Coming in from the wilderness

Guest

As Gysu walked into Gaoling, he noticed that an elderly woman had been pick-pocketed, and that the culprit had already begun to leave. Being the man that he was, Gysu ran forward and used his earthbending to create a wall that would block the pick-pocket's escape. After grabbing the pick-pocket, he noticed that it was a female.
He looked her sternly in the eyes and said, "Give the old woman her money back, or I will bring you the authorities. You don't want that now do you?"
The pick-pocket shook her head 'no'.
"Good, now hand it to her and say that she dropped it."
He let go of her and watched as she gave the money back to her. When the pick-pocket came back towards him he simply said "You owe me a favor." And then he left.

Guest

	Gaoling. With months in the swamps, her supplies had run low. Making toothbrushes out of icepicks and brushing her hair with poorly crafted combs was something she could only do for so long. Bending yielded many wonderful nature survivalist skills, but some could not be substituted. So here she was. In Gaoling. Again. Xue Xui stood at the end of the marketplace row. Her long draping robes of fur and cerulean colored thread made he stand out among the crowd, but only slightly. The town was full of strays, eccentrics, rogues and criminals. Today was no different, as she caught sight of a pickpocket with a purse running down the street in a panic. A wall of earth later, the woman was caught by a very tall earth bender with strange military armor. Xue, now curious, watched their exchange. "You owe me one," she overheard, and then the man turned to leave. Xue frowned slightly in thought. She was on a mission to find her mother, and a man in military armor seemed strangely suspicious- for he was no typical Earth Kingdom soldier, if he was one at all. "Excuse me," the short haired girl approached the man quickly, before he got away - a hand occupied by a single overloaded bag of miscellaneous goods, other hand reaching out to attract hisattention. Her suspicious intelligent eyes now masked with aura of girlish curiosity. "I couldn't help but see what you did, sir-- may I ask, who you are?"
Mood: Irritated. Condition: Unkempt.	雪

Guest

Gysu turned around and saw a water bender girl, whose eyes were shinning with curiosity. Gysu looked over her and saw that she was a good person, if not slightly irritated. As he towered above her he noticed an old man whose cart had just turned over due to a tight turn.
"Just a second," Gysu told the girl as he went over to lift the old man's cart. After turning the cart over the old man tried to pay him, Gysu refused and instead relied that he owes him a favor. Turning back to the young girl he scratched his head and asked "What do you want?"

Guest

	Xue was not one to hide her displeasure often, and now was no exception. A slight curved frowned her lips, and crease emerged between her quirked eyebrows as she watched the man do another kind deed. "Why do you lace your kindness with an unnamed price?" she asked, momentarily forgetting why she had walked up to him in the first place. "It kind of cheapens it, don't you think?" He did not answer her other question, the likeliness of him answering another was slim. So she went on, leaving the question in the air for him regardless. "I am just curious. Are you a soldier? I am not from around here, you see, and am looking to find someone that may be of some use. I will owe you one." She tilted her head to one side, awaiting his answer. She knew she was being audacious, but he seemed like an eccentric himself; surely she couldn't scare him so quickly with just sheer bluntness.
Mood: Curious. Condition: Good.	雪

Guest

Gysu looked at her and then noted the presence that she gave off. Over the years he had learned how to sense others auras. He couldn't help but think that something was off with the way she acted. "To answer your first question my name is Gysu Lee Frike. I'm an orphan. To answer your second question, I don't think that helping people can be described by mere coin. There is a much deeper balance to all things around us, if you were to help me right now I would be in your debt. If I paid you, I would still fell that I haven't truly repaid you. That is why I ask for my kindness to be repaid in favors. Now for your final question. I am no soldier, although I would be glad to help you. Due to my preference, several people owe me favors and will thus help us with your missing person. Who I am guessing, is someone very close to you."
He stood there and waited for her response to all of this.

Guest

	Kindness was never something that came for free. Xue Xui sadly understood this when it came to human beings. She seldom asked for much when she helped a plant grow, but then again - she seldom healed people these days, nor could she. Debt and indebtedness confused her, but this man's understanding of people seemed different and useful. If he was going to help her, she could use as many people as indebted to him gladly to find her fathe. "..I..think I understand. Seems useful, anyway." When he stood closer to her, she noticed the great immensity of this man next to her. Around a foot taller than her. His height did not stagger her resolve to get his help. Xue peered at his dark green eyes with her own emerald, raising an eyebrow. "Gysu Lee Frike," she repeated his name as though tasting it on her tongue, testing the syllables to be sure she spoke correctly. A dimpled grin touched her lips. "Pleased to meet you, earth bender. If you don't mind, can I get you a drink? Tea perhaps?" Xue did not want to talk in the open, feeling unsure about discussing anything within a crowd's earshot. "If you know a good place, I will take your recommendation." Polite but slightly forceful. If she were going to owe him, she wanted to know his worth. It would be easier if I could just pay him.. Anxiety laced her insides. She had not been in a city for a long time, and this man would be the first one she had talked to so openly -- if he so seemed trustworthy. She didn't need some Earth Kingdom soldier arresting her upon finding out her origins, or her mother was some kind of criminal, or even just robbing her.
雪	Level : Master Water Bender Position : Hermit of Swamp Condition : Healthy

