Match of the Millennium

Description: NAKORURU. Another self appointed protector of Earth. I wonder if your mettle will hold up to the test of time. You'll face ERIKA, whose fortune is contingent on seeing that it doesn't. You'll fight in the quarries beneath my palace. May glory go to the wisest.

[NAKORURU]
At one point, this chamber deep beneath the earth was full of the clanging of pickaxes against stone or hammers against nails and boards, the etch of saws, and the piercing lash of the whip. Whatever era that might have been can only be witnessed by way of the evidence left behind now. No work, either by pay or by force, has been performed in this dark place in the mountains of the island for centuries. In the dim green glow cast by the fel torches mounted on the cavern walls, faint sparkles of glimmering gemstones can be seen running in veins through surfaces of the stone... there are still treasures to be mined here, for sure, yet for some reason, this excavation was abandoned.

One reason might be round stone plug wedged into a tunnel to one side, is surface covered with arcane runes, warding glyphs, and paper seals that have mostly rotted to dust. Perhaps in digging, even the work uncovered something that even the dark taskmasters felt compelled to leave alone? Either way, the stone sealing the hole is one of the few locations not buried in dust.

Down in this tomb of avarice awaits one of the fighters to participate in this grim battle, one of many in the long war to keep the Eternal Emperor from claiming Earth as his footstool. Her clothing consists of a tunic that covers down to her mid shins when she stands straight. It, and the pants she wears beneath it, are mostly white though they have become marred with significant dust since she descended the tunnel to her appointed location. Her hands and forearms are covered by white, fingerless gloves affixed to thick wrist guards and her raven black hair is decorated by a red ribbon tied into a large bow behind her head.

She is standing on one of the hundreds of creaking, wooden platforms, her left arm folded in front of her, a large brown feathered hawk resting on that arm's wrist guard. The two of them are peering down further into the chamber where piles of bones and desiccated corpses can be seen. "I am not surprised he sent us to fight in the place furthest from the open sky," she murmurs to her feathered companion. Lifting her right hand to pet the back of the winged creature's head, she adds with the faintest of smiles, "Watch your head in here..."

[ERIKA]
Erika can't really object to being sent into the depths of the earth, far below the palace and in a place where nobody but the dead has spent much time in what feels like centuries: she volunteered.

Well, sort of. She volunteered for /something/. She is not really convinced that finding her way down here was it.

Regardless of her opinion of the long walk down and the chosen battle arena, Erika made the journey from far above. She was actually here before Nakoruru, but - being Erika - got bored and went for an exploratory walk. She was not able to remove any glittering gemstones from the wall with her bare hands, much to her disappointment (there is a reason people use tools for that kind of work) and almost got lost twice.

But, soon enough, a girl walks out from one of the tunnels near Nakoruru, onto a small stone 'balcony' that many of the platforms are connected to. In the strange light, the girl looks... weird; the green light isn't doing Erika's blue skin any favours, and is making her look even more unnatural than she ordinarily might. She is not dressed for caving, wearing denim shorts and a crop top - the chill down here doesn't bother her even a little bit. She's a bit dusty and gritty from spelunking.

"So it's you I got told to find down here," she says, looking at Nakoruru. "Or maybe it was your bird? I've never seen one that big that anyone could convince to hang around like that, and especially bring into a cave."

Well, she seems friendly enough, despite the situation and location.



[NAKORURU]
In the unnatural illumination, her white robe appears green, the crimson patterns almost black. It seems the fel torches do little for either of the girls sent here to engage in Kombat, a test of spirit, will, and might, but it beats fighting blind in the dark? She turns toward the sound of the other's approach, glancing up at her from her rickety scaffolding below. The bird on her arm unfolds its wings briefly, flapping them a couple of times while releasing an echoing cry in the cold chamber before settling down again, wings tucked behind its back. Next to the diminutive young falconer, the hawk is truly an impressive specimen.

