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Post by gijoespouse on Aug 11, 2009 7:58:58 GMT -5
Auina smiled, shaking her head a little as he responded to her nagging with a fair amount of teasing. She could remember when she was young child and the twins were much much more wild, she used to get so irritated with Li for doing that. It'd send her off into a tizzy, and that just egged the boy on. Obviously with age came a bit more maturity...well, maybe more so on the acrobat's part than on Li's.
“If anything you’re the one who I need to watch out for. I am shooting fire at you after all…”
There definitely was an inherent danger to their bender battle performance. There was always the chance that Li could be battered by the earth and rock she bended, and there had been times where either a mistep on his part or a miscalculation on her end resulted in a cracked rib or two. And there had been times when she'd been caught by his flames, though thankfully none of the burns she'd received had ever been very extensive. There were always water benders around to heal them on those occasions.
"Oh, I'll be careful," she replied. "And you do the same. Would be a shame if the 'proud and noble firebender' got pummeled by the 'primitive upstart earthbender'."
The words were said in a tone that indicated she wasn't upset by the way the fight was supposed to turn out. Afterall, the majority of the time they were performing in front of Fire Nation troops, and she always was slated to lose on those occasions. It would be more than a bit late at this point to start having issues with losing their fake little battle.
The sound of Juning haranging someone for doddling about caught her attention, and she turned her head to see. Many of the performers were starting to gather, and it was nearly time to start the performances. She glanced back to Li, sighing a little.
"Looks like its almost time. Do you need a hand with the rest of your packets?"
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Post by blackcrow on Sept 3, 2009 23:59:08 GMT -5
"Primitive, Upstart?" He gasped in feign surprise as he back away a little bit and straightened, standing tall. He had to look down at her with a slight smile turning up at his lips. Really now? "You need to take more credit, Auina. You're a good Earth Bender..." He said, condfidently and reassuringly as Li-Wu raised a hand up to her shoulder. His hand came to rest on her shoulder, heavy and weighty as he tilted his head at her just a little bit. "You give me a run for my money, that's for sure." A chuckle passed his lips a bit, as they parted just a moment. It faded however as it came and he pressed his lips together into a faint smile as he stared at her for a moment. He inhaled deeply, golden eyes flickering across her face with their warm eyes, the soft curves of her jawline in stark contrast to the strong woman below the jaw. Li-Wu took some pride in Auina, perhaps a left over bit of longing from when they had dated. She was strong, powerful and beautiful. It was one of the reasons why their fight was one of the more popular ones. Sure, any battle between the elements was powerful but the Fire Nation Soliders, who often had to rely on Colonial whores or the low-life women of the Earth Kingdom's poorer regions, were stunned by the Earth Kingdom Beauty. Auina oftened made herself up, brushed her hair until it shown, and otherwise put on a show for them.. only to be beaten by the strong, powerful Firebender.
Oh their show had so many metaphors. Yet.. none of those admiring men had ever gotten as close as Li-Wu had.
"Looks like it's almost time.."
Yeah. It was almost time. Li-Wu's head turned, as he glanced back towards the majority of the camp. People were gathering, bells and coins jingling on fringe. Li-Wu glanced down a bit at the folded packets at his feet and he bent one knee, a crack of the joint being heard as he did so. He scooped up a handful of the packets into his head, crouching low to the ground as he did so, beginning to pick them up two by two and he began to set them on him. Some were tucked between his skin and the rolled bands around his arm, some tucked into tiny pockets of his vest and some into his waist band. A few even went into the bands below his knees. Auina knew all these spots and Li-Wu had worked them effectively so that after years of practice he could pull them out without even haulting his routine. The colors were usually random, unless they had something planned such as a dance to music or something. He remember once around Auina's birthday, he had surprised her with fire only in her favorite colors.
"Time..we've got all sorts of time.." He would murmur as he then straightened, leaving some of the powder packets behind with his funnel, a rock holding down the stiff paper and some of the vials. He'd leave them here and they'd be fine. His barefeet stepped around them carefully as he circled around Auina. The young man raised his hands up, interlocking his fingers behind his head and into the thin fall of his dark hair as he lifted his nose upward. "Let's go show 'em what we're made out of, Eh Auina?"
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Post by gijoespouse on Oct 3, 2009 9:51:19 GMT -5
Auina smiled demurely, her head tilting slightly as Li circled around her. Was she a good Earthbender? She supposed she was, otherwise she would've hurt him by accident long ago. Their little battle had to look realistic, with their attacks delivered in a controlled manner...otherwise something could seriously go wrong. In that respect, she at least knew she was good enough not to crush the man she still had feelings for. She had always been far more confident in the abilities of her extended family, the troupe as a whole, than in her own abilities though. She heard Juning beating on her cast iron skillet, trying to urge the others to hurry. She glanced up at Li-Wu.
"Alright then," she replied. "Let's make it a good one, hmm?"
Auina left his side at that point...and for the next good while, the Flame Dancers were kept busy getting ready for the exhibition for the Yubi family. At some point, the acrobat ducked into her tent and changed into her performance clothing. Before she knew it, she and Li were up for their bender battle. Normally there would've been some grand standing by Li, some harsh words thrown out by herself. There had been times that one of them had simply come out from the crowd to throw out an attack to start things...all in an effort to make the match seem as authentic as possible. Today, the approach was much different. They simply stood on opposite ends of the courtyard as a warm wind swept through the area.
Auina took a deep breath, before dropping into a horse stance, her callous feet tamping down on the solid earth beneath her. Her head whipped to the side and her hand stretched out to one of the smaller boulders that had been set out for the purpose of the fight. In one graceful motion, she swung it about, sending it in a side long arc toward Li-Wu.
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