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Post by reed on Jul 31, 2007 15:12:30 GMT -5
Reed arched his eye brows, one down and one up. Why was it every time he was introduced by anyone he was the idiot? Reed let it slide following Jialing (and Jin) towards the two. It seemed like they didn't grow up around here. Surely, Reed would have heard and/or seen them round in his years here . . . Or maybe they were. He didn't pay attention too much...
Reed lifted his chin for a "the nod" at the two as Jialing introduced him. If it were someone he had know he would have engulfed them in a bear hug covering them in mud at the process..... But he wasn't that jerk-ish.
Jialing explained how they had been in the forest as the storm hit. But something puzzeled Reed. What were they doing out here... No one lived out here in the forest did they? .....Did they?
Reed curiosity caught up with him and he opened his mouth to speak. "What are you both doing out here?"
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Post by yasu on Sept 11, 2007 20:35:45 GMT -5
Yasu found herself studying the 'idiot' curiously. There must be a farm around here, she considered thoughtfully, why else would they be out in the middle of nowhere? She noted that the man nodded to them and turned her attention back to the woman. She was explaining why they were in the forest. Caught in the rain. Yasu only figured.
"What are you both doing out here?"
Yasu turned her head slightly to look at the man, and then turned to Taka, expecting him to answer. When he stayed silent, Yasu Al figured she would have to answer the question. With a breath of air, she answered as truthfully, and as simply, as she could, "We live in Tachi Dai - " she pointed with a finger in the direction they had come. Here, she came at a pause. It wasn't much of a secret that Tachi Dai was beginning to finally rebuild itself, but how much should she say?
"We're helping by gathering food," she finally answered.
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Post by jialingjin on Sept 16, 2007 15:42:21 GMT -5
"Yes.. Tachi Dai.. burned to ashes by the Fire Nation, eh?" Jialing would mutter, glad to finally have the awkward moment of silence over with. Jialing was suspcious.. Jin didn't growl at just anyone. She took a casual set of steps forward, grinning while she did, her steps bouncy and her body language casual and friendly. She even darned to slap a hand down on Yasu's shoulder, offering her a smile before...
Shoving her back.
".Burned down by you." Jialing let her hand dropped, and her stance became indifferent, no longer friendly, as her weight rocked back and her shoulders dropped. Getting up close like that.. it let Jialing see her up close. She couldn't be 100% sure by mere apperances alone. There were definedphysical differences among the ethics of the nation, and within the Earth Kingdom themselves.. you could tell that someone wasn't from the area.
"She's Fire Nation, Reed!... and I'm pretty sure that one is too." Jialing would throw her head in the direction of Taka. She slipped her bow off her shoulder and whipped a shoddily made arrow from the also, shoddily made quiver on her back. Continuing to take steps backward, Jialing raised her bow up, and in one movement had the arrow notched and the bow string drawn back. A skilled archer would see that her technique was all wrong, and would know that her arrow was more likely to fly into the nearest tree than hitting her targets.
That little tidbit of information best remain hidden.
Jin, seeing his Mistress finally take his head, started growling again, trotting up to Jialing's side and position himself infront of her, under her arrow. His lips curled up, snarling and snapping forward as he paced.
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Post by taka on Sept 16, 2007 16:43:19 GMT -5
Taka looked from the woman, to the dog, to the bow, to the woman again. Oh spirits... he thought. They were dead, if she wanted them to be. It wasn't particularly what he would want to be, of course. He gulped, and sidled over closer to Yasu, checking out of the corner of his eye to see if she was alright, and once he'd made sure that she was, he turned fully to face the woman. He grinned sheepishly, and raised his hands, to show that he didn't mean any threat to her or her two companions. "Er... n-no... we're not Fire Nation... just look at our clothes!" He couldn't think of anything else to say. She couldn't find out about they're being members of the Rebellion, because that would expose the two of them if they didn't keep their mouths shut. He gulped again.
"L-look, there must be some mistake, really! We aren't Fire Nation!" He looked down at the dog. Even if he somehow managed to get his bow off his back without getting shot, the dog would have him before he could so much as reach an arm back to grab an arrow. There wasn't anything he could do in this situation... He gulped again, and pleaded with the woman. "Please, just let us explain!" He had to think of something fast! He looked over at Yasu for some help.
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Post by yasu on Sept 17, 2007 20:45:57 GMT -5
"Yes.. Tachi Dai.. burned to ashes by the Fire Nation, eh?"
Yasu Al had studied the woman nervously as she approached; there was something about the smile, about the way she had lifted her hand so politely to place it on her shoulder. When Yasu was shoved backward, she was barely surprised. To say the least. And the fact that she had been expecting anything but a shove only added to her sudden irritation.
