Post by Teяa253 on Nov 10, 2008 8:26:07 GMT 1
the 23rd installment in the series. It's back to Zinjamyn's gang, 'coz if anyone has noticed, there's 3 groups, one being Zakura's, another being Zinjamyn's, and the other being Royota's.
CHAPTER 23: WE'VE BEEN EXPECTING YOU
After all was secured away the next day, Zinjamyn, Mulan, Cheng, Kimiko, Lehran, (and Altina) were packed and ready to leave.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here a while,” Zinjamyn asked Mulan, “I mean, taking a baby like that into the battlegrounds...”
“Is harder than taking the baby when she was unborn,” asked Mulan, smiling, “I have doubts. And if master Lehran here and carry his sister, I believe I am capable of doing the same.”
“If you insist,” said Zinjamyn in response, “I just asked for your safety, you do know that, correct?”
“Aye,” Mulan replied, “and I respect the fact that you care for me. Nonetheless, I still plan to go. The Order will make no difference as to who I am or where I am. I’m pretty sure my husband Ju Long as put me on their blacklist by now.”
“Mulan,” laughed Cheng, “you’re an airbender. The Airbenders have been blacklisted by The Order for a long time now.”
“Thank you for the obvious, Cheng,” said Zinjamyn, laughing, “so are we going to leave this place, or not?”
“You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like,” said Ling, chuckling,
“And were it not for this war, we certainly would, master Ling,” Zinjamyn replied, “but alas, it happens to the best of us.”
“It is understandable,” Ling replied,” and do remember: just because we Air Nomads are not actively taking part in the war its self does not mean that we cannot be used as a resource against The Order of the Avatar Slayer. We will support the avatar as long as she lives.”
“And she will be glad to know it,” said Mulan, “and therefore we bid you farewell, and I promise to take care of this majestic animal.”
The sky bison did its flying job swiftly yet smoothly. They made a brief stop at the edge of the desert, near a sand-bender village. There seemed to be members of The Order here, but it appeared that they were out numbered by members of The Avatar Guard here, so all they could really do was grumble.
They restocked their supplies, fed and watered the sky bison, and soon were crossing the desert.
“Wow,” said Cheng, his arms crossed over the edge of the enormous saddle used to carry people on these animals, “this is a whole lot of nothing out here.”
“Fancy you should say that,” said Zinjamyn, chuckling, “for according to my last experience in the Si Wong Desert, the other three benders and I were ambushed by Order sand-benders. Our business was and is our own, but the fact remains we could get shot at even from up here.”
“Shot,” Lehran exclaimed, trying to amuse a bored Altina; the little girl was bored out of her mind, for there was not even any extra water for her to play with. Mulan’s child was fast asleep in her mother’s arms, and said mother was in the corner across from Cheng facing Zinjamyn’s back (for Zinjamyn was flying the bison)
“Aye, shot,” said Zinjamyn, “all that they do is condense the sand into a ball and throw it; it’s a very simple yet effective process.”
“So what are we going to do if we DO get shot at,” Lehran asked,
“We’ll do what anyone else would when flying across the desert on a flying bison” Zinjamyn replied, chuckling, “land and fight back.”
“Really now,” said Cheng, most likely just saying it to give himself something to do,”
“Aye, Cheng,” said Zinjamyn, who was losing patience, “now if you’ll excuse me, I have a desert to fly a group of people over.”
“Alright then,” said Cheng, “then so be it.”
Incidentally, Cheng’s words came to pass. They eventually hit a place where there were Order members below them shooting blasts of sand up at them. Calmly, Zinjamyn landed the air bison a considerable distance away. Zinjamyn and Mulan were the ones to jump out first, and Zinjamyn told Cheng and Lehran to watch their ride and Lehran to watch Altina, as well as Mulan’s baby girl. However, Cheng went along with them, and Kimiko stayed behind instead.
Being the world’s greatest earthbender, Zinjamyn was able to compress the sand into solid ground, which he yanked up to use as a wall. He was pushing this wall forward with Mulan and Cheng behind him, and they were using it as a shield. Once they were in range of the sand-benders, all of whom had been trying to break the wall (they had done a decent job in the little time they had had), Zinjamyn stopped, punched the wall at just the right place and send fragments of it flying. There were a total of 18 sandbenders against the three of them.
