The day begins, Pikatok is the first to wake in her hut. The mountain of a man lay beside her, her husband. She lay a kiss on his cheek before leaving the bed, stepping from her bed and stretching her extremities until they popped. Wordlessly she dressed herself in the heavy hide cloth, punctuating her dressing with another stretch.

The plate of salted meats on the table had hardly been touched. Pikatok sighed, turning towards her sleeping husband, he hadn't eaten before going to sleep. 'He really should eat more.' The words ran through her head as she left the hut, gently pulling the door closed as to not make a noise. The winds whipped against her face, the first breeze of the morning was her favorite feeling of the day. A chill ran down her body from her head to her toes, truly waking her up from the lingering slumber of the morning. A deep breath and her preparations were finished, Pikatok set off to the edge of the village.

The sound of snow crunching and the snores of sleeping folk, Pikatok's morning routine was simple enough. The noises were comforting as she walked to her outpost, nearly a mile away from the gates she could see the shimmering outline of the gates. A particularly calm day it seemed, though the winds were still the vicious lashes of the frozen north. Simple days of calm were what her life was, a peaceful existence with a great sense of satisfaction. Pikatok felt as though her life was pretty perfect, she has purpose and happiness. These thoughts run through her head daily as she leaves to guard the gates.

It took her only a minute to reach the gates, though today she looked at them with a slight discomfort. Something deep in her gut felt off, maybe she should have eaten before she left. There was a chair to the side of the gates, a large oaken chair from the other side. Big enough to seat her and two others, and where she spent her every day.

Pikatok placed a hand on the seat and pulled herself into it, sliding her buttocks backwards until her back was against the back. With a small huff she made herself comfortable in the seat.

"Another long day ahead."

It has been a week since the last challenge. Soon after descending the Mountain after his successful race with Havardr, he entered a tundra. There he had met the Penguin Key Holder, and been challenged to yet another powerless race. His stamina had returned, of course, as had his ability to access his tattoos. The Penguin Key was a mystery, he wasn't actually sure he was able to get it.

Perhaps he should turn around and find the King, to ask what the issue had been. And if another dreadful race was in order.

But something more dreadful, and annoying, awaited him along this Tundra. His Father.

And to get to him, as the old man wasn't exactly forthcoming with the reality shifting teleportation to the Spirit Animal world, or to bring himself here, he had to enter through one of the Gates.

And the closest was guarded by an old hag he hated almost as much as his father. Pikatok, the woman who fancied herself the Beast Queen. How his father put up with having her guard one of the few Gates was beyond him, but he hated every time he had to cross her. Thankfully, it was rare.

The woman, Pikatok, had beaten him so many times when he was younger, she had practically driven him to find other gates. Yet, here he was, Kusanagi at his side, RyuKyu bounding, but fading, by his side. He hated her too. To meet her, and hopefully get into the Gate without the time honored tradition of beating her to do it.

The wind danced around him in its cold, mocking way, and he remembered why he had went to the Volcanic Plains, and worked his way around to the cold. Fate. And he hated the cold.

Off in the distance, he could see the woman and the wind brought along her scent. It was morning, had to be, because she was just sitting herself down at that chair, that was big enough to seat two others. The far end of the chair was the one he often sat on when banished away to the woman.

He approached, letting his hat shield his eyes away from the worst of the storm.

"Pikatok, he wants to see me. Allow me to pass and be out of this damned wintery horse's ass you call a home."

He turned his gaze up towards the woman, and set a pleading smile on his face. Hopefully she had changed over the years.

Through the snow, a silhouette emerged slowly. A familiar form, a shape that always put a smile on Pikatok's face. It was the holder of the bestial keys, and seeker of the others. Pikatok disagreed with the keys, they shouldn't be used as such idle playthings for its holders. Some of the holders were respectable, however, Pikatok did not find Kei'Taro respectable. Nor did she respect his father, though that was something she would never voice. Not out of fear of the Beast King, she doesn't fear him in the slightest, she just wouldn't say it out loud. A lady doesn't want to be considered rude.

The thought made her laugh, she wasn't very ladylike.

