Karu

[The Welsh Paddy]

Ranna vs. Karu

@Karu

I see your character is written for RPB's. Are you up for a battle?

I'm thinking of maybe using my character Rhogar Krin, or Ranna. But then, I don't mind which character I battle with, so long as it's not Degra as I have used that character quite often and want a change. My character bios can be found at this thread:

http://www.finalfantasyforums.net/threads/55125-The-Return-of-My-Mob-of-Angry-Hostiles!

There is also a link in that topic to my bios that have been archived. You can choose your opponent. I'm still a bit rusty at this as I've only had one RPB in the space of several years, so. I used to be quite an avid RPB'er.

 

[Karu]

I very much so am! If you would be gracious enough to permit me a further day to make a decision on your characters and work some changes into the amorphous form I'd be most thankful. It has been roughly the same time period for myself also so this will essentially be a clash of rust. Who shall take the dchance of depicting the setting? I'm thinking purely as a sort of personification pun of the fact it's rust against rust a junkyard or tech-graveyard of sorts might be appropriate.

 

[The Welsh Paddy]

Well, if we are going for a more modern setting, that would limit my characters down to either Ranna, The Dreadmaw or my Predator Bakuub.

I wouldn't be all that comfortable with using the Dreadmaw at this point, as he's a completely different character to what I'm used to. I'll have to wait 'til I get further inspiration with him. But I'm cool with using either Ranna or Bakuub. Ranna is more of a fantasy-based character, which I think would be more suitable for this. And Bakuub is an alien based from the Predator films, so he comes packing with a whole lot of tech not of this planet. I could always adapt any of my other characters for a more modern setting, or even come up with some explanation as to why they'd show up in some tech junkyard or something.

If I'm not online when you've taken your pick of character, I don't mind you getting the ball rolling on this one. If I need to adapt the character in any way to fit the setting, I'll just let you know.

 

[Karu]

I'd be quite interested in taking on Ranna. It'd be quite the intriguing battle, I apologise for any amount of waiting I caused with my lagging decisions. Please, do feel free to set up the arena yourself as I'd rather see how someone else around these parts conducts things to get a general idea before participating completely. I don't mind waiting whatever amount of time it might take you, I also like the small glimpse into the imagination it can provide.

 

[The Welsh Paddy]

OOC: Since both of our characters are generally quite decent people, I decided to write out a situation with more substance than just a change encounter between the two because, well, I really can't imagine either of our characters looking for a fight with some other good person. Oloven is an NPC I created solely for setting up this fight. He's pretty much just some wizard/mage that is out gathering extraordinary people to... I dunno, tackle some sort of threat or something. I'll let you have Karu come to his own conclusion of the old man. But he teleported us both to that junkyard, which will be the arena for this test he has set up for the two of us. I guess that's all that's relevant, really. Anyways, here goes. Good luck!
__________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Ranna opened her eyes and surveyed her surroundings, feeling apprehensive. She didn't really want to be a part of this, but the one who called Oloven insisted that she was needed. For that reason, she wondered why she even had to be tested. Needless to say, her circumstances had taken a turn for the downright bizzarre. It hadn't phased her much, other than give her a heightened sense of anxiety; but that was at the prospect of being tested and, ultimately, being judged by someone she didn't even know. The fact that she had been teleported to an unfamiliar place, however, wasn't too much for her to comprehend. She was used to unusual things happening in her life, particularly over the past few years.

Her day had started off as normal. Waking up in the shared accomodation in which she was currently residing, going about her morning ritual and then proceding to the local town library. Much of her time is spent in libraries, tracking down stories from myths and legends and dedicating herself to digging out the truth in them. That had been the case since she acquired 'The Book of Waking'. A massive, leather-bound tome, of which only a handful of pages had been written and illustrated. The rest of the pages were empty, but Ranna knew that once she binds all the escaped entities to the book, it would be complete. Such a task gave her life more meaning, and it felt good waking up each morning knowing she had things to do. It also helped a lot that she was curious as to what it would mean to have accomplished such a task.

