Everything was fluid. His dodge--it was as if it were meant to happen this way, as if it were all choreographed perfectly. On the tips of his toes, he stepped to Eld's right with an almost sort of casual grace, leaving the wind generated by Eld's attack to strike the pillar of water, and again do little more than put a temporary hole it in, to close almost as quick as it was created. It was its own sentience, it seemed. Oboreru didn't need to concentrate for it to exist. Oboreru simply needed to exist.

With his step to the side came a twist of his quarterstaff. Held in the middle like it was, it boasted speed and control much like Eld's own double-edged scythe, except Oboreru was holding it with two hands, and Eld held his with one. All it took was a twist, and the closeline was created: the quarterstaff moved around Eld's scythe, to sit horizontal and parallel to the water--for Eld to barrel into chest first. This, too, flowed the same as his dodge, as if there simply was no other way to do it.

For all his personality defects, Oboreru might as well have been a master of skilled melee combat. Everything flowed together--his movements, Eld's movements, Akizets's, Eld's Qi, the pillar of water, the thundering sky, the eyes in the forest, they all flowed together seamlessly, and he could pick them all apart just the same

Erstwhile, Akizets snapped her shoulder back into place. It hurt like crazy and kind of made her want to die a little, but it was a necessary pain to go through . . .

No matter how adaptive and fluid Oboreru was, Eld was like his shadow, knowing every move he made as soon as he started to make it. Unable to avoid the attack, he instead shifted his weight in a way that would have been impossible had they been on the ground. Pushing his torso forward and legs back, he essentially rolled forward, still getting hit but not with the bone-crushing power his opponent intended.

And while he was so focused on offense he left himself open, and as he rolled Eld put both hands to his weapon and swung--it was a bit awkward for both of them, as by this point they were a bit too close for either weapon to be wielded optimally, but he'd likely clip Oboreru's shoulder as he passed.

Whether or not the attack landed, that would likely end the brief mid air skirmish; with most of his momentum maintained, Eld would proceed towards the opposite shore, though his landing would be less than graceful with the way he was now tumbling.

That . . . that actually hurt a lot more than she expected. Still perched upon the air's non-existent surface, Akizets held her shoulder and tried to contain the urge to whimper. She shut her eyes tightly and held back a stray tear, as well. Pain--pain . . . the slightest pain was misery to her. What a normal person might experience as a pin prick, she experienced as a stab. But Akizets regained her composure, or forced herself to do it, rather. She couldn't afford to let this happen too much.

Oboreru continued to move to the right, shifting one leg behind the other, letting his body circle around Eld, until the scythe was passing by him and he was standing directly behind Eldridge Tsukimono.

At this, though--Oboreru's evasion of the blade, there was something. Something . . . feral. It wasn't from Eld, personally, but he might feel it. It was a feral kind of distaste, an animal's disappointment that its fangs were denied the flesh they demanded, no, the flesh they needed. This was a subtle feeling that would flow into him only briefly.

Oboreru used his position, too. With a twist of his hands, he spun the quarterstaff around before him, and taking a step forward to try and get Eld back in his range, he took one quick swing at the youth's skull.

But, unfortunately for him, Oboreru missed just as Eld did; his blunt weapon passed just inches over Eld's face, and as Eld came crashing to a stop on the opposite shore, Oboreru let himself relax. He let his arms curl loosely around the quarterstaff, and straight-faced, he held it by his side, parallel to the water at his feet. He bent somewhat at his knees, too, and hulked his shoulders forward. Oboreru was ready for Eld to charge again.

Eld twitched as he flew by; he felt something, not coming from him, but with no definable source. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but if he were to associate it with something he knew, it felt almost like...hunger.

As he recovered from his crash landing, Eld went over what happened in his head. While he had blades, his own weapon was similar to Oboreru's, with similar advantages and disadvantages; and while his opponent was certainly better with his weapon (Eld, after all, was more used to using a traditional scythe pole arm than a double ended weapon), his enhanced senses made up for that. Overall, they were about even in skill--but Oboreru had a distinct terrain advantage. Fighting him in melee combat would take time, and even then he wasn't sure he could win.