When the figure approached the seat, she hopped down to the ground below. Snow crunching beneath her feet as her weight dropped onto it. The same question that he always asked, a question he knew the answer to but insisted on asking anyway. 'Please let me through.' And the answer was always the same. "You know the rules, Kei'Taro. I can't allow you to pass unless you prove your worth." The words left her mouth with a certain thickness to them, her accent sounding as though her tongue was pressed against the back of her throat at all times.

She paused for a moment as she repositioned herself between him and the gates, making a visible effort to posture herself squarely and sturdily. In case he tried a sucker punch. "The rules never change, Kei'Taro." Her eyes cast directly into Kei'Taro's, staring into him with a furious glare. "But you do."

After a very short pause, she continued her thoughts. "What keys have you taken this time? How many more than the last?" A noticable scowl adorning her cheeks, deepened further by the shadow cast by her hood. "Were they taken by force? Or willfully granted?"

And just like that, hshe proved that she hadn't changed in all the years that he had known her, and further more all the years that he had gone without seeing her. He really should have went to the Western mountains, another half year of trekking and asked Limand, the Sceptre of the West, for passage. He rarely ever stopped his passage, and often encouraged his escapes into the world. He hadfortunately not chose the other route back to his father, that was said to be sometimes guarded by Pikatok's husband.

Shaking his head, he noted that as often as he asked the same question of her, she asked the same of him. Always the Keys, force or will. In retrospect he understood why his father often sent him to the woman, as intolerable as she was. They shared similar abilities, albeit a different way to harness them.

"You know, as well as I, that I attain the keys through challenges set forth by their respective holders. There is no force, there is no undue altercations. Of note though, I've gained the Mountain Goat key, an elephant key, making that number two. And Kusanagi," he gestured to the weapon at his side, "has shown some interesting developments."

Kei'taro cracked his neck to the side, and stepped forward, the snow crunching beneath his feet. He withdrew Kusanagi, his favored mode of attack, and began to plan his path past Pikatok and into the gate.

Of course, that meant either surviving longer than she anticipated, or beating her. The latter had never actually happened. Today that would change.

Kei'taro glanced at Pikatok, and shrugged his pack off his back.

"Well then, come on let's get this over with." He mused.

As he looked at the woman, he began to put his plan into action. He inched down into a common 'Horse' Stance, but kept his feet loose and limber, he hadn't planned on keeping this stance. Underneath his attire, his Tortoise Shell tattoo began to glow. Phase one.

With emphasis, Pikatok's aura flickered against the snowy backdrop. Her stance widening as she spread her feet to her sides and raised her arms forward, taking the Tyrant Lizard stance once more. Kei'Taro would once more learn the true power of the spirits, a harsh lesson indeed. The snow was up to her ankles, a problem for anyone who wasn't used to the frigid tundra. Pikatok's knowledge of the north was her greatest asset, sure footing was key, and few were steady enough to fight on such uneven ground as snow.

As she readied to attack the Beast Master her fingers loosened up and her body relaxed, standing in the Tyrant Lizard stance while tensed can actually cause you to lose your grip.

Without hesitation she rushed towards him, trampling the ground between them as she charged. Her left hand extending outwards towards his head, with full intent to grasp hold of his face with open palm. The most basic strike in Tyrant stance, an opening move that she had tried many times before. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Pikatok often prayed that it worked, a face grapple often leads to comedic inconvenience. At Kei'Taro's expense.

Pikatok's aura danced along the white canvas of snow, painting the world behind her. The snow was deep, but the memory of running through snow and up a mountain had, on some level, helped him prepare for the task at hand. Second, of course, to defeating or outlasting Pikatok. That task was maneuverability.

He looked across the expanse, and it wasn't a large one, but it was enough. She adopted the dreaded stance of the Super Lizard. Oh how he hated that woman, and her particular brand of beast manipulation. His own turtle continued to glow, ever ready to protect him from whatever the woman could throw at him in terms of offense.

Kei'taro took a breath, and held Kusanagi aloft. It would begin in a moment, and for that, he would hate the snow even more. As he exhaled his third breath, the battle had begun, the woman was headed towards him. Arm extended, palm open for a grasp. Surely it would have succeeded, had Kei'taro not dropped and leapt, as she was just about to enter her maximum effective range. The leap would carry him in the opposite direction, and with a slight twist, he brought Kusanagi around, and aimed the edge of the blade at her upper thigh, and buttocks.

