shatterverse | Sparring at dawn

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Sparring at dawn

Early this morning, Dinah can be found on the stretch of well-used field between the bunker and the pond, in full Black Canary costume, stretching out. She's joined just after sunrise by Mel, who leaves the girls in their baby chairs at the edge of an unmarked area and joins the older woman.

"You sure you want to do this?"

They both say this at once. Mel smirks widely then, and Dinah grins naturally. It's the blonde who bows first, but Mel follows soon after, coming back up into a stance learned from Iroh. Dinah's stance is her own - or rather, her mother's. One copied all those years ago but never taught. Like the habit of always letting her opponent get one hit in first so she can find out what they're made of.

It might have broken her jaw, except she knows how to roll with it, throwing her hands above her head as she flies back, turning it into a somersault and recovering. Even then, she could tell, from the look in Mel's eyes and the way in which she recovered - the young mother had pulled her punch. Dinah resolves not to let her land another one. A harder resolve than she's comfortable with, and it's not Mel's strength. Since she first pulled on her Mom's fishnets and wig, Dinah Lance has been fighting people who are stronger and hit harder than she does. But it's not that often she comes across someone who's this much faster as well.

Mel's next few punches, well executed but mostly powerful,hit thin air as Dinah weaves around them, counting on her superior eye to predict where they'll hit rather than her own speed. When the Black Canary strikes out, it's with perfect form and precision, mixing everything she learned from all her teachers.
Mom
    The JSA
        Sensei
            Batman
                Diana
                    Cassandra
                        Lady Shiva
                            Dinah's never once been short of teachers, and she's always been willing to learn more. And to teach. And that's what this is, really, learning from the superstrong thiefwho's been fighting to protect her family, and attempting to teach the young street fighter that strength and speed can get you nowhere if you don't have the skill.

Mel's not learning it well. Dinah knock her down, and she rolls right back up, launching herself at the woman. The Black Canary's a martial artist, but the thief's a street wrestler, and never worried about stance and technique as long as she can stay off her feet and keep the attacks going. On more than one occasion, she throws Dinah across the field, but Dinah's been there as well, rolling in the air to avoid losing herself.

The sparring goes on for nigh-on an hour, the upper hand switching regularly. Dinah begins to flag first, not having the same super stamina, but Mel's attacks also slow down as the sun rises, and as Mel begins to get sloppy, Dinah's technique stays perfect even through the sweat coursing down her face.

"You rely too much on your powers," she says, and after all this time it's the first thing either of them have said.

"What's 'too much'?" Mel manages. "I can't exactly help being strong."

But then someone can take you and cage you and reduce you to a piece of meat and you'll never sing again.

"But you can work on your technique," Dinah says. "you've worked with Cass, I can tell, but you've not learned from her. So someone can still do this, and this, and this."

OK, so talking provided a distraction that let Dinah move in to hit the right points. So it was a bit of a dirty trick, but it still sent Mel sprawling, grinning in defeat. She shrugs widely and takes Dinah's proffered hand to stand.

"...and I didn't even need to show you my power."

"This is you telling me I need to get back into training?"

"This is me offering to work with you."

After that's established, Dinah collapses against the bunker, gulping from a bottle of water. She's sort of hoping the display would encourage some of the other fighters to talk about training with her.

[OOC: See, I promised Weaves.Open for spectator threads, but if you wanna catch either of them afterwards, I'll pick them up when I'm back from work.]

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Zuko frowns for a second longer, then gives her a sideways smile.

"Likewise," he says. Then, "Although I don't suppose you have much in the way of fire armor?"

Hand-to-hand or weaponry only, perhaps.

"Fire armour?" Steph echoes, and shakes her head. But she's grinning. Holy crap, that was an actual un-forced smile from Zuko!

... she thinks she might actually like this one.

"I just stay quick."

"That's always good," he says. "Though if we're just sparring, maybe I'll stick to only firebending at Uncle Iroh."

Who is here. And doesn't hate him. :D!

"What's your fighting style, by the way? There seem to be a lot I've never heard of..."

"Um," says Steph, whose style is a mishmash of everything she could learn from anyone ever plus a great roundhouse punch, and who never bothered to learn their names. "... with my hands and feet, mostly?"

Zuko shrugs. His sans-weapon techniques mostly come under 'firebending,' anyway, really, and without the fire...

Well. Dancing Dragon.

"You may know more than me about that, even so," he says, diplomatically. "How about with weaponry?"

