From: Earth Kingdom --> Destination

[JellytheBeany]

Sui sighed the loudest, most drawn out sigh known to mankind, his head thrown back and his hands next to his face looking tenses as if they wanted to reach and squeeze something. When he was finished with his bout of drama, he walked back over to Sui and sat back down in the same position they had been in before he had moved, folded arms and stared glumly at Han. "Fine. If you wanna talk about me, let's talk." Sui stared blankly at Han, mostly lost in his own thoughts as he tried bringing back everything to the fore so he could elaborate on his not-so-exciting life. He doubted it was anything compared to what the Avatar must have gone through going up, but it was decent for a normal guy like himself. "Where to start... I lost my dad a couple years after Mizu was born; heart attack and all that. Mom has never been the same since and cries herself to sleep most nights, but I can't deny that she loves her two children. Too many uncles and aunties to count so I won't even go there." Sui straightened his legs and lowered his back, lying down on the hard ground with his hands behind his head as makeshift pillows; uncomfortable ones at that.

"Besides being eaten by the Unagi today there were two other incidences where I almost got eaten. The first time was when Mizu had gone missing without anyone noticing and I had to go find her. I'd told her countless times that she shouldn't go into the Arctic Wilds all by herself, but she was eight and feeling stubborn, so she always did the exact opposite of what everyone warned her not to. I heard her scream and ran in the direction of her voice, and found her on the ground with her back pressed up against a tree, with the largest, most vicious polar bear dog I've ever seen in my life growling at her. It had giant wads of drool dripping from its mouth and you could tell it was really hungry." Sui shifted onto his side a little to look at Han more seriously. "I could lie and tell you that I whooped that thing's a** good and sent it packing, but honestly, I felt like I wanted to piss myself. Looking back, I think I actually did." He paused to chuckle at the memory and then continued. "I was still young and just learning to waterbend, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to you when I tell you that I..." he paused for dramatic effect, getting back on his feet and walking around Han once before continuing. "I reached down, took up a clod of snow in my hands, formed a snowball manually, and threw it at the thing to get its attention." It didn't sound very heroic of a waterbender, picking up a snowball from the ground and tossing it, but it was the first and only thing that had crossed his mind to do at the time. "It got the result that I wanted, but all that ran through my mind after that was 'I'm gonna be a chew toy today', and I was almost right too. It left Mizu alone and charged right at me, and I just stood there like a statue. Lucky for me one of the villagers seemed to know just when to show up and did some of the fanciest bending I've seen to scare the thing off. But it was still too close for comfort." At least he got out of it right?

The second time from what he could remember, was on a trip to Caldera in the Fire Nation where Mizu suggested the bright idea of them sneaking into the Fire Lord's Palace. Sui, wanting to please, agreed and actually led the way. After being turned away by the guards, not so nicely either, he was left to find alternate means of entry. Not the brightest idea he had ever had but at least a good story came out of it. "I told Mizu to wait at the front entrance while I searched around for some other way to get in, which I did eventually find in the form of a nasty hole in the wall that no one seemed to notice. I actually started bending some water to eat away at the already widening hole, which was when this mongoose dragon jumped down from the roof and almost fell on top of me with its mouth open. The thing was fast. I was better at my waterbending then so I managed to defend myself and keep up with it, but it wasn't long after that the guards heard all the commotion and caught on to what I was trying to do. Ever since then I've been banned from the Fire King's Palace. I don't think there was a royal decree or anything so hopefully they don't remember me." If they did remember him, he might end up being persona non grata when he got to the Fire Nation, and the stuck up snobs would probably not welcome him even if he was with the avatar. But then again, who knew? No one had time these days to dwell on what a kid had done in the past, right? Sui paused at that for the time being, giving Han a chance to take it all in before he went on. "Any questions?" He was now sitting directly in front of Han again for the umpteenth time. He just couldn't stay still for too long.

 

[The Wild Hunt]

The Avatar stared quietly as the friendly waterbender began his story. He didn't want to miss anything or have to ask questions, so he listened carefully and didn't move an inch. The story was depressing the instant it started, as the guy talked about how he'd lost his dad when he was young. From a heart attack, no less. He couldn't really understand the whole mother thing, though. Where he came from, one could not grieve for too long lest they become a liability and be removed from civilization. Even if Han died, his mother would probably only mourn for just a little while before getting over it. Then again, he was the Avatar now, so maybe she'd mourn longer considering she wouldn't be getting any financial support. His father was less like that, as he preferred to make his due by himself. But both Han's mom and dad were quite self-inverted in their affections.

