She recovered from my surprise attack remarkably quickly, landing on both feet despite being blasted several meters back. But the grimace on her face told the real story, with one hand pressed against her side as she fought through the pain, her eyes never leaving mine.
I settled back into my stance, this time adopting a looser, more open posture.
Across from me, Ty Lee took a careful breath and reset her footing.
The playful smile she'd worn earlier was gone.
"...That hurt," she admitted.
"That was the idea," I replied back. "You've been chasing us for two and a half days."
She let out a sheepish laugh.
"Well, it wasn't exactly my idea..."
"Renji!" Katara shouted from behind us, still struggling to pull the darts pinning her clothes free. "Less chatting, more fighting!"
"Fine, fine." I waved a hand dismissively. "Sorry about her."
That earned a giggle from Ty Lee.
"She's got a point, though." The cheerful smile on her face gradually faded, replaced by a focused look.
"My friend Azula gave an order to capture you," she said. "And I'm going to help her."
For a moment, neither of us moved. The air between us grew tense as we refocused on the fight, carefully sizing each other up once more.
Ty Lee was the first to break the stalemate.
She suddenly burst forward, sprinting straight toward Katara.
Katara's eyes widened as she struggled harder against the darts pinning her clothes to the tree. Beside her, Sokka immediately lurched into motion, desperately trying to intercept the attack.
Then, at the last second, Ty Lee changed direction.
A split second later, she reappeared from a completely different angle, dropping from the canopy with her heel aimed at my back.
I reacted instantly, throwing myself backward.
My boots skidded across the dirt as I retreated deeper into the forest, creating distance before she could follow up.
A few seconds of running later, now deep within the forest with trees and undergrowth all around me, I exhaled and popped a knot in my neck.
A twitch shot down my spine as I heard a branch snap behind me.
The air screamed as I barely ducked the kick that sliced through where my head was. Lightly landing on all fours, she twisted and shot upright swiftly, immediately launching a barrage of finger thrusts aimed at precise points along my arms.
I only noticed the pattern because she kept targeting the same areas—forearm, upper arm, and shoulder—each strike delivered with insane precision.
What do I do?
Her attacks were lightning fast. I couldn't fully block with both arms and legs at the same time—look at what happened to Sokka.
And now she was being cautious too. The moment I even hinted at creating an opening, her figure vanished back into the forest, refusing to commit. I could react to her hidden strikes, but this stalemate was taking too long. I had to find an answer now.
My mind raced, searching for an answer against an opponent like this.
Until my back hit a tree trunk and a flicker of an idea surfaced.
I burst forward, fist cocked for a haymaker.
Her eyes snapped to it right away. She somersaulted backward to avoid the overextended fist, then sharply surged forward again, closing the distance in a blink.
Her fingers struck in rapid succession—forearm, upper arm, shoulder.
A sharp rush of pain and numbness shot through my arm.
But that was the plan!
As her right hand extended toward my shoulder for a three-hit chi-blocking combination, I moved with her, slipping the targetted arm past the side and reaching for her back.
My hand clamped onto the fabric of her clothing just before the numbness could spread through my arm.
Her eyes shot open as she tried to pry my grip loose, but that split second was all I needed.
I stepped into her stance, hooking my foot into her movement while driving my knee into her side to break her balance.
"Go down!" I roared.
Using my weight and momentum, I forced her legs out from under her, earning a yelp before I slammed her to the ground with my body above hers.
Immediately, she tried to escape the hold I had on her, using the most astonishing flexibility that I've ever seen by attempting to twist her body and hook both legs under my arms, trying to use the leverage to throw me off and break free.
But before she could establish a firm grip, I adjusted my grip, shifting my weight as I slipped to her side and looped my arm under and across her head, transitioning into a side mount.
"Sorry, I promise to not do a thing after!" And I tightened the choke.
She struggled beneath me, breathing hard into my forearm, twisting and pushing against my grip in a desperate attempt to break free.
Slowly, her resistance faded as a moment later, her eyes rolled back and her body went limp.
I immediately released the choke and checked for her vitals.
"... Phew." I let out a sigh of relief as soon as I felt a pulse.
That was a tough fight. I stayed seated and took a quick breather.
The feint worked. Though at the cost of a numbed arm, this is a really uncomfortable experience.
I knew that she would get irritated at the long stalemate—that girl Mai was effectively forced into a two-versus-one the moment Katara broke free. And she was fighting an Earth Bender while being a non-Bender herself.
It pushed Ty Lee to fight for a fast win, which I provided by sacrificing my arm temporarily. A desperate opponent would never pass up that kind of opening.
... Sigh. Spirits, I definitely didn't plan it that far ahead. But I'm glad it worked out in the end.
Zero, your memories, although very useless in the grand scheme of things, have so much fighting knowledge from all kinds of media, fiction and non-fiction, that sometimes I couldn't help but wonder what he actually did for a living.
But man, if this was what I was going to be dealing with from now on, then I'd have to finish refining my fighting style to effectively deal with opponents like them.
Getting up from my rest, I carefully lifted Ty Lee into my arms and started walking back to the others.
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After tying her arms and legs, I glanced over at Mai, who was already restrained nearby.
"... She lost? That's a first," Mai said dully, but though her tone was unchanged, I could see a hint of concern in her eyes.
"I only knocked her unconscious. She's fine," I assured her.
I lowered Ty Lee beside her and used a rope to delicately bind the two of them back-to-back.
I briefly considered knocking Mai out as well but decided against it. Leaving both of them unconscious in a forest alone was too dangerous. I wasn't going to risk two lives on my conscience when I didn't have to.
Dusting my hands off, I glanced over at Toph and the others, who were still trying to wake Appa.
Hopefully, Aang was holding his own against Azula.
Either way, we were going to reach the town ahead of us soon.
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NEXT UPDATE: 26 June, Friday
A/N: I LOVE WRITING FIGHTING CHOREOGRAPHY!
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