immamartillo | 5th Hat Flip [Voice/Action]

Entry tags:

ic,
luceti

5th Hat Flip [Voice/Action]

[Voice]

[It's early in the morning-after a night of much boredom and little sleep- when Firo opens his journal.]

I've been wonderin': what kinda weapons do people use back where you guys come from? Where I live, people'll fight with anything from fists to tommy guns, but I figure everywhere's gotta have somethin' different.

[Action]

[Later that morning, Firo sets off running for the Battle Dome. He hasn't been too pleased with himself lately: he failed to be effective against the droids that attacked a few weeks ago, and then he couldn't even protect his friend from being mallynapped. Actually, ever since Ennis was kidnapped before his arrival in Luceti he's felt nagging feelings of uselessness. They've only been intensified by recent events.

He has to get stronger. The capos of his Family would be disappointed if they saw him like this. In the back of his mind Firo can practically hear Yaguruma berating him.

He spends most of the day at the Battle Dome, focusing on training until he's ready to drop (though feel free to interrupt him). Maybe trying to go so long without a break isn't a good idea, but that doesn't matter to Firo at this point. When nightfall comes, he wanders outside and slumps by the door, exhausted.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, most of the ninja I know fight hand to hand or face to face. They don't really do that stuff you mentioned.

Yeah. I'll be there quickly. I'm close by to the area already.

[ Thank you! I think it's pretty much fixed now, and thank you for skipping over that fail I made in the previous comment. I can't believe I forgot the verb, aha. ]

Interestin'. You better not be lyin'.

[He's just teasing; if he really thought she was going to ambush him, he wouldn't be going.]

I'm a little farther away. I'll see ya there.

[He takes off soon after saying that, and arrives a little while later. His knife not yet drawn, he glances around to try and spot Tenten.]

[ Tenten isn't in the bushes. Instead, she sitting on a tree branch. She has a large scroll slung across her back.

Upon seeing Firo, she waves and shouts to him. ]

Hey!! Over here!

Hey!

[He waves back and walks closer to the tree. Shading his eyes with his hand, he looks up at her.]

What's that scroll for?

[If he knew, he'd feel a lot less confident about this impending sparring match.]

[ Well, he's going to know. He asked, after all. ]

It's where I store my weapons. [ uh oh. ] Wanna demonstration? [ She totally set this up just to get across how much experience she's had. ]

In there?

[Suddenly he has the feeling that this might not be a good idea. But he did ask, so...]

Uh, sure.

[He folds his arms and waits to see what she'll do.]

[ Tenten briefly unrolls part of the scroll. She doesn't make a hand sign, instead, she just blinks and two small blades launch themselves upwards as a puff of smoke releases itself from the scroll. Tenten catches the two blades and hops down to ground level to face Firo. ]

Ready!

[He can't hide his amazement and his eyes widen.]

...Wow. That's a neat trick!

[In a gesture that is far less dramatic, he reaches into his jacket and pulls out his own knife.]

Ready.

[ Tenten doesn't mind the standard way of conjuring a weapon. She silently nods before blurring her movements. Using a shunshin, she appearsa couple of feet before Firo in a speed that's above normal. She can't attack while using it, which is why she agilely runs towards Firo with the sword on her far side adjusting itself so it's pointing towards him. ]

[Firo didn't expect her to move so quickly, so he's nearly caught off guard. He swipes across with his knife, not to attack, but to be ready to block. At the same time, he starts retreating a few steps back. He can't move as quickly as she, but he'll do what he can to gain at least a little distance.

...He has the feeling he's not going to be much of a contest for her.]

You can react to my movements. Impressive. [ She takes a couple of steps forward while keeping her eyes focused on Firo. She relaxes her grip on the knife as she starts to crouch a bit. ]

[He raises an eyebrow, but keeps his eyes focused on her center line. The compliment's probably a distraction of some sort; he hasn't really merited it.]

I think the fact that you can move so fast in the first place is what's impressive.

[He's more grateful than ever for all the times Yaguruma and Ronnie practiced with him. They were relentless, and that's probably the only reason he's not out of the game yet.

He retreats another step and watches carefully for what she'll do next. Until he gets a better idea of her rhythm, he'll need to be cautious. All he can do for now is wait and react.]

