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Ask to Join Avatar: The Missing Avatar

Fang

"You scaredy-cat! Get back here, idiot! You got us all into this mess in the first place. Also, it's not that manly to go and run away from something, is it! I mean, I thought you wanted ladies to like you. I thought you were desperate!"

Dammit.
Fang stopped on his tracks, the flashbacks of his father scolding him came back to his mind. "You never leave a damsel in distress, that is what a coward would do!" He would yell at him whenever Fang would forget to help his mother with the chores.

Fang closed his eyes and turned around. He was not only living girls behind against a burning vortex, but that blonde girl had probably just ignored him because she didn't see him as a threat. What did that make him? Pathetic. He couldn't have that. Knowing he was going to face a losing battle and probably lose any chance he had at getting to the avatar, Fang placed his fists next to his hips, aimed for the center spot of the fire tornado and pushed the earth from underneath upwards.

The fire stopped, sending the flames flying into the air and houses around while other vanished. In their place, Ka was flying upwards, she didn't look concerned though, instead she looked annoyed. She landed on a nearby roof top and looked around. Earth guards were beginning to arrive to the scene and this meant she could soon be heavily outnumbered. Although that brought joy to her, meaning she could enjoy a good fight against a small army, it also meant she would make a mess and upset Ko. Bu then again, who cares? Once again that grin appeared on her face as she began to move her arms in circles, gathering electricity.

"Enough!"

From out of nowhere, an air nomad wearing a hood that covered his face, except for a long gray beard, jumped on the roof next to Ka. He managed to slap her hand upwards, causing the lightning bolt to spread into the sky, roaring as the energy exploded in the air. The same mysterious man then moved to the side of Ka, quick and effortlessly, like if he was floating almost and blasted her off the roof with a gust of wind created in his palms.

"I told you, you stupid smucks!" The old man from the fountain finally caught up to the scene. "Call me crazy and old one more time!" He yelled as he waved his fist into the air.
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
Tazia had gone still when the tornado of fire had sprung up, calculating ways to get out of the situation. Each one ended with her running away, something she had been taught time and time again never to do. But what choice did they really have? None of the benders around seemed to have any sort of military training that would allow her to easily coordinate with them, and nothing in her own training had taught her how to redirect a fire attack that wasn’t directly aimed at her. Yael, aware of her tendencies to freeze when thinking in combat, had arranged himself in front of the girls, shell pointed outward to protect them from the heat.

Absentmindedly hearing herself mentioned as Nina talked to a newcomer, Tazia muttered, “it’s Tazia. My name.” But her jumbled thoughts snapped and her eyes widened as she saw the not-so-crazy old man airbend up to the roof in front of her and easily counter the blond firebender. Tazia felt her face break out in a grin. “Hell yeah,” she called with an answering raised fist, “you go, gramps!”
 
Yamato watched as Ka formed the fire vortex and began to smile, he was trembling but not out of fear, he was excited about facing another fire bender. He was ready to try and pierce through the growing fiery vortex, but then stopped when the ground under Ka got sent flying upwards, Yamato quickly moved to the roof next to Fang and stared him down before speaking.

"Hey, you earth bending jackass! Couldn't you see we were about to start fighting and weren't you running away?" Yamato said while he stood up straight and sheathed one of his swords.
 
Mu had listened to the one's explanation of literally everything that happened since he went to control the crowd. He then looked at the group there, and had a Stern warning.

"The three of you are not off the Hook you know, the only one who has a chance of being off the Hook is probably the fellow earthbender, and maybe the Old Man, for breaking that tornado," Mu pointed to Yamato, Nina, and Tazia, "If it wasn't for Me, the Old Man and the fellow Earthbender, I wouldn't be surprised if some of you were crispy, that was one insane fire tornado, also, thank you for the Explanation."

Mu had popped a small hole wide enough to see what was going on in front of the wall. The Old Man had apparently intercepted the mystery Bender responsible for the tornado after the fellow Earthbender had broken the inferno twister, and the mystery bender had sent Lightning at them. Hold on, Lightning? What's next, a giant dog pouncing on the field? He just hoped that no one did too much damage.
 
Nina stared as Fang paused and then turned around and shot a rock out of the fire tornado, sending the lady into the air and stopping the fire tornado. "Holy turtle seal! He actually did it!" She laughed. She watched as an air bender with a long beard went and slapped the woman's hands into the air sending lightning bolts up into the sky.

"You go, gramps!" she heard Tazia shout. Nina snickered at this and said, "Yeah! You go!" She grinned, then stared at the earth-bending guard and listened to him say they weren't off the hook. "Biased, are we Mr. Earth Bender?" She was no longer smiling, raised an eyebrow, and crossed her arms. "How kind." She turned back to watch a man walk over to Fang and call him a "Jackass" She grinned. She liked that the guy had called him that. That really was what he was! She broke into a tiny laugh before straightening herself into her usual military stance and went back to being unimpressed by the guard's statement, "I already said thanks. What do you want now?" She glared at him. She was thankful though he was right in saying they would have been burnt to a crisp.

Meanwhile, Kreen, the snow leopard caribou, had slowly snuck out of the alleyway to see the fire tornado was gone. She looked closer at where the fire tornado had been and thought she saw a person with a similar outfit to the person she had been trying to follow, so maybe it was them! The animal quickly ran over, hoping to see her master.
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
“Had the fire gotten any closer, I would’ve redirected it,” Tazia said crossly to the newcomer, setting a flame alight in her palm. “I’m afraid I must apologize if I gave off damsel-in-distress, I’m-a-newbie-bender vibes. Which bureaucrat put that stick up your ass?” She spat on the roof under her feet, off to the side, more irritated at the powerful blond firebender interrupting her race more than anything. Although the earthbender’s holier-than-thou attitude wasn’t helping. Yael circled around to come behind her, rubbing his head against her side, and she reached down to stroke his face fur.

Tazia turned back to the guard with a bit of a glare, far from done tearing into him. When she was frustrated, she could really lay into a person with no mercy. “Besides, if that fire was even half as hot as the lightning her body could channel, then the only thing your little wall would’ve done is slowed the fire down for half a second, then given it shrapnel when it blew the wall to bits. Or melted it.” Tazia’s fist suddenly closed violently over the flame that had been dancing on it. “But that doesn’t matter now, does it? The old man saved our butts, thank the Avatar. Who he may or may not have spotted, was he in the city or was he not? That’s what matters.”

Screw it, Tazia thought. Not like I’ve got anything better to get involved in. And if I get to keep racing this moshpit of crazy people, dumbasses, and adult children, then I say what the heck. Plus, if the Avatar gets found as a positive side effect of me having some fun… Let’s do it.
 

tokkiyo

Previously Tokki_Boki
The city of Omashu brought a smile to Maiko's face as Chiyo gracefully landed on her held out arm. "It's certainly no Fire Nation but it holds it own beauty that I cannot comprehend" the female says to her beloved Raven Eagle, the avian merely letting out a soft coo to affirm her owners words.

Maiko entered the city, every step laced with caution. Trust was something that became hard to come by and slowly a luxury. She didn't know how far her father was willing to go to bring her home and she didn't know how far other people would go to claim the reward, but she felt reassured when nobody paid her any mind. Maiko walked through the streets with curiosity before stopping in her tracks when she felt Chiyo's talons gently grip her arm more. Something was going on and Chiyo sensed it far before her owner even knew.

