Stuck in the sands (open)

Subject: Stuck in the sands (open) Fri Nov 15, 2013 9:52 am

Cyrad often traveled, taking trips from lessons with his earthbending master Naseru, to see the world, make acquaintances and spend spend short periods of time with other earthbenders training., his level or lower or higher.

Living a lifestyle of near constant travel has found Cyrad having a hard time taking root anywhere for too long. It didn't fit for a montain to be moving around but Cyrad didn't quite like thinking of himself as an avalanch either, too indescrimitately destructive. To kill the excess of time in his trip Cyrad was trying to find an anology for himself.

It took him a week to travel from the captial Ba Sing Se to the ferry waystation then south along the sands all the way to Omashu to stop rest and restock before setting out on his fools journey into the desert. He had no reason to traverse the scalding sands save for a lack of expirence bending the shifting micro-earth.

Luckily just as he decided to take the plunge he spots a group not a hundred meters away about to do the same. He starts to chase then, beating the sands with his feet demanding assistance from the desert yet there was little reply. With it completely upon himself Cyrad became quite exausted by the time he reached the caravann now stransfering themselves unto sandboats. He offered protection and assistance should they take him on for a while into the desert.

He was accepted and they started off into the depths of the sandy ocean. Two of the man aboard the ship were earthbenders but seemed to act more in a fluid way like air or waterbenders, as they urged the boat forward.

He approached the two when they stopped for the night, he told them that he was a earthbender and that the main reason he was comming into the desert was to learn how to move sand, he asked if they would show him the basics. The two stepped aside to have a moment alone in conferance and a minuet or two later ruturned and agreed. He was right and they explained that it used the torso a lot more as well as needs a more relaxed stance than regular earthbending. They agreed to show him the following day and true to their word they gave him crash course. They woke him earlier than everyone else and brought him outside where they wouldn't bother anyone. They showed him how to push and pull and to lift, condense, which he was already very good at, and throw. It was merely a baby step in the right direction but Cyrad was glad his miniture quest was off to such a good start.

He worked hard all day. From the time they started until lunch Cyrad was told to propel the entire ship by himself, when he protested (after a fair amount of trail and little gain) both showed that they alone could move it several yards, alone, on a whim and told him that if he wanted to learn then he should listen. Pride lashed and anger inflammed Cyrad turned back to his bending at first it was all anger and raw output and the sandboat skidded along the sands fast as a bird against the sky yet he quickly regained control and realized that though the current style was working he was going to burn himself out if he continued at his pace for much longer. His dip into fury had given him a reward though and his mind started to accept the way the sands spoke. He started to get the boat moving at a almost not slow pace, though if he had not been as skilled as a bender as he was then there had been no chance for him to succeed at this task, he wondered why they would make him do it without at least asking him how good of a bender he was. Though he was unable to dwell on the fact needing to focus on his bending.

After a long day of exausing training Cyrad though he had done very well for his first sandbending training day and was able to sleep easy in his stone hut, which had only been able to be built because of a book he read in the Ba Sing Se University Library on foundations and their importance. He was woken up and it felt like he had just layed down but when he looked up there was three people from the ship looking down at him and before he could ask what was going on the airbender punched him in the face. He heard them start grabbing his stuff and felt one try to tug Golem's Tear from it's sheathe, though he stopped whomever it was with a powerful rocky upercut. Still shaking the daze he wasn't able to persue quickly and went outside to find his luck far worse than he had asuumed. Sail full of wind the sandboat was starting to move against the sand. Cyrad took off in persuit, unable to use bending to catch them because of how weary he was. Watching them start to gain speed Cyrad spotted as one stuck their head up and gave him the most odd wave goodbye, but the stupid thought was forgotten as a large wave of sail grew from the tail of the sailboat and rushed Cyrad. Adrenalin kicked in giving the boost he so desperatly needed. Quickly he twised both of his feet, hardening the sand and giving him a propar foothold. Go got into and earthbending stance and waited for the sandwave to draw near, closer and closer it crept until it was just upon Cyrad. He swivled, not taking a step and punched the wave of sand. With the skill of a man who has trained years as a earthbender the punch created spiderwebs of sand to harden across the entire wave then slowly "filled in" until the entire wave was solid rock. Cyrad collapsed and only checked to see if his sword and hammer were still there, they were, before passing out and getting some much needed rest.

