Swords And Fists Filled With Resolve [Erika, Shaoling]

If Shaoling hadn't attacked first then Erika would've been disappointed, crestfallen even that she'd have to attack the now made crippled woman but she didn't and was attacked with as much spunk as she would've done herself, she stepped forward and angled her sword before stepping back.

Who cared if Shaoling struck her in the neck and filled her entire body with sharp pain, made her head spin even by the blow. Her hardened body was at its apex and raised beyond its limit for the period of this form, had she not been in this state the attack would have left her crippled from the neck down but the advantage of taking this blow - even if small - would let the steel-like strands of hair which were more like wire than real hair in this state wrap around her opponent's arm.

Her head was spinning but fighting was an instinctual thing for her, a state of nothing except the fight and with the sword's shape changing to be all too familiar to her previous sword which was designed to cut through the wind Erika tried to kick back and impale Shaoling with the blade while using her hardened hair and body to try and mitigate the follow up strike to her back.

Still, there was an understanding in the back of her head. Unlike Shaoling, this state wasn't infinite or without a strain to her soul but regardless of how she looked after the end of this fight, Erika didn't care how long it'd take to recover.

Taking every blow simply to retaliate, to stab at her and prevent her from running. Clever. Shaoling hadn't been prepared for this degree of control over even her hair, nor for the strength found in every strand of it. However, as the blade pierced into her, Shaoling simply allowed herself an overconfident grin, her teeth gritted through the pain. Perhaps it wasn't ideal, but she was ultimately still held in place now, her knee exactly where she might have wanted it to be most.

4 Fushiki: Kiri.

One of the few techniques specifically built around her shunko and its nature, the wind that whipped around her knee grew more dense, more tightly controlled. Quickly, it coalesced into a blinding rotation, a drill that would certainly bore through even the strongest defenses if left in contact for terribly long. Of course, she'd already made contact, so she knew that Erika's only options were to retreat or to accept such a grave injury. Even if she'd hardened herself to this degree, Kiri was a technique that was fully intended to pierce all but the unpierceable.

Of course, Shaoling still knew that this whole fight would be over soon. She could only stave off crippling blood loss for so long with her shunko, and so she had no choice to begin using more decisive techniques. So be it. She didn't care much to drag this out any more.

That was the unfortunate thing that she was worried about in the back of her mind, the shunko's winds boreing into her back and making headway in the process. Her hair had quickly begun to be torn apart and the hardened fibres began to fly and fall around them. She had trapped them together and left no successful way to really break them apart but she couldn't stay like this.

No way back, only forward to go and so she forced herself forward, bringing Shaoling along for the ride and maybe offerring a better position even with the shift forward but Erika's motion was entirely done to try and displace Shaoling and let Erika be the one behind her.

The woman's back was already bloody and marred by the drilling knee into her back. The transformation was dropped to make the metal-like hair disappear and Erika's skin returned to normal. One moment was all she needed, enough time before her body felt it catch up to her and make her feel the brunt of her punishment. She formed her blade.

"Shun Ken Satsu."

It was just a tanto but she lunged at Shaoling's hopefully exposed self and she'd try to ram the blade into her neck. It was reckless and full of openings but she hoped that her throwing her off and the sudden loss of her bindings to anchor her gave her just enough of an opening to let her win. If it didn't work then she was probably dead, if it did work then maybe Shaoling was dead. Sure shinigami were hardy and she'd known some to die and others to survive wounds to the neck, she wanted to resolve the fight with her full conviction though and this was it.

It was far more difficult than she would have liked to catch herself as she was displaced, only barely enough to look back and get the briefest view of what was happening. However, Shaoling recognized that sort of attack from the very moment she laid eyes on it. Reckless. Fully committed. To die victorious rather than live with the shame of accepting defeat, that was the resolve Shaoling had built for herself, and it was the very same resolve she was now seeing before her.

So be it. If Erika wished to throw herself into this strike so fully, then Shaoling would not deny her that. However, she would never dream of conceding to it, either, for her own conviction still burned fiercely. She struck out with a single fist, hand covered in her shunko to weaken the incoming slash. It was not even close to enough to stop it, but that was perfectly fine. Erika's blade cut past the wind, directly through the hand itself and into Shaoling's outstretched arm, cleaving it squarely in two down the middle. But that wound was still enough to catch the blade, and Shaoling's other hand shot out, ready to pierce straight through Erika's stomach if she pressed forward further.