She hadn't even been in the city for long and yet chaos had already unfolded. "Goodness me, we just got here" Maiko says with a gasp, hiding her mouth behind the large sleeves of her kimono. Chiyo let out a screech before taking off into the air after her owner has whispered a small command into her ear. The avian flew up into the sky, just high enough to where Maiko could still easily see her before following the other people. The dark haired female ran in the direction Chiyo had let out a screech, her bladed fan folded and hiddin within her sleeves. "Now what in the world has all these people riled up like this" she huffed out, weaving around other people as she followed Chiyo.
 
Dareno and Motsuke sighed. "I am disappointed," Motsuke said. Dareno sighed again. "I would be disappointed in me, too," he said. Dareno tried to stop the fire tornado again. And again. And again. But it was all in vain. The tornado stood up almost perfectly still as if it was a star. "Dammit!!" he yelled, "It's no use!!!" Motsuke sighed. "Control yourself, Dareno," he said calmly, "That way you have a better chance." Dareno nodded, breathed normally and started to airbend in the opposite direction of the tornado. "Thank god you gave me that advice, Motsuke," he said, "This is getting pretty easy for something that feels like something a waterbender would do rather than an airbender." Dareno felt his body rising. Motsuke simply smiled. "You're welcome in advance," he said, "I learned that from our father, remember, Dareno?" Dareno shook his head. Motsuke's jaw dropped.
 
"Enough!"

The sound of a booming voice sounded through the streets. Out of nowhere, soldiers were lined up on the roofs and streets of Omashu. One of them stood out, General Tofu. Now his name might be a bit funny, but he was all the opposite. He was known for being cruel and strict and nobody dared messed with his city.

"Round them all up, take em to king Boomy!"

Fang

Fang found himself in a room with all the others who had gathered around the fight earlier, even those flying above and those just watching the scene. What surprised him was that they didn't find the blonde woman, which just had him confused as to how she managed to escape. Now, they were in the king's palace, waiting for instructions. However he couldn't help trying to keep a confident look on his face, because basically he made it further than any of the others, meaning he would've won the race they had begun.

"I'm sorry it came down to this." A bald man entered the room. He was wearing traditional air nomad clothes, his hands and top of his shaved head decorated with the classic blue arrows and his long white beard seemed perfectly clean despite being in a fight earlier on. "We weren't expecting so many of you to actually show up."

"I know there must be a lot of questions you all have, so I am willing to answer them before we proceed any further."
 
When the guards took her, Nina decided she would not fight back. It wasn't the best to make enemies with these people, and really, they would surely let her, and Tazia go when they had explained what had happened, right? So when the guards brought Nina and the others to the room, she walked over to one corner of the room and sat down, pulling up her hood to think.

She had thought back on all that had happened and realized that she and Kreen had never reunited at the fountain or anywhere! She was getting nervous, tapping her foot a bit, trying to calm down by taking deep breaths in and out. In and out. In and out. She thought, slowly calming down. They would have to do something about the snow leopard caribou running through the streets.

She gazed across the room, staring at them. There was Tazia, the flirty guy, some air nomads strangely enough that she hadn't seen before, the guy that had gotten mad at the flirty guy, the earth kingdom guard for some reason, and some Water Tribe members she didn't recognize they were probably from the southern tribes. She also noticed some other people, but those stuck out to her. Surprisingly the blond woman wasn't there. Hopefully, she was in another cell.

She stared as the old air nomad walked over and spoke a bit but then said, "I know there must be a lot of questions you all have, so I am willing to answer them before we proceed any further."
Nina walked over to the man, her hood still on, and asked, looking more severe than earlier, "Where is Kreen. She is my snow leopard caribou. I'm worried about her, and I don't want anyone hurting her at all." Her voice was more on edge at the end. She sounded a slight bit angry. She stood on her tiptoes quickly, still keeping her balance and, strangely enough, a strong stance even on her toes. She must have looked quite strange to the others, but she felt more steady and taller. It felt good to have a bit of extra height without wearing those unhelpful high heels.
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
“Hey,” Tazia growled, jerking her arm away from the guard who approached her. Yael bristled behind her. “Hands off, buckaroo.”

“Ma’am, if you’ll just come with us—”

“First off, do I look like I’m forty to you? Second off— ay, hands off the tigerdillo, too! Chill, my guy— if I was gonna fight you your eyeballs would’ve melted by now. Although it’s a tempting prospect, I think I’ll have to refrain.”

The guard shivered almost imperceptibly at the thought of his eyeballs turning into slag. “I— uh— sure thing, ma’am— MISS! I mean miss!”

Tazia extinguished the fire that had lit on her fingertip. “Go on.”

“We have to bring you in. I promise all your questions will be answered. My colleague back there will handle your tigerdillo.” The guard let out a slightly tremulous breath.

Tazia looked over at Yael, who was batting at the other guard fairly gently, the guard shrinking away from the claws as the tigerdillo growled and snorted at the man every time he got close. She looked back, supremely unimpressed. “Looks like Yael’s handling him, more like.” She raised her hands up in a gesture of surrender when it looked like the guard was going to speak again. “Hey, I said hands off,” she reminded mildly. “Yael, down boy. Listen to Mister Thinks-He’s-Tough over there for now. I’ll come get you soon.” Tazia redirected her cool glare to the guard in front of her. “If a single plate on Yael’s back is so much as scuffed, he’ll be eating your corpse, fully convinced it’s chicken nuggets from how thoroughly I will cook you up.”

The guard swallowed, though to his credit maintained his composure. “Alright, then. Ma’am— madam— MISS, I’M SORRY, MISS— p-please, come right this way.”

Tazia caught one last glance of Yael being led complacently away in a slightly different direction before she was led into a room. A slightly familiar-looking air nomad entered, though Tazia couldn’t quite place where she might have seen him before. He assured them that their questions would be answered, just as the guard that had taken her there had said. So far, Tazia was rather unimpressed with their service.

Tazia waited for Nina to finish her question, then leaned back against (uhh whatever was behind her) with half-closed, bored eyes. “I have a question,” she started testily, waving a few fingers in the air. “Why are we here? I’ve come to two potential conclusions— we’ve all inadvertently committed a dumb crime that none of us knew about because it was hidden in the fine print of the law, or this is some “let’s find the Avatar and save the world” cult. Please, correct my thinking.”
 
Ahnah had been dragged by the guards to wherever they had taken them, Akuma was not amused, nor happy with this and was trying to bat the guards away.

"Akuma, stand down," Ahnah responded, "Sorry about him, he's highly protective of me since I was attacked when I was younger."

The Polar Bear Dog standed down, and sat like a dog, a little sad as he sat and started to growl at the earth kingdom guards.

"Calm down, we'll be out soon, go with them," Ahnah responded.

She then went into the room, afterwards being placed in a cell and the old man asked to see if anyone had any questions.

-------

Mu had been taken in by the guards, who hadn't realized he was one of their own, his Ostrich Horse had been complying, unlike literally any other pet so far that the handlers have seen. When he arrived, he was confused.

"I had only just got there and made sure people weren't getting fried, as I was stuck in Crowd control at the beginning as this guy." Points at Fang, "Throws up a wall in my face, and I had to make sure no one got hurt or three other benders set everything to ruin, I somehow was sent here from Ba Sing Se, what brought everyone here?"
 

| Korutesu |

Previously NotAPokemonRanger
The young swordsman noticed the boy, who was at the front of the crowd just a minute ago, running off again, most likely to try and catch up to the Avatar. After that, a woman shouted in the crowd that she knew he was desperate for a woman, so he came running back, shooting up a rock to stop the fire tornado. It worked, with Ka being thrown up to one of the roofs of one of the buildings, then being finished off by what looked to be the Avatar. It couldn't be. After going missing, He just re-appeared? It was definitely weird.

