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Post by Max on May 5, 2009 22:06:31 GMT -5
Ash inhaled the cold air deeply and exhaled with a cough. How can these guys live in this area?! He coughed out the cold air from his lungs. He sighed, wondering why the Fire Lord sent him here. Of course he was on an ambassador mission, but it was just...so...COLD! And then his ears picked up something. Glancing around, he left his comrades to see what was over the ice hill.
Peeking over a pile of snow, Ash spotted penguins! A huge grin emerged on his lips. "I've heard of these creatures...and the game..." His grin turned mischievous. "...penguin sledding!" Jumping out of his hiding place, he tackled one of the penguins.
A few minutes later he was sliding down the icy hills like a slide.
"WHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" He cried out with glee!
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Post by Trinn on May 5, 2009 23:20:27 GMT -5
The snow ball facinated Bala. It was cold but soft, beautiful but dangerous. Tossing it up, she caught in her other hand. "Amazing." she muttered. A mischiveous smile lit her features. Turning sharply, she tossed the snowball at a tree. The majority of snow clung to the rough bark, but the rest toppled back to it's snowy brethren on the ground. Sighing in satisfaction, Bala ambled to the left.
She was here with her father on a sort of unofficial vacation. He was here on official business for the earth kingdom, checking up on the water tribes or something. After much begging on her part, he had finally agreed on her coming. They were not yet to the water tribe, and had camp set up not far away. While Bala's father had been collecting firewood, she had wondered away. Now, she stood at the base of a sloping hill.
Bala jumped and twirled when she heard a gleeful shout. Her eyes widened at the sight coming towards them. A man riding some sort of animal was headed towards her. With a gasp, Bala set her feet wide apart, then stomped down with one foot. A slim line of earth rose from the ground, neatly deterring the man's path away from her.
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Post by Max on May 5, 2009 23:46:08 GMT -5
Ash's eyes widened at the sight before him - a woman was in the way of their path! Uh oh! He thought and before he had time to react, the path before them sloped to the side. An earthbender? He thought as the penguin squeaked. As he was in the air, he lost hold of the penguin and thudded into a pile of snow, not too far from the girl. His stomach plummeted, but exhilaration was there as well.
"Oof!" He proclaimed as he shook the snow off of his head. "Wow!" He exclaimed. "That was awesome!" He cried out, and then remembered he had an audience. "Uh, I mean," he cleared his throat, "that was an interesting experience of water tribe recreational activities." He stated in a soldierlike tone.
He got up and dusted the rest of the snow off. "Uh, hello." He smiled nervously. "How's it going?"
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Post by Trinn on May 6, 2009 0:26:17 GMT -5
Heart beating wildly from the near accident, Bala stood straight and, remembering manners, bowed to the guy before her. Straightning from the bow, she grinned widely. "What were you doing!" she asked, her voice full of excited curiosity. "It looked like fun." Spotting the animal nearby, Bala sloshed through the snow, her fur rimmed parka hindering her movements, and grabbed it. The animal, a penguin, squeaked in a disgruntled manner. In a soothing way, she gently ran a hand over it's sleek head. The penguin settled, then set a wary eye on the man. Bala laughed and looked as well. "It seems you've upset him."
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Post by Max on May 6, 2009 0:48:55 GMT -5
Ash laughed nervously as he placed an arm behind his head. "Uh...yeah...well, I don't blame him...I tackled him earlier..." He chuckled. "It's called penguin sledding." He added. "I was just...well...I came to the Southern Water Tribe on an Ambassador assignment for Fire Lord Zuko....but...well..I...just spotted those guys...and well...I thought...er...that to be a good ambassador, you need to get to know the culture...so...yea....um..." He laughed nervously again. "Uh, sorry about almost running into you...its kinda hard to steer sometimes..." He shifted his weight from one metal leg to the normal one. "Uh, do you wanna try?" He stammered out, giving the girl one of his innocent-i-wasn't-messing-around, smiles.
