The Priestess and The Samurai

[Kazuya Hikari]

(OOC: Tsubame/Open)

Within Landera Heights, in a ruined and rather isolated part of the area, the faint sounds of metallic tings as the air was sliced could be heard. Standing in the middle of the destroyed and dust covered ruins, a lone figure could be seen with a katana in hand, as the figure took up a stance.

Since the break of dawn, after completing his daily training, Kazuya had been working on mastering a new technique, though to say he had made progress, would be a lie. The technique was by no means easy to execute, even harder to master. It was said Sasaki Kojirou spent his entire life mastering and perfecting the technique, to reach the pinnacle of swordsmanship at Kazuya's age, felt impossible, especially to him.

Launching immediately into the first strike, the first strike comes at the opponent with overwhelming speed, creating a circular arc to surround them. This isn't much trouble on its own, especially with the length of the blade, but the slightly slower second vertical strike meant to block off escape from above, and the third horizontal strike to keep the opponent from escaping to the side completely overwhelm the opponent. He could pull off all three strikes without any trouble, but it was pulling all three off in successive session that he was having trouble with.

He would continue to persevere though, and work at it for as long as it took to master pulling off the successive slashes one right after the other.

[Lasia Able]

A young woman dress ins silk robes walked slowly through the neutral ground. To keep the her face hidden she wore a traditional straw hat. When she was was going on supply runs Tsubame never dared wear this without a trench coat to keep it in line but when merely taking a stroll in neutral ground she felt that it was proper to wear such an outfit openly. She had been planning a peaceful walk but the sound of metallic sounds could be heard.

Making her way to the source of the sounds she saw a man with a sword, a katana no less. Her own sealed Katana, Dragon slayer, hung in her belt. Narrowing her eyes she watched him move his speed greater than even hers. She had to be careful if she had to fight him it would surely end poorly for her. As she watched though her eyes went wide as he tried to preform a move, an impossible move, and yet he was so close. "The Tsubame Gaeshi" Leaping down to his level she bowed slightly to him. "Hello there"

[Kazuya Hikari]

Just as Kazuya had launched into the third and final strike, having stopped counting how many times he tried to pull off the strikes in successive succession, he would hear the sound of a light thumping noise as a young woman in silk robes leaped down in front of him and bowed slightly to him.

His blade held up in front of him, slightly off to the side automatically, as it was naturally ingrained into him to enter into a ready stance at all times, he would relax slightly at the bow, though still on guard, and returned her bow with a slight bow of his own.

"... Hello. What brings you to such a ruined and isolated part of Landera Heights?"

[Lasia Able]

Tusbame took a small step back as the man did not lower his sword as she reached ground level. She felt her own hand brush over the hilt of her blade as she watched him. However instead of making any aggressive moves towards her he lowered the blade slightly and bowed back to her. He still seemed tense, though she could understand that given that he didn't know her.

She raised an eyebrow as he asked her what she was doing here. "You are very close to Shrine ground, ground that is off limits to the war." She crossed her arms. "This may be neutral ground but I should be the one asking you, why are you practicing such a move in a place like this?" She crossed ehr arms as she waited for an answer.

[Kazuya Hikari]

"... My apologies, I did not know that the shrine ground beside this area of Neutral Territory was off-limits to war. As for why I am here, this is a rather isolated area, and with all the surrounding buildings in ruins and abandoned, there are no chances of any civilians ending up caught in the middle of my practicing and injured."

Placing his katana back into its sheath on his back, with his arms at his sides, he would formally bow to her at about 70 degrees, straightening up after a little while.

"I am Kazuya Hikari, General and Captain of The Sky Force Training and Combat Readiness Division. May I humbly ask for your name?"

[Lasia Able]

Tsubame nodded slightly as the man before her answered her question. Ir did make sense to come out here to train, away from anyone who would get hurt or prying eyes. Still there had to be a better place for this man to train than here. Anyone with such a weapon had to have connections with the powers that ruled this area now. Why would he come to neutral ground, unless maybe he was not part of any gangs. However this thought was cast from her mind when he mentioned that he was a General.

"Well General Hikari, I am Tsubame, the guardian of the Shrine and for lack of better terms it's leader." Hikari...that name... She shook her head once as she thought. "so then..that technique you were using..the Tsubame Gaeshi, that move should be impossible to do..however you seem quite close." She took a few steps to the right as she spoke. "a move that cannot be blocked or dodged." She took a few more steps before stopping looking right at him. "however as powerful as that move may be, I know one that can beat it"

[Kazuya Hikari]

"Please, call me Kazuya, that title only applies to me from my troops in the Dragons and in battle against the enemy, Sean Barker. It is nice to meet you Tsubame. I suppose that would make you the priestess of the shrine as well then?"

Casually folding his arms across his chest, Kazuya would regard Tsubame with an expression of mild interest as she shook her head once, but would not ask or pry.

"Yes, I am quite close. I can manage to pull off all three strikes, but I have be unable to pull all three in successive succession. I am curious though, as to this move you say that can beat it. I am most interested in what it is you can do, Tsubame..."

[Lasia Able]

Tsubame nodded as she was asked if she was the Priestess. "Indeed I am, it is really one of the few things I have left of my life before..well..before you know" She motioned towards the ruins around them before "It's nice to keep what we can after all." She gave Kazuya a smile. The Dragon seemed respectful enough

The smile faded though as she was asked about the move that could beat the Tsubame Gaeshi. "the only way to beat a move that cannot be blocked or dodged to to end the move before it can finish, and my Shiden Blade can do just that" She took out her Dragon Slayer, the deadly katana still sealed in it's near unbreakable sheath as she took a low stance. Pressing forward on her right foot she launched herself forward a short wall that was falling apart. right before she got to the wall she thrust the blade forward causing a small crater to form in the wall's surface. "A single life ending thrust that is beyond the speed of perception, that is the Shiden Blade"

[Kazuya Hikari]

"Impressive... Most impressive."

