Starring:
Takeshi, Setsiro
Date: July 28, 2010
Summary:
Setsiro and Takeshi meet after a previous battle that left who was superior inconclusive. They attempt to find the answer where water and earth meet.
"A meeting of Warriors"
Beach — Kumogakure
The sun shines high over the beach, sending warmth and light and life down to the earth below it. The wind stirs, slightly, burshing sand and pushing wave, coming off cool and fresh whenever it cares to make an appearance. Setsiro sits on a rock off of the coast, watching the waves with a meditative glance. The small woman absently ran two fingers across her sheathed weapons, a small smile adorning her face.
Takeshi was standing on the overlook and staring down at the girl below. It had been one week to the day that they had fought over Kenta and now it was time to face her one on one. He hadn't had the chance to properly fight her then, as they both were taking care of their favored tag-alongs. This time, there wasn't anything to stop the two from getting really frisky and tearing mountains down around them.
Teshi doesn't even bother trying to sneak up on her and jumps down to the sandy beach. He stands, wrapping the sleeves of his robes up to prepare for battle and stares at her while he positions his hands and feet. "Get up."
Setsiro's eyes close. Delicate nostrils move as she takes a deep, calm breathe, drawing herself out of meditative mindset. She rose to her feet, liquid motions bringing her to a standing position, the diminutive girl's back straight, bearing regal. "I have been waiting," was said simply. She slipped to the sand below her boulder and looked at Takeshi. It had been an unspoken agreement that their previous fight was not the last they would see of eachother. A connection of two warriors, both different in style and manner, yet mirroring eachother's passion for a fight.
Meanwhile, in the background.. "Munchmunchmunchmunch!"
Teshi shrugs, "I'm sure you have. Now, draw that sword and let's find out who's really stronger amongst us." He raises his hands, plam open and turned up and sets his legs before raising his head to her eyes. "Well, I got the first strike last time. It is only fair that you receive it this time."
Setsiro nodded, taking a few moments to examine Takeshi. "…Very well."
Her hands blaze through a few simple hand seals and her right lashes out. Lightning arced through the air, not once, but twice. The first simply sped towards the Kaguya standing some small distance away. The second, however, was meant to catch him off guard, aided by the presence of mind it would take to defend against the first.
It struck the sand with explosive results. It heated the sand in a matter of an instant, throwing shards of glass shredding towards Takeshi. Before the first bolt had even gotten halfway to him, the small woman had her sword out, arm horizontal.
Teshi simply shrugs at the girl. The lightning arcs again, the same as from the last time, but this time it hits the sand instead of his hands and causes a spray of sharp bits of glass which manage to worm their way into his robes and slice at his skin somewhat. Though, he reamins unphased and the sword strike misses him by a mile. Seems that the lightning arc truly caught him off guard but the sword would do no such thing.
Then he cracks a grin and speeds forward, a crack and his fist is hopefully slamming into her stomach gently. Then he brings his fist back and slams it into her gut, just before the force of the previous punch slams against her body. Two for the price of one, that was the old man's style.
If it weren't for the slight blur and her footprints in the sand, it would be hard to say that Setsiro had sidestepped around the attack rather than simply reappeared to the side, and still it was a close thing avoiding that attack. The next punch was almost more counter than evasion. She barely bothered to dodge, moving just enough so that the fist made her hair a flairing wave behind her as she brought her blade up between them, aiming to drag it across Takeshi's body, from hip to opposite shoulder. Immediately after the strike, her wrist twitched, sending the hilt spinning on her palm, sending another possible slash as she
Teshi ends up standing with a fist outstretched and the sword being raised towards his side. There's a quick step as he ends up at the woman's side with a dual palm strike to her ribcage. With that done, he stands straight and prepares for the next attacks.
The second slash is countered with a move to the side. It slides up close to his body and would almost appear to be a near hit, but the older man was quite in control of it.
The last strike is avoided by a simple bend in the body and a twist outwards to reset the positions of their fight. Now they had both drawn first blood. Now it was time to see what old man Teshi could really do.
He didn't give the woman a minute of rest before thrusting a palm forward at her neck and then sliding into it to slam an elbow against her ribcage, the same ribcage he had just hit at. Then his other hand moved away from her throat and slid forward to slam against her shoulder and push her back.
Setsiro took in a swift hiss of breathe at the sudden pain in her ribs after her first attack, but pushed through to complete the rest. All in vain.
She turned her efforts briefly towards evasion, bending backwards to avoid the first punch, putting her torso just a little too far out to take it away from danger. The elbow glanced off her shoulder, and she used that momentum to spin, twirling away from the last blow and lashing out with her sword, eyes narrowing. "Impressive," was her murmur as she lashed out at Takeshi with her blade. The blade glinted as it flew, her movements sinuous, as though she were seeking to trace a trail in blood arcoss his body rather than do him harm.
