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Post by hotaru on Nov 9, 2008 21:36:27 GMT -5
She felt somewhat ignored and found herself pouting. Her back leaned against the wall and she looked down at the ground kicking at the ice with the toe of her boots. She wasn't that far away, perhaps she was just invisible or so pathetic people chose to look over her. Nati came up to speak with Saghani and the Taartoq to speak with Nati.
There were only parts of the conversation she listened to, the ship was leaving this evening, she half wished to go with them, she wouldn't be of any help and she doubted that people would even allow her to go, it would be a chance to get out of the north pole, she didn't want to be here anymore. Where she went didn't really matter, it would just mean some sort of new environment where people wouldn't have to keep her under lock and key like some sort of dark secret.
If her mother saw her like this, she'd die, good thing the firebenders beat her to it.
Hotaru blew her bangs from her face and continued to wallow quietly in her own self hatred, perhaps she'd be able to sneak into the firenation, learn firebending and kill off as many people as she could. That was unlikely. She could sneak onto the ship and hide there, it was her original plan a while ago, she was caught, it didn't seem like she'd make it half way up the gang plank. Her eyes closed and she tried to quietly let her mind slip from the party to a quiet place inside her mind.
As much as her heart hurt she couldn't feel it anymore, what did anyone care if she vanished for a while. Surely her aunt and uncle wouldn't miss her. Her little cousin wouldn't remember her face, it was obvious that they didn't want her around anymore. She sighed softly and opened her eyes back up looking at the various dancing couples and the people lingering about talking. When would it all end, why couldn't it just stop now.
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Post by taartoq on Nov 10, 2008 14:15:28 GMT -5
"Ah yes," Taartoq said quietly back to Nati, this time slowing his gait to a careful and complete stop. Nati was an agreeable and kind person, so he had every reason to believe she didn't mind if he spoke to her. People like that, ones who actually liked the archivist, were indeed a precious commodity. He patiently and politely allowed Nati to reply to the military-type fellow. It seemed they were making arrangements for this little mission right before his eyes.
Taartoq knew he hadn't a single reason to be involved. He was an archivist, a man of knowledge, not a soldier in any way whatsoever. He was a preserver of lore and tradition, much more than a mindless killer. In fact, it struck him as rather counteractive to the traditions of the Water Tribe, the true nature of their people. Water was not all-consuming as was the flame, much like the intent of the war, and to a much smaller scale, this planned attack on their enemy. It would only foster wicked things in return. If Taartoq had his say, he would suggest everyone stay back at the Water Tribe, making sure their (limited) numbers were strong in case of another attack. Venturing out in attempts to vanquish Fire Nation troops only brought a severe risk to perhaps the most skilled warriors of the Water Tribe. Nati was even putting herself at risk, which was a disconcerting thought.
It made much more sense to him about the other mission that had been on people's minds and tongues. After the first attack on their fair tribe in generations, skilled waterbenders and healers were to go to their sister tribe at the South Pole, and help rebuild their society. Surely, tensions would arise, but it was an effort most noble.
Sadly, his opinions were not what mattered to the military advances of the tribe. Ever.
"It was enlightening," Taartoq said calmly, as soon as his train of thought ended. He was sincere in his opinions; the waterbender really felt like his trek into the wilds brought many blessings. Despite his anger and frustration beforehand and during the journey, he returned that morning a different person. A joyous feeling indeed.
"I gained a new perspective on life. On our people, and what we stand for." It was a subtle allusion to his feelings. Taking in a deep breath of cold air, he smirked a bit. "Peace."
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Post by ryota on Nov 10, 2008 16:14:47 GMT -5
Even if the song ended quickly, Ryota didn't care.
As long as he was holding Misui close to him, and as long as they could look in each other's eyes fondly...
As long as she wore that necklace like a proud beacon to their engagement, and as long as they both smiled so contently...
As long as love between them was unbreakable even by an ocean of distance, and as long as he knew they were sleeping beneath the same friendly moon each night...
As long as he imagined their dance as an endless embrace, and as long as she never left his thoughts every day and night...
