The Starting Line

This Forest, was a nice place to sit back and relax, to listen to the rushing water, the rustle of the trees, and to slip into her Inner World. It was ready. The Maelstrom was in flux, giving off waves of power, directed by the powerful Kido that kept it in place. She could feel them when it came to Hvit's shard, and it was such warmth. Such power. She was going to inherit all this? The idea was terrifying, what if she couldn't control it? What if she had no idea what she was doing and everything fell apart and a lot of people suffered because of her ineptitude?

Fortunately, there were arms, attached to a Hollow, that gave her a comforting hug when she saw Ulv worrying.
"I'll be here to help you, always. Don't worry about anything,
Ulv. Sort out what you can sort out, and do not give the time of day to that which escapes your circle of influence. Besides, there is something you need to look into right about now" Hvit then pointed Ulv in the direction of a shard closest to her. it looked a lot worse than the one she was currently on, that was for sure. She couldn't begin to think who could live on that shard.

"Probably because of buggerations, but I am the only person who has been awake since the beginning, another got woken up a little by Shunsui's acts, but I put them back to sleep. I can't do that this time, however. Everyone is getting up now, and you have to be the one to face them ,since you will be the one in control when this is all done" Hvit took a step back, and just watched as it seemed a figure was leaping from that shard to this one.

It landed hard, and Ulv could see a ragged, mad woman. Hair a total mess, clothes torn and dirty, skin caked with dried blood and hereys had to emotion but confusion, and confused anger. It didn't look here for a conversation, and while Ulv really didn't want a fight with someone in her soul, but that wasn't something she was given a choice on, as the woman rushed her with preternatural speed and punched Ulv through a tree. Trees were pretty sturdy things, and so getting punched through one was really painful. How the hell was she meant to deal with this monster?

Getting up slowly and painfully, she was subjected to a sudden flurry from the woman, each punch like slabs of concrete. She broke,was blooded, and then smashed upwards. The downward trip wasn't something she handled well, and the floor was less than welcoming as she crashed into it. She didn't even know why this creature was attacking her. Just that it was rather pissed off, and that it was getting Ulv's head in a tizzy. Her heart started going faster, thumping at incredible speeds to feed her body with precious nutrition. The faster it pumped, the stronger she could feel her body getting, and it gave her just enough time to get out of the way of the next punch. She could feel the wind whistling past her head and stumbled, taking a short tumble before regaining her footing.

Her body ached, and with heightened senses the pain was all the more evident. But, she needed to do this. Hvit wouldn't have put her in this situation if it wasn't important, and so ohhgodstree! The woman had uprooted a tree and used it as a giant club to smash Ulv into the forest. The question of why would have to wait, she needed to stop this onslaught.

Easier said than done, however, as it moved so fast even her heightened form could barely keep track of it. She put her guard up just in time, but the guard was crushed with a single punch. Guarding against such a strong hit was clearly impossible, and she was thrown off her stance, opening her for a hook to the gut and an uppercut to the chin, lifting her off her feet again. It seemed that however bestial this creature was, it certainly knew how to fight. Standing again, and not quite knowing how she was able to at this point, Ulv gasped deeply, coughed up some blood, and took a weakened stance. Her arms felt like lead, her body screamed, and the monster was unperturbed. Moving in again to throw her whole guard off with one punch, and then deliver a combo of fists to her face, knowing her this way and that, and then bowling her over completely. The only way she was still in the fight at this point was sheer stubbornness. She just refused the idea of going down, as it meant that she had lost, and she didn't want to disappoint Hvit, didn't want to tarnish whatever memory there was of her before.

As she stood up again, she found herself at the edge of the shard. There was nothing left in her legs, even less in her arms, but her spirit still burned bright, and that was the fuel she used for this final, desperate act. It came in, and Ulv ducked low, her feet moving in a half-remembered fashion, slipping behind the creature in an eyeblink and putting her fists together. This, was going to shatter her arm, and her shoulder, and probably break the ribs that were only cracked. But it had to be done. Her muscles tensed, and then snapped outwards, one fist colliding with the woman-creature while the other thrust away from her. The force of thrusting away was absorbed and directed across her body, sending a tremendous amount of power into one point. The Female Dragon Fist. Immediately, she felt weakened bone rupture and shatter alone fault lines, her arm snapping grotesquely in two and punching through the skin of her arm. Her shoulder cracked and her damaged rips gently split apart, causing herself great pain. And it only managed to put the woman-creature off balance.

Three seconds, was all she had. Three seconds to take this useless battered body and do something before she was beaten to death. One second passed and her body refused to move, having nothing to go off. Two seconds passed and she furiously shrieked at her body's lack of movement. Three seconds past and the still intact fist came soaring in, punching the off-balance creature square in the face and sending it reeling off the edge, and into the Abyss below. Which was good, now she wasn't going to get killed immediately. But she was falling, the force of the punch combine with the inability to right herself after expecting more than everything she had, was not adding up well. Just when she felt herself completely gone, hands closed around her, and pulled her back in.

"Well done, Ulv. You did well" Hvit said, before looking to the Maelstrom. One large flare of power, and then it exploded. The Kido strained and bulged, but testament to Momo's skill, it held and flushed the power where it needed to be, orderly and concise. It would take a small time to settle, but for Ulv,. it felt like she was being set on fire. On top of the pain from the fight, something was being ripped from her, and she hadn't the energy to even scream. Whatever it was inside her that was so wanted, it exploded, feeling like it ruptured her gut and spilled her intestines across the ground as it escaped. No damage was actually done, but the thought remained. And the outcome of this pain was quite amazing, to see.

The Maelstrom had left a small black ball hanging above her Inner World, like a magnificent sun, it cast light on all of the shards, which had grown tremendously. Expanding in both size and filled with all manner of interesting things, they were a true sight to see. And golden bridges shimmered into existence, connecting each shard - although shard was no longer a proper name, they were more like floating islands - to each other, allowing travel. Then, up in the sky, something slammed into the black sun, causing it to spin rapidly. Colour melded into a dizzling display, and then it slowed to a stop. Half the sun was black, with a spot of white in it, and the other half was white, with a spot of black in it. Surrounding it were strange symbols, making it a Taijitu, hung above her World. All in all, the thing was quite good looking, and Ulv was glad it worked out. She just wished she was less half-conscious and delusional from bloodloss and pain. It would have been quite the site to admire, without those inconveniences.