Anonymous
Nov 13, 2011 3:45:19 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Nov 13, 2011 3:45:19 GMT -6
Hinh nodded with her eyes closed. "Yes. I would hate for this entire journey to go to waste when we are so close to our current destination." She said, full of resolve.
It pleased Tenoko to know that her companion had a similar stubborn resolve that she had. She was familiar with it in the proud, Earth Kingdom types, but it was also clear that Water Tribespeople had it too. They stubbornly bound themselves to their traditions and family-oriented ways, and the warrior admired that about her country. Their stout defense and the resilience and persistence of their people was the reason that the Water Tribes were the only free nation in the world at the moment.
But even then, that had only been the answer to one of her questions. the other answer soon followed.
"I believe a silent approach during the night will let us through without trouble... although, they may have set up barriers or other obstacles along the path."
"Aye," Tenoko analyzed her surroundings and saw the same things the priestess did. there was a lot of Fire Nation business going on around them, and the occupying forces would destroy them if the two of them tried to carve their way through it. a good warrior would strategize. "there's no doubting that we need a proper strategy on how to get around this mess."
"We can wait and hide in one of those broken buildings, there. But there is quite a moment to wait until night comes. What do you think we should do in the meantime ?"
"well, it depends on what we want to get done." Tenoko replied, "if it is simply a matter of killing time, then I suppose we just need to find a way to keep ourselves occupied during that time, be it through entertaining or amusing ourselves, or by resting. I admit that the former of the two was what I was more used to doing, as it was difficult to sleep outside in the cold of the South Pole."
hunting trips had never been too easy. there was a lot of waiting involved, especially for the larger prey. Tenoko used to make small displays of her bending skills to amuse herself and her hunting partners--especially since she was on several occasions the only bender of the group. Her gender may have also helped here, as she was almost always the only woman to go on these hunts. Whatever the case, Tenoko was not sure if Hinh wanted to bide time, or wanted to put it to some use. it was difficult with the looming prospect of being seen though.
"if there is anything we can accomplish during our wait for nightfall, we will definitely want to get started on that, but otherwise, I think it would just be a matter of killing time."
~Tenoko~
ninavask
Nov 17, 2011 10:59:47 GMT -6
Post by ninavask on Nov 17, 2011 10:59:47 GMT -6
His hope were fulfilled when he heard the rough sliding of wood on wood, announcing the small viewing hole being open and in came a wooden tray of hard bread and a thin soup. He didn't even hear what the soldier that had fed him said as he quickly grabbed the bread, after feeling around for it, and dunked it in the bowl of soup. It was the same meal every day, which was always disappointing, but it was food. And it kept him from dying. Good for him. Though what he wouldn't do for an ostrich horse leg of all things. Heck, he could probably eat the whole ostrich horse.
He wasn't too surprised as he got half way through the bread that the wagon jerked to a start. After all it was only a few minute break, they wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible. Though he already had a plan to try and escape as soon as they reached... wherever the devil they are going. Oh right, a camp to put him to work. Hopefully he would get in contact with some earth. And have the energy.
Li leapt back atop his ostrich horse with ease. Settling in with a yawn as the caravan started on again. He had given himself a bite of salted meat and some bread, as well as a drink from the nearby river, and was ready for the rest of the likely deathly quiet journey west. He had heard one of the officers mentions ruins somewhere in their path they were going to try and take a side road to avoid, due to the close quarters involved. They didn't want an ambush. Not that the bender in the box likely had that many allies out here.
Anonymous
Nov 27, 2011 13:11:02 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Nov 27, 2011 13:11:02 GMT -6
Hinh nodded in approbation. That was it then, they were going to wait. Patience was a virtue afterall, it would save them a lot of trouble to simply settle down and rest. The priestess was guessing the Fire Nation wasn't there to occupy the mountains - otherwise, they were worse at occupation than she believed - but she had no doubts they were the kind to send scouts around their area or at least set some perimeter of defense... Then again, that armada might as well be the first layer of defense for Omashu against enemies. But that didn't exactly make sense, because there was no powerful enough force capable of re-taking Omashu, or at the very least not from the South where the pair was coming from... But then why would they need such a vast line of defense ?
