The Way the Winds Blow (closed)

It was a warm afternoon in the Southern Air Temple. Gojin was very tired after a long morning of work in the sky bison stables. His own sky bison, Afosi was sleeping in his stall, snoring loudly. Gojin learned an airbending technique to bend the small air molecules inside of water, which earned him his arrow tattoos. He bent the air inside the water inside the hay and gently lowered the hay into Afosi's stall.

"Take a break, workaholic." The voice echoed throughout the stables waking Afosi. Gojin turned around to see Joi, his ex girlfriend, juggling water over her head. "Just give me a second and then we can go to the lake and cool off." Gojin huffed. Joi is Gojin's best friend. Even though they're exes they get along fine without thinking of their past.

The water was refreshingly cool, making practicing a lot better.  Joi sent several bullets of water at Gojin. Without hesitating, he bent the air inside the water making them burst. He was still developing this skill, resulting in him only being able to do this in small amounts of water.  Gojin sent a wall of gusting winds towards Joi.  She barely had enough time to create a dome of ice around her body. "Alright, I think that's enough practice for now." Gojin panted, exhausted.

When he returned home his mom told him he was late for lunch. Being the kind woman she is, she didn't care he was late. "Where's dad?"  Gojin asked confused. His dad would never miss lunch, even though it was a cabbage salad with onions and carrots and many more vegetables. His mom asked him to bed the air inside the apples so they could have apple tea. "Mom, I've been thinking..." Gojins mom cut him off. "I know, I know. you want to go on an adventure."
"Wha-? Mom! How did you know?"  
"I've known since you were little. You used to love discovering new hiding spots when we played Air Tag." Gojin's mom said with calm eyes, remembering the good times.

Gojin was meditating in his room that, emptying his mind. A cool breeze blew into his room. He stood up, grabbed his staff and leap out of his window. He glided to the stables and said good bye to Afosi.  He visited Joi's house next and sliped a note in her mail bin.  Gojin took one last good look at the Southern Air temple and glided off. He let the wind take him to where ever.

When the sun started to rise Gojin landed on an island close to Whale Tail island.  He made his favorite Oolong tea and started to drink before he noticed a female figure down the hill. He leaped up into the sky and landed in front of her.

"Hi! I'm Gojin! Nice to meet you, what's your name?"

Tamura had arrived on this small island just a few short days ago. She'd been camping there, hiding out in the surrounding hills and pondering whether to go to the Temple proper or not.

Touring the Air Temples had sounded like such a good idea, now that she was there though she was having second thoughts. She had few good memories of her childhood in the Northern Air Temple, why would she ever want to go back to any of the Air Temples? She'd had those annoying dreams that were keeping her up at night for the past few years, but she just had to go to her birthplace for that. Not visit every single Air Temple in the world. She was, technically, still an air nomad. Technically. There were no reasons why she'd be refused entry. But every time she gathered her thoughts and decided to go there she always found herself making excuses and backing out at the last second.

It took her days of arguing with herself, but eventually she came to the realisation that she just didn't want to see the Air Temples. She wanted to see her mother, and while that implied going to the Northern Air Temple it certainly did not force her to go through with this silly self-imposed pilgrimage to the four corners of the world.

Today would be her last day on the island, she was leaving in the morrow, planning to catch the ferry back to the mainland early in the morning. Von was off, exploring the surroundings as he always did when they were stationary for too long. She was alone in her makeshift camp, meat was slowly cooking on a thin stone slab on the fire (a technique she'd learned many years ago form her father). She was entertaining the idea of going to take a dip. She'd camped literally a hop skip and a jump away from a sandy beach (although on such a small island one was always close tot he sea) and the clear water was looking very tempting, especially since the sun had been beating down on her all day. She didn't have any swimming gear of course, but a little skinny dipping had never killed anyone. Plus it's not like there was anyone around...

