Welcome to Gaia! ::

Yuki arrived at the designated spot for the battle surprised to see that her opponent hadn't beaten her here. She saw him leave before her from the observation tower, but he must have taken a detour. Damn men, always taking their sweet time to do anything, didn't anyone know the common courtesy of punctuality anymore? A fight was already starting in the back of her head between Arthion and Kaji over the subject, and it was all Yuki could do to block them out and focus. She rubbed her temples, once again taking pity on Fefnir for this curse she had inadvertently placed upon him so many years ago.

Slowly shaking off the headache she crossed the field of grass that spanned from the forest to the circular raised ring of adamantium, and before jumping up to take her place in the ring, she ran her finger over the immaculate surface, not a single scratch or dent marred the beauty of the cold metal. She jumped up to the top of the raised surface, feeling the chill of the ring through her sandals even, she took note of the countless bloodstains that marked the many many battles that must have taken place here over who knew how long. While she had been examining the side of the ring she had thought the ring to be new, but the top revealed the true bloodthirsty history of this arena... This was an excellent place to fight.

Once again, she looked around for her opponent, but there was still no sign of him. Whatever suited him, if he wanted to stay away and gather courage, or prepare himself otherwise that was his choice, so long as when he arrived he was in top form. The former captain would accept no less than the challenger's best performance... she wanted this to be more than just a slaughter. She strode to the center of the great stage and took in all of her surroundings, marking what would be useful, and what would hinder her even though she really shouldn't exit the arena once the fight began. Always be prepared for the worst.

(Please take note, I am moving over the course of the next few days. It may take a few days to get internet set up. I'll try to at least keep up -I should be fine- but be aware, if I don't post for a time, that is probably why.)

Oh, the joys of someone who moved as slow as the earth turned. Although, when one thought about it, they should expect an earth user to take their sweet time about anything; After all the earth turns for no one. Yuki however, the self-proclaimed queen of fire, was just as hurried and impatient as the insatiable and ferocious flame that she wielded.

Yukimaru turned to face her opponent as he approached the arena, taking his sweet time in making his way to his inevitable demise. Slowly the ex-captain placed her hands on her hips, tilting them to one side, her eyes shooting daggers at the man as he delicately held his flower like some imitation tuxedo mask. She let out a frustrated snort as the fires of battle built up in her chest, just behind her heart. Slowly as the flames built inside her, so to did she gather her riatsu, pulling it in tight around her, preparing for the slaughter that would soon come, oh so soon. If only the man in the pink lined cowl would hurry.

Finally, mercifully, after several painful minutes of watching the man's slow approach like a tiger waiting for a deer to get just far enough away from the safety of the herd. As soon as both of his feet where in on the ring, he was fair game. Just as he drew breath to speak, Yukimaru, the speed demon with only one better, shunpoed to mere inches away from the man, allowing a little of her inertia to carry her into a strong frontal stance she drove her elbow towards the man's neck, her other arm held close to her chest defensively. Her blazing inferno that she called riatsu viciously swirled around her attacking arm as she drove it at his windpipe, making the air around the pair of combatants stifling and nearly unbearable in the sudden heat. In her sudden impatience for combat, it took a some concentration to keep the riatsu in her defending arm contained just beneath the skin, making it akin to living marble, sadly she simply couldn't fully contain her fury.

Her opponent had just enough time to announce himself, and while Yuki would normally have returned at least some courtesy, Shan had already burned away what little patience the old shinigami usually reserved for greetings with his painfully slow crawl to the ring. To make up for the creeping pace to the ring, she was determined to make the fight as quick as possible.

Shan wouldn't even get her name.

[1]

It would be an understatement to say that the man's dodge was astonishing. He had been mid-sentence when she first started the attack! On top of her being the second fastest shinigami around, he managed to dodge!? Yuki made a quick mental note about his apparent telepathy skills before taking a quick step forward and placing her leg behind his, so their hips where aligned. She swung her defending arm down to push aside whatever strike he was attempting as she took the step forward, the attack was practically in slow motion and easy to react to. She laid her defending hand's palm flat against his wrist as she shoved aside his finger-gun and the kido fired behind her.

She didn't even hear what he said as she drew back her attacking arm, amazed that he was able to breath in the variable inferno her riatsu created; Even she had to keep her breathing shallow for fear of damaging her lungs in the heat. She didn't bother striking him this time, he would dodge it too easily with his telepathy, but instead went to grab his shoulder. They where in such close quarters, and with one hand of his being blocked by hers it would be quite the feat of him to dodge this time, even with his telepathy.

She wrapped her hand around the wrist he shot the kido with as she grasped at his shoulder. She then viciously kicked her hip out, Kaji egging her on in the back of her mind, while pushing him back at the shoulder and twisting hers to throw her weight against him she aimed to literally throw him over her hip and out of the ring. The fall wouldn't harm him much with his being captain level, but it would give her the tactical advantage until she would be allowed to unleash her shikai.

