The Pond of Moon and Sea is one of the most important places in the planet, one of the most spiritual places in the world, and one of the most detrimental places to human society and life. It contains the balance of the Sea and Moon; the Moon spirit is known as Tui and sometimes Yue, whereas the Ocean Spirit is known as La and sometimes Koizilla. They both swim around each other in perfect balance, in a never-ending spiral representing the push and pull. It's said that the first waterbenders learned from the Moon and used the Sea, making these two spirits the most important of all to them. These fish are spirits in earthen form, and if they died, the moon and sea themselves could die too. Because of this, this place is well defended, even more-so after Tui died the first time.
Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2014 7:30 pm
Raava, he called to me. He did not know what I was doing, nor did he ever know when the time came. On the first eve of the new year, I would go to the Lion Turtle in the Laoxhi Bay, the one who gave Wan his fire; hoping he could cleanse my fire. On the second morning of the third month, I would go to the Emerald Swamp within the Earth Kingdom, beseeching the roots to cleanse the earth. On the rise of the tradewinds near the third Air Temple to fall, and in the middle of the Summer-Fall month, I would go and cleanse the air. Finally, in the middle of the second to last month after the rise of the New Moon, I would go to this place to cleanse the water.
It was like this, always. It had been like this for the last two years. Han did not understand it, but it would take many cycles of this across a great amount of time in order to fully cleanse my past lives. I had already had to let Aang go, and Kyoshi, and many others in order to prevent them from infecting my spirit. My work was not yet done.
"Avatar," a voice called. I recognized it. It was Taka Shen, who had been with Han the longest of all. He was the leader of this nation. Yet, he could not dare distract me from my purpose. I stood up from the pool, stepped away so as to not endanger the spirits of moon and sea. I readied myself into a fighter's stance, my eyes glowing white, staring at his face with a look of anger. "Go away," I commanded. "Go away."
He did not move, which forced me to bend the water surrounding the briefly sized oasis. I removed his materials with which he could bend, leaving only the moisture in the air. I was perfectly ready to kill him. However, I could feel a call from the spirits of the ocean and the moon. They were pleading me to not do so; especially not in this sacred place. "Taka Shen. You are interfering with the business of the All-Powerful Spirit of Light. If you do not leave me right now, your life will be in jeopardy." I looked at him intensely, but in response, he only seemed confused. "Why can't I stay? Why can't you tell me what you're doing?" He looked afraid. I could feel a disturbance in his spiritual energies; the sort of disturbance I had felt in many other companions of Han Jin's, the moment they witnessed me in this state. I wished to tell them the truth in order to let them leave me to my peace, but I could not.
Speaking the words, writing them, it would alert him to my agenda. In order for everything to work properly, I had to leave him naive and forgetful of our endeavors. The Avatar's vessel was never one capable of cleansing the darkness within the spirit. He would only distort and twist the dark energies within me if he were to become consciously aware of what I was doing. He would connect to the last moments of the dying Avatars, and they would seep their evil into him as a method of staying alive. They could not possibly stay alive; not if this world wanted to be.
"You must trust what I am doing. Begone." I had grown more stable. I had obtained the ability to speak properly, to not attack, to contain my spiritual energy. Unlike with Ban Shi, there would be no catastrophe. However, one was coming soon if my spirit could not be cleansed.
Luckily, Taka began to leave. He would surely communicate to the rest of the Gong Jen via the message links. I didn't care. I only needed a moment.
TABTAB Infiltrating the palace had been easier than Anika had thought it would be. She had memorized the path Suihara had written down and after following it down to the last step she felt the door sliding open. A chill ran down her body when the initial draft blew in from the oasis, one that carried much more than a mere feeling. From where she was standing Anika could feel multiple presences from within. Those accompanying her would know right away that the real fight was about to begin. She slid one foot back and began to circle her arms through the air. As the oasis revealed itself Anika leaped from the ground and kicked out with one leg, using the momentum she had built up to launch a powerful blade of wind out at whoever was right in front of the door. She could feel them, but had no way of knowing it had been Taka Shen.
1250/1300 • Air Blades
A more offensive move than its typical of airbending principle, this involves a focus; slicing air current that can cut through stone or timber with relative ease. This move could prove fatal if used on an individual.
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 2:52 pm
My eyesight had been cut from me, but I could see more of the palace than any other. My lips had been sealed, my secret mission having begun the moment I set foot in the castle. Each step told me the same story; he was there. The metal sleeves beneath my shirt were only the first of my weapons to use against him. This may have been Taka's domain, but I have a few tricks of my own. Like the six boulders that were supposed to be for the catapults on the carrier I had compressed using push bending and put into my pockets, and the lengths of chain wrapped around coils at my waist. Today, if I had my way, the avatar would fall. So my fists stayed clenched as we walked and I felt that presence through the floor. The one that took my sight away. My breathing intensified. I could feel my heart trying to free itself from my chest, the boiling blood within my body at a fever pitch; anxiety... no anticipation. It made me shudder more than the breeze from the oasis. More than the wind Anika let free. She left the ground, and launched a blade of wind. I removed the six balls and allowed my chi to take over, grasping each one, making them float around me, orbiting my body. I stepped into a quick jab, followed by a hook. The first, dense ball of stone flew forward straight towards Taka just behind the air slice, the second curving around Anika and trying to curve into his left side in case he simply tried to dodge to the side. The balls were small, sure, but being hit by them would prove detrimental, as the density alone made their speed and impact force high enough to potentially shatter bones, and making countering them more difficult than it appeared.
And so the show began.