The blow was aimed to follow him, maximizing the range of the attack and the likelihood that some part of the blade would bite into her leg and cut down her movement speed. That was phase two, while phase one was still underway. Should it succeed, he would nbe well in position to launch a proper attack, or provide himself with a suitable defense, while at the same time cutting out a great ability of Pikatok.

It would also put him between her and the gate, too bad, however the gate wasn't already open.

Damn guardians.

Kei'Taro escaped her attack easily, what's more is that he was prepared with a follow up. The little man had improved quite a bit since their last bout, if she were the patronizing sort she would have given a mocking compliment and a disingenuine smile. However, she is not. She is the sort to bluntly show you that you're wrong with either physical violence or simple logic. Such as right now; Kei'Taro's follow up would have been an impressive strike! If she hadn't been just as fast as he was.

When the grapple failed, she immediately stopped on her right foot and shoved the ground with her left. Pushing her massive bulk away from Kei'Taro's blade with an effortless motion. Without a breath she spun around to the beast master, letting out a stream of steam from her nostrils as she tried to hold in a laugh. "Come now, Kei. You didn't think I had slowed down, did you? I'm not some old hag, I've still got my youth!"

Taunting, immediately after she had told herself that she wasn't like that. How shameful.

"Now, come at me like you mean it. Don't try and beat me, beat me!" She felt as though that were a reference to something, but something that she had no knowledge of. Pikatok shifted back into the tyrant stance, watching Kei'Taro like a hawk.

The sword sang through the air, just missing the buttocks and legs of Pikatok, who used her mastery of the ice and her unyielding strength to avoid the blow that would have reduced her movement speed by a fair bit.

She had done it by stopping immediately on one foot, and leaping off with the other. Right and left. It mattered very little, he was still well ahead in his planning.

His turtle tattoo stopped storing energy, locking in what it had. Part one had been completed, and the back up plan for two was going to be underway, any second now.

Across the expanse, he could hear Pikatok attempting to goad him into leading the attack. Soon, he would take her up on that. For now, he was settling into enacting his plan. The tattoo on his right shoulder began to glow, and he could feel the tell-tale signs of the Thunderbird racing through him. Phase two was underway.

Now, he had to deal with Pikatok as she were. He began to run in a wide circle around Pikatok - being near the portal was useless. He had to outlast her, or beat her, and this time, he was planning on the latter. His eyes scanned the horizon, making sure to go back to her constantly to keep her in sight.

To ensure that Kei'Taro was kept in her sights, she began circling in the same direction as him. Putting herself at a constant distance from him, shoving aside hundreds of pounds of snow as she did so. What may have seemed like her just traveling through the snow, was actually a cunning plot to trip her foe. With every step she caused the snow to fall apart and make the ground uneven and full of deep holes that his feet would easily snag in. A problem that Pikatok often used to dissuade potential trespassers.

As she circled she made sure to ruin the potential path that Kei' would follow, keeping a bit of distance between him and her was always a good idea. The holder of the keys had much more in the way of ranged capabilities than her, which is always problematic when you're entirely limited to melee.

Her foe was smart, and cunning, and that's what made him a fun opponent on the field of battle. Yet, he genuinely disliked her as a person. And killing her was likely very high at the top of the list of his goals in life, so trusting him to a fair fight would be entirely stupid and borderline suicidal for her.

Pikatok followed the same rotational path that Kei'taro did, except her path dislodged enough snow that a line was visible behind her. That was all well and good, as it meant one of two things.

Either Pikatok, the Guardian of the Southern Gate to the Spirit Realm, either intended to leave the sancutary of the circle she was creating, or she didn't. In the case of the latter, she would have certainly laid a trap - though Kei'taro had no idea what it might have been; after all, he couldn't see through snow. It also meant she would be confined to that area, if she intended to lure him out towards aforementioned trap.

This was all well and good, as Kei'taro still had another few facets to layer unto his trap. So far, he had completed one portion of his plan, and was underway with the second. This time, he would play the game smart, instead of fast and loose. He continued his circle, making it look like he was looking for an opening in the woman's defenses. All the while, his Thunderbird tattoo was still glowing, reaching another level of strength. In another few seconds, he could enact the third part of his plan.