She was already in a state of advanced undress when a voice called to behind her. Most women's thoughts might have rushed to their clothing, or lack thereof, in such a situation. Tamura wasn't most women though, and her mind rushed to protecting herself. It was an old habit, when on the road she always was paranoid of of nay newcomers, anyone who sneaked up on her she immediately classified as a potential threat. Her weapons were close by, as the voice called out her left foot dove out expertly, kicking on of her katanas up into her hand as she spun around. The blade was halfway out of its sheath before her mind caught up with her body and she realised that the voice held not even a single trace of ill intent, and that the person coming towards her seemed rather peaceful. From his clothes, and given the proximity of the Air Temple, she guessed he was an Air nomad.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that," she warned a little brusquely as she slammed the weapon back into its scabbard, keeping the sheathed weapon in hand despite having dismissed the newcomer as not being a threat. It paid to be prepared. "If we were in the same situation five years ago you'd already be dead or crippled by now," she added not unpleasantly. The fact that she was currently wearing nothing but an eye patch seemed to bother her very little as she rested her weapon on her shoulder, putting her free hand on her hip. "Is there something I can help you with kid or are you just here to ogle?"

"Is there something I can help you with kid or are you just here to ogle?" Gojin was surprised that she was so comfortable with her clothes off in front of a guy. He wasn't interested in her, but in what she was doing here and what her name is. "Soooo ugh... What's your name?" Gojin asked cheerfully. He wasn't very good in awkward situations. "I'm Tamura." She said walking down to the beach to continue her skinny dipping. "And what are you doing here? You definitely aren't from here."

She explained what she was doing here. Gojin quickly replied by telling her he was from there. He offered to let her sleep in the stables for the night. She questioned the offered, but realized it was better than her makeshift camp.  They sealed the deal and planned on setting off at noon.

The day was another hot one. They stopped frequently at beaches and cooled off.  Gojin made a small breeze to cool him and Tamura off even though it barely helped AND Tamura was capable of making her own breeze.

"Hold up." Tamura said.  "What?"
"Where's Von!?"

((OOC: When taking control of someone else's character you should tell them exactly what you're going to make their character do and have them approve those actions before the post. I'll just go with what you wrote, but please in the future if you feel you must use someone else's character in your post check with the character's owner first.))

Things had turned out better than she'd expected, dare she even say they'd turned out well? No. She wouldn't go so far. All she'd done was find lodging for the night that wouldn't leave her unsheltered from the chilling night breeze this island suffered from. On the other hand she had somehow been roped into being in the company of an Air Nomad, not something she exactly relished.

They'd set off at noon, leaving Tamura ample time to finish her shameless bathing, which she took her sweet time with, relishing in the discomfort that was so easy to read in the young man's reddening cheeks and coyly averted eyes. Once on the road they'd only stopped a few times to splash water in their face in hopes of chasing away the merciless midday heat pounding on their backs. Of course she had her hat, and it was shielding much of her body from the uncomfortably warm rays, but it wasn't foolproof. Thankfully they both had their air bending to fall back on, using it to generate a gentle breeze around them. That still wasn't enough for them to be comfortable, but it made things bearable at least.

The two of them remained mostly silent during their walking. She made no effort to spark any conversation with him. She wasn't really interested in him, in her mind all Air Nomads were the same. Weak, simpering and bothersome fools. All she cared about in this Gojin fellow was his ability to provide a roof over her head and her ability to make him uncomfortable, the latter being worth a few laughs. He seemed to respect her desire for silence, which she found to be even more infuriating than if he'd prattled on about the sanctity of life and all the rest of that load of ostrich-horse dung.

Her mood had reached a precarious balance, she was annoyed and content at the same time, the two not cancelling each other out but rather living side by side, waiting for one feeling to get the upper hand and drown out the other.

They'd been walking for at least a couple of hours when she realised that a comforting presence was missing from her shoulder. Her one eye scanned the surrounding rapidly, they were in hilly plains of short, dry grass, their view of the shore obscured by the earthy mounds all around them. Von didn't usually go out in such terrain, there wasn't enough cover for his taste. He wouldn't have gone off unless he'd smelled something fishy.

