Description: Sent on a risky recon mission, Hotaru is chased through the jungle and eventually forced to try and fight her way past Kurow Kirishima. When the situation begins to look especially bad, her instructor leaps to her aid. But in the end, Kurow proves too much for both of the Kyokugen'ers!
Time and time again, Hotaru's resolve to stay in Thailand has been tested, even to the point of breaking once. She had been so eager to get here and help, but life in the war ravaged nation turned out to be nothing like what she had been anticipating. At one point, she was ready to tell Ryo that she wanted to just go back home - that she was of little use here. While the two had been sent their seperate ways from time to time doing missions to help the resistance, Hotaru had met with minimal success in what she was tasked with. Maybe if they had let her just accompany Ryo in whatever it was he had been up to. But she wasn't really sure WHAT the Kyokugen master had been up to as of late. Perhaps just wandering the nation punching faces in wherever face punchings were needed.
If Hotaru hadn't have run into Sakura while seeking passage out of Thailand, that might have been the last of young Futaba's ability to stick it out. But encountering the girl she had admired for so many years inspired a second wind of hope. The emotions the other girl demonstrated showed that while Kurow's control was strong, it wasn't completely flawless as he would have lead the pig-tailed girl to believe. She had to stay. She couldn't leave. There had to be something she could do.
She still didn't want to get sent on solo combat missions any more. The pressure of having to protect the guerilla fighters that she would be made responsible for was too much for the girl that had never even had anything remotely resembling war-zone combat training before. But there was a mission ahead that she just couldn't help but get involved in. A prison break. Not just a little detention camp on the outskirts of the battle fronts. But a prison break from deep within Shadaloo territory. But before something that large scale could be accomplished, there had to be recon...
And inspite her total lack of training as a spy or scout, Hotaru seems to be quite good at it. She's small so is able to hide easily. She's dressed in dark brown and green clothing, so blends in with the jungle well. She's a natural at nagivating habitates think with wildlife. And... there is one other detail. Lying flat on a tree-lined hill, the girl studies the prison below through a set of binoculars. But those aren't the only means of her reconnaissance. While the girl lies there watching, a bird that had been flying circles around the camp comes to land on her back, hopping over to chirp and play with her hair. "Nn," Hotaru nods, still peering through the field glasses, as if she can hear the chirps for something other than random bird warbles. "Okay." From behind a bush a field mouse crawls, nose and whiskers twitching. Lowering the binoculras, Hotaru smiles at him, petting the creature's head with a finger, "All right. I need you to scout out the inside a little. Stick to the shadows, don't take risks." Acting as if having received orders from a commanding officer, the small brown mouse turns around and scurries into the brush. Smiling faintly, Hotaru lifts the binoculars again and goes back to peering at the prison below, waiting for more intel to come from her small army of animal assistants.
Adorable little animals make the best field agents -- they're completely unexpected, and seem completely harmless. Few people seriously consider a loose animal in a building to be more than a nuisance, seen individually; they're killed occasionally, certainly, but more often they're just allowed to scramble back into whatever hole they came out of. Hotaru has valuable allies in the animal kingdom, and their unique perspectives will almost definitely serve Hotaru extremely well in her mission.
Looking at the outside, of course, doesn't do a whole lot of good. It's the same as one would expect from nearly any installation, any tough fortress that one might use to hold those who would pose a danger to its owners' enemies. Guard is significant but not overwhelming -- enough to topple with a few well-placed strikes. Walls are thick, well-constructed. Looking at the /inside/, though... that gets results. It's a good thing Hotaru has that tiny little mouse to give her that kind of intelligence.
Inside, too, is precisely as one would expect, as Hotaru's animal friend finds out. Some areas are sterile and cold, and generate that undeniable feeling of a lack of basic caring and human understanding. These are the best one could hope for -- they're most likely for prisoners whose stay, for whatever reason, has been decided to be a pleasant one.
Going deeper, however, changes the dynamic -- no doubt, Hotaru will hear about this, too. There are areas so neglected and ill-kept that they are home to all manner of vermin and crawling pests, areas where the scheduled food and water deliveries are barely at subsistence levels. It is here that the mouse receives its most disturbing piece of intelligence, not with its eyes but its ears.
A small, wet noise. A dull thud. The hoarse voice of a man -- one who certainly sounds old, though in conditions like these that voice could easily have come from someone seventeen years of age as seventy -- begging for what's happening to stop. ... music?
The field mouse may not know or understand. To Hotaru, no doubt, the message is as clear as crystal.
After a moment, Hotaru lowers the glasses again and the bird on her back hops onto the surface of a nearby rock. Rolling over, a notepad that she had been lying on is revealed in the grass. Picking that up, and taking hold of a pencil that she had tucked behind her ear, she begins to jot down the notes that she's picked up so far. Approximate number of guards on the outside as seen by the bird. Roughly when shifts change... what entrances exist and which seemed the most guarded from the outside. She sketches the prison, making marks in various places on the sketch. She doesn't know what information will be the most important to the camp commander that she'll be reporting back to, so she jots it all down. "Thank you," she murmurs thoughtfully.
The bird takes flight, vanishing from view over the treeline, and Hotaru sighs softly. Reaching to her side, she picks up a canteen and unscrews the lid, taking a long drink from the water within. Wiping her arm across her brow, Hotaru is at least glad she found a shady spot from which to run her recon operation.
It's some time before the mouse comes back to report, chittering while the pig-tailed girl scribbles away furiously to keep up with the rapid communication. "Oh? Oh..." she frowns as she learns about a young boy chained to a wall, looking like he hadn't been fed for days. She shakes her head slowly at the account of an old woman weeping away from behind bars. "I wonder what she could have done..."
