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 Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 9:32 pm
The circus served hundreds of guests in a single evening. Some of them were shabby. Most of them were poor. Ringmaster Zhen's Cavalcade of Wonders served criminals and cutthroats, outfitters and outlaws, sailors and smugglers. The only thing the carnival required of its customers was a full wallet and a civil tongue while they were in the fairgrounds.
Sonam fit in there better than in most places, though women with children still gave him a wide berth.
He drifted through the crowds, flitting from tent to tent and scanning the panhandlers wares, not once tempted by the sideshows. The smell of burning flesh on the vendor's fires made his stomach churn.
No matter. The men who had tried to capture Pabu dealt with shows like this, and Sonam was determined to ferret them out. Vengeance was an unworthy aspiration. Justice, however, was an entirely worthy mistress.
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 10:32 pm
Quitting time! Qiao didn't work during the shows seeing as everyone was wearing her work already, so it gave her a chance to people-watch a little It seemed to be the only private activity she had around the grounds, she was always with Shen or Tingzhe and she found nothing more relaxing than picking people out of crowds and silently poking fun at them.
At this particular moment, Qiao was enjoying another rousing game of 'Head Crusher'.
"He he he he! I'm crushing your head! Oh no, please! Spare me! I have a wife, two kids, and ridiculous facial hair! Haven't I suffered enough? Oh, I guess I can be leni--WRONG! Good night, flathead!"
It wasn't very long before she ran out of heads to crush that she noticed someone out of the ordinary. Not the usual 'ick' that hung around the circus at this time, but an honest to gosh REBEL TEENAGER!
"Holy cow-camel! This dude looks hard-core!" She exclaimed, hands shaking as she folded up her head-crushing rug and crawled out from inbetween two tents. Qiao's feet left deep footprints as she ran as hard as she could to the so-called rebel before stopping in front of him, breathing heavily.
Oh, radical! He had like...scars and stuff! And painted nails! And tattoos! it was kind of dark, so she couldn't exactly see what they were of exactly, but it was probably something that had to do with sticking it to he man.
"HI!" She finally spoke up. "Ummmm fresh inkage!" Oh, yeah, she was totally with it.
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 10:59 pm
Sonam blinked. A second ago, his way had been clear. Now there was an oddly-dressed young girl standing in the way. She looked as though she'd exerted herself to meet him. It was- not a reaction that Sonam was used to, without Pabu around.
Though the circus spread laughter and good-cheer, Sonam also knew that many were dens of cruelty and immorality. Perhaps his girl was in great need of a monk.
"Air Nomads take tattoos as a symbol of their faith," the monk told her, raising his fist to indicate his arrow. His fingers were rough, and calloused, as though he were inured to hard fighting or harder labour. His skin was nearly as pale as the eerie white of his hair. "These arrows are for our bison, and the four directions of the wind."
Sonam paused. Outside the temples, left to his own devices, he was a man of few words.
"As to the rest, they are my own embellishments."
The barbs on his chest, a more personal sort of reminder.
Sonam gave Qiao a hard, flat, intensely serious look, as though his very gaze might strip away the illusions of this world and see the truth of her request.
"Are you in need of a man of faith? This is a place where most make merry."
And Sonam knew that he looked anything but.
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Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 11:21 pm
Qiao's bubbly expression went blank and confused as soon as she didn't get a hard-core reaction. This dude was an Air Nomad? What's this about arrows and wind? He seemed a little young for white hair. Was he one of those preachy folks? Wasn't he a little young to be a preachy guy?
In most cases of super-seriousness, Qiao would've already dragged the poor monk off to do something silly or seeing as he was an Air Nomad, take her for a glider ride. They had those, right? Maybe they were just a myth.
But as it was, he was a monk and therefore probably a harder nut to crack. But how to do so?
"Umm....why only four directions? Do you mean North, South, East, and West? What about North-east, South-west, South-east, North-west? Don't those count for anything? I guess if you don't want to be covered in tattoos is one thing and probably less confusing. You should probably acknowledge the other directions though."
It sounded like she was done but she wasn't.
"Though what do I know about air? I'm an Earthbender. Can you, like....SEE air? Why'd you come here? Are you gonna cleanse the wicked? Can I watch? I'll bet it's cool and I know a lot of wicked people. They're my friends. I'm Qiao, by the way, who are you? What temple are you from? Do you have a bison? Will you paint my nails like yours?"
Qiao liked asking questions. Maybe, she thought, if she asked more things, he'd say more. It didn't look like he used his mouth for anything but looking ominous and...eating.
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Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 1:17 am
What a curious torrent of words. Sonam let them wash over him like the tide smoothing the knots out of a piece of driftwood.
"Perhaps you can help me."
When he smiled, he looked like the sort of man that kicked in doors and despoiled villages. There was nothing fair about his face. It betrayed neither Shen-Ru's kindness, nor Tingzhe's reckless confidence. There was no telling whether or not his expression reached those cold slate eyes.
Sonam half-bowed.
"I am looking for a man. The kind of man who sells animals to circuses such as this. It is in my interest to acquire his merchandise."
Truth be told, all the cages in this place made him feel uncomfortable, but he must not act unlawfully or without due consideration. Miss Xi-Mei, and other monks of pure temperament, would reprimand him for losing his peace and indulging in rashness.