"Stop," she spoke the word as a single hushed order, an urgent whisper just loud enough for her temporary companion to hear. "Where's Von?" she added, having no desire to explain to him why the rodent's absence was alarming. Her eye, well versed in tracking, swept the surroundings again, this time not searching for signs of Von, but for signs of potential threats. It took her less than a second to spot what she was looking for. Jutting out one or two millimetres above one of the lower hillocks to their left was the very tip of a mast, the barest hint of a black flag whipping about. She'd spotted it because she knew what she was looking for, she seriously doubted the young man with her had any idea why they were even stationary, but at least he wasn't shouting or speaking, which was nice.

"Pirates," she informed him in a cold, clipped tone that made it abundantly clear she didn't want to hear a peep out of him for a while. From the general direction of the mast she saw a tiny form speed along the ground, a tiny form which turned out to be Von dashing at her. He leapt up to her knee, making his way agilely up to her shoulder. He was soaking wet and pointing his nuzzle at where he'd come from, baring his teeth angrily. "We have incoming!" she didn't bother being quiet. If Von was this agitated the threats were already chasing him.

As she spoke she dropped the Box O' Fun to the ground, the blades inside clattering together. Before they stilled she slammed one single powerful gust of air into the box, sending the ten sword flying off into the air, scattering about the plains in various positions. As the swords made contact with the ground a single man with a scraggy greying beard rushed up the hill, a knife in hand.

"C'mere yer little runt..." his words died in his mouth as he found himself face to face with more than the little animal he'd been chasing in hope of some fresh meat. One short motion of her left foot tossed one of the blades on the ground up into her hand and she threw the weapon in a single fluid motion, the short sword pirouetting through the air and slamming into the pirate's exposed throat. The man crumpled to the ground, gurgling incomprehensibly as the blood pouring into his mouth and lungs slowly choked him to death. She should not have done that, he hadn't really been hostile, he had only been chasing his lunch, but seeing Von scared and running for his life had tipped her from being coldly uncaring to a full fledged coldly silent rage, and hurting something was the best way to vent that.

As he crumpled to the ground there was a moment of silence and stillness as no one moved or breathed, and then there was a loud cry of anger form behind the hillock.

"There's four more. They'll come charging up. Be ready," she could tell from the shouts. They were probably failed mutineers that had been cast off their ship and left for dead, if they had a full fledged ship and crew off the coast of the island a bigger mast would have been visible much more clearly. Pus there was absolutely no reason for a pirate ship to stop here. As she informed Gojin of the situation she didn't even bother unsheathing either of the Ladies at her hips. These men were pirates, loud, brash, undisciplined and rarely skilled, certainly not deserving of the clean, graceful death the dual katanas could provide.

As the first of the incoming party became visible above the hillock's ridge she let out a burst of air that sent earth and several of the small blades on the ground towards them. The dirt and dust would blind them, the blades hidden in the cloud would kill, or at least gravely wound, them.

Gojin was scared. He had no idea so much death and harm could come from pirates chasing a meal they didn't know was a pet. "There's four more. They'll come charging up. Be ready," As she said that she sent a burst of air at the ground in front of her sending dust and weapons hurdling at the unwary pirates. Within the second a cry roared from the dust, along with a curse from the foul mouthed pirate who was unlucky enough to get hit. Gojin grimaced at the sound of pain, he grew up in a peaceful air temple where the traditions and practices of his culture barely changed, even after the Air Nomad Genocide.

Tamura was about to send another powerful blast of air towards the pirates when Gojin grabbed her wrist. "Wait!" he shouted through a whisper. "We don't need more pain or death," he said calmly, letting go of her wrist. She looked very unhappy, he could tell she wanted to hurt the pirates for attacking the furry creature aside her. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to ask them to leave politely." Gojin said with as much dignity he had. On his way to the settling dust, he picked up a small dagger to make sure he was prepared, even though he has his staff for a speedy escape.

