Layover in the Northern Forest <Wilderness, EK>

[jialingjin]

With more than double their original numbers, the small band of rebels had crossed the northern woods that edged the western great lake of the Earth Kingdom. They had crossed the first major river that ran into the lake before they had gotten to a small village, the first sign of Earth Kingdom friendly civilization they had seen in a while. For Jialing and Reed it was a chance to stock up on supplies and load themselves down even more like pack mules after gorging themselves on some finely cooked meals. It was days like that when Jialing though about making Jin a harness and having him pull some of his weight on a sledge. They'd even gotten put up in a rebel-friendly villager's barn where they were now found. Using bales of hay and straw as chairs and a table, they were surrounded by ostrich horses, chicken pigs, and a few other animals of questionable body odor.

It was homey though, and Jialing had already staked a claim on a throne-like pile of haybales, an old blanket spread over it to keep it from poking her. They had a small contained fire in the barn, built into a rounded metal pan that was propped up with some clay bricks. They had been here a day already.. resting, relaxing.. and for the tattooed man, getting his arm looked at and properly bandaged. Shame there weren't any water benders around.. Ah well. Jialing tilted her head to the side, humming a bit as she wilted away at a new arrow shaft, using her dull kitchen knife to shave the bark off of a fairly straight stick she had scavenged from a tree. a pile of finished and unfinished shafts rested by the 'throne', overlooking their make shift fire pit. Above them, a loft, accessible by ladder and it was up there where Jialing had thrown her and Reed's futons.

Jin had made a nest in a ruined haybale, tearing the twine apart and flattened it out. He was currently out like a light, even as the light outside shown in through the open doors onto the wooden, scratched up and distressed floors that were covered with dried mud and what not. It might have been a barn.. but it was a cozy barn. And the woman of the house was a damn good cook, something Jialing wasn't.

[gengoro]

The thought of a barn for a current area of rest was in fact really smart. It appears that Jialing knew what she was doing. The barn was in reasonable conditions and the haystacks were tightly bundled with cord and rope.

Laying his supplies near a window, Gengoro sat down and leaned on the wall of the barn overlooking Jialing’s area. Nearby in a corner, Tseng Wei placed his goods then piling hay to keep things hidden. He walked over to Gengoro with a smile.

“Alright, I’ll be heading over to the nearest doctor to get my arm looked at,” Tseng Wei stated. Gengoro nodded in approval.
“I’ll be getting supplies for us soon enough,” Gengoro replied. Tseng Wei acknowledged and headed out the barn doors. With his eyes closed, Gengoro thought about what had happened over the last few days. He found a strange man that knew how to get money, he taught him the martial arts, fought one of the most dangerous group of women in the Fire Nation, and is traveling with a group of people that, even if they didn’t accepted it, needed help.

Gengoro opened his eyes and noticed that Jialing was making up some new arrows for her bow. Can’t helping but to ask, he approached her with his sword back with the rest of his supplies.

“If you want, I can help you with those. Also, if you want, I can help teach you how to use the bow with more effect?” Gengoro asked warmly.

Tseng Wei sub-plot coming soon

[jialingjin]

It wasn't much, but she needed new arrow shafts having lost a number in the few weeks.. or hell, maybe it had been a few months that she and Reed had been on the road. Never one skilled at chipping arrow heads, even after the lessons her brothers had given her, Jialing had kept her converted set of 50 metal arrowheads, the number having dwindled to about 32 over the two years since she left home. Even if she wanted to, she had forgotten all the fine little notes and details and specifications. So, her 32 remaining arrowheads were stored either on shafts, tied with twine or were stored in their pouch on her harness. Retrieving them was usually easy. On the rare instance that Jialing actually shot an animal, Jin was usually so quick to catch the thing, that it couldn't get away and she could dig out arrow.

Of course, when you're being chased by the Fire Nation Princess and her goonies, it's hard to run back and grab your arrows.

She held the knife in her dirty, stained hands with her long fingers gripping the worn wood tightly. The metal ring and pins that held the blade in the two halves of wood were stained with mineral deposits. The blade itself was dull and chipped, flaking away the soft bark which she had cracked and softened first by soaking the wood. Her legs were kicked up over the 'armrest' made out of a bale, her thick pants and the leather suede-like hide of her boots protecting her shins from the nasty pokes and prods of hay and straw.

