3rd Meeting: Fighting Yuffie Kisaragi

[Kuraudo]

The tremble of terra sparks incitement upon the ex-SOLDIER. It causes him to turn and gaze upon an earthern marvel: a conoidal monolith with 50-foot walls that're a yard thick. He hears a couple of feet echoing, bouncing from side to side. Kuraudo looks up and sees Yufi and company escape to the top of the terrene construct.

But before long, they were out of sight, resting upon the height of the conoid. What is he to do now? If he take the high route, they'll be waiting to spring a trap. So Kuraudo scouts for another opening to be had, but none available. The salesman stands in silence, staring are the wall in front of him.

He extends his left arm, attempting to call the blade back into his grasp. The signal has been reached and the whirling sword boomerangs to its wielder. Seconds later, the sound of digging penetrates the burly wall, cracking from the inside. As it continue to drill, light slips through the thin fractures, and the shriek of the back blade becomes more prominent.

*BOOM*

The sword finally bust through the wall, flying into a lefthanded embrace. The ex-SOLDIER hurries and widens the gap--made by the back blade--with a series of slashes. After several strikes, the hole is large enough for Kuraudo to bolt through it. Take this opportunity to redeem yourself, my friend.

[Tasuke]

A familiar, metallic medley choruses across the fields, tickling Yufi's ear and more a thief for attention than her hands for gil. Her glance shifts earthward to behold the sneaking sword she'd shunned, sadly betrayed by its refusal to keep quiet. Its alacrity is alarming, its surface spangled with hope. A secret smile breaks into a grinning reflection of her amusement at her partner's desperation; would she afford him the rewards of faith?

“No, no, no~” came her playfully musical reply while spinner sought to pass her position. It inspires a rise, a run across the rugged dirt edge of her creation to keep up with the intrepid interferer; with goal unknown, it soon becomes time to nip the nuisance completely. Yufi looses her gambit: a short cross of her weapon over her chest, made mystically coated in jingling azure shine. It is then whipped into the air at an upward arc with a voice of dragonflies. The turn toward ground is quick, nearly hairpin and likewise filled to the brim with expectation; an amateur may know fear at hitting the mark, but an adept of the windmill shuriken need never doubt their own skill.

The wish is not to merely gnash teeth, but to simply come close to a bull's-eye; as the snowy star descends like an eagle, the prey finds itself sailing toward its claws. The Kyohaku crashes into the snow ahead of it, the albatross landing explosive and crystalline. It breathes a thicket of icy knives, true pines of holiday cheer both scintillating and skyscraping. The sheer proximity of force is a thing she hoped enough to thwart the blade's rendezvous; through meanwhile use of her teleporting technique, she blurs into view just as a glassy crash breaks the beautiful sight apart. Retrieval of her weapon is required; perhaps it would come with the discovery of a new and ironic addition to her arsenal - a strike across the face of a certain spiky swordsman.

[Kuraudo]

From outside of the conoid, there is a noise liken to shattered glass. His brows furrow confoundingly, wondering what just happened on the other side. Kuraudo continues to keep his arm outstretched, awaiting the back blade's arrival, but something is wrong. The sword with the serrated edge hasn't come, rather, it's not able to move. With her Kyohaku, Yufi imprisons the weapon through the algid clutches of ice magic.

The ex-SOLDIER figures it shouldn't take this long for it to cut out an opening. So he reapproaches the situation with another plan. He beholds the roofless top of the construct thinking, "My only option."

*Click* *Click*

A decision now made, Kuraudo twists the mechanism located at the base of the First Tsurugi. It unclenches the hold upon the impact blade for it to be detached. Its double-hilt is lefthandedly gripped, and the ex-SOLDIER prepares to launch himself skyward. A deep squat ensues, then rapidly vanishes as he soars within the eyes of adumbration.

He seeks freedom from this bastille and nothing is going to stop him. "Heavens...guide me."

[Tasuke]

Like turrets, Team Kisaragi is poised to fire. They nurture an infantile patience, their refulgent palms scanning about for signs of their target. The inky pool below fills without fret, and one is left to wonder if Kuraudo has chosen the way of the hermit; with his attempt to pierce the coliseum awry, broken pride shall be the least of inflictions. The argillaceous clock suddenly strikes six, the bell a swooping sound of an ascending SOLDIER. The lurking ninja wastes no time, and after precious moments of handmade marksmanship, it looses the Kamehameha Wave: an azure torrent of broadly burning energy that shreds the air with brilliant resonance. The others detect this and quickly fulfill a trifecta of danger; perhaps Kuraudo had means of refusing the insistence to remain aground, but one thing is concrete: he ain't no Trunks.