When he reached the dust, Gojin pounded his fists together creating a small bubble of air, dispersing the dust that hadn't settled. Two pirates were gathered around one badly wounded pirate and their dead friend close by, with a blade straight through the heart. "Munch, stay with us buddy." one pirate said calmly, clenching a fist. 'Munch? That's a weird name.' Gojin thought to himself. "Ugh excuse me. I'm sorry for what happened, that's her pet, and you know... Women... Always psychotic abou..." Gojin was cut off by a pirate's grumble. In a split second, one of the pirates made a dagger of fire in his left fist and stabbed at Gojin, burning his right shoulder.

He cried out in pain as the burn turned his tan skin red. Out of all the things he could have been worried about, he was worried about his robes. In self defense he sent a blast of air at the fire bender and another at the able bodied pirate coming at him with his two scimitars. Gojin jumped to the sky and glided wobbly to where Tamura stood, stroking the creature she called Von. She seemed unfazed by the commotion and didn't even ask what happened. "There's no time to explain, we need to go now before anymore pirates show up!" She put Von on her shoulder and walked in the direction they planned to take in the morning. As they were walking Gojin was bending cold air onto his burn as he thought, 'Mom is going to kill me for the burnt robes!'

As Gojin rushed up the hillock to assess the situation Tamura simply stodd there. She had already dismissed the pirates as an eliminated  threat. She'd heard the damage from her weapons, she didn't need to see. She outstretched her arm and Von walked up to her cupped hand, still shaking.

"It's okay little guy. The bad men have been taken care of," she whispered soothingly as she stroked the top of his head with a single finger. From behind the hillock she could hear struggling, and screams which she recognised as Gojin's. That was good. If he was screaming it meant he was still conscious and alive, there was nothing to worry about. Not yet at least. When the boy reappeared his clothing was singed, and he had a nasty burn on one of his arms. As predicted he was alive though.

Rushing past her the kid mumbled something about having to leave right now before more pirates arrived. She'd already figured out no more pirates would be arriving, there was no full sized ship around that would be able to make it to shore in the near future. Still she didn't mind moving, the smell of blood was starting to get on her nerves. As the kid was trying to soothe his seared flesh she moved to readjust the strap of her Box O' Fun but realised it wasn't there. The box was lying in the sand near the hill the pirates had crested, the blades were scattered everywhere.

"You go on ahead. I'll catch up in a second," she called to Gojin, turning around to walk back towards her gear. She didn't even look to see what he did in response as she bent a blast of air under he feet, sending herself up in the air, along with copious amounts of sand. She landed in a smooth roll by the box, picking it up in one hand as one of the pirates poked his head over the hill.

In a single circular motion of her arm she threw the empty wooden sheath. The container collided with the pirate's face with a wet cracking sound that sounded rather unpleasant. As the box had been sailing through the air Tamura had ducked back and was gathering the two blades that were still on this side of the hill before walking up to face the pirates. When they saw her come up the crest, a blade in each hand, they took a step back. She simply ignored them, continuing to collect her 'Boys' up. The one embedded in the dead pirate's heart took a second more to pry out of his ribcage, but she eventually succeeded. She had nine of the ten 'Boys' in her hands by now as she turned to the pirates gathered around their bleeding buddy.

"I'm going to need that back," she explained coldly, but calmly, pointing at the hilt of the sword sticking out of the downed pirate's chest.

"If we take it out Munch is gonna bleed out!" one of the men protested.

"Then cauterize his wound with fire," she replied venomously. Having had to receive such treatment before she knew it was excruciatingly painful, but honestly she was past caring. "Now get me my weapon back before I get angry again."

The men exchanged a few unsure looks, before carefully pulling the blade  out of Munch, who moaned and whimpered in pain throughout the process, and tossed the blade at her, which she deftly caught in one hand.