The others had dispersed. She wondered briefly what Reed was up to.. no doubt bartering for supplies in the village with Hibiki, the kid they'd rescue from the mines at his side. The little tag along.. If he hadn't gotten involved.. well dammit it'd still be her, Reed and Jin. Tsuya.. who knows. Maybe she had ventured into the town, trying to get word maybe on her comrades. Or maybe getting a facial. Jialing cringed at what that makeup could do a person's skin.
So, being left alone with the two men who had joined them was the only choice she had left. They had spoken among themselves quietly, ignoring the lanky girl in the back. She had smirked to herself, savoring the moment of eavesdropping even if it didn't produce anything interesting.

He sat across the opening from her. Whereas her 'throne was a pile of haybales around a thick, supporting beam, he had chosen to drag one under a window, opposite of her. He was a strong man with leathery-skin, his face pockmarked and worn from his travels. The bone structure of his cheeks, of his broad nose and of his jaw apparent. Dark stubble graced his face, his stringy, scraggly hair pouring from his scalp where it had been trained back after many years of probably being pushed back by hand or into topknots. It hung over his shoulders, greasy and dirty. Not that Jia minded grease and dirt.

Silence passed between then as sunlight shimmered on the distressed wooden floor between them, coming through the dirty and dusty window behind Gengoro. It was him who made the first move, rising to his feet, something Jialing paid little mind too.. but it was the sound of boots on the creaking floor that caused her to glance up at him with her mud-colored eyes, an eyebrow quirked.

"If you want, I can help you with those. Also, if you want, I can help teach you how to use the bow with more effect?" He commented in a deep, gruff voice that already sounded hoarse from years of use. Her sharp nose crinkled as she lifted her up lip in an Elvis-like sneer, narrowing her eyes. How dare he insult her aim! Sure.. It wasn't the greatest.. and .. she couldn't hit anything unless it stood still for 3 minutes like a rabbit but.. but.. STILL!

"..I'm doing just fine, thankyouverymuch." The girl countered sourly, running the last four words together in a very, snooty way. Infact, she even gave a little neck roll, swiping her knife across the stick.. removing one thin ribbon of dark as she did so.

[gengoro]

Gengoro signed at Jialing’s cold shoulder approach of things. Feeling a little disappointed, he goes back into his part of the barn. He faces her in order to watch and make sure she didn’t do anything stupid.

“I can understand if you are still upset,” Gengoro tried to converse, “Your people have been through a lot. I can understand if you don’t trust people, especially with our people. We caused so much pain invading your lands. The Water Tribe people probably have the same feeling as you. I can understand that. I never liked the idea of a war anyways.”

He pulled his sword out of the scabbard, “This was the only thing good I got out of the Fire Nation, this one sword that was made specially for me by my father. I was made to be a unique infantryman. How ironic, since I was wanted for treason. I left behind my brother, I left behind my wife, and I left behind my ancestors.”

He looked deep into the reflection of the blade. He saw an uncouth man that barely shaved and bathed from his travels cause he couldn’t afford it. He sighed deeply as he looked back at Jialing, who still was digging her knife into the wooden sticks to make arrows.

“Are you sure you don’t need help?” Gengoro asked her again.

[jialingjin]

Seeing him sigh and turn away gave her even more reason to continue to wear her smug little smile. She half-closed her eyes as she looked down to the kitchen knife in her hand, sweeping off another bit of malleable bark, turning the crooked and bent shaft over in her hand. Then, that voice grated her nerves again. Tossing the bare shaft into the pile down by her feet, she reached down to grasp another twig, with a leaf still attached to it.

"My people haven't been through jack. Lochan's been apart of the annexed territories for over 80 years." She shot back at him, making sure to stick him with a sharp glare from her eyes. Jialing turned those lips down into a frown, lines appearing on her forehead as she displayed her displeasure. She snorted, quickly slitting off the small leaves into her lap that served as a gathering spot for all the whittled off bark. Twirling her kitchen knife, a dull practically useless blade except for jobs like this in between her fingers, she cantered her head to the side, unintentionally listening. "I really don't give two shakes of a lion-lamb's tail whose in charge as long as I can make the money to live my life the way I want to. Fire Lord or Earth King, just leave me alone."

