Kyoto, Japan
1300 Japan Standard Time
Stepping off the Linear, Okuni took a breath of the fresh, Japanese air which she had been longing to experience since she left from the Moon. The birthplace of her school and the home of her ancestors, Japan was a great symbol to Okuni. She had a week to stay in Kyoto before she’d be off to Terra Sentinel in Tokyo, so she wanted to get the most out of the time she had. Dressed in her Kimono, and her hair done-up, she didn’t look like most people of the modern era; it was almost like a figure from history had gone through a timeslip and was now in modern day Japan. Okuni held herself with the utmost grace, appearing almost like a model or celebrity, her appearance turned heads left and right and she progressed through the city. She spent her day visiting the various temples that Kyoto had to offer, as well as visited historical landmarks where conflicts happened millenia ago. Honnoji, Gojo bridge, Mt. Hiei, Kiyomizu Temple. It took the whole day to make it to each and every one, and by the end of the day, Okuni had grown somewhat tired, and relaxed on a bench near Gojo Bridge. It had gotten late, and there were hardly any people seen around.
After finishing a bottle of water, Okuni stood up from the bench and began walking back across the bridge, when something grabbed her attention, and she quickly went on alert. Like a magic trick, Okuni’s personal Katana slid down from the sleeve of her robe, and she quickly readied herself for combat.
“Heeeh, so you have your wits about you, eh?” A feminine voice spoke out from the darkness. Mist began rising from the river below, and covered the ground of the bridge.
“Who’s there?” Okuni looked about her, trying to detect the origin of the voice.
A tall figure was walking across the bridge towards Okuni, the iconic sound of geta connecting with the ground with each step. As the shadows began fading from the unknown person, their true figure was revealed. A mountain of a woman stood before Okuni, taller than her and much more muscular as well. White hair covered half of the mature woman’s face, seemingly covering a scar that ran from her right eyebrow to her left cheek. Her blue eyes pierced Okuni’s gaze, and her body felt cold chills run down her spine. In addition to being tall and muscular, this woman was gifted with a generous endowment, and below abs were visible through her skin. A perfect juxtaposition of feminine and masculine traits, could make this woman attractive to both genders. In her right hand, she held an Odachi, that stood as tall as her. Her left shoulder was draped in a heavy cloak with an impressive fur mantle, which also hid her left arm.
“I’ve never seen your face before. You must be new in town.” The woman looked carefully at Okuni’s posture, and could see it in her eyes. “...The Kusanagi Sword school.”
The woman’s voice spoke in an almost mocking gesture, as she quickly identified the style Okuni was using.
“...!” Okuni was taken by surprise at this stranger knowing her identity.
“You practice the Kusanagi-Style yet aren’t from around here…” It all began making sense in the woman’s head. “You damned lunar rat.” She took a ready-stance, holding the Katana parallel to the ground.
“Oda Nobushiro, Kusanagi Clan, Oda Family Matriarch.” She boldly declared herself to Okuni. “...You’re not welcome here.”
Surprise after surprise hit Okuni as she began to slowly realize just who she was about to fight. Her parents had told her of the Clan’s history, and the split between the Aohara and Oda families, one that ended in bad-blood.
“...Aohara Okuni, Kusanagi Clan, Aohara Family Heir.” Okuni stiffened up and readied herself.
“Okuni?” Nobushiro narrowed her eyes. “What an unfitting name.” Nobushiro shifted her position, lifting the Odachi above her head and taking an almost crouching stance.
“Tenka.”
The stance of Tenka, The pinnacle swordsmanship of the Kusanagi Style. Okuni had only ever seen it in watching her father practice it, but it was a sign that Nobushiro wasn’t going to be pulling any punches. She herself held her blade vertically at her side,
“Inmetsu.”
The Stance of Inmetsu. The destructive style of the Kusanagi blade. In its essence it was a much less refined Tenka, it still lacks many of the complicated aspects that truly make Tenka what it is.
Within a blink of an eye, Nobushiro had vanished from sight, before reappearing naught but inches away from Okuni, bringing her sword down with a heavy swing. Okuni raised her sword to defend, but at the same moment she was struck from two different directions, and was sent flying backwards.
She had seen this technique before, Though in practice it appeared totally different. “Tiger’s Breath,” a technique that involves three separate strikes within a single breath. When done correctly, the attack comes so fast that only one of the three is visible to the naked eye. A legendary samurai based his famous technique off this, though his paled in comparison to this.
Okuni tumbled and crashed into the bridge’s surface, groaning in pain.
“What are you doing? Get up.” Nobushiro looked on in disappointment at Okuni. “Is this all the Lunar rats’ heir can do?” She took the Tenka posture again, readying herself. “Half-asses like you piss me off. Fleeing Japan to sit up in your lofty position on the moon, you grew weak under their peace.”
Okuni struggled to stand up, her whole body screamed in pain, but she had to stand.
“Let me tell you something: Life isn’t easy. I bet you were handed everything on a silver platter. Any need or desire you had, it was yours. You pretentious bastards get off to each other in your own little echobox, waving around the Kusanagi Symbol like you’re the greatest thing in the world.” Nobushiro began walking towards Okuni.
“You could be the strongest in your clan. You could be dubbed the strongest on the moon, but that doesn’t matter one bit on Earth.” A blue aura began to form around Nobushiro. “You jumped from the kiddie pool to the deep-end. You’re just a guppy. And what am I?” Nobushiro grabbed Okuni by her hair and pulled her up.
“A Shark.”
Swinging Okuni around almost like a limp noodle, she lifted her arm up in the air and brought it down, slamming Okuni’s body into the wood bridge, cracking and shattering the nearby surface.
