Scene #7654: Find Out XIV

Owner	Pose
Evehime Gevurah	The set of coordinates, brazenly broadcast on an open channel, lead deep into the heart of winter; indeed, near enough to an exceptionally tall and jagged mountain range, permanently cloaked in frost and ice year-round. Apparently, the sender has, recently, descended from those unbreathable heights, down to a deep, spacious, and very dark valley, where the sun is blocked by the sheer scale of the peaks at every time except midday. Most of it is filled with an ocean of immense evergreen trees, thick and dark and old, creating a realm of shadow beneath them. Other parts are open snowfields, untouched by even the footprints of animals, and in the middle, a vast lake, frozen almost completely solid for the severe cold. It is not an ideal arena for any kind of fight save that of the woodlands sniper and his prey, but it is where Evehime happened to be. She seems to have no intent of sniping Qulan, upon arrival or at any time after. She couldn't be any more obvious, standing in the very middle of that frozen lake, a figure of mainly black and gold and white against the pale blue. Standing in the bitter cold in only the most casual of culturally unidenfiable martial dress, arms folded, there are two things obvious: One is that she is utterly unaffected by such cold, which is of lesser concern. Two is that there is something that should be called 'overwhelmingly inhuman' about her, except it is, at its core, unmistakably human. Almost too human. A perfect, unreal sight that the most devout of classical artists, romanticists of the human form, could only glimpse the barest of in their most inspired and fevered dreams. The part of the brain, primitive and stupid, that wants to like and obey and hover around tall people, pretty people, confident people, rich people, fit people, people of status, goes absolutely ballistic at just the sight. An ordinary human would have absolutely no choice but to submit on the spot. Bend the knee at the mere sight of such an obvious, rightful leader. So it's fortunate that Qulan will at least pass that bar.
Qulan Kahkol	A figure walks along that dark forest, strangely unafraid or unconcerned with the parts that are too dark to see. It does not bother her that animals do not come here, she has been to areas of the wastes around Ishgard. The figure, hooded in a cloak to protect it from the harshest of the cold walks towards the coordinates provided. On her back is a very large object, wrapped similarly to her cloak. It is probably her weapon but shielded from the cold. The tree line breaks, as the figure simply seems to slip out of the darkness, not unlike a shadow herself. It pulls the hood down and reveals a helmet. The helmet is made out of adamantine and crafted specifically to help draw out her power. She at least takes the helmet off, to shake her head free and puts it under one arm. Her hair is dark blue, tied in a ponytail, but would be rather long if allowed to flow freely. Her eyes are pale blue, with a red ring around them that seems to glow in the dark. Two horns adorn either side of her head, not coming out, but rather on each side. Her skin is pale like the snow itself, with freckles that seem to glow like stars under each eye. She stares at the figure, and the first test is passed. She can FEEL that pressure, but unlike others, she can easily stand against it. "Well, I will say one thing, there is something to what you're talkin' about. I can definitely see why others are afraid of you, and the weakest people would give up at the sight of you. Makes me wonder if you're not more akin to a Primal...and which case, we were going to come to blows regardless." She says, and places the helmet back on her head, tucking her hair back in and grabbing the weapon on her back. The cloak and the wrapping come off, thrown back towards the trees to hang on. The sword is revealed to be a massive broadsword, and as it is drawn something SEETHES inside of it, as if something were bound to it. The blade stabs the snow, and each hand holds it down as she stares at Evehime. Slow wisps of darkness start to rise off of her, like water evaporating from a body of water.
