In Absence of a King

First topic message reminder :

The great city of Omashu. Home of the great King Bumi, who survived over a hundred years of war. One of the greatest minds in the world, and unmatched in strength on the battleground.

Mattias stood up from his crouch as he overlooked the great city from one of the many surrounding mountains. In the distance, the sun started to dissapear behind the landscape. For so many years the city has servered as a beacon of hope to him, that a city could survive the war, and still remain intact. Not just physically, but spiritually. The people of Omashu were a whole people. Then why on earth do I want to turn the other way?

This was the question that he had been asking himself for the past hour. He had arrived outside of Omashu after several days of fast pace travelling. He was tired, but still had a decent amount of energy left in him. The first thing he had done was approach the gate. This was his first clue that something was wrong...

... the sun beat down upon Mattias as he stared down the gatekeeper. Both men wore frowns, and sweat was rolling down the sides of their faces. They were in the midst of a heat wave.

The keeper was the traditional earthbender. Rediculously strong, and as blunt as the rocks he threw. Therefore he wasted no time getting on Mattias' bad side.

"I say again gate keeper, I wish to pass into the mighty city of Omashu!" Mattias was exhasperated, he had been trying to convince the man to let him pass for the past hour and a half. Oddly enough the guard had not recognized the seal of the King. He had spent the next hour trying to explain what brought him to Omashu, then the next half hour trying to prove it.

"Oh I know, the great un-named swordsmaker has travelled all of the way from Ba Sing Se to meet with our King, and to give him the sword that he personally requested from you." The mocking tone in the man's voice was unmistakable.

Mattias almost blasted him into the side of the wall then and there, but he didn't need to get arrested just to enter the city. In all probability he would be excecuted on the spot.

"My craft speaks for itself as I have been saying. If you still need proof look upon my sword!" Mattias yet again handed his sword out to the man.

"Pretty symbols and a nice shape does not a sword make." The man roared in laughter at his own rhyme.

Mattias lost it then and there. He flipped the sword into the air and caught it in his right hand. Pointing it straight at the guard.
"Will you or will you not let me pass?"

"In the name of the King, no outsiderer shall be permitted admittance unless the King or his police directly permit it."

It was at the mention of 'police' that shut Mattias up. In a flash he sheathed his sword and glanced into the courner of his eye. Looking... looking... There. Hidden by a large rock formation, a lone man watched the gate. He wore a strange uniform, a faction that Mattias was not aware of. He frowned, something was not right. In a large dramatic flair, he jabbed his finger at the guards chest, "You better be glad that I am tired from the journy or I would throw you off this bridge myself!"

Then without another word he stalked away...

...The sun had almost completly set now. He had seen no more signs of the police watching him. Apparently they weren't interested in him yet. Their mistake.

As the last bits of sunlight dissapeared, Mattias moved into action. Although the sun gave up his advantage, it made the streets of the city empty, and maybe he would be able to see these police.

He quietly slipped down from the rock he was on, then jogged quickly down a path that led to the front of the bridge. A few minutes later he arrived. Instead of walking across he took a sharp right and followed a near invisible path down the side of the mountain. Here was the secret route inside and outside the city. Few knew of it, fewer still would be willing to take it...

cautiously Mattias gripped the metal cover over a well hidden pipe, just large enough for him to walk through. With a great yank, the cover fell free. The mess inside was then revealed, and the stench came out like a wave. A lump formed in the back of his throught, and his eyes began to water. Glancing over his should be placed on hand forward. With a smile, he created a small controlled flame in the palm of his hand. The fire was almost irrelevent, it was the heat that he needed. With a great breath he increased the flame until it was a quiet, but hot flame. He walked forward slowly and the "water" it touched was instantly vaporized. He smiled grimly. He would need a knew tunic. Covering his mouth with a cloth, he procided up the pipe. The reak of the "water" increased without limit, especially since he was cooking everything inside of it.

After a painstakenly slow half an hour, he finally reached the cover to a manhole. He closed his eyes and tried to remember his geography. To be perfectly honest he had never taken this route before, and never again wanted to. Screw it, I can't take much more of this. He reached up and pushed the cover off. A great burst of steam hissed out, but other than that no more noise came. He slowly climbed out, then replaced the cover. He needed to find a place to stay and fast.

