The Earth King

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Tan-ko sighed as his generals bored him with yet another long meeting, sitting in his throne only half listening. He was tired of the politics, tired of the war, tired of being king, but his nation needed him. Even if he never actually gotto do anything for them, the young king thought to himself grumpily as two of the generals once again began quarreling over troop placements, causing him to sigh and rub his head

Terra looked over at Tan-ko and couldn't help but laugh, "Please go change..it doesn't matter if you are there or not..besides that sword has given you away. Its the underground earth king.."



She then grinned and cracked her knuckles, "Besides we all believed you'd be showing up sooner or later...or the avatar...if there even still is one."

Tan-ko pulled off the wraps from his head grinning. "Maybe your right but the last thing I want is to be followed by some nosey noble or to have some worry wart general send his men to watch me. And what do you mean you were expecting me to show up?"

[I'm actually going to post a little bit before the time where you are posting, that way our paths will cross quicker]

Mattias opened his eyes. He was in a small room with only a bed and a mirror in it. Moonlight shown in from a pitiful excuse for a window. He had arrived here as soon as he came to the city, which was about 10 hours ago. Night had fallen awhile ago, and it was about midnight.

Mattias sat up, keeping very quiet. The time for first contact was at hand. Reaching next to him, he grabbed his heavy cloak and his sword. After he had put them on, he went to the window, and jumped out, landing lightly on another rooftop. He slowly began to make his way to the inner part of the city.

--

A great wall stood directly in front of Mattias. He had reached the security wall that surrounded the Earth Kingdom's palace. It was said that is was impossible to breach. It was about time for that reputation to be broken. Mattias looked around at his surroundings, taking in every detail. If he was an earthbender he would simply walk through the wall, a water bender could make a staircase, an airbender would fly. He on the other hand was unable to fly, as it would be rather obvious, and he didn't want anyone to know he was a firebender, just yet.

Mattias spotted turned around and looked around. In the distance he saw a community clothes line. It was simply a long piece of rope that someone had hung up and the entire block used. Mattias sighed, all of that hard work to wash the clothes... He shrugged it off, then sprinted over to it. With a good yank, he pulled the rope free of its hanger, and then yanked it again, dislodging all of the clothes on it. He took the rope over to the wall, attached his sword's sheath to the end, then threw it over the wall. With and luck, the hardened material of the sheath would get caught.

Slowly pulling back the rope, he felt the sheath get lodged underneath something. That was good enough for him, and he took a running start at the wall. Quickly he moved his hands, keeping with his movement. At the last moment he jumped, and grabbed at the rope higher up. His body slammed into the wall, but it gave him valuable distance. He placed his feet on the wall, and began to climb.

--

Soon he reached the top of the wall. Looking around he could see the moments of the guards. He knew that he would have to be fast. He was too far commited to leave. He walked in the shadows, then approached the massive door that was the main enterance. Reaching into his pocket, he took out the small pai sho tile. He looked at the symbol, it was a white lotus. He smiled to himself, then placed his hand over the back. With a great effort, he burned into the wood,
Be in the great hall of your palace, this coming night.
He then took it, and tossed it. It soared through the air, then landed directly in front of the door. It stood out like a soar thumb against the white rock.

Then without another sound, he began his slow trip back to his room.

Terra smiled about to answer him but had caught herself. She was debating whether or not she should tell him but then a part of her shrugged and decided to tell him anyway.

"Tan-ko, for the past couple of years I do believe you had to hear what we as an underground group had been doing." She smiled once more and decided to walk along the palace halls. "Anyway, you have sent about ten dai li men down there to try and catch the underground tournaments leader..they've all came back to you claiming the man that was organizing it was too strong to be captured am I right?"

After a short moment of silence Terra continued her explanation, "That man was actually me, I beat them and they were all shamed to get beat by a woman..so they started that dreadful rumor about me being a man..anyway all of us that are in the tournament believed that you would show up and challenge me yourself trying to bring me to justice for my wrong doings.."

Just as she stopped her explanation Terra's eyes looked out the window, of course she had been feeling vibrations all night including the gaurds and citizens around her but this vibrations bothered her significantly. They felt like they were full of authority and sureness about themselves.

"Tan-ko..." Another thing that bothered her was the fact that the foot vibrations had came from whoever it was touching the wall that surrounded the palace. However, by the time Terra had stopped focusing so much on them they were headed away.

"Come on.." Once outside the front door Terra looked down seeing a tile, "I think its for you..."

Tan-ko followed her, picking up the tile and turning it over in his hands. "Its a white lotus tile. Someone might have dropped it?" he said, the meaning of the tile soaring over his quite oblivious head. "Anyway, what dai lee members? I havent sent anyone after you and this is the first time I have ever heard of this tournament. I think some ambitious dai lee agents took some authorotative actions of their own." he said crossing his arms

Terra snatched the tile and smacked him in the middle of his forehead with it. There was no way this nitwit would possibly be the earth king. Grabbing it from the ground again she observed it carefully before turning it over and seeing the engraved words.



