Post by ailin on Mar 11, 2007 17:07:52 GMT -6
Application for Jeong Jeong
OOC: Jeong Jeong’s a funny guy. Eccentric, a master firebender, and a teeny bit fond of being kind of a smart alec. For this application, I took a few liberties, making up the scenario that caused him to become a deserter. It is kind of written in a more disjointed way…given his state of mind is a bit…erratic. This started out so good, but I dunno. I think I got lost in Jeong Jeong’s ‘enlightenment’ along the way.
The rules say that if a thread is open for one character already to put your application in there, right? If not, let me know.
There was screaming. It was all around. Sorrowful and pained, they were needles that could bore through your ears and into your very soul. Once there, you could claw and grab, scramble with all your might, but they would not leave. Maddening screams that would make a man do near anything just to make them stop. Only two types of people could ignore those screams: the enraged and the merciless.
Fire raged, scorching, cracking and licking hungrily at the night air. Ashes flew as snow, hot embers raced in an errant gust of wind. It ate, and ate, and still the fire desired more. More wood, more homes, more land. There would never be enough, though. Left unchecked, fire would eat the world.
And still there was more screaming. More fire.
The Admiral stood dead center of it all, chaos surrounding him, soldiers calling out. He stood there and knew that at that very moment, that very second, what was wrong with him, with the world around him. At that moment, the Admiral had become enlightened.
Fire Nation soldiers were calling to him, yelling for their Admiral to come with them. Leave this pathetic Earth Kingdom town behind and reclaim his rightful place in the army! This town had taken him prisoner, an unfortunate result of a battle gone wrong. Jeong Jeong knew all of this, he had lived it. Lived the pain of an ill prepared battle, the shame that he had miscalculated all the soldiers. So many years in the army, years perfecting his firebending to the level of master, teaching his students, and serving with strength, honor and loyalty to the Fire Nation. All of those years and one miscalculation had cost the Fire Nation the lives of many of their bravest, and had almost cost Jeong Jeong his life.
The Earth Kingdom townspeople had taken him in, intent to use him as a prisoner of war. He thought he had already died. Yet…they had tended to his wounds, nursed him back to health, and had shown him kindness he had not expected them to have. Months under their care and both sides had let their guard down some. They were strong and enduring people, far more kind and caring than Jeong Jeong had heard they would be. They found him to be smarter, and more valiant they had ever heard the Fire Nation would be. Walls were breaking down, and the once great Admiral Jeong Jeong began to ask the big questions. They were the ones no one dared to whisper, and were afraid to think. Questions the Fire Lord would kill you on sight if he had the slightest inkling you were thinking it.
His answers were cut short when what remained of his troop stormed the town. They wasted not a moment to attack the villagers, burn their homes, and demand the return of their great Admiral.
And this is where we find the talented Admiral Jeong Jeong. Healed and healthy, standing on the precipice of getting the answers to the questions no man in the Fire Nation Army was meant to ask. The screaming did nothing to affect his soldiers and nothing to the men of the village who were so engrossed in their hatred that they were fighting in a blind rage. With clear eyes he saw the chaos around him, the fire and the blood. He saw his men kill without a second thought, burn without regard to the world around them. That fire that would consume the world in a heartbeat without a master to control it.
Enlightenment came. It was a blink of an eye sort of thing, an instantaneous realization, and the answers that Jeong Jeong had been striving for. These people, these kind people, did not deserve the fate they were being given, fate dealt by his own troops.
Savagery. Everywhere he looked his own men had fallen into the depths of savagery. Fire was consuming their souls, a burning impulse to consume everything. They were fire without control, without a master. He thought he had taught them, he thought they all knew it was important to have self-control. But he knew that they were nothing but a reflection of himself, the man who had led them to fight as they had. No matter what lessons of self-control and discipline he imparted, they would follow the procedure of the war.
He had been a savage, as they were now. And it was time for that to stop.
