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Post by ashuku on Mar 29, 2006 18:22:33 GMT -5
The light of a roaring flame beat against the tent, growing and decreasing periodically. In behind them, a man sat, his eyes closed tight and his breath easy, and calm. He controlled these flames, rising and falling them in a simple pattern, to ease his mind. Rise... fall... rise... fall...
"Admiral Ashuku?" a solider asked, as he curiously opened the tent flap, gazing inside.
"Yes?" the Admiral blankly responded, not turning around.
"The troops and I were wondering... this assignment... are you going to be doing it alone?" he asked, entering the tent.
"Of course, people will suspect something if we all enter the city you fool," Ashuku told him, tauntingly, though the solider couldn't see it, Ashuku grinned.
"So, we'll be camped here then? For...how long?"
"A week at most... now leave."
The solider left immediatly, and Ashuku rose from his meditation position slowly. Ozai, you really now how to pick them
With a lick of his finger, he doused the small flames, casting the tent into near complete darkness. Music from some stringed instrument entered his ears and the laughter and singing of his troops floated through the air. He couldn't stand it.
Fleetly he pushed the flaps of his tent open, and exited his tent in frustration and annoyance. The music stoped only for a moment, but continued when he was a short distance away.
The wind brushed past his face, and he frowned at the risen moon. He was getting too old for this...
No your not, whats getting old is the campaigns. Their all the same, nothing drastic goes wrong, no one interupts my plans. Even when they do, I resolve.
For the rest of the night, he kneeled there in the moonlight, pondering about his investigation, and later assault, of Bai Seng Sei....
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Post by akemi5 on Mar 29, 2006 20:18:25 GMT -5
Wandering aimlessly, Akemi got lost: again. She was ending up running into random directions, trying to find a way into some sort of clearing. Why didn't I bring a map? She thought. Duh, because Akio has it... She was going to stop and smack herself in the face, but a tree did that for her. Her face slammed into the trunk, making her yell, "OUCH!"
She staggered backwards, rubbing her nose and going cross-eyed to see if she got a huge lump or not. She looked at her hand, seeing that her nose was bleeding. Damn tree... she thought angrily. She wiped her nose with her sleeve, not caring if the blood stains or not. Then, she started to hear music, and laughter. As if in a trance, she walked silently to where it came from.
Wrong turn. Fire Nation camp. Akemi quickly fleed to a nearby boulder, hiding behind it. It's official. She thought. I hate getting lost...
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Post by ashuku on Mar 29, 2006 20:38:31 GMT -5
While he meditated among the trees, Ashuku's ears picked up on something.
"OUCH!" a voice, female from what he heard, had shrilled out.
He rose from his kneeling position hastily. There are no women under my command... who was that?
His eyes scanned the forest, the light from the moon casting shadows from the trees, and the fire from the camp illuminated the area around that clearing. All he could see was his troops, merrily dancing and laughing to their to own tunes. But wait! What moved?
Something had moved, he knew it well. 'Somewhere around that boulder' he reckoned mentally. So, slowly, he began to make his way to the boulder...
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Post by akemi5 on Mar 29, 2006 20:49:45 GMT -5
Hearing footsteps approuching her hiding place, she crouched down, holding her sleeve to her nose to keep it from bleeding any further. That's it. I'm doomed. she said, knowing that it was probably a fire nation soldier who heard her yell, "OUCH!" or saw her move to the boulder. She closed her eyes, and leaned against the boulder. She wanted to run away, but she knew it would only make things worse. Then, she worried about her mother, dying, while Akemi kept on getting lost and found by strangers.
Why is this happening to me? She thought. She wanted to cry, thinking that losing the lives of her mother, Akio, and herself, were her fault. She hid her face with her mother arm, trying to think positive. I'll get out of here somehow. she thought. I can escape any possible way I can.
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Post by ashuku on Mar 29, 2006 21:39:00 GMT -5
There she is he thought as the dimly lit boulder came closer as he approached slowly.
He carefully rounded the boulder, and there was the little screamer.
A young girl, early teenage years he reckoned stood there, the shadows from the boulder keeping her hiden from his soldiers. Her face was obviously held in fear, and her eyes looked as if, any moment a stream of tears would come flooding down from her fear. He could only imagine the thoughts running through her head, possible plans of escape, possibly even a head on attack. I like this fear...
He noticed the light blood on her sleeve and that her nose looked slightly injured. "Your hurt are you?"
"Young lady, don't be so afraid. I'm not going to hurt you. You look.....lost prehaps young miss? Come, I'll get you some dinner and a place to rest that head of yours, and maybe some bandages for that nose," he calmly, smoothly told her, grinning almost sweetly.
