| By King Bumis Heir | Genre | Rating | Reviews | Updates |
| More from King Bumis Heir | Action/Adventure/Drama/Comedy/Romance | PG-13 | None | No update page |
Author's Notes[]
A filler chapter I've been wanting to do for a VERY long time, I hope you enjoy this, dear readers. Special guest writer did the Tale of Qiang Zhen, Mr_A_Firebender of AO3, who's been wanting to collaborate with me for a VERY long time.
Here are some of his works:
Overview[]
Tales of the lives of Unaraq, Aloi, Rong Yan, Yua, Qiang Zhen, and Jushi during an unimportant week of their lives.
Chapter 15: Tales of Ba Sing Se[]
Book 3: Earth
Chapter 15: Tales of Ba Sing Se
Tale of Unaraq[]
The skies were clear in the early morning hues of purple transitioned into blue and light blue. The sun peeped out of the eastern side of the city's walls. Clouds steadily moved toward the Middle Ring while Unaraq was the first wake, he opened the shutters of one of the windows and stuck his head outside to stare at the sky. It was early morning the sun's light slowly crawled to fill the streets with brightness.
He gently closed the shutters as he glanced over to his girlfriend who slept soundly in bed. He didn't want to wake her instead he left the room and headed over to the bathroom. The room held a large tub made of porcelain enamel which sat on a flatbed of cast iron. It was filled with water from yesterday was not taken out by Rong Yan like he was supposed to. Unaraq skipped the bath however and instead shaved, then he fixed his hair.
He had errands to attend to before he took Aloi out for a date in the Upper Ring nightlife as they planned. And by errands, he meant he wanted to explore the Upper Ring and appreciate it for what it held. After he cleaned himself up a bit and brushed his teeth with the ostrich horse bristle toothbrush and some animal fat mixed with mint he headed out of the bathroom and out of the home. He was glad the Earth King gave Rong Yan a home where they could stay while he and his friends were in the city.
The skies were pinkish and orange while the Sun shone a bit, the city guard patrolled the nearly empty streets that would soon fill with nobles. Unaraq explored the Upper Ring as the early morning transitioned into morning and then late morning. He saw a great many things siheyuans sporadically built all over the noble district. There was a big pond on the northern part of the Upper Ring, businesses and other services opened their doors to the public.
He saw a poetry club named the 'Five-Seven-Five Society', he wasn't one for poetry or haikus though. There were statues of Duryajian Avatars around the Ring, statues of greats like Avatar Duryaja at the entrance of the palace gates. Avatar Giralal in a nomad sitting position, Avatar Avani, and a plaque in front of an estate that once belonged to the Avatar. There was a museum dedicated to all the Earth Avatars from the first Earth Avatar to most recently Avatar Ku Tei.
He wandered off in a random direction and found himself in the War Quarter where the recruits that enlisted from the city, and the Provincial Guard trained daily. He observed them as trained and while they repeated their formations until the recruits got them down. His eyes roamed from the men and near a smith shop, he saw a short, pale, young woman. He was intrigued when he witnessed her strike a wooden dummy in some sort of fighting style where her fists, and sometimes jabs were used to hit the dummy in certain areas.
The young woman felt as if a presence was around her person she took a gander to find a stranger entranced as she trained. At first, she felt violated and squinted her eyes at him and she glowered at the man. She felt threatened she took a stance and faced the man and shuffled a few steps toward the man, "Who are you? You creep!" she questioned the stranger.
"Creep? What? No! I-" Unaraq stammered his answer then he sighed and said, "I came to watch the soldiers then I noticed the way you moved and I've never seen that style of fighting. I was intrigued and wanted to see if you were willing to teach me."
"That's what the last weirdo said all he wanted to do was eye my hindquarters. So what makes you any different from the last guy?" she remarked then asked Unaraq further.
"I wouldn't have bothered to ask if all I wanted to do was leer at you, and wouldn't I have opened up in some witty one-liner to get you to like me?" responded Unaraq then he returned an echo question.
"I...suppose so, stranger. Fine, I'll teach you some basics but I'm watching you I've mastered the art of pretending I don't see creeps staring at me," the woman approved she then warned Unaraq, that she'd possibly strike him if she caught him staring at her.
She extended her arm out to introduce herself but she kept the evil eye on him, "I'm Dian Yali, just call me Yali though. I'm sure you'll get confused about my surname being my first name."
"I'm Unaraq," he returned the introduction, she was a bit confused for about a second, "How often do you get discriminated now since the war started?" she wondered curiously.
"Uh..not at all honestly," answered Unaraq.
"It's not often I meet Tribesmen-Qiangdian born citizens," commented Yali.
"Oh..I'm not a citizen here, I'm Tribesmen, Southern Tribesmen," brought up Unaraq, Yali pivoted around and jabbed Unaraq's left collar bone.
"Ow! I'm with the Avatar!" cried out Unaraq he rose his arms in the air and surrendered.
"The Avatar, eh? What's his name and what does he look like?" she doubted him and so she inquired further about the Avatar. She read about the current Avatar from the Fire Nation, so she had some minor details about him.
"His name is Rong Yan, and he's an immature goofball who's barely learning to be a mature Avatar with immense power. He's tall, pale, and has brown hair what more could you want?" responded Unaraq.
Yali crossed her arms, "When's his birthday?" she asked Unaraq.
"I don't know! In my culture everyone's birthday is on the first day of the new year!" replied Unaraq he flinched because he waited for another part of his body to throb in pain.
"Does he have a girlfriend or a wife?" she inquired.
"You know I'm not sure he even likes women," answered Unaraq.
"Are you going to teach me or not?" worried Unaraq, Yali gave a slight smirk and then giggled, "Fine, fine. I just wanted an excuse to strike you."
Unaraq gasped, women are evil he thought to himself, he followed Yali over to the dummy near the shop. She pointed at it, "This here is a wooden dummy which I use to strike in the appropriate locations."
"The art of pressure points is known as chi-blocking, this is the most powerful weapon against a bender. Chi-blocking allows you to temporarily sever a bender's chi which prevents them from being able to bend," explained Yali.
"Woah what?" gasped Unaraq.
"I've heard about pressure points I thought they were used for healing methods?" Unaraq recollected the times he's encountered or heard about this form of fighting.
He asked her another question which she declined, "Yes, while it is used for healing it can be used offensively to subdue a bender, most benders can't fight like a non-bender. You render them useless which makes for an easier fight."
"You've got me interested tell me more," said Unaraq, he was intrigued by the idea and he wanted to learn more.
Yali padded over to a large block made of metal this was a work table which her father used to improve on armor he smithed for noblemen. There she had a scroll rolled up, she clutched the scroll and unraveled it to reveal a painting with a human body on it. There had been arrows that identified different pressure points in the body.
Yali pointed at different ones as she started from the top of the head and described each one, "Here is the mind's eye chakra, this is a pressure point not often used but it's helpful against Nensho Tribesmen from the Bazaru island in the Fire Nation, I know what you're going to say..." she paused.
"The Nensho Tribe isn't a thing anymore, Yali. They're called combustionbenders...blah...blah...blah," she rambled.
"Uh, what?" Unaraq was confused.
"Soanywayas rambling about nonsense, anyway there's also the temples which are on the sides of your head. Eyes aren't a pressure point but it's important to hit someone in their eyes to incapacitate them, there are the chin, throat, collar bones, the solar plexus is also a key pressure point. You can punch someone hard enough there and you'll knock the wind out of them. There's the base of the ribs, and my favorite the groin. It's more effective against a male attacker though," she apologized then continued her description of the pressure points.
"There are back points as well, like the small of the back, this is the center of mass which allows us to balance, between the shoulder blades, the kidneys, the coccyx which is in the hindquarters, back of the thigh, knee, calf, and Akiresu's tendon," she finished.
"Who's Akiresu?" Unaraq inquired.
"He was some warlord from the Fire Nation who was killed by an arrow that struck his ankle, or so the legend tells," chattered Yali.
"Study the chart and use the dummy, I'll guide you along," said Yali, Unaraq stared at the chart and examined it further as he aimed to remember the basics.
After about an hour, Yali directed him toward the wooden dummy where she rose her voice and called out different points and struck an invisible person. Unaraq copied her movement and went for the mind's eye first, a good hard punch to the skull would surely disorient an attacker.
Hours later, the sun had been setting Unaraq, and Yali were drenched in sweat as they shared a good laugh. Unaraq shook his left hand it hurt after he hit the wooden dummy too hard when he wasn't supposed to. Yali grabbed his hand gently and turned it over to see his palm, "My sister knows how to palm read it's some mystical thing that she learned from the studies of some immortal. She taught a bit but you can read someone's future," she described.
"What does my future oh great and mystical Yali?" Unaraq jested as he wriggled his fingers in motion that indicated his new friend was magical.
She steadily and softly ran her index through his palm and its creases, "Well the lifeline says you'll live a long healthy life. The wisdom line says, wow it says you're currently toxic but you grow into your position?" she claimed before she got confused.
"Hmm I wonder what that means, the love line says your love life will be stable someday...but you'll see heartbreak far in the future. Your fate line makes the wisdom line more clear, this position you'll be a great leader someday. While marriage line doesn't mention a marriage, it just says a lengthy relationship that ends but in the end you'll be okay because your future partner leaves you with something behind in return," speculated Yali.
"Wait what? I never get married?" blurted out Unaraq.
"Well that's what it says here, I could be wrong you could ask my sister but she's not here at the moment. If you're wondering if your partner dies they don't, but it doesn't explain further," maintained Yali.
Unaraq grabbed her hand, "Let me do yours now!"
She giggled, "Okay."
"Your lifeline says you'll live up to a thousand years old, imagine that living longer than the Avatar. Your wisdom line says you're wise at a young age and it says, you're a go-getter, an independent woman. Which is hard to find nowadays, your love line mentions stability and a possible fling..." paused Unaraq.
Yali suddenly gave Unaraq a peck on the lips, he returned the kiss and held her cheek while he was in the moment. He bugged out his eyes when he noticed what he did and stopped. Yali concerned tilted her head to the left and worryingly asked him, "Unaraq what's wrong?"
"I-I apologize I can't continue this further...thank you for the lessons but-I have a girlfriend...I shouldn't have-" he stammered his words as he apologized to Yali and then ran off. The young woman lowered her head and frowned before she headed off inside.
Tale of Aloi[]
Aloi whimpered awake as if something bothered her the light breeze the blew through her and Unaraq's room opened the gently closed shutters that were properly shut. She noticed the space next to her was empty Unaraq must've awakened early and didn't wake her up. She peeked out the window to see that the Sun was on the eastern side of the city and just a bit above the horizon.
It was morning, had exited her room after being fully dressed and rushed to get ready she had hoped to catch Unaraq in the bathroom. When she arrived it was empty and the water was gone from the tub perhaps Rong Yan already used it and threw it out. New wood was stacked under the metal plate underneath the tub. But no fire was lit, soon she knew someone would bathe, she got herself freshened up and ran off to the outhouse.
