Description:
Late afternoon, the streets of Chinatown bustle with the traffic of many heading home from their daily jobs. On the outskirts of town, where the paved roads give way to dust covered lanes and the buildings look just a tad on the humble side, some people have found cause to pause on their way. A wooden platform has become the center-point of what has evolved into a local tradition - the friendly games of King of the Hill.
Presently occupying the stage is Hotaru herself, and judging by the things said by the crowd, she's probably held it for a little while at least. The mood is jovial, people laughing and cheering each other on in this brief contest of strength and speed. One burly man, probably on his way home from construction work, steps up onto the stage at the urging of his friends.
He must not know of Hotaru's reputation at the game, as he moves with a certain amount of carelessness, like he expects this to be too easy. Swooping forward in an attempt to grab the girl in a bear hug, he finds his hand grabbed and pulled, and his feet swept out from under him by her leg, and the next thing he knows, he's off to the side of the stage in a cloud of dust. Hotaru smiles after him and bows in his direction before clasping her hands behind her back and waiting for the next challenger to try. As the crowd helps the man to his feet, he dusts himself off, looking a bit sheepish at his prior confidence, but it's all in good fun, so there's no feelings of hostility visible.
Walking through the street, now exploring the outer reaches of this colorful section of Southtown, is a blonde haired young woman wearing some nice, if expensive, looking clothing. She hasn't been in this part of town before, and so she hadn't known about King of the Hill. And so it comes as a mild surprise to her as she finds someone standing on a stage. What isn't surprising to her is that lithe girl currently occupying it is able to toss the burly looking man down below. After all, Ingrid is very close to the same proportions, and can be strong as well.
She walks up to the side of the stage and smiles, simply watching for now and trying to get an idea of what is actually going on, listening in to the others talking to figure it out. She casually reaches a hand up and twirls a few strands of hair about her finger, enjoying being around so many people that seem to be having fun. "This seems to be an interesting game."
The ribbon-haired girl doesn't have to wait long, as another man scrambles up on stage. A rotund fellow, he looks like he might have just gotten off a shift as a cook, with a white apron spattered by colored stains and grease marks. He seems to be taking Hotaru more seriously however, crouching down and focusing on her. The girl turns to face him, but her head is bowed, her eyes are closed, and her hands are clasped calmly behind her back. She likes to do things to give her challengers a bit more of a chance, and the crowd knows this by now.
With her traditional Chinese styled garb, Hotaru looks like she might fit right in here in Chinatown. If it weren't for certain details, like the gold embroidery in her clothing or the expensive looking earrings in her ears, one might assume that any one of the old buildings in the area to be her home. By looking her over closely though, it can be gathered she isn't from a particularly humble background.
"HAH!" the man grunts, coming out of his concentrated crouch with a shoulder charge directly for Hotaru. Springing to life at the last second, she leapfrogs over him using his shoulders, lands on the other side of him, and kicks backward just hard enough to send him over the side. Whirling around to face him, she bows like before, while the audience consoles the challenger and helps him to his feet. He's laughing as well and resumes talking with those around him. A simple game, but it seems to brighten the spirits of those that might otherwise be drearily dragging themselves home right now.
Ingrid watches carefully as Hotaru leapfrogs the man and then sends him tumbling away, assuring that once again she'll be the king, or perhaps more appropriately, Queen of the Hill. She gives a faint smile, and tilts her head a little. Ingrid is pretty out of place in Chinatown, everything about her saying that she's a foreigner, from the tone of her skin and hair to the clothes she wears, nothing about her is Chinese, or particularly humble looking.
She seems to consider something for a few moments, and then lightly bends down and hops up forward, landing on the edge of the stage. She gives Hotaru a warm, friendly smile. "I'm afraid I've never played this before. Are there any rules I should be aware of?" She only takes a couple of steps forward, not wanting to be threatening Hotaru's possession of the hill just yet, simply inquiring at the moment.
