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Post by chamir on Aug 16, 2008 3:07:19 GMT -5
A ponderously slow, "what?" trotted out of Chamir's mouth. Perplexed, a mitten began caressing his chin while he overlooked the boy, rather thin looking in his parka to his own estimate.
"No, no," he concluded, turning to look out across the city towards the wall--from the street level no doubt, thanks to Fire Nation 'gallivanting' that ended with the Northern Water Tribe's temporary capitol building being constructed at such a low height. Equal footing with many building if not for at least some dozen of steps to offer it some importance.
"No, that can't be right," staring as if he could see past the wall, beyond the sea and at the beaches of Chameleon Bay while he thought.
"I have traveled with your city's warriors before. Some knew how to heal--I watched one do such to Aden," nodding in his conclusion. "I hope one or two remained in Chameleon Bay but I know many of those who could came back here with us. And I am certain there are more in the city.
"I do not believed all of them have... went to see more of their family during the siege," bowing his head for a moment. "So you can't be the one and only," skeptically looking at Hebirei. "Unless all of them are packing up to go fight overseas this time and leaving you to be the only one here. To be honest--and I mean no insult by saying this--you still seem young. And even if you happen to be the same age as Aden, you Hebirei, are no Aden.
"Now that! Is observation and compliment. Take my word on that, mmhm!"
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Post by nati on Aug 16, 2008 7:19:17 GMT -5
Nati remained quiet after her introduction of Hebirei to Chamir, watching how the two interacted, she was interested to see how it would turn out, if Chamir earnt himself another friend or not. Hebirei looked thorughly miserable, and Chamir´s banter, well, who knew?
Nati felt bad in her introduction of Hebirei now, many waterbending men did learn how to heal a basic cut and burns, perhaps a bit more, but he was good as any other girl his age. Though perhaps he lacked the softer bedside manner the oppostie sex held, but if he carried on working hard, he could be a master in a decade or so.
"What he means, is that he´s the only man to be soley a Healer." Nati said, not to let Chamir´s words have a totally harmful effect on Hebirei. "I´ll be tutoring him in a while, once I get some more time on my hands, he could do very well." She added with some almost motherly pride. Her caring hormones were in overdrive today.
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Post by saghani on Aug 16, 2008 20:28:55 GMT -5
For a moment, the elders were quiet, then for several moments more, they conferred in hushed voices. Saghani had to actually prevent a smile. He’d done it. There would only be this much discussion if he had. Finally, he could be rid of these politics and begin doing something truly meaningful.
“Very well, Saghani,” one said at last. “If what the earthbender and the boy have said is true, then we will grant you your expedition, and for the duration of that mission, you shall be granted the rank of Captain.”
Saghani kept his appearance flat, but spoke when he normally would not, “And the crew? I will need volunteers.”
There was a brief pause before another chief spoke, “We will provide recruiters for you to use as you may, but you must gather the crew yourself. This mission is not our responsibility, but yours.”
With that, Saghani nodded an affirmative and turned on his heel, fully expecting Kian and Bora Gan to follow him. Once they had exited the council chambers, Saghani turned his head slightly to the side to address Kian.
“I can find bender squads and warriors, but we will need crew for the ship. Cooks, quartermasters, weaponsmiths, healers…”
Before he had finished his list, Saghani trailed off as he noticed a group of three standing nearby. It would seem that they had been followed. The clown, the healer, and another, unidentified man stood nearby, chatting away. Why did that foolish southerner feel the need to hound him? His patience with the man was wearing quite thin. The healer was understandable, as Kian was her brother, but why the Southerner was here was beyond him. Hopefully if he ignored him, he would just go away.
“We will want a full crew as soon as possible,” Saghani suddenly continued, turning back to Kian, though this time more fully. “Are you capable of helping with this?”
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Post by Nanuk on Aug 17, 2008 22:47:04 GMT -5
Hebirei was feeling miserable. There was no other way to put it, and this situation proved to be one that would require a lot of explanation... At least, it did, until Nati stepped in and spoke for him. She put it a lot lighter than he would have... In his current state, he would have probably made some sort of lash at the man's intellegence, or lack thereof, he thought bitterly. If this is how the rest of the South acts... it's no wonder they were decimated... He shook his head very hard to attempt to clear his mind of such thoughts, for this was a bad road to go down, and he knew it. They are our sister tribe and I shouldn't be thinking badly of them...
