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.]

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[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.]

If you say so - [But she's moving as she's talking and still running forward - lifting up a hand as she does so and suddenly the air right in front of Shikamaru's face coalesces into mist as Katara pulls all the water in the air around him and puts it just there.

She uses that split second to jump to the side and avoid that stretching shadow. She's nearly to the point where she can jump over the trench now.]

[In that case, the first thing that she should notice is that the shadows recede, seemingly drawing back to him so he'll have more to protect himself with.

The second, once she's a little closer, is that this mist? Seems to be floating right through his head.

And the third is that there's someone much more solid pressed against the side of the trench she's about to jump over.]

[Right - making that leap and not immediately noticing the mist going through Shikamaru's head as much as she's noticing the fact that he's not moving.

Something's not right.

But she can't afford to stop moving, because the shadows are still too close, and if she stops she won't be able to move quickly enough to avoid them.

Why isn't he moving? Is it a clone? But he doesn't have anywhere to hide - I didn't take my eyes off him --

--the smoke

--the trench!

Sadly, Katara comes to this realization just as she's launched herself up in the air. It's too late to do anything about the fact that she probably just fell exactly into his trap - not too late to spot him, plastered against the wall of the trench. And not too late to react instinctively and send the mist cloaking her down directly on top of him.

She doesn't convert it to water until it's nearly a foot away from him and she's aiming, once again, for his arms.]

Edited 2011-05-11 02:55 (UTC)

[He doesn't bother moving again. His hands are already in position, and if she wants to get him now he knows she'll have to let go of the mist. His shadow exists within the shadow of this trench now, and there's no way she can obscure it all with her mist, so he just lets it keep moving.

Because without that cloak around her, there is a very clear shadow moving across the trench. With nowhere for her to go until she lands, it would be easy to take it. Though, if he's even successful, he won't activate the jutsu's effect until she's landed. He doesn't want to hurt her, after all.]

[Their shadows do indeed connect - in the same way her water connects with his hands, pushing them backwards and spreading up his arms...

...the shadow doesn't dissipate as she lands.

Shit.

She'd hoped that she'd be able to avoid this on her own, but - with one hand she keeps bending the water up and at him, pushing him against the trench side, while her other hand reaches to the set of hidden clasps along her belt, retrieving a small flat object which is easily palmed.

Her feet touch the ground--]

[He grunts when his back hits the dirt wall - the impact jarring him without his arms or hands to brace himself. His shadow wavers, then tightens, waiting for his direction and he recovers fast.]

Kage Mane-

[--and Katara activates the flash bomb and flicks it up between them, shutting her eyes and continuing to push against him with her water.

She doesn't call out a warning. He's a ninja. He's dealt with these types of bombs all the time. He'll be fine and she knows she needs whatever precious advantage this will give her.]

-no Justu...

[This would usually be the part where he says 'success'. And indeed, the jutsu is complete. Just in time too, because he wasn't eager to be pushed into the wall by her water again. Since she can't move to bend it, it splashes against him and to the ground.

But he didn't miss her throwing that flat object, and it gives him pause. Besides the bo, he's never seen her use anything but her waterbending, so he's not sure what she has planned here...

...

She closed her eyes.]

Craaap-

Edited 2011-05-11 05:32 (UTC)

[He twists his body in the other direction, turning back and covering his eyes with his arm as the bomb goes off in the air. It all happened in an instant, so he's not as fast as he was hoping, but he did save himself from the worst of it.

He winces loudly, rubbing at his eyes with one hand, face stern as he catches up with what his brain has already figured out.

Flash bomb. She used a flash bomb.]

Edited 2011-05-11 05:52 (UTC)

[And this would be the part where Katara shows her well-hidden ruthless streak, because despite the relief she feels when she sees he's guarded himself, it pales compared to the knowledge - he caught on quickly, won't be down for long, better make this fast-

-And she moves in a fast circle, kicking out with one foot, which draws the water surrounding him up in a fast jet to - if it connects - knock him even further off balance and keep him down - and by the time she's facing him again she's already streamed out all the remaining water in one canteen to crash over him and hold-]

[His eyes are still closed, which means he's relying on his ears now, which mean he hears it.

There's a thin whistle, cutting of air; she's moving so she's bending - water, the water around him-

He flips himself backwards to avoid the jet of water, bringing to mind the layout of the trench that he memorized. His feet push against the wall and he pushes himself forward and across the trench, angling towards the left at about the same time she would have her water streaming out of her canteen. You thought he was fast before? He's moving like he's fighting under ninja now.

Shikamaru tucks himself into a roll as he hits the ground - she'll have time to adjust the stream of her water to get him, but he's not going to sit still for it.

He's also laughing.]

[If his speed makes him hard to track, the sound of his laughter is easier to follow - why is he laughing, what's so funny? - her lips tug into a frown of concentration as she changes the pattern of her attack to one long line extending over him and then closing in from both sides.]

What's so funny?

[And in the back of her mind, she's thinking: He adjusted too quickly, he's navigating that with his eyes closed, how is he doing that, doesn't really seemed surprised at all -- why is he laughing?]

Heheheh... nothing. [He pushes himself to his feet, opening his flak jacket in a quick movement as he does. His hands are out and apart and fingers spread, like he's feeling for something.] Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting for someone to do that, though?

[Times like these he wishes he had ears like Kiba's - would make it less of a strain. Even so he hears the water coming and jumps away again, adjusting his footing when he doesn't land quite as solidly as he was expecting - gopher hole. Ha.

He keeps his hands out and steadies himself, his shadow rising with them and separating into materialized threads. There's fifteen or so of them, thinner than those of his Shadow Sewing technique.

That's because this isn't Shadow Sewing. This is Shadow Endgame.]

Edited 2011-05-11 07:24 (UTC)

[Sorry, were you talking? Because Katara's finding it hard to care about what you're saying when she sees the incredibly-creepy-looking and doom-inducing sight of all those shadows writhing up around him.

He can control all them individually - there's way too many to disburse with just one burst, I do that I just make some of them longer - try two with a frontal rush? No, he's too fast. - block off the source? I don't have enough water and he knows the terrain well enough with his eyes closed - run?

He'll catch me.

He won't be expecting it. I've never run from him before.

Maybe I'll think of something on the way.

An abrupt motion, pushing both hands down - and the water around him begins to rise in a natural mist as Katara abruptly turns tail and books it towards the treeline. One hand reaches for another flashbomb as she goes.]

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