As long as his skin was marked with 'promise', and as long as Misui kept his heart locked under lock and key...
As long as he was alive and knew she was waiting for him...
...Ryota was happy.
It didn't matter if the song played upon the stage changed a thousand times, or if he stepped on her feet so often that they broke in two. They could dance before the end of the world and still not care. His love for her could be proclaimed by every step the two lovebirds took. Ryota was certain she felt the same about him, and even though he could never express in words the exact same sweet and poetic nothings he thought, the very testament to his thoughts and ideas lay in his actions. They were in love, and became that way so quickly. Like a miracle, like a dream come true. He never expected benefits like these were attached to this journey. To think, he regretted it at first.
Stopping in the middle of the dance floor and sidestepping a bit, he brought his true love close before him, like he swung her right from his side straight to his front. Ryota and Misui were right in plain view of the stage for all to see, whether it was intentional or not.
He kissed her, right where the whole world could see.
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Post by aden on Nov 10, 2008 17:39:28 GMT -5
Aden was surprised slightly by Desna's question. He slowed in his step to allow her to come up even with him before answering her question.
"Not this time," Aden said with no real discernable emotion. He wasn't relieved that he was staying, he wasn't upset that he was left behind... The young warrior was in a strange sort of emotional limbo over the very thing that had consumed his every thought for the last three years.
"My commander told me that there were enough volunteers already," he elaborated for Desna's benefit, "And since my tour technically ended when we returned home, I'm no longer on call until I sign up for another expedition or there is another immediate threat to our city." Aden didn't know how much Desna really knew about the inner workings of the tribe's armed forces, but he figured that he kept things basic enough that she would follow.
In the mean time, his legs had carried him over toward the long table laden with food and bowls of flavored water. Aden grabbed a cup made of ice off the table and ladeled some iced mint tea into it for himself.
"Would you like some?" Aden offered Desna, lifting up another ladel-full of mint tea from the bowl.
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Post by desna on Nov 10, 2008 23:40:51 GMT -5
She was honestly worried, he hadn't said anything but the boat was leaving and if he was on it their friendship had escalated to the point where she would at least deserve a notice, something. She watched Aden closely and sighed a bit of relief when he admitted the ship was leaving without him.
With that bit of worry off her chest her usual smile came back to her face and she moved along with Aden, he went on about some military things and she nodded her head trying to be polite. Knowing that he was staying in the north was more than enough for her. It meant more playing around and perhaps some time to sort out why she liked spending time with him so much. It was odd but she thought about him now and then, in the oddest ways. She was otherwise oblivious to the cause.
He offered her something to drink and she nodded, at least his parents had made sure to instill SOME manners into the boy. " Yes please." She held onto one of the cups and allowed Aden to fill it for her.
Taking a sip of the tea Desna leaned back against the table and peered at Aden curiously, he seemed a little odd talking about the military thing, she hadn't gotten to hear much about his time in the service though she vaguely knew about it.
" So what sort of things did you do on tour? Did you get to go to the earthkingdom?" It was obvious she was curious, her gaze didn't break from him when she asked and she wouldn't until she got some answers.
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Post by misui on Nov 11, 2008 0:04:12 GMT -5
Together they twirled about the dance floor, he'd been rather careful to not step on her feet, something she was quite grateful for. His body moved so perfectly with his and she blushed, laughed and giggled at his antics having a fairly good time. She was barely even aware how many songs passed, it didn't really matter to her anymore. It only vaguely occurred to her that her family might be somewhere around, she honestly didn't care what anyone thought anymore. She'd met the standards the tribe had set, they were engaged, a breath away from married and the doors were opened for them as far as anyone was concerned.
The song had changed again and a new dance had started, various new moves and the like, everyone seemed ready to shift into the next dance but Ryota, holding her hands paused them, she was utterly confused looking up at Ryota with a meek hopeless look. Was there something wrong? But he pulled her to his chest and she found herself wrapped in his arms, his lips pressed to hers in sheer bliss. She whimpered gently against his lips and slipped her arms about his shoulders drawing herself closer to him with a willingness one would expect of a blushing bride. Sure their wedding was to be postponed but she didn't care. In retrospect a year wasn't that long, she wanted Ryota all to herself and it that was what it took she would put up with it.
