A Nautical Day <Fire Nation>

[azar]

It was a calm and pleasant day, no breeze at all and the sun shining in the clear blue midday sky. The beach, covered with pale sand, was fraught with people - Fire Nation citizens enjoying one of many beauteous beaches their country had to offer. This seaside village of Lishui was nestled by the shore, encompassed by lush cliffs and naturally-formed rocky pillars that rose from the depths. Most of the homes in the village were not lived in permanently, but vacation homes for more wealthy denizens of the land. Others were hotels for people who wished to spend a day at this fine beach. The natives of Lishui were always friendly to frequent visitors of this locale - after all, tourists made the small village thrive.

But the small seedy inn, the cheapest of its kind in the village, was met with dissatisfaction by a certain player of the sanxian. He felt it logical to stay there, having rather limited funds and not wanting to spend his money foolishly. However, Azar left the run-down shack as soon as possible, having found it unbearable to stay there any longer than was needed. After packing up his things and exiting the inn, he found a relatively comfortable sear on one of the rather smooth, large rocks that peppered the sands of the beach. He sat and watched a game of Kuai ball take place, the young adult participants hitting the red-and-white ball over the net.

The rather burly young man was shirtless and shoeless, as were most males on the beach, and only a pair of loose salmon-pink shorts covered his waist down to his mid-shin - his everyday clothing was neatly folded inside his traveling satchel, along with all the rest of his belongings. Though his eye followed the game occasionally, his mind was centered on the few notes he played on his long-necked string instrument, tuning up to play for tips. He needed to earn money to stay alive on his travels, of course.

But boredom soon took its toll. He supposed something interesting could take place if he sought it, and even considered barging in on the game of Kuai ball. Or maybe he would get a cone of fruit-flavored sherbet. The latter sounded more appealing at the moment, since sweet things were greatly appreciated by Azar, and a cold treat would be equally appreciated in the hot sun. So, deciding quickly, he took his sanxian and slung his traveling sack over his shoulder, heading to the booth on the boardwalk where refreshments were sold.

Alas, there was a line, though at least Azar was willing to wait...

[fuka]

Fuka walked on to the sandy beach. She pouted as she looked at her surroundings there were people every where, it was way too hot, the sand was annoying when it stuck to your feet. Everything about the beach was annoying well except for the swimming that was fun.

She walk around try to find empty spot on the beach which was hard to find because of all the people on the beach. She weaved through the crowds of people on the shore. She almost tripped over a little kid building a sand castle.

“Stupid kid don’t build your sand castle by the water.” She angrily thought as she caught her balance.

She past some teens playing Kuai ball but she didn’t feel ike joining in comeing to the beach was enough for her. Why of all the days did she listen to her stupid mother and go to the beach. She finally found a spot by the water she liked to sit by the water so she didn’t have to walk across the hot sand to get to it. She put her red umbrella up and laid her cotton towel on the sand underneath the umbrella. As she sat down she spotted a refreshment stand. Fuka could sure go for some ice cream right about now. Maybe they even had tea there. She got back up and walked across the very hot sand, damn the sand she should have worn her sandals, to the refreshment booth. But when she got there she couldn’t believe her eyes. What was up with the long line this many people couldn’t be hungry all at once right? RIGHT?! She slapped her hand to her fore head and dragged it down her face. The teen let out an aggravated groan as she got in line.

She wasn’t going to wait for an hour to get some ice cream that’s for sure she could be spending her time swimming or flirting with some boys which was something she would never do. She reached over the large bag tapped on the shoulder of the man in front of her. It was hard to reach over that bag Fuka wasn’t very tall. And what would you need a bag like that for anyway? You didn’t have to pack that much stuff for the beach.

“Excuse me but how long have you been waiting in line for?” She asked as polite as she could but she knew it wasn’t working since she was already annoyed.

[azar]

Azar was standing in line for a few minutes, though to him it felt like a half hour at best. His patience was wearing thin, and the sun was baking his broad shoulders and wide back. He often had no patience, and this time was absolutely no different. The line in front of him was gradually getting shorter, but that didn't stop the burly young man from muttering comments of dissatisfaction to himself.

As he tapped his foot for the eleventy-bazillionth time, he felt a poke on his shoulder. He looked behind himself and immediately saw no one, but as he looked down a bit, his face met that of a shorter teenage girl with a ghastly pale complexion. Though hers was by far not a skin tone rarely seen in the Fire Nation. One could tell he was slightly perturbed by his facial expression, though this belied a much greater feeling of annoyance deep within Azar's mind.

"Excuse me but how long have you been waiting in line for?", asked the teen girl, with a politeness in her voice that seemed forced. Azar rolled his silvery eyes, but also thought it a bit odd that there was no one else but her standing behind him. Maybe they all got sick of waiting and left. He turned to the side carefully, so as not to whack the girl in the face with his purplish-taupe bag, and replied with a shrug. "I don't know - a half hour?"

Of course, this is how he thought it felt. In no way was it true, but the girl wouldn't know that. Azar let a deep sigh issue from his mouth as he continued in a more hushed grumble, "Damn line goes on forever..."