[ She actually believes he deserves it. Might Guy was always a speed focused team. People that can react to them are usually sen as valid rivals. ]

A shushin isn't much to admire. Even fresh genins can use it.

[ And, again, her movements start to blur together. She briefly starts to appear next to him at different angles, but, after a bit, it'll become starkly clear that she's just going around in circles. She's not the fastest, or strongest in a fight usually. In most times, she relies on her strategic mindset and her quick intelligence. ]

Genins? What's-?

[The question doesn't have time to get out of his mouth before she speeds up again. He's stuck here. He can't move faster than her, and the last thing he wants to do is blunder right into her knife. All he can do is ready his knife and wait.

He'll need to make the best of his eyesight. Years watching for cheaters in his Family's casinos has made his pretty sharp, but he's not sure if it'll be enough.]

[ Her movements continue to obscure into afterimages. She stops suddenly, right in front of Firo, and moves her knives in an x-formation. By now, Firo can see that while she moves at high speeds, she certainly can't attack at high speeds. ]

[Attacking from the front? Firo doesn't know if that's her strategy or if she's just being nice, but he's grateful for it all the same.

Is that formation a defensive move? Firo can't tell. Best to play it relatively safe; he feints toward her face and then quickly switches to slice at her arm. He doubts it'll make contact, but he needs to gauge her reaction to an attack.]

[ Tenten's reaction skills are definitely above average. She moves her arm quickly to counter him and watches her sword buck against his. She readies the sword in her other hand, although she doesn't strike with it. She's mostly focused on defending rather than attacking. ]

[When she moves the blade in her other hand, Firo swipes his knife across to be ready to block it in the event of an attack. Since she hasn't attacked yet, he takes the opportunity to retreat a few more steps; hopefully he can get some space. He's thinking that getting in close might not be a solid strategy in this battle.]

[ She lets him take a couple of steps back and instead readies a position. She watches his position carefully, and loosens her grip on the knife in her right hand. ]

[Firo sinks a little deeper into his stance and relaxes his hold on his blade, ready to spring in case she charges.

For a moment he wonders if he should try countering a future attack by slipping in some of the leg sweeps Yaguruma taught him. He decides against it- for now- he only asked her about her knifework, it'd be almost unfair to slip in anything else. ]

[ She stares at Firo for a bit before tossing a knife at him. Her accuracy is very sharp and precise, but, she merely aims for a simple graze along the arm. Firo can evade if he moves out of the way, or, if worse comes to worse, duck. Her facial expression remains firm and concentrated on his next movements. ]

[He moves to the side, but not quickly enough and the knife hits. Now that she's down one knife, though, Firo decides to make his move. He darts forward, aiming to land a cut on her arm similar to the one on his. He's fast, but nowhere near as fast as Tenten, so she can probably avoid the strike.

As he's coming at her, Tenten might notice the blood very slowly making its way back into the cut, which then closes itself.]

[ Tenten readies herself to evade Firo's onslaught. But, at the last moment, something catches her eye. His regeneration. That concept was unheard of and impossible from her home down. It makes her freeze entirely as she focuses on his healing wounds

By the time she regains focus, it's too late. The knife slides into her and crates a wounds mildly deeper than the shallow cut she gave Firo. ]

Argh-! Damn it! [ she readies the knife and feigns a strike to get him to retreat. ]

[Just as he's about to pat himself on the back for actually delivering a hit, memory of his immortality- and his decision to keep it on the down low- strikes him. He's been in so few fights recently that he hasn't been thinking about it often. But she doesn't seem to be reacting too much. At least, she's not screaming or calling him a monster like most people do, so maybe it was something else that made her slip up. Firo hopes so, he's been warned about flaunting his immortality too much, even if Luceti has watered it down.

Her feint works and Firo practically stumbles back a few paces. His clumsiness shows that he's not as confident in this fight as he usually is.]

[ Tenten decides a more aggressive approach is needed. She flashes herself over to where her other knife is and picks it up as Firo stumbles. Then, she makes her move. While she shouts in a classic shonen fashion, she charges towards Firo quickly. Firo should be able to hear and react to her presence since it's loud, noticeable and she's quite a distance away. ]

5th Hat Flip [Voice/Action]

[voice]

[voice]-> [action?]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]

[action]