Upon getting to the library, she promptly retrieved the last three books that she had not yet read from the mythological section, sat down and began to read. It wasn't long, however, before she felt like she was being watched. She was about to get up and leave, but an elderly man sat down opposite her. "Hello, Ranna," he said politely, offering his hand.

Ranna shook it wearilly. "And who might you be?" she asked.

"My name is Oloven Olin," the old man replied. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you. I must say, I am both envious and impressed by what you have uncovered so far with the Book of Waking."

Ranna's hands immediately grabbed for her satchel, where the book was. It never left the bag unless she wished to use it. Oloven chuckled and waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry, that relic is of no use to me anyhow. Alas, I was not chosen to be the one who untaps its powers. But, that book is the reason why I have come to you, miss."

He reached up with both hands and massaged his temples. "I would very much like to discuss what you have discovered with that book, but unfortunately there are more pressing matters at hand. It will require you take a test, mind. I need to gauge how adept you are at using the Book."

"What for?" Ranna asked, bewildered and reluctant to do anything this stranger asked of her.

"The others I have chosen have gone through trials of their own, but time's running short so I have decided to taste you and one other together, by pitting you in battle with one another."

Ranna was appalled that this man had the gall to ask this of her and she was about to protest, but Oloven reached out and grabbed her own. "Trust me," he said. "I'm not as mad as you might think."

The two of them were engulfed in a bright white light, and there was a build up of noise very much like that of a thundering waterfall. Ranna felt the ground disappear beneath her feet and she panicked. Oloven grasped her more tightly. "Don't let go or you'll die!" he roared.

Everything went black and silent, and it took a moment for Ranna to realise that her eyes were closed. She opened them and surveyed her surroundings, feeling apprehensive. Oloven was nowhere to be seen, and she was now in what looked like a junkyard. "Great," she muttered.

Making sure her satchel was secured tightly over her shoulder, she took a closer look at her surroundings. Great mounds of junk metal towered around her, some reaching as high up as twenty meters or so, others not as high. On a closer inspection, she saw that much of the scrap was from technology that was clearly not of Earth. There were a few things that were familiar, like cars and motorbikes, but there were also things that looked like they came out of a Star Wars film, and things that were a mess of cogs and pipes and boilers.

That was when she realised that someone was stood at the other side of the clearing, little over ten meters away. At a glance, he stands a little taller than Ranna, with messy blue hair and garbed all in black. From what Ranna could see, he was somewhat athletic in build. Ranna look at him, reaching up to tie her hair back in a ponytail before rolling up the sleeves of her jacket. One hand hovered by her satchel whilst with the other she reached to the small of her back to withdraw the concealed dagger she had there.

She nodded to the man in acknowledgement. "I'm sure Oloven has brought you here too," she called over with a smile. "I have no idea what's going on, I don't know who you are and, but that old man seems insistent that we fight each other. Mentioned it being some sort of test or something. My name is Ranna."

Ranna shook herself, loosening up her arms and legs and preparing for a fight.

 

[Karu]

OoC: I apologise for my lagged response once more. I was catering to a friend out of town with some mutually bad news. All is going to be fine, back to business! This post will unfortunately be a little scatterbrained as the first half was done a few days ago when my friend appeared then I ended up finishing it this evening.

BiC:

Such a beautiful day was orchestrated across this part of the world. A leading chorus in cacophony of subtle creatures hiding about the soil and sky with the backing kiss of wind's fresh, cool air as petals dance enraptured across the meadow breeze to coil about aged, leaning trees. Turning eyes blue and flecked with crystal skyward from hill-side path-side to meet with nature's conductor, the sun in all her cloud cloaked glory. It was quite rightly suggested to him this morn to progress time and leisure with a walk through this subtle dirt pathway, it seemed now sat upon a picnic blanket taking a morning breakfast of delightfully soft bread and flavoursome cheese from the local market stalls quite a charming area as compared to the midnight entrance made. Karu could get used to travelling life in places such as this, even with a checked gingham pattern keeping his clothing clean of soil. This walker of no path in particular would have preferred the table to this but that peculiar old fellow had been quite insistent on their conjuncture.

