_.:Analyzation:._

Shadows slowly gathered in the middle of the room, slowly taking form as a young woman. Colour slowly returned to her, the shadows then lying still. Eyes closed, she stood, indifferent to her surroundings. Sight was distracting... Zanshin was much easier. Voices on a breath of wind, carried to her ears told her that the Academy was bustling with life... She didn't really care. She had to find out... Did it really mean...

Where was she in the ranks? It was killing her not to know. This feeling of not belonging, not fitting in with the rest of the people here, it was only made worse by not having a rank to call her own. With this realized, she opened her eyes, waiting. It was time for that ranking exam.

The doors to the ranking chamber slammed shut, making heavy sounds as they did so. With the snapping of fingers, windows would be sealed as well, followed by a metal barrier surrounding each door. Sadako was suddenly bathed in what seemed to be a spotlight, and footsteps would be heard from the far end of the chamber.

"I always knew you were a familiar face. Now, we're in the perfect palce to get started."

He snapped his fingers once more as a red magic circle appeared on the floor in front of him, rotating slowly in different directions. Jack emerged from it, Claymore in hand and his aura glowing green.

"Jack, take care'a her 'till she gets her act together."

With a nod and a grin, Jack made no hesitation as he lunged towards Sadako, making a single mad swing diagonally, aimed across her torso.

Feeling as a barrier was suddenly placed along the exits and windows, Sadako stayed calm, standing perfectly still, feeling the light bathe her skin. She worried about it for a moment, before dismissing the light entirely. She'd soon find out if it had any adverse effects on her.

A familiar face...? That voice... Have I heard it before?

She thought calmly, watching him carefully. She kept her muscles relaxed, her zanshin still active, her breaths meditative. Regarding her new opponent analytically, her eyes darted across his body for a moment, taking stock of any armor he might have, weapons in stock and taking care to let her gaze linger on the claymore. As his aura flared, she placed her left hand on the hilt of her sword. By the time that voice rang out again, she was planning a series of counter-attack and defense which could be deployed easily from her current position.

Seeing as Jack's muscles tensed, she paused until the last second, waiting until the claymore was just outside her range, then unsheathed her blade, parrying expertly. Her swordsmanship, even without Mamoru actually there, was still excellent. Side-stepping before he could bring the heavy weapon around, she placed her front foot behind his, sweeping with her sword-arm toward his torso while jerking her leg upwards, hoping to have him offbalance, and not allow for him to get a good swing in. Not knowing what that aura of his could do, the soft glow of a purifying-fire-type energy surrounded her, designed to combat most effects that she could think of that might result from it.

Her senses were still keen, paying attention to where Jack's blade was, where the other man was, and where her body was placed in relation to each. She monitored her energy usage as well, expecting a long fight that would test her endurance... Zanshin, the state of perfect mental awareness for both the internal and external surroundings, was a marvelous state of being.

Wielding his own weapon like a perfect extension of his being, Jack Churchill brought it to his torso to block, the green aura making it sling in vibrations as her sword clashed. His footwork weaved its way out of danger of throwing him off, and he brought his sword arm to a direct, downwards stab in her direction. Even if she blocked this, it would send vibrations at frequencies able to stun her very muscles.

Meanwhile, Skye himself stood at the far end of the room, just gazing at the fight, cross-armed and unsmiling.

Instead of blocking, Sadako parried the Claymore slightly to the side, allowing her footwork to nimbly bring her out of harm's way, most of the vibrations being avoided since the two only came into the briefest of contact. Even so, she felt the few vibrations make their way up her arm. Sighing a bit, she sent little electric pulses to each of her muscles, forcing them to move as she wished. Bringing the sword back to her to guard her chest, she surveyed him for a moment, ready to move in but an instant. His guard seemed to be quite good, but how could she get inside it? Footwork was excellent, and the sword seemed to be an extension of him. Balance... That should be something she should excel in... That and flexibility.

Forming a few plans in the brief instant they were apart, her thoughts racing from one to the next, a soft white aura replaced the fiery one. She watched Jack carefully for any sign that he was about to move, content to wait until he launched an attack for her to counter.

