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Post by laughingjin on Feb 18, 2007 14:58:51 GMT -5
Jin swallowed hard, hoping to push the sadness away with the lump in his throat. It was so hard to leave his family like that, but if his mother caught up with his father, wherever he was, he knew they'd be fine... He hoped that they would. That was all he could do now, hope, isn't that what his mother and father had taught him to live by? Hope.
Jin walked briskly in the direction Nattoku had ran off in, ready to sprint if needed. He thought he heard Lyra's voice crack as she spoke to him, but he convinced himself otherwise. Jin was not accustomed to feeling strife, and it was an overall uncomfortable feeling. "We're going to help him find his family," he spoke to her, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible, "and then we're getting out of here."
When Jin's bright eyes latched on to Lyra's he almost choked. With a shaky breath he inhaled, trying to relieve himself of his worry. "Thank you..." He paused for a moment, running his hand through the mess on his head, worry still thick within him. Lyra's words were comforting, admittedly. They had just met but, right now, Jin felt like he could trust her as much as he did Ayumi. If they could make it through this ordeal together, he knew they'd become great friends. Jin's face paled slightly, 'If...'
Quickly he took hold of Lyra's wrist as he would Ayumi's. "We need to hurry!" He took off in a sprint, eyes frantically searching the crowd for Nat.
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Post by lyra on Feb 18, 2007 15:34:43 GMT -5
Lyra sprinted off with Jin, letting him guide her with his clasp on her wrist. As they reached the festival her eyes searched the crowd like emerald gems darting back and forth, scanning the area. "Do you see him?" She asked Jin, worry rising as more and more people shoved past them in an attempt to save themselves.
It was then that the tall, dark man she had seen before bumped into her, causing her to fall backward and onto the ground. "Watch it!" She gasped, struggling to get up with all of the other feet and legs of the scurrying citizens rushing past her. Her eyes made their way up, looking at the man with such a nasty glare - one that obviously showed that she didn't trust him.
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Post by laughingjin on Feb 18, 2007 23:10:02 GMT -5
"No!" Jin shouted to speak above the chatter of the crowd. His bright green eyes continued to scan the crowd, hundreds of faces were covered with mask but none that resembled his new friend. For a moment Jin had thought he spotted Nat, but the sound of Lyra's harsh gasp hit his thin ears, Jin turned on his heal, the large man he had seen before striding past without a care. He shot the man a horrible glare, another rare expression for Jin to make. He was not one to get angry easily, or stay angry for long, but the moment anyone harmed one of his was the moment his temper began to rise.
Frantically he pushed past the rushing river of people. Jin clasped his hand around Lyra's hand and hauled her to her feet. He locked his green eyes with Lyra's, looking down at her with worry. His voice was thick with concern as Jin spoke, "Are you alright?"
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Post by boragan on Feb 19, 2007 0:57:16 GMT -5
"In the name of the great Fire Nation, we, the Rough Rhinos claim this city of Kei Lan in the name of the Fire Lord!" one soldier shouted. The one that appeared to be the leader looked to be well muscled with a goatee on his face and only a ponytail on the back of his head. Another rhino rider had brown trousers and boots on himself with some bags attached to his steed. If one looked carefully inside, the bag had many explosive grenades inside. A third one had a straw hat with brown trousers and boots on as well. In his possession however, is a rather impressive bow along with arrows that were rigged to explode upon hitting a target. The last rhino rider was decked in elaborate Fire Nation armor with the full helmet to cover his entire head.
"I want this entire village taken over," shouted the bigger man, "If anyone resists, they shall be destroyed."
Inside of a tent, Bora Gan grabbed his signature tetsubo and rushed outside while shouting commands.
"Get the women and children out of here," he commanded, "If there are men that could fight, arm them. These monsters will not take our village."
The Rough Rhinos continued their plunder. They burned houses. They burned consession stands. They even burned the theatres that were staged at the Lantern Festival.
"This madness will stop!" Bora shouted one last time.
The sound of screaming was drowned out by a single roar from the lungs of Bora Gan. He raised his tetsubo in the air as he unleashed his battle cry and marched toward where the Rough Rhinos were staged.