The pleasurable meal came to a halt when the aged man in question came pacing surely of himself along the path. As the light breeze tugged at his apparel, Karu dispensed a polite wave and a faint smile. It seemed as he neared that the man was not quite as old and wizened as Karu had first perceived some nights previous.
"Now, I had assumed you would be just entering the town and here I find you on a morning picnic. I must have become a poor judge of character indeed!" Exclaimed the gentleman before him, standing quite upright and intently focused on the blue haired one himself.

"I apologise for my discrepancy in your expectations. When I am expected I endeavour to reach the locale the evening before, I am not always a hurried traveller as such as-"

"And yet we still have little time, I am afraid we're both behind schedule. I might trouble you to recall my name is Oloven and now unveil the reasoning of my summoning of you to this location." The thought had crossed Karu's mind in some hour before the scenery and pleasing tastes had danced away his mind though usage of the term summoning for essentially a magical golem such as himself tugged some internal response that surfaced as little more than a twitch on controlled features. No matter, it had dragged his full focus to the matter at hand. "I am currently in the business of putting individuals such as yourself through various trials to assess their overall potential. You..." The man directed the statement with a point of a finger, "...Are an ideal candidate. I will have you volunteer as an opponent to another intriguing individual, Elemental."

This provoked a stirring in Karu, hand flickering to hilt of his blade as lips parted to ask the obvious question. "Come now! An educated individual will recognise the distinct hair and eyes of your species anywhere. As for if you decline I am afraid I refuse to accept no as an answer. As part of a species that is both elusive and rare you must be aware of my eagerness to study your capabilities and put you to a true test!" As hand eased from red hilt and these thoughts drifted in the oceans of memories and thought the nomad contemplated what could be gained.

On the one hand, it could be research for weaponised purposes which seemed likely given the nature of the offered confrontation. An alternative could be of suitable materials for healing salves, medicine, protection. The third tantalising possibility was that of a recreation of his people. Maybe- "Trust, friend. This is simple observation."

"And how can I be properly reassured of that?" It seemed his turmoil had filtered to his expression whilst the spell-wielder had paced up the hillside and placed hand on his shoulder to emphasise yet another statement.

"Trust is all I can offer. Now..." The statement never reached it's requited end. Sounds reminiscent of home and the waters braved to reach it tore at the world about him as a white light expanded invasively to engulf his senses as the world was torn away and the sensation of motion in all directions took over. The very taste of the spacial magic shifted gnawed at him, urging him to it and yet the fact he was within it, holding onto the man before him who was the very point of origin did nothing to sate the ravenous feeling it set upon him. With teeth garishly bared and eyes closed the sensation burning his blood was both unpleasant and a driving force to endure the event.

Fortunately, the duo were soon deposited in a veritable graveyard of all manner of technologies; tinted, twisted and gnarled metals dominating this landscape with girders jutting up like foul angled obelisk trees partway blown over in the wind, anthill mounds of lesser and greater parts of rust wreathed in foliage of shredded, shattered and torn metal sheets punctuated with smatterings of cogs and other unusual shapes clung upon by mechanical decay. The faint taste of the metals permeated the air, drawing Karu to ease open his eyes and release white-knuckled grip of the mage before him. Sooner than he could register the old fellow disappeared in a flash of white, the mild flare of that hunger spiking once more. A battle, that was what he was here for, not to be befuddled by some genetic trait. Righting his posture Karu then checked all of his wares were about him, fortunately so as he ran fingers along leather and more the expected material responses greeted him as eyes scanned this battleground. Was the foe already here? focusing on the surroundings the elemental swordsman felt for the movement of the air itself, the smell and subtle sounds of movement amongst the pylons of rust, attentively surveying shadows by sight. As far as he was concerned there was no particular arcane movement in the area beyond the fading spatial magic.

