Avatar Rp: Book One: Earth (Closed/Started)

[Pappytech]

Jin yawned as he trudged towards the dining hall, his desire for a meal outweighing his love of sleep. However, before he could actually make it inside the room, he found his path blocked off by a trio of Acolytes, one of them screaming something about a duel while the others seemed intent on keeping their compatriot restrained. 'Maybe Temples aren't so boring after all...' he mused as the Acolytes stumbled past, the second two barely managing to keep their passionate friend in check.

Shrugging, the vagabond made his way inside the hall, wondering what shenanigans had just transpired. However, his curiosity was pushed to the back to back of his head as he beheld the wondrous spread that lay before him. Spirits, he hadn't seen this much food of this high a quality in... well, ever!

Barely paying attention to his mealtime companions, Jin slid into his seat, his mouth watering as he wondered which dish to sample first. Offering the briefest of salutations to the man to his right and the woman sitting across from him, the bounty hunter snatched up a bowl and pair of chopsticks, shoveling a veritable smorgasbord of food into the pewter container. Within seconds, said victuals were being gulped down Jin's gullet at a truly fantastic rate.

Ignoring the mixture of shock and disgust that slowly crept across his companions' faces, the wanderer continued to delight in his meal, only halting his gluttony for the occasional breath or to sigh in satisfaction. Zulf, his nose sniffing at the delectable scents that poured off of the tables, poked his head out from under his master's cloak. The Fire-Ferret's eyes gleamed as he too observed the impressive feast, and the small animal wasted no time in vacating his perch and diving straight into a bowl of various vegetables.

Together, bounty hunter and pet put quite a dent in the confections that had been set out before them, and they showed no sign of stopping anytime soon. Barring, of course, outside intervention.

 

[VuvuZelaMan]

"Sorry about that, and... kissing you", Malik spoke in a hushed tone, "I was just caught off-guard and-", he smiled at her realizing she went through the same ordeal, "-and I guess so were you".

"I usually don't get around to this kind of meetings, whenever I see people I always treat them as my audience. I... I haven't had something like that happen to me in a long time" ...

Kara thought about what Malik said for a moment... and then smiled, almost seeming dissonant. "It's hard to know what to do when you're caught off-guard. Next time, just remember to take a moment before you do something that you'll regret."

 

[TheIronRuler]

Malik drank a glass of what appeared to be baijiu and nearly chocked when he heard Kara speak to him. He coughed twice and tried to keep a calm exterior, smiling back at her.

"I don't think I regret kissing you, Kara."

 

[Shadowstar38]

Kuma was very relaxed after his soak in the bath, and the monks of this temple had a very lively spread set before him. As he munched away on some rolls and some strange meat he was unfamiliar with, he expected a quite dinner. The shenanigans of Kara and Malik put a stop to that. Kuma turned to his opponent sitting beside him.

"Well that escalated quickly"

"Indeed it did," The monk replied with a chuckle. "You people are one strange crowd. I'm glad you guys came here to brake up the monotony"

"It's no problem at all. So...uh. This doppleganger thing. You need to know anything?"

"Well, it seems strange that you dont where any clothing attributed to any one nation. Is there any purpose for that?"

Kuma sat befuddled for a moment. He grabbed his glass of milk and chugged it as he collected his thoughts.

"Not really. Just personal style choice I guess"

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Grinning, Daiyu took another big bite of her possum-chicken and turned to the person sitting next to her.

"So, how are you enjoying the show?" She asked. The man just turned away.

"Humph. How rude!" Daiyu muttered and took another bite.

 

[Redryhno]

The rest of the meal went by uneventfully, mannerisms were exchanged,base personality traits were learned, and personal fashion was largely overlooked for most. The woman that had accosted Malik was not seen again that night, not even in the Women's dormitory. A slight cool breeze seeming to come from nowhere emanated throughout the night, keeping everyone comfortable in their layered bunks and cots.

Dawn came, and some of the group going to find the Avatar awoke to find their rooms empty save for them. Clothing was laid out with a note telling them to dress in it for the time being, their belongings tied into small bundles and laid out on their chests, how they got there without waking them up, not a one of them knew, but they did as they were asked.

Each of them left their rooms to be greeted by a young man, not yet into his adult years, but strangely solid despite this fact. A scar marred most of the left side of his face, leaving it the consistency of cottage cheese, half an eyebrow gone from the incident.

He smiled at each of them, a slightly unsettling sight, his teeth prominent on one side, a full face on the other.

"Good morning sirs and madames, if you'll follow me this way. The Masters wish to speak with you before heading out, and Master Monsin? Master Atar wishes to give you something special, he'll be waiting in his quarters, I'll take you there. Everyone else,the Masters are in the gathering hall they met you in yesterday. My compatriot will be along shortly to escort you, if you don't mind waiting." He bowed and grabbed the arm of Monk Monsin gently but firmly and led him down a series of corridors.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few hearbeats later, just as Monsin and the young man rounded the corner at the end of the hall, a girl about the same age as the boy round the opposite corner, face flushed and sweat running down her face, her facial features and cropped hair marking her as an Airbender.

"S-s-s-s-sorry,"She panted, bent double, elbows on her knees,"I...finished my chores late....Amthany was nice enough to take up the slack on the ones I wouldn't have time to do and still got here before me. Did I mention how talented he is? He's so great, and nice, and smart, did I say that already?" She wiped her brow and caught her breath finally, her cheeks flushing again as she realized what she'd said in her breathless state.

