It was like being crushed under an avalanche of rock all over again.

Haru was dazed as he took in Aunt Wu's card reading. If she was a fraud, she was very good at what she did. It was almost as if, by shuffling the cards, he spilled his destiny all over them. He was shaken, there was no doubt about that. He squinted as he thought; maybe the young woman she referred to was...

"Hanabi?" he whispered out loud, the softness of his words dissolving in the smoke. Still thinking, he turned to face Aunt Wu. He bent forward so that his nose almost touched the ground, then brought himself back up.

"Thank you, Aunt Wu," he said, reaching for his belt and undoing the string on the coin bag he wore. He pulled out five gold pieces and set them on the floor in front of him, bowing again before he got up and left the room. The door slid open easily and he was back in the waiting room. In a seat, he saw...

...Hanabi. What did Aunt Wu mean by "hidden firepower?" He figured he'd find out soon enough but for now. he needed to clear his head. He glanced back at her as he left, burning her image into his head alongside the words that were going through his head.

Hanabi peered up seeing Haru walk out of Aunt Wu's chamber a look of minor shock and contemplation, Hanabi herself didn't know what it meant but the way he stared at her face made her curious, like he was memorizing her fetures, not that they where hard, what not with all the distinctive scars she wagered that she herself had.

Hanabi was about to speak when she left and had a rather confused expression when he left, her sheepishly lifting her hand waving bye to Haru, she knew she would see him soon, after all, later that night on the Volcano she was going to keep training him. She hoped she would at least.

Hanabi had to wager silently that Aunt Wu said something that spooked Haru, Hanabi smiled slightly, "Maybe Wu predicted his love life and said something like, 'And in your palm I read that in your future you will have much love, and the girl you will fall in love with will be...' or maybe... no..." Hanabi started blushing at the thought, that was it, Haru was told by Aunt Wu that he was going to fall in love with her, she thought. What other reason was there for that intense stare and quickly leaving, by the Spirit World, that would probably have spooked her too.

Hanabi reached into her backpack taking out a peace of Jerky from her last hunt and started to munch on it, a thoughtful expression on her face, she hoped that Aunt Wu didn't say something that would change the way her and Haru acted towards each other, Haru was currently her only living friend.

The night was cool as Haru stepped out of Aunt Wu's, but he wasn't focusing on anything but getting to an inn where he could rest for the night. Yes, the group might be angry with him for not meeting up at sundown like he'd asked them to, but he hadn't foreseen what would happen when Aunt Wu did his reading. Plans can change in an instant, and being flexible and able to adapt to change was something he was extremely good at. Still, he hated breaking his word.

He looked around, but decided that an inn might not be the best place to stay. After all, he needed to meditate, and that might prove difficult with a nosy innkeeper poking their head in to see if everything was okay. While he appreciated the hospitality, contact with others wasn't something he needed right now.

He wandered for a few minutes and, after deciding that he might not be able to find somewhere on his own, he stepped into a shop that was just closing down.

"Excuse me, we're closing," the shopkeeper said, a man with a wrinkled face and a sour disposition.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was wondering if there was a forest anywhere around here," Haru said sheepishly.

"Not from around here, eh? Well, there's the forest on the west side of town. It's not really dangerous, but there have been reports of bandits," the man said, setting the broom he was holding against a counter.

"No matter. Thank you," he said, bowing his head to the man and leaving the shop. He took a moment to orient himself once he was outside, but he found a path that led west out of town.

As he followed it, he stopped when he hit the outer edge of the forest. The path led through, but he needed to find somewhere else. He squinted, trying to see through the growing darkness. Eventually, he caught sight of a light filtering through the trees, and he veered off the path to make his way to it.

Using a tree for support, he climbed up a small incline and continued, but stopped as he found what he was looking for. Far from the path, he'd found a clearing where a lack of trees provided a perfect place for moonlight to illuminate. After closer examination, he set his bag down and took his stance. A few quick movements had two slabs of rock shooting diagonally out of the ground to make a tent. It would hold up in case there was rain, and it was the perfect shelter for the time being.

When he was done, he sat on the ground and took a deep breath. He could feel the earth's energy resonating beneath him, and he drew it up into his body. As he felt it fill him, he started to think about Aunt Wu's reading again.

Goen nodded and starting to head for the kitchen, narrowly missing a collision with Haru as he left. But Aunt Wu stopped him with a call from the room, "You can send her in, Goen. I'm ready. And please brew us some tea. The Kyoshi Mint is hidden in the back of the top shelf — I've been waiting for someone to come along and request it."

