Avatar: A New Hope

Adena didn't respond. She just laid down and closed her eyes. She had no intention of actually falling asleep, only pretending. Her body had other ideas. It wasn't safe for her to sleep, but she seemed to drift off in no time. Her mind wandered back to Roku again. She hadn't dreamt of him in seven months and now he was there twice in one day. This time it was more pleasant. It went back to the day they first met. She had walked in on a war meeting when she was thirteen and there was a red-headed boy there as well. The young princess sat quietly at the back of the room until the meeting was over and then was greeted by one of her father's generals. He introduced her to his son.

"Ro...ku..." His name escaped her lips while she slept. It was a whisper, but loud enough to be heard. The dream changed to another day they spent together, one much more recent. It was her twentieth birthday and Roku had come to visit. He had a sleek black box in his hand and when she opened it, it contained the fire crystal necklace she was wearing. Adena had been talking about how she wanted to collect some from a nearby cavern and he apparently did it for her. It was the lzst real happy moment she had that year.

 

"As much as I agree with what," Bai paused and looked at Aria, straining to figure out whatever the girl's name was until she realized they never met before. Clearing her throat, she crossed her arms and lowered her head. "She said, we're too large of a group." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully and stared down at the ground, thinking back on what the few had said. They pretty much had someone belonging to every nation and with that alone, they could possibly get far. However, she believed not very fair. She believed the only one who could not bend any of the elements would be Aria for being an Kyoshi Warrior. But she never doubted those women. They were strong and she has seen them first hand before on what kind of damage they can do. They were fast and strong; bending an element won't always get a person too far. "I suggest we split into smaller groups if any of us plan on becoming a group to take on the Fire Lord. If that even is the King's intention." She momentarily averted her gaze towards the king, bowing slightly before she returned her attention towards the group.

 

​

The King was perplexed and taken by surprise at the announcement by the skinny Airbender that there was no Resistance after all, but rather it was just an "idea". A smirk spread across his face as he watched the young men and women deliver short speeches, voicing their opinions on the matter.

"I see I've gathered quite a variety here this evening." said Tasuki with a chuckle. "Some of you are far too pessimistic, while others are far too optimistic. Keep in mind, boys and girls, that the Fire Nation Army is composed mostly of Firebending masters. As I'm sure you saw today, these individuals are trained to kill on command. Meaning without mercy. Without hesitation. They are lead by an incredibly sinister tyrant, who grows even stronger by the day and will remain determined to make the world his own. You people, on the other hand, are practically children. If you plan to take down the Fire Nation, then there is much training, preperation, and discipline on the road ahead. Come to think of it...at this very moment, I can say without a single hint of doubt that I could take down all of you at once."

He began to walk around the room, between the benders, scanning them from head to toe.

"That being said, hope is not lost. Fire Lord Ozai may be powerful but he is far from immortal. With the right group of fighters I'm quite convinced he can be taken down and the world can regain its balance, even in the absence of the Avatar. And after all, there is indeed much potential in this room. It's in need of some refurbishing, of course, but it's still potential. A diamond in the rough, if you will."

Tasuki stopped for a moment then turned to face Bai.

"As for myself, my army shall take no part in attacking the Fire Nation, or seeking the Firelord. That would be considered a direct request for war, which is far more than this kingdom is prepared to handle. We struggle to survive even these occasional attacks. It's in the best interest of my people if we remain on the defense and nothing more than that. If you choose to join together and carry out this great mission, however, you shall have my support by all means. In secrecy, that is."

 

Horus took a brief moment to take all that was said in. "I'd like very much to strike down that firelord, i'll do whatever it takes to get that opportunity" he said rather grimly. He took a few steps to his right, then he looked at the Earth King straight in the eye. "Just where can i get the training i need?" he asked, a curious glint in his eye.

 

((OOC: Sorry for the lack of posting, last two weeks of school... flooded with homework.))

Nuo landed inside the wall of Ba Sing Se, lightly on her feet. As she closed the glider, she noticed there was smoke coming from the palace. "There must be danger..." She thought for a moment. 'Should I really go towards to what possibly could be my death?' Nuo looked around at her surroundings, and then back at the smoke rising from the palace. 'Sure, why not.' She then started running towards the palace, with the glider placed on her back.

 

Liao stood there listening to the King, she wanted to respond but didn't interupt him. After the king told them they needed more training, Liao sighed, then asked the king "So who's the leader of our so called Resistance, and how are the groupds going to be divided?" She spoke thinking that she would end up as a healer to the smaller groups rather than a fight. "Some of us are better fighters than healer, I don't wanna be put in a group that only needs me for healing them when they are injured, thats not who I am." There she went again running her mouth with out thinking, she thought to herself, "I gotta stop doing that........why must I continued to show my Arrogance." She looked at the King with eye of sorrow for acting this way, she even new better and yet she continued to do it.

