Trekking along with Trackers <Wilderness, EK>

[tsengwei]

The response was reactive. He had to admit, Azula is a different caliber of fighter. She was completely out of Gengoro’s league. Still, Gengoro could not afford to lose this fight.

Gengoro quickly sprang away from the fireball and rolled over to the side. He sprang back to his feet and assumed the defensive position with his sword. The sword blade stood forward toward Azula with the serrated blade toward Gengoro.

“What’s a matter Azula?” Gengoro mocked, “Can’t win in a fair fight?”

Gengoro looked into her eyes, anticipating her next move, then going for a counter.

Meanwhile, two knives made their mark. Tseng was careless. Instead of paying attention to his target, he decided to mock them instead. One knife grazed his wrist while the other struck his left shoulder. Blood trickled from both wounds. Tseng’s body shook a little.

“You……dare……CUT ME!” Tseng screamed. His eyes saw red. The souls of a thousand men that he murdered struck his heart. The cuts made him feel mortal, a feeling he never felt before, "You little $!%@#!"

Tseng charged forward toward Mai, dodging the knives that she threw. He took the haft of the staff and swung it toward her, followed up by a whirling backhand to the back of her head. Tseng went on a complete offensive. Her cutting him really didn’t enrage him, but made him excited. He never really have victims fight back, so this posed a new challenge for him. Now, he can put his skills to the test against Mai or anyone who wishes to interfere with their bout.

[mab]

His reaction almost scared Mai for the simple fact that it was so crazed; she had never seen someone explode from a few simple cuts. Keeping her wits about her the teen ducked down to get out of the staff’s path, arms straight out to discharge half a dozen arrows. His reaction almost scared Mai for the simple fact that it was so crazed; she had never seen someone explode from a few simple cuts. Azula hadn’t wanted Mai to come along for nothing, however. Shaking the surprised, wide-eyed gaze that had briefly come across her thin face Mai reached up her sleeve and retrieved a few daggers, each with cut-outs around their edges for her to grasp them with.

He was right on her, though, not allowing her any room to release her projectiles. Then there was the knock to her head that had Mai catching herself, hands letting the blades go in order to stop herself against the dirt. Looking up, anger boiled up in her chest and Mai’s eyes became hard. She kicked her leg out, causing another set of arrows to fly out and hopefully keep him back.

Though her head was now pounding the young woman grabbed her fallen stilettos and rolled to the side before pulling herself back to her feet. A side-long glance in Ty Lee’s direction revealed the acrobat might be having slightly better luck in her disabling attempts. With a deep exhale Mai hurled the daggers at the male. Another glint and blur of movement caught her eyes in the process. Was that boy with the blades thinking of joining their engagement? Perfect.

Deciding it was best to keep her distance from the brutish male who had already shown he would be more difficult to apprehend, Mai ran past his side and towards the line of trees Azula had disappeared in. She resettled herself with the notion that she was faster and better-trained. It was just that he apparently had more strength. But Mai knew that with a couple of jabs from her chi-blocking friend would be more than enough for him. She would be happy to keep him busy until the Kyoshi Warrior was out of the picture and Ty Lee and Mai could finish Tseng and any others.

[mizuki]

Ty Lee wanted to see her opponent fall, that was the fate that should be rightfully hers. In fact, the acrobat thought maliciously, Ty Lee might take the Kyoshi Warrior's own sword to her dark locks as her body lay paralyzed on the ground. But her kind nature struck her too soon, not for her opponent oh no, but for her long-time partner and life-time friend.

"Mai," gasped Ty Lee as the brute charged her. With a look of loathing at her charge once more, the circus girl crouched before springing into the sky. Once more her sheer agility seemed to shatter the laws of gravity. Once more she rose into the heavens to grace the clouds with her presence before plunging to the earth and world of mortals once again. Ty Lee, for the third time in this battle, melted into a streak of color rocketing to the ground. Her eyes scanned until she caught Mai in a gap between the trees she had just passed between for cover.

