Avatar: Cycles of Life (Closed)

Armphid

Crowned Sun
Joined
May 18, 2003
Posts
9,831
The sun kissed him as he dropped through the cerulean sky, the crisp, cold polar wind filling his nose and sharply caressing his skin. There was no sound but the wind in his ears and the ripping rustle of the fabric of his robes. As he plummeted freely through the sky, new sounds started to reach his ears. The sound of children yelling and shouting as they played, the muted bellow of a sky bison as a mound of hay was fed to it, the ringing of chimes and bells powered by the wind. New smells intruded as well, of fresh flowering gardens and plants, baking bread, and burning incense. For a moment, as the world rushed up toward him, he was twelve again, home, the sounds and smells of the Temple familiar and comforting.

Aang's blue eyes, far wiser but less innocent than in those days, opened and he looked down at the splendor of the Southern Air Temple. He lifted his arms high over his head, then brought them down in a sweeping motion, a mighty spinning column of air rushing forth beneath him, slowing his descent. The Temple was home, in so many more ways than it had been then, but it was different too. There were families here now. Not just monks but husbands, wives, and children. He loved the presence of the children the most. Watching them take simple joy in life was a soothing balm to the Avatar's often troubled and burdened heart. Especially his children.

He came down lightly on one of the airy balconies of the main temple building, looking out over all that was going on. His face was older, he was a man in his 40's now, lined with wrinkles brought on by many trials and cares, yet still boyish. His head was freshly shaved, the bright blue arrow marking him as a master Airbender still as vibrant as it had ever been. He was taller, but still on the short side, his build lean and graceful. He was dressed in the pale robes of a monk, and he smiled as he surveyed it all. "I guess...all in all, I haven't done too bad." Much like his face, his voice had become more adult, but still held traces of his boyish heart.

There was a patient sigh behind him, "This again?" Strong but delicate brown-skinned hands encircled his waist, and he felt his wife's body pressing against him. "Aang, you've done so much for us, for everyone, for the whole world. Can't you just accept it for once?"

He smiled, "If you say so, Katara."

"Well, I do." She kissed his cheek, eliciting a blush from the Bridge Between Worlds. It was so cute that he did that, even after all all these years of marriage, and the many, many passionate nights. And a few days. She was silent a moment, her eyes narrowing, her voice a bit more frank, "You're still thinking about it, aren't you?"

He nodded, "Yes, I am. I know you don't like to, and neither do I, but...it's something that we can't ignore." He turned to take her into his arms, dreading the thought of being apart from her. "Someday, it will happen, and when it does, the world needs to be ready."

"It's just that...taking this step means..."

"Acknowledging something we always knew, Katara, and that's true for everyone." He cupped her chin, looking into those sweet blue eyes that never failed to make his heart swell. "And you know as well as I do, how very little it actually means."

She sighed, "I kind of miss the days when I was the one giving you advice and comforting you."

"Like yesterday? Or this morning?" Aang grinned, hugging her, and then stepping back, preparing to vault over the railing. "You've never stopped doing either, Katara. I'm going to see Appa, and make sure he'd ready. Then we'll call in the girls, okay?"

"Okay, Aang." Katara smiled as her husband, leaped over the railing without a moment's hesitation. Then she sighed, the fingers of one hand reaching up to touch the necklace she'd worn for so many years now. "I guess there's no putting it off any longer."
 
OOC: Okay, this is easily the longest post I've EVER made. EVER. I'm sorry!

Idly, her hands and body moving through the simple forms of basic waterbending - making waves, freezing them into sheets of ice, the water whip - Fumiko listened to the sounds around her. This part of the temple was usually pretty solitary, which was why she used it for practice. There was a feeling in the air lately, a thunderous shaking in the clouds, that told her she should keep at her studies aggressively.

Oddly, it was memories that stuck in her mind the most, feelings of days gone by and flashes of things that were past. The first time Uncle Sokka had let her use his boomerang, and she'd missed catching it and walked around with a black eye for a week. The feel of holding her baby sister for the first time, when she was five years old. The exhileration and terror of free fall, the first time Father took her flying and let her drop, then caught her again with a laugh. And the earliest memory she had, the smell of Appa's fur: Heavy bison musk, green wild grasses, fresh cold air, and the pungent smell of dung.

Suddenly, she heard a rustling in the trees, and realized that last wasn't a memory. A small smile flitted over her mouth, and she picked up a whip of water from the pond, flashing it out towards the sound. Snap! Splash! and the sound of her father laughing.

Placidly, as if nothing had just happened, Fumiko turned her eyes back to the pond, concentrating on making waves again. "You shouldn't try to sneak up on anyone after visiting with Appa, Father. The smell gives you away."

Avatar Aang stepped out from behind a tree with a fond, if damp, smile for his eldest daughter. "I wasn't sneaking, 'Miko. I was looking for you." He stomped one foot, and a section of earth leaped up, forming a rough chair for him to sit in while he watched her. "You could do those moves in your sleep by now."

Her stance shifted slightly, drawing the water she'd just made wave up into a ball suspended between her hands. "Mother says that the basics are the foundation for all bending, and practicing them is an excellent warm-up for more advanced work."

Hopping up with an agility that was surprising, and shouldn't have been, Aang stood on his formed chair, watching her with that same fond smile. "Practice too much and you lose sponteneity." With a swift punch-kick combo, two fireballs shot towards her from his hand and foot. The ball of water spun and spread out and up, into a sheet of ice that melted only slightly as it blocked the flames.

Aang laughed again, and Fumiko grinned at him as she dissolved the wall, and reformed the ball. "How could I lose it, Father? You test my ingenuity daily. And mother gets upset when I come home with singed kimono." Her grin turned impish, and she hovered her ball over the pond, drawing more of the water up into it. "Would you like to see the move I invented?"

She didn't wait for a response, but swiftly moved into forms that, until a few days before, had never existed. The ball of water turned into a koi formed of water, that leaped and jumped over the pond. Her arms swung around, and up and down, and the koi submerged itself, then resurfaced, to "swim" in the air around her father's head. His startled, pleased expression made her beam, and she let the "fish" circle him a few more times before she lifted her arms. the fish leaped up, opened its mouth, and . . . dove down to cover the Avatar's head in water.

Fumiko covered her mouth, giggling as the most powerful bender in the world sputtered and wiped his eyes. When his eyes were clear, the bright blue eyes were dancing, and a grin that was delighted, proud, and childlike was on his face. "That was a dirty trick to play on your father, miss. To make amends . . . you have to teach it to me before you teach your mother!"

"Aww, Father! I wanted to be the first one to try it on Uncle Sokka!" After a moment's silence, they both burst out laughing. When the laughter died, Aang's eyes were more serious, and Fumiko schooled herself to seriousness with them. Father was rarely serious, but when he was, you listened or you regretted it.

"Fumiko, I need you to come with me. Your mother and I have something to talk with you and your sister about."