Evehime Gevurah	Evehime, evidently, seems to reflect that she has so much time that she can't possibly find how to use it. Her posture is one of someone with all the time in the world. Of a statue. Of one of the mountains in the distance. Even though, logically, the lake is frozen many meters deep, it still seems somehow like a wonder that it can support her weight. As if all the concentrated weight of 'strength', drawn into her like the pressure eye of a hurricane, should count for real mass and shatter it. Blue eyes that seem to draw in the light until they glow. Bright scarlet markings, unidentifiable in origin, slashed around each. No blinking. No fear. No pity. No pleasure. "Typical." is the first word from her lips. Without the radio in the way, it carries an entirely new, richly subverbal layer, hammering the brain with the irrational, yet undoubtable impression that this is someone who has never lied, never hedged, never second guessed, in their entire life, and has never conceived of a reason to. "Again, I am not even given the dignity of standing against a human. Some exotic beast, in the guise of a man. Perhaps this is part of the weakness that infests the Multiverse." "I will commend you only on your bravery. As rooted in arrogance as it is, you will at least die with your pride. Had you turned tail and run, I would have hunted you down and razed your country. Let them speak well of you for upholding your responsibility. And feel no shame in your end; I am undefeatable; there are none who can claim you were weak simply because you were defeated by the strongest being in existence." The center portion of the lake cracks, and shatters. A fifteen foot crater seemingly skip-frames into existence, causing cold water to erupt out of it like a geyser. Cracks rush out from it in every direction, disintegrating a significant portion of the frozen footing all at once, falling into the drink in waves. The simple approach is far too fast to track with the eyes, save for the fact that it comes dead on. The most honest approach imaginable. No strategy. No feints. No planning steps ahead at all. It has all the nuance and humanity of being shot with a cannon. It also more or less feels like being shot with a cannon. At some point, a simple palm strike comes out, extended with a locked elbow and a side-turned profile at the last instant of a shallow, parabolic leap. The ground ruptures under her feet where she lands, but the blow itself is obvious and direct. And bone-shattering.
Sarracenia	Bored princesses pop up in the most unlikely of places. Especially bored princesses who like fighting. So, when that challenge between Evehime and Qulan gets broadcast, it isn't long before a wooden airship of the Mario universe variety appears in the sky above and carefully floats its way down into the chasm. It picks a spot a short distance away from Evehime and Qulan, then comes to a hover above it and the hull opens along its underside. A series of prefabricated stone walls are lowered down, fitting together to form a tower. Someone in a long red dress hops down and lands, then a glass dome is lowered down to cover the top of the tower and help protect it from the cold. The someone in red is Princess Sarracenia, and in proper spectating style she has a set of opera binoculars so might enjoy the fight from a safe distance. She peeks through them to see the two fighters more clearly...and is mesmerized immediately by one of them. The attack Evehime launches is just as impressive as the woman herself, and Sarracenia's eyes are practically sparkling afterwords. "O-oooh...my..." she says, then with a call to her ship gets her tower moved closer. Possibly a bit too close. Right to the edge of the lake.
Miyamomo	Atop one of the branches of those endless evergreens, Miyamomo lounges. Pipe in mouth, and sake bottle in hand, she looks down as the bout begins. "Oooohh, an impressive rush-in! Thunderous, instant, leaving destruction in it's wake. Fare well, armor-clad!" She glugs down a mouthful straight from the jug and settles in for the show.
Qulan Kahkol	The blow is in fact bone-shattering, if it was anyone else in the direct line of that blow, they easily would have been snapped in half. However, Qulan isn't anyone else. The blade comes out, aiming to absorb the blow of the punch. The force is harder than even she suspected, causing her to lose ground and slide across the snow. There is a grunt in her voice as she aims to respond. "Tch, well at least there is one thing you ain't lying about...you're not all talk," She says, as the force of the blow causes bruises throughout her body, trying to meet the attack head-on might have been silly, but there is a strategy in her moves. Or at least a method to her madness. Darkness gathers across her body, it's not some extra force or some evil desire. It is pure and simple...pure human desire. Pure human will...darkness is the deepest desires made manifest, tapping in on the darker side of emotions, and bringing them out. Easy for the average person to let them get out of control...but someone trained just right? In fact, this comes to be revealed as she spins the blade, enough to try and cause Evehime's force to keep moving forward, past her. She brings the blade around in a mighty swing, aiming to cut through her, but a second blow escapes her hand, aiming to drive it right into the chest of the perfect warrior. "I have no intention of dying today. I have much I need to protect, I have much I need to do in this world. Even if I lose I'll come back a hundred...nay a thousand times to make sure I lay you to rest," she says but soon brings the sword forward again, preparing herself for the next exchange.
