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A blinding flash of blade - a far reaching step; a parry delivered, but a blade shattered. Another dead-end approach. Musashi played the fight out against "Upper One" in her head over and over again, trying to extrapolate the movements of the man in her head, to fill in gaps. If the difference in physical ability had not been so drastic, how would she have fared against the man? But, even trying to replay the fight in her mind, filling in the man's movements with the best of her own knowledge, and seeing how she would have responded if she had been fast enough...
No, it hadn't just been an issue of physical strength and speed. The man had years more experience under his belt; even wielding that massive greatsword so casually, he was simply better than Musashi. And then there was whatever ability he had used that had so casually defeated - not even defeat,
stole- Taia from her.
It was a frightening - and exhilarating - sight, the lack of wasted movement in every stroke. That an Oni possessed such skill with a blade was a terrifying concept. It showed that despite the massive strides she had taken with her swordsmanship, she still had journey ahead of her, especially if she wanted to wield a blade capable of "cutting the void".
"BWAH?!" startled Musashi, having been so deeply engrossed in her meditation that she didn't even sense the spirits approaching her. Emiya had appeared! It seemed he, too, had been exploring Kamiyasumi, and had also investigated the area that Musashi had detailed in one of her scrawlings to him. But, more important, he pressed on about Musashi's latest message, the one about Sanctuary - with a bit of inquisitiveness that the swordswoman couldn't fault him for.
"Mhm, yeah," said Musashi, as she reached into her backpack and pulled out the map she had created in her rather thorough exploration of the island; there were still a few gaps here in there, but she doubted any one individual had collected as much information as she had. She pointed to where the Sanctuary was on her map, and where they currently were.
"Around this area I came across an incredibly large barrier, in the midst of the hurricane, like I had detailed. At first I had suspected some sort of Ninjutsu - there are usually unscrupulous kind all about that would like to remain hidden, right? But when I ventured further in I found a massive graveyard that was immaculate - like it was actively tended to. It was the first bit of 'active' civilization I had seen, given the deserted status of the landmark I told you about, and you followed up on.
"When I ventured further in, I found a secluded village of people - living breathing humans," said Musashi, before pausing a moment to think back. "They reminded me of Great-Gramps; they all had impossibly old souls, and I mean that literally. These people were
ancient. The village itself wasn't anything spectacular, but I think that was more of a lifestyle choice than anything. But while I didn't see it but more than a glimpse, that's all I needed - without a doubt I saw flames within the village that were the same kind your Master used to forge Myōjingiri. I don't really know the significance of that - I know not you or your Master's past - but given the reverence that went into forging these God Slaying Tools, I figured any sort of lead on that path could be important to you, or him. It seemed wrong to not inform you. I'm sorry I don't have more to say than that - given the nature of the place, I felt it wrong to linger at the time, and as you can see," Musashi said pointing to the rather conspicuous absence of detail on her map, "I didn't even want to record its location."
It was then that another individual made their appearance - though this time Musashi sensed the soul approaching, not quite so lost in meditation - struggling with the flora of the area and attacked by...flies? No, not quite attacked, that didn't seem correct.
But this new individual made some rather surprising claims, no sooner than they entered the clearing. It seemed they recognized Emiya? Maybe Musashi had spent too long away from the main encampment, but had Marzan made a discovery? Was that why Emiya was here? And it seemed Musashi's own name was known to some degree, with her efforts to explore the island. She thought fondly back to the excitable merchant she met, and had no doubt that he was likely responsible for her fame.
"Progress the God Slaying Tools? Do you know anything about this, Emiya? I wouldn't have dared guess your Master's work was anything short of mastercraft," she said, motioning to Myōjingiri reverently sat infront of her, in front of the shattered remains of Tender Hands and Ten-Thousand Cold Nights. The two poor blades had not fared well in the encounter with the Oni. Myōjingiri, however, seemed to be indestructible. On the surface the sword seemed fine, but even Musashi could sense a measure of strain applied to the sword. Though the swordswoman couldn't know it, it was perhaps the aftereffects of coming into contact with Divinity.
