Post by Teяa253 on May 8, 2008 12:57:16 GMT 1
my 10th installment. there's a reference to Avatar: The Burning Earth here, but with a twist. anyways, enjoy it--you do meet Toph, which means it has to be pretty awesome.
and yes, both her--and Kai Serenes I--have not changed. they both are still awesome.
SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE
We thought we were on the outside wall of the palace, but these walls were actually the outer ones. Nonetheless, we got in. in here there were a lot of slum areas surprisingly. We looked around. Everyone looked like a thief. We kept our guard up, and everything seemed okay on our trip towards the palace.
“What’s in that bag?” Ty Lee asked, pointing at my mother’s sack,
“Just various things,” my mother replied, “all of my treasured possessions for starters, and some food and other necessities. Why do you ask?”
“I was just wondering,” Ty Lee replied brightly, “and truth be told, I’d keep it closer to you if I were you—people around here do steal things.”
“Okay,” my mother replied, and I held my own bag closer. If someone stole mine, I could probably catch them. My mother, who was middle-aged by now, might not be able to.
We kept walking until a rogue looking man bumped into my mother.
“Oh,” he said, “I’m sorry... and he took off running.
“it was my fault,” Kai replied, because she was always the better person. It was me that noticed that he had taken her bag though.
“Kai,” I said in my usually ditzy tone, “he stole your bag!”
Kai looked down. “Well so he did,” she said calmly, “and I cannot allow things like that to go un-remedied...”
“Mother,” Kai II pleaded, “you’re not in that sort of condition to outrun someone in the prime of their youth...”
“Yeah,” I added, “we’ll go get it for you.” We were about to run after him, but my mother stopped us. We had since picked up our pace. We could still see him, and we were at a jogging pace after him.
“I need that bag back,” my mother replied, “and you two should not have to do my dirty work. Just follow if you want to.”
What my mother did next not only made my jaw drop, but Ty Lee’s as well. Also, the jaws of people she passed dropped too. My mother, a 55-year-old woman, had just shot off after this man. She was gaining on him. Ty Lee laughed.
“A middle-aged woman is gaining on a man in his prime...” she commented, elbowing me, “you’ve got an awesome mom.”
We both raced after my mother, and we had to go fast to keep up. The man realized we were gaining on him, so he seemed to want to find a retreat. Nonetheless, my mother kept full track of him, and we ended up cornering him in an alleyway. However, he whistled, and a large bunch of other men about his age suddenly sprung out.
“Hey!” I exclaimed, “It’s not fair to have 20 men in their prime beat up an old woman!”
They didn’t listen to me though, but I had figured they wouldn’t. Kai stopped me from doing anything. Kai II was watching, right beside me,
“Just leave this to me,” she said, and turned to the men. They were actually more like boys—probably around 18 or so, and their auras were dirty—they were obviously thieves.
“Look, grandma,” one of them said, “there’s no way you can take us. But on that note, how did she catch you, Lerej?”
The man, named Lerej, did not respond.
Kai was still calm. “I do not want to fight you. If you will give me my bag, I will leave you all alone. If not, then we might have to settle some differences.”
“fine, grandma,” said the gang, closing in on her, “we’ll settle differences. No bending from anyone. We’re using pure, raw, fists and feet.”
“if this is the way it must be,” my mother replied, “then I am sorry. Nonetheless, so be it.”
What happened next was slightly hard to recall, but was incredibly awesome. Any sense of “logic” was defied as my mother, a 55-year-old woman, used her martial arts skills on everyone around her save the leader. She stopped to face him.
“It’s just me and you.” She said, “This is your last chance.”
He paused for a second, and then aimed a right-handed punch at my mother. However, Kai surprisingly stopped it with her left arm.
“Please never take my things again,” Kai replied, slipping her bag from the thug’s right arm to her left, and then suddenly, her left fist had reeled back and had collided with his face, sending him a good 14 feet or so. Kai said nothing, but motioned for Ty Lee and me to follow her. After the fight, she looked a bit tired, but was still hale.
“Mother,” I exclaimed, “how did you do that?”
“I might be old,” she replied, “but I never forget something once I learn it. It is how I became who I am. Anyways, Ty Lee, Kai, come—we need to get to the palace.”
Kai led us right into the palace. We got past the guards without an invitation because the new Earth Queen said she could care less. I thought it’d be fun to see my good friend Toph again, even if she couldn’t see me back. However, when we got in, there was a puzzle in front of us. I didn’t quite recognize it, and neither did young Kai.
