Brass Skies vol 2 (Draft)

Hired Gun part 20

Asuka turned to see a woman only a couple of inches taller than herself, with a thin, but well toned frame, standing in slightly heeled boots, pants, and a short sleeved blouse tied off just below the breasts. Hair as dark as Asuka's own, but both frizzier and curlier fell in chin length strands on both sides of the face, and in small tight braids that fell halfway between the shoulders and the small of the back. Dark rich chocolate eyes hid behind long lush lashes, and contrasted nicely with rich caramel skin a few shades darker than Asuka's. A large, rather bulbous nose that seemed just slightly too big sat just above lush, rich lips.

Asuka had never seen anyone like the woman before. At first she thought maybe the woman was from one of the countries or empire's near her own, but too many little things made that unlikely; the shape of the eyes, the curly hair for example.

"Honey, I ain't got all day." One of the woman's hands rested on a holstered pistol, strapped to a wide belt. The other gripped a wooden staff with an intricate mesh like metal design and metal caps at the end that came up to her chin, the likes of which Asuka had never seen before.

"My apologies," Asuka shook herself and took her stance. The other woman let go of her pistol to grab the staff with both hands. Instead of giving the staff a twirl, the woman snapped it at an angle and over her shoulder, almost like a spear.

The two women faced each other for a second and then with some imperceptible signal both swung into action. The blade of Asuka's katana struck the staff, causing sparks as it slid along the metal mesh before catching, proving that the metal design was utilitarian as it was ornamental.

A twist of the staff caused Asuka's katana to swing out to the side, forcing her to duck as one end of the staff just missed her head. Using that momentum, Asuka spun around bringing her katana around in time to arrest the backswing of the staff hard enough to knock the other woman back a step. The woman twisted her body and flipped the other end of the staff up, forcing Asuka to lean back.

It came as no surprise when a blade about a foot long appeared from the end of staff as it swung over her head and hooked her katana. Using the momentum gained by letting the spear push the katana, Asuka tucked herself into a roll and then spun to block the blade that had appeared from the other end of the staff/spear.

The two women battled it out for at least the full five minutes before at last the other woman stepped back out of range, and brought her weapon to a guard position. Offering Asuka a wide grin, "Well, how'd I do, honey? Do I make the cut?"

Asuka nodded and sent her to go catch up with Robert. No sooner had she sent the other woman off, then the man who had asked her if he could watch stepped up.

"Ye mind if'n I take my turn now, lass?"

"Hai, go ahead," Asuka said, taking a few sips from her canteen and then stepping back to her position.

"If ye be needin' a bit more a drink, go on, lass," the man told her in a kindly tone.

"Domo. I am fine," Asuka nodded.

"Lass, if'n I heard right yer name is Asuka?"

"Hai," Asuka nodded. "It is."

"Asuka, I'm Douglas MacFlint. Pleasure to make yer acquaintance."

Douglas bowed low and drew his long sword. "Normally I would na be usin' this against one so wee, but I think ye can handle it. Ye up for a fight?"

Asuka looked at the sword. It was nearly as tall as she was, and probably weight nearly as much. The blade was not nearly as sharp as her own, but it was obvious to her this sword wasn't meant for slicing as much as battering. "Hai," she said bowing.

If her last fight was a challenge, this one was a true test of her abilities. Douglas handled his sword with far more strength and agility than she would have though possible.

After the first blow nearly sent her katana flying out of her hands, she was forced to abandon any attempts to block and rely on dodging his attacks and attempting to strike. For the first three minutes, she was dodging more hits than she could attempt but in the fourth minute she finally found her chance to switch the momentum.

Relying on her speed and drawing on every kata she knew, she managed to unleash a flurry of attacks that Douglas was hard pressed to block. The weight of his sword was against him, the momentum making it impossible for him to reverse direction fast enough to block. Still, he managed to avoid the attacks, twisting his bulky frame out of the way with a speed and grace that Asuka respected.

By now there was a much larger crowed watching them as people elsewhere in the square had stopped what they were doing to watch. She let the noise of cheering and betting remain in the background as she focused in on the fight.

Still it wasn't quite enough. Just shy of the five minute mark, Douglass managed to land a hit that sent her katana flying. Before she could concede the fight however, Douglas told her to pick it up.

She did so, keeping her eye on him. To her amazement, as she picked up her katana he sheathed his massive sword and swung it over his back. By the time she made her way back, he had drawn two swords that each nearly matched the length of her katana, but were straighter and slightly less sharp. "I think I battered yer arms enough, lass. I'll use these fer now."

Asuka nodded her consent. They regarded each other for a moment and then came together in a flurry of blows. The crowed stepped back to give them room as they danced around each other. Asuka moved her katana almost on instinct, moving it one way and then another blocking Douglas' swords—all the while preventing him from trapping it between his blades.

More than once she considered drawing her kaiken, and fighting two handed, but she never got the chance. Still she held her own, and even at times pressed the attack. In the end though, it didn't matter. Eventually, the ache in her arms from the blows of the two handed sword combined from multiple back to back fights, compared to his strength, size, and the fact he was more rested than she determined the outcome.

When she was finally forced to step back and admit defeat after over ten minutes of hard fighting, there were a number of groans from people that she suspected had bet on her.

To her surprise Douglas was panting as he sheathed his swords and held out his hand. "Good fight, lass," he said.

Sheathing her own katana, she gripped his hand in a firm shake and blushed when he released it and turned to the crowed. "Those o' ye that lost money, don't hold it against the lass. Those of ye that won, know ye it was a close thing. Had she not fought six fights in a row previous ta this, I do na know if'n I would've bested her."

Douglas winked at Asuka and walked off towards the where shooting trials had been.

Asuka was even more surprised when Captain Robert pushed through the crowed and clapped Asuka on the shoulder. "Well done," he smiled.

"I lost," she reminded him.

"Aye, but there's no shame in that," Robert assured her. "You're alive, he's alive, and it was a damn good fight. Go sit down and rest for a bit."

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