[CFS] Bliss & Ivy ~ Mirabelle

[Alyx]

Sitting out near the riverbed just outside of Jinshui- Mirabelle's brilliant eyes lingered into the skies, as the clouds lazily drifted across. Her mind was occupied, thinking of new ways to conjure more techniques in battle. Of course, however - she was on a light detour in these lands to meet with a quite unique woman. "Lena huh...heard she was a close ally of Tsumigakure" she wondered mentally. Sado had mentioned her a couple of times in the past - but she's never gotten a real chance to meet her until now. Some time had passed, and in the distance she can see...quite the woman approaching her from the distance. "I assume you're Lena-chan, right? Don't exactly fit the description..." Mirabelle's eyes glanced up and down with a little bit of a flirt in her tone. "Name's Mirabelle, nice to meet you" she placed her hand out for a shake.

 

[Never]

A woman approached Mirabelle, she was armored, quite delicate golden designs and engravings on her bracers, pauldrons and tassets. The chest and shin guards were a lot less simple, however there was what seemed to be a metal brooch designed insignia at the center of the breastplate. The fabrics that filled the gaps between the armor were a dark crimson, you could only tell it was a shade of red from when the sunlight managed to peak passed the armour plates. She had a mask covering the lower half of her face, semi-armoured in the shape of an Oni's maw. Her eyes were bright as blue and her black hair tied into a bun. By her sides she had two sheathed blades, her arms crossed. Her eyes flicked down at Mirabelle's hand.

"There is no Lena here. However, Mirabelle is the name I have been told to look for. Bliss demands payment before we proceed further."

She was stern and to the point, admittedly the woman was just doing as she was told and didn't want to take any chances if this was someone posing to be Mirabelle. The riverbed they stood at was pretty, though the clouds were starting to darken and it was becoming quite gloomy. She would prefer not to get caught by the rain.

 

[Alyx]

Mirabelle's eyes narrowed into a bit of a frown, as she heard the person before was not in fact Lena. However it was pretty clear she was given instructions, demanding payment right off the bat. Mirabelle mused as she reached into her pouch and tossed a sack of money towards her alongside a small vile.

"There's the 5k kumi, and a little gift from me. Special perfume only founded in the rarest of regions in the Lightning Mountains. Count it to make sure it's right, don't want people thinking I'm not gonna pay what I owe"

She crossed her arms and waited.

OOC: As agreed, paying 5k kumi for the CFS

 

[Never]

OOC: Thankies

The armoured woman watched as the sack came towards her along with another item, a glass vial. They landed before her in the grass, she reached for the sack first and took a look inside. She didn't respond, just counting. Eventually the woman tied the sack to her hip.

"Perfume? I hope you're not trying to make this harder than it is. Contraband, especially poison will not be tolerated."

She flicks it up with her foot and catches it. Turning and walked down the riverside, assuming Mirabelle would follow. She would take her for the majority of the length of the river until it veered off completely and took her towards the coast. You could smell it. There was a large building as they approached, where they were before it could just about be seen as a spire. Now that they were close it had become a castle. But from their angle they couldn't see its true vast size, the castle was built into the cliffside of the beach and coast; from their angle they saw just the top third of it, the rest of it was beautiful and masterfully build within the cliffside and cascaded all the way down to the ocean. It was big enough to be classified as its own town.

The first outer gate was over a kilometer away from the castle. Lightly guarded, the armoured woman was immediately recognized and allowed in. The path from then on was pretty straight, there was a lot of resources and tents about near this gate, but then it became barren for a bit before they reached the Main Gate. The rain started as they approached and it was quite heavy, it enhanced the sea salt smell that was already in the air and it was a warm rain.

The Main Gates opened slowly allowing them in, the woman untied her hair as they entered and shook it, wringing it out a little. There were two more women dressed just like her waiting, another with black hair but plaited and the other with hers in a pony tail and green. They spoke to each other in a different language for a moment before the green haired ladies' eyes scanned Mirabelle. Her accent was different from the firsts.