There were 9 spaces in front of us. 9 switch to be exact. If you stood on one, an elemental symbol would show up. Where the middle button should have been was a table. On it, a particular element symbol was lit up. I had no clue what you had to do. There were not 8 elements. I stood on one, and a fire symbol popped up.
“Ty Lee,” Kai exclaimed, do not move.”
“Why?” I asked, yet I didn’t move,
“It’s a puzzle,” Kai replied, “and the concept is simple. See that table; whatever element is on there is the one that must be found. There are two buttons with each element. We must find the other one. If you make a mistake, I don’t recall what happens, but it’s not pretty.”
“So,” I said, looking over at the central table where there was a fire symbol glowing, “luckily I picked the fire one. Where’s the other fire symbol?”
Luckily, Kai seemed to remember. She directed her daughter to it. Once Kai II stood on the button, the symbol on the table turned to a water one. Kai directed us where to go, and then it turned into an air symbol. After Kai showed us where those two were, we led ourselves to the last two buttons, which were earth symbols. After that, the door opened, and a symbol of the avatar was glowing on the table, meaning we had completed the puzzle.
“So,” I commented as we were let past another door by some Dai Li, “if Toph is blind, how does she get past that door?”
“Simple,” Kai replied, “she just metal-bends it.”
We ended up finding ourselves in the Earth Queen’s chamber a few minutes later. Toph was sitting sideways on her throne, lounging about, disregarding her ranks, or where she was. She appeared to be asleep. However, Kai I took a few steps toward her, and Toph’s trademark grin crept over her face.
“Kai,” she said, “it’s been forever since you came to visit. And you brought some buddies!”
Toph got up and embraced Kai, and then without even turning, checked who we were.
“Ty Lee,” she said, “it’s been a while, and Kai, you brought your daughter... last time we met she was just a little kid. She feels just like you.”
Toph had not felt me, but I knew she said “feels” instead of “looks” because she was blind.
“You three feel exhausted,” Toph continued, “here, go back there and get some rest. I was just thinking about doing that too.”
Toph got up and went to the door. She grabbed them both and slammed them shut. She then moved her hand over the seam as if she was bending some lock into place.
“Tomorrow,” she said, for night had fallen by the time we had reached the palace, “we’ll do stuff.”
Toph chuckled, and showed us our rooms. As was expected they were very luxurious, and yet Toph was still the same carefree class-indifferent girl I had met when I was a child. We thanked her and then went to sleep. Tomorrow would come the story that would help me learn earthbending from Toph—the greatest earthbender in the world.
~Kai~
and yes, both her--and Kai Serenes I--have not changed. they both are still awesome.
SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE
We thought we were on the outside wall of the palace, but these walls were actually the outer ones. Nonetheless, we got in. in here there were a lot of slum areas surprisingly. We looked around. Everyone looked like a thief. We kept our guard up, and everything seemed okay on our trip towards the palace.
“What’s in that bag?” Ty Lee asked, pointing at my mother’s sack,
“Just various things,” my mother replied, “all of my treasured possessions for starters, and some food and other necessities. Why do you ask?”
“I was just wondering,” Ty Lee replied brightly, “and truth be told, I’d keep it closer to you if I were you—people around here do steal things.”
“Okay,” my mother replied, and I held my own bag closer. If someone stole mine, I could probably catch them. My mother, who was middle-aged by now, might not be able to.
We kept walking until a rogue looking man bumped into my mother.
“Oh,” he said, “I’m sorry... and he took off running.
“it was my fault,” Kai replied, because she was always the better person. It was me that noticed that he had taken her bag though.
“Kai,” I said in my usually ditzy tone, “he stole your bag!”
Kai looked down. “Well so he did,” she said calmly, “and I cannot allow things like that to go un-remedied...”
“Mother,” Kai II pleaded, “you’re not in that sort of condition to outrun someone in the prime of their youth...”
“Yeah,” I added, “we’ll go get it for you.” We were about to run after him, but my mother stopped us. We had since picked up our pace. We could still see him, and we were at a jogging pace after him.
“I need that bag back,” my mother replied, “and you two should not have to do my dirty work. Just follow if you want to.”
What my mother did next not only made my jaw drop, but Ty Lee’s as well. Also, the jaws of people she passed dropped too. My mother, a 55-year-old woman, had just shot off after this man. She was gaining on him. Ty Lee laughed.
“A middle-aged woman is gaining on a man in his prime...” she commented, elbowing me, “you’ve got an awesome mom.”
We both raced after my mother, and we had to go fast to keep up. The man realized we were gaining on him, so he seemed to want to find a retreat. Nonetheless, my mother kept full track of him, and we ended up cornering him in an alleyway. However, he whistled, and a large bunch of other men about his age suddenly sprung out.
