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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 19, 2011 20:29:10 GMT -5
Early morning and his mood was already soured. It didn't take much to anger the temperamental Fire student, but it certainly took ages to calm him down once he'd got going. He'd clocked a Thunder student in the face for making a snide remark and the kid had nearly bit through his lip as a result. That'll be trouble later, he thought, and this didn't help his mood in the least. Maybe the guy would try to act tough and wouldn't run to tattle on him. Josh could only count on that, or else he might not be able to call this school a second shelter any longer. They were tolerant of his outbursts because of his exceptional grades but they had warned him several times now that he was grating on their last shreds of patience.
"Might as well kick me out," he snarled under his breath, slamming the door to his dormitory. A freshman sitting on the couch in the common area nearly jumped out of their skin as the loud bang echoed through the halls. If there had been anything in the dormitory within immediate reach that he could have thrown, he would have done. "Would be the last fucking icing on the cake if they did." He was trembling violently and thus he sat down on the edge of his bed, breathing hard with his jaw clenched tight. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He could feel despair starting to prickle at the edge of his mind but he shoved it away violently. No. He wasn't going to get upset over this. He was already enraged, there didn't need to be another overheated emotion trolling around in his brain.
Breathe. Just--fucking--breathe. He glowered down at his shaking hands and willed them to stop, so of course they did not. He slammed a hand against his thigh and felt the pain blossom out from the point of impact, but he barely had it in him to care. The throbbing was the absolute least of his worries right now. He was more worried about his job and his apartment and his life. Everything just went to shit and even when things started to look better for longer than an hour there was always something else to turn around and slap him in the face. Standing up, he left the dormitory and glowered at the group of younger kids chatting in the hallway. "Out my fucking way," he said shortly, resisting the impulsive urge to shove them when they moved too slowly for his liking.
The sharp, cold air of the grounds did little to calm his fiery rage, and he stayed outside for only a moment before heading back in. He felt like a trapped animal in a cage. He was held prisoner by his life and he had no idea how to handle it. His outer signs of anger had faded, save for the signature scowl, but on the inside he was still a disaster waiting to happen. Should anyone have approached him now as he leaned against a wall and focused on (trying) not to kill something, he likely wouldn't ask any questions. One wrong move and no matter who it was, he'd be on the attack.
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Post by marci3 on Jun 20, 2011 10:59:38 GMT -5
The day before it had been too early. Jacob had just been practicing for over an hour before his sister called with news enough to make him blow up at almost anyone who'd passed. Anyone who'd made her cry was bad enough—Em didn't cry. Anyone who'd burned her was worthy of a good whipping or two, and then a toss in the lake. It had driven Jacob crazy for the rest of the day, but he knew who Josh was. They could have hardly avoided each other for so long, both sophomores in college—though Jacob had been a grade or two above Josh before the incident in England. The water graduate knew how studious and powerful his fellow graduate was, and had enough sense to wait until he was properly rested.
He had shouted at Em, which made him feel bad. Really, she didn't have any sense, if she just provoked Josh, of all people. She'd gotten defensive, and the only thing that had stopped the clash of tempers had been her, reaching the medical wing and being forced off the phone by the nurses. This also fueled his temper this morning, determined to make up for that slip by beating Joshua into the ground. Obviously a temporary change had come about him, because as he slammed the door to his car in the parking lot and strode powerfully toward the building, people actually backed away from him. There were actually wary of what he might do.
The young man caught sight of his quarry standing briefly outside, his opened his fists, turning his face toward the lake. A second later a small wave detached itself from the rest of the body and came to him, wrapping around his arms for future use. He looked back at the entrance to the academy just in time to see Joshua disappear inside. Setting his jaw, he followed. There was no way Josh would be able to beat him, of that he was certain. A water student who was almost two years the senior of a fire elemental really wouldn't have to exert himself.
