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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #380 on Oct 15, 2009, 7:56pm »
He kept running after the kidnappers, keeping his eyes fixed on Akane's limp form. Who were these people? Why had they taken Akane? The only thing he could think of was that they worked for the man who had Mi and were trying to prevent Akane from rescuing her sister. But that didn't matter now. He'd deal with the specifics once Akane was safe. That was his goal, and would let nothing distract him from it.
Of course, he hadn't counted on smoke bombs. He saw the smoke, but didn't stop. He merely covered his face with his arm and ran into it. He kept coughing, though he was coughing and his eyes were tearing up and blurring his vision. He didn't care. He had to reach Akane and rescue her, whatever the cost. A few minutes of annoyance would be well worth it.
He burst out of the smoke, and saw that the captors were further away than they had been before. He cursed, then picked up speed. He would catch them. They would not get away with this. He would be sure to make them pay.
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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #381 on Oct 17, 2009, 9:13pm »
"No, no," Hanari said shaking her head furiously. It was not directed towards Ayano, but rather at her own conscience. The darkness was a scary thing. It turned the red dust of the road blue, and the golden fields of grain gray. It stole away fire and light, and left in its place cold and shadows. At least yesterday there had been drifting lights to comfort her,but now there was nothing. This muust be the true night the famed poets of the Fire Nation spoke of. The capitol knew no true night. She only knew that now, after the seeing the silence and darkness of this lonely road. The Capitol was always bright with fire and warmth. This road was like the ones that haunted her in her dreams. She would be dancing down the street, but suddenly it would turn dark and everyone would disappear. Then she would be left with only the sound of her own shoes tapping the road.
"No. Let's try to go a bit further." Hanari said, wringing her hands nervously as she tried to keep her eyes focused on the road. Somewhere far away an owl hooted. It was a sound foreign to the young city girl. The eerie sound sent chills up her spine and she looked up. What creature made such a sound? It was unlike the bark of a dog, or the soft hiss of a cat. It pierced the night breeze and arrived quickly to her ears. "What is the sound?" she asked quietly, her voice dropping to a suspicious whisper.
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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #382 on Oct 19, 2009, 9:07am »
The man watched as the boy charged recklessly through the smoke, apparently uncaring about anything but getting his girlfriend back. Why else would he be chasing after her like that? Taking a deep breath, he broke out into a run that rivaled the boy's.
After running for a bit, he figured it was time to create a diversion to get this boy off their tails; that is, they needed to, if they were ever going to get away with the girl. Putting two fingers in his mouth, he let out a sharp whistle.
Up ahead, his men threw out a glittering powder that exploded into smoke, flashes of light, and sound when it hit the ground; if everything went according to plan, his men would vanish and leave the boy wondering where they went. In reality, the two men carrying her were Earthbenders, and could sink into the ground without a trace.
Fortunately, everything went according to plan and both his men and the girl ahd disappeared from sight; hopefully, they would remember that they still needed to get back to camp.
When all that is waiting for you won't come any closer, you've got to reach a little more
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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #383 on Oct 19, 2009, 9:23am »
Etsuo kept chasing after the kidnappers. He had to rescue Akane and find out why they had taken her. And if he could hurt them for doing it, that would be a great bonus. But for now, the delight of righteous pain would have to wait; first, he had to catch up to them.
He heard the whistle and looked around wildly to see where it had come from, but he couldn't find the culprit. He turned his eyes back on the trees in front of him, just in time to see something glittery flying toward him. The substance hit the ground and began to explode like firecrackers. He stopped and covered his face with his arm just in case the explosions sent debris flying.
When the explosions had stopped he charged through the haze they left in the air, only to find that Akane, and her captors, had completely disappeared. It didn't make sense. He hadn't been that far behind. They couldn't have gotten that far so quickly. He shouted in anger as he slammed a fist into the ground, sending flames shooting upward. He had lost her, and had no idea how to find her again. The only thing he could think of was that wherever the men were taking Akane was close by. If it wasn't, they would have loaded her onto a cart or some other way of moving that was faster than walking. So he would just have to search the forest and hope he found them. He set off, going in the direction he had last seen the men run.
Tenshio Kasora | Etsuo Tanaka | Masato Ikeda | Ayano Kasora | Ayumi Sato | Hideo Yamada | Masami Ito Sig and avvie by me. Woot!