Dual swords = <3

"I'm good with batarangs," Steph says demurely. (She's been training -- hard -- in Eden with Cass, and on her own since. She's very good these days.) "I have to beat Sokka, you see, so I train hard. And I'm okay with a bo staff and slingshots and stuff. We sort of have a thing about not killing people, though, so I'm useless with guns or whatever."

Zuko... didn't get a fair portion of that.

"I'm not sure what batarangs are," he says, first of all. "But- you train with Sokka? I haven't even seen him yet. I suppose I should."

There isn't exactly dislike in his voice - more just a marked lack of enthusiasm. He never had much idea how to respond to Sokka's particular brand of mockery. (At least with Azula you knew it was just her being her psychotic self.)

"There's two Sokkas," Steph says, grinning. "One of them's, like, fifteen and totally spazzy, and one of them -- my one -- is ... Actually, neither of us are really sure how old we are any more, we kind of lost track of time in the last world. But we're guessing seventeen or eighteen. My Sokka will probably just smirk at you, but the little one will get all flaily."

Steph is very enthuiastic about Sokkas. Sokkas are special. Well, the one of them is, and the other's just kind of like a weird twin or brother or something.

Zuko makes a noble effort not to grimace, and nods.

"Where I come from, he was probably closer to fifteen," he says. "I still can't exactly believe it. Probably won't until I see them side-by-side."

When his BRAIN WILL IMPLODE.

"Apparently there's a third one somewhere in Metropolis," Steph says helpfully, amused by his distaste. She sobers after a moment, though. "But don't mention, uh, whatsername, Katyra? His sister. They kind of found her body."

A third Sokka?!

"...Katara," he says, as that sinks in. The Water Tribe girl who had lost her mother to the Fire Nation, blamed him for it, forgiven him anyway... then refused to do so again. She came here, and just... died?

It's a sobering thought.

"I won't," he assures Steph. "Don't worry."

Steph is watching him thoughtfully, chin propped on her knees.

"How well do you know them? I mean ... in your world, where are you? My-Sokka told me once you guys were never friends until you met in Apocalyptica -- uh, another of these parasite worlds that they were in."

"Well," says Zuko, trying to figure out how to explain it.

"We were enemies for a long time. That's how I got to recognise them, I suppose. I joined them quite recently. I- made a lot of mistakes, and it took me a long time to realise how many and how completely."

His expression is stony. He has a lot of regrets, mixed with anger and guilt... an then there just feeling stupid. He hates that.

"I... we're not exactly friends." Except, ironically, perhaps for Aang. "We're allies."

Steph didn't know the other Zuko well enough (and doesn't know enough -- or anything much, really, about Sokka's life before Apocalyptica) to realise that this is a particularly amazing thing for a Zuko to be saying, so she just nods thoughtfully and listens.

"I'm sure you'll sort it all out with them," she offers. "I know my Sokka won't attack you on sight, if that helps. I don't know the other one very well, but he's a lot quieter since his sister died, so he might or might not."

Zuko makes a face.

"I hope not. That would be awkward. But... he didn't, back home. I'm sure we can work something out. I'd ask Toph to mediate, but don't know how she'd take being cast as a diplomat."

She'd either laugh, or hit him with a rock. Or both.

Steph considers this.

"She might be a good diplomat," she says hopefully. "In that way where nobody would ever dare lie to her, anyway. Can you even lie to Toph? She saw straight through me."

"She says she can tell if a person is lying or not. I'm not sure if it always works, but it always does on me so far."

"Me too," Steph admits. "But I'm a pretty bad liar anyway. Although once I totally sent Dinah, like, on a total wild-goose chase. ... okay, that was by kinda making her think I needed her help, but it still counts!"

"Misdirection counts, I think," he says. "As long as it's convincing. And with Toph..."

Original twelve-year-old cynic.

Also, for the record, Zuko is also a terrible liar. See Being Undercover: Attempts thereto.

"I should totally get to know her better," Steph decides, grinning. "She's kind of awesome, isn't she?"

"I like her," Zuko allows.

Beat.

"I think."

Friends are a risky business, when you're Zuko.

Steph grins.

"I knew a different version of her once. I liked that her, too...

"... wow, it's totally weird that I don't even think that's weird any more."

Zuko frowns some more.

"Yes, Mel talked about that. Different worlds with different versions of real people in them."

He's not convinced. "I can't imagine ever not thinking it's... weird."

[SLEEP IS GOOD FOR YOU! I'm tagging from work, I should probably quit anyway. Slowtime is perfect! <3]

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