[It's a quiet day in Republic City. Relatively. There's always a busy sort of buzz that hangs over the city, but today it's more like a dull hum. Satomobiles rumble lazily down the road, passing by Korra as she pads down the sidewalk.
As she passes by a shaded alleyway, a distant shout from back behind the shops breaks the peace, catching her attention. There's the sound of a scuffle, and that's all the invitation Korra needs before she's wheeling around, cutting through the alley at a run. There's no stealth to her approach and her hands are balled into fists, ready for a fight as she comes around the corner,]
[It's not the best part of the city to be walking around alone. Not quite the poorest, but far enough off the beaten path of the authorities. Populated by hushed voices and fearful glances, because the unspoken law around here is that this is Triple Triad Territory.
And true enough, there's a flashy Satomobile parked haphazardly in the street, blocking it off. And a sound of broken glass. Raised voices. And as Korra gets close enough to get a good look at the disturbance, one of the assholes responsible—
—is knocked violently back into her by a spray of high-pressure waterbending.
They collide and collapse, and he rolls off of her immediately. Dripping wet from the attack, bleeding from a split lip. Hacking like a cat.]
You bastards—
[And he hardly spares her a glance, let alone an apology. Balling his hands into fists and gaining his feet instead, all attention on the three remaining men in the street. Apparently incredibly unconcerned by just how outnumbered he is.
[Woah, excuse you all, when the Avatar enters you're supposed to give her your undivided attention. The smaller guy is already back on his feet and the Triads are laughing, apparently not having noticed just who they knocked Eren into.
Shaking the water out of her ponytail, she stands. It's not too hard to get the gist of the situation, or at least enough that Korra knows whose side to throw on. Time to try again,]
Hey, [Her voice comes out as a sharp bark, and she sidles up beside Eren, glowering at the Triple Threats,] You chumps interested in making this a fair fight?
[The world doesn't revolve around you, Korra. (But when his eyes flicker over to her, there's a small spark of something in the back of his head, at the bottom of his breath. under the more-urgent and more-persuasive pull of his anger.
recognition?)
Stand back, she says. Good luck. He's on his feet again, knuckles bleeding white, jaw set aggressively. Before she has a chance to press the attack, he beats her to it. Charging forward, meeting the triple-threat's firebender head on. The man tries to throw a punch, another. And Eren ducks, weaves, and throws him head over heels onto the ground.
And it's—strange. Unfamiliar. Not untrained, but no shade of martial arts she'd know, despite her wide variety of tutors.
Somewhere, in the near distance, is the sound of police sirens growing closer.]
[She tenses as the guy rushes forward, prepared to jump into it and bail him out before he ends up with third degree burns, but then he's grappling with the firebender, throwing him to the ground. Those are... actually pretty impressive moves.
Before she can join in, the sirens seem to catch everyone's attention all at once, and the Triple Threats are suddenly scrambling, deciding they have better things to do than beat up a couple teens. Which is sounding like a pretty good idea right about now.
Rushing forward, she grabs Eren by the back of his shirt.]
Come on!
[Who knows if this scruffy looking guy is a criminal, but Korra doesn't need another run in with the Republic City Police, not if she doesn't want the White Lotus on her like hawks.]
[The firebender scrambles away. He's already reeling back for another blow when Korra grabs him. Wrenches him away from the fleeing men.]
Wh—hey!
[His blood's still up. He stiffens, squares up, rounds on her like he's expecting a fight. Teeth bared, hands in fists. He had him, and now they're getting away.]
[This guy is seriously too much trouble. He wheels around like she's the next one he's going to flip onto the ground and-
For a second Korra freezes, caught off guard when they meet eyes. Something familiar, like deja vu in the back of her head. She shakes it off quickly, and impatiently grabs at his arm again, yanking him roughly back towards one of the buildings.]
You wanna get arrested or something?
[Her gaze travels upwards, where the a black blimp is slowly creeping into view over the rooftops.]
[Korra yanks them out of sight of the airships overhead, into the cover of an overhang, an alley. And he bristles, lifting his chin.]
Someone had to do something.
[And it's not hard to follow the incident backward in time. The scorched storefront they're standing in front of. The not-entirely-untrue rumors of the triads extorting protection money out of the people who live around here.
It's dirty business. But usually quiet business. Because the triads have enough power that most people aren't stupid enough to cross them. People who do don't usually last very long.]
