A Clash of Wills (Keiji Maeda)

OoC: Well, here it is, the one we were planning. This will take place in the very top levels of a deserted keep, somewhere in the middle of a grassy plain (Temple of Souls ... coincidence?). But yeah, this will be an epic of sorts, rather long, lots of detail if possible. I guess I shall start this baby out ^^ good luck, mi amigo.

BiC: Soft padding of shoes on stone echoed through the deserted hallways loudly, as a lone figure made his way up through the passageways, and into an abandoned ballroom of sorts, completely cleared out and open to anything. He felt that he was exposed in such a place, but waved the feeling away, knowing it must just be an average feeling, since he had spent half his life waging war. Terrin Tankira stared around in the vast room, and his eyes caught on to the huge stained glass window high above him, which shone down rosy, bloodred light on the floor. It gave off the appearance of a church, of sorts, although it did not make him feel any more assured. He realized that this could be another one of Samlea's traps, and he was determined to be well prepared for anything sent his way.

He wandered closer to the window, drawn by his own gaze toward its intoxicating effects. He could have sworn he thought he saw a flicker of a shadow moving outside the window, something that no normal person would catch easily. The elf eyed the window suspiciously, then his sword flew into his hand as he finally saw a huge shadow pass from left to right outside the window. He glared suspiciously, starting to call upon Positive Force ...

The pane shattered viciously, raining shards of deadly glass down toward the elf. He calmly slashed the shards that would have impaled him into tinier, more harmless pieces, and peered with a slight squint at the shadow that had fallen from the window and was now crouched ten feet away, most definitely a sword in hand. Once all the glass had smashed down onto the floor and the cool night wind wisped through the now broken window frame, Terrin spoke.

"State your name or die where you stand," he said. He watched as the man drew himself up to his full height, and since Terrin had the appearance of a regular fifteen year old child, he naturally assumed that the man thought he was a minor threat.

But the man did not speak. He simply stared at him without a single movement.

Terrin repeated the order, this time a little less patiently. Still, no words left the mans mouth.

Humans, he thought disgustedly. He decided to do a quick test, and faked a quick jab with the Yuathian Sword to the mans side. The sword immediately shot down to stop his, but Terrin immediately took the opening by seizing the figures sword handle, twisting it sharply and kneeing him in the ribs. A steady oof escaped the mans mouth, and they both backed away. Terrin knew that his unknown adversary was unhindered.

"I doubt very much that you, child, could lay death upon the weakest of beings," taunted the figure, "but I shall humor you. I am Tokumaru Kyo, the Heavenflame Samurai, here to end your life."

Terrin raised an eyebrow, not taking the taunting bait. "Surely you must realize that I am not a child, but merely an adult trapped in a teenage body."

Tokumaru chuckled. He had indeed noticed, it had only been a taunt to make his foe grow angry. The supposed child continued.

"And for what reason have you come to end my life, or have you no reason at all, just an endless bloodlust?"

Tokumaru's eyes flashed dangerously. "No," he answered. "I saw you departing that massacred village ... you had blood on your sword."

Terrin smiled grimly. He had not the time or the patience to explain that it had been an evil dark skinned elf named Samlea who had massacred the village, fought him in the near center, and come out tending wounds, but with a slight sense of accomplishment, for he had inflicted damage on Samlea as well before he fled.

"Well, if that is truly your reasoning, Tokumaru Kyo, I have no words that can stop you from attacking me. But know that I will not take the beating."

The Heavenflame Samurai almost smiled at the child's arrogance. He did not detect a hint of magic whatsoever within him. So he strode forward purposefully, and twirled his sword high above his head, bringing it down through the air so fast that it was nearly impossible for the eye to follow. Terrin blocked the blow, and spun around, whipping the Yuathian Sword over his back to block the slice to his spine. He swiped at Tokumaru's ankles, but he jumped, and Terrin was forced to kick out at his legs. The samurai jumped back to avoid the attack ... and then he felt it.

A strange power suddenly burst forth, radiating from Terrin's body. He felt a force leave his body, then quickly shoot back down and burst out with unbelievable strength and power. The force was one of the four elements, wind, which picked up to such a ferocious velocity that it flung Tokumaru across the room and into the brick wall twenty feet into the air. He crashed roughly back down, spitting up blood. He rose to his feet, panting. He had never felt that sort of power in one being before. And he was prepared to fight to the death to rid him of it.

