* THE LOOK THAT SELLS THE SKIN, [lark]

It was different, being on the other side. There was not a huge change in dynamic, given that they were just as loyal to one another as the opposing alliances. Not even half as aggressive, no, but certainly bonded. She liked the feeling of being by her best friend's side again. The strength she felt. A renewed vigor. Though home life had gone to shit, at least there was one aspect she could look forward to now. Lark was psychologically tough, and tried not to let things get her down. She tried not to dwell on it. Instead, she pushed forward and embraced the positives while allowing the negatives to make her stronger. Only Joshua had seen her weak points, Ashton witnessed it unwillingly, but it was not to gain their pity. Trust involved talking about the past sometimes. She was finally learning how to talk to other people. To communicate. There were times when Lark shut down, unable to cope, and responded with a large wall of fury. She was a Fire, it was bound to happen.

Lark crossed the grounds with a confident stride, not really giving two shits who was staring or glaring. They were at war with the Fires, and most--if not all--knew of the incident in the mess hall with Josh. She was not ashamed or scared; hell, she fought off her own a few times in the hall because of their accusations before any of this ever happened. This time, she was prepared for it and embraced it. Bring it on, mother fuckers. Lark would not win every fight, she knew that, but there was no backing down. That was a hit at her pride. Stepping down was only a sign of weakness. Hands shoved into her pockets, chin held up high, she heard someone call out to her. Lark turned her head, the rather neutral disposition she carried dropping into a deep scowl. "What." She replied, not even pretending to be cordial. Lark was not stupid; Altair was the Fire leader, and was loyal to their element. Her treachery would surely be unwelcome, even possibly resented.

"Great, actually." Lark commented dryly, not even really caring much about this conversation. She was not ashamed of any decisions she made, so to act otherwise was foolish. "I really don't see why you give a fuck." Of course Altair would care, because Lark betrayed their element. For those loyalists, that was a big deal. Lark simply chose what she thought was best for her, and that was that. It was not an easy choice at first, but as time went on it became more obvious where she was meant to be. Josh, Nell, and Ashton were worth it all, even if there was no one else. Lark scoffed, a small smirk forming on her lips. "Never asked for anyone's fuckin' trust, so that was something you decided all your own. Not my fault." Lark hardly trusted anyone to begin with, so to expect another person to trust her was asking a bit much. Sure, she lied, but never begged for Altair to believe her. "Even if it was, doesn't matter. I'm where I want to be." Josh was the main reason she made her choice, but it was still her choice in the end. No one forced her or asked her to switch. This was all a conscious decision made for herself. Lark never did well doing what others asked her to do anyway.

Lip twitch. Contempt. Hatred. A small little flame ignited, creating a massive bonfire in Lark's chest. She understood the strength of the alliances, what it meant to be loyal to your element and their ally. But it was still amazing how quickly people could turn on you. They go from smiling to your face to stabbing you in the back for choosing a different group of friends. People you felt were better for you. Oh well. Not gonna explain that to her. Lark didn't have to explain herself to anyone, much less Altair. They had shared a few conversations now and again, but she was nothing like Sam. No, Sam was a different story. That shattered her heart into pieces. Altair, she couldn't give less of a fuck. "Hah. I don't even know why you care. My choice. I do what I wanna do, fuck what everyone else thinks about it." Lark seethed, bristling at just talking to Altair now. She was tired of this conversation, though part of her wanted to haul off and knock the make-up right off of her face. "Tch. I already have people I belong with."

A wolf among sheep? Was Altair really trying to convince her that the switch was a bad idea with that metaphor? Lark was protective of her Earth and Water friends, and would fight tooth and nail for them. Ashton and Nell were at the top of that list. No one fucked with them. "If you're better off, then why are you even fuckin' bothering to talk to me now? You know it's not gonna do shit." Lark growled, growing more and more furious as the time wore on. The conversation was getting old, and she knew where all of this was going. They were both Fires, they both had tempers, and both of them were angry. What else was going to happen? Especially with Altair taking hits at her new allies. That was not going to work out very well in the end. Her words sounded sweet, sounded innocent, but Lark wasn't stupid. She was being a patronizing little bitch, which only infuriated her even more.

And then, she snapped. The last logical tether roping down her emotions was cut, severed and tossed aside. A growl gurgled in the back of her throat, fists clenched together tightly, lip curled up into a dangerous snarl. "You're a pretentious little cunt, aren't you? Think that because I took the other side that I'm gonna sit here and take your bullshit?" Fire wreathed around Lark's fingers, a small ball of flame in her fist. The Earths might have backed down or tried to avoid a fight, but she was still a Fire. Switching sides did not remove her element. In fact, it empowered her. She had people to protect. They could defend themselves in some cases sure, but not with everyone. Releasing a 'graaah!' sort of yell, Lark threw the first punch, flaming fist and all. Lark knew she was not the toughest, nor did she always come out on top, but she had a point to make. Ashton and Nell flashed in her mind, only fueling the rage she felt towards her ex-comrade.

