Kibu(Earth bending)

Morning after failed heist.
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Kibu woke to muted sunlight filtering through the white curtains of the window next to his bed. The sheets weren't exactly silk, but they were thick and soft and Kibu didn't feel like getting out from under them. But he had work to do today, namely, leaving the city for a nice relaxing trip away from the thief who had tried and could still be trying to kill him. Kibu had tried to read the files, but the words were in some code. It was gibberish to Kibu, and he couldn't understand why the thief would go for useless paper over jewels. But he understood that if the man thought this file was more valuable than the set of rings Kibu had tried to steal, it would be worth it to find out why, and who would buy it.

Kibu slid his legs out from under the covers and sat up on the edge of the bed. He stretched out the sore muscles on his back and looked over to his shoulder bag, which was in the corner. Since the floor was made of stone, Kibu just dragged his foot across the floor and the bag slid over to him. He reached into the bag and easily found the small bottle of volatile sake* he had used the day before. He contemplated drinking it, but decided he liked having skin on his gums and reached inside for another bottle. It was a silver and glass flask about the size of Kibu's hand, with a wrought silver clasp on the lid to keep it from flipping open.

Kibu flipped the clasp off and took a small sip of the clear bluish liquid. It had a sharp taste, but no more so than any cheap roadside inn's house sake. Almost instantly, he forgot the sore aching of his muscles. He took another small sip and closed the bottle, placing it back in his bag. He took his gi top from the nearby table and put it on, then grabbed his bag and slung it on his shoulders. He tried to stand, but was met with a sharp, shooting pain from his knee.

He waited until his vision cleared and sighed. He had pushed himself too much during his run to the tavern he was staying in. And now, he was paying for it. He knew his knee would be like this for the rest of the day, so he pulled his cane out of its cradle on his bag's strap and pushed it firmly against the floor. Then, with a little earthbending assistance, he stood up and hobbled forward away from the bed. He gingerly let his weight off the cane until his knee started to hurt again and walked forward towards the door of his room. He tossed a gold piece from his bag on the bed for the cleaner and exited the room into a hallway. He followed this until he came out into the bar of the tavern.

There was a man behind the bar, quietly reading a single page newsletter that was about the happenings and going-ons of the people in the Middle District. He didn't notice Kibu's entry, due to his soft footsteps, but was quickly alerted to Kibu's presence when the bottle of sake that Kibu had used nearly bounced off his head. It slid off the edge of the bar and the man fumbled with it to keep it from crashing to the floor. He finally caught it and put it on a shelf and turned to shout at Kibu, but he wasn't there.

"I can't believe you sold me that when you knew I had to drink it. For shame." came Kibu's voice from behind.

The bartender turned to see Kibu sitting at the end of the bar with a half full bottle of rice wine*. Kibu raised the bottle and smiled at the confused-looking man.

"Trade-in. Hope you don't mind that I took it from under your counter." Kibu said, still smirking.

"Kibu. Have a good night?" the man asked, quietly accepting Kibu's little show.

"As always, Mort, the bed was excellent. And thank you for hiring that particular maid. Mmm, you pervert." Kibu laughed as he recalled the maid's outfit, which was a size too small and a little too revealing for her position. It had been supplied by Mort, the owner of the tavern.

Mort smiled and shook his head. "She thanks you, by the way. Every time you stay, she comes up to me with 'Oh, he left me a tip! Look, it's more than you pay me in a week!' And I get dirty looks. Thanks, man."

"Anytime. Look, I gotta go. I'll be out of town for awhile." Kibu said as he grabbed his cane and got up from his chair.

Mort sobered up and looked seriously at Kibu and asked "Are you alright? Everything ok? You were a little shaken up last night."

"I'm fine. Job went bad. Had a little scuffle. Nothing serious." Kibu lied.

Mort seemed to know this, but gave up asking and settled with "Have a good trip, Kibu."

Kibu waved as he stepped out the swinging doors of the tavern and turned left towards the Lower District wall. He had lied in there. It upset him that the thief wasn't actually a thief. He pulled out a small amethyst pin from his bag, the one that he had ripped from his attacker's cloak during the fight. He was hoping an old friend of his could tell him what it was, and what the strange lines and markings on it indicated. Perhaps even why he was only taking files from the Minister's house.

