markofthebrave | [ Action, Voice ] .043

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[ Action, Voice ] .043

[All right, enough of this. It's Spring and she still loves Spring (only her third Spring ever!) and Katara has decided she is going to enjoy it. No school today, so in the late morning to mid afternoon, if you are by the paths along the river you will see one (1) Katara, with a basket and her knife, taking cuttings of wildflowers. She's careful not to take too much from any one tree or bush, and she's clearly enjoying herself.]

[General Voice]
I think my favorite part about Spring is the flowers. We just didn't have anything like this where I grew up. Although in the summers I'd go on a hunt for Mouse Ears. [She pauses, remembering the last time she'd done that...] Or at least I did when I was a kid. I even found one once!

But for all you people who grew up with flowers like this - what was it like, in your Springs? Did you have any fun flower traditions?

[And after the wildflowers have been turned into bouquets, it's time to go visiting! If she hasn't seen you or heard from you in a while, and she knows where you live, your house/apartment is Fair Game.

There are, however, a few people she needs to speak with about a few specific things, so it's time for some courtesy filters! These are not very strong and mostly to prevent your journals from spam]

[Filtered to Shikamaru]
Hey - you up for a spar later?

[Filtered to Nami]
...are those mikans still up for grabs?

[Filtered to Trafalgar Law]
...would you mind if I stopped by?

[Filtered to Zoro]
...hey. I haven't seen you, and I think we should talk.

[Hmm. That was everyone she needed to talk to, right? Hopefully that was it. If it wasn't, she hopes she'll bump into people during the day. Like Sokka - an idea has occurred to her which needs discussing.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Right - that would hurt in a run. [She frowns. That's an easy way to break a leg, really, especially as fast as Shikamaru moves.] You be careful too.

Heh, I'll be fine. We used to run around these things back when I was in school.

[He rolls one shoulder around, warming up.] So what's the rules of this spar?

The timed one worked pretty well... if we both had a watch. [Because fair is fair, and though you're a dirty cheater she wouldn't want to do it to you... except, yes, she totally would.]

We could go for hits or immobilization?

Immobilization sounds interesting. [There's enough open area and less shadows to jump off of to make it a challenge for him.] We'd have to set a time limit, though, for how long you have to keep the other person immobilized to win to give a fair chance of breaking out of each other's attacks. Two minutes, maybe?

That works. [A flicker of - not uncertainty - but apprehension. She knows what she'll be dealing with in this one - the shadow jutsus. And she doesn't believe she can outrun it forever. And the thought of being held in them for two minutes... even if he said it was possible to break out of it... she won't deny that the thought makes her feel uncomfortable.]

...or until we call quits.

[In a ninja spar, there'd be no calling it quits. You'd never know if your opponent was sincere about that or not.

It's partially why he likes these spars; why he likes his games. Even with all the feints and the tricks up their sleeves, there's a set of rules to fall back on.]

I can go with that.

[Nod. And she - loosens infinestimally, preparing to get in her stance.]

Usual rules of anything goes?

[Jokingly:] You don't plan on maiming me, do you?

Well, no. Obviously we'd stop if one of us got hurt!

[Do you not realize how horribly seriously she'd take that, man?]

[...

Face. Palm.]

Maah, how troublesome. It was a joke.

[...

Sorry, man. It's been a long week.

And this is a look that clearly says 'Jerk. Getting hurt is no joking matter.']

[And she gets into her stance, smirking.]

You are so going to pay for that.

[He sighs, long and drawn out.] Someday I really have to learn to just stop talking, I swear. It'd be so much less troublesome...

[Whining as always. He trails himself off as he flips backwards, landing several feet away to give them more space. Ready.]

[And Katara bends a little at the knees, as if to steady herself or spring forward.]

Ready?

[General handwave, as if to say just get it started already. His stance has minutely shifted, however - more balanced to accommodate various movement.]

[And Katara nods, then starts straightforwardly - running right at him and bending as she goes. It's a fairly large streaming of water heading first downwards and then up, as if to crash over him like an oncoming wave.]

