Moments in Hei Bai's Forest

Subject: Moments in Hei Bai's Forest Thu Aug 09, 2012 4:40 pm

Hakota-Zai	The forests of Hei Bai always seemed so quite and thriving with life. Perhaps such was that this was land guarded by the spirits themselves. But the Avatar's entourage wasn't concerned with this, merely trying to camp out for the night. It took Kano's utmost insistence not to burn a fire in fear of the spirits, but still they were stuck here for the not-- since getting lost in the woods was not in their addendum for the immediate future. But as it would have it, Zai found he couldn't sleep while the others lay resting safely in their tents or mats. Maybe part of this was due to his lack of anything to sleep on, but such was unlikely for the vagrant whom often slept soundly enough on streets and in alleys. still something begged him to wakefulness, and something called out to him. Something forgotten, but familiar. It was this calling that brought the mercenary to an open mound of flat dirt, excellent for practicing his martial arts. Perhaps it'd get his mind off of things. Yet as he went through the Kata for the Kiyoshi fans that strange emptiness was still vigilant in his mind. Even as he move forth to Chi-Blocking did it remain, itching to release itself. Not long was it before its nature was apparent: Zai's blade begged to be liberated from its prison. He set about finding some fallen trees, breaking off limbs and tying them together with malleable branches until four targets were set before him, each similar in thickness and set into the ground. He didn't know what it was that comforted him, yet also disturbed him about the soothing feel of his weapon's hilt in his hand. The sweet melody that rang out into the night from the steel's release was a forsaken one. Zai breathed deeply and cleared his mind of it, however. The art of the blade was one in which one must completely immerse themselves. Perfect mind, yet no mind at all. The first strike was pristine, the epitome of martial perfection. The steel was as a boat in the water, seeping through the target as if it weren't there at all. The delivery and follow-up were fluid and natural, and the next strike began long before the first target's upper half could even begin to fall. The delivery was once again masterful, but the finish was slower, more shoddy as a flash corrupted Zai's mind. Still the blade swept through the target noiselessly and without resistance. Something was thrown off of the master swordsman's stance and his next strike was ill-delivered. It chopped the target crudely, loudly cracking one of the tree limbs within instead of cutting it. Zai's vision was hit by another image, less of a flash and more of a sick gratification and an old state of mind. The last target bore the blade well, the steel merely sticking into it with a loud "thump", the vibrations forcing the wielder's hand into pain. He let the sword go, falling to his knees. All he could see was himself kneeling in pools of blood, his own flowing into them down his body. No matter how much he tried to shake it off, the vision stuck. The usually calm, indifferent man shouted out in frustration, rage, and countless other emotions as his fist hit the ground. The dirt cracked as the earth below fluctuated, tossing the targets into the air a short distance. Even the trees immediately around the clearing had been offset and tilted away from the origin of the bending. Zai didn't even take note of this, tossing off his head-wrappings and grasping his hair violently ad his opposite hand touched the imaginary blood on the ground. The tears that fell into the blood was far more real than the hallucinated puddles. Zai took no heed, only burying his face into his hands. Perhaps later he might realize that the spirits amplified these things to some degree and would be keen enough to avoid such self-devastating acts in the future.
Mood:Distressed. Condition:Fit and Well.	Link:Lee Hakota-Zai