How does she do that? Goen grimaced and shook his head. "Well, I guess you can go in and talk to Aunt Wu now," he turned back to Hanabi and said. "I'll still go get you some curd... er, tea, I mean." He cautiously manuevered out of the lobby area and into the hallway that led to the other rooms.

"Whenever you're ready, my dear," Aunt Wu's voice called from the reading room.

Hanabi perked an eyebrow at the call, kind of taken aback by her having the exact tea, she beleaved in chance and fate to a degree, but then she shrugged to herself standing up walking in to see Aunt Wu.

Hanabi looked around and found herself taking a seat across from Aunt Wu, herself looking into the fortune tellers eyes with her own unmatched set. Hanabi was vary still, a part of her looking up and down the lady across her from what she could see. "I uhh..." she started, her mind on the previously calling her in essense a creep to Haru and Satake, "Well, wanted to apologize. I am a brash person by nature and before I even met you I declared that you where a horrible wrong in the world without looking first... as you are the person I said this about, I came here to apologize to you, from what I can see, you are anything but what I first guess."

Hanabi part of her wondered why she bothered to say it, part of her suspected the woman might have never known, but her own honor kept her alive, kept her whole in her spirit when she herself should have become a horribly troubled person with no standard to mesure her own life by, she guessed it was something she had to do to maintain her personal balance, to maintain her honor.

"I guess that is it then..." she said considering getting up, but then she looked around seeing the fortune telling cards and got a curious look, "...well, I guess I would like a reading, to see how it works and all. Honestly I've never had my fortune told in my life. Never really saw the need, but I realized I need too learn what I don't understand or I will probably make more mistakes later in my life."

"I'll take... hmm..." she looked in her pouch and saw she had two gold and the silver as change, yes she wagered she had enough to pay the woman back for her time and insight, "...Some bone reading, What ever sort of reading Haru took and a palm read." she said nodding. Hanabi noted to herself that her odd request probably wasn't bad, the old seer seemed to be having a day or so of minimal buesness.

Hanabi's desire for all three where based in curiosity, she wanted to see the difference in what the bones told versus the cards, and what the simple lines on her own hand could tell about her.

((If you have any instructions, PM them to me and I will follow.))

Aunt Wu sat patiently through the apology, utilizing a unique skill (the sage practice of her years) that allowed her to both pay attention to Hanabi and analyze the young woman because of her being here and the reason for it. This was a remarkable girl — and a firebender. Whether reserved or obvious with their emotions, firebenders more than any other people were capable of such passion. Aunt Wu did not judge, however, merely tell fortunes.

Which was, of course, what Hanabi would eventually ask for. Aunt Wu knew it, not through premonition or foresight, but because Hanabi was the kind of girl who would ask forgiveness for speaking words that Aunt Wu would never have heard about otherwise. Subconsciously she would want to make it up to the prophetess, and consciously she would wonder at what sort of mysteries Aunt Wu could reveal.

But Wu could freely admit that she had not expected to be asked for three of her four types of readings. After one or two of them, once Goen brought them the tea, she might even ask for a tea leaf reading. Well, one must do what one can. "Well, very well then, my dear," she said casually. "Your friend Haru, who I take to be your friend that just left, had a tarot card reading. We'll start with that, shall we?"

She passed the deck of cards over to Hanabi and instructed her, "Do not bend the cards, simply pull a few out of the middle and place them in the front of the deck, without looking, and occasionally rotating one or two of them as you feel is right. Repeat that a couple times while you pour the energy that is all of who and what you are into the cards, and that is how you shuffle these types of cards. Now when you feel they are lined up right, place the deck face-down by your side and draw your eleven, placing them face-up in a row between us."

Hanabi started to shuffle the cards carefully focusing on her life, her past, her plans and futures silently, she wondered what sort of fortune Aunt Wu would spin before her with the cards and wondered what she would say, she had to admit the curiosity was sort of driving to her, her scarred right hand her focus on the cards turning cards here and there.

She could feel hand shake at certain cards, not physically but she could just feel she 'had' to turn that card and kept moving turning turning a couple of cards as instructed she didn't know why but she found it it hard to find a shuffle which satisfied her so she kept shuffling tell she felt like it was right and set the deck down and drew eleven cards setting them down before Aunt Wu Face Up as she had instructed.

The card that came off of the top of the deck said Luinnar – Spirit (Ace) of the Autumn Court, reversed. Beneath that was Paurris – Spirit (Ace) of the Spring Court. Next to these, four new cards were laid down: Gaerriel – Matron of the Summer Court, Kenna Elderbirch – Elder of the Spring Court, Kaeldras Evenblade – Sage of the Summer Court, and Anthros – Eight of the Spring Court.