After about ten minutes and passing several homes and restaurants, Kibu arrived at the Lower District gate. While Middle District residents didn't need a gate pass to go from the Middle to the Lower District, they needed them if they wanted to return to the Middle, so Kibu was required to show the guards an Upper District pass he had stolen years ago from one of his first jobs. They nodded, although looking somewhat confused why someone with Kibu's pass would want to go to the Lower District, but signaled the nearby Earthbenders to open the gates.

Kibu passed under one of the great walls of the city and entered the Lower District. The place he felt most at home. Just on one street, he recognized three fellow thieves, several gang thugs, two off-duty prostitutes(one which he had paid for earlier that week) and a bouncer, also off duty, staring stupidly at the prostitutes. The one he had slept with noticed him and waved. He smiled and waved back. As he walked, he ran into the other thieves, who each nodded to him. One asked him how the job went. He lied about it and kept on walking.

Soon after passing that diverse mix of characters that would never be outside in the daylight in any other district in town, he came to the other part he loved. There were nine or ten kids in the street playing earthball with a ratty old ball and crude stone goalposts. He knew most of these kids, and their families, and had even helped some of them out with the occasional gold piece or two. Unfortunately, some of these kids didn't have families, and spent their lives living on the street. Kibu sympathized with them, because he knew how hard it was to be away from or not have a family. He also knew that someone like Tatsu-Shi, his sifu, could make a big difference, so he tried to show them things and tell them stories about his various jobs and generally help them out.

As he was walking around the kids, trying not to mess up the game, the ball came flying towards his head. With a practiced move from years of playing, he slid his left foot out and raised it to bring a short wall of earth up from the ground, he spun on his right foot, putting more weight on his cane to avoid injury, and the wall curved around like a wave, rising in the front and falling into the ground in the back. The ball traveled around behind Kibu in the wave of earth until he had spun al the way around. Once the ball was just to the right of him, Kibu stomped the ground, spiking the ball and lobbing it over his head and into his left hand. The rest of the earth wave fell back into the ground.

The kids started cheering and clapping, and a few were laughing at one boy, who had obviously tried to get Kibu with the ball. He smiled and dropped the ball. The boy who had shot the ball at Kibu shouted out, "I bet you can't make a goal from there!". Kibu smiled wider.

The boy moved in front of the goal and got ready. Kibu nudged the ball forward with is foot and aimed. After he had it lined up, he stomped his heel backwards into the ground and a spike of earth shot from the ground, sending the ball over several heads and bouncing right before it reached the goal. It was headed directly for the boy, who didn't even move, intending to simply catch it. However, Kibu hopped to the right with his back facing out and sharply brought his hands to his chest while he slid his left foot towards his right.

The boy was slid sideways, standing straight up, and the ball went flying in past him. He looked back and forth between each of his feet and Kibu, mouth wide open. Kibu laughed and continued on down the street as the other kids started pestering and joking with the boy. He walked for nearly half an hour, passing more people he knew, some that he was "familiar" with, before reaching a small nondescript house on the edge of the barrier wall to the fields outside of the city. He passed a lone guard, who he knew was heavily armed. The guard nodded to him, and Kibu nodded back. He entered the house.

The room he walked into was dimly lit and smelled like smoke. He walked past some rickety tables and chairs to a thick wooden door with a heavy metal lock on it. He knocked twice on the door and waited. There was a bit of movement from inside and a small slot opened. An eye peeked through it and disappeared when it saw Kibu. A second later, Kibu heard the lock being unlatched and he pushed the door open. Kibu walked into this room, which wasn't much brighter or better smelling than the first room and closed the heavy door behind him. The latch automatically snapped back into place.

The man who had opened the door was walking back to a chair he had next to a low table where there was an assortment of sticks burning and smoking. The smoke stung Kibu's eyes, as it always did when he came here, but this was his first choice for a fence. Kibu sat down in the chair across from the man, whose name Kibu had never asked. He assumed that the man wouldn't tell him, so he simply called him "Fence".

"Kibu. It's good to see you again." the man's voice was rough and slow. "It's good" sounded more like "Suh-good".

"Likewise, Fence. I got some stuff I need you to look at." Kibu said.

