# Avatar: World of Ruin [IC]



## Island (Aug 15, 2013)

*Avatar*
World of Ruin












_?Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. A hundred years passed, and the Avatar still hadn?t returned. His absence and the impending arrival of Sozin?s Comet prompted the Fire Nation to press the attack, laying siege on Ba Sing Se once more. The Order of the White Lotus and the newly established Coalition Forces won a spectacular victory against the Fire Nation, breaking the Second Siege of Ba Sing Se on the day of Sozin?s Comet, the same day that Fire Lord Ozai planned to end the war once and for all. Now, twenty-five years later, the world is still at war, and we still have no Avatar to deliver us from ruin??_

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## Island (Aug 15, 2013)

*Book 1**
Summer*

?Not the cry but the flight of the wild goose leads the flock to fly and follow.? - Unknown












​
I had never been to Pinnacle Palace before. The other Azure Dragons described it as some combination of ancient and modern architecture and a hallmark of human ingenuity. They told me that it was the largest known structure in the world, standing at about three hundred meters tall, piercing the sky and shattering the barrier between separated Heaven and Earth. When I approached Pinnacle Palace, it was about 6:00 AM. It stood at the peak of a tall mountain, much like Omashu, overlooking a lush forest beneath it, the ultimate combination of natural defenses. Those who wished to capture Pinnacle Palace would have to traverse the dangerous woods below and then scale the steep mountainside, only to reach the base of a twenty-five meter wall that separated Pinnacle Palace and Dingfeng, the city that sat at its base, from the outside world. While it was true that the palace was once heavily damaged during a Fire Nation raid, the damage occurred because of an aerial bombardment, or the use of war blimps to fly over and strike from the sky?

At that moment, when I reached the top of Mount Feng, overlooking Dian Forest, the sun peaked over the horizon. I witnessed the sky change from an empty black to a vibrant combination of orange and yellow with hints of red. At the very top of the sky, I could still see the stars fading away in morning?s wake, giving way to a new day and the dawn of another adventure. Then, immediately in front of me, I saw the shadowy outline of Pinnacle Palace with the sun climbing up behind it, as if it were scaling the tower itself, using the structure to propel itself into the heavens. Was this what they were talking about? Was this what they described as the single moment when Heaven met Earth, where man becomes one with the celestial bodies far beyond the clouds?

?Ma?m?? Somebody interrupted my train of thought.

I looked to the two men who stood in front of me. They looked like gatekeepers, two Earth Kingdom men charged with the task of letting people in and out of the city. In traditional Earth Kingdom fashion, they wore green and yellow attire, armored in conical helmets and leather straps. On their waists, they bore the Earth Kingdom emblem, a circular stone with the center hollowed out in the shape of a square and trimmed in yellow. I suspected that these two were earthbenders, as it was common for earthbenders to go shoeless, especially if they had to be ready for battle at any given moment. My father once told me that this was because many earthbenders required physical contact with the earth in order to earthbend, and although they could do so through the soles of their shoes, it required much more concentration than simply channeling one?s chi through the ground. Given the fact that they were in uniform but not wearing shoes, I stuck to this assumption.

?Do you have papers?? He asked, looking for some form of identification.

?Yes.? I stated, shuffling through the pouch at my waist and producing my identification.

The gatekeeper took it, reading aloud, ?Xiang Yi, female, Earth Kingdom citizen.?

He looked up at me, giving me the old once over.

?Black hair, green eyes.? He glanced up, looking me straight in the eyes.

I remained silent, letting him continue reading through my papers.

?180 centimeters tall and 60 kilograms.? He looked up again, presumably to confirm this.

I nodded.

?What?s your business here?? He stated, handing the papers back to me.

?That?s, uh? classified.?  I wasn?t sure how to answer. ?By order of General Ming.?

Truth was, I was on a quest to find the Avatar, or at the very least, discover what happened to him. About two years ago, General Ming sent an emissary to the Azure Dragons, contracting us with the mission I described, and in exchange, agreed to pay us the funds we desperately needed to stay afloat. Just how did I end up at Pinnacle Palace, some place the Avatar probably hasn?t been in over two hundred years? Well, according to a guy who knows a guy whose friends with a guy who lives here in Pinnacle Palace, there is another guy here who knows about what happened those twenty-five years ago when Admiral Zhao besieged the Northern Water Tribe, claiming that the Avatar was there, mastering waterbending.

Most believed that the Avatar was never at the North Pole and that Admiral Zhao was simply looking for an excuse to attack the Northern Water Tribe and win a promotion, but was nevertheless worth investigating.

Trying to _tell_ all that to somebody that would be like trying to convince somebody that I was the Avatar, so instead of going through all the trouble, I simply went with a name drop and hoped it would work. On one hand, I wasn't exactly lying. General Ming did contract us for this mission, and his stamp was on my paperwork. On the other hand, it sounded like I was working for him directly, which, obviously, I wasn't, but this guy didn't need to know that.

?Hmph.? The gatekeeper grunted, begrudgingly accepting my answer.

The two turned away from me to lower the wall with earthbending, and by now, the sun had ascended high enough for me to get a proper look at Pinnacle Palace. The structure, as far as I could tell, was coated in a deep red paint with gold trim along the corners, and each level bore roofs with curved tiles, pointing out at each of the four corners. At about a hundred meters, a third of the way up the tower,sparkled the Earth Kingdom insignia, its polished emerald composition and gold trim glimmered in the morning sunlight.  Such a crest, being at least two floors high and the entire width of the structure, wall to wall, could have probably been seen for kilometers into the distance, commanding love and respect to the Earth Kingdom?s inhabitants and instilling fear and loathing into the hearts of our invaders, the ruthless Fire Nation. Then, at the very top of Pinnacle Palace, far beyond the clouds, and, obviously, beyond my line of sight, was a statue of the gold dragon, a symbol of the Earth Kingdom?s defiance and will to triumph in the face of adversity.


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## Atlantic Storm (Aug 16, 2013)

Hu Fang - _Red Blade_
Book One, Trials
______________________________​
Slowly, the Red Blade waited for his target to appear. The sun of the warm summer day bared down upon his neck as he hid within the trees of the training ground forest his target would frequent each day. A small bead of sweat trickled down his forehead, before the bounty hunter raised one hand to wipe it away. He'd been on the stake out since morning, and while the heat was something he was used to, having come from the Fire Nation, the constant waiting was not. The location was strangely serene, except for the rushing sound of the lake which ran through the rocky area, and in another time, Red Blade might have found the silence, peace and temperature soothing. Right now, it was just making him agitated. 

But, he was a professional. One who was reputed for being extremely efficient and reliable in his jobs, and this was one of the few things he prided himself on. His superb skill at killing people.

More importantly, though, these clients were some big people with big pay. The job today was actually just a test to see if he was good enough to handle the 'big job' they had prepared for him at the heart of the Earth Kingdom, but even despite this, the amount of money they offered for this wasn't something he could decline. Money came before professionalism and honour, after all. The target was a simple, middle aged, man who came to this place to train Earth Bending. Red Blade wasn't particularly sure why they picked what appeared to be an ordinary man to be his target, but he didn't really care either. A job was a job.

Keeping his eyes trained on the training ground like a hawk, his right hand slowly moved to his left side, hovering around the hilt of his weapon: the red blade. He could feel it, his target was near. There was a rustle earlier, along with the sound of footsteps. 

_Rustle rustle._

There it was again. His target was near, he could feel it. Legs bent, the hunter prepared to move. He had prepared and positioned himself perfectly for this. Based on the entrance to the training ground (or at least, the footpath he most often used, according to his data), he was in the perfect spot to go straight for the neck. A nice, silent and clean kill. No loud, messy explosions. Just the steel of his blade running through the flesh of his neck...

_Rustle rustle._

Another movement came from the footpath, and as Red Blade prepared to move, he stopped himself cold as he realized what the source of the sound was, the perpetrator emerging into his line of sight. A single fox, carrying a rabbit in it's mouth. Almost tempted to kill the fox just out of frustration, Hu Fang resists the temptation and remains in his place, falling into his silent predatory stance once more.


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## Atlantic Storm (Aug 16, 2013)

Hu Fang - _Red Blade_
Book One, Trials II
______________________________​
The bounty hunter waited another thirty minutes. It was the afternoon now, and the sun was at it's highest point. This also meant that the heat was increasing, which was both bad and good for Red Blade. On the one hand, his Fire Bending and explosions were usually stronger during this time of the day, so if his target put up a struggle, he would probably have an advantage. On the other hand, the increased temperature meant more discomfort. Covering his hand with his sleeve, Hu Fang wiped some more sweat from his forehead.

"Ah, nothing like some tea before a training session!" An enthusiastic voice sounded, and immediately Red Blade shifted his stance once more, removing his hand from his face and bringing it back to his blade, his legs bent down and ready to pounce. His eyes shifted to the source and focus of the voice, and soon his target revealed himself. A tall, but lanky, looking man dressed in Earth Kingdom robes. He grew his black hair out in a ponytail, but kept it otherwise neatly contained, and on his face, rested a pair of spectacles, which he neatly folded and placed into his pockets as he entered his stance. "My daughter will be so surprised when she sees me Earth Bend at her birthday party~" He said gleefully, raising an arm and levitating a nearby boulder in front of him.

And then the Fire Nation attacked.

Er, I mean Red Blade.

Silently, the hunter swooped out of his tree, the leaves fluttering and flying around him, his right hand slowly pulling his blade out of it's scabbard, preparing to stab his target through the neck. A nice clean kill - his personal favourite, if he had any. But, unfortunately, life was not one big strategy, and with every plan, came a hitch. The hitch in the assassin's plan came in the form of a small pebble, rested in front of his target, and as the Earth Bender made a step forward to shoot the boulder, he instead tripped, his hand flailing...

And causing the rock to instead fly backwards, at Hu Fang's direction. "Dammit." He muttered under his breath, immediately sheathing his blade back again and scraping the metal of his blade against the scabbard, a brief sound of stridency ringing through the air before the loud explosion. Before the rock could make contact with his face, Red Blade immediately combusted it, causing it to explode into pieces of small rock, debris raining down as Hu Fang landed on the ground, hand rested on the hilt of his sword. The target looked back, staring at Hu Fang with an expression of bewilderment, fear, and then rage. 

"Who are you?!" The Earth Bender demanded, shakily entering a poorly assumed bending stance, another rock levitated. But Red Blade wasn't worried. "Who sent you?!" He shouted again, this time his voice a bit more shaky, now that his anger subsided a bit more against fear. Hu Fang, meanwhile, took a step forward. 

"What use would information do for a dead man?" Hu Fang asked, an eyebrow raised. On this, the man shot the rock forward at the bounty hunter, who simply side stepped it and proceeded to surge forward in a burst of speed, a single sabre blade aimed for the Earth Nation man's throat. The bounty put up his arms, but, alas, the steel of Hu Fang's sabre found it's way to his neck, piercing and cutting through it like a knife through butter. Immediately removing his blade, the now lifeless body of Li Fong dropped to the ground.


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## Fedster (Aug 16, 2013)

*Zakku Shei*

It was morning, well after the sun had risen. Well after Master Faoshen woke up, meditated, got dressed and ate his breakfast. And now, the middle-aged Firebender was staring silently at his student, a young adult with a most weird hairstyle he had ever seen. He never knew how he kept it that way, and it always looked fluffy and round. But that was not the problem. The problem was that his student was _still_ sleeping, when he expressively promised he would wake up at the agreeded time for once. That he never did, and Master Faoshen questioned himself why he thought today would be the exception.

In this cases, there was only one thing to wake him up. Faoshen inhaled and yelled: FIRE NATION ATTACKING!!"

The effect was immediate. His student jolted out of bed, falling and shouting incoherences on his way. As he got up, and saw that everything was as normal as usual, he lowered his arms and glared at his master, rubbing one of his eyes. "Master Faoshen, why must you wake me up?"

"Zakku, if you would wake up at the correct hour, I would not have to do this.", Then he pointed upwards with his index finger, a sign of his never-ending lectures. "Your body is nothing without a complete routine, and you cannot have one sleeping like that. I't s abnormal. You should wake up at sunrise, have at least one hour to meditate, have a heathy breakfast, meditate some more..."

_'Not again...'_, It was Zakku's turn to do the only thing that could stopped his master's eternal rambling. He bowed down as much as he could, arms sticked to his sides, and said with feigned regret: "I am sorry I have dishonour you, master! I am no worthy of your tutelage!" Faoshen fell silent. His index finger return to its original state and the man relaxed his expression.

"Well, It is not as late as I thought. You are still in time..."

"Oh, thank you, Master! You are indeed forgiving!", Rejoiced Zakku, his body still bent. He straighten his back and asked for his master's permission to leave and get changed, and when he turned his back, Zakku wiped the sweat on his forehead. That tactic had worked everyday since he was 17, and still did.

Once changed and with his belly full, he was ready to take on any Fire Nation troop, should his master allow him. After all, he belonged to _him_ now, and he agreeded on that, with the condition that he would train him. _'Conditions can bite you in the butt, yo.'_, as Zakku would say.


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## Island (Aug 16, 2013)

*Xiang Yi*

Pinnacle Palace

The strange thing about adventure stories is that they almost always start off with the hero or heroine doing nothing in particular, probably waking up, getting ready to start their day, and then, bam, all of a sudden, they’re thrown into an adventure story. Other times, if they’re already up and dressed, they’re doing very mundane things: going for a walk, working on the farm, spending time with their family, etc. They’re never fighting off some great evil or on the run from said great evil’s minions. In my particular case, the start of my adventure, I was sitting there, minding my own business, at some place called Chun’s Tap. The place, in stark contrast to Pinnacle Palace and the surrounding city, was decrepit and rundown and smelled like alcohol and body odor. Neither of which surprised me since I was surrounded by exactly that: middle-aged men, everybody from farmers to merchants to soldiers, getting wasted…

At the crack of dawn though…?

“I’m tellin’ ya, waterbenders are extinct.” I overheard somebody talking.

“No they’re not.” Somebody else answered. “There just ain’t many of ‘em left.”

“Have ya ever _seen_ a waterbender?” The first one asked.

“Well, no, I ain’t…” The second one confessed.

“Well, there ya go!” 

“They’re just hidin’, is all.” 

“Like ‘em Air Nomads?” 

“I ain’t say that.”

“You might as well ‘ave.”

I became so engrossed in listening to these two go back and forth that I hadn’t noticed somebody approach my table. The man, presumably my contact, appeared to be a simple old fellow, simple green robes, simple white pants, and simple wooden clogs. Except, unlike everybody else here and probably most other Earth Kingdom citizens, his hair was darker, his skin was tanner, and his eyes reflected the spirit of the waves. This man, my contact, as one would expect from somebody who claimed to have been present during the Siege of the North, was a Water Tribesman and possibly even a waterbender…

“Xiang Yi?” He asked for confirmation.

“Yes, sir.” I gestured to the seat across from me. “Please, sir, have a seat.”


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## Hidden Nin (Aug 16, 2013)

*Book 1**
Summer*














Hui Xin Kong - _The Intellectual_
Chapter One, First Impressions of Life

“Don't spend your entire life stitching yourself together from the thousands of lost pieces that were forgotten, discarded, and left in between...” - ???
______________________________​
The young chemist arrived in the port city of Xiamen with little in the way of flare or excitement.  He passed through the city gates with his identification and continued on.  Around his neck, he wore an item bestowed upon him by his former professor, a White Lotus tile, that he now kept hung around his neck.

He took out his spyglass and peered over the city walls towards the outlying hinterlands.  Satisfied with whatever he'd seen or surveyed, he hobbled his way on through the city as well.  He received plenty of odd looks, either from the spyglass he'd displayed, the odd bundle on his back, or how he hobbled at under twenty years of age.

