Walking the Docks

The calm Airbender was exploring the Fire Nation when he ended up traveling into a small, poor fishing village located in the Eastern islands of the Fire Nation. The water seemed clear and the village seemed to have plenty of markets. The samurai pulled out some Fire Nation coins awarded for his efforts by the Order of the White Lotus. As he began to count how much money he had, he began examining the surrounding area.

This village was unique to any other Fire Nation village, because it's made up of floating houseboats connected together. The warrior had never been to such a place before, it actually seemed quite peaceful. People saw the nomad with money and each of them began offering merchandise. Things that stemmed from wheat, dairy products, fish, clothes, etc.

But only one thing caught the swordsman's eye. He walked over to a man selling fishing rods. There was one that was grey and made from some type of metal that looked perfect for fishing. He paid the man and walked over to a dock as he sat patiently and waited for a fish to bite...

The young woman had just tumbled off a small, all too confining boat, brushing off her leggings. This far from home, she was thankful, now, that her mother had made her take these cooler garments, as her fur-lined garb would be torturous here. Looking around, she chose a direction and began walking, her gaze drinking in the strangeness of this new place. As she walked, her fingers brushed against the ties of the wide belt that hung around her hips, barely peeking out from beneath her tunic.

As she walked, she noticed several people fishing off the sides of the floating docks and pylons; clearly this was a fishing village. Then, suddenly, something caught her eye. One of the fishermen had a strange, spiraling symbol across the back of his shirt; it was absolutely beautiful and captivating.

Unable to help herself, Jurishe approached him, eyes stuck on the symbol. The more she looked at it, the more it reminded her of a Pai-Sho board. Reaching out, she touched the symbol with steady fingers, declaring the move aloud, as if it really was a game, and she was playing.

While the man was fishing, he felt somebody's fingers poke his back. He tilted his head back to see a young woman with her hair twisted up out of her way and secured with a clip. she had light-gren eyes and bronze-toned skin. She was actually quite pretty. He couldn't really make out the rest of her appearance yet. He smiled at the girl "Hello, there! I see you like the art on the back of my shirt." ^_^

He continued to turn around and noticed her Water Tribe clothes. Perhaps she would be able to help him catch the fish easier. The warrior had his straw hat on as well as his usual Earth Kingdom attire. This attire consisted of a short sleeve-shirt with green-grey blend with samurai pants. The shoes were traditional swordsmen shoes. On the back of his shirt was a kanji of the Flower of Life pattern that the girl had her fingers slightly pressed against.

As he released his grip from the fishing rod, a fish suddenly bit the hook and dragged the rod into the water and off the dock. "Dammit!" The Airbender exclaimed before he then turned to the girl with a friendly smile, "I don't suppose you're a waterbender that could help me retrieve my pole, would you?"

His curse had made her jump and withdraw her touch quickly, startled at the sudden change in demeanor. She was about to draw away, only to see him quickly regain the friendly tone he'd first used. He was definitely different. Only then, did she realize that he'd asked her a question "Oh - sorry; yes," She answered quickly, moving to the edge of the dock, peering into the water.

Spotting the rod sinking slowly beneath the calm surface, she lifted her hands, beginning to shape and pull the water with gentle, flowing movements. The more gracefully she moved, the more she forced the fishing pole to rise, rather than fall. In mere moments, the dripping tool rose out of the ocean and drifted over in front of the man's face, waiting to be taken back.

The White Lotus Assassin smiled with approval as the girl caused the fishing rod to rise upward out of the water as he stood to his feet. The fishing rod was hovering in front of his face as he grasped it and smiled. He reeling in the hook and placed the rod on the ground. The bait was gone and the fish had gotten away. The Airbender walked over and gave the girl a big, friendly hug.

"Thank you! For a second there I was afraid I had spent money for nothing." he stated as he released his grip. "My name is Soran. I am a wanderer who has been exploring the area. I got hungry and the sound of eating fish was appealing to me." He smiled.

The hug had surprised her, but was over too quickly for her to respond. Reaching up, she brushes a few stray hairs back away from her face, trying not to appear too awkward. "You're welcome," She offered, with a hesitant half-smile, "I'm sorry I startled you and made you lose the fish... Can I help you get another one?" The question ended with a slight tilting of her head as she waited for the answer.

Absently, she fiddled with one of the loose three-quarter sleeves of her modified Water Tribe tunic, creasing the crisp new fabric. Clearly she was a visitor here, as well; just arrived.

"That actually sound really nice!" The Airbender smiled as he took his straw hat off of his head and flipped it over in his hand. Extending his arm, the Nomad held out the hat to use like a net in order to catch the fish that the girl spoke of. "If you can get us some fish then I can cook us both a great meal!" He offered excitedly.

