Akira Hibiki's Story

The screaming was heard over to Jiang clearly. And she was just as shocked by the sudden emotion change with the man. She felt sorry for the girl, even though she did not know why she had been yelled at...well, except calling him arrogant...which she could clearly hear him yell but she doubted that was all.

But she decided it was a bad idea to ponder over it at this moment and she focused on her bending. By the time as the man walked up beside her and asked for an air bubble the wave was almost as high as the ships so with one last movement, pulling the wave upwards, she managed to create even more height to it and answered the man with a plain "As you wish." She noticed how he avoided looking at her but she didn't know if it was because he despised her that much or if he was too concentrated on what he was planning. Jiang wants to think the best of people, but after the way the man had acted, she wouldn't be surprised if the first option was the case, but she understood why he wanted her help in this situation. So with a circular motion with her hands, she created a bubble for the man and she turned her face towards him and waited for him to step into the bubble. It was mainly to let him know that she was waiting for him, but then she felt it and quickly turned her gaze towards she ships. This was bad, she frowned and a sweatdrop made its way down her cheek. "You should hurry up...they are picking up speed."

(Sorry about the late response, yesterday was graduation day)

"Okay good," he realized that he should thank her, but decided against and just explained the rest of the plan, "So I need you to keep that air bubble around my head so I can breathe while I swim underwater towards the fire nation ships, I will try to blast as many holes in as many ships as I possibly can before they notice me under the water, we can assume that the best fire benders will be in the front ships to utilize the comet to its full potential, but even the best fire bender can't stand up to a water bender in the middle of the ocean..."

He looked back at Lan for a second, but turned away, realizing that if she was sad or something of the sort then that would affect his ability to metal bend, something that required complete focus...

He had formulated his plan, but forgot that this woman would question his ability to metal bend, the main reason of his departure from the Dai Li. What would stop her from telling someone about it...? Akira thought. He sighed then said in a frank and uncaring tone, while still looking away from her, "I don't trust you, but I have to place a large amount of trust in you for what I am about to do..." He sighed again and rubbed his eyes with his right hand before continuing speaking, "I am about to do something seemingly impossible, and I have to place my trust in you to never tell anyone about this..." He didn't wait for an answer before diving into the ocean, because even if she said no, there was nothing he could do at that moment... He poked his head into the air bubble and began to swim, it would take him a while before he met up with the ships...

The man dove into the water headfirst without yet again, letting her answer to anything he told or explained to her which was really starting to annoy her quite alot. He didn't trust her, she'd figured that out before he told her, and she did not trust him either at this point but she didn't even know what she would keep from telling anyone. She was not used to be met without respect, where she was from respect was out of most importance and so she showed it to everyone including this man since he seemed like a man of status and knew what he was doing. What an impatient man..

The air bubble she created for him would last for about 40 minutes, and by that time he would have reached the ships or they would have reached him so she decided it was time for some more hard work from her part because all she wanted to show was that she only wanted to help. Jumping into the water, landing on the surface she created a wave and an ice board and she started riding the wave towards the ships. She wouldn't be able to defeat any of the ships, absolutely not, not alone but, she would be able to distract them so that they wouldn't notice the towards her quite hostile man so she started circling the ship in the front of the fleet.

Within minutes, fireballs were coming her way and she managed to avoid them. She noticed a man who came too far to the reiling and started firing fireballs towards her, but she used water to block the fireballs and then using the same shield, sending it towards the firebender, knocking him far back onto the ship's deck. Stealing alot of attention, which she had hoped.

Akira swam and swam and swam, getting closer to the, ever-approaching, Fire Nation ships. The large iron beasts sunk a good ways underwater, so they weren't that hard to spot... It took him a good while before he finally reached the ships, but on his way he thought about how he over-reacted to Lan, he felt horrible about it, but he had no time to worry about such things, it would affect his focus... When he was nearly 30 meters away from the first ship, he saw the Water Tribe girl attack them, most likely as a distraction so they wouldn't find Akira, but he still refused to acknowledge her as an ally, she was simply someone to be used to benefit the Earth Kingdom...

He made it to the shop she was distracting and placed his left hand on the iron, he stayed as still as he could and focused on the iron, he took a deep breath within his bubble, then, using his right hand, he punched a small hole through the iron, bending it as his hand approached, the water slowly made its way in, he heard a few muffled yells from inside the ship, he probably hit the engine room. He placed both of his hands inside the hole, then moved them apart, ripping the iron apart even further, feeling the rapid amount of water seeping through the ship. His metal bending was crude, for it was unrefined, but he was still able to do something no one else could, something he would have shared with his Kingdom, had the 51st King not commanded him against this... The hole he made was about a meter in diameter, the ship was rapidly sinking as the screams of the soldiers was heard as they were forced into the domain of the water tribe girl...