Smiling as Ingrid takes the stage, Hotaru clasps her hands behind her back at first, looking her over with a quiet smile. The crowd studies this new oppponent and after a few seconds, the chatter starts up again, as everyone begins to debate and discuss her odds. They did see Hotaru knocked off the stage recently by another girl about her age and size, and they can't help but speculate that the might see yet another upset tonight!
Hotaru observes Ingrid, herself. This isn't the first time a foreigner has challeneged her at this game. She's not particularly good at identifying the native countries of others and her best guess is that Ingrid is an American. A fancy one, at that. But there's more to her than that, Hotaru's experienced eye tells her. At the question, she shakes her head, "Only two," she states. "Once you touch the ground, you lose." she says with a nod of her head toward the side, grinning a little bit. "And you get to go first."
At that, she brings her hands forward, slipping comfortably into a ready stance she might use for fighting. The audience quiets down now, everyone waiting to see how this plays out. They know from experience that when Hotaru does this, she has evaluated her opponent to be worth paying more attention to.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has started a fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
Ingrid considers for a moment, and then nods her head. "I think I can deal with that." She probably wouldn't be annoyed to be recognized as an American; just about anyone European looking can be from America, and her lack of an accent would probably keep people from thinking she was European as she truly is. People not from Europe tend to think people that are from there have silly and funny accents. Then again, so do Europeans from other countries as each other...
Another smile comes out as Hotaru drops into what looks like a true martial arts stance, and then moves into one herself. It's not an obvious martial arts stance, though. In fact, it's more loose and open than how she normally carries herself, arms held easily at her side, swaying every so gently. "I go first? Hmmm... I'd better choose my options carefully, then." Ingrid is more like the second person she witnessed trying to remove Hotaru from the 'hill', watching carefully and trying to get a bead on Hotaru, checking her movements rather than rushing in brashly.
COMBATSYS: Ingrid has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ingrid
COMBATSYS: Ingrid focuses on her next action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ingrid
"Nn," Hotaru offers with a nod of affirmation. Her quiet smile from before has faded now, her expression more neutral in demeanor as she concentrates. As Ingrid adjusts her own stance, Hotaru continues to study her carefully. She suspected that she might be a fighter of some kind, but the current champion is unable to tell what discipline the foreigner was trained in. The murmur of the crowd drops to silence, as if everyone is holding their breath now. There is still the noise of other activity in the area - a bicyle bell ringing across the street, a door slamming shut with a loud sound nearby, the rustle of caged chickens at a streetside market half a block away. But Hotaru tunes all them out, watching for the first sign of movement to which she should react from Ingrid.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru focuses on her next action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Ingrid
Ingrid's smile, on the other hand, stays in place. It's small and gentle, but it's definitely there. Interesting, this. Hotaru is equally going to be careful and bide her time; a wise decision if Ingrid just did as much herself. But what should she do? Should she go in and try and shove her off, or aim a nice kick at her? No... something tells Ingrid that's not the answer. She thinks to herself for a moment, and then smiles more. She'll go for something shocking, at least possibly to the crowd. She swings her hand in an underarm motion, still standing near the edge of the stage, and golden sparkles of energy flow out behind her hand. Out from it springs a large ball of shining energy, arcing upward and then falling down towards Hotaru. She seemed easily able to get around people up close and then shove them off when they were off guard; this should avoid that problem nicely.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru reflects Sun Shot from Ingrid with Kobi Kyaku EX.
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Hotaru 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Ingrid
While the tension is thick, some of the audience begins to fidget as the seconds pass by. There is a cough, a nose rub, a shuffling of dust as posture is changed. And then Ingrid makes her move, tossing the energy up at an arch toward Hotaru. The girl braces herself for it, and at first it seems like she might not be able to get out of the way due to the awkward angle it comes at her. It is only at the last second that she reacts, kicking high at an angle, a trail of chi left behind in the wake of her foot. It is that trail that catches the sphere and sends it flying right back toward Ingrid like an impromptu game of volleyball.
COMBATSYS: Ingrid overcomes Reflected Sun Shot from Hotaru with Sun Shot EX.