Her expression darkens, however, when she learns about the deepest levels. The mouse gets sidetracked telling her about his epic encounter with a large, vicious spider that was as big as he is and she smiles patiently, listening to every detail, even though it isn't relevant. Then it's back to talking about the beatings. The pleadings. The untold suffering. The torture. The endless begging that someone make it all stop. Hotaru's complexion pales slightly and she reaches out, craddling the mouse in her hands as she comforts the critter by craddling it, perhaps seeking comfort for herself in the process. She shouldn't have to hear about such things. But... information must be gained. "That is enough for now. Don't go back down there... Not for now. I need to think about what else we need to know about," she comments, petting his brown fur with her finger once more. "But... I might have to ask something more of you later." A small creature like that is the ideal thief when it comes to getting keys, keycards, and other tools of entry. But Hotaru isn't about ot launch a one-girl assault on the prison, so such steps don't need to be taken /yet/.
Animals aren't much -- when seen inside, by themselves. Lots of animals, moving back and forth from a single point in the forest, -just- obscured from the guards' vision and the cameras? That's enough to draw a little attention. After all, strange times or no, it's rare that animals demonstrate what can only be described as excellent reconaissance tactics. Needless to say, this is both too strange to be investigated by the rank and file and too suspicious not to get investigated at all.
This is a job, traditionally, for one of two people: the ranking officer on site or the most adept outside contractor, depending on how overstaffed the particular installation is. In the days since Sagat and Bison's departure, it's unclear which of these positions Kurow Kirishima fills, but he definitely holds at least one. Needless to say, he is a little sore at being pulled away so close to what he saw as a breakthrough, and when he leaves the prison through a side door, likely not visible to Hotaru, he is angry.
He makes no effort to mask his presence -- at worst, he thinks it'll be some old mystic who has nothing better to do. It'd certainly fit the facts of the situation. As such, Hotaru will no doubt feel that same familiar dark aura that she's become so acquainted with in the last weeks. He feels /her/ presence, too -- he doesn't have the precision senses of a man like Kain, but Hotaru is someone he's starting to become all too acquainted with.
The animals are probably a little perturbed.
Even as Kurow exits, he might notice a gopher sticking its head up from the hole in the center of a dirt mound nearby. Normally nocturnal, such a sight would be unusual to say the least. Its nose twitches as the young man exits, and then the large rodent vanishes beneath the ground, escaping sight into its tunnels beneath.
As Kurow advances, a lizard, tanning itself on the surface of a boulder just outside the wall of the prison, suddenly darts into action, scurrying along the ground to vanish into the underbrush.
As the Shadaloo officer begins to ascend the hill, the echoing cry of a monkey from somewhere in the trees above calls out then falls silent just as suddenly.
Seated on the ground, a mouse craddled in her arms, Hotaru feels something even before the warning comes. The mouse itself begins to breath at a rate that betrays the nervousness it feels and the young girl pauses for a moment, her brow furrowing. Then it clicks. She knows exactly who was 'attending' to those deep below now. And she also knows that he's on to her. "Go," Hotaru whispers, putting the small mammel down. Freeing her hands, she leans forward on her knees together up the canteen, a small travel bag, and the notepad full of precious intel already garnered through the hours she's spent here. "Go now," she urges the mouse again with hushed urgency as he pauses, looking back as if concerned about the welfare of the human child.
Her things gathered up, she stands up suddenly, coming easily into view over the cover she had been lurking behind, and turns toward the thick rain-forest trees. No time to waste on the pretenses of stealth. It's time to escape. She just has to make it into the jungle. With roots, holes, large trees, branches, there's thousands of places for a girl her size to hide. And she can move through the terrain so fast one might think her to be a native of the locale rather than a poor city girl that's so very far away from her natural habitat.
Kurow barely notices the animals -- he's aware of their presence, certainly, but he has more important things to worry about. He's starting to place that oh-so-familiar 'signature' of chi, likewise. In that small moment, the two have an eerily identical understanding of things. They've found their targets, they are not pleased, and this in turn is a signal to move faster. Kurow is quite adept, of course, at moving faster -- his entire life has been training for moments like these. Tracking and killing. That's what the Imawano family wanted from him. He learned other skills -- lots of them, including some truly vital ones -- but any adept assassin knows the basics inside and out. Mugen Imawano preferred his assassins adept.
He keeps moving, catching the occasional glimpse of Futaba. She's not in her usual clothes, but he knows it's her -- the occasional glimpse of lustrous black hair, the occasional patch of green and brown that moves just a little too much tells him that much. Kurow speeds up, putting all that raw speed he has to his advantage. "You really just refuse to give up," he says, loud enough that he knows she can hear him. "Why do you keep doing this? Don't you know what it's going to mean for you?"
She had a head start, which is what lets her keep ahead of him for a ways. But as she can hear him moving through the jungle behind her, she begins to realize that Kurow is more than just some twisted fighting prodigy drafted for his powers of 'persuasion.' No normal city boy would be able to keep up with her like this. Not at the pace she's going; leaping over roots, sliding down moss covered logs on her two feet, jumping over ditches and the occasional deeper crevice, all the while maintaining a frantic run between obsticals.
She drops the canteen eventually, but she keeps the bag clenched tightly in her hand, having already stuffed the notepad into it. All of the intel that she had gained on the layout of the prison, the frequency of guard changes, when the guards ate or rotated shifts, what keys, passcodes, and words were needed to get past checkpoints... All would be instrumental in the upcoming attack, and Hotaru runs not just as if her own life depended upon it, but also the lives of countless others.
But the way back out of Shadaloo's territory is a long one, and she can't possibly cover that distance at this kind of pace. Which means as far as she knows, she is on her own out here. She could slow down, maintain a steady jog for miles due to the kind of training Ryo has put her through. But a dead sprint for miles would be insane, her body would collapse before then. Realizing her lead is diminishing every second, Hotaru takes another approach.
