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Post by jialingjin on Nov 29, 2005 22:32:50 GMT -5
((Continued from Kei Lan: Food or Arrows?))
"Bah!" The woman's voice bounced off the nearest trees and rose up through the canopy of leaves. She spat, rather violently, a peice of cantalope out onto the dusty trail. The peice of fruit nearly slammed into Jin's backside as he trotted just slightly a head of her.
With unlady-like grace, Jialing wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as her lips dipped into a scowl. "Rotten! All the way through!" Screaming like a banshee, she threw the cantalop to her left, watching as it bounced along the ground, and rolled into the darkness. Under her breath, she cursed the fruit.
An apple, though certainly as bruised and battered as the cantalope was, was given to Jin who ate it with glee. His face made such a funny expression as he tried to crush the fruit whole, having instead to shave off bite size peices and dump the rest on the ground. Jialing paused, unwrapping her arms and letting the fruits tumble to her feet. If one was rotten.. they all were.
Stuffing her hands into her hair, which hadn't been washed in days, the woman sighed. Her eyes rolled, her shoulders slouched. This was not a good day.
Certainly, there had to be something around here. A Bird, a Deer, anything! Jialing tilted her head, brushing back hair from her ears as she listened to the forest. It was eeriely quiet, save for the sound of Jin's obnoxious slobbering. Where was the chirping of the birds? Had they all fled? Or where they in hiding, awaiting a signal that it was alright to come out? Her lips parted, drawing in a breath as her eyes traveled across the canopy of dark leaves. Jialing straightened, her toe kicking away another melon as she stepped back down from the tree. How Strange....
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Post by jialingjin on Nov 30, 2005 21:50:00 GMT -5
Suspicious intrigue followed them throughout the day, as the pair wandered deeper into the wilderness. When Jialing considered them far enough from Kei Lan, she made the move to a worn path whose wheel ruts held pools of water from a recent rain fall. Despite the lack of noise in the forest, Jialing's forgetful mind had slipped once again and now, without the birds to provide their own orchestra, she sang. Much like a child, Jialing moved out into the center of the trail, leaping across the ruts as she danced to music in her head. Her rabbit fur bootsa, discolored from years of wear and repair, became spotted with pinpricks of mud. The young woman twirled about the road, her arms flying out to her side. Eyes closed, she let her body move fluidly to a silent beat with jingling beads, the clanking of metal buckles and the sound of a dog's excited barking.
Her rough voice, hardly that qualified to sing, rang along the path.
"Don't make a sound.
Shh and listen,
Keep your head down.
We're not safe yet.
Don't make a sound
And be good for me,
'Cause I know the way to somewhere out here."
The Sun was beginning to set for the day, causing streaks of gold and red to stretch across the wilderness. Bathed in one of these golden beams, Jialing turned her face towards where she had come from. The birds were still not singing. Her eyebrows lifted in concern, as her lips played into a frown. Her lankly arms swung at her side, one hand stretching out to rub the fur-covered head of Jin. The Dog, whose tongue had rolled out of his mouth long ago, stood looking ahead of them, his worn body tired and shaky, but his heart still willing to dance.
"..We should find shelter for the evening, eh bud?"
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Post by read on Dec 1, 2005 13:13:20 GMT -5
Read pulled his small ship onto the shore. He soon made sure the anchor was down and leaped off the ship onto the the cool sand. Pulling a map out of his pocket he soon made his way inland.
* * * * * * * * * *
Read went through forests looking around in search of the town he was suppose to sell some goods.
"Damn it," He cursed at himself , "This is what I get for docking away from the town instead of right near-."
Read stopped as he hear....someone singing? A girl singing? He followed the voice. He began to really enjoy the song. But he soon came to a stop as the voice stopped.
'Who'd be stupid enough to wander around in the woods?' 'Gah, me, that's who.."
Read continued his way in the direction of the voice he heard thinking that it was probably just his mind and he was going mad.
