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Post by aden on Jul 2, 2008 22:08:43 GMT -5
A day had passed since Aden’s unpleasant experience with Pika and the irate buffalo-deer who didn’t take kindly to being tipped over. Aside from the nice bruise on his lower back, Aden was still angry that the young man he had started to call ‘friend’ had led him astray so wantonly. Perhaps the other teen simply had a less concrete idea of right and wrong, but Aden resolved to distance himself from Pika for the time being. Up until now, he had not consumed more than the tiniest sip of alcohol, and he had never planned on ever letting himself become drunk. That stain on his immaculate record would undoubtedly plague his conscience for some time to come.
It was early morning when Aden awoke this day. He had gone to sleep early the previous night, affording him enough rest to rise long before dawn. The waterbender dressed himself swiftly in near total darkness, going purely off memory for the location of his belongings and feel for the fastening of his clothes. Before long, he was heading quietly out of his room, ready for the day ahead. However, as he crossed the main room that composed the living area and kitchen of his home, a voice from behind gave him pause.
“Getting a head start?”
Aden recognized his father’s voice, but was surprised to hear it. He stopped before he reached the door and turned around to see his father standing weary-eyed in the door to his room. “I’m heading to the Wall,” Aden informed him.
For a moment, the strange destination seemed to puzzle Aden’s father. He didn’t need to see through the darkness to imagine the older man’s eyebrow twitching up curiously. But after a moment of silence he responded, “Check in with us around midday. And if your mother asks, I told you to take some plans to the archives…. I’m heading back to bed.”
Aden nodded and smiled slightly. It was comforting to know that his father understood him so well… And just as comforting to notice that he’d eased up on his promise to ground him for the next two weeks. Aden stepped out of the door to his house and immediately cast his gaze up skyward. There were no clouds and a half moon in the Western sky. A full moon would have been preferable, but there was not much to be done about that.
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Twenty minutes later, Aden had reached his destination. After a brief exchange with one of the sentries on guard, he was allowed passage onto the outer edge of the wall. After a few brief stretches to loosen up his chi paths, he settled into a cross-legged seat on the edge of the great wall. From his seat, he could hear the gently waves lapping against the base of the wall while the light of the moon faintly illuminated the icy seascape.
Long, soothing breaths rhythmically left his body as he did his best to let his mind slip into a peaceful state. It was no easy task, however, for every time he paused to remember the reason for this little excursion Aden began to tense up. He had been without his bending for about a week, and it was weighing heavily on his mind that it hadn’t returned yet. It took considerable willpower to keep his mind from wandering down a path of worries that his bending would never return.
But as another deep breath passed from his lips, Aden reassured himself that he would not let the sun set this day without fixing his problem. Pakku himself had suggested this remedy, and despite the tone with which it was delivered, Aden believed it had potential.
Over an hour passed before Aden felt as though he might have absorbed enough of nature’s influence. Slowly. Carefully. Like a child handling a delicate piece of scrimshaw, Aden attempted to pull a stream of water up from the surrounding ice. And yet, despite his mental calmness there seemed to be no visible change in his bending. The ice beneath his hand melted into a small puddle of water and swelled slightly under his palm, but it did not lift into his grasp as he wanted. Aden took a deep breath, not allowing himself to become discouraged, and he resumed his meditation.
The sun was beginning to rise over to the East, but there was no sense of urgency. He had all day…
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Post by desna on Jul 2, 2008 22:10:13 GMT -5
Groggily Desna pulled herself out of bed, her hair was disheveled and her mind was fuzzy, not much was able to penetrate into her non exsistant thoughts. But the shifting mass on her legs insisted she move. Pikatti looked at her curiously, as he did every morning, prompting Desna to lean forward somewhat and stroke his head until the beast jumped off of her stuffed down mattress, covered in several furrs and pelts. With the make shift alarm gone Desna took a moment to collect herself before stretching.
