The job read like it would be tough, but not impossible. Three rogue mages holed up in a small town needed to be brought in for evading investigation and arrest for a string of robberies. Not many in the guild seemed to like taking on three mages, let alone the fact there was the potential for collateral damage. It was the exact kind of thing Kali went for. That wasn't why Kali had taken the job though. It had no sooner gone up than Kali snatched it up and was approved for the job.

Helianthus wasn't a remarkable town. It wasn't exactly on the way to any destination unless one wanted it to be. There were faster means to any destination, roads built to be more direct travel to larger towns. One would assume that was why the mages hid there. One would also expect the job to be easy.

No one actually expected to hear that two days after setting out on the job, Helianthus was nothing more than ashes. That people had died in the catastrophic inferno that leveled the town. The guild kept it under wraps as best they could, but that didn't stop them from assigning a job to bring Kali in for questioning.



That was three weeks ago. Since then, she'd incapacitated four guildmates. It wasn't something Kali wanted to do. It certainly wasn't something that helped what she was trying to do. There was no way she could let someone bring her in. The job had been a set up. If someone brought her in, she would never be able to clear her name. She'd end up with more than just a bounty on her head if the dark guild that set her up had any say in it. That meant people that weren't bounty hunters coming for her - people that weren't required to bring her in alive.

She'd made it to Sakura and was hiding out there to buy herself some time to figure out her next move. She needed proof. She needed to find the survivors. Those buggers scattered like roaches in the light. She wanted to catch them all in the inferno, but it was a last ditch idea when the job went south. If she could find one of them and someone could verify the truth wasn't just her forcing the mage to tell her story, her slate could wipe clean. That was the best case she could hope for. The worst...she wasn't going to think about what would happen if she failed.

These past three weeks had been a storm of chaos for the guild; tension was already taut made worse each time the guild members that set out came back defeated and empty handed. An incident the guild leader had hoped to keep secret and handled quickly as possible but the firebird's wings proved far more difficult to clip though mostly expected such results as the few willing to actually attempt such a dangerous capture kept ending in failure. So it was no surprise such news spread throughout the guild with talks that they always knew the bitch was a traitor while others held doubts; finding it too much for even Kali to go doing something so extreme.

Confusion, doubt and fear. These three terms best described what the guildmembers were feeling and were unsure how to proceed from there. It took everything from the guild leader to ensure such talks did not get out and using connections to keep back the rune knights or the council from acting, wanting to try and handle this personal issue themselves and save face. Yet, with the four that either returned or reported their failure left the guild master little choice but to send the only person remaining foolish and willing enough to try and take down such a wild card and it was one he most wanted to avoid sending. But, none of the others were willing while the S mages were either too busy or didn't care to get involved with such a troublesome case and thus was left with no other choice to relent and finally accept Izushima's offer.

The guild master hoped the fox would hold his damn tongue for this one quest. May the heavens have mercy if that mouth of his causes this sensitive time bomb of a situation to go off into disastrous results and instantly regretted it after seeing the masked figure float off with a snicker.

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How cumbersome to be turned down and made to wait so long after his insistence on accepting possibly the most interesting and amusing quest since joining the guild. While the others were whimpering and pissing their pants, he found this as a great opportunity; how could he possibly refuse a chance to not only take down the hot headed bird but to rub in the fact she was now a hated criminal. He always knew Kali was going to blow up and fuck herself over with the one regret that he wasn't there when it finally happened.

It annoyed him being rejected such a chance to bring down the woman well disliked by most and a most interesting human specimen to him. Though it was equally amusing seeing each guildmate that set out after her return injured and defeated having him simply wait and bide his time for when the guild master saw no other option but to give him the quest.

And now the white robed fox floated his way through the forest; hot on the phoenix's trail and in this case literally in thanks to his far more potent nose following her scent. As even among the guildmates hers was especially discernable and easy to pick up and months of memorizing each of their scents had him well familiarized with the smell of lilac and aloe. True that these two scents weren't uncommon in nature which might normally make discerning Kali's from the flowers in the surrounding woods but it was that hint of ash mixed in that helped him separate and pinpoint the direction she had been traveling. While at times the trail become very faint, forcing him to search around the general area at times until he was able to find a point he could pick up and continue on.

Only days after Izu set out before he found himself arriving at the town of Sakura, where it would of taken any other of the guild a good week or more just to find where she had fled to and by then would likely be long gone. She certainly might of had plenty of time to think and plan her next action, but the fiery woman found herself unlucky to have the best tracker now nipping at her heel.

The round metal disc slightly bigger than that of a garbage lid crackled with static which repelled against the ground, giving the appearance that the fox could fly though he would tell it was closer to levitating. As he could not go high up into the air as his static needed a physical base to repel against to keep him afloat and could go as high as a two story building; perfectly fitting height to let him touch down on the nearest resting on the outskirts of the small town as the haori robed figure lifted his shoeless feet from the disk and stepped towards the edge to peer off over the countless roofs of houses and businesses.