Guest

Gysu looked at her and considered everything. Then he heard his stomach growl. It had been days since he last ate anything. "Alright, sure thing. I know of this place, it's rather popular so there are a lot of people there. The more people, less chance of being overheard. So lets get going." He looked at her and wondered why she was suddenly seeming familiar. Perhaps it was the fact that he hadn't eaten in a while, or maybe it was because of the visions he sometimes saw. Whatever it was, he was to hungry to care. He shook his head and stepped forward to lead the way.

Guest

	Xue nodded, talking her bag of supplies in both hands, dangling at thighs and walking beside him - keeping up with his massive stride. As they walked, she paid as much attention to Gysu as she could - without being drawn into the atmosphere of the city. Of how she hated how the buildings carved the nearby mountains, hated how her bare feet no longer touched grass or swamp, but instead human trash and dust where the soil was no longer capable of cultivating plants. Xue turned her attentions to Gysu, noticing that he looked just as tired and hungry as she. Even the people here looked as dead as the dirt they walked upon. "Where are we going?" She asked inquisitively, looking around to where they might be going. She eyeballed a nearby tea house, a shady entertainment house, a noodle stand..
雪	Level : Master Water Bender Position : Hermit of Swamp Condition : Healthy

Guest

"Questions questions. If you keep on asking you'll never hear the answer. To answer we are going to The Traveler's Tale. It's a very busy place with so much noise no one can hear themselves think. And they also hand out wanted posters. In case your wandering, I am a bounty hunter. I do the trade to survive. But since there hasn't been a lot of ruckus around here there hasn't been any bounties. So I have no money." He then noticed how she had been studying him. Without even looking at her he knew her emotions. He shook his head. Despite being able to do that for years, ever since he was a child, he still thought it was his imagination. Though he knew better. Then The Traveler's Tale came into view. "There it is," remarked Gysu to the girl. Suddenly he stopped. "Now before we go in, I need to know your name. Or if you prefer tell me inside either way it doesn't make much difference to me." He then noticed an elderly woman getting mugged by two earthbenders. "Wait right hear for a second and don't move." Gysu then left the girl to go face the muggers. He raised his open hand in a relaxed sort of way that would make anyone think of water bending. When he raised his hand, thousands of rocks that formed small daggers floated nearby the muggers. He then pushed forward forward and caused the daggers t go rushing at his opponents. In a split second Gysu had them pinned to the wall by his earth daggers. Then he reached for the ground and made a small portion of it come forward. There in the center of the earth he was controlling was a small flower. He then raised the earth so that the small plant could get sunlight. Then he looked at the old woman and remarked "No thanks are necessary. Though you do owe me a favor." then he walked over towards the petite girl and motioned for her to go ahead of him and get inside of the The Traveler's Tale. After she went in he followed and got them two seats. After asking one of the waitresses about any new bounties he went over and sat next to the girl.

Guest

	Xue had never really watched an earth bender nearly at the level of Gysu turned out to be. She stood as a bystander, watching as the earth bending stranger cleverly pinned the muggers to an earthen wall. She watched his form more closely than she watched his display. Smooth like water, but hard like an earth quake. Xue watched it all happened, and did nothing. When he returned to her, she arched a thin eyebrow to him and asked humorously, "No bounties, you say?" She didn't meddle in his affairs. The mugging would have happened and she herself would have done nothing. With all of people here, though, he seemed the most tolerable. Saving people, even if it was for confusing reasons, was still admirable. She was here to save only one person, however. The walls of the Traveler's Tale were coated in faces. Drawings of wanted bandits, of people eating and bickering - drunks and families and prettily dressed waitresses catered to them. Everything had a rather worn earthen look, like most of Gaoling did - though the strange green ornate lamps that hung above every table was the only nice thing to be seen in the crowded, overly used place. They also got a table with a window seat. Xue felt a bit better with some space between her and other people around, even if it was just a tiny table. "I am Xue Xui. You will not find my face on any of these posters," she assured, making sure she could be heard, but just barely. In the crowd of people in the Traveler's Tale, her soft voice sounded nothing more than a whisper. As the waitress approached them and Gysu asked about the current bounties, Xue instructed the waitress for two Jasmine teas - sugar for her cup. Sitting up straight, she held her provision bag in her lap. Her posture revealing her to be more than just a stray here - but perhaps something more. Xue herself was an ambassador's daughter. Though in another life. Her face appear genial, revealing no harshness in her words, just direct politeness, "Sir Gysu- how do I know you won't run off? You will take the job now, but once the market spikes up - you will run off to go get your next bounty head like any logical man won't you? As of now, only a cup of tea binds us, you know." She tilted her head as the waitress delivered their two chipped cups of steaming tea. Sugar was offered to Gysu. Xue took her cup, holding it delicately in her hands as she peered at him inquisitively and then sipping. If he ran off, it was only logical. Though now, she had something more to lose - as she had decided to also give him her name.
雪	Level : Master Water Bender Position : Hermit of Swamp Condition : Healthy

