Description: A Templar. A Ninja. It isn't quite as dramatic as Pirates vs. Ninjas, but it comes damn close!
A biting cold radiates throughout the forest bordering Southtown. The bark of leafless trees is bitten with frost, and a soft, swirling mist permeates the air. Fallen twigs lie brittle, snapping easily underfoot, and each warm body's breath emerges in a cloud of quickly-dying steam. In short, it is not the weather in which to embark in less than coat and scarf; and even then, the chill limits the movement of limb, slows the rate of the heart. But for some, this is all part of the unending battle, the quest for self-improvement in the face of all odds. For some, it is just another day.
Amy Elizabeth Johnson is one such, standing uncowed by the bitter environment. Leaning with her back pressed against a wide, white-reamed trunk, she levels a calm, low-browed stare back through the winter's fog. Her breathing is controlled, in through the nose and quietly out through parted lips, each exhalation sending a swell through her body that seems to emanate into the surrounding atmosphere. The air billows in sympathy, pale greyish-white tendrils shifting in a way that seems... unnatural.
The curious beauty of the scene is captured by the cameraman stealthily esconced in the treetops, to whom the Templar pays no heed. This day sees her return to the limelight after two years spent honing herself, less in the fighting arts and more in the art of the soul. With lessons driven home, with the self improved, she sees fit to mark the turning of the year with a revival of the body. Her opponent, she does not know, but she can already feel a pricking at the senses. This feeling, it is greater than mere adrenaline. It is not something she can find alone.
COMBATSYS: Amy has started a fight here.
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Amy 0/-------/-------|
Brr. Cold. Kurenai's first thought was to refuse--winter, after all, is -cold-. She doesn't like the cold much. But... a 'new' fighter, or, at least, one who hasn't been seen in a while... that's intriguing. So it is that she is out here, dressed for the cold--wearing black long-sleeved undershirt and black leggings under her usual Seijyun outfit--all she needs, apparently.
While the forest may be pristine and spooky, that aura is broken up a little as Kurenai approaches the fight point; she tromps along in a carefree manner, pink hair bouncing along, booted feet crunching over the frozen ground. Just to -further- break the scene, she calls out in a cheery voice, "Hiii~ Is Amy Johnson here?" Of course she knows that her opponent is here already--she's already scoped out the area. Marked the cameramen and Amy. Cased the joint.
As she walks up, she pulls her weapon from her back--to all exterior appearances, a plain yardstick. Balancing it on her shoulder, she half-pivots, then pokes her lower lip out, as she sees Amy.
"Oh, -you- must be Amy..."
COMBATSYS: Kurenai has joined the fight here.
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Amy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kurenai
Several seconds before the first crunch of footsteps is heard, a smile lights up the brooding features of the Templar. Her gaze is touched by a spark of soulfire as she cants her head gently to one side, feeling out her younger opponent's aura as best she is able. Kurenai has some experience on the fighting circuit... but she has deliberately scouted no more than the basics. This is supposed to be a challenge. A challenge she craves.
There's no hiding a jolt of surprise as that bright, energetic tone scatters the reigning still of the forest. The girl sounds every bit as youthful as her years would suggest. In this land of unlikely oddities, warriors wise and experienced beyond all normal recognition of age, she had prepared herself for quite the contrary shock. A thin eyebrow arches, and one cheek dimples as her smile lashes up at one edge.
"Kurenai?" She replies to the pouted statement, affirming her own identity with a brisk nod as she straightens from the tree's supportive trunk, ice crackling in her wake. Amy, for her part, wears nothing out of the usual, but that heavy jacket so oft discarded during her battles is kept most assuredly on as she slips forward several paces and roots herself. Her unshielded fingers curl outward several times, stretching off the effects of the chill. Her gaze takes in the Seijyun student, pink hair and all, and for a moment she frowns.
Judge not, lest ye be judged. The words echo a moment in her mind.