[Korra grits her teeth, releasing Eren the moment they're out of sight.]
Yeah, trust me, the police won't be very impressed.
[It's a familiar story, a familiar scene. She doesn't like letting the bad guys get away, but she knows how it would play out if they did. (Maybe she's jaded from her short time in the city, but the guy probably wouldn't have any council members bailing him out, not like she did.)]
[The police. His expression sours a bit. He lifts a hand to swipe the back of it across his chin, wiping away the blood still dripping down from his split lip.]
You say that like any of 'em give a damn about what happens around here.
[And given the scorn in it, it doesn't take a genius to follow that train of thought. (If they did, the triads wouldn't be such a problem in the first place.) They're too far away from the more populous and affluent parts of the city for the police to bother, very often.
He shrugs away from her, turning on a heel as if to leave.
But he doesn't, not right away. (There's something pulling at the back of his mind like a fishook. He feels strange in his own skin, all of a sudden.) He stops. Hands clenching and unclenching once, twice. He turns back to her, as it to be sure she's still there. And he frowns.]
What d'you want?
[Does he know her from somewhere? He can't place her.]
[Korra bristles, and he sure is making her doubt that she did the right thing by stopping him from giving chase. What does she owe him anyway?
He starts to leave and she has to fight back the urge to call out, to ask him to wait. The city had no lack of scruffy teens slinking through it's back streets and alleyways, and a million other citizens she passes by every day, but this feels... important. It's unsettling, and the other half of her wants him to just hurry up and disappear so things can go back to normal.
But he doesn't, and unease shifts into annoyance,]
I was trying to help you out. You could at least say "thanks."
[Woah, those aren't very avatarlike thoughts, Korra.
Instead of saying thanks, he leans away and spits blood out of his mouth. He's a sight. And there's something utterly incongruous about him that has nothing to do with being wet, bleeding down into his collar, bruising under his jaw, and somehow hanging in the shade of the alley with the avatar. Republic City is big and busy. He could disappear into them and never see her again. He doesn't, which counts for...something. Something sitting on the edge of his awareness. Both strangely urgent and impossible to reach. The dissonance is aggravating. It rubs him the wrong way. Keeps his hackles from standing down.
It's not that he doesn't appreciate her standing up against the thugs or anything. But the first thing out of his mouth—]
I didn't ask you to.
[Because three well-backed criminals against one scruffy teen sounds like smart odds.]
[They're totally avatar-like thoughts, since she's the avatar.]
Yeah, well someone had to do something.
[Eren's not the only one with a strong sense of justice. But as impressive as his moves were, the bloody mess on his face is proof enough that he was on the losing end of that battle.]
There's not many non-benders willing to stand up to the Triads.
[And she sounds impressed. As much as he was eating the pavement, the guy still had a lot of guts.]
[Two weeks later, a screech of tires echoes through the block in the dark of the night. Not too far from the one that Korra had first run into him. Firmly in the middle of Triple Triad Territory—though they don't usually operate so late at night.
The whole thing's a little premature—they hadn't meant to start up a fight so soon. Just to get some intel on their (dirty) practices, more nails in the coffin, evidence about their gross abuse of power. It's supposed to be a quiet job. Someone slips. The triad catches on. And they drive them out.
They fight back, of course. The whole thing's a little hard to miss.
When Korra arrives on the scene, they've been scattered to all directions—people in masks squaring off against the triad muscle and vanishing into the night. The one in front of her ducks a firebending flare, rolling around it and back to his feet. Before the Triad bender can attack again, the he's behind the man and knocking him onto his back.]
[One of the perks of being a part of Team Avatar is always being in the right place at the right time. Korra's not a fan of the triads, but the sound of a fight is hard to ignore once it reaches her ears, drawing her in like a moth to flame. The metaphor is a little more literal than she'd like, as she narrowly misses getting singed by a stray fireball as she turns a corner.
The firebender drops, and Korra stops dead in her tracks-Equalists! She reels back with a startled shout, reflexively throwing her own fireball at the pair of glowing green eyes.]
Hey! Get away from him!
[Who knew there'd be a day where she actually fight for the Triads?]
[The firebender seizes up when Eren hits him in the right way. The fire at his fingertips snuffs out, and he hits the ground like a sack of potatoes. A sitting turtleduck. Half reason the fight's gone on so long in the first place is because he's still pretty new to adapting the technique to the foreign hand-to-hand techniques already coded into his reflexes.
