RP:Lesson Four in the Cerulean Flowers
Part of the Requiem Nocturnus Arc
Cerulean Flowers
Kasyr is once more waiting within frostmaw, for the opportunity to duel the feline. Kneeling amidst the flowers, the hybrid can't help but count the moments until his wife arrives- for the opportunity to continue her training. It was her expression that he hopes to see most, when she'd walk into this secluded area, only to greeted by the sight of a cave full of blooming flowers and glimmering katanas- more than a dozen of the weapons having been placed in this section of the cave in preperation for the days activities. One such weapon is planted directly before the tiefling, just in case the feline comes prepared.
Satoshi has the most unsettling feeling of déjà vu when she strolls into the field of flowers to find the tiefling waiting there. A particularly anxious moment is taken to glance around in search of another cliff or a gleam of those dreaded wires. Neither are found, but that does nothing to ease the feline's nerves as she looks back at Kasyr, a brow raised in inquiry. "Y'know, most folks arrange a candlelit dinner and such for the romantic setting. What's the occasion~?" The playful, casual tone to her voice is utterly false, but at least she's -trying- to act at ease.
Kasyr extends one hand then the other, gesturing towards the weapons embedded in various positions across the room, "You said to train tu normally? ..Well, take your pick- take up a sword et come at moi. As you said, you know the basics. How not to kill yourself. Enfin, everything else es going to have to be tailored to how you move, to what you are...et how you are." With that said, the hybrids left hand falls back down to the ground, so the hybrid can begin to lazily lean off to one side.
Satoshi's eyes narrow with deep suspicion and she doesn't take another step further from the mine's cavemouth. "It's never that simple with you... You're up to something, I can feel it..." Nonetheless, a clawed hand finds a resting place on the hilt of the frost-katana at her side, the grip vaguely comfortable in nature. "Might be predictable, but I'm choosing this one. I know this one, not those others. And it knows me, so it'll do." A hum of something akin to delight comes from the frozen blade as it patiently waits in its metal sheath. And it's going to be waiting for some time if the tiefling doesn't move, because Satoshi makes no attempts at first strike as she remains firmly planted at the field's entrance.
Kasyr frowns slightly, before simply resting the right hand upon the hilt of the blade, and grabbing at a rock with his left. From there, simply comes an altogether haphazard bit of rock pelting in the felines direction- majoritarily aimed at her legs, "...Might want to adopt a proper stance of some sort, rather than just forming a sword, n'est ce pas? ...Tell tu what, Trainings over if tu can cut me with a properly used sword...Thrice. ...ou something."
Satoshi is caught between a rock and a hard place with the offer. The hard place being, it presented an end to the lesson that's hardly even begun. However, it also requires her abandoning the distance between herself and the tiefling, something her very core balks at in these situations. And the 'rock' of this mess is... well.. the actual rocks being chucked at her, forcing her into a haphazard little side-to-side dance of avoidance. "Oi!" It's one of these stones that goes unavoided, clipping across her knee with a painful crack, that finally provokes the feline into making a sudden decision. With a growl the katana's drawn, levelled at Kasyr, and promptly thrown, it humming as it spins end over frosty end in rapid rotations. Not the wisest decision, but her temper has never been particularly sagely.
Kasyr doesn't bother moving from his spot, choosing to instead tighten his grasp upon the sword in front of him and promptly wrench it free with as much force as he could muster. An action which serves to both send the frost-borne katana spiraling upwards with enough force to embed it into the ceiling, whilst also sending a spray of rocks towards the felines position. "...Clever, J'suppose. But now I expect it. Et don't even think about dropping it on moi."
Satoshi can't stop herself from watching her katana's flight path shift abruptly upward, the hesitation long enough to earn herself another pelting of rocks, with a rather large one bouncing off her forehead as a painful reminder to pay attention. Grumbling indignantly, the feline shifts her feet, settling into a sturdier stance as the tiefling is given another calculating look. "Fine. Three times? I can do that. After all," there's a subtle shift in the air as the magus talks, the mists present going from a randomly swirling to a more orderly movement, gathering in five thick, half-frozen tendrils that eliminate the distance factor between her hands and a quintet of waiting katanas. "You gave me enough swords to do it~." With a violent jerk to fold her arms before her, Satoshi forces the icy ropes to yank free the bound blades with a speed both physically and magically propelled, and essentially whip the lot of them at the tiefling in unison. Lose one katana, use five more.
