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Description
She moved like a woman possessed, her body automatically reacting to Mat's bowed head and the goark's heavy kanabō. Without conscious thought she knew, somewhere deep in the bottom of her tumult soul, that now was the time to act.

'The first rule of acrobatics is simple. Always keep your center.' Ty Lee's voice bubbled and bounced from the back of Azula's mind as she launched herself from the cliff's small shelter of rock. She vaulted and flipped, leapt and fell, desperate to close the distance in time.

'The second rule is harder. Always be mindful of your surroundings.' Her hands and feet were a blur of focused motion, never grasping a crack or pausing on a ledge for longer than a heartbeat before moving again towards the figures below her.

'The third rule is the easiest, but also the most important. Always know who you're performing for!' Though her audience below still had not noticed her, those further down the beach had. And with their sharp eyes and black bows they let fly a volley of arrows with only one purpose in mind-stopping her by any means necessary.

'All projectiles have one thing in common,' Now it was Mai's dry intonation that fired though her as she drew her sword mid-leap. 'They all arc. As soon as they've been launched, whether they're a huge flaming bolder or a tiny wrist dart, they begin to fall. If you can read that arc, if you can predict its path, then no projectile should be able to hit you. Period.'

Using her free hand to grasp a jutting piece of rock, Azula swung herself onto a ledge and crouched, watching the small cadre of arrows speed towards her. Her mind pulsed and fired, taking in their velocity, trajectory, and numerous other outside variables with a speed born from its parents Genius and Desperation. For an instant her sword flashed silver and white while bits of wood, steel, and fletching fell around her feet.

Below her Hama directed the goark to level its kanabō even with Mat's temple, taunting him one last time. She didn't pause to strategize, she didn't think every possibility through to its fullest-as Azula flipped down through the air, she did something that years before she had made a habit of taunting Zuzu for.

She simply reacted.

Grasping her sword hilt with both hands, Azula stabbed downwards. The blade tip sank deep into the heavy wood that made up the kanabō's shaft. The momentum of the blow, while not enough to wrench the weapon free of the goark's bloodbent fingers, brought both the club and its master to the ground. For a beat, there was silence. Then Azula's face grew a savage, satisfied grin, and she twisted the hilt of her sword with all her strength.

The sharp crack of a deadly war club splitting into two useless pieces of splintered wood was all too audible.

Hama yanked her hands up and the goark rose from the ground. Together the two were fast, but Azula was faster. She withdrew her blade from the wrecked kanabō and sliced shallow cuts against the goark's knees and elbows. She ended her combination with a solid kick to the chest plate, and the human puppet fell backwards, as useless and broken as the weapon he landed next to. Azula turned face-to-face with Matthias, still mostly supported by the rock wall and still holding his wounded arm with his good one.

"Five hundred paces to our left there's a bolder shaped like an egg. Can you set it on fire?"

Mat's eyes were unfocused. He opened his mouth mechanically, and then closed it again without ever having spoken. He looked vaguely towards Azula, but she could tell he didn't really see her.

The two goarks that had beaten him swooped across the beach, and he flinched. Azula spun to intercept them. The clawed goark reached her first, and she brought her sword up just in time to block its ten long, thin blades. The claws locked with her sword, and she struggled against the mute warrior for possession of the weapon.

From behind the first goark the second one appeared, using its longer reach to swing each of its war hammers around its partner's body, intent on catching her in the ribs. Azula dropped to the ground still holding her sword, managing to pull the clawed goark's hands just far enough into the path of the oncoming hammers so that they were crushed by the dual impacts. Hama screamed with rage as Azula swept her feet into the two goarks, sending them to the ground as well. She kept her legs swinging and used the momentum to leap up and at the fallen puppets. Her blade danced across their joints, rendering them useless.

Panting, she spun back to Mat. He was still dazed, as hopelessly useless as the cliff he was up against. "Koh-damn it. Snap out of it Musagetes! I've not fought this hard just to let them win now!" He flinched again, and Azula bent her sword behind her just in time to parry the strike of a goark's jian. She pushed the puppet back and threw herself at it, blade flying.

"Aren't you the famed White Phoenix? The Fire-Snatcher? Haven't you just been tip-toeing around us ants this whole time?" Azula disarmed the goark and snatched up its blade, using both it and her own to cut the puppet's joints. She spun both swords in a tight arc, felling the next attacker before it even had a chance to strike. "Is this how you really want to die? Aren't you better than this?"

From behind her came a voice, lost and weak. "I...I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I'm not sure if I ever did."

"Don't bother with what you're supposed to do. Know what you're supposed to be." Azula blocked an oncoming blow with both blades. This goark's strength proved too much though, and with only loose sand to brace against she was driven backwards into Mat's chest. Warmth rushed into her back, and his shaky breath blew hot through her long matted hair to brush against her neck. Still struggling to keep the goark at arm's length, she twisted her head upwards and to the side, forcing his sullen and terrified eyes to meet hers.

"Mat...Remember!"
(From TAS ACT II, The Duel [link] )
...........................................................

So can draw. He can draw really, really well. So well, in fact, that I was actually unable to post this picture as soon as he'd shown it to me. Instead, I downloaded the file and saved it, deep in my hard drive, secreting it away in the same way Momo hides his best and favorite lychee nuts. I wanted the picture all for myself, because I somehow thought that if it became exposed to the world, it's magnificence would lessen.

...I don't know why either. I hadn't slept for a while...

REGARDLESS, here it is in all it's fantastical glory. ooh, aww, and compliment to your hearts content. God knows he deserves it.