"You." comes the acknowledgement from Erika's opponent, the girl's face shifting into a somber expression, all hint of mirth bleeding away. "The sorcerer... in proclaiming our match, he mentioned that for you a fortune hangs in the balance of this match." With each breath, vapor is visible in the air, evidence of the chamber's frigid environment - good thing she dresses warmly enough. Nakoruru nudges her left arm up slightly and the great hawk takes that as a sign to lift off, taking to the air to swoop up to one of the tall beams spanning the ceiling of the cavern to perch, its talons digging easily into the brittle wood.

In the same gesture, her right hand reaches behind, near her slender waist, fingers closing and opening as she holds it there. In the dark, it might be hard to make out the black pommel of a sheathed weapon there, the tunic-clad fighter's style promising to fight right into the bloody affairs of the so-called Mortal Kombat taking place all about the island at this moment.

"You wouldn't be so foolish as to..." Her eyes narrow with suspicion, "Throw your lot in with those behind this profane war, would you?" Bending her legs, she springs up, flipping back to land on one of the platforms connecting to the stone outcropping supporting the tinted skinned girl. Leaning forward, she presents a small but armed target, left leg covered down below the knee by her long tunic, her left leg visible where it parts to avoid restricting her movement in the slightest.

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru has started a fight here.

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Nakoruru         0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru is empowered by Nature's Ire!

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Nakoruru [E]     0/-------/------=|

[ERIKA]
The light, strange as it is, certainly beats fighting in the dark. Even if it's a little untrustworthy and flickering, as fire is, and you have to be careful not to put a foot wrong or misjudge distances and angles...

There's one other difference between Nakoruru and Erika that makes Erika feel even less natural: her breath doesn't steam. Not here; her body temperature is too cold for it. If it was more humid, she'd be getting mist from water condensing near her, but down in the quarry it's almost bone-dry, so there's nothing.

"Me!" Erika replies, brightly, as Nakoruru moves her hand for - something. Erika is guessing a weapon, because that's what you'd go for at the beginning of a battle, but she can't make out the details between lighting and angle - it is, after all, behind Nakoruru. The bird flies up; Erika glances up after it, then back to Nakoruru.

"Well, you don't get any prizes if you've lost," Erika points out, which is more of a non-answer than anything else. "No matter what team you're on, nothing spends when you're dead." She pauses a moment. "Probably," she adds, because she's heard there are skeletons and zombies here and some of them might have need of cash for... something. Possibly to buy spirits, Erika thinks, irreverently.

Erika glances around for a moment longer, then shifts a couple steps to the side. Suddenly, she ducks down, scooping up a pickaxe - well, the half-rotted handle of a pick, the head has fallen off long ago. She flings the chunk of wood at Nakoruru, using it to cover her advance and (hopefully) forcing Nakoruru to keep her head down. "That's what happens in tournaments, right? You fight for the prize! The gold medal!"

COMBATSYS: Erika has joined the fight here.

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Nakoruru [E]     0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0            Erika

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru dodges Erika's Thrown Object.

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Nakoruru [E]     0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0            Erika



[NAKORURU]
It takes a moment for the falconer to realize that her opponent's unusual skin tones aren't simply because of the strange lighting in the abandoned quarry. Her answers to the challenge seem innocent enough, twisting the accusation around simply to frame it as a matter of putting her all into going after the prize. It's only expected, right? Why else compete in this deadly game in the middle of the Lost Sea?

"Mn," she grunts, her eyes dark in the shadows as she controls her breaths, readying herself for the fight ahead. "If you have been lead to believe only filthy lucre rests on the outcome of these battles, you are mistaken." How could she not know what she's gotten involved into? The questions race through the beribboned girl's mind. "Very well."

She follows the movements of the other girl warily. No one would be on this island if they weren't a capable fighter. Right? A glance over her shoulder is caster toward the perched hawk, the two meeting eyes for a moment as if verifying they're both ready. "If that is your story."

Attention is back on Erika as she reaches for the discarded tool of one long since dead. And in that instant, she bolts forward along the scaffolding, light steps sending the boards to shuddering but not quite breaking as dust and small wood chips are scattered into the air. "Then all that remains is this test to survive!"