Amidst the cries and the screams, screams that Jeong Jeong now felt in a maddening chorus, he turned his back on his men. He used his talents against them, all of his masterful techniques put to a good cause for the first time. Fire raged higher into the cloudy sky.
His once loyal men turned, never hesitating for a moment, and struck out against Jeong Jeong. He could feel the scorching heat before it even reached him, the sweat beading on his tanned forehead. Everything around him turned orange and gold.
In those last seconds, Jeong Jeong heard the roar and sizzle of the fire as it sped at him. It was what he remembered more than anything else. It was the sound of savagery.
Jeong Jeong’s eyes blinked open. The roar of the fire that had been speeding towards him was now the subtle flickering of the candles in front of him. He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, his hand going up to the scars across his right eye on instinct. Meditation often led him back to the place where he had become enlightened. It was unfortunate that the place had been so full of pain and misery. Still, he had survived, soon given the name of the ‘Deserter’ and had somehow attracted a group of followers.
His tent was dark, bathed in the soft golden light from his ring of candles. As he breathed the flames in the candles rose and fell with him. It had been such a long time since that day, years and years. The time had given him new insights, realizations that the thing he had once considered a talent, a gift, was nothing more than a burning curse.
It brought him pain. To spend every day in perfect discipline…anyone could tell you it was a constant strain. If he faltered for one instant he could fall back into that dark abyss of brutality, a place that consumed so much in its lust for more. There was no way that he would allow such a thing to happen, but the line between humanity and brutality was so razor thin…Yes, it was a strain.
Jeong Jeong stood up, his dark brown cloak falling into place around him. Whether he wanted to or not, Jeong Jeong was still considered a leader. Those who had found him, those had had realized the wrongs they had been doing, they were loyal. They wanted him to lead, wanted the benefit of his wisdom, so that they too could avoid the dark abyss. Jeong Jeong would lead them, in the way that was more wise sage than army Admiral. Those days were done. If those men ever wanted to leave, he would say not a word. Their life, their choice. But if they wanted to stay and hear him, they could.
Then there was Chey. He was not like the others. A deserter, like Jeong Jeong, but he wondered how Chey had gotten as far as he had in the army. The man meant well, but would not listen. Never listened. Chey did what Chey thought was best, regardless of what Jeong Jeong had said. It was frustrating.
Especially since he had just done it.
Jeong Jeong shook his head, his wild white hair flying in many directions, their movements sharp and fast, going along with the long tips of his mustache. He walked over to the entrance to his tent, its maroon curtains waving in their invitation for him to pull them aside. His stride was strong, his back was straight. For a man of sixty he was in excellent shape, his muscles still tight and sculpted, and his mind sharp.
Well, maybe sharp wasn’t the best word.
He pulled back the flap, and his narrow golden eyes shot up the hill, to the edge of the woods. Chey had disobeyed him again, and gone after the Avatar. It would do no one any good for him to do that, but like was said before, Chey did what he thought was best.
The Avatar was a small boy. He walked with light steps; the steps of a master airbender. His gait lacked fluidity; the boy had only started waterbending. He had no connection to the ground; the boy was not even close to earthbending. The boy had no discipline in him, and had no interest in it. Jeong Jeong could tell that the young Avatar just wanted the power of fire at his disposal, and not the heavy burden that came with it. He was a blade of grass. He had no concept of the field he was in, nor the forest that lay beyond it.
The curtain flap of the tent fell closed, and the firebending master turned to his ring of candles. Again he saw them rise and fall with his very breath. His gift…was a burning curse. How he wished he could be rid of it.
He would not teach the Avatar. No, without mastering the other disciplines, the Avatar would be too weak for the power that fire held. With no master, with no self-control…the fire would consume him, just as it had almost done to him.
Jeong Jeong closed his eyes and saw the flames of the Earth Kingdom town burning once again, heard the screams of the innocent people. This burning curse…it could very well devour the world after all.
