Melody (OPEN TO ALL)

Elite Novice Posts : 31 Age : 30 Join date : 2012-05-25

The melody of a stringed zither filled one small part of the lower ring of Ba Sing Se; a black clad woman, her face covered with a veil, played the instrument with her delicate, slender fingers. Everyone who walked past her could not help but stop and listen to her music. Eventually, the woman lured in a small crowd, all listening to her music.
"Ari-Arirang, arirang~
Ari-Arirang, arirang~
You told me just to be, "Please be nice and good to me",
But you, what have you truly ever done for me?
Every day you come up with the same absurd excuse,
and you always leave me alone~"
The woman sang out in an upbeat tone, though the song itself was quite sad. Some of the women in the crowd cried, probably relating from their experiences and generously, left some coins on the bowl provided in front of the musician. Before she could finish the song, three large men appeared before the woman, making the crowd disperse.
"Hey girly, this is our turf you're performing in."
"You better give us your money or else we might break that instrument of yours."
The woman stopped playing the instrument and said nothing but looked at them in the eye, her face giving away nothing. After a long staring showdown, the three men became fed up the woman’s silent rebellion against them and started to attack her with fire and earth bending. The woman dodged their attacks (with her zither now on her back) and did not fight back, mocking them. This only made the men angrier.
"Hurry up and fight back little girl!"
The woman gave them a mocking smile behind her veil; she kept on dodging until they had shown signs of wearing out. At that moment, the woman took out her nine tailed leather whip and effortlessly bounded the men together. She then bended the water to her free hand and smiled at the men again.
"I was in a good mood today."
She said to them. In no time, she sharpened the water and slashed the men’s throat’s, killing them. The woman released the bodies from her whip’s grip and started to pack her things, seeing as she disrupted the peace in this part of the lower ring…

Subject: Re: Melody (OPEN TO ALL) Sun May 27, 2012 1:08 am

| Darin "Ba'sill" |

Melody (OPEN TO ALL) 91515110

"Woah! Did you see that?"

Ba'sill sat on the edge of a building. Yes, quite literally. His bare feet dangled over the sides, kicking at the gravelly wall and causing sediment to rain down on the unpaved street below, and his sharp crimson eyes surveyed the enormous pool of blood saturating the clay soil. The woman that the men accosted was obvious no mere zither player. She had the precision and no-nonsense attitude about killing that came through years of honing and discipline.

Or so he strongly believed.

"Sthea wha?" a slow, distracted voice trailed over. Roman laid on his stomach, long blue hair splayed out messily around him, and gazed at Ba'sill with sleepy silver eyes. The child had been asleep, lulled there by the almost festive music down below, but the following commotion stirred the six-year-old from the blessed remnants of whatever dream he happened to be having and into a land of chaos and unpredictability. The real world.

"That lady just killed those men like --" Basil sliced his hand across his throat. "-- that! I want to learn how to do that with my Earthbending!"

Roman sat up, still staring warily at Ba'sill, before he picked up his white hat and got to his feet. He ambled over to peer over the side of the building. Instantaneously, and to Ba'sill's chagrin, his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Ba'sill watched imploringly as he ducked back behind a scaffolding. The sounds of dry-retching wafted over to Basil's attentive ears, but neither of them had a single thing to eat so far in the day, so it was unlikely Roman would vomit anything up. When the kid regained his composure and met up with the older boy again, Ba'sill was beside himself with laughter.

"Oh my God. You are pathetic. People die every day."

Roman looked a tad miffed. "But .. 'Rii, the blood.." At Ba'sill's blank look, he went on, "No otha' .. other way?

Ba'sill sighed. "Listen, you idiot, they were gonna kill her if she didn't kill them first."

A blank look.

Ba'sill sighed. "Look, I'm being trained to vras (kill), and I'm ten. If vrasje wasn't necessary at times, do you think the government would allow it?"

Roman, this time, had the nerve to look thoroughly confused. A new expression, but pressingly irritating all the same.

"Oh no!" Ba'sill exclaimed suddenly. "She's leaving. We have to follow her."

Roman, quite frankly, looked as if he'd been shot. "W-wha?"

Ba'sill, knowing there was no possible way Roman could scale the side of a building, snatched up the six-year-old's arm and dragged him to the edge. Ignoring Roman's sputtering, he hoisted Roman up and over the side, depositing him on a stack of old mattresses. Of course the kid screamed as he fell a good five meters, but Roman's voice was so hoarse the sound lacked any real gravity. Leaping swiftly beside him, Ba'sill took the other kid's hand and hurried him along.

