Avatar: The Birth of a New World

((Well, since you are all so eager, we shall begin ze next episode! Onwards!))

General Narrative

Two days had past for Avatar Katara and her new found companions, Longshot, Mai, and Toph. In that time they had traveled a good distance, trying to put as much land as they could between them and the Regent Haru. However, they had found that what little long-term supplies they had were quickly dwindling, and thus at the moment the Avatar and her compatriots had stopped in a decently size Earth Kingdom merchant city, where they would be able to restock for the coming journey.

Mai

"Hm. This place is rather...dreary." Mai noted as they walked through the streets of the merchant city, looking for the right stalls and stores that they could shop from to resupply.

General Narrative

In the two days since Avatar Katara and those who followed her escaped, Regent Haru had been doing his best to prepare what remain of his forces for the coming journey to capture the Avatar. The dead had been laid to rest already, and Haru had not wasted time preparing to travel after Katara. A convoy was already in the works, with the Regent gathering the necessary animals and mobile transports to support the supplies and soldiers Haru planned on taking with him. However, while most of the estate's soldiers would be leaving with the Regent, a skeleton crew was being left behind to protect the estate from bandit raids.

Now, Regent Haru (along with Aunt Wu, Meng, and a platoon of soldiers) had traveled to a nearby town where the Regent hoped to find some swords for hire to fill the losses caused by the dagger-wielding Mai.

Haru

"Here we are." Regent Haru commented, as he and his party entered the outskirts of the town.

"Shao Ching. A town once under the control of my parents, when my father was Regent. Now, though, with the disgrace of my family, it was given off to another Regent by Emperor Bumi. Regent....Boulder, I think. But we shouldn't have a hard time finding some swords for hire, still. While it disgusts me, for many loyalty lies in how much a man is willing to pay you." Haru added.

"This places looks like it has fallen on hard times," Longshot noted. Usually, merchant cities were far from dreary, yet he saw signs of age here and there.

"We might want to buy some disguises while we're at it. The Regent we defeated probably put a bounty on our heads. Besides," he smiled slightly, "Toph would look nice in a dress."

He couldn't help but allow a little teasing sink into his voice. After a long journey, he felt the need to break the silence, which was strange given his solitary nature, but then, he opened up to Toph more than others.

"I need some clothes anyway, all that I had was washed away," Katara said, looking around for some articles of clothing that would fit her.

"Oh... I just realized all the money I had is gone too." She hung her head, not having even thought of that before now. What little she had had was water tribe currency, probably not even accepted in Earth Kingdom markets anyway. How much had she thought leaving home through anyway? It was only now that she realized she was not too prepared to travel the world.

Toph made a face at the dress comment and sent a light punch into Longshot's shoulder. "Maybe we should buy you a dress, see how much you like that. I'm sure that it would look really cute on you." Catching Katara's words, she gestured at her pocket-less clothing. "Don't look at me. I've got nothin'."

Longshot frowned, checking his pockets and taking out a couple of bronze pieces, "All I've got are two bronze pieces and that won't get us much."

Truthfully, he and Toph had no set way to make money. They just did odd jobs whenever they could, which wasn't often. How were they going to make money for the supplies they needed?

Mai

"Will this suffice?" Mai inquired, lifting up a bulging bag of coins from within her robes. The Fire Nation national smirked slightly.

"It doesn't hurt to be prepared."

Aunt Wu gave a nod of her head at Haru's words. She stood to the right of him, with her hands clasped together inside her large sleeves. "It is for our benefit," she said to him. We could not find much help otherwise. But if you do not treat them well, it could also be our downfall."

Meng peered around Aunt Wu, offering first a shy smile at Haru and then glancing at the town. It had been so long since she had seen any other civilization aside from the estate, and before that Makapu, and so the town couldn't help but hold her attention over Haru--for the moment, anyways.

"Wow..." she whispered.

Longshot raised an eyebrow at the amount of coin Mai presented. Truly she was full of surprises.
"How did you get your hands on that much money?"

