Avatar: Rise of the Ebon Tide

[Edynol]

It was mid-day in the large city of Ba Sing Se, the streets were alive with traffic of people walking to and from the market. Kairu was working at Pa Fao Ling's pottery shop, carving designs into various pots and vases with his finger. He was the only one he knew that could use earthbending in such an artistic way. When he finished the vase he was working on, he handed it to the lady at the counter. "Here you go Teela. All finished."

The woman smiled as she looked at the vase and put a few coins on the counter. "Thank you, Kairu. It looks wonderful! Be sure to tell your mother I said hello and don't forget the tea party next week."

Kairu nodded. "Don't worry, I will." This was Kairu's second job, his other one was working his family's in, where they also lived. He was running the shop alon today, Master Ling having gone on a delivery run outside the city, so Kairu was incharge. Business had been slow today, as it usually was in the middle of the week, so Kairu had everything in hand and would probably close shop early so he could start working early on his own things.

As Kairu closed up and walked from the pottery shop to get a few hours for himself to do his own things before having to go help his, his friend Jeylin walked up beside him. "You know, Jiro is looking for a new hand to do carvings on tiles. Heard it told he's offering three marks gold per tile for a quick and sturdy hand. You could earn enough in a month to open up your own business, or buy his. You know Fao'ling has been giving looks at ya. She may ignore any guy that pays her attention, but everytime you walk by her she turns her head at you."

Kairu shook his head. Jeylin, who had been one of his closest friends since coming to Ba Sing Se, was always trying to get him to settle down live like normal people. Jeylin was a year younger, but already a wife and daughter and another on the way as he worked as one of the city's guards. "Enough, Jeylin," Kairu said, holding up a hand. "No one knows what the future may bring, but for now, I am not looking to settle down."

Jeylin brushed a hand through his hair. "Well you can't just stay stranded at the same old job until all your best years pass you buy. Even I won't be here forever. As soon as we save enough money, me and the family are going to travel the world. You should do the same. Maybe even come with us."

From the stringent vibrations through his words, Kairu could tell Jeylin was slightly irritated. But he was only half listening and didn't respond. He was more focused on the the footsteps that had been following them at a distance. From the subsequent vibration and the slight hastening of light steps he knew to be of the same people following for the past hour. Not really liking being stalked after, Kairu worked up a little dust and put up a dense fog of earth to sting their eyes a little before turning a few corners to lose them.

"What was that all about?" Jeylin asked. Kairu brushed a hand through his hair. "We were being followed. I do not care for being stalked." He looked behind him and saw no sign of the two medium built men.

Jeylin shook his head. "You still irk me with how you do stuff like that. Knowing who's where without even looking. Doubt I'll ever get used to it." Kairu chuckled a bit. "Well, I had a great teacher. Just gotta pay attention to the little things." Not wanting to risk running into whoever those people were again, Kairu decided to head home. "Well, I think I am going to head home. Help my parents with the mid-day rush."

Jeylin gave Kairu a small nudge as they approached the community square. "Well, you be careful. And please try to stay away from that tea shop." Kairu gave him a non-commital nod and grunt before they parted ways and Kairu headed to the Burrowing Vine Inn.

When Kairu entered the inn, his home, his mother gave him a surprised smile. "Kairu! You're home early. Slow day at the shop?" Kairu nodded as he grabbed a basket of fruit to take to the kitchen. "Well, if you don't mind, Ruru," which was what his mother called him, and Toph too, when she was teasing him, "We need some more tea. Master Iroh said he would have the leaves and everything ready today. Could you go pick it up for me?"

Kairu nodded. "Yes, Mother. I'll try to be home before dinner." She nodded and Kairu walked from the inn. As Kairu was walking to the Jasmine Dragon, he ran into Kirana, a girl he trained Earthbending with a few times a week. She was pretty, but she blinked way too much. Rather it was just some wierd twitch or she did it to look flirty, Kairu had no clue. He suspected it was the latter, cause when she was angry or concentrating, she hardly blinked at all.

"Hey Kairu!" Kirana said in a cheerful tone. "That was quite a funny stunt you pulled on Jozai yesterday, using the dirt in his boots to make him dance all funny like. That should teach him to trip and bully new kids. And oh my spirits, you'll never believe what Fao'ling said in the dressing room after class. I think she has a crush on you. But you seem to not be into her like all the other boys. She's sweet and all, but awfully narsacistic. I think it's cool that you ignore her most of the time. She could use some humbling, I think. Oh and did you hear about Steffy and Koldin?" And on and and on she went, talking faster than the wind blew. Kairu was barely able to filter out her words at first, but towards the end he decided to concentrate and let all his bending go. Now he was totally def.

