18/10/05
Characters: Chun-Li, Ash
Shrine
Odd. Placed in a small clearing of forest, almost in the middle of nowhere,
is a small Shinto shrine. It consists primarily of a miniature building and
the lengthy, stone walkway leading down to the stereotypical stairway. The
entire place, however, seems to be in disrepair, and isn't in the least
occupied...and hasn't been for some time.
[Exits : Northeast to North Outskirts, and South to Northwestern
Forest ]
There are many locations throughout the world that can inspire awe and wonder at
certain times of the day, when shrouded within the right light and weather
conditions. Perhaps too many. But for all the majesty and beauty in the world,
few places create the same vibe as a traditional Japanese shrine caught in
golden sunlight - to those with the appropriate tilt of faith, this can be the
very paragon of natural splendour. But regardless of personal beliefs, none can
deny there is a certain.. magic.. in a place such as this one; however
dilapidated it may be.
Today, the old shrine is as serene as always, that familiar aura laying about
the place but... something is different in a subtle but clearly defined manner.
Up in the dimunitive main building burns a scent rarely burned here these days,
wafting seductively around the small room and flowing out into the surrounding
air. In a paradox of physical law, some has even curled away down the long
staircase and seems to suggest an etheral finger probing forth from the
religious site.
Indeed, the shrine indicates its very own shrine maiden of sorts. Below the tiny
building a slow and graceful sequence of movements is being depicted by a young
woman in Chinese garb, she executing a seemingly endless kata that is setting
her filigreed outfit to glittering in the sunlight. Occasionally a particularly
forceful movement - the push of two palms, or a wide arc of one powerful leg -
is accompanied with the softest of grunts. Controlled, beautiful and in complete
accord with the sacred atmosphere, Chun-Li trains here in meditative state -
unbothered by the rigours of the outside world.
A slight pity, then, that her energy signature is positively raging as the odd
flash of blue-white chi accompanies her actions. She's a focused coil of
fighting spirit, invisible to most but so apparent to the gifted...
o/` o/`... o/` o/` o/`... o/`... o/` o/` o/`... o/` o/`...
Bamf, bamf, bamf.
Someone from down below whistles a jaunty tune, some of it floating up to
the shrine. One by one, all the flames in the building are extinguished in a
violent puff of air, allowing a green fire to spring forth in their places. In
an instant, the shrine is cast in an ethereal green glow, and the comforting
smell is replaced by a cloying scent that is at first repulsively strong and
sweet, but becomes more and more palatable by the second.
A moment of quiet passes, and then someone clears their throat daintily -
it turns out to be a red figure in a shadowy corner of the room, reclined in a
simple wooden chair, legs crossed and hands folded neatly.
There is no aura, nothing that distinguishes the mystery person as a
fighter. Only a strange feeling that something is out of place, enough to raise
hairs on the back of most necks.
"Chun-li, practioner of Tai Chi, taught by Gen, the master of the
Assassin's Fist. Acquaintances with Charlie and Guile, two AWOL United States
soldiers. Close friends with Ryu, the World Warrior and King of Fighters."
Most people would expect the teen to flip a notepad closed after reciting
these facts, but all this was said in a quiet, amused tone that offers no
insights to gender, but gives the impression of youth.
"Oh, don't mind me. Keep going, dudette."
Going from a menacing reciting of personal facts to 'dudette' seems wrong,
but then again, everything seems wrong.
The human condition seems to cause every instance of quiet serenity to prove
prelude to a storm. And not every storm is a violent torrent. This simple gust
of disturbance sets off no fewer alarm bells for its nature, however, and
halfway through a whirling movement of her arms, Chun-Li finds herself abruptly
drawn from her revery. Sunk down low, one leg extended and the other tucked
beneath her, hands out to either side of her body as the frozen blades of an
abandoned windmill. The woman's deep brown eyes narrow a touch as they observe
soft candlelight turn to jaunty green flickering, and her nostrils flare about
sudden sweetness.
"Hm?" Her verbal response is last to come forth, a quiet spark of confusion
sounding from between parted lips. Less suddenly than her freezing comes the
straightening of her form, the Tai Chi mistress rising to her feet in a single,
balanced motion and turning her attention with sharp instincts towards the
solitary figure seated nearby. Previously narrowed eyes relax but the woman does
quite the opposite; circling around to place herself in better view of her
androgynously-voiced scarlet intruder.
"It doesn't take a great deal for one to be familiar with who I am," she intones
softly after a moment's lull, "But few know of my master, or the company I
keep." Few, except those she knows as close friend or distant enemy. With wary
control her fingers curl at her sides, legs tensing as she takes her gaze from
the shaded figure to check toward the shrine entrance and the dark corners all
around. When her attention returns she allows a dry smile to touch her lips,
"But I won't deny your accuracy. Who are you? Did /he/ send you?"