Korra shouts out a demand that's half a warning. He grits his teeth behind the mask concealing his identity from the men they'd been snooping on. And he ducks the attack before it can land, diving out of the way, and sweeping a reflexive leg under her feet instead of pulling back upright.
It's dark—the city's lit only by the flashes of fire and the dim gaslamps above them. For all he knows, she's with the Triads too. With the way she'd rushed to defend them, it's not all that hard to assume, in the heat of the moment.
But something in the shout sounded a little familiar.]
[Korra's done this song and dance before, fought with the Equalists and their freaky Chi-blocking but something about the way this one moves is different and it catches her off guard. Where she'd been expecting a swift jab to one of her pressure points, she gets a leg connecting solidly with her shins.
She hits the ground hard, but just as quickly throws a hand up, and with it, the ground under Eren erupts, a boulder aimed at his gut. Anything she can do to get keep him from landing those chi blocking blows she'd been expecting in the first place.]
[He takes her down, but he can't recover fast enough to dodge the earthbending before it throws him up into the air.
(earthbending. after she'd thrown fire at him already.)
Reflexively, he twists in midair like a cat. Like second nature, hands twitching closed, as if searching for something. He manages to right himself enough that when he lands, it's with his heels aimed down toward the ground.
Right on top of her.
Mostly it just means that they end up in a stupid heap of roughed-up teenager. Eren rolls away from on top of her, but the glass in the lenses of the goggles he's wearing is shattered. He can't see a damn thing.
Impatient, and far more concerned with defending himself than with concealing his identity, he pulls them off. Freeing his vision, until all that's left of his disguise is the cowl covering his nose and mouth.]
Edited (proofreading's for nerds) 2015-09-03 07:04 (UTC)
[As he scrambles off of her, Korra rolls, hand curled into a fist to throw another ball of fire before she's even up on her feet. The mask comes off, and in the light of the fire around her hand, she catches sight of dark brown hair, and unforgettable green eyes.
She stops, half propped up with one hand, the other still holding a flickering fire.]
It's- you're... you!
[The guy from before. He disappeared not long after their meeting in the alley that day, but she's often thought of him. Wondering what he was up to. Well, now she knows.]
[No kidding. His eyes narrow over his cowl as the light of her firebending bounces off the contours of her face. Even if he didn't recognize her in the flickering light, even if the sound of her voice wasn't far more familiar than it had any right to be—there's only one person who could break out earthbending and firebending in the same fight.]
What the hell're you—
[doing here? He doesn't finish the thought. There's a muted clatter around the corner. A muffled voice.
He moves again. And this time, he does go for the pressure points. Slams his fists into her side in the right place, with the right amount of force. Putting his everything into stunning her, even if she does decide to let that fireball loose at him after all.]
[The surprise of seeing him here is just enough to let him get the upper hand, and he catches her off guard when he darts forward. Half propped up on one arm is no pose for a good retaliation and she throws herself back to avoid his chi blocking, but it's too late. Even as the fireball leaves her hand, she feels her arm go numb, her body hits the ground like a sack of potatoes, face against the cold ground.]
You're a traitor!
[Not that he ever promised to her that he's not an Equalist. And it's not like he's a bender betraying his own kind, but it still stings like a betrayal. Despite her arms and legs not working like they should, she still tries to sit up, eyes wide at the sound of nearby voices, panic rising. If she gets captured by the Equalists...]
[Luckily, the thick canvas he's wearing is designed to deal with firebenders. It deflects the worst of her attack, lets him get close enough to duck through her defenses and down her.
The accusation doesn't make a lick of sense. It still stings, knifes something bitter somewhere between his ribs, a muted sense of confused outrage. She's an easy target, now, struggling on the ground like that. He hits her again, a little harder than he means, maybe, but very deliberately aimed. This one ought to drop her entirely. Knock her out, or come close to it. But it shouldn't last very long.
Even if she doesn't black out, there's not much she'll be able to make out with her face flat on the pavement. He stands and walks away. There's a conversation, short and emphatic. The sound of a satombile driving by.
By the time she comes to, Eren is sitting in front of her in the alley. Folded up against the wall in the hazy, warm light of a streetlamp. Cowl pulled down around his neck, arms folded over his knees. And watching her. When she moves, his fingers curl against his knees. But he doesn't move, otherwise.