"Afternoon. Before we proceed, we would like to check you. Anything to declare?"

The two black haired women drew a sword each, standing on either side of Mirabelle. It was hard to tell from their expressions and body language what their intent was, but they were patient.

 

[Alyx]

Mirabelle smiled, she was going to do a little prank on the collector but she didn’t open the vile. Without speaking, Mirabelle simply nodded and followed her for quite some time, moving along the riverbed and inching closer towards what she can only make out as some kind of settlement. A castle? She tilted her head- slightly confused but nonetheless she continued over. “Never seen this place before…” she said outloud, wandering into the castle as the Main Gates opened.

Two women approached her wielding weapons as one of them addressed her about any belongings. “Hmm, aside from the clothes on my back, basic shinobi weapons, my bow currently sealed away and some other stuff…I think I’m clean. Unless you all want a sample of perfume as well, the miss over there got her own bottle and believe me, its to dream over” she tried to sway them.

“And no, it’s not contraband…I just happen to know where to get nice smelling perfumes…” she eyed back to the first woman and smiled with a bit of coyness. While she was surrounded, she was confident in her own skillset to be able to take on anyone here if needed, but she refrained. They are holding up their end of the bargain, at least that’s what she was hoping.

 

[Never]

After she had finished speaking, they took no time thrusting their blades forward. The swords parted into segments and spread outwards wrapping around Mirabelle but not tightly, about a foot away from her. On the flat surfaces of each sword segment, sealing symbols lit up in purple and blue. In no time at all they all retracted and became ordinary swords again. The two women looked at the flat surface of each blade for a moment, both nodding towards the green haired one.

"No thank you."

She turned and walked down the long hallway. The other two women walked behind Mirabelle. They were eventually led to what looked like a throne room, wide and open, tall. The throne was upon a raised stage and there was indeed a woman sitting upon it, she was very comfortable, almost draped across it instead of sat formally. She had similar guards posted on either side of her, they had spears with long blades and an ornamental headdress; the same swords on their hips. The green haired lady knelt before her and so did the two behind Mirabelle.

"Everything is in order. Though she also brought you a gift of perfume, I recommend you dispose of it."

The first woman that met with Mirabelle stood now and approached taking out the vial and holding out her hand. Suddenly a blade segment whipped forward and scooped up the vial, flicking it towards the woman on the throne. She caught it with her other hand quite lazily above her and brought it to eye level. The sword slowly slithered across the floor, up the stairs to the throne and fit back together as a sword that she held down against the floor with her other arm, which just hung there. She observed the perfume.

"It's fine. You may leave us."

"Yes Ma'am."

The Green haired guard turned and glanced at Mirabelle before leaving. The two others moved to either side of the room and waited, they were quite a way away but remained in the room.

"You asked for a Lena. Correct?"

 

[Alyx]

After she had finished speaking, they took no time thrusting their blades forward. The swords parted into segments and spread outwards wrapping around Mirabelle but not tightly, about a foot away from her. On the flat surfaces of each sword segment, sealing symbols lit up in purple and blue. In no time at all they all retracted and became ordinary swords again. The two women looked at the flat surface of each blade for a moment, both nodding towards the green haired one.

"No thank you."

She turned and walked down the long hallway. The other two women walked behind Mirabelle. They were eventually led to what looked like a throne room, wide and open, tall. The throne was upon a raised stage and there was indeed a woman sitting upon it, she was very comfortable, almost draped across it instead of sat formally. She had similar guards posted on either side of her, they had spears with long blades and an ornamental headdress; the same swords on their hips. The green haired lady knelt before her and so did the two behind Mirabelle.

"Everything is in order. Though she also brought you a gift of perfume, I recommend you dispose of it."

The first woman that met with Mirabelle stood now and approached taking out the vial and holding out her hand. Suddenly a blade segment whipped forward and scooped up the vial, flicking it towards the woman on the throne. She caught it with her other hand quite lazily above her and brought it to eye level. The sword slowly slithered across the floor, up the stairs to the throne and fit back together as a sword that she held down against the floor with her other arm, which just hung there. She observed the perfume.

