"Seriously, I'm fine." she said in a fake voice, although she knew deep down that this ailment has been bothering her ever since she left the South Pole. Biting her lower lip, she controlled herself from passing out as a stab of nausea engulfed her whole being. Etsuko staggered, stopping to lean against the wooden wall."So much for that..." she thought. Goen would surely know that she was obviously not fine. "Or maybe it's because my cloak is too thick. Afterall, this was meant for winter all year round." she placed a hand against her chest, took a deep breath and closed her eyes to calm herself. "Okay, maybe, you're right..." she replied to Goen with a sheepish smile on her delicate features.

(OOC: Finally I passed! Sorry for the wait Karanbir! In addition, I want to get this moving, so sorry if I GM.)


Jakita was startled from her thoughts when the inn door opened and in stepped Abhay. She lifted her head from where it was resting on her palm, and uncrossed her legs from the bed she was sitting on. Standing up, grabbing her bag and shouldering it, she smiled. “Ready to go?” She asked him. She had sifted through everything in her mind, and now felt like she had a clean slate. It was refreshing, somehow, having everything in her mind, figuratively speaking, sorted into boxes labeled ‘don’t think about,’ ‘happy thoughts,’ ‘bad thoughts,’ and things like that. She had resolved several problems, deciding what to do and now had those filed away. Watching Abhay getting his stuff together and all, she remembered what she had resolved to do. Be less open, for one. She had been regretting traveling with Abhay, meeting him and such, but she looking at him made her forget all about the plan to leave him in the forest. Shifting from one leg to another, Jakita had to drop her bag and clutch at her arm. Somehow, that motion had rubbed it wrong, causing that cut to start bleeding. ‘Great, and I had cleaned that wound!’ She thought grumpily. ‘I’m not dealing with it now.’ Aloud she said, “So, ready to go yet?”

"Oh hey your up!" He said with a smile on his face as he walked over to his belongings which where on the floor, and started looking through them making sure he had everything that he would need for the three day trip that the would be embarking on. But as he was sifting through his own belongings he had noticed spots of red all over the floor...

Abhay soon stopped searching through his stuff and looked up at Jakita who seemed to be some what uneasy about something.

"So ready to go yet?" She asked him

"Umm yeah just give me a second..." He said as he then started walking over to her, she was clutching her arm... and the scent of blood seemed to be pouring off of it.

" Your wounded arnt you... thats why their were dirty bandages on the floor this morning... here let me take a look at them... My father taught me how to treat wounds in case i was injured and alone... I have some clean bandages and alcohol in my satchel... Is it alright? If i treat you before we leave?" Abhay asked with a sincere look in his face.

"I don't want you hurting yourself more than you already are..."

Jakita wanted to smack herself. She never even noticed the red spots. Turning away from him, she said, “It’s nothing. Just an old run in.” She should have cleaned up better after herself. ‘It isn’t that bad.’ She told herself. ‘How did he even know?’ Dropping her hand, she continued. “I already took care of it while I was waiting for you. It just stung for a minute.” Slinging her pack onto her back despite the pain, Jakita tossed her room key to Abhay. “We need to return those, and we need to leave if we want to get to your parents house before dark.” Even though she wasn’t even sure how far it was going to be, it was hopefully true. “So, let’s go!” She stepped around him to opens the inn door, and quickly left the room. As she passed two people, one who seemed on the verge of passing out, or perhaps throwing up, maybe both, she kept her head down and her hand on her arm. Walking fast out of the inn, Jakita lifted her head and smiled when she felt a breeze on her face. Although she had been inside for only a short while, it was still nice to be outside in the open. Abhay was returning the keys she assumed, so she rolled up her sleeve to see the bandage. It had a faint red tinge, but it didn’t look like it was bleeding anymore. ‘See Abhay? No need to worry. It is fine!’ She thought, as if he could read her mind. Her stomach growled, but Jakita knew she could go another hour or two without eating. Letting her sleeve fall down before Abhay could even see the bandage or the scar, Jakita watched the people going by to see if any looked worthy of stealing from. It didn’t matter much, since she was leaving, but anybody who might be staying for a while that would be here when she got back.

