[IC] Female Warriors of Feudal Japan

[CitrusArms]

Good. She's away. Kouko had glanced after the princess to ensure she was in safe hands, and she was. What came out from the other end of the strings, however, surprised her.

Puppets? Kouko dropped the wire and drew her blade quickly in response, deflecting the incoming strikes from the dual-wielding enemy she pulled into the open. Akane was able to deal with the two polearm puppets quickly enough, leaving three. She knocks the puppet pressuring her off balance and kicks it away while focusing her Ki into her sword. The sword, which resembled the night sky with its black blade and white flecks, seemed to glow with the power she pushed into it. She swings for the dual-wielding puppet, releasing the energy as she does, and cuts it in two from a short distance.

What she heard next was the crash of the ninja star puppet's weapon, which meant it had discarded the tool. An opening. She'd just have to count on Shiroko to handle the last puppet. She focuses on her new target and charges it in a flash, delivering two strikes, the first vertical, and the next horizontal. She releases on hand from the hilt of her sword and pushes it forcefully into the intersection of her strikes, Ki focused into her palm, which blows the sections apart.

"I'm moving ahead to regroup with the Princess. I trust the two of you can handle the last one remaining." Without wasting a moment's time, she runs ahead. She didn't have to restrain herself against puppets

After a moment of running through the alleyway before deciding to climb to the rooftops, Kouko was able to find the Princess and those guarding her. "Ronin! Now is not the time to stand and fight. We must leave the city quickly! We are caught within a trap; it would be best to regroup." Of course, she'd arrived too late at the selection process to really learn anyone's name, and she hadn't had a chance to give out her own, either.

[Erranruin]

Puppets had descended around them quickly but Kaede had managed to find the almost invisible strings to slice and render the puppets useless. Still there were many converging around the princess and her guardians but at the very least they were regrouping, many of the women having been left behind catching up to them with great speed. The Princess's hand was very small and warm in her own but it only instilled in Kaede just how vulnerable she was despite her heritage. She noticed Asuka fall behind after masterfully dealing with her own fair share of puppets and she came to a halt briefly.

"Asuka-dono we have no time to fight, Miss Hiryuu is right, everyone form up around the princess and follow me out of the city!" As she spoke with the determination and command of decades more puppets arrived around them. She had little time to properly destroy them all so she focused on protecting the princess, using her sword less than her bare hands to grab the wooden things and rip them apart when they got near. One sent another cloud of shruiken, some of which Kaede caught on her arm before turning to grab both the Princess and the Miko and shield them against the barrage. Once the wave of knives was over she turned quickly and leaped to kick one puppet in the chest and another in the head, shattering them with the force of her strike.

She landed beside the Miko and Princess before flexing and shaking her back a little, dislodging the shruiken ebbeded in her flesh and picking them off her arm. She waited until all who were going to follow her command did so, forming up around the Princess, before taking off down a sidestreet and leading them around alot of small dark spaces, losing the Puppets for a while and bringing them alot closer to the exit.

[Rusalka]

It seemed all it took to break herself of that bloodthirsty trance was the call of her comrades, urging her to flee instead of fight. Made since to retreat now, as the streets were practically overrun by the ghastly wooden creatures, that wretched laughter resonating around every corner and precipice. Asuka quickly turned around and gave a swift nod to Kaede-dono, where upon she witnessed her half demon comrade besieged by the lethal barrage of soaring blades. Kaede had shrugged them off though, merely as the quills of an agitated porcupine. She indeed was legendary for such a high threshold to pain, much more than being a brilliant tactician and a fearsome warrior.

"Kaede-dono, are you alright?" Asuka examined the wounds on the woman's back, viscous crimson blood seeping through the shredded and tattered dark blue kimono the warrior adorned, nearly half of it was gone. "I apologize for holding up our escape, that I do. I was not aware of what came over me." In truth though, Asuka was well aware of what befell her. Following alongside the women in a frantic sprint and cutting through a sidestreet Kaede-dono had pointed out, the ronin made her utmost responsibility to keep guard over the fellowship, finishing off what remained of the armed regiments of wooden soldiers in quick fashion, easily slashing her way through thick walls of puppets and leaving none standing. How could it be there were more, even after she and Kaede had slain damn near half the ranks of these infernal creatures. There was more to this antic than simple Ninjitsu. Asuka could sense there was foul magick at play.

