A Rocky Road Again <Earth Kingdom>

[jouroo]

Thayari was still rubbing sleep out of her eyes as she tested the straps that bound her pack to Cusi the llama-horse's back. The creature himself was standing compliantly, chewing his cud and not really paying attention to anything. The sun was just beginning to show its weak morning rays on the temple ruins as Thayari set her back to it and faced the west.

Yawning miserably she surveyed the land ahead of her, calculating the trail that she and her new acquaintance Nakamura would have to travel to reach the western mountains. Peering back toward the temple she wondered what the young water bender was up to. He was younger than her, and somewhat less accepting toward the greater flow of things, not that that was a bad thing. She mused for a moment, contemplating her own laid-back demeanor and how often she simply watched time pass, accepting whatever happened to or around her, never really challenging or changing anything. She had to give him credit though, challenging the ideals of an entire culture in the face of banishment. For a short moment, she pitied him, having no place to call home, but she banished that thought, finding it offensive toward her newfound friend that she would feel such a thing.

As she gathered up her shoulder bag and threw her hooded poncho over it, Thayari again scanned the area for Nakamura. She wasn't certain if he was awake, but she didn't want to walk into the temple as he was changing or relieving himself or something embarrassing like that. For a brief moment she chuckled at the thought of walking in on him crying again, knowing full well that it was not within his character to cry, and she was simply poking fun at the boy. Still, it would be easier for them to get going before it got too warm, and she wished he would show himself before she had to go looking for him...

[gandalan]

The morning wasn't nearly so chilly as it had been the previous day, which was rather strange. Or so thought Nakamura. But then again, the weather in the mountains changed quickly. Perhaps this was normal. He was still tired, but had woken up refreshed. He'd not been in the cold for so long, and the feeling of it again... it was good.

He closed his eyes and shook his head back and forth, trying to get himself to wake up a bit more. Thayari had left a while ago, getting stuff ready. Or so he reasoned. She wasn't here, after all, so where else could she be? He sighed, and got up. He didn't have his parka on. He didn't need it.

He stretched, yawning. He looked forward to the day, since he'd finally be getting to a destination. He picked up his parka, and walked outside the temple. And there was Thayari, looking around. Probably for him. He smiled and waved. "Morning!" he exclaimed cheerfully. He adjusted his waterskin around his shoulder, and kept his parka under his left arm as he walked towards her. "Are you about ready to leave?" he asked.

[jouroo]

Thayari let out a relieved smile as Nakamura emerged from the temple. Well, at least she wouldn't have to go look for him. But more than that, it meant that she hadn't made a mistake in inviting him to come with her. She knew now that she wouldn't have to babysit the young waterbender on their journey, though it seemed a bit much for such a feeble symbol.

She returned his smile and patted the ready pack on Cusi's back, "All set, you got everyting?" She thought about offering Cusi to carry some of his things, but she didn't want to overburden the llama-horse and reasoned that if he'd made it this far carrying his pack, the next leg of the journey wouldn't make much of a difference. She turned again to the west and a little bit south, "We need to head west for a way, perhaps a day or two, then turn south once we hit the big river." She frowned for a moment, brows furrowed in concentration.The crossing the river would pose a bit of a difficulty. It was very wide and, as far as Thayari knew, fast moving, which made it hard to use waterbending to forge a way across.

But, they would deal with that when they got to it, for the moment, she wanted to enjoy her trip with a companion that could actually talk back. "Well, guess we should head out then." She gave Nakamura a confident look, and, holding loosely to Cusi's lead, began to walk.

"So. Have you ever sheared a sheep-bull?"

[gandalan]

"I've actually never heard of a sheep bull..." he answered sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. He tried to decide what this 'sheep bull' would look like. For some reason, he got the picture of a mountain goat with gigantic curly horns, but then imagined it much bigger than normal, and with a bad mood.

Ohh. Scary.

"Up north, we don't have a lot of animals. They only things we had for animals were sea creatures, and mostly, we ate them. I don't suppose you have any shrimp up there in the mountains...?" He asked it in a sort of false hope. He really loved sea food, and he didn't want to be away from it. But at the same time, he wanted to explore the mountains. Maybe they had some fish in the streams.

As they walked, he patted Cusi on his side. Sorry about yesterday... he thought. As if Cusi could understand him. It was getting a bit colder up here, which was nice. He didn't especially savor taking a two day journey to get somewhere, but it couldn't be that bad. Besides, it would be fun! He had Thayari to talk to, which was nice.

"Hey Thayari! What do you guys do up there in the mountains? Are you sure they'll let me stay?"

[gandalan]

{{Nakamura has left the thread... regretfully. Please come back Thayari! }}