[He takes note of the rumbling, but doesn't stop his stride.]
If you didn't make it lightly, you would know that pushing through isn't always the answer. Do you want those you care about to watch you burn in seclusion?
[Do you truly want to be like me?
The fire sparking and flickering around him keeps growing, swirling, before twanging back and sharply crackling forward towards Akira like a volley of arrows.]
[Akira counts the mores of fire swirling around him, calculates which he'll be able to dodge and which he won't. He doesn't labor under the delusion of believing he'll deflect them all. When he rises to his feet and calls forth his broom, the earth still crackling and rumbling beneath their feet, he grips its shaft firmly in both hands and waits for Solomon's attack.]
No. Of course not. I'm going to fulfill my promises no matter what it takes, even if it costs me my life. I won't run away.
[I won't cower in fear.
When Solomon's attack comes, Akira twirls his broom in his hands and dispatches with a number of those fiery arrows, but plenty more stick the landing. One strikes his side, the other his temple, and another digs into the side of his leg. No matter how many hits Solomon lands, Akira is determined to remain on his feet.]
[As Akira braces himself through the hits, Solomon reaches to his belt, to the pouch that has sat at his hip since his time in the North. Out of it emerges a stone of brilliant purple, which is slipped into his mouth and swallowed.
The magic in the air immediately ripples as Solomon's expression tightens, as though bracing.]
You cannot be a wall. You cannot stand against everything.
[The air around Akira will start to grow warm, to constrict against his limbs and his neck. Spirit of wind, bind that which stands in front of him--]
You are human. If your promises are as valuable as your life, then you protect them equally.
Are you so determined to keep your chin held high that you'd let anyone, anything, rip you to pieces? Who are you proving anything to, other than yourself?
[Mana stones? Cheater. Then again, did he expect Solomon to play fair? Akira has no such tools at his disposal, but as a bird takes flight in the hours preceding a natural disaster, Akira feels the air around him disturb and begins his retreat. With his front to Solomon, he advances backwards, faster still when the wind surges around him in a bid to chain him in place. Fat chance.
Akira breaks away and runs, around and away, keeping Solomon ever in his periphery while countering with ground-shaking magic that threatens to buck the man off his feet. It's a counter and nothing more, a measure to buy himself time to grow the distance between them.]
Can it with the lecture! What do you want from me?!
[A willing student? A mound of clay to mold? All Akira can do when his life is on the line and his tools are ineffective is run, run, run, until the opportunity arises to strike back and claim victory. So far, his options have only grown more narrow.]
There's the slightest of smiles before that magic knocks him down, his composure breaking as he stumbles for purchase. But a breath, two, and he flickers in place once more, alighting instead several feet to Akira's left. From this close, he looks drained.]
I want you to live. And sometimes, to live means to retreat.
And to retreat, sometimes your legs are never going to be fast enough.
[A snap of his fingers brings the flames right back, even as he slips another mana stone into his mouth.]
I told you this would be training.
Fight, flight, or freeze. They are not your only options. But if you're determined to force your way through, rather than around, all the training in the world won't help you.
[Akira squints, no, sneers at the man. No need to ask if he's gone insane when Akira already knows the answer.]
Are you sure you don't just want to kick my ass?
[Akira summons wind beneath his feet to propel him backwards and away, to give himself a head start so there's more room to navigate between himself and those flames. More distance means more time to react, more time to study whatever the hell Solomon just did. Teleportation, or was it an illusion?]
Oh, Akira. You would know if I was trying to kill you.
...
I don't find pleasure in violence, though. Nor do I in losing another apprentice.
[Good, good, another move for distance rather than close combat.
Solomon doesn't move from his new position, letting the flames flicker and snap at Akira like venomous snakes.]
So no, I don't think I will. Spill, that is. Rather... how are you going to make it to me, from where you are, without running and without raising your weapon in aggression? Do you believe it's possible in the first place?
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no subject
If you didn't make it lightly, you would know that pushing through isn't always the answer. Do you want those you care about to watch you burn in seclusion?
[Do you truly want to be like me?
The fire sparking and flickering around him keeps growing, swirling, before twanging back and sharply crackling forward towards Akira like a volley of arrows.]
no subject
No. Of course not. I'm going to fulfill my promises no matter what it takes, even if it costs me my life. I won't run away.
[I won't cower in fear.
When Solomon's attack comes, Akira twirls his broom in his hands and dispatches with a number of those fiery arrows, but plenty more stick the landing. One strikes his side, the other his temple, and another digs into the side of his leg. No matter how many hits Solomon lands, Akira is determined to remain on his feet.]
no subject
The magic in the air immediately ripples as Solomon's expression tightens, as though bracing.]
You cannot be a wall. You cannot stand against everything.
[The air around Akira will start to grow warm, to constrict against his limbs and his neck. Spirit of wind, bind that which stands in front of him--]
You are human. If your promises are as valuable as your life, then you protect them equally.
Are you so determined to keep your chin held high that you'd let anyone, anything, rip you to pieces? Who are you proving anything to, other than yourself?
no subject
Akira breaks away and runs, around and away, keeping Solomon ever in his periphery while countering with ground-shaking magic that threatens to buck the man off his feet. It's a counter and nothing more, a measure to buy himself time to grow the distance between them.]
Can it with the lecture! What do you want from me?!
[A willing student? A mound of clay to mold? All Akira can do when his life is on the line and his tools are ineffective is run, run, run, until the opportunity arises to strike back and claim victory. So far, his options have only grown more narrow.]
no subject
There's the slightest of smiles before that magic knocks him down, his composure breaking as he stumbles for purchase. But a breath, two, and he flickers in place once more, alighting instead several feet to Akira's left. From this close, he looks drained.]
I want you to live. And sometimes, to live means to retreat.
And to retreat, sometimes your legs are never going to be fast enough.
[A snap of his fingers brings the flames right back, even as he slips another mana stone into his mouth.]
I told you this would be training.
Fight, flight, or freeze. They are not your only options. But if you're determined to force your way through, rather than around, all the training in the world won't help you.
no subject
Are you sure you don't just want to kick my ass?
[Akira summons wind beneath his feet to propel him backwards and away, to give himself a head start so there's more room to navigate between himself and those flames. More distance means more time to react, more time to study whatever the hell Solomon just did. Teleportation, or was it an illusion?]
If there's a secret fourth option, spill.
no subject
Oh, Akira. You would know if I was trying to kill you.
...
I don't find pleasure in violence, though. Nor do I in losing another apprentice.
[Good, good, another move for distance rather than close combat.
Solomon doesn't move from his new position, letting the flames flicker and snap at Akira like venomous snakes.]
So no, I don't think I will. Spill, that is. Rather... how are you going to make it to me, from where you are, without running and without raising your weapon in aggression? Do you believe it's possible in the first place?