I am the manry-est of men!

I am the manry-est of men!

"So Tayu..." Taku looked behind him to a space utterly devoid of the hyperactive girl. He sighed, "I should have figured he wasn't behind me when it suddenly got quieter."

He ordered the same as the woman who got him to the vendor and paid in turn. Looking around and wondering if he should bother to find that Tayu. It never occurred to him how he longed for the company of another airbender. "Thanks ma'am. Now if I could just find my friend." he added abscent-mindedly with a nervous chuckled scratching hishead.

Chewing her lip Tayu debated calling up a wind-ball. They were fast, but made people nervous when she rode it around. She settled on a nice wind beneath her feet as she ran to look for Taku. Zipping around the streets she spotted him near a vendor and waved enthusiastically. "Takuuuuu..." she should have thought to try to stop sooner, she realized as she hit the brakes too fast and went skidding right past him. The air she'd called up to aid her in her run blew over him and the other woman, and most likely the vendor, and anyone else in the area.

Finally coming to a halt half a block away she turned around and skipped back to him. "So, I am now totally, completely, mostly, lost. But look! Food!" Sticking out her tongue she dug in her pockets and pulled out some change and went to the vendor to get her own helping. The man looked less than pleased after her gale force entrance, but she gave him the cow-deer eyes that always worked and he finally handed over a serving.

Tayu has never been known for her control, nor thinking things through before she acted. This, this wouldn't be a time for it either. As the woman snatched away her freshly procured treat she saw red. "If you're a councilwoman shouldn't you know better than to steal from children?" she snapped, her hand, and a slicing blade of wind, slapping out to snatch back the container of food. Quick as she could she dumped all of the remaining puffs into her mouth, now looking like a chipmunk-squirrel.

Glaring hard at the woman she mumbled around her full mouth. "Nuu muu faaaul yuu 'aan hol onna ings"[not my fault you can't hold onto things]. Though she nearly choked on the last bit, her eyes tearing up as she fought to not spit out the half masticated food.

I am the manry-est of men!

Taku spun on his heels to turn towards Tayu...who had just bounded past him. If he had turned just a little later he would've lost his balance as well. He was well surprised to hear the woman claim to be on the counsel. That surprise caused him to react to slowly to intercept Tayu's equally harsh comeback. Her's though was far more amusing; if things weren't getting quickly heated Taku probably would have laughed at her expense.

Taku brought his hands between the two women. "Ladies let's not escalate this to a bending battle in the streets over some crab puffs." He also made a point to look around them at the people who were starting to become interested in the commotion.

Ari's ears perked up hearing a raised voices before moving away from the lake and going into the the street. Noticing the Northern Water tribe council woman arguing with an air bending student judging by her clothes... wasn't she at the council meeting earlier? Ari couldn't remember because she hadn't been there by the end, she didn't blame her the meetings were boring, even to her and she had been to too many to count. Walking over with a hand on her blade hilt she nodded to the older water bender. "Council Woman, no guards? Even though Amon is long defeated it is still dangerous times... You should not wander alone as a person of your status."
A few of Ari's bangs fell into her eyes before she brushed them back and looked at the airbender and the man who looked unlike the traditional benders. He was younger than the woman... not the council woman's son though? They didn't look enough alike.... It was puzzling to her to see him with the women. "So what seems to be the problem?"

Taku was feeling anger shifting towards this water bender. She may have been old and maybe wise. But she was arrogant in her old age. She was pompous, over-controling, and lacking any trait of understanding. He wanted to lash out at her as well but bit his tongue. Taku took a breath to steady himself before he spoke.

"Excuse me Lady Okena I don't want to cross a line and disrespect you." he said first with a natural bow that came with his earlier years under the tutelage of the monks in the air temples. Taku's carefully guided words held like steel but Taku's eyes wavered as he held back his own feelings of rage against the elder.

"I wouldn't dare say Tayu's carelessness is excusable. But in your anger did you even consider she didn't really realize how inconsiderate she was being? Shouldn't you have acted better than yelling and snatching her food like a child yourself? I've been taught to respect an elder but the by the way you acted I don't know if you are worth showing more than common courtesy ma'am no matter what position you hold in the political sphere. Have a nice day."