She nodded, a little concerned. Most of the time, if there was something that needed to be addressed to her or Fukiko, it came up during a normal day. To be summoned like this - and that was what this was - meant it was serious. It couldn't be . . . Fumiko tried to hide the hint of fear she felt. It was the custom in some Water Tribe settlements to have arranged marriages, and she and her twin were well into marriagable age. There was a possibility, slim, but still there, that someone had come to ask for one of their hands.

No. Father and Mother wouldn't do that. And even if they'd consider it, Uncle Sokka would have protested loudly enough to make them think twice. So it couldn't be that . . . could it? They had a certain position, not that it made much difference when a girl was mucking out a 10-ton bison's stall or hanging laundry, and some men would be interested in allying themselves with the Avatar's family.

Fumiko followed Aang from the corner of the temple, her mind flashing through different scenarios, so concerned with what might be wrong that she didn't even notice her father's unusal silence.
 
OOC: *sweats* quite selfish of you really hooks! shoulda thought of me rather than that perfect post! *scowls, hopes she'll pass*

Fukkiko took a pause, slowly moving over to where her younger sister had taken a fall. She moved her air-scooter over to her, then jumped off it, letting it dissipate. Kanna grabbed at the hand Fukkiko had offered and jumped up.

"It takes time, sweetie! Dont you worry!" she said, patting her younger sister on the head.

Kanna smiled and nodded, but apparently decided she had had enough of it. "I guess. Oh! hey come lets go! they are all playing!!" she said, pointing at little kids playing.

Fukkiko smiled and said "You go ahead" and looked on as Kanna ran off to play with the kids.

She looked on as Kanna ran out, bubbling with enthusiasm, eager to play. For a bit, Fukkiko could see not one, but two small girls running towards the group of children, eager to play. They had had a fun childhood, and the twins had been inseparable throughout.

Even when they started training for bending, they practiced with their respective teachers which also happened to be their parents, but would always end up together as soon as it would end. They had both done well though, and had learned the techniques very well. They had both become masters now, Fukkiko having got her air-bender tattoo (though she had flat-out refused to let her hair be "mutilated" in anyway - a stubborn stand that Aang gave in to in the end)

She snapped out of her flashback, and once again a mischeavous smile was playing on her lips.

'Where is Uncle Sokka anyway!' she thought to herself, 'Oh where else, let me go look for him in his usual lazy getaway'.

She headed to the somewhat secluded spot, which she knew he always headed to. She often wondered why he still chose for a nap after having been knocked around by her airbending in sleep so many times. Besides, he had to know by now that the twins preferred that area for practicing their skills. But then, she already knew the answer to that. Even with all the tricks she had pulled off on him, Sokka was very fond of the twins.

Quite as expected, she found her uncle resting and sleeping peacefully. She quitely sneaked up, and was about to do her usual trick with him when another idea struck her. She created an air-pump, the technique she had invented to get her master tattoo. The air-pump allowed her to create an air-pipe, with a vaccuum effect at one end, letting it pull anything at the other end through the air-pipe.

Right now, the pipe was hovering over the water that was close enough to where Sokka was sleeping. The pipe got right close to water, the other end moving just above Sokka's head, and soon water was pouring all over him, waking him up with a shocked expression on his face. The air-pump was gone and vanished in a hurry, Fukkiko looking at him rather innocently.

"Fumiko!! Had it not been for the water, I would have thought its Fukkiko upto tricks again. Since when have you become the prankster!" Sokka growled at her.

"Well, I can be a prankster too, Uncle Sokka. As a matter of fact, half the times you complained to father about Fukkiko, you had caught me in the act. I shouldnt have used waterbending now, though. Dead giveaway. Dont complain to father, okay?"

"Oh I will young lady! Way to go! As if I didnt have enough already having to deal with one prankster!" Sokka said, getting up a little angrily, and then smiling as he looked over her shoulder, "As a matter of fact, I dont need to look too far. Your father and Fukkiko are coming over here anyway. And I will even tell your father, that you are no less than your sister. Half the times, huh!"

This, Fukkiko knew, was the end of her little trick. Uncle Sokka didnt know, but her father would definitely know what she had done and how.

OOC: (OMG! this ended up too long as well. Sorry!)
 
Last edited:
"But Fukiko's with you, Sokka." The Avatar's voice came from behind Fukiko, the middle aged Airbender smiling for a moment until she turned around. "What have you been up to, young lady?"

"WHAT? Aggrh!" Sokka frowned, folding his arms across his chest. "Fu, how could you do that to your uncle? After all I've done for you, you still play tricks on me." He huffed, "I can't believe I ever took the two of you ice dodging. Well, SOMEONE'S not getting any seal jerky next time I visit, that's for sure."

Aang shook his head, trying not to laugh or smile, "Be nice to your uncle, 'kiko. No more tricks today, okay?" Then he looked from her to Fumiko, "Although...you know, Sokka, the arrows should be kind of a giveaway."

The dripping wet Chief of the Southern Water Tribe gave his friend and brother-in-law a hard glare. "She covers them up, Aang, you know that. And this little minx has always liked playing twin games with me. It's okay." He smiled a little, "I actually knew it was Fukiko the whoooole time."

"uh, okay." Aang chuckled, then sighed.

Sokka frowned, "What's-oh." He looked at the girls. "You decided, huh? All right, let's get it over with."

Aang beckoned Fukiko to him, putting one arm around each of his daughters. "Come on, girls. We're going to have a little lunch, and then...we've got something very important to talk about. Your mother, your uncle, and I...we have a task for you." He gave them both a squeeze as they walked back to the main temple where Katara waited. "Don't be scared or worried. It's nothing bad, and I know you can do it."
 
It was a somber group that settled into a meditation-room-turned-meeting-room in the Southern Air Temple. Fumiko and Fukiko knelt on cushions on one side of the long, low table in the room, while their parents and uncle knelt on the other side. The silence in the room was palpable, and Fumiko glanced back and forth between her elders and her sister. Mother and Father clearly were reluctant to talk about whatever this was, and Uncle Sokka was being uncharacteristically sober and not blurting it out like ususal. Finally, she opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but Fukiko beat her to it. "Why did you need to talk to us?"

Aang looked at them, a little guilty, a little worried. "Well, girls, we . . . can wait to talk about it until after lunch! Yum, stewed sea prunes!" The tension in his face eased somewhat as two monks carried in trays of food. Both of the girls, and Katara and Sokka, gave Aang a skeptical look; the Bridge Between Worlds hated stewed sea prunes, and they all knew it. With a grin, Fumiko noticed that, in fact, there wasn't a sea prune on the tray. It was vegetable stir-fry for Father and Fukiko, and grilled trout and fried dough for her, Mother, and Uncle Sokka.

She took her bowl gratefully, and began to eat the trout with small, ladylike bites, her chopsticks clicking softly. The silence was oppressive again, and Uncle Sokka glanced at them all, then grinned. "Did I ever tell you all about the time I got caught in a hole in the ground up to my neck?" They looked at him startled, and he grinned more broadly. "It was hilarious! There I was, in this tree, and beneath me . . . ."
 