But there she did not aim, but on the road she had left, nearly fifty feet from her last position. Ty Lee landed lightly on the ground as the hues of her outfit settled into place, hardening from their former look. "Hey," her call was vacant of it's normal bubble and fizz. Ty Lee knew when the battle permitted for her to enjoy the conflict, but these people were to strong to take any chances. "What's all that muscle for if you can't even take on a girl wearing pink." It was a hope, a chance that Mai's pursuer would be simple enough to turn on this new adversary, but for good measure, Ty Lee gave a graceful kick to a clump of earth in front of her which slung out toward the brute in the form of mud. Please let this work..... she pleaded to anyone who would listen.

[prodigy]

She landed upright without even a fault, her gymnastic prowess not as graceful and fantastic as Ty Lee's, but with much more emphasis on the power and the mere utilitarian aspect of its use. The covers on her shoulders fell back into place as gravity took over, drawing downward the tendrils of hair. She took a step back as the bright blue flames dissipated to oranges and yellows finally fading into the air. The Princess stayed on her toes, her pointed and curled upright toes with their golden accents. She stepped back, drawing her arms back farther behind her as she dropped her chin Her golden eyes followed the large man with the gruff, uncultured appearance. It was people like him that largely needed the help of the Fire Nation, that needed civilization thought Azula as she pressed her lips together, a mild frown on her face at his taunting.

Above that, Azula twisted her wrists and brought two index and middle fingers together on each hand, forming the gesture to guide her firebending that she preferred due to it's increased accuracy. Her weight now firmly on her back foot, she lifted her front foot to it's toe. Inhaling deeply, the princess settled into her breathing, the core of firebending, and lunged forward. Her arms swung forward and upward from her sides, already trailing the sharpened nails. Again, she twisted her wrists, palms upward as they passed by her but near the top of the arc, She flipped her hands upward, releasing the trailing balls of curling, twisting fireballs of blue. They shot from her control with bullet-like speed, tails of cooler, amber colored flames trailing behind the launch.

[jialingjin]

A Tree! Jialing's mind screamed as she pressed herself into the bark, trying to hide for a moment, her bow slung over her back. Her bare hands clung to the bark and for a moment, she looked up, studying the branches. Could she climb this one? It was worth a shot to provide air support. She jumped upward, kicking her feet upward as her worn out boot tread tried to grip to the bark. Her hands, flithy and now scraping on the bark, reached for the lowest branch. Again and again, The lanky girl tried to jump and leap to that branch, her bow and quiver shuddering against her back. Finally, her fingers grasped the low branch, her palms pressing into it as she pulled herself up, putting her weight into her feet, pressed against the trunk in their furred boots.

She clamored up about as ungraceful as a sloth, and again, she went higher, using the cluster of branches to her advantaged as she scaled up to the forking V of the two, main, thick trunks. Below her, a firefight.. literally.. raged. She saw the princess launch two bullets of flame at the stranger with the sword, she heard the screech of the crazy, tattooed mad man towards the tall, skinny girl with the ornate hairdo. Hibiki was no where to be found, and Reed was beside Tsuya, trying to get a hit in on the fast moving jumping bean in the rosy colors. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, Jialing settled into the crook, leaning into the left trunk to give her space to draw. Off came her bow, the string already strung, and immediately she groped for an arrow. One of only a few.

So unprepared, she hadn't even had time to make new ones and the ones she used meant more lost arrow heads and those things weren't cheap! The arrow, made out of the straightest twig she could have found, had a metal arrowtip and the short pinfeathers of random birds tied to the end as the fletch. She notched it, and lifted her arm. The two strangers could handle themselves, Jia really didn't harbor any feelings towards them, but Reed and Tsuya were another story. hefting up her bow, she closed one eye and drew back. With the release of her fingers, the bow snapped and the arrow flew in a curving arc to Ty Lee.

[gengoro]

A kick she gave. A kick of insult or a kick of distraction, no one could really say. It spread itself over Tseng’s robe. He stopped for a second to watch the mud spread. He slowly lifted his head to Ty Lee. His expression that he usually dons was void from his face. His eyes were intense and his smile was nothing more but psychotic. He lifted his hand that was bleeding toward Ty lee for her to see.