"Let's see it. You bring me lots of interesting things." Fence replied.

Kibu pulled off the strangely-colored ring that he had been wearing when he dropped the rest of the set in the Minister's house. "How much will this go for?" he asked.

Fence took it and looked at it for a few moments before handing it back. "Well, a lot. If I sold it to an idiot. Which there aren't as many of as you'd think. Anyone with any amount of knowledge in jewelry would see the inside band and throw it back in my face if I tried to sell it without the rest of the set and the original case. If it weren't part of a set, it'd sell beautifully. Being a ring from the southern provinces, it's made better than any cheap jeweler up here could imagine."

"Will you buy it?" Kibu asked hesitantly.

"Yeah. Ten gold pieces is all I'll risk on it though." Fence replied.

Kibu sighed and put it back on his finger. Fence nodded. "Sorry. Anything else?"

Kibu pulled the file from his bag and placed it on the desk. Fence leafed through it and shook his head. "It's worthless."

"That's not what I need to know. Can you read it?" Kibu replied.

"Nah. But I've seen this code before, on weapons shipment documents people bring in. Never a whole page of it, let alone a whole file. Can't help you." Fence said.

Kibu shook his head, perplexed, but didn't ask any more. If Fence said he didn't know, he was both telling the truth and warning you not to push it. Finally, he pulled the amethyst pin out of his bag and placed it on the desk. Fence paled as soon as he saw it.

"I won't buy that. Where'd you get it?" Fence snapped quickly.

Kibu was surprised, because he had never seen Fence like this. "I took it off a thief from my last job, the one who messed me and lost the rest of those rings."

"Is he dead? D'you kill him?" Fence said shortly

"No, but-"

"Get out, Kibu." Fence cut Kibu off before he had finished speaking.

"What are you-"

"Now, Kibu! You in a lot of trouble with the wrong people. Take that and get out." Fence said, raising his voice and standing up.

Kibu stood up with him, grabbing the pin. "Tell me what this is. I'll go if you tell me." He replied.

"No. If I tell you, they'll come for me. You in a lot of trouble. Get out." he repeated himself.

Kibu got angry with his stubborn refusal and cryptic warning and slammed his cane on the table. "Tell me!"

There was knocking on the door. The guard was investigating the raised voices. "It's nothing personal, but you aren't safe to be messing around with right now. Get out." Fence drew a knife from inside his jacket.

Kibu scowled and wheeled around. He walked to the door and unlatched it. It burst open and the guard entered. Before Fence could say anything to him, he drew his weapon and tried to attack Kibu. Kibu sidestepped the attack and checked* the guard in the nose with the side of his cane. The man fell back ward into the next room and tripped on a chair, tumbling over to the floor. Kibu exited the house quickly, before he recovered.

As Kibu walked away from the house, he decided it was even more important to leave the city and quickened his pace. He would make a quick stop at the Lower District's stables, and then he would be gone as soon as possible. But he'd be back to figure out this mess.
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Finally, a post.

*I hope I don't have to explain this, but sake is a type of alcohol in Japan made from rice. Just in case someone doesn't know.

*Rice wine is technically sake, but in my story, sake is like Bud Light, and rice wine is like quality liquor or a fine wine.

*For the hockey-illiterate, a check means being struck with the side of a hockey stick that being held in both hands. Or a cane, if that's what you got. I hope someone other than me knows that.

That was 4 pages in Word. Be proud. Or sad.

This thread IS legendary.

I'll read your story soon confucius.

Legendary?? And i thought that we were the epic thread

ditto on your story confusion

edit: Will post soon...

I'm actually feeling kinda sad... but that's only because the prozac hasn't kicked in yet

Nice post Confusiosayshi.

SOO one good post deserves an even better one

And yes it is a little over-dramatic but that is a part of why i like to read/watch manga/anime

Please read and bloody reply while your at it. thank you

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Siam- airbender

Iwao- earthbender

Grandma Chiyo- half crazed waterbender

Kempa- currently a hairless pink rat

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As soon as their eyes adjusted Siam and Iwao looked upon the massiveness of the cave they had entered. Stalactites and stalagmites riddled the floor and ceiling. But the thing that caught Siam's attention the most was the contents of the pens and cages that covered most of the floor space. The cave contained entire flocks, herds, packs, throngs, and gaggles of animals; from two head vipers to flying squirrels. And if that wasn't didn't surprise newcomers, the accumulating smell was enough to make them dry heave. Siam felt in awe and nauseous at the same time; it was an interesting sensation.

