Two Fates Collide <Earth Kingdom>

[tsengwei]

A loud boisterous laugh could be heard in the tea house. A large man with a pot belly sat at a round table. He wore trousers and a vests that were made from satin of blue and green. He carried a dagger in a sash belt in case he were to get ambushed. He was a wealthy man who owned the tea house. Across the table was a man in red and a walking staff with a piece of gem on top. His clothes were worn and dirty. The boots that he wore were unpolished and dusty from dirt. He had tattoos all over his body and his head was bald.

“So are you saying that the Avatar himself is the problem of the world?” the man said followed by a thunderous belly laugh.

“It is true though,” he said, “I, Tseng Wei could prove it. Before the existent of man, there was nothing. When man kind came to be, there was nothing but happiness. Then the avatar came. With him came plague, death, hatred, destruction, war, greed, poverty. All of these influences came from the Avatar because he is an abomination on nature. He destroyed the natural order of things.”

The man continued to laugh, “And this is your theory?” His belly laugh could be heard throughout the entire house, “This is so entertaining.”

“You do not believe me?” Tseng smiled, “You may not believe me, but I stand my theory. The avatar will eventually fall. When he does, the world will be in balance once more. Why? Because I will bring back that balance.”

“HAHAHAHAHA. This is great. You think you can take on the avatar by yourself?”

“Well, maybe not in a brawl, but he will be put down.”

“This is fantastic. I got a man that can claim he could defeat the avatar.”

The entire house roared in laughter. The mere laughter could have been heard from outside. Never in their life did they here something so ridiculous.

“So what happens next Mr. almighty?” the man asked.

“I will tell you in a moment,” Tseng said with his facial expression still being serious, “More tea sir?”

[tsengwei]

The green tea Tseng Wei admitted was delicious. The mixture of herbs and the water content were just right to unlock all of the flavor.

“You see kind sir,” Tseng continued, “I really don’t have a grudge against the Avatar himself. He seems like a good person, probably a fun person to be around too.”

His face transformed into something grim, “The problem lies in his status. You see, with him being alive, the whole world is in chaos. With him dead, everything will be back to normal.”

The man sitting across from wiped the tear from his eyes and went straight to business with Tseng Wei, “You know, you may be a funny guy, but you have this all wrong. You mentioned that you are trying to ‘cleanse’ the world of him. How do you plan on doing that?”

At that point, Tseng gave off a devilish grin as he sipped the tea from his porcelain cup, “You see, ‘cleansing is such a harsh word. I prefer the term ‘liberating’. You see, my occupation is not to only tell stories. I am what you would call a ‘medicine man’. People that are sick or dying, they come to me, no charge, no barter, and no exceptions. I heal everyone that needs it.”

He took another sip from his cup as he continued, “I was taught in an ancient technique of surgery that not only helps heal the body, but it renews the soul as well. It was proven to be quite effective. It all starts with the right kind of tools.”

Tseng reached into a special roll-up case and laid it across the table. From what the stout man saw were instruments of a cutting nature made from a crude element called obsidian.

“Pardon my rudeness, but doesn’t these tools seem to be rather…. crude?” the bellied man questioned.

“Not at all,” Tseng replied quickly, “With these stones, they will never need sharpening. They are more reliable than any metal I’ve encountered. Sure they might look a little primitive, but they are sure to work.”

“Are you sure they work?”

“Trust me. I am the expert when it comes to incisions.”

“I guess I could go for the humor. Do you think you could give me a demonstration?”

From that point, Tseng’s eyes widened as they had a glint of wicked glee and excitement to their aura. Tseng’s smile dripped of venom among the sheer mentioning of a demonstration.

“Let me show you,” Tseng wickedly smiled as he saw through the eyes of a man who will no longer see his family again.

[tsengwei]

The Next Morning:

The door slides open. The man coming out was Tseng Wei, feeling refreshed from the night’s sleep. He turned his head and smiled to something in the room.

“Thank you for the donation Ming,” Tseng spoke to the corpse that once was the owner of the tea shop that thought that he was crazy, “Your contribution to my cause is most gracious. I’m sure you were satisfied with what I showed you?”

He looked at the corpse and waited as he was expecting an answer. After a couple of seconds of silence, Tseng replied, “Did you know? Good to hear it. Don’t worry about your shop. I’m sure your wife will take good care of it. Consider this as an early retirement. Take care friend.”

He closed the door behind him and walked downstairs. He looked at the clerk downstairs. The clerk stopped Tseng Wei before he could leave the building.

“Excuse me sir, but your charges are still unpaid,” the clerk nervously said. Tseng turned over to him and smiled.