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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #384 on Oct 24, 2009, 8:46am »
When he was sure the boy was out of sight, the bandit leader walked over to where his comrades were hiding and stomped the ground. The two men shot up like corks in water and reappeared, holding the girl.
"Let's go," he said, motioning to them.
When she woke up she realized that something was wrong; very wrong. She tried to move her hands and legs, but to no avail. Realizing she was biting down on something, she tasted a dirty cloth clamped between her teeth, and then it hit her: she'd been captured.
As she looked around, she saw men clothed in black, but she had no idea who they were. Was she even in the Fire Nation anymore? A quick survey of her surroundings told her that she was still in the same forest, but more than likely in a different part of it than she'd been.
Etsuo!
Where was he? These bandits must have been pretty clever to separate them, although they were cowards for knocking her out before capturing her. Had they just taken her and run, or did Etsuo put up a fight? There were so many details missing, and she had no idea where she was. So much for retrieving her sister.
She jumped when one of the men came up to her.
"Ah, you're awake! I've got to say, your friend was very clever, but we lost him. Now we just need to figure out what to do with you..."
When all that is waiting for you won't come any closer, you've got to reach a little more
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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #385 on Oct 24, 2009, 12:05pm »
Ayano wasn't very happy with Hanari's answer, but she understood it. Maybe if they did go a bit further they would find a town, or at least an inn. They needed a place to stay. She would only sleep out in the open if it was absolutely the only option left, and she was sure Hanari felt the same way. Not that any of that helped her now. The darkness seemed to be closing in on her, bringing with it all sorts of odd noises that she couldn't place.
She was startled by the hooting of an owl. When Hanari asked what it was, she shook her head in reply. "I don't know," she said. She had never heard anything like that before. She recognized all the noises one could hear at the North Pole, and that wasn't one of them. And she didn't know enough about the animals of the Fire Nation to figure out what made that unearthly noise. It set her on edge, and just increased her worrying. She drew closer to Hanari, hoping that the fact that she wasn't alone in the darkness would make her feel better, but it didn't help. They were just two teenage girls out in the middle of nowhere at night. She was terrified.
__________________
Etsuo moved through the forest, looking for any sign of Akane's kidnappers. But he wasn't very skilled at tracking, and it looked to him as if they really had just disappeared. But that wasn't possible. They had to have used some trick to fool him. He stopped moving in order to concentrate solely on his thoughts. He ran through what had happened in his head. First smoke, then explosions, then...they were gone. Could they have had some sort of way to make themselves invisible? No, that was stupid. No one could do that. It had to be something much simpler. Then it came to him. Earthbenders! They could slide through dirt as if it were butter. It would be easy for them to sink into the ground and make it look as though they had disappeared. He smiled, pleased with himself for figuring that out, but then his smile disappeared as a thought came to him. Yes, he knew how they'd done it, but where had they gone? Of that, he couldn't be sure. So he just continued walking, hoping to find a clue as he did so.
He had been walking for about ten minutes when he found something. Two piles of over-turned dirt, just a few feet away from each other. He was sure that was what he was looking for. He looked around for any other indicator of the kidnapper's presence, but found nothing. The many leaves on the ground would easily cover up any footprints, and he would be fooling himself if he believed that they might have dropped something. So, once again, he'd just have to pick a direction. He sighed, then started walking in the direction where the trees seemed most spread out. He figured that if they were planning to get away quickly they wouldn't want to worry about running into trees.
Tenshio Kasora | Etsuo Tanaka | Masato Ikeda | Ayano Kasora | Ayumi Sato | Hideo Yamada | Masami Ito Sig and avvie by me. Woot!
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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #386 on Oct 29, 2009, 1:02pm »
Although she couldn't say anything, Akane was afraid that these men might actually get away with kidnapping her. She was relatively certain that they hadn't targeted her specifically and that she'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but she was there and that was all that mattered.
She looked around to see that a couple of men were watching her, but the rest of them were off doing something. Her mind raced as she tried to think of something, anything that she could do to get out of this situation; however, her bonds were too tight and it would be futile to try to move.
Frustrated, she rested her head against the tree they'd propped her up against and paused when she felt the gag in her mouth loosen slightly. Her heartbeat quickened as she moved her head, feeling its grip slip more. The men assigned to guard her didn't seem to be paying too much attention to her, so she started to use her head to loosen the cloth even more.