The moment she is certain she has broken line of sight, the girl makes a sharp right, grabbing hold of a tree branch to help her change course without having to slow much at all. And then a leap over a large, rotting log, only to crouch down on the other side of it, huddling, holding her breath in spite the ache it puts in her lungs. Desperately, she clutches the bag in her hand, ears attentive to any audible sounds of her pursuer.
The Kirishima family has, for generations, served one purpose: assassins for the Imawano family. The superior family at one point would raise them, train them, keep them in the height of luxury -- and from there, marry the women off to make important connections, and when the men outlived their usefulness as assassins or failed missions, killed them. This is how the line continued -- at least, until Mugen Imawano died, and Hyo and Raizo took their own path. Kurow and his sister are the last relics of that particular system, and Kurow, as a young man, received primarily an assassin's training. He will be the last product of the twisted Kirishima-Imawano life debt -- and along with Hyo Imawano, the last to carry Mugen Imawano's fell legacy.
The world is thankful.
Tracking Hotaru is difficult, especially while having to deal with the same fallen trees and rocks Hotaru has to; she knows what she's doing instinctively, not intellectually. Their shifted paradigms give Hotaru a small advantage, and one she uses to a remarkable advantage. For the briefest of moments, she's lost Kurow -- as she makes that turn, she saves herself... at least, for a while. Nothing lasts forever, though, and the noise she's made in taking that desperate leap doesn't go unnoticed... though it can't be pinpointed, either.
It is Kurow's job to pinpoint it. His footfalls are quiet, but Hotaru -- since she's paying such close attention -- can hear them without a problem. They wander -- to her left, to her right. The young man doesn't have a /great/ way to track her, and he's forced to improvise a little. She has time, and his attention is not directly on /her/. However, one thing is clear -- he's still coming toward her. And he hasn't given up.
It is with excruciating control that she exhales without gasping out loud, her lungs burning for the taste of oxygen to fuel her exercised muscles. The next breath is taken in, then held, forcing her lungs to work with what air they have received for as long as possible, before she exhales again, left with no choice but to breath or pass out. But now that she has resumed breathing, she can't stop again. He'll hear her now, the haggard breaths coming from the other side of a log.
Closing her eyes, the girl hears the young man's movements drawning nearer. Maybe he doesn't know about the bag, she muses frantically, shoving it beneath the soft, rotted wood of the log. If he fights her, then perhaps she can slip away and come back for it later... But in those quiet moments, where the only sound is that of her breath and her heart pounding furiously, she becomes aware of another spirit nearby as well - a slow... tired voice she can sense that he might not. It would be hard for someone unfamiliar with the girl's abilities to understand just what happens next, as the odds of it taking place by pure coincidence would seem impossible.
As Kurow draws nearer to the fallen log, all of the sudden another jungle creature drops down from the trees. A sizeable boa constrictor drops its twisting lengths from a branch over head, attempting to ensare the young man's head within its coils. At the same instant, there is a flash of green, brown, white, and black as young Futaba hops up over the dead tree that was her refuge for a moment. Landing back on the ground, she ducks and kicks out with a hard sweep, attempting to knock Kurow off his feet, hoping to catch the martial arts genius offguard with the surprise help from an unexpected ally. "YAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru has started a fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Kurow has joined the fight here.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kurow
COMBATSYS: Kurow parries Hotaru's Light Kick!
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kurow
The snake makes a valiant effort -- indeed, it does exactly as Hotaru asks, dropping down to coil itself around the young man and create the perfect opening for Hotaru. What it doesn't count on is primarily Kurow's sheer brutality, his bloody-minded focus on stopping Hotaru from getting away with whatever she's had her animal friends take from the base -- and just what he's willing to do to those animal friends to stop her.
In an instant, the snake is grabbed by the neck, Kurow's claws jabbed forcefully into a nerve center to stop it from moving... and then whipped down at Hotaru's sweeping leg, actually wrapping it up and throwing her off balance for a split second before the youth discards the snake, now likely dying and quite discouraged. "I admit I applaud your choice of locations -- what just happened couldn't have been coincidence. You have the home field advantage," he declares to her, actually proud of her in a warped way. She's becoming more shrewd by the day.
However, her technique still isn't perfect, which is a fact that he continues to use to his advantage; leaping toward her, he tries to grab her by the stomach with a claw and pull her into a more upright position... only to -- if he can maintain such a hold -- kick off the ground and spin around her body, leaving a series of bloody, deep gashes in his wake. After a few times around her, he shoves himself off, trying to send her to the ground. If there's one thing that's become clear here, it's that Kurow knows to play for keeps with the Futaba heiress.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Kurow's Circle Slash EX.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kurow
She has, over time, changed from the girl Kurow fought in an innocent enough exchange of attacks on the Justice High campus. It may have only been a couple months ago, but for the two teenagers, it may as well have been a lifetime ago. She's seen the role viciousness plays in combat and how her own faltering to apply such options with her own techniques had held her back. She has learned that there is a time for honor, and there is a time for surprise attacks with the help of whatever allies, no matter how scalely, she might have at hand. She has seen cruelity made manifest, and at times danced right along a very fine line... perhaps even crossing it on an occasion or two.
All these small, subtle experiences have yet to make her into a person that would not feel remorse for the sacrifice the serpent made on her behalf. Caught off guard by how fast the Kirishima heir was able to deal with the hapless creature, she finds her leg snagged with the coils of her wouldbe ally, causing her to stumble backward slightly.
