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 Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 12:28 pm
Looking up from the notebook he had been half-heartedly studying, the young archer tilted his head back, amber eyes taking in the way the sun shone through the leaves of the tree he was sitting under. Class had ended for the day, but not for the week, and as such, he was still stuck on the campus of the school. Well, not the campus... If he wished, he could spend the rest of his free time in the small town that wasn't far from the school. More than likely though, Toshiro would study some more, and go practice until bedtime. It wasn't as if he had friends to go into town with. With a yawn, he stood and stretched, considering making a run into town anyway to get something to eat.
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Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:42 pm
With this being her day off, Qiao had made a habit of wandering away from the circus to people watch. Not that the circus folk weren't fun to watch, but she lived with them. It's not the same then. Perfect strangers however, were great to spy on.
Today she was sitting on the wall surrounding a military school, checking out the boys. Qiao didn't approve of war but, there was no reason why they shouldn't have a school with nothing but boys. In one place. For extended periods of time. With very little contact with girls their own age. That, she could get into...it payed to be supportive.
Inbetween shouting random catcalls at small groups of boys walking by, one boy in particular stood out amongst all the taller, tanner, buffer guys in every way. One kid who was actually studying while everyone else was being more, well, manly.
"Woah, woah, woah. Nerd alert!" She whispered to herself as she fixed her gaze on him and him alone. "Hmm, but he's kinda cute. Nice, puffy cheeks. Think I'll grace him with my prescence, I will."
She jumped down from the wall, landing on the campus with a thud. After making a few pointing gestures at the boys she passed, Qiao finally stopped in front of the lonely, puffy-cheeked boy.
She reached out, tilting the notebook he was looking at back so she had his full attention. Grinning her best grin, Qiao gave the boy a wink as she whispered.
"Hey there, handsome. Whatcha doin'?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:23 pm
Slowly, he looked up from his notebook to the young girl who had invaded his personal space. "I'm sorry?" he asked, arching his eyebrows, taking his notebook from beneath her finger, closing it slowly. "What are you even doing here? This a boy's school." He frowned at her, standing up and taking a step back. "It's none of your business what I'm studying because you're not even supposed to be on the campus grounds." Putting his notebook away in a small bag that he slid over his shoulder. "You should probably leave before one of the teachers finds you here. You sort of stick out," he added, gesturing towards her clothing. "How did you even get in here?" he asked on impulse, though, blinking at her. "Did you hop over the wall or something? Why's a better question, though, I suppose."
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Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:35 pm
"Ouch. Shot down!" She drooped dramatically, then quickly picked herself up. Somebody was grumpy today. Maybe he was on his....man period or something. Or he sat on a pinecone. But seeing as there were no pinecones where he was sitting, it was safe to say he was on his man period. So it was understandable that he was going to be snippy.
"I'm not afraid of those teachers. Worse they could do is throw me out. As for the wall, I climbed over it. And as to why, it was to see you. You're just so....unique! Yeah, that's the word. Unique."
She twirled on her heels a bit before looking back at him, holding out her hand. If he didn't shake, she'd be forced to hug him.
"Aaaaaanywhooo. I'm Qiao, who're you, what's your favorite color?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:08 am
Manners forced him to accept her hand, shaking it gently before letting go. "Unique? You don't even know my name, how can you know I'm unique?" He had to admit, it was nice, having someone to talk to... But they could both easily get in trouble, yammering away on campus for all the see like this. He had been thinking about going into town... "I'm Toshiro," he said finally. "And my favorite color is red, though I don't know why you would want to know that." He gave her a strange look, before gesturing to the low wall that surrounded the school. "You may not care if you get in trouble, but I care if I get in trouble. Apparently you're hurting for company, if you wanna talk to me, so... Let's go into town. I was thinking about it anyway, to get something to eat."
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 12:30 pm
"You don't have to know somebody's name to tell if they're unique, Tosh." Qiao shook her head in the manner of an old master. "It's all about observation!"
