A Chilling Place Leads to a Heated Battle!

The sound of snow crunching is heard as Baiken makes her way through a snow forest. Trees bare of their leaves, branches weighed down by the snow resting on them. Other than the snow on it, the path was mostly clear; Baiken didn’t have much to keep her attention on, other than that her attire wasn’t made for this type of climate, though it wasn’t like she wouldn't be able to handle it. The sound of her boots crunching was about as much focus she could muster as she monotonously trekked through the forest.

Baiken’s left hand reached up and took hold of Kiseru resting between her lips, pulling it out, allowing the Samurai to blow the smoke into the frost-bitten air before putting it between her lips once more. She watched as the smoke trailed in the air for a bit before her eye caught something in the distance. Coming from the opposite end of the path is a woman with blonde hair styled in a floral kanzashi. She was wearing a white and red kimono with a snow pattern on it. Resting upon her shoulders was a black haori with gold trimmings. This was Setsuka.

Upon getting closer, Baiken noticed she was on the younger side, early 20s perhaps, but what really caught Baiken’s attention was the parasol that she was holding. The two women passed one another, their shoulders nearly touching. Setsuka didn’t pay much attention to Baiken other than glancing at her in acknowledgement of the Samurai’s presence, though Baiken’s eye trailed the blonde woman for a little longer. Baiken continued walking for a bit before coming to a stop and taking the Kiseru out to release a puff of smoke. "That’s a nice lookin’ sword you got there" Baiken commented as she turned her body slightly to face Setsuka.

Setsuka stopped before slowly turning to face the pink-haired woman. Setsuka’s eyes narrowed when she saw the smirk plastered on the woman standing before her face. A gush of cold wind passed by, blowing against the long hair and traditional Japanese attire of both women alongside causing Baiken’s goggle-like eyepatch to start to fog up, but it did not send a chill down either’s spines.

A moment passed, both women just staring at one another, Setsuka’s eyes meeting Baiken’s left eye. Baiken still had her kiseru held between her fingers, not moving it from its previous position. She then flipped the pipe over before tapping lightly, causing its content to fall out. The two continued staring at one another, not taking their eyes off each other as the burnt kizami made its way to the ground. What was taking a second to happen felt like a minute to them. Within a quarter of a second of the tobacco hitting the ground, both girls vanished. Within the next quarter, two clangs were heard as sparks were sent through the air. By the third quarter, both girls landed on the opposite sides of where they originally stood. And by the fourth and final quarter, a second had passed. Two trees that rested beside the path, in between the gap that the two women put between each other, fell to the ground, having a horizontal slash going through them as the main body of the trees crashed into the ground beside the stump.

Baiken stood partially crouched, her sword’s sheath held tightly between her teeth while the blade itself was being held out in front of the samurai. Baiken glanced behind at her opponent as a cut formed on the right side of her lower jaw. Blood droplets hit the ground, yet the one-armed swordswoman did not look bothered.

Setsuka stood in a partially crouched position as well, parasole in one hand, hidden blade in the other. But, her Setsuka’s eyes did not fall on Baiken; no, they instead fell on her haori. The jacket's right sleeve was missing, having been cut off, the remains of which were resting right behind the Battōjyutsu practitioner. Setsuka stared at the damaged article of clothing with an intense rage, the haori having belonged to her deceased master. Setsuka stood up to her full height and turned to face Baiken, who did the same. "You’ll pay for that." Setsuka said, with venom dripping from her words.

Baiken merely whipped the blood coming from the cut with her sleeve, letting out a slight chuckle. She then turned her torso slightly, but quickly while unclenching her teeth, sending her sheath flying toward the blonde. The sheath spun through the freezing air, heading straight toward Setsuka, who in turn quickly reacted, deflecting the sheath the instant before it hit her, knocking it to the side. Within that time, Baiken had moved, and was now directly in front of Setsuka, sword held high in the air, poised to strike down on her.