Immediately after she had dodged, Jack was already in motion for another attack. His claymore glowed green and began to hum slightly with power. He made a mad dash at her and swung downwards in a vertical arc, using his massive strength as a Berserker-class Servant. The Claymore itself leaked its green energy as he did this, combining with the atmosphere with the intention to make an area shockwave to send her flying into the nearest wall. It didn't matter if she blocked, dodged or took the blow, the force of the impact would still apply.

Since her mental preparation took only a matter of moments, she had enough time to recognize the Claymore was surrounded in a sort of energy, one that felt quite destructive. Bringing her sword up to parry, the force of an entire bolt of lightning was released, the two waves of energy clashing for a moment, blinding white twisting with the strands of green... With a crackling hiss, the white was overwhelmed, and Sadako flew backwards, hitting the wall behind her, but avoiding hitting her head. She felt a few bones crack, but ignored it, knowing she'd have to focus.

Attempting to get up, she cursed as she found the energy had gotten to her. Quickly firing electrical pulses down to each set of muscles she needed, she rose to her feet, her eyes flashing red for a moment. Her guard was still up, so any sneak attacks wouldn't do. She had to take the time to recover, so watching Jack intently, she was prepared for anything else. Springing away from the wall and out into the more center of the room off to Jack's right to avoid being cornered, she felt the damage to herself begin to repair as a result of the vampirific nature of her soul being reawakened previously by Ezekiel. It was a slow process, but one that would be quite beneficial in the end.

"Well now I've finally seen the Serene Angle fly!"

Skye remarked from the back, chuckling a bit. He knew that she'd have to make the connection sooner or later, before Jack, well..

Speaking of Jack, he struck his Claymore slightly into the ground, resting it there as he pulled his bow from his back. Pulling back the string, he began to fire hundreds of arrows made of Servant's Magic, a darker shade of green than before. They were standard arrows, all aimed at Sadako.

Serene... Angel?

A brief flash of memory blinded her for a moment, but it was fine. She didn't need her sight. Her zanshin focused on the here and now, while her sight showed her the past. A skydance over a lake, so long ago... Who was her dancing partner? She looked further into the memory, trying to force the blurriness to lift, to show her... But she felt a disturbance in the air, snapping back to reality.

Blurring to but a current of air, she weaved out of the way of each arrow with ease, keeping her energy consumption to a minimum. She sent a wave of repulsive electricity, hopefully clearing a little bubble of space for herself to manifest once more, the ground beneath them shaking slightly. If he wanted to switch to long range, so be it...

The barrage of arrows stopped, and he pulled the drawstring on his bow once more. He launched a pale green arrow, many times bigger than the others he shot, which would aim straight for Sadako like a homing missile. Should it hit her, it would send a wave of kinetic force to knock her dizzy, at least for a while.

In an explosion of fire that blossomed from her hand, an earth wall rose like a shield, tearing through the floor of the Academy as it did so. Knowing it wouldn't hold for long, Sadako transfered back to being shadow, flitting back and forth between the shadows of the rock as the telekinetic force behind the arrow blew it to bits, sharp edges being flung this way and that... Including in Jack's direction, with a little encouragement.

Behind the flying rocks, she manifested in a moment, close enough to slash the sword she never sheathed in an arc of elemental energy; fire, wind, water and earth, existing harmoniously enough to agree to destroy the target instead of having at each-other.

Batting away the bits of arrow with just his hand, Jack immediately dropped his bow and licked up his claymore to block Sadako's blow, cracking in the process. This time it was Jack who flew back a few feet, Sadako's attack catching him off-guard. In the background, Skye could be heard making more remarks.

"Isn't it odd, for someone as 'new' as yourself, to be able to catch my Servant off-guard like that?"

He made a movement with his hands as he spoke, something like a symbol in the air, glowing red. He was still unmoving.

"Elfire."

A large pillar of red-hot fire erupted from the ground to the ceiling where Sadako was, as Jack regained his balance and launched a large, arced crescent slash with his blade, glowing green with destructive force.