"..Buuuut, since it was Aang who got me out of there and not Fate, I went back to being the Meat-eating saracastic guy. And all was right with the world." Sokka leaned back, smiling. Years ago, he'd have been too embarrassed about it to volunteer to tell that story. He'd changed as well in all of this.

Aang laughed, shaking his head. "Yeah, I remember that. And Toph wouldn't let me get you out 'cause she thought I'd accidentally break you in half." His laugh faded a little, "It's too bad she couldn't make it..."

"Yeah." Sokka sighed. He wasn't surprised in a way. For all her toughness and bluster, the blind earthbender was probably the most emotionally vulnerable of them all. Given the reason why they were gathering, she'd try to put off coming for as long as possible.

Katara looked at the two men who had once been the most important people in her life. Aang still was, but her sons had taken Sokka's place in the list of priorities. They were both trying to comfort the twins, and trying hard not to broach the subject. She sighed, "Aang. It won't do any good not to talk about it."

"I know." The Avatar's smile became whistful and a little sad. "All right, girls. Please listen." How did you start a discussion like this? "I remember your grandfather telling me once that the scariest day in a child's life, is when they realize that their parents are mortal." His serene eyes took in them both, "That's what this is about. I know that you know this, but we need to talk about it. I'm not going to live forever. I will die one day." Part of him was actually curious about it. He'd never been reincarnated before. Well, okay, yes he had, but...he was getting off track in his own mind! "But, there's a problem."

Sokka leaned forward, resting his elbows on the low table, "During the war, the traditional tools used to determine the identity of the new Avatar were destroyed or lost. We know that the next incarnation will be Water Tribe...but we have no way of finding exactly who."

The twins' mother took her daughters' hands in her own, "We've put it off for a long time, but we have to think about what will happen when your father...passes on." Just the thought brought unshed tears to her eyes. "The world needs the Avatar. After the war, we thought we'd be able to take the time and find the answer ourselves, but...well." Katara blushed a little, "Gyatso," her oldest son, "came along not long after that, and...life changed."

Aang nodded, "We've all got responsibilities and duties we can't ignore or leave alone to go on this journey. There's no telling how long it'll take to find an answer or where those searching will have to go."

"I lead the Southern Water Tribe, your dad's the Avatar, your mom's his chief advisor, Toph's helping run the Earth Kingdom, and....Zuko's the Fire Lord." Sokka said the last name with distaste. Even after all these years, he still didn't like the scarred man. Not even a little. He respected him, even trusted him, but he did not like him. "But someone needs to do it."

"Or someones ," Katara added. "People we trust."

The twins had to know by now. Aang looked at the two beautiful girls. "Fumiko, Fukiko...I'm asking you to take Appa and take a journey. No, not a journey. A quest. To find out how to find the new Avatar, so that the cycle can continue and balance will be maintained."
 
"Us?" Fumiko blinked, her mind reeling. "You want us to . . . go find something that will help identify the next Avatar?" She swallowed hard, fussing with the sleeves of her kimono. There were unshed tears in her eyes as she looked at the floor, aware that Fukiko was doing the same thing. "Father, are you . . . do you know how . . . is there a reason that you are asking this of us now?"

Katara shook her head. "No, but . . . we've decided it's best not to wait." She looked at her brother and husband sternly, encouraging them to keep their mouths shut. "Your older brothers are away, and your younger siblings are too young to go alone."

"Besides," Sokka said with a grin, "you two use the same brain half the time, so you can figure stuff out faster than the others." He leaned back on his hands, the grin vanishing. "I've worked with you both on fighting without bending, and . . . "

"And you've beaten him enough times that he's sworn never to go against either of you again," Aang added with a sly look at Sokka.

Sokka sat up, looking slightly offended. "Hey! I never said THAT. I said I'd only fight them if it was a choice between that or being eaten by an angry moose-lion."

Both girls looked surprised; they knew they were good, but not that good. But it did explain why Uncle Sokka always found an excuse to avoid sparring with them. Fumiko shook her head, her hands clenching. "You want us to go alone? I mean, with Appa, but just the two of us?" She was angry, and scared, and a little confused. "Where are we even supposed to start?! Can you tell us that, at least?"
 
"Fumiko." Aang's voice cracked with authority he rarely exercised, "remember your discipline." He could understand her reaction, but the uncontrolled emotions of benders could be dangerous. "Of course we're not going to send you along, and we do have some leads for you to follow." He leaned over the table to lay a hand on her shoulder and smile, "This is something we're asking you to do, we're not just going to dump you with it."

"And," Katara hastily added, "you can always say no. We're asking, not telling." Pride mixed with worry in her blue eyes as she spoke, "You two are the best ones for this mission, but it's strictly voluntary." This quest was meant for them, and she knew it. Aang knew it too, but neither of them would force theri children, any of them, onto a mission that could be so long. Or so hazardous.

"Ah, you'll be fine." Sokka beamed at the girls. "You're my nieces, and I taught you everything I know."

Aang sank back down onto his cushion, "And so have we." He looked at his oldest daughers with the same faint regret that he'd felt when his sons had left the Temple. They were grown-up and leaving him. It was natural, but it was still a hard thing for a father. "I know you'll find the truth, girls. We even know where to start looking." He pulled map out of his robes and spread it on the table, "Your uncle charted the positions of the temples to the Avatar on this map. Not temples to a particular Avatar, but to THE Avatar spirit. The monks and nuns who tend these shrines know more about the Avatar than anyone. They're the best place to start."

Katara nodded, "There's also the University of Ba Sing Se." She tapped the city on the map, the mammoth metropolis taking up a full 6th of the huge continent that made up the Earth Kingdom. "It's the oldest and largest university in the world. There are scholars there who are experts on every subject, I'm sure there's an Avatar savant or two."

Sokka grunted, "They weren't too useful when we were there. If it was me, I'd go back to the desert. Wan Shi Tong is still-"

"Of no use to anyone," Katara interrupted. Her fixed her brother with a fierce glare, one that he met with equal intensity. Motherly concern and indignation were written all over Katara's face, while Sokka glared back with stubborn certainty about whatever it was he'd been about to say.

"Uhhh, yeah." Aang grinned, trying to head off an argument. He also wasn't sure he wanted the girls knowing about the spirit library. Sokka was probably right though. If the knowledge existed anywhere, it would be there. "But, you girls can discuss where you want to go first, and how you want to proceed with your guide." Katara and Sokka broke off their staring contest to look at Aang, "I said you wouldn't be alone, and I meant it. I've called Lei Kung back." The first of the new airbenders to be trained after the way, Aang's first and most trusted students. He was also one of the Avatar's friends, and had known the twins their entire lives. "He'll go with you girls to help out and take care of you."

"Yeah, with him along, you guys have nothing to worry about," Sokka confirmed.

Katara however was frowning slightly, "Although, he was supposed to be here yesterday..." She shook her head, forcing a smile, "He must have found someone to play Pai-sho with and gotten distracted."

"AVATAR!" The cry pierced the relaxing tension of the room, Aang, Katara and Sokka all on their feet in moments. "Avatar!"

