New Beginnings (tarlof)

"No name huh?" Zesh muttered pensively, stroking his rough beard. That wouldn't do. Names were oh so very important in life. He had come to understand that over his years of experience. Often young people discarded names as simple labels, just a set of letters used to refer to a particular bag of meat and bones, they were all too willing to claim that a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet. Analogies were always such dangerous things, one could twist any idea into a poetic analogy and make fools gobble it up blindly, no matter how wrong the initial thought. While a rose by any other name would certainly still smell as sweet robbing a human of his or her name was like robbing them of their identity. In his travels Zesh had read of, and even stumbled upon backwater societies nestled in hidden crags which stripped citizens of their sense of identity and their individuality by stripping away their names so as to better dominate them. Being referred to as 'boy' or as 'girl' or as 'you there' forever had a way to shatter your sense of being human. Plus names were pretty damn convenient.

"How about Razon?" the old man suggested. "It has the considerable virtues of being short and easy to remember, and it's a good name, a nice strong name. I used to know someone named Razon a long time ago. He was quite the strong lad," of course what Zesh wasn't mentioning was that the Razon in question had been an incorrigible bully. Thing was Zesh himself had always liked the sound of that name, maybe this kid could make better use of it than that bully had.

"You'll need something to be known as in the days to come after all. I can't get you your birth name back, nor can I tell you who you were. That information is probably locked up deep inside your brain and you're the only one who can find it again. However there's no reason why you can't make a new name for yourself, even if it will only be a temporary one."

''Razon... It's better than not having a name I guess. I actually like it." He smiled weakly. "so you from around here?"

"Razon it is then," the old man repeated gravely, giving some ceremonial finality to the naming.

"No. I am not from around here," Zesh replied to the boy's question. "I was born in the Northern Water Tribe many decades ago and I've been meandering about the world ever since. Days like today are tough when you're on the road, with no sure place with a roof to rest under. Thankfully days as miserably damp and rainy as today are rare," as he spoke the old man struggled up, pushing himself off the ground and pulling himself upwards with some help from the cavern wall. Grabbing his walking stick he limped off to the mouth of the hollow, poking his head out into rain to look up at the sky.

It had gotten very dark and the moon was out and well on its way up into the sky. Zesh limped back in, wiping droplets of water off the top of his head as he sat back down at his previous spot.

"It's getting late. We should get some sleep. There's a village close by, if we set out at dawn we can get there a little after midday and that's where we'll part ways. The people there are friendly enough, I've been there a few times in the past, they should take good care of you," the old scholar explained as he unwrapped his sleeping mat from his bag. "I really would suggest you stay there for a while. I can probably talk to some people, get you an apprenticeship with a local artisan. They'll lodge you, feed you and teach you a trade. Unless you have a better plan of course."

"not really" Razon said. He felt energetic yet tired. He got up and walked over to the entrance. He sat against the wall and stared out over the land. " Right now anything is better than wandering with no where to call a destination. I guess I'll see you in the morning" He stared at the land until he fell asleep an hour later.

The rain was battering Soren's coat. The droplets were deafening as they seeped through his hair and dribbled down his face onto the ground. He had been searching for his mark for some time now, and his work was made more difficult with the onslaught of the thunderstorm. Soren's jacket and trousers were water proof, but that did little to protect the rest of him. Seeking shelter, he saw a cave poorly lit and decided to continue his pursuit in the morning. Soren headed over to the cave, the mud squishing and sticking to his granite boots and he approached the entrance.

Soren entered the cave, and soon heard the sounds of sleep. Choosing to continue, he entered the cave and saw an old man, a young man, and a fireferrit all huddled next to the small fire asleep. Soren was about to announce himself, when he saw the old man was a little... off. He was pale and didn't appear to be breathing. Soren walked over to try and stir the old man, but to no avail. The man was dead from what appeared to be natural causes as Soren couldn't find any wounds. Soren then walked over to the young man and knelt down and cleared his throat. "Sir," Soren said to try and wake him. "Excuse me sir, you need to wake up. Something has happened." Soren then waited for the young man to arise.

Razon awoke to a new face. his first instinct was to attack. so he threw a punch at the mans face

Soren felt the punch coming with his ability to seismic sense. This was why he was a master of sand bending. Soren's reflexes were able to easily react to the punch. Soren bent the earth around him into sand and summoned a small wave of sand to not only block the attack, but to push Razon back to prevent him from being able to produce any follow up attacks. While blocking the attack, Soren exclaimed, "Wait! I am not here to fight you! The old man has died." Soren then waited to see if his block and explanation were successful.

Razon looked over at the old man. He was pale and his chest did not rise. His head slumped in defeat.

''Now how do i find who I am?''

Soren was a bit confused. He wondered what the young man meant. Soren then looked over at Razon and asked, "What do you mean 'find out who you are'? Do you not know who you are?" Soren then looked over at the corpse, "I think I might be able to help you out. I have connections within the fire nation that we might be able to use, but we need to leave after I bury the body."

Soren then moved his foot slightly and earth bent a whole 6ft in the ground right below the old man. Soren then moved his foot again and covered the whole promptly and left a rock roughly 2ft in diameter in an upright position to function as a headstone. He then looked back at Razon, "Let's go. By the way, my name is Soren Shikyo. Who are you?"

Razon started to leave but stopped. He walked over to Zesh's belongings and gathered them up. The old man might be dead but his belongings still had use. Razon slung the pack over his shoulder and walked out of the cave.

''The names Razon now.''