A shout came from the street after, with the guards of Omashu swarmed the area, most likely arresting all of them, for questioning. They were brought into a room by a group of guards, with Rei following them with no resistance. They didn't take their weapons though, which was weird. If they were being taken prisoner, or held up in this room, they wouldn't keep let them keep their weapons.

A few moments later, the Avatar had come into the room, It was an old man, with a long beard, though he had the same figure as the Avatar, though, a lot older. Like, a lot older. It truly was weird. Then the Avatar said that all of them could ask questions, anything at all. A few people asked questions first, though the swordsman didn't have too much questions about the situation, so he just stayed quiet, but he did stay cautious, since these benders were out of control only a few minutes ago, and he couldn't let his guard down, especially in a situation like this.
 
"Why did you go missing?" Dareno asked. He began to sweat, especially due to the incident, and almost as much so as the Avatar supposedly being in his presence. Motsuke sighed. If only he hadn't disappeared, then we could've avoided the tornado thing, he thought. Dareno stopped sweating. I can't be nervous! he thought, This is a few-times-in-a-lifetime opportunity! I think I've seen the Avatar!

Dareno had a mix of excitement, nervousness and confusion in his brain. Motsuke had no emotions whatsoever. I know how Dareno feels, but he doesn't know how I do, he thought with a nearly unnoticeable smile.
 
The old man raised a brow. He turned back to the guards, who shrugged in response before the turned back to look at Nina. "Um not sure where your friend is, but we can send someone to look for it. I'm sure it'll be fine don't worry."

He cleared his throat loudly and looked at the rest of the group. "To be honest you're all here because we expected you to be. We made sure the rumor of the avatar was spread far and wide. Only those who had the courage to try and chase down a rumor like that were worthy enough." He stepped to the side and another man almost identical to him emerged. "This is the air avatar, I'm the fire one. In reality, none of us are the avatar, but we work together to make people think he's still around. We can't have people losing hope or have any other nation think the avatar is gone. We don't want another incident like the one from the fire nation year a hundred years ago. However, we were not expecting you to get attacked and so that's why we stepped in."

The second fake avatar stepped up to speak. "We're asking you to help us find the avatar. The world is on the edge, ready to snap into unbalance any second now. If there is no avatar here to bring it balance it once again, all will be lost. Of course we need you to keep quiet about this and swear on your soul that you will not tell anyone, whether you decide to help us out or not."

Fang brushed his hair back. He was looking for a job but if he were to get one, finding the avatar would be best way to become a legend. He stood up with a smug look on his face.

"I'll do it."
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
Tazia’s gaze slid to the side at the mention of the Fire Nation’s attempted world takeover. She said nothing, merely listening to the firebender talk. Her eyes widened slightly as the information was dumped on the group. Well, it wasn’t like I came here because of rumors of the Avatar, she thought idly. I was just kinda wandering around and ended up by the city and figured I’d check it out. Didn’t really have reasons to do anything before. This could be a fun way to pass time, though.

The young firebender cracked her neck, tilting her head from side to side as she considered her words. Tazia finally decided on blunt honesty, how she usually ended up answering questions. “Honestly, it’s just coincidence that I’m here. But like it or not, I’m involved now— what am I supposed to do, say no? Tch.” She glanced at the earthbender boy with the ponytail. “Plus, someone’s gotta keep this punk here in line,” she added with a scowl, jerking a thumb in his direction.
 
She stood there staring, going back to her usual stance of not being on tiptoes, and thought, Well, it would be kind of fun getting to go all around the nations to find him, Tazia is going, so I would have a friend. "Sure. I didn't mean to get into this mess but being able to make a difference is great." Maybe The Northern Tribe will think I can finally legally be a part of the Navy without being undercover after this. She thought.

She rolled her sleeves up, trying not to get overheated. "I would love to help. Keeping secrets is my specialty, especially big ones, and if I were to share it, it would be with one person who I know would never share a secret." She said, thinking of her brother. He had kept all her secrets and always helped when she asked for it, he was a great big brother. She smiled a bit, thinking about him.

"Also, I agree with keeping flirty guy in line," She said, pointing at Fang. Then detaching the point off of her spear and twirled it around, sitting down and attaching the spear point to its handle again. She seriously needed to find Kreen, Kreen had all their stuff, and she just wanted to see her pet again.
 
Kerrora ran with her sister, the fear of being consumed by the flames being the only thing ringing in her mind. After all, she wasn't used to this, nor was she all that confrontational of a person. She was within the rushing crowd, her hand losing the clench of her sister. It didn't take her too long that her sister was no longer leading her through the crowd. She stopped running, the crowd running into her and almost knocking her over several times as she looked around, trying to see where her sister was at. Soon, she realized, she would have to leave the crowd before she became more ground they had to run across.

She started running again, this time at a slightly diagonal angle to leave the torrent of people. Soon, she was pressed against the side of a building and tried to retrace her steps. She side-stepped against the building, people running past her. Eventually, she found an alleyway that most of the fleeing civilians chose to ignore. Maybe she could use this to go back to the back of the crowd at the very least. She went down it, jogging as she turned towards the fire tornado against her better judgement.

Desprate to find her sister, she jogged. What would she do without Koreal? What would Koreal do without her, was the better question. Start a fight? Upset the guards further? Run right towards the tornado of fire to challenge a bender for no reason? Kerrora couldn't help but worry for her older sister, and for herself. She was close enough to start seeing flames coming off of the tornado towards the innocent civilians. Most fled into their stone houses, but she couldn't help but notice that some hid inside their much more flammable wooden stalls.

An orange glow came from the stalls lining the streets, making Kerrora jump. The stall was hit by a stray flame and now the fire was spreading like a lake bursting a dam. Her blue eyes widened and she started bending, forgetting on how she was wanted for being a water bender. "Leave the stalls! They're not safe!" She used the water that was on her to start putting out the fire. The water bender also whipped around, finding any extra water she could to bend. There were some jugs with some water as well. She had to use any water she could to help save the people.

With wonderful grace, she doused the flames with water, the water and fire becoming steam. People were running past her, fleeing the stalls. Some stayed to watch, somewhat in awe at the natural grace of water bending or trying to see how much of their product would be saved. Kerrora didn't mind them too much though, as long as they stayed a safe ways away.

One stall shifted, the wood making a groaning sound as the flames still ate away at the wood. A scream came from that stall. Kerrora paled and put some of the water on the ground, freezing it with a clench of her hand. She ran onto it and started to slide on it, her bending helping her move along it quickly. She was soon at the stall completely engulfed with the growing flame. She melted the water and brought it back up, losing some of it to the ground. She ran inside the stall, putting out some flames as she found a small boy curled up close to the gound. She picked up the small child and slung him over her shoulder, running out of there before trying to put out the fire.

Kerrora didn't notice the firey spiral end as she continued trying to put out the flames. Guards ran up to her right as she finished, the water-bender putting the water into her waterskin, doubting the people would want to drink water she bended. "Stop right there, and put your hands up! No bending! You're under arrest." Kerrora immediately did as she was told, gulping. This was not good. This was not good at all. The small boy she rescued, some soot on his face, ran up to the guards.

"But she is nice! She saved me! You only arrest bad guys! She's not a bad guy, she is a good guy!"

"Go back to your family," Kerrora said to the boy softly. "Everything that's happening is just a misunderstanding. I'm sure if I explain things to them, they'll let me go."