His long sleeved right hand lifted to rub the clawed index finger against the fox mask adorned over his face, the light scratch of wood having those fox like ears flicking atop his head. The wind had his white haori billow and lightly flap while using a bit of effort to keep those three long fluffy fox tails of his from swaying too much, not wanting them flapping about when inspecting the town before him.

" So this is where you chose to come nest for the time being? What about this town brought the birdy here, hm?" He pondered and mused aloud to himself, words slightly muffled due to the mask. Amused and intrigued on what Kali's thought process had been like these last couple weeks as he could imagine how stressed and wary she must be." If only that idiot guild master hadn't hold me back that this whole thing would of been settled long before it got this far. By now I already would of had her behind bars." He spoke in slightly annoyed and disappointed tone with a shake of his head, hands on his hips then gave a shrug of his shoulders moments later." Ah, but I suppose this makes for a more interesting hunt for me so perhaps I owe them thanks? Well, either way I will bring down the firebitch and this time, she won't be rising back up." A playful smug smirk crooked his hidden lips, confidant and excited to bring down the phoenix.

Holding out his right clawed hand forward to make a cherry picking motion in each possible direction, sniffing the air as he went." And...you...are....hah!" Letting his finger spring towards where her scent trail was strongest making both his ears and tail flick, showing his excitement." Here I come......try to make this fun!" He exclaimed his challenge while holding his left hand back and with a static crackle the disc shot to his hand, ready to set off towards Kali's hiding.

Three days in the same inn, and Kali finally figured out the next stop on her road trip to redemption. She was sure by now Master Kendell had sent someone else. It'd been almost a week since she'd seen the last chump he'd managed to convince to come after her. At least...she assumed Master Kendell had sent someone else. One last try to bring in someone marked dangerous. If not...well that was why she was taking precautions to not raise suspicion with where she stayed or how she conducted herself. The perfect background person to the city. She couldn't risk a rune knight catching wind of her whereabouts and getting overeager to impress a supervisor.

A tingle in the air told her she'd waited too long to move on. How, she wasn't entirely sure, but damned it all if she hadn't realized who the last pathetic hunter they'd have sent after her would be. "Shit. That stupid fox..." At least she didn't have a lot of things to gather. She only had herself and the backpack she kept packed for quick moving. It was only a matter of paying up the last of the money owed before taking off - which shouldn't have been as daunting a prospect as it was. It only meant paying everything she had left on her.

"Let's just hope I can cover some distance before that putz catches up to me." Backpack over her shoulder, she took off running. It would have been faster to fly, but that would have required a bit of flashy send off. So she put heat to her feet and ran instead. It wasn't flashy, but it certainly gave her more speed than just trying to run. She hadn't tried to outrun the fox and his disk, but she certainly was going to give it a try. The last thing any of them needed was a crispy fox sent home on his disk and the Rune Knights or dark mage hunters coming after her.

Now that he had the general direction she was in pinpointed, the fox gave his disc toss forward then leapt from the roof edge to land gracefully on the falling platform. Within seconds crackling static sparked to life stopping his descent towards the hard ground he might of crashed into had he been too slow then with a small pushing burst shot himself back into the air.

Choosing to fly at a casual pace at the moment. Taking this time to think about how to approach this for he knew not to go rushing in, not when Kali was the prey. It was obvious how the others were defeated so easily or badly; going in after the firebird without a plan and the fact she was on the run will make her dangerous doubly so. A woman with a fiery temper and less than friendly personality then add the fact she likely wasn't in the best mental state if she was willing to burn down a whole village which meant little reason for her to hold back.

It was clear he needed to smart on how to handle such a target while the biggest obstacle was getting her out of this town. Or at least he thought so until he noticed her scent was moving making him chuckle with a smirk beneath his mask. Had she simply stayed put, his actions would of been limited with the risk of getting the villagers involved or setting her off with but the panicked Kali was making this easier for him." Guess she has the bird brain to match that magic of hers." Snickering to himself as all he needed to do was keep on the pressure to get her to fly out of the village, where he can freely make his move. And so, unfolding his sleeved arms from his chest and crouched his body to one knee on the disc and leaned forward kicking off into third gear, levitating at twice the speed." Think this will do. Be a good birdy and fly out of this cumbersome village." He shifted and flew at a fast steady pace; one that kept him from catching up to her too much while preventing from letting her get too far ahead, seeing no need to catch her just yet.

It wasn't until she was a decent enough way outside of the town that Kali finally stopped running. That is to say, she finally decided it was safe enough to take flight. She hadn't looked behind her to verify, she just felt the static staying far enough back that she wasn't worried the tricky fox would catch up immediately. She had to be sure though - which meant taking flight now that she wouldn't be flashy enough to catch attention.