Clapping at Tsubame's demonstration, the move truly was beyond the speed of perception. One moment the wall was still relatively intact, albeit falling apart, the next moment, a small crater had formed, after which the entire wall would just collapse to rubble.

"I know you stated the move is beyond the speed of perception, but can it be countered if the opponent has a higher speed than your own and takes you out before you even begin thrusting the blade?"

[Lasia Able]

Tsubame put her sword back into her belt before turning to Kazuya. "No warrior is unbeatable Kazuya and as such no move is unbeatable. A superior fighter will always find a way to overcome any move." She hopped up on to a ledge making sure that is wouldn't collapse under her weight. Digging into her top she pulled out a bottle of water. Uncapping it she drained it before putting the bottle back in.

"In any case I never said this move was unbeatable, only that it could beat the Tsubame Gaeshi" She leaned back a bit from her perch looking around the ruins. "Hard to think that not too long ago such moves were kept as showmanship moves, never once did i think there would be a time that such moves would become practical things"

[Kazuya Hikari]

"... Indeed. It is true what has been said, a person never stops learning, no matter how much they think they already know, and no matter how powerful a person is, there will always be someone more powerful."

Casually folding his arms across his chest, Kazuya would lean up against the wall of the ledge Tsubame was currently perched up against, his head turned slightly upwards to look at her.

"... Well when our overlord and master decided bombing the world to kingdom come was a fabulous idea, such moves that were only meant to impress became practical and necessary. I would surmise very few can beat the Tsubame Gaeshi before it is finished, just as very few can beat the Shiden Blade before the blade is thrust."

Sarcasm clearly evident in his voice, a twisted smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, as currently, he could not pull the strikes off in successive succession, he would not be using the Tsubame Gaeshi in battle, unless... Pushing off from the wall, he would pull his blade out from its sheath on his back, and engulf both his body and his blade in fire. He would then go into the stance and immediately launching into the first strike. Like a blur, the second and third strike would appear soon after, all three strikes lighting up the wall from the fire added in, not in successive succession, but close enough to.

The added speed boost from the fire helped, and he hoped with enough practice, he would be able to pull it off successfully without the use of his fire.

[Lasia Able]

Tsubame clapped a bit as she watched him actually pull off the move with the aide of what looked to be flames. It was not quite perfect but against most foes it would be more than enough to slay them. Slay them...huh that was a thought. She watched as the flames dimmed from the wall looking back to Kazuya.

"Now that is an oddity, a man whom can produce flames from his own body" kicked back a bit on her perch. "I've noticed that most Dragons seem to have some sort of elemental affinity. Leon could use Lighting if I recall correctly" she raised a finger to her lips as she thought. "Hmm..."

[Kazuya Hikari]

Bowing his head slightly to Tsubame as she clapped a bit at his near perfect execution of the Tsubame Gaeshi, albeit with the speed boost from his fire Qi and the addition of fire to the strikes, Kazuya would blink once at her as he looked back at her.

"... It isn't really an oddity to me. When I was in high school, nearly everyone I was friends with had the ability to use Qi. My best friend, Matrim Gallagher, previous had the ability to generate a shield covering his entire body, protecting him from all physical and Qi based attacks, but about four years ago, his Qi changed, and he now possessed the ability to produce fire from his body utilizing his body heat, which mimicked my own Qi."

A look of deep thought appearing in his eyes as the flames engulfing his body and katana slowly dissipated, dying out completely soon after, he would place his katana back into its sheath as he leaned up against the wall and casually folded his arms across his chest once more.

"... I suppose it is true, most of the Dragons seem to have an elemental affinity, we do control eight of the ten elemental attributes, one that Leon Sudeki, The Lightning Dragon, generates and controls, electricity."

Tilting his head upwards to look up and over at Tsubame once more, he would regard her with the same look of deep thought still in his eyes.

"... You do not have to tell me if you do not wish to, but do you have a Qi ability, Tsubame?"

[Lasia Able]

Tsubame sat back as she was lectured about Qi, a power that she had learned and the power had been mutated by her Valor Injections. She had always wondered how people got such Qis, powers to control elements or powers to create barriers and the such. Her own Qi, while very powerful was not quite on that level,and she tried not to use her power too often.

Speaking of her Qi she was asked if she had one. For a second she thought about lying and saying that she didn't have one but in the end shrugged. She leaned forward before she seemed to vanish from view, reappearing next to Kazuya red sparks running down her hair. "It's not nearly as powerful as your Qi but I can move at near hyper sonic speeds for a short distance" She could also only move in one direction but at her speed that was normally enough.

[Kazuya Hikari]

One moment Tsubame was perched up on the ledge of the wall above him, the next moment she had disappeared from view and reappeared standing next to him, red sparks running down her hair, causing Kazuya to jerk slightly away in mild surprise, returning to calm soon after.

"... Powerful or not, it is still a very interesting Qi. I have met only one other person that could move just as fast, David Blaze, before his Qi changed into wind manipulation."

As powerful as his own Qi was though, unless the temperature was warm or hot, he was effectively useless in cool or cold temperatures, as his Qi was generated from his own body heat.

"As powerful as my Qi might be, I cannot help but feel you would beat me with how fast you move with your Qi..."