Ryu lands three good hits. An elbow knocks Jin down the slope, a punch throws him into the creek bank, and a grab slams him into the stones. Jin only gets out of the grab by going for Ryu's eyes, and that gets one short thought from Ryu's side.
Ryu came in low this time.
He had seen Jin slide past the first punch, and he didn't throw the same one twice. He dropped his shoulder and drove forward like he meant to tackle a wall, arms tucked in tight, so there was no wide swing for Jin to slip under. The ground tore up under him. Jin jumped and planted one foot on Ryu's iron back as he went by, kicked off it, and landed behind him on a fat root.
Ryu didn't stop to turn around. He swung his elbow back blind.
It caught Jin across the hip. It was a short, ugly hit with no windup at all, and it still knocked him off the root and sent him rolling down the slope toward the dry creek bed. He came up on one knee in the loose stones with his hip throbbing and both swords still in his hands.
