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Post by ukaleq on Jul 14, 2007 0:16:09 GMT -5
She reassuring patted the crow of her sister's head, smoothing her hair as the littlegirl curled up against her sister. Her dark blue eyes stared forward, though she did not look through them. Her thoughts drifted elsewhere. She wonder what became of Amitolo? That strange young man who.. had scarred her. Her lower lip pursed, lashes drooping as she methodically stroke Naira's hair.
A voice.. snapped her out of it. Her eyes went wide in that subtle panic response, before turning to the source of the voice. A young man.. sitting next to her. This is why she hated the barracks.. contact with others. For a moment, Ukaleq starred in stunned silence at the young man. She knew nothing of him, nor did she remeber him. She hadn't ben listening, and was not aware of who he was.
Her voice was small, as she managed to be polite and respond with a curt bow of her head. Strands of loose hair brushed against her dark cheeks and raspberry lips as she spoke, the ribbons tucked behind the flower-like decorations on her ears loose around her braids. "..I am Ukaleq Ulloriaq..." Her eyes moved to her sister's head for a moment, the wide-eyed child staring up at the man, the lowerhalf of her face covered by the fur of her sleeves. She was lovely for a child, round, dark eyes and a button nose. Her hair was another matter, but if it had been done properly and not in a hurry.. perhaps she would be one of the prettiest little girls in the tribe. "This is my sister, Naira.."
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Post by kaiapo on Jul 15, 2007 11:09:27 GMT -5
Kaiapo heard the shuffling steps of new arrivals to the shelter. He glanced behind him, and saw what looked like a member of the upper class accompanying some armed guards, and escorting a young man into the shelters. Seeing the guards peeked his curiousity to say the least. He watched them for a bit, as two guards sat to either side of the boy, while the man from the upper class remained standing. The man didn't look happy to say the least. And why so much effort for just one boy? Why did he have to arrive under guard?
There had been rumors about a dangerous criminal being put on trial, rumors spread by the children of the village who supposedly heard it from their parents who supposedly heard it from someone credible. But alas, amongst children, rumors often were just that...rumors.
'Po glanced over to where his mother was. She was talking with his aunt right now, a worried frightened expression on her face. The storyteller was still reciting her tale, the other children listening intently. He wouldn't be noticed if he were to slip away over to the other side of the shelter, to where the boy was being guarded. So, the young boy stood and began to slip through the crowd taking refuge. He finally got within listening distance and stopped, keeping close to the wall so that he hopefully he wouldn't be noticed.
"Wh-what's your name?" the boy asked of a young woman who was near the group guarding him.
"..I am Ukaleq Ulloriaq. This is my sister, Naira.." she replied.
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Post by gandalan on Jul 16, 2007 0:29:09 GMT -5
Nakamura instantly grimaced and cringed. As he'd been in the Northern Tribe (since he got back), old customs were coming back to him unconsciously. Right now, the one pinging at him was his duty as a lower family citizen to serve those of the elite group.
Ulloriaq was a name that was much revered. Perhaps no other name garnered more respect than the bloodline of the chief himself. Great warriors and healers had come from the Ulloriaq family. At first, he stared, slackjawed at the girl, and her claim to nobility. But then, it suddenly finished sinking in, and he quickly bowed down to her, on his knees, his forehead touching the ground. "P-please Miss Ulloriaq, forgive me... I spoke out of turn..." he stammered out, trying to apologize for his offense. While he was certainly disowned at this point, he didn't want to bring anymore shame to his family, the lowly Taiki. Perhaps no name was less well known. No great bender had arisen from the Taiki for many generations. Never a healer. While all families had their places, Taiki's was obvious: the base of the pyramid. Nakamura stayed on the ground, groveling to the girl high above him. He would stay at the base, where he belonged. He waited for a response from the girl.
