Name: Soyala
Age: 17
Origin: Southern Water Tribe
Bio: Soyala was born on the Winter Solstice. A waterbender by birth, Soyala was always more talented than the other waterbenders in her age group. When she was sixteen, the elders approached her and told her that she was the Avatar, and that it was imperative that she master the other three bending elements. Relations with the Fire Nation are starting to become tense, however...


Name: Jianyu
Age: 18
Origin: Gaoling City, in the Earth Kingdom
Bio: A bit of a joker, Jianyu takes pride in his earthbending. Born into a common, middle-class merchant family, his parents were barely able to send him to lessons for his bending. Regardless, Jianyu picked up the skills quickly. It helped that a pretty young Avatar joined the class last year, but the two only became friends instead of more, even though he won't admit he has a crush on her. Most of the time, he shortens his name to Jian.

Name; Sage Maynai.
Age; 17.
Nation; Air.
; Sage witnessed her families death at age eleven, thanks to the Fire Nation. She is now residing in the Northern Air Temple. She is being trained by the monks in order to fully harness her ability.

*Sage has an image of wings etched into her back, running down the side of her hips and scooping back towards her sides.

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Name; Koda Vanyu.
Age; 19.
Nation; Fire.
; Koda always had a vicious side to him. Rather, a toned down vicious side. He was just as tough as any Fire Nation soldier, but had a soft side to him as well. He serves as a soldier for his father, Nyamen.

Soyala pulled her parka a little closer around herself. The wind was a bit colder than usual, and she was standing out on the ice like a walrus-seal with her bag slung over one shoulder and a waterskin strapped across her chest. She was waiting, though. There was a ship that was supposed to arrive any minute to take her back to the Earth Kingdom. One year of study was nowhere near enough to master an entire element. She couldn't even practice while she was home, since there was no earth to bend.

Finally, the ship came around one of the ice floes, and her face brightened. It was clearly an Earth Kingdom ship, and was flying Earth Kingdom colors. She waved and got as close as she could to the waterline. After what seemed like ages, the ship got close enough to open the back hatch and extend a platform to the ice so she could board. She darted up the platform and onto the ship.

"It's about time!" she said as she entered the warmth of the ship. Immediately, she shed her outer parka.

"Welcome, Avatar Soyala," the captain said. He had been standing near the hatch, waiting for her to board. "There is a room prepared for you for the voyage back."

"Thanks," Soyala said, draping her parka over one arm. The waterskin was securely strapped across her chest, right where she needed it for quick use, and her bag was once again slung over her back. She'd been told she didn't need any material possessions, but damn if she was going to leave her favorite tunic and jacket behind.

Making her way up to her room, she jumped when a pebble pelted her out of nowhere. "Hey!"

"Hey yourself, Soya," a male voice teased. Soyala grinned and turned around. A familiar young man was leaning in one of the doorways, a few more pebbles twirling in the air above his palm.

"Jian, they actually let you come all the way out here?" She went over and hugged him. He'd become a good friend over the last year.

"Nope," Jianyu replied cheerfully. "I stowed away, and by the time they found me, it was too late to turn around, so they had to let me stay." Soyala snickered.

"That's just like you," she said. She punched him in the arm, although not all that hard. "You'd freeze to death if you left the ship now. It's too cold for pansies like you."

"I'll show you who's a pansy once we're back on real land," Jianyu threatened teasingly.

"I have the advantage out here," Soyala teased back. It felt good to have her friend back.

"Faster! I said faster, you oaf!" Koda roared to the captain, his voice steadily growing louder. "We'll never catch up with my father at this point!" He slumped down into a large chair, laden with Fire Nation trinkets. Koda let out a sigh. It was tough being a soldier. Sure, you had the advantage of higher training, and perhaps a more wealthy lifestyle, but dealing with imbeciles? Honestly, he'd rather much be a peasant.

"Fine. Waste as much damn time as you want. See if I care." He barked at the captain. Kodas father was a good several hundred yards away. Quite frankly, he had no idea where the ships were headed. By the looks of it, they were traveling toward Gaoling City, but he wasn't quite sure. He had never excelled in directional ability, you know.

Sage snapped open her glider, shooting a blast of air into it so she landed just perfectly on the edge of the Temple. She just needed to get away from it all. After training days on end with those wildebeests that you call men, she had enough.She could be lounging around in the Eastern Air Temple with women her age, but no, they were 'too good' for her. Besides, Sage thought that the Northern Air Temple was much more powerful anyway. So, instead, She was forced to act, talk, look, and even dress like a male."Snobs." She remarked, her voice shifting back to the higher female pitch.