At the outhouse, she heard someone hum she thought it was her boyfriend without knocking she rushed inside the room. Two half walls separated both holes, tiles were embedded into the ground. Jushi was behind one of the half walls in a squat when he heard footsteps and darted his head toward the entrance he came face-to-face with Aloi.
Jushi screamed like a girl he was startled by his friend's girlfriend who didn't knock. Normally, he'd be okay with Unaraq or Rong Yan if they entered but their rule was Aloi needed to be alone in the outhouse when the time came.
The stench hit her nose and she wasn't in there long on the way out she cried out, "I saw nothing, I promise!"
Aloi ran out of the outhouse and headed back into the bathroom that thankfully, was still empty. She searched through the perfumes she purchased a few days ago, there were different fragrances she loved. One was a lavender scent, another was cucumbers, and then Unaraq's favorite was an import from the South Pole, a mountain berry scent. She sprayed the mountain berry perfume she had hoped that the stench of Jushi was eliminated by the fragrance of mountain berries. Even if she only in there for about ten seconds, she saw no sign of Unaraq and headed out the door herself.
She was glad that Earth King Qiang Zhen, went out of his way to offer Rong Yan a free summer home for the time being while he visited the capital. She felt bad having to bother Dashi about their lasting and possibly unwelcomed stay in her siheyuan. Aloi roamed off to the west, unlike Unaraq who went off into the east. She passed by a neighborhood of low-class nobles near the wall between the Lower-Upper Ring and the Upper-Middle Ring. Aloi went toward a small district of services in the lower section of the Upper Ring. This area included spas, a library, a few museums, other services that benefitted the nobility class of the city.
Aloi was awestruck as she absorbed her surroundings and looked at the different sized buildings as she advanced further down the street. While distracted she crashed into a noblewoman who wandered down the street as well. Pages of parchment flew all around them scattered around the young woman frowned and shouted, "Hey, watch where you're going! If I lose my pages I'll sue you! Don't you know who my father is?!"
"I'm...so sorry I was distracted by the beauty of this street alone," she apologized then made an excuse as to why she was distracted.
She used suction with airbending to neatly stack the papers in order within her empty hand. The young noblewoman rubbed her head while Aloi read the writing on the pages, "You're a writer?" she inquired further.
The young woman had lightly tanned skin, small dark brown eyes, and jet black hair that was held in a bun. She had a floral pin that held two vertical loops of hair on top of her head, a famous hairstyle often worn by middle-class and upper-class noblewomen, mostly teen girls.
The young woman nodded, "Yes."
Aloi noticed she hadn't handed the woman her pages yet she uttered, "Oh," she handed the papers clenched in between her hands to the stranger.
Aloi related to the woman and shared that she too was a writer, "Me too, I published a historical fiction story about four years ago. There are only about a hundred copies now but the original is tucked away in some library in the Jongmu Air Temple."
The young noblewoman was a bit confused, "Which air temple is that again?" she asked Aloi.
"Oh, right you wouldn't know, my apologies. It's the Southern Air Temple where some male Air Nomads live," answered Aloi.
The woman introduced herself, "I'm Min."
"Nice to meet you, Min. I'm Aloi," Aloi returned the greetings and they shook hands.
"You mentioned you wrote a book, what's it about?" Min inquired further interested.
"The setting is during the time of Earth King Yao, it's a romance novel about an educated Air Nomad nun named Vahati and her lover a Qiangdian soldier from the province of Chaopin named, Pantu. It mostly revolves around their love and how politics at play affect their relationship. It also mentions the resistance that overthrow King Yao," described Aloi.
"Hmm," slightly nodded Min, "That's quite a book summary, what's it called? I'm interested in reading it maybe I'll find it in one of the libraries here," asked Min before she said she might be able to find it. Aloi mentioned the name, "Passionate Adversaries."
"What about you? What's this story you have going for yourself?" questioned Aloi, Min told her, "Hold that thought would you like to accompany me to my new book club?"
"I'd be delighted," smiled Aloi she strolled beside her new friend to the noblewoman's book club as they continued their conversation.
Min responded, "This book right here is about a blind Earth Queen and her one-eyed dueling Consort, the book I'm writing is in first-person so it's from the perspective of the Consort, his name is Morihito."
"I'm still debating on a name for it, I was thinking the Records of the Thirty-Third Earth Queen, or the Wacky Adventures of the One-Eyed Badgermole," mentioned Min.
"Wait did you say, blind Earth Queen?" wondered Aloi, Min nodded her head, "Yes."
"Wasn't there a book similar to that about a blind Fire Lady and her one-eyed Fire Lord? I remember it was written by some man in the Fire Nation, the story was unsuccessful however, I recall he only sold about five copies," recollected Aloi.
Min shrugged it off and declined, "Never heard of it honestly, must be a coincidence that I wrote a similar tale. I hope my version is more successful."
Min felt embarrassed about earlier and apologized to her new friend Aloi, "Can I apologize about the threat from earlier? I felt bad after I said that."
Aloi laughed, "It's fine I'd be upset too if some moron ran into me."
"You did mention if I knew who your father was," remembered Aloi.
"Oh..yes of course, I come from the Tong family. My family is also descended from the former Tong Dynasty. I carry royal blood in my veins but it's too late for someone within my family to claim their rightful place on the throne. One of my ancestors had issues with Earth King Yao at the time, he ordered my ancestor's execution and so they fled to the Oma Kingdom where another of my ancestors was governor," disclosed Min.
"My family prospered further in the Hou Tian province, and my father was added into the inheritance of my great-grandfather. When he died my father became governor he requested King Gao if he could change the province's name to Tong. And so now my home is known as Tong province," resumed the noblewoman.
"So then shouldn't you be scared that you're here in the Qiangda Kingdom?" guessed Aloi.
"No, my family has influenced the Qiangda Kingdom as well, we've had family in the Qiangda Kingdom just like the Oma Kingdom, so because of our influence King Qiang Zhen pardoned my family's name," answered Min.
"Aren't you related to Avatar Xi?" guessed Aloi, "Mhm, his daughter Bo and her family remained in the Qiangda Kingdom when she married Lord Qici's adviser. While my ancestor Bao married the governor of the Hou Tian province and stayed in the Oma Kingdom," acknowledged Min.
"That's fascinating, so what do you normally do in Tong province?" Aloi asked her.
"I normally stick to being home other than my poetry club in Hou Tian, and the other branch in Lu'an. I attempted to expand here in Ba Sing Se but according to the Office of Qiangdian Commerce, however, declined my application. So I'm not too happy about that there already is one on the eastern portion of the Upper Ring. It's called, Five-Seven-Five society, you're only allowed in through three invitations from members," explained Min. She mentioned about being beat to the poetry club thing by a society that practiced haikus on a few days of the week.
"Anyways, we're here!" beamed Min, Aloi turned to face the small building that was across the way from a luxury pet shop where breeders sold their animals and rare creatures could be bought here by nobles. Min went up the steps and glimpsed back at Aloi and insisted that she came in, "Are you coming inside?"
Aloi nodded and jogged up the steps and followed her new friend inside the club's walls were painted a bright green color that reflected off the sun's rays when the sunset. Some shelves were placed around stuffed with books of many different kinds. Besides Min, were three other teenage girls that waited for her one of them stepped forward, "Min you're late, what happened?"
"I met a new friend on the way another writer I decided to invite her to join us," answered the noblewoman as she glanced back at Aloi. The girl looked over to see the Air Nomad nun, Aloi met eyes with her and Aloi smiled and waved.
She remained quiet the girl approached her and introduced herself right away, "Hi, I'm Yuzhou Tidai, and you are?" she smiled.
"I'm Aloi.." Aloi paused then thought about a possible surname then she realized that Unaraq didn't have one either, "Nope just Aloi."
The second girl neared the potential member of the club and greeted her as well, "I'm Linggan Shi."
The third and last girl introduced herself as well she shook Aloi's hand and gave a bright smile, "My name is Fensi Ai!"
"We just invented a new style of writing where we use intellectual properties of other writers and write our own stories," all three of them said.
Aloi confused showed a quizzical expression on her face, "Isn't that considered stealing?" she implored.
"You might think that but we're giving credit to the original authors of the fan work of their stories. But we're making money off of it," responded Ai.
"Hmm it's the making money part that still seems like you're plagiarizing their work," commented Aloi.
Shi remarked, "Hardly we're just using characters from a particular book, poem, or play, we don't even have to use someone else's characters. Historical figures and/or random people from that time period could be thrown into a story we write."
"For example, I'm writing a story based on Avatar Keirou, same life story but I'm changing it a bit and giving him Avatar Mun Jin's bending abilities. Could you imagine if Avatar Keirou could fly?" hypothesized Tidai.
"What if that's seen as true history? You're ripping away Keirou's and Mun Jin's achievements and giving them to their other lives," guessed Aloi.
"The Avatar is the Avatar no matter what he or she does it's still an equal accomplishment they're all great," disagreed Tidai.
"I disagree Tidai, there were some bad Avatars, that guy from the Fire Nation and the Avatar from the Junggar Tribe nearly two thousand years ago," brought up Ai.
"They're forgotten because frankly, no one cares about them anymore," countered Tidai.
Shi interrupted them all from their argument, "I, however, want to rewrite this famous Fire Nation play, the Passion of Self-Slaughter. It's great but I want to get rid of Aijo and write myself in, Daizo is just so dreamy," paused Shi, she sighed, "I wish there was a nobleman like Daizo that would sweep me off my feet."
"She's crazy don't listen to her, she's just desperate for romance and she's also lustful for carnal desires," joked Ai.
"I agree, Passion of Self-Slaughter is a masterpiece why would you want to butcher it?" blurted out Aloi. Shi gasped at Aloi then pivoted around and stomped off as she murmured something to herself. Ai shook her head with disapproval at her friend Shi.
"I had an idea to write some fanwork I call it, "shipping" it's where you force two characters or people into an unlikely relationship that works. Mine is about the Southern Prince his name Unaraq, and I'm writing myself in the position of his ex-girlfriend Nuttatatik. They were the talk of the Southern Water Tribe but in this alternate universe, we'll be the talk of the Tribe," shared Ai.
"Unaraq? He's hideous! You should write a story with Jushi, that would sell!" exclaimed Shi, Aloi composed herself after Shi insulted Aloi's boyfriend Unaraq.
"He's the bad boy type he's from the Oma Kingdom, and he's a bounty hunter," added Shi.
Min remarked, "He's a bounty hunter? That's so valiant and fearless, I wonder if he has any virile."
"Then once I finish that fanwork I'm going to rewrite the Avatar's story, I'm getting rid of that nun that runs around with him and replacing her with monk he befriended in the Southern Air Temple. The monk will fall in love with Jushi," mentioned Ai.
"Jushi isn't gay," argued Aloi.
"Well in my story, he is," countered Ai.
"Talking about that nun why not bring her along and put her in a relationship with the Avatar because something sprouted there," interrupted Tidai.
