paixaorpg | Missing Something [Active]

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Missing Something [Active]

Character(s): Zuko, open to anyone else
Content: Prince Zuko arrives
Setting: Vanaheim Gate
Time: Twilight
Warnings: ...Zuko's temper, lots of angst, and...oh yeah...FIRE.

"I'M ANGRY AT MYSELF!!!!" A huge burst of flame flared up from the fire, washing Zuko in bright light and intense heat. But when the fire fell, it wasn't night time. And Zuko wasn't on the beach anymore. Mai and Ty Lee and Azula were nowhere in sight, either. "What?" he asked the empty air.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" he shouted, just as loud as before. "Where am I?!" The questions both fell silent, hardly even echoing across the empty field that surrounded him, and the massive walls that faced him. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Flames accompanied his scream of anguish, engulfing him and everything around him in a colossal wave of fire. The grass under his feet was scorched black, and even some of the earth. He fell to his knees, striking the ground with both fists angrily, as if somehow it could help him feel better. "WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?!" he yelled, flames spouting up as he repeatedly struck the ground in agony.

He just sat there for a minute, crying and beating the ground uselessly, until finally he looked around. In front of him was a large gate, and a small line of people going in. It reminded him of Ba Sing Se.

Ba Sing Se...and Uncle...and the Avatar. His face screwed up into a grimace as he thought of that stupid tea shop, and having to help his uncle run it. Uncle had been the one in the wrong! It wasn't Zuko's fault that he'd turned traitor, and hadn't helped defeat the Avatar when Azula snuck into the city. Zuko had done the right thing to help her fight Aang, he knew it! So why was he still so angry?! But he'd already burned a scar into the earth here. It wouldn't do him any good to lose his temper again...so he took a deep breath, just like Uncle had showed him.

"I guess...there's nothing better to do..." He joined the line, trying not to jostle anyone but quick to threaten any of them who jostled him.

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Zuko stepped to his right, dodging the energy along the ground. He threw a fireball at Riku with a backfist, then stepped forward and made another fireball with a punch using the other hand.

Riku sidestepped one fireball, and as he dashed to close the distance somewhat, he used the flat of Way to the Dawn to bat the other away. He grunted as he did so, a testament to the force of Zuko's blast.

With less distance Riku knew that Zuko had less time to react, and he whipped around, launching the flames of Dark Firaga again. He fanned the cool-colored fireballs out, increasing the chance that one of the homing flames out hit.

Zuko's eyes went wide as the strange fireballs came at him again. He spun his arms like windmills, catching each of them and making two much larger gatherings of the dark flames before shooting them back at Riku in quick succession. The prince noticed his arms shaking with the effort, and his fingers felt suddenly cold. He didn't want to have to bend that weird fire any more than he had to.

Less distance also meant that Riku had less time to react. Though prepared for the flames he'd seen from Zuko before, the last thing he expected was to see his own darkness manipulated, increased, and hurled back at him. Eyes wide he leapt to the side, narrowly avoiding one. However, despite his own speed, the prince's attack had come too fast for him to avoid the second Dark Firaja.

The dark fireball slammed into Riku's shoulder, searing its way over his skin and sending him to the ground. He cried out in pain, but got to his feet quickly. Keep moving! The keybearer panted hard through the pain and flexed his shoulder as he moved. It was bad, but he was far from losing long-term movement. For the moment however... He snuck a glance at the wound.

A severe burn laid across his shoulder .

So he can use darkness, too... It didn't help Zuko's case.

Zuko's hands still shook, and he stood still for just a moment, panting. "Last chance to back off!" he shouted, regaining at least his physical composure. A cold sweat was forming on his palms, though, and if he could end this fight soon he was definitely going to, before the guy attacked with more of that weird dark fire.

The throbbing in Riku's shoulder was all the more noticeable when he stopped. His heavy breathing sounded a little labored thanks to the pain. He glared at the prince as he growled. "I. Don't. QUIT!" With that final word Riku hurled his Keyblade at Zuko. Still, throwing something that massive required more than just his arm strength, but also the power of his torso. The increase in pain was a distraction, and he hoped Dark Raid would still hit its mark.

..."You remind me of my nephew, Zuko." ...Who said that?

Zuko dropped to the ground, palms flat, letting the weapon whiz over his head. He pushed his feet into the air, bending them as they fell, then pushing up off his hands for a drop kick. He sent flames hurtling toward Riku with it, then curled to land upright on his feet. One punch, then another, aimed fireballs at Riku's weapon hand.

Riku was forced to try a quick sidestep to avoid the first of Zuko's attacks. Currently rendered unable to bear weight on his left shoulder, even for a brief flip. Rather than trying to avoid the other two fireballs, Riku batted them back in Zuko's direction. Only one of the blasts was actually properly redirected, as he could not put as much force as he would have preferred into it.

"...Former... ...General..."

Riku got some distance between him and Zuko. ...And stood there, sword at his side.

The prince caught the returned fireball, spun, and used a high kick to send a lash of flame back. He took his stance as his foot hit the ground, and noticed that until the flames were aimed toward his adversary, he was suddenly standing still, and trying to gain some distance. Probably just some stupid trick.

Riku's eyes widened at the massive line of fire headed his way. His pause, not having gotten the other's attention, served its secondary purpose nicely. It allowed Riku the extra time to see what Zuko was doing. Using his environment to protect himself, Riku ducked behind a pillar briefly before reemerging and taking a defensive stance.

"You know a guy named Iroh?!"

That got Zuko's attention. He stopped in his tracks, bewildered. "How do you know Uncle?!" he shouted back. Uncle had replied to the post Zuko made earlier, but had he really met this kid? And what would have made Riku think of Uncle in the first place?

