Status: New updates will be coming pretty quickly right now, but should slow down shortly.
Book One: Spirits
Keng
The rest of the night was quiet, and after a quick breakfast, Kari met up with Shu.
“I have a favor to ask,” Kari lowered her voice. “See that man over there?” she indicated the man she had seen pretending to sleep in the car the previous night. “I need to find out as much as I can about him, but he knows I’m suspicious. Can you work your magic?”
“Sure.” Shu shrugged. “Do you know his name?”
“Not a clue.” Kari mumbled, embarrassed.
“Amateur.” Shu grumbled before heading off in his direction. “Excuse me, sir.” she smiled sweetly. “What is your name?”
“Keng,” he replied, confused. “Why do you ask?”
“My name is Shu Tzi. My family wishes to extend to you an invitation to our home when we arrive at Ba Sing Se.”
“Oh?” he was noticeably surprised. “What warrants such an honor?”
“My family taught me to be kind and courteous to everyone I meet. I thought it would be nice to extend the gesture to the travelers who have been on the road for so long.” He seemed to accept this, bowing and thanking her for the opportunity, then walked away. Shu returned to Kari.
“His name’s Keng.” she replied. “Did you want me to run around like your slave some more, or was there something else you wanted?” Her tone was harsh, but Kari could tell she was teasing.
“Nah, that’s it.” Kari turned to walk to the car with Pong and Rikkako.
“Hey,” Shu stopped her. “Wanna ride with me in the luxury car? This bitchy lady keeps asking me questions and bothering me. And she smells bad. I need someone to make it bearable”. Kari chuckled. Although she knew Shu had a foul mouth, it was still amusing to hear this language out of an 11 year old.
“Sure” she smiled, looking over at her teammates. It was clear that they had some unresolved issues.
The first leg of the trip was mostly uneventful. After making a quick stop to feed the ostrich horses, the cars were moving again. A few hours in, things took an abrupt turn for the worst. Kari stopped Shu mid sentence, standing and peering out the window.
“The fuck?” Shu asked, but Kari shushed her. She believed she saw something moving in the woods beside the car. Suddenly, she caught a flash of the Huwei’s face in the trees. She seemed to be gliding along side the car, and this time, her eyes were glowing red. Kari flinched away from the window just as an arrow struck the side of the car. Peeking out, she noticed that several people rode up alongside them on ostrich horses. The caravan came to a screeching halt.
Shu was the first person out the door and threw some of the nearby earth at the closest attacker, knocking him off his horse. The guards up front were immediately blocked in by an earth wall erected by some of the bandits. Being non-benders, all these guards could do was bang their fists against the earth. Kari was the next person out, but narrowly dodging Just then a sword passing over her head. Turning, she managed to lash out with a fire whip at her attacker, throwing him from his horse and to the ground. She gave the same treatment to another bandit coming around the car. Neither looked like they would be moving. Meanwhile, Rikkako was celebrating the fact she had managed to do damage to someone: a man Pong trapped in an earthen box. By the time they made it up to Kari and Shu, one final man hopped out from the supply cart and rode away on his ostrich cart. No one even had a chance of getting close to him. Kari cursed to herself before turning to one of the guards.
“Anything missing from the supply cart?” she asked. “I thought I saw him carrying something off.” After a few minutes, one of the guards called out,
“It looks like the only thing that’s missing are a few jugs of water.” Rikkako looked surprised for a moment before quickly making a few arm motions. She had borrowed water from these barrels for her bending, which she quickly gathered and returned.
“Oh. Nevermind!” the guard called back. No one could come up with anything missing, nor the reason of attack.
The guards completed their investigation quickly and confirmed that nothing had been stolen. To each person who helped, they offered a small bag of coins.
“Here’s a reward for taking care of those bandits.” one of the guards spoke up. Rikkako and Kari had their suspicions about where they pulled the money from, but decided it would be a poor choice to say anything. With the situation over, the four were just happy to return to their respective cars, relaxing until their next destination: Pohuaia.
During the ride, Kari had some time to do some thinking. When they stopped, she did a quick census of the remaining passengers. Unsurprisingly, Keng wasn’t among them. Posting a guard, the Pong erected a tent and the three teammates fell asleep.
