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Post by mulaqi on May 13, 2007 23:48:49 GMT -5
For the moment, Muqali was catching his breath behind a stack of crates in a small alley. He’d been fleeing from the Fire Nation soldiers for a good while now, so he figured he would have put enough distance between his pursuers to take a much needed breather. This was a bad situation, and it had been entirely avoidable, too. He couldn’t think of how exactly he could have avoided it, but he was positive he had screwed up somewhere along the line. He had to find a way out of this. He couldn’t ditch the letters, he had a promise to keep, and he couldn’t battle his way through the city. There had to be a way, he just wasn’t smart enough to think of it, or so he assumed.
Shaking away his negativity he poked his head around the crates to see if the coast was clear. No one could be seen, and voices were a long way off. Still, if he wandered around on the streets, he’d be found eventually. Suddenly, he realized that the boxes were stacked in a formation that looked like it could be climbed. He could get to the rooftops from here, and if he was careful, he might be able to travel unnoticed. Feeling the idea was worth a shot, Muqali hopped up the boxes and made his way to the roof. It was only then that he noticed a commotion back from the part of the city he had met the other Sand Nomads in. He swallowed hard. He knew what was coming.
Carefully working his way along the rooftops, he eventually made his way to a rooftop not far from the commotion and gazed downward. The caravan was under siege. Their goods were being seized, the merchants rounded up, and several soldiers seemed to be struggling with the mammoth-camels. Muqali cursed under his breath at the sight. He’d caused this. These people were being hurt because he’d screwed up. He had to try and fix it somehow, maybe cause a commotion so some could escape. His eyes fell upon the mammoth-camels. They were large, powerful beasts, and while mostly docile, they could cause a ruckus if riled up. That would have to do.
Working his way across the rooftops, until he was right behind one of the beasts, he leapt down from the roof, smacking the mammoth-camel’s rear hard with a tonfa as he fell. The beast let out a sharp cry of surprise and reared onto its hind legs before going berserk, thrashing about wildly before starting to stampede off in a random direction. The pack animals were all bunched closely together, and so when one of them went wild, the others followed suit, smashing into soldiers and merchant stands alike as they tore through the area. This indeed had the intended effect, as some of the soldiers guarding the merchants were caught up in the rampage or had their attention diverted, letting some of the merchants flee into the city. They quickly gained pursuers, but at least now they had a chance of escape. A small chance, albeit, but a chance nonetheless.
Muqali, too gained plenty of attention. No sooner had the beasts run off then a few soldiers had pointed him out as the cause. Much to his dismay, most seemed to be firebenders, and a small barrage of fireballs were sent careening through the air towards him. Rolling to his left, he avoided the attack and quickly stood up in a fighting stance, his left tonfa held in front of him horizontally and his right held higher and a little behind it in a striking position. Immediately, he began to spin both weapons at a rapid pace, to the slight surprise of the soldiers he was facing. The two three pound shafts of rapidly spinning iron seemed to give them pause, and the result was a bit of a standoff. Six fire nation soldiers, three of them unarmed benders and three spear wielding non-benders had formed a semi-circle around Muqali, who had his back to a wall.
“I don’t suppose we could work this out peacefully, could we fellas?” he said, a somewhat taut lopsided grin forming on his face.
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Post by nasrin on May 14, 2007 13:45:26 GMT -5
Nasrin watched with dettached amusement as Manju sprinted past herself and the other sandbender. She was obviously better suited to running than either of the desert-dwellers. After all, one hardly made a habit of running across the powdery sand that seemed to envelope every step. Nasrin tried to push herself a little faster though, so as not to fall behind. A few stray fireballs passing uncomfortably close to her head gave her a greater incentive.
After that barrage, the older bender quickly turned around on his next step and skidded to a stop. He immediately stomped an angled kick into the ground toward the Fire Nation soldiers and reduced the paved stone pathway to loose gravel and sand for a long stretch between them. The men in front were caught off-balance by the sudden change and their next step sent them tumbling to the ground. One man immediately behind them tripped over the fallen soldiers, but the other three hopped over the tangled mess and kept on running, throwing more fire. The sandbender quickly dropped his stance, reached down with his hands, and then lifted up a slab of rock from the ground that nearly filled the whole street. The fireballs that had been thrown were stopped, but the barricade would not last long. The sandbender broke off then and sprinted to try and catch up with the other two.
