A New Weapon | Ashura & Tsukikage

[Bluedemonwolf]

Tsukikage swiftly ran through the forest with a bundle of clothes on her back along with her sword. She was in her kitsune form with a furious look on her face. She had just finished up a mission or rather finished cleaning up a botched mission due to her wonderful twin. All they had to do was sneak in among a particular herd, kill the head mare, and leave. Instead her twin decided to boldly strut in among the herd and kill the head mare in front of a dozen witnesses. She then left, leaving Tsukikage to clean up the mess. Her sister, Asatsuki, was proving just how unreliable and wild she was. Yes her sister was quickly reaching the end of her usefulness. Perhaps it was time to put an end to Asa.

Her pace slowed as she began to focus on that idea. It would be hard to take her out. They were evenly matched in all things and they both knew how the other fought, their weak points, their strengths. In order to kill her twin she would have to do something that Asa didn't know about or expect. She could.... ugh.. ask for help but she viewed that as a last solution to this problem. She had no problem asking for help if it was warranted but this didn't seem like such a situation. No it would be best to train and perhaps learn some new fighting style or skill.

While she was lost in thought she ended up heading towards the more mountainous area of this forest and a mist began to spread through the trees. She stopped and looked around, a thought nagging at the back of her mind. Her eyes narrowed as she slowly took in her surroundings. What had caught her attention? There wasn't much bird song for one thing but that wasn't it. She turned back the way she had came and looked at the ground. There! A faint paw print in the ground. Someone else had been up this way somewhat recent, at least in the past day. She studied the ground seeing no other tracks besides this trail of prints. So it could be possible that it was longer than a day as it looks like nothing else had traveled this way and the weather was good.

She wasn't sure about continuing on this path. Her instincts were sending her danger signals and her senses were on high alert. She didn't see anyone but her instincts told her that something or someone dangerous was near. She quietly slipped into the shadows of the trees off the path and continued on. She would scout ahead some to see what was up the path and if needed would flee into the forest where it was darker in the afternoon sun.  

[Bluedemonwolf]

Tsukikage spotted the white kitsune walker up in a tree as she drew near to what appeared to be a hot spring. Her eyes narrowed and she froze in place as he stretched and touched some clothes that were drying by him. So this was why her instincts were screaming at her about danger. This walker did appear to be dangerous after all he had clearly spotted her.

At his words she tilted her head some. Did he think she came here to fight him? Did he expect anyone passing by was approaching him for a fight? If so then he was sorely mistaken. A tail flicked as she thought. She didn't want to fight. While yes she could use it as a spar to train it was senseless for her to fight so quickly after completing a mission. She was tired and more importantly she and her clothes needed to be cleaned. While her purpose to coming to this spot wasn't for cleaning up there was nothing to say that she couldn't make it her purpose. Especially if she could make it seem like she came to this hot spring to clean up and stumbled upon this stranger instead of looking like she came here to fight him.

She broke her gaze from the walker and began to walk towards the hot spring. She could do as he most likely did and wash her clothes there as well as herself. As she stepped out of the shadows one could see red stains becoming dark on her pelt, legs, and tails. "Well in that case... excuse me while I clean up. Wouldn't want to waste your time nor mine with meaningless posturing." She said softly.

She moved to where she could keep an eye on him and set her sword on the ground to where it wouldn't get wet. She undid the clothing bundle and set aside the metal armor pieces that really shouldn't get a full dunking. She would wait and see what he would do before going into the water.  

[Bluedemonwolf]

Kage let out a soft laugh at his question and comment. "No forcing me to show myself isn't posturing. But what would normally have occurred would have been posturing and why waste our time doing that. No need for us to have a verbal fight while circling each other looking for a chance to strike. I need to clean up and you are apparently waiting for your clothes to dry." She replied, slowly slipping into the water letting the heat soak into her body. It certainly felt good and helped ease some of the ache out of her muscles. "I may have stayed in the shadows to examine the situation for a while but I would have either left to go somewhere else to clean up or entered the hot spring here."