Aang leaped up and out of the room, sailing on air currents and falling slowly down to land in front of two men who were panting and out of breath. They were Air Nomads, but not Airbenders, who had long worked here at the temple. They were the ones he'd sent out after Lei Kung. "What is it? What's wrong?" He could see their bison being tended to, the poor beast looked exhausted. "Where's Lei Kung?"

"Avatar," the older of the two men answered, "We went to meet the Thunderer in the place who told us to find him. We recieved a messenger hawk from him, comfirming that he would meet us. But..."

"When we got there," the other man continued, "We found his campsite a disaster!" He was rummaging around in a sack. "His few things were all gone, and there was no sign of him. We looked for hours, but in the end, all we found...was this." He pulled out a book, one that Aang knew well. Lei Kung was a compulsive journal writer. Every day he wrote in that book. Every day of his life. The book was worm and battered, and...burned. Not completely, but the edges of the pages were singed and much of the front cover had been licked away by hungry flames.

Up on the balcony Aang had leaped from, Sokka took a hissing breath, "Fire Benders," he growled.

Aang took the book, turning it over in his hands. Lei Kung the Thunderer...would never have let this happen. "...Girls, I think you're going to have to wait to start your trip." His voice was low and serious, but carried easily to the ears of all present. "Go back to your duties, I'll look into this."
 
"Push and pull, push and pull, push and-"

"If you can't concentraa-aate, you can't doooo it."

Fumiko let her hands drop, and turned to glare at Fukiko. Her twin was sitting in the full lotus position, her eyes closed and her fingers curled into a mudra. Ostensibly, she was meditating. In reality, Fumiko knew that Fukiko was watching her practicing waterbending. Or rather, watching her try to practice waterbending.

"Maybe," Fumiko said waspishly, "if you weren't sitting there ohm-ing it up, I could concentrate." Fukiko's eyes snapped open, and she looked at her sister, stung. After a second, though, Fumiko sighed and flopped down on the ground facing her twin, assuming the lotus position and proper mudra automatically. They were both dressed in green and brown trousers and tunics - it was their turn on guard duty this evening - and looked now like mirror images. "I'm sorry, sister. I'm just . . . on edge."

Her sister nodded, knowing what she meant, and Fumiko tried to clear her mind, to enter the state of calm the meditation usually brought her. What was troubling her wasn't something that could be banished so lightly, however. This quest that their parents wanted them to take . . . there were too many things that didn't seem to add up. Why now? Father wasn't sick, as far as they knew, which meant that there was some other urgency driving it. And as far as how they would do it . . . it was all well and good to say they should go to the Avatar temples, and Ba Sing Se, but there was no guarantee that it would help.

She pondered momentarily the person their uncle had mentioned, Wan Shi Tong. The name wasn't familar, but Fumiko knew she'd read it somewhere. Or heard it from someone else. It didn't matter much, however, because the Avatar temples and Ba Sing Se were enough to start with.

And the disappearance of Lei Kung was very troubling. The Fire Nation was no longer an enemy, but far from good friends of the Air Nomads; Fire Lord Zuko (Fumiko frequently thought of him as Uncle Zuki, which irked her Aunt Suki to no end) was still having trouble controling the occasional rebellions that popped up in his country. Perhaps the Thunderer had been taken by one of those rebel groups, hoping to hold him for ransom or political leverage of some sort.

Fumiko's eyes opened, to look into her sisters. "I think-" they said at the same time, then giggled. Fukiko covered her mouth with both hands, their private signal that one twin would be quiet while the other talked, since they were both probably thinking the same thing; otherwise, the syncronization would go on for hours. "I think we should go on this journey, by ourselves. We're adults, we don't need a chaperone." An unsually wicked grin slid across her lips. "Imagine, 'Kiko, us out in the world, without anyone watching us?"

They stared at each other for a moment, neither seeing her twin but rather the possibilities. Cantinas, and marketplaces, and bars, and . . . men. Then they both giggled again.

A crashing in the brush turned their attention, and both girls stood, taking up defensive stances. "Fu! And Fu! Where are you?"

"Over here, Uncle Sokka!" Fukiko called out, sending a light gust of air towards him.

He split the last bush and grumbled, "I knew all along where you were, you know." The twins shared a glance, and smiled. "Anyway, it's time for your shifts on guard."

With a slightly inaudible groan, the twins headed out of the small clearing towards the walls and road of the Southern Air Temple.
 
Avatar Aang, Katara and Sheng-Tu

“We can’t let them go alone.” Katara was pacing in the master bedroom of the large apartment that belonged to the Avatar and his family. Her brown hair was undone from it’s usual braid and loopies, the chestnut glory flowing down her back and over her shoulders. “Especially not with Lei Kung’s…disappearance.” She didn’t want to say his death, though she felt sure that he was dead. The Thunderer was not the kind of man who would let himself be taken prisoner if he had any choice in the matter. Not to Fire Benders. He’d never forgiven them for the war, no matter how much Aang stressed it in his many lessons. “Do you think that this is what Zuko’s letter was talking about?”

Aang was seated on the floor in front of the bed, in a text book perfect lotus position. His eyes were closed, his chest rising and falling evenly, serene despite his wife’s agitation. “I don’t know…but I’ve got a feeling it might be. I had a few messenger hawks sent out to him, Toph, and some of the others. If they’ve heard or know anything, we’ll find out soon.” The blue eyes opened, “But, Katara, we have to send them out, and soon. Avatar Roku was very clear that the quest had to start before the solstice.” It had been the first vision of Roku he’d had in ten years. His previous incarnation had praised his efforts and results in rebuilding the world, but chastened him as well. Aang hadn’t done anything to make sure that the legacy of the Avatar was preserved. Then Roku had made his chilling pronouncement. That the quest for the knowledge of finding the new Avatar had to begin soon, before the winter solstice, or the world would fall into chaos again. Worse than the Fire War.

“I know,” she sighed, coming to halt in front of a window, her arms crossed over her chest. “They’re just…still so young, Aang. And I know I’ve sheltered them. There are so many dangers out there they’re not prepared for.”

Aang was about to reply when there was a knock on the main door to the apartment. He lifted up, striding to the door, and opening it. “Yes?” A group of dark skinned Water Tribesmen bowed, as did the monk leading them. The boatmen were known to Aang, they crewed one of the many ferries that brought people into the temple via the waterways at the base of the mountain. “Oh, hey. What are you guys doing here? I thought you were usually closed up by this time of day.”

The captain nodded as he straightened, “That’s true, Avatar, but there was something we wanted to talk to the guards about.” The man looked to the monk, “I told this fellow, who said that you’d asked that all security matters be brought to you.”

Aang nodded, feeling more than seeing Katara moving up behind him to his right. “That’s right. We’ve decided to tighten security for a while. What happened that you needed to talk to the guards?”