Next, another three cards came off the top. Aiylora siricia Rhys – Two of the Autumn Court, Aisling Firekeeper - Two of the Spring Court, and Arashi – Lady of the Winter Court were placed a little separate from the rest. And then at last, the final two cards drawn, Vasein & Vanturul – Five of the Spring Court and Kyla Domhnaill – Matron of the Winter Court, were set face up at the end of the row.

Hanabi looked down at the cards not knowing what they meant somehow she let her hand rest on the last card in a pondering, the order seemed good, the setting was good and the cards felt right, wondering about that one a bit, she didn't know what it meant or what it was.

"Okay." she said after a second letting her hand rase from the card, letting Aunt Wu take it from there.

Hanabi really didn't know much about this, but from the Taverns she had been in and the other 'Terot Decks' she had seen in passing in her travals, this one was alien to her.

Hanabi leaned back looking down with her scarred eye, in the lower lighting of this room, her scarred right eye saw better then her normal left, the damage in it's muscles forcing it to remain in a state as if she had lived in a dark almost lightless cave her entire light, where some might call Aunt Wu's lighting a bit dark, to Hanabi her place was as bright as day, her able to make out fine details even in the deepest of shadows, but it made her wonder if she should get an eye patch for that eye at daytime, it didn't adapt well to bright light and she was all but blind in that eye in direct sunlight.

Hanabi by reflex now that her hand's where not moving the deck had taken to looking over her Scarred Right Hand which she had recently burned in training her best technique and silently wondered if Aunt Wu was, not a fake, but instead was actually blessed with insights into matters she had previously only thought the Parview and Permit of the Spirit World.

Hanabi pondered realizing as she sat leaning back inhailing the rich aroma of Aunt Wu's Incense which she was slowly getting to adore the scent of. Haru she thought probably thought she was some sort of non-beleaver who couldn't see past her own five senses, in truth she had simply wondered if Human's where allowed to see into the ever changing maze she saw fate probably as.

She considered fate a strange thing, it was sposed to set you on a course but it was more in her mind like a vast labrinth of tunnels which wound around, with a way in, and a way to the end, but one could wander it, and would often pass spots twice and some would die in that maze never reaching the end that was there for them, or was slain by the monster's there own maze had created them. It seemed almost unfathomable that with Cards, Bones and a Persons Palm, one could decipher that maze.

Hanabi was staring at her palms in silence for a moment looking at there lines and the scar in the middle of one, wondering what that would mean to Wu. She wondered if the lines where like an overlay to her Maze and Aunt Wu could tell her in a manner of speaking how to traval that maze and profit from it. She wondered if instead of telling of destinies unavoidable which would be pointless, if she told truths to them allowing them to see in there own maze better.

Hanabi moves her hand brushing her Bangs which where braded together on each side with Animal Bones from the creatures she had hunted for food, behind her ears, first on the right and left, these bones she would not let touch Fire, to her they reminded her of the hunts that she had been on and had stories in her own mind of long trips into the wild and the silent fight for survival that all in this world in some manner partake of.

(Sorry I haven't responded in a while, Homecoming week)

Satake wandered about the town for a bit more before heading towards Aunt Wu. He figured Haru would have headed that way, Hanabi would be avoiding it like the plague. As he walked he played with his bending a bit and raised a few small stones, flipping them among his fingers like marbles. He loved the feeling of bending, it gave him such a feeling of power. As the son of a poor farmer power was not something he knew very well, he got it where he could. As he thought about it Satake realized how much he truly wanted to learn how to improve his bending with implementations of fire. He could only imagine the grand amount of power he would have, learning to bend earth through magma bending would make him greatly powerful, people would come to him for help. He would sweep the whole world underfoot and become the most powerful earth bender- no, the most powerful bender to walk the planet.

As thoughts of greatness clouded his mind the earth underfoot changed. He was allowing his emotions to show through his bending. On either side small spikes of stone would shoot from the ground and villagers would nervously walk away. Satake did not care, all he could see was the small world around him. Many looked nervously upon him but he did not care, not even in the slightest. His whole life he had been pulling the shortest straw, perhaps it was time that he decided his own destiny. He spit to the side.
"Maybe Hanabi was right, maybe one does choose their own destiny," he muttered to himself.

