Shadow of a Bullet[Natasha, Orion]

I told you you lacked dirty eyes.

Words of truth uttered with cold indifference, cut into her soul. Parted lips opened to protest, but nothing spilled from her throat. She was currently motionless proof that he was correct. During their entire exchange, she was hesitating and faltering when she should have been striking him down without mercy. After all, hadn't he launched a gunshot at her head without hesitation? Did his mind go through all these goddamn particulars like her own? She was idiotically fumbling around trying to philosophize the idea of murdering a flesh and blood peer while he acted out his role according to his duty.

"You're wrong..."

Apart from whatever unexplainable reason held his weapon now, Orion was teaching her a lesson. Challenging her. Pushing her. Imploring her to act beyond what she was accustomed to. No, bullshit. She was accustomed to it. She was brutally overwhelmed by Rey, after all. Throughout this spar, had she proven him wrong? Eyes that were too pure. A woman who was better fit to occupy a spot in the office. A woman who was better off playing nurse rather than fighting on a brutal battlefield. Her heartbeat quickened again. Hazel eyes observe the transformation taking place in the training room. His form no longer felt physical. It was now a body that appeared wholly composed of reishi and reiryoku.

Would you kill a friend to save a friend?

An incredulous expression colored her commonly pleasant face as she kept her guns poised in preparation. What would his offense be like now? Where would he strike? Would it be any less pleasant? She simply shook her head to ignore it, to drown his question out, but something was reaching her. Something that frightened her. Something she wanted to push away. Treat it as if it didn't exist. Charging forward, she released another wave of reishi bullets, changing the trajectory of her gunfire with each movement. To a veteran gunman like Orion, it was hardly difficult to tell they lacked certainty.

She'd feel an aura sprout outward from Orion. It continued to grow until it coated the atmosphere of the training area. Natasha could feel the Reishi flowing, almost like she could interact with it.

"Wrong?" He muttered, raising his gun before firing. However, his shots did not simply explode from his barrel. With each click, small distortions twisted reality around him as multiple shots were born in mid air, meeting Natasha's attacks. It did not stop there though.

More distortions shaped the world around the blonde as she charged. From behind, above, and beside, she'd find more of his attacks flying freely to stop her advance. She now sees his ability, a deadly technique that makes it almost impossible to understand his aim, for he's created the whole room the barrel of his Spirit Weapon.

The encompassing aura was difficult to discern as it emanated, filling the entire room with his influence. Interacting with this odd flow of reishi was the last of her worries, though. The distortions in space proved a greater threat as several shots overwhelmed her own. Pinpointing his presence was incredibly difficult now. What type of ability was this? Spatial distortion... but what was its origin? A spell woven by Gebet? Vollstandig?

Wherever she ventured to avoid his aim, several distortions in the space around her formed to halt her advance. Like a cornered mouse, she was forced into a position she was far too familiar with. Much like her battle with Rey, she would promptly suffer a loss without putting up a worthwhile fight of her own, forced to accept defeat with nothing to show for it.

What a damn shame. Under the barrel of his gun, she would prove him correct, validating his doubts without displaying any talent for battle whatsoever. What was talent to her, really? It certainly wasn't this piss-poor excuse. Without any heart behind it, all these skills that she'd accumulated might as well be worth little more than the pebbles on a roadside, or a bucket full of spit.

Shot after shot connected with her body, each bullet testing the extent of her Blut. A few pierced flesh while others impacted her enough to momentarily still her charge. Was this truly the extent of her worth as a soldier? The moment blood dripped from her forehead, dribbling from the small holes of punctured flesh on her body, a pulse of spiritual pressure thrummed around her body. Hazel eyes burned bright with an azure ferocity. What the hell could she protect with this pathetic display?

"You heard me, partner. Ya say I don't have dirty eyes? Tell me I'm better off playin' nurse while my comrades are workin' their asses off and sacrificin' their lives? I refuse to accept that... I refuse to believe this is all I'm capable of! If I can't beat someone like you, I'm better off dead. And by that point, you might as well put a bullet in my head and tell everyone I simply couldn't keep up. I'm tired of runnin' scared, tired of denyin' myself the rage boilin' in my spirits since I got my ass handed to me. From here on out, I'm comin' for blood, Orion."

