Fork in the Road (Twins)<Wilderness,Earth Kingdom>

[The Lion Turtle]

She couldn't believe her eyes. The actually city of Tachi Dai was bad enough, but just outside it, where her uncle had said he would wait for her... a whole forest, burned. Bits of singed cloth and snapped, charred poles where everywhere, signifying and incampment. From the looks of, an Earth Kingdom Army encampment.

Wide-eyed and holding her son close, Xia Feng wandered into the destruction. She didn't know what to say... but she was sure that very brave men had died here. Her jade-colored eyes spotted something she had stepped on. Stooping down, she picked up a tattered and torn Earth Kingdom flag. She wanted to cry, but no tears came, just solomn silence.

With Tarak still in her arms, she took the battered symbol of her nation, found the tallest and sturdiest pole she could find, impaled one end in the ground and the other end in the flag. Saying a little prayer, Xia Feng bowed in respect for all who died here -- Earth Kingdom, and Fire Nation...

[blackcrow]

The two men watched solemy as Xia had ran from their wagon, clutching tarak to her chest, her face filled with horror. They walked slowly behind her.. feeling.. little. The two looked at eachother, mirror images save for the different colors of their hair-beads.. and little noticed height difference. Their.. nation.. their countrymen had done this. It was exactly the modus operandi of the Fire Nation's foot soliders. Tachi Dai was a city.. that had resisted, and earned itself a tally mark on the solider's helments. These men of the world.. Fire Nation by birth, proud of their culture and rich heritage.. were as heart broken as their Earthern brothers. The Flame Dancers were chartered by royal warrant to entertain the troops, to bring a bit of Fire Nation culture to the families sent to settle the newly conquered territories. And here.. their people were burning the homes of Earth Kingdom Families.
Yet.. they traveled with many Earth Kingdom citizens.. Water Tribe citizens and none were required to give alleigance to the Fire Nation. They were.. one big family.. leaving the war behind them, and living together as one people.

Li-Wu turned suddenly, jogging back to the wagon which stood still, the Ostrich-Horses's reins loose around a tree limb. He stopped near the wheels, kneeling down and pulling a long, straight pole from the undercarriage. A part of it, was wrapped in an emerald green cloth. As he stood, his dark hair in his face, the sunlight caught the gold of his vest.. those diamond patterns down his left side, Bai-Wu's down his right. He quickly unfurrled what was an untouched, in prime condition Earth Kingdom flag. Bai-Wu watched his brother walk back towards him, and the two brothers stepped together. Bai-Wu reached out a hand, grasping the pole alongside Li-Wu's hand The two met up with Xia, and looked at her solemnly.. and together, stuck an Earth Kingdom Flag in the ground.

Li-Wu spoke first, his voice steady, and unwavering.. "We may be Fire Nation by birth and culture.. we mourn our countrymen, and love them as well.."
The Bai-Wu finished his sentence, his voice wavering a bit in it's slightly higher pitch. "..but we were born on this land, the Earth Kingdom.. raised here.. and we celebrate the life of her people. "

[The Lion Turtle]

Xia gave the Twins a tight smile. It was so very kind of them... and it wasn't just her fellow citizens that died here, but her fellow human beings as well. It was important that all dead where honored, whatever they did in life.

Wasn't this all circumstance anyways? Herself could have very easily been born in the Fire Nation -- or even the Water Tribes. The gypsies proved to her that not all Firebenders were bad, or that all people from the Fire Nation wanted to see her dead. Everyone was just caught up in war... Did anyone even know what all the fighting was about anymore? Tears stung in her eyes. She didn't want to raise her son like this. He didn't deserve a world with so much violence. Kissing the crown of the fuzzy head, Xia turned back to the Twins, at a loss for words. Obviously, whoever waited here for her was gone, and with no clue as to who to go to, she was stuck. She felt very alone now...