"It's fine. You may leave us."

"Yes Ma'am."

The Green haired guard turned and glanced at Mirabelle before leaving. The two others moved to either side of the room and waited, they were quite a way away but remained in the room.

"You asked for a Lena. Correct?"

After all that transpired, Mirabelle attempted to remain as neutral and calm as possible. The consistent swaying of these bladed weapons allowed her to realize what they were. She walked towards the new location- a throne room with someone present inside. “So she’s the leader” a voice echoed in Mirabelle’s head. “Yup, let’s see what happens” she responded to Matatabi.

As the women left, Mirabelle’s attention shifted to the leader. “Ya know, it hurts a girl’s feelings to not properly accept gifts. However I am a stranger so I do suppose it is a bit suspect” she shrugged. “And yes, I was told to find Lena, a close comrade of hers named Sado told me where I can find her and well, seems I was either mislead or she isn’t here right now. Either way, if you know that much- then you must know why I’m here…” she crossed her arms. “I kept my end of the bargain, let’s see this unique style you ladies pride so much about” she hastened to the woman.

 

[Never]

The Woman on the throne continues to examine the "gift", she eventually tucks it away out of sight. Her eyes meet her guests and she looks her up and down. Her expression becomes a little serious for a moment.

"Lena is Dead."

Her eyes narrowed as she observed Mirabelle's reaction closely. She did not know her true alliances and if she was just playing off that they barely knew each other.

"You weren't really mislead, me and her were close in many aspects. And yes... I know why you are here." She adjusted herself, standing up in front of her throne. "I am Angela Bliss. My Family are the developers of the style that you seek to learn, and we do not teach it to just anyone. The women in this castle that have pledged their blades to me are sworn to me and would fall on their sword for me. I do not expect this from you, but I expect. An alliance, a mutual respect, and possible friendship."

 

[Alyx]

Mirabelle’s brow narrowed into a bit of a frown at the sudden declaration but she remained silent. She would have listened to what the woman had to say; causing a smile to appear once on her face. “I see, well…an alliance is something I won’t turn down” she said approaching the woman. “If you wish, we can shake on it of course. I came to learn, so I won’t waste my time nor yours” she said as she extended her dominate right hand. If the shake is accepted, Mirabelle would then step back as she didn't wish to linger too close to cause any kind of discomfort.

"And I can only assume those weapons the women used are the key to this all?" she asked, place her arm out as the unique printer on it gave a wireframe replicant of the weapon to a degree. "Like this?" she asked.

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[Never]

Angela's Handshake was firm, her red eyes fixed on Mirabelle's. She let go eventually and watched as Mirabelle stepped back and revealed a familiar weapon from a piece of technology she recognized very well. Angela took the printed Whip Sword into her hand and examined it, before her eyebrow raised back towards Mirabelle.

"So you know Lena through the Anesidora? She did not forge it, but you two have it in common it seems."

She looks back at the blade again and hands it back.

"It is close, but you need to learn with a blade with weight first. So you can borrow one of ours. They are quite heavy for a blade, it'll give you some muscle."

Angela's guards step forward with their spears in hand and make their way down the steps. She draws one of their swords and swings it in Mirabelle's Direction, it extends forward and hits the ground right in front of her. She lets go of the hilt and it pulls itself towards Mira, forming into the sword before him. The two guards begin to twirl their spears and then the blades of the spears seperate like the ship swords and encompass the entire throne room. Seals on the flats of the blade segments glow and restrict the usage of everyone's abilities in the room. Chakra is no longer usable.

"To stop you from being tempted to use Chakra on the sly to manipulate your Whip Sword, you must be able to control it to a perfect degree without it's usage. This will take weeks, so I hope you are prepared to live in the castle. After this first session, we will show you your room."

Angela draws her sword and it loses it's rigidity, she held it in it's whip form as it just draped onto the ground and coiled. "First we will hit a stationary target. Then moving targets. Then stationary targets behind cover. Then moving targets with cover. Hit me."

