Scene #6501: The Princess and the Vampire

Owner	Pose
Sarracenia	After getting planted in the pavement a couple days ago, Sarracenia feels like she needs to work off a bit of soreness and get a bit more experience. She lost an entire airship and still hadn't been victorious. So, she sent out a general request for an opponent in the Shrine of Adversity. Of course, whatever opponent does arrive might question whether she should be fighting at all. Even though she isn't too bad off, the princess does still have mummy-like bandage wrappings around her arms and over one of her eyes. She is currently in the center of the arena, slowly twirling in what seems to be a warm up exercise with her hammer. A hammer that is as tall as she is, and probably quite a bit heavier. The arena she has chosen is a large multi road intersection in the middle of a city. The intersection itself is quite large, giving them a nice flat area to fight, but there is also space to go fighting through the city.
Touta Konoe	"Hey, I remember you. You're that one girl from that mall with Kotone and the mouse person from before. At least...I think that's you under there?" The one who approaches Sarracenia probably doesn't seem like much of a fighter himself. After all he's young. Really young. He looks like he might be in his early teens at best, and a little on short side if at that. A boy enters into the arena with spiked black-hair, a black jacket and pants, along with a red t-shirt. Even the sword he rests on his shoulder looks pitch black in appearence. As he approaches the center of the arena as she does her practice swings an eyebrow is raised, "Hey uh, you okay? I know that the shrine can patch of wounds from a fight but you look like you're pretty banged up already."
Sarracenia	Sarracenia blinks before looking over with her one uncovered blue eye. "Oh. Yes, I remember you as well." She looks him over as her twirling comes to a stop. "...hmm. Forgive me, but I am not sure I ever got your name. As for me, I am well enough to do a bit of training. And I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I need some if I want to be a hero so that I do not need a hero to save me." She looks to the side and hmphs softly. "...since so few have ever even tried..." she mutters grumpily. She then gives her hammer a rapid twirl around herself, making it clear she knows how to handle the oversized weapon with speed and grace, then levels it at Touta. "I am ready whenever you are. And do not think that Princess Sarracenia Sundew shall be an easy target simply because she is not at one hundred percent!"
Touta Konoe	"Oh, don't sweat it, name's Touta. Nice meeting ya again princess." As she look him over he really does just seem like a kid with a sword. Like someone who just decided all of a sudden to fight on a childish whim or a sort. At the very least he seemed calm enough when the hammer was placed level with him, not even flinching as it was lower. "Still, training to be your own hero huh? Why you feel ashamed about something like that? It's awesome you're going out of the way to learn to fight for yourself. If that's the case I'd definitely be glad to spar with ya. But if that's the case you should know in a real fight..." Without another word Touta darts forward at Sarra attempting to parry her hammer, "People don't always fight fair!" If her defense had faltered instead of slashing her with his blade, he'd jam his fist into her center of mass.
Sarracenia	"It is not that I am embarrassed to be my own hero, it is that I am ashamed to not already be strong enough. I never heard of Mario or Peach having to work on their strength." she replies, getting a bit caught up in the discussion and thus leaving herself open when Touta does dart in and knock her hammer aside before hitting her in the stomach. The princess gasps as the wind is knocked out of her and she crumples forward a bit before hopping back. "Nnng...s-so I have found." she says, her eye narrowed at Touta. "And it would seem you are much more than a mere child." she says, smoothing out her black leather battle dress as she catches her breath. "Very well then!" She charges toward Touta and makes a short hop before going into a spin. Her hammer is soon going fast enough to blur a bit as she twirls her way in toward him and trying to aim that heavy hammer head at his side.