1225/1300
The constant use and struggling to carry the earth on your shoulders will throw you into a painful strain that will weaken you for three whole days (irl time). Within these three days, your push bending abilities are weakened significantly and only release from the bending entirely will cure this. No bending for three whole days. Upon the third day, it will feel as if you yourself have become lighter, that you have become like the earth that you have lifted for so long. The training ends on the third day and you step out of the shadow to become a master of push bending. With stage four complete, the bender will be able condense huge forms of earth into tiny forms of earth, crush them apart to form earth-based ammunition to fire, create mid-air walls of earth, slam humongous chunks of land down on enemies, and even ride upon the earth itself as you lift it. Hand gestures have been simplified to a wave of the hand or the thrusting of both palms.
TABTAB Now Tikaani was in his element. The oasis was situated within a high density faunt of spiritual energy, probably due to the place being the home of the Moon and Water koi fish spirit... things. The details sometimes changed depending on who told the story, but the fact of the matter was that he could feel it. As the group approached their destination, Tikaani had retied his gourd on his hand so he could drink from it as need be; he was one who usually fought better a little tipsy than completely sober. Staff, check. Alcohol, check. Water to bend, check. He was as prepared as he could be. Tikaani had no ambitions so great as to go toe to toe with a master of all elements in a battle of bending. Instead, he would try to control the battle, manipulating its ebs and flows as it were. It was the basis of waterbending, and the basis of his usual combat style where he applied pressure and backed off to match an opponent's movements and attacks. He rarely ever fought an opponent head on, instead using fluid movements to use the opponent's power against him or her. However, even knowing all of this before hand, there was no telling what awaited them as Anika made her first move against the enemy. He grasped his staff in his left hand, bent back, and gulped down more liquid from his gourd before standing straight again. Now he was feeling it. He swayed ever so slightly as he bounced his staff off the ground to grip the staff in the middle, then moved his free hand in a circular motion. Spheres of water were attracted to his person and five orbited him. He would play support, as he always did. Anika and Ban were offensive, he was defensive. Normally these kinds of personalities clashed, but right now they would most likely mesh well for their mission.
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 11:07 am
Entering the palace had been easy enough and as it all seemed lthat finidng the pond had also been easy, Raian knew that all of this was not meant to be this easy and from past experience easy things fell apart the easiest. Anika had opened the doors with a blade of wind, and his sister had followed up with her own small balls of condensed earth, Raian noticed that the water bender that had accompanied them had also gotten ready but not for an attack, maybe he was going to be something more of a support than a fighter, it should be interesting. Raian would follow his sister's attacks with two jabs from him but sending in two complete direction, the first Firebolt would go up and then down towards Taka and the second would curve around to his right side, all the attacks combined made a pincer motion, striking from all angles, it only showed that the group was ready to fight and that they would maybe have no problem in fighting together.
1,250/1,300
Technique: Double Strike The firebender punches in a one, two motion, creating two [2] Firebolts. The fire hasn't gone up in strength, there are just two [2] blasts now.
There were footsteps against the pavement of the palace. Raava could feel people moving closer. She'd just have to understand their form. They all seemed as if strangers, except one . . . Ban Shi, who had disappeared from the Gong Jen after a horrifying incident. How did they know where this place was? Only the Avatar, Taka, and Suihara would've known. The Avatar grew extremely anxious, understanding that it was now quite likely that Han Jin had been betrayed. The Avatar state kept active, though the past lives were allowed to offer their wisdom, and Han himself regained control of his body. Han, enemies are coming. They are -- here. He relaxed himself, before whipping out a tentacle of water and wrapping it around Taka's arm. "Don't open that door." In an instant, he felt a slice of air smash through the door, and he threw Taka behind him so he could avoid the strike. Compressed rocks also smashed through, and the Avatar only had a brief period of time to react. He kicked his leg upwards, and a powerful wall of flame rose to protect he and Taka. This ability was formally known as Fire Wall, one of the most powerful defensive mechanisms of a firebender. He stomped his foot once on the pavement to get a clear feeling of where the enemies were, relaxing himself as the compressed boulders and the air collided with his defense. The Fire Wall managed to stay alive, giving Han Jin a moment of time to relax and plan out his moves.
"I'm afraid we don't know any of you besides Ban Shi. However, that doesn't seem to stop you from wanting to kill us. You're open to trying, but as an alternative, you can surrender and abandon your erroneous ways. We are the only way in which the world will survive. You do not have a chance." 'His' voice was loud, commanding, and contorted to sound as if a crowd of people speaking at once. Although many of his past lives had faded away, many still remained.
(Fire Wall (R4), 2425/2500)
Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2014 4:24 pm
TABTABWhat a day this was turning out to be. The moment the door had been breached the earthbender had followed up with an assault via some boulders she had prepared ahead of time. Anika darted inside and waited for an attack from Tikaani, though he proved to be more patient than the rest of them, Raian having launched his own attacks as well. The forward team had acted perfectly in sync, so it was a great disappointment for Anika to see not only a tendril of water snaking out to save Taka Shen, but also a wall of flames so hot she felt the warmth on her face launch skyward as well. Two elements from the same person? That could only mean one thing: the avatar was here. A faint smile broke out across her face when Han Jin 'graced' them with a chance at submission. She did not waste time bantering back and forth, they had come here with a goal in mind. Taka Shen must die in order for Suihara to claim the role of Water Tribe leader. Han Jin being here was just a bonus. If Anika and her companions were able to strike them both down then the world would be changed in as little as a day. Without a word in response Anika slid one foot forward and held both of her hands out, palms facing the avatar. She would do battle to the death, and fully expected those with her to do the same.