"I... There's nothing for me here," she murmured. Her parents had long passed away from old age, and she wasn't going to return to Jing's parents... she was her own woman now. The only hope was her older brother, but she hardly knew him, as he had gone to war before she was even born. Still, she loved him very much. But he lived in the far-off city of Ba Seng Se, and it would be dangerous to ask any of the Caravan to escort her there. Besides, she would only be a burden to her brother's family (was he even married?) and she would once again be trapped and possesed, probably even arranged to marry someone else.

"I... I have something of a favor to ask," she said slowly, looking from one twin to the other. "There... there is nothing here for me. Likewise... there is nothing back home for me. Would.." she hesitated. She didn't want to be a burden on anyone else in the Caravan, but at least she would be happy. "Would it be possible to stay with the Caravan?" she asked awkwardly.

[blackcrow]

The two boys looked at eachother for a second, twin-communication going on between their flickering golden eyes.
Lasting only a second, they turned both their heads back to face Miss Feng and her little boy, Tarak snug as a bug in her arms.
Together, they spoke in that creepy echo of eachother's voices.

"You do realize that Tarak will be babynapped by Mother and the other women, right?" A bit of dry humor in this dire situation.
Speaking up after the dumb joke, Bai-Wu smiled brightly at Miss Feng, lifting his hands up in a shrug. "Honestly, Miss Feng.. you're more than welcome to stay with the Caravan as long as you like."
"Just pull your own share of the weight and we'll have you a wagon to call your own in no time." Li-Wu chimed in, mentioning the seriousness of the Flame Dancer's "All Work" policy. All work being.. whether it's doing laundry.. repairing broken wheels, or watching children.. everyone had to do something in the group.
Both twins stepped forward to Xia, putting their symmetircal arms, lean and strong behind her back, and guding her back towards their wagon, all alone with the ostrich horse. She'd keep it, while the boys slept outside, till she had one of her own. The craftsmen of the group would make sure of that in just a few weeks time.

[The Lion Turtle]

Slightly canting her head to the left, Xia considered this. It was fair enough to be told that, and she did enough housework at home to be slightly handy domestically... but what could she possibly offer the caravan that they did not already have? She was not a very good cook, but she could sew and wash clothing and other laundary. And she knew her way around an Ostrich-Horse alright -- enough to take care of one, if need be.

Deep in thought, she allowed the boys to lead her back to the wagon, their lanky arms gently on her back. Tarak gurgled, slowly returning to the nap he was woken from earlier. He was getting so big; Xia was growing stronger by constantly carrying him -- he screamed if he was put down. She hopped she wasn't spoiling him by giving him all the attention he could ever want. Without a father avaliable, she was the only one he could depend on, the only one able to care for him.

But the decision to stay with the Caravan would be beneficial to Tarak. He would have many men around him to provide a father figure, and other women besides Xia to care for him. He'd have plunty of friends, and he would learn valuable skills from everyone. Xia hoped to even teach him to read and write and other learning she was educated in as a child herself.

[whitecrow]

Li-Wu groaned as he looked over Xia, the short woman between them to his brother. "Bai.. we've got a good four day trek at the quickest. The Caravan was heading to Zhy right. Well.. I just remeber we were at the Gyaltsen River.. That's inbetween Zhy and Tachi-Dai. We backtracked, man."

The Gyaltsen river was a small river inbetween the two cities.. it was so named "Victory Banner" by the Fire Nation citizens that had invaded that portion of the Earth Kingdom. It marked the first real line of completely controlled Fire Nation territory. To the West of that River.. the Earth King had no say they said. It was once the Tseten River to the Earth kingdom.

Bai-Wu, the more casual and laidback of the two, Merely shrugged, tightening his arm around Miss Feng's Shoulders, bringing her closer to him in a hug of sorts. "'S'alright, Li.. We had to do what we could for Miss Feng. She needed an escort.. we are Twin Transport afterall."

Li-wu lifted his chin, A suspcious look on his face as he eyed his face through narrowed eyes of gold. "..Alright.. Well I won't be driving the Ostrich Horses to their deaths then."