The last statement probably didn't sound like he meant what the words were supposed to convey. But hell he was upset too. He grabbed Tayu by the arm, firmly but in no way harshly, and started for the ports. Republic City always had a way of running him into people who could just plain piss him off. 'Another day, another enemy' he thought with a inner sigh and crossed the Northern Water tribe off his list of places to visit. He wanted to get out and somewhere with less people. Maybe he could go to the Air Temple on the island west of here...Tayu may have been residing there and Taku had never been in his life.

Oh for the love of the Avatar, Tayu thought, the guards?? As if. Still chewing her food she let Taku drag her off. Tt was only due to the food still shoved in her mouth that she didn't(for once) let her mouth run away with her. But, it didn't stop her from crossing her eyes and making faces at the 'council woman' as they left. Who was she to determine if she was to be allowed to bend?! She wasn't the boss of her.

Swallowing hard she finally got the last of the food down and bounced up to walk more beside Taku rather than be dragged about. "So, who was that bag of wet blankets anyway? Was she a friend of yours? Cause if she was, you need better friends. But don't worry, I'll totally be your friend!" Peering around she chewed on the edge of her lip, "Are we heading back to the park? Or are we lost?" She mostly assumed everyone got lost like she did, little did she recall their earlier conversation where he'd mentioned his familiarity with the area.

Taku turned to her, still angry and no longer as careful with his words as he was with Senalda. "Don't forget I what I said about your carelessness being inexcusable. I've made people mad, I've even made some enemies. Will it be okay if I EVER went to the Norther Tribes after that?" he motioned back towards the stalls. "I've been fine on my own so far. It's been fun Tayu..." Great so now he wasn't going to the island anymore either. It would be really nice right about now if he had a glider. The angry young man turned on his heels and bounded away. He used his bending to run faster but wielded it more precisely. He formed small compact air pouches under his feet to propel him forward with each step. The technique used to require a lot of his focus to accomplish. The fact he didn't need to be completely in the moment to nail the timing anymore was the benefit of no longer having a glider. In the boy's rush something dropped from his bag without his noticing. It was an odd metal box made from a myraid of different metal objects went around each other fitting like a puzzle. Different colors ranging from a drab grey of plain steel to an odd shade of eggplant gave a very sculpture feel to the cube. The only protrusion in the thing was what looked like half a cone with glass in the center like a dome.

Taku was mad, he was so mad he ran off. Tayu knew how it felt to be that mad, and later he'd be upset that he said things, she always was. So, she let him get a few blocks away and called up an air-ball; he was too fast to catch with just a breeze. Zipping along his wake she spotted something fall from his bag. Focusing hard Tayu flipped it up into her hands as she sped over it, the colours fascinating. Focusing on the various facets of the box she wasn't paying attention and ran her ride face first into a street light.

Tumbling to her side, the wind dissipating with a whoosh, she clutched her forehead where a red welt was already appearing. Hissing and rolling on the ground she slowly realized it had stopped hurting and picked herself up. A few curious bystanders stared at her and she grinned sheepishly at them. A bit of light glinted off Taku's fallen treasure and she picked it up, hoping it hadn't been damaged when she fell. By now she had lost him, and she was well and truly lost herself. Looking around she made her way to a tea shoppe for directions back to the ferry to the Air Bender Temple. Maybe Taku would look for her there when he calmed down? Then she could return this...and she would NOT try to figure out what it did...even if the temptation killed her!

Ari listened processing the information as quickly as she could before watching the air benders walk off. No, he wasn't the council woman's son but he didn't look like the air benders from the island. Turning to the vender she bowed low apologizing for the disturbance and asking how many of his goods were damaged. The flustered vendor kept waving his hands muttering something about little benders hurting his business. Counting up the damages he presented the total. "10,000 yuans mam, but I can take my claim to the young benders destruction." She shook her head pulling out her purse and moving out a few coins. "A 1000 yuans per gold Fire piece right? So 10 gold fire pieces and a silver to convert it." She winked giving the man the coins over to him. The silver was more than enough but keeping him quiet of the incident was more important as she scribbled out the notes bearing her name and fire nation marking. Her father would kill her two know her just spent the money for emergencies, namely making herself look presentable during whatever this city threw at her or bribing her way out of captivity, but she had been smart and saved it reinvesting the original 20 gold pieces into a local messenger business, she had made it back and doubled it already.
Turning to the council women she smiled pretending to be happy with her. "Now Madam Council Women lets get you back to the Water Tribe compound, don't want any more trouble happening now do we?" Ari was mad but hid it behind her mask like she did when she was working, this woman represented the Northern Water tribe, and she apparently had no sense about how to treat a young bender, not everyone can control their powers and accidents do happen.

