|
|
Post by hotaru on Mar 4, 2008 6:42:24 GMT -5
The past few days weren't exactly what the young girl would label as fun, her little cousin had a set of lungs on him that could wake the dead. When he wasn't snuggled against his mothers breast it seemed the pinkish mess was inconsolable.Kaiden managed the repairs on the home, there were a few things damaged by the siege but most of the house remained pretty stable, the back wall had to be put back into place, a few things needed to be replaced.
Kaiden mused he should be an architect because of the good job he did on the home, Mica and Hotaru simply rolled their eyes. Today the baby started one of his usual fits, Hotaru pushed down her bread and stew then grabbed her parka headed for the door. They wouldn't miss her today, a quick shout of good bye riled the baby once more. As the girl turned onto the street she winced, at least she was out of there.
Honestly that thing will have to calm down eventually. Wordlessly Hotaru ran her hands over her pleated braid, she was getting older, she imagined she should act more like an adult and not allow her hair to fall about her shoulders wildly. With a bit of a grin she imagined the boys in the bending class would notice the change and want to show off, she knew they couldn't care less but it was a nice thought, being the most popular girl in your mind.
Flexing her hands in the cold she pouted a bit, how she wished she cold do what they could. Glancing about her she noticed people were either working a bit away from her or not there at all. Carefully she pulled her hands into a position she'd seen Pakku teaching in the months before the first siege. She moved an imaginary glob of water about her body with all the seriousness of the boys in the class, the only difference was they could actually do it, she could pretend. Sighing she dropped the "water" and flushed a bit feeling silly. There had to be something she could do with her day,
|
|
|
|
Post by Nanuk on Mar 4, 2008 16:54:07 GMT -5
Hebirei silently worked on the small hut. There were still a few holes here and there that must have been made from falling ash and small bombs, but other than that, his work was nearly done. He stood on top of the building, slowly patching the roof, bending water onto the roof in layers, to make it sturdy enough. He wiped his brow, he was getting tired, for he had been working for hours. At least he was given a simpler more delicate job, fixing roofs, rather than the massive ones, like repairing the main wall outside of the city.
He looked down at his work, he was done. He stepped on the roof a little to test the durability and then slowly stepped down the ladder. As he reached the bottom, though, he saw a girl in the distance that looked like she was waterbending. As he focused harder, though, he saw that it was Hotaru. He honestly didn't know whether or not she could waterbend, but by the looks of it, she couldn't.
He couldn't decide whether or not to approach her, and he finally decided to leave her alone and finish his last roof. He moved his ladder one building closer to Hotaru and climbed to the top of the roof. As he reached to patch the next hole, though, his boot slipped on a piece of really slick ice and, with a small yell, he fell off of the roof. When he hit the ground, he conked his head and blacked out.
|
|
|
|
Post by hotaru on Mar 5, 2008 6:31:01 GMT -5
It seemed today was just decdened to be dull and boring as would everyday forever into eternity, well she could always go find some of her friends, but they were most likely busy playing, she could join. It wouldn't be too amusing they'd just be showing off their water bending. With a small blush she thought about her newest crush, maybe she could go see him, maybe say hi then run like the hills. It'd be too embarrassing to really talk to him anyway. Boys were weird like that.
She started moving at that point, perhaps if she wandered something interesting would turn up. After all thats how it usually worked, curiously she heard scrapings on the roof though, just as she looked up a boy fell down. Nearly panicking she put her hands over her mouth standing still before she rushed to his side assaulting him with "Are you okay?"s and "Do I need to get an adult?". He was blacked out it seemed and wouldn't respond, this only made the girl more nervous.
Fetching one of the adults working on the repairs the three managed to get him to the healing huts. Hotaru stuck around just for the sake of it, watching at some of the older water benders left on call tended to his head. She winced feeling sorry for him. Roofs were not a place where people should be though. It wasn't too often she got to see the glow of beading bending, she was amazed by it just as much as she was by it's offensive counterpart. She was envious beyond compare. Not like a polar triger could just wake up and decide it wanted spots.
|
|
|
|
Post by Nanuk on Mar 5, 2008 8:09:56 GMT -5
As he started to become conscious, he noticed a cool feeling on the back of his head. He couldn't remember how he got here, and he didn't know where he was. He still didn't feel he had the strength to sit up, so he layed back and tried to figure things out. He was able to remember that he was working on the roofs, then he went to his last one, then......oh, he had slipped and fell of the roof. As he remembered this, he realized that he must have hit his head on the ground and been knocked out.