"What was that, Saku?" A young voice asked.

Saku? Oh, right, her cover-up name. She wasn't quite used to it yet. Sage spun around to find a young bender who looked to be ten or eleven. "I.. Noth-" Her voice noticeably deeper.

"She was just practicing a new move, Chung. You'll learn it as you progress."

She was interrupted by an elder, who guided the young boy away with a wink. "Thank you, Zeizyng." She mouthed, smiling softly to the one person who knew her secret.

After a few days of being on the water, Soyala had already gotten bored. They had only just barely left cold waters, but she was Water Tribe, she didn't mind the cold so much. It was early in the morning, yet, but she was awake. She was up on deck, going through some basic katas for waterbending. It was her routine; the katas acted as her morning stretch, since the movements were so fluid and smooth. She didn't use any water, since she didn't want to have to get it all up from the deck later, but the movements were all there.

She stopped when she saw another ship a ways out on the water. It surprised her a bit, since it didn't look like an Earth Kingdom ship, and she hadn't expected to see anyone so far south, anyways, except for the ship she was on. Going over to the rail, she leaned over to try to get a closer look.

"That's a Fire Nation ship," she murmured. "Somehow, I don't like the look of that..." Quickly, she went back down below to tell the captain. While they weren't in a full-scale war yet, things with the Fire Nation weren't exactly good, and a Fire Nation ship this far south was just screaming trouble.

Koda, rather than playing catch up to his father, was dozing off. His eyelids drooped shut, the gentle waves lulling him to sleep. The sun passed behind the clouds for a moment and created a perfect shade. It was almost as if something, rather someone, was blocking it."SIR KODA!" A voice spat, causing Koda to shoot up suddenly.

"What do you want, captain? I'm busy." He replied with an obvious lack of warmth in his voice.

"Sir, it seems we have lost your fathers boat. We are stranded in the middle of nowhere with no possession of a map."

Koda opened his eyes, allowing his vision to become clear once more. He scanned the perimeter and found, wow, whaddya know, a ship. "You insolent piece of.." He stopped himself. "Captain.. please tell me what that is. In your best description." He cocked his head slightly while pointing to the ship. "Because I'm thinking that it's a ship, no?"

"Oh. Yes, but it's not ours, sir. It seems to be displaying the Earth Nation flag." The Captain turned towards the ship. "I can flag them down for you." He began signaling the ship by waving his hands in the air.

"OI! Stop it you imbecile!" Koda shot a small blast of fire towards the Captains arms, being careful not to cause too much damage. Besides, who else was going to steer the ship if the Captain was decapitated? Surely not him.

"Quick, take down all signs of our symbol. Hopefully they haven't yet figured out it was us. Captain, you head straight for that ship. Slowly, though, as we do not want to draw attention to ourselves." He pointed left and right, sending out crew members to conceal their identity. He figured he would follow the ship to wherever it was headed. His father would want that, right? One way or another, they were headed toward the ship.

Soyala and Jianyu stood on the deck of the ship, watching the Fire Nation ship get closer. Their own captain was steering the Earth Kingdom ship cautiously, watching to see what the other ship would do.

Soyala watched as the colors of the other ship came down, although it was a bit too late. She knew the ship was Fire Nation. Her hand hovered over the waterskin strapped to her chest. While she wasn't the only bender on the ship, Jianyu was useless without earth to bend, so Soyala had to be the one ready to act. Hell, she was the Avatar, for the Spirits' sakes.

"Do you see anyone over there?" Jianyu asked. Soyala could tell he was tense, and she knew why. He didn't like feeling helpless, and there wasn't much more helpless he could be than floating in the middle of the ocean. Soyala squinted at the deck of the other ship.

"I think I do," she replied. "I don't recognize them, though... They're Fire Nation, though, I know that." Using her thumb, she flicked open the cap of her waterskin. The water inside sloshed a little, but she didn't start bending it yet. She wanted to see what would happen.

Koda stood at the bow of the ship, staring down the opposing vessel. He had instructed the captain to mimick every movement of the Earth Nations ship, and to follow closely behind. "Come on.. Defend yourselves." He edged them on, knowing fully well that they couldn't hear what he had said. Koda stood aside as his men manned the cannons and prepared themselves at their posts. He was waiting for the perfect moment.

It was time. "FIRE!" His voice carried on with the wind, becoming entangled in it's grasp. Koda and his men took their stance, simultaneously shooting fire towards the ship. Cannons of all sorts went off. "Closer, captain! We need to be closer." He shouted over the loud bangs as the cannons exploded in smoke. This was it. Now all he had to do was board the ship, take the crew members captive, and destroy their vessel. He let out a roar of laughter as the boat inched closer and closer. He was relishing every moment.