Meanwhile, Nasrin and Manju had almost reached the end of the road that dumped them back into the plaza where the desert merchants had set up their trading stands. However, the sight that greeted them when they arrived was not very welcoming. Fire Nation soldiers had begun rounding up the merchants, and several of the mammoth-camels were stampeding across the far side. Firebenders were using their bending to keep the creatures from running wild through the streets, encircling the exits with rings of flame.
A few more soldiers were waiting at the end of the street. Manju was still a few steps ahead, and though the men seemed intent on the spectacle of the crazed mammoth-camels before them, one did manage to notice the approach of more fugitives. "Hey!" he called, leveling a spear and calling for attention of the men near him. Before the rest could organize a defense, though, Nasrin took a quick hop and then thrust both her palms into the ground. A tremor shook the ground, lifting chunks of it up in succession like a ripple in a pond, and passed right under the soldiers. The small group of them was thrown into the air in various directions. Some landed painfully while others suffered little more than a bump or bruise, but it gave them a clear path for the moment.
"Keep going!" came the call of the other sandbender who came running up behind Nasrin. An explosion behind him signaled that the firebenders had broken through his barrier. Nasrin followed his command and together they entered on the side of the plaza. Several of the merchants had tried making a run for it, and luckily that had seemed to capture most of the soldiers' attention. The large group that had been there was now split into many smaller groups that were chasing down the runners. However, Nasrin took note of something happening adjacent to them.
"It's that 'Moo-guy'," she said, her voice sounding as close to an exclamation as she had ever managed, even though her tone was still quite lackluster. Nasrin pointed toward a ring of Fire Nation soldiers surrounding their newest sand nomad acquaintence. They were closing in and he seemed utterly trapped. For a moment, Nasrin and her comrade shared a look, punctuated by a glance all around them. "We're going to need all the help we can get in getting out of here," she pointed out.
The other sandbender grunted in annoyance, but nodded his head. "Give us some cover!" he said in irritation as he started toward Muqali's position in order to help him escape. He also tossed a look back at Manju and said, "You're helping too!" Nasrin wasted no time in assuming a sturdy stance and lifted her arms up in front of her. He hands were wide open and her fingers extending toward the ground. For a moment she simply concentrated, her body shaking ever so slightly with exertion as she extended her will out over surace of the stone-paved plaza.
The other sandber quickly adjusted his narrow-slitted goggles over his eyes and gave a shout as he neared the Fire Nation soldiers. The ring of spearmen and benders seemed to turn and regard the new threat. Those closest turned and prepared to defend, just as Nasrin brought her arms down in a cross and stomped hard on the ground, filling the entire area with an explosion of dust and sand.
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Post by manju on May 14, 2007 19:43:21 GMT -5
"You're helping too!" uttered Nasrin's comrade to Manju, and the Igni turned her face to the sandbender and said nothing other than "Duh!" to the man. She had no weapons in tow, so she had to rely solely on her skills in martial arts, which really wasn't one bit of a problem. With sheer abandon, the young woman immediately launched herself into the fray, dust floating all about the surrounding air.
With limited visibility, she ran toward the nearest figure identifiable as the enemy due to the distinctly-shaped outline of his helmet and armor. Soon after she began bounding toward him, he detected Manju and thrust out his spear at her.
Manju jumped into the air, entering into a front-flip then pushing the spear toward the ground in mid-air. She bent her knees at the flip's apex, and, as she fell forward, propelled her bent knees into the man's chest. With great force and a loud thud!, the two fell to the ground. Barely aware of his surroundings and with the wind knocked out of his lungs, the soldier could barely make out the blurry image of Manju's vaguely-masculine silhouette above him. To ensure he would stay as he was, the Igni woman then punched him in the face, knocking him thoroughly and completely unconscious.