“Do not worry,” Tseng reassured, “My client will take care of the charges. He told me not to bother him until later this afternoon. He was quite tired after I got done with him.”

“Quite…..tired?” the clerk asked in confusion. Tseng just winked at the clerk.

“Quite,” Tseng replied, “What one must do for money. Don’t worry, he was satisfied. A little rough to handle for the first couple of minutes, but afterwards, he was quite tamed. Have a good day sir.”

Tseng bowed to the clerk as he left the building. Once he left, Tseng reached into his money pouch and pulled out five gold coins. Each coin had the Earth Kingdom stamped on them for authenticity in the Earth Kingdom.

“Once again, thank you for the contribution,” Tseng smiled as he walked down the street.

[tsengwei]

The morning sun continues to rise as the streets of Ba Seng Sei becomes more active with it’s day to day regiment. The dust of the streets rose as the stomping of feet kicks it up. Finding a bare spot on the front of a store, Tseng sits and leans to rest his weary feet. He breathes a sigh of relief to finally get off the ground.

“This day has been very strange,” Tseng murmured, “It’s like the police around here don’t even do their job.”

As he mentioned, he observed the activities going on around him. He sees the pick pockets getting their greedy wishes true as they steal from people’s pouches, alley negotiations on the next heist or mugging, the con artist selling fake drugs to gullible people.

He gives off a sigh of disappointment, “So much corruption. All done by imbalance. People would not need to steal if they knew how to work for a living, or be set as an example of. I try to liberate them, and they wish to punish me? HA! The audacity!”

Tseng spits to his side at the mere remark that he spoke, “People steal because people don’t know how to give back. They decide to say ‘Screw my brothers. Let them go broke while I feed myself to anything.’”

Tseng starts to get back up as he continues to rant, “Is it OK to steal if that person steals to survive? Perhaps, but people never look at ‘why he is stealing in the first place.’ People don’t look at the cause, they look at the result. Such madness! Madness indeed! WHEN WILL IT END?!”

Tseng stopped to look around that a few others were watching him in confusion and fear as his rant broke the usual dull roar of the everyday humdrum. Tseng took a breather and dusted his sleeves off and sat back down. The crowd near slowly continued on with their boring lives. He spat once again to his side in disgusts.

“You have a funny face,” a high pitched voice goes off in the distance. Tseng looked around frantically and noticed a small child near him. She looks to be only eight years old with a green and yellow set of trousers and vest. Her hair is of a chestnut brown and tied back.

Tseng Wei gives off a friendly smile toward her, “Aren’t you suppose to be in school little one?”

[tsengwei]

The little girl looked up at him and smiled.

“No silly,” she said, “There is no school today. It’s the weekend.”

“The weekend you say?” Tseng replied looking to the sky rubbing his chin, “Where has the time gone? All this time, I thought only a few days went by.”

He knelt down on one knee to see eye to eye with his guests.

“You smell dirty,” the little girl said while holding her nose.

“Do I now?” Tseng smiled, “I have been traveling for quite some time now.”

“You travel?” her eyes lit up, “Do you know any good stories?”

Tseng warmly smiled as he stood up. He spoke with an edge of confidence, “Do I know stories? I am a wandering medicine man. Of course I know stories. Let me tell you one.”

He stood on a wooden box and looked toward the people as he breathed deep to tell his story. A few more children gathered around to curiously listen.

“Once upon a time, all of the lands were one. There were no islands, there were no individual kingdoms nor governments nor economy. There was only one land. A land where people had to survive because we were not on top of the food chain then.”

He crouched down to look at the children gathering, “Giant lizards roamed the world then. THEY were the top of the chain. We were nothing but lowly people then, barely surviving. Still, we hung in there because we were strong. Each and everyday we fought with those terrible lizards and each day, we kept getting more strong and more smart. One day, a large comet changed the world. It crashed down into the world and destroyed everything it touched. Dust flew into the air so thick that it blocked out the sun. Earthquakes split the land into different areas. One side of the world was cold and dark while the other side hot and dusted. The giant lizards slowly died over the years. Soon afterwards, humans rose again after the terrible wake and ruled the land in the lizard’s place.”

All of the children were absent from the world as they continued to listen to his story.

“Over the years, we have grown stronger. We had nations for different groups of people. We had the Fire Nation to the far west, we had the Earth Kingdom here, the Water Tribes of the north and south. We even had the Air Nomads before they were gone. We as people were getting stronger with each passing era. We were even getting smarter. However, with even being aware, some wanted to exploit and corrupt. Rulers reign from their tyrannical towers, warriors kill for the taste of blood, and people with authority make people’s life miserable while crushing then with laws and customs. Sure, we have gotten better, but we have gotten worse as well.”