Suddenlt snapping his fingers, Bai-wu let go of Xia and flapped his hands, all jazz-style. "I have an idea! ...LET'S TEACH MISS FENG HOW TO DRIVE THE WAGON! One of us.. or Fukuro-kun can hold Tarak and She can learn how to drive so when she has her own wagon, she can handle herself!"
His face lit up, like an excited child ready to show off his new toy. The twin ran forward, his long hair flying in the wind against his back, She quickly climbed up the small metal stair into the seat of the Wagon, pounding on the wooden corner. The muted flute Playing of Fukurou's was silenced by a harsh "What do you want?!?!" from inside the wagon.
Bai-Wu shouted back, poking his head through the small window that was above the seat "Batten everything down. We're letting Miss Feng drive!"

....Even the Ostrich Horses looked scared.

[The Lion Turtle]

Drive the ostrich-horses? The thought didn't penetrait Xia Feng's mind for a moment... then slowly, it sank in, and she immediately started to protest.

"Oh, I couldn't! What if I recked the wagon? Then we'd have to walk all the way back, with all of our things, and it'd be terrible!" Words left her mouth, but it didn't look like either twin was paying attention -- at least not Bai Wu. Xia Feng had gotten used to how energetic and compulsive he was, where as Li was more reserved and calm. Fukuro-kun looked annoyed as Bai cried, "Batten everything down. We're letting Miss Feng drive!"

Silently cursing herself, she clutched her prescious Tarak close to her body and frantically thought of anything - anything - that got her out of the situation. But, alas, nothing came to mind. Before she knew it, she was handing her baby to Li Wu and climbing up into the driving seat, the leather reigns in her small, uncalloused hands.

[whitecrow]

Li-Wu cringed.. A squriming chattering little monkey was in his arms now. And pulling on his hair. "Ow ow ow ow.. you don't pull Uncle Li's hair..C'mon.. give it back..." He muttered as he looked up at Xia climbing up to the seat.. "I think... ow! it might be safer for.. CHRIST, KID!... Tarak in the back...Bai will keep the wagon steady for you..Spirits almighty, NOT THE EAR!" With those howls of pain, Li-Wu limped back to the Wagon's end, nudging the door open with his foot and stepping inside. Great.. a rough ride with Fukurou-san.. and a howling baby. Lovely..

Bai-Wu grinned from ear to ear as he made room for Xia on the wooden and leather padded seat. He handed her the two sets of reins and placed one set in each hand. "Now brace your feet on that board there.. " He motioned to an angled board down for feet to rest confortably on, a curved peice of decorative wood rising up to allow the rest to rest on it, like any stagecoach.

"Now they're named Mondai (trouble) and Konran (confusion).. they.. behave for me and Li.. but they're also the most misbehaved in the whole herd." Bai chuckled a bit, grabbing Xia's hands reassuring as he continued to talk "Just give the reins a GENTLE shake and click your tongue like this.. " and he demonstrated, by clicking his tongue and jingling her hands. "Lets go!" With that, the Ostrich horses clucked and started moving forward, pushing their chests into the harness to get the wagon started at first moving along the roung trail, keeping the wheels in the ruts at first.

"Now, while they're at a walk.. you're goal is to simply keep the yoke.. that bar that's between them that rests on their shoulder, center within the Wheel ruts.. that'll help the wagon stay in line too."

[The Lion Turtle]

"Right," Xia said, focusing her attention on his words... but she couldn't help but notice the way his lips moved almost lazily... she was sure they were probably very soft... Mentally shuddering herself out of it, she looked back between the heads of the two Ostrich-Horses, who nipped each other in onery play. Xia clucked her tongue and gave a feeble shake of the reigns, but nothing happend; the two Ostrich-Horses looked back at her with a rather annoyed look and screeched loudly at each other.

She tried again, going a little harder and this time the naught Ostrich-Horses took off at a near gallop, almost pulling out of Xia's graps. Not knowing what to do Xia yanked back hard, but that only angered the animals; they threw up their heads and tried to chomp the bit into their beaks. Xia struggled with them until she got them into a quick trot, highly annoyed with her.

It was then, she realized, that she had gone off the road, and she looked to Bai for help, green eyes rather frightened.