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Post by mulaqi on May 16, 2007 11:44:26 GMT -5
Muqali only noticed the approach of the three people he had met earlier when some of the Fire Nation soldiers turned towards one of the Sand Nomads and the strange girl advancing rapidly. Inwardly, he grimaced. He was being bailed out by them for a second time, and all because he had caused their caravan to get into trouble in the first place. Fortunately, he was able to shake that thought off in time to be ready for the gust of sand that came shortly after. Muqali was used to random gusts of sand, fortunately, and so he was disciplined enough to keep his mouth shut tightly as it washed over the area, and was used to it enough that he could see somewhat effectively while squinting. His tonfa never even stopped spinning. The Fire Nation soldiers were not so used to it, however, and a firebender and a spearman to his left (the direction furthest from his approaching “allies”) even seemed to be completely disoriented by it.
The firebender directly in front of him, however, apparently was still aware enough to see him, and shot a burst of flame right towards him. Taking two preparatory steps forward, Muqali leapt up and over the flame just before it hit him. He was mere inches above it as he soared through the air, tonfa spinning high above his head for what seemed like eternity. The firebender couldn’t react fast enough, and within an instant Muqali had brought the full momentum of his spinning iron tonfa down on each of his shoulders with a loud clang. The sheer momentum combined with the weight and density of the tonfas resulted in astounding force, and the firbenders shoulder armor dented sharply inward. That blunt trauma wasn’t the worst damage, through, as the force of the blow forced the firebender down in an awkward position, and a crack could be heard as his right knee gave way and shattered.
Having heard his comrades cry of pain, a firebender who had turned to face Muqali’s apparent rescuers turned abruptly in the general direction of the sound and unleashed three bursts of flame. However, because he had been distracted by the charging Sand Nomad and the strange girl, and because he could not see well at all due to the sand conjured up by the second Sand Nomad, he sent those bursts of flame at the two soldiers who were disoriented from before. As he rushed towards the two new cries of pain to check on his handiwork, the bender did not even notice Muqali slip right by him. This left only one soldier standing and able to fight, a spearman facing off against the Sand Nomad who had charged. Racing up behind the soldier, Muqali suddenly dropped into a slide, slamming both tonfa into the soldiers ankles as he slid between his legs. The soldier toppled to the ground in a heap as Muqali broke out of the slide and hopped to his feet, now facing the Sand Nomad who had charged forward.
“Thanks for the assist,” he said, his lopsided grin once again making an appearance. “Now let’s get out of here before they get those mammoth-camels under control.”
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Post by nasrin on May 16, 2007 13:43:34 GMT -5
“Thanks for the assist. Now let’s get out of here before they get those mammoth-camels under control.” The elder sandbender nodded at Muqali, though his face was still set with a look that contained no small hint of annoyance.
"C'mon," he said gruffly with a wave of the hand. The sandbender started away from the scene of the battered soldiers calling out to Nasrin as he went, "Let's get out of here!" He then added, looking toward Manju as she removed herself from her own opponent, "Move it!"
Standing along the edge of the dust cloud, Nasrin heard her comrade's words and pressed her open palms toward the ground, lowering the screen of sand and dirt so they could make their way out more easily. She started into a small trot and waited for the others to catch up before joining them in a full run. The four started toward the main gate, but within a few seconds it became apparent that the Fire Nation was not about to let them waltz out the front door. A squad of soldiers had been summoned from the gates and they could be seen charging up toward the main plaza of the city. Combined with the growing attention they were gathering from the soldiers already around them, they would be surrounded and outnumbered within a minute.
The group descended down to another plateau of the city on the way toward the front gate when Nasrin suddenly pulled up into a stop and held her arms out wide. Her comrade skidded to a stop as well and she answered his unspoken question with, "We're not going to make it that way..." It was strange, really, that even though she was referring to their impending death, Nasrin seemed entirely matter-of-fact about it. Just then, however, the ground rumbled slightly, and another cloud of dust rose from the paved floor.
"What was that for?" the elder sandbender asked, lifting up an arm around his mouth to shield it from dust as he spoke.
"Wasn't me," Nasrin shrugged, looking around in equal confusion. At that point, the ground beneath them suddenly seemed to drop away. A slab of earth seemed to swing on a hinge like a trap door, and the group of fugitives suddenly found itself plunged underground and sliding on an inclined slide of stone. Their fall wasn't long, though, and only after a few hearbeats did they all reach a patch of soft ground at the end of the ramp. Nasrin managed to land feet first, but stumbled slightly and almost fell forward. Her comrade had spun around during the fall and landed sideways but quickly rolled to his feet with his hands raised in a fighting stance.