And her assumptions were correct, for out of the corner of her eye as she was in dead sprint, she witnessed the horrible secret of these puppets, observing as their limbs pieced back together and they stood once more ready to kill. "Kaede-dono! I believe our enemy is far from finished, that they are!" The clatter of their wooden joints echoed about the thin alley and suddenly more had emerged up front, close within striking distance to the Princess! "Miko-dono! Watch out!" Asuka leapt above the group and her feet met the walls as she vaulted from it and decapitated the attacker in one strike. There had to be a better way to deal with these damn things instead of hacking them to pieces and allowing them quarter to rebuild. Wait, what was that? Her eyes quickly affixed to a stand, mainly the clay jar filled with a sort of translucent liquid, and by the pungent odor, Asuka knew what it was, lantern oil. "That's it!" She hastily snatched up the jar, pouring its content onto her sakabatou and sheathing the blade. "Go you must! I'll finish them shortly! Guard Hime-dono!" Taking up a well known stance of kenjutsu, her hand hovering and poised above the hilt of her katana, legs and feet positioned for the ample amount of leverage to deliver her attack, and a fearsome glare cast unto the pursuing puppets. "Your companions are indeed frightful, that they are Hanzo-san, but I alone have discovered their flaw!"

Then, she drew her blade swiftly and...

*FWOOSH!!*

The sword ignited into a bright and searing burst of flames, the hellish glow engulfing the blade. Asuka's swift and deadly blows were an infernal nightmare to the puppets, now fleeing from the blazing heat of her blade, their allies not so lucky, reduced to smoldering piles of ashes in no less than a second. Once the last had been burned to nothing, Asuka sheathed the burning katana, squelching the flames before she continued onward to catch up to the rest.

[Raineh Daze]

Pointless

"You're looking in the wrong place for sweet," Yuki stated, stopping outside a brewery. Just as she was about to go in, though... noise. From not that far away, either. Really? She couldn't even get a drink now? Typical, the princess stepped foot outside of the palace, and they were already beset by trouble. The others could get her out of it, for now.

Instead, Yuki went in and got as much Sake as she could carry. Her board, designed with strangely large components, was now pretty full of stoppered bottles, and another was cast aside, drained already. The effects hadn't hit yet, but the taste of fermented rice was a step in the right direction. Now it was time to go see if the Princess needed help.

"Keep up," the one-eyed one-armed swordswoman said to Noriaki, eyeing the nearest roof speculatively before jumping, grabbing it with her hand. With the same disastrous strength that she used to swing her blade, Yuki pulled herself all the way on top of it. Ominously, the ceiling began to creak under the combined weight of samurai and pack, but she was already up and moving, adopting the direct route towards the annoyingly close disturbance.

If there was any ninja--or any other stranger, really--on the roof when she arrived, they'd find out what it was like to be cut in half.

[Silver Fox]

Everything seemed so chaotic now as the puppets were cut down but brought together once again as they cackled and continued their assault. Kaede led the way to their escape, calling to the others to form a circle around the Princess. The puppets being persistent, Mizuki moved along with Kaede, glancing around as she ducked away from shuriken attacks. "What about Yuki-San and Noriaki-San?" she asked before tensing as a puppet made a way to stab at her through the defenses but Asuka quickly came forth and slashed it down.

Kaede also took a good share of hits in the back and Mizuki gazed worriedly. Gently touching the half-demons back. "Oh Kaede-San... Your injured..." she said worriedly but when she sniffed the wounds! the injuries were already healing on their own. Much faster compared to a human.

She smiled a little as the ronin came up with a clever plan to set the puppets on fire. The puppets cackled and screamed, attacking until they burned into ash and stopped moving.

However, as they neared the exit of the city, the ground rumbled from under their feet and the ground suddenly collapsed. Mizuki gasped as she felt a strong grip on her waist as a large wooden figure leapt from the ground and landed in front of the exit. It's large claws squeezing the Princess tight. It looked like a wooden bear with green leaves on it's back and it's head, but it was triple the size of any regular bear.

A odd black beads that emitted a demonic aura. The creatures green eyes glowing in utter rage as sparks flew from the beads. Standing at the top of the gate was two men. One in a dark blue ninja outfit, the other cloaked in complete black, wearing a white mask.

Mizuki hissed before looking up at them. "A tree spirit? And Hanzo? Hanzo what are you doing?! What did you do to this spirit?!" she yelped, her amber eyes gazing at the man in confusion. Coughing as the large claw was choking her, she growled, using her brute strength that managed to smash the wooden paw into pieces. Landing on the ground, she dodged out of the way if the spirit's attack as it slammed its other wooden claw at her.