------

After a quick scan he had located an Inn with a decent reputation. When he entered, the innkeeper took one look at him, and nearly puked.

"I would say what are you doing after curfew, but I don't think I would want to know."

Mattias frowned at the mention of curfew, but he didn't question the man. "I need a room for about a week, some food..." he looked down at his cloak, "and a new cloak."

He tossed a handsome amount of money onto the innkeeper's counter.

The man looked outside briefly, then replied, "I'll see what I can do."

Mattias watched him go into the back... he looked forward to getting a bath.

OOC: All HELL HAS BREAKIN' LOOSE))

The guards quickly surrounded Naxx-Ja and spoke to him saying "You are under arrest for crimes against the Royal Kingdom of Omashu. The guards made gestures together creating a earthen body cage around Naxx-ja(kinda like what Bumi had but instead of metal its rock). They then levitated the cage with Naxx-ja in above the ground making their way to the Kingdom Jail.

The guards at the bridge being attacked suddenly shouted "Attack! 'Phoenix Kick with the wind' Alert the King! We are under attack!" Phoenix Kick With the Wind obvisously a code phrase. A guard suddenly took off through the city shouting about. The guards prepared the flying object and worked together making strong gestures. Suddenly together a giant wall like structure rose above the city enterance possibly 8 meters thick. And high oh so very high. Two guards standing close together created a large stone slab that they sent hurling towards the bridge. It would fall gathering velocity until ir crashed through the bridge. The bridge had been desinged to crumble completely if it became penatrated. The bridge did just that it began to crumble away until a very large gap was created. The Guards then began to send pelts of rocks down at the attackers.

Away up in the palace Phin had just recieved word and was getting very frustrated with his city suddenly becoming a place of hey all you troublemakers come to Omashu. He just continue to sit giving only a few orders. All citizens are to return to their homes and lock their doors. Anyone seen outside will be taken prisoner or even killed if neccessary. If you house starts on fire go to your neighbors house but hold your hands up as if surrdenering when going. All Guards are on high alert. Arrest anyone on the streets. IF they become to much of problem kill them. All outer rim guards defend against intruders.

Sven, flying high above the city of Omashu, watched from above on his bison. He was bored and in the mood to stir up some trouble. When he saw the giant cage with naxx-ja in it, it was a golden opportunity to finally DO something.

"Well now, what do we have here?" Sven said devilishly. "Mr. Duck, fly down to that giant cage thing. And get ready for some excitement."

As Mr. Duck flew down to the rock cage, he made a large sphere of air and shot it at the cage. It easily broke the side of it and sent some guards flying too. Not knowing what he just got himself into, he jumped inside the cage and said with a smirk...

"Come on, lets get out of here!"

Zira stood next to Phin's seat having a smirk grace her features. All this sudden chaos for what? The Avatar just had to be here that, to her, was the only logical explanation for this sudden chaos in the middle of the night. Kneeling to the ground infront of the king Zira looked up at him with a evil smirk,

"If it is not too much to ask King Phin may I have two of your men and we go search the perimeter ourself? I fear that the Avatar is in our presence and is causing the commotion."

Zira waited for his next words, either way she was going to leave and set out on her mission. This was most certain and nothing was going to stand in her way. "All I know is that she is a water bender..there are none in your city as you know..so she may stand out like a sore thumb."

"Yes, very well go ahead just help contain the chaos. Im about ready to enter the avatar state myself. haha" He suddenly stopped laughing then spoke again "If you need me ill be defending my city." With that he suddenly took off from his library out into the city trying to find some commotion to stop.

The guards taking Naxx-ja away suddenly were bombarded with a air blast. The head guard made two sharp guestures and suddenly two of the earthbenders began to make stiff strong movements. The ground beneath Sven would suddenly become a sucking vrotex attempting to suck him down with great mighty forces that would be amost impossible to escape. They would do this within a millisecond it seemed.