"Can I ask you guys to not say anything? Uh, come this way, come on, the Masters wanted to speak with you. Yeah, that was it."

They were led to the Gathering Hall, where all the Masters sat once more, without Atar of course. The decoys were also there, dressed in the same non-descript clothing the group wore, cloaks pulled up over their heads, one new member looking remarkably like Monsin himself, though without as long a beard, this one was trimmed quite nicely, and stopped just past his chin.

Ping sprang up and walked over to them,"Heya guys, Jin-kid, good to see none of you sneaked off in the middle of the night. We just need to go over a few little things, decoys go south, make as much noise as they can about going after the Avatar, you guys go West, first, Air Temple that way, and then go north, east, south, and circle around to the nearet Avatar Temple,"He handed Hao a map, quite detailed,"Take this, you'll need it probably. Any new questions?"
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"The name's Amthany, Master Monk. I'll be outside when you get done talking to Master Atar."

Monsin was led in the door and had it closed behind him. The room was just as bare as the dormitories, infinitely smaller, but there was only one thing out of place, and that was the tea set, very well made, and cast with bright gold Sky Bisons, and black-lined clouds. Master Atar sat behind the table and offered a cup to Monsin. A linen bundle tied with what appeared to be silk lay nearby.

"Monsin I presume? Good to meet you again. I called you here for a reason,"He smiled a bit,and almost lovingly put his hand on top of the bundle,"Every temple has some momentos of Avatars past. I am entrusting these to you,"He picked the bundle up, held it to his chest, and then carefully held it out for Monsin,"The Air temples will know what to do, this is just to make sure they have the correct tools to find the Avatar."

He still held the bundle outstretched in his arms,"Try the tea, it's a rare blend from the Fire Nation, quite spicy and more than a bit of a kick. Though I wouldn't recommend it to anyone near my age before sleep. During the day though, I guarantee it will keep you awake, through stomach complaints if nothing else."

 

[Muffin Button]

Spoiler: ooc

Sorry for not updating recently, will do so when more reliable internet access can be had (i.e. next monday)

 

[Muffin Button]

Well, I guess this will have to do

Chi looked at her handiwork from last night. It was a rush job, and the stitching was a bit botched in places, but it'd have to do. The vine displayed slight brusing as the pebbles bulged out from underneath. It'd take a delicate approach to keep it intact, and she had serious doubts that it'd be much use to her counterpart, but any back-up plan was better than nothing. After all, the other team were all competent warriors and benders in their own right, with their own quirks and tricks. That would probably be enough to distract those 'equal-whatsits' anyway, maybe even teach them a lesson or two.

Bleary-eyed from the late night, she rolled out of the lower bunk.

Two nights in 'civilization' and I'm already slipping. Dawn's been and gone already!

She glanced over at the pile of clothes she'd been given. They were the sort of garments you could see on sale at any old market stall, the muted earthy tones good for blending in just about anywhere.

They've even tacked the hems short enough for me and everything. These guys are good! Pity I'm probably gonna end up putting these clothes through hell before they get them back.

She was a bit disgruntled about her stuff being moved, but luckily she'd managed to sort out all the samples and medicines she'd brought with her back into their proper places before someone well intentioned, but ill-informed, would have the opportunity to 'tidy them up'.

She passed the rock-stuffed vine to her counterpart as she passed him in the gathering hall.

"I know this kinda stuff's not really your style," she whispered "but if you need to 'fake' plantbend as a sort of party trick to get out of a scrape, this'll probably cover it if you're careful enough. With any luck, they'll write any rumours of plantbending off as just a trick."

She heard Tai mumble something, but he begrudgingly took the bundle anyway. Chi made her way over to the rest of her team.

"Well, it was worth a shot." she muttered.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

"Mph." Daiyu climbed out of bed, mumbling something about not being a morning person. She blinked, seeing a pile of clothing in front of her and the rest of her belongings on the floor.

Frowning, she picked up the clothing bundle. "I hope they didn't mess up my stuff." Daiyu muttered, before throwing them on, followed by the rest of her gear.

Once that was done, she exited the room to join the others, hoping to at least snag some breakfast first.

 

[Pappytech]

"Take this, you'll need it probably. Any new questions?"

"Uh, hold on, give me a sec," Jin muttered as he frantically tried to make sense of the map Ping had just shoved into his hands. It would be a few minutes yet before his mental faculties really got going; Jin was by no stretch of the imagination a morning person.

After flipping the parchment around a handful of times, the vagabond finally managed to settle on an orientation he could recognize. Eyes still blurred with sleep blankly gazed at the various lines and shapes that dotted the map, slowly rolling back and forth as they drank in the details. Hmm... yeah, it looked like he could work with this.

"Alright, so if we're here in Ba Sing Se," the bounty hunter began, gently prodding the map with a finger as he spoke, "then we're gonna need to take this road here. Follow that west a ways, and then..."

Eventually, Jin's words faded into an incomprehensible mumble as he continued to speak aloud. The occasional recognizable word or syllable would escape his lips, but for the most part the wanderer spewed nonsense only he understood.

"Annnnnnnd... Got it!" he exclaimed, rolling the map back up and making to hand it back to Ping. "And yeah, I do have a question for you: with a group this size, we're gonna need some supplies, and something tells me," he continued, discretely pointing a thumb at Malik, "that not everyone here's going to capable of carrying their fair share. Any chance we could get some pack animals, or a wagon or something?"