 

[Alyx]

“Partially, I heard she crafted it but I managed to pick up a copy of it on the market. Only four models of this unique technology exists after all...but guess I was wrong. Whoever made it is a genius” Mirabelle responded to the claim. The woman however insisted on her using the real deal instead, as she tossed one of them towards Mirabelle. It’s shifting from whip to blade form and vice versa was quite the feature. Angela was fair though- she needed to learn how to weave the original weapon first.

Mira would take the weapon by the hilt and hefted the weight. “I might not look like it, but I can bench press a giant toad summon with ease…this is nothing” she said whip the blade out and extending it’s whip form outwards. As she did, the blade swung a lot more quicker and loosely than she anticipated. “Woah’” she stopped her momentum, and laughed. “Alright, its weight distribution varies quite a bit…” she said thinking about how to swing it again- but her attention was drifted towards the women sealing of the room with unique sealing script. “Not bad” she said- Mirabelle herself being quite the fuinjutsu master as well.

Afterwards, Angela would give her the instructions on how the training will go as Mirabelle nodded. “You trust me quite a bit to send a blade at you…” she said, holding the whip sword in hand. However her confidence became apparent as she gripped the hilt with a perfect hand position. As she did, she flung her right arm back and twisting her wrist - allowing for the whip to drag along through the air. As she did, she then controlled the momentum- swinging it as she controlled the whip with very subtle movement in her wrist, allowing the whip to zip past Angela’s right cheek, a small cut appearing as Mirabelle then controlled the whip to return. “A couple of weeks? Give me a few couple of hours…I’ll get it a lot quicker than you probably realize” she said with confidence.

 

[Never]

"For the lonely Monster that basked in Solitude that she thought she did, she could make some good friends. The person who made it, is very smart - hopefully she is still alive after everything that has happened. It seems unlikely. I'd enjoy being proved wrong in this case, I would make her my inventor here at this Castle."

Angela watches as Mirabelle takes the sword a bit too confidently and under-compensates with its swing, causing the blade to take control of her for a moment instead of vice versa. She started to work on her control a little.

"I do not. And you will not."

Angela tilted her head to left and the blade shot passed her head. She grabbed it with her gauntlet hand and wrapped it around her hand. Holding tight. It was insulting how Mirabelle assumed she'd be able to master the style in hours. It caused Angela to frown for the first time.

"Now what? Your recall is too slow and weak, it would have just flopped to the ground or worse, get caught." Angela lets go and the whip sword flops to the ground as it slowly trails back to Mirabelle. "You did good thrusting, but you missed. And even though your thrust was decent and strong, it takes even more strength for a perfect recall. AGAIN."

 

[Alyx]

Mirabelle’s confidence never faded; she continued to believe in her own bravado. She’s a proud woman, one who conquered the monuments of the world. She faced death in it’s peak many times over- and she never once stopped thinking about it. Angela’s clear displeasure with Mirabelle’s claim was to be expected. She would have slung her own commentary about her movement, much to the maiden’s chagrin.

“Hehe, tough love equals more motivation for me…its how I learned to become a better warrior” she would have retracted the blade’s whip to herself, placing it back into sword form. With a deep level of annoyance now running through her veins, she would flick the weapon once more, utilizing the same movements but rather she would aim directly at Angela’s right leg. It was aimed off axis a bit however as Mirabelle intended for this- which before Angela can grab it or dodged, she flicked her wrist back allowing the whip to quickly coil around her leg but also recall at a rapid pace dragging the woman along side her.

Mirabelle would have used immense strength buckling her feet into the ground as though she was pulling a large fish with her rod, until Angela was dragged back towards her. “How’s that now, sensei” she leaned in quite close to her face, almost into a kiss but the maiden stopped and repositioned herself, releasing her and whip the blade back into sword form.

