RPG Down the Path [M-LV]

[Retribution]

[SIZE=1]OOC: Check out the sign-up and Underground thread for info and other information. Kairi, you're sign-up was beaten out by Ozy. So therefore, ReFlux and Ozy, you two need to come up with a way you two are related. The [B]posting order [/B] is in the Underground thread. Please check that out before posting! It should prevent from people going post-crazy and hogging the battle. With that, good luck!

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IC:

The rain was picking up, more than usual. It made the branches heavy, sagging low with the extra weight, and made the brook froth and bubble with newfound excitement. It would flood soon, and the rain would muddy up the ground. For now, though, it firm. Muryou had told him that. He always had good eyes for such things. But talking about the weather lost its interest, but something else sparked it once more. He saw two lone travelers about a mile off. Their pace was fast and light, as if they were in a hurry.

"Muryou, wanna mug 'em?" He felt eager, perhaps a little too much. His body was already secreting adrenaline to help him in the upcoming melee. But he didn't expect for his partener to reply. He was silent, usually, and made Keiji carry the conversation most of the time, so his replies were gold.

"Yes. But I'll watch for a while. Hang back in the brush so that they don't know I'm here," he said in an unexcited monotone. He always hung back, but it was a fact of life Keiji had learned to fight with, and even use to his advantage. After all, they did have the element of surprise. Keiji shifted his weight, attaching his kodachi and katana to his hip for the soon-to-come action.

"But you're gonna back me up, right?" Muryou didn't answer, just shrugged with his same vacant stare. It was quite annoying, sometimes. Agitating. "Just wait. Patience."

They both sat there in silence, with only the rain making any noise. It was quite peaceful. He watched the pair of travel down the now-mud choked road, and as they came closer, Keiji noticed they both bore a weapon. They were fighters? No matter. They?d be killed.

He waited, patiently as Muryou had told him to, until their backs were turned to him and they were just passing by his spot. He was on an embankment, perhaps ten feet higher than their level, and around twenty feet away from the path. It was a miracle they hadn?t been spotted. He lunged out of the brush with as much force as he could muster, drawing both his katana and kodachi and performed a downward swipe on the woman?s head. She whirled around and blocked it, which was nothing short of a miracle.

[i]Had they heard me?[/i]

With no time to entertain thoughts, he backed up a step, sizing them both up. One was blind, but stood in a stance of Zen-like alert. Perhaps he was in closer touch with his other senses? He did not attack for a moment, realizing he was outgunned. He would only stand a chance if Muryou attacked the other traveler.

After a short interval of peace, the blind man took a quick step forward taking a quick swipe at his toes. Keiji parried the swift attack with a block of his own, then took an immediate step closer to him, stabbing at his chest.

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OOC: So it has begun. Go ahead, ReFlux.
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[Zen]

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Zaitoichi heard the wind-slicing sound of the blade lunging towards him, and made the quickest move he could to the side, kicking up dirt in his movement. In the movement, he ended it with an unseeable slash with his blade that sliced the arm of the attacker's robe, causing the long peice of cloth to fall off at the shoulder and onto the ground. The attacker gave a quick glance of astonishment at the blind man's skill with a blade, and looked on to see that his ears were rotating on the side of his head, picking up any sound made. The attacker's thoughts were quickly ceased as he leaped upward, coming down onto Zaitoichi with a dual-slashing motion with his kodachi and katana. Hearing the leaping motion from the ground and the slight fluttering of his opponents remaining clothing, Ichi leaped back just enough to avoid getting his crown sliced in half. He felt a small cut on his forhead and blood trickling from the wound.

Soon after this, Zaitoichi rolled to the side to barely miss an attack from behind made by another attacker. "You two, listen... I am just a blind traveler, accompanying a freind on a short journey... surely you gentlemen have enough dignity to allow us passage through this area... I wish no trouble.", Zaitoichi spoke in his low, ominous voice, but still with an air of politness.

"Ha, the only thing we show dignity to is money, taking it from greedy slobs like you! Hand it over, and maybe we'll let you live!" said one of the attackers from the left with a young sounding voice. The other attacker grunted to himself at the right. The came the sound of a drawn blade from behind him, Zaitoichi knew this to be his partner.

"Please forgive me, but me and my partner cannot allow that..." Zaitoichi said, sliding forth in such a suprising slash, he attacked an off guard bandit who's breathing had gotten too loud, this time, he smelt the blood that he drew from the young man's bare forearm. It was a shallow gash, that slightly loosened the man's grip on his weapon.

"You son of a dog! I'll show you who you're messing with!" the young one barked, jetting at Ichi with great speed, something told by his quick footsteps. Zaitoichi only had time to place his blade in front of the attacks to guard his throat. The attacker quickly slid under to slash at Ichi's shins with his blade, only to cut the air under his feet. Zaitoichi then came down with the scabbard of his sword onto the bandit, but narrowley missed the top of his skull as the attacker dodged quickly. This caused Ichi to slide back into a defensive stance with the blade held at his shoulder, aiming precisely in the direction of the enemy.