He opened his eyes, he was in the healing hut, he knew it like the back of his own hand. He knew that moving his head would make it difficult for whoever was healing him, so he didn't move. He instead just looked around with his eyes only. He could see part of a figure of the person who was healing him. He then thought about how he got here, it wasn't much of a stretch. There were people around when he had fallen, other workers, and someone else he couldn't quite remember. He thought and thought, but he just couldn't remember. As he scanned what he could of the room, he noticed another person in the corner of his eye. He couldn't tell just who it was, so he decided to try and sit up. As he did though, everything began spinning and he just got a glimpse of who it was before he had to lay back down. "Don't move, please, you really hurt your head." he heard the healer say.
He couldn't think much with his injury, but he now remembered who it was, it was Hotaru. Did she get him here by herself? That seemed a bit far-fetched. She must have gotten help from the other workers, he figured. He then decided to just ask her straight out,
"Hotaru, do you remember me from the shelter? It's me, Hebirei. How did I get here?"
|
|
|
|
Post by hotaru on Mar 5, 2008 14:58:25 GMT -5
Hotaru watched some of the woman healing in amusement as they patched up Hebirei, honestly she didn't know what to do, it this was going to take longer than an hour she'd prolly leave and attempt to track his parents down but it seemed like she wasn't going to need to do that. Bouncing over to his side she quickly let her legs give out under her, her knees coming on the ground with her upper body folding over them into a kneeling position. Expectantly she looked at his head, she didn't know how bad it was, the woman mentioned it wasn't too bad, a small bruise maybe, nothing to be worried about.
The girl simply smiled at him happy he was awake and seemingly alright. " Mister Furukin carried you here, ya fell off a roof." She blinked at him, why was he bringing up the shelter now, he seemed rather silly. Shaking her head she put her hands on her hips huffing up with her cheeks slightly puffed out in annoyance. Why would she forget? He talked to her that day, she wasn't stupid just because she was little, in any case she was practically an adult, it would only be five or so years before she was old enough to get married. That made her old enough in her own mind.
" Your asking me if I remember when your the one who got conked on the head?" She shook her head letting her slight annoyance go as she placed her hands on her thighs her persona shrinking a little, her shoulders drooping and her face taking on a pout. " At least your okay, it was scary seeing someone fall off a roof....."
|
|
|
|
Post by Nanuk on Mar 5, 2008 20:02:12 GMT -5
As he heard his own voice, his own stupidity rang in his ears. Hotaru probably did remember him, if she didn't that would be surprising. He supposed that he just wasn't thinking clearly because of his injury. She then bounded over to him quickly enough to surprise him a bit. He could see her put her hands on her hips, she must have thought that he was thinking of her as forgetful. He slowly shook his head, punishing himself for being stupid enough to slip off of a roof in the first place, and to speak to Hotaru so condescendingly.
He turned to see Mr. Furukin standing in a corner. He recognized him as one of the workers from a few buildings down when he had fallen. He realized that he must have carried him there so he quickly thanked him. As he heard Hotaru say she was scared by seeing him fall, he considered what that must have looked like. He replied to her "Yes, I suppose it would be pretty frightening. But I think I'm better now."
As he felt feeling return to his head and the room stopped spinning, he spoke to the healer. "I think I can take it from here, if you have anything else to attend to." He then sat up and pulled a little water from his waterskin and slowly enveloped his small lump in water, slowly cooling and shrinking his wound. As he saw the healer was going to object, he interjected. "I can handle it, besides, it is good practice."
|
|
|
|
Post by hotaru on Mar 5, 2008 21:56:15 GMT -5
Continuing her pout she watched the small exchange between the healer and Hebirei, it seemed he was insistent on healing herself, idly she watched observing the way he moved the water, her interested expression faded a little, why was he trying to heal? That was something woman did, she didn't understand it in the least, it didn't make sense. Guys fight, girls heal, it was just what was done, honestly Hotaru couldn't understand. Either way she was just jelous
Tilting her head to the side she leaned forward. Now closer to the water tribe teen she curiously looked at his face questioning him silently in the way younger children generally did. " How come you heal? Most boys wouldn't waste their time learning something like that." To someone else it wouldn't be an interesting detail in the least but to her it was some kind of clue to questions about herself she generally left alone to rehash in her private thoughts when it came to mind.