(( Sorry about it being so short.. ))

As the Fire Nation ship followed them Soyala gradually slid into a waterbending stance. She had no skill at firebending yet, but that was alright. She was a waterbender, and she was on a ship in the middle of the ocean. The only better place for her to be would be standing on an ice floe, or on the ice where her people made their homes.

She could hear talking from the other ship, it was impossible to miss, because of how close they were, but she couldn't make out what was being said. It set her on edge, though.

There was no way to miss the meaning of the cannons going off, though. Spinning on one foot and using the other as a balance, she swept her arms out and pulled water up from the sea around the ship.

"Hey! Easy on the splashing, Soya!"

She ignored Jianyu's startled yelp behind her. She needed to focus. She pulled the water up to form a wall between the cannon balls and the ship. The wall of water stopped the fire that was being shot at them, but her eyes widened when the cannon balls managed to punch through. She had been sure that the water would be enough to stop them. The cannon balls went through her wall of water, and dented the hull of the ship. Thankfully, though, they didn't managed to get through completely.

Sweeping her arms upward, Soyala created a swell of ocean between her ship and the Fire Nation ship, in an attempt to separate the two.

"Damn. They have a waterbender on board." Koda mumbled. His anger was beginning to bubble up. He ordered the crew to stop the fire, instead focusing on the cannons. This was a useless tactic, however. Sure, it made a few dents, but it didn't do much damage.

Suddenly, they were taken over by a large wave. The boat was filling slowly, but surely, with the sloshing water. Most of the crew immediately dove for buckets, scooping out water furiously. The rest of the crew continued to shoot off the cannons. As long as they could withstand a few more blows, both ships were bound to hit land. Koda shoved the captain out of the way and held onto the wheel tightly. He took it upon himself to force the ships to land, instead directing the captain to the deck.*

"Keep firing." He called out to the crew. "There's a waterbender on board, and we want to take her out." He smirked, yelling loud enough for the opposing ship to hear. Without the bender, the rest of the ship wouldn't stand a chance.

Soyala widened her bending stance when she realized that the cannon fire was being concentrated on her. She needed to stay solid in her stance, but that was difficult with waterbending. Water wasn't solid, and the waterbending forms were equally as fluid. Dropping the wall of water, she used jets of water instead to knock the cannon balls away from herself, and the ship. It used less water, but required more movement, so she had to be as efficient as she could with it.

"Yeah!" she heard from behind her. Jianyu was standing as far from the edge of the deck as possible. "Go Soya! You're the man!"

"Jian, if you don't shut up you're going overboard," Soyala ground out. Jianyu shut up. Distantly, Soyala wished there was some earth to bend. At least then she wouldn't be constantly on the defensive, and then Jianyu could help her. As it stood, she couldn't get a spare moment to attack, so all she could do was keep sweeping aside the cannon balls.

(( I'm so incredibly sorry for being gone. I hope the PM sent makes up somewhat for my absence. My great- grandmother went psychotic after my great-grandfather died, and I've been with her. We had to travel out to see her, and I didn't have Internet there. She's better now, but still a bit loony. Hopefully you can forgive me, and want to continue this role-play...))

Koda hissed as he saw the woman push the cannons away with ease. His eyes narrowed as he pushed himself to the edge of the ship, calling out to the woman. "Give up now! You and your oafs won't stand a chance against the fire nations power." To be honest, he expected that his own ship wouldn't stand a chance. This woman was persistent, and he admired that about her, but she was still an enemy. He heard one of the crew members shout that they were headed toward the air temples. His eyes twinkled with joy. He could take down two birds with one stone.*

He chuckled. "And ma'am, I would hurry, because if you don't, we'll chase you down right through the air temples, and who knows what soldiers are stationed there." He winked, knowing fully well that she probably wouldn't see it. He ordered half of *the crew to shoot their fire at the edge of the water, causing it to sizzle and push the ship further back. "Come on!" Koda shouted.

Soyala could barely make out what the person on the other ship was saying, but it didn't matter. All she was focused on was getting her own ship away from the one flying Fire Nation flags. They needed to keep moving on towards the Earth Kingdom... Even as she thought it, she was shaking the thought away. If the Fire Nation ships were headed towards the Air Temples, then she had to follow them. The Air Nomads were famous for being peaceful people, and wouldn't fight unless there was no other option. She wanted to go and make sure they were alright. It was her duty as the Avatar, and even if it wasn't, she still wanted to go.