On his right an odd fox like creature followed after him.  The animal bore a resemblance to the real-world fox but without the whiskers they possessed. It had four long legs, a triangle-shaped snout, a tail, and brown fur with a brighter patch of fur below its mouth, at the end of its tail, on its forelegs and posterior body. Its eyes were black and narrow, and though Hui had no impression of why it had taken to following him, so far he was very happy with the results.

The port city was a bustling and energetic labyrinth of canals, boats, low lying buildings, and many lanterns.  Small bells lined various poles and edges of buildings, ringing with the passing of idle winds.  Rickshaws, palanquins, and things stranger still edged for room on the crowded streets, merchants calling for people to heed their great wares and deals.  Fishermen leant against walls eyeing the first of the opposite sex they'd seen in perhaps months, and sometimes children weaved in and out of the mix, vying to play with one another.

And this was just the mercantile district.

Hui continued on through, though, his aim very clear in the back of his mind, past the merchant stands, bells, and lights of the city of Xiamen.  It was gradual progress on one good leg, but eventually he found himself in the seediest portion of Xiamen, with nowhere to go but down.  Raising his shoulders lightly, and then setting them down again, he made the descent, eyes on him here as well, but with different intent and energy to them altogether.

The way here was littered with debris and discarded items, and the lanterns numbered far fewer.  No bells lined the edges of the buildings, half with their lights out, others abandoned and inviting the brave or foolish into their expanse.  Xin knew exactly where he needed to go, and ignored the predatory stares that received him here.  The shadows crept along after him as he finally arrived at his destination, and slipped inside.  The banner read something akin to...

*Honest Shin's*

And that was where his night would begin.


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## Chronos (Aug 16, 2013)

_Shen Liang's Strength_












​

It is the hopes of the ancients that the future is birthed from humanity's vision of a Nirvana. Many have adopted death as their merit to forge a better future, but not this lad. This lad gained strength from those who power his resolve, a youth that had gained the title 'Primeval' by his former master, may his soul rest in peace. Absent of any form of malice, kind hearted and with a will that called out to his people. In the middle of a landscape stood set child, eyes closed while his mind indulged himself in peace, serenity-- focusing the strength of his body, each finger began to spread individually, each followed slowly after the other, the crunched up together until they form a fist, rinse an repeat. While small breath were released, to ease any tension that might be brewing withing himself, any unknown factor could break his concentration. He could feel the earth beneath his feet, he could sense he strength held within it, he understood set strength, he understood what it meant to envision these terrains strength, he understood what many of his kind once thought him, he felt strength. 

The child began to spread his feet, sweeping the earth beneath his legs, he spread his arms and began to built a certain strength unknown to many of the people of world, something uniquely shown by bender, a strength brought upon by the earth his time, as his feet coursed the ground he could feel each and every stone in the vicinity, as if merged with his body, he felt it more like an extension of his power, something him and nature share innately. He shared an awkward bond. Something many would appreciate. While he opened his eyes, in a jolt, he leaped towards the air, turning, twisting, forming a backward flip as he extended his right foot and slammed it heel deep into the earth, a stone no large than the size of himself rose neatly, as if usher out by set display of strength that had just been portrayed.

The left knee foot was bend while the right had been stretched to it's apex. Focusing intently of the stone, his arm moved at a circular pattern before he executed a trust, finger curled together forming a monkey's paw, positioned one under the other, while it collided and it was sent rocketing towards the distance. Another leap, this time his left foot landed fist, causing the stone to uplift around his feet, the right foot bent and of the ground, his back straight, hands at chest height, while the left hand was opened, fingers extended to its peak, the other formed a fist, both around 4 centimeters apart. Allowing his weight to fall, he kneed the earth, causing the stone to lift from the ground. 

Counting... 

One. Three. Five. Seven. Ten

Ten in total.

He kicked the shattered ground, and midst the air, he twisted his body arced towards the right, as swung a full fledged kick, the tip of hid feet colliding with the earth, causing it to shatter, while he 180'd and back hand another, bend his knees and propelled, front flipped and drop kick another, turned 90 degrees and pulled his arm, while the motion was still being executed he threw a powered punch, but instead of breaking set stone he pushed it towards the distance. Sweet began to fall as he was forcing himself towards the very apex of his bending powers. He clenched his teeth and honed into his arm, both soon gripping each other and thrown towards the air above his head, with no delay he swung with all manner of strength he could muster, and he swung his arm down and the earth followed, crashing at the ground. the impact had cause a large sound to emanate, while dust covered the area due to set collision. 

His breath, catching up to him, his eyes lost in thought, as heavy breath exited his lungs. The pressure of bending earth was stressing, but nonetheless, it felt rewarding. This strength was indeed special. It was something he had honed since he was but a mere child. Unlike much of the others, he was blessed to obtain such a diligent teacher. His stood up straight and his feet met with each other bowing in respect, much like his teacher once told him to do. Yes, he could envision him at this instance. He was proud he has reach this level of talent, no where near his masters, but if not for him, he'd be certain that most wouldn't consider him for as one of the better benders of the land.

Truly, this session wasn't much to speak of. But tranquility brewed in him afterwards.


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## Island (Aug 16, 2013)

*Geneal Ming's Announcement*

The War Room
​
General Ming, a man with the ferocity of a dragon and the will of a tiger, they described him as nothing less than a soldier among soldiers and a general among generals. With a spear, he could run through a hundred firebenders, and with a combination of a sword and sheer strength, he could hack through tanks and cut down through their drivers in one swoop. As a bender, he could open chasms so deep that they were thought to lead to the Spirit World and raise the land so high that he closed the gap between earth and heaven. Now, whether those rumors were true, remains unknown. There were those, in complete contrast to the lore, that say that General Ming was a corrupt drunkard, using his immense power and influence to create a cult of personality around him, something not seen since the days of the Earth Kings, the latter of whom many revered as God on Earth.

Still, the War Room fell silent when he spoke.

The other four members of the Council of Five, the Chiefs of the Northern and Southern Water Tribes as well as the Chiefs of the Sand Tribe and Swampy Water Tribe, all stopped and turned to listen to his address. Among these men and women stood master benders, considered the most powerful in the world. Who were these men and women? Looking directly at the Council on the far end of the War Room, one could see General Tang, head of the Earth Kingdom Army’s northern theater, Admiral Song, head of the Earth Kingdom Navy’s northern theater, General Ming, not only serving as head of the Earth Kingdom Army’s southern theater but also serving as head of the Council of Five, head of the Dai Li, and Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se. To his immediately right one could see Admiral Qing, head of the Earth Kingdom Navy’s southern theater. Finally, to the left of General Qing, one could see General Han, considered the weakest and less influential of the Council of Five, head of Ba Sing Se’s defense but unfortunately, was overshadowed by General Ming. Standing along the gigantic world map, perpendicular to the Council of Five, one could then identify Chief Arrluk of the Northern Water Tribe, Chief Tikani of the Southern Water Tribe, Chief Kel Ataram of the Sand Tribes, and Chief Duw of the Swampy Water Tribe.

“Today,” General Ming thundered, “I come bearing great news to the Council and to our Coalition allies.”

A pin could be dropped, and it could be heard between General Ming’s breaths.

“For thirty years, Fire Lord Ozai has terrorized this world,” he went on, “It is thought that he assassinated his father and seized power from his brother, our beloved and late-Dragon of the West, General Iroh. Then, he went onto authorize the destruction of the Northern Water Tribe and initiate the Second Siege of Ba Sing Se, both of which resulted in the death of tens of thousands of innocents and the displacement of hundreds of thousands more. Today, however, I am pleased to announce the latest report from Capital City, home of the Fire Nation royal court. Our intelligence informs us that Fire Lord Ozai, without an heir to succeed him…”

“…is dead.”


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## Hidden Nin (Aug 17, 2013)

*The Road to Xiamen*
Hui Xin Kong - _One Day Prior_












​
When Kong came too, he could feel both his arms, and his good leg, securely fastened.  There was a slight trickle from his right temple, and he flexed all his muscles tentatively to get a feel for what kind of shape he was in.  Nothing broken.  After a careful assessment of his body's configuration, he then moved onto analyzing where he was.

The surface he was currently kneeling on was definitely rolling to and fro.  The soft lap and the sound of the ocean detailed that he was definitely outside.  Then, a pause.

Smell.  Strongly of cedar, so similar to the forested area they'd been to before.  Too strong to be for a boat, and that brand of wood was poor for ships besides.  Taste.  He clicked his teeth, catching the taste of the air on his tongue.  Not salty.  Hear.  Ears flickering, he tuned in to get an ear for the gulls about.  None.  He did, however, hear a few voices every now and then.  When one was within earshot of him as well, he called.

"Are you trying to give the illusion that I'm on a ship, gancho?" 

The voices stopped.  He heard a few steps coming towards him, and then the blindfold on his face was snatched off.  The two figures in front of him were dressed in all white, and had strange oni masks on their faces.  Both had different ways of saying nothing in kanji.

"Stop." One called.  The rhythmic shifting under Kong's knees faded, and under him, he felt a mass of water escape as it shrugged of the confines of defined motion.  Bending.  They picked him up, and brought him over to a much larger tent.  Upon inspection, he could tell he was now in a heavily forested area.  Many tents and hastily erected huts dotted the premises, with people engaged in strange, lethargic activities like watching grass grow, or blowing air through their teeth slowly, or flexing each finger painfully slow.  He wasn't sure how many were there entirely, but it seemed to be about the size of your average band of thieves.  As they arrived at the larger tent, they untied the knots about Kong's arms and ankles, giving him a push towards the individual seated at a small desk, lantern lighting the work he was currently looking at.  The other two individuals stood tall at the entrance.  Upon closer inspection, he could see most of his personal belongings laid out on the table.  The individual sitting there, a man with the character for one painted on his oni mask, looked up, somehow able to see through the mask despite the lack of obvious eyeholes.  

"Please.  Come.  Your items are most curious, friend."

Kong cycled through everything that had happened just prior to him being knocked out.  Nothing out of the ordinary...what had he done to offend them?  Bandits would have killed him and taken his belongings altogether.  Unless...

Kong came to sit, dragging himself towards the man awkwardly, and adopting the offered seat.  He looked over the contents of the desk with one sweep.  Oddly spartan furnishings for a man who controlled what appeared to be some sort of cult?

Kong sat silently as the man inspected his things in front of him, hands neatly clasped together on his lap.  _"I hope this isn't all the outside world has to offer..."_


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## Fedster (Aug 17, 2013)

*Zakku Shei*


Silence. There is a lot that can be discovered by sitting still and quiet. Many regard this method as a journey of self-discovery, that brings inner peace and knowledge. Most of the people who thought that were old, and probably had too much free time on their hands to do that kind of activity. Those were Zakku's thoughts as he stayed still, sitting on the ground and staring at his not-so-deep self.

_'This is such a waste of time, yo.'_, He contemplated it as he breathed in and expelled same breath. Obviously, he could feel the penetrating glare of his master, keeping an eye on him in case he either falls asleep or escapes. The garden where they were meditating was filled with the intense summer sun, though the soft wind that blowed made up for it. _'Such a nice day, and I'm here, sitting and trying to see my inner self. WHERE THE HECK IS MY INNER SELF, YO!?'_

Wait, what was that sound? Master Faoshen's breathing...It became softer and more automatic. No way, did he...? Should Zakku open his eyes and check? There was the risk that he wasn't asleep and in that case, he would witness hell. But, on the other hand...

Zakku opened one eye, just the necessary to see, and then widdened it. It was safe. His master's head was leaned forward, and his back moved in sync with his breathing. Zakku sighed in relief, and stood up as silently as he could, and tiptoed to the house's door. Until a fireball landed just before his feet.

*"What do you think you're doing, Zakku?"*, he had done it. He feigned falling asleep to see if he would pull off a escape. And obviously he throughoutly failed. He proceeded to gulp and turned around."*Trying to escape your TRAINING?*"

"I-I'm sorry, M-master?", he could almost see the smoke coming out of Faoshen's body. He was _roasted_, yo.


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## Island (Aug 17, 2013)

*Xiang Yi*

Pinnacle Palace

?I apologize for having you meet me in a place like that,? Master Takiyok, the Water Tribesman from Chun?s Tap explained, ?King Lu has been very generous to my family and me, giving us a home within these palace walls. I wouldn?t want to betray his generosity, disrespect his household, by inviting in a total stranger. The war, or should I say, the Fire Nation, has been harsh and unforgiving, as I?m sure you?re no doubt aware, and we are all very appreciative to King Lu for what he has done for us. After the fall of the Northern Water Tribe, we fled south, and we took refuge wherever we could. King Lu, King of Tian Shan and Master of Pinnacle Palace, accepted my family and me here, inviting us into his home, and has ever since treated us as like his own. We were the lucky ones. If I had not been a waterbender, my family would be on the streets of Ba Sing Se, and my children would be begging for scraps.?

We stood on a balcony within Pinnacle Palace, overlooking the cityscape beneath us and the forest in the near distance. When Master Takiyok approached earlier that day, I invited him to have a seat, and we exchanged pleasantries: Hello. How are you? I'm doing well, thank you. What is your name? Then, we got down to the business of confirming our identifies, proving to each other that we were who we said we were. Obviously, I knew a waterbender when I saw one, but Master Takiyok had no idea if I was really who I said I claimed to be. I produced my paperwork, but he insisted on something more physical, proof of my affiliation with the Azure Dragons. Without warning and without hesitation, he produced a blade and cut across to my throat, to where I properly disarmed him, reversing the momentum of his attack and knocking the blade from his hand.

How else to prove that somebody is a martial artist than to put their skills to the test?

?That day, twenty-five years ago,? he continued, ??when the Fire Nation attacked? Admiral Zhao thought that the Avatar was training under Master Pakku, mastering waterbending. The truth was, the Avatar was never at the Northern Water Tribe. The rumor started when Prince Zuko destroyed a small Southern Water Tribe settlement, and two survivors, a boy and a girl, fled north, arriving at our gates a couple weeks later. Prince Zuko insisted that they were accompanying the Avatar on his quest to master the elements, and when word of his claim got out, Admiral Zhao pursued them all the way to our frozen home.?

I followed along closely to what he had to say.

?But, I?m sure you already know that.? He explained. ?What you probably don?t know is what happened when the Fire Nation broke down our walls: what happened to Master Pakku and what became of the Moon and Ocean Spirits that inhabited the Spirit Oasis. When Admiral Zhao reached the Spirit Oasis, he had every intent on killing the Moon Great Spirits, destroying the moon, stilling the oceans, and eliminating the threat of the waterbenders once and for all. However, General Iroh, who was assisting Admiral Zhao as a military adviser, turned against the Fire Nation, declaring his intent to protect the Moon and Ocean Spirits. Together with Master Pakku, they saved the spirits and took them away from the Northern Water Tribe, beyond the reach of both Admiral Zhao and the Fire Nation.?

I continued listening, wondering where he was going with this.

?Where they went and where the Moon and Ocean Spirits are now,? he concluded, ?Nobody knows.?

?But why are they important?? I interjected. ?The Moon and Ocean Spirits, I mean.?

?Because they are the last known links to the Spirit World,? he answered, ?Find them, young lady, and you will find the answers you seek.?

?But, we don?t know where they are, right?? I frowned.

?You would need to find Qannik, the last of Master Pakku?s apprentices.? He stated. ?It is thought that with Master Pakku?s last breath, he shared the location of the Moon and Ocean Spirits with the youngest of his apprentices, the only one to be present on the day of his passing. Now, I?m sure you?d like to know where this Qannik is, and I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I keep in contact with Qannik, but the bad news is that Qannik and some of the other waterbenders recently went on an expedition to the North Pole to find survivors who, instead of fleeing to the Earth Kingdom, fled further north into the arctic wasteland.?


