She's seen him fight, though, and knows that his comfortable attitude isn't hubris. With a mere flick of her wrist, her weapons slide into ready places: her shield settled comfortably on her forearm, and Metempsyche in the other hand. For a moment, she closes her eyes, taking in a deep breath - and letting it out a second later. When she opens her eyes again, she looks steadier, somehow.
It might be polite to give warning. He did tell her to say the word, after all. However, Pyrrha's habitual politeness tends to disappear when it comes to battle.
She lunges forward, bringing her shield up toward his face as one foot jerks out to try and catch his ankles and knock him down. The thing about fighting Pyrrha, he may learn, is it's a bit like being hit by a hammer... and then flattened by a gong once suitably distracted but the hammer hit. ]
[Fortunately for Neptune, his greatest strengths are his versatility and nimble reflexes— Sun easily has him beat in raw strength, but there's certainly something to be said for fast reaction time. You can't be flattened if the enemy can't hit you. He hadn't expected she would actually give him a verbal cue, and he smirks as she launches herself forward— she's fast, too, and has a reputation for being untouchable, but that only makes this more interesting.
It's a narrow miss, but he's aware enough of his surroundings that he avoids being tripped with a quick sidestep, swinging his guandao upwards to collide with her shield and keep it from making contact with his face. He uses the momentum from that swing to launch himself backwards, pushing off of her shield in the process, though sparks of electricity roll across its surface in his wake.]
Brutal.
[But he doesn't seem particularly bothered, and grins as he uses his own weapon to vault himself upwards, quickly shifting to energy gun configuration and firing two blasts directly at her in rapid succession.]
[ With feverish quickness, she extends Metempsyche into its shortsword formation and deflects the energy blasts, because that's absolutely something you can do by basic RWBY physics. Some of it sends tingles up her weapon and her arm, dissipating at the elbow. It might hurt, if she didn't have her reserves of Aura on her side.
He's martialing his energy, clearly. It's a sound strategy!
Pyrrha decides to break through it; ranged combat has never been her style, although it's certainly doable. It just - just isn't fun. She lunges forward again, creating an invisible magnetic attraction between her shield, as she throws it, and his weapon. This turns an already strong throw into something that is, as he said, brutal. Whether he was struck or dodged, she follows up without even giving him time to recover. The shield comes back to her arm like it was bouncing seamless. Several swings toward him, overhand, underhand, going for his feet and then his weapon. He isn't allowed more than a split second to think. ]
[He reconfigures his weapon once more as she aims her shield; she moves quickly, and he only has time to act on instinct in response. Her shield squarely his the shaft of his guandao, sending him reeling backwards a few steps, barely maintaining his grip, and he narrows his eyes as her shield returns to her in a flawless arc. How—? Even with the liberal physics of their world are, even with all her skill, it's almost too perfect.
His quick reflexes are on his side as she swings towards him, and he deflects each blow in turn, though she's likely to wear him down if she keeps up at such a relentless pace without him doing something to throw her off-kilter. He exerts more force on the last deflection, sending a surge of electricity from the blade of his guandao into Metempsyche on contact, intending to force her back.]
[ He succeeds in that much. Pyrrha's feet drag back a few steps, but she tells herself that taking the space he offers her is a sound strategic move. It's all about perspective!
As far as strategies go, wearing him down is rudimentary, almost crude. She's aware of it. Maybe it's her own shortcoming as a combatant that she can't think of anything more clever. Muscle memory makes more sense to her, always has.
Gliding forward on a foot, she's abruptly behind him, and doesn't give Neptune a chance to process the change before she's coming in hard and fast - again - and barely batting an eyelash or suffering a hair out of place. Metempsyche lengthens to its spear formation faster than the eye can see and she twirls it like an extension of herself. ]
[It's sudden, and her movement is too smooth for him to be able to accurately predict what she's going to do next— her attack lands, his Aura shielding him from the worst of it even as he turns to meet her, using the shaft of his own weapon to try and block any attempted second attack before adjusting his angle to strike back. He feigns an arcing attack, but rather than swing his blade towards her, he uses it to vault himself up and away from the ground, nimbly keeping his balance as he aims a hard kick towards her abdomen with both feet.]
[ He cuts a neat figure through the air and strikes Pyrrha soundly, causing her to crumble. Just a bit, though. She recoups quick, digging her heels into the dirt and throwing herself back into the fray without a second thought. It was a good hit, but it didn't compromise her own Aura. It merely lowered it a fraction, expending it as a shield to keep too much damage from being done. So far, Neptune as an opponent isn't a let down.