Wiping the blood away from her forehead, Natasha empowers the azure pistols within her hand, filling them with spirit power while her blut grows in defensive potency. It wouldn't be enough to ignore his bullets outright, of course. It simply meant she would be able to maintain herself during the next phase. Executing a flawless display of Steigen, Natasha vanished from one place to another, maintaining a constant pace of motion, surveying a flaw in this man's ability.

She wasn't aiming to match him bullet for bullet now. The entire room was equivalent to his rifle, after all. But what about matching him in a contest of reishi manipulation? What was the extent of his current influence? At times, she would consciously slip toward a wall, purposely employing Sklavarei in an attempt to eat away at the reishi that occupied this room. It was risky, and it wasn't currently a precise effort by any stretch, but she would damn sure try to turn the tide in her favor.

He's built for assassination, not prolonged combat. The fact Natasha is still alive is merit enough that he did not want to kill her. He wanted her to learn something here. All his bravado was for show, for he felt a bit of pride at finally seeing her act out. For all he is, Orion couldn't deny that his mentor had instilled in him somewhat of a sociable capacity. He can already tell something like this is going to annoy him further down the line, but for now, he's busying his own troublesome thoughts with combat.

Natasha's outbursts was fine and dandy, but she's still in a stressful situation. She's dodging and deflecting his attacks, but her injuries are numerous. Even as she began dismantling his dome, she'd find the remnants of it keeping constant pressure. They are somewhat an even match, but his Voll keeps him ahead. However, he can it now. As she poured her reserves through herself, he can almost taste her might in the air.

"If you want to live, Natasha. If you want to kill-"

He stopped firing, Reishi suddenly dispersing from the air, breaking down before it all began to coalesce towards him. The muzzle of his gun began to glow bright as his power felt different from a Voll now, taking on the vibes of the release of one's weapon. Even his own demented form seemed to be sucked towards the front of his Spirit weapon.

"Show me... Put everything into your gun, and then put even more. Fire one shot and kill me with it. Only one shot and we'll see who's meant to to die today."

At this point, Natasha's body was full of bullet wounds from repeated shots under the barrel of his rifle. Even under the influence of Skalvarei, his emanation still proved a threat no less viable than before. Blood poured from her body. Adrenaline pulsed through her veins. Renewed in spirit as she was, a celebration of any degree was clearly out of the question.

The thought never crossed her mind. Resolve meant nothing if she failed to follow through in overcoming the obstacle that denied her passage. Prior to this phase of their battle, Orion was a charming friend in his own endearingly awkward way. Now, he was the enemy, the current obstacle that stood between her and crossing that line that separated killers from spectators. One shot, eh? Those terms suited her mightily well.

If the emanation of his vol was what allowed him to maintain his current advantage, it stood to reason that the ideal path to victory lay in the absolute destruction of this domain. Azure energy continued to pulse around her body as she manipulated the shape of her spirit weapon, refining its shape until it resembled a colossal cannon. Devoting herself to the gradual refinement of her weapon naturally left her body susceptible to any bullet that seized her flesh during the momentary delay, but none of her wounds mattered anymore.

Blood loss? Pain? The chilling sense of doom? Ah, she reckoned it was all very frightening, yet oh so exhilarating. After all, anyone who stood in the way of protecting her loved ones oughta suffer her wrath. Playing nice was no longer an option from here on out. The colossal cannon, poised above her shoulder, aglow with reishi, set the center of its barrel on Orion.

Displaying the will of her might in a single shot, the barrel of her weapon roared with a fury that matched her voice as she launched a thunderous blast of reishi through the air, the force potent enough to throw her own body afar. Soaring through the air, maintaining graceful balance, Natasha ensured that her blow targeted Orion alone.

Hmm? It seems she's taking things seriously now, but it's a bit too late to acknowledge her efforts. The only thing left to do is to believe her capable of enough. Enough is enough. If that enough is worthwhile, then he'll at least know. But that's enough introspective thought. Here she comes, and here he comes.

Beams clash soon enough, his potent energy darkened into a black nebula as his attack poured from his barrel with resolution. Despite himself, Orion knows himself too kind towards the people he's come to find acceptable. Her energy caressed his, her weighty feelings nauseatingly nuanced, but he came to understand his lacking will and quickly diverted his attention from attacking to defending.

