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 Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 12:37 pm
(does that make me psychotic that I don't notice anything psychotic?)  Tally looked about momentarily stopping. She'd basically been taking the chance to look around. They would eventually find their way to the work site, if only by spotting people who were carrying materials. "No idea" She laughed undisturbed by the fact that someone could consider them lost.
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Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2011 9:54 am
((@Wingtip: No worries, I have school as well.
@Kaito: Aren't all RPers a little psychotic? biggrin I believe you have to have a little bit of multiple personality disorder in order to be a truly great character developer.
By the way, you two are supposed to go to the Fire Nation for the celebration. I've got a big plot twist brewing that will require all y'alls to get involved! Enemies teaming up and all that *looks significantly at D.Edge))
Kallan's eyes teared up with relief and she nearly sagged to the floor. That simple calmness and acceptance of her ability cemented her loyalty to Firelord Zuko forever. For a moment, she couldn't find her voice. When she spoke, she couldn't keep a little quiver out of her voice.
"As you wish, my lord." She turned to go, but decided that she'd better say something first. Turning back, she looked Zuko square in the eye. Right now, she was not a servant deferring to her master. She was a friend confessing to a friend.
"I haven't been completely honest with you. I'm the daughter of a Fire Nation soldier, but my mother is not a natural-born Fire Nation citizen. She was a waterbender from the Southern Swamps, and a prisoner of war. My father rescued her and married her for her own protection.
"I was born a waterbender. Under your father's rule, I was forced to hide my abilities and tried to keep attention away from me. When I was offered the job of Assistant Chief of Staff, it seemed a logical choice, since nobody pays attention to the person in charge of servants.
"Please forgive me for not being completely truthful."
Iroh gave a short laugh, "Zuko, she is very clever. You should put her in charge of your spies. She already has more eyes and ears than you."
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Irako of the Desert Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Mar 04, 2011 12:13 pm
((Yesh, be there momentarily. And by psychotic, I meant, I had a scary image in my head of blood forcing its way out from a little girl's body through her skin. Not exactly a pretty image. ;-; ))
Kaito caught notice of a rickety sign that read:
Eastern Omashu Well
Construction Site
"Hey, this is it. Should we introduce oursel-.." And just then, he was interrupted.
"Hey!" A voice was calling out from behind. Heavy breathing. "Hold on!" Out of breath. The workers at the site looked over to see what the shouting was about.
Kaito turned around, surprised to see the same official who walked out of the palace when he first snuck in.
"King Bumi would like to officially request your presence in the Fire Nation for the Mid-Autumn Festival. All other duties are to take place after your return. This applies for both of you, waterbenders. Are you ready to depart? Your ride is waiting." He shivered for a moment at the monstrosity King Bumi called transportation.
Kaito couldn't help but notice the official's uneasiness upon mentioning a ride, and wondered what it could be...
"I... think we're good to go...? Tally?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 2:24 pm
 ((Since no ones doing anything I'll shuffle things on to the festival.))
Exhaling deeply Shoji kept his hood up and his mask on tight. Once he'd used his earth bending to slip into the palace no one seemed to bat an eye and just assumed he was supposed to be there. Despite his impatience he had no choice but to wait for the entertainment and performances to start and hold the crowds attention so he could slip by unnoticed. There was still debate in his mind about where to start looking and what to do about that girl he'd seen earlier, if he was recognised this time escape wouldn't be nearly as simple. He always tried to keep his eyes on a way out but he wasn't sure his pride and despisal of the fire nation would allow him to run unless things got truely hopeless. Shrugging the thoughts off he tried to remain focused attempting to keep out of sight and blend into the background wherever possible. He was confident the guards would be on the look out for an 'assassin' so if he was discovered then he would get little in the way of mercy and so he couldn't afford to mess up again.