Hinh shook her head. Those thoughts were clouding both her judgement and her concentration. She did not need to worry about something that had so little chance of being possible. There was no solid evidence even beginning to lead that way, so she put that hypothesis in the back of her mind, sealing it hard. For now, she focused on preparing the place where they'd be spending most of the rest of their daytime. Walking down the hill on the side of the slope, so as to not attract attention from afar - such as being a yellow dot moving about the scenery - Hinh examined the rest of the torn apart encampment. The ruins they would dwell in for a few hours seemed to be the least damaged of all the structures in the vicinity. In fact, she was finding this to be so.... messy, that she even considered making a tunnel somewhere and using it as a shelter till the actions began. But cleaning things up would be a waste of time - not like she was short of it - and might attract attention. "I shall head in first. It may not be as safe as it... as we think."
And so she walked in through the hole in the building's wall, right next to the actual door that had miraculously remained completely intact. The inside was a complete disaster. It was hard to tell that what she was looking at used to be some kind of hall, because there appeared to be chunks of rocks everywhere here and there, along with a good portion of the ceiling being nowhere to be found. In fact, the priestess was pretty sure she was standing on top of the piece of the wall she had just walked though, right in front of said ceiling. There was the lower half of a stone ladder erected in the middle of the destroyed hall, and an upside down table of some kind right beneath it. From the looks of things, whoever destroyed that building burned something down inside. There were scorch marks centered around that broken ladder. Hinh went over to that spot, taking care not to walk on some small debris to avoid getting her feet injured. The shape of those marks almost made it seem like the burning of a pyre... But the width suggested otherwise. It was freaky enough to imagine that the Fire Nation would execute someone on a pyre in the middle of a house, but it was even more frightening for Hinh to think that maybe this was less a pyre than it was a bomb. And not the regular blasting jelly kind of explosive.
Just as she was about to stomp the ground and check the entire structure for other traces of presence, she noticed a bit of dust falling right in front of her eyes. That made her put her foot back down, figuring there was something more interesting, or more worth of her attention above her. Not too sure what to think about this at first, she looked up at the broken ceiling, and realized that half of the roof itself was missing as well. To be more precise - and this is the part that alarmed her very much - there was perhaps more than half of the roof left, but it was all concentrated around the center, as if the rest had been removed to make a crescent shape of void, or maybe an actual "C". And while it was surprising enough that the rest managed to hold on to a slab of roof linking it to the building's wall, it certainly wouldn't last very long.
So Hinh made careful steps backwards, until she was safe under the ceiling. Then she waved for Tenoko to enter as well. "Best not to touch anything at all around here. The entire place is ready to fall apart on top of us." She informed Tenoko. Not to mention she had yet to check the whole place out. What was awaiting them on the first floor ? What could pop up from the basement ? Was there even a basement ? She was actually considering fighting against that armada right now, rather than staying here any longer. Or maybe, if they were resourceful enough, lure them in here and let the place crash down on them... But that didn't sound like her style at all.
Anyway, she took a seat on top of a pile of rubble that seemed to be isolated enough from anything else, dusted off her outfit, then crossed her legs and joined her hands. More or less a standard "patience" position. Nothing else to do... Just waiting. Hours... Sitting and doing nothing. Except waiting.... She had a hard enough mind that this wouldn't bother her, fortunately.
