1x1?

[shadow_claw]

As Rochan spoke, both siblings turned to stare at him. No, he definitely didn't look like a soldier. But that didn't explain why the Rebels were so intent on his capture. Or maybe his death? Makoto honestly didn't know. Sighing, she tossed her hat ion the ground and slid off her steed. Her brother clucked his tongue and shook his head. "Akane isn't going to be happy about this." He muttered.

"Akane isn't happy about anything. That's why she's in charge." Makoto retorted dryly. Indeed, the eldest of the Usami children was stern, strict, and generally grumpy. But that's what kept the household in line.

"She'll want to meet you, I'm sure." Jiro offered a hand to the seated boy as he spoke. "If you're going to stay with us, that is."

[pudding]

Rochan watched as the girl in front of him effortlessly slid off of the steed, only to look down at himself. If he did that, he'd certainly fall. No question about it. He lacked her knowledge on riding the beasts in the first place and was small as it was. So when a hand was extended to him, Rochan greatfully took it and used it to slowly work his way off the Ostrich Horse, eventually finding himself resting with both feet on the ground. "I don't have anywhere else to go," he replied with a small frown. "So if you would allow me to stay, I would be grateful for it." He looked up at the eldest of the two, not really noticing as his feet slid instinctively together and his back straightened. Some of his lessons were just inate by now. Wouldn't his tutors be proud?

[shadow_claw]

As soon as Hotaru no longer had a rider, Makoto took the animal by the reins and began to walk. "C'mon, follow me. We can chat once I leave Hotaru out in the pasture." She declared. Her gaze lingered on Rochan, and as he straightened up, she made a face. What was with this kid? He said he wasn't a soldier, yet he stood like he'd been raised by one! And that stance was awful. It was so easy to be knocked over standing like that. It put the Earth Bender to shame. "Stand up right. A gust of wind could knock you over." She snapped, irritated. Fire Nation didn't understand the most basic of concepts.

 

((Maybe something could happen to make Makoto have to bend??))

[pudding]

Rochan looked more than surprised when he was suddenly snapped at, looking down at his body. Stand right? Wasn’t he already doing that? This was meant to be the resting position all citizens stood in. It was meant to be respectful of superiors like those of the army and the royal house. So what was he doing wrong? Was he doing something wrong? After a few moments, he increased his stride so he was walking along side her instead of just tagging behind her. “I don’t understand,” He replied with a frown, gesturing to himself. “How am I supposed to stand? Do you not stand at attention?"

 

((What were you thinking? Have the bandits come back and attack anyway?))

[shadow_claw]

((Sounds good to me.))

 

Again did she make a face. Makoto wrinkled her nose and scrunched her eyebrows together. "No. I'm not some army's lackey, and they don't care enough to visit farmers anyways." She replied with a snort. She slowed to a stop at the pasture, and began to unbuckle the saddle on the beast's back. "Take a look around. Do you see any army? Anyone to keep me from standing any way I want?" The teen shook her head disdainfully. Clearly he had never been to the Earth Kingdom before. "This isn't your Fire Nation. People out here and really do what they want."

 

With the saddle unfastened, Makoto hefted the piece of leather over one shoulder. The blanket beneath it was draped over the same shoulder. Sensing it was no longer needed, Hotaru plodded away to find the better patches of grass. "'Course, that leads to other problems. Like the rebels that were after you. Not much of a military to keep them away from whatever they want."

[pudding]

Well, of course he wasn’t surprised by this. The Earth Kingdom was supposed to be disorderly. The only reason they hadn’t taken it over yet was because the massive wall of Ba Sing Se. If they couldn’t get the capitol, the rest would not fall. One of the largest goals of the Fire Nation was to take command of Ba Sing Se. But that was not so easily done. “It is simply meant to be a sign of respect,” he remarked with a small frown. “It is hardly reinforced outside of school but it’s like singing the National Anthem.” He shrugged slightly, watching as she freed the bird into the pen. It was such a strange thought. The Earth Kingdom must be more disorderly than they originally thought.

 

Quite suddenly, the ground underfoot suddenly shook and Rochan quickly spread his arms out to try to stabilize himself. In a quick movement the ground under his feet broke apart before the Earth itself moved to grab his feet, rooting him in place. From out of the forest, the two masked revolutionaries suddenly appeared. One of them stopped briefly, slamming their hands into the ground as an Earth wall shot up between Rochan and Makoto to separate the two of them. The other one, meanwhile, made a bee-line directly for Makoto, intending to disable her so she couldn’t get in their way any longer.

[shadow_claw]

The tremors in the ground was something she noticed immediately. Instinctively did Makoto take on a wider stance, sweeping one foot outwards so she was nearly squatting. To the untrained eye, it was a defensive stance. To others, it was a stance taken by Earth Benders in combat. The animals in the pasture didn't take to the sues mic activity well, and fled towards the house.