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Post by taartoq on Jul 16, 2007 1:06:33 GMT -5
Others were sitting while Taartoq still stood, displeased with his surroundings. He felt that most everyone within was watching his slender form stand amidst those seated, even though the majority weren't at all. Some were listening to the storyteller Ebele weave elaborate tales, blithe children were chattering with each other despite the gloom that lingered, some were sleeping, and others were trying to comfort each other or themselves. In reality, there was probably a handful of people who noted the long-haired waterbender even for a second. Taartoq tried to tune out his surroundings as best he could while Nakamura and Ukaleq conversed, and a small, messy-haired boy seemed to be inquisitive in the nearby matter.
Anxiety from the impending attack loomed over him, one of the only adult men in the structure, unpleasantly blending itself with disdain for being in such close quarters. As he drifted in and out of his mind, he soon felt a tug at the hem of his parka. Looking down, he saw the smiling face of his wife, Padma, beckoning him soon after. "Come. Sit.", she patted the polar-leopard skin beneath them pleasantly.
It was strange for Taartoq to see his wife so calm at the moment, especially considering how she had been earlier, but he knew it had to be a pretense. But that didn't matter. As long as there was a familiar and friendly face nearby, acknowledging his existence, then he would feel better.
Slowly, he lowered himself to the ground, his wife grasping his hand while wearing a grin that he now could detect was of an uneasy quality. The skin around her eyes was a bit puffy, long since easing up in emitting tears. Her soft voice spoke with sincerity. "You'll be all right.". The two looked into each others eyes with a deep bond only the best of platonic friends could share. Padma caressed the side of her husband's face, "We'll be all right."
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Post by ukaleq on Jul 23, 2007 23:27:02 GMT -5
The woman's dark eyes lingered on the man as he bowed before her, his forehead to the ground, asking for forgiveness. Her doe-like eyes softened, and she let her breath through parted rasp-berry lips. "In times of trouble, none stand higher than their neighbor, sir.." She lifted her eyes from him, glancing off to the distant wall of the icy blue of the corridor that they were in. It was so.. cold. Despite the warmth of the thick clothing, the many layers of her dress and parka, there was a chill in the air that wasn't physical. People were worried, speaking in soft tones. Her own sister, Naira clung to her, her face buried in the fur of her own parka. Naira's wide blue eyes were on the man, neither girl knew he was a criminal of breaking traditional decree. The little girl leaned over her sister's lap, stirring the silver coils embedded in the fur tendrils which jingled softly like icicles falling. Her little hand was bounded in a thick mitten, thumb and first finger seperated. Her gloves were a dark mauve rose, with a palm pad made of grey seal leather. They were embroidered with a floral design, perfectly fitting for a little girl. Naira, while Nakamura's head was done, gently petted the man's, poking her nose and blue-tinged lips out from the fur wrap that lined her parka hood. "It'll be okay... my Daddy and Brother are out there fighting the Fire Soliders. We'll be safe." She buried her head, her nose and chin back down under the thick fur, lifting her eyes up to Ukaleq seeking approval from her older, idolized sister.
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Post by kaiapo on Jul 24, 2007 14:20:35 GMT -5
"It'll be okay... my Daddy and Brother are out there fighting the Fire Soliders. We'll be safe."
The faint words barely could be heard by the lurking youngster. The little girl sounded so confident...and Kaiapo believed that no matter what, the Water Tribe would survive. Still though, he was worried about his father. He still hadn't made it to the shelter. It was likely that he may have been roped into assisting fending off the Fire Nation soldiers. Last time his father and his fellow fisherman had helped in setting up net traps on the paths leading to the shelters. Perhaps he was doing the same, just elsewhere in the city.
Kaiapo took a seat as he pondered what to do. He still wanted to know about the man under guard. He didnt, however, think it'd be a good idea to bug the nobleman. He debated a bit, before deciding to just go up and ask one of the guards. What was the worse they could do? Tell him to go to go back to his mother?
So, without further contemplation, he stood up, stepped away from the wall, and walked up to one of the guards.
