The Second Spar

Life, Achievement/ Win

In the secret sanctum beneath the Mōri Clan arena in Shimonoseki, Fubuki prepared to spar against a new opponent. After their brief battle with a Hound of Tindalos, Ankokuji Ekei had retired to tend his wounds. The results of their fight were still frozen nearby. Fubuki, however, did not yet feel ready to face Honda Tadakatsu the coming day. So, after being magically conjured a magical weapon, Watsurara-dōnyo was pleased enough to be the other oni's sparring partner.   They agreed, first, upon certain allowances for the upcoming battle. Fubuki was no doubt the more powerful of the two, so Watsurara asked that the cold-eyed stranger stay her* hand before delivering a killing blow. For her* part, the Black Blade required no such assurances. Watsurara would come at her* with her full strength.

As the two squared up and began to measure each other, it quickly became apparent that Fubuki was the faster fighter. She* was not here to hone her* already keen offensive, instincts, however. So it was that the cold-eyed oni allowed her* opponent to make the first move. Watsurara did not neglect the opportunity. As she approached, Fubuki sensed the humming energy of ki gathering in the air.   A quick motion of Watsurara's blade drew blood not from her opponent, but from the pale oni's own hand. That red ichor flowed down the katana, freezing in an instant as it mixed with its wielder's ki. What once had been a fine but unassuming weapon was now edged with a wicked, frozen red line. For how slow Watsurara was to act, Fubuki was almost caught off-guard by the speed and power of the attack which came next. Bloody ice shattered on impact, then cut through Fubuki's armor and drove into her* hard oni skin. The blow was not quite enough to pierce flesh. Still, a distressing numbness was spreading outward from where it had landed.   Fubuki concentrated, but could feel her* own flesh and blood freezing beneath the skin in spite of her* efforts. Moving that arm was a slow and painful process, and the effect was still spreading. This would perhaps not be as simple a fight as it first seemed. The Black Blade was not known for her* acceptance of things as they were, however. A simple spell allowed Fubuki to seize control over the liquid within her* own body. Moving it like that was was painful; excruciating, even. The agony would no doubt affect her* fighting ability, but Fubuki was at least able to act with something approaching her* previous celerity.   None of this was apparent to an observer. At least, any observer not well-schooled in the occultic arts. It seemed that Watsurara was not, for the pale oni soon jumped back confidently from Fubuki and created some distance between them. Normally, such an act would have invited reprisal, but the Black Blade did not take the opportunity. Now standing on a rocky shelf above the training area, Watsurara gathered her ki once again.   This time, the life energy took on a physical form. It froze in an instant around Watsurara's outstretched arm, twisting and chiseling itself into something like an arbalest made of ice. The contraption was large and unwieldy, but no doubt powerful, as evidenced by the heavy post of ice anchoring it to the floor. While apparently now capable of attacking from a range, Watsurara was also effectively immobilized by her own technique.   A sound of brittle frost filled the room as a ki-fused arrow materialized within the arbalest's chamber. Without hesitation, Watsurara fired. Imagine her shock when, after tearing through the air with a violent whistle, the projectile fell away in two clean halves. Fubuki lowered her* sword as the other tried to hide her surprise. No one with their body half-frozen beneath the skin should be able to move so quickly.   As if to drive the point home, Fubuki leaped forward. In a few short, but agonizing and crackly strides, she* had arrived on the same rocky shelf. Susuki Masamune raised high, then came down in a deadly arc. Immobilized as she was, Watsurara presented a perfect target for a killing blow. Instead, Fubuki slashed down upon the arbalest itself. Whether from the strike itself or from the pulse of ki Fubuki released through her* weapon, the construct cracked and then shattered into pieces.   As she pulled away, Watsurara's cold expression dropped away. She was clearly impressed. And, it seemed, the pale oni was no fool. That was clearly a killing blow, had Fubuki chosen to take it. By that measure, Watsurara had certainly lost their first bout. She offered, however, that they continue with the winner claiming two out of three victories. Fubuki agreed.   Without much delay, Watsurara's icy mask was back in place and she was gathering up ki for a big attack. Surely Fubuki could have struck again there, but the Black Blade instead disengaged and moved a few feet away where she* adopted a defensive stance. The point of this exercise, after all, was to explore a more reserved style of combat. Plus, she* was more than a little curious about what manner of exotic technique Watsurara would release next.   It took some waiting. Fubuki could perhaps have attacked three times over in the time it took Watsurara to gather enough energy for whatever she was planning next. Then, the pale-white oni leaned over the ledge upon which she stood. Gathering up all the ki in her sword, Watsurara dropped it onto the floor below. In a mirror of what had happened to the Hound of Tindalos before, the blade didn't connect with the ground beneath it. Rather, it passed through like it had been dropped into a still lake. Fubuki had only an instant to react to what happened next.   Perhaps it was an instinct, perhaps experience, or perhaps the reward of having seen this technique once before. Whatever it was screamed at Fubuki from within to jump. The Black Blade did so, and just in time. Liquid ice spread out with blinding speed from the point where Watsurara's blade had dipped into the ground. Even though her* feet were no longer on the floor, it seemed to reach up, grasping onto the sole of Fubuki's foot. Again that terrible numbness anchored itself beneath her* skin, this time yet stronger than before. With one last effort of will, pushing her* mystical flight to its limits, Fubuki broke away. She* could guess that, had she* remained there even a moment longer, the Black Blade would have ended up like the Hound before: frozen and helpless within a great shard of ice.   For her part, Watsurara was even then stepping down from her perch above. Her mask had slipped away again, revealing an encouraging sort of giddiness. From what Watsurara had seen in the tournament, Fubuki had improved a lot, to be able to dodge an attack such as that. It was a clear mark of growth. More than that, Watsurara was now weaponless again. That technique seemed to consume whatever blade she wielded at the time. So, the second victory went to Fubuki again.   That left the Black Blade as the winner and their sparring session drew to a close. Watsurara was right about one thing, at least. Fubuki did feel stronger. Between exercising caution in the fight with Ekei and then the pale-white oni, she* seemed to have picked up just a bit of wisdom. Were these the Teachings of Rinzai that the monk had spoke of before? Hopefully the insight gained therein would be of use in the coming battle with Honda Tadakatsu.