Just then, a very military looking man with one hand, another very military looking man clad in large armor, and one last man who bore a striking resemblance to Nati emerged from the building. The man with five fingers seemed to be in charge, for he quickly issued an order to the other man. What could they possibly need a crew for? It must have to do with that frigate in the bay...
He turned his head to Nati and issued a question, regaining a bit of composure due to the fact that he was being put back in his element in a sense. Puzzle solving was one of his biggest skills, after all. "Nati... do you know what is going on with that large Fire Nation boat in the harbor? I was meaning to ask you earlier, but..." At this, he trailed off, trying to put the thoughts of Hotaru back into the depths of his mind where he hoped they would not surface again.
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Post by nati on Aug 18, 2008 8:43:52 GMT -5
Nati´s smile seemed to melt like glacier water for a moment or so, her brow creased in thought, lips pouting a litte to match. Hebirei had asked a question that hurt her more than she realised, bring home the truth that Kian had probably committed himself to such a mission. She cursed Saghani inwardly. Kian hovered near Saghani, elated from that his speech had swayed the opinion of the war council.
"Captain! That is a great honour!" His voice was excited, compared to the coolness Saghani always oozed. "Yes, Captain Saghani has a better ring than the lesser title."
Nait turned to look at Hebirei, her eyes half lidded as she took a moment extra to decide what her personal opinion was.
"From what I heard," She replied, adding a slight rolling shrug of her shoulders. "is that it´s to be used as a strike back against the Fire Nation. No doubt my brother won´t be able to stop talking about it."
Kian cleared his throat quickly, and stood tall, straightening his shoulders with all the respect Saghani should be addressed with. "I volunteer for this mission, if you have need for me, Captain." The last word echoed with a smile. "And I´m sure my sister will add her healing skills to the mission as well."
The colour drained from Natí´s face. She willed her mind to slap a hand across his mouth and stop his tongue from wagging so much. She had imagined the words in her head over and over, and yet the anger was worse. Uncharacteristically, Nati gritted her teeth and fought back the urge to swear.
"He´ll be down at the Huts with sore ears when I´m done with him." She whispered to Chamir, the anger seeping softly into her voice. Stupid men she cursed.
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Post by boragan on Aug 20, 2008 22:20:38 GMT -5
A smile crept behind Bora’s mempo. They finally acknowledge the fact that the expedition is necessary. This meant that Bora could finally go home. The cold, the snow, it was bothering him much.
As Saghani turned to walk away from the council, Bora followed behind him. From what the council said and what Saghani suggested, they will need a crew. Bora never was any good at recruiting anyone, but he was in a foreign area and since they seem to be a little smaller than most people in the Earth Kingdom, he could use his size and personality to his advantage.
Seeing the same girl that was related with Kian, he noticed a younger boy next to her goofing off. To Bora’s experience, he would be good for morale on the ship. After contemplating for a few minutes, Bora decided to try to get him to join up.
He walked over to the group without any subtlety. He looked down at the braided haired boy with his steely eyes. His breath could be seen through his mempo from the weather.
“You,” Bora pointed out, “You seem to be useful. Join us, and we can put you to use.” There was no subtlety in his words at all, in fact, it was downright blunt and to the point, they way he enjoyed it, “It seems you know some of the people around here. You will be perfect for this expedition.”
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Post by chamir on Aug 22, 2008 3:12:42 GMT -5
"Oh," Chamir nonchalantly responded to Nati's clarification. Attemptingly unassuming but carrying the same tone as if someone had passed a foetid air under his nose and sheepishly apologized for it.
"As long as he is not in the way or prying," a pendant flapping as he took a moment to straighten his collar and scarf.
"I have been scolded enough times that what women converse about in the healing huts is safe and private from men," mumbling and absent mindedly remarking to where at least Nati could clearly hear his words and without even casting a glance over to Hebirei, whom he now considered to be the height of intrusiveness into a women's space.