As the strange man Oloven deposited another person with the rushing sound of the spell bursting into existence Karu turned to orientate himself facing it. As the light of the spell faded the swordsman became able to take in their features. It was infact a she, mildly shorter than he and shockingly as pale as one of his people albeit with no markable aesthetic display to indicate a particular elemental alignment. A pity, that could have afforded him some advantage. Regardless of this the sword-mage then righted himself in posture and mental composure for a more formal and polite conversation. This lady also appeared to be sporting medium-length black hair and quite the casual outfit if not for a curious collection of pendants and trinkets. From this appearance Karu surmised it to be likely his opponent was a mage of some sort due to a lack of obvious weapon and the more slender, athletic build than a notable musculature.

Deciding against going straight for blade or spell the crystal eyed male began to consider an opening greeting only to be interrupted by the woman loosening herself up and issuing a statement. He proffered no reply and only displayed a mild frown and faintly furrowed brows born from his dismay at this encounter. At least the advantage was present in an artificial construct made mostly of water that he would not have to mimic what appeared to be a curious limbering exercise.

Karu took a deep breath in attempt to focus himself on the opponent. As thoughts fled his mind and coral sword drawn the elemental soldier became aware of his decision to not yet spawn his ribbon tendrils, they would be a valuable little surprise. As this one was a mage it would also be productive to prepare to counteract a spell, so the red veined sword was shifted to one hand as free right hand was placed as if flat against a glass surface before the blade, beginning to gather magic into the catalyst.

 

[The Welsh Paddy]

OOC: No worries man. My posts might be a bit delayed as well because I've got a fair bit going on here at home, and I'm also taking part in some of the Birthweek competitions here.
___________________________________

IC: Ranna eyed her opponent carefully, looking for any indication of an attack. He hadn't replied to her greeting, if it could be called a greeting. It was far more blunt than usual for her, but the current circumstances made her feel awkward and uncomfortable. Grasping her dagger in one hand, she tapped her satchel very lightly with the fingers on her other hand. She could feel the entities stirring restlessly within the book. An imperceptible vibration for anyone else who might come into contact with the tome, but for Ranna it was more like hearing someone begging to be released. The entities seemed to relax a little when she touched her satchel. "You'll have your fun soon enough," she thought.

The person before her had made little movement upon his appearance in the junkyard, but upon seeing her draw her weapon and ready herself to fight, he began to prepare himself. He drew out a magnificent looking sword that made her dagger look incredibly puny, it was quite laughable. But of course, she had plenty enough to hold her own with. And there was no doubt in her mind that this person was holding back. It was to be expected, she guessed, as it wasn't as though they were mortal enemies pitched in battle with one another. She never did like the idea of having to fight for her life, but she would certainly give this her all.

She didn't know what to make of the person before her. How seriously he would take this test, or generally how he sees combat. Was he more of a pacifist? One of those glory hunters who relish the idea of finding a 'worthy opponent'? Neither of those were her first impression, but then, in such circumstances she barely pays any heed to her first impression as making such judgements at such an early point could lead to fatal mistakes. Her opponent almost seemed like a normal human, but certain features of his stood out as being rather unnatural.

She pressed a thumb against the blade of her dagger in a gesture that almost seemed more anxious and unsure. The blade penetrated her skin, drawing out a tiny droplet of blood. Ignoring it completely, she then tossed aside her dagger and slipped her hand into her satchel. Without revealing what was inside, she opened the Book of Waking slightly, just enough to flip through the pages. Going by memory, she flipped forward a few pages before brushing her thumb over the page she opted for. The book shivered and, from the page, a sword hilt pushed itself outwards. Ranna grasped the handle firmly, pulling out the rest of the sword and giving the impression that the sword was being pulled out of her satchel.

