A Crumbling World (Private, Naisu)

Laura stormed through the hideout, her mind in a considerable state of turmoil. It had been bad enough when Kabuto had given away control of Snake; she liked Naisu well enough, but Hershel? How in the world could he trust that narcissistic bunny with anything? Still, Laura had stayed quiet as usual, trusting that Kabuto would be able to keep order as the two new leaders found their own paths. Now, however, the snake was nowhere to be found. Laura had already combed the hideout several times in search of him; despite this, he seemed to have completely vanished off of the face of the earth.

Bloom and Jaime were beside her the entire time, trying to calm her nerves, but Laura couldn't help but fear the worst. Bloom was the same as Laura; he hated the idea of Kabuto leaving before they had the chance to pay him back for healing Laura's voice. He had brought joy to Laura's life, something she had been seriously lacking for years; to leave so soon after they had met would be devastating. Jaime was less concerned about Kabuto, but he was seriously worried about Laura; if Kabuto disappeared now, it might break the poor girl. Kabuto had saved her like she had saved him; he would be damned if he let his savior's savior vanish on them.

As Laura turned a corner, she came across the one person who might be able to let her into the loop. "Naisu!" Laura called, almost a cry as she ran up to her new leader. "Where's Kabuto?!"

It had been quite awhile since Naisu had taken up the mantle of one of the co-leaders of Snake. He had increased his morale with most of the members, all save for Hershel who still had problems with him sharing the responsibility of leader with him. Naisu tried to do his best to be accommodating for all the members of Snake and to make their experience worthwhile. After all people who didn't wish to be here would slack off or would rise up against them. And that was a headache he didn't wish to deal with. Besides he enjoyed being a somewhat nice person. It was a preferable way for him to live his life. Laura seemed to enjoy his company enough at least, which made him feel a little better. It made him more confident in his leading ability. However one night, while Natsume and Swirly were out, she stormed into his chambers in the hideout and shouted in hysteria. She wanted to know where Kabuto was, which was something even he didn't know the answer too. He looked at her with a blank face, his hazel eyes unblinking, while he tried to come up with a response.

It was a tough question to ask him. "The last time I saw Kabuto he seemed like he was heading somewhere," he began. "
I haven't seen him since he left and appointed me and Hershel as leaders of Snake. He probably went off to figure out how to unlock his powers." Kabuto had had a hard time channeling his powers since the conversion to Pandora. During their missions Naisu remembered having to save him a couple of times because of it. It was quite problematic. If Kabuto wasn't careful then he could end up killed. But he dare no mention more of that to Laura. She didn't need her imagination to run wild with her. He had an idea. "Laura," he addressed her with a polite yet commanding tone. "If you want we can search for him together, but first I need to see that you can handle yourself in combat. Have a match with me outside," he gestured. "If you get in the way then there's no point in bringing you. So make sure you give me everything you got, so I can judge your power."

Laura clenched her small fists as she listened to Naisu, her heart only sinking further at his words. Not only had he not seen Kabuto either, but now he wanted her to fight him? He was being polite about it, sure, but fighting Naisu was probably the last thing Laura wanted to do. She knew enough about her new leader to know that he could probably wipe the floor with her; he was probably the worst person in all of Snake for her to go up against. Plus, Laura still wasn't used to actual combat; while Bloom and Jaime could certainly help her somewhat in that aspect, it most likely wouldn't be enough to change the outcome.

Still, despite her misgivings, she really did want to find Kabuto. He was like the father that Laura had had and lost a couple of times now; if she were to lose another role model, she wasn't sure what she would do. She absolutely had to know what happened to her leader, no matter what. She could feel Jaime and Bloom behind her as well, giving her encouragement; they knew what she was thinking, and were urging her to take the challenge. With a deep breath, Laura knew what she had to do.

"I just have to fight you, right?" Laura muttered softly, her nails starting to bite into her palms. "If that's what it takes to save Kabuto, I'll do it."