"Ugh," groaned Siam as she clutched her throbbing stomach.

"Is it really that bad. My nose doesn't work so I don't mind it. My mom keeps telling me that I smell bad or that I don't smell good."

Siam started to laugh but bile started to rise in her throat.

"Hey Siam, if you want to leave we can see your flying bison later. It wouldn't be a problem really."

Cupping her mouth in her hand Siam shook her head no as her face got cluttered with hair. Holding her mouth in one hand and hold Iwao's for direction, Siam slowly made to the back of the cave. Once they passed all the cages Siam was able to make out a study wooden door that was massive in length and height.

"Hold on a second," said Iwao as he slammed his foot on the ground causing the massive door to swing open. Inside the air smelled a lot cleaner and Siam immediately felt better besides her upset stomach but seeing Kempa all bandaged up still left her gloomy.

"Hi grandma Ch...," started Iwao.

Just as Iwao was greeting the old woman a watery hand picked him up while another started slapping him.

"Deary," began Grandma Chiyo in a loving voice. "I realize that you aren't up very often but I thought I told you to clean the cages."

"Grandma- ack-ptthbb," Iwao sputtered.

Shaking her head Grandma Chiyo turned to Siam, "And we have this pretty young lady as a guest too."

Standing their dumbfounded, Siam watched as Grandma Chiyo combined the two bubbles to form a liquid sphere around Iwao.

"Now are you going to be a good boy and get to cleaning or am I going to have to punish you on your birthday?"

Almost out of air, Iwao nodded his head in desperation. The bubble suddenly burst and created an icy slide toward the huge door. Five seconds later Iwao was outside with the door closed behind him.

"Now, where were we? Ah yes," exclaimed Grandma Chiyo with a wide toothed grin. "Your flying-bison..."

The grandma walked back to the bison and extended her icy stilts in order to rude the non-sensitive part on his head.

"He's obviously been through a lot. His body has been bruised all over not to mention the fact that all his fur is gone. Without his fur, he won't be flying anytime soon and even then I wouldn't permit it. Lastly, should he overcome his injuries, he might not regain his fur and his ability to fly."

"So," said Grandma Chiyo with a stern look on her face. "I have come to the hard decision that your bison is going to have to stay with me for the time being. He will just be a huge burden if he goes with you and he might die if you take him."

Siam felt infuriated at the old woman's words. Kempa was more than just a friend to her, he was family.

"Kempa in not and shall never be burden," Siam yelled. "He is my friend and protector. I would never let him die like that!"

The old short-tall woman smiled softly revealing her yellow teeth. Then walking over to the girl, the old woman patted Siam on the head. The act took Siam by surprise.

"Good, good. I proper answer for an air-bender. I expected nothing less from you but his condition does still remain. And while this is a very rude thing to ask of you, ask I must... for the sake of your flying bison's life: let him stay with me. Please let go of him for a while so he can recover. I will treat him well in your stead."

In the back of her mind, Siam knew it would come to this. She knew that he would return to her only to be taken away again. It seemed like this was her lot in life. To be receiving only to lose again.

"I will come back to see him again," said Siam as a tear rolled down her face. "He actually will like it here with all free range grass. He (hic) really hates the dried up hay (hic)."

As short as her arms were, Grandma Chiyo had no problem hugging Siam.

"Shhh, shhh," crooned the old woman. "You can always come back. And remember, today is supposed to be a happy day. Now go and join the party and I while be along in a second."

Siam whispered a thank you to Grandma Chiyo and headed for the door as she waved goodbye to Kempa. But as she opened the massive door, it suddenly flung wide open, nearly swatting her away. On the opposite side, opening the door stood Iwao panting for breath.

"We've (huff) got trouble!"

"What is it birthday boy," said Grandma Chiyo. "Did your mother leave the cake in the oven again?"

Iwao shook his head as he got his breath. "Worse!"

Grandma Chiyo put her hands on her hip. "Have those pesky brainwashing turnips come back? Deary me, I thought we'd seen the last of them."