I am the manry-est of men!

Several minutes later Taku was in the harbor about to find a boat. Experience taught him to always check for his belongings before departing a region. He took a comfortable seat well away from any grates or running water and started laying a couple things out as he sorted through his bag. He had his spare clothes, money, a bunch of other essentials, his tools...

Taku's eyes grew a little wider and he searched harder for a metal box that was supposed to have been in the bag. He started to get more frantic as he ran his hands across the same bag over and over. Nearly everything he owned was essential, but replaceable. His invention, while no essential, couldn't just be replaced. Many hours were poured into something he didn't know for sure worked. What if someone was hurt? What if someone took credit for his hard work!

With rapidity the young man threw everything back into the bag. He made absolutely sure it was securely closed then retraced his steps. He could have lost it anywhere in the mile of streets he went down. Someone could have picked up it too so there was simply too much to watch and so much he could miss.

Catching sight of her cousin who was preparing to head back to the temple Tayu waved her hand madly and dashed to their side. "Hi!" she hopped onto the bison's back and fidgeted with the box-thing. A heavy sigh made her flinch, it was ALWAYS a precursor to a lecture. Putting on her most innocent look she looked up and into very disapproving brown eyes.

"Tayu, you have a bright red welt on your forehead, a grease stain that I can only assume came from something edible on your uniform, gravel and leaves in your hair, and what ARE you holding onto?" Another sigh and they settled at the reigns. "Uncle may have made me bring you on this short excursion but he never said you could run pell mell all over the place. You were supposed to stay at the council hall and wait for me. We will be discussing this after your evening lessons."

Tayu knew better than to reply, she merely bowed her head and waited for the bison to take off. She'd expected more really, but apparently the guards hadn't made it back to report the other stuff yet. She'd hear about that later, from Uncle. This made her wince and chew on her lip, Uncle's lectures were longer, and his punishments usually meant she'd be on floor cleaning duty for weeks.

Taku saw a flying bison with at least 2 airbenders on it move overhead. Tayu had to be on it. He used his bending to shoot himself onto a building then aiding his hop from building to building to catch up.

"Tayu! HEY!"

Tayu swiveled her eyes. Was someone calling her name? She'd been perfectly still since they took off, hoping if she didn't move she'd be forgotten. But...if someone was.... Slowly turning her head she spotted Taku leaping in their wake. "OH my GOSH!" she breathed and darted up to where her cousin was leading the bison. "Wait up for a second!" she yanked back on the reigns making the large animal lurch to a stop even as she ran back to the base of it's broad tail.

"Taku, I have an idea, hold on!" Nearly crossing her eyes in concentration she swirls out her hands and pulls in a mighty gust of wind, dragging Taku towards the side of the now hovering animal.

Taku wasn't going to let Tayu do all the work to get him aboard. "Thanks for the extra push." He said once aboard. The other man aboard was making a look. "Um...hello." Taku could just imagine a sweat drop appearing over his head.

"I'm T-Taku Sir" He bowed sounding as if he stuttered when really he was about to use his former rank when he still considered himself one of them. Oddly part of him still did.

Tayu wanted to give Taku a giant hug as soon as he landed on the bison's back, but her cousin cleared his throat and she squeaked as she recalled how much trouble she was still in. Spinning around she tried her most innocent look. "He's an air bender and he tried to keep me out of trouble! And I know uncle would like to meet him! OH!" she recalled the box she'd picked up. But before she could scamper over and get it he groaned and flapped a hand at them both. Acknowledging Taku's bow with a dip of his head he grumbled.

