On a Clear Day You Can Fight Forever

[Coffee]

The edge of the boy's sword caught Coffee's vest as the rabbit turned tail to ran back toward the meadow. The blade made a disheartening thud. He did not stick around to find out what else the boy had in mind or what Liv, undoubtedly around somewhere, had planned for him. He ran back to the meadow, not pausing to react to the blow or to the squirrels who were almost falling out of the trees laughing. At least their laughter made them stop throwing things. And that awful music had stopped too. He kept going. Luring the boy at this moment was not appearing as the best plan. Or at least it might not appear so to the untrained eye. Coffee was running hard to get to the meadow. A few minutes later he could see its entrance. He turned around and bared his sword, looking into the boy's eyes. He then picked up his ears with just the right hint of panic and fled faster, loudly, and haphazardly toward the meadow as if he were just heading towards any safe harbor without any thought as to what it might be.

He deftly avoided the first mine which exploded in the boy's face moments later sending up plumes of smoke. He then set off the second, and zig zagged through the field setting off a couple more. With the black smoke billowing all around and shrouding the boy so completely that Coffee could not see him, the sun in the sky, or anything else, he used his keen senses of smell and hearing to locate him. He aimed for what should be the boy's chest from the sound of his breathing and struck out with the sword, before sliding down on one knee and striking out with his dagger, and then flipping backwards to his feet and jumping into one of the pick up truck's mirrors. He popped out a moment later behind the boy's position, as he had dropped several mirrors in the grass while waiting in the meadow earlier, and struck at a shape in the darkness he thought was the boy's back before retreating through the same mirror and emerging in the duck blind at the other end of the forest.

[Rhetoric]

Liv held back, rope still clutched in her hand. Coffee was scary fast and there was no way she was going to get her lasso on him. She kind of figured, but still... a kernel of disappointment bloomed in her chest as Coffee took off full tilt toward the meadow, her partner in pursuit. "Wait, stop!"

He really was an idiot. Why would he chase after Coffee like that? The rabbit clearly knew the course better than them, and Liv was fairly certain that The Idiot was just underestimating the ninja bunny... again. He's doing this to me on purpose, I swear it, she grumbled, dropping out of the tree and barreling after the two combatants. "Don't chase him, dammit!" Ugh, why hadn't he given her a name?

She had only just left the tree line when the first smoke bomb went off. The birds let out furious, terrified trills before heading for the safety of the trees. Coffee was bouncing all over the place, setting off more smoke bombs and disappearing into the haze. Liv didn't stop to think. She just dove into the mess with a snarl that would have made Lo proud. Coffee was flipping out, his form a mere disturbance in the smoke as he attacked. The Idiot was going to end up loosing all of his points then and there. “Stay down!" Liv tackled The Idiot into the tall grass doing her best to flatten him. She felt a pretty solid hit in the back and groaned. She was down one. And it was all his fault. "Get your ass up!" Liv hissed in the boy’s ear, rolling off him. She immediately went on the defensive spinning the limp end of her lariat in her fist, a sure way to crack any sneaky bunnies in the face if they tried to tag either of them while The Idiot was getting back up. Back to back, she and The Idiot stood in the smoke.

"Wouldn't it be super fun if you listened? Did he get you?" she demanded, keeping the end of her rope whipping through the air in tight circles. Liv coughed, her eyes stinging from the smoke. Her birds were useless, her squirrels were a disorganized wreck, and she was down a point. All of that could have been avoided if he hadn’t fallen for the oldest trick in the book. “You never follow a ‘hurt’ or ‘scared’ animal, you Idiot. They’re always faking. Always.” What the hell was she supposed to do with him?

"If we get out of this I've got one last idea, but you had better listen!" Liv paused, her eyes narrowing. She couldn't hear anything, save her own thudding heart. Was Coffee... gone? He had them totally at his mercy and he'd left them? "Dude." Liv kept her back close to The Idiot, counting on him to keep his eyes peeled. "I think he's gone."

