Time at the Beach (open)

[hikaru.dream]

Taiga felt no surprise when the scroll drifted to the ground, nor when she appeared behind him. That was geijyutsuka.

"You were distracted, maybe, but he wasn't." Taiga gestured to Ari. "Even if he was, he'd know what was coming." He knew that, and he also knew that Takumi would if she had any kind of association with elemental users.

"In my opinion, the people running around with decoys can be considered cheats as well." He said, seeming almost carelessly.

He carefully inspected the flow of magic behind him.
Just as he had thought.

"Where are you from?" He asked casually. He didn't make plans with talking, he was just interested in her culture.

"Mizu no ryuu, hyou no ryuu, ware ni chikara wo ataetamae." He added very softly.
A dragon of water and a dragon of ice burst out of nowhere.
The water hurtled toward Takumi at a fearful speed.

He didn't think it would effect their talk.

[Anonymous]

"It isn't cheating...It's being prepared. Now...If I had made a copy of you instead of fighting myself...That, I would agree, is cheating. I just happen to plan ahead for every situation." Takumi said calmly, glancing over her shoulder at the dragon. A wave of one pale hand sent her butterfly-like dragon into a clash with Taiga's own creatures...It seemed almost independant, not really needing her commands. She glanced up at their battle, seemingly rather tired of this whole ordeal already.

"Hm? Where I used to live, or where I am descended from? Because the latter...Is the only one that I really appreciate." She murmured, twirling a strand of silver hair through her fingers. "It's a rather old lineage...From before the Old World was destroyed. Only a few people still know of it...And even less give it the honor it deserves..." She had suddenly become very calm and apathetic, her eyes watching the water nearby without a glimmer of real interest.

[Anonymous]

A small layer of ice blocked the touch just in time before quickly melting away.  Ari faked, dropping to a knee before turning his water into a thick mist.  The area began to chill as the three started to see their breath in the air before them.  The cold mist loomed for awhile before quickly condensating on the ground at the feet of the other two, freezing instantly, in an attempt to bind them to the earth.  As that was going on, Ari began to form thousands of nearly invisible ice needles around him in preparation for his next attack.

[hikaru.dream]

Taiga, too, glanced up, his silver eyes following the battle above.
He smiled grimly.
"Sorry, that's not your opponent." He informed Takumi's dragon. "You can't beat it; it's only made of water."

He twirled something between his fingers, and in a burst of water, a large hawk appeared before him. It looked like a hawk, only it was white with silver lining on its wings. It landed on his arm, whereas Taiga gently shook it off toward the dragon. It screeched, sounding like a high pitched note on a flute and took off toward the much larger dragon. They would have fun. Never judge by size.

The Chinese dragon which had been facing the other had disappeared only to appear again at Taiga's side.

He looked down and wasn't too surprised to see himself half plastered to the ground. He felt needles being shaped, sharp and just waiting to cut.
It seemed he had been right and the man called Ari had not been distracted.
He sighed softly. The night added to the chill Ari was making. Soon, he would feel cold. Then he would have to do something.

"The Old World?" Taiga asked curiously inspecting his surroundings.
He vaguely wondered if there would be a winner to this duel. He supposed the others thought there would be. Too bad they if they took him to easily.

[Anonymous]

Takumi glanced at both of the men warily, and then flipped her scroll up towards her, that brush once again brandished. In a quick sweep of her arm, she had drawn three more strange characters upon the paper.

"Geijutsu." In another whiff of smoke, three strange apparitions appeared...Stranger than the bat-like "messenger". These seemed like masked spirits, each slightly different than the previous. One had its small, clawed hands covering its eyes, bandages securing them tightly. The second had its hands over its mouth, revealing its large and staring white eyes...And the third had the side of its head covered, where its ears should have been. The creations seemed to understand their master's intent, each instantly turning to face an oppressor...One facing Taiga, one towards Ari, and a final one peering up at the fighting dragons and approaching hawk.

"This will be fun..." A small smirk once more reappeared on her lips, silver hair floating about the woman's face.

"And yes...Must I repeat myself constantly for men?"

[hikaru.dream]

Taiga stared at the apparitions. He especially did not like the look of the one with it's eyes covered, but none of it showed on his face.

"Well, actually, you don't always have to if you improve your grammar so that no questions arise." He replied dryly. As far as he could see, she hated men so much that everything about them was bad. Not that he would say they weren't.

The white hawk screamed, and the high pitched note echoed all around.

Taiga sighed softly and took slim piece of paper from a small pouch attached to his waist. He began saying something quietly and as the paper floated to up in the air, he drew certain symbols with his finger. Light followed his finger, only to disappear.
The slip of paper burst into water, and vanished.


Nothing happened.

Then a pain hit him as if someone had thrown it from behind.
Gritting his teeth, he felt the ice that had come up to his knee on the right leg burst as he struggled slightly against it. It disappeared as fast as it had came.
He realized that the ice had kept his leg quite warm and felt the cold seep in through his pants.

Something warm dropped on his fingers of his left hand.
He looked at his hand and found a black star on his wrist was dripping black liquid, blacker than the darkness around them. It didn't smell, it was just there.

Taiga carefully put his finger in it. It did not hurt.
Gingerly, he licked his finger.
It was a well known sharp taste. His blood.

So, that was how much time he had.

"Humans in general are cheats." Taiga commented casually.
"Not just men."

[Anonymous]

Ari rose from his kneeling position as he shot off several of the ice needles at his opponents.He looked to the sky and noticed the moon, full, beginning to rise.  With a smirk he shot several more as he executed multiple back handsprings, stopping at the edge of the cliff.

"The wrath of the sea is under my command.  Such a terribly powerful weapon for one man to hold..." Ari said nonchalantly, looking to the moon on the horizon behind him.

A wave of sea water rose behind him, blocking his view.  He turned back to his opponents and began his shifting stances.  Gusts of ocean spray engulfed the area as the wild ocean waves seemed to resist control.  Streams of water came forth from the wall, thrashing about as if they were ribbons in a windstorm.  Suddenly they twisted together forming multiple limbs.  They trusted toward Ari's opponents, attempting to grab and smash them.

[hikaru.dream]

Something clinked as the ice needles approached Taiga.
His eyes didn't miss the almost invisible particles even with there speed.

He dodged the limbs easily. This was mostly because they were made of water.
"Well, then, don't hold it by yourself and share with us, here." He suggested to Ari, although he believed Takumi would think differently. Or maybe disgust toward men was directed only at Taiga himself. That would make him laugh. How many times had he been told he looked like a girl, he couldn't count.


A wave crashed over Taiga and he disappeared, only to appear behind Ari and kick him. He was satisfied to feel his foot hit the other's shoulder and not ice.
Only now he was soaking, cold and to add one of the ice needles caught his cheek, which was bleeding.

He immediately crouched into a fighting pose.
He didn't especially like fighting with magic. This was much better.