- This article is about the Earth Kingdom researchers. For the Jasmine Island politican, see Yuming (Jasmine Islander).
| "Please, Malaya, will you be our guide? Lead us to your village. Introduce us to your chief. Let us meet the cave spirit." |
| — Yuming to Malaya.[1] |
Yuming and Qixia were a pair of mother and daughter experts who worked for the Western Kingdom Trading Company. They came to Lambak Island in search of a unique mineral, and made extensive records of their time there. The duo pushed back against Malaya's forceful requests for them to leave. They would eventually fail to stop their own guards from destroying the island's village.
History[]
After years of research, Yuming found the location of a mysterious island said to contain a unique mineral or stone. After months of sailing around the South Sea, she and Qixia landed ashore with six earthbender guards working for the Western Kingdom Trading Company in tow.[1][3]
Yuming and Qixia were deeply excited about various discoveries they made on the island. They closely examined nearly every plant, rock, animal, and insect they came across, using their delicate earthbending to inspect their discoveries. They made several drawings and notes, while wondering aloud and discussing what they found. All the while, they were being stalked by Malaya, a scout for the isolationist Lambak clan who were monitoring but avoiding contact with outsiders. Yuming and Qixia started to move their camp further inland, which became a cause of concern for the island's scout and its chief, Ulo.[3]
After Malaya's meeting with Ulo, the island's scouts worked together in an effort to get the outsiders to leave. The island's fog began to grow thicker once Amihan used her airbending to condense and close in the fog around the company's group, so Malaya could steal their supplies and force them to leave the island. However, Malaya bumped into Yuming as she tried to steal the guards' packs, with the scout's own vision limited by the fog. Yuming cried out in surprise when she and Malaya broke apart, and wondered if she had bumped into Qixia. The earthbender daughter responded that she was in fact elsewhere, just a few steps away. As Qixia remarked about the mystery of the fog, the mist thinned, allowing Malaya to come into view of the earthbender experts. Malaya ran away, causing the group's guards to go after her. Yuming pleaded with the others not to hurt the native islander, and a guard raised a wall of rock to block Malaya's way. Nevertheless, the scout was able to leap on top, escaping on her gorilla tarsier.[2]
Malaya would approach Yuming and Qixia later on, as they inspected black striations with a red sheen. Malaya asked the experts not to call for their guards. Even while Qixia treated her with hostility, Malaya tried to explain that she had not wanted to attack the party, and that she had only been hoping for them to leave. Yuming nevertheless explained her assumption that Malaya had killed three of their guards, with two of them disappearing early on, and Oh Wen being attacked by Amihan. When Yuming asked why the scout wanted her to leave, Malaya told her that it was not safe, and that the island belonged to their clan. After learning that the people on the island considered themselves separate from all nations, Yuming asked if she could see their leader, hoping there could be a mutual exchange of information that could benefit everyone involved. Malaya was forced to decline her offer, and so Yuming explained that she was not going to leave after going through all the effort needed to find the island.
Yuming asked Malaya if she would be the pair's guide to the flora and fauna on the island, explaining how much knowledge she had gained already. Instead, Malaya tried to make a point that someone was behind the rocks on the trail, and that the chief had ordered her to take the lives of Yuming and Qixia. Malaya stated that she was not bluffing, and also made it clear that the party's guards would stand no chance against the attacker. After taking some time to consider, Yuming asked Malaya why her people were so intent on keeping outsiders away. The scout replied that the clan had a duty to protect the spirit Yungib at any cost. When Malaya shook her head in the negative, Yuming reached for Malaya's hands, once again reiterating her earlier request for the young woman to act as their guide. Even though Malaya was taken aback by the woman's softness, she chose to decline once more. At this, Yuming stepped back, while Qixia used her bending to rise rock fragments from the ground and bind Malaya's hands together. Qixia then flicked her wrist, and had hardened earth encasing Malaya's legs up to her knee. As the scout struggled against her restraints, Yuming apologized to the native with a touch of disappointment, and reiterated that they had come too far. The mother and daughter duo then disappeared into the fog, leaving Malaya stuck to the mountainside.[1]
Other islanders would later capture the Western Kingdom Trading Company guards, before Malaya and Gyatso would help free them.[4] The guards ran off to destroy the Lambak clan's village. Yuming and Qixia tried to stop them, but failed. After reducing the islanders' homes to rubble, the guards moved on to go after Chief Ulo. When Malaya caught up to the village and saw the extent of the devastation, Yuming tried to explain what had happened. In her anger, Malaya would reach for a dagger in response to Yuming, but Gyatso took her wrist, and got her to gather those that could help. Malaya eventually moved herself away from Yuming without a further word.[5]
Appearances[]
Chronicles of the Avatar[]
The Reckoning of Roku[]
- 109. "Knowledge to Destroy"
- 113. "A Rat-Snake's Underbelly"
- 120. "A Mutual Exchange of Information"
- 137. "The Machine"
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Ribay, Randy (author). (July 23, 2024). Chapter Twenty, "A Mutual Exchange of Information". The Reckoning of Roku. Amulet Books.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ribay, Randy (author). (July 23, 2024). Chapter Thirteen, "A Rat-Snake's Underbelly". The Reckoning of Roku. Amulet Books.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ribay, Randy (author). (July 23, 2024). Chapter Nine, "Knowledge to Destroy". The Reckoning of Roku. Amulet Books.
- ↑ Ribay, Randy (author). (July 23, 2024). Chapter Thirty-Five, "The Teeth of the Trap". The Reckoning of Roku. Amulet Books.
- ↑ Ribay, Randy (author). (July 23, 2024). Chapter Thirty-Seven, "The Machine". The Reckoning of Roku. Amulet Books.