"Ooo! And make sure Jampo lives!" she brought up.
"No I'm scrapping the idea of being in a relationship with Unaraq, I'd rather write a trope that my good friend Chengshu Xing invented. Instead, I'm going to write myself having a hardcore facetiae with the Southern Prince, a girl needs to satisfy her needs," Ai shook her head then disclosed too much information.
"Why not write a facetiae between Unaraq and his new girlfriend?" hinted Aloi.
"New girlfriend? He has a new girlfriend?" Ai asked she was confused.
Much of the royals from around the world their business usually poured out across the nations like wildfire once an international traveler caught wind of such rumors.
"Yeah didn't you hear he started to date an Air Nomad nun?" insisted Tidai.
"No offense to you, but a prince with a nomadic nun? That sounds wrong," Shi turned to face Aloi as she commented about Unaraq's relationship with an Air Nomad.
"The prince is so royal, clean, and superior while an Air Nomad nun is a commoner, oftentimes dirty, and inferior. How could he fall for someone like her...and, not someone like ME?" divulged Min, as if Aloi wasn't there. Aloi lowered her head and slightly frowned she would've never guessed her new friend was a pompous ass with hateful opinions toward the Nomadic people. She was glad these girls revealed their true colors and she understood why the Five-Seven-Five Society was likely better than the Tong Book Club.
"Shi tell me, I'm not the only one that sees this but because she's a nomad they most likely don't have coitus regularly. Could you imagine that?" Min requested an answer from her friend.
The noble girl giggled while she covered her mouth with her hand, "No you're so right! Ugh, I feel bad for him. If he were here I'd march him right off to the guest home in my estate."
"She probably abuses him!" claimed Ai.
"Perhaps she even forces him to not eat meat, it's a part of her weird religion after all," said Tidai.
"Ooo! Did you hear about the drama that peasant nomad had with his sister the princess of the Southern Water Tribe?" brought up Min.
The girls completely ignored Aloi like she no longer existed and they gossiped about Unaraq and his Air Nomad girlfriend which stood behind them as they were huddled around each other. Shi insinuated, "The princess should've ordered that nomad's execution after being rude to her like that. I know I would!"
Aloi couldn't hold her emotions any longer the girls chattered garbage out of their mouths that weren't anywhere near the truth. She began to sob Ai who faced Aloi even though she was attentive in the discussion between the other girls called out to Aloi, "Hey...hey are you alright? Why are you crying?"
Through Aloi's sobbing, she mumbled, "I...I-I'm Aloi!"
Ai gasped and she frowned while the other three giggled more the conversation between Ai and Aloi went unheard to their ears. Shi exclaimed, "That Aloi is a windbag!" Ai lightly pushed her friend Shi, "That's Aloi!" she whispered.
The Air Nomad snapped when she heard 'windbag' escape the lips of the young noblewoman a recollection of history lessons from the nuns flashed through her mind. She thought of all the nomads that were wrongfully imprisoned and executed in the Qiangda Kingdom during Yao's reign. Windbag was a word hardly spoken by anyone, it was mainly used by racists.
A gust of channeled wind collided with Shi and Ai and pinned them against the wall they screamed toward the wall. Tidai attempted to escape but was suctioned with powerful airbending and then blasted into two desks. Tidai was knocked out unconscious by the gale force, Min was the only girl to get away she burst through the door and sprinted away as she screamed like she witnessed a murder.
Min yelled for assistance from a nearby guard who ran in the direction of the book club. But when he stepped into the building, the aggressor was gone. What he witnessed however were two girls who held each other terrified when he questioned them and another who was unconscious and bruised.
Tale of Qiang Zhen by Mr_A_Firebender[]
I woke on the same finely threaded green sheets I always woke on... Except... that morning... I didn't have the same desire to hop out of bed and get to speaking to Guwen, or take a stroll around the Palace Gardens, or go down to the Royal Archives and read up on the latest of entries. No... the only thing I would've wanted to do was get up, go to the Royal Shrine, and pray. Except...
What was I going to pray for? Normally, we pray for the safety of the Kingdom. We pray for the safety of my citizens. We pray for a good harvest. We pray for victory. We pray for peace. We pray to the Royal Ancestors to guide us. We pray to the Supreme Ancestor to empower us. We pray for strength in our loins, to give the Prince a sister or brother. We pray for the... Avatar... to see our wisdom. What's the point of it anymore? When one... man... can turn an entire cultural group to dust in mere moments... there are no prayers for that. When one man can defy a nation and bring about extermination like that.
It's safe to say... over the rest of time, there will never come a day when more are killed, or another ethnic group is put to the wrath of one man... it can't. It simply can't.
The Steward of the Throne? How could anyone look at the Badgermole Throne the same way ever again?
In all my time sitting up and breathing heavily and... sweating, I had neglected to notice that I had a hand resting on my right leg. "My King, the full moon is going to be soon", my beloved Yi'an said, her voice as soft as a field of flowers. The full moon. Other days... I might take her up on her offer. Today, though... I took her hand and placed it elsewhere on the bed. "Thank you, my love, but... no." She heard the sharpness in my voice. "Very well, then. May I go and pray?" I nodded.
So Yi'an rose from her side of the bed and walked around my side and off to her personal chambers. Her thin plum blossom-patterned bed-robe and undone hair weren't looking as... alluring... as they normally would. Though, that was probably because my mind was completely elsewhere. That said, I did appreciate her smile.
I waved an attendant over to bring me a summary of reports. I may have felt melancholic at best, but I am still the Steward of the Badgermole Throne. If I don't wake up and go attend the matters of State... even if the state could collapse tomorrow... then who will? Yi'an? A sweet plum blossom does not belong ruling anything beyond poetry. My Prince? He is but three. A regency would be just as likely to kill him as it would then to ensure he makes it to adulthood. Besides... Kings can't abdicate.
I took my morning shower and bathed myself in the finest soaps, all whose names I forgot -or rather, never cared to learn-, all who were meant to empower me with strength of will and vitality and all that. I don't feel the strength or the vitality. I saw the looks in the attendants' eyes. I saw what they were thinking. ‘He looks like he could just fall over and die'. Saying that to my face is illegal. Saying it is like threatening it. Then again, as of late, people have been able to come up to me and say worse and live, so why bother? They'd be wrong.
I will get back at the Holy Avatar. Traditions, traditions, where were these traditions when the people faced his wrath?. And I'll start... by reminding the world that it was me and not the Avatar who ended the Ceasefire. The Avatar was off... prancing about somewhere or something like that. I did it.
This newfound realization gave me the strength to march out of my shower, right back to my bedroom, and grab my clothes. When I got back there, I was on the receiving end of a "My King, you're looking quite beautiful", the normally delicate Yi'an does not say such things without reason. So I looked down... and realized I left my towel back in the shower. I immediately grabbed one from a waiting attendant and tied it on.
Then I offered a little bow to her. I don't care if I'm not supposed to bow to you, the thought was appreciated. She beamed... as much as she could beam. It's hilarious that the commoners don't need to have legal limits on smiling and bowing. She couldn't look at me beyond a certain amount, but I know her inside and out, and I know she has stronger feelings for a King's compliment than just a smile.
Wearing the full robes of the Earth King, my robes, let no man question it, I entered the Badgermole Throne Room. The entire line of Royal Guards fell into bows and "Your Majesty"s. Only one man was standing in the aisle proper. I didn't need to see much of him to know that Guwen, as always, was on time. I walked past him while he fell into a kowtow. "A fine morning to Your Majesty." I walked up the steps of the Badgermole Throne's dais and took my place, sitting on the green cushion that belongs to the largest chair in the world.
The mian's dancing jewels came to a halt. Finally, I could focus on looking at someone without going cross-eyed. Kings don't look that... intelligent... if they're busy going cross-eyed from all the jewels. "Your Majesty", the Grand Secretariat humble said while falling into another kowtow. I slowly waved my hand for him to rise once more. "What is it, Grand Secretariat?" He rose. "Your Majesty. I have..." he coughed "..reports that some of the mining villages in Xin Shi Guo have reported ten times the number of residents." Xin Shi Guo. That's a name I haven't heard in a long time.
Wherever there is an opportunity for some noble to take power, he will. As such, I leaned forward from my throne and asked "Are the peasants getting equal shares of the crystals? Or did some noble defy the King's mountains?" "The peasants have taken as much as they could mine. The..." he pulled a scroll from his sleeve, "...booming town of Hulan requests Your Majesty's presence to... oversee the construction... of a new town hall." Now, contrary to what the Histories may say, I don't know the location of every little village in the Agrarian Zone. Let alone the ones located in the extremely rural parts. "Is that in Xin Shi Guo?" "It is, Your Majesty."
The Grand Secretariat wasn't done. "May I offer advice to Your Majesty?" I couldn't help but smile at that. Of all the men to ask for it, you're the one that deserves it. "Of course, Grand Secretariat." He smiled back at me. "I believe Consort Yi'an would like it. A small music festival is being put together in the coming day, in celebration of the oncoming full moon."
Laozhang stepped forward, bowed, I gestured for him to rise, and spoke up. "Your Majesty, a music festival is just another word for a fertility festival!" I sighed. "And your evidence... is?" "Your Majesty," the Royal Guard tried not to avoid breaking into laughter, "I'm just as peasant-y as they are!" I thought it through. "That is not sufficient evidence... but... I also can't dispute it." Then an idea struck me. "Captain, how many fertility festivals have you been a part of?" "Depends on whether you ask me or my wife. My wife would say five. I'd say fifty." Good to know. "Was this during your piracy days?" "It was." Interesting. I caressed my goatee. "Next time we war with the men of Chuan Bay, I'll have the Council of Five use this... knowledge." Laozhang bowed once more. "You'd really screw them hard."
Despite this... possible knowledge of where I was going, I knew that one, I don't need to participate in such, and two, Yi'an would never dare go near such. However, the two of us can also go somewhere more... private, if she so desires it. I was curious about how he obtained this information. "Did you ask her?" "We predict that the next art trend will be ‘Lakes and Waterfowl', Your Majesty." Next art trend. I took a deep breath, considering this. Yet another tradition. This one... isn't inherently bad, though. "I accept. Yi'an deserves a break. But..." I held my hand out, "...don't tell her. This will be a surprise." The Grand Secretariat fell into a kowtow. "Of course, Your Majesty."
In no time at all, I already had an idea of where I would be staying tonight. As soon as I dismissed him, Guwen would inform the heralds, and news would travel as fast as the eel-hounds could run. I wasn't done with the session, though. I was still thinking about the Avatar, whether I wanted to or not. Every time I looked at the giant gilded pillars, I was reminded of him and his self-righteous self marching right up to me.
Every time I looked at those pillars, I thought of what I had that the Avatar didn't. He had the power, as those poor citizens learned. He had the connections, that stupid wench and the rest of his friends. He had the favor of the Spirits since he's the Avatar. But he does not have the favor of the people. And I was the one to end the ceasefire. And I'll make the whole world remember this for the rest of the time. How? Simple.