Now that he mentioned it, it was quite odd. Catching sight of Skye's rank stars, she saw five little suns. That meant... Second rank of the Sunlit, right? Her eyes widened slightly, watching his hands carefully. They narrowed only as he spoke, as she frantically weaved Radon around herself. The noble gas would have worked, had it been normal fire, stopping the combustion in it's tracks. As it was, it gave Sadako only enough time to leap out of harm's way. She didn't know at the time, but by leaping as far as she did, she also avoided the crescent that Jack launched, barely having to duck to avoid the tail end of the slash.

Thinking more on Skye's words, flickers of memory began to come back. Training... With Mamoru. Eyes welling with tears, she twirled the now-dead-feeling sword she held, keeping half her attention on the fight, but the other half in memorizing the face that she saw in her mind's eye. Mamoru... Her almost-brother. He who was always there for her, ever since she was that little seven year-old girl. There had been other weapons, but none that had connected to her soul the way he did.

Sadako remembered Una, Yoko, Misery and Despair. Soul weapons of Maze and Khrona... She was close to the first two, while remembering the other two with a sort of fondness. It... It didn't hurt so much... Not really. Even though she considered Una and Yoko close enough to be sisters... They weren't, which made it bearable.

Like a punch in the gut, however, she remembered the Zenzawas. Otousan... Okaasan... Nii-san... Nee-san... Their faces, all smiling at her at the wedding. Who's wedding? Her own. That brought Maze's face to her mind. Tears were falling freely from her eyes now, as she became more distant. Even if she took a number of hits, she wouldn't really care.

WHAM. Luxe, Amber, Khrona, and so many others... Flashes of faces and hints of memories.

Storm clouds gathered outside, the rumbling of thunder accompanying flashes of lightning that were dangerously close to the Academy, scarring the landscape surrounding. The earth shook, so dangerously so that bits of plaster began to come loose from the ceiling, raining down around them. The wind howled, a haunting tune that the shadows danced to. Fire of her own sprung up around the room, the flames a flickering blue that hungrily started to climb higher, seeking no more fuel than Sadako's distressed emotions. The temperature was increasing to what would be extremely uncomfortable, to the point of easily inducing burns by simply standing in the room.

Snapping back to reality, she suddenly focused. That man... The man and his servant. They made her remember... Remember what she had suppressed. Why? Why cause her such pain? Her pulse raced, her eyes widening as they flashed crimson, the shadows reaching up in the flickering light of the flames.

"Why? Why must I be reminded," The shadows reached up, like the yawning maw of some great beast, attempting to infect and or imprison both Jack and his master, "of that which I've worked so hard to forget...?" The shadows crashed down, aiming to cut of the senses of the victims, cloaking energy signatures of most any nature. Beneath this, a fissure opened, the very ground beneath their feet splitting apart.

"It hurts," Fire washed in towards them at this point, the temperature so intense that most would be extremely burned. At this point, the damage that either Skye or Jack had been able to induce while she had been bombarded with memories would be almost completely healed, "But you'd never understand..."

As he noticed Sadako standing there dully, he knew something was up. Though it seemed Jack wasn't too keen to to the idea, and was already rushing towards her.

"Jack, stand down!"

He stopped dead in his tracks, as if a wall had smacked him in the face. He moved back to Skye, observing Sadako's apparently entranced state. As the entire room started to shift and get hotter, Skye's hair became a burnt-orang along with his eyes, and immediately sent Jack back to the Sunlit Kingdom to safety. Skye stood poised, in a defensive stance.

"Welcome back, Sadako Rituke.."

His hair appeared to be on fire now, as he nimbly avoided the fissure and defended against the cascading shadow washing over him with his own darkness.

"Now let's see what you can really do."

"Don't use that last name... When referring to me." The flames flared dramatically, white and blue at the edges, a deep blue at the center as it slowly caressed her skin without the slightest damage to their wielder. Seeing as Jack was gone, she turned her full attention to Skye.