“You see this little pink bunny?” Tseng spoke with wickedness. The tone of his voice lost the baritone key, but replaced with a low pitched shrieking, “This blood saved hundreds of lives from the Avatar’s will.” He licked the stream of blood, which was quickly replaced by another pool of his own crimson, “For the will of The Ravanna, this day I will not surrender.”

In a blur of darkness, Tseng quickly charged forward. His eyes were still intense and full of pure chaotic energies. However, he knew in his head that fighting her would be a bad idea. There was a reason that the knife girl left and this pink girl replaced her. He knew he had to do something drastic.

With a thrust to the ground with his oaken staff, he pole vaulted himself over the pretty but distracting young girl to reach the other side. As he was hovering over the top of her, drops of blood from his hand and shoulder made their was to Ty Lee’s face and hair. As he impacted onto the ground, he charged forward toward Gengoro to regroup.

Meanwhile, Gengoro almost died this day. The two fireballs hurled toward him grazed his shoulders at such speed that he couldn’t see it coming. Luckily, he stepped out of the way before it could accurately hit him. He knew that he had to do something unorthodox in his style of fighting if he were to actually survive. He charged forward with the base of the blade up at his cheek. His eyes were focused on the target, staring into her eyes like looking through a window to watch her every move.

When he got to 2 meters from her position, he quickly lunged his blade toward Azula. He knew that a typical move would not work on her. The lunge was nothing more than a feint for an unorthodox move. Before it could strike her target, Gengoro dropped to the ground like a baseball player sliding to his base before getting tagged out. He legs got under Azula’s position. He opened up his legs in a scissors like motion to tangle her and catch her unbalanced. He once more feinted with his blade to think it would hit her, but struck her instead with a left punch to her sternum, hoping that such a strike would not only distract her, but actually hinder her after the initial strike.

[prodigy]

Acrobatic, poised and right on her toes, the Princess quickly drew her hands back, wasting no time after shooting off those two fireballs. Immediately, she began to move back, stepping hurriedly away from the swordsman. He too successfully stepped back and away, avoiding her double fireball launch. That displeased Azula greatly, but she kept her composure, only narrowing her eyes as the corners of her lips turned down. A twitch was threatening to develop under her forehead if things did not go better. The three young women, while highly skilled fighters, were outnumbered. They'd better end this soon.. it would be best.

The swordsman lunged at her, the butt of his weapon up high. Foolish! Carrying a sword that high was never very wise! It left your entire midsection open! She opened her hand, palm flat as if pushing against a wall and the young woman thrusted towards the man's stomach, a curling, blast of cerulean flames shooting from the mere exhalation of her breath and energy through her hand. And yet! She felt his foot twist around her ankle, pulling a stable base out from under her! Fire flared in her blood and at her fingertips as she became enraged, her torso falling down as she barely kept her balance, sinking into a lunge that caused her toes to dig into the ground.

Azula barely had anytime to think as she fell, her hands splayed on the ground under her as she leaned into one bent knee, feeling the chilled gold of her collar's embroidery touching her cheek. His fist was now coming at her, upper cuting from down at his hip. Again, she inhaled sharply as she lunged forward and diagonally, feeling the flesh just brush by her ear, strands of hair pulling back with it. Now, her shoulder was under his elbow, and she was rising to her feet again, the air still hot from the fire she bent. Princess or not, she was no stranger to what others might call dirty tactics. Kicking her feet together, she struck her hands to her side, tiny fingers balled up into a fist which served as a funnel for the high powered energy she would now feed into her hands. With a rush of adrenalin, flames flickered to life at her hands, bursting forth with such explosive energy, they catapulted the small princess forward and away, but if anything, a mere foot or so of distance now placed between them.

[lili]

The punch hit Tsuya right in the chest. It was only because she was wearing armor that the blow probably didn’t do so much damage. The warrior was knocked back, however, and landed on her bottom before watching the pink clad girl twirl off again. A gloved hand slowly pressed against her chest and Tsuya winced slightly but nothing felt any worse than bruised. As she inhaled the muscles seemed to tighten against the effort but she ignored the discomfort. Fan and sword lay at her side and she hastily scooped them up, a moment later realizing the feeling in her arm was returning. She could now grip the fan though as she stood Tsuya realized it still wasn’t fully back to normal. Taking up another stance the warrior examined the situation.

