Avatar: Lightning Strikes (IC)

[Lunaramblings]

A storm rages in the mountains. The tides rise in the sea. A dark presence stalks the dreams of a sleeping woman. Kayna lay motionless in the dark. Her body flush, sweat rollng over her supple skin. Kayna's body rages against her.

In the time since the end of the war, Kayna has wandered. Sought knowledge and to understand why fate had shunned her. She had only had a singular goal, destruction of the Fire Nation. When she lost her chance for this vengeance she found a new goal. To destroy the girl that usurped her place as a disciple of Master Pakku. Then, the war was ended. This girl, Katara, she had helped to destroy the Fire Nation that had so ravaged Kayna and her people. This girl once again had usurped Kayna's destiny. Kayna had wished to find her. Destroy her. But she had given up. If Kayna was to move against this, Katara, then the Avatar himself would be there to stop her.

Kayna had first had the vision some time ago. A dark shape that stalked the corners of her dreams. A dark shape that propositioned her. It spoke in a voice like the chill of the grave.

"Kayna... I can offer you your destiny. If you come to my master, follow his earthly general. If you are wise, you can achieve all you ever wanted. The heir to the Fire Nation seeks her vengeance, help her, and you can face and destroy this thorn in your side. And once this is done you can take your revenge on the entirety of the Fire Nation. For she will destroy the Avatar, and the world shall be vulnerable. The World, shall be yours..."

Over and over again the shadow returns. Every night, promising her such splendid things. And thus, Kayna had started this voyage. She had rented this room just an hours walk from the Fire Nation Palace just a day before Azula and her forces arrived. As the battle raged, Kayna fell into a state of unconsciousness. Her dreams were plagued once more. But this time there was a new message. She was to get into the Fire Nation Palace. There, she would find what she had so long sought.

Kayna snaps awake. Breathless. Her body aching. She stands and removes garments from her bags. An outfit she has not worn in many years. The garments of her native peoples. Kayna dresses and walks into the darkness of the night. Kayna approaches the intimidating palace of The Fire Lord. Kayna did not know how she was going to get in. Just that this is what had been asked of her. Kayna approaches the Palace, nerves of steel. A hand on her water skin. She stands in the shadows of the wall. Feeling the coolness of the night.

"Whoever you are... you better know what your doing. Sending me right into the mouth of a Dragon is what you've done. I must have really lost it this time." Kayna mumbles to herself as she sits and leans on the wall. Trusting the light of the moon, she starts no fire.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"...my Northern star."

"Ryota," she'd tried to explain.

"I just--" she'd tried again to explain, and had not tried again.

Watching as she struggled to express herself in words, the young man gave a faint smile, staring up at her with understanding eyes as he spoke in a barely audible whisper, "I know, Xia."

I just don't want to be alone.

The last boy I did this with left me alone.

I thought I was still alone.

But you're here.

When we're done, are you going to leave me alone?

I just don't want to be alone. I want to live. But I don't want to live... alone.

You said that you 'know.'

You really do, don't you?

I don't want to be alone.

You really do understand.

"Nnnahhh," she whimpered as he pulled her down atop him to meet her lowering slithering down, added his physical impetus to her own. The sound seemed to have trouble escaping from her, her jaw tightening and her mouth opening and the sound sort of guttering within her before escaping bit by bit by bit...

The sound escaped from her and more tears, oh, those damnable tears, escaped from the corners of her half-clenched eyes.

The sensation was so overwhelming, the sensation inside her all over her all in her depths and all across her skin, she didn't think she could handle visual stimuli as well. Her eyes wanted to close fully.

But she couldn't take her eyes off of him. Off of those beautiful blues, those tightening undulating muscles. She couldn't take her eyes off of his mouth that shaped itself to say such amazing impossible things.

"Oh, God..."

An unintelligible sound

the labored breathing

the occasional groan

"Xia."

a moaned gasp

The tears rolled down her cheeks.

He felt. Impossible.

Ebb and flow. Like she was making love to the tides themselves.

His hands were on her hips and he was guiding himself deeper, guiding her down harder, he was rising to meet her and all she could do was fall to meet him and rise and fall and rise again...

"Annh!"

She shook her head from side to side, incredulous, disbelieving, almost as if there were too much too much too much of him inside her, almost as if he were doing too much too much too much to her as if she were trying to tell him no, but no, she couldn't be telling him no, it felt too good...

She rocked her head from side to side and her braid lashed the Air and tears danced as they were cast away.

"Ry-- ohgoddon'tstop--"

Her knees ached as the seat creaked, but the velvet cushions were soft on her skin.

Her body was strong, elegant slender and strong... she began to power into him, panting, shuddering, began to add more impetus to his added impetus, add more stroke to each stroke... she was strong and he was strong and he was using his strength to make her feel good and she wanted to use her strength to make him feel good...

Xia's jaw flexed, his fingernails were in her skin and her body rocked and railed and boiled and roiled...

"I don't--"

"--yesplease--"

"--ohfuck--"

"--don'tstop."

He wasn't as pure as the driven snow. He was just... good. He was a good man.

She had a good man inside her.

If she had to pick any near-complete stranger to comfort her, to be soft to his hardness, let him be a good man, so very rare, rarer almost than those lads who were pure.

She grinned at him and her fingers flourished through the dark of his hair, tossing it about, again only just barely possessing the self-consciousness to avoid his injury. Her tears rolled down like rain and he ebbed and he flowed and she rose and fell...

In and out.

Up and down.

In and out.

Up and down.

Over and over and over and over and more and more and faster and harder...

"--ohhhhhfuuuuck..."

She didn't want this to be the end of it, with him. She didn't want this to be all they had.

Sometimes things don't work out. And some small jaded part of her was already buckling down and steeling itself to cope with that seeming inevitablility.

Her walls parted to allow him ingress, that magnificent cock, and only reluctantly permitted him egress...

In and out.

Up and down.

In and out.

Up and down.

Over and over and over and over and more and more and faster and harder...

She didn't want this to be the end of it.

She wanted this to be. The tip of the iceberg.

The seats creaked louder. Faster...

She couldn't catch her breath. Just like running too too fast along a monorail track, she couldn't grasp the Air and take it into her lungs he'd taken her breath away...

Her head bobbled. Her eyes goggled. Her jaw clenched.

She could feel it. Like a beautiful murderous wake of Avatar-Bent Air rushing towards her to crush her like a dreamed-up butterfly, like a juggernaut of sheer self-obliterating force, like a crashing Airship full of Fire meeting the Earth...

She could feel it...

"--don'tstop--"

"--don'tyoudarestop--"

Elusive but imminent.

Impossible to catch, impossible to escape.

It was going to kill her and she would die laughing.

He was hard inside of her where before he had been so soft with her.

His mouth had been daring. His power, his gift, he had made her mind spin with his fingers and his mouth and his Water and his ice.

But now?

His cock was--

--just the right angle--

--churning friction and glistening fluid--

--she was whispering in his ear, her voice somewhere between panic awe and dizziness and surrounded all with a skyful of lust: "Don't you. Dare stop."

Her breath was an endless shudder as she drew it in, and when it came out it was a skyful of lust and just... just amazement: "...oh. Fuck..."

She could feel it.

She knew when it hit, she would no longer exist.

If she were lucky, she'd be back when it was done. If one could call that luck, such a thing being done.

Xia lost herself in his eyes. In the sound of his voice and his breathing.

In his rise and his fall.

His fall and his--

--rise--

--her head flew back her whole body arched her eyes were wide to the ceiling and the chair groaned beneath them as all of a sudden the room was filled to bursting with gusting and the curtains on the stage billowed and the old playbills from past performances swirled on a cyclone love's labours won she--

--came.

"Hhhaaaaaahhhnh!"

Aria and crescendo and pent-up secrets. Earth girl only knew to be hard, didn't know how to be soft like Air, Water could be both hard and soft and it showed her how.

"Hhhaaaaaahhhnh!"

Her fingernails raked down his back, all ten of them, maybe new scars, maybe she wouldn't hurt him.

"Hhhaaaaaahhhnh!"

Her sex was around him and it consumed him, gushing and flexing and fluxing along with every other part of her taut skin and clutching muscle.

It was like. Fireworks. Dancing. Like a scene from a perfect play perfectly executed fourth wall intact she'd been a part of it part of that world he'd shown her how to be soft by being so hard and

it rolled over her. Like waves. She was gone.

She was away. She was outside herself. She could see everything.

And then she was back in her body, crashing down on him, gusts instantly subsiding, eyes full of tears and full of light and she was gasping against his shoulder and clutching one of his shoulders and clutching the back of his head.

She wept and fought for Air and she started, softly, delightedly, incredulously, to laugh...

mad mad cathartic laughter...

...she kissed him...

...and wondered what was next.

 

[Eazy]

Ryota

His features occasionally contorted into a strained expression as the pleasure built up with every single thrust of his body into her own; melding them together in a singular display of their need for this experience. Xia's cries filled his ears, urging the tribesman on as he continued trying to match her movements, to match the rise and fall of her body. This became increasingly difficult at times as the pleasing sensation filled his senses, tempting him to break their growing rhythm in order to push himself into her faster, to quicken the release. Still, he maintained what composure he could, thrusting into the girls body again and again, fingers firmly remaining planted against her soft skin as he guided her along his full length as they moved in unison.

There was a dull throb in his head as the blood was rushed through his body with every beat of his heart. A throb which, while he may take greater notice of later, was surely drowned out by a greater throbbing sensation between his legs as he drew nearer toward a climax. Prior to the penetration, Ryota was already so close after experiencing the delightfully teasing ministrations of Xia's lips and tongue. It was almost cruel when she pulled away of him earlier, but his own exploration of her body had been sufficient enough in maintaining his level of excitement. While rare, it certainly wasn't unheard of for one to reach climax just by bringing pleasure to their partner, yet he could believe that such an outcome was destined to happen if he'd been granted further exploration.

"Ry-- ohgoddon'tstop--"

If it weren't for the limitations of the human body, Ryota doubted he would ever stop, least for however much time of privacy they were afforded within the small theatre. Now that was inside of her once again, only now wrapped around the moist, warm confines of her sex, it took every last reserve of self restraint to keep from bringing himself to climax after every piston-like movement between Xia's sensitive folds of skin. His back arched itself ever so slightly as his feet remained planted on the floor, upper back against the chair as he jerked his hips forward repeatedly, forcefully through the clenching muscles which squeezed around the thick head and firm length of his member.

"I don't--"

"--yesplease--"

"--ohfuck--"

"--don'tstop."

At the very least, there would be the throb in his head, and perhaps a potential ache at his bruised side. Factors which he would normally avoid the risk of angering but happily ignored if it drew out such delicious sounds from the young woman riding upon his lap. Indeed, as he smiled back into her teary eyed features while she grinned at him and ran her fingers through his hair, Ryota would gladly add fresh bruises to his form if they were earned while bring the girl in his arms to new heights of pleasure. His length slide a little easier as her sexual secretions coated the shaft, letting him glide into her freely, swiftly as the sound of their skin wetly slapping together grew louder, more frequent as he bounced her up and down as their pace grew ever so closer to reaching a feverish peak.

"--ohhhhhfuuuuck..."

Gods, the young bender doubted he could ever grow tired of this. Of hearing her voice calling out in pleasure, of feeling her warmth wrapped around him, tasting her when he leaned his head in closer, to brushing his lips and tongue along the curve of her collarbone whenever her descending body was near enough. Pressing his upper body into her a bit, Ryota now felt the rise and fall of her breasts, the sensation of her hardened peaks occasionally rubbing against the trim muscles of his chest. The tribesman had to lower his hands a bit, now gripping more around her upper thighs as he let his elbows rest against the arms of the chair; providing him with the leverage needed to maintain their pace while he leaned into Xia's body.

Surprisingly, their respective bodies rarely missed a beat, as if they knew on a subconscious level just what to do in order to compensate for any slight, almost deceptively important shifting of their position which could run the risk of ruining their tempo. Ryota hadn't always been one of the firmest believes in fate, but it did almost feel as if the two of them, right here in this moment, was predestined for a perfect joining of two lost souls. Whatever it was, it left him surprisingly close to feeling disappointed as he felt his climax drawing nearer; knowing he couldn't hold back much longer regardless of how much he didn't wish for this to end. He was sliding into her just perfectly. The right angle, the right friction as she squeezed and released around his length, the proper amount of force to bring them ever so teasingly close to the peak of ecstasy without pushing either of them over prematurely.

--she was whispering in his ear, her voice somewhere between panic awe and dizziness and surrounded all with a skyful of lust: "Don't you. Dare stop."

His lips curled into a smirk as his head leaned in to rest against her head for a moment; their cheeks brushing together as she rode the tribesman's cock, his warm breath brushing against her moist skin as he whispered back into her ear, "Wouldn't....dream of it."

Parting his lips, he teasingly flicked his tongue against Xia's earlobe, tasting her as he then left a swift, yet fairly precise trail of kisses and licks down her neck, along her collarbone, then over her shoulder as he pulled his head back after imparting a kiss on the spot above her heart.

"...oh. Fuck..."

She was close. They both were. The knowledge of this allowed Ryota to push aside any reserves he may have left, his fingers digging into her upper thighs this time as he started putting everything he had into each thrusting motion. His blue eyes gazed into the Earth girls own as they neared their mutual climax; rarely pulling them away from watching her with baited breath, waiting for the sign of that precious release which he'd wished to draw out of her for a good while now. Surely enough, he was granted a precious glimpse of this as she hit the crescendo, her features giving it away as she threw her head back, body arched and muscles clamping down as she climaxed around his throbbing cock.

"Oh, gods...." His voice creaked out as the sudden sensation drew out his own orgasm with such force that nearly felt like it was a demand of her body; fingers digging almost painfully into her flesh, nails digging in as he drove himself harder and faster into her body, "I'm....I'm...."

The words never did come out, nor would they likely be heard as the room suddenly became filled with an unusual, yet natural gusting which would drown out the labored tone of voice he was speaking with prior. However, they weren't nearly enough to hinder the sound of his release, a deep groan escaping his throat as Ryota felt every muscle in his body tense up, then show a united sense of semi-relief as the first torrent of his thick, warm essence spilled out of the tip of his shaft. It came out in a forceful jet, filling Xia's core as he continued to piston himself into her body, sensitive flesh wetly colliding together in a deliciously repetitive fashion, his lust filled mind ignoring any discomfort as his elbows dug into the firm armrests he used for added support.

"Aaah! Oh, damn. Oh damn it..." The mild curses and unintelligible words came spilling out just as his cum flowed into her body; feeling her nails dragging down his back, causing a twinge of bitter sweet pain which he stifled by suddenly planting his lips against her shoulder; teeth digging unceremoniously into the girls skin as he let out muffled, pleasure filled sounds.

The length of his cock would occasionally jerk as he filled her womb, hitting against her clenching walls as if in defiance of their restraint. As they rode out those final lingering moments of their shared climax, he only now took actual notice of the unexpected showing of Airbending, yet, surprisingly, found it slightly overshadowed by the erotic sensation of their mixed fluids starting to seep down and coat over his lap as she was slid along the shaft of his cock. Relaxing the grip of his clenched teeth on her shoulder, he gave the bitten portion of skin a few parting licks in remorse of his action, then simply nuzzled his cheek against her as he basked in the afterglow.

