Post by ailin on Jun 9, 2007 22:56:27 GMT -6
Application for Mai
OCC: Yes, Mai is a little difficult to write for. People that are all internal usually are. It’s hard to portray someone who seems to not care about anything, but has inklings of it. I’m not sure if I covered everything, I was really just trying to get to the core of the character. I felt that most of her post would be about her relationship between Ty Lee and Azula, a bit about her parents, and her infatuation with Zuko. She doesn’t strike me as someone who thinks about the war all that much, so I don’t know. But yes, if there is a problem with it, let me know. Didn’t know Mai would end up with such competition. Oh, and side note, this topped out at 7k. Man.
A sharp cry echoed overhead, a bird calling out to…Oh, what did it matter? Whatever that bird did had absolutely nothing to do with Mai’s life, unless it became her dinner or considered her a threat and attacked. Since dinner was hours away and the bird was preoccupied with whatever it was that made it call out, Mai felt right in her assumption that it didn’t matter. Its noise had only attracted her attention in the first place because it was strident against the quiet backdrop of the forest. Ugh, the forest. The endless, every tree looked just like the other forest.
How many hours had she, Azula and Ty Lee been riding? Too many, it seemed. Yes, too many was the term the fifteen year old girl felt was right. Their mongoose dragons slithered along, their pace fast, but strange. To someone who was not used to it, their movements made riding a chore. Of course, Mai was of Fire Nation royalty and would obviously know how to ride one well. If she wasn’t an expert at it before joining Azula and Ty Lee, the hours upon hours that she had been riding one that very day would have been enough to bring her to the level of master. Master mongoose dragon rider. Pfft, certainly not something to write home about.
She shook her head a little and gazed forward, through the every-one-looking-the-same trees. Sunlight dripped through the leaves, its rays shifting back and forth every few moments in time with the rustling of the leaves. The forest was peaceful, it was quiet, and it was unbelievably dull.
Dull…that reminded her of New Ozai. Mai never called it home, that was the term her parents used, both of them eternally clueless to the inherent banality of the whole city. Her father, the governor, and her mother, the governor’s wife, both happy to be in a place that held no excitement, no life to it. Regularity, a solid schedule, repetition, her parents extolled those things as virtues. They also held prestige in some regard, otherwise they never would have enjoyed being sent to New Ozai so much. It was no wonder they were so interested in those things, though. Her baby brother Tom-Tom needed duller than paint regularity. It was frustratingly pedestrian; it drove Mai crazy to the point that she would have done anything to escape the boredom. Sure, that sort of life was fine for a baby, it was expected, and as clueless as her parents were, they were good parents. They loved Mai and Tom-Tom. They wanted what was safe and secure.
Even if she loved her family, safe and secure was a kin to death for Mai. This was why it was an incredible stroke of good fortune for Princess Azula to appear as she did, with an offer of travel, of unpredictability, of something different to do. Though the young girl would never admit it aloud, she was grateful that both of her childhood friends would be there. Ty Lee could be annoying as all get out when she was in one of her hyper moods (hyper-er moods, anyway), but the girl was different and always…well, she always liked Mai no matter what she did. And Princess Azula? Mai could hardly think of anyone from their homeland who couldn’t like the poised and polished princess. Even at a young age Azula was charming and complimentary. She demanded excellence from everyone around her, and some people could rise to that demand. Azula was demanding in many senses of the word, but had always treated Mai with the kind of respect she wished more people had. Yes, Princess Azula was difficult at times, was a force to be reckoned with if you displeased her, but she was interesting. And Azula always gave Mai the opportunity to do something interesting.
Mai sighed and felt the sun beat down on her black hair, tied in its usual style. The heat in the Earth Kingdom was sometimes uncomfortable, but she supposed that was because she was always clad in her long crimson, black and white kimono. That was the price she had to pay to keep her talent concealed, that was really the edge of it, after all. The surprised expressions people would wear when they saw stilettos flying from nowhere, their only clue this dark teenage girl…that was amusing.