OOC: Jeong Jeong’s a funny guy. Eccentric, a master firebender, and a teeny bit fond of being kind of a smart alec. For this application, I took a few liberties, making up the scenario that caused him to become a deserter. It is kind of written in a more disjointed way…given his state of mind is a bit…erratic. This started out so good, but I dunno. I think I got lost in Jeong Jeong’s ‘enlightenment’ along the way.
The rules say that if a thread is open for one character already to put your application in there, right? If not, let me know.There was screaming. It was all around. Sorrowful and pained, they were needles that could bore through your ears and into your very soul. Once there, you could claw and grab, scramble with all your might, but they would not leave. Maddening screams that would make a man do near anything just to make them stop. Only two types of people could ignore those screams: the enraged and the merciless.
Fire raged, scorching, cracking and licking hungrily at the night air. Ashes flew as snow, hot embers raced in an errant gust of wind. It ate, and ate, and still the fire desired more. More wood, more homes, more land. There would never be enough, though. Left unchecked, fire would eat the world.
And still there was more screaming. More fire.
The Admiral stood dead center of it all, chaos surrounding him, soldiers calling out. He stood there and knew that at that very moment, that very second, what was wrong with him, with the world around him. At that moment, the Admiral had become enlightened.
Fire Nation soldiers were calling to him, yelling for their Admiral to come with them. Leave this pathetic Earth Kingdom town behind and reclaim his rightful place in the army! This town had taken him prisoner, an unfortunate result of a battle gone wrong. Jeong Jeong knew all of this, he had lived it. Lived the pain of an ill prepared battle, the shame that he had miscalculated all the soldiers. So many years in the army, years perfecting his firebending to the level of master, teaching his students, and serving with strength, honor and loyalty to the Fire Nation. All of those years and one miscalculation had cost the Fire Nation the lives of many of their bravest, and had almost cost Jeong Jeong his life.
The Earth Kingdom townspeople had taken him in, intent to use him as a prisoner of war. He thought he had already died. Yet…they had tended to his wounds, nursed him back to health, and had shown him kindness he had not expected them to have. Months under their care and both sides had let their guard down some. They were strong and enduring people, far more kind and caring than Jeong Jeong had heard they would be. They found him to be smarter, and more valiant they had ever heard the Fire Nation would be. Walls were breaking down, and the once great Admiral Jeong Jeong began to ask the big questions. They were the ones no one dared to whisper, and were afraid to think. Questions the Fire Lord would kill you on sight if he had the slightest inkling you were thinking it.
His answers were cut short when what remained of his troop stormed the town. They wasted not a moment to attack the villagers, burn their homes, and demand the return of their great Admiral.
And this is where we find the talented Admiral Jeong Jeong. Healed and healthy, standing on the precipice of getting the answers to the questions no man in the Fire Nation Army was meant to ask. The screaming did nothing to affect his soldiers and nothing to the men of the village who were so engrossed in their hatred that they were fighting in a blind rage. With clear eyes he saw the chaos around him, the fire and the blood. He saw his men kill without a second thought, burn without regard to the world around them. That fire that would consume the world in a heartbeat without a master to control it.
Enlightenment came. It was a blink of an eye sort of thing, an instantaneous realization, and the answers that Jeong Jeong had been striving for. These people, these kind people, did not deserve the fate they were being given, fate dealt by his own troops.
Savagery. Everywhere he looked his own men had fallen into the depths of savagery. Fire was consuming their souls, a burning impulse to consume everything. They were fire without control, without a master. He thought he had taught them, he thought they all knew it was important to have self-control. But he knew that they were nothing but a reflection of himself, the man who had led them to fight as they had. No matter what lessons of self-control and discipline he imparted, they would follow the procedure of the war.
He had been a savage, as they were now. And it was time for that to stop.