He simply awaited a response as he kept his calm and friendly demeanor on his overall appearance. The warrior was happy that this girl came along. This would make things so much easier.

Taking the straw hat with both hands, holding it carefully between her thumb and forefingers on opposite sides of the rim, she looks back up to his face. Giving him a nod and a small smile, it seems she knows exactly what he'd offered it to her for. "It won't take too long," She assures him before turning back to the edge of the dock and the water.

Setting the straw hat down carefully, placing the slight cone point into a particular spot on the dock; a plank with a large knothole in it helped to steady the hat and keep it upright. Jurishe needed to use both hands to waterbend-fish, after all.

Taking the same stance as below, staring down into the watery shadows, she begins to move, using the same graceful motions as before. Her first attempt yielded a decent-sized fish trapped in a large sphere of water, but that lead her to her next problem; usually someone else would hold the net - whatever that happened to be - while she was on her own. Lowering the fish into the wide-rimmed straw hat very carefully, she only released the water when she was sure that she'd be able to grab the fish, if it tried to escape its prison.

Thankfully, it did no such thing; only flopping around ineffectually.

As the fish arose from the water; more fish gathered in that general area to see what fate would befall their comrade fish. It landed perfectly in the hat as the water fell back towards the river. As it landed, the rest of the fish began to disperse in an attempt to escape the same fate as their buddy; but not on this Airbender's clock!

Creating three whirlwinds in the water, the Master in the art brought six fish out of the water with two hovering between each whirlwind. The three whirlwinds formed into a single, larger whirlwind that juggled all of the fish in the air before turning sharp like blades and cutting up the fish into little square bits free from the bones that got shredded up and tossed away by the razor wind.

"Sweet! Looks like we got plenty of fish to eat!" The hungry warrior smiled in delight as the small square pieces fell on the single, still-living, fish that was within the hat. Covered by his dead friends, the flopping fish gave up on life and suffocated from the dry air being pumped into his gills. The fish the Waterbender had caught was no more.

The whirlwinds were entirely unexpected. As they formed, Jurishe leaned over, trying to get a better look, her brows knitting in confusion. Then, once they rose up, she yelped, falling over backward, landing right on her backside. Eyes wide, she stared up at the whirlwinds - which caught more fish than she had, faster than she had - following them with her eyes until they deposited the sashimi into the straw hat net. Blinking, her gaze slowly rose up to the (now apparent to her) airbender.

She simply stared at him, for a few minutes, a mix of thoughts running through her mind. Then, a sudden grin split her confusion, and she started to laugh. The laugh soon became a giggle-fit and she clutched at her middle, trying to stop; each time she opened her eyes to look at him, however, they just started up again.

For several minutes, this went on, until she finally calmed down enough to gasp out, between residual giggles, "You - didn't even - need me..!" Her tone was teasingly accusatory; she even pointed a slightly-shaking finger at him.

The girl's looks of utter surprise caused the Airbending Master to smile widely. The two began to laugh harmonically to the fact that he didn't even look like an Airbender and he had caught her off guard. She then wagged her finger at him and stated he didn't need her help at all in a teasing tone. Little did she know, her Waterbending had caused the fish to gather and allowed him to grab the opportunity that he needed. As a pragmatist, he will strike without a moment's thought, warning, or hesitation in battle. He simply used this instinct to a much-lesser extent I order to catch the two food.

Before he could even respond to what was said; something caught the Assassin for the White Lotus off guard. A familiar face appeared, Anya, the Master Airbender's Pupil from the Eastern Air Temple. It had been so long before he had seen the girl. She had grown up to become a very cute young lady. Before the stunned warrior could even respond; Anya immediately threw her arms around Soran's neck. "Sensei!" She half hiccupped, finding herself a little tearful, "I've missed you very much!"

Hugging her back, Soran smiled. This certainly was a happy afternoon. First he met a kind Waterbender and now his Airbending Pupil was with him once again. "I missed you too, Anya. Me and this nice lady here were just grabbing some lunch. Why don't you join us?" he smiled as he grabbed the hat filled with fish. "I'm gonna have to wash this later. I don't want my head to smell like fish." he laughed in a half-jokingly tone.

Surprised again, this time by a nearly-flying woman, it's proving to be a very interesting day for the young waterbender. Having already seen two new people in one day, and fishing, and being knocked over by wind... Suddenly mindful of her appearance, she reaches up to her hair, as the two were distracted by one another, brushing all her loose strands back into the clip, hoping that it will hold, though it never does.

