The Hunt

“And I win again!” A young man shouted, raising his arms into the air as his sand sailor slowed to a stop.

Sand flew into his face and he flinched. A moment later, he looked down at the girl he had beaten.

“You cheated! You moved the rock pillar in my way.” She yelled.

“Oh, come on Cerelia. Lighten up! Just because the pillar fell doesn’t mean I did it. Besides, it was getting thin around the middle.”

“No! I saw you bending.” She said, getting close to him and pointing her finger at his face.

“Hey, Cerelia! Can you unload the water off this sailor for me?” A young man shouted, the sail of his sand sailor flapping loosely in the wind as he began unloading it.

“I’ll be there in a minute.” Cerelia called back with a smile. She turned back to her friend and frowned. “If I catch you cheating again, I won't hesitate to throw you off your sailor.”

“That is, if you don’t fall off first.” He smiled. Cerelia punched his arm, turned around, and crossed her arms before walking away from him.

Cerelia was just one member of one of the many sand tribes in the Si Wong Desert. Age eighteen and living a simple life of hunting, stealing, and racing. Most of the villagers had the ability to bend the sand to their will, which their lives had revolved around for many generations. Cerelia was quite adept at sandbending, and often one of the most useful.

Cerelia wrapped her arms around one of the jars and noted that it was full of water. They were in luck today. In the desert, water was more than a necessity of life. No water meant you died, and you couldn’t drink the cactus juice, as they created hallucinations. Cerelia carried the jar of water into the storehouse and slowly put it in the corner.

As she unloaded the last of the supplies, she looked in the direction of her hut. Her father was inside, sitting with his head against the wall. He used to be the best hunter in the tribe, but now he just sat there, his head stuck in the past. He cried a lot, slept when he could, and would only come out of his stupor to rail on about the past. Oh, how she missed the days when he was happy.

His name was Ghashiun, son of the chief. He used to be a troublemaker back when he was her age, but stopped when he caught and sold the Avatar’s Air Bison. The Avatar nearly killed him. The fear he gained when thinking about that moment was more than she could take. And she couldn’t help him.

The Fire Nation had killed the Avatar, some of the merchants said, when Phoenix King Ozai had attempted to take over the world. But the cycle would continue, and would start in the Water Nation. The merchants liked to tell stories, and she had heard enough to know that the Avatar has all of the past lives connected to him or her. If there was anything she could do to regain her father’s honor, it was to defeat the Avatar. So she set off on a journey to find said being, and when she did…

Fwoosh!

Fire splashed the ground as Cerelia sped through the canyon. The cost of her openly employing earthbending in the Fire Nation led their tanks to chase after her. They weren’t the most agile things she’d faced, but their firepower and speed were unmatched.

Cerelia weaved right and left, as she rode a wave of sand. Neither sand nor rock stopped these terrible machines. Another wave of fire raced towards her. She raised a hand and blocked it with a wall of sand. The fire smacked against it with no effect, but the tank charged right into it and kept going.

Cerelia was beginning to tire, and the canyon walls were too steep for her to climb. There was only one option she could think of.

Cerelia slid to the left and onto the wall. A hatch on the first tank opened up and she punched the air. Sand shot into the tank. The soldier tried to close the hatch but was too slow and the tank began to fill up. But she couldn’t celebrate yet, as there were three more, preparing to fire.

She jumped just in time, as the wall exploded into a shower of sharp rocks, leaving a cloud of dust where she used to be.

She held her hands in front of her face, and bounced off of the top of the closest tank, catching the edge and holding on. The gunner stuck his head out and looked down in surprise.

She grabbed him and pulled him out. The other tanks were beginning to take aim, but hesitated. She glared at the driver of the last tank and lowered the man to the ground, right in front of the last tank’s treads. The driver understood what he was being asked to do. Pulling a couple levers, the tank began to slow down. The other two followed suite and she let go of the soldier.

She dropped to the ground and punched towards the tank. Sand walls quickly rose out of the ground and angled it off of its treads. The other two fired, and an explosion of rock and fire sounded above her head. Getting back up, she punched one side, and slammed the wall section into the tank in the rear of the formation. Dust and dirt clouded the driver’s view and she ran to the tank and hid behind it.