It was odd, spirits like this one were usually harmless and didn't attack people.

Enter Hanzo, The Silent Blood Fanged Panther


Enter Mysterious Masked Man


The tree spirit roared as the masked man waved his hand, the tree spirit screaming out in agony before making another slash at them.

[Erranruin]

Kaede had brushed off every concern for her well being. She could feel the poison from the first blade pumping through her blood and stinging but other than that it did not affect her. She would be rid of it before long. At Mizuki's question about her other supposed Guardians Kaede huffed angrily. "As far as I'm concerned those who fall behind are left behind, Guarding you is their priority and they are doing a piss poor job." She watched Asuka attack their enemies with great relish and desperately wanted to join her. But the princess needed guarding and she was the best to lead them out. It was with relief that she saw Asuka catch up to them, finding herself trusting the Ronin most despite their previous enemy status. They were so close to the gate when suddenly the ground shook and Kaede was not in time to turn around before the princess had been snatched from them.

She sensed the spirit's malevolent and agonised aura, flinched slightly in sympathy, the thing was in such pain. She was about to go and grab the princess back before she actually did that herself and at that point Kaede took up position in front of her. "Princess stay behind me or close to one of the others if I am attacked." This happened quickly, the giant broken paw descending upon her whereupon she pushed Mizuki into Asuka to protect before punching the claw to pieces above her, though her hand bled and cracked under the blow. She whirled around to the Miko. "Hanami-san aim for the masked bastard!" She gestured to the Spirit controller above them on the gate top before dodging once again out of the way of the Bear spirit's enormous fists and jumping ontop of it to run along its arm to its shoulder. She had a go at slicing through the demonic beads around its neck but of course her blade simply bounced back and she had to narrowing escape being bitten in half. She jumped down its body and skidded back to the group of her comrades. "Beads will need spell breaking! Or the Miko could bless one of our swords?"

[CitrusArms]

Kouko managed to keep her balance on the roof as the ground broke beneath. She leaped from one sinking roof to another stable one, eyes settling on the Tree Spirit that was rising from underneath. Asuka had been able to take care of the puppets attacking them, but now... there was this. It would be best if they could calm it without- what's that? Black beads... that must be what's causing it to act so violently. Her eyes settled next on the two men above the gate out of the city. One seemed to be a sorcerer or some sort, while the other was... Hanzo? Someone familiar to Mizuki, from the sounds of it. Well, no matter.

Those black beads were going to be troublesome. Even in this incomplete state, the power of her sword combined with her Ki should be enough. She heard Kaede propose ideas to assault the beads, but Kouko simply smiled and burst forward from the roof. "Please leave the matter to me." She lands with her feet planted on the large creature, just below the beads. Her Ki had already been focused into her sword, and she swipes through them to cut the thread binding the focuses of dark power. Yawakaite-Te Masamune, the sword of peace, should have no trouble cutting through such aggressive energy.

Once done, the tiny woman backflips off the Tree Spirit and gets ready to deflect any incoming blows, or move out of the way.

[SailorMoon]

Hanami took Mizuki's hand and pulled her close when Kaede shielded them from the barrage of attacks, taking all of the shuriken in her back. Her eyes widened in shock when the half-demon took down more of the puppets before stopping to tend to her own wounds. Kaede looked to be alright, but Hanami wondered if she would be okay after this was over. No doubt some of their weapons were poisoned. She looked around frantically as they ran, releasing Mizuki's hand when another puppet aimed an attack at her, but was quickly cut down by Asuka's blade.

She rushed over to Kaede and Mizuki, glancing back at Asuka and the others who were still fighting to catch up. She stared in amazement at the flames that engulfed Kushiami's sakabatou as it tore through the air, reducing every puppet it touched to a pile of ashes. The Priestess had never seen anything like it...

Suddenly, she came to a quick halt as the ground beneath them trembled, falling backwards just as the Princess was grabbed by a... a giant wooden bear? No... A look of disbelief as she registered the puppet tree-spirit, and then her eyes were drawn to a masked man standing beside who she presumed to be Hanzo judging by the way Mizuki addressed them. Two of the most tainted, dark auras she had ever seen or felt surrounded their antagonist. How did Mizuki not know this guy was evil all along?

Hanami got to her feet as Kaede spoke, shaking her head. "I can't bless your weapons here, Kaede-san. It must be done in a safe, pure environment and I would be completely vulnerable..."