[whitecrow]

And he was laughing so hard, tears were coming out of his eyes. Ah, Mondai and Konran were going to give Miss Feng a ride for her money, that's for sure! He was holding on to the seat tightly, as the ostrich horses lept forward only to be slowed to a brisk trot. Eh.. it wasn't exactly what he wantedm but hey..
The wagon was being jolted about, the roads no where near smooth with various rocks and roots coming out from nearby trees. Thankfully, the road was old and it was a good few inches between actual ground level.

He leaned forward, his hair whipping around his face as he wrapped his hands around Xia's once again. His hands were by far larger than hers, they could have covered her fist nearly completely, and they were dark compared to her skin, though mostly from dirt and working. "Just direct them back over. Pull the reins of the Ostrich-horse on the side you want to turn, he'll pull the yoke, and guide both over and with them the wagon." He pulled her left hand back, pulling Mondai's head to the left and just as he said Konran followed and with him the wagon.

"Now.. this may sound silly.. but they know whose driving them. They act differently for even me and Li. You gotta be confident with these two... if we were anywhere near a field.. or with the Caravan, we'd hook them up to the cart and just let you drive them through a field till they tire themselves out.."

Bai-wu released her hands, now the wheels had fallen back into the ruts. "I wouldn't take them any higher than a trot.. not with this many trees around. If you want them to slow, pull back on the reins with a slow steady pressue and say 'Whoa' in a low voice. "

[The Lion Turtle]

Xia's cheeks went red at Bai's laughing and she chanced a glare, but swiftly turned back to concentrate on the little demons jerking the cart along. She was doing the best she could, damnit. But she jumped as his warm, rough hands took over her own, showing her how to turn the Ostrich-Horses with ease. The heat in her cheeks were rising once more.

"Now.. this may sound silly.." he said, "but they know whose driving them. They act differently for even me and Li. You gotta be confident with these two... if we were anywhere near a field.. or with the Caravan, we'd hook them up to the cart and just let you drive them through a field till they tire themselves out.."
She nodded. It made sense to her, at least. They had pulled hard before he took her hands in his and loosened when he was helping her. They were attentive and not fighting for their heads now... and he was deffinately holding the reins much more differently than she was. And as soon as he released her hands, and they tested the bit, they began to tug harder.

"I wouldn't take them any higher than a trot.. not with this many trees around. If you want them to slow, pull back on the reins with a slow steady pressue and say 'Whoa' in a low voice, " Bai instructed and Xia nodded, slightly distracted.

"Whoa," she tried, making her voice as strong as she could. They weren't like the Ostrich-Horses she had worked with before, both at home or Mesheiko's war Ostrich-Horse, Banshee. But she did have at least a little experience with commands of "Ho!" or "Hold!" as they used back with her father's trader caravan steeds.

Surpisingly, the two devils slowed a little, but yanked on the bit a few times, testing. Xia tried to relax, a bit giddy when she remembered her father had always told her no when she wanted to try.... she was too young, or too delicate, or it wasn't what a lady did... but it didn't matter now. She was doing it, and she was happy.

[whitecrow]

"There.. that's better." Bai-Wu compliment, letting Xia's hands go and hold the reins on her own. He instantly saw the reins tighten and slacken as the Ostrich-Horses tested who was in controlled, confused by the changes back and forth between drivers.
The twin leaned back into the seat, letting his posture go all to hell as he propped one foot up on the rail infront of their feet, that was positioned as high as their feet on a curving section of the wagon. He folded his hands in his lap as he tilted his head to the side. His narrow eyes watched the road ahead, focused between and beyond the two heads of the Ostrich Horses. Tired, his eyes were half closed, long lashes hiding their brilliant gold. His square, but narrow jaw was slack, allowing his lips to drape open. Bai-Wu was daydreaming. About nothing in particular..but it was nice to not be driving the wagon. Just.. relaxing. They would hopefully catch up with the rest of the Gyspies in Zhy soon enough and move on with their life.. preforming as the troops moved through. He wondered how far they had gotten.. it kinda.. made him sad. Sure, he was loyal to his Nation... but he had grown up in the Earth Kingdom. He held love for both places.