The split second he takes to speak ends up being just enough for her to regain her balance, however, wincing at the sight of the boa cast aside, having sacrificed its life in an attempt to spare the girl a grisly fate. When he lunges for her, Hotaru leaps for him as well, driving her heel down toward his shoulder while in mid-air. "Just one more sin you will have to pay for someday," she murmurs. The intent is obvious, she's going to try and push /off/ the back of the boy in order to get even further from him, perhaps thinking to try and take flight into the trees once more.
COMBATSYS: Kurow dodges Hotaru's Koushuu Da.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kurow
"And just who's going to make me pay?" Kurow asks, diving ahead as Hotaru drives downward at him, causing her to land on empty ground rather than feel the sweet crash of her leg on his shoulder. "You? We've already seen where that's gotten you -- or have you forgotten lying there half-dead?" The Kirishima scion turns around to face the girl he's visited so much cruelty upon, and gives her that devil's smile he's given her so many times.
Kurow is nothing if not careful about his strikes -- he knows how fast the girl is, and knows that the terrain is against him. He has to make everything he does a careful, well-considered tactical decision, something that'll put her down. He learned that when he got overconfident and went for something more telegraphed -- she's gotten stronger, faster. Kurow's not dealing with the manageable threat he'd dealt with before. She's faster, he notices -- she has an energy in her movement that didn't exist before. Curious -- he thought her resolve was faltering.
It's of little consequence to him, though, just what's powering her -- a trifling concern, at best. "So, have you seen that precious girl you wanted to meet so badly yet?" he asks of her, as he takes a low, long leap over a fallen branch, slashing at her -- and then doing so two more times, always advancing forward. "And if you have... why haven't you given up?"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru dodges Kurow's Yami Kagura.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Kurow
Missing Kurow, Hotaru still lands pretty lightly on her feet even as her shoes come down on the soft jungle turf. With a short hop, she has whirled around, coming down in a somewhat backward skipping motion, maintaining a very evasive stance. The stakes are different this time. He needs to hit her hard enough to take her down. She only needs to slow him down enough to get away. "It isn't mine to give you what you deserve," Hotaru admits, weaving to the side to avoid his initial leaping slash. "Our fights have shown me that." She braces, eyes narrowed, not looking at his face but rather focusing on his claws, as if reading the next two strikes to come her way.
"But yes, I did see Sakura," the pig-tailed girl replies, leaning back to avoid the next slash, the tips of his claw missing the front of her vest by precious little space. While the dodge seemed last second, she seems to still be sure on her feet, as if confidence drives her to perform faster now.
"And in doing so, I learned something. Something that keeps me here even now." she states, finally switching to an offensive lunge, slipping past his third swing to strike out with both of her hands toward him with a double-palm press - the likes of which might even be able to knock the wind out of him a bit if he's not careful.
COMBATSYS: Kurow dodges Hotaru's Strong Punch.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-------|=------\-------\0 Kurow
Kirishima has a much easier time dealing with what Hotaru is dishing out than she has with what she's bringing to the table; when she goes for that hard double palm press, he slides away from her, moving over a gnarled root as if it wasn't even there. He's hardly breaking a sweat... but Hotaru's definitely keeping the pressure on him, which is just as important. He knows he /has/ to move that quickly, because she doesn't exactly hold back.
The youth keeps that smile on his face, in spite of the fact that -- on some level -- he knows what's coming is probably going to be some tired speech about how even if Sakura's lost she'll fight to keep more people from falling under his sway. He's used to it -- call it a sort of known occupational hazard. "Just what did you learn, then? What did she tell you that makes you so confident in your ability to enforce your will upon the world?" he asks of her, derisively, before lashing out with one of his claws, trying to catch her in the shoulder and perhaps slow her strikes. "I've asked you before -- why do you persist?"
COMBATSYS: Kurow successfully hits Hotaru with Medium Strike.
- Power hit! -
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Kurow
Attempting to land harder strikes against the nimble young man is a dangerous risk. If she can knock the wind out of him, she can take to running once more. But it also means that she commits everything to her attacks, and this time it costs her. His claw strikes her shoulder as intended, eliciting a startled gasp from Hotaru and for a moment she doesn't even seem to have it in her to move, eyes widened by the intense pain shooting through her shoulder now. While he may not have struck with the intent to imbed the claw so deeply, her own movement ended up sinking the weapon in much deeper than intended.
It takes a moment before she finally staggers backward, hissing in pain as she pulls her shoulder away from his hand and the claw, now red with her blood, is drawn back out. Even with her dark clothing, the spread of blood from the shoulder wound is unmistakeable. Raising her opposite arm to press against the entry point, she keeps her eyes on Kurow, "I'll tell you what I learned," she replies back, straining to speak through the pain as if using that as a means of putting it out of her mind.
"I learned that even after all you did to Sakura, the real girl I know is in there. I saw it in her eyes, in her emotions. I saw the way she reacted when I mentioned her friends, her future." Her expression darkens a little, "I also saw what you've done to her... making her think /you/ of all people care about her... feh."
"In the end, she didn't lay a hand on me. She told me she wasn't a killer. That that hadn't changed, even with that 'new perspective' you so proudly gave her on everything." Hotaru narrows her eyes, taking another step back, "Sakura is still there... tell me, how often do you have to keep working your tricks on her to keep her in line? How often does the flute come out to strengthen a hold that grows weak with absence or when you ask her to do something that goes against her nature?" Hotaru shakes her head, still clearly backing away. "I wonder..." She hasn't given up because she hasn't given up on Kasugano, it would seem.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru focuses on her next action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Kurow
Even as Hotaru stays her hand, as she tells him just what she's learned about Sakura, the youth can't keep his blood from boiling, his eyes from snapping wide open in a rage. It would be too much to say he is completely furious, but too little to say that he's merely annoyed -- something in there did something that's been all too hard lately. Specifically, it hit a live nerve in Kirishima's intentionally numbed psyche.