Their bodies moved a little longer as the gusts died down, his own body starting to settle back into his seat, yet moving his lap against her own as they drew out those lingering sensations of climax. The gusts had vanished by now, leaving them alone to each others company with the sound of their labored breathing remaining as the only lingering background noise. As his eyes studied the curves of the beautiful girl on top of him, Ryota couldn't help but smile, ever so softly, as she started to let the laughter steadily seep its way out of her. Perhaps not the most expected of responses to the majority of sexual escapades, yet understandable given the circumstances. He enjoyed the feel of her warm body pressed against his own, her arms maintaining their previous places around his head and shoulder as she placed a kiss on his skin.

Thus, it was almost a shame when he moved his hands free of her thighs, reaching up then gently nudging Xia's head until he could look into her eyes again. Giving an understanding smile, Ryota stretched a hand up and gently brushed aside a few of the tear streaks which remained. The tribesman then cupped her cheeks with both hands, gently holding her in place as he placed a soft kiss upon her lips. Despite how much they'd done at this point, this simple act remained invigorating in its own right. This kiss in particular had been the first he'd given her without his mind being filled with thoughts of lust and near primal want for her company. It was a tender, simple kiss to show his growing affection for the Earth Kingdom native, and he did indeed mean it from the bottom of his heart.

Hesitantly breaking the kiss, Ryota gazed into her eyes once more, his thumbs gently brushing aside any lingering tears; giving her a reassuring smile as he stated a simple comment, "No regrets."

Two single words, perhaps meant as a question for her to answer, but also issued as a small, yet very sincere reassurance of how thankful he was to share this night with the girl. The Water Bender smiled up at Xia for a few lingering seconds longer, when he steadily took notice of how darker it was in the theatre at this point. Likely a result of the earlier gusts of wind taking out a few candles in its wake, while leaving enough for them to see each other yet. This also brought to mind how cold she may feel, considering her own lack of covering compared to his own sandwiched position. It was because of this that Ryota turned his attention away as he reached out for his formally discarded shirt.

Swinging it around Xia's back, he straightened the garment out a bit with both hands, pulling it over her back in order to cover the young woman from her shoulders and down to where her kneeling legs were placed on either side of his lap. Ryota made certain the blue piece of clothing had covered Xia as best it could, then slipped his hands underneath them, wrapping his arms around her back and holding his cherished partner of the night closer to him; as if not wanting to let her go and bring this to an end so quickly. Only now did he recognize how truly perfect this joining had been, as they sat in the afterglow of their intimacy, feeling his softening cock remaining nestled within Xia's now well used sex. 'Let us keep this moment,' he silently thought to himself as he cradled the girl in his arms, leaving soft kissing along her neck and shoulder as he resumed nuzzling her cheek.

"That was....amazing." He breathed out as a heavy, contented sigh followed after his short string of words; which was then followed by a teasing comment as a smirk played at the corner of his lips, "I must confess, considering the amount of...evidence, we have to dispose of, I'm rather grateful at least one of us is capable of bending fluids."

The young man chuckled as his hands slowly started to stroking themselves along the curves of her back; caressing the Earth girl as he continued to bask in the afterglow. At the same time, Ryota knew the night was growing later, that the longer they stayed here, the greater they increased their chances of being discovered. Still, while he didn't know what awaited them tomorrow, the water tribesman did know he didn't wish for this to be it between Xia and himself. No matter what may come, this had to be more then a simple one night fling between the pair.

"Xia?" The Waterbender whispered into the girls ear as he pulled back a bit; just enough for him to be able to look her in the eyes again, as he slid one hand up in order to stroke her face, "I...I just wanted you to know that, for however long we're together, I wish to be there whenever you need it. Whether it be to offer up a friendly ear or provide you with any other source of comfort. It doesn't even need to be anything along the lines of what we did tonight, although...I wouldn't complain."

Ryota gave a slight smirk as he chuckled a bit over the last part; wanting her to know she was more then a girl to share intimacy with, while also reassuring her that he hadn't regretted what they shared as he concluded, "I just, you know, wanted to make certain you're aware of this."

Taking a few moments more to enjoy the feel of Xia's soft features as he ran his fingers along her cheek, the young man eventually leaned in and placed his lips gently against her forehead; planting a soft kiss there which lingered for several seconds before letting himself settle back into the chair. Sadly, perfect as this time shared between them may appear, he knew they couldn't put off the inevitable any longer.

"Much as I hate for either of us pull away from another, we probably should get dressed before anyone checks in here." Ryota noted with a fair amount of regret evident in his voice, letting both of his arms settle around Xia's waist as he gently held her while underneath the draped over shirt; suddenly gaining a thoughtful look on his face as he added, "Do you...do you have a room for the night?"

 

[Mephistophelily]

Azula frowned as her spiritual companion reminded her of the Avatar's cycle, and the purpose of this continuous rhythm of its life. To find its connection with the human world, to feel its emotions and in turn cause those like herself such annoyance and frustration.

He also reminded her of the frailty of this position, something that she had forgotten about. Yes, of course. No matter how old and the number of cycles the Avatar passed through, each time there was something "new" that they felt connected to, something - or someone- that was so dearly loved that they could not part with it.

Just as she had told that peace-loving fool by the stream.

Friends, lovers... hinderances.

Weaknesses.

"That Waterbender has always been a thorn in my side," She mumbled through clenched teeth. "Almost as painful as the Avatar himself..."

She paused, realizing what he had just told her.

"The reason behind his falter.... The reason I'm here, in this place- Is because of what you had done to Katara..."

Azula wasn't sure whether to thank him, or curse him.

Still, she understood the point he was making; that no matter how strong a defense he had built up around his own self, those he cared for and loved were easily harmed... Even without her actually harming them. To imply the pain, to make him believe that what could happen was truly horrific, that was the greatest damage she could create upon him in this place. She had the perfect way to imply such damage; her current consort and the dark force behind his previous error, the creator of the original horror that distracted him.

"I can harm him," She whispered, a smile widening upon her lips. "I understand it. I understand completely..." Looking up to him, she gave a slight bow to him, still smirking. "Thank you, glorious spirit of the Fire Nation. You have given me the perfect inspiration, and the greatest weapon I can use against our enemy of the moment... Once I am free of this place, I will use every means in my power... and all power I gain... to create the world we both dream of."

Straightening, the still nude Princess of the Fire Nation started to the pile of cloth left beside the steaming water pool, dressing slowly as her mind continued to wander, debating the way to attack.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Have a Nice Day"

Twin forelocks, dyed silver, swung by the sides of his face, and he sat.

He waited.

He watched the day grow prematurely dark, and he sat on the roof of the inn in The Fire Nation Capital, and he polished his sword.

Once upon a time, even this would not have been possible; in Ozai's time, Fire Nation commoners were not allowed in the crater of the volcano unless invited by The Fire Lord himself. This had not happened often.

Just like home.

But under Zuko's rule, such strict rule of law had softened somewhat, and as a tourist from The Earth Kingdom, a student on a pilgrimage, he had been permitted entry.

He wore grey, and he waited.

He watched the stolen Airship land, and heard the Fires rage between mad mad men and stalwart brave unflappable guardsmen.

Part of him wanted to take a closer look. This was history, and one should always have one's eyes opened for history.

But he had been told to wait. So he waited.

His sword was properly polished, and he sheathed it upon his back.

He began to pluck his eyebrows. Methodical. Using a small 'round mirror from his traveling pouch and tweezers engraved with the phrase "made in The Earth Kingdom."

He arched one of these properly groomed eyebrows when the second Airship crashed within the confines of the Palace courtyard. Fire poured up into the sky.

Interesting things were happening.

He frowned in a modicum of disappointment. But he banished this with an exertion of will.

He had been told to wait. So he waited.

He polished the mirror with a puff of breath and the length of his overlong right sleeve before returning this and the tweezers to his traveling pouch.

From his traveling pouch he extracted a covered food bowl with a few rice balls left in it, and ivory chopsticks made from the tusks of a boar-q-pine, wrapped in a thin cloth.

He spread out the cloth, and took up the chopsticks, and ate the remaining rice balls as chaos of Earth and Air and Fire and Water rained down upon the courtyard, chewing thoughtfully. Aesthetically speaking, this was not an appalling display. Perhaps one could integrate this, or a far less lethal-seeming version of this, into the next Four Nations Day Festival?

The dust settled, literal and figurative, and he sat. And he waited.

He put away his bowl and wrapped his chopsticks back up and put these away.

Night came, and so as not to be accused of wasting time, he took out the twin small war-hammers that he wore at his lower back, and unwound the leather binding on these hammers' handles, binding them with fresh lengths of leather, because he could do this by feel and did not require overmuch light.

After this, he unwound his boots and, folding them up, stored these in his traveling pouch, baring his feet.

He had been told to wait. So he waited.

Until...

...two eyes gleamed at him in the darkness, and he heard the rush of wings, and from the shadows those eyes emerged set in the face of a bird. A bird nearly the size of a man, a kite with enormous wings, with a beak long and red and wickedly curved.

A tengu.

"It is time," the tengu informed him, just as it had informed him to wait. "Wait no longer: the time is now."

Zhuang nodded. "Thank you."

The tengu seemed to find this more than a little amusing. "Come tomorrow, you may wish you had not thanked me. Now is when the real challenge begins."

Zhuang pondered this for a moment, and then nodded. "Only through real challenge do we discover our true mettle. Our essential selves. I stand by my gratitude."

Chuckling, the tengu spread its wide wide wings and soared off into the night.

Zhuang rose to his bare feet. He felt no stiffness nor numbness nor ache from his long period of sitting relatively unmoving. He had been taught how to sit with patience.

He picked up his traveling pouch and slung it over his shoulder.

Grasping the second pouch at his hip, he walked to the edge of the roof.

He glanced down, briefly. He was quite a ways up.

His toes flexed.

Without so much as a second thought, Zhuang stepped out into the night and dropped from that rooftop...

He moved with swiftness and silence, every movement surefooted and confident.

He remembered...

The tengu had told him to go. So he had gone, departing his native Earth Kingdom. He had traveled deserts and swamps and mountains...

Always following the bird-creature as it flew through endless nights just ahead of him...

The tengu had told him to come to the place where Fire met sky. Where crowns gleamed gold like tongues of flame.

The tengu had told him to seek out the Queen of Fire, under whose fist would be found a new World, braver than the one before. And that when he found her... he would not be alone.

It was thus that he padded through the darkness towards a woman shrouded in shadow, her shape hinted in moonlight...

"Whoever you are... you better know what your doing. Sending me right into the mouth of a Dragon is what you've done. I must have really lost it this time." Kayna mumbles to herself as she sits and leans on the wall.

He wore grey, and the shadows parted around him as he stepped up to her, hands tucked into his sleeves.

Dark eyes gleamed. She was lovely.

Elegant, aesthetic, her frame containing raw force. She had been pushed or had pushed herself to physical perfection, never settling for anything less.

Good.

"I was taught," he mused, ever-so-quietly, inclining his head and smiling with a hint of encouragement on his lips, as he touched his fingertips to the wall beside them, "that if one must slay a Dragon, one must be brave enough to stand within its very throat. That there, as it tries to swallow you whole, does it expose its weakness. A Dragon has no armour inside."

He turned that soft soft smile up to the wall, like he was greeting an old friend.

"Thus," he contemplated, voice still soft as sand upon the breeze, "are all obstacles overcome. Even physical obstacles are but obstructions of the mind, as there are no obstacles which cannot be overcome with nimble intellect and steeled will. One must only be brave, and creative, and unwilling to settle for defeat."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"With fine winding tendrils that strangle the heart..."

"That Waterbender has always been a thorn in my side," She mumbled through clenched teeth. "Almost as painful as the Avatar himself..."

Ebon flow wreathed Feng Kuang as it watched her digest this.

Was it not this selfsame Waterbender who had ultimately incapacitated Azula?

If that was not deserving of vengeance, then nothing was. On so many levels, Katara deserved to be obliterated. She was a threat in her own right, and to eliminate this threat would be to deal The Avatar a vicious, nigh-mortal blow...

She paused, realizing what he had just told her.

"The reason behind his falter.... The reason I'm here, in this place- Is because of what you had done to Katara..."

Azula wasn't sure whether to thank him, or curse him.

Feng Kuang's lip curved into a smirk like an event horizon. No light escaped it.

This is a saying almost as old as I am. Or perhaps its rough equivalent.

'Two sea-ravens with one stone.'

Or is it three? I slay The Avatar's Consort, break The Avatar's heart, and secure you a portion of his power...

Considering the prison in which you have spent the better part of a decade, I would think a few hours in another being's head would be tame by comparison.

But I should not need to remind you of this.

We are alike, you and I. If you have not reached these conclusions already, you will ere long.

You are strong. You are so very very strong. You have delved deep into the realms of madness, and you have only become stronger, more untamed as a result...

I should visit Ozai next. Tell him how proud he should be of you.

I should tell Ozai how afraid you are about to make The World.

"I can harm him," She whispered, a smile widening upon her lips. "I understand it. I understand completely..." Looking up to him, she gave a slight bow to him, still smirking. "Thank you, glorious spirit of the Fire Nation. You have given me the perfect inspiration, and the greatest weapon I can use against our enemy of the moment... Once I am free of this place, I will use every means in my power... and all power I gain... to create the world we both dream of."

Feng Kuang inclined its head to her. It replied to her bow without bowing.

"I have waited forever for you," he murmured to her, softy, his voice more palpable thrumbles of infrasonic bass than actual audible sound. "I know that you will not disappoint me."

"And I will always be with you."

Straightening, the still nude Princess of the Fire Nation started to the pile of cloth left beside the steaming water pool, dressing slowly as her mind continued to wander, debating the way to attack.

Feng Kuang turned, and climbed from the hot spring, and padded with silent feet across the wide wide dirt floor of The Avatar's mindscape.

After it had walked for awhile, it shivered and shimmered and again it was a ghostly darksome clone of Aang, clad only in trousers. And beside it walked a ghostly pallid clone of Azula, clad in nothing at all.

"Roku might have insight into this turn of events," the male noted disgruntledly. "I know that he knows not our name, but his time in The Spirit World has not lessened his damnable wisdom. You could not have distracted The Nomad for just that tiny bit longer?"

The female grunted, as if she had been affronted. "His strength of character has always been annoyingly steadfast. I played on very basic hungers, goaded him, poked him and prodded him in ego and superego and libido... still he chose to defy me and deny me. I do doubt, however, that Roku will be cognisant of the ramifications of the Energybend. After all, Roku knows even less about Energybending than does The Nomad."

"I can only hope you are not wrong," the male scowled.

"What of Azula?" the female prompted. "What of she from whom I borrow this formidable shape?"

The male smiled a terrible, terrible smile. "She is ready. She has raw power culled from The Avatar himself, and she has the indomitable will of a royal born, and the skill nigh-unsurpassed of a genius prodigy. This on top of the zealous assurance that comes from having a Spirit at one's back, and the wisdom I unlocked in her..."

"...and the other players summoned by our servants of wing and of shadow..." the female mused...

"...the timing has again become perfect to change The World," the male agreed.

The female chuckled softly. "Still. This one has not played well with others in the past. Do you think she will not simply destroy them who try to help her?"

