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The sweep would catch just as Joshua's left foot was coming down, but before it was firmly planted. Perhaps he had seen Vahn's movements, as he had a keen perception and was able to follow the quick actions of some of the speedier creatures in the worlds; however, simply because he could see it coming didn't mean that he would be able to do anything to stop it, both because there was a delay between perception and reaction, and because he was already in mid-step.



Vahn's right leg cleanly took Joshua's left out of the picture, leaving the man with forward momentum, but no leg to stand on to stop himself.

He was falling.

Joshua jerked back his left hand, pulling the arm in against his body, and instead raised his right arm up while twisting his upperbody at the waist. His right foot was still planted upon the ground, but it had no stability, and he would be unable to retreat back onto it to catch himself. No matter... instead he pushed off from the ground with the toe of his boot, twisting his heel inwards as much as he could. With the twist of his waist and the twist of his rear foot, Joshua managed to turn his back on Vahn-

SNAP!

It was the sound of the air catching in the folds of the black cloak as Joshua brought his right arm back forcefully; driving the elbow not quite behind, but behind and to his side. It would add to his momentum, and aid the completion of his spin.

Yes, Joshua was falling, but the back of his right elbow was about to drive into the right side of Vahn's jaw.

Joshua landed softly upon the ground; his left hand palm down beneath his chest, balancing upon his right toe, and his left foot which tapped its toe to the ground shortly after.



He performed a one-handed pushup from his position, bouncing with his toes and pulling his legs up under him to land on the balls of his feet; then stood. With his left hand he reached up and pressed it to the side of his neck, stretching the muscle as he tilted his head the opposite direction.

His feet spread again, with his right hand raised this time in a similar, if reversed stance. His right hand was held up in an open fist, and his left traced a finger over the crossguard of the hilt of a sheathed sword that poked out over his left shoulder from beneath the black cloak.

Joshua raised his right arm up, turning it to the side as he held it up over his head. His right leg straightened as he did this, locking the knee to brace for the impact. The metalic plates on the arm bracer connected to the underside of Vahn's calf.

He should have used both arms to attempt and block a kick like that, but there were other plans for the left. Vahn's leg forced the arm down, even though the guard reduced the impact force considerably. The leg forced the arm down until the back of Vahn's greave rested upon the top of Joshua's right shoulder.

"JYU-"

Joshua's left arm shot upwards, with an open palmed strike to Vahn's right hamstring; the palm strike would hardly be felt, but the pale red hue that glowed in the palm of the hand would sink into the muscle, causing pain deep in the leg.

Joshua had expected a responce of that type. It was the obvious responce to an attack like that being guarded, to retreat back to solid ground and prepare for the next attack. It wasn't too off-balancing when Vahn thrust off from his right shoulder because he was prepared; the shoulder jerked back violently from the force, almost as if it had been kicked, but Joshua pulled his right leg behind him to catch himself before he fell.

At the same time, his left hand was drawing back from the palm strike. It came to the centner of his chest and quickly undid the hooked clasp that held the cloak together over his shoulders. Then, with a quick flick of the arm, the heavy black cloak was tossed up between the two of them, completely obscuring one fighter from the other for a few seconds as it hung in the air.



Joshua hopped forwards, landing on the ball of his right foot with the left leg raised slightly. Both of his hands were held together in front of his stomach, and as he brought the left leg down in a forwards step, his left shoulder was dipped low to add more power to his stance.

With one quick thrust, both hands struck outwards, aimed for where Vahn's chest should be on the other side of the cloak. If the strike connected, it would send the opponent flying backwards through a row of pews.

Joshua drew back his left foot, standing straight again, and stared back at Vahn. Without a word, he simply brought his left hand to his brow, and gave the man a mock salute before dropping his hand back into position in his Left Side Stance.


His gaze dropped accordingly as the snake shot across the ground, and he hastily stepped to the left to try and avoid it when it neared. Projectiles normally were easy to avoid as long as they could be seen coming, though with the way this one snaked it was hard to tell.

In a Right Side Stance, which Joshua would have dropped into after taking his wide sidestep to avoid the ground snake, Joshua had his right arm raised in front of him to guard with. This would be no exception, as it was hard to escape noticing a shouting, flaming man who was running at you.

As the left swipe came in, it would find itself caught as the inside of Vahn's forearm clashed against the back of Joshua's right bracer; the arm having moved out to defend against the incoming attack by blocking Vahn's arm near the elbow.

The right hand wasn't accounted for... but that was likely because promptly after Vahn's left strike was blocked, the two would get up close and personal.

TCH!

Joshua stepped back with his right foot to catch himself; the uppercut having struck exactly where an uppercut should, and sent him reeling backwards for just that step. Vahn's headbutts may have been legendary, but Joshua had once had four demi-human older brothers... a love-tap like that wasn't going to stop him.

His arms dropped to his sides, and he lowered his chin; a thin trickle of black blood running from the corner of his mouth, even as he smiled mischeviously in responce to Vahn.



And he spat in Vahn's face; the blood that had run in his mouth flying forwards like a dart.

Joshua barely caught it in time to react. His left arm had raised again in stance to defend himself out of habit, and when Vahn hopped, visions of the other two kicks that had happened thusfar came flooding to the forefront of his mind. Because of this, he also brought his other arm up, as those heavy kicks would take both of them to guard against.

There was no time to try and dodge, the only think to do was to try and guard. Joshua's knees bent and he dropped down a bit, while both of his arms crossed over in front of him; the right 'on top', with the left arm pressing the back of the forearm against the inside of the other to add strength to the guard even as the kick struck heavily.

The walls of the cathedral would echo with the sound of Vahn's heavy greaves striking the armor plates on the back of the gauntlet, and while Joshua managed to preserve his stance by bending his knees slowly to drop down and ease the impact, he was still pushed back a good four inches across the ground.