She eyeing him as he leapt down and examined her items. "Oh yes please just handle my things. I do so love it when strangers touch my weapon." The sarcasm practically dripped from her voice as she deadpan stared at him. Instead of doing anything about it she grabbed her garments and began to wash them as best as she could in this form. It helped that majority of them were black already so if any stains remained they wouldn't be as visible.

"An assassin? Is that what you believe I am? Based off of what? My sword? It is merely a tool to get the job done. Claws and fangs work just as well but sometimes clients ask for more... how shall I say it... unusual weapons for the job." She finished with the clothes and walked out of the water to go hang them on a nearby tree to dry. She didn't confirm nor deny being an assassin. It was simply a label that others applied to her when they found out what she did. She thought of herself as more of an agent of death, a walker for hire at times.  

[Bluedemonwolf]

Kage silently laughed to herself, while keeping her face pointed away from him, at his comment about her talking a lot. She wasn't the only one speaking quite a bit. She kept her reply to herself and when she turned to face him there was no look of amusement on her face. "That is why I generally observe any opponents for a while. You're able to learn much by watching and waiting." If only her sister could see that wisdom. But no her sister was impatient, quick and direct to any sort of confrontation, somewhat like this male before her.

Her eyes narrowed at his taunt. Before he had even drawn her blade she was moving. While some would have assumed she'd be moving to rush in towards him to reclaim the sword, well they would have assumed wrong. She instead darted into the trees and shadows where she could blend in before attacking.

As she moved she noticed a flicker of light. A sword hanging from a tree, a tree that this male walker had jumped out of earlier. A slight smile formed on her face as she dodged between trees to begin circling around him. Of course that wouldn't be easy since he had been nearly on her when she darted into the trees. It would be interesting to see if he would continue to be direct and chase her into the shadows and more crowded space or if he would wait in the open clearing of the bright hot spring.  

[Bluedemonwolf]

Kage circled some more while keeping to the shadows and smirked. She had no problem about wasting his time. For her this was no waste of time. It was time spent getting to the perfect spot for an attack, it was time to study her opponent. She eyed her sword stuck in the ground but decided that the opportunity he was presenting her was worth more than the weapon.

Quickly darting out of the trees to the left of him, Kage ran towards the slowly shifting stallion. Once she was close enough she would slash at his legs with her claws before darting back. She planned to jump over him and slash him as she flew over. "Perhaps the shadows aren't for hiding weakness but instead are my strength." She snapped leaping at his back.  

[Bluedemonwolf]

Kage wasn't surprised that her attacks didn't due much. She was slightly surprised to see him move and repel her attack while finishing off his shift. She landed on the other side of him and turned to run at him. However he was already there slashing at her with her own sword. Blood spilled on the ground from the slash to her shoulder and she backed away warily.

Now that he was in stallion form, or nearly there, he had size, power, and reach over her. She needed to even the odds some by shifting herself but knew that while she was faster than he was it would be a bad thing to change now with nothing to defend herself. She crouched low to the ground with a silent snarl before springing at him. However before she could touch him she turned, hopefully slapping him with one her 'ghost' tails (they always seemed to throw others off so she wasn't sure if the sensation of them was strange or it was something else), and ran towards the tree where his sword was hanging. As she ran away she began her shift to her normal form.  

[Bluedemonwolf]

Kage felt the air move behind her as the blade swung close to her. She ignored it for now and focused on completing the change and getting to his sword. She was almost there when she felt him collide with her bringing them both to the ground. She finished her change as the fell and slashed at him with one of her paws.

She froze when she felt the blade against her throat and glared up at him. She waited for him to finish her off but instead he glanced up and saw what her objective was. She didn't trust him when he released her sword but remained where she was. "They do in certain situations. This one was shaping up to not be one of them." She replied coolly. In fact it had shaped up similar to one of her last fights with her twin. What was she missing in order to take out opponents such as those who fought directly like them?!