The Road to Kei Lan <Kei Lan, Earth Kingdom>

[sunil]

It didn't bother Sunil that Tali was so distracted with her apple - among other things - that she basically repeated everything he just said. He understood her mind was elsewhere, but also perceived this fellow wasn't exactly pressed for time and everyone jabbering the same thing over and over wouldn't mean he'd miss some important function. As Fulay in his arms, it stared at the large ostrich-horse who was curious about his existence as Sunil occasional ran his hand over the bird's back.

"My name is Sunil, wandering tea merchant," he said, once more sizing up this fellow with a few gazes of his eyes. It struck Sunil as odd that he hadn't yet descended from his mount, especially to introduce himself. Maybe he was wrong about the man being in a hurry. Although seeing how the man wished to partake in a bit of small talk, Sunil could relate well at how unimportant rushing and hurrying was in the grand scheme of things. Jokingly, he continued; "I'd say more, but none of it'd be important...and I don't want to waste your time."

[tali]

Tali took another bite from her apple watching both Sunil and the boy who introduced himself as Shu-zu, it was a rather nice name. She blushed a bit chewing slowly on the flesh of the fruit before swallowing it down, it was rather irritating that she couldn't just extend an invitation to him to join the odd group. It did make her wonder where Arai was, then again, this was his home town, nothing said that he had to stick around them. More thank likely he wanted to catch up with his parents and the like rather than hang around with some people he randomly met in the road. Of course she was alright with that. He had his own plans, she had hers.

Noting it was her turn for an introduction she put her fist to her palm bowing politely to Shu-zu. " I'm Talia Shiofeun hailing from Gaoling, I'm currently on a training mission across the continent." She added a smile when she stood back up straight, her head quirked to the side a little and she let out a small laugh. It was almost glaringly obvious she was a little lacking in common sense, she acted like a ditz at times like this, over excitable, ready to please and more than willing to blab her mouth off given the chance. But for now she took another bite of her apple content in knowing the introductions went well.

[shuzu]

The man, Sunil, seemed to think, for some reason, that Shu-zu wouldn’t be interested in what he had to say. Then, catching himself, he realized it wasn’t that far-off a concept. After all, he was used to his regulars, or people that trusted their shopkeeper. He probably wouldn't babble off to a stranger either. Shu-zu couldn’t help but look at Tali’s apple with envy. His stomach rumbled, a bit loudly, to be honest, and he brought his hand up to cover it. With a dismissive wave, he said, “Sorry about that, I am pretty hungry.” Then, realizing that they had both mentioned their occupation as well, he noted, “Well, I am a shopkeeper from the Capital. Where might you two hail from?”

Suddenly, the ostrich-horse reared up and attempted to throw Shu-zu out of impatience. Next time, he would find a better-trained animal. Pulling back on the reigns, he managed to calm it, but decided to address the two, “Perhaps this conversation would be better suited over a meal, for it seems my Ostrich-horse here is getting impatient... If we can manage to find a place, it’s my treat.” Shu-zu couldn’t help but flaunt his money, even if it was on accident. After all, money has that habit of changing people, even if in the slightest.

[sunil]

Almost immediately, Sunil could tell the fellow's mind was elsewhere. He was no doubt distracted by thoughts of food, having mentioned restaurants shortly before, and his eyes seemed to focus on the delicious fruit Tali held in her hand. Or was he looking at Tali herself? She wasn't a bad-looking sort, even if Sunil didn't think she was the cutest girl in town. If Shu-zu did have his eye on her, what a sly dog...

His mind quickly snapped back into focus, looking between the two as Shu-zu seemed to overlook the important features of Tali's introduction. Didn't she just say she was from Gaoling, or did he assume things again? He could easily have expected her to say it, allowing his wandering mind to form things that never even happened. Sunil hoped not. "Er, I'm from Zhy; a city up in the northwest, and..."

Perhaps, he thought, he should reiterate just in case Tali didn't say her hometown in the first place. Pointing at her, he spoke a bit hesitantly. "...And she's from Gaoling."

