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Post by jialingjin on May 1, 2008 20:28:02 GMT -5
She snapped her head to Reed, listening as he exclaimed his idea. The flat line her eyebrows made across her forehead as broken by the high arch of her left eyebrow. Just listening to the idea was dumb. "Reed." Jialing tried to get his attention, lifting one hand slowly as if she was going to place it on his shoulder reassuringly and then tell him it was a bad idea. She closed her eyes, both eyes now rising as she took a deep breath.. and then she swatted his head with her palm. "Are you INSANE?!" The woman yelled at him, lifting her lip up in a sneer as she stared at him, her hand hovering above his head as if waiting for another chance to smack him.
"...Do I need to point out the bad points. One: We don't know how good of a bender the kid is. B. I'd bet all the gold you owe me they have Earth bending guards monitoring the ground for tremors. and Roman Numeral Three: ...What makes you think I'd let myself be earth bended UNDERGROUND?! And lastly; they'd notice if workers started to vanish.." The last sentence ended with a sigh as she lowered her head, planning not to bop Reed upside the head again. It was a decent start.. but they needed something better. She pressed her knees together, putting her elbows on her knees and she put her forehead into her hands and her fingertips disappeared into her crimped hairline. "..We need a better idea... or.. at least to refine that one." She muttered mostly to herself as she tried to think. There was no way she would settle for any.. going underground.. That.. was not her forte. Dark, creepy forests being pursued by soldiers.. sure.. wide plains with archers after them.. okay.. hot deserts where you could expect to die any day.. just peachy. But Caves? and Underground? NO.
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Post by reed on May 4, 2008 0:07:57 GMT -5
“Are you INSANE?!”
“Well, then YOU come up with something!” He yelled back before Reed was forced forward from the blow to the back of his head. “OW!!” He exclaimed rubbing the back of his head ruffling his hair to resemble a bird’s nest. Jialing was explaining how she wasn’t going to be underground at all. “Oh yeah,” Reed said coming to realization, “I forgot you had issues with that,” He said rolling his eyes at the thought of the last time they stayed in, or better, by a cave. There was a thunderstorm starting up and they were going to take cover in the cave but Jialing refused. She sat just outside the cave instead… Through the cold… And wind… And rain. Reed threw his hands up in the air when Jia continued to tell him how bad his plan was, “Well, excuse ME, I wasn’t the one that insisted they could handle it and forced someone else to stay and watch camp so they could scout. If I were, I would know much more about this village and how things could work out better,” Reed harshly inhaled through his nose before putting his hands behind his head.
Reed sighed before once more rolling his eyes, “How ‘bout you, Kyoshi? Have any bright ideas?”
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Post by lili on May 4, 2008 10:15:51 GMT -5
Tsuya gave a small jump at the Jialing's harsh reaction. When someone in her group didn't like a plan, they didn't usually explode. "You really don't like bending that much?" she muttered, rubbing her temples. Already she could feel a headache coming on. But every problem she had pointed out was true. The guards probably had strict ways of keeping up with the miners; and they may not miss one like the boy who sat against the tree currently but after two or four or seven started to go there would be trouble. Now was when Tsuya wished she had paid more attention in situations when Suki gave directions. She could have learned something instead of simply following orders. It was just so much easier not to.
Bright ideas? Tsuya dropped her hand back in her lap, shoulders hunched over more now. I wish. she thought. The fact that she couldn't plan was almost embarrassing; the Kyoshi Warriors were supposed to be so well trained and knowledgeable. "If only we could grab 'em all at once." And then what? They couldn't move around a whole village and set them up. They were better off driving the soldiers out. Re-situating herself in a more comfortable way, Tsuya crossed her legs in front of her with her behind now resting on the ground. She didn't believe the dress could get much dirtier. Resting her elbows on her knees she propped her chin on her right hand. "I wish I knew. Guess I'm not as much help as you thought, hm? Because I'd just go in there and take on the soldiers. Not so much forethought on my part, sadly."