The tone of her voice was snarky, snappy, and carried a tone of perky acceptance. Having grown up subjected to the Fire Nation's taxes and the movement of troops through the sleepy little village, there was nothing for her to be upset about. Nothing at all. Which was just fine for her. He continued to drabble on about what all he left behind. Yadda, yadda, yadda, sobstory was all Jialing heard though. She kept to her business, working her stick as straight and as smooth as she could, make a notch in the end for her arrow heads and notches on the back for fletcher feathers to be later installed.

Her eyes glanced over again as he drew a sword, the metal catching the light and throwing off a photoshop-esque lens flare towards her. She winced, and her frown turned into more of a scowl. Spirits she hated when people reflected on their past. It always made her uncomfortable. I don't need to hear about your brother, your wife (though I question her taste) nor your ancestors. ..Traitor. Pfft. Figures. She smirked, eyeing him with narrowed, but amused and smiling eyes. Tilting her head she further ingrained bits of straw into the puckered hair that stiffly hung from the back of her head. "Look. My brothers couldn't improve my aim, and I know you can't."

As she spoke, she lifted the current shaft in her head up, looking at it with an examining eye. She was looking for any severe bends it, or elbows where a smaller branch or where leaves had been once. Her arrows weren't perfect straight shafts, but she got them down to as perfect as she cared to. The fact that you're a traitor period means we can't trust you.. Jialing mused, sticking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth as she worked in the awkward silence. Yet, the reflective qualities of his blade, combined with the north facing window right behind him and the dim light of the barn was not mixing good with her eyesight. The rusted and chipped blade slipped, obviously Jialing wasn't holding it right either as it rammed right into her thumb. She yelped for just a moment, quickly drawing her free hand away and letting the shaft fall into her lap. She stuffed her thumb into her mouth. Her voice was muffled obviously when she grumbled.. "Put that damn thing away."

[gengoro]

He looked hard into the blade. What he saw was a broken man. A man who in his moment of weakness let his nation down, and worse, let his family suffer for it. His name stricken from his family roots, he is now left alone. He wouldn’t mind having friends in the world, but everyone that he meant were so close minded. And Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe citizen, criminal, or soldier that knew of his country of origin hated him and immediately attack him. Sure, he had Tseng Wei, who is a little more than strange, but only because he’s an outcast from the Fire Nation as well. Now he tried to befriend some native Earth Kingdom travelers, but they are cold as well, especially the girl Jialing. He had no corrupt intentions toward her, only to be friends with her. Still, even she was cold as ice toward him, and more so at his friend. He closed his eyes for a few seconds to reflect on what he has done wrong.

However, more wrong things happen when he tries to think about them. After looking at the reflection on the sword, he didn’t realize the light on the blade reflected into Jialing’s eyes. Gengoro heard Jialing yelp in what sounds like pain. He looked over as she was nursing her wound on her thumb as she was cutting with that dull blade. Gengoro dropped the sword and rushed over to her.

As he approached her, it looked like she cut herself on accident from Gengoro’s negligence.

“Are you OK?” he asked her, “Let me look at that. I know some first aid and can treat that so it wouldn’t get infected.”

[jialingjin]

Spirits above, this guy was quick! Dropping his sword, he quickly crossed the space between then as she yelped. Eh? She stared up him first with confusion and surprise, and then she scoffed at him. Wide eyes quickly became narrow slits as the corners of her eyes crinkled up and she laughed, pulling her thumb out of her mouth and showing him that the cut had stopped bleeding.

"I'm fine. Just a cut. Didn't lob of my whole finger this time." And she smiled coyly at him, arching one brow. "See? I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself." With that she looked down at her lap and picked up where she had left off, wrapping her dirty, long fingers around the knife's handle and grasping the nearly finished stick. Giving it a few flips in her wrist, she glanced down to it and then lifted her head back up to him. "..Don't be so jumpy." Jialing spoke softer, quirking one eyebrow as she offered him a somewhat teasing smile that pulled at the corners of her lips. "We're not going to turn you over to the Fire Nation just cause you're a traitor to them." She confessed to calm his fears, if he had any. A man of his physical strength probably had no fears.