[It hurts. Reminiscent of the blow that Amon dealt back on Avatar Aang Memorial, and Eren must be a quick study, because even though it doesn't put her out like a light, she fades in and out of consciousness. Never fully awake, but she catches bits and pieces of a conversation she can't put together, and then darkness.
The darkness eventually fades, and her eyelids feel heavy as she comes to. It takes a second to process the figure sitting in front of her, the voice registering as some kind of instructions. Instructions that she promptly ignores, and with a groan she struggles to sit up. Her limbs feel like lead, and it takes some effort not to land flat on her face again. The best she can manage to for now is to roll onto her back. She's not sure what she was expecting-some kind of Equalist prison, probably, but being right back out on the street where she'd fallen isn't what she anticipated.]
What... What happened? Where's all of your friends?
[There's genuine curiosity, but it's hard to keep the sting out of her voice. She's still fully expecting the others to come back and throw her in the back of one of their vans at any point now.]
[He watches her struggle in an unsurprised sort of way. It wasn't just advice—he's speaking from experience. There's nothing he can do to her that wasn't done to him a thousand times over as it was drilled into his head, coded into his reflexes. Chi-blocking is a pretty hands-on art in just about every way.
There's a beat of silence, broken only by the hum of city noises, distant satomobile traffic. She shouldn't be surprised that he doesn't answer that second question. As for the first—Come on, he didn't hit you that hard.]
[She meant more along the lines of why didn't the Equalists jump at the chance to bring her right to Amon. Even if they'd somehow missed that she's the Avatar, she's still a bender. Slowly she flexes her fingers, trying to will feeling back into her arms.
Even if she can't move, at least his chi-blocking can't keep her from arguing, even if her voice still is at an angry hiss, for fear of bringing the rest of the Equalists around again,]
You were attacking these benders. What is this, revenge?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
windless) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
dizzyspells2015-03-22 10:02 pm
no subject
As she passes by a shaded alleyway, a distant shout from back behind the shops breaks the peace, catching her attention. There's the sound of a scuffle, and that's all the invitation Korra needs before she's wheeling around, cutting through the alley at a run. There's no stealth to her approach and her hands are balled into fists, ready for a fight as she comes around the corner,]
Hey!
no subject
And true enough, there's a flashy Satomobile parked haphazardly in the street, blocking it off. And a sound of broken glass. Raised voices. And as Korra gets close enough to get a good look at the disturbance, one of the assholes responsible—
—is knocked violently back into her by a spray of high-pressure waterbending.
They collide and collapse, and he rolls off of her immediately. Dripping wet from the attack, bleeding from a split lip. Hacking like a cat.]
You bastards—
[And he hardly spares her a glance, let alone an apology. Balling his hands into fists and gaining his feet instead, all attention on the three remaining men in the street. Apparently incredibly unconcerned by just how outnumbered he is.
(Sorry Korra, did you say something?)]
no subject
Shaking the water out of her ponytail, she stands. It's not too hard to get the gist of the situation, or at least enough that Korra knows whose side to throw on. Time to try again,]
Hey, [Her voice comes out as a sharp bark, and she sidles up beside Eren, glowering at the Triple Threats,] You chumps interested in making this a fair fight?
[Then, to Eren,] Stand back.
no subject
recognition?)
Stand back, she says. Good luck. He's on his feet again, knuckles bleeding white, jaw set aggressively. Before she has a chance to press the attack, he beats her to it. Charging forward, meeting the triple-threat's firebender head on. The man tries to throw a punch, another. And Eren ducks, weaves, and throws him head over heels onto the ground.
And it's—strange. Unfamiliar. Not untrained, but no shade of martial arts she'd know, despite her wide variety of tutors.
Somewhere, in the near distance, is the sound of police sirens growing closer.]
no subject
[She tenses as the guy rushes forward, prepared to jump into it and bail him out before he ends up with third degree burns, but then he's grappling with the firebender, throwing him to the ground. Those are... actually pretty impressive moves.
Before she can join in, the sirens seem to catch everyone's attention all at once, and the Triple Threats are suddenly scrambling, deciding they have better things to do than beat up a couple teens. Which is sounding like a pretty good idea right about now.
Rushing forward, she grabs Eren by the back of his shirt.]
Come on!
[Who knows if this scruffy looking guy is a criminal, but Korra doesn't need another run in with the Republic City Police, not if she doesn't want the White Lotus on her like hawks.]
no subject
Wh—hey!