The male waved dismissively. "She knows now the value of worshipers, of an army to do her bidding. But even if she lays waste to these newcomers, these are simply cannon-fodder, collateral damage, largely symbolic. She will still succeed. After all..."

And with this, the male turned to face the female, and touched her cheek with the backs of his fingertips.

"...one is never truly alone..." the female purred, leaning in and sliding her tongue into the male's mouth.

...they kissed for a moment, and then tendrils swarmed around them, erupting from porcelain skin and obsidian skin alike, sweeping in and up and down and consuming them, churning like the depths of the deepest seas...

...and when the eruptions settled, there was only one great bodiless mass of black, one darksome oobleck of shadow and shade and blackest night, and it laughed, it laughed, it laughed to itself...

"...so long as one can talk to oneself."

And it whispered away on a nonexistent wind.

Waiting.

...waiting.

 

[Ahren1]

Kurzen nodded lightly in response to Toph's request, but it was mainly out of habit as he was well aware she couldn't see the gesture. "Of course." He replied politely, glancing toward Katara now, awaiting her order. As soon as he looked upon the Waterbender, he noticed a somewhat cheerful demeanor which had seemed to have come out of nowhere. He had to give her credit for allowing her mood to be lightened at a time like this, but what precisely was the cause?

As she ordered, he made mental notes of everything without any indication that anything they asked for was out of the question. That was definitely not the case here. If anything, it would be a break for the chefs to prepare such simple meals. He nodded once again, ready to turn and place their food requests until Katara's voice continued, taking on a somewhat... luxurious tone. The way her eyelids lowered took him off guard, creating a bit of confusion until he processed her second request. She... wanted to hear about him?

Was she... flirting with him? Indeed, Kurzen's somewhat lower understanding of women was now creating a much more uncomfortable situation here than was intended. He flustered a bit, not really sure how to respond to such quite yet and obviously oblivious to the fact that Katara was simply trying to break the ice for her Earthbending companion. Kuzren just nodded again and finally headed for the kitchen, scratching his head as he walked.

Not long after, Kurzen returned with a pair of waiters who set out the meals. Everything was fresh and hot, as to be expected. No expenses spared for such honored guests. Though even as he was sure they would be pleased, Kurzen couldn't help but still look a bit uncomfortable. What stories would he tell? His mind was drawing a blank now, and even if he had some heroic tales, what if it just caused Katara to become even more attracted to him? Oh this was all becoming very awkward.

"Momentus things..." He repeated, as if in thought. "I... really don't like to boast. I'm just always trying to better myself. I don't believe in mediocrity, but I also don't believe in perfection. If you do something once, you can do it better the next time... That is what I strive for.

Zuko himself was an inspiration to me. I wasn't very tough as a child. I got pushed around easily. Then when my sisters were born, I wasn't going to stand by and let it happen to them. We didn't have a father around to be protective of us, so I suppose I took that role on. The military seemed to be the best way to train myself to protect them, and my nation. I was young, yes, but If Zuko could become Fire Lord so young, then there was no reason I couldn't at least fight. The war was over then, but that didn't stop insurgents and the like...

I gained my rank because..." He trailed off momentarily, glancing away. He didn't want to tell that story. He was trying to keep them in higher spirits. "Well, maybe I'll tell you that one some other time... I personally think you should enjoy your meal and not let me sour it with trivial training anecdotes and the like. I just tell people that I carry my own weight and that's what is important to me."

He said with a slight smile again, though he seemed to still be avoiding eye contact with Katara...

--

Aang's eyes cracked open upon hearing a familiar voice. Upon noticing the crimson clad Avatar from the past, he couldn't help but gain a wide smile.

"I believe it was you who told me that friendship's transcend lifetimes..." Aang spoke softly, implying Gyatso's and Roku's friendship carried over to his own relationship with his old guardian. Aang's face became serious shortly after, however.

"It has been a while since we spoke, but after the Energybend failed, I felt something. Like I had lost my connection to you and the other Avatars. So, seeing you is a relief... but there's still that feeling. Like I'm incomplete... For the first time in years... I'm not quite sure what to do. I'm worried about Katara... and my friends. This happened because I tried to take Azula's bending... Was that wrong of me? The only other option would have been to take her life...

I know that I should be able to find my own answers now. But... there was something out there, and then in here with me... Some sort of spirit I've never seen before. What if I can't stop it?"

--

After a few moments of comforting each other, Zuko pulled back from Ty Lee slightly so that he could turn her face toward his and look into her eyes. "I hope that.. you can forgive me someday... For not being there to protect her. I'm sorry..." He whispered, wiping some of the tears from his eyes. It was then that in the dim light he glanced down to notice the blood stains on his childhood friend's robe. Zuko's hands reached out to find hers as he realized she was doing her best to hide them in that position. Some remnants of dried blood still there causing him to frown slightly.

"You didn't visit a healer?" He spoke with concern, though strangely he smiled lightly as he pulled her close again into another comforting embrace. "You always were sort of stubborn, weren't you?" He added with a more warm tone, pulling back again to caress her cheek softly. "But please don't endure this pain. I don't want to see any more of my friends hurt right now... You understand that, right? You know... I always preferred you smiling, even if I didn't want to admit it. Come, let me take you to the infirmary... Can you walk all right?"

 

[Mephistophelily]

If the combinations of scents in that dining hall hadn't been enough to make Toph's mouth water, the actual arrival of the meals the two had asked for certainly caused it. Sitting up eagerly from her seat, she took a deep breath, a contented sigh leaving her lips that sounded nearly like sexual bliss. "This is wonderful, Kurzen...," She called out airily, trying to keep with the manners her advisers forced upon her as she kept in mind Katara's hintings of the General's looks in her direction. Eat without being a slob, try to keep things neat and clean and-

Ohhhh. It was beyond delicious.
Forget manners. Toph was HUNGRY!

Hastily shoveling in a rather large dumpling, she paused mid-chewing to listen to the words between Katara and the hesitant Kurzen. Swallowing the chunks, she frowned, setting her chopsticks aside for a moment. He was trying to be courteous, to answer the waterbender's inquiries, but the way he answered and the way he shifted- he was uncomfortable with the conversation. "Zuko has his reasons for his faith in you," She stated softly. "I trust him. You must truly be a man of honor and courage."

She smiled once again, only to return to devouring her food.

Still, her mind continued to wander. Katara had offered to help her look more presentable... The last time she had done that, Toph really did feel better about herself for a little while, and Katara had shown that there was more to her than she let on. Toph came off more as a badgermole who walked on two legs most of the time than an actual Queen.... Even when she did get into regal robes and the jewels, she ended up either reverting to her less-than-impressive social skills or making a complete dirt-covered mess of herself. She usually didn't care. Why should it matter? Omashu knew what she could do, and they knew that she had the same thought processes to her as her predecessor. What did her appearance have to do with anything?

Situations like this. She was away from home, in a place where those around her may not realize who she was, what she was.... Appearing more as a dirty Earthbender wandering in the Fire Nation. If it weren't for the bejeweled hairband she wore, she wondered if most people would have equated exactly who she was.

She needed Katara's help. Badly.
For the time being, though, she was going to enjoy herself.






(Decided to wait off on Azula until time change fully happens.)

 

[ChasNicollette]

"When the weight of all The World's gone wrong..."


Aang's eyes cracked open upon hearing a familiar voice. Upon noticing the crimson clad Avatar from the past, he couldn't help but gain a wide smile.

"I believe it was you who told me that friendship's transcend lifetimes..." Aang spoke softly, implying Gyatso's and Roku's friendship carried over to his own relationship with his old guardian.

Roku nodded easily. "This is true. But this is not an automatic occurrence, nor should one presume that even lovers' future lives will continue to be emotionally compatible. You have all of us, Aang, you have the benefit of all of us, subconscious within your Spirit, and we will influence you, but you are still uniquely you. I am just expressing my delight that this element of you, this tendency towards garnering the unexpected, caught Gyatso's eye as well."

Aang's face became serious shortly after, however.

"It has been a while since we spoke, but after the Energybend failed, I felt something. Like I had lost my connection to you and the other Avatars. So, seeing you is a relief... but there's still that feeling. Like I'm incomplete... For the first time in years... I'm not quite sure what to do. I'm worried about Katara... and my friends. This happened because I tried to take Azula's bending... Was that wrong of me? The only other option would have been to take her life...

I know that I should be able to find my own answers now. But... there was something out there, and then in here with me... Some sort of spirit I've never seen before. What if I can't stop it?"

Roku sat quietly, and listened to his younger, living counterpart's burdened confession. He narrowed his eyes, and he stroked his beard.

"I'm afraid, Aang," he mused, "that for all my supposed wisdom, I never once heard of Energybending during my lifetime. And while I had encountered Lion Turtles as a prehistoric myth, carved into temple walls and architecture, I never once met a living one, the living one, until such time as I saw him through your eyes. This is why I did not recognise our location when you summoned me upon his back..."

He arched a silvered eyebrow, and glanced around. "(Just as I do not recognise our location now. And as you might imagine, this perplexes me.)"

Roku shook his head, ancient brow thoroughly furrowed. "As a result, my conversing with you on the topic of The Art of Energybending will be more... theory than praxis. On the other hand, two heads are better than one. You say you felt a palpable loss, and found yourself here? It could be that you truly have lost your link to your pre-incarnate selves, but that the nature of this place permits you to access Spirits still. Once you leave here, return to your corporeal form, you may discover that our whispers are absent.

"Or it could be," he considered, continuing, "that you have lost something... else? Exactly what, I cannot be certain, and for that I apologise. Either way, this is a question that may well only be answered once you regain consciousness."

Fingers steepled and the index fingers across his lips, Roku shifted topics subtly.

"I advised you, Avatar Aang," he reminded, "upon the shelled back of The Lion Turtle, to be decisive. You managed to be decisive as I suggested, but found a way to be true to your conscience and your beliefs at the same time, and I remain very much impressed by this. But no such action is without consequence, and no such action is without risk. The Lion Turtle himself, as I recall, informed you that the risks inherent in Energybending were and are considerable... that anyone whose Energy you Bent would have the opportunity to Bend back..."

Roku's eyes sank closed, his face flooded with regret. "It was suggested even in my day that 'no good deed goes unpunished.' That even if you do the right thing, even if your heart is noble and your motives are just, that you never escape unscathed. Perhaps it is thus with yourself and Azula. That you have tried to do the right thing but have been... scathed. And that the scathing, as often happens, has not been limited to yourself, but has included your loved ones as well. This is not your fault, nor should you blame yourself unnecessarily. This is just... the way of The World."

He grew quieter. "Do your best to protect them. But The World must come first, it always must. You must never flinch from doing what is right, no matter what it takes."

Roku rose, and stood, and straightened, hands folded before him, gazing down at Aang.

"As for this Spirit," he murmured, "I did not think that any Spirit was older than Koh, and yet... yet this dark creature seems to claim to be far far older. I admit that I have heard rumours of such a thing, such an entity, during my travels in The Spirit World, but I have never encountered it directly, nor heard it called by name. I had assumed that perhaps even The Spirit World might have its own mythology, and that this age-old Spirit was such a myth. Evidently, it was no more a myth in The Spirit World than was The Lion Turtle a myth in The World of the living. Nothing, Aang, can kill a Spirit, and such an experienced Spirit would be formidable indeed..."

His eyebrow quirked. "Then again. What did The Lion Turtle say to you, exactly? 'Since beginning-less time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light.'"

A muscle in Roku's jaw flexed as he considered this. "It would seem that The Lion Turtle was being less than figurative, though I had assumed otherwise. Perhaps this is The Darkness that thrives in The Void. And you are being called upon, Avatar Aang, to be the purifying Light..."

Roku smiled faintly. Oh, so very faintly. "Perhaps a Spirit can under no circumstances be broken. But that does not mean, my young counterpart, that it cannot be Bent. You must cause it to yield, Aang. Though the mystery of how to do this is one, I am very sorry, you may have to solve yourself."

 

[ChasNicollette]

"There can be miracles."

The dust settled, literal and figurative, and Xia's laughter rose with candlesmoke up towards the ceiling of the theatre.

She wept and fought for Air and she started, softly, delightedly, incredulously, to laugh...

mad mad cathartic laughter...

Her knees hurt a little. Her shoulder was hot with pain and cool with his saliva where he'd tried to tend where he'd bitten. Bitten like a kitten.

...she kissed him...

...and wondered what was next.

She kissed him, and he kissed back, and the kiss was... nice.

Affectionate. Whatever that meant.

But then again... what did any of this mean?

She had a dose of his seed inside her. Multiple doses, based on the way he'd spasmed against her while they were... was this fucking? Had they just... fucked? It certainly couldn't be described as lovemaking because love was way too huge a concept for this, this was just too strange: two strangers huddled together for warmth, essentially.

He'd come inside her. Warm, sticky, voluminous.

There was a... slippery sloshing sensation in the place where their bodies met.

(Potentially disastrous.)

She knew she shouldn't think about this. She knew she should probably panic later. Little nagging notions at the back of her mind.

She should just enjoy the afterglow and freak out later that maybe she'd get pregnant now.

But boys from other Nations can't get Earth girls pregnant. Or Air girls.

Right?

Nobody knows. It just never happens. There's a first time for everything.

She should just enjoy the kiss...

Hesitantly breaking the kiss, Ryota gazed into her eyes once more, his thumbs gently brushing aside any lingering tears; giving her a reassuring smile as he stated a simple comment, "No regrets."

They were there in the dark and he smiled softly at her, and he wiped her tears away, and she looked at him like he was a whole new species of life.

Her lip twitched a little bit, and a bit of wicked mordant humour occurred to her.

Well. If I have to get pregnant from a one-night stand, I could do worse.

It would be one Hell of a beautiful baby.

No regrets.

"Makes sense to me," she pondered, her voice quiet even to her.

It was cool in there, the Air was cool on her skin, and in one of those inexplicable acts of chivalry, the Waterbender draped his shirt over her shoulders.

It wasn't much. But it was... something.

He gave her the shirt off of his back, just about literally, and he wrapped her up in his arms. She let her eyes close.

He was warm.

Xia pressed her breasts upon his upper chest and she was there within the warmth of him, he was around her and inside her, the physical feel of him. The smell of him. He was... lovely.

"That was....amazing." He breathed out as a heavy, contented sigh followed after his short string of words; which was then followed by a teasing comment as a smirk played at the corner of his lips, "I must confess, considering the amount of...evidence, we have to dispose of, I'm rather grateful at least one of us is capable of bending fluids."

She leaned back a bit, and grinned at him, her cheeks painted red upon the gold of her skin. "'Amazing,' huh?" she ran that around in her mouth, chuckled softly. "Yeah. It kind of was, wasn't it? I... I've used the phrase 'mind-blowing' a lot of times in my life? But now I think I finally know what that means. I think you might have. I think you might actually have blown my mind with what you did."

The panic was settling. The panic could be... later. (She'd make room for panic in her busy schedule. Hyperventilating was something of an event when one could Bend Air.)

She glanced down at the place where their bodies still met. It was darker now, but she thought she could see some of his "fluids" seeping out of her and pooling on his skin.

She kissed his forehead, and looked at him thoughtfully. Was he joking? Or could he really Bend more than just tears when it came to the humours that flowed within people?

"So practical," she murmured, "and yet so perverted. I knew I liked you for a reason."

