antimetabole: (44)
Vergil ([personal profile] antimetabole) wrote2023-12-29 04:30 pm

(ic contact)


text.audio.video.action
artofrevenge: (neutral; look up at)

[personal profile] artofrevenge 2024-07-01 10:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Mizu has seen and felt how Mirage Edge can be used. For much of it, she would not recommend being on the receiving end, a statement true about any decent sword. She takes those observations, including its use in hand and out, to inspect its form. The longer she has the sword, the more surprised Mizu is still to hold it. So she treats it seriously, a connection of form to function. It may be more enjoyable to wield the blade herself, at least through a series of exercises, but most people are protective of their swords, and Mizu has learned better than to need that. Besides, it's easier to see what decisions were made or how those decisions were manifested this close (this close while not being stabbed). It's never crossed her mind mid-combat to excuse herself with his sword for close inspection.

"Impossible," Mizu repeats, her eyes on the sword but nearly laughing. It hurts too much to laugh. "Arrogance like that will only set the foundation for my victory."

She looks up for a moment, a challenging gleam in her eye. "Some day you will exhaust the supply of surprises you have in store I have not seen yet. Each time you are forced to reveal one, you lose."

Sorry, humility is not among Mizu's skills.
artofrevenge: (action; glasses off or on)

[personal profile] artofrevenge 2024-07-02 12:43 am (UTC)(link)
That rare laugh is its own sort of victory, though Mizu could not compare it to one with the sword. She knows Vergil is confident in his skills and abilities. Rightfully so at his level, but Mizu will get there. She will scratch and claw and bite her way better and better until she does defeat him in a way he cannot question.

"It's your actions, your choices, that see them losses. Some supernatural ability you would not otherwise use being forced upon you," Mizu says, "If you did not pride yourself on holding them back, it would be meaningless. I said it was your loss, not my success. It is but a stepping stone which I will use to defeat you."

She hadn't brought multiple grenades today. Would they have done anything to that thick scaled skin that her sword did not? What properties are needed to breach it? Could Vergil have done the same while clearly struggling from internal damage? Mizu cannot claim pleasure at seeing Vergil stagger, injured as he was, but it is useful information, information she might need to win. With all he can do, there's no such thing as fighting fair. There never was.

She runs her fingers slowly across Mirage's Edge, feeling more than she can see with her eyes. This too will help her, not that she needs that reason to get to know it so closely.
artofrevenge: (action; sword drawn)

[personal profile] artofrevenge 2024-07-02 02:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Vergil says nothing to Mizu's words, something she knows better from personal experience than to take as acceptance. It still feels a victory, steps further down the right path, the path Mizu follows in sparring with Vergil. Honestly, the restriction on not killing each other limits Vergil far more than her. Today was the closest she's come to need to be concerned with it at all, those split moments of sudden doubt. Mizu is free to fight by all means necessary, while Vergil cannot. Yet Mizu doubts that spoils any fun because she too takes only a modicum of enjoyment in defeating men far lesser than her. Usually it's more about destroying their pride and egos, after their acts of superiority to her, than anything to do with the physical feat.

Even as thoughts and memories of Shindo dojo come to her, Mizu knows Vergil does not look at her the way she looked at those swordsmen, at all those swordsmen except Taigen. (Presumably the master of the dojo could equally be a challenge if he has not grown soft, but it would take far more for him to deem to fight her, and she did not need that from him). He never would have handed over his blade, never would have... she doesn't know, so much of what they've done, if he thought of her that way. His opinion of her won't change her opinion of herself, mind, but she would be disappointed, yes disappointed, to lose his company in sparring.

Instead he offers the use of his sword. Mizu's head shoots up, and she stares openly at him, mouth dropping open a little. After a moment or so for it to sink in as a serious offer (it's Vergil, it wouldn't be like him to joke about something so serious and personal), she pushes the covers further back, unfolds, and steps out of the bed onto the floor. Her foot is much better than before, and this opportunity makes her more grateful for it than she would be otherwise. What is limping around for a while compared to getting to take Mirage Edge through its paces?

"Yes," Mizu inhales, excited.

Mizu moves to the center of the training space, takes a deep breath, and despite the pain across her ribs and continued soreness in her arm takes up Vergil's ready position, the one he usually takes with Mirage Edge. Mizu pauses and adjusts her position to make it more correct in small details. Then she works through a series of basic moves Vergil regularly uses. She stops when she needs to in order to correct the technique. It's not her usual way of moving, but this has always been how she's learned. Observing and copying others. Mizu repeats herself over and over. Each movement focused on having the correct technique more than power or speed. That can come with time and experience.

