The duel has started.

Shien sat in his usual spot on Mac Anu bridge, drumming his fingers, whistling tunes, and doing anything else he could to kill time before his appointment. After a while, he pulled up the game's menu and checked the time. "Hmmm... five more mintutes," he said to himself. "Bah! I might as well go now." He rolled off of the rail, landing on his feet with a squat and promptly stood up, walking straight towards the chaos gate. When he reached the spinning disc, he spoke aloud. "Delta Hidden... oh, man. What was the rest of it. Passed on? Passed off? Oh! Passed over! Um, Delta Hidden Passed Over Sea of Sand." The golden rings surrounded him and took him away from Mac Anu before he could notice the bewildered stares of the more experience players.

When he arrived, Shien stared out into the endless field of dunes and craggy structures. The wind whipped about him, causing his canvas cloak to billow in the wind. "Not exactly what I'd call charming, but it'll do." He stretched and started to pace back and forth as he waited for his opponent to arrive. However, he only took a few steps before stopping. He took one more step. *Crunch!* Then another. *Crunch!* "Wow..." He couldn't beleive the detail that went into The World. He started to to walk a little faster, shouting "Crunch!" in unison with each step he took in the sand. After a while, he used his shouts of "Crunch!" as notes to sing the "Charge" theme made popular by baseball games, nearly forgetting that his opponent would be showing up any time now.

SP: 10/10

I opened my eyes, and ran quickly across Mac Anu. I'm late! I'm late for my duel! Oh, Shien's going to kill me! I pulled my Brave Sword out of its waist sheath, and dashed across the bridge. I can't believe I'm so late! What was I thinking? No time to say bye to Tsuriki... I gotta run! I slid to a stop in front of the spinning Chaos Gate. "Δ Bursting Passed Over Sea of Sand!" I yelled, and I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, I was standing before Shien in the middle of a desert. "I'm so sorry! I just sort of forgot about my duel!" Breathing heavily, I calmed down. Breathe... breathe... that's it. Now talk. "I am sorry I am late, Shien-san. I am ready for the duel, and, seeing as I am higher level, you may make the first move." I dropped to a crouch, with one leg bent underneath me, and one leg stuck out to the side. I held my sword straight out, just above my leg. "Come on. Let's get this over with."

SP: 15/15

"Crunch! Crunch! Cru--" Shien stopped his little march in the sand and quickly snapped to attention when he saw Midaki arrive. After listening to Midaki's explanation and apology, Shien delivered a formal bow like a professional martial artist about to square off in a tournament. "Very well," he said as he casually drew his sword. "But don't go easy on me because of my level, okay?"

Shien smirked as he circled around Midaki, his blade slung over his shoulder while the wind whipped at his cloak and hair. He stopped his pacing once Midaki was directly downwind from him and crouched, extending his free hand out while the other tightly held his sword. "Gan..." he started to call out, only to break into a loud scream as he suddenly charged his opponent. His free hand reached back and grabbed the handle of his sword, making it look as if he was prepared to strike with it, only to kick up a cloud of sand at Midaki's face. Shien continued his charge, however, not caring if the dirt had blinded him as he had hoped as he shouted, "Hayabusa!" He slashed once and carried himself around with enough momentum for the second slash of his physical attack before landing on the ground, ambling on his feet as he nearly stumbled down to the ground. "Gah," he started to admonish himself, "I need to practice that one a bit more."

SP: 1/10

"Very well," Shien replied, and he began to circle-strafe around me. "Don't go easy on me because of my level." Suddenly, he stopped strafing, and charged me with his sword up. I raised my sword to block, when suddenly I had a faceful of sand. Damn! I did a quick back handspring to get out of his range just in time to hear "Hayabasa!" I landed in a crouching position, and wiped the sand off of my face just in time to see the end of my opponent's attack: a powerful overhead slash. This guy's a newb? Could have fooled me! I stood up slowly, and eyed my enemy briefly.

"Impressive, my young apprentice," I taunted, and then charged toward him with my sword held over my head. Quickly, I sent a jump double front kick towards his chest, and the jumped back. Looks like I still got it. I may have quit Tae Kwon Do two years ago, but the experience of a purple belt doesn't vanish quickly. I grinned at my opponent, and raised my left arm above my head. "I got another surprise for ya!" I yelled. "Juk Rom!"

The wood tornado formed quickly around him, and began to swirl ominously. He doesn't want me to hold back? I'm fine with that!

SP: 7/15

Shien tried to dodge both of the kicks Midaki sent his way, but they both connected knocking Shien across the sand until he came to a slow halt from the friction of the ground. He was about to get up and dust himself off when he heard Midaki say the words "Juk Rom." "Not good," Shien said to himself as the wind started to circle around him. Realizing he couldn't escape the spell, Shien tried to move into a defensive position, but the spell took effect and he was launched a few feet up in the air and pelted with hard wood and sharp leaves as it flew around him. When the spell died down, he fell to the ground flat on his stomach, burying his face in the sand somewhat. He cranked his neck back, gasping for air before spitting out a mouthfull of sand, twigs, and leaves.

Without hesitating any longer, Shien pushed himself up into a standing position. "Not bad," he said, trying to downplay the fact that he just got his rear-end handed to him. He charged Midaki again, opting to try and hit him with a sweeping slash of his sword and using the momentum of the swing to cary him around for a round-house kick to his opponent's chest.