[Well, that he doesn't expect. Maybe from Sun, but not from Pyrrha— as surprises go, however, it presents an interesting challenge. He can't deflect her head with his weapon, but he can use his own Aura to soften the blow, and does exactly that as she plows into him, stumbling backwards but managing to keep his balance well enough to stay upright.
He laughs, breathless, and uses his guandao to vault himself backwards and gain distance before pulling it into an upwards arc, leaving a searing, electric-blue crescent of energy in its wake as he moves to strike, letting its long reach work in his favor.]
[ Hey, Sun is a great fighter! It makes sense she would borrow from him.
His strike is rather telegraphed, although she can admire the fluidness in his movements. Pyrrha crouches down just so, pulling Metempsyche back into its shortsword formation and bracing it against her shield to withstand the oncoming blow.
Hidden behind her shield, Pyrrha spreads her fingers. A quick and deft magnetic pulse is all she needs to extend Neptune's momentum just so. His weapon should swing back a little harder than it really ought to, forcing him to scramble.
Now, if only she knew what else on his person was metal! ]
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no subject
She's seen him fight, though, and knows that his comfortable attitude isn't hubris. With a mere flick of her wrist, her weapons slide into ready places: her shield settled comfortably on her forearm, and Metempsyche in the other hand. For a moment, she closes her eyes, taking in a deep breath - and letting it out a second later. When she opens her eyes again, she looks steadier, somehow.
It might be polite to give warning. He did tell her to say the word, after all. However, Pyrrha's habitual politeness tends to disappear when it comes to battle.
She lunges forward, bringing her shield up toward his face as one foot jerks out to try and catch his ankles and knock him down. The thing about fighting Pyrrha, he may learn, is it's a bit like being hit by a hammer... and then flattened by a gong once suitably distracted but the hammer hit. ]
no subject
It's a narrow miss, but he's aware enough of his surroundings that he avoids being tripped with a quick sidestep, swinging his guandao upwards to collide with her shield and keep it from making contact with his face. He uses the momentum from that swing to launch himself backwards, pushing off of her shield in the process, though sparks of electricity roll across its surface in his wake.]
Brutal.
[But he doesn't seem particularly bothered, and grins as he uses his own weapon to vault himself upwards, quickly shifting to energy gun configuration and firing two blasts directly at her in rapid succession.]
no subject
He's martialing his energy, clearly. It's a sound strategy!
Pyrrha decides to break through it; ranged combat has never been her style, although it's certainly doable. It just - just isn't fun. She lunges forward again, creating an invisible magnetic attraction between her shield, as she throws it, and his weapon. This turns an already strong throw into something that is, as he said, brutal. Whether he was struck or dodged, she follows up without even giving him time to recover. The shield comes back to her arm like it was bouncing seamless. Several swings toward him, overhand, underhand, going for his feet and then his weapon. He isn't allowed more than a split second to think. ]
no subject
His quick reflexes are on his side as she swings towards him, and he deflects each blow in turn, though she's likely to wear him down if she keeps up at such a relentless pace without him doing something to throw her off-kilter. He exerts more force on the last deflection, sending a surge of electricity from the blade of his guandao into Metempsyche on contact, intending to force her back.]
no subject
As far as strategies go, wearing him down is rudimentary, almost crude. She's aware of it. Maybe it's her own shortcoming as a combatant that she can't think of anything more clever. Muscle memory makes more sense to her, always has.
Gliding forward on a foot, she's abruptly behind him, and doesn't give Neptune a chance to process the change before she's coming in hard and fast - again - and barely batting an eyelash or suffering a hair out of place. Metempsyche lengthens to its spear formation faster than the eye can see and she twirls it like an extension of herself. ]
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no subject
...
Impulsively, she goes for a headbutt. ]
no subject
He laughs, breathless, and uses his guandao to vault himself backwards and gain distance before pulling it into an upwards arc, leaving a searing, electric-blue crescent of energy in its wake as he moves to strike, letting its long reach work in his favor.]
no subject
His strike is rather telegraphed, although she can admire the fluidness in his movements. Pyrrha crouches down just so, pulling Metempsyche back into its shortsword formation and bracing it against her shield to withstand the oncoming blow.
Hidden behind her shield, Pyrrha spreads her fingers. A quick and deft magnetic pulse is all she needs to extend Neptune's momentum just so. His weapon should swing back a little harder than it really ought to, forcing him to scramble.
Now, if only she knew what else on his person was metal! ]