"Grand Secretariat, I'd like to bring back the regnal name system." The Grand Secretariat staggered for a moment. "The regnal names haven't been used in many years..." I tightened my grip on my hand rest. "I ended the ceasefire, Grand Secretariat." I wasn't about to explain why I thought this. Judging by how the Grand Secretariat's sunken eyes went through a range of emotions, from shock -at my seemingly random command- all the way to methodical comprehension, I think he understood what I was implying.
He confirmed this with the next sentence. "Of course, Your Majesty. Your Majesty is the one to end the ceasefire. A regnal name would... commemorate Your Majesty for all time." I was going to lean forward, but these stupid beads got in the way. So I leaned back. "Pre-cise-ly."
"Long live Jieshutinghuo!" the Grand Secretariat announced to a roomful of Royal Guards, attendants, courtiers, himself, and Yi'an. I didn't want some fancy ceremony for this, I promised to take Yi'an somewhere, and I was going to. As such, it was just us with me sitting on the Badgermole Throne. The Royal Guards drew their dao blades and placed them on the ground in front of them while they fell into kowtows. The courtiers and attendants and the rest of the servants present also fell into kowtows. Yi'an hiked up her dress for hers. Guwen, in the middle of it all, smiled.
By Royal Decree, all monarchs henceforth will be given regnal names for their achievements. Between this and holding the Badgermole Throne, we're compounded our legitimacy. Such a simple thing, adding a new name, but the ramifications... well... we can only see what it does. Take that, Avatar. The true Earth Kings are the masters of ceremony and decorum.
Back in my private study, I had an attendant summon my dear Yi'an. She walked in, hiked up her dress, and bowed. "How may I help Your Majesty?" she asked, as always, very sweetly. I figured, she'll either say yes because of a trip or no because it's not the Upper Ring. "Would you like to come with me on a trip?" She paused to look me over, head-to-toe as if trying to... well I have no idea what she's thinking. "Of course I would! Just tell me, will it be a formal trip somewhere, or..." and she let her voice get yet softer, "...a personal one," as if the thought of whatever that entailed filled her with merriment. I wasn't going to lie to her. "Personal."
A King cannot simply mount an ostrich horse and ride off into the sunset. I had to get dressed in my riding clothes... even though I was going to take a palanquin, carriage, and monorail. So I waited in my dressing room while the attendants arrived and brought me a variety of options. Ten different ones, to be precise. I picked the robes that'd most closely match my normal Royal robes since while this was a personal trip, I was also planning to audit this village. The attendants giggled gossip under breath. Gossip about myself, gossip about Yi'an, all of it was quite benign, if annoying. No, I don't need all of you to talk about how pretty my... hair looks, but the compliments are appreciated.
At the same time, Yi'an had to wash, choose her assortment of clothes, and choose what from among her near endless inventory of stuff she'd want to bring along. As her dressing room is next to mine, I inadvertently overheard her shouting "Where's my erhu? Where is it?" while a dozen handmaids practically crashed through the door, scampering around looking for said erhu. We have lots of erhus, but she absolutely must have this one specific design her sister Shaonu bought her as a gift. It's simple, compared to the elaborate gold-trimmed ones at least, but she loves it second only to... "Where are my lover's robes?".
No, I don't personally like overhearing conversations by accident. However, I had to wait outside her dressing room to ‘escort' her, as is tradition, over to the Royal Palanquin. While waiting, she discussed bringing along ‘lover's robes' and upon being asked a question, whatever her quiet answer was sent these gossiping handmaidens into a giggle fest. In the meantime, since I don't want to sour my mind with such immodest thoughts, I thought about whether or not I'd want to stick around for the -most likely going to happen- large dinner held in my honor at the said village. On the one hand, it's a big dinner. On the other hand, I'd rather rest up even more for a party on the Royal Party Island of Laogai.
Eventually, Yi'an emerged, wearing a light green dress with a pinkish-white flower motif running up and down her dress. She had her hair done up even more complicated than before, and she was wearing makeup. All in all, she looked quite pretty. But... again, I didn't want to sour my mind, so I couldn't look for too long. A King has no time for all this. The Avatar's off being a tyrant. I need to visit these villagers to reassure them of my protection, what little I can reassure. Her attendants also found the erhu, thank Tiandi, and brought it along.
The personalized Royal Monorail has always been one of my favorite modes of transportation. All kinds of amenities and the latest in technological advances, updated every time we can steal, I mean find, I mean to buy something from the Fire Nation. Ts'ai Shen above knows we can't craft much of anything. The two of us, accompanied by all the Royal Guards we could stuff onto this after all the attendants and courtiers came along, set out for Hulan, a village along the shore of Hulan. I had the option of going to sleep, studying the selection of books brought along, or talking to my servants or attendants or Royal Guardsmen. Which one will get the Avatar off my mind the most? Talking.
"Laozhang, step forward, tell me a story!" and I palm-tapped the small throne while the stalwart Captain stepped up. I looked to my right, at Yi'an, she was sipping on some tea, watching the Captain's gait with interest. "What kind of story, Your Majesty?" and the man bowed. "What's the options?" "I could tell you about this time I ended up in the wrong port town, but it's not a story appropriate for the Consort." Said Consort inhaled her tea, making a "Hmph?" then putting down the tea and going "What's so inappropriate about it?" I took a moment to think. Pirate. Port town. Recipe for entertainment but not appropriate for such an innocent plum blossom. "No. Leave it, Yi'an." Then I turned back towards the Captain. "Tell us a story that would be appropriate for my dear plum blossom." Whoops. I didn't mean to say that out loud. On the bright side, Yi'an's blush was probably visible from the other side of the world.
"So... where do I begin?" I paused, "Let me get you a seat," got up, walked over to him, and, with a palm raised, pulled a cylinder of earth out for him to sit on. Then I went back to my throne, spun around, and sat down. "So, with that done, start wherever you'd like," I told him while looking at Yi'an, who was fanning herself... for some reason. "I'd love to start at conception." and he made his voice nice and deep and storyteller-like. "So it was a dark and stormy night when my father came aboard my mother's vessel-" I raised my palm and cut him off. "No, I want to hear a story you were involved in. Just... don't you have a good pirate tale to tell us?" He thought about it. "Did Your Majesty ever hear about my first commanded raid?" I looked at Yi'an, then him. "No. Do tell."
"So...I became First Mate to Captain Mengshi. We were going to sail up and down the Sunrise, but the Fifth Nation had declared they'd sink any pirates that weren't theirs. You know, because a nation where everyone's ‘equal in the name of freedom' wasn't equal. So Meng, the old man, said we'd go from oceangoing to riverine. I told the old man he'd eat an Oma crossbow bolt at some point if we risked it, he told me we'd do it anyway."
I took a guess. "Did he then eat a crossbow bolt?" Laozhang raised an eyebrow. "What? No. It's just... it's a saying. Since when is the reality that convenient or poetically ironic, Your Majesty?" I pulled on my goatee. "It's not, Laozhang." He nodded. "So... no, he didn't eat a bolt. Instead, we sailed south and hit this Oma monastery up some small river. Our boat was small enough to make the journey. We hit ‘em in the middle of the night. Meng was all-" and he made his voice crochet,"‘-Laozhang! Take fifteen men and flank ‘em!" Then he went back to his normal voice. "So I was like ‘alright boss' and I took some men and we hit the monastery from the other direction. It didn't matter. They were a bunch of nuns. Now they're a bunch of non-s. We took their riches and bought ourselves some better armor and weapons and stuff."
"Right, but when do we get to the ‘raid on a military outpost that saved a whole Qiangda army' story?" "But that's a story Your Majesty already heard, right? I thought Your Majesty asked me for a new story." and he fell into a bow out of fealty. I hand-waved for him to get up. "I have heard the story." then I looked at Yi'an. "Have you heard the story, Yi'an?" She put her chopsticks and a single grain of rice held between them down. "No, Your Majesty, I haven't." As if on cue, I gestured for him to "Go tell it, then."
"So... I was Captain of the Shanjianhuo and we had heard about this Qiangdan rearguard force being besieged by a bunch of Fifth Nation raiders at a village near the coast, right?" Yi'an nodded along. "So... we weren't the types to care that much about getting involved in the big players and their wars, usually because we wouldn't live, and if we didn't live, then-" he opened his arms wide as if to embrace nobody at all, "-what's the point o' all the gold, eh? Or the weapons?" I took a moment to think his nonsense through. It makes sense.
"But..." he bowed to Yi'an, "...but, Fifth Nation. We didn't like ‘em. And, and, we wanted revenge for them stealing our sea turf. So... we sailed up over to the village and planned how we'd fight this fight, right?" As expected, Yi'an went on to ask "Then how did you do it, Captain?". He smiled. "Fifth Nation, they're pirates, aye? But they're not soldiers. They're not disciplined. The moment battle starts, they're all for themselves. And, they're not the smartest in cunning. We knew that we were also pirates, right?" and I nodded along. "Of course, and since you were pirates, you could just go up to them and pretend to be pirates to join their siege." "Don't spoil the story!" he yelled before it metaphorically hit him that he was talking to me. "I mean, forgive me Your-" I raised my hand. "It's fine, just..." I sipped from a goblet of water, "...skip to the part where you backstab them and save the army."
Laozhang couldn't refuse my command. "Right, so, I and my forty men went up to the Fifth Nation people. We told them ‘hey Fifth Nation people, we're illegal like you're illegal and those people over there are legal. Please let us join you on this raid' and they told us ‘hey pirates, you'll have to swear fealty to the Fifth Nation', so I was like ‘Okay, we're swearing fealty, right?'. Then the man accepts us as his own, then that night, we kill all of them while they're having dinner because Fifth Nation people and rescued the Kingsmen from the siege." Yi'an, like I when I first heard this, applauded the story. "Very interesting! So were you pardoned for this?".
Laozhang held up his left hand, revealing a missing pinky. "I was pardoned and offered if I wanted to join the good King's army. I accepted, because, hey, they're fighting Fifth Nation and we're fighting Fifth Nation. But for my years of piracy, and my men's years of piracy, all of us lost the pinky bone on our off-hand. Everyone accepted the deal and we became privateers. Soon enough, I earthbent my way up to the tryouts, and was accepted to the Royal Guard." Yi'an applauded him for the story, I head-bowed to him and offered thanks. "Thanks for retelling it." Then, as I wanted my energy to be saved for Hulan, I rose and went to my bed-chamber to sleep.
The Avatar before me, telling me what happened to a town that defied his authority. I woke in a sweat, breathing heavily. I wasn't the only one to figure it out, as, the moment I sat up and made my consciousness known, Yi'an took my hand, mumbled something, then put her hand on my head and felt it. "A fever!" she shouted, making my ears ring. I took her hand off my head, grabbed the blanket, and wiped my head off. Instead of giving me time to think, she called for some herbalists while caressing my hands and murmuring a prayer to Yun, her favorite Goddess.