After a lot of work, it fell out of her mouth and she took a deep breath in, letting out a scream that could shatter glass. Hopefully, Etsuo wouldn't be too far away to hear it.
When all that is waiting for you won't come any closer, you've got to reach a little more
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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #387 on Oct 31, 2009, 11:19am »
He was growing more and more annoyed. He still hadn't found any more clues as to where Akane's kidnappers had taken her. How hard could it be to find a few Earthbenders in a forest? Unless they were still running with her and had made it out of the forest...No, he doubted that was the case. All that would do was tire them out and make it easier for him to catch up. They had probably stopped somewhere in the forest to rest before moving on to wherever they were taking her. Well, whatever they had done, they had done it well, and he was out of ideas. He couldn't just keep walking aimlessly around the forest forever.
Suddenly, he heard a piercing scream coming from somewhere ahead of him. It was obvious who was making that sound. "Akane," Etsuo said quietly. His first impulse was to run toward the sound, letting nothing get in his way. But that would be stupid; the kidnappers would hear him coming long before he reached them. It would be easy for them to just take Akane and keep moving. So, as much as he wanted to heed it, he ignored the impulse and kept walking calmly forward, trying to make as little noise as possible.
Tenshio Kasora | Etsuo Tanaka | Masato Ikeda | Ayano Kasora | Ayumi Sato | Hideo Yamada | Masami Ito Sig and avvie by me. Woot!
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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #388 on Nov 2, 2009, 10:33am »
As soon as she let out the scream, she immediately regretted it. It may have alerted Etsuo, but it also alerted the bandit leader that she'd worked her gag loose. As she expected, the man came running over to her and backhanded her across the face, making her fall over.
"You stupid girl!" he said, his voice seething with rage. Roughly, he yanked her back into a sitting position and repositioned the gag, tying it much tighter than it had been before. Aside from falling off the tightrope at the Circus and having the net give out as soon as she landed on it, she'd never been in so much pain. Tears streamed down her face as the world came into focus, and she could make out the outline of the bandit leader through the stars she'd seen when he'd hit her. They came back in full force when he smacked her again, and it threw her for a loop. Once again, he roughly pulled her back up and rested her against the tree, calling more men over here.
"When I said 'watch her,' I didn't mean be lazy and pretend to watch her! Now stop messing around and keep an eye on her!" he yelled, causing the men to flinch; however, they obeyed, diligently watching her.
When all that is waiting for you won't come any closer, you've got to reach a little more
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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #389 on Nov 4, 2009, 11:51pm »
He was walking through the forest, moving toward where he thought Akane was, when he heard a sharp sound from somewhere ahead of him. A few seconds later he heard it again. He didn't know what it was, but it worried him. He moved a little bit faster, trying to get to Akane as fast as he could.
Finally, he saw someone in a clearing ahead of him. But what he saw didn't make him happy. He could see about four men, and beyond them- Akane! But she looked hurt, and she was bound to a tree. The sight of Akane bound and in pain sent him over the edge. He forgot all about stealth. At this point it didn't matter much anyway.
He raised his hands and created a large fireball, which he shot at the bandits' feet. Not bothering to pay attention to whether or not the fireball hit, he drew his swords and rushed forward, ready to do whatever it took to get Akane back.
Tenshio Kasora | Etsuo Tanaka | Masato Ikeda | Ayano Kasora | Ayumi Sato | Hideo Yamada | Masami Ito Sig and avvie by me. Woot!
Kai Katashi Profiles Assistant That Bloodbending White Lotus who mods a lot of stuff.Yeah, I know we're like a welcoming community and junk, but that's not worth spit if the guy modding the profiles is a dick. member is offline
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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #390 on Nov 9, 2009, 10:43pm »
The bandits heard the boy long before they saw him, and they turned just in time to see fire flying at them. They gave two stomps; one sunk the ground that had been set aflame, and the other covered the holes with more earth, snuffing the fire out. They both smiled under their rags and drew their swords. Surely, this boy was no match for them and if he was, he wouldn't be particularly difficult for the leader to defeat.
Akane's heart raced as she saw a burst of fire and realized Etsuo had come back for her. If she could only get loose from her bonds, she could help him and get away; it wouldn't be good to burn down the forest before they were out of it.