The absent Yufi, her lightless Kyohaku gripped at the core by her right hand, had meanwhile salvaged a new accoutrement with the other: the beautiful blade belonging to the blonde businessman. Her attention is similarly taken to her perch by blazing sound and light. It can only mean the snare has been unstrung. Familiar elevation of the shuriken births a twirl of her figure before she launches her weapon. Like a frisbee, it hovers toward the crest of the cone so she may again perform teleportation. She vanishes in refreshed mirage that snakes toward the summit 'til revelation allows her to stand upon earth anew.

She reappears to the firer's right with another landing crouch, hastily arisen to turn and snatch her star out of the air as inertia carries her turn through. Her gaze becomes desperate to affix upon her comrade in combat, to know his condition and location both and commence the next act toward glorified revenge.

[Kuraudo]

Faith in himself is what keeps him going, no matter the obstacle. It is something he learned years ago, and it'll flow through his actions like wildfire. The ex-SOLDIER ignites his body with spirit energy in response to an onset. It's a collabrative beam attack unleashed by the remaining members of team Kisaragi. Our hero combats the blast by shooting an energy silhouette of himself. It vogues Kuraudo in lunging form, having its mainblade replica and right knee forward.

Moments later as it nears the conoidal summit, the two opposing forces collide. The impact produces an explosion that purges the head of the construct. Smoke grew, clouding the opening where the ninjas once firmly guarded, but the ex-SOLDIER progressed. He emerges from the wreckage like a speeding bullet, reaching the pinnacle of his jump. With his cloak flapping, Kuraudo descends upon the snowy field, landing several yards away from Fenrir.

The blue-eyed swordsman looks back at the mess he made, wondering if Yufi got caught in the explosion. "Yuffie."

[Tasuke]

Explosive conclusion washed the alabaster area clear, its triumph heralded by unseasonably earth-shattering thunder. As the growls settle into silence, the void is filled by indifferent whispers of arctic zephyrs. Upon their voice is a message of destruction manifest by the obliterated crown of the standing structure. One that played SOLDIER escaped unscathed, which begs inquiry: what has become of his energetic comrade? It's a grimly simple question, and on the breeze is carried a tone of requiem. There remained no trace of the outgoing Yufi upon the swirling snow, and as seconds melted into minutes, the unfortunate reality struck as sure.

The possibilities are put to rest as the kunoichi bursts through her blanket of white as if jolted from a nightmare. Flecked with flakes, her right hand spans across her forehead with a wince of pain. An awful headache clutched her attention and a second, more intense sensation needled her brain and she clenched her right eye for the moment while she muttered her disdain with pouting tone. “Why am I even surprised...”

Yufi then noticed she still clenched the stolen sword in her other hand, the spangled weapon elevated for brief inspection. Anger and adrenaline began to erase the discomfort of her ensuing migraine and she hurriedly pushed herself to her feet; vertigo nearly knocked her back aground, but a wobbling recovery kept her standing. Dancing glances searched vainly for her Kyohaku, more swift to locate the source of her malady far ahead. If Kuraudo hadn't noticed her yet, her shouting voice would make sure he did.

“Hey! Cloud!” She called as she waved the blade overhead. Her voice soaked in wrath. “Yeah, you, spiky-headed jackass! You almost killed me!” Her frame became rigid, her arms glued to her sides while she walked toward him mechanically. She bitched on, “You wanna tell me what the hell that was about?!”

A few dozen paces and she spotted a tip of her darling star, quick to scoop it into grip in mid-stride. Her tirade continued with a vehement grin, “It seems I found what I was looking for...” Kuraudo's weapon is lifted plainly vertical with a look of inquiry. “Oh! Are you looking for this--” She threw it over her shoulder, her expression made annoyingly innocent as she stopped to cover her mouth for the nonchalant pose. “Oops!”

Her posture loosened into something more natural for resumption of her walk. Fires of agitation whorled into a blaze she refrained from restraining, ever clear on her face by means of a glare and snarling teeth. It would seem round two is about to begin, and Yufi foremost sought a test of her steel against the man of many swords – minus one.