At this point Mister Furukin nodded to the healers and got himself up, leaving the children to their games, after all he had a lot of rebuilding to get back to.
|
|
|
|
Post by Nanuk on Mar 6, 2008 7:53:13 GMT -5
As he slowly soothed his aching head, and the throbbing started to stop, he sighed in relief. The healer had given up her campaign to heal him herself. He then turned to see Hotaru leaning closer to him, and it surprised him, resulting in him losing control of the water for a moment. The water splashed on his parka and he sighed, slowly drawing the water from his clothes and returning to heal his wound. As he turned to Hotaru and listened to her question, he sighed again. He knew that this question would come up eventually. Why was he healing, that is a woman's job. He merely turned to her and explained as best as he could. "Well, when I was smaller, probably younger than you, I hurt one of my classmates really bad, I used to get angry really easily. I felt very guilty and so I wanted to stop hurting people. You can imagine how happy I was to find out that not only could I stop hurting people, but I could help them too. I really don't understand the gender barriers that this tribe has set up."
As he withdrew from his explanation, he noticed that most swelling had been reduced, and there was no chance of his wound breaking and bleeding. There is nothing left to be done, he realized, so he put his water back in his waterskin. He then stood up, and practiced keeping his balance, he wasn't having problems. He walked over to the wall and tried walking in a straight line, successfully. He mentally noted that there was no damage to the brain, just a bruise. He was relieved, to say the least, so he then allowed himself to focus on his conversation with Hotaru.
|
|
|
|
Post by hotaru on Mar 10, 2008 19:28:35 GMT -5
Hotaru nodded not really knowing what else to say to it, honestly there was some sense in it, not like she was following tribal rules either. It seemed her entire family was composed of rule breakers though, from her uncle marrying a earth kingdom girl to her mother, and even Hotaru herself.
She smiled a bit unable to find anything decent to say in response, there was no point she could really make that would fit better. Honestly she felt the same. " Well I think you should maybe stop hurting yourself before you worry about other people" She giggled a little, he seemed to be okay now, at least he stopped healing himself which she saw as a good sign.
The girl got up smoothing down her parka with her bare hands. The mittens hanging uselessly on strings from her sleeves, she kept loosing them so her mother eventually started sewing them onto her clothing, it wasn't he fault her hands were never really cold. Usually they were warm, though it didn't mean she still couldn't get frost bite if she played in the snow too much. " Need me to walk you home?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Nanuk on Mar 11, 2008 7:17:42 GMT -5
Hebirei walked back over to Hotaru after testing his balance, and seated himself. He listened as she talked and then proceeded to giggle. Wow, she really likes to giggle, he thought. He thought about what she had said, about thinking of himself first, and nodded silently. "Yeah, I suppose if I am hurt, then I can't heal others, either. But, in my defense, that fall was purely accident, there was nothing I could've done."
He then noticed her stand up, and proceeded to stand up himself. As she offered to walk him home, he silently laughed, and he couldn't help but let a little chuckle escape his lips. First of all, his house was next to the Healing Huts, so it wouldn't be hard for him to get there. Secondly, it just seemed funny that Hotaru would ask him to walk him home. Then, when he was able to suppress his chuckles, he said, "Um.. Thank you for the offer, but I live only a few yards down the way. If you still want to, you can, but I think I can manage."
|
|
|
|
Post by hotaru on Mar 11, 2008 8:22:58 GMT -5
Hotaru smiled at the teenager holding back her laughter, she was a girl after all, giggling laughter and smiling were second nature on top of that her age played apart in it. Still being out in the open instead of cramped in a cave might have done a little for her mood. More often than not being in the sunlight did wonders for a persons disposition. Back to her bouncy outgoing self she was more than willing to escort Hebirei home, after all she wanted to make sure he didn't fall and bump his head again.