Collecting her thoughts, she slapped the ground and a wave of sand began to form under the tank. The key was to get the tanks off of their treads so they couldn’t move.
With the tanks currently occupied and unable to pursue, Cerelia began running down the path the way she had been chased down. She hopped into the air and began riding a wave of sand. She was soon out of sight.

Cerelia lowered herself to the ground, leaning against a small tree. She couldn’t continue this way, not if she was to find the Avatar and complete her mission. At all costs, the Fire Nation had to be off of her tail. Coming to the Fire Nation, she had heard no rules about bending. No way of knowing it was forbidden.

Cerelia opened her pack and pulled out her desert clothes, which included a mask covered in cloth wrappings. If people were going to be hearing about a sandbender, then they were only going to be hearing stories about the Desert Fox, a mysterious figure who utilizes sand to do his bidding, and had a metallic, reverberating voice. He would attack the Fire Nation troops, wreak havoc to their army, and with luck find the Avatar. Cerelia formed a dome of dirt and began putting on the clothes. Once finished, the dirt fell to the ground and she began running up to higher elevation.

Reaching the top, she climbed the tree and looked around. A town about ten miles away, surrounded by fields and forests, with a river running nearby. With the canyon behind her, no other civilization could be seen. She climbed back down and began heading towards the town. By the time she got there, it would already be past noon.

The Desert Fox slid to a stop at the bottom of the slope and walked to the edge of the trees. Everything was different than he was used to. The buidings were made out of stone and wood, there were more people than he was used to, and the food at the bazaars were certainly strange, if not rare in his area. Carefully, he scanned the scene before him and picked out the soldiers. Fifteen, all on the move out of the town.

Despite the willingness to attack the soldiers, he had to focus on his goal. He had to find the Avatar. Then a thought occurred to him, maybe the Avatar would be willing to help him fight the Fire Nation troops.

"No, that's stupid. He'd only avoid the fight. but what else can I do?" The Desert Fox asked himself.

If the Avatar was smart, he'd avoid crowds, protect his identity, travel alone. Looks like the Desert Fox will have to call it quits for today. If Cerelia was going to question anyone about any newcomers, probably at the tavern, she couldn't do it bandaged up. Or could she? A smile came to her face as an idea came to her.

(I'm keeping the illusion that the Desert Fox is a male character, which the other characters will eventually find out is female. That'll probably happen if/when they capture him/her.)

The Desert Fox calmly walked into the tavern. All eyes were on him as he walked to the check-in counter. The owner stepped in from the back room and came forward.

"Hello, how long will you be-" The Desert Fox grabbed him by the head and slammed him into the counter.

"Tell me everything you know about your most recent customers." He said in a metallic, reverberating voice.

"I - I don't know what you're talking about! Everyone just rents a room and leaves! i don't know anything, I swear!"

"Then you better get me a list and some descriptions. And be quick."

He let go of the tavern owner's head and the tavern owner ran into the back room. The Desert Fox leaned against the counter and glanced at the witnesses.

"What are you looking at?" Everyone quickly turned away. The sound of falling items brought his attention back to the back room. Within moments, the man returned with a scroll and some parchment.

He put the scroll down and opened it and quickly began writing the names and descriptions onto the paper sheets.

In a couple minutes, the tavern owner had finished and grabbed the unfurled scroll, leaving the parchments on the counter. "There's the information. Please go, you're scaring my customers."

The Desert Fox grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him close. "I don't care." Then threw him back against the wall. He then walked upstairs and kicked open a room to begin his search.

Random Tavern / Inn in the Fire Nation:

(OOC: If you don't mind Cerelia, I will be momentarily stepping into your topic)

Mattias sat at the bar, a small glass of fire-whiskey sitting in front of him. His hands were clasped and he squinted at it, taking in every detail, the color, the way the light reflected off of it.

"Are you sure you don't have anything else to drink?" He asked the bartender who looked amused by Mattias' indecision.

"That's it, unless you want to go stronger." He gave a knowing smile that made Mattias grimace at the thought of what he could be referring to.

