An Attempted Agni Kai with Death

[bentflame]

Azula wasn't scared anymore. Everything was back to normal, her father had come back, and best of all, she was getting a chance to prove her bravery (not that she hadn't been brave before; she had had a perfectly good reason for hiding under Ty Lee's bed) by killing the one who had so foolishly thought that he could destroy the Fire Nation. That had been really stupid of him- everyone knew that the Fire Nation couldn't be destroyed; look how quickly and easily it had gone back to normal! Azula couldn't wait to see how easily this guy would be defeated without the aid of his stupid water walls and fireballs from the sky. In person, he could surely be easily disposed of, especially by the best firebender in the world. She wasn't going to tell her dad what she was doing, either- if she did, he might want to come and defeat his "killer" himself, and that wouldn't do. Azula had to prove her worth, and to do that, she had to duel her opponent all on her own. It was true that she had never fought in an Agni Kai before, but there was a first time for everything, right? It didn't look that hard, and after all, she was a prodigy.

Crawling out from under Ty Lee's bed, she quickly wrote her a note. ("To Ty Lee- I'm going to have an Agni Kai with the person who wrecked everything. Don't worry, I didn't tell him where you or Mai live, so he won't try to hurt you before I get him. He might try to hurt Zuko, but unfortunately that can't be helped.") She left as she had come (through the window) and made her way to a large, empty meadow a short distance from the palace- the same one where (though, in her current mental state, she didn't know it) she had fought Richard.

Completely calm and confident, Azula crossed to the middle of the field and waited.

OOC: lol shoddy writing; I wrote this in like five minutes.

Comments

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

[[Well she won't be QUITE as dead as when she fought Richard, but she might die of exhaustion if she doesn't give up XD]]

Death stepped out of the air opposite Azula, about thirty paces away.

"WELL, I AM HERE." He called to her in his leaden voice, a lot lower now he had gone back to normal. He carried no weapon but wore a cloak of blackest night wrapped around his bones. "WHAT DO YOU PROPOSE?"

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Seeing him step out of thin air was a bit perturbing (as was his general physical appearance), but Azula wasn't going to let it phase her.

"An Agni Kai!" she shouted in her loudest voice. "Will you accept, or do I have to do this the hard way?"

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

"WHICH IS?" He asked. He could have summoned it up from his unique memory, but he thought it best to do this the human way. He walked slowly forward to face Azula. "WHAT ARE THE RULES?"

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"Ummm..." The truth be told, Azula wasn't sure of the exact rules of an Agni Kai. But he didn't need to know that.

"We fight to the death! That's it; no other rules." She started to walk backwards, getting into fighting stance as she did so.

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

"VERY WELL." Death said ponderously. This child really was dead set on attacking him. He stood as he was but drew a bladeless scythe handle from nowhere in particular. "I AM READY. ARE YOU?"

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

She raised her eyebrows just slightly at the unfamiliar weapon- Agni Kais were done with firebending; nothing else was allowed. Then again, if she made him put it away she might seem like a coward- and this wasn't really an official duel anyway, so it didn't matter as much. Besides, it wasn't as if she would allow him to get close enough to use it.

"Ready!" she shouted, crouching down and- without further warning- shooting a fairly large-sized fire blast at him.

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

At the eye-brow raising, Death probed his memory a little and saw his mistake. This country was very set on its traditions. He took no action as the blast of fire crashed down upon him, and similarly took no action when the smoke cleared around him. He was unsinged. "YES." He replied, taking one step forward.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

She glared at him. She hadn't missed. Crouching again, she shot a much larger ball of fire- the most powerful blast she knew how to do.

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

She was correct, she hadn't missed. Her fireball hadn't even bothered him in the slightest, but in the interest of ending this conflict speedily he caught this one on his scythe, curving it around to hit a tree. He took another step forward.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Okay, now that was unfair.

"You can't do that!" she yelled. "Agni Kais are only fought with firebending!"

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

"I BENT THE FLAME WITH MY STAFF. WOULD YOU LIKE TO QUIBBLE GRAMMAR, AZULA?" Death asked, remaining stationary. He folded his scythe away into nothingness though, and stood awaiting her next move. He would use his control over time to sidestep this time, she couldn't argue that posessing superior speed was cheating.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

She scowled, and shot another large blast. "Princess Azula!"