"Looks like whoever left it wants to meet you soon, whatever the reason it must be important and from a high ranking person..the white lotas..."

Tan-ko shrugged. "The nobles sometimes leave strange messages like that when they want to ask a favor and are to embarassed to ask it openly. Gets on my nerves. But some times their requests are amusing." he said holding his hand out for the tile. "I will meet them, if they can get in. Shall we?"

Terra held the white lotus tile in her hand smiling at how neat it actually looked,



"This is not a normal tile..you should meet him when night falls..who ever it is a very skilled person to have carved this into a tile like this one." Her smile then turned into a smirk, "You are such a naive ruler its ridiculous.."

Tan-ko grinned at her. "Ignorance is bliss! And he said tommorow night. So lets go to your tournament tonight. You sure your still up for it after your battle with your father earlier?"

"I am okay...that was more of a warm up. But I do believe that if we do go to the tournament tonight we meet whoever placed that tile piece here.."

Terra looked at him with a smile before turning and walking down the palace stairs.

"You never know that could be the avatar himself or something. Listen to me..for all we know it could be a girl." Terra stopped at the end of the stairs and grinned, "Now wouldn't that be something else.."

Tan-ko grinned, putting the wraps back on his head, covering his face and following her. "Avatar Kyoshi was female, she was the best avatar ever. So I wouldnt be to surprised."

(Hey, Mattias and Tan-ko i'm gonna skip to the night of the tournament if thats okay.)

Terra was sitting on the bed adding the finishing touches to her wardrobe, it was very similiar to Tophs however Terra sported metal shin guards and wrists gaurds as well.

After she was done Terra stood up from the guest room bed jumping up and down twice to calm her nerves and body. She was more anxious to fight and release all the stress about her family and the fire nation hearing about the avatar being alive.

Once she saw Tan-ko still in his get up she couldn't help but laugh, "You just dress normal okay?"

But being use to it Terra walked outside remembering what the tile had said, "Hey Tan-ko..lets stay here for a little bit and wait for whoever said they needed to speak with you."

As soon as they reached outside Terra leaned against the palace doors crossing her arms as they waited outside for the man to show up. She had a feeling it was a man because those vibrations didn't feel like womens. Sometimes she honestly believed being a prodigy was a curse. But whoever wanted to meet the earth king had to be important that Tile looked so familiar it was a bit aggitating that she couldn't figure out where it came from.

Mattias awoke once again as night had fallen. This was the moment of truth. He grabbed his sword, then jumped out the window.

As he had the previous night, he climbed the wall, then quietly walked in the shadows reaching the main entrance. He glanced around, then slipped behind one of the great pillars that ran next to the entrance. A guard walked past, doing his normal rounds and Mattias held his breath until he passed. Then he walked up to the door, pushed it open, then slipped inside.

He walked down the center of the main hall, his left hand resting on the hilt of his sword, his face masked by his cloak's hood. With a quiet confidence that showed no emotion, he walked into the center of the hall.... and waited.

Terra continued to wait with her eyes closed, the girl was so focused on the tournament that once she had felt the same vibrations from the night before she quickly pushed herself up off the wall and looked at the earth king.

"He is here Earth King..the main hall to be exact."

The girl looked at him with a grand smile, actually wanting to see who this mysterious person was was clearly getting the best of her.

"Lets meet up with them."

As if not letting him even get a chance to move himself Terra grabbed his wrists and pulled him down to the main hall.

Tan-ko let himself be led, smirking at the girl under the head wraps. "My normal dress is fancy royal robes complete with embroidery. I am not wearing that." he said as he opened his stride, using his long legs to pass terra on his way to the main hall, entering like he owned the place, which he did, and crossing his arms."Ok, who wanted to speak to me?"

Terra looked at him pointing to the royal sword, "You still have your royal sword..so I do believe that he will believe you are royalty."

When arriving at the main hall Terra looked up seeing the someone stand there in a dark robe. She tried her hardest to see into the hood of the cloak but it was no luck.

"Thats definitely him though Earth King.."

After walking until they were face to face with him Terra stood quietly waiting for either of the two to speak.

Mattias heard voices coming from a corridor in front of him. He knew that it was the earth king. He stood a little straighter and waited to see who was leading this nation.

What he saw came as a little bit of a surprise. The man that faced him was around the same age as him. He was also flanked by a slightly younger woman. It was the woman that puzzled him. At first he thought her to be a suitor, but something about her expression... there was strength there.

He then focused back on the man, he was what one would expect the traditional leader to be. But he wondered who held the real power in the government. Then the King spoke.

"Ok, who wanted to speak to me?"

Mattias was slightly taken back. He did not speak like one would expect the king to speak. His voice did not seem to carry the weight that Mattias had expected. The voice was more... annoyed.

