Pendulum [Gangrel vs Kelzian]

The feeling of hot ashes striking one's face was a common annoyance in Hell depending on where one went, and Gangrel had chosen this spot for that very reason; the scalding ashes didn't sweep through here. Unfortunately, many had a similar line of thinking and also came to these oasis-like chunks of wasteland devoid of torment. Among such visitors came a strange male... he was quite humanoid, with the look of a more refined togabito, although something about the look in his eyes put Gangrel off. Though, the Sin's own strangely colored eyes weren't exactly a sight to bring one to ease either...

He turned to face the male with bold posture. His feet were apart as if in a stance to hold his footings, whilst his arms remained by his sides but tense, his tremendous cleaver blade clutched tightly in one of his hands. At first Gangrel thought he'd have a fight on his hands and it showed in the hostility of his scarred expression, though he seemed to relax at hearing the visitor's question.

Exhaling, Gangrel rose his cleaver blade - a weapon taller than himself, and rested it against his shoulder. "Gangrel, Sin of Envy." he replied with some fatigue and lack of interest. He wanted to say 'Pride' instead of 'Envy'... being in his position meant always being reminded of one farther ahead than oneself. "What do you want?" Gangrel asked, placing his free hand on his hip and attempting to stare down the long haired togabito.

Gangrel's fingers undulated on the crude wooden hilt of his cleaver, a full tang grip of weathered, rotted ebony smeared with blood. The entire handle was barely big enough for his single hand - moving it with such ease was a testament to his immense physical strength. His silvery white irises studied the togabito, surrounded by the bloody seas of his red eyes... what intention could he possibly have for asking him such a question, he wondered? Gangrel began to suspect this one was acting as a spy for another sin despite claiming to have avoided them for six centuries... he slowly frowned.

The sound of his bone-clad fingers tapping against his cleaver's handle could readily be heard as he spoke. "I return to my roots." Gangrel replied, deciding the question was of little importance - leaving no reason to conceal information. "Every human takes their peace and comfort for granted because they don't know better." He further explained, though he remained remarkably stiff in presence. "I know better. I come here to renew my appreciation for my freedom..." He explained, with a strange but somehow rightful austere air about him.

He then took a step closer - putting the other male in range of his cleaver, if he made a full swing. He assumed no different stance. But he had significantly closed the distance between them, leaving but six feet separating the two sinners. "You shouldn't approach the sins. Not unless you want to get dragged into our silly battle against fate... or unless you want to take one of our cursed stations." Gangrel warned, his voice less unfeeling than it had been previously. It seemed envy was slightly less vicious than he looked, for Gangrel had just performed an act of kindness for a stranger.

Although... even as he made no outright act of hostility, it was noteworthy that his grip on the cleaver remained tight. The cruel weapon had a ridged, strange deformity of it's blade on it's backside, allowing it to be gripped from the flat side of the blade. He seemed cautious.

It was difficult for Gangrel to think of ways to express his disappointment. In his own speech, the Togabito had blatantly confessed to the same apathy and selfishness that plagued all life on Hell, Earth, and the worlds beyond. Envy wasn't moral obviously. But he wanted to fix the problem, not ignore it just because it wasn't immediately effecting him. In this situation Gangrel turned to what had always been his answer when words fell short of their needed usage. He slowly frowned just a bit, and exhaled deeply, shifting the daunting blade of his cleaver back in a position that seemed less prepared for being swung, perhaps indicating he had no intention of attacking.

His silvery white irises, surrounded by red, calmly peered into the male's own for a moment. Gangrel's eyes were wide, noticeably more so than before. "Envious?" He replied. "No, I don't envy them. Unlike you it seems Hell didn't take my soul from me." Gangrel said, before making a small step forward - his body then shifted, rotating on his heels so the white haired Sin's side faced the Togabito. He adjusted his head as he needed to keep his eyes on the other's red gaze; Gangrel's other hand grasped the top portion of the Cleaver's ridiculous blade, raising it with very surprising ease. The entirety of Gangrel's armor clad, daunting form emitted a malign red glow as it effortlessly heaved his weapon.

In a single brute, yet deadly descent Envy swung down the massive cleaver towards the Togabito's skull. Like his own body the cleaver began to glow red in an unrelenting path sure to cut through whatever was in it's way, be it steel or flesh. It was only then he noticed that the odd looking male was actually a few inches taller than him, though the cleaver Gangrel wielded was several feet larger than either of them. Upon impact the red glow emanating from the blade flared out in a foreboding flash; as if the blade's cruel edge backed by Gangrel's impossible strength was not enough, the moment it struck either Kelzian or the ground a powerful mass of reiatsu was discharged as a small but disastrous explosion.

The impact was so tremendous it cut deep into the ground as a bloody red light, causing the ground to shake as the violent force began to disrupt the land they stood upon. Seconds after the completion of Gangrel's thunderous swing the ground began to crumble into shards, collapsing beneath them for nearly thirty feet in all directions, forming a crater nearly half that depth and releasing a cloud of bitter smelling debris.

Techniques used: Aura Strike

A violent torrent of sparks briefly flickered from the clash of the great cleaver as it met the other's dao blades; the togabito was flung backward like a ragdoll by the assault, fortunately evading most of Aura Strike's devastation. Clouds of dust were very slowly spiraling outward from where Gangrel has smashed the scorched earth, rolling outwards as ever changing grey masses... his silvery irises lingered on the male with the same cold excitement they had shown previously. He was neither smiling nor scowling yet his lips parted to expose his teeth; he seemed tense, but not with fear. He was just so excited by the prospect of putting this careless apathrope through another cycle of rebirth. Condemning humans to their own ignorance, not even so much as resenting the cycle that had wronged them both, or a broken system of false order that had condemned them. This stranger just conformed to it all - Gangrel hated that.

Yet, as he watched the male produced two hexagons of crystal, Gangrel realized he too had once been like that. It was an outrageous prospect to care for mortals - Hell doomed it's sinners to a hopeless life, after all. Before then however Gangrel remembered life as a Hollow. Life as a human, before that... and he'd been no different, caving into the demands of life until he was finally sick of it. It got him where he was now, at a glance; and yet he didn't regret being sent to Hell. In fact he felt rather exquisite... the quantity of the male's reiatsu was similar to his own, but Gangrel had doubts as to it's quality. He just stood there as the crystal struck him in barrages, only lightly flaring his own reiatsu as the spikes seemed certain to impale him.

But they didn't. They bounced off his body, or were shattered; dust from a broken crystal puffed into his left eye, which he simply shut calmly before turning to face the togabito behind him. Shifting his cleaver into one hand Gangrel lifted it, but didn't cease the upward motion, flinging the massive blade into the air. It spun repeatedly and continued rising until it faded amidst the cavernous view of Hell's cruel sky wrought of fire and bloody mists soaring overhead, until it began to descend in the distance, slamming into a rocky cliffside miles away.

Face to face with the opposing Sinner, Gangrel leaped from the ground soaring straight towards him, attempting to smash his knee into Kelzian's sternum. He wanted to knock the breath out of his torso first - bright red reiatsu flickered from the sin's reiatsu flare earlier, a residual coating of malevolent crimson light. Black static lingered around him, accompanying the essence of Envy as his body descended into his forceful strike. It was going to hurt like a bitch if it struck, but the Sin wasn't trying particularly hard to hurt him just yet. He planned on this fight lasting longer than a few blows.