Even in the flickering shadows, her sharp eyes catch the motion of the flung wooden handle and without slowing in the slightest, she weaves under and past it. Overhead, the hawk takes flight, winging down from its high perch along Nakoruru's trajectory. From three meters out, Erika's opponent suddenly springs into a backward flip through the air, small hands snatching out to seize a grip on the legs of the raptor as it swoops past in the narrow confines of the cave.

Tucked up, hanging from the bird, the young fighter is afforded the opportunity to launch herself down at a steep angle directly for the frosty youth. Her right hand snaps out from behind her waist, a sharp, short blade gripped with both hands as a cone of vibrant, multihued chi forms in the path of her trajectory.

The attack becomes a risky dive, attempting to deliver both slash and a burst of chi in passing by Erika's torso before sliding along the narrow balcony and, if all goes well, coming to a stop before she ends up sliding right off the side!

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru successfully hits Erika with Kamui Mutsube.
- Power hit! -

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Nakoruru [E]     0/-------/-----==|===----\-------\0            Erika

[ERIKA]
"I've never heard anyone actually say 'filthy lucre' before!"

Erika seem amused by that - she's not quite laughing at Nakoruru, but it's close. "Where did you come from, the 1800s?" She's making a joke. She has absolutely no idea she's undershot her guess by quite some time. "But yes, I'm here to compete, if that's what you're asking. Deal with it! I'm a free agent; I make my /own/ decisions."

Yes, she said she'd support Outworld. But the person Erika is really in it for is Erika.

Erika moved forward under 'cover' from her flying pick handle. It would have been nice if she managed to connect with Nakoruru, but all she really wanted was to keep her busy and distracted for a moment... which didn't seem to be working. She went up, grabbing onto her bird -

"Oh come on! Birds can't hold people up!" Erika is taken aback by this, but not so much that she can't try to react. The risky dive is a second surprise, equally unpleasant, because the only way Erika can see to try to evade it would be throwing herself sideways off the balcony.

Which, of course, she's not going to do any time soon.

Erika tries to brace herself instead, but the chi-imbued slash catches her, causing her to yelp as the bright flash of Nakoruru's chi dazzles her. That stung... and more than she wants to admit, the knife leaving a bloody gash on her torso - that starts to freeze over, the blood frosting and working almost like a patch.

Reacting quickly, Erika balls her hand into a fist, her own chi gathering around it and forming into a rough lump of ice. The lump shimmers and extends, ice forming like a melting icicle in reverse, expanding to a long spike that covers halfway up her arm to the elbow. Erika jabs with the construction, recklessly attacking Nakoruru before she can recover from her landing (she hopes).

And, yes, she is a skilled fighter as Nakoruru guessed, though 'trained' is possibly false; this feels homemade, some personalized style rather than something learned.

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru blocks Erika's Frost Spike.

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Nakoruru [E]     0/-------/---====|==-----\-------\0            Erika



[NAKORURU]
The cheater bird overhead continues its own course, having to twist its body in a desperate, last second turn to avoid crashing headlong into the wall. Its talons scrape the stone as it lands sideways for an instant, then presses off, winging back over to one of the beams to land on, splinters scattered into the still, cold air as it takes a moment to recover from its own personal close call.

Of course, Nakoruru is having to contend with her own challenges at the same time. The slide is close, her estimate of her stopping range leaving no room for error as her moccasin-clad feet skid over the rough stone toward the plunge to the sepulcher of countless bones below. She knew she had landed her attack cleanly but in the flash of movement, little more beyond that fact could be ascertained with absolute certainty.

Whirling up to standing and facing Erika in the same motion, her short sword, a kodachi of roughly two feet in length, is still gripped in her right hand. It appears to be of exquisite craftsmanship, its handle black but for a wrapping of sapphire blue on the end of it. The sheath at her back is emitting a faint, cold mist from the opening where the blade was drawn, and even the metal of the sword is far colder than the air of this deep chamber.