Silly perhaps, but everything else falls away. The lingering pain. The enjoyable argument with Vergil. All of it, compared to a man and a sword and copying techniques. They will not work with her sword as she has, but the fox spirit offers different weapons at different times. This work, this from the inside out, is Vergil.
artofrevenge: (mood; relaxed)

[personal profile] artofrevenge 2024-07-02 04:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Small sounds of focus come with the movements, with each correction. Where Mizu must correct herself more than twice, a small huff of frustration with herself, no matter the unfamiliarity of the sword or movements to what she usually does. She's seen them and felt them more than enough times to copy them. She learned to copy techniques from a single demonstration—having to work through the mistakes for herself and discover the proper form by feel and memory—so the abundance of examples from Vergil should make it far easier, along with the years of experience. That frustration melts away, however, each time she gets something right.

It's the start of properly learning both this kind of sword, in so much as Mirage Edge represents a sword made of steel in the same shape, and the techniques. Mizu hardly expects to wield Mirage Edge in sparring, much less actual fighting where her life is on the line. That doesn't matter. Learning it is in and of itself a reward. It demonstrates so much more about the sword and the way Vergil uses it. Feeling her muscles go through the movement with the right sword teaches her a great deal. Mizu could readily go through it for hours with no thought to any other considerations (it is not as though Mizu ever has plans for the rest of the day, when she spars Vergil, this being the first time she heals at all the day of).

She moves into small combinations Vergil frequently uses. It takes up more of the space at a time, but there is plenty. Mizu remains aware enough to know she won't hit anything. That's all she needs. Focused as she is, Mizu enjoys herself immensely. It carries on she's not sure how long, but her body in time shows its limits. There's some soreness, but she also feels somewhat woozy. Those aren't things that concern her terribly, save that her technique, carefully practiced, starts to slip and need more corrections. That simply won't do. Mizu will not compromise her body's learning of the moves. With some regret it's already over (already? after how long?), Mizu lowers Mirage Edge.

She walks smoothly, by force of will, back toward Vergil on the bed, bows with the sword resting across both her hands, and offers it back. Once he takes it, Mizu returns to the other end of the bed and sits. Before she practiced with Mirage Edge, she was ready to go home under her own power. For a short bit, she needs another break. That's all. It will be short before she's ready again. She's no invalid.

"Mirage Edge is incredible," Mizu says. Her face would be flush had she more blood in her body. Instead, her breathing is harder. It doesn't matter. She's lit up from within. "Very different from what I'm used to. I'd have to make a hundred terrible swords like it to finally make one of that shape and balance properly. It still wouldn't be Mirage Edge." She knows it's not steel the way her swords are.
artofrevenge: (mood; amused)

[personal profile] artofrevenge 2024-07-03 08:59 pm (UTC)(link)
Mizu waves a hand at Vergil when he insists she drink water. Yes, yes, water. She knows. She would have gotten there on her own in time, if he'd provide a modicum of patience. Still, she drains the glass quickly and pours herself some more. It would be easier to be flat, lying down, than vertical for the lightheadedness, but Mizu doesn't mean to monopolize Vergil's bed all day. Nor his time. She doesn't mind however much time they spend together on a sparring day. Together or apart, she sets aside a whole day for it, so there's nothing else, no other demands on her time. The library and the forge can wait.

Her breathing is a little better, and Mizu grins tiredly at Vergil for the compliment. A small nod. It is often easy in Japan to identify the school a swordsman trained in and know what techniques he will use. Those fights take little effort as she uses the techniques that best counter that style, and that is all. It takes a particularly skilled fighter and/or an unfamiliar one to demand that much of her. But oh, what fun it is to learn by fighting someone.

"I mean to defeat you," Mizu says, "I must know how to predict what you do, down to every detail, so I can more effectively create and utilize openings and advantages. It is even better practicing with Mirage Edge to understand the movements. Not as easy to incorporate for use with my sword, but can't have things be too easy. That'd be boring."

There's few people she's meant to defeat she gets along with well, none she's explained that she's doing that. Then again, no one's been interested in or paid attention to the fact she does it.

"You've seen only a sliver of the styles I know. So many of them are useless to outright foolish against you."
artofrevenge: (Default)

[personal profile] artofrevenge 2024-07-03 10:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Mizu wonders what Dante says that sounds similar and whether or not she would agree with it—or believe it. Vergil expresses some doubt, and Mizu trusts Vergil's ability to assess his own opponents. It might not be exactly true, whatever Dante says. Should he arrive, Mizu will assess his words for herself, same as she does everyone. She wouldn't take Vergil's word with blind faith.

Her smile doesn't go away. Instead it lops to one side. "I welcome Dante to arrive. I will defeat him as well, should he be willing to fight, and enjoy the process along the way. I never tire of getting better, and an unpredictable opponent forces other skills to improve."

By the time she defeats one, much less both, of them, Mizu's fathers shouldn't stand a chance. That alone would make her smile were she not already smiling. It is strange to feel so happy. The anger remains, as ever, but it isn't forefront as usual. Mizu stretches and checks how she feels. Not the best, but she can walk.