Kasyr s' hands become a sudden blur of motion, a rapidly materialised sheathe appearing within the hybrids left hand. The scabbard manages to deal with two, a dextrous twirl managing to capture the improvised projectiles and at once send them sailing off in the other direction. The sword is also used to some degree of success, another swift strike managing to slam a katana straight down into the ground in front of himself- leaving the hybrid just enough time to nimbly fall to the side to evade one blade, as another punchs straight into his gut."Hrk. ...Properly. ..What..part. Of." Quietly groaning in pain, the hybrid can't help but stare down at the weapon protruding from him like some morbid placeholder- coaxing him to move- to push himself off the ground despite himself- to simply avoid the feline repeating the action. "..Es...that..one? ..Are you going...to fight proper?" ...For a second, it almost seems like there's a sparking around the tieflings right hand
Satoshi's moment of smugness over an ill-won point is short-lived, with any feelings of elation she has immediately wilting and dying upon spying the glimmer of sparks. Abruptly awash with a dread that's enough to make even the cryomancer shiver, Satoshi stumbles back a number of steps in preparation to turn and bolt. The only factor that holds her in place is Kasyr's question. "I will... if -that- doesn't come into play..." She has no doubt he knows what she's referring to. As a way to back her own words she squares her shoulders and stands firm, a suddenly manifested zanbato-formed Asorial grasped between her hands and crackling with wicked delight. At the very least, the excessively lengthy blade might help her stay out of -his- immediate reach.
Kasyr drops the sheathe, paying no heed to the ouroboros born item as it dissipates into a black ooze which slithers it's way over to the hybrids foot. What remains is merely the moment, as the tieflings left hand moves to grasp at the katana sticking out of him- so that he can gradually pull it out of him. Unnatural regeneration born of both his nature, and his tendancy to eat anything that tries to kill him serves neatly to prevent any sort of undue bleeding- allowing Kasyr to focus more upon the present, "..So... One. I'll give tu.. that." So now the feline simply had to deal with the tiefling using two mundane katanas'. That couldn't be too bad, could it?
Satoshi will take her chances with dual-wielded katanas over facing Empera anyday. Still, there's an obvious tone of hesitance in the magus' steps as she shuffles back to her prior spot, the tip of Asorial's blade weaving unsteady, cautious patterns in the air throughout. "No magic, for no wires... Right?" Paranoid? Yes, but for damn good reason.
Kasyr begins to slowly step forward, his movements akin to a drunkards swagger as he seems to sway back and forth towards the felines left. It's as though the hybrid can't gather the focus to approach the feline head-on, "Right. Now. Get started... enfin."
Satoshi hurriedly sidesteps right, striving to keep the tiefling directly in front of her even at the cost of the convenient escape route formerly behind her. A drawn out moment is spent this way, repeatedly correcting her position, before the feline suddenly lunges forward with the zanbato's blade snaking out at Kasyr's left arm. Just as abruptly, however, Satoshi dances back in retreat, waiting another moment before making the same quick feint to his right. Her intentions are to feel out the hybrid's reflexes, to determine if his swagger is feigned or real, and while she's not exactly aiming to hit she's also not going to complain if her test jabs actually connect.
Kasyr reels to the right as Satoshis' blade bursts forward towards his arm, narrowly evading the blade whilst allowing himself to continue treading forward towards her. It's only when the second strike comes that his composure seems to snap back to what it was, the blade in his left hand shifted forward to shove Satoshis second strike askew, "Not bad. Not.reckless. Don't let moi back you to the wall." And as though on cue, the hybrids making a quick dash forward, right blade thrust towards the midst of her torso, whilst the left is retracted back so he could defend.
Satoshi tries to heed the words first, shifting forward before abruptly flinching off to the left upon spotting the incoming strike too late, receiving a chunk carved from her side for the delayed reaction. Hissing, the feline continues her initial move away from the wall in a limped dash intended to put her side by side with Kasyr as the zanbato's seven foot blade thrusts out low, at an awkward angle meant to tangle with the tiefling's legs and trip him up long enough for her to slip by and once more put the gap of distance between themselves. And bring her closer to the spot directly beneath her frost-katana, still embedded in the ceiling and humming miserably.
Kasyr , whilst not as impaired as he displayed, is not exactly expecting the blade to be slipped between his legs. Given the unpleasentness that could ensue from such a manuver the hybrid can't really be blamed for the zeal in which he deals with the problem, slamming down both the blades he'd been holding on either side of the Zanbato, so as to prevent it from being lifted it in an altogether unpleasent manner. From there, he simply waves back, ripping a nearby Katana out of the wall, before cautiously beginning to make his way towards the feline anew.
Satoshi risks a momentary lapse in her concentration to comment teasingly on the hybrid's hurried fending off of Asorial. "Aww, wasn't gonna~. That'd hurt me as much as you~." Any further words she might have will need to wait however as she returns her focus to Kasyr's approach with a determined air. Again she attempts a handful of feints and jabs, testing out both her sword and tiefling's maneuverability. One such thrust, aimed for the wound already inflicted, is given more reach and an abrupt change into an diagonal swipe to scour the hybrid's left shoulder. And accomplish what Ayras long ago cut short her hair as punishment for, leaving herself open after an attack. Oops.
