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Post by boragan on Nov 23, 2008 0:29:05 GMT -5
Bora Gan looked at Desna oddly, as if he believed that she had feelings for plants. It’s only a plant after all. Plants grow and die just like regular people. Why would she care if a few of her plants die here when she can go to another country to gather even more plants to take home with her? Who knows.
He looked at her even more oddly when she got defensive at the notion of this Aden person not being her boyfriend. Usually a girl her age would be betrothed to another boy. He always found this world strange.
“Oh, did I hit a sensitive subject on you?” Bora Gan teased, “This should be interesting. Why is he not your boyfriend? Is he not attractive enough for you?”
He continued to circle around her, as if he’s interrogating her.
“Why care for those plants when you can collect more where we are going? Besides, don’t you want to be with Aden on his travels? To make sure he is well and not harmed? You know, a voice of reason? Surely, it is not a bunch of plants that are stopping you. It doesn’t seem logical, and you look smarter than you let out. What other motive is there for you to stay? Is it family? Is it friends? Are people preventing you from going? I can all of that, by the way.”
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Post by desna on Nov 23, 2008 0:46:25 GMT -5
Desna watched him finding a pout on her face with each rotation around her. " Well, Aden is a friend, just a friend, the plants belonged to my grandmother and now it's my responsibility to take care of it. She was family, Aden will eventually find a nice girl and settle down, then he wouldn't want to hang out with someone like me."
It seemed obvious, Desna had a dependency on her life, sure day to say there were little interesting things she did. A new breath of life into the routine but there was a routine, it started in the morning when she woke up, fed Pikatti and tended to the plants. Like her grandmother taught her she'd prune them, bundle up herbs for drying, check the fire, fill the pan with water and then walk to Shai.
Already dried plants would be given to the healing huts, sent to restaurants or sold and then she would shop. After that the day was hers until the Sun started to drop in the sky at which point she'd go home feed Pikatti, tend to her plants and make something for herself to eat which would more than likely go to Pikatti. Everyday she'd write in her journal then curl up in her bed to greet the next day.
She was on her own, she was so used to it that it was no longer odd to her, the trip to her home was a long one, most would tire and say it wasn't worth it but the view was beautiful.Everything was the same, a deviation in the pattern was dangerous. There was no room for romance, for the budding feelings she may be forming for her friend, for anything. What if she got in over her head? What if he turned out abusive like her own father, what if she killed herself like her mother did? She'd heard that her parents were in love before she was born.
" I have things here that need my attention, I can't just leave, Why do you thing that Aden would even want me to go along with him, if he's even going?"
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Post by boragan on Nov 25, 2008 23:43:56 GMT -5
Now the gruffness started to show on his face. He stopped circling her and actually stood in front of her. He looked into her eyes with his cold stare.
“Very selfish you are,” he whispered, “Not to mention confused. You want to help your nation, but aren’t willing to leave. The battle isn’t here little girl, it’s out there. What you have seen here, your villages burned to the icy ground with your people dying all around you, children crying, shots fired off in the distance and crumbling your buildings.”
He stood upright again, but continued to look into her eyes, “That is where I must be. In your Aden’s case, a strong man also needs a stronger women beside him. It helps keep morale up so he has a less likely chance of dying. Without morale and support from his peers, he will likely lose his reason of why he’s fighting in the first place. He’ll also lose hope. When one loses hope, then his surrender will be his untimely demise.”
He turns around and stares at the Fire Nation frigate in front of him, “Do you think I like this war? No, I’m just like everyone else. The Earth Kingdom obliterated my tribe and I joined their ranks to be the man that I am now. War has conditioned me, but I have not lost my way.”
He turns around again to face her, “It’s like your friend Aden. He will fight and kill, but someone must be there to comfort him, or he will just be another machination of war. Do you want that for him?”
While still standing in front of her, he turned his head at a few people behind her. It looked like children playing in the blizzard.
“You see them? They are your future. In order for them to reach their future, they must have hope. Without it, they will lose. Aden will lose if you aren’t with him. If you really care for him and if he cares for you, then you two will make it out together, but you both must make compromises in order to survive.”
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Post by desna on Nov 26, 2008 1:11:28 GMT -5
"I'm the one that's confused?" She said slightly exasperated with this entire situation. Desna found herself looking at him in near disbelief, honestly did he not see what she thought? Though she had an inflated ego about herself she knew she was short, a little on the scrawny side, boyish and all together not exactly the catch of the century.