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

"I AM SORRY, PRINCESS AZULA." Death apologised, sidestepping her fireball and advancing again. Her skill at firebending while good, seemed to be a little motional. "MIGHT I SUGGEST A DIFFERENT APPROACH?" Death asked politely.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula growled. I WOULD if I could just figure out lightningbending already! She ignored him in favor of flinging fireball after fireball in his direction, increasing the frequency of her blasts as much as possible.

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

Death took most of the fireballs, but dodged some. After each salvo he took one step forward, so he was about twenty four paces away now instead of thirty. He snapped his fingers and sent a very small spark of lightning towards Azula to keep her on her toes.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Oh, of course he could bend lightning. Azula dodged it easily, then relentlessly continued her attack. It had to affect him sometime.

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

While Death had the patience of a geological clock, he was starting to wonder if he should perhaps have just wiped Azula's memory. This Agni Kai was growing tiresome. He looked upward with the flames licking around him, and waited for the storm clouds.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

This was quite unsettling. Azula didn't know why he seemingly wasn't affected by her firebending, but whatever it was, it wasn't natural. She refused to let it show that it bothered her, however- she changed neither the intensity nor the frequency of her attacks.

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

[[It is about to rain cats, dogs, and other miscellaneous furry mammals of your choice - not literally though XD]]

Death raised a hand a gestured to the clouds, which started to blacken. He had never seen the point, he mused as he swirled up a sizeable storm, in the fighting of fire with fire. Water was so much more effective.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula noticed the sky darkening. "You can't do that!" she howled. She would still be able to generate fire if it started raining, but (depending on how hard it came down) most of the flames would be extinguished before she had a chance to do anything with them.

"You aren't fighting a proper Agni Kai! You can only use fire- nothing else!"

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

"AND IF CIRCUMSTANCES DICTATE THAT NEITHER OF US CAN USE FIRE?" Death asked, casually.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"You're creating those circumstances!" Azula was livid.

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

"I AM MERELY TRYING TO ILLUSTRATE A POINT." Death objected, and didn't stop the rain. "IT IS NOT THE MAGNITUDE OR SPEED OF YOUR ATTACKS THAT ARE INEFFECTIVE, BUT THE NATURE." He ceased his advance at fifteen paces.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"There's nothing wrong with firebending!" She continued to advance.

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

"NEITHER IS THE ELEMENT ITSELF THE PROBLEM." Death continued, still standing still. "I AM SIMPLY NOT BOUND BY THE ELEMENTS YOU USE."

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"Stop it!" She was almost shrieking in anger now.

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

Death considered Azula thoughtfully, she was a petulant child, no better than he had been in the past few days but fortunately gifted with less destructive powers. He felt an obligation to help her change, but somehow he didn't think she would.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

She furiously continued trying to fling the fire at him, concentrating less on power and aim than at simply keeping the flames from extinguishing.

She would not lose.

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

"SUPPOSING FOR A MINUTE, THAT YOU MET AN OPPONENT YOU COULD NOT BETTER, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?" Death asked curiously, trying to get the idea across.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"I can beat anyone! I can!"

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

"OH, OH THE AGONY." Death moaned flatly, humouring Azula. "NO MORE I BEG YOU." This was getting more and more absurd as it went on.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

She ignored his words, but the look on her face was murderous.

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

[[Gah I meant to tag this! Honest! Crap tag is crap.]]

It seemed he needed to work on his humouring skills, it hadn't quite had the desired effect.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

Azula took his silence as his realization that he was nearing defeat. She increased her attack, though her arms were beginning to get tired.

OOC: No harm done. :)

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

[[I don't think I am getting notifications DX Starting a new thread cos the old one is getting slightly small XD]]

Death stood implacable, waiting for her to tire. She was by no means mature, she would not last much longer. He said nothing, as angering her would probably just make her last longer.

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

So he was giving up! Azula grinned devilishly as she continued her attacks, though they weren't quite as quick and powerful as before. Her arms were getting sore; she was used to intensive training, but nothing this intensive. But she couldn't stop... that would give her opponent the edge he would need to try and take back the upper hand. She couldn't stop, no... matter... what...

OOC: Gah, I hate it when that happens. D: And no problem.

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

Death stepped forward through the flames and snapped his fingers, extinguishing them. "DO YOU THINK YOU COULD HURRY UP, YOUR HIGHNESS?" He asked. "I HAVE PLACES TO BE."

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"Then maybe you should surrender!" She was not giving up.

[handywithscythe.livejournal.com]

"WHY WOULD I DO THAT?" Death asked. "I AM NOT THE ONE WHO IS EXHAUSTED."

[peoplesprincess.livejournal.com]

"I'm not tired at all!" she lied.