Kurow doesn't move at first -- he just stands there, staring at Hotaru as she backs away, her blood dripping from his claws. For once, he is conflicted -- he doesn't know what to say to her. At first, he has no answer -- none that sounds correct, anyway. However, eventually, words come of their own volition. "And who's to say I don't," he growls at her, likewise hanging back from her, keeping his distance. "I don't play for her to reinforce her conditioning, anymore, not /too/ often -- all I have to do is talk to her. Listen to her."
He circles slowly around Hotaru, saying, "You're right -- she hasn't changed, not in every respect. She understands things differently -- that doesn't make her a completely different person. I never said I simply overwrote her, Futaba." And then he slips. He lets just a little too much information get past him, lets something be seen by someone who probably should've never sen it. "I have -some- respect for Kasugano, after all. I'm content with the person she was, in part -- so long as she's /mine/."
COMBATSYS: Kurow focuses on his next action.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Kurow
At first Hotaru's expression shifts into a faint smile, able to feel a small amount of joy in spite the pain in her shoulder and the aches in her body from having tried to outrun him at such a neckbreaking speed through the jungle. Perspiration rolls down from where her hair meets her skin, dripping from her cheeks as she continues to breath in the hot, humid, unforgiving jungle air.
Then it's true Sakura is still there. It isn't a fool's hope that she might be restored then, even if it may take a long, long time of being away from Kurow's reinforcement to bring her back around. Hotaru can take solace in that one little detail and cling to it for strength. It will be enough to see her through this ordeal, if only she can get away now.
But then Kurow adds something that takes the young Kenpo artist and Kyokugen student by complete surprise. Even as he circles around her, she draws her arm back, bathing it in a watery, blue chi. He'll feel the sharp spike of energy. He's seen this before. But it takes time to build up her strength now, pouring some of herself into the focus in the palm of her hand. "Respect? You call what you've done to her showing /respect/?" she snaps back before pausing, her eyes losing some of their edge as another thought comes to her mind. "I-it... it isn't just respect," she murmurs, her voice a mixture of epiphany and horror.
She can build up her chiball no more. Waiting for Kurow's foot to lift in mid-step during his circling of her, she swings her arm forward, hurling the small, pulsating blue sphere of force directly for his chest. "YAA!"
COMBATSYS: Hotaru successfully hits Kurow with Hakki Shou.
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Hotaru 0/-------/-======|===----\-------\0 Kurow
And Hotaru ends up with what may be the most satisfying feeling of all, as -- in spite of his readiness -- that ball of energy washes over Kurow's entire body, knocking him back. Not over, unfortunately, since it's still far too early for that... but back, at least. It's something -- and it certainly gives Hotaru a lot more time to decide how to deal with what he does next.
A muttered curse, somewhat indistinct, can be heard escaping Kirishima's mouth. This is why Mugen had always cautioned him against letting his emotions get the better of him. When one does that, one starts thinking stupid things, then saying stupid things, then making stupid mistakes -- which is exactly what's happening now. "I'm helping her to become something /more/ than just Ryu's worthless little groupie!" he yells at Hotaru, coming in fast, trying to make up for lost time.
It's clear just what's happening, now. Whatever lies he told her, whatever ways he twisted the truth to make her follow him -- he's actually starting to /believe/ them. "And yet, you keep demanding she just go back to that futile, pathetic existence!" he yells at her, swinging a leg forcefully for her chin.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru fails to interrupt Light Kick from Kurow with Tenshin Shou EX.
-* CRITICAL FAIL! *-
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Hotaru 1/----===/=======|====---\-------\0 Kurow
As he comes for her again, Hotaru attempts to lunge into the young man, hoping to make her way past whatever attack he might try to make against her. "Tenshin sh-!" Pouring all of the strength in her body into this attack, holding nothing back, Hotaru ends up slamming herself into his foot. What may for him had been a swift, forceful kick ends up becoming a brutalizing, jarring attack as he strikes the poor girl's glass jaw solidly.
Stumbling back, she finally trips over an outstretched root, betrayed by the environment she was relying on so heavily. Dazed from the blow to her chin, she falls hard, landing on her back, her foot caught in a gap in the root. She isn't out of it to the point that she ends up just laying there on the ground though, as she immediately begins to struggle to free her trapped ankle.
While being extremly far, somebody else has been witnessing this battle for a while, now. So far, he was pretty impressed how the little girl has been dealing with the claw-wielding maniac. This man decided to watch, witnessing just how well, she'll do.
He frowned mightily as Hotaru was betrayed by the jungle and horribly fail a counter attack aimed at the other teenager. This is it. No more watching, now(not that he JUST has been doing that. He was moving closer, too!). That time is long, long past.
It's time to act.
A roar, a deafening cry of battle comes forth from the north. As glorious that cry was, it is almost drowned by the sound of multiples sickening cracks of ...something /hard/ hitting and breaking trees apart. Rustling comes closer and closer...
Until Ryo Sakazaki bursts out of the foilage, plowing through a poor tree clean with a fist, sending sharpnels all around, as he dashes this fist straight for Kurow's face, an afterglow of chi following the Kyokugen Master.
"KYOKUGEEEEEEN MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!" He roars.
COMBATSYS: Ryo has joined the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////////////////]
Hotaru 1/----===/=======|-------\-------\0 Ryo
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kurow 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Ryo has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Ryo 0/-------/-------|=======\===----\1 Hotaru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kurow 0/-------/---====|
COMBATSYS: Ryo successfully hits Kurow with Mouko Raijin Gou.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////// ]
Ryo 0/-------/-----==|=======\===----\1 Hotaru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kurow 0/-------/=======|
"That's quite enough from you," Kurow says, looking down at the fallen young Futaba; it's almost time, he thinks. She can't take much more of this, and here /he/ is, still strong, still hearty --
-- and still snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, as Ryo Sakazaki comes down from the foliage with that battle cry, and that forceful, vicious fist pounds directly into Kurow's face with all the strength that Kyokugen has always had. Rotten bastards, Kurow thinks -- always so ready to save their students, rather than let them fight their own battles. Overprotective -- even babying.
