(Gael): I know which way they went. Up the mountain.
(Jade): Lead the way.
*As the three were about to head up the mountain, the ground beneath them began to warm up. Jade was the one to sense and kicked Gael away. The ground beneath Jade and Sanada crumbled and the two fell down into a hole. As the two knights were falling, Sanada took out his sword and began swirling it around above his head like a helicopter. He began to descend at a slow rate towards the ground. Jade took out her macuahuitl and maneuvered herself over to the wall where she thrust the club into the wall which allowed her to descend slower until she eventually stopped. Once she stopped and she was a good distance from the ground, she pulled her club free and fell down landing on her feet. Sanada landed shortly after her*
(Jade): Crafty bastards got us with the oldest trick in the book.
(Sanada): This is no doubt a plan to separate and attack us. Let’s get back up there.
(Jade): Wait! We’re not alone down here.
*Focusing his mind, Sanada could sense the presence of something else in the cavern they were in. The two began to look around for their guest but couldn’t find them. Out of the corner of Sanada’s right eye he saw something move by some rocks. Though it was only a second he could see that the interloper had scales and quickly pieced together what they were up against*
(Sanada): Jade, how do you feel about snakes?
(Jade): Hate them.
(Sanada): Then I have some bad news for you.
*Before Sanada could tell her, a large scaly creature busted through some rocks lunging at the two. Jade jumped out of the way while Sanada jumped up into the air and took aim at the creature’s scaly body with his sword only for it to bounce back once it made contact. Sanada landed as the scaly creature moved past him and Jade and turned around to reveal itself to be an Eclipse in the form of a large snake. However, its body was slightly blue with ice shards and along its back, and frost covering parts of its body. It bared its fangs and let out a roar*
(Jade): Oh that’s just great. Let’s make this quick.
*Jade began to charge at the Eclipse only to get tackled from the side by an unknown assailant who picked her up and slammed her to the ground*
(Assailant): The Great Gilda has slain another enemy in the name of the Sun.
*Sanada got a good look at the assailant who was a big and muscular woman who could easily pass as a bodlybuilder. She had purple eyes and red hair that was short and was a bowl-cut. She was dressed like a gladiator wearing a black metal combat skirt, a black breastplate, black gloves with red lining, and was barefooted. Despite watching his comrade get taken down, Sanada kept his attention on the Eclipse and charged at it*
(Gilda): Turning his back on me? This samurai isn’t very smart.
*Before Gilda could prepare to attack Sanada from behind she was lifted off the ground by Jade who delivered a German suplex. Shocking Gilda in the process*
(Jade): Cheap move attacking from my blindside, bitch.
(Gilda): Heat Grid Form 210: Double Magma Hammer.
*Gilda returns to her feet as her hands became engulfed with flames and delivers two sledgehammer punches to Jade’s chest which knocks her back. Gilda attempted to follow up with a high kick but Jade blocked it with her hands and pulled Gilda toward her where she delivered a headbutt right on the jaw of Gilda. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as it looked like the attack knocked her out but she quicky regained consciousness and pulled herself back up*
(Gilda): Fire Grid Form 220: Fire Clap!
*Gilda clapped her hands and released a wave of fire magic which struck Jade and sent her flying backward into a giant boulder. Not letting up, Gilda charged at Jade*
(Gilda): Fire Grid Form 186: Volcanic Rush!
*Gilda unleashed a barrage of fire punches on Jade with the final punch knocking her through the boulder and onto the cold ground. Jade would kip-up showing that her face was slightly bruised from the onslaught of punches but she was not going to get beaten*
(Jade): Alright, you hot-handed bitch.
*Jade charged at Gilda*
(Gilda): Fire Grid Form 31: Burning Chop.
*Gilda attempted to hit Jade with a fire chop but Jade used her agility to dodge the attack with a sidestep and jumps up on Gilda’s shoulders. She then wraps her legs around Gilda’s neck and delivers a hurricanrana to bring Gilda down. With her legs still wrapped around Gilda’s neck and lying on top of her, Jade began to rain down punches on Gilda’s face. Gilda used her arm strength to fling Jade off of her. Gilda returned to her feet just as Jade turned around after being flung*
(Gilda): Fire Grid Form 9: Hot Foot.
*With her left foot on fire, Gilda delivered a high kick to Jade’s chest and released a mini explosion that slightly burnt Jade’s chest and gripped Jade’s head with her right hand*
(Gilda): Fire Grid Form 77: Flame Claw.