He followed the other man until he stopped, then stood behind him for a few seconds, taking a deep breath. Anger was a good source of fuel, but it made him forget the actual strengths of his own element. So he calmed himself to an intense anger, then looked up again. ”Joshua fucking Dale.” He said to get his opponent's attention, waiting only the required amount of time for him to turn and look before throwing one of his fists forward. What would hopefully be an unexpected punch in the face would become a power hose of all the water that had wrapped around that particular arm. Right in the face. He followed through, making it impossible for him to jump back quickly after the attack. But hopefully it would stun Josh enough for him to get into a position with a good defense.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 20, 2011 18:07:01 GMT -5
When he heard his name called with such vehemence, Joshua was already expecting someone to be pretty pissed off at him. And he was absolutely not in the mood for some whiny bastard to start bitching at him about whatever the fuck he'd did to wrong him, so he turned sharply with the full intention of telling them to shove off and get lost. He was not expecting the guy to then draw back his fist and punch him in the face, adding the full force of a wave blast alongside it. Given that he was a Fire elemental, the elemental water would immediately start to weaken him and tax on his strength before he even had a chance to retaliate. That was how these things worked. If he walked up to an Earth elemental and started to burn them, they would start to grow weak whether or not they used their own powers against him. It was just how the elemental triangle worked. It happened to Wind students as well, but their drain was lessened given that they were neutral. And if you were strong against an element, the drain was there, but it was halved.
That wasn't to say that Joshua would never stand a chance against an older and stronger Water elemental. He was a crafty bastard that knew you could wear your opponent down by constantly dodging and blocking, then hitting back with your own power until they went down for the count. It was incredibly difficult, but possible. Against a guy who had decided to start their confrontation by punching him in the face, however? Technique went out the window as pure rage shuddered down his spine. What the fuck was that for? he wondered, outraged. He did not know that Jacob and Emilia were brother and sister, else he might have made the connection. He was very protective of Annabel and thus he'd understand the whole 'raging big brother' thing. But he was too infuriated to ask. How dare this guy just walk up to him like that?
He recoiled from the force of the punch, wincing, dripping wet from the water. He'd only had enough time to tilt his head a bit so that the punch caught him in the jaw as opposed to breaking his nose or anything like that, and nothing could have been done to stop the water unless he'd known to predict it. Would he just back down and chicken out despite the fact he was well aware that this was not a very fair fight? Well no, of course he wouldn't. Josh didn't do things like that, especially not when he was angry. "Fuck you," he snarled quite vehemently. He wasn't quite so stupid that he just lashed out blindly--he narrowed his eyes and feinted aiming for the guy's shoulder with his fire, then extinguished the small blaze and aimed a punch to his face with his left hand. Hopefully the fact that Jacob wouldn't know he was left-handed unless he made a habit of staring creepily at him would make it less than simple to dodge out of the way. An eye for an eye.
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Post by marci3 on Jun 20, 2011 18:45:05 GMT -5
There was very little that would have kept Jacob from at least attempting to beat the hell out of Josh right now. One of those things would probably have been Josh turning, asking what the hell was up, and then apologizing. Sincerely. But that was hardly what Jacob expected, and it was hardly what happened. He smirked a little at the sight of Josh recoiling from a rather hefty punch, followed by a rather hefty spray of water. It was also enough time for him to get his balance and actually ready himself for a fight. The bigger man in front of him didn't intimidate him at all—he was way out of his League with Jacob.
Josh lashed out, and Jacob tilted his weight expertly to avoid it. But then the fire went out and Josh's left fist was coming at him. Since he was already stepping to one side, the only thing he could do was to swipe the air with his arm, deflecting the punch painfully and stumbling into the wall Josh had just been leaning against a few seconds ago. In order to buy himself some time, his movement had also caused the water that had dripped beneath his opponent's feet to turn into a sheet of ice beneath him.