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Post by Trinn on May 6, 2009 1:00:09 GMT -5
Fire nation! This insight both excited and frightened Bala. This was the first person she had met outside of Ba Sing Se, the first person of a different nation. She couldn't help but stare and try to find any sort of striking difference that set him apart. Mild dissapointment came when she found nothing. He just seemed another citizen of the city, except for perhaps the color of his eyes. Her fear stemmed from the knowledge of the war that had ended four years after her birth. Many people in the earth kindom still held a certain fear for the fire nation, and that fear was passed into Bala. Her better nature won over though, and she returned a smile. "It seems we are both here for the same reason, then. My father and I come from the Earth Kingdom to also speak to the water tribe. Well, mainly my father. I'm just here on vacation." The penguin still in her arms, she bowed again to the fire nation ambassador. "It is a pleasure to meet you, ambassador. I am Bala Dao." Straightening, she glanced askance at the young man. "And yes, I would love to try this penguin sledding! I didn't know people of state could be so fun!"
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Post by Max on May 6, 2009 1:12:28 GMT -5
"Oh. That's exciting." Ash smiled. "I'm glad there is another nation here to talk about ways we can help the world." He looked at her for a moment, wondering if she held a grudge against his nationality...like some of the other nations did. She didn't seem to, so he smiled . "The pleasure is mine." He chimed as he bowed in respect. "I am Ash Zhao." His smiled brightened when she accepted his offer to penguin sled with him. "Excellent! It's quite exhilarating. Well, of course, you need a penguin, which you got." He pointed at the penguin in her hands. "The next thing to do, is fine a nice BIG slope! Hop onto the penguin and enjoy the ride." He pointed at the slope that he had come from as he talked. "Now...to find another penguin to tackle..." He shot a look back a forth, trying to find one. "Hmm...I think they're all on the top of the slope! Come on! we'll go back up and then you can try it!" He replied enthusiastically.
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Post by Trinn on May 7, 2009 13:28:45 GMT -5
Laughing, Bala made her way up the slope, stumbling at times through the deep snow. The penguin in her hands squeaked in protest. "Sorry little fellow." she mumbled, "just one round, ok?" Reaching the top, Bala encountered a flock of penguins. "Oh. Well, I guess I could just grab another." Letting the frazled penguin down, she quickly grabbed another, this one oblivious to it's fate. Ready, she moved to the edge of the hill and looked down. Only now she realized how steep it was. Looking to Ash, she waited for further instruction.
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Post by Max on May 7, 2009 19:31:26 GMT -5
Ash sloshed back up the slope and glanced around the area for penguins. He noticed that Bala grabbed a new one, but he was having more trouble with claiming his. Rubbing his hands together he got ready to pounce on another one. "Stay...little fella...its okay...we're gonna just have some fun....stay...stay..." He held out his hands trying to calm the penguin in front of him. "STAY!" he shouted and pounced, but was meet with a face full of snow. "Pfft." He spat out the snow from his mouth as he swore he heard the penguin laughing at him as it waddled away. He sighed and placed his head on his elbow, wondering which penguin would be his next victim.
"Stay!" He shouted several times and met the snow several times.
After several minutes he finally succeeded in tackling one. Snickering he returned to Bala. "Haha...sorry..." He said as the snow was melting off his hair. "okay. just get on the penguin now...and go with the flow!" He smiled as he hopped on his penguin and slide down, with a loud "YAHOO!"
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Post by Trinn on May 8, 2009 11:50:55 GMT -5
Stepping to the edge of the hill, Bala hesitated, experiencing a moment of fear. "I can earth bend. I'm not going to get hurt." Bracing herself, Bala leapt forward, skillfully placed the penguin beneath her, and soared down the snowy slope. Unbridled laughter filled her lungs as the cold wind tore at her hair, as she slid at an incredible speed. The penguin cried out in agitation, but otherwise went along with it. The slope eventually evened out, and Bala slid to a stop. Rolling off her penguin, she layed on her back and stared up at the crisp sky. "That was amazing!" she exclaimed, sitting up. So, this was what it was like outside Ba Sing Se. I never want to go back. she thought. Standing, Bala brushed the snow off her parka, then looked around for Ash.