OoC: Well, lets get this party started!

OOC: Yo fooz lets getz dis parti startedz this roXX0rs!

BiC: Tokumaru was amazed by the feat the boy had pulled off. He obviously had a great control over the mana in his body. Wait, no, this wasn’t mana, but a new force in itself, something that Tokumaru was prepared to face, surprises or not. But what he wasn’t prepared to face was the true strength hidden in this supposed “boy”, the substance known as Posative.

Carefully, the two combatants paced around the room, each holding their swords in their respective stances. Terrin carefully viewed this new foe, eager to see what he could do. Instantly, Tokumaru rushed in on Terrin with a mind-blowing fast strike, slamming against the Yuthian Blade forcefully; the two blades caused a rain of sparks to fly outward, setting a nearby curtain ablaze.

Winning the deadlock, Terrin side-swiped Tokumaru with his knee. The samurai avoided this, coming back down with a counter attack. It was a dead-on hit to Terrin’s right shoulder, causing a splatter of Elven blood to come over both of their faces. Twisting around in rage, the elf blindsided Tokumaru with his sword, and cut the samurai deeply with furious uppercut.

Terrin readied himself in Niman, (high-attack stance) waiting for the samurai to fall into striking range. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the elf looked up to see the samurai grinning down cockily at him, floating in midair.

Intricate flames then licked up on the samurai's sword, causing a fluorescent glow to emanate from the blade. Two heavenly wings also shot out of Tokumaru's back, causing a light collection of snow-white feathers to float to the cold stone below.

“You know what this is?” asked Tokumaru in the same tone that was on his face, “This is Inferno, my concentrated Pyro-mana formation. Look cool enough for you, kid?”

Terrin jumped up to his foe and slashed wildly in vain. He was flightless, and it couldn’t be helped. “I told you!” the elf said angrily, “I am not a child! I am merely stuck in this small body!”

Making a childish face, he smirked at Terrin. “I still think you look like a pubescent 15 year old, Terrin. Heh, sure you can reach me up here?”

Terrin, filled with anger, looked towards a ledge behind the samurai, and at that instant, and Idea popped into his head.

OOC: Not my best work, but I can’t write for sum reason right now!

IC: Knowing his enemy thought himself superior to him made Terrin grow intensely angry, but he held it back without difficulty, for with his anger came blind rage, and possible Posative Force explosions that would raise him to such ferocity that he could tear apart the entire keep in a second. He kept his mind straight and calm, and made a split second decision. He leapt twenty feet into the air, planted a foot on the ledge for leverage, and pushed off hard. He soared fast as an arrow through the air, and before Tokumaru could react, they had crushed together, and were sailing toward the ground together.

They crashed down with backbreaking force, splitting the floor beneath them with long, spindley cracks that lanced through the room like tendrils slowly approaching a lone victim. Terrin quickly leapt off of him, the heat of his enemies "Inferno" stage. A fairly strong, but not very well thought out power, in his opinion. The Heavenflame Samurai picked himself up off the ground, clutching his sword in both hands. Gone now was the arrogant smile he had flashed at Terrin when he had been unable to reach him. He was ready to do whatever it took to kill his foe.

Terrin came in first, and the sword sang through the air, crashing down on Tokumaru's. As if planning the block, Terrin whipped it harder through the air so it gave a metallic whirl, and struck for him again. Again when this was blocked, Terrin again gave no sign of frustration. He began the most complicated and dizzying pattern of stabs and swings that Tokumaru had ever seen, and both of them had a hard time keeping up. The blades linked and unlinked so fast that it was hard to tell where the blades were. It was like nothing Tokumaru had ever expirienced, this was so fast paced and furious that it stunned him a bit that someone so normal looking could posses such skill. But he still knew that he had the power to destroy him.

The Yuathian Sword and Tokumaru's sword were colliding and swinging so fast that they were both now no more than blurs as they whirled them through the air in a sinuous pattern, the steel crashing again and again back down, four or five times in each second.

Finally, Terrin's sword was batted aside too quickly to react, but he brought his blade back again, and both fighters were sliced hard across their faces. Blood spurted into the air, dripping down their faces, turning their normally handsome features into grostesquely battle ridden grimaces.

