Kohaku looked away as all of a sudden a pair of golden eyes met his own. It looked like the woman had caught him staring. That was unfortunate. He worried about how she would react. Most people took staring as some sort of challenge. He really didn't want to have to fight this woman. He'd been having such a good day thus far. A fight would just sour his mood.

Luckily, the woman seemed more curious than anything else. She too was probably wondering what a child of the Fire Nation was doing in the middle of the Earth Kingdom. At least she seemed friendly; her greeting was nice enough. Before Kohaku could respond to her question, though, the woman was beside him, and both she and a large, intimidating dragon hawk were looking him in the eye. That was more than a little unnerving, ad the Firebender didn't know how to respond. Luckily, he didn't have to; the woman started talking again, this time about the weather.

When she finished speaking, Kohaku knew that he should respond, but was unsure of what to say. He had always been horrible at small talk. "Um...yes, it is nice," he mumbled, searching for something else to say. His eyes roamed around and landed on the dragon hawk, which was still glaring at him. "Um, that's an impressive bird. Is it yours?" That was a stupid question. Who else would the bird belong to? By the Spirits, he was doing a terrible job. Hopefully the woman wouldn't think he was a complete idiot.

Flicker impatiently twitched his tail feathers against her rucksack, and shifted his large predatory talons on her shoulder. He cocked his head at the man, eyeing him as if he would eye prey. The man seemed to be intimidated by this and muttered his way into an answer. He finally asked about the hawk, and Fu-Ling nodded enthusiastically, ostrich-horse-tail bobbing and flicking against her bag.

"Yes. He was my father's for a while, but I was around him enough so that he likes me. Right, buddy?" She spoke happily to the bird. In response, he screeched loudly in her ear and vaulted off of her shoulder to soar into the upper leaves of the trees. Fu-Ling swore in good nature, rubbing her ear and then the shoulder where the bird's talons had scratched on liftoff. "Well, maybe he's just cranky. He hasn't eaten in a while."

She glanced around and saw even more of the passing travelers glaring. Some had even turned to look over their shoulders at the intrusive cry of the hawk. She shrugged and turned her attention back to the man, tightening the strings on her gloves as she spoke. "So, where are you off to? Do you have a specific destination in mind, or are you hoping to see New Ozai? I heard it's bustling despite being filled with dirty earthbenders." Fu-Ling didn't realize how crass her statement was.

Then again, she didn't care. She heard Flicker screech again, this time high above the forest. He was probably circling the skies, soaring on thermals. How glorious it would be to have the body of a bird! Fu-Ling closed her eyes for just a moment, imagining it: the air whipping her face, her massive wings outstretched, the feeling of lightness and power equal and overwhelming... Then she came back down to earth and was simply happy to be, happy to have someone to talk to. Happy.

The woman's nod was quite enthusiastic; she seemed very happy to be talking to someone. Kohaku could understand that; he felt the same way. Still, that hawk was quite intimidating. He could just imagine its talon tearing through the soft flesh of some defenseless animal.Hopefully that would never happen to him.

And now he was on a depressing train of thought. Luckily, the woman (he really needed to learn her name) answered his question and he was able to focus on that. And, also helpful, the hawk took off, leaving him feeling a little less awkward. Kohaku watched the hawk fly off into the sky before turning his eyes back to the ground and the people around them. Great, people were staring. That was precisely what he had been trying to avoid. The man quickly looked back at the woman, hoping that she wouldn't notice the blush making its presence known on his cheeks.

The woman asked about his travel plans, and the Firebender actually had to stop to think about his answer. "I don't know where I'm going. I wouldn't mind seeing Om--New Ozai," he corrected himself quickly. After spending time among the Earth Kingdom's people, he had gotten used to speaking as they did. He had quickly figured out that not everyone in the Earth Kingdom was happy about the Fire Nation's conquest. In order to avoid causing offense, he would say what they wanted to hear.