[fuka]

"I don't know - a half hour?" he said to Fuka as he turned around to face her. She quickly stepped back about a few centimeters so she wouldn’t get smacked in the face with his ugly purple. It really was an ugly color.

Fuka’s jaw dropped. Was he serious a half an hour or was that just how it felt? She couldn’t tell. She leaned to the side of the man to get a peak at the line it was gradually growing smaller, so she decided to wait it out. She got back up from out of her lean and faced the man.

“OK thanks.” she said once again as polite as she could.

She tapped her foot in the ground waiting for the line to die down. It was tacking a while for the line to die down. What was somebody up there trying to decide what flavor sherbet they wanted? There was only like five flavors to choose from. Fuka knew what she wanted Strawberry flavor. The man who was standing in front of her probably wasn’t lying when he said a half an hour, It sure felt like it. Fuka really did’t feel like going and coming back just for some ice cream so waiting it out was the best option. After she ate she would go swimming and just relax for the rest of the day she needed it. She sighed again as she started to play with her bending she seemed to do this a lot when she was bored. A small flame lit in her pale hand and then extinguished in her hand, it lit up again and then turned off.

[azar]

With sighing, groaning and rolling of his eyes yet again, Azar looked around the person in front of him to see just how long this line was. He saw ahead of him about five or six people, and at the head of the line a short, bald, middle-aged man that seemed to be having a hard time making his decision.

Azar heard a groan of annoyance from someone in front of him, but he soon felt a glow of warmth behind him, against the bare skin of his back. He turned around again, this time the opposite direction so the bag would have no chance of hitting the young lady. However, he accidentally bumped the lady ahead of him with his bag, even though this merited nothing more than a stern look.

Pale silvery eyes gazed downward at the girl's hand, where she was flickering a flame and smoldering it immediately. With his expression still dissatisfied, he said, "So, you're a bender, huh? Nice. Wish I could bend..."

Holding his sanxian down at his side, he once more looked around the people standing in line ahead of him. Seeing that same short, stocky man with no hair walking off holding at least a dozen cones of sherbet, he was certain the line would start moving. Softly, though loud enough for the teenager behind him to hear, he said, "Finally, the line moves..."

[fuka]

"So, you're a bender, huh? Nice. Wish I could bend..."the man said.

Fuka looked up from playing with her fire when she heard this.

"Its not that great." she explained, "You really can't do much with fire bending unless your really good at it."

Fuka shruged fire bendeing to her was shuch a pointless gift she wasn't good at it so why bother with it. She looked to the side of the mans Ugly purple bag. A stouty fat man just walked away with about a dozen cones of sherbet. Fuka just stared shocked at him. NO wonder the line took so long. With that guy ordering so many cones.

"Finally, the line moves..."she heard the man in front of her.

"I know right!" Who the hell needs that many damn cones. It's no wonder hes so fat!" she said irritated as she pointed as the ugly fat man that just left.

[azar]

Azar chuckled at the girl's comment, since it sounded like one he would come up with. Just as outspoken and snippy as Azar, this girl seemed to him. Refreshing for him to see one who didn't pretend to be "nice" just to please people. As the line soon started to move again, he kept an eye on the man, his silver eyes following him all the way over to a group of people numbering roughly the same as the cones he held. Azar thought it made sense - After all, like the teen behind him said, who would eat that much sherbet?

People got their cold treats from the counter and left quickly, allowing Azar to reach the desk before things got tedious. Placing his sanxian and bag on the ground, a thin man with a beard spoke to him with a smile, across the counter. "How can I help you?"

Azar leaned on the counter, crossing his arms and pursing his lips in thought. With all the frustration involved in waiting, he hadn't quite thought of which flavor he wanted. Letting out a short growl, he made a decision off the top of his head. "Oh, I don't know...goji berry?"

The man replied with a nod and walked into a cold, insulated room that the shop's interior led to, and came out with a cone of what Azar had requested. Placing a few copper pieces on the counter, he grabbed the cone from the man's bony hand. He picked up his belongings from the ground afterward and walked away from the stand. But, after taking one lick of the sherbet, he scowled. It wasn't at all the flavor he wanted, but he guessed he should put up with it for now.

Soon, he found the same smooth rock he sat on before, and placed his bag beside it before sitting and leaning up against it. His purple-brown bag beside him and his sanxian lain across his lap, he plucked a few strings with one hand while holding his cone of sherbet in the other. And in the few minutes it took him to empty the rolled-up paper cone of the sherbet it formerly held, he tossed the item aside and started tuning his long-necked instrument.

[azar]

The rest of his stay at Lishui village was hardly bearable. He found little enjoyment in swimming alone in the shallows, or playing Kuai ball with total strangers. Passersby giving only a few measly silver pieces as he played his sanxian barely added to his savings, and any subtle advances he made toward certain attractive fellows were shot down in flames. The day was not being kind to him. Things transpired toward him staying in the same seedy little inn, met with his ire again. He spent most of the night tossing and turning on the uncomfortable futon, his sleep barely comfortable at all.

In the morning, he packed all his things again and left that same deplorable inn as quickly as he could. Not spending another minute at that beach, beautiful though it was, he hit the road. As he headed west, he would have wondered where the road would take him, had his mind not been clouded with frustration.

-Azar has left this thread-