A Meeting Of Blonde And Blue (Leona/Armina)

The Fourth Seat was right. Leona had been focusing on the left shoulder a bit too much, but there was a reason to that beyond getting tunnel vision or falling into a rut. She had been trying to stack the deck in her favor by possibly landing a hit to that area and making it harder for Armina to wield her Zankaputo with both hands, but she had persisted by hoping that the third time would be the charm due to the whirling slash favoring speed over striking power. Targeting the left shoulder had failed repeatedly to the point the Fourth Seat was moved to comment on it, so Leona would take the hint and try a different approach.

Leona first had to contend with the blue-haired Shinigami's counterattack, which came in the form of a horizontal swing that was made at an unexpected height. The blonde quickly raised her sword in a two-handed grip to block the blow and managed to succeed in doing so, but the timing was a lot closer than Leona would have liked. She was not going to get very far by trying to go toe-to-toe with Armina, so she would have to try something else. Maybe a speed-based approach would work better than trying to fight on the Fourth Seat's terms.

With that in mind Leona backed two steps away from her opponent, then performed another quick left-to-right spin. This time she spun towards Armina with her Zankaputo held over her head in her left hand and performed two full revolutions that carried her to within striking distance before seamlessly performing a third that would be the source of the attack. When the third one was nearly finished Leona twisted the wrist of her left hand to hold the edge of the blade outward and came to a stop before lashing out in a left-to-right slash aimed at Armina's stomach. The momentum of her spin carried her arm through the motion, but since she usually favored her right hand she was trading some striking power and a bit of accuracy for speed, tradeoffs that might give Armina a chance to defend herself.

Leona was not too surprised to see Armina not only block her attack, but block with a forceful swing that was so strong it made her have to spin to avoid losing her footing and opening herself up to an attack that could end the match on the spot. The blonde was impressed with how quickly the Fourth Seat had devised a counter to her new style of Zanjutsu, which was a style her older sister Lucia employed and Leona had observed her use in several sparring matches with their brother Leonidas. The youngest Sheridan used an inferior knock-off of Lucia's style because she was not quite fast enough to use it to its fullest, did not understand the finer points of her sister's style because she had no formal training in it, and her preference of a more balanced style that kept her feet on the ground. However, Leona decided to use what she knew in an effort to overwhelm Armina with speed, something that was clearly not happening.

Before the blonde had any more time to reflect on the shortcomings of using a style of Zanjutsu she had no real training in she saw the Fourth Seat attack not with a zankaputo strike but with a kick just after the blonde had stopped the spin brought about by the force of Armina's block. It seemed that Armina wanted to test her knowledge of Hakuda as well as her ability to think on the fly. With little time to react Leona tried to step to the side to avoid the incoming kick, but it was just too fast. She was hit in the stomach and Armina could hear the air leave Leona, but the blonde was not finished.

She quickly recovered from the kick and decided to fight fire with fire. Leona got within Hakuda range, then performed a spinning jump that went from left to right. When she was about to face the blue-haired Shinigami Leona kicked out with her right foot aimed at the side of Armina's head. Leaving the ground for a jump attack was a risky move, but it had become clear that a cautious approach would not get her very far against the Fourth Seat.

Leona's attempt to attack the Fourth Seat using a spinning kick had backfired in a spectacular way. Armina had blocked it and pushed against her leg while the blonde was still in the air, causing her to land awkwardly and enter a brief period of vulnerability as she regained her footing. Demonstrating that she was consistent in addition to strong, Armina quickly took advantage of the blonde's predicament to attack using a leaping punch aimed at the latter's head. The punch was executed in a way that resembled a comic book superhero flying through the air... that was a technique Leona had not seen covered in any Hakuda course at the Shinigami Academy, but it looked like it would really hurt if it landed.

Scrambling to dodge the fist aimed at her head, Leona quickly and awkwardly took a half-step back and twisted backwards. Armina's fist passed so close to her face that she felt the air from the Fourth Seat's arm on her right cheek. Having avoided the attack, Leona quickly retaliated in a way that did not involve jumping or spinning. She used a straight punch aimed at Armina's face, but since there was no way of predicting how the latter would land there was a chance that the blonde's counterattack would miss. At least a missed or blocked punch had a reduced chance of leaving her vulnerable like the spinning kick had when it had been blocked.

To Leona's surprise her punch hit her opponent in the face despite the latter's unpredictable trajectory and landing speed. The Fourth Seat moved surprisingly fast for a woman of her stature, so the blonde was uncertain as to whether she would be able to land a hit or if her fist would connect with empty air. The proof of her success showed on the blue-haired Shinigami's face, but it would take more than one lucky hit to triumph over the Fourth Seat.

Armina did not retaliate with another display of her prowess in Hakuda. Instead she switched to Zanjutsu. Leona welcomed the challenge because the Fourth Seat was both a good test of her skills and the most thrilling fight the unseated Shinigami had had in a long time. The numerous Hollows she had fought during World War IV had nothing on Armina.

The blonde had regained stable footing after the awkward dodging of Armina's punch, so she was able to see the blade descending on a course for her right shoulder and dodge it with a big leap backwards before it could connect. Once Leona landed she used quick footwork to close in to zanpakuto range before taking up the elaborate stabbing grip she had employed earlier and making two quick, short stabs at Armina. One was aimed at the Fourth Seat's right shoulder and the second aimed at her torso.

Armina had seen Leona employ that form of attack before and was a skilled user of Zanjutsu for defense as well as offense, so the blonde was not guaranteed success on either stab. That did not matter a whole lot to her, though. Her real intent was to keep pressure on Armina so that the latter had a harder time building up any momentum.

Armina, who had skillfully defended herself from Leona's latest attempt at offense with another good display of defensive Zanjutsu. Armina made the deflections look effortless, a display which was a testament to her skill and a demonstration of why she was not to be taken lightly. Leona did not have much time for admiration because the Fourth Seat attacked with two horizontal slashes aimed directly at her midsection.

Leona saw the left-to-right slash coming and moved to block it with her sword using a two-handed grip, but the Fourth Seat's attack was stronger than it looked because it broke through the blonde's guard with sheer force and batted Leona's sword aside. The follow-up slash, one that moved from right to left, was unable to be fully dodged because the blonde mistimed her half-step back and as a result Leona felt a cut on her midsection and noticed that her uniform was cut along the target area. She felt the unmistakable warmth of blood flowing and looked down: thankfully the wound was not too deep, but Armina could easily see the path of the shallow slice if she were paying close enough attention to her opponent.

The unseated Shinigami took a quiet, shallow breath and took a full step back, then took a step forward while quickly performing a spin where she turned from right to left and raised her zanpakuto above her head with her right hand in the lead and her left hand on the bottom of the grip as she turned to face left. Just before she fully faced Armina she brought her weapon down in a diagonal left-to-right slash aimed at Armina's left shoulder and came to a stop after the follow-through.

Leona's attack had been telegraphed by her spin and she was not sure if she could power through the Fourth Seat's guard like the latter had gotten through hers, but it was worth a try. If she were really lucky she could land a hit, but getting anything by the vigilant blue-haired Shinigami would be a challenge. However, Leona wanted a challenge and Armina was doing a very good job of giving the blonde a real workout.