The Normal Life? (Open) <Earth Kingdom>

[xian]

His limbs ached the moment he had gotten out of bed. Even after walking around for some time, those tendons still seemed restricted some how. His neck and back cracked when he stretched, which sent a shiver up his spine. Should they normally crack that loud? After letting out a few mumbled grunts, murmurs, and jumbled words that could barely be considered a comprehensible sentence, Xian washed up before deciding it was about time to greet the day. A rigid shirt; a color of which could have once been called white but now remains stained with earth. A quick sleeveless over coat was thrown over; a jacket with the sleeves literally torn off, his version of a vest. His trousers were of a tan hue, so they didn't appear as dirty as the shirt. With his socks and shoes thrown on thereafter, he made his way to the door of his small little shack he called a home and opened the door. As he breathed in the heavy dust, stale air, and hints of a week old garbage somewhere in the distance, he felt he was ready to greet the day!

*grumble*

His expression faded as his stomach suddenly voiced its own desires. Food; breakfast, bah. The sun wasn't fully up yet, but its rays certainly extended toward the large walled city. Dabs of light dripped from the tops of the higher roofs, brightening the dull earth colors of the buildings nearest to him. His ears caught sound of the early morning risers; carts being pushed and buyers attempting to haggle. By noon, those streets would be packed to the rim. Good thing his normal delivery route never took him up this road.

Forest green eyes, with a small ring of brown around the pupils shifted up and down the streets. It held very few merchants, but he knew once the sun fully rose, more would crowd the streets. It was good he was a morning person... rather, it was good he was forced to become a morning person. With his hands shoved into his pockets, Xian made his way left toward the small tavern he was well known for spending most of his time in. Normally, it was never open this early; a local tea shop across the street attracted more customers during the early hours while the roles reversed at night. As he began to push the door open, he could begin to feel the heat of the sun's rays on his back. That meant his breakfast would have to be cut short.

"Morning Xian," a female voice greeted the man as he began to close the door. The thirty year old turned and threw a wave to the dirty-blonde haired woman drying glasses behind the counter.

"Morn'n, babe," Xian's eyes shifted as an eyebrow raised rather suggestively. He slid his way on over toward the counter and leaned his arms on it. "I don't smell breakfast cooking."

"That's because we don't serve breakfast," the woman replied, keeping her attention on the glass she was drying before setting it down and repeating the process with a plate. "We serve lunch and dinner; you know this."

"Yea," Xian rolled his hand a bit as he leaned down a bit to look the woman in the eyes. "But you know; breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

"That's right," the woman agreed, still completely ignoring the man. "That's why one should eat breakfast before leaving the house."

"Well," the man shrugged a single shoulder as he leaned his back against the counter and propped his elbows up. "That's true. However, I happen to know this beautiful woman who cooks far better meals than I could ever hope to accomplish. The only problem is I always have trouble finding a new way of showing just how appreciative I am of her obvious superior cooking skills."

The woman sighed as she placed the last dish down onto the counter. She lowered her head and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"You don't have to use such over dramatic words to say you're hungry," the woman stated firmly. "You could just ask."

"Yea," Xian said as he turned and finally sat on the stool. "But you know you love the compliments, Fan."

The woman shook her head as she threw the towel she used to dry over her shoulder. With a wave of her hand, she walked toward the back, muttering something Xian couldn't quite hear.

"How's the family doing?" Xian heard the woman shout from the other room. Xian had already been leaned forward over the counter in an attempt to help himself to some freshly squeezed juice.

"Haven't heard from them this month," Xian shouted back as he slowly raised the glass and sat back down. "I sent a letter last month, and usually they reply by the end of the month. I guess my new little brother's keeping them busy. How's the old man?"

"He worked late last night so I'm cleaning up for him," Fan replied from the other room. Xian could hear the sizzling of the fire pot, as well as the starting smell of an aroma of some tasteful food he couldn't quite place just yet. Never the less, his stomach yearned for whatever the woman decided to place in front of him. He sipped from the glass, which ended up downing nearly half the contents.

