Breaking through the Atmosphere

As Arashi made it close enough to make contact, the words of the Captain echoed through him.  He grimaced, more in determination and anger instead of sadness.

"I am more than a true knight, Captain.  I am the Prince of Hoshi!" he shouted as his sword made contact.  The knight didn't even bother to use his own weapon, he blocked it with that impenetrable armor on his arms.  "I am the guardian of Hoshi... and the protector of Haven!" he growled, even as his sword attack didn't work.  Meryn's skin was just was too strong.  He need to find a way through it, there was no other option.  As he made his dash away, he barely caught the flying fists.  But in that split moment, Arashi did something he didn't expect.

He smiled.

He was fully in cloud form, only a solid as he allowed, and his chakra let his fists move through him over and over.  He could feel the impact on his chakra network, but again, no physical damage.

"The impenetrable defense against the impervious defense.  Call me weak if you wish, but I embrace who I am!"  he said, as he skidded to a halt 15 meters away like originally planned.  He didn't have to use the water substitution, so he was lucky in that regard.

"Some of the most powerful people I've ever known have been women, Captain.  Including my mother.  And including the Queen.  Even the Princess showed a strength not commonly found.  Strength is more than brute force!" he said, looking up as he heard a crack of thunder.  The raincloud was reacting to his own emotions, and in that moment, his family appeared in his mind.

The storm came from three parts, he was always told.  Wind, water, and lightning.  Every member of the family had the capacity to wield all three, and every member with the kumonikutai wielded the three elements.  All of the most powerful and secret techniques on his scroll used all three elements.  The final forms of his bloodline was truly the storms in the sky.  If Arashi wanted to win, he had to use all of his being.

He was no front line fighter, his Taijutsu was always generally weaker than his ninjutsu.  He could not win with brute force.. he had to win like the rain.

The rain...

Ser Meryn considered this rain to be nothing, but the ground was wet, his metal armor was wet... his arms were wet.  Arashi summoned the door to assist with his water-dominated jutsus, but water had another property. 

"You want me to come at you?  Then I will..." he said, dashing forward with his full 90 speed to cover the distance.  Throwing out the signs en route, he dropped to the ground, sliding right at the Captain, and then drove his sword into the bottom of his cape and just inside his boot with the same 180 power, creating a direct connection between Arashi, the water at their feet, and the knight.

Arashi activated his jutsu, raising his arm up the length of the knight, as the sky cracked and flashed, before his Hiraishin created a surge of lightning and electricity right at the Knight, thanks to the close proximity of Arashi himself.  The lightning came down with a power of 55, before it's contact with the water.  If this didn't break the knight's defense, Arashi had one more option to use with the true power of the storm.  He was the weather... and the weather was a weapon he was ready to use.

(AP: 20 for Hiraishin, 5 for Kumo upkeep.  665 remaining)
W/C: 604, 8917/10000

More ninja magic!

Ser Meryn would have spat once more had there already not been enough liquid on the almost flooding stadium round. in the periphery, he was aware of people huddling under the sparse shelters, people pulling out umbrellas and cleaning their lenses to see what was going on. Princess Tehniyat was in attendance and already, a tent like structure had erected itself around the young royal in addition to the covered seats of the balcony already provided. The nobility fared only slightly less comfortably, still sheltered but with no addition padding and tents. As the boy spoke of women fighting, the knight only snorted.

The Gods hadn't intended the female form to be blood soaked and battle scarred, they were meant to stay in tents away from the rain. War was a man's game, as Prince Arashi would soon learn.

Furious that his punches had simply traveled through the man, Ser Meryn was getting close to doling out lethal attacks. It was not part of his job and despite him antagonizing the prince so, he wasn't out to kill the boy just as he knew the boy was not out to kill him.

But by all the Gods above it was exhilarating to pretend they were. This was what it felt like to be a true knight, to finally let out his frustration of the past year, of watching these ninja and knowing that he couldn't come close to their power because they had magic while the likes of him relied on blood, sweat and their fists.