"Thank you for... all of this."
artofrevenge: (neutral; look up at)

[personal profile] artofrevenge 2024-07-04 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
Mizu gives an exasperated sigh at that idea. "I do not understand that attitude," Mizu says, "It's entirely different from my time in Japan. There, a woman and child might sit outside in the freezing snow, and no one will do a thing. A person can collapse injured and unconscious, and people will avoid whatever blood or organs they spill."

Mizu nearly died once because no one would give her aid, especially not someone like her. If she hadn't found her mother— If she hadn't found the woman who first raised her, she would have died. She was a fool then, the way she got that injury. Mizu has learned better. Ah well, Mizu would not let anyone accost her terribly. At worst, she would invoke they take her to Amrita Academy, what passes as the most intensive medical care. Then, once they left, she would take her leave. That would be that.

More water before she leaves, the best no one gets the wrong idea about her ability to walk herself home. She hears the pause in Vergil's words and makes no move to leave while he chooses them. Mizu waits. Then she gives Vergil a weird look. With this healing ability, it will be soon. "We could probably spar again in a few days. Incredibly, needing to spend time at the library may become a larger impediment than anything else. I cannot count on research time on days we spar."
artofrevenge: (talking; snark)

[personal profile] artofrevenge 2024-07-04 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
Bringing books with her would undoubtedly extend the time she and Vergil spend together, if not paying much attention to each other, after sparring. Perhaps Vergil still wants more assurance she is not about to keel over and only tolerates her insistence she is well enough on her own. Bringing books or some other means to occupy herself would free him up to do as he pleases, and he does like books, while permitting him to keep an eye on her and assure himself the fragile human is not about to expire. That earns a rise in her mood, but it does not have time to express itself.

Time with Mirage Edge.

That simple phrase amid the conversation about alternative sparring options sends her heart racing through her chest. She will get to wield it again? His sword. Not his primary sword, no, but his sword, a sword he made. The sense of responsibility to keep watch or the desire to face a better opponent are not enough to explain such a great allowance with something so personal. Mizu has no idea what has moved Vergil to such lengths, but she dare not ask, lest that prompt him to remove his offer, his permission.

Mizu makes note to work on forging blades like Mirage Edge for practice. She can always reforge the same steel time and again. There are not enough Star Children for her to master it. She could give each a blade of questionable quality and still not have one that meets her standards. Her standards are high, higher than some people's yes, but best she make one she likes. There will be more time spent forging in her future. Oh right, conversation.

"I am improving my hand-to-hand. I'd planned to reach a certain level, but," Mizu shrugs. She can handle losing, much as she isn't used to losing while grappling, even against larger opponents. "We can always practice before then. And Mirage Edge..." There's nowhere to look to see the blade, disappeared as it is. "It would be a pleasure." An absolutely heartfelt sentiment.

She smirks. "I assure you that I have never relied solely upon fighting you to improve my skills. I set aside time daily to train. I never want my skills to rust."
artofrevenge: (mood; amused)

[personal profile] artofrevenge 2024-07-07 06:04 pm (UTC)(link)
"I did not have anyone to spar with growing up, so most of my fights have been to the death," Mizu says. It's something that they have in common. "I chose to use a bokken when I fought my way through the Shindo Dojo because I needed information from its master. The students were only between me and my goal by happenstance, not by choice to serve one of my fathers." A pause. "Plus, the master would have been less inclined to give me the information I needed if I slaughtered all of his students. Better to injure and maim."

No doubt some of those men would have been fine killing her, but they were not threats. Taigen was her most worthy opponent, and still she won. There have been similar circumstances when she's chosen not to kill. The hunt for information and the hunt for her fathers are not the same. A reputation as such a killer would impede her, not help her. Mizu is not the Four Fangs. She has no desire to be.

Vergil is much harder to kill than most men, so Mizu hasn't had to hold back the way she knows he is. After all, he could have been in that warmer form with thus far impenetrable scales the whole time. Instead, he usually works to avoid, block, or parry her attacks. When she manages to injure him, he heals quickly, so it doesn't limit him for long in their fights. Except for the explosion today. Mizu had bet he could survive it, and she was right. That said, she can still see the evidence of what it cost him today. Today. Mizu believes Vergil will be better prepared for it in the future. She still smiles at his words. "You would be boring if otherwise were true," she repeats back at him. "I will not promise the presence or absence of explosives. Though I remember our promise not to kill each other. The last opponent I used an explosive on, I stuck it in his neck. I deemed that too likely to kill you if successfully carried out."

She's mostly teasing, but Mizu cannot forget those moments when she thought she was wrong and that she'd gone too far. When Vergil's double disappeared, and she was left alone in the street unsure whether he were alive or dead. It may be much rarer for her to need to hold back on her attacks, but as determined as she is, as ferociously as she fights, Mizu never forgets her aim is not to kill him. He is not her enemy.

"Don't worry. You'll get to see something that remarkable one day. I'll make sure of it."