Xia shook her head, and her face slipped into the shape of a woozy grin. "And. Yeah. The amount of evidence. I guess it's... I guess it's been awhile for both of us, huh?"

The young man chuckled as his hands slowly started to stroking themselves along the curves of her back; caressing the Earth girl as he continued to bask in the afterglow.

She sighed softly, leaning in close to him again. And closed her eyes.

At this point, it wouldn't even bother her over much if they did get caught.

She'd gotten what she'd came for. (So to speak.)

She wanted... she wanted more than this.

Call me greedy.

But if this was all she got... well. She could see her way through to being contented with that. Still, if this was all she was getting, she wanted to milk it for all it was worth, hold onto the moment as long as the moment would last.

"Xia?" The Waterbender whispered into the girls ear as he pulled back a bit; just enough for him to be able to look her in the eyes again, as he slid one hand up in order to stroke her face, "I...I just wanted you to know that, for however long we're together, I wish to be there whenever you need it. Whether it be to offer up a friendly ear or provide you with any other source of comfort. It doesn't even need to be anything along the lines of what we did tonight, although...I wouldn't complain."

He leaned back, and her eyes popped open again, his voice in her ear had the sound of Great Import, and she regarded him at first with bewilderment. And then with dawning.

He was offering her... more.

He was suggesting that this was not everything for them. And maybe he was suggesting this because he thought he could get her to do again to him what she'd just done... but Xia found herself grinning, because she was hardly opposed to that.

"'Work, work, work,'" she murmured.

Ryota gave a slight smirk as he chuckled a bit over the last part; wanting her to know she was more then a girl to share intimacy with, while also reassuring her that he hadn't regretted what they shared as he concluded, "I just, you know, wanted to make certain you're aware of this."

Xia nodded quietly, his hand on her cheek, her hand rising to mirror this on his own face. The fact that he'd offer this with such obvious sincerity even in the face of the raging parcel of psychospiritual issues that was Xia's mind... this spoke volumes about him. Volumes and tomes and libraries...

"Thank you," she nodded quietly. "I'd. I'd like that. I'd like all of that. A shoulder to cry on--" and she couldn't help a wry smile, glancing down at the reddened patch on her shoulder "--maybe a shoulder to gnaw on?"

"I'd like that," she murmured. "I'd like that very much."

Taking a few moments more to enjoy the feel of Xia's soft features as he ran his fingers along her cheek, the young man eventually leaned in and placed his lips gently against her forehead; planting a soft kiss there which lingered for several seconds before letting himself settle back into the chair. Sadly, perfect as this time shared between them may appear, he knew they couldn't put off the inevitable any longer.

"Much as I hate for either of us pull away from another, we probably should get dressed before anyone checks in here." Ryota noted with a fair amount of regret evident in his voice, letting both of his arms settle around Xia's waist as he gently held her while underneath the draped over shirt; suddenly gaining a thoughtful look on his face as he added, "Do you...do you have a room for the night?"

Xia sat there upon him for a moment more. Her eyes were dark and questing.

You're too good to be true.

Which probably means you aren't that good. Or aren't true.

Or something.

You're too good to be true.

But I believe in you. I believe in you anyway.

Which probably means I'm crazy. But Hell, we knew that already.

She reached up and peeled his shirt away from her back and shoulders and sat there nude in the cool cool air for a moment. She stretched... and then she placed her hands on the arms of the seat and pushed up...

...with a slither, he popped out of her, and she let out a tiny little gasp, even softened his absence, his sudden absence was palpable and she didn't want to be alone...

Her bare feet found the carpeted floor, and she felt a dribble of them, of the mixed-up juices of them, sticky and warm even as it cooled, journey down her thigh where her juices had journeyed alone before. She turned away from him, seeking her clothes, and she shivered not from the sudden cold but from the sudden lack of warmth.

She found her black lacy support thing but decided just to throw the shirt on, and as she was pulling it on over her front and her shoulders, she glanced back at him, and her eyes were dark and questing.

"I have a room for tonight," she murmured. "But then, so do you."

Xia's face bunched up a bit, and her voice hesitated just as her mind hesitated just as her Spirit hesitated. "Can we share yours? Um, please? It's just that... my room would have only me in it and your room would have you in it. I would much prefer... if that's okay with you, taking you up on your offer and all ...I would much prefer a room that has you in it."

She pulled her shirt on over her head and found the sleeves and tugged her braid free, the loosened portions of her dark hair spilling around her face.

She watched him. Carefully.

In case he was too good to be true, even though she believed in him.

"If that's okay with you."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Kayna did not expect a reply to her words. She was in fact startled to receive one. As the young man stepped forward, Kayna was on her feet. Feet planted, water flowing from her skin. One hand going to one of the dual batons at her hips. The water quickly forming into a blade the length of her arm, swinging outward. Coming to rest just at the throat of the man from shadows...

"Friend or foe... it is unwise to approach a lady from the shadows... Especially one like me." A glint of intrigue sparks in Kayna's eyes as she takes in the man before her. "Since you are so learned... Perhaps I have a few things I could teach you."

Kayna holds her blade of ice close to the newcomer. Her muscles tense. Her body taught.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Oh you speak to me in riddles, and you speak to me in rhymes..."

Zhuang Liu did not flinch. Unless the arching of an eyebrow could be construed as a flinch.

The frozen weapon hovered near his throat, his windpipe, the conduits of his blood. It was cold upon his skin.

Quick. Lethal. Unhesitating and unflinching.

And atop this, she Bends Water.

Good.

His hands were still hidden in the drape of his sleeves, and his smile was one of crystal serenity.

"The more I learn," he pondered, "the more I learn that I have more to learn. You have my apologies, m'lady. I did not mean to startle you. I only presumed, from your posture and your hushed self-directed conversation, that you were up to clandestine deeds, and had I arrived with fanfare, announcing myself amidst bombast, this would have ruined everything for you."

His eyebrow quirked. "In addition. Would not killing me also precipitate ruination of your no doubt nefarious inclinations? I could cry out as you tear me to pieces, and this would bring the guards. If you were going to kill me, I think, you would have done so already."

Zhuang slid a hand out of his sleeve and, reaching up with one hand and two of this hand's fingers, he gently pushed the weapon away without seeming utterly disdainful.

"With that in mind," he declared, "let us cease our posturing, and continue with far more pertinent matters."

He turned his back on the woman with the wicked Watery weapon, turned away from her and examined once more the tall tall wall of the palace. He turned away from the Waterbender.

Which meant he had a deathwish. Or he was impossibly brave. Or he was the kind of utterly mad man that no longer knew fear. Or he had a particularly formidable Paisho tile up his sleeve.

Perhaps it was true for one of these things. Or perhaps for a few of these things. Or perhaps all of these things were true.

With bare toes and bare fingers he scaled his way a few feet up the wall. Just a yard, a yard and a half. And hung there, in defiance of gravity.

He glanced over his shoulder at the woman who had threatened his throat with a weapon carved from ice and he smiled at her like he was inviting her for a swim in a Moonlit lake. He held out his hand to her, palm up, fingers slightly curled in a gentle beckon.

"Quick and silent," he murmured, "I can gain you ingress. And we shall see what other obstacles lay before us, before in turn we surmount these also. Like the journey of a thousand miles, begun with a single step... let us take this step, and then we shall take another. A journey untaken is a lifetime unlived."

He beckoned to her, and his eyes danced in the night, delighted at this.

"Come with me. If you want to live."

 

[Eazy]

The Waterbender had noticed a number of subtle hints which gave way to revealing the panic and inner turmoil that threatened to boil over in his lover. While he certainly wasn't capable of reading minds, Ryota could fathom a guess on any number of factors which were likely playing into her fears. One of which, of course, being the understandable concern involving pregnancy after their unprotected joining. The water tribesman had always made certain to take proper precautions during his past few sexual encounters, but none of them were quite so spontaneous as this had been. He never really considered the possibility of needing any vials for 'safety' during this trip, as the notion of cross Nation breeding was surprisingly rare and unknown to the young man.

There was Sokka and the Kyoshi leader, of course, but nothing had ever spawned from whatever intimacy they may have shared during their time together. Also, despite being able to master all four elements and needing to spend time in each Nation to do so, it wasn't until Aang that the Avatar's, least those of more recent history, had chosen to take a mate outside of their birth Nation. His mind weighed in the possibilities. Skin and eye colors apart, the residents of each respective Nation seemed physically compatible, but with the mystic art of bending restricting itself to those of specific genetic backgrounds, whose to say what may be 'allowed.' Especially where it relates to one such as Xia whom anyone had to admit, for better or worse, was of a most unusual nature when it came to the laws of bending.

Ryota smiled warmly as her own fears seem to subside for now, listening to her speak of his perverted yet practical planning for cleaning up after themselves. She was right about it being a while for both of them, which caused his features to shift into an almost embarrassed expression as he slowly nodded in confirmation, a whispered response creeping out of his parted lips, "Almost a year for myself."

Which, indeed, was part of why there had been so much of his essence after feeling the intimate embrace of a warm female body against his own once again. However, as he gazed up into the Earth girls beautiful features throughout their exchanges, it occurred to him that the thought which weighed the heaviest was how he'd live up to his openly voiced promise of being there for Xia if he put such an extra burden on her shoulders. If another life did spawn out of their joining, well, he could think of far worse people to care for a child. Despite everything she had on her mind (and a few other quirks he was almost constantly getting to know better), Xia had a good head on her shoulders. And, as he gave her another light squeeze in his arms, Ryota knew he'd be there when and if she needed him. Even if the two of them as being more then friends wasn't meant to be in the long run.

"Thank you," she nodded quietly. "I'd. I'd like that. I'd like all of that. A shoulder to cry on--" and she couldn't help a wry smile, glancing down at the reddened patch on her shoulder "--maybe a shoulder to gnaw on?"

"I'd like that," she murmured. "I'd like that very much."

Grinning up at her after allowing his gaze to briefly drift toward the bitten portion of her shoulder, the young man tried to stifle a chuckle as he added with a slight teasing tone in his voice, "As someone who once offered me the use of any part of their body, I figure the least I can do is offer the same with my shoulder and any other part you may require."

Gods, how comforting it did feel to have someone he felt this comfortable with, at least in the afterglow of what they just did, wrapped around his body. Even after his suggestion of them getting dressed, followed by asking if she had a room for the night, a part of himself felt content and almost daring enough to simply lay like this together for however long they could last. Regardless, as he gazed up into Xia's lovely features, noticing the look in her eyes, it wasn't too long before she finally started to peel off the shirt he wrapped around them. Ryota knew it was time for them to depart. Still, as she stretched out in order to plant her hands and push herself up, he almost immediately felt a sense of regret over losing the warmth of her soft body pressing down against him.

As she slid him out of her, Ryota clenched his teeth as a shiver escaped his mouth; his body trembling noticeably due to the sensation of having him gliding between her sex one last time. The gasp she let out gave him a clear clue of how similar she likely felt on the absence of each other, but the young man did nothing in dissuading this turn of events as he watched her stand upon the carpeted floor. The water tribesman let out a sign, allowing himself a few fleeting moments to watch the beautiful Ba Sing Se native until she turned away to seek out her clothing. It was then he finally pulled himself up, similarly slipping on his own shirt before trying to gather the material on the floor which he frantically stepped out of toward the start of their intimacy.

"I have a room for tonight," she murmured. "But then, so do you."

He turned to face Xia at the sound of her voice, having stepped back into his pants, yet keeping them pooled around his ankles until he could clean the cooling mixture of their respective essence and the sweat which had formed. She hesitated, but Ryota remained hopeful, if a bit reluctant to get these hopes up, that she would catch onto where he was going and accept his subtle offer.

"Can we share yours? Um, please? It's just that... my room would have only me in it and your room would have you in it. I would much prefer... if that's okay with you, taking you up on your offer and all ...I would much prefer a room that has you in it."

Trying to hide the amount of relief he felt over her words, Ryota bit back the goofy smile which threatened to show itself as he finished doing up his top; which hung just low enough to partially cover his softening sexual organ.

"If that's okay with you."

"Of course, Xia." He let out almost too quickly in response to her last comment, a high level of excitement sneaking out with his words before he paused, clearing his throat and giving a soft smile as he continued more calmly, "I mean, it'll by my pleasure to keep you company for the rest of the night. And believe me when I say it'll be an equal pleasure to keep myself in your own."

Having assured the Earth girl that there wasn't a problem with them sharing each others company for the night, Ryota eventually returned his attention to the task at hand. Gazing down at the chair they were both sitting upon only a couple minutes earlier, the Waterbender reached out toward the small container and, with the calm movement of his hands, drew out a small portion of bending water. Much like bending mud, Waterbending could manipulate many things if enough moisture was in it, and body fluids were significantly easier once they were out in the open. Watching as the small animated ball of liquid hovered between his hands, Ryota then directed it into the seat, letting it join with the bodily fluids which had soaked into the seat, before drawing it out along with the bending material. Sure enough, save for perhaps a faint scent of sex which he couldn't do anything about, there was nary a trace of their activities left upon the seat.

Ryota held the mixed fluids in one hand, using the other to draw out a fresher, larger portion of bending material before depositing the now 'tainted' amount into the pouch. Gazing over at Xia, the water tribesman let his wandering eyes survey the half dressed young woman; those blue eyes of his lingering upon her strong legs before adverting them upward again. His appreciation of her beauty certainly hadn't decreased after having portions of it covered back up by clothing.

"Um, Xia? Could you....spread your legs a little?" The dark complexioned young man hesitantly asked of the girl, knowing the request may seem unusual, especially giving his lack of initial explanation, but hoping she'd understand and comply after his earlier comments about cleaning up.

When she did comply with his wishes, the young bender gently, slowly shifted the levitating spiral of swirling water until a portion of it came free; moving between the girls legs. Steadily, the water wrapped itself around her inner thigh, sliding itself lower, to where the trail of their mixed juices had finished, before inching its way back up until it nearly touched the moist folds of her sex. Ryota was slow and precise in his movements, letting her get used to the cool sensation as the water processionally cleaned up every trace of his essence from her leg. The cool water slowly flowed from one leg to the other, where it then repeated the process of slowly flowing along Xia's warm skin in a similar fashion.

The fluid again cleaned off every inch of her leg, going down to near her ankles, then up until it was inches away of her sensitive lips; as which point he paused and glanced up at Xia before alerting her, "This...might feel a little weird at points, but it'll only take a few seconds."

Granting a few seconds for these words to sink in, Ryota then turned his hand until the palm side was facing up, steadily motioning for the bending material to slowly coat itself over Xia's mound. Cool water cupped itself over her sex, constantly swirling in a slow, steady motion as it intimately bathed her nether region. Glancing up at the Earth girl again, the bender studied Xia's reaction, insuring he wasn't weirding her out with any of this as he gingerly shifted his hand so that the water pressed itself against the tender opening. Pressing ever so gently, until the recently penetrated sex parted enough for the fluid to flow in about an inch, just enough to scoop out the traces of their essences which were at risk of flowing out during the walk back to his room. Ryota let the liquid slither in and out of her in a steady, tendril like stream which likely had the adverse effect of stimulating the young woman as it pressed against vaginal muscles during the short process.

"There, all done." The water tribesman softly announced as he retracted the stream of bending material, smiling up at the Earth girl as he deposited this portion of liquid into his pouch which remained on one of the numerous seats around them, "Hope that wasn't too weird for you? But I figured it's the most, well, thorough way of cleaning each other up before getting dressed to leave."