As the prince drove the sword into the older man's cloak, the material easily cutting through his boot, Ser Meryn stood his ground. If the prince thought he had something special, it was time to show it now before the knight reached out and crushed the would be prince's skull between his bare hands. Thunder crackled overheard, not phasing the knight. A smirk lit up his face as the lightning singed his hair, doing very little harm his body.

Or so he thought.

The feeling of dizziness that overcame the man was imaginable, and the shifting view more disorienting than the knight could have guessed. He hadn't seen the ground change position on him since he was a young lad of two and twenty, the last time he'd been knocked on his feet. Ser Meryn's frame landed heavily on the ground, causing a splash as he felt the water run into his torn boot, his breastplate, his arm guards. Letting out a hiss, the knight tried a kick towards where he imagined Arashi's general direction to be, only to realize his leg was numb.

This was it. The match was over. And as the night lay near unconsciousness on the wet stone, a smile of contentment rested on his face.

The Prince that was promised was finally here.

(Exit, claiming Meryn's Honorable defeat)

Arashi shut his eyes as the electricity passed through him, his body already read for it.  There was no way for the knight to know what he was doing, and in fact he was quite sure the knight thought he was going for another pathetic weak move.  Arashi had been hesitant to do any kind of harm, but the announcer was right.

The only way to win was to fight like life was on the line. 

Ser Meryn was true to his words, Arashi's anger and dedication was poured out with that one, as the lightning lit up the two combatants.  Once the thunder and lightning cleared, the smell of burnt hair and flesh found their way to his nose, but the knight seemed standing.  For a moment, Arashi feared that this too was not enough for the knight to be affected, but there was a sign, a small sign.  The Captain was not moving, at least not voluntarily.  Arashi pulled out his sword, and the knight fell almost immediately.  He might have done damage, but he did the next best thing... he disabled the knight.

The proctor watching the field (and making sure he wasn't hit with attacks) noted that too, and he swung his arm up in the direction of where Arashi came from, calling out that Ser Meryn was unable to continue.  The crowd erupted in cheers and applause, and havin finished the fight, Arashi let go of the storm that was raining, leaving the skies partly cloudy.  The ninja finally stood up as medical personnel rushed into the arena to check the vitals of the knight.  He looked around, it was hard to see if they were cheering for his victory, or upset over Ser Meryn's defeat.  Obviously there were some.. there had to be.  Arashi went over to where Meryn's head rested, getting on his knees and bowing.

"I'm sorry I couldn't fight the way you wanted, the way you hoped for.  Please don't think any less of me.  I'm not as strong as the Queensguard, but I do have strength, I promise you.  And that strength will always used to protect Hoshi." he said, before standing up and letting the medical teams look over the man.  Arashi let the roar of the crowd wash over him as he sheathed his sword, and the proctor grabbed his arm and shot it up to raise the volume of the crowd.  After shaking his hand in congratulations, Arashi was led out of the Arena, and into a prep room where other medical ninjas were waiting to check him out. 

As his minor cuts and scratches (where did those come from?  Obviously Arashi wasn't perfect with his body) were being taken care of, a running figure grabbed him in a strong hug.

"Thank the Gods, that was amazing!" Tsuji said, holding the young man close, even as the medical ninja almost begged to let them finish their work.  Arashi waved them off, and returned the hug to her.

"Thanks, Tsuji... I hope I at least made my mother proud." he said, standing back up for a better embrace with her.

"I'm sure you did.  Oh, the Hogokage told me to pass on a message.  You need to go to the university for your promotion.  He said you passed!" she replied, kissing him on the cheek.  Arashi gave a sigh of relief, and nodded.

"Come with me... if we are going to be together, you should learn all you can about the shinobi world.. the REAL shinobi world, not the bandits you've been told about." he said, as her eyes grew. 

"Together?"

Arashi nodded.  "Yes.... together."

Exit

W/C: 608, total: 10007/10000 

Claiming: Jounin Promotion, 5000 ryo, 15 AP

approved o_o