*Gilda’s hand was set ablaze and began to burn Jade’s face. Jade managed to pull the hand off her head and bit it causing Gilda to scream out in pain. As Gilda screamed, Jade released her fangs and delivered a judo toss to slam Gilda to the ground*
***
*As Jade and Gilda were fighting, Sanada was busy fighting the Eclipse. Its hard ice-like skin protected it from Sanada’s attacks leaving him no option but to keep dodging looking for weaknesses. Luckily, the Eclipse’s attacks were easy to read and Sanada had no trouble dodging its attacks.*
(Sanada): Tornado Style: Piercing Gust!
*As Sanada leapt into the air to dodge the charging Eclipse, he pointed his downward as wind magic gathered around it. As Sanada fell he struck the back of the Eclipse’s body only to see his attack had no effect on it and his attack bounced off it as he landed on the ground*
(Sanada): Never before have I come across an Eclipse with such rough skin.
*As Sanada pondered what to do next, the Eclipse grabbed a boulder and chucked it at Sanada who jumped out of the way. The Eclipse used this chance to charge at Sanada who sheathed his sword and smacked the mouth of the Eclipse with his sword case to stun it. Sanada then returned the sword to his waist and pulled out Kaze Sakura. Swinging the sword downward, Sanada unleashed a gust of wind that hit the Eclipse and sent it backward into a boulder. However, the Eclipse quickly got back up and fired icicles from its mouth at Sanada who used his sword to slash through a number of them before leaping onto one and jumping from one to another to reach the Eclipse*
(Sanada): Cyclone Style: Tempest Canon!
*Jumping off the icicle, Sanada begins to spin around in the air building momentum and then swings his sword releasing a large blast of wind on the creature to send it flying backward*
***
*As Jade and Gilda were busy clobbering each other with punches they stopped when they saw the Eclipse’s shadow hovering over them and looked up to see its body about to land on them. The two fighters quickly jumped out of the way in the opposite direction of each other as the Eclipse came crashing down releasing a cloud of frost. When the Eclipse landed it made eye contact with Gilda locking in on her and swung its tail at her. Gilda reacted quickly enough to block the attack with her arms*
(Gilda): Damn wild beast. Fire Grid Form 205: Magma Knee Trigger!
*Gilda charged at the and struck its belly with a burning knee strike that was as hot as magma. The Eclipse let out a screech of pain that echoed throughout the cave. As it screamed, Jade ran up its back and used her leg strength to stomp the back of the Eclipse’s head and drive it into the ground. Once the Eclipse’s face was driven into the ground, Jade jumped off its head and ran toward Gilda to deliver a running uppercut. The uppercut catches Gilda off guard and Jade follows up with seven more rapid uppercuts to back Gilda into a boulder back first. Jade then unleashes body shots on Gilda driving her to the ground where she then proceeds stomp her multiple times in the face with one foot. After unleashing her beatdown, Jade then turned her attention to the Eclipse who had just pulled its face out the ground and was staring angrily at Jade who smirked. The Eclipse fired ice shards at Jade who charged right through them despite getting hit by them and hit the Eclipse with an earth-shattering kick to the jaw cracking its skin in the process. Upon landing, Jade was grabbed by the shoulders and forcefully turned around where she made eye contact with Gilda. Despite the bruises and bloody nose, Gilda was still ready to fight. She hit Jade with a burning headbutt which dazed her and then followed up with a fire knee to the stomach. Gilda then wrapped her arms around Jade’s waist to lift her and slam her down to the ground with a powerbomb but didn’t let go. Instead, she lifted Jade up again and began to swing her around in a circle. Gilda’s swinging stopped when Sanada surprised her with a jump kick to the chest which forced Gilda to release Jade and stagger back a few steps. Before Gilda could release a counterattack, the Eclipse wrapped its tail around her body and squeezed her. Gilda grunted in pain as the Eclipse brought her to its face and struggled to open its jaw*
(Gilda): Fire Grid Form 300: Breath of the Dragon.
*Taking a deep breath, Gilda shot a torrent of fire from her mouth at the Eclipse’s face directly forcing it to release her and then Sanada followed up with a wind slash that cracked the belly of the Eclipse and sent it crashing through a boulder but it slowly got back up just as Jade was returning to her feet*
(Gilda): What do I have to do to keep this thing down?
(Sanada): I have asked myself that question many times these last few minutes.
*Jade returned to her feet and joined the two*
(Sanada): Might I suggest a temporary truce until that is taken care of?
(Jade and Gilda): No!
*The two ladies go back to fighting each other leaving Sanada to deal with the Eclipse*
(Sanada): *Sighs* Such is the pride of the stubborn.