The child looked up at her with his green eyes. "But you're a good guy... they shouldn't arrest good guys."

One of the guards was smiling at the child. "Like she said, go back to your family, kid. Let the guards take care of things." The guard narrowed his eyes at her.

The soot-covered boy looked down at his feet before giving Kerrora a hug. Kerrora tried to return it, but the guard made a negative noise when she tried. Soon he disappeared into the whispering crowd of spectators.
 
Two soldiers approached Yamato and were ready for him to fight back, but Yamato simply seathed his blades and tossed them to the soldiers and crossed his arms.

Yamato saw the two fake avatars as they began to explain the current situation, after the finished what they were saying he scratched his chin and and jumped off the roof.

"If what your saying is true then I don't mind helping out, besides this will give me a chance to grow as a swordsmen and a fire bender." Yamato said as he cracked his knuckles.
 
Dareno and Motsuke sighed. Fake Avatars? Dareno was confused and angry. Motsuke shared the same emotions. Then their faces slipped from rage to a hint of reluctance. "Like it or not, Dareno, we're involved," Motsuke sighed. Dareno suddenly started to laugh. "This is so confusing it's funny!" he announced, still laughing. Motsuke stared in confusion. "Yeah, right," he said quietly, "There's no square root of laughter." Dareno stared, still laughing. What was Motsuke talking about. Dareno knew one thing for sure; he was right.
 
Koreal's scan of her surroundings brought a very important fact to her attention. Her sister had not, in fact, followed her down the street. "That... could be problematic." If Kerrora wasn't around, going up to the rooftops wasn't in the cards, so that plan would have to be put off at least until the sisters could be re-united. Koreal turned around to go back to the street where she'd last had Kerrora's hand in her own, but before she reached the end, she heard the roaring of flames come to a stop. Turning her head, she saw the last twirling wisps of flame dying in the air, sending sparks flying down to smolder and disappear on the stones of the rooftops and streets. Koreal didn't pause for long to ponder what had caused the fiery cyclone to stop, but rather kept running back up the street.

She rounded the corner to see the street still with a small crowd of people in it, standing at a respectful distance from a burning stall. It seemed some of the flying embers had fallen from over the tops of the buildings and ignited one or two of the shop awnings lining the street. At first, Koreal didn't see her sister anywhere. After a moment, though, she spotted Kerrora as she burst out of a burning stall carrying a young boy. Koreal's heart skipped a beat, worried that her sister might have gotten hurt. She knew her sister could heal with her water bending, but running into a fire was reckless and dangerous. If Koreal had done something of the sort, Kerrora certainly would have scolded her thoroughly for it. (Perhaps that would be fair. After all, Koreal couldn't heal herself, or douse flames. But she could handle herself just fine, dang it!)

However, she couldn't help but feel a bit proud of her sister. Saving a child was certainly a good deed, and she couldn't blame her sister for doing so. Koreal was certain she'd try to do the same thing if she had been in the same position. So it was with mixed emotions of pride and worry that she saw her sister emerge from the flames. Before she could approach her sister to check on her, though, several guards ran down the street, and before she knew it, Kerrora was being apprehended.

"What in the world are they doing? Don't they see that she's rescuing people and minimizing damages? I should go over there and... no, I can't really stop them without getting us in actual trouble. But I can't just leave her to get arrested either! I-"

She took a step forward, but paused as the little boy Kerrora had carried out from the smoke ran forward and began to plead with the guards not to take his rescuer away. It was honestly rather adorable, but Koreal couldn't fully appreciate it in the heat of the moment. She saw Kerrora speak to the child, and watched as one of the guards shooed the child away and left the others to arrest her sister. She was about to step forward again when she felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder. She wrenched away and spun around, finding herself face to face with Cho and Wong.

"We meet again, miss," said Wong, "the fire's gone now. We got orders to take you in, so no more of your fancy dodging, if you please. Come with us quietly and it'll be easier on everyone." He looked grave, but he didn't seem inclined to fight unless she forced him to do so. Cho, on the other hand, didn't seem quite so friendly. "Would'n want yer purty lil' face to get all smushed up in a tussle, now, would'gee?"

Koreal's temper flared up at the man's snide tone. She would have loved to slam the butt of her spear up between his legs at that moment, but she had enough self control to restrain herself from this course of action. She couldn't refrain from lashing out verbally, though. "Ha! As if you could hit me at all. You couldn't hit the broad side of a sky bison, much less beat me in a fight." She scoffed, shooting Cho a nasty look before turning back to Wong, who had tensed up at her words. "But I've got nothing to be afraid of. Like I said earlier, I haven't done anything wrong. So I'll come with you, just so long as you let me stay with my little sister. I don't want to get separated from her so far from home."

She turned and pointed to where several other guards were escorting her sister away. "If I'm getting taken in anyways, I'm going to stay with my sister. I won't let anything happen to her." Although she couldn't see it, Wong nodded from behind her back and gave a brief sign. "Well, we'd better get going then. We'll have to cuff you, miss. That's just basic protocol in the city, and we'll have them off you once we're out of the streets. Now, please put your hands out so we can get caught up with your sister." Koreal sighed and nodded, handed her spear to Cho, and then stuck her wrists out. Wong pulled a what looked like a stone slab with holes punched in it off his belt, and with his other hand did a backhand strike into the air over his shoulder. The rock split into halves horizontally, which he quickly placed over her wrists. Then, with a motion like a slow clap, his hands came together and her hands were bound together by solid stone. It was a little cold against her bare skin, and not exactly smooth. Koreal was sure they'd chafe and leave her wrists raw if they sat on her arms for too long. They were heavy, too, it wasn't comfortable to simply let them hang down. She opted to keep them held against her chest, both so they would be a little closer to her center of gravity and wiggle around less as she walked.

She felt Wong's hand come down on her shoulder again, and he began steering her towards where the guards escorting her sister were. They were already a good half-block ahead, and the three had to keep up a brisk pace to join them. As they went down the streets, Koreal tried to ignore the staring faces of bystanders. Some were curious, others frightened, and some were even angry. But she tried to avoid their gazes. She hadn't realized how embarrassing it would be to walk down the roads cuffed and escorted by earth kingdom guards, and making eye contact only made it worse. It was best, she decided, to simply pretend they didn't exist until they got to, well... wherever it was they were going. Wong hadn't exactly said where, after all. But no matter the destination, one thing was certain. This was NOT how Koreal had imagined her first visit to Omashu.

- - - - - - - - - - () () () () () () () () () () - - - - - - - - - -

Koreal soon found herself in a room with her sister and what seemed like around a dozen other people. She rubbed at her wrists as if that would somehow take away the irritating soreness left by the cuffs, which had been removed just after they entered the building. To her surprise, her spear had also been returned to her. She wasn't sure what to make of that. (Or anything else that was happening, for that matter.) However, it was comforting to have with her. It could be truthfully said that her spear was her closest companion aside from Kerrora.

Koreal sighed and rolled her wrists one last time before deciding to ignore the ache as best she could. She needed to check up on her sister, after all, and her wrists didn't need nearly as much attention as her sister, in Koreal's eyes. "Hey, are you alright? You didn't get burned, did you? I'm seriously proud of you for saving that kid, sis, but if you got yourself hurt, I swear-" She smiled and bumped her sister with her shoulder.

