driftfleet | mingle part deux

[ so, after contacting his friends, and talking with sasuke, zuko is still feeling.. overwhelmed. frustrated. angry, scared, and sickened. he still hasn't forgotten what sokka told him about azula escaping, and he knows the general consensus is that the idea of not letting azula know anything is that the plan is stupid. but zuko has nothing else, and he can't think of anything else.

he just knows his sister. that, alone, should be enough. but it's not.

so far, he's snapped at katara, and allen, and sokka -- sasuke, to a certain extent, too. he's really in no mental and emotional condition to deal with a spar, but zuko had promised allen. what's one more poor life decision for today, he's already on a roll.

so zuko is in the cargo bay, sitting up on a crate with his swords in his lap, eyes closed and focused on his breathing. he's feeling suitably calmer than he had been two hours ago, but still not up to speed. and he hasn't sparred in four and a half months.

it won't be a pretty end, but it will hopefully begin to mend things with allen, which is really what the end goal is. ]

[Honestly, there was part of him that knew that actually challenging Zuko to a fight wasn't the best idea. That their group was supposed to be showing some sign of unity under the face of Azula showing up. That fighting wasn't supposed to be the answer to their problems. He can imagine just sort of lectures he's going to be getting for this one.]

[But Allen knew he was still angry. Feelings like that needed to be settled, and quickly under the current situation. And he knew he was much better at resolving his feelings through his fists than his words. He was a weapon, after all.]

[More than that...he was worried. Worried that the past couple years of not being on the front lines had made him rusty. Sure, he still had been training every day and there was the occasional sparring match, but that was hardly the same as fights. He had to make sure he could still fight before he could be sure of his promises to protect himself and his crew. For truthfully...no matter how much the Gaang believed they'd handled the Azula problem themselves, years of living in Paradisa had taught Allen that he just couldn't rely on other people if he wanted him and those close to him to stay alive.]

[So eventually he'll be coming out into the cargo bay, after there's been enough time for Zuko to get every thing settled. He's got the claymore he picked up on the planet Mor months and months ago. ]

Are you ready?

[ firebending is all about finding your inner peace. and zuko has struggled with that his entire life -- after the agni kai against his father, his power grew uncontrolled, unstable. he's since learned to re-route his powers in something sturdy, calm, and something he can grow from. and since then, zuko has been much stronger.

he's defeated azula -- and while that agni kai had been... a mess, zuko had been on the verge of defeating her until azula involved katara. zuko knows, deep within himself, that he's capable of doing it, but he had chosen not to kill her. why start his reign with something so horrific? no one wants to follow a new king who butchered his entire family, and while some tiny part of zuko believes very strongly that they deserve it, he hadn't. he and aang had made the decision to lock them away instead.

until azula escaped, anyway.

sokka had told him not to focus on it, and he promised to tell him everything after the fleet had calmed down. after zuko was given time to absorb what azula was doing, and time to relax himself. but he hasn't been able to give himself time to consider it. he's distracted himself, and told the blue fish how he feels (to much skepticism and lack of faith, which only serves to make him more annoyed). but katara is upset with him, and the blue fish is full of tension, and zuko hasn't had time to really look inward and focus without thinking of how bad is it that sokka won't tell me.

did azula break out and take ozai with her? ozai doesn't have his ability to firebend anymore, but that won't matter if he has azula. is zuko forced to kill her? does azula kill one of his friends? does something happen to iroh? and then there's the matter of the last solid thing zuko remembers from home, the last tangible memory, was zuko taking time after his coronation to talk to his father. demand of him, what happened to my mother?, and all ozai could do was laugh.

all in all. not a good combination for the utilization of fire in an enclosed space. but once he hears allen's footsteps, he opens his eyes, exhaling slowly. and, in one fluid motion, zuko pushes himself up off of the crates to hit the floor, taking up a sword in each hand. tested, practiced. totally in control of his actions and his body.

his emotions, well. he's run out of time for that. ]

Yes.

[ and zuko sidesteps, to get his back away from the crates, to a more open area, and he spins a sword lazily in his right hand. perfect. ]

[While Zuko had to find his inner peace to fight, Allen always found his inner peace through the fight. There was something soothing about feeling the sword in his hand. Sure, it still wasn't his sword- neither his Innocence blade nor the sword that Teresa had left him- but it was still a blade. He'd still treat it as part of him]

[He draws his sword slowly when he reaches that open area. It's a sword made to wield with two hands, but he's long since trained himself to wield it with only his right. His feet all into the proper footing, the right stance. He looks straight on at his opponent...]

[...Zuko. His long time friend, his crew. It was strange how no matter how far traveled, Allen always seemed to cross paths with him. Except has he really been crossing paths with the same person? Has he been crossing paths with a friend? Or was it a new person every time, that he simply mistook for his old friend?]