"'Scuse me...but why are you guarding that man?" he asked the guard to Nakamura's right.
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Post by taartoq on Jul 24, 2007 16:02:14 GMT -5
Taartoq swiveled his head toward the child as he spoke up, sky-colored eyes gazing, nigh-black hair rippling downward in loose waves yet sanctioned into braids or a wolf tail in parts. Padma also looked upward at the young boy, tufts of white fur from her hat lingering over her dark eyebrows while robes of indigo, azure, lavender, periwinkle, and lots of white fur adorned her willowy figure. Her hands inside the opposite sleeve to keep warm and her legs tucked to the side.
The other guard joined the two in casting his eyes on the boy soon after. The broad-shouldered man replied; "The young man is a...criminal...", affixing his watery sapphire-like orbs on the light-skinned teenager.
By his careful avoidance of using the word 'dangerous', Taartoq could tell that the man held somewhat of the same opinion as he. Not caring about the boy's wrongdoing, perhaps, but likely he also thought the trespass to be rather unimportant. The nobleman's eyes now drifted to his fellow guard who had a close-cropped beard and his weapon in clear sight, who then continued.
"He broke a sacred law, and therefore must be punished.", the man said in a tone adrift with apathy. He obviously didn't want to be cooped up in the bunker by his tone of voice. Taartoq didn't either. It was cold, relatively dark, and depressing to be amidst the throngs shivering from both coldness and fear. Sure, he was safe, but he could feel his sanity slipping away. Drifting in and out of a state of dissociation from the world around him. Hopefully he could conjure up a reason to exit the bunker soon, lest he slip into a catatonic state.
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Post by ukaleq on Jul 30, 2007 1:38:46 GMT -5
Her dark eyes lifted upward, much like a doe bull-antelope's would when called, the oceanic navy rimmed by dark lashes set against the carmel tones of her skin. There was a wide-eyed shock that slowly overcame her expressionable eyes...a criminal? Breaking sacred law..? Naira grew quiet as Ukaleq's arms tightened around her sister, her child-like innocent and wide eyes still staring at Nakamura who had remained silent. Ukaleq lifted a gloved hand, and turned the girl's head away. She herself turned her gaze away, glancing to the other side of them now. It seems.. what she had said earlier about Neighbors no higher.. did not apply when criminals were concerned. The woman dropped her head, her chin touching her chest as she closed her eyes, arms wrapped tightly around the girl slump in her lap. Why were they here..? In these cramped quarters..? Was the Fire Nation's threat really that serious that the city was rushed underground again...? They had not heard anything.. no one foretell of another attack. The Avatar was not here.. why were they striking again?
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Post by ebele on Aug 5, 2007 10:17:19 GMT -5
Ebele looked about at the children, who had departed with little ceremony to return to their families. Ebele had done her job at keeping them calm with one story, and with a second she had proved to the mothers that their children would be sleepy by the time they returned. This was better than nothing; at least they'd be quiet.
Slowly, Ebele stood, determined on finding out what was going on. Ebele imagined she heard the screams of dying people just outside the icy walls that caged them, imagined that the floors shook with impact from fiery attacks and watery waves and she stumbled on her feet clumsily, as if she were drunk. Of course, she wasn't. She ditasted drinking too much, well, she'd have a drink or two but only until she felt better and then she'd draw the line. She hated the dizziness, the waking up to a pounding headache. She hated the slow movements and fast talkers and the slurrers. She hated most of it, but in her family, drinking was a pass time.
Ebele looked about and spotted a soldier, not too far away, surrounded by a child, a young man, and a woman in fine furs. A noble. Sniffing silently, Ebele made her way over to the soldier-like man.
Coming up in front of the small group, Ebele bowed before facing Taartoq, in hopes that, in fact, he knew what was going on. "Excuse me, sir," she siad in her thick accent, "do y'e know what's goin' on?"