The captain scratched at his scraggly beard with one hand, “Well, it’s probably nothing, but it was awfully strange. On our last boatload of people coming to the temple, there was a young man who said he was from the Earth Kingdom. He looked like it, I mean, I’ve seen plenty of Earth Kingdom people come here to speak to you.” He paused, then continued at a nod from Aang. “Anyway, as we got close to the entrance to the outer mountain, he…jumped off the boat.”

Katara gasped, “He drowned?”

“No, he jumped onto the rock face of the mountain and just…stuck there.” The captain shook his head, “Like he was a barnacle on a hull. Never seen anything like it. We yelled at him to come back aboard, but he refused. Said he wanted to see if he could climb up on his own. Called it a ‘challenge he couldn’t pass up’.” The man shrugged, “I didn’t think much of it until we docked. I heard one of the wharfmen saying there was some ruckus earlier and you were kind of on alert. Then I thought it best you know. He seemed like a good enough kid, crazy, but not a bad sort. But just in case…”

Aang and Katara exchanged a look. He raised an eyebrow, and she shrugged. “Captain,” Katara asked, “did this young man have black hair? Blue eyes?”

He nodded, “Yes, ma’am, he did. Do you know him?”

Aang smiled, “I think we do. Thank you, captain, you did the right thing bringing this to us.” He bowed, the other men hastily returning the gesture. “Safe journey home.” Once the monk had led the sailors away, Aang shut the door. “So, do you think it’s him?”

“It sounds like him, and it’s certainly something one of Toph’s students would do.” Katara walked over to a writing desk, sorting through papers until she pulled one out. “The last letter she sent to us said that she’d heard he was heading this way.” She looked up, “We should have it checked out anyway, but I hope it’s him. It’d be nice to see a friendly face about now.”

“Yeah,” Aang replied in a distracted matter. The Avatar’s face was pensive. “Hey, Katara…what if we sent the girls after all, without waiting to find Lei Kung, but…with someone else we know?”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Far above the raging sea, near the rim of the outer mountain that sheltered the Southern Air Temple, a lone figure moved slowly up toward the top. He wore a tunic of dark green with yellow frogs and trim, the long sleeves rolled up to his shoulders, a thick belt of brown leather about his waist, and slighty baggy green trousers. His feet were bare, rough and toughened by many years of walking the roads, still bending with surprising dexterity to find holds in the rocky face of the cliff. His arms bulged as muscles forged from hours of training and not a little fighting lifted him up, his hands seeking out sure positions as he slowly hauled himself upward. His wild black hair was pulled back into a ponytail by a somewhat faded and grungy red ribbon, though several locks had managed to get loose and whipped about in the polar wind. His features were noble and fine, but strong, his fair skin having been weathered by many seasons in the elements. His blue eyes were bright and sure, despite the sheen of perspiration on his brow as he grunted, pulling himself another body length up the precipice.
“Had…to climb it on my own, didn’t I?” Sheng-Tu, incognito Earth Kingdom Crown Prince, mighty earthbender, occasional hero, and full time wanderer, sighed. “I’d have been in there hours ago if I’d bended my way up…but that would’ve defeated the purpose of seeing if I could do it, I suppose. And…they’d have…made me…fly up….otherwise…”

He did this sometimes, talking to himself. He spent so long on the road alone that it had become a habit. “Still…I bet Sifu never did this. Can’t wait…to…tell her…” With a final heave, he pulled himself up and over the rim, onto the more or less flat surface of the hollowed out ring of rock that towered over and encircled the Air Temple below. He rolled onto his back with a tired laugh, panting, sprawling out on the stone. Spirits above and below, it felt good to lie down! “HA! In…In your face, Air Temple! Try to get…get me to fly, will you? Impassable wall? Ha! Piece of cake.”

He felt the break before it happened. His sifu had taught him to ‘see’ through the earth, to feel it. He wasn’t as good as she was at it, of course, but he was very skilled. His ‘earth sense’ gave him about two seconds of warning. He felt the shudder and crack from within the rock, his head snapping up. “That can’t be good.”

Then the rim crumbled beneath him, sending the youth tumbling down the inside of the wall, along with several hundred pounds of stone, plunging to the green grounds of the Southern Air Temple. As he fell, Sheng-Tu snapped his arms our at forty-five degrees from his torso, his legs spreading wide and bending as though he was in a horse stance and not plummeting down a cliff. The stones falling around him quivered, then changed direction to move to the young man, the rock moving and shifting, flattening and rounding where need be, forming a smooth, many seamed rock armor that covered his entire body expect for a ‘v’-shaped eye slit. He rolled in mid-fall, reaching out his arm toward the wall of rock rushing past him. The stone armor stretched and shot out, striking the surface of the mountain side. Below him, a platform of stone burst forth from the cliff face, the rock-clad earth bender landing atop it. His flight halted, Sheng let out a sigh of relief, his shoulder relaxing. Then he felt the rock snap again, at the point where his makeshift ledge connected to the cliff face. “Oh, come on!” With a snap it came free, sending the canoe shaped slab of stone sliding down.

Sheng frowned and then shrugged, laughing, and set his feet. He twisted and moved the slab almost as though he were surfing, dodging massive boulders and trying to cut his speed by weaving back and forth. Under the face plate of the armor he’d made, he grinned. What a rush! Now if he just made it out alive, things would be great. By the time he was close to the bottom, he was really enjoying it. Rock surfing…he might have invented a new sport. He’d have to show the Avatar. Then he saw the bamboo thicket loomed ahead where the rocky slope became the well tended grounds and roads of the Southern Air Temple. Just before hitting it, he kicked the rock surf board up in front of him, sending to crashing ahead to smash down the thick stalks of bamboo. He grunted as he hit the ground hard, though the armor absorbed most of the blow, rolling with the impact until he came to a stop on a footpath.

He shook his head, getting up on his hands and knees, the armor crumbling off of him into rough chunks of gravel. “…Not my smoothest entrance.” Vibrations. Someone was coming. “Whoever is out there, if you’re going to attack me as an intruder or something, that’s fine, just give me a second, okay?” He rose slowly to his feet, “I mean, it’s only fair to let someone get their head together after a fall like that. You Airbenders are into fair, right?”
 
Last edited:
Guard duty is so dull, Fumiko thought as she walked down the paths of the temple's outer gardens. No one ever tries to break in, because they can't, and who would bother trying anyway? She sighed and decided it might be better to look at it as a chance to walk around the gardens once more before she left. The trees where the twins and their brother Roku had played monkey-tag and hunted for lychee nuts to treat Momo the lemur. The zen garden that Gyatso had talked her into filling with water so they could make sandcastles.

She was lost in nostalgia until the terrible groaning sound of tearing rock pulled her back to the present. The wall was cracking? Crap. Well, she wasn't capable of fixing it, and . . . . The thought trailed off as she studied the path of the rockslide. Was that . . . a person? Someone had climbed up the mountain and over the wall? Well, wasn't that obliging of them. Something for her to do.

Breaking into a run, Fumiko darted down the path, catching glimpses of whoever it was surfing down the wall. Well well. Either an earthbender, or very very lucky, she thought as she grabbed the waterskin that was hanging off her shoulder to keep it from sloshing around too much and announcing her presence.