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Post by jialingjin on Dec 1, 2005 15:17:40 GMT -5
Habit again forced her to run her hands through her hair, her palms covered with their usual layer of dirt and grime. Her dark skin shown with a copper light in the golden sun as she turned in place. She was searching the wood line around them for a direction to head, her brown eyes flicking from the trees to the setting sun and back. North, East, South and West.. What way to go? Jialing bit her lip, which already bore indentations from years of the habit. Her weight shifted to one foot, placing her hips at an angle which she counted by leaning her upper body oppositely. Hands slipped from her hair, falling to her sides and the bandages on one of them began to unravel.
This caught her attention, as she frowned and quickly drew up the unraveled bandaged. Her eyes paused for a moment, looking over the clean, untanned skin of her forearms. "..Brillant Idea, Zhenru.." and her turned down mouth lifted into a grin. The bandages always did their job, protecting her skin from the violent whiplash of the bowstring. In the next village, Jialing would have to get some more. The quiver on her back shook as her shoulders moved, the few arrows remaining reminding her that again.. she needed to find some more or make new ones.
Jialing rolled her head to the side, her plesant smile now one of a annoyced. "I can't believe it, Jin. I completely forgot I was nearly out of arrows!" Her hands found her hips, fingers intertwining themselves in the fishing net she wore. "..Jin?"
The dog had left her side by a few feet and now stood facing towards the woods. His ears were perked, alert, and his head was low. A snarl caused his lip to lift, revealing cainies in fairly bad condition. His shoulders hunched, sending a shiver through the long coat of golden fur, shaking from his skin dust, dirt, and grime.
Seeing this, Jialing lifted an eyebrow, her lips parting. Slowly, and soundlessly, she slipped her bow from her shoulder and drew from her quiver an arrow. Holding her bow at in her left arm, she placed the arrow against a notch just above her thumb. Two fingers curled around the string and the feathers, and pulled back, stopping by her ear.
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Post by read on Dec 1, 2005 16:20:01 GMT -5
Read hear a noise and walked for ward but tripped on a root and fell face first into the dirt. "oww...." He said getting up. Read was on all fours as he lifted his head, "Holy....crap...!- " Read didn't get finish his sentence. He just stood there face to face with the biggest dog he had ever seen in his life. "You're a big dog.." Read looked at the dog. It was staring right at him not even blinking. Read's first intention was to reach for his weapon on his belt. Yet all he could do was look at it. 'Come on Read, get your sword!' his mind screamed at him. Read slowly put his hand on the sword handle, being very careful not to alert the animal. Waiting for just the right moment, Read launched up and pulled out his sword ready to slay the animal before him.
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Post by jialingjin on Dec 1, 2005 16:39:09 GMT -5
The opening in the wood where the path ran came alive with the twang of the bow string. Jialing's fingers had uncurled and in a second, her arrow had been loosed. The single arrow, metal tipped, was well aim despite the adjustments in aim she made mere seconds before firing. The tip of the arrow, spinnin through the air, would graze the man's neck and shoulder as he stood, possibly tearing through fabric and scratching the skin.
Jin's snarl ceased, and the golden dog's ears relaxed. He wheeled on his hind feet, dashing away from the man with the sword. He sough refuge behind his mistress's legs. Again, though having proven himself a chicken, Jin arched his back and snarled through his teeth. A strand of drool slipped from his lip.
Without a word, Jialing wasted no time in once again loading her bow. Her right hand reached behind her, and snagged one of the remaining arrows by its feathers. Her arms moved quickly as she loaded the arrow and rose up again in aim. "..I wouldn't move if I was you!" She did not shout, but instead spoke in a tone similiar to a mother scolding a child. It was authorative, and demanding. Then, as she tilted her head to the side, one eye closed for aim, the corner of her lips turned up. "..Or go ahead and move, I could use the target practice."