Though it would take longer, he surmised that gathering enough Qi for a decisive strike would ultimately be the better option. If he was left alone it he could almost certainly end it quicker than if he kept charging, and if Oboreru attacked him he'd give up his terrain advantage--and Eld wasn't worried about projectiles, as so long as he wasn't right over water he'd be able to sense them coming long before they hit.

So he made no immediate move, and instead simply began to gather Qi once more, though he never took his eyes off his opponent. A vestige of a plan began to form in his head, one that, if successful, could potentially defeat the water user and at the very least would throw a wrench in his plans...

There was something about Eld--a wind, but not one generated by anyone or anything else but Eldridge Tsukimono. It just so happened that Eld's Qi manifested a means of creating winds. Controlling them was a different situations entirely, really. He only had a basic control over it still, which still lead to spills like this. It lead to his hair whipping about his face, a wind in an area where no natural winds seemed to be present--only those created unnaturally.

It was a tip-off, however subtle it may be . . .

Eld would experience a wind before him. It was horrid and sudden, and would no doubt throw him off his feet. The problem with these, too, was how impossible it was to figure out what was happening. Eld, who could feel attacks coming right as they were thrown out, couldn't feel acts of nature coming his way. But something completely unnatural, such as water literally leaving a lake against the air and current, he could feel. This, though . . . wind . . . it was ironic, really. His own element, he couldn't anticipate under any circumstances . . .

Were Eld knocked off his feet, he'd be thrown back first for a short distance. It would've been longer, but he'd be stopped short just as quick, with a knee to jab into Eld's back, almost as if he were flying straight into it . . .

"Ugh!" Eld grimaced as he was once more launched of his feet by a sudden blast of wind. Unlike water and earth, there was no possibility of wind taking a tangible form to assault him; therefore, even borrowing Kageko's senses (or at least, her sight and hearing) he was unable to notice the attack until a split second before it hit. He wondered if this was how his opponent's felt up until now, assaulted by forces they couldn't see.

While he couldn't see the wind, he could sense Akizet's movement, even if it was mind-bogglingly fast. Unfortunately, that didn't mean he had time to react, especially as he was airborne and couldn't control his movement much anyway. All he could do was brace himself for the knee, which hurt but, fortunately, he was used to worse by now.

It still left him on the ground for a few moments, panting to catch his breath. "What are you doing? Why are you attacking me?" Eld asked indignantly. Well, okay, she had every reason to want to attack him, but he assumed by her words to her brother that for the moment at least they were on the same side.

Akizets stood over Eld once he was downed. She didn't look down to him; instead, she looked beyond him, at Oboreru standing upon the lake. He stood, now, between the pillar of water and Eld and Akizets. If any of them wanted to get to it, they had to get through him, first. Akizets took her attention away from Oboreru once Eld spoke to her. She didn't say anything for awhile. In fact, it wasn't until Eld started getting up that she replied to him.

"I won't . . ." she trailed off.

For some reason, it felt hard to reply to him. For some reason . . . yes, that reason was a terrible one. Eld had hurt someone extremely important to her, that's right. That was why she didn't feel bad when she kicked him.

That was why she kind of wanted to do it again, but as Eld was standing up, she refrained from doing it again. Revenge might have felt nice, but Akizets wasn't the type of person to exclusively seek it. Eld had to be threatening Oboreru somehow for her to justify attacking him.

"I won't let my brother kill you," Akizets reiterated, "But . . . but If you fight . . . that doesn't mean I won't hurt you, either."

Eld was wrong about that. This wasn't a unified front. For all intents and purposes, this was a free for all.

"Kaze..." He swallowed his frustration; he could understand that. He really could. If someone was fighting his friends for any reason, he would probably intervene and try and stop the fight. It was probably the same for Kaze with her brother. But there was more at stake here than the three of them.

"I know you don't want me to fight him," he began, climbing back to his feet, "but as long as he's trying to kill my friends and family, I can't stay out of this. So please...let's work together. If we do, it's much more likely we can end this quickly, and without anyone getting seriously hurt." Or killed, he refrained from adding.

"You don't have to worry about him hurting me, I can take care of myself...and I really don't want to hurt him if I can avoid it." It may have been a different story had she not been present, but he'd already done enough to hurt Akizetsumei; he took her father from her, and the last thing he wanted was to take her brother from her too.