Giving a half-hearted smile, he raised the glass, raising it up in the air, then took a small sip. Instantly the drink raced down his throat. Mattias gasped out, it felt like flames had sprung inside of him. His eyes bugged out and his muscles tightened. Setting down the glass his eyes watered. All around him he heard roars of laughter. He couldn't help smiling at his own stupidity. These folk didn't get much outsiders. He laughed along with them, then when they settled down he spoke in a clear voice:

"I haven't had a drink this... rejuvenating for a long time... I'll take the whole bottle!"

The bar erupted in laughter once again. This time there was respect in their eyes. He realized that he had embraced their culture, and as such was granted respect and a place among them.

The bartender reached down and pulled out a bottle with a faded label. Mattias reached into his pocket and pulled out some coins. He slid his hand across the table dropping the money on the counter. It was just a little bit more than it cost, but he let it slide. Then he picked up the bottle and the still full glass and walked upstairs to his room.


----TIME SKIP----


With a jerk Mattias snapped out from his position on a rather large armchair. Quickly he looked around the room for the cause of his disturbance. On the table he saw the full bottle, and the now empty glass.

He heard the noise again, this time louder. It sounded like a large object being thrown into something made of wood. The floor underneath him shook slightly, and he realized whatever it was had impacted with a wall of the building. Mildly curious he wondered if a fight had broke out by the bar. He sat back down in the chair and waited. Hearing no more noise he started to close his eyes.

About five seconds later a loud crash came from the room just next to him. Mattias jumped off his chair. That is no bar fight. He walked across the room and opened the door. Looking to his right he saw the door leading to the next room completely broken down. He swore, these were good people, they didn't need any form of commotion.

He walked out of his room, and stood in the doorway of the room that had just been broken into. In it he saw person wearing a traveling cloak.

"Looking for something." His tone was calm enough, but there was a sense of threat in his voice.

"Looking for something?" A man in the doorway asked.

The Desert Fox continued his search, only glancing at the interloper. In a metallic, reverberating voice, he said, "If you're looking for a fight, you've come to the wrong place. I'm merely searching for something. Something that isn't your bussiness."

The Desert Fox pulled out some objects from the room renter's bag. He stared at each object and dropped them on the ground.

Mattias could have rolled his eyes, however there was a time and place for such things. He simply waited for the stranger to finish, watching and making a mental note at what they looked at.

Finally the stranger faced the door. This was where Mattias would get some answers.

"You shall not pass without me having provocation to let you do so."

"Oh really? And what makes you think I'll tell you anything?" The Desert Fox asked. He stood up and turned around.

The Desert Fox studied him. He saw that the man had a sword, which meant close range would not be a good idea. If he didn't say anything, the man might be provoked to attack.

The Desert Fox smiled behind his mask. "But maybe you can help me?" he paused to see the man's reaction.

"I was told about a person my father knew, but I have no clue what he looks like now. From what I know, he's a waterbender. Perhaps you've seen one in the past few weeks?" The Desert Fox leaned against the wall, waiting for a reply.

______________________
Yet again, I Mattias have failed at the seperation of topics... So without further delay, here is Keel's post that was supposed to be here.

Keel had stayed under the tree by the river listening, not moving or wanting to get involved. When all parties had left he got up and walked back into the town to his home. Once there he gathered a few items, locked up what was valuable, dawned a heavy, worn travelers cloak, and left.

After a day of traveling toward the edge of the fire nation he entered a small town, that had been used as a fire nation check point years ago when the search for the avatar was much greater. He should know, he set up and established the town. Once past the gates he headed to the tavern in the center of town. He chose a set in that rear of the bar, ordered a drink and waited.

After sitting there for a while a man wearing a dusty cloak entered and went up stairs. The man was clearly an earth bender, even under the heavy traveling cloak it couldn't be hidden.

Several minutes later he heard a lot of movement and commotion up-stairs. Standing up he slowly climbed the stairs to see what was going on. As he approached the landing he saw a smashed door and a man walk across the hall and into the room. It couldn't be?

Taking a few more steps he saw the man and recognized him, the guy in the tree. How could it be that they run into each other in the middle of nowhere. Keel shrugged and took a couple more steps forward to see inside the room, and there was the man with the dusty cloak rummaging through some bags.