It was now instinct for Kairu to use the vibration from the ground and air to hear. After Toph taught him how to do it, and he adapted it to help him hear, in a few months, it became a part of him to where he was always bending the dust particles in the air without even trying. Now, he had to concentrate just to stop doing it. He just nodded his head every so often as she rambled. But after a few minutes, he turned his hearing back on. "...And her parents caught him in her room and totally blew their tops."

Kairu chuckled despite himself. "Wow, Kirana. That is really pretty funny. Well, I really got to get going. I need to pick up some tea for my mother and I don't want to run late. I'll see you in class tomorrow. Bye!" She smiled and waved after him as he walked quickly now to the tea shop. When he finally arrived, he saw Iroh tending to a few customers. "Hey Master Iroh. How are you doing?"

Iroh turned to him and smiled. "Oh! Young Kairu. I must beg your pardon, but I have been so busy, I forgot to put the leaves and stems and roots in carts. I will load them for you shortly."

Kairu chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Master Iroh. I'll take care of it. Hey if you want, I can even come back tonight and help you close up."

The old man gace him a kind smile. "Oh, you are such a kind lad. But that won't be neccessary, my boy. I have some old friends coming over tonight, so I will have plenty of help. Your offer is most appreciated though." At the look on Kairu's face, Iroh added, "But, if you would like, and it is not too much of a burden to you, I could use a hand opening up in the morning. I suspect I will be up late tonight so I might be a bit tired in the morning."

Kairu beamed. He liked spending time with Iroh. He always had the most interesting stories and gave really good advice. "Sure thing, Master Iroh!" He then scurried to the back and loaded the small cart. When he got back to the inn with the supplies, he helped his mother put them away. Then soon after they finished, one of the men who had been following him that day entered the inn. "Excuse me, but I am new in Ba Sing Se, and was told I could find a good guide here to help me find my old friend's tea shop. Would your name be Kairu by any chance?"

Kairu showed no emotion as he spoke. "Um. Sure. If it's in the city, I know where it is. I would be glad to show you." He then turned to his mother, a slight look of concern on his face. "I just need to show this guy to one place, but it might be far and I might be late getting back." The man smiled as Kairu followed him out of the inn, mentioning a tea shop called the Jade Flower, which was a good ways away towards the center of the city. When they were a few yards away from the inn, Kairu felt the second man start following from the alleyway beside the inn. Kairu knew both men were trouble, but he didn't want to put his family in danger.

As they walked towards the center of the large city, Kairu carried on like it was nothing out of the ordinary. "Yes sir. I have been there a few times. They make a good peaceroot and Jasmine-rose tea."

The man nodded. "Indeed. It is very good for curing the cold shakes as well. There is much to enjoy in almost any cup of tea, I think." Kairu agreed. He almost felt bad for baiting him and his companion, the man seemed quite personable. They carried on with idol conversation as they walked, the streets getting more and more empty as everyone else was headed in for the night.

When they turned down the next street, there was no one else in sight. Kairu felt the man's steps slow a bit and his posture stiffened a little. The man was getting ready to jump. "So is your friend just going to keep following us?" The man looked at Kairu in surprise. "Um, what?" he asked. Kairu grunted slightly. "Your friend who's been following us. Is he just going to keep stalking us or is he going to help you kidnap me?"

The man then lunged to grab Kairu, but in the blink of an eye a cloud of dust went up and Kairu seemed to vanish. Another cloud appeared behind the man and Kairu was suddenly there, giving the man a swift kick in the rear. The man stumbled forward a few steps but when he turned around, Kairu was gone again in a puff of dust. Kairu then reappeared again behind and moved the earth under his own feet to swiftly dodge the man's back-hand swing. When the other man arrived running, he pulled a small staff from his back and swung it at Kairu, but Kairu moved and shifted the earth beneath the other man's feet, making him hit the first man in the back with his staff.

Everything seemed to be going his way, him seeming to disappear into thin air and reappearing likewise, making the two guys fumble around and hit each other instead of him. But suddenly, when he tried his vanishing trick again, he was caught when the younger of the two bended the earth, catching Kairu with half his body under ground when the puff of dust cleared. "That's a nice little trick, boy. I'll have to make you show it to me some time." Kairu grunted and struggled as the two men reached for him.