 

Makoto tugged her first show off with her other foot, and then her second one. "I thought I said to go away!" Her left foot connected with the ground, and the earth rippled outwards from the shock. She may not be a strong Bender, but she was experienced enough to know was she was doing. Another stomp on the ground, and a pillar of ground rose where Rochan was standing. She wasn't in the mood for this nonsense. She could take them both of need be.

[pudding]

The Earth bender quickly grounded their own feet, slamming the bottoms of their shoes into the ground and twisting their heel to the side. The ground underneath them quickly rose and they leapt over the shockwave Makoto had caused, landing closer the two of them. “Kid, we’re doing this for your safety,” the Earth bender yelled back with a scowl. “Do you even know what that kid is?”

Rochan, meanwhile, was absolutely shocked. The simple farmer he had thought he was accompanying was actually an Earth bender! Oh, but she couldn’t be more than his age? How was she already so good at it?

Maybe she could teach him? After all if he was stuck waiting until his escort arrived, he could at least try to learn Earth bending on his own. Of course, there was also the question of trying to avoid getting attacked. Turning his attention to his feet, he began trying to pull away at the rocks holding his feet in place so he could actually try to contribute to the fight.

[shadow_claw]

"That kid is a child, first off." Makoto snapped in response. The ground around them settled as the girl stared down the other Earth Bender. "A child that the likes of you would rather drag away kicking and screaming as opposed to staying at my farm." Her gaze flickered upwards at Rochan after she spoke. What was the big deal about this kid? He was no Fire Nation soldier, no child of the Fire Lord. He was hardly even a teenager by the looks of it! What made him so dangerous. "He's doing no harm here, and he's not leaving the Earth Kingdom. That's all you wanted earlier. And that's all you're going to get."

[pudding]

"That child is no ordinary Fire Nation citizen!" The second Earth bender protested, joining their fellow. The two stood side by side, their masks making it difficult to tell what they were looking at but their heads turned in the girl's direction.

"Exactly. We worked hard to seperate him from his eacorts and we won't sit back and let them find him again. Our chance will be gone if that happens. That boy is the Avatar!"

Having freed his legs at this point, Rochan hesitantly looked down at the group of Earth benders. Of course, that was why he had been attacked. He expected as much. The Fire Nation had warned him others would try to take him away from his home country. Now he was here, trapped on a pillar with three Earth benders fighting beneath him. Hopefully his escorts would come soon. This situation was not looking good for him.

[shadow_claw]

"Th-the..." The Avatar! But...that wasn't possible! The new Avatar was born in the Water Tribes, right? But why...Oh no. Realization darkened on Makoto's expression as she thought all this over. Although uncertain now, the girl held her stance. "I-I...I don't know what you'll do with him. I can't have you hurt him, he hasn't done anything wrong!" She stammered. The conflict, however, didn't have a chance to continue.

"Move! MOVE!" A young, albeit masked man burst through the foliage, his dark hair falling heavily into his face-er, mask. He jumped, landing on his stomach as a blast of fire burst from the trees. Well, so much for distracting the soldiers. The masked man rolled onto his feet, and promptly started running. He wasn't wearing an animal mask like the rebels-no, his was blue, with an ugly face twisted across it. Those around would recognize it as a mask of the Blue Spirit

[pudding]

While the Earth benders stiffened at the sight of the fire, Rochan immediately smiled. His escorts! Or possibly other Fire benders but in either case, it was much better. Of course, first he had to figure out how to get off this pillar but at least things were looking up for him.

"We aren't trying to hurt him," the Earth bender quickly declared as their partner twisted his hand around, causing the pillar to rise into the air, sweeping it back towards them. On top of the pillar, Rochan stumbled and quickly grabbed ahold of the rock, clinging to it so he wouldn't fall. This didn't help as the pillar was quickly turned upside down, causing Rochan to fall a fairly short distance to the ground between the three of them. Immediately, the rock was sent flying into the trees in the direction the blue spirit had come from. "We're just trying to keep the Fire Nation from getting him back!" Hesitating, the two looked at one another before moving around Makoto. "We'll hold them off. Just take him and run after the Blue Spirit!"

"Wait, no!" Rochan yelled, climbing to his feet and backing away from Makoto and the other benders. Taking up a fighting position, he slowly began to inch away from them. He couldn't let himself be taken away with his escorts so close to him.