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Post by jialingjin on May 5, 2008 23:11:43 GMT -5
".. Yeah just forget that little fact I don't like caves or underground things.." She muttered under breath, turning her head away from her friend. She grumbled under her breath, mostly nonsense as Reed managed to comment on her dislike of benders. She had kinda wanted to keep that little fact under wraps for no good reason. She didn't answer the Kyoshi warrior. What reason could she give other than her dislike of caves and being buried... Yes she didn't like benders.. damnable problems..that's what they were. But she bit her lip and remained quiet.
She folded her arms on her knees, leaning forward as she stared at the fire crackling in the morning light. Great.. Reed thought she was stupid for rescuing the boy.. Well, she acted on impulse! What was she suppose to do?! Leave him? Honestly.. with the new problem of this Kyoshi warrior wanting their help.. there wasn't anyway they could move ahead with any plan. They couldn't do anything to that village except call for backup.. and she probably wouldn't let them.. insisting they get her team first. At Reed's second comment, Jialing had to turn her head back to him and give him a glare. She narrowed her eyes at him, mouthing the words "What?!" What did saying she could handle a scouting mission have to do with ANYTHING?! It wasn't like she had PLANNED on grabbing this kid who was absolutely useless. She scoffed at him, pressing her sepia toned lips together into a flat line, her eyes reduced to nothing but a dark eyes of eyelashes as she turned her head away from them. She returned her stoic gaze to the crackling fire, watching the golden flames.
Jin had moved to her feet and now was laying across her feet, the dark leather of her boots vanishing under the long, wiry coat of the dog. He listened to them all talk, really not caring because it didn't include him. Not like he could talk either way and tell them they were being silly with their arguments. He sighed, his black lips fluttering as the air escaped them.
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Post by gandalan on May 6, 2008 22:56:38 GMT -5
Hibiki couldn't have gotten a word in edge wise, so he didn't bother. He just drew into himself and tried to forget what was happening. There wasn't any point in taking part in the conversation, because they were all arguing amongst themselves. Tsuya's question seemed to be (thankfully) forgotten, and they had moved on to discussing what to do next.
Hibiki didn't care. They didn't seem to care what he wanted to do, or anything about him- he was just luggage, and that seemed usual to him, so he just let these events take shape outside of himself. It really didn't matter, anyway. He couldn't do anything about what they decided, but whatever they decided, he had to do- what else could he do? He couldn't go out on his own- he had to do what they told him to. He just groaned, and stuck his hands behind his head, and closed his eyes, resigned to waiting until they had decided, or until the food was done.
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Post by reed on May 9, 2008 21:54:21 GMT -5
Reed leaned back before throwing himself up to check the food. "Okay okay! New plan!" Reed said lifting the lid to the pot. He took a wooden spoon and stirred the mixture. He lifted the spoon to his mouth slightly blowing on it before tasting some of it, in the process recoiling from burning his tongue. It was wasn't his best but whatever, it's not like it was going to get much better.
Reed reached over and started cleaning off the bowls again. He looked over to Hibiki who was currently doing ...well, not much. "'Ey, Hibiki.." He grabbed a bowl and tossed it to him letting it land on his stomach. "Help me out, yeah?" Reed said throwing a rag over as well. It was going to be a while cleaning five instead of his usually three. "Well, Unless you don't want to eat.." He said trailing off with a smirk on his face.
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Post by lili on May 12, 2008 17:48:50 GMT -5
"Then might I suggest retrieving my friends first?" Tsuya offered again timidly. She looked to the younger boy again, thinking how desperate he must be to free his own friends. But it didn't seem like they had the power to do that now. "It would give you extra man-rather, woman power," She laughed. "Right now there's only four of us. With the added warriors, that would double." That was, if everyone got out. The princess's army would be even more difficult to infiltrate than some troops guarding a small mining village but that was no deterrent in Tsuya's eyes. "Though I know you said his village comes first." She was quieter still when she murmured that last part. She just wanted them to chose a path already. Not knowing what she was supposed to be doing next was horrible. If only she could make up her own mind, but her head was full of nothing but 'ifs' and 'maybes'.
Sniffing and wiping her nose with the back of her hand, Tsuya gave a shudder. Being sick disgusted her, and now she was sure she had caught something in the chilly nights. What she got for not making a fire. "I wonder what could be foraged around here..." Her pale eyes scanned the foliage around. There hadn't been many appetizing things growing around. Soon she might not have a choice.