How she wished she was a deeper sleeper, she might be able to rest longer, still things needed to be done. She peeled the pelts off of herself grudgingly forcing her body to adjust to the cold morning air. With a small grown she put her feet on the floor covered in her favorite caribou weasel pelt. Even this coupled with her wool socks was no match for the chill. At least she was awake now. Her hands raised to her eyes rubbing the crust from her sleep away from them. The hand went from her face to her hair raking a hand through it and she grimaced, it was getting rather greasy, perhaps today would be a good day to wash it. Blindly she moved from the nook that served as her room to the main den, gently shifting the fur divider from her path. Embers from last nights fire gave the room a soft warm glow, she took a moment to appreciate it before she moved to tend to the flames, making them brighter, lighting the room properly.
The sun wasn't yet rising, it wouldn't for a time yet, she'd need to leave as the light began to touch the sky, if she wanted to be in Shai by sunrise. The metal grate was set over the fire along with two pots, one was heating snow into water that she would use to make herself a bit less disgusting, the other would be for her typical breakfast of lightly seasoned rice gruel. Not being in the mood for cooking up anything she tossed Pikatti a fish, which he greedily caught in his mouth before plodding over to the corner designated as his own. She vaugely questioned why he would even have a bed when he just invaded hers. Not that she protested the company, too often she felt lonely out here.
A glance too the pots indicated she'd need to wait for a while before she could do anything so she didn't move to undress from her sleep wear. She'd need to take off her clothing again anyway after washing up. Instead she sat in an old bone chair lines with tanned hides curling her feet under her self. She felt so small and so insignificant in the chair she remembered was once her grandfathers. He must have been a big man. Her hands found the journal she kept on the small wooden table near by. Not many people could claim to have a wooden table in the water tribe. It was brought over from the earth kingdom. It seemed to be the nicest thing in the room, it's polished exterior remaining lustrous to this day. Her fingers carefully moved to transport the small bottle of ink closer to her. the brush fitted to her hand as it usually did and she began to write. She'd only managed two sentances, working on the next when the boiling water caught her attention
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Fully dressed and feeling mildly refreshed Desna was making her way across the shelf giving no mind to the darkness that surrounded her save the glimmers on the horizon. She'd loaded up on herbs, both fresh dried and ground, ate a few spoon fulls of her meal and made her way out.
Humming to herself generally helped to drive out the silence that seemed to rule the shelf. Today it appeared to be true as well, the tune today was something she'd heard in Shai drifting out of a bar. There was no name to the melody, there were no words to it, most of the refrains were wrong and parts of it were made up and changedin the translation from what she heard and her minds interpertation of it. Still the haunting tune helped keep her from idly rehashing things she didn't need to over think. At her side Pikatti plodded along pulling the sled which was fixed days ago, there was no change in it, it was like it never happened at all. A few days had passed and the only thing she thought about now was
Her heart swelled when the cliff came up the indicated the glimmering city of Shai was just ahead. A small smile slipped on her features and she felt herself prepare for the long day ahead of her. The teens legs were worn with a familure ache that came from the long hike but it was just about over. at least the lifts were back in operation, that was a time and energy saver. She missed the old lift operator, he was a casualty, nothing to be done about that, she'd shrugged it off when she'd found out the other day. Her eyes scanned the wall landing on an unusual sight, her chipper attitude was put on hold as she saw a boy sitting in the dim light of the morning. He was by himself? She pouted a touch, he seemed familure...
She didn't stop, instead she moved onto the lift closing her eyes and taking a small breath to slip back into herself, the water bender gave the teen a questioning look but when Desna opened her eyes her smile was bright once more, " Down please." The man nodded and moved in position to meet her request. Out of the corner of her eye though, she watched the boy on the shelf, why did she think she knew him?
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Post by aden on Jul 2, 2008 22:10:28 GMT -5
The day wore on slowly but steadily, and behind his back the city was coming to life. Markets were beginning to bustle with activity while the canals and waterways were flowing with traffic. A portion of the fishing fleet was beginning to return with their daily quota, utilizing the system of locks and gates within the wall to be lifted up to the city’s level. Waterbenders all along the dividers between the water reservoirs worked in unison to transfer the water between locks. The sound of flowing water filled the air, and Aden couldn’t imagine better circumstances in which to immerse himself in his element.