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Post by read on Dec 1, 2005 19:00:06 GMT -5
Read's eyes shifted to the young woman the dog was hiding behind. Read was off guard and grunted as the arrow came in contact with his skin, trying not taking his eyes off of the mysterious person who he was now guessing, his opponent. "I wasn't going to hurt-," Read tilted his head and looked at the dog,"- him. I was just using my sword to scare him off." Read said rolling his shoulders trying to ease the pain of the cut. 'Either that girl wanted to kill me and missed or she just wanted to wound me,' Read wondered. ' But why? If I were me I probably would have killed me in a second. No wait, if it were her.. not I..?' Read shook his head and tried to come to reason the girl. "Look, how about we both just put down our weapons and sort this out?"
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Post by jialingjin on Dec 1, 2005 23:04:23 GMT -5
Jialing would scoff, rolling her eyes. She nodded her chin towards him, speaking in a harsh voice thick with sarcastism. "How about you put your sword down, straighten up and leave?" How stupid did he think she was? Shaking her vision free of loose strands of hair, her face turned into a scowl. After a moment of standing perfectly still with nothing more to say, Jialing moved again.
Her fingers pulled the arrow from the string and quickly deposited it in the quiver from her back. Her left arm let loose of the bow, and she caught it into the crook of her elbow and shrugged it back into it's proper place around her shoulder. Jialing slid a thumb under the leather harness she wore, adjusting one of the straps with a scowl.
"Come on, Jin." She barked, turning away from the stranger with the sword. Her fingertips brushed the head of the golden dog, who for relaxed. His ears rose back into a contented position, and he lifted his head. Breaking into a gentle trot, he passed his mistress and went ahead of her.
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Post by read on Dec 1, 2005 23:57:47 GMT -5
'What the hell is her problem?' Read asked himself. 'Some one's a little cranky today.' Read sighed and put his sword back in its sheath, 'I can't believe I'm going to do this,' he thought to himself while running up next to the girl while trying to keep a fair distance from the dog. "Not to be rude or anything but you wouldn't happen to calm down just for about fifteen seconds while I ask you a question?" Read said now walking the same pace as her. ' I hope she doesn't get angry and try to kill me...I bet she's going to take one of her arrows and stab it right through my ribs into my heart and I'll bleed to death.......I REALLY hope she doesn't get angry..'
........."You're going to try and kill me now aren't you?"
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Post by jialingjin on Dec 2, 2005 15:06:12 GMT -5
Jialing's brown eyes, a dull amber, darted over to her left side, and her head followed at a slight angle. Her eyebrow lifted, as a strand of dark, greasy hair fell along side her nose. Now what did he want. Her left hand, which had swung lazily at her hip rose swiftly to the harness she wore around her torso. A small knife, obviously used for cutting wood,plants, and small animal carcasses, was pulled from it's sheath. With a sweet grin, Jialing whipped the knife point under his chin. Speaking softly, she batted her eyes at him, "Would you like me to?"
She stopped in place, her right hand placed firmly on her shapeless hips. Her smug smile fell as she pulled the knife away with a look of disgust. Stepping forward, Jialing slipped the knife back into it's sheath. Leaving her hands at the harness, she paused and gave a sigh. Her head lifted, letting her hair fall away from her face as she stood in the ever darkening red light of the sun. And of course, being Jialing, barked in the most obnoxious voice possible..
"What do you want?"
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Post by read on Dec 2, 2005 17:22:47 GMT -5
“As tempting as that sounds, I’d really like to keep all my limbs attached to my body,” Read started, “And I just wanted to know if you knew where….,” Read looked at his map and tried to pronounce the name of the city…but failed,” Ke…swa…Well this place,” Read said pointing to the map. “I’ve been sailing from harbor to harbor trying to find it and I’m having no luck……Nice knife by the way, I think I have the same one. Or at least something like it.” He said waiting for an answer.
A few seconds past without an answer. “Well I can see you’re taking you’re time.”