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Post by lyra on Feb 19, 2007 17:04:39 GMT -5
Lyra faked a smile as Jin helped her up, "Yeah, I'll be fine. But I saw that man earlier while we were performing, he was staring right at us. I don't know if he was just enjoying the show, but from his expression-" She paused and looked back behind her to where the man had run off to, "I don't trust him." This thought was pushed out of her mind however, when three or four men caught her attention - all of which appeared to be soldiers. At first Lyra thought they were here to help them, but her thoughts were denied as one spoke about taking this city for the fire nation. Lyra's breath came in sharp gasps as she heard him speak. The girl wanted nothing more than to attack them right now, but knew that they needed to find Nat and his family first.
"Jin." Lyra whispered. She didn't know why, but the sound of she talking to a friend comforted her at the moment. With the chaos around her, all of the thundering footsteps and the frightened people, Lyra began to get quite dizzy and whoozy herself. Closing her eyes she tried to concentrate on one pair of footsteps: Nat's. Perhaps she could use her earthbending to locate him. Raising her hands, she covered her ears and scrunched up her face in concentration, trying to mute out all other footsteps other than Nat's.
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Post by nattoku on Feb 19, 2007 17:18:10 GMT -5
Nattoku kept turning his head from side to side, trying to find his brothers or mother. He still could not spot them in the crowd, and was getting pushed around from people trying to get away. He could smell smoke and buildings burning. He could see the smoke too, and coughed as it choked him a bit. The boy put his hand in front of his nose and mouth, and kept trying to spot his family.
Nattoku had stopped calling their names for the time being. The crowd was screaming and there was much yelling so they wouldn't hear his voice anyway. He kept trying to stay out of everyone's way as they passed by. A couple of people yelled at him to get out of the way and someone else yelled at him that he was going the wrong way and should be going away from the danger.
The teen had to ignore them. He knew this was stupid and that he should be getting out, but he had to find his family. He couldn't think of life without his mom or brothers. They got on his nerves a lot, but life would not be worth it without them. He decided to try and call out for them again. "Mama! Kyo! Tian Tian!"he yelled, but stopped short as he started to cough again.
When he still couldn't see his mom or brothers, he stomped his foot on the ground in frustration. Where are they!he thought. Nattoku desperately hoped that he had just missed them and they him, because then they were out of harm's way and safe.
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Post by laughingjin on Feb 19, 2007 17:25:44 GMT -5
Jin flashes a soft smile before his eyes traveled back over to the man Lyra had spoken of. Finally he had recognized him as the man who had lured Jin to that particular spot in the Festival to begin with, than he had seemed like nothing but now, in the new light of the situation, the large man seemed to inspire fear and distrust. He shook his head slowly, warding off the incoming rush of thoughts. "Never mind him. We need to find Na-." His sentence was cut off by the thunderous rise of what sounded like a stampede rose. Four men on large horned beast had stood steadfast in the middle of the commotion. One of them began proclaiming a take over in the name of the Fire Nation, and Jin's face automatically slackened. That moment he wanted nothing more than to bolt off once more and find his own family, but he couldn't leave Lyra. He had to find Nat.
Hearing Lyra's whisper beside, Jin enclosed his long hand around hers, giving it a slight squeeze to reassure he that he was still there. "Don't worry," he whispered back before looking down at her, a reassuring smile struggling to stay on his lips. "We're going to get out of this alright."
Quickly his eyes darted back to search the crowd, desperately searching for Nattoku. Finally, the sound of his slow southern drawl, hit Jin's ears. He lifted his hand prominently pointing over the heads of the frantic crowd, "That way!"
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Post by lyra on Feb 19, 2007 20:19:28 GMT -5
As Jin took Lyra's hand she immediately felt better - like a barrier had been placed around them so that nothing could harm them as long as they were together. As Jin pulled them in the direction that he had thought he had heard Nattoku's voice, Lyra continued to look around as the two ran in a specific direction, going the opposite way the flow of people was going. "Are you sure you heard him?" She asked, not wanting to doubt Jin but with all the voices shouting, Lyra didn't doubt that someone had a similar accent as Nat.
A sudden smell reached her nostrils as the two continued shoving their way through the throng of people - the smell of smoke. Looking up to the sky Lyra saw a big cloud of black smoke lingering around them, the smell was atrocious and it made her cough. Eyes watering from the burning sensation the ash-filled smoke placed upon them, it was hard for Lyra to find her way through, but with her hand still in Jin's she let him guide her as she wiped at her eyes with her free hand. "There's smoke." She shouted when she could see again, "Fire. They must be firebenders." That was obvious now that she thought about it, since they were from the Fire Nation they must be firebenders, or at least some of them - that rose more fear in her body. If they were firebenders, it would be easier for them to take over Kei Lan.