The distant sound of clinging blades told Ichi that his partner was defending himself competently, so he decided to focus on the one at hand...

(Hope thats good enough. Playing a blind character only allows for a small amount of description in ones surroundings.)[/color][/size]

[Dagger]

[size=1]OOC: Not much happens here, as I wanted to give Ozy the chance to establish her character's personality. I hope that's alright.[/size]

Muryou had been lounging against a tree--lazily cracking his neck, eyes half-closed. Rarely did they encounter travelers that Keiji could not take care of on his own. He tapped his fingers against the bark as he soaked in the sounds of Keiji's fight: a clash to the left, a missed slice, a stabbing thrust. Back and forth, he heard their feet drawing furrows in the earth.

Someone had noticed him, it seemed; Muryou glided his hand over the tiny knife in his sleeve. He slid down a thumb's width or so, neatly slumping out of harm's way, as a long keen blade bit into the wood at his back. One eye flicked open. [i]A woman?[/i] he thought, vaguely disappointed. But she was slim and tautly built, and carried her naginata well. He ducked away as she cut toward him again--the edge of the metal whined sweetly as it tore through the air.

"Girl," he said, watching her expression intently, "Go easy on your elders."

"Not in the mood for a fight?"

"Not with you." He brought up his own naginata to parry her next blow and winced inwardly as the impact jarred through his bones; she was stronger than she looked. [i]Interesting.[/i] Idly rotating the ball-and-socket joint of his shoulder--if she planned on seeing this through, it would pay to be limber--he smiled. "You're really much too energetic for me, see?"

The smile remained fixed in place as he drove her toward Keiji. His companion's battle had grown faster, more confused; he could no longer determine what was occurring by using his sense of hearing alone. If he needed to intervene, he would.

[Ozymandius Jones]

[COLOR=DarkGreen][I]Rain. Oh, how I hate rain...[/I] Yuki concentrated on the blade of the bandit's naginata, [i]Makes everything wet and slippery...[/i]And the bandit was good. Most wouldn't have noticed her attack until it was too late. The fact that he had avoided it at all showed he had skill. And now...now she was being forced backwards. Delightful. [i]Wet and slippery, eh?[/i] She plunged her foot into the mud, using the lack-of-traction to slide under the bandit's next swipe; driving the butt of her naginata into the bandit's shin before regaining her footing, again out of range. The bandit's eyes narrowed.

"So you're the playful type, are you?"

"When I need be..." It didn't take long for the bandit to get back in range; blade impacted blade. Yuki half-ground her teeth, careful not to let her semi-worried annoyance show on her face. [i]He just had to be a bandit with some skill...[/i]

[i]Parry, parry, sidestep...take a swipe - no, too close, ouch![/i] A mis-step had allowed the bandit's blade easy access to her face. Yuki hissed in pain, her hand automatically going to the small slice across her left cheek. The bandit half-grinned.

"Well, I'm not." She shook blood from her hand, shoving her foot into the mud for what looked like a repeat of her sliding trick. The bandit swung his blade low - while Yuki twisted her body the opposite direction, drawing her blade across the bandit's ankle before leaping away, panting.

"That's just too bad...it's fun to play. Keeps you young." The bandit closed in again...

And thus, the fight continued.[/COLOR]




[COLOR=DarkOrange]OOC: Sorry it took me so long...got a killer cold. *sneezes*[/COLOR]

[Retribution]

[SIZE=1]OOC: Okay, we're recycling the posting order once again. So I'm posting. If you forgot when you post, the Underground holds the key.

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IC:

Keiji's arm was wet, due to the fact that missing his sleeve. His opponent was fast, perhaps lucky as well, since he was blind. He did not make a move, he did not breathe, for fear that if he did, he would be killed. He quickly looked around, seeing the overflowing river, and sprinted towards it. Two powerful strikes carried him there in time, with his opponent quickly catching up to him.

As his foot touched the bank of the river, he jumped over the river to the other side -- the distance was only five feet across. He turned to face his jumping opponent, who was aggresively approaching his position with a down-slash of his katana. Stepping out of the way of his trajectory, he swung at the man with a pincer movement of his kodachi and katana. He blocked the katana, then swiftly ducked the kodachi, but it left just enough time for Keiji to jump over the crouching man.

Just as expected, the blind man quickly reacted by poking his katana up so as to catch Keiji as he landed on the other side of him. But he too, was thinking more than just one step ahead, as Keiji parried the katana out of his path in midair with his kodachi, then brutally stabbed at the crouched man with his katana. He landed on the other side of him, but did not wait to see if his opponent was wounded. He turned around, and threw another slash at the man's body with his katana once more.

