The Earth Empire (Avatar Roleplay)

Hahn

"Of course. My brothers and sisters and I are all the adopted children of our Father." Hahn said with a small smile. "Of course, it isn't surprising you haven't heard of us. Father's dreary advisors make sure no one does. As far as the nobles and the rest of the population is concerned, he only has the Princess Toph as his only child."

"Princess Toph?" Katara asked curiously, "I admit, I've only heard a few roumors...is it true that she's...um, blind?" She inquired, nervous that she might be asking some very personal questions.

Hahn

"Yes, it's true. Though even with that disability, my father says she's one of the best earthbenders he's ever seen in his life. However, even if she is a good earthbender, my father fears that she might not be the best future ruler for our land. He even thinks she might not want the job." Hahn commented. He continued to escort Katara through the halls, though he immediately stopped when he saw two Dai Li agents up ahead, blocking their path. Hahn turned his head to see two more agents behind them, seeming to have come from the shadows.

The Dai Li agents looked just like the ones that had escorted Katara to the palace hours before, though with one exception. All four of these agents wore golden sashes, along with their regular uniform.

Hahn narrowed his eyes at the men. He tightened his grip slightly on Katara's hand and brought her closer to him. "May I help you?"

"There is no need to escort the girl any further, Prince Hahn." one of the Dai Li in front of them spoke. "Such a task is beneath one of your stature. We can take her off your hands. Katara will come with us."

Toph and Yue arrived at a store and Yue smiled at a boy. He was Water Tribe, like herself, and Yue always felt the most comfortable when they were around. Even if she was treated better than most, she never felt safe just being around others.

"Hello. Out shopping?"

Toph frowned. Why was this girl talking to some boy? Maybe she should just go.

Azula scowled as she walked along the palace. While her brother and uncle were resting, she decided to do something far more productive. They were deep in enemy territory with few guards and no way of escaping quickly. The least she could do was scout out enemy territory. As she kept to the shadows, she saw two Dai Li standing guard in front of a door.

"Interesting," she smirked. She went another way, intent on finding a way past them.

Katara didn't like the look of the Dai Li, almost sinister, even more so than the ones that escorted her here, "Are the Dai Li normally like this? Or did I catch them on a bad day?" she asked, noting Hahn's tightened grip on her hand. Her day was just not getting better it would seem, and she was beginning to wonder which spirit she might have angered.

Hahn, Dai Li

"I'll explain this fast. The Dai Li are split into two groups. Reformists, like my father, and Traditionalists. These Dai Li are the latter. And....let's just say they want your meeting with my father to end. Now." Hahn quickly said. The four Dai Li stepped closer to the Prince.

"One last chance, Prince Hahn. Please let us escort the girl out of the palace. She has no place here, after all."

"Just like me?" Hahn snarled back at the earthbender. The Dai Li grimaced and bared his teeth.

"Listen, you little brat. Your status as a Prince keeps me from harming you. But....if no marks are left on your body, then there is no proof, is there? Now hand over Katara."

"Spirits forgive me!" Katara mentally shouted as she pulled moisture out of the air, forming it into a ball which she broke up individually to splash each of the Dai Li surrounding them. Once they were soaked, she froze the water, immobilizing them. Gripping Hahn's hand she tugged, "Now's about as good a time as any to run."

Hahn

"Agreed."

Hahn gripped Katara's hand tighter and rushed forward, pulling her with him. He continued to run until they were a good distance away from the Dai Li. After that Hahn started to slow down before he came to a complete stop. He turned to Katara and smiled at her.

"Well, that was close. Good thing you were there."

"I guess," said Katara catching her breath, her eyes catching movement in the shadows as she looked up, "Uh, but, you know, there's no telling what they might have done to me if I had been alone, so, the thanks is mutual." She said, smiling, trying not to alert whoever was sneaking around.

Azula smirked a bit as she entered the chamber. Thanks to the commotion made by a well-dressed Water Tribesman and his peasant servant, she was able to sneak through easily. Now, she was gazing upon a small frozen ball of ice containing a glowing figure. She frowned.

"Of all the times to be rid of Uncle, now is the one time that I need him," she muttered as she tried to figure out who this figure might be and how he was frozen. Quickly, she aimed a sheet of blue fire to melt the ice, stepping back warily incase the figure might attack.

Hahn

"You're welcome. Now, I suggest we go find my father. We'll be safest around him. Traditionalists or not, those Dai Li agents would never do anything in front of my father." Hahn said.

General Narrative

The fire melted a great deal into the ice's interior, but the frozen structure still held. However, a figure within the ice could now be made out. The figure was frozen in a meditative pose, with only one eye seemingly open. Said eye shone out a bright blue light, as well as the rest of the figure's body.

(Whatever happened to Sokka? I thought he was going to run into Yue and Toph?)

(I believe he did run into Yue and Toph. Not sure what's going on with that though. I'll consider taking Ty-Lee and work on a Bio.)