Nobushiro took a deep breath and hefted her Sword over her shoulder, looking down at Okuni. “I guess I shouldn’t have expected so much.” She turned around and began walking away.
1300 Japan Standard Time
Stepping off the Linear, Okuni took a breath of the fresh, Japanese air which she had been longing to experience since she left from the Moon. The birthplace of her school and the home of her ancestors, Japan was a great symbol to Okuni. She had a week to stay in Kyoto before she’d be off to Terra Sentinel in Tokyo, so she wanted to get the most out of the time she had. Dressed in her Kimono, and her hair done-up, she didn’t look like most people of the modern era; it was almost like a figure from history had gone through a timeslip and was now in modern day Japan. Okuni held herself with the utmost grace, appearing almost like a model or celebrity, her appearance turned heads left and right and she progressed through the city. She spent her day visiting the various temples that Kyoto had to offer, as well as visited historical landmarks where conflicts happened millenia ago. Honnoji, Gojo bridge, Mt. Hiei, Kiyomizu Temple. It took the whole day to make it to each and every one, and by the end of the day, Okuni had grown somewhat tired, and relaxed on a bench near Gojo Bridge. It had gotten late, and there were hardly any people seen around.
After finishing a bottle of water, Okuni stood up from the bench and began walking back across the bridge, when something grabbed her attention, and she quickly went on alert. Like a magic trick, Okuni’s personal Katana slid down from the sleeve of her robe, and she quickly readied herself for combat.
“Who’s there?” Okuni looked about her, trying to detect the origin of the voice.
A tall figure was walking across the bridge towards Okuni, the iconic sound of geta connecting with the ground with each step. As the shadows began fading from the unknown person, their true figure was revealed. A mountain of a woman stood before Okuni, taller than her and much more muscular as well. White hair covered half of the mature woman’s face, seemingly covering a scar that ran from her right eyebrow to her left cheek. Her blue eyes pierced Okuni’s gaze, and her body felt cold chills run down her spine. In addition to being tall and muscular, this woman was gifted with a generous endowment, and below abs were visible through her skin. A perfect juxtaposition of feminine and masculine traits, could make this woman attractive to both genders. In her right hand, she held an Odachi, that stood as tall as her. Her left shoulder was draped in a heavy cloak with an impressive fur mantle, which also hid her left arm.
“I’ve never seen your face before. You must be new in town.” The woman looked carefully at Okuni’s posture, and could see it in her eyes. “...The Kusanagi Sword school.”
The woman’s voice spoke in an almost mocking gesture, as she quickly identified the style Okuni was using.
“...!” Okuni was taken by surprise at this stranger knowing her identity.
“You practice the Kusanagi-Style yet aren’t from around here…” It all began making sense in the woman’s head. “You damned lunar rat.” She took a ready-stance, holding the Katana parallel to the ground.
“Oda Nobushiro, Kusanagi Clan, Oda Family Matriarch.” She boldly declared herself to Okuni. “...You’re not welcome here.”
Surprise after surprise hit Okuni as she began to slowly realize just who she was about to fight. Her parents had told her of the Clan’s history, and the split between the Aohara and Oda families, one that ended in bad-blood.
“...Aohara Okuni, Kusanagi Clan, Aohara Family Heir.” Okuni stiffened up and readied herself.
“Okuni?” Nobushiro narrowed her eyes. “What an unfitting name.” Nobushiro shifted her position, lifting the Odachi above her head and taking an almost crouching stance.
“Tenka.”
The stance of Tenka, The pinnacle swordsmanship of the Kusanagi Style. Okuni had only ever seen it in watching her father practice it, but it was a sign that Nobushiro wasn’t going to be pulling any punches. She herself held her blade vertically at her side,
“Inmetsu.”
The Stance of Inmetsu. The destructive style of the Kusanagi blade. In its essence it was a much less refined Tenka, it still lacks many of the complicated aspects that truly make Tenka what it is.
Within a blink of an eye, Nobushiro had vanished from sight, before reappearing naught but inches away from Okuni, bringing her sword down with a heavy swing. Okuni raised her sword to defend, but at the same moment she was struck from two different directions, and was sent flying backwards.
She had seen this technique before, Though in practice it appeared totally different. “Tiger’s Breath,” a technique that involves three separate strikes within a single breath. When done correctly, the attack comes so fast that only one of the three is visible to the naked eye. A legendary samurai based his famous technique off this, though his paled in comparison to this.
Okuni tumbled and crashed into the bridge’s surface, groaning in pain.
“What are you doing? Get up.” Nobushiro looked on in disappointment at Okuni. “Is this all the Lunar rats’ heir can do?” She took the Tenka posture again, readying herself. “Half-asses like you piss me off. Fleeing Japan to sit up in your lofty position on the moon, you grew weak under their peace.”
Okuni struggled to stand up, her whole body screamed in pain, but she had to stand.
“Let me tell you something: Life isn’t easy. I bet you were handed everything on a silver platter. Any need or desire you had, it was yours. You pretentious bastards get off to each other in your own little echobox, waving around the Kusanagi Symbol like you’re the greatest thing in the world.” Nobushiro began walking towards Okuni.
“You could be the strongest in your clan. You could be dubbed the strongest on the moon, but that doesn’t matter one bit on Earth.” A blue aura began to form around Nobushiro. “You jumped from the kiddie pool to the deep-end. You’re just a guppy. And what am I?” Nobushiro grabbed Okuni by her hair and pulled her up.
“A Shark.”
Swinging Okuni around almost like a limp noodle, she lifted her arm up in the air and brought it down, slamming Okuni’s body into the wood bridge, cracking and shattering the nearby surface.
Nobushiro took a deep breath and hefted her Sword over her shoulder, looking down at Okuni. “I guess I shouldn’t have expected so much.” She turned around and began walking away.
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