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## Island (Aug 18, 2013)

*Decay and Decadence*

The Fire Nation Royal Palace
​
“It should be the Fire Sages who assume control,” High Sage Lou went on, “For hundreds of years, the Fire Sages were responsible for electing new Fire Lords, and since there is presently no Fire Lord nor an heir to succeed him, responsibility should fall to the Fire Sages to elect a new one and collectively rule the Fire Nation until that day comes!”

Admiral Jian slammed his fists onto the table, barking back, “Without the Fire Nation Military, we would still be fighting the Air Nomads and worrying about whether or not the Avatar will be swooping in and bringing this whole palace down on top of us. Power should go to the military so that we can eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy and focus our industries on finishing the war. Then, when the Coalition is defeated and the war is finally over, a military council will elect a new Fire Lord.”

“No, no, no, no.” Lord Chang shouted, storming into the War Room with Lord An, Lord Guan, and Lord Du behind him. “Power belongs to the governors. For over a hundred and twenty years, we have spearheaded the reconstruction of captured Earth Kingdom territories. We’re the ones who deal with the aftermath of these pyromaniacs marching in and turning cities into smoldering ruin. We rebuild the infrastructure and restore order. We’re the ones who suppress the rebellions and kill the would-be revolutionaries, and if not, we’re the first to be lynched by angry mobs. _We_ are the ones who need power. Give power to a delegation of governors, not the military or some archaic religious institution, and we will finish the war. When it’s over, we will come together and elect a new Fire Lord.”

“What is this farce?!” General Bei spoke up. “Who even let you in here?”

“Somebody who isn’t wasting his time playing soldier all day.” Lord Chang retorted.

“What did you just say?!” General Nan spat.

“Enough!” General Yang thundered, and the room fell silent.

General Yang himself was a gigantic man who towered above his fellow dignitaries. He stood a couple heads over both General Bei and General Nan and probably weighed as much as both of them combined, having biceps that were larger than the High Sage’s head. In addition to his immense size, many years of battle burnt and charred his skin a deep tan, and many places were scarred over from near-death experiences: the slicing of blades against his flesh, the smashing of dull metal against his bone, and the impact of explosions his entire personage. All of this culminated into what looked like one the fiercest men one would ever meet, bar none, even the mighty General Mind.

“There is no _fighting_ in the War Room.” He stated calmly and clearly.

Still, General Yang held little power of his own. Since the death of Fire Lord Ozai, the Fire Sages assumed control of the Royal Palace, commanding the bureaucracy and leading the industries. Meanwhile, the local governors, those both home and abroad, consolidating power amongst themselves, taking direct control of local garrisons and advancing their own interests. Then, the generals and the admirals, all looking to make names for themselves and secure their own places in history, led their respective armies and navies into battle without any kind of organization, choosing to play hero – or _villain_ – rather properly than coordinate with their fellow officers.

“We have thus far kept the death of Fire Lord Ozai a secret from the outside world,” he addressed the War Room, “Only the most important and highest-ranking figures of the Fire Nation are aware of his passing, and it must stay that way, else the Coalition will seek to take advantage of this weakness and strike. If the happens, if the Coalition strikes, and we are still divided, we will fall. We must stand united, face this adversity together, else we risk losing everything our fathers, their fathers, and their fathers before them, going back to the days of Fire Lord Sozin, have ever worked for. Listen to me, gentlemen. We may not agree on what to do, today, or even tomorrow, but we _will_ address this issue, and we will come to an agreement.”


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## Kyuuzen (Aug 19, 2013)

S H EN S H E N G










​
_Thud thud!  Thud thud!  Thud thud!  Thud thud!_

The beating of ostrich horse feet on the hard-packed earth rang loud in Shensheng's ears.  His long brown hair whipped in the wind behind him as he rode on his mount, his left hand holding the middle of a metal staff.  He was speeding toward two men garbed in standard fire Nation military wear, mounted on mongoose dragons.  They dropped the reins of their beasts and raised their hands in an attempt to Firebend.  Shensheng gave a small hop, balancing both feet on the back of his ostrich horse.  At the very last second he leaped, jumping over the streams of fire that threatened to envelope him.  The Ostrich horse kept up its speed and pushed through the flames without injury, racing past the two men.  Shensheng landed on the trooper to the left's chest with both feet in a powerful kick, knocking him from his mongoose dragon.  As he hit the ground Shensheng pushed off of his chest, jumping and flipping forward, landing on the dirt and sliding on his boots a bit.

He spun the staff around before taking a stance as the other trooper turned around and raced the giant lizard back toward him.  The first trooper was coughing, moaning with pain as he tried to force himself off the ground.  The mongoose dragon came to a stop as the man got off the animal and approach him.  "I'm gonna enjoy this."  He rose his leg high in the air, before bringing it down in a stomp and thrusting forward his hand, sending an arch of flames toward him.  Shensheng smirked and rose his hand, holding a small ball of flame in it.  He spun forward and thrusted both hands forward, sending his own burst of fire at the man.  The flames met in the space between them and danced wildly before both Firebenders halted the flow, the blazes flickering out.  The Fire Nation trooper's sharp intake of breath could be heard through his mask.

"You...  You're a Firebender?"

Shensheng merely smirked.  "We talkin'?  Or are we fighting?"  The Trooper growled.  "Just one more question.  If you can Firebend, why did you attack us?  Why go against your own people?"  The brown-haired youth spun the staff over his head and pointed it at him.  "You aren't my people."  They sprinted toward each other, each one roaring as their feet carried them to battle.  Shensheng took a more safe approach, waiting for the man to strike first.  He threw out a sweeping kick, which Shensheng jumped over and delivered his foot to the man's chin, sending him to his back.  The man rolled with the force of the attack, spring backwards onto his feet and sending a burst of flame at Shensheng.  He rolled to the left, avoiding the fire, before thrusting his palm forward and returning with his own inferno.  The man jumped and brought down a powerful axe kick toward Shensheng's head.  He barely dodged it, turning his whole body to the left and allowing the kick to sail down the length of his torso.

Shensheng used this opportunity to perform a backflip, landing on his hands and leaping backward onto his feet.  He rushed forward and delivered a fierce rotating kick to the side of the man's head, before spinning in the opposite direction to hit the man's ankles with a sweep kick, dropping him to the ground.  He then spun his staff and slammed the tip into his stomach.  The man let out a strangled, coughing scream and fell backward onto the ground.

"One down."  He turned in time to catch a strong jab to the side of his face, sending him to the ground.  The other Trooper stood over him, breathing heavily.  "Forget about me, punk?  Now I'm gonna kill you!"  He rose a hand, gathering flames in it when he noticed Shensheng wasn't moving.  Not twitching.  Not even breathing.  "Now way...  Is that all it takes?"  Shensheng moaned a muttered something very quietly.  The man leaned closer.  "Wha?  What'd you say?!"  Shensheng spun around rapidly, catching the man in the side of his head with the staff, knocking him out cold.  He wiped the blood from his lip and sat up.  "Assholes."  He returned the staff to the sling he kept it in on his back and blasted one with a quick ball of fire, burning his chest and forcing him awake with intense pain.  He grabbed the man by the front of his shirt and lifted him off the ground.  "Tell your Fire Nation bosses...  Shensheng Long is gonna take you out one by one."


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## Chronos (Aug 19, 2013)

*Shen Liang​*
Within the lands of earth there sat the youth training his strength. The will of battle raged heavily on his soul, remembrance of his former master continued to whirl through his mind. What sort of casualties must man endure until it's satisfied, nothing had been bequeathed with simplicity, however powerful a man there has to be some a merit that energizes set strength. This youth has yet to find set strength, while he was a prominent bender, he could not stand against the Fire Nation at his own, nor could he reclaim the honor of men and woman of the Nations. He was but a single man, trying his best to be of service to the nation. While his strength are at a completely different level, he understood that he needed to become much more than what he is to become an ideal warrior of the Earth Nation. Such a thought weight heavily on his mind. While the breeze pressed into his skin, the coolness of set air brought him to think that peace like this should roam, it should be spread throughout the all the nations, all the worlds. It's very essence of why humanity strives to live.

Whatever the merit was for the avatar to have escaped once more, it mattered not to him. For some, it's yet another act of treason, to others, it's merely a ploy of the avatar to strike, weather hope remains or no, at times of war the only things that matters is action, and if the savior failed at executing set action, then it's in the hands of those who are willing to fight. He who chooses his own path and paves the roads with his will. But, even Shen admitted that he was but a sheep at this point. Trapped a midst two scenarios, weather the Earth Nation wins and we reclaim prosperity for our clans. Or, the Fire Nation proclaims victory, and we are doomed to slavery and torture for millennium to come. Whatever purpose have arose, the only solution Shen wanted for it to culminate in, was simply prosperity. 

Lifting himself of the earth he sat, he inhaled a large breath, expanding his chest, closing his eyes and indulging in serenity, while the breath was slowly exhaled, releasing any pent up stress that had been built throughout the journey his mind has taken him through. Whatever notions he have throughout of, he was no leader to question or think of any matter of leading people. All it mattered was that his strength was enough to defend the lands he has proposed to save. And this current juncture he believed he has achieved to a certain degree. Turning towards the road, his feet began to guide him toward his home. Within the huge land of Ba Sing Se.


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## Fedster (Aug 19, 2013)

*Zakku Shei*

_'Wait, I can go out?'_, The meaning of what his Master said hit him late, although it was the same thing, everyday. Wake up late, get scolded, apologize and promise you'll wake up on time, meditate, escape meditation, fight with the Master, and go out. It was like both of them had severe problems with their long-term memory. But, going out to the town centre was always a hoot, even in these times. He jumped to his feet and ran outside, to the quiet streets of Pen Gao.

Master Faoshen had a very small house on this town. one story high, with a tiny front yard and a backyard, both carefully trimmed and watered. When Zakku first moved in, he wondered how on Earth would a former Fire Nation citizen get a house in the Earth Kingdom. But, as soon as Faoshen let him in and closed the door, he told him the reason: it was because of the White Lotus. He probably would not have gone past the border otherwise. And Zakku would not have entered the city if it were not for Faoshen, who responded for him.

That event seemed to had happened ages ago...

"I swear, yo! I don't come from the Fire Nation, yo!", Reassured a 15-year-old Zakku. His hair was shorter and less crazy-looking, and he was lacking a few inches, if not a whole foot. He was caught by a stall-vendor, who saw his red clothing and suspected of him. The man was absolutely right. He _was_ from the Fire Nation, but he needed to hide that fact. But, of course, Zakku was not the brightest crayon in the box, and it was expected of him that he would forget to change his outfit.

"Yeh, right, kid! What're ya goin' to say next? That you're a Dai Li?", The man restrained him, tieing him up to a wooden post. Some people laughed at this. "Now stay there while I get a guard!", he commanded and went to do that.

Zakku's journey seemed to have ended. _'Well, maybe the Fire Nation isn't that bad, yo. Maybe I should just go along with it, and stay where I belong...'_

"Stay quiet.", A voice said from behind. Zakku stiffened. He felt something hot and the rope that was binding him loosended up. He looked around and no one was paying attention to him. It was weird. Suddenly, a hand grabbed him and took him to an alley between two houses. His saviour was a shadow taller than him, and honestly Zakku was a bit scared.

"Woah, woah, yo. Who're you?", he tried to let go, but the grip of the man was firm. Yet, in response to his use of vocabulary, he said:

"Unless you speak correctly, I will not answer you. And that includes the 'yo'.", He pronounced the last word with utter disgust. Zakku seemed to have a big interrogation sign above his head.

"Okay...Then, who might you be, sir?", the shadow then moved to the light, and the sight of a squared-jaw, tanned man sporting sideburns and his hair in a bun became clear to him.

"I am Master Faoshen, and if you want to live, you must come with me.", and that is how he was saved.

But that was ancient history. _'It's time for fun, yo!'_


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## Island (Aug 19, 2013)

*Xiang Yi*

Pinnacle Palace

?So what does all these even mean? I have to go all the way to the North Pole to find Master Pakku?s last apprentice so that he can then take me to see the Moon and Ocean Spirits. Then, once I find them, they will tell me what I want to know about the Avatar.? I paused briefly, trying to word what I was about to say so that it didn?t come off as disrespectful. ?I mean, I understand the purpose of these deep spiritual journeys where the heroine goes off to find herself and returns to civilization with the insight to save the world, but we don?t really have the time for that. Can?t _you_ just tell me what the Moon and Ocean Spirits have to say? Again, I mean no disrespect, but we?re talking about information that could change the tide of the war, end it for good, and that means cutting months, even years, off what would be a continued bloodshed and devastation??

Master Takiyok sighed, closing his eyes and turning away from me.

?Xiang,? he began, ?The tides shift differently, the wind blows differently, and everything else thatonce flowed calmly and clearly, consistently and predictably, has been thrown out of balance. We have gone a hundred and twenty-five years without the Avatar, and the spirits are becoming restless. What will they do when the bridge between our worlds does not return and calm them, ensure them that we will not destroy this world, reduce it to ash and then turn against the spirits? That day, during the Siege of the North, Admiral Zhao nearly killed the Moon Spirit. Princess Yue sacrificed herself to ensure that it would live on. What will happen when there is no Princess Yue to save it? What will happen when the Fire Nation, or even a desperate Earth Kingdom, turns on the spirits, attempting to win the war by sacrificing balance for peace and achieving neither??

I had no answer for him.

He continued, ?Without the Avatar, there is no balance, and without balance, the spirits are restless, unsure of what to do. Do they continue hoping that we will save ourselves or destroy us before we infect the Spirit World with our bigotry and hatred? You must find the Moon and Ocean Spirits if you want answers to these questions and a solution to the problems this world faces. They will tell you what the other spirits feel and what they think. Like us, the Moon and Ocean Spirits are bound to this world and have vested interest in its safety. They will guide you to restoring balance? finding the Avatar and saving the world.?


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## Atlantic Storm (Aug 20, 2013)

Hu Fang - _Red Blade_
Book One, Task
______________________________​
Their meeting place was an odd one. In a small, shady district of the town he was in was a tea shop. Or maybe not so much a tea shop so much as a tea shack - one presumably owned by the people he was hired to work for at the moment. It was a pretty run down looking place, with the once white paint on the walls fading and giving away to the grey hidden behind it. But then, this was probably why it was the ideal meeting place for them. After all, why would anybody go to a run down shack in the middle of the crime district to drink tea? The inside was a dimly illuminated small room, with various tables scattered around but nearly all empty save for one table at the back. The one occupied by Red Blade and one other man.

"My sources inform me that Li Fong is dead." Spoke a quiet and deadly calm voice, as the bounty hunter sat in front of him, a single lit candle and two cups of tea between them. The person on the opposite end of the table was part of the group that hired Red Blade, and the one tasked with giving him the jobs. He was a tall, but rather skinny looking man with pale skin with a crumpled and creased quality. Hidden behind a pair of dark spectacles were piercing sharp brown eyes, a long and narrow nose trailing down from his glasses, leading down to a small, neatly kept mustache rested upon his upper lip. He was a creepy looking one, Red Blade thought.

"Yes." Came the short reply from the bounty hunter, his sabre rested at his side. The room was empty, but it was better to be safe than sorry. A little healthy paranoia didn't hurt anybody... most of the time. "His body has been incinerated as well, with the ashes gone. I trust this is to your satisfaction?" Hu Fang asked.