As I didn't want to be splayed out like a hunted animal's skin for a bunch of middle-aged women to poke and prod me over, I calmly spoke "I have a fever from a bad dream. That's it. I'm not dying." It wasn't a bad dream, though, was it? The Avatar came and the Avatar did that and... but my thoughts were interrupted by her going from stroking my forehead to offering it a kiss. Yes, a kiss. "Thank you... Yi'an, but-" I wanted to stress this, "-I don't need a herbalist!" She backed out of the prolonged kiss and looked down at me, probably unsure of how to react. On the one hand, I gave her a direct order, on the other hand, she was wearing a night robe and was already far closer to me than the Consort is supposed to be.
As expected, the herbalists' speed cannot be questioned. They arrived before she had time to say anything, storming into the room like soldiers preparing to clear it. Except... instead of being twenty and twenty-five, armed with spears and dao and earthbending, they're in their late thirties, armed with bowls, balms, and ointments. They kowtowed, rose, and looked me over. After one requested permission to touch me -and I granted it- she felt my head and concluded that "Your Majesty is suffering from a fever." The other herbalist asked "May we examine the rest of Your Majesty?" and I groaned. "I'm fine! It was just a fever!" but Yi'an, oh, I love you Yi'an, but still, added, "And his hands were shaking!". The herbalists looked at me like parents catching their child in the act of lying.
I groaned, leaned my head back, and mumbled a prayer to Tiandi that whatever would happen would be painless. I closed my eyes and imagined I was somewhere nicer. What's the advice they give to the brides before marriage? Lie back and think of the Kingdom? Granted, marriage night isn't what I just went through, no, this is far worse. After many many minutes of herbalists stripping me out of my clothes and looking at my ‘symptoms' and looking and even more looking, remember, just pretend you're not here, think happy thoughts, someone finally did something. A few minutes of what sounded like a pestle crushing a whole family of bugs later, someone said "Your Majesty, drink this."
I opened my eyes, sat up a little bit, and grabbed the bowl from one of the herbalists. I drank it and after consuming the whole bowl, commented "It's far sweeter than I thought." The herbalists collectively smiled like they all shared a consciousness. "Thank you, Your Majesty. It should help keep the fever down until tomorrow." I looked over at Yi'an, who was facing me and sitting cross-legged on the bed. She smiled. So I looked back at the herbalists and asked "What's in this?"
The herbalists rattled off some ingredients, but when they got to "and mother's milk", I almost choked on my own sudden, randomly appearing nausea. "Do any of you... have a treatment for nausea that doesn't involve mother's milk?" but the herbalists gave me confused looks. "Your Majesty has nausea?" "I'm drinking some milk from..." I didn't even want to finish the sentence. Then I waved my hand and tried to wave them out. "Get out. Can you at least tell me which woman it was so I can recompense them for treating a fever I only had from a bad dream?" The herbalists only listened to the first two words, it seems, and left. Meanwhile, Yi'an was smiling quite widely. Did I bother asking her why? It's probably because I've been healed, and she likes seeing me healed. "Do you know who?" I asked her, pulling a blanket on to cover all the parts of me that aren't for a platoon of middle-aged women to see. Instead of answering, she turned beet red in a blush. Oh, I get it, it's because I was lying here like a skinned fur.
When I woke again, it was Yi'an whispering "My King, we've reached Hulan." I opened my eyes, sat up, and felt my forehead. The fever was gone, but that was probably because I had a dream of Yi'an and I just being commoners, and I took her out on a date as the commoners do. There could've been more to the dream, but Yi'an woke me up beforehand. So I got up, I pulled on some proper underclothes, and set off to my dressing chamber. Once there, I showered, got dressed into my monarchical robes, and put on the -as much as I hate it- mian hat. Yi'an wore, for her outer layer, her traditional ceremonial long flowing Consort robes with a beautiful plum blossom design on them.
The crowd fell into kowtows and roaring cheers upon seeing my figure emerge from between two Guardsmen. While they cheered and "Your Majesty"s all around, I looked around at the village. For one, it was quite large for a village. Lots of two-story houses with high pitched roofs. For two, this wasn't a common peasants' village. Most of the houses had green tiled roofs. The stones weren't the same stone below us. The main commercial road's buildings were adorned with richly detailed eaves. And... on to the peasants. The commoners were, from my brief looks, dressed in Middle Ringer outfits, not peasant's rags. I didn't have long to look at anyone in particular, but the few I did look at wore their hair with topknot caps. These aren't poor people.
People may think a King goes wherever he wants, and that is legally true, but in events like these, I'm more of the parade float than the person. I get shuffled, never literally, as that's illegal, down a preordained path. I walk down this already established path and up to specific people, who kowtow and offer courtesies. I shuffle over to whatever building was prepared for our dinner. The new town hall that hadn't yet finished its construction looked like an Upper Ringer's government office. And, not that I could say it -I was shuffling along somewhere else- but I found the whitish-greys to be a nice use of color. Even nicer when matched against the tall mountain peaks around us, peaks that were snowcapped and wouldn't melt until the summer if at all.
I'd bet that the building we held our dinner in was some kind of village hall. It had a tall ceiling and looked like it was built for survival purposes -the whole village can gather here during intense snows- more than lavish purposes. The second story was merely two lofts on far ends of the long hall. And yet, for my arrival, the lofts held up flags and tapestries. The likely original wooden chairs were thrown to the sides to make way for fancy ones with elaborate etching. Cushions, cushions aplenty everywhere. Not to mention that the likely original simple tables were put on the sides -for the commoners to eat from- while I had the kind of table I'd find in a nobleman's siheyuan.
I was offered locally hunted and grown foods as part of the village showing it's prosperity. Smoked duck-geese simmered in some kind of berry juice, large deer-rabbit venison, and pig-chicken in both strip-style cuts -for jerky- and thick white meat cuts like a steak. Yi'an was also offered these foods, but a majority of her food was various greens, some of which were brought along with us, some of which were grown here. In the name of ‘showing their prosperity', I took to eating some of the locally grown salad put together, too.
I didn't pay attention to all the toasts, I didn't pay attention to all the people cheering me and the Kingdom, I didn't pay attention to the men and women that'd walk up to me, hike up their clothes and bow or kowtow, none of it. My mind was still, occasionally, flashing back to the Avatar. Yi'an must've seen the look on my face, as she reacted by -using her authority- summoning the musicians to ‘entertain the guests'.
While a band of some fifteen people came up to me with their pipas and erhus and drums and started playing a slow beat, I looked around. I wasn't looking at the adults, but at the children. Children were running around off in the farther corners, kept out of side lest they misbehave. Children who were innocently peeking out from under dresses and aside legs. Children who saw me and beamed like they'd been granted a sweet.
These were children... they hadn't suffered war, or rebellion, or assassination attempts.... In their little minds, world leaders like me were the stuff of legends. We were the folk heroes come alive, right out of the oral stories they'd hear around the campfire. We were people they prayed for the wellbeing of at the start of every toast. The boys dreamed of becoming Royal Guardsmen, the highest of honors, to protect the King as he does whatever the King does. Others may wish to marry a beautiful Princess. Others may wish both. The girls' likely dream of marrying handsome Princes, perhaps marrying a Prince who will become King one day. These children... they're too young to understand what the labors of fighting or the labors of childbirth are like. They know nothing of how a Kingdom is ruled.
They don't realize the number of things that have to go right to ensure that they're still alive. Soldiers need to fight and defend them, officers need to issue commands to their soldiers, higher-ranked officers need to have the tactical wherewithal to see an invader coming, and up and up it goes all the way to the Council of Five, who must decide overall military campaigns and where to commit their freshest resources towards.
Because they're still innocent little children. Seeing them reminded me of being a child, and how naive I was. Seeing them made me smile because to them their village is the world. To them, all our faults, all my faults, they aren't recognized, since I'm a hero and other leaders and high-ranked officials are heroes and heroines and aides. Seeing them subconsciously reminded me that even if I am a failure at some things, people will still respect me because of what I've done. Like ending the ceasefire.
I looked back at the musicians, but I wasn't showing as much interest as I probably should have been. My mind was still distracted by... everything else. The children reminded me of when I was a child, and they reminded me of the simplicity of back then... but it didn't put my mind at rest. Yi'an saw this lack of interest in my eyes, and that's why, I imagine, she leaned over to me and whispered "Would my King like to go down to the lake for a walk?" I looked at her, then at the musicians, then at the commoners, then back at her. You know what, sure. "Of course, my lady." So I turned to the... Mayor, he was dressed like one, and said: "I must excuse myself." I didn't need to apologize, I am the King after all, but it was a nice courtesy to inform him beforehand.
I left all the wellwishers and cheers behind me the moment I stepped out of the old long hall. "Where would you like to go?" I asked while trailing after her. The Royal Guards brought along all the torches which helped us not go blind in the darkness of nighttime. "Down to the beach, my King." At night? Go down to the beach at night? Really? I didn't know whether to think it through or not. "Fine, then," and I nodded along since it didn't sound that crazy.
Anyways, I followed my plum-blossom dressed companion down to the lakeside. Once down there, she whispered something to a Royal Guardsman, who bowed and ran off. "What's he getting?" I asked. "Something special, my King," she replied with a thin smirk. Something special. This won't end well, will it? I looked around at the stationary Royal Guardsmen, doing their job of acting like a cordon. I looked down at the lakeshore sand, knelt, and picked up a small amount to rub around in my hands. Quite soft. While examining the sand between my fingers, Yi'an walked closer to myself, looked down, and said "My King, you may wish to sit down." Sit down? "Why?", I replied since I still had no idea what was going on. Within no time at all, I'd get my answer.
A Royal Guardsman brought her erhu to her. Oh, Yi'an. Without any need for compulsion, I sat down and relaxed on the soft sand. She touched the bow to the instrument and... within moments, I wanted to cry.
Upon finding out who she'd be married to, Yi'an got to work composing a song. She played it as a surprise to me on our wedding night. She slowly ran the bow back and forth, every little finger motion a deliberate act of placement. Every single time the bow touched the instrument... it was beautiful.
She called it ‘The Pine and the Plum Blossom'. It tells the story of a man trudging through the snow during the winter who encounters a tall pine tree, and stout plum blossom. The first stanza covers the man, ‘a man, a man, a young virtuous man', and the pine, ‘a pine, a pine, a tall green pine,' and the plum blossom, ‘a plum blossom, a beautiful plum blossom', along with other lyrics like that.
Stanza two: The first time he passes by, it is the Winter Solstice and he asks the two trees if the winter will get worse as the snows were quite light that year. A voice tells him ‘A green pine and a red plum blossom.'
Stanza three: The winter gets worse, snowfalls and goes up to his shins, and he returns down this path. When he spots the two trees, he asks them when the winter will end. A voice tells him ‘A green pine and a red plum blossom'.
Stanza four: Later on, the winter gets worse and the snows go up to his hips. He passes by the trees again and asks them if the winter will ever end. The same voice tells him that ‘A green pine and a red plum blossom.'