Heavy doubt rings in her tone. Her enemies tend to be considerably less
mysterious.
The teen rises from the wooden chair, stretching and prowling a few steps
forward with movements that are strangely catlike. The green light finally casts
some light onto the figure, though it is haphazard and prone to flickering at
inopportune moments. Most notable is a smile, bright and charming.
"Please, Shadaloo is too bothersome. Would you like a sweet? I can't eat
too many, they go straight to my hips - haha - but then again you're in
reasonable shape even if you have a reputation. Isn't it funny that some people
know more about celebrities than they do their friends? What's more interesting
is the seperation between the celebrity and the person, I like to believe that
they are actually two different people. They might as well be, anyway. Have you
considered acting?"
The figure pauses to unwrap a small chocolate confection.
Chun-Li barely stops herself from expressing surprise that this strange figure
knows of Shadaloo. All the same, she shifts almost imperceptibly in momentary
discomfort, only suppressing a gasp or a frown by assuring herself that the
youth can realistically know very little. Either he is part of the organisation
- which she highly doubts, part of the figght against Vega - which she knows
cannot be true, or he has simply picked up a wild rumour and associated it with
her own activities through gossip and research. Not the most reassuring though
really, but at least it brings sanity to proceedings.
So just who is this interloper? His curious entrance already marks him as
somewhat 'gifted'... but his aura is bizarre, incomprehensible. The least she
can do for the moment is remain civil; why would he make himself so clearly
known if he came for the purpose of assassination? "I'd rather not," the woman
responds to Ash's first question, giving a single shake of her head, "It just so
happens that I'm looking out for myself, as well. And no, I've not considering
acting... would you recommend it?" An eyebrow raises questioningly, a slight
flicker of amusement showing in the woman's eye. Quite the encounter.
Despite her cool exterior though, Ash's comments do spark some kind of reaction
within. The Cult of Celebrity is something she has found herself dealing with
only recently, with a renewed willingness to place herself in the spotlight and
with the recent meeting of one Li Xiangfei. Does she really come across at two
entirely different people? She hopes not, and this doubt manifests itself in the
form of a frown, light as a snowflake on her brow but noticeable to the
particularly perceptive.
Wordlessly, the teen devours the chocolate in one swift bite, then discards
the wrapper. It floats, then is caught in some updraft that carries it into a
nearby fire. A beat passes.
"You can call me Ash Crimson. I told you to keep going, y'know. Maybe you
need a little more light? I'll oblige, my petite."
With a rush of hot air, several bouquets of green flame explode outwards,
pouring like water down to the floor, where they surround Crimson in a blazing
circle. The heat rises, becoming unbearable, even as the fire grows taller. A
gust of wind rushes into the shrine, enough to bite at the eyes, even though
there is no sound.
The rest of the green flame in the room shudders, and then is drawn towards
him one by one - if Chun-li isn't careful, she could be struck by one of the
flying rifts of fire. And it is real fire, not chi emulating flame. It's almost
unheard of. Almost.
COMBATSYS: Ash has started a fight here.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li has joined the fight here.
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li overcomes Rapide Ventose from Ash with Kikou Ken.
- Power hit! -
And that frown deepens; it is forced to, as suddenly the youth flares up in an
almost blinding display of power - quick as it is, and darkened as he has been
to her less mundane senses. Naturally her eyes feel the pain even more
insistently, and a quickly stifled yell breaks out from the powerful Chinese
woman. "That hardly answers my question!" She calls over the rush of fiery
winds, "But now I see you just fine..." The last comes in a lower murmur, as
Chun-Li focuses herself in one stretch of mental effort, gaze immediately
becoming more distant and body tensing fully, hands winding in toward the centre
of her form. Her senses take in the flaming energy and the very nature of it -
something she has only felt from one man. A man against whom she proved
victorious.
"KAAAA!" Mouth opening wide and a predatory manner gripping her, Chun-Li
suddenly bursts forth with a glow of her own, that same blue-white energy she
displayed earlier flaring from her curled fingertips to engulf the entire front
half of her body. Then in mid-cry she suddenly dashes forward through the
verdant maelstrom, thrusting both hands forward in a violent double palm-thrust.
Not even halfway to covering the distance, a pinpoint of beautiful gold flares
outward, before centering itself inside a bubbling shroud of blue chi.
"KOOOUKEN!"
More violenty kiai'ed than usual, and filled with a great deal more of what the
woman has to offer, this projectile plows right through that currently heading
toward Ash, the tunnel it cuts providing a point of safety for the Chinese woman
and hopefully giving her the upper hand. She snaps to a halt inside this cleared
zone, slipping flawlessly into her stance from her headlong sprint, and waiting
for the storm to abate. "A pleasure to meet you, Ash Crimson..."