Edited 2011-05-10 05:08 (UTC)

[HOSHIT- quick to the draw this time, huh? That's good. She's learning.

He's starting to learn how to read her movements by now though - the way her hands move when she bends; how far they're spread in relation to the amount of water she's bending. It gives him some warning, and his hands drop into his kunai holster, pulling out four kunai with exploding tags tied to them, which he spreads evenly and throws at the wave. The explosions should make that attack less potent, at least.

Once released, his hands come together in the rat seal, and his shadow tightens into a line and stretches forward.]

[The exploding tags do have an effect - not perhaps as much of one as he would like, because she is holding that water by an effort of her bending. The front of the wave, about a foot's worth of water, crashes down on him. She doesn't have time, doesn't bother, to hold on to the bits sent out and scattered by his exploding tags. Not when his shadow is streaming towards her like that.

She uses the momentum of her run to leap quickly to the side, landing just behind him and in the same area where he sent her water scattered, she continues the same fluid movement, streaming that water back up and funneling it hard and fast towards his hands.]

[He sees where she's going as she makes her leap, and in the same instance his hands slide into the bird seal before he drops them, materializing his shadow though the tendrils are not sharpened as when he uses his Shadow Sewing technique.

The shadow that was originally speeding ahead now curves back and upwards, moving around him in this shape ~~but less blurry~~ but from the opposite angle, converging on Katara's position behind him. There's enough force to push her back and off her feet, but it shouldn't injure her.]

Edited 2011-05-10 06:39 (UTC)

Omph! [The water disburses as her stance is destroyed, and Katara's shoved backwards hard by his intangible shadows. But she works with the momentum - it was too unexpected to move into a backflip, but she can do a roll and crouch recovery, veering further behind him and pulling from her waterskin as she moves up into a crouch - they're less than four feet apart right now, and she shoots the waterwhip at his hands.]

[She'll probably have to adjust her aim as he moves - he wasn't just standing idly by after his attack connected. By the time she's pulling the water from her waterskin, he is turned back around facing her, kneeling and hands in the rat position again, though his shadow is only now moving.

Due to the sun's position, his shadow has more distance to stretch than it would if she'd been continuing to fight him from the other direction, so there is time there. On the other hand, the stream of water makes a nice shadow on the ground for his to pass through and get to hers unless she releases it and moves back.]

[Crap.

While Katara adjusted her aim automatically as she came up, she's seen him work with tree shadows before, and she knows that once his shadow connects with her water - crap.

There's a moment's hesitation as she wonders - if it's ice, can he still - but instead Katara decides to play it safe.

It's way too early in the game for her to be taken out this easily. And just as the shadow of the water and the shadow streaming towards her are about to connect, there is suddenly mist where there was once water - it's a thin stream of mist, and no longer connected to her in any way, but instead she pushes it forward, hard and fast, to block off sunlight before she releases her hold to allow it to act like regular mist. She begins to draw out more water for her next attack.]

Edited 2011-05-10 07:08 (UTC)

Dammit.

[Stupid mist attacks. With his shadow weakened, and a steady source of water for her to bend directly around them in the air though, he's not planning on sticking in this spot for too much longer.

He tosses down a smoke pellet to fully obscure her vision of him (and as an added bonus, absorb some of that water) and jumps over and away from her, landing a few feet on the opposite side of the small trench that cuts through the clearing.]

[Well, that was highly unfair. But it does give her an idea.

She reinforces that mist with a little more water and then - takes it with her - using it like a cloak spread out in a foot long radius from her shoulders down as she runs towards him. Ha. Try stopping her from reaching you now]

[Then he won't. Shadow Imitation isn't the only method he has of binding an opponent.]

That'd work better if I couldn't still see you, you know. [Tips her off? Yes. But he feels it's only fair to warn her.

His shadow slides down into the trench, merging with the thick shadows lying in it and stretching over to the other side.]

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