"Let's catch up with her!"

((OOC: Roman's speech impediment is due to health complications when he was young. :3 He's not really simple-minded, he'd only became fully coherent at the age of four, so that was when he learned to walk and talk. Not to mention he's starting a lose a few baby teeth.))

Elite Novice Posts : 31 Age : 30 Join date : 2012-05-25

Jin-Yi packed her zither carefully and hoisted it on her back, taking the money she gathered in her bowl as quickly as possible. As she walked, everyone who saw her little misadventure made way for her, fearing they might meet the same fate as her opponents. She caught sounds of scuttling feet and caught a glimpse of two little boys. She frowned and wondered if they were following her. The black clad woman kept on walking further until her suspicions had been confirmed; they were following her. She, despite what happened, smiled and walked to the nearest food vendor.
“I would like to have two rice bowls with a side of marinated beef and a bowl of noodles please.”
Jin-Yi asked. She paid the vendor the money and once the food was ready, she asked for a tray and started to walk again, leading the children in an alleyway, which lead to a park. The park did not have much people in it and it had a large tree in the middle (with a pond), bearing autumn red and gold leaves. She set the tray down and called out to the children:
“You kids must be hungry! Come over here and eat with me! I won’t bite I pinky swear!”
She sat down, removed her veil and placed it beside her. Jin-Yi's Azure eyes shone in the dark and her hair flowed down to her waist. Her sitting near the tree and pond was quite picture-esque. The girl picked up her bowl of noodles and started slurping away, hungrily eating and drank the soup with it. One must wonder how could she be so hungry after taking the lives of three fully grown men? Simple; she killed many already to the point of staining her hands crimson red.

Subject: Re: Melody (OPEN TO ALL) Sun May 27, 2012 3:04 pm

| Prince Roman |

Melody (OPEN TO ALL) Roman_13

Ba'sill, or Darin "Rii", as he called him in his mind, liked to interrupt him from doing the things he enjoyed most. For instance, he'd been sleeping, an activity he regularly and much importantly engaged in, when some commotion riled Ba'sill and made him look over the side of a building and down on to a really scary thing. Ba'sill had the bad habit of, well, dragging him into scaring things. All the time. This occasion was anything but the exception, with the other boy tugging him down various streets and alleys, fervently trying to keep on the woman's tail. After a moment, his chest began to tighten, and Roman tugged Ba'sill's arm urgently. The boy, remembering his charge's oppressive ailments, reluctantly slowed his pace.

"Well, she's buying something from a vendor now," he cajoled. "So you better take this time to rest."

Roman, however, was too enthralled by the sudden aroma permeating the air. They were in the marketplace, and stands and stands of food greeted them quite imposingly. Roman felt his stomach growl. "Food?" he pointed to the stand the woman currently stood. A stand for soup and rice. Before Ba'sill could reply to Roman's inquiry, she took two bowls of steaming hot food and went on her way.

Abruptly, Roman was snatched up to follow. Ba'sill led him, much more gently this time, through an alleyway, which opened into a emerald, pristine park. It was a park Roman had been dying to get to, but Ba'sill never allowed him to go just because he wanted to be the boss of him! Pouting now, Roman indignantly allowed Ba'sill to lead him forward until --

“You kids must be hungry! Come over here and eat with me! I won’t bite I pinky swear!”

Ba'sill froze. His fingers dug so deep in Roman's arm the boy had to stifle a yelp. Ba'sill shot him a glance that said, This is your fault!, before forcefully dragging him up and over to the woman. "She saw us," he hissed in his ear, before putting on his most apologetic look.

"Sorry," he mumbled, plopping down. "But thanks." Roman remained standing, staring at the strange woman with an expression between outright fear and intense appreciation. The lady was beautiful! But she had killed those men so badly, and now she was inviting them to eat. Was she going to kill them, too? Roman's glittery, silver eyes wandered over to his older comrade, who had dug into his meal without even sparing a second glance at him. So Ba'sill had been ravenous, too?

Roman decided that if Basil didn't die in three minutes, he was gonna eat, too.

One minute.

Two.

Three.

Roman sat down and started to eat.