 

Roku just smiled listening to all the people in the room. He wasn't planning on sticking around, there were to many people in the fire nation who would kill him on sight. He wanted to help but he just spent the last 2 years running away from the fire nation. What should I do he thought to himself, keep on running or fight? He was already marked as a traitor and Adena hated him already. Adena ... knowing how cunning she was she probably would escape and go back to the fire nation. Did she believe him about his sister? Could she ever forgive him?
The pain in Roku's chest began again. "I need to set things right" he whispered, go back to the fire nation and face Adena.

 

Aria smiled, listening carefully to what everyone had to say, "I've spent most of my life training and a bit more will be fine by me. This is too much of an opportunity to pass up so whatever we decide upon, count me in. Provided, of course, you don't mind a non-bender among your ranks." She grinned, twirling a single strand of hair round her finger. "I'll admit I am curious about the details, like everyone else, about how this is actually going to work. What kind of training did you have in mind? I assume we will all train together and be split into groups when we actually get to work, so some things can be decided on later. But for now, is everyone in? Is the Resistance going to become a reality?"

 

Username:Master of Keyblades
Character Name: Jaden
Gender: Male
Appearance: Jaden
Age: 16
Personality: Calm and Quiet
Weapon: Bladed Tonfa that he keeps in a drawstring bag protected in it's sheath .
Nation of Birth: Air Nomads
Current Whereabouts/Residency: Ba Sing Se
Bender: Yes, intermediate air bender
Background: During his time in the Air Nomads, Jaden spent most of his time relaxing whenever he could. Though this was what he did when he wasn't training, when he was training he actually focused on what he was doing.
Current Life: Currently lives in Ba Sing Se being careful not to let people know that he’s a air bender. His plan has worked pretty well considering he's been staying there for 3 years working at a tea shop to make some cash.

 

OOC: You're in, master of keyblades. Send me a PM so I can give you a summary and we can discuss how to incorporate your character into the current story line.

BIC:

​

King Tasuki faced the back wall of the room and grabbed a long black string that dangled from the cieling. When he pulled down on it an enormous map unraveled from above and hung down for everyone to see; displaying the entire world they inhabited. The map was exceedingly detailed, labeling every city of each of the four nations, and even symbolizing their topography. Tasuki stepped over to the right side of the map where the Earth Kingdom was drawn out, then pointed to a large shaded area with a label in bold letters that read: Ba Sing Se.

"As you all know, we are located here at this very moment." he said, tapping the shaded area. His index finger wandered in the South-West direction until stopping at a different piece of land. This one appeared separate from the Earth Kingdom, as it was off-coast. Strangely enough, the small island had no labels whatsoever and, also unlike the rest of the map, was discolored.

"Kaji Island." the King said slowly with a smile. "I'm sure some of you may know of it...or at least think you do."
He turned to face the group, but maintained his finger's position on the mysterious island.

"This was a private island owned by the wealthy family of Avatar Kaji, where they would vacation during part of the Spring season. When his father died, the island went under Kaji's possession. Many people anticipated that the great, noble Avatar would make this island public for all to enjoy its beauty, but they couldn't be more wrong. He announced a year later that it had flooded due to drastic climate change, and therefore was uninhabitable and had to be removed from all maps worldwide. That's as much of the story as any of you are familiar with. Now here's the twist: It was all a lie. A big fat lie. The Avatar saw the island as a fit location for seasonal training, but didn't want the world to think he was selfish. After all, as the Avatar, he had quite a heavy reputation to uphold."

"So, he faked the unfortunate news and paid my father quite a large sum of money to secretly have four colossal dojos built on the island for him to practice each of the elements. It was probably the most selfish, corrupted act performed by any Avatar in all history, and was kept extremely confidential. The only reason I was entrusted with such classified information is because I was the heir to the Earth Kingdom throne."
"In any case, I believe it is the perfect location for any type of training. The greatest in the world. According to my father, Kaji even developed a small archive on his island where he kept hundreds of Bending Scrolls, each containing unknown, highly-advanced bending moves taught to him by the previous Avatars themselves when speaking with them in spirit."

King Tasuki tugged at the string below the map, and the entire thing began to roll upwards, disappearing back into the ceiling.