The air heated around her before flames licked around her body. At a thought, the flames appeared to spread wings and with the next step she took to the air to fly further east. Maybe a large port town would be better to hide in. If she could put enough distance between herself and that stupid fox she could maybe hide out somewhere no one would suspect to look for a fire mage.

It wasn't long before he left the outskirts of the town with the forest lying ahead, where he soon lost the small dot of Kali off in the distance ahead of him. He had no fear of losing the woman with her scent fresh in the air that she might as well be right in front of him as the fox shifted to lower himself a bit more towards the disc he was crouched on. With them no longer in the town; Izu could discern what the firebird's next plan of action would be and was making preparations to prevent her from flying off towards the sky and needed to do so before she got too high for his static to lift him up.

Taking a deep breath beneath the mask as he lifted his gaze to the tree lines." Better time than ever to see just how fast I can go." Pulling back on the disc to fly up to the top of the trees then kicked forward, where he started charging static nonstop into the disc to propel himself forward, his speed increasing by the second. Wind whipped viciously at his covered face; haori flapping wildly as his body shot his way towards Kali's direction while the crackling of static grew in size and volume that, if not for his clothes high resistance he would be receiving a painful zap himself.

His eyes squinted as Kali with her fiery wings came into view flying upwards as he surmised and sped rapidly towards her at such speeds he had to hold onto the disc. Nearly reaching the point he wouldn't be able to maintain his balance and be blown off; appearing above her suddenly followed by the thunderous sound of a sonic boom as he twisted his disc turning to have the round metal filled with an intense static charge." Your flight..has been cancelled! " He called out then slammed his palm onto the disc causing it to discharge a concentrated static pulse straight at the woman momentarily stunned at his appearance as if he teleported there as the blast struck her with an immense electrical discharge that it almost felt like being struck by a mini lightning bolt.

There was a moment she thought she had made it. That she could have lost the stupid fox in the clouds by going too high and too fast for him to follow. If she could make it to the clouds, she could go anywhere. However he found her so quickly, which she was fairly certain was due to the keen senses from his animal counterpart, hopefully wouldn't help him with her going into the upper winds. It would scatter her scent - the logical way he'd tracked her so quickly - wide enough it would be hard to pinpoint where it was truly coming from.

Fuck. How did he get in front of me? Kali only had the time to think that much before he shot a static shock at her. She was caught too off-guard to actually ignite hot enough to dissipate the static. Instead she took the full force of the hit square in her chest. The fire around her went out, and she forgot how to even breathe for a second.

Without the fire, and with momentary shock of the electricity to her system, the fire mage fell back toward the forest below. Body slamming into branches, only to shatter them and continue falling, she landed in a crumbled heap, once again shorted of breath from the impact. It would be a few moments of regaining her bearings on the fact her heart was beating, and struggling to remember how to breathe involuntarily. A few moments the Firebird was fully vulnerable.

How he wished the rest of the guild and those who had tried to bring in prior were here to witness him bring down the fiery phoenix in such an epic manner. One that he normally would revel in, but traveling at such speeds he wasn't used to on top of stopping himself so abruptly left him feeling nauseous and dizzy made worse by the unsteady wobbling of his disc. As without all that built up charge; being at such a height had it struggling with barely holding him up, threatening to drop beneath his weight. Taking a deep breath while gulping down the nausea, the masked fox crouched down against the disc to steadily lower himself towards the ground and once he was below the tree lines was able to regain his balance to lower himself easier.

Finally settling down on the ground a good few feet from the crumpled heap that is kali as he made sure to regain his composure before hopping off the disc." Whew..that was quite the chase you gave me there. And you were this close to getting up into those clouds." Pinching his right index and thumb clawed fingers till they were nearly touching to further state how she was inches from getting away as he casually strode his way over to her though kept himself ready to pull back at any sign of an attack.

" I know such a surprise attack is dirty and blah blah blah.." Mocking a mouth talking with his right hand followed with a shrug of the shoulder." But you can't blame me when I'm dealing with the hot headed flamebitch as we both know an actual fight would probably end with me charred like those other idiots." He spoke in a playful tone muffled by the mask then slipped his left hand into his right sleeve and from it pulled out a pair of stark silver cuffs which he spun around his finger." Them damn government and council and their rigid ways. I tried requesting for magic nullifying cuffs but of course they had to be their stubborn human selves and deny me. And I'm like..well that's great, you know who it is I have to bring in right?" Placing a hand on his chest as he leaned to the side, now standing over Kali.

He scoffed with a shake of the head as he gripped the cuff, ceasing its spinning." These magic dampening cuffs will have to do I suppose." Crouching down next to the woman still reeling from the intense shock with bits of static crackling over her clothes." Now, be a good birdy and keep that temper of yours under control won't you? For me, hm?" He asked in a mocked kind tone while giving her nose a small poke of his clawed finger then moved to turn her over and clasps her wrists together against her back with the cuffs.

