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Post by wordbender on Feb 10, 2007 9:38:36 GMT -5
As soon as the first streaks of light pierced the dark sky, Hoji began to wake up. It was a slow process, but by the time there was enough light shining down to see decently the man had risen and was beginning his morning exercises, having moved a slight ways away from the camp site. Hoji took off his parka, leather boots - leaving only a thin layer of bandages between his feet and the earth- and his shirt, knowing that he moved better without his upper garments. He started with an incredible amount of stretching, a process that looked like a mix between yoga and soft tai chi.
After about thirty minutes of warming up, moving muscles and breathing calisthenics, Hoji settled into a deep waterbending stance, his hands moving fluidly as he directed water from his back pouch into a small ball in front of him, one leg straight, the other bent slightly. Another deep breath and Hoji moved, his arm extending apart from his body as he settled into a deep stance, leg that was slightly bent sliding forward, the other staying still, supporting his weight. The water was flowing between his hands and Hoji took another deep breath. His lips twitched.
Suddenly, his left hand, the one held behind him, moved even further towards his back and his right hand followed, his weight shifted and his feet moved, pushing his body in a circular motion his hands directing a small water-halo around his body. Then Hoji suddenly stopped moving, feet shoulder-length apart, hands held out in front of him.
The water was pooled in between his hands and he quickly pulled his arms apart, the water splitting. What followed was an intricate series of steps that made great use of the water-whips, a nearby tree scarred by the small ice-flecks left in the water. The whips switched from fluid water to hard icicles, to large scythe-like projections of ice in the air, Hoji's body twisting and shifting as his legs and arms moved in time to an unheard drumbeat.
Hoji noticed Suki coming out from her tent from the corner of his eye, the movement attracting his gaze, but he quickly ignored the Kyoshi warrior, concentrating again on his intricate kata.
His breathing remained steady, but picked up at a constant pace as his movement became more and more complex, shifting icicles becoming circlets around his body, needle-like spikes shooting out and being retrieved with a mere flick of the wrist.
The sun was beginning to make Hoji uncomfortable, normally at the pole the air at least was cold enough to keep you alert, but here the air was stick and humid, the sun only making the dense are even worse. Hoji shifted once more, water circling around him, the needles forming spikes and whiskers, the ice moving and flowing into shining scales that reflected in the morning sun. A deep breath and the shape moved, a large head forming as Hoji bent down, hands guiding the sea-serpent around his body. Another deep breath and the serpent disappeared, the water being bent easily back into the pouch that had slipped down to Hoji's hip.
Hoji rolled his shoulders, the movements making his slightly stiff. He looked around the path to see the damage he had caused. Not much, a few broken branches, a tree that looked like weevils had burrowed into it at a hundred places, another that looked scarred by a wild beast.
Minimal, was the term Hoji thought as he surveyed the forest. Not bad.
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Post by suki on Feb 11, 2007 15:18:28 GMT -5
Suki had managed to catch the end of Hoji's morning ritual, though she had not been watching him directly as she moved about the camp to begin packing everything up. Still she couldn't help her eyes from drifting to watch the spectacle of waterbending every now and then. By the time the Water Tribe ambassador had stopped his little workout, Suki had finished folding up the tarp she'd used for her tent and called over to him.
"If you're done carving your initials in that unfortunate tree, we'd like to be on the road in a few minutes," she said, casting a smirk toward Hoji as well as a few of the other warriors. Tsuya in the next tent returned a token chuckle, but the others seemed too engrossed in their own perpartations.
Suki cast the waterbender one more look before she shook her head and began coiling up the rope that had supprted her tent. She coldn't help but chuckle inwardly at the thought of their exchange the previous night.
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Post by wordbender on Feb 13, 2007 17:04:49 GMT -5
Hoji turned, looking at Suki, a bemused expression on his face. He raised a hand and pushed his hair out of his eyes, watching the earth girl as she shook her head. He smiled, turning over all the possible ideas that might be running through her thoughts. Hoji continued smiling, turning back to the tree. He shrugged and then walked over to where he had lain his shirt and quickly slipped it back on.
Grateful that he had little to pack, Hoji was quickly ready to begin marching again. He looked over at Suki, still preparing her tent for the march and then looked over at the other Kyoshi warriors, all tightening or re-tightening straps, brushing down dust from the tents or out of their hair. He even say a few girls adjusting their makeup, something that made Hoji's eye twitch slightly and caused him to avert his gaze.
He sighed and decided to recheck his pack, adjusting a strap and making sure that everything he had stuffed into it was well looked after. Shaking his head he decided that enough was enough. When would these girls be done?