As he walked e bumped into an elderly gentleman. He immediately snapped out of his trance like state and frowned sheepishly.
"Sorry Sir, i wasn't watching where i was going," Satake mumbled. The man turned around and Satake looked upon him with curiosity. He was so familiar, he just could not place from where. "Um...excuse me but have we met before?" The old man brushed himself off and gave Satake a crooked smile.
"You strive for power don't you," the man asked.
"Yes but how would you know that."
"I'm sure anyone walking down the street just now would have been able to see that," the man said with a laugh. Satake looked at the trail he had left behind him and laughed nervously.
"I guess I was in deep thought." He was actually embarrassed by what he had done, it made him feel juvenile, out of control.
"Do not be sorry for your great talent. You can be great if you put your mind to it. Do not settle for mediocrity, morals are just binds after all," the man said waving one crooked finger.
"Who the hell are you," Satake whispered.
"You will find out in time," the man said as he walked away. Satake stood in the spot with a look of concern but then put it aside, Aunt Wu was not too far away.

Satake soon found himself at the door of the fortunetellers abode. He was not quite sure how to handle this so he did what he thought made the most sense, knocked on the door.

“One doesn’t often see the spirit of the Autumn Court reversed in a spread,” Aunt Wu noticed, drumming her fingers on the card showing the immaterial incarnation of a spirit, jagged shaped but not spiky, tapering to a single smoky intangible point where feet would normally be, wearing a blue cape and looking out from eyes filled with the eternity of space.

“In this spot, Luinnar represents you. A soul dependent upon a great deal of magic – or in your case firepower – who, despite its power, puts itself in failing positions to see how far that power can stretch to help them win. Your question is shown here," she pointed at the next card, Paurris, Luinnar's polar opposite who looked like a large armored earth golem, "and involves the rightness of war and killing. Not the first person in recent times who has had a question like that. But you will face obstacles while finding the answer — a fear of loss that comes from the trauma of your past," she went on, indicating Gaerriel, a human woman with hawk eyes and raptor wings instead of arms.

"Your past is represented by Kenna," Aunt Wu now touched a card showing a tanned male with pointed ears, shown from the side standing spine-straight against a beech tree in the middle of a forest. "As an Elder he indicates both a powerful decision that you had to make, and also a real person, a logical and very calm person from whom great lessons can be learned. Your present is also dominated by a real person, most likely a young male who has untapped power and has lived his life in the shadow of tradition and security." She gestured at Kaeldras, a blond male with pointed ears, shown hunting in mushroom fields in a large underground dome of rock.

"Your near future is indicated by this card," she tapped Anthros, a large man covered almost entirely in a black cloak, with pale green skin and very white hair, shown wandering down a gusty dirt road. "You are an instructor of those with talents, and though many may perceive you as being harsh or unkind, you are an effective teacher. This card represents your distant future," she moved her hand to the picture of a three-inch-tall woman with butterfly wings, "and predicts fulfillment, contentment, and great happiness — with cautious skepticism."

Aunt Wu glanced at the next card, Aisling, showing a blind robed woman caressing with one hand the flame that grew out of the other hand, and blinked. Aisling had appeared in every reading she had done this month, and often in this spot. "The mental aspects of your question have to do with confusion, that you don’t know whether others are not seeing fate for its reality, or whether you are the one who might be blind to the possibilities. This woman will help," she tapped another repeat card, Arashi, the archer woman, "for she represents a real person in your life who is concerned with the proper use and designation of power.

"The satyr brothers represent what you hope or fear — finding your place in the world. in the company of another you will find a calling to your heart’s work, though there will be a great deal of wandering to reach that time and place," the prophetess explained the card of the furry, ram-horned men, before moving on to the last card. "And this indicates your final outcome," she said triumphantly, her hand resting on the picture of the amethyst-robed assassin woman on a rooftop of a marble and sapphire city. "She is a role model, instructor, and upholder of the law — beautiful inside and out."

---

Goen abandoned the tea, which was taking its sweet time steeping anyway, and ran back down the hallway to the reception room, where he opened the door and said, "I thought I heard someone else knock. Please come in, and have a seat. Aunt Wu is with another client at the moment, and I'm just preparing some refreshments. Do you want something to eat or drink while you wait?"

Hanabi frowned looking at the cards, up and down, it wasn't what she expected and Aunt Wu had delved deep yet at the same time she sort of felt that she herself while seeing the truth on the table, had already known a large number of these herself.

Hanabi didn't recognize a lot of these real people either, nor was she totally familier, "I've already sworn to never take a life in nigh but defense of myself and defense of others." she said to Aunt Wu.

To a large degree, some stuff she knew, some she didn't however, who where these people she spoke of, was Haru or Satake stuck in the shadow of tradition and cleaving too it?

Hanabi looked thoughtful at Aunt Wu, these didn't tell her her future, they did, as she suspected as she layed them down, illuminated the maze of her life a bit.

Hanabi pondered the part about loss and smiled, she knew that pain and had made her creed of defense based on personal loss, it had hurt to her and in her pain she had sworn never to make anyone else feel that pain.