He swam away from the ship and moved to the second closest, doing the same thing, smashing a hole in the iron, causing it to sink. Most of the Fire Nation just assumed that the water tribe girl was the source of the sinking ships, most of them... Once Akira had sunk a fourth ship, and was moving towards a fifth, a smaller iron boat was directly next to the ship, Akira moved to the side of the larger ship and was about to punch the hole, when he saw a woman on the boat starting to charge a lightning attack. Shit she sees me! He thought to himself, moving upward as fast as he could. he propelled out of the water, slamming his feet and hands into the side of the ship, scrambling up it as quickly as he could. He heard the sounds of electrical discharge behind him from the water, along with a creepy, feminine, giggle. He climbed onto the deck of the ship, and was immediately surrounded by fire benders, all of them pushed their fists back, about to fire intense fire at him. Akira slammed his hands onto the ground and lifted the iron flooring to protect him as the flames blasted his position, he was surrounded with no way out...

Jiag was impressed by the man, she had to admit after sinking his fourth ship. But Jiang was currently busy keeping the attention on her, knocking off firebenders from the ships. As she followed the man's movements towards the fifth ship she started attracting that ship's attention aswell and she was doing well until she heard saw the man all of a sudden climb up onto the ships side. She averted her eyes to the smaller boat in the water. Damn it, she hadn't nitoced it and the woman in the boat was...lightning! Jiang panicked and as the woman fired the lightning into the water, she had no choice but to jump. She jumped off the wave which was in height with the ship's deck but she was quite far from the ship itself but at this moment she had no choice. Soaring in the air, she stretched her arms out in attempt to reach the reiling of the boat. Fireballs still coming her way but luckily missed her.

Against the odds she managed to reach the railing and firmly gripped it as she looked down quickly at the woman who fired the lightning, she had a wicked smile plastered on her lips. Jiang shivered.
She was starting to lose grip and the fireballs would start firing at her at any moment, so with all her strength, she managed to get onto the deck, panting, she faced the firebenders drawing her staff in her right hand and positioning herself in a battle ready stance, then she noticed the man again, he was protecting himself with a piece of the ship...how did he...she shook the thought, no time to think about that now, she needed to focus on the very unhappy looking firebenders.

Lan kept herself turned away as Akira shouted at her, calling her a child when he was the one acting like it. She did her best to ignore him, but it still hurt. She may be small and inexperienced but that didn't mean anything to her. Part of her, a deep and bitter part of her, almost hoped that he did die trying to defend the kingdom. But that thought was overlapped with concentration as she continued to loosen the sand on the beach.

She found herself smiling a bit as Akira told Jiang clearly that he did not trust her, but would only do so for his kingdom alone. He really loved to hear himself talk it seemed. She continued about her work until fire balls started to rain down on her, making her scream. She quickly sent up walls to block her from being hit and to hopefully keep the firebenders at bay once they reached land. She was completely unaware of what Jiang or Akira were doing right now. She was only concerned with not being burned.

Living in the desert made her used to heat, but this was quite different. The fire seemed to hold a raw anger and passion in it, which terrified her even more. The only thing keeping her from making an earth shelter was the fact that this many benders would likely destroy it quickly.

Looking around, Lan began to shoot up even more walls, while still trying to make the sand into quicksand. Her concentration on each was limited though, resulting in each of her quests to fall just short of what they could be. Looking around, she spotted her very confused hound. She whistled to it loudly and it came bounding over. Sooner or later she'd figure out a name for it. The small young woman jumped onto the hound's back (with help from the ground), before raising up the sand and rock they were on above the rest.

Her breath caught in her throat when she saw sight of the ships. Somehow, Jiang and Akira were both on a ship. Jiang was fighting with her staff against one mob and Akira with... a part of the ship? Lan didn't know it was possible to bend those sort of materials, whatever they were. Then she noticed the lightning benders. She froze and one bender took this opportunity to send a bolt her way. If not for her hound, Lan would have been burnt to a crisp. The hound began to leap from wall to wall in an attempt to stay away from danger.