(Yue said something to Sokka, but Sokka never responded)

(Oh. I'm sorry. I had Sokka. I'll post with him now.)

Sokka blinked in surprised and blushed when he turned around and saw two beautiful women, one of them Water Tribe. He grinned at her and nodded.

"Yeah. Just getting a few of the essentials," he told her, just as a packet of caviar was placed in his bag. He flushed. Well, given his uniform and the good food, it was obvious he was buying for someone else.

*

Azula stepped back cautiously, now in an offensive firebending stance incase the figure attacked. Whoever it was, he was dangerous enough to warrant imprisonment in the Earth Emperor's palace and a squad of the Earth Emperor's pet Dai Li agents.

General Narrative

The ice started to crack a little, before it started to splinter all over the iceberg. A strange light shone through the various cracks popping up on the ice. It seemed as if one more blast of fire might do the trick.

((Mind posting with Katara, Warboss?))

(Kidna sort of. I was a bit stuck on what to do.)

Katara started to respond when a faint sound caught her ear; it was subtle, but it sounded like the hissing of heated water. Unconsciously, she began to follow the the sound, walking down the hallway, "Did you hear that?" she asked Hahn, as she turned to look at him.

"I don't know about you, but I think something is going on...just call it a feeling, but I don't think it's good."

Toph sighed. Water Tribe. But thankfully they weren't smart enough to recognize her. If they did, she wasn't sure what they might do. Freak out? Tell someone? Toph let it go for now.

Yue smiled at Sokka. "I am Yue by the way and this is..."

"I'm Lin," Toph said, using the first name she could think of.

"It's good to meet you," Sokka told them with a grin, mostly at Yue. He bowed a bit, for the first time thankful for the etiquette lessons that was shoved down his throat when he applied for a job at the Palace.

*

Azula shivered as she felt a strange sensation roll down her spine. It was like a subtle kind of fire, warming her and encouraging her in a way no one had before. Confidently, she fired another blast of blue fire at the ice, almost eager to free whoever was trapped in it.

Hahn

"....Maybe we should go tell my father about this. If something bad is going on, we certainly don't want to stumble in the middle of it with no plan or strategy. Especially if we're outnumbered." Hahn replied.

General Narrative

The last blast of searing fire had the expected affect on the already cracking ice. Within a few seconds the iceberg exploded, sending melting shards of ice in every direction. The figure of a man young now floated in the room, his body glowing in an eerie blue light. Said light shone in all directions and, somehow, was able to penetrate both wall and ceiling and lit up the halls around the room and the floor immediately above and below the room with the brilliant light.

The figure then descended back onto the ground, and the shining light slowly faded until it vanished altogether. Without the blinding light in the way, Azula would be able to make out the features of this young man. He was tall, and appeared to be a year or two older than Azula herself. Long, wild hair covered his head covered half of his back. The clothing he wore was damaged and dirty, as if he hadn't had a change of clothes in months. Various different scars were scattered across visible areas of his body.

But the young man had two distinguishing figures that Azula would likely see first. One was such: the left eye of the young man was gone, replaced by a jagged scar that ran down from that side of the forehead to his left cheek. And, barely visible underneath all that hair, a light blue tattoo of an arrow could be made out.

After a moment the young man collapsed to the floor, seemingly exhausted. His breathing was erratic, and the man seemed to be struggling to get up. Behind him, a large....furry thing stirred and started to grumble.

"Uh, I'm not sure we have time." said Katara as a loud shattering sound echoed throught the halls, "Look, you know the layout of the palace better, find Long Feng and tell him that something is going on. I'll follow the sound and see what I can do."

Begging her jog towards the sounds, she looked back at Hahn,"If I come across any Dai Li, hopefully they will be more interested in what's going on than me; if not...I should be able to handle them. I'm a much stronger waterbender than I look." and with a quick smile for reassurance, she took off.

Unfortunaly, her reasurrance for Hahn didn't extend to her; she was scared to death, but she had to do something.

Azula's jaw dropped slightly at the sight of that figure. This man was a warrior, his muscular frame and scarred eye testified to that. What caught her eye, however, were his tattoos. Airbender tattoos. She ran forward and caught him before he hit the floor.

She studied his face. He was obviously exhausted. She muttered, "Just who are you?"

?

The young man's single eye snapped open at the sound of Azula's voice. He quickly tore himself away from her arms and dropped into a battle stance. He lifted a wooden staff that had been strapped to his back and extended it toward the young girl. A small slot opened at the end pointed to her, and a short blade came out. The beast behind him rumbled some more before getting up on his legs and turning to face her. It gave a low growl and stomped a single foot, which shook the floor.

"Who are you, and where the hell am I?"

Hahn

"Got it." Hahn nodded quickly before rushing off toward wherever his father was.

Azula frowned. How dare this peasant threaten her. She took a battle stance and glared at him, "I am Princess Azula, heir to the Fire Nation, and this is the Earth Emperor's palace. I'm more curious about why you've been frozen in a block of ice under heavy guard."