"Ah, isn't that nice of you," Xian replied as he set down the glass.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work right now?" Fan asked. Xian leaned his back against the counter again and stretched his neck out some.

"Sun just came up," he shouted back. "I still got time."

"Isn't that how you lost your last job?"

"I didn't lose it," Xian said as he turned around. "I moved on to better opportunities."

"You always have a way of twisting things around," Fan stated as she came back into the front room with a plate in hand.

"I don't twist things around," Xian defended as he nearly drooled over his breakfast. "I look at it through a different perspective."

Fan rolled her eyes as she half dropped the plate in front of him.

"Thanks; appreciated," Xian spat out as he began to devour the food before him. Fan went back to her morning duties and started to put the dishes she had dried away.

"Still haven't found that girl yet?" Fan asked cautiously. Xian shook his head.

"Not yet," he replied between bites. "I figure I'd save up another couple weeks pay, take some more time off and continue the search. Kinda hard to search around a big city like this without a way to put food in your stomach."

Fan nodded her head as she continued her work.

"I'm asking everyone that I deliver to, though," Xian stated with a slight shrug. "But no one's heard of her."

After the meal was done, Xian patted his stomach as he stood up.

"Thanks again, Fan," Xian bowed his head respectfully. "Put it on my tab."

"The one that's slowly increasing with each visit?" Fan arched a brow, but smiled nonetheless. "Don't worry about this one."

"You're a doll," Xian smirked and offered a single wave while opening the door. "Off to work!"

The sun was now half raised and more merchants had peddled themselves onto the streets. If he wanted to get to work on time, he'd have to take a few short cuts...

TBC

[xian]

The sun was hot against his back as he lugged one of the last few boxes over his left shoulder and made his way down the dirt path road. Sweat glistened off his skin as his ragged white shirt held patches of dirt picked up from clouds of dust and days of mistreated use. Even after washing up briefly, the day's activities brought dark patches on his cheeks and hands. The shop standing before him matched the description the old man had given him, and was around the area where the direction had ended. He entered the small pottery shop and placed the box gently down onto the counter. A patch of dust picked up as soon as the crate was placed down, forcing Xian to let out a cough. As he rubbed his eyes clear of particles, his his view adjusted to the variety of colored pots and jars throughout the shop. Various shelves housed all types of pottery one would place flowers, plants, or even liquids in. The smell of clay filled the air as a woman with gray painted hands came out from a back curtain.

"Good afternoon," the woman greeted Xian, in which he bowed his head in respects to the elderly.

"That it is," Xian said as he placed a hand on the crate. "I've got a delivery for you."

"Ah," the woman clapped her hands as she walked up to the counter. "Must be the new molds, right?"

"If that's what you ordered," Xian said as he handed the receipt the old man would give him. After some checking of the crate's contents and the receipt, the old woman smiled and tipped the delivery man. With his coin pouch growing a bit heavier from the day, Xian thanked the woman and left the shop.

His limbs stretched in an attempt to remove the aching feeling from heavy lifting all day. After a yawn, he scratched the back of his head and looked down the left, then right side of the road. It was late afternoon by now, but the streets were still a bit heavy. He decided a good wash and a change of clothes were in order before he went back to the tavern Fan worked at. After all, he had a tab to pay off.

[lyra]

"Lyra Fa Lee, how dare you even suggest such a thing - you know how I feel about you leaving the city alone and I don't care if you were accompanied by a soldier!" The old woman's voice floated through the home of The Abatu Bai. Okay, so it was more of a screech, but still, it echoed and gave Lyra a terrible headache. She had known it was going to be a mistake to tell the caretaker about her trip to Kei Lan. She knew she was stupid to even bring it up to the old woman, she knew for a fact that she would never allow Lyra to do such a thing, even if she was capable of taking care of herself. Still, the thought of hiding something from the matron made Lyra feel as though she was betraying the woman who had taken care of the girl for years. Lyra just couldn't handle such a thing.