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Post by taartoq on Aug 5, 2007 13:59:55 GMT -5
Still highly aware of his surroundings as per usual, Taartoq glanced upward as the familiar-looking storyteller approached him and asked him what was taking place. He rose to meet her, standing some height taller than her, and respectfully acknowledged her bow with a brief bow of his own. But his sense of honor had been heightened by one specific thing - Ukaleq's reaction.
She seemed aghast, because the apathetic fellow guard mentioned it was a sacred law the boy had broken. Taartoq reasoned to himself that if the boy was defiant of this law, which other laws would he be apt to disobey? The boy seemed unlikely to try murder, or worse, but defiance of law was certainly something to watch out for. Order and discipline were what a thriving society ran upon, and one could not go against it and expect to be treated any other way than as a felon.
He swept back a strand of his hair before replying, his finger gracing the leather strand in his hair decorated by indigo beads and a white contour feather of an arctic flamingo-swan. This decoration and others showed his meticulous care for his appearance, which conveyed his high class standing. He glanced at the woman and replied, much more seriously than he would have before Ukaleq expressed her disdain, "This young man you see before you broke a sacred law."
Breaking to point toward the unfortunate young fellow, "He is a convict, and was brought here from prison for safety..."
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Post by gandalan on Aug 6, 2007 0:29:39 GMT -5
Nakamura stayed silent as Taartoq told everybody that he was a convict, and that he'd broken 'sacred law'. Had he? He wondered. He really had never understood why he was being punished, or how he was going to be punished. Was he simply going to be thrown back into the prison after the invaders were driven off?
That was true: he knew that somehow, the invaders would be driven off. That somehow, they would be defeated. He knew they would...
But he had his own battles to fight. The woman who had been talking to him, the very woman who had told him he was her equal right now, Ukaleq, had held her sister closer to her, and turned away. It was obvious that she wanted nothing to do with him. Inwardly, he couldn't blame her, but he still felt stung. Was this to be his punishment? Shunning for the rest of his life? What was he supposed to do? He sighed, and leaned back against the wall, watching Taartoq enjoy time with his wife. Another thing he'd never have: a wife. He sighed again, and turned his eyes sadly to the floor, watching nothing. The ice reflected his own face back at him, but horribly transfigured, in his mind, to some monster. Was that what he was? No! He hadn't done anything... but the treatment stung. He kept silent, knowing anything he said would probably be rebuked.
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Post by ukaleq on Aug 8, 2007 0:35:03 GMT -5
Gossip.. it was something more than welcomed in the uncomfortable silence of the bunkers as they waited and expected to hear the sounds of cracking ice and thundering snow any minute now. Ukaleq sighed heavily, her brows knitted together in concern and worry as the silence was overbearing. She moved Naira to sitting in her lap, adjusting her legs to another proper method of sitting for a leg, cross legged, given that her skirts and parka hid her legs entirely. She wrapped her arms around Naira's shoulders and held the girl tight, her chin perched on her dark hair, which was so similiar to her older sister's. Her dark eyes, though much more bluer than Ukaleq's were bouncing around the room, taking in all they could see. Nira smiled and waved at Taartoq, recognizing the archivist from the Archives Ukaleq to her to often. She did not seem to care either why the adults weren't talking to the sad looking man. She stared at him for a moment, before, like any good curious child, asking.. "What's your name..? Why are you sad..?" Ukaleq quickly waved a hand over the girl's face, brushing back her hair and whispered "Shhh.. we don't talk to strangers.." to which Naia accused "But you just talked to him.."
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Post by taartoq on Aug 8, 2007 12:56:51 GMT -5
Taartoq flashed an expression something like a half-smile and a smirk to the little girl - Ukaleq's sister - who waved at him. He recognized her as Naira, hearing her name said once or twice while at work in the Archives. The small circle of people was forming in the oil lamp-lit bunker, with Taartoq, Padma, Ukaleq, Nakamura, Ebele, Naira, the nearby preteen boy, and the axe-wielding guard all sitting or standing in that small group.