Only a few words of the stupid fox's blathering got through as Kali figured out how to breath but she wasn't managing much without pain. She coughed trying to breath without a hitch to it. Flames licked close to her skin, giving her a soft glow almost, to ease the pain of her sides and limbs. Given time and the ability to move and do a proper assessment, the fire mage was sure she had broken bones needing mending. For now, the subtle flames would have to do.

"You're. Making. A. Mistake." Each word came out as a huff in it's own sentence. She couldn't catch her breath enough to say them in more than one place. Breathing sucked, but the fact she kept trying and failing to get her up beyond being on her elbows was worse. It meant she had to entirely rely on her magic and that wasn't going to come as reflexively as breathing right then.

She growled softly, grimacing despite herself as he forced her arms behind her back and wrists together. The fire went out the instant the cuffs clasped closed. Pain screamed louder in her body - deciphering which location hurt most was a task in and of itself so she didn't bother. She just glared more at the fox gloating over her.

"If -" She stopped and sucked in a deep enough breath to stop struggling with her speech. "If you take me back now, you'll be playing right into their hand." She drew in another deep breath, and released it slow. Everything still hurt, but she repeated the process again anyways. Fuck it. Now or never.

On the exhale this time, she spun herself around quickly to kick at Izu's feet and hopefully knock him down. If she managed, she planned to kick him hard in the chest. It would hurt her too, but if she could stun the bastard, she could get away to recover enough to break out of these stupid magic dampening cuffs.

He could hear the ragged difficulty of her breathing caused by the powerful static jolt. It thankfully left this woman considered highly difficult to bring down badly stunned and long enough for him to clasp on the cuffs. And did he feel bad at all for the dirty sneak attack that brought the bird down? Not at all. As this way let him avoid an annoying drawn out chase and fight.

Ears perking upon her finally speaking in pained huffs resulting in a shake of the head." Oh, is that so? Then by all means let me get you out of these cuffs and a pat on the back with an apology. And I bet you'd like some refreshing water before I send the birdy on her way? " He spoke in a mock sincere tone then started snickering, when his ears flicked; catching how her heartbeat was beating erratically.

A worrisome sound which he knew needed to be fixed as he was pretty sure the job was to bring Kali back alive. Plus, having to drag a corpse all the way back certainly wouldn't be fun be kind to his nose." Yes yes. Playing right into the hands of your imaginary enemies. Now shut up and stay st-" His fox like senses allowed him to notice her spinning and started to step back to avoid having his foot slipped out beneath him but was still reeling from a bit of dizzyness though moved enough to keep from being knocked down and instead tripping back. Trying to regain his balance when receiving a kick to his chest having the fox stumble back, barely keeping on his feet before hitting against the tree behind him with a small pained grunt. It was the fox's turn to let out a heaving grunt, the air briefly kicked from his lungs.

Kali forced herself to roll backward. A pain filled grunt escaped her as she balled her knees tight to her chest to maneuver her arms under her legs. By the time she was crouched again, she had her arms in front of her again. Breathing hurt, her chest felt fuzzy and tingly, and her vision kept blurring. The Firebird wasn't going to let that stop her. It wasn't the first time she'd ignored her body telling her it was time to just sit and relax. If she could push through this before, she could push through it again.

A coughing spasm caught her off guard, though, and she braced her hands on thighs to help keep her balance as she coughed. The woman spit a large glob of blood to the side when she'd gotten control of it. Leveling her gaze on the fox, her eyes flickered with flames that weren't manifesting on her skin. "They aren't imaginary, stupid mutt!" She swallowed another coughing fit, clearing her throat instead and spitting another glob of blood to the side.

Kali swallowed again as she felt her chest wanting to spasm again. It certainly wasn't helping any of the pain or itching. It didn't take a genius to know running wasn't going to help. As much as she wanted to take flight of the stupid fox and his damned will to complete this mission of his, how far could she really get? With the dampeners keeping her from taking flight to get far enough away to heal, and her hands bound to make it even more difficult than just fighting injured...Dammit

"Fine. Fuck." She coughed again. The tingling ache in her chest finally brought her to a knee again with a fierce grimace on her face. She resisted the urge to rub her chest, least she really give it away. Once the spasms passed, the girl sat with a soft exhale to ease the pain. She hung her head. "If you take me in, the dark guild I was trying to take out will just occupy another village." Kali looked at Izu. "Shadow Fang - they abduct mages and mess with their minds to indoctrinate them to work for the benefits of the guild. When they've gotten what they can out of a village, they abandon it and move on - leaving nothing but a ghost town behind. The council hasn't been able to pinpoint anything on them beyond a few petty things - they're below their radar for the most part because they pin major stuff on other dark guilds.