Nasrin quickly looked around her, and raised a hand absently to brush aside the few strands of hair that had come loose from her headcloth in the fall. Green shaded lanterns cast a jade light around the room; the trap door had sealed itself shut above them. In the dim light she could make out the forms of numerous men, all of them wearing what was recognizeable as the soldier's uniform of Omashu.
"Welcome..." one of the men said as he stepped forward. He was a heavy man with a bushy black beard and a sakalat hat. "...to The Resistance."
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Post by manju on May 17, 2007 15:38:06 GMT -5
Manju had followed the direction the other three in the group diligently, as disobeying them would most likely have meant her death. The scuffle ended, and she was slightly disappointed that she only took down one opponent. If the others had let her do so, she would have loved to have taken them all down if possible. But now was not the time for grumbling.
When the group found themselves suddenly caught up in another dust cloud, Manju immediately assumed it was Nasrin or the other guy, perhaps even Muqali since she didn't know if he could earthbend or not. However, Nasrin's statement of "Wasn't me," confused Manju even more. Events continued their perplexing nature by the earth seemingly swallowing up the four of them, leading them to a strange underground room.
Manju looked around the green-lit room with a expression on her face of being lost, biting her bottom lip as her eyebrows arched in bewilderment. "Welcome to The Resistance." spoke an approaching bearded man in a strange, shallow dome-like hat. She let out a sigh when this happened. First, random dust clouds and trap doors, and now a resistance of some sort? Still baffled by all the strange happenings, she turned to Muqali and said "Dis place gets weirder an' weirder..."
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Post by mulaqi on May 18, 2007 0:33:32 GMT -5
Muqali had been caught completely off guard by the shifting ground beneath him, and for a few moments tried desperately to scramble upward on the stone slope beneath the street in vain. His struggle ended up causing more harm then good, as he spent too much time trying to fight gravity to turn around and cushion his fall before his he hit the ground below butt first. Wincing, and rubbing his tailbone gingerly, he rose to his feet and turned around to find a most unexpected sight. Earth Kingdom soldiers, calling themselves The Resistance, had apparently been the ones who had brought them down here.
"Dis place gets weirder an' weirder..." said the strange girl, apparently a comment directed at Muqali.
“Well, sometimes wierd is good,” Muqali replied. “These guys are Earth Kingdom soldiers, and if they’re anything like the ones I came to Omashu with, then we’re in good hands.”
The bearded leader of the soldiers turned towards Muqali, having overheard the comment, “You came here with Earth Kingdom soldiers?”
“Huh, me? Well, close to here, anyway. Only I actually came to Omashu,” Muqali started, scratching the stubble on his chin that seemed to have developed a small itch. “Actually, I have some letters from them that I was trying to give to their families right here...”
Reaching under his tunic, Muqali unlatched the worn leather satchel with the letters in it and handed it to one of the Earth Kingdom soldiers. The soldier sifted through it a moment before turning to the leader and motioning him over for discussion. They muttered to each other back and forth for a moment before the leader nodded and the other soldier departed with the satchel.
“Ling will make sure those get to the right people. We’ve moved all the families of soldiers to a safe location with us, so we know where to find them,” the leader said. “I recognized some of the names there, and I have to thank you. Most of those men were thought dead.”
Muqali smiled and scratched the back of his head somewhat sheepishly. He was glad that all this trouble had at least led to his promise being kept. For a while, he had been worried that he would fail to keep his promise, or even put those families in danger. Even so, he had very much wanted to deliver those letters to Yu Mei personally. It wasn’t because he expected a reward or anything, but a promise wasn’t something that Muqali took very lightly. Part of him almost considered the promise partially broken for not delivering the letters himself and making sure they fell into the right hands, but he held back any protest. At this point, he figured he ought to be grateful to complete the task at all.
“Now, what about you three?” the leader said, his gaze turning to the others. “It doesn’t sound like you were a team in this.”
