Round 2: Duel 1

Sectumsempra? I've heard that before...
Wait... isn't that a Dark Arts spell?
Astute observation.

Very astute indeed, James thought sarcastically as he raised in his faux arm in defense. He felt a deep gash cut into his cheek. She was getting desperate indeed to cause out right harm. Unless that was the point of these duels. James always thought it was a test of will and strength. Regardless, James now knew where Abbey was. In two deft movements, James released a Flippendo charm at Abbey to wipe away the shielding charm she had cast, and followed up with a Babbling Hex. While her mouth was preoccupied, James reasoned, she wouldn't be able to cast any real spells.

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Flippendo- Simple curse that reflects off the Shielding Charm. Usually, the Shield is destroyed in this event.
Babbling Charm- Causes Abbey to babble.

Abbey watched as her spell hit her target in the cheek, cutting a small gash there. Just as she thought that maybe things were going to turn around, her shield disappeared from in front of her. She gasped and saw James pointing his wand at her. Before he could hit her, Abbey quickly yelled, "Protego!" Her shield was small, but it was enough to make the spell bounce off and hit the wall. She pointed her wand at James again and yelled, "Expelliarmus!"

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Protego - Used to make a shield. Used to protect Abbey from James' spell.

Expelliarmus - Disarms the victim. Used on James

"Protego," muttered James, dispelling the Expelliarmus as he shrank back in to the dust screen he was now going to make complete use of. He now knew how quick Abbey's reactions were, and where he could easily take advantage of her quiet determination to win. James wiped away some of the blood rolling down his cheek. The blood was pretty distinct, the coppery solution. James smiled as he began to concoct a number of plans. James flicked the liquid towards the area where he had left Abbey. He began to leave droplets of blood as he traveled away from Abbey, always checking to ensure that Abbey would be able to see each successive drop. He kept his footfalls silent, his wand always ready to strike. Things were still in his favor, but he had to be careful. Abbey could easily take advantage of the shroud and strike at any moment. She also used the shielding spell once too often. This made things extremely aggravating. James finally ended the trail just outside of the cloud, before leaping back in, a tiger lying in wait.


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Protego- Sheilding spell. Aka, most-used spell. Aka, the spell I use to dissuade every attack.

Abbey squinted into the dust caused by James spell to see where he was heading. She followed the trail of scarlett liquid with her eyes and saw that James was leaving a trail behind him from his wound. Abbey smiled to herself. 'This is too easy!', she thought to herself. Abbey pointed her wand at the ready and aimed above the trail of blood. "Confundo!" Abbey said.

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Confundo - Causes the victim to become confused. Used on James by Abbey

James saw the light of a spell, and placed a shielding spell around himself. It was, however, unnecessary. The spell traveled along the path his blood made. Abbey was taking the bait. Sure she only sent a spell, but she probably expected the spell to hit. James could only comply. But he need to cast his voice out. How would he do it? James racked his brains as he considered options. He cast a levitation spell on a sizable rock and softly thumped it on the ground around his blood trail. It probably did not sound like a fallen body, but it served to make a roughly similar sound. He released the spell, breathed deep and began to quiet even his breathing. Part of the hunt was being able to control oneself, and James had learned his lessons front to back.

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Protego- Used to cast a shield about James, but spell missed by a mile. Yay for distractors!
Wingardium Leviosa- used to scrape a rock against the ground. The sound could attract the prey.

Abbey heard a slight thump on the ground, one that sounded much lighter than a body of a boy James' age would make. She glanced into the clearing dust and saw the path of blood she'd seen earlier and a rock lying on the ground, but...no James. Abbey smacked herself in the head. How could she be so stupid!? She'd completely fallen for whatever trap James had set! Abbey silently cursed herself under her breath.