Resolute, he couldn't even fathom winning out, so as her energy simply overpowered his, Orion vanished from his spot, using the remainder of his energy to disappear and reappear out the way of her beam. Though, the darkness that enveloped him vanished, leaving him a hapless mess as he find his legs jelly and his ass planted firmly on the ground. Dark eyes focused on the new dent left on the training wall.

"Sheesh..."

In the aftermath of her collosal blast, Natasha's graceful stride through the air faltered to such a degree that her body went crashing into the opposite side of the room, indenting the wall through the sheer momentum of her collision. Considering the bullet wounds and the unending flow of blood that dribbled from each puncture in her skin, once the adrenaline wore off, her movements would be compromised to some extent.

The inevitable outcome aside, Natasha slumped against the wall, allowing the mirth to fall freely from her lips. Since when had she displayed such a murderous streak? Thankful to the heavens above that he avoided her attack, Natasha used the last remnants of her adrenaline to motion her body beside Orion, following his gaze toward the ruptured wall.

"Christ, my body's killin' me. Ya did quite a number on me durin' that exchange, Ori, but... I think I get it now. I think it worked. Can't say I'm proud of it considerin' what the fallout woulda been like, but... I genuinely wanted to kill you a moment ago."

Faltering to the ground to take a seat beside him, Natasha bore a bright smile. The bizarre contrast between her upbeat expression and the blood on her face made for a morbidly humorous image. It might have elicited shock in those of lesser spirits, but Natasha paid it little mind, turning her bloodied gaze toward Orion.

"I reckon you were takin' it easy on me, though. Any one of those shots coulda' took me to the afterlife, but... I appreciate the approach. Take the trainin' gloves off though, next time, will ya? I'm a bloody mess right now, but this is exactly the type of trainin' a gal could grow use to."

"Good. Easy or not, you identified the threat and reacted accordingly. It requiring a bit of encouragement was simply part of the training."

Though, despite his words, the pain he had inflicted on her stuck to the back of his mind. As much as he preached about doing what has to be done, he can see himself slowly becoming hypocritical. Enemies will receive no mercy, but it's easy to look at a stranger and put them down. He'll need to steel his resolve further for the eventuality that will be him vs someone whose face he'd recognize. But, those are thoughts for another time. He'll ignore Natasha's sudden insistence for harsher training and focus on getting her to one of the medical facilities.

"Come on," He started, standing up. "Can you walk?"

His hand's outstretched for her to take if she needs assistance. They could sit here and ruminate on things, but he'd rather the blood dripping from her body ceased doing that. Scars are a soldier's friend, but he'd rather she leave here without extra stories to tell.

"That's one hell of a wake up call if ya' ask me, but since it achieved its purpose, I guess I can't complain, huh~?"

A fading adrenalined-fueled chortled spilled from her lips as though she were somewhat drunk on her own loopiness right now. That wasn't entirely incorrect, but she was conscious enough to discern left and right, so it wasn't exactly a sign for worry, either. Turning her gaze up to the upright man with dark hair, Natasha latched onto his hand, pulling herself upward to stand at his side.

Their spar was concluded, and although her wounds weren't the first thing on her mind, they weren't exactly the types of bullet holes one could ignore for long. A single glance was enough to confirm that. Each bullet hole on her body was pouring as freely as a faucet at the moment. Huh, interesting. That sure was one hell of a confrontation. And this sure was a lot of blood.

"Honestly? I'm a lil' wobbly right now, but I can manage. Of course, if ya' want to play the role of ma knight and shinin' armor, I'll gladly let ya carry me to the closest infirmary, Ori."

Humoring him with a grin, she stumbled against his shoulder with a grimace as she forced her body upright. A humorous jest in nature, but she might well find herself taking the statement seriously if she doesn't make it to an infirmary soon.

Ori?

Ignoring her lighthearted joking, Orion took their situation seriously. She'll live, but her body could go into a shock any second now. Adrenaline's all that keeping her going. She may have joked about needing a carrier, but Orion's equipped to recognize a wounded animal, be it sentient or not.

Barely taking into consideration whatever banter would blossom from his actions, he easily took Natasha from her feet. Calculations ran through his mind, blueprints of the City before him in precise detail. A direct route would be better, but carrying a wounded woman among the populace sounded troublesome. Alas, he's already plotted out a suitable route that'll take no time at all if he moved expediently.

If Natasha's even conscious, she'd probably notice how quickly Orion moved to the streets, and the ease at which he traversed the area.