Post by Gia on Jan 15, 2013 20:19:36 GMT -6
Ren’ai was restless. Yes, she and her team had just started practicing together again, and their first practice hadn’t been perfect, but it had gone all right. They were still nowhere near where she wanted them to be as a team, but that would come with time. After all, they had only found Kamil a short time before the season started. They hadn’t honestly been together that long, and to think that they had made it to the Quarter-Finals in that short time. It wasn’t that she didn’t think it was an accomplishment, it was just… she still felt like the season had been a failure as a whole. The had only won their first match out of pure luck. They had nearly gotten their butts handed to them in the final round by the Raven Eagles, but it hadn’t mattered. They had won the first two, so it hadn’t mattered. Yuri had gotten knocked off in the final round, so that had pretty much done them in.
The next match had been the Quarter-Finals, against the Flying Koi. That… had not been so easy. The Raven Eagles Firebender had been out of it in the first round, and had needed to be replaced. Airi, their replacement, definitely had her head in the game, at least during the third round. It had had taken her a bit to get adjusted, but she had managed to knock her back, nearly out completely, but no, she had stayed in. Not so in the match against the Flying Koi. Jin, her counterpart, had managed to knock her completely out towards the end of the first round. It had infuriated her, and though she had mainly targeted him during the first round, that had caused her to do it for the entire second match as well, and though she had tried to not target him so much during the third, it infuriated her so much she couldn’t help herself.
The second round had much closer, but not close enough, as the Flying Koi had the advantage. It was then that she realized that teamwork was what was needed, but it was too little too late. The third round had started off well. Actually, the third match had gone well. Sure, Yuri had gotten pushed back, and she still wanted to talk to her about that, but she and Kamil had managed to go into Koi territory, which had won them the round. It didn’t matter, however, because with the Koi having won the first two rounds, they won the match, and the Dragon Hawks season was over. Yes, she had seen the Flying Koi lose to the Fire Ferrets, who went on to fight the Wolf bats and lose. It didn’t matter, though, because it should have her team, but… no, she hadn’t been good enough. They hadn’t been good enough, and the team had lost. It infuriated her, still to this day. She had barely spoken to either Yuri or Kamil since.
Yuri she had to see because they lived together, and it wasn’t that she was mad at her, she was mad at the team in general – at herself. After all, she was the Captain, and she should have known better, but no, she let her anger get ahead of her, and so her team didn’t think to snap her out so they could work together. As much as the Firebender wanted to made at Yuri and Kamil, it was all her fault. As the Captain, she should have known better and strategized better. Of course, she couldn’t do that she could she? She let Jin get to her after he had managed to knock her out in the first round. Of course, she had angered him by knocking him back a zone – twice she might add – but it didn’t matter. They had won, in the end, and she had lost. That led her to where she was today, wearing a jacket and walking out of the city, so she could practice somewhere private. She needed to improve.
Ren’ai usually practiced in a clearing in the park, but today, the young woman had decided to leave the city to practice today. There was a spot she had been to a couple of times when she was younger. The park got so crowded sometimes that there was nowhere… quiet to practice. Her usual spot, while out of the way, wasn’t immune to that, either. Sometimes, the dark-haired young woman just wanted some peace and quiet to practice. Not very often, but it didn’t happen. Maybe that would get her head back in the game. She knew what the problem was. She was a hothead, and the worst kind, too. It wasn’t that she disliked who she was, although she knew she was a difficult person. Kamil didn’t mind her, and Yuri had seen her a lot worse than she is now. Tadashi was her friend as well, but… it didn’t make for a good Probender.
Ren’ai had let Jin unhinge her, and she didn’t want to feel like that again. In the next season, the young woman wanted to be more successful. She wanted to get to the Finals, so her parents would have a real reason to throw her a party. If they made it to the Finals, maybe… just maybe, they would shut up. She hadn’t talk to them much either. They had told her after the match that it had shown them every reason as to why she was on the wrong path, and why this was a waste of them. She had screamed at them, again, and hadn’t spoken to them since. Her brothers had come to see her, which was fine. It wasn’t them she had a grudge against. Her parents were just so shortsighted. They wanted to her marry some well-to-do man and be a trophy wife, like her mother. That was not what she wanted, and she would refused to play the part of the spoiled rich girl, even if she had to be a waitress for the rest of her.
Probending was what she wanted to do, Ren’ai thought to herself as she made her way up. She had choosen to wear her heir in a ponytail, and had on just a light touch of makeup, since she’d been training. Her mind switched back to her previous train of thought. Honestly, she really did hate waitressing. The only reason why she did it was because she refused to live off her father’s money. Besides, with three other child, all boys, the small fortune that her father possessed would likely not be as much as it would seem. That’s why he wanted her to marry well. It didn’t matter to her, though. She would marry who she wished, but she had something else to concentrate on now. As she got closer, she thought she heard someone already up there. Her brows furrowed in confusion. She finally got up there, only to see that she had been right – someone was already there.
“You,” Ren’ai said, though no hint of hatred or anger was in her voice… not yet anyway. It was Jin, though his last name escaped her. He was the Firebender for the Flying Koi, who had occupied so much of her thoughts lately, more directed at herself. It wasn’t his fault that he was good, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t still be angry that he had gotten the better of her, that she wasn’t good enough. “What in the world are you doing here?” This was the one place she was sure that she could be alone to train. She had hoped that would help her, but she was not alone. She wasn’t sure entirely what to do. Yes, he was here first, but where else was she supposed to go? He would probably tell her to leave… but that didn’t mean that she wanted to. The longer she stood there, the more memories of that match came back to her, though she tried to push them. Anger was not what she needed, but that was a lesson that she had not learned very well over the course of her life so far…