More silence. How long had it been since any one of them spoke? The young girl's amber eyes gazed to her right and saw the pink clad Ty Lee back bending to the point where she was watching the road behind them upside down. How that girl managed to be so flexible was beyond Mai, but still admired Ty Lee’s pursuit of her call…even if that led her back here. The acrobat was right, sometimes Azula just called a little louder. Mai’s eyes shifted ahead, catching the perfect posture of the princess. Her body language said it all; Azula meant business and would not be deterred from it no matter what happened. How long it would really take before the three of them caught the prizes her friend sought? It was a foregone conclusion that they would capture the benders on the wanted posters, they were small pickings compared to the Avatar and who traveled with him…and his group kept expanding all the time.
The teenage markswoman frowned. Azula’s brother, Zuko, and their uncle, Iroh, had been lost to the Avatar’s side. All because of that stupid fiancée of his, whatever her name was. At least, Mai believe it was her fault, luring Zuko over with what? No, wait, she didn’t care what it was, just that it had been enough that Zuko had been compelled to follow her. Now, what did he do, follow her around like some guard dog? Great Prince of the Fire Nation, protecting that…Mai clenched her fists around the reigns of the mongoose dragon and felt it lurch a little. It was better not to think about that. She had (still did, maybe) cared about Zuko, remembered how her pulse fluttered and her cheeks flushed just at the sight of him when they were children. She also remembered how Azula and Ty Lee thought it was so amusing to poke fun at her about it, and that culminated in the time Azula lit an apple on fire atop Mai’s head and Zuko had fallen on top of her, and into the fountain, to put it out. It was being poisoned now, small tendrils spreading and wrapping around those feelings and memories, all because of her, whats-her-face. Mai didn’t want to even give her the power of referring to her by name. Those feelings, the way her heart beat just a little faster when he was around, that was all gone now. Now she had to help Azula take him and their uncle down…because of some stupid mistake.
Ahead of her Azula quickened the pace of her mongoose dragon. Maybe they were going to make camp soon and she wanted to get there faster. Ty Lee didn’t ask, knowing better that the princess was in too much of a mindset to listen to her, and Mai figured it didn’t really matter. She applied pressure to the sides of her mongoose dragon to urge it to the new pace set by Azula.
When it came down to it, as boring as the landscape was, as monotonous as riding the mongoose dragon day in and day out could be, there was no other place Mai felt she’d rather be than at the sides of her friends. There was boredom, there always would be, but the young warrior knew that beside Azula and Ty Lee, Mai was bound to do something interesting sometime.
OCC: Yes, Mai is a little difficult to write for. People that are all internal usually are. It’s hard to portray someone who seems to not care about anything, but has inklings of it. I’m not sure if I covered everything, I was really just trying to get to the core of the character. I felt that most of her post would be about her relationship between Ty Lee and Azula, a bit about her parents, and her infatuation with Zuko. She doesn’t strike me as someone who thinks about the war all that much, so I don’t know. But yes, if there is a problem with it, let me know. Didn’t know Mai would end up with such competition. Oh, and side note, this topped out at 7k. Man.
A sharp cry echoed overhead, a bird calling out to…Oh, what did it matter? Whatever that bird did had absolutely nothing to do with Mai’s life, unless it became her dinner or considered her a threat and attacked. Since dinner was hours away and the bird was preoccupied with whatever it was that made it call out, Mai felt right in her assumption that it didn’t matter. Its noise had only attracted her attention in the first place because it was strident against the quiet backdrop of the forest. Ugh, the forest. The endless, every tree looked just like the other forest.
How many hours had she, Azula and Ty Lee been riding? Too many, it seemed. Yes, too many was the term the fifteen year old girl felt was right. Their mongoose dragons slithered along, their pace fast, but strange. To someone who was not used to it, their movements made riding a chore. Of course, Mai was of Fire Nation royalty and would obviously know how to ride one well. If she wasn’t an expert at it before joining Azula and Ty Lee, the hours upon hours that she had been riding one that very day would have been enough to bring her to the level of master. Master mongoose dragon rider. Pfft, certainly not something to write home about.
She shook her head a little and gazed forward, through the every-one-looking-the-same trees. Sunlight dripped through the leaves, its rays shifting back and forth every few moments in time with the rustling of the leaves. The forest was peaceful, it was quiet, and it was unbelievably dull.