After what seemed like eternity she finally pulled away from Ryota and looked at him with her blue eyes as soft as the gentle waves of a lake. Her lips pushed to his again for another shorter sweet kiss before she nestled her head to his chest content with life and everything in the world. As fun as it was to stand and whisper sweet nothings to one another the silence was comfortable and spoke volumes more than any "I love yous" they could conjure up.
Misui sighed happily swaying in place to the music with her soon to be husband close to her heart both physically and metaphorically.
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Post by aden on Nov 12, 2008 21:27:22 GMT -5
"From end to end," Aden answered her question. He lifted up one finger and dragged it across in front of him, illustrating the West-to-East path that he and the other members of the war party had taken. "Surprisingly few stops though... We mostly followed rivers and forested trade routes."
Looking back, it was perhaps a shame that the group had practically sprinted across the breadth of the continent. At the time Aden hadn't thought about it much. He was far more concerned with the next mission, and so stopping to soak in the sites and culture never really came to mind.
Aden was also conscious of the fact that he hadn't answered Desna's question in its entirety, and that he had deflected the first part concerning what he had actually done while in the Earth Kingdom. For the sake of conversation, he figured he would keep the grittier details to himself.
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Post by desna on Nov 12, 2008 22:07:47 GMT -5
Desna's eyes followed Aden's hand as he illustrated how and where he moved across the continent. It took her all of a split second for her to access his words and she was automatically on another train of thought, like a girl when she found the boy she liked, there would be much gushing and many questions. Her fingers gripped the ice cup tightly and she moved a bit closer to Aden, somewhat subtly.
" Did you get to see trees?" She questioned looking at him with a bright smile, honestly she wanted to hear everything about it, and it was rather obvious that he was glazing over the majority of the details. She'd pick it out of him in time, perhaps she'd let it go if he promised a fuller explanation later.
For now she'd deal with what she could pry out of him. It was rather obvious she'd never left the north pole, that could be said for most people in Shai but for her, hearing about the homes of the plants she took care of stole a lot of her interest." And did you move on the rivers in sailing junks or.. what was it like?"
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Post by ryota on Nov 12, 2008 23:27:03 GMT -5
Words meant nothing right then. It was enough for them to hold each other and kiss in a moment where time felt irrelevant, like everything around them had stilled and left them in their own little bubble, free from concern and fear. Ryota only saw everyone else in the vague periphery of his eyes, but knew what they beheld was nothing more than a man and his betrothed. He wasn't just some foreigner fooling around with a local girl anymore. Gossip had spread far enough, thanks to Misui's family owning a restaurant (of all places), for people to know just who he was by now. Notoriety of that sort felt fairly nice. His thoughtful gesture of devotion no doubt made a few of those romantic types 'aww' when they heard it retold.
A sharp bump to his back, whether intentional or not, made Ryota realize him and his love were in the wrong place. Better to be off in the crowd than standing inconsiderately on the dance floor if they were going to neck all the time like lovesick hogmonkeys, he thought - though maybe not in those terms. He would lead Misui off and away from the place.
"Isn't it time you showed me off?" Ryota said with a slight chuckle, though he was still fairly uncertain she had anyone left to show him off to. After her family was taken out of the picture, who would be left? He knew she often haunted the healing huts, but did she have many friends there? Better to wait and see than anything else, Ryota supposed.
But he didn't quite expect to see a familiar deep cinnamon puff of a wolf-tail off away a bit. If it wasn't Aden, then that hairstyle must have been somewhat popular among the northern public at large. Even though the southerner saw him only from behind, the tiny girl he spoke to looked about his age group left room for little doubt. It was kind of odd to picture him with a girl despite the short time in which he'd known Aden, however. The girl must really have been special, if it was him. If it was a stranger, then the joke was on Ryota.