Gradually returning his full attention to the clean amount of bending water which remained spiraling about thanks to his split concentration and free hand, the tribesman let her focus on finish getting dressed as he went about washing himself up in a similar fashion. Only Ryota was considerably faster with himself due to a lack of concern over coming off too quick with his motions. He'd done similar procedures in the past, usually involving cleaning off dirt or sweat off his body just as he was doing with the cool tendrils which slithered around his legs. When they reached his groin, however, the young man nearly lost his concentration as the sudden, near chilly sensation encased itself around his testicles and shaft. Certainly odd, yet not altogether uncomfortable as it finished washing off the traces of his cum and Xia's sweet nectar; his blue eyes briefly glancing up once more at the girl as he silently wondered how this was for her only moments earlier.

"OK, that certainly was....interesting." Ryota begrudgingly admitted as he again smiled at Xia, only this time with a hint of a smirk on the corner of his lips while he again deposited of the final amount of bending water he pulled out earlier; making a mental note to dispose of it whenever he had a chance.

From there, it was only a matter of getting dressed, which he did quickly enough after pulling his lower garments back up and refastening them in place. His shirt, which hung open partially after he threw it back on earlier, was similarly fastened to make himself look as presentable as possible before they stepped out. Not that they were likely to bump into too many people at this hour, aside from maybe a few guards, but it was better to be safe then sorry when it came to avoiding any odd stares. He checked his bandages, which he may have forgotten about by now were it not for the occasional throbbing sensation which reminded him of his earlier bump. At least the hip wasn't so bad, once you got past the slight aching throb left by the bruising and brief jolt of pain whenever he pulled himself out of a sitting position.

"Shall we? I'm pretty sure we could both go for a good nights sleep after the day we've been through." The young man suggested after he strapped the water pouch around his waist; making for the last article of clothing or personal belonging which he brought into the theatre.

Once they were ready, Ryota led the way out of the theatre, hesitantly pushing open the door which led out of the room and peaking about in a brief attempt to avoid any questions from potentially curious passerby's. While the water tribesman held no shame or regret over what they did, he wasn't exactly in a hurry for anyone to discover any details such as the whereabouts of where it took place. It was an ultimately halfhearted attempt, however, as he promptly led the way out of the room; closing the door behind them before starting to lead Xia toward his temporary bedroom.

Idle chit chat was shared along the way. Nothing too personal, which meant the majority of it was about the Palace itself and perhaps a few general questions about the living conditions in their respective Nations. The pair eventually did reach the doorway of his room as Ryota promptly took hold of the handle, pulled open the door and stood by while allowing Xia to enter first in a gentlemanly manner. Idly, the water tribesman was grateful there hadn't been anyone patrolling this particular hallway at the moment, though it wasn't likely he'd try to avoid their joint entrance to his room if there had been. Especially not during this late an hour.

While closing the door behind himself, Ryota noticed that the room had remained well lit despite the candles having burned for a good while at this point; giving them both a clear view of their temporary living conditions as he announced after walking into the middle of the room, "Ta-da! Probably not much different from the room assigned to you. Basic bed, small table, closet, dresser and armchair combination. Only with myself thrown into the mix, of course."

The Waterbender grinned teasingly at the girl as he stood before Xia, the blue theme of the clothing he wore likely standing out against the darker colors which were often present in Fire Nation rooms. As his attention slowly drifted toward the rest of the room, however, the thought occurred to him that, while he didn't have any reservations against sharing the one bed in the room, he also didn't wish to assume anything; in spite of what they'd done together thus far. Just because they were intimate with each other and comfortable enough to share a room didn't mean he had to crowd the girl with his presence at every waking turn. A questioning expression filled his features, staring at the bed, then turning his attention to the closet, where he'd previously noticed a fresh assortment of blankets and bedding neatly placed away.

"Um, I'm not sure how you feel about the sleeping arrangements, but I'm fine with having the floor for the night." The young man offered as he reached a hand behind his head to rub at his neck; letting out a brief chuckle while also offering up a genuine, reassuring smile as he spoke honestly of his sleeping habits, "Trust me, after some of the places I've slept during my years in both the Northern and Southern Water Tribes, a soft and carpeted surface in a place like this is a luxury."

Giving a slight shrug of his shoulders, Ryota gazed over at the young woman, fully prepared to respect any wishes she may have when it comes to their arrangements for the night as he assured the girl, "Whatever you feel the most comfortable with doing, Xia."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Kayna smiled at the man clinging to the wall. Quickly, she swirled her wrist and fingers, changing what was once a blade, into a swirl of water. Water that finds it's way back into the water skin.

"It seems to me that even if you coal-flingers aren't all as dense as the piles of rocks you play with, you certainly have manners of the same class."

Kayna allows a small smile to cross her features in the dark.

"Very well. I suppose we are meant to meet. And I will not scoff at the opportunity."

With speed and power like a rushing river, Kayna sprints away from the wall. In a few steps she pivots quickly back and rushes the wall. Kayna runs up the wall high enough to reach the outstretched hand of the Earthbender. Kayna pulls herself tightly into the body of her apparent new ally, wrapping her strong legs and arms around him.

"Very well. Let us proceed."

 

[Ahren1]

Aang listened to all of the former Avatar's wise words silently and without interruption. Many feelings began to build up inside of him. There was some relief that Roku seemed to agree that he had done the right thing in Energybending Azula, but there was an uneasiness into the consequences that the older man seemed to suggest it brought upon him. How would he function not being able to call upon the wisdom of the past Avatars? How would his bending be affected?

The curious way that Roku described the new darkness which Aang was now facing didn't help to calm his nerves. Could it truly be the age-old darkness of the void? Was he truly the purifying light? These were questions he didn't have the answers to, and right now, he was only worrying himself with too many inquires. None that Roku would be able to answer.

"You're not completely right..." Aang spoke softly. "I may have to solve it, but not by myself. My friends are determined to defend this world just as much as I am. I have a feeling I'll be relying on their strength again this time." He added with a smile, though it faded soon after as if another new thought had come to.

"Azula is here, too. I wonder... if The Spirit is going to try and manipulate her as well. Their goals seem quite similar, but there was something in that spirit's eyes that was just completely narcissistic. Unwilling to yield to anyone else.

And knowing Azula in her state; she'll probably take any chance to defeat Zuko and I. This is going to get complicated." Aang shook his head lightly, glancing back to Roku and smiling again. "You've relieved some of my self-doubt. I'm thankful for that. Don't worry. Even if you're not in my head when I wake, I'll make sure to get you and the others back where they belong.

I suppose I should focus on trying to get out of here now, huh?"

--

Kurzen couldn't help but smile as he watched Toph swiftly enjoy her food. It was so refreshing to meet a girl who didn't try to stay so overly proper around him for a change. The fact that she was a queen and still acted in such a way was even more admirable, in his opinion. When she finally stopped to show her trust in Zuko's decisions, therefore trusting him, his smile turned from amused to appreciative.

"It means a lot to hear you say such. My respect for you..." He paused, noticing he was still focusing on Toph, briefly ceasing that focus to glance at Katara as well. "Both of you, is of the same that I show Lord Zuko. The world owes its peace to you." He continued, once again silently admiring Toph, though he seemed to avoid doing so too much out of fear that at least Katara would notice.

"Oh, whenever you wish to be shown to bed.. er.. your beds.. in your own rooms... just let me know. I realize it is becoming late..." He fumbled with his words a bit, realizing that he really needed to not let attractive women hinder his articulation.

 

[Mephistophelily]

The third dumpling had vanished, Toph happily sighing as she took a breather. The roasted duck still filled half the bowl, but the Earth Queen simply couldn't take another bite. "That was simply delicious, General. Thank you..." Her manners resumed to float to the surface, even if the woman using them wasn't exactly in the most presentable of states.

Cocking her head in Katara's direction, she made a rather sour face, only to shake her head. "Heyyy, all I did was teach twinkletoes to Earthbend. And from what Katara was saying, maybe she could have even done that." She smirked, encouraging their earlier friendly argument further. "So, shoot... I might not have ever been needed... Well, c'mon, Katara, let's see you Earthbend!" Pausing for a moment, she suddenly let out a rather loud laugh, leaning back in her chair. "No, no... I know we all had our part to play in those events. Fate truly did bring us all together for certain reasons. Who knows where we would be if things had been different, or what the world would be like now..."

With a gentle yawn, she shot a grateful smile in Kurzen's direction at the mention of beds. "That would be great, General. After that meal, I could really use a good night's rest. That, and... I'm kinda sore." Cocking her head in Katara's direction, a rather stern look came to the Earth Queen's face. "And you. Sleep. Aang will be right there waiting for you in the morning. Even if its just a few hours to rest your head... Something. Like I said, I don't want him yelling at me for you running yourself out."

Following the General to their respective rooms, Toph listened for a moment as Katara entered her own room before starting for the door leading to her bed. She paused momentarily as she reached for the door, wanting to say something- anything- to Kurzen... but the most she could get out was a simple "Thanks."

The door quickly closing behind her, she rested her hand on the wood for a second, letting out a frustrated groan. "What was that?! Idiot..." Continuing to grumble at herself, she slipped into the bed and finally managed to get to sleep, even with the constant worries on her friends- mainly the Avatar.



She had never been much of a morning person. As a child, it took quite a bit to get her to rise... and her cleaning routine was rather lacking. Since becoming Queen, however, she realized that responsibilities required more action from her, using the footsteps of the recently-waking others on the move through the halls as a way of knowing when dawn had broken. There was certainly more movement here in the Fire Nation's capital than in Omashu, waking Toph far sooner than she had at home.

As for her morning cleaning?
Still just as bad as ever.

Today, however, there was a reason to get herself organized; to be as presentable as she could manage to pull off on her own. This much activity meant that the event she had been fearing were taking place... And even though she had really only spent a few times with Fire Lady Mai, being a royal of the Earth Kingdom and a friend to the Fire Lord called for her to pay her respects for his loss.

"Excuse me," She called out to one of the passing guards, barely holding the door open enough to be heard. "Can I ask a favor of you?"

Explaining what she needed, the guard affirmed that he could do this, moving off to find what the Earth Queen asked for. Toph went about on her own, giving herself a quick dirt-based cleansing of her own and bending any remaining dust. She felt pretty clean... but her feet would require a bit more than a simple bending-session. With a sigh, she sat at the end of the bed, plunking them into the bowl of water left on the stand. A knock came from the door a few moments later, the guard peeking in with the robes she had asked for. "Thanks. Just... just leave them on the chair over there."

Changing from her rather ragged traveling clothes that had taken the brunt of the previous day's events, she slipped into the clean garments and readjusted the headband she always wore to actually hold back her bangs. She hated things like this...

Walking out into the halls silently, she followed after the moving guards and people, heading towards the gathering people for the remembrance for Fire Lady Mai. She took a deep breath, lingering at the back of the group as the humble words of condolences, memories and soft-spoken words to Zuko and his family. What was she to say? Things like this always bothered her... but she made her appearance, she had a reputation for the Earth Kingdom to uphold- For Omashu. The Fire Nation and the Earth kingdom had no quarrels any longer, and a loss in one land was a sorrow for the other.

"I"m sorry, Zuko," She whispered softly as she came before the Fire Lord, taking his hand and gripping it tightly. "I know she loved you. And you loved her. Ty Lee- She was your friend. You two were so close and-" She cut short, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, all of you. I really am."

She felt so out of place here.

Hastily retreating back into the castle as she passed from Zuko's sight, she was already removing the heavier fabrics that hung from her. The guard that had brought them had well intentions, but she hated to be so confined, to be reminded that she had boundaries.

 

[UnseenMaiden]

Oh yeah.. I've had this bitch done for a bit now XD

Ty Lee

"I hope that.. you can forgive me someday... For not being there to protect her. I'm sorry..."

Hearing Zuko’s whispered words, her hand flew to her mouth to somehow cover the surprise that was on her face. This entire night she had had never, not even once, had thought of blaming him for his wife’s death. A million ifs had flown through her head and they probably always would, but she had never once thought ‘if Zuko had protected Mai…’. She didn’t even understand how he thought she blamed him in the first place. She blamed Azula for doing the deed, and all the elements that could’ve been stopped before leading her friend into the depths of madness. She blamed herself for seeing Azula’s aura steadily gain darkness over the years and not trying hard enough to sway her away from the path of power she had chosen. She didn’t blame Zuko, not for this. Sighing softly, she shook her head, weariness evident for once in her voice.

“Anything I ever blamed you for, I forgave a long time ago.”

"You didn't visit a healer? You always were sort of stubborn, weren't you?..But please don't endure this pain. I don't want to see any more of my friends hurt right now... You understand that, right? You know... I always preferred you smiling, even if I didn't want to admit it. Come, let me take you to the infirmary... Can you walk all right?"

She stared at him blankly for a few moments, then gave him a weak smile. It wasn’t much and held little of her usual radiance, but it was the best she could do under the circumstances. When he had touched her cheek, he’d shocked her. Despite how complete strangers would so often come to her for one reason or another and despite how she yearned for attention, she’d grown used to being little more than an afterthought to those she cared for most. The happiness she felt at Zuko worrying over her, was tainted by the guilt she felt over daring to be even a little happy at this time. Finally, she pushed his hand away from her, her skin suddenly cool from the absence of heat, and stood up fully well on her on.

“Zuko, there’s no use in worrying the healers over something they can’t do anything more about. I’ll be fine. I’ve already been taken care of and I’m not as fragile as you think.”

Shaking her head at his insistence of her going to the infirmary, she pulled apart the cloth at her side, stiff now with her dried blood, and revealed the bandages that had been placed there earlier. As she looked at them now, she assured herself that her own words were truthful, and hoping they were. At least, no blood had soaked through the bandages tonight and while she’d never suffered an injury like this before, she thought it a good enough sign. Painting a smile on her lips once more, she instead pulled Zuko to his own feet, giving him little choice in the matter. The smile turned into a grimace only for a moment as her body protested the strain.

“Come. You have to get some rest. Spirits know you’re going to need every minute you can get.”

With that, she led him away and turned down every argument he gave her to listen to him. She truly didn’t know how easily or well she would mend, if at all, but she had at least meant it when she said they had done all they could for her. Katara had done more than any of them, pulling her back from the brink of death. She knew in her bones that she had visited the Spirit World this day, but she wasn’t telling Zuko that. No, instead she only walked him to his chambers and tried not to gaze inside for too long so as to avoid the touches of things that she knew was from Mai. Her own room was one that had been sanctioned for her years ago after so many visits she had paid to them both. That was where she fitfully found sleep.
________
Day 2

In the beginning, the People were one.

White. She didn't know what the color represented in the Earth Kingdom, if anything at all, but she had heard that the Water Tribes associated it with joyous occasions because of how it resembled the moon. Here in the Fire Nation, things were different. White was the color of ashes that have long since lost their ember, the color of things that have too long been deprived of the sun's warmth. White was death and that would be what she wore this day.

The spirit is of no nation and so it was the spirit that drove us.

