eight ➢ voice

[restoringhonor]

I won't bother trying to brush all that off. Had things been different? I guess that person... during the flood, I mean. I could have been him

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[lifeafterhope]

[At least she knocks on his door instead of kicking it this time, but it's not a happy-sounding knock.]

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[restoringhonor]

[He opens it and stares at her without saying anything, once again wearing his usual robe, shirt and pants combination and the burn scar is once again, on his face.]

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[lifeafterhope]

We're going to have that fight in the CES now. [She doesn't actually sneer his title at him, but the thought of it is in her voice clearly enough.]

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[restoringhonor]

Why? [People will find the body in there, Vanessa, this plan was not well thought through. :|]

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[lifeafterhope]

Because I had to put up with acting like her for days. I had to say those things. And because you still don't think I can fight for myself.

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[restoringhonor]

[There's a decent pause.]

Okay.

[He turns away for a moment, leaving the door open, to retrieve his swords, slinging the scabbard across his back as usual and headed back for the door.] Let's go.

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[lifeafterhope]

[She watches him get them, then turns for the CES, slipping into stealth as she goes. Zuko might be able to see her anyway, but she doesn't want to deal with anyone else right then.

Besides, it's hard to hide daggers in her armor.]

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[restoringhonor]

[Zuko is silent the whole way to the CES and opens the door without comment. It's a relatively shady, dense forest, almost swampy without actually having a swamp to wade through, but the humidity and creeping moss was the same.

He walked a decent way in, and after fining a good spot, he stopped and faced Vanessa directly for the first time in minutes.]

I'm not going to Firebend at you.

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[lifeafterhope]

[Good for her, with all the shadows, though forest isn't really the terrain she's used to. She stopped when Zuko did, narrowing her eyes as he spoke.]

I've fought mages before. I can handle fire. [Pointedly:] And frost.

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[restoringhonor]

That's not what I- [He cut himself off quickly.] I just want to use my swords. It's nothing to do with you or your skill.

[It had everything to do with his counterpart and his enthusiasm for setting people and things on fire still being too fresh in his mind to be excited about the prospects of bending just now, but he didn't feel up to explaining that to her if he didn't have to.]

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[lifeafterhope]

[She pulled her daggers despite looking pretty obviously like she didn't believe that in the slightest.]

Fine, then. Use them.

[And she moved back a bit, defensively, waiting for him to make the first move. She wasn't sure she was going to win this - she'd never seen Zuko really fight before and she was at a considerable disadvantage while he could see her (and while she couldn't poison him) - but she was determined to put up a hard fight at the very least.]

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[restoringhonor]

[His only response was to draw his swords, holding each in one hand, and once he was sure she was ready, he darted forward and lunged with both blades. He did have some pent up aggression and emotion he needed to deal with, and this was definitely one way of handling it.]

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[lifeafterhope]

[So did she - but mostly she wanted to make him realize that she wasn't his friend who needed saving, that he had to take her seriously in a fight... and in everything else. She blocked the thrust instead of dodging it, then feinted high with one dagger to draw his attention, the other slashing lower a split second later.]

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[restoringhonor]

[He met both strikes easily - one of the benefits of being used to fighting ambidextrously - and swung a leg up, aiming to kick her in the stomach and knock her backwards.]

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[lifeafterhope]

[With the length of his swords, he had considerable reach on her, so moving away was dangerous - but she did it anyway, leaping back from the kick so it landed with much less force than it normally might have.

And then she continued backing off, putting enough distance between them that he'd have to follow her to keep attacking. She could feel the shadows of the forest behind her. Zuko might be able to see her in the open, but she doubted he could see through trees as easily - and while cover wasn't as good as stealth, it was better than nothing.]

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[restoringhonor]

[Zuko didn't hesitate in following her. Rushing into things - however impractical at times - was how he operated, and he was upset and distracted enough to not really think about why this might be a bad idea.]