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Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 9:54 pm
Jezabel Star
Earth Nations Fire Bender Jezabel arrived with King Bumi, he had kept telling her that being scared of fire was easy to fix. He told her that to show her he would take her to the Fire nation Festival, so she could see how the fire benders controlled their fire. Bumi had known from the start that The young girl was a fire bender by the way any sort of fire, wither it be torch light or bonfire, seemed drawn to her. She had fought him on going but wound up losing in the end. Bumi lead Jezabel through the streets, and while the young girl stayed close behind the Earth bender things were fine. The performers were far enough away from her that she could watch them and not feel the full force of fear. The Kyoshi warrior kept her face as solid as she could, until one of the performers got to close. She had turned around to look at a ruby necklace that was similar to the one she had on her neck a fire bender caught her by surprise. The heat of the flames was the first thing she felt then suddenly she was thrust back in to her memory of her parents death. The smell the feeling, it all flooded back to her making her take off down the nearest allyway. Bumi had guards with him and she had already lost him in the crowd. How was she supposed to know that the guards were looking for assassins, how was she supposed to know that this particular ally way lead to the castle. Or that two soldiers were playing cards down this allyway. All Jezabel knew at this moment was that she had to find somewhere high and dark. Somewhere where the fire wont get her, her Kyoshi training and her completely calm and relaxed face seemed to make the guards think she was an assassin. A logical assumption as such the guards attacked her, and she fought back, unfortunately two benders against one scared little girl, Kyoshi warrior or not it was over quickly. Before she knew what had happened she was being dragged away. She called for the one man who could fix this problem but King Bumi was to far away to hear. ((Sorry real life got in the way))
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 6:05 am
Tally spotted the sign when Kaito paused. She was excited to start working (or rather to watch someone else water bend) when some random earth civilian called to them. "A festival?" Tally looked around. She hadn't noticed any preparation for a festival but normally the option would make her ecstatic but right now in comparison to her finally getting her chance to see a real water bender it was just annoying. She would rather they held it at another time.
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Irako of the Desert Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 11:54 am
((Ok, time for the night's festivities.))
Kallan had finally received King Bumi's delegation and had gotten them settled in the palace. Currently, most of the guests were out in the city enjoying the festivities. Her duties were finally fulfilled and she had tonight free to simply enjoy the festival. Tomorrow, she would have to go back to working, double-checking guest lists, worrying about balancing palace accounts, and all the other stuff, but tonight, she could relax and let her hair down. In this case, literally let it down from the customary simple braiding. Her hair cascaded around her face and reached almost to her hips. She also wore a much different outfit that her usual simply-patterned robes. Rather than the layers of clothing that was currently in fashion with the Fire Nation nobility, she wore a fitted tunic dress with long scoop sleeves in bright red silk embroidered with blue dragons, with a matching half-mask tied onto her head.. She wasn't entirely unaware of the appreciative looks she was getting from many of the young men she passed and grinned.
All around her were the sounds of people buying and selling goods, laughing or cheering for performers, trying out the games, or simply talking to each other excitedly. Smells of frying foods and roasting meats mingled with the unique burnt scent left behind by firebenders and their bending. The air was charged with excitement and people were thoroughly enjoying themselves.
The only damper on Kallan's fun was having to be accompanied by two Fire Nation soldiers for protection. All the nobles and government officials were on edge about the failed assassination attempt, and in order to placate them, Firelord Zuko had had to deploy the military as bodyguards. They were never more than three steps away from her at all times, and were understandably tense in this crowd.
Suddenly, she heard a scream from the alleyway she was passing. It led to the palace kitchens, and she immediately thought of the safety of her staff. Had the assassin returned? Heedless to the warnings of her guards, she charged off down the alley, ready to stop the assassin.
It was with a little disappointment that she found a girl being dragged away by two soldiers. The girl looked kind of familiar, but Kallan couldn't figure out why. All she knew is that the poor thing was being treated rather rudely, far more rudely than any prisoner deserved to be treated. With a sharp tone, she snapped, "What do you two think you're doing?"
They rounded on her, but froze when they recognized who she was. Without releasing their hold on the girl, they bowed their heads.
"We've detained this assassin and are taking her to the dungeons for interrogation."
Kallan frowned, eying the girl. Something tugged on the edge of her mind about why this girl's face was familiar. It clicked and Kallan slapped her fist into her palm.
"You're to be commended for your vigilance, but she's not an assassin. She's a guest of the Firelord as part of the King of Omashu's delegation. Release her before you cause a bigger diplomatic incident."
The soldiers paled, but stood firm. "But she was headed for the palace. And when we detained her, she resisted."