Abbey didn't know how she was going to hit James with any spell or jinx if she couldn't see him. The dust and dirt was still too heavy in some areas to even guess where he was. Abbey decided that she was just going to have to wait. If James didn't hear her coming after him or casting any spells at him, he might just wonder what was going on... She walked silently on her tip-toes to the other end of the room and stood there. She whispered 'Protego' under her breath quietly enough for no one else to hear, and put the shield around herself incase James attempted to perform a surprise attack on her. But Abbey was being smarter now. She would wait until James came after her...

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Protego - Shield spell. Puts a shield around Abbey to protect her from spells.

Do not attack. Not just yet, James chided himself. She's probably got a spell around her again. James' eyes narrowed to see the dust, but he could make out her form. She was moving. James weighed his options- did he attack her again, and be forced into a close-range situation. He could probably physically defeat Abbey, but this was a dueling tournament, and such tournaments had rules.
James now knew that Abbey could still hear properly. He needed to hit her with something that would over ride her shield. It couldn't be spell. That would have been too obvious. He needed a physical object, and he had plenty of material. James grinned slyly as he shifted more rocks about with whispered "Wingardium Leviosa" spells. He picked up a rock and cast Incarcerous on it, turning the rock into a net with weights at its edges. James wound his arm up, one weight in his faux arm, the rest hanging about it. He began to spin the net, clearing the dust around him. James still kept his wand ready, and once Abbey stopped moving, he tossed the net.

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Wingardium Leviosa used to move more rocks as distractions
Incarcerous used to transform a rock into a weighted net to trap Abbey. Or at least knock her over.

(Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, I've been really busy this week!)

Abbey stood her ground, wondering what was taking James so long; she thought for sure that he would've come out of his hiding place by now to search for her. She walked closer to the side of the room that James had inhabited and searched through the dust for any sign of movement. Unfortunately, the dirt and rubble was still too thick to see anything through it besides bigger details, like cracks on the stone floor and chips in the paint on the wall.

Just as Abbey was going to cast another spell, a net came soaring out from the other side of the room. She gasped and ran to avoid it, but was too late. As Abbey was ducking out of the way to avoid the net, she tripped over a large rock left over from one of James' spells and came crashing to the floor. The mesh net landed on top of her, incasing her in it's soft material. Luckily, the net hadn't covered her whole body. She thrashed around for a few moments, then eventually got it so the net was only covering her from the waist down.

Abbey pulled the rest of the net off her legs and waist with her hand and threw it aside before turning back to James. He was a lot smarter than he let on, Abbey realized. So she needed to strategize. That was what was going to win her this duel.

She picked up a medium-sized rock and threw it against the ground. "Oh no!" she screamed, stumbling to the ground on purpose. "What is this!?" Abbey hoped that her acting was good enough for James to believe that the net had captured her; if he did, Abbey was almost certain that he would come out of his hiding spot to make sure and check that the net had indeed, got her. Abbey pulled the net around herself and positioned it so it would be easy to get out of if James came near her. She tucked her wand under her chest and waited, ready to attack...

(Meh, I understand. Real life has its merits. It also has its tough spots.)

The net whooshed into the curtain of dust and grime. James waited for the initial clunk of the weights against the rock. The resounding thunk that followed as the net hit the ground. Before that, James picked up the thump of a body against the ground. James' eyes remained shut as he preened his ears for more info. There was more shuffling. Feet on the ground shortly after. What was Abbey Dawn thinking? James' eyes snapped open, his heart skipping a beat as he considered the thought of Abbey casting a spell suddenly at him. No such occurrence. James' eyes searched the smog as he heard a echo across the room.
Abbey was yelling about something. Had she been caught?

Well, if she's caught then...
James was not willing to take any chances. Even in a net, it was possible to cast a spell. James was well prepared for such an event. He cast another whispered Babbling Curse at her shifting shadow. If she were truly defenseless, she would begin babbling random gibberish. If not, well, at least James would be none the wiser. He threw a whispered Petrificus Totalus at the struggling figure.

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Babbling Curse- would make Abbey start to babble if it connects.
Petrificus Totalus- Stuns the target. If it connects, Abbey would be effectively defeated.