A Ghost of Murky Waters

Subject: Re: A Ghost of Murky Waters Fri Feb 10, 2012 9:55 pm

Loki	Loki slowly realized the water had frozen, still throttling through the air. She'd seen ice in the Southern Water Tribe, but it was strange to watch an over humid swamp transform into an ice plane in a matter of seconds. She watched Xue skate away, graceful as a gazelle. It was no good if Loki couldn't catch up. She alighted on the ice, pursuing at a very quick speed. The lack of friction didn't bother Loki because she was still going on pure velocity. She glided faster, using air blasts to gain ever more speed. She could keep this up until she was going as fast her airbending could push her, and that was incredibly fast. Her feet, however, betrayed her. Xue slowed to a stop, and Loki had to do the same, but instead of airbending to a stop like she should have, Loki turned her feet sideways and pushed into the perfect ice. Her feet slipped right out from under her and Loki fell right onto the hard ice.
Mood: Agitated Condition: A Touch of Damage

Guest

	OOC: Jeez. My last post was riddled with typos. Haha - I even thought I checked. Sick;; "You are mine, Loki of the Sky!" Xue bent the black ice around her feet, giving her stability as she lifted her arms wide. Without missing a beat of Loki's fall, she intended to engulf the airbender in ice - trapping her with no space to air bend. Summoning all her strength, she curled her fingers - the sphere forming, the ice crawling upward and building like a million spiders, twisting and writhing as they began to form around Loki. Ice formed before the air bender's feminine face, her features contorted and twisted in the glacier wall-- And Xue was struck with what felt like lightning. The muscles in her body became rigid as nails, her spine arching violently as she fell to her knees. The swamp hermit's narrowed eyes were now wide and illuminated. Xue, even with whited unseeing eyes, was staring at Loki - but instead of seeing the intelligent pale blue gaze and air-carved ruby red lips of the thief's features, she saw a deep cerulean blue of another girl's irises staring back at her. Her skin was dark and dried from years of being in the south pole, her lips chapped and cheeks slightly pink from the cold. Katara was her name, thought Xue, and she couldn't help but think she was the prettiest girl she had ever seen. All the fog in the swamp froze in time, no longer moving with the air currents and waves. Reflections sparkled on the small water droplets and shadowed the mirror-like swamp floor. It was as if the world had changed again, and what Xue was visioning - Loki, if she looked up, could see as well in the reflections of water, could feel the emotion in Xue's unconscious bending. The ambassador's daughter had always known she had access to the spirit realm via the realm of water, little did she know that this would happen. Xue was frozen in an orb of ice, staring down at a boy and girl looking back at her. It all seemed okay, thought Xue, for she knew she had Appa with her and that she would be fine. It had felt like a sleep.. a long, restful sleep.. and now, she guessed, she had to wake up. And then the emotion hit her like a stone to the face. It was crippling, the fear and shame, and Xue was certain her heart would chock in her throat right then. She saw their skeletons-- my family-- the temples and the outcome of genocide. She knew she had been in the ice for a hundred years. But.. what about Monk Gyatso? I let him down.. I really let him down.. This is not him.. I did not do this.. And Xue, on her knees, now sunk to the frozen ground, burying her head into her forearms. The vast light that emitted from her eyes was blot out as she closed them in silence. With this movement, the ice around Loki seized from construction, and instead evaporated away. Xue was crumpled next to a fallen Loki, now at her mercy, her diamond still clutched in her hand. Time resumed again, and the fog circled lazily around them in the draft, the reflections of Appas and Kataras, Sokka and the shadows of monks were gone. It had happened in a few seconds, but the emotion and images left an after image of sorts. The swamp no longer felt the same. And slowly, ever so slowly, the glaciers of the swamp were melting, but it would take awhile - all ready Xue and Loki in a one-inch deep pond of water. Xue was doing all she could from crying, knowing the girl was not-- "Katara.." she muttered to the air bender, frustrated and unable to move. She felt like a led weight, sinking into the ice, "...Katara.. you are not.. her.." Xue couldn't say it, but she felt lost - and now knew she could not trap Loki, even if she tried. The image of Katara still burnt her irises atop Loki's face.
雪	Level : Master Water Bender Position : Hermit of Swamp Condition : Healthy