Pulling himself off the ground much worse for wear, Kurow turns to Ryo. "You waited for her to get that far over her head before intervening, then?" he asks of Ryo, wiping the blood that drips from his nose away, giving him a baleful glare. "I suppose that's all that can be expected from you..." He turns the full of his attention toward Ryo, summoning the Imawano-ryu dark energy into his claws.
Ryo's previous hesitation to act just may get him punished, here, as he may find out first-hand what Kirishima can do when he's got the necessary momentum built up. Hotaru, at long last, gets a break; Ryo isn't so lucky, though, as the youth drops low and bull-rushes him, trying to catch him with those claws, bowl him over his back, and -- in a risky move in territory like this -- keep right on running, dragging Ryo behind with that familiar bladed chi.
She finally gets her ankle free as Kurow steps toward her, but then all she can do is scramble backward on the ground in a seated position, eyes wide on the young man that stalks over her. Her only hope is going to be either a desperate counter attack or last second roll to safety when the inevitable final strike comes. It's all she can hope for at this point.
Unlike the last time she faced him alone, bringing him to the point of being too weary to drag her off, she knows things are completely different now. He's strong, healthy, and at the very least very annoyed. Just getting dragged off might be too good to hope for at this point! But then there's a sound of another and she looks beyond Kurow toward the source of the sudden noise crashing through the trees and brush.
Impossible... she was alone out here. No one was going to be able to save her... but it's true, it's really him. Face lighting up with a renewed lease on life, Hotaru rolls backward and up to her feet as the Kyokugen master crashes into the scene and right into Kurow for that matter. "Ryo-sensei!" she calls out, her voice full of gratitude, the relief literally dripping from her call to him.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru gains composure.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Ryo 0/-------/-----==|=======\=------\1 Hotaru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kurow 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Kurow successfully hits Ryo with Kirishima Kyoujuu Reppa.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Ryo 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Hotaru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kurow 0/-------/----===|
That entrance was superbe, the attack powerful and sent the foul villain sprawling in pain on the ground due to the surprise attack. As far Ryo knows, this was a success.
"Why should you care?" Sakazaki replies, slamming a foot into the ground and thrusting out his arms, taking up his trademark battle stance. For now, he's ignoring Hotaru beyond knowing that she's fine and concious. Good, at least that much. "So you work with thoses punks, don't you? Man, didn't know you were THAT type." The Raging Tiger grunts out, a faint aura of blue energy bursting around the orange-gi wearing fighter.
That attack was supposed to be dodged -- but a bullrush was not quite what Ryo expected coming out of this guy. He's knocked on his back quite painfully, racked and dragged by the painful bladed chi.
Bitting his lips to not let out a cry of pain, Sakazaki has enough. While still on the ground, he slams both arms into the ground forcefuly, propeling himself upward, aiming himself toward a trunk of the jungle trees. "REARRRRG!" He roars, kicking off and flying straight downward Kurow in a flying kick that is terribly familiar to the world at large.
Yes, even the little mices here knows it.
"HIEN SHIPPU KYAKU!"
COMBATSYS: Kurow dodges Ryo's Hien Shippu Kyaku.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////////// ]
Ryo 1/-------/=======|=======\=------\1 Hotaru
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kurow 0/-------/----===|
Letting Hotaru back up at first, Kurow concentrates on dealing with Ryo -- so what if she gets to catch her breath a little? She's weak, and Ryo... has traditionally had bad luck against the young master-ninja, let alone any time he's been in close proximity to the young man. When that hard kick comes sailing toward Kurow, the youth does what he was trained to do best, rolling down and under the powerful flying kick, pulling himself back up just in time to turn and see Ryo land.
"It's no business of yours who I work for," Kurow spits, looking between his two targets, trying to figure out which of them would be better to debilitate quickly.. and decides, in the end, that Hotaru is the more sensitive. After all, she could run away and get whatever information she stole back to the resistance -- Ryo is stronger, but he's ultimately just a goon, not nearly as much of a strategic target.
And what a strike it is that Kurow comes at the young black-haired girl with. Staying visible, calling to Ryo -- bad choices if what Hotaru's looking for is to avoid being struck, and Kurow capitalizes on those decisions as he takes a long, flat leap back toward her, narrowly clearing a small pile of rocks. "I didn't have any problem with Ryo-sensei before, young lady -- and I won't let myself slip up this time, either," he declares, before giving her a forceful whirling slash with his left hand, beckoning for Ryo to come at him again with his right.
COMBATSYS: Hotaru fails to interrupt Fierce Strike from Kurow with Ten-ren-ge.
- Power fail! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Ryo 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Kurow
COMBATSYS: Hotaru can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Ryo 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Kurow
The biggest problem the girl is having is that by now Kurow has seen just about everything she can do, probably more than once or twice over even. Given his ability to mimic the moves of others, he could probably pull off her Kenpo style convincingly well even. Listening to the exchange between the two young men, she falls quiet. There's a lot she could explain, a ton she could tell Ryo about, but for right now, all that matters is pulling out of this mess.
Which seems to not be what's in store for the young fighter as once again Kurow lunges at her with that claw of his once more. Again trying to match her own timing against his, Hotaru hops forward, twisting in mid air to try and avoid his strike so that she can deliver some of her own.