Touta Konoe	Her swing doesn't seem well thought out at first glance. Twirling around made it seem like she was full of openings exposing herself to retaliation should she swing at the wrong time. But then her speed really picks and his vision of her hammer distorts. Before he even has time to raise his blade to buffer the blow. All he can really try to do is ride the wave, and that means going with the momentum of the hammer...Which still sends him rolling amongst the dirt. In fact, his arm looks really black and blue on the side she had swung that hammer. It doesn't look pretty to look at, at all. He slowly clinches his teeth with a smile. "Well, no idea who this Mario or Peach is, but I totally get where you're coming from about not feeling strong enough. Especially when you see so many crazy people in the multiverse. But...That's all the more reason to show up here right? So I think you're at least on the way..." On the way to what you might ask? Well he doesn't really finish his statement. Instead he begins his own attack. Like how her hammer had blurred previously, Touta's body began to distort as she watched him begin to push forward. It definitely seemed to be the case that he wasn't just some punk kid. Or if he was a punk kid there was more to him than meets the eye. It'd only be once he was right in front of her though that the blur would dissipate, just enough time for Sarracenia to see him swing his blade into her side as well. Though instead of striking with his blade, it looked more like he was slapping her with the back of it instead. Still...It'd definitely hurt one side or the other.
Sarracenia	The spinning turns out to serve a few purposes. First, it helps to ensure that even if one swing misses, hopefully a subsequent one will hit. It also helps with balance while using such a heavy weapon, and keeps her moving so that when Touta does come in for his attack it is partially parried by the spinning hammer. Once he is in closer, Sarracenia leaps again, still spinning. She rotates in air gracefully, channeling the momentum from the twirling into a quick and powerful downward smash. Powerful enough that whether she hits him or just the ground, a small shockwave is produced! "...on my way to proving that stupid stone in Lilian's world wrong!"
Touta Konoe	Sarracenia's attack proves to be fruitful. Even in a spin her mallet finds it's mark and slams into Touta, and unfortunately for him that shockwave ends up going straight through his body. He can feel his bones rumble, infact Sarra can probably even feel them start to crack under the weight of her hammer. He lays on the floor for a moment trying to pick himself up. "Oh, that stone thing...Yeah, I know that at least. Man... I don't know what it rated you as but whatever it was that was still one mean smack..." Touta starts pushing off the ground with both arms. His hand prior that was black and blue, seemed...Fine? Maybe she just imagined that last swing was more effective than it actually was. Maybe it was just cause of the lighting somehow? Hard to say. "Alright, guess I gotta try to take it up a notch myself. 2000 FOLD!" The boy shouts as he presses forward once again bringing his blade above his head to slam down into Sarra. Though whether she blocked or not, just like her hammer she'll come to realize that this sword somehow got real heavy real quick. Heavy like...Like...Someone stacked several Bowsers on top of each other and decided to weaponize it!
Sarracenia	Sarracenia gives her hair a smug flip after her attack and Touta's comment. "It rated me as nothing. Not even a blip." she say, her smugness turning back to a frown as she thinks about it. "Me! The princess of the Sundew Kingdom! And it thought I was nothing! Whoever made that thing obviously did not calibrate it correctly. If it had not been for a good cause, I might have just smashed the stupid thing then and the-" Speaking of smashing things...Sarra was once again getting carried away talking. It isn't too surprising that a self-important princess likes to talk. This time she is cut off as she realizes Touta is driving down on her with that sword. She brings her hammer up to try and parry...but the haft of the weapon proves to be much less protective than the head. With a pained cry she is smashed into the ground in her own Sarra-shaped crater. She is trembling and wincing as she slowly lifts herself up. "I...I thought that arm...was badly injured..." she pants out through the pain. Not just of the attack, but of her already battered body letting her knkow that it was not wise to go fighting things so soon after fighting other things. Once she is finally (and barely) back on her feet, the princess fixes an intense gaze on Touta. "Usually I wouldn't use this attack in a city, buuut...this is the Shrine so..." She reaches into her satchel and pulls out...a cell phone? "Captain, bring it in!" she says, then hangs up and puts it back in her bag. She then takes off toward the exit. Is she leaving? No, some piranha plants are rolling in a cannon so large she could stand up inside of it with a bit of room to spare! She runs to stand alongside it, and with a deep KA-THUNK something that is very obviously a huge artillery shell but with a shark face slides into view. "GO! BONZAI BILL!!" she exclaims with just a bit of maniacal glee. The cannon fires, and a shell that must be larger than most trucks is fire. But, rather than screaming through the air it is about the speed a thrown baseball or something...while doggedly tracking its target. Touta. And when it reaches or even gets close to him, it explodes. It is a multi-stage explosion. First, several rapid HE explosions which are followed by a larger and even more violent explosion that leaves a mushroom cloud in the air. And as the shockwaves and rumbling fades out, Sarracenia can't help a bit of child-like laughing. Explosions are so much fun!