"I do not seek to kill you, samurai," murmured Terrin softly, unhindered by the cut on his face. He did not even call on Posative to heal it, there was no need. "I only wish to continue on my way. I have a wife who is waiting for me naught but a few miles from here. And as soon as I return to her, we are off again in search of a greater evil than you could ever imagine."

Tokumaru chuckled coldly. "Greater evil?" he said. "You know no evil until you face Naoru. Mindless child, your lack of knowledge is centered around you not knowing that you lack it."

This drove Terrin to the very edge of getting angry, but he put his rage into a single action. The molecules of Posative left his body and shot down so fast that Tokumaru hardly knew what had happened until he was on his back with a bruise on the side of his head, ringing with pain. Terrin lowered his fist, and snarled "I do not lack the knowledge, foolish human, I know more and have seen more than you have, or will ever! If you seek to insult that, then I will be forced to slaughter you."

Tokumaru's body flashed up to fast that Terrin could not follow it, only throw the Yuathian Sword up. The swords met again in a blaze of fiery chaos, and the samurai's body fired up with pent up Inferno powers. Now the man in the boys body would face his wrath ...

OoC: Your move, hombre.

OOC: I was working in word again, and it shut down on me. I’m seriously sick of this happening. I think from now on I’m writing in WordPad and copying it over to works to spell check, and that will be it.

BiC: Tokumaru pushed hard in the fiery deadlock, sweating profusely as he did so. Terrin applied and nearly equal force, but it was to no avail. Pushing hard off of the deadlock, Tokumaru kicked Terrin into the air. As if on cue, the Samurai whizzed up to the elf's back and hit him hard in the back with his sword's hilt, sending Terrin into the bricks below. Tokumaru could easily accept that this boy was no mere child, but of an older age than his appearance. This aura, this strange derivation of mana, nay, a whole other force in its own; a 15 year old body could not sustain such abilities, unless of course the inhibitor was older than he appeared, which seemed to be the case here.

Terrin stood up shakily, wiping a small amount of blood from his chin as he looked up to his winged adversary. "Heh..." he said wearily, "that the best you got, samurai?"

Tokumaru laughed, and touched down on the cold stone below him. "Nay, Terrin." he said artistically, "There is a universe more of power within me, and all you can do now is provoke it. I can't be defeated by you, young, no, adept warrior. I have to defend myself from your rage, no matter how dire the situation gets. You do understand that, do you not?"

Terrin's face flashed. "Of course I understand that, fool! But it is you who shall die here, not me! you are the one who needs to grasp that theory!"

Tokumaru flung the Hinotama around dazzlingly, and sighed. "It really doesn't matter; the one walking out of this keep will be me and me alone. Now then," he continued, his face turning from arrogant to enraged, "are you ready to feel heat like that of which you've never experienced?"

Terrin held out the Yuthian Blade towards his opponent and glared. "Bring - it - on!"

Tokumaru did not even nod as he rushed in on his foe with god-like speeds. Strangely, he passed by Terrin, but grabbed his arm as he did so, tossing the elf into the already distraught brick wall. Without giving Terrin any time to recover, the samurai held out both of his hands, preparing an double-hand-amplified Flames of Destruction. Within seconds, a large collection of Pyro-mana formed in the man's hand, and with a loud warcry, he let it loose upon the Elf.

"Duo-Flames of Destruction!" he yelled as the large plume of flames licked at Terrin's face, causing him to writhe uncomfortably with the insidious heat.

As the Fire subsided, Terrin fell to the ground, thunderstruck. What just happened? he thought insanely, How could a mere human perform such a feat? I mean, I've heard that a few humans were adept in magic, but nothing... absolutely nothing occured such as this. Standing up, Terrin held out the Yuthian Blade towards his opponent. "That was..." he said cockily, "that was quite the fire, you punk. Now, are you ready to feel my strength?"

Tokumaru nodded, and entered his battle stance, read to defend against anything his foe dished out.

OOC: I pass the baton to you.

OoC: And I take the baton. Let us fly. The whole ... er, "room explody thing" shall be in the next post after yours ... er, after this one.