"I'm going out for the day, don't wait up for me when dinner comes around." The young girl strode across the threshold and out into the open road. The sun beat down upon her, causing the girl to smile brightly. A child ran past her down the street, kicking a leather ball around. In his wake was another boy, a much smaller boy, with dark brown hair that matched her own. The fourteen year old girl missed the days when she was able to have such innocent fun - but it seemed as though her life had turned into something much more complicated. Those kids were lucky to still be in that innocent state. They had no cares or worries that involved work, money, war, and fighting. The only thing that mattered to them was the fact that they had to be home in time for dinner in fear of worrying their mother. Lyra was envious.

Lyra took a few steps forward, walking barefoot down the dirt path that lead to one of the main roads in the city. She had just gotten back from Kei Lan a few days ago - she had forgotten how much she missed the big city of Ba Seng Se. Of course the moment she returned home she instantly missed Jin and Nattoku, she even missed little Ayumi - but it did feel good to be home.

Within moments the young girl was standing in front of a cart-like sales tent with a woman standing behind the counter and a man standing nearest Lyra. He was tall. Taller than her, and much older. Nothing too interesting about him, so she just continued walking without another thought. As she took one step forward, a single vibration ran up the young girl's leg, coming directly from the man standing a few yards from her. Whipping her head in his direction, Lyra mistrusted him immediately. There was something about him that didn't seem right. Perhaps she was just a bit ruffled from the whole experience in Kei Lan and that she was just overreacting - but still, for the moment she considered this man a threat.

Lyra's emerald eyes locked onto his that were in the opposite direction, but locked onto them even if he wasn't looking at her. Then she saw it - the reason for her mistrust toward him. He held the same features as one of the Rhino Riders that had attacked her at the Kei Lan Lantern Festival. She had seen him riding on one of the Rhinos in the distance. Of course he wasn't the one they had ended up fighting, but still, she knew his face all too well. Or perhaps he was just familiar because she had seen him delivering all around Ba Seng Se? No, he definately resembled the Rhino Rider.

Striding toward him with her fists clenched, Lyra gazed up at him and spoke roughtly, "What are you doing here?" She demanded sourly, her bare feet digging into the rocky road, ready to attack him if necessary. Lyra looked around suddenly, expecting to see the beast he had been riding at the festival. She saw no such creature, but still did not doubt that he was the same man. Alright, so maybe she was just being a bit too paranoid about the whole thing - he wasn't attired like a Rhino Rider, nor did the other Earth Kingdom citizens around them seem bothered by his appearance. So, for once, Lyra Fa Lee was wrong about something - she just had yet to notice it.

[xian]

The sun was shinning brighter than it was a few minutes ago; damn it was getting annoying. Though he should have gotten used to the heat by now, as he brushed the beads of sweat that rolled from his forehead with his sleeve, he couldn't help but let out a mix of a 'bleh' and a 'gah.' As he began to head east down the current road, his ears picked up a rather young, but forceful voice.

"What are you doing here?"

His body froze; it was most certainly female, and knowing his past... he shuddered at the thought. Instantly, his mind searched for classic excuses that could get him out of this mess. Within that solid ten seconds he stood frozen, he finally turned to face the source of the voice.

"Look, Sai, I didn't know she was your sister, and," he paused when he turned to find not Sai, but a much younger girl. He blinked for a moment when he had to adjust his vision lower to the ground, blinked again, turned his head left and right, then once more focused on the girl. "Uh... wait... are you talking to me?"

Xian certainly didn't know anyone that young... nevertheless, it couldn't be in relation to Sai and Liang. He stared at her for a moment and looked around. Nope, the girl was definitely looking and speaking directly to him. He straightened himself out and scratched the back of his head a bit. She had a sour expression, and her brows were pinched downward; she looked pretty pissed off. But... he didn't know her; what the hell did he do? She didn't look like either Sai or Liang, and according to them, they didn't have any other younger siblings... and he didn't know that many women that were angry with him... that had younger siblings... that he knew of...

"Sorry, but I've got a lot of things to deliver," Xian stated as he began to wave. "We'll have to pick this conversation up some other time."

With that, he quickly took his leave to continue on his work.

Xian tbc another thread.