There was one of the male’s who had approached them. And obviously the pair had been following; Tsuya and Jialing had been correct in their feeling. A bead of sweat cut down from her forehead and through the white foundation painted on her face. Apparently the stalker was on their side, at least for the time being. He and the two girls were engaging one another, though now the gloomy one was backing off. But where had Jialing gone and the Fire Nation princess with her? Tsuya thought she could hear scuffling around and the unmistakable flash of fire, even if it was hard to tell through the line of trees.

Were Reed and Jialing thinking they would pursue a victory over their attackers? It wasn’t like they could call a time-out to confer, but they also needed a plan. The numbers might be stacked against them, but Azula and her cronies were probably perfectly able to keep up their positions. Tsuya, however, doubted her new group could. That would also involve simply leaving these Fire Nation girls, something she had a hard time swallowing.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted an air flying towards the acrobat. Carefully Tsuya moved towards her, ready to catch her off guard if and when she tried to dodge the assault. Again she poised her jingum at Ty Lee, fan at her side with her weakened arm a bit bent.

[reed]

Reed swung his swords toward the freakishly flexible girl in pink. Sweat matted his brow while dust and smoke blurred his vision. The heat of the fire, that was being fought with, made his body tense and rigged. No matter what maneuvers he tried, she just kept evading them. What WAS this girl!? The closest Reed got to wounding his foe was a snip at her shirt. Tsuya was taking most of the beating but also bringing more of the hits.

Smoke clouded the area and drifted up to the sky encasing them all. Like a light fog, it was disorienting. Inhaling more and more of the smoke, Reed breath became choppy. I F**KING HATE THE FIRE NATION. Was, basically, the only thought Reed thought of. That and of course, his constant struggle to locate Jia. Where did she go!? She had been a few meters back but not out of sight. It was then she saw something cut through the smoke out of the corner of his eye.

[mizuki]

The mud spread over it's intended target. The warrior whirled around and Ty Lee had to force herself not to smirk, because he had done exactly what she had wanted. Then, he began to rant, and Ty Lee couldn't help herself. Her eyebrow quirked in question and a sneer spread, stretching her thin lips. "You can't be serious." She would have said more too, but something caught her eye.

The Tsuya girl was back on her feet, how could this be?! Ty Lee was sure she had put the Kyoshi out of the fight! But wait! Armor of course, in her haste fueled by rage and loathing Ty Lee had not aimed specifically for a chink in the stuff. A place where flesh was easily touched. Then, before she could flip in any one direction, another warrior came charging in, brandishing his sword madly in her direction. Ty Lee had no choice, crouching down to the ground, she catapulted into the heavens.

For the seemingly umpteenth time, her blood-red skirt was pressed against her thighs with momentum. Then, evening out Ty Lee floated on the spot, defying gravity like no one else could. Her skirt and neck piece fluttered out beautifully in the breeze that such an altitude provided. Her eyes scanned the ground as her body began to droop toward the forest once more. There, in a chunk between the canopy she saw Mai's hair. Rocketing to the ground, Ty Lee dove into the green like it was liquid, scattering leaves everywhere. Her hands thrust out and she swung acrobatically through a few branches before landing stealthily beside Mai.

"I could use some help here," she half hissed, half cooed. Without further adieu, Ty Lee stretched her arms straight upward before falling forward into a flip. Upon landing, she leaped high in the air to ricochet off the nearest tree trunk. After bouncing off a few more trees, Ty Lee melted into a streak of color that swept past Mai. She thrust out an arm for her knife-throwing companion to take. If the idea worked, like it had so often in training sessions, Ty Lee would carry Mai with the momentum she had built, depositing her in the midst of battle where she would land nimbly beside her.