She struggled against the bonds around her arms and legs, trying them for weakness; unfortunately, her hands were tied behind her back and her sai had been confiscated. She'd seen them on the bandit leader's hip as a strange, warped symbol of his conquest.
Her pulse quickened and she toppled forward, using her momentum to do an odd somersault. She managed to land on her back, and proceeded to roll toward the small amount of fire that the bandits hadn't managed to extinguish. Suddenly, she was jerked into the air.
"Where do you think you're going?" the leader asked menacingly, turning her around to face him. His mistake was immediately revealed: he hadn't bound her legs to her torso. She took advantage of this and swung back and forth, landing in his abdomen. Without his support, she tumbled to the ground again, but it only impeded her movement a little as she resumed rolling toward the fire. She reached it and adjusted herself until the cloth binding her hands was near the flame; hopefully, it wouldn't catch anything else on fire.
When all that is waiting for you won't come any closer, you've got to reach a little more
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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #391 on Nov 9, 2009, 11:08pm »
He frowned as the kidnappers easily avoided being burned. Stupid Earthbenders; they always had a way out of things. Whatever, it didn't matter. He had to focus on the fact that the bandits were now both coming at him. Luckily, he had two swords. This fight would be fun.
As the came at him he moved forward, deciding to make the first move. He shifted one of his swords into the other hand so one of his hands was free, then used that hand to send a wave of fire at the bandits, at chest height. He knew they would block it with ease, but that didn't concern him. The fire was just something for them to focus on while he ran up to them. When he had reached them he took both swords and slashed horizontally as his opponents' stomachs. If that connected, the fight would be over fast.
Out of the corner of his eye he spied Akane rolling toward the fire. He cursed inwardly. Why would she do that? Yes, it might free her from her bonds, but it wouldn't stop there. If she wasn't careful, she could lose her hands as well as the cloth binding them.But there was nothing he could do for her right now. He had to focus on not getting stabbed.
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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #392 on Nov 13, 2009, 9:48pm »
The baby strapped to Gu-Shen's back miraculously seemed to have forgotten his crying fit in order to play with a red cloth used to patch up holes. That was the thing about babies. They gained and lost interest so fast it was impossible to keep up. In the army he'd been trained to notice tiny details, but those skills only truly blossomed when it came to observing his children. The cooing coming from his back was like a blade cutting a gash across his heart. This was the reason it was suggested he take the baby with him. To make him feel even more guilty about what he had to do.
Running was good for guilt. The child-bearing archer tightened his grip on the straps securing his child and ran at full speed once again not bearing in mind the near pitch darkness that was approaching. Jian's coos broke rthym as he bounced up and down and let out the occasional squeel followed by a gasp for air. Soon both the child and the man carrying it had had enough. It was now even too dark to run safely even if Gu-Shen's night vision hadn't faded along with his hair. He slowed his walk and swept his feet across the ground to feel for any tripping hazards. Owls hooting, crickets chirping and the sound of cicadas filled his ears. He imagined his own children and how they'd sometimes fear the dark and wondered if the girls he tracked were the same. "Then again, maybe they're too old for that sort of thing," he said to Jian.
Inadvertently imagining two girls travelling together made the reluctant assasin face the horrible prospect of his target travelling with a friend. "Ready to run again?"
Once more, he broke into a run despite his lack of sight. Things seemed to be going fine until his foot caught on a tree root sticking from the ground. His head hit the ground and created a small, bleeding gash on his head and while Jian had been frightened and wailed into the night he was fine. Despite that luck, Gu-Shen felt like an idiot. For a while he thought he was still twenty-five and could brush off a blow to the head like that. He now knew that was no longer the case.
He hated to think of how pathetic a white-haired, middle-aged man carrying a wailing baby looked. After a few moments of temendous pain in his head, he no longer cared. All he knew is that he was far too close to unconsciousness for his comfort and there seemed to be people directly in front of him. All the former elite archer could do was clamp onto the shoulder of the nearest person in the darkness and eek out a few words before passing out. "Help...him."
With that, Gu-Shen fell to his knees and onto his front exposing the wailing baby strapped to his back.