"I can't . . ." Akizets trailed off regretfully. She shook her head. "I can't do that. I'm sorry."

Still, she couldn't justify leaving him just yet. However much it felt like he'd hurt her, she also had some feelings for Eld, even if it was just a slight physical and emotional attraction for him. She felt like he was a nice guy-- a nice guy that had done a horrible, unforgivable thing.

"It's weird though, huh? I don't think we've ever met, but I really . . . I really-- I don't know. It feels like you've done something horrible to someone I know. You probably haven't. It's probably all in my head, but . . . but I don't know. It just feels that way," she lamented, "And you probably think I'm being a huge bitch right now and you're probably right, but . . . but, I'm sorry. I can't help you."

Akizets walked around Eld, before stepping her foot over the water. Again, it looked as if her foot was set upon a flat surface, yet not. It was clear, clear as glass--perhaps a completely non-existent surface. With a rueful frown, she looked back to Eld one more time.

"So . . . if you want to keep fighting . . . you'll have to fight me, too."

Even Akizets acknowledged the truth of the matter, that there was no working together for any two individuals at this lake.

Eld's heart sank, and for multiple reasons. Only a few hours and Kaze had already completely forgotten him. Perhaps it was naive to think she would remember him when everything else slipped by.

"No, we've met," he said sadly, "but it's probably better that you don't remember. Just know that you have every reason to feel how you do about me."

"Probably...you should trust your feelings, even if your memories fade."

And with that, he broke into a run toward the lake. Even knowing Kaze would attack him, he couldn't bring himself to attack her. Not yet, anyway.

Akizets stood still as Eld rushed past her. She suddenly felt horrible. Follow her feelings--where were her feelings going to take her, here? Some of her feelings wanted this man to hurt and hurt badly; others, however, just wanted to disregard him, get Oboreru, and go home. That part of her heart simply didn't want to see Eldridge Tsukimono ever again. There, she didn't want to see him in pain; she just didn't want to ever see him again in general.

So, when Eld ran past her, she regretfully had to come to terms with the fact that the side of her heart she wanted to listen to, the one that simply wanted to forget that Eldridge Tsukimono ever existed, had to be ignored.

Oboreru was waiting for Eld. Perhaps the whole time, he'd been waiting for him. As Eld approached, he slid his arms across his quarterstaff. One was held around the area of the middle of the quarterstaff while the other was practically at the very bottom. It didn't leave a lot of room for him to hit with, but the other half of the quarterstaff he had available to attack with had the potential to be deadly.

He took up a passive, defensive stance. Eld was the attacker here this time, not him . . .

As he took to the air once more, heading directly for Oboreru, Eld considered his options. The most straightforward way was to simply keep attacking, wearing him down until either he or Kaze could get in a decisive blow to end the fight. That relied on a lot of assumptions, though, such as assuming he could beat Oboreru with just his weapon and that Kaze would prioritize attacking her brother over Eld himself. Neither was something he could count on.

Making his decision a split second before he acted, he suddenly fired a Qi blast--but rather than at Oboreru, it was aimed straight down. In air as he was, the backlash from the action resulted in him being lifted further into the air; he'd sail well over Oboreru's head.

And into the rising water, if everything went well. His goal wasn't to take down Oboreru, really; it was simply to protect his home, and if he could stop Oboreru from making the storm worse he could buy enough time to either let Kaze take care of her brother or at least not need to battle recklessly. But doing that required getting airborne, as high as he could, and also tapping further into his Qi than he had thus far.

With a stoic expression, Oboreru watched Eld come at him. He even readied his quarterstaff, prepared to strike at Eld as soon as he was close enough-- but alas, it wasn't to happen. Just as Eld came close, he jettisoned himself up into the air--

And following behind him was Akizetsumei. Oboreru still received his chance to swing; with his hands suddenly both on the quarter staff, lining them up to hold it for maximum swinging strength, he swung out at Akizetsumei.

Akizets's form, hovering over the water in what looked like mid-dash, flickered and faded just as Oboreru struck it. Without skipping a beat, Oboreru looked over his shoulder, all the while sliding his hands to the center of the quarterstaff once more. As expected, there she was, his sister, poised behind him, closed fan up over her head and dropping fast. With a spin of his body, Oboreru faced her, quarterstaff up, clashing against the closed steel fan.