"Silverclaw. I've heard of you." Tilting her head, that spark of crimson flared deep within her gaze, lingering for a while longer now. "But... We haven't met before now, have we?" Her lips twitched upwards in a smile, revealing the very tip of a fang. The flames slowly shrunk back, retreating back to Sadako, seeming to melt back into her skin, the blue slowly tinting it with a flickering glow. She closed her eyes, a sad sigh passing her lips.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I like you very much at the moment. My first impression of you... Less than pleasant." A tendril of earth snaked its way toward her, doing much the same thing as the fire had. Shadow crept toward Sadako as well, and a slight gale-force wind whipped around her, her long sapphire hair being tossed this way and that. She watched Skye with curious eyes, that crushing darkness he had been fighting dissolving to mere probing tendrils, testing his energies with a teasing touch.

"Yoi..." She whispered softly, earth tinting her skin in a bit more a pattern of greens and browns, air a slight transparency, and shadow highlighting each pattern in a slightly darker outline. These had mixed with the strong power of water that ran through her veins, the moisture seeping out into the air as well.

"I get that a lot."

He snapped his fingers as a tiny sphere of light manifested itself just above his head, before showering the dark tendrils around him with golden beams amounting equally to the amount of tendrils they had to shine on and dissipate, which they did promptly given the elemental differences.

His eyes gave a glow of cyan, before tapping his foot on the ground. The floor itself was suddenly coated in ice, and several spikes of it were already headed on their way to where Sadako was standing, aiming to impale her from several angles from the floor as well as the walls and ceiling around her.

The ice was easy enough to deal with. Sadako had to but rapidly increase the rate at which the water molecules were moving, effectively turning the imposing ice spikes to water. Taking control of this, ribbons of water began to swirl around her, a few tendrils melding back into her body to mix with the elements already there. Of course, the elements carried a lingering hate for one another, one that was perfectly natural. Sadako's own energy started to build, keeping the energies in check within her. This caused a minor disturbance, a pulse of chakra that was not so much destructive as controlling. It would linger over the surface of anything it managed to touch, slowly working it's way deeper into the surface, seeking to gain control. The stone was already easy to manipulate, and that was something that she was counting on. Should the energy touch Skye at all, it would begin to worm its way toward his nervous system. If he couldn't sense this, it would take a little less time.

Either way, a sort of distraction was needed. A whip of water slashed it's way toward Skye, a liquidized cesium encased in a sleeve of air within it. As soon as the water came in contact with anything, the thin layer of air would dissipate, leaving the cesium to mix with the water, and, being highly reactive to water, would burst into flames in a violent explosion when this happened.

Raising a hand as well, a ball of elemental energy formed in her palm, quickly followed by several others. Taking careful aim, she launched these, rapid-fire, at Skye, aiming for main chakra points.

"I'm glad it doesn't come as a surprise."

Whatever was coming towards Skye at this point, it was pretty bad. He wouldn't be able to counter all of it, much less block at this point. He lit an orb in his hand, tossing it upwards so that it hovered in midair just above him. It shone white, in an effort to wash out the energy that was heading his way.

The controlling energy would be drowned out first, stopping and dissipating just before reaching Skye or the orb. Next was the explosion - he couldn't do much about that other than block and get sent somewhat back, taking damage. As for the elemental energy, that was just what his Sun was designed to work with, so that would be completely washed out.

Walking back to his original place, he gave the Sun orb a light tab as it made its way to the top and center of the chamber. It kept glowing bright white, washing over both of them. Skye's featured would be washed out from color, appearing more pale and with silver hair.

"Let's play a game, shall we..." He began, the sun still pulsing light waves. "As we're both elementalists, the concept should be easy to grasp." He poised himself now, bending his knee as if her were about to leap.

"Red."

The sun orb immediately washed the room in red light, and Skye's features did the same. He leapt at Sadako with a fist full of red fire - both hands were full of it in fact - and aimed to punch her with the fury of it square in the face.

Analytical tactics are always the best way to go when facing the unknown. Whether it be in a sport, or, like this, a fight, it is best to get to know your opponent, bit by bit. That way, you get a bit of knowledge of what to to counter with what, and when a opponent it bound to become predictable.

Sadako saw that her physical attacks did much more damage, while her attacks based on energy alone were quickly dispelled. It was interesting, and a good thing to note. That orb... As long as it was there, her elemental energies alone were useless. There most likely wasn't time to analyse that too... And from careful observation, probing attacks wouldn't very likely prove necessary.