Cyrad pondered what it would be that he awoken to as his mind started to tumble down the well of sleep. He hoped it would not to be animals or scavengers, maybe it'll be no one or even someone wanting to help. He made a noise that had been intended as a laugh, it hinted at how close he was to achieving his goal of rest.

Subject: Re: Stuck in the sands (open) Sun Nov 17, 2013 5:07 pm

Morning found Cyrad cold and stiff and sore from a long day of labor followed by a long night of wind and shivers. As he stood his thigh gave out making him fall and throw out his stone arm to catch himself. It landed in the sands making a small plume, and when the sands cleared from the air Cyrad saw a scorpion on his rocky knuckles failing as it drove the point into the back of his hand. He swung his arm in a outward arc tossing the pesk away. He thanked whatever fate have saved him from using his other hand.

Adrenaline washed away enough of the wear for Cyrad to get some steam going. He searched over the camp trying to find anything that had been left behind. To his luck the fools had taken the tub of water, supposedly thinking it his drinking water, he had used to bathe with and missed the pack sitting under the table. Though they had taken the maps he had laid out on the table the night before. And he still had his two handy weapons, hammer and sword and a light tan cloak that he had been wearing to bed.

Otherwise the camp had little to offer him aside from the pot of stew that had been left over the fire. They had even left just in time to let Cyrad enjoy a perfectly cooked meal. As he enjoyed his meal he check his pack. He had enough rations for small meals over the span of a month without foraging. As for water he had six head size canteens that were all filled. He had also had five more that he used consistently as bath water but that was gone now, he hoped it got them sick.

Cyrad knew that even though he had the supplies to last for some time it would not be wise to stay in one place, or at least not here. So he had to make a plan. He sandbended a colem up roughly as tall as he was then bended the sand into rock. He climbed on and looked around. He looked around north, east, south, and west and saw nothing yet eternal fields of sand. A sign escaped his lips. Good starthe mused to himself. But then he spotted the shadow of a storm, barely in sight but Cyrad was sure rain was rare enough in this forsaken frying pan that it'd be worth the journey. He walked for nearly an hour before he realized that it would kill him to continue like that. He bended himself a thin two inch thick sandstone boat. Almost seven feet long with room for a back caved space to sleep in and a front seat to rest in while breaking from pushing the boat. With no sail Cyrad had to create a wave of sand to propell himself along. He had seen two masters do this while chasing a fugative when he was younger, he had tried with his earthbending before but it was harder to do with the solid ground than the looser form of sand. Oddly, then men who had tried to leave him for dead were teh reason he survived. Cyrad was a generally quick learner and the two sand bandits had proven to be pretty good at explaining the art of sandbending. Still he had to focus most of his conscious on bending to keep a wave propelling his boat. When he looked up he found out how wrong he had been.

A great sandstorm stood before him and felt his belly button cower into an innie. Though he spun the boat around and started to flee from the natural monster in his heart Cyrad knew that there was no escaping it. He decided to bunker down, he bended a dome around himself and hardened it. The howl of the storm hung outside and Cyrad felt like he was trapped in an egg. It was not long before Cyrad realized he had to poke holes in his protective dome so that he could breathe. Yet that would allow the storm to deposite huge amounts of sand in his tiny coffin. Unless, he poked a single hole and let sand pour in, in the confined space earthbending would have been harder but the arm movements allowed in sandbending made pushing the sand away from the hole while allowing the purified air to be thrown in. He punched ten more holes in his structure and settled down for the storm. Hours later it had passed and Cyrad gave it a decent amount of time to make sure it had past. Finally he decided that he wouldn't get anywhere sitting around so he stood up, breaking out of his sandy egg. He looked around to see if anyone had seen his desert rebirth.