[The Lion Turtle]

Xia Feng consentrated hard on keeping the naughty ostrich-horses under hand and the wagon straight and steady. She didn't know where she was going, though, but since Bai gave no specific instructions, she thought that maybe it wasn't too important. The sun was soft and warm, as it was early summertime, but Xia knew it would get much hotter soon. She she followed the road as best she could, but after a while, she felt herself getting tired. Her hands were raw and her arms were sore. A slight wrinkle appeared between her brow as she noticed how her hands has changed from the work she had been doing with the caravan. Gone were the pretty plae hands of a well-off woman, replaced with cracking, peeling hands. But could anything else be expected? Plunty of other women in the caravan had calloused hands, too. She was simple earning her own way through her own hands. The work was hard, but something inside her made her feel good about it. Brightening up, she slowed the wagon and looked at Bai, giving a bright smile.

"Shall we stop for lunch?"

[whitecrow]

The dark haired man had been perfectly awake.. yeah.. prefectly awake! Miss Feng's voice startled him awake from his semi-slumber, his body have been reclined back against the wood-slat shingles that lined the upper half of the wagon, their original color long sing lost thanks to weathering and now they were an ashen grey. A few had been replaced more recently, their bright golden color a stand out. His arms, bare cept for the ribbons that were tied around each twin's wrist had been folded over his chest, his head nodding forward with that goldenrod colored bandana sliding forward to cover his eyes.

Startled by her voice, he quickly got his feet, which had been proped up, onto the 'floor' of the driver's seat area. Both twins wore leather slippers of two different tanned leathers in a simple panel design. Course.. they usually were seen barefoot too. A calloused, strong hand lifted the loose bandana up to his forehead as his golden eyes were wide for a moment before quickly, regaining the cool and smooth look they were famous for. "Huh!? Oh.. Lunch.. Yeah, I suppose for.. it is well past Noon." Bai would say, looking up at the sky to see that the Sun was indeed past mid-day.

He slid off the seat with it's worn seats, the cushions flatted into the wooden seat, and didn't bother using the iron steps that were suspended from the wood to help people up into the driver's area. He turned and offered a hand to Miss Feng.
"I'll bet 5 gold that Li and Fukurou are sound asleep. They always fall asleep on wagon rides.."

Sure enough, when the two rounded the Wagon to the door that was build into the rear, steps too leading up to it, they could see through the glass-less window that was carved into the door, curtains hung on the inside, that Bai-Wu was indeed right. Li was sitting on a bed, his back against one of the storage closets that jutted out in the corner, his head rolled back with a snot bubble in his nose. In his lap, Tarak was sound asleep in some twisted form, but quiet, sucking on the man's flithy thumb.

[The Lion Turtle]

Xia Feng sighed in a suppressed cry of glee at the sight through the window. Li and Tarak were very cute napping together, and smiling, she entered the wagon carefully and stooped to pick up her son out of the Firebender's lap, easing Li's dirty thumb out of his mouth with a gimmace. Tarak stirred wake but did not cry, glad to see his mother; he was such a quiet boy, and Xia Feng kissed him lovingly on the forehead where curly dark locks were starting to thicken and were beads of sweat from sleeping had appeared. Backing away, she hoped she didn't wake up Li by moving Tarak that way. She didn't want to spoil his nap -- that was Bai's job, when the other twin deemed it necessery.

"I'll go nurse Tarak," she whispered to Bai, stepping back out of the wagon just as carefully and grabbing a worn blanket to cover herself with. Finding a grassy patch under a tree just to the side of the wagon, she sat and threw the blanket over her shoulder as Tarak squeeled happily, knowing what came next. She nursed him, and he snuggled contently into her, burping loudly when he was finished. Milk was all over his face, and with cooing words Xia Feng wiped him clean.

"Goodness, you're plump, Tarak!" she teased him, twirling a lock of doe brown hair in her fingers. He was already so big! He could sit up by himself and was starting to crawl. The boy looked at his mother with blue eyes, but already those blue eyes were darkening into an amber color -- they would be brown soon, just like his father's.