Moth to a Flame (P,NK,IO)

Youta seemed to agree with his request. Altar knew he was outmatched here, at least it skill with the weapon he was holding. If it had been a fight utilizing jutsu or hands, he would believe in himself more. However, he had only held a sword a few times in his life. He wasn't sure of his skill with them yet, though he had always felt somewhat drawn to the weapons. Perhaps if he had time, he could ask Youta to teach him the arts of sword combat. It seemed intriguing to him, more so now that he knew a Shinkou had been skilled in those arts, and had had the knowledge to combine the Shinkou arts with sword combat.

Youta was waiting for him, so Altar didn't take much time for fear of another lunge from her, this time not nearly as testing. So, Altar would begin to plan his next attack as he moved towards Youta. He would lunge forward when withing range, keeping his feet below him, and feign a stab at Youta's left shoulder, as she had done to him. However, Altar would not follow through with this strike and drop his weapon lower, then extend it and aim a slash at the girl's midsection. Altar would follow through with this slash, then aim another at a lower angle of her stomach.

All of this would be notched down from his top speed. Altar's point in this flurry wasn't to actually strike Youta, but to see how she would react. If he could understand how she reacted, he could use it to his advantage.

Youta saw Altar's feint. This attack was turning into quite a bother for her. She could probably just deflect the strike when he finally made his mind, but decided not to bother with it. A sudden surge of chakra would blast wind from away from her in nearly all directions. If Altar had been in a stable pose, he could probably brace against it, but as it was he was mid-dash. The blast would no doubt destabilize him, even if only momentarily it would be enough. Youta would use that moment, stepping forward, swinging the ninjato to parry the katana aside, then thrust her left hand forward pushing Altar away, possibly even throwing him on the ground, if he did not find a way out of this, or somehow regained his balance.
Following this, Youta would thrust the ninjato aiming it at his knee. She would however only slighting cut it if she saw there was no getting out of it for him.

In the mean time Cael finished his technique, the shining snow like stuff stopped falling and he disappeared into the night sky for a good minute. Then after gaining enough altitude he would fold his wings together and take nose dive, emitting a rather joyful screech as his speed increased each second, until at the very end, he would flap his wings, stopping his descent just a moment before he crashed into the ground, changing the direction and rising again. His screech coming together with the speed he was falling would hit the ground, making a sort of a small shockwave. Then he would be gone again.

1670 w.

Altar wasn't very surprised when Youta seemingly saw through his plan to feint her. What surprised him was the sudden blast of air that knocked him off his balance, and the girl's firm push that sent him tumbling around. Altar would turn with his momentum, landing shakily on his back and rolling slightly to his feet. Then the girl came at him with a slash of her blade, seemingly aimed at his legs. Altar would use his own blade to knock hers aside, and use her forward momentum against her. After parrying her blow, Altar would aim to grab her right wrist with his left hand, and spin her around, throwing her after he had finished a 180 degree pivot.

"So, convinced yet? I already told you, i'm not great in the art of swordplay. Not great at much, really. Besides having a knack of getting out of bad situations and nearly dying. But if I were to guess...i'd say you're holding back more than you want to and more than you should. This isn't some feel good trip for me that you planned, is it? Not planning to take a dive?" Altar would say, narrowing his eyes somewhat in suspicion of Youta. She was much more skilled on the art than he was. She could have ended this ten times over at the start of it all. So it made no sense for this to have still been going.

Her thrust was deflected and Altar would grab her wrist, starting to spin. There probably was a way out of this, really all she had to do was resist using her weight because by deflecting the blade that was in the same hand, he also changed its path. But she would let him to through with it, making a roll after she was thrown and standing right back up immediately after. Turning back to face him, Youta would hear him talk. It seemed he was not in high spirits really. "What happened to the 'please don't hurt me'?" She would say partly mocking. It was true she was not going all out, there were multiple reasons for that, for one she did not want to damage the blade Altar was using, second she probably could not offer him a challenge with ninjutsu and there was really no need to beat him down. As far as she was concerned this was a friendly sparring and it was going just fine.