Subject: Re: Stuck in the sands (open) Tue Dec 03, 2013 10:26 am

It only took a single day for Cyrad to realized that without a boat, the desert can be a very unforgiving place. Foolishly he spent two days trying to walk beneath the sun. Heat made Cyrad irritable, which made it hard to bend sand, which made him mad, which made it impossible to bend sand, and two nights shivering in small sand caves.

Though let it not be said he was a fool, for on the third day he walked under the gaze of the moon and though chilled by the wind it was much better than the day. And when the sun started to rise he built himself his first stone hut since the thieves had robbed him. Before bed Cyrad made nearly a hundred thin three inch by five inch sandstone plates. The sun was just a hand above the skyline when Cyrad laid down and rested.

He woke at sunset and found that he was sharing his hut with a few snakes and insects. He was stunned, and would later wonder if he would ever wake normally in the desert, and happy that he had built himself a raised platform bed. Rather than risk traversing through the room Cyrad grabbed his pack, that he now slept with, bended a hole in ceiling and climbed out. As he left he used the building as a marker to keep him on a strait path. As the night started to cool Cyrad made himself a sand cave to stave off the wind and took out the stone panels he made the earlier that morning. He made a couple hundred stone nails from the sand in his cave, making it noticeably deeper. He bend all the nails on both sides in the same direction then started fastening the nails onto the panels then connecting the panels into a several 4-6 panel strips before connecting those together. He took some time to adjust, adding and removing them but in the end Cyrad had created himself a sandstone panel pancho with a single sleeve. He donned his awkward cloak and started off continue his journey. He bended the tallest sand column he could before turning it to stone. He used it as a marker for the rest of the night. His pancho had actually made the traveling much easier and Cyrad made sure to take note of the technique. He traveled for a few more hours before before making himself a new hut, though this time making it a sealed tomb when he entered it, even turning the ground to solid rock connected to the walls before making three windows, close to the roof. In each window Cyrad took the time to make hundreds of thin, tiny, stone bars, giving himself a insect proof mesh. Finally, he was able to go to bed.

He woke covered in sweat and mugged by heat. The windows had vented air in, though it was still pretty warm in his rocky cage. He threw his pancho on, gathered up his bag and weapons and punched his way into the desert. For some good past deed Cyrad had been rewarded with a vision of an oasis in the hole of his hut. Cyrad wanted to take off, ride a wave of sand there but he knew that sunset was one of the warmest times of the day and would ware him out so he started off towards the oasis. Two hours later the oasis was close and Cyrad knew he would be there before morning. He went and drank the last of his canteen, and went to switch it with another when he realized he had drank the last of his water, if it were not of the oasis he was sure to perish. So he decided to push for it, he raised up a wave of sand under his feet, to use this skill with earth was much harder but even with Cyrad's poorly developed sandbending he was able to pull it off. After a few different stances Cyrad found it best to be waist deep in sand pumping his arms and legs like he was running. He wasn't sure if it was the best way to ride a sandwave but it made him feel like he was going faster than anything else he had tried. He made it to the oasis a few hours before sunrise and found it to be a couple dozen trees and some foliage surrounding a small pond. He had never been so happy to see water though he did not drink. First he made a large stone tub which he dipped into the pool before dragging it out, he sealed the top with a sandstone slab went to look at the trees. He made a sandstone ax head and attached it to a sandstone handle, he frowned at having to use such a poor tool and cursed his lack of foresight. He set about testing the trees until he found a near dead one on just the edge of the oasis. He chopped it down with his ax and hammer, it was small but it would be enough. He dragged it back to his sandstone water egg and started to make a fire. Once it was burning decently with the the cut of pieces of the tree Cyrad bended the egg over the fire and gently set it down on the cradle of fire he had crafted. He leaned over the egg and punched his finger six times in the eggs top. He pulled out his dried rations and ate, he knew it was better for you to eat and drink separately and tried to do so when he wasn't in public, though he was not upset should he forget. He ate a little more than he should have but it was his first bit of good luck in since he had entered the desert. After his finished eating his water had come to a boil and the fizz had started to roll out the holes. He swept his arms both ways to make small waves of sand put out most of the fire, though he left the coals under the egg hot. He took a handful of sand and sealed the six holes he had made and rolled the egg off the fire, while the egg cooled against the sand Cyrad threw a few small branches on the coals making himself a small fire to keep him warm. He gave the egg a little of extra time to cool off after he had finished the fire. After just relaxing Cyrad went to the egg and filled his canteens before drinking from the tub to his fill. There was still enough to fill his canteens two or three more times so Cyrad resealed it and dropped the extra sand before placing the stone container in his pack. Cyrad added some wood to the fire and sunk the fire into a pit when he went to sleep so there would be embers to make another when he awoke. He woke up happy, the mood didn't last.