The sky was still dark when she awoke, her body unnaturally stiff from trying to avoid any unnecessary pain during sleep. If the lack of a restful night had caused her any harm, she didn’t feel it. In fact, she told herself, that she felt nothing and thought no more on the subject. Instead she let her actions consume her thoughts. Undress. Bathe. Brush and then comb hair until it was dry. Do not pull hair into plaits this morning. Dress in unfamiliar white robes. Put white veil over unbound, long hair. Wear no other adornment than the ashes smeared into haphazard gray streaks down her face. The sky was still dark. Everything had taken far less time than she thought it would. There was nothing left to do but that dreaded event.

We have become separate.

No, there was one thing. The healers didn’t agree with her. Some said so out loud and others only showed it in the tightening of their mouths and eyes, anger unmistakable inside of them. What she was doing could be considered treason and betrayal. Still, servants brought what she asked for before she hid herself away behind privacy screens. For a few long moments, she stared at Azula and tried to hate her. If she hated her enough, maybe she could kill and revenge the death of their friend. She tried and failed. Azula may have done the deed, but Ty Lee felt that she was just as much at fault for not being a better friend and recognizing the warning signs sooner.

Divided by our pride.

A sigh escaped her lips as she pulled back the layers of cloth, stained with dirt, sweat, and blood, off of Azula’s body and left them in a discarded pile on the floor. The perfumed water was hot, nearly burning against her skin, when she plunged the cloth into it, but she paid it no attention as she set about the task at hand. The relative silence of pre-dawn would give many too much time to think. She hadn’t wondered why she wished to do this for Azula. She had only known that no one else would have tended to her, beyond the Fire Sages to make sure the connection between her and Aang was not doing any more damage to the Avatar than was obviously already done. As she thought now, she knew that had she given her actions any forethought, she would still be here, cleansing the body of a woman that had once been her friend. Maybe the healers were right, that Azula didn’t deserve even this small gift of a clean body and clothes, but Ty Lee wasn’t doing this for the Azula that had started a war only the day before. She did it for the girl with a quick wit, an unspoken need for her mother’s approval and, failing that, her father’s, and who never quite knew how to do anything nice without acting like it was from malice instead. It was for the woman that Ty Lee knew still had to possess those aspects, even if she’d buried it far from the light of day.

But still we are one.

Time had changed Azula in more ways than one. She had never known her skin to be so pale or her hair, once shiny and healthy, to hang as limply as it did now. Ty Lee found herself worrying about the woman’s health and if she had been taking care of herself properly over these years. Yet, another pang of guilt for her to carry. If she had visited more often as she should have, she could have kept an eye on such matters. As she continued to wash away the grime of battle, a pulse, almost a flickering shadow under Azula’s pale skin, caught her eye and she stared at it, puzzled, for some moments. Unexpected fear crept up her spine, making her shiver despite not being cold. Whatever that was, she knew instinctually that it didn’t belong, yet there it sat conspicuously in the Fire chakra. Swiftly, her eyes darted towards the other four chakra points on Azula’s body.

So it is, that to set the spirit free…

Light, Sound, and Earth held the same unnatural inky shadow, so obvious to her now that she was looking. She was afraid to touch her now, but still her hands reached out, fingers tracing lines into the unconscious woman’s skin before Ty Lee gave it a second thought. She’d never done this on Azula before, even when they were younger and Ty Lee had been studying the art at the academy. A small smile lifted the corner of her lips when she realized how angry Azula would be with her when she eventually woke up, but still Ty Lee pressed against the pressure points as she found them, blocking chi, a safeguard against something that she couldn’t put a name to. She wasn’t going to let it harm the exiled princess. Azula had been through enough torture for quite a few lifetimes already. So it was that Ty Lee hoped her actions were enough as she left the Infirmary, avoiding the accusing gazes of others as best she could, with Azula cleaned and dressed in the white robes of mourning.

…we destroy the body.

“My deepest regrets for your loss, Fire Lord Zuko, General Iroh. ..Lady Yu.. Ty Lee, I know this isn’t the best timing, but could I speak with you privately… afterwards?”

She had come here, to the ocean shore, alone. She had watched as wood was tied together into the familiar shape of a pyre. Then more had been made until she’d lost count and they stood foreboding against the dark waves of the ocean. Rushes filled them and then the procession came. It was neither quick, nor silent, as her arrival had been. Tears had washed furrows into the ash that coated her cheeks as she listened to the wailing of families that had lost there loved ones in battle, or in the infirmary during the night. They came with stretchers holding bodies wrapped in white sheets and set them upon the pyres. She didn’t know which one was Mai’s and couldn’t decide if that was for the best or not, but eventually Zuko and Iroh stood beside her and those that chose to had come to give their respects for the loss of their Fire Lady, as most had their own losses to mourn this mourning. The one that stood before her now surprised her. She’d only met him once about two years ago. If he had not made a point to call her by her given name, instead of her family’s, she wouldn’t have recognized him. Now she gazed upon her betrothed once more, a man that she had made a point to avoid as best as possible until now. She wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to say to her. She knew little about him as what she had known at their meeting had been more than enough for her at the time. She had the perfect excuse to avoid him now, but didn’t have it in her to resist what her mother had decided for her anymore, not today. Bowing, she held a fist to her hand in respect, as befitted his station over her as her husband-to-be.

“Of course, Lord Koizumi.”

The dragons of long ago gifted us with the power of fire..

“My deepest regrets, Fire Lord Zuko. My honorable father and mother could not attend and sent me in their place to extend their sincerest condolences.”

She knew the solemn ten-year old much better, his wide brown eyes giving away that his monotone voice was only part of an act, one that he had had yet to perfect. Ty Lee always hoped he would never succeed at mastering the calm façade that his parents insisted children have, unlike his sister had done. A stern looking man stood behind him, no doubt a teacher from the Royal Fire Academy for Boys sent to keep watch over the child. He was quickly dismissed and as soon as the man was gone, Tomoaki’s façade cracked.

..plucked from the heart of the sun.

“Ty Lee, it’s horrible! They woke me up this morning saying I had to come here, but I don’t believe them. It just can’t be true. It can’t be! She can’t..”

Kneeling down as best as she could, Ty Lee gathered the boy into her arms and held him close as his tears soaked into her robes. He and Mai had not been as close as Ty Lee had been with her sisters at his age, but she knew he had adored his older sister anyways. She still remembered how excited he’d been during his first visit to the royal palace after beginning to attend school, as before he had lived in the Earth Kingdom. While Mai and Tomoaki’s father was no longer governor of a claimed Omashu, it seemed that their mother had taken a liking to the domain and now lived in what used to be one of the Fire Nation colonies.

“I’m sorry, Tom-tom. I’m so sorry.”

Her words came out as muffled sobs, her face buried against the young boy’s hair. Ignoring her body’s protests, she picked Mai’s brother up and wiped her own eyes as the Great Sage began to speak, his words echoed faintly as other Fire Sages picked them up and repeated them at different places for the benefit large crowd gathered there this morning. As he spoke, tendrils of color crept over the ocean, slowly eradicating the darkness of night. It was a beautiful dawn, one that would have filled her with joy any other day.

We let those flames deliver our departed to the rising sun now.

As the Great Sage’s words faded into silence, soldiers firebended flames into the pyres as sunlight poured over the horizon, revealing the sheer multitude of those that had come to witness this sad event. There were easily more people than only those that called the capital home. Flags snapped in the air, declaring those that came from, not only the Fire Nation, but the Earth Kingdom and even the Northern Water Tribe as well. All watched as fire claimed those that had perished and ashes rose slowly with the flames. Ty Lee knew from her father’s funeral that this would take some time before only remains were left.

 

[UnseenMaiden]

and this..

Smellerbee -->it’s a song

"Get some rest whenever you can, 'Bee. You deserve it after today."

Chuckling silently, she wrinkled her nose at the warm ticklish feeling that was left on the tip of it where he’d flicked her. She’d been worried there for a moment, with that oddly sly look at his eyes, that he was going to do something. Exactly what she didn’t even begin to think she knew, but she was wary none-the-less and faintly relieved that it had meant nothing more than a little bit of teasing from him. Smiling, she raised a hand to her forehead in mock salute, her way of trying to say that she’d be a good little soldier and follow his order for rest. The adrenaline she had had in her system during battle had worn away almost as soon as it was finished.

Looking at the stuff next to her, she nodded to herself in silent admission that anything she needed to have done was done and all that was left was clean up and bed. The first of which she took care of quickly enough, wrapping the needle and thread back into the strip of leather she kept it tucked against her side, and emptying the bowl of crimson water onto a patch of non-stone covered earth. Her trip to bed wasn’t half as easy. In the first place, she had no idea where she needed to go, and wandered around for a good ten minutes or so before finally giving in to her ignorance to pull aside a servant and haltingly ask for some guidance. When she finally got to the room, she collapsed, exhausted, as thoughts and dreams that she never allowed herself during waking hours made themselves known.

Leaves fell, sparking gold as the sun caught them in the fluttering breeze. She knew it was pretty, knew that there was something resembling awe in the quiet afternoon light. Yet, it was all lost on her as warm exhaustion made her mind hazy in this rare peaceful moment.

“As quick as you are with those blades, you’re slower than a snail sloth when it comes to some things, you know that?”

Sighing in distinct irritation, she opened her eyes and glared at Jet. Who, in turn, just smirked in that cocky way of his and didn’t dare bother moving from the tree he was leaning against. More than a few things were wrong with this picture. Like how Jet was wearing plain, non-ragged clothes instead of his customary armor. Or how she was much older than his sixteen years now. Or how was actually quite dead. She realized this of course in a far off, hazy sort of way, but none of those things bothered her at the moment. She was more bothered with why he was calling her a snail sloth when, last she recalled, she had done nothing to warrant it.

“What in the Spirit World are you going on about now?”

“Just I wait all this time for one of you guys to figure it out and when Longshot finally gets a clue and says something, you don’t get it at all.”

Her glare was replaced with a look of confusion and more than a little annoyance as he spoke. She was no more enlightened than before, but was left with the growing impression that Jet apparently thought she was as dumb as dirt for some reason. Dead or not, he was pissing her off. If he was going to call her stupid, the least he could do was speak plainly when explaining himself. As if reading her thoughts, Jet rolled his eyes and plucked the stalk of wheat from his lips in order to point it at her.

“He likes you.”

Her eyes widened faintly as she suddenly remembered, in the way of dreams, that he was talking about the weird confession Longshot had just suddenly come out with when explaining the kiss he’d given her. Pressing her lips together in a thin line, she tried to ignore her flushing cheeks and failed miserably. He was saying she was slow, but she had been there and she knew damn well what Longshot had said. Standing up, she only wondered fleetingly at the ridiculous gauzy shift swirling around her legs. Somehow, it had escaped her notice before.

“No, he said he liked me. As in back when you were alive, you ass!”

Apparently her vehement words were enough to pull him from the casual stance he had adopted throughout this entire meeting as he pulled away from the tree and stalked towards her. His mouth was set in a thin line and she smiled for a moment as, to her amusement, she realized that he didn’t seem to be quite as tall to her as he once had when she was fourteen. Though he was still taller than her. Every inch of which went to his advantage as he stopped in front of her and flicked her soundly in the center of her forehead.

“You’re as stubborn as ever. Use your head, Bai! He never said that he stopped! He just wanted to know if you liked him back.”

He was clearly annoyed with her, but she didn’t care. She was just as annoyed with him, maybe even more. What gave him the right to read into stuff and act like he was some wise guru all of a sudden? Then he just had to come bug her about it and on top of that he’d called her by THAT name. Off in the distance, the crackling sounds of a large fire roared, but she didn’t pay it any mind. It made the perfect backdrop to the anger rolling through her at that moment. Curling her fingers into fists at her sides, she sorely wished to hit her dead friend as she yelled at him.

“What does it matter if I do?! He didn’t have to say it. I know he doesn’t like me like that anymore! Why else would he have avoided me for so long?!”

Like always, she never thought before she spoke and so her own words surprised her more than they probably did him. She had known she was still hurt, of course, but was convinced that what she felt about the subject didn’t matter. He’d apologized and that was supposed to be enough. Now.. now she was left wondering if she really did like him, or even worse, and if, perhaps, that was the reason she was still so sore after all these years. Realizing suddenly that Jet had yet to give her an answer to her questions, she opened her mouth to berate him. But, Jet was gone and all that faced her was a lining of burning trees. As she stared, the fire seemed to almost realize she was there as the flames suddenly licked at the grasses of the little meadow and raced towards her. Her voice was beginning to fill with panic as she shouted for Jet. All she got for her efforts were coughs and stinging eyes as the air filled steadily with smoke and heat licked at her skin until she knew nothing else. Now she decided to desert the glade and scrambled to find her way through the black air that surrounded her. Suddenly, a hand buried itself in her hair and pulled her back forcefully into the ground below, as an all too familiar voice, filled with malice, spoke harshly against her ear.

“Oh no you don’t, you little slut. You stay here and burn.”

Flames licked the rushes above her head and sweat from the blistering heat made her clothes sticky and damp. Screaming, she clawed at the hand that held her hair so tightly, pleading for her to let go, for them to get away from the fire threatening to consume them both. Nothing she did worked. Her mother’s grip only became tighter and tighter as tears burned in her eyes. It was no good. She was going to die. She tried comforting herself like all the other times her mother’s hate got too much for her to bear. She tried telling herself that this was a good thing. It was bound to happen sooner or later and at least this way she would meet the old woman in the Spirit World that they said she went to a few months ago. She might. It could be that they hated her too and she wouldn’t get to go. Crying, she tugged once more at the vice-like grip on her head, but to no avail. Then she spotted the knife they used for preparing food.

The scalding heat of the knife burned her neck and scalp, adding to her screams, as she desperately cut her hair away from her. It seemed to go on forever. No matter how she tugged or pulled, there was always more left that would only give under the blade in her hand. Then, all of sudden, she fell forward, freed, and she did the first thing that came to her. She ran. She ran out of what had been her home these six years of her life, and into the cool night air. She ran until she tripped and fell, cutting her leg on the kitchen knife she still carried for some reason. Her eyes were drawn to the burning blaze of her village, filled with the dead and dying of those that had never shown her single kindness, and she told herself that she felt nothing for them.

Eyes flew open wide, fear and horror swimming in their depths, just in time for her to narrowly avoid landing head first into a stone floor. Cursing faintly under her breath, she struggled to remember where she was as the smell of burning flesh kept her thoughts swirling around the nightmare she had woken so violently from. Pinching her nose, she closed her eyes tight as she breathed through her mouth, forcing herself to take in big, steady breaths before her heart decided to slam right out of her chest and the nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach overwhelmed her. That moment was so long ago, another lifetime, but it burned bright in her mind still, plaguing her. Her first and most unforgivable sin. No matter what she had done to her, no matter how much she hated that woman, the fact remained that her mother’s blood was on her hands.

Slowly, yesterday came to her as realm of sleep faded away. Opening her eyes once more, she tried not to wonder why it was that they were burning bodies, especially at the crack of dawn of all times. Instead she pulled herself to her feet and eyed the bed she had spent most of the night on after deeming the stone floor as far too cold. It hadn’t been a bad place to rest, over all, a little too soft for what she was used to, but the cloth that covered it had probably been sullied by the less than pristine condition she was in. Now that she thought about it, she should’ve just slept in her underthings. Shrugging, she stretched her arms over her head, working the kinks out of her body while taking mental account that everything was in working order. Well, mostly working order. It still hurt like a bitch to open her mouth, but she supposed it was a pain she could live with, at least enough for her to still say what needed saying instead of resorting to communicating via hand gestures all the time. It was when she was rubbing her jaw, experimentally, that she realized that, for a place that had been full of hectic people yesterday, the Fire Nation Palace was eerily quiet.