Evehime Gevurah	"I have lied about nothing in my life." Evehime replies to Qulan. It is absolute truth. Impossible to doubt. A universal axiom. "And I have never spoken falsely of my strength." Rather than disinterested detachment at the sight of Qulan summoning her powers, however, it is beyond obvious that the Last Warrior is soaking it all in. Has soaked it in. Assessed and drawn measure of an instant, and already internalized it. It feels like being seen through before making a single motion. As if just taking a stance were all she needed to know everything. That surely can't be true. And yet it feels even moreso when the darkness shrouded combination slash comes straight at her, and with the same immense strength --no, much more strength-- the eight-foot-some singularity of a woman stops it dead between two fingers, with such intense suddenness that it'd dislocate a lesser fighter's shoulder for their own momentum. If she has the eyes to see it, Qulan will notice that the seething dark energy somehow doesn't quite make contact with Evehime's fingers, parting around it with an invisible, inch-wide gap. "Childsplay. Is this the strength you were so confident in? It is true that the smallest animals make the loudest din. Tell me you have more than that. I might be angry if this is the best you have to offer." A metal-shod boot rockets out with the actual sound of cannonfire. Fingers keep the sword clenched just long enough to hyperextend arms, then let it slide free with enough momentum to put an armoured figure straight through so many massive pine trunks in a row. An explosion of snow. Evehime has already closed again, keeping even with the force of her own blow. She reaches out to grab Qulan by the most convenient available appendage --ideally her face, if she can be so vicious-- and smash her straight down into the ground, deep enough to make a grave. Then, lob upwards into the air at just enough height to reach eye level, and unleash half a dozen punches fast enough that the last manages to connect before their target can accelerate away. It's difficult to call it a martial art. There doesn't seem to be a particular focus, or selective technique behind it. One could call it the essence of raw, overpowering momentum. An aspect of what it means to launch an overwhelming assault.
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki Tachibana should not be here. Not in most cases. In fact, this is a time she'd like nothing more than to get a little bit of sleep. However. 'And so I can only hope that somewhere in your Multiverse, someone else possesses the capacity to achieve real strength.' After recent events, something she heard in passing over the radio struck too much of a chord with her to /not/ come. This is something she thinks she needs to see, in hopes she might figure a certain answer to a question she's had to ask herself through it. So just for a little bit, rest is put aside so she doesn't miss out on an opportunity to do so. Though the cold of Winter almost makes her wish she did, Sarracenia's dome does a decent amount of making her forget that. Being Watchmates and also being on pretty okay terms with her despite only interacting a couple times is definitely nice. But a much better distraction is the battle. Qulan's voice she recognizes from earlier chatter. What an utterly massive weapon. And that darkness...it's not what she would expect something like it to be. And she's resolute. Really resolute. More than a lot of other people to be standing here now. Could she even do that herself? ...And then there's Evehime, who she's never seen in person before now. Even from a distance, she can feel that presence strong enough to make her feel a need to push back against it, mentally. It's another brand of the sort of oppressive atmosphere that comes just by 'existing' she gets from someone like Hiromi, but also more similar than she'd like. The lake-shattering combat is already enough to get her eyes wide in a different way than the princess. "...Unreal..." She murmurs quietly to herself. What even /is/ that way of fighting? That's not any kind of style she's ever seen or heard of, and she can hardly even keep up with it. Is that the 'strength' she mentioned...?