A small grin forms itself on the other man's face, stretching his leathery skin into a wide half-crescent looking form, revealing a set of brilliant white teeth. In the relative darkness of the room, where Hu Fang could barely see the other man apart from the small illuminated part of his face and grin, the bounty hunter was actually a bit unnerved. “Most excellent, Red Blade. We knew we made an excellent decision when we chose you." Slowly, raising one delicate and frail looking hand, the man brought the cup of tea to his mouth, his spider leg fingers wrapping around the handle carefully. "Now that we know that you can be relied upon, it's time we told you what your real job is." 

"I'd prefer to have the reward first." Hu Fang spoke. For a brief moment, he thought he saw a flicker and drop in the other man's smile, until he began chuckling.

"Oh, of course.” He spoke, his voice giving away nothing, and handed the bounty hunter two small pouches, the contents jingling as they hit the surface of the table. "You can check it later." He said, gesturing to the pouches boredly. "This is more important," the man reached a single hand into his jacket and produced a small file, sliding it across the table towards Red Blade, "everything we know of this man is contained inside that file."

Taking the the envelope, Hu opened it up and removed the contents - a single piece of paper, with a photo attached. "This is it?" Red Blade asked, his tone just barely masking his irritation. He had expected more.

”He's an elusive man." He shrugged, taking another sip of tea. "Go ahead and read it."

His target was a man named Pu Yi, born in Ba Sing Se. His photo was a full body shot of him at some sort of gathering. Dressed in fancy looking robes, his target had: dark hair, green eyes and a slender build. Around the same height as himself, but far less bulkier. Last seen in Omashu, his target is apparently headed towards Du Yao.

"I see."


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## Hidden Nin (Aug 21, 2013)

*The Road to Xiamen (Continued)*
Hui Xin Kong - _One Day Prior_












​
Kong's eyes went first to his walking stick, taking a split second to take in the odd etchings and grooves scratched into it.  Two about 1 inch from the handle, one mark at 2 inches, another at 3, then the next at 5, another at the 8 inch mark, then 13, and 21, to 34, where it stopped.

"You're a very perceptive individual," the man spoke, drawing Kong from his stupor.  He set the young man's walking implement down.  "Extremely."

Kong simply sat calmly, nodding in agreement.  "Yes.  But...I'm unclear as to what I'm doing here.  Or what I've done wrong, for that matter.  You don't appear to be bandits."

"Ah, well that'd be an accurate appraisal."  His voice was just as slow and elegant as Kong's, if not more so.  Prim and proper, he had perfect pronunciation.  "Well, I'm not really into slaying young men, but you did happen to be headed towards my...followers.  We were going to attempt to confuse you as to the location, but you obviously weren't duped into believing you were on a ship."  He shrugs.  "A pity.  I thought that ploy was well thought out."

Pause.

Kong took in everything he'd seen so far.  This man was not above using indirect ploys, and had a peculiar set of tendencies.  As well as a cult at his command.  His eyes scanned the room momentarily and he came upon something that would change this entire situation.  He wasn't going to kill him, or else he would have before Kong had woken up.  But right before he realized this man had something he more than likely did not realize the value of.

"However.  While I possess a soft spot for cripples...I simply cannot allow you to leave now that you've found out about us...so you're going to have to either do one of two things.  Die, or join up with us.  One or the other."

Kong kept his calm, nodding once in understanding.  "I'm not going to join your...cult as it were, gancho.  And I'm not dying here."  He stands up, and the man didn't so much as move in response, Kong's things still scattered about the workbench the leader had in front of him.  "I would propose a more sporting chance at this.  It was bad luck that got me into this, I'd give good luck a chance to carry me safely out."

"...I'm listening.  I'm not against someone proving their worth."  And behind the mask, he eyed the odd ivory tile that Kong had hung around his neck.

"Then I'd like to challenge you to a game of Mahjong for my freedom."

Kong noted that so far, things were going surprisingly well.  And it was never a good sign when everything started to go right...


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## Chronos (Aug 21, 2013)

Shen Liang​
Gunning through busy streets and heavy activity in market place, the youth known as Shen was in a hurry to reach the center of the city. While he pushed dodge and shoved people who were in his way, with each he blurring out a _'Sorry_' or a _'Please, move'_ or _'Excuse me'_. The city seemed to be bustling with activity, crazed with matters that didn't concern him in the least. But he would be late, he had appointments he needed to attend to immediately. While the thought whirl on his head, his breath became hesitant as he had led time slip through his fingers. He regretted staying and watching that merchant talk about his priced headbands and, well... other things. 

A sweat broke and he pushed himself towards the end of this mess, gripping his knee and catching his breath, relieved that at least this part had been finished, alright now to the center of Ba Sing Se. No sooner he realized that returning and heading to the market district at this hour would be trouble some, but not a moments passed when a messenger pigeon dived towards him and halted him mid was, holding a card, it recited. 

_"Dear Shen. It's late. We're not doing anything today, so do whatever you want. -Xu" _

Shen scowled at the blatant disregard of compromise this fried of his had, sighing however, he released the bird and continued down the road at his own steady pace. Soon reaching the center of the city, witnessing the large castle before him, he turned and witnessed a man he hadn't seen in awhile.

"Oh, Shu. You've returned."

_*"Ah, Shen Liang. Indeed, it's been quite awhile. What brings you here?"*_

"Well... I was suppose to meet someone here, but he decided to bail."

_*"How very unfortunate. I'm sorry to cut this conversation short, Shen. But I am needed at my post. Please, let's talk once I have finished with my duties."*_

"Oh, uhm... sure. I'll see you later then."

Waving to his comrade, he departed him while he contemplated what he should do now.


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## Island (Aug 21, 2013)

*Xiang Yi*

Pinnacle Palace

After everything was said and done, Master Takiyok told me that he wanted something in return, something in exchange for the knowledge and insight he bestowed upon me. What could he possibly want? What could a seasoned master, somebody with decades of fighting experience want from somebody like me? On one hand, he looked like he was getting old and probably couldn?t get around like he used to. On the other hand, maybe he wanted me to go on some spirit walk or on some quest that he thought would better me in some way. I jmade many assumptions and umped to several different conclusions, wondering what this ?something? was until he said it outright: I had to? stay for dinner.

As Master Takiyok explained earlier, he once lived in the Northern Water Tribe. After it fell to the Fire Nation, he fled to the Earth Kingdom and was taken in by King Lu, Master of Pinnacle Palace. Why King Lu accepted him and his family, I never fully understood. Master Takiyok never told me, and I never asked, thinking it would be rude to pry. Nevertheless, King Lu apparently treated Master Takiyok and his family with the utmost respect, restoring what little dignity displeased persons could have, housing them within the palace walls and treating them as if they were family, so much so that they ate dinner together every night. Maybe the two were old friends, maybe they felt obligated to each other, King Lu to do his part in accepting Water Tribe refugees, especially ones as esteemed as Master Takiyok and Master Takiyok following King Lu?s wishes out of obligation, respecting his kindness and generosity.

Still, I didn?t ask.

Master Takiyok summoned a servant to show me to the one of the palace?s many guest rooms so that I could change for dinner and later on make preparations for the road ahead. Since I travelled light, I needed to borrow some dinner clothes, but this was expected and I was accommodated before I even knew that I was staying. As a bonus to being a light traveller, I also didn?t have many preparations to make, giving me adequate time to write a letter to one of my comrades in Ba Sing Se. I wanted to tell him where I was going and what I found out in case I got into any trouble up there. Even if the other Azure Dragons would be unable to reach me so far north, what I learned today was be nevertheless helpful to our cause and was definitely worth sharing.

My letter went like this:

_?Li Yong, 

I hope you are doing well and at least having some fun in Ba Sing Se. I?m sending word because our contact at Pinnacle Palace came through for us. His name is Master Takiyok, and he is a survivor of the Siege of the North twenty-five years ago. He says that I need to find Qannik, Master Pakku?s last apprentice, and he will share with me information that is valuable to our cause. However, Qannik is currently in the North Pole, searching for others who took refuge in the arctic tundra. That is where I am going and will probably be when you get this letter. I wish I could divulge more information, but as usual, it'll have to wait until we see each other again in person. Please send my regards to the other dragons.

Yours Truly,
The Empress Dragon, Xiang Yi?_

I didn?t want to write any down any sensitive information since there was always the fear of what I wrote being intercepted on its way to its destination. What if somebody else found out that this Qannik knew the location of the Moon and Ocean Spirits? That person could just as easily get there before me, capture Qannik, lay a trap, and then have us both plus the Moon and Ocean Spirits. That wasn?t a risk I wanted to take, so simply saying that Master Takiyok came through for us was good enough. If they needed to know before I returned, they could seek out Master Takiyok and ask him themselves. From how he treated me thus far, I imagined he would be more than happy to help again? if it came to that, of course.


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## Fedster (Aug 21, 2013)

*Zakku Shei*

Okay, so the house was not the only boring thing. The streets were full of people that tapped him, groped him, touched him aggressively. Well, maybe not the last one. But he felt something graced him down there. Or maybe that was Zakku's imagination. Point is, the town did not amuse him, and he was very easily-entertained.

"Those moves are shit, bro.", was the sentence that stopped Zakku from his aimless walking. It came from an alley he was passing, from a group of people that seemed to be just chilling. But there was more to that. They were _breakdancing_. One of them was on the floor, panting while the others laughed following what seemed to be their leader. "Don't you dare come here, again! Your moves ain't sweet like mine!", This guy was a dork who was probably younger than him, maybe near his 20's. Well, everyone in that group was younger than him, but still, someone was in danger, and they were breakdancing, and his firebending had a lot of that.

"Yo!", he called everyone's attention. "Heard you talkin' shit.", He measured the dork in question. "What you doin' to him? Stealin' his marbles?", The group felt the sick burn of Zakku's verbal firebending.

"What's that? You wanna go?", Said the burned dork, spreading his arms like a wannabe gangster. The only apparent adult there rolled his eyes.

"You can't _just_ go at me, yo. Do y'all even know _who_ you talkin' to?", they did not reply. Their leader just took action and cleared the battlefield. He requested an ill beat from one of his comrades, and faced Zakku, who standed firmly, arms crossed.

"Hey, watch out for his sick legsweeps!", yelled the previous loser, behind the firebender. _'Pfft, as if he could beat my sick legsweeps.'_

And so the battle began. The local moved first with moves such as a 2-step, a 180? turn connected with a backflip and a simple windmill. He was trying to show off his abilities, as though saying, "you can't handle this."

Zakku told him with a sign to move away and let him handle that. He took of his White Lotus mantle and threw it away to the guy he was standing for. He cracked his knuckles and so the spinning begins.

Zakku was determined to finish that with one move. With his "Red Lotus" move (a combination of what he learnt from Master Faoshen and what he learnt on the streets), he would win. Zakku first stood with his hands, then propelled himself to the air and landed on his feet. That he did another time. And the third time, he made a whole backflip in the air, and landed in his hands. The breakdancer started to do a windmill, and increased the speed. When he got the right speed, Zakku boasted with a mid-air 180? with a middle-finger sign included, turn around on his feet, and waited until the Earth stopped spinning to say:

"That's how you own someone, yo." Everyone was pale, but not because he had been radical, it was because...

"FIREBENDER!!!", accidentally, he had firebended while doing the flare.

_'Uh-oh. I'm not going to jail, yo!'_, he thought while taking his mantle and running for his damned life.


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## Chronos (Aug 22, 2013)

Dud Li​
"Here it comes! The ultimate incarnation of man that has ever walked the nations, see these bulging muscles of mines! Look at this abs! This muscular structure! Look at this THICK, DENSE and WELL ROUNDED MOOSTACHE!! Not even my own Mam? could strike fear into this merry soul!" A middle-aged man stood in the middle of a large crowd while he exaggeratedly flexed his muscles, while combing his perfectly brushed 'moostache' a glimmer shined in his eyes, while a man was sitting before him... with a chest board, slamming the desk under him with his fist the man screamed _"Be quiet already! It's time for us to play!"_

"Why, Indeed my fellow moostacheless sir! Although it is quite obvious that not only does your face lack the refinement of a wonderful moostache and that the hair on your head is probably moved towards your ass, and that--

_"Shut up already and play!"_

He sat neatly on his chair, a small crowd of men and woman formed around him, while Dud Li rubbed his 'moostache' rather delicately, he witnessed the old man before him move the pieces. His large hands gently placing the piece in the desired area, content with each move he made, analyzing everything that the old man before him did and responded to it accordingly. Before they knew it, the game had ended in the next three turns. Dud Li rose from his table, leaped towards the sky and landed next of the old man, placing his bisect on the man cheeks and indulging himself in the win.

"Oh magnifico! That was truly a battle of etiquette, talent and raw emotion! I can feel muscles tingling with joy! Do you feel it!? Can you feel them pulsating! This is a butlers true nature!" 

Pulling out a comb he began to gently course it through his 'moostache' glittered at the shine of the sun! What a magnificent display of refinement! This was the Butler Complex Kingpin of Steel!


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## Island (Aug 22, 2013)

*Xiang Yi*

On the Road

Master Takiyok insisted that I stay the night and head out in the morning, but I told him that I would rather travel at night and sleep during the day. This was because of the huge Fire Nation presence in the Northern Earth Kingdom. If I travelled during the night, there would be fewer patrols and therefore less of a chance of me being spotted. Supposedly, the immense Fire Nation presence in this part of the Earth Kingdom due to the fact that the Northern Earth Kingdom was the first site of the Fire Nation?s first invasion. Many of the cities in the Northern Earth Kingdom had been captured early on in the war and had therefore been under Fire Nation occupation for well over a hundred years, and others such as Yu Dao, had been _built_ by the Fire Nation. All that land, both city and countryside, under Fire Nation control, meant that the Fire Nation could afford to keep a large military presence in the region, growing food and manufacturing weapons on the spot rather than shipping them all the way from the motherland.

I rode down a rocky path on the back of an ostrich horse donated by King Lu, mulling over what had happened a couple hours before. I sat down with King Lu, his wife Queen Bu, his two children, and Master Takiyok and his family. I assumed that they would have a feast, something you would expect from the richest and most powerful family in that part of the Earth Kingdom. However, after we sat down, the servants came out with trays with bowls of rice and vegetables. The king told me that so long as his people starved, he would not squander the country?s resources on expensive dinners. He asked me why he should be able to live in luxury while those who deserved to, those who marched off to battle, ate the bare minimum, often going without.

I told him that it was because you were born into privilege and that society expected that of you. Then, I went onto say something along the lines of, ?In this world, the poor go hungry and the kings and queens feast on the most expensive meals money can buy. If the poor want to eat, they must sell themselves to the Earth Kingdom, dedicate themselves to lives of servitude in the armed forces. They have to sacrifice their safety for a meal, and that meal is usually only bread and water and sometimes doesn?t come. Do I agree with that? Of course I don?t, but so long as we are at war with the Fire Nation, it?s the way we must live. As it stands, the infrastructure we use and the roads we walk down are hundreds of years old. The hierarchies and structures of our society are no different; they are archiac and are becoming increasingly obsolete. Again, there is nothing we can do to change that as long as we are at war; our dated infrastructure and our political and social systems are our lifeblood. If we tear them down, cannibalize them to build something new and greater, the Fire Nation will undoubtedly take advantage of that momentary lapse of power and strike.?

When I finished, I noticed that both the king and the queen, as well as Master Takiyok stopped eating, turning their full attention to what I had to say. Master Takiyok was the only one to answer, saying, ?Those who sacrifice freedom in the name of order and stability deserve neither and lose both. If we surrender our freedom so that the Earth Kingdom can spend another twenty years at war, then why don?t we just surrender now to the Fire Nation and get it over with? If we erode the peoples? right to self-determination and eliminate their capacity to forge their own destinies, then how are we any better than the Fire Nation? They wish to strip our people of their rights and exploit them for all they?re worth, and in order to stop them, we would do just that.?