He started thinking about the woman's description of Earthbenders, and before he could stop himself he was speaking. "Earthbenders aren't dirty. Covered in dirt, maybe, but there's nothing wrong with that. Most of the ones I've met have been very nice." It was only after he finished speaking that Kohaku realized that speaking in defense of Earthbenders to an obvious Fire Nation loyalist probably wasn't a very good idea. Oh well. It was too late to take back his words now. He wold just have to hope that the woman didn't challenge him.

She stared down the path, walking leisurely, feeling her muscles stretch and flex and generally feel strong and well-used. She was nearing the third or fourth hour of walking at such a pace, and her joints were warm and flexible. Fu-Ling just loved traveling. It was such an enlightening, exciting time. And she always had more people to talk to. It was just fantastic. She looked back at her new traveling companion and wondered if he felt the same exhilaration that came from physical movement. He looked warm; maybe he wasn't used to walking so much?

And then he replied to her question in an odd way. Of course it was understandable that he was still a bit uncomfortable around her. Most people, for some reason, had an issue with talking to strangers. Fu-Ling, however, didn't. What was this "Ohm-New-Ozai" thing that he said? Maybe he was thinking of one thing and saying another and then fixed himself. Yes, that sounded about right. She nodded encouragingly, coercing him to go on.

But then he said something very strange, which made Fu-Ling stare at him curiously. Maybe he had mistaken what she'd said. "Nice? Of course they're nice enough." She shrugged, and hesitated, thinking over what he'd said. How could she explain this in a way that he'd understand her viewpoint? "They're just... simple, I guess. They aren't strong, they don't take pride in themselves, or their families, or their country."

She looked away, towards the swaying leaves and shifting sunbeams. "Sorry. I hope I didn't upset you, they've just always seemed... dirty. To me." She wondered why he cared so much about her opinion. After all, they'd just met. She sighed, realizing how she must have looked. "I'm not really such a rude person." It was upsetting, because even though she usually didn't care what people said about her, she didn't want to be left without a companion. And this man was fairly attractive. She didn't want to push him away if she didn't have to...

The woman wasn't making much sense. No pride, no strength? Of course the Earth Kingdom's people had those things! To him, the people of the Earth Kingdom were stronger than their Fire Nation conquerors. Of course, he was thinking in different terms of strength--emotional rather than physical--but his opinion remained valid. To watch their land be conquered, longing to fight but knowing that doing so would only get them killed, making the conscious decision to allow themselves to be conquered...that was real strength. All the Fire Nation had was an advantage in numbers. To Kohaku, Fire Lord Ozai was a spoiled child who saw things he wanted and took them. Hopefully he would receive well-deserved punishment soon.

All of this went through Kohaku's head, but none of it left his lips. The desire to correct the woman, who was clearly wrong, clashed with the desire to avoid conflict. It was nice to be talking pleasantly with someone; he didn't want to mess that up. Better to swallow his true feelings than to get into an argument.

So, all Kohaku did was nod. "It's fine," he replied stiffly, trying to think of a way to change the subject. Finally, something came to him. "What made you decide to leave the Fire Nation?" He was honestly quite curious. Someone so proud to be a member of the Fire Nation would have no reason to leave it, or so he thought. This woman interested him.

Fu-Ling didn't hear her companion speak, so after a moment she glanced back at him. Thankfully, he was nodded shallowly, as if he was comprehending what she said. Relief swelled within her and she couldn't help but smile again. His following sentence was a bit odd, a bit off-color, and she wasn't sure how to interpret it. At that point, she wasn't really sure if he agreed with her or not. Or if he was about to ditch her.

She looked down at the ground, watching each foot take a step in front of the other. She saw footprints of travelers before her, hoof-shaped indentations, claw marks, trampled leaves. Birds chirped around her. Enough time passed that the woman was about to ask if the man was angry at her. But then he spoke again, asking her an equally simple and complex question.

She was quiet for a moment, gathering her thoughts. After all, she'd just met the guy... By this point, she knew he was younger than she was. Not by much: he was still an adult. But it was a factor in their newly-met acquaintanceship. He probably didn't understand as much about the world as she did. "I was actually born in one of the first colonies that settled here," she said simply, matter-of-factly. It was a statement. Not an opinion. Not anything too revealing. Just a fact.