The children look onward as he concluded.

“My fellow children, we must not do what our predecessors done before. We must be better.”

The children nod in approval.

“Alright children, go back to your parents. I think I wasted enough of your time,” Tseng ordered as he smiled warmly.

[tsengwei]

All of the parents that got their kids from Tseng story looked at him in suspicion. A strange tattooed man with raggedy clothes hanging around the street and speaking random stories to people seems kind a of suspicious. It did not matter to Tseng regardless, he just kept smiling.

“I better get away from here before people suspect me for that murder,” Tseng thought as he scuffled the other way.

On his way to a different place, he noticed a weapon store. He looked inside the store through the window and sees all of their goods. They had swords, axes, spears, all sorts of armor, and a few staves as well. Tseng however, looked in disappointment as he watched inside.

“These are all fake,” Tseng told himself, “These are for display purposes only. Only a fool would have to be utterly dense to try to buy any of these things.

He then heard a loud and thunderous yelling from inside. He heard it for a couple of seconds, then the store owner threw whoever he was yelling at out the door.

“If you don’t have any money, we want none of your business,” the store owner spewed as he slammed the door behind him. Tseng took a look at the man thrown out. It was man that sported a fur vest made out of hog-monkey pelts and earth tone trousers. Possibly the thing that sticks out the most from this man is the sword that is stashed away in his belt.

“It seems that you are having a very rough day,” Tseng spoke as he extended his hand to the stranger, “Perhaps a cup of tea would be helpful in raising your spirits?”

[tsengwei]

Tseng Wei helped up the downtrodden man up to his feet. The other man wiped the dirt off of his clothes and looked over at Tseng Wei with suspicion.

“Now now, no need to be wary of me,” Tseng smiled, “I just helped you. Please come this way for the tea.”

The leather man cautiously followed Tseng over to a different tea house that wasn’t involved with his “incident” earlier. This tea house was a little more exquisite than the one he went to earlier. The structure was more pleasant, more windows for lighting, and the tea had a more pleasant aroma to them. They both sat at a table after being greeted by the door man. They were then greeted by a server soon after.

“Some Purple Leaf Dragon tea please,” Tseng ordered for the both of them.

“Purple Leaf Dragon tea?” the stranger questioned, “That is some pricy stuff. Are you sure it is alright to impose like that? I mean, we don’t even know each other.”

“Perhaps,” Tseng answered, “But I just inherited a large windfall, and I want to splurge a little. I hate doing it by myself though.”

The server wasted no time. She brought out a kettle and two ceramic cups for them to use. They both poured their own cup, symbolizing that they are only mere acquaintances. The tea tasted fantastic. The flavor stimulated a majority of the taste buds from the tongue and the smell was absolutely heavenly to the senses.

“Besides, we won’t be total strangers soon,” Tseng Wei continued, “Let me introduce myself. My name is Tseng Wei. I am a traveling medicine man as well as an explorer of the unknown. I always enjoy wondering, ‘What is beyond this life?’”

The stranger took another sip of his tea. He put his cup down and looked straight into the eyes of the one he was sitting across from.

“I’ve never been good with formalities, but I guess there is a start for everything. I don’t like talking about my past around here because of certain conspiracies rumored around here, but my name should be fine. You may call me Gengoro.”

“Gengoro eh?” Tseng smiled, “Well Gengoro, this looks like a start of an interesting friendship.”

[agni]

She hated posing as a human. Especially when she could not dress the way she wished to -- in flowing silks and flashing gold like a goddess should be wrapped in. But, one must make sacrifices for one's goal. And in this case, for the goal of the domination of the world by the Fire Nation, the goal was worth doing anything for.

So here she was, in the form of a small woman with flowing black hair and smoldering brushed-bronze eyes wearing rough golden-yellow pants and a pink tunic with brown boots and a straw chinaman hat. Her hair was gathered in a bun behind the nape of her neck and held there with an ornament and a pin.

So what was the great Agni of the Flame, beloved goddess of the Fire Nation doing in the Earth Kingdom city of Ba Seng Se? Why, gathering intelligence, of course. Her princess was regrouping with the Fire Nation forces and she was doing a little scouting ahead for them.

Agni wandered into a tavern nearby, seating herself next to a table with two mean enjoying tea together. A serving lady came to her with a smile, and Agni tried to mimic it, though by the look on the girl's face it was probably more hawkish than what a smile should look like.

