Kiba was having immense difficulty getting through Octavia's guard, let alone do any damage to her, as it was pretty obvious a sword would do little to plate armour. Her form, speed and technique were perfect, and her counter strikes were something he quickly discovered were deadlier than he would normally consider them. The false edge, the edge of her sword facing her, was edged at the at the tip and a short way down the blade. If he wasn't careful, he could be cut by sweeping attacks and reverse strikes.
So far he'd cycled through several of his minor sword forms, not quite wanting to use anything like Holy Eraser or Flame Delete. At least not yet. As well as the physical difficulty she was providing, he was also dealing with the psychological effects of fighting her. It was her eyes, something was so very off about them. She'd not opened them once during their fight, and yet she had moved like water to meet his strikes and counter accordingly. When it came to sword wielding opponents, she topped any he'd ever faced.
It's a good thing Siris chose the other one to fight. This one would no doubt be too fast and agile for her to fight evenly. he thought.
"How is it you fight unarmoured with a longsword? A spear or polearm would be far more useful to an unarmoured fighter." Octavia asked, genuinely curious about his less than tactical choice. "If it's for aesthetic, then you should really take a good, hard think about your priorities." she said with a healthy dose of condescension.
"I guess I prefer speed to protection. I'd rather end a fight quickly when possible." Kiba replied paying no mind to her tone.
"Hmm." she shrugged slightly. "Then I guess I should teach you the value of a good set of armour. It's only natural an amateur such as yourself would make such a mistake. It can't be helped." she said coolly, clearly taunting him.
"And what of you?" he replied.
"What of me? Why I fight in armour, or how I fight?"
"Generally heavily armoured warriors would use two handed weapons. That's why with the height of full plate steel armour's development, the shield was obsolete for people in full plate armour. So why not use a weapon like your friend?" he was met with a narrow pink-eyed glare.
"And fight like her?" she spat "We may fight together, but do not assume I like her. Her style is savage and without refinement. A weapon such as that is unsightly and for warriors with more power than true skill. It sickens me that you would suggest such a thing." she said venomously. Kiba gave her a legitimately apologetic look.
"Sorry, I didn't know you felt so strongly about it." he said somewhat awkwardly. He readied his blade and lowered his stance. Octavia placed her right arm behind her back and kept her sword arm high, the tip of the blade constantly trained on Kiba.
The two began to circle each other and never let their eyes leave their opponent. They searched for openings in each other's guards, and slight imbalance in stance or mistakes in footwork, and while Kiba found some slight ones, Octavia found many glaring mistakes. Kiba struck first with his sword aimed for her head, the only exposed part of her body.
A moment went past and Kiba could hear a faint ringing as he realised Octavia was no longer in front of him. Warmth worked its way across his torso from his right hip to left collarbone. He stood up straight and looked down to find nothing was there. His eyes scanned his torso and found no blood or wound, just pain. It was slow to spread and felt dull, but it was steadily becoming more and more intense as time passed.
What is this? I swear she cut me, I felt it slice into me, so why isn't there a wound? he wondered, slightly panicked. He turned to find her looking over her shoulder at him, a small smile on her face and the smallest amount of pink from her eyes.
"Confused? They always are." she sighed. "I suppose I should explain that ability to you. After all, everyone else ever always does so what the hell." she cleared her throat. "It is called Time Counter. You see, my blade, or rather any weapon I happen to wield, gains magical properties. Some are automatic, others are applied if I want them to be."
"You see, what I did was not only counter your attack, but cut you from an entirely different point in time. However, I'll throw you a bone. The attacks I land on you from the future, are merely painful and not actual wounds. So, all you have to do is defeat me before the pain becomes debilitating." she explained.
"So you can simultaneously defend and attack. And rather than an attack, it's more of a defensive skill." he surmised, wincing as the pain was feeling akin to a punch in the gut. "And the heat from the attack?"
"That's just your body reacting to the trauma. It's strange how the body knows its being attacked from another point in time." she replied. Kiba raised his sword again, now very sure he wasn't in for an easy time fighting Octavia. In fact, he was sure it was a fight he would lose. He'd never been faced with such an ability, he was under equipped, and he was sure there was a considerable skill gap between them. That's when he realised he'd have to stall for time.
"If you don't mind me asking" he began, making the lavender haired fencer to raise an eyebrow "Why do you help that man? He's trying to kill a good friend of mine, and I can't say I take kindly to that."
"He made me." she said curtly.
"What?"
Octavia sighed again. "I should explain. The master, that beast, and I are what you would call Homunculi. We are artificial humanoid beings. However, she and I are made with exceptional quality that only the best Alchemist of the Uzumaki Magician House could make." she elaborated.
"As for your friend, the master's younger brother, I bear him no ill will. However, I must follow my orders." she said, a tinge of remorse in her voice.
"Younger brother? Ruto never told us he had siblings and we only met his sister because she happened to turn up today." he said in surprise. He was beginning to wonder how extensive Ruto's past really was.
"Yes well, Ruto's secretive nature would keep him from saying too much. I've known him since I was a child, and while he seemed to have taken quite a shine to me back then, and I to him. But times have changed and I will do what I must." she said, her shoulders sagging slightly.
"It's clear that you don't want him dead, and you don't have to go through with it." Octavia eyed him intently, her eyes only opening very subtly. "You might be a Homunculus, but you're not some drone. It's pretty self evident in how we're talking right now."
Octavia merely raised her sword and opened her pink eyes, they were forlorn and conflicted. While she truly didn't want her first and only friend dead, she had to follow her orders. It was either that or face oblivion at the hands of Yato.
"Enough of this. I know you've been stalling for time, and now it's time to continue." she said in a dull tone. She suddenly vanished and reappeared with her blade screeching against Kiba's, who was being force back along the grass. Kiba ground his teeth as he struggled against her strength, but he could see no conviction in her movements.
She pushed him away and jabbed at his midriff, but he twisted his body just enough to receive a minor gash on his hip. He grounded himself and dashed forward and exchanged several quick blows before being hit with Time Counter again, this time across his back. He shrugged off the pain and leapt away.
Damn, that ability is something I really need to find a way to deal with. Kiba heard the snapping of trees and a loud clang from across the park. That's either really good or really bad, but either way I need to keep her away from the others until Ruto can recover.
He took a deep breath and made to engage Octavia again.