"Sit down until we reach the island, then I'll let the head of the temple sort you all out." He hunched his shoulders and could be heard muttering under his breath about never, ever taking Tayu off the island again under threat of having his bending removed forever.

Taku leaned over and wisphered into Tayu's ear, "Sort us out?"
Sure his entrance wasn't exactly normal but what did he or Tayu do to get that kind of response?

Tugging on his arm to get him to sit with her Tayu leaned close. "I'm sorta in lots and lots of trouble, and teeeeeechnically only the head of the order is supposed to invite people out to the island. But it's okay, Uncle will be super interested to know about other air benders so you'll be fine," her shoulders sagged a bit. "And I'll only likely be put on floor scrubbing duty for a few weeks...unless he finds out about," she mimicked falling backwards. "About you know. That, that would be bad."

Her elbow nudge something tucked into the saddle's edge and she blinked then smiled. "Oh, I found this!" She pried out the thing she'd picked up and handed it back to him. "I thought it might be important, so I'm glad you found me."

Ari followed more out of duty than anything, she also didn't want this reported because it would come back to bite her in the ass. Pulling out her hair tie she shook out her hair so the strands got some air, it had to be back whenever she practiced or was on duty because hair on fire didn't smell nice. "So I assume you aren't around here often?" she stated once she caught up to the council member, she still didn't remember this woman's name. Her father would have a fit about it too.
She looked over at a few cars passing by the road outside of the park, none that really stood out, Satomobiles and Cabage Cars, but the new two wheeled cars, Motos they called them, where zipping in and out of traffic... they looked fun.

"Teeeechnically" he started imitating the way she said it "I really invited myself more or less." He gave a nudge back before settling comfortably against the back of the saddle.

"Ah well hopefully my words gave her the impression it would be better to keep it hush hush." Taku bobbed his head at the optimisitc thought while his mind to what might come of his trip to the air temple island.

Tayu gave him a hopeful look, it would NOT go well if he was wrong. Her training was going badly as it was, and she worried that they'd use this as an excuse to send her home. "So," she poked at the edge of the box she'd returned to him. "It's awfully fancy, is it a treasure box?" The flight to the island wasn't a long one, but she figured talking would keep her mind otherwise occupied.

[[Snap I totally forgot to respond to Tayu's mentioning of the box a few posts back.]]

"No it's something else. I'm not sure if it'll work yet. Just getting some kinks out before I feel safe testing it." Taku graciously took his invention back like a mother reunited with her child.

The temple grounds swept past them as the bison moved to land in the field. Glancing around Tayu was glad to see her Uncle wasn't waiting for her, them, outside. That meant no word had come from the mainland...yet. Once they landed she hopped up and bowed to her cousin, "I'll be taking Taku to see Uncle now!" Sliding to the ground she took the main path up to the temple.

"So, you made the treasure box? What's it supposed to do? I didn't poke at it, I promise! though it might have gotten hurt when it fell out of your bag."

Ari turned a gold piece in her hand. "I don't want the incident reported, it will come back to bite me in the ass with both my cousin and my father. I shouldn't flaunt my wealth or use my status to make things easier for myself or others. Also, I am rather embarrassed to say I don't remember your name Madam Council Woman so it would be hard to deny to my superiors that you were lying when I can't remember who you are to defend myself." The speech was one that had been beaten into her and her cousin at a young age, people used you for your status and if you acted like you could just hand out favors you would be up to your neck in men and women that would trade anything for a better status. Those weren't the people you wanted to be around.
Shrugging off the conversation she looked at the water, the gentle lapping was calming and reminded her of Ember Isle. "The north pole, it sounds nice.. I have wished to see where the Admiral failed and was forced to be destroyed by the Water spirit. The fact that your tribes spirits even took a human form is interesting to me. Though it has been said that they all do have other forms to visit the human world in, but those are just myths yours you see every day."
She rubbed the back of her neck, her mark itched but considering the heat of her vest it wasn't abnormal, up to the 20th in line the fire nation Royal family was marked though to have the 30th marked wasn't odd as they were all marked in their early teens and once they had children where moved further back in the line and had their mark added to. Her father had given her tricks on how to keep the mark cool but the water lilly pad on her neck must have dried out.

I am the manry-est of men!