Your voice echoing deep in my heart sounds like it's writhing in agony...

[zuzukins]

Who: zuzukins and peoplesprincess - also, will probably make this an open log if the two of them start fighting. Will let everyone know when that changes. Not open, but outbursting and gaveherwings have also joined in the fun. 8D
When: July 18, just after sunset
Where: Around the city
Summary: Another wonderful family reunion~ ♥ Zuko had called out to Azula earlier, but didn't receive an

Comments

[zuzukins]

Oh, man, oh Agni, that smelled! Such a horrible stench should be punished to the full extent punishment could be given. It was downright insulting to the sense of smell. Zuko closed the tenth - or was it twelfth? - dumpster he had peered into and this one had definitely been the worst. Not even Azula would hide herself in the day's waste and garbage, would she?

Rats scurried out of the way as Zuko walked out of the alley. It was getting darker. He had been at this search for almost an hour now, and he still couldn't find her. He could feel the Darkness creeping up, impatient to be unleashed once more onto the world. The scenery began to take on a gloomier atmosphere, signs of rust and decay gradually slipping forth. Chills shivered up his spine as a weight began to press into his shoulders. It was like the air itself was watching him, waiting to attack. So this was why most hid themselves away at night. If Zuko hadn't been a seasoned warrior by now, the fear alone would probably make him run for the nearest shelter.

Azula was out here. For some reason, Zuko didn't like that at all and his pace quickened. "Azula! AZULA!"

This city had way too many hiding places, but Zuko was prepared to be out all night if he had to be.

[peoplesprincess]

Two things pulled Azula out of sleep-- the initial wail of the sirens, and the faraway sound of someone calling her name.

She recognized that voice.

With a low growl, Azula pulled herself up, instinctively jumping into bending stance in case there were anything dangerous nearby. Zuko being around just made her angrier, and more eager to fight-- either him, or monsters; it didn't matter which.

[zuzukins]

Zuko stopped at the wail of the siren and the moment the last note of the warning disappeared into the night, the world changed drastically.

Azula hadn't been the only one who heard Zuko's voice.

To be honest, the park didn't seem that promising. Not having any shelter inside as far as he knew, Zuko wasn't sure if Azula would leave herself out in the open like that. However, as with the case of the dumpsters, he wasn't going to let his assumptions make him pass up anything.

He was definitely being watched.

In one swift movement, Zuko whirled around with both Dao blades in his hands, scanning the his surroundings. Shit, it was so dark now. He could barely see anything. "Azula?" He called out softly, because it didn't feel like her. That presence out there, watching him, stalking him, didn't feel like anything he had ever experienced before. Like a raw need to devour. Then he heard it. Growling. And the sound grew louder as it got closer.

It... looked like a cat.

A very bloated and unfriendly cat.

[peoplesprincess]

Azula, meanwhile, was lucky enough not to have any monsters in her general vicinity. Rubbing the last bit of sleep from her eyes, she took off a run, all senses alert for any signs of danger (and Zuko).

She saw the monster before she saw her brother. A large, slow-moving creature was stalking him, and they were both blocking her exit from the park. Seeing Zuko sent a fresh wave of hatred and anger coursing through Azula's body-- this was the boy weakling who had beaten her; who had stolen her throne and locked her up in prison. And now he dared to show up here?

Without any real thought to her actions, Azula leapt forward, sending as large a stream of fire as she could muster towards the two. She wasn't aiming for either of them in particular. She didn't care who it hit, or which one of them came after her.

She just wanted to fight.

[zuzukins]

Zuko was just about to decide that maybe if he backed away slowly, the cat creature wouldn't attack him. He was hardly scared of the thing, but he didn't want to tire himself by getting involved in any unnecessary fighting. Particularly if he caught Azula in a bad mo--

The blue flame seemed to come out of nowhere. Well, the good news: he found his sister. The bad news: in a swift and instinctual reaction, Zuko used his own bending to block the flame. Unfortunately, the two different colored flames ricocheted off each other to explode on the cat creature. The creature screamed and its gut exploded in a mass of flesh and gore and... over a dozen screaming, pissed off rotgut cougar kittens that did not seem in the least bit bothered by the fire licking at their bodies as they attacked.

