"Are we there yet?"
"No…"
"Are we there yet?"
"No!"
"How bout now?"
"NO!!!"
"Kairi…"
"WHAT!?" Kairi screamed, giving a glare over to Shan as both he and Ran cowered in fear of the scary woman.
"…We're here…" he whispered as he pointed to a large rock formation surrounded by a forest in the distance.
Kairi sighed as Mako came to a stop, "Finally… traveling with you idiots is more stressful than I thought." She slid off the Badgermole and looked around. "Why are we stopping here? We just stopped at Shan's town a few hours ago."
"Whoohoo! Break time!" Ran shouted as he jumped off Mako, carrying a bag of supplies. "Come on Kairi, lighten up. We could all use a break, the North Pole isn't going anywhere."
"Lazy assess…" The Fire Nation woman muttered as she watched Ran and Shan run through the forest, screaming with joy like little kids. "Come on Mako." She sighed as she pulled the Badgermole's reigns, following the two boys into the forest.
"SO COOL!" Came a shout from deeper in the forest. As Kairi and Mako made their way through, they eventually found Shan and Ran standing in front of a huge stone waterfall, the foliage from the forest surrounding it, even creating a small rainbow and making for an overall beautiful scene.
"Hmm… nice." Kairi smirked softly, taking a seat in some soft dirt and watching Ran and Shan take off their overclothes and splash around like four year olds.
"Besides." Ran laughed as he climbed out of the water. "This'll give me a good chance to get some training in. I'll need to get stronger if we're going to beat those two guys we met before on the beach."
"The crazy Fire-breathing soldier and the traitor commander you told me about earlier?" Shan blinked as he too climbed out and dried off.
"Yeah, you're right, I can't take them both on myself, so you need to be less of a wimp." Kairi nodded. "Alright, we'll take a break."
"Whoohoo!" Ran and Shan both gave each other a high-five and ran over to Kairi with the intention to hug her.
"Touch me and you'll be leaving this forest in pieces." She growled.
Both men froze in their tracks. "Uh… maybe I should go start training…" Ran muttered as he walked off with Mako. "Come on boy, she might try to cook you if we leave you here…"
--------------------------------
"Alright, get ready Mako, Earth Bullet!" Ran fired a boulder at the badgermole, which was easily broken over his tough hide. "Nice one. Try breaking this! Spike Kick!" Ran leaned a kick into the ground, causing a row of stone spikes to shoot out, heading straight for Mako.
The Badgermole jumped into the air to avoid the attack, nearly landing on Ran and causing his own column of earth around him, knocking Ran off his feet. "Wow, Good bout Mako, you just keep getting better and better." The Earthbending boy laughed as he stood up, brushing the dirt off him.
The Badgermole nodded, but stopped abruptly as he sniffed the air, growling into a pair of bushes nearby. "What is it buddy?" Ran patted his friend and walked over to the bushes and kneeled down.
"EEP!" A voice cried out from the plant as it rustled and shook for a moment before becoming still.
"You can come out now Shan, I'm not scared of you." Ran sighed, but lifted his head when there was no answer. "Whoever's there better come out right now or else!" He stomped the ground, releasing a small tremor.
His calls were met only by more rustling further away and then silence. "Damn.. well whatever it was, it seems like it's gone now." He turned away from the noise and back to Mako, patting his snout. "Let's find somewhere to take a break." He sighed, walking away from the dueling spot and finding another clear, leaning up against a rock and looking up at the sky.
Mako brushed him with his snout softly, as if to ask what was wrong. "I don't know buddy." He patted his pet again. "It's just that, ever since I was little, I never knew my parents, King Bumi was the only one there to take care of me, he was like a grandfather to me, and now I'm out on my own, this is the first chance since I left that I've had to think things over."
Both Ran and Mako were so lost in his speech that they didn't notice a young girl sitting on the other side of the rock. Neither did the girl notice the Badgermole or boy. "My parents lied to me, they never told me I was a bender, and now I'm on my own, this is the first chance I've had to think about everything…" She said to herself, looking up at the sky as well.
"I just feel so… alone." They said together.
A chill ran through both their spines as they finally realized the other's presence, climbing around the rock and meeting each other face to face. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!?" They shouted at each other. Both of them crawled away from the rock, staring at each other.