Anonymous
Dec 29, 2011 22:23:52 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2011 22:23:52 GMT -6
[yeah, so you see... there was this thing that happened, where I fell off the face of the map and had no excuse... and something or another, and then before I realized it, a month had passed. T.T]
Tenoko's mind wandered across various thoughts as she mused what these massive defenses were all for. The only truly free nation at this time was the Water Tribes, since the Fire Nation was ruled by the tyranny of their leaders, the Air Nomads were gone, and the Earth Kingdom was occupied by the Fire Nation in full. The Southern Water Tribe, if Tenoko had heard the news right, was in no condition to attack, since they were on the brink of destruction anyways. the Northern Water Tribe was well... north. So why have all these defenses on the south?
"I shall head in first. It may not be as safe as it... as we think."
Tenoko opened her mouth to argue the case, since she was used to having things fall on her. Most of the time it was ice-related, but there were times when she and her pirates had nearly been killed by a collapsing barracks they were defending.
Then she remembered that most buildings here were made of Earth, and so she would have the edge over Tenoko anyways. That eliminated her want to argue, but she still wanted her friend to not get hurt.
"be careful." she warned as Hinh stepped inside. after a few moments, she got the motion to step inside, and was warned not to touch anything. A few glances around was enough that she didn't need to be told twice. To her, it looked like the place could come down instantaneously if you so much as looked at it the wrong way.
Best not to touch anything at all around here. The entire place is ready to fall apart on top of us."
"Aye," Tenoko half-chuckled, trying to keep a good mood despite the danger of the situation, "you won't need to tell me that twice."
She was still eternally curious as to who or what could have done this, but she was stumped as far as ideas went, and so she eventually let it go for the time. She was familiar with patience. It didn't mean she liked it, but that did not mean she was impatient either. She was patient, but she also knew that it was not the funnest thing to be doing. Whatever the case, she sat down, crossing her legs, and breathed out. If waiting was what the plan was, then they would wait. Whatever would come... would come. Hopefully they would be able to fight it off, should it be dangerous or deadly.
~Tenoko~
Anonymous
Mar 18, 2012 18:55:55 GMT -6
Post by Deleted on Mar 18, 2012 18:55:55 GMT -6
It was almost a humorous situation they were in, from an outsider's point of view. They were headed towards an enemy-overrun city to make a stop on their long journey of wanderings and experiences, but were unable to progress further because, as they were entering hostile territory, they found themselves blocked by a very large number of these enemies. And now they had to wait before sneaking past those enemies... in order to head right into the heart of their forces, where more of them were waiting. If someone were to meet them here and hear about their intentions, they would probably laugh and tell them to turn back, maybe even with some unpleasant remark about them being such bold women.
But nevertheless, these two had more than enough determination to get into the belly of the beast. These hours of waiting would only be a minor setback. It wouldn't even mean anything as soon as they got in front of New Ozai's huge gates. Would they be allowed inside if they came through the front ? The answer was most definitely a negative one, but at the same time the city was not a very accessible place now that the Fire Nation had taken over. At least much less than during Earth Kingdom ownership. It wouldn't exactly come as a surprise if they were refused entry - or if they were welcomed with cuffs and fireballs.
Hinh shook her head. It seemed that staring at the pebble beside her foot was only giving her those bothering thoughts. And it had only been three minutes... Hard to imagine she could keep that up until the sun set down. She wondered if Tenoko was also already feeling the boredom that awaited them. Neither of the women were usually bothered by silence, although they were both rather active, as benders. In truth, if there wasn't the risk of being discovered early by the Firebenders, Hinh would have liked to put a bit of order in this leveled building. Maybe not go as far as rebuilding it, but at least make it a decent shelter. Not just for them, but for anyone who needs to hide for a while. It was frustrating to have to look at this place knowing about the dangers. If only they weren't so close.
The priestess lifted her eyes towards the sky, through the hole in the ceiling. It looked so empty and so tranquil. The only zone of neutrality within eyesight, but also the only one that was completely out of their reach. And in fact, it felt depressing to look at it right now with the knowledge that as long as it looked so bright, they'd be stuck here until it didn't anymore. But it felt better than the sight of this mess they were sitting in.