Piandao: Legendary swordsman. Suigetsu: Waterbender, iconoclast. Gu-Shen Gou: Retired Yu Yan archer. Hui Chen: Quixotic animal lover. Kugi Tang: The nail that refuses to stick out. Kuma Takeda: acerbic earthbender and actor
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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #393 on Nov 15, 2009, 12:39am »
Hanari crept closer to the older girl again. Being next to another person's warmth helped to drive the cold and dark away. She breathed in and out, and allowed the clean air of the meadow to soothe her. It smelled of leaves and trees. The city air was different. It held the scent of salt and fish. It carried the music of people. The music of people was made up of laughter and tears. It was made with screams of anguish and those of joy. It had beauty that could not possibly be surpassed by anything in this world or beyond it. The young girl kept filling her mind with thoughts. Thoughts were like bright lights that chased away the dark fears. She would think through this night and remember things. That was what she would do.
Somewhere she heard yet another sound that added itself to the ensemble of instruments this road seemed to play. It was crying. If she hadn't known better she would have placed them as the cries of a baby still too young to walk. To be more specific it was the cries any baby would make if it was frightened or in pain. Her mother and her sisters in law had trained her to hear for such things. Perhaps she wished for human company so much her ears were now playing silly tricks on her. The wives of her brothers would be asleep, and their babes with them. The babies would be tucked safely into their mother's bossoms, free from all harms in the world. She relaxed a bit into lulling memories of being small enough to be surrounded by her mother when she slept. "Help...him."
The words were accompanied by a timely clamp on her shoulder. It was warm and large. Was she truly losing her mind? Hanari turned her head around. She gasped in surprise at the sight that greeted her eyes. It was a man and his baby. It looked too young to be his own, but who knew. She closed her eyes and opened them again, shaking her head in disbelief. "Ayano?" she whispered, still overcome by shock. What was this man doing on this road at this time of night?
There was a baby. A man carrying a baby of this age. It was not a sight that could be seen often. Hanari's eyes shifted from the gash on the man's face to the baby. She kneeled down, tucking her skirts to one side. The baby's face was invisble in the darkness. She reached forth hesitantly. Who knew what this was? Yet finally she was reminded her too much of the little nieces and nephews back at home and she swept the baby up into her arms. "Ah little one. What are you doing so far from home without your mother? Do you have a mother?" she murmured, settling the baby on the edge of her hip and bouncing it up and down.
What a strange situation. "Ayano? Do you know if he's.....," she trailed off, staring down at the head of white below her. She was a waterbender healer. Hadn't she said that yesterday? Maybe she'd know how to fix him. Hanari certainly didn't. The most she'd ever done was blow on a scrape on one of cousins and send them off.
When all that is waiting for you won't come any closer, you've got to reach a little more
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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #394 on Nov 15, 2009, 1:24am »
Ayano was slightly comforted as Hanari drew closer. It made the darkness, and the unknown terrors that it represented, just a little more bearable. She hated every minute she spent outside in the dark. It almost made her miss the Capital. Yes, there her life had been hard, but she had always had food, and shelter. And there had always been someone to sit with her if she had a nightmare. Now, she was living one of her nightmares, and there was no one to help her out of it. Not even Hanari’s presence right next to her could completely take away her fear. All she could see in the darkness were trees. There was no light, no indication that maybe they would soon reach civilization and be protected from everything that lurked in the dark. She had the urge to leave Hanari behind and run until she found a village, but she resisted. She couldn’t do that. And if she didn’t find a village, what then? She’d be worse off than she was now. So she just kept walking beside Hanari, trying her best to keep her fear under control.
She was startled by a loud crash slightly behind them, followed by loud wails that sounded as if they were issuing from the mouth of a baby. That didn’t make sense. What would a baby be doing out in the middle of nowhere? But she knew the sound. She had heard it from her brother for a time, and also from the children of Fire Nation nobles who left their children for her to watch while they went about their business. So it had to be a baby, as impossible as that seemed.
Hanari’s gasp, and the utterance of her name, alerted her that something was wrong. She turned, and gaped at the old man lying on the ground. Then she spotted the source of the cries; the man had a baby strapped to his back. She was confused. She was going to pick up the baby, but Hanari got to it first. So, Ayano focused on the man. With just a glance, all she could see was the gash on his head, which, while it was a decent size, would be easy to heal. So why had he fallen? She tried to turn him over and couldn’t. That’s when she saw the cause of his fall. His foot was caught in a root. She freed his foot then turned him onto his back. She placed her ear to his chest, listening for a heartbeat. When she heard one she smiled with relief. She looked up at Hanari, hearing the younger girl’s question. She guessed at what Hanari had been asking and shook her head. “He’s just unconscious,” she said.
