there's a fog upon L.A.

[innerfirewithin]

Characters: Zuko (innerfirewithin) and Akira Inugami (not_a_damn_dog)
When: Early morning.
Where: Outskirts of the city, the fringes of the Wastes.
Rating: PG-13, just to be safe.
Summary: Zuko is in a bad mood. Zuko asked Adstringendum who wanted to spar with him. Akira volunteered. Zuko cannot believe his luck. Things do not go exactly as Prince Zuko plans.

Comments

[not_a_damn_dog]

"About time you got here," said a voice from behind him, "I've been waitin' around. Glad you decided to come here, Zuko. So, you ready to do this. Wanna' lay out some ground rules?"

[innerfirewithin]

"You didn't give me an exact time, so I showed up when I thought you would be awake." The prince slid off the rock, landing soundly on his feet. His swords and hooded robe lay at the foot of the rock. He didn't move to pick them up. "And I said I would be here," Zuko said, shrugging off his hooded robe, dropping it and his swords on the rock. "I don't back down from a challenge."

At the request for ground rules, the firebender was quiet for a moment. "I won't use my weapons, unless you have them," Zuko said finally, folding his hands together in front of him, warming his palms. "No other rules."

[not_a_damn_dog]

"No, I don't have any. I guess I'm a hand to hand guy at heart. As for you, I suggest you use 'em. Some sorta' buffer between you and me would be nice, otherwise this is gonna' be boring."

He took off his shirt, folding it and putting it aside for later.

"Come on, then. Let's see if I've gotten any better at this."

[innerfirewithin]

A smirk appears on Zuko's lips. Boring? He has no idea.

"I'll go without them."

And, without any further warning, Zuko slid his right foot behind him to launch himself forward, just testing the waters to see how Akira would attack. He slid his right foot forward towards Akira's midsection, an obvious attack, but Zuko expected it to be blocked.

Let's see how fast you are.

[not_a_damn_dog]

Akira stood his ground, bracing his body against the blow.

"...Huh. That's as hard as you hit?" he raised a bushy eyebrow, "You're gonna' have to hit me harder than that, if you wanna' really make me feel it."

[innerfirewithin]

Zuko said nothing, sliding backwards, a healthy ten or so feet away from Akira. Information received. He was strong and unwilling to attack first. Amateur.

It was time to get serious.

The sun was rising steadily higher in the sky and Zuko inhaled deeply, feeling the strength from the star filling him. Fire licked his palms as he moved his arms slowly in an arc, building as much heat and power as possible. If Akira wasn't going to take this seriously and stand around and talk all day, then Zuko was going to take his time... as much as he could allow.

Soon, Zuko's arms were engulfed in fire, the grass beneath his feet withering away underneath the heat. Whips of fire had replaced his arms and, as Zuko opened his eyes, it was clear the last shreds of exhaustion were gone. He was alive.

It was with this that he lunged forward again, pulling his left arm forward to swing the column of fire towards Akira's midsection, keeping his right arm at his side for defense... just in case.

[not_a_damn_dog]

Well, that was a hell of an interesting technique. It was liking watching a movie. Akira leapt over the attack and the attacker, hitting the ground behind Zuko. He shot back with a mule-kick, pulling his attack at the last moment to avoid hitting too hard.

"Nice one!" he laughed, "That's some fancy trick, you've got! Dodge this!"

[innerfirewithin]

The kick hurt, but Zuko used the forward momentum he now had to flip forward, using his feet to send more flames towards Akira. The columns of fire bolstered his fall -- a trick he had learned from watching Azula, of all things -- and he landed on his feet. The only sign of frustration the prince showed was a slight twitch in his cheek.

He lunged forward again, swinging both his arms forward to attack Akira from two sides. Zuko inhaled deeply, feeling the rush of oxygen fill his lungs, and increased his focus long enough to breathe a stream of fire directly towards Akira's chest.

[not_a_damn_dog]

"Whoa"! Akira yelped, leaping to the side and hitting the ground in a roll. He popped up quickly, dancing from one foot to the other.

"Over here!" he blurred for a moment, stopping right next to him. "No, here!"

He reached out, trying to grab him by the collar for a hip throw.

[innerfirewithin]

Zuko's jawline tightened. The taunting only made Zuko work harder.

The fire wrapped around Zuko's arms shrank away to his palms, creating twin daggers of white hot fire. Zuko immediately lashed out towards Akira when he made the grab for his collar, with his left hand. At the same time, he slid his left foot forward, a burst of flame shooting towards Akira's feet, in an attempt to knock him off-balance with both attacks.

[not_a_damn_dog]

Akira reached through the attacks, taking the damage to his body. The fire seared across his arm as his pant-leg caught on fire. He didn't even flinch, throwing his weight forward to try and bowl Zuko over enough to grab him.

"You think this can hurt me?!"

[innerfirewithin]

Zuko hopped backwards, throwing up an arm in front of him to knock Akira's arms out of the way. The shove caused the firebender to slide backwards, a little unstable, breathing a little heavily from the exertion. His eyes were narrowed.

"I'm not trying to hurt you," Zuko growled, finally choosing to speak. "And if that's what you want out of me, then I'm not doing this anymore." The firebender's fire daggers appeared in his palms once more, his fingers curled around them, but the fire didn't burn him. "I'm here to practice my own skills, not to use my powers to hurt you."

[not_a_damn_dog]

"Then how do you know you'll be able to do it when it counts?" he asked, crossing his arms and standing across from him. He marched up until he was three feet from the other man, staring him down.

"Zuko, have you ever killed anyone?"

[innerfirewithin]

This had been a mistake. Zuko should have just told Hitsugaya or Sasuke he would spar them, or Toph, someone he didn't feel the urge to actually kill whenever he was in the same room as them... instead, he had let his anger take control of the situation and thought it was a good idea.

When Zuko spoke, it was tightly.

"Get out of my face."

[not_a_damn_dog]

"It's an honest question, Zuko, I'm not trying to mock you. I'm askin' you whether you've killed someone. I have. I've killed more than one person. It was all in self-defense, but it happened."

[innerfirewithin]

The daggers in his palms burned brighter at the confession.

This week was too much. Junior's emotional outburst. Yuca's return. And now this idiot was questioning him about what he had done? Like he knew him?

"I'm not talking about what I've done and haven't done with you," Zuko growled, taking a step or so back, to preserve his personal space. The daggers shrank in size as Zuko exhaled, fighting to keep his temper under wraps. "That's my business. No one else's."