[2]

(For starters, I had to redirect my momentum almost entirely to do that move, almost no one would have predicted that. Secondly, if you did a front flip at any point during that throw, you would have bashed your head either against Yuki's or the stage. A backflip would have been more plausible, if more dangerous -you probably would have hit your head on the grass- Thirdly, I never said I let go of you; In fact that throw is specifically designed to get people into arm locks once they are on the ground. Finally, we are both captain level, so it's not like your Reiatsu is any more 'thick' or 'sturdy' than mine, it's going to affect you in some way just as it affects me.
But whatever, I'm going to pretend like whatever you did was entirely plausible and post anyway.)

Forget telepathy, this guy must have some form of time traveling powers with the way he was jumping around her, escaping from her grasp like it was nothing. She watched him shunpo from the ground and back to the center of the stage with ease, too annoyed at his magical ability to evade her to attack again.

This was getting tiresome. He hadn't done anything to her, and this fight was getting nowhere. She beat her fist against her chest and threw her arms out wide, blatantly opening herself up to any attack he could ever try to throw at her. As she did this she drew her reiatsu in tight around her, and holding as much of it in her skin as possible to make it akin to living iron, and leaving a sudden cold in the lack of her aura.

"ATTACK ME!"

She demanded, sick of playing this cat and mouse game.

He couldn't dodge her forever, even with his doctor who-like powers; she would catch him. She had been the fastest shinigami in the Seireitei for years, only surpassed by her own student who had to invent a whole new style of movement to even stand a chance of passing her. She even held the Captain Commander position for a time, easily making her the most powerful shinigami to enter this tournament, and was perhaps the only Captain Commander to willingly hand over her post, after growing bored with the lack of competition. Besides the one person she wanted to share it with wasn't there.

It was only a matter of time before he lay bleeding at her feet.

[3]

(PMed!)

It seemed as if he was moving in slow motion to the old captain. Being so used to shunpo-speed battles his running at normal speed was almost painfully slow; but nonetheless, she stood there with her arms spread wide awaiting his attack like some sick form of sacrifice to his blade. As he drew close, his blade ready to strike down on her, she tilted her head a little to allow him a better strike at the throat. The sword stopped at her neck as if it had hit a solid wall. She felt him try to cut through the steel-like skin and rotate around for another attack, but she just wouldn't be cut.

"Dragon Skin."

She growled at him as his blade pressed against the shoulder, the air around the two oddly cold as Yuki held her aura and Reiatsu in tight against her skin. Then, with a vicious smile on her face, she grabbed at his blade arm, aiming for the wrist once more. This time she wasn't going to throw him, oh no... That would give him a chance to escape. She would hold on tightly. Yuki drew her free arm in close to her, to maximize the distance between her fist and his chest.

"Dodge this... Hado Number Eleven, Bound Lightning!"

She shot the kido through her left arm the arm that held him in place, and the lightning raced through her to give him a jump start. Even though Shan was a captain level, she should be powerful enough to stop him, if only for a moment. The fact that she took the time and said nearly the whole incantation would only add power to the already staggering jolt of thunder running through him. Shan would be lucky if he didn't fall to the floor like a stun gun victim.

As the kido went off, she twisted her shoulders, pulling with her left arm in an attempt to draw the man closer to her as she threw all of her weight into a punch directed at his abdomen. The force she put behind her strike had been enough to take down legions of hollows a time when she had been on earth looking for her lover, and even disembowel the occasional Arrancar. On top of all the force this single blow had behind it, her dragon skin would make her hand more like a mallet than a fist, so it would be like smashing a watermelon with a sledgehammer.

[4]

((Ok, I sent you a PM explaining how your most recent post is, once again impossible. And I gave you a few days to fix it. But I don't want to Inactivity out, and I think two days is long enough. So I'll just roll with it... Again....))

Yuki wasn't a big kido user; that was more Nagi's expertise. So, when the enemy grabbed onto her, she did nothing to stop it and continued with her strike. It was only a few moments later when her own lightning, significantly dulled from having to travel through Shan, shot into her arm. The electricity coursed through her and forced her muscles to contract, dropping her to the floor as her knees buckled, arms pulling in tightly, hands clenching as Shan executed another one of his mystical escapes. Even her lungs let out all the air they had been holding as they contracted in a silent scream of terror as the thought of never being able to breath again crossed her mind.

Once the shock was over, she inhaled sharply and her eyes looked around wildly for the opponent who seemed to leap from her grasp yet again. She was stunned to see that he wasn’t lying on the floor writhing in pain from the thunder that just shot through him. He must have received twice the shock that she had, yet he was standing, and didn’t look any worse for the were. Where any normal being would be dead, or at least sickened, from having such power arch across their freeking heart Shan didn’t even seem startled! ‘what kind of demon is he?’ Yuki wondered to herself as she clenched her teeth and slowly stood up, her fists clenched in frustration from his telepathic-time-travel-magic-disappearing bullshit. It seemed no matter what she did, he was able to warp reality to his own whims. How was anyone ever supposed to get anywhere in a battle like this!?

Slowly and menacingly she strode towards Shan. Glowering down at him as she drew in her Reiatsu once more, the air around her becoming chill with malice as she made her slow approach towards him, renewing her dragon skin as she went. Yuki was sick of these games, and his ability to dodge and escape her every attack. He should be suffering from the shock even more than she, since the jolt had to pass through him before hitting her he must have taken SOME damage. What an infuriating creature this man was.