She found herself feeling oddly happy despite the situation. Looking around, she found that those around her were from all four nations; a group with seemingly very little in common, except, it seemed, that they were all involved in whatever incident had been going on in that street. Koreal had to wonder if she was surrounded by criminals, or how many of them were like her sister and herself: simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Before long, the quiet babble in the room was hushed as an older-looking man entered. He was bald, and by the arrow tatoos on his skin and the robes he wore, it seemed apparent that he was an air bender. Koreal was a bit confused why he was there. After all, it was an earth kingdom city that they'd been arrested in, not an Air Nomad temple. However, the man soon stated that he was open to answering questions. Before Koreal could even begin to ask a question, an individual from one of the water tribes (male from the looks of their clothes, but there was something feminine about the face that made Koreal unsure) piped up and demanded to know what had happened to their snow leopard caribou. Shortly after, a girl wearing clothes that made Koreal fairly certain she was from the fire nation asked her own question. “I have a question. Why are we here? I’ve come to two potential conclusions— we’ve all inadvertently committed a dumb crime that none of us knew about because it was hidden in the fine print of the law, or this is some “let’s find the Avatar and save the world” cult. Please, correct my thinking.”

Koreal blinked in surprise when the 'Avatar cult' was mentioned. What did the Avatar have to do with any of this? It had been decades, generations even, since the Avatar had been seen. The 'we committed a crime without knowing it' option seemed far more likely to her. She puzzled about this as several others interjected with more questions and observations, and as a result missed most of what they said. Her attention was brought back to the moment when the old man began speaking again.

He addressed the water tribe person's question about their snow leopard caribou, then began explaining why they were all there. Apparently 'We', whoever 'we' was, had been spreading a rumor of the Avatar's return. Koreal didn't recall hearing any rumors about it, but she figured that wasn't important to what the man was saying. He went on to explain a measurement of 'worthiness' in those who sought to find the Avatar, and then to introduce another man who looked similar to himself. It was revealed that the two were working together to inspire hope that the Avatar was still around, and that everyone in the room was to keep these things a secret whether or not they joined the search for the Avatar. Koreal had to sit still for a moment to take all this in. It seemed that her day just kept on getting stranger and stranger...

She heard several of the people in the room volunteering to help find the Avatar, most of them seeming to have an attitude of 'I'm already here, even if I didn't expect to be, so why not?'. Koreal, though, wasn't sure what to think. The man hadn't offered any proof that the Avatar did still exist. He only gave evidence that they had been deceiving people, tricking them into believing in someone who wasn't actually there. Sure, it sounded like they were doing it for a good reason, and had noble intentions, but what if the Avatar couldn't be found? Wouldn't their actions just make things a bit worse?

She shook her head, realizing that if what they said was true, there was really only one choice. If the world was going to descend into chaos unless the Avatar was found, then there'd be no harm in trying to do so. She and her sister were already planning to travel around the world in Koreal's pursuit of her dreams, too, so they might simply tackle different places in a different order. And if they failed to find the Avatar, well, everything would probably be sucky anyways. But no matter whether the man was telling the truth or not, she wasn't going to drag Kerrora off on a wild Avatar chase unless she wanted to go, and certainly not without more information.

Touching her sister's arm, she leaned in, and spoke in a low tone. "What do you think, sis? It's a lot to take in, huh..."
 

| Korutesu |

Previously NotAPokemonRanger
The young swordsman stood in disbelief at what the "Avatar" was saying. Rei was clearly suspicious of what the Avatars were saying, obviously, he couldn't just trust what these people were saying, especially since they were tricking a lot of people just by pretending to be the Avatar and solving problems. A few members of their group were deciding if they should come with the group and look for the Avatar with the Avatars. A few decided to go, but the young man was clearly still unsure if he should. He DID want to go explore the world, and he DID want to get stronger, and that journey would definitely help him, but with these circumstances? He didn't know for sure.

The young swordsman was skeptical of their claims, and he didn't fully trust them, obviously cause of what they were doing. He knew he needed more information, especially if this was the situation they were in. For all he knew, this could be a trap, a wild goose chase, or not real at all! He couldn't trust anyone in this room, most likely cause of what they were doing just minutes ago, so Rei was weary. But he just noticed.. The golden haired female, the lightning bender, wasn't in this room with them. But first, Rei had to decide if he was going to go or not.

"How do I know I can trust you? What do I get in return if i help find the Avatar?"

Rei had many more questions for the Avatars, but it wouldn't be optimal to flood them with questions. Especially since he couldn't really trust what they would say anyway. Either way, it would also probably give a few more questions than answers if he were to ask more questions.
 
Once Kerrora's adrenaline was no longer pulsing through her body, she started freaking out. What the flip was she thinking?! Why wasn't she thinking?! How could she do something like that when she would totally scold Koreal for doing the exact same thing?! WHY IN THE WORLD DID SHE NOT STOP AND THINK ABOUT THIS FIRST?! Her mind was firmly fixed on that, even as she entered the room. Even when she entered, it was like she was staring off into nothingness.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Kerrora snapped from her freaking out when Koreal's voice was speaking to her. She blinked as she listened to Koreal's worries. "I-I'm good. Just, freaking out after the fact, you know?" She clenched her clothing, squeezing it with all of her strength, not reacting to the friendly bump. Soon she let go, though, and started fidgeting with the strap of her waterskin. "S-sorry for worrying you. It's my job to be the worrier." She gave a single laugh. "That's totally something you would've done. You know?"

She opened her mouth again but was quickly cut off by someone she had not seen before entering the room. He gave a small speech about how he and a friend of his acted as a fake avatar to keep hopes up and stuff. They had apparently been chosen because they were willing to look for the avatar, as well? Kerrora furrowed her brow. She had not believed any rumors that she heard, mostly because it just... sounded not true at all. Of course, unknownest to her, she had not encountered the man who claimed he saw the avatar like many of the others have, nor had she seen what appeared to be the avatar. All she had seen was the fight that ensued afterward, and the insane fire bender that tried to kill multiple people. At least, she assumed she tried to kill people. Kerrora wasn't entirely sure.

"Uh, I'll join and all, but I wasn't chasing the avatar. My sister and I just stumbled onto some of these people fighting, I presume." She shook her head. "Are you sure you want me? I didn't do anything. Except maybe help some people out during the fire tornado, but even then, it was basic water bending firefighting..." She shook her head. "Any water bender would do that. Besides, I wasn't chasing the rumor at all. We were... just around."
 
"Well it seems we gathered a good bunch of people. People call me Frank." The first man that had started talking spoke up while the other one went away. "I usually portray the avatar using air bending. I still practice my nomad ways, so you might run into me here and there. Now, whenever you have any problem, we have bases hidden throughout the world, just look for a symbol containing four pieces of Pai Shao." He turned to answer the questions thrown at him, but to not make matters more complicated he replied as if speaking to the whole group. "The fact that you're all here now and gathered is because the universe has decided it that way. It is fate you all ended up here and there is no better reward than bringing balance to the world. Of course you're welcome to leave the group anytime and if you wish to spread chaos, than revealing who we are will cause that. We can't stop you anymore, but we can trust that the world brought us all together for a reason. Now, there are a few places where the avatar was last seen, so we will start with those. The last one was Bhanti Island in the Fire Nation, I wish you all luck."

After getting his things together and wrapping his head around the situation, Fang and the group were moved out of Omashu. The were even provided some food and money for the trip. However, how they would reach the Fire Nation was up to them to decide. Taking advantage of the situation though Fang decided it was time to step up and become the leader he was meant to be.