BiC: Terrin abandoned his fighting stance, realizing that his opponent was being intensely foolish for letting him get the chance to gather is powers together. Reaching once more into the flow of Posative Force around him, which seemed peculiarly strong, he delved into one of the harder waves, and let the molecules fly from his body, seamlessly, and rush back into him, flowing through his veins with such force that it was almost hard to contain it. With sweat rolling down his skin, he raised his sword to his face, closing his eyes softly, and whispered two single words in his head: Shining Inferno.

The power flew from his chosen area, the wall behind Tokumaru. The Heavenflame Samurai felt the burst of Posative, and had not time to react. He only had time to realize the heat was to his back, when it exploded behind him, rending the top half of his clothing to ashes, and sending him flying forward, to Terrin's feet, panting, his naked torso shining with sweat. Balls of fire from the destroyed meteor of fire were now littered across the room, burning cheerfully, illuminating the room as if it were some sort of ritual.

Tokumaru was already back on his feet within seconds, however, and said respectfully, "that was also quite the flame, Terrin. So it seems, however, we are evenly matched!"

He shrugged as though careless of the situation. The elf grinned suggestively, and gave a quick stab. Tokumaru parried the strike and stabbed back. Terrin did the exact same block as the samurai had done.

Both grinned.

Then the swords flew forward, and the frantic duel resumed, this time, the swords struck five times every second, and both were controlling their swings with such fast movement, had anyone been observing the battle they would have been clueless as to who was overpowering who.

And as suddenly as it began, both swords met together in a shower of bright red sparks, pushing roughly against each other. Their faces were inches from each other, twisted into snarls, blood dripping from their identical cuts. Tokumaru rammed Terrin against the wall, and they twisted furiously ... and both swords slid off of each other, stabbing into both shoulders.

And just as quickly as it happened, they both yanked their swords out, yelling in agony, clutching at their wounds. Terrin doubled over, swearing, and Tokumaru staggered against the walls of the room, his hands scraping at the rough brick.

"Damn you, Terrin!" yelled the samurai, his eyes alight with malice. Terrin glared back, not breaking the gaze once ...

The two rival's dashed forward, and swordlocked again.

OoC: Now lets see some more swordie action from Tokie and Terrie, shall we? =P

OOC: Ok, here we are...

BiC: Tokumaru jolted inwards, lashing out a huge shock to the Yuathian Blade as the two heated steels entered a blinding deadlock. He then stared deeply into the man-in-a-boy's-body's eyes and saw turmoil. This boy had a sad past, as the samurai's deductions brought forth. Terrin's life was filled with death and destruction, all at the hands of Samlea. But Tokumaru knew nothing of this, and had to down the Elf. The samurai's life was in danger, and his self defense would most likely kill Terrin.

The Posative-wielding swordsman was indeed amazed at the samurai's abilities, wondering how such a being could possess such strength. The chaos of his past was his main priority now, but he knew that if he could not kill those who slew innocents, then he was no better than Samlea. But he couldn't realize that the Heavenflame Samurai did not commit such heinous acts, and would more than likely do just the same thing that Terrin was doing right now if he had "seen" the Elf coming out of a burning village with blood on his sword. They were both righteous people, but neither of them knew it.

"Your power is admirable." Terrin said coldly, looking straight back at his adversary as he took the deadlock's lead, "But this 'Inferno', as you call it, is nothing to my subdued strength. Have you ever faced something with such a power as mine?"

Tokumaru was hit hard in the pride at this comment, simply because he carried the pride and will of all the warriors he had ever faced. Laughing, he pushed hard against the Yuathian Blade, sending Terrin out of the deadlock, and back into the wall. Spinning his sword around, Tokumaru said,

"Yes. Plenty of people have been much more powerful than you. Have you ever heard of the Celestials? They are a group of omni potently powerful beings that rival the strength of Gods. One is traversing this land as we speak."

Terrin nursed a painful wound to his arm as he said, "What are you getting at, Samurai?"

"I'll tell you." Tokumaru continued, "You see, I have met this Celestial who wanders our world. What's more, I faced him in battle. It was quite the grueling fight, and I have many scars to prove it. But that isn't the point. I, Tokumaru Kyô, unleashed that Celestiality from its dormant slumber within Blitz Keir, the Wielder of the Sword... and equaled it with my own strength."

Terrin's mind was sent aghast, as his sweat-matted face began to gain a look of curiosity and fear. Taking a small step back, he said, "You're lying. I've heard of the Celestials, and there's no way in hell that you've beaten one. Celestials are gods, Tokumaru. You're a human!"