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Post by suki on Feb 14, 2007 22:43:13 GMT -5
True to Suki's original estimate, the Kyoshi warriors had packed up their camp and prepared themselves for the day's travel within a half hour of waking. Hoji didn't seem too pleased by the final five minutes spent waiting for the girls to make sure their make-up and hair was properly applied. In truth, Suki was not unaccustomed to travelling and fighting without her customary face paint, but considering this was a foreign ambassador they were escorting on an important mission, she felt it necessary to maintain the formalities.
She also enjoyed watching Hoji squirm with annoyance at the sight of them applying make-up.
By noon the seven warriors, plus Popo, had covered over ten miles. With the ostrich-horse carryng most of the packs, the Kyoshi warriors were free to carry only their personal supplies of water and weaponry. As such, their feet didn't begin to complain until the sun was high and the forest around the trail began to thin until the tress came to an abrupt halt all together. A wide expanse of grassy plains stretched out ahead of them to the East. The trail continued on but was lost from view after it dipped over and around a few hills. Far in the distance, Suki could see the hazy peaks of the mountains that made up the spine of the Northern coast of the continent.
"We'll stop here for an hour and rest," Suki declared, reading the collective will of her fellow warriors. They had all slowed down at the edge of the forest as well as they surveyed the sudden change in landscape. The young leader could tell their footsteps werer growing heavier and they could use a break before beginning to cross the plains that lay between them and Ba Sing Sei. Suki focused her attention on Hoji then, and cast him a sort of playful smirk, "Unless, of course, the Ambassador would prefer to keep the pace up?"
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Post by wordbender on Feb 18, 2007 17:40:13 GMT -5
Hoji was sweating. Not profusely, but definitely enough to make a body uncomfortable. It was only natural, a hot, relatively humid day. Combined with a, literal, lifetime of living on an iceberg made for a formula that was bound to produce some degree of undesirable body functions.
Hoji looked miserably out onto the vast expanse of the Earth Kingdom plains, hiding his distaste behind an unconcerned mask, and winced inwardly, sighing as he stared at the unchanging scenery. He looked over at Suki and smiled slightly, his lips twitching upward in a placating expression.
"Personally, dearest Suki, I would prefer to stop indefinitely. However, as that doesn't seem to be an option- " Hoji gave another, overly-dramatic sigh, emphasizing that he was just playing with the young leader. "I will settle for any rest, no matter how long." He said, still smiling at Suki.
He hadn't forgotten last night, and he would make sure to use this time to further his conviction that he would continue to pursue the Kyoshi warrior. He sent Suki a shrug and a lingering gaze before turning to talk to Hana, again next to him in the marching line.
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Post by suki on Feb 18, 2007 23:47:19 GMT -5
Lifting up a few bedrolls and loosening the tie on a sack of food, Suki retrieved a few rolls from the packs loaded onto Popo's saddle. She bit into one of them, securing it with her teeth, and tossed a few others to Tsuya, Aoru, and Aoi. Kopa was preoccuppied tending to Popo and declined a roll, while Hana and Hoji seemed to be engaged in a light conversation. The leader of the warriors, stuffed the remaining rolls in hand back into the sack and decided to let them eat when they were ready. Grabbing hold of the bread still cutched in her teeth, she bit that piece off and brought the food away from her mouth as she chewed.
Tsuya had begun to wander a short ways off toward one of the trees on the edge of the forest. Aoru was near her, and the two girls motioned for Suki to join them. Swallowing her bite of food, she nodded and went to follow. The three took a seat kneeling in the shade of the tree.
Suki had barely sat down when Tsuya said coyly, "Looks like Hana's trying to claim your kill." Her eyes led Suki's gaze toward Hana and Hoji, and Suki couldn't help but chuckle slightly. Tsuya smiled, but Aoru sat impassively without much more than a look of quiet observation.
"She can have him," the leader of the Kyoshi warriors replied, turning away from the sight to regard Tsuya. She took a small bite of her roll.
"Awwww, but you two had such a connection last night," Tsuya went on.
"I didn't know eavesdropping was a hobby of yours," Suki replied cooly. Tsuya smirked, thinking the reaction meant that something had transpired between Suki and the Water Tribe ambassador.
"I could hardly get to sleep over the sound of you two talking.... Sounded like he likes you."
Suki laughed out loud. "He is every bit the swine I thought him on our first meeting."
Aoru nodded slightly and chewed another mouthful of her roll.