Amidst the cries and the screams, screams that Jeong Jeong now felt in a maddening chorus, he turned his back on his men. He used his talents against them, all of his masterful techniques put to a good cause for the first time. Fire raged higher into the cloudy sky.
His once loyal men turned, never hesitating for a moment, and struck out against Jeong Jeong. He could feel the scorching heat before it even reached him, the sweat beading on his tanned forehead. Everything around him turned orange and gold.
In those last seconds, Jeong Jeong heard the roar and sizzle of the fire as it sped at him. It was what he remembered more than anything else. It was the sound of savagery.
Jeong Jeong’s eyes blinked open. The roar of the fire that had been speeding towards him was now the subtle flickering of the candles in front of him. He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, his hand going up to the scars across his right eye on instinct. Meditation often led him back to the place where he had become enlightened. It was unfortunate that the place had been so full of pain and misery. Still, he had survived, soon given the name of the ‘Deserter’ and had somehow attracted a group of followers.
His tent was dark, bathed in the soft golden light from his ring of candles. As he breathed the flames in the candles rose and fell with him. It had been such a long time since that day, years and years. The time had given him new insights, realizations that the thing he had once considered a talent, a gift, was nothing more than a burning curse.
It brought him pain. To spend every day in perfect discipline…anyone could tell you it was a constant strain. If he faltered for one instant he could fall back into that dark abyss of brutality, a place that consumed so much in its lust for more. There was no way that he would allow such a thing to happen, but the line between humanity and brutality was so razor thin…Yes, it was a strain.
Jeong Jeong stood up, his dark brown cloak falling into place around him. Whether he wanted to or not, Jeong Jeong was still considered a leader. Those who had found him, those had had realized the wrongs they had been doing, they were loyal. They wanted him to lead, wanted the benefit of his wisdom, so that they too could avoid the dark abyss. Jeong Jeong would lead them, in the way that was more wise sage than army Admiral. Those days were done. If those men ever wanted to leave, he would say not a word. Their life, their choice. But if they wanted to stay and hear him, they could.
Then there was Chey. He was not like the others. A deserter, like Jeong Jeong, but he wondered how Chey had gotten as far as he had in the army. The man meant well, but would not listen. Never listened. Chey did what Chey thought was best, regardless of what Jeong Jeong had said. It was frustrating.
Especially since he had just done it.
Jeong Jeong shook his head, his wild white hair flying in many directions, their movements sharp and fast, going along with the long tips of his mustache. He walked over to the entrance to his tent, its maroon curtains waving in their invitation for him to pull them aside. His stride was strong, his back was straight. For a man of sixty he was in excellent shape, his muscles still tight and sculpted, and his mind sharp.
Well, maybe sharp wasn’t the best word.
He pulled back the flap, and his narrow golden eyes shot up the hill, to the edge of the woods. Chey had disobeyed him again, and gone after the Avatar. It would do no one any good for him to do that, but like was said before, Chey did what he thought was best.
The Avatar was a small boy. He walked with light steps; the steps of a master airbender. His gait lacked fluidity; the boy had only started waterbending. He had no connection to the ground; the boy was not even close to earthbending. The boy had no discipline in him, and had no interest in it. Jeong Jeong could tell that the young Avatar just wanted the power of fire at his disposal, and not the heavy burden that came with it. He was a blade of grass. He had no concept of the field he was in, nor the forest that lay beyond it.
The curtain flap of the tent fell closed, and the firebending master turned to his ring of candles. Again he saw them rise and fall with his very breath. His gift…was a burning curse. How he wished he could be rid of it.
He would not teach the Avatar. No, without mastering the other disciplines, the Avatar would be too weak for the power that fire held. With no master, with no self-control…the fire would consume him, just as it had almost done to him.
Jeong Jeong closed his eyes and saw the flames of the Earth Kingdom town burning once again, heard the screams of the innocent people. This burning curse…it could very well devour the world after all.
