Setsuka Blocks

As quickly as Baiken brought up her blade, she brung it back down. The speed at which Baiken was attacking was not something Setsuka had prepared for; she didn't have time to move, and as a swordswoman, she'd have to rely on her arm to parry or strike an opponent if they tried to hit her. Unfortunately for Setsuka, deflecting the sheath had left her open to an attack. Or it would've been had Setsuka not had her parasol in her other hand.

Mere moments before Baiken's katana could slash through the blonde woman, Setsuka raised her parasol up to meet the blade, momentarily stopping its descent. The impact of the two meetings caused the snow underneath the two women to be pushed away, revealing the dead grass that it had covered. Of course, underneath the **** of Baiken's blow, the parasol began to quickly crack. Setsuka let out a mighty grunt as she struggled against the weight of the slash, her parasol slowly cracking more and more until it eventually shattered, sending splinters of wood and paper flying all over the place. With the parasol no longer able to shield Setsuka, Baiken's katana continued to travel down toward Setsuka, only for the blonde to step out of the way of the attack. The fractions of a second in which Baiken's attack had been slowed granted Setsuka time to properly react, allowing her to step to the side, the katana just barely brushing past part of her kimono, creating a small tear at the chest area.

With Baiken now open for an attack, Setsuka reversed her grip around her iaitō, Ugetsu Kageuchi, and swung at the one-armed woman, aiming for her chest. With the speed of a bullet, the blade cut through the air as it made its trip toward Baiken, determined to hit its mark, only to be halted by the folded steel of Baiken's katana, a smirk plastered on the pink-haired woman's face. Setsuka's eyes widened upon witnessing the sparks fly from the blades clashing against each other. She was fast enough to defend herself after having left herself open from her previous attack?

Indeed, she was. Having been left amputated and left on a quest for **** after the complete destruction of Japan, Baiken's muscles had been well attuned to using her blade. Even while in the middle of an attack. Baiken was able to cease all momentum from her swing and redirect it toward performing another attack. She wouldn't be leaving herself open so easily. "You're a crafty one, aren't you?" Baiken taunted before pushing Setsuka back.

Setsuka dug her boots into the snow to stop herself from losing balance. Narrowing her eyes and barring her teeth ever so slightly, Setsuka made no efforts to respond to Baiken's gibe, switching the gripe on her blade to what it was originally and clasping onto it tightly with both hands. Both swordswomen got into stance before rushing toward each other, their arms becoming blurred as they swung their respective blades at one another.

Sparks flew as both fighters attacked and parried an onslaught of attacks from each other, each one far beyond what the naked eye could keep track of. Small tears slowly but surely began to open up on both their clothes as the two began to anticipate each other's moves, finding just the smallest openings to reach their opponent but never reaching the intended lethality of the attack they had wanted. Both Setsuka and Baiken were far too skilled to let something like that happen, especially with both of them just starting out.

Determined to land a fatal blow, the speed of their slashes began to pick up speed, increasing with each parry and retaliation. To be caught between the two of them would be as if stepping into a downpour of blades, each swing of the blade being as persistent as the raindrops from the mightiest of storms and their ferocity matched it as well.

Wanting to walk away as the winner of this fight, Setsuka began to focus her attack toward Baiken's left. Baiken, taking note of the blonde trying to take advantage of her blind spot, let out an annoyed huff and readjusted her stance to be able to view Setsuka's attack; Ugetsu Kageuchi ripping through the already torn sleeve that covered the Japanese woman's amputated arm. Getting tired of this exchange, Baiken decided to kick things up a notch and swung a heavy slash toward Setsuka's left side.

Reacting to the attempted bisection, Setsuka blocked the attack. Only for pain to shoot out through both Setsuka's wrists and arms. Setsuka found her arms faltering under the weight of Baiken's attack; it was as if she were trying to hold back the **** of a cannonball that had been fired at her—all that strength in just one arm. Knowing that she was about to be pushed back once more, Setsuka dug her feet into the ground in advance. With her arm being pushed closer and closer to her body, Setsuka was eventually sent flying back, traveling even further than when she was sent earlier. The snow below Setsuka's feet parted as she slid backward, creating a path of grass between her and Baiken. The blonde would eventually find herself stopping when her back made contact with a tree, causing some of the snow on the branch to fall off from the **** with which Setsuka smacked into it.

Not even getting a second breath, Setsuka found herself having to weave to her left to avoid another slash from Baiken, the amputee cutting straight through the thick tree, causing it to fall to the ground with a mighty thud, sending the snow around it to fly into the air. What would've taken a single man an hour to chop down, Baiken performed in just one attack, but it came at a cost. The snow that the tree flung into the air had momentarily blocked Baiken's view of Setsuka, allowing the blonde to retaliate unabated by the worry of her attack being blocked or parried. Having no other choice but to dodge, Baiken took a step back, avoiding a devesting injury but still suffering from the iaitō cutting through the upper part of the sash and the part of her white kimono below it, leaving part of Baiken's abdomen exposed. The slower section of her sash and the red rope tied around it kept Baiken's kimono from opening up, but there was still a large section of her skin that was now exposed to the cold air.

"Whoa there!" Baiken exclaimed, quickly bringing her sword out in front of her to prepare for another attack from Setsuka, but it didn't come. The blonde swordswoman stood in front of Baiken, her fast yet heavy breaths visible in the cold air, her eyes focused on the forest behind her. Baiken took a second to rest, her breaths matching Setsuka's. Baiken began to wonder if this short break they had taken was something more, and followed Setsuka's gaze. A sweat drop raced down Baiken's forehead. Was she planning on going deeper into the forest?