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Post by laughingjin on Feb 19, 2007 21:31:52 GMT -5
"I'm positive," Jin hoped his voice would rise above the hustle and bustle of the frantic crowd as Lyra's had. "Besides," he continued, "even if I'm wrong it could be one of his family members." Jin cut a course through the frantic crowd like a knife through butter, his green eyes scanning as they went in the direction from where the voice had shouted from. Finally they set upon a familiar thin figure, and a smile of hope crossed his thin lips...
That, of course, was before the choking gray smoke of more than wood burning. As the smoke filled Jin's lungs and Lyra's observations his ears Jin heaved a hacking cough, not used to this sort of pollution. "We need to keep moving!" Jin shouted out breathlessly. He moved his long arm until he could bury his mouth in the crook of his elbow, his lungs aching for clean air. His long staff scraped against the dirt ground, etching the path they were taking. The smoke burned his bright eyes until they were dull and again to water and the thick smell of things burning filled his nose. This was too much. If it weren't for Jin's drive and his raw will power to do whatever it takes to help someone he knew, even an acquaintance like Nat, he would have collapsed on the floor right there and then.
The familiar figure neared, and in attempt to get him to stop moving Jin moved his arm away from his mouth and called out, "Nat! Nattoku!" Jin hoped that Nat had heard him.
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Post by nattoku on Feb 19, 2007 21:53:19 GMT -5
Nattoku continued to cough a lot, and stopped again to try and regain his breath. He hated smoke so much right about now. The air was filled with the awful smoke and also with the smell of buildings burning. Among other things... The boy stopped himself before he could think anymore on this subject.
He closed his eyes for a moment to try and keep the smoke from making his eyes water. The boy then opened them again, and looked around for his family. But the figures running by were still not that of his mom or brothers. Nattoku felt his eyes begin to water a bit, but rubbed them, just telling himself that this was from the smoke, not from him wanting to cry.
For a moment, he thought he heard the voices of his two new friends. He listened closer. When he heard Jin call out his name, he turned in the direction he had heard the voice.
"Jin!"he yelled, and headed back to where the older boy was. He saw Jin and Lyra there. "What are you two doing here?"he asked. "Shouldn't y'all be getting out?"
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Post by boragan on Feb 20, 2007 1:23:56 GMT -5
"Raze the village," one of the riders cried. The armored rider waved his hands around as it's firebending destroyed many houses with it's whipping techniques. The archer set the roofs on fire with each arrow notched. The smoke grew thick and black and the sky filled with clouds of dread.
From the smoke, Bora Gan stepped forward to the rhino riders.
"This ends here!" Bora shouted. He lifted a large rock from the ground and flung it into the air. As the rock got to face height, Bora swung around with his tetsubo and smashed the rock like a baseball with a bat. The rock went flying and connected with the armored man. It got the person off balanced, but still had control of it's mount.
"Fool! Do you dare stand against the might of the Fire Nation?" the leader shouted. He charged forward with the tusks of the komodo rhino aimed straight for him. Bora stood his ground and waited for the charge.
However, the charge caught Bora off-guard. Behind the charging leader charged also the man with the explosives. The leader veered left while the other veered right at the last minute. With a flick of his wrist, an explosive bomb hit the ground at Bora's feet. Bora tried to roll out of the way, but still got caught in the blast. It flung him a few feet to his right. Bora screamed in pain as the scrapnel pierced him inside. Blood leaked threw the holes of his armor.
"There's no time for pain now," Bora spoke to himself. Using the tetsubo as leverage, Bora slowly got back on his feet. When he looked around, the rhinos moved on to other parts of the town.
"Alright, time for a search."
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Post by laughingjin on Feb 20, 2007 15:11:46 GMT -5
Jin flashed a wide grin that seemed to cut through the smog, "Nah, we couldn't leave you here to have all the fun, now could we?" He chuckled slightly, only to have to lead into a hacking cough from the smoke. The very air seemed to scrape Jin's throat and lungs has he breathed. Slowly, he regained his composure, along with his smile.