“I have a favor to ask,” Kari lowered her voice. “See that man over there?” she indicated the man she had seen pretending to sleep in the car the previous night. “I need to find out as much as I can about him, but he knows I’m suspicious. Can you work your magic?”
“Sure.” Shu shrugged. “Do you know his name?”
“Not a clue.” Kari mumbled, embarrassed.
“Amateur.” Shu grumbled before heading off in his direction. “Excuse me, sir.” she smiled sweetly. “What is your name?”
“Keng,” he replied, confused. “Why do you ask?”
“My name is Shu Tzi. My family wishes to extend to you an invitation to our home when we arrive at Ba Sing Se.”
“Oh?” he was noticeably surprised. “What warrants such an honor?”
“My family taught me to be kind and courteous to everyone I meet. I thought it would be nice to extend the gesture to the travelers who have been on the road for so long.” He seemed to accept this, bowing and thanking her for the opportunity, then walked away. Shu returned to Kari.
“His name’s Keng.” she replied. “Did you want me to run around like your slave some more, or was there something else you wanted?” Her tone was harsh, but Kari could tell she was teasing.
“Nah, that’s it.” Kari turned to walk to the car with Pong and Rikkako.
“Hey,” Shu stopped her. “Wanna ride with me in the luxury car? This bitchy lady keeps asking me questions and bothering me. And she smells bad. I need someone to make it bearable”. Kari chuckled. Although she knew Shu had a foul mouth, it was still amusing to hear this language out of an 11 year old.
“Sure” she smiled, looking over at her teammates. It was clear that they had some unresolved issues.
The first leg of the trip was mostly uneventful. After making a quick stop to feed the ostrich horses, the cars were moving again. A few hours in, things took an abrupt turn for the worst. Kari stopped Shu mid sentence, standing and peering out the window.
“The fuck?” Shu asked, but Kari shushed her. She believed she saw something moving in the woods beside the car. Suddenly, she caught a flash of the Huwei’s face in the trees. She seemed to be gliding along side the car, and this time, her eyes were glowing red. Kari flinched away from the window just as an arrow struck the side of the car. Peeking out, she noticed that several people rode up alongside them on ostrich horses. The caravan came to a screeching halt.
Shu was the first person out the door and threw some of the nearby earth at the closest attacker, knocking him off his horse. The guards up front were immediately blocked in by an earth wall erected by some of the bandits. Being non-benders, all these guards could do was bang their fists against the earth. Kari was the next person out, but narrowly dodging Just then a sword passing over her head. Turning, she managed to lash out with a fire whip at her attacker, throwing him from his horse and to the ground. She gave the same treatment to another bandit coming around the car. Neither looked like they would be moving. Meanwhile, Rikkako was celebrating the fact she had managed to do damage to someone: a man Pong trapped in an earthen box. By the time they made it up to Kari and Shu, one final man hopped out from the supply cart and rode away on his ostrich cart. No one even had a chance of getting close to him. Kari cursed to herself before turning to one of the guards.
“Anything missing from the supply cart?” she asked. “I thought I saw him carrying something off.” After a few minutes, one of the guards called out,
“It looks like the only thing that’s missing are a few jugs of water.” Rikkako looked surprised for a moment before quickly making a few arm motions. She had borrowed water from these barrels for her bending, which she quickly gathered and returned.
“Oh. Nevermind!” the guard called back. No one could come up with anything missing, nor the reason of attack.
The guards completed their investigation quickly and confirmed that nothing had been stolen. To each person who helped, they offered a small bag of coins.
“Here’s a reward for taking care of those bandits.” one of the guards spoke up. Rikkako and Kari had their suspicions about where they pulled the money from, but decided it would be a poor choice to say anything. With the situation over, the four were just happy to return to their respective cars, relaxing until their next destination: Pohuaia.
During the ride, Kari had some time to do some thinking. When they stopped, she did a quick census of the remaining passengers. Unsurprisingly, Keng wasn’t among them. Posting a guard, the Pong erected a tent and the three teammates fell asleep.