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Post by ses on Feb 11, 2006 12:09:27 GMT -5
It had been two years since he had left his home-land of Lun Yang and went off on a small journey around the Nations, visiting just about every place you can think of. Returning the home was the ultimate journey, however.. seeing the faces of his family again.. Lun Yang was a beautiful land with it's golden roof-tops that look like they were lit on fire during Sun-Rise and Sun-Set. It was truly amazing.. Brown-golden feathers glimmered in the vibrant light that peeked through the thick canopy's of the Fire Nation forests as the bird stormed along the grassy pathway with a casual stroll. Upon the back of the bird was the young man who's head hung low in the sign that he head been sleeping. His helmet shaded his face from the sun that glowed brightly as it retreated to behind the hills. The emu chirped quietly as it stopped and knelled to the ground, carefully letting the man slid off her back. The soft breathing of the man was the only thing that was heard through the silent forest. The emu chirped once more as she bent down and nudged the snoozing soldier with it's beak. After a few nudges, the man came back to being awake, a smile crept on his lips. "Alright, alright.. I'm up, Shinju.." He mustered in a whisper, as he pet his faithful emu on the beak as he pulled the helmet from his head and ran his other hand through his dark brown hair.
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Post by yuriko on Feb 11, 2006 14:01:19 GMT -5
Yuriko walked from the courthouse, annoyed. The recent case had been abnormally boring despite it being a murder case. She put her hands in the long sleeves of her kimono and continued walking. Her high heeled sandals clicked as she walked the paved streets. "I hope that Father hasn't gotten home yet." she muttered, grimancing. She turned into the forest, taking a short cut to the restaurant she always went to at this time of the day.
As Yuriko walked she became totally oblivious to the world around her. Suddenly she heard what sounded like a bird. She looked around herself, her long black hair flying out of its bun. "Who's there?" she said in a scared voice. Her heart beated rapidly in her chest as she stood there. She subconsciously grabbed her tanto in her sleeve, hoping it was just another bird. She didn't need this today.
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Post by ses on Feb 11, 2006 14:11:53 GMT -5
Nagamasa stood up from the ground, and let out a long yawn as the emu let out another chirp in happiness. He wasn't even close to Lun Yang yet and he snoozed off several times, maybe a small spot at a local village could do him some good. Nagamasa's train of thought had been broken when he over-heard the sound of a voice. A young girl's. "There's no reason to be afraid, just a friendly traveler passing by." He said, smiling as he spot the young girl wandering the forest. He couldn't help to notice that she was reaching for something in her sleeve. Hopefully, this young girl didn't get the wrong expression from him since he catched a sword, and wore Fire Nation armor. He got it all the time, every Fire Nation citizen did. The truth was, the Fire Nation isn't all evil.
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Post by yuriko on Feb 11, 2006 14:32:15 GMT -5
Yuriko sighed in relief but didn't move her hand from her sleeve. She stared at the man in front of her trying to figure out if she had seen him before. He seemed to be in soldier's attire so she decided he couldn't be that bad though he seemed very unfamilar. She deemed him worthy to actually say something to and replied "Oh. That's good. You can never be too careful.". She looked him over, wondering why she hadn't seen him before since she had been around the city so often. She looked over his shoulder to see what was the source of the bird like noise. She gasped when it was a large bird.
"What is that?" Yuriko asked, nervously. She had never really seen an animal like that before and hated knowing that she didn't understand or know what something was.
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Post by ses on Feb 11, 2006 15:04:38 GMT -5
Nagamasa chuckled as he leaned against the saddle of the tree that he sat under previously. "Sorry if I frighten you.." He said unapologetically as he bowed to the girl and straightened up. The smile that didn't come off his face, grew wider as the girl questioned on what his faithful companion. "This is Shinju, my faithful emu. A nice Earth-Kingdom Emu Farmer happen to give me her a few months back." He said, as Shinju let out a chirp and waddled over to Yuriko, being the friendly bird she was. The large emu leaned her head to the side, as she studied the girl for a few moments. Nagamasa's emu was just like a mere child, who was always curious and getting in so much trouble; oh well, it does hurt to have a trouble-some emu, right?
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Post by yuriko on Feb 11, 2006 15:12:45 GMT -5
"It's fine. I have to spend loads of time around men I don't like and can't complain. Nothing really frightens me about people anymore." Yuriko said, shrugging trying to seem wise and brave for her relatively young age of 21. She curtsied as she was always taught to and walked closer to the emu. "Shinju, huh? Hi Shinju, I am Yuriko." she said, smiling at the animal and patting its beak. She had always favored animals over people because they didn't talk or annoy her as much as most people she knew did. "I never knew the Earth Kingdom had emu farms or any farms for any animal for that matter." Yuriko said, wincing inwardly about how naive she sounded. She had lived a very sheltered life for 21 years and was now just learning all about all the wonders of the outside world but she hated having to seem so young and naive. It wasn't in her nature at all.
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Post by ses on Feb 11, 2006 15:30:45 GMT -5
Nagamasa grinned, as he scratched the back of his head. Was he not likeable..? Why did he have the feeling that all women seemed to dislike him. Oh well, he was going to chose to ignore that. "Yeah..while, I never knew any thing about any other nation, expect the Fire Nation, until now." He said, as he picked his helmet and held it under his arm and placed it on the back of the emu where the rest of his gear was. "What are you heading?" He asked, as he just realized that he hadn't introduced himself. What was wrong with him today? He was completely off with this whole day and it was time that he got back on track. "How rude am I, I'm Nagamasa.. Nagamasa Asai. You are?" He added on.