"Aden!" he called out, hoping to catch his attention. Such an uncommon name probably wasn't shared by many (if any) others in the crowd, so his identification wouldn't be too much trouble. He walked up behind the northern warrior, sure that Misui was following. "Hey, Aden!"
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Post by aden on Nov 12, 2008 23:47:00 GMT -5
Aden took another sip of his tea as Desna digested his answer and began to spit out a few others. By her tone he could see that he'd struck a note of interest to her. It made sense when he recalled her profession as an herbalist. He generally took the scenery for granted, but for someone with an interest in such things it probably would have been an amazing experience.
"Once or twice I was up in the trees," the young warrior told her. He figured that might give Desna something to visualize. "They're everywhere, really..."
A sudden call from behind him caught his attention and Aden swiveled his head around like a spooked deer-fox in a meadow. The young warrior recognized the voice after a moment of recall, and he was slightly surprised to hear it. He hadn't seen Ryota since the Siege ended, and he had assumed the hefty Southerner had already gone home.
"Ryota," Aden said after waiting a moment for the other warrior to close the distance between them. "Speaking of the Earth Kingdom," he added, speaking mostly to Desna then, "That's where we found a handful of warriors from our sister tribe." He cast a slight smile toward Ryota and nodded toward the woman behind him.
"Having fun?" he asked casually.
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Post by misui on Nov 13, 2008 0:05:10 GMT -5
Misui was blissfully happy dancing with her fiancee, they seemed to move independently of everyone else. It seemed like they were in a world all their own and honestly it seemed like they were. She was content to just drift along with her soon to be husband in a warm cloud of love. Her arms were around Ryota and she sighed softly but as a jolt knocked Ryota slightly it seemed time to come back into the real world. Her smile turned to a frown as she gazed in the direction of the man who knocked her swarthy southerner, honestly people needed to look where they were going, it wasn't like they were the only ones on the dance floor. What sort of lovesick idiots were going around knocking into people.
Ryota pulled her attention away from the wake up call gently and grudgingly Misui took his hands and peered the couple inched up to his eyes gently. For some reason he made her mind turn to butter, usually she was so sharp and a little jagged but with him she wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball of love with warm arms wrapped around her. With a half smile she rolled her eyes at the man. " Honestly, I think you've met everyone by now." Still he seemed intent and she was forced into following at he led her off calling out Aden.
She recognized the name somewhat, wasn't he a warrior? Once or twice she imagined she'd seen him in the healing huts, having various nicks and cuts from his training, it was near religious for him. Though it was surprising to see that her Fiancee knew him, it couldn't be that much of a stretch, after all, the warriors traveled up together, or so she thought anyway. It was the siege where they returned home, bringing a renewed hope to the tribe, and some unexpected things along with them.
Inadvertently she hugged Ryota's arm and smiled at the boy and another girl who she vaguely recognized. It was the little girl who brought herbs to the huts. She'd never taken her for the type to be interested in boys, she was always rather odd in that aspect but they looked so cute together she couldn't help but smile.
" Aden, Desna, good to see both of you. " Looking between the teens she had a small glint of knowingness about her, Desna, as usual wore something with a high collar, no way of knowing if they had sealed this little relationship yet or not but she only looked at the girls neck briefly before turning up to the boys face. " The festival is better than I'd thought it'd be, they out done themselves."
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Post by desna on Nov 13, 2008 0:17:58 GMT -5
If her eyes were any wider her head might have split in two, the only tree she'd ever seen was one in a pot back home, the thing was barely taller than she was, no way she could climb up into it, how would she even do such a thing. The thought of a tree large enough to climb was a rather difficult concept for her to grasp. It was sickening how much she envied him and the experiences he had in the earth kingdom, but she knew so little about it that whether or not she knew it, realistically she wouldn't have wanted to trade places with him.
" Thats so amazing." She breathed looking at Aden, slightly mystified with the whole concept, such a little thing made her day, honestly she was pleased he was open enough to talk to her about his time in the earth kingdom. Just keep pulling at the threads, she'd get to something sooner or later.