But it's to no avail. He's faster and stronger than she is, and even in trying to land an attack, all she does is make the tearing slash across her stomach that much worse. Th esound of cloth and flesh being rended is all that is heard before she cries out in pain, landing on her feet from her hop. Slowly falling into shock from the pain, her complexion pales as she looks down at the open tear through her shirt, vest, and stomach, pale eyes losing focus as she staggers backward, hardly self-aware anymore.
Finally she falls forward onto her knees, her hand pressing against the wound in an attempt to stem the flow of blood. But even that position doesn't hold up for long as she finally gives in, falling forward into the dirt.
Ryo's Hien Shippu Kyaku causes a burst of green and other foilage to fly up as misses his mark. Damn fast son of a...
Wait, if he's that fast, he should have already threw another attack at him -- at his back, no less, that cowardly ninja! So why is he not...?
Oh no. Hotaru!
Turning around quickly, Sakazaki is right on time to witness his poor student being slashed by the vicious claws of the young ninja, his eyes going wide. Damnit! He should have been more careful! He should have took her, and got the heck out of here right away! He should have--
Okay, shut up. Not the time for 'shoulds' and 'woulds'. Now is the time to do something about this punk, and quick!
Acting purely on the first thing that goes through his head, the Raging Tiger blurrs wordlessly toward Kurow -- and waaaay past him. His dash ends before that very try he vaulted from for his earlier Hien Shippu Kyaku and grabs the tree with both hands.
The following might be unbelivable -- but after watching this guy judo flip a multi-hundred tons super-tech tank, this is CAKE compared.
"REAAAAAAAAAARG!" Screams out Sakazaki, muscles ripping as he pool all his strength into this, unrooting off the whole damn tree off the ground(with roots included!), promptly turning around to deliver a GRAND SWING with it against the Ninja.
COMBATSYS: Kurow dodges Ryo's Random Weapon.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Ryo 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Kurow
Pulling his hand back away from Hotaru as she slumps to the ground, Kurow shakes those claws off and turns back around to see -- a tree. A damn big tree, at that.
This is not an unfamiliar tactic for Kurow Kirishima. When he focuses himself on raw power rather than adroitness -- when he taps into another style, something completely different from his conventional tactics -- he can force himself to the same limits that Ryo does. This makes him all the more potent in combat -- and when he sees the attack used by another, as Hotaru has no doubt learned, it makes him that much more able to deal with such a strike coming /at/ him.
That enormous tree comes toward him, slow and forceful -- and Kurow actually leaps up /onto/ it, running toward Ryo along the trunk. "Sakazaki, you need to learn the value of tailoring yourself to the situation -- however impressive it is, swinging a tree at someone faster than you..."
Stopping his sentence for a few seconds, Kirishima takes a long, wide leap at Ryo, aiming those long, cruel claws right for his chest. He has only one chance, so he has to make this count -- he has to nullify the Kyokugen heir quickly, and keep him from rescuing Hotaru! There's no telling what information she has, after all... and a little knowledge, as the fallen Futaba has no doubt learned tonight, is a dangerous thing.
COMBATSYS: Ryo endures Kurow's Medium Strike.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Ryo 1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 Kurow
While Ryo is of course frustrated that his tree swinging was rather ineffective, there is this little part of him that keep whispering him something. By pure coencidence, this is the very same thing that the Raging Tiger says to Kurow as he gives his little tip, soaking the claws straight into the chest without flinching. Okay, there was some fliching, but he DID do his best to not let it show.
"And you have you learn that not everything is what it first seems to be."
The Raging Tiger then grinned, dropping the tree and completly igoring the claws, he crouches slightly, simply for a few moments, before propeling himself upward with a flying uppercut.
"KOOOOOHOOU!"
COMBATSYS: Kurow dodges Ryo's Kohou.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Ryo 1/----===/=======|=====--\-------\0 Kurow
As the flying uppercut comes in toward Kurow, so close to Ryo now, he deals with it the way he deals with everything: a forceful shove backward of his entire body, one which knocks him into a creeping vine and onto his back -- but saves him from taking that forceful uppercut on the chin, which is critical at this stage. The pair are so closely matched, so very even with one another... but Ryo's training has traditionally been in unobstructed areas. Here, where quick reflexes mean the world due to dozens upon dozens of obstacles, Kirishima has a small advantage, one he presses to its full extent.
Pulling himself back up off the ground, Kurow just gives Ryo that borrowed Geese Howard grin, the grin of a predator seeking his next prey. "What's the matter, Sakazaki? Are you so slow, so weak that you can't even strike me at this range? I have to wonder if you're even really here to protect her -- or if you just want to make yourself feel that much better before she goes off to her fate." As Kurow continues to taunt, he comes in at Sakazaki again, pressing his advantages in speed and dexterity to the fullest, this time coming in for a low, fast sweep -- so many of his strikes so far have come in from high angles; perhaps his intent is to keep Ryo guessing, now.
COMBATSYS: Ryo endures Kurow's Light Kick!
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Ryo 1/--=====/=======|=====--\-------\0 Kurow
It's true that Ryo is a bit lacking on the reflex area, but he's far to be the slowest bunch of all Kyokugen warriors. That title goes to Marco, by far. The Tiger is merly waiting for the good strike to land. And when it'll land, the earth shall shake in terror.
Barely phased by the ninja's taunting, Sakazaki crash down from his failed Kohou, cracking his back against the poor unrooted tree, remaining there for a few precious seconds. All the while, Ryo remains a pretty passive expression. If you call righteous anger passive, anyway.
"You're hardly the one to talk about fate, Kurow." He begins slowly, straightening his gi for a split moment. He's bleeding from the multiples claw wounds inflicted on him so far, but he seems to be doing well in ignoring the pain, their mere existance. It's a straining effort, but it's worth it.
