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 Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 11:05 pm
The Great Canyon is located in the Earth Kingdom, And the biggest canyon in the world. Also, it's one of the few ways to get to Ba Sing Se. Supposedly carved by angry earth spirits for local farmers not giving the proper sacrifice, the terrain is rugged, dry, and very dusty, with hardly any rain. The edge is very steep, the narrow road down full of gaps. So if you aren't an earth bender, you'd better be ready for a tough rockclimb. Of course, if you follow a main road to the edge, you couild always visit a guide, who would be glad to help you across.
The Canyon is full of dangerous predators, such as the common Canyon Crawler, which is the primary predator you will have to deal with, so don't bring food with you; it attracts the animals. Of course, the natural occurences like earthquakes and frequent rockslides are a challenge too.
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:14 am
Walking slowly on the canyon's edge, Ryuuou kicked a rock over, watching it fall to the canyon floor far below, pebbles and dirt following it's path, faintly resembling a comet as it rockets through the sky. "Forget this," he said to himself, angry at just how large the canyon was. "There's got to be a better way!"
Passing up the guide's offer was probably not the best idea, he thought to himself, tying a rope around his waist, and then fastening it to a small stump near the ledge. Oh well. Too late to go back now. Checking the rope, he slowly brought his body over the ledge, hugging the canyon wall to get leverage. 1, 2, 3! he thought to himself, jumping off the rocky face of the canyon, letting the rope run through his fingers as he got closer to the rock bottom. Slowing his descent by gripping the rope tighter, he was pulled back to the canyon wall. Repeating this method, he got about twenty away from the canyon floor when he got tired.
Resting against the wall, Ryuuou took a long drink from his canteen, dehydrated almost to the point of fainting. After about five minutes, he decided to keep moving. But as he jumped of the canyon face again, the rope finally gave way, unraveling and snapping in two, sending Ryuu tumbling down the last twenty feet, landing on the floor harshly on his back. As his field of vision faded away, he knew he was losing conscienceness, and a few moments later, he passed out.
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Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 10:28 pm
Rising just a bit after sundown, Ryuuou awoke groggily, still feeling the aftershock of the impact. Attempting to get up, he yelped with surprise, finding he had twisted his left ankle badly. Grabbing two sturdy chunks of wood, he shaved them into planks, tying them together with a length of rope he had bought in the village resort. In fifteen minutes, a well made splint was created, keeping his foot from twisting any worse or healing wrong. Using another stick he found as a crutch, he moved on, hobbling forward very slowly through the huge canyon.
A few hours later, He stopped to rest, setting down his bags and various items from years collecting and trading. The years coming and going from the cities. The years walking through the elegant forests. The years drifting across the vast oceans... only, he won't ever go in a boat as long as he had a choice about it.
Slowly the memories came through again, the horrible odor of rotting fish wafting through his malnutritioned body, the toxic musk only made worse by the maniacal, insane laughter of the last other two crew members alive, crazed from the combination of sun and sea water, losing the deadly game of lust, dehydration taking over their minds, inevitably finding them a bucket full of salt water. The bittersweet islands just off into the horizon, the silhouette of green just out of reach....
Shaking the memories off, he distracted himself by collecting firewood, and setting up a fire. Besides, he thought to himself. Those days are past me now. The fire raged to life, illuminating the nearby area with an orange glow. Grabbing his ice box, he brought out a cabbage, and a few pieces of salted meat. The bronze pot from Kyoshi was put over the fire, and poured most of his water from his canteen into it. Bringing it to a boil, he put the cabbage and meat in the water, along with some local spices, and waited for it to cook. His mind wandered about for 10 or twenty minutes, pulling his mind toward his long journey, his long battle; Not only with physical enemies, but with his mind as well. Within the Cascading walls of his mind, it was a war, fighting his evil and good alike, fighting with himself against conundrums and personalities, never knowing whether or not he was a kind martyr, or an evil dictator. His regrets made themselves known, his kind words having trouble keeping the poisoned tongue from coming through. But as these things come, so do his dreams, as he drifts off into sleep.
He awoke suddenly, a loud hiss scaring his unconsciousness away. Grabbing a small knife from its secret compartment under his sleeve, he got up, his left ankle screaming with pain from the movement. All of a sudden, a large boulder came crashing towards him. He jumped out of the way at the last second, throwing his knife into the darkness from where the boulder came from. As he landed, the knife hit its unseen mark. As Ryuu screamed with pain, a hideous squeal came from the darkness, creating an agonizing harmony between each other. Ryuu got up just as the mysterious adversary came crashing towards him. As it were, the foe was a Canyon Crawler, though from its size, it seemed to be a baby (though don't get me wrong; it's still big enough to take down a full grown man). The knife had caught in one of its legs, green slime oozing out of the penetration. Gracefully lifting the hot stew out of the bronze pot, he moved it about 30 feet to the left, in which the Canyon Crawler responded to by following it, ignoring Ryuuou entirely. This giving Him an idea, he hurriedly distracted the Crawler with one hand, and packed his belongings with his other. As soon as he had everything he needed, he untied the rope around his splint, and lured the Crawler back around. As the Crawler came towards him, he threw his belongings over his shoulder, dropped the soup back in the pot (which had cooled off considering the freezing temperatures the canyon brings) and grabbed the pot and rope with both hands. As soon as the Crawler got close enough for Ryuu to smell its hot, heavy breath, he jumped as high as he could, and landing squarely on the thing's back. Wasting no time, he threw the pot over the Crawler's face, and tied it to the crawler with the rope, lacing it around its neck with practiced ease, but leaving enough so he could hold onto it. The Crawler moved forward with blind confusion, which was exactly what Ryuuou wanted. Racing forward at a fast rate, he hoped he would be out of the canyon by sunrise.
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