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[As soon as his arms start to move, Toph moves her left foot back and lifts her right hand towards his middle. As she does so, a pillar of rock protrudes from the ground, directed right at his stomach.]

[He stops his blow mid-strike and instead dodges back, pressing a hand against the pillar as it shoots up, using it to push himself back further. He jumps and lands a few feet away, cocking his head to one side.

Well, so that's earthbending. And she can sense his movements... How to take that advantage away? He frowns and starts to move in a different direction.]

[The second he lands back, she moves again, this time quickly drawing her hands up. A cloud of dirt rises from the ground, obscuring their surroundings.]

[So she's a magic user... Nngh, he hates fighting against these. It means they're ranged combat fighters against his melee battle style.

The dirt rises up and Souji covers his nose and mouth with the hem of one sleeve.]

........

[She's out there somewhere, even if he can't see her. He brings his sword up in one hand and waits, listening.]

[She can feel him--only a few feet behind her. She kicks her heel back, and a sizable boulder flies from the ground, aimed straight at his sword. If she can just get him disarmed...]

[The ground is moving and in front of him. He can hear the sound of dirt rising and he readies. When the boulder flies out of the dust, he ducks, rolls to the side and dashes forward, aiming at where she should be if the sound means anything.]

[She sidesteps, quickly raising a stone wall to deflect his blow. Then she gives the wall a forceful push in his direction.]

[His sword hits the wall and then the wall starts moving. Souji lets it push him, jumping back with the force of it, but managing to land on his feet, sliding back across the ground. When he's able to stop his backward momentum, he'll run forward again, trying to get back to where she is.]

[That lapse of time gives her a chance to devise a strategy, and she quickly sets to action. It's the same trick she used against the Boulder--she sends a small current of earth towards Okita's running steps, perfectly timed to hit his right foot as it comes down and make him trip unless he moves off his current course.]

[Welp, he wasn't expecting that, so here he is - tripping. orz

His foot catches on the ripple of earth and he grits his teeth, putting one hand out to catch himself as he tries to move into a forward roll.]

[When she senses him trying to roll forward, she kicks back her heel and another pillar of earth launches from the ground directly towards his chest.]

[He finishes the roll and sees the rock column coming up at him. At his chest.

Not good.

He throws himself to the side and feels it clip his left shoulder, throwing him off balance. He's somewhat forgetting this is supposed to be a sparring match and he keeps pushing forward, flipping his sword around to point the blade behind him as he tries to rush Toph and get into range.]

[He's on the offensive. This is good. She waits until he's quite close, then throws whatever dust is still circling them to the ground. Then, once he is within striking range, she pulls three stone walls up around her, forming a pyramid she hopes he'll collide right into.]

[When the dust falls he knows she's going to do something - just not what. It's harder to read someone whose moves you don't know, especially when it comes to magical abilities. He hits the wall, pressing his palms against it to shove off and take a few steps back, raising his sword to wait.]

[She throws her arms out to her sides and the three pyramid walls go sliding towards him one by one. If she can just really knock him off balance...]

[The walls start sliding toward him and Okita takes a moment to consider what to do. If he tries to run up them, it's possible she'll drop them and take his footing away. Unless he's fast enough. Or...

He jumps back and starts running to the side, picking a small rock from the ground. If he spots her among the sliding walls, he's chucking the rock at her head.]

[She can feel every move he makes. She feels him pick up that rock, and she feels him throw it towards her. Without even moving her head, Toph catches the rock in her left hand and lobs it straight back at him without a pause. The rock flies with a little extra earthbender "oomph".]

[Which he dodges and keeps running at her, taking a swing when he gets close enough. Sadly, he can't keep this up forever and he knows it - he can feel his chest starting to tighten.]

[He's fast--she'll give him that. He's keeping her on her toes--no pun intended--and that's causing her to strain a bit. Still. She could do this. She had to show this sissy.

When she feels that swing coming, she plants her right foot and raises the ground under his feet, so the wooden blade flashes above her instead. She waits to see what he'll make of his lost footing.]

[HOLY SHIT WHAT

The ground rises up under him and he crouches, off-balance. Not good. When he's able, he jumps, trying to head over her with his sword close to the chest.]

[And while he's in midair, Toph brings her left hand up sharply, fingers tight, to make three columns of earth spit from the ground to knock him asunder.]

[He's able to twist and turn and miss the first two, but the third hits him in the side, throwing him to the ground.

And while he normally would get right back up, this time, he starts coughing, covering his mouth with his free hand. He uses the wooden sword to keep himself somewhat upright, cursing himself silently in his head. Not good, he can feel blood coming up.]

[That was a pretty exciting fight until now, but seeing that causes Sokka to immediately get to his feet.]

Master Souji! [That coughing is... dammit, he shouldn't have let it get this far. He's rushing in now.]

[Toph stops short, lowering her fighting stance and just...standing, feel the vibrations he was giving off. She was so used to fighting benders, who were used to these kind of attacks, and--

He...got hurt?

She doesn't say anything, instead turning to the side and crossing her arms.

...Moron.]

[Souji moves his hand and holds it up, palm inward, trying to stop Sokka from getting between them. Then he pushes himself to his feet and checks his hand - yup, as he feared. Taking out a paper from inside his kimono sleeve, he wipes the blood off and turns to Toph, bowing his head.]

I apologize for the interruption. Shall we continue?

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