Breathing a soft sigh that seems to greatly relax her, the Templar sinks into her heels, hands grasping at the air as she raises a low guard. "I know little about you," she admits, voice low but without the condescension it so nearly contained, "But whatever power you have, do not hold back." Because neither will she. It is does not need to be said, though her aura speaks it nonetheless. The mist subtly begins to thicken.
COMBATSYS: Amy focuses on her next action.
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Amy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kurenai
Kurenai tilts her head to one side, slowly, regarding the Templar with an expression so innocent as to be truly devious. "Hold... back?" Her green eyes tilt upwards as she thinks about those words. Then she grins. "Don't know what that -means-!" In a sense, the battle started before she got to this point--it started when she checked the place out ninja-style before arriving publically. She'd be a fool not to be on-guard immediately.
So she doesn't miss the way the mist thickens, even as those innocent eyes turn sharp, the only thing that changes about her visage. There are other changes, too, of course, primarily in her stance; her left foot slides forward, the weapon comes off her shoulder and is gripped in the right hand, the hand cocked back and wooden blade held level, and her left hand is extended forward.
"I'll ask you, of course, to do the same for me," she says, her tone becoming completely serious, though she still has an unconcerned, sunny look on her faace.
COMBATSYS: Kurenai calculates her next move.
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Amy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kurenai
"Always."
Those deep eyes flash as Amy utters her single-worded reply, her stance noticeably tightening as her athletic form prepares for action. Since she last spoke, she has not broken eye contact with Kurenai for one instant, watching the weapon only in her peripheral vision as it is in turn readied. For all the youthfulness of the petite shinobi, her movements betray an inner strength, and sense of control, that excites the Templar.
"Let us begin." The firm words of a warrior, as she is released like a dart, parting the dim tendrils before her as she lunges forward, covering the distance to her opponent in a near-blur and taking to the air in a short, powerful leap. The Templar's body twists around, right hand lashing out past her flank with fingers probing dextrously into the surrounding mist. At her insistent touch, it drifts into a broad knot, and follows her hand as it whips through the full motion of her form.
She lands before Kurenai in a low stance, bent at the knees to absorb her impact as she drives a lashing backhand from the hip. But her limb falls short - just a whisker shy of the girl, and the seized tendril of mist instead completes the strike, hardening to lash against the gut. It is not a formidable blow, but it bears far more weight than it should...
COMBATSYS: Kurenai just-defends Amy's Katzbalger!
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Amy 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Kurenai
The pounce is tiger-like, borne of speed driven by pure strength; the Templar flows like the mist she wields, an impressive accomplishment indeed. While most fighters have -some- grace, few express it so fluidly, particularly at the apprentice level that Kurenai and Amy are at. It's a flash of brilliance.
And brilliance demands brilliance; moreover, _Kurenai_ demands brilliance from herself. The moment Amy's feet touch ground, Kurenai is fading away, taking a quick two steps back; as she is rising with that lash of mist, throwing it like a whip, the shinobi is preparing herself.
And when Amy strikes, Kurenai's weapon flares bright, neon pink, and -she- is striking too, a sharp, clear kiai sounding as she shatters that tendril of mist with a thrusting strike.
Her response is equally swift; even as she strikes the tendril of mist she's moving, extending the yardstick and flowing underneath it, changing her stance, twisting around to face Amy again--and with both hands on her weapon's grip, that pink glow flares anew as she slashes down with it, carving a brief, glowing arc in the air.
COMBATSYS: Kurenai successfully hits Amy with Power Strike.
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Amy 0/-------/----===|-------\-------\0 Kurenai
Every person has flaws, and thus does every warrior. Where the Templar has harnessed her natural gifts to bring out the best in her techniques, she has failed - for many years - to temper rather regrettable personal traits. The first and foremost, her tendency to call judgement on those she meets. This can lead to many things, underestimation among them. And so it is here, as she feels her lightning assault so perfectly deflected, and watches the girl before her mount a counter-offensive.
