Okie. More battle.

Elexei Rayden watched the big golden-brown mercenary warily. He knew Jheran by reputation - what Carrotan fighter didn't - but had never met him face to face. The Bloodflame leader's broadsword glittered in the sun as he returned Elexei's salute.
Elexei blinked. He'd almost expected that Rambarath would ignore or disregard his challenge. Instead, it had been accepted.
Great. I am so, incredibly, dumb.
Now all he had to do was survive.
Let's see if I can get out of this without losing any overly-vital parts.
Elexei stood his ground as Jheran advanced, expression menacing. The slender, pale-gold rabbit wondered what would happen if he were to shock the big Bloodflame, and decided against it. He didn't know how many friends Jheran had, and he had issued a semi-formal challenge, no matter how much he wished he hadn't.
Still, that didn't mean he couldn't use his powers at close quarters.
Jheran looked down warily at the slender Elexei, sizing up the bold young warrior. The brilliant blue eyes literally sparked as they fixed on his own, and the gold-furred body was tense with supressed energy as he fearlessly faced the tall Bloodflame (you can tell I like Elexei, hey?) Jheran raised an eyebrow in silent approval of Elexei's hairstyle - eight-inch spikes. Elexei gave him a crooked grin, revealing none of the anxiety he felt. Jheran half-returned it. Then he raised his broadsword.
Elexei discovered quickly that Jheran was strong. Elexei was faster, but his first few attacks were shrugged off easily by the tall Bloodflame. He felt like a mosquito biting a bear. At this point, the bear hadn't even noticed.
Elexei's blades flicked in, once high, once low. THe first was blocked; the second katana's tip simply added another tear to Jheran's jeans. Jheran stepped back and then in again, sword leading. Elexei swatted it aside and came up in a quick attack; Jheran sidestepped neatly, avoiding both katanas and bringing his broadsword back in line for another assault.
Elexei realized then that Jheran was drawing him out, seeing what he could do. The Bloodflame wasn't even trying.
He backed off, raising his katanas in a guard position. Jheran smirked and proceeded to drive Elexei back step by step until ELexei felt the wind-blasted wall at his back.
With a sigh Elexei abandoned his defense to take the offense, sweeping his katanas up in a dazzling display that did absolutely nothing except distract Jheran. He followed up with a long vertical upward slash that would have gutted Jheran completely had it connected, and a cut that could have taken off the Bloodflame's head. Jheran skipped back and gave Elexei a measuring look that was filled with newfound respect.
"You have definite skill," he remakred, remaining just out of range. Elexei blinked. A friendly dialogue while trying to slice each other to ribbons was not that he expected.
"Some," he said, raising a katana defensively. Jheran nodded slowly.
"More than some, kid. Enough that I wonder if you'd consider joining the Bloodflames."
Elexei froze. That was the last thing he had expected to hear. He was not speechless for long, however.
"On what conditions?" Offers like these always had strings attached.
He was not wrong. Jheran paused a fraction of a second before replying.
"Stand down."
"Now?" Elexei said, only slightly incredulous. "With all my friends in danger?"
"Oh, right, them," Jheran remembered. "All right, kill a couple Shellians if you must."
Elexei grinned. "Now we're talking."