“Hey!” I exclaimed, “It’s not fair to have 20 men in their prime beat up an old woman!”
They didn’t listen to me though, but I had figured they wouldn’t. Kai stopped me from doing anything. Kai II was watching, right beside me,
“Just leave this to me,” she said, and turned to the men. They were actually more like boys—probably around 18 or so, and their auras were dirty—they were obviously thieves.
“Look, grandma,” one of them said, “there’s no way you can take us. But on that note, how did she catch you, Lerej?”
The man, named Lerej, did not respond.
Kai was still calm. “I do not want to fight you. If you will give me my bag, I will leave you all alone. If not, then we might have to settle some differences.”
“fine, grandma,” said the gang, closing in on her, “we’ll settle differences. No bending from anyone. We’re using pure, raw, fists and feet.”
“if this is the way it must be,” my mother replied, “then I am sorry. Nonetheless, so be it.”
What happened next was slightly hard to recall, but was incredibly awesome. Any sense of “logic” was defied as my mother, a 55-year-old woman, used her martial arts skills on everyone around her save the leader. She stopped to face him.
“It’s just me and you.” She said, “This is your last chance.”
He paused for a second, and then aimed a right-handed punch at my mother. However, Kai surprisingly stopped it with her left arm.
“Please never take my things again,” Kai replied, slipping her bag from the thug’s right arm to her left, and then suddenly, her left fist had reeled back and had collided with his face, sending him a good 14 feet or so. Kai said nothing, but motioned for Ty Lee and me to follow her. After the fight, she looked a bit tired, but was still hale.
“Mother,” I exclaimed, “how did you do that?”
“I might be old,” she replied, “but I never forget something once I learn it. It is how I became who I am. Anyways, Ty Lee, Kai, come—we need to get to the palace.”
Kai led us right into the palace. We got past the guards without an invitation because the new Earth Queen said she could care less. I thought it’d be fun to see my good friend Toph again, even if she couldn’t see me back. However, when we got in, there was a puzzle in front of us. I didn’t quite recognize it, and neither did young Kai.
There were 9 spaces in front of us. 9 switch to be exact. If you stood on one, an elemental symbol would show up. Where the middle button should have been was a table. On it, a particular element symbol was lit up. I had no clue what you had to do. There were not 8 elements. I stood on one, and a fire symbol popped up.
“Ty Lee,” Kai exclaimed, do not move.”
“Why?” I asked, yet I didn’t move,
“It’s a puzzle,” Kai replied, “and the concept is simple. See that table; whatever element is on there is the one that must be found. There are two buttons with each element. We must find the other one. If you make a mistake, I don’t recall what happens, but it’s not pretty.”
“So,” I said, looking over at the central table where there was a fire symbol glowing, “luckily I picked the fire one. Where’s the other fire symbol?”
Luckily, Kai seemed to remember. She directed her daughter to it. Once Kai II stood on the button, the symbol on the table turned to a water one. Kai directed us where to go, and then it turned into an air symbol. After Kai showed us where those two were, we led ourselves to the last two buttons, which were earth symbols. After that, the door opened, and a symbol of the avatar was glowing on the table, meaning we had completed the puzzle.
“So,” I commented as we were let past another door by some Dai Li, “if Toph is blind, how does she get past that door?”
“Simple,” Kai replied, “she just metal-bends it.”
We ended up finding ourselves in the Earth Queen’s chamber a few minutes later. Toph was sitting sideways on her throne, lounging about, disregarding her ranks, or where she was. She appeared to be asleep. However, Kai I took a few steps toward her, and Toph’s trademark grin crept over her face.
“Kai,” she said, “it’s been forever since you came to visit. And you brought some buddies!”
Toph got up and embraced Kai, and then without even turning, checked who we were.
“Ty Lee,” she said, “it’s been a while, and Kai, you brought your daughter... last time we met she was just a little kid. She feels just like you.”
Toph had not felt me, but I knew she said “feels” instead of “looks” because she was blind.
“You three feel exhausted,” Toph continued, “here, go back there and get some rest. I was just thinking about doing that too.”
Toph got up and went to the door. She grabbed them both and slammed them shut. She then moved her hand over the seam as if she was bending some lock into place.
“Tomorrow,” she said, for night had fallen by the time we had reached the palace, “we’ll do stuff.”
Toph chuckled, and showed us our rooms. As was expected they were very luxurious, and yet Toph was still the same carefree class-indifferent girl I had met when I was a child. We thanked her and then went to sleep. Tomorrow would come the story that would help me learn earthbending from Toph—the greatest earthbender in the world.
~Kai~