Keel was now directly behind the man from the tree, looking into the room.

- "You shall not pass without me having provocation to let you do so."

The man gave no information, but seemed to be hiding something.

"It would appear I've wasted my time with you. I'll be taking my leave then. See ya later!" The Desert Fox said, giving a two finger salute and quickly moving it away before jumping out the window backwards.

He landed on the ground feet first and ran off down the street and quickly dissapeared in an alleyway.

Coming out from the other side, he quickly walked out of town.

Entering the forest, he took off his mask, and Cerelia showed her face to the world once again. If she was to find the Avatar, she would have to look elsewhere. Something told her that the safest place to check would be the Earth Kingdom. And what better way to learn earthbending, than to go to the earth nation captial of Ba Sing Se?

OOC: Yet again Cerelia, I apologize for my lack of posting. I will start where your second to last post left off, then continue.


Mattias remained silent as the man questioned him about a water bender. His heart skipped a beat, and he had to use all of his discipline to remain completely motionless. A little bit a relief washed over him as the man continued. He thinks that the avatar is male!

Then with a concealed smile he watched as the man gave a sloppy salute then dived out the window.

Shaking his head Mattias looked at the stuff that the man had searched at, then jumped from the window, using his falling motion to roll forward and then sprinted forward watching from a distance as the cloaked man ran into the forest.

He gave a smile. All of those years hunting from his house had provided a means for which he could track his opponent. Memorizing where his quarry had entered the woods he turned around to get provisions for his long search.

He walked into the main market of the town. People were bustling all over the place. A few recognized him from the pub the other day and waved hello. He grabbed the arm of a passing man.

"Where might I find a local arms shop?"

The man gave a grin. One of his front teeth was missing, the rest were yellow. "You have come to the right man. Most weapon shops around here only sell daggers or hunting bows. Everything else is illegal to sell." His voice was gruff and hoarse. The noise was hard on Mattias' ears.

Keeping his pleasantries despite all of this, he returned the smile. "So then lets see what you have."

The man gave a gruff laugh than looked around quickly before slipping down an ally between two buildings. He moved with speed and caution, being careful to make sure Mattias was the only one following him. Coming to a dead end, he slammed his fist into a wall while letting out a loud cough to mask the sound. The wall moved in, then slid to the side revealing a small room lit by a single candle. All around were weapons.

At the same time as the cough four people jumped down from the buildings and faced Mattias. They all had a tattoo of a snake on their neck, that coiled up to their cheek.

The man who had led Mattias there smiled. "I'm afraid that the market is bad for enemies of the fire nation. You have a reward on your head so big that I could open up a factory with it."

Without another word he slipped into his armory and closed the door, sealing Mattias with his back to a wall, and four men in front of him.

Without another word Mattias reached for his sword, drawing it and bringing it to the ready. He had no time to waist, these people would be dead, or they would run. Two of the men drew swords, Mattias mentally made a note of who they were. Each of the four men had a different tattoo of a snake on it. The two with swords had a Python and a Cobra. Mentally he named them as such. The third drew twin daggers from his belt. He got the name Viper. The last man uncliped a war-hammer. He was dubbed with the name Boa.

Python and Cobra led the assault first. Their eyes locked, and a smirk on their face they jumped at him, each swinging their sword in a different direction. Mattias brought his own sword around, blocking Cobra's in such a way that Cobra's sword collided with Python's. Lashing out with a foot, he kicked Python in the chest, knocking him across the ally and into a wall. By this time Viper had entered the fight. His attacks were much quicker and more accurate. The shorter length blades gave him more maneuverability. But having two blades also gave him a significant disadvantage. While Mattias had the ability to use two hands, Viper could only use one per sword. So Mattias pressed the attack, using brute strength, to slowly knock through Viper's defenses.