"A pleasure doing business with you gentlemen," she declared with a sarcastic smile and bow as she walked away, picking up her Boys' sheath by the unconscious pirate as she did. By the time she returned to Gojin's sight she was carrying her box with all ten of the Boys neatly arranged inside, her hands were on her hips and she was looking a lot more cheerful, whistling an upbeat tune as she walked. A few seconds after she passed the crest of the hill a scream of pain originating from behind her broke the surface serenity of the scene, but she didn't even flinch or stop to look back, simply continuing to walk back towards Gojin.

"Shall we move along? I'd hate to be out here after nightfall,it gets awfully cold," she told Gojin pleasantly as she reached him.

Gojin knew the temperature changes were drastic around here. Today seemed unnaturally still, from the moment they first met 'till now. "A storm... A bad one too." he muttered quietly, which only the rodent on the lass's arm could hear. The once clear sky was now coated with large clouds, showing the sign of a thunder or lightning storm.

It wasn't long after the clouds built up, a crack of thunder broke the unnerving silence of the trip back to the temple. The rodent named 'Von' poked his head up and became uneasy with the loud sound.  "We need to hurry if we want to make it to the Southern air temple." Gojin said nervously. He knew the power of these small storms. When he was ten years old, he was playing on the beach with his family and his friend Joi when a storm like this occurred and ripped small trees from the ground, created large waves, and water spouts. The storm was no problem for three airbenders, (even though young Gojin was still a novice,) and a young but powerful waterbender. he memory was the one thing that reminded him how good it is to have someone to help and be by your side.

He picked up the pace and so did Tamura. This storm wasn't going to be so little, and that wasn't the worst part, a small grove of trees was just ahead. 'My cursed luck.' Gojin thought to himself. This was yet another obstacle in the short journey. The wind and rain raged on, tearing small saplings out of the ground, then came the first small tree, Gojin sent a wall of air to the side, throwing the tree out of their way.  Then more and more trees came and Gojin used the same move to block the trees. They made it half way through the forest, where the more sturdy and strong tress are. The wind died down a little, being too weak to lift small trees and other natural weapons. The rain however was still a thorn in the side. Gojin made a small air bubble around him and Tamura, he was saddened to see no respect from his selflessness.

It want long before they reached the mountains where the temple stood. "This shouldn't be too hard, even though the setting sun is partially blocked by the dying storm clouds." Once they reached the top of the mountain Gojin said was the one that held the temple, the temple was in sight.

A storm was brewing. The black clouds that were creeping up from the horizon, blown towards them by the wind was a definitive tell. The fluctuating air currents were another. At this rate by the time they reached the island they would burst and release all the water they held in their bowels, it'd probably turn into a thunderstorm too. As an air bender she could feel the air currents fluctuating, and she was wondering if her travel companion's silence was him not wishing to tell her of the incoming weather, or if he just wasn't sensitive enough to the flux of the air around him to notice. Either way she cared little and she didn't feel the need or the desire to question him.

The boy knew exactly where he was going, she didn't, and so she let him take the lead, the two of them travelling in silence as the dark clouds grew closer and closer at an alarming pace. At this rate they'd get caught in the storm during the climb, and she wasn't relishing that idea. Soon they blotted out the sun, cutting off most of the daylight as the wind started to blow furiously. She knew what would come next, and in anticipation of the imminent rain she unbuckled the wide conical hat from her belt setting it own on her head. As if on cue the rain started to pelt down just a couple of minutes later. Despite her hat Tamura was getting thoroughly soaked, the wind was constantly shifting direction, and blowing hard, pushing the droplets against her at impossible angles which the hat, well made as it was, couldn't stop. Still it was better than nothing.

As the first bolt of lightning carved out a crisp white line over the dark horizon, soon followed by the rolling rumble of thunder. Von had seen thunder before, and every time his reaction was the same. He dove from Tamura's shoulder right into his favourite hiding place. Her bosom, much to her displeasure. As soon as he did she fished him out by his tail.

