Meine gute... Finally got this chapter done. I should have had it up a few days ago. Thanks for the reviews, Jokermask18 and Guest. I do love them. Enjoy!
Unlike most of the small desert towns and villages, this one was well off. Spices filled the markets with their strong fragrance. Guards stood at street corners to prevent theft. They could also see that the armed men stood around a large body of water. The streets were full of music, tales and stopped caravans.
Korra leaned in close to Hong as they continued to follow the advisor, "This is a trading post, right?"
The earthbender snorted as he answered, "I would feel safe to assume that this is 'the' trading post to go through while traveling the desert. I feel like we are about to see how controlling this town is over the surrounding land."
"And here is where you and your companions will be staying," the advisor said as they stopped in front of a small home, "I will be glad to show you the forge, Avatar Nobu. Our Gracious Chieftain would like to speak with you before the day is over. Please have a gift ready to be presented by then."
"And if we cannot?" Hong asked, interested in the other possibility.
The armed advisor smirked widely and spoke venomously, "Then the Chieftain will have no other choice than to imprison the Avatar and his friends. Punishment will most likely be buried alive in the sand as the wasp-vultures are allowed to eat from your bodies." He paused with a smile before continuing, "I do not think that Avatar Nobu will let our Chieftain down. He is truly interested in you, Avatar."
"About our two friends?" Nobu started to ask, catching the man's look of annoyance, "Are we allowed to make sure they have what they need to live outside of the walls?"
"I suppose if you must keep the monk alive, you may." The man said with a long, dramatic sigh, "Our Chieftain expects you three to have the evening meal with him tonight. I will return an hour before the meal. That gives you roughly nine hours to complete his gift."
Nobu bowed, "Of course."
As soon as the advisor left, Hong turned to Nobu. He looked ready to fight.
"We should leave. We can still follow the caravan trails to the library but I do not like this place. I fear for something worse to come to us if we stay." Korra soon nodded as the terms were a bit much.
The firebender smirked mischievously, "I, for some reason, want to meet this Chief Qiang. There may be some ill-intended plans on his part but I want to test my power against leaders. What's the worst that can happen?"
Hong let out a sigh, "He could ban you."
"Being banned isn't always a bad thing." Korra smiled as she crossed her arms. She was recalling President Raiko kicking her out of the city, "Sometimes good things can come from it."
"He could kill us like the Advisor said." Hong continued with a scowl on his face from her comment, "What kind of a man does not give us a name anyways? I don't like this."
"Then trade places with Nergüi." The younger man responded.
The earthbender let out a growl, "And you think some mercenary will be a better partner in this? No. I will not allow him to make a fool out of you. Nergüi is an idiot water weaving savage, no offence Korra."
She snorted in response. Nobu glanced at his counterpart. She was jutting her lip out some as she knew his next question, "No. I'm not telling you what you should do."
He frowned, "I was not going to ask your opinion. I was merely going to ask if you could help me make this sword. You have that, uh, ability to manipulate iron, correct?"
"Metalbending? I do." Korra rose a brow in question, "What do you need me to do?"
"Bending. You refer everything we do with the elements as bending. Why is that?" Nobu asked, skating around his own answer.
The Water Tribe Avatar stopped to think it over. Now that she thought about it, no one in this time ever referred to bending as bending, "Uh, I guess it is just what we all call it. It's been a term for centuries, I suppose. I don't exactly know when it became the official term."
"Bending." Nobu responded as if he were testing the sound of the word, "Right, I will need your metalbending for creating designs on the blade. I won't have the time to make them. Adding the word bending to each element really does make it easier to explain what I need in the elements."
"It sounds lazy as if the people of the future cannot express themselves without a deeper meaning behind their words." Hong commented.
"You are just looking for a fight, aren't you?" Korra looked about ready to size him up, "We're not lazy, just keen on how many words it takes to describe manipulating an element or two. It would take forever if I have to say 'the power of fire and water.' Oh Mr. Hong, please teach me thy power to move earth from here to there with thy magnificent magical earthen powers. I would be elated to study from your tutelage for I am but mere simple water savage who knows not how to neither speak nor act properly."
Hong was now laughing at her as she continued, "You want proper speech? I can continue. I was just getting into the groove of it."
Nobu coughed to interrupt them, "About the gift that we have nine hours to make in?"
