[accidental video post]

[favorthebold]

[The feed is switched on by a random crackling of electricity, the origin of which is soon revealed. The place is Unohana's clinic, one of the rooms; the video shows Saul sitting next to a bed, tattered and wounded, his head in his hands. He doesn't look percisely sad or broken, more tired - and focusd. There's a very faint buzz in the air around him, like static electricity, giving the air in the room a soft eerie low.

In the bed lies Carmen's body - if only she'd been breathing, she'd have looked asleep. But of course, she isn't.

Saul speaks very quietly.]

Spirits of this land, powers of this world... I've kept true. I have stayed my blade when you wished me to, I have always spoken in your favor. My fortune is yours to decide.

We've only just begun to understand each other. Don't take her... not yet.

[The prayer spoken, he lets his hands drop to his sides, and leans back in the chair, eyes closed, calm now.]

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[lecherous-kappa.livejournal.com]

[Gojyo starts to get the idea that this might not have been the brightest move when he's hit by the wind. A weapon and an elemental attack... and hadn't he been told Saul could use lightning? He really did not think when he was pissed off.]

Planets have fault lines, dumbass. How the hell would people have it?

[But the crescent blade had been knocked off-target, and he'd had to take a step to the side. Even with Saul injured Gojyo wasn't a match? Dammit. He needed to train more.]

She. Doesn't. Remember. At least mine isn't dead for who knows how long.

[But maybe he should withdraw. The woman hadn't wronged him. Saul had, but only indirectly and probably. If Saul was supposed to be there... Dammit. He'd be just as bad. He took a step back, the chain of his weapon still whirling in case Saul attacked.]

Fine. This time. And not for your sake.

[offline]

[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

Men are very fragile things, dome. [Saul's voice is quiet and chillingly matter-of-fact. He continues spinning his hook over his head, slow lazy gestures, mahing Gojyo's, and the weapon glints with a light that is not entirely natural.] War is my pleasure, but breaking men is my trade, and your cracks show already.

[He falls into habits. Easily. He wouldn't be interested normally - Gojyo is not a weak man, he'd observed, but not mighty enough to truly warrant destroying - but he really is in a dreadful mood, and he knows how to make himself feel better. And if Gojyo decides to attack him after all, that would just be the icing on the cake. Hurt or not, he can still fight. He'd fight anything and any man.]

Do no push your luck with me. She does not remember me, either, you know.

[offline]

[lecherous-kappa.livejournal.com]

[Gojyo knows the truth of Saul's words. He knows how close he's been to breaking for days. And if the other man knows how to do it, Gojyo's screwed.] Who the hell would have breaking men as their fucking trade?

[Shaking his head, Gojyo started leaving. But he was walking backwards, he won't turn his back on this guy.]

I will damn well make sure she knows to stay away from you. We may not have proof, we may never have proof, but I know you're the fucker that attacked her.

[offline]

[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[Saul smiled slightly - very slightly, just for Gojyo to see. He wasn't percisely satisfied; he wanted a fight. Standing his ground, he began lowering his weapon, then let it drop to his side. Let him look as though he was lowering his guard...

Just one more push...]

Yes. I was, [he said, very very quietly.] But with how honest you've been with her so far, would she believe it if you told her as much?

[offline]

[lecherous-kappa.livejournal.com]

[He didn't want a fair fight, he wanted to beat this guy down. And right now, he couldn't win. But he'd be damned if he ignored that smile.]

But Ginia didn't die when you poisoned her, you son of a bitch. I saved mine. Yours died.

[Gojyo backed up to the corner of another building.]

I didn't fail mine.

[offline]

[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[The expression that flashed across Saul's face was hard to read. This tactic that Gojyo chose would've gutted most men he knew; but not him - not so easily. He had never considered himself anyone's protector or savior. Not even Carmen's.

But he was her soldier. There was that.

He took a step towards Gojyo.]

Yes - you should thank me for that, shouldn't you? That I chose to record it, or you'd have never known.

[offline]

[lecherous-kappa.livejournal.com]

[Gojyo makes assumptions. It's easy and sometimes they shake people up. But he had no clue what that might have done to Saul, other than have the other man take a step towards him. That was the opposite of what he'd wanted.]

Unohana would have sensed shit before it was too late.

[That was a complete bluff and he knew it. Gojyo didn't take another step back, he wasn't going to run from this guy. Sooner or later Saul would need to go back inside. Gojyo hoped it was sooner.]

[offline]

[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[Saul didn't know if it was a bluff; he'd put nothing past Unohana. But Gojyo was not moving and that was the important part. Perhaps he'd get his fight yet. Perhaps it was worth holding off tortuing the man further.

Perhaps...]