Subject: Re: Moments in Hei Bai's Forest Fri Aug 10, 2012 3:06 am

Zulera Joanna Tallarico	As the Avatar, Zulera always felt strange when she walked into a place of high spirituality. it was still somewhat foreign to her, but also because even with her own spiritual incompetence, she could still very vividly feel their presence, considering the nature of her own spirit. as much as she might have liked otherwise, Zulera's spirit was... well, spiritual. Sleep overtook the avatar fairly easily as it usually did, but the prominent presence of spirits here had her tossing and turning more than she did, even for when she was alone. if she was having dreams or visions, she wasn't aware of what they were, so that wasn't it. maybe it was just that she was having trouble sleeping. sometimes there wasn't any other external issue affecting that except her own inability to sleep. it wasn't that the avatar always had some sort of disturbing reason why she was still awake. as much as she liked doing otherwise, Zulera got dressed and wandered out to look at her surroundings. it was dark and quiet, with only the dim lights from the objects in the sky serving as illumination for their surroundings. for a moment it was silence, but soon she heard noises, and this put her into full-alert mode. she wasn't worried about being outmatched. she was the Avatar, and that was some sort of edge in and of itself. she followed the noise, and instead, found Zai. while these two seemed to cross paths an awful lot (and usually these meetings had good endings), this was not Zulera's intent this time. she'd obviously not fight it if it happened, but at the moment, she was intrigued at the noises he made, and overwhelmed by curiosity. "uhh... hey." she said sort of awkwardly, slowly and cautiously approaching him. he seemed in an unstable mood, but perhaps Zulera was overanalyzing the situation. bah, it was night and she was tired. she'd have an excuse. "ummm... are you alright?" she looked at him, close enough that she could easily speak quietly and allow him to still hear her, but just out of arm's reach. this was unusual though... usually Zai was just indifferent and uncaring. what made this time different?
Mood: Intrigued Condition: Well	Link:

Subject: Re: Moments in Hei Bai's Forest Sat Aug 11, 2012 5:30 pm

Hakota-Zai	The ground still held tremors from Zai's fit when Zulera approached. In his delusion, Zai took no notice of her, even as she first spoke all he could focus on was the blood, to him now crawling back up his skin. It was everywhere, the blood he'd spilled, and it brought back flashes of faces, lives that had ended. He closed his eye, shaking his head to fend off the images. Then something tore through the spirit's trickery, only leaving the forsaken regrets and feelings Zai was used to wading in. "Ummm... Are you alright," the familiar tone reached through the gap in his visions, but he still was startled by the notion, and reeled away from Zulera in his surprise. As he fell backwards, flat onto the ground, he wondered if she too was just an illusion to further entice his pains, but it yet remained, and Zai looked on in horror. "I-I... Didn't... I didn't realize.... Please..." He pleaded to nothing in particular as he sat up, bringing his knees to his chest and hiding away his scarred face. The ground stilled now, subsiding from the fluctuations beneath the soil. The distressed man merely brought his knees in closer, the hallucinations gone, but the feelings still there to depress upon his recovery from the trauma. He mumbled something to himself, words of comfort unknown to any other. It seemed to still the shaking that wracked his body into minor shivers.
Mood:Distressed. Condition:Fit and Well.	Link:Lee Hakota-Zai

Subject: Re: Moments in Hei Bai's Forest Sun Aug 12, 2012 6:32 am

Zulera Joanna Tallarico	Zulera was confused as to Zai's reaction or what he was doing, but he was different from most people she had met--in many ways. Sure everyone was unique, but Zulera wasn't generally one to care about that sort of trivial notion. this was a deeper issue to her. it was rare to find someone that the avatar cared about, but this was one of those rare situations. when he spoke, she looked at him, confused., she crouched down onto her knees to get a better look at his face. "what are you talking about? what did you do?" she asked. she reached out and set a hand on his trembling shoulder. she wanted to help him, but didn't know how.
Mood: Intrigued Condition: Well	Link:

Subject: Re: Moments in Hei Bai's Forest Mon Aug 13, 2012 6:06 am

Hakota-Zai	With the delusions subsided, Hakota still held onto the shock of it all. The revelation he'd made seemingly ages ago crashed down upon him again. Questions, fears, reality all swarmed in his head to empower his confusion and horrors. All that punctured these was a touch and more of that familiar tone. Zulera was here, and indeed Zai could trust she was not included in these delusions yet. "What are you talking about? What did you do?" The question begged simplicity; yet sitting here now, looking Zulera in the eyes, how could he cover up or explain such things? He held the gaze for as long as he could, a sadness apparent in his visage. "Zulera... I-I..." The words did not want to come and Zai's hand found its way to Zulera's cheek, though his grip shook still he could feel her skin. She was surely there, but everything seemed surreal as the ex-assassin's mind seemed bound to the past. "So many dead, Zulera.... So many lives gone...." He could no longer bear her sight, in fear of judgement he turned his gaze away to the very blade that he bade farewell to so often, but never could he rid of. "My blade has felled so many... People died at the hands of a worthless man in favor of greed." The ground seemed the only thing Zai felt of worth to look upon, and he tried to fend off how detrimental his very existence had been thus far. His jaw clenched as he gritted away the thought of it-- was he being too emotional? Perhaps he was just terribly irrational... All he knew was that he'd not even been able to count those killed by his steel, innocent or not. It was foolish to convince himself he'd ceased only to prevent his own destruction. Such selfishness is what had initially caused such ills to others. Fist clenched, his hand struck the ground in futile effort to erase his demons. "All has been for naught..." He had calmed considerably, though. Now all that remained was a sense of dreadful worthlessness that hung upon his chest. Later moments would likely involve some shame in Zulera seeing him in such a weakened state.
Mood:Distressed, but calmed. Condition:Fit and Well.	Link:Lee Hakota-Zai

Subject: Re: Moments in Hei Bai's Forest Fri Aug 24, 2012 4:15 pm

Zulera Joanna Tallarico	Zulera eased herself into a sitting position so she was not putting repeated stress on her knees and ankles from her squat. "then it seems you've come to the right person." she remarked, the darkness of the evening hiding the little smile that appeared on her face. "I've got no room to judge, and despite my many vices, I am no hypocrite. you know of my war crimes, particularly in the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom. it seems I somehow get involved with disposing of leaders left and right. sometimes, it's not a matter of personal things; but a matter of business." she shrugged. "right and wrong are just words. death comes to all of us at one point or another. until then, we just do what we have to--or what we want to." she put her hands on his shoulders. she knew full well that she was not the best of people, and that that was hardly likely to change, but it didn't mean that she didn't have any good in her. besides... Zai was a special case. "people have died at the hands of a rogue Avatar who cares for nothing but her own gain. just count yourself lucky that you're not put into a position where you're apparently supposed to be good and help people and all that. in my case... I just shrug it off and move on. you cannot walk into the future while chained to the past..." she neither knew nor cared if this was bad advice. this was what she lived by, and it had served her well for almost 30 years. she had no regrets.
Mood: Intrigued Condition: Well	Link:

Subject: Re: Moments in Hei Bai's Forest Mon Dec 10, 2012 10:20 pm

Hakota-Zai	Name:Lee Hakota-Zai Alias: Dead-Eye Zai Age: 28 Abilities: Swords(Master); Chi-Blocking(Expert); Earthbending(Intermidiate); Fans(expert) Mood:Distressed. Condition:Fit and Well.
He drained in every belladonna word, taking it all to mind and heart. He wondered only for a moment if he should, let himself be convinced he was alright, even though he blatantly held wounds still freshly open after so many years. It'd been near a decade now. But he took the drug, soaked in the sweet nothings from someone of equal, perhaps greater sin. He felt she knew his pains, but was so easy to put them to rest. How, he wondered, even as her thoughts filtered from words into comprehensions dancing on his cranium. She fed him her beliefs. Are they her own? And he bit, eating up the comforts. He didn't want to feel the guilt, the regret. "I... I just want to forget..." Her hands felt warm to his shoulders, as if the place had been so cold all along. So he was to just do as he wished? Hadn't that got him here in the first place? Then again, he also desired to move on from these hauntings. It wasn't the first time, after all, that he'd pushed it all away so. "I know my sins.. They lay heavy chains for me.... Could I really just walk ahead, forgetting them and hope they do not become taught and bringing me to the end of it's length? Hope it does not leave my upon the ground when I do not wish it?" He barely knew of what he spoke, but he pulled Zul close to him, arms about her tightly, but ever gently despite the shakes and quivers in his limbs. Zai felt to shed tears, but they never came. Perhaps it was because this once, he'd been relieved of reliving the worst of his sins, and the last of his cares. Maybe that was his attraction to Zulera, that she seemed to waive his mistakes and help him forget them to think nothing of them. So sweet, yet bitter in the foundations.
Link:Lee Hakota-Zai

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