"That is the only map left in the world with Kaji Island on it. I'm aware of its exact coordinates, and I can have you all transported there by ship. Your captain won't know what the island is, who any of you are, or why he's taking you there, but I'll bribe him to keep his mouth shut and not ask any questions. If I am to take such action, however, it needs to be arranged immediately. Each of you must decide right now whether you're in, or out. There's no turning back. Once you agree, you're officially set on the path to take down Firelord Ozai."

He gazed grimly around the room, looking each of them in the eyes one-by-one.

​

Draco watched as the Earth King revealed a large map of the world and pointed out Kaji Island. He had heard rumors of the island when he was younger, about its beauty and tropical climate, and how the Avatar was going to make it public to the rest of the world...before it sunk into the ocean. As Tasuki began to speak however, Draco's mouth gradually gaped open and he realized that the devestating tale was nothing but a hoax used to disguise Kaji's selfish desires.
His mouth nearly hit the floor when Tasuki offered them the opportunity to train on the legendary island.

"Yes!" he shouted uncontrollably. "By all means, yes! Kaji Island?! I would've never imagined being able to even see it with my own eyes, let alone train there! Absolutely, sign me up!"

Draco fell to his knees and bowed to the King eagerly, not realizing the true depth of what he was agreeing to. It did not occur to him that the sole reason he was being offered training at Kaji Island was so he could prepare for battle against an extremely malicious, powerful man. A battle he may not even survive...

 

Rolan walked over to the map that the king had let down from the ceiling and he was examining it with full attention. He put his hand up to his chin and rubbed it ever so softly as he basically put his eyes so close to the map, they were on it."You know, the world seems so much smaller when you put it on paper.....makes everything seem......less big, you know.He stepped backwards away from the map thinking over the thought over the kings offer to train from basically the avatars themselves. He opened his mouth to speak, changing his tone from his care-free self, to his serious self."Not to question your highness, but what if we were to refuse your offer? What would become of us? Would we simply vanish? Nothing of us ever existed? And what if, we did accept your offer, and later on down the road, we use what we learned to start a war of our own? Why trust us so easily, especially people not of your kingdom.... He turned to face everybody else in the room..."..No offense. Not that I'm saying that I'm going to do any of this, just mere questions.He stared intensely at the Earth King, waiting for his response.

 

Liao looked at the map, and saw an island. The king explain the tale behind the island, and it location. She understood the king but why call the Avatar selfish, he had reasons. "I'm in but I want to bring Mi Mo, if I go." She looked at the king hoping he would agree. "And out of curiosity, how long is our training going to take." Liao stood legs shoulder lenght apart, and arms crossed waiting for a reply.

 

Roku signed "I might regret this later but why not i'm in. It's not like I have anything better to do". He looked in his bag his fire nation clothes were still there, as the earth nation clothes he was wearing were burned and smelled like ash. With this training he would never have to run away again. "Well if you all can trust a firebender traitor that is. Oh and the ship needs to let my Komodo Rhino on. What could possibly go wrong putting a kyoshi warrior, air, water, earth, and fire benders on a little ship together, and sending it to a island only one other person knows about". He smiled towards Rolan and Aria.

 

Kota's mouth opened wide.

"Yes!" He shouted. "Yes, your highness!"

He thought about his brother again though.

"And, I know he's not here, but I trust my brother can come as well?"

 

Rolan looked over towards Roku after he spoke."Well if your going Roku, guess I will go as well. Gotta make that crazy ***** of your ex doesn't break out of prison and comes an kills you now, haha. Plus it will be boring here if everybody leaves. Plus if I did stay, I would probably get stuck repairing the city, and that is something I really don't want to do.Rolan walked away from the map back towards the group of people that were in the room and stopped a few feet short of them and raised his foot up and stomped it in the ground, rising up a chair from the ground, then he stepped towards turned around and fell backwards into the seat."So when do we plan on leaving, I have to collect my things that I'm taking with me."

 

​

A wide grin spread across the King's face as each of the young men and women slowly began to agree to his proposition. Some were quite inquisitive, however, which he did not like one bit. The first to propose a concern of his was the drunkard Earthbender named Rolan. He seemed suspicious about the whole plan, questioning Tasuki's inentions. The King pretended as if he hadn't heard a word of it and proceeded to answer the rest of the questions.
"The ship is enormous, I can assure you." he said, holding his arms outwards. "Anything you could possibly think of to bring will fit just fine. The only disadvantage to this, however, is that you all must set sail tonight, so you may travel to Kaji Island nearly invisible in the darkness. That gives you approximately one hour to gather all your--"

The King was suddenly interrupted by the deafening rings of tower bells. Their deep, powerful chimes came from all directions and even caused the floor beneath him to vibrate. Nearby he could faintly hear the front doors burst open as a man equipped in Earth Kingdom armor rushed in.