[Kuraudo]

As a result from his final blow, Kuraudo was awarded the first round. Though his win was empty, filled with an aria of purling winds. It marks a battle at rest; a whispering interlude waiting for a match reset. As for Kisaragi, she is no where to be seen which troubles the SOLDIER. He sheathes the impact blade into his harness, designed to carry all six auxilary swords, and begins his search.

Kuraudo scans the area slowly, looking for any traces of his free-spirited comrade. No luck. The entire landscape spared no clues as to where she could be. There was nothing but an endless stretch of snow to behold. Minutes stream like a creek and his concerns has a vinelike grip on his conscious. "Where are you?" he asks. The disquieted ex-SOLDIER gives another once-over to locate Kisaragi.

Just before his search ended, a voice blares at him from a distance. It was an angry Yufi, walking towards Kuraudo while grousing about what he did. To him, it was unintentional, and mishaps during a friendly match does happen. Besides, Yufi has shown no restraint when attacking Sutoraifu, but one scrape and he's scolded. But given the situation and her personality, Kuraudo expected this to happen. He knows that a simple apology won't assuage her pride, but redemption will.

That is her thoroughfare: to guide her ego to the peaks of self-recovery. She smiles with mischevous intent after noticing the Kyohaku. Yufi picks it up with the surmounted back blade upon her shoulder. She taunts him with it, flaunting the missing weapon wavingly. "Looks like you're okay," he said while eyeing his captured sword. "So do you, Yuffie," he jestingly adds. Kuraudo switches the batte-ready First Tsurugi to normal mode. Its complex inner portion is no longer visible, and is now comparable to a broadsword.

The gaian champion takes one step forward, allowing his leftside to lead. In his righthand, the mainblade hangs loosely with its vertex barely touching the snow. The challenge of strength has been planted, and the seed of skill is next to be inearth. Let's wait until the budding element of swordsmanship sprout its first leaf.

[Tasuke]

“So do you, Yuffie.”

Those words stuck to her hearing like hot wax. The underlying meaning stopped the kunoichi short and slapped her across the face with knuckles of surprise. Anything if not childish, Yufi instantly felt the scorch of ire at what she first translated as an insult; as she analyzed the calm tenderness of her comrade, his voice reverberated in her ears like balm upon the burn. The adamantine resilience of their bond sparkles through a melting of her expression into grinning and withheld laughter.

The friendly tone of her reply fumed through the air. “You wanna get punched?”

Kisaragi wound her toting arm as if preparing for an underhanded pitch that never came, rather to allow the pretentious star to capture attention through its bathing in aureate, spiritual fervor. It's the mark that inspires her to begin a jog of approach, her every step accented by crunching snow; with the Kyohaku sneakily tucked behind her back and left arm vertical at the fore, she awaited her partner's final preparation and mayhap a shift of stance before finalizing her method of assault.

[Kuraudo]

From what she said, Kuraudo could only smile with warmth. It's good to see Yufi in fine spirits, despite what happened moments ago. The ex-SOLDIER notices the wutainese ninja readying herself for round two, and shortly after, so does Kuraudo. From its hanging point, the mainblade is moved into an inclined position. With his righthand above the left, both hands constrict the sword's florid haft.

*crunch* *crunch*

The placement of his legs changes as well, having the left leading the right at shoulders' breadth. "Ready?" he said earnestly, but there was no need to ask. The essence of her soul had been poured upon the Kyohaku, likened to the shine of the cosmos. She's indeed serious about winning, and will not hesitate to give it her all. Kuraudo notes her soft approach and continues to be steadfast in posture.

He works anticipation as soundly as the grizzly First Tsurugi. It's imperative to read her actions correctly before launching an attack. Many sparks will fly in a crescendo of clashing steel. Can our hero seal another victory, or will the playing field be leveled by Kisaragi? Let their drive vie for dominance.

[Tasuke]

In battle, cunning separated the weak from the strong. It's a principle that divides the marionette from its manipulator. Twice now Yufi had attempted to capture Kuraudo through craftiness, only to come up disappointed; the third strike hoped to prove the catch phrase true. Another use of the Enemy Skill materia is in order, and its position of secrecy ensured surprise. She's to tap into a mythical technique known as Matra magic.

On cue, a gaseous hiss slews a web of missiles from arear. Ribbons of smoke pan in all directions as the projectiles speed forth. Well over a dozen in number, they spread like blossoming flower petals, only to carpet upon the position of the ex-SOLDIER in swift succession. Their punch is powerful, able to split stone. Kisaragi meanwhile continues her malleable approach undaunted, that she may give the twine just one more jig before gliding the blade through.