It was as she was sitting she heard a Knock on Aunt Wu's door, she looked at the wise old lady, figuring whoever it was... probably Satake, would get put in a sideseat like she had while she read her fortunes, "What is next?" she asked, she had been convinced Aunt Wu was real, and also thought that what she did was different then tell someone a destiny that they couldn't change.

Satake was only outside for a moment when someone answered the door. He smiled warmly at the person who opened the door. Satake nodded happily at the thought of food and refreshment. He felt his stomach rumble and he realized that he hadn't had any food in quite a while.
"I could go for something to eat,” Satake said with a wide grin. He let himself inside and was hit with an aromatic odor. He grinned as he looked about. He felt as if he could practically feel great forces winding themselves through the hallways. He didn’t know why Hanabi was always so down on fortune telling, it seemed real enough.

His mind wandered back to just a little while earlier. The feeling of happiness, glee and excitement were substituted for uneasiness and a bit of anxiety. Whenever he thought of his fortune being told it had always been good in his mind. Now that he was here he realized that you could never really be sure of your future. For all he knew Aunt Wu could predict a horrible fortune. Satake shuddered as thoughts of failure and disappointment filled his mind.

He quickly put those negative thoughts out of his mind. He truly believed he was a powerful individual and someday he would take the earth kingdom by storm. He planned to be the next earth King and finally put an end to the tyranny of the fire nation and the corruption within the earth kingdom itself. He clenched his fists as these thoughts clouded his mind. If not for the incompetence of the current ruling class, perhaps there would still be air benders, perhaps the fire nation would not be so powerful.

Satake took a seat as he was welcomed inside. He realized that just being on the threshold of the future got him riled up. He almost felt that he had to justify why he was doing what he was doing. Even if he was unable to become the next earth king he would not settle for mediocrity. He recalled the old man from earlier, morals…could they just be boundaries. The fire lord had no morals, he passed his boundaries and did unspeakable evil. Yet this evil was still powerful, great, and effective. Could that be why the other nations fell? Were they too scared to pass their boundaries? As these thoughts came up as did others. His father and Uncle had always raised him to believe that morals were what made you strong, what separated man from animal.

With so many thoughts clouding his mind Satake gripped his head in confusion. All that he knew definitively was that he couldn’t wait to head to the volcano. He would learn to channel the earth within magma. A volcano was the ultimate proof that earth can indeed contain fire. He just hoped that Aunt Wu’s fortune telling would shed some light on the path he was to follow.

Goen nodded and ran into the hallway once again to get some food and drink. The tea was probably alomst steeped by now.

Meanwhile in the reading room, Aunt Wu smiled serenely at Hanabi. "Well, you can choose, my dear, either a bone reading or a palm reading next. The vat of bones is just there, and if you want a bone reading you can grab whichever one feels right to you and toss into the fire. Then I will read the cracks when the heat is done drying it out. Or, if you prefer a palm reading next, just hold our your hand." She automatically shrugged at the implied simplicity. "I read the lines in your hand, which are shaped by their actions in the past and foretell your choices in the future."

The forest was surprisingly quiet, and the meditating Earthbender could hear the sound of his own breath as he concentrated on achieving his center. His shoulders drooped as he let another breath out, trying to organize the thoughts flying around his head into a coherent stream that he could process more easily.

Apparently, the world wasn't as black and white as he supposed; but then again, he knew that. He knew that things weren't always as they seemed, and a lot of care needed to be taken when reacting to something that fell within a "shade of gray," as Aunt Wu had put it. Still, he had a strong feeling that everything in his reading was tied to now, not the future. He'd gotten that feeling from the two cards at the end that he supposed represented Hanabi. Who else would they refer to?

Perhaps she was hiding something, but he'd have to wait until it revealed itself; things like that usually did. Unfortuantely, it might be a while, but he was willing to be patient.

A small crack rang in his ears, and he stopped. Perhaps he was hearing things, but perhaps not. He closed his eyes again, but the rustle of leaves on the ground made him open them again. Either there was a wild animal close by, or...

He stood up and whirled around to face the source of the sound. There was an outline of a person, but he didn't know who. He braced himself as the person stepped into the clearing, revealing a man.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Get lost from a group?" he asked, his voice reminiscent of someone walking on small rocks.

"Can I help you?" Haru asked cautiously, more aware that this might be one of the bandits the old man had referred to.

"You sure can. See, I have a problem. I don't have any money, and I'm guessing you do," the bandit said, a wicked smile forming on his face.

"Get out of here," Haru said, his voice becoming more authoritative as he solidified his posture.

"Ooh, I better do what you say! You might throw a rock at me or something!" The man laughed derisively, but Haru smiled.