COMBATSYS: Ash blocks Chun-Li's Kikou Ken.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Ash 0/-------/-------|==-----\-------\0 Chun-Li
The flames continue to grow, obscuring Ash completely. The kikou ken
disappears into the heart of the storm, but beyond that nothing happens. The
wind whips up to an imposing fury.
If Chun-Li wants at Ash, she'll have to brave a trial by fire for the
chance.
COMBATSYS: Ash gathers his will.
Chun-Li heaves in deep, calming breaths as she watches her overkill 'fireball'
make its way into the much truer flames that engulf it completely. Shifting
lightly on her toes, she glances quickly left, right, and then back to what she
presumes remains the location of Ash Crimson. "Very well," she breathes,
composing herself a moment to deal with the assault upon her senses courtesy of
the mysterious youth and his blaze. Then a final glance sees her take in the
eaves of the shrine. A guilty flicker appears in her gaze. But what else can she
do?
"Please forgive me..." closer to a whisper this time, a hand cupping her left
breast in a reassuring gesture, and then the world's strongest woman is suddenly
launching herself through the air in a dynamic backflip. Her white-booted feet
touch touch down upon a rotten beam and then, with a dynamic whirling of her
form that sends skirts flapping wildly she hurls herself into a thunderous kick
to the ancient structure. Timbers groan, heave and then.. cave inward at a weak
point, sending most of the unfortunate support strut spinning toward the centre
of Crimson's inferno.
COMBATSYS: Ash slows Large Thrown Object from Chun-Li with Ventose.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Ash 0/-------/-======|==-----\-------\0 Chun-Li
The fire explodes away, leaving Ash with his burning hands raised. The
support beam is burnt through, cracking against his outstretched arms but
breaking away as it does so.
The fire leaps around the shrine, spreading by the second. Crimson's grin
is unphased.
After delivering her impressive strike to the shrine's very being, Chun-Li whips
out a hand to catch herself on a crack in the rooftop, fingers deftly scrabbling
for - and finding - a purchase that allows her to hang overhead and observe the
path of her unorthodox offense. Her eyes do widen quite perceptibly on seeing
the slender teen bearing aloft the beam many times his weight, the reaction
helped in no small part by the utter destruction of the self-same beam.
Gathering her thoughts quickly, the Tai Chi mistress begins to swing herself
from her precarious position, legs bending at the knees and pulling close to her
stomach.
"What is this power?" She shouts down to the irrepressible Crimson, far more
curious than she has been about anything - outside of Shadaloo movements - for
quite the span of time. She's hoping for answers, but she is also hoping that
his giving of them may open his defenses enough for her to execute this next
manuever. Whoever he is and whatever the extent of his scorching abilities, he
must surely be a mortal man, with the weaknesses that follow?
With a light grunt of effort, Chun-Li releases on her third swing, tucking
herself into a ball to cut past the billowing fires on either side of the close
confines around, and she seems to be heading on to a painful impact with the
burnt wooden floor... until she suddenly switches momentum a scant three feet
over Ash's well-maintained features. "YAAH!" The woman uncoils her legs like a
striking serpent, both tucking up beneath her and jabbing out in an aerial
variant of the famed Assassin Kick; the blow aimed to impact her opponent's
chest and propel him back into his own inferno. If all goes to plan, she should
be able to make a fair landing in his former position.
COMBATSYS: Ash blocks Chun-Li's Strong Kick.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Ash 1/-------/=======|==-----\-------\0 Chun-Li
Ash rolls his head around, his neck popping several times during the course
of Chun-Li's flight over - and when she strikes, he turns his body so that her
kick slams into his shoulder rather than chest, resulting in him not going
anywhere. He still doesn't look like a fighter; he doesn't have the build or the
practiced speed, but there's no denying there's something odd about him.
Unmoving, Ash beckons with his hand, asking Chun-Li to strike him even
though he's within point-blank range of her famed kicking ability.
COMBATSYS: Ash focuses on his next action.
"Ngh..." Chun-Li's teeth grit as her lethal technique is absorbed. That may
quite possibly be the first time that a direct copy of Gen's teachings has
failed her... though the shock of this is balanced nicely with the excitement of
battle, her blood rushing a little faster through her veins as her legs tuck
beneath her and she lands directly before Ash, getting instantly to her feet and
snapping up a guard with her arms. "It appears you have more than party tricks
at your disposal!" She throws out with false brightness, before marking his
gesture and suddenly switching tactics entirely.