*As Sanada kept himself busy fighting the Eclipse, Jade and Gilda were trading punches with one another. Gilda was beginning to slow down and feel sluggish but she continued to fight refusing to go down. Even though the two ladies were enemies there was no doubt a hint of respect between them. The two ladies headbutted each other causing both of them to stagger backwards. As Jade staggered backward, Sanada dodged the tail whip of the Eclipse and felt his back touching Jade’s back. As soon as Jade felt Sanada’s back she regained her footing and was focused*
(Jade): Rush her!
(Sanada): Smash it!
*As if on cue, both of them spun around and charged toward each other’s opponent*
(Gilda): Fire Grid Form 320: Sun Hammer Explosion!
*Lifting her arms into the air a large hammer made entirely of fire was formed. As soon as Gilda grabbed the hammer she swung down with all her might at Sanada. The hammer struck Sanada and at first Gilda believed she won but Sanada soon appeared right in front of her. Sanada had in truth used his speed to dodge the attack and make it to Gilda. The Sanada that she saw was an afterimage*
(Sanada): Cyclone Style: Cross Whirlwind Slash!
*Using Kaze Sakura, Sanada swung his sword his sword up diagonally trapping Gilda within a whirlwind of his wind magic. The whirlwind lifted her off the ground and as she was cut by wind slashes all over her body. Sanada put Kaze Sakura away as the whirlwind died down and Gilda fell to the ground unconscious and beaten*
(Sanada): Your determination to fight is admirable. But our determination to regain what we lost outweighs yours.
***
*As Sanada was finishing Gilda, Jade dodged the tail whip of the Eclipse by sliding underneath the tail and then jumped up where she delivered a somersault kick to the jaw of the snake to daze it. The snake lowered its head in its dazed state allowing Jade to pierce its right eye with her club. The snake hissed in pain as black ooze came flying out of the eye. Jade continued to push her blade forward into the eye of the snake to cause it more pain. The snake lifted its head up picking up Jade in the process and began thrashing around to knock Jade loose. After enough thrashing, the Eclipse manages to fling Jade off its eye. Jade fell into a pile of fallen snow and the snake slithered over to the wall and smashed its head through the bedrock and ice. The snake was escaping and there was nothing Jade could do to stop it. As its tail disappeared, Jade ran over to the hole to try and get one final glimpse of the creature but it was too late. It was gone. Sanada soon joined her.
(Jade): Damn, it got away. Did you rush that gladiator hag?
(Sanada): Indeed, I did. She’s been defeated and I doubt that Eclipse will be returning any time soon. Now moving on to more pressing matters, how do we get out of here?
(Hibana): I might be able to assist with that.
*Hibana’s last drone came flying down*
(Hibana): I’ll have to make two trips though.
***
*Hibana’s drone pulled Sanada and Jade up one at a time. During those trips, she explained to them that Gael had defeated one of the citizens and how the drone that was originally with them got destroyed in the process. Sanada was the first to get pulled up and checked on Gael to make sure he was okay. Hibana’s drone then pulled up Jade*
(Gael): Glad to see you’re okay, bro.
(Sanada): And you as well. Good job adapting to your opponent.
(Gael): I’m glad you guys are all back, I’ve managed to track the aura of their friend and it’s very close.
(Jade): That’s good to hear. It’ll be dark soon and so we’ll need to find shelter. The mountains are a dangerous place at night. We’ll continue the trail tomorrow morning.
(Gael): There should be another post up the mountain. We can rest there for the night. What about the citizens?
(Hibana): Lock him in the cell. I’ve already alerted the local knights in this region so they’ll handle it from here. Let’s get a move on while there’s still light out.
*Everyone nodded and followed Gael up the mountain to the next post*
Author’s Note: Hello! Sorry for the chapter delay, but I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. We get the unlikely team-up of Sanada and Jade in this chapter, where they take on not only a Sun Citizen but an Eclipse as well. Fun fact, when I was planning Shadow Eye, I originally had these two as partners. I thought Sanada’s stoic and disciplined mindset would contrast nicely with Jade’s wild and unruly personality. However, as I started making the personalities for Morgan and Raika, I realized that they meshed better with Jade and Sanada. So, this chapter gives you a small glimpse into what their partnership would have been like. Even though they’re not partners they still trust each other and know what the other is capable of doing. Moving on to the fight, I wanted to make it an unstoppable force vs an immovable object. Who is which is up to you. I also threw in a little comedy as well, with Sanada seeing the Eclipse as the immediate threat and asking the ladies to team up to take it down, only for them to say no and continue to focus on each other. In a way, it’s the opposite of Zia and Ember’s fight. Even though the two were focused on each other, they had enough common sense to see the immediate threat and distraction the Eclipse would cause and took them out before resuming their fight.
Well, the group is closing in on the Sun Citizen’s hideout. Will they be able to rescue Ryuuji? Tune in next week to find out. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.