Gritting her teeth, she swings it up into the incoming spike of conjured frost, bracing the side of her weapon with her left hand as the improvised weapon crashes against the heirloom blade she wields. The only problem is the lack of room behind her, the forces behind the clash causing her to lose ground, the soles of her shoes slipping back until she is balanced against the icy construct with only her toes left on the ledge.

Gritting her teeth, Nakoruru tries to keep from getting pushed off. "I remember an ice maiden," she murmurs, finally shoving back just enough to get her footing again. "Her soul was pure, her heart gentle." She slips to the left, trying to get in around Erika's ice spear. "She left me this sword to borrow." The kodachi user stabs upward then pulls her blade down with all her arm and body strength, attempt to carve off the dangerous tip of the spike.

"Against it, your selfishness will fail you."

She follows up on the attempt with a swift twist of the kodachi in her hands, spinning it to a backward grip so that when she swings her right arm upward, the weapon threatens to slash into Erika a second time!

COMBATSYS: Erika blocks Nakoruru's Power Strike.

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Nakoruru [E]     0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0            Erika

[ERIKA]
Erika will do a lot of things mid-battle, but apparently 'just try to shove Nakoruru off' is not one of them. She has more than one reason for that mercy; the uncharitable is that the battle just started and she's not done with it yet, or that the bird will just catch her anyway so it doesn't help her, but more charitably she really isn't trying to kill her opponent. Beat, yes; kill, no.

Which means that when Nakoruru gets her footing back, Erika actually takes a step back to give her enough room to stand. She doesn't give her free reign to move around, of course; she's not going to throw away that advantage. But she's not going to crowd her so closely that she falls.

This gives Nakoruru a slight advantage in slipping left, but not one Erika will let her capitalize on. She turns with the movement, and though Nakoruru does indeed manage to chop off the tip of the frost spike, it's not like it matters to Erika - her hand is further back and she can always make another.

The second strike is likely to be a lot more effective - except Erika interposes what's left of the spike, using it like a shield. The blade impacts with a squeal of metal against ice - and the ice loses, shattering, but in doing so buffering a lot of the impact and stopping it from cutting deeply into Erika's arm.

"GAH, that stings. - There's another ice maiden around? I've never been called /that/ before either." Erika sounds momentarily thoughtful. "I mean, it's not wrong... But don't lecture me about selfishness, huh? There's a reason they call it prize-fighting!"

Erika doesn't create another large chunk of ice. Instead she jabs with the hand that did not previously have the spike on it, aiming at Nakoruru's face to make her flinch; she follows it up with a stronger hook, which is likely to drive Nakoruru closer to the wall of the balcony than the edge. Even without building up a visible mass of ice, Erika's touch is bitterly cold.

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru full-parries Erika's Strong Punch!!

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Nakoruru [E]     0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0            Erika



[NAKORURU]
Erika's defenses prove sufficient against the swift downward and upward sword strike - and it's clear that the severing slash targeting the spike was definitely aiming beyond the position the girl's hand reaches. It is in the heat of the frigid combat that she discovers more about her opponent than words had managed beforehand. She had acted perhaps too impulsively - maybe it was the sorcerer's intention for her to judge the girl a traitor - and now she is starting to rethink her appraisal of the ice shaper.

Maybe she isn't evil. It could be that she is simply naive.

"You're right," the girl allows as she pulls her kodachi back, whipping her hand behind her waist to slide it into its sheath all in an instant. "I apologize." She steps forward, leaning around the jab for her face, then weaving to the other direction, left hand sweeping up in a circular path to knock the hook inward and potentially upset the girl's balance all together. The robe-clad girl is fast, possessing dangerous reflexes in close quarters kombat. "I judged unfairly."

Though her blade is sheathed, that doesn't mean she's going any easier on the azure skinned girl as Nakoruru snaps her hands out, attempting to grab a hold of both of Erika's wrists and pull her forward in an attempt to further remove any sense of balance.