Sven saw what was happening the second he landed. The blue haired boy quickly jumped to get away from the sinkhole but he was not fast enough. However, he expected that they would be hard, and had a plan. While the earth benders were focusing on Sven, Mr. Duck slammed into the two benders, and Sven got free. The bison then growled at the leader of the benders, as Sven took a fighting stance and got ready for a fight. He knew he would eventually lose, but not without a fight. And the person they locked away good be of some use.

"Bring it on."

(I will also be joining as one of zira's accomplices)



Kuabara stood silently with a few other fire nation soldiers, waiting for zira to return. He rolled his neck as he heard a few whispers behind him, looking back and silencing them with a growl before returning to watching. The commotion in the city was intesifying and the giant of a man was eager to begin hunting.

Zira smirked and stood up straight before walking out the doors her arms crossed. Then her eyes noticed a above average sized man standing with the rest of the soldiers the fire lord had sent. It had finally begun, the search for the Avatar was beginning and Zira couldn't help but grin devilishly as she approached her men.

"All of you assist the Omashu soldiers in containing the city and watch for anything out of the ordinary, do not fight if you run into something..simply give me the signal with a simple fire ball into the air." Her head then looked up at the big man, "You come with me."

As the soldiers left Zira set her hands on her hips and looked at him with a straight face, "I've heard alot about you Kuabara, I am Zira..your leader, mutual respect is the only thing I want from you...otherwise you can run rampid."

(OOC: so much drama, i love it! for those who i've met in the chat, i told you i would cause lots of drama and here it is! course, i had barely any effect in the story but, i've been here)

Kiara shook her head as the man laid there knocked out. It was unusual for anyone like that to be around Omashu. Besides, this place was always orderly and calm. What made tonight change the atmosphere of this once peaceful city?

The only thing Kiara knew was to simply keep walking and find a place to rest and be calm. The girl couldnt risk giving up her identity so she did her best to avoid eye contact with anyone that was left walking around in the middle of the night. Keep calm...

That was what she had to do and kept repeating to herself until she spotted an inn a few yards away. Maybe her luck was changing after all, her pace speeded up as the Inn became closer in her view.

(OOC: I don't know if it is ok to post in this topic... I feel everything is happening here. Hopefully, if I don't disappear, I will be joining as one of Kiaras friends.)

Dachou sat down in an in silently, his ever present crossword puzzle book in his hand as he tried to solve it. The small, earthen place was the only ideal spot Dachou had in mind of staying at. He wanted to stay away from any royalty or someone of importance for a while. After seeing the way the King of Omashu, Phin Feng, lived and took advantage of his superiority of others, Dachou wanted no part in having anything nice, or glamorous for a while. And meeting the daughter of the Fire Lord? He didn't want to remember that.

He sat silently, his pencil held up in his mouth, his long index finger bobbing up and down to Dachous thoughts, and his mind calculating everything he was reading.He poked his quill at the paper, figuring out the different words. He sighed, than set the piece of paper down on his stomach. He was laying down on a bench in the inn, his legs propped up on the headrests. He sat himself up, letting out a small grunt. He looked around, there wasn't much to this place in his perspective.

As Dachou set his paper and writing utensil on the small table next to the bench, a thought slipped into his mind. Food. He realized he hadn't eaten in quite a few hours. As Dachou stood up and stretched, his clothes gave away the place of his birth. He wore regular fire nation clothes, and hist twins Sais were concealed underneath his belt. He walked over to the counter, a bit tired, his stark white hair standing out in everyone else's brown or black hair. His golden eyes pierced into people as he walked past them, they could think one of two things about Dachuo when looking into his eyes.

People could see the warmth in them, and suggest that he was a kind, warmhearted person, who always offered his help to people. Or, people could see the darkness, and think of him as cold, calculating, and dangerous. This was the way that most people took. That was why people seldom messed with him. But Dachou was more of a gentle spirit. He disliked harming others, no matter what, unless he was protecting the ones he loved, or himself.

Kuabara gave Zira a sort of halfhearted snort, more of a reply then most of his former commanders had ever gotten, and turned away from her, shedding his heavy cloak, leaving him in only his armor. he stood there for a moment simply deep breathing before his eyes snapped open and he unleashed a concussive blast at the city walls.