Kasyr is driven back this time, carefully using the space he had gained to retreat in turn- not overtly desiring to dash straight towards the feline when she was still close to her ceiling rooted blade. It's only when his wife devotes herself to a particular attack that his evasiveness is traded in for offense. Dashing straight forward, the hybrid impacts -into- the blade near the hilt,trading a shallow gash for a chance at jarring the felines blades from her hand, All the while, his blade wielding hand simply moves to twirl the sword around, so that it's the hilt that faces Satoshis' stomach when the sword wielding hand juts towards her gut.
Satoshi suddenly finds herself unarmed, and in the fleeting second she takes to blink with surprise she likewise finds the hilt of a blade being painfully driven into her stomach, the force more than enough to send her small form tumbling back and out of the tiefling's immediate vicinity. It's from her place sprawled on the ground where she landed that the bloodied kit-vampire discovers one small blessing in that mishap: she's managed to end up beneath her katana finally. Smirking, and stifling a pained groan, she scrambles to her feet to face Kasyr, the blade already trickling down from the roof and pooling into her hand. "That's two, yes?" Giving the water in her hand a quick shake, Satoshi wills it back into its frozen form before levelling it at Kasyr, waiting.
Kasyr nods, a slight smirk creasing his features, "That's two, oui. Et not bad at recovering your weapon." That said, the hybrid begins to move forward anew, What starts as a walk quickly turns into a dash, the likes of which only ends when the tiefling nears when of the swords scattered at the center of the room. It's only then that the hybrid hits the ground with the momentum he's gathered, sliding towards the feline, and scooping up another weapon on the path towards her, both held before him as though awaiting some form of retribution.
Satoshi winces as she dances sideways a number of steps, the gash in her side protesting all the movement of the past few moments. "Just one more..." Although it seems more of an impossibility now than earlier with each passing moment becoming more labored than the last, and her limited selection of techniques running on empty. And here the tiefling is with seemingly boundless energy, charging her anew. Well, two can play at that game. Gritting her teeth, Satoshi goes into a headlong dash at the hybrid, her form lowering abruptly a pace from him, a whispered word allowing her to freeze the hilt of her katana into the earth as her charge strives to bring her beneath the tiefling's blades and into a tackle against his legs. Reckless, yes, but success means she'll knock his feet from under him and use his own weight to bring him down on the waiting blade of ice. Either way, it's all the feline has left as far as energy goes, and so last ditch effort it is.
Kasyr thankfully is poised to crash into the ground anyways, given his intention to slide towards her. This prevents him from being brained against the ground, On the other hand, this makes it childs play to keep him pinned for the sparse few moments it takes him to slip straight into the sword- his stop coming courtesy of the blade Satoshi had set into the ground. This left him with her glacial blade buried rather neatly into his leg, carried by the same momentum he'd been relying upon. Peachy. As for his own offensive, the tackle had knocked his arms aside, but the feline couldn't really overpower him for long, and so the feline would find herself being gingerly prodded with the Katanas', "...Urk. ...Creative, peut-etre. It'd still end up with tu skewered..normally. Be glad I like tu..atop moi, et all." That was about as docile as the hybrid could act, with a sword stuck in his leg.
Satoshi flinches and mews with each jab from the katanas until she deems the best way to avoid them is to simply go from futilely pinning the tiefling to nuzzling closely. Take that awkward angle, stupid swords! Burying her head against his neck, she gives the scarf its due nibbles before mumbling, "Heh. That makes three. Still think magic is better... but that wasn't -terrible-. I guess." Another mumble, incoherent in nature, and the katana is coaxed into a watery state before it meekly creeps back into its sheath and flashfreezes anew. There, no more tiefling-kabob.
Kasyr finally relinquishes the weapons, if only so he could wrap his arms around his wife. "...Tch. With what I had intended, fighting me with magic would have turned out...quite poorly." The tiefling can't help but look away at that, distractedly petting Satoshi as he contemplated that particular possibility, "...Er, but anyways...I suppose..I'd like to rest here for a bit..if that's...okay? Then we can go home, oui?"
Satoshi pauses in her habitual mistreatment of the scarf to fix Kasyr with a hard look. "Just... what did you have planned..?" There's a particular gleam in her eyes that makes it clear he's not getting any rest until he tells her.
Kasyr is likely going to end up restless than, as there is a certain gravity in the look he carries, "...I'd prefer not to use it if I needn't. Especially if the opportunity presents itself in the future."
Satoshi is left to grumbling irritably and telling the scarf terrible things about Kasyr, because he won't share the secret. Satoshi can pout like the best of spoiled children.
Kasyr continues to idly pet Satoshi, albeit her rumour mongering with his scarf. "...It will be most effective when someone has never seen it, mon cher. ...Which means, find moi a suitable target et tu might get the chance. D'accord? ..Maintenant. I need to rest~ Please?"
Satoshi reluctantly concedes, but only because Kasyr happens to be an excellent petter. And didn't use the wires. Two points in his favor, for one untold secret.