Unohana would have, maybe. And Unohana would have gotten there, and Unohana would have healed her. And what would you have done? [Another step.] You needn't risk yourself here, you know, dome - you could call for Unohana to save you from your own helplessness this time, too.

[He couldn't resist. His slow, deliberate voice and moves echoed each other, a calm, menacing approach.]

[offline]

[lecherous-kappa.livejournal.com]

[He was so sick of being useless, the weakest of the four. When something came up, he was good against the minor threats, but... Gojyo tried to tell himself that this was what the asshole wanted. It didn't work. He stepped forward, flinging the chain and blade, this time focusing on compensating for sudden winds.]

Fuck that and fuck you. I don't need to be saved.

[offline]

[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[For the first time, Saul truly smile, the faint shadows that the long day had left gone from his eyes. It was a smile of real, eager pleasure. Yes, this was percisely what he'd wanted. He didn't know if Gojyo realized how much.

His reactions were slower than normal, and his injuries were nothing to make light of, but that would only make the challenge more adequate. He didn't call up his power, but sent his own hook darting out to catch Gojyo's blade in midair.]

Shall we see about that, then?

[offline]

[lecherous-kappa.livejournal.com]

[Saul was smiling. Shit. Somehow Gojyo had just played into Saul's hand, he had to have. But all of his stress has built up to a point where he just doesn't care anymore. Gojyo flipped the ever-lengthening chain around, attempting to secure the hook.]

Yeah, asshole. Let's.

[Glad of his half-demon heritage, Gojyo charged. After he closed the distance he brought a knee up. Gojyo believed in fighting dirty.]

[offline]

[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[The clash of weapons, steel against steel, made Saul forget everything else. Now he was in battle, now he felt no pain and knew no worry. He handled the hook one handed as usual - the other arm hung limp - but that had always been enough, the weapon would not be torn from his grip. He held onto it, and as Gojyo charged, twisted his arm to loop both wire and chain around it to get a better hold.

He slid nimbly out of the way and around - aware, suddenly, of how slow his wounds made him, the torn thigh muscle protesting the weight put on it, and that he would have to keep Gojyo very angry to stop the man seeing and exploiting this weakness. But he made it out of the way with half a handspan to spare. Now he was behind Gojyo, and casting his own chain around him to trip him down.]

[offline]

[lecherous-kappa.livejournal.com]

[Gojyo had only fought against someone with a similar weapon once, and that was when a demon had used duplicates of the Sanzo party to attack them. Then, Gojyo had fought himself, though his other self had possessed more stamina. Every little lesson he'd learned there was needed from this.

It was too bad he didn't learn very well.

Twisting around, Gojyo brought the staff of his weapon down to try to hook Saul's chain, not worrying about the attempt to trip him. The chain wrapped around his ankles. Gojyo's own chain was twisting around Saul, looping so that the crescent blade headed for the back of Saul's neck.]

[offline]

[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[This was not a move Saul had expected - he himself hadn't fought against a similar weapon for decades now. His hook and wire had always been his own feared trademark, the clever, alien weapon that made his fighting style unlike any other in the continent. And no one had ever matched him at his own game.

He was curious, suddenly, excited.

Gojyo's staff caught his steel wire and tangled it, and he responded with a powerful jerk on the handle - both testing to see if the weapon would break, and pulling to twist it upwards in a sharp diagonal move, out of the other's grasp. It was difficult to do with just the one arm, and he put all his strength into it. And his focus. If -

Awareness flashed into his mind, through the faint sense of the air around him that he always had with his power even vaguely awake. The icy armor that saved him countless times flashed up to form, but not in time - he'd been too busy with Gojyo's move. How could the blade still be moving like this? was the thought that accompanied the flash of cold as steel buried itself in his back, a good inch in. The ice had formed just soon enough to stop it going in further.

He was not fighting an ordinary man.

But he felt no pain. He knew no danger. He kept the pressure up on the staff, and didn't make any attempt to free himself. Now the ice was solidly in place - let Gojyo try to gain his own weapon free.]

[offline]

[lecherous-kappa.livejournal.com]

Hah!

[Sure, his staff was snagged and Saul was pulling on it, but he'd hit the other man. Gojyo couldn't resist the noise of triumph. And then he realized that it was stuck. His blade was stuck in some sort of ice? Had he even done any damage?

Gojyo really, really hated Saul.

He couldn't jerk it back properly, not when the base was held so securely. And if the fucker had ice shielding him, a knee to the groin wasn't going to work so well. Gojyo could unsummon the weapon. It would then be unstuck and free, and he could resummon it. But he'd be vulnerable for few very important seconds, and he had a feeling Saul could use those seconds.

There was no other option, though.

Trying to distract the other man again, Gojyo brought up his knee, bracing for it to hit ice already. Then he opened his hand, and the shakujo vanished.