".Burned down by you." Yasu winced slightly; things like that, things said like that, always seemed to hurt more than physical abuses.
As the woman barked out to her companion and the dog began to pace, snarling, Taka came toward her. By this time, the woman had pulled her bow over her shoulder and was pointing an angry arrow in their direction. Yasu frowned. The woman seemed confident in her abilities, but the way she was holding her bow...it was almost like a beginner. "Er... n-no... we're not Fire Nation... just look at our clothes!" stumbled Taka, and Yasu stopped herself from rolling her eyes at his brave attempt.
"L-look, there must be some mistake, really! We aren't Fire Nation!" Taka glanced back at Yasu pleadingly, "Please, just let us explain!"
Yasu's frown deepened. Normally, she wouldn't mind being the voice of reason. Normally, if it was in any other situation, she would look down on violence and try to talk through this conflict. Peace was much better than action. She began to open her mouth to begin to fib, but she stopped herself, her mouth open in pause; What's the point? Even if she let's my skin color pass, my eyes are a give-away. My hair. My eyes. Everything about me screams Fire Nation. She slowly closed her mouth.
"People are blinded by the sight of an enemy," she began, her voice cold, "They are blinded by suspicion, they are blinded by paranoia. Heck, they are even blinded by the things eyes trick us into seeing." Her frown lifted into a sad smile and she looked to Taka sadly, "Everyone is a prisoner of his or her own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices..." Her eyes turned toward the woman, the dog, and the man.
"Just recognize them."
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Post by reed on Sept 18, 2007 13:45:02 GMT -5
"She's Fire Nation, Reed!..."
Reed's expression turned to stone. Two people of the Fire Nation...In Tachi dai....On his city's soil...Standing right in front of him. Something clicked in his mind. He reached down and pulled a blade from his boot. he movements were fast and pro. Surely, a foot and a half blade would suffice. He readied his position next to Jialing; feet parted, arms crossed with his blade facing out.
Reed was thinking rationally. "Why should we let YOU explain!" He accused, his voice dripping with venom, " So you can tell us some bullBAD! excuse why you're here!? How you're 'different' the normal fire nation?"
Reed looked at the stuttering teen before him. Typical. "Jialing," Reed used her name instead of Jia, "What do you suppose our reaction should be?" His words were blocked behind clenched teeth so they came out oddly, but he was sure Jia had got the message.
Reed looked at the girl as she spoke. Most people would lower their weapons saying it was a wise passage she said. "although that's true, sounds like a fortune cookie." He said only saying the last part audibly.
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Post by jialingjin on Sept 25, 2007 20:50:32 GMT -5
Jialing smirked as she listened to Yasu blather on and on about something! She rolled her eyes and also her head along her shoulders with a wink throw to Reed. Her bowstring was pulled taunt, the arrow notched in it and pointed at the girl.
"Reed.." Jialing would call out to him. She lifted her eyebrows in mock suggestion, "What do you think we should do..? Should we shoot them...?" And at this, she let the bow string go.
Perhaps Yasu and Gandy both saw their lives flash before their eyes.. or perhaps they cringed and and closed their eyes attempting to duck. Either way, there was no pain, no screams or anything except for a thund.
Jialing sighed heavily, straightened as she lowered her bow arm and slind the weapon over her shoulders. She shifted her weight, her hands on her hips. The arrow? ...In a tree's branch.. about five feet up... BEHIND HER. How it go there.. yeah, not even Jialing knew.
"..and I really don't care anymore! Whatever. Fire Nation are a dime a dozen now a days, but in disguise? That's a bit more unusual."
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Post by taka on Sept 26, 2007 23:05:56 GMT -5
The woman had the bow aimed right at them... they wouldn't believe him, and they didn't listen to Yasu's reasoning... what was going to happen? Were they both going to die here? He didn't want to die! Not so young... and certainly not in this situation...
SHE SHOT THE ARROW! He saw his life flash before his eyes... playing soccer with his friends, his training, his unrequited love... his... OTHER... unrequited love... he had quite a few, in fact. In any case, a few seconds later, he was still alive, standing in complete shock with his hands still up. The woman shouted that she didn't care anymore, and something about dozens of dimes, and other stuff, but he was alive.
He stared at the woman in shock, his hand still above his head, probably looking rather stupid. He did, however, manage to stutter out a pathetic question: "Er...y-you're... not going to...k-kill us?"