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Post by Max on May 8, 2009 12:23:05 GMT -5
Ash and his penguin had crashed into a large pile of snow. The penguin popped out with irritation and scrambled off before Ash had a chance to escape from the freezing snow. Shivering, Ash clambered out.
"Its..cold!!!" He shivered as he rolled out of his entrapment. Sighing in relief for air, but freezing all the same, Ash rolled himself over and spotted Bala not far from him. "Yo!" He stated, trying to act cool, but his shivers were becoming more pronounced.
"Now I remembered why I hate the cold." He muttered as he got to his feet. Shaking some snow off of him, he concentrated on the flow of chi inside him and emitted hot steam from his skin, causing him to be slightly dry. However, since the steam came from his body, he didn't notice that his feet had melted some of the snow underneath him. He fell 2 feet into the snow.
"Blast it!" He proclaimed as he sunk and felt the cold flakes enter his boots. He sighed and gave a lolly grin at Bala. "I don't know how people can stand actually living here." He sighed as he stared at his feet.
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Post by Trinn on May 8, 2009 12:38:49 GMT -5
When steam began floating off Ash's body, Bala's eyes widened. How was he doing such a thing! She laughed as he sank deeper into the snow. "It's not that bad." she said. Bala suddenly stomped the ground with her left foot, and the earth underneath Ash rose, lifting him from his self-afflicted trap. "There you go." Bala said, smling smugly. "So, how did you get yourself to steam? Are you a... firebender." she asked softly. It was amazing, she thought, that the two of them could actually get along. 15 years was all that had passed since the hundred year war. Some parts of Ba Sing Se were still recovering from the wrath of the firenation.
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Post by StillettoMai on May 8, 2009 12:50:55 GMT -5
From somewhere nearby, Kiya sat near the edge of the cave, keeping a wary eye out for her captors. Maybe while they were gone, she could slip out and find her way home. The problem was, she had no idea how to get there from here. She had never been outside the borders of the Fire Nation before, and though she had seen maps and knew where the Water Tribes were, she had no idea what direction to go from here.
She heard some joyful, playful shouts nearby, and from next to her, Jack started squeeking. She drew in breath to call for help, but the next minute, out of nowhere, one of the men return. He slapped her hard upside the head.
"Get back in there!" he called, kicking Jack aside and shoving Kiya further into the cave. She cowered back, hoping beyond hope that some kind stranger might find her and help her.
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Post by Max on May 8, 2009 13:26:21 GMT -5
"Whoa!" Ash planted himself as Bala earthbended to get him out of the snow. "Thanks." He smiled as he shook the snow off his boots. He absentmindly hoped that the snow didn't jam its way into the metal. Most likely not, but he always wondered the limitations of the metal leg and arm. His smile faltered a bit; not many other nations took kindly to the fire nation after the war. He had made a few friends along his journey, but there were always some that were still mad, even though he never took any part of it.
"Uh...yeah...does that bother you?" He asked.
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Post by StillettoMai on May 9, 2009 21:55:07 GMT -5
Kiya cowered back in the cave and stared outside, glancing from time to time at her captor. He viciously kept his eyes on her. She wished she knew who he was; it was terrifying enough being kidnapped without knowing the reason why, being without anything to defend herself.
Suddenly, Jack got up and waddled out of the cave. Kiya's eyes widened and she felt sad. The man let the penguin go, hardly giving it a glance. Kiya looked after it forlornly. Her one friend in this strange place and Jack was leaving.
But Jack was a smart penguin. He had a plan. He had seen the penguin sledders tormenting his kin. If he could get one of them to ride on him, maybe he could lead them to Kiya. He waddled over to the strangers and tried to look as sledable as possible.
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