[lili]

Huddled on a stack of hay, leaning against the rough wall of the barn, Tsuya dozed. This stop had been better than anything she could have asked for. Food, real home-cooked meals, after trekking through the forest was quite a welcome thing and she never imagined bales of hay could be so comfortable. Her unpainted face was calm with sleep as her consciousness drifted out. Camping always left her feeling exposed and unable to fall into a deep rest. Now with a roof over her head and walls covering her sides Tsuya felt she had gained some amount of peace of mind.

At least when her traveling companions got along. They weren’t terribly loud but Tsuya had always been a light sleeper so Jialing’s cry out had her sitting bolt upright, eyes dodging back and forth to locate the problem. The back of one hand rubbed at her left eye while the other reached above her head in a stretch. No one was attacking and the barn wasn’t going up in smoke around her. The large figure of the man before the slight woman caught her awareness and she stood, brushing off bits of hay that had lodged in her sea green skirt. A few golden sticks had also woven themselves in her hair and she used her fingers to comb them out. Would it be too much to assume they were finally getting on nicely? No one was shouting, which had to be a good thing. Her dark, sienna brown hair hung about in a frenzy and she tied it back again to keep the larger ends smoothed down. Being able to wash the dirt and sweat off her body had also been a perk.

“What are you two doing”? Tsuya inquired, pulling the slate gray gloves out of her waist band and slipping one on. Feet remaining planted where she stood, Tsuya felt like doing little besides falling back into her nap. However, she felt a need to question their stay here. Reaching the rebel outpost was her concern for then she had a better chance of rejoining her troupe. “Debating over who’ll carry all the supplies you’ve been gathering?”

[gengoro]

From what it looked like, the cut wasn’t too deep to worry about stitches, but it might need to be wrapped up to prevent infection. From the way that Jialing has spoke, it wasn’t a big deal. A sigh of relief escaped Gengoro’s lips. With that solution, Gengoro sat down to relax a little.

“Well, at least it wasn’t anything serious,” he said. He saw Jialing use the knife again to make the arrows. He reached behind him to pull out his own knife and handed it to Jialing.

“Here, use this,” he said, “It has a sharper edge to it, so it will cut more smooth, and less likely a chance to do what you did a little bit ago.”

The next words from her mouth was, “We're not going to turn you over to the Fire Nation just cause you're a traitor to them,” made Gengoro’s eyes widen. He snickered a little bit. The notion of being turned in by the locals were always on his mind, but for some reason, he didn’t mind it as much from her.

“Well, that’s a relief,” he joked, “At least I know you won’t turn me in. Even if you did, chance are, there isn‘t any sort of reward for it. I don‘t trust the military or the government to keep their promises.”

A rustling came from behind Jialing and noticed Tsuya, the Kyoshi Warrior standing as she spoke her words.

“Well, I wouldn’t mind carrying all of the things, if I need to,” Gengoro said as he replied to her statement.

[jialingjin]

She smirked, self-satisfied as she proved him and his silly worries wrong. Score one for Jialing, She mused in her head, pleased with herself as she went back to working on her arrows. Her thumb was only throbbing like a son of a speckled wolfbat but she wasn't about to let him see that. But, he did not move away immediately, no matter how many times her mind yelled 'Shoo! Go away now!'.
Yet, before she even got another clean swipe across the stick, he had spoke again.

“Here, use this. It has a sharper edge to it, so it will cut more smooth, and less likely a chance to do what you did a little bit ago.”

Mentally, she wanted to scream a little bit. Why the hell did he care? She was just some scrawny girl with a pale, horse like face, and raggedly, un-bendable hair. Instead, she glanced back up at him, looking over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow and 'huh?' look. He was offering her a much nicer knife. One that had been taken care of it well enough to still have a shiny blade, though the leather wrapped handle was still worn by use and the brass rivets no long had their luster. Her head recoiled a little when that was the first thing she saw over her shoulder and after a moment, Jia gingerly lifted her hand. Her own kitchen knife was still gripped in her palm as she took his offered blade. Holding both, she lowered her hand to drop her own gently in the pile of shaving in her lap before she squared up her shoulders and looked it over.