A near by explosion made the ground tremble, nearly knocking Jin off his feet. Not far off he saw the large man hurl through the air like a piece of paper caught in the wind. High flames raised from houses and licked the sky while giving birth to incredible amounts of smoke. Chaos seemed to surround the three, the jumbled wave of sounds and voices washed over them. The screams of the patrons used to be that of excitement, now they were that of fear and terror. "We need to get out of here, any luck finding your family yet?" Jin scanned the crowd, hoping to find anyone who bared a resemblance to Nattoku.
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Post by lyra on Feb 20, 2007 19:24:33 GMT -5
Lyra copied Jin's motions and cupped her hand in front of her mouth and nose, trying hard not to breath. As they continued on their way, Lyra began to get light-headed but tried to steady herself as the two found what they were looking for. "Nat! Are you alright? We hurried-" she paused to let in a large fit of coughs before continuing, "Here as soon as we could."
Looking to the side, her eye caught on something: The soldier man and the huge Rhino Riders from the fire nation battling. Stepping back so that she was behind Jin, Lyra peered out behind him in horror. As the scene took place, all Lyra wanted to do was run away and get out of the chaos, but she was frozen with fear and anger and couldn't tear her eyes away. Taking in a sharp, smoke-filled breath she gasped as she watched the Earth Kingdom soldier stand, only to reveal that he was bleeding. "Oh my god." she said quietly, not believing the scene in front of her.
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Post by nattoku on Feb 20, 2007 19:50:41 GMT -5
Nattoku coughed a bit more as he covered his mouth an nose again with his hand. The air was becoming almost unbearable, it being so thick now with smoke and heat. The boy looked over at where the explosion had happend and jumped at it. The man who was fighting against the the soldiers on rhinos, the Rough Rhinos they called themselves, seemed to be hurt and yet was keeping on fighting.
The youth turned back to Jin. "I don't know where my family is,"he said. "I desperately hope that maybe we just passed each other when I was running so fast and that they were going too fast to see me. When you two were coming this way, did you see a tall guy, maybe a little bit taller than you Jin, who looked like me. Or a woman with a green dress and brown apron, dark, wavy brown hair with a little boy who looks like Kyo only with a green cap."
Nattoku knew these weren't the best descriptions of his mother and brothers, but they were the best he could think of. Then he thought of something better. "Did you see anyone with those descriptions or at least hear them talk. My mom and brothers all have thick southern accents like mine."
He noticed the crowd that had been pushing to get away had more or less dispersed, with a few people going slower, trying to see what was going to happen. "We have to get out of here,"Nattoku said. "I don't think my family is still nearby. If they are, I don't know why. But I don't want anything to happen to y'all because of you trying to help me. I am so thankful for it, but we all have to get out of here. If those rhino guys don't kill us, the smoke will."
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Post by boragan on Feb 21, 2007 2:04:48 GMT -5
The pain was relentless. It just doesn't want to go away. The crimson wasn't any better. The flow ran down to the ground steadily. If he doesn't seek medical attention soon, he will pass out. Still, now is not the time for pain.
Bora stared straight ahead. With part of the smoke cleared, he still saw the muscled man stare straight at him.
"So you are Major Bora Gan, huh?" the leader questioned, "I will have great honor taking you down."
"You can try," Bora threatened, "But you will fail."
The rhino charged forward again. It's menacing horns aimed straight for Bora's heart. Bora didn't move from his spot. He quickly examined the charging komodo for any type of weakness. Even with his barbarian upbrining, he never hunted nor fought any beast such as the komodo rhino. All he could do is wait until it got closer.
With the rhino advancing, Bora took initiative as it got close. With a stomp to the ground, a large piece of the ground popped into the air. Bora yelled in fury as he swung the mighty tetsubo in his hand to the rock. The impact of the rock made the iron rod vibrate to the point where it hurt. The rock flew straight at the rhino's head. With the impact of the rock, it shattered into many pieces, like it disintegrated. The rhino gave out a loud howl as it tripped into the road as he charged. Bora rolled out of the way as best as he could and barely missed colliding with the huge beast. Before the rhino could pass, Bora stood to his feet, then with a twirling gesture of his iron rod, hit the rider in his chest, which sent him to the ground as well. With the inertia of the charge and Bora's strenght, was knocked out upon impact.
With a few quick breaths, he noticed a few kids watching him fight. One was a girl he never seen, and the other was the same man he saw perform earlier with the painted face and younger sister. He fell to the ground as the pain settled in on his wound.
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