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Post by manju on Sept 7, 2008 13:54:35 GMT -5
When the first rays of sunshine crackled between her eyelids, the first person she saw, even when her head was tilted at an angle, was Nasrin. Not a surprise, since her head's tilt had followed the sound of the sandbender's voice, and Nasrin was the only person around to begin with.
Nonetheless, Manju was still lying on her back in the sand, at the barest reaches of the swelling tide. At its greatest, the tide would reach somewhere around her waist, but she still didn't care. Wallowing in the sea was a fine way to relax, as the Igni saw fit.
"Not...really," Manju said, pausing appropriately at her lack of consideration. Even if she gave it a great deal of consideration, the Igni had absolutely no idea where to go next. Certain her sandbender comrade was referring to the grand scheme of things, Manju was at a complete loss. Aside from that, she didn't even know what lurked beyond that small town. The Earth Kingdom was impossible large! "'Spose jou don't, eider..."
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Post by nasrin on Sept 7, 2008 14:54:12 GMT -5
She managed to squeeze out a fair amount of water from the fabric of her shirt, but it seemed like it was determined to hold onto enough moisture to discomfort her. Nasrin figured it would just dry out in the sun, though, and so she simply unfurled it and slipped it back on over her shoulders. The wringing had left it creased, but that was of minimal concern.
The Si Wong native glanced over at Manju after hearing her reply, and wondered for a moment how much longer they would remain travelling companions. "I know where I should to be," Nasrin said, and she began to let loose her rather long, dark brown hair. She managed to free it from its bun and started wringing it out in the same fashion as her shirt.
"I'll need to explain this vacation to my boss," she went on, her eyes focusing on some distant point in space as though she were simply running on aurtopilot. "Hopefully that merchant train doesn't get back before I do..."
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Post by manju on Sept 8, 2008 10:21:54 GMT -5
Quickly brushing off the gritty sand from her back, Manju rolled up from the ground as Nasrin explained where exactly they should be. Well, she never mentioned Manju in the picture, but the Igni wasn't about to assume Nasrin was talking about making the trip all by herself. Manju didn't find the idea of a desert, miles and miles of sand everywhere, to be appealing, but couldn't think of a single other place to go. Until she met up with Nasrin, she had wandered aimlessly through the country, unsure of the last places she had been. It was nice to find someone who knew the land, even if her knowledge was limited, or even confined to every locale just outside the desert.
"If jou must," Manju said, walking up to the sandbender slowly, footprints sinking into the soft sand washed by the surging and retreating waters. Seeing Nasrin's home maybe wouldn't be as bad as she thought, but she did figure one familiar face into the equation. The Si Wong Desert couldn't be so big so no one could track down a single person, right? If only Manju could remember his real name. What was it? Mulaqi? Something like that. "But maybe, just maybe," she continued, "we'll see big dummy there."
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Post by nasrin on Sept 8, 2008 20:26:49 GMT -5
Nasrin paused for a moment from wringing her hair and looked over at Manju with a slightly puzzled expression. It didn't immediately click who she was referring to, until she suddenly recalled the girl's nickname for the third member of their little party.
"Muqali?" she asked, confirming the name of the person they were talking about. The sandbender twisted her fist tightly over the last stretch of her hair until drips of water stopped falling from her grip. "Could be anywhere by now... But he probably passed through one of the trading posts on this edge of the desert. If you wanted to find him, there might be someone who can point us in the right direction."
Nasrin ended that thought with a shrug and tossed her hair back over her shoulder. She turned then and regarded the ocean once more. It was truly strange how such a foreign, majestic scene could grow boring so fast to her. But for whatever reason, Nasrin just couldn't bring herself to be 'wowed' for long.
It was water... just a lot of it. It shimmered. It had waves. Big whoop....
The sandbender sighed heavily as her eyes squinted out against the bright sky of mid-day. She'd just had an ale at the tavern a little while ago, but she missed her personal stock of Si Wong's finest liquour. Maybe a few sips of that, or even some of that 'Soulstorm' drink from Gaoling, would have made the beach seem more interesting.
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Post by manju on Sept 11, 2008 13:39:21 GMT -5
Manju was never amazed when Nasrin stopped, quickly like snapping fingers, before reaching the point. Well, there was something of a point, but Manju was hoping for more of an incidental encounter with Mulaqi rather than seeking him out as did the finest Igni trackers. She imagined it had to differ greatly from her simile, obviously, since there were probably no trees in the Si Wong. No trees. That was an odd thought. Was it really nothing as far as the eye could see? That would drive her crazy! In her mind, she pictured that, if she lay on the ground for too long, she may lose the distinction between sky and earth.