 

[Never]

With more Vigor, Mirabelle tried again. She thrust back at Angela, though she could tell that it was not aimed directly at her. Instead it was towards her leg. She respected a deceitful move especially with this style of fighting. She did not move, instead whipping her own blade around her head to build momentum and thrust it down at the ground to intercept the oncoming blade. They coiled around each other and tied, though she was taken off guard when it was recalled. It was much better than the last attempt. Angela took a single step forward into a strong stance as their two blades were tied like a knot in middle of their range.

Angela smirked. "Very good. Honestly two users of this same style will struggle to fight each other, moments like this will happen often." Angela jerked her arm back and then up and then across and the blades come undone and returned to their original owners.

"Moving Targets next."

Angela signalled to the two of her guards that escorted Mirabelle in. They joined in on either side of Mirabelle before running around her in circles about 5 meters away, always being on eitherside of her.

"Hit them two in rapid succession and then me to finish." Angela stood where she was before, 10 meters away. "And please, stop being afraid to hit us."

 

[Alyx]

Taking a moment to breath in and out; Mirabelle smiled. “Are you sure? Last time someone told me to hit them…I was reported for being too rough…” she started to look around as the other two guardians started to circle her position- though the maiden of blue decided to entertain the idea. Without much of a thought, she would have turned on her heel- quickly extending her right arm out and controlled the whip to extend outwards. It flicked out, quickly slashing the first woman on her right side with the tip of the blade cutting into her arm, with blood being drawn. Within the same momentum, she snapped her wrist back immediately allowing the blade to snap back towards her as it recalled, but instead of using the same hand - she briefly passed the hilt of the weapon behind her back as she then twirled and whip it out once more striking the other woman.

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This time, the whip curled around her arm as Mirabelle lifted her into the air and tossed her over to Angela. She whipped her arm back, allowing the whip to uncoil from the arm and snapping back into place- using the born maiden as a distraction as she appeared behind her and performed a few gymnastics like movement- as then whipped the blade out to maneuver around and coil around her mid section- the blade piercing into her left side, as she quickly then snaps the whip back and attempts to kick Angela in the back afterwards as a result of her actions.

 

[Never]

The First of Angela's Personal Guard that were to be hit, blocks the blade with her gauntlets. However as it still registered as her being hit in the purposes for this training, so she stopped moving and stood on the spot with her hands behind her back, watching. The other Guard was grabbed and flung, she was surprised at the maneuver only really attempt to block the blade. As she was taken into the air, she frowned and sighed drawing her own sword so that she could use it to grab a nearby pillar and pull herself towards it to safely land and realign her momentum and posture.

The attack attempting to strike Angela, would seemingly close in, the blade coiling around her. However she leaped upward, out of it's grip and flipped away from harm, landing with a smile.

"Missed. I am also a moving target and I'm a little less easier to read than the other two for the purposes of this drill. Again."

The group would practice this drill until it darkened. Though Mirabelle had become more proficient with the blade each time, her control improved over the evening. The two guards had been cycled out with new guards as they had run out of stamina much quicker than Angela and Mirabelle. Though eventually it was night.

"Go. To your room, I believe it's all prepared. My Guard will show you where you are staying and we shall train more tomorrow. Goodnight" Angela turns around and walks up the platform stairs to her throne. Her hand rests on the armrest, stopped beside the chair.

"Company costs extra." She smirked and walked behind the throne towards a door at the back of the room and leaves through it without another word.

 

[Alyx]

Time had quickly gone by as the training continued. Slowly, she gained a better hang of its controls- quickly showing far more better progress with it as time ticked away. Once night fell, Mirabelle would retire to her assigned quarters and laughs about the comment. “It’s fine, I’ll make due…” she said as she slinked into bed, more focused on getting some rest for the next day of training.

 

[Never]

The next day, training was taken outside in a courtyard high up in the castle, it overlooked the coast and sea. It was quite the view and you could just about see the mainland of the Land of Fire from here. The smell of salt and water added to the atmosphere and a cold breeze would cut through an otherwise nice day every so often.

