(Kano) Ribbons

Kano sighed as the minister rambled on. He'd been dragged to Ba Sing Se of all places by request of the Earth Queen's little minions in the middle of a war and now all they had for him was numbers about Earth Kingdom losses. He was just waiting for it... Sure enough...

"How does the Water Tribe intend to repay these losses?" the Minister demanded, slamming the stack of papers on the table angrily. "The Earth Kingdom didn't come to your aid so that we could be devastated by your tactical blunders."

Kano looked at the man with a withering glare. He had half a mind to bloodbend the bastard into slamming his own head on the table.

"How are we going to repay your losses?" he said slowly, looking around at the other ministers and generals. "We aren't."

"You're blunders--!" the man began, brandishing a finger at Kano in dire accusation. Kano slammed his fist on the table.

"WE ARE AT WAR!" he shouted. "Now, I don't give a damn what you consider to be a blunder and what you don't. If you are not happy with the strategic decisions of my commanders, you don't need to accompany the Water Tribe fleet. Last time I checked, you have your own navy!"

The ministers around the table looked surprised at his reaction, but the two officers he'd brought with him, Captain Klargith and Admiral Koda, seemed thoroughly amused by it. They became silent in the way they only ever did when they were looking forward to watching him stick it to someone...

"Now, I don't have time to sit here and answer to a low level administrator with an over-inflated opinion of the bounds of his station! If you have problems with the way I conduct wars, you had better come to me with more than a few dozen casualty reports and an accountant looking for compensation! These are battle. People get hurt. If you don't get that, then maybe you should keep that brown nose of yours out of the business entirely."

He stood and walked toward the door, Klargith and Koda falling in behind him. He was almost to it when he paused and turned.

"And next time you summon me to this palace, the Earth Queen better be here in person, otherwise..." he said, giving the Minister a glare that could have turned sand into glass. "Paperwork will be the least of your troubles..."

And with that, he swept from the room, leaving the group of ministers sitting there, none daring to so much as draw breath.

"That was entertaining." Koda said, chuckling more to herself than anything.

"I'm glad you thought so." Kano said, still shaking his head at the audacity of these Earth Kingdom middle-managers.

"The Seawolf can be ready for departure in three hours, sir." Captain Klargith said, anticipating Kano's inquiry to perfection.

"Good." Kano said. "I'm going for a walk. Last thing I need right now is to be boxed up on a ship waiting for resupply operations to conclude."

"Very well, sir." Klargith nodded.

"Don't get into any fights, eh?" Koda said with a devilish smile. "Or they'll be wanting reparations."

"I'll try not to." Kano said.

Kano left Koda and Klargith in the courtyard outside the palace and set off into the city. He knew his way around Ba Sing Se pretty well. He'd spent a fair amount of time there during his travels with Zulera and the others. He'd be able to find his way to the port on his own.

He spent a good deal of time just wandering aimlessly through the streets, looking around at the surroundings. He passed the alley where the Shadows had captured him and looked down it at the spot where he'd tried to hide. It seemed as though it was a memory which belonged to another life... and it was. He'd become an entirely different person since then. Not a day went by where he felt that old feeling he'd loved so much, that feeling of being free to enjoy his life his own way. Nothing was the same. Nothing at all.

When he came to a square graced by a fountain in the middle ring, he found a quiet corner and sat down, breathing in the well-used air. It certainly wasn't the air of the north. It smelled of industry and the city life which never stopped. Before he knew it, he'd been there for over two hours, just staring at the fountain. He didn't even notice the time pass until a young woman wandered into the square and began bending the water in the fountain... she was quite good at it. He wondered where she was from. She didn't carry herself like a tribesman. But she was certainly no normal Earth Kingdom subject...

Kano watched her form the figures, encase her fist in ice, and promptly begin knocking heads... off. It was interesting that a woman so young had such a talent with these things. Kano actually found himself thinking she was good enough to be a real challenge to him. That was no ordinary thing, really.

"Not bad." he said aloud, intending for her to hear him. He didn't stand. He just sat against the wall, watching her all the while. The square was completely empty except for the two of them. It wasn't exactly the busiest area of town. The nearest public businesses were quite a ways away and there wasn't anything remotely resembling a tourist attraction for twice that distance. This fountain was a vestige of a by-gone era of wealth for this part of town. It was well kept, but hardly a shadow of what it had obviously once been.

"Where are you from?" he asked once he had her attention.

"Hm..." Kano said, nodding slowly. He had to admit, she had him stumped on that one. It wasn't a question he'd ever had to answer before. "I suppose there's no reason."