From behind Mattias a roar came. Cobra had spun on the spot and started a quick series of attacks. Mattias easily parried all of them, however he was having difficult finding an opening to attack, as he could not allow himself to become vulnerable to any of the other men. Finally he gave up on his traditional strategy. As one of Cobra's slashes came towards him, Mattias twisted his own blade so that the two swords would meet blade on blade. The resulting clang rang through the streets. Mattias nearly lost his grip on his swords as it collided. He looked to see what had happened. Mattias' sword had cut clean through the core of Cobra's sword, stopping just before completely slicing through it. Giving his sword a twist, he dislodged the sword from Cobra's hands, then spun it around, spinning it towards Viper. The blades dislodged from each other. Viper hit the sword as it flung towards him, but when his blades met it, the sword split on its cracked point and preceded to stab him in the chest. Cobra now defenseless was quickly dispatched with a quick punch to the temple.

Mattias turned to face the last man, who curiously enough had remained out of the fight. The man shrugged then slammed his hammer into the ground in front of him. A great shock wave of rock erupted from the impact point, traveling at blurring speeds directly at Mattias. He rolled out of the way as it slammed into the door to the weapons storage, reducing it to rubble. He's an earthbender! Mattias rolled again as several stones flew at him. Normally Mattias would fight fair, but he was in a bit of a rush. He put away his sword, then held out his hand. He could feel the power building in him, then he let it out in a concentrated stream. The blast flew at Boa, who raised a shield of earth. The attack impacted on the rock, exploding it, and throwing Boa to the ground unconsciousness.

Mattias then walked into the storage room, took what he wanted, ignoring the cowering arms dealer.

About an hour later, he returned to the spot where his quarry had entered the woods, and began tracking her. However something nagged at him, something about the footprints seemed odd...

Cerelia glanced behind her. There was someone following her. But he was far behind.

"This is just what I need." Cerelia said. She swung a hand and dirt covoered her tracks. If that person was an expert tracker, he'd notice that the dirt seemed loose. Perhaps she didn't have to loose him as fast as she could afterall. Cerelia put on the mask and became the Desert Fox once more. He then began waving his arms around, loosening the dirt around him. Once he was done, he continued to travel to the port, where Cerelia would take a boat to the Earth Nation. No one in heavy cloaks would've been allowed on, but she had few options.

Then a thought occurred to her. That guy knew who the Avatar was! Whether it was a male or female Avatar, it didn't matter. She could not let this person get in her way. Undoubtably, if the Avatar was travelling with anyone, his or her allies would only get in the way. The Desert Fox punched the ground and the dirt became solid. But below the surface, a deep pit formed. It was thick enough to hold, but thin enough that if somebody stepped on it, they would be trapped, unable to climb back up. Then he jumped into a tree and continued on his way.

Mattias crouched at the ground examining a footprint. Still something felt off about it. He shook the feeling then looked at the track again. He was a couple of hours behind the man, although he was gaining significantly.

He came to a more cleared area. The man had rested here. Mattias crouched on a large tree root examining the ground, trying to determine if he could gain a clue as to who the person was based on the tracks. On the ground near him he spotted a indentation that vaguely resembled the nose of the mask on the man. He looked on the ground, illuminating it with a small flame. Something glinted on the ground. Using his free hand he reached down and grasped a hair that had rested on a leaf. He reasoned that the mask must have pulled off a hair. Extinguishing the flame, he used his other hand to straighten the hair. It was much longer than the average person's. He knew that he was looking for someone with longer than average hair. Tossing the hair to the ground he took a step forward to follow the tracks again, when a crack echoed through the forest...

Looking down in almost horror, he saw that the ground had caved in slightly. Before he had time to jump away, the rest of the ground shattered and he plummeted down into a pit. He kept on falling watching as the mouth of the pit got smaller. With one hand he sent a blast of fire down, illuminating the bottom which was coming closer faster than he would have liked. Reaching to his belt he pulled twin daggers which he stabbed into the wall of the hole. The sudden jerk on his arms almost made him loose his grip. He kept on sliding, he had built up too much momentum to stop, but he was traveling at a much slower speed. Soon he touched down at the bottom, and he pulled the blades free from the rock. He looked at the now dull blades with disgust, it would take hours to make them sharp again. He sheathed them, then looked up.

He had several options, first he could climb up using the now dull knifes, something that he didn't look forward to, he could try wall jumping, or he could nearly cook himself.

