[Plot Topic] Finding the Warrior of Air (Earthy, Kouzai, Tsumi)

Hiroto was listened to the man reply and simply nodded with a stern expression fixed on his tired face. Hiroto thought he was finished, but he thought wrong. “Yes,” he said as Hideyoro spoke about the airship waiting nearby. Hiroto never could understand the airships. He found them obsolete, but that was only because his mastery of airbending. Sure, he could not literally fly, but all he needed was a handy glider and he was just as good as some airship. All of a sudden there was an explosion and Hiroto did not flinch or react to it in any way. He simply sighed and groaned, “I would like one time to go to a place and not hear explosions in the distance.” He sighed a second time and then there was a second explosion, but this time whoever was attacking had hit the tower. The entire building shook sending debris and dust on the people below. “That’s great,” he mumbled and leaned against his staff not intending to be knocked over by the explosions.

Hiroto was already standing near the window in a matter of moments before Hideyoro asked what was there. “Oh my…” he trailed off and was cut off by another explosion. “We can discuss where they are from when we get out of here,” Hiroto pointed out, “there are far too many of them to fight our way through. We have to get out of here and I suggest that we leave now.” Hiroto looked at the two individuals in the room and watched as Hideyoro jumped out the window. Hiroto sighed and followed behind him. He acted quickly and using his airbending he slowed himself down as he reached the bottom. He looked up to see a group of soldiers moving towards them. “We have company,” Hiroto said out loud and stood tall. He spun his staff a few times and in one fell swoop he sent a large blast of air towards the advancing soldiers. It made contact with a few of them and they instantly flew backwards. Hiroto sent another one, but there were far too many soldiers for him to handle.

The soldiers got closer and instantly chaos ensured. Hiroto was surprised to see that there was not just one type of benders among this group. Hiroto saw that he was facing each member of the elements. He would avoid a blast of fire and instantly have to overcome a few shards of ice from an enraged water bender. Hiroto was a master at his art and was capable of avoiding almost anything they sent at him. He would counter their attacks with a few choice blasts of air and the foes would be knocked off their feet and he would be able to send a nice blow with his staff. Hiroto was all over the place and then he noticed how there were non-benders in the group. “Archers!” Hiroto called and scanned the area for Hideyoro. He saw the man and quickly made his way to him. Hiroto made it in time and was able to blast the arrows out of the air. “There are still too many of them,” Hiroto said pointing out the obvious, “we have to get out of here. Where is Kyofu?” Hiroto scanned the area, but was forced to stop when an earthbender sent a few boulders straight at him. Hiroto groaned and was quickly thrown into a fight with this earthbender and a few of his friends. “We have to find a way out!” he shouted and started to focus his attention on knocking these guys out.

The older-sounding of the two wise men spoke decisively- This was obviously premeditated. Likely, whoever these people were, they had known about him for awhile. Inspected the kingdom, the city, the tower he lived in, and of course, the man inside. How, he didn’t know, but they had done their research.
“There is an airship waiting at the edge of this mountain city. It shall take us to my Uncle Owlan in the Spirit World. You will meet with the Spirit King there, as well as the other Warriors and the Avatar. Shall we get--”

Then, sounds. Loud ones. Violent sounds, sounds of things expanding in bursts of flame, causing slight pressure to the eardrum- indications of force. The sound of man yelling. And then, the older man spoke again, a certain hurriedness to his voice.

"It appears that the city is under attack. What do you see? Tell me? We had reports that rebels were--” Another explosion. Closer this time. "--Were amassing in all nations but I never thought they'd do this. They've either just come from the Northern Air Temple...or they're coming back from it. Either way, we must leave immediately. I cannot see everything however. While I help you fight the soldiers on the ground as we make our way to the airship. I require the two of you to watch for arrows, bombs, and any other non-chi infused objects and protect me from them. Bending is easy to see; people as well, and all sorts of plants and animals. But I cannot see that which does not give off the essence of life.”

“There are far too many of them to fight our way through. We have to get out of here, and I suggest that we leave now.”

And out the window they went. Then, the sound of extreme heat discharge: Firebending. The old man was a firebender.

Kyofu gritted his teeth, and jumped out behind them, using a small stream of air to push himself against the wall, as he slid down, conserving energy as much as possible. Upon nearing the ground at a reduced speed, he was able to use minimal force to avoid hurting himself.