He examined her as she stood there. She didn't look at all happy to have the company. There were volumes of distrust and suspicion being spoken by her eyes and just her general movements. He could have sworn she twitched like she wanted to attack him when he first spoke. That wouldn't have ended well. He wasn't exactly keen for a fight right then anyway. And he certainly didn't feel like being attacked for no reason.

"How about this?" he said finally, tilting his head slightly. "I tell you who I am and then you can decide if I'm worth introducing yourself to. Deal?"

"My name is Kanoei." he said, intertwining his fingers, his arms draped over his knees, themselves at level with his shoulders as he sat there against the wall. He didn't look like he belonged to the station he inhabited. He wouldn't have been surprised if she didn't believe what he was about to say next... "I'm the chief of the Northern Water Tribe."

He didn't move as he spoke or after. He'd seen one or two people like this girl in his time. They didn't react well to sudden movement. In that way, they were rather like cornered animals. Her behavior spoke volumes about her, though he didn't dare to presume her origins or the reasons for her defensiveness. All he knew was that she wasn't comfortable with his presence there and that was reason enough for him to stay where he was. He didn't want there to be any misunderstandings ending in violence. Truth be told, from what he'd seen of her skill, he wasn't entirely sure he could handle her in a fight....

"So what do you think?" he said, smiling slightly. "Am I worth your introduction?"

"Master?" Kano said, nodding with raised eyebrows. It was a claim he knew his grandfather would have a good laugh at from a girl Miyako's age. Of course... that man had no equals where waterbending was concerned, so he could do as he liked. Kano, meanwhile, had to be a bit more conservative. He looked up at her as she offered her hand. He accepted it and shook. "It's a pleasure to meet you Master Miyako."

He pushed himself up to his feet slowly. He stood a few inches taller than Miyako. He gave a degree of consideration to her questions before answering.

"Well, I am a waterbender." Kano said finally, smiling inwardly at the forwardness of her questions. "I'm currently twenty-one years old. As for the rank... The Aowaka Clan doesn't normally subscribe to titles as such outside of the training halls of the North. I suppose some would consider me a master. I know my father considers my expertise woefully lacking."

He ticked off the answers like he was answering a string of basic math problems asked all at once. None of the answers were close enough to him for him to want to hold back. He was still rather amused with the idea that she was a so-called master. That was not a title easily earned in any legitimate way by those with many decades of experience in the arts. It was almost impossible that an eighteen year old could have truly managed it...

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Miyako Daisuke

Miyako could tell that as soon as she spoke of how she was a master, Kanoei didn't believe her in the least. She shook his hand lightly. "Well, considering you don't believe me and I hate titles, don't call me Master." She said plainly, her light blue eyes going from friendly to plain, a little dark. She took her hand away from his as soon as she could manage, and she took a few steps away when he stood up. He was taller than she was, but that was to be expected - besides, most were taller than her anyways. Though she seemed completely calm, her eyes said different and the soft tapping of her fingers on her thighs was making the water in the nearby fountain react, mostly from her irritation. It all came rushing toward the center, hitting the centerpiece of the fountain, before going back to the walls. It irritated her how he didn't believe her, but most didn't. She sighed slowly, just clenching her fist to let the water in the fountain calm as she suppressed her irritation. If he didn't believe her, fine. She nodded a bit at the information, though she felt a bit confused at the Clan thing...she didn't know much about clans, considering she'd been born in the Fire Nation. She'd never even been to one of the tribes that was home to benders of the same element she was. Miyako was starting to think that maybe it was a good thing - they'd probably not believe her like Kanoei. She bit her lower lip, thinking of what to say to him. Idly, her hand clenched and unclenched freezing and unfreezing the water in the fountain before she shrugged, going back over and sitting. She brought up a little column of water, forming it into a little ball. She made it freeze, before making it turn into mist, before getting her element back into liquid form. She repeated this process, slowly growing less irritated. Well, she knew what she was - if Kanoei didn't believe her, who cared? "Your father?" She questioned lightly. "Was he the one who taught you?" Why did it always have to be fathers?

Mood: Calm Condition: Healthy

Miyako Chou Daisuke

"He was." Kano said, nodding as he walked slowly past her toward the fountain, watching the streams of water flow into the pool, the square filled with that calming sound of the water. "And his father taught him and so on."

She didn't seem terribly pleased by the way he'd treated her claim, but he wasn't about to apologize for it. He wasn't about to totally discount the possibility that her claim was genuine, but he didn't think it terribly likely. He knew his grandfather, for one, would find the notion quite entertaining...

Still, all that was a matter of debate for another time. He knew she had some considerable skill and that was all he intended to determine about her abilities. He didn't foresee any situation where they'd come to blows, so it didn't really matter. He was more interested in the conversation beyond the question of skill.

"And you? Where did you learn?"