Shan must have been really cocky not to take any sort of stance after an attack like that. Then again, if she could escape from grabs and attacks as easily as Shan could, she wouldn't take a stance either.... But she wouldn't let him get away again.

The few steps she took toward Shan where all she needed to regain some stability after the nauseating shock to her body. Once she was sure enough in her footing again, she smirked viciously at him, certain that this time he would not be able to evade, and shunpoed towards her opponent, appearing directly in front of him. It wasn't a great distance, but the speed would give her the element of surprise she needed. She pulled back her arm like she was about to throw another deadly punch, but just before the punch would have collided, she shunpoed again, this time to his right side, with her left facing him. Her leg was already brought up, her knee held tight against her chest, ready to smash out his knee with the heel of her foot. She quickly twitched her leg downwards as if she where about to strike at him again, but stopped before the hit struck home once more.

Two feints, something no one ever expected. Something Fefnir had used on her several times, often to great effect. This time however, she wasn't on the receiving end of such a tactic, and she didn't pity her opponent as she shunpoed one last time, rotating around Shan, so her left side faced his. She angled the shunpo so she was already mid-air by the time she appeared beside him, with her left leg tucked tight against her, she swung her body around, using the rotation granted by the shunpo to deliver powerful round kick at his head. With twice the muscles working towards the goal as the punch, it would be a devastating blow.

[5]

(Speed hacking.
Got up super slowly. Picked up your blade, slowly pulled of your poncho, cast a kido THEN attacked. All without giving me a chance to respond. You have literally cut off EVERYTHING I would have done in character and have FORCED me to stand there, because I can not assume what your character would do if I changed an element of your post. EX. Picking up the blade, Stopping you from getting up, taking the opportunity to attack while you SLOWLY disrobe ect.)

Yuki showed her teeth in a shark-like smile as Shan flew across the arena. A blow to the head like that was no laughing matter, it was a little surprising that his neck hadn't broken, if not from the kick from the sudden stop and the long skid he did along the ring. She wouldn't give him a break though. He had already done his leaping and jumping around enough, and now that he was on the ground she wouldn't let him escape.

She got ready to chase after him, fully hell bent on not letting him get up and maybe even killing him outright before he had a chance to recover from the devastating kick. No way could he escape now! She smiled viciously, victory written all across her face as she ran towards him.

That was when something went wrong.

For some unknown reason, time went by in fast forward motion, and Yuki wasn't able to move. She fought it with all her might. No way would she allow this time warping S.O.B to take her down by simply freezing her in place! All in fast forward, or so it appeared to her, Shan got up, retrieved his blade, said something, took off his poncho and disappeared, and only then was she allowed to move.

Her mind kicked into high gear as she took a fighting stance, preparing for wherever he might attack. Her left arm held outwards, to defend her face, the other held close to her chest, defending her heart. Her senses heightened and her muscles tensed as she pulled in her riatsu a little tighter, making the dragon skin all the tougher, while she awaited for Shan's next move. She could only guess at the kido he used, soundless, riatsuless, and he wasn't to be found anywhere. Curved light: a low level kido that was surprisingly hard to cast on stationary objects. While she stood there, listening intently for his oncoming attack and marveling at the stunning feat of Shan being able to cast such a kido not only on himself, but on himself and then MOVE with the kido still intact after being smashed in the face and knocked jolted with literal lightning, he attacked her.

Shan struck at her outstretched left arm, with all the force of a locomotive. Her dragon skin took the brunt of the strike, neutralizing all of the cutting force. Her arm moved to the side, flowing with the strike to make it less severe. She had been expecting a direct attack to the face, so when it came from the side her arm moved easily with it. The attack was painful, without a doubt. If it wasn't for the dragon skin taking most of the blow, and her movement with the strike, she probably would have a broken arm, easily. As it was though, it was just bruised severely. She would have troubles throwing punches with it until the pain became a dull throb. It didn't scare her too much, so far Shan wasn't shaping up to be much of a real combatant, other than the god-like ability to escape everything she did. Yuki was a little disappointed with how poorly he combined his apparent magical skills with actual combat. All this kid seemed able to do was dodge and do stupid little tricks. They wouldn't save him.

Her initial plan had been to grab him wherever he struck her and hold him in place and allow her to attack before he magically disappeared again. However, his uncalled for attack forced her to change her plans. Yuki just went with the flow of the strike, allowing her to spin around into a kick. Even though she couldn't see him, she had a general idea of where he was based on where she felt him on her arm, the kick should hit him. With her dragon skin still intact, and his own power fueling the rotation on top of her own strength. If she hit, it would easily drive Shan face first into the ground. "Good thing the ring is adamantium. I wouldn't want to ruin the ring for the next competitors"

As she finished her spin she pulled her left arm in tight against her chest, and resumed a fighting stance again, her right arm held close to her chest as well, it would leave her head a little more open, but her arms would be less vulnerable. The arm already ached and was bruising horribly. She wouldn't give him the chance to attack an already wounded aria, even if she managed to break his face against the pavement.

[6]