“This is probably a strike against me… But, I can’t just let this happen! I’m supposed to be some big-important hero-type, right? Then, let’s start training right now!”, Kyofu confidently declared, unable to see the numbers against him. He could feel plenty of them through vibrations in the air- but he could not comprehend the magnitude of their forces.

He could hear his to-be master call out, “There are still too many of them! We have to get out of here! Where is Kyofu?”
He moved to assist.
His feet were silent, as he made a beeline for the earthbender assailing Hiroto.

In an instant, he was behind the earthbender, perched on his hips with his head in a secure arm-lock. He moved his mouth close to the man’s ear, and whispered in a menacing tone:

“Hey there, buddy chum pal friend buddy pal chum bud friend fella brother pal buddy friend chummy-chum-chum pal. I don't mean to be rude my friend-pal home-slice bread-slice, but i gotta warn ya- if you take one more diddly-darn step right there i’m going to have to diddly-darn snap your neck and- wowza!- wouldn't that be a crummy juncture, huh? Do you want that? Do you wish upon yourself to come into physical experience with a crummy juncture? Because, friend buddy chum friend chum pally pal chum friend, if you keep this up, well, gosh-diddly-darn, i just might have to get not-so-friendly with you my friendly-friend friend pal friend buddy chum pally friend chum buddy…”

Hideyoro "watched" through his "eyes" as the chi and energy and living beings clashed against each other.  It was saddening and disheartening to "watch."  People were dying.  Everywhere Hideyoro "looked" lights were being extinguished.  Animals, humans, benders, civilians...children....infants....pregnant mothers.  Soldiers were fighting each other, trying to protect what they loved most or follow their orders.  From what Hideyoro could hear of the soldiers around him, they were on their way to the Northern Air Temple.

Hideyoro knew he couldn't stop them, but he also knew he couldn't let Hiroto and Kyofu die here.  The were fighting off some of the soldiers as Hideyoro took everything in.  Hideyoro himself joined in, using his blindness to his advantage.  None of the enemy soldiers expected him to fight back, but being a Spirit Bender who saw through chi, Hideyoro could see everything.  Their attacks, their movements, their breathing, their bodies, their chi reserves, and even how their chi flowed through their body.

Hideyoro knew what kind of attack they were going for before they did, by seeing which part of their body the chi was flowing to.  Hideyoro used his Fire Bending to attack his opponents.  Air Benders most of them.  Unfortunate for them as their air bending often times only accentuated and fueled his flames.  Poor devils.  They shot air at him, he blasted flame at them, and lucky Hideyoro was standing upwind from them, meaning the wind was blowing the flames back at them.  They burned to a crisp in seconds.

Hideyoro heard Kyofu talk about a strike against him.  "Just the opposite," smiled Hideyoro, "If anything this is bonus respect.  You're basically doing your job; you'll be doing this once you're trained up eventually."  Hideyoro kept laughing a bit, Kyofu reminding him of his younger cousin, Hiruko.  He was always off helping people, killing evildoers, helping the less fortunate.  Hideyoro was one of the few members of the family that was truly proud of him.

Then, Hideyoro "saw" more airships on the horizon.  Well, he didn't "see" them, but he saw the massive collection of chi that was soldiers and helmsmen running around within the airships.  He had to get Kyofu and Hiroto out of there.  He needed to get them back to the Premature Death, his personal airship.  "Hiroto, Kyofu!  Cover me for a second!  I'm going to open a spirit portal between here and my ship!  We need to get out of here; they have reinforcements!"  Hideyoro needed to focus to open this portal, and he couldn't defend himself while he did.  He needed to trust Hiroto and Kyofu to keep and eye on his safety while he thought of theirs.

The sigh that left Hiroto's lips had spelled more than relief for his life. In truth he didn't not fear much for his life. Death was already upon him as an old man, he did however fear for his story untold. He had responsibilities, one of them perched upon man in a playful manner.

He detested Kyofu's actions against the earth-bender, while effective they were unorthodox and impractical, a habit he would surely have to break come their training. That is, if they ever could get out of this damn village.
"Hiroto, Kyofu! Cover me for a second! I'm going to open a spirit portal between here and my ship! We need to get out of here; they have reinforcements!"

His eyes scanned the horizon, squinting to effectively see the ships as they began to form in the distance. A scowl formed over his old face as he moved to stand in front of Hideyoro. He didn't picture their hunt for the warrior to be this difficult. Honestly he just wished to be elsewhere and the spirit king's palace would be an adequate home for him now.