She took a moment to look back at the man. His hair looked soft. His expression seemed to be curious. She decided talking to him a little more about herself was fine. He'd probably head off on his own within the next few hours anyways. She might never see this man again after this afternoon. "I guess you could just say I'm a naturally adventurous person. You know?" She alternated focusing on the man's expression and the road before them, making sure no one was about to run into them. Flicker screeched distantly, and there was a calming insect chorus warming up. There were the high trills of crickets and the coarse shrieks of cicadas. Coupled with the birdsong, Fu-Ling found herself surrounded by the orchestra of nature. "I always have this... this itch to go traveling. Why read a book about a mountain when you could climb up it and experience it for yourself?"

She sighed wistfully. She felt a tiny, dry twig snap under the ball of her foot. Another gust tickled her cheeks. Her dark, wispy bangs brushed over her jawline. A glimmer of sunlight waved into her eyes and then out again. "The world is just such a beautiful place, and people are wrong when they think they can settle down and create a family and a house and still have time to see all of it. It's kind of sad, really," she reflected. "Some people will never see what the world has to offer..." Her eyes trailed skyward, reflecting the sunlight, warming her skin. She wasn't sure whether to feel nostalgic and solemn or content and happy.

As the woman thought about the answer to his question--he had expected that. It was a complex question after all--Kohaku scratched his arm absentmindedly. The bandages that covered his left arm occasionally made his skin itch, and the scratching offered some temporary relief. He should really think about another way to cover his burn that was less problematic. Having to change the bandages every few weeks was quite annoying.

The Firebender was distracted from his minor troubles by his companion's voice. Finally she had come up with an answer. Her response was simple enough, made sense. Kohaku reflected that, had circumstances not been the way they had, he probably would have left the Fire Nation for similar reasons. He had always liked the idea of traveling the world. He did wonder about the last thing the woman said, though.

"Do you not want to settle down?" It was possible. Some people just weren't content to sit in one place and live out their lives.That seemed fine to him--he definitely wanted to get married and have children--but not everyone was like him. If this woman wanted to see the world, who was he to judge? He only hoped that in her travels the woman would learn respect for people not from the Fire Nation. If not, she probably wouldn't end up with many friends.

The man scratched the wrappings over his arm before asking another question. It made Fu-Ling laugh loudly and genuinely. Had she not made that clear? "Of course not!" she said, as if it were obvious. She settled into giggles and combed the fringe of her bangs with her long, pointed fingernails. (Yes, they broke often, and yes they were highly impractical, especially when she had to do any climbing/packing/anything that involved using fingers in general. But they were so pretty. And they helped focus her firebending, so she supposed that was a plus.)

She tried to calm herself down enough to give him a serious look. "No way. Why would I? You were listening to me, right? Or were you too entranced by my breasts?" The last question was clearly spoken as a joke, but she at the same time wasn't sure if she was making him uncomfortable. Still, she teasingly mashed her tiny breasts against each other in an attempt to emphasize them, and released them with a snicker.

"I'm just kidding, though. But seriously." She looked back at him with a solemn expression. "I can't even imagine that. It bothers me, you know?" She tried to suppress a racking shudder and failed, twitching as her spine crawled involuntarily. "Even when I visit my parents, I can't stay there for too long. I feel sort of... clustered. If that makes sense. Like I'm going to suffocate if I don't leave."

She remembered the sensation clearly: a keen anxiety at the notion of extended inactivity. She could practically feel her throat clenching and that muffled, puffy feeling she got when she tried to breathe. Fu-Ling, back in the present, absent-mindedly massaged beneath her throat with her knuckles. The woman quickly noticed that she had goosebumps, and had to rub them away. She hadn't realized how much that caged feeling affected her... Or why it suddenly got so intense around this man, all at once...

Kohaku was taken about as loud laughter suddenly spilled from the woman's lips. Had his question really been that obvious? He had assumed that the woman had planned to travel the world and maybe settle down after she'd seen as much of it as she could. Apparently he had been wrong, and should have known that.