"So if you take me in now, they'll move on, repopulate their numbers, and continue. I'll keep fighting you and I will eventually get out of these cuffs." She swallowed past another desire to cough, but the spasm still hurt. Drawing in a breath to breath past the pain, she leveled her gaze with the fox again. "Or, you can help me stop them, and I'll let you bring me in after we're done." Now, it was just a matter of waiting to see what the fox would do.

The fox pushed back against the tree he had crashed again and momentarily leaned against it to get air back into his lungs. He grumpled slightly while rubbing at his chest though wasn't too bothered from getting kicked considering Kali was in a far worse and more painful state. Lifting his head; mask slightly askew that a quick nudge of his hand fixing it back into place, where he saw the detestable woman's failed attempt to get up and flee. Seeing the woman so feared by the guild in such a sorry state with the knowledge that he hurt her to such a degree lifted his souring mood in seconds.

A few pats dusting off his haori before pushing off the tree to once again casually stroll over to Kali now forced to rest on her knees due to the injuries being worse than expected. Then his ears perked catching the words she coughed out about not being imaginary making Izu stop in his tracks with a curious tilt of the head. It was clear she was struggling whether to say something while reeling from the pain and coughing up bits of blood and decided to let her speak out of curiosity though mostly out of amusement as he had an idea of what was about to come.

Izu stood there, listening quietly to Kali talk about this dark guild, Shadow Fang and how they had been working in secret with abducting and forcefully indoctrinating them into their guild. He folded his sleeved arms across his chest as if in deep thought, the masked face making it impossible for the woman to tell what he was thinking regarding her explanation over this guild and how they used entire villages as a base to drain resources and other use." So, let me get this straight. This village you destroyed was actually controlled by this Shadow Fang guild and apparently working up to some major stuff?" Lifting his right hand to lightly scratch a clawed finger against the chin part of his mask like one would do when pondering.

" Looks like this is much more serious than we thought. All of this over a stupid misunderstanding...let me get you of those then we'll try to figure thi- " He had started reaching into his right sleeve while speaking but couldn't help himself anymore as he found himself snickering in the middle of trying to be serious then broke out into laughter." Pffft! Hahahahaha! Oh wow! You really spent your time on the one well to work out this crazy kind of story." Speaking through his continued muffled laughter while hugging at his stomach; greatly amused by the ridiculous story she concocted." Can't deny how impressive this story of yours is. That dark guild forcing villagers into becoming members was a nice touch so let me applaud you." The gasping fox reeled back to stand up to give a slow sarcastic slap and on the third clap she would feel the tingling of static faintly crackling off the cuffs.

Without warning, his right hand moved as if gripping an invisible rope and pulled it back. In doing so she felt a strong pull on the metal cuffs causing her body to get pulled along onto her side and dragged the short distance towards him before skidding to a stop with her shoulder hitting against his raised foot. The masked Izu leaned forward till he was looking down at her." Come on, Kali! You do realize how downright ridiculous all of that sounds? Some dark guild going around taking over villages and you just so happened to find one? Which you burnt down?" He scoffed with a nudging shove of his foot to push the woman onto her back." Three things regarding that story." Holding up three fingers to add to his statement." One- Any chance of proof gone the moment you burned down the town, two-you fled and went on the run taking away any credibility of anything you say and three- this is hardly the first time you burned something down out of anger." Lowering each finger as he explained his points, his foot pressing down on her shoulder to keep her from trying to move." After stating these facts, so then. Why on earth would I or anyone possibly believe anything that comes out of your mouth?" His tone a mix of mocking and disbelief as he couldn't help but chuckle again.

Nearly losing himself in another laughing fit and had to wave his hand as he took a deep breath." Good to see that this hot headed birdbrain isn't all anger in that head." Letting out an amused scoff before lowering himself down." Now, to deal with this annoying breathing before it becomes a problem." Reaching his right hand down which crackled with static which he placed against her chest above her heart and gave a quick pump sending a precise shock fixing the erratic beating of her heart much like a defibrillator." There we are. All that broken breathing of yours was starting to get annoying which would of been handled had you not attacked me." Annoyance in his voice as he listened to her heartbeat to make sure it was beating properly once more.

Kali clenched her jaw tight when she saw the motion. She knew what was coming even before the dumb fox pulled her to him. It still hurt like a sonovabitch, but at least she was already scowling. No one would be able to tell the pain of it from the anger. Anger was a great thing to hold onto, especially for right now, dealing with cuffs that she'd need to harness all the magical energy she had to overcome if she wanted to get out of them. Which meant not trying to until she could afford the energy. Of course, that might not work, but she had to be patient to bide her time until she could properly try. Trying to run while she was injured as she was would do her no good; it was the entire reason she stayed put, and now had a foot helping pin her down.

Patronizing bastard, the fire mage thought with a huff. Of course he wouldn't have believed her. Of course he would think she was just making it up. Because he was entirely too right with the reasons he listed. She had no proof - though that was true even before the town was in ashes - and she ran. And, unfortunately, yes...she had burned something down out of anger before. But that was years ago. It was something that got her a reputation for new members of the guild, but also something that got her a reputation to make some jobs easier.

