As the man lunged at you from the air, you barely had time to react, drawing both of your weapons just in time. You were prepared, but his lunge was faster than expected. Nothing you couldn't handle. Having two weapons was always better than one. Time to show this guy what you were made of.

You parried his spinning strike with your main saber, deflecting it to the side as you lunged with a stabbing motion toward his exposed chest. However, after his failed spin attack, he used his own momentum to kick your blade away, deflecting it upwards and opening your guard. He was fast and strong.

This was bad. Your guard was open. Still, you had a few tricks up your sleeve, you just had to avoid his sword. Luckily, it was far away from you still after his failed spin. You could still lift your weapons in time to block his next swing, though you had to give ground as you were forced to step back-

Something tackled you from behind. It was the man who had been sleeping next to the altar. The sounds of screaming and fighting had finally woken him and, in his startled state, he bolted upright and ran straight into you, making you stumble forward. This… this damned civilian got in the way!

The caped swordsman completed his spin. He tried an ascending slash this time, concealing his attack behind his own torso. You… couldn't see where it was coming from. You blocked in front of you with as wide an 'area' as your two sabers allowed. Would it weaken your defense? Definitely, but it was either that or gambling on a direct hit to your body.

The slash never came. Instead, the man lunged at you with his back turned toward you. Was it a… reverse tackle? What? Why did he fight so strangely?

You tried to deflect his tackle with your sabers, but they had no real momentum behind them. Your edges touched his body, yes, and his Aura flared briefly, but not enough to count as a clean hit. He opened your guard, and this time his slash did come. You did what instinct told you. You moved your Grimm Arm forward to block the attack and cover your face.

SLASH!

There was no Aura in your arm. Well, maybe just a trace, but not nearly enough to absorb the force of the blow. It sent you flying, streaks of black and reddish blood spattering across the altar as the wound split open across your Grimm appendage, the liquid forming a thick arci n the air. It… didn't hurt as badly as you'd expected, but you couldn't assess the damage yet. You spun in the air, ignoring the pain and trying to avoid slamming into the building behind you. You barely managed it, landing with both feet on the wall and pushing off into a more stable posture.

"…Yuck." The man spoke as he swung his arm to the side, flicking your blood from his blade. The sound of dripping liquid came from your arm. You took a look at it and… well, to put it bluntly, it was almost as if your wrist was barely hanging from the open wound. Was it painful? Yes, but not terribly so. Still, that hand was going to be impossible to use. You grabbed your remaining saber, the less battered one, with your only good arm. Damn. This was a serious wound.

"You're quite resilient for something with such a nasty surprise hidden away. Most humans I know would be screaming and shitting their pants with a wound that bad. I would." He started to slowly walk forward, resting his sword on his shoulder. "Now throw away your weapon, and I'll make sure your end is as painless as possible, you freak."

You looked at your arm. Faint black stitches were slowly appearing like tiny spiderwebs across your mangled wrist. It would regenerate. Good, but it would take time. Now, how to deal with this guy? Maybe… maybe you could talk to him. Surrendering was a no-go. You wouldn't simply gift your life away. But defeat him? How? This was a bad position to be in, and it had all happened so suddenly.

"Attacking Huntresses so randomly is surely bad karma. What do you even want from me? I'm not interested in a fight." Half lies, half truths, all stalling, hoping your arm would heal a little faster.

"Bullshit. As far as I know, you're a freak that needs to be put down. You know what's worse than a mindless beast of destruction? One that isn't mindless. Having the gall to disguise yourself as a dead Huntress? Lowest of the low."

He dashed again, trying to stab you while you were weakened. You rolled out of the way, leaving a trail of black blood as you put some distance between you. The building's front wall lay in ruins, the sheer force of his lunge had driven him back inside as the destroyed wall covered everything in a cloud of dust and rubble.

"I'm not a Grimm!" He thought you were a Grimm wearing a human body as a disguise? That… didn't sound too far-fetched for what an advanced, rare Grimm might do. So he had something of a point. He was wrong, of course, but his logic wasn't baseless. "I'm not a shapeshifter or anything like that! I am the real Shelly! I got turned into this because-"

You couldn't finish your sentence. Your heightened hearing caught something extremely fast approaching. A faint wave of light appeared from the darkened interior of the ruined building, cutting through the lingering cloud of smoke. A ranged slash. Its trajectory was… difficult to read, but the early warning gave you just enough time to dodge.

Another came, and you dodged again with a jump to the side. Another. And another. Multiple Aura slashes tore through the cloud towards you. You couldn't dodge all of them, and you were forced to parry a few. You managed, with difficulty, but when the barrage finally stopped you needed a moment to recover. Your sword arm, the healthy one, felt numb. It shook. Parrying and dodging those cutting, Aura-charged attacks had been brutal, even with your enhanced strength. You could see your saber growing more and more chipped with every deflection.

"Yeah, if I were a shapeshifting, skin-stealing, soul-sucking monster, I'd say that too." The man stepped out of the rubble, his greatsword over one shoulder and your other, half-broken saber in his free hand, turning it over as he inspected it. "Drop the act, alright? A Grimm pulling this kind of stunt makes my skin crawl. Grimm that talk? Ugh, just the thought is enough to make me shiver." He was cocky about it, even fake-yawning. This sharp-tongued bastard was toying with you, all because of one lucky blow.

Then you spotted Cerise behind him, half-hidden in the dust and rubble. She was gripping a plank with both hands. She was breathing hard. She was staring at him with pure rage. She… oh no. She was going to try to sneak attack him. The stupid idiot. She was desperate, she could see that you were losing.

> Try to stop the fight and signal Cerise to stand down. Even on the back foot, you won't let her get hurt. Try to reason with him.
> Don’t let her finish that sneak attack, but don't stop it either. You don't want her to be hurt, but it’s either this or death. A gamble. Strike the moment she distracts him. You've been fighting with one weapon for the past few hours. You're not completely disarmed nor uncapable of fighting.
> As painful as it would be for both of you, maybe using your Semblance is the right call. Draw him away from the fight, up to the rooftops. You're far better in the air, and up there, gravity works in your favor.
> Other (Write in)

>>6407780
>Try to stop the fight and signal Cerise to stand down. Even on the back foot, you won't let her get hurt. Try to reason with him.

>>6407780
> Try to stop the fight and signal Cerise to stand down. Even on the back foot, you won't let her get hurt. Try to reason with him.