And yet in the same thought he considered Hebirei a useful mole--if only he had been of same age as Chamir himself a good decade ago at least.
However, Chamir also thought that once the war was over, Hebirei could still serve a useful mole enough mole in the healing huts for him. In fact, maybe Hebirei knew somethings useful right now. The thoughts almost caused him to turn to the boy with a wry grin that spoke 'I have plans for you, young fellow.'
Ah, but such romantic strategy fermenting in Chamir's mind gave way to military strategy in the present.
And the present wanted to blind him as colour wanted to drain from his own face as well before probably wanting to replace itself with a colour redder than the sharply red-brown tone of his skin.
Steadying himself, or just wanting to hold himself back from waylaying Nati's brother as the boy now volunteered himself and his sister, Chamir reached out a mittened hand towards Nati's own.
"He´ll be down at the Huts with sore ears when I´m done with him," Nati almost hissed to him. And Chamir began to think that holding her hand may have caused the two of them from jumping on Kian instead of the one.
And before he could cast an accusing glare at Saghani, the big, elaborately amoured Earth Kingdom soldier--no regular soldier's uniform Chamir noted--had fallen on Hebirei like a pengwhale crashing into the waters.
Chamir gave the poor boy a sympathetic look as he was downright ordered to enlist.
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Post by saghani on Aug 22, 2008 19:33:06 GMT -5
"I volunteer for this mission, if you have need for me, Captain. And I´m sure my sister will add her healing skills to the mission as well."
“Do not speak for other people, Kian,” Saghani responded. “I do not want an unwilling crew. They must…”
Suddenly, Bora Gan decided to walk up to the group and practically conscripted the unrecognized young man that was with the healer and the fool. Saghani’s left eyebrow gave a very visible twitch, the corners of his lips turned down ever so slightly, and if you looked closely, you could see a vein starting to form on his forehead. Clearly, Bora Gan was not a thinker.
“…willingly volunteer,” he finished, his voice developing a sudden layer of ice.
With that, Saghani walked over to Bora Gan, intending for Kian to begin his assignment without his supervision. Surely he didn’t need to hold his hand for everything, did he? Well, given Bora Gan’s actions, it seemed as though he might have to. He didn’t care about the sensitivities of the young man that Bora Gan was attempting to conscript, but soldiers who were forced into service never performed as well as the ones who volunteered.
“Major,” Saghani said as he approached. “We have men that will handle the recruiting. You and I have much to discuss. “
Silently, Saghani begged for the southerner to keep his mouth shut. He had no time to deal with that fool while he dealt with Bora Gan. The man clearly had misconceptions about the campaign and the way that it would be run, and those had to be dealt with now, not at sea.
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Post by Nanuk on Aug 27, 2008 2:14:19 GMT -5
Hebirei kept a steady eye on the men the entire time, as the man continued to issue orders, and the man who looked a lot like Nati volunteered himself for the service. It was then that he looked over to see Chamir grab Nati's hand whilst she was busy looking extremely angry. It was only then that it clicked. The man must be Kian, Nati's brother, whom she had mentioned a few times. It certainly explained why she was so angry at him... He merely uttered a small, "Ah..." in response, he didn't want to cross her by saying something wrong...
His brow raised a bit as he examined Chamir. Did he know Nati very well? He couldn't have, if he was a Southerner... He allowed his mind to wander about the man, meanwhile, the large armor-clad man made his way toward their group. Hebirei made note of the man heading their way, but he was honestly expecting the man to address Chamir or Nati, perhaps one of their acquaintances. It honestly surprised him to look up at the man, bearing down on him like a Grizzly-Seal, and even asking, no, telling him to enlist.
Hebirei even allowed himself as much as to think that there may have been someone behind him who the man was talking to, but after a quick glance behind him, he was sure that he was talking to him. He raised his brow once more and opened his mouth to speak, before stopping himself. He needed to think about how he would address this situation, because, honestly, this man looked like he could snap Hebirei in half without a second thought. He was obviously foreign, which meant Earth Kingdom, especially from the armor.