Tokumaru held out the Hinotama, and the cocky smile left his face. "They aren't exactly gods, and me equaling one would be a lie. But nay, Celestials are pretty much Lesser-gods, and yes, I equaled one in power. If you think that you, a young elf, could beat me, you've got another thing coming! I am the human equivalent to a lesser-god!"

OOC: Tokumaru's a lil cocky after being away from battles so long, lol...

I will delete this comment in a moment, after I'm certain you've seen it, but I just have to say this... HAH!! HA, HAH!!! Wow, great reference. Maybe I'm just high on lack of oxygen right now, but I felt such a power-high when I read that. Go me!

IC: "Enough of this!" shouted Terrin, his gaze now set on Tokumaru's jaw, for some odd reason slightly following the fact that it disturbed him to look into his eyes. "You needn't lay your arrogant braggings upon my shoulders, for you have naught to see my true power! Celestials have immense power of lesser gods, this I know. And this you undoubtably are informed of as well. But your arrogance and overconfidence has blinded you to the fact that I have not magic that you wield, I hold a different and stronger power than your mind could comprehend, and you have yet to see its true capabilities."

Tokumaru shook his head defiantly. "This is not a question of higher power. If you are truly deaf to my warnings, then by all means, continue your onslaught! See what h--"

And it happened. Terrin had not meant for it to occur, but his emotions were out of control, and his desire to prove himself had overruled his thoughts. The Posative cells in his body exploded with unsurpassed energy that annihilated all anger in his brain. It was replaced by an inconcievable lust for Tokumaru's understanding, for he did see the samurai as a worthy and smart adversary and wished for him to know his true capabilities. He did not know what his outer looks appeared as, but it made no difference. This overwhelming energy burst forth from him, and he let out a scream of ecstacy, which shattered the remains of the window Tokumaru had crashed through, and obliterated the room around them, tearing apart the rough stone and sending Tokumaru into the air as the elf went into his ultimate form... Risition. The samurai unfurled his wings and held himself in the air, but with increasing difficulty as an intense force attempted to push him away from Terrin's prone, now hovering form. Everything disintegrated around them, fading to white. The Posative that radiated from Terrin's aura was such that Tokumaru felt baffled it could come from a supposed fifteen year old.

The light finally faded, but the intense energy did not. Terrin peered through the white light, although he could see clearly, and saw that Tokumaru was blinking furiously, attempting to vainly see Terrin's form. Not wanting to disappoint him, Terrin used the huge power excitedly, knowing he did not get many chances like this, and shot forward as fast as an unnatural arrow. He swept across Tokumaru's vision, and the samurai held up his sword awkwardly when he saw the Yuthian blade cut across the horizon, but instead felt a foot connect with his spine, and he flew forward, landing hard down on a tough and hard surface, coughing incessantly.

The samurai looked up furiously, and saw that he lay on a small part of the roof of the massive keep, the only part that had not been blasted off in the explosion of Posative. Debris littered the ground far below, and small fires were lit everywhere.

Terrin descended down from the sky, and Tokumaru readied himself, rolling to the side when the elf slammed down feet first. Immediately after this occured, Tokumaru shot forward and attempted a stab at Terrin's chest, but the Hinotama was batted aside as if it were no more than a stray fly, and he felt a sword scrape across his midsection, leaving a deep bloody furrow. He stumbled backward, clutching at the painful line, glaring at Terrin. The elf did not look much different than he had before, except his eyes seemed a tad more slanted than before.

More Posative burst out, and Terrin directed a flurry of compressed air to buffet Tokumaru, but in such small and powerful waves that it was like small fists beating callously against the samurai. And he was smacked hard in the face and chest, yelling out mixed curses, describing in quick passages how he would scourge Terrin's blood clean of the world.

The Posative Force eased off, and Tokumaru fixed a steely gaze on Terrin, who stood in a calm position, Yuthian aimed at the ground point first, held loosely in his grip. He was letting Tokumaru make the next move.

And the next move I shall have! he thought angrily. I won't stand for this... not if it's the last thing I do as a living entity!