Lan was unsure how or if she could help at this point. She didn't know how to get across the water without well, drowning. There was also no way for her to defend herself unless she would somehow be able to make a sand storm from what she had here. It was worth a try. She jumped off of the hound and planted her feet on the ground. She first sent up a wall to keep her protected, then begun to create the storm. If she was lucky, she would be able to send it out over the water and cause a few strong gusts of wind to knock over the fire benders.

The metal around him began to glow red hot as the fire benders continued to blast away at it, their flames could never get this hot if it wasn't for the comet... Akira noticed the water tribe girl land on the deck, he knew she was going to be killed in a matter of seconds, his nationalist side was pushed aside by his chivalrous side. He slammed his palm on the ground and ran towards her, lifting up the iron as he moved closer to her. Unlike with earth, he had to actually be touching the metal to bend it, a serious setback that with enough practice could be easily rectified... He planted himself in front of her and lifted the iron in front of both of them. He yelled over the roar of flames, "Get to safety!"

He rolled out of his shield and created a mobile one for himself. He charged forward, feeling the movements of the fire nation troops through the floor, even though he was unable to see them. He slammed his shield into the closest one and created a metal spike that shot forth from the shield, impaling the man. He removed the shield and the fire stopped for a moment as the soldiers yelled for their brutally murdered comrade. Akira responded to their cries with, "That's right, you're in my domain now boys..." before laughing manically, psychological warfare was one of many of Akira's talents. He threw his shield and hit one of the fire nation soldiers overboard before they finally began to fire at him again. he lifted the metal flooring up from around him, creating a spherical shield, he then opened a hole in the floor, then continued making holes until he reached the bottom of the ship, he ripped an enormous hole in the bottom floor, then dove in.

He had hoped that the woman was okay, but then remembered that she was simply a pawn, NOT someone he needed to protect... He ignored all these thoughts and swam to the surface, for he didn't have his air bubble with him any longer... He looked at the ship he was just in, it slowly began to sink. he was pleased with himself and began looking for another target, the ships were still beyond count, slowly making their way towards the shores of his homeland... Akira was about to swim towards another ship, when he saw the saw woman on the small boat powering up, yet again, another lightning attack, a devilish grin encompassed her face as an expression of pure fear encompassed Akira's. He swam towards the ship, trying to get out of the water, but was too late, he felt the intense pain of the lightning hit him from all directions, he slowly sank below the surface, and lost consiousness...

Just as Jiang was about to charge against the firebenders, the man came in front of her and bending? the metal up in front of them, yelling to her to get to safety. Did he think her unable to defend herself? She snorted and ran past the metal he used to protect them and spun her staff in front of her to disperse the flames and then quickly hitting the firebender at the base of his neck, knocking him forward unconciouss. As she ran towards a second firebender she saw the man brutally murder two firebenders and then laughing maniacally before digging his way thorugh the floors of the ship. As he dissappeared the firebenders focused Jiang but there were only two of them, and she easily knocked them out by a few swift hits with her staff and just as she finished the fight she heard the sound of lightning again and feared the worst.

Below the ship in the small boat was the lightning bending woman with the wicked smile. Jiang saw the man sinking down furter and further clearly unconciouss. She was about to jump into the water, but then she hesitated the man hated her...did not trust her...was he worth saving? Jiang cursed but gasped as she noticed a sandstorm coming from the shore, knocking the woman's boat over and Jiang took this chance and jumped for the man headfirst diving into the water and she swam towards the man and creating an air bubble for herself. She stretched her arm out at full length reaching the man's arm and pulled him towards her so she could get a firm grip around his torso. His armor was weighing them down so she pushed her arm downwards, pushing them towards the surface.

She managed to hold onto the man as she pushed them towards the shore using the same technique as underwater and by the time she had reached the shore, the ships had slowed down, she guessed their interference had some effect. She ran dragged the man behind one of the walls the the girl from before had created and quickly called for her.

Lan punched the air in front of her, sending the storm out to sea. She was satisfied to see benders flying into the water and even a few ships being knocked over. This storm was by far the most powerful she had ever created. She didn't notice Akira or Jiang until the latter called out to her from the ground. She quickly stomped her foot on the ground, sending her wall down and rushing over to them. Her hound followed her faithfully.

"What happened to him?" she asked, seeing that he was clearly unconscious. She hit him a few times in an attempt to wake him up, then looked up as a large fireball hit the wall they were hiding behind. Rock pieces began to rain down on them. Since Akira was of no use right now, Lan began to redirect the falling debris. "We should probably go." She quickly motioned to the eel hound.