"Sir!" the soldier cried. "One of the prisoners has escaped...it's her."

"Lieutenant...what exactly do you mean by...her?!" Tasuki yelled over the noise. He moved slowly towards him, like a lion stalking a gazelle.

The man nervously took a few clumsy steps backwards. "Well, uh, your majesty..."

"Well, uh, your majesty! Don't you dare give me that nonsense! Answer me at once!"

"Your majesty...we didn't mean to...we took our eyes off her for five minutes...I'm sorry...Princess Adena has escaped."

Tasuki let out a bellowing scream to the cieling that made the tower bells seem like mere whistles; his fists tightening and shaking. "Well don't just stand there, damn you! I want everyone on alert! Take this group out of the city through the West exit towards the docks, then I want every single soldier out there surrounding the city's perimeter! We need men searching the outer villages, scavenging the forests, and arresting anyone within a 10 mile radius outside these walls! Every inch of the land is to be thoroughly inspected, do you understand me, Lieutenant?!"

"Your majesty, don't you think that's a little drasti-"

"DID I ASK FOR YOUR OPINION YOU SON OF A *****?!"

Tasuki turned to face the group for the last time. "I'm afraid your departure must be rescheduled, children. Due to the current circumstances, those of you who still wish to assist in saving our world... will need to leave immediately. Grab what you can and Lieutenant Chung here will make sure you're taken where you need to be taken. I must go for now, but we'll be seeing each other again someday, I'm sure. Someday soon."

With those final 'farewell' words, King Tasuki turned his back on the gang and whispered something in the Lieutenant's ear before rushing out the front door.

​

Draco's mind was struggling to keep up with everything that was going on. It was all happening so fast and he felt a desperate need to just sit down and take a breather--but there was of course no time for that. Just this morning he was perched on a rooftop in the beautiful city of Ba Sing Se, and now he was standing in the Earth King's palace in the center of the rubble and ash that had become of the area, preparing to be shipped off to some mysterious island so he could train for an attack on Firelord Ozai. Reality began to seep in, but he shook it off before the repressed thoughts from earlier that day could arise again.

"Very well then, make haste!" the Lieutenant commanded. "By the King's orders you all need to follow me."

So, Draco followed behind a man he'd never met before in his life, with a group of people he'd never met before in his life, to a ship (which he'd never ridden on before in his life), which was set to take them to an island he'd never seen before in his life.
"What in the world have I gotten myself into..." he muttered under his breath, the painful sound of tower bells ringing in his ears.

 

Liao stood there still arms crossed and legs shoulder lenght a part. Then the king agreed to everyone that they have an hour to get everything they could before leaving. She smile and reached in her tiny shoulder bag, but before she could take the object out she heard one of the gaurds say the princess had escaped. She looked around, seeing the shock on everyones face. She took off running towards the palace door. Once she made it there, she openedthem and grabbed the item out of her bag, it was a whistle. She blew on the whistle then headed towards the docks, stopping and blowing the whistle again and again on her way there. "I hope Mi Mo can hear it." She thought to herself in a bit of worry.

 

"If she escaped and hasn't come for my head she is going back to the fire nation" Roku said. He wanted to go looking for her but there's no way he could escape from the group. "Guess I better follow orders for once. Following a boy who's name he still didn't know Roku made his way out of the palace and whistled. Hotaru soon came running towards him."Hey buddy were going on a little trip." Hotaru growled at the new people, and Roku looked towards the group "meet you at docks." Here we go again Roku thought riding towards the docks, they wouldn't find Adena "be safe princess" he said to himself
Making it to the boat first Roku sat on Hotaru waiting for the others.

 

Adena bolted upright, heart pounding. She couldn't have been asleep for more than fifteen minutes when the sirens went off. She had to move, to run, before they started searching outside the city. The princess wondered if this was what Roku had felt like for the last two years, being on the run for his life. There was a difference between them, however, she just had to make it home. She would be safe once she got home, he would be executed. Adena hadn't commited any acts of treason like him. She scrambled onto her feet and turned in the direction of her camp. She would change, grab supplies, and then meet up with her komodo rhino to head home. They had ships hidden not too far away, so she could ride Agnimuhka until they reached the water. "kid, I appreciate everything you've done for me, but this is where we part ways. You don't want to be caught aiding and abedding a fugitive and you would only slow me down."

She started running before he could say anything. Her body was sore, but durable. She wouldn't have to go far to get her things. The sound of the siren echoed in her ears, a constant reminder of how much danger she was now in.