SP: 3/10

((OOC: Very sorry about the lateness. I'm such an idiot.))

Both of my strikes landed. It looks like dueling with all those Twins Blades pays off, as I now opt for more accurate attacks. I have Sydofh and Sein to thank for that. Shien dusted himself off, and stood up, muttering something to himself. He might win this. He hasn't hit me yet, but he knows what he's doing. He's the kind of opponent that I would be scared to fight were we of equal level. I could easily see him becoming a master duelist. Me, though... I don't seem to get much better. I can mimic others with decent accuracy, but I'm not very creative myself. I'm doomed to become nothing, to be only that guy who you see all the time. That loser who never seems to leave Mac Anu. The loser. I sighed. That's not something I want to be, but if I keep going down this road...

Shein pushed himself from off the ground, and stared at me intently. I joined this game to be the lone ronin, the powerful, yet quiet swordsman whom everyone looks up to. But I'm turning out more like the cocky, overconfident kid who gets stomped in the first fight. Shien charged with his blade horizontally aligned with my chest. I ducked below the slash, barely avvoiding the deadly blade, and then found a booted foot slamming into the side of my head. The blow sent me flying off to the side, and I collapsed in a heap on the sand. The laughing stock of the Delta server. If I lose this duel... my fate is set. I stood up slowly, my head still aching from Shien's kick, and spit out a mouthful of sand. "No holding back," I hissed. "I can't afford to LOSE!" On "lose," I lunged forward, and stabbed quickly at his knee, not very hard, but hard enough to make movement difficult should it hit. Quickly, I pulled the blade to me again, and thrust hard at his throat. "Aaaaaiiiiiii!" I yelled as I shoved the sword at his neck.

SP: 9/15

((OOC: No problem, mang.))

"Jeez," Shien thought, "this guy is fast as all get out. I should have picked a heavy axe or another heavy blade." Shien was frowning when his slash had failed to strike Midaki, but soon grinned once he saw his kick connect with the Blademaster's face.

"Ha ha! Not so fast, are you?" Shien yelled with pride. His hubris, of course, was short lived as Midaki's sword penetrated his flesh at his knee, tearing through the bone and muscle of his avatar. Shien was about to cry out in pain, but when he saw the blade of Midaki's sword heading straight for his throat, he saw that he didn't have the time for it. He chose to do the only thing he could, fall backwards. He kicked up some sand as his back hit the ground, some of it getting in his eyes and blurring his vision. He wrapped his hands around the handle of his sword and swung it across his body. His hope was that Midaki would fall forward from trying to hit his neck, putting him in the position to be hit by blind swing of his own blade. Midaki was giving him a run for his money, and that run just happened to be a marathon.

Looks like Shien's reeling! I grinned as I continued forward, carried by the momentum of my stab. As I zoomed forward, I was suddenly aware of the fact that my feet didn't seem to be firmly on the ground. I cried out as the ground raced away from my sandals, and I was sent tumbling down toward Shien. My opponent appeared to have something in his eye, but he must have sensed that something was amiss, for at that moment, he swung his Kikuichimonji in a blind upward arc. It all seemed to happen so slow... the shining steel blade racing for my waist... the shower of blood that rained down on Shien's crumbled form... and then... the pain.

Oh, the pain. Pain like a fire melting your skin. To this day, I'm not sure if I screamed, or if I just collapsed. All I know is that the next moment, I was lieing there, lieing in a mound of red sand, darkened with my own blood, moaning out the word, "Repth..."

The pain didn't stop completely, but more ached like a strained muscle as the massive gash up my side was closed by magical healing. I had just suffered through an incredible dose of bad luck- hopefully, I could make it through the match without another. I pushed myself off the ground slowly, and stood up, still slightly woozy from the blood loss. Shien's down, but by no means out. There must be a way that I can take advantage of his position. Perhaps I could...

((OOC Joke: Hiten Mitsurigi Style- Ryu Tsu Sen! *Chuckle*))

I unsheathed my Brave Sword, and shoved it downward in an attempt to pin my enemy to the ground. If I can shove this sword cleanly through his ribs, there's no way he's standing up again. "It's over!" I yelled as the point of my blade raced for his chest.

SP: 1/15

Shien felt some sort of liquid pour down onto his chest. He ran a hand across his canvas cloak before holding it up to his face. His eyes teared up, flushing the sand out and allowing him to see that it was Naruto's blood that had spilled on him. He stared at his blood-stained hand, seemingly mesmerized by it until he heard Naruto faintly say, "Repth." Before he could react, Shien saw Naruto standing above him, blocking out the hot, desert sun and casting a shadow over Shien's prone form. He appeared ready to thrust the tip of his sword into Shien's own chest. Shien tried to roll out of the way, but the plunging sword drove itself into his shoulder and pinned him to the ground as Shien moaned with agony.

A wounded knee and a pierced shoulder coupled with being pinned to the ground made Shien's chances of winning much slimmer. With a pain-filled grunt, Shien reached out with the hand that hadn't been rendered almost completely useless by the recent blow to his shoulder and attempted to grab Naruto's wrist. "I thought we agreed," Shien began to say with bitter rage in his voice, pausing to cough up some blood, "that we wouldn't use healing spells." And with that, Shien swung his good leg up between Naruto's legs, his foot aimed directly for the blademaster's unmentionables.

SP: 7/10

Due to Midaki being banned, Shien get's the auto win.