"Alright team gather around." Fang raised the earth underneath him to stand higher than the rest. "I have decided I'll be the leader of this group, of course I will have the Earth Kingdom guard as my second, seeing his military training and any of the lovely ladies here can be my secretary. Now, does anyone know which way to the Fire Nation?"
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
Yael returned to her (thankfully for the guard) unharmed, Tazia rode the tigerdillo out of Omashu with the rest of the group. She realized she had been commissioned into teamwork, and cringed internally, aware of her abysmal cooperation skills and her nonexistent desire to change. She assessed the group as they walked. I’m not taking orders from the air nomad kids, and definitely not from the punk ass earthbender. I certainly don’t want to lead, and the earth kingdom guard has a stick so far up his ass he may as well be a corn dog. Not sure how he’d react in the event of needing to do something illegal. Which will come up. Currently the only one I respect at all is Nina, but I see her as an equal in skill and spirit. Probably not the most intelligent choice for a leader, though. I haven’t seen the others in action, though, so I can’t make a call on that. Tazia sighed and patted Yael’s shell, urging him forward to catch up with the others.

The ponytailed earthbender immediately claimed the leadership position, and a vein in Tazia’s forehead immediately began to twitch. “Not even an introduction,” she muttered, sliding off Yael’s back. She turned with a slightly sarcastic wave to the others. “Hi, hello, yeah hey. I’m Tazia. Firebender, born and bred. Three things: I’m every bit as military-trained as the Paladin over here”—she jerked a thumb at Mu— “I know several routes to the Fire Nation from here; and I’m not taking orders from this punk-ass flirt.” Now it was Fang’s turn to be pointed at. “That’s all I have to say. Thank you.” She blew air up into her face, then leaned back against Yael, offering a grin to Nina.
 
As Nina walked toward the entrance of Omashu with the others, she heard a loud sound that she recognized all too well. It was a roar, and then suddenly, she was headbutted by Kreen, her lovely, adorable snow leopard caribou! The creature let out a giant rumbling purr as it nuzzled against Nina's face. "I missed you too, Kreen." She said, grinning and scratching behind the beast's ears, horns, and chin. She climbed onto Kreen's back and went back to following the others. She pointed to Tazia and whispered to Kreen, "That's Tazia. She's our new friend." She grinned and then pointed out the others to Kreen as if she understood every word Nina said.

Nina watched as Fang suddenly made the earth under his feet rise and started to share people's jobs in their little group. And, of course, he made himself the leader! She felt angry. This guy had an ego as big as the ocean! She was about to yell some sense into that idiot when Tazia interrupted her. She listened and grinned, making a motion with her hand over the victory of knowing Tazia was military trained.

"I knew you had to be in the military! You reek of it with your posture and how you act towards attacks!" She grinned and then took a deep breath gathering all her rage at that pompous flirt! She stood on Kreen's back, glared at Fang, and announced.

"First of all, what gives you the right to be the leader! All we've seen of you is that you run away from a situation for your own safety unless you have the chance of getting a girl to like you! And news flash, buddy, none of us like you! All you've done is be a flirt and think of yourself as such a hotshot!" She paused to breathe, "There are multiple people here that would be a better leader than you any day! Some of us have military training! Heck, I'm in the Navy for Avatar's sake!" She took another deep breath. She opened her water skin that she had refilled while heading out of Omashu, and water bended a small orb of water and threw it at him, aiming for his face. "That's for being such a pompous jerk!" She yelled at him, standing on Kreen's back, glaring daggers at him.
 
Akuma was growling at the guy who suggested that one of the ladies be his secretary. Akuma was ready to pounce and maul this guy for insulting his mother.

"Look, can everyone settle down, for Right now, as long as we're in the Earth Kingdom, it makes sense for at Least the Earth kingdom guard to be second, not so sure about that guy being the leader, how many of us have Military training?"

That was Ahnah trying to assuage the situation, she wasn't sure if it was going to work, this was after they got sent out of Omashu. Akuma continued growling, but Ahnah patted his leg in an attempt to stop him from growling further.

"I'm an Earth Kingdom Guard, so I have military training." Mu explained, hopping on Ai, his Ostrich Horse, "Whose idea was it to put Fang in Charge, me being second I don't mind, it should be based on location for leader."

The Ostrich Horse squawked in agreement. He honestly didn't mind being second in command, especially when they were in the Earth Kingdom. Personally, he'd let whoever was from that nation lead when they were in that nation.
 
"Well unless someone else knows the Earth Kingdom and wants to lead us, I guess you guys don't really have a choice huh?"

Fang stood proudly, his Catbear emerging from under his shirt and running around his legs. "Now, I am but a fair and just leader. Everyone will work equally, water benders, you guys are in charge of keeping the water and making sure we don't run out. Fire benders, cooking I guess? I don't know what else we could use fire for. Wind benders, I heard you guys know how to gather fruits and berries, so you guys can handle that. Us earth benders will try and keep a clear path for us and of course make cool earth tents whenever we camp out. Let's go!"

Fang adjust the small bag hanging on his back, with his catbear running up on to his shoulder as he jumped off the platform he had made, wiping off the water that had been splashed on his face from before, feeling refreshed and inspired to face the world.

With the faith of the world on their back, the team began making their way towards the next location. Their goal was to make it to the shores of the Earth Kingdom as soon as possible and get a ride to the fire nation. After a long day of walking under the sun though, it was finally time to set up camp in a small forest filled with long pine trees that covered most of the sky.

"Alright, we can set up camp here. Now, I'm sorry to inform you guys I will be sleeping alone, I know a lot of you are disappointed but I don't trust any of you enough to share a tent with me."
 
Nina felt dead inside as he said we would be the leader unless anyone else who knew the earth kingdom wanted to be the leader. They literally had another earth bender who would be a thousand times better than this flirty butthole! She grumbled and kicked the ground. This would be a horrible trip, and Nina was starting to regret helping to find the avatar. She sat on Kreen's back in defeat, feeling sick to her stomach. But at least her hood was up. It made her feel stronger and that any rules were optional if she thought they were stupid. This guy was idiotic, so if he made any rules, they would probably be optional, most likely! So, she took a deep breath to feel more confident, straightened her back, and followed the group.

Nina started setting up her own tent. She didn't need anyone's help to set up a tent, and she had her own anyway! Nina put all her energy from her annoyance into setting up the best gosh darn tent anyone would ever see! She listened to the things being said around and heard him talk, and of course, it was repulsive to hear! It made her even want to throw up!

Nina complained to Tazia. She walked over to Tazia and said, "If the flirty guy says one more word, I think I will throw up. Think we can make someone else the leader? I don't mind if the earth kingdom guard is the leader. He seems like an okay guy."
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
While Fang monologued, Tazia completely tuned him out. If anyone was about to die, she’d step in, but until then she pretty much didn’t give one zebra seal turd about what he had to say. The ride passed with a low buzz of idle conversation, through eavesdropping on which Tazia picked up the names of most everyone. She rode next to Nina and Kreen around the middle of the pack, occasionally dozing off on Yael’s unfaltering back.

They rode, walked, ran, or in some cases chattered incessantly on until the sky grew gray and the sun began to disappear beyond the horizon. Tazia would have been fine with spending a few sleepless nights to get to the edge of the Earth Kingdom faster, but it seemed the majority of the group, including their fearless leader, were a little more focused on maintaining their bodily health and way-too-normal sleep schedules.

In other words, wussies.

So while everyone else set up their own tents and sleeping areas, Tazia led Yael to the tree nearest to Nina’s patch, and stroked the tigerdillo as he flopped onto the ground, panting slightly. The only belongings she had were the clothes on her back and the various items in her pockets and belt, and she was quite used to sleeping under the stars. She’d just curl up next to Yael, as per usual, when it wasn’t her turn to keep watch. Assuming, of course, that their fearless leader even set up a watch. That seemed like the sort of thing he’d overlook.

