I Don't Own Avatar the Last Airbender
Rin and Ran had been here for more than just the night like I thought they would be, it was nice to know they weren't just out there on there own, but I knew there was still some clear tension in the older of the two but that wouldn't be going away through anything short of giving her time to adjust to us all. Though it came with it's own problems, I was already stretching funds thin with just the four of us, but now it's suddenly six. I'll figure something out I'm sure though, given some time to think about it all.
Anyway those thoughts would have to be later, it had been about three days since that whole thing and I was currently in the middle of an earthbending lesson, with Ran running around and encouraging my kids as they tossed around disproportionately sized boulders. They were getting better and better but there was still some areas in which I could seem them improving some over time. But that was for future things, for right now we were just going over the basics again, when Bahi suddenly asked a very out of the blue question.
"Hey Dad, do you think you could spar with us?" I blinked and did my best to not instantly shoot that down, the idea of it wasn't repulsive or anything. Sparring was mostly harmless, hell I've sparred against a hell of a lot of people and I'm still fine, mostly, but I didn't like the idea of accidentally hurting them. I wasn't at my best yet and one might think that would be a good thing but for firebenders it wasn't. We need our control, fire is a raging force, if we can't control it then people can die and forests can be burned down. It was why we were so good at war.
Not to mention they still weren't fully comfort even being around or to close when I fire bend, especially Bahi, Buo was getting much better at it recently but Bahi was about the same. Which was also something that gave me pause, as Bahi was the one to ask for it. But I didn't want to accidentally hurt or scare her any, even if it is light sparring... Well, I mean I don't exactly have to bend now do I? Inaru climbed the ranks in her own way and she can't even bend. Sure she's much better than me with weapons but I still can fight without bending, I had to. Chi blocking was a thing that lead to many painful lessons in humility...
"Maybe in a little while, for now finish up your exercises while I think about it. Oh, by the way, Buo try to make your form a bit more ridged, it's a bit to loose" I noted Bahi's smile as the two turned back to their work. From the looks of things they seemed a bit more excited to get it over with than before... Well, either way it will be good for them, it isn't good for you to get to use to just fighting one opponent.
I remember back in my childhood I had constantly changing teachers to spar against. I thought that each one was to teach me something new, but it was instead to train my mind to be able to react to all different types of fighting styles. Looking back on it they were trying to make me the most effective warrior they could, and honestly, they succeeded. I was well on my way to being a general before it all went down hill. Heck I probably would be one by now if I had stayed.
Whatever, thoughts for never. With that I looked over towards Inaru, who had thankfully noticed and turned her attention towards me before I nodded in the kids direction. She gave me a smile and a nod back as she stood up and stretched before walking over towards the two benders to watch over them while I walked up to one of the bags I was commonly carrying before opening it up.
While I had some time to myself, I might as well start charting some courses to head to soon. We had stayed here for a while now and I was ready to get a move on, food was running a bit tighter than I would like so it's about time to start heading towards the nearest village and/or town around here. With that I pulled out from my bag a rolled up map and laid it out onto the ground and began to look it over for a while, mentally charting out courses and what was the quickest paths possible.
Surprisingly my time leading served me well in this regard. Honestly it's helped me more than one would think, from resource management to frugal spending, to using my time plotting marching patterns and raid plans which translated to plotting courses in our travels in a much more efficient way. I had gained a lot of life skills out there, most you wouldn't think about.
"Are you really planning on fighting your kids?" I blinked to myself as I looked up at Rina who, while looking uncomfortable, also seemed to be to annoyed to really care. I tilted my head to the side for a moment before saying back to her.
"Fight? Of course not, but if they want to spar then I guess I could show them a thing or two. No one is going to get hurt if that's what your worried about" I got a mistrustful stare for just a moment but I could also see the clear sag in the tension in her shoulders... Did she really think I would hurt my kids? What happened to her for this giant amount of mistrust in me just for the firebending thing. I mean I could understand it somewhat, I wasn't blind to the world but this seemed extreme. I've meet Earth Kingdom soldiers who didn't mind my bending as much as she seems to.
"G-good" I gave her a smile as she turned and walked away a bit, I felt like comforting her, the look in her eyes. I had seen it before, and it never involved a happy situation. Hell, I've seen that look in the mirror more than once in the past. With that I turned back to the map and continued to mark out a few paths, before my eyes traveled upwards, almost without really meaning to at one of the major cities still standing in the Earth Kingdom. Omashu.
It was surprisingly near by, well, it was almost two full weeks away at the best of paces. But it couldn't hurt to maybe visit it. I've been there once before a long time ago, it had been one of the first time out of the military, and we had been nearby, after what felt like days if not weeks of running, carrying to two small five year olds in my arms as I ran. Having to throw my amour away just to lessen the weight on my body so I could keep going. It was one of the few things that saved my life.
The guards took one look at us before rushing us into the city. I don't think I've ever been as thankfully as I was at that moment. I had crashed soon after, slept for almost two days... We had spent a week there, with me and the two kids having to learn to interact with each other, it was a slow and uneasy process but they never ran, even when I was unconscious. I remember that being the only thing that gave me hope that we could get along.
The memories felt like they had been decades ago, it hasn't even been half a decade in reality, but it sure some times felt like it. That was genuinely the very start of my new life at that time. It was such a confusing and messy time, but I didn't regret any of it. I couldn't find it anywhere in my mind that regretted any of it. It doesn't mean I don't have any regrets, I had so many things I would love to change, things that I hated myself for doing. But I'm sure that I would do it all again if I had to.
Anyway it didn't matter to much, it was in the past, just me reminiscing like the old man I am inside, but it does raise a few ideas. Omashu was a strong hold in the Earth Kingdom, it would be years before an assault could take them down properly, I would know, I was once ordered to look for any and all weak points in the city, there weren't many. But that was my military mind talking and not what I was really thinking about.
It had a number of available jobs opened when I was last there, and with them all being so close together now that I'm putting some thought into this. It would be an excellent place to go to try and find some work for a while. Plus, it was becoming fall, and that means that soon winter will be on us, and winter's were never fun months to be out traveling in. I could warm all of us up but it wouldn't be all that pleasant no matter what.
So it wouldn't be a bad thing to go to Omashu if only to have some properly and longer term shelter for a while for the seasons to pass us over. In fact I know my kids would like it, Ran would probably love the idea as well, and Inaru I'm sure wouldn't mind helping me out by picking up some more jobs around the city. Though I wasn't sure how Rina would react, she was a lot more closed off than the others.
Still, I think she'll follow along with us, I think the idea of settling down somewhere for a bit would appeal to her. She doesn't really portray herself as the type that likes to travel around a lot, even if she must be pretty far from home at the moment, but those are questions for later I suppose. No reason to rush her into anything, if she feel comfortable enough then she can open up to us on her own.
So for now I'll just continue to map out the best path for us to take. Thankfully the rain didn't last for long but the ground still is a bit more muddy than I would like, so that might be good to take into consideration for what routes are best.
My hand is killing me. For anyone that doesn't know I have minor to sometimes serve pain in my left hand. It is an old pain from when I was younger when I broke my left hand pretty bad. Basically it's hard for me to do things with it for long periods of time without it flaring up and if I hold my hand a certain way it feels like the back of my hand is burning. It's recently started up a lot worse recently for some reason so that's been a massive pain. Anyway, See ya.