leaves from the vine | avatar: the last airbender (rp)

[Mini]

leaves from the vine | an a:tla roleplay
roleplay thread

Whispers of the Avatar’s return started in Ba Sing Se amongst benders and non-benders alike, no doubt the same whispers were in different cities and towns throughout the four nations. People said that this would save the world, that the Fire Nation’s plan to take over the entire would would be thwarted. Yumi was somewhat skeptic, considering the Avatar had been gone 100 years, and even if he was alive he’d likely be too frail and old to do much to stop the Fire Nation army. Still, a part of her yearned to see if this was indeed true and find the Avatar herself. True she was no bender, but she was still a formidable foe to whoever crossed her path. Those that underestimated non-benders tended to have their asses handed to them. Yumi knew how to level the playing field.




So she spent the few days after the whispers started packing up her belongings - the ones she would need to survive on the road and find the Avatar. If she found him she knew what she would say, tell him to come to Ba Sing Se, help defend them from the Fire Nation and stop the firelord. Her parents wished her all the best, telling her to write letters on her travels so they wouldn’t worry. She then took their family’s shirshu to ride - ‘For added protection. Shishi will keep you safer than if you traveled on foot.’ Her mother had said. “I’m more than capable of handling myself, but thank you mother.” Yumi had said, before she left the family grounds and started making her way out of the city of Ba Sing Se to start her own journey.

[Wyndi]

A bird chirped, long and clear, in Michi's ear. Two weeks ago, he would've grumbled at the sound, rolled over in bed, and fallen back asleep, but not anymore: instead, he jolted to full wakefulness, the top of his head brushing against a mass of browning leaves, and set to untying the rope that secured him to the thick tree branch on which he'd spent the night.

With that done, he scurried back down the trunk, jumping down the last few meters and scaring away the birds that'd been pecking around the roots. "Sorry!" he called after them with a grin, then yawned and stretched. His bones cracked pleasantly as he went through the routine, as familiar to him as the feel of fire in his palm, and after fifteen minutes, he rehoisted his bag over his shoulder and set off for Ba Sing Se at a run. The legendary hundred-meter-high outer wall of the city was just a last several kilometers away, rising up higher and stronger than anything Michi had ever seen before. At this pace, he thought, he could easily get there within the hour, and then he could get his hands on a proper meal. The thought made his stomach gurgle in anticipation, and he sped up slightly without noticing, his feet kicking up flurries of dirt behind him as he ran.

[mdf2711]

Kip giggled and pried Goshi off his face again. A few young girls turned and tittered for a moment at the bizarre but not unusual, fresh pentapus spots on his right cheek. His pet purple pentapus, Goshi, was a cutie but his suction cup tentacles, while ticklish and not at all slimy or uncomfortable, left strange dot-like markings all over Kipper Nomezuka's skin. The boy laughed it off and continued on his way. He passed by the market and picked up a few ingredients for his mother's dinner tonight as he'd been instructed. Kip looked around at the people milling through the market as Goshi played on his forearm and thought about his latest lesson at the small waterbending academy he attended. They had been re-examining some essential forms and meditations. The eager young bender boy looked forward to tomorrow's lesson on some modern adaptations of traditional forms for use in sparring...it had been his suggestion after all. Kip weaved his way in and out of the crowds, learning quickly the ebb and flow of the market mobs and gracefully navigating with ease. He stopped however, when he caught a snatch of conversation on his way turning away from the busy market. Something about...the Avatar? He had heard tell of this mystical person before but never had learned much and was very much confused. Hadn't he been told the Avatar was dead in school? Yet these people were clearly discussing him in hushed tones and they also lingered a bit on snatches of words he could only begin to confuse himself with outside of context. Something about airbending and the Avatar's return. The boy turned to get closer and listen in secret but the conversants seemed to have already disappeared. The boy was confused but quickly took his leave and ran back home with his groceries.

[Pandora]

"Just a bit longer and we'll be in Ba Sing Se, Chichi," Li Hua said, rubbing the lop-eared rabbit on her lap affectionately. While making her way to the famed capital, Li Hua had been fortunate enough to cross paths with a merchant who had allowed her to sit on the back of his cart. She'd been able to make better time than she had expected this way. Once they had reached the outer wall, Li Hua planned to find the monorail and take it the rest of the way. Like this she would be able to get several performances in before night fall.
As she relaxed and studied the landscape she noticed an odd dust cloud in the distance. She squinted as she leaned towards it, trying to get a better look. "What on earth?"

[Wyndi]

He was nearing the wall now. Michi sped up, dirt flying from his heels and sweat dripping down his face. He was so close to a good meal that he could practically taste it: mmm, komodo sausage and Fire Nation-style roast duck and sizzle-crisps - except Ba Sing Se wouldn't have any of that, would they. No Fire Nation food for the unconquerable Earth Kingdom capital. Whatever. Michi could settle for roast pork and some fried dough instead. Maybe even some of those little crab puffs his sister liked.

Michi had the feeling he was drooling. Get to the wall first, man! he told himself, kicking his pace up a notch once more. No point in fantasizing about the best breakfast of his life if he couldn't even get into the city. With a last sprint, he skidded into the line of merchant carts awaiting entrance past the Outer Wall, flashing a thumbs-up at those who had turned around to shoot him some pretty condescending looks.

Not that Michi could blame them. Looking around, he was the only traveler on foot, and probably looked twice as grubby as the high and mighty merchants here to boot. There was no way any self-respecting guard would let him in, not when he looked like a thief in the making. So Michi peered at the merchants around him again, finally settling on the one that looked the friendliest and approaching him.