"We're out here today, because I want don't want to set fire to my Tapestries. I'm sure you know how to simply channel to elements through your weapons. Doing it through the Whipsword is just as simple, however you utilize the entire length and each segment of the blade, but you can also control specific parts of it to suit your needs. For example you Whipsword can become utility to further dominate the battlefield with your suiton."

One of Angela's guards drew their blades 10 meters away from Mirabelle and channeled water Chakra through the swords before thrusting them both forward. They hit the small wall that kept birdwatchers from falling to their deaths to the ocean below, the segments on eitherside of Mirabelle swirled with water and then suddenly two torrents of a-rank water would sandwich her within their high pressure. Angela gave her no prompt to act, she assumed she understood the assignment.

 

[Alyx]

Mirabelle smiled, she almost on instinct reached for her Whipsword and without any words started to knead her earth elemental nature within it. As she does it, the entire length of the whip hardens enough as she thrusts it forward. The resulting swing of it allowed her to twirl the whip around and slashed through the torrents with relative ease. With a quick snap of her wrist, the black recalled accordingly into place. “Not a fan of water release, my mastery of fire release prohibits such behavior” she mused as she wasn’t lying. It was her least favorite of her elemental natures, but at times it did prove to be useful.

"Are these blades capable of handling advance elemental natures?" she asked out of curious nature.

 

[Never]

"If you have such techniques, these blades can handle anything. We have no syllabus that is specific to such however, these blades act like normal swords or whips and so if you have your own technique... sure. Lena has created her own Whipswords out of two Advanced Elements before... always the show off."

Angela crosses her arms.

"You mentioned the Sealing Arts yesterday. These blades are made more specifically for that. If you haven't noticed already the length of your sword carries engravings which are seals and all of them do something. They can be combined and like formula create different outcomes depending on your need. My Ancestor was a Genius, it's a shame I will not be able to meet her."

Angela dismissed her Guard who gave her a bow and left the courtyard, leaving just the two of them.

"Your next task is to hit targets behind cover, that you cannot see."

She performs a number of handseals and slams her hand on the ground, creating a small group of trees in the courtyard that simulate a forest. There were also hidden dummies behind trees out of Mirabelle's line of sight.

"There are three dummies. Using what you know hit them with your Whipsword, without moving from the spot you are at. For this Drill they are stationary."

Learned: (Shifuku’tsuta: Saigo musume no hōseki o motomete) - Bliss & Ivy: Seeking Jewels of the Last Daughter

Type: Offensive
Rank: (B) A - S
Range: Short - Long
Chakra: (N/A) 30 - 40
Damage: (40) 60 - 80
Description:
The Basic Technique of the Fighting Style, this ability incorporates the versatile usage of Bliss & Ivy and the athletic nature of it's users. The athletic nature can entirely be optional or part of this technique, performing a flip of any kind or cartwheel side flip to avoid incoming strikes and attacks whilst also whipping their blade - almost like a ribbon dance. The user can follow their dodge with an attack or attack whilst dodging at the same time. The user will thrust their blade forward to quickly stretch out to perform a long range sword thrusting strike that can go straight forward or weave around obstacles to reach a target like a seeking rocket. Once it hits a target it can be used to pull the opponent forward, "grasping" them after being stabbed or interlocking with a weapon or item on their person. It will pull them all the way back through the initial striking path the blade traveled, but the user can choose to retract the blade or not in set up for future usages. B-Rank usage is a chakraless whipsword attack.

A - S Rank usage of this technique are imbued with the elements, coating the whole length of the blade even when fully extended. Lightning ripples across the blade and causes paralysis to hit targets and will branch off to any enemies 2 meters away from the blade; Wind coats the blade in a sharpened aura and break straight through objects in their path instead of weave around them; Fire sets alight targets and can be willed to explode from a point along the length of the blade up to a 2 meter radius; Earth Hardens the blade and allows the user to thrust their blade through the ground and strike from underneath their target and pull them through the earth or partially bury and restrict them; Water will allow the user to use their blade as a source of water from any point of the blade when fully stretched out. A-Rank has 5 usages and S-Rank 3, two turn cool down for the latter.