She couldn't fight back the grunt of the shock helping force her heart to beat normal. Not that it would do anything for the rib impacting her lung, but whatever. She had bigger things to worry about. Like getting out of these cuffs, and...or...hurting him enough she could get enough distance to get out of them herself and heal.

Grabbing his hand, she quickly yanked him off balance to get his arm in a lock using her full body. "Yeah, well, it's not like fixing a heart arrhythmia is going to fix a punctured rib. Now, let me out of these cuffs, or I will snap your arm." She growled the demand, and put more pressure on the joints to try to help sell her threat.

Having confirmed that Kali's heart was beating properly again and tried to inspect the woman to make sure there were no other major injuries. Only to have his arm grabbed; finding himself pulled off-balanced into an armlock as the sudden harsh tug caused a jolt of pain in the shoulder making him let out a wincing grunt." Hngh, so this is how you give thanks for fixing up that heart of yours? Good to know." He spoke through slightly gritted teeth as his ears flicked at her mentioning a rub pressing against her lung followed by a threat which had the fox let out a brief airy laugh.

He gave his arm a testing twist and pull but her grip was too firm and with the weight of her body proved quite difficult for him to break free and he certainly didn't have the muscles to lift and slam her down." Oh you want them cuffs off? I'll get right on that!" His tone sarcastic as he did a mock patting of his haori to further state his sarcasm." A real grateful one we have here. Its a wonder why no one at the guild likes you." Shaking his head with a sigh followed by another small wince.

Finding the position uncomfortable and hurting his hips which was slightly twisted and shifted onto one knee then moved his free hand to grip the constrained arm." So, let's see. If I don't set you free you will break my arm? That would be quite painful for sure though probably not as bad as a strong shock...and would be very unfortunate if the seizing cause that punctured rib pierced the lung." Tilting his head in thinking manner." And considering the speed we were traveling we are probably a good few hours from the town and I'm certainly no medic." Lifting his head to point his masked face towards her, a look of intrigued curiosity beneath." But, sure go ahead and break the arm if you like and see how long you last with blood pooling into your lung." He let out a cheeky click of the tongue; waiting to see what Kali would do after truly considering the situation as while a broken arm would take months to heal, he doubted she would get far in such a state and the cuffs cutting off her magic. The fox then gave off a few warning crackles of static testing her to try it.

Kali listened as the fox said his peace. She certainly had thought of all that, and he was absolutely right. If she didn't get access to her magic - and a fire - soon after getting the cuffs off, it wouldn't matter. It would certainly matter if she got shocked and couldn't get herself to a fire and overcome the magic of the cuffs. So it was a stalemate. He could shock her without any blowback if she snapped his arm, but if that shock caused another arrhythmia and she couldn't make any headway with the cuffs....they were both more than a bit screwed.

A deep grumbling growl reverberated in the woman's chest. She tensed, tightening her grip and even putting a bit more pressure on the joint as a threat, but ultimately released his arm with a shove. It was more the point of making sure he knew she could break it than breaking it and seeing what might happen. One of them had to relent, and she wasn't in any position to remain the aggressor. Not at the moment. He could win this one battle. She'd win the next.

"Fine." She rolled away, ending in a crouch. Taking a moment to catch her breath, and adjust to waning pain in her chest, she simply glared at him for another few beats. "Alright. A bargain then, a wager if you will." Standing, she looked to the sky. "It's getting dark, sun is setting. Not a great area to be traveling at night. Especially for a slimy fox and an injured mage with magic restrictors on. So camping out here is going to be, unfortunately, our best bet. Unless you think you can deal with the Vulcan, the green wyvern, and the bandits that are in these woods. Vulcan might still be a problem at night - how are you at countering their takeover magic?"

The fire mage looked at Izu. "So, like I said, a wager. I will wager my cooperation against you removing these cuffs for the single night. I heal up over the night, help defend if we get attacked, and you can put the cuffs on if I can't convince you over the course of the evening to not do the completely batshit awful move of taking me back for this bullshit. I won't fight. I won't struggle."

The fox remained still within Kali's grip to avoid hurting his arm currently caught in the woman's straining grip. He could feel the pressure and tension in his arm rising with each passing second; uncertain of what the vile female would do though made sure to let her know he would make promise of his word by having tiny tinge of static crackling faintly along the trapped arm. Then he felt the increased pressure causing his body to tense up in preparation of the coming pain, his face wincing beneath the mask.

Each second ticked away like a bomb waiting to blow as Izu anticipated the intense pain soon to follow. Instead finding his arm released and shoved away, where he nearly stumbled onto the ground but caught his balance with a low grunt and stood up with a sigh." Good to see that birdbrain of yours understands the situation." His tone slightly condescending as he rolled his arm a few times finding that it was going to be sore for the night.