"H-Hey… you're that punk I saw Earthbending earlier…" The girl muttered.
"And that must mean you were the thing crawling in the bushes." Ran blinked at her.
"I'm not a thing…" She growled. "My name is Zhang Xiao Liann."
"What kind of stupid name is that?" Ran cocked his eyebrow as the two stood up.
"It means little lotus!" Xiao growled, glaring at Ran.
"Alright, alright, no need to get touchy." Ran sighed. "I'm Ran Dejie, nice to meet you." He walked over to her and extended a hand. "You mentioned my bending. Are you an Earthbender too?"
"Sorta." She chuckled softly.
"Whoot! That's awesome!" Ran grabbed her hands playfully and did a little happy dance. "That makes two Earthbenders I've met in the past few hours!" He chuckled.
Xiao raised her eyebrow. "You're here with friends?"
"Yeah, Kairi and Shan, you should come meet them, come on!" Ran grabbed her hand and dragged her back in the direction of the waterfall, quickly followed by Mako, who shook his head softly.
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"EEK! Fire Nation! You turned me in! Ran, you jerk!" Xiao Lian ran back and forth screaming as soon as she saw Kairi.
"Relax, she's not here to hurt you, she's mean, but not evil like most Firebenders." Shan grinned from his place ontop of a rock.
The Firebending woman leaned against Mako and ignored Shan's comment. "So, Ms. Zhang…" Kairi looked the girl over. She looked pretty pale, especially for an Earthbender, she had long black hair in a braid behind her and two strands sticking out on either side of her face. Her golden eyes scanned the new girl's green ones for any sign of lying.
"How old are you?"
"Seventeen."
"Damnit! Why is everyone we meet older than me!?" Kairi flailed. "Alright…" She regained her composure. "Where are your parents? Not like this is an area someone travels alone for no reason."
"My parents never told me I was an Earthbender, they hated me for it, so I had to find out on my own when some creep trying to do who knows what." She sighed. "I used a rock and scared him away, then once I figured out what happened, I ran away from home, I couldn't keep living without expressing who I was as an Earthbender."
"Wow, it's tough being a kid." Shan blinked as he sat listening to Xiao's short story.
"The problem is, I only figured all this out a short time ago, I've only been on my own for about a month." She sighed softly. "I still can't really control my Earthbending all that well, it only happens when I get really pissed or scared."
"So you need a master." Ran finished. "Shan, maybe you could help her out?"
"Sorry dude, I'm an artist, not a fighter." He chuckled softly.
"Then I'll help you myself." Ran grinned and pointed to himself.
"No way…" Kairi growled.
"Huh? Why not?" Ran and Shan turned to her.
"Because it's irritating enough traveling with you two losers, I can't have another little brat running around."
"Who're you calling a brat!?" Xiao growled. "Not like I'd want to be trained by that punk anyway, I've seen him fight and he's far from a master!"
"Hey! I'm not a punk!" Ran joined into the shouting triangle.
"She has a point though…" Shan said calmly.
"Stay out of this!" The three shouted at the sculptor.
Ran sighed, "Maybe she's right, but everyone has to start somewhere, I'm the best Earthbender in our group and maybe in teaching I will learn, it would give me someone to train with besides Mako." The Earthbending boy sighed.
"Well… you are pretty weak…." Kairi mused.
"We can all agree Ran is weak." Shan sighed. "But that's not the point here. The point here is that we are trying to get to the North Pole here, and we need a small and elite squad."
Xiao's eyes turned sad and her head lowered as she feared she wouldn't get into the group.
"However, we also need as many people as we can get, and as long as it doesn't mess with the efficiency of the group, more people and skills can only help." Shan smiled warmly at the girl.
"Whoohoo! You can stay!" Ran grinned as he looked at Xiao.
"Provided you train with Ran so both of you get stronger, bad enough having one weakling on the team, can't have two. And also provided that you don't slow us down any." She sighed.
"Yosh!" Xiao gave a silly salute.
"I'm surrounded my idiots…" Kairi slapped herself in the face.
"HEY!" Ran shouted, as if just realizing something. "Do you guys think I'm weak!?"
"YOU'RE SO FREAKIN SLOW!"