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Post by nasrin on May 19, 2007 0:44:28 GMT -5
“Now, what about you three? It doesn’t sound like you were a team in this.” Nasrin calmly scratched the tip of her nose and then folded her arms over her chest. She might have given a response herself, but her reply would have likely consisted of a shrug and a mumbled sentence or two. Besides, after traveling these last several weeks with her current partner, the two had come to a sort of unspoken arrangement that he would handle the talking. It was a little ironic that despite Nasrin's nearly unreadable demeanor, the older sandbender seemed to hear her thoughts on most issues.
"We just met this guy today," Nasrin's companion told the Rebel leader, jerking a thumb at Muqali. "We came in guiding the merchant caravan, and he used our presence as an excuse to enter the city himself... If you were watching not long ago, which you probably were since you dropped us down here, you probably saw that our clients and all their goods were just rounded up and probably being imprisoned." The middle-aged sandbender cast a look at Muqali, though his eyes were still hiddeun under those narrow-slitted sand goggles. "Not that I really care to save them, but our employer will be pissed to hear that we lost a dozen of his paying customers... He was still waiting on the second half of their fee."
"I'm sure he'll just be glad to see our smiling faces," Nasrin added absently, still scratching a persistent itch on her nose. The other sandbender glanced at her and huffed a slight laugh of amusement. "But we still need to escape first.
The Rebellion leader looked over the two for a moment, seeming a little wary, but otherwise convinced of their origins. He nodded slightly, but then he turned his attention toward Manju and asked, "And you?"
"She's the ambassador of the Ignis!" Nasrin said quietly under her breath, with mock enthusiasm. The soldier looked her way for a moment, but hadn't quite heard what she said. Nasrin had quickly taken an interest in the cieling, and her sandbending comrade sifle a chuckle.
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Post by manju on May 19, 2007 17:47:08 GMT -5
Manju had let her mind wander while the other three of the group spoke with the stocky bearded man, the alleged leader of a resistance she had never heard of previously. She kept moving around, walking in short erratic distances looking around at the various people in the room. The room smelled dank, and a green hue was cast over everything. Manju noticed that even her own complexion looked a little green as she looked at her hand and the leather flaps strapped to the back of her palm.
The green-clothed people inside the cavernous underground area kept stealing quick glances at the tattooed and pierced Manju, as well as the less conspicuous sandbenders who draped themselves in cloth. Manju assumed this was just like the other towns she had been in before. She was Fire Nation, so that means she is automatically a cruel and insane person who would roast you with her fingertips at any given moment. But their fears are well-founded. However, Manju couldn't care less about the war that her home nation started.
Her mind was pulled back into the conversation when she turned back at the rest of her crew momentarily and the resistance leader said "And you?" Manju blinked and held her palm to her chest as she heard Nasrin mutter something vague, probably about Manju being ambassador. "Me?" cracked her voice before she assumed a more regal pose to keep up the charade.
With her legs together and one hand behind her back, her nose higher in the air and her left hand still on her chest, she replied, "I'm ambassador Manju of de Igni people." She lowered the hand from her chest and placed it with her other hand behind her back. "I come representin' m' people in peace."
She raised her right hand and gestured toward Nasrin and her comrade. "Dose two are m' lackeys." Her hand then flailed toward Muqali. "And he's just some oder strange guy we found." In a moment that seemed random and out of character, Manju stepped toward the resistance leader and bowed to him. "It is nice t' make ya acquaintance."
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Post by mulaqi on May 22, 2007 17:54:24 GMT -5
Muqali’s good feelings were quickly expedited when the male Sand Nomad mentioned the caravan being rounded up and imprisoned. He was, after all, the one to blame for the whole mess. It was pathetic, really. All he’d been asked to do was deliver some letters, and somehow he’d managed to get an entire caravan arrested doing it. Feeling somewhat ashamed, Muqali’s smile faded and his gaze shifted down at the floor. In the end, even his attempt to try and help the people he had wronged ended up putting him in trouble, and it was some of those people who had dragged him into it.
Absorbed in his self-loathing, Muqali tuned out to the happenings around him until the unmistakable voice of the strange woman with the piercings on her face managed to break through his thoughts. Igni. That was the word he had been looking for earlier. Not that he knew what it meant, but apparently this Manju girl had been the one the guards had been referring to. Raising his head and turning his attention towards the girl, he noticed she was now gesturing at him.