Description
She moved like a woman possessed, her body automatically reacting to Mat's bowed head and the goark's heavy kanabō. Without conscious thought she knew, somewhere deep in the bottom of her tumult soul, that now was the time to act.

'The first rule of acrobatics is simple. Always keep your center.' Ty Lee's voice bubbled and bounced from the back of Azula's mind as she launched herself from the cliff's small shelter of rock. She vaulted and flipped, leapt and fell, desperate to close the distance in time.

'The second rule is harder. Always be mindful of your surroundings.' Her hands and feet were a blur of focused motion, never grasping a crack or pausing on a ledge for longer than a heartbeat before moving again towards the figures below her.

'The third rule is the easiest, but also the most important. Always know who you're performing for!' Though her audience below still had not noticed her, those further down the beach had. And with their sharp eyes and black bows they let fly a volley of arrows with only one purpose in mind-stopping her by any means necessary.

'All projectiles have one thing in common,' Now it was Mai's dry intonation that fired though her as she drew her sword mid-leap. 'They all arc. As soon as they've been launched, whether they're a huge flaming bolder or a tiny wrist dart, they begin to fall. If you can read that arc, if you can predict its path, then no projectile should be able to hit you. Period.'

Using her free hand to grasp a jutting piece of rock, Azula swung herself onto a ledge and crouched, watching the small cadre of arrows speed towards her. Her mind pulsed and fired, taking in their velocity, trajectory, and numerous other outside variables with a speed born from its parents Genius and Desperation. For an instant her sword flashed silver and white while bits of wood, steel, and fletching fell around her feet.

Below her Hama directed the goark to level its kanabō even with Mat's temple, taunting him one last time. She didn't pause to strategize, she didn't think every possibility through to its fullest-as Azula flipped down through the air, she did something that years before she had made a habit of taunting Zuzu for.

She simply reacted.

Grasping her sword hilt with both hands, Azula stabbed downwards. The blade tip sank deep into the heavy wood that made up the kanabō's shaft. The momentum of the blow, while not enough to wrench the weapon free of the goark's bloodbent fingers, brought both the club and its master to the ground. For a beat, there was silence. Then Azula's face grew a savage, satisfied grin, and she twisted the hilt of her sword with all her strength.

The sharp crack of a deadly war club splitting into two useless pieces of splintered wood was all too audible.

Hama yanked her hands up and the goark rose from the ground. Together the two were fast, but Azula was faster. She withdrew her blade from the wrecked kanabō and sliced shallow cuts against the goark's knees and elbows. She ended her combination with a solid kick to the chest plate, and the human puppet fell backwards, as useless and broken as the weapon he landed next to. Azula turned face-to-face with Matthias, still mostly supported by the rock wall and still holding his wounded arm with his good one.

"Five hundred paces to our left there's a bolder shaped like an egg. Can you set it on fire?"

Mat's eyes were unfocused. He opened his mouth mechanically, and then closed it again without ever having spoken. He looked vaguely towards Azula, but she could tell he didn't really see her.

The two goarks that had beaten him swooped across the beach, and he flinched. Azula spun to intercept them. The clawed goark reached her first, and she brought her sword up just in time to block its ten long, thin blades. The claws locked with her sword, and she struggled against the mute warrior for possession of the weapon.

From behind the first goark the second one appeared, using its longer reach to swing each of its war hammers around its partner's body, intent on catching her in the ribs. Azula dropped to the ground still holding her sword, managing to pull the clawed goark's hands just far enough into the path of the oncoming hammers so that they were crushed by the dual impacts. Hama screamed with rage as Azula swept her feet into the two goarks, sending them to the ground as well. She kept her legs swinging and used the momentum to leap up and at the fallen puppets. Her blade danced across their joints, rendering them useless.

Panting, she spun back to Mat. He was still dazed, as hopelessly useless as the cliff he was up against. "Koh-damn it. Snap out of it Musagetes! I've not fought this hard just to let them win now!" He flinched again, and Azula bent her sword behind her just in time to parry the strike of a goark's jian. She pushed the puppet back and threw herself at it, blade flying.

"Aren't you the famed White Phoenix? The Fire-Snatcher? Haven't you just been tip-toeing around us ants this whole time?" Azula disarmed the goark and snatched up its blade, using both it and her own to cut the puppet's joints. She spun both swords in a tight arc, felling the next attacker before it even had a chance to strike. "Is this how you really want to die? Aren't you better than this?"

From behind her came a voice, lost and weak. "I...I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I'm not sure if I ever did."

"Don't bother with what you're supposed to do. Know what you're supposed to be." Azula blocked an oncoming blow with both blades. This goark's strength proved too much though, and with only loose sand to brace against she was driven backwards into Mat's chest. Warmth rushed into her back, and his shaky breath blew hot through her long matted hair to brush against her neck. Still struggling to keep the goark at arm's length, she twisted her head upwards and to the side, forcing his sullen and terrified eyes to meet hers.

"Mat...Remember!"
(From TAS ACT II, The Duel [link] )
...........................................................

So can draw. He can draw really, really well. So well, in fact, that I was actually unable to post this picture as soon as he'd shown it to me. Instead, I downloaded the file and saved it, deep in my hard drive, secreting it away in the same way Momo hides his best and favorite lychee nuts. I wanted the picture all for myself, because I somehow thought that if it became exposed to the world, it's magnificence would lessen.

...I don't know why either. I hadn't slept for a while...

REGARDLESS, here it is in all it's fantastical glory. ooh, aww, and compliment to your hearts content. God knows he deserves it.