Subject: Re: A Ghost of Murky Waters Sat Feb 11, 2012 7:41 pm

Loki	Xue just had to pick the most horrific way to freeze her. Insects of any kind were absolutely terrifying, and the way the ice imitated the skittery motions froze Loki in fear. She also literally froze, the ice forming around her prevented any movement. Crazy things ensued. Incoherent memories flashed in the water droplets. She didn't hear a sound, no connection could be made. What in the world was Xue doing? Loki knew Xue was well beyond Loki's own bending if she could do something like this, but...what was it? Loki couldn't conceive a way to make this happen naturally. Not willing to jump to the conclusion of Avatar, Loki continued to attribute it to incredible power. The seemingly random flashes of memory soon subsided. "My God!," Loki shouted, seeing Xue's eyes gleaming white. As the memories went away, Xue's eyes dimmed, and Loki was released from the ice. "...Katara.. you are not.. her.." "Uhh...no. No I'm not. " Loki of course wanted to yell, "What happened, who were those people, and what's going on!?" but she was willing to be a bit more sensitive for now. "A-are you okay?" Loki said this a bit emotionless, not from lack of sympathy, but because this was a serious moment. Normally Loki would have a bit of singsong laughter in her tone, Xue should be flattered by how serious Loki was taking this.
Mood: Solemn Condition: A Bit of a Pounding

Guest

	The water bender sank back upon her heels, touching a chilled hand to her face. The water was evaporating around them - the product of fire bending. Xue had tried to freeze Loki into a sphere ice, and that was what had been done to her - she didn't know how or when, but she felt it - the sleep. ..This girl is bringing back memories.. and I don't know why.. "What happened, who were those people, and what's going on!?" Xue slowly was able to lift her spiky head, steam rising from her palm. Xue's eyes were no longer glowing, but instead were looking far ahead, as if off a thousand miles, through Loki and the foreverness behind her. Xue, for a moment, looked like the shell of what she was, momentarily lifeless. The vastness of her gaze was interrupted, however, as she was pulled from her inner turmoil and plunged into unexpectedness of Loki's concern. "A-are you okay?" Xue sat up, both girls on the ground facing each other. Their reflections in the melting swamp surface looked blurry and distorted. Two ghosts of murky waters. Her own figure different than before, sitting straighter as though she had spent a lifetime in a lotus position. The water bender still saw the image of Katara in Loki's pale blue eyes. The steam blew the long haired opposition's hair upward, Xue noticed with surprise, her mind taking in small details like water - trying to find some small sense of security in the world of reflections and spirits. "Heh..Are you..fire bending?" She asked Loki, trying to regain her joviality to no avail, knowing seconds before she had tried to trap her. Now it seemed so very wrong to give anyone a frozen prison.
雪	Level : Master Water Bender Position : Hermit of Swamp Condition : Incapacitated/ Disoriented

Subject: Re: A Ghost of Murky Waters Mon Feb 13, 2012 4:52 pm

Loki	Loki gave a little smirk, "Loki of the Sky, remember? Not the furnace. " Loki resumed her serious disposition after this light jest, then said,"We should probably get off this ice before it melts, huh?" She stayed put though, she wanted to make sure Xue was okay before they actually moved. "Do you have any idea what happened?" The lack of emotion continued, showing how serious Loki was taking the situation. She really hoped Xue was okay, more than she cared about her necklace or even what had happened. She felt the ice weakening.
Mood: Solemn Condition: A Bit of a Pounding

((Sorry about the bad post.))

Guest

	Xue could not see the greatness of Loki's kindness even if she tried. The emotion was lost on Xue, for she only felt kindness towards others in the form of amusement - never friendship, and Xue, unsure of what to react to Loki only slowly regained her wits. "Loki of the Sky," she said aloud, as though the words were some kind of anchor. Xue smiles lightly, finding amusement in the fact that she thought she a fire bender. No one could bend two two elements - that was non sense..except... And shakily she regained her feet. "So sorry," she bowed her head, spiky hair in her face, and her grin a little more genuine, despite being tired. "I am afraid I am a bit disoriented. I think I may have lost my head for a second." The water was several inches deep now, with fish dancing beneath the surface of the ice. "I, Xue of the Mud, will be happy to heal your wounds, Loki of the Sky," she grinned at her honestly, "I have been having many.. er.. visions since I have met you, and I think that it may be a sign to trust you, or say that you are symptom of some kind of psychosis. Either way, I will treat you better." Knowing she probably had broken the air bender's collar bone, or else hurt her - decided to make it easier on them both. The swamp bender was feeling the aches now - the small paper cuts on her body feeling like razor blades on her skin. Xue raised her hands and refroze a pathway from where they stood to the shore line. There, Xue's home resided in the roots of a giant. She reached her hand toward Loki, palm up and in surrender, "I will give you my trust if you take it," she spoke, the smallest glittering diamond in her dirty outstretched palm.
雪	Level : Master Water Bender Position : Hermit of Swamp Condition : Dizzy/ Disoriented