Touta Konoe	"That's not right..." He recalls how that orb worked. He knew that there was a grading system to it, but it never really rated somone as nothing. "I took that test too, and it doesn't rate people as just nothing. Wait do you think the white meant...?" He doesn't finish his statement but there is a chuckle, but it doesn't sound to be offensive or at least it wasn't intended to, but perhaps that was up to the Sarra to decide. Unfortunately just as he's about to explain himself, she does something else. "Wait, what the...Hey princess, weren't you saying you were trying to get better?! What's the point if you're just gonna call for back up then?" Though it seems it's too late for any of that. She's already brough a huge cannon and it's already firing quite...A strange cannon at him. It's appearence aside what was most odd about it was more that it just seemed...Slow. For a while, Touta doesn't hae an issue dodging it at all. In fact, it almost looks like he's playing a game of tag and it's only emphasized to that degree by the fact this cannon was chasing him. While he could probably try dodging this thing indefinitely he decides that if this thing was just going to keep chasing him till he was hit...He'd accomodate it. He starts lowering his speed just enough so that the cannon is just close to him without getting a chance to hit him. Closer...Closer...He continues running and running until Sarra notices something...He's running back towards Sarra along with her little cannon. And just when he's close enough he tries to move out of the way to see if it'll catch her. What happens instead though is not as glamorous. His blade accidently bumps against the shark canon...And both Sarra and Touta will end up getting caught in a multi-stage explosion. Lots of explosions that are followed by bigger explosions. Are explosions still fun when you're the one getting caught in them?
Sarracenia	Yes, explosions are so much fun! ...until that moment you realize that the explosion is much closer than you thought it was going to be. Sarra's laughing dies off in favor of widening eyes and clenched teeth. She actually dives into the cannon itself for cover...which turns out to be a bad idea as the Bonzai Bill actually lodges itself in the barrel again before exploding. So, while Touta did still get hit...Sarracenia was at ground zero. When the dust clears, the cannon is split apart like a banana peel, and poor Sarra is lying there, charred and smoking, her battle dress in tatters and most of the bandages as well. Luckily, this is the Shrine, and when it resets she looks much better. She is still lying there on her face though. Being already exhausted and then going through that is a recipie for passing out, at least for a while. The piranha plants who brought the cannon in just casually wheel it back out. They've seen their princess go through this enough times to know she is fine, and apparently don't think they should wake her or try to recover her in this instance.
Touta Konoe	Touta ends up in a similar situation none the less after all. Burnt crispy at first, covered in soot and dust. Smoke protruding from his tattered clothes for a moment before the Shrine does its thing and begins the restoration process. Thank goodness right? What would happen to this poor child if not for the shrine? Oh wait... The most surprising thing to see though when the smoke settles is that none of her subordinates decide to help her up. She was injured already wasn't she? Someone should help... So that person will probably be Touta. He walks over and tries to hoist her onto her feet and act as a support if she needed it. "Hey, you alright? I didn't think much of that canon at first but that thing really packs a punch."