[-RAM-]

"You could've said that before." Jax mock-whined, screwing up his face at Liv. "And no, he missed this one. I dodged." He smirked, before feeling the tense atmosphere and getting just a little sucked into it, which just made it all the more fun- all this tension, it just made things exciting for Jax. He listened around for a moment, stepping around so he was back to back with Liv. "I think I agree with you on that one... but this one's a trickster... he could be anywhere." Jax admitted grudgingly.

He didn't like the idea of a bunny outsmarting the two of them, or tricking them. That was just... damn. "Come on, let's head back to the beach." Jax whispered, looking around for any sign of the bunny, but failing to see him even if he was there. "I don't wanna go fighting in the blind- we're gonna loose big time 'round there. Especially since none of us know this place." Jax nudged Liv, making a start towards the beach. "And you can tell me your masterplan on the way. C'mon."

[Rhetoric]

~JUST INSIDE THE TREELINE~

It had taken Liv a few minutes to settle the flock but once she'd explained that Coffee was responsible for the smoke bombs and scaring the feathers off them, they were more eager than ever to help Liv and the big two-legger. The squirrels and birds were already on the hunt for the rabbit and under strict orders to keep up the harassment. The Idiot had agreed to her plan... a bit too eagerly, to be honest. Coffee wouldn't know what hit him.

Not that Liv was thinking about Coffee at the moment. She was too busy trying to keep the steam from coming out of her ears.

"Call me Doolittle again," Liv trudge through the trees barefoot. Her shoes had been sacrificed up to Plan B. She had hoped things wouldn't go that way but so far Plan A was looking a bit thin and unsteady. Especially since it depended so heavily on The Idiot and all he was good at was bugging the hell out of her. "My name is Liv, Idiot. Liv. L-I-V. Three little letters. So reach into that shriveled mass of cells you call a brain and try to dredge up some sort of mental stimulation. Because the next time you call me Doolittle I'm going to mess up that pretty little face of yours!" Liv wasn't even bothering to keep her voice down, her anger making her sloppy. Furiously, she reached up and flicked him right in the nose, utterly fed up with his attitude. Yeah, she was a pain in the ass, too, but she didn't treat people like dirt unless they gave her just cause. This guy was just a tool, smug and arrogant, and for what? Nothing she had seen so far had been that impressive.

Cuil whistled down from the air. Got the Coffee, the bird told her from above. The tree-rats are doing as ye asked. Liv's only acknowledgement was an slight narrowing of her eyes. "We understand each other?" She prodded The Idiot in the chest with one of her drumsticks. The glint in her eyes was unmistakable. Someone was about to get throttled, be it the ninja bunny from hell... or the pretty boy with the severe personality malfunction.

[Coffee]

Coffee sat in the duck blind and fumed. He had missed the boy completely and Liv had come out of nowhere and pushed him away before he could recover and do more damage. He'd hit someone, either Liv or the boy, in the back but could not tell which one. He had also been hit himself. Silly, he thought. The smoke grenades wasted on a one for one exchange. He had gotten rusty. But then his face brightened. This was exactly why he wanted to train with people. To get over his rust. That they were a challenge was making him better. It was also fun! There was no need to be embarrassed. He just needed to avoid more mistakes.

And to listen and smell. His nose picked up the boy's scent. He also picked up Liv now, although he could still pick her up from other points as well, which was confusing. He strained his ears and could hear her talking to the boy. She was spelling her name out to him and sounding quite annoyed. Now was the moment. While the two were distracted the rabbit would strike. Peeking out of the blind he could see some movement near the treeline. Good, good he thought happily, she was right near one of his hidden mirrors. In one fluid movement he jumped up into the rafter beam of the duck blind, out of sight of anyone, including pesky birds and squirrels, and popped through the mirror there. He then popped out of a mirror in a tree a few paces behind Liv, and far up in the canopy.