She looked back to the wall, then back at Toshiro. He was right. It'd be pretty lame if he got in trouble and she'd feel pretty guilty. But she certainly wasn't hurting for company. Still, how could she pass an invitation up?
"Well, I don't want you getting in trouble and I haven't explored this particular town very much so...okay! It'll be fun. And the color thing is just to know something about you."
She leaned in, whispering with a grin. "Mine's blue."
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 6:37 am
It was rare for him to give into impulse... Packing away his notebook hurridly, looking around to make sure they hadn't yet been spotted, he didn't bother examining his reasons for giving into impulse now. Hadn't Ina said he seemed like he needed more fun in his life anyhow? Toshiro wasn't sure if this was going to end up being fun, exactly, but he wouldn't know if he didn't try. With almost comical determination, he promised himself he would try and have fun. "We should probably just hop over the wall... Technically we're supposed to go through the gates, so I can sign out, but it would be way too difficult to try and smuggle you out through the front entrance." He offered a bit of a smile, and gestured in the general direction from which she had come. "After you, Qiao."
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Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 8:28 am
Qiao looked back over at the wall, then to Toshiro, laughing a little. She'd used a bit of Earthbending to make it over that wall and this kid was soooo not Earth Kingdom. Still, watching him climb over the wall might be funny. Not cruel, really, funny.
"Ummmmm, okay. But I kind of Earthbended to help myself over the wall. Your school is terribly vulnerable to any manic Earthbender who wants to break in. Why, like....ME perhaps!"
The girl laughed some more, trying to make it sound airy like those fancy rich people in the market. She continued laughing for about five seconds before her face went completely serious, her tone turning dark.
"No, but seriously. You guys need to do something about that."
The only thing scarier than her tone was how quickly she snapped back into her regular, cheery self, cartwheeling her way towards the wall.
Once they had reached the wall Qiao stood up, took a deep breath, and began sliding her feet and moving her hands in a molding fashion. Small, clumsy-looking stone steps began to creep out of the wall, moving upwards till they reached the top.
"PHEW!" Qiao sighed in relief, whiping her brow. "It's easier smooshing the steps back inside the wall than it is getting them out. But I'm getting better!" She smiled back at Tosh and began climbing the stairs. They were pretty small but she had good balance.
"You can use em too, if you want. They're just a bit rickety so be careful."
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 3:59 pm
The archer gave the girl an odd look as she laughed, then became nearly deadly serious, and then went back to normal. Or what he assumed was normal for her. Qiao was an odd one, to be sure. Still... Toshiro himself was no bender, and had to admit that he was impressed that this girl could Earthbend. He always thought of the earth as being stubborn... Hard to move, rooted in place. He had never met an Earthbender before Qiao, but he had read about them in the stories he liked, and had always admired them. Had admired all benders, really. Perhaps even more so now, given his recent and rather violent past. Stepping lightly on the stairs, mindful of their not so stable nature. Reaching the top of the wall, he jumped easily to the ground, tucking his feet and going into a roll as he landed, more out of habit than necessity. Hand-to-hand training was his second nature now, truth be told. "What are you doing in the Fire Nation?" he asked, standing up and dusting his knees off. "You're obviously from the Earth Kingdom." Oh, how he envied those who were allowed to travel!
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 4:19 pm
Qiao hopped off the wall, landing on her feet. She always always went foot first. It was faster and her feet were like magnets to solid ground, she always landed on them. She liked to think it meant she was part cat. Much more interesting than the fact that it was probably because she was an Earthbender. Cats were neat.
After watching Tosh roll around like she'd seen soildiers do, she skipped over to him, kicking up dust as she did.
"I'm traveling with a circus!" She smiled. "Yeah, I'm from the Earth Kingdom originally but I helped this kid find his friend and he asked me if I wanted to go with them. All I was doing was traveling around making maps beforehand. Now I make costumes and hang with them guys. One's a big brat though, you ever been to the circus?"