As the light was fading and tents were still being set up, Tazia set about gathering loose sticks and low branches to form into a slightly messy pyramid. She surrounded the stick teepee with stones along the bottom, then set the wood aflame with a wave of her hand. There. Now people could see and be warm. Bet their all-powerful leader couldn’t do that. But Tazia wasn’t annoyed about how the leader thing had settled, no, not in the slightest.

Well, maybe in the slightest. But that was okay, because Tazia had caught sight of Nina approaching her. She prepared a snappy retort in case she was asked if she was doing okay, but to her pleasant surprise, Nina instead immediately began trash-talking Fang, whose name seemed to be purposely omitted from every mention of him like a petty form of rebellion. A form of rebellion that Tazia found kind of funny and almost enjoyed.

Tazia let out a wry laugh. “Yeah. Honestly, not the biggest fan of the Paladin, either, but at this point I’d agree just about anyone else would be better than Mr. Hero Complex. And I’m usually an equal opportunity hater.” She flicked a finger and a candle-sized flame wiggled in Fang’s direction before fizzling out. “Hasn’t even been a day and the sound of his voice already annoys me.” The tail end of her sentence grew strained slightly as she reached upwards in a luxurious stretch, her spine popping in at least three places. Across the campsite, Yael yawned. “Sure hope our fearless leader didn’t forget to set up a watch. Otherwise I’ll just stay up myself for a few hours then wake him up for second watch. See how he likes that.”
 
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"I mean, you have to respect that he takes his job seriously." She looked over at Mu, staring a bit, then turned to Tazia, "New nickname for Big Ego over there!" She laughed, pointing at Fang, "Yeah, he makes me want to throw up. I mean, what kind of guy thinks, "Oh WoW eVeRy GiRl MuSt LoVe Me!"" Nina mocked Fang, moved her head around, opened and closed her hands like they were talking, and then laughed.

Kreen walked over to the two, the snow leopard caribou, and sat down grinning, watching Nina cackle at her own joke. Kreen rubbed her head against Nina's face and then turned around to go meet Yael.

"Want me to join you in the watch? I want to see Flirty Face's face when he is woken up to do his job!" Nina said. As she spoke, she took her hood down quickly to remove the strings that held her little pigtails in the back and then the snowflake-like hairpieces. She let her hair cascade down her back, then slipped the hood on again. "I want to see this guy realize that maybe being a leader isn't what it's cracked up to be!" Nina gave a mischievous grin, taking the spear tip-off, then spinning it around.
 
Dareno and Motsuke were following the whole time, at least not interrupting anything. Dareno desperately wanted to get involved in another fight, but Motsuke wouldn't let him. "I wish something just downright attacked us," he sighed. Motsuke clenched his fist. "Screw that," he said angrily. Dareno started to sweat. "Motsuke...?" he murmured, worried. Suddenly, Motsuke lost control of himself, punching Dareno right in the nose. "Dude, what the hell?!" Dareno shouted at Motsuke. "I don't want to hear any of it!!" Motsuke yelled back.

"You're the one that punched me in the nose!!!"

"Quit bringin' this BS up!"
 

MemoryDoner

Previously Creeps You Don’t Need It
Arriving to the forest Luka scanned the area. The path to this forest wasn't a cool one, in fact it was quite humid. Because of this the man was sweating like a dog. Swaying his hands in various patterns he bended the salty drops off of his forehead and into the blue orb stored in his staff.

Refocusing his attention to his environment Luka saw, well, nothing. Lots of trees and lush plants but no place to camp out for the oncoming night. Sighing he readjusted his equipment before trekking onwards.

"At least its peaceful here, all I can hear is the quiet sway of the winds brushing against the trees. Though with the luck of a warrior like I, this won't last long."
 
Kerrora didn't really like the way Fang took over the group immediately. especially since he didn't know the way to the Fire Nation. Why should they have a leader who didn't even know how to go to where they were going when they couldn't afford to waste time. She knew what her family would've pushed her to do: take over. You're a natural-born leader, dear, they would've whispered into her ear. Take control of this situation. They will follow your clear guidance. By clear guidance, what they always meant was whatever they told her to say. That's how things worked. She recited what she was told to say. That would ensure whatever she said was perfect.

She was silent as a few people protested Fang's "role." A lack of respect would be what made him lose his leadership as quickly as he tried to achieve it. If people didn't see him as their leader, then his self-appointed role was nothing more than a title. However, it was decided that he would be the leader, at least for now. She didn't fully like his self-righteous attitude, but she wasn't going to complain. After all, the argument was over. She shouldn't have a say, anyways. Though, she felt bad for non-benders. Would they be able to lead in the state they were from? She had a feeling Koreal would be a decent leader.

She let that thought die away as she walked with the others, her silence unchanging. She didn't want the others to notice her too much. Especially if they had heard about the Tidal Spear Clan. She didn't want them to know that she was chosen to be the face of her generation in the clan. That would be awful if they knew. Everything she said, everything she did... she couldn't let them get a bad impression. If there is any chance they knew, she couldn't risk it. She already had her perfect child face plastered on.

She thought she never had to put this thing on again once she left! After all, she thought she wouldn't be seeing any more water benders! But she was extremely wrong. She couldn't even ask them if they had heard of her clan without being asked about it and her having to put on the mask anyways! Oh, how she wanted to cry, but she told herself she couldn't. Not even in front of her sister. Koreal might be upset that she could afford the luxury of being sad over some attention. Right? Right. She knew that Koreal was jealous. She didn't want her sister to feel worse. Could she ever cry? She thought to herself and quickly came to the conclusion: no. Once someone knew where she came from and what position she was in, she was to only show them the absolute best of her clan. She was so tired of her act.

When they stopped, Kerroa got to work, her expression blank. She had to make sure everything was in order. To do any less would sour her clan's reputation. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Motsuke punch Dareno in the face. She dropped the water she was bending back into a small stream in shock, but quickly got back to work. This was for Fang to deal with, not her. He was the leader, he would have to make those two play nice with one another. Her concern was with her duty. She wished she was with only her sister. That would've been amazing. Then she wouldn't feel trapped again.
 

| Korutesu |

Previously NotAPokemonRanger
Rei clearly was unhappy with Fang leading the group, especially so, since the group has much better choices of a leader than Fang. He didn't speak up about it though since the swordsman wouldn't really cooperate much, especially since most of these people there was chaotic and were fighting only half an hour ago. Plus, he couldn't really trust anyone to do anything right, especially not Fang.

He did notice that both of the females who were probably the most recognizable in the group with their actions, were the most upset about Fang being the leader, due to them calling him calling him "Flirty Face" or some names correlating with a flirt. The swordsman was also in agreement, since he observed that Fang thought of himself as a ladies man.

The young swordsman looked around their campsite, and noticed two people fighting, though he would just stay out of it cause he really didn't want to deal with anything or anyone at the moment. Plus, if Fang wanted to prove himself, he could straighten out these two by himself. But with that, he needed to find somewhere to sleep. He didn't want to sleep with anyone, and he didn't trust anyone here too. Since he'd been sleeping in a few trees during his traveling, it'd be fine for him to sleep in a tree during now, too.