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Post by akemi5 on Mar 29, 2006 22:23:28 GMT -5
Akemi peeked one eye over her arm that was covering her face, and looked up at the man who found her. She shrank back, closing her eyes tightly. She almost whimpered. Though he did seem kind, Akemi just plainly wanted to run. She took another small glimpse at him, seeing he would probably easily overpower her. But only one thing bothered her the most about this man: He's Fire Nation.
She did expect help, though. But not from Fire Nation. In fact, ever since her father left to help in the war, she wanted nothing to do with them. She thought they were to blame for where she was now. They were the reason why her father left. They were the reason why everything's in chaos. They were the reason why her mother's dying. They were the reason why she was lost, and was separated from her escort. These thoughts, were all what driven her into hating them. She tried to hide these thoughts from the man, by hiding her face with her sleeve.
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Post by ashuku on Mar 30, 2006 19:40:18 GMT -5
He looked down at her face, covered by her sleeve. A shy one, why does it have to be a shy one? Wait, why do I even care?
A sigh escaped his lips, if she dosen't want help, fine...
"Continue to wonder around the forest forever then, miss. I bet with that nose bleeding you won't last long, and we're pretty deep into the brush. I wish you happiness and luck, but if you would like help, we're right over there."
He pointed to the camp casually, and left her with a slight bow. He turned on his heel, making the grass slightly rustle, and slowly started to make progress back to his camp. As he walked, he stroked his small beard slightly, half hoping that the girl would follow. She would definatly add variety to the conversations, and stir things up a bit... Everything is better stirred up.
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Post by akemi5 on Mar 30, 2006 20:05:37 GMT -5
Akemi peeked over her sleeve, to see the man leaving. Stand up, and follow. An instinct popped into Akemi's head. One side told her to go, while another side of her told her to stay. Why is her mind always the battlefield when it comes to decisions?
But the stranger was right: she wasn't going to last long with her nose bleeding uncontrollably. Because she was beginning to get a bit dizzy from loss of blood in her head. But, then her vision started to get a bit blurry. That.is.not.good. she thought, very worried. Not even the wind can calm her down now. Why is this always happening to me? she thought, losing consciousness. After a minute, her vision was turning more blurrier. Then, she gave in, and everything went black.
She fainted.
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Post by ashuku on Mar 30, 2006 20:18:49 GMT -5
*Thud!* The sound of a thud echoed off the trees and the vibration radiated through the ground. Admiral Ashuku stopped in his tracks and quickly turned around.
There was the girl, lying there, her body managled on the ground. Leave her, she didn't want your help anyway...
But he couldn't, he could not leave an innocent young lady lying on the ground, destined to die without help. He could never let a person die... unless he caused it of course. He sped up his pace, and ran towards his camp.
"We have a fainted young lady who needs medical attention, get off your lazy butts and bring her into the camp!"
"But we were about to roast..."
"Now!" he commanded, harshly. His men immediatly fell into line and scrambled to the medical tent. They brought out a makeshift stretcher, made from a light leather, and followed the admiral to where the girl had fallen. She was quickly placed upon it, and was taken back to the camp.
Hours passed and the Admiral slowly paced in front of the medical tent as the night turned into morning. Why am I bothering with a girl? I have bigger fish to fry here!
"Sir, she's waking up. Would you like to check on her?"
"Let me in."
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Post by akemi5 on Mar 30, 2006 20:46:07 GMT -5
Whoa... what just happened there...? Akemi thought in her sleep. She remembered being lifted and carried... and now her nose felt numb. She touched the material that covered her nose: it was bandages. Had the man actually helped her? But...why? Didn't he know she was just some stubborn teenage Earth Nation girl?
Her eyes flew open and she immediatly sat up. She rubbed her head. Well, at least I'm still breathing... she thought, trying to be on the positive side. She looked around her, seeing she was inside of a tent. The thing that bothered her the most, was that she knew from the red colors around her, she was in the Fire Nation camp she saw earlier.
Akemi sighed, and heard footsteps approaching. Her heartbeat raced. I'll take one good guess at who it is...
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Post by ashuku on Mar 30, 2006 22:50:16 GMT -5
The flaps squished behind him as he entered the medical tent. In his coarse hands he held a tray, where a fancy tea pot with the fire nation symbol on it and two cups were placed alongside a woven basket filled with bread. He placed it on a small side table next to the girl's bed and pulled up a makeshift wooden stool.
He poured the tea, which was steaming hot, into the two cups and pushed one of them in the girl's general direction. The other, he had taken and took a slow sip of the tea. The liquid slid down easily through his throat, and he hummed in comfort.
"Hello again, girl. I see my docters have fixed up your nose. Quite the tiny thing isn't it?" he asked stroking his small beard calmly.
"Your probably confused young miss, I'm open to your questions if you have them..." he added, sipping his tea again.