Mai

"I'm a traveling prostitute, obviously." Mai replied in a deadpan voice. She turned her head slightly, then, after she caught a scent in the air.

"Is it me, or is that the smell of freshly baked pies in the air?"

Haru

Haru and those that accompanied him to Shao Ching strode into the city bar, where immediately all eyes fell upon them for a few seconds. Then, the patrons turned their attention to other things.

((MST, you're free to introduce the Boulder now! Warboss, June is free to be introduced as well!))

Katara sniffed the air for a moment, and nodded. "I believe it is." She had been surprised at the amount of money Mai was carrying, and it made her realize she knew so little about the girl. She was obviously well trained, she was probably one of the most dangerous people Katara had ever met, but she was still an enigma.

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"Does the Boulder's eyes decieve him, or has the exiled son of the traitorous regent finally left his estate? Have you decided to give yourself up as the failure you are," a huge muscle-bound man nearly shouted, approaching Haru with soldiers flanking him.

From behind The Boulder, a loud crashing sound sounded throughout the tavern, followed the jeers and cheering of the patrons. Sitting at the table was a relatively young woman with long black hair pulled up into a top-knot, flowing black hair obscuring half of her face.

Who wasn't seated at the table, was an extremely large and muscular man, an eye patch covering his right socket as his shoulder sunk into the floor. Sitting up, he shook his head followed by a painful wince as he rubbed his arm, "Not again..." he muttered, spitting on the floor. Standing up, the man hobbled away as the woman raked the winnings to her, "Anyone else?" she taunted, taking a sip of her tea.

More cheering and jeering sounded from the crowd; a few possible contenders, each large, or larger, than the last man to compete, simply looked from one to the other. One man, chest and face covered in deep, raw scars, sat down across from the woman, of whom was significantly smaller than himself, but paid him absolutely no mind.

Cracking his neck, the man produced from his belt a pouch of gold coins, one hundred in all. As the gold hit the table, June simply shifted the cup from her right hand to her left as she set her elbow on the table. The large man grinned, laughing to himself confidently as her met her, hands enclosing over the center of the table.

The man received a loud roar of encouragement as he set himself for the challenge; however, as soon as the small gong sounded, he found himself in the same place as the last man...his gold, too, claimed by the victor, "Nice try...not really," she said, throwing back her head in laughter as she sipped her tea, "Next!"

Mai

"Hm. We have enough money to pay for some, I think. I haven't had a proper pie since I left the Fire Nation, either. I say we go get some, then. I'll pay." Mai suggested.

Haru

Ignoring the show that happened behind the Boulder (for the moment anyway; that woman would be a good person to hire...), Haru crossed his arms and sneered at the Boulder.

"Ah, Regent Boulder. Hm. I'm surprised you're still Regent, actually. I've heard that you've fallen from grace with the Emperor, and are Regent in name only now. What was the cause of that again? Oh, right. You got ninety percent of the men serving under you killed in the Battle of the Great Divide five years ago. My parents may have been accused as traitors, and I may still carry that stigma, but at least I never made such a military blunder."

Longshot couldn't help but smile slightly at Mai's quip. It looked like she wasn't going to tell them anything about her anytime soon, but he wasn't about to complain.

"We'll need some fruit and vegetables for the journey. Some rice too," he suggested, ever-practical. Well, he had to be when traveling with Toph.

Mai

"True. But I don't think it'd hurt to have a pie, along with buying those necessary supplies. We can certainly afford it. Or rather, I can." Mai pointed out.

Katara shrugged, and said, "If you want to buy pie, Mai, I don't think anyone has a problem with that." She was amused at Mai's desire for it, she had been so withdrawn and distant, as well as authorative, that Katara almost thought she didn't really like anything.

Meng fought hard to bite back her yelp at the Boulder's loud and startling appearance, but still a small squeal came out. Her hand reached out for Haru's, but instead Aunt Wu grabbed a hold of her arm. The older woman gave a small shake of her head to Meng and then stepped forward.

