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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. "[color=crimson]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?[/color]"

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. [i][color=crimson]Fucking prick.[/color][/i] 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.