crowd to be by Zephyr's side as Ion was needed back in the arena, "just do what you can" Zephyr cheered loudly at Ion as he walked back onto the battlefield, with him swinging his fist up in acknowledgment of the message. The final match started and while at first Ion was able to put up a good fight, it became clear he was no match for his opponent, he was just older and more skilled at this point, while Ion's body was just too beaten down from his recovery and his fun match with Zephyr. Ion took a couple of hard blows before putting his sword in the ground and conceding to his opponent, who after the match, placed a hand on Ion's shoulder, seaming to praising his strength and willpower after getting a full look at Ion's body, seeing what he had to overcome just to be here in this match. After his opponent walked away from him to bask in his victory, Ion started limping towards where Zephyr and Arturo were sitting, with Zephyr running out to Ion's side and helping him along the way, giving him a shoulder to lean on. As they got close to the bench, Arturo congratulated them both on what a fine display they put on, proud of their accomplishments before telling Zephyr to take Ion to the dressing room to patch him up. Zephyr did as told, bandaging up Ion's minor injuries, as Arturo gave them some last words of advice and encouragement, as the two boys set out to continue their adventures as Contract Hunters, just as they did before Ion's injury put a temporary stop to their dream, they were now unstoppable ~