It was then that Tsuya appeared from seemingly no where, scaring the bejeebus out of Jialing when she spoke up.
“What are you two doing?” There was a brief pause.. maybe half a second, before Jialing literally jumped in her seat. By sheer luck she managed not to drop the sharper knife she was now holding, but her arrow shaft went flying and the shaving in her lap did too, popping up like popcorn. Her heart raced, practically leaping out of her chest as she quickly put a hand to her chest. She shot Tsuya a look that just screamed 'Dear Spirits, Woman!'

“Debating over who’ll carry all the supplies you’ve been gathering?” With her mouth hanging agape Jialing turned her head away. "... No, nothing really."

[gengoro]

Gengoro was a little surprised when Jialing jumped. By instinct, his initial reaction was to draw his sword. However, he learned to loosen up with this group, since they really couldn’t do him any harm. Bits of shavings were in his hair. Now with a new task at hand, he picked the wooden shavings from his dirty hair. By the spirits, even with his survival training, what he wouldn’t do for a decent bath right about now. The Kyoshi Warrior asked who would be carrying all of the equipment at their next march. He smiled coyly after pondering about it for a few seconds.

“If anything,” Gengoro spoke, “I would usually let Tseng Wei carry all of the stuff anyways just for a workout. He needs it after all.”

He laid down in the matted hay left on the ground. It almost felt cushy enough to sleep on without a mat. He never felt this comfortable in a while, so this was a great reward for him. He sighed in relief. He looked up toward the wooden ceiling. He could see the dust in the air from the rays of light that leaked through the cracks. The air here was a little stagnant, but it was still natural.

“So Jialing,” he spoke softly, “What is it that you do back at home?” He wanted to get to know his traveling companions some more, even if a few were a little brazen with his appearance. He didn’t know the boy as well as the other guy accompanying them, Tsuya seems pretty neutral, and Jialing was usually hesitant to opening up her feelings.

[jialingjin]

Where was Reed? Her mind wandered towards him as she looked off distantly towards the open door of the barn. It let in a thick shaft of light, but the box of warm, sunglow reached only so far in. The rest was clad in shadows, except for the beams that came through the windows and the holes in the ceiling and roof. He had left hours ago to go buy supplies, inquire about the town they were in and to get information.

She was getting worried.

A heavy sigh escaped her, her hand brushing back the hair from her face. She was tired and sick of working on her damn arrows. With both Gengoro and Tsuya, her stride had been interrupted. Gengoro's knife was set aside, placed down next to the bales of hay she had fashioned into a throne-like seat. It was practically lost among the loose straw, the blade tucked under the base. She took her dirty hands with their thin white lines across her fingers and palms and lifted the shavings out of her lap, only to dump them with little fanfare next to her. She'd take care of the rest of them later.

She pursed her lips, sitting straighter up. One arm slung across the back, grabbing at the twine that held the bales together, her other fist bracing her as she twisted around to sit properly. Jialing's muddy eyes were down to the ground, starring at the toes of her suede-like rabbit skin boots.

"So Jialing.. What is it that you do back at home?” He spoke again, addressing her. She had ignored what he had said previously about Tseng Wei, the man with all the tattoos being a pack mule. For a moment, she stared at the ground with her lips agape. Her eyes were distant, for a moment she was lost inside the nothingness that currently occupied her mind. Sometimes it was good to not think for a moment. Her head bobbed up, strands of taupe colored hair hanging into her face. "Huh?" She made a small noise, brain beginning to process what was asked of her.

Her home? Jialing pressed her lips together, the salmon color draining under the pressure for a moment. Her thin shoulders shrugged, crinkling the junglegreen tunic she wore. There wasn't much to tell. Nothing exciting at all. "...I helped on the farm." It was the truth. Her family ran a small farm in Lochan, a farming village that had once been a larger city centuries ago. She had woven too, but, like the faint thread marks on her hands, that interest had faded in two years.

[gandalan]

Hibiki had made his bed for the time being in a corner of the upper loft, near Reed's. He'd stuck to Reed and Jin like glue since they'd gotten away. He didn't feel particularly safe after what had happened in the forest with that fire nation trio.

He lay on some hay that he'd spread out for himself. He'd been given a small blanket to put on top of it, which he'd been thankful for. Though hay was comfortable, it was also very pointy, and it hurt his back.