Sarracenia	The princess looks woozy as she is helped to her feet, and wobbles a bit before leaning on Touta. "Oh, yes..." she says dazedly. "The Bonzai bill is v-very powerful, hehehe..." She actually fuzzles Touta's hair a bit and giggles. "But, it is like you said. That stone rated me as barely even white, claiming I did not even have potential to be strong. But, I can still be strong right? Even if I use all these items and weapons to do it?" Her senses clear up after a little bit and she moves to stand on her own again. Then she takes a deep breath before letting it out in a long sigh. "But, I am not sure I can be a hero when I am...shall we say...not durable." she says, looking at one of her arms and feeling along the bandages.
Touta Konoe	Huh, been a while since his hair's been fuzzled. it's probably more spikey than it was before if that was even possible. "Hmmm, I don't know much about that stone so I can't say one way or the other. But if you had any white at all I think that means you have room for improvement. It's just up to you how you decide you want to improve I guess...Even if that means getting strong using those weapons. It's all up to you on that one." After all, people got strong learning to use weapons all the time. He was definitely no exception to that. As she starts to move off on her own though he lets her go just standing close enough to be of help if she found herself tripping up again. And that's when she brings up a really interesting question about heroes... "Well...I don't know. If you want to be like a soldier or something then yeah, you'd probably want to be a bit tougher. But uh, I think there's alot more to being a hero than just being tough. If that's all it took than all tough guys might just end up doing it. Here think of it this way, you ever hear of those Servants all around the Multiverse? Well supposedly they're all considered Heroic Spirits. But I know personally that a few of them can't really take a hit. I guess what I'm getting at is...There's plenty of different kinds of heroes, and different ways to be heroic than just being a good boxer, ya know what I mean?"
Sarracenia	Sarra continues staring at her arms as she listens to Touta, even lifting one and looking her hand over. "But...can you save people if you are unable to stand up to the evildoers who would harm them?" she asks in an introspective way. "And...can you be a hero when so few seem to be able to stand your company?" She is still holding her hand up, inspecting it disinterestedly. She blinks, then laughs a bit. "Heroic Spirits...what a laugh. From what I have seen, the spirits themselves are not really heroic. They are merely strong and...handsome." She seems a both a bit bitter and a bit enchanted about that last part for some reason. "Unless they are called Archer. Then they are just annoying." she adds.
Touta Konoe	He's not really sure why it is that she's looking at her hands, but when she asks her questions he just flat out answers. "Of course you can!" At this point he walks over to her and lowers the hand she holds up so that it's if she were to look at it, she'd be looking at him too. "It's true that someone who can fight off the bad guys is definitely someone who can save people, but that's not the only way is there? Don't doctors save those soliders who fight, and save people who get sick? Don't blacksmiths or something make the armor and swords that help the soldiers? Don't farmers keep people from starving? Being a soldier might seem the most heroic thing to ya, but you should know that isn't the only way to save people." Now when she mentions that most heroic spirits aren't really heroic he... "Okay, maybe they don't always appear like they sound. But uh...I think that just goes to prove the point though. And even if it doesn't think about this. The main Paladin guy, I think his name is Fairfax or something? I've heard that he barely even fights but he's ended up finding ways to help save lots of people that need it just by talking to them and pointing them in the right direction." He slowly lowers her hand down as he puts his own hand behind his back, "Though I guess coming from a guy like me that probably doesn't mean much. Still if I had to give my fifty-cents, I think that being a hero, like getting stronger, or learning to get along with people better is just something ya gotta work on. Who knows, maybe if you do the next time you try Lilian's test you'll be more than just white."
Sarracenia	Sarracenia's gaze follows her hand until she is looking at Touta, and she listens to him with a bit of a distant look on her face. "I do not want to be one of those behind the scenes kinds of heroes though. I didn't even want to be a hero at all until I realized no hero was going to come for me, just like no villain thought me worthy of kidnapping." she says. When it occurs to her that Touta is holding her hands, she blinks and blushes just a bit before pulling it back. Even though he looks like a little kid, it is still kind of embarrassing. "Yes...and it seems I have much work to do." she says, then smiles just a bit. "Thank you for your time, Touta. I should return to my kingdom and get some proper rest now."