"Don't you dare," she hissed at him as she placed him back on her shoulder where he stayed, looking rather distressed. Even as the next thunderbolt struck he didn't move, simply making himself smaller and smaller, trying to hide in the crook of Tamura's neck.

She simply absently nodded as the kid pointed out they needed to get a move on, letting him know she was following him. The wind was starting to get very loud, whistling  as it rushed through trees, foliage and rocks. The boy put up a valiant show of defending them against bloodthirsty flying trees as the wind ripped a full small grove of saplings out of the ground and flung them at the two air benders.

A little while after that incident they made it deeper into a forested area, the older, thicker trees providing some protection from the full impact of the wind. However the abundance of foliage meant that what wind made it through did so extremely noisily, every gale blowing through howling. The boy turned to say something, but the wind blew his words away before she ha had chance to hear them. She nodded nonetheless, there was no point in anything else, if she made it known she hadn't heard him he'd just scream himself hoarse trying to be understood. As the kid was speaking Tamura noticed a shape in the background, something was approaching, quickly. A second longer revealed a large shattered trunk coming at the two from the top of the mountain. Gojin hadn't seen it, he had his back turned to it as he was talking. She rushed forward, violently pushing pulling him out of the way.

She placed herself between the boy and the approaching wooden slab, slamming her coiled fists together, something akin to a shock wave blasted out from her as her fists connected and a thick silence covered the area. As soon as her fists connected she opened her palms and drew her arms wide, spinning in place once as her arms drew out a single figure of eight in the air before her, all the motions were down fluidly, and more importantly rapidly. When her feet stopped and she was facing the fast approaching trunk again her feet were set wide apart in a stance more reminiscent of earth bending than air bending. She reached her arms back, and then snapped them forward like two lunging snakes, her open palms touching at the end of a motion, forming an arrow pointing straight forward with her arms. During the motion a massive blast of air was drawn to her, its approach was so swift and powerful that it bent the surrounding ancient trees right by their breaking point with a unified growl and groan. The air swirled up her arms, forcing its way between her palms which were just barely open. All that air shed just summoned shot out form there in a single, thin, dense blast, all the power of the gales concentrated in a single blade of air that sliced through the trunk that was just a couple of feet away like a hot knife through butter. The trunk was shredded, and its two mangled halves went sailing safely past Tamura and Gojin, going on to crash into the ground a few yards behind them.

What she'd essentially just done was a move she'd taught herself after having observed earth bending, mixing air and earth bending techniques into one devastating attack. The initial slamming of the fists was meant to steady the surrounding wind, steadying the air and making the gathering of the required air to produce a successful long range air blade easier. The rest was simply the drawing and releasing of colossal amounts of wind, which was then blasted out in a single concentrated blade that could cut through solid steel.

Tamura turned to face Gojin and simply put one open palm up in the universal sign for him to wait. She hoped he'd understand she meant to hold his questions for later. Of course she was only assuming he'd have questions. She'd just demonstrated a move that was both unusual, perhaps even unique to her, and definitely worthy of a master bender, without breaking a sweat. What she thought might confuse him though, was that she'd obviously never been recognised as a master air bender by any of the Air Temples, her forehead, hands and feet were obviously devoid of the tips of the sprawling arrow tattoos young air benders earned when they were thought to have mastered their element. To someone who;d spent their whole life amongst air benders the idea that master air benders without arrows tattoos existed in the world was probably confusing, to say the least.

Hoping he'd understood her wish for him to hold his queries she then stepped aside, letting him resume the lead. After all she still had no idea where to go. In the rush to stop the incoming trunk she'd failed to notice that Von had taken the opportunity to reach his favourite hiding place, from which he'd just poked out his head to observe the situation. She could have chased him from there, but in the end she preferred to have him there, if he'd stayed on her shoulder during that last manoeuvre he'd probably have gotten blasted right off into the wind. At least where he as right now he was unlikely to escape.