Samurai vs Cheetah

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

While Hotaru was on her stepping ground, she felt Caedir's reiatsu flare up. She immediately went into her regular fighting stance. Her sword was put in front of her, ready to move and block anything. She was wondering what was taking Caedir so long, but she assumed that this power was some kind of release. She knew about the shinigami's zanpaktou's releases, Shikai and Bankai, but she knew nothing about what he would be able to do.

She didn't have to wait too long. Before she even realized, she saw Caedir's leg come up in a jump kick. It's when she noticed his differences. She saw that the fur on his legs was now gray and she could barely see the spots there. The fur was also moving differently, like it was sturdier. She also noticed that when he did make this kick, besides it being right in front of her face, he had discs on either side of his feet.

It was curious, but she felt the air coming out of the discs into her face. She had no idea what he was doing to this area in front of her until she felt a pull. She knew that this pull could be anything. She then thought about what Caedir was doing and thought back to her classes in Soul Society. She thought that this might be what is called a 'vacuum.' It was very impressive that he could create vacuums like that. It must be a pretty handy thing to have.

The pull from this vacuum was so great, she couldn't move away. She couldn't make the step necessary to Shunpo away and she didn't want to waste anymore of her Reiatsu staying above ground. It wasn't worth the cost to keep doing it. She knew that from Caedir's strength, she really wouldn't be able to get away. She did think of something that might be able to help her out of this dilemma.

She felt herself getting pulled forward. Once the pull finally took ahold of her, she kept her stance the same. She left her sword in front of her body, blade pointed out, for two reasons. One, to try to manage the vacuum pressure better. Two, she hoped that by keeping her sword in front of her, she would be able to strike Caedir as he was coming in. Since she was getting pulled into the vacuum with his strength and speed going against Caedir, she hoped that this might be able to hit him.

[Caedir din Sahra]

Keeping calm was a smart move on Hotaru's part; it would be easy to struggle and panic, being dragged forward by an unseen force, yet she thought her move carefully through. Dropping to the ground, she was no longer wasting Reiatsu to remain in mid-air, and by moving with the force of the vacuum's pull, she wasn't wasting any excess stamina. It was a simple, yet effective method of using the enemy's force against them, and Hotaru might have benefitted by using it against another foe. Against Caedir, however, she had made a mistake; particularly, she had underestimated the cheetah's reactions, his speed, and his strength; by committing herself to a forward stab against someone with more than four times her speed, the black-robed woman was going to find her weapon in jeopardy.

Even as the blade approached, Caedir could easily adjust his foot's path; with the alterations caused by his Yaseishin, the changed part of his fur were now as dense as spiritual steel, allowing him to intercept the blade with ease and at no risk to himself. At just shy of double her offensive strength and at the speed the two collided at, the impact would cause no damage to Caedir, but Hotaru's weapon would be riddled with deep cracks; it wouldn't quite shatter, no clean break thanks to the margin between the two being just shy of instant destruction, but the weapon would be in quite poor shape. It would regenerate on its own, over time, since it was a part of Hotaru's soul; the weapon was only damaged temporarily, and given a day or two it would be in pristine condition again as long as the woman's soul remained intact. But for now, the blade would be deeply marred and cracked, fragments falling to the ground and the weapon now highly unstable; another blow would easily break it into pieces with no effort.

The problem with fighting a Beast-Clan member was the combination of humanoid intelligence combined with feral instincts; though they weren't at the level of a full animal or human in either, Beast-Clan members used both in such a way that the mix allowed them to readily detect and react to danger. Caedir used both effectively, his high senses and quick mental reflexes allowing him to spot the motion of Hotaru's blade, and his incredible speed allowing him to position his attack so that he could use his strength to damage the weapon. He had already gauged the difference between them; though he couldn't think of it in the same numerical or comparative terms that humans could, Caedir knew for certain that he was stronger, and that was all he needed; with his legs defended by his Yaseishin, he was at no risk of harming himself.

Even as the two connected, the void dissipated, allowing Hotaru to move freely again... or at least, she would have, had Caedir's forward kick not created a second one, keeping her in place. That was the special trait of his Yaseishin; all of his kicks were augmented so that he could, at will, create another vacuum with any movement of his legs. In this case, it meant that Hotaru would be completely immobilized as long as Caedir kept up his attacks, and given that her weapon was damaged and Caedir still had some stamina left to him, it was not going to be a pretty result for her. No, there was little she could do to defend herself with only a sword, and no Kido or other techniques to counter the cheetah's close-range combat. Truly, this looked grim.

And indeed, the finishing blow, or at least what Caedir had hoped would be one, came only a moment later. Even after the first kick was ended upon clashing with Hotaru's sword, the cheetah dropped down, his right foot sliding sideways in a powerful sweep. This would collide with Hotaru's feet, as she couldn't move away with the vacuum holding her in place, and would cause them to go out from beneath her. Since she couldn't move forward or backwards, the strike would simply rotate her as the vacuum pulled on her even in mid-air. But even as her form was lifted by the blow, Caedir's foot was already coming around in an upwards arc, as though twisting around Hotaru's body, until it was raised above the cheetah's head. It wouldn't he hard to predict what was coming next as a powerful ax kick slammed straight down into the woman's body; with little way to dodge, given her off-guard state, it seemed as though it would be a blow to finish the battle, especially with Caedir's Strength and the power of the vacuum pulling his foot downwards.