She looked at his head again. She couldn’t do much for his ankle. That injury was more internal. She didn’t have the skill to heal it, and she wasn’t willing to try. But his head, that she could help. Luckily, she’d had enough sense to bring a waterskin with her. She took it out and bent the water out of it. She moved the water onto the gash, and it began to glow. She concentrated on the healing, let all other noises, everything else, fade away. Slowly, the skin on the sides of the gash came together and sealed. She sighed, relieved. The man might have a small scar, but he’d be fine.
That taken care of, she turned to Hanari, looking at the baby the girl held. “What do we do?” she asked. They were in the middle of nowhere with a baby and an unconscious man with them. She didn’t think she and Hanari could lift the man, even working together. They might just have to stay with him until he woke up. She didn’t like that idea, but she couldn’t think of any others. So she looked to Hanari, hoping she would have an answer that solved their problem.
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Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #395 on Nov 15, 2009, 6:39pm »
"Good?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in curiosity. She wondered what the identity of the man was. Where had he come from, and why? Was he fleeing or was he chasing? It seemed doubtful it was either because of the baby. She resettled the young baby again in the crook of her arm, and brushed a bit of the cloth away to try and get a look at its face. It almost looked familiar. Yet all faces of babies this young looked similar. Besides it was too dark to tell. How useful it would have been if she could have snapped her fingers like her mother did and bring up a flicker of a flame to light this night. She let out a sigh as she was reminded yet again of her lack of bending skills. Why did she always end up thinking about it one way or another twice a day? She sighed. ¡°Do you have magic little one? Do you have the fire in you?¡± she asked quietly to the baby, losing herself in her thoughts for another moment. That was of course, only assuming this baby was from the Fire Nation.
She turned her head and watched wide-eyed as Ayano drew a water-skin out. A glow lit the water, and it seemed like only mere seconds until the wound on his head melded into nothing. Water-bending seemed to follow the nature of water. It was quiet and smooth. Fire-bending, for whatever purpose, was never that quiet. The young girl watched with awe. It was bending with the power to heal. It was truly a gift of the heavens.
¡°Why don¡¯t we stop for the night¡¦We can¡¯t just leave them here, and I guess it really is getting too dark.¡± she replied, trying to insert some authority into her voice. She offered a half-smile,¡±besides, if anyone was following us, they would have stopped for the night a long time ago. Maybe this man has a house nearby he can take us to later.¡± Hanari said. It seemed doubtful. The man was not dressed like the people of the country she had seen so far. He was a traveler, perhaps from the capitol as well. She would have tried to look at his face, except he seemed to heavy to turn over with any of their power. They would just have to wait until he woke up on his own and moved himself.
Hanari looked up at the sky. It now failed to even have a hint of blue dusk. It was night now. She was reminded of the matches and candles in her bag. She'd swept the entire house clean of matches, and taken at least half of the candles. No one really had a use for them because they could bring up a small flame for a candle instantaneously. She looked from the baby in her arms and to the pack that was still slung on her back.
Attempting to shift the baby around as little as possible, she strapped it onto her own back and simultaneously removed her pack. After a few clumsy knots to try and keep the cloth from loosening, she stuck he rhand into the cloth knapsack. She frowned and dug deeply, feeling blindly with her fingers for waxy material. She grasped the bundle of candles and matches, and smiled triumphantly as she drew it up. "Matches." she said. She fumbled in the dark to figure out exactly where the place to strike the match was. At least one match was lost on the ground due to her clumsiness. After a few more silent curses at no one in particular she managed to get a flame on the match. It wavered uncertainly, and Hanari immediately placed the match to the tip of the candle. "Light. We need a fire don't we?" she asked,"or is that just a bad idea?" she added questioningly holding the match in one hand and the candle in the other as she asked Ayano's opinion on how to make camp here.
Joined: Nov 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 207 Karma: 78
Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #396 on Nov 16, 2009, 4:02pm »
Gu-Shen could have sworn he felt his wife's unbearably cold hands pressed against his forehead. In the middle of the night he used to take thos ice-cold hands to roll over onto them to warm them up. Naturally, this was never requested by his wife but she showed her desire for something by not complaining about it afterward or resorting to violence. He dearly missed those cold, calloused hands.