"Ha!" A single hand whips out, the other falling to her side, the Tai Chi
mistress attempting to take a firm grip around her mysterious opponent's wrist,
subsequently stepping right into his guard and wrenching him back toward her
current location. Provided he stumbles sufficiently, her plan is to release him
and rock back onto one leg, pivoting her full weight to aim a punishing thrust
kick to the pretty youth's stomach. "SEYAAA!"
COMBATSYS: Ash fails to interrupt Strong Throw from Chun-Li with Nivose.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////////////// ]
Ash 1/----===/=======|===----\-------\0 Chun-Li
Ash seems to stumble even before Chun-Li grabs him, but her stronger grasp
wrenches his frail form around, thrust kick and all. Somehow the teen manages to
extract himself, disappearing into the flames for a moment before getting to his
feet. A thin line of blood is traced down the left corner of his mouth.
"More!"
Chun-Li can sense a slight discomfort in the youth as she hauls him around,
setting his lithe body into perfect position for what she does best. Her martial
cry is empassioned as she delivers the blow, and her recovery is flawless, the
Chinese woman shifting herself back into her stance and pacing around the
fire-ringed floor until she faces Ash as he bursts forth from the blaze. "More?"
She sounds somewhat disbelieving now, blinking her eyes before simply watching
the youth with an alert gaze. "I'll oblige when I get my answers. Your name is
Ash Crimson, correct?" There is no pause for answer, the question is rhetorical;
the next, however, is not, and the woman heaves in a quick breath before asking.
"Your power resembles Kusanagi's... I know there are others with a similar
resemblance, I've encountered them even though we've never matched our skills.
But you're different. /Who are you/?"
COMBATSYS: Chun-Li takes no action.
Ash seems to immediately lose interest in Chun-Li, instead straightening
out the sleeves of his outfit and examining his nails - which, if Chun-Li is
just noticing, are covered in intricate art. He remains completely silent.
COMBATSYS: Ash gathers his will.
If the flame-wielding youth's intent was to anger Chun-Li, then he has most
assuredly achieved that goal. As no reply reaches her waiting ears, the world's
strongest woman seethes in exasperation, hands curling to fists as she barely
prevents herself launching forward through the flames. "Have it your way, then!
I won't hold back..." All but hissing the last, she gives an indistinct yell and
suddenly moves in a rapid series of motions, seeming to be hurling herself
skyward and toward Ash but instead... her entire muscular form rotates about
until she seems to be executing a handstand. Which she does. Briefly.
"SPINNING BIRD KICK!" Her palms slam to the floor and press down /hard/ as the
call comes, and regardless of the flames cascading about her person, Chun-Li is
suddenly spinning like a top, legs thrusting out to either side and forming a
dangerous sound to accompany her flight. The rush of booted feet, the storm of
her true power. As she rockets in toward Ash, the intention is simple and well
publicised; to tenderise him with an aerial combination that will carry them
both through his wall of flame.
Both may burn, but only one will fall.
COMBATSYS: Ash interrupts Spinning Bird Kick from Chun-Li with Sans-Culottes.
[ \\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////////// ]
Ash 0/-------/----===|=======\=------\1 Chun-Li
Just as Chun-Li predicted, both of them spiral into the wall of green flame
behind Ash, the teen falling beneath the more experienced fighter's rain of
blows. The problem is: Ash doesn't seem to be effected by the fire, while
Chun-Li is now at the center of a giant explosion of flame, the likes of which
knocks a hole in the side of the shrine.
Ash, however, seems to have high-tailed it. With the raging inferno as a
cover, he is gone just as suddenly as he came.
COMBATSYS: Ash has left the fight here.
'One will fall' certainly rings true, though the instant she feels her foot
crunching down into flesh and bone, Chun-Li would be surprised to be told /she/
would be that one. Her crashing rotations might well make a fair dent in the
fine features of Master Crimson, but these are as nothing to the confusion
experienced by the powerful woman when her momentum is halted abruptly with a
wave of scalding green flame. The first torrent brings her to the ground, where
she rolls for several rotations, finally sent careering into a far wall of the
shrine by the explosion triggered as Ash's power overloads within the cramped
space. Her full figure almost busts another, comically-shaped gap in the rotted
wood, this manner of impact only prevented by the abilities of the woman.
Rebounding as neatly as can be possible from the solid surface, Chun-Li ignores
the pain wracking her frame and immediately staggers off through the inferno,
wincing periodically as fresh agony breaks through... but the shattered shrine
is as small as advertised despite the things it has contained today, and she
makes it to the forcibly created hole without any further debilitating incident,
stumbling onto her knees at the edge of the blaze and pausing to cough long and
heavily.
And when she is done attempting to evacuate her lungs, the world's strongest
woman gets herself to one knee and looks out over the surrounding area. She's
uncertain whether the youth has really departed, and she will remain on guard
for some time before departing, but regardless.. she won't be letting this
encounter slide.
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