Post by aratak on Sept 22, 2009 14:57:07 GMT -5
It took about a day for Appa to bring them to a remote village which seemed focused around a centralized frozen oasis. Now from what Aang had described in the past, this was supposed to be some great massive mysterious landmark...but...well, after landing lets just say that Toph was probably the only one who could still have any enthusiasm, because she couldn't see how over hyped this was.
Katara gave Aang a look of "Why did we come here?", before shaking her head and leaping into the sand below. This place was hardly thrilling... it was dry, and really dusty. There was, however, a strange Dai Li agent, talking to another earthbender. The man looked a lot like the Si Wong tribesmen, but was clearly from the capital. They were discussing the difference between sand-bending and solid earth-bending. The Dai Li agent opened his mouth to speak. "Although Painting is my favorite medium; I'm also a rather talented sculptor..." he muttered, before taking a praying mantis earth-bending stance and steering his element with his hands. In essence, he controlled the dust almost like an airbender. truly graceful. The sand flew , particles spiraling into a tornado in the wind. It formed together into what looked like a human...A Dai Li agent. The agent took one glance over at Yancha, before concentrating on what he was doing. As he moved each individual finger, parts of the sand were thrown aside. Then, he clenched both fists together, and his project hardened into an eight-foot-tall replica of Yancha; Earth kingdom military uniform and all.
"Wow! That's amazing!" Katara told him. "Aang, get over here! Sokka, you too! Even you Toph, this is exciting!"
Katara watched closely, and was struck with a poorly controlled chunk of dirt as the other man attempted the same thing. The man was having trouble feeling the individual particles, and lost control. Katara sighed, and brushed the sand off her. "Listen to what your teacher is saying...please..." Se told him. "Otherwise, you might need a lesson from Toph..."
"If you get upset and lose focus; you will never learn to control it properly, Yancha. You're getting so angry and frustrated...Look at what you've done...You lost control and hit another person. Is your anger because you see what I've been able to do? Listen man; I grew up here ...I'm a sand-bending master. Sand-bending was my life when I lived here... you can't expect to surpass a Si Wong Nomad on your first try... That would be like expecting someone who's never had a formal lesson in Karate taking down a black belt with his own moves. So please try again without all the negativity...Sand is gentle earth...treat it well." he said. The agent wasn't impatient. He spoke very calmly and objectively. "Close your eyes...focus...think about each individual grain. Imagine them all flowing together into one shape..." he said. "Do it."
"I-I can't..." he said, throwing the dirt to the ground, and walking away. "Eh...he just needs time to think about it..." the Dai Li agent told them. "So what's this? An Air Nomad and two watertribers, here in the desert?"
"Wait!" Katara yelled. "Quitting is an insult to everyone who works hard to succeed... If I quit...well...Avatar Aang would have had to find a new waterbending teacher a long time ago. Get back here..."
The large man turned around, confused. This girl was about a foot and a half shorter than him, and she was lecturing him? She had a point though.
"As Toph would say, suck it up and show some back bone, would ya? Look at this man! He's probably the best sandbender for miles... You're going to spit on him by quitting? Sit back down and do the forms!"
"Y-yes Ma'am..." he said. The guy Katara was lecturing didn't look like a Si Wong tribesman, but the teacher did. The thing was...he was dressed in a nice suit, as though he were a noblemen of a large earth kingdom city.
"Sir...if you don't mind me asking. You're a gifted sandbender, but you don't look like you're from around here. At least not recently..."
To that, he looked up at the girl. "I'm not. I was born here, but this is not where I reside."
Katara gave Aang a look of "Why did we come here?", before shaking her head and leaping into the sand below. This place was hardly thrilling... it was dry, and really dusty. There was, however, a strange Dai Li agent, talking to another earthbender. The man looked a lot like the Si Wong tribesmen, but was clearly from the capital. They were discussing the difference between sand-bending and solid earth-bending. The Dai Li agent opened his mouth to speak. "Although Painting is my favorite medium; I'm also a rather talented sculptor..." he muttered, before taking a praying mantis earth-bending stance and steering his element with his hands. In essence, he controlled the dust almost like an airbender. truly graceful. The sand flew , particles spiraling into a tornado in the wind. It formed together into what looked like a human...A Dai Li agent. The agent took one glance over at Yancha, before concentrating on what he was doing. As he moved each individual finger, parts of the sand were thrown aside. Then, he clenched both fists together, and his project hardened into an eight-foot-tall replica of Yancha; Earth kingdom military uniform and all.
"Wow! That's amazing!" Katara told him. "Aang, get over here! Sokka, you too! Even you Toph, this is exciting!"
Katara watched closely, and was struck with a poorly controlled chunk of dirt as the other man attempted the same thing. The man was having trouble feeling the individual particles, and lost control. Katara sighed, and brushed the sand off her. "Listen to what your teacher is saying...please..." Se told him. "Otherwise, you might need a lesson from Toph..."
"If you get upset and lose focus; you will never learn to control it properly, Yancha. You're getting so angry and frustrated...Look at what you've done...You lost control and hit another person. Is your anger because you see what I've been able to do? Listen man; I grew up here ...I'm a sand-bending master. Sand-bending was my life when I lived here... you can't expect to surpass a Si Wong Nomad on your first try... That would be like expecting someone who's never had a formal lesson in Karate taking down a black belt with his own moves. So please try again without all the negativity...Sand is gentle earth...treat it well." he said. The agent wasn't impatient. He spoke very calmly and objectively. "Close your eyes...focus...think about each individual grain. Imagine them all flowing together into one shape..." he said. "Do it."
"I-I can't..." he said, throwing the dirt to the ground, and walking away. "Eh...he just needs time to think about it..." the Dai Li agent told them. "So what's this? An Air Nomad and two watertribers, here in the desert?"
"Wait!" Katara yelled. "Quitting is an insult to everyone who works hard to succeed... If I quit...well...Avatar Aang would have had to find a new waterbending teacher a long time ago. Get back here..."
The large man turned around, confused. This girl was about a foot and a half shorter than him, and she was lecturing him? She had a point though.
"As Toph would say, suck it up and show some back bone, would ya? Look at this man! He's probably the best sandbender for miles... You're going to spit on him by quitting? Sit back down and do the forms!"
"Y-yes Ma'am..." he said. The guy Katara was lecturing didn't look like a Si Wong tribesman, but the teacher did. The thing was...he was dressed in a nice suit, as though he were a noblemen of a large earth kingdom city.
"Sir...if you don't mind me asking. You're a gifted sandbender, but you don't look like you're from around here. At least not recently..."
To that, he looked up at the girl. "I'm not. I was born here, but this is not where I reside."