The monk eyed a group of advancing archers that perched themselves at the end of the block, targeting the group and aiming delicately. They hesitated and all for good measure as Hiroto slowly circled his hands around another. His movements were elegant compared to the harsh bending that Kyofu displayed at times. In truth all air benders moved gracefully, but Hiroto had move beyond master and ascended into a new class all by its'elf.

He felt the element of air stream around his body and expand outward to create a dome around the three men. The air grew harsher and harsher as it circled them. The archers firing their feeble arrows into the cyclone proved futile as the wind destroyed them easily.

Hiroto continued to protect them within the contents of the cyclone like dome, his hands swirling in the over exaggerated movements.
"I require further assistance Kyofu! I can block arrows but swords are another story!" He yelled out as a band of three men with blades came up behind them.

((OOC: I will be taking over for Kyofu as of the Admin Moot decision.))


Things got hectic pretty fast.  Kyofu was busy parrying several attacks with his sword.  He toyed with the Seven Thorns soldiers.  Smirking he parried, blocked, parried, parried, blocked, spun, twirled, jumped.  It was a dance to him.  Just to show off Kyofu placed a hand on his hip and used the other for his sword.  He chuckled loudly, tilting his head back as his enemies were baffled by his skill and speed.  Of course that left Kyofu open for distractions, and he yowled as he felt a knife prick his arm.

Kyofu used his air bending to fly up into the air, and back away from the on coming enemies.  Someone hit him with a throwing knife, and it was bleeding pretty profusely.  Kyofu bit his lip and held in the pain.  He'd bandage the wound later.  For now he blew air upon the wound to dry the blood faster and hopefully form a temporary scab until proper medical attention became available.  Then came the cry from Hideyoro, and one from his future teacher.

Hideyoro needed cover, and Hiroto needed help with swords. Swords eh? Kyofu gave a jaunty smile beneath his mask and pranced over to the sword-bearing enemies in a joking manner. He resembled much the drunken ballerina. Laughing wildly, Kyofu came upon his new enemies and shouted, "En garde!" He blocked several blades, and pushed his opponents back away from Hiroto. Meanwhile the old man focused on the incoming projectiles; large and small.

Hideyoro was concentrating as if his life depended on it--oh, right, it did. All of theirs did. Teehee, whoopsies! Kyofu focused himself back on his art, protecting Hiroto and Hideyoro like it was his duty--oh right, that was. Kyofu was having fun defending his new friends. It was nice just having someone to defend whom Kyofu knew had his back as well. People who cared about him. What was the word...family? Yeah, something like that.

Kyofu hadn't had that in a while. Even the monks admonished Kyofu's vigilantism, despising his violent methods--even if they were for a noble cause and used for the right reasons. To an Air Bender--most Air Benders--there was no right reason to kill, or hurt, or maim. Not even if it was severely provoked. Hiroto didn't seem to mind that much at all. Kyofu was going to enjoy training with his new master.

Hideyoro focused until sweat poured down his brow and dripped from his hair.  It took a lot of concentration to open a spirit portal.  He was only 30; Spirit Benders grew stronger with age, and that was something he did not have much of.  Hideyoro was skilled, but nowhere close to the level of older Spirit Benders.  It took him a considerable amount of time for him to open the Spirit Portal, but once he had he realized he had made it just in time.  The reinforcements had closed in and were now ready to deploy.

They would need to move fast to make their escape.  The portal was open and Hideyoro called to the others to go in.  He would have to go in, however, otherwise the portal would close after him.  He needed to remain in order to maintain it.  Hiroto and him agreed Kyofu needed to go first, he was most important.  Hiroto was strong enough to hold his own if he could; and if anything happened to him he could be replaced immediately.

The Warrior of Air was a bit different.  If he died it'd be another decade and a half before they could go find him again.  Hideyoro was the least consequential of them all.  A prince who would be mourned by none but his people--he could easily be replaced as Regent Lord, and he would've given his life for the greatest cause.  Peace.  A worthy death.  The worthiest.  One befitting legendary heroes of old.  In the days when such a thing was easier.  The old days.

"Kyofu, in the portal, now!" called Hideyoro, "We don't have time to tarry.  Not unless you want to die here.  Hiroto and I will follow after.  Hiroto cover his escape!"