Qulan Kahkol	Evehime gets a handful of Qulan's face, which forces Qulan into the ground. The force of the blow is enough to force earth on either side of her, before being lifted up. Punches would have shattered the chest of anyone weaker, armor protects her, but it's not entirely everything. It feels like the armor is certainly there to PROTECT, but it's more channeling her own inner power. Qulan goes flying, staggering to a knee at the end of the blow, and coughs up blood. After a moment, after the taunt, she starts laughing a little. Rising slowly as the heat haze of darkness starts to wrap around her in a more physical form. The blade is brought up again, as she crouches. Moments later she's nowhere near Evehime, but the blade CUTS through the very air itself, the blade swinging with an edge of shadow that seems to try and break the very molecules in the air itself. The tree's in front of and behind Evehime split, taking a few seconds for reality to realize it's been cut before they fall over. The heat haze is more dangerous looking down, full-on tendrils of darkness starting to manifest. "That's on me for not going full-on serious, won't happen again, I promise," she says, throwing the helmet to the side. The remains of it were unable to do anything but get in her way. Those glowing eyes stare right at the monster in front of her.
Sarracenia	"Isn't she?!" Sarracenia exclaims excitedly as Evehime and Qulan continue fighting. The princess reaches into her ever present satchel and pulls out...two tubs of popcorn! She hands one to Hibiki and munches on her own with the exhuberant energy of a child watching something awesome. Finally the princess can't contain herself anymore. She pulls out a megaphone and pushes open a small window in the dome. "Yeah! Show us more of your power, Lady Evehime!" she exclaims quite shamelessly. Then she quickly closes that window because...it is cold out there! "Isn't she amazing, Hibiki!" Sarracenia continues to gush even after the dome is resealed.
Evehime Gevurah	"Yes. It is your fault." Evehime replies, as if it were the most obvious, yet most instructive, thing in the world. This time she doesn't close instantly. Instead, it is a slow and orderly pace, that would be relaxed on anyone else, and yet each footfall radiates such palpable, deathly menace that it's enough for blood to run cold just looking at her walking forward. "If it happens again-- No, it is already your doom. Come. At least show me what shallow depths you've reached into the warrior's art. Shine as brightly as you are able, before you are broken in two." The shadow slash seems like something she could, with her speed, jump over, or dive below, or even just flash step around. It's bright (dark) and magical and telegraphed and slices down a wave of trees like nothing. And yet, what Evehime does, is sprint forward into it. It could be that she refuses to dignify the attack with a dodge. It could be that she wants to feel its destructive force for herself. It could simply because that she sees an opening now. The shadow edge collides almost directly with her, though at the last instant, her arm lashes out to physically snatch it with her bare hand, sharp end first, and then with a clench of her fist, shatter it to pieces. The maneuver doesn't seem magical in the slightest. There'd been no real gathering of energy to negate it. Somehow, that much was a feat of raw strength. Sheer, mundane might, transgressing into the realm of things physical brawn should not be able to overpower. Furthermore, where the slicing edge of the dark wave strikes, Qulan sees something happen. The impact doesn't quite reach her skin, but collides against something around the Last Warrior; something that had previously been invisible, felt only in that immense pressure of raw, killing intent. In that moment, it flares into something even greater. A colourless bending of light, refracting thinly around the edge of an intangible halo around her. The dark energy cuts partway into something translucent, with a sharp, glassy sound, slowing down tremendously just before it is repulsed with sheer force of conviction. The fragments of darkness that spray out from Evehime's crushing hand don't dissipate like they should. They're caught in a gravity well. Dragged into that orbit around her, physically trapped by her very presence. Thin streamers of blackness now spin around her in shadowy orbits, their purpose obvious in mere moments. One of the bisected pines falls straight towards her. She catches it in one hand, then lifts the entire thing as if it were a hollow paper tube. She steps forward and hurls the entire length, with absurd, pinpoint accuracy, and then chases it with a lunge that puts her exactly in Qulan's blindspot behind the flying pine. As it lands, she strikes it from behind, and it explodes into an eruption of supersonic shards, peppering the mountainside like flechette artillery, digging deep into even the stone. Even then, she blurs out of view, appearing from the opposite side, fully prepared to take the spray of her own attack, to closed-palm elbow strike Qulan from behind straight into it. Another explosive lunge, to snag the Dark Knight's back, wheel over her in the air, and plant both boots against her chest plate, to hurl her back into the storm another time, all before it hits the ground. Clenching a fist, Evehime twists and tears away a chunk of the air, and reaching into Somewhere Else, she draws from a shimmering realm of indescribable light, her own, massive, excessively ornate sword. A pitch black blade, silvered edge, shot through with geometric gold.