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Post by yasu on Sept 27, 2007 7:50:30 GMT -5
Yasu sighed inwardly, No one appreciates deep quotes anymore, and watched the pair in front of her converse. Why, Yasu wondered, is it that everyone must yell when placed in a hard situation? She had always seen it; two people placed in a difficult situation, and they start yelling orders or a whole conversation to one another. And Yasu Al wasn't even paying much attention to it anyways - not only was she depressed that her wise saying had gone unheeded by those in front of her, but the woman standing with the bow wasn't even holding it straight. Yasu had been in enough archery classes, instructed by the Rebellion, to spot a bad shot when its in front of you. Now, Yasu wasn't a great shot herself, but she had seen enough Rebel archers be slapped with a ruler to know.
But she hadn't expected for the woman to release the arrow. Sure, she was a bad shot. But for all they knew, that woman could have been aiming at the tree to Yasu's left. And with the way the woman was holding her weapon, the arrow could have somehow found its way straight into Yasu's heart! The minute she heard the twang of the bowstring, Yasu shut her eyes and became very still.
When all she heard was a soft thud of wood connecting with wood, her amber eyes opened and they met those of the woman. "..and I really don't care anymore! Whatever. Fire Nation are a dime a dozen now a days, but in disguise? That's a bit more unusual."
Yasu's fingers wrapped around her bow, tempted to knock her own arrow in and give that woman a scare. Wait 'till she encounters a real archer, then she'll spazz out! And Yasu was really tempted, too. But the way the woman spoke, it gave Yasu a bramble of hope that maybe she wasn't as hot-headed as she seemed.
Slowly, her fingers released the wooden shaft of her bow and she straightened her back. She decided on ignoring Taka-kun, he probably needed to catch his breath. And she wouldn't say much yet, because the man - Reed, the woman had called him - still needed to be persuaded.
"Yes," Yasu's voice was soft once more, and she quirked her lips in a slight smile, "I suppose it is."
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Post by jialingjin on Oct 3, 2007 11:00:42 GMT -5
"So..... What are you two up to?" Jia would ask, her back still turned to them, She had rolled her head to the side, the tangled rats nest of taupe-brown hair tumbling across her shoulder. Her arms were crossed against her chest, the wrappings on her lower arms tattered and filty, just how Jialing liked them. She glanced up, her eyes looking through the crinkled strands of hair that circled her face. ....How in all of the four nations did her arrow get up there?!?
"...Reed. Get that arrow for me." She commanded, a hand quickly whipping out, her dirty finger pointed and locked on the arrow. Yes.. she bossed Reed around, and batting eyelashes could get a guy to do anything. Course, Jialing never would resort to such things, instead a stern glare was given to Reed, with a slow, gradual tilt of her head as if to say '..well.. why aren't you moving?!'
"Oi.. "She breathed heavily, exasperated at how everything was just falling to shambles. Her eyes were closed as she turned back to face Yasu and Taka, certainly this girl was amusing if anything. She opened her eyes, looking at her hand and curled fingers. Then her muddy eyes dropped down to the growling dog at her feet.
Jin still wasn't pleased, his golden coat rising along his spine. His lips, which were spotted black and pink under the wirery hair that curled from his muzzle, were raised up, his yellowed teeth barred. He had yet to really move from where he was.
Jialing looked down at him and cleared her throat, getting the dog's eyes to look up at her. She snapped her fingers, and it was instant, Jin returned to a sweet loveable oaf that stayed glued at her hip.
"So... c'mon spill the beans. I don't got any ties with any Earth Kingdom army dudes or anything.. after all.. this area is pretty much annexed."
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Post by reed on Oct 3, 2007 14:11:54 GMT -5
Reed lifted an eyebrow. "..Seriously?"
With Jialing's wayward glance and the leading direction that she pointed where Reed would go Reed signed. "Right.." He really didn't want to start a fight/ hissy fit with Jia, too." Exscuse me while i go climb a tree." He said walking back wards letting down his blade but looking at them out the side of his eye.
"This it when we reaaalllyy need Ting. She loves to climb! And she can shout ten out of ten! I mean, daaamn.. "He stopped in his tracks and climbed up a tree to the first branch and retrieved the arrow. With tree sap now stuck to his shirt he walked back to Jialing.
Reed decided to get back into the conversation." 'You want this?" He said offering her the knife cause apparently the bow wasn't doing much for her.
The teen looked over to the two Fire Nation, “Yeah, just tell us the truth. I mean the stupidest thing you can do is same something completely implausible like being in a rebellion or something.”
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Post by yasu on Oct 7, 2007 22:24:53 GMT -5
The woman said a few words to the man, and he reluctantly stood and moved toward the tree, moving to remove the current arrow that took its very strange place in its trunk. The woman look down at her dog and snapped her fingers, and the dog instantly took on a very calm appearance. Yasu Al was not convinced the dog wouldn't attack her if she made a wrong move.