Upon grasping the sword in both hands, Ranna seemed to take on a whole new appearance. Her whole body was engulfed in a yellow glow as armour materialised on her. A simple chest plate; silver in colour, contrasted sharply with her dark attire. On her arms, a set of gauntlets appeared, reaching up to her elbows and ending in a thick set of elbow guards. The newly formed armour fit suprising well with her clothing.

But what might be the most shocking change, would be in her posture. No longer was she slightly slouched. She now stood straight and proud, her face set in an expression of firm determination. It was these changes that made her seem like a new person entirely, and the way she stood made her look more tall and imposing.

Ranna decided to take the initiative and make the first move. Using the element of surprise, if these was any, to her advantage; she charged ferociously at her opponent. She put much of her weight into swinging her sword upwards from right to left, but not so much that she would overswing and leave herself exposed should her opponent dodge the attack.
__________________

OOC: It's annoying that I need to edit this after copying and pasting from WordPad.

 

[Karu]

OoC: Well, that is a relief. Thank you! And yes. The formats don't mesh in the greatest fashion. I've seen worse format clash, however! Got to work on my synonymous terms...

BiC:

The girl seemed to be wasting time by idling by. Strands of thought mirroring contemplation of if she was begging a casting or some other sinister motive rose to the surface. Thankfully Karu had already made a move to be ready for this eventuality- possibility. It was arrogant to assume such a thing was truth.

The elemental man gave himself to raising an eyebrow with a bemused expression as the dagger clanged against the metallic environment. Perhaps this was fortune enough to be a pacifist? Perhaps a surrender or call for understanding? The thoughts drew a smile to pale face only to soon be disturbed by the unveiling of a sword drawn from satchel. Such a length for a blade in such a container. How had it fit? Perhaps a telescopic blade as the crystal-imbued one had seen the eastern brigands use to feign helplessness against the oppressive officials of their lands. Somehow he doubted it with a small taste of something tempting in the air drawing him yet further from the conclusion it was of this mechanism.

Armour?! A materialisation of it no less! Smile fading to a blank face of mild grimace the elemental took firm hold of mind in preparation for battle. At least there were still significant parts in the armour for him to advantageously abuse in an effort to disable this opponent whom it only moments ago had appeared possessed a bag of tricks more than an overt use of magic. This was definably a summoning of armour though, through ritual or rite.

As posture of foe drastically altered Karu then extended to correct minor faults in his own, correcting for the slightly shorter hight by mildly reducing blade height. He mustn't let such a change snap his concentration. As the opponent pulled forth a ferocious charge the blue haired of the two drowned his surprise in the instinctual mindlessness that was to Flow as the Ocean. Granting the mild slack to ready evasion as the female closed onto the fifth meter, with clenching of hand in the process of casting two parallel spouts of water began to feed into formation of an orb, originating as to expected of his magic exactly one meter apart and to the right of him by roughly half of aforementioned distance. As shift of weight came behind a blow deft footwork and preparedness gave him the time to bound just over a meter to the left, the receding of the tide of his battle; incomplete orb following.

Flow of the Ocean was how it was described. The act as with any martial art of ingraining moves so deeply they become impulsive through muscle memory when selected by the active mind. The difference was that the Flow of the Ocean was designed as a superior defensive mechanism, placing the will in the user to move away from an oncoming object yet maintain a close distance as an alternative to the will to perhaps cover oneself or move a greater distance away. The unfortunate trade of this state was that of reduced outward cognitive ability on a conscious level, making it difficult to counter more complex moves with this style. As such the evasive side would only be utilised against an opening move with anything further of an evasive manner considered offensive in that of a teacher against inexperienced student

As boots thudded against rust Karu opened his current casting hand swiftly as the mindset broke, causing the orb to burst with no more force than a water balloon towards the opponent. This was an aggravation tactic as an angered foe is a clumsy one. Clasping sword with both hands the droll sun in this industrial scrap choked air briefly caught the blade as preparation to block a strong blow with entrenching through drop of weight, mild bending of the knees and elbows took place with distorted eyes peering beyond either side of the edge-towards-foe blade to search for sign of a move from foe. This was his defensive play.