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki only barely manages to tear her focus away from the battle long enough to blink at Sarra, fail at asking where she got these buttery snacks from or how long it's been in there, and take it. After a moment of watching the princess totally lose herself in excitement, she throws a single piece of popcorn in her mouth and-- Hey, that's actually pretty good. She doesn't even mind the incredibly loud megaphone going off right next to her by the time she's watching again, almost absentmindedly taking bites once in a while as her attention is fully taken up. "...Yeah, she really is..." The back-and-forth is enough of a sight that she doesn't even question Sarra's seriously intense Evehime dedication. Trees fall. What a ridiculously destructive slash. But the warrior's sheer strength--can /grab it/? Grabs it. Destroys it. What even is this? And how is Qulan going to counter now that it's going from a high-speed melee to sword against sword?
Qulan Kahkol	The Edge of Shadow is caught, it vibrates in her grasp for a moment, and if not for the shield surrounding Evehime, it would be both eating away at the very life force she wields, but also slicing through her flesh. For a moment, the two collide, but Eve proves to be the immovable object and shatters the blade. One might show fear in such a display, but Qulan instead doesn't even have time to consider it. Because in the next moment she's channeling the darkness inside of her. An ablative bubble of shadow hovers over her, wrapping around her body to try and catch the artillery shell of wood. It's not enough as pieces tear through the shadow, and into the armor. At the speeds, they move no armor would be enough. Blood is drawn, but the sheer stubborn will of the Dark Knight refuses to fall. Only to be punched RIGHT back into the flechette artillery. She bounces once, twice, and rolls across the ground as she passes the threshold of death. For a moment she does not raise back up...but her shattered body grips the snow. Slowly she pushes herself to her feet. Armor shattered across her body as her right eye is bruised shut. It's not enough to focus on the pain of this fight. She can't focus on this monster...she can't focus on only this pain. She digs deeper, DEEPER into herself. The darkness around her stops for a moment seems to seep inside her. Then something ELSE is drawn out, reaching into her deepest pain, her worst torment. The little girl on the steppes is unable to help her family. The little girl is chased out of her home for refusing to accept her tribe's destruction. "Well.." she says with a reverberating tone. "All or nothing..." she says, with a tone that is surprisingly calm despite her situation. "You want to see my everything...? Then take..." A wave of darkness literally blows up around her. In all directions, anything struck with it can feel being struck at their conceptual self. This is an attack that doesn't just physically strike at you but hurts your very life force. The sword still loyally in her hands comes up, and she swings it in a giant arch towards Evehime to follow it up, aiming to once more cut at something deep inside of her. This wasn't just a physical blow, but a blow meant to destroy whatever was unlucky enough for it to be pointed at.