Quickly, she drew an arrow and placed it in it's rightful spot on the bowstring before firing off. It glowed a blinding lavender-white light as it traveled through the air, aimed straight for the Masked man. Just as she prepared another arrow, the tree-spirit charged at her, prompting her dive out of the way.

[Raineh Daze]

Pointless

There was a thud as Yuki deposited her pack on the ground, trusting nothing to waste time attacking it when there were plenty of enemies to be dealt with. She'd caught up--and she couldn't say that the group terribly impressed her so far. One ninja had been able to present so much trouble to them that she'd had to rush buying sake? Such a useless, pathetic group of worms!

To be fair, she had no idea there were puppets before now.

"You any good?" she wondered aloud, sword resting on her shoulder as she... walked past the occupied, enormous spirit and straight for the ninja? Arrogant, to expect it to either not attack or not be able to injure her, but it stopped the assassin from freely taking potshots. It was hard to aim an attack of any description when a sword was swinging to cleave you from shoulder to hip.

[Rusalka]

While the others faced off with the monstrosity of wood and earth animated by such a horrendous evil Asuka could sense, the ronin was already on her way towards the beast, her blade drawn and still heavy with the scent of leftover oil from her last debacle. She ignited the blade yet again in one brisk and abrupt motion while she was midsprint, taking to the air with several leaps and bounds off the wooden huts and landing feet first upon the bark of its wooden arms. The samurai may not be able to slay this harrowing creature alone, yet at least her burning sakabatou could hinder its attacks and place the angered spirit's attention towards her and not the others while the focused their attack on the beads emitting such a foul and tainted aura.

Her blade struck several times at the demon's wooden exterior, only able to leave scorch marks with every slash, no major damage inflicting whatsoever. Suddenly, the massive talons of the beast were closing upon her viciously. The first swipe was simple to evade, yet on the second, she was struck hard by the barbed paw of the spirit, throwing her to the ground at mach speeds. "AGH!" She yelped, the insidious pain spiking every nerve in her body, yet she stood very alive, but wounded no less, scratched and bruised, some abrasions seeping blood into her dirty and tattered robes. However, her bothersome strikes had enraged the spirit, and he was in full force towards the ronin. I shall keep this beast's vengeful attention, that I will! It will give my other comrades a perfect opening! At this point, all Asuka could do was anticipate when those deadly claws would come crashing for her and evade them in a fraction of time. It has to be Hanzo-san controlling this spirit, indeed! Or perchance the masked figure who accompanied the corrupted and malevolent shinobi.

[Silver Fox]

Mizuki blinked a little as Kaede stepped in front of her, ordering her to stay behind her. She gasped a little as she pushed out of the way and into Asuka's arms. Kaede and Kouko tried to go for the beads, but the energy was so odd and demonic, their attacks bounced off of it. Looking up at Hanzo and the Masked Man, her amber gaze widened as Hanami's arrow flew at the strange man who raised a hand toward the holy arrow. It slowed before melting at his feet, turning into black ooze.

Looking at Hanzo, who simply watched even as Yuki arrived and was heading towards him. Why? Hanzo was a stern man but kind. Then again, he took his duty seriously and was probably following orders. It meant death and dishonor if a ninja were to disobey their lord after all. Still, why was he hanging around such a dark man? Was this man a demon? He smelled like one or even a evil spirit. Whoever he was, he was obviously able to control spirits and use them to do his bidding.

As Yuki spoke to Hanzo, he simply looked at her as if she was unimportant. "Value is based on skill. Not words. But my business is not with you." he spoke, his voice strong and serious, though he looked relaxed, he was ready for the warrior to attack him.

The Masked Man simply turned slightly toward the ninja. "We shall retreat when I get a good examination of this beast of yours... Though the red crow would make a fine pet as well. Better then this weakling tree spirit." he said! the voice silky and indifferent muffled slightly by the mask.

Mizuki eyes narrowed before looking at the enraged tree spirit as it lashed wildly at the others. It wasn't its fault, it was just in pain and being tormented by that man. How to stop it though?

"Give me..... Energy....Collar..." A voice spoke within her mind.

Confused, she looked around but saw no one other then her new comrades. Seeing the bear make a angry charge at Asuka who had used her flaming sword to get its attention and even getting injured for it, Mizuki's ears perked as she saw a opening. Piercing her lips together, knowing what she was about to do was going to irritate her protectors but she had to do something. She couldn't let Asuka get killed and she had to calm the spirit down..