"Well lookie here at who survived, our little protege." Said a voice a several feet away. Cyrad rolled to his feet and drew his sword, the three benders who had robbed him earlier were back. "Leddy here," the talking man slapped the other sandbender's chest. "Saw a fire in our oasis and I said 'no, no one wants to die today' but no I guess I was wrong. But I already left you for dead so I this is more like unfinished business. Get him boys." He said.

Sand encased Cyrad's feet before he could move and a powerful gust of air threw him all the way out of the oasis. Cyrad grabbed the blade of his sword with his stone arm to keep him from getting hurt when he landed and managed to rolled back to his feet. They took time to move through the oasis to reengage so Cyrad used the precious seconds to make a large circle around him turn to rock before sending cracks through it making boulders and rocks of all sizes. Just as they exited the oasis Cyrad began his barrage, two or three rocks at a time Cyrad kept in a constant flurry of blows sending twenty six hard earth projectiles without true aim in the direction of his opponents. A gust of air sent him sliding back down the sand dune had had crafted and Cyrad spotted his attacker falling from the sky. Cyrad punches sweeps his arm making a whip of sand erupt from the dune and wrap around her waist but just the tug of her momentum sent the sands crashing down. The airbender collided with the earth and sent up a plume of sand to give him time to recover but Cyrad stomped downward while bringing his elbows down and cleared the airborne sand. Cyrad spotted the airbender on shaky legs, Cyrad reached out to him and pulled him down with a sandy hand that reached up from the ground. Cyrad started to charge the gap between them when he was hit on his back and shoulder. He was sent rolling on the sands as one of the sandbenders joined the fight. Cyrad had to raise wall after wall of sand to block in attacks of sand and wind but finally a stream of sand hiding a dozens of rocks inside broke a sand barrier and knocked Cyrad on his back.