If she succeeds in creating an opening, she would sweep her right leg up, snapping her knee into her stomach, then following up with a side kick toward her chin - her feet may be covered in soft red moccasins, but her kicking prowess seems formidable enough. She would finish by pulling on Erika's arms and twisting her own body around to try and pull Erika up and over her shoulders and slam her on her back against the stone!

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru successfully hits Erika with Rera o Chikiri EX.

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Nakoruru [E]     1/------=/=======|======-\-------\0            Erika

[ERIKA]
Erika is not a terribly nice person. She does what she wants and tends to ignore the consequences for anyone except her. But she's selfish more than actually evil or malicious, and while that's hardly /good/, it's certainly not as bad as it could be. She's no Vega in the making.

"Eh?" Erika wasn't expecting her words to actually make Nakoruru reconsider. She just gets annoyed when people preach at her, and while Nakoruru wasn't /really/, if she'd shaded into it it wouldn't have been the first time. That she can do all of this while still engaging in combat is impressive at the least.

Erika does build up defenses against Nakoruru's approach - a sheet of ice forming along her arm, in preparation to be used as a shield again. But a shield does nothing against being grabbed, and Nakoruru pulls her off balance, causing her to hop to try to regain it - only to catch a knee in the gut for her trouble!

The next thing Erika knows, she's on her back after Nakoruru slammed her and feeling slightly dazed. "Uuuugh," she groans, and rolls to the side. This takes her off the stone balcony, but onto one of the wooden platforms attached to it; it sways and creaks slightly, especially as Erika rises again, but seems stable enough.

Bringing up her hand to her face, Erika exhales, sharply, over her outstretched palm. A whipping burst of icy wind and sparkling ice blasts away from her, toward Nakoruru; it swirls around the other woman, freezing cold - but more than freezing, it's simply hard to see through, as all the tiny particles of ice catch the light like a million tiny prisms, reflecting and refracting and keeping her in a weird green glare from the torches. It gives Erika a moment or two to recover.

She hopes.

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru blocks Erika's Whiteout.

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Nakoruru [E]     1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0            Erika



[NAKORURU]
One thing is clear, the slender swordswoman is relentless. Sending Erika to the ground, she's already pouncing on her for a follow up attack, only to land on empty stone as the Ice Wielder rolls out of the way just in time. Landing on her hands and knees, she looks up quickly, following the evasive escape out onto the platform. Lunging up to her own feet, she surges after her, leaning forward into a swift sprint that will bring her back within striking range in an instant.

Only, her opponent has other ideas, unleashing a fierce gale of wind heavy with icy particulates. At first, Nakoruru thinks to pressure through, catch up with her anyway at whatever cost of pain, but the impact on her vision is also enough to force her to reconsider, drawing up her arms to weather the miniature storm as best she can. The icy whips about her, stinging the exposed flesh of her arms, whipping at her cheeks and hair.

Hissing in pain, Nakoruru lowers her gloved hands slightly to look back toward Erika. It's time for another attack vector, it seems, the girl swinging her right hand out, finger pointing, a command issued.

"Mamahaha!"

Erika will find herself harried from behind then, the large hawk launching into the air in a sharp turn that brings it into a steep, almost reckless dive directly for her back. As it falls, the bird's body becomes wreathed in the same vibrant, rainbow-hued chi that the falconer exhibited in her opening attack.

For her own part, Nakoruru remains slow to get back into the fray, forced to wait for the vestiges of the Ice Shaper's frozen breath to dissipate.

COMBATSYS: Erika reflects Amube Yatoro from Nakoruru with Frigid Aegis.

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Nakoruru [E]     1/-----==/=======|======-\-------\0            Erika

[ERIKA]
Getting /two/ people on that platform makes it more unsteady. Erika shifts her stance for balance and starts looking around for a better one to jump to. There's so many of them around, there's got to be one -

The closest one forward looks like it's about to fall apart, but there's one backwards (and curved, slightly, around the edge of the gallery) that seems at least as stable as this one. Erika uses the distraction and momentary blindness Nakoruru is suffering to make a jump for it, sending the platform rocking further as she leaps.