“You strong. Caedir stronger.”

Remaining Reiatsu: 1800/2000

Yaseishin: 2/3

[Hotaru Kuchiki-Masurao]

Hotaru watched as her attack hit its target. The only thing she didn't realize that the change in fur color meant that the fur on his legs was pretty much like armor for him. When it kick connected, she felt her zanpaktou start cracking. Though, she thought, at least the vacuum that he created was starting to lessen. Well, it was, but then she felt another vacuum start up. She then looked down at his foot and saw that the white discs around his feet had moved again.

It seemed that when he kicked, he could create vacuums. It was a really interesting power. She would ask him more about it if she wasn't in his clutches. The other vacuum was pulling at her back, making her unable to move. Though, when that vacuum grabbed her, she noticed that her feet were now not on the ground. Caedir used his speed to kick her legs out from under her, making her using Shunpo pretty much impossible.

Then, while she was kind of going around in a little twirl in mid-air, she was thinking to herself that Takashi would be proud of this twirl. Though, it wasn't like his big, fancy ones, she was pretty sure he's never twirled like this before. Anyway, back to her current predicament. While she was twirling, she knew that he was going to attack her. She quickly grabbed her sheathe and glanced down at her zanpaktou.

She was sad on the inside to see her zanpaktou in such a horrible condition. She knew she couldn't use it again until it was healed completely. She would have to deal with that after this fight. She saw his leg in motion for another of his deadly axe kick. In the predicament she was in now, she really couldn't counter attack. She was pretty sure what she was doing wasn't really going to block the attack fully either. She just hoped that it would stave off some injury to her.

She raised her sheath up in her right hand. She put the sheath above the area, as best she could, from where he was going to strike her. She would've put up her left arm, but she was pretty sure that the arm wouldn't have done anything to help her predicament any. Once the attack landed, she was hit hard. He was able to hit her right on her left shoulder and was pretty sure things were broken. She landed hard on the ground from the attack as well.

She heard him say that she was strong but Caedir was stronger. She thought to herself, that he was. After a few minutes, she was able to get up to her knees. Her sword was near her location, thankfully not any worse for the wear. Her sheath was broken in half, but she expected that much. She still barely had movement in her left arm, but she worked through the pain, tying her sheath together and gently putting her sword back in the sheath. After that, she knew she couldn't use her arm anymore.

"You are right, you are stronger than I am. I hope that there will be a day we can meet again and hopefully be on a more equal field. If you want to look for me, check out Squad One." She gave him a deep bow of respect. He was a very worthy adversary and hoped to face him again one day. She definitely wanted to know more about his kind. She had no idea they were even in Soul Society. She turned and walked back towards the Fourth Squad. They definitely needed to look at her arm.

[Caedir din Sahra]

Caedir's foot sliced through Hotaru's sheath like a knife through paper; his leg didn't halt for but a moment as the wood splintered and shattered. His leg was now sheathed in fur like spiritual steel armor, and simple wood would do nothing against his blow; in a moment the sheath shattered to pieces, severed cleanly down the middle before the kick connected with the woman's shoulder. Her spinning had saved her a far worse injury; had the cheetah's intended attack gone through, his kick would have struck at her chest, perhaps damaging the breastbone and injuring several vital organs. It was best that it was only her shoulder struck; though it would probably break the bone, it wouldn't do any lasting harm, and the woman would be much better off for it.

Finally Hotaru conceded defeat, and Caedir relaxed; though he was a predator, his human mind knew when he had won, and didn't need to press the matter further. His Yaseishin faded as his legs regained their normal light hue, the bone discs vanishing again. The cheetah let himself drop into a more idle position; he bent at the knees, resting his elbows atop them as he crouched prone, watching his former opponent. He made no motion to help, as he didn't understand compassion when one was capable of simply getting up of their own volition. Indeed, Hotaru was able to get up to her feet despite her injuries, tie up her weapon's sheath, and then start to walk off after exchanging a polite farewell. The pain showed on her face, but she was still courteous; Caedir could appreciate that.

Indeed, the feline was now curious, and began to follow his former foe. Though he didn't do so directly, keeping to the bushes and the shadows, Caedir quietly stalked behind Hotaru to observe her. He wanted to know more about these black-robed people now; first he had met Okami, and now this woman. They were interesting, but not in a way that the cheetah could explain. Something about them, the things they did, and the way they fought interested him far more than normal humans did. Most were just content to sit and talk or complain, making their days idle and empty. But these black-robed humans... they were different. They made use of their time, and though the things they did were strange—Caedir still did not understand why Hotaru had hit the tree with her sword repeatedly—they were unique, and that kept the feline's attention.

Caedir followed Hotaru until they reached the outskirts of the Rukongai, which from there would have the black-robed woman moving towards the enormous wall at the other side of it. That particular section of the Rukongai wasn't Caedir's normal prowling grounds, so he gave up following at that point, heading south towards the district he lived in. The day had been interesting, but it was getting late, and it was time to find a nice cool slab of stone to sleep on for the evening. Maybe tomorrow he'd find another black-robed human, and fight with them too...

[Kyomei Kuchiki]

+290 TP to Hotaru
+440 TP to Caedir