Evehime Gevurah	"Do you understand the situation you are in now?" "Do you understand the smallness of your world? The weakness of your conviction?" "I cannot feel your spirit at all. Only fear and hate; emotions worthless on the battlefield. Is this the power you lean on? The one in which you have so much confidence?" "Come then. Maybe I will at least remember your face." It doesn't seem like Evehime intends to stop Qulan. She really is just walking into it. The shifting of a tectonic plate, impassively, unstoppable, grinding into another, where one will be driven and crushed beneath the earth and melted into nothingness. The sword in her hand flashes up, but it isn't to parry Qulan's. It is to take advantage of the opening she creates. A swift, deadly, whirling horizontal slice, the momentum of Evehime's immense strength versus her merely 'massive' weight, on icey ground, allowing her to spin over and over and over again in the blink of an eye and just an arm's reach of space, causing an unbelievably rigid, insanely sharp edge to crash against armour again and again until it shatters to pieces from the cumulative shock mounted in the blink of an eye, the broken blade stub on its hilt thrown like a dagger. It leaves her wide open to the super technique. The Dark Knight hi ougi. She meets it head on, not with a parrying maneuver, but with a bellowing "HA!" that blasts the snow off of the trees around her, causing them to bend and crackle away from her. Qulan can feel it so keenly up close. There is no 'shield' around Evehime. No special barrier. No enchantment or even working of qi. What her sword cannot overcome is raw, transcendental Conviction; a martial spirit that achieves the level of Dharma, such that the assertion 'this blade cannot harm me' is made true. It stops the sword cold. The dark energy flows into that aura anyways. It washes over Evehime, coalescing around her in a black inferno. For several moments, it seeps into her flesh, courses through her veins, roars at the edges of her spirit, charring the contours of her overwhelming vital force. Then it is hers. Somehow, the technique itself, after being launched, no longer belongs to Qulan. It is conquered. Subjugated. Caught in the black hole of battle that is the Last Warrior. Now, as she advances straight into Qulan, the orbital blaze, turned into so many elegant, slashing, twisting ribbons of darkness, scorches her.
Sarracenia	Sarracenia is much less conservative about eating her popcorn! Wherever it came from she apparently thinks it is fine, and she's a pretty picky princess. She watches with wide-eyed excitement as Qulan unleashes amazing dark powers and Evehime meets those attacks with sheer force of might and will. With so much power being unleashed by both fighters, the tower that is much too close to the action shakes with each clash. Sarracenia flails a bit as the tower shakes and sends popcorn raining down on both herself and Hibiki.
Qulan Kahkol	There is a moment that Evehime can tell that Qulan's assumption about her power is slightly off. She's burning on her negative emotions, but what really is the source is something else entirely. It's that limit to her knowledge that is holding her back a lot, though she could easily stand above her peers. There is something else too...something in her that seems /missing/. Like she is part of a shattered mirror, and she is only part of a whole. However, that moment of clarity is over, and the stolen darkness tears through Qulan, cutting deep into her body. Too much for even her impressive defenses and darkness manipulation to contain. Qulan attempts to bring the sword back, but the blade SHATTERS, and causing a look of shock to fill the face of the Au Ra for a brief moment. That is before she is launched from the force of the strikes, and launched into the air before smashing into the ground and rolling. The broken sword is still in her hand as the top of it hits the ground behind her. Easily embedding itself deeply into the ground. The only thing she can do is bring herself to her knees, using the broken blade to keep herself up...it is in fact the only thing she is able to keep upright because of the blade. She laughs a little, before coughing...the cough is a wet one. She can't say much else, because of the blood. And her body parts in her chest. That's probably unhealthy.
Midway	At a respectable distance, a trio of pale white spheres have been circling. Bearing jagged teeth, they keep their mouths closed, the glow of their 'eyes' dimmed to a flickering orange. As Qulan at last collapses, the formation of unusual flying creatures inexplicably disperses; each one going in a different direction. -- Elsewhere Depth: 1700 meters Scarlet eyes open into narrow slits against a ghastly pale complexion. Shifting, the Princess of Progress leans back into the corroded steel surrounding her. Lifting one hand, she examines the metal brace leading into the claws tipping her fingers. "Magnificent..." Her hand shifts, resting the index finger aside her temple, other fingers curled against her cheekbone. Those eyes narrow, glowing brightly in the hadaean depths.
Miyamomo	Miyamomo may be up in that tree getting drunk, but she's still watching the fight, rubbing her chin. "The titanic woman... what a body. Raging Fire, but Earth to rival a mountain... but the armorclad girls isn't lacking in those either. Each possesses a spirit and style of unbending Steel... let us see who comes out on top." The blade is drawn, the darkness washes over the kitsune. She seems a little disappointed that it became a swordfight at the end, but that finale...! "She took her own technique and turned it back on her. That's...!" She drops from the tree, face alive with delight, and runs out to stand among the fighters, slightly in between. "Well, that went swimmingly, didn't it~? A good show, armorclad. I'm sure you'll fare better next time!"
