The Ronin of the North p2

A hulking form covered in white matted fur, huge hands each the size of a rich man’s carriage, calloused and scared from battle. Drumming its chest as he loomed over a small, at least in comparison woman, prone in the snow trying to back peddle away from the beast. “Yeti…” The Ronin thought. But he knew he didn’t have time to think or complain about it. With a snap of his wrist and a forcing of all the ki he could muster in a short time, he swung the blade sending an arc of pale blue light zipping through the air like a crescent moon.

The blast of kinetic energy slammed into the yeti’s flank. It wasn’t enough to cut it, but it did cause the beast to rock and draw its attention to Masayoshi. The Yeti lunged forward moving like a gorilla, using its large arms for momentum more than its legs. Masayoshi was stunned by its speed and didn’t have time to get out of the way before it was on him. Managing to block at the last second Masayoshi redirected the guard into a slash, cutting deeply between the yeti’s middle and ring fingers. The monster howled with anger and took a step back. As it did, swinging the injured arm and leaving flecks of crimson on the pure white snow.

As the yeti angrily observed its injure Masayoshi rolling his dominant arm. “Rusty…” he groaned to himself. The yeti staggered back a few more steps grabbing a large icicle and hurling it at Masayoshi. Worn out from getting here, The Ronin wasn’t fast enough to move out of the way completely and the ice skimmed the side of his head just narrowly not taking his head clean off. A small trickle of blood ran down between his eye and ear. “Damn it all.” he said.

Masayoshi stopped, closed his eyes and took a deep steady breath. “No hesitation.” he said as he slowly exhaled. When he opened his eyes they glowed with the same fiery pale blue as his initial attack. To the woman who the beast was hunting, the man with the sword would have seemed to vanish, leaving nothing but a crater in the snow where he once stood. But to Masayoshi time stood nearly still, moving at a speed so fast the snow didn’t even have time to take in his footsteps.

The woman watched as suddenly the confused beast exploded in several deep but superfluous cuts. Though the beast was injured it swung a massive hand sidelong into Masayoshi sending him flying and tumbling into the snow, the moment he got footing the ground exploded into a powdery mist once again and more deep cuts seemingly appeared from nowhere on the beast's hide. The Yeti swayed as Masayoshi appeared once again stradling its head. With a quick, cold motion and a near primal growl, he sank the blade to his guard in the beast’s head and rode it to the ground.

Masayoshi spat blood into the snow and limped his way over to the woman. Hoping she spoke the common language. “Are you okay?” he asked, offering her a hand up.

“How did you…?” she pointed to the yeti.

“Luck… and not without its consequences,” he said, pulling her up from the snow. “Come on, let's get you some place warm…”