Amy's arms are already raised, but they shift to meet that incoming blow, the fog sympathetic to her every motion as it too gathers. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the guard that she seeks to mount; rather, it comes merely a half-beat too tardy to compete with Kurenai's luminous faux-blade. Arms, covered in heavy sleeves, are spread atwain with the mist as the slash finds purchase down the length of a well-toned torso. Breath leaves the woman's throat as she is forced back, boots dragging twin furrows in the frosty dirt.
"Magnificent," she expels in a rush as she forces the wild lights from her vision, sweeping an arm up and toward Kurenai as the distance between them grows another inch. Her hand stops in the air between them, forming a vicelike grip on the air before rapidly descending in a fierce snapping motion. It seems an inconsequential act, and it would be, if not for the tendril of hardened energy that creeps from the air at ankle-height, seeking to entangle the schoolgirl about the leg and bring her crashing down to the ground.
COMBATSYS: Amy successfully hits Kurenai with Quagmire.
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Amy 0/-------/--=====|===----\-------\0 Kurenai
Kurenai's shift of stance isn't just a mechanical shift--it engenders a shift in -tactics-, as well. Thus, she's already moving forward, as if preparing an attack series, when that tendril grips. Her eyes widen, briefly, and then she's tripped up, landing on her back, badly, breath gushing out of her mouth, crystallizing into a cloud as she absorbs the moment of pain.
She did, at least, manage to save her head from injury; as she rolls twice, she pushes off, realizing that she was rolling towards a log, and twirls over it, landing in a small clearing, blade already cocked over her right shoulder. She wastes not a moment as she lunges forward, bringing her left hand onto the grip of her weapon--and brings the weapon around in an arcing slash.
A series, actually, as she cuts from upper right to lower left, reverses the direction and comes across, left to right, and then, finally, reverses once more and comes up from the right towards the left. She steps forward with each slash, and the weapon flares with that pink power during every cut.
"That... wasn't half bad... either..." she gasps, her breath clouding in the air--or is it just that mist?
COMBATSYS: Amy fails to interrupt Hell Splitter from Kurenai with Wyrm Waker.
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Amy 0/-------/-======|====---\-------\0 Kurenai
Amy feels the impact of her attack as though she struck out with her own flesh and blood, so close is her relationship to the oddly camouflaged field of energy surrounding the battleground. But she is still breathing heavily with the labour of Kurenai's mighty blow, her hands once more fixed in a light guarding posture as she warily watches the girl fall and rise. That moment not wasted is a moment the Templar could have used for her own purposes...
Yet as the next assault comes in, she digs deep, drawing in a sudden sharp breath as she attempts to shake off the cobwebs. Her hands begin to shift, darting aside as she relocates her footing, seeking to wind in and around the first strike of that yardstick. Her first mistake is her only one; and it is ambition. Struck, she staggers a half pace back, seeking to speed the intended process by windmilling her arms, only to find her own motions too slow. She is hammered by wood and chi, ending up scattered by the final swing.
Her back strikes the packed earth /hard/, and she is slow in regaining her footing, rolling first to one knee and then slowly pushing herself upright as she gives a rueful smile. "What do they put in the water here..." she remarks in that crisp accent, shaking her head as she falls back into a ready stance, watching Kurenai. "You're quite something."
Kurenai whips the blade through a quick flourish, sweeping it around her and leaving that colorful trail that fades after just a moment or two. "I'm a trained fighter," she says, matter-of-factly, "But this isn't over yet, is it?" Her tone has the slightest bit of challenge to it--as Amy is rising, Kurenai shifts, resuming her first stance, akin to a Western fencer's stance, without the extreme backlean.
"But if you're thinking of giving up, I'd be sorely disappointed." Truth be told, she isn't here for the -points-... the Neo League is pretty pointless for her, as far as that goes--but the -experience- of the fight... and not only just fighting Amy's unique style, but what she can learn from it in other ways...