Taartoq glanced at the sullen young convict and sighed. Such a shame that he was convicted at that young of an age. The boy would probably never get married, and would live his life being treated differently unless he seriously atoned for his wrong action.
All the other Northerners dwelling within the bunker were still uneasy trying to cope with the hassles of evacuation, but it seemed that a few folks were beginning to notice the group forming at the far corner of the bunker. Almost enough to make the adults or older teens in or nearby the group feel a tad more comfortable...
But all that ended when the quietness and pleasantness of the moment was suddenly and rudely interrupted by the loud, destructive sounds of bombs. Tiny bits of snow fell as the entire structure shook and rumbled, but the bunker itself was mostly unharmed. It was built for this sort of thing.
But Taartoq jolted from place suddenly at the sudden blast. Pivoting his head upward almost instinctively, his narrow eyes widened and his pulse raced. He was not the only one to react, though - far from it, in fact. A large number of people screamed, babies and young children cried, and most of them hit the ground with their hands over their heads, terrified for their life. The moment they had all been expecting was horror and chaos all over again, just like last time.
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Post by ebele on Aug 8, 2007 14:50:12 GMT -5
Ebele's eyes narrowed slightly as she studied the convict in front of her. She couldn't even guess what he'd done to make him under arrest, and frankly, she was a little hesitant to even think about it. But Ebele was naturally rebelliant, even to her own mind, and she began to think about any sacred law he could have broken. One of the most sacred was the women's rights...But she had thought that that law was broken when Lady Katara from the Southern Tribe had come over baring her thick head and confidence. Perhaps she had been wrong.
Suddenly, the floor lurched beneath her feet and a great rumbling echoed throughout the bunker. Ebele lurched forward but caught herself before she fell over, and she stood on unsteady feet. Her eyes wide with mild fear. She clutched her over coat tightly, tempted to grab her neck where a necklace never lay. She stood up straight and looked around, before turning back to the small group.
With a sardonic smile, she said, "Well, d'at was exci'd'ing, ne?" As Ebele always was with a adults, she couldn't help the sarcasm that leaked into her voice. But unlike the many other times she would talk with adults, this time, however, the sarcasm wasn't rude or degrading. She was trying to ease the tension that had exploded in the room like a snow-ball on someone's back. And instinctively, Ebele spun on her heels to search for her small family, and she quickly spotted them against a far wall. Her father was hugging her sick mother closely, and Ebele sighed thankfully. Well, at least it wasn't so bad...
Another explosion, and Ebele held in a cry of surprise.
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Post by gandalan on Aug 8, 2007 16:16:19 GMT -5
Nakamura was slightly charmed with the young girl. But then again, she was innocent, and had no idea what was going on. At least, that was his assumption. He really didn't know, but the way she was pointing at him and talking about him, he could tell that she didn't really care who he was so long as he wanted to be her friend.
Hadn't he been that way once? Yes, he remembered, a long time ago, all the way back to before he'd been a true bender, when he'd try to bend things he knew he shouldn't for fun. He and his friend would have massive snowball fights in the city until the elders came to stop them, which they seldom did. Most of the time, they joined in the fight. He fondly remembered those days.
But they were gone now. He wasn't innocent. He'd traveled through the earth kingdom, quickly surfing along the water routes through the land, and then he'd come back to pay the price for his crime, willingly. It was so hard....
And then a large sound, as that of an explosion, made him suddenly jump up to his feet. He noticed that Taartoq had done the same. He immediately looked up to the ceiling for cracks. He didn't want one of THOSE getting through. There weren't any though, luckily. He sighed in relief, just as another explosion rose, and his breath felt frozen. He glared over at Taartoq. "What the hell are they doing?! They didn't bring explosives last time..." He looked up again, listening, waiting for another one he was sure would come.
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