There was once silence, then...a blurr of movement. The Raging Tiger litteraly FLIES toward Kurow, an after-image trailing him as he closes, seeking to grab the Ninja by the shoulders and start delivering a furious series of kicks, punches, knees strikes and elbow smashes, along with a few headbutts snuck in there for good measure.
The whole attack last for a few good moment, to push his foe foward and gaining the most terrain as possible, until Sakazaki finishes it off with another Kohou.
COMBATSYS: Ryo successfully hits Kurow with Ryuuko Ranbu.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\ < > /////////// ]
Ryo 0/-------/------=|=======\===----\1 Kurow
Kirishima, for once, doesn't have luck on his side -- as Ryo comes in on Kurow with all the strength of Kyokugen-ryu Karate, the ultimate technique that proves a fighter's worthy to be the heir to the style, Kurow... takes one quick move, and then gets promptly swept up into the Tiger's ferocious dance. Blows rain down on him -- this isn't Marco's Ranbu, it's not something he can handle. Ryo is stronger, faster -- and Kurow finds out firsthand just how forceful the Tiger can be.
The fight has turned, at last -- Ryo has more heart than Kurow can handle, and each successive blow finds its mark, leaving Kurow reeling when the strikes inevitably end, sending him to the ground in a heap from that cutting Kohou. Is that it, then? Is he finished?
... surprisingly, no -- Kurow still has more fight in him. Even if he's evil, even if he's a monster, he's a tenacious monster -- one who has the strength of will to enforce his desires on the world, which is perhaps the most dangerous kind of monster out there. "Is that all you've got, Sakazaki?!" he yells, bleeding. "Is that the best Kyokugen-ryu has!? It's not enough -- and I'll show you just why!" The youth does not so much get up and rush at Ryo as bring his body in a bizarre, fluid sort of full arc, pulling himself up to a full standing position and then slamming his hands straight down in front of Sakazaki, letting loose the full force of his chi in a bladed whirlwind that threatens to tear the Kyokugen heir to shreds. It's his last shot, by his own estimations -- he has to make it count.
COMBATSYS: Kurow successfully hits Ryo with Kirishima Shinkuu Yamiarashi.
[ \\\\ < > /////////// ]
Ryo 0/-------/=======|===----\-------\0 Kurow
Ryo Sakazaki maybe have a pure, strong heart.
But apparently his strenght was not enough to completly destroy this abomination of a man. For the third time. This is starting to get straining, but he'll get him evantualy. He swears on it. The blast of chi crashes into the Raging Tiger, sending the Heir of Kyokugen flying and crashing painfuly into the ground, unmoving.
That is, until a hoarsh, blurby bloody laugh start coming out of Sakazaki's fallen form.
His strenght failed. But his resolve, his iron will and heart wont. He HAS to do this. He must. "You've already lost. Your mind for one -- if you ever had one..." Ryo grunts out, struggling back to his feet with his will alone supporting his leg and what he's about to do.
"And this encounter, for two! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Immediatedly, Ryo leaps toward the fallen form of Hotaru, an fierce aura of bright blue chi surrounding his wide open arm. Grabbing her with his free hand, Sakazaki leaps upward and fling a LARGE fireball downward at Kurow's...feets. That was a misaim, to be honest, but that's where it's going. It's also not ALL that powerful, but the knockback seems to be enough to make Ryo fly away for a great deal.
Let's just see how far he'll goes...and how much of a mess the fireball will deal.
COMBATSYS: Ryo can no longer fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kurow 0/-------/----===|
COMBATSYS: Kurow dodges Ryo's Kuuchuu Ko'ou Ken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\ <
Kurow 0/-------/----===|
Taunting Kurow does not get the intended reaction. He's already made the worst decision he could've -- he made that before Ryo even got there. Kurow told Hotaru just what he'd wanted out of all this -- and let his mouth run a little too far, let him see just a little too much of Kurow Kirishima. There are no words that could make him lose any more of his handle on the fight than he'd already lost -- and as such, Kurow faces the Ko'ou Ken with comparative grace.
The Kyokugen fighter doesn't get to see that pained look that would no doubt be so satisfying. He doesn't get to see justice done. All he gets to see is a quick leap as Kurow deals with that strike at his legs with a small hop, barely enough to bring himself out of the way.
The skills that brought Kurow this far -- those other than his ability to injure a man -- serve him extremely well here, now that Ryo's launched himself. Hotaru tried a similar trick of misdirection, before -- and this time, Kurow knows the forest better. He's seen more of it, knows the patterns in its seemingly patternless growths... and doesn't have a hard time tracking him that distance. After all, he /was/ traveling in a /relatively/ straight line.
And now, Kirishima is faced with a choice. It's a hard one -- Ryo is clearly the stronger of the pair, the more adept. He would make a better soldier, to be certain. ... but there is a danger in letting Hotaru flee that goes beyond her modest strength as a fighter. She's a better spy than anyone he's seen save perhaps himself, thanks to the aid of her animal companions. She has more potential to move beyond what she is. And -- a concern that would be trivial to all but Kurow -- she knows him as well as he knows her.
Kurow hefts young Futaba, draping her unconscious form over one shoulder, and starts to walk back toward the prison camp that started this entire mess. Ryo is left, for now -- the Shadaloo goon squad will come for him in time, deploying into the deep forest that was the stage of their battle... but knowing the Kyokugen fighter's tenacity and the relative ineptitude of Shadaloo men at navigation, it's entirely likely that by the time they get there, he'll be well out of the forest, or at least hidden within it.
COMBATSYS: Kurow has ended the fight here.
Log created on 02:46:21 06/28/2007 by Hotaru, and last modified on 09:55:37 06/29/2007.