[His blood's still up. He stiffens, squares up, rounds on her like he's expecting a fight. Teeth bared, hands in fists. He had him, and now they're getting away.]
The hell're you—
no subject
For a second Korra freezes, caught off guard when they meet eyes. Something familiar, like deja vu in the back of her head. She shakes it off quickly, and impatiently grabs at his arm again, yanking him roughly back towards one of the buildings.]
You wanna get arrested or something?
[Her gaze travels upwards, where the a black blimp is slowly creeping into view over the rooftops.]
no subject
Someone had to do something.
[And it's not hard to follow the incident backward in time. The scorched storefront they're standing in front of. The not-entirely-untrue rumors of the triads extorting protection money out of the people who live around here.
It's dirty business. But usually quiet business. Because the triads have enough power that most people aren't stupid enough to cross them. People who do don't usually last very long.]
no subject
Yeah, trust me, the police won't be very impressed.
[It's a familiar story, a familiar scene. She doesn't like letting the bad guys get away, but she knows how it would play out if they did. (Maybe she's jaded from her short time in the city, but the guy probably wouldn't have any council members bailing him out, not like she did.)]
no subject
You say that like any of 'em give a damn about what happens around here.
[And given the scorn in it, it doesn't take a genius to follow that train of thought. (If they did, the triads wouldn't be such a problem in the first place.) They're too far away from the more populous and affluent parts of the city for the police to bother, very often.
He shrugs away from her, turning on a heel as if to leave.
But he doesn't, not right away. (There's something pulling at the back of his mind like a fishook. He feels strange in his own skin, all of a sudden.) He stops. Hands clenching and unclenching once, twice. He turns back to her, as it to be sure she's still there. And he frowns.]
What d'you want?
[Does he know her from somewhere? He can't place her.]
no subject
He starts to leave and she has to fight back the urge to call out, to ask him to wait. The city had no lack of scruffy teens slinking through it's back streets and alleyways, and a million other citizens she passes by every day, but this feels... important. It's unsettling, and the other half of her wants him to just hurry up and disappear so things can go back to normal.
But he doesn't, and unease shifts into annoyance,]
I was trying to help you out. You could at least say "thanks."
no subject
Instead of saying thanks, he leans away and spits blood out of his mouth. He's a sight. And there's something utterly incongruous about him that has nothing to do with being wet, bleeding down into his collar, bruising under his jaw, and somehow hanging in the shade of the alley with the avatar. Republic City is big and busy. He could disappear into them and never see her again. He doesn't, which counts for...something. Something sitting on the edge of his awareness. Both strangely urgent and impossible to reach. The dissonance is aggravating. It rubs him the wrong way. Keeps his hackles from standing down.
It's not that he doesn't appreciate her standing up against the thugs or anything. But the first thing out of his mouth—]
I didn't ask you to.
[Because three well-backed criminals against one scruffy teen sounds like smart odds.]
no subject
Yeah, well someone had to do something.
[Eren's not the only one with a strong sense of justice. But as impressive as his moves were, the bloody mess on his face is proof enough that he was on the losing end of that battle.]
There's not many non-benders willing to stand up to the Triads.
[And she sounds impressed. As much as he was eating the pavement, the guy still had a lot of guts.]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
that icon is so cute
he's only cute in fanart
(no subject)
eh yolo
The whole thing's a little premature—they hadn't meant to start up a fight so soon. Just to get some intel on their (dirty) practices, more nails in the coffin, evidence about their gross abuse of power. It's supposed to be a quiet job. Someone slips. The triad catches on. And they drive them out.
They fight back, of course. The whole thing's a little hard to miss.
When Korra arrives on the scene, they've been scattered to all directions—people in masks squaring off against the triad muscle and vanishing into the night. The one in front of her ducks a firebending flare, rolling around it and back to his feet. Before the Triad bender can attack again, the he's behind the man and knocking him onto his back.]
no subject
The firebender drops, and Korra stops dead in her tracks-Equalists! She reels back with a startled shout, reflexively throwing her own fireball at the pair of glowing green eyes.]
Hey! Get away from him!
[Who knew there'd be a day where she actually fight for the Triads?]
no subject
Korra shouts out a demand that's half a warning. He grits his teeth behind the mask concealing his identity from the men they'd been snooping on. And he ducks the attack before it can land, diving out of the way, and sweeping a reflexive leg under her feet instead of pulling back upright.