Of course, that would only be the case if Erika pushed forward again. Shaoling herself knew that she couldn't muster that much strength at this stage. The question was if Erika could. After all, Shaoling could operate without one limb well enough. Without two, and after having lost this much blood, was another matter entirely.

Damn, she could instinctually feel the retaliation before it came when the blade was stopped and left to be unsated in meeting its mark. Maybe she could've escaped, retreated but she had not the strength to make another attack if she did and the idea of falling to the ground after retreating disgusted her. She could retreat and fall or she could keep advancing and accept the hand for one final act of defiance.

Naturally it was the second and so while Shaoling's hand made it's home in her gut. She dug her fingers into whatever part of the woman that she could use for support and also to keep the tanto away from being used on her.One attack.

She brought her head back, another headbutt though this was one that she'd feel a lot more than the last. Her forehead would try and crash into Shaoling's while foot gave up balance to try and push her over. Just added momentum for her attack really.

So that was it, eh? Exactly what she would have done, and so as Erika went for her final strike, Shaoling responded in kind, her head slamming into Erika's as the two hit the ground. She'd been the more unprepared of the two, and by all accounts, she should have been livid with herself. But she had lost to someone exceptionally like herself, at least.

"It seems your conviction is stronger than I'd given you credit for."

Of course, her hand was still squarely in Erika's gut. If she really wished, she could certainly have crushed something in her hand, caused her further injury. But she was in a weak enough state that she wasn't confident it would be a lethal blow, and by contrast, she knew all too well that her life would end. She was willing to die for the sake of victory, but not when it was that uncertain.

"Yeah. I know."

She muttered laying on top of Shaoling sucked, pain was everywhere, she was bleeding and every part of her was on fire. Her head, her back, her waist, her stomach and shoulder. It felt like she was bleeding from all over but it hadn't been the worst she'd ever been, the closest to death she'd ever been. Being in this state though would've made her prefer it if she was a weaker will but that was an if. It was satisfying to push herself to the upper limits and beyond.

"Sorry about your leg. Give me a bit and I'll carry you back."

Erika tried to joke but the attempt to laugh just made her cough and wheeze more. A bit of blood spluttering from her mouth. She actually wasn't sorry in the slightest but it was one of those things that she did out of respect. Ah well, she had fun at least and at least she was the one that had the most comfortable spot she thought.

"If it came off so easily, it wasn't worth keeping."

It was as much of an attempt at a joke as Shaoling was the sort to put forward. Then again, there was also a degree of truth to it, too. The fact that the situation had even arisen meant that she was still disappointingly weak. It was an unsatisfactory showing on her end, and even if she wasn't bitter toward her opponent, the failings on the whole left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Carry me back where, I wonder? My student would furious if I wasn't back in time for his evening training."

Of course, Shaoling still understood that Erika wanted her to return. This was, frankly, an opportune time to drag her back to the Gotei, and Shaoling wasn't particularly certain she would have much reason to decline if the offer of captaincy became more than a mere hypothetical. Even so, she would have to consider it. Despite the prestige, and the opportunity to grow, she wasn't entirely certain it would match up to the life she'd built here with Yuujin. That life, at least, was one she'd built for herself.

"Back to that stupid shop, of course."

She said while sighing, honestly despite the fact that Shaoling's hands was still uncomfortably stuck in her insides this position wasn't that bad. The whole afterglow of the fight was still there and her body hadn't exactly settled down from how much she had been forced to push it through to compensate in that clash.

":No point having a captain that doesn't want to be there."

The same could be said to her, she'd have been a meaningless addition to Murasaki's roster if she didn't want to be there. If one wasn't committed fully to their duty then it was pointless.

"Correct. My captaincy was as impressive as it was because I wanted it more than anything."

And where did she want to be now? Frankly, she still didn't have anywhere in particular. The Urahara shop served as a perfectly tolerable place to be, but she didn't enjoy it, by any stretch of the imagination. Her work was simply a manner by which she could improve. All that she really much cared for was her training and her student.

"I've never once spoken to your commander, you know. She was always seen as a vile stain on the honor of the nobles, but even I heard the talk about her aspirations years ago. How does her conviction compare to yours?"