Stanza five: Finally, the fourth time the man returns, late spring is finally upon the land, and the snow is melting. He comes upon the trees. A short old man emerges from behind the plum blossom and reveals that both trees are as old as he is. The green pine maintains its strength and the red plum blossom maintains its beauty, even in the worst winters.
It's meant to represent the Kingdom. Even in the worst winters, or the worst situations, these trees endure. Even in the worst days, there are always going to be these two trees who maintain their virtues.
She didn't sing any of the lyrics, as she preferred playing the instrument and letting others, me, think of what we think is appropriate to the song. By the time she'd neared the end, I was crying. I was crying because of how slow and meticulously she played this. You could feel the love she poured into mastering the instrument. She liked letting others think of appropriate lyrics for what they heard. And yet, the story itself was quite... sad.
When she finally put the erhu down, I applauded her. "That... was some of the greatest... music I've ever heard", I said while trying not to cry out every last drop of water in me. She beamed with a soft smile. She'd just been complimented by the King, and she'd just made the King cry from how good her playing was. She walked up to me and knelt at my side. "Would my King like to be escorted back to bed?" and I looked her right in the eyes and said "Yes."
The whole way back, we were holding hands. At one point, she asked me if we should get off the main road since the main road is lightly populated. So I led her down a side alley and there, without any hesitation, she grabbed me and I her, at the same time, and the two of us pulled one another into a tight kiss.
By the time we'd gotten back to the Carriage, it felt like our wedding night years ago. She had that same sparkle in her eyes, and I'm quite certain, judging by how she stroked my hand, I had the same in mine. We walked through the door, made a turn, and formally strolled down to my bedroom.
I went off to wash up. When I'd returned, her Upper Ringer robes adorned with a plum blossom motif had been tossed on the floor. In the place of it, she was wearing a silken dress with one thin sash it all on, or rather, in. In her cheesiest of voices, she pleaded that she'd ‘lost her noblewoman robes'. I nodded my head, playing along. One thing led to another, and before we knew it, we'd accidentally turned into a tangled mess of sheets and limbs.
Captain Laozhang was going to have a good story to share with his friends the next time he was off duty.
Perhaps, Prince Chung-bao will even get a brother or sister to play with.
Tale of Rong Yan and Yua[]
Rong followed behind Aloi a few minutes after she left the home given to them by the King. He headed off into another direction several minutes later he found himself in a park with vast grassy fields, stone benches, and people who roamed about their day. Children played amongst themselves while their parents and some caretakers watched them from a distance. Some nobles exercised while others went for a morning walk.
A short, fat man padded through one of the walkways created for pedestrians and poked his wife for her attention and then pointed at the Fire Nationalist in the distance. The woman felt the poke and her eyes peered down to her husband.
"I think that's the Avatar," he told her.
"It's likely it is, the posters made by the royal scribes mentioned the Avatar is in the city," agreed his wife.
"Hey everyone! It's the Avatar!" he shouted as he pointed at Rong Yan again.
Rong Yan didn't hear the shout and paid no attention seconds later he found himself surrounded by a crowd of nobles. The children in the crowd are placed on the shoulders of their fathers, some children were in the front row while they chanted, "Bending tricks!" a few times in a row. Rong Yan didn't want to disappoint the children and so he showed them his palms they began to glow while he maintained the heat so he wouldn't burn himself.
Rong Yan used his firebending to form a small fire wyrm which he controlled to fly around the kids in the front as they felt the warm sensation from the fire wyrm as it passed by them. Fire Nation Imperial Firebenders exited a home with a young woman and her Kingsman city guide.
The city guide was a quinquagenarian with terrible posture, the light-tanned skin man slouched in his expensive light green and forest green accented robes. His eyes were brown, and his hair was a mix of dark brown and gray hair. He was lanky and tall, his face was elongated and a bit gaunt but he seemed healthy enough.
He walked alongside the Imperial Firebenders as the Fire Nationalist woman boarded a palanquin with Nationalist motifs that decorated it. They planned to head off toward the Lower-Upper Ring where Princess Yua had a spa appointment. The palanquin passed by the crowd of nobles that observed a street performer. The small crowd went wild with the tricks of this street performer as the woman was carried around the group of people she felt a tad bit of curiosity.
"Stop the palanquin I want to see what the fuss is about," she ordered, the carriers halted and lowered her down. The Imperial Firebenders right behind her heels as they neared the herd of nobles when she squeezed through the crowd to get to the front all she saw was moronic nobles excited because they've never seen a firebender up close.
She groaned and rolled her eyes she thought to herself, "The Kingsmen nobility can't be this easily impressed" as she turned around, however, from her peripheral vision she noticed that the firebender bent a small statue of a generic Qiangdian soldier out of the ground.
Yua rotated around to face the street performer and confirmed with her eyes that the statue was not there until now she looked at the firebender and thought, "Did he just...earthbend?!"
A low-class noble sashayed behind the crowd as he swaggered confidently to his destination he held a bouquet of lotus flowers in one hand. A small crescent-shaped blade of air cut the heads of the flowers then suctioned them over to the street performer. Yua witnessed this and screamed inside herself, "He just airbended! Oh, my gods! He's the Avatar! Ahhh! FANGIRLING!!!"
Rong Yan conjured a funnel of air and spun the heads of the lotus flowers over and over again inside the funnel. He presented it to all the young noblewomen their age, they all giggled and blushed. Then he finally met eyes with Yua and for a brief second the world came to a sudden stop for that tiny moment it was just them two.
Yua fangirl squealed inside because the Avatar noticed her, she's learned so much about the Avatar because her father Fire Lord Yeh Lu and her brother crowned prince Shukun talked about the Avatar all the time.
Rong Yan announced to the mass of nobles, "I have one final trick which will be a gift to one lucky lady!"
He flicked both of his wrists and bent water out of the air and onto hands the crowd in unison reacted, "Woahh!"
Rong Yan laid his eyes upon the young Fire Nation woman again before they went elsewhere with the water he formed a heart made of ice around the wilted flower heads. Once he gave another eye at the noble girls he returned to the Fire Nation girl. The ice heart had a keyhole in the middle he handed the gift to Yua who had her mouth opened agape in disbelief that she was chosen.
"Here you can have my heart, don't forget the key!" said Rong Yan, the nobles simultaneously felt warmth in their hearts and said, "Awww."
"Th-thank you, Avatar," she thanked him she was a bit nervous because she never thought she'd ever meet the Avatar in person while in Ba Sing Se.
Rong Yan smiled at her, "Go ahead open it!"
The mass of people cheered and chanted because they agreed with the young Avatar. She examined the faces of the happy people in the group and used the key to open the heart. Except it wouldn't have unlocked on its own Rong Yan used his fingers from where he stood and unraveled the mysteries inside the heart.
A portion of the front of the heart melted to reveal the lotus flower heads inside the frozen heart. The crowd began to disperse she turned around and stepped away to leave. Rong Yan raised his voice and called her back, "Hey wait up! What's your name?" he asked her.
She faced the Avatar again and then revealed herself, "I'm Princess Yua of the Fire Nation."
Rong Yan lowered himself onto his knees and knelt before the princess and remained knelt until she ordered him to stand. She extended her arm out to assist him back onto his feet, she noted to him, "You don't have to kneel."
"It is I that needs to perform formal greetings," she added, she bowed before the Avatar as was customary traditionally.
"Princess Yua your appointment is going to be soon! You can't miss it!" called out her city guide.
"Oops sorry I gotta go, my city guide Zhinan is punctual about being early to appointments. Well, I hope I see you sometime soon," she smiled before she ran off back toward the Imperial Firebenders and the city guide.
Hours later, Yua visited the palace but the throne room was empty there was no sign of the Earth King, the Queen Consort, the Grand Secretariat, or the Captain of the Royal Guard. The Imperial Firebenders were told about the absence of the royal family within the palace for the day.
They fretted on small details now Yua was free for the day and she thought about the Avatar she headed off toward the Qiangdian Census office. According to her city guide, the office held all a list of all the people currently in the city and where they dwelled as long as it was within a city-approved residential home.
Upon arrival, she approached the counter along with Zhinan and requested the address of the Avatar to which she was accommodated. She was given a record for the name which led her to an address and a direction of where she needed to go. An hour later, she appeared at Rong Yan's front door uninvited Rong Yan opened the door and was in disbelief to find the princess at his door.
He glanced behind her to see the same expressionless Imperial Firebenders behind her. He scratched behind his head and questioned her, "Uhh...can I help you?"
She knew she creepily invited herself and came on too strong but she wasn't going to let the Avatar escape her grasp. She remembered what her brother said she's too weird and scares the qualified noblemen away. She broke a sweat but tried to maintain her cool, "Oh sorry I needed help with something the wheel on my palanquin broke and I knocked on a random door seeking a helping hand," she lied so that she didn't seem like she was a stalker.
Rong Yan took a gander at the palanquin and saw no wheels on the carriage, the Imperial Firebender to Yua's left facepalmed before he returned to his idle stance. Rong Yan mentioned, "There are no wheels on your palanquin though."
"Silly me!" she tittered nervously, she glimpsed at the sky and saw that it was near mid-afternoon she gave it a chance and asked, "Well since I'm already here would you like to join me for a night of fun?"
"What happens if I say no?" he wondered, the guards blankly stared at him like dragon hawks. He felt a bit uneased about them. She gulped and cleared her throat, "Nothing but I understand. Sorry to bother you," she frowned.
"I didn't say no," Rong Yan said, she turned around with a smile on her face then she headed off to her palanquin and gestured him to sit the carriers gulped and were now worried because they had to carry double the weight.
"Or we could take my dragon, it IS faster," offered Rong Yan.
"You have a dragon?! Wait of course you do, my father gave it to you as a gift," commented Yua. She jumped up excitedly she's never ridden a dragon.
"You say that like you've never ridden one," Rong Yan said.
"I came here on a boat," stated Yua.
"Shen," whispered Rong Yan into his hands before he released it an amplified the sound at a frequency that only his dragon would've reacted to. Yua was puzzled, "Did you just whisper into your hand?"
Rong Yan nodded and pointed up a dragon landed in between Yua and Rong Yan, "I called him."
"How though?" she was curious.
"I amplified the whisper into a frequency at which only he could hear," explained Rong Yan.
"Nope still confused," she shook her head.
"Uhh...soundbending? I can bend the air around the sounds to either mute, amplify, change a frequency or so much more," Rong Yan clarified.
"I have a friend who can soundbend, she's a nun haven't seen her in five years though," commented Yua as she related to Rong Yan's ability in some form.
Four Imperial Firebenders join Yua and Zhinan her city guide on Shen's saddle. Yua turned to face Zhinan and inquired, "Zhinan you know this city like the back of your hand. What's a great place to visit for entertainment purposes?"
"I know just the place, we'll be heading off into the Middle Ring though. There's a circus there from the residental ringmaster and crew, I'm sure he wouldn't mind two special guests. His name is Dancho and the Avatar might be able to relate to him," answered Zhinan.
Rong Yan glanced back and asked, "In what way?"
