> Not a lot more we can do from here, now that Chisato's warned.
> Maneuver ourselves so we'd be rolling toward the fallen tengu. If this maneuvering doesn't get us facing Sotsu and the fallen one, roll until we're facing that way.
>Hoping that Chisato can manage to get out of the way in time, you push off the deck with your free hand and pivot yourself until you line up with the fallen tengu. Then you pull hard to the side and tuck your limbs in, propelling yourself towards the pirate at a roll.
>You see the first blade zoom past as your eyes turn to face the sky once more, the whirl of razor air which surrounds it brushing lightly across your skin like the fine edge of a knife - too far away to cut deeply, but enough to sting nonetheless. The thin line it traced between your ribs throbs as you roll back onto it. You can hear the second blade wing through the air above your feet, too far this time to leave more than a sharp breeze in its wake.
>Your eyes follow it towards Chisato as you roll upright again and in that brief moment, you feel your heart sink. Perhaps because of her engagement with the other tengu, or merely her own fatigue, the redhead is moving too slowly. Even as her foot slides further across the deck, you can see her knee buckle slightly. She lets a hand free of the spear and pulls that arm tight against her body, twisting her shoulder away from the weapon's spiraling grasp. It is isn't going to be enough.
>The wood of the deck fills your vision again as you hear her let out a strangled grunt. The second shot arc swiftly in from her other side, your ears tracing its path even when your eyes cannot. The first may have been a glancing blow. She was far enough away from the metal at its core that it
is possible. But even without looking, you know the second one will not be.
>You hear the scrape of shoe against wood and the swirling shriek of wind rushing upon fast it. It's around the height of her chest, you think - perhaps a little higher or lower. The metal alone could inflict serious harm if it struck her there, even were it not encased in something preternatural. You've never seen this weapon strike full on, only graze past its intended targets. But if even the trailing edge of it was enough to cut through flesh, you have to imagine... Perhaps it will miss her vitals. Even now, there's still a chance. Or perhaps she has some spell in reserve to deal with this; a defensive ward, a countershot,
something. All these thoughts flash through your consciousness in the brief moment between sky and deck, then sunlight filters back into your eyes as you roll upright once more.
>There is a flash of movement at the edge of your vision and a loud blast of air from Chisato's side silences the shill whistling of Sotsu's spinning blade. Glancing towards the noise, you see the thin piece of metal tumbling end over end in a cloud of dust and debris; its sharpened edge glints brightly in the sunlight as it hurtles over the side of the deck. Chisato is standing there with a dumbstuck expression, somehow managing this despite the pain etched into her features. Blood is streaming down her arm and you can see flecks of it splattered in a small arc across the deck beneath it. In the process, she seems to have turned partially side-on to the pirate she was dueling and lost most of the defensive stance she had been maintaining with the spear. Though some distance has opened up between them in the meantime, it looks like her opponent is attempting to take advantage of this lapse to move inside her weakened guard.
>You are practically in arm's reach of the fallen tengu now.