Yet, as an hour, and then another slipped by, the troubled bender could not seem to make any progress. The water around him remained just as oblivious to the call of his bending and no amount of meditation seemed to clear his mind any more than it already was. There was not a single thought in his head other than the desire to make the water move, but even all of his willpower poured into his actions barely helped at all. After a dozen serious attempts, he managed to lift the water off the ground and swing it through a single loop before he was gasping for air from the exertion.
Several of the other men on the wall, benders who operated the wall locks, were taking a slight interest in his struggle. A few were holding back laughter and occasionally failing to constrain their amusement. One or two others called out some friendly advice or suggested that he take a break, but it was nothing truly helpful or new. Aden paused only briefly for a drink and to watch the waves along the base of the wall.
His mind was digesting the situation and posing every conceivable reason for his inability to do what was previously as natural to him as breathing. It was like he was a bird who had suddenly lost his wings and was still trying to fly… For whatever reason, he just didn’t have what it took to bend any more. Until he figured out what he had lost, it almost made his efforts seem pointless.
Aden physically shook his head, casting out that line of thought. No, he decided, he would not accept defeat just yet. The young warrior had vowed that he would be bending like his old self by nightfall, and that was all there was to it. Aden took a few minutes to stretch some more and then run through a handful of the more basic bending forms he remembered.
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Post by desna on Jul 2, 2008 22:11:29 GMT -5
As soon as Desna was in the city she made for the market as she usually did. Her eyes scanned the new buildings with a bit of disappointment, she'd seen them being constructed, some were finished, some were not, still she couldn't understand why they couldn't make them in the same shape they previously were. Nothing was wrong with them before, Desna disliked change. Still when she got to the market the concept was the same. At least something like that wouldn't change, hopefully in time she'd forget how things looked, remember solely how they are and accept it as how it'd always been.
First in her usual routine she stopped at a few of the resteraunts in town and the apothecary, letting them have first pick of her herbs. Pocketing the coins she stretched a bit mentally preparing herself for the isles of merchants she would soon be joining in the main market. The noise was always there, except at night when the area is torn down. One had to yell to be head and raise their voice to reply, it was something she'd slowly became used to as she ventured into the world of independent marketing. Trotting along with Pikatti she waited until she could find a decent spot, one was located between the seamstress and the ice turnip salesman.
Out from her sack she retrieved the usual fur ground covering, laying it out and unharnessing the sled from Pikatti who in turn shook his fur out greatfuly. Desna was going about stashing the sled behind the line of the merchants, she did this to prevent theft, that was also Pikattis job. She had faith in people of course, but you never know in difficult times what people were willing to do. One by one she released the bundles to various sections on a laid out strip of hide. The bright greens browns and yellows of the plants was a stark difference from the usual colors of the arctic, she enjoyed it, one day she'd like to see an entire stretch of land green with plants, she'd never leave the North though.
Smiling somberly she plopped herself onto the furs behind her goods prompting Pikatti to sit next to her so she could lean and him and stroke his head fondly. People were beginning to enter the market, her first two sales with in the hour. A good amount was always given to her, sometimes she accepted trades if it was even. Soon enough Pikatti started grumbling at her side, wanting his lunch. She was, as usual, in no mood for it, from the bag she retrieved a wrapped fish breaking the flesh into chunks to feed to her polar bear dog. Only a bit more and she'd be sold out, she wanted to visit a few friends
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Post by aden on Jul 2, 2008 22:11:37 GMT -5
Ignoring the stares of the benders who operated the wall’s Watergate became easier once they eventually stopped paying attention to him. Unfortunately, even without that distraction, Aden was no better off in regaining his bending. After another solid hour of running through every bending form he could remember, combined with a fair amount of time spent back in meditation, the young warrior was running low on hope… as well as energy.
His stomach had been nagging him for a while now to eat something, and with the sun passing its zenith it seemed like a decent time to take a break. Perhaps a little relaxation from the efforts would provide him with a new perspective to approach the problem?
Aden made his way down the stairs and across the stretch of open snow between the wall and the next plateau of the city. He had planned ahead and brought some money with him, which he took to a smokehouse to get some salted seal jerky. It wasn’t exactly a feast, but it was protein and calories that could keep him sustained from now until nightfall. The young warrior had made the trip relatively quick, and as he turned to head back the way he came, Aden decided that he could wait a little longer before resuming his training. He milled around in place for a moment, undecided as to how to spend his free time, but eventually decided that a stroll through the market would give him enough time to finish his food and burn some time.