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 5:09 pm
A circus...? Tingzhe was in the circus- Oh no. This simply had to be coincidence. And yet... "No, I've never been to the circus," he said, shaking his head as they began to walk in the general direction of the small town that was near the school. "I know someone else who was in the circus, though. He's... very loud," he said at length. It wasn't that he actually disliked Tingzhe- hell, after what they had been through, he had been grateful, for a while, for Tingzhe's up beat attitude, even if he was a bit full of himself. "Maps and costumes. That's an interesting change of careers. Do your parents travel with you...?" he asked, realizing that she probably wasn't much older than him.
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 5:24 pm
"Really? My guy is loud too. And conceited like crazy. You should hear how he requests costumes. 'Make sure you make something that'll make me look AWESOME', he says. Plus, he's always saying how unpretty I am. Oh, but the other one is such a sweetheart. A poet, actually and a top-knotch one at that!"
She shuffled up closer to him for two reasons; because she didn't want to get lost and so she could check him out more. Though it wouldn't stop her from listening, quite the opposite. He had her full attention.
"Nope. My parents are...." She waved her hands around as if the word was floating his her face and she could just grab it. "somewhere! See, they're nomads and they left me with my grandpa so's they could travel. My grandpa was a nomad of sorts too, but he only traveled to sell maps. I helped him with that. I like this job better, though. Much more creative."
Qiao continued staring right at Toshiro as they talked. Not wanting to take her eye off of him for a second. She just had the feeling he'd run off or something.
"But if you've never been to a circus, how'd you meet a circus guy, if you don't mind me asking? Maybe they came to the school or you met him on the street? Cuz everyone from the circus tend to wander off into town when we're staying somewhere for awhile."
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 10:51 am
A poet as well? There was simply no way this could be coincidence only... "Their names wouldn't happen to be Tingzhe and Shen-Ru, would they?" Depending on her answer to his question, they were about to have a whole lot more in common than he originally thought. It sounded just like Tingzhe, haughty and full of himself, to tell this girl that she wasn't pretty. Tilting his head to one side, he studied her. She wasn't unpretty! At least, he didn't think so. It was good for him to linger on thoughts like that, however, and so he looked away from her, seeing that they were approaching the small town. Her parents weren't very active in her life either, it seemed. But... Qiao seemed happy. Maybe there was just something about the circus that made people happy? Toshiro had never seen a circus, let alone been in one, so he wasn't entirely sure if his hypothesis had any sort of merit. "I ah... I met a poet named Shen-Ru and a circus performer named Tingzhe a little while ago through some..." He paused, biting the inside of his cheek. "Through some... Well, we met, at any rate."
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 11:10 am
Qiao stopped suddenly when Toshiro mentioned their names. Dang, was Ting that famous? No...because how would he know Shen-Shen? How weird, but it gave her something to talk about.
"Oh my gosh, yeah! That's them exactly! How do you kno---oh." Oh, man. Was this kid one of the others that were kidnapped with Shen and Ting? She'd heard there were other and..and how else would he know them? And if they knew him in any other situation, she would of heard of it. Toshiro didn't seem the type of person you'd keep secret. Except that he was better-looking than Tingzhe and that would be enough for the little dork to never mention him.
"Hey, look!" She pointed ahead of her towards the town, hoping to change the subject.
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Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 5:53 pm
Toshiro smiled, grateful for the change in subject. The kidnapping... Well, it wasn't something he liked to talk about with anyone, let alone someone he had just met. "Ah, yes... Was there anything specific you wanted to do? Shopping, getting something to eat...? I only have a few hours of free time," he said, making something of a face as he looked back down the road that they had walked down, not wanting to return so soon. "It's a small town, but there are several large towns near here- including Hiyama, so the market place usually has some pretty interesting things to look through," the young archer said with a nod. "If you'd like, we could go there." He paused, biting the inside of his cheek. "And... if you wouldn't mind, could you maybe take some letters back to Shen-Ru and Tingzhe for me?"
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