Oh. Uh. Remember all that stuff about not having to participate in this duel to feel like a part of it? The, erm, the joy and elation and whatsitall 'bout just gettin' to watch from the best seats in the house so to speak? An honor just to see her good friend Chen fight by herself for once and... yeah, you remember. So. Uh. About that. Would you believe, uh, whoops? 

It's not her fault! It's really not her fault, ok? Yue had every intention of stand-sit-leanin' (a technique known back in the village as 'stiteaning') there like a good girl and not liftin' a darn finger to mess up Chen's big moment, wherever she chose to take it. She had a plan, and that plan was to conserve her strength for fightin' her curse to stay human-bodied long enough to make it back to Hyra while absorbin' every bit of the fight that she could with her pretty blue eyes. Maybe also give Rose a little wave, 'cause she looked so cute hangin' over there like that in that soft new body of hers. But that was basically it! Not a hard plan to hold to, all in all. Y'know?

It's just, see, she was in the path of the tornado ok? See if you can just stand there when a super strong lookin' lady comes rushing up in your face with a naginata and anime laser claws without liftin' a finger 'cept to point back away from you! Yeah, s'what I thought! Yeah, yeah, darn right you're sorry! Ok then! Glad we cleared that up!! So yeah, she had a plan, but then that plan attacked her and before she could really even stop to think about it her wooden sword was liftin' itself up by her arm and clack, clack, crack! She was dancin' and part of the show like it'd been planned from the start. 

Here's the thing though, Part One. It takes all of a single pass to make it, just, super duperly obvious that Yue's got zero chance to win against Keron. Her attacks don't got the reach, the speed, [i]or[/i] the power to touch an angel like that one, and that's before you get to the part where not one part of her silly little brain is ready to even dream of a story where her winning is the kinda thing that's cooler than her losing. And the... what? Don't interrupt, I'm tryin' to-- wha, yes I [i]can[/i] pronounce my g's thank you so very much for noticingggggg[i]g[/i]. Z'that really worth focusin' on-- it is [i]not[/i] an affectimatation for affasomethin-somethin's sake! It just takes effort I wanna save for... gah! You're impossible! Impossible! Who's tellin' the story here, you or me? Gonna chomp you something fierce, you're gonna wish you didn't even [i]have[/i] ankles! Nyeh!!

Right, so anyway, Yue. Beautiful, silly, wonderful Yue. Here's the thing though, Part Two. There's actually so much goin' on here, and, goshies! She's catchin' it! When Keron shifts her grip on the Naginata's shaft to lengthen her reach and toss Yue off balance right when she goes to parry? She [i]sees[/i] it. The footwork that pushes Yue's sword uselessly up pointing at the ground and breaks her stance apart? She notices! The way those (don't get distracted!) hips swing into a backhand just... just alive and cracklin' with crazy villain energy from those claws? Even the path the attack takes and how it's so specifically timed and intentioned to give Yue the chance to block it, but only by leaning way way off balance and puttin' her poor little sword in a harm's way it just wasn't ever meant to be in. She notices that, too. 

Which is why, when that blow comes, she's able to get an extra half-pivot to one of the seventeen proper dueling stances she learned as part of cleaning up that shrine. It's why her guard comes back into place with way more power and, y'know, authority I guess is the word than the Countess ever meant for her to. This is no meek little dodge roll or a turn-their-strength-against-them pivot/parry thingie, this is raw power against power, because that's exactly what Yue wants to learn about just now. And the tiny flicker of surprise that juuuuuuuust shows up in the corner of the Countess' eyes? That earns her the biggest Yue-smile you could ever hope to get, which as you know is worth its weight in sunbeams.

That's just before those gleaming, powered up claws shift and grab at Yue's little blade. And then there's the step, and the naginata comin' back into play, and the blow so sharp you could probably split a hair on it if you really felt like it, and then spell or no it's time to admit that this poor little sword's made of wood after all. It splinters and it cracks, and bless it's adorable swordy heart it does just well enough for itself to go flyin' out of Yue's hands instead of shatterin' outright. Just a little kindness from tool to owner so it doesn't cast a big sad shadow over all the amazing stuff that's happening to her right now. 

And oh, goshies, she can't see the power of that hit. But she can sure feel it, as the same strike that disarms her sends her skidding and toppling and tumbling butt over face across the arena sands so hard and fast that honestly you should just go and give her a medal right this second that she found it in her to pivot in the air as she flew so she didn't mess up the mandala still painted on her way across. She hits the fall wall with a squeak like a... and bear with me here please, like a young kit's favorite chew toy finally giving up the ghost after six long months of happy silly chormping. 

And she tries her best to struggle back onto her feet, but. Nah. Just, just no. She flops back to the ground and settles for turning her face to the side, instead. And she lifts an arm up, but it's just to give the crowd and all her friends a tiny thumbs up before it comes crashing back to the sands as well. And there's a grin plastered on her face that it'll take a lot more than losin' to wash off. Because she didn't, did she? Not Yue. Not [i]our[/i] Yue. Not our beautiful sun farmer who's finally livin' up to the dream of her first big adventure. 

'Cause y'know, right? Y'do. Victory here is stayin' awake. She took that hit and she's [i]still[/i] got the best seat in the house where she can notice the way she actually [i]can[/i] notice every special little move and flourish and bravely beautiful expression of skill that Chen is capable of. She gets to have her breath taken away by the beauty of the real fight, and the courage of a young lady with so much expectation on her askin' for help without havin' to say a word. She sees it all, and that's a win. 'Cause victory here was making Countess Keron of the Sky Castle take silly ole Yue seriously for even half a breath. 

Yue won here. Don't even try saying that she didn't.