With this decided, she watched him carefully, her blue eyes and hair tinged with a silvery light from the hovering orb. Her skin seemed even more pale, though the tattoos of elemental energy still laced her skin, showing up as vibrantly as ever.

A game... How most welcome. She thought, slowly starting to smile. Confidence, even in the face of the unknown, was also good to have. Almost as important as analyzation. As the light began to pulse, a bit of energy flickered around Sadako, sinking deep into the foundation of the building.

As the light turned red, Sadako's hair seemed purple, her eyes flashing a deep violet. She paused. Concept must be easy to grasp, hmm? All she had to do was wait... Ah. There. That was a mistake.

In a flare of blue flames, now turned violet in the light, Sadako surrounded herself in such a flame for a moment. Then, only her arms, legs and hands were surrounded with the stuff, the rest of the fire retreating to her veins, a glow alighting each one. With her flame-covered hands, she expertly blocked one punch of his flame-ridden hand with her own, a flurry of sparks being created from the blow. Remembering Ezekiel, she brought forth the fury of that one memory she had of him. Instantly, the blue fire responded to Sadako's hate, anger, and distress, lending the flames yet more power as she launched a series of counter-attacks, ducking beneath his reach, then kicking upwards, most likely launching Skye into the air. If this happened, a barrage-like flurry of attacks would have Sadako 'escorting' Skye to the ground, where the earth would be ready to part and ensnare him. If this kick didn't land, she would quickly dance around to his far side, aiming to punch his rib-cage with a fire-packed fist of highly condensed explosive power of the flames being highly condensed...

What would be the outcome?

Ah, she learned fast... however, Sadako's flames were blue; Skye's were red. Both used the same intended energy, yet the sun favored the red flames of course. Therefore, his were much stronger and would easily overpower hers upon initial impact. Almost devouring the blue flame that rose to challenge it, the red flame coursed through Sadako's arm, with the intent to burn it with raw destructive force, even sapping energy from it.

As for the rest of the flames she sent at him, it would be simple to block them all with a wall of red fire, rendering her advances useless. Still standing a few feet in front of her, he called out a new color.

"Blue."

The orb changed colors again, as did his features, and with the wave f his hands there would be two great pillars of water cascading both immediately under and above Sadako, from the ceiling and the floor, each with crushing pressure. Should those collide with her in it, it would not only be very difficult to break free without drowning, but the force of the water pressures alone would probably do a number on her body.

So it wasn't just the element that corresponded with the colour. It was that, along with the colour of the energy itself? Interesting. Biting her lip with a muttered curse as she realized her mistake, she pulled away before too much of her energy could be sapped, the tattoos fading from her one arm.

Blue... Now that was a bit easier. Her eyes flashed a deeper blue as she took in the water around her. Weaving her hands swiftly in a pattern of sorts, the blue swirling tattoos separated from her body, the rest moving to fill the gaps that their absence had created. Tendrils of water whipped out, spreading to form a dome around Sadako, blue energy coating it's surface to combat the pressure the waves of water were bound to bring about. Maintaining a supply of fresh oxygen for herself to breath was easy enough, so it wouldn't be hard for her to maintain this.

Blue spirals of energy exploded outwards, propelling her out of the way of the water and closer to Skye, tendrils of this lashing outwards, hoping to catch him by surprise as the water dome turned into whips of highly pressurized water, reaching out to him as almost-sword-like slashes, their colour a deep blue from the energy controlling it.

He was on guard the moment she raised that sphere to protect herself, so as she leapt out of the trap he was well ready. Han already out in front of him, he pommeled her with a rushing torrent of spiked, pressurized water, sharp as a drill and with the force of large speeding bullets. Those would neutralize the slashes that she made, and probably send her back to the ground, perhaps even a tad injured from the clash.

"Gah, hate to cut this short."

He said, grabbing his ear. It was a signal from Jack; he was needed back at the Tower right away. Something big was happening, and too bad, at a time like this...

"You get 4th rank, easily. You prolly deserve 5th too. So, fight me again sometime. We'll see.

He dissipated his orb now, and began to make his way ot of the ranking chamber. He was fully aware what he had awoken in Sadako, and would forever be boastful about it when she soared to even further heights...