OoC: Also kind of working in explanations here for myself, yourself and the audience for character mapping. Hope you don't mind.

 

[The Welsh Paddy]

As Ranna advanced on her opponent, she noticed an unusual formation of water gather just off to the side. 'Is this his doing?' she thought, referring to the person she was charging at. She slowed down and decided not to go for a different approach, but by that point her adversary had stepped off to the side away from the formation of water. His sudden move had brought the ball of water towards her and it exploded, soaking her. Ranna gasped at the coldness of it and her eyes widened in shock and indignation. She didn't know whether to laugh or to be well and truly angry at such a gesture. She quickly turned back towards her opponent in case he tried anything else, but he just stood there, sword held at the ready. Was he just toying with her?

Ranna found her opponent's "counter attack", for lack of a better word, more bizarre than anything. It definitely wasn't to be expected, and she had no idea what he planned on getting out of it except maybe a laugh, but he was just stood there calm and quiet as ever. It was almost like he expected her to try and attack again. This time Ranna just stood there, sword held at the ready, feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent, her body ready to spring into action. Instead of going for what seemed to be a lure for a cat and mouse game, Ranna decided to wait for her opponent to make another move.

It was rather impressive that he could manipulate water the way he did. Maybe it was a ploy to try and coax a little bit more out of her, to reveal more of what she has in store than she had so far. Whatever it was, it made no difference to her. He will witness everything she has at her disposal soon enough.
_______________________

OOC: Eh, a bit short but it's usually here abouts that I start getting more straight to the point with my posts.

 

[Karu]

OoC: Quite alright, as is combat reaction posts. ^^ Gonna pick up my pace of posting now and try get a better feel for it. I seem to be kind of clumsily stumbling over myself.

BiC:

The lack of movement from his foe was actually quite the pleasing reaction. Bounding back a further step of half distance to the previous, the light breeze in this stagnant air quite pleasurable as the obscure sundial shadows of rusted pylons and steel plinths in this church of rust and decay cast across Karu's pale face like outreaching hands to steal him away into the shadows.

"A moment if you please, madame." Unbuttoning and tugging at the sleeves of his coat the most resistance was that of him changing sword hands. Those eyes of the abyss never left the opponent. If she was to move for him he would simply bound towards her with a vertical upward swing likely severing through his beloved coat. Either way, the fabric was now removed and set aside with his silver thorned leather protection displayed. From the position reached from either action the elemental would then grasp the wine red hilt of the blade in both hands and lance it towards the torso of the opponent, stepping forward with leading right leg and out stretching the rear to lean body weight into the blow,

As preparation for continuation the spellsword would then sweep his rear foot along the ground to meet in positions for defensive stance as the lead began to rise, recovering entire posture progressively. It was a risk jousting forward the short distance with a heavier blow such as this, but hopefully enough to lure Ranna into an offensive. As he recovered Karu drew on the magic earlier deposited in the blade, ebbing the flow from it and into his lower spine with a mild tingling sensation in an effort to be prepared to save himself if she manoeuvred about the blow.

 

[The Welsh Paddy]

Ranna watched as, rather than go for an offensive, her opponent backed off further. She considered going in for another attack, but decided that she should wait this one out a bit. It could be his way of trying to lure her into an attack on his own terms. So she remained standing in that same position as the man took his coat off. Ranna was beginning to wonder whether it was a good idea to await his next move. It was too early in the fight to get an idea of how her opponent fought, which made her feel rather uncomfortable. She wouldn't show it, though, just like her opponent isn't showing any sign of nerves either. That is, if he is apprehensive about this fight. So far her impression of him was that of a soldier, or at least someone who is accustomed to battle.