[tali]

It was a little annoying to be ignored so easily, he seemed to not notice at all that she had given her introduction, but any hurt feelings she had over that were gone at the offer of free food. Traveling about as she had been doing sort of gave you a new look on charity, never look a gift ostrich horse in the mouth. But seeing as Shu-zu's mount seemed a little edgy Tali moved herself over to the animal holding out her palm to the creature allowing him to get a whiff of her scent, after which she began to affectionately stroke his brow feeding the remains of the apple to the animal. Honestly it was surprising she never had any pets, she'd always loved them, big ones anyway, rodents and insects would be the death of her.

Hugging the ostrich horses head she smiled a bit. " A meal sounds pretty good. " She mused watching the animals big black eyes, slowly she glanced over his head to the rider with a hint of amusement. It would be a lie to say Tali was difficult to please. Often enough she would pass off genuine interest for simple generosity but in this case it seemed the offer was open to the earth bender as well. Turning her head to address Sunil she gave him a hint of a pleading look. " Three heads are better than one." It was such a tired phrase but so true. " We should be able to find a resteraunt, it is a pretty big town, they should have a couple."

[shuzu]

Shu-zu looked down as Sunil mentioned his hometown, Zhy. He seemed to have traveled a long way, and might have even come by Tachi Dai in his travels. Shu-zu had actually only been to Tachi Dai once before, when his shop had first started, but that was irrelevant. His eyebrow raised a bit as the man repeated what Tali had said. Then, thinking back, Shu-zu had worded the sentence a bit strangely, but he allowed the misunderstanding to stay, for it really wasn't a big deal. The girl then approached his Ostrich-horse and fed the remains of her apple to it, all the while, Shu-zu's eye on her. She really wasn't too bad looking, but he led his mind away from such thoughts, there were more important things to do, besides, he would probably learn more about her later.

Shu-zu decided to jump down from his mount, keeping his hand on the saddle, with the reigns in his hand as well. In case the animal tried to make a run for it, he could hop back on quickly. He allowed himself to size up the two as far as physical appearance quickly, the man was a bit older than himself, it seemed, and very lanky. The girl, a bit younger, and had an air of fitness about her. Only then did he remember her mentioning a training mission, so it made sense.

Nodding toward the street he had just come from, he addressed nobody in particular, "Well, the way I came has nothing as far as restaraunts... but if you two will come with me and look, I'd be happy to buy you guys a meal for your trouble." For some reason, he felt like reiterating the concept of free food, almost to convince the man of his offer. He wondered why he was even offering... normally he would have just kept on going. He shrugged it off, it must have just been that these two were very friendly, and his lack of company for the past week or so probably didn't help the matter. Then again, it could have been something in the back of his mind, wanting to undo his wrong back in Ba-Seng-Sei... He still regretted giving that girl fake coins... She had probably already found out and returned to his shop to find him gone... He would have to apologize and compensate her if he ever saw her again.

[sunil]

As there was no need to be confused, Sunil went with the easiest option of them all; he forgot about it, shrugging off anything that may have been left unsaid or unanswered. There was no need to sweat the small stuff, and it was all 'small stuff' as far as he was concerned.

The offer of a free visit to a restaurant seemed appealing, though. Sunil never bothered to question when someone paid his way in some practical manner, for food or supplies, and even if such things were rare, he was still quite grateful. In the back of his mind did he keep a grain of caution, but this fellow seemed trustworthy.

"Sure, I'm fine with that," Sunil said with a vague grin that displayed his contentment with the very idea. Looking between the two again, his coffee-brown eyes soon swept from left to right in attempts to spot a decent eatery somewhere nearby. The place wasn't so large as to leave him on some block where such locales were scarce, but they weren't exactly smack-dab in the middle of the restaurant district either. Not one pleasant smell of cooking food could be detected by Sunil's well-trained sense of smell.

"I think," he said, tapping his finger to his chin, "We should probably head that way." He pointed eastward, then crossing his arms loosely as he awaited a reply. If that wasn't the right way, how hard could it be to find their way back? Not. He was quick to voice his feelings, too. "It'll probably let out where we need to be. Who knows?"

[tali]

Tali blinked, as fun as wandering around was she came to a simple conclusion, men were too hard headed to ask for directions it seemed. Not one of them was native to this town, it was natural to get lost but heading off in a random direction sounded a lot like making more trouble for themselves. While Sunil accepted the offer and began to ponder which way to go Tali energetically plodded off to the nearest vendor. Upon seeing the young looking girl coming the man straightened himself up from where he was resting. Tali suddenly felt the force of his attention and settled her arms behind her back inadvertently pushing her front a bit forward, it was just a habit of hers.