OOC: Let it continue! T’lemenheim: (tleh-men-high-m)

BiC: Tokumaru’s eyes fluttered in astonishment at the amazing feat of power. Nothing but attacks performed by Blitz and Drago would make something as strong as what had just happened. The entire T’lemenheim stronghold was obliterated at the hands of this elf, and now Tokumaru had to defeat him. If such a power as his was unleashed to the mortal world, all Armageddon would be set forth; the samurai believed that Terrin’s rage would get the better of him in the future.

Tokumaru knew that Terrin had intense power, but the Heavenflame Samurai wasn’t about to unleash his full strength against such a young-looking opponent. With that, he held his sword to his side, and a spark of flame began to shoot from the Hinotama’s crest. Within seconds, that spark evolved into a raging flame that encircled the katana. Tokumaru’s wings then gained a miniscule flame on the end of each quill, and the mana within his body surged forth.

“Terrin,” he said maturely, “your powers are very admirable. But if something like you were to be unleashed to the world, your rage would loose its stability, and your awesome, yet destructive, power would be the end of many. That is why it is my duty to strike you down here. You have formidable strength, but not of which can stand against this… my Raging Inferno!”

Terrin’s eyes widened in surprise and ridicule for the samurai. What is he talking about? I’d never destroy any innocent beings… This guy is off his rocker! But Terrin’s underestimation of the Heavenflame Samurai would soon prove to be quite the mistake, for Tokumaru charged with great force.

Terrin was wholly unaware at this new show of strength, as proven with a huge gash knelt into his side with the Hinotama’s heated steel. A singing pain rang throughout the entire elf’s body, and his eyes squeezed shut in reflex. But Tokumaru wasn’t finished; he picked Terrin up by the collar and threw him high into the air, holding out to hands in his direction.

“You ready, elf?” the samurai said as a collection of pyro-mana began to accumulated at his hands, “I call this little number… the Twin Flames of Annihilation!”

At that moment, a huge surge of flame shot from the accumulation of fire at his hands, and hit Terrin head on. The intense heat scorched the Posative-wielder’s wounds, sending pain of which he had never known all throughout his body. He was so astonished with Tokumaru’s show that he barely had enough energy to stand upright in midair. As the falmes subsided, he fell down to Tokumaru’s level, glaring him in the eyes.

“You… bastard!” the elf screamed, holding out the Yuthian blade forcefully, its warm glow increasing in magnitude, “How can you hold such power?! I’ll… I’ll…”

Tokumaru struck Terrin over the face with the back of his hand, causing a spurt of Elven blood to cross into the air. “You’ll do what? There’s not much you can do now, because you’ve maxed yourself out, and I’m barely even at the tip of the iceberg.”

But it was in that statement that Tokumaru was at fault. Terrin’s abilities were not anywhere near maxed-out, unbeknownced to both of the warriors. Tokumaru would have quite the battle ahead if he was not careful.

“I’m not in the mood to fool around anymore,” he said, “so can we end this now?” And with that, the samurai entered his traditional kata once more.

IC: "Arrogant fool. Your blind indifference shall be your downfall!" said Terrin with a small grin stretching his features, almost frighteningly. Even with all of the energy circulating around the two feuders, he kept a calm edge. Anger and surprise did not come easily for him, and so he straightened his posture, giving Tokumaru and open striking range. In his Raging Inferno stage, Tokumaru found it a simple matter of speeding his moves to the point where Terrin could not follow a single action, and drove forward, ramrodding the Hinotama toward Terrin's heart. Desperate anger and hatred poured out into the action, and his teeth gritted into a snarl.

A second later, Terrin flipped up the hilt of the Yuthian sword, tipping the Hinotama off course, causing it to skate off into the air. He poked Tokumaru lightly in the stomach, barely puncturing the skin, then kneed him roughly in the stomach, causing him to double over as the wind rushed from every inch of his lungs, causing his air passage to shrivel, and for him to gasp for breath and force it back into his body. In that one instant, the Raging Inferno calmed once, so quickly it could have been easily overlooked.

But it wasn't. Terrin directed such a powerful force of air and water into Tokumaru, that it generated into a tornado whirlwind of spraying cool H2O, which made Tokumaru splutter when it overwhelmed him, lifting him into the air. The tempest took control, and whipped his body into a frenzy.

"Have a taste of your ignorance!" called Terrin, sheathing the Yuthian blade calmly, and directing the wind and water to do his bidding.