[tsengwei]

The brush of death came close. It came too close to Gengoro this time. Rolling away from the fireball, he felt his left arm singe from the fire. This caused discomfort to Gengoro as he rolled to his feet. He went onto the defensive position as he rose to his feet. His breath was noticed now as it increased in pace. Sweat with dust mixed onto his forehead.

“I have to hand it to you Princess,” Gengoro complimented with the last word said in sarcasm, “I never felt this good in a fight. However, I think skill will never outmatch experience.”

His little distraction worked as he watched Tseng Wei jump into the air to deliver a flying dragon kick to Azula when she wasn’t looking. With a connection or not, he rushed over to Gengoro when he landed.

“I’m here friend,” Tseng called out now with his normal baritone voice. He went to his side and threw his staff away from the combat. With a serious and deliberate look on his face, Tseng Wei did the unthinkable. This might give away his position somewhat, but he felt since he’s used them for so long, it’s almost like second nature. From his pouch on his side, he pulled out two obsidian scalpels, one for each hand. He positioned himself defensively next to Gengoro.

“Where the hell did you get those?” Gengoro asked with worry.
“I’ll explain it to you later,” Tseng Wei replied as waited for Azula to make her move.

However, the feared happened. His backpack gave way as it dropped to the floor. As it hit the ground, the contents were revealed, the dark leather bound vile tome appeared to the public, it’s twisted nature shone for others to see. Tseng turned his head slightly with shock as he witnessed the tome laying on the ground.

[prodigy]

The Princess managed to escape her own close call by the sheer virtue of her powerful flames. They launched high and far enough to escape, allowing her to catch onto a tree with her hand and swing around the thick trunk. The soles of her boots struck the dried out trunk, as she held her body at an angel to practically run around the tree. After a second, she dropped from the tree to her feet, having left a round-burn trail around half the tree's circumference from her smoldering hands. Azula waited, her hands smoothing out the creases in the front of her wrap-skirt, dusting themselves off.

She took a step forward, casting a wary glance to where Ty Lee and Mai stood, flanked by a man with a small blade, stringy jaw length hair and the Kyoshi Warrior. But that's all it was, a brief glance and a moment of subtle worry before her golden eyes refocused on the soldier in front of her who could not keep his big mouth shut and the strange man covered in tattoos. It was time to break out the big guns. Azula knew they could not win this, not out numbered and with the random arrows coming from in the trees, no doubt the work of that girl who had vanished moments ago. However.. they could retreat to safety, and regroup. There was no dishonor in a smart retreat.. only in a dumb retreat. After all these years, she was still very much angry at Uncle for backing down from Ba Seng Sei when he had breached the wall.

She would not make the same mistake. "Experience.. only accents skill." Azula commented in her commanding, rich alto voice. She inhaled slowly, keeping her eyes focused on the two of them. Her hands parted, rising up in individual circles to her side. One hand.. circled, the white sparks of electricity forming at her fingertips, then the next hand, followed suit. Exhaling, Azula brought both hands together infront of her chest and closed her eyes. And waited.. her fingertips tingling. The white light in er hands grew until, at last, she stepped outward and her right hand shot out at the two men. The electricity streaked from her fingers in numerous directions as small tendrils circled and danced around the main shocking beam of lightning. All around them, dried vegetation was obliterated, some burst into life as small fires, the bark shooting from the trees as it was blasted off. In mere seconds, the lightning was over, the blue-white light fading around them.. the smell of burnt brush rising into the air.

[mab]

Mai’s ears were still ringing from the knock to her head but that was no reason to sit out any longer. Shifting one foot in the dirt to better center her weight properly she cast a glance over her shoulder. Luckily Ty Lee had missed the arrow that had made a wobbly aim towards her.”I thought you were handling them fine.” She sighed dramatically, already predicting what the girl was planning. Dark maroon sleeves hung from her arms as Mai extended them out for the acrobat to grab. Ty Lee could generate a lot of force in her swings and that momentum could prove useful.

