I… didn’t know how badly I needed that.
Who: Yang and Li What: Li has target practice in the form of Yang when: recent Where: Desert somewhere Status: complete Rating: Pg
There were days and nights when Yang felt the depression kicking in. Where she felt alone, and a little scared, and a little helpless. But she fought through those, usually by exercising herself into exhaustion. That, or trolling on the internet.
Tonight, the latter had gotten boring, so she was on the couch, weights on her legs as she lifted them repetitively, while also lifting a weight with her good arm. She’d tied additional weights to her other shoulder,too, in the hopes of keeping that part of her strong. It all hurt, made her muscles ache and her stump especially. That didn’t deter her, though there were tears in her eyes as she angrily lifted.
Maybe tonight was less depression and more anger.
Li had been out practicing her violin after having a lesson with her instructor earlier in the evening. She had a recital later in the semester that she needed to prepare for. And it was entirely possible she was going to get a solo concert at some point. Her instructor was attempting to arrange that because he felt that Li needed more exposure to her talent here.
Which was both good and bad. Good because it was more doing what she loved. Bad because it undoubtedly meant her parents would be making trips over here. And she didn’t want them here for multiple reasons. She liked having her freedom from them, and she still hadn’t figured out the best way to tell them she wasn’t straight and that she had a girlfriend.
She came in, putting her violin in her room, then headed to the kitchen to get something to drink. That was when she saw Yang on the couch with all the weights. The loss of her arm had deeply affected her and Li wasn’t completely certain what to do to help.
At least not until now because an idea crossed her mind.
“Hey, Yang,” she said as she moved into the living room.
“Hey,” Yang grunted. She needed more weights, so she put the ones in her left hand on top of her legs and grabbed another set to keep lifting with her arm. More weight, more strength, all of her frustration pouring into this simple act.
“If you wanted something different from lifting weights, perhaps I could throw some of my magic at you? I have gotten a better handle on it of late.” Li had a couple different spells under her belt, at least. She wouldn’t misfire on those, at least.
Yang dropped her feet, the weights thudding heavily on the floor and likely pissing off their downstairs neighbors. They could bite her. “Okay. Gotta work this ache out anyway, and I can use something more challenging than those guys in the fight clubs.”
“Are you up to going somewhere else? Somewhere more open and secluded?” Li’s spells weren’t exactly made for not destroying absolutely everything in their path. Her electrocute spell was a small area of effect spell, after all. Plus she didn’t exactly want to cause property damage to their apartment.
“Totally. I mean unless we wanna blow up a wal-mart.” Yang would be okay with blowing up a Wal-mart. Places deserved to be blown up, as far as she was concerned. Nothing but cheap merchandise. Nothing quality. Yang hated low quality.
She got to her feet, brushing her hand down her front. “Lets go!”
“Wal-mart would deserve it.” Li didn’t completely understand the hate for Wal-mart, but if it helped Yang, or even just made her smile, she’d consider casting her meteor spell. She smiled at Yang. “Just one moment,” she said as she dashed out of the room. She came back with her wand and Source, the two things she needed to cast spells. “Okay, let us go.”
Li still didn’t really use contractions. But she turned and headed for the door.
The lack of contractions were amusing to Yang. She wondered if that was a mage thing or if Li was secretly an android. That would explain so much. “So are we like..driving? Or did you learn a teleport spell?”
There was so much use for e teleport spell that she’d be so very jealous if one existed.
“Driving. While there is a teleport spell in my dreams, I do not know it.” And the range of teleportation wasn’t very far. It moved a person several meters, far enough to get out of being surrounded by enemies, but nothing like teleporting to another country or something.
“Something you’ll figure out. You’re a badass bitch.” Yang nodded at her, and headed for Li’s car. Her own motorcycle had been...neglected. She didn’t trust herself to drive it, or if she would even be legally allowed to. Something to look into, anyway.
“Thank you,” she responded with a smile. Li had no doubt that she’d eventually learn the spell. She’d certainly try whatever she could. Besides, the intrinsic knowledge of the arcane arts from her dreams had crossed over from them. She was a magical prodigy and magical genius in her dreams, and she could carry it over here as well. The knowledge was there, her magic was there. The rest would come in time. She got in the car, then once Yang was in, she started driving off to a place outside of the city where they wouldn’t be in danger of anyone coming across them and seeing the magic.
“I do have a couple other spells I have not tried here yet. So we shall see how they carry over.” It would be interesting, at least.
Confidence was hot. It made Yang miss her friends and many of the people she dreamed about. Her team, Team JNPR, Team CFVY…. Sometimes she even missed the Professors. “Hit me with your best shot. I need the practice.”
“Do not tempt me. My dream self can summon a meteor to fall from the sky and take out everything in its path. I have not tried that one yet.” Li responded with a smirk. Which clearly meant she would be trying that one soon enough.
“Promise to hit me with that?” Yang may or may not have a death wish. Or maybe she felt like she could punch it. She could probably punch it. She flexed her biceps as she got into the car, looking at her arm as she did so. She could do this. “...thanks. For believing in me.”
“Yes, I promise.” As long as Yang asked, Li would do it. It might take her a couple tries to get the spell right, but she would still try. Looking at Yang, she smiled warmly. “You are welcome. I will always believe in you, and I am here for you for whatever you need.” She didn’t leave her friends in the lurch if she could help it.
Yang looked forward to it. She felt like she was fragile. She hated feeling fragile, fragile was for other people. The trip out of town made her antsy. And she was ready to have whatever Li wanted to throw at her by the time they got to their destination. Hopefully Li through her best shots at her.