I'm sorry this is so late! I was out for most of the day yesterday

[peoplesprincess]

That had been the absolute last thing that Azula had expected, and she was completely and utterly unprepared for it. Three jumped on her left arm right away, giving her several large and deep cuts down the length of it. As a firebending prodigy who had been trained as a soldier, Azula had obviously been taught how to manage pain-- but even she couldn't help from letting out a sharp yelp as she tore the kittens from her arm.

Luckily for Zuko, she had all but forgotten that he was there-- right now, her attention was focused solely on the attacking monsters. There were about fifteen of them, which wouldn't have been too hard to handle if they weren't so fast, and if they didn't seem impervious to fire.

Fighting them alone, she was going to have her hands more than full. But she would rather have died right then and there than stoop so low as to accept help from a traitor.

HOW DARE YOU HAVE A REAL LIFE OUTSIDE OF RP!!! DX

[zuzukins]

Zuko had faced many horrors and trials throughout his travels in banishment land, but this was by far the weirdest and most frightening thing he had ever faced. Kittens. Several of the screaming critters latched onto his skin with their tiny yet extremely sharp claws, their four eyes peering up at him as they spat. Twin Dao swords sliced through the air and managed to cut one of the mangy critters in half. One. Out of... who knows how many, the little bastards all moved so fast it was as if they were infinite in number.

The second to fall was a bit easier. Where it came from and how it got there was a mystery, but Zuko looked up in time to see one of the monstrous kittens literally flying at his face with an ear-piercing shriek, legs outstretched as though it had wings attached. The sight would have been comical if Zuko wasn't fighting for his life right now. Another swing of a blade made quick work of the kitty while it was still airborne, splashing gore onto his hair. Gross.

Azula's yell attracted Zuko's attention and he turned his head to see if she was all right. At that moment, another kitten latched onto Zuko's back and bit him deeply in the back of the neck, making him scream. One sword slammed to the ground with a loud clang! as Zuko's free hand gripped the kitten and tried to tear it off him. Bits of his own flesh ripped off as he pried the creature off and threw it to the ground. He didn't have time to dwell on the hot sensation of his own blood dripping down his back as he grabbed his fallen sword.

[ooc: Dude, they are going to have the worst cat scratch fever EVER.]

I AM SO SORRY I'LL NEVER EVER DO IT AGAIN D8

[peoplesprincess]

Azula didn't have swords-- or anything other than her fire-- to fight with, but there was no way she was going to ask Zuko for help. The animals continued attacking her, latching onto her arms and her legs and her face, and leaving behind deep wounds wherever they went. For each one she pulled off, three more jumped back on. Zuko's swords were taking care of some of them, but he was clearly having a bit of difficulty himself (not that Azula was paying attention to him), and they were attacking faster then they could be attacked.

All in all, what Azula did was the smartest thing she could do in this situation: she ran.

[ooc: XD they'll have to crawl to a hospital together like the derpy siblings that they are]

Good girl. 8|

[zuzukins]

Zuko chased after Azula, as much as to get away from the frenzied baby feline mutants as to keep his sister in sight. He had seen her take a few hits and wounds herself, and pushed down the guilt that this was, technically his fault for yelling like an idiot and attracting the monsters to them.

The little fuckers were still difficult to evade, a few of them biting his ankles and legs as he ran, one managing to jump up and sink its baby teeth into his side. One more half kitten landed with a sickening plop to the ground. Zuko's vision wavered slightly. The wound on his neck had been worse than he thought.

It was decided. Zuko was never going to own a cat ever.