?You are very wise, Master Takiyok.? I bowed my head to him.

?You as well, your majesty.? I bowed my head to the king too.

Of course, the entire dinner conversation wasn?t about the philosophy of war and justifying depravity. I learned that Master Takiyok was an avid Pai Sho player and that he often played with the king, the queen, and dignitaries and other important guests from all across the Earth Kingdom. He went onto describe how Pai Sho was more than just a game for many and told me that if I was wise, I would pick it up someday. Honestly, I had no idea what he was talking about. I didn?t have time for board games. There were people dying out there. Each passing day, more and more innocents lost their lives, as the ruthless Fire Nation marched further inland, burning cities and razing villages. If I had the power to stop them, why would I waste my time playing Pai Sho? Why wouldn?t I be doing everything in my power to make sure that their reign of terror across the Earth Kingdom countryside would come to an end?

?Xiang Yi,? King Lu asked at one point, ?Have you ever been here before? You look awfully familiar.?

?No, your majesty,? I answered, ?I travelled with my father when I was little, but we never came here.?

?How about your father or your mother?? He followed up with another question.

?They were both peasants,? I shook my head, ?Born and raised within the walls of Ba Sing Se and only left when the Fire Nation destroyed their farm during the siege twenty-five years ago.?

?Hmm,? he scratched the top of his head. ?What were their names??

?Pu Yi and Chan Yi.? I answered.

?So I see.? He stated slowly and deliberately.

?Have you ever-?? I began.

?I?m afraid not.? He interrupted. ?I must have been mistaken.?

I snapped back to reality, noticing that I was clutching something that Master Takiyok gave me. It was a necklace with a White Lotus tile clipped onto it. I didn?t really know why he gave me the tile except that it would apparently come in handy someday. He said something about the White Lotus opening wide to those who knew its secrets but refusing to say anything else. Honestly, I thought it was just some more of his spiritual nonsense, but I respected him for his generosity and his wisdom and didn?t want to dispute it. Instead, I accepted his gift and went on my way. Who knew? Maybe this White Lotus gambit would save my life one day.


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## Fedster (Aug 23, 2013)

*Zakku Shei*

It was surprising how fast can words spread, specially in an small town like Pen Gao. More like words, there were shouts. The shouts of the dorks who Zakku bested at breakdancing, and since they were sore losers, they decided to use the one thing that he let unintentionally slipped through in their favour: his firebending. Or at least that was how Zakku saw it. It was most probable, he could see how those guys died in the inside when they saw his sick moves in awe, and felt intimidated. _'Pussies.'_

Pen Gao, as mentioned before, was a small town located in a vast flatland, right on the path leading to Ba Sing Se. There were no big buildings, and when it came to medical attention, it only counted with one physician, who always had his hands full of patients. The times of war had made the town looked shabbier than it actually was. The main road was full of stall-vendors, people and Zakku running for his life.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!", Shouted three members of the town guards, blocking the way in front of the awesome firebender. Zakku nailed his feet to the ground and came to a stop. "You are the firebender?"

_'Ok, this is it, yo. Not even Master can save me. The White Lotus will...
...
...
...
WAIT A FUCKIN' SECOND, YO!'_

"I'm-", he closed up the guard who spoke and whispered, "Hey, this is kinda awkward, but you see this robes?", The guard took a better look, and Zakku could see in his eyes a strong desire of punching him in the face. Preferably with a rock. "Yeah, my bad, it was an accident."

"If only the White Lotus hadn't helped us...But you keep it to the minimum. Got it?"

"Promised.", _'Thank the Spirits.'_


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## Island (Aug 23, 2013)

*Crossroads*

Where will your destiny take you?​
The Upper Ring, Ba Sing Se

?The Council of Five and its allies, the members of the Coalition Forces?? General Ming addressed the crowd from his position on the balcony just outside of the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace ??are pleased to announce the beginning of the end of a war that has resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and the displacement of millions. As you may or may not have heard, Fire Lord Ozai, the sovereign ruler of the Fire Nation, passed away last month. Without an heir to take his seat on the throne, there is nobody to lead the Fire Nation, and thus, an opportunity arises. We are making preparations for a northern campaign led by General Tang that, if all goes well, will result in the recapture of the northern provinces that have been under Fire Nation occupation for well over a hundred years! The success of this campaign, combined with the power struggle that we predict will occur within the Fire Nation chain of command, should be enough to force the Fire Nation's hand and end the war once and for all!?

The crowd began cheering wildly, but General Ming raised his hand to silence it.

?However, the success of this campaign depends on your support. We are currently seeking all able-bodied men and women, bender or non-bender, to fill the ranks of the Earth Kingdom Army! Be part of history as General Tang heroically recaptures the northern provinces! Please visit your nearest recruiting station for more information, and know that, even if you are unfit to be a soldier, we appreciate your continued effort in supporting the Earth Kingdom. Whether you are a farmer or a merchant, your contributions to the war effort are help us greatly, and we look forward to working with you as we bring an end to this conflict!?

The crowd began cheering again, and General Ming disappeared into the depths of the palace with two Dai Li agents by his side.

---​
The Lower Ring, Ba Sing Se

?You?re marching to your deaths!? He heard somebody shout. Glancing up from his seat by the window inside Xi's Tea Shop, Li Yong saw a man flailing his arms wildly, yelling  craziness to a platoon of Earth Kingdom soldiers marching through the busy city street. He imagined that they were headed off to war, going off to fight the Fire Nation for the glory of the Coalition Forces, and more realistically, to their graves. There were a handful of people in the street screaming and shouting at them, anti-war protesters, those who thought that the war was some kind of conspiracy and that the people needed to wake up and smell the coffee. According to them, the Council of Five was in cahoots with the Fire Lord. Twenty-five years ago, they thought, the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation came together. They realized that neither could destroy the other and both agreed to perpetuate the war for as long as time would allow, thus maintain the status quo. The Fire Lord could continue commanding the Fire Nation with an iron fist so long as there was a battle to win and a war to fight. Meanwhile, the Council of Five could remain in control, ruling in this state of emergency and never placing a new Earth King on the throne.

So said those wackos anyhow.

?Wake up, Ba Sing Se!? The man continued shouting.

However, Fire Lord Ozai?s death punched holes through these wild conspiracy theories. According to General Ming and the other members of the Council of Five, the Fire Nation would collapse without a Fire Lord on the throne. The commanders of the Fire Nation military would begin fighting amongst themselves, and the whole situation would devolve into a full-scale civil war. The Council of Five urged the Coalition Forces to act on this,prepare for this collapse stating and strike when the opportunity presented itself. If they liberated occupied Earth Kingdom territory, cities and towns that had been under Fire Nation rule for over a hundred years, they could make the Fire Nation commanders reconsider their position on the war. Restoring order _and_ fighting the Coalition Forces? Nobody would want that, and they would quickly draw up an armistice so that they could go back to fighting amongst themselves. Either that, or they would unify and continue their attack, but that still meant that the Earth Kingdom had regained valuable territory from the Fire Nation and would be one step closer to driving them from the continent.

Li left the tea shop, making his way outside and began watching another platoon of soldiers pass through. Out of the corner of his eye, however,  something else caught his attention, something plastered on the wall of the tea shop. It was a poster that declared: _?The Earth Kingdom Needs YOU! Join the fight today, and be part of General Tang?s heroic Northern Campaign!?_ Li pieced together what he thought the Earth Kingdom strategy was: march southwest until the Northern Earth Kingdom Army reaches the coast, and then travel northward, capturing port cities and other poorly defended towns and villages. Then, meet up with the Northern Earth Kingdom Navy and assault Pohuai Fortress. Only once Pohuai Fortress was captured would the actual campaign begin, as it would be the Earth Kingdom?s staging point for an assault on the Fire Nation?s core colonies.

?You there!? The man called to Li Yong. ?Would you die so that others may live in the lap of luxury??

?I would die for the good of mankind, if that?s what you?re asking.? Li Yong stated flatly.

?Are you so brainwashed that you think that the Council cares about the good of mankind?? He retorted.

?Are you so retarded that you actually buy into this garbage?? Li Yong answered.

?So you _are_ brainwashed!? He shouted. ?Everybody! This man is an example man for us all! Do not follow-?

*BAAAM!*

Li Yong shoved his fist into the man's face, toppling him over and creating a huge scene.

---​
Pen Gao

?Thank you for your hospitality, Master Faoshen.? The man stated, glancing up at Master Faoshen for a second and then turning his attention to the board. After a couple moments, he looked back up at Master Faoshen, and grinned. Then, he lifted his right hand in which he held a Pai Sho gambit between his middle finger and index finger and carefully and deliberately placed it in just the right square. This man, presumably a friend of Master Faoshen, appeared ordinary and otherwise unassuming in almost every way. He had dark hair and green eyes and was of average height with a slender build. He wore very simple clothes: Earth Kingdom robes that one might see a farmer wearing, something that was cheap and easy to make. ?But I'm afraid to say that your Pai Sho game is, how would that apprentice of yours put it? weak.?

Master Faoshen frowned, apparently unamused by the man?s joke, ?We shall see whose game is truly weak.?

Suddenly, Master Faoshen smacked a piece down onto the board, and only a couple seconds later, his guest did the same. Then, Master Faoshen responded by placing another piece down and the man did the same immediately after. Master Faoshen looked up at him and smiled. The man had a puzzled look on his face but a few moments later, produced another piece from his lap and placed it on the board, and like him, Master Faoshen was quick to place one on the board. This pattern of rapid placement went on for several turns and after a while, they finally started moving them around the board.

?To think, it only took you twenty years.? Master Faoshen complimented? sorta.

The man chuckled. ?Well, the years needed to be kind to _one_ of us.?

Master Faoshen retorted, ?Not that kind, unfortunately for you.?

The man looked down, his face going from a lighthearted smile to a displeasured frown.

?D-Did you just-?? He stumbled upon his words while scratching the back of his head in bewilderment.

?It is indeed _your_ game that is weak.? Master Faoshen stated.

Suddenly, the two men turned their attention to the door. Somebody was coming.


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## Fedster (Aug 25, 2013)

*Zakku Shei*

To say that Zakku's escape was miraculous would be an understatement. Seriously, that guy was blessed by the Spirits or something. Or blessed by Master Faoshen, to be more accurate and realistic. The mere name of his Master saved him countless times since he had taken him in. Deep inside he felt grateful for that, but it was not like he was going to tell him. Oh no, those things could not be told, but shown. Someday, a day would come where Zakku would have to show his gratitude to his Master by doing something, probably reckless, and then and only then they would be even.

But for now, he was a freeloader, and that was how he liked it. He did not pay the man anything, he ate his food, he slept under his roof, and got educated in a nearly objective way. That is how Zakku got reassured of the Fire Nation's biased education system. Always being told that the other countries were bad, and they should not see the Fire Lord as a man, but as a god. _'How did I survive all that? Damn, that was batshit crazy.'_, thought the firebender while having a sudden laugh attack.

"Master, I'm here...", Zakku eyed the guest rather strangely. "Hey there."

"Is _that_ your way to treat guests, Zakku?", reproached his Master, glaring at him. Then, he turned to the man. "Forgive my student's behaviour. He is rather _unique_ at expressing himself. *Now, start over, Zakku.*", The target of that command gulped.

"I'm sorry, Master. Hello, mister.", The student sticked his arms to his sides and bowed to the green-eyed man. "My name is Zakku, student of Faoshen. Nice to meet you."


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## Chronos (Aug 28, 2013)

Shen Liang​
It wasn't long before he stepped outside the walls, hearing men left and right chanting they're cries for war and achieving victory for the name of the Earth Nation. Beneficially, he joining into the war would be something that he himself would consider beneficial, but he didn't much agree for the merit they were headed in. Brainwashing the men of the country to fight a pointless war wasn't something that sat well on his stomach, posters roamed the walls encouraging the men and woman to take up arms against the Fire Nation. Turning his gaze, he pulled a posted of the wall gentle, straightening it up on his hands, he saw the oddly colored and worded slogan 'We want you!', those were the words that stood out the most to him, blankly staring into the paper, half-heartedly he curled it up and threw it towards the side, turning he could hear the chants of the people after hearing the speech herald by none other than General Ming. 

Of course, place a little bit of powerful words in conjunction and any weak-minded individual would hurl towards danger without the benefit of-- or more adequately, luxury of thoughts. Crossing his arms and releasing a small ounce of his breath which held much of his built of stress, he herd a ruckus ensue towards the near distance. Turning, he rose his head to see what was happening, however the myriad of heads were barring his view, curious of the matter, he paced backwards and turned to the nearest building, walking towards the side, he spread his fingers and extended his had towards the wall, lifting it above his head, while crouching down is a sumo stance, he slapped his knee and the wall form stair towards the ceiling of the building. Pacing upwards, the stairs soon reformed to the original wall and there he could get a clearer view of what was occurring.

Without an ounce of hesitation he witnessed as a man swung his fist and smacked it into the face of the very announcer that had been screaming out nonsense for awhile, shocked, he leaped out of the building and landed in between the two, worried of the man he lifted him of the ground he laid and told him to move along. Turning towards this guy, he connected his gaze upon him and said.

"Well, said. But punching someone in the face isn't going to gain you any allies, especially after that man's preaching of the war."


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## Island (Sep 2, 2013)

*Ba Sing Se*

Li Yong stood back as a strange individual dropped from the sky to help the conspiracy theorist. He watched as this individual, a young Earth Kingdom man, helped him up, urged him along and then conveyed his displeasure toward Li Yong?s actions. How could somebody be so blind, so idealistic, to see the good in _everybody_, even people like that, to value them the same as those who risked their lives everyday for the defense of the Earth Kingdom? Clearly, certain people did not deserve the same level of respect as the heroes who passed on by. Those who condemned such heroes, protectors of the Earth Kingdom, the ones who challenged the very institutions that protected them day in and day out, how did they deserve that level of respect? Then, to defend them? Li Yong rolled his eyes, simultaneously shaking his head.

?These men, the soldiers,? he stated, ?They are probably marching to their deaths, and people like this are making a mockery of them and everything they stand for. How can you defend that? How can you just let these people spew their bullshit whenever and wherever they please??

*Pen Gao*

?Pu Yi.? the man introduced himself. ?The pleasure is mine.?

The Earth Kingdom man slowly rose to a standing position. His range of motion appeared limited, and each individual movement appeared to produce some kind of strain on his body, evident by the contortion of his face, the every so slight cringe of pain he made each time he exerted any kind of stress on his body. As such, these motions, as one would imagine, were calculated and precise as to maximize efficiency and minimize the amount of movement necessary to complete the task at hand. When he was about halfway up, he placed his left hand on the table and grabbed a small wooden cane with his right, using it as a crutch to erect himself fully. Then, finally, after several seconds, he met Zakku at eye level and bowed his head respectfully.

Fully in view and with proper lighting, one could make out some of the finer details of this individual. He had many gray hairs, with the sides, just above his ears, having the highest concentration. Then, his face was wrinkled, pruned and aged, far beyond its years. While he didn?t look as old as Master Faoshen or any of the other White Lotus masters, one could tell that he was entering the latter half of his life, being somewhere in his late-forties to early-fifties. He kept his hair messy and his face scruffy, a deep shadow of stubble along his jawbone, running from ear to ear. One would certainly wonder why somebody like this, somebody who looked like they came right off the street, would be associating with the likes of Master Faoshen, a White Lotus master. Who was he? Why was he there? How did he know Master Faoshen?

?If you don?t mind, I?m going to step outside.? He smiled, beginning to hobble toward the door.


