The Fire Ferrets Tryouts! [semi-private]

[lavamylife]

[EDIT:  OOC:  This post is mostly private for waterbenders and firebenders as they're the only people that would actually be trying out.  However, if you want to interact with some of the others (and Bolin would be okay with you being there -- feel free to ask me if you're unsure!), feel free to pose in, either for Bolin or with the other people involved.  Sorry for the complicated rules and whatnot, but I figure it'd be worth it to be inclusive as opposed to exclusive!]

[Private-ish to firebenders and waterbenders]

"Alright, Pabu.  It's time to get the Fire Ferrets back in action!  Are you with me?"

The fire ferret squeaks in approval as he sits atop Bolin's shoulder.  Bolin nods back with the biggest grin, and he pushes open the doors into the gym where no doubt several candidates were waiting to join his elite crew.

"Welcome, everyone, to the official Fire Ferrets team tryouts.  I might not have met each of you personally, and you might have instead just found one of my many fliers instead, but my name is Bolin, team captain and previous pro-bending champion!  Also, I'm a mover star and the earthbender of the team.  I hope you've all brought your A-game to this event, because only the best of the best can be on the Fire Ferrets, and this year we're going to show all those other teams what we're made of and take back the championship!  I'm not going to go easy on you, and I definitely want to make sure we're taking on the right people.  Some of you will go away disappointed, but two of you will ride with Pabu and I to victory once again!  To each of you, I wish you all the best of luck.  Let's get started!

"So first up today, we have..."

[OOC: Bolin will be pairing up potential candidates into 1v1 or 2v2 matches.  Feel free to find a friend with the opposite element and fight some NPCs, or find a competitor of your element and have a duel with one another?  Or have a more personal "interview" with Bolin... and you can try to get to know Bolin and the rocks that he throws at people better?  Or all of the above!  While you do need to impress Bolin, feel free to have fun and show off your bending to your competitors too.]

Comments

[yangarang]

There was always the possibility that he would choose a third option, so Yang wasn't nearly as surprised as she could have been. At most, she was surprised to see he would go against the rules of the game so early in the fight. His problem, not hers. She was going to stick to the rules until she was sure that she had shown Bolin she could at least play the game.

"Tch." Yang was hardly bothered by the arcs and where as Nezha a moment ago chose to go under her attack, she chose to go over his. With a single blast of fire towards the ground, she used her own bending to boost her jump until she was over his arcs. Before she landed, she aimed several short bursts of fire towards his feet.

When she did land, it was neatly with bended knees and a first on the ground, clearly displaying her favoritism towards earth bending movements than that of her own bending style. "Not bad."

[windfire_donuts]

It was a bit difficult to follow the rules of the game when one was only vaguely aware of them in the first place. Not that Nezha had ever cared much for rules to begin with, but I digress.

His momentum allowed him to continue his body's swing, just barely managing to avoid getting his feet singed by Yang's shots in the process, and hopped back to standing with the precious few seconds her landing afforded him. "You fight like an earthbender." An observation, nothing more.

Nezha didn't bother elaborating before launching his own assault. He leaped toward her with his own burst of flame fueling his ascent, rendering him airborne. His body twisted, spinning in midair to send even more arcs from both his hands and feet, this time varying the angles to make dodging a bit trickier.

[lavamylife]

And meanwhile, Bolin is on the sidelines, looking through the rulebook. Yes, it seems like he was double checking the rules on pro-firebending while the two of them were dodging. He couldn't ever remember having to dodge arcs of fire before, but maybe his memory is wrong? So he's rifling through the official rules before finally reading quickly.

And once he confirms it, and he sees Nezha doing it again, okay, that's where he's got to call it.

"Uh, hey! Whoa whoa whoa, time out, you guys," he says as he starts to run in between them... though he quickly has to duck in order to dodge one of the Nezha's more interestingly angled arcs. He sticks his hands out in both directions as if to stop them both from their little duel to make sure he's got their attention before speaking.

"So, that was, uh, pretty good. Really impressive firebending, really impressive. Though, not exactly by the book though." Bolin turns to Nezha slightly as if to give an indication about it. "But I mean, you both are really good and all though, just for the record." Gosh, he really didn't want to have to disappoint either of them and hurt their feelings.

[yangarang]

It was a good observation on Nezha's part. "So?" she responded, not really expecting an answer. As a family of martial artists, the Xiao Long-Rose family had always taken particular care to teach their daughters all forms, whether it had anything to do with their bending or not.

Had Bolin taken a second longer to jump in, he may have had to dodge a few fireballs because Yang was raring and ready to go for more. Standing, she placed a hand on each hip and smirked at Nezha over Bolin's shoulder. "Each fire blast must not exceed one second in duration and no direct fire strikes toward an opponent's head are permitted," she stated out loud as if she was reading directly from the rule book.

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[windfire_donuts]

Nezha didn't even bother to attempt to change his trajectory once Bolin stepped in--very nearly colliding with the older boy in the process. Straightening up upon landing, he cast an impassive glance at Bolin while he prattled on. It was Yang's words that caught him, however.

"What purpose is there in limiting oneself like that? It's no fun if you can't go all-out." Nezha, it's a sport, not a deathmatch. Clearly someone's never taught him the difference between the two.

[lavamylife]

"Well," Bolin explains with a little bit of patience, "the whole point is so that we don't kill each other in the ring. It would... kind of get a little messy since this is just a sport. I mean, I've put my life on the line... waaaaaay too many times by now to really be comfortable with making a living out of it."

But he walks into the ring and earthbends one of the clay discs up. "I mean, these things pack a punch even if I were to hit you with it, but it's nowhere near the level of damage I could do if I could just earthbend or even lavabend at my opponents! I could kill them! The whole point is to, given limitations, see how good and creative you are given limitations. It's now about finesse, execution, and strength."