A slight pause and a deep inhale was Riku's initial response. He lowered his weapon and took a step forward. "I thought your name sounded familiar." Flexing his injured shoulder hurt, and there was no hiding that expression. But the more he moved it, the more used to it his body would be if he needed to use it for real. "I bumped into the guy when he was just coming in. Like you, just a different gate. Ordered tea at a Cafe Ersesat."

"Why didn't you tell me that before?!" Zuko yelled, trying to keep himself from attacking again. He took a deep breath himself, and pointedly looked at the ground. "Did...did he say anything about me?"

"Not like it's the first thing that comes to mind when you're facing someone who can manipulate darkness like me. Not to mention fire." Riku replied to Zuko as if the words would be a little bitter to the other, just as they were somewhat bitter in his own mouth. "Yeah. I remind him of you."

However, he added with a bit of a smirk, "He did say my hair was better, though."

"...Darkness?" Zuko had no idea at all what Riku meant. Wait...was that what those weird fireballs Riku'd thrown been made of? That would explain why it had felt so horrible to try to bend them, if they weren't really fire... "And I'm a firebender, Uncle can do that too."

Zuko was quiet for a moment when Riku told him what Uncle had said. It made sense...the guy was a little hot-headed too. And stubborn. That was probably what Uncle had meant. "What would Uncle know about hair? He's going bald!"

It didn't look like the prince was going to attack again, for the moment and Riku relaxed. Slightly. "Fire-bender. Guess that's a good name for anyone who uses fire spells that well." Although it was a rather naive comment, it was a compliment in its own way. "And yeah, darkness." He shifted his grip on his Keyblade so he could fold his arms loosely. "You sent it flying back at me, remember?"

The smirk grew to its full potential. "Good point. Probably biased too. We have about the same hair color."

...Spells? "What's a spell? I just told you, it was firebending. It's a martial art. And I've never seen that...darkness stuff before. I don't even know how I could bend it. I wasn't thinking about that." And Zuko hoped he'd never see it again.

Zuko couldn't bring himself to say anything else. Last time he'd seen Uncle, the old man was drooling in a prison cell. Though...over the journal, he'd said something about escaping...

"A martial art?" Riku raised his brows. He could see it in the way Zuko moved, but... "A spell is a way of summoning magic. It looks like instead of using some weapon or words, you do that by moving your body a certain way." He narrowed his eyes in thought, wondering about how it was done.

"What I did was called Dark Firaga," he began, "and Firaga is a type of fire spell. But how you could 'bend' it?" Using the word like that felt bizarre. "You don't 'bend' or really use darkness like magic. You use it with this." He pointed to his chest with a rather grave expression.

"Firebending isn't some parlor trick," Zuko said, sounding a little offended. "And I just told you, I don't know. It felt really weird when I tried to bend it, though...I don't wanna do it again if I don't have to." Zuko looked down at his hand, which still felt a little shaky. His aim had been off when he'd tried to throw the...dark...fire...back, too. It wasn't easy stuff to use, that was for sure.

"...I have no idea what you mean," he said when Riku pointed at his chest.

"I've been hurt by plenty of magic. I know it's not parlor tricks. We're just using different names for the same thing." Or so he still believed. Riku's tone was informative rather than argumentative.

"Can't say I want you to bend it again either. That's the first time someone's ever thrown my own darkness back at me," he admitted. Riku glanced at his shoulder. "Light and darkness are power that comes from your heart. Your heart controls darkness. As long as you don't let it control you. Good chance it was your heart that 'bent' that more than anything else," he theorized

"I just acted like it was normal fire. I didn't do anything special," Zuko answered, wondering how his "heart" was supposed to do anything at all, other than pump blood. This Riku guy must be crazy.

Finally, the prince let himself relax--a little. He was still on edge, ready to jump at a moment's notice, but some of the tension visibly left.

"So..." he said awkwardly, after a few seconds. "How did you meet Uncle?"

"You don't always know your heart's doing something. It's a power inside everyone that they can manipulate." It seemed the prince came from a world that knew a little less than he did as a child. The Islands were never a well-informed world on the subject.

Having been keeping his eye on Zuko, just in case, Riku noticed when he relaxed. At that point Riku dismissed his Keyblade in a brief flash and continued to keep his arms folded.

"Sometime last week, I found him with someone I thought knew me..." There was an obvious hesitation. "I ended up meeting him in the process. We all ended up going to a cafe. ...Guy seems to like his proverbs."

Zuko laughed a little, though awkwardly. "Yeah, he's got one for everything. Even if you don't want to hear it..." He sighed. But you should probably always listen anyway... he added to himself.

"Do you know how long he's been here? Is he doing all right?"

"Sounds like he likes to hear himself talk," Riku commented.

"Week, week and a half, maybe. I can't tell you more than that." He unfolded his arms and his left thumb habitually went to his pocket. "I haven't seen him since. But. The journal you got can let you contact him."

The prince pulled out the box he'd been handed at the gate. He'd already made that post, and had to wonder if maybe Uncle had found it. "It's usually a pretty good idea to listen to him. He gives good advice." Zuko sounded cheerful enough, but his brow creased a moment later--making it look like he was just concentrating on the journal, but really it was because he was feeling guilty.

There were a few answers to his post, but he couldn't see any details unless he..."opened" it? He guessed that was what those letters said, he couldn't read the language. There was a little picture that looked like an opening object, so that made sense. He couldn't turn on the voice that said what things were with Riku standing there, though, so he put the journal away again.

"...These things are complicated," he commented idly.

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