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Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 1:56 am
Oooo, he was to the point! Qiao was unsure if she admired that or not. She certainly did admire the fact that he looked like he kicked small animals even though that was highly unlikely.
Qiao giggled and half-bowed back. Guys being formal was funny.
"Ohhh you must be looking for uhhh....Lee! Or am I thinking the other Lee? There's at least five Lees here, it gets really confusing."
She stood there for a few seconds before speaking up.
"But none of the merchant guys are around right now. They go to the bars and "poetry readings" during the shows." She stated, putting her formally air quoted hands in her pockets.
"Althooooooough....if you want, I can take you to where they keep the animals so you can see em."
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Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 3:36 am
"If you please." Sonam politely inclined his head. "I'm not familiar with circuses."
And it would help pass the time until those merchants returned from their activities. Sonam had spent plenty of time in bars, asking for alms, but he didn't like to think about those 'poetry readings'. It was just-
It was so-
It made his face flush, if he thought about it too hard. So he didn't.
It wasn't very good or nice, or anything like any teachings anywhere. Suffering and desire walked hand in hand.
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Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 8:30 am
"Well then let's get going!" She said, tugging on his arm a little in the direction of their destination." All the really bitey animals wake up around this time and you don't wanna miss that!"
Qiao seemed a little too enthusiastic, but she didn't want to risk the monk leaving. She still hadn't seen him purify the wicked which was probably really cool or funny to watch.
She looked back once or twice as they walked to the animal tent to make sure he was still there. He certainly wasn't pretty, but at least he didn't seem like a jerk. A wet towel, maybe but not a jerk.
"Hey, how come yer blushing? You hot? It's kinda hot out. Course, you aren't wearing a shirt. Don't you get cold? And no shoes! You should get some shoes, I can make you some and---oh! We're here!"
The girl pointed to a tall, red tent that had a smell coming from it that you just had to get used to. Not for newbies.
She shuffled her way into the very dark tent and groaned. It was too dark.
"It's too dark! You wouldn't happen to have any holy candles or....umm holy explosives, would you? ...That sounded ignorant, I'm sorry. Not used to it, y'see."
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 3:58 pm
"Monks believe in compassion, not violent action," Sonam informed Qiao. He didn't sound offended. "We don't kill."
He made a chopping motion with his left hand, and a gust of wind swelled up to blow loose one of the panels of cloth that made up the roof of the tent. Moonlight flooded the enclosure.
Unlike Firebending, Waterbending, and Earthbending, Airbending was not at all flashy. The rush of air on Qiaos skin was almost ghostly.
"Is that acceptable?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 5:12 pm
That. Was. Quick. Qiao, having never seen Airbending before was left speechless. He barely did a thing and the tent opened! And it was almost silent at that.
Totally different than Earthbending, that's for sure. No wonder he was so calm and collected. She could only imagine what would happen if he got angry. Shuddering before snapping back into reality, Qiao nodded.
"Y-yeah. Totally...ummm....after you?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 7:53 pm
Sonam nodded, wondering what had the girl so uncomfortable. Had he done something wrong?
Ah. Of course. His face would be easier to see in the light.
"As you will."
The Airbender walked inside the tent, wondering what he'd find inside. It smelled like hay and feed and raw animal stench, but he couldn't make out what species lived in side from their scent. Instead he bent the smell away from him as he walked inside. Dead leaves danced around him, carried on an invisible breeze.
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:04 pm
Qiao followed Sonam into the tent immediately choking on the variety of nasty smells. She always avoided this area of the circus for that reason alone. Animals were cute, why did they have to smell so bad? Life was tricky that way.
Suddenly the smell was gone and she could breathe again. This Sonam dude had serious talent, that's for sure. It was so dark in the tent the only thing Qiao could see were shadowy outlines and the dead leaves at her feet. Which, of ocurse she took the time to step on for that satisfying crunch.
"What exactly are you looking for, Sonam?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:16 pm
Sonam blinked, momentarily surprised. Then he turned to address Qiao. The moonlight made his hair shine a ghoulish white.
"As I told you before, I'm looking for the animal procurers you deal with. I have some questions to ask them."
The Monk walked up to a row of cages and ran his hand along the bar. The animals didn't appear to be mistreated, but seeing them shut away still made his stomach turn.
"You mentioned the name Lee."
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:35 pm
How the heck was his hair so white? Is that what happens when boys became teenagers? Haha, Ting would just die.
Qiao shrugged and began wandering around. Who knew when everyone would be back? They really loved their poetry.
She skipped over to a nearby cage and stuck her hand in to pet at whatever was in there. She wasn't worried about getting bitten, the animals were pretty docile unless on stage.
"Yep, that's him. Like I said, I don't know when he'll be back."
She slid her way down to the floor with a sigh, taking her hat off to scratch her scalp.
"Come sit down and wait. We might be here awhile."
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 7:06 pm
Sonam withdrew a small sachet of herbs from his pocket, and offered them to a small cat-ox in a cage. It snuffled his hand and then licked his fingers, munching happily on the new snack.
This Qiao was very forthright. Sonam wasn't sure what to make about that. He liked to think that all people were basically good at their core, or had the potential to be, provided that they could free themselves of attachment. But that did not mean that he was blind to the realities of the world. He had left the temple at fourteen years old, and seen a great many things.
"You don't enjoy your employment?"
Old posters swirled around him. He seemed intent on keeping the air moving.
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