He'd been able to wash up a little during the time they'd had their little layover. He was thankful for the rest. One thing he'd noticed was this: He was gaining weight. Though he was still a shrimp by all standards, he was not quite as tiny as he had been. He was happy for this. His body needed it, and it meant, for once, that he could look down his body, and NOT see his ribs. Unless he pulled his hands up, but in any case, it was an improvement.

As he had reflected on his journey so far, he realized that though he still had an intense longing to see his friends again, he thought of them less and less, consciously. He realized that he simply wanted to help his new friends, because, hopefully, then they'd get help to go rescue his friends, back in the village.

Presently, the commotion below caused him to wake up. Reed was still knocked out on his cot, snoring loudly. Hibiki heard the voices distinctly below him. He gingerly got off of his cot, and looked around. He was still wearing his only clothes, and the small band that kept his ponytail together was laying beside him. He was feeling lazy, and decided to leave his hair out and long for the time being. For once, it actually fell around his face as he moved- the dirt and mud had been washed out of it. He spread it out of his eyes, so his bangs hung out to the sides of his face, and he got up quietly, as not to disturb Reed from his sleep (he'd learned this was not a good idea), and he crept to the ladder. He climbed down slowly, and saw that Jia, Tsuya, and Gengoro were all up and talking.

He looked at Jia first, since she was usually a little bit friendly to him. "Jia, what's going on?" He wanted to help if there was something to be done. He was useless in combat, since he only knew how to use his earthbending to farm, and since he was too frightened to actually do anything. He hoped he would eventually be of use to his friends. But for the time being, he'd just try to help them in any way he could. "Do you need some help with something?" He looked around and saw the arrow shafts, interested in how they were being carved. He still looked a little bleary eyed, but otherwise, he was the same old Hibiki, albeit a little better fed, and cleaner.

[gengoro]

He could feel it. Gengoro could feel that Jialing was finally warming up to him. A huge weight from his shoulders has been lifted. So she was a farm girl? In other words, a simple life? This all fascinated him. He never really talked to many people that had a simple and appealing life as that.

“Help on the farm huh? Gengoro said, “That sounds interesting. I never really knew what it felt like to work in such a place. Could you please tell me more?”

He heard a rustling from above as the boy named Hibiki climbed down the wooden ladder. The look of sleep was still on his face as he loomed over everyone.

“Do you need some help with something?” Hibiki kindly said as he descended. Gengoro didn’t mind the company of the kid too much. It seemed he didn’t like to talk too much around people from his bashful nature. Gengoro never interacted with children too much either. All his life, he was around the elderly or people of a superior ranking in life. Merchants, city officials, and the occasional gang leader, but never around children. His face looked puzzled when Hibiki asked that question, but didn’t know how to respond. Instead, he tried to divert the question with more questions.

“How have you been kid?” Gengoro asked Hibiki, “Did you sleep well enough?” Hopefully, that would be enough to strike a short conversation between everyone in the group.

[jialingjin]

“Help on the farm huh? That sounds interesting. I never really knew what it felt like to work in such a place. Could you please tell me more?” The fire nation man said, seemingly interested, but all Jialing heard was the sincerity in his voice and she took it as mocking. She stared at him, still seated on her pile of hay bales. She closed her mouth, the corners turning down a little bit and the girl lifted her mud colored eyes. "..Nothing to tell." She grumbled, feeling suddenly very put on the spot. Her eyes jumped away to the side, her chin turning into her shoulder, disturbing the stiffened collar that encircled her neck.

A voice called from above, the boy they had 'liberated' from the mining camps. Despite their meager meals originally, now that Gengoro and Tseng Wei had been traveling with them, the boy was starting to fill out around his face. Jialing's eyes went up in her head as she gave an annoyed sigh. What part of just sitting here made people think she needed help? She rose to her feet with a snap, a sneer curling on her lips as her head swiveled and she glanced over her shoulder. Her eye brow lifted, exaggerating as she threw a look upward to the barn's loft. "I'm fine." A firm tone was given, more exaggeration as she drew out the last syllable of fine.

Her little hands curled into a fist as she stepped over her make-shift arrow shafts, going around the tall former soldier. She bowed her head, strands of graying taupe hair fluttering around her face and from behind her ears. Grr... Where was Reed at? Her mind wandered.. she needed someone to kick. She crossed the straw covered floor of wooden planks, the beams creaking under her weight as she strode across and out through the cracked door to the sunlight ground outside.