And his bidding was for the air and water to compress into a solid wall and shove Tokumaru down hard into the section of the high sanctuary that Terrin now stood on, the only part not destroyed by the Risition first phase. The samurai hit the surface with a loud crack, and his lungs groaned with displeasement, emptying a spray of blood from behind his lips and tongue, which splashed down onto the stone he now lay on. Coughing and wiping his lips, he gazed up at Terrin's advancing form.

Tokumaru scrabbled at the Hinotama's scabbard, but found it empty. Terrin lifted a hand, and Tokumaru saw his magnificent blade dangling between Terrin's thumb and index finger, as if it were a repulsive bug.

"Keep better track of your weapons," said the elf, hurtling it down next to the heavenflame samurai. "And get it out of your head that you are better than I... for I never found myself maxed out... even I do not know the full extent of Posative. You will evoke the worst of me if this continues."

Tokumaru shook his head, stunned by the arrogance of the elf in a child's body. He thought he could beat his Raging Inferno... what a fool. He would show him what not to mess with.

Using a forceful magic spell, Tokumaru pushed his aching body to its feet, and his hand shot down, seizing the Hinotama's hilt. The sword was embedded into the stone, and he wrenched savagely at it, but it did not come free. He grasped it with both hands, and yanked hard, straining against its unruly resistance. He felt it slide a little ways... then a fist made contact with his jaw, and he stumbled backward, white stars popping in front of his eyes.

"Become enlightened in the ways of matrial arts," said Terrin calmly. His own sword was still in its sheath at his side. The elf wrenched the Hinotama out with a lazy flick of his wrist, and threw it at Tokumaru's feet, but the samurai did not pick it up.

"Go on," said Terrin.

Ah, so he wishes to fight fists, does he?

They both charged, and their balled fists came together, smashing into each other's skulls and chests, arms, knees and legs.

OOC: FINE! NO JAPANESE! *arse* Except for the Sôryûsen, because that's just how Tokumaru fights. It is his major advantage in any fist fight.

BiC: Tokumaru fished around through the foggy roof of the stronghold, desperately searching for the Hinotama. Terrin was obviously very close by, and now the samurai realized that this elf wasn't just a weakling, but was in fact quite powerful. Not nearly as powerful as I, of course, thought Tokumaru, but still pretty damn good to get the Hinotama out of my hands! Tokumaru was gravely mistaken, however, as would be proven by Terrin in the near future.

As he groped around through air, his hands eventually touched the familiar gold leather surrounding the Hinotama's night-black hilt. But as he tried to ready it into kata, he noticed that it was imbedded firmly into the ground. Before he could inspect things any further, a balled, Elven fist slammed hard into his jaw, sending a spurt of blood into the Air.

"Become enlightened with the ways of martial arts." said the elf as he grasped the Hinotama’s hilt, pulling out effortlessly and casting it towards the samurai's feet. But Tokumaru ceased to grab it.

"Go on," said Terrin.

Ah, so he wishes to fight fists, does he? thought Tokumaru as he reached into his Kimono pocket, bringing out two pairs of gloves. "Well," he said, "if it's fist fighting you want, then it is that you shall get. I will have you know, however, that I am trained in a style taught to only the most advanced of Fire Users. As my clout spread across this fair land before I stopped using my fists completely, I was known as the Great Wall of Fire. My style is so incredibly defensive that not even Drago has pierced it."

And with that, he slipped on the gloves, stretching them around his fingers as to tighten their grip. He then unlatched the sheath of the Hinotama from his waist whilst beginning to undo the belt of his Kimono. For a moment, Terrin thought that this was some strange homosexuality streak that Tokumaru had just gained, but was proven wrong as the Kimono dropped to the ground, revealing a white, sleeveless shirt.

"Been awhile since I've gotten into this uniform!" said the samurai, entering a very different kata stance. Terrin gave him a smug look.

"You call that a battle uniform? Ha! That's really pathetic, Tokumaru!"

Tokumaru shot back an equally defensive look as he exhaled slowly. "Say what you like. But I dare say... don't tell me you've never heard of my first great technique, the Sôryûsen Ryû?"

