Post by EriChar on Apr 8, 2014 13:47:42 GMT -5
Feet sliding across the floor as wood flurried around them, a pair clad in the dark armour of kendo dashed back and forth on their heels, slipping and sliding around the floor with a speed and grace that made it look like they were skaters on top of ice, their feet seemingly to propel them while never leaving the ground. The room silent except for the swipes and clashes of their body, as both parties felt the dew of perspiration dampen their backs, neither seemed to let up an inch, weapons wheeling around and shaking as they tried to take the point from one another.
I’m keeping up more easily now… Dark eyes as sharp as a hawks watching the motions and reactions of her opponent, the shorter of the pair looked through the grill is she watched her foe, her confidence with a sword having slowly increased in the time she had spent here. Feminine features that were dark and hinted with rich shades of violet, the woman beneath the helmet might not have ordinary seemed as fierce a warrior as she now displayed, but appearances could be deceiving. Arriving a pauper with nowhere else to go, or rather, nowhere close enough she could reach, the feminine fighter had found that the land she had stopped in reminded her greatly of her home, which was no surprise. Like herself, the settlers who founded this land had been from the same place as the woman who weaved warily with her weapon; the country of Wano. However, also like the people here, the battling beauty also had not returned to the place she had been born in a long time, having been detained entirely too long with other things.
Fighting her way out of slavery a few months before, while the woman had for so long yearned for freedom she had found her first steps into a world she had not seen since a young girl intimidating, and for some reason had found herself falling by chance into a realm not too distant from her home. Dance Island, a ‘seed’ of Wano country seemed to have been exactly the kind of place she needed to recover her strength after ten years of slavery, and steadily the woman had found a way to stand up again. Days and weeks turning into months, the former slave found herself falling in love with this realm, and cherished nothing more so than the dojo in which she now sparred with its master. Kind people were those who ran it, the Shinen family made up of Yosuke and Hinata, the duo seemed to have taken some measure of pity on the lost young woman and brought her home with them. Having been living in Wano up until only a few years before this day, the master and his daughter were perhaps acquainted with the name that was carried by the woman, and felt obligated to her help her. In actuality, the dark eyed girl had not had the heart to question the motives for their aid, welcoming it so much that she would never question it. To this sword-bearing girl, these were kind people she was indebted to, and that was good enough.
There! Though moved by their kindness enough that she would readily lay her life down for these people, the humble girl was not so without integrity that she would treat this ‘duel’ with anything less than the utmost respect, so as the opportunity presented itself to her for a clean strike, she quickly took it. While some might have considered this merely training, the warrior woman was more than accustomed with the concepts of kendo duels and the nature of her opponent, and knew too well that carrying her blows would earn her far more dishonour than harming him, for both of them. The master of the Shuryuu Shinen-Ryu was not the type to abide pity in battle, nor someone who needed it, his swordplay of such a high standard that the girl he battled felt in awe of his skill, and eagerly sought a chance to earn his respect. Shinai in hand, as her opponent stumbled slightly and lost his centre, the girl wasted no time in pushing him back with the lower portion of her blade, and then snapping the tip back down squarely on his head; a loud crack born from her hit.
“Ippon!” The family’s daughter standing at the side of the ring with her arm raised, beaming with what looked like pride as she declared a clean hit, she winked toward the woman fighter and knelt back down, letting the two fighters reflect on their one point duel with a smirking silence.
“I’ll say; that was a good hit, Shiroyama-san.” Helm removed to show the strong features of the tall master, the female fighter known as ‘Shiroyama’ watched as Shinen Yosuke bowed to her politely, then raised back up to mop his moist brow with a towel, smiling with satisfaction from their fight. He was a tall man with a broadly bearded face, his brown hair beginning to cede to whiteness around his ears, but still an imposing man. Heavy breathed, after all their duels the woman had found herself wondering how strong he had been in younger years, assuming her capability to keep up was more down to an advancing age than anything, humbling the skills she had built in her years at the arena.
“My current degree of skill is only due to your guidance.” Humbly returning the compliment with no real taste for keeping it, Shiroyama bowed her body back to the sensei and unfastened her own helmet, revealing the almost black locks that she trimmed not long after her arrival here. Her words, however, were not flattery. Having been humiliated by the outcome of a disappointing battle in her escape from slavery, while the woman had escaped with her life, the small amount of pride she had built in her body and what it could do had taken a serious knock. Coaxed back into battle slowly, even in a scenario more for sparring, this amazing sword master had helped her to regain her confidence with a sword, and even better her skills. A move or two inferred from the man, as well as some all-around guidance, the girl raised in the soaring arena saw her skills now as rather sloppy compared to that of this man, and could only hope to match him one day.
“Ha ha, it was great, Yoko! You’ve gotten a lot stronger!” The girl named Hinata at the sidelines, waving and cheering her on in a way that seemed to defy the silky robe she wore, the samurai girl felt herself smile softly and give her a nod, giving a hair of recognition to her improvement.
“My sword still needs a lot of work though…” The sweet smile of Hinata reminding her someone she had lost in her escape, Yoko couldn’t help but feel this ‘victory’ was perhaps a little bit bittersweet. While she was happy to have finally earned her first clean hit on the master of Shuryuu Shinen-Ryu, she couldn’t help but lament the fact that she didn’t have her current level of ability back then.
“Heh, in that case, I can’t wait to see it when it’s finished!” Dashing onto the dojo floor when her father had begun to leave it, the exuberant Shinen daughter seemed to be irrepressibly cheerful, slamming a heavy hand on the back of the swordswoman’s armour with a pat to encourage her.A sweet girl, really, it was largely down to the chocolate haired fellow female that Yoko now seemed to have recovered her strength. Like the sunlight shining on a closed bud, the golden robes certainly seemed to fit Hinata as she shone with pride in her friend, and so too did Yoko; glad to have finally found a fellow femme that she could feel close to. Nodding at a suggestion to get cleaned up, the girl with deeply indigo locks followed her new friend out of the dojo, wondering if it would be OK to stay here forever…Shiroyama Yoko - 47258f
Shinen Yosuke - ffe684
Shinen Hinata - fff14a