Breathing softly, her amber gaze locked on target and she sped toward it, leaving the safety of her Guardians using her demonic speed. With a great leap, she jumped onto the bear's leafy back, her hands grabbing onto the dark beads. A soft scream and growl emitted her throat as sparks flew, the demonic energy seeping into her hands and turned them black. The bear reared and roared as iIt rampaged along the open area, trying to shake the Princess off. It even tried to body slam her against a few buildings, but she still wouldn't let go.

Gasping as she felt wood pierce her back, she held on tighter. "Please... Calm down... I know it hurts.. But if you just let us help..." she spoke clinging desperately to the wood as the spirit reared and rolled. However, it seemed to pause at her words, the beads slowly turning into a grey as the demonic energy was seeped out of them but roared in agony as the masked man waved his hand it.

"Worthless beast..... Make yourself useful and lend me your magic.." The masked man ordered, holding a dark green orb which had black purple mist swirl within it. The spirit roared and puppets appeared from the wood of nearby houses. Shuffling toward the group.

[CitrusArms]

It didn't work. Something was strange about the beads. Had she misread it? Before she could question further, the Princess ran into the action. "Hime-sama!" She watched the girl as she climbed up and grabbed hold of the beads... draining them? Their color changed... had she been mistaken? They're corrupted, not demonic? The masked man held a strange orb. While she was worried about the Princess, it would be easiest to simply end things now, instead of try and hold her back. She seemed like she could handle herself somehow, anyway. Maybe it was because she was a demon.

No matter. "The orb." Kouko made her way back to the rooftops, and then to the top of the gate to face the masked man. Without a word, she charged him, swinging her sword for the orb with a backhand motion, using her right hand. She expected him to pull it away. Planned for it. Using the momentum from her sword swing, she put her body behind a punch with her left hand, Ki focused into her fist as it flies for his face. Miss or no, her foot would be the next thing aimed for his face. That mask annoyed her.

[SailorMoon]

After diving out of the Tree Spirit's path, the pained sound of Kushiama grabbed her, forcing her to look at her comrade. She shivered slightly when she noticed the fresh blood reddening Asuka's robe. W-would it be wise to try and heal her at a time like this? Hanami thought so, as this was clearly life or death. She owed it to the ronin. Scrambling to her feet, she made a run for it to her injured comrade, but was cut off by the giant bear spirit nearly crashing into her with it's mouth open like it wanted to devour her. Hanami stumbled back just in time, nearly falling over.

Mizuki's silver hair caught her attention as it danced around her right before leaping onto the spirit's back. "Hime-dono!" She shouted to her, worry consuming her. A look of terror crossed her face, her eyes widening as the energy from the beads drained from it and fed Mizuki's own demonic aura. "Princess, what are you doing?!" Delicate fingers reached for another arrow before setting it on the nocking point. She breathed slowly, tearing her eyes from the rampaging beast and aiming at the orb in the masked man's hands. Probably a bad idea, even with Yuki and Kouko baiting him, he might still be able to stop her arrows and that would be more time for the tree-spirit to cause even more damage to them.

She needed to think fast, just behind her the familiar *clunking* sound of wooden limbs grew closer.

The arrow flew from the bowstring, whizzing towards the beaded necklace in that same blinding purple-white light. The arrowhead erupted into series of large, white lights as it connected with the necklace, purifying the remainder of the dark energy inside of the beads and releasing it in the form of lavender colored speckles. Hanami could sense the anger and hurt surrounding the once peaceful spirit vanishing as it bathed in the white light, healing it's battle wounds and returning it to it's original self. She walked over to the beast, hesitantly staring it in the eyes... She knew the masked one was powerful just by how quickly he discarded her purifying arrows and feared he might target the spirit again.

"You're fine now...We're here to help, Spirit." She quickly slid the necklace from around it's neck, and wrapped it around her wrist. It would have to be disposed of properly if they didn't want it to be used again.

"Hime-dono, you're hurt...?" She asked softly, her expression soft and concerned as she extended a hand to her to help her down from the spirit's back. She stopped when the sound of wood clunking behind her tickled her ears. A puppet had found it's way over to them, only within arms reach now.

[Erranruin]

Kaede had nodded in understanding to the Miko's explanation of the limits of her abilities. Truthfully she only knew what Miko's were capable of vaguely, having always been an enemy of them in the past. She humphed as she watched her arrow arch towards the Masked individual and growled angrily as it melted away into nothing at his feet. She briefly tapped the Miko's shoulder in assurance. "Not your fault Miko-san." Before the berserker arrived. She growled low in her throat, oh so she's decided to turn up now had she? And make snarky comments too. She was not in Kaede's good books, especially when Asuka was risking her life very brazenly at the Spirit's feet. Kaede started forward, intending to help her but she knew she couldn't leave the princess.