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OOC: Your turn, ReFlux.[/SIZE]

[Zen]

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It was lucky for Zaitoichi for it to have been raining, as it nearly drew a picture of his opponents movements in his mind. As the bandit tried to attack him once more, Ichi parried with his scabbard/walking stick, and grabbed his sword's handle underhanded, the blade pointing towards the ground. Zaitoichi blocked another of the bandit's slashing attacks with his scabbard, and spun around to dodge his short kodachi. This gave Zaitoichi a chance to attack as his blade spun around with him, and in a gale-like spin, he cut the man's-upper thigh shallowly.

This caused the bandit to stagger slightly, but he returned in anger with an equal wound to Zaitoichi. He came at him with so much speed and furosity that Ichi could not parry or dodge. As he swung down his katana, Ichi blocked it with his scabbard and looked for the pincer attack of his kodachi, but instead, he just felt the cold steel peirce into his right shoulder. The immediate pain caused Ichi to leap backwards, but his returned quickly with a leaping slash in the air, as his body spun round mid-air, his scabbard came down onto the bandit's head with a hard 'crack', alerting the bandit, he rolled back to dodge the following, and much more swift katana blade attack, as he felt it's wind swipe across his face.

The quickness of his attack caused Zaitoichi to injure his shoulder further, and his arm would soon become much harder to move. He feared he would have to hurry to end the match before that happened. The bandit's mind raced aswell, and he begun to get shaky after all the returning blocking and dodging. The blood trickling down between his eyes from the top of his crown wasn't helping him either. That scabbard blow nearly scattered his brains, and the bandit knew he would have to be more defensive from there on. The bandit's thoughts stopped at the words of Zaitoichi.

"So... you wish to make this the day of your death...?" he said with an omenous bluff, which he hoped would work.

"There would be no honor in living, if I was beat by blind coward." the bandit said with a short grin on his face. "I just hope they won't take pity on a blindman in hell!" It was then, after that word, an idea came to the bandit's mind.

The bluff failed Zaitoichi, and hope was lost of a peaceful victory. The bandit rushed in and caught Zaitoichi's side with his katana, and caused a shallow wound under his ribs. The speed of his attack once again suprised Zaitoichi. It also frieghtened him, as he could no longer hear the man at all. Little did he know, that the bandit was waiting in wait in the river, for a chance to end the blind man's life...

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(Dagger's Turn)[/color][/size]

[Dagger]

Keiji had crossed the river. Abruptly reversing his grip, Muryou smashed the girl aside with the shaft of his naginata and retreated to drier ground as she recovered. The wound on his ankle was shallow--but between the deep, slick mud and the driving rain, it was almost certain to become infected. He did not like to play doctor.

Frowning faintly, he waited for her to find him. At least his knives were still more or less dry; when he touched them, the metal felt strange and rubbery against his rain-soaked skin. It was colder than he had estimated--he would have to be careful not to let it affect his reaction time.

When she did come, he sensed rather than heard her. It was like tracking an injured animal--he made the pain in her torso (bruises only, he had not intended to crack any ribs) his pain, and marked her location with the tug of that twinge.

"You're not much of a gentleman, are you," she said accusingly as she attacked. He dodged her next slash--still impeccably controlled, which he found rather admirable, since it must have been tempting for her to simply give in to the strain.

"No, not really," agreed Muryou, neatly avoiding her blade. That said, he let a knife drop into his palm and savored the hint of coolness and weight. This close, her naginata was a liability. His own lay primly on the ground several yards away. He moved like water, weaving in and out, grabbing the handle of her weapon and bringing his face (and his knife) close to hers. She viciously kicked him in the gut; he rolled away before he could be beheaded and smiled at her pleasantly when he found his feet. Somewhere along the line, both of them had become smeared in dirt--under other circumstances, he might have found it almost erotic. But not now.

"Are you worried about your partner?" he asked.

[Ozymandius Jones]

[COLOR=DarkGreen]"No, not really." She echoed the bandit's earlier statement, fending off a knife swing with the staff of her naginata. "He's good when it rains...he can sense almost as much as you or I can see. Sometimes I believe he sense more..."

"Then you would be alarmed at his...current situation?"

"What?" The bandit nodded towards the river, Zaitoichi and the second bandit. Yuki growled, trying to head towards the river. The bandit dodging in, drawing the knife blade across her already-sore ribs, prevented her from going closer; she only dodged in time not to sustian a deeper cut.

"Honorless coward..."

"Hey, don't insult the boy..." The bandit darted close again...her naginata was useless currently; he was too close for her to manuever between staff and blade...she held it in one hand, reaching for her tantos with her other. The bandit began to make a third pass. As he did, she dropped the naginata, and intercepted his blade with her own.

"I'll insult him as I like..."[/COLOR]