As he woke the archer felt a stream of water run down his face and he wondered if he'd been crying in his sleep. His head throbbed and he recalled running through the forest. It was embarassingly obvious what had happen. He had fallen. He could imagine all the archers he trained, both in civillian life and the Yu Yan archers laughing at him. He sat up and sighed then realized that he'd been on his back. "Jian!"
The middle-aged father whipped his head around and noticed first that his child was fine. Secondly, he noticed him being held by what looked like the outline of a teenaged girl. As he looked around more he noticed the other girl. It was far too dark to make out any features, but the water on his head and his lack of bleeding made one thing clear. One was a waterbender and had healed him. It was a odd stroke of luck.
"He's safe. Good. Thank you. If nothing else I suppose I taught you two an important lesson about running at night." The red-clad man laughed despite his embarassment. It kept the looming depression at bay. Tripping like that surely meant he was getting old. Gu-Shen immediately thought of his father who chose death once his skills had deteriorated. He then tried to banish that thought as it was far too depressing. After all, his father was better than him when he decided he was no longer skilled enough to live.
The Fire Nation archer put his left palm over his right fist and bowed his head to the two girls in the darkness. "I am Gu-Shen Gou. The baby is my son Jian. We both thank you for your kindness."
Subtly, Gu-Shen checked his inventory. He pretended to rub his left forearm and felt his wrist-mounted crossbow was still there...though he had to admit it would be no loss if it were stolen. Crossbows were for lesser archers. He still felt his bag if coins in one of the inner pockets of his robe and his other weapons were too bulky not to notice. Experience had taught him that people could be nice and helpful but still be thieves.
"I know it's none of my business, but what are two young girls like yourselves doing wandering around this time of night?"
Piandao: Legendary swordsman. Suigetsu: Waterbender, iconoclast. Gu-Shen Gou: Retired Yu Yan archer. Hui Chen: Quixotic animal lover. Kugi Tang: The nail that refuses to stick out. Kuma Takeda: acerbic earthbender and actor
Kai Katashi Profiles Assistant That Bloodbending White Lotus who mods a lot of stuff.Yeah, I know we're like a welcoming community and junk, but that's not worth spit if the guy modding the profiles is a dick. member is offline
Thanks to Anneanne for the new avvy! ^_^
Joined: Feb 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 1,056 Karma: 161
Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #397 on Nov 16, 2009, 6:10pm »
Two expertly coordinated leap-steps forward had a block of earth shooting up in front of each bender, dissipating the fire the boy had thrown at them; however, they weren't prepared for him to come rushing at them.
One quickly put up a thick layer of rock to stop the sword, and the other sunk into the earth as he had before, coming up right behind the Firebender.
While the bandits were busy, Akane could feel the fire burning into her bonds...and her hands. She rolled over to cut off the source of the pain and tested her bonds; although they weren't burning as well as a stick would have. Cursing the bandits, she took a deep breath in through her nose and rolled back to the fire, gritting her teeth against her gag as she felt the pain return.
Tears were streaming down her face as she jerked her wrists, trying to free them. Of course, her hands were getting burned as well, but burns would heal, but being remaining could result in her death if she didn't escape. Finally, she felt the cloth tear enough to fall off of her wrists, and she yanked her hands apart; ignoring the burns, she quickly untied her gag and foot bonds, freeing herself.
During all of this, the bandit leader had recovered from his blow and got up just in time to see Akane rise to her feet.
"I told you, you're not going anywhere!" he bellowed. She stood defiantly before him.
"I'm not yours anymore," she said, rage masked in a calm voice. A glance at the leader's belt told her he had taken her weapons.
"Those are mine," she said, clenching her fists.
"Then come and get them," he retorted, getting into a battle stance. Instinctively, she assumed the stance she'd learned from Etsuo, sans sai. With a yell, he charged at her and she leapt nimbly to the side; he skidded to a stop and pulled a sword out of his belt. Her eyes widened and she jumped forward, arcing her body and landing on her hands. As soon as she did, she pushed off with all the power she could muster and sent herself into a diving kick. With any luck, it'd take him down.