But if he was not satisfied, there was not much she could do. "Want me to dust you eh?" She would ask a second before her Seigan activated, casting Altar in a genjutsu, were he to gaze upon her eyes at the moment. Regardless if it was successful or not, she would follow up with a wind infused swing, which would send out of rather weak gale blast, only powerful enough to deflect projectiles and probably knock him on his butt.

1919 w.

Altar's gaze dropped as Youta asked him what had happened to his plea of weakness. "Don't misunderstand me, Youta. I don't want you to KILL me. You're much more advanced in this form of combat than I am. But that doesn't mean you need to reserve your strength until there's nothing there, and that doesn't mean you need to take a dive or anything to fuel my self esteem." Altar would say, smirking and turning to look at Youta after her second comment.

And suddenly he found himself on the ground. Before he had even realized what had happened. It felt almost like he had been pushed by nothing. So, either Youta was unbelievably fast, or she had some form of wind jutsu. Probably something revolving around her sword, or at least that form of combat. The next problem was why it had happened so fast and he hadn't been able to fight it. Of course, being the skeptic he was, Altar immediately jumped to genjutsu. It seemed the only way. So, he'd have to beware direct eye contact, then.

Well, he hadn't been harmed, but he had been knocked flat on his ass. And so, Altar would smirk and look towards Youta, making sure to keep his vision lower and away from her eyes. "Ah, so that's how it's gonna be now, eh? Well, fine. But if it's a fight you want, then let me warn you..." Altar would say, before standing again and activating his Meigan, as well as his Byakugan "It's a fight you'll get."

Altar would emphasize this statement by flicking the blade in his hand, before moving it back to a ready position. He would await Youta, and if she did not charge him, then it would appear he would need to be on the initiative.

Youta would smirk as Altar activated both Meigan and Byakugan in preparation for their fight. She was rather excited for a chance to see both doujutsu in action at the same time, as well as to see Altar fight wielding them. She would unsheathe a second ninjato, now wielding one in each handm and after assuming her stance she would exclaim "Come, then!"

Altar would hear Youta, and let out a small sigh. He hadn't wanted to be the one to take charge. Then again, he couldn't exactly afford to let Youta take charge and strike him down without even trying. Taking a deep breath, Altar would start moving, slowly at first before picking up speed, turning into a run.

Gently swaying softly from side to side, once Altar reached Youta he would have made his plan of attack. Altar would move from coming at Youta dead on at about 1 and a half meters from her, and swiftly jump to his left, moving past Youta's right. As he did, he would take a swing at her hand, and two swings at her leg, one at thigh level and the other aimed for her heel. This would hopefully prove to numb the girl's hand as well as immobilize her.

Given that these strikes landed, Altar would keep going on for another 2 meters behind Youta, then turn to face her again and assess the new situation.

As Altar dropped to her right Youta would prepare to defend. She would block his initial slash, locking his blade and preventing any further slashes with the ninjato in her right hand. Making a small step with her left to bring it closer she would jab the other ninjato at his right shoulder, should he fail to avoid it.

2041 w.

Altar could feel the blade being locked as it refused to move forward with him. So, he would take one more step, landing left foot, and pivot, spinning to his left, and using this newfound momentum to swing the blade around with him, hopefully unlocking the blade, and if not that, then it would at least knock Youta off balance. Altar would then shift his right foot behind him, and draw the blade back, aiming to unlock it now if it hadn't been already, and start a stab at Youta's left shoulder.

Seeing as Altar was moving the blade away from her, Youta would let it go. After spinning around he would send it for her left shoulder and that's where it would meet the ninjato that he just barely avoided. The two would meet and his blade would be locked again. In the mean time she would use her right arm to take a wide swing meant to knock the katana she lent him out of the boy's grip.