"Most likely, she was tired of being out in the crowds and wanted to rest in her room. As for resisting, what else do you expect a young woman to do when two men assault her? Did you even bother to search her for weapons? You know what, never mind, I'll do it myself."
Without even waiting for protests from the guards, she walked over and began checking the girl thoroughly for weapons. All she found were rather heavy steel fans tucked into the girl's belt. These were pulled out and shown to the guards.
"Idiots. She's obviously not equipped for assassination. Not unless she plans to fan someone to death. Release her."
Shamefaced, the guards let go of her and stepped back. Kallan smiled kindly at the girl, who looked rather shaken by her experience.
"Let me see... Your name was Jezabel, correct?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 12:23 pm
Jezabel Star
Earth Nations Fire Bender Jezabel was fighting tooth and nail against the guards but she was failing, if she had kept calm and if she wasn't already freaked about being in the fire nation with fire benders and fire was every where, she would have been able to use her Kyoshi training. Unfortunately it was not so, instead she was stuck for those few moments in the mind of a little girl who had just watched her parents burn to death. A female voice snapped her mind out of the little trance she was in, she recognized it but her eyes had yet to focus on the women. That was until she was let go and the women spoke again. Her mind back in order she managed to push the fear in to the farthest corner of her mind. Her eyes turned to the fire lords assistant and she bowed respectfully. "Sorry for the unneeded commotion, yes I am Jezabel, King Bumi's assistant, when Toph is not around." She answered her voice soft and calm. The Guards seemed a little bit dazed by the rapid change in behavior of the girl, two moments ago she was acting childish now she was acting like warrior. She stood shoulders back and body straight her eyes smiled as she looked at Kallan "Thank you for the rescue. Madam Kallan." She had been shown pictures of those whom she needed to know by Bumi before they left, and she was good at names and faces. The torches around the area seemed to be pulling to the brown haired girl from the earth kingdom, The sign of a fire bender. Her hand encircled the ruby pendant that she wore to fight of the nerves of facing some one who could easily have her tossed in jail as she did getting her let go. Of course her face remained with a soft kind and respectful smile. "It makes me sad to admit that The guards here are ten times better then the ones at Omashu." She said paying a small compliment to the guards.
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Irako of the Desert Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:16 pm
Kallan nodded at the girl's thanks, taking note of how quickly the girl regained her composure. She had a bearing similar to Zuko's, proud and confident, as well as ready for action.
"Yes, they're especially vigilant tonight, what with the assassin on the loose and all." She nodded to the guards, who saluted her and went back to their duties. Kallan had noted their faces and remains of their game of chance and resolved to speak with their commander about the lack of discipline.
She held out the fans she'd just confiscated to Jezabel, who accepted them and tucked them away again. They were the preferred weapons of the Kyoshi Warriors, and she was simply relieved that the palace guards tended to know little about the world outside of the Fire Nation. She herself had been unaware of world events beyond the propaganda published by Firelord Ozai's office. The truth under his reign had been deemed unimportant, and the goal of all public information was to increase national pride and justify the whole war on the rest of the world. As the daughter of the supposed enemy, a waterbender, and of a Fire Nation soldier, she had grown up with more access to the truth than many other citizens and wasn't as nationalistic as other citizens. Now that Zuko was Firelord, he had changed the policy of skewing truth and promoted accurate retelling of events. She'd also advised him on some restructuring of academic materials available to educational institutions just last week in order to begin teaching children the correct version of history.
Kallan smiled at Jezabel and held out her hand in a gesture of invitation. "Would you like to accompany me? The festival is better enjoyed with another person, and I can't say that my bodyguards have been all that entertaining. No offense intended, you two." This last was directed at her bodyguards, who tipped their heads in acknowledgment.
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 9:04 pm
Jezabel Star
Earth Nations Fire Bender Jezabel took her fans back and put them back in her"That would be fun, I was getting tired of walking on my own." She said easily covering her tracks so she would not be questioned. She kept a smile on her face as she walked with the assistant, always keeping a distance between her and the flames. She knew that walking around with her would ease some of the never because she was not a random Earth kingdom girl.