OOC: maybe the fighting could be close to the inn? that way kiara and daucho could come in and react and stuff. just a suggestion, but it would give you guys a lot more action than you already have, and it would probably save me from getting my butt kicked, as long as you guys take my side

Kiara was about to enter the inn when a blast of fire was shot over the rooftops and hit the city wall. She raised an eyebrow as her first instinct was to just go and see what exactly what caused it, but fire ment the soliders were here. That obviously wasn't Mattias, he would've just slipped away from whatever problem he was facing in a sly manner that would've frustrated even the calmest foe.

It took everything in her for her to keep walking in the direction of the end. That was until she bumped into a man dressed in a uniform. 'Seriously?'

"You all were ordered to stay inside, ma'am come with me. The king would like to know exactly why you were out your quarters." He grabbed her wrist and Kiara kicked him back and went into an offensive pose.

"Don't touch me, unless I say otherwise." It was as if Kiara attracted trouble as two more men came to his aid. Without saying another word she charged towards the men. While looking at them she gave them names, left, right and middle.

Middle shot a boulder at her and Kiara dodged gracefully side to side as the men shot various earth boulders at her. Her wrist shot up as a nearby well spout out water as if a hydrant had been broken. Kiara knew that this was causing a scene and she needed to end it quickly before things got out of hand quickly.

Her feet slid to a hault as her hands swiftly moved to the right having a large portion of the water bend around her left side and scoop up left and middle. She spun in a quick circle the water trailing around her as if it was her shadow.

Right pushed up creating a large boulder believing her was about to hit Kiara when she was 'unfocused'. When he shot the boulder Kiara slid to the right and pushed the stream of water that captured the two men infront of the boulder and grinned when it smashed the men against the wall. Kiara then turned to the last man and kept overwhelming him by pushing him back with large balls of water. She then gave one last hand thrust as a strong stream of water pushed him hard into the boulder he once shot at her leaving a small indent of his body into it.

When the men laid there no longer moving Kiara smirked setting her hands on her hips. "Done." She then realized how much of a scene she had caused and quickly tried slipping into a dark alley. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to leave Naraca, Cerelia, Terra, and Nhala behind.

"Unnecessary force...I like that." Zira stood looking at the hole that the man had made far away from the palace itself. "Adds a nice touch to this place don't you think?" A laughed erupted from the pit of the girls stomach before she noticed a water spout coming from the middle of the city.

"Looks like she brought the attention to herself...I guess you can take this one. I'm gonna stay at the palace incase she slips from you and tries to hide here." Zira opened her hand and let a leaf fall onto her palm before burning it, "No point of me going. Don't keep me waiting all night and dont kill her..Im done talking..you can go now."

With that Zira turned her back and stepped into the palace sitting in the throne room holding a vicious smirk while looking out at the city that was now in chaos. "So it begins."

(OOC: sick of waiting for phin feng and naxx-ja.)

Sven jumped high in the air and shot blasts of air at each of the guards. It was enough to knock them down, but not for long. The head guard got up and shot a rock at Sven, but Mr. Duck easily smashed it. Sven then blew him into a wall, and now was his chance to get away.

"We're gonna have separate for a while. It's to dangerous for the both of us if we're together. I will find you when we can be together. I'm gonna miss you."

Sven watched sadly as is bison flew away. He then jumped onto a tall building, and saw a water tribe girl take out 3 guards.

"Well, now isn't this interesting?"

Sven saw in run into a dark alley, but if she thought that was gonna save her than she had another thing coming for her. The guards know the city inside and out. More would come and find him, too. Strength in numbers, right? So Sven swiftly jumped down and ran in front of her.

"You know, it's dangerous to be outside like this. Both of us should get out of here, and fast."

[Entrance back into the post (I couldn't stay away)]

As Kiara tried to slip away, a hand grabbed around her waist, and another covered her mouth. With a surprising strength, she was pulled quickly into the shadows of a nearby building. The person who grabbed her quickly grabbed her wrists and held them behind her back, limiting her movement.