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A few hours later, the sun was beginning to grow low in the sky as Xiao and Ran stood in a rocky part of the forest, ready to start training. "Alright… first thing to Earthbending." Ran smirked.
"Yeah?"
"Take those off." He pointed at her.
Ran was met by a large rock being thrown at his head, knocking the Earthbender over. "PERVERT!"
"OW! I didn't say 'get naked'! I meant your shoes! Earthbending works better when you can feel the earth underneath your feet."
"Oh… well why didn't you say that!?" Xiao growled, taking off her shoes as Ran did the same.
"Alright, now there's some things you need to know before we start. In Earthbending, there are two natural animals that give the Earthbender power, the tiger for strong power." He punched a rock, completely breaking it into many little pieces. "And the Crane for soft power." He clenched his fists, reforming the pieces into one rock again.
"Neat, can we start now? I'm serious about this and need to start moving rocks, I have to become stronger in order to become a full-fledged Earthbender." Xiao bounced impatiently at the little display.
"Don't be impatient, Earthbending is all about the neutral jing, watching and waiting." Ran sighed as he walked over to her.
"Sorry, I'm just trying to make up for lost time." The girl rubbed the back of her head and chuckled nervously.
"Show me your stance." Ran gave her a hard, mentoring look.
"All right…" Xiao made an attempt at an Earthbending stance by crouching down and clenching her fists.
"Wrong!" Ran kicked her leg, leaving her to topple over. "The whole point of Earthbending is to be rock-like! You must be sturdier than the rock you are moving! You must be unmovable!"
"Alright, alright, I get it." Xiao took another stance, widening her legs a bit.
"Wrong!"
"AH!"
"Wrong!"
"Crap!"
"WRONG!"
"Shit!"
After many stances, each of which leading to Xiao being on the ground, Ran sighed backed up a bit. "You have to find a sturdy stance, one that won't let you be knocked down."
"I'm trying! I'm trying to be rock-like but I can't! I learned how to stand around and get knocked on my butt a long time ago! I don't need a punk like you telling me what to do!" Xiao shouted in frustration as she stood up.
"If you're not going to respect me, maybe you shouldn't learn from me!" Ran shouted, becoming equally frustrated.
"Maybe I shouldn't!" Xiao shouted back, beginning to walk away. "I can find a better Earthbending master on my own!" She screamed taking off into the forest.
I was right… I am alone!
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Xiao growled as she continued running through the forest until she found the dirt path to the next town. "The best thing I can do now is forget I ever met that jerk, I'm sure there's a much better teacher than him in the next town, he wasn't even that good." She huffed, kicking a rock as she walked down the road.
"Well helllloooo there." Came an all too familiar voice that sent chills up Xiao's spine. She turned around to see three men, her eyes were drawn to the one speaking in particular. He was tall, had dark messy hair and looked to be either drunk or very tired. He recognized the face and voice as the man who had tried to attack her before, when she had discovered her Earthbending powers.
"G-Get away." She backed up, holding her arms out defensively. "I'll beat you again!"
"Yeah right, that last time was a fluke and you know it." One of the other men grinned.
"Was not! I'll smash you over the head with a rock if you get anywhere near me!" She backed up more, getting ready to run if she needed to.
"Prove it!" The third man laughed like a hyena.
"Fine! GAH!" She stomped the ground, however sighed hopelessly as nothing happened.
"HAH! I knew it!" The original man grinned, reaching for Xiao before she could run away and grabbing her wrist, pulling her closer. "You're ours now girly…" He grinned.
"HEY! LEMME GO!" She shouted and struggled in vain, being held back by all three men. She stomped the foot of one man in desperation, struggling out of his grasp as the man yelped in pain. She ran a few feet away, not being able to get far while being chased by the three.
"Get back here! Come on!" The men shouted while chasing Xiao and grabbing her again.
"Three guys against a defenseless girl? How unchivalrous." A voice chuckled from behind them. "I suggest you let her go."
"Huh? Who's there!?" The drunk man growled as he turned around, only to stare in shock as his two friends fell after rocks came smashing into their faces. Ran stood in front of both of them, his Dadao drawn and two holes in the ground from where he had thrown the stones.
"You punk! I'm not defenseless, now get out of here before you get yourself killed!" Xiao shouted, still being held onto by the drunken man.