Leaping back, Gojyo resummoned the weapon, trying to get it out and moving again quickly enough to keep his own ass covered. It wasn't likely.]

[offline]

[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[Gojyo's shout just made Saul grin. He'd heard it all before - young men who managed to nick him in battle and died with such shouts of triumph in their throats. With the ice stopping any bleeding and preventing the blade from doing any more damage, he pushed his own, still trying to snap Gojyo's staff. The fight was just getting good.]

Is that - UGH!

[Now that he was not ready for. Really, really not ready for. This wasn't the sort of thing his ice shielding would go up against, and sure as it would any man, the pain made him double over. In that blind instant he'd barely registered that Gojyo's blade was gone, although his power didn't need his directing to freeze the wound over. He stumbled back slightly, staying on one knee, battle-cool reasserting itself just in time to notice that Gojyo had his weapon at hand again.]

Dome, you're a credit to your teachers.

[He stayed in a defensive crouch, waiting. Now with a better idea of what each of them could do, he could plan his next move in earnest.]

[offline]

[lecherous-kappa.livejournal.com]

[Gojyo smirked, feeling far more satisfied than he had in who knew how long. It had been a cheap shot, but Gojyo fought dirty when he had to. There was no point in getting beaten up when he could stop it.

Now all his cards were out. He'd shown what the shakujo could do, and he didn't have any other tricks up his sleeve. He was only a half-demon, without the powers that came with full blood. Gojyo hoped he knew all of what Saul could do. Wind, ice, hook... and he'd heard about something with storms. Gojyo might be outmatched, but he would do everything he could. And Saul was already injured.]

Teachers? Hah.

[There was a little bit of bitterness in his voice, but Gojyo didn't care. Those who had shaped his life had tried to kill him more often than they'd tried to help. He'd taught himself how to survive, and how to fight.

Stepping forward, Gojyo sent the chain whirling outward again. It looped in a circle, the crescent blade at its end headed towards Saul, coming from Samaren's right side.

Maybe it would have been smarter to leave at this point in time, but Gojyo had never been smart.]

[offline]

[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[He'd granted him the one blow, but Gojyo should have stuck to cheap shots. Saul's vaguely mad smile had given way to a more focused, predatory expression, searching for and sensing any weakness and opening. Brief though it was, the fight had pulled on already strained muscles, brought fresh blood from wounds that had barely scabbed over, and his body was starting to tell him as much. He could afford no mistakes. So Gojyo could guide the weapon... make it disappear then recall it.. he'd fought more Guardians with such powers than he could recall.

He didn't dodge, but launched himself straight from his crouch and into a run, ignored the weapon and went for the wielder. His steps were wide, going in a dashing zigzag, hard to follow. The hook was grasped tight in his good hand and facing ahead like a dagger, as though aiming for Gojyo's stomach.

At the last moment, the stab became a high diagonal slash, up towards the jugular as he aimed his charge past Gojyo, keeping a precarious balance with one good leg and turning in the run to never show his back even for a moment. Difficult, when wounded. A challenge. He had not yet stopped enjoying himself.]

[offline]

[lecherous-kappa.livejournal.com]

[The man moved fast, much faster than Gojyo had been expecting. Hell, he was about as fast as the Monkey, and that was not good. Gojyo jerked the shakujo back, changing the angle so that the blade followed Saul, but it was slow. Too slow.

As he brought up the butt of the staff to defend his stomach, Saul changed the angle of the hook's attack. It was all Gojyo could do to keep his throat from being slashed.

Darting backwards, he recieved a slash across his chest instead of a life-ending throat wound. It wasn't too deep, but it wasn't entirely shallow either. And it fucking hurt. But Gojyo had attacked first. It was his own damn fault.

He lashed out with a foot, trying to tangle his legs with Saul. If he could turn this into a a fistfight on the ground, he might still have a good chance. Gojyo knew fights like that, especially from bars when he'd hit on the wrong woman.]

[offline]

[favorthebold.livejournal.com]

[He hadn't truly expected a killing blow - Gojyo was far too competent to really fall for that trick, he could tell - but Saul was satisfied with having drawn blood. Building on that momentum, he was prepared to pivot and stab again, this time into Gojyo's back, when the other's foot caught him, snaking in between two steps. On two healthy legs, he might've been able to keep his balance with an effort; injured, he hadn't a hope.

He barely managed to keep the good hold on his hook as he stumbled and fell flat, unable to block his fall with one hand on his weapon and the other a wreck. His chest slammed against the pavement and already broken ribs made a sick crunching sound. He brought his knees under him in a twisting move that, had he been able to feel pain at this point, would've hurt enough to knock him out. Even as it were, he was sluggish, muscles tight as he expected the inevitable next blow.

But the hook was still in his hand, and he braced himself for the half-desperate move of turning over and cutting blindly at whatever tried to hit him.]