Dull…that reminded her of New Ozai. Mai never called it home, that was the term her parents used, both of them eternally clueless to the inherent banality of the whole city. Her father, the governor, and her mother, the governor’s wife, both happy to be in a place that held no excitement, no life to it. Regularity, a solid schedule, repetition, her parents extolled those things as virtues. They also held prestige in some regard, otherwise they never would have enjoyed being sent to New Ozai so much. It was no wonder they were so interested in those things, though. Her baby brother Tom-Tom needed duller than paint regularity. It was frustratingly pedestrian; it drove Mai crazy to the point that she would have done anything to escape the boredom. Sure, that sort of life was fine for a baby, it was expected, and as clueless as her parents were, they were good parents. They loved Mai and Tom-Tom. They wanted what was safe and secure.
Even if she loved her family, safe and secure was a kin to death for Mai. This was why it was an incredible stroke of good fortune for Princess Azula to appear as she did, with an offer of travel, of unpredictability, of something different to do. Though the young girl would never admit it aloud, she was grateful that both of her childhood friends would be there. Ty Lee could be annoying as all get out when she was in one of her hyper moods (hyper-er moods, anyway), but the girl was different and always…well, she always liked Mai no matter what she did. And Princess Azula? Mai could hardly think of anyone from their homeland who couldn’t like the poised and polished princess. Even at a young age Azula was charming and complimentary. She demanded excellence from everyone around her, and some people could rise to that demand. Azula was demanding in many senses of the word, but had always treated Mai with the kind of respect she wished more people had. Yes, Princess Azula was difficult at times, was a force to be reckoned with if you displeased her, but she was interesting. And Azula always gave Mai the opportunity to do something interesting.
Mai sighed and felt the sun beat down on her black hair, tied in its usual style. The heat in the Earth Kingdom was sometimes uncomfortable, but she supposed that was because she was always clad in her long crimson, black and white kimono. That was the price she had to pay to keep her talent concealed, that was really the edge of it, after all. The surprised expressions people would wear when they saw stilettos flying from nowhere, their only clue this dark teenage girl…that was amusing.
More silence. How long had it been since any one of them spoke? The young girl's amber eyes gazed to her right and saw the pink clad Ty Lee back bending to the point where she was watching the road behind them upside down. How that girl managed to be so flexible was beyond Mai, but still admired Ty Lee’s pursuit of her call…even if that led her back here. The acrobat was right, sometimes Azula just called a little louder. Mai’s eyes shifted ahead, catching the perfect posture of the princess. Her body language said it all; Azula meant business and would not be deterred from it no matter what happened. How long it would really take before the three of them caught the prizes her friend sought? It was a foregone conclusion that they would capture the benders on the wanted posters, they were small pickings compared to the Avatar and who traveled with him…and his group kept expanding all the time.
The teenage markswoman frowned. Azula’s brother, Zuko, and their uncle, Iroh, had been lost to the Avatar’s side. All because of that stupid fiancée of his, whatever her name was. At least, Mai believe it was her fault, luring Zuko over with what? No, wait, she didn’t care what it was, just that it had been enough that Zuko had been compelled to follow her. Now, what did he do, follow her around like some guard dog? Great Prince of the Fire Nation, protecting that…Mai clenched her fists around the reigns of the mongoose dragon and felt it lurch a little. It was better not to think about that. She had (still did, maybe) cared about Zuko, remembered how her pulse fluttered and her cheeks flushed just at the sight of him when they were children. She also remembered how Azula and Ty Lee thought it was so amusing to poke fun at her about it, and that culminated in the time Azula lit an apple on fire atop Mai’s head and Zuko had fallen on top of her, and into the fountain, to put it out. It was being poisoned now, small tendrils spreading and wrapping around those feelings and memories, all because of her, whats-her-face. Mai didn’t want to even give her the power of referring to her by name. Those feelings, the way her heart beat just a little faster when he was around, that was all gone now. Now she had to help Azula take him and their uncle down…because of some stupid mistake.
Ahead of her Azula quickened the pace of her mongoose dragon. Maybe they were going to make camp soon and she wanted to get there faster. Ty Lee didn’t ask, knowing better that the princess was in too much of a mindset to listen to her, and Mai figured it didn’t really matter. She applied pressure to the sides of her mongoose dragon to urge it to the new pace set by Azula.
When it came down to it, as boring as the landscape was, as monotonous as riding the mongoose dragon day in and day out could be, there was no other place Mai felt she’d rather be than at the sides of her friends. There was boredom, there always would be, but the young warrior knew that beside Azula and Ty Lee, Mai was bound to do something interesting sometime.