Thankfully there were no birds or squirrels here either. They had to be off looking for him. Coffee smiled. He then quietly leaped from branch to branch with the skill of a gymnast until he was behind Liv and the boy. He paused for a moment to survey the area. He had a mirror hidden in a hole not far away. Good. He jumped down effortlessly and with his sword in one hand and his dagger in the other jabbed at each students back. Then he did a couple of backflips and twirled into his hole. Going through the mirror in the hole he was back in the duck blind in a flash.

[Rhetoric]

Liv's eyes widened and she dropped like a rock, rolling back to her feet in a neat little tuck. Coffee was already bounding back toward a little burrow and Liv launched herself forward, whipping out with her drumstick. She had no idea if landed or not, but she was elbow deep in a hole, dirt smudged all over her face.

"What the hell?" Something smooth and cool was pressed against her hand and she pulled her hand out of the hole, sticking her drumstick in her vest. "Yo, Jerk... There's something in here." She withdrew a shiny bit of mirror, small and unobtrusive. There was nothing else in there. Just a mirror... "Huh. What do ya reckon?"

[-RAM-]

"I reckon it's a mirror Doo Little." Jax mocked, rubbing his back where the bunny'd tagged him. "Genius." Jax rolled his eyes, counting up the score to do with him v/s bunny. Jax'd so far tagged the bunny what... once? And he'd tagged Jax like... twice. So that made it what, 2-1 to the bunny? Man that pissed Jax off. Too bad Doo Little's gonna have to get the heat for it.

"Get original Doo Little! Jerk and Idiot are gettin' freakin' OLD." he yelled back at her for the whole load of sh*t shouting she'd thrown at him earlier. His voice was exaggeratedly loud, and he was over-reacting. "And quit throwing those lame threats at me, it's not like you're actually gonna do anything." Jax was still yelling, making sure anyone around him could hear the echo of his voice, if not his exact words. "I mean the most you've done so far is have some birds throw their crap at my head?" He scoffed, "Really, that hurt soo bad. Oooo." Sacasm was leaking from his last few words as he rolled his eyes, catching her eye for a second.

"Now, put yourself to some use and try to work out where the freakin' staff bunny went!"

[Rhetoric]

"Ok, I've had it!"

Liv's tawny eyes glinted at the rather satisfying sound. "Suck on it, asshole. At least I've been trying. At least I've used my powers, I've tried to come up with some sort of plan. You just prance around making insipid comments and getting your ass handed to you by a rabbit. You're useless!" She wound up to clock him again.

[-RAM-]

Jax ducked the second blow, looking up at Liv with his eyes simply spelling out what - the - freaking - hell.

"Are you MENTAL?" he yelled, "Last time I checked, the only time we tagged the bunny was after my plan!" Man, why the punch? Cuss him alright- but physically violate? What was she playing at? Okay, fine, maybe he asked for it- but damn, he was NOT expecting it. What was the deal with the punch? "Damn it!" he cussed, rubbing his nose, which was stringing like crazy. "Get some anger management DOO LITTLE, you freakin' need it!" he glared at her, retreating a few steps. "You're psycho chicka."

[Coffee]

Coffee could not believe his ears. Rather than regrouping and trying to come after him the two students were fighting like little kits. They kits, he reminded himself. True, but they were almost grown kits. Sighing Coffee hopped up into the mirror in the duck blind ceiling again and popped out high in another tree. He shimmied down the trunk and crept up behind the students. Silently he reached out with his sword and struck at Liv's back just as a bird gave off a piercing wail.

Quickly he pulled the dagger out of his belt and prepared to use it to parry any return blow or to strike if his sword missed. Placing one of his back paws slightly to the left of his other, he was ready to pivot away. His right ear reached out to the side and quivered, trying to hear any dangers he might otherwise have missed. While Liv's back was to him, the boy was facing him now and the rabbit half expected this to be a trap.

[Rhetoric]

Livi!

Dozens of little birdie voices shrieked out at once and Liv flipped backward, legs tucked to her chest. There was no mistaking the long drag of Coffee's sword down the back of her vest and she inwardly sighed. That was her second lost point.