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## Chronos (Sep 5, 2013)

A cross of his arms followed by a rise of the brow. He made a valid point, but overall, what was he adding to the situation by only adding more oil to the fire. His eyes, turning away towards the sky, as if looking for answers in an empty space, there was something about clouds that brought a certain allure. Not sure how he could place this, but something about them just roaming endlessly in a space, no worries, no problems. He didn't know exactly what it was, maybe it was a certain envy he had towards things that followed their own paths, or maybe it was the idea of not being restricted by anything. Something about them cast some type of spell on him, allowing him to indulge himself in his own thoughts. 

"Are you helping anyone by punching a man?" He said, half-hearted.

"You talk about how he's talking idly about the people who are in the wars and whatnot, but what are you doing?" he lowered his gaze, meeting the person before him, a certain gleam that veiled his emotions, only exposing anger, not that his words portrayed said emotion, but it was more of reassuring himself of something. Speaking words out of intuition. 

"You think punching a guy is any better than talking idly about a man who's sacrificing himself in a war? What would punching a man help but shut him up? Are you contributing to the man and woman who are at their death beads in the foreign country? Away form their homes and families? If you are rightly doing so, then please, beat the living crap out of the man. I'll help you as well. But if you're not, then you're no better than he is. You're neither helping the cause, nor ending it."


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## Fedster (Sep 5, 2013)

*Zakku Shei*

"But of course, Pu. Take all the time you need.", responded Master Faoshen, giving Zakku a commanding glare, telling him to open the door for the man. And as usual, that glare contained a hidden 'or else...' deep inside it. Because of that, the boy's polite side took over.

"Let me get that, sir.", And so, he went to the door and open it, holding it for Pu Yi. _'Yo, I thought I knew everyone on the White Lotus Gang.'_ Or maybe he was _not_ a member and just a friend? Master had friends!? Now, that was a very shocking revelation. A _plot-twist_, one might say. Zakku felt the need to sit down, and after Pu Yi had gone outside and he closed the door, he did. How could _that man_ had friends? That sulky, properness freak? That was a mystery he must solve.

"Master, who's that Pu Yi?", Zakku asked.

"A friend, a very old one. And that is all ou need to know.", _'I don't know what I expected.'_, Trying to make Master Faoshen spill the beans had always been hard, if not impossible. That time was no exception. "Zakku, would you mind playing a game of Pai Sho? I'm on a streak and you could use a lesson."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

_'Ugh.'_


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## Atlantic Storm (Sep 6, 2013)

Hu Fang - _Red Blade_
Book One, Task II
______________________________​
One of the worst aspects of his job was the assassination tasks, Hu Fang had always thought. They required patience and meticulous execution. Delicacy. A thorough, detailed plan on how to approach the target silently, kill them, and escape the situation without being caught. Red Blade was a simple man with a preference to similarly equal methods of murder. He would have liked it if, just once, he could just run up to his target and blow him up. Or decapitate him. Perhaps a stab. Nice and simple. Unfortunately, his target this time - Pu Yi - was apparently a high end target, and the pay this job provided... well, suffice to say, there wasn't really much room for error here. Not that he would make an error, of course. 

Red Blade was a professional, after all.

Finally, after having observed his target for the past hour or so, Pu Yi decided to make a move as another man entered the room. Young looking, with a sturdy, somewhat stocky build. A soldier or bodyguard, perhaps? But not a very good one, apparently, as the Earth Kingdom man left the room without his accompaniment. This was going to be too easy. From the rooftop of the building across the house Pu Yi came from, the Red Blade leaped, shooting out fire from his feet to eject him further into the air. Descending, he guided the scabbard of his sabre so that the hilt was directly aimed at the man himself and then unsheathed his blade, the Red Blade's weapon erupting sparks as the blade rapidly released itself from the sheath, followed by oil dripping.

With one decisive swing, Red Blade directed the sparks produced from his sabre and the oil from inside of his scabbard at his target, before setting it off with a small flame, producing an explosion as it hit his target.


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## Island (Sep 6, 2013)

*Ba Sing Se*

Li Yong shrugged, ?Fair enough.?

At first the guy rustled him, defending some loon that had no business being defended, but then Li Yong began to see that the guy was just an idealist, somebody who probably held morality to the highest esteem and thought that everybody should play fair, an annoying but not necessarily bad philosophy to have. Sure, punching that one guy in the face didn?t really solve anything, but it felt good and it _did_ shut him up. The fact was, at least according to Li Yong, the world _wasn?t_ a fair place. The people with power abused their power, and the people without went without. The men who could do something usually didn?t, leaving it to the people who couldn?t to try. Then, on top of that, the people that were actually doing things were usually motivated by self-interest above all else. There were few people that were really working for the preservation of humanity, and in that respect, the loon had a point, as did the strange man. Still, everything was relative, and unlike that loon, the man who was blabbing off to Li Yong, _seemed_ like a nice enough guy, even though, again, he found him slightly annoying.

?You want to go grab lunch or something?? He asked casually, turning away from Sheng Liang but nevertheless ushering him to follow.

*Pen Gao*

Master Faoshen held Zakku?s gaze and motioned for him to make the first move. When he did, Master Faoshen immediately followed up with his own and awaited Zakku?s second move. As Zakku went to move, however, Master Faoshen began to speak, seriously and sternly, ?When this game is finished, Zakku, I want you to head to your room and start packing. You are leaving tonight with Mister Pu Yi. Where you will go or what you will do, I do not know. That?s none of my business and is between you and Mister Pu Yi. However, once you leave, you are to obey everything Mister Pu Yi says as if those orders came from me; do not question him, and do not hesitate to follow his orders to their exactness. Failure to do so will mean severe punishment from me when you return home, and you are to only do so once Mister Pu Yi has dismissed you from his service??

?Do you understand-? He was suddenly interrupted.

*BOOOOOM!*

The whole building rocked, and a loud sound bellowed from outside.

Hu Fang came down on the elderly man, producing an explosion of frames that turned the whole two square meter area into a haze of a fiery death. Did he get him? Did he jam his blade into his target as he had hoped and then unleash his signature move, an intricate combination of firebending and engineering, effectively an explosive sword? Considering that Pu Yi was not only old but also immobile, being limp in one leg, it was doubtful that he could have dodged that strike. At least, that?s what any reasonable person would have assumed. When the smoke began to clear, an entirely different picture painted itself to Hu Fang, one where there was nothing but scorched earth at his feet. No charred remains, no leftovers of any kind?

Hu Fang felt something against the back of his neck, a sharp pain, and then nothing. His whole body went limp, he fell forward, and smacked hard against the ground. Pu Yi, now standing behind him, pushed his right foot into Hu Fang?s back, standing on him and chuckling. He went onto explain, ?When I noticed you following me back at Hong Zhu, I decided to play old and crippled, you'd believe it and try something like this. I didn't think you would strike here though, not at the home of an old firebending master and his pupil.?


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## Axelthewanted (Sep 6, 2013)

Jixing Zhou
Journey Begins

My name is Jixing Zhou, it's been about three days sense I left Plains village, I been traveling south through the mountain ridges to find information about the current war and both the fire nation side and ours. I hope I didn't upset my grandparents but I needed this, I must do something. The first question that came to mind were if I could do anything about this conflict that grips our world in chaos like fire to oil or will I end up dead without changing anything at all. those thoughts brought shivers into my back every time they crossed my mind, I was truly nervous. To die without having completed my goal, to be forgotten as I rot on the powdered ground. It was dreadful, but I have to see this through to the end. I was walking in between two of the mountains, having my thin yet wide circular stick made hat shading my eyes, having the wind blowing the tided leaf from side to side, heading over to an old abandoned village, using it as a check to get to my real destination, Chin village. The ground was colored light brown by the dust and dirt on the dry ground soil, there are few grass and plants growing here and there but they seemed divided. The sky was blue and clear as the Sun shined proudly across the land. Finally were rocks and boulders standing out as wall against the mountains'' side. It's been like this sense yesterday but I'm almost to my destination.

~An Hour Later~

An old worn out village is place before me, one that has been uninhabited for many years now. This place used to be full of mysteries and riches, but when all the metal and gold dried up people quickly left the village. The name of this village is Tu Zin. It kind of feels heartless if you give this place a soul, just being abandoned like that. My face had a slight sign of pity at the village but quickly moved on . The structures were made of old wood, the wooden flooring was covered with dirt that the wind had dragged over time. Some structures seemed to have few small holes on them, maybe rats had taken this place as a home. Soon after the silence was interrupted by the appearance of thin man, having a small beard growing out of his chin, he clothing and skin were dirty covered with dirt. The man approached me, bringing my walk to an end when he pulled out a short dagger from his lower back, pointing it at me as he got closer. A grin grew upon his face and spoke to me.

"Ok kid this is how it's going to play out. You give me everything you have and I might not cut you up. Hehe."

He seemed very confident, having caught a defenseless boy just passing by. But why would a some weird bandit be all the way out here, though thieves are always strange so I didn't thought about  it much. I lowered my head facing downwards to the ground so he wouldn't a clear view of my face using my hat as cover, waiting for the him to get just a bit closer.

"That's it kid, it will all be over quickly."

Just when he was about 7 feet away from me I lift my leg off the as if kicking up then plummet it down to ground, kicking it. The earth under him emerged as a thin rod of rock, raising up quickly, hitting him right under his chin with great force from the solid rock causing the man to be knocked off his feet  and let go of his blade, causing it to fall to the dirt before it's master did. I walked over to the man appearing to be out cold and a smiled formed upon my mien.

"You were right. It did end quickly."

I laughed a bit, until I heard multiple footsteps coming from within the buildings. I prepared myself for what's coming.

"So boy is one of them benders, eh?"​


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## Fedster (Sep 7, 2013)

*Zakku Shei*

What? Go on a trip with that old man who can barely move? What was Master Faoshen thinking? That meant that Zakku would have to take care of the man, ensure he did not cut  himself with the tea, because that might be a possibility with a man of _that_ age, and most importantly, he would probably learn absolutely nothing. But, disobeying Faoshen was a path that only men with suicidal wishes would take. And Zakku was not one of those men.

?Do you understand-?, He was almost done, when something exploded in their doorstep. It made the whole house trembled, and stuff from the shelves, neatly placed, fell and cracked, or even turn into pieces. Zakku hated most of those things, but now that they were gone, what would happen next was not pleasant.

"What happened!?", they both yelled at the same time. All they could see at first was smoke left by the explosion. But then the smoke cleared up, showing a scene that made Zakku's jaw to drop.

Pu Yi was standing on a man who was lying on the floor. He was laughing and explaining how he _pretended_ to be old and stuff to trick him. The guy was pretending! Just like how he pretend to be polite and proper whenever Master was around. It was an encounter dropped hard by the Spirits, yo.

_'Now I'm totally going with old man Pu Yi, yo.'_, he caught himself saying, with a small grin on his face.


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## Chronos (Sep 8, 2013)

*Shen Liang*

Curious, it seemed liked he didn't take much offend to his words. Whatever have happened had already weighed on his shoulder, slumping them, he released a sigh as in to vent out any sort of stress that had been built through the course of their conversation. Now that this was over, he would continue with his business, but not before long was he invited to eat dinner with set man. Odd, Shen Liang became hesitant, at first he thought that it might not be a good idea to follow a man he just met, then again, it seemed he was hungry as well. Although the cons outweigh the pros, he finally concluded that he would follow this man to where ever he took him, a few paces behind, he began to ponder what to say. Honestly, he hasn't really even introduced himself, he didn't know this man's name, age, or even if he was really Earth Nation. 

One of those three was at least obvious. He seemed to hold high respect for the people of the Nation who go to war. If anything, Shen didn't need to keep his guard up. 

"Hey, my name's Shen Liang. I didn't get to introduce myself before."

He said following behind him, pondering where he was taking him. Again, the thoughts of worry began to crawl at the back of his head. It didn't take a genius to understand the situation that he was in, he was following a man he didn't even know, who just punched a man for the sole purpose of shutting him up. However, he also understood that not everyone is above forgiveness, in all honesty he understood that raging emotion that boiled up inside, just wanting to fucking hit someone because their ignorance is just too much to bare. Yes, he could know such sentiment. Evidently, he would've admitted that punching a man that made you angry was good, it felt good. It has it's own merit of soothing someone. In a way, he believed violence was the answer to many of life's conundrums. It was simply a gateway that led to peace at times. But would he use it? He himself questioned it. Maybe? It wasn't definite, but it was there up for grabs. 

Shaking the thought, he rose his voice once more and said:

"Where are we going?"


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## Island (Sep 11, 2013)

*Ba Sing Se*

What do you know? The guy agreed, though one had to wonder why. Usually, you would be hesitant to go with complete strangers, knowing absolutely nothing about them. Who were they? What did they want? Maybe they needed money and wanted to mug you. Maybe they were actually slavers and wanted to sell you off to the black market. Who knew? In this world, you could never be too sure. Nevertheless, Li Yong was delightfully surprised that Shen actually agreed; he always considered himself a likable person and certainly not a malicious one but not so much to sway random people to follow him like he was the protagonist of some kind of adventure story.

“Li Yong,” he stated as he moved down the busy city street. “That’s my name, I mean.”

Then, after a couple minutes of walking and once Shen Liang finally asked where they were headed, Yi Long pointed to a humble restaurant across the street. The sign read, “Papa Chang’s Delight!”

“Supposedly,” he stated as he made his way toward the entrance, “They have some of the best food in the whole Middle Ring, but I haven’t been there myself.”

The two of young men, Shen Liang and Li Yong, make their way into the restaurant. Similar to its humble exterior, the inside was likewise very simple: wooden chairs, wooden tables, and very traditional artwork on the walls. Most of the artwork depicted dragons and other mythical creatures, others depicted great Earth Kingdom heroes, namely the renowned explorer Chen Liu and his treasure fleet which was thought to have sailed the seas over three hundred years ago. The people in the restaurant, meanwhile, looked like craftsmen, merchants, and others, while not especially rich, belonged with neither the upper crust of society nor the hordes of refugees and vagabonds that were increasingly common on Ba Sing Se’s bustling streets.

“Welcome to Papa Chang’s,” an elderly woman greeted the two. This elderly woman, presumably the wife of the owner, had a long sagging face with almost no hair on top of her head and a huge crooked nose with a hairy wart in the center of it. She motioned for the two warriors to take a seat in the left hand corner, repeating, “Welcome, welcome. Please, take a seat, enjoy your stay at Papa Chang’s. The food is…” 

“…_to die for_.”

The woman cackled as she made her way to the back, leaving the two at the table with some menus and a couple hot cups of tea. Li raised an eyebrow at the strange old woman, but turned his attention to the menu when she finally disappeared into the back room.

*Pen Gao*

“Now then,” he turned to Zakku and stated, “Do me a favor, and shackle this guy up. We’ll be taking him with us.” Then he knelt down, his foot still planted firmly in Hu’s back and whispered sternly, “You're going to cooperate with us, or else I’m going to break _every_ bone in your body.”

Finally, Pu Yi turned his attention to Master Faoshen, explaining, “This unfortunately means we won’t be staying for dinner. I’d rather not endanger your or your household anymore; once your apprentice is ready, we’ll be headed out.”


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## Fedster (Sep 12, 2013)

*Zakku Shei*

"Zakku, if you may...", Master Faoshen indicated that he should do as he was instructed, and the apprentice happily complied.

"Yes, sir!", he answered with enthusiasm, and took the rather heavy, black shackles that Pu Yi handed him. They seemed uncomfortable and Zakku hoped he would never have to use them. Unlocking them, he crouched near the fallen men restricted by his future master. "Sorry, man, but you kind of tried to kill the man.", he explained, as though it was not clear enough. He was probably winning the hatred of that man, but he did not care about that. He cared about what Old Man Pu would teach him, or more precisely, where he would take him.

