Akito frowned and slammed his fist on the table. The cups shifted from the shockwave and slid slightly toward the edge. His smoldering amber eyes bore into blue ones that were contrite with amusement, accompanied with a bemused expression. The male set his lips into a firm line and clenched his jaw, his fingers constricting the glass that was halfway to his lips. His glare remained firm on the young woman seated in front of him, neither of them wavering their position.
"Are you deaf woman? This area right here is reserved for my crew and I, no outsiders allowed. So I'm gonna need you to vacate this spot little missy. Before things get ugly." Akito snarled. He pointed one finger in between her eyes and watched her, his lips pulled back into a fierce line. The girl unfolded her arms and blinked; leaning forward, she dipped her head under the rickety table and then craned her neck to look at the back of the chair she was in.
"You and your crew huh? Funny, don't really see your name on here anywhere."Akito threw his cup on the table and growled,
"Don't get cheeky with me you little seal otter, just give up the seat and you won't get hurt!"She narrowed her eyes,
"I'd watch that mouth of yours if I were you. Kaira doesn't take to loud noises and buffoons calling me out of my name." She leaned back casually and crossed one leg over the other. Her vibrant eyes were trained on Akito and narrowed to slits when he burst in a fit of laughter.
Literally guffawing.
"I'm not scared of your little Kaira friend, who's he your wussy tailed boyfriend or something?""Nope," She snorted, not sparing him a glance,
"My Beast." Nakkoa picked up the glass she'd discarded for the night and idly traced the rim with a slender finger. Grabbing a grilled that laid untouched on her plate, she dropped it on the floor to her left. It plummeted unceremoniously to the ground in the dank darkness. The young man followed her movements and leaned over to see where the fish had gone....
Only to find himself lost in a pair of piercing ruby eyes.
He jumped and backpedaled a few steps,
"Is that a wolf-lion?!""Indeed he is," Nakkoa supplied,
"And a temperamental one at that. He gets upset easily you know, especially when he's hungry. Come to think of it, it's around this time I usually feed him......"Her eyes snapped over to the dumbstruck oaf and she studied him, the next sentence hanging thickly in the tense, foggy air. Akito visibly sweatdropped and inched away from that side of the table, noting that he was only a foot away from the massive beast. Nakkoa watched him scoot until he was standing opposite her, lips twitching in a tiny smirk.
"Tell you what? Let's be a good sport about this and do it the old fashioned way. We'll arm wrestle."Akito's eyes twinkled and he opened his mouth to laugh at her. However upon sight of the unworldly beast watching him he thought better of it. The young man took the empty seat across from her and propped his elbow up on the table; Nakkoa did the same. The two of them locked fists and an invisibly spark darted between their intense gaze.
"I might as well tell you right now, I won't go easy on you because you're a girl."The only response was an indecipherable smirk,
"Then don't."OOooOOooOO
"And the winner is....THE WOLF FANG OF THE WATER TRIBES!"
The crowded bar of the Shadow Dragon erupted in a mixture of praise, boos, and hoorahs. The bartender snatched the waterbender by the hand and lifted her arm up victoriously for the fifteenth time that night, while her free arm collected the pile of coins and yuan on the table. Nakkoa kicked back in her seat and raised her glass to the crowd before tilting her head back and taking a rock shot. She let out a congratulatory
whoop! before winking at the line of disgruntled losers.
"Oh come on guys, I won fair and square!" She chimed and handed the pouch to Kaira, who dutifully wore it around his massive maned neck. Once she gave another round of drinks to the entire bar on her tab, and after celebrating for the fifth time, she stood up and helped the waitress clear the table. Kaira hopped onto his paws and trotted after his master as they weaved through the darkness of the Shadow Bar.
"Whadd'ya think Kai? Should I just leave the armed forces and become a street fighter? Think I could do it?" The wolf-lion merely grumbled in response and gave her the equivalent of an eyeroll.
Nakkoa clicked her tongue and gave her beast a withering glare,
"Aw shutup, nobody asked you anyway." The two of them stalked past another table and headed for one of the many doors of the establishment. Kaira continued to trot behind her with the pouch jingling against his deep barrel chest. The wolf-lion stopped to lick one of his paws when he heard a crash.
Instantly his ears perked up and he darted toward his master who, was currently lying on the ground and dripping wet with what he guess was either water, or fire whiskey, or both. He bound up to Nakkoa's side and watched the idiot who'd made her fall warily, his lips pulled back and emitting a deep guttural growl.
"Easy Kaira!" Nakkoa commanded sharply; the waterbender did a three-quarter turn and faced the stranger, nodding curtly as a form of an apology.
"So, you were in a hurry too or you just fancy knocking people down as good sport?"