Swearing under his breath, and cursing his own stupidity he knelt down, feeling the power build in him. Then he jumped, hitting the opposite wall. As soon as he contacted it, he kicked off, gaining even more height. As he reached the peak of his jump, he brought his fists down, and his legs straight down. A roar of fire blasted from his limbs, sending him flying upward. Underneath him a great maw of fire started to churn, quickly following him up. It would be close.

Mattias neared the surface. The flames below him were licking at his feet. Ten seconds later he erupted from the mouth of the pit. He ceased his propulsion, then brought his hand down. The flames that had followed him up hit an invisible wall. Straining he willed the flames not to expand out of the opening. Soon the flames died out from lack of oxygen, and he let them simmer slowly down into the pit. He looked down as the flames dissipated.

The trap had been both annoying and helpful. It gave him a key piece of information. The man was an earthbender.

He turned and continued following the tracks, although with much more urgency. No longer did he try and mask his presence. His quarry knew that he was being followed. Now it was a full out race to see who would reach their destination first.

The port was in sight, and the Desert Fox crouched on a tree branch. He had taken a few detours, hoping the person following him would get lost or confused. He had lost some time and distance between him and the man chasing him. In fact, he was beginning to catch up.

The Desert fox dropped out of the tree and quickly took off the clothes and mask that made her the Desert Fox and shoved them into her bag. Cerelia would be continuing on to the port. She stepped out onto the road and began walking calmly amongst the other travellers and merchants.

Mattias emerged from the forest. His breath was rasping. He had made a full on sprint to the end of the forest once he figured out where the man was going. With a sigh and a strong sense of desperation he viewed the sight before him.

Hundreds of people swarmed around the port. Shops were opened up trying to sell things to newcomers. The port was the perfect place to hide, if you weren't wearing a mask.

He walked quickly up the dock master.

"Which ships are leaving soon?" He asked, careful to not let his urgency become visible.

"I have two ships leaving. One is heading for the Earth Kingdom, the other is heading for the Southern Water Tribe."

Mattias thanked him, then swore to himself. He had no clue where the man was going, and he couldn't go after the Avatar and warn her, as he himself had no idea where she might be.

Unsure of what to do, he sat on top of a barrel that was at the end of the dock and waited.

Cerelia took her time examining the crowds and the area around her. From what she learned from others, there were two ships leaving. One for the southern water tribe and one for the Earth Nation.

Then someone stepped up to her.

"Hello!" A young girl asked. "Heading to the Earth Nation?"

"Umm, yes." Cerelia answered, studying her closely.

"Cool! My friends and I are heading there too. We're going around to travel the world."

"That sounds fun." Cerelia nervously smiled. "Heading to Ba Sing Se first?"

"Yeah, we plan to visit some relatives before heading out." She said, looking back to her friends. They had long black hair and wore green or brown traveling cloaks. They were ushering her to continue. "Umm, anyway, we were wondering if you'd like to come with us."

"Um, are you sure it's alright?"

"It's not a problem! Come on, I'll introduce you to the group!" She said, patting Cerelia's shoulder. Cerelia joined the group as they began chatting to her.

"All aboard for the Earth Nation!" A man called out to the pier.

"Oh! Looks like that's us." Cerelia said. The five girls walked onto the ship.
[exit]

Mattias had just about given up when he saw a person in the crowd. At first he couldn't see much except the feet, something about the gait seemed familiar. The way the person walked reminded him of the footprints that he had been following for over an hour.

With a start he jumped to his feet and pushed against the flow of bodies, following the person. Eventually his quarry turned, and Mattias froze. All of this time he had been tracking a woman? His mind flashed back to when he first found her footprints, he knew something was off... they weren't deep enough or wide enough to be a man's. The moment of revelation cost him, as he lost sight of her as she boarded the earth kingdom vessel.

He tried to follow, but he realized he'd never make it on-board. He had no ticket and didn't have time to buy one. With a heavy sigh, he sat down on a barrel and watched as the ship boarded and prepared to depart.

He continued to watch the people flow onto the boat, but after a while he saw the woman on the top deck, a few others surrounding her. As she looked his way, he gave a slight nod to her. His face was masked by his hood on his travelling cloak, but he knew she would realize it was him. He remained there until the ship cast off, then he turned and walked away as the ship sailed off into the sunrise.

[exit]