"Your finest tea," she ordered with no pleasantries. The lady hurried away, in no way wanting to stay incase she had her head bitten off. Agni layed her head on her her palm and tapped her manicured nails against the wooden table. So far, there was little intelligence to be had in the lower rings, so after this tea-break she would move to the upper rings -- probably in her normal form. Still, it looked like there was little she could get in this forsaken city.

[gengoro]

“Friendship? I hardly even know you,” Gengoro sipped on his tea, “To me, it’s always strange for a stranger to walk up on somebody who knows nothing of you and just be friends.”

“It is only strange if you let it be,” Tseng replied as he sipped his tea and poured some more into his cup, “Strangeness is in the eye of the beholder. Go ahead. Ask me any question about myself. I shall tell you truthfully and without offense.”

“Oh really?” Gengoro sly fully smiled, “Alright then. Where did you get your tattoos and why are they on you?”

“These tattoos remind me of what I am. I am a wanderer and a medicine man,” Tseng replied.

“You didn’t answer my other part of the question. Where did you get them?”

Tseng smiled as Gengoro spat out the last bit of his sentence, “From the Fire Nation islands.”

“So it is true? You are Fire nation?” Gengoro crept down a little lower and in lower tone, “Rumor has it that there is some secret police that if you mention even a hint of Fire Nation, they will arrest you.”

“Them I am not worried about,” Tseng replied, “What I am worried about are all of these soldiers that are wandering around this area. Very big guys to be exact. Probably preparing that big league of Fire Nation armies coming this way.”

“So there are armies of Fire Nation on it’s way huh?” Gengoro looked grim as he set himself upright from his stool. Hearing of the armies brought back hurtful memories of his hardship and betrayal of his fellow soldiers.

“Do not let it bother you,” Tseng snapped Gengoro out of his thoughts, “Come! We are both hungry. I shall help feed us.” Tseng put a gold piece onto the table and started heading out when he felt a something. He felt a very divine presence in the general area. It startled him at first, but he tried to get a fix in on it as he looked around carefully.

“Hey, you alright?” Gengoro shook Tseng out of his trance, “Anyways, how are we going to get food?”

Tseng shook his head from looking for the source of the power. He felt that it was unimportant at the time and turned his attention at Gengoro.

“First my friend, we will need part of a street, Tseng replied as they both took off for the door.

[agni]

Ah, now that's what she had been wanting to hear. A slew of useful information hit her ears and she took a moment to digest it. This man was Fire Nation, he wanted to rid the world of the Avatar, and he knew about the invasion. Not only that, but there was a secret police here in Ba Seng Se... she had been hearing rumors of a "Dai Li" force that kept the culture intact. Perhaps they were one and the same. Very useful information for her Azula to know.

The men stood and made their way outside the tavern, looking for food. When they were gone, Agni stood and left behind them, pulling on her straw chinamen hat to cover her face, not even having been served her tea yet. No, this was too important to let them escape too far from her. If these men could be pursueded to join them... they'd have contact within the cities. Perhaps use of her psychic powers on both their minds would bring a little more information to her to use against them. And she would most likely have to reveal herself to them, but that mattered not. She was a goddess, nothing could touch her unless she wanted it to.

[tsengwei]

Moving forward ten minutes[/u]

“How the hell did you talk me into doing something so remotely dangerous?!” Gengoro screamed at Tseng. Gengoro was keeping his balance on a tightrope fifteen feet in the air with a stick that at the end had a brazier of hot coals that if unbalanced on the rope will drop onto Gengoro, causing him to get burned.

“Do not worry friend,” Tseng gleefully smiled, “I do this sort of thing all the time. In my sleep even.”

“Then why the hell aren’t you up here instead?” Gengoro shouted. He slipped up a little as he lost a bit of his balance. A piece of hot coal came down to earth and landed onto the street, breaking into glowing pieces. The crowd surrounding them looked up at Gengoro with excitement and awe.

“Because Gengoro; we need someone to get the crowd going so they know what’s going on. Since I most qualify, I’m down here instead of you.”

Tseng Wei turned to the crowd with a big grin on his face, “Come one, come all. See Gengoro as he stakes his life with the hot coals of destiny. See him balance across the rope with his superior agility without taking a single burn!”

“Oh, you are so getting hurt after this,” Gengoro thought. His focus was now on the rope. The rope was only a good two inches thick. It wasn’t real sturdy either. He advanced with one foot always going in front of the other.

As Gengoro did his performance, Tseng tried to tune in on the source of that divine power. He didn’t know what it was, but back when the monks taught him on that the divine energy could be felt if a spirit was in the general area. He still felt confused on the entire subject. He never felt a spirit’s energy before. He wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it. What if that spirit was coming from the souls of the dead that want revenge on the sacrifices that he’s done? What if it was a spirit of war checking up on the people before they go to their demise from the steel of swords? What if it was a spirit giving him a clue on where the Avatar is?