[ooc: End up sharing the same room, the staff not wanting to part the "beloved" siblings. X3]

[peoplesprincess]

Azula wasn't able to outrun them any better than Zuko was, but that didn't stop her from trying. There was a decided limp to her gait now, and it slowed her down considerably, but she was not going to just give up.

One of the creatures latched on to her shoulder and started gnawing away with its razor-sharp teeth; instead of taking the energy to try to remove it, she ignored it; instead focusing on the ones that attacked her legs and feet.

[ooc: homicide would be imminent]

[zuzukins]

There was now a very visible trail of blood and kitten pieces. By this point, Zuko was acting on pure instinct alone, doing whatever it took to survive. Again and again, he hacked at the mutant kittens until it seemed like he was actually making a dent in their numbers. Realizing that Azula looked like she was about to be overrun by them - and finally seeing that she had no weapon of her own - Zuko ignored the kittens clinging to him and began making work of the ones on his sister. He grabbed the kitten on her shoulder, attempting to wretch it off before it could do her anymore damage.

[ooc: Unless they're both doped up on morphine??? 8X]

[peoplesprincess]

Azula barely noticed the kitten being torn off-- she too was running on adrenaline, and wasn't too far off from passing out due to pain and blood loss. Still, she kept going, walking on as quickly as she could, scraping the monsters off of her legs, and not giving her brother a second glance.

[ooc: ... this is true]

[zuzukins]

Zuko was getting dizzy. The blood now gushing down his back and pouring from other numerous wounds took its toll on his body. Still, one thing drove him forward, kept him conscious, more than his stubborn will to live.

He had to protect Azula.

Perhaps because it took him this long to find her and it would be bothersome if he lost her again. Perhaps because he was just a nice guy like that. Or, perhaps, because despite having endured years of emotional abuse from this girl and constantly being attacked, stomped on, ridiculed, humiliated, chewed on, swallowed up, and spit out by her, she was still his little sister and protecting her was just one of those things that transcended emotion and logic felt by all Big Brothers to have ever existed. In fact, it never even became a debate in Zuko's mind.

Azula's slow pace was enough for Zuko to help her scrape the kittens off without cutting her. Others chewed and chomped at him, but he refused to pay them any attention until the last one would finally pop off her.

[ooc: *sigh* If only King Bumi and his happy pills were here~]

[peoplesprincess]

Azula pulled the last kitten off of herself, firmly crushed its head with a stamp of her foot, and promptly collapsed onto the ground.

She didn't stay there, of course. Blood loss or not, she wouldn't allow herself to be in a vulnerable position, especially not in front of an enemy. Whipping around, she glared at Zuko and snarled, "What are you doing here?"

Keywords so relevant

[zuzukins]

With her in the clear, it didn't take Zuko long to rip the last of the kittens off of him and slice through each one. Now that they were safe - for now, anyway - Zuko wanted nothing more than to collapse to the ground himself. However, they were both badly injured and needed to get treated somewhere. Luckily, the hospital that he had found during his first few days' exploration wasn't too far from here if he remembered correctly. At least one of them needed to stay standing and Zuko wasn't sure just how badly hurt Azula was.

"You're welcome," Zuko muttered. He sheathed his blades, soaked with animal gore and his own blood. He didn't care if Azula attacked him at this point. Hey, at least if he died he would get his wish and go back home, right? His clothes were drenched black with blood. He was neither in the physical or mental condition to fight back anymore.

fffff

[peoplesprincess]

This was a trick. It had to be. He was trying to lull her into a false sense of security, or manipulate her, or make her owe him something-- all things that she had always been more likely to do than Zuko. But that didn't matter; he was a traitor, and he couldn't be trusted.

"Leave me alone!" she yelled, wobbling on her feet as she moved away from him. "Just leave!"

Disoriented as she was, Azula still kept one hand at the ready, prepared to summon her fire the moment he took a step toward her.