"Something like that," he said, taking his stance. A few quick movements and a stomp on the ground caused a medium-sized rock to shoot up from the ground and at the man. He dodged it, obviously surprised.

"Oh, so we got an Earthbender, do we?" the bandit said, drawing himself into a stance of his own. With incredible agility, he leapt through the air. It was all haru could do to send a column of earth shooting upwards, catching the bandit in the stomach. As he fell, Haru caused another column to come diagonally upward and sent the man flying back into the forest. After a moment of recovering, the bandit glared at him but backed off. Hopefully, he wouldn't be back.

Heart racing, Haru stood there processing what had just happened. He'd been attacked, but he'd been more than capable of fending it off; it was just a bandit after all. If there had been more than one, he might not have come out of that fight intact.

He sat back down on the ground, trying to focus enough to calm himself down before going back to thinking.

Hanabi looked at Aunt Wu nodding moving over to the Vat of Bones she was speaking about looking through them with a small degree of care... murmers of "too small... too frail... too blunt..." came after a moment Hanabi held up a rather larger then normal bone that was rather thick and sharp at the end, she figured it was like her, it was strong, sharp and sturdy.

Hanabi looked at the fire examining the flames, rarely did she toss at random, she saw a spot that looked perfect, her innate knowing of fire served her finding the spot, the fire wasn't as tall at the spot, but a large channal of heat, probably the hottest spot in the fire at the moment tell next time in got sturred cought her eye, Hanabi aimed a small toss and tossed the bone that took almost her whole palm and got it right into that spot.

Hanabi knew it would take a minute or two for a bone of that size too dry out, in which time it would just be waiting for her and Aunt Wu.

Hanabi walked back to Aunt Wu smiling, "While the bone dries you can read my palms?" she asked her.

Hanabi held out both of her hands to Aunt Wu, indeed her palms on both hands where totally different.

Hanabi's Left hand was, while slim, lined with taunt muscles under tight skin with heavy callousing over them. Her fingertips had callousous you could stick needles into and her hands had deep lines in them, marked deeply from her veriaty of ledge climbing and constant battlefield training. Many of her softer lines had become covered so as to hardly be visable while others, mainly the wrinkles in the palm that involved writing where still fully present, like she held a quill a lot in her left hand.

Hanabi's Right hand was vastly different from her left, same thin build with the wirey muscles but her fingertips had slightly thinner callouses but still really hard, like heat and pressure on that hand had compressed the callouses. Bellow her fingers where they met the hand there where lines like wrinkles like the skin some time ago had been forcably pulled to the center of her hand and burned in place, likely in responce to a wound. Her palm however had a huge jagged scar in it, massive and painful looking, but long sense closed and the flesh, muscle and bone beneath it had sense totally recovered. By size if the knife was average size, she could have probably got that scar when she was seven years old. Her hand had a few minor burns on it from her earlier practice like heat had seared the skin, and the scar looked like the same searing had happened so many times that it had probably lost all feeling in it's nerves, yet never enough damage to kill the skin. On the other side on the back of her hand the scar was present, and the same size, indicating that she had taken the blade to the hilt in her palm, and back of the hand had recovered more gracefully then the palm.

Hanabi looked Aunt Wu in the eyes when she held out her palms, Her Bright Orange Eye shining with glee and a certain joy that no amount of hardship could kill. Her other eye while still roughly orange was faded and bright a black line where a poisoned blade has scratched her head went from almost to her forehead down along her cheek grazing the eye in the path. The eye itself had only been lightly scratched and had mostly recovered, but the poison had stained and faded the eye and damaged the muscle making it unable to contract for brighter light, but it was still able to adapt to darkness. One eye was able to see most clearly at day and in the bright and sunny, while the other could see as if she had lived her whole life in a dark cave with almost no light.

Hanabi herself had probably spent many weeks getting used to having such conflicting eyes, but apparently she had overcome the difficulties of that scar.

Satake sat waiting as Goen went to retrieve food and drink. The room was quiet and placid. It was then that Satake realized just how alone he used to be. Ever since he had run away from home, for about a year now, he had learned plenty but had been alone the whole time. A scared animal, he had hidden in the woods, stolen food at times and lived like a wild man. At firs tit was hard but he got used to it as he learned more about bending and the world around him. By no means was he like Hanabi though, he enjoyed staying in warm beds and having a freshly cooked meal, even if he had to pay for it. He had changed a lot throughout the course of the year but what had not changed was his sense of honor. He always found it difficult to accept charity or do anything against his conscience. Certain things such as stealing were okay in his mind if it was for a good reason otherwise Satake followed his (somewhat flexible) moral code.