However that problem was solved for her as a dashing figure passed her by without her being able to catch her. She cursed aggressively as she watched the Princess completely disobey her orders and put herself in awful danger. She knew it had to be something the princess knew that the rest of them didnt but still. She simply kept up with the Princess, leaping up with her just as the Miko shot her arrow and running along the shoulder to grab her up in her arms and jump down to the Miko.

"Heal her please Miko-san, I will deal with these." Taking Asuka's very great example she found a lantern nearby and quickly got oil running down the length of her blade before striking it against a stone just so, lighting the whole blade ablaze. She took a defensive stance in front of the Miko and Princess. "Asuka-dono are you still fit to fight?" She called over to the brave Ronin before looking up at the others who were trying to deal with the two strange men. She doubted they could do anything but distract them however a distraction may be all they would need, an opening would be enough to flee with the princess and regroup out of the city. Just then the puppets made their move and Kaede was ready for them, her blade slicing and splintering them apart, leaving their corpses to burn, keeping them very far away from the Princess and the Miko.

[Rusalka]

Thrashed and marred by painful abrasions she was, yet the ronin refused to surrender. Her skin was dyed red with her own blood, maybe so, but the fierce and valiant undulating of her warrior heart pounded against her ribs with the morale-rising sound of a war drum sounding in her ear figuratively. Wiping a few stray drops of red liquid from her eyes, she clutched her sakabatou, still alight with the remaining oil on her blade. The beast was not inherently evil, indeed it wasn't. Those dishonorable men perched atop the city gate, akin to ravenous vultures awaiting the taste of putrid, discarded carrion, were the ones responsible for this chaos, inflicting strife upon the once benevolent tree spirit with an agonizing torture, brought upon by those accursed beads of demonic energy.

It appeared all was well at first. The anger of the majestic beast had been quelled, but Asuka furrowed her brow in worry upon the aftermath. The Princess, though foolish in her reckless endeavor, was quite valiant, but she had to have been wounded, absorbing every ounce of corrupted energy from those infernal beads. And the tree spirit was the least of their worries now, as there were the nefarious two who observed the bloody and harrowing spectacle from above, and....they had returned.

The clatter of wood caught her ear by surprise, but with ample agility the ronin swiftly evaded the cowardly attack from behind in a backflip over the wooden fiend and one single blow decapitating it, leaving the rest of its pine-knotted body to burn into ashes. Dashing across the battlefield, she made her way to the side of the miko, noticing apprehensively the woman had the Princess cradled in her arms. "You must do as Kaede-dono decrees, that you should Miko-dono. The Princess is in dire need. I will offer my blade to defend you along with Kaede-dono, that I will." Alongside her crimsoned comrade, she clutched the hilt of her blade tight and joined Kaede in the slaughter of the amassing wooden foes. One by one they fell to their burning blades, ashes and soot piling at the feet of the noble warriors and blackening their toes, and the horrid wails of agony from the puppets filling their ears with revelry. Just as it were in those olden days when these two would unsheathe their katanas and lay waste to several upon several battalions of armed samurai. It indeed ignited that old spark again in Asuka's eye. "I am wounded, Kaede-dono!" She called valiantly to her companion, that ever notorious glare upon her blood-soaked face, her blood mind you. "But no matter the severity, I will not falter to my enemies! I can still fight, indeed I can!"

Hopefully their defenses would hold, giving enough time for Hanami to heal and care for Hime-dono. There was also the matter of the shinobi Hanzo-san and his malevolent ally, such a coward to hide his face behind a mask, and to so brazenly ridicule the warriors from atop his perch rather than face them headlong upon the field of battle. It seemed though shortly, and quite welcomed, their drunken friend had returned, brashly challenging the ninja while the short woman, wielding her blade of peace, was in dealing with the masked figure. The attack was brave yet foolish, however it would prove a distraction, the one thing these few warriors needed, but some distractions are never welcomed. She turned her back on one for a few seconds....a tactical error.

