FujiwaraPhoenix

The Jade Stream

@Muttonhawk:

Still hanging back. You know, looking over the hostage that he's tied up with vines. While also trying to recover from that arrow to the arm.
It's not easy to just brush off something like that, after all.

In any case, I'll move the scene along now.

The Jade Stream

So, uh...

@Muttonhawk@VitaVitaAR:
Should I just follow up here, or either of you wanna do something first?

Synchronization Overdrive: A school-based supernatural RP with a twist

James Zhen

James nodded his head, vaguely catching words here and there that made some semblance of sense to him. So long as the understanding was somewhat mutual, he didn't see any problems with what was being said. And hey, Akiya seemed to be a pretty compassionate guy, if what he was hearing was right. Cool.

"Well, ain't that how it hits us all?" James laughed at Akiya's remark about colleges. "I mean, it's the same reason I got forced into violin. But the same old classical stuff gets boring, so it got real tedious real fast. 'Course, a bunch of friends kept bugging me to play songs once they heard me once, but it's a change of pace from the usual stuff."

Unlocking his suitcase, James pulled out a punch of clothes, which he began to rapidly file into the drawers closest to his own bed. At the very bottom sat a small present, neatly-wrapped. A present from... His friends, maybe?

"Huh. Okay, gimme a moment...' he trailed off as Akiya mentioned having manga among his hobbies. Slowly unwrapping the present, James found himself holding a small box set of... Wait, was this...?
Anime? Seriously?

On top of the present sat a small note:
'Yo, James!
Heard you were headed to Japan or something from your parents. Sucks that we couldn't see you off, but all the guys pitched in to buy this for you! Get us some stuff while you're there too, alright? We're expecting some returns, man!'

...

James stared silently at the note, then back to the anime, then at the note before letting out a laugh and putting the stuff to the side.

"God damn, that timing! Alright, I see your game, you assholes! You're on!"

With a cocky grin, James gave a thumbs-up to his partner before motioning towards the discs with his head.

"Well, two of my friends are really into Japanese stuff, so I should've seen this coming a mile away. Mind helping me out in the future? From what I hear, this stuff costs, like, at least a hundred bucks, so I've gotta go pay them all back now. You said you were a fan of manga, right? Don't worry, we differentiate between regular American comic books and manga, anyhow, so there's no need to explain the word."

---

Mari Kougami

Mari let out a light cough before nodding her head in response. Well, high-strung would explain her partner's current disposition; that was for sure. Hopefully, she could use the walk back as some means of letter her cool her head.
...
Hopefully.
Glancing over the map, Mari closed her eyes momentarily to try and sketch a mental model inside her head before nodding.

"Okay, let's head out, then. I need to start memorizing the building's layout as soon as possible, anyhow."

Untold Eternity [Log Horizon/Overlord Inspired RP]; Always Accepting!

Melia

"Understood."

With that one word exiting her mouth, Melia pulled out a scroll from her inventory, the words on it fluttering about in front of her. Though she used the pegasus quite often while playing normally, she had it bound to a hotkey, and thus had mostly forgotten the words used to summon the creature.
Luckily, she had this. The words were in a gibberish language to her, but the pronunciation of them all way simple enough. Given that no prompt came up asking her if she wanted to have it done automatically, well... It seemed as if she'd have to call out to it every time she wanted to ride somewhere.
Quickly reciting the incantation under her breath, the scroll glowed a light blue for a moment before a small portal opened up. From it came a young pegasus, a saddle on its back and wings folded beside it.

"So a beastkin child that may or may not be eating sweets? That shouldn't be too hard to find, as long as the grass doesn't get too tall. Come on, we've got no time to waste.

Quickly mounting the pegasus, Melia pulled Fujiko onto the saddle before grabbing the reins and nodding her head.

"Head north. Follow the armored man and the warg."

Melia said no more than that as the horse started on its running start before pickup up speed and launching into the air, its wings now fully outstretched and flapping as two two characters began to rapidly grow farther and farther away from the the ground. The wind blowing against her face made Melia shiver slightly, given how strange the sensation was, but what made it worse was how far off the ground they were now.

"...Well. Hold on tight, I guess," she remarked, gripping tightly onto the reins as the pegasus shot off to follow along.

The Jade Stream

Xu, ignoring his adversary's companions, took a deep breath and entered his own battle stance. So, as he had expected, Xin had accepted the duel. Good. Though the terms were never quite agreed upon, at least he could fight the combatant at full strength.

"I'll come at you myself; no need to let anyone else interrupt. If anyone tries to do so on my end, you can go kill them! No skin off my back!" he laughed heartily before tensing his legs and entering another ready stance, systematically applying pressure to a few, seemingly meaningless parts of his body. "Very well! Let's see if the rumored dojoslayer lives up to his reputation!"

A single moment was all that he needed to push himself forward, the wind carrying him to take on Xin head-on. Contrary to every other time he attempted this, however, Xu suddenly stopped a few inches away from Xin before flashing a toothy grin.

"Of course, that doesn't mean I won't be trying, either."

A sudden blast of wind shot out from Xu's body in all directions, blowing dirt and debris all over the place as it seemed to swirl around his entire body.