Erika lands, spinning at the same time Nakoruru calls for her ... pet? Spirit animal? Erika doesn't know, so her response is more reflex than anything planned; she spreads her hands apart, forming what looks like a polished mirror of ice between them, glistening with ribbons of bluish-white chi streaming within it. Mamahaha hits the shield, causing a clash between the blue in the shield and the rainbow the bird is wreathed in; it sends up sparks as some of the rainbow actually gets inside the shield. The whole thing vibrates alarmingly as Erika strains to hold it steady.

Then it explodes, sending a blast of chi - along with ice chunks - outward! Erika has angled the shield so that it's going toward Nakoruru rather than Mamahaha, who probably gets off easy (aside from slamming into a chunk of ice, which is generally nobody's idea of a good time).

COMBATSYS: Erika successfully hits Nakoruru with Reflected Amube Yatoro.
- Power hit! -

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Nakoruru [E]     2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\1            Erika



[NAKORURU]
The falconer calls in her reinforcements to attack from another angle and it... really doesn't pan out well at all. Mamahaha collides bodily with the barrier of shimmering, reliable ice, rebuffed backward, wings still flapping as he catches himself from falling into a spiral toward the cavern floor. A shake of his head and a cry of confused distress accompany the creature's reaction before he finally dives down and then soars up into the rafters once more to perch. Bowing his head, he uses his wings to rub some of the lingering ice out, not looking terribly happy with how that panned out.

Nakoruru is worse off, however, a bolt of exploding ice chunks and ambient chi blasting her way. Having stepped onto the thin boards, there is no hope of evading to one side or the other, so all she can do is try to make it over it. Legs tensing, arms out at her sides as she tries to secure her balance after the shaking of it by Erica, her legs tensing, the girl lunging into the air to no avail. Caught just as she leaves the board, she's blasted back onto the stony balcony where their battle kommenced, tumbling over a few times before coming to rest face down.

Shaking her head just like her bird is, the girl pushes up to her hands and knees and then finally to standing as she blinks back across the way at Erika. It takes her a moment to find that she has retreated onto a further back platform, giving the worried girl a chance to check on her hawk's well being. "Are you okay, Mamahaha?" she asks, eyebrows raised with concern only to be answered with another scree from the great hunter with wounded pride.

Nodding her head, she exhales, eyes snapping back to her opponent... She has a newfound appreciation for the versatility of this girl, her skills exceeding her expectations. And then out onto the boards she sprints, her balance perfect... right up until the scaffold breaks beneath her, the brittle wood pushed past its point of endurance. Forced to take to the air, she leaps high and far into a forward flip before dropping right out of the sky, her right leg snapping out, as she aims to drive a falling heel kick into the top of Erika's head!

Hopefully the new platform she's chosen proves sturdy enough.

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru successfully hits Erika with Enbu Go Kyaku EX.
- Power hit! -

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Nakoruru [E]     2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\===----\1            Erika

[ERIKA]
In her defense, Erika was probably not trying to hurt the bird much either. It attacked her, she defended herself by sheer reflex, and sometimes that involves a falcon slamming into a chunk of chi-imbued ice. Could happen to anyone, really.

Erika is not, honestly, a bad fighter. A little wild, she uses her powers more with instinct than training - but where could she learn how to use them in training? There aren't many people like her (though she once debated asking Cinder and then doing the opposite of anything he told her). But sometimes instinct works out, and if nothing else it makes her unpredictable.

Right now she's grinning, mostly to herself, as Nakoruru rights herself. "Want some more?" she asks, and it's less mocking than one might expect. /She/ wants some more. But if her opponent is done, well, she'll take a victory too.

Apparently the answer is yes. As soon as Erika is sure Nakoruru is going to keep going, she focuses. The ambient temperature around her drops, and drops again; rime starts to form around her feet, spreading across the wood in a feathery layer of frost. "Come on, th - "

Nakoruru drives a foot directly into Erika's head.

Erika's platform is, fortunately, stable enough. It helps that it is (currently) frozen to the stone, the connections icing over from her proximity and supercooled state; there's a sound of cracking ice, but less creaking wood than expected. Erika, however, is less stable, and goes down like a ton of bricks, dazed and confused.