"You've got a lot of nerve, attacking my cronies and interfering when I'm about to take my new friend here home." He nodded to Xiao with a pissed off look on his face.
"I know you can't tell, so here's a tip. When a girl's screaming and kicking at you, that usually means they want nothing to do with you." Ran sheathed his Dadao and put his fists up. "Let her go or else I'll make you do so." He growled.
What's with this guy? He's like a totally different person than before…Xiao blinked, staring at the two men confronting one another.
The drunken man let out a roar of laughter. "Make me? You may have gotten a few cheap bending shots in, but I don't need tricks, I'm strong!"
"Yeah right, a strong person would give a woman the respect she deserves, not pick on her like you do." Ran struck his stance. "I won't need any tricks for this either, because I am stronger than you!"
"Damn you, you arrogant punk!" The drunkard rushed Ran, however was diverted by a simple movement of the boy's hand, pushing his fist down without even moving his feet.
"I'll kill you!" The man roared, raising his other fist, which was blocked just as easily.
Ran looked over the man's broken form. "WRONG!" He shouted, kicking the man's leg and making him fall flat on his face just as Xiao had before.
The drunk man looked up at Ran from the dirt. "W-What are you?"
"I am… unmovable!" He gave a firm stomp, pushing the man and his friends together with two slabs of earth pressing against each other. "Now never bother her again!" He stomped again, launching the three men into the air and off into the distance.
Xiao fell to the ground, face in her hands after the tension of battle had lifted. Ran walked over to her slowly and kneeled down. "You alright Lian?" He asked, trying to use a less formal name for her.
"No! I'm trying to learn Earthbending so that I can be strong and stand up for myself! And then you come along and save me! I may have found out I'm an Earthbender but I haven't changed at all!" She sobbed softly as she looked up at the boy. "No matter what I do, someone else always has to protect me! My parents, you, I want to be able to protect myself! But no matter how hard I try, I can't get the earth to bend anymore!"
"You just need more practice and patience, let me tell you something, you've already learned a lot more than I could have in one month, I couldn't move a rock for a long time, King Bumi just kept me studying about patience and form for three months."
"THE King Bumi? The old fart who rules Omashu?" Xiao blinked.
"Yup, and about other people protecting you, it's alright, family will always want to protect you. I was an orphan as a child, and King Bumi was the closest thing I had to a relative, but now that I'm on my own, I've found a new family, Kairi and Shan, and even though I've only known them a few days, I feel like they're my family, and we want you to be part of our family too, if you'll accept us." Ran smiled warmly.
"What's with you? You go from a goofy and clueless guy to this." Xiao wiped her tears away and chuckled softly.
"Whatchu mean? I haven't changed at all." He laughed with her. "Come on, we should get back, the others will be wondering what happened to us." He chuckled softly and helped her up.
---------------------------------------------
"Well, about time you two got back." Shan grinned as Xiao and Ran walked back to the group of two humans and a Badgermole.
"Yeah, what happened?" Kairi raised an eyebrow suspiciously at the two.
"Nothing happened." Ran waved his hands defensively. "Training just ran a bit long today."
"Yeah, but I learned lots." Xiao grinned and chuckled softly, thinking about the day she had.
"Well good, now that you two have had enough fun splashing in the mud, we can get going." Kairi sighed, climbing on Mako's back. "Come on, we've wasted enough time here, the sun's about to set again."
Xiao, Ran, and Shan smiled as they climbed on board the Badgermole and sat in the saddle as he took off, speeding across the forest again on his claws.
"And so, the noble North Pole expedition is headed off again, this time with a new member, the promising Earthbending student, Zhang Xiao Lian. Who knows what lies in wait for our heroes across the next horizon?"
"Who the hell are you talking to!?" Kairi slapped Shan over the head with a bag while the other two laughed loudly, speeding on to their next adventure.
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DJP: Alright, hope this chapter was good, sorry if it wasn't, I've been having writers block lately and been having trouble putting my thoughts together. Zhang Xiao Lian belongs to a very good friend of mine, FireThief.
DJM: and Dusty-chan! –heart-eyes-
DJP: -slaps- get out of here! You're not even in this fic! Anyways…
Next time on Tale of the Earth:
Bo: I've learned… I'm different than I was before!
Scars of the past!
Bo: I will never make that mistake again!