It was inevitable, these fights popping up with her element. They were so eager to prove they were top dog, that they couldn't be fucked with, that they just could not leave well enough alone. Lark did not mind throwing a punch to prove a point, but this was getting boring. Getting really old, really fast. To think all of this would change her mind? To make her get on her knees and cry out 'you're right, you are dominant. let me show you my belly'? Not going to happen. The choice had been made, the song had been sung. No regrets. Lark lifted her chin at the "hot shit" comment, tossing the other girl a confident smirk and a snort. Nothing else needed to be said. Actions spoke louder than words. The girl covered her mouth and pretended to yawn, shrugging loosely. "Then why are you still letting bullshit come out of your mouth?" She finally replied, relinquishing the look of sheer boredom and replacing it with a deep, dark scowl. Boring or not, Lark could not allow Altair to talk about her new alliance the way she did. Like they were scum. They treated her far better than the people in her own element and ally, aside from Samson of course.

It did not take but a moment for Lark to get riled up; she had always had quite the temper, especially with someone like Altair. Joshua was a different story, they had been friends for a long time and Lark learned to manage. She did not know this girl well enough to give a shit. Her punch was deflected, but it gave her enough time to duck and miss the punch to her face. She had to counter-attack quickly before Altair could close the gap, but by the time she re-established her footing her enemy threw a blast of fire directly at her. Lark couldn't respond quick enough and took a hit to the abdomen. She hissed in pain but did not linger there for long. She threw out a blast of fire of her own, a blast directly to the face. It would be bright, and hot, which would hopefully distract her opponent long enough to give her an opening. Lark made for an uppercut, other fist prepared to jab her hard in the side. She loved her element but knew how quickly she would run out of energy if she kept it up. Mixing the two fighting techniques was easier. The pain in her stomach was ebbing away slightly from the rush of adrenaline and anger that coursed through her, and used this new rush to her advantage. So long as she stayed focused and allowed the rage to fuel her, maybe it would help her ignore the pain.

It was satisfying to land a blow to the Fire leader. Although Lark knew that another attack would be coming her way, she relished in the moment for just a second or two. She had not dealt with a good fight in some time, at least by herself. With Josh it was a glorious feeling, but she had had his help. They had one another's backing, through and through. Here, Lark was alone, but she was also only against one person. The pain in her stomach was searing, but she was angry enough to ignore most of the sensation stinging her skin. She had no idea that her tank top had been singed through, leaving a hole across her stomach and a decent sized burn mark. Lark growled at Altair's comment. Just pulling shit out of her ass. "I don't need anyone to teach me anything," She replied.

Josh had taught her everything she knew about fist fights, actually, but was that really relevant? When she was eight years old, he promised to teach her, and he did. Now she was using his teaching--and her own experience--to fight. Lark was hardly able to throw up an arm to defend her face, thus singing her arm past the top layer of skin. A very faint whimper gurgled in her throat, but it was only enough for her to hear. The rest came out a dangerous growl, dark and full of hatred. The punch to her stomach she dodged well enough by doing a sort of half spin to the side, throwing her own blast of fire towards Altair in the process. Her arm felt as though it were on fire, and was almost unusable, so now most of her attacks would be less tactile unless using her good arm. Shit, shit, shit... Lark thought, trying to retain her focus. Once the fire left her palm and towards her opponent, Lark stepped in close and made for a fiery fist towards Altair's jaw. One of them, she hoped, would hit, but could not stand around and only make one hit at a time to see if that was going to happen. That was only going to leave her wide open to a barrage of attacks.

There was a glint of satisfaction in Lark's eyes as her attacks made some sort of contact with Altair's skin. A sadistic sort of sneer that brought her lips into a smirk, eyes lit with fury and rage. Nostrils flared, trying to ignore the singed skin on her arm. It was not easy making this an even fight with her arm nearly unusable, but would Lark back down? Hell no. That meant admitting defeat. Admitting she was weaker and could not hold her own. It was better to lose than not fight at all, in her opinion. Lark's punch did not meet her opponents' face, but it still hit her arm and that was good enough for her. She was the one to take everything she could and accept it as a hit, even if it landed where she least expected. A hit is a hit. Although Lark was in a fit of fury, the fight was easy enough to focus on. The attacks, the defense, the movements. It was as though she were watching a movie in slow motion, eyes clouded with a dark red haze. She was so sick and tired of people thinking they were the shit, thinking they could pick on people they saw to be weaker than them. If their fire did not exist, where would they be?

Before Lark could pull her hand away and make another move, Altair grabbed at her wrist. It was difficult to pull away, the fight moving at such a fast pace. Her other arm was not strong enough to make any sort of efficient attack, so now the girl was stuck. A dark scowl crossed her features as Altair tried to punch her in the face, which Lark could only partially block. It still nicked her in the jaw. Allowing the anger to build up, Lark used that to wrench her wrist away from the Fire leader and take a step back to try and recompose herself. Her jaw was aching, arm was burning, stomach throbbing. By the time she looked up, a huge blast of fire was barreling straight towards her. Lark, being weakened from the fight, made a futile attempt to divert as much of the flames away from her person as she could, but it could only do so much. Half of it hit Lark full on, knocking her flat on her back. She had used the last of her energy to try and push the flames away, and on top of her injuries there was not much she could do. There was nothing to say, either, because that was useless. Lark was hardly one to say much after a fight, let alone a lost fight. Succumbing to the pain and lack of energy, Lark passed out.