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Post by wordbender on Feb 19, 2007 11:11:00 GMT -5
Hoji bit into a small strip of jerky he had brought along, making small talk with Hana. He smiled at her, laughed slightly at all her jokes and even encouraged her to continue her inane prattle. She placed a light hand on his arm and he smiled, looking down at her.
It didn't escape his gaze when he saw Suki and two of the other warriors leave for the shade of the trees. Hoji had a sneaking suspicion of what they were talking about, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that even though these girls were still hardened warriors, they liked to gossip as much as the next female.
He smiled and excused himself from the attentive Hana, leaving her to talk with Aoi about the state of her makeup case. He walked over to where the three other girls were sitting and sat down behind and slightly to the right of Suki, letting his arm drape around her gently. Before the Kyoshi warrior had even opened her mouth, Hoji leaned in and whispered into her ear.
"No need to disappoint the gossips, Suki. They're going to talk about something, we might as well give them something to talk about, or their topics will never stray from the inane discussions of hair care and beauty products." He said softly into the Kyoshi warriors ear, his breath soft on her cheek.
He then pulled away from the girl, his hand sliding off her shoulder to support himself on the ground. He smiled pleasantly at the other two warriors, nodding. Hoji didn't actually see the glare that Hana shot at Suki, but Tsuya and Aoru caught the look full on, and exchanged a wary glance. This Ambassador was more trouble than they had first thought.
"Good afternoon ladies." Hoji said, looking at Tsuya and Aoru through bright blue eyes.
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Post by suki on Feb 20, 2007 13:50:53 GMT -5
Even as Hoji aproached Suki and began to sit beside her with a hand placed on her shoulder, the Kyoshi Warrior had fixed him with a look of bewilderment. She cast a plaintive look at Tsuya and Aoru, but they seemed equally surprised. Tsuya started to smirk slightly at the sight, and that look only grew more amused when the ambassador started whispering in Suki's ear. Aoru seemed entirely dettached from the situation as she finished her roll and stared blankly up into the tree branches above them. Perhaps she felt too mature to be intrigued...
Suki, however, was not very amused. Hoji had more or less inisted that they play at being a couple for the sole purpose of giving them something to talk about; although, Suki hardly believed that was his only motive. She cleared her throat slightly as Hoji greeted the warriors across from them. Then, with a casual movement Suki reached up to Hoji's hand with was resting on her left shoulder, and placed her own atop it. She turned her head toward the young man and offered him what seemed to be a perfectly cute smile and wink. Suki actually heard a gasp of surprise from the warriors across from her. The gesture and expresson were likely exactly what Hoji had been fishing for with his bold move, but Suki had no intentions of playing along with the ruse.
After holding his gaze for just a moment, Suki's hand suddenly grabbed a hold of Hoji's and isolated his index finger. With a deft shift of her grip, the Kyoshi Warrior managed to wrap her own fingers around it and squeeze it into a painful position that bent the last digit in towards his second knuckle on that finger. Her face remained locked in that cute smile, though her eyes were shining with malice as she pried Hoji's hand offer her shoulder and guided it back to his own personal space.
"In our home, boys who approach the Warriors of Kyoshi are fed to the Unagi." she said evenly, smirking at Hoji all the while. Suki gave his finger one last painful squeeze before releasing his hand. She cast a confident look toward Aoru and Tsuya, letting them know she had been in control of the situation all along, before adding, "Just be glad there are no giant eels in this part of the Earth Kingdom."
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Post by wordbender on Mar 3, 2007 20:52:01 GMT -5
Hoji winced as Suki bent one of his fingers back and returned his hand into his own comfort zone. He saw the amused and shocked expressions on both of the other Kyoshi girls faces and decided not to try his luck any further with Suki, at least not within the next few minutes. He smiled brightly at Suki, his long lashes covering up his bright eyes.
He glanced sidelong at Suki before shrugging and examining his fingernails absentmindedly, his head tilted, his black hair falling gently into his face.
"That must be one well-fed sea serpent." Hoji said, amusement and sarcasm veritably dripping from his mouth. "If the local boys caught on quick enough then I'm sure any man just passing by that might have spared you a second glance would be more than enough to make regular meals for the eel."
His head tilted to the side, his smile still fixed beautifully in place, his eyes sparkling at Suki.
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Post by suki on Mar 4, 2007 0:52:18 GMT -5
Without missing a beat, Suki responded to Hoji's attempt at flattery with, "Then we are lucky to live on an island..." Tsuya had aken out one of her fans at this point and was hiding the lower half of her face behind the bronze spokes of the weapon. Though her mouth was concealed, Suki could tell from her eyes that she was laughing at their exchange.
