[Completed] A public menace

[Saaga Sun]

“You’re quite kind, aren’t you,” she heard Tahrro say and right then she had to resist the urge to snort ungraciously. She had been called many things, obstinate being a regular occurrence in people’s way of describing her, stubborn and obnoxiously willful being close seconds. But maybe her helping him could be deemed kindness in a way. For her it was mostly doing her duty to a fellow human being. It was just courteous, something she expected others to do as well, even though those expectations were hardly ever met.

Saaga stood up and fetched her shoes and her shoulder bag. The bottom of the bag felt damp but she paid no mind to it, just slung it over her shoulder and carried on. She waved a hand again as Tahrro was saying he appreciated her help. She wanted to say she didn’t really expect to be praised or thanked or anything like that. Overly courteous people made her feel kind of sick and she could never fully trust a person who was all politeness and flourishes. Of course some form of politeness was to be expected in certain situations but she wasn’t one to be upset if people lost their manners while talking to her. She didn’t have manners herself half of the time.

“Oh, filchpies love everything that shines. The males pick up shining objects and bring them to their nests in order to court the females. The females only choose the males with the most decorated nests,” Saaga told Tahrro and followed him as he started walking toward the trees. There had been a number of filchpies on her home island as well, though they migrated to southern Fire Nation for winter.

Once they came up to the first tree and Tahrro asked her if she believed in fate, Saaga could not help but chuckle.

“I believe fate is something people like to use when they don’t want to take responsibility of their own actions. I suppose it would be nice if there was some higher purpose to things happening, but…” she didn’t finish her sentence, thinking about the plague that had destroyed her happy life and her family. If that was fate, she wanted to have nothing to do with it.

Saaga eyed Tahrro from head to toe again, shook her head a little and then dropped her bag at his feet. She placed her sandals next to the tree roots and placed her right hand and foot on the trunk, using her left hand as a balancer and started climbing up. The bark felt rough under her feet, but that only meant it was easier to climb up and in no time at all she was peering down from the second branch up.

“I’ve lived here long enough,” she said to her strange companion and then continued climbing up the tree where the filchpie nests lay.

The birds were not happy to see her come up and started chirping and flapping about, trying to peck her with their tiny beaks. She could see a number of shiny objects in the nests, steel wire, a ring and metal bottle caps. No bracelet though.

Muttering curses under her breath she carefully climbed down and said: “It was not there but let’s try the other trees, I’m sure something will turn up.”

[Tahrro Gao Zhai]

Undemanding too, Tahrro thought as Saaga brushed aside his words of gratitude. She acted as if what she was doing for him was nothing or natural, both interpretations your average selfish person would chuckle to hear. He agreed, so far as he was the one doing the aiding, whereas this was sheer torture. Finding the bracelet mattered more to him than his wounded pride as a self-sufficient thing so he smothered all inner protests.

“Smart. Differentiating the heavy providers from the lazy bums.” The birds reminded him of gold-diggers. Even in the animal kingdom, it was always better to have more than have less. He didn’t particularly care he was doing the birds an injustice by comparing them to human greed at the moment. It was hard to care about anything with this mood.

His question amused her and he took a moment to look her way. “But it just doesn’t seem that way, does it.” Tahrro’s mind brought up the image of Sung Woo and his initial paramount belief in destiny. Saaga seemed to be possessed of a more realistic view on it, just like his. He found that he didn’t prefer it as much as he had though to.

Her bag was on his feet and she was hoisting herself into the tree. For a moment he thought to support her up, but felt unstable in his potential as a prop. The whole situation was emasculating, really, but he was so tired and hungry he didn’t care. The answer she gave his questions was vague. He noted the boundary.

When her search gave no results, he wasn’t surprised. His hope was dead. He grabbed the bag she had tossed at his feet and carried it to the next tree without thought. It felt wrong, making her do all the work, but like an unintentional royal bastard he just lent against the tree, crossed his arms and watched her. It helped his dizzy head to have some support. “So. Do you usually spend your days scavenging the trees for lost possessions for other people’s benefit?”

He gave his wounded hand a flex, noting the blood felt dry in the makeshift fold. “Are you always so trusting? What if I’m a deranged gangster just toying with you before choosing to assault?” He sure looked it, all dirty and bloody-eyed and nonchalant despite his condition. His lazy eyes looked left and right. Evening had nearly arrived and it wasn’t the most pleasant day for a walk. A shrill wind slapped like a cold whip across his skin. “Like right now, since there’s no one around.”

Someone would come about eventually, but it would take great effort to rob her and leave her. He looked down at the bag on his feet. “You even make it quite convenient.” He tilted his head against the bark slightly. "I wouldn’t even need to attack you to rob you.” The way he talked was very emotionless, factual. It just wasn’t good to throw your possessions in front of a bum like stranger for the value of his word. The next one she did this with may not be as harmless. Then again, who knew what hidden talents brewed within her to fuel her confidence.

[Saaga Sun]

Saaga gave no further reply to the matter of fate and its existence, choosing to follow Tahrro quietly to the next tree. She did not protest when the man decided to carry her bag for her, just slipped her sandals on her feet and walked at his pace.

When they came up to the next tree, she did not immediately climb up opting instead to listen to what the blue eyed man had to say. His attitude toward everything seemed to be rather…pessimistic. Saaga did not care to think if his poor mood was another side effect of his tired state or a part of his natural personality. She did not really care for either option, this sort of pathetic brooding rubbed her the wrong way, as she had demonstrated similar behavior in the past. It irked her.