As Tseng Wei tried to focus on the source, Gengoro was focused on getting to the end of the tightrope, which he was dead in the center of at this point.

[agni]

There were no words that Agni could think of to describe what she saw. She was simply flabbergasted.

And she didn't know whether to ring with peals of mirth or roll her eyes at the mortals.

The fools had set up a tight rope over some burning coals and one was trying to walk over it without getting burned. He did not, by all means, look exactly willing at this.

She could have made the coals tame so the man did not burn himself, but who was she to intervene in this affair? It was hardly worth it. Still, she carefully approched the other man from behind, keeping her distance. When he was within her mental reach, she fished out a name from the back of his mind.

Tseng Wei. He was appart of some cult, but she didn't bother to get those from him. He probably would have felt her invading his mind, and she didn't want to startle him too much. She gathered from the other man that his name was Gengoro, and that he, as she predicted, did not want to be performing that second. She heaved a great sigh; she had no time for this. Foolish mortals, all for a pretty coin for to buy food.

[gengoro]

He felt her again. He could feel the presense of a powerful being. He could feel something tap into his mind. He didn’t know what it was or what it wanted, but he let her do what she needed. Even if he couldn’t see her, that being was there for a reason, a reason he will need to know.

As Tseng was searching, Gengoro continued onto the rope as he got three fourths of the way to the other side. The sweat was pouring from his face with each and every deliberate step he took.

He slipped a little as he was approaching the finish. The crowd gasped as they thought he was going to fall. Gengoro gained his balance back and continued ahead. He was mere inches from the finish at this point.

“Oh you are so getting brained for this Tseng,” Gengoro thought as he finally got to the end. The coals continued to burn even with his accomplishment. The crowd around him clapped for his accomplishment as they tossed coin to show their appreciation. Gengoro bowed to the crowd and smiled, showing that he was still intact.

“Give it up for Gengoro the Nimble,” Tseng announced, “This daring feat could only be accomplished with many hours of training. Thank you all for watching!”

Tseng started to gather the coins as Gengoro climbed down from the tightrope support.

“You know, I would seriously hurt you if it wasn’t for the money we got,” Gengoro said.

“The money isn’t what I’m worried about anymore,” Tseng said with concern, “I felt something. I felt something very strange, like something powerful is watching over us.”

“Are you sure of this?” Gengoro asked.

“Believe me, I’m pretty sure something unworldly is taking some interest in us as we speak. I just wish I knew what.”

[agni]

Agni walked around to where Tseng and Gengoro now gathered with their spoils from the act. The crow was widing down, and soon it would only be her and them. She paused for the briefest moment, deciding on what to do. Then:

"Gentlemen."

Her walk towards them was a smooth as she could stimulate in a human form, her chinamen hat drawn over her brushed bronze eyes and her inky-black hair. She only looked up at the two men when she was close, the bronze glinting through her thick black lashes.

"You. You are both Children of Agni," she commented. She meant they were both Fire Nation -- after all, she was the patron of the nation, and considered all loyal to her as her own flesh and blood, not unlike her very own daughter.

"Are you sure this is how you want to catch meals? There is another way," she murmured to them. The Fire Nation army had food every night, even if it was only rice and beer. It was hot, and it was constant, a lot better than trying to make a minted coin here in Ba Seng Se. Besides, it was for the glory of Fire Lord Ozai, the Fire Nation... and of course, herself.

[tsengwei]

“Ahhh, yes,” Tseng smiled as he bowed, “I remember you. You were the one I was feeling for this entire time. I knew there was something of importance around here.”

Gengoro looked confused as he tried to figure out who this person was.

“Ummmm, what the hell is going on here?” Gengoro asked. Before Gengoro could react, Tseng grabbed him and forced him into a bowing state.

“Believe me, this is for your own good,” Tseng whispered then turned his attention back to Agni, “Yes of course. We make a modest living, but you are above such trivial matters when it comes to either food or money.”

“Seriously, who is she?” Gengoro asked Tseng in a whisper.
“This is Agni of the Flame,” Tseng whispered back, “She is the patron spirit of the Fire Nation.”
“Patron spirit?” Gengoro contemplated. When he glimpsed back in his past for a few seconds, he did noticed that some of his fellow soldiers were praying to a spirit at one point in his career, but he didn’t realize it was to Agni. He decided to follow along with what is going on.

“Your holiness, what may I acquire is your purpose with us?” Tseng asked.
“You don’t mean that we are to be taking orders from her?” Gengoro whispered, “Let her prove that she is the real deal.”