Cyrad was outmatched in sandbending so he knew he had to close the distance so he sent out a wave of sand and sprinted in it's wake. The sandbenders, who were just a few paces apart from each other easily swatted his wave away but Cyrad was close enough to change the feel of the fight. He was able to sink his sword into one of the sandbenders thighs before the other wrapped sand around his leg and threw him, airborne Cyrad bended up a column of sand to catch him and place him back onto his feet. The non hurt sandbender was supporting the other, the would Cyrad had delivered should have cut the artery and Cyrad knew there would only be a single sandbender soon. Again with little time Cyrad bended the sand around him making a stone platform from which he could bend rock. The airbender was up and coming at Cyrad fast enough that he left a streak of airborne sand in his wake, it looked like he was going to tackle Cyrad so as the last second Cyrad stomped and brought up a stone pole as thick as a man's waist. The airbender collided with it head and shoulder first making a sickening crunch before gravity claimed him and his limp body twitched a few times. Cyrad assumed that the sandbender had attacked him though he couldn't see what had hit him as sand push him over. As he raised up to a knee Cyrad looked up to see a giant floating sand fist above him, he raised up a hand right before he got mega punched. He was dizzy as he stood up and the man was able to disarm Cyrad, though he heard a clink of blade on stone so Cyrad was sure he would be able to find it if he survived. His vision flared with bright white as the sandbender started to punch Cyrad in the face over and over again, the sandbender was weeping and saying something which Cyrad was sure was about the men he had killed, people rarely cared who they killed but once someone they liked got taken out they got all sad. Cyrad didn't plan on dying today so with his little remaining strength Cyrad punched the man in his ribs with his stone arm, he felt a slight crack reverberate through the stone and he knew the sandbender was hurt bad. The sandbender retreated and Cyrad kissed the sand and shared his blood. His head was swimming and it made getting up very, very hard. Cyrad didn't know where the sandbender was so purely out of will he forced his body up on shaky legs, drew his hammer and got back into a fighting stance but as he looked around he saw no one, not the corpses of the people he had fought or the body of the man still living.

Like a shambling corpse Cyrad walked back into the oasis, hoping the his opponent wasn't waiting like a snake inside. Luckily Cyrad didn't see or hear anyone as he collapsed at his camp, ate and drank a little before passing out as his body begged for time to aid his wounds. His last thought as he faded to the realm of dreams was fear that someone might stumble upon his camp while he was sleeping in this state.

Subject: Re: Stuck in the sands (open) Tue Aug 05, 2014 9:18 pm

Cyrad spent a few days just resting in the oasis trying to recover from his wounds. He found the boat that the sand bandit's had used and found a bunch of provisions inside. Even without them though the oasis was perfect to live in, there were several types of edible plants and small critters that he could catch and eat. Each day though he was still hurting from the beating the sandbenders gave him Cyrad would practice sandbending. His skill wasn't improving at a rapid pace but he knew practice was the only way to get better so he kept trying. Most days he just spent time moving the sand around, sometimes using a tree as practice and striking it over and over with sandy spears or tendrils. He also often practiced raising walls of sand and attempted several times to recreate the hand he used in the fight but without the adrenalin of combat it was much harder to do and Cyrad only succeed once. Other days he would just explore the oasis, it was fairly large and Cyrad could travel from one end to the other and not see sand for half an hour and that was if he swam across the water at the center.

He was building himself a more permanent camp at the edge of the oasis, he wanted to be able to see anyone approaching at least from that side. He had a rock hut with single room that was only for sleeping, it was a completely sealed tomb aside from the stone mesh window holes near the top. He bended himself an entrance and exit each morning and night respectfully. Outside his hut a few feet away he had a fire. Even in the middle of the day he kept a small fire burning with wood from the oasis, though he tried to use wood that was rotten or already on the floor of the oasis so as to not shrink the woods. Farther away from the fire was an outhouse with one of Cyrad's patented poop holes. The whole camp which was almost fifty feet in diameter was built on a three foot thick slab of solid earth that Cyrad had crafted once he was feeling back at 100% and it still took him several days to make it.

It was on the third week of his stay at the oasis that Cyrad found more action. He was just a short way away from his camp practicing his sand wave when he heard the aggressive call of an animal. He had never heard such a sound so it scared him into losing focus and and tumbled out of his sand wave. He looked off in the direction of the noise and saw the beast that made the noise. A large elephant-snake was staring Cyrad down. Two large ears, two sharp tusks, and a prominant snout made up the creatures face. It's serpentine body was so thick Cyrad wouldn't have been able to wrap his arms around it and could probably stretch from one side of Cyrad's camp to the other. He wondered what this giant creature could be hunting in this desolate land but didn't have time to ponder as the head struck forward trying to skewer Cyrad, who rolled out of the way. He twisted up to his feet and struck the side of the beast with tendrils of sand but each only shifted the section of the body it hit a few feet with no obvious damaged done to the reptile. It started to circle Cyrad and once he noticed this he tried to shoot himself out of the circle by raising the earth quickly underneath him but because of his lack of skill in sandbending the snake was able to reach up and wrap it's snout around Cyrad leg and slam him forcefully into the ground. Cyrad punched the snout with his stone arm with all his strength and rolled backward to escape. Back on his feet he started backward while the snake raised up again preparing to strike. Cyrad bended up a wall of sand and bended it into earth as the creature striked and Cyrad started to run, he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to kill this thing but knew his only chance was to be able to bend rocks, and it was half the reason he went through the trouble of making the slate for his camp to rest on.