As she rounded a corner, she heard him ask for a second to get himself together, then ask, "You airbenders are into fair, right?"

A slow, wicked grin spread on her face as she got all the way around the corner, seeing the man covered in dirt getting to his feet. Oooh, the spirits were making her last day here a good one. An intruder, and a cute one at that. Way to go, spirits!

"Well," she said, smiling sweetly - the innocent pretty girl thing almost always worked - "you're half-right. I believe in fair, but . . . I'm not an airbender." With a smooth gesture, she pulled the water out of the skin, twirling it around his head before bringing it to rest as a ball hovering over her right hand. "So. Tell me who you are, and what your business here is - and why you didn't come in on the ferry, like everyone else who has honorable business here."
 
Sheng-Tu

When he saw her, Sheng's face brightened and he smiled. Sifu's bounteous bosom, she was beautiful! This was one of the guards? Why couldn't he have been born an airbender? Her voice was pretty too, and that smile! If only she wasn't getting ready to attack him...hells, who was he kidding? That only made it all better. He had a thing for strong girls.

Sheng watched her pull the water out, readying it. "Nice form." For a second, he was tempted. He'd never fought a water bender before. But, it likely would not help matters at all. Far from it. He brushed some pebbles and dirt off, trying to look as presentable as he could for a boy who just fell down a mountain. "Though assuming my business isn't honorable just because I came in the hard way is kind of harsh, don't you think? It doesn't suit a girl as pretty as you." Sooo smooth.

He smiled, and bowed, putting his fists together in front of him, palms up. "My name is Sheng-Tu, miss." He straightened, looking into her eyes. Beautiful eyes too. "I guess...I don't really have any business here, per se. I've been traveling south for a while now, and I've never been to the Southern Air Temple before, so I thought I'd come and check it out." He shrugged, "Ideally, I'd also get some of the airbenders here to spar with me. I'd like to see what I could do up against them. And if I was really lucky, maybe get to go a round with the Avatar. I mean, I wouldn't last long, but I'd learn a LOT."

He reached up, pushing his bangs back out of his face, "As for the ferry...well, I'd like to say that I just wanted to see if I could climb the mountain without bending my way up, just on my own strength, you know? But...that's not entirely honest." He took a step closer, slowly, trying to be as non-threatening as possible. "See, I heard the sailors talking about how the water route only went so far, and after that, you had to fly up on a bison." He shook his head, "I'm an Earthbender, and...I just don't like the idea of having all that nothing under me, if that makes any sense. I mean, it's even worse than being in a boat. So, I climbed up the wall instead, but I guess it wasn't meant to bear the load of a person. Once I got to the top, well, you can figure out the rest." He shrugged, his smile become a bit warmer, his eyes still on hers.

"So." He took another step toward her, close now. When he spoke, his voice was low and soft, "Do I pass, or are you going to have to take me in?"
 
It was hard to concentrate with those blue eyes looking down at her, and Fumiko was aware - barely - of the ball of water over her hand quivering, on the point of breaking up. Roku's beard, why was she so awkward with boys! "I . . . suppose I can let you pass. Though if you want to spar with the Avatar . . . I should let you meet him." The grin spread over her face again, and her composure came back slightly. "Father does love meeting new people."

The surprise in his eyes made her grin grow, and she lifted her hand, letting the still-wobbling ball of water over his head. Fumiko wondered if she shouldn't just put the water away, and let Sheng-Tu go on his way. But she couldn't help it. Her fingers flicked outward, and the ball dissolved into raindrops. As he stood there, damp from his shoulders up (the water ball hadn't been very big at all), she giggled. "You're right. You wouldn't last very long against the Avatar. But I'm sure he'd be glad you appreciate my form. He and Mother worked very hard on it." A slight blush colored her cheeks as she said it, realizing as she spoke that it could be taken more than one way.

She couldn't think with him this close to her - and with a wet shirt on - so took a step back and smiled. "I'm going on a journey soon, Sheng-Tu. Would you care to spar? Give me something to think about as I travel. I've never battled an eathbender before. Just Father." Another whip of water came out at her command, and she let it circle around her body, smiling. "My name is Fumiko, by the way."
 
Sheng-Tu

Sheng noted the sudden trembling of the water, and the way she became almost demure for a few moments. Yeah. Still got it. Sifu would be so proud. But then her regained herself, and moments later, water was raining down on him. He sighed, shaking his head slightly, "And after I managed to stay dry the whole time I was in that boat too. You wet down every guy you meet or am I just lucky?"

He'd traveled most of the world, and he'd seen lots of girls. Few, if any, were anything like this one though. The Avatar's daughter. So beautiful, fairly witty, a bender, and a brave one at that. Just challenging him out of the blue. But she was also shy, and walked right into innuendo. Or was that an act? He grinned, letting his eyes travel down her, "Your parents should be complimented. Your form is...stunning."

He laughed then, taking a few steps back, his right hand coming up to undo the fasteners that went down the left side of his tunic. "Nice to meet you, Fumiko. Nice name too, pretty name for a pretty girl." The last one came undone, the tunic flapping open and hanging loosely. "I'd be very glad to give you something to think about on your trip." There were so many things that comment could have meant, and at that moment, he meant them all.

"Normally, I'd say that fighting after climbing up a mountain and falling down the other side kind of puts me at a disadvantage," he said with a slight shrug, "but...I can't pass up a challenge like this. Even if I wanted to, Sifu would never forgive me if she found out I'd turned it down." His smile was becoming an eager, fierce grin. A light suddenly burned in his blue eyes as he felt the anticipation of combat. Spirits, he loved to fight! It was a natural spark that his sifu had fanned into a flame within the young earth bender. "I accept."

He took hold of the tunic, flinging it off and sending it flying through the air. He stomped his foot, a thin plinth of rock bursting up to catch the garment, leaving it hanging there, waving behind him in the breeze almost like a flag. Sweat and the water than had been dumped on him covered the muscled smoothness of his bare chest as settled into a ready stance, almost giving him a sheen in the waning light of day. "On three?"
 
"Hmmm? Oh, right. On three." She shook her head slightly, moving her eyes away from the muscles of his chest. This was a fight, and she couldn't afford to be distracted. And it wasn't like she'd never seen a man shirtless before. Father and Uncle Sokka took off their shirts when they sparred, and her brothers walked around half-naked most of the time - especially after Roku got his airbender tattoos and wanted to show them off. Even the other Air Nomads that lived there were often shirtless when training or doing hard work, but none of them looked like that! Habit, or a ploy to distract her? Fumiko wasn't sure, but decided that she would deal with the distraction after the battle. But . . . she grinned. "I'd take off my tunic, too, but Mother wouldn't approve, I think. And I've already got the advantage."

Her hands moved, swirling the water around herself, and she started to count. "One. Two. Three!"