Moving to stand, Jurishe took a measured step back, holding both hands up in a guarded gesture, looking between the two, whom obviously already know one another. "I can go," She offers, all in a rush, "I wouldn't want to impose..." Despite her words, she is reluctant to go; these two must have very interesting stories... They're the first airbenders she's ever met.

Smiling at what just occurred, it appeared the two girls would take a liking to each other. Grabbing the fishing rod, the Airbender placed the pole on a counter of the shop next to the dock. He then proceeded to trade the pole for a pot and rice. He walked over to the dock and scooped up water before proceeding to pour the dry rice into it. The man at the shop was a Firebender that heated the pot up for the three and cooked the rice.

While the rice was cooking, the Airbender dumped the pieces of fish from his hat into the pot. He deboned the recently dead fish after removing its head. Now the fish and rice were cooking together in unison. "Do me a favor and stir this for me while I wash my hate out, please." Soran directed towards the Waterbender as he began cleaning the fish guts out of his straw hat. "By the way, the name is Soran. This is Anya, my apprentice. I am not sure I have gotten your name yet." Soran smiled.

"Oh," the waterbender could only smile at the welcome Anya had given her, despite having been reunited with her teacher after (what she assumed was) so many years, "Yes, that was me. I've had a lot of practice, retrieving things from the water." She didn't even notice that Soran had traded for and set up his cooking supplies.

When the request came, she offered a nod, moving to sit closer to the steaming rice and fish. Rather than stirring the food by hand - where's the fun in that?! - she passed her hands around the pot in swirling, swaying motions, lightly churning the water within. "I've got it," She assured the both of them, and then in answer to the question, "My name is Jurishe... I come from the Northern Water Tribe. Nice to meet you both; Soran and Anya." Yay; new friends!

As Soran washed his hat; he heard the Water Tribe girl call herself Jurishe. It was certainly a unique name as he had never encountered one like it before. One he finished getting the smell of fish off his hat, he looked to his side and saw Anya sitting next to him. As she began to speak, he turned his hat over to dry on the opposite side of where his pupil was sitting. She asked him where he had been for the past three years and what he had been doing.

Flashbacks hit the Assassin of back when the last two had seen each other four years ago and what had caused their separation. The two had met a decade before those events that led up to their departure. Soran was always skilled in Airbending because of his Earth Kingdom roots. Those allowed him to bypass the pacifist way of fighting. This understanding had allowed Soran to reach the rank of Mastery at the age of sixteen. Before joining the White Lotus, Soran had began to teach Anya the tricks he had learned and even created himself. He never tested his sharp wind techniques on her during that time because he was still working the kinks out himself and he didn't want to accidently hurt her.

The Master Airbender then proceeded to joining the Order of the White Lotus whenever a Grand Lotus was passing through and watching Soran and Anya spar. She was fairly younger than the teen. She was only nine years old and he was teaching her the basics of Airbending. That day was when he had taught her the Air Scooter. He taught her how to manipulate the currents of air while moving at larger speeds. This would keep enemies from getting away whenever you outclass them with pure speed. The two were sparring on their Air Scooters whenever the Grand Lotus took an interest in Soran once he had saw potential in the newest Master Airbender at the Eastern Air Temple.

Soon after that, Soran was initiated into the Order of the White Lotus; where he was trained with the katana in order to become a deadly assassin. This was when Soran originally lost contact with Anya. But once his training was complete and he had proven himself, he was allowed to spend time with his old pupil. This was after his deadly fight with a Bloodbender that allowed the warrior to gain the title of Grand Lotus, only ten years after gaining the rank of Airbending Master.

That fight had messed up Soran's psyche. That fight showed him how useless he could be made to feel. Whenever somebody forcibly draws blood from your veins, you tend to get a little messed up. Soran and his pupil trained once again when she was nineteen and he was twenty-six. She had greatly improved in the years they had been separated. Although, she certainly needed something else if she stood a chance against those with higher bending abilities. Therefore, he demonstrated sharp Airbending. This was his own personal style of the artful form of Airbending. But there was a training accident where his pupil was mimicking the technique during a spar and she accidently cut the warrior. He accidently lashed out with an enormous gust of wind through his sheath and blasted Anya back into a tree. He felt really bad about it, he even tried to make it up to her with Water Tribe ice cream, but it wasn't enough. He knew he needed better self-control if he was going to become an appropriate teacher. He had become more violent since the last the two had seen each other.

Once Soran turned twenty-seven, he went away and became a wanderer. Journeying the globe performing assassinations worldwide in the name of the White Lotus. As these thoughts pondered the warrior's head, he simply replied to his pupil; "I've been completing missions in the name of the White Lotus. I have faced many interesting and unique benders. In fact, I recently fought a man with the ability to manipulate wood."