Frowning, she drew her khukri from their holsters and cracked the door to the room open. There was no sign of life that she could see, no servants, no soldiers, and no little kids sneaking around. If it wasn’t for the heady smell of charred flesh that hung in the air, coupled with the faint sounds of roaring fire, she would think that they were all asleep still. She was tired herself, after all, but there was no way she was going to try to go back to sleep after how she felt waking up. Now, she didn’t quite know what to think. It was possible that the enemy had come back during the night and killed everyone left, but then why was she alive, and more importantly, why hadn’t she heard any sounds of attack? So it wasn’t very likely that such a thing had happened, but that didn’t mean she was any less careful in stalking the unfamiliar halls of the palace, blades held at the ready just in case. Slowly, but surely, voices drifted to her ears. They were soft, as if afraid of waking anyone up with their presence.

As she rounded the corner, ready to surprise any attempting to ambush the palace, her eyes widened in surprise, before she rolled them at herself. What she had been hearing were healers and their attendants as they went about their business with the injured that lay on the cots. Yet, it seemed those were the only parties that filled the room, knotting her eyebrows in faint confusion as she slipped her weapons back into their rightful places. The sound was enough to draw one young woman’s attention towards her, something that resulted in a faintly horrified look before she regained her composure and scurried towards her.

“Oh, sir, your jaw is in terrible shape. Why didn’t you come to us sooner?”

She didn’t bother correcting the healer or fooling herself into thinking that if her jaw wasn’t swollen and bruised, then this woman would recognize her as one of her own sex and not the opposite. She did roll her shoulders in half-hearted shrug. The explanation of them being too busy yesterday for her to bother them with looking at something so insignificant, or the excuse that she would have taken care of things by herself anyways, were both left unsaid. They’d take too many words to make explaining herself worth the discomfort. Not that her silence stopped the healer from giving her a speculative eyes, before she reached a slim hand to touch her injured face. Smellerbee never even let her get close, grabbing her by the wrist before her fingers could find any purchase.

“Don’t.”

The healer looked scared and suddenly doubtful of whether or not the ‘young man’ that stood before her was a friend or foe. Letting go of the woman, Smellerbee took a few steps back and sighed as she waited for her to decide. Really, she should probably just leave. The palace obviously wasn’t under attack and she had no business being here anyways. It wasn’t as if she knew anyone of people that laid on these cots. Though, just as she thought that, she caught sight of Sokka and Aang. Both looked like utter crap, but then again so did everyone else. So there were two people she knew, but she didn’t know them well. It’d been little over eight years since she’d personally talked with Sokka and even though Aang had come to visit over the years she probably didn’t know him any better than his friend. The avatar was a friendly guy, but she wasn’t stupid enough to confuse being nice with being close. Frowning suddenly, she wondered, not for the first time, what that mess yesterday had been all about. Her musings were interrupted though as that same healer came towards her once more, making Smellerbee realize that she’d been talking all of this time.

“B..but you have to be taken care of. I have a poultice that should reduce the..”

Her uncertain words stuttered to a halt as she held her hand out for the jar that the healer was holding. For a few moments, they looked at each other in silence, as a few others stared at them in turn, curious as to what was going on. Finally, the woman relented and place the piece of earthenware in Smellerbee’s hand. Opening the lid, she wrinkled her nose at the foul smell that came out. Whatever it was, she grew used to it quickly enough, but it certainly cleared the lungs in that first whiff.

 

[Eazy]

Longshot

The night had been fairly restless for the young man, and the reasons for this certainly had little, if anything, to do with the sleeping accommodations which he was provided. In truth, it'd been years since he last slept on a mattress which hadn't long since lost the majority of its soft embrace, and he couldn't remember one that could compare to the soothing caress of the guest bed beneath his battle weary form. When he gazed upward and upon the dark red ceiling of the room, it was the lingering, troubled thoughts of his earlier conversation with Smellerbee which kept away the embrace of sleep until he finally gave into its inevitability. It was these very thoughts which, save for the brief moments spent remembering where he was, quickly reentered his mind upon awakening the next morning.

Despite any lack of an early sleep, Longshot awoke at an early hour, such as he'd grown accustomed to doing since his original tenure under Jet's Freedom Fighters. As expected, his body ached with the initial strained movements of his sore muscles, yet he fought to ignore this while pulling himself from under the covers. Save for the pants he arrived in and the bandages around his burnt hand, the silent marksman wore little else when tucking himself away for the night. Still, as he planted his feet at the bedside, the young man's attention briefly shifted to the weapons he kept near the bed due to a now deeply engraved precautionary measure. Too many years spent sleeping in the woods or under the roof of a near stranger.

Staring at his bandaged hand for a few fleeting seconds, the dark-haired archer leaned over to the nearby dresser for the fresh bandages he'd left there earlier. It would prove ironic that the first burn wound on his flesh would come only after the war with the Fire Nation had long since been declared as over; assuming this left any permanent markings, which seemed likely as he undid the dressing. Spirits knows he gained enough small markings along his fit form over the years; whether by the hands of an enemy weapon, sloppy attempts at hunting dangerous beasts for food or simple slip up's which came from his frequent treetop escapades.

Wincing only slightly as he peeled away the bandages which clung to his scabbed over skin, his thoughts again drifted to Smellerbee while using a pitcher of water to clean his hand before putting on the fresh dressing. Although the majority of his consideration was focused toward checking on her well being, there remained a small part of him didn't look forward to seeing her after his earlier confession. Letting out a soft sigh, he silently scolded himself for going as in-depth about his feelings as he'd done. This was followed by a faint smile as he noted how it seemed there were many reasons he normally preferred to remain silent around others. Regardless, such silly concerns were below him, which left Longshot with only the concern of how awkward he may inadvertently come off when attempting to behave nonchalant over last nights conversation.

After he was finished cleaning and bandaging his hand, the Freedom Fighter took a few minutes longer to get dressed in what he'd worn the previous day. It wasn't unusual for them to wear the same clothing for long periods of time during their travels, and at least the young man had let it air out overnight. Once dressed, he decided on bringing his bow and arrows along on the off chance of danger. Unlike many others here, he couldn't exactly summon bendable material from thin air or draw it from a nearby pitcher of water. His hat was similarly strung over his back as the string strap was slipped around the marksman's neck during his departure from the room.

On exit, his eyes surveyed the hallway for any signs of life, yet found surprisingly little compared to the previous day. Which shouldn't be of surprise, due to both the early hour and how the day would, ideally, prove less chaotic. Nevertheless, it wasn't long before he passed by a few lingering guards as he wondered the unfamiliar hallways. It took even less time for the faint, sadly familiar smell of burning flesh to fill his senses. This scent was strongest whenever he passed by a rare open window, which, combined with how the rare number of guards he passed didn't appear on alert, caused him to dismiss the idea of an attack. What was left in place of any potential dread, however, was a solemn feeling as he considered the alternative which revolved around the undeniable problem of dealing with the corpses of those whom fell defending the Fire Nation.

Longshot hadn't stopped in his tracks, but his pacing had slowed a bit as he lowered his eyes at the solemn thought of a series of cremations taking place not so far removed of where he walked. The thought of heading out there to pay respects had crossed his mind, but aside from the Fire Lord and his Uncle, the marksman wouldn't know where to begin. Nor did he fool himself into thinking his presence would mean a great deal to any in attendance. Thus, he continued until coming across another lone Palace guard. This time, the silent archer stopped by the older male as he turned to address the clearly foreign stranger.

"Can I help you with something?" The gruff voice spoke as the pair of golden eyes watched over the Earth Kingdom native, seemingly trying to place a finger on what he was doing in here when his expression softened ever so slightly; realization filling his eyes as he added, "Wait, I remember seeing you around. You arrived with The Avatar and his friends. Along with the Earth girl, Waterbender and the shorter guy wearing those strange markings on his face, correct?"

Nodding his head in confirmation of the first part of the other males assessment, Longshot decided on ignoring the error made during the second portion of the guards comments. Little point in correcting the man and dealing with any confused questions or attempts at apologies over the mistake. Not when there remained more important matters which he wished to check upon before doing anything else. And while the young Freedom Fighter wasn't able to communicate as well with others as he could Smellerbee and a select few others, he was usually capable of getting across the general message of what he was looking for to others.

It took a few seconds after the Earth native's silent response, but the older male slowly realized, more or less, what the Fire Lord's guest must have been in search of during this time, "Well, if you're looking for your friends, then chances are you'll find them either attending the services or among the healers. Those are the spots with the largest gatherings at this hour."

A few directions and an appreciative nod later, Longshot was on his way toward the location of the healers. It was the more logical place to start, considering Smellerbee's own ugly looking injuries and how he was already inside. Sure enough, making his way down the silent halls, the young man turned a corner just in time to see his fellow Freedom Fighter stepping out from the distance. Raising a pair of fingers to his mouth, he gave a familiar whistle in an attempt to capture her attention as he promptly went about closing the gap between them. Indeed, regardless of whatever lingering reservations he may have held about their earlier conversation, it seemed they would be pushed aside as he dealt with his main concerns.

Giving a soft smile as he nodded at his friend, the young man's gaze almost instantly directed itself toward Smellerbee's jaw. The swelling had remained easily noticeable, with the initial lack of talking on her part being enough to confirm the visual indication that it remained a pain for his normally outspoken leader to talk. Gazing back into her eyes, he raised a hand to his own jaw and tapped a finger against the section where she was injured while silently asking if there was any improvement to the wounded area. A simple gesture of the head would be enough to answer his query in more ways then one.

However, before she could give any clear response, the young man's brows lowered as he sniffed into the air. Years of training and tracking had taught him to detect any scent, even if picked up with the smell of burning flesh lingering in the air. It took only a few fleeting seconds for him to trace the unusual, rather unpleasant scent back to the young woman before him. Leaning in a bit, it was only then that he really considered the slight sheen which remained on her jaw from the earlier placement of medicinal cream on her injured skin. Longshot almost immediately recognized it as a type of healing poultice, but a very brief, almost forgettable notion of her somehow deciding upon wearing an unpleasant choice of body fragrance had entered his mind seconds earlier. It was this thought which he jokingly focused on while allowing a teasing smile to linger on the corner of his mouth.

 

[Ahren1]

Despite being one of the last things on Zuko's mind, sleep came quickly to him, if only due to sheer exhaustion. One could only imagine what sort of dreams a person might have after such a tragic day, but no nightmare dared enter the mind of the scarred Fire Lord. After all, he was already living the nightmare for real. Upon waking, it took a few moments for Zuko to adjust to the empty bed. He intentionally kept the room dark as he used his memory to make his way around the familiar territory. He didn't want to see the bed without her in it. He didn't want to see her belongings unused. He didn't really want to see anything anymore. Being in such a state made him furious with himself. He couldn't go down this path again. He was the leader of an entire nation. That fact alone was perhaps the only thing keeping him truly sane on this day. That and the knowledge that he still had friends to take care of. Ty Lee, for one... Was it wrong to be worrying about her right now?

After bathing, Zuko adorned himself in a royal white robe reserved for occasions such as this. It had been a long time since he had worn it last... and he could only hope it would be a long time before he'd have to do so again. After securing his hair ornament, the Fire Lord left his room in silence. One of the advisors had been quick to inform Zuko about Ty Lee's insistance on tending to Azula, but he waved it aside. Ty Lee had her reasons, and he would respect them. As he reached the shore where Ty Lee already stood he was soon joined by Iroh, creating a fitting tribute of those closest to the Fire Lady to be there front and center. This was, however, a ceremony for all the departed in the last battle and Zuko was not about to let that go unnoticed.

They chose to remain silent out of respect as the stretchers containing the deceased were slowly carried out to the pyres. General Kurzen arrived next, also standing near the front in order to represent the lost soldiers. It was then that various people would come up to pay their respects. Zuko would bow in thanks, perhaps saying a few words of praise if he had known the soldier on a more personal level and had been approached by one of their family members. Then one particular man approached them, but after his inital condolences, he spoke to Ty Lee. It didn't take Zuko very long to discern who it was. Though he didn't know the man, Mai had mentioned to him once about Ty Lee's arranged marriage. He had been disapproving of it, but decided not to make an argument of it, seeing that it hadn't been his business. Now, however, he couldn't help but be unsettled finally seeing the man. The look in Ty Lee's eyes was almost as confused. It certainly was a hollow, baseless relationship if he had ever seen one. It made no sense, and he began to feel somewhat protective of his friend all of the sudden.

Instead, he simply nodded to Koizumi and remained silent. Now was not the time to speak of such matters. Especially as he recognized the next one to approach them. Zuko didn't know what to say to the young boy. It was almost shocking how formal he was being about the matter, until his teacher was dismissed, in which the young brother of Mai collapsed into Ty Lee's arms. Zuko's vision began to distort as he fought to hold back the emotion this moment was thrusting upon him. The dawn was reaching them now, and the sage's words were echoing out over the crowd. Kurzen lead the soldiers to ignite the pyres, allowing the ash to carry effortlessly over the water and into the sky.

 

[Mephistophelily]

Azula watched the bleak sky above her, wondering just how long they had been lost inside this world of the minds.The skyline had yet to really change; a slight change on colors, but no real loss of the sun above. Continuous day, reminding her that her physical body was the one that needed sleep- not this current form. It certainly must have been getting the rest it needed, being left... where ever it may have been. Most likely in the depths of her brother's castle, the castle that was supposed to be hers.

A snarl of frustration slipped her lips with that thought, fists balling up once again as she stalked down the trodden path in the dirt, returning to the place along the water's edge where she had last left Aang.

A touch.

Something touched her, a brief pressure on her wrist.... As if testing her pulse, finding if she were truly there, attempting to bring her comfort and relief.

Assuming it to be Aang, she immediately turned around, her hands raised in the Firebender's warning stance as she glared behind her. Nothing... No sign of the Avatar, or any other being... Not even her Spirit ally. A rather sour look resting on her lips, she raised an eyebrow, slowly turning back to resume her walk.

She felt different than before, as though the time spent away from the aggravation of the bald savior of the nations had revitalized her. There was something else to it, however; a feeling unlike anything she had felt before, something that burned in the core of her. And burn it did, refueling the flames inside her. Something that held such promise to it, so much hope for the fallen princess and her chaotic cause.

There was more work to be done before that could be reached, however. And here, in this place, she was given the chance to spark it all... To plant that seed of despair inside him. Spying him up ahead, she walked cautiously as she approached, though he didn't seem to be lost in his frustrating meditative state. A slight smirk came to her lips for a brief moment, recalling the actress that portrayed him back at Ember Island those years ago; to watch the performance herself had been absolutely hysterical, the constant annoying shrill "Yip Yip!" of the fake version, the portrayal of her brother and uncle- and he wonderful vision they created of herself and their father. Ahhh, but the ending they gave had not been the true course- at least, not yet. She did her best to keep her anger in control, to keep everything calm and relaxed- the way he had implied she could not bring herself back into.