"And he's just some oder strange guy we found," she said, to Muqali’s chagrin, and bowed to the leader of the Earth Kingdom soldiers. “It is nice t' make ya acquaintance."
The Earth Kingdom soldier did not return the bow instead raising an eyebrow, “The Igni Islands are Fire Nation Territory, and since the Fire Nation now controls this city, I can only assume that you were coming as an ambassador to them. Cho, Hwang, restrain the Fire Nation girl.”
With that, two of the soldiers standing behind the leader took a step forward, clearly looking to follow through on their leader’s orders. Before they could move any further, however, Muqali quickly stepped forward, hands raised as though signaling them to stop.
“Hey, hey, hold on there! I don’t know about where she’s from, but if she was with the Fire Nation, I don’t think she would have helped me out earlier,” he said quickly. “Besides, she punched one of those Fire Nation guys in the face…like, hard.”
The soldiers hesitated, giving their leader questioning looks. The Leader, in turn, seemed to be focusing on Muqali, as though trying to determine the worth of his words. After a moment, he waved the soldiers off, and they took a step back. Crisis averted, Muqali let out a small sigh of relief. He had put these people through enough trouble already. The last thing they needed was more enemies.
“A good point, I suppose,” the rebel leader muttered.
“Right, so that means you can get these people their stuff and their friends and we can all come out of this okay, right?” Muqali said, a small nervous laugh escaping his lips, since even he knew that he was really stretching with that comment.
“Of course not. You four were the only ones that managed to get away long enough for us to help out, and we don’t have the time or effort to waste on your goods.” the leader snorted. “We’ll help you out of the city if you want, since you’ve already helped us and our comrades, but if you three want our help, you’re going to have to do something for us.”
Muqali winced and took a few steps backward to position himself a few steps to the right of the three he had arrived with. His eyes flicked between the stern looking leader of the Resistance and the three people whom he had just met. It seemed that they would still be going through some hard times after all. There was no way to really counteract the rebel leader’s logic. Still, he probably wouldn’t put them in danger right? I mean, they’d probably just have them do some manual labor or help with supplies. Yeah, that had to be it, no one would put strangers in need in harms way just to get what they wanted, especially Earth Kingdom soldiers. No way, Yunchang and his bunch were the good guys. Still, that rebel leader was looking awfully coldly at the male Sand Nomad…
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Post by jeonji on May 22, 2007 20:08:37 GMT -5
The air was thick and rank with the smells of sweat, feces and rotting food. The metal walls were dirty with grime and blood and all sorts of putrid and decaying matter. The light that filtered into the cells from the hallway crystals was minimal at best and faded at the worst of times. The holding rooms were small with only a small chamber pot, an iron bed with a small straw mattress and not even a blanket to ward off the chill of the underground prison.
It was, without a doubt, the most disgusting and inhospitable place that Jeonji Hwang Shi had ever been in. His once-fine clothes had been dirtied nearly beyond recognition - the komon on the sleeves and vest frayed to the point were they were unrecognizable from the degraded silk. The entire outfit was covered in a layer of dirt and it was utterly filthy.
Jeonji himself was in little better shape, his face red raw from his attempts to wipe away any dirt it might have accumulated during his stay in the Omashu prison. He was sitting on the cot, arms folding into the sleeves of his shirt, his hair all around his face and falling down onto his chest and back. The headpiece he usually wore having been taken away along with his short dagger and his purse.
He had been thrown in jail almost two and a half weeks before for being suspected for treason against the conquering Fire Nation army. Well of course he was against the coup d'etat! They stole his lands, took his holdings and froze his accounts - all his money was officially worthless, except the the Fire Nation bastards that would use the wealth from his lands and mines to enhance their armies and men.
It was all just political mind games really. He was a known and well respected socialite. Imprison someone high up - but not so high so that the others would rally behind them - someone with standing - not enough to garner royal status, but someone from a powerful family - and you had the perfect formula for a political prisoner. It was just tactics really, Jeonji thought, gray eyes closed, just a maneuver, to show the nobility that they're no longer in charge.
