Deceiving Appearances (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

[Takimaru]

Re: Deceiving Appearances (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

When Ren stood up, there would be no sudden lunge from her would-be abductors, but only a slight collective raise of eyebrows. The leader's snarl didn't fade any when she drew her weapon, as he clearly saw her as no threat... not when she failed to draw his male interest in the same way that she did his sibling. His eyes only widened when the oiran swiftly turned the point of her blade towards herself. However, after the first few seconds of his initial shock, he allowed his demeanor to relax once more and narrowed his gaze instead. His snarl slowly shifted into that of a condescending grin.

"Heheh... oh no, I am quite sure you'd want nothing more than to die right now. Like the sniveling coward you are. The same way you killed Minoru," he started, making a subtle motion with his hand towards the others, who began to glance around. "Poison, right? What an awful way to go. A fate you couldn't bear to think about--that's why you're taking the easy way out now. Go on then, do it. And after that, we'll be sure to keep you alive at least long enough to regret it. I just hope you don't mind what happens to your body afterwards... after all, we let nothing go to waste."

As Kotaru talked, he slowly inched forward, attempting to make his movements look at natural as humanly possible. But this didn't escape Ren's notice, as the leader was not a small man by any means. His cohorts made similar steps, fanning out slightly so that they gathered around the fire in a half-circle, perhaps looking to pounce upon her before she could do anything too stupid. A few steps more and they would be in ideal range...

"So, will you flee again? Make a show of it for us, won't you? Don't get me wrong--any kind of suffering I can see on your end will satisfy me just fine." His grip on his bisento tightened just slightly. At that point, they had closed in far enough. If Ren yanked on her trigger string now, the bag would come swinging in and strike the leader directly in the face, likely hitting some of the others too. Two were already far enough to the sides that they'd be spared a direct hit, but the smoke could do enough to distract them as well. Either way, there was no more time left.

 

[Kat]

Re: Deceiving Appearances (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

More threats... more poorly-contained anger... all pointless. In a few moments it wouldn't matter, one way or another. Ren's intention was to cause death, with all the gravity and finality that carried. In that singular purpose, other purposes like ego and uncontrolled emotion were hinderances. One's only purpose in a showdown like this should be to kill the other person and make sure they're still alive afterwards... a mentality her opponent didn't have. Whether it would be enough to outweigh his other advantages remained to be seen, but the answer wouldn't take long to come now.

“...”
The kunoichi had been wordless as the moment of truth raced closer and close... with a focus that almost appeared calm, despite being anything but.
“This will get most of them... even the two it doesn't get completely will be distracted. If we all strike quickly it will be 3 on 3 almost immediately.”
With the slightest shifting of her foot against her hidden trap trigger, she'd pull it enough to undo the knots holding everything in place, then before the spice had even dropped, her eyes were squinting preparation for the burning smoke and her weapon was turning away from her in preparation to strike. It didn't matter how big someone was, hitting something vital was hitting something vital, and Ren was planning on doing just that with the leader, before he'd even know what was happening. It was a bold plan, maybe even foolish-appearing, but when you had the element of surprise there was no better way to use it than to go for the head with it. Remove the leadership first, then worry about the stragglers.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Deceiving Appearances (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Here, Ren had the luxury of preparation, of knowing the 'surprise' that was to come next, and so she braced herself for the impact of her primary trap. These marauders, however, enjoyed no such luxury, and so when she yanked upon her rope, shifting to the side to let the bag full of pepper swing forward, most would simply watch. Kotaru, however, made a face of alarm just as it came hurtling towards him--perhaps he had expected as much with the initial traps she had made apparent from before, which had already wounded some of his men.

He turned his face and raised his bisen-to in response, but his movement had already come too late. The bag burst over the flames, causing the swirling fine mist of irritant to make a small cloud about the area. Coughs and various curses could immediately be heard, and as the chaos of combat began, Ren heard Kojiro's battle cry, and took it as her cue to move in as well.

With her makeshift headwrap protecting her from most of the smoke, she saw the dust clear as she sped closer in towards the leader and grabbed hold of his pauldron. From here, she instinctually knew where to stab him, as she remembered keenly where his neck was in relative to his shoulder, more precisely, his carotid artery. As the clash and ring of steel could be heard in the background, the kunoichi knew that this would be over soon enough.

Or so she thought. As she leapt upwards and used her grip on his pauldron to pull the man closer to herself, and her to him, letting her finely honed skills guide the tip of the blade toward one of his more vital areas, she suddenly felt herself shoved back forcefully, violently even, by the quick-acting man's superior strength. Ren fell to her back and saw the giant glaive's blade follow up from the side as Kotaru swung it towards her, but a quick lean back on her part caused the weapon to miss her collarbone just barely.

"Ggghhnnh... where are you?! Fucking bitch... you just wait. JUST WAIT!" cried the bandit leader as he squinted his eyes shut, grimacing tightly. He swung his bisen-to about wildly, blindly. From here, Ren could circle out, away, take her time and measure her chances. While Kotaru's reactions were still as keen as ever, she recognized him to be momentarily blinded by the trap. He simply barreled forward in random directions, wherever he could hear footsteps. But from Ren, who was small and used to hiding her presence, he would hear none. The enraged ruffian continued to hack away at the air in front of him like a madman, incidentally clipping one of his more able men in the process and causing them to fall to a knee.

"Aggh! B-Boss... wait!"

"Ugh! Get out of my way, damnit!" cried Kotaru as he sought another direction to attack in. He tried to wipe his eyes, but it only made it worse, causing the ground spices to bury themselves deeper in. "Ggguhhgh... when I get my hands on you... it's going to be far, far worse!" he roared, moving forward and away from where Ren situated herself.

Then, the girl spotted an opening. One of the men who had accidentally been maimed by Kotaru in his rage was still on a knee, trying his best to use his sword to get up. Ren was staring at his back, but wouldn't have to do so for long, as she sunk her tanto into his neck from behind, then swiftly backed away to allow him to bleed out. She soon spotted the little rat-like man, who was already wounded and seemed to be using this opportunity to escape.

Akito had soon after felled his foe, and Kojiro soon did the same in spite of his pre-existing injury. All that remained now was Kotaru, who whirled his huge blade in circles as he strode about with his eyes shut.

However, Kojiro had just finished thrusting his blade through the heart of his downed opponent when the menacing Kotaru heard the noise. "Oi... Nobu, is that you?" he asked.

The red-haired ronin made a face, and took an audible step back.