"Sorry for following you," said Ba'sill, speaking through a mouthful of food. Pieces of rice fell from his lips and onto the grass. Roman blanched ever so slightly. Papa would have killed him if he caught him doing something like that. That much he knew. He remembered the bad things that would happen to him if he did not behave like a proper prince. And so Roman, despite his hunger, daintily ate, blowing on the rice as to cool it before placing it in his mouth. Roman glanced at the pretty lady, absorbed with her appearance.

Ba'sill chattered on, "We followed you because --" he shoveled another mouthful in -- "Because I saw you kill those guys. You were like 'pow!' and then all the sudden you cut their throats out and .."

.. This was not proper dinner conversation. Roman felt like he was going to be sick. His face turned a healthy shade of green, even. Turning to Ba'sill, he mumbled, "Rii .."

"Oh yeah, Roman's scared because he thinks you're gonna kill us or something. Can you tell him you're not? He gets really annoying."

Roman peered at Ba'sill blankly. That wasn't it, but he decided not to say anything more. Rii disliked it when he talked a lot.

Elite Novice Posts : 31 Age : 30 Join date : 2012-05-25

“Oh no, it’s quite alright, just eat up.”
Jin-Yi said with a smile, finishing off the last of her noodles. She contently slurped her soup but wondered why she helped these children; because she felt sentimental? Or was it out of pure pity? She wasn’t quite sure but shrugged it off. Judging by the way the kids were eating (and their appearance) they looked like they hadn’t eaten for days. Jin-Yi remembered the days where she had nothing left to eat. She giggled at the kids and took out a napkin, wiping the rice off their mouths and cheeks.
“There you go, all clean.”
She said with a smile. Jin-Yi set down her bowl and chopsticks when she finished her bowl. She patiently listened to the older boy’s chatter, smiling, giving nothing away. Of course children thought feats of bending like she pulled before was cool; it wasn’t to her. She could’ve just let them go but didn’t. Killing had become second nature to her. She stroked the older boy’s hair and smiled radiantly.
"I suppose that's amazing to you huh?"
Jin-Yi noticed the younger boys discomfort and took her bowl and filled it with cool water from her water bottle. She passed it to him and motioned him to drink it slowly. She smiled to him, trying to make him comfortable.
"You don't look so good, little one. Are you okay? You should feel alright after you drink this."

Subject: Re: Melody (OPEN TO ALL) Sun May 27, 2012 11:34 pm

| Darin "Ba'sill" |

Spoiler:

“Oh no, it’s quite alright, just eat up.”

Darin obliged enthusiastically, proceeding to shovel even more handfuls of rice into his mouth. Her voice was oddly mellifluous, reminding him of a mother. She was a nice lady; nicer than a lot he'd met. And those ones weren't as cool. He paused to let her wipe rice off his face, vaguely wondering why she cared so much about him making a mess of himself. It wasn't like he was her son or anything. It was odd but it felt nice. Reminded him of Claudia, his surrogate mother.

“There you go, all clean.”

Ba'sill offered her one of his most radiant smiles.

Meanwhile, Roman was being as incorrigible as ever, especially after he told the lady why he was being as incorrigible as ever. God, you would think he'd relax once he found out they weren't going to die. Ba'sill's words only seemed to upset him and trouble him even more. The erstwhile prince was acting like he might have an asthma attack at any moment, and so Ba'sill just buried himself in his meal. He didn't have to babysit the kid anymore. They were in front of a grown-up now.

"You don't look so good, little one. Are you okay? You should feel alright after you drink this." The lady produced a dish filled to the brim with cool water. Roman accepted it, gave the woman a long, hard look, before finally taking a long sip. The woman was right; he was looking a lot less green. His eyes even cleared somewhat, going back to their usual metallic gray.

At the lady's comment regarding fascination with her slaying, he nodded enthusiastically. "Really amazing! Where did you learn how to do that? Do you have a master? Are you a part of a sect?" He got to his knees in excitement, clasping his hands together in an expression of adoration.

Roman shot him a confused stare. Ba'sill noted that the boy actually looked confused very often, which slapped his 'nuisance points' up several units. He guessed that it must be a byproduct of his pampered, princely, six-year-old lifestyle. He prayed to holy hell the kid will grow out of it, soon.

Darin rolled his eyes. "You're never going to survive out here, Ro," he chided, glaring at the other boy. "You're as soft as a teacake. But I guess that's what I'm for." He pat the kid hard on the back, eliciting a choking sound from him, before turning back to the woman again.

