Welcome to Gaia! ::

As she passed the adventurers, one of them deftly extended his arm so that it would catch Esen around the waist. "You must be new. I would recognize a beautiful thing like you," He commented a little too smoothly, like perhaps it was rehearsed, taking a cue from her exotic clothing. "Why don't you let me... show you around. I'll give you a grand tour of Ba Sing Se, and at the end the grand finale will be my place--"

There was a wooden clack as something collided with his head. The adventurer didn't go down but cursed loudly at the member of his group that had decided to strike him and let go of Esen. It was a smiling monk whose orange robes clashed badly with the green clothing of the Ba Sing Se population.

"What the hell, monk!" He hissed and turned his back to the exotic girl he had been pawing. He looked likely to throttle the holy man. "You're throwing me off!"

"Perhaps the lady would prefer a more reputable guide." The monk suggested as he tucked away his tonfa.

"Listen, I saw her first." The man began to roll up his sleeves, ready to fight for Esen's honor... or something like that.

The adventurer grinned at Esen and gave her a confident thumbs up followed by what he hoped was an alluring wink. "Aren't you a pacifist or something? Doesn't that mean I win by default?" He questioned his opponent.

"A common misconception," the monk sighed, trying his very best not to look excited about this. There was a notable twinkle in his eyes now, though, and he couldn't hide it when he bowed just slightly to Esen. A smile was playing on the corners of his lips and his eyes looked smug. Though obliging to the admittedly beautiful girl, he was guilty of looking forward more to teaching a lesson to the other man than sitting down for tea. This man was scum. He deserved to be punished.

Calmly he introduced himself, pulling out his tonfa gain, "My name is Namkha. I will send this man on his way and take you for tea."

While the adventurer was busy flexing his substantial muscles Namkha had slid into an aggressive pose with a low center of balance. He spun his hands and imagined pulling in and waving the very air currents, creating a gust that looked almost tangible. It spun out of his hands like a boomerang and caught the man by the ankles, taking him neatly off his feet.

Nam allowed himself to fall forwards and seemed to slide across the ground without ever really touching it, rolling into a crouch on the other side of the scruffy man. The breeze created by his movements washed over the crowd and a small audience was slowly attracted to the match.

The adventurer scrambled to his feet cursing colorfully. Namkha waited until the other man had spun around and faced him to make a showy gesture of blowing a bolt of wind at him.

With the man on the ground again, Namkha waved cheerfully at Esen. "Good show so far?"

Namkha was about to open his mouth to say something dashing, but he had been paying too much attention to Esen and not enough to the staff that was being swung right into his side.

It was enough to make him stumble, and a second low sweep took Namkha's feet out from under him. It was his turn to be thrown to the ground and when he rolled out of the hit it was with a bit of a limp. He bit his lip to stop from swearing even though he very badly wanted to. There was no time to contemplate that, though, because the adventurer was moving fast now that he had the upper hand. Two more strikes, one that he managed to deflect with his tonfa, but the other was low and towards his knees again.

Namkha narrowly dived out of the way between the man's legs and managed to get up and behind him just in time. The adventurer looked confused when Namkha merely laid a hand between his shoulder blades, but now the monk could relax. Well, not relax, but he felt significantly more secure as he moved in perfect precision with the other man. His long steps kept him constantly behind him and out of reach.

An odd, circular dance began as the two fighters tried to come up with a plan to break the stalemate. "This makes it much more exciting," Namkha called to Esen. He was still pleasant but there was more of an edge to his voice. "If I just won without a challenge it would be far less impressive."

"Good idea," grumbled the adventurer. He gripped his staff tightly and jabbed it behind him. It caught Namkha in the ribs but he grabbed it with his unoccupied hand to soften the blow somewhat. The other one still held his tonfa which he reared back and brought down against the back of the man's head. The force seemed to be enough to make him collapse thankfully. It wasn't very artful, but Namkha had to agree with Esen. They were garnering far too much attention so he had to cut some corners. He wasn't even sure if the man was actually unconscious when he had started running over to Esen.

"Shall we?" He asked and hurriedly offered his arm to her.

"I could say the same thing about you," he countered good naturedly. "The two of us stand out quite a bit." He gestured with his free arm to the crowds that parted just so to let them through. Indeed, they attracted some stares.

"Myself, I am merely a traveler." He cracked a smile. "Not by my own choice, but I have adjusted to such a lifestyle. Eventually you grown to yearn it and no one location can ever be called home."

"The monks taught me when they took me on as an orphan," he answered, which was somewhat honest. "I was told that pirates destroyed my village," that was less true, "so I found self-defense to be an important skill. A life on the road has confirmed this," which was also true.

"Home is something that you create," he explained thoughtfully. "A feeling within that provides you with comfort. Eventually, the road becomes your home." The words didn't ring as true in his heart as they seemed to when he spoke. For a brief moment he remembered his parents, who were, shockingly enough, alive no matter how many different ways he claimed they had died over the years.