And before Terrin could retaliate at this conjecture, an outstretched hand slammed into his spine; yet the Tokumaru in front of him was still there, grinning. The Elf spun around to see a transparent green Tokumaru floating in midair. It didn't take the real Tokumaru long at all to use this distraction in a maneuver; he ran up to Terrin insanely fast, his gloves surrounded by flame, and reared back his fist:

"Fiery Lightning Uppercut!"

The samurai's fist slammed up hard into Terrin's gut, sending him into the air, where he met fist-to-face with the Sôryûsen. This slammed him back down to Earth; the Elf was enraged now. Spitting out a small bit of blood, he said:

"Pretty damn slick, Samurai. But you can't outdo me with petty magic tricks!"

As the last word left his lips, Terrin rocketed upward towards the Sôryûsen, where he did a forceful, Posative-charged roundhouse through the mana-life form’s whole. A look of complete fear soared throughout the doppelganger's fist as a strange blue fire emitted from the roundhouse's impact site, spreading and dissolving its entire body. Within minutes, the Sôryûsen was no more. Terrin was both surprised and proud of his Posative abilities, and looked down to his foe with a smirk.

"It appears your mana-creature reacts pretty badly with Posative, eh, Tokumaru?"

The Samurai stared back up with a neutral face, readying his flame-engulfed hands in a powerful stance.

OOC: Well, I wonder how long this fist fight will last?

IC: Terrin did a quick shot down to the surface of the destroyed stronghold, landing straight in front of Tokumaru, and letting his fists fly at once.

Nearly as soon as he began his assault, he saw how defensive and skilled Tokumaru was. Perhaps as good as me, if I were to be doing defensive... but I must get past his arms!

Tokumaru seemed to be using his wrists and fingers as confusing defensive devices to thwart Terrin's tactics, which in itself involved a relentless strike. Terrin quickly found out that this was not the way to play it out... he had to be smart about this. So as he allowed Tokumaru to now batter against his own arms and wrists, he cleared his mind, and delved into his swirling thoughts that helped him out of such situations... his eyes opened a fraction of a second later, and he saw as if in slow motion, Tokumaru's fist roundhousing its way toward his cheek.

Now with this advantage of seeing everything slowly, he flung up his forearm and caught the jab, then twisted the other free hand down to Tokumaru's side, then flung the first arm back, put a hand onto his left leg, and whirled it forward, completely knocking the samurai's leg out, and sending him into a face plant with the stone.

Tokumaru let out a loud, profound "ouch," after he had gotten his senses back. Terrin grinned. Despite their situation, he could not help but admire his foe's resistance and sense of humor. He could tell that had he not been so angry at Terrin, he would be really nice guy...

Perhaps when this is all done and decided... we can put all this behind us and be friends... it would be nice to have an outside ally for once.

Tokumaru whirled up into the air, proffering his foot to Terrin's temple. Had the kick landed down, it would have likely knocked Terrin into oblivion, onto the very edge of a coma, but he blocked it moderately easily. He in turn flung up his wrists and palms to ward off an array of fists, but became too distracted by an itching buzz in his ear... his long elf ears pricked up...

"Ass hole..." whispered Terrin, just loudly so Tokumaru alone could hear it, even as he tried to punch the elf.

Terrin whirled around, bringing a foot up into the air, which he knew, Tokumaru would block, and when he did, he used the force to propel himself into the air, and to come face-to-face with the Sôryûsen, which he gave his hardest punch to... right into the middle of its temple.

A burst of ghostly blood shot from the point where his knuckles made contact, but he did not stop there. He seized the neck of the apparition, then slowly compressed his hand until the ghosts neck was a shriveled pulp. Then he kneed it in the gut, and hurtled it down with backbreaking force, past the surface that Tokumaru still stood on, and down to the far below grassy plain, where it disintegrated when it hit the ground.

Then the elf turned his now narrowed eyes back toward Tokumaru, and, still in his Risition form, drew on the infinite amount of fire element, also letting the Yuthian slide into his hand, along with the scabbard in his other hand.

"NO--MORE--DOPPELGANGERS!" bellowed the impatient elf, and unleashed a fiery barrage that seemingly overwhelmed Tokumaru.

OoC: A nice little quote there, I think . Yeah, I got sick of the fist fight, so I ended it, and turned it back into a Posative/magic fight... er, thingie. Hope you enjoyed ^^ NOW POST AGAIN!