"Stay still, there are more of them!"

As he said this, a series of guards walked past them. They were in a much larger group, and were ready for combat. As soon as they passed, the man opened a nearby door and not very ceremoniously threw her in. The man shut the door quickly and bolted it shut. He took the hood of his head. A long grey beard was visible in the light, and a strange pendant with swirls of wind hung around his neck. He turned to a door and knocked on it three times then spoke.

"The White lotus opens wide to those who know her secrets."

A chair could be heard to move inside the room and the doorknob turned...

---

Mattias sat intently across a table at some of the other agents that had been sent here.

"Are you serious? The grand-masters have decided to make me the leader of this mission?"

The other three looked amused, and slightly annoyed. Each of them were not much older than Mattias. They were obviously newer members. Each of them most likely had hoped to lead the mission. Mattias had no such desire, which in probability was why he was chosen.

A knock came on the door. Instinctively every person in the room reached for their weapon, or readied their bending. Mattias had his sword half drawn in an instant. He looked intently at them, and mouthed 'were we expecting another person?' Each of them shook their heads. Then the old man spoke the phrase. Mattias hesitantly reached for the door, then opened it. He nearly stumbled when he saw who was standing in the room. Quickly he shut the door behind him.

"We meet again water-bender." He purposefully stressed water-bender, he didn't need the Order, especially the less reliable members to discover her true identity.

Kuabara growled deeply spotting the water spout and with out a word simply dropped down from the balcony, landing on, and then through, a roof top. A moment later the door was blasted away and the giant firebender exited the house, making his way towards where the water had been seen

Dachou jumped at his spot. Where had that explosion come fro?! It sounded near. Being one to want to find out things right away, Dachou sprinted out the door, his legs making great distances in short amounts of time. He grabbed at the inns door, and pulled it open, right in time to seethe guards that Kiara had just beaten on the ground, all spread out. He looked around, and noticed the water was wet. He stared, wide eyed, his hand still tight on the doors cool handle, his other hand placed gently on his belt, over the handle of one of his Sais.

Dachou ran a hand thruogh his hair, thoroughly confused. Than, just than, he could hear another blast, and Dachou spun to the direction, more out of fear than anything else, and Shot a wide arc of lightening at the sound. He was scared. What was that noise?! He took a few steps backwards, and tripped backwards, falling over. He kept scooting backwards, and than spun back around, getting up and puching himself forward, he launched himself behind the inn, slightly afraid of what he just shot lightening at. What if it wasn't anyone harmful?

What if he just shot a poor farmer? Than what?! Dachou couldn't live with the guilt. He stepped out into the open, just in time to see who he just shot come clear.

Kiara's heart seemed to drop once she felt a hand grab her wrist and the other hand cover her mouth. For the sake of not getting caught she kept so still as if they could sense the tiniest movements around the city. But then something happened that confused her to no end, another man had grabbed the one grabbing her.

'Is this going to be a long chain of grabbing people...or am I going to be in a safe zone soon?'

Once her and the man that had first grabbed her were thrown inside a building she rubbed her wrists and frowned. "You could've been a bit more gentle there...but.." She took his hand and shook it before bowing respectfully to the old man with the wind symbol necklace. "Thank you..where are we?"

When he mentioned a white lotus Kiara had a funny feeling and felt the familiar presence now that she had calmed herself down. A small smile graced her face as she heard the chairs being moved on the other side of the door. Whoever was behind this door was anxious and cautious about who they were encountering here. When the door opened and she realized who it was Kiara had to blink twice as he spoke.

"It is nice to see you as well, my name is Kiara...I would like to be addressed by that please."

Her smile was wide and thankful. It added a sort of light feeling in the room as it stayed on her face. She then looked at the other members and stood beside Mattias sticking to who she trusted was a habit. Her eyes looked from man to man before bowing again, it was another habit she had.

"Sorry for intruding..I got in a bit of a bind." Kiara then turned to Mattias, looked him over once and crossed her arms. "Its certainly nice to see you again under more stable circumstances."