As her feet touched down in the leaves, there was Coffee alert and weapons drawn, now between her and her partner. Liv already had her rope in hand, knot slid open. While her sparrows fluttered in Coffee's face, Liv dropped the lariat. "Tag'em!" The birds continued to dart for Coffee's eyes, both distracting and dangerous. Liv yanked the rope, tightening the knot and looking up at The Idiot expectantly.

[-RAM-]

Jax found it hilarious how the birds were poking at it's eye- it was sure a sight, 'cause you wouldn't normally see sparrows attacking oversized bunnies. It was an unusual sight, one that Jax sure as hell was recording in his mind, although Jax didn't need Liv's que to tag the bunny caught in the rope, but Jax wasn't gonna make things that boring. Jax wanted to get the bunny back big time- the bunny was blinded, which meant that Jax could easily communicate - nonverbally ofcourse - with Liv, and the two could both tag the staff bunny. Ahhh. Fun, fun. Jax moved behind the bunny and smirked at Liv, exchanging a glance with her.

"Drumstick!" he yelled, eyeing her second weapon, making his plan clear with a look. Jax smirked, and without a second's delay dived in, his sword slashing towards the bunny more than twice or thrice, as he hoped he'd managed to tag the bunny atleast once in his attempts, sure as hell also hoping that Liv had dived in as well, and managed to tag the bunny atleast once too.

[Coffee]

Bird bad. Coffee thought with annoyance. He tried for only a few seconds to see, then gave up on it. He did not need to rely on his sight. He had fought blindfolded before. He closed his eyes to protect them and keep from getting distracted. The bigger problem was the noise the birds made. Fighting without being able to hear clearly was difficult. Amazingly the boy made it much easier for him. Sandwiched between the two students Coffee had been in a really bad situation. But with the boy moving behind him he now had both of the students to his back. All he had to do was keep them both on one side. Then he felt the rope.

With a quick flick of his sword Coffee sliced the rope, barely missing his own foot in the process. Freed he leaped forward just in time to miss the boy's first stroke. He knew all too well that the blow had only missed because of the boy's inexperience and his own luck. He had gotten careless. He should have been more suspicious about their loud fighting. After a few decent sized bounds he turned around to face the pursuing boy, and met the student's steel with his own. He perried the boy's second stroke, then thrust to send the boy back, retreated, and perried the third. Then he retreated more, trying to gradually draw the boy backwards with him as he moved away from the trees and toward the beach.

Coffee would have preferred to go into the deeper forest, but the beach would do. Think, think. he told himself. He needed a plan. Liv would be coming soon with the strange thing called a drum stick. He was not sure what it was, but it did not sound pleasant. Hopping back quickly, he used his dagger to shoo the birds away from his face and took a quick look behind him, while his right hand stayed busy easily fending off the boy's blows. Like all too many amateurs he mistook brute power with strength in his swordsmanship. Risk, Coffee thought, no see Liv. Distraction was more his enemy than the boy's fencing. The boy had good instincts and fair control, but did not appear to have much experience. With training he could be a good fencer. Coffee wondered if he would be willing to take instruction. Especially from a rabbit.

Backing up farther Coffee saw a big tree trunk. It was perfect! A plan formed in his head. And he grinned. Laughing aloud he backed up until his back was pressed against the tree. His back shielded by it, he was freed to use his dagger hand to fight, not just defend his rear. He used the dagger to deflect the fourth blow and then displayed his expert swordsmanship by striking through the tiny space the boy had left with a blow aimed square in the center of the boy's chest.

[Rhetoric]

Liv stared down at the limp rope, eyes narrowed in consternation. Did staff bunny... He'd just... but he... "You want to play like that? FINE!" Liv darted forward and nabbed the back of The Idiot's shirt, dragging him to a stop. "What did I tell you about chasing him? Do. Not. Do. It. You're so busy pretending to be Zorro you're not using your head."