Akira was in a daze... he felt himself suspended in water, yet saw only white, he was standing in a white hall, nothing and no one was there, only infinitesimal white... He felt himself move about, yet he stood firmly on the ground, yet there was no ground in the whiteness, but it felt as if there was... I've died haven't I... Akira thought to himself looking around the area. When his gaze returned to where it was just seconds before, the water tribe girl was there, simply standing there, opposite him, looking exactly as she had before. He tried to say something, yet only pain met him as his mouth opened. He heard a snicker behind him, there was the Earth King, grinning at him trying to speak... He tried once more, met with even more pain... He returned his gaze to the water tribe girl, who now had Lan beside her in the whiteness... He looked back at the earth king and noticed the Dai Li behind him, along with thousands of Earth Kingdom military personnel. He looked back at the water tribe girl and Lan, but now behind them, were the people... the people he so cherished, the people he believed he had died for... He looked back at the Earth King who beckoned Akira towards him. Akira looked back and forth between his two options and moved over to the water tribe girl... the ground slowly became sand, and the area slowly came into view as he continued walking towards them, he looked back and saw the Earth King and the rest standing on top of the water, in front of the league of Fire Nation ships. He smirked, then returned his gaze to the water tribe girl, he felt pounding on his chest as he moved closer and closer... He felt himself cough up liquid, yet not... He closed his eyes, and when he opened them,(just in case you don't get it, everything up until this point was a dream) he saw the water tribe girl looking down on him, the sky was blurred and he felt great, he grabbed the water tribe girl's head, brought himself up and kissed her.

Sadly, it was in that very same moment that he realized the surreal atmosphere he was in before had vanished, plus he could feel and hear the fire flying around him... Why would heaven be a battlefield? he thought to himself... Then he realized... he wasn't dreaming anymore, and he wasn't dead... He dropped back down on the ground and started stammering, "I... you.. it.. um... uh... s... sorry?"

Jiang answered the girl. "He was hit by lightning from one of the firebenders. And most likely has water in his lungs at this point." Jiang placed her hand on the man's rib cage and moved it upwards, bending the water out from his lungs through his mouth. She looked around, whre were all the Earth Kingdom military?! She had seen them when she came here. "Where have the military gone? Did they run away?" She asked girl since she had been on shore the whole time.
She let out a frustrated sigh, this was not good, Jiang and the girl would never be able to hold them off for much longer, net even if there was a fullmoon Jiang could for very long. There were just too many ships. She looked down at the man's face again, the water was out from his lungs so he should be waking up...and then his eyes slowly opened and she sighed in relief, she wouldn't be able to bare it if he died because of her, despite her earlier thoughts on the ship.
Then she felt him grab her head with his hands and she widened her eyes, was he going to hurt her? Just as she was about to pull her head back he kissed her. Despite the cold water on his face, his lips were still warm. Her eyes widened further and she was speechless as he dropped back to the ground. Why? What? But...why? She placed her hand on her mouth and looked him in the eyes as he stuttered an apology. She was utterly confused so she stood up and blushed furiously and now it was her time to stutter. She coughed awkwardly and said. "W-we should leave, uhm, t-the ships are too many and.." She trailed off and placed her hand behind her head. "I'll hold them off as you get him on the eel hound." She quickly spun around and ran back to shore, face still bright red.

After the most awkward moment of Akira's entire life up to that point, the woman left, he didn't even know her name yet she was his first kiss... He propped himself up, the great feeling he had when he had awoken was replaced with a sinking feeling in his gut. What the hell did I just do!? He thought to himself. He never got the chance to kiss anyone before, yet this woman, who he had outright said he didn't trust, and he had an even stronger inclination towards hate of, was the first... He attempted to stand up, using the rock wall as a buttress, but his legs gave way and he fell back down again, he propped himself up against the earth wall and began hitting his head with the palm of his hand. What the hell!? Why did I do that!? What the hell came over me!? He kept thinking. He wiped away the cold water from his face that had been removed from his lungs. God, she probably hates me even more now... WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME!? Akira was practically screaming in his head. His momentary coma caused a bit of a realization for him, his first and foremost obligation was to the people, not the government... he knew that deep down he already had this figured out... but that dream... it was the final straw. He still didn't care much for the girl he kissed, or did he? The complex emotional maelstrom inside of him could not be easily described... To think that one stolen kiss could cause so much emotional strife amazed Akira in his later years, but at this moment his thoughts were on one simple thing, protecting the girl... not protecting the people, not fulfilling his duty, but protecting her...

