Eyes of Fire | Bucky Barnes

14

"Wakandans do not fight solely to kill. It is not our way." Uxolo began slowly, a pleasant layer of sweat cooling on her skin from having spent a few minutes warming up alongside James.

Although her primary focus had always been on her literary and psychological work, she'd found it useful to train alongside the fighters of her nation when she was younger.

Almost everyone, from the grade school art teachers to the gentle wheat farmers, knew how to fight to a certain degree. It was all for the sake of protecting themselves and their nation, never to seek violence in the way other country's taught their citizens to fight.

She couldn't claim to be at the level of the Black Panther, obviously, but she knew her way around a variety of weapons. She also knew how to best use her size and stature for whatever purpose she deemed necessary, of which using her flexibility and speed to dodge the lunges of and disable one particular winter solider was included.

"I will train you to subdue. To hinder, disengage, and to defend before succumbing to the natural urge to kill." She concluded, uncrossing her arms and better positioning the spear she'd chosen in her grip. She shifted on her feet, making sure she maintained eye contact, before launching herself at him.

Fighting James was nothing like she imagined fighting the Winter Solider to be.

Even without the metal arm, she knew he was a force to be reckoned with; and yet, he let every hit she threw at him land in full impact. He wasn't even so much as stepping back to dodge her hits, he was taking them for all they were worth.

He was... limp.

Luckily, she wasn't exactly aiming with the sharp end of the spear, instead just jabbing him with the smooth sides of it to entice a reaction. But even then, he was letting her drive him in whatever direction she saw fit, even allowing her to push him to the ground.

She reached a hand out, to which he accepted, and she used that to tug him off of the ground and into her space.

"Fight back." Uxolo stated roughly, taking a pivotol step away from him.

At least this time, he was putting up some type of fight. But was refusing to land a single hit on her. Uxolo was defending herself poorly on purpose, in a way that even a rookie fighter would seek to exploit, but he refused to do so.

She approached him slowly, pushing him back step after step with the spear positioned horizontally against his chest. She stopped him there, repeating herself firmly, "Fight back."

Uxolo began with renewed energy, throwing in a variety of moves she hoped would energize him, whether to just end this fight entirely or what-have-you, something to make him defend himself properly.

And it worked.... kind of.

James heaved a heavy breath and met her move for move, spin for spin, jab for jab, driving her back until they were positioned in the center of the training mat again. He panted as they moved, eyebrows furrowed as sweat and exhaustion clouded his vision.

Suddenly, he twisted and got a hold of her spear before giving it a sharp tug. Only, she didn't let go of it, and they ended up face-to-face with little room to separate them.

He whispered, looking everywhere but into her eyes, "don't want to hit you, Uxolo. I don't want to hit anyone-- don't want to fight anymore."

"I know you don't, James." She said gently, twirling out of the temporary hold he'd managed to get her in before sending a delicate elbow to his side. "But there will come another day where you're going to have to fight as if your life is at stake, because it is—"

Uxolo cut herself off with a huff, lifting the spear to point the sharp end directly at him. She whispered fiercely, "There's a fire that hides behind those ocean eyes,"

James shook his head, those very eyes wide as he tried to stay focused. "The fire is the Soldier's, I'm not-"

"The Winter Soldier was ice. He was cold and unfeeling, he no longer exists." She said simply, "Now you? You, James, are pure fire. Fire that refuses to be snuffed out."

Uxolo reached out to grab his wrist and tugged him close.

"Never stop using these. That fire will save you; let it fuel you, not burn you."