Pivoting her foot back and forth on it's toe the other leg held her strong, she was sometimes energetic with strangers around her age but older people gave her a bit of a rough time. At least mentally anyway, flashing the man a bright smile she tilted her head gently to the side. " Excuse me, I'm not from around here. Would you know of any resteraunts?" The man eyed the girl evenly for a moment before stroking his goatee and looking up at the sky in thought. " Well.... looking for anything in peticular?" A little more comfortable with the situation Tali shook her head continuing the smile but relaxing her body a bit. " Just something warm and filling, maybe some place with a bit of selection."

Her mind immediately went to the smoke house she'd dined at the first day of her journey, they served nothing but meat, you could pick from a slab what part you wanted, she couldn't stomach the thought of that. Everyone stared at her as she grudgingly stomached the smell and ate some vegetable stir fry. The man nodded and gestured down a road. " About a block that way, Mushu's Mad House pretty good at the right price for someone on a budget." He smiled at the girl and Tali bowed very appreciative of the information. Waving good by to the man she came back over as Sunil finished speaking, her step had a youthful bounce to it, she nearly jogged everywhere. All that excess energy " Theres a resteraunt down there, the shop kepper said it's pretty good."

[shuzu]

Shu-zu grinned inwardly as he realized that the man was on his side and would help locate a restaurant. He allowed himself to believe that was the reason that he was willing to pay for their meal, that it would make his struggle easier, but he really couldn’t believe that. Either way, it seemed he would get his stomach filled. He listened to the man’s explanation, and was about to head that way, when he noticed the girl had gone. Letting his eyes wander, he picked her out talking to a young man who was tending a shop. As she bounded back, he laughed inwardly at not thinking of that himself.

She had, of course, asked for directions. When she returned, Shu-zu shrugged and put on a passive expression, “I guess that works too…” He did feel a bit… undermined? Not that it mattered. He wasn’t really the type to feel that men should do everything, it was more like he had no opinion on the subject. Still gripping his mount’s reigns, he beckoned toward the direction Tali had pointed out. Trying out a more traditional persona, he merely said, “Ladies first.”

[sunil]

When Tali wandered off and casually tried to obtain a few tips, Sunil allowed his eyes to drift elsewhere, peering at everything around them. Fu waddled around his feel idly, without a set goal in mind telling the little bird what to do and where to go. It didn't seem like Shu-zu wanted to make small talk at the moment, and since Sunil was fully aware people often grew cranky with hunger, he opted to keep his mouth shut.

Shu-zu seemed like a nice fellow, but Sunil knew it was foolish to think he could predict every action based on this first impression. That, and hunger was beginning to gnaw at his own mind, making him less inclined to gauge Shu-zu's reactions and establish a firmer image of the young man's persona.

So when Tali returned, Shu-zu directed her first to the restaurant she mentioned, and allowed her to lead in a polite manner. Before this shopkeeper had a chance to do the same, Sunil figured he would take the initiative and be courteous. It never hurt to be polite! Gesturing his hand after Tali, he smiled. "You go ahead, I'll follow."

[tali]

Tali glanced between the men with a small smile, honestly she was nervous about leading but it seemed she was the one who asked for directions so she'd be the one who would lead. The ladies comment came off as a bit annoying but as she moved away from the group she let it slip from her mind, surely no harm was done in the comment. Her braid swung gently behind her body with her gate and a hand lay rested on her bag as to not jostle it while she moved. Once the men were following her she slowed and fell back walking more next to them than in front of them.

Before she could think to start up a conversation she noticed the building, the sign reading as the man said it would. At least she wasn't being taken for a fool. Faltering back next to Sunil she pursed her lips, would she honestly take up the man on the free food, the more she thought about it the more awkward she felt, perhaps she could offer to pay the tip, maybe do something for the man, anything really to put her mind at ease. Her body weight shifted from one hip to the other letting the sway run though her body. " This is it."

She smiled gently looking between the two boys with her eyes peering up at them under her chocolate bangs.