Aden no doubt would set his sights higher as far as a girlfriend would be concerned and she wanted to stay single. Visions of her potential husband turning into her father would haunt her until her dying day. No child nor human deserved that sort of treatment.
People got help from her herbs, if she left she might get some more but what about while she was gone? What would they do then? It seemed twisted and all together his train of logic was confusing her. Wouldn't the selfish thing be running off to the earth kingdom? She'd love to do that, get away from everything, see so many of the things she'd only heard about.
" How would leaving help my nation when I dropped off four bundles of herbs to the healing huts this morning...?" Her lips pulled at the corners making a frown as she looked up at the man, ever since she mentioned Aden he enjoyed tossing that name around a lot, like it had some magic pull over her. And aside from slightly flushed cheeks it did nothing.
Aden wasn't a deciding factor in her decisions, though he was something of a tug of curiosity on her heart strings that she didn't comprehend yet. It was confusing to be told you were confused by a confusing giant of a man. All in all it was too much.
Desna held up her hands indicating he should stop before her brain decided to implode upon it's self. " Alright, listen to me and listen good. Aden is NOT my boyfriend, He doesn't care for me, I worry about him out of our friendship, I deliver herbs to the city nearly every week day to help people, without me those plants would freeze and die, then where would people be? If you haven't noticed there aren't many women around here jumping up to go fight in the war, great for those who want to, it's amazing and brave but do I honestly look like a warrior to you?" There was a small pout on her face, this was like talking to a wall. He seemed to be talking through her instead of trying to understand anything she said or anything about the north pole. She wasn't a healer, a bender or even a fighter. Why would she join the war effort? She'd just get herself killed
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Post by boragan on Nov 30, 2008 14:33:52 GMT -5
A look of disappointment was draw across his face. The people of the Water Tribes obviously thought differently of the war. It was almost apparent that the army of the Earth Kingdom was getting a draft going to get civilians to sign up for the armies and train them to fight. Here however, civilians won’t fight even if their lives were dependant on it. It seems that the last Fire Nation scourge didn’t really affect them much.
He turned around and faced away from Desna, a little disappointed with the reactions and answers that Desna gave him.
“People are dying everywhere Desna,” Bora Gan said, “Regular people like you could fight, you just choose not to. You won’t see it now, but if the Earth Kingdom falls, your country will be next on their list, and they will not show you mercy. If you don’t fight now, then later, you will grow hesitant, and they will kill you. One thing guarantees a defeat is apathy. If one shows apathy, then even with a victory, you will suffer a defeat. I’m not telling you to fight, but I am asking you to witness what the Fire Nation is doing to everyone else.”
Bora Gan starts to walk away while speaking, “If you will not fight, then you will die, or worse, taken prisoner. Your loved ones will suffer the same fate. The choice is yours, choose apathy, or victory.”
The snow started to come down even harder over the last few minutes, which is a good indicator that the storm is still near, and will be coming soon. Everyone on the streets and docks are finding shelter of any sort to hide themselves from the coming storm.
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Post by desna on Nov 30, 2008 16:33:55 GMT -5
She wasn't a bender, she wasn't a fighter, it didn't make any sense for her to go into the service and if they felt it was really needed she'd do what she could but the place where she'd be of the most help was here in the water tribes where she could peddle her herbs. It was a little. odd, to be told that she was ingreatful. Honestly she was taken back it wasn't all to often that someone would tell you point blank that the war was on your shoulders....
It wasn't like she didn't know the war was going on, after two sieges it was more than evident, sure no one she knew was killed during them but the loss was the same.
He started to walk away and she stood quietly a little exasperated Pikatti was at her side growling quietly and sneezed circling around behind Desna before looking up at her with a quietly inquiring face. Desna looked at him and merely shrugged, she couldn't say much else, he must have seen someone besides her when he looked her way. She was five nothing, less than a hundred pounds with little to no muscle mass. Back home it might have been different but the water tribes stayed out of the war. There were people who would risk life and limb to fight against the firenation and while she supported them she wasn't a warrior. If anything she'd get herself killed.
" Some people.." She murmured before a strong whip of wind hit her face and she closed her eyes turning her head away and propping up her hood. She had to make a decision now. Head home early hoping to beat the storm or hang around hoping it would die down.
" C'mon Pikatti," Desna smiled a bit at the polar bear dog and patted his back jogging off to the wall, if she waited and the storm didn't vanish she might get stuck in the city. At least today was somewhat interesting.
[Desna out]
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