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Post by desna on Jul 2, 2008 22:12:04 GMT -5
With her wares all sold Desna packed up her blanket and set them in her satchel hooking Pikatti back up to the sled and walking down the market street. She passed many people, not once did she take note of their faces, she was in her own world, quiet contemplative, no doubt she'd be pulled out of it soon enough. She needed to be happy for people, they needed to see her smile, they needed her to tell them there was nothing wrong with her. It was second nature. If she had her own problems how could she help others.
It didn't take long for her to show up at her old friend Kihena's of course there were smiles, hugging quick conversations about this and that but then an expected and yet unwanted topic came up. " I'm engaged!"
Desna's smile was vacent for a moment as she let it sink in, this was her fifth good friend she'd be loosing. Her eyes were unfocused as she took in the news and attempted to let it go as a new knot formed in her chest, after that she grinned closing her eyes and embracing the girl tightly. " I'm happy for you." It sounded like someone else's words, not her own, now her actions were on auto pilot. Not that Kihena had any problem keeping up the majority of the conversation. As she showed off her necklace, her collar telling the world she was someone's property, Desna wondered how long it would be until she was completely alone. Not too long she imagined, hopefuly it would hurry up and time would leave her behind so she could get on with her life.
What did she have left now? Three men she'd known since she was little, two were soldiers, one was going into the tanning business, only one of them seemed actively interested in girls, hopefully they would stick around. Then she had six girl friends who were un married, half of which were complaining that they were un married. Most of the wound be gone with in three years she pondered. Countless friends had already left, sure they said they'd continue their lives even with their new lives, not one of them kept their word.
Once Kihena's gossip ran out Desna excused herself with a sincere good bye, to Desna, it was the death of their friendship, another step towards her being alone like she'd said she always wanted. There was little to do but roam the city for a while, she had no interest in visiting another friend, she needed some cloth for a new parka, her old one was getting too tight in certain places, Perhaps she should pick out some cloth.
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Post by aden on Jul 2, 2008 22:12:12 GMT -5
Some might have found the current state of the market depressing given the memory of what it used to be. The circuit of tents and stalls was far more temporary than the previous rows of buildings and kiosks. Still, the fact that people had not simply retreated into their homes in the wake of the siege; the fact that life was still marching on brought some measure of comfort to Aden. While allowing his thoughts to wander, he decided that it was something he would need to do as well. Despite the obstacles of the past and present, he just had to keep moving forward.
He had finished his small meal before reaching the end of market, but still he figured he would complete the walk. However, before he reached the point where he would have to double back, the sight of a familiar face gave him pause. Aden’s steps slowed, but he kept walking forward since it would be too obvious to turn and walk away. His eyes stole side-long glances of the girl he’d been seeing a lot of these past few days.
Desna had apparently not noticed him yet, and he made a move to walk along the side of the street. Aden ducked into a fabric vendor’s stall to stay out of her way and hoped she would just pass by without seeing him.
It wasn’t that he disliked the girl, per say. Desna was a little outgoing, but it wasn’t anything horrible. He simply felt that she… distracted him. Whenever they happened to interact, he found that it was easy to lose sight of what he was supposed to be doing. The fact that he honestly had some important work to do made him think that it would be best to avoid her right now. He didn’t need thoughts of Desna creeping into his mind during meditation or throwing him off focus.
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Post by desna on Jul 2, 2008 22:12:23 GMT -5
Carefully the teen wound her way through the market, between many who were taller than she was but that wasn't anything new. Once her Nana commented that she was going to get stepped on one day, as careless as she was it hadn't happened yet. She didn't take the time to look at faces as she settled her sights on the fabric shop just across the street, too many other things occupied her thoughts. Her mind wound through various colors and styles, as much as she liked her poncho she had to admit she couldn't wear it all the time. While most people would settle for just buying a new artical of clothing Desna found it more cost efficient to make her own.