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 1:31 pm
 Jonathan stepped out from the inn, and smiled. There were people all around, dressed in costumes, dancing, laughing and performing. Everyone was looking happy and excited to be in the Fire Nation capital in the middle of a festival. He grinned wider, and walked down the cobblestoned path, leading towards a big building where several musicians were playing. Before he got there, he saw a row of stalls, all the owners calling out their wares. One caught his eye, a shop selling exotic food from across the world. . He walked over, and looked at the food on display. There was tentacle soup, fire gummies, flaming fire flakes, all kinds. Jonathan grabbed a few coins from his bag, and counted them. Then, he pointed to the fire gummies. The owner of the store smiled, and scooped out a handful. He poured them in a paper bag, and handed them to Jonathan. He took them, and placed the money in the stall owner's hand. Turning around, he popped one into his mouth, and carried on down the road towards the stage. Walking nearby, he recognised one of the people in the crowd. She was some kind of official, and Jonathan had seen her somewhere. There were guards behind her, obviously there for her protection. She was walking with a pretty girl, with long black hair. She was just putting away a pair of fans, and Jonathan smiled. He swallowed the gummie, and carried on towards the stage.
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Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2011 10:18 pm
Kallan suddenly heard the drums over the noise of the crowd. She brightened and said, "It looks like the Fire Dragon Dances are starting! Come on, let's go see them!" Without waiting for a response from Jezabel, she grabbed the girl's hand and headed for the central stage.
It was located where once a statue of Firelord Ozai stood. Drums were arranged around it, upon which drummers pounded energetically. As the crowd around the stage grew bigger, they began doing wilder and wilder stunts. Dancers on the raised stage tumbled around and did acrobatics, attempting to raise the crowd's excitement. Kallan grinned as the pounding of the drums reverberated through her body and cheered along with the gathering crowd at particularly skillful stunts.
Finally, the drums settled into a regular beat and the dancers began their dance. They began their firebending, creating dragons out of the flames and causing them to dance and cavort around the dancers. Kallan was clapping and cheering along with the crowd when she noticed that Jezabel was trembling.
"Are you alright?"
Before Jezabel could answer, the dancers leaped into the crowd and pulled up members of the audience. Both she and the girl were pulled up on stage, much to the dismay of the bodyguards. Kallan noticed some of the others included an unmasked young man with white hair, a young man with a blue mask similar to the Blue Spirit's, and another young man with his hood up and a full face mask on. All were being spun around and had flames dancing around them as part of the dance. Kallan simply went with it and laughed, enjoying herself. The flames didn't really concern her, since her father was a firebender. She was also used to being surrounded by pushy, fire-bending military leaders who thought a display of fire would intimidate a mere Assistant Chief of Staff.
The Blue Spirit and the white-haired young man were obviously firebenders, as they added their own flames to the dancer's. The other young man was extremely nervous and kept trying to leave the stage, but the dancers kept pulling him back in with big smiles.
Finally, the dancers let them leave the stage and began their big finale, which consisted of creating one huge dragon that flew over the crowd, eliciting delighted screams and cheers. It spiraled upward and exploded outwork in an impressive display of fireworks. Kallan was standing near the other audience members who'd gotten pulled up on stage and smiled at them, enjoying the moment.
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Irako of the Desert Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 12:49 pm
 "Yeah, I suppose we should go. I'm sure there'll be time for waterbending no matter where we are." Kaito was actually pretty glad he was going to a festival. Traveling from the far north to Omashu was a tiring journey."Please, stand still." And with that, the small patch of earth they were standing on quickly sunk into the ground into an underground air bubble. It swished towards under the palace, as much as rocks could swish. Within a minute, they emerged into the open air of something resembling an underground train station. He indicated to climb into a large square cart of sorts. It actually looked rather like... an open top crate. "This newly built transport will take you straight to a small hidden station in the Fire Nation capital. I just ask that you keep your person within the transport at all times until it is completely stopped. Present this scroll immediately, as there are dozens of guards to keep the tunnel safe, and you should be granted entrance and shown the way to the festival." With that, he handed a scroll to each Kaito and Tally granting them permission to cross for the festival.And with that, Kaito climbed in through a sliding door.((I hope this is quick enough? o.O Sorry for the rush, Friend of a Vampire, just kind of wanted to get there, since that's where all the action is. ^-^; ))
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Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 1:28 pm
Jezabel Star
Earth Nations Fire Bender Jezabel was entertained by how excited the fire nation adviser and how enthusiastic. Things were perfectly fine until the drums sounded and the Adviser grabbed her hand and took off dragging her until she was front and center at the stage. She cheered while the non fire acts where going but the second the fire benders started it took a lot of her strength not to scream and to keep the fear off her face. How ever she could not stop her body from trembling. "are you alright?" The adviser asked and Just as Jezabel was about to answer they were dragged on stage. The fire benders started making the fire surround her and she nearly lost control her body was shaking badly, but her training kept her standing. Her eyes were full of fear and terror as she felt the heat surround her. When the show was over and she was let back on the ground she nearly fell down. It took a lot of effort to keep her self standing.