Just as Eld reached the pillar of water, the reverse waterfall, he'd be batted away, to be thrown out of the air and back down to the beach again, without Akizetsumei's assistance. As soon as he came close, the spray of water that jettisoned from its sides would strike him, and while it all looked like nothing less than mist surrounding a tremendous force of water, it kicked with the same concussion force as the last time Oboreru threw an attack of water at Eld. It wasn't that he was attacking him this time, though. In fact, it seemed he was too occupied to really focus on Eld at the moment. The reverse waterfall naturally carried that pressure-- it was much, much more powerful than the second one Oboreru created on the fly.

Chances were, so long as Oboreru was standing, so would the pillar of water . . .

This was getting...frustrating. Eld was making no progressing in the battle; while he hadn't suffered any real damage, neither had his opponent, and time wasn't on his side. He had to do something decisive soon, but what he couldn't be sure, especially if Kaze was determined to interrupt any attempt to gather a substantial amount of Qi.

Following the blast, he was sent into the sand again, but this time he managed to land on his feet, and he quickly returned to the air once more. With Kaze on the other side of Oboreru and the latter busy fending her off, it gave him the perfect chance to strike.

Whilst Eld threw himself at the reverse waterfall and was subsequently thrown back--only landed upon the beach again, Akizets and Oboreru carried on their own personal battle. They were in close proximity to one another, and Akizets, unlike Eld, could seemingly "walk" on the air as if it had surface friction, ensuring that something such as blocking at attack would not send her flying-- something which could easily put an end to their close encounter.

Oboreru broke the clash by twisting down upon his quarterstaff, suddenly removing its focal point from above, where Akizets clashed against it to avoid an attack clearly meant for her skull, and shifting it fluidly to strike towards her stomach, by twisting it to continue the strike in the reverse direction, to use the bottom half of the weapon, instead . . .

Akizets, on the other hand, seemed to have seen it coming, and without hesitation, leaped back away from Oboreru. His swing continued, however, as she landed softly upon the air six feet back from her brother. Oboreru continued with it, shifting the swing into a three-hundred-sixty degree spin of the quarterstaff, held then at the middle, with his hands shifting to continue the weapon's spin, as he took three steps forward, to meet Akizets.

Again, the attack came from below. It had gained a strenuous amount of momentum by this point, so when Akizets swung her steel fan down to clash against it again, she was instead surprised by the force it had gathered: without a hitch, it threw her arm up, breaking her guard and forcing her to stumble back. Having broken his sister's guard, he allowed the staff to continue its twirl, whilst he took another step forward, again carrying the same intentions: to ram the south end of the staff into her stomach, chest, or chin, whichever was most accessible.

Except this time, as Akizets winced in the midst her of recovery, the continuity of his attacks worked against him. Akizets saw this one coming; she may have been brought to one knee and had one eye open, but she saw it coming nonetheless-- and so, she reacted accordingly. Again, Oboreru tried to smash the south end of the pole into her, but rather than clash, Akizets kicked off of the stable "air" on which she stood, darting to the left of his attack.

Oboreru immediately moved to shift the gathered momentum into himself, to slow the speed of his quarter staff down, to personally spin around instead, but he hadn't the chance. Instead, he experienced his sister's knee within his stomach before he even had the chance to commence the attack.

The knee to the stomach forced the man to stumble back, himself, whereupon Akizets flicked open her weapon. With a sudden whip of her arm, she unleashed a force of wind that took Oboreru by the front and drive him back, ever backward, to land back-first into the shore, kicking up a mess of sand and dirt into the air-- and effectively removing him from the water.

It was around this point, however, that Eld had neared their position. Again, Akizets kicked forward from her stable position, to throw herself higher into the air, at Eld himself. With the steel fan flicked shut again, she slapped it down towards her shoulder as soon as she was near him. If she struck him, she'd likely plummet him down into the water, creating a force that would allow her to essentially hop to the opposite shore faster, to continue her battle with Oboreru. If he blocked, though, that would put the two into a stalemate of a sort, with Akizets unable to push herself in one direction or the other, and likely to end with Eld crashing into her, instead . . .