Hibiki Tachibana	Qulan unleashes the full, almighty force of the darkness inside of her. Everything she has. The sight reminds her of something, and more than that, she can even follow up a display like that with a heavy swing. Whatever difference in power there is, nobody can say Qulan isn't standing up with everything she has, and far better than she would have imagined from the aura that her opponent gives off. And even then, Evehime does something she never would have imagined. She.../tames/ the darkness? Something that came form inside Qulan herself, used against her? The sight is absolutely stunning, and it's the sound of her sword finally snapping that brings her back to reality, where Sarra and the tower they're watching from are all shaking chaotically. She only barely manages to keep her own popcorn tight in her grip and use the other to steady the princess, having to seriously work to hold her footing. But even so, she's still laser focused down on the sight below, mouth hanging open. It's...finally over...?
Evehime Gevurah	Evehime stops her advance only to extend, and examine, one arm as example. The lack of external damage seems vaguely curious to her. "Interesting. Somewhat. I know I felt that technique, but I see no mark. Perhaps it would have been a decisive one, if executed by a real warrior. But now I know it. Such is the fate of those who grasp for the height of power they can see, before they have any idea of their foundation." She advances again. "As I said before. Let none speak ill of you for making your mistakes your own responsibility. And feel no shame in being defeated by the undefeatable. But the path of the warrior was clearly never for you. A hollow foundation, a will of broken stilts, a heart open and gaping, void of conviction." "Go to your next life and be reborn as someone with more humility. May you have better fortune as a a weaver, perhaps." And yet, sole amongst the audience, the fox is fast enough to get in the way, and nonchalant enough to take refuge in audacity. Or perhaps it's not her disarming mannerisms, but the glimmer of polished martial grace that causes Evehime's menacing footfalls to pause. "The nameless style woman." She concludes. "A fox as well. Unexpected. Your kind isn't known for combat, is it?" A completely naked up and down stare. "I would never guess by that appearance either. Only by your movements would I suspect something other than a treasured furnishing of an imperial castle." Given the interruption, she now turns to look at where Hibiki and Sarracenia are. "You two in the tower. Are you next?" Knuckle crack. Knuckle crack. Shaking off the burn.
Sarracenia	Sarracenia is supported by Hibiki enough to keep from falling over. But then, she pops open a window in the dome again. "Excuse me, Hibiki!" she says, then hops down from the tower. On the way down she dons a tanuki suit to combat the cold. And so, as the battle ends, Evehime finds a six foot tall woman in a full body raccoon bear suit running toward her. "Hello! Lady Evehime, isn't it?" She skids to a stop and hops in place excitedly. "I am Princess Sarracenia Sundew, Crown Princess of the Sundew Kingdom! And I would love to test my power against yours at a later date!" She flicks a hand and a bussiness card appears in it. "Here! I would say contact me when you are ready, but I suspect you would always be ready, so instead I will say please be ready for my challenge!" The princess curtseys despite not currently being in a dress, then turns to head back toward the tower.
Hibiki Tachibana	Evehime directly addressing them sends a bolt of cold running down Hibiki's spine and into her gut. Them, next? ...Wait, is she really going to try and kill Qulan? If it weren't for Miyamomo stepping in - that's another voice she recognizes and has only just now seen in person - it feels like it would've been a guarantee, but now... Wait a second. Sarracenia...jumps!? "--Eh...!?" This stuns her almost as much as Evehime's aura of perfection. There are several seconds where she just watches, slack-jawed, from the top of the tower. Did she seriously just...?