Jacob shoved himself off the wall and took a few steps away, pulling his left arm, which was still covered in some of the water from the lake, behind him. He gave Josh a might glare and a sneer, preparing to shoot the water in another power-hose-like affect as soon as Josh took one step toward him. If his opponent opted to use his fire, Jacob would use his water as a defense instead. Though angry, he knew how to fight smart.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 20, 2011 19:07:19 GMT -5
Joshua wasn't the type of guy that got into the gloating thing when he was fighting someone. If you got too cocky and got ahead of yourself, your opponent could turn around and kick your ass in a sudden burst of rage. He'd seen it happen before and he'd done it before. If anyone had the idiocy to mock him and taunt him, he'd go berserk. Jacob at least wasn't doing that right now, even though Josh still had no fucking idea why the guy had attacked him to begin with. Was there some sort of war going on between the elements that had totally flew over his head? Wars were usually pretty announced and obvious, but given the fact that Joshua was a seclusionist he supposed there was a small possibility that such a thing could have escaped his notice.
The ice started to knock him off his balance, but a wave of his hand melted it back to the water from whence it came. One good thing about Fire VS Water, he supposed--they couldn't very well freeze you into a block of ice like they could do to most of the other students, provided you had enough energy and skill to call upon your element to melt the ice away. Still, the distraction of the ice sheet was certainly enough so that Jacob could recover from the deflected punch and stagger against the wall. Joshua glared heavily at him, breathing a bit hard from the exertion thus far. He could already feel the drain on his energy. If it wasn't winter and if he hadn't already been worn out by rage to begin with, Jacob might have been fighting a force to be reckoned with, and Josh might have stood a very small chance against him. As it was, he was probably going to get his ass kicked.
Did he realise this?
Not exactly. His rage was too strong.
Would it have stopped him anyway?
... No, probably not.
Jacob sneered at him and Joshua narrowed his eyes, taking a step forward to close some of the distance between them. He was expecting the attack a little more this time, and he called upon his flames in a defence of their own. The flame was so hot that a majority of the water which came in contact with it turned to steam, thus preventing it from hitting him. It was a nifty trick he was teaching himself, but there was a downside--he was far from having mastered it, so it had quite an effect on his energy. He felt the drain immediate and actually cringed a little, but he forced himself to pay attention to the fight. Distractions were never a good thing.
In truth, it wasn't the smartest idea to use his fire against the water. Even though he could effectively block the hits, his lack of experience with the move was making him lose more energy than perhaps he would have if he'd just let it hit him. But that was the thing--he didn't want it to hit him. Not in the face, at any rate. His hydrophobia was present even in the midst of a fight. It wasn't so much the water he was afraid of--hell, it wasn't like he never showered!--as it was the possibility of drowning. Not that Jacob would drown him, but this was a phobia. It wasn't meant to be rational.
If blocking was stupid, hitting back was probably even less of a good idea. Not that it stopped him. Gathering up more of the flame using the heat that still remained as a bit of a martyr, Joshua wreathed it around his hand and then sent it forward in a strong pulse of flame, teeth clenching as he felt even more of his energy leaving him.
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Post by marci3 on Jun 21, 2011 10:31:37 GMT -5
Jacob perhaps shouldn't have been so quick to throw the water at his opponent, who was perfectly ready for the attack. The college student watched his water disappear in a cloud of vapor and grimaced at he realized that he would not have to make his own water for the purposes of very strong attacks. While he did had a great amount of experience doing this, what with his daily hour-long practice with his power, he still didn't like to in a fight. The most energy he saved, the better his chances of winning were. Not that he seemed to need to worry about that here; Josh was already breathing heavily, throwing far too much strength into each attack. Apparently, he's been angry before the confrontation.
Jacob's eyes grew wide when the pulse of fire came at him, more from surprise than from any sort of fear. Instead of blocking the attack directly, he threw himself to the other end of the hallway, where the pulse was a little weaker, then threw up a water shield to block most of it. He didn't want to overdo it, so he allowed some of the attack to pass over him in the form of heat. It was fatiguing, but he wasn't quite at the point of breathing hard.