Xu, of course, only had rudimentary control over his qi; any more than covering his torso with it was a lost cause. But that technique, which he had found amongst the usual gold and silver from the day's haul (which the boss, as expected, kept to himself), allowed him to let nature take control. It'd eat up his life at a rapid pace, but if he was fighting for his life, what matter were a few less years?

Xu immediately moved again, this time using the energy of the wind to reinforce every strike he made and cushion every blow he took to try and wear down his opponent a little faster.

"...Two minutes--no, one minute. I have one minute to end this."
That was the only thing running through Xu's mind, strike after strike.

The Jade Stream

Xin's kiai shout caught Xu and Nam-seon thoroughly off guard; the noise was close enough to disorient them both, causing Xu to accidentally fail to launch his next attack and Nam-seon to pull back outright. Feeling the danger in having his attack interrupted, Xu pulled back as far as he could, trying to generate as much distance as possible before trying to re-orient himself and shake away the ringing in his ears. He couldn't hear his own thoughts at this point, much less anything else.

"Well, can't say I didn't see this coming..." he muttered to himself, a grin on his face as he spat out a glob of blood from his mouth. This guy... He and Nam-seon could only have a chance of winning if they teamed up and rushed him down, but in an extended fight like this, any chance of victory was very rapidly slipping away. Shame; he had hoped to at least tie the score and force a mutual retreat.

Nam-seon, on the other hand, immediately took to the trees again, but only then did he notice that someone--or someTHING-- had cleaved clean through the trunk of the one he had just been standing next to, and a young girl with a katana unsheathed and ready to come to their partner's aid.

Shit.

"...So Chiu went down to an attack like that, huh?" Xu laughed bitterly as he noticed the spectacle. "Well, never really liked the bastard anyways. Oi! Xin!"

Calling out to his adversary, Xu took off his knuckles and tossed them aside. The fast-paced fight had warn them both down, and the extra weight wasn't helping him in punching or blocking any faster. And with two new adversaries joining the fray, victory was now naught but a pipe dream... Unless he could worm his way out of here somehow. But that, of course, wouldn't be fun; he'd hate to have to deal with the boss, after all.

"Call your friends over there off! I'll duel you, here and now; no more tricks, no more interference--on either side! If you win, we'll submit here; if I win, you let us go. Agreed?"

Nam-seon let out a sigh. of course his partner would try something like this; that kind of battle-mania was rare to come by, and he was a fool who let it define him. But, he had to admit, the man wasn't as much of a brickhead as he looked to be; if they tried to escape, it was only a matter of time before they were run down and killed anyways.

The Jade Stream

"Hou?" Xu responded inquisitively as Xin smashed clean through the branch the two bandits were standing on. "Good, good! This wouldn't be a fight without some tricks like these up your sleeve!"

Rising to the occasion, Xu launched himself straight at Xin, his right arm cocked back for a punch as his opponent launched a flurry of his own attacks. The speed at which each strike was executed earned a glint of curiosity in Nam-seon, who had opted to use his katars to keep himself from falling following Xu's earlier leap forward. It took a moment, but the bandit had quickly dislodged his weapon from the tree's trunk and kicked off to try and flank Xin.

Xu, on the other hand, was busy trying to parry the blows as they came. It was, clearly enough, a futile effort; though every now and then he would manage to deflect a hit and get one in, none of hits were ever more than glancing blows. Was this what they meant by 'the best defense if a good offense'? Opting to retreat for the moment, Xu used the force from his left fist colliding with one of Xin's to safely retreat for the moment.

"You... That qi... Quite sharp, isn't it? Guess I should count myself lucky, then!" Xu boasted, landing on a nearby tree and grasping hold of one of the branches above his head. "Maybe if this were under different circumstances I could ask more, but that doesn't seem likely!"

Taking a deep breath, Xu swung himself onto the branch and, with a smile, pulled down the collar of his clothes to reveal a thin, iridescent energy swirling around beneath them. It was nowhere near as strong or as refined as what Xin was using, but for someone of his status, this sort of talent was a godsend just on its own. The blows were dulled, true, but the shockwaves still damaged the fighter's body. Had he not pulled away at that moment, his shield might have broken and he would have been more seriously injured.
Though, clearly, that wasn't the case here.

"Now, let me return the favor!"

With a shout, Xu launched himself forward again, this time leading with his left first to strike Xin headfirst. Nam-seon, still a man of (relatively) fewer words, quickly began to strike out at Xin, weaving his way through his adversary's attacks as they came in turn.

The Jade Stream

@Zeroth:
YES JOJO! \o/
I can't seem to find if any of the new Jojolion chapters are out; half a mind to just read the raws now.

Meanwhile still reading Japanese LNs and wuxia webnovels. \o/

@Chanda: I mean, it's a natural mistake. Things like that happen to everyone every now and then.
So long as you get a form out, then there isn't any problem with me integrating characters into the story.

The Jade Stream

Well, that saved me about 2s of typing lol.

We're open, so the only real "problem" if where to jump in if you did.

The Jade Stream

I decided to try something a bit... Weird for these two characters. Hope you don't mind, @Zeroth.

Edit: OH WAIT, I FORGOT TO MAKE A POST FOR YOU GUYS SHOOT. Gimme a moment.

Double up edit: Ayy, there we go! Some more stuff to flesh out the interaction. Made the ordering a bit weird, though, so move it around mentally... Or something.