He finally found words and let them tumble out, "I'm not quite sure who you are, and I don't know if you know me... I'm guessing that you do not, considering that you did not say my name, and also assumed that I am a warrior. I am not a warrior, I am a healer." His explanation and inquiry was going to continue until the uni-handed man approached them and addressed the man who was apparently a Major. Hebirei allowed a sigh of relief as he noted that the Major was out of place in attempting to recruit him. He didn't want to have to clean up some sort of conscription mess on top of everything that had happened recently.
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Post by nati on Sept 2, 2008 6:30:26 GMT -5
Kian gave Nati a sharp look, watching the horror rising up her face and her lower jaw clench in brief annoyance. She tilted her head, eyes slanted in such a way that her twin understood what she conveyed in that quick look.
We’ll talk about this at home.
Nati quickly turned her heard towards Hebirei, watching the great hulking man in amour practically force the young healer to sign up. Ready to defend him for another round, Nati squared her shoulders and made ready for another excuse. But Hebirei seemed able to handle himself, and she had to gently chide herself that Hebirei wasn’t her brother for a start, and a man in the eyes of the Tribe, he could make his own decisions.
She squeezed Chamir’s hand back, a little tighter than before, belying a little of her temper and slowly declining good mood. Kian hovered by Saghani for a moment longer, before nodding quickly to his superior and stalking over to Nati.
“I’ll see you at home later.” Kian patted her the shoulder. She nodded back.
“Anything you want from the market?” Remembering the food she had to pick up for her mother. Kian shook his head, shrugging all the meanwhile.
“Nah. See you.” Kian headed off into the busy crowd of men, eager to start talking people into this exciting new venture. Doing her best to tuck away her anger –probably to the same place where she had imagined the fire from the girl- Nati tried at a smile, though it looked a little sour at the edges. She hoped Chamir would do something, anything to make her laugh now, the man had a talent for it. And seeing a look of annoyance on Saghani’s face would make it all worth it too. Releasing her firm grip on Chamir’s hand –hoping she hadn’t stopped any blood flow…- she said:
“Since I’ve been dismissed, I had better get on with my brother’s orders and make my way back to the homebase.” Her voice echoing small rings of sarcasm. “But better stop by the market and gets supplies as well.” Nati thought it was fun to add a little military talk, she knew a little about the functioning of the confusing world of war and men,.
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Post by boragan on Sept 4, 2008 19:41:00 GMT -5
"I'm not quite sure who you are, and I don't know if you know me... I'm guessing that you do not, considering that you did not say my name, and also assumed that I am a warrior. I am not a warrior, I am a healer."
Bora raised an eyebrow when the boy spoke to him. He didn’t know too much of the Water Tribe culture, but he was under the assumption that the healers in the Water Tribe were female.
Before Bora could continued forward, he was interrupted by Saghani. He got the notion that he wanted Bora to follow him, and follow him he did. He could tell from his tone that his methods were not looked upon well in the Water Tribe and that he would be misunderstood most of the time here. Before Saghani could discuss with him anything, Bora spoke first.
“Alright, I know my customs are a little different than your peoples,” Bora spoke bluntly, “I didn’t get the rank of Major by trying to recruit people, nor giving speeches or testimonies. I got this rank from one thing: fighting. I’m not a strategist, nor an engineer. I’m a warrior. So whatever it is that you are going to task me on hopefully will not interfere with my ability to fight.”
He knew he was blunt. Raised by nomadic tribes and the Earth Kingdom army could do that. He knew whatever he said would cut through to most people’s comfort zones.
“I appreciate that you are trying to get me back to my home land, but I can only do what I am good at. Not to mention my glory was taken from me.” A great sense of bitterness could be seen in his eyes. It could even be felt from people around him.
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Post by chamir on Sept 6, 2008 0:25:39 GMT -5
"Do you suppose you will need accompaniment?" Chamir tilted forwards in a slight bow while holding his mittened hands behind his back. Out of Nati's view he rubbed the space between his thumb and forefinger, almost feeling as much sorrow for Kian as he did Nati herself.
"Or at least a pack animal to carry the supplies for you," grinning while his head repeatedly tilted to one side, like a lazy metronome that would only doing half its job, towards Hebirei's direction. "Hebirei looks strong enough and I'm willing to pitch in for myself thoooooough I am getting on in years," grinning at the scrawny looking youth.