Beneath his coat, he wore a leather vest with a thorn design embroidered into it. The leather would no doubt over slight protection, possibly able to deflect an indirect blow to his torso, but other than that it seemed to offer nothing more than him being able to move freely. That might work to the man's advantage, who already appeared to be quite swift on his feet. Ranna would have to wait and see.

Her opponent decided to make his move, then, launching himself into a direct attack, sword held out before him as if wielding a spear. Rather than meet the attack head on, Ranna decided to take a step back to lessen the impact of what such an attack would bring. Within the same movement, she swung her sword in a sideways arc, attempting to disarm her opponent or at least leave him open to a counter attack. The counter attack would flow from her defensive slash straight into a forwards stab of her own, directed towards his chest.
_______________________

OOC: Will you be signing up for the RPB tournament next week?

 

[Karu]

OoC: I'm afraid I don't quite have the confidence I could perform well enough in it. I wouldn't want to waste people's time.

BiC:

The thought flitted through Karu's mind that the individual seemed to be handling the battle rather well. Perhaps seasoned by battle or lucky enough to have the type of personality that copes well with battle. Turning into the blow as what the elemental assumed was simply summoned steel struck the forged coral sword, firm double handed grip on the blade securing it from flying from his grip, though still sent swinging back. Was it truly a lucky thing or more unlucky to be adjusted to battle?

With muted flash of magic at his lower spine the three ribbons leapt forth. The left of the three twisted around and lashed upward towards the chin of the foe, the mid and right steadying the recoiling blow to redirect into a defensive stance facing the opponent with the aquatic magic ribbons coiling about the arm higher up the blade to reinforce the defence. After all, Karu was a being of water. The intention behind those crystal eyes was to observe something more of this magister's sword style before striking back.

Lowering his weight and preparing to take another blow the physically stoic ex-soldier looked towards her eyes for truth. For all the actions humans might perform and the deceptions silver tongues might spin the truth will always result within the gateways to the soul. To know the foe is to stand better to win the battle or better yet, to end it. A furrowed brow and glistening lights of internal distaste at this conflict returning portrayed his own emotion, but how did she feel or think?

 

[The Welsh Paddy]

OOC: Sorry this took a while.
___________________________________

As Ranna made her counter attack, her opponent took some counter measures of his own. She was distracted for a second when she saw a dimmed flash from behind the man, somewhere around his lower back. It seemed that the split second distraction was all it took for this person to land a blow. It came in the form of the appearance of three ribbons that looked as though they were made from water, but it was obvious to Ranna that some kind of magic was at play here. Lashing out rapidly, one of the ribbons landed a blow right under Ranna's chin. It felt somewhat like being lashed by a belt, delivering more of a sharp pain and an impact that caused her teeth to snap together rather painfully and forcing her a step back.

She rubbed her chin with the back of her hand, keeping her eyes on her opponent should he decide to follow up on his counter attack. Her chin felt sore, and the skin turned a bright red, but it was something she could ignore. Gripping her weapon tightly once more and assuming her fighting stance, she took a second to study her opponent. The ribbons of water had coiled around the man's arm as if to reinforce the grip on his weapon, or maybe to lessen the recoil on blows that would clash against her own weapon and armour.

Without a second wasted, Ranna lunged towards her opponent once more. Raising her sword over her head, she feigned a slash aimed towards the man's own head. The movement was more of an attempt to trick her opponent into thinking he had an opening of attack. If he went in to attack, she would step to the side and then change the angle of her attack into a downwards diagonal slash before swiftly stepping back and assuming a defensive stance. Should her opponent not be lured in to attack, she would still go for the same manoeuvre but without the side step.