“If I were you,” said Zinjamyn, crossing his arms, I would abandon the attempts to fight us. We had no intention of harming you; we were not intruding on your lands or doing any damages whatsoever.”
“You might not have noticed,” Said what must have been the leader of the tribe, “but there’s a war going on against the Avatar Guard and the Order of the Avatar Slayer. And you, master earthbender, are recognizable anywhere.”
“If you really feel like you must challenge us,” said Zinjamyn, “then we shall fight you. Prepare for the worst.”
Mulan jumped ahead, her arms spread out and created a swirling vortex around the sandbenders. However, they were able to use the sand to their advantage. Since Mulan had made it around them as opposed to actually hitting them, all they had to do was expel the sand, and they did so—all towards Mulan.
Mulan used a powerful airbending shield to divert most of them away from her, and with Zinjamyn’s help, more sand was thrown into the mix, blocking the two groups from seeing each other.
Suddenly, huge clumps of sand began shooting from the vortex; it seemed that the sandbenders were blindly testing their luck. They were actually able to leave a mark, and this was where Cheng and Zinjamyn decided they needed to get out of there. They were not sure what had hit her, but Mulan was bleeding across her chest, and seemed to be staggering when she got up.
“Let’s get,” said Cheng, hoisting Mulan over his shoulder, “if they can’t see us we might be able to get out of here.”
“We need Mulan to keep airbending that sand around that cyclone if we want to escape unseen,” said Zinjamyn, “and she doesn’t seem in any condition to do that for us,”
“No,” said a weak voice that was clearly Mulan’s, “just let me focus for a second. I’m not going to let you all down because of my own personal faults. Let me down once we get back to the others.”
Once they were back with the others, Zinjamyn took no time in getting them off the ground.
“Yip, yip,” he snapped, and the bison took to the skies. Mulan leaned over the edge, concentrating. She felt disoriented from the damage she had just taken, but was able to focus long enough to keep the spherical cyclone over the sandbenders for the time being. They made it away from that area safely. Other than Mulan being worn out and bleeding in some places, the rest of their party was fine. Since the only comfort Mulan wanted was to hold her baby girl again, the rest of the group figured that they were all alright, and probably were.
Lehran was gently massaging Mulan’s back and shoulders, using waterbending to try and heal her wounds. Being a Serenes, which were a family of naturally gifted waterbenders and healers, he was able to help Mulan out a considerable amount.
Once Mulan stopped feeding the cyclone, it was not long before it died down. The sandbenders made a guess as to where they were going. They were heading approximately south-southwest from Ba Sing Se, which mean they were headed for Gaoling (which, in fact, they were), and therefore they had plans to meet them there.
Using their chain of sand-bender villages they had “taken over”, they were able to swiftly pass the message on that part of The Avatar Guard was heading for Gaoling. What their intentions there were, were not known by The Order, but they knew that they would possibly be able to ambush them.
The rest of the trip to Gaoling was nothing out of the ordinary. Upon arrival they noticed that there were a lot of Southern Water Tribe Warriors, both male and female, there. Most of the Southern Waterbenders were on the side of The Avatar Guard, but there was no sure ways to tell which ones were Order members and which ones weren’t—or so they thought.
As they were going through the city, Mulan and Cheng, mostly Mulan, was attracting attention because of her bright orange clothing. There were a few fire nation people here, but an air nomad was rare just about anywhere. Mulan noticed a method of how to distinguish which Water Tribe people were Order members and which ones were not (the earth kingdom citizenry here were not fighters, so they were not looking out for them).
“It’s simple,” she said, “watch for the ones that give you an angry glare, Zinjamyn; that’s how you can tell they’re part of The Order.”
She was right. About 1 in every 5 people gave Zinjamyn a nasty look. Afterwards, he decided to try his luck and talk to one of them.
“Zinjamyn is it,” he said, and Zinjamyn nodded.
“Aye,” he said, “the woman with the infant child is Mulan, this kid’s Lehran, the kid on his back’s named Altina, and this is Cheng.”