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Post by yuriko on Feb 11, 2006 16:10:13 GMT -5
Yuriko turned away from the emu and introduced herself. " Oh it's fine. I didn't make an effort to introduce myself either.I am Yuriko Wakahisa. Nice to meet you, Nagamasa." she said politely, curtsying again. She smiled weakly and removed her hands from her sleeves, feeling no need to protect herself for now. "I am going the tea house for a ceremony. Yourself?" she asked, turning to face him. He seemed to be a little older than her and have traveled a lot. She wanted to take as much time as she could so she could miss the boring part of the ceremony. Yuriko pressed her lips together, waiting for his answer. He seemed like an okay person for now.
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Post by ses on Feb 11, 2006 16:30:30 GMT -5
Nagamasa rubbed his chin with his thickly-padded gloved hand as he fell silent for a moment. A Tea Ceremony.. he hadn't been to one for years. Wow, time sure does fly. "Oh, me? I was just on my way to return to Lun Yang.." He said, finally breaking the odd silence that he started as his stomach grew loudly. He had half of the mind to ask her if he could go a long with her, but he wasn't going to do such a thing. 'Nagamasa, you better not ask her..' [/b]He debated with himself as he shook his head. "Umm, may I join you?" He asked. Darn it! He did it anyway! He never could fight his weakness for women, oh well; what can I say? He's a ladies-man at heart and always will be.[/size]
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Post by yuriko on Feb 11, 2006 17:02:17 GMT -5
Yuriko looked at him strangely. Most men who had lived in the Fire Nation for the past couple months or so knew who she was and she was quite proud of that fact. "I guess so." she said awkwardly. She looked up at him with cold amber eyes as if waiting for him to take the offer back or something. Despite herself, she hoped he didn't. She liked company that wasn't paying her to spend time with them. Yuriko smiled a true smile and began walking down the path. I am going to get into so much trouble for this. It better be worth it. she thought as the image of her boss came to mind. "So how long have you been gone?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at Nagamasa.
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Post by ses on Mar 22, 2006 10:46:54 GMT -5
"Two years. I was in the army for quite some time, but I've retired from the war and traveled for awhile." Nagamasa said, as he gripped his emu's reigns and walked along after Yuriko. The emu chirped, nibbling at the cloth sleeves of Nagamasa's attire before tilting it's head to the side. Nagamasa smiled slightly, up at the emu as he reached up and gave it an pat on it's head. This young emu was too curious for her own good.. when again, ALL children were if they were animals or humans. It reminded it up his nieces and nephews back home who were probably going to completely tackle him once he returned to home.. it defiantly going to be awhile.
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Post by yuriko on Mar 22, 2006 21:02:19 GMT -5
"Really? That must have been interesting. I have been stuck here all my life. My father says I should be thankful I am even allowed to go outside during such a war let alone actually out of the country." Yuriko said, muttering the last sentence to her self, wrinkling her witch like nose up in disgust as she said it. He is so overprotective, treating me like I can't take care of myself. I am the one paying for him to live in that damn house that my mother always wanted. she thought, crossing her arms across her chest and continuing to walk on the path of the forest that led back to Lun Yang, regretting every step she took for it took her closer and closer to the dreaded tea house.
Yuriko looked over at Shinju, giggling quietly as she nibbled on Nagamasa's sleeve. "How long have you had Shinju around? You two seem close." she asked, petting the emu's head.
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Post by ses on Mar 23, 2006 22:55:05 GMT -5
Nagamasa smiled as he watched Yuriko pet Shinju for a moment before glancing up at the emu. "Hm, I have had Shinju merely for five weeks so far, it's amazing how fast a young emu gets attached to someone.. it's quite funny. First, they don't want to have anything to do with you and then, they never want to leave your side." He said, as he fixed his sleeve that had been pulled out of place and up to his fore-arm almost. Shinju seemed to want to nibble on everything she found.. his clothing, his helmet, other people's clothing, rocks or sticks.. even food in a Marketplace which he was forced to pay for since Shinju enjoyed snatching up food when no one was looking.
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Post by yuriko on Mar 23, 2006 23:23:54 GMT -5
"Sort of like young children." Yuriko remarked smiling at the emu's antics. She patted Shinju, hoping the emu didn't start biting on the sleeve of her elegant kimono before they got to the tea house. The mistress would certainly not be happy if that happened and Yuriko could only dread the result. Even if she was considered an adult she still was scolded like bad children were often for small things that Yuriko tended to not even care about but the mistress held in the utmost importance.
"She must be good company." Yuriko said, putting her hands back in the sleeves of her kimono and humming a song to herself. She wondered how the mistress would react when she saw Shinju. The result was a mental image of an elderly woman screaming at the top of her lungs which made Yuriko giggle. She had never been fond of the mistress much but the mistress's tea house was one of the best in town so she had to put up with her anyways.
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Post by ses on Mar 24, 2006 9:42:14 GMT -5
"Shinju reminds me of my sisters' children back at home. Everytime I come to visit, I have six children crowded around me and refusing to let go." Nagamasa said, as he laughed at that thought. He knew when he got home, they certainly weren't going to just cling to his clothes, they most likely were going to tackle him to the ground before he even entered the door!
"Defiantly, it's always nice to have a good companion with you." He said as he glanced back over at Yuriko for a moment. Indeed, this girl changed after he began talking to her just moments ago. Before... it looked like she was about to attack him before then again, he was also usually about to attack someone when they gave off the vibe that they were up to no good.
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