Li certainly hoped that she would be able to help Yang feel less fragile. Perhaps she could fling magic at her on a regular basis to help her. Getting Yang active and using her abilities again might do her a great deal of good. She finally reached a spot that was secluded enough to not draw unwarranted attention, and there was minimal chance of starting a wildfire if her fire spells got out of control. “Alright, here we are.” She parked, then got out of the car.
Yang took a breath, and stepped out of the car as well. The air was fresh, and there was a little breeze which made the heat feel a little better. Yang was the fiery one, so that was suitable. She rolled her sleeve up with her teeth, and then turned towards Li. “Like the song says, hit me with your best shot!”
It was definitely hot, so it was a good thing that Li had her hair in a ponytail. It would keep it off of her neck and out of her face. Li grabbed her wand and her Source, the orb hovering over the upturned palm of her left hand, her wand gripped in her right hand. She felt the hum of magic begin to surround her as she focused herself. She smirked a bit as she raised her wand and a beam of pure ice shot out of it and towards Yang. It was a constant beam, able to be maintained until her pool of Arcane power was depleted.
Yang brought her arm up as a shield. The beam pushed her back and she rolled to the side out of the way. That reminded her of Weiss, and she could deal with that. “That tickled!” She shook her arm out, her skin numb from the cold, but most importantly she could feel her Semblance flare to life. It flowed through her, if invigorated her.
“Oh, you would like something better?” Li taunted. When she next pointed her wand, a beam of pure energy, red in color, shot out of it and headed straight for Yang. It wasn’t fire, but it would certainly disintegrate anything in its path when sustained long enough.
Yang braced herself, her hair catching fire as she tried to parry the beam. She let her anger at her situation help fuel her Aura, and that combined with the damage from the beam itself kept her from being hurt. She’d played DnD. She knew she was the tank. (or maybe TankDPS if she sat and thought about it.)
Li let Yang take that beam of energy for several seconds before she let up. If only because she couldn’t keep it up forever. But it let her change tactics as well. Yang wanted a challenge? She’d give her one, even if she’d never actually cast this one spell before. Concentrating, she called up her magic, envisioning the outcome of the spell in her mind as she cast it with a wave of her wand. Suddenly, a three headed hydra made of fire sprang to life ten feet to Li’s right. It was immobile, but it spit fireballs at Yang from each head. And she moved to her left, putting more distance between herself and her hydra before she cast a blast of lightning at Yang, alternating between the fireballs.
“Holy shit!” Yang let out a cackle, dodging one fireball and bursting through a second. The lightning shattered rocks at her feet and sending her skittering in another direction. She spun around, rolling again, and grabbing a rock to throw at Li. Hey, Li never said she couldn’t fight back! Another lightning bolt hit her square the chest, sending her skidding back, her shirt smoking. A yellow glow surrounded her body and her hair was literally on fire. “Again!”
This time, Li changed it up a bit. She cast Hydra again, but this time when it sprouted from the ground, it was only a single-headed one. It was larger than the other one that had now dissipated, but still made of fire. It spit fire at Yang, and also different from the last one, there was a trail of fire left on the ground that burned for a longer period. It spit several fire trails, turning the ground into molten fire around Yang for the moment.
And when the rock came her way, Li dodged out of the way, moving a little quicker than a normal human would. It was thanks to one of her passive spells, which allowed her to turn her magic inward and transmute her body to have heightened reflexes.
Yang flipped out of the molten ground, reminded of one of the arenas for the Vale tournament. She kept her eye on the Hydra, trying to follow Li at the same time. If this were a real fight she could predict where Li would be and punch a bullet, so she settled with another pebble. She wondered if she could charge one up.
Another fire trail erupted underneath her and she had more important things to worry about.
Luckily for Li, if Yang decided to charge up a bullet and shoot at her, she had a spell that would absorb the damage and leave her unharmed. As it was, she dodged the pebble again as the hydra dissipated, the ground returning to normal. Li then wound up and waved her wand, sending an arcane orb flying at Yang.
That one hurt a little, hitting Yang with the full force. But when the smoke cleared, she was still standing. Panting, her Aura shot, but still standing. She waved her hand. “Uncle! I need a break!”
Despite being worn out, she’d just had the time of her life!
Probably a good thing, Li could use a breather herself. She grinned and walked over to Yang. “How was that?” Li had other spells on hand, ones that packed more of a punch. These spells packed a punch as well, just in a slightly different way. Li hadn’t yet tried that Mirror Image spell where she’d create two duplicates of herself that could cast all the same spells Li herself could and they acted completely independently of each other and of her. That could be fun.
Don’t tell Ahsoka about that her mind might go places. Yang though, she looked really happy. “That was great! It was like being on a battlefield. We should try real sparring sometimes.” Li was probably a glass cannon though and Yang wouldn’t want to break her.
Li liked seeing that look on Yang’s face. It had been a while since she’d looked that happy, so it warmed her heart to see it again. “I would like that.” Li said with a smile and a nod. While she had more defenses than one may think, Li was a glass canon, like many magic users were. It was certainly something to take into consideration, but she could go for real sparring. It would help keep her on her toes.
“It might be good practice. For both of us.” Yang came over, throwing an arm around Li. “...thank you. I… didn’t know how badly I needed that. I’ve been a little ..out of it. Sometimes feels like having fun has cost me an arm and a leg!”
“I agree.” She smiled, giving Yang a hug. “You are welcome. I am happy that it has helped, and perhaps making it a regular occurrence will help to improve things even more.” Li wasn’t certain if this was an instant fix for everything Yang was going through, but it was definitely an improvement over simply sitting around and lifting weights all the time.