Suddenly, she felt it, the sharp, infernal pain of being run through. Her eyes dilated, opening wide as a cough of blood was issued forth from her mouth, and seeped between her lips. Her entire body quivered violently, the agony of that blade sticking through her abdomen burning through her veins. Another spout of blood forced its way past her mouth, but this time in a fearsome cry of war. A quick shot of adrenaline exploded through her heart and in one harsh and powerful movement, she turned to face her executioner, her blade slicing the puppet in half at the torso, and taking its bloodied weapon with her. She yanked the katana from her body, wincing at the shrill misery of the blade digging through her flayed skin, blood, viscous and horrible, pouring profusely from the ghastly wound. "I shall not die to you!" Her shouts, they were indeed intimidating, but more-so fearsome was the sight, having been run through by the blade of a cowardly bastard and still fighting forward.

She could sense her body weakening with every strike, her form slightly hindering, it felt sloppy almost, yet the puppets fell victim to her fury, but soon...so would she.... She could only push herself along so much.......

[Raineh Daze]

Pointless

"My business is with anyone that can fight," Yuki answered, watching everyone else fight--and apparently struggle against--the wooden creature, "Dangerous creatures, no matter how strong, do not appeal to me. A contest just of strength? Not worth my time."

Implicit in the statement was the expectation that Hanzo could match her physical attributes, allowing skill to factor into it. If he was prepared to fight, he had to be skilled in all arts, rather than just another assassin that failed when you got too close to them, right? Well, she was going to find out.

The one-armed samurai stood atop the gate, facing Hanzo with sword drawn--and then attacked. It was a 'normal' attack, if such a thing existed for her blade. Vertical cut; a nodachi wasn't suited for the normal diagonal. Blocking it would clarify one thing: it was extraordinarily heavy, and very sharp.

[SailorMoon]

Hanami gave a curt nod to Kaede and Asuka as she was left with the task of healing The Princess. "This will only take a second, Hime-dono..." She shifted behind Mizuki, tenderly touching the spot where the wood had pierced her. It wasn't too bad, just a simple puncture wound that probably looked worse than it felt. Placing her palms down onto the broken skin, a warm light peeked out from underneath her fingertips as her healing energy transferred to Mizuki. She could feel the skin tightening back up in the area, and the swelling going down. Dropping her hands, she looked at her work briefly, satisfied with herself. Healing was one of her favorite things about being a Miko. Had it not been for her abnormally large spirit pool, she would be just like every other Miko that nearly had their own life drained every time they healed someone. This is what Chihomi picked her for.

"All done, Princess..." She looked to the others after hearing Asuka shout out in pain, and then back to Mizuki with a concerned expression. If she didn't help Asuka, she would surely fall in this battle. Hanami knew the ronin had already taken quite the beaten from the tree-spirit, or else she would be in pristine condition. "Later, I can take care of some of your more minor injuries, but right now I have to help the others!" Reaching for an arrow and setting it, she released it into a puppet that was about to strike Kushiami from behind. Unlike her purification arrows, this one was meant to seal it's target. "Please, stay out of trouble, Hime-dono. We can protect you if you stay right here..." She pleaded, stressing the please with her most hopeful look.

Hanami rushed over to Kushiami and stopped in front of her before producing several ofuda from an inner pocket in her haori. She targeted the three closest puppets, flicking her wrist to release the paper talisman's onto their forehead. The puppets fell onto the ground like... well, puppets without a master. Her ufoda were normally used in cases of exorcism, but in this case they cut off the energy they were receiving from the Masked Man. Unfortunately, she only kept a limited supply and would need to make more later. There was no way she had enough to battle a whole puppet army.

"Kushiami-san, are you okay?" She drew another arrow, shooting it into another puppet and sealing it against the wall.

[Silver Fox]

Pain coursed through her body, Mizuki flinched as she felt Kaede pick her up. Her amber gaze blinked slowly as she looked at her black arms, bubbling a little from then beads corruption before it slowly disappeared. The red haired warrior then gave her to the Priestess for healing before defending them from the puppets. They seemed a bit more sloppy from before, most likely using the tree spirits power to make them more efficient. But as the orb glowed from the Masked Man's hand, the tree spirit growled weakly as the puppets moved and attacked.

Mizuki flinched only slightly as Hanami healed her wounds, but frowned when she heard Asuka's painful scream. Worried, she stood to go and assist but the Priestess pleaded her to stay before going to assist as well. Amber gaze narrowing, she glanced back up at the gate to see Hanzo. It was unlike him to reveal himself on a mission... Unless killing her wasn't his objective? If it was, she would be dead by now.

As Kouko went after the Masked Man, aiming for the orb, he moved in swift speed as he moved out of the way of the blades, his focus slightly away from controlling the puppets. "Foolish girl." he spoke coldly, leaping back onto another roof of a building, black leechlike creatures bursting out of his cloak and making their way to land on the assaulting ninja.