Stepping into the store she took a small look around before glancing back to see that Pikatti was safely at her side. She worried constantly that he'd get lost, sometimes she knew that he was the only thing she had left in this world. If she lost him.. that was another thing she should push from her mind. A second look around the store brought a now familiar face to her attention. For a second or so she stared at the boy, a few options presented themselves.
The first would be to give him the greeting she had the last encounter, but he might see that one coming. So instead she ignored him heading past him to look at the fabrics in the store. Honestly she was curious if he'd attempt to talk to her, of course she wouldn't be rude and ignore him. Tossing her hair over her shoulder she idly took note of some patterns wondering how she'd look in them, her frame was much smaller than other women of thr water tribe.
She found herself partial to lighter blues and the white fox furs, she started to plan out the month long project. Pikatti waited at the door, just outside so that he could look in, a small menacing look went to Aden but no more.
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Post by aden on Jul 5, 2008 14:40:43 GMT -5
From his refuge behind a row of coiled fabrics, Aden cursed his luck that he seemed to pick the the wrong place to hide. Desna was heading right for the shop, but so far he hadn't caught her eye. He turned away quickly and side-stepped until there was an older woman standing between their line of sight. He kept looking away for several second, pretending to take interest in a display of some blue linen wraps.
After a few moments of acting nonchalant, he managed to steal a glance out of the corner of his eye. Aden caught sight of Desna poking around the other side of the store, and from the looks of it she wasn't paying him any attention. The young warrior breathed a sigh of relief that she hadn't recognized him and turned away from her to try and scurry away from the shop. He slipped through a few old ladies haggling over the price of a strip of lavender cloth and was back out in the street, home free.
Or at least he was for a moment. Aden had dared to turn his head just enough to glance over his shoulder to see if Desna had spotted him, but in doing so he overlooked the girl's canine companion. He stumbled right over the polar bear-dog, forcing him to throw that leg back and hop awkwardly on his other foot to keep from falling. Aden bumped lightly into another person passing by, and he quickly spat out an apology. He could only hope that Pikatti wouldn't start making a scene.
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Post by desna on Jul 5, 2008 14:55:07 GMT -5
Desna continued looking through her fabrics, ever few seconds her eyes fluttered over to Aden though she was careful enough to not turn her head. It was almost humorous how he tried to avoid her attention, like she was the plague or something. This wouldn't be the first or last time someone went to such extremes to avoid her. Sadly she admitted this to herself, already many people thought she was a witch, not that she'd ever tell them they were wrong, Desna fed off such odd circumstances.
Near the door Pikatti watched Aden suspiciously, he didn't seem to be going near Desna so the polar bear dog relaxed allowing his attention to wander else where, but when the boy came closer to him he didn't notice until there was a leg in his side. Pikatti let out a surprised yelp at being knocked into, he was a large enough animal that he wasn't knocked out but rather was irritated by the action from Aden of all people. With fangs bared he turned on the boy snarling menacingly. Without the hand on his harness he would have taken a chunk out of the boy.
" Easy Pikatti" Desna pursed her lips together and began to stroke the dog with her free hand, it was a little difficult to keep him calm but she didn't want to see any blood on the nice white snow. It was hard enough to push through the patrons of the store to reach the pair before anything happened. It seemed like she'd need to look for fabrics a little later. Her eyes turned up at Aden curiously from her spot kneeling next to the dog, her pout tilted upward coyly addressing the boy. " Are you stalking me or do you just have a crush on Pikatti?"
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Post by aden on Jul 8, 2008 22:04:08 GMT -5
Aden quietly cursed his luck. A battle with Desna's dog was the last thing he needed right now. He held up his palms to the dog in a sign of apology and peace, but was fortunately saved from defending himself by Desna's intervention. Aden exhaled a breath that was a mix of relief and annoyance, as he could no longer ignore the girl's presence.
"No," he said in response to Desna's question, "But I apologize for crushing his paw or whatever I just stepped on... Tell him I'd appreciate it if he doesn't take out his anger on me with his teeth." Aden looked down at the polar bear-dog, wondering the beast was capable of accepting anyone else's hand other than his master's.
Usually the young warrior was fairly good with animals. Just respect them and give them their space and a warm welcome and they usually came around soon enough... Pikatti seemed to be the exception to the rule Aden had come to accept as universal.