"Done.", He declared after locking the second shackle, restraining the ass*ass*in successfully.

"Good. Now you may go pa-...", Master Faoshen could not finish the sentence. That was odd. The Master would rather disembowel himself than leaving a sentence unfinished. Little Zakku knew that he was sad because his apprentice was leaving. That behind the ardious lectures and cold treatment, lie sentiments of friendship and happiness. "Go pack, Zakku.", he ended.

The young man was out again in a matter of minutes, with a medium-sized travel bag on his back. "Goodbye, Master.", Zakku bowed respectfully.

"Zakku...", He could even hear the Master swallowing. "You may behave..._Inappropiately_ now.", his apprentice widened his eyes and his jaw dropped, but it was quickly replaced by a big smile.

"Yo, Master, you're the man! Come 'ere!", Zakku rejoiced, taking his teacher and guardian by the shoulders and embracing him like they do in the slums. Faoshen endured him and even allowed himself to break his properness by saying:

"Just keep it to a minimum..._Yo_."


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## Chronos (Sep 15, 2013)

Shen Liang 

After entering the halls they were seated on their respected tables. Usher by a elderly woman who's emphasis on the phrase '...to die for' caused him uneasiness to built up on his system. Turning his gaze, following the old woman towards the back of the room with his eyes, suspicion was inevitably forming in himself, however, thinking about it, it wasn't uncommon to find weird old ladies like this around town. It was evidently a part of reality that old ladies liked to scare children, although he didn't think of himself as one, to someone of her age, he was simply a boy who's still suckling on his mother's titties. Either way, this wasn't any moment to suspect anything, nothing was gonna pop-up from anywhere, and although he wasn't very trustful of the individual before him, he was at least sure enough that he meant no harm, or should he say, that even if he meant any harm, he was confident enough in his ability to escape out of a tough situation when the time called for it. 

Lifting the menu to his line of vision he began to scan through the dishes they offered, it wasn't a large variety of them and honestly not all of them suited his tastes. However, it would be rude to just select something simple, then again, it wasn't like he needed to please anyone. He was pretty sure that, what was his name again? Li Yong? He was pretty sure that he wouldn't mind it if he chose anything along the lines of either soup or even something classy like the lobster-fish or whatever. Fixated on what to order, he sneaked a peak at Li Yong who was seated before him, a rose of his eyes brow soon exposed his confusion. It was still strangely odd that someone would invite a stranger to eat like this, maybe it was a simple merit of him of evading a harsh confrontation without much conflict, or simply just his way of getting out of a tough situation. Reconsidering, he should have neglected his offer. But well, it was too late for that at this particular juncture.

What worried him most was that he wasn't very good at conversations, starting it, continuing it, or ending it. Usually he kept to himself, but at this point he wouldn't think that this was any form of problem. If anything it's their first meeting, they know nothing of the other, and conversations can fly pretty easily, now there was also this urge to not say anything crawling at the back of his head. Unsure as to it being either a merit of closure, a weigh that would be off his shoulders, he didn't need to start a conversation and the pursuit wasn't to make any friends, but to have a companion while they ate, they would probably get into small and idle conversation here and there, but thinking about anything was just hassling, really. 

Returning to the thought of what would he should order, the placed down the menu and decided on some Fujian thick soup, honestly he wasn't very hungry, but the thought of at least eating a bowl of some warm noodles helped him relax a bit. And so, he finally decided to speak, and he worded. 

"So, Ba Sing Se, how long have you been here? Are you resident? Or are you just simply passing by?"


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## Island (Sep 16, 2013)

*Ba Sing Se*

?Ah, right,? Li Yong shrugged, ?You caught me.?

?I?m actually from out of town,? he went on, ?I?m here in Ba Sing Se under contract with the military, but not in the way you would think. My brothers, sisters, and I were contracted under General Ming to do research on the Avatar: who was he, what happened to him, why he hasn't returned, so forth, and so forth. One of my brothers is off at the Northern Air Temple and another on Ember Island. Then, one of my sisters is at Pinnacle Palace, following up on a lead concerning a Water Tribe refugee and his family who might have some information for us. I, of course, got the least exciting destination: Ba Sing Se.?

Suddenly, the elderly woman returned, asking for the two mens? orders.

Li Yong spent a couple minutes prior looking over the menu and had already made his choice, ?Yeah, I?ll have the, what is this, beef and noodle bowl??

?Ah, yes, our special of the day?? she smiled widely, ?_Hu Man_ Soup.?

The young man frowned but nevertheless thought it would be rude to question it.

Nevertheless, he let the elderly woman take Shen Liang?s order, and when she was finished, he got back to what he was saying, ?Right, and as you can imagine, in a city as big as Ba Sing Se, it?s pretty hard to just go around and collect the information you need. There are so many people and so many places to go. I?ve been here about a week, stopping and asking anybody who caught my attention if they knew anything useful. Thus far, I've already spent a couple days in the lower ring, questioning refugees and others displaced from the war, and then a few days ago, I thought I?d move up to the middle ring and see if any of the locals knew anything useful??

?Which explains why I just invite random people out for lunch.? He smiled awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. ?Somebody who jumps out of the sky surely has something interesting to tell.?

He pulled his hot cup of tea closer to him, grasping it with both hands and readying to take a sip.

?What about you??

*Pen Gao*

While Zakku was busy restraining the would-be assassin, talking to his master, and packing for his journey, Pu Yi went ahead and wrangled up a couple of ostrich horses that he brought with him from Omashu. They both had leather saddles and bridles and carried two large sacks of supplies. Where he got them from and from who was unknown, especially considering his apparent lack of funds and how expensive ostrich horses were these days. However, an observant individual might notice that the bridles bore the Earth Kingdom emblem, implying that the equipment, and by extension, the ostrich horses, belonged to the Earth Kingdom military, possibly the Royal Guard of Omashu. Nevertheless, Pu Yi hopped on one, and when Zakku was ready, gestured for him to hop on the other.

?I hope you know how to ride one of these.? he chuckled.

As Zakku made his way up on the ostrich horse, he suddenly remembered, ?Oh yeah, _he_ is riding with you.?

He motioned to Hu Fang.

?His sword and anything else he has on him can stay here with Master Faoshen,? he stated, ?As a parting gift of sorts. I mean, who _wouldn't_ want an exploding sword??


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## Chronos (Sep 16, 2013)

Shen Liang

Again, there she goes. Why did she continue to use these emphasis on these words. It began to suit him rather roughly. He began to ponder the idea to tell her to knock it off, but then again, he didn't want to be rude, even after he managed to order, a bowl of soup was brought to him, which was convenient it's something he wanted, the heat seemed unbearable however, like if roasted in heavy fire. The odor wasn't distinctive to him either. Was this pork? Or was it chicken? Probably some steak he wasn't familiar with. But then again, this wasn't the time to think any of these thoughts. He seemed to have spoiled more than what he bargained for. A military official. Of course, seemed he was custody of an official. Shit, and act of assault or escape would lead to something ugly. Was he a bender? If he was, what type? All of these  questions began to arise the moment he ended his side of the story.

"So, you're a military officer more or less. I suppose you're right. It's not everyday you see someone flying through the roofs. Hell, would you'd be surprised if I told you I was Avatar's son? Air Bending through the roofs. I mean, it fits the year doesn't it? I'm 19 years old, the avatar disappeared around 20 years ago along with his friends. Who knows? Maybe the Avatar bared a child and fled. That child being me." 

He said half-heartedly. Expecting a response. Pulling back on his chair, causing it to lean on the inferior legs of the chair. He already knew his name, unfortunately, he wasn't too careful when he worded out his name. He should've been careful from the start. But, then again, he didn't have much to hide other than his ability to bend, which he would use as his trump card, that is unless he had witnessed the act of bending the wall into stair, which meant that that certain plan of his would thrown out the window. Now there was also the fact that he could just lodge his feet with the earth, but... he wouldn't want to start something, he began to speak once again.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you there Li Yong. I don't hold any sort of information in my hands. What happened today was purely and act of fate, if you believe in that sort of jazz. There's no story that binds me to this city, nothing of importance, that is. I'm simply a guy who's been trained above the rest, who's priority in life is, well, I haven't figured that out yet. I'm known as the Primeval to some. Something bequeathed to by my master. I come and go depending on the situation. I might be on Ba Sing Se today, tomorrow I might be on a one way trip to visit some of the other districts on the world. Not that I travel much, I'm just saying I don't stay in a single place for too long." 

Now, he needed to change the subject... Oh, he could use that. Thanks to the old lady's influence since they got here

"Hey, did you know that they serve human in this place."


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## Hidden Nin (Sep 17, 2013)

*A time a while back, outside Xiamen...*

The one wearing the one mask, the singular descriptor, sat motionless as a man not wearing a mask stood behind him, inspecting the strange objects he hadn't seen previously.  "So explain to me one more time, what transpired before I woke up."

The man kneeling with the mask of one gulped, and nodded meekly.  "After capturing him...I thought it a better idea to have him gather supplies and resources for us in Xiamen...we'd be easily recognizable and are running low.  I reasoned he would not be able to run far if he didn't return in time; he has a lame leg.  And we possess incentive for him to return besides.  I personally paid witness to his skill in board games and those of chance; he has an uncanny knack for them and also noticing deception.  I feel he'll do well gathering money while in Xiamen, Venerable One.  As I said before, his abilities of deduction were impressive, and he had a keen glint to his gaze." 

"I see."  And with a deft motion, he grabbed a sword from its scabbard on the desk, and decapitated the man wearing the one mask.  Then, bending over carefully and handling it gingerly, he put it on, and sighed.  Just as he did an odd fox like creature revealed itself from the shadows of the tent.  Outside, crickets chirped quietly, the sounds of the other cult members lost in the lull of the night.  The animal bore a resemblance to the real-world fox but without the whiskers they possessed. It had four long legs, a triangle-shaped snout, a tail, and brown fur with a brighter patch of fur below its mouth, at the end of its tail, on its forelegs and posterior body. Its eyes were black and narrow.  "That is the exact sort of gaze you do not want turned back on you, should it think of a way to get a knife in your back.  I ask for ingenuity and foresight, not foolhardy attempts at clever stratagems."  The masked man's voice was cold and mechanical as he lectured the corpse.

"What will you do now?" a voice called out in the back of the masked man's mind.  The fox stirred.

"Follow after him.  All funds he makes in the gambling dens I want recorded, but do not give the impression you are what you are.  You're just an ordinary creature that took a liking to following him.  Make sure he returns, and remembered anyone he tells of us.  In fact, catch his scent; should he speak you need to inform me immediately.  Such a mess."  The masked man reflected inward.  The young man was still very much under the impression this was a cult of odd fanatics; that was good.  He'd act in a way that would try taking advantage of flaws or intricacies they did not actually possess.  And there wasn't a doubt in his mind that the young man with the cane would come limping back with a plan, in addition to the money and supplies he'd promised to return with.

"Understood."  The fox bled back into the shadows, leaving the masked man alone.  Just then two cultists with differing expressions for nothing on their masks came in.  "Is there something wrong, Venerable One?"

"No, but it would be wonderful if you could clean up this mess."  He nodded towards the quickly pooling puddle of blood that had resulted from the recent execution by his hand.  They nodded without a moment's delay.  "Understood."  The duo rushed off to get something to clean the mess up.  And, just then, something glinted on his desk that caught his eye.  One of the items taken from the young man.  A white lotus tile, tied to a necklace.  Behind the mask, the older man's expression darkened, and he traced the edge of the piece with the tips of his middle and forefinger, sighing gently.  "Just when I thought it couldn't get any more complicated..."

*And in the Present Day...*

A young man wielding a walking stick, and with fox at his side made his way towards...someplace, the destination having been in his cross hairs for a long while.  On his back was an odd bundle, and the satchel at his hip held all manner of curious draughts, schematics, scrolls, and trinkets.  He stopped, glancing up with eyes narrowed to stall the sun from boring into his eyes too badly.  Placing a hand to block the blisteringly bright noonday sun, he sighed.


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## Radical Edward (Sep 17, 2013)

*Outskirts of Ba Sing Se*

It had been almost a week since Akika's camp was attacked and still he hadn't come across any type of clue where Lee could have escaped too. Akika was no detective. He knew if he was going to find Lee he'd need help. He thought maybe if he went to one of the bigger kingdoms than maybe he could find help. Akika had never been to Ba Sing Se, but only herd stories. It was suppose to be a great city with the biggest walls in the world.  Ba Sing Se seemed like it would be a great place to start to find help. Akika avoided talking to as many strangers as he could. Since the attack he didn't feel safe. The only time he did talk to some one was to ask for directions, and each time Akika asked some one about how to get to Ba Sing Se they would look at him as if he was crazy. Still he got the directions. Akika was able to wrangle a Dragon Moose-Lion which he named "Wayne" so he could make the trip faster. Akika road for three weeks only stopping for to sleep and food, until he reached  Ba Sing Se. Akika was easily over 50 miles away but he could still see the wall. He was amazed. 

"Not much further"

Akika road up to the wall he got so close he could touch it. Even though he knew better, Akika could swear that the wall went pass the sky. Now he wasn't sure how to get in.

"Hello! I would like to come in!

No one response

"Anybody?"

Akika rides around on Wayne trying to find a way in.


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## Fedster (Sep 17, 2013)

*Zakku Shei*

"Don't worry, Master, I...", Zakku began saying, but stopped himself mid-sentence. He decided that it would be better to tell the truth now. "I'll Try." That was enough for the middle-aged man. The fact that he could teach his ways to his apprentice, even few of them, and that they would live within him, waiting to be passed on, filled him with joy beyond definition. "Ok, let's g-woah!"

The firebender glared at the ostrich horse, puzzled. _'Yo, how do I get on this thing?'_, Zakku leapt at the animal and tried to take a hold of the reigns, but failed to do so and slided to the side, landing on his _derri?re_. He tried one more time and after failing again, Faoshen commanded the ostrich horse to sit, thus making it easier to mount. "_Oh_", he exclaimed, "I knew that."

"Of course, Zakku.", Smiled Faoshen.

"Ok, up we go, man.", Zakku lifted the shackled assassin off the ground and helped him mount the ostrich horse. Then, he proceeded to hand '_Dat_ sword' over to Faoshen.

"It is indeed a most excellent sword. I shall take good care of it.", And then he looked one last time at his student, who was on top of an ostrich horse, ready for a trip that would teach him more than what Faoshen could. "Farewell, Pu, Zakku."

"Bye, Master!", and so they rode off to the road.


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## Axelthewanted (Sep 17, 2013)

Jixing Zhou
Journey Begins Pt.2

I looked to the "not-so-vacant" building in which both the voice and steps where coming from. There I saw what I counted to be 5 armed grown men with staffs, knifes and swords looking at me as there next target. I smiled back at them showing no fear towards them, relaxing my muscles and standing up straight, turning my body to their location and asked.

"Who wants to know?"

The tall man with spiky dark hair, a thin scar that went half way his cheek, wearing a brown colored sleeveless shirt and white pants that only went down to his knees, and what seemed to be a morning beard, looking like he's around his late 30's. He carried a curved sword on his side as he took steps to approach having a grin on his face as the dirt from the ground flew up some inches in every step. He stopped in front of me, demonstrating his height contrast to mine being somewhere 2 feet taller than me and 5 inches wider.

"I see that you got some talent there little kid." 

"Thanks, my grandfather taught me."

"Well kid, I could use someone with your kind a talent in my group. I promise give a fair caught of our gain."

"Sorry I'm not interested to join some old geezers that can't even beat a kid. You would just slow me down anyways."

