02-10-2015, 03:18 PM
Groggy. Aang felt groggy, there was no better word for it. He slowly sat up, taking note of his mildly ruffled-appearing demeanor and - whoah, was it already dark? And it had been for a few hours now, too. So much for finding a place to stay the night. He'd been dreaming, too, and not a normal dream, or he would've woken up sooner and wouldn't have still felt quite so tired. He felt torn from the dream, like something had been trying to hold him there...
Which meant something had pulled him away.
Suddenly fully alert, Aang leaped to his feet, proceeding to hunch over and keep perfectly still, listening in the wind for the perpetrator of the abrupt end to his extended nap. There was a brisk breeze, but he didn't care - he WAS an airbender after all. It did, however, cause quite a rustling in the grass, masking anything of note from outside of his earshot.
And then it was gone. Now, he could hear the stifling lack of bug noises in the air - Though, did this verse even have ladybug-cicadas for that, anyway? No. No distractions. A couple more seconds, and he heard it. Certainly a woman's voice, and a harsher one at that, to his right. Aang began to slowly creep in that direction, and inadvertently caught more and more snippets of a conversation... "h-here, I don't..." "That's not... it, is it? I... of it! You're hiding some!" "N-no, I swear..." "I know where your family lives!"
Aang began to run in their direction. "No, no! Don't do anything to them!" Both female voices. "Heh. Yeah, you wouldn't want anything like that..." A third voice. Male. Gruff. Somehow familiar.
A shadow flitted into the small clearing lit only by moonlight, from the same rustling grass that had impeded it earlier. It was obvious, now, who was the assailant, and who was the victim - A young girl, even younger than Aang, for some reason alone, on her knees and in tears, facing a surprisingly buff woman with VERY long claws and a smile that glinted wickedly in the sparse light. From one claw dangled a cutesy coinpurse, bedazzled and all, and from her mouth, a surprisingly unlit cigarette. On the opposite side of the clearing on a stump sat a similarly detailed man with his head down and... fit arms comfortably displayed upon his spread legs.
His head moved, and his eyes came up to meet Aang's. His cover was shot. Time to take action. A visible stream of air came to life behind the man on the stump, quickly rising to pummel the back of his neck. Surprised, he barely managed to catch himself with his elbows. The airstream then whipped around to the woman, uppercutting into her jaw with a sickening crackle. The girl started, then glanced up to see Aang catching the baggie as it fell from the woman's hand. Understanding came across her face, and she grabbed his sleeve, pulling him in the opposite direction he'd entered the clearing from. As they exited the clearing, the stump man pulled his head up and looked directly at Aang.
It was the concrete man. The man from the Nexus, who had helped him get his bearings from the start, and who had seemed to helpful and jovial before. Aang let in a short intake of breath in surprise. "Wait!" the concrete man yelled. "I can explain, you're making a -" But whatever he had to say was cut off as the girl pulled Aang into the dense growth of shrubbery and tall grasses, forming a sound-breaking wall between the young duo and the adults in the clearing.
The two of them continued running for a good 15 minutes until they finally reached the end of the head-high grasses, coming upon a large, open, hilly field, much more akin to that of the entrance of Camelot from the Nexus. The girl let go of Aang's sleeve - Wait, had she been holding it this whole time? - and then spun around in front of him, facing him as she slowed to a sort of backwards skip, letting Aang walk. "Thanks for helping back there. How'd you do that?" Her voice was surprisingly low, considering her age and slight demeanor.
"Oh, you mean my airbending?" Aang's trickster grin kicked in as he held up his right hand and began forming a small whirling ball of air. "Whoaah!" The girl stopped skipping for a second, nearly tripping over her own feet as she admired the basic exercise. She continued walking, moving to Aang's side to continue observing more comfortably. "That's soo cool! So you're like some sort of wizard then! C'mon, you've GOT to show my dad, we're almost to my house, c'mon! Oh, uh, you can probably stay the night too, if you'd like, it's pretty late."
"What's a... Well, I suppose I can ask when I get there. Let's go then!" Aang jumped in the air, tossing his now-formed air scooter under him as he went. Emitting a wicked cackle, he sped ahead. "Heey! That's cheatiiing!" Aang looked back to try and toss her a devilish grin, but almost instantly hit a wall. A real wall, this time, embedded in a hill, as opposed to a now-morally-ambiguous jolly strongman like before. This time, it was his newfound companion's turn to give a chortle as she jogged up from behind.
It took a minute or two for Aang to get over what could technically have been his second concussion in half as many days, and for the girl's giggling to calm down a bit, though not quite entirely. "Yup, this is my house. C'mon, I'll let you in." She walked over to a few feet from where Aang was laying on the ground, and began stomping, causing far more noise than it seemed it should've. "Daddy, I'm home!" Her voice was suddenly much higher than just moments before, Aang noticed, and closer to what he had originally expected.