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Post by jialingjin on Dec 3, 2005 2:16:46 GMT -5
Jialing kept her distance away from, her arms crossing themselves across her chest as she turned once again to look at him. Her head lowered, casting her silhouette in shadow against the setting sun's light. Her lips curved downward into a frown, her back curving outward in a slouch. "Kei Lan?" The woman asked, sneering at the word as if it should have been obvious. "..They're back that way.." A nod was given to indicate the direction behind her. Jialing had no plans to return to that village.. at least not for three months. That was usually what it took for people to forget what she looked like..
Again, the woman snorted, obviously not afraid to let out a laugh or two at his expense. "Don't know why you'd been looking for Kei Lan.. it doesn't have a port. Not even near a river." A hand lifted to wave off the topic of converstation, as well as him. Jialing would proceed to step foreward, head lifted and with a sassy step. She clicked her tongue, because she couldn't snap her fingers or whistle, to summon Jin to her heels.
The dog followed along side her at a bouncy pace as she herself spread her arms outward and once again, sang to herself and the sky.. in a voice that was not ever meant to sing and also horribly shot. What did she care?
"And you ask me what I want this year,
And I try to make this kind and clear.
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days.
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things.
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days.
So take these words
And sing out loud
Cuz everyone is forgiven now,
Cuz tonight's the night the world begins again."
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Post by read on Dec 3, 2005 2:32:37 GMT -5
"Damn..." Read said shoving the map back in to his pocket. Read just kinda stood there as the girl and her dog headed on. The girl sang while walking. 'That's not a bad song,' Read thought, ' Though I've never heard it before.' Read sighed and slowly followed the girl. 'You know she's probably thinking you're a stalker right now,' Read argued with himself, 'Well this map is faulty and don't know where I'm going!' Read screamed to himself in his mind, ' Why don't you just go back the way you came?' ' Because I don't know which way I came from..' ' Wow...that's pretty pathetic.' 'I should just stop and sit here,' 'No that wold be stupid,..'
Read kicked the tree to the left of him, and then tripped on the tree's root. "I have to stop doing that," Read said to himself lying on the ground.
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Post by jialingjin on Dec 3, 2005 14:09:14 GMT -5
Jin stopped, having run ahead of Jialing and the dog turned back to look at the two. Jialing was lost in her song, each step puncualizing a beat. Jin lifted his head, his whole bodys shuddering like a golden blanket... only covered in dried mud and burrs. His plummed tail rose in the air, wagging back and forth. The pup let out a happy bark.
Lifting a brow, Jialing paused, having lifted her heads to the top of her head. With her hands interlaced in her hair she turned around to smirk at the young man lying in the dirt. "..You are pathetic." She broke out into a laugh that resembled a cackle, but it was a laugh. One whose high pitched tones shook the branches. Waves of birds, who had fallen silent, rose from the tree tops. There cries echoed over the forest canopy as they flew in choatic patterns through the tree.
Her eyes opened, and her laughter stopped as her lips fell open. Her hands slipped from her head, as everythign grew silent again. In the distance, was the sound of metal and chains, the grinding of gears and the cracking of trees...
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Post by read on Dec 3, 2005 21:21:20 GMT -5
"What? Can't a guy lay on the ground once in a while?" Read smiled. But his smile soon faded away as he too heard the grinding of metal. Read jumped to his feet in one swift movement. Only one thought went through Read's mind, 'Fire Nation Soldiers'. His first instinct was to get ready for first strike, but from the sound of it he would be clearly out numbered. Read noticed the girl stopping in her tracks. By the looks of it she also noticed the sounds. Read ran up to the girl hoping she would cooperate with him for a few minutes. "Listen, I know this sounds crazy but we have to hide, " Read said seriously, "There's to many Fire Nation troops and we'd go down with in the first five minutes of the fight."
Read hear the scraping of metal getting closer. 'This is not going to end very good....'
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