[He raises his blade.]

Then let's begin.

[He's learned not to charge in. Instead he starts moving forward, with purpose- gauging how Zuko will moove]

[ firebending is an aggressive style, quick and brutal, in an effort to knock out your fellow man as quickly as possible. but zuko is older, and more practiced. and he, too, knows the value in not rushing. in defense.

one sword rests against the ground, the tip pressed against the floor as zuko shifts his weight, watching allen's own foot placement, how he carries his sword. zuko is fast, and he has the additional defense of fire. striking out with swords and using firebending to push back against allen's assaults seems to be the best thing to do.

with that in mind, he strikes.

zuko pushes himself forward, swinging his right sword forward in quick slash, bringing up the left to block a potential counter, there's no fire, not yet. best to feel out what he's dealing with before he starts advancing with his full force. ]

[Allen raises his blade to meet the right sword, the metal clashing in front of him. Before Zuko can have a chance to counter with his left blade, he uses his strength to shove Zuko back and break the lock, and if he's lucky, make Zuko stumble. If that's successful, it'll be followed up with his own slash]

[ there's another clash of steel as zuko blocks, recovering from the stumble quickly (a stupid mistake, he curses to himself, a result of a lack of practice) before launching on the offensive, spinning the swords quickly to assault with both, in control and in sync. ]

[The in sync turns out to be a problem, ironically. As he approaches Allen, he raises up his sword the long way, causing both blades to hit with his longsword at the same time and put them into a lock. And before Zuko has a chance to jump back, Allen raises his leg and delivers a high kick at Zuko's abdomen]

[ right in the diaphragm.

the wind is temporarily knocked out of him, and any plans of using fire to shove allen backwards is out of the question for this split second -- but he refocuses his attention and draws in a quick breath, yanking his swords back off of allen's sword, taking half a step to the left, an attack with zuko's weaker hand, but surely more unexpected.

while that happens, zuko spins his right sword, flames licking along the hilt as he releases the tiniest bit of energy -- focus, zuko, focus -- swinging to meet allen's sword. an attack from both sides. ]

[Allen sees that it's an attack from both sides. There's no real time to deflect both with his sword and that sure is a bit of fire, so while Zuko is swinging? He turns to face Zuko and then leaps back in a backflip, hoping to give another kick as he moves away- though it's not the main priority so much as just getting away from those swords. One of the blades manages to cut skin on his leg as he goes]

[When he lands again on his feet, he winces at his cut leg but that doesn't stop him from being quick to move again into a battle stance so he's not caught off guard]

[ now.

zuko immediately darts forward to continue his offense, taking advantage of the need to resettle allen's stance. and he draws in a breath, spinning his right sword in order to create a wall of flames between allen and zuko, which would create the perfect barrier for zuko to cut through in order to knock allen backwards --

but as zuko swings his right arm forward to do just that, there is no flame. just a strike with his sword, which leaves him open, and once zuko realizes what didn't happen, he sucks in a breath and immediately attempts to dart backwards, pulling back from the strike with a hissed -- ]

What --

[ -- underneath his breath.

today is just not a good day. ]

Edited 2016-01-23 21:02 (UTC)

[By pure happenstance, Zuko swings as one of the cats wail loudly from the top of one of the crates as he tries to pounce on Timcanpy only to get nipped back at- distracting Allen. And such it hits- slashing him at his side. He fumbles back, swearing at his lack of attention- and doesn't at all notice Zuko's withdrawal or failbending.]

Shit-

[He activates his powers just enough to make ribbons that immediately wrap around the two injuries to stop the bleeding for the duration of the fight. Ugh. He's going to have to see Ino after this.]

[But like hell is he going to give up. He notices Zuko's own distraction and chooses to go on the offensive- striking at him with his blade]

[ why isn't his firebending working, why isn't his firebending working, why isn't his firebending working --

but once he sees allen is launching forward, to take control of the situation, he immediately shoves that aside in order to block allen's blow by crossing his swords, locking up his arm before delivering his own kick to allen's stomach to shove him backwards.

how do you like it, bastard. and zuko swings his arm backwards (a basic firebending motion), and when nothing happens, it only confirms what he thought, but he plays it off as readjusting his stance.

of all times for this stupidity to happen. ]

[The kick lands, and he does fall back some. Ow, that was not pleasant. But it lands where the ribbons had been wrapped and there was padding- so it doesn't quite knock the wind out of him.]

[Allen still doesn't notice the failed firebending moment, more assuming that he was just trying to return stance from that kick. He moves at him again, this time feinting- he swings his sword first, then swings his body in a half turn so he can throw a punch at Zuko with his free hand.]