“Ah,” the man exclaimed, “Zinjamyn... We’ve Been Expecting You.”
~Azula~
CHAPTER 23: WE'VE BEEN EXPECTING YOU
After all was secured away the next day, Zinjamyn, Mulan, Cheng, Kimiko, Lehran, (and Altina) were packed and ready to leave.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay here a while,” Zinjamyn asked Mulan, “I mean, taking a baby like that into the battlegrounds...”
“Is harder than taking the baby when she was unborn,” asked Mulan, smiling, “I have doubts. And if master Lehran here and carry his sister, I believe I am capable of doing the same.”
“If you insist,” said Zinjamyn in response, “I just asked for your safety, you do know that, correct?”
“Aye,” Mulan replied, “and I respect the fact that you care for me. Nonetheless, I still plan to go. The Order will make no difference as to who I am or where I am. I’m pretty sure my husband Ju Long as put me on their blacklist by now.”
“Mulan,” laughed Cheng, “you’re an airbender. The Airbenders have been blacklisted by The Order for a long time now.”
“Thank you for the obvious, Cheng,” said Zinjamyn, laughing, “so are we going to leave this place, or not?”
“You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like,” said Ling, chuckling,
“And were it not for this war, we certainly would, master Ling,” Zinjamyn replied, “but alas, it happens to the best of us.”
“It is understandable,” Ling replied,” and do remember: just because we Air Nomads are not actively taking part in the war its self does not mean that we cannot be used as a resource against The Order of the Avatar Slayer. We will support the avatar as long as she lives.”
“And she will be glad to know it,” said Mulan, “and therefore we bid you farewell, and I promise to take care of this majestic animal.”
The sky bison did its flying job swiftly yet smoothly. They made a brief stop at the edge of the desert, near a sand-bender village. There seemed to be members of The Order here, but it appeared that they were out numbered by members of The Avatar Guard here, so all they could really do was grumble.
They restocked their supplies, fed and watered the sky bison, and soon were crossing the desert.
“Wow,” said Cheng, his arms crossed over the edge of the enormous saddle used to carry people on these animals, “this is a whole lot of nothing out here.”
“Fancy you should say that,” said Zinjamyn, chuckling, “for according to my last experience in the Si Wong Desert, the other three benders and I were ambushed by Order sand-benders. Our business was and is our own, but the fact remains we could get shot at even from up here.”
“Shot,” Lehran exclaimed, trying to amuse a bored Altina; the little girl was bored out of her mind, for there was not even any extra water for her to play with. Mulan’s child was fast asleep in her mother’s arms, and said mother was in the corner across from Cheng facing Zinjamyn’s back (for Zinjamyn was flying the bison)
“Aye, shot,” said Zinjamyn, “all that they do is condense the sand into a ball and throw it; it’s a very simple yet effective process.”
“So what are we going to do if we DO get shot at,” Lehran asked,
“We’ll do what anyone else would when flying across the desert on a flying bison” Zinjamyn replied, chuckling, “land and fight back.”
“Really now,” said Cheng, most likely just saying it to give himself something to do,”
“Aye, Cheng,” said Zinjamyn, who was losing patience, “now if you’ll excuse me, I have a desert to fly a group of people over.”
“Alright then,” said Cheng, “then so be it.”
Incidentally, Cheng’s words came to pass. They eventually hit a place where there were Order members below them shooting blasts of sand up at them. Calmly, Zinjamyn landed the air bison a considerable distance away. Zinjamyn and Mulan were the ones to jump out first, and Zinjamyn told Cheng and Lehran to watch their ride and Lehran to watch Altina, as well as Mulan’s baby girl. However, Cheng went along with them, and Kimiko stayed behind instead.
Being the world’s greatest earthbender, Zinjamyn was able to compress the sand into solid ground, which he yanked up to use as a wall. He was pushing this wall forward with Mulan and Cheng behind him, and they were using it as a shield. Once they were in range of the sand-benders, all of whom had been trying to break the wall (they had done a decent job in the little time they had had), Zinjamyn stopped, punched the wall at just the right place and send fragments of it flying. There were a total of 18 sandbenders against the three of them.
