corrinesbell | 101. Experience

[now that her most obvious element of surprise has been outed, Sheena emerges from her hiding place, empty-handed but in a defensive stance]

Guess that one didn't work out.

Hiding won't work on me!

[She flicks her wrist, presenting her sword. She draws it back, lined up for the attack.]

[usually she uses the knives if her sparring partner has a slicing weapon, but this time it's just two seal cards per hand and a smirk]

You don't have to get all worked up over it. It was worth a try.

[The cards seem designed to be thrown... if there wasn't a strong likelihood of them freezing right to Sheena's hands right about now. Have a smug smile that will be wiped off Mercury's face if it doesn't work.

Not that she'd leave Sheena without her weapons for long. She wants a real challenge.]

[it's a little cold, but Sheena's rushing in now, cards ready for close combat instead. They're versatile, as most ninja weapons are]

I'll release you if you want a real fight.

[Mercury drops to a defensive stance as she makes her offer.]

Or are you just a coward pretending she could be a soldier?

[Mercury's closest influence is... very samurai in his outlooks. Sneakier ninja ways are irritating her. How amusingly appropriate.]

[Ooh. That one actually strikes home for Sheena, but it just makes her up the speed and...maybe strike at Ami a little harder than she normally would, in a spar.]

I'm not a soldier.

[[ooc: In case you haven't seen it, Sheena primarily attacks by striking cards-in-hand, so in this case here she'd be inside the range of Ami's sword until Ami moved again]]

So it's a coward?

[Mercury, it turns out, is quick; she seems to have little trouble with movement and evasion. The trick will be overpowering her if Sheena can; she's still not very physically strong and while her form is good, it lacks force.]

[Sheena's quick too, and her whole style is based on attacking before a defense is necessary. Also it's pretty easy to tell you are annoying her because she's not taunting you back. As long as she can stay inside Ami's sword-striking range she'll keep attacking, hard and fast]

You're quick.

[This is said during a second in which Mercury has a chance to breathe. Then it's her turn. She strikes out harder now, not just parrying and evading but pressing for an opening for attacks of her own. They come bluntly and strong, but very slightly overextended.]

[Sheena can block the sword with the cards only because they're special and mana-strengthened. Not ordinary paper. Given half a chance she'll dodge in again and use a Pyre Seal, which would off-balance Ami and knock her over]

[Already overextended, it's not as difficult as it would otherwise be to unbalance Mercury the rest of the way enough for her to go down.

Sheena has clearly not learned the lesson here. An angry swipe of Mercury's sword against the air sends a rather powerful blast of focused energy right at her, mostly to keep Sheena away while she gets up- but getting hit by it would certainly hurt (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgmhmVlH37U).]

[she's become overbalanced too, at just the right moment to be thrown off by that energy. She turns it into a rather ungraceful roll to standing again, but yeah. It hurt.]

[Mercury uses that time to get up. She smirks as she takes a readied position- but notably, she actually waits for Sheena. Only then does she run towards her opponent, sword leading, in a series of quick blows.]

Edited 2010-06-07 05:37 (UTC)

[On the defensive is not the place Sheena likes to be. She's fast enough to avoid any serious hits, but her clothes (and skin) are neatly scratched in a few places before she finds her next opening, ducking and lunging forward to try for another Life Seal. Hopefully it'll stun Ami without really doing much damage]

[Mercury's quick- but not enough, this time. She finds herself blinking a couple times, trying to pull herself together when she's not even sure why she's not together. Had Sheena hit her...? She doesn't feel an injury...]

[Sheena's grinning. That attack takes energy from the opponent and gives some of it back to her. Now she steps back and waits. Ami did the same for her, after all.]

[Oh, Sheena. There is only one possible reaction to that as Mercury quickly pieces together what must have happened.]

I want to learn it, too.

I'll think about it.

[Something changes right about then. Mercury's still smiling, but instead of that somewhat forced-seeming smirk, it's become a girl actually enjoying herself. This is fun, testing her limits, having a partner that challenges her, seeing these new techniques.

This doesn't mean she'll make it easy. Mercury gives a brusque nod, and steps in towards Sheena again. She'd rather keep her distance from the cards, but her sword's range isn't enough unless she channels her energy through it, which she doesn't want to do right now.]

[Sheena can do distance. She takes a ninja-jump and throws a 'few,' which are meant to become a kind of ring of cards that stops you from going places. No one on this end of the narration actually understands just how that works. Go with it]

[She suspects interfering with the cards themselves would be about as useful as interfering with the ofuda used in one of Mars' attacks. No, it's the attack she has to neutralize instead. It doesn't even take her a second to realize it, but without an idea to counter it- she finds herself held.]

[The technique behind the cards is so secretive that only Sheena knows it. So messing with them? No idea what that'd do. On its own, just holding her there isn't very useful when there's nothing for Sheena to recover from, so as she rushes in to attack she'll let her go. So Ami can defend. This is a spar, Sheena, not a real fight, geez]

[It's OK; Mercurys hide an over-competitive streak. As soon as she's free to move, Mercury changes direction - Sheena's had way too much time to prepare for whatever move Mercury was setting up before. She lines herself up and turns towards Sheena, weapon striking upward towards the midsection.]

Edited 2010-06-07 06:19 (UTC)

[she stumbles back, the edge of the sword leaving a cut that is much less serious than intended. Thankfully. Catching herself in a stumble of all things, she jumps and flips backwards, landing at a safe distance. ...A stronger Life Seal would be great right about now...]

[action!]

Re: [action!]

[action!]

Re: [action!]

[action!]

Re: [action!]

[action!]

Re: [action!]

[action!]

Re: [action!]

[action!]

Re: [action!]

[action!]

Re: [action!]

[action!] cheater :P

Re: [action!] i beg forgiveness! T_T

[action!]

Re: [action!]

[action!]

Re: [action!]

[action!]

Re: [action!]

[action!]

Re: [action!]

[action!]