She flinched slightly when the firebenders on the other ship tried to kick up some steam from the water, and then her expression became more determined.

"Jian," she said, "tell the captain that we're changing course. We're headed to the Northern Air Temple. But warn him to be careful, I'm about to give us some cover."

"Cover?" Jianyu asked, curious. He'd rarely had the chance to see what Soyala could really do with her waterbending. Soyala nodded.

"Yeah, you'll see," she said. Jianyu nodded and went below to give her orders to the captain. As soon as he was below deck, Soyala took a deep breath and swept her arms upwards. Water from the surface of the ocean evaporated immediately, and then condensed again into a thick fog. The other ship couldn't follow them if they couldn't see them... They were closer to the Southern Air Temple than anything, and she was banking on the Fire Nation ship assuming they would go there. Nobody would expect them to try to go half-way across the world to the Northern Air Temple.

Koda grinned as the woman created a thick, engulfing fog. He crossed his arms, his head shaking at the sight of her. She was talented, sure, but she wouldn't last long against him, no matter how skilled she was. He smirked slightly to himself as he saw the outline of the ship heading toward the Southern Air Temple. Or.. what he thought was the outline of their ship.

Koda called out to his crew, ordering them to head towards the Air temples. The fog worked for him too, seeing as they couldnt see his ship following them. He chuckled softly to himself as he unknowingly passed their ship, heading toward the Southern Air Temple.

Soyala could barely make out the shape of the other ship in the fog, but she could see it heading in the opposite direction of her own ship.

"I think they're gone," she said once Jianyu came back up to the deck.

"Where did this fog come from?" Jianyu asked. He was looking around, half in awe, half in curiosity.

"I pulled it up," Soyala replied absently. She leaned over the side a bit to see if she could track the other ship any further. "I think they think we're headed towards the Southern Air Temple... They're moving off."

"And... are we?" Jianyu asked. Soyala blinked and looked at him.

"What?"

"Well, I thought you wanted to go to the Northern temple to lead them away from the Southern one, so if they're headed to the Southern temple anyways, shouldn't we follow them?" Jianyu shrugged a bit. "I mean, who knows what they could do to the Air Nomads, they're not expecting Fire Nation to show up, I bet."

Soyala blinked again, and sighed a bit in frustration.

"Tell the captain we're changing course again--" she started.

"On it!" Jianyu replied. He gave her a mock salute and went back down to see the captain.

Koda grinned maliciously to himself as they neared the Souther Air Temple. He ordered the crew to enter the temple silently as he stayed near the ship, hoping that the Earth nation ship would be close behind. He didn't care whether or not his father knew where he was. None of that mattered now. Koda was going to take down this tribe and capture that girl one way or another. Why? He didn't really know why. He just felt as though it needed to be done. So, there he was, standing by on his ship as his crew members raided the Air Temples. Man, did this feel good.

Sage let out a sigh of relief as her training came to a halt. She was disgusted, and downright disturbed by the smell of the men surrounding her. It was tough to be living this 'manly' life. She couldn't even try to make herself smell fine, for it would draw too much attention. Boy, that was tough. She headed toward her home in need of an extremely long bath.

((By the way, Sage is in the Northern Temple, so she isn't going to be anywhere near the three.))

((I know. I'm thinking about a way to get them all to the Northern temple. Any thoughts?))

By the time her ship landed, Soyala's fog had faded and she could see the Fire Nation ship. Something seemed off about it, though... It seemed to be too empty. Nobody was aboard. Soyala 's muscles tense as she realized that. They must already be up at the temple... Almost before the boat properly reached the shore, she had jumped over the edge and landed in the water with a splash. She needed to go and see what was going on. At least she knew that she would be welcomed at the temple, even on such short notice. The Air Nomads were peaceful, and she tried to get along with everyone. And besides, she was the Avatar, she had connections to them.

(( We could always have the Northern temple get word that the Southern was being attacked. They could send benders over to help? ))

Koda held back a small chuckle as the woman jumped into the water. Did she have any brains? I mean, really. He made his way toward the edge of the ship, calling out to her with a ball of fire dancing in between his fingertips. "Why, hello.. We meet again." His eyes twinkled with delight as he jumped onto the land, coming dangerously close to her. "See that?" He pointed toward the temple. "It's being smoldered at this very moment. I suggest you give up now, before the same happens to you." His eyes darted over her.

((Soyala doesn't have markings. And I think I have a slightly different idea. What if they had to take some of the survivors of the attack to the Northern temple?))

