Bright lights, the roar of the crowd, the adrenaline pumping through her veins, the impact of her fists against her opponents, and the sound of her heart beating in her ears. This combination of factors creates a single moment when Sarah feels most alive, and there's only one environment that can facilitate that feeling, that rush. That environment, is the Talonia Arena. The crowd roared as Sarah and her opponent met in the center of the pit, and started exchanging devastating blows, only occasionally hitting one another. This was a match for the books, and nobody wanted to take their eyes off of the action. This fight had some different rules than the average bout in Talonia's arena. Twelve rounds, Three minutes each, with a two knockdown limit per round. Just before the signal for the first round to end, Sarah hit her opponent square in the jaw, causing him to crumble in front of her. Surprisingly, he was able to get up before the ten count. Sarah could feel the energy of the crowd, urging her on, feeding the fire behind her eyes. She knew that her opponent wasn't going to let the fight end this easily, and neither was she.
As the second round began, Sarah's opponent launched forward, punching her with a hard left to the stomach, which caused her to lose her balance for a second, narrowly avoiding the second shot that was aimed at her head. This wasn't going to be an easy match for either of them. It was turning into a dogfight, with no way to tell who was going to win. Sarah took another body shot, before being slammed into the floor of the arena. She wondered if she had underestimated her opponent. No, he was just that good. By the count of eight, she was on her feet, and ready to fight. She pursued her opponent viciously, not allowing him any relief as she pummeled his guard relentlessly. He was saved by the bell, however, as the second round ended. Sarah knew what she had to do in order to win. She had to get inside his head, make him afraid of her. And that's exactly what she did. As the bell sounded to begin the third round, she resumed with her relentless assault against his arms, which were beginning to feel heavy, and numb. After a good minute of this, she hit him with a liver shot, causing him to open up his guard for a textbook uppercut. But she hadn't won just yet. So long as he was standing, he was still fighting, and Sarah knew that she had to take him down while she could. She started bobbing and weaving, easily evading his light jabs, and desperate hooks and straights as she started building up momentum. This was it, this was how she would show the world what she was made of. As she avoided one last punch, she hit him with her liver blow once more, following with a much more compact uppercut than the previous one, before launching into a battery of sweeping hooks that gained more and more power as she gained momentum, until she missed. No, that wasn't quite right. She didn't miss, she just didn't see him hit the floor. He wasn't dead, just knocked out. As the announcer came to check on him, Sarah backed away. After the announcer started waving her hands, Sarah breathed a sigh of relief.
This had been her third match in as many months, and she needed some time to relax. Sure, she enjoyed fighting, but she was also a person, and these past three fights had been rather taxing on her. She needed time to rest, time to get new gym equipment, and time to do jobs for the guild, as a registered mage. Plus, she was certain that the bandages we're beginning to draw awkward looks from her guild mates. Granted, each dressing and bandage had a story behind it, but this was not the way to become a cover mage for a certain magazine.
That was one of her many ambitions at the time, and not one that she would easily pass up. Still, it didn't have quite the same appeal that fighting did. As a fighter, within her rank, and weight class, she had started at the bottom, and was slowly beginning to work her way up.
Her greatest ambition, above all else, was to become the strongest professional athletic fighter in the world, but first she had to handle the arena. After all, one should start small, and work their way up. Still, Sarah was making good progress, and had earned herself a well deserved vacation at the Crescent Island resort. Three months of nothing but sand, surf, and sun, with a lot of fun mixed in. The only issue was that she didn't know who to take with her, because she didn't really know anyone in Sabertooth. If Aurora hadn't busted apart at the seams, it would have been a different story, but sadly, that was the way of things. Life had a funny way of trying to break Sarah, but she just got right back up, no matter the situation.
She couldn't afford to give up, not if she truly wanted to be strong. No, she had to keep fighting. Still, not knowing anyone meant that she had to go by herself. This also meant going by boat, which meant that she had to keep a bucket with her until she arrived on the island. Luckily, she only had to empty it twice. As the boat docked, Sarah rushed to the hotel, and checked in before heading up to her room with her bags. After a quick shower, and a good nap, Sarah went to the beach. Even though the sun had already set, Sarah wanted to spend some time on the sand.
- Code:
Word Count: 1000/1000