Then an idea struck him. Even though in a purely physical fight Josh would probably be the victor, closing the distance would probably be a good strategy. He hadn't even gotten all the way through his plan before he'd taken his chance after Josh's attack, sprinting toward Josh with the intent of grappling. Jacob's lungs were very fit from years and years of swimming, and he had learned to hold his breath for a very long time. Let's see how long Joshua Dale could hold his breath.
Though he knew he was probably going to have to either grab or deflect Josh's arms, Jacob was hoping to get at least one hand on his shoulder. That would make it the easiest.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 21, 2011 10:58:28 GMT -5
Of course it was a simple matter of throwing up a wall of water for Jacob--he didn't need to waste mass amounts of energy to block a single attack. This fact made Joshua feel a little bitter toward the odds of the fight. The hell was the point of attacking him, anyway? To prove he was the bigger man? Show off to his friends? Josh couldn't remember ever really having interacted with the other boy before, so it wasn't like this could be residual rivalry, right? At any rate, this hardly mattered. He was angry, and rage just scrapped any form of common sense or reason. He knew internally that this was a losing fight but he also knew that he was incredibly mad at Jacob and wouldn't mind bashing his head against the lovely brick wall across from them. Such violent thoughts possessing his mind!
Jacob rushed him and Joshua stepped back instinctively to put distance between him, nearly cursing when his foot came in contact with solid wall. He'd forgotten the fact that he was standing close to it after having melted the ice beneath his feet. He immediately retaliated with an attempt to shove the other boy back, but his strength was more than halved given his exhaustion. Against the much more physically intact Jacob, he didn't stand much chance of anything at the moment, and that was bothering him. What the fuck was he going to do now? His fire certainly didn't see to be doing much against the other sophomore--the boy was Water, any damage he did was cut back. What the fuck is he doing? Joshua thought when Jacob grabbed his shoulder.
Attempting once again--probably futilely--to shove him off, Joshua's gray eyes narrowed further. "Fuck off," he snapped, the first words he'd spoken since a little after the start of the unexpected assault. Even though he knew it likely wasn't going to do much, he still focused on generating searing heat from the area of his shoulder that Jacob had lunged for, aiming to at least make it very unpleasant to keep the hold. Whether or not he would let go all depended on his defences and how determined he was to emerge the victor of this fight. Then again, he'd probably win no matter what. If he hadn't had the wall for support, Josh likely would have been leaning forward slightly from exhaustion. Stupid Water students and their stupid powers.
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Post by marci3 on Jun 23, 2011 14:12:23 GMT -5
Yes, there it was. Jacob gained a small smirk, filled to the brim with the knowledge that he had just won, when he felt his hand connect with Josh's shoulder. This was followed by Josh close to winding him with a mighty shove, but Jacob hung doggedly on, taking the brunt of the blow in order to keep his hand in the right place. He ignore Josh's command, shoving the younger man against the wall and getting his other hand on the other shoulder. Then he took a deep breath, and created his water.
With the effort required to hold his opponent in place, Jacob's water took a few seconds to form. But when it did, it almost seemed to seep from his hands and start moving toward Josh's face. He kept doing this until there was a floating sphere of water big enough to cover both their heads, taking a deep breath at the last moment and shoving himself against Josh in order to pin him. He moved the water residue on the floor out from beneath his feet and added it to the sphere, just so that he wouldn't lose trackion and be shoved off by the angry fire student.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 23, 2011 15:16:26 GMT -5
Though he tried to fight the other boy off, his exhausted worked to easily overpower him as Jacob secured the hold he had on him. "Getting a little close, aren't you?" he sneered, covering up the bitterness of losing with a snide remark. "What're you going to do, Reece, breathe on me?" In reality he had no idea what Jacob was doing nor what he planned to do, and that freaked him out a little. Joshua hated it when he was in a helpless fight, especially when he couldn't even see the moves of the obvious victor coming. How would he finish him off, then?