[Tera253]

Kicking ass and taking names was nothing new to Lady Bei Fong. If anything, it was little more than a very regular occurrence. Luckily, most of the time it was in an Earth Rumble tournament, which she remained the champion of. There were times when her full effort wasn't even necessary to win... okay, maybe more than "some" times. Even with the abilities that she had taught others, no one was nearly as proficient at them as she was.

Whatever the case, there was a time when asses needed beating, and there was a time when it was appropriate, just as there was a time when it wasn't. For Toph, it was appropriate for her to beat up someone when someone was trying to mess with her or her friends, but it was inappropriate for anyone to try and mess with her. it was a simple psychology. Summed up, it was basically "don't mess with Toph." Most sensible people knew this.

Nothing too out of the ordinary had happened that morning, and Toph frankly still believed that mornings were for sleeping through whenever possible. Whatever the case, she was up and about her daily business. There would be some beatings today.
They came in a form that Tohp had not expected though. her bare feet picked up every vibration that was out of the ordinary, and here she was picking up motions of bending going on. Normally that was not something people went and did in the streets, and so it was likely some kind of attack. She was far enough away that she couldn't hear what they were saying, but that didn't take long to change. Toph was fast, even without bending. She took off down a street, turning this way and that until she arrived at the scene. There was dust... she could sense it in the air. She was familiar with this trick, and had a shrewd idea that she might know at least one of the people involved here.

Then she heard grunting. it was very familiar grunting--like a friend that Toph knew. It wasn't a voice, sure, but it was close enough to one that Toph was still able to recognize. She still never forgot a voice. The first actual voice she heard though, was a new face.

"That's a nice little trick, boy. I'll have to make you show it to me some time."
If this was who she thought it was, then it was one of her students--a good friend of hers, but nonetheless, someone who was getting credit for a move that she had most likely created. Even if it wasn't, She'd still probably take that kind of credit. she was Toph.

She appeared out of nowhere--or, for all that Kairu's assailants knew, she had.
"That's not earthbending," she snapped, shifting her arm only slightly. however, the resulting move popped Kairu right out of the ground.
"but THIS IS!"

immediately after she said this, she stamped her foot and rocks surrounded the legs of the two men up to their mid-thighs. she thrust her arms forward and they slid (still trapped in the mass of earth) down the alley until they crashed against a distant wall of some building. Toph did not worry too much if there had been any collateral damage. First it was time to check what happened.

"I think that brings the grand total of times you owe me for saving your hide up to 9." she commented as she whacked Kairu on the back. IF it had been anyone else, it would have been a gentle pat, but Toph's style of a 'gentle pat on the back' was just something that didn't knock the person over. "But... that's a lot lower than the average. Beating people up and saving people from certain doom is what I do...
so tell me... what happened?"

She wanted to know, as it might instigate ass-beatings out of the ordinary. the thought of random hooligans going around screwing things up didn't exactly sit well, especially to a woman who had become a war veteran at the age of 12, which was only 10 years ago. She didn't want another war.

~Toph~

[Edynol]

Kairu grunted from the pat on the back Toph gave him. He had been a victim of the Blind Bandit's displays of affection on a few occassions, which came with being one of her more 'unique' students. But at least she didn't call him Ruru this time, he hated that nickname. "Thank you, Master Toph. I don't know what they were after me for." There was a slight oddity to how Kairu spoke that only a few people really noticed, Toph being one of them. He didn't sound like a deaf person, but there was an odd way he spoke. He spoke every word with the slightest of delays, like he was listening to himself talk.

As Kairu bent the dust from his clothes, he noticed a slight tear in his shirt from the fight. "Damn," Kairu said wityh a sigh as he inspected the hole. "I never even saw these guys before today. I have no clue why they were after me."

"We weren't gonna hurt him," the older man yelled out at Toph. "We just thought he might lead us to you. My nephiew is in your class and said you favored this one, but we weren't trying to hurt anyone. We were just paid alot of money to bring you in."

Kairu could tell the man was telling the truth, one of the first things Toph taught him. "Who paid you to capture Toph? And what made you think that you two even stood a chance in capturing her? You were barely able to catch me! And I still had a few tricks up my sleeve."

"We were going to trade you for her! We have a wooden cage so you couldn't bend your way out. But it wasn't our idea. We have nothing against either of you. We were just paid by woman, and she never showed her face." The man was trembling nervously, not sure what Toph or Kairu might do next.

Kairu turned to Toph amd gave a questioning look. "So what should we do with them, Master Toph?"