"Dancho is the descendant of your past life's firebending master Huan Zhu, his great-grandfather is Huan's youngest twin son Ro," revealed Zhinan.
"Interesting I never thought I'd meet the relative of one my past live's bending masters," Rong Yan mentioned.
When they finally arrive an hour and a half later, they entered the tent's backstage area where Zhinan introduced Dancho to Yua and Rong Yan. He immediately recognized the princess he ran over and knelt before her presence.
"Princess Yua you honor me with your presence," greeted Dancho, an average-sized pale-skinned middle-aged quadragenarian, his hair was light brown, he had very few wrinkles and light yellow eyes.
The outfit he wore had carny motifs, his goatee was trimmed and shaped similar to a duelist's, his outfit was bright red with purple and gold accents. A whip was coiled around his waist this was the tool he used on tamed beasts during the performances.
"You recognized her from afar I see," commented Zhinan.
"Of course, old friend, the Fire Nation princess can be spotted from a mile away," chuckled Dancho he faced Rong Yan and extended his hand out to the young man, "And who's this, Zhinan?" he asked his friend.
"This is Avatar Rong Yan, Princess Yua and the Avatar are here together. They're visiting the city and I decided to bring them to your show," replied Zhinan.
Dancho bowed before Rong Yan, "The Avatar, my great-great-grandfather, and your past life Avatar Anana were good friends. I only hope that we can rekindle that friendship now," he smiled.
"You've found me in a tough situation I didn't expect the Avatar and the Princess of the Fire Nation in my circus tonight. I'll strive to make it a memorable time for you and I'll make you my special guests," mentioned Dancho.
Rong Yan bowed to Dancho in respect, "Thank you."
Yua and Rong Yan were led by guards toward their seats they were given reserved seats on one side of the tent where the Imperial Firebenders could surround the princess. Dancho exited from behind the curtain and announced, "We have special guests in the bleachers tonight! Avatar Rong Yan and Fire Nation Princess Yua! A round of applause for the two of them!"
The crowd roared in happiness over the Avatar and possibly Yua, the Avatar, and the princess rose from their seats and waved their hands at the people who attended the audience. The entire show presented different performers with unique features or talents. Dancho was the last one, a lion vulture was released with his whip he lashed at the beast. The lion vulture flew threw flaming hoops and the crowd cheered and applauded the beast.
Then just like Rong Yan he conjured a stream of fire in the shape of dragonhawk but on a much grander scale. He threw a fire rope at the dragonhawk, the rope latched onto the creature born from fire, the massive dragonhawk flew over the heads of the crowd. Some of them were scared then near Rong Yan and Yua.
"Oh no! It's too strong! I can't hold onto it any longer!" cried out Dancho.
Rong Yan stood up a bit before Zhinan placed his hand on his shoulder, "It's a part of the show, Avatar. I assure you," assured Zhinan who's seen the show over a thousand times.
The dragonhawk neared the crowd on the right seat and exploded into colorful confetti, the crowd panicked because they thought they were going to be burned in a freak accident. Their attitudes changes when the pieces of paper fell on their persons they stood up and gave bowing Dancho a standing ovation.
Zhinan leaned in and questioned Yua, "Where to next, princess?"
Rong Yan's stomach growled, "What about a meal?"
Zhinan looked back to Yua who nodded in agreement with the Avatar, "We're going back to the Upper Ring for authentic Fire Nation food."
While Shen soared through the skies and returned to the Upper Ring, Yua asked Zhinan, "This restaurant what's it called?"
"It's called Hinokami's Gurrir, I'm not sure if the way things are cooked in the Fire Nation is similar to the Kingsmen-Nationalist expensive restaurants out here. You're allowed to pick your food from the variety of foods on display, it's sort of a buffet. Then the chef cooks the food in front of you, and they offer sushi," explained Zhinan.
"Sushi? What's sushi?" Rong Yan wondered he had no idea what that was.
"Sushi are small rolls of vinegar-flavored cooked rice, served with a garnish of raw fish, and sometimes wrapped in a seaweed wrap. Did you not have any while you were in Yin La?" described Yua then she questioned the Avatar.
"No, I mostly ate what the sages provided for free. I didn't have money to buy my meals from time to time," declined Rong Yan.
She came to a full stop in front of the reputable restaurant with a line of Kingsmen who awaited to enter the fine establishment. The hostess noticed the Imperial Firebenders then Yua, Rong Yan, and Zhinan and knelt before Yua.
"Princess Yua! Please let me find you an empty table for you and your party," said the hostess.
"Just a table for two, the others are just guarding me," smiled Yua.
"Of course," nodded the worker as she signaled them to follow her inside.
After they were settled inside Yua and Rong Yan were seated and a chef brought them different sushi rolls. Rong Yan was offered to try different rolls from the menu that the chef was able to make. Just when he thought steamed salmon was his favorite food sushi was added to the list of favorite foods.
An hour after being stuffed like a moo-sow, Zhinan then recommended to Yua, "If you need a nightcap to end this evening might I suggest Firelight Fountain in the Lower Ring?"
Yua smiled and nodded, "Yes."
Hours later, the night and the moon was positioned in the center of the sky just above them as they soared through the air on Shen. They landed neared the popular location that surprisingly, was empty tonight. Nonetheless, the lanterns in the fountain and around the rim of the fountain were lit, the lamp posts were lit.
The fountain was located in the center of public-sector housing, six-story apartments for the lower-income individuals who called Ba Sing Se their home. Surprisingly, the area was not riddled with crime and if it was it was a normally petty crime from street urchins or the homeless dying of hunger or thirst.
The four Imperial Firebenders covered every entrance and had their backs against the princess and the Avatar. Zhinan as well as focused on a lectern that contained some scrolls within for entertainment.
There were several rugs laid out in the courtyard for visitors by the caretakers of the fountain. This usually was seating for couples that wanted to lounge around. Instead of the stone benches that were lined up near the fountain itself. They both admired the sight of the moon with the brightness of the fire in the lanterns and from the moonlight itself that made everything even more magical.
Yua rested her head on Rong Yan's right shoulder, she whispered, "I wish I would have met you sooner."
"Me too," agreed Rong Yan.
"Thanks for the invitation I had a good time tonight, even trying new things," Rong Yan thanked Yua.
For a brief moment, they stared into each other's eyes and slowly went in for the kiss. Yua closed her eyes and puckered her lips while Rong Yan freaked out and instead of kissing Yua he permitted the princess to kiss his index and middle finger. The Avatar was afraid to kiss the Princess of the Fire Nation, and he felt even worse afterward because she thought they shared their first kiss.
The entire time the Avatar felt angst when he should've felt joy while Yua felt warm inside and had the feeling of lady flies inside her stomach. This time Rong Yan and Yua were in the saddle as they held on close to each other. One of the Imperial Firebenders had the experience to fly a dragon when he saw that Yua was fond of the Avatar he offered to fly them to Yua's estate.
Several hours later, it's twilight Yua and Rong Yan hopped off Shen, the princess yawned she was tired and it was late. It was two hours past midnight to be exact, her city guide Zhinan had formally shared his farewells with the Avatar and the Princess. The Imperial Firebenders stared at Rong Yan and Yua, she was irritated and barked at her royal guards, "INSIDE NOW!"
The royal guards scurried inside the rented home while Rong Yan and Yua stood outside in front of the porch as they faced each other. She puckered her lips once more for her goodnight kiss but hesitated and changed the kiss into an embrace. They awkwardly hugged each other, Yua went inside and Rong Yan had already flown off. He finally returned to the home Team Avatar was given, when he opened the door he saw Aloi asleep on the ta. She awoke to the sound of the door, "Oh hey, how was your day?" she asked her friend.
"It was good...I met someone from the Fire Nation and we had a magical evening," smiled Rong Yan.
Tale of Jushi[]
Jushi's room was a mess, the Avatar's earthbending master lived in a pigsty. When he awoke he stretched while in bed and yawned, the yawn echoed through the household. After he got out of bed he shuffled out of his room groggy and toward the outhouse. He scratched his rear for a few seconds and shambled over to the squat hole where he'd start the day off with relieving himself.
While Jushi squatted he remembered a tune from a tavern back in the Oma Kingdom, he began to hum loudly. Deep in the hum session Aloi rushed into the outhouse, Jushi heard a swiftness of footsteps outside the outhouse he darted his head into the direction of the door when he saw Aloi. Jushi screamed like a girl because he never expected Aloi to walk in on him like that.
"I saw nothing, I promise!" she cried out as she sprinted out of the outhouse.
It took Jushi sometime to leave the latrine, for some reason he expected Aloi to come back and ruin his alone time. After half an hour, he was alone in the house he entered his room and dressed near his nightstand he saw his dadao swords and stared at them for a bit.
It had been a while since he last used them he recalled the time back in Huangshan, Omashu province. He then remembered the moment where he told Aloi the Lower Ring was mostly riddled with crime, it was an assumption that he knew to be true. While everyone had gone their way for the day he thought why not help the guards. Jushi slung the double-edged swords onto his back and exited the home.
After he sought information he was directed toward the monorail system near the walls between the Upper Ring and the Middle Ring. There he only waited in line and paid a small sum of fifteen silver to take the monorail to the Lower Ring. After five hours of quick transportation, Jushi found himself in the northern portion of the Lower Ring. At the monorail station before he made himself scarce he noticed there were wanted posters on the wall closest to the stairs that led into the street.
There were wanted posters of the fanzui de laobans of the Dixia, and Hei Shichang triads, Baotu's face was present on his wanted poster. While Ying Xiao's portrait was vacant, another wanted poster had no picture available the name read, "Wanted: Luo Bin Han" the prize was vast for the arrest of the criminal but with no face nor last known location Jushi had no leads.
While there were other wanted posters the three that stuck to Jushi were posters of three teenagers, at least one of them was younger than the other. He believed the younger one was badly influenced by the other two.
The posters read, "Wanted: Jian Po, Nirvaasan, and Olugbala Iku; Crimes: Mugging, petty thievery, and intimidation. Warning criminals are rumored to be armed and dangerous, last known location: Zagao de Lu Street. Reward: Ten gold pieces per head, By Order and Decree of Earth King Qiang Zhen, Long May He Reign!"
These were three targets that should've proved easy to complete to Jushi, what danger could three teenagers be? There were other the details about on the wanted posters, they hinted that Jian Po was the leader of this small group that called themselves, "The Siwang Yaoqing Triad", he rolled his eyes and shook his head just a bunch of stupid kids that have no idea what they're getting themselves into. He inquired further for directions toward the street they were last seen in.
Upon arrival, he noticed the small dirt road only had three apartment buildings on them and a small shack on the other end. He climbed onto the roof of the home where he saw three teenagers emerge from an apartment building. One of them was a heavyset, average height, tan-skinned, neon green-eyed, young man in his late teens.
He wore a black pate queue on his head, its a hairstyle that was long hair tied into a ponytail from the crown of his head to his the end of his neck, his forehead, and the sides of his head were shaved every few days. The tail of his pate queue was braided instead of loose, he wore tattered brown rags which indicated he must've been a street urchin.