Akira tried to stand up once again, but the lightning had severely affected his motor functions, he slid back down to a sitting position, angry. He looked over at Lan and said, ignoring the woman's orders, "Forget about me... get her out of here... I may not be able to use my legs, but I can still buy you two some time..."

Lan was more than surprised as Akira suddenly sprang back to life and kissed Jiang. The young woman found herself blushing along with the other two. No doubt this was an awkward moment for all of them. She turned away to let them sort things out. It was cute to see the possible early stages of love. Yet also very foreign and confusing. Was not the obnoxious man who had yelled at her just minutes ago and clearly expressed his dislike of the other nations.

She paused as Akira spoke again, telling them to leave so he could save "her". But was "her" Lan or Jiang? However, now was not the time to think. It was the time to act.

"You're hurt. We should take you with us," she said simply. She wasn't Akira's favourite person and he was not hers, but he was still a person. They couldn't just let him sacrifice himself in a moment of horomones and idiocy. That being said, she moved over to him and quickly used the sand to lightly set him on her hound's back. She then jumped on and looked expectantly, figuring she didn't want to stay here and be burned to death.

Akira was forcibly placed on the eel hound for no more than a seconds before he defiantly pushed himself off, causing him to land face first into the sand. He began to crawl towards the shore, tears coming to his eyes at his powerlessness, before saying, "No! I... I have to remain here until the rest of the soldiers get here... You have to get out of here! NOW!" He continued to crawl until a fireball crashed near him, causing him to scramble behind a wall for protection. He glared into Lan's eyes and with a cold and forceful tone said, "Get her out of here..."

He tried to stand up once more, but it failed, the moment he placed too much pressure on his legs, they turned to jelly, causing him to crash down... It was then that he noticed something... something in the tree line, Akira propped himself up against the wall for a better site through the eel hound, when he saw Ostrich horses, hundreds of them, all charging at their makeshift barricades. Akira was surprised, but then exclaiming out loud, "They mobilized the cavalry first so they could get troops here the fastest! God damn I love you General..." Akira looked at Lan and said, "Hurry get the woman out of here and get her to Taku, I will be there shortly, I just need to give them a status report, GO!"

The fire was neverending, Jiang had burned her arms and she had trouble just standing on her feet. But she couldn't leave the town..not without any sort of protection and she would not leave until she knew that they were safe.
Breathing heavily, she kept avoiding fireballs by ducking and shields of water. She didn't have energy left to make waves big enough to keep the ships at bay so for now she had to try redirect the flames directed at the man and woman behind her aswell as the town. Sweat poured from her forehead and down her arms, she was determined to fight for as long as she could stand. She refused to give in, and facing the fact that the first time she had the opportunity to help against the fire nation she would fail...No way.
The pain from her arms was almost unbearable, but she couldn't stop, wouldn't stop...not now. As she focused on only what was in front of her, a large fireball came from her left side. Noticing it too late, Jiang did not have the time to completely avoid it so she was knocked off her feet and the force sent her backwards making her hit one of the walls protecting the town, slamming the back of her head into it. Her vision was blurred and she struggled to rise,her legs wouldn't carry her any longer...tears slid down her ashe and sand covered cheeks, leaving traces as they ran further and further down...

The moment of joy was short-lived, for he saw the woman, still unnamed, fall, she didn't seem severely injured, but Akira noticed another fireball heading directly for her. Whether it was a burst of adrenaline, the hand of god, or his heart taking over his body, his legs solidified and he jumped out of his cover, crashing into her to get her on the ground while at the same time firing up a rock wall to block the fireball.

He was lying on top of her, the wall protecting them. His head was just inches away from her own, he could feel her breath on his face and the heat from her body all over him. He was petrified, looking into her eyes, forgetting about his surroundings. He was propping his weight on his hands, so as not to hurt her with his own weight. He felt the fabric of her clothes on his bare chest, and was still unable to move, it's not until he felt a stirring in his pants(which just happened to brush against her leg), before he moved off her. He was terrified that she might get the wrong idea...His face was bright red as he stuttered out, "I... the... the earth Kingdom is here... we... um... we should... go to Taku... yeah..." He took a deep breath and said, "Um... I... I still don't know your name... and you're the first girl I've ever kissed..." he laughed for a second, but then bit his bottom lip, thinking, Oh god... She really will hate me now...