When all that is waiting for you won't come any closer, you've got to reach a little more
Joined: Jul 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 432 Location: Southern CA Karma: 48
Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #398 on Nov 16, 2009, 7:56pm »
Ayano frowned as Hanari spoke. She didn’t like the idea of spending the night out in the wilderness with only a teenage girl, a baby, and an unconscious man for company. But there was nothing else they could do. Besides, even if they were to keep running, they probably wouldn’t reach a village soon. So perhaps stopping for the night would be best. And Hanari was right; they probably weren’t in any danger of being found by anyone chasing them. The point about the man possibly having a house – that seemed unlikely. But she hadn’t expected to find any houses out in the wilderness, so she wasn’t too disappointed. “That’s a good idea,” she said, trying to smile back.
As Hanari dug into her bag, Ayano turned back to the unconscious man. As far as she could tell the gash on his head and his twisted ankle were his only injuries. She had already worked on his head, and his ankle would heal quickly. He seemed in good shape. She turned as Hanari asked her a question, but barely had time to open her mouth when the man woke up, saying a woman’s name. Ayano wondered who Jian was. The baby? Well, whoever he or she was, it didn’t really matter. What did matter was that the man was awake and seemed to have his wits about him.
Ayano looked at him with concern. He looked okay, but she couldn’t be sure. She stood and went to stand by Hanari, making sure to keep her eye on the man just in case he had more injuries that she was unaware of. She bowed back to the man, then spoke once he had asked his question. “You are very welcome,” she said. “I am Ayano and this is Hanari,” she said, indicating the other Hanari. “We were on our way to visit my uncle in the next town, but we got a bit lost.” She hoped her story was convincing enough. It had been the first thing to pop into her head.
-----------------------------------------------
Etsuo was annoyed. They had blocked the fire, and one had blocked his sword. He heard a sound behind him, and knew what it meant. The coward was trying to attack his back. He ignored the man in front of him and whirled around quickly, his arm outstretched. Hopefully his attack would be too quick for his opponent to dodge or block. If his strike succeeded, the bandit would have a deep slash across his chest, which hopefully would seriously impair his fighting ability.
As he whirled, he saw Akane fighting the bandit leader. She had been able to free her hands, and was now attempting to retrieve her weapons, which were currently secured in her opponent’s belt. He was concerned. The man had a sword; she didn’t. That wasn’t good. But she seemed to be handling it. She displayed some beautiful acrobatics, and the man came crashing to the ground. He was relieved, but he knew the bandit wouldn’t stay down for long. He needed to go help her. But first, he had to deal with the pests attacking him.
Joined: Nov 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 207 Karma: 78
Re: Through the Fire Nation III « Reply #399 on Nov 18, 2009, 4:03pm »
"If you know the city well maybe you help me on my journey. I'm looking for someone." With a groan Gu-Shen reached into his sack and pulled from it a piece of parchment. The throbbing in his head let certain thoughts slip. One such thought was that he had brought two separate sets of missing persons posters. He turned over one of the pieces of parchment expecting to see his clumsy sketching of Ayano and instead saw one of the old and faded posters he had made for his wife. It wasn't what he intended to ask them about but it couldn't hurt. "She disappeared before either of you were born, but it never hurts to ask."
When he passed that poster on to Ayano Gu-Shen could not help but take out another and spend some time staring at the drawing of his missing wife. "Fei," he said with a faint sigh. Scars cris-crossed her forehead and she rarely smiled. In place of a smile there was usually a look that she was not only paying attention but also observing. In time, he found that to be a comforting feature in his wife. The drawing was made during a time when her hair was much shorter than the average woman's, but Gu-Shen assumed she must have let it grow out by now.
In order to keep from drifting too far into sentimentality and day-dreaming the archer put the wanted poster away and narrowed his focus to the present time and place. "It's not like I think I'll find her easily but if there's even the smallest chance to find her I'm going to take it."
He almost stood up to leave but heard the blissfully, steady breathing of Jian and thought better of it. "I think all the excitement wore him out. If you don't mind my staying I'd like to enjoy the peace while it lasts." As much as a loved the blue-eyed baby that looked nothing like him, Gu-Shen was dying for some time without worrying about him even if just for a few minutes.
Piandao: Legendary swordsman. Suigetsu: Waterbender, iconoclast. Gu-Shen Gou: Retired Yu Yan archer. Hui Chen: Quixotic animal lover. Kugi Tang: The nail that refuses to stick out. Kuma Takeda: acerbic earthbender and actor
Water; Earth; Fire; Air. Long ago, the Four Nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all Four Elements, could stop them; but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed, and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar -- an Airbender named Aang, and although his Airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone. But I believe... Aang can save the world.
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