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Hotaru 0/-------/------=|-------\-------\0 Ingrid
Ingrid raises her eyebrows slightly as Hotaru just stands there, and then looks somewhat surprised when her energy is simply... sent back her way. Interesting. "I'm afraid to tell you, but trying to harm me with my own power isn't going to be very effective." And to prove this, she steps forward and swings her arm in an underhand motion again, sending another ball of energy flying out at the first, but smashing through it and continuing straight on towards Hotaru as the first one did, floating up and then back down. She smiles gently, fairly glad that worked.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru fails to reflect Sun Shot EX from Ingrid with Kobi Kyaku.
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Hotaru 0/-------/---====|-------\-------\0 Ingrid
She has a second to recover from her last second reflection of the first sphere. And then there is Ingrid's helpful warning, as she destroys the previous projectile with a second one, much to Hotaru's surprise. She prepares to send it back again, inspite Ingrid's suggestion that that won't too effective. And so again with the same kick as before, the shield of chi intended to knock the ball back at Ingrid a second time. But this time it ends up breaking through, striking the girl when she is already off balance mid-kick. Hotaru stumbles backward, attempting to catch herself at the last second, but her foot finds nothing but air and the girl lands unceremoniously in the dirt with an 'Umph!'
Having practically held their breaths during the rapid exchange of energy, the crowd requires a second to exhale before the cheers and clapping start up. Some reach down to help Hotaru to her feet while others clap for Ingrid. In a few cases, a little money exchanges hands, as those who placed some side bets on the newcomer collect from their friends.
Brushing her clothing off, Hotaru smiles up at Ingrid, giving her a polite bow of the head. "That was very well done. Congratulations."
Ingrid watches the attempt to turn her energy back once more, noticing how the barrier of energy fails this time, most likely do to some miscalculation on Hotaru's part, since it was an effective technique. It was... very reminiscent of Ingrid's own reversal maneuver, except that her 'wall' of energy, a disk of it in her case, blocked bodily attacks, rather than ones of energy. She smiles down to Hotaru as she's helped up, returning the little bow of the head. "Thank you. I believe it could have gone either way, it took a lot of effort to negate my own attack; that's a very effective and interesting maneuver, you have." She would normally go down to talk to Hotaru... but she probably has to defend herself from other people, now, since that's the game.
Hotaru's smile becomes a bit of a grin as she shrugs at Ingrid's polite commentary, "Thanks. It's a little more tricky to deal with an attack that follows a less straight path," she admits, one hand coming up to rest behind her head. She pauses a moment, then adds, "My name is Hotaru, nice to meet you."
Meanwhile, the crowd is already back into the game of trying to talk each other into taking the stage. Who will try their luck against the girl that managed to unseat their local champion? Was it a fluke? Those energy balls definitely didn't seem like a fluke! But maybe she's spent her energy and can't do any more? Hotaru laughs lightly as she overhears the chatter of the audience, and a couple people are already drawning near to the edge of the stage, perhaps waiting for one last boost to their confidence from their friends before tempting fate and climbing on up. "Good luck to you," Hotaru calls out, taking a step back to blend into the crowd. She has no reason to stick around, as she's sure how things will play out for Ingrid, unless another exceptional person comes along to try their hand at the simple game.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has left the fight here.
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Ingrid 0/-------/-------|
Unfortuantely for anyone who tries to unseat her, Ingrid's very specialty is being able to use her energy for long periods of time, so it'll be a while before she wears herself out. She looks on to Hotaru. "I suppose it would be, but even if it isn't straight it at least follows a set pattern." An erratic attack would be incredibly hard to deal with, she imagines. "Mine is Ingrid, pleased to meet you as well." She turns to face the people that look ready to hop up onto the stage and try and get her off, smiling to them a little. "Hmm..." She'll probably hold off from using her energy against anyone who isn't an actual fighter; it really wouldn't be very fair, and the whole point of a game is fun, after all. She looks over to Hotaru as she begins to move away, "And you as well. I hope to meet you again, sometime."
Log created by Ingrid, and last modified on 05:34:01 04/27/2007.