Seeing the fireball coming right for her, Jiang braced heself for the impact, closing her eyes tight shut. She felt an impact but it was not what she had expected...she ecpected the immense heat and she also expected to be dead but she wasn't. She felt like somone was on top of her so she opened her eyes and immediately met the ones belonging to the man who had kissed her just inches from her own. They were both breathing heavily and then she realized, he had saved her. He..tears came to her eyes again as the man moved away from her. "I... the... the earth Kingdom is here... we... um... we should... go to Taku... yeah..." Jiang was overwhelmed just by the fact she had been saved by the man with no name who had outright said he did not trust her, but still had stolen her first kiss. But right now she didn't care, she had protected the town, protected the woman even saved the man in front of her. "Um... I... I still don't know your name... and you're the first girl I've ever kissed..." Her tears kept pouring but she embraced him, hugged him tight.
"Jiang. My name is Jiang Sun." She pulled away and looked the man in the eyes before standing up using the wall as support. She wiped away her tears of joy before she extended a hand. "And just to make it a bit more fair, you were the first man I've ever kissed aswell. And you'd better tell me your name." She smiled lightly. "Now, let's get out of here."

He was surprised at her embrace, being so sure that she wouldn't like him(he did steal a kiss then get aroused on top of her). She was still warm, yet for some reason she was crying... he really didn't understand women, but she seemed happy... She gave her name and put out a hand for him. Akira smiled a bit and said, "Akira, Akira Hibiki. It's a pleasure Jiang Sun."

The momentary solidification of his legs was mostly gone, but he could still put a little bit of weight on them. He used her as a support to get up and use her as a make-shift crutch. He had his arm around her back and directed most of his weight onto his own legs. The soldiers began departing from their ostrich horses and positioning themselves against the already-made barricades. An officer, obviously the commander of the cavalry jumped behind the barricade that Akira and Jiang were at, they looked at each other. He was a large man, probably an earth bender, looking distinctly average for an officer, black hair, goatee, officer robes.

"Are you Captain Hibiki?" He inquired.

"Yes sir..." Akira responded, still in a lot of pain and breathing heavily.

"Status report?"

"The enemy is the Fire Nation, they have metal ships with self-propulsion, we held them off for a while, but there were too many... My men went to collect reinforcements from neighboring Military posts as well."

"Sadly that will all be for naught, there are armadas all along the coast, this is, however, by far the largest..." He looked at Jiang, "And what is the water tribe doing here?"

"She was instrumental in the success of my mission... I would be dead and the Fire Nation would have landed if not for her... So treat he with a bit more respect... sir..." He said 'sir' in more of a forced and angry tone, not his usual behavior, this man being a higher rank than himself.

The commander glared at Akira before saying, "Very well, you should return to Taku..."

"Yes sir..." Akira said, gesturing Jiang to move towards Lan so they could ride her eel hound.

Lan groaned a bit as Akira pushed himself off of the hound. No wonder he was an earthbender- he was as stubborn as a rock! Before she could do anything though the three were separated by the endless rain of fire. The small girl pulled the hound to the side to avoid being crushed and burned to death. Her hound began to furiously run between walls, trying not to be crushed. She attempted to stop it and find the other two, but it was no use.

She briefly caught sight of the cavalry and an instant sense of relief washed over her. They were saved! Or they were all going to die, but for now they were saved! She turned and looked around for Akira and Jiang. She spotted them and turned the eel hound around, running over to them. Now both seemed to be in a state of desperation and/or exhaustion. Akira was speaking with another man as she arrived. "Are we going yet?" she asked, anxious.

Akira Hibiki. An interesting man indeed. She acted as a crutch for Akira, making sure he didn't fall over and just as she was about to move towards the girl with the eel hound she noticed the soldiers and one particularly large moved towards them. He looked so..rough. Apparantly he was a higher rank than Akira because he adressed him as 'sir'. Akira explained the situation and then the large man looked at her in a funny way. What was it with the earthbenders and her? She had done no harm and still they seemed to judge her as a troublemaker and someone who would only be in the way and didn't belong. She forwned lightly but then Akira told him to treat her with more respect and the man glared at Akira instead. What a grumpy man... He told them to rewturn to Taku and Jiang started moving towards the girl. Jiang scruffed lowly and said "I don't seem to be very popular with the earth kingdom army...All that I've met so far seem so..grumpy and serious. No offense." She glanced at Akira as she reached the eel hound and helped him up onto it. "Oh" Jiang bowed towards Akira. "The pleasure is all mine, Akira."