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Post by desna on Jul 9, 2008 11:46:28 GMT -5
Desna grinned a little wider up at Aden stifling a laugh, for some reason Pikatti hated him but it wasn't unusual. She gave her polar bear dog a hug and kissed the top of his head. ' Your okay boy, it was an accident." Pikatti was calming down so he took one of her hands off of him and stood back up keeping close to him in case he decided to lunge at Aden. " Well I'll sit him down and have a stern talking to him about that."
Brushing her poncho off she kept her hand on Pikatti's collar, with her height she didn't have to lean over very much to do so. It annoyed her a bit that the pair of them didn't get along, she'd have to do something about that. Leaning forward she grabbed Aden's hand bringing him towards Pikatti and holding his palm out. Pikatti growled but with a short tug of his collar he cooled his jets. Tenitively he sniffed at Aden's hand before licking his glove.
Carefully Desna let go of both boys smiling up at Aden pleasently. Her smile faltered for a moment with a small sneer as some hair got in her line of vision but with a small breath it moved to the side of her face and out of the way allowing the cheeky smile to come back to her face.
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Post by aden on Jul 10, 2008 19:34:30 GMT -5
Aden wasn't sure he trusted the dog not to bite, but still he allowed Desna to guide his hand closer to Pikatti. He locked eyes with the animal, keeping a steady expression while he looked for the slightest hint of any sudden movement. To his surprise, however, Pikatti actually seemed to accept Desna's forced interaction. The young warrior's expression softened somewhat, and he dared to scratch Pikatti's jaw before pulling his hand back.
"I guess when you speak the language, everything just falls into place," he remarked, brushing his licked palm lightly against his parka. Aden glanced off to the side for a moment, suddenly trying to return his thoughts to their previous track. He reminded himself that he had a job to do today, and that he really should head back to the wall.
"Well..." he began, pausing to blow out a long breath as he passed his glance back over Desna. He wasn't terribly adept at these sort of social situations where one had to politely excuse themselves. And thusfar, she hadn't been annoying enough to warrant simply walking away. "I should probably be going."
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Post by desna on Jul 10, 2008 21:17:12 GMT -5
This got her attention, she had nothing better to do for the rest of the day. Honestly she was a little bored, if nothing else Aden might provide her some decent entertainment. With in a few strides She caught up to the boy and behind her Pikatti plodded along pulling the sled which was much lighter than it was in the morning. Ignoring the stares she attracted trailing a boy like she was she tilted her head towards Aden mischievously. " I'll come along with you." Desna smiled pleasantly placing her hands behind her back
Displeased with Aden's slow pacing she took his hand tugging him along with her, by the time they reached a cross walk Desna was forced to stop least she go over the bridge and away from whatever location her companion was headed towards. Blinking lightly she looked down both streets then across the bridge. After which her attention returned to Aden with a nervous smile.
" Where exactly were you headed anyway?"Pikatti wound up at her side as she debated which path they would be taking, lightly she bit her lower lip her eyes not staying on Aden's for a while. Were the two of them friends? She could assume so, over the past week or so they'd seen each other a fair share of times. Honestly with in the first meeting she'd slapped that label over him but it was honestly curious to wonder if he'd found the same conclusion.
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Post by aden on Jul 11, 2008 23:49:03 GMT -5
"You really don't need-" Aden started to protest as Desna offered to accompany him. However, he was unfortunate enough that she started walking in the direction he was heading, and he didn't feel like walking back across the market just to avoid her. The hand-holding, though was certainly not happening. The young warrior twisted his hand free of her grasp after just a few steps. He really didn't need another reason for people to give them odd looks.
They eventually came to a bridge that spanned one of the canals that crossed the city. Desna seemed intent on following him, but Aden hoped that perhaps she still had business to take care of in the city proper. In that case he could just tell her he was heading out to the Wall and be rid of her without having to lie.
"I'm going to the Wall," he informed her, pointing toward the mouth of the ice shelf that encompassed the city. "I'm in the middle of some important training, actually." Aden kept his eyes trained on his destination, hoping that his last words didn't make him sound too eager to get away.
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