"Your name. What is it? I keep calling you 'woman' in my head and I'm sure that's disrespectful."

Elite Novice Posts : 31 Age : 30 Join date : 2012-05-25

Jin-Yi felt abit overwhelmed by the child’s question but simply, as she has always done, listened and nodded and smiled. She thought of the best answers in her head and said them out loud to the boy, leaning closely to both of them so they can hear her words.
"I learnt many things, including what I did before, during my travels. I'm still travelling. I had a lot of masters but I left them behind. Now experience is my master. And no I'm not part of a sect. Haha, you're quiet curious aren't you?"
She smiled, placing her hand on the older boy’s head and stroking his hair. She then took the zither off her back and started playing it, playing a merry, upbeat tune that filled the park area. Jin-Yi started to sing to the kids (because she felt like it) and sung them this:
"The scars of the memories still remaining in your reflected arms
are the proof of the guilt you carried even after you were forgiven.
The way your lips curve into the faintest of smiles is so precious and fleeting
that I won't hand you over to anyone else."
The song was sad but promising. As she sang, the comrades of the men she killed charged into the park and surrounded her and the children. Jin-Yi stopped playing and glanced at them all coldly. 10 or 15 men? She glanced at the pond beside her and realised it was more than enough water to kill them all. The girl stood up, placed the instrument on the tree and placed the kids behind her. She got into a stance and glanced at the kids.
"Stay behind me. This will be over in a second."
Jin-Yi said with a smile. The first man attacked with fire bending but she bent a water shield and retaliated with a slicing water whip, cleanly slicing the man’s lower torso.

Subject: Re: Melody (OPEN TO ALL) Mon May 28, 2012 3:14 pm

| Prince Roman |

Melody (OPEN TO ALL) Roman_13

The woman leaned in close as she answered Ba'sill's fervent inquiries. "I learnt many things, including what I did before, during my travels. I'm still travelling. I had a lot of masters but I left them behind. Now experience is my master. And no I'm not part of a sect. Haha, you're quiet curious aren't you?"

Ba'sill couldn't be more delighted at this answer. He nodded jovially, crimson eyes gleaming with satisfaction. Roman did not remember him being so childish. When it was just the two of them, Ba'sill acted many years older. As if he was already an adult. "Aw," the apprentice assassin told the pretty lady. "Well, I'm part of a sect. When I get old enough, they're gonna let me do what you do. I say I'm ready now." He allowed her to stroke his dark hair, still munching on a mouthful of rice.

The woman slung her instrument off her back and began to play a song. Her voice was really beautiful, and Roman felt somewhat sleepy hearing her so close without being oppressed by the usual clamor of the distant bazaar. This one was slower, more melancholy than the first. Roman likened it to a lullaby. Ba'sill was watching her with wide, faraway eyes.

"The scars of the memories still remaining in your reflected arms
are the proof of the guilt you carried even after you were forgiven.
The way your lips curve into the faintest of smiles is so precious and fleeting
that I won't hand you over to anyone else."

Roman's head drooped, only to fall on the other boy's shoulder. Ba'sill shot him a sharp glare and shook him off, only to catch him by his hair before the kid fell face-first into his rice. Semi-conscious, Roman could only must a faint gurgle of appreciation. But then, suddenly, the hand that was fisted into his hair jerked him up sharply. Roman, now on his feet, woke up fully, yelping in pain.

"Stay behind me. This will be over in a second," the woman was saying. Roman noted dully that the music had stopped. She sounded urgent, though. Roman wondered what was wrong ..

Ba'sill was grinning morbidly, his tiny hand still clutching the delicate strands of Roman's hair. Roman weakly swatted the other boy's hands away. That hurt! But Ba'sill was ignoring him, now fully enthralled with what was going on around him. Roman followed his eyes and almost screamed, grabbing a hold of Ba'sill's shirt tightly. They were surrounded by at least fifteen men, all with menace in their eyes. For now, the men were leering at the woman. She had gotten up, too, and looked as if she was going to fight. Scared, Roman, still clutching Ba'sill's shirt, ducked behind his taller friend.

Ba'sill craned his neck to look back at him. The familiar glint of wisdom was there, making him look much older than he really was. "You idiot," he snarled. "How the hell am I supposed to protect us if you're holding on to me like that?"

Roman let him go.