"Hey, can I ride with you on the way in?" he asked the man, grinning. "Just for a little while - I promise I'll jump off as soon as we're in. I've just been on foot for the past couple of weeks, and my legs are about to fall off." A total exaggeration, but Michi wasn't above using pity to get his way, not when food was at stake. Noticing a girl riding in the back of the cart, Michi flashed her his widest smile as well: girls were more likely to feel sorry for people, weren't they? He could only hope that this one wasn't one of the few exceptions to the rule.

--

Naginata? Check. Enough money to last several months? Check. Food supplies for at least two weeks? Check. Simple tunics and hair ties and skincare necessities? Check check check.

Yuan-Wei slung her bag and naginata over her shoulder, forcing herself to ignore the bubbling feeling in her stomach. Halfway out the door was far too late to start having second thoughts, she repeated, and headed straight for the monorail.

The hour was still early enough that there were only a few people on the street, and Yuan-Wei found it easy enough to avoid all of them. In the plain tunic she'd chosen, with her hair bound up with only a simple tie, she looked nothing like the Upper Ring citizen she really was. Gone was the weight of all those elaborate gold and jewel hairpieces, the sweeping gowns with the floor-length sleeves - and Yuan-Wei was surprised by how...light she felt. If only it were acceptable for her to dress more simply...or perhaps she'd just ask around for lighter fabrics when she came back.

Yuan-Wei flashed her ticket at the half-asleep woman behind the ticket stand, barely getting a response before getting on the monorail. The cars were mostly devoid of people as well, as was expected of the early morning rides, and Yuan-Wei settled down on a bench to wait until departure time.

[Pandora]

Li Hua blinked as the boy approached the cart line, had he seriously traveled all this way on foot? That must have been one heck of a trip. Something like that might even make an interesting story...
She watched him approach the cart she was in and returned his smile enthusiastically.
"What's one more passenger?" Li Hua spoke up, tilting her head towards the merchant, "And you heard what he said, he's been walking this whole time! How exhausting!"
The older merchant gave a sigh as he scratched his head but gave his consent, 'Just till the other side of the wall.'

[Mini]

Upon leaving the city, Yumi caught notice of dust clouds in the distance. Her eyes slimmed as she patted Shishi’s neck and told her to start heading in the direction of those clouds, which Shishi did gladly and let her know with a small chirp. Yumi was surprised that it was leading her right back in the direction she had come in, but whatever was kicking up that amount of dust had to be interesting. Doubtful it was the avatar creating those dust clouds, but one could never be too sure.

Approaching the area where the dust had been, Yumi saw only a merchant cart traveling towards Ba Sing Se. Shishi was sure to keep her distance so she didn’t spook the horses pulling the carriage. There were two people on the back of the cart, no doubt hitching a ride in to Ba Sing Se. She dismounted from Shishi and walked over to the cart, keeping pace well as she spoke to the two. “Why are you two riding in to Ba Sing Se on the back of a cart? I’m sure there are better ways to travel. I could give you a lift on Shishi.” Yumi finished with a smile as she gestured to her Shirshu who had taken to laying down and waiting for her a few feet away.
___

“The Avatar’s back, huh? Looks like the firelord’s son finally has reason for his quest.” Natsumi said to her family, finishing with a laugh at the thought. She, like most noble fire nation citizens, knew all about what happened with the royal family. She had some interest as to what was going on with the war and how it was trying to unite the nations, as well as talks of the Avatar returning. Of course, she wasn’t one to jump to believing something so easily. She would have to see this Avatar with her own eyes. He must be ancient by now...wandering the Earth for a hundred years with not a soul finding him until now. So, she packed up her most useful weapons and decided to go look for the Avatar herself, see what his plans were and decided if he stood in the way of uniting the nations she’d just have to take care of that her way.

[IntricatePolygons]

It had been a couple weeks at most since leaving the North Pole. The beginnings of Iqaluk's journey had been particularly stressful as a completely new terrain of dirt and plants emerged across the horizon from the cold ocean he had traversed. Iqaluk had never left the North Pole before, there simply was no reason for him or anyone else to. His first steps on earth had shocked him, it felt sturdy and firmer than snow. Of course he also recognized that the temperature was really, really warm. There was nothing he could do about the boat though. He'd have to gather as many supplies as he could from the boat and continue on.

It was after a day or two of trudging through the forests that he encountered a village. Of which he was able to gather enough information to decide to head to Ba Sing Se. The capital of the Earth Kingdom? The Avatar would have to be heading there for sure.

It was only as the walls of Ba Sing Se finally emerged in the distance that Iqaluk realized that the Avatar might be heading to the North Pole.

"Stupid," Iqaluk muttered to himself, it would've been way easier for him to have stayed at the North Pole. No, no perhaps not. He was rumoured to have been at the South Pole after all. Ba Sing Se would've been closer even if he were heading there. Plus there was no way Iqaluk was going to stay there another moment where his grandfather could berate and torment him anyways.

Iqaluk's thoughts returned to what lay ahead of him. He was in no mood to run, but he would have to arrive there eventually. If only he had enough water to make a way to travel forward faster. He doubted the water in his water skin would be enough to carry him and his supplies, so step by step it was. One thing Iqaluk definitely still wasn't used to was the lack of water in his surroundings. For all his life he had been able to draw water from nearly anywhere around him. Even now he would feel something creeping behind him and attempt to defend himself, only to draw nothing with a swift move of his arm. Even more disappointing was being nearly scared to death by the threat being nothing more than a wild ostrich horse.

He estimated it would be a long while until he finally arrived.