She's not ready for it to end, just yet. Considering her options, she finally nods to herself--it'd only been a few seconds, really--and she advances. No feint this time--she simply steps in and fires a thrusting attack, aiming to potentially bury the first four inches of that yardstick right into Amy's abdomen.
COMBATSYS: Kurenai successfully hits Amy with Medium Strike.
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Amy 1/-------/=======|====---\-------\0 Kurenai
"Giving up?" Amy echoes the query with a quirk of her brow, momentarily lifting a hand to adjust the hem of her beret - which has remarkably stayed on throughout the tumultuous opening exchange. Leaving the raised fingers before her, grasping at the gray-streaked air, she flickers a smile toward her approaching foe. An earlier echo rings forth as she tightens her stance. "I don't know what that /means/."
Though apparently she must learn how to react to the speedy ninjette's manouevres. Kurenai's approach is marked with a seemingly intelligent, analytical gaze, but as she thrusts the yardstick forth the Templar does not shift one iota. Her abdominal muscles ripple beneath her leotard, and only in the instant before impact does she begin to act. Either it comes too late or she has simply chosen poorly; as she is driven back for the third time, releasing a feminine grunt.
She does at least keep moving, springing off her back foot to follow the retracting 'blade' back to its mistress. The raised hand remains before her as the other whips deftly along the wooden length, seeking to seize and maintain a grip as she twists in and steps around the girl. Dragging the weapon with her, she attempts to pull it upward and against the throat, locking in an assisted choke as her opposing forearm presses to the wood.
She's a trained fighter too. Now is the time to prove it.
COMBATSYS: Amy successfully hits Kurenai with Choke Hold.
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Amy 1/-------/=======|======-\-------\0 Kurenai
With the hold cinched in, the Templar releases a held breath, drawing both the weapon and her rather strong arm back as far as they will go. It is, in essence, an inventive application of a very basic technique, though after several seconds have passed the woman hauls her smaller opponent off the ground, exacerbating the brutal effects of the choke before it is released.
When it is done, she is already stepping away to circle Kurenai, focus hardening her gaze.
Being choked is never, ever pleasant; with a half-drawn breath, the pink-haired ninja girl attempts to evade the oncoming Templar, to no avail; forced to the ground, choked, she twists violently until Amy releases her. Kurenai wastes no time at all in rolling away and coming to her feet, whipping her blade around her in a frenzy of motion to ward off any thoughts Amy may have, of attacking while she's rising.
And when her gaze meets Amy's, all that sunniness is gone, replaced with the same kind of hard determination that Amy is exhibiting. Once again she flows to a new stance, leading with her right, weapon slung across her back--the same stance from just a few moments before.
For a moment, it seems that Kurenai is going to ape one of Amy's techniques--spinning forward, lashing her weapon through the air... but she's nowhere near close enough, even as the wooden blade crackles through the air, leaving that pink arc behind...
The true attack comes silently, a three-leaf shuriken cutting through the air--aimed to take Amy in the abdomen again.
COMBATSYS: Amy fails to slow Thrown Weapon from Kurenai with Raven's Wing.
- Power fail! -
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Amy 1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0 Kurenai
Sometimes, all the determination in the world is not enough. There is no replacement for training, or the wisdom found in the hard graft of experience. This the Templar knows, even as she feels her body rising to the wild restraint of battle, adjusting to an old, familiar situation in fits and starts. This is what she came here for. The camera? That is there to remind her of how much further she must strive before she can become the warrior she should be.
As Kurenai comes to her feet within the paced circle marked out by the older woman, Amy forces herself - gently, firmly - to keep her breathing under control, to maintain her focus. She watches the leap that follows as though in slow motion, tracking the familiar movement and seizing onto this familiarity as she too leaves the ground, springing into a tight, short hop and lashing out with a searing roundhouse kick. The mist comes on her bidding, streaming up that long, flexible limb and starting to rear toward Kurenai as she completes her spin.
