DEAR DICTATOR → zuko

╸fourteen : nari's promise

Zuko snaps a palm to his forehead, face deflating like a popped balloon while suppressing a sigh. "You stole the whip, and that's irrelevant."

Nari smiles as her hand automatically reaches to her hip, gripping the handle of her weapon. "First off, it's second hand stealing. But I'd rather call it taking with force." She argues, gathering the whip from it's raveled up position before stretching it out. The cool leather brazes her already-chilled fingertips, the power of such raising to her face in a dangerous grin. She can easily take them down and tie them up with it, thus removing the whole 'guarded door' issue from their whole plan.

Before looking up to Zuko to announce this, the prince himself swipes a straightened hand over his neck, palm faced down, gritted teeth clenched together with enough force to crack concrete as his head shakes rapidly. One hand points back to the wall while another presses an index finger to his pale and cracked lips, telling a story which never needs to be spoken.

One of the earth benders must of heard her, Nari realizes.

Only one of them-- the guy-- remains at the door, arms sealed behind his back he stares bitingly to his stalking twin, who walks hesitantly in Nari's direction.  Her suspiciously twisted glower is quite informative, gloved hands pressing against each other to pop covered knuckles.

She nears the pot Nari hides behind, and the latter spares a pursed and pointed glare to Zuko asking for aid.

The prince shrugs before circling his arm, then crawling out of sight of the earth bending girl.

Nari follows his lead, a crouched crawl circling the pot with her whip in hand. She pulls her lips between her teeth, gnawing down on them whilst her stomach ties itself into millions and millions of knots, breath smokey and louder than ever before. Suddenly, every move she makes grows increasingly more boisterous, loud enough to shatter the ice everyone stands on.

One quick, strangled shout from the other earth bender spoils Nari's position, so instinctively and through a last resort, Nari jumps up and swings her leg over the rim of the pot-- wide, blazing and bright fire arches from her foot in a horizontal blade as it knocks the earth bender back.

The white hues, rimmed mostly by orange while the wisps take on a blue tone, shock the earth bender, her wide jade eyes shooting to the strict size of grapefruits as the color drains from her face. Nari quirks a smile, regaining her stance alike to her opponent.

The opponent now takes her weapons-- nunchucks, surprisingly (which Nari has never fought against)-- and swings them out from her hips, figure-eight-like motions sprawling and dancing while the chains of such rattle against the quiet night.

Nari steps back, raising a smoothly arched brow as her stained smirk deepens cavernously against the earth bender. She tightens her grip around her whip, the weapon sprawled on the icy floor though it's fully ready for action. "Oh, so we're using hand-on-hand combat, now?" Nari laughs bitterly, her dangerously slanted eyes digging holes into the earth-girl's tan face.

She keeps her nunchucks in motion, though her posture slightly slacks. "How'd you know I was a bender?" She questions, a rigid, rocky voice sprouting humor into the two's pre-battle conversation.

Nari allows a laugh to escape her lips, a single chuckle breaking the stunning silence they hold between each other's voices. "You really think they'd leave weak, non-benders to guard the spirit oasis?" She offers, breaking her stance just to jut out a petty hip. "I'm smarter than that. Why don't you earth up, Rocky?"

The girl's bottom lip forms a pout, her nunchucks slicing through the air with the grace of wind, a full, heavy sound which the weapons dreadfully create. "It's Hika, actually." She sings,  scratched voice ripping Nari's ears with a grate.