The feeling of being almost weightless in the air was not unfamiliar to Mai but that did not mean she enjoyed it as Ty Lee seemed to. For a moment she was horizontal as her grip on Ty Lee’s wrists tightened before releasing altogether and turning mid-air, a half-dozen arrows flying from her extended arms as she prepared to balance herself to land evenly on her feet. The baggy fabric of her pants whipped around her legs until her boots made contact with the dry earth. Slightly crouched she threw a glare towards the male brandishing the swords. Pulling her arm back, revealing the dark, fingerless gloves and holster covering her forearm, Mai flung three curved daggers aimed at his torso. Straightening she prepared to give the Kyoshi Warrior a glance before the chilling whisper of lightning caught her attention. Azula must be preparing to wrap things up, which meant Mai and Ty Lee needed to do the same. The burnt smell associated with such fire bending began to rise in the air and Mai’s thin nose wrinkled.

Soon, she hoped, there would be a signal for them to take their leave. They were equally matched at the moment thanks to sheer numbers. The girls could only defeat so many at one time, the others needed to take a later turn. But Mai was sure Azula would not forget this confrontation and finish the task after they had a moment to regroup, possibly even before they found Zuko and his uncle.

[jialingjin]

First Jin disappeared. Then they got attacked by the Princess of the Fire Nation. Now her tree was on fire! Lovely! Jialing could already smell the burning wood as the dried bark flared to life, ignited by the Princess's wild ways of throwing fire. It wasn't fire so much as it was a crack of lightning streaking through the woods, the mere sound enough to shake leaves from branches and to rock the trees. Jialing gave a yelp as she was thrown/half jumped from her save Y-shaped perched.

Unlike a cat, Jialing landed practically face first, losing her bow in the process and it tumbled down beside her. It was a fight to keep her chin from slamming into the ground, even as her chest did and her wrists and elbows buckled. "Urf!" The wind was expelled from her lungs, for a moment leaving her momentarily unable to process anything that was going on around them. Then, she shoved herself up, gasping like a dying fish as her elbows trembled to hold her weight.

Meanwhile, In Metropolis.. Wait a minute. Never mind. A hero on was his furry little way as Jialing fell from her tree. Jin came bounding down from the path, his mud-coated fur streaking out behind him. He was a veritable mud-beast, certainly worthy of a swamp bender, with his golden fur stained brown with clumps and chunks of drying mud rolling and moving on his coat. Snarling and growling, his yellowed teeth on full bare, Jin leapt into the foray, staking out a position infront of the coughing, sputtering Jialing who was nothing less than a sitting duck metaphorically. With their sniper of commission. (not that she was much of one), the rebels and their unlikely bodyguards.. surely had an advantaged. After all, Jialing could manage to shoot herself, why not one of them?

[gandalan]

Hibiki felt rather puny as he hid half hunched over in the stream. The water, though cooling and quite nice, was anything but calming- it felt too cold, and the touch of a small fish to his ankle sent shivers of fear down his spine. Above him, fighting for their lives were his friends- Jialing, Tsuya, Reed- and apparently the two whom Jia and Tsuya had seen tracking them. He watched in wonder and awe as Jialing fired arrows into the midst of the three attackers, as Reed attacked a girl whose gymnastic abilities were a wonder all their own, and as Tsuya took on the girl as well.

He felt terribly cowardly, but he was, after all, quite useless in battle. The flames of the one wearing the diadem was almost enough to send him running for the hills- but he felt too much... loyalty? No, it wasn't loyalty, but it wasn't affection either... he felt a sort of connection to the three who'd helped him the past few days. Even if he couldn't help them, he wasn't going to run either.

Even if he was cowering like a rabbit would when cornered, and looked pathetic. Not that he didn't already. He yelped as he saw the sparks of lightning shoot from the woman's fingers, and vaguely remembered that water conducted electricity- something his father had told him. He dove out of the water, towards the woman actually (he was closer to that bank) and hunkered down against the ground as lightning suddenly exploded from her fingertips. Trees blazed in various places about him, he was on the verge of panic. Was everyone alright? So far as he could see, Jin was protecting Jia, who was now out of her tree... he uncertainly began to inch his way towards them, still hidden among the remaining brush. He gulped- they'd be lucky to get out of this...