"Diane! I was worried!" The trapdoor the girl - Diane? - had been stomping on suddenly popped open, and with it came the head and arm of a very pale man with thick glasses and an equally thick moustache. "Yeah, come on in, don't forget to close the door on the way." His head again disappeared below the ground. Diane grinned and hopped into the hole. Aang cautiously followed.
Which meant something had pulled him away.
Suddenly fully alert, Aang leaped to his feet, proceeding to hunch over and keep perfectly still, listening in the wind for the perpetrator of the abrupt end to his extended nap. There was a brisk breeze, but he didn't care - he WAS an airbender after all. It did, however, cause quite a rustling in the grass, masking anything of note from outside of his earshot.
And then it was gone. Now, he could hear the stifling lack of bug noises in the air - Though, did this verse even have ladybug-cicadas for that, anyway? No. No distractions. A couple more seconds, and he heard it. Certainly a woman's voice, and a harsher one at that, to his right. Aang began to slowly creep in that direction, and inadvertently caught more and more snippets of a conversation... "h-here, I don't..." "That's not... it, is it? I... of it! You're hiding some!" "N-no, I swear..." "I know where your family lives!"
Aang began to run in their direction. "No, no! Don't do anything to them!" Both female voices. "Heh. Yeah, you wouldn't want anything like that..." A third voice. Male. Gruff. Somehow familiar.
A shadow flitted into the small clearing lit only by moonlight, from the same rustling grass that had impeded it earlier. It was obvious, now, who was the assailant, and who was the victim - A young girl, even younger than Aang, for some reason alone, on her knees and in tears, facing a surprisingly buff woman with VERY long claws and a smile that glinted wickedly in the sparse light. From one claw dangled a cutesy coinpurse, bedazzled and all, and from her mouth, a surprisingly unlit cigarette. On the opposite side of the clearing on a stump sat a similarly detailed man with his head down and... fit arms comfortably displayed upon his spread legs.
His head moved, and his eyes came up to meet Aang's. His cover was shot. Time to take action. A visible stream of air came to life behind the man on the stump, quickly rising to pummel the back of his neck. Surprised, he barely managed to catch himself with his elbows. The airstream then whipped around to the woman, uppercutting into her jaw with a sickening crackle. The girl started, then glanced up to see Aang catching the baggie as it fell from the woman's hand. Understanding came across her face, and she grabbed his sleeve, pulling him in the opposite direction he'd entered the clearing from. As they exited the clearing, the stump man pulled his head up and looked directly at Aang.
It was the concrete man. The man from the Nexus, who had helped him get his bearings from the start, and who had seemed to helpful and jovial before. Aang let in a short intake of breath in surprise. "Wait!" the concrete man yelled. "I can explain, you're making a -" But whatever he had to say was cut off as the girl pulled Aang into the dense growth of shrubbery and tall grasses, forming a sound-breaking wall between the young duo and the adults in the clearing.
The two of them continued running for a good 15 minutes until they finally reached the end of the head-high grasses, coming upon a large, open, hilly field, much more akin to that of the entrance of Camelot from the Nexus. The girl let go of Aang's sleeve - Wait, had she been holding it this whole time? - and then spun around in front of him, facing him as she slowed to a sort of backwards skip, letting Aang walk. "Thanks for helping back there. How'd you do that?" Her voice was surprisingly low, considering her age and slight demeanor.
"Oh, you mean my airbending?" Aang's trickster grin kicked in as he held up his right hand and began forming a small whirling ball of air. "Whoaah!" The girl stopped skipping for a second, nearly tripping over her own feet as she admired the basic exercise. She continued walking, moving to Aang's side to continue observing more comfortably. "That's soo cool! So you're like some sort of wizard then! C'mon, you've GOT to show my dad, we're almost to my house, c'mon! Oh, uh, you can probably stay the night too, if you'd like, it's pretty late."
"What's a... Well, I suppose I can ask when I get there. Let's go then!" Aang jumped in the air, tossing his now-formed air scooter under him as he went. Emitting a wicked cackle, he sped ahead. "Heey! That's cheatiiing!" Aang looked back to try and toss her a devilish grin, but almost instantly hit a wall. A real wall, this time, embedded in a hill, as opposed to a now-morally-ambiguous jolly strongman like before. This time, it was his newfound companion's turn to give a chortle as she jogged up from behind.
It took a minute or two for Aang to get over what could technically have been his second concussion in half as many days, and for the girl's giggling to calm down a bit, though not quite entirely. "Yup, this is my house. C'mon, I'll let you in." She walked over to a few feet from where Aang was laying on the ground, and began stomping, causing far more noise than it seemed it should've. "Daddy, I'm home!" Her voice was suddenly much higher than just moments before, Aang noticed, and closer to what he had originally expected.
"Diane! I was worried!" The trapdoor the girl - Diane? - had been stomping on suddenly popped open, and with it came the head and arm of a very pale man with thick glasses and an equally thick moustache. "Yeah, come on in, don't forget to close the door on the way." His head again disappeared below the ground. Diane grinned and hopped into the hole. Aang cautiously followed.
![[Image: Om484Nd.gif]](http://i.imgur.com/Om484Nd.gif)