He decided to see how deep the resolve of the King truly was.

"The answer you seek can only be answered by the person who seeks it."

Tan-ko looked at mattias with an odd expression, a mixture of curiosity, annoyance, and confusion. "You know my old mentor used to speak like that. He drove himself insane last I heard, never could answer his own riddles. Now then, I am the earth king, Tan-ko. You stand in my city, entered my home without permission, and have obviously been sneaking around my grounds unescorted. I could have you thrown in jail for those offenses however my curiosity stays my hand. And so instead of calling the dai lee, or simply aressting you myself, I have agreed to meet you. Now then, we can either get to the point and you can tell me what you came here to say, OR we can skip that, I can asume you are a fire nation assasin, and you still go to jail. Which will it be?" the king asked, his own hand going to the hilt of the royal sword

Terra was not surprised at all at hearing a mans voice coming from the cloak's hood. She stood there quietly waiting for the Earth King to answer, when he did however she more then displeased at what he had just said. Terra shook her head looking at the man in the cloak with a apologetic demeanor,

"I am sorry for his...rudeness and rashful attitude, I honestly believe if you were some type of asassin you would've taken him out easily already."

She then pushed Tan-ko hand away from his sword hilt and looked at the man before them once again, "What brings you to the Earth nation?"

It took Mattias all of his self control to keep a calm face. The Earth King's reaction was rather amusing. At least he didn't have a speech about how he has defeated all of his enemies, and what he did to each and every one. Well, there was always next time....

Shrugging off the thought he focused back at the pair. He could feel the tension from the King, and Mattias kept his hand resting on his sword hilt. He wouldn't put it past the king to attack.

"A man once stood against an army of three hundred. He had no fear, as it had filled the hearts of the 300. One man with a strong heart is often the greatest power."

Mattias waited for the King to attempt to figure out his seeming riddle. The irony is that it wasn't a riddle. Mattias held back a sigh. He had a mission to accomplish, he had no more time to waste on riddles.

"The man is thought to be a fable, but he returns each time, even after defeat. He comes back in a different face. He is not of this world, but still lives in it."

Mattias almost laughed, it was getting too easy to start to speak in riddles. He took a moment to actually create a comprehendable sentence before speaking again.

"I come, in the dead of night, where there are no ears to hear to speak a message. The Avatar is once again among this world. Stand fast to your defenses. Do not give up the city that we, my brethren have given blood to retake. She is young, and she is already being hunted. Be ready."

Mattias decided that he still wasn't being the most clear. He had been spending too much time reading ancient text.

"In short, the avatar is back. She is a waterbender. And she is in the earth kingdom. Somebody who disembarked from a fire nation ship is hunting her. Do what you will with this information, I have completed my mission."

Tan-ko at this point looked highly amused, one arm across his chest, the other propping up his chin. "You do realize that talking like that makes you sound utterly mad right? In case you didnt now you do." he said, his hand going back to his sword hilt. "And how do you know anything about the avatar?" he asked. He had suspected the avatar might be in the earth nation, possibly ba sing sei, it was the best place to find a teacher

Mattias moved faster than the eye could follow. He threw part of his cloak to the side and drew his sword. By the time anyone could react, Mattias had his sword drawn and level with the Earth King, pointing straight out. The silver blade caught the moonlight streaming in from the windows.

"Madness is irrelevant. You already know what I represent. If you can't figure that out then the earth kingdom is doomed."

Terra shook her head completely embarrassed about the earth nation kings behavior. She could not believe this was happening at all. This man had came to warn them of a threat and Tan-ko just seemed to act arrogant and all mighty. But when he mentioned the Avatar was a female she couldn't help but smile.

"Excuse..you are in the white lotas correct? So...I am assuming that you are the one I heard about fighting along side her in the firenation against Azula and the soldiers?"

Then a sudden heavy feeling weighted on Terra as she began to put everything together, "..I know where she'll be tonight...do you mind coming with us?"

Mattias frowned. An invitation was not what he expected. Slowly he sheathed his sword and flipped his cloak back over the sheath.

"Very well."

Tan-ko looked anything but intimidated when mattias drew his sword, looking at the weapon with almost contempt as he flexed his fingers, preparing to reveal one of his secrets and bend the sword if attacked. "The white lotus? They were beleived to be a story told to haunt the fire nation and boost morale. Forgive my.....doubts." he said eyeing mattias before terra extended the invitation, going wide eyed to look at her. "You trust him that readily?"

"No idiot would sit here and make up a story about being in the white lotus, come warn you of all people about a threat, and inform you that the avatar is in your city..but from his vibrations I can tell that he is a very confident and trusting individual."

Terra smiled a bit as she started down the stairs of the castle after coming out of the main hall. She expected the two men to follow her quickly.

"Hurry, I am late and she is already there..I just know it.."



[exit] (I guess I'll wait for Kiara to reply to her topic before hopping in)