Jeonji raised an eyebrow, someone in an opposite cell beginning again to rage and scream at the metal cells that imprisoned him. Maybe it was one of those odd sand men. He had seen a few through the bars when he had gotten up to take the food - if it could be even called food, so much as life sustaining scrapings of a cattlepigs trough.
Degrading, yes, immensely. But he needed to stay alive to make sure that he would be able to hurt the Army. If only he could get free! That was the only large problem. That and his family - the entire Hwang Shi would be in trouble if he was found missing.
He had made a decision though, during his confinement in the desperately unhygienic cell, Jeonji had decided that if the Fire Nation wanted to play hardball, then fine. They would soon find that the young head of the Hwang Shi would not be one to cross twice. The man settled back into his meditative state, thinking.
He would join the rebellion - and help the commoners deliver a blow to the Fire Nation they wouldn't soon forget.
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Post by nasrin on May 23, 2007 16:34:03 GMT -5
“We’ll help you out of the city if you want, since you’ve already helped us and our comrades, but if you three want our help, you’re going to have to do something for us.” The rebel leader made certain from his distrusting expression that he had no great love for the sandbenders of the various Si Wong tribes. Nasrin turned her attention to the hefty man, though she didn't seem very offended, and then glanced toward her fellow desert-dweller. The middle-aged sanbender seemed none too pleased by the Resistance leader's tone, though he kept from speaking in anger, Instead, he turned his head slightly and met Nasrin's gaze. With a slight gesture of the hand and a barely audible noise, he seemed to propose something, to which Nasrin simply replied with ambiguous shrug.
"Why should we even need your help?" the male sandbender asked, turning squarely toward the large man with the dome-like hat. "We're earthbenders ourselves. Even without a map of this place we could just pick a direction and tunnel til we reach the wall."
The rebel narrowed his eyes at the sandbender, and Nasrin could tell he didn't like the fact that desert dweller did have a point. If they really wanted to, there was nothing stopping the two sandbenders from escaping. Though it seemed like he was reluctant to simply let them on their way. Nasrin hummed silently in thought. [ii]He wants something from us...[/i]
"You would leave without the men you arrived with?" the soldier asked after a few seconds of thought, "Dooming them to life as Fire Nation prisoners or even Death?"
"Acceptale losses," countered the male sandbender with a helpless shrug. "I told them not to go into the city."
Once more the rebel leader glared dangerously at the heavily wrapped dessert dweller. "Such disregard for your fellow countryman," he growled in a low voice, "No wonder we are losing this war..." The soldier let his anger play out for a moment before regaining his composure and deciding to approach the situation from a different angle. "Very well... Then what if I proposed the safe release of your fellow desert travellers along with equal or greater wealth than they possessed upon arrival?"
The male sandbender hummed in thought, lifting a bandaged hand to scratch at the stubble on his chin. Nasrin, however, had grown tired of all this banter and decided to expedite the situation. "And what do you want us to do?" she asked, skipping right through to the negotiation.
"All you will need to do is secure an additional prisoner that is of value to our cause." The rebel leader responded with similar brevity. Like Nasrin, he had apparently grown tired with chit-chat and was speaking in concise, purposeful statement.
"And all members of our party will be given safe passage away from the city," she stated as much as asked. The leader's nod confirmed this and she inquired further, "The mammoth-camels too?"
"Acceptable losses," the man replied, using her comrade's own words.
Nasrin had already expected as much, and finally asked, "What's the plan?"
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Post by manju on May 23, 2007 20:44:30 GMT -5
Manju's eyes raised upward to the resistance leader as he began to explain his plan. She felt it fitting to pay close attention, as her assistance and unique skills would likely be needed to succeed.
The man with a bushy black beard ended his short silence. "We members of the resistance will take a secret underground passageway to launch a surprise attack on a Fire Nation-guarded armory." He said as he looked toward past the non-rebel quartet and across the crowd of resistance members behind them. He would probably enlist the men to do fulfill such duties momentarily.
He looked back at the sand-dwellers and Igni, Manju's eyebrows raising ironically as he looked each of them in the face. "When we break in unexpectedly to create this diversion, you four will be assisted by a couple of our soldiers who will guide you to the city's dungeons."