" Say what you want but I think you were looking at a pretty girl and forgot your balance." Hotaru looked off coyly lacing her hands behind her back in a poor attempt at looking innocent. She'd seen it before, especially in her uncle before he got married and turned boring, any girl with enough sway in her hips would get him doing rather stupid things. He was a lot more fun back then, he'd take her sledding or surfing in their kayaks, now he had a baby, and Mica. Not so much fun anymore. Maybe she'd visit the training grounds later, run around with the boys her age, or perhaps a few of the girls she knew would be watching the warriors with wide eyes. Blushing a bit she shook the thought from her mind, boys were..... weird....
|
|
|
|
Post by Nanuk on Mar 11, 2008 13:55:57 GMT -5
He could practically see the optimism and hyperactivity emanating from the child, and he couldn’t help but smile, for it was infectious. He heard her little jest as to why he fell and he was puzzled. He didn’t see any other girls there besides Hotaru, so why would she say such a thing? Did she mean herself? He hadn’t really thought of her that way, but he supposed they were only a few years apart, even though at this point it seemed like a much bigger difference. He honestly didn’t know how to respond, and he felt a very childish, “nuh-uh” creeping up in his throat, but he forced it down. He really didn’t know what to say, he started to fidget and if he hadn't done something soon, he would've ended up saying something very stupid, so he decided to not say anything, and he start to walk out of the Hut. As he was near the exit, he shouted back to Hotaru, “Well, ya’ coming?” He then held out his hand and said, just to please her, “I might need someone to help me keep my balance.”
|
|
|
|
Post by hotaru on Mar 12, 2008 5:39:19 GMT -5
The 'nuh-uh' caused Hotaru to giggle at him in amusement, even though he was older than he he didn't act very mature, she covered her mouth with her hands trying to hold back the laughter but it was of no use. Just like her mother always said, boys were simple things, don't expect too much out of them. Then again she didn't yet understand the full concept of that phrase, in her teenage years perhaps it would all become clearer. Boys were as of now, a foreign idea, one that often caused butterflies in her stomach and an odd fluttering in her chest. There was only a small base appeal, and an odd desire to want their attention.
Still she now hopped along to keep up with Hebirei not wanting to be left behind, it was a concept most children grasped fully well, a need to keep up or be left behind, more than enough to get her moving. "I'm coming!" A few strides settled her at his side ready to be used as a human crutch or whatever he willed. With a smile she looked back to the huts waving to the woman with in happily. Aside from her pale skin there was nothing blatantly wrong with her, just an average hyperactive energetic child. " Hotaru at your service."
|
|
|
|
Post by Nanuk on Mar 13, 2008 13:58:26 GMT -5
He strolled toward the exit slowly, giving Hotaru a chance to catch up. Sure enough, as he looked over, she was bounding next to him like an obedient puppy, just bursting with energy. He couldn’t help but smile inwardly, he knew that would work. She seemed like the type not wanting to be left behind, so he gladly gave her the opportunity to be useful. He figured he wouldn’t need a crutch, but why not be careful? Plus, it gave Hotaru something to do.
He slowly walked along the rows of houses, and figured he would need a little time for regaining his balance completely, so he walked around the same rows of houses a few times. He found the silence awkward, so he posed a question, “I haven’t seen you in awhile, oh yeah, and how is your cousin? Kaiako? No, Kyupia? No… um.. what was his name again?” He couldn’t believe that he forgot such a thing. Feeling embarrassed, he looked away for a moment, and then looked back and waited for her answer.
|
|
|
|
Post by hotaru on Mar 13, 2008 17:21:38 GMT -5
It wasn't hard at all for Hotaru to keep up with Hebirei, after all it was early still and youth had some way of drawing energy from the very air when they wanted to. Her mind was bouncing around, from what was for lunch to how she'd spend her day and back to when her parents would be pulling back into town. Her mother would be upset she missed the baby but he was still breathing and in rather good health. No one could complain about it all that much.
Hotaru glanced over to Hebirei noticing that they'd walked this path before, she was a little surprised, how many times had they gone around? Honestly she hadn't been playing close attention at all to where they were going. " Me? I'm okay, and Kyuso has big lungs for such a small body." She made a small grimace illustrating that he could yell, it was often a sign for Hotaru to go off and play, leaving her aunt and uncle to figure out what he needed. " How about you? Are things with your family cooling down?"
|
|