Korra and Hong continued their standoff before they both apologized and followed Nobu to find a forge.
"You honestly never kissed a girl? Not even held one's hand?"
The monk shook his head as he tried to meditate, "Not once. Lust is an earthly attachment."
Nergüi's jaw fell open and stayed there, slowly gathering sand. Lobsang was a puzzle that he needed to crack open.
"How do you make more little air monks then if you have not ever touched a woman?"
Lobsang opened his eyes with a bewildered look. He did not have an answer for the now shirtless mercenary. He shrugged.
"To be honest, I would not even know where to begin trying to allure a woman to my side. It is not in my studies." The monk said after giving up on meditating in the hot sun.
Nergüi soon wrapped an arm around his neck like previous times. Lobsang tried to escape as the waterbender was obviously not used to such hot weather. The monk managed to move his arms to dry the other man of his sweat. The waterbender was coughing up sand.
"What was that for?" he continued to spit.
"You are a fairly dirty and smelly man." Lobsang said as he tried to move away, "It is a bit appalling. I apologize for my harsh words and tone but it is true."
"You don't like it, huh? This is how a real man smells, Lobsang."
"No wonder Korra cannot stand to be near you."
Nergüi held his hands up, "Hold on, Korra doesn't know better yet. She will soon though."
The monk sighed. He was beginning to wonder how long he would have to spend with the mercenary.
He slammed the borrowed hammer down on the heated metal. He had to pause to wipe his brow before moving to the next stage. Nobu was working as quickly as he could with what the village smith could provide him. They had taken apart the fancy dagger from Huashi. The firebending Avatar had made sure to give Hong and Korra tasks to add in making this quicker. The earthbender was preparing leather strips while Korra was in a room, preparing to add gold and any etchings that Nobu would need. She had already helped Nobu, cheating their way into making pressed rods. A few days worth of work was being forced into what little time they had.
A crowd was gathering as word passed that the Avatar was making a sword for the chieftain. Seeing that he did have curious eyes watching him, Nobu began showing off a bit. With Korra using her metalbending, he had more time to get everything right.
Hours later, they had a sword made and decorated with what gold came off of the dagger. Korra was hesitant to ask about the large jade gems but Nobu reassured that the richer it looked the better off it would be.
"One last thing Korra," the firebender said, holding up a quick sketch of cactus flowers, "I need you to add this to the blade."
She nodded as she took the sketch and the sword, "This might be one of the coolest things I have ever done."
Nobu and Hong glanced at each other, "Coolest? It's not cool at all. We're in a desert by a forge."
"Neat. It is neat." Korra responded with a bit of a growl.
The two men continued to tease her on their way back to their temporary home. They were all due a quick change of clothes before the advisor would return. When they opened the door, Nobu nearly dropped the sword at the sight of Nergüi and Lobsang. The monk had his head covered while the waterbender jumped up to greet them.
"Our monk can leap and bound over walls. This is a much better place than outside in the sun."
The earthbender growled, "You two are going to get us all killed."
There was a knock on the door. The monk and mercenary dove from their places to under a short table. Korra kicked some pillows up to block the view before Nobu opened the door. The advisor greeted them.
"Are you three ready?"
Nobu gave him a wide smile, "I hope we are."
A small stone-made cup sat at her feet. With a hood covering her head, Kuvira sat in a small village road. Since her short time in the swamp, she found no luck at trying to improve her situation. She tried to find work but finding something suitable she could do was almost impossible without revealing who she was.
The fear of failure and feeling unable to better her situation hit her hard. It was as if Korra was mocking her in her own mind since their conversation after the Avatar's save from the spirit weapon. Now, she did not know where the Avatar was.
The sound of a few coins entering her stone cup alerted her from her thoughts. Kuvira muttered her thanks before checking to see what she had. There were a few coins but also a note. She quickly unrolled the note.
Warlord Huashi may not need your services but others are. Meet me in the alley behind the market place at dusk. Make sure to eat first. You will need your strength.
There was no name written which made her suspicious of the note. Her green eyes shot up into the crowded marketplace as she tried to figure out who gave her the note. The metalbender was not one to be called upon on a whim. With a tug at her hood, she stood as she pocketed the coins.
Kuvira would have to wait to find out who the man was. Her stomach reminded her, painfully, that she was hungry. She had been for several days.