"There, you will break out the merchants, as well as the additional prisoner I mentioned before..." The heavyset man moved his hands behind his back to shift to a more authoritative stance.
"Any questions?" asked the man. Manju smirked. Her inclination at that point was to say something irrelevant and ironic, but instead, she raised her hand and quickly inserted a more sensible question; "What do I do?"
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Post by mulaqi on May 24, 2007 18:10:25 GMT -5
Listening to the plan, Muqali was somewhat surprised that he was included in it, but at the same time relieved. He owed these people, anyway. Now he could repay them right away, hopefully cleaning up the mess he’d made in the process. The actual plan seemed straightforward enough, and with the distraction that the Resistance would be provided, hopefully not all that dangerous. He was not looking forward to facing a firebender again.
“What do I do?” Manju piped in once the plan had been explained, prompting a slight twitch in the leader’s eyebrow.
“Exactly what I just said, Igni. It’s not that complicated,” he grinded out. “We leave at nightfall, so you have until then to rest. You can walk around a little, but stay in this general vicinity, or you’ll end up lost down here.”
With that, the bearded soldier turned and left, along with most of the soldiers, leaving only a few earthbenders to guard the “entrance” that Muqali and the others had been taken through earlier. As he left, Muqali glanced at the others and let out a small sigh. While he didn’t want to seem depressed or weighed down by the trouble he’d caused, he also felt the need to apologize and admit his guilt. While great men weren’t burdened by their mistakes, they also admitted when they made them, or so Muqali had come to believe. Since he wanted to be a great man, it was only natural that he’d follow that pattern himself.
Walking up to the other three, he threw on his trademark grin and addressed them, “Hey, sorry about all this. I really didn’t expect things to go that far. I can’t buy you guys anymore drinks, but I’ll make sure that your buddies get out of jail alright, okay?”
He rubbed the back of his head and grinned a little wider to add to the illusion. He was well practiced at this by now, and few people could ever really tell when he was feeling particularly down about a failure. It was strange really, the idea of being ashamed about being ashamed, but it made sense to Muqali somehow. With any luck, though, he wouldn’t need to feel too ashamed about this one after tonight…
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Post by nasrin on May 26, 2007 0:21:04 GMT -5
“Hey, sorry about all this. I really didn’t expect things to go that far. I can’t buy you guys anymore drinks, but I’ll make sure that your buddies get out of jail alright, okay?” The other Si Wong native said to them. Nasrin barely afforded him her full attention, and her fellow bender merely regarded him with a stern gaze. Neither was pleased with the events that Muqali had brought upon them, but both were aware that nothing could be changed.
After letting an uncomfortable silence hang between them for a few moments, the male sandbender let out a sigh and said, "I told them not to come into the city." Nasrin resolved to leave this discussion entirely to her partner and turned away to watch the movements of the Resistance soldiers. As she observed them marching away, she brought a hand to her chin and pushed her jaw up and sideways, cracking several stiff jints in her neck.
"Whether it was you or something else, I was already expecting some kind of trouble from the Fire Nation," the elder sandbender went on to Muqali. "By no means am I ready to start givin' out hugs, but I'll take what help you'll give."
Meanwhile, the two men left behind in order to escort the foursome to the dungeons approached Nasrin seeing as she was the closest. "The attack will begin in a short while," one said, "But we should probably get into position now. Are you and your friends ready?"
Nasrin cast a slight glance over her shoulder and brushed aside the few strand of hair obscuring that eye before muttering a vague, "I guess..." At that point she reached for the jug at her hip, uncorked it, and put it to her lips in order to take a swig of the liqour inside. She'd taken the chance to refill it during their stay at the bar. The other soldier assigned to guy them sniffed the air lightly as she recorked the porcelain jug and let it drop to her side.
"Good spirits," he remarked, flaring his nostrils. "What proof is that? Are you sure you should be drinking before a mission like this?"
Nasrin's only reply was a sligt nod to the side and a twitch of her lip. "Keeps me calm," she replied, "I'm normally quite the chatterbox." And with that she started slowly past the two men down what she assumed was the right path. Behind her, the soldiers gathered the attention of the others and began leading them toward the dungeons.
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