Naisu knew what Kabuto meant to the girl. He could guess at least based off her responses and her attitude towards him. He wasn't being cruel when telling her she couldn't come if he deemed her weak. It was for her own protection. If she didn't possess enough power to handle herself, then she'd only get in his way. She'd only be a burden. Thankfully she agreed to prove she wasn't. She didn't seem to wanna fight, but for the sake of joining this mission she agreed. "Good," was all he replied as he offered a smile. And so the battle was set. All they needed was a battleground. He walked, expecting her to follow, toward the room in the Headquarters where sparring matches occurred. It was an open space built into the mountain their headquarters stood on. It was filled with artificial light in order to prevent debilitating the sense of sight. Tiny tennis shaped stones still were scattered around the open artificial cave floor. When they got to this place he motioned her to stop as he established some distance for the two. Once they developed about 10 meters worth of a divide, he commanded, "Start."

Naisu's magic power flowed freely through his body, his magical energy being a dark red color. It wasn't strong enough yet to make people hard to breathe, but it wasn't bad. He was starting to understand his abilities more and more every day, how his energy flowed through his body. He extended a single hand, fingers reaching out and his arm fully extended. The element of Darkness created but a single orb of black energy, releasing itself in its small spherical shell toward Laura. It was a simple spell that wouldn't do much damage to her if it hit. But he wasn't expecting it to hit. If she was smart then she'd find a way to avoid that fate. He fired the projectile instantly after he cued the match's start, as he was attempting to test her reflexes and her ability to handle being taken by surprise.

The ball was in Laura's court. In more ways than one.

Spoiler:

It didn't take long for Laura to realize exactly what she had gotten herself into. The petite girl had almost no experience in battle; while she and Bloom had done some things in the past, she was extremely inexperienced against a foe like Naisu, who had been through many battles. Still, this was a fight to save Kabuto, at least in Laura's mind. If she could prove herself to Naisu, she could save Kabuto; she was sure of it. As she got in position to face her opponent, her mind was filled with such thoughts.

"Start."

As soon as Naisu said the words, he launched what appeared to be an orb of energy at Laura. She hadn't expected him to attack her immediately; her body wasn't fast enough to move out of the way on her own. Suddenly, she felt a force pulling her to the right; she went with it, being yanked out of the orb's path. She didn't have to check to know it was Bloom, using his vines to pull her out of harm's way. She could feel his concern; he knew that she had little experience in combat. Still, she had to do this fight, in order to find Kabuto. She would place her faith in Bloom and Jaime, and believe that they knew what to do.

As Bloom pulled Laura out of harm's way, Jaime went on the attack. He was standing beside Laura, about ten meters away; within an instant, he was next to Naisu, lashing out with Shadow Sneak.

--

Status:

Her powers were certainly interesting. He anticipated her to dodge the incoming orb, but he had no idea it would be via a summon that she would do so. She seemed to rely on them to make up for her own inexperience in battle. It was a fatal weakness but he was sure with time it would change. For now at least, the display was impressive. Summoning magics were capable of being immensely powerful, especially in the hands of a capable user. Naisu would have to be careful if he wanted to avoid being overtaken by the two beings. His original plan was to cut off her escape with his swift movement and a sword slash, but due to the other summon's interference that plan was no longer viable. Naisu turned his body and held up his right arm to block the incoming slash, feeling it cut into his arms. He bit his lip as he pushed past the pain, and with his sword-wielding hand he instantly summoned his legendary blade, taking advantage of their close proximity to counter with a swift vertical slash across it's torso followed by a horizontal slash. He was fast, and his sword was deadly. Would they be able to withstand his power?

He wasn't even trying yet after all...

