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 Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:59 pm
He was already getting antsy and annoyed. He was usually the one late for things, and she wasn't late... but he was early. He felt like that meant she should be as well. Though he couldn't say why. Maybe it was just because he was starting to get bored... and he hated being bored. Because that was just one more way of not doing anything. Which was no good, especially when he had so many siblings and he was often ignored.
He wanted a good fight. He wanted to meet his teacher... and he wanted her to prove that she was so 'awesome' or whatever it was exactly she was supposed to be. He had no idea. Jua sighed, standing up and sitting down, and then he began to write short poems in the sand. "Bored I sit. Bored I do nothing. Bored I want a good fight." None of that rhymed. No good. He hoped she would get there soon...
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:27 pm
 The countenance about the lioness was cold, very cold, and one might think that she belonged with a pride of ice sustained warriors rather than the hot blooded Firekin. Confidence, power, grace, liquid steel nerves, and a terrifying intelligence all burned behind red eyes and under a firey coat marked by the shadows bleeding up as if from charcoal magma remains into her paws, the white of her underbelly and throat as the hottest flame, the mask so dark that her eyes seemed more like glowing embers glaring from the depths of one's own fears, and of course, the unusual shade of silver that licked down her upper torso like the lightning bolts that turned the desert sand to wild, frozen fragments that looked as ice but never thawed.
With four apprentices one might expect the captain to be a bit more on edge than she was, but she seemed to delight in the challenge of training four eager juveniles. Leaving one meeting behind the veteran warrior took her time getting to her new destination, knowing that she would be just a few seconds early but mostly right on time, if they could ever really go by anything but the rising and setting of the sun, that is. The one thing that could always be said for Azula was that she was as timely as she was efficient in everything that she did. She strove for perfection, always, even where perfection was not needed. It was order, it was discipline, it reflected on her character how well she did when she set her mind to a task, and she was determined never to fail. This was what set her apart from any other in her family, and also what made her such an ideal candidate for the position she now held. Firekin were to be raised and taught with a hard paw, and she was overly qualified, perhaps, to deliver that. At least four of her children were proof.
It didn't matter to her much that Jua had been waiting, though she noted his early arrival with some measure of pleasure, better early or extremely punctual than late, and she usually reached for the latter.
Her new charge was near impossible to miss, a black coat and bright red and white markings contrasted sharply with the color of the sands. She had actually arrived a few minutes ago, but had opted to observe him to see what habits he had when he thought no one was watching. Not much different than the other youth in the pride, it seemed, though impatience was a flaw that could generally be honed (or manipulated...) rather easily.
"If you have time to make markings in the sand then you have time to hone some skill of actual use." She observed, stepping into view from the direction of the dens. Test one, how would the cub react?
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:41 pm
Jua looked up and stood abruptly, immediatly on his guard. The female could have very well been his teacher, though he didn't know exactly what she looked like just yet. She was a dofficult woman to track down. He knew. He had made an attept at tracking her... but since no one would actually teach him how to track, he had soon grown bored and given up on the idea. His impatience was generally one of his flaws, but Jua would be damned before he would admit it. No one could say he did not often take the time to invent elaborate plans. Whether or not they ever came into action was... debatable... since he often grew bored with anything if he thought about it too long, and would do something completely random instead.
He quickly looked her up and down, taking in everything he could about her with the inital meeting. He liked to size people up. He'd often fight them whether they were bigger, stronger or none of the above, and he was rarely afraid of anyone. The exception was often his mother. But he had to know this woman if she was to teach him... because he wanted to be the best, and he had heard she was just that. Dissapointing was not on his list of things to do. But taking crap from anyone had never been his strong suit either.
He blazed like the sun against her cold exterior, a cocky smirk climbing onto his face the moment he finished sizing her up. Of course, she was talking about his poetry... but he had already gotten the sense that most warriors weren't big fans of it. Especially because his was generally... terrible. "I have time to make markings in the sand because no one has bothered to teach me anything useful to work on Stripes." He told her, unintimidated for now. He wanted to test her as much as she wanted to test him. But he wanted her to show him what it meant to be a warrior of the firekin. The nickname was an added bonus. Even if stripes also applied to him. But that was of no relavence!