But once more she is a fraction of a second too late. Caught in the midst of the risen fog, the raven-haired warrior is cut down by that small, simple projectile so aptly aimed. A whiplash of crimson springs from her gut, falling in a delicate shower as she strikes the ground with rather less grace, stilling a moment before rolling up into a crouch. Her breath is laboured, vision clouded with pain, but still she begins to stand again.
"You'll need to hit me harder than that," she cajoles, a playful edge only barely discernible through her steely resolve. One thing is certain, in her stance, in the set of her shoulders and jaw... she will not go down. Not now. Not yet. Not until this plucky, talented girl has given it her all.
Kurenai spins smoothly around, returning to her upright stance, tilting her head at Amy. The blade wouldn't cut deep enouh to truly injure--particularly not through the heavy clothing that Amy is wearing. Had she aimed for the throat... but this -is- a public fight, and Kurenai's got no desire to be marked as a killer. "I will?" she says, her voice soft, almost dangerously quiet, though it still manages to carry. "I suppose you're right. It's a lesson I've often forgotten--the rule of absolute dominance. Of beating your opponent into the ground."
She shifts a little, relaxing her stance somewhat... stalking forward, but with an almost languid manner, very much like a great hunting cat. One step, two, three, four... and then her manner changes again--urgency snapping through her frame as her left hand reaches, goes up onto the weapon... and she just attacks, brutal and powerful, three great hacking swings that are possibly more suited to a barbarian with an axe--she actually partially unbalances ont he last, her right foot kicking up off the ground.
As before, the weapon glows with that hot pink chi energy, flaring brighter with each impact--*if* it impacts.
COMBATSYS: Amy dodges Kurenai's Heavy Strike.
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Amy 1/----===/=======|======-\-------\0 Kurenai
Those words ring with the note of a challenge accepted, a challenge taken.
The Templar has created her own obstacle here. A dimunitive one it may be, but Kurenai carries herself far taller than her stature would suggest. This fight has become a struggle inward and without, as Amy seeks to overcome her ponderously ill-judged first impression and get a proper gauge on this youthful fighter. As she measures the girl's stalking steps, she believes she may finally have done that. The yardstick rises...
And the first violent motion is met by a seamless, near-gliding evasion from the Englishwoman. With a cool, careful intake of breath she steps aside, turning her body to bend reedlike around the subsequent blows, moving a little closer to the shinobi with each movement. Her fingertips snag at the air, pulling on invisible strings as she silently manipulates her energy. As though buoyed by the mist, she slides into the overextension by Kurenai, reaching for a grasp upon her opponent's wrist as the other hand grapples for the shoulder.
From there, a simple swaying motion from the hips should be all it takes to topple her smaller foe. It is, again, a basic manouever. But much as the same was said before, she maintains a grip upon the wrist and continues to turn into her centre, allowing Kurenai to fall and using the girl's weight against her own seized limb as she presses it tight into the nook of her elbow. In a less honourable situation, it may be designed to break the arm -- here, it will at least cause considerable strain.
COMBATSYS: Kurenai fails to counter Improvised Throw from Amy with Armed Combo.
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Amy 1/-----==/=======|=======\-------\0 Kurenai
The fight is turning around, bit by bit--but Kurenai's practiced enough to recognize that she still has the advantage. That doesn't help when Amy lands another hit, forcing Kurenai to eat dirt again. The pressure doesn't remain for long, however, and Kurenai rolls away--snapping the limb like a whip, bringing fresh, stinging pain--but also assuring herself that the limb is functional.
Her expression, however, is sharper than ever. "You're holding back," she says, flatly. "If you're going to treat me like this..." She half-turns away, as if dismissing Amy from her sight, "Then you can -have- the Neo League points." Not like she cares about 'em, anyways.
Though turned away, she's certainly still paying attention, even if she doesn't look like it. She -is- serious, though. The persistent numbness in her arm is starting to fade, but it won't be completely gone for a bit--some nerve damage, perhaps...