[ metal crashes against metal as zuko blocks the sword neatly, but completely misses the punch -- it connects, and causes zuko to stumble backwards half a step.

there's some amount of blood in his mouth (annoying), but zuko ignores it to draw in a deep breath.

fuck the firebending. he doesn't need it.

he spins the left sword, but zuko steps to the right -- circling, gauging for the best opening, and swings -- but instead of following through, he uses the right to take a swipe at allen's feet, in an attempt to break his stance and balance. ]

[The sword swipe makes Allen jump- but instead of making him lose his balance, he does an air somersault over Zuko's blade, landing on his feet again and moving back into position.]

[Goddamn Acrobats, am I right]

[With that evasion successful, he goes in for another swing- picking up speed as he moves]

[ zuko immediately jumps backwards at the swing, but unfortunately for zuko (and for the cat), he treads on the tail of said cat. The cat yowls, zuko immediately whips his head around to see where the stupid animal went, and by the time he realizes what's happened --

that is a sword striking against his arm.

the cut isn't deep, as zuko manages to drop underneath allen's arm and duck out of the way before proper damage hits, but it's enough to make him utter a string of swears that nobody knew zuko knew underneath his breath. the feeling of blood against his clothes and dripping down his arm is uncomfortable, and the pain is irritating enough, but zuko ignores it to launch another quick attack, swinging his still good arm, sword whistling. ]

[Allen sees a flash of blood on his arm- as well as on the edge of the sword. But before Allen can really react to it, Zuko is attacking. Shit-]

Zuko!

[Out of reflex, he moves to block the weapon. As it collides against his sword, Allen moves to Zuko's side of bodycheck him- in hopes of knocking him to the ground. Maybe if he can get this over quickly...]

[ it's not the blood, or the sudden strike, but the sound of his name that causes zuko to give pause -- and the lack of balance, along with the distraction, causes zuko to trip and land quite flatly on his back.

which knocks the wind out of him.

which, if his firebending wasn't working before, it's definitely not going to work now.

one sword is scattered, but the other is still in his hand -- and zuko considers spinning, jumping up and forcing allen back, but something is off. and so zuko relaxes his grip on his sword, instead pushing himself up to sit with a cough.

he's furious, and scattered, but he's not stupid enough to press something when it clearly is not in his favor. ]

Edited 2016-01-23 22:27 (UTC)

[Allen isn't someone who attacks a person when they are on the ground, so he'll stand over, his sword still out...just in case (what? If he was in Zuko's shoes, no saying he wouldn't be dishonorable enough to use this a feint)]

Had enough?

Continuing is a disservice to you.

[ a series of stupid mistakes unbecoming of someone who had to take his throne back by force, and zuko inhales before exhaling slowly, intent on blowing flames into his hand -- but nothing happens.

great.

he pushes himself up, leaving his swords on the ground for now, a hand going to roll up his sleeve, checking the gash. something katara will have to heal later, he's sure. ]

Mm...you seemed a little off. Maybe we should've done this another time.

[He tilts his head a little as he watches him get up. He was going to offer his hand, but...okay.]

I'll call Ino. She'll be able to treat these wounds easily.

I am off.

[ allen may as well know, and it's not like zuko is expecting allen to kill him or anything. so he rolls his wrist, which is what he usually does to create a ball of fire -- but nothing really happens.

zuko sighs, not looking all that bothered by it, and moves to collect his swords. ]

And I'll go to Katara.

[ tiredly. if she's speaking to him, anyway. though katara should heal him regardless. it'd trap zuko in a room to talk, certainly. ]

Even though she's pissed at you? That won't go over well, you know.

[She might beat you up more than he did. Allen sheathes his own weapon. He'll have to clean it later, but oh well.]

[There's a pause]

[...]

You're not the Zuko I knew. He's gone. So is the Allen you knew. They're both...gone.

I think....Somewhere along the way, I let myself forget that. Because I was so happy about being remembered by someone.

[But it wasn't real. It never had been.]

[ ugh, talking.

there's a silence as allen speaks, and zuko sheaths his own swords as he does so before drawing in a breath. it's blunt, but true, and zuko purses his lips together before sighing. ]

-- how much do you know about me?

[ it's said suddenly, and zuko turns to face him fully, his lips twisting into a frown. ]

And don't spare my feelings.

mingle part deux

closed to allen!!!! ALLENS ONLY

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Rolled a 10 on a d10...cries

lmfao here lies zuko we knew him well (6)

he was my favorite zoidberg (9)

holy shit this is incredible (2)

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(1) i give up zuko is the the worst hello from the other side

it's okay Zuko you tried

an attempt was made

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