Maybe her path should diverge from Nasrin's before long, despite the bare beginnings of friendship the two were forming. It was a hard thought to swallow for someone who, until recently, had never left anyone she'd called a 'friend' for, well, ever. If she split off from Nasrin's path, it may be the last time she saw her.
But, back to the all-important point, Manju scratched her head for a bit, right eye squinted as though she were relieving an itch. If she was going to leave or stay, there was ample time to decide either. She was okay with that.
She made no effort to be specific, though. "Whatever jou wanna do, really..."
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Post by nasrin on Sept 13, 2008 21:09:44 GMT -5
Nasrin glanced down at Manju from the edge of the water's reach and simply held her gaze for a moment. Though she was several years her junior, the Si Wong native had to admit the girl definitely added an interesting angle to everything they'd done together. Everything, right down to her base appearance seemed to reflect everything that Nasrin was not.
Strange then that they'd managed to remain travelling together thusfar with relative success. However, Nasrin was far from naive and she knew that this friendship had been founded on convenience of the moment, and soon that convenience was about to exhaust itself. When it came time to re-enter the life of a desert nomad, there would no longer be a place for Manju. At least none that she could easily forsee.
A particularly strong waved lapped the waters up further than those before, and Nasrin felt it wash over her toes.
And in a moment of unheard-of spontaneity for the apathetic sandbender, she suddenly said, "I've heard people can ride these waves... You wanna show me how that works too?" Nasrin jerked her head and raised her eyebrows slightly in the direction of the ocean, prompting Manju to lead the way.
There was definitely a long road left between them and the desert, but for some reason it felt like this was the definite moment where their roads would split. She might as well make it something memorable.
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Post by manju on Sept 15, 2008 1:18:41 GMT -5
Manju was confused. Nasrin, in a moment strikingly out of character, asked her something she'd never expected to hear from anyone ever in the Earth Kingdom. She had no idea that news of the sport called 'surfing', as the Ignis dubbed it, had even reached beyond the island chain. She had to wonder what other secret knowledge this sandbender had, but also had to question if she was more shifty than she looked. Appearances could be deceiving, even if Manju's was most decidedly not.
"What'chu take me for? Some kinda waterbender?" Manju snarked back, even though the situation gave her ample leeway to jump out into the sea and ride like never before. There was no wooden surfboard to be found anywhere nearby, but her body would suffice.
"Sure," she replied with a sigh, gazing out toward the lapping waves increasing slowly in height, head tilting and eyes narrow. Various piercings on her face glistened in sunlight. Nasrin would see something she'd never forget. "Watch an' learn..."
A devilish grin, eyebrows arched to a disturbing height, Manju bolted into the water as fast as her feet would go.
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Post by nasrin on Sept 17, 2008 19:43:30 GMT -5
A while passed and the sun began to descend in the sky, casting a faint orange hue on the surroundings. After spending what felt like an eternity in the water getting pummeled by waves, Nasrin had eventually managed to perfect the technique of body surfing to the point where the last hour or so was actually enjoyable.
The Si Wong native currently sat on the beach, reclining on a laid-back chair of rock that she had bent from the sand. In her hand was a bottle of strong alcohol, which she'd gotten after a trip to the bar. She made quite a scene walking back through the establishement, looking very much like a drowned rat, and the young man who'd lent her the fishing supplies wasn't too pleased that they were left on the dock for anyone to steal. Regardless, none of that mattered to Nasrin now.
She had some rum, some sun, and the rythm of the waves scraping against the shore to relax her. Lethargically lifting a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun, she glanced over toward Manju and offered the bottle to the Igni girl. "I'm thinking we just spend the night here," she said, thinking out loud.
In the morning they would be back on the road, and from there... who knew?
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Post by manju on Sept 20, 2008 14:11:50 GMT -5
"Eh, why not..." Manju yawned back, expecting nothing less and nothing more to be said by the sandbender. The town was nothing to shake a stick at, but surely some third-rate hovel lay around for the two to cover their heads for the night. It would be better than nothing.
In fact, that was what the two happened to find. It was a 'quaint' little shack in the town, though spirits knew they could afford better. It was for one measly night, and either of them figured it wouldn't be much of a problem. Considering one was raised in thatched huts her whole life and the other probably slept on a regular basis, this was as good a place as any. And to further that point, Manju fell asleep almost right away.
The next morning, things packed, they were back out on the road. Typically, Manju didn't wear much, less than usual even; she merely wore her tube top and pants, not wanting to deal with this silly notion of 'clothes' and junk. She was an Igni, damn it, and everyone else would just have to deal. Not like they didn't run into stranger things on the road.
Next stop, the mighty Si Wong Desert.
~Manju has left (and ended) this thread~
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