There is no need for Amy to recover from her own technique - such internalised, whole-body motions are designed to flow easily into an array of others. For all the deceptive power she could bring to bear, there was no endangering her rooted stance or the concentration she has now been able to maintain since recovering from the shuriken's bloody impact. Though the memory does cause her to quickly assess her centre, seeking for the vestiges of pain and striving to eliminate them as she shifts her footing to fully face Kurenai.
"I didn't come here for that," is her reply a moment later, tone distant but clear, well-spoken as the Templar is. Her stormy eyes narrow a touch, though the cant of her lips suggests she is more amused than angered by the implication of her ambitions. "I am here to be tested, and perhaps test in turn. If you believe me to be holding back..." She exhales, considering the young ninja for a moment. Her hands move lightly before her, teasing at the air as her abdomen shifts back and forth in a gentle, testing motion. But it seems she will not attack while her opponent's back is turned.
"Then accept my apologies. Come at me again, Kurenai. I will not disappoint you a second time!" The last comes resonantly loud, echoing through the eerie cold of the forest as she draws herself subtly upward. Lighter on her feet now, she seems somehow stronger, and the mist - as ever - answers her silent call, billowing in the air between the two warriors. It has become steadily deeper in the preceding moments, and now hangs in thick, knotted ropes, all but obscuring Amy from view for a brief instant. It could be a turn in the tide... or it could be an entirely contrary omen of her future.
COMBATSYS: Amy draws upon the Dragon's Breath.
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Amy 1/---====/=======|=====--\-------\0 Kurenai
"I don't want your -apologies-," replies Kurenai, after Amy speaks. Her tone still carries a sulfuric trace of disdain. After all that... Amy still remains passive. Very well. Slowly, she pivots, whipping her blade through a flourish... but she doesn't move forward. She looks calm, but her mind is racing, calculations falling into place, moves and followups and possibilities branching out in her head.
To rush forward would be tantamount to giving Amy the chance to destroy her; it's too obvious, that challenge. She has to find something *else*... But what?
For the ghost of a moment, her left hand shifts across her body--as if she were reaching for something. Then she shakes her head... no, that's not what she wants to do. Or is it? Then she smiles again.... Of course.
She places her left hand on the grip of her weapon, and raises it to her shoulder, holding it parallel to the ground--and across the distance, she jabs forward. A pulse of pink energy flares up at the grip--flashes down the body--and then is released from the weapon in a thin, needle-like blast--reaching for Amy's heart.
COMBATSYS: Kurenai successfully hits Amy with Devil's Needle.
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Amy 1/-======/=======|======-\-------\0 Kurenai
Beneath the composure she is managing to maintain, the truth is that the Templar needed these moments. She has been hard-struck to keep pace with the Seijyun shinobi, and indeed is failing to do so. Though she seems not discouraged in the slightest, tensing as she once more prepares to enter the fray, watching and waiting for the perfect opportunity to do so. Her challenge does serve the intended purpose - she wants something, /anything/, that she can react to. Because it is her reactions that seem most damaged by the time away. On later analysis, she will see it more certainly; she is slow.
And here is where that lesson is best learned. With all the time in the world, and with the ideal moment to seize, she is caught snoozing for the third or fourth time. In the pitch of battle it is hard to keep count. But this doesn't matter. All that matters /is/ the battle. And as the needle lances through her breast, spreading a searing, fiery agony throughout her strained torso, Amy Johnson reaches a decision. She allows the beast to take control. Hard footfalls strike the ground as she surges forward, over the ground she has been forced back across, covering the distance to Kurenai with a bold yell.
She will not disappoint, and neither will she apologise. The girl's disdain may be well-earned. But she will be struck for it nonetheless. Eyes roaring with an ocean of passion, Amy leaps in toward the ninja, painfully telegraphing her approach until - suddenly - she is no longer there. A swathe of mist rolls past her athletic form, obscuring her completely from view. For the space of two heartbeats, she does not appear. She does not land.