With a swift flick of her hands, a water whip headed for him even as she jumped away from where she had been. It didn't pay to stand still when fighting earthbending, and running wasn't much better. Her hands twisted, clenching, and the water slid around the blocks he'd called up, lashing around his ankles and freezing. Halfway there. One of the things she'd learned by listening to the stories mother and father used as teaching tools: Take away the limbs, take away the bending. It wasn't effective on very highly skilled benders, like Aang or former King Bumi, but unless Sheng-Tu was as good as they were, one more water whip hitting and she'd win.

Of course, she thought, the surest way to lose was to take victory for granted. Fumiko circled him warily, a small smile on her face. This was fun!
 
Sheng-Tu

Sheng got a somewhat goofy expression on his face when she mentioned taking off her tunic. "That's okay, I won't tell her." It was a distraction, he realized, but it was a very good one. He couldn't help but imagine...

"Three!"

Damn it! He'd lost focus! Sheng brought an arm up, thick slabs of stone erupted to shield him, then shot his hand forward, sending them hurtling in the lovely waterbender's direction. She danced back, the lash of water moving around the projectiles. He tried to dodge, but too late. The water struck him and froze, rooting him to the spot. "AH!" The sudden cold stung terribly, but worse than that was the frustration. She hadn't even broken a sweat and almost had him. Unacceptable!

He snapped his arms down, then brought them both up over his head. With a roar two hemispheres of rock broke up and slammed together, forming a dome over him. In the dark of the shell, he brought his arms down and to the left, then struck out to his right as though pushing against something. Rather than anything else moving though, he moved, the youth unable to move from the spot, shifting the earth under him to change his position. He pushed himself to the front of the globe, relative to where he'd started. He brought his fists together in front of him, ten cracks ripping down the surface of the globe, then he threw his arms out away from each other, and the dome tore into five sections, four that rocketed away from the center, and the fifth that was ehind him. Ideally, she'd be aiming for where he had been when the dome came up...there! He slammed his fists into the curving wall of rock behind him, shattering it, then pushed forward, sending a wide spray pattern of fist sized rocks at his graceful opponent.
 
Damn! That dome was a good trick, managing to hide him from her as well as deflect her attacks. Fumiko kept circling, her feet moving swiftly over the ground as she tried to gauge where his next attack might come from.

When the rock dome shattered outward, she swore under her breath and began to take evasive action, ducking behind trees and in trees until the barrage of fist-sized rocks flew towards her. With a grunt, she pulled more water from her waterskin, sending it out into a frozen wave, stopping the rocks and thawing it as it did so. A swirling motion of her arms, and the water headed for him, splitting as he sent another rock at her.

She had less to worry about from the ground now, but more projectiles to deal with. That was all right. As long as she kept moving, she should be fine. A quick head jerk saved her from getting caught by a sailing piece of rock the size of a thumb. Okay, mostly fine.

Her hands went lashing out, turning the water into a whip with a cutting edge of ice that sliced through the pieces of rock he was sending at her, then whipped around him, circling his wrists and freezing them together. Quickly, figuring he was strong enough to break it with enough time, Fumiko pulled out a last whip, curled it around his torso, arms included, and froze it solid.

Walking cautiously up to him, smiling a little, she asked politely, "Give up?"
 
Sheng-Tu

Sheng looked away from her, his face burning even though the terrible cold of the ice was seeping into his body and stealing away warmth and feeling. He'd lost. Lost badly. He hadn't even grazed her. She wasn't even breathing hard. Disgraceful. Sifu would be furious, not to mention disappointed. He wanted to yell at her, to demand she knock him out, finish him with honor, like a warrior. Not leave him bound like a fool and a weakling.

Some distant rational part of his mind piped up, telling him that Fumiko had a number of advantages in this match, but he ignored it. It was most important to fight your best when you were weak or at a disadvantage. And if this was his best, he was a bitter failure. Sheng had good traits, but he had his vices as well. He was proud, and a defeat so resounding was like poison.

"I-" He stopped the harsh words before they could even get started. He closed his eyes. Once, when he'd met him long ago, the Avatar had told him that how a person acted in defeat was just as important as how they acted in victory. Even though it galled him, he forced himself into composure. His shoulders slumped as much as they could in their frozen prison, and he bowed his head. "I yield," the words were bitter ashes in his mouth.

After a moment, he raised his head. "Your skill and power is amazing, Lady Fumiko." A trace of a smile came back to his face for a moment, "Rivaling even your beauty." He bowed his head again, "Thank you for the match. I"m...fortunate to have seen you in action. You do your masters and your parents great honor."
 
Fumiko tipped her head, her smile fading. This had meant a great deal to him, far more than it had to her. Perhaps she should have let him win? Again, it was so hard dealing with boys! Now that she'd won, she felt bad for shaming him. If she'd lost, then she'd be at the mercy of someone who, though he'd said he was here for simple, honest reasons, might be dangerous. There was no winning, really.

As she stepped closer, she thought of a way to, perhaps, cheer him up. "Well, my masters and my parents are the same people, so they are doubly proud. But," she added, making up a tradition out of whole cloth to excuse her idea, "it is a tradition here for the victor to give the vanquished a gift." She was a few feet away, and looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes. "What would you like? Aside from being let go, that is. I'll do that in a moment."
 
Sheng-Tu

Why did she suddenly seem unhappy? She'd won. Won well too. His disappointment, shame, and attempt at humility was dimmed slightly by curiosity. Was it because of his reaction to losing? What did she expect him to do after being utterly crushed? More importantly, why did it matter enough to make her feel bad about winning? New shame joined what he felt already. That wasn't fair. She should enjoy this victory.

Spirits above, below, and sideways, he was cold.

Then her next words drove it all from his mind for a moment. Was she serious? He stared at her, his eyes widening and the set of his jaw growing loose as she looked up at him through her eyelashes. She was so cute...so gorgeous.

It was a strange tradition. It sounded so...unlikely. But then, Sifu said the Airbenders were odd ones. And that they praised peace making above all else. Fumiko was a water bender, but he'd bet she'd been raised here among the airbenders. Maybe it was their way. What did he want...

A rematch. A chance to regain some honor. No, a date! Or maybe he could ask her to show him around the temple, and turn that into a date! Two birds with one stone. He shivered, the cold of the ice clawing into and through him. His eyes fell on her lips.

"A kiss," he said, softly, hardly aware that he'd spoken. He blinked, "Uh, I mean...I'm very cold, Lady Fumiko." He smiled a little then, "It would warm my body and my heart, if you would grace me with a single kiss from your sweet lips." The smile grew a fraction of an inch, "Though I'll make sure that it ends up as a gift to both of us."
 
She smiled, even though her legs grew slightly weak at the idea of kissing him. "Very well, but you have to swear that you won't tell my parents." Fumiko winked, even though she knew she would be in a great deal of trouble with Mother especially if they found out. "They would . . . be a little upset."

Her hand waved, unfreezing the water that bound his arms, hands, and legs and drawing it back into the waterskin on her shoulder. "Hopefully, that will take care of some of the chill you're feeling." She rubbed her hands together, a little nervous. She'd been kissed before; she and one of her father's airbending students had taken a fancy to each other a few years back, and things had progressed about as far as kissing before both their training became too intensive for them to see each other. But this was different.