“If I were you,” said Zinjamyn, crossing his arms, I would abandon the attempts to fight us. We had no intention of harming you; we were not intruding on your lands or doing any damages whatsoever.”
“You might not have noticed,” Said what must have been the leader of the tribe, “but there’s a war going on against the Avatar Guard and the Order of the Avatar Slayer. And you, master earthbender, are recognizable anywhere.”
“If you really feel like you must challenge us,” said Zinjamyn, “then we shall fight you. Prepare for the worst.”
Mulan jumped ahead, her arms spread out and created a swirling vortex around the sandbenders. However, they were able to use the sand to their advantage. Since Mulan had made it around them as opposed to actually hitting them, all they had to do was expel the sand, and they did so—all towards Mulan.
Mulan used a powerful airbending shield to divert most of them away from her, and with Zinjamyn’s help, more sand was thrown into the mix, blocking the two groups from seeing each other.
Suddenly, huge clumps of sand began shooting from the vortex; it seemed that the sandbenders were blindly testing their luck. They were actually able to leave a mark, and this was where Cheng and Zinjamyn decided they needed to get out of there. They were not sure what had hit her, but Mulan was bleeding across her chest, and seemed to be staggering when she got up.
“Let’s get,” said Cheng, hoisting Mulan over his shoulder, “if they can’t see us we might be able to get out of here.”
“We need Mulan to keep airbending that sand around that cyclone if we want to escape unseen,” said Zinjamyn, “and she doesn’t seem in any condition to do that for us,”
“No,” said a weak voice that was clearly Mulan’s, “just let me focus for a second. I’m not going to let you all down because of my own personal faults. Let me down once we get back to the others.”
Once they were back with the others, Zinjamyn took no time in getting them off the ground.
“Yip, yip,” he snapped, and the bison took to the skies. Mulan leaned over the edge, concentrating. She felt disoriented from the damage she had just taken, but was able to focus long enough to keep the spherical cyclone over the sandbenders for the time being. They made it away from that area safely. Other than Mulan being worn out and bleeding in some places, the rest of their party was fine. Since the only comfort Mulan wanted was to hold her baby girl again, the rest of the group figured that they were all alright, and probably were.
Lehran was gently massaging Mulan’s back and shoulders, using waterbending to try and heal her wounds. Being a Serenes, which were a family of naturally gifted waterbenders and healers, he was able to help Mulan out a considerable amount.
Once Mulan stopped feeding the cyclone, it was not long before it died down. The sandbenders made a guess as to where they were going. They were heading approximately south-southwest from Ba Sing Se, which mean they were headed for Gaoling (which, in fact, they were), and therefore they had plans to meet them there.
Using their chain of sand-bender villages they had “taken over”, they were able to swiftly pass the message on that part of The Avatar Guard was heading for Gaoling. What their intentions there were, were not known by The Order, but they knew that they would possibly be able to ambush them.
The rest of the trip to Gaoling was nothing out of the ordinary. Upon arrival they noticed that there were a lot of Southern Water Tribe Warriors, both male and female, there. Most of the Southern Waterbenders were on the side of The Avatar Guard, but there was no sure ways to tell which ones were Order members and which ones weren’t—or so they thought.
As they were going through the city, Mulan and Cheng, mostly Mulan, was attracting attention because of her bright orange clothing. There were a few fire nation people here, but an air nomad was rare just about anywhere. Mulan noticed a method of how to distinguish which Water Tribe people were Order members and which ones were not (the earth kingdom citizenry here were not fighters, so they were not looking out for them).
“It’s simple,” she said, “watch for the ones that give you an angry glare, Zinjamyn; that’s how you can tell they’re part of The Order.”
She was right. About 1 in every 5 people gave Zinjamyn a nasty look. Afterwards, he decided to try his luck and talk to one of them.
“Zinjamyn is it,” he said, and Zinjamyn nodded.
“Aye,” he said, “the woman with the infant child is Mulan, this kid’s Lehran, the kid on his back’s named Altina, and this is Cheng.”
“Ah,” the man exclaimed, “Zinjamyn... We’ve Been Expecting You.”
~Azula~