Liv wasn't a trained fighter, a strategist, or anything of that nature. She also wasn't a quitter. What she was was a bull dog and once she got her teeth into something, she wasn't letting go. Her mind spun quickly through her options, grasping at ideas and dismissing them just as fast. They needed a new plan and fast. A half smile pulled at the corner of her mouth as she shook out her smarting fist. It hadn't been part of the plan to draw out Coffee, but clocking The Idiot had felt great. She'd probably done more damage to her hand than his fat head, but still... if nothing else she'd count that as a small victory.

"Alright, this is what I need!" Liv's voice took on its dual tone as she addressed a tired, and slightly abused group of woodland critters. "I need half of you to stay on the rabbit. And I mean stay on him! I don't care if you have to bite his ears, hold onto his tail, or hitch a ride on his stupid cape, I want you attached to him. Got that? Eyes on him at all times. I want to know how he keeps popping up like some goddamn demented jack in the box and scaring the shit outta me. If you can't see him, sound an alarm." The staff bunny was up to something and she was going to find out what.

"The rest of you..." Liv whispered first to Cuil and then to one of the more aggressive squirrels. He was a fat, little thing with one tattered ear and an extra bushy tail. The squirrel immediately went off, to do as Liv asked, but Cuil hopped on her shoulder, clearly annoyed.

We don't talk to them, Livi, he peeped seriously. They ent warriors. They're idiots.

"Well," Liv looked at her own Idiot and sighed. "You don't always get to pick your allies. Get to, Cuil find'em fast because I am tired of getting poked by Ephram the Retarded Rabbit." The bird seemed to sigh before he took off and Liv promised herself that win or lose she was going to find a way to get the flock all of the seed they could eat. That done, she tugged her sneakers out from under her vest and glared at the Idiot. "Ok, so the Three Stooges tactic didn't work. It was worth a try. There's a few other things I'm willing to try, but I'm not sure how you're going to feel about it." At some point she had stopped looking at him and was walking slowly toward the beach. She needed a spot of heavy brush, someplace with lots of dead leaves and bushes, but a spot that wasn't too far off the sand.

This was a completely ridiculous idea.

"Here oughta do it." Liv whirled back around and grinned up at The Idiot. He was pretty good with the sword, but he didn't have much chance with Coffee zipping around the way he did. Liv was faster, but The Idiot was better with a weapon. If they could get Coffee off guard... well, it was a thought. Liv practically skipped back to The Idiot and went up on her tiptoes so she could whisper.

"Dude... gimmie your shirt."

[-RAM-]

Jax grinned cockily at Liv- he'd just let her do her thing with her animals hoping that they'd get the ninja bunny somehow, and he'd just ignored her remark about the whole Zorro deal- the guy got carried away, alright? He was having too much fun with this- the whole ninja bunny deal was cool, kinda weird and a little annoying maybe, but still exciting. Her last request... or demand rather, left Jax with a cocky grin stuck to his face. He pulled off his shirt without hesitating even once and handed it over to Liv, showing off his worked out abs and muscles. "Jheez, that was blunt." he commented, his grin remaining on his face, although- that's when something caught his attention.

Jax's grin slowly faded away though. He couldn't quite figure out what she was planning. That worried him- what the hell was she planning? "What's on your mind Doo Little?" Jax took a step back, he figured she probably wanted his shirt to throw it around to spread his scent or something- similar to what she'd done with her own clothing, but for some reason he didn't think that's quite what he had in mind.

Jax grew up in a fairly traditional household, and even though... well, he hadn't gone about everything the traditional way, he didn't like being around chicks he barely knew shirtless n' all. He knew the kinda effect he had on them, he had a fit body and he wasn't bad looking at all (not in his opinion anyway) and he didn't really want to lead girls on or anything, 'cause frankly Jax wasn't the kinda guy for flings. He raised his eyebrow at Liv, sure as hell hoping that she wasn't going to do what he thought she was.