Guest

"I am hoping that your request will become something far grander than anything else I have ever done. For you see, taking those first steps is a very dangerous business. Before you know it, you went out for tea and on the way you took down some criminals. I have agreed to help you even if it means my life. All for the sake of an adventure like those sung in song and remembered for all of history. I am a man of my word. I will see your quest through the pits of hell just for the adventure." After giving such a speech he then looked at her closely. She had some form of scars around her neck. From his experience he guessed that they were caused by tentacles. Then the tea came. After thanking the waitress for her kind service. He looked at Xue thoughtfully. There was no doubt in his mind that this was going to be an adventuress quest. Grabbing his tea cup he sipped to savor the taste. When he had had enough, he gulped it down. Then he turned his attention to Xue once more. "So who do you want found and tell me everything you know about him. Relationships, family, friends, occupation, and where you know that he was last seen."

Guest

	It did not happen often, but occasionally - in the forms of water and moisture, she could see faces in the steam or fog or puddles. It was upon looking over her cup did she notice a face rise from it, overlapping Gysu's as she peered at him. She was used to this by now, but unable to really interpret what it meant, unable to discern an expression of the spirit's face. The Spirit World existed in the form of water reflection, but what the Spirits were telling her now - she was unsure. One thing was certain, however: this Gysu obviously knew more than he was letting on. Xue Xui held the cup, hardly sipping it now. The tea was a bit bitter - the waitress making the tea water too hot before putting the tea bag in, burning it. Unconsciously, she lowered the temperature of her water by a few degrees. She watched Gysu as he spoke; the way he moved and how sturdy he looked in his seat. His eyes met her's when he spoke - showing that he was not afraid. Though, Xue knew, most bounty hunters were rather brave, few were trust able. "Actions will speak truthfully, and I hope you are as grand as your words paint you to be, sir. How do you know I am looking for a man at all?" Xue wondered this question honestly, for he acted as though a man who had been waiting for her to come all along. This unnerved her. "This could be bigger than the both of us, but I won't claim it to be any more than a hunt, and hunters are needed." Now she was willing to listen, sitting a bit straighter. The small swamp dweller put down her cup and reached within her blouse, pulling from an inner pocket a worn scroll. She had been carrying it since she left the Water Tribe five years prior, but it looked well taken care of. Unrolling it she placed it on the table before him. A drawing of a dark haired man with bright blue, intelligent eyes peered back. The artist had captured a man with sharp angles with rather long, black hair pulled in a wolf-tail fashion known to be purely of the Water Tribes. His nose was wide, his cheek bones high and his jaw line strong as well as his neck. A trim, whitening beard revealed his age to be between 45-60, and his face well worn from a life as a traveler and at sea. All of this was well captured by the artist - who in this case, unbeknownst to Gysu, was Xue herself. "His name is Lu Xui, and he is my father. He forged the standing peace between Earthen relationships to the Northern Water Tribe, as well as the alliance with the Fire Nation," with her talk of her father she did not sound very proud. To be honest, he knowledge of what was going on politically was a bit muddled, as she had not been much in touch with the world in her life. "He was an ambassador and he went missing five years ago on a journey to Ba Sing Se. If I understand correctly, there is a new Earth Queen - and upon her rise to power, my father disappeared. I don't know what is happening in the Earth Kingdom now, if there is a plan for war, or what - but the connection between a missing ambassador and a new Queen seems quite obvious to me. I followed his trail to the swamps, to a river just south of Ba Sing Se. The trail ends there." She sighed. Xue Xui, was rather tired. She had been on a journey for five years now - and now was enlisting in someone else's help. Xue Xui did not know much about the world these days, or why her father would have gone missing, but she did know how to listen to earth. How to follow foot prints, and smells, and animals, and now that she was on the edge of cities, she found herself at a loss.
雪	Level : Master Water Bender Position : Hermit of Swamp Condition : Healthy