The Firebender was about to reply that yes, he had been listening, and had just misinterpreted her meaning, but the comment about her breasts stopped him in his tracks. The man blushed fiercely, averting his gaze so as to look at absolutely no part of the woman's body at all and prove his innocence. Luckily, he didn't have to do that for long, as his companion continued the conversation.

What she said made sense to Kohaku, but also confused him a little. He didn't quite understand what might make the woman feel so unhappy about the notion of settling down. Sure, he knew that he would probably feel the way she described if he went home, but he was pretty sure that she hadn't had the same childhood as he had. She just didn't want to go home. He couldn't. Still, he nodded all the same to show that he halfway understood how the woman felt.

It appeared that the woman's feelings on this particular matter ran deeper than he had thought. Kohaku couldn't help but notice the way she massaged her throat, as if she couldn't breathe. He hadn't meant to upset her so much. "Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

It wasn't that she disliked her parents; on the contrary, Fu-Ling was aware that she basically idolized her father. He was such a powerful, honorable man. He led their small family to their high position of wealth and power. Fu-Ling wasn't nearly so attached to her mother, but she still loved her. After all, they were family. They had to... They had to stick together...

Fu-Ling cleared her mind before any negative thoughts could weigh her down. No! She loved her family and her home! She just didn't want to be lashed down and tied there. The man asked her about her well-being and she smiled at him. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just... I really don't like the idea of being so weighed down." She thought for a brief second before continuing. "I guess you could think of me like a feather. I'm really good at drifting in the wind, but if someone steps on me I get crushed and might never move again."

She could only hope that he would understand. She looked at him again, this time really trying to see him as a different human being. There were bandages around his left arm. The woman couldn't tell if they were fresh or covering an old scar. He had an almost resigned look to his body and the way he moved and talked. He had the eyes of a firebender, but wore dark gloves. Fu-Ling knew from experiences that gloves could get in the way of bending if your control wasn't anything special: so why would a firebender do this?

She didn't like having to get into such odd, personal specifics. She didn't want to have to get too attached. After all, he was just a stranger. He probably wouldn't stay with her much longer. She didn't even know his-- "Oh!" she exclaimed quietly, then laughed. "I'm so sorry, you must think I'm horribly rude. I just remembered I never introduced myself." She curtseyed playfully with the fringe of her tunic. "My name is Fu-Ling. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

The woman answered his question in quite a philosophical way. Still, it did make sense. "Why not find someone who still lets you be yourself even while you're settling down?" He hoped what he said made sense. That was the problem with him; he was great at thinking through what he said, but somewhere between his brain and his mouth things got confused.

As the woman observed him, he did the same to her. She was certainly attractive. Thin, and she looked strong. She had gloves on, but they were fingerless. Maybe that was to leave her hands free for bending. Judgung by her heritage, she was probably a Firebender. That worried Kohaku a little; going from his experience, Firebenders were to be avoided. But this woman wasn't that bad, just a little close-minded.

Kohaku couldn't help but smile as Fu-Ling introduced herself. "Nice to meet you, Fu-Ling," he replied. "I'm Kohaku."

He was still trying to figure Fu-Ling out. She was at once both polite and rude. She was nice enough to him, but he didn't like what she had said about the Earthbenders. It was typical Fire Nation arrogance. Kohaku didn't understand how she could be traveling around the world and yet still be so judgemental of people she didn't know. Perhaps he should attempt to change her mind...

Fu-Ling shrugged, and went back to focusing between the path and the man next to her. "It's just weird. Maybe I just don't want to be with someone else..." She wondered if she should talk about it further. There were so many people around. No matter how kind this man was to her, it was impossible to tell how he would react to anything she said. He was clearly of Fire Nation heritage, but at the same time he'd backed up the earthbenders. Who was to say he wouldn't turn against her if, and Ozai forbid it would ever happen, something bad came up?

She decided that he already knew a fair bit more about her than most, so there was little harm in continuing. "I've never really found anyone whose company I've even enjoyed that much, you know? And even if I did, they'd want to pin me down." She trailed off distantly, wondering if she was revealing too much.