The boy next to him was much shorter than the overweight teenager and their companion who was tall as well. The boy was of average height and weight for a young teenager in his early teenhood, he was pale-skinned, light gray-eyed, scruffy dark brown hair, the two unique things about this kid was the outfit he wore. It was clear this boy was an Air Nomad possibly lost from his chaperone, or worse something like kidnapped, perhaps even the child committed a crime and was unable to leave the city and therefore forgotten.
The Air Nomad novice monk had a tattoo of nomadic language above his left eyebrow, this is the first time Jushi had seen an Air Nomad with tattoos that weren't their iconic cultural tattoos that people knew them for. He gave off this vibe of being a delinquent and Jushi saw his aura was a bit muddy, unlike the first teenager.
The third and final teenager was tall, and slim-fit, normally it was rare to see someone from the Si Wong province outside of the desert state, let alone one in the Qiangda Kingdom. The teenager looked near his late teens like the first denarian, his skin color was a deep golden color, his eyes were nearly a lime green color commonly found in the Si Wong people along with an array of strange eye colors. From a distance, Jushi was able to identify that the Si Wong Tribesman was either of Alxa or Gaxun tribes.
The young Tribesman's hair was black and coily, he had a shaved undercut but the top of his head styled in a short dreadlock-like hairstyle, some of the locks rested over his forehead. When the Tribesman turned around Jushi studied the face paint on the young man's face.
His face paint was an orange rectangle on the center of his forehead, he had two triangles painted on each side of his jaw close to the corners of his mouth, and he also had three dots under each eye socket. It was obvious to Jushi that this young man was of the Gaxun Tribe, their territory is the southern tip of the Si Wong province. The orange paint meant to identify the wearer was fearless in the face of their enemies.
Jushi observed his targets further, Jian Po swaggered through the street that he and his companions controlled through intimidation and advantage of the weak impoverished people who lived on the streets. His hand always on or near the pommel of his short dao, Jian Po always looked around for trouble he glanced back at young Nirvaasan and Olugbala.
Nirvaasan walked with his head down while he slouched, his hands in his pockets Jian Po noticed that the young boy wasn't confident in his stride or even portrayed a selfish and bad demeanor he stopped and grabbed him by the color of his tunic, "Stop walking like that!" he screamed in the young boy's face.
"You look like a weak coward Nirvaasan, it's disgusting. Look at Olug, he's confident in his walk he reads off as fearless and intimidating," said Jian Po then he pointed at the Gaxun sandbender.
"You better do it, tonight or else!" threatened Jian Po, he held his fist in the air and had it aimed at the young Air Nomad.
The tattoo above his eye brought shame to him every Nomad who laid eyes upon him and recognized the marking knew who or what he was. An exile, how could a young teenager be branded an exile by the temples? To some, it seemed cruel but most knew he was an exile of justice, the tattoo in Nomadic said, "Exiled by Nam".
Nirvaasan was from the Baiyan Air Temple where he was exiled from and he hitchhiked with a trading caravan to the Qiangdian capital. For the past two years, the boy lived off the streets and ate scrap out of garbage cans. He strove to survive the crime-ridden streets his life made a bit easier several months ago when he met Jian Po and his loyal companion Olugbala Iku. He never understood how the pair met, they seemed like opposites. Nirvaasan was used to petty thievery to survive although he clung to the novice clothing he wore. As if it was his only identity to his culture and people the same ones that threw him out.
Jian Po attempted several times to force Nirvaasan to hurt others, to kill Jian Po was obsessed with an old triad that was active nearly four years ago in the city. The Mousha Quan, he was too young to join the Mousha Quan almost four years ago. He had finally broken out of his cocoon of fear and weakness now he was fearless and strong. They sat on the porch of the housing they came out of bored, Olugbala silent never spoke a word he chose to do things on his own accord without opinion, no questions asked.
An older gentleman possibly a septuagenarian exited one of the apartment buildings he hobbled out from the porch. With a walking stick that he used to support himself the old man lost most of his hair, wrinkles littered the entirety of his face. He was slouched but once tall, frail but once fit, he careened from side to side but at one point in time, he was able to run long distances. The old man normally never left in the late afternoon, it was an emergency while he cooked himself a meal he found out that he ran out of cumin spice and beets.
Jian Po pulled his butterfly sword out of its sheathe he pointed at the unsuspected old man who continued down the road. He held onto the pommel and lowered to Nirvaasan's hands, "Here now's your chance the old man failed to be his tax. Everyone who wants out protection or desires to exist must pay the tax. Now force him to pay his tax."
"And if h-he re-refuses?" Nirvaasan stammered his question, he asked Jian Po.
"Then you kill him!" barked Jian Po, he shoved the novice to the ground. Nirvaasan frowned and sighed he rose to his feet and went after the old man who only made it about a couple of steps away from them.
Nirvaasan neared toward the old man with the short thick sword drawn the old man stopped to shakingly grab a loose copper coin on the dirt path. The novice stopped in his tracks only about a yard or two from his potential victim. He stared at the blade and then at the old man then he took a gander back at Jian Po and Olugbala.
Nirvaasan froze while the old man was stooped over he was startled by his abuser and gasped. Jian Po took the short dao from the hands of the street urchin he spat in Nirvaasan's face followed by a backhand across the nomad's face. Jian Po jogged up to the septuagenarian who slowly returned to his standing position. He shoved the old man from behind who fell to the ground and stopped his face from potential injury when he used his hands to safely halt his fall.
Jian Po positioned his sword above and over his head, he was going to swing the blade down and hack at the old man. As the blade came down it rattled his arms and caused pain sparks flew when he saw that two dadao swords parried his blow. He gasped and staggered back the blade fumbled from his hands. Nirvaasan darted behind a tree and hid in fear while Olugbala joined in the sandbender stood in a defensive stance as he awaited an attack from the enemy.
He shifted into a point-step stance, he stood on one foot like a dune flamingo with his other foot raised at an acute angle. The dirt under their feet changed its form from solid earth to loose sand he tossed a wave of sand at Jushi. The bounty hunter spun his blades upward and out rose a wall in front of him, "Oluseto ile," he called out.
It was clear the Gaxunese teenager spoke no Kingsmen but luckily, Jushi was educated and knew all four dialects of the Si Wongese language. He spoke in Hami, Junggari, Alxan, and Gaxunese dialects, he understood the young Gaxunese teen called him an 'earthbender' like he didn't expect Jushi to be one. Maybe the dadao swords made him seem like a non-bender like Jian Po.
Jushi's wall shook as he attempted to hold onto it, he broke a sweat the wall crumbled into sand that surrounded him. Olugbala shifted into a Nian stance he crossed his legs as he pivoted his body toward his opponent with his arms he created a funnel of sand that he blew toward Jushi.
"Rara mo je olusonrin iyanrin lati eya Hami!" shouted Jushi as he crossed his arms.
He finally revealed to the teenager they were brothers by ethnic group. Jushi changed into the Ye Zu stance of Bhudev-style earthbending, his forward leg he balanced on his heel while his back leg was sideways and flat-footed. He made fluid-like movements with his arms almost like he copied a waterbender. The sand and solid ground underneath Olugbala's feet suddenly liquified. The sandbender struggled with fear in the patch of quicksand.
Jushi pushed down until the Gaxunese sandbender was waist-deep into the quicksand then he clenched his fist which changed the state of the ground back to solid. The sandbender struggled to escape as he screamed with fear and anxiety but no avail broke free.
"Tani e?!" Olug questioned the bounty hunter he wanted to know who the stranger was.
"Jushi ti Hami Tribe, mo wa lati Tuxi Cun ti idile, Avatar Bhudev," Jushi introduced himself as the Jushi from the Hami Tribe, a descendant of Avatar Bhudev and he mentioned he was from Tuxi Cun.
With a strong, thick Gaxunese accent Iku uttered, "Je ki n lo, I surr-surrender...!"
Just when Jushi thought he spoke no Kingsmen the teenage Si Wongese surprised him, Jushi changed the solid earth back into the sand. Olug was able to break free, he pushed himself with hands out of the hole he was stuck in. Once he escaped he took quick breaths and rolled onto his back. Nirvaasan screamed and pointed when Jushi turned back to look Jian Po struck him in the face with the pommel of his hudie dao.
"He almost drowned you in quicksand, kill him!" Jian Po barked at Olugbala Iku, the sandbender sat on his rear silently. Jushi on his knees awoke after being unconscious for five minutes, the Gaxunese gazed at the Hami bounty hunter and then back at the Kingsmen.
"N-no!" declined Iku Jian Po angrily aimed to strike at Jushi's throat but Olug jumped into action and wrapped a globe of sand around Jian Po's head.
The sandbender concentrated on the globe as it spun faster around the abuser's head the speed of the grains of sand rotated violently like the sandstorms of the Si Wong province. The grains of sand forced themselves into the Qiangdian's nose which caused him to suffocate painfully and steadily, his eyes went bloodshot red before he collapsed to the ground. The dark-skinned sandbender turned his head away from the former friend he killed.
A brother sandbender showed the boy mercy instead of ending his life, Jushi rose to his feet and held on tightly to some rope but then let it go. He saw the aura of the sandbender wasn't so muddy after all, he noticed the young man turned away from the other he killed.
"Thank you," he thanked the Gaxunese teen.
"Igbesi aye fun igbesi aye," said the young man, his companion the exiled novice monk came from behind the tree. His voice quavered with fear, "You're not g-going to arrest us are you?"
"How many have you killed?" he questioned the monk.
"I-I haven't killed anyone, the monks taught me all life was sacred. I want to uphold those lessons, Jian Po tried to get me to kill but I wouldn't," responded Nirvaasan.
"Meji," answered Olugbala.
"As your friend said, a life for a life, outsiders will never understand the code of honor sandbenders have for one another. Take him with you, the Qiangdian Kingsmen are systemically racist toward the Si Wongese people," said Jushi then he disclosed a code of honor between the Si Wongese, a code that he honored because his ancestor started it. Although when a brother or sister deserved it they were severely punished for their crimes.
"Did he deserve to die?" Jushi pointed at the body of Jian Po.
Both of them nodded, "He killed ten people," revealed Nirvaasan.
"Where? If I-I return h-home I will die," Olug asked the bounty hunter.
"Anywhere in the Oma Kingdom, take the monk with you and leave the city, you have a better chance in Omashu than in Ba Sing Se. Do better and change," said Jushi. The boys nodded and they wandered off. Jushi roamed off as well to find a guard before he trashed the wanted posters of Olugbala and Nirvaasan.
A city guard patrolled another road five blocks from where his confrontation occurred. He notified the guard of the body and handed him the wanted poster. He was advised to take it to the Ministry of Justice in the morning. Jushi then returned to the monorail he spent several hours as he headed back to the Upper Ring. Jushi opened the door to find Unaraq and Aloi asleep on the ta, then he shuffled to bed tired for the evening.
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