Occ: thread is currently 5413 words lol

Subject: Re: Stuck in the sands (open) Mon Aug 11, 2014 11:14 am

Cyrad barely made it back to his rock platform and had to avoid two narrow strikes to do so. Yet he did, so when the creature tried to snap at him again Cyrad smashed two large rock slabs into it's head dazing it. It reared back but not before Cyrad had lept forward and grabbed onto it's tusk. Before the beast could realize where he was and how easy it would be to wrap it's snout around Cyrad he swung back and forth and tossed himself up onto the monster's head. He tried to stab the elephant-snake through the head but it was too thick and Cyrad's sword merely stuck into it enough for to to be caught. The creature started to shake it's head back and forth trying dislodge the earthbender from atop it's head. Cyrad held on for some time but the writhing lasted longer than the earthbender could and he was sent sailing back into the sand dunes. Now the elephant-snake stood in between Cyrad and the rocks he so desperately needed in order to defeat his adversary.

Cyrad tried to fake left and lure the elephant-snake into striking, then sprint past it to the left but the beast seemed to be moving faster than before and when Cyrad tried to dodge in the other direction he wasn't fast enough and a tuse buried itself into Cyrad's thigh. He brought his stony fist down with all his might, bending the rocky knuckles with fury and pain and broke the tusk off from the elephant-snake. Both combatants fell backward howling in pain. Cyrad was now prone and pushing himself backward trying to gain distance between himself and the giant animal. The snake crawled a short distance away as well, trumpeting in pain but it was clear that it wanted Cyrad's blood badly. With a stifled groan Cyrad pulled the tusk from his leg, crimson beauty pouring forth into the sand. Luckily for Cyrad the tusk had hit the outer part of his thigh missing both the artery and the bone, so even though it would leave a nasty scar he had a high chance of survival.

Cyrad bended sand around his entire thigh encompassing the wound then compressed it and shifted the sand into rock. It would need replacement with real bandages but Cyrad would have time for that when he wasn't facing a giant monster snake. He stood up with a noticable gimp, he was sure the elephant-snake would notice him wounded. It did too and it approached ready for the kill. Cyrad was moving though constantly though trying to reach safety. The monster approached with caution, though it knew Cyrad was wounded it also knew he was dangerous. Finally Cyrad tripped over a rock and fell backward onto his rump and the monster took it's chance, darting forward to land the finishing blow. But Cyrad's fall was a ruse intended to make the creature do this very thing for her was securely in the center of his rocky platform now. As the elephant-snake moved over the ground Cyrad bended an arc of stone over the snakes body and sent dozens of stony teeth into the monster's body. It reeled back knocking the arc to pieces but the damage had been done, blood was pouring out of the holes the stone teeth had made and some still occupied. The sudden thrash caused Cyrad's blade to be freed and flung into the oasis. The elephant-snake was still alive though but it seemed to decided that Cyrad wasn't worth all the trouble he was making so it slithered a short distance away before burrowing into the ground. Cyrad had survived again, this time.

» Of Sands and Seas
» Let It Not Be Said...(Open)
» Away at last. (Open)
» Um. A little help would be appropriate. (open)
» Now Comes The Fun (OPEN)