She pushes herself upward... and something new is glowing.

A stone, apparently set into a navel piercing; a small green jewel, twinkling in the green light. Its own green light; the stone is darker than an emerald but emits a colour almost the same as the torches, spreading across Erika as she rises, giving her a sudden surge of energy.

And all around her, the supercooling intensifies further. Chi builds up on Erika's arms, and she slams them down against the platform, causing a rising pillar of whirling chi around her. If that wasn't bad enough, stray bolts of freezing energy blast out in random directions, leaving patches of ice clinging to stone and wood all across the pit. One actually goes down into the pit, a shine of white-blue that fades into the distance. "We're not done yet!!"

COMBATSYS: Erika equips a glimmering Dark Green Soul Shard.

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Nakoruru [E]     2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\===----\1        [E] Erika

COMBATSYS: Erika channels the veins of the burning blood.

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Nakoruru [E]     2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=====--\1        [E] Erika

COMBATSYS: Erika channels the strength of the killing fist.

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Nakoruru [E]     2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\=====--\1        [E] Erika

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru equips a warm Carmine Soul Shard.

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Nakoruru [E]     2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0        [E] Erika

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru channels the spread of the lightning nerves.

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Nakoruru [E]     2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0        [E] Erika

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru channels the fortress of the steel will.

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Nakoruru [E]     2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0        [E] Erika

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru blocks Erika's Fimbulvinter.

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Nakoruru [E]     2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0        [E] Erika



[NAKORURU]
Her acrobatic dive from above makes it hard to defend against the angle of her falling heel kick, the girl timing the snap of her leg to hook downward, her leg muscles and free falling body weight combining to make for a decisive hit. Of course, the next item of urgent importance is landing, which she... doesn't do so well, falling right past Erika, dark eyes widening as she gasps, hands snapping out to grab hold of the frozen wooden edge of the scaffolding to preempt any further plunge to the bone laden floor below.

Grunting, she pulls herself up into a flip, landing and extending her arms to quickly regain graceful balance. Landing nearly adjacent to Erika, she finds herself front and center for the most violent blizzard she's ever been party to, which is saying a lot coming from Hokkaido! Eyes widen with alarm at the surge of power felt even before it's seen - if she had her protective cloak perhaps she could deflect something like this, but that mischievous four-armed little demon is running all around the island with it! As it stands, she has no defense, caught flat footed against the storm.

'Trust in us.'
'Let our strength be yours.'
'Earth Protector.'

A warm dark red glow radiates out from the left side of her back, the end of the black sheath for her kodachi suddenly imbued with a glimmering gemstone that was most definitely not there before. And she does as requested by the menagerie of voices in her her head, neither masculine nor feminine, lifting her arms up, crossing them in front of her, and trusting her fate to the soothing souls that surge to protect her. A fierce, hot wind surges up in front of the Earth Warden, mitigating some of the sting of the incoming ice storm. From the cave wall, an outcropping of stone is just in time to soak in some of the ice wielder's playful fury before it shatters free under the pressure, stones cascading down below.

Overhead, Mamahaha has take to the air, swirling about above as best the large bird can, no doubt thinking to be prepared to swoop down and rescue the swordswoman should she lose her footing and fall.

But she doesn't quite fall, pushed to the edge of the scaffolding and no further before catching herself. Lowering her ice encrusted arms, she wipes at the frost on her face.

'Strike now.'

When she plants her foot, it is with the speed of lightning, a bright flash as the girl jettisons forward after Erika, aiming to catch her before she can setup her guard following such an intense attack.

Springing into a forward flip, Nakoruru aims to wrap her legs around Erika's waist such that she ends up facing her face to face. "You fought well," her right arm would draw back before swinging for Erika's face, "But your fight ends here." Her left hand follows with a hook strike, then her right again. She seems intent on punching the poor Earthrealmer until she either dislodges the tenacious fighter or collapses in defeat!