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Post by jialingjin on May 14, 2008 20:20:53 GMT -5
It wasn't her fault Reed's idea was full of holes.. and it certainly wasn't her fault that the kid's village was unable to shake the yolk of oppression. She could have let his ass go, but no.. out of the kindness of her heart, she risked her neck to snatch the kid up and get him out of that situation. What for?
For some fame in the Rebellion? Maybe. This kid could come with them to the nearest Rebellion base and plead his case if he wanted, getting the help they needed. "Truth is.. we're scouts, Not saviors." Jialing muttered, her pointy chin resting on her hand as her bony elbow dug into her knees. "I dunno if we'd be much help to you either, girl. We're just here to do the dirty work for the Rebellion." Her body rocked back as she threw her hands into the air, leverage as she rose to her feet. Someone had to grow a couple and neither the kid nor Reed seemed to have any in her opinion. The firelight was warm on her body, casting an orange glow on her pale skin and the forest green of the soft tunic she wore.
"Look, kid. Just the two of us.. we can't do anything for your village right now. Too many Fire Nation. You can go back if you'd like, or you can stick with us until we can get in touch with the Rebellion and get some help out here. There's no one this far north but us two." She directed her hand at him, fingers long and lanky, the dirtied wraps around her arms doing nothing but extending their length. She limply directed her fingers at him as she spoke. "If you hate me for getting you out of there, hate me. I really don't care. " She shrugged her shoulders, closing her eyes as she rolled her head away from the kid, turning her muddy eyes towards the Kyoshi Warriors. "Your girls... are being held captive by a fraction of the military led by the Fire Nation princess.." She winced and brought her hands in front of her face, drumming her fingers against each other. "Hate to tell ya but I don't know what we can do to help them either. That's a long shot."
"It might be best if we just go for the nearest Rebellion outpost and try to muster some of their crew up here. They're mainly focused with stopping a march on Ba Seng Sei.. I suspect that's what your princess is here for..." She dropped her hands and nodded at Reed. "Oy, Reed! Intelligence said something about a massive weapon being moved from the Western shore towards the Twin Lakes and Serpent's Pass. You remember much about that?"
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Post by gengoro on May 14, 2008 21:38:51 GMT -5
The sun scoured the land. The temperature was at an all-time high. There wasn’t an inch of rain for weeks. Gengoro and Tseng were lucky to be following a river for the majority of the trip. Not to mention fighting off the wildlife every third day made Gengoro very exhausted. Fighting soldiers, thugs, and guards is one thing he could handle, but wildlife such as platypus-bears and giant spiders? That just gets really tiring, especially when some of that wildlife don’t even taste good.
The sun continued to beam down on Gengoro and Tseng Wei as they proceeded north.
“Please explain to me,” Gengoro questioned with irritation, “We are going north to find the Avatar? What makes you so sure he’s up north out of all places?”
“Simple my friend,” Tseng answered, “The Avatar would choose the Northern Air Temple to meditate or train in secret. Chances are, we will find him and ask for his help.” With that last remark, Tseng had to hold down any hint of his ulterior motive for his plans.
“That has to be the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard,” Gengoro spat, “We should of at least infiltrated the Fire Nation camp.” “You said it yourself Gengoro,” Tseng replied, “Infiltration there would get us both killed. You are a wanted man, and I’m not on good terms with them, so they will figure us out real quick.” “You know, you never told me why you aren’t on good terms with them.” Tseng looked a little nervous, but replied, “That is a subject I don’t like getting into.”
As they advanced forward, Tseng noticed a group of people in the foothills. He didn’t know who they were, but Tseng didn’t care. They were people to talk to.
“Good, we found some company,” Tseng called out to Gengoro, “I will go see if they got food.” Tseng Wei ran forward toward the group. Feeling concerned with their safety as well as giving away their position to a possible threat, Gengoro chased after Tseng before he gets too close.
“Tseng wait. We don’t even know these people.”
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Post by lili on May 21, 2008 19:53:45 GMT -5
So finally she was able to wrap her head around it all. These two members of the Rebellion could do little to nothing for her. She understood what Jia was saying, about simply doing the dirty work for the Rebellion. Tsuya was lucky she had found anyone at all. And the other girl mentioned something about an outpost where she might be able to find more help. They needed to be interested in the attack that was about to reach Ba Sing Se's walls, and not just because of the warriors being held captive.