"I've had time to think, Avatar," She stated crisply, staring into the water before them. "About everything you have said. I've had a number of thoughts come to mind, to truly think on the subjects we spoke of, of the intentions I have for the world around us- outside of this place." She folded her legs beneath her, her hands resting in her lap. "And I have come to a realization. They will die. Each... and every one of them... All of those you have cared so dearly for. The girl will be the first.... And I won't even be the one to do it. I will be watching you. The pain in your eyes, the fear in your heart, the same anguish I created for my brother- but I was not there to see that. Yours... Yours I will see... and I will RELISH. The spirit of the Fire Nation drives us to glory, and those who follow me will accept nothing but victory. They would gladly risk their lives for this. There is no call for emotion, only loyalty. Their loyalty is far greater a devotion than the love you share with your friends. Loyalty brings rewards. My loyalty to the glory of my Nation, to the spirit that guides me- it gives me strength, the hope and desire to know what shall happen. She shall die, Avatar. She will feel pain that will make you both weep."

With a gentle sigh, she returned to her feet, as if the conversation had simply been on the weather of their surroundings. "I will be free of this place soon," She announced calmly, starting to walk along the waterline. "I'm not sure if you shall be joining me... We'll simply have to wait and see, won't we?"

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Drifting in the foam..."

It is written:

'In protecting oneself, others are protected;
In protecting others, oneself is protected.

And how does one in protecting oneself, protect others?
By frequent practice, development and
making much of the Foundation of Mindfulness.
Thus in protecting oneself, others are protected.

And how does one, in protecting others, protect oneself?
By forbearance and nonviolence,
By loving kindness and compassion.
Thus in protecting others, one protects oneself.

With the intention, "I shall protect myself,"
the Foundation of Mindfulness is practiced.
With the intention, "I shall protect others,"
the Foundation of Mindfulness is practiced.
In protecting oneself, others are protected;
In protecting others, oneself is protected.' ​

-from Bamboo Acrobats, in The Samyutta Nikaya.​

It is written:

'You are mortal: it is the mortal way. You attend the funeral, you bid farewell. You grieve. Then you continue with your life. And at times, the fact of her absence will hit you like a blow to the chest, and you will weep. But this will happen less and less as time goes on. She is dead. You are alive. So live.'​

-from Fables and Reflections, in Sandman, by Neil Gaiman.​

His feet trod The World in the slowest of motion.

Long had he sought to spirit himself away from the environment of destruction and demise. Even in the jaws of Dragons themselves, he strove for the path of life.

But if one is to live in this mortal world, one must accustom oneself to the constant that is change. And Death is a constant form of change.

Abruptly, your life is not what once it was. Abruptly, jarringly, you find yourself missing a piece that once was astonishingly integral. Abruptly, jarringly, heartbreakingly, there is something and someone gone from your presence, never to be seen again, echoes and shadows and afterimages only, never again to be seen face to face.

His hands were in his sleeves and his head was bowed, and he walked towards the sea.

He wore the robes of a White Lotus Grand Master. The colours were correct, and holy, and wholly proper for the occasion. And they represented the blending of philosophies, and the bridging of schisms between Nations. He wanted to be here not as a General nor as a former Crown Prince of Fire, he wanted to be here not as The Dragon of The West, he wanted to be here as a citizen of The World and as a father who had lost his son and as an uncle who had lost his niece-in-law.

One becomes, day by day and year by year and even moment by moment, comfortable with the certain way The World behaves. And the subtlest alteration of that behaviour can be the most profound.

He had followed a dream, followed a prophecy, followed a fortune he had told himself in a place between sleeping and waking, but he had misunderstood and misinterpreted and Lu Ten had died.

He had healed, for the most part.

But there was a part of his Spirit which would never recover.

Just as he still ached, sometimes, in the distant ancient nights, for the love of Lu Ten's mother.

A man whose heart is truly blessed does not know how to stop loving someone once it starts. And also that heart is truly cursed.

He loved his son still. And he loved his wife still.

But there had come change in The World, and both of them were gone.

He walked, and stood there beside Zuko.

He gazed quietly at the nephew that had become like unto a son to him.

And saw the jarring, the abruptness of this change on the face of The Fire Lord.

Iroh remembered a girl with eyes as dark as her hair. Brilliantly intelligent but difficult to keep entertained. A girl who turned boredom into a weapon. A girl who had loved Zuko from the beginning. A girl whom Zuko had loved. A girl. A woman. A Fire Lady. Gone.

Iroh's fathomless eyes turned out to the unfathomable sea.

The Sun had not yet risen.

More change was coming.

There were many bodies, wrapped up in white and placed upon the unlit pyres. Many soldiers. Many bystanders.

Iroh closed his eyes and inhaled through his nostrils. He remembered the scent of incense, kneeling outside Ba Sing Se on the day of his son's birth.

He stood there in the pale light of morning, and he mourned.

“My deepest regrets for your loss, Fire Lord Zuko, General Iroh. ..Lady Yu.. Ty Lee, I know this isn’t the best timing, but could I speak with you privately… afterwards?”

Iroh inclined his head towards the young man. He wasn't sure he understood the connection between Koizumi and Ty Lee, such things were hardly the purview of a faraway tea-shop owner. But a connection there was, and while the boy did show a modicum of disrespect, bringing up this connection at such a troubled time, even in the midst of Death, more Life still was going on.

Death was not the only constant kind of change.

Like Zuko, Iroh nodded to Koizumi in silence.

And then.

Tomoaki. And behind him, a minder.

Tomoaki's spine had steel in it, the coldest steel, and this was most unnatural. Because as few times as Iroh had encountered the child, he knew Tomoaki to have a heart of purest gold.

And while steel could weather the most terrible of storms, purest gold would melt at the warmth of human touch.

And over the lad's head, Iroh put his finger across his lips and gazed solemnly at the man from The Royal Fire Academy for Boys, and he waved the man away.

The man hesitated, but hardly refused the silent impetus from the Grand Master Lotus, and away he went. And with this man's departure, so too departed the unnatural steel in the boy's spine.

Leaving his heart free to melt. As was perfectly right, as was perfectly natural, as was perfectly heartbreaking. Wu-wei.

A faraway smile wobbled on Iroh's lips, the saddest of smiles. And when next he closed his eyes, the shutting of the lids squeezed twin tears out and down the weatherbeaten surface of his cheeks.

And like the touch of The Moon caused the flow and ebb of The Ocean's tides, wu-wei, so too, it seemed, that the breakingmelting of Tomoaki's heart was causing tremors in Zuko's heart. Change was hard, and Death was the hardest kind of change, and to respond to this with sadness and trepidation and bewilderment and fury, these were perfectly natural things.

Iroh had long believed that Mai's smiles were so few and far between because she wanted to only smile when she really really meant it. Ultimately, her lack of outward emotion was her answer to honesty.

She only smiled when she meant it. She only cried when she meant it.

How like Zuko. Except here Zuko stood on the edge of The Ocean and he teetered on the edge of his tears whilst keeping them at bay.

And a little boy cried, and The Great Sage intoned, and The Sun rose, and Kurzen and his soldiers poured forth Fire upon the dearly departed. And Zuko was wracked with turmoil.

Iroh had failed to protect Lu Ten.

And now Zuko would be haunted forever, only ever to heal mostly and never to heal wholly, because he felt that he had failed to protect Mai. And he loved her, and would never truly stop loving her, because Zuko's heart was truly blessed and truly cursed.

Iroh reached out, and placed a strong and ancient hand on Zuko's shoulder.

He said not a word, because words were insufficient.

He placed his hand on Zuko's shoulder. Benediction.

Bid her farewell.

You are alive. So live.

But first, bid her farewell.

He closed his eyes with his hand on Zuko's shoulder. And a song about a lost soldier boy on his way home came involuntarily to the top of his mind.

And as Iroh stood there, with the hand on Zuko's shoulder, another, briefly, took Zuko's hand.

The Earth Queen. Ever so beautiful.

"I"m sorry, Zuko," She whispered softly as she came before the Fire Lord, taking his hand and gripping it tightly. "I know she loved you. And you loved her. Ty Lee- She was your friend. You two were so close and-" She cut short, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, all of you. I really am."

...and then she was gone.

Respects paid, heart broken, she was gone again.

Iroh watched her go with sad sad eyes and remembered a conversation, once, far from there, with the Earthbending prodigy about the Firebending prince. Both had since been crowned. Both had since lost loved ones.

Death was not the only kind of change.

More change was coming. And not all of it would be Death.

You are alive. So live.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Out of Time"

"You're not completely right..." Aang spoke softly. "I may have to solve it, but not by myself. My friends are determined to defend this world just as much as I am. I have a feeling I'll be relying on their strength again this time." He added with a smile, though it faded soon after as if another new thought had come to.

"Azula is here, too. I wonder... if The Spirit is going to try and manipulate her as well. Their goals seem quite similar, but there was something in that spirit's eyes that was just completely narcissistic. Unwilling to yield to anyone else.

And knowing Azula in her state; she'll probably take any chance to defeat Zuko and I. This is going to get complicated." Aang shook his head lightly, glancing back to Roku and smiling again. "You've relieved some of my self-doubt. I'm thankful for that. Don't worry. Even if you're not in my head when I wake, I'll make sure to get you and the others back where they belong.

I suppose I should focus on trying to get out of here now, huh?"

Roku, in turn, listened silently and solemnly to his successor without speaking out of turn.

Because even when one is dead, one should not stop learning. And for all the wisdom of all the ages, sometimes it was youthful perspective that was required to solve the mysteries most ageless.

Aang loved his friends very much. And it was this attachment to The World, through the love of these friends who loved him so very much in return, that Aang was made the most formidable Avatar Roku had ever met, and that Aang would continue to be made more formidable indeed.

...already he showed insight. Even without knowing this Spirit more than grazingly, Aang had dwelt upon its nature and gleaned kernels of truth.

As ever, Roku was quite impressed.

He rose, and stood.

"These matters may never be wholly well in hand," he mused. "But you seem to have them better in hand than anyone would have expected. If I cannot speak to you again when you pass from this place, I shall miss you greatly. But ever shall we watch over you, as best we can. You shall never be alone."

Hands tucked in his sleeves, he again cast his gaze about.

"A prison is not always made from iron and from stone. Not always do traps have a visible snare. But always there is a way out. I know not this place, but I see no walls through which you might bludgeon free via sheer brute force. All I can tell, Avatar Aang, is that this place is without time. That time passes without passing."

He shook his head, and turned to walk away, though he paused and spoke to Aang over his shoulder: "Perhaps this is more a matter of Zen than of raw chi. If you are here for a time, and if this place is timeless, perhaps to escape you must simply let it be time. I highly doubt Lady Azula will come to the same conclusion."

Roku walked away from Aang, left him with strong, disciplined, purposeful strides.

"Fare you well, Avatar."

Not 'Avatar Aang.' Just 'Avatar.'

As if Aang needed no such name. As if he were the only one deserving of the title, after all this time gone by...

"I hope to see you again."

And then his form wavered, and became like a curtain of blue light fluttering in the breeze, and then became a blue mist, and the breeze parted that mist, and the space through which he had walked was empty.

...and it was through this space, perhaps moments and perhaps an eternity later, that Azula would walk.

 

[ChasNicollette]

"Mojave"

Kayna smiled at the man clinging to the wall. Quickly, she swirled her wrist and fingers, changing what was once a blade, into a swirl of water. Water that finds it's way back into the water skin.

"It seems to me that even if you coal-flingers aren't all as dense as the piles of rocks you play with, you certainly have manners of the same class."

Zhuang's smile never darkened, never dampened, never dimmed.

"There are as many kinds of good manners, my lady, as there are kinds of stone in the Earth."

Kayna allows a small smile to cross her features in the dark.

"Very well. I suppose we are meant to meet. And I will not scoff at the opportunity."

There on the wall, Zhuang's eyes went to half-lid.

Open to the machinations of The Universe, be they ever so inscrutable.

Good.

And then she turned away...

With speed and power like a rushing river, Kayna sprints away from the wall. In a few steps she pivots quickly back and rushes the wall. Kayna runs up the wall high enough to reach the outstretched hand of the Earthbender. Kayna pulls herself tightly into the body of her apparent new ally, wrapping her strong legs and arms around him.

"Very well. Let us proceed."

As rooted to the stone wall with his fingers and his toes as he would be rooted to the flat Earth if he stood on it with bare-soled feet, Zhuang hardly shifted at all, sliding downwards only inches with the additional weight of the woman.

On all fours upon the wall, Zhuang felt the woman pressed against his back through his traveling pack, through the sword sheathed therebeneath, felt the shape and the weight and the warmth of her.

Good.

And he began to climb.

The wall slithered past in seconds, and they were atop it, and like the sands flowing across the surface of the desert, he turned, and took them down the other side. Guards passed only moments later, standard patrols, but it was clear they thought the danger past, as they noticed not the infiltration.

Zhuang beckoned, eyes cool and hard and smile unwavering, saying not a word.

He turned this way down passages, and that way, and only after listening for a moment at a door did he taken them off of this beaten path and into shelter.

"Wait here a moment," he suggested, and was gone again.

...he waited in the shadows of a courtyard garden, crouched and unmoving as he watched servants moved past through windows, pushing a cart containing laundered clothes.

And then he was in the hallway with them, and their eyes widened at the sight of him, and they opened their mouths to sound and alarm...

...Sand billowed from the skin at his hip like Water had billowed from Kayna's, swarming around the two Fire Nation servants, muffling them...

...it poured down their throats and filled their lungs and they choked to death, unable to make a sound, unable to speak a word.

Regrettable.

Necessary.

I did not flinch.

Good.

He waited until they stopped twitching, and then called the sand back to him, recalling every last grain, leaving no trace behind. With effortless strength, he lifted first one into the cart of clothing, and then the other, hiding them beneath the stacks of raiment.

No blood. No sand. No bodies.

He wheeled the cart swiftly back to the place where he had sequestered Kayna, and he reflected that it was only The Universe's sense of Providence that kept him from being happened upon while he did this.

He wheeled the cart back with him into the little closet of a room where he had hid Kayna, and quietly regarded the little window that looked out towards the sea.

"I am Zhuang," he mentioned, as though this were an afterthought. "I have found us disguises, but we should not tempt Fate; I think it would behoove us to stay hidden until another omen should reveal itself. Again we should watch, and again we should wait. In the meantime, find yourself obfuscating garb, if you feel it necessary. Do not dig too deeply into the garments if you loathe the touch of the dead, as there are casualties hidden within."

He glanced at her. "If you would like to take your rest thereafter, it would please me greatly to guard you through the night."

 

[Lunaramblings]

Kanya smiles at her new friend. Zhuang, if you wished to see me without garment, you didn't need to kill someone for a reason." Without hesitation Kayna drops her garments, pausing only a moment to make sure her batons are within easy reach.

Standing there in close proximetry to Zhaung, nude, Kayna digs playfully into the clothes. "Uhg. Fire Nation fashion... always so drab and full of itself. Hm. Well I suppose I can make do with this..." Kayna pulls out a soft, thin robe. she wraps herself in the robe and smiles at Zhuang as she feels the soft fibers encase her most intimate parts. "Sleep... rest... Well, if you insist..." With a terribly devilish grin Kayna slides to the ground and extends her long and lucious legs, baring them she wraps a baton sheath around each of her thighs. Making quite the show of the process. "See something you like dirt-monger?" Kayna splays herself across the floor, closing her eyes and feigning sleep.