[shuzu]

With a small, 'tut', he ushered the Ostrich-Horse forward, following Tali on the right, Sunil on the left, down the road toward the unknown restaraunt. The Ostrich-Horse on his right, Shu-zu used his right hand to keep ahold of the beast. He had the slight notion of naming it, until he realized he didn't even know the sex of the being. He mentally shrugged it off, not really caring much about the creature anyway.

His head jerked a bit as he heard Tali proclaim that they had arrived. For whatever reason his mind could justify, it seemed that it shouldn't have been that easy to get there. Keeping a rather dull expression the entire time, he read the sign to the place aloud, "'Mushu's Mad House'... Doesn't exactly sound like gourmet, but it looks fine enough to me."

Looking around, he saw a small post where he could tie his Ostrich-horse up, and proceeded to do so, before turning back toward the restaraunt and stepping up to the entrance. As he pushed a small beaded drape aside to enter, he immediately noticed the... "budgeted" look of the place. He had been correct, it was no gourmet restaraunt, but at this point, he figured the old saying, 'beggars can't be choosers' had officially taken effect. He allowed himself to throw a quick glance over his shoulder to see if the two had followed him in.

[sunil]

Sunil casually watched as Shu-zu descended his ostrich-horse mount, letting the earthbender's mind rest in knowing the fellow wasn't paranoid to step off the creature or insecure about his thoroughly average height when standing next to the six-foot-tall Sunil. It seemed this fellow, this merchant, had taken to the restaurant first, allowing Sunil and Tali to follow. For equality's sake, he walked straight in alongside Tali - if she even decided to enter - and looked around much like Shu-zu did. 'Mushu's Mad House' had a quaint appeal to it, and while Sunil wasn't picky, he still saw nothing wrong with the place; nothing suspicious, either, other that it appearing a bit cheap. Oh, well! Less money to pay meant less obligation felt when Shu-zu paid for him.

The host - a petite, middle-aged woman with graying hair and an amber and burnt orange yukata -seemed preoccupied with other customers at the moment, forcing the trio to stand off on the sidelines until they were acknowledged. Not sure of how long that would take, since the place was rather packed at that time, Sunil looked to Shu-zu at his right. "So, you said you weer a merchant. What's your business anyway?"

[tali]

The place seemed her style, humble, active, a rather fun look to it. Tali was content to settle her pleated lock of hair behind her shoulders before entering the resteraunt. The inside seemed as nice as the outside, it wasn't high classed dining but the bits of older furniture, coats of paint here and there, it was nice. She smiled contently as she took it in, the very atmosphere was feeding into her vibe of tranquility. Happy families enjoying their meals, old friends no doubt laughing about some old joke they'd had running for who knows how long. This sort of felt like home, she missed the resteraunt she used to frequent, there was not helping that now...

Getting herself wrapped up in the enviorment of the the building it took a few seconds to notice that Sunil was attempting to strike up a conversation with the newest member of the makeshift group. Her attention shifted over to Shu-zu with her eyes taking in his expression carefully, it seemed that the man was used to higher classed living. It was rather humorous in her opinion anyway. A smile cracked at her lips and she nodded with Sunil's acquisition. " I'm rather curious as well, do you specialize in anything?"

It seemed as the question came up the kindly waitress finally noticed the trio by the door and began to make her way over

[shuzu]

Shu-zu allowed himself a moment to examine the place in more detail, his eyes scanning the restaraunt, looking over the splintery tables, hoping to himself that the food didn't reflect the appearance of the place. A slender woman toward the other end of the place, who was assumedly the waitress, began her way across the floor to them. Before she had reached them, however, it seemed the two wanted to start conversation again.

He had been asked this question before, and he was ready with a complete lie. Well... not a lie, but more like not telling the whole truth, for he was good at it by now. Not a slight change in the man's outer appearance, he acted normal as ever. "Well... I usually deal in household goods, but I get the occasional sword or bow here and there. Really, I deal in whatever I can get."

By the time he had finished his sentence, the small woman had made her way across the place and approached the trio. With a slight bow, with her hands folded in front of her, she lightly spoke, "Welcome to Mushu's Mad House." She threw a quick glance around before guesturing toward an empty table, "It looks like you get our last table, you can follow me." At this, the woman started to glide toward a table somewhat across the room, and Shu-zu was glad at an opportunity to take the focus off of him. He didn't need to be found out, that would not be a good thing, as it never was.