Miyamomo	Miyamomo smiles up at Evehime, even as the warrior towers over here. "You would be surprised the things you learn as you seek martial perfection," as she is roundabout complimented for her looks. But Qulan, even now, refuses to back down. Throwing anger at Evehime, even daring her to kill her. Miyamomo sighs, and asks her; <Q-Conversation> Miyamomo says, "Answer me this, armorclad; what do you gain by dying here, brandishing your tongue dulled by failure?" They yield, and Miyamomo smiles. In an instant, she's bending down and picking up the Dark Knight in a princess carry, walking back from Evehime without taking eyes off of her. "I would hope the Last Warrior would not kill a surrendering foe~?"
Qulan Kahkol	Qulan is a bit stubborn, but not so stubborn as to literally just die. So when prodded, she does admit defeat and yield. Though it seems that she's being carried by the Foxilartist. She is very embarrassed right now, not at being beaten...but at being carried like this. Though the flush might be confused for being cold. She does seem to sag though, injuries getting to her. She mutters something about the cleaning bill before passing out.
Evehime Gevurah	"I used to be." Evehime says to Miyamomo. The emotion behind it is inscrutable. Yet, perhaps just slightly familiar, to one who has spent centuries in hermitage like herself. Just a little raw. "It depends on the foe." she then says, in much surer terms. "This one chose to die the minute she joined the field. The way you protect her; is she your pupil? I assume she is yours to discipline for her unruly behaviour." She says that as if it weren't a mutually exclusive vibe with watermelon crushing Qulan in her biceps. The exchange is briefly interrupted by Sarracenia, and Evehime's vague, unblinking bafflement --though without even the slightest relaxation of her guard-- at both the Princess' appearance and her actions. "You? Fight?" she replies, a few degrees of 'dumbstruck' sliding into the gradient when she picks up the business card in two fingers. "A princess? What is that you're wearing? The hide of a beast?" As far as worlds go, Sarracenia's is one of the more atypical ones, and it seems that Evehime at least recognizes there's something weird about a princess with business cards and an animal suit clamouring for a bout. After only halfway thinking about it for a moment, she sighs --the sound is like the wind blowing through these trees-- and slides it somewhere into an asymmetrical sleeve. "Fine. If it will provide a distraction." Then when Sarracenia runs off again, she goes back to eyeballing Miyamomo. "Though, if you will too, perhaps there will be much to talk about." There are at least three inherent meanings in that sentence, layered in a familiar way for someone who knows very old Japanese and its linguistic traditions. One of them probably has to do with a warrior's instinct reading her name in yellow text. "You know my name. I would have yours."
Miyamomo	"Any who seek any kind of perfection is my pupil," Miyamomo says in a dreamy tone. "I know not what the armorclad here seeks, but one willing to fight to the death over words clearly has something they seek. As for their discipline... I imagine the way I have scolded them, and the way I carry them, is humiliation enough." She titters lightly at Sarracenia's obvious fangirling and watches her trot off like the first in line at an idol handshake event. "I think we're alike in a lot of ways," she says in reply to Evehime, also layering her words carefully. "I am Miyamomo, creator and master of the nameless style, o Last Warrior. And as I said earlier; I will accept all challenges, seek them out even. I'd love a chance to trade blows with you."
Evehime Gevurah	"It is not." Evehime insists, sternly, to Miyamomo. "She has learned no discipline. Not in her emotions, her fighting, nor her tongue. See to it that she does." She does, apparently, seem to be willing to entertain Miyamomo's slide however. "When that time comes, we will trade many things." Done with this discussion, and out of any conversation tree prompts she apparently wants to hit, Evehime exits the social encounter. Exactly like someone who doesn't even remember what normal socialization is like anymore, she turns around and just begins walking off. Once she is a sufficient distance, the ground tears itself upwards and the snow explodes into the sky. Evehime . . . jumps, across the lake, over the trees, and all the way back to the near mountainside, to resume whatever business she had there. With that amount of strength still in reserve, one might wonder what she planned to do with Qulan until Miyamomo had intervened. Questions for another time.