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Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 9:46 pm
(( I have midterms and term papers to write even as I type, I am very very sorry that I haven't had patience or time to post something like an rp post in a long time ^^; HOLY CRAP DID I JUST WRITE THAT MUCH?? ))  Zuko had taken Kallan's confession to him without much surprise, and it didn't seem to sway his trust or his confidence in her abilities as his advisor. As far as he was concerned, he was lucky to have an advisor of a mixed background. She would be more flexible and open minded with people because of her lack of discrimination, and he admired that. He had considered giving over the spies to Kallan, but in the end he decided that they would tell her what they knew, but he would still hold control over 'where' they went, 'when' the went, 'if' they went at all, and the transportation, or 'how.' Their locations would be disclosed to her if they needed to be, but other than that he wanted to play this a bit closer to the vest.
After Kallan had escused herself once again, Zuko's maids once again entered the room to further get him ready for his presentation. He opened the festival to the public almost as soon as they had finished with him and his personal guard had lead him out into the courtyard to annouce the beginnin of the festivities. Once he was finished and everyone had started having fun and enjoying everything around them, Zuko retreated back to his quarters to put on his commoner clothing and fitted on a white and golden mask that would only show his eyes. He had his hair undone and roughed it up a little to make it look less formal, and decided it was better to just wear a dark hood before he bid farewell to his uncle to leave Iroh to enjoy things by himself and with old friends a while.
He explored the festival on his own since he had eluded his guards. If they hung around him he would just look suspicious and he would look out of place and stick out to those who might wish him harm. Besides, this was supposed to be a happy time, full of celebration, and he wasn't going to miss out on the fun just because he was the new Firelord. Firelord's could have fun too, though in the past it wasn't exactly seen as the noblest of qualities.
The young firelord made his way through the crowds and tasted the food under his mask, making sure only to slide the mask up a bit and not reveal his scar. His hair did a good job of covering it since it had grown out so long in this past year, and besides, he also had a hood in the way of seeing anything really close to his face, so he wasn't particularly worried about anything showing. He overheard the dragon dances being preformed, and he walked over to have a look at what was going on. He smiled at the firebenders and their talent at creating the image of dragons. It brought back memories when he and Aang had gone back to the root of firebending and met with the two remaining dragons.
Zuko chuckled slightly and watched the flames. He could feel the heat of the fire even as it danced a little ways in front of him, and paid close attention to it. He could practically feel the flames, and the way the fire danced around he and the crowd made him smile beneath his mask. He looked over a little more closely at the ones that had been brought up on stage and grinned again under his mask as he saw Kallan. He looked into the crowd and it didn't take him long to find her body guards. Sticking out like a sore thumb, but at least they're letting her enjoy herself. She deserves it, I let her work much too hard, he reflected and smiled once again as the finale approached.
The young firelord looked up at the dragon that had gone into bursts of light and explosions, and clapped along with the rest of the crowd, though he did not cheer like many others. He was just happy to have seen it. It was nice to relax for once like this. He didn't have to be himself. He could be anything he wanted to be under this mask, but it didn't quite feel the same as his blue spirit mask. The mask was long gone and he no longer mourned its passing. The time had ended for the Blue Spirit, and there had been no need for him any longer.
Zuko supposed he should go over to Kallan and tell her that he was here, but he knew that approaching her when she wasn't around her bodyguards wasn't a good idea. He knew he needed an alias during this festival, and concluded that his name would be 'Cheng,' because there were a million Cheng's in the Fire Nation it was easy to pass off such a name. Zuko decided that he would wait until she was united with her bodyguards again so he wouldn't be arrested for going near her unannounced and have to reveal who he really was.
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