Then the man - Kohaku - introduced herself. She nodded to indicate she heard him and felt a smile come to her lips. He had looked her over, assessed her as intricately as she had him, and - to be honest - it kind of felt nice to be checked out. He still looked like he was trying to figure a bit more of her out, past the physical body... She gave in. After all, she'd revealed a lot about herself to brief partners before, to get them into bed. If she had no intention of even having sex with him, what was the harm in talking a bit more about herself?

"To be perfectly honest, Kohaku, I think I'd rather die young and alone but happy and free than die like a caged bird, all broken down and depressed. You don't have to understand, I just hope you know what I mean." She looked skyward again, wondering if he thought she was beautiful. If he thought she was attractive. Or even nice. Maybe she would bed him tonight...

Fu-Ling had a strange way of thinking. She seemed to be completely against the idea of being with any one person for very long. Kohaku had to wonder then if she had any close friends. Well, maybe she only meant what she said in a romantic sense. After all, she seemed content to talk him, and they weren't romantically involved. They'd only just met.

He was still confused by how set Fu-Ling was in her feelings, but had realized by now that he probably just wasn't ever going to understand. "I think I get what you mean," he replied, smiling slightly. "Even if I do want to settle down eventually, I do enjoy traveling and seeing the world."

Kohaku was feeling like the conversation so far had been very one-sided. He had learned so much about Fu-Ling in the past few minutes, but hadn't revealed very much about himself. That didn't seem very fair. But he didn't really know what to do about it. He didn't want to just offer up information. What if that bored his companion? It would be better to wait until she asked him something. For now, he'd stay quiet.

The idea of having sex with a man was quite enticing, she had to admit. Was he gay? Would a man with low confidence have sex with a woman who was the opposite? The idea of it warmed her skin and made her vision unfocus - but just for a moment. She returned to reality with a smile.

"Yeah. The problem is finding someone who has the same ideals as you." She nodded as if reassuring herself of what she said. "Like, I guess in my opinion, 'settling down' means staying in one spot for the rest of your life. You're tied there, and even if you try to leave you're always pulled back. Like if you have a chain around your neck." She didn't want to think of it - that reaction a few minutes ago was well enough for her.

A thought suddenly came to her that she hadn't though of before. Did it make her a bad person for totally disregarding whether he had a partner or not and still thinking about having sex with him? She looked over at Kohaku, glad that she hadn't vocalized any of her fantasies. "I'm guessing that means you don't have a girlfriend, then, right?" Her voice gained a playful tone and she winked at her fellow firebender. "Or do you and you have a thing for stepping over her boundaries?" She giggled at her own cleverness.

Then the thought of having a non-Fire-Nation partner reduced her to just a smile. Okay, she'd hooked up with a couple of the natives. Not too big of a deal. One of them wasn't even very good. Then again, she distinctly remembered one being excellent in the sack. Taking her into account. Aiming for her pleasure first... Whoo, she thought with a grin and a shiver. That had been a night to remember.

If Kohaku was "taken", so to speak, would he be the sort of man to selflessly put his partner first?

Fu-Ling's response made Kohaku think. She had a point about settling down. "Maybe the problem is in the words 'settling down.' I see it more as just finding a person you'd be happy spending the rest of your life with and doing that. For you, that would mean finding someone who wanted to travel the world with you. That couldn't be hard to do."

The woman's sudden question about whether or not he had a girlfriend took the Firebender by surprise. "Um...n-no, I don't have a girlfriend. If I did, I probably wouldn't be traveling the world without her." Kohaku was quickly coming to a conclusion about Fu-Ling. Put simply, she was very odd. He didn't really mind, though; in fact, he liked talking to her. It was nice to have a conversation to keep him from spending all of his time in his own head.

Kohaku was silent for a time as he tried to think of something to say. Finally, something came to mind. Bending was a common small talk subject, right? "So, are you a bender, Fu-Ling?" There, that was simple enough. Maybe small talk wasn't so hard after all.