Much like Kali did, he was taking this chance to work on easing the the soreness of his shoulder even if just a little with some rubbing and stretching. He was flexing his clawed fingers; testing the feeling in his arm when Kali spoke up with an offer of a bargain. Hearing her proposition had him looking up at the sky to see that it was indeed about to become dark followed with an amusing talk of dangerous beasties in an attempt to sway the fox to accept her deal. Placing his hands on his hips with a tilt of the head, where he let out a low hum as if pondering over her suggestion." Hm, you got a good point there, birdy. Would be very tiresome dealing with them lurking nasties while dragging this deadweight." Motioning towards her with his thumb before shaking his head and glided over to the crouched woman.

A hand extended towards her seeming to reach for the cuffs only to find its way grabbing hold of her hair followed by a harsh pull forcing her to look up at his masked face." You must..one second." Stopping himself short with a muffled huff as he used his free hand to pull the mask off to reveal his pale face covered in beads of sweat with those bright yellow eyes faintly glowing in the growing darkness." This thing can get really stuffy for long wears.." He let out another small huff of annoyance while wiping off his face against the sleeve of his haori before tossing the mask aside on the ground for now." Now where was I? Oh yes, you were taking me for a fool." The hand keeping a grip on her hair pulled until she was forced to stand back up as the now freed hand wrapped around her slender neck with the tips of his clawed fingers resting against her smooth cheeks as the hold of her hair released." Your determination to get the cuffs off is impressive but there is one thing you keep forgetting." He leaned in closer till she could feel the heat of his breath." You're the captured criminal here!" He exclaimed, nearly spitting out the words as his other hand grabbed her arm and gave a small shake to have the cuffs clink against her bound wrists." You're the one cuffed and injured here and its my job to bring you back. And depending on how you cooperate will depend on whether you make it there alive or in good shape."

A small playful smirk curling his lips after reminding the troublesome hothead who held all the cards here. A faint roar coming from some unseen distance of the forest then reminded the fox of what she said about the beasts lurking within." Though you are correct about the creatures though of course, I can always choose to just abandon you to them and take this as a failed job. Simply have to tell the guild we got ambushed and overwhelmed." His clawed index finger gently tapped against her cheek as he told of having no qualms leaving her to the beasts as it would be no skin off his nose to let this job become a failure. A click of his teeth as he lightly dug his claws in, leaving scratches along her cheeks." I'm sure you don't want it to get to that so be a good girl and sit down and keep this horrid mouth of yours shut." Giving her cheek a small pat then returned the favor by shoving her down onto the ground." Long as we get along and don't make a fuss we will be left alone. And I'll be a nice guy and let you gather what magic you can to heal them ribs while I get a fire going. Make any attempt to get the cuffs off, however.." Wagging his finger in a no manner while letting static spark off the tip of the finger, a coy smile on the fox's face. With the hope that Kali understood, Izu moved to gather up wood, enough to make and keep a fire going for the night.

The scowl on her face cut deeper lines, but she made pains to not actually wince. Even if her hands weren't bound together, Kali had no intentions of reaching toward the hand holding her hair and forcing her to look at him. That might just give him some level of satisfaction that he did, unfortunately, have control over the situation. She wasn't happy to have given up a single ounce of control, but this whole thing was one unexpected complication after another; it had been ever since the fucking village and her initial plan going sideways. It left her at his mercy - or lack there of, given the prick seemed to be enjoying this. That mercy brought her back to her feet with the pull of her hair and his hand pressed against her throat.

It took every micron of will she had to not turn away and flinch as he spat his words in her face. If it wasn't for her bracing her feet and his grip on her face, she'd have lost her balance as he roughly handled her restraints. He could smirk and smile and be confident all he wanted. He could think he held all the cards, but the only reason he had any winning hand here was the shackles on her wrists. The slimy fox may have been annoying, but he had been smart enough to take away her main advantage. They could go toe to toe until they were exhausted in a physical battle, but he wouldn't stand any more chance than the other chores that came after her if it wasn't for these. He may have been beaming with confidence, but even he had to understand his upper hand was only for so long. She would recover her fire, and she would get out of these cuffs. It was only a matter of time.

It was all long shots. The best she could hope for is summoning up enough strength to just break free of the cuffs and get away from him while he wasn't looking. The odds he'd let his guard down enough for her to strike a second time was dismal. At least he was suggesting she recover some magic to heal. That was about all she could do at that moment. Sit there, bide her time, wait for the inevitable.