"Thanks, then. I'd be willing to travel with you to their outpost, or where ever, if you thought they'd be able to offer more help." Tsuya tried to keep her voice calm and light. This new path would take more time, but should yield a better result. Some unidentifiable birds fluttered up in a small frenzy but Tsuya just noticed it out of the corner of her eye. They were in the wilderness after all, not every foreign movement meant she was in danger. Blinking her dry eyes a few times to help her feel more awake, Tsuya licked her dry lips. She wanted to hear what either of them knew about the "massive weapon" that was being moved, and if she might have heard of it before. But the time she had been with the Thunderfist Battalion seemed like so many aged ago Tsuya doubted she would be able to remember any real intelligence.
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Post by gandalan on May 21, 2008 20:24:46 GMT -5
Hibiki sighed helplessly. They couldn't help him, and this 'rebellion' seemed to be little concerned with anything to do with his village. Tsuya obviously wasn't that concerned about his village either, but it hurt that he would be rescued from his village, and then left alone with some 'rebellion'. He would almost rather take his chances elsewhere, and would have had he not been so frightened. He was then called over by Reed to help with the food, but he didn't even know where to start with it. He actually felt really angry. They had rescued him for no reason, and now he was stuck here, away from his friends... even if he had been a slave, he'd have been happier with his friends. And now they were denying him even that. He dejectedly walked over towards Reed, hanging his head. He didn't really want to help, and really wasn't inclined to, but Reed had tried to be nice to him, at least, so he'd try to do his best to hold his anger in check. He groaned again, and said, "What do you need?"
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Post by jialingjin on May 22, 2008 23:11:24 GMT -5
Jin took notice immediately to a change in the smell, having wandered off towards something while Jialing gave her latest speech. She was unconcerned with him right now and as far she knew, the dog was lolling by the fire with his tongue out. Far from it, the dog whose shoulders stood as high as Reed's hips was standing just outside their little circle. His nose was up in the air, sniffing and his folded down ears perked. Suddenly, he bounded forward, his lips curling up in a snarl as he released a guttural series of barks, his mud covered feet pounding into the ground as he charged the tattooed man who came bursting from the brush.
Jia's head turned, snapping so hard her spine cracked out loud. Her eyebrows went up as her jaw fell and for a moment, she resembled a yawning horse. Her bow was all the way back at the sleeping bags, lying unstrung and her arrows with them. The knife she carried to make arrows and tend to her meals was there too, in it's usual spot on the worn ostrich horse harness she often wore. ....Damnit!
Jin leapt at the man, his body stretching out to nearly six feet in pure length/height as he curled his dark lips, baring his sharp teeth. Jialing, however, turned the other way and tore up the bank. Her hair twisted and tossed behind her head, as she shouted "Heads up! Head up! Reed! We've got company!" She practically dove onto her quiver, lying next to the sheep's wool bag she shared. Skinny fingers dug in the quiver for the sinew string, pulling the looped string out. Lightning fast reflexes responded to her will, looping the string over one end, the other stretching and bending under her hand to catch the free end. Fingers snatched an arrow and the woman leapt to her feet, pressing the arrow's slender shaft to the bow, drawing her hand back to her cheek. "JIN. HALT!"
...Sure, let's keep it a secret that Jia's aim with the bow was the worst this side of the great ocean..
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Post by reed on May 23, 2008 3:24:04 GMT -5
Reed rolled his shoulder and handing Hibiki a bowl and a spoon. "Just clean those if you want 'em clean, you're eatin' from them this fine morning." Reed laughed, he cracked himself up. The young man looked over to Jialing. Massive weapon! Riiigghhht... Now, what was that again... Reed was silent for a moment, "Oh! Right, so this old, wise, balding, geezer was telling us about his master plan for something to stop the Fire Nation for good, yeah?" Reed started to recall the event, " Well, the old guy doesn't matter, there was this one soldier guard, funny as hell, and he designed it. The weapon would be known as 'The Twin Serpent' since that's were the location was; between the Twin Lakes and Serpent's Pass. And so this thing is suppose to-" Reed was cut off as he jumped back at the sight of the strange person bursting from the bushes.