No sooner than he had, Ba'sill gave a loud shout. "Woah!"

Roman wasn't confused for long. He screamed as a man's disembodied torso fell some distance behind them, spraying blood across the emerald grass. He grappled for Ba'sill's shirt again, fisting his hands in the fabric, much to the older boy's disdain.

Elite Novice Posts : 31 Age : 30 Join date : 2012-05-25

Jin-Yi created a water wheel that surrounded her and the two boys and hurled it out to her attackers; they fell backwards and Jin-Yi took this opportunity to take the finishing blow. She took out her nine tailed whip and managed to catch 9 of the men by the necks while the other 6 got up. Using one hand, the girl bent another water whip and directed it towards the other men. Needlessly to say, they fell back screaming (with innards flying). She looked at the other men and stared at them for awhile thinking whether to strangle them to death or…
"I'll be generous and give you a quick death."
She said and in that instant, Jin-Yi slit their throats with water bending. She loosened the whip’s grip on the bodies and turned towards the kids, smiling though her face had splatters of blood on it.
"Are you kids okay?"
Jin-Yi asked. She walked towards them and hugged them. If they are part of a sect then they were trained to kill, unlike her who had no choice but to kill in order to defend herself. Children so young shouldn’t say they are ready to kill.
"If you say you are ready to kill, does that mean you have someone to protect? Only kill when you have something to protect or to defend yourself. You do not kill because you feel like it or because someone told you to."
Jin-Yi felt like a hypocrite saying such things but seriously, the thought of kids killing this young disturbed her.
"Say, you kids don't have anywhere to live right? Why don't you live with me in the middle ring?"

Subject: Re: Melody (OPEN TO ALL) Mon May 28, 2012 6:47 pm

| Darin "Ba'sill" |

Focusing on the lady's attacks was hard with His Highness's nails digging into his skin. Seriously. Roman's fingernails were sharp, but Darin managed to take notes nonetheless. The woman's fluid movements. The lack of hesitation she took when it came to decapitating her opponent. The steely glint in her eye. It was hard believe this lady just fed, had a pleasant conversation with, and sang to two children on a whim.

Roman had a hard time believing it, too.

"Rii .." he mumbled.

Dispassionate, Darin growled out, "Stop being such a baby."

When the final men were down, the lady barely appeared to have broken a sweat. She looked so cool; her face covered with blood even as she smiled at them. So awesome! Roman, however, whimpered and shrunk even further behind the taller boy, staring at the still-twitching bodies drenching the ground with blood.

"Are you kids okay?" the lady asked.

"I am, but he isn't," Darin told her, gesturing to Roman, who seemed near hysterical.

"If you say you are ready to kill, does that mean you have someone to protect?" the woman told him, almost suddenly. "Only kill when you have something to protect or to defend yourself. You do not kill because you feel like it or because someone told you to."

Ba'sill struggled to think of an answer the woman would deem satisfactory. None came to mind. He felt it was would be rather inappropriate to lie to her, however. Whether she would disapprove or not, he needed to be truthful. "Well, my ma killed people that were bad," he told her strongly. "She wanted me to do so, too, so that's why I'm in my sect. We ain't bad people. We kill because it's the only way to stop those people from hurting other people."

He took a deep breath. "But I guess you can we sometimes kill because we get told to kill .. I don't know." He thought for a moment, shuffling his feet. Behind him, Roman was ever-shaking. Ba'sill glanced behind him, at the other boy's tearful face .. He took a deep breath: "But from now on I'm only gonna learn to kill to protect someone, and that's Claudia and Roman!"

Roman looked surprised.

"Say, you kids don't have anywhere to live right? Why don't you live with me in the middle ring?"

Roman looked up at her, then collapsed in a dead faint. Apparently going to live with this lady was too much for him. God, Roman was crazy. Obviouslyshe wasn't going to hurt them!

Darin, alarmed, swooped down to examine him, shooting the woman apologetic look. Roman didn't appear to have had an asthma attack, but his heartbeat was very irregular. Gingerly, he lifted the other kid and slung him across his back.

"Sorry," he told the lady. "He gets sick a lot. I'm not homeless, but home is far away, and Roman can't make it to his. So I guess we can stay with you for a while." He smiled, then. "Thank you."

He had another thought. "I don't think we ever did this: I have a lot of names, but most people call me Ba'sill, and this is Roman. Nice to meet'cha."

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