What he was not expecting, however, was for the boy to cover his face with the glistening sphere of water. Joshua had always been deeply terrified of drowning since he was eight years old and the boys from school threw him into the lake--their idea of a 'joke' which had nearly resulted in his death. So when Jacob started to raise the water upward, his gray eyes went wide with trepidation and he tried a last ditch effort to break away from his opponent. The wall he was trapped up against ultimately sealed his fate, however, blocking his escape and making it marginally easier for Jacob to pin him. If they'd been in the middle of the hall he'd probably have been able to duck and run, but it was a no go. And the water on the floor would be of no use, for Jacob had used that as well.
He tried to summon his fire to turn the water into steam--it might injure him due to the dual-element nature of it and cause some nasty burns on his face, but anything was better than this at the moment. The fire did start to form, hot and bright and incredibly close to the sphere, but the water was sapping his strength and the flames vanished. Fuck! It was the last coherent thought he managed before the water covered his face and the panic really set in.
He couldn't breathe. Couldn't breathe and couldn't even fight back as the water muted his efforts. Panic gave a kick to his desire to break free, but his struggling against Jacob was blind due to the fact that the water was obstructing, well, everything. Perhaps a small part of him knew that it was irrational and probably just a ploy to weaken him, that Jacob wouldn't actually drown him, but that mattered not. He was hydrophobic, it wasn't like his brain coached him in the art of optimism. No, instead it convinced him that he was going to die, and that was absolutely horrifying. He made the mistake of gasping slightly, and that caused him to double over and literally start choking on the liquid, shaking from the fear and just barely managing to stay upright by bracing his hand on the wall.
It took several moments to recover from that, and he was so worn out that he couldn't even contemplate a retatiation move. Instead, he glared accusingly at Jacob. His face was red from lack of air and his expression was both guarded and still containing traces of the fear that he'd felt moments earlier. One hand was still on the wall, but the other was slack at his side and very visibly trembling. "What the fuck was that for?" he demanded at last. It had been a cheap shot if there ever was one.
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Post by marci3 on Jun 23, 2011 16:31:17 GMT -5
It was a real surprise when Josh started to panic. Jacob's eyes went wide, but he stayed silent as he held the exhausted man against the wall, letting his water do it's work for another couple of seconds. His mind was racing, though, a new section of it forgetting it's anger and musing indifferently about the probability that Joshua Dale was afraid of water. Well, maybe not all water. Maybe just water near his face. Maybe he couldn't swim? If so, that made any future need to beat the young man down that much easier. If he ever touched Em again, Jacob had a surefire way of beating his ass.
He finally let go when Josh started choking, sputtering a little himself with the effort to breathe after exerting himself while holding his breath. He backed off a few paces, still glaring at the hateful man, but bending over slightly to allow himself to breathe deeply and heavily. He knew that the other man was far too tired to try and fight back now, and while he could probably keep up a fight for awhile longer, his own emotion was draining him. He'd been too angry, throwing too much unneeded energy into each attack, and now the mix of physical exertion and concentration on his power made him want to do nothing more than take a nap.
Josh was visibly scared, now. Jacob knew better than to think it was of him, so he assumed he had been correct about the others fear of drowning. Josh's voice made him have to close his eyes against a renewed rush of anger, and he found himself standing straighter and sneering at the defeated man before. He took a step closer, an impulsive part of him wishing to kick him while he was down—but no. It didn't matter who it was or what they had done. Jacob wouldn't stoop so low as that.
”What was it for?” He repeated, disbelief and outrage forming one voice. He stepped closer, putting a hand flat on the front of Josh's shoulder and slamming it into the wall again. He brought his face close to Josh's and growled menacingly, ”It was for you burning my little sister, you bastard. Or maybe you do it often enough that you don't remember now so let me remind you. Her name is Emilia, she's a senior, and I swear on my guardianship of my sisters that if you touch her again I will fucking drown you in the fucking lake!” His voice rose as he spoke until he shouted the last words in Josh's face, pure rage fueling his speech.