Tilting her head up, her lips parted slightly, she waited. His hands touched her, resting lightly on her waist, and she placed her hands on his chest. They were close enough that she could feel his breath on her face, and then . . . footsteps on the path. And a familiar voice calling, "Fumiko!"

"Damn," she breathed, dropping her hands and turning, twisting lightly out of his grasp to look down the path. "It's my sister," she hissed over her shoulder. "Step back, just a little?" She ran a hand through her hair and sighed a little regretfully before yelling back, "Here, Kanna!"

The little girl darted around the corner, grinning broadly, then skidded to a stop when she saw Sheng-tu behind her sister. "Who's that? He's a stranger." The small, wide eyes took in the torn up ground, and frowned more. "And you were fighting."

"He's a visitor, sweetie. He wants to meet Father. And we were sparring, not fighting." Fumiko squatted down, looking at her seven-year-old sister with a fond smile. "Kanna, why were you looking for me? You know I'm on guard duty."

"I wanted you to read me a story!" The little face pouted, then nodded. "But you should go on your patrol, then. I'll tell father that he's here, if you want."

"Ummm . . . that would be nice, Kanna. Let mother and father know, and I'll tell the other guards when I see them." She opened her arms to the little girl. "How about a hug first?"

"Yay!" Kanna ran to her older sister, throwing her arms around Fumiko's neck and kissing her cheek.

Well, at least I got a kiss from someone, she thought wryly, patting the girl's back and letting her go. As Kanna ran off, Fumiko looked at Sheng-tu, a little sadly. "I'm sorry. I've got to go. If you stay here, Mother and Father will come. Or one of the other guards, maybe. Either way, I'll see you later." She took off down the path, with one last look over her shoulder, and turned another corner into the trees.
 
Sheng-Tu

As the ice melted and bent back through the air into her flask, Sheng shivered a bit in the night air. But he was smiling, his eyes warm and eager. "That does help." She came closer, and he moved to her. His hands moved to rest on her waist, hers resting on his chest. Her hands were cool, even against his chilled skin. Cold hands, as they said. He leaned in, his eyes closing, "This will go the rest of the way," he whispered.

Then it all came tumbling down. Sheng-Tu watched the exchange between Kumiko and the little girl. Her younger sister. How many children did the Avatar have again? He knew at one point...

She was a cute little girl, and her suspicion of him made her even cuter. "I guess cute runs in the family," he commented, not knowing if the words reached anyone but himself. However, this meant that he was not going to kiss Fumiko's sweetly tempting lips, he was sure.

He waved at the lovely girl as she left, then sighed. "Damn it. Why am I always right about things that suck?" He frowned, stomping one foot to make a high backed arm chair of stone burst up from the ground at his feet. He should wait to see who came to get him. Hells. Beaten like he wasn't even there, and then denied his kiss. The spirits must have it in for him.

But it wasn't the spirits that lost that match. He sighed again. It wasn't losing that bothered him. He'd lost to Sifu plenty of times, it was that it had seemed so...effortless for her. Like she hadn't had to try. That was the killer. Still, it was only sparring. He shouldn't have gotten so bent out of shape over it. It wasn't an official match, and he wasn't going all out either. If he stayed here long enough, he'd have to spar with her more. Figure out how to beat a water bender and get a few victories, polish the stain off his honor.

He should apologize to her too. His sulking had made her feel guilty for winning, and that wasn't very fair. Earthbenders were supposed to be steady and calm, but Sheng's temperament was intense and fast shifting. He didn't have as good a handle of it as he should.

He sighed, stomping his foot again. The back of the chair reclined, a smaller rock popping up for him to rest his feet on. Stretching his arms up and folding his hands behind his head, he waited.
 
The guard duty always bored Fukkiko. For one, rather than being the creator of mischief, she now had to watch out for such people. Really bothersome. At times she managed to have fun with, who else - Uncle Soka - but today she didnt feel upto that too.

As a matter of fact, she was feeling thankful for the guard duty for today. She needed some time alone to think through things. What she had heard today had really hit her hard. Their father had actually talked about him dying. Of course, she should have known that someday he will - everyone did. But for some reason, she thought of him as ...as someone who'll always be there for them. Beneath her playful, mischeavous surface, she had always been a very soft hearted girl - and had always been very close to their father. The thought of him not being there....

Her thoughts were interrupted by some noise she heard, and she quickly made for the place - getting close to the place where she traced the noise to have come from in a flash. Had the noise been going on for a while before she actually paid attention to it? That could be bad. Could be a pretty bad lapse!

As she got there, she saw a pile of earth, and a young man standing there, looking surprised and drenched. Her eyes narrowed at the sight 'Did he break in? What else could explain this?' she thought.

"Who are you? Explain, or be prepared to be vanquished!" she said, pulling her staff up and ready.
 
Sheng-Tu

"Who are you? Explain, or be prepared to be vanquished!"

That voice. She'd come back! Although, was it different? Sheng turned to see Fumiko, brandishing a staff of some kind and looking gorgously fierce. It was her...he must've just imagined the difference in her voice.

He grinned at her, "Cute. Managed to come back, I see." She couldn't resist him. Yeah. He was that awesome. "Couldn't resist, huh?"

He gathered his feet under him, lifting and pushing down with his hands. The rock chair he'd been in fired upwards, then sank back into the ground, sending Sheng flipping toward Fukiko.

He landed gracefully in front of her. "I thought I might not see you again...or perhaps that I'd dreamed the whole thing," he said. Spirits, she was magnificent! He just couldn't get over it. "A beauty like yours...before meeting you, I'd have thought it was only the stuff of dreams."

"Now," he took a step forward, closing the space between them even further, "you owe me a kiss, if I'm not mistaken. And I'll give one back, as an apology for being a poor sport before." He reached out to try and place his hands on her waist as he had before...
 
An earth-bender! It had been a while since she last saw an earth bending technique, but knew that this young man looked like he had talent. And looked very cute too! She pushed that thought away though, rather quickly, and embarassed. He was probably a threat. Or at least could be.

But..what was he talking about? Did he mean he had seen her in his dreams? What was this about owing him a kiss? And then it all became clear and she almost kicked herself for not seeing it earlier - he had obviously met 'Miko!

When he reached across to place a hand on her waist, her first instinct was to push him away with a gust of air, and then a thought crossed her mind. This would be, possibly something that 'Miko might even be upset with her for, but she was now ready to collect 'Miko's "reward" for her. Or give away her kiss for her, as the case maybe.

"Irresistible as you are, the apology may or may not be accepted based on how good it is. Better make it count!" she said, with a playful smile on her face.

At the same time, she was mentally kicking herself for this. 'What if he really was a threat. Yes, looks like 'Miko met him, promised him a kiss and didnt disable him, but...maybe she went to alert people?'

And then she told herself 'He's too cute to be evil. And anyway, its just some harmless fun. Im not letting my guard down. I'm sure 'Miko wouldnt mind either, though bet she'd be jealous when she found out!'
 
Back
Top