Teshi grins at the girl, "Forty years of it."
His stance reset and just as he got ready the first strike came in and his head and body turned at the same time, the sword passing withing an inch of his body and cutting off some of his hair and shaving the breast of his robes in two so that the black covering hung open revealing the white gi undearneath.
The second sword strike was a little too fast and too quickly returned to dodge, as it slides across his body just barely luckily but still manages to leave a small incision.
He nods at the girl, "I see." Then he reaches down to pick up an abandoned fishing rod from the beach, breaking it off and tearing the twine from it before twirlng it around and readying the thing. "Alright, try this."
A snap and the older man is lurching forward with the fishing rod pointed straight out and seeking to impale the chuunin before he twirls and slams it against her knee. Ending it all by kicking it backwards and rushing forward to place a plam strike at just above her knee.
Then he would move back and catch the rod, twirling it again back into an attack position.
Setsiro narrowed her eyes at the insult accorded to taking the time out of a fight to casually pick up a fishing rod, wind the string around, and talk to her before striking. The twinge she felt in her ribs felt degrading, whereas before they had previously made her think of him as a worthy opponent. Her pride was wounded, and it would take it's revenge of him.
She made a low hop over the first thrust, seeming to hover over the weapon as it was brought back. When it sped towards her knees, her arm flicked out, carving a thin trail of blood along the man's arm in the guise of tribal tattoos. As she avoided the palm strike she asked, "Must you insult me so?" her dagger suddenly appearned in her other hand and she simultaneously tried to stab Takeshi in the neck and waist, aiming for nerves in the hollow of the neck and near the spine.
Teshi wasn't trying to insult her, but apparently he had. Despite that, while the stabs would have killed a normal person, it was a little known fact that he was a kaguya, which meant that while the stabs were painful, not that he could do anything about it, he was still alive despite the fatal stabbings. Of course, he's still stunned as even a kaguya can't instantly regenerate a nerve or bone, but we'll see how this goes.
The Reizei wrenched her blades from Takeshi's body, taking a leap backwards that looked as if she simply glided backwards along the sand. With a single motion, her weapons ended up sticking out of the sand at her feet and her hands tore through a couple of basic handseals. She pointed at the ground near Takeshi. Lightning struck, slamming into the sand and instantaneously changed it to glass that flew at the Kaguya. She aimed near him so that none of the shards could hit his face or neck, but would instead hit low and shallow, causing little damage with one hit,, but many painful cuts. It was a measured action, using the attack that he had seemed to disdain not too long ago.
Teshi ends up with a bunch of glass bits flying into his legs and lower body, the upper part still rocking from the two stab wounds. There was no way to know whether or not the stabs had done what they were supposed to, or if he was just playing the lame duck. Either way, he's still standing there, eyes forward with blood starting to cull at his neck and back. Though it's still coming out.
Setsiro's blades appeared in hand, and she deliberately sheathed her dagger, eyes unwavering on the Kaguya. And then she stood, her 5' 2" frame unimpressive overall as she held her sword out lowered to the side. She knew exactly how much damage she had dealt. The problem was, she had no idea how much it was Takeshi could take, or if he was looking to continue. And so, she stood without pressing further attack, ready to defend herself if need be and equally ready tocease fire.
Teshi was just biding time. He wasn't so beaten just yet that he had to give up on the fight in its entirety, but he was starting to feel labored in his moves. Still, giving up a fight this early was stupid and he was too stubborn to do it. In an effort to gain a jump on her he waiting until she seemed sufficiently relaxed and then burst into action.
Another attempt to slam a fist into her stomach that would settle in gently and end with a bang before he riles back another fist and thrust it at her. Maybe this time the one-two combo will succeed and then they'll be even after the two embarassments from before.
Setsiro grimaces, giving Takeshi a disdainful look at the lack of tenacity in his strikes. They were nothing like the attacks he'd made at the beginning of their fight. The ones that had riled her blood enough to bring light to her eyes and excitement to her motions. She ducked under the gentle blow, and stepped forward as he released his second. Steel flashed and she attacked in a flurry, cutting deeper wounds into the shallow ones she had already made earlier. "Fifteen years of it," she decided to say, alluding to his mention of the years of practice he's had. "Perhaps we should have met two or three years ago…"
This was the end of the spar or whatever it was they were doing. At the end of her swing he would be gone and whether or not the attack had any lasting effect would probably never be known. However, the small droplets of blood in the sand might be a good indication.
A few seconds passed before Setsiro nodded and sheathed her blade once more. She gave a stiff, formal bow, and turned on her heel, throwing a perfunctory, "My thanks for the test, Warrior" over her shoulder at Takeshi. She did not believe him to have so little pride as to strike her in the back. He commanded enough of her respect to acknowledge that. But not so much that she wouldn't leave him bleeding on the beach.