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Post by JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE on Jun 23, 2011 17:05:59 GMT -5
Joshua tensed as Jacob took a step forward, wariness flashing in his gray eyes. Would he go ahead and take another shot when Joshua was already practically on the ground? Would the guy sink that low? He just tried to fucking drown you, why wouldn't he? The thought was full of bitterness, both for his loss and the fact that he was still trembling slightly and very conscious of the fact. Joshua hated displaying weakness of any sort but he couldn't control his fear of the water. It didn't vanish simply because he wanted it gone. Hell, if phobias worked that way no one would have them.
The strong desire to punch him rose up and choked his words for a moment when he caught the sneer on Jacob's face. He hated when people rubbed his defeat in his face because he hated losing. It made him feel like a failure. I can just hear my grandfather now, he thought. 'Told you he hit like a girl, Donny-boy. You sure you don't have two daughters?' This only further fuelled the need to whack his opponent across the face, but his weakness meant that he'd either be able to block it or would just totally thrash Josh afterwards, neither of which seemed appealing at the moment. His hand clenched into a slow fist, but he kept it at his side. Asshole.
Jacob shoved him against the wall again, Joshua's expression going fierce with rage as the other boy drew in close. "Get the fuck out of my face, Reece," he snapped back. If he hadn't been so worn out he'd have tackled the other boy immediately and without any further thought. He hated it when people were so cocky and arrogant, especially because he was usually so able to fight them off. But then Jacob told him exactly why he had attacked him, and that changed things.
Oh. He has a sister.
It might have seemed pointless to anyone else. Emilia had annoyed him and then attacked him, which had basically warranted the burn she'd recieved in his eyes. He didn't give people second fucking chances, he hated (most) people and he wasn't ashamed to show it. He had opened his mouth to snarl a nasty response, but he closed it again and clenched his jaw. Well. This just changed everything. "Oh." It was all he could really say for a long moment. He still wanted to snap at Jacob that he'd cut his throat if he ever threatened to throw him in the lake again, but--fuck, why did she have to be his sister? Annabel came to mind. He'd have done the same--hell, he'd have done worse--if someone had hurt her.
He didn't look at Jacob, still sore of pride from losing as he said, "... I get it. I'll back off."
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Post by marci3 on Jun 23, 2011 17:52:47 GMT -5
Jacob was not ready to quit being angry. He was patient, he was kind, he was forgiving, and he was loyal. But this was unacceptable. He could not stop his temper right now, even though as it raged it made him think gory thoughts about how he could string Josh up somewhere, or mutilate him, or something of that matter. Later, he knew he would look back on what he had thought with shame, but right now he didn't care. He would not lose another family member to anything, least of all this fire bastard.
He was too angry to immediately notice the change that came over Joshua's face. He just glared and wondered why he wasn't being cussed out. It was only when Josh closed his mouth and let out that single syllable of understanding that Jacob's anger cleared up enough for him to notice. His expression was still pissed, but a little bit of grudging interest entered him as he continued to hold the other man against the wall. This couldn't possibly be from a fear of being drowned—no, men didn't operate that way. If a man gets afraid, they get defensive. Unless they were spineless cowards. Joshua was anything but a spineless coward.
Josh wasn't looking at him, which made him all the more interested. What the hell was this? Josh had been full of fight, if only the verbal kind, just ten seconds ago! It wasn't fair to leave Jacob the only one fuming enough to kill—it made him feel like he was in the wrong, even if he was getting vindication for his sister. He was just about to snarl at Josh to look at him when the words came out of Josh's mouth, and Jacob finally understood. A portion of the angry washed out of his features, and he just stood there, breathing hard and staring Josh down. Then he let go of Josh. Then he stepped backward.
”You have a sister, too, then?” He said, his tone changed from wrathful to merely grudging. It was moderated, too, no longer a shout. Jacob didn't know whether he completely understood—after all, a man with a little sister should be less likely to attack a younger girl—but at least this way.... He let out a long breath. ”Well then, I suppose I can take you at your word.” He didn't move, though, refusing to be the one to walk away from this. ”I hope I never have to fight you again, Joshua.”
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