In truth, the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors was beginning to grow a little weary of the incessant flirting. She enjoyed the occasionally exchange of witty banter, but the Water Tribe ambassador had seemed to do nothing but provoke flirtatious encounters and assault Suki with flattery since he joined them. She also realized that some of her comrades were contributing to the problem. Despite his undeniably attractive appearance, she couldn't help but feel they were overlooking the pig-headed chauvanist within.
Looking at Aoru and her rather impassive expression made her grateful that at least one of her warriors was not intoxicated by Hoji's pseudo-charm. With a quick glance around them, she took note of Kopa still attending to Popo and realized that perhaps she was simply too young to really give Hoji serious consideration. Whatever the reason, Suki was eased by the knowledge that she wasn't exactly a minority in her distate for the Water Tribe ambassador. She only hoped the rest of the journey would pass by quickly.
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Post by wordbender on Mar 7, 2007 17:51:00 GMT -5
Hoji smiled brightly, his eyes creased in amusement. This girl might be slightly childish, but at least she was interesting. She hated to loose, she hated to be made a fool of, she took herself a little too seriously, but that was alright. Hoji nodded to himself, standing again even after the short encounter. He brushed himself off lightly, then stopped, and smiled down at Suki and the other two girls.
"Of course, although lucky might not be the right word." He said, smiling again and turning back to where he had set his stuff. He didn't know what any of the Kyoshi girls were doing, and right now, he didn't care. He had alerted the gossips that things might be afoot, and that's all he needed at this point.
There were going to be a few more small incidents that might loosen a few more tongues, but Hoji didn't want to embarrass or undermine Suki. No, he wanted to do something far more lasting. He wanted her to remember him forever. Maybe not in the best light either, ambition did have its price.
It wasn't just about Suki either. It was mostly about himself, although Hoji would never admit it. He was still pained by Kavik, as much as he hated to think about it. He needed a distraction, an obsession, a goal, a plan, anything, something! Hoji just needed another person to keep him from thinking about Kavik. Whether the other person liked it or not wasn't considered.
Hoji smiled to himself, not really realizing why he cared so much about focusing on this one girl, and sat down on a fallen log, facing the expanse of field before him.
This wouldn't be a fun day.
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Post by suki on Mar 8, 2007 14:14:41 GMT -5
Within the hour, the Kyoshi Warriors plus their Water Tribe cargo had forced themselves to resume their marching. Once more their were on the path to Ba Sing Sei, though the scenery had changed significantly. Where before there were trees surrounding them with shade and cover, out on the grassy plains they were completely exposed. In the early spring, the sun wasn't terribly oppressing, though the girls were still wearing clothing that was optimized for colder climates and it made sweat a bit of a nuisance.
Still, they continued along a very poorly-maintained trail that seemed at times to be no more than a worn patch of grass. Suki and Aoru took up the lead of their little brigade, followed by Hoji who was flanked by Hana and Tsuya. Aoi and Kopa brought up the rear with Popo between them. Aoi's leg was still a little tender from their fisrt battle, so she would occasionally lean on the ostrich-horse for support.
Together they covered about another ten miles of open grassland before twilight started to creep across the sky. Things had been fairly quiet along the way, and the most dangerous thing they'd encountered was an occasional jackalope; tiny rabbit-like creatures with a set of antlers that populated a large portion of the continent. Aoru had suggested they catch a pair for dinner, but Kopa had voiced a strong objection to killing anything that cute. Suki had gotten a bit of a chuckle at the reason against a good meal, but she managed to convince Aoru to let it go. She had told her it might be dangerous to light a cooking fire on the open plains where their location would be given away for miles around.
By the time nightfall had come around, the envoy had found a spot to camp by a lonely willow tree growing on the top of a small hill. There weren't any clouds in the sky, nor were there suitable resources to set up their tents, so the girls decided to just stick with bedrolls. They laid them out in an arc along the eastern side of the of the tree.
Suki was sitting by her own claimed spot and removing most of her weapons. She deposited her sword, shield, fans, and headdress beside her bedroll and looked around at the others.
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Post by wordbender on Mar 11, 2007 12:23:28 GMT -5
There were a few thoughts that passed through Hoji's head while marching. The foremost of which was the resounding idea that there might be a more hostile environment than the tundra. The endless grasslands, the beating sun, and the lack of mental stimulation made Hoji's trip slightly less than pleasant.
He amused himself with replays of war games that he had been exposed to over the years. Various situations with the Fire Navy, the Water tribe Ice Fleet and even the occasional Leviathan guru rising out of the water like a morphean nightmare.