Fu-Ling nodded, understand what he said. His words were almost poetic, really. And they touched her. The corners of her lips lifted and she lowered her eyes humbly. "I guess so. Wouldn't that be nice?" She stopped for a second as she realized how unrealistic that was. "I just feel like a lot of people want a more... traditional viewpoint? I've never met anyone who would be willing to just drop everything and leave, you know?"

And for the first time in a while, she remembered that she had an odd view on life. It was true: a lot of people, from all nations, would rather having some sense of being grounded, some sense that everything would be routine when they woke up from a nightmare. Fu-Ling wasn't like that. Her nightmare was routine. It was the idea of regularity, the idea of never differing from the norm. And she hated that.

Kohaku admitted that he wasn't taken, giving Fu-Ling a minor lift of hope in her core. His words almost proved her point: what kind of odd person would prefer a constant variation to constancy? She nodded in understanding, taking in what he'd said. He was really an intelligent man, wasn't he? She believed him, of course. Unless he despised her, she couldn't think of a good reason for him to lie. And he seemed quite rational, neither lacking in intellect or common sense. He was exactly the sort of man that Fu-Ling hoped for in a companion.

She nodded at his question. "Yes, I am. And I believe you are as well? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I figured you were a firebender as well." She gestured vaguely with her eyes, as if it would somehow convey the correlation she made between his appearance and his bending abilities. "Though I try not to bend around any of the Earth Kingdom people. They don't like it very much." Though she had a happy expression, she spoke the truth. She saw enough patrols along the roads and enough disdainful looks in even an hour to tell her what the natives thought of her kind. "I mean, I'm not exactly the best. But I could hold my own if I really needed to. My father was a Colonel in the Army, and he was such a fantastic teacher."

She briefly wondered if how he would react to this new information on her background. But she figured that, if he hadn't left after learning so much about her, he'd probably keep walking and talking with her if he learned about her father, too. Had she made her allegiance to the Fire Nation so obvious? Then she remembered that it probably didn't matter.

Fu-Ling had a point about most people having different views, but Kohaku could see an easy solution to that problem. "Maybe the best thing to do would be to find someone who was already travelling in the same direction as you." Fu-Ling might have a difficult time finding someone to settle down with, but surely she could find someone eventually.

So she was a bender, as he had thought. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. There wasn't anything wrong with being a bender, as long as she could control her bending. That had been his problem, and was the reason he didn't bend anymore.

The man was so lost in his thoughts that he almost didn't hear what Fu-Ling said about her father. He did remember that he was supposed to respond. "Yes, I'm a Firebender," was all he said. His bending (or lack thereof) was a subject he really didn't want to discuss. Hopefully his companion wouldn't press the matter.

Fu-Ling nodded, but inside her mind she felt like shrugging. She had been out in the world for a couple of years. (How long had it really been...? She pondered it absentmindedly for a moment.) If there were people who thought the same as her, wouldn't she have found them by now? Personally, Fu-Ling saw it as a lost cause.

And on top of that, firebenders didn't come around often. And Fu-Ling was not about to be a partner to someone whose country was essentially at war with the nation she loved. Plus, they were so simple. How could she expect to marry someone who wasn't intellectually on par with her? She wasn't trying to be intentionally ignorant - to her, from her experience, nearly every single person she'd met just wasn't that mentally stimulating. Handsome, sure. Kinda smart, occasionally. But never truly, like, intelligent.

Of course, she held her tongue about this. No use making him argue with her, if it was possible to avoid. And he'd seemed almost offended when she'd talked about the earthbenders earlier, so that was a lesson learned. But then these thoughts disappeared when Kohaku replied. She smiled and nodded. "That's fantastic, that really is. Are you really good? I mean, you're young but you never know."

She was thinking of how her father had praised her, calling her a powerful bender when she was younger. And she wasn't as naive now (she was only really on the average skill level of a firebender her age), but the memory still fondly stood. But she suddenly remembered something. "Princess Azula is practically a prodigy. She's younger than I am but she's probably getting as close to as powerful as our Fire Lord Ozai." She was cautious with her wording on this one - didn't want to be accused of treason, after all.

She combed her bangs again, then let her arms hang idly at her sides.