"Heads up! Head up! Reed! We've got company!" As Jialing started to notch the arrow Reed's eyes went wide. He ran over, as fast as he could. He could feel the dragger in his boot since his sword was too far away. He wasn't so worried about the Kyoshi being a trained warrior she could take care of herself. "Hit the DECK!" He yelled harshly pushing down Hibiki knocking over a series of clattering dishes as he ran past. "Cover your head!" He commanded. Knowing Jialing's aim they'd need to pray to the Spirits they didn't ALL get hit with the same arrow.
Reed ran passed Jialing . He needed his swords. He grabbed them both and launched off the sheaths. He briskly ducked his head down hoping the arrow wouldn't come anywhere near him. Reed ran closer and skidded to where the intruders had come in. He hadn't gone too close in more fear of Jialing's arrow than the actual intruder. He held a sword in each hand holding them to resemble upward pincers. Reed didn't move as he waited their first move.
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Post by gengoro on May 25, 2008 16:39:41 GMT -5
Tseng was so happy to find more company for his travels. Well, so he thought. Before he could get close enough to see who he was going to, a dog attacked. He never had a dog attack him before, so this was all new to him. The dog managed to get Tseng off balance and pinned him to the ground. He struggled to get free from it’s grip. The dog tore into his cloak, revealing even more menacing tattoos from his body.
“JIN! HALT!” the woman cried out with an arrow drawn on the strings of her bow, pointing toward the prone Tseng Wei. The dog growled menacingly as he kept Tseng down.
“Cover your head!” one person from their group commanded as he searched frantically for his swords.
“Lady, this is not what it looks like,” Tseng tried to explain. However, it was little too late. From behind where Tseng was, Gengoro leapt into the air and kicked the dog in the rib. The dog yelped in pain which released Tseng from the pin. Gengoro quickly unsheathed his serrated miao dao and immediately went into a defensive stance.
“Tseng, get your ass up from the ground,” Gengoro muttered. He then paid all of his attention toward the group.
“I understand if you are trying to defend yourself,” Gengoro commented to the group, “However, I don’t care what skill you have, if you advance toward my student here, then I shall make sure you earn your grudge against him by defeating me to get to him.”
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Post by jialingjin on May 27, 2008 13:07:33 GMT -5
Jin's yelp was enough. The muddy, dusty, and dirty dog who had been kicked off and to a few feet away leapt to his feet again, snarling as he kept his large head low. The wild haired girl let loose her arrow the moment her dog cried. Her bare fingers released the string with a veritable twang! sound. luckily for them, they had just encountered the worst shot this side of the Twin Lakes and the arrow kind of took a right turn at a right angle by some quirk in the laws of physics, harmlessly into some trees. Her upper lip curled into a sneer as she snatched up another arrow, kicking it up with her boot because they had spilt out of her quiver for the most part. Another quick notch, and she drew the string back once again, pressing her thumb into her cheek while she closed one eye.
Jin meanwhile did not lunge again, instead he stood his ground, unfazed by the kick. A massive dog, his head easily came to the shorter man's waist and while he wasn't all muscle, he was lean and able to move quick. Mats hung from his long, shaggy fur, burrs were caught up in his tail and hung from his legs, but that did not bother him. His lips twitched.
"Stay right there, or I'll close my eyes and turn around this time! THEN I'll hit ya!" Jialing called out, keeping her head tilted towards her bow as she looked down the length of the arrow, her eye focusing on the man who called the other student. The one now on the ground, who Jin had attacked.. he looked Fire Nation in those dusky red robes.. the other, was dressed in the neutral browns and dark rusts that made it hard to be certain of his nationality. If Jin didn't them, neither did she.. It didn't help that OBVIOUSLY they were trying to sneak up and ambush them... Or so Jia's peanut sized mind was calculating.
"Whaddya want?" She spoke, demandingly, perched on the ridge while Reed and Hibiki crouched on the ground. ...She wanted to roll her eyes at him, and bop him a good one. Sure.. make my aim look THAT MUCH WORSE..
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