"All I ask in return," Chamir decided. "Is to your final decision beforehand: whether or not your twin brother will become your twin sister by tomorrow's time. Otherwise, events would become a tad embarrassing, I believe you can imagine. Though even blood relation may still may not be allow to possess the quality pulchritude as you've cultivated quite firmly."
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Post by saghani on Sept 7, 2008 7:38:11 GMT -5
Ever so slightly, Saghani relaxed as Bora Gan heeded his words and turned away. With a small nod towards the healer (of the female variety), Saghani turned to walk with him, putting the conversation going on behind him out of his mind. As Bora Gan continued to speak, it became more clear that he did not understand the mission they were undertaking. At least he seemed aware of his lack of awareness, so to speak. He would take a correction better this way.
“I appreciate that you are trying to get me back to my home land, but I can only do what I am good at. Not to mention my glory was taken from me.”
“About that, Major,” Saghani said, glancing up to the man. “This will be a sea faring campaign. The Water Tribe is strongest at sea, and the most effective way to disrupt the Fire Nation occupation for us is to cut their Earth Kingdom forces off from their homelands as much as we can. There may be raids on either coasts and island bases, but we will not advance into the Earth Kingdom.”
Here, Saghani stopped and turned to the major, stone faced. There was not sympathy, but nor was their any sort of derision. It was blank, neutral.
“You may leave the campaign for the Earth Kingdom at any time. The campaign, however, will be at sea.”
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Post by nati on Sept 8, 2008 16:04:49 GMT -5
Chamir practically jumped at the chance to spend some more time with her, and Nati found herself almost nervously sweating under his diligent attention to her. She was rather thoroughly flattered, which wasn’t always such a hard feat to do. A tint of soft blush coloured her cheeks, and Nati wished she’d been blessed with a more witty tongue and more outgoing personality. She found herself fiddling with a soft tuft of fur on her sleeve, looking down almost abashedly.
“Sure, some company would be lovely.” She said, words a little quiet and shy. A little insecurity flooded through Nati, why was he paying her, of all women attention? There were much prettier girls in the Tribe, ones from better families, more talented, sweeter natured and accomplished. “If you’re not busy of course or anything, I don’t really want to be taking you away from your duties…”
Nati smiled a little at Hebirei, a softness in her expression that indicated she wouldn’t be using him as a pack animal of sorts. If he did want to help, Nati would treat them to something to eat for lunch if they were hungry. She wondered briefly how different her life was before Chamir came ambling in, he seemed to make it a little bit brighter, a nice little change from the normal routine of everything. She glanced over her shoulder towards the bay, where the huge frigate lay. Soon, everything will be changing.
“Wait…you want to do…what to my brother?” She asked slowly. “Did I quite hear you right Chamir? You intend on giving me a sister?” Some laughter escaped her lips.
“I dread to think what you’d do if I ever needed a bigger favour from you!” Nati raised both hands to her mouth in laughter, holding back on the high pitched giggles. At least she didn’t snort like her cousin did. But her laughing could get out of hand at times. She prayed it wouldn’t be one of those times.
“I don’t know about you two, but I think I’ve had my share military duties and tactics today, shall we reconvene to the market place?”
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Post by Nanuk on Sept 13, 2008 0:52:23 GMT -5
Hebirei wasn’t really paying attention anymore, really. He saw the huge man walk away, and was relieved for it, but really didn’t care. If anything had happened, in the mood he was in now, he probably just would’ve walked away. His attention was raised at hearing his name out of Chamir’s mouth, and didn’t want to admit that he hadn’t been listening. All he had been able to catch was something about him being strong enough for some task, sure enough some sort of chores or something. He wouldn’t be doing that anytime soon, that was for sure. Still, he retained some of his composure, and gave a slight smile toward the two before stating, “No, thank you, I think I may head home for awhile.” Blatant lie.
There was no way he was going home, that was for sure. If he were to go home, he would most likely run into Nu-Doru, and that was never good, so he just avoided it altogether. He turned on his heels and headed off at a somewhat leisurely pace toward no real destination. If he had nowhere to go, and nothing to do, wandering would solve both his problems, so that’s exactly what he was going to do.
Hebi has left the thread
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