[shadow_claw]

Makoto wasn't stubborn enough to disagree. This was a different story. This was actually dangerous. The girl stomped her foot, and the earth beneath Rochan slid towards her. He couldn't go back to the Fire Nation. "Come on! We have to go!" He had no clue how dangerous they were! He didn't understand that he was nothing but a weapon to them! Nervously did Makoto glance from the retreating Blue Spirit to the now visible Soldiers. In an act of desperation, she screamed, "I'll teach you how to Earthbend if you come with me!"

 

The girl's mouth snapped shut. How could she even do that? She wasn't even allowed to bend! But giving him back to the Fire Nation would doom them! Sucking in a panicked breath, Makoto turned and ran.

[pudding]

The young Fire bender yelped as he was pulled towards Makoto, falling to the ground as he did so. What was going on? Why was she trying to stop him from getting back to the soldiers? He glanced backwards as the two Earth benders attacked the soldiers, large boulders meeting flames. Earth bending? That was the last thing on his mind right now. He wasn't safe here. Before anything else, he had to get out of this mess. Scrambling to his feet, he started to back up, clearly intending to not follow Makoto and instead seek out the Fire Benders nearby. But he was unable to follow through with this.

One of the Earth benders, the one wearing the fire ferret mask, quickly turned around slammed their hands into the ground. A large wall formed in front of Rochan and, with another gesture, the wall pushed him away from the Fire benders. "Hey!" Rochan yelled loudly as the rock wall pushed him in the direction Makoto had run.

[shadow_claw]

One of the soldiers, one towards the back, threw off their helmet to reveal a...female face. If the shock of seeing a female soldier wasn't enough, she had four extra eyes tattooed on her face. Two on her forehead, and two on her collarbones. Her long black hair was braided back, and tossed over one shoulder. She wore a different armor, too. Those in the royal circle of the Fire Nation knew her as Namina, and she was often employed to protect the Avatar. After all, not many could do what she did so well. Rolling her shoulders, the woman pushed the fighting folk aside. I'm not getting paid enough to do this.. She inhaled, and when she exhaled, four lines of destruction tore out against the Earth Benders. Every few seconds did these lines cause an explosion of which increased in power the further they went. They had brought the big guns along for a reason, in the case that something went wrong.

[pudding]

While one of the Earthbenders managed to avoid the attacking explosive lines, the other was not so lucky. The only one left now, wearing the Fire Ferret mask, swore loudly as their companion fell. No, he had known the risks. This was all for the Earth Kingdom. He'd sacrifice his own life if it meant the Fire Nation had one less super weapon. Quickly raising up a barrier in front of him that extended out to the sides, the Earthbender darted along the wall. Having been thrown off balance by the tremors caused by the explosions, Rochan was a fairly easy target to grab. Fine, fine! He had wanted to avoid this route but he was left no other choice. The Avatar could not be allowed to become the Fire Lord's next weapon.

"Don't move!" The Earthbender yelled as Rochan scrambled around in his arms, trying to get free. "Or I'll kill the Avatar!" In a split second, a small metal blade was pressed against the neck of the young boy. The struggles ceased immediately as Rochan stiffened in surprise. He couldn't bend in this situation at all! How was he supposed to get free? This was exactly the situation he'd be able to avoid if he could actually breathe fire like a Firebender should. But instead, like always, he was just a weak disappointment.

[shadow_claw]

Mina glanced from the two retreating figures, to the hostage the rebel held. Well, there went the fun out of it. She sighed, and turned to walk away. "Okay. Have fun with him." Protests rose up out of the other Fire Benders, but it seemed as if the Combustion Bender could care less. Sure, Rochan was a nice kid and all, which was why Mina didn't want him killed. He was too cute. Too nice. That, and she'd still get paid even if she didn't bring back the Avatar. Work needed compensation after all. Waving a hand, the other soldiers begrudgingly followed behind her.

 

((lol I'm not creative enough to come up with new oc's))

[pudding]

((Same though. I'll usually just change the name is all.))

 

Rochan's eyes immediately went wide. They...they weren't going to help him? But if they left him alone he'd surely die anyway! All of his teachings had told him he'd be killed the instant he encountered a savage from the Earth Kingdom or a barbarian from the Water Tribe. Thankfully, there were no Airbenders left because his teachers had been sure to tell him just how cruel their armies had been. Thankfully Fire Lord Sozin had managed to destroy their armies. But that didn't mean he was any less frightened to be dragged off by an Earth Bender, so much so that it rendered him speechless. Quickly retreating backwards, the masked man dragged the squirming child away, towards the wooded area the young girl and the Blue Spirit had fled into.

As soon as they were in the woods, the Earth Bender quickly turned and began to run, carrying Rochan under his arm like he was nothing more than a sack of cabbages. He needed to distance himself from the area. Without any reinforcements left, he would have to rely on staying hidden until he managed to get the Avatar to a safe place. Hopefully the kid hadn't been too influenced by the Fire Nation already.