(OOC: im gonna assume dachou shot lightning at kuabara)

Sven got confused when he saw the girl diseappear. he began looking for her, but she left with out a trace.

"Did I just imagine this? No, that would be impossible. She was right there. It looked like somebody took her, but the alley is ends right here, where could he go?"

Then his eyes met Dachou. He could tell in an instant that he was afraid of something. But why wouldn't he be? In a night like this, even Sven himself was scared. He then heard a loud bang, followed by Dachou shooting lightning toward the sound. Once he saw who he shot lightning at, he knew that the boy would need help, and ran toward him.

"Hi, my name's Sven. What's yours? You know what, we can talk later, we should probably run. now."

((OOC: More random acts of nothing my guards will come and bea your....))

((I have a feeling more people are going to come so maybe we need a posting order, if you dont mind guys : )

Zira
Kuabara
Mattias
Kiara
Dachou
Pinecone

If any changes are wanting to be made then just let me know, I dont wanna offend anyone))

Zira stopped when she heard a loud crashing noise being made in the city. She stepped outside have a funny feeling that maybe she was going to watch and see what was going on for now. Standing infront of the Palace she had a good view of the city as her calm look still stayed on her face. Her arms were crossed though her index finger of her right hand was tapping against her arm in anticipation.What caught her eye next was surprising to her but that same grin found its way on her face.

Huh...I didn't know another firebender was in the vacinity...

Shaking her head Zira decided to take the quickest route to the water spout and smoke that was now visible in the clouds. As she ran Zira noticed a woman and her husband gawking and pointing to their house that had a huge hole in it and the room below the rooftop in a complete mess. Stopping and looking at the scene Zira decided to say nothing and keep going until she stood infront of the mass of smoke. Seeing Kuabara's hand a grin plastered on her face again,

"What happened? You were only around for five minutes...someone else is here.."

Kuabara said nothing, instead grabbing zira and throwing her to the ground, leaping himself, the wide arc of lightning cutting in between them as they seperated. he landed in acrouch, gorwling deeply as he scanned the area

(OOC: mattias posted in a different topic so i think he left this one. does that mean it's kiaras turn now?)

[I'm still here, I just took an exceptionally long nap]

Mattias gave a slight smile to Kiara as she protested being called water bender.

"Indeed you do have a name Kiara, but here in the Lotus, names mean nothing. Keep that in mind."

He turned back to the door he hand come from and made sure it was completely shut. The less the other agents knew, the better. He still didn't trust them. He had some questions that had to be answered, and he wanted answers. He had left the avatar and company in not the most.... polite way, and he knew something had happened afterwards. Especially considering that Kiara had been grabbed and no gigantic earthbending man had intervened.

He walked to another door and opened it. It was a small room with a ladder that went up to the second floor. He motioned for Kiara to follow, then climbed up it.

The second floor was more of a lounge type area. There were several rooms attached to it, each of them sleeping quarters. Several couches were in the room, all facing a small round table that was about a foot high. Mattias opted to sit in an armchair, and waited for Kiara to sit.

"What happened in Ba Sing Se?"

Kiara could not help but give a half smirk when he mentioned names ment nothing in the Lotus.

"Of course they do not, I do feel as if we will see eachother much more outside of the lotus presense firebender." She stressed the firebender out the same way he did and had a light tone to it before watching him move to another door.

Before her mind had even told her to start following her feet already were following Mattias to the other room and up the ladder. Her eyes surveyed the room they just entered, it was comfortable and kinda of neat in her opinion. The they shifted towards the many doors and Kiara guessed that those rooms were where they were sleeping and left it at that.

Kiara followed Mattias one more time and as he stood infront of the arm chair she passed him and took the seat to the left of him. Needing to face the door was a habit that had been developed over the years and it wasn't going to be broken any time soon. She took her seat and as he asked what happened in Ba Sing Se Kiara sighed.

"I was being treated like an object rather than a person, also Cerelia and Naraca were fighting and I could not function properly in that manner..so I left, Terra said they would meet me here." Kiara frowned a bit as she looked at Mattias, "Thats what happened...I kind of feel bad now that I think about it."