His eyes darted to and fro, looking between Pikatok and the hole she was trudging - he decided to add another wrinkle. He would draw her plan into the open, and to do this, he continued circling. His movements were surefooted, though precarious, as he was atop snow- but he was ready for that. His circling motion would, if Pikatok continued her current course of action, allow him more time to see what type of trap she had laid for him, and whether or not she intended for him to walk right into it.

Whatever his father wanted had better be good, if he was going through all this strategy to actually defeat Pikatok to get into the Realm, instead of waiting her out.

Pikatok's breathing slowed down as she continued her path, continuing to dig her hole. The hope of him slipping was dying, but there were other ways to capitalize on a literal ton of snow. As she collected herself, the sound of her breathing turned to a deep thrumming. Sounding like a bear in hunt, the clouds of steam leaving her mouth growing to twice the previous size. Each breath evenly placed as she tracked Kei's movement, her eyes darting to his destination and his current position to best predict his positioning before striking.

A few paces ahead, and likely only a few seconds to strike. What to do?

The idea that came to her was a bit reckless, as it would leave both her and her foe blind for a moment. She did have the upper hand though, she knew the assault was coming.

As she circled, she was slowly getting deeper and deeper into the snow. It wasn't until she was about waist high in the snow that she lashed out, with her entire body weight she slammed into the wall of snow. Sending it flying forward as she bum-rushed Kei'Taro. Just like that she had attacked once more, this time around with an open palm thrust towards his chest. With a plume of snow erupting from in front of her, she didn't know how well he would see her.

With the full brunt of her weight directed towards his chest, she intended to press him into the snow and hold him until he couldn't breathe. Though, the first step was slamming her hand into him.

Their seemingly infinite circle continued - Kei'taro atop the snow, and Pikatok slowly dipping into the thick white frozen rain until she was waist high. Her plan must have been a good one for her to risk getting so deep in the snow to keep him in her sight.

What was her plan?

Kei'taro had the stamina to keep up this particular line of defense, but did Pikatok? Traveling across the multiverse for years and years had given him a rather large tank upon which he could draw from. His eyes left Pikatok seldomly; she was getting deeper, her plan was definitely a good one.

As they circled, she began to get deeper into the snow, until her waist was at the line. Then her plan came to fruition. Using her weight, and her strength, she managed to push a wall of snow towards Kei'taro. In any event, he was a good distance away - so the blindness would have been momentary, but the wall continued to come.

She was coming in for the kill.

Her funeral.

She aimed for the spot in front of him, aiming to cut off his run. What he didn't know, exactly, was her method of attack. She had little to no magical abilities, when it came to projectiles, so that limited her to a physical attacks.

Ducking low, anticipating another head targeted attack, he brandished Kusanagi and rushed through the snow. While his visibility was low, his other senses were on fire.

It was all down to timing.

"Tortoise Shell!" Kei'taro bellowed, activating his defensive measure. The shield near instantly sparked into view. Using his momentum, he lashed out violently with his sword the moment he felt the impact of Pikatok colliding with his shield. The attack was aimed at her stomach, the intent was to lay open her gut with a vicious slash.

The attack would have two intended effects. An attack like that was sure to hit, thanks to her commitment to the attack - and the two foot reach of his blade. The first intention was to cause serious damage to the woman, perhaps even deal a fatal blow. The second was to immediately restrict her movements. The blow was vicious, and was nearly a guaranteed success, but perhaps Pikatok had learned a new trick or two; he seriously doubted it.

A resounding thud echoed across the battlefield, the wind that was pushed away by the dissipating force of her strike blew snow away in a circle from the strike zone. Pikatok's face bent into a scowl, she had almost entirely forgotten that his shield was better than hers. Though, she supposes that he had forgotten about her more passive shield, as the blade made headway into her stomach. It was a vicious strike, it made very good headway immediately. Cutting open her shirt and spilling blood from her stomach onto the ground. However, as the blade continued passing through her it made progressively less and less progress until it halted entirely. As though it were stuck deeply in bone and hide.