Soyala jumped a bit when she heard someone talking, and she fell automatically into a defensive waterbending stance. She was still standing in the water of the shore, so it wasn't like she was lacking in material to use. In addition to that, she was on land now, so she could earthbend.

"Why are you attacking the Southern Air Temple?" she demanded, slowly tightening some of her muscles. The water around her began to ripple and quiver in response, just waiting to jump to her command. "The Air Nomads are peaceful people!"

"Soyala!" Jianyu jumped down from the deck as well, landing solidly on the beach. His feet were bare, and a quick twist of his ankles forced the sand under him to turn into solid rock. "Soya, who is this yahoo? What's going on?"

(( Sorry. Fixed that. Alright, that sounds good. Maybe to show what could happen to their temple of they don't surrender? Or something? ))

Kodas lips slid into a grin as he flicked his finger, the ball of fire spinning towards her, circling her head. "Because I can. They are not peaceful. They are vicious fiends who want nothing but power." His grin faded into a much more fierce grimace. He knew that the Air nomads were particularly peaceful, but he figured that the woman would be stupid enough to take his word. "Besides, they mean nothing to our nation." His eyes twitched as a male jumped off of the ship. He crossed his arms, not bothering to protect himself. "Any moment, my crew will come out, and we'll be on our way. Not without you two, though." Koda smirked, sending a ring of fire to circle the two.

"The Air Nomads are completely peaceful," Soyala retorted. She knew that as well as she knew her own people. She'd done enough meditating to be able to speak with her former self, her most recent past life, and the Avatar before her had been an Air Nomad. The barest twitch of her fingers sent a splash of water up to extinguish the ball of fire. "You're so full of bullshit." And he clearly had no idea he who he was dealing with. The ring of fire wasn't all that close to them, and with Jianyu there, she had enough room to move her arms enough to call up the water to douse it.

"Soya, I can take this nutcase," Jianyu said as he fell into a solid earthbending stance. If there was one thing he was good at, it was earthbending. "Go see about the temples, I'm sure you can figure out some way to help them."

Koda sighed. Obviously, this woman was tough. She probably saw right through his aggressive shield. 'Well, let's just teach her a lesson..' He thought aloud. Paying no attention to the male, Koda immediatly propelled several blades of fire toward the girl. The frightened crew members followed by example. Several men sent out whips of flame, while others created a barrier around themselves. They knew better than to mess with the incoming blows from the earthbenders. "Give it your best shot, ma'am. The temples will fall, and you know it." Koda spat maliciously.

Soyala stopped when he spoke, and turned around again.

"'Ma'am'?" she repeated. Oh, he did NOT just call her old... "You're older than I am, you don't get to call me that." Taking a breath, she steadied her emotions, and worked some water around to intercept the blades of fire. Then she slid into her favorite waterbending stance, and waved a hand at Jianyu. "Jian, go see about the monks, make sure everyone is okay." She narroweed her eyes at Koda. "I'll deal with this guy."

Jianyu hesitated for a moment, not wanting to leave Soyala on her own, but he eventually nodded and broke his earthbending stance to head towards the temples. He'd never been there before, but he was sure that the monks would listen to him if he mentioned that he was with Soyala.

Soyala didn't break her waterbending stance, twitching her fingers a bit to draw some water out of the ocean to use. She would save the water in her waterskin for later, and just use what she had on hand around her.

Koda flicked his eyes up and down, examining the girl. "Yeah, maybe by a couple years. Didn't your mother ever tell you that ma'am is used as respect? Huh, sweetie?" He replied in a tone laced with enmity. He knew that would get to her. Obviously, she was fragile. At least thats how he saw it. As soon as she slid into her waterbending stance, Koda jumped off the ship and onto land. He daringly took a step towards the girl. With each breath, he inched closer and closer. "Give me your best shot." He added with a wink.

Soyala's eyes narrowed a bit. Clearly, he had no idea she was the Avatar. Bringing her arms up, she watched as the Fire Nation soldier moved closer. If he got too close, she wouldn't be able to use her waterbending, since the forms for that particular element required space to move. As he got closer to her, she rolled through one of her forms quickly, with all of the fluidity and grace of her familiar birth-element. A shapeless mass of water lifted out of the ocean at her feet and flicked itself out, twisting and stretching into a thin whip-like cord. The cord flashed out in front of her at Koda, catching him and leaving a bright red welt in the middle of his forehead.

"Keep your distance," she warned, settling back into a ready stance. She held her arms up and her hands out, with her fingers loose and apart. The water from the ocean hovered at her fingertips, waiting to be used. "I won't be so gentle next time."