Subject: Re: A Ghost of Murky Waters Wed Feb 15, 2012 6:16 pm

Loki	Loki stared at the necklace, realizing this might be an important moment. She quickly snatched it up and said, "And don't you think of doing that again." She gave a look of deep contempt, but then gave a little mischievousness smirk to show her facetiousness. She followed Xue into the roots of the humongous tree. How strange, living under a living thing. "When did you start living here?" For all Loki knew, she could have lived here her whole life. ((I'm sorry for my incredibly tiny posts. D: ))
Mood: Normal Condition: A Bit of a Pounding

Guest

	OOC: I am always happy to rp with you- I am glad you just reply, Loki! Xue and Loki approached the giant tree, one of the largest, but by no means the largest trees in the swamp. The fog made seeing the tree tops impossible as they approached. The dark entrance amidst the tangle of person-thick roots was seeable, with only a dyed blue fur hanging over the door way, only seen by proximity and angle. A well hidden hiding place. Xue picked up her fishing pole on the way there, seeing their foot prints and scuffle, and being rather proud. It had been so long since she had practiced, ever since she left her Water Bending Master in the North. "Two years now," she said honestly, opening the cloth door and pinning it open so they could step inside. The walls were lain with papers and a few books, a fur pile "cot" in the middle and a messy arrangement of maps and notes. The moisture in the air, however, had damaged much of the paper, save what was to be assumed inside the wooden tubes against the wall. Xue looked careless in her management of the rest. Why? Only a stranger could assume. The swamp dweller pulled from beneath her pile of furs that made up her bed a mason jaw, faltered with carvings of angles and waves. White on brown, a culture not belonging to the Swamps. "Clean water," she said, crouching on the floor as she opened the cork. Her bare legs and arms were so darkened with mud again, it was more common place than otherwise. Despite all their efforts, both girls were dirtied again - Loki now inducted into the lifestyles of the swamp dwellers. "Sit," she instructed to the spot in front of her, tilting her head, "And tell me your pains so that I may free you of them!" she spoke quite extravagantly. Grinning creepily as though she were a mischievous child. Loki was officially the swamp hermit's experiment now. "I am from the North, and if you know anything of us up there - we have rather mundane bending, though useful. Where are you from? I thought all air benders were balding??" She curved a graceful eyebrow to the girl in wonder.
雪	Level : Master Water Bender Position : Hermit of Swamp Condition : Healthy

Subject: Re: A Ghost of Murky Waters Fri Feb 17, 2012 2:46 pm

Loki	Loki quickly assessed what was valuable and what was worthless, not because she was going to rob Xue, but out of habit. The tubes of course caught all interest,"What's in those?"...probably some expensive scrolls. She wasn't going to take them, but her curiosity was growing the more she looked at them. She wasn't very cultured, so she didn't see that the jar was not from around here. Even if it was from a far off land, she assumed Xue had taken it from someone. She wondered if Xue had killed someone to get it. Maybe she was a wanted thief and that's why she was hiding in the swamp. They could be a perfect team! She was amused by Xue's command. "Well you smacked this bone pretty hard," she touched her collarbone, "other than that it's just bruises. But are you sure such an agressive and deceptive fighter can restore a cripple like me?" The last part was meant as a compliment on Xue's fighting skills, but she kept her humor in the end. "I am from the North, and if you know anything of us up there - we have rather mundane bending, though useful..." So the jar was from the North then. That meant everything here was from there. Where are you from? I thought all air benders were balding?" "Oh, I'm from Ba Sing Se! My parents told me that somewhere down the line, a great grandfather of mine was an Earther and that our family has had great, thick hair since then. I'm incredibly grateful, I mean...imagine me with wisps hanging off the back of my head with a smooth shine in front. " She gave a little shudder for effect and then laughed a little. "So if you're from the North, why did you decide to come live amongst the mud?"
Mood: Curious Condition: A Bit of a Pounding