I said with a smile, mocking the men's work and their age. As if I would ever lower myself to being a burglar, but the man didn't seem to be happy with my choice of words and screamed at me with frustration behind his words.

"You rotten brat! I'll tare you to shred you little in great!"

Right at that moment he swung his blade towards my neck, attempting to chop it off. I swiftly duck, evading the sharp edge of the blade and turned my body a full 180 degrees to the left stepping under the man's right hand side picking up dirt along the way in a circular trail and extended my right arm forward with a fist as if I were punching the air, making the earth where I once stood raise up forward in a diagonal line to his stomach. This cause the man to be pushed of his feet and crash through the old wooden wall of the building, leaving a spiky circular hole on the wall surface and sounds of small wood piece fall on its floor. The men looked back to their boss surprised of what they have witness and concerned of the man's status. 

"Chief, are you ok?"

One of the underlings said . The Chief slowly sat up having his hand massaging his head to suppress his pain.

"Of course I'm ok. Teach that boy to respect he's elders!"

The men charged at me with killing desire in their eyes at the order of their leader. I stood up and went into my defensive stance, standing sideways, with my left leg on the back, with its knee crouched to what was close to a 120 degree angle and my right leg extended, my left arm bended upward with a fist and the arm the same way but bended downwards.

"Sorry but I'm not planning on dying anytime soon."

As they approached, I stomps the ground to levitate a big chunk of rock then I spinned my body to kick it with the heel of my left foot, shooting the rock toward the enemies, using to divide them. During the process the man in the back go caught between the rocks path. I made a pain face winking one of my eyes to further express it. 

"Ouch, that's going to leave a mark."

Two men tried to flank me from my left and right, swinging toward my hips with their staffs, so I quickly reacted by jumping up, causing them to clash with each other and upon landing the earth emerged from both of my side being about the same height of the men, then I immediately extended my arm to the two rock bodies, forcing them away, taking the men along with it. Finally with that only one of the underlings remained. He stood there and I think he was shaking on the moment. I stood sideways once again in a casual manner, taunting him with a smile by making my index finger move forward and back as a sign to the word "come". The man knowing he was being mocked he ran toward in a panic with his lance pointing to pierce me. 

"Don't you mock me you rotten son of a...!"

Right before he could finish his sentence I slided my foot against the ground sending my energy through the soil, creating a path a that starts to crumble and shatter the soil towards the man. The rumble of the soil cause the man to trip forward, plummeting face first on the shattered soil. Then  I jump towards him landing in front his head, I made the earth around his body rise up a 3 feet in an amazing speed making his body fly up and hit the ground with the force of gravity pulling him back down.

"Well that was easy. My old man's training really paid off. Hehe."

I chuckled a bit until I was caught from behind by the Chief, which I completely forgot about. I was trapped on a full nelson and he picked my body of the floor, while applying force to my neck. The pain struck quickly through my neck and chin. I struggled to get loose from the man's grip but it was no use, I was locked and I couldn't reach the ground so I couldn't use my earth bending.


"What wrong, boy? Can't use your little rock magic to save you now? Haha."


He laughed as the grip grew more intense making me scream out of pain. I could feel his grin beaming the back of my head along with his stupid ego. I couldn't let end like this. I can't. I will not lose to man like him. 

"Let... Me.... GOOO!!!"

Out of full rage and my options running dry, I hit the man with my foot on the only place he was guarding. His crotch. 

"AAAYYYY!!!"

The man's voice went what it seemed sound like 5 octaves higher and by the unbearable pain he let go of me and kneeled covering his crotch. Thus I was once again connected to the ground. My anger lead my next move, making me step the ground once more to levitate a small chunk of rock, no bigger than a human head, stepped forward with my left leg making it cross with my right to create some momentum, then I kicked the earth towards the Chief's head with great speed, knocking him out. Finally I was the victor of this battle. No group of bandits will get in the way of my goal. I cleanse my hand of dirt my clapping them together in an up and down motion. I looked down on the unconscious leader  and noticed he was carrying a piece of paper. I kneel down and removed it from his pocket. I gaze upon the piece of paper and saw that it was a map of the earth region. I took a god look at it but what caught me the attention was the kingdom of Ba Sing Sei. 

"Of course. Ba Sing Sei is where the earth kingdom strongest military is placed and our king. Maybe there I can find a way to make this cursed war end. But it's a long way to get to Ba Sing Sei. How will I get there."

I said to myself until I heard the sound of animals behind the building that the thugs came from. I rushed towards the sound in curiosity and there I found horses tied up on poles. It must have been from those bandits. I let the horse run free and kept one to myself, making me feel like I was still at my farm having races with my cousin. From there I ride the horse towards Ba Sing Sei at full speed leaving a trail of dust behind.
​


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## Island (Sep 18, 2013)

*On the Road*

Finally, the trio was on the road. The old master rode solo on one ostrich horse while Zakku and his would-be assassin rode on the other. They remained in relative silence as they journeyed through town and then through the outlying farms and miscellaneous settlements. Along the way, Pu Yi hummed some old Earth Kingdom tune to himself, bobbing his head back and forth as he did and otherwise seeming at peace with the world around him, occasionally looking to his sides at the empty plains, as well as up to the cloudless sky above him. Preferably, he would lead the group at night and then travel during the day: the further north they travelled, the more likely they were to encounter a Fire Nation patrol, and he wasn’t interested in running into one, especially since they were riding Earth Kingdom ostrich horses.

“Soooo, guys,” he addressed both Zakku and Hu, “Want to do an icebreaker or something? We can do two truths and a lie, the little known fact, or even twenty questions if you guys can bear talking for that long…”

*Ba Sing Se*

“Well, not a military officer since I’m not formally part of the Earth Kingdom Army,” he corrected, “But I guess you could consider me a mercenary of sorts, except, unlike traditional mercenaries, I’m not hired to go participate in battles or anything. You know those old adventure tales of people commissioned to go find some rare treasure or something? It’s sort of like that, except I’ve, or rather, we, have been tasked with gathering information rather than any physical thing.”

He chuckled.

“Well, the story goes that the Avatar returned, which prompted the invasion of the Northern Water Tribe,” he recollected what he’d learned before setting off from home, “Supposedly, the Avatar was awakened in the Southern Water Tribe and was pursued all around the world by Prince Zuko. Then, he journeyed to the Northern Water Tribe to find a waterbending master, and Admiral Zhao, having far more influence than Prince Zuko, assembled a fleet and attacked. We know now that those rumors are false, however: reports from Water Tribe refugees, including Master Pakku, confirm that the Avatar was never at the Northern Water Tribe.”

He paused.

“It’s accepted nowadays that he never returned at all,” he went on, “…and that Prince Zuko was suffering from some kind of mental breakdown after years of travelling the world.  He discovered a small Water Tribe settlement, and was convinced that they were harboring the Avatar. He destroyed this settlement when he didn’t get what he wanted, and the sole survivors, a couple of siblings, journeyed to the only place they knew they could be safe: the Northern Water Tribe. Prince Zuko was still convinced that they were harboring the Avatar, or at least knew of his location, and this wild delusion of his eventually reached the ears of Admiral Zhao. He invaded the North Pole, and the rest is history.”

“Hey, did you know they served human at this place.”

Li Yong’s eyes widened. Maybe he wasn’t crazy. From the moment he walked in, he felt as though something was off, that something was not quite right. The woman spoke in a way that made him uncomfortable, suggesting that the food was to die for, as well as suggesting some food that sounded suspiciously like it was made from humans. But that didn’t make any sense. Supposedly, this place was one of the top-rated restaurants in the Middle Ring. Li Yong read that Middle Ring Weekly gave this place a _“Five out of Five!”_ for _“Excellent lunch! Excellent service!”_ Why would such a place be rated so highly if it served human meat? Wouldn’t somebody notice? Surely, if some guy off the street could figure it out, food critics would have long since done so and exposed these people as cannibals.

It didn’t really make much sense, but, yeah, it definitely crossed his mind.

_“Here to serve man.”_ Read the sign just above the entrance to kitchen.

Li Yong gulped.

“That…” he laughed, “Is the least crazy thing you’ve said so far, and that’s saying something.”

Suddenly, Li Yong began to feel woozy. He looked down at his plate and then up at Shen. The room began to spin around him, and he felt himself losing his balance in his seat. After a couple more seconds, everything began to blacken, and he tilted forward. Then, nothing. He smacked his head into the table and lost consciousness, at which point, the elderly waitress approached, placing her hand on his back, rubbing it softly. She lifted him back up, putting him in a sitting position and examined him. There was now food splattered across his face, from his forehead to his chin, and he was still unconscious.

“My, my,” she shook her head, “Your poor friend here doesn’t look so good…”

“I think Mama Chang should take him in the back and clean him up a bit.” She addressed Shen.


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## Atlantic Storm (Sep 18, 2013)

Hu Fang - _Red Blade_
Book One, Reflection
______________________________​
Hu Fang had screwed up, he knew that. His impatience had gotten the best of him and, as a result, he underestimated his opponent and was now put into this position. Bound up and without a sword, it wasn't the _first_ time he'd been in this kind of situation, but Pu Yi was more dangerous and guileful than the average mark. In hindsight, given the huge price on his head, this made sense. Surveying his surroundings, the Red Blade mentally cursed at himself. There was nothing he could do here. The shackles were too tight for him to do anything, the terrain of the area worked against him, and if he tried anything, he'd risk getting paralyzed by Pu Yi again.

Thus, the Red Blade chose to bide his time and wait. A predator's mentality would not change even in the position of the prey; he would wait for a moment of weakness, and that is when he would take action. Of course, taking action in this case meant running away and trying to restock on weapons.

He would miss his exploding sword, though. There weren't a lot of things Hu Fang was attached to, but the Red Blade was something he was particularly fond of. It was his favourite weapon, and it made him feel secure. Partly because it was something he was comfortable with, but mostly because it could explode and set things on fire. As a result, the fact that his target decided to give it away greatly annoyed him. Staring at Pu Yi, Hu Fang made a mental note to make his death extra brutal.


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## Hidden Nin (Sep 18, 2013)

*On the Road*

Hui glanced over at his shoulder, angling his walking stick to get a better look.  The fox he was traveling with sat back on its hunches as the trio approached, and the slow progress of the young man came to a halt as he examined the three closely.  About his neck hung a peculiar piece, a white lotus tile, that was very meticulously polished and cleaned, if appearances were any indicator.  He blinked slowly behind his glasses, drinking in the trio and their situation, and then brings his hand up in a short wave.  

"Greetings and salutations, ganchos."


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## Fedster (Sep 19, 2013)

*Zakku Shei*
*On The Road, Yo.*

As the group departed and felt silent but for Pu Yi's humming, Zakku started to work on some ill beats in his mind, which, when completed, would be uttered in the most euphonic and glorious way known to man. But there was a long way to go until he had reached such sick perfection. He wondered if shackled guy or Pu Yi were fond of the classical art of beat-dropping. At least the old man liked to hum, so that was a start. But shackled guy...He had been silent the whole time, as though he had no mouth.

"Yo, we could try and make this guy talk.", He pointed with his head at Hu Fang. "I mean, who is he?", However, the question remained unanswered, as they encountered a bespectacled young man who seemed to have some kind of trouble. And from his neck, it hung..._'Oh, no. The White Lotus...Don't be a trap. For the Spirits, don't be a trap!'_

"Yo!", He greeted excessively loud, waving one hand at the message's receiver. Apparently, that guy also had a speech quirk, because never in his life had Zakku heard the word _'Gancho'_."I mean, hello!", Years of living with Faoshen had also got him the habit of auto-correcting his 'innapropiate behaviour'.


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## Island (Sep 20, 2013)

*On the Road*

Much to Pu Yi?s disappointment, Hu Fang remained silent. Zakku asked about him, wondering who he was, but Pu Yi didn?t have an answer for him. All he really knew about the guy was that he starting trailing him in some small town outside of Omashu. That?s when he picked up that ?crippled old man? routine, hoping that he would attack sometime before he got to Master Faoshen's place in Pen Gao. Unfortunately, that didn?t happen, and he had to burden Master Faoshen with the knowledge that an assassin of unknown skill could strike at any time. The guy ended up being a weakling and not very smart either, falling for the whole ?crippled old man? routine.

?Greetings and salutations, ganchos.? Somebody called to them!

Pu Yi ordered his ostrich horse to stop.

?Yo!? Zakku greeted. ?I mean, hello!?

Zakku stopped as well, waving at this man.

This man had dark hair braided into a ponytail in the back and carried a very strange contraption, a large hexagonal tube made out of bamboo and miscellaneous wood. By the smell of it, it orobably contained gunpowder and was therefore some kind of weapon. Pu Yi doubted that this man was a kind of fireworks salesman, so the next logical conclusion was that it was meant to launch projectiles. Given its structure, he doubted that it was a cannon. A metal ball would be too heavy, and launching it would require a lot more gunpowder than what it looked like that thing could hold. Therefore, he predicted that it launched harpoons or spears, maybe even arrows, though he couldn?t be too sure.

It definitely wasn't Earth Kingdom issue.

So the guy probably made it himself.

?Gancho here is an engineer.? Pu Yi announced. ?He's a friend of _SCIENCE_, and any friend of _SCIENCE_ is a friend of Pu Yi!?


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## Hidden Nin (Sep 20, 2013)

*On the Road
*
The edge of Hui's lips quirk into the beginnings of a small smirk as he turns to get a better look at this intelligent young man, and get their voices to his good ear.  Or at least, perceptive.  But perceptive meant trouble, when they weren't aligned with you.  He slackens his grip on his weapon, and it slides a bit further behind him.  "You're correct."  They both seemed to be quite energetic.  But then, the shackled man...were they dangerous as well?

"I don't think it's accurate to say science and I are 'friends', nearly familiar with one another."  Hui wasn't one to skirt questions or let the 800 pound gorilla in the room go without addressing for long, so he just says it.  "...why do you have that man shackled?"


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## Fedster (Sep 21, 2013)

*Zakku Shei*
*On the Road, yo (II)*

"No clue, man.", Zakku hurried to answer. However, he felt that, among the three of them, he was the only one that did not know who Shacky (A temporary nickname that would become permanent over time) was. Though he was not personally offended with Old Man Pu for not telling him, He felt a bit left out of the situation. But maybe this was the time to find it out. "Actually, I asked that just before meeting you."

Zakku eyed Pu Yi from behind his radical hair. "So, you're gonna spill it, Old Pu?", And then turned his head to Shacky. "Or you're gonna give us an _exploding_ revelation, yo?"


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## Atlantic Storm (Sep 24, 2013)

Hu Fang - _Red Blade_
Book One, Response
______________________________​
Hu Fang regarded the new arrival. He seemed weary of Pu Yi and the rest of the group, he noticed. The new person's attention seemed to be somewhat fixiated on himself - particularly the shackles. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage? Not now, and certainly not particularly easily either considering his position. It wasn't a very safe bet either, so Hu Fang tucked away the idea into the recesses of his mind. He'd need a bit more than that to escape. The young soldier then asked him a question, to which Red Blade briefly contemplated lying or not responding to. Though, given that Pu Yi was right next to him, there was no point in lying and it would be in his best interest if he answered himself. But at the same time, there was no particular reason why he should tell the full truth either.

Shifting his body slightly to face the the man, the metal shackles on his arm shook slightly as he positioned himself. He kept his gaze level and his expression neutral, as always: "I was tasked to eliminate the man beside me," he replied calmly, "obviously, that failed, so now I'm here." His tone was steady and gave nothing away. Experience had taught him that in times like these, panic would only lead to further failure and the best course of action would be to remain calm. And that was what he did.


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