Hoji noticed that the sun had begun to set, the cooler temperatures easing his body of its discomfort. The oncoming twilight made the journey from that point on much more bearable. When the sun finally set, the moon was shining down brightly on the small knoll Suki had managed to locate amid the seemingly never ending plains of the Earth Kingdom. Hoji was revived by his patron spirit, glad that his energy was somewhat restored by the lunar light.
He rolled out his bedroll absentmindedly, not really paying attention to where he was setting up his sleeping area. As a result, he nearly impaled his foot on Suki's yellow head gear, the pale color blending into the grassland shrubs.
"Sorry." Hoji mumbled, still preoccupied with his own thoughts, now adding in the vectors of sun and moon into his war calculations. He successfully spread his bedroll out near Suki's and sat down on his, hauling his bag into his lap to get out a couple of the scrolls he had managed to smuggle out of the Halls of Knowledge. He was so interested in editing a few of the war strategies that were enclosed in the scrolls that he didn't notice his necklace slip out from the leather pack. Tongue poking out of his mouth as he concentrated, the small charcoal stick clenched tightly in his hand as he scribbled characters in the margins of the war scroll.
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Post by suki on Mar 12, 2007 12:10:10 GMT -5
Suki had been meticulously straightening her bedroll with military precision when she heard Hoji's step fall beside her. "Sorry," he said quickly, prompting her to turn and see what he meant. When she saw he'd stepped on her headdress, her eyes narrowed dangerously and she scooped up the decorative piece of armor. One of the brass spokes was slightly bent with a smudge from Hoji's shoe. She almost hissed an insult at him, but from the looks of him, it didn't seem to be on purpose. Suki contented herself with mumbling something incoherent and she carefully began repairing the damage done.
It also didn't escape the Kyoshi warrior's notice that the Water Tribe ambassador had sent his own bedroll up uncomfortably close to hers. He'd been nonchalant about it, but it was hard for Sulki to believe it was purely coincidental. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he rummaged through his bag and removed a few scrolls. Whether they were important documents for him to deliever as part of his duties as ambassador, or simply a diary he'd been keeping, Suki wasn't sure. But what really caught her eye was something else that had fallen out with them.
Hoji didn't seem to have noticed. His face was screwed up in concentration as he made some kind of note on the paper. It was an almost laughable expression for the typically suave waterbender. Suki placed her headdress down for a moment, still sneaking surreptitious glances at the necklace, and reached for her sword beside the bedroll. She made a show of inspecting the scabard for scratches or dings, and when she was sure Hoji's attention was undividedly on the paper, she grabbed the wepon by the hilt and reached toward his bedroll. Using the tip of the sword's scabbrd, she slipped it under the leather string of the necklace and lifted it backinto her waiting grasp.
"This is pretty," she commented, studying the piece of Northern jewelry. There was a slight smirk on the corners of her mouth. She had a suspicion that this little trinket might have been a gift from the loved one he'd alluded to the previous night. It would explain, perhaps, why he wasn't wearing it, but also why he was keeping it with him. Then again, it might just be a momento his mother gave him before he left for the Earth Kingdom. She didn't really know, but she was curious enough to see his reaction.
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Post by wordbender on Mar 12, 2007 18:31:36 GMT -5
Hoji was scribbling furiously onto the scroll, concentrating hard on seeing in the dim light provided by the stars and moon. The charcoal smeared on his hands but he didn't care, to absorbed by his own stratagem to notice the smudges or the scabbard that Suki wielded expertly.
The necklace now decidedly out of his eyesight, not to mention a thought farthest from his mind at the moment, it came as quite a shock when Suki remarked on the trinket. His face registered a split-seconds worth of surprise that he had been careless enough to allow the necklace to slip out of his pack before swiftly rearranging his features to show a sort of nonchalant expression.
"Isn't it?" He asked, pretending not to care about the trinket. There wasn't really anything he could do about Suki holding the stupid thing. Taking it back now would probe more questions about the necklace, and Hoji didn't have any good explanation for how it ended up in his bag, and the truth was almost as bad as admitting that he still cared for Kavik - something he wasn't able to do yet. Telling himself that he was lying when he was talking to Suki was his way of denial.
"I hadn't realized it was in there." He said, turning back to his scrolls, making it look like the coolest thing in the world. Try as he could, Hoji couldn't get himself to concentrate on his war formula's and often caught himself sneaking glances at Suki, trying to see her reaction to the necklace and his bad attempts at apathy.
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