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Post by yama on Mar 31, 2006 12:40:04 GMT -5
Sarad Yama had wondered the whole night. He didn't know why he hadn't turned around and headed back to the caravan, but he hadn't. Nakama had settled on his shoulder when he had stopped in the early morning to rest.
He woke a few hours later, propped up against a smooth large rock with Nakama perched on his shoulder, a soft cooing hum indicating her sleep. The sun was barely peeking over far away mountains and casting its orange gaze through the tall trees of the forest he faced.
"Nakama, you still sleeping, lazy?" He said giving her a soft poke in the chest with his index finger. She ruffled her feathers and hopped onto the dew damp grass in an "I would rather not be" way. He perked up his ears at the sound of clanking armor and the sound of water being poured over what was left of a fire. Taking a whiff of the air he could smell smoke and the remnants of a roast of some sort, probably boar.
Arching his back he looked over the rock without turning around. The scene was upside down, but he could still tell it was a Fire Nation encampment. With a slick flip and twist he was perched on top of the rock looking down from the hill he was on, watching the camp like a hawk. Nakama gave a squawk, but Sarad mostly ignored it giving a little "shush" to keep her from making much noise.
He didn't know why he was intrigued by this camp, but he was. Nakama gave another squawk into the quiet morning. "Nakama, stop. We don't want to be spotted." He said simply to a bird that couldn't understand him. He wasn't afraid of the Fire Nation, not only because he was a gypsy, but he was Fire Nation by birth. What he was really afraid of was another party, if he had to watch the entire Gypsy encampment perform for another troop of soldiers he thought he would cry.
Nakama gave yet another squawk and Sarad turned. "Nakama, what did I-" he stopped mid-sentence seeing the two Fire Nation soldiers standing behind him. He didn't even have a chance to say anything before the hilt of a sword hit him hard in the head knocking him unconscious immediately.
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Post by ashuku on Mar 31, 2006 17:14:47 GMT -5
"Sir, may we interupt?"
"What is it?" the Admiral snapped at one of his guards who had just entered the tent promptly.
"We caught another one, another Earth Nation teenager oddly. He was armed, but we confiscated his weapons. He also owned some sort of bird, but it flew off. Should we set him down here?" the solider told Ashuku, who was waiting for a response from the young lady he rescued.
"Yes yes. Get a mat and set him down in here, I'll make sure he dosen't run off," he told him, annoyed but serious, "And another tea cup for him."
The solider nodded and left the tent quickly to gather the things that were requested. Meanwhile, Ashuku's mind raced. Two teenagers! Earth Nation teenagers just happen to wander into my camp! This is absurd, I cannot deal with this for too much longer. I have a campaign to begin!
He tried to smile at the young girl, "Quite the morning."
The soldier returned with a leather mat, and another tea cup. He placed the mat on the floor, gently got out the wrinkles and put the tea cup on the tray. Minutes later two fully armored Fire Nation soldiers carried in the teenager and dropped him on the mat.
"Stay outside the tent, just in case. And no more interuptions unless I ask for them!" the Admiral commanded, and the soldiers nodded quickly and left.
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Post by akemi5 on Mar 31, 2006 21:43:01 GMT -5
Akemi blinked, but stayed silent. She looked at the boy who was dropped onto mat. But something bothered Akemi about the teenager: He strangely looks like a girl. He, Akemi corrected and reminded herself.
When he heard the man say, "weapon," she remembered her yato. Did the stranger who rescued her notice she had it at all? It was still tied to her side, resting in its habaki. She looked the stranger in the eyes, seeing there was impatience. But, why? she thought. "Destroying more towns," was what rang in Akemi's head. Were a couple of Earth Nation teenagers keeping him from whatever he was supposed to do? Well, the boy that was on the mat didn't look Earth Nation to her at all. Akemi turned her head down to her lap, thinking on what to do. Attack? Run? Or just sit there like a duck? Akemi tried her best, to hide any thoughts that might be read, just by looking her in the eye.
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Post by ashuku on Mar 31, 2006 22:04:40 GMT -5
"Your not going to speak, are you miss?" the Admiral asked her, taking another sip of his tea. He blew the steam out his nose and sighed.
This really is not my morning... He looked her over again, her eyes were vague, he could gather no intentions... no thoughts... just the matter of thought. The teeth in his mouth snapped together in frustration, if she's not going to talk willingly he'll have to resort to interregation. How he loved interregation...
"I am no mere soldier, I'm no guard. I CANNOT sit here all day and watch you sit there. I have very important things to complete, so lets get this over with," Ashuku began, watching the girl's every move, "Tell me your motive for being near my camp at such an hour."
"Oh, and feel free to eat and drink, you must be starving..." he added, nodding at the tea cup filled to the brim with tea, and the basket of warm bread. As he waited for a response, any response, he thought This will either be the most difficult or the most simple interregation in my career
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