As he sat around he pulled his father's knife form the sheath on his belt. it truly was a beautiful weapon. Slightly larger than a dagger, and twice as vicious. It was speckled with brown and red pieces of rust and the handle was faded and chipped. His father had used the knife to fight and hunt, it was sort of like a family heirloom that had been passed down from father to son. His father never got a chance to give it to Satake before he went to jail so before Satake left he made sure to take what was rightfully his. What he always thought was interesting was the hue of the blade, it was almost a greenish hue which he always thought was cool. His father had always gone on about hos the knife represented the valiant and dignified Osu. As a child Satake had soaked up stories of how his ancestors would fight great battles and how some of them even helped hold back the fore nation. Now in his teens Satake only looked back on such stories as just that...stories.

He took out the polish from his bag and a dirty rag and began cleaning the blade while thinking. The Earth nation had tried it's best to govern it's people even during such stressful times but their best wasn't good enough. Even in Ba Sing Se, the ruling class was so determined to maintain culture and peace that they would just get rid of anyone that stood in the way. For years his father had complained about the conditions and how a farmer could hardly get enough money for his family to live on. One day he ranted to the wrong people and before long he was being dragged away as a "rabble-rouser." Satake wondered how things went on in the fire nation. He did not doubt they lived gallant lives, protected by the will of the fore Lord and not having to live in the squalor out of their Kingdom.

Satake's hand tightened on the knife handle. He felt so weak sometimes, the world was so immense, how could he possibly make a difference? He envied the fire benders and the air benders of yesteryear. They could generate their element on site whereas earth benders and water benders had to have their element on hand. What he would give to be able to generate such power at the tip of his fingers, not just earth but all elements like the avatar. He could imagine it, it would be like you were an unstoppable force of nature. None would stand in your way. With ability liek that he could save his father and his mother, he could make things like they used to be.

Satake put these thoughts aside as he polished the knife. He moved away the rag and looked at his green tinted reflection. He could hardly recognize himself. He used to be just some happy-go-lucky child but what he had seen, what he had done. It all changed him. Satake felt as if he needed his fortune to be read just so he could know where to go and if he was heading in the right direction. He just felt so lost...

Hanabi picked and tossed a bone — that was rather routine. Even her request to have a palm reading while they waited for the bone to heat was not unusual. But then Aunt Wu looked into her palms, for a good long time. And something made her look up into her eyes, for another good long time.

The oracle had, of course, noticed the eyes when Hanabi came into the reading room, but one very positive thing about years and years of fortune-telling and guiding was that Aunt Wu had no prejudices, no judgments about anyone. She would give instruction and advice to the pauper as much as to the rich man, the villain as much as the hero. Sometimes even at the same time.

After a pause, Aunt Wu apologised, "Forgive me... the eagerness in your voice made me really look at you again." She forced herself to take the palms, pausing for a moment, and then letting the right hand go. "Your left hand is your writing hand — or your 'write' hand if you'll pardon the bad pun," she grinned, "so that is the only hand I need to read." She paused and looked over the lines, such as they were present, and mulled over the typical meanings of such things in her mind.

"You almost defy definition, my dear," she murmured just loudly enough for the firebender to hear her. "The lines of your hands are deep but far between, like those of what we call 'earth' or 'water' hands — but your palms are square and certain, like what we call 'air' or 'fire' hands. I think of them all, we might classify you as being influenced, ironically, by 'Fire.' It just means that you have a lot of ambition, energy, and passion, and are dominating and charismatic." She breathed for a moment and then concentrated more deeply on the few lines that she could see well.

"Your heart line indicates emotional stability so great that you have actually confined yourself to only one or two strong emotions. You are stoic, but also often more depressed than you let on. Your head line indicates that you prefer an analytical approach to a problem, rather than a creative approach; also, it doesn’t stay very straight, meaning that you learn through struggle, conflict, and opposing forces. Thirdly, your life line indicates that you are very healthy and full of vigor, and that you keep pushing yourself forward because you know that you can handle it – which is in itself a healthy state. And finally… hmm… that’s odd…” Aunt Wu looked again. Heart line, from below the index finger to below the pinky finger. Head line, from a little more below the index finger to the far edge of the hand. Life line, from the same starting location curved down around the thumb. But… “You have no fate line,” she intoned in a confused voice, tracing where there should be a vertical line going down from between the middle and ring fingers, toward the wrist.

Hanabi for once durring the reading was befuddled, she did not even know what a fate line was, let alone that she didn't have one. It made sense not to know what a fate line was considering she never had one... but... "Huh?" she said sounding a bit confused herself, she didn't know the specific types of lines herself and had decided that perhaps it was her own lack of knowing that served her confusing. But why was Aunt Wu somewhat confused, "You seem perplexed, am I missing something?" she asked, wondering if she missed something in the reading or somehow did something wrong, she was after all ambidexterous.