Guest

	OOC: I am still quite sick, but also do not want to hold you back. I will try to keep up this week. Some cognitive thinking I think is good.. but may need forgiveness. It is not the best. D: Xue pulled the water from the jar, the strangeness of iceberg water only being noticed by how incredibly shiny and clear it was. Like looking through liquid glass, a quality that only be created by ice of the North. And, if drank, tasted much better too. Xue didn't drink her iceberg water, but also was not completely sure of how to use it. The last thing she healed was a lightning struck tree in the swamps. Her healing training was something she was well.. uncertain about. "I am looking for someone. My father actually," the floating water molecules curled as she expanded and contracted the beads. Xue was flattered by Loki, and felt similarly, but could not voice it out loud. Without thinking, she hoped Loki of the Sky could see her respect for her, if only in her actions. Xue had problems with too many honest complements. "I have been on the search for many years now." Xue looked up at Loki with surprise, "The trail ends in Ba Sing Se, so maybe - if I take you back, I can have a chance to look again. I have been inducted.. uh," she began, frowning to herself," ..well, I have signed up for the Dai Li so that I may gain entrance into the wealthy district, and maybe see what is going on politically. My father is the ambassador to the Northern Water Tribe and went missing on a route to Ba Sing Se." She didn't really know what to say to add to that. It was impulsive, it wasn't well thought out, and she had all ready made contact with the Queen. She was quite worried about it, actually, and Xue of the Mud seldom worried about anything. Even her father she had optimism about finding, but this - she had a rather bad feeling about. Faking earth bending? ..she didn't know. The water glowed mildly, but anyone with any knowledge of healing knew it was a lackluster light. Xue moved the snake-forming water back and forth over the thin collar bone, certain she had indeed broken it, feeling the fragility of the bone. However, Xue was having trouble, and nothing was mending. Frustrated, she kept trying, "I am not very good." she finally said, the emerald eyed girl peered back at Loki, shoulders slumping as she continued to move the water. "I am supposed to the best at this you know," she said a bit arrogantly, more as a joke than any true egotism. For some reason she was given more training as a child than she thought she deserved, but even she - supposed prodigy, could not even properly heal people. Giving up, she moved the water back into the jar, and sighed. "We will need to get your collar bone probably looked at anyway in Ba Sing Se. Collar bones need to be watched or you could heal all crooked," she raised an eyebrow at Loki, leaning forward slightly, "And if you look at crooked, you will look quite strange. We can't have that." Pulling some cloth from her door way and ripping it, she made Loki a sling, pulled some herbs from beneath her bed and offered to help the air bender. "Did you ever learn bending from anyone? Did you ever have a Master, Loki of the Sky?" Xue asked curiously, wondering so much about this curious human being. Xue did not mean to not answer Loki's question, and she didn't think about what was in the tubes much anymore. A bit of denial of personal possessions never hurt anyone... though their value, any thief like Loki would find abounding.
雪	Level : Master Water Bender Position : Hermit of Swamp Condition : Healthy

Subject: Re: A Ghost of Murky Waters Tue Mar 06, 2012 10:02 am

Loki	Loki sat quietly as Xue tried her hardest to heal her. She felt a bit of a fluttering, but didn't feel better. When Xue said she'd joined the Dai Li though... "How did a waterbender from the North get into a nationalist secret police!? Aren't they all earthbending specialists? Xue, what are you planning on doing, you can't fake earthbending with waterbending! I mean, you can bend some mud, but huge, dry rocks? What do you plan on doing? She was startled by this, "Hold on, how did you get in in the first place? Don't they test you?" Loki allowed Xue to do her best with a brace. She wasn't mad she couldn't get healed, she was glad Xue'd tried. Although it would be a nuisance. "A master? Hmm...well my parents gave me a bit of their airbending knowledge, but my style was taught to me by this kid." He was really two years older than Loki, but her remained twelve in her mind. "He was a sneaky little wretch. Best friend I had." She didn't go into what they did together, but it was heavily implied.
Mood: Surprised Condition: A Bit of a Beating

Guest

	Xue fell back on her read, defeated, dirty bare feet in front of her. "..I know, I know!" She sighed, now resting her elbows on her knees and running her hands through her choppy hair, making it more messy, if possible. "There is some earth bending pro in Gaoling - I claimed he was my brother and the Queen seemed to like me. Now, though, my "brother" is on a wanted list, and if I do not make an appearance, I can't see this going well. I thought my fake bending was pretty good, but then I saw a real Dai Li." She leaned forward, crossing her legs, hands buried in her lap and peered at Loki. Save for her wide, emerald eyes, her face held an air of reserve. "i can pass the test. I can bend even the smallest water molecules. If I ca not bend well enough, maybe I can duck out, or be put on reserve, or take my test after it rains.. Adapt somehow. Heck, maybe we can fly out!" The ideas in her head were now pouring, and she had to evaluate them slowly, sighing, she played a forefinger touched her lip. One thing at a time. "..You were thieves?" Xue cocked a brow. "Maybe this will not be so hard. I believe my father was kidnapped by someone.. and my guess is that it is circulated around the Earth Administrate. The relationship with Earth and Northern Water are just too shaky to ignore the possibility - and my father was the only one that kept the peace. Political prisoners? What happens to them??"
雪	Level : Master Water Bender Position : Hermit of Swamp Condition : Healthy

Subject: Re: A Ghost of Murky Waters Mon Mar 12, 2012 3:09 pm

Loki	Loki listened to all of this and eventually said, "Sounds like you've got a lot to do. Maybe we should get going? Plus I'd love to get my shoulder looked at," The brace unfortunately made her think about her wound more. It was a constant thought in the back of her head. She wouldn't mind getting it fixed as soon as possible.
Mood: Condition: A Bit of a Beating

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