"Grandma Chiyo please," pleaded Siam.

"Oh all right," said the old woman throwing up her hands. "You two run along and fix those pesky vermin. I'll join you as soon as I finish with Kempa."

Siam nodded as she ran over to Iwao and helped him up. "Come on, you can talk as we run."

Having just arrived, Iwao rolled his head out of annoyance.

"But I just got here."

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this is the part where it gets really good.

Huh, post? where?

Note that this plot is interweaved with Dak's posts, for effectiveness. I also rapidly explained what should have been a major plot point. Accept it. I don't have the time to type it all out.

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Bai Mao (firebender, pudao) Part 1

On the beach after the retreat (This part takes place a few hours after my previous post but a few days before Dak's Part 1)

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Bai Mao was furious with himself. Almost a quarter of the soldiers had been lost, including one of the few people he had ever called "friend." And why? Because he overlooked what was staring him in the face. Lava benders. And a giant freaking volcano. All of his planning, his hard work, the traveling across the entire Earth Kingdom and then some, scattered to the four winds in an instant. He sat, in a foul mood, around the campfire, idly bending it up and down. After a while, he got up and headed into his tent.

After about a half hour, Jasmine entered. What she found was strange, to say the least. Bai Mao was busy punching a sand sculpture... of himself. Yonhi, his leg in a dressing, seemed to be keeping the effigy intact. After a few minutes, Jasmine cleared her throat.

Jasmine: What's going on?

B'ao: I'm angry.

Jasmine: Look, it-

B'ao: Look at what? The hundred soldiers who are out killing themselves for us? The other 250 who were incinerated by molten lava? All because I didn't realize the giant volcano staring me in the face! I was such An idiot!

He punched the sand with every declaration.

B'ao: A Moron! A fool! A... A... Yonhi?

Yonhi: Alphabetical order?

B'ao: Don't care!

Yonhi recited as many synonyms as he could remember, and on each word, Bai Mao delivered a punch to his sandy figure.

Yonhi: Blockhead; bonehead; cretin; dimwit; dunce; ignoramus; imbecile; nincompoop; ninny; nitwit; simpleton-

Bai Mao's punches to his sandy twin increased in severity with each word, and at this point, Bai Mao's caused an explosion that transformed his likeness into glass. He then swung a around in a roundhouse kick that knocked the head clean off. He panted heavily, until he slumped down, dejected. Yonhi couldn't help a sly comment.

Yonhi: Aw... I wanted a few shots at it.

B'ao: I saw Rieji today. After five years, I saw her face. And I let her slip by. One moment of weakness cost us the day.

Jasmine: What happened?

B'ao: The damned dagger. That one simple piece of metal. The whole reason Rieji was captured in the first place, the reason we're here today!

Jasmine: What do you mean?

B'ao: If you'll remember, Rieji got taken away when Kar and his group disguised themselves as atraveling circus. I wasn't there, because Rieji and I had broken it off. We were sparring, and I broke her dagger. She gets all crazy, talking about how it was the only relic she had of her mother, her family, and all that. She wouldn't let me fix it, and She wouldn't talk to me because I broke it. So you know what I did? I snuck into her room and fixed it. Worst deision ever! She got even madder at me, talking about how I didn't respect her or care for her feelings and I was trying to talk to her and calm her down and then she just threw it at me. Buried it in my shoulder. I pulled it out, left her alone. Didn't speak to her. Didn't... didn't get to say goodbye.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A FEW HOURS LATER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[insert section of Dak's Part 1 that had Bai Mao in it and I'm too lazy to copy here.]

As Bai Mao turned away, he heard a rustling in the bushes. He knew exactly who it was, too.

B'ao: You can follow the path, you know.

Sayo came from the bushes, fumbling with the hat on his head.

Sayo: Yeah, I know I was just-

B'ao: I hope you two have a happy life when this is over.

Sayo: What are you talk-

B'ao: You can cut the act Korae. I'm a ilitart strategist who travels around with a genius eartbender and a woman who can sense energy. You look nothing like anyone from Ju. We found the medicine for Dak the same day we found you. And you have skinny wrists. Point is, you two have my blessing.

And with that, Bai Mao watched as Korae went down the path.

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