[Tera253]

"We weren't gonna hurt him," the older man yelled out at Toph. "We just thought he might lead us to you. My nephiew is in your class and said you favored this one, but we weren't trying to hurt anyone. We were just paid alot of money to bring you in."
Toph laughed for a moment, almost not taking them seriously, but her feet son corrected her. they were in fact telling the truth. She paused, going silent for a few seconds, and then laughed at the idea that someone else could bring her in. Nevertheless, she heard them out.

"I don't know why you thought that I would even make the trade." she remarked, "especially when I could just take what I wanted."
She spoke with enough confidence that it seemed that truly believed she could get anything she want. She so far had had little reason to believe otherwise, as when she had to use force, she would do just that. She was powerful, swift, and for the most part fearless.

"We were going to trade you for her! We have a wooden cage so you couldn't bend your way out. But it wasn't our idea. We have nothing against either of you. We were just paid by woman, and she never showed her face." The man was trembling nervously, not sure what Toph or Kairu might do next.

Kairu turned to Toph amd gave a questioning look. "So what should we do with them, Master Toph?"
Toph thought long and hard over this. She was familiar with being ambushed inside a cage, but it had been metal, and that was where she learned metalbending. a small smirk crept upon her face as the thought of learning how to "woodbend" crossed her mind. Anyone knew trees were planted in the earth, and who was to say that some of their substance had not come from the earth?
But that was a long stretch, and Toph wasn't exactly keen on getting captured just to find out if it were possible. The other time it had been a wooden cage when she and Katara had been used as bait by Combustion Man to led him to Aang. She saw where this was going.

"What we do," she muttered to Kairu, "is we get as much out of these bozos as we can."
She immediately turned to the men, assuming an earthbending stance.
"tell me what you know of this woman." she snapped. "and I'll know if you're lying."

~Toph~

[Edynol]

"What we do," Toph muttered to Kairu, "is we get as much out of these bozos as we can."
She immediately turned to the men, assuming an earthbending stance.
"tell me what you know of this woman." she snapped. "and I'll know if you're lying."

The men were sweating nervously now. "I swear! We don't know anything of the woman! But we don't think she means you any harm. She gave us explicit orders that no harm was to come to either of you. That's all we know, we swear! We only met her at night and she wore a hooded cloak and stood in the shadows. We don't even know what looks like!"

Kairu looked at Toph and nodded, both of them able to tell they were being truthfull. "I have an idea, Master Toph, if I may. I'm thinking we could make a deal ourselves with these guys. Their freedom in exchange for leading us to this woman? Maybe we can lure her out and find out who she is and what she wants?"

[Tera253]

Toph kept her eyes closed, her long bangs almost concealing them. She heard them out, as she wasn't about to silence them on this type of an account. Maybe if they had tried to kill her (with emphasis on the word "try", since it indicates a chance of failure--against Toph, this chance of failure is 90% more likely), but this was trivial in comparison.

Toph smirked upon hearing her friend's suggestion.
"Lead the way then," she gestured with her hand, indicating that she'd let him do the talking. If they needed a little more "reason and persuasion"... well, there was always her left and right fists.

~Toph~

[Edynol]

As the men lead them to where they needed to go, the older one explained how they met the womanb there everynight after sunset. Thhere was a large wooden cage in a storage building along with several crates of sorted food stuffs. The younger man had the key to the lock, which Kairu tested to make sure it worked on the lock. "She will be here anytime now," the old man said.

Kairu then whispered to Toph. "We should close our eyes and pretend we were knocked out or something." Since neither of them really needed their eyes to see, it serve better to have the element of surprise. Kairu could tell the men were nervous from the pounding of their hearts.

"Well well well," a female voice said. Kairu didn't recognize it, but it had a menacing tone to it. Toph, on the other hand, would know exactly who it was. "Seems you two oafs aren't completely useless after all, even if you did betray me." Kairu felt a small trickled of liquid hit the ground as the men's heartbeats increased. "Oh don't worry so much, if I was going to kill you I wouldn't waste talking, I've learned the errors of doing that. But you will not get paid. Now leave, before I change my mind." The men ran like there was no tomarrow. The woman then turned to the cage. "I know you're not really asleep, I've learned a bit since I have been away, including how to avoid the raidar of a certain bandit."

Kairu suddenly jumped up and made the ground under the woman's feet give way to a sink hole, but the woman jumped away and landed on top of a wooden crate. Suddenly, lightning shot from the woman's hands and blasted the front of the cage door apart, making Kairu jump back. "Maybe you didn't hear me before. If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't be here right now."