Then, he enters the forest alone, most likely to grab some food for the group, since he didn't want to be dead meat, and look around in their surroundings for stuff that could be dangerous or helpful. In the corner of his eye, Rei noticed something, or someone in the corner of his eye. It was a man. He didn't know who that guy was, nor have seen him before.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

His hand on his sword, ready to sheath it if the mysterious man were to attack. He didn't want to lower his guard, especially in their current situation.
@MemoryDoner
 

MemoryDoner

Previously Creeps You Don’t Need It
Coming to a halt quickly Luka took a moment to reply. Analyzing the person in front of him. Tall, snowy hair, seems epically proficient with their blade, hostile, alert. I need to diffuse the situation before we engage into any sort of aggressive encounter.

Putting his weapon down Luka raised both of his arms. He locked his cold gaze onto the man. Not purposely, but also not conveying any hint of fear. Attempting to match the man's expression yet not in an aggressive demeanor.

"I'm Luka. A man on an adventure through out these lands. I'm just passing through these woods on my journey. Who are you? And why must you oppose me? Were we enemies?"

Slowly lowering his hands to indicate combat readiness the water form his pouch and orb burst oust, bubbling around his hands. Swirling around they e water would freeze into large ice spikes with little shards floating around.

"Are we enemies?"
 
"Whoa what a punch!" Fang leaned against a tree and watched the two brothers go at it. "Kick him, kick him!" He cheered on with a big grin on his face. "What a lively group. I'm gonna go do a little scouting, try not to kill each other!"

Fang began walking away from the group, his hands behind his head as he ignored the comments being made by him. They weren't the first and wouldn't be the last to talk about him in that manner and he simply didn't care. What he did care about though is the glory finding the avatar would bring him. In his mind, he didn't care if some of the group beat each other up, got angry or even left. The fact was, that he was going to stick to this mission until the end and there was nobody in the world who could stop him from doing so. That was until he reached a small lake after walking for a short distance. His jaw dropped at the sight of the female body in the water.

"Well hello there, lovely night, is it not?"
 

| Korutesu |

Previously NotAPokemonRanger
"I do not know who you are. If we were enemies, I do not recall."

He saw that he was also getting ready for a fight. Since there were ice spikes floating around. If Rei were to attack, he would be hurt. This wasn't a good situation for the swordsman, though maybe he can reflect the projectiles with his air-bending if the man were to attack. Rei gripped his sword, staying alert to his surroundings. He knew that this man was a water-bender, and he could use their environment, the forest, to attack him.

From what Rei had observed so far, this man wasn't any normal traveler, he clearly had knowledge about fighting, better at fighting than Rei could be, most likely. Just by looking at the man's stance, he clearly knew what he was doing, and it wasn't good to attack the man head on, but instead, provide small hits from all around.

He stopped gripping his sword. If this man was telling the truth, maybe his group could help him, and maybe he could help him become better at the sword. He looked straight at the man, like he was about to speak.

"I can tell you are much better at fighting than me. From your stance, to your actions. I am also traveling, with a group. If you would like to come, I shall show you around, on one condition. You may teach me so that I may be more fluent with the sword."
 

MemoryDoner

Previously Creeps You Don’t Need It
Luka stopped for a second, though still in a ready stance. Analyzing the pros and cons in his head at a rapid pace. If this man was telling the truth there could be great promise in the upcoming future. Though if he was lying there was a high chance of an upcoming trap. But worst comes to worst Luka would be able to fight back, at least long enough to make an exit from the scene.

“I’ll follow you for a bit. However if you what day is a fallacy I will make sure a blade of ice pierces through you and every one of your ally’s hearts. Do you understand?”

Slowly lowering his hands the ice would crush itself down and melt back into it’s liquid form. Restoring to two separate orbs he put them down to his side. Slowly luring it back into the orb and pouch, keeping a small ice knife hidden in the palm and knuckle of his left hand.
 
Koreal watched quietly as the group argued about leadership. The guy who elected himself leader seemed a bit arrogant, and she wasn't sure how qualified he was either. However, she didn't know enough about anyone in the group to suggest a better option, so she stayed silent on the matter. After all, she certainly wasn't going to step up. She was practically dragged into all this; only here by the merest chance, a twist of fate. And besides... benders probably wouldn't be too fond of a non-bender trying to boss them around.

"It doesn't matter how good I am. Until I can beat 'em all, they probably won't respect me. They'd prefer Kerrora as a leader. She's smart, and she's amazing with her spear as well as her bending. Not that she probably wants to lead any more than I do, though. We're not really here for the same reason as anyone else... or, I guess, we weren't. But now? Honestly, I think we can make this work. We can go along with 'em, help a bit to find the Avatar, and in the meantime I can train against all kinds of people. Probably better than wandering directly from nation to nation trying to search out sparring partners every town we visit."

Her thoughts continued to follow a similar line as the group began to move. Eventually, though, her mind came back to the road and those around her. She noticed that Kerrora was being quiet, but figured she was just a bit shy and uncomfortable. After all, they'd been thrown into a weird situation with a bunch of strangers. Koreal certainly didn't feel like chatting with any of them until she actually had a reason to. Maybe it'd be wise to get closer to their traveling companions. It certainly seemed logical. But... it could wait. Integration wasn't really a top priority to Koreal. She cared more about her sister, and about her mission. In view of the latter, though, she did decide to study the others as they traveled and try to figure out who were benders and who were not.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Later that evening, the group finally came to a halt. If Koreal had been in charge, she probably would have stopped earlier. The sisters had been on their feet for most of the day, after all, and had seen plenty of action. Initially she'd hoped to find lodgings in Omashu and be in bed well before sunset, but those plans had obviously changed. She'd seen a nice place where she and Kerrora could have camped about half an hour ago, and another and hour before that, but both had been too small for the whole group to spread out. So by the time their self-elected leader finally called it quits for the day, Koreal was more than a little grumpy and tired. She primarily ignored everyone else who was setting up the camp, opting to take a short break and wait for Kerrora to finish doing... whatever it was that she was doing, before getting her and her sister's things set up for the night. Unfortunately, once she had sat down on the forest floor and closed her eyes, she couldn't entirely tune out the babble of the people around her. She heard snippets of conversation about the leader that seemed less than friendly, and eventually the noises of a scuffle. She cracked an eye open to look for the source, wondering if she should interfere, but quickly decided that she had no reason to kick anyone's butts yet. Given the chance to spar someone, she would certainly be happy for a bit of a scrap, but if those two were arguing, she had no right nor reason to intervene. They weren't her friends, after all.

However, now that her peace was disturbed, she hauled herself back up and started setting up a spot for her sister and herself to sleep, the farthest away from the others that she could reasonably select. After all, the farthest spot was a mess of tree roots and rocks that she'd almost certainly get no sleep on. Before long she'd removed some stray sticks from the spot she selected, bringing them over to a fire someone had lit to serve as extra fuel for it as the night went on. She stretched for a moment, letting the warmth seep into her. It brought memories to her mind, sitting around driftwood campfires on cold arctic nights as the stars gleamed above. For a moment, she felt homesick. She found herself starting to wish she'd never left, but quickly stamped that thought out. Overall, the trip so far had been one of the best experiences in her life, even if it was a little crazy and stressful sometimes, and giving that up would be ridiculous. She shook her head, and stepped away from the campfire. She wouldn't let those thoughts stay.

Everything would be just fine.

They'd find what they were looking for, whether that was martial protection, safety, or even the avatar. She'd have her sister's back, and Kerrora would have hers. Even if the world went to puffin walrus crap, they'd make sure everything was okay for each other.

If she didn't keep her sister safe, if she wasn't okay because Koreal had been selfish and dragged her on this trip... she'd never forgive herself.
 
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