And then she rears out of nowhere, approaching from just past Kurenai's left flank and swooping in to the fore as she seems to impossibly complete her spring. Her hand swings wildly, yet with enough control to maintain a grasp upon a bucking, lashing tendril of that misty energy. It is designed to drive the ninja back, buying space for the surely inevitable, unpreventable follow-up. It can be so, if she believes it to be so...
COMBATSYS: Kurenai blocks Amy's Hound of Avalon.
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Amy 0/-------/-----==|=======\-------\1 Kurenai
Kurenai cannot yet see beyond sight. She cannot fully grasp the fabric that makes up the world that people cannot see. Her goal, such as it is, to be able to fully understand the world before her eyes and the world -not- before her eyes... she's far from it. But sometimes... sometimes she gets glimpses. Sometimes these lead to spectacular, last-second saves. Sometimes, the results seem mundane. But it's no less spectacular to Kurenai when she manages it.
She's confused when Amy disappears, but senses something else behind it. When she comes from the left, that wild swing already in motion, Kurenai has but moments to react, moments which move in slow motion for her. It's as if she's watching herself, as she reverses the grip on her weapon, swings both forearms out, stopping the swing of the hand with her right forearm, shielding herself from that mist with her left.
The attack still rocks her; she still staggers back a step, two. The power desmonstrated behind that... were she to have taken that hit head-on... but she retains her feet. Banking, perhaps, on Amy's inability to control her landing, she seeks to end the fight--strongly. She raises her weapon, still in that reversed grip, and seeks to slam the short pommel-end into Amy's chest--just above the heart, a shot designed to sturn the Templar, upon which she'll grab Amy by the forehead and seek to simply power her down and into the ground.
COMBATSYS: Kurenai successfully hits Amy with Armed Combo.
[ \ < > ////////////// ]
Amy 0/-------/--=====|=======\=------\1 Kurenai
There are side effects in bringing such power to bear. Kurenai is as much aware of this as Amy herself, and where the former relies on this now to seize her victory, the Templar was dependent entirely on her own talents to guarantee that she did not need to concern herself with the eventuality of failure. Another moment to observe. Another lesson to learn, as life will continue to march on. And yet, this is not over. Not while she still stands.
She is unable to prevent the sharp ram of that yardstick as it penetrates the confines of her heavy jacket and explodes against her sternum, staggering her even as she attempts to turn around the blow. It causes her to be suitable prey for the follow-up, but there is one part of her not encompassed by Kurenai's final assault. Though she cannot see past the hand that grasps at her face, though her back almost gives out with a crack as it strikes the packed earth, she does keep control of her arms, the vestige of mist still clinging to her fingertips from her own failed attack.
Her lungs collapse as she lands, her breath expelled in a thunderous exhalation. But with frenetic desperation she reaches upward, seeking a grasp on the arm that has downed her. She is barely conscious, but if she finds that grip then the job is done - it will take one last powerful sweep of her body, battered frame rolling off the ground onto one hip as she strives to bring Kurenai crashing down next to her.
COMBATSYS: Amy can no longer fight.
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Kurenai 1/------=/=======|
COMBATSYS: Kurenai dodges Amy's Wyrm Waker.
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Kurenai 1/------=/=======|
The moment of alertness doesn't fade immediately; halfway through the slamming motion, when she realizes that she's going to take Amy out, she pushes off, adding momentum--using Amy's forehead as a fulcrum.
Impact.
And then she's cartwheeling, almost clumsily; her injuries flare, and she winces, then stabs her yardstick into the ground, coming to a sliding halt on her knees, even as Amy is reaching upwards, flailing.
It takes a moment for her to rise, but rise she does, and turns to see the cameramen coming out, the medics coming for Amy.
"Treat her well," she says, as she turns to limp off under her own power, "... she's a warrior through and through."
COMBATSYS: Kurenai has ended the fight here.
Log created on 16:33:49 12/31/2010 by Kurenai, and last modified on 01:25:51 01/08/2011.