Jakita was grateful he didn’t pursue the matter further. She never needed anyone’s help and she certainly wasn’t going to start now. Following Abhay as he headed out of the village, and glad to be on the way, she ran up to walk beside him, matching his pace. Glancing around, she was still cataloging the worth of people in her mind. “Abhay.” Jakita said suddenly, startling herself, and probably him, out of their thoughts. “What if your parents, I don’t know, aren’t there. Like, what if something happened to them?” She had no idea why, but Jakita had a deep sense of forbearing. Like something was going to go bad. She didn’t want something bad to happen, this seemed to mean so much to Abhay. It would be hard for her to see something bad happen to him. Glancing up at him, and around her, she could see how much smaller then everyone else. No wonder it was easy for her in the trees. “What would you do if something did hurt them Abhay?” Since Jakita couldn’t remember her own parents, she wondered what it would be like. After asking this, Jakita really didn’t want to know the answer. Instead, she turned the conversation to the journey by asking, “Why does it take three days to get there? Are there any barriers or anything making it harder?” Jakita had never really been to the south of town. Most of the rich people came through the entrance closes to Aunt Wu’s.

Most sorry. Shall we timeskip to the morrow? And time for more agenty goodness...)

Kraj followed the pair of young Benders into the Inn, trusting Nenji to carry the unconsious forms of their new 'kinsman'. Intersting the way life spins... He caught the tail end of Goen's spiel, shaking his head at the ignorant bravado of the youth. He spared a glance for the clerk, making a subtle hand gesture that comunicated the 'clear status' of he and the others to the undercover agent.

The innkeeper's expression lost it's happy mask for a second before recovering with professional speed. This was usual for the low-key outpost. More of a waystation than anything. They didn't even have a 'murder hole' or armory... He didn't react further, as the Hunters continued past and followed the young Benders into the room.

OOC: Right, timeshift. Sorry, must have missed it somehow. Let us assume that magically this is also the day of the Challenge (cf: TTFN) ?

Goen woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and curious. The first thing he did was cross to the table on the other side of the room, as quietly as possible since Etusko appeared to still be asleep, and see if Taed was back in his body yet. No such luck. Wherever Taed was, he was still galavanting around as a spirit, hopefully having found some body to communicate through so someone could help him. How long could it take him to get back?

The next thing Goen noticed was the absence of the two Galgori, though the respective beds showed signs that they had been slept in, and they didn't appear to have been gone long. Did bender hunters have sunrise rituals? Ugg. The earthbender shook his head and exited the inn, breathing in the morning mountain air. "Mysti tajia eidaelesi Ai'bi shael calol," he muttered as he stretched his back and neck out, looking down the valley at the rest of the village.

OOC: That was why I put "cf: TTFN". It's actually a note for Halaku's benefit, the Challenge is going on there in a separate story we have.

Goen turned around as he noticed Etsu stepping out beyond him, in the other direction, onto the sunlit lawn. She seemed to be doing better than the previous afternoon, but he didn't want to bother her and go check. Perhaps I should go down to Aunt Wu's, and see if that's where Nenji and Kraj have gone, he found himself thinking. Or maybe she could tell me where Taed is... that would be really helpful. He's got to get back here. He's been gone forever.

A young girl went skipping by but stopped at the sight of Goen. Goen gave her a curious look; Meng cocked her head and walked up to him. "How old are you?" she asked, getting up in his face.

"Uh... uh... sixteen..." Goen stammered.

"Ooo... an older maaan..." she clasped her hands and sighed dreamily.

Goen stepped away. "Right. Uh... uhm... I'm looking for Aunt Wu."

"Oh perfect!" Meng clapped her hands. "I work for her! Follow me!" She grabbed Goen's hand and pulled the stocky teenager as she ran down the hill toward the village square; it was a hilarious sight for anyone who could see it.