Hanabi looked at her other hand, but if 'it' had a line where Aunt Wu would trace, it had been covered over by the scar which had lines of it's own that had too do with tissue damage.

Hanabi looked deep in thought considering what it could mean, was she one of those 'fateless' people? "Maybe long ago I was meant to die in a desert." she thought, her hands had grown and changed sense then, maybe she was meant to have died... Hanabi shook her head, not thinking that answer was vary likely either.

Hanabi thought back to what she said about her being depressed and hiding it well and her heart line saying she was stable, in battle she felt truely alive... Hanabi pondered thinking back to her last battle, what seemed like months ago to her now, her mind drifted back to a Fire Navy port where a practice match had got out of hand.

Hanabi remembered that durring the battle she was not angry, she was glad, she enjoyed every savory moment of it, the dance, the communion, as it had went on she had got more and more relaxed flowing into a dance where she felt at peace, there had been no anger, no rage. Curiosity, Passion, Peace of Soul and an honesty and learning of her opponent that could only come from reading how they fought. She had fought to win, but she knew that if she would have lost that she would have still won because she would have learned.

Hanabi snapped herself out of her revery and wondered if she was depressed, she thought hard trying to pinpoint it, yes she had sad things happen to her and watched her only family die before her eyes, witnessing two men she called father die on the same day. But she honored them and knew they where both at peace with there end. "Maybe I'm depressed because something is missing in my life." she thought.

Part of her being a warrior of her sort was a natural care for others, a desire to know how they would act, react and fight, if she didn't care about others her skill would all be wilderness survival and not specialization in combat. For her fighting was like speaking, but to most combat was a means to an end that should be avoided.

Hanabi's expression was confused but she heard a cracking noise from the fire while she was thinking.

The bone in the fire cracked loudly finally dried from the heat, the already pointed end splintering down the center deviding the pointed end into five points, a large crack running down the bone to it's base, exposing the Marrow in it's center for all to see tell about half way up the bone where it was thick enough that the crack didn't go to the center. and only fractured on a few of the bones smother parts making them jagged and the bone a lot more rough and less well shaped.

Hanabi looked at Aunt Wu, wondering what she saw. All Hanabi saw was her palms, a cracked bone, a few cards with images, but she knew Aunt Wu saw more then that and she was pretty certain by now Aunt Wu was not fake, but a Human gifted with insight that only those of the Spirit World normally posess.

Satake was snoring loudly in the waiting room. A river of drool was falling from his open mouth onto the chair he was sitting on. He had dwelt so much on the nature of good and evil that he had eventually tired himself out. Not to mention all the waiting... He had always been the jokester back at home, he even had somewhat of a sarcastic streak. He supposed being away from home so long made him emotionally detached.

Now, he was dreaming about dancing with badger moles as he watched Haru and Hanabi sprout wings and fly around in a circle. He danced about during the dream, laughing loudly and pointing up at his flying friends. he waved at them when all of a suddenly a loud growling sound filled his ears. He covered his ears to try and drown out the sound but it just grew louder and louder. He figured the sound was coming from the pink and green cave to his left. A pair of red eyes gleamed in the darkness. He was about to run away when the creature emerged. he screamed loudly as a platter of food ran out of the cave and he awoke.

Satake gripped his stomach instantly and realized that the loud growling sound had been his stomach. He yawned and stretched as he looked about. He decided to put his philosophical thoughts away in turn for a more important subject, food. He sheathed his knife and stood up. After he sheathed his knife he realized that he might need a new weapon, perhaps a sword. Sure earthbending was powerful but sword craft could really be helpful. He put it on his mental checklist to ask Hanabi about swordplay later.

Satake left the room and wandered down the hall he had seen the boy go down. He walked up to a door at random and put his ear against it. He could hear a fire crackling and hushed voices but that was about it. He walked up to another door, seemed to be quiet moaning but then again he never had been good at detecting sounds. As he walked through the hallway he bumped into a potted plant. He gasped quietly as he fumbled with the pot trying not to let it hit the floor. He cringed as the pot fell and broke. Whistling innocently he pushed the debris to the side and continued searching around.

Part of him felt that it wasn't right to be sneaking around but the more logical side said that there was food to be found. He sniffed the air and was hit with the lovely scent of food. Drooling a little more Satake followed his nose down a hallway. The smell seemed to be coming from behind one articular door, Satake considered whether or not it would be rude just to barge in, then again he was pretty hungry. He decided just to take his chances and opened the door.
"Hello?," he called out.