Before he could continue, the smell of the food being cooked attracted the hungry swordsman. Soran turned back to Jurishe "I think you can stop stirring now! It smells delicious!" He smiled widely as he turned back to his pupil. "Tell me how your adventures have been while we eat." Soran suggested as he rose to his feet and offered his hand out to help his pupil up from the docks.

These two were definitely interesting. Jurishe felt herself drawn to the pair of them, though she couldn't say why; perhaps because they were the first airbenders she'd ever met, or the first of anything that wasn't from her Tribe. Still, as she allowed the contents of the pot to settle, she couldn't help but be glad that, this time, "we" included her as well.

Just as she was wondering exactly how they were going to dish out the fish and rice, Soran mentioned adventures. Her gaze was drawn to him, and then to the girl, Anya; excitement clear within their emerald depths. What sort of adventures did airbenders get up to?

Taking a cross-legged seat, as she would within a Tribe home, Jurishe made herself comfortable - even though it might seem the exact opposite. Her hands moved to the ties on her belt, fiddling with them absently, as she waited, hopefully for Anya to start her story.

Upon sitting down, Soran was given a bowl that was then filled up with the fish and rice. As he began to eat it, he heard his pupil mention almost getting into a bar fight. He could tell she was proud of this, he was also proud. To show this, he extended his arm out for a congratulatory fist-bump while holding the bowl with his free hand. His teachings would've paid off for the girl. Especially if she began making the wind sharp like he had taught her. Actually, he was quite curious if she had been practicing that art form since the two had last seen her.

She then mentioned a girl named Katara. His eyebrow raised with curiosity. He hadn't heard that name since studying the history of the world. The White Lotus had tons of secrete information as well as public knowledge. There were many perks for joining such an organization based on keeping balance in the world.

"No worries. I am glad to see you stand up for yourself since our last training session. You were always so peaceful and calm. Now I see that my personality is rubbing off on you." He laughed as he continued to eat. "Have you been practicing my secrete techniques since we last trained?" He asked curiously, referring to the ability to make the surrounding air currents thin and sharp like blades.

He then turned his attention to Jurishe and smiled. "I believe you know what I am talking about. The way I caught the fish. That is what separates myself from most other Airbenders. I keep an open mind and consider possibilities in order to further develop the skills. It comes from my Ba Sing Se heritage, I suppose." He shrugged as he then turned his attention back to the rest of the food in his bowl.

Thought she had been trying to be respectful, by remaining quiet while the teacher and (apparently) student spoke to one another, the subject of a 'secret technique' made her sit up a little straighter, a bit more interested. "An airbender from Ba Sing Se? Isn't that... in the Earth Kingdom?" Jurishe wasn't sure, so she tried to keep her voice from sounding too assertive.

"What did you do, to the fish? I haven't seen any airbending, before," She admits, fiddling with the barely visible ties of her belt, "I've never heard of it actually slicing into anything like that."

After asking his pupil the question about her training, she seemed to be quick to answer while still eating her food. She made a good point about it being harder to learn with nobody there to teach you with demonstrations. This slightly caused the Airbender to empathize with the young girl. Anya was truly close to Soran's heart ever since he began to train her at a young age. He had become more calm and able to hide his violent tendencies a lot more since the two had last seen each other. He would make it a point to have more time to spend with the girl.

The warrior of the White Lotus smiled widely at being questioned about his heritage and birthplace. This was often a question he heard after mentioning being a foreign Airbender that was born into Earth Kingdom society. "Yes, I was raised in the city at a very young age before moving to the Eastern Air Temple." Soran explained. "As Anya here can tell you, I was quite rebellious in that place. I often got myself into trouble if I wasn't too busy training with my Airbending."

Jurishe mentioned never seeing Airbending in the way Soran that described it while Anya posed the question of what to do. Might as well kill two birds with one stone by demonstrating what the nomad could do. So Soran ate the last of his food and stood to his feet. "Anya, there is one ancient technique I have been studying from ancient writings that the White Lotus has shown me. It was developed by the very first Airbenders of the world and I would like to show it to you." As he finished speaking, a cloud of air gathered beneath his feet and allowed him to rise off of the ground like Avatar Wan. In the same way flying bison can fly and stay aloft for extended periods of time, a master Airbender can achieve this same feat by generating and controlling air currents to form a 'cloud' like board under their feet and surfing through the air, thereby emulating flight. This was a skill known as "cloud surfing".

Looking over towards the water, the Airbender shot a gust of wind from his hand and separated the water with a thick, sharp blade of wind. This caused a narrow path between the water to emerge before water flooded the empty space and filled it once again. While still hovering, Soran turned to Anya with a smile "Now you try."