In response to the blade she had used the hide of the glyptodon, which allowed her skin to harden to defend herself. But, as a reaction to a strike that she didn't expect, it was unable to protect her entirely from injury. The wound that had been inflicted was cleaved from the fat above her left kidney to an inch or so away from her bellybutton. Leaving the blade still jammed inside of her body, problematic for more than one reason. The biggest problem lying in the thunderbird tattoo, which she didn't know he was charging, though she was aware of its existence and properties.

To save herself being skewered or worse, Pikatok slapped the shield again and pushed backwards with her feet. Throwing herself a good six feet away from Kei'Taro. With her left hand, she covered the wound.

The weapon was really making a difference this time around, where in previous bouts he hadn't been able to make any headway into spilling blood, now she had nearly been gutted by her foe. Pikatok panted a bit, applying pressure to her side.

Kei'Taro was actually trying to kill her.

Kei'taro could feel his sword jam into Pikatok, and slice clean towards her belly button, a blow fatal enough that he didn't need to press the advantage he had gained. He was faintly concerned that he didn't tap her spine, so strong the swing, but he remembered her skin was harder than a normal person's, and she had defensive abilities that directly affected the skin.

Crafty.

He could feel her press against the shield in an attempt to dislodge herself from the blade that bit deep. The snake Kusanagi sneered within him, urging him to push forward and finish the match.

He didn't need to be told twice.

Kei'taro didn't need to move from his spot, but instead of dropping the blade, he tensed his arm and activatec Thunderbird, by speaking the self same name. From his right shoulder, a bolt of electricity with some extra oomph rocketed from his right shoulder, and followed the path downward with startling speed. The distance between them wasn't as great, between the starting distance, his reach, and that of a sword.

It's target was center mass, where the heart and lungs were commonly situated.

His breath was reaching the stage of minor strain, he hadn't needed much exertion yet, whereas Pikatok had to be feeling the effects of a deep cut such as the one he had delivered. Now, however, they would both be aback at square one - magicless. He hoped this attack would end it, a physical fight with Pikatok, even with her weakened, was not a fight Kei'taro wanted. He was faster, she was stronger.

Purely out of spite, Pikatok reached into her wound and tore out a chunk of the bone hard flesh. With a reaction that was larger than life and faster than the eye, she threw the chunk like a frisbee towards Kei'Taro's right eye. She knew she had lost this battle the moment her strike gave her no ground. So in her defeat she hoped to at least blind the beast master's eye.

As the thunder crashed into her, during her desperate throw, her chest seized and she fell flat to the ground. The shock coursed through her body as she lay on the ground, convulsing in agony. If she didn't die here, facedown in the snow, she likely wouldn't walk again for a month.

Let alone fight.

Pikatok groaned and gritted her teeth as she lay there helpless. The darkness creeping into the corners of her vision as she begins to fade into unconsciousness.

She wasn't angry that she lost.

She was angry because she wouldn't have any last words.

You know, Pikatok really was a bitch.

She couldn't just accept the fact that Kei'taro, the son of the Spirit Beast King, had finally managed to not only last long enough to activate the Gate to the Spirit World, but had managed to deal her a mortal wound.

No, the woman just had to have the last laugh - even if she wasn't laughing at the moment. She chunked a piece of incredibly hard flesh like a frisbee just before the lightning bolt from Thunderbird crashed into her with a terrifying power. She was accurate, damn accurate - but in hindsight, they were just six feet apart. A child could clear that distance.

The flesh smacked against his eye with a hard crack, instantly swelling the area around it, effectively shutting his eye.

Shit.

His father would heal it, but if it were anything like last time, then he would have lingering effects for a while. In this case, poor eyesight in the eye, making it hard to see.

Clutching Kusanagi, and contemplating murder, he approached Pikatok and grabbed the woman by the scruff of her collar. He couldn't very well leave her out here for the wolves to get, no matter how strong she was. A lightning bolt, and a huge gash was enough to leave anyone incapaciated, even the woman.

Kei'taro looked down at her, and sneered violently.

The bitch had gotten over him again. Thinking back on the fight, the woman hadn't used her full strength from the beginning. And while he suffered nary a stratch, she barely touched the surface of her powers.

"You vile...," he started, before growling and depositing her on her chair, and stepping into the swirling vortex of icy blue aura.

---

"You know, you shouldn't talk to her like that," a voice said, as Kei'taro entered the spirit world.