The waterbender then started to talk about... all of the times he'd almost gotten eaten. The Avatar, from that point on, stared with waxing and waning interest as he listened in. Polarbeardog. He always thought that was an awkward name for an animal, like manbearpig. They really didn't seem all that scary, either, but then again Sui was just a kid. Whenever wolfwasps tried to eat the livestock, Han was scared shitless. Especially after he'd lost his bending. Han's father would often come out and growl at them. If they got the message, good. If not, he'd bring about a can of whoopass and earthbend them back to where they came from. The Avatar always admired his father. He was . . . reliable.

The story about the fire nation palace, and the dragon... well he wasn't sure he believed it, honestly. Seemed a bit stark for the adventure of a young waterbender. It was probably a tall tale, was what he told himself. A little less extravagant than said. He didn't mind that -- there were tons of guys who liked to increase their man factor by spinning tales. "Next time I ask you to talk about yourself, try to put a little less stress on you getting eaten." The Avatar stretched his arms, and leaned over the ledge of the ship, staring down at the waters. They were very, very close to their destination, Ember Island. It was probably just a few minutes away. "We're just about here," said Han, as he whistled for Hulan to get up. Lazy old badgermole would sleep until the moon covered over the sun, and the planets collided, if not forced to do otherwise.

He prepared her saddle for a while, and gathered his belongings, made sure to see if there were any extra fees, whatnot. When all that was done, they'd already landed. He strolled down the boardwalk with his badgermole, Sui near his side. He stopped in place, and let the waterbender brush up against him. At that moment, he spoke to him quietly. "Sorry to hear about your dad." He looked back at him for a moment, but then forward again. He saw the beach, where there were many people. The theater was on another corner of the island, as well as all of the resident homes and whatnot. He wasn't sure where he should go, but somewhere was the general idea. "I know it's just some vacation resort, but this was the only ship sailing for the fire nation. So we'll just have to deal."

This island was loaded with the rich, the aristocratic, and the talented. He could find a great firebender here just as well as he could in Caldera. The trick was being in the right place at the right time. And he was sure they'd go a great many places here, considering the company. Sui seemed like the type to love the leisure, the crowd, the attractions. Han was honestly a little excited too, to just have fun for a while with Sui at his side. It could be his last great go at youth before his Avatar duties swallowed him up. "We should probably rent ourselves a room at the resort. I've got a hunch they'll give us a discount, don't you think?" He raised a mischievous grin, as all Avatars would, when faced with slashed prices.

 

[JellytheBeany]

Again Sui shrugged. "You wanted to know something about me so I told you something about me. Not my fault you didn't specify what you wanna know." And that was that. Han didn't ask any further questions about Sui and what he did. His likes and dislikes. Any little quirks that might have alerted him whether he was a nature freak or an axe murderer. He simply said they had basically arrived at their destination. Sui didn't have anything on him but the clothes on his back, and he felt around for the pouch that Han had given him and found it safely tucked away, and with that he waited for the boy to finish ensuring that everything was in check and then he followed him off the ship, looking around the island mostly and in doing so not noticing when Han stopped, causing his body to brush against his. Sui remained silent for a while after the short comment, then he shrugged again. There was nothing that needed saying. He never really liked the guy anyway. He was always Mizu's favorite and Sui preferred the company of his mother.

The island was alive with activity, evident without having to look over any great lengths. There was not a dull moment from what he could see, and everyone seemed to be having fun. It went without saying that this place was far more lively than back home in the North. Though there were great parties that were held every once in a while, they were still nothing compared to what he was seeing right now. Sui was itching to go join in on all that he could before official duty called, and Han said as much when he suggested they go get a room at the resort. or rather, that was how Sui interpreted it. He would have whined about it if he wasn't feeling so high from all the glamour that he was being faced with. Grabbing hold of Han's wrist, he dragged him along the streets aimlessly until he managed to stumble upon a place that said 'inn'. Pushing through the throng of people that had gathered for some reason, Sui made his way up to the clerk with Han not far behind and slammed his free, open palm down on the table heavily, startling the man who had currently been engaged in what must have been a riveting conversation with a woman. "We want rooms and we want them now!" Sui was probably being rude, but the faster they got this over with the faster they could go back out into the open and join in on the party.