Guest

"You just made this whole trip a lot easier for both of us. In the center of the swamp there is a great tree. If you were to somehow get in sync with the tree, you'll be able to search it's memory for what happened five years ago." Gysu then looked at her and remembered the dream he had a few years back. There she was the girl looking for her father. Went missing in the swamps too. The images he thought were in her tea. Too much to be coincidence. "For right now I will go towards the center and help you find Father. What happens after that I, we may part ways or we may continue to travel together. The world is full of possibilities. Lets get moving." Gysu then arose from his seat and began to leave.

Guest

	OOC: Gysu, how much does your character know? She didn't indicate anything about seeing faces in her tea specifically. I am unsure of how much prophet-like power your character has, since he seems to know a lot, if not everything. o: "Wait!" She called after him, her voice hardly heard over the crowd. Without consciously doing it, she banged her tea cup on the table, spilling it as she stood up. The tea not even half finished. "You can't just say something cryptic like that and expect me to just leave. We are not going anywhere until you tell me what you know about this." Her typically aloof face now laced with minute irritation. "What do you know about the Queen? You live here. Is there going to be a war?"
雪	Level : Master Water Bender Position : Hermit of Swamp Condition : Healthy

Guest

He stared at her and wondered if she would believe him if he told her what he saw three years ago. After a few minutes he decided to tell her. "Three years ago I had a dream in which a young water bender came to Gaoling in search of her father. During the dream she saw images in her tea, and her father went missing in the swamp. All I know is that the tree in the center of the swamp will hold the key to finding your father. After that I know nothing." He stared at her feeling like a fool for telling a complete stranger what he had seen. After all he would not lie, but telling the truth seemed more of a lie in this situation. "Don't believe me if you want, but I haven't lied to you once."

OOC: I was planning to tell her of the dream later, sorry for making things interesting without your approval.

Guest

	Xue watched Gysu's reaction, listening to what he said - ready to attack him with another question. But he explained himself, and she couldn't help but think she had been in his position before. Seeing visions in water reflections came with its own strangeness that she knew Gysu was feeling now. Her shoulders relaxed and she made a point to pick up her tea cup, watching it at she did so. A beat of silence passed before she answered, green eyes peering back at him, all the irritation drained from her. "Well. That answer will have to be good enough for me for now, won't it?" She quirked an eyebrow at him, tilting her head. "If we are going to travel, I suppose we will see if this kind of thing keeps happening." Xue turned her sights passed the earth bender's head, toward the east wall that was papered in posters. Her eye caught onto a "I WANT YOU" poster that stuck out from the rest. Walking past Gysu, she took the posture from the wall and looked at it. Scanning it, Xue then realized who the anonymous Dai Li depicted on the poster must have been: The Queen herself - Meili. She rolled up the poster, unsure of what to make of it. It seemed like a gathering of forces, a means to create pride in their nation and maybe even instilling a sense of nationalism. Xue was aware of the assassination of the past King, and it made some sense why a Queen would want to harness some kind of military force during a time of peace. The air was unclear, but something was for sure - things weren't as they seemed. "Maybe before we leave - we can get some answers on what is going on here." Xue turned her attentions back to Gysu, a contemplative expression lacing her feminine features - poster rolled up rather tightly in her hand. "Nothing drastic, but maybe an idea of what is happening in the Earth Kingdom. Let's try one of these recruiting stations...." And her eyes wandered again and she saw her - yes, her. The woman sat on the second floor of the Traveler's Tale, Xue spotting her only for the wildness of her hair. From a distance, that swamp dweller could see a face half covered in a wild, almondy brown mane and a rather distant, but distinct look in her eyes. Though what she was looking at, Xue could not point out - but here she was. Nobody took a lot of notice to her save a few people that gave passing looks, but she was here, in the Traveler's Tale - alone. The strange green light of the lamps bathed her hard, scarred face in emerald light and Xue recognized her instantly. "Gysu--" she whispered, "I think that's her!" She looked at him, holding out the poster again, wrinkled but unmistakable. "Come on!" She grabbed ahold of his arm and tugged on it as she took off through the denseness of the Tale's crowd, her feet light upon the steps as they walked across, ducking under server trays and people - Xue made her way toward a prospect she could not let up. Continuing Here
雪	Level : Master Water Bender Position : Hermit of Swamp Condition : Healthy

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