---

Tanked the slash with one arm
Summoned and Countered with Soulshade

Laura watched as Jaime assaulted Naisu, drawing their opponent's attention away from Laura and Bloom for a second. Naisu was quick to retaliate, however, summoning a strange blade to his hand and slashing at Jaime twice. Jaime took the hits, using the momentum of the second slash to propel him backwards and out of range of the enemy's sword for now. Laura started to move to assist Jaime, but she felt him pushing her away; focus on the fight, he was saying, not him. He'd be fine.

Jaime quickly began moving away from Naisu, as Bloom began moving in; Laura, after a moment of deliberation, moved back to stand beside Jaime. She trusted that Bloom could handle himself, at least for a small amount of time. Right now, it was important that Laura stayed out of range of Naisu; she couldn't protect herself that well, so Jaime and Bloom would have to protect her. Even just a few seconds into the fight, Laura was keenly aware of her own lack of ability. Whatever happened here, she would need to learn to protect herself after this.

As Laura was berating herself, Bloom was moving in. He unleashed his own battery of spells, activating Destiny Bond to link himself to his opponent. Afterwards, Bloom lashed out with his vines, aiming to grab Naisu's attention with the irritating barrage.

Status:

OOC: wow I completely forgot about this topic

Naisu wasn't sure what this trainer was capable of, due to having never experienced the summoning magic of the Kanto Kingdom before. He had no idea what these creatures could do, and found himself at a bit of a disadvantage due to it being three against one (though Laura didn't seem to be comfortable fighting for herself). He did notice her distancing herself from the fight, and found that it was strange how much she relied on her animals. She was plenty capable herself. Perhaps she just didn't have the confidence or drive of a fighter? That was probably her greatest flaw, and could easily get her hurt one of these days. He needed to teach her that she is to work WITH her summons, not rely and depend on them.

As the weird plant-like creature moved in from his previous position of about ten meters to engage him, Naisu instinctively fired one of his strongest spells. He needed to maintain his advantage in this fight and thus unleashed a flaming projectile from a horizontal swing of his sword as the creature motioned toward him with his vines. The attack would assuredly ward the creature away from him and allow Naisu time to maneuver around and get to Laura. He dashed to move around the creature and motion toward Jaime next to continue their previous engagement. He needed to weaken him while Naisu still had the advantage.

Unfortunately he wasn't yet aware of what was in store for him.

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Name: Flame Slice
Rank: D
Description: The user raises their hand/weapon with a motion which creates a linear projectile made of fire and 5x5 ft long to shoot at the opponent.
Strengths:
- If it slashes an opponent it deals D rank fire damage.
- Moves at 5 m/s
- 5m range
Weaknesses:
- It can be put out with any form of a water spell.
- Better for solo fights and not for fights where the user has to deal with multiple targets.
- Can be predicted by analyzing the motion of the hand/weapon before the spell's use.
Duration: 1 post
Cooldown: 3 posts

((OOC: Ahaha, me too :P))

Laura could feel Bloom's satisfaction as Naisu released a blade of flame at him. Even though he would take a bit of damage from this, Naisu would also; plus, since Naisu was beginning to maneuver around him, it meant that he and Jaime could unleash a counterattack from opposite sides. This idea was communicated to Jaime as well, who responded with a brief sense of affirmation. They would all go in at once, and see what happened.

Jaime moved in towards the rushing Naisu; as soon as he was within range, he would utilize his Sacred Sword technique, slicing through Naisu's armor and weapon to attack him directly. Bloom, meanwhile, rushed through the flaming sword technique of Naisu, grunting as he felt the flames burning away at his wooden body; even though half of his damage was being split with Naisu, the fire he was weak to still stung. Once that was done, he pushed his vines against the ground, launching himself in the direction of Naisu; once he was in close, he would wrap his vines around their opponent and try to prevent him from using that worrisome sword. Hopefully, between the two of them, the monsters would land some decent damage on their opponent. Laura knew that the resulting attacks would damage Bloom as well, but he seemed fine with that; she simply hoped he knew what he was getting himself into.

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