[h2]Kishinami Hakuno[/h2]

"...The sky?" Hakuno turned her head towards Saber. She was going to ask what she had meant by that, but her question was already being answered. The small girl was... shrinking into an even smaller form, turning into a... bird?! Speechless, the brunette could only stare as the bird, her Servant, promised she would return with something and flew off. It took her a few moments to register the events.

[i]Makes sense. I mean, she's a Servant. And a bird. I think. So obviously she can transform.[/i] Hakuno rationalised to herself. [i]More importantly, her clothes changed with her too, didn't they?[/i] the follow-up thought had a tinge of disappointment to it, for some strange reason.

Shaking her head briefly, Hakuno squatted down to smile at the silver-haired girl reassuringly, "well, you heard her. we should be seeing them very soon."

Indeed, not too long after departure, Hakuno could spot several approaching figures, mainly her adorable (and regrettably clothed) Servant, a young woman that appeared to be a nun... and a young girl that surely had to be...
"Ah, is that Dorothy?" Hakuno asked the small Caster, pointing to the approaching trio. One of them had to be, at least! It was likely the older woman had been someone that found Dorothy alone and was trying to help. Hakuno would have to thank her!

---------------

[h2]Berserker - "Guan Yu"[/h2]

This oni... her words were veering dangerously close to mockery for Guan's liking. Perhaps it was not Ibaraki's intention. Maybe it was supposed to be playful patter that was the norm between arena combatants. As she held the upper hand, a little trash talk was to be expected. If Guan were in a proper state of mind, she would have rolled with it happily. After all, this wasn't supposed to be a real battle. It was a mere exhibition, done to entertain the crowd and viewers.

Yet the armoured Berserker gripped her frozen guandao tightly, glaring at the advancing oni. Her speed was terrifying, bearing down on Guan instantly. Yet she allowed no fear to influence her thoughts. After all, she was Guan Yu, the most powerful warrior. Why would [i]he[/i] fear such a small opponent?!

Quickly gripping with both hands, Guan swung the long weapon with all her might, colliding with Ibaraki's sword in a powerful shockwave, blowing debris and dust all around the two combatants. Scorching flames met with frigid ice as the warriors pushed against each other. The armoured Guan let out a low growl, arms shaking from the effort of holding back the monstrously powerful Ibaraki.
She couldn't lose here... not to an opponent as insignificant as this! Not to someone that Guan Yu could blow aside with a single sweep! And yet, she could feel it: The strength she poured into the guandao, her fervent effort to beat back this oni... she was simply too weak. Despite her greatest effort, Ibaraki was simply better than her.

With a grunt, she was finally overpowered, and blown back to the arena wall. To onlookers, the impact was near-instantaneous. Smacking against the hard wall, Guan was left stunned as she fell to the floor, the weapon lying at her side. Her mind reeling from the powerful blow, unable to register the attack.

[@VitaVitaAR][@Dblade26][@Rin]