Playground Rules [Lerna, Moe]

Crushing rocks, huh? She could do that too, so that was hardly anything special, but then Lerna took it a step further and turned that fine powder into a makeshift piece of armour. At that, Moe could do little but gawk like a child watching a teacher do a demonstration. Though she would have denied it if anyone asked, she was at least a little jealous of being able to just effortlessly do something so cool.

"A mod soul? I think I remember that coming up in class once. Uh. So you're not really like this then?" Her hands gestured to Lerna's frame, with all her curves and claws. "You're something else. I didn't even know a 'mod soul' could get a Zanpakuto, let alone imprint on one, but I suppose you're the expert."

Rubbing the back of her head, pink hair bouncing around as it was carelessly displaced, Moe mused as the woman crouched before her. Was she even a woman? Even a she? This was pretty different from anything else she had expected to run into today. But variety was the spice of life. She had read that somewhere once and it kinda sounded right. Sticking out her tongue, she pushed down all those confusing thoughts and decided to focus on what she could very much understand.

"Not that any of that really matters. You're here aintcha. So, unless you're 'bout to sweep out my legs, wanna get out there and go a few rounds?"

There was an unmistakable bounce in Moe’s step as Lerna accepted her offer, like everything else she had just said had faded away into a distant memory. Which was mostly true, Moe certainly worked hard to retain only the important stuff and if anything else stuck then so be it. Still, as she rocked forwards and began to clear a path through the rabble to some place fit for training rather than watching, there were a few things she wanted to clear up.

“So, if you’re only a pill, do ya like still feel things? Like, if I stabbed ya in the leg would it even affect ya?”

Maybe it was insensitive of her to ask, but Moe had made it pretty clear that she asked first and considered consequences later already.

“Cos I don’t mind really getting into it, but I don’t wanna break things I shouldn’t. Not exactly known for being delicate.”

She chuckled at that, the thought of her fluttering around in a dress like some dainty maid was enough to tickle her amusement. But she did actually want to know the answers to her questions too. Lerna would be a pretty tough opponent anyway, but if she was like some cyborg ninja then it was going to take things to the next level.

Boyfriends and girlfriends? Well, Moe had plenty of those too, because Lerna meant that she had friends and nothing else at all.

"Oh, that's kinda handy then, being able to just hop around and be whatever ya want. And ya can turn it off too, kinda like the best of both worlds. Glad ya had lots of friends though, being a loner is something that only bad guys do."

She was a little more alarmed by the answer to her second line of inquiry, as she hadn't really taken the thoughts that far in her head. Was that something that had happened to Lerna before? Moe really couldn't imagine what being bisected felt like, and frankly, she hoped never to find out. Not that she thought she would, the Machihara boss wasn't ever going to be taken down like that. She was far too tough and strong.

"Well, I wasn't planning on chopping ya that hard anyway. We're here to practice not just tear each other into shreds. Best save that kinda stuff for the real enemy, ya know." Moe chuckled again, her hand soon reaching up to grab the cumbersome sword that was slung across her back, and even then she had to strain a little to reach the hilt atop it. "But I'm tough enough that you won't need to pull your punches either, so let's go."

She didn't wait much longer after that before bounding forward, a pleasant burst of speed kicking in as she sprang forward to deliver the opening punch. Nothing fancy, and certainly trying to test the waters, but with enough weight behind it that it would propel the pink warrior forwards like a missile.

Moe certainly hadn't expected to end it all with a single blow, would have been mighty disappointing for both of them if that was the case, so bracing for the counterattack was already in the forefront of her mind as Lerna darted to one side. Blondie was quick on her feet, not that she had expected otherwise, and Moe dug her feet into the ground to swivel and respond.

"Got that passion in my soul!"

With a chipper little grin, her body twisted away from the incoming strike and allowed her own blade - still pressed against her back - to deflect it. The resounding clash of swords was like music to Moe's ears, her smile seeming to stretch as she hauled the weapon off her back and into an overhead strike. One might have expected it to move slowly, given it was bigger than Moe herself in size, but it seemed like the weight of the sword simply did not affect her. Nor was it lacking in power, as it cleaved through the air with a clear intention to be a dangerous threat.

Whether it connected or not, though, Moe was committed to that momentum. She kicked off the ground and flung herself into the air, dragging Shinsho with her as she continued the swing and pulled it around her in a second now-circular overhead swing. There were a few moments when she could track Lerna's movements as she started up, but after that, it was just the wild spin and the little maniac who was barely behind the wheel.

Ripping her weapon free from the ground was hardly difficult for Moe, even in the middle of her rolling action. She was a master of the butterfly style, after all, so being able to handle herself whilst she was being tossed around and span upside down was like child's play. Still, she was only just able to pull her face clear of Lerna's swipe and earned herself a nick on the cheek for her troubles.

"Doesn't matter if they're surprised or not, I'll squash 'em anyway~"

Lerna might have only shown a flash of her true speed, enough to keep Moe on her toes, but strength was a department where they were both still ramping up. If her opponent had thought it would be easy to charge her down then Moe would be glad to disappoint them, digging in her heels, bearing those blows head-on, and returning in kind to keep any advance in check. There wasn't a chance she was going to show her back and retreat. Not today, not ever.

"You bet. Round these parts, might makes right and I'm gonna be the mightiest!"

Those scales were spreading, Lerna's form perhaps hardening or undergoing some other form of mod-soul transformation that was both cool and intimidating. Moe didn't have any tricks like that, even her Shikai wasn't particularly visually impressive as far as those went, but maybe it meant that Lerna was going to take her seriously. About time. She couldn't get complacent though, much better to keep changing things up and ride the waves.

As another blow came in, seeking to slash her up just as before, Moe threw herself under the swing. There wasn't much in the way of strategy, but defending herself wasn't going to win any points. Dodging low, she attempted to barrel straight into Lerna and toss her onto her back with the pink warrior atop her. Sure, that swing could still come down and give her a good slice on the way, but Moe had the reckoning that she could take it and still knock the woman on her ass. The loss of her weapon was a frustrating sacrifice, but to dive like this was way too risky to keep waving it around lest she impale someone on accident.