Hanzo watched boredly as the warrior made a strike at him, a vertical strike at that. Predictable move and he had estimated it. In a blink of the eye, his body disappeared in a puff of black smoke, and in replacement was a large round brown object with a fuse at the end. As the sword swung down upon it, easily slicing it, it flashed a bright whitish red light before making a loud sound. Boom! The bomb exploded in a massive burst, the gate crumbling and the rubble falling to the ground and blocking the exit. Making a little harder for the groups escape. It probably wouldn't be too big of a problem to climb over for seasoned warriors, but their stamina was probably running lower by the moment.

Mizuki's eyes widened as she looked around for the ninja, seeing he wasn't in sight now. Until her ears perked as the familiar scent briefly brushed her nose. She tried to dive foreword but she yelped as she felt a sharp object pierce her shoulder before a hand grasped her shoulder. Trying to turn around, she yelped as a cold stone substance pressed against her fresh wound and two fingers pressing against her forehead as low chanting was whispered. Just as fast as he came, Hanzo had already left and was standing on a roof a bit further away holding a orb filled with dark blood.

The Princess panted, getting to her feet, shaking a little from the shock. But she was alive... For some reason. It was easy.. He could have done it there... But he had just stabbed her in the shoulder. Her vision blurred and she wobbled. Too much of her energy was used from the running and attempting to stop the tree spirit. Mizuki wobbled before collapsing, passing out and slipping into unconsciousness.

The ninja just watched before looking toward the Masked Man. "Leave the rest to the puppets and men.... Lord Yakoto needs the report." he spoke briefly before disappearing once more after throwing a smoke bomb.

Tsking the Masked Man looked at them, chanting a little before regular soldiers men appeared from the alleys. Tossing the orb to a very large man. He huffed a bit as he slowly seemed to melt. "Do play with them more...." he spoke before disappearing, his cloak the only thing remaining.

The tree spirit roared, using its massive paws to bash the puppets away before looking at the Guardians. "....We must go as well...I can carry you all on my back over the rubble." the bear spoke in a deep voice.

[CitrusArms]

The Masked Man avoided the punch intended to break that mask of his. He was faster than she expected, especially carrying something as cumbersome as that orb. He would be troublesome in the future. But what had her attention now were the black leeches that had burst from his cloak. The fiend! She jumps back, off the gate and onto the wall, escaping most of them, but her left arm had caught a few of them. If she hadn't gone for the punch, she might have gotten away clean but... she couldn't fight like this. They'd drain her faster if she did. The martial artist crouched and carefully cut each one in half to remove them. Once the suction broke, the half attached to her skin fell harmlessly away.

She couldn't leave her arm that way, she'd loose too much blood, especially if she continued fighting. It was too dangerous to tend to her arm here, however. She'd have to leave the princess in the care of the others, and depend on their skill, at least until she could stall the bleeding. She'd have to have the priestess heal her arm properly, later. The Martial Artist carefully picked her way down the rubble of the gate, landing on the outside of the city and finding cover in which to tend her arm. Use her Ki to stay the bleeding, wrap it, and then get back to the fight. She shouldn't leave them for long.

[Raineh Daze]

Pointless

Yuki did her best to stop her blade but it's greatest strength--its sheer weight--was also guaranteed to make it more or less impossible to do so without simply sending the thing careening off into somebody's face. So, naturally, she cut the bomb in half and did her best to get back from the blast.This was more or less completely successful. It did not, however, help with being on the remnants of the structurally ruined gatehouse, causing Yuki to drop to the rubble below and stumble as she regained her balance.

"COWARD!"

Completely unsurprisingly, the samurai wasn't too pleased with being cheated of a fight like that. Her frustration? Taken out on one of the supporting pillars of the wall, burying her in yet more rubble as she brought the rest of it crashing down. This also proved that her sword was greater than a wooden post.

She stomped across the battlefield, keeping the enemies to her left and bisecting anything that got too close. Puppet, idiotic ninja--anything that attempted to slow Yuki as she made her way to her target fell in two neat pieces; the cannon-fodder simply couldn't do much once it trapped itself in range. Finally, she got back to the most important thing on the battlefield: her pack. Plenty of booze, the enormous shogi variant and its pieces and, packing the remaining space and making sure nothing rattled around, somewhat startling quantities of spare clothing.

Pack back in place, she traced her original path to the gatehouse; once again keeping enemies on her left. The others could rely on a wooden bear if they wanted, a small mound of fallen wood and tiling wasn't going to slow her...