"So... c'mon spill the beans. I don't got any ties with any Earth Kingdom army dudes or anything.. after all.. this area is pretty much annexed," the woman said.
Yasu nodded, expectantly opening her mouth to begin a short explanation of why they were there - or, actually, why she was there. But the moment she opened her mouth, the man spoke, now coming beside the woman.
“Yeah, just tell us the truth. I mean the stupidest thing you can do is same something completely implausible like being in a rebellion or something.”
Yasu, if she was in any other situation with a friendlier company, would have collapsed into a slump out of her exasperation. So if I can't tell the truth because the truth is implausible, what do I say? Running a hand over her forehead, Yasu Al opened her mouth once more. "Well, first of all. He," she pointed a finger in Taka's direction, "isn't from the Fire Nation. It's just me."
She closed her eyes in thought. How am I supposed to explain my current living state in the Earth Kingdom if I can't say the truth? Oh, I suck at lying. She finally opened her eyes, the golden gaze flashing slightly from the sun rays falling from the sky, washing the earth in warmth.
"It isn't safe to speak here," she finally said. After all, it was only a day or two ago that she had been captured by Water Tribesmen and then attacked by Fire Nation soldiers. They were still in the vicinity. Somewhere. It wasn't safe to speak of the Rebellion here. Besides, if this couple were to see Tachi Dai there was no way they couldn't believe the truth. Right?
"Let us finish gathering food, and we can all go back to Tachi Dai." Her eyes scanned the branches above their heads. "Besides," she smiled slightly, hopefully, "You probably won't even believe us if we told you. You'd have to see it for yourself."
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Post by jialingjin on Oct 17, 2007 16:33:43 GMT -5
"Probably not. I've heard some pretty.. odd stories from the Soldiers. Like.. stories of face painted heathens leaping from tree to tree, shrieking like banshees, dressed in nothing but animal skins. And.. then theres the whole lightning bending." Jialing mused as she narrowed her eyes playfully on Yasu Al. "Lightning can't be controlled.. it's the power of the spirits. Mortals can't control it.. especially not Fire benders!"
Jialing kicked at the dirt, eying Jin's warm brown eyes as he stared up at her, an eagerness to leap on Yasu Al and tear her from limb from limb still. Of course, sneering her lip and displaying her teeth right back at the dog quickly had him cooling his heels; Jin's long tattered tail was tucked between his legs. He mentally grumbled, cursing the day Jia was born. Someday.. I will be able to rip flesh from the bones of whoever I wish and I will not have to submit to that bad smelling girl with hideous hair.
Continuing her little speech, Jialing crossed her arms over her chest as she turned her eyes back to Yasu Al, grinning all the way. "So we're going BACK to Tachi Dai? Dude.. That's so not cool. Don'tcha got some sort of super secret hideout where the only way in is by showing a specific kind of rock?" She shrugged, really just pulling crap out of her butt as she waited for Reed to retrieve her arrow. The arrow left a bad taste in her mouth, reminding her of what her brothers had said years ago. "Your only in danger if Jialing isn't aiming at you."
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Post by reed on Nov 15, 2007 2:18:36 GMT -5
Reed nodded. "Having a secret hide out would totally boost up your story and make it more likely for me to believe you." Reed looked over to the Fire Nation girl. Was she really telling the truth? He scanned her from her feet to her head... Some might call it "checking her out" but he was doing no such thing. Reed started to think; not like that has ever happened before, Okay so. . . . A - we could trust them; B - we could not trust them at all and take 'em captive; or C - . . . . . . damn... is there a C?"
Reed looked over to Jialing. "For someone who looks like she has absolutely no idea what she's doing, she's actually doing pretty well. But still even if she does what if they turn out to be fighters?" Reed shook the thought from his head. There was no way they could be. He had them figured out... The only bad thing would be if they were Fire Benders. . . . That.. would be very unpleasant.
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Post by taka on Nov 26, 2007 20:47:04 GMT -5
Taka sighed, finally feeling a bit safer from the visitors into the woods. He walked alongside Yasu, thankful that she had said something of the sort that seemed to put the Jialing woman off. If Yasu was going to tell her about the Rebellion, there wasn't much he could do about it. Besides, they might even be willing to join.
He kept his bow in his right hand, without arrows in it. Just in case there were any watchful ears, he wanted to be able to sling arrows at a moment's notice. He was curious about the pair, just a bit. He noticed that the dog seemed to belong to the woman, not the man. The man, Reed, was certainly... whimsical. Then again. perhaps he liked the woman? He might have been 'stupid' because of that. Yasu made him stupid too. He chuckled to himself, blushing a bit, and then turning back to the woman and the man. "So, where are you two from anyway?" Strange question to ask people who almost shot him with an arrow. Strange people required strange questions.
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