At least her claims weren't all bluff. Something deeper in the forest's growing darkness roared to confirm her claim. A tiny smirk curled onto her face, barely an upturn of one corner of her lips, when he threatened to leave her to the mercy of the beasts awakening to hunt. It was amusing he thought some common Vulcan or wyvern would get the best of her. Maybe he would be lucky, but she liked her odds - even if he left her bound. Her smirk only grew as he dug his nails in to claw her cheek. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of making her wince just because he wanted to be a sadistic prick. "If you like going back as a failure - no scrapes to show for any effort to capture me - then by all means just leave me here to get eaten. I'm easy prey, right now, right?"

Kali bit it back, but a wince and grunt accompanied her hard landing on her ass when he shoved her. Served her right for being cocky, but whatever. She'd heal up eventually. She always did. Especially if the dumb fox was outright telling her to and offering to make a fire. The fire would certainly help her recover. Hopefully he knew how to make one. Whether it signaled to the more dangerous beasts and bandits in the forest to their location, or just staved them off would yet to be seen. She sighed, resting her back against a nearby tree to help support her upright. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back against the tree.

While it may have looked like the Firebird was letting her guard down, it was far from the truth. She simply shut off one sense to help focus on the others. The feel of the air around the area - reaching to sense any approaching magics that might come with Vulcan, Wyvern, or mages - was fine, for now. She didn't hear anything approaching - yet. Just the noisy way he gathered sticks. As pained as she was to admit it - and she certainly wouldn't do it aloud - he had the better hearing and was, currently, better equipped to handle any threats that came their way. She was determined to put up a fight, but for now. Fucking prick. Izu was right. She needed to just sit and rest to not hurt herself further. Play nice...as hard as it was for her. She'd rather sit in silence, anyways. The prick could do enough talking for the two of them for several lifetimes if he wanted to. She was more content on her own, and as loath as she may be to give him the satisfaction of getting his way, she'd rather not bother wasting any more breath trying to convince him she was being set up.

---

The gathering of wood was of course boring though the fox took this time to think and work out a plan of action. For he knew that Kali would be nothing but resistant troublesome and constantly seeking for a chance to escape. And considering they were quite a long way from the guild meant for a rather long trip with him having to deal with such a cumbersome and hotheaded criminal with plenty of opportunities to break free.

He could tell that this trip would be immensely exhausting and time consuming with having to keep a near constant eye on the phoenix as those cuffs can only do so much. It was his job to keep her from gathering the necessary magic to enable overpowering the magic nullifying effect.

A journey certain to be filled with nothing but headaches, frustration and boredom as any such adventures always from his experiences working with the woman. Izu has worked on jobs with her a number of times and each of them proved unpleasant; if not for the fact she was easy to mess with to stave off her bothersome personality. A shame too as in some cases she could be considered a beauty and had it not been for her temperament and foul-mouthed tendencies she might have been more popular. Not that any of it mattered at this point as she was nothing more than a criminal now and this fox found himself lucky to be the one to enjoy bringing her in and get her just desserts but the unlucky one to have to put up with her violent antics.

The question to ask himself now was what to do to help pass the time and make the journey. Seeing that he was going to be stuck with her for weeks and after hearing her remark knew he needed some way to both keep himself sane and keep her from being too annoying.

Having gathered enough wood and sticks that had been piled up near the center of the clearing, the fox crouched down to pile up dry leaves and sticks. Relieved for the fact Kali hasn't been talking too much, likely busy trying to heal the damages he inflicted on her (a thought that made him grin) and once the makeshift fireplace was set up, he gave a snap of his fingers to start of spark of fire. A few gentle blows had a budding fire crackling to life.

Now that he dispensed with the task of getting a fire going, Izu turned his attention to Kali while dusting off his sleeves and hands. How nice to see her so quiet with that slight pained expression etching her features. After seeing the static spark from his clawed fingertip did an idea begin to form; a way to have a bit of fun and prevent the woman from being able to concentrate too much magic.

Pushing to stand up once more then strode over to the woman, his footsteps nary making a sound. Silently moving to crouch in front of her where he rested his chin against his palms propped up by the elbows resting on his knees with an amused, playful smile." Really concentrating there aren't you? Your determination to not be easy prey is commendable though as fun as it would be to watch you struggle and get tossed around by some beasties. Torturing and toying with you throughout the journey are far more enticing." Speaking in a cloying tone with a teasing chuckle as he extended his right hand forward to gently placed the clawed index finger beneath her chin giving it a light nudge to lift her face up until she was looking at him.

" I might as well get some entertainment for having to endure hauling this troublesome birdy. And to start, I will have you cease with what you're doing." His finger trailed down from her chin letting her feel the claw gently scrape alone the soft, pale skin leaving a light scratch until his fingers wrapped around her slender neck. His grip pressed down with pressure not enough to make it hard to breathe, but enough to feel those sharp digits squeezing." So, here is how this will go. Anytime I catch you attempting to gather magic.." Trailing off as she would soon feel herself receiving a sharp and quick burst of static shock." I will do that and each time you disobey I will up the amp. Fun isn't it?" He asked with a raised brow, the question clearly rhetorical.