Lin muttered to herself as she strode along the river bank. Kicking loose stones into the deep waters of river channel as she went and cursing to herself all the while. What made this fair? Honestly. How was it fair that she had to go find resources when it hadn't even been her fault the camp had needed to be relocated in such a rush? Leaving so much behind wasn't her fault, she was just following orders. They had said to move quick, so they had moved quick. How was she to know the Fire Nation would burn their stash the moment they came across it? 

So now she was stuck out here, in the middle of no where. And she wasn't supposed to come back until someone came to find her, or she came back with enough food and drink for a fortnight at least. Like she was going to be able to just happen into food and drink like that. And she sure as Yangchen couldn't just buy it. With whose money? The Earth King's? 

Lin spat out a sour string of curses as she slammed the spikey pommel of her guan dao into the ground. Causing a boulder as large as a hog-monkey to spring from the shoreside beside her. With an angry grunt twisted and slammed her knee into the boulder. Sending it spiraling end over end into the river a dozen paces with loud splash before disappearing beneath the waves and Lin continued on. 

The earthbender continued grumbling the entire way to the village down river from her, and even as she strode through town towards the market with her weapon resting on her shoulder she still growled. Green eyes glaring daggers at anyone who so much as glanced her direction. The only thing that gave Lin pause as she browsed through the market, was the sight of a boat at the town's dock. Once she saw that Lin's mood lightened some. A boat meant supplies, and supplies meant she might just be able to head back to camp sooner than she expected. 

With a new goal in mind, Lin set about searching for the boat's captain. Maybe they could come to an arrangement. 

With a grunt of effort, Kaho drags another crate from the the ships deck, lift with your legs, not with your back, she couldn’t help but murmur to herself. It was simple supplies, simple trade goods that she could easily make a few coins from, but by Twi and La, she’d either end up hobbling like her grandmother within a year or ending up challenging an Earthbender to a wrestling match with the amount of work she had to do.





One of the crates slammed down, the gentle rocking of the waves managing to jostle one of the pieces o cargo to nearly land on her boots. With a startled yelp that turned more into a string of languages cursing several spirits and likely a few unfortunate sea animals, she stooped down, but the loud racket likely would have gotten the attention of the nearby Earthbender.

Lin heard the cursing and turned back to the boat with a blink of surprise. Well... at least I didn't have to look hard. She thought as she spied the the boat's captain, or maybe one of it's crew but she didn't see anyone else bumbling about the ship doing any form of work, nearly drop a crate onto their own foot. She almost laughed as she started over towards the boat. Waiting to call out when she was close. 

"Ahoy... or... err... whatever. Do you need some help there?" She asked trying to sound as genial as possible. 

It took several moments for Kaho to actually notice to the armored women standing or acknowledge her comment on the shore line. Her surprise and venting of grievances to the spirits causing a bit more tunnel vision than she would like to admit, but finally she glances to see the woman, offers a polite wave, and gives a, hopefully reassuring grin

“Hoi there, and-”

She actually pauses at the request for help, an extra pair of hands would save her a good hour of work, and typically she’d hire a few nearby deckhands to help if she could afford it, this seemed like a good deal.



“Actually yeah, a hand would be pretty good, I’ll toss in a meal and a bit of pay, fand a bit extra if you can get the job done fast.”

"Sounds good to me, what needs moved?" Lin asked as she started up the... gangplank? Bridge? What did they even call that. 

Whatever... She thought and started taking inventory of what all was there. Adding to her question earlier as she found a relatively safe spot, she hoped, to set her Guan Dao. 

"What all are you hauling anyway? Food? Furs?" She asked, trying to sound as innocently curious as possible. 

Hoisting up one of the sacks, she gives a grunt, "Mostly basic dry goods for the winter, salt, some rice, beans,." Giving an indecisive sound, "Mostly just stuff people need this time of year, nothing fancy, good honest work." She chuckles, "Only problem is its a pain as big as the Fire Nation blockades to lug the stuff on my own." 

Setting one bag on the dock, she comments, "Anyway, names Kaho, Captain of the Kois Eye. Ya got a name?" 

Lin listened as, reluctantly to keep up her ruse, she bent to grab a bag stacked and ready to move. At the question for her name she hesitated. And, realizing it was probably not a great idea to tell the trader her real name she promptly failed to come up with another one quickly enough. For several awkward seconds she stood there with a bag of rice and finally managed to croak out the first name that came to mind. 

"L-Loa? My name's Loa." She said, more confident the second time as she tried to snap herself out of her momentary fugue and moved to set the rice on the dock next to the other one. The one thing she knew for certain, she was not a good liar. And the only way to move past from that was to find something else to discuss. 

"So ah... is all this just coming to the town here? Or are you making more stops along the river?"

While not seemingly noticing the woman's hesitation, her head almost literally shoved unto a bag as she had started to seemingly check into one, muttering about elephant rats sneaking into the stores, sjshee finally glances up, "Loa, lovely name, sounds more island nation, but eh, typically I sell goods, then trade what I can for coin or something I can sell for better elsewhere. This time of year, I'd want to stock up on some dried goods, so not trading all of it, but I'll need some coin to supplement the lack of trading in some points."

She gives a throaty cackle, "If i were smarter id have stocked up on some furs and skins from the Water Tribes, but unless you've got a damned good crew and a ship that can shatter ice, you're gonna be outta luck at this time of year." She gives a glance at her ship, "I'll probably have to hole up with the condition my ships in." 

"Hole up? Something wrong with your ship?" Lin asked as she grabbed another sack, trying not to be obvious as she inspected the grain. If something was wrong with the ship it might just be easier to steal the grain from whoever in town was purchasing it. Not that the ship had to get very far... but eh. She'd figure it out if needed. 

"Obviously something wrong with it." Kaho responds, "When the water gets colder and ice forms, and you want to travel into a place where its very difficult to travel through said ice solo, your boats have a strange habit of sinking." She responds, a slight smile on her face. 
"I'm a capable sailor, but im not stupid, not going to head to the poles with the blockade in full force during the winter. I'll be stuck there for months. By Twis scales I'd be wound up more than a badger-mole in mid air." 

Shaking her head, "I'll have just enough supplies and coin to get by, then next spring I can trade and hopefully get my next trading deals sorted." She gives a tilt of her head, "But yeah, you must have your work cut out, armored type, guessing you're a guard or merc?"