"Anger gets a person nowhere, Boulder, and neither do harsh words, Haru," Aunt Wu said and gave the Boulder a polite bow of her head. "And a little travel is good for one's wellbeing."

---

"As long as you share it," Toph said. "I don't remember the last time I had pie." Wait. She had never had any pie. Longshot was always the one who bought their supplies, and he was careful with the money. Pie just wasn't something that was very practical for traveling.

"If the Boulder's men had fought harder, there would have been a victory," Boulder snarled, but stopped at Aunt Wu's words. "The Boulder is honored to see you again, Aunt Wu. But what has brought you out of hiding," he asked, the last word directed more at Haru than toward Aunt Wu.

Longshot flushed. He felt a bit bad. He wasn't one for buying luxuries when he traveled alone and that carried over when he started traveling with Toph. Just because he tended to deprive himself didn't mean Toph had to mirror his behavior.

"I suppose one pie won't hurt," he stated.

Mai

"Of course. I have the money to buy us all a pie, each." And without another word Mai turned and began to walk, letting her nose lead her toward their destination. After a minute the scent grew stronger until they came upon one of the many pie shops in town. Though, apparently, it seemed to be the most popular of the pie shops; it seemed half the town was in there, buying and eating the sweets baked by the owner.

Once Mai and the others walked in, a young boy showed them to a table. Within a few minutes a middle-aged woman with a bright smile came over to them.

"Welcome, dearies, to Lovett's Meat-Pie Shop! I am your host, Lovett. Strange name, I know, but I blame me parents. Now, I'll bring you all a pie each in just a few moments. And should any of you find yourself in need of a haircut, a little blood letting, a tooth pulled, or in the case of you male companion, a shave, then you can just pop on right upstairs! Mr. Todd has a barber shop that is always open for business. Now, can I get you dearies anything to drink?"

Haru

"That is none of your business." Haru retorted, glaring at the Boulder.

((Hm. I was thinking Meng might inadvertantly tell the Boulder about the Avatar, but now I'm not so sure she might blurt something out like that, even by accident. And yes, before anyone asks, medieval barber shops actually did everything I just listed. You could let out some blood to "purify" yourself, get a tooth pulled, get a shave, and a haircut without leaving the chair!

Yeah. The medevial period was weird. And if anyone can guess where this episode might be going, you'll get an Internet cookie!))

"I don't need a shave, thank you," Longshot told the man politely. He had a razor, though it had gone missing this morning. He glanced at Toph suspiciously. It could be one of her pranks. It wouldn't be the first time. Dispelling the thought for now, however, he turned to the man, "Do you have any fruit pies?"

He had a feeling that Toph's first experience with a pie should be with something sweet. Besides, Mai seemed to have a sweet tooth since she suggested buying a few in the first place.

((Lovett is a woman.))

((Okay, so then should I play Sweeney Todd, or is that left for someone else?))

((Hehe. He's all yours, Warboss.))

Lovett

"No, sorry, we don't sell fruit pies. But trust me, meat pies are the best! Especially my own; you'll love 'em as soon as you take a bite." Misses Lovett promised.

(Meng might still say something, if she gets to talking.)

Toph drummed her fingers on the surface of the table as she listened to the chatter all around them. At Lovett's words, however, she pushed herself up onto her feet and turned her gaze towards the woman.

"My buddy hear said he wanted fruit pieces, not meat. I'm sure that somewhere around here you have some fruit, or you can go buy some. That, or we can take our business elsewhere."

If Longshot wanted a fruit pie, he was going to get it.

----

Aunt Wu gave a disapproving shake of her head at Haru. "Maybe a calming cup of tea would be best," she said before either of them could get out another harsh word. "Tea has a way of bringing people together."

Longshot flushed a bit. While he appreciated Toph's stubborn and unyielding nature, it tended to get them in trouble.

"There's no need Toph," he said gently, grateful for her standing up for him, "We can all enjoy some meat pies."