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru channels the glare of the vicious eye.

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Nakoruru [E]     2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0        [E] Erika

COMBATSYS: Erika channels the spread of the lightning nerves.

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Nakoruru [E]     1/-------/<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0        [E] Erika

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru successfully hits Erika with Enbu Soushou.

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Nakoruru [E]     1/-------/<<<<<<<|====---\-------\0        [E] Erika

[ERIKA]
The surge of power was intense even for Erika. She knows what she's capable of, and that feels beyond her normal limits - not that she's complaining. Maybe she's gotten better... but the soft glow of green from the stone is enough to remind her that here, perhaps, things are a little weirder than that.

She rises from where she'd planted her hands on the platform, breathing hard from her exertion but clearly still willing to go at it. "Ha - ha - " It's not laughing - more trying to catch her breath, because that really did take a lot out of her.

Erika cannot hear the voices speaking to Nakoruru, but she can see the red, feel ... something. Erika has a sense of power, as anyone as closely tied to her chi must be, but she's not very good at telling /what/ she's feeling. A faint pressure, an echo of something she doesn't recognize...

"You got it too?" she asks, drawing on what reserves she has. There's another flicker of green, a flash in the poor light that doesn't last more than a split second - because there's almost no reserves there.

Nakoruru grabs onto Erika and starts slamming her face. This is enough to get Erika to stagger back, unable to immediately dislodge the smaller fighter, but touching Erika is still painfully cold. She chills to the bone as Nakoruru holds on, unless she can buffer herself from the sudden surge that spreads the chill into Nakoruru's body.

That happens a split second before Nakoruru's last fist catches Erika right in the side of the head, causing her eyes to roll up. Unconcious, Erika drops like a stone, quite unconcious - and the green glow returns, spreading across her, a defensive aura that's just barely visible.

COMBATSYS: Erika can no longer fight.

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Nakoruru [E]     1/-------/<<<<<<<|

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru blocks Erika's Deep Freeze.

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Nakoruru [E]     0/-------/---<<<<|



[NAKORURU]
Enduring the unnatural chill of physical contact with Erika is simply a price that must be paid to fight her, and Nakoruru endures it for as long as she can. She can't help but wonder at the nature of her frozen soul. Does she have an elemental's boon, a Kamui's blessing, or does her power stem from something else all together?

But in the midst of battle is not the best time to answer every mystery she might wonder, and right now she's insisting on striking out with her fists. Individually, each blow is not terribly punishing, but her relentlessness is what makes the attack effective. At least she's not swinging around that sword of hers anymore, right? Even if Erika's blood seemed to freeze over the wounds inflicted by the sharp edged weapon, the Earth-sworn champion is not about to bloody up someone whom she has started to consider simply lost or in way over her head... she shouldn't bleed for that, should she?

The cold nearly wards her off, burning her skin with intense freezing. Only by projecting her own formidable aura is she even able to endure, to keep swinging, to fight back the aura of ice. Even still, she's about to break free, her body sporting a sheen of frost, her lips blue, her teeth chattering, when at last Erika collapses.

Her escape is less graceful than she would have liked, muscles stiffened by the frigid energy her opponent was able to muster at point blank, but she at least lands on her feet, catching herself with her hand against the cave wall. A cry from the great hawk warns her of an incoming dive from her friend, Nakoruru snapping her left hand out at her side to give the bird a place to perch as he wraps a wing around her shoulders as if trying to warm her up.

The green shimmer tells the girl all she needs to know - Erika will be protected by wards stronger than anyone on the island can even hope to break. Folding her arms in front of her, she shivers, the cold of the cave compounded with the freezing attacks she suffered taking their toll. "L-Let's go, Mamahaha." Turning, she begins the precarious process of picking her way through the rotting beams to find her way back to the exit. Maybe once she's warmed up she can come back and check on her opponent, but for right now, she's at her limit!

COMBATSYS: Nakoruru has ended the fight here.

Log created on 16:29:44 09/24/2016 by Erika, and last modified on 10:10:16 09/25/2016.