...at least not to him.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:56 pm
She did not show any indication of even considering rising to the bait of the nickname and the obvious up and down, for no other reason than she deemed them empty attempts. He could test her time and again, and he'd find she'd pass with flying colors at every turn, ninety-nine percent of the time without even actually participating in the exam!
Her first moments as he sized her up were spent doing the same. She circled him slowly, swiftly giving scrutiny to everything from his disrespectful greeting to the arrogant expression on his muzzle.
"I don't find it very amusing. Even rogue infants have basic skills that exceed..."
Her eyes moved to his sand scrawling then, glancing over the words with what appeared to be either distaste or dismissal.
"... half attempted poetry. Anything worth doing is worth doing well, at the very least. Now... until you've earned it, that smirk, I'll advise you now and only once to wipe it from your face. I can gurantee that you won't enjoy it if I have to be the one to teach you humility over arrogance." She said as cooly as though it were every day conversation or fact rather than an instructor's first assessment. "You will address me as your Captain, nothing less. Do I make myself clear, Jua'Mwiba?"
As she finished she stood before him looking down, only for the height difference. He could have been towering over her and she would have stared him up straight in the eye.
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Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2009 11:09 pm
Jua let her circle him and he didn't back down. He never had and he wouldn't now. Intimidation had never done much for him, especially considering who he picked fights with. His arrogance stood up to her test, his smirk becoming a mixture of a scowl and his same look of defiance. He wanted to take everything she could throw at him and show he wouldn't be a waste of her time. Backing down wouldn't do any good. He wasn't about to waste his time with little games... well, unless he could be playing on equal ground.
"Who said I was amused?" Jua asked, following her every movement. "And I'll be sure to keep that little piece of advice to heart... Captain." He said, emphesizing her title on purpose. Whether it was to show his defiance, or to simply make it clear that he had heard her was up for debate. But he certainly wasn't about to stop showing arrogance. Not when the mood had been practically plastered onto his face from the moment he was born. Almost his default setting. "I'll take your every teaching to heart, I assure you." Again, it was debatable whether or not this was serious, or in arrogance.
But his Captain hadn't earned his respect yet... if anyone had ever earned his respect. A few of the lions he had met had. Mostly the ones who had actually shown him the time of day and humored him. But that didn't stop him from wanting to know what Azula would teach him.
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:15 pm
"Then stop smirking." She warned, reaching out to cup his face in her paw, briefly. "Good. Let's hope that you're able to keep up."
It was a genuine warning, however veiled. She was aware that her teachings would break any outsider children, but Firekin children she held to a much higher standard. She certainly disliked, rather strongly, what she saw as a defiant streak-- or at the very least a cockiness that had the potential to develop into one --it reminded her of her own daughter, Moto'Zita, who had been a stubborn child from the get go. Only the fear of the gods-- or rather, the fear of Azula --was enough to keep that child from acting out. She would be damned if she was subjected to that again.
"You'll report for training no later than sun's first light on the horizon every morning. Leave the attitude at home in your den." Drawing the appendage back again, she instructed this quiet but firmly. She didn't bother tacking on any type of threat to that, knowing that the discipline would drive home better if one didn't see it coming, then there were those that just liked to purposely push to see how far they could get. She would meet them challenge for challenge, but she'd not invite it when she had three other apprentices to train as well.
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Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:29 pm
"Yes ma'am, whatever you say ma'am." He told her, practically saluting her. Though he was really only half sarcastic when he spoke to her. He would arrive exactly when she told him to, acting out or not. He wanted to be the best, and if Azula could give him that then he'd take whatever she dished out at him. Though he doubted his attitude was going to go anywhere... especially because he intended to be able to earn a cocky attitude, and outdo any of her other students even if he had to kill them in their sleep to do it.
After all, life was a game to him, and a game that he completely intended to win, even if he had to cheat first. "I can promise I'll do whatever you say." He could roll with the punches. After all, his mother and father had spent a good deal of his childhood ignoring him, and when they couldn't ignore him, they would send him on menial tasks, such as 'see how many times you can run around the pride before you pass out' to make sure he would leave them alone. And he had done just that. And the black lion could run a long way in the sun before he passed out now.
If there was one thing he had, it was endurance. Not to be confused with patience, but he had endurance. He would take whatever Azula threw at him and come back for more. Even if it meant she would have to beat the smirk off his face.
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