But it seemed Aden has a fanclub to deal with first. Her eyes flickered to the sea of faces upon hearing someone call for her companion, impassively she took a sip of the chilled tea wishing that they'd bug off so she could hear about giant trees but it seemed fate didn't like her at the moment. She glanced over the southern warrior and smiled to Aden's explanation of who he was, granted now she wasn't too upset with his arival, more sources to expunge information from. She smiled at the healer and nodded. " Nice to see you again." She started after Misui greeted them, her attention did land on Misui's necklace though.
Another girl lost to the waves of responsibility and adult hood, it was a shame really, she could only assume it was the warrior with her that was her beloved. But it seemed the tables had turned, the way the healer looked at her made some heat rise in her cheeks. There was no way she and Aden looked like anything more than friends.....right? Forcing a smile she shifted her weight onto her other foot, Subtly away from Aden.
" So, this must be the couple we've heard so many rumors about, cavorting in the streets without being engaged, seems like the problems solved now huh?" By the time she was finished her smiled went from forced to playful, as good as she was trying to be it was hard to not poke fun at someone. Ther rumors were out there, she ignored them mostly but it seemed for once the busy bodies in the healing huts were right on mark
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Post by saghani on Nov 13, 2008 8:22:41 GMT -5
Saghani did not have time to react to the healer’s answer. He simply watched as she gave it and departed. So, she would be second in command of the healers on board. Interesting. It occurred to Saghani briefly that he did not yet know her name, but he supposed that was of little consequence. He knew her, that was what mattered as a Captain. A name was just something to refer to her by. Turning his head away, he again stared out into nothingness.
“Good,” he murmured.
For several more moments, he sat there, blank. There was nothing to do, after all, not until the ship departed. He was barely even aware of everything going on around him anymore. At least, he wasn’t until he felt a pull from his stomach. He was hungry. That meant he ought to eat. So, pulling himself away from the wall, he headed in the direction of the food, though in no particular hurry.
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Post by ryota on Nov 13, 2008 18:56:28 GMT -5
Aden may have brought a proud smile to his face as he showed off Misui to the young man he accompanied into battle, but Ryota scrunched his lips around a bit when Desna pointed out the inconvenient truth that was, in part, their relationship up to the present described in a few words. It was kind of embarrassing to hear it said so plainly and bluntly, but at least, Ryota knew, they had made everything right in everyone else's mind. From a stranger's viewpoint they were a legitimate couple, and that alone should have put an end to the unkind rumors floating around. Ryota saw no more reasons to keep gadding about and dabbling in gossip as he tried to place himself in other people's shoes. Was it always like this in such a (relatively) close-knit community? He honestly couldn't remember how often people gossiped behind each other's backs down south. It was simply one of an infinite number of details Ryota happened to overlook.
Ryota was now left with not one, but three responses to make. His eyes flickered quickly between Aden, Misui, and Desna as each one put their opinion on the metaphorical table, leaving him feeling somewhat anxious toward what he could possibly say in reply. But in time, after a good deal of chin rubbing, his mind arrived on a fine response to everyone. It was quite applicable, too, which made him smile laconically, eyes half-lidded, Misui clinging to his side like an adored woman should.
"...Yup."
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Post by aden on Nov 15, 2008 10:20:13 GMT -5
Aden balked slightly when the conversation shifted toward the suggestion of an affair between Ryota and Misui. Up until now, Aden had completely lost track of what had become of his Southern Water Tribe acquaintences, and aside from Desna there was no one he really spoke to that had any insights on local gossip. So to hear something like that about Ryota of all people, he was fairly surprised.
Not that he thought little of the slightly older man, but during all the time he'd known Ryota, he didn't seem like the romantic type. But when his eyes flitted over to Misui's collar and he spotted the engagement necklace that confirmed it.
"Oh," he blurted out, "I had no idea... Congratulations to the two of you." He offered a kind smile and a slight bow toward Misui before extending a hand to shake Ryota's. Aden really wasn't the sentimental type, but he truly did wish them well. It was sort of poetic that he could come from the other side of the world and be engaged to marry after a few weeks.
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