It's dark—the city's lit only by the flashes of fire and the dim gaslamps above them. For all he knows, she's with the Triads too. With the way she'd rushed to defend them, it's not all that hard to assume, in the heat of the moment.
But something in the shout sounded a little familiar.]
no subject
She hits the ground hard, but just as quickly throws a hand up, and with it, the ground under Eren erupts, a boulder aimed at his gut. Anything she can do to get keep him from landing those chi blocking blows she'd been expecting in the first place.]
no subject
(earthbending. after she'd thrown fire at him already.)
Reflexively, he twists in midair like a cat. Like second nature, hands twitching closed, as if searching for something. He manages to right himself enough that when he lands, it's with his heels aimed down toward the ground.
Right on top of her.
Mostly it just means that they end up in a stupid heap of roughed-up teenager. Eren rolls away from on top of her, but the glass in the lenses of the goggles he's wearing is shattered. He can't see a damn thing.
Impatient, and far more concerned with defending himself than with concealing his identity, he pulls them off. Freeing his vision, until all that's left of his disguise is the cowl covering his nose and mouth.]
no subject
She stops, half propped up with one hand, the other still holding a flickering fire.]
It's- you're... you!
[The guy from before. He disappeared not long after their meeting in the alley that day, but she's often thought of him. Wondering what he was up to. Well, now she knows.]
no subject
What the hell're you—
[doing here? He doesn't finish the thought. There's a muted clatter around the corner. A muffled voice.
He moves again. And this time, he does go for the pressure points. Slams his fists into her side in the right place, with the right amount of force. Putting his everything into stunning her, even if she does decide to let that fireball loose at him after all.]
no subject
[The surprise of seeing him here is just enough to let him get the upper hand, and he catches her off guard when he darts forward. Half propped up on one arm is no pose for a good retaliation and she throws herself back to avoid his chi blocking, but it's too late. Even as the fireball leaves her hand, she feels her arm go numb, her body hits the ground like a sack of potatoes, face against the cold ground.]
You're a traitor!
[Not that he ever promised to her that he's not an Equalist. And it's not like he's a bender betraying his own kind, but it still stings like a betrayal. Despite her arms and legs not working like they should, she still tries to sit up, eyes wide at the sound of nearby voices, panic rising. If she gets captured by the Equalists...]
no subject
The accusation doesn't make a lick of sense. It still stings, knifes something bitter somewhere between his ribs, a muted sense of confused outrage. She's an easy target, now, struggling on the ground like that. He hits her again, a little harder than he means, maybe, but very deliberately aimed. This one ought to drop her entirely. Knock her out, or come close to it. But it shouldn't last very long.
Even if she doesn't black out, there's not much she'll be able to make out with her face flat on the pavement. He stands and walks away. There's a conversation, short and emphatic. The sound of a satombile driving by.
By the time she comes to, Eren is sitting in front of her in the alley. Folded up against the wall in the hazy, warm light of a streetlamp. Cowl pulled down around his neck, arms folded over his knees. And watching her. When she moves, his fingers curl against his knees. But he doesn't move, otherwise.
Matter of factly—]
Don't try and stand up.
no subject
The darkness eventually fades, and her eyelids feel heavy as she comes to. It takes a second to process the figure sitting in front of her, the voice registering as some kind of instructions. Instructions that she promptly ignores, and with a groan she struggles to sit up. Her limbs feel like lead, and it takes some effort not to land flat on her face again. The best she can manage to for now is to roll onto her back. She's not sure what she was expecting-some kind of Equalist prison, probably, but being right back out on the street where she'd fallen isn't what she anticipated.]
What... What happened? Where's all of your friends?
[There's genuine curiosity, but it's hard to keep the sting out of her voice. She's still fully expecting the others to come back and throw her in the back of one of their vans at any point now.]
no subject
There's a beat of silence, broken only by the hum of city noises, distant satomobile traffic. She shouldn't be surprised that he doesn't answer that second question. As for the first—Come on, he didn't hit you that hard.]
You were bending at me.
[So he knocked her out.]
no subject
Even if she can't move, at least his chi-blocking can't keep her from arguing, even if her voice still is at an angry hiss, for fear of bringing the rest of the Equalists around again,]
You were attacking these benders. What is this, revenge?
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)