“No. It’s not every day that someone like you stumbles on my path,” she replied with a twisted smile and buttoned up her jacket. The sky had become orange in the west, with the sun looming slightly above the horizon. It would be dark soon and even colder. She rubbed her feet against her shins, firs the right, then the left in an effort to feel warmer. Then she propped herself against the tree and started climbing.

“Oh, I’m not that trusting. And I have great faith in my lung capacity. Besides, I doubt I’d have trouble dealing with you in your current state. Or will you prove me wrong?” she called out to him as she hoisted herself to sit on one of the branches.

There was always the possibility of running into undeserving company in Republic City and she had been through a couple of scrimmages during her stay in the city, but she did not think this man posed a threat. He’d better not, she thought to herself.

She continued her climbing and this time the birds were even more aggressive than at the last tree, clawing at her with their feet, beaks trying to poke her from every direction, some of them going for her thumb necklace even.
She swore hard and slapped one of the birds with the back of her hand, making it fall a foot or two towards the ground before gaining wind again. The others were not amused by this show of force and flew at her more furiously than before.

Saaga had no choice but to grab the nest and come down a few branches, with the birds in tow. The nest was filled with shiny objects, but she did not have time to go through them there, so she just shoved them down her cleavage and continued climbing down as fast as she could. When she was nearer to the ground she dropped down, cheeks scratched but not badly injured.

She took her bag from Tahrro’s feet and slung it over her shoulder before pushing her hand down her bodice. Once more there were a few bottle caps, some screws and nails and then a long dangly object which she pulled out. It was a silver bracelet, with chained links and she could even see the symbol. She could not help smiling triumphantly.

“Is this it?” she asked, dangling the piece of jewelry before his face.

[Tahrro Gao Zhai]

He was being shoved into some form of classification. “And what exactly is “like me”?” He shot a look her way, the eyebrow split into two sides by the deep scar that crossed his face rising a fraction. She ascended into the tree and he dragged the blue tie that hung loosely in his hair out, letting messy brown locks tumble on his back and shoulders, before binding them back in a more civilized fashion.

One had to just shove him a little to give him a concussion right now. “Not at all, but I’m not putting on an act.” Apparently, she was missing the point. He had to wonder what she thought to be able to do if she were strapped to the tree in a coating of ice, not that he had any strength to bend more than his knee to accomplish the next step, but the hypothetical situation wasn’t about him in the first place. “If we were in that situation, you would already be testing the worth of your lung capacity.” It would have started the first moment she had left her bag at his feet while up in the tree. He resolved to think she could be an earthbender. She had the attitude.

Angry chirping accompanied the sound of Saaga’s intrusion into filchpie territory. Tahrro pushed himself away from the rough bark to look up. Hopefully she wouldn’t get her eyes pecked out rummaging through their nests. When one of the birds was smacked out of the tree for a distance he became more worried for the filchpies. The whole thing was a spectacle to behold. Eventually she was down, apparently with the pillaged loot from the filchpie nest. Her cheeks were scratched, it gave him a pang of guilt.

After grabbing her bag she started digging in her cleavage. Had he been a different person he would have uttered the many inappropriate jokes that came to mind, instead, he just stared. She pulled out a lot of garbage the birds had taken for their treasure collection. At the end of it all something shone with such familiarity the air caught in his chest.

It dangled before him for but a moment before he lunged for it, taking it along with her hand in both of his, the bandage hard pressed not to slip off due to his brusqueness. “You actually found it!” His whole face had lit up and his tired eyes were glad and warm as they feasted on the returned heirloom as if it was an old friend beyond value. Had it not been for her he would have never thought to look into bird nests. (If she hadn’t extracted her hand from his frantic grasp by now) he would apply a little more careful pressure to it. “Thank you.” The gratitude in his voice was thick, meaningful. Then he let go and bunched the bracelet in his fist.

A dark cloud lifted from his shaggy presence and he looked instantly healthier. When his blue eyes finally looked up to her they were truly friendly for the first time, having lost the edge. “I’m not sure how much longer I can maintain consciousness now, but I’m taking you out for noodles or something on a day when I’ve slept and maintained proper hygiene.” He took a step back to lean against the tree, one of his hands running across his relieved, weary face. After a moment’s pause, he straightened again.

“So when are you free?” He never let go of the hold he had on his returned bracelet. “Because as much as I’d like to have a proper conversation, right now, I’m really at the end of my strength.” He would have started crawling home right then but he waited. She would never understand how much the silver wrist-chain meant to him and she had brought it back from certain loss. That, he would not easily forget. He considered the scratches on her face with thoughtful eyes.

[Saaga Sun]

Even after over three years it was hard for Saaga to get the concept of benders being real. She probably had many customers who were benders, she had met a few and she had even witnessed a bending battle. But she was not accustomed to dealing with bending personally and that is why she automatically tended to assume everyone to be a non-bender like herself. Some people had pointed this out to her and she had tried to be more careful, but her brash nature often collided with her need to keep herself safe and that’s why she was often in trouble.

She had no clue Tahrro was a bender and she had no clue of real bender tactics. What was a waterbender to her? She had only met one. What were earth- and firebenders to her? People she read about in the papers. They had no connection to her and thus she had no real concept of fear for them. So when the young man obviously criticized her, if not directly then subtly, she could do nothing but raise her eyebrows and purse her lips into a tiny pout in a show of annoyed confusion. She didn’t understand why she would be in danger against a tired ready-to-collapse non-bender.

Luckily the topic of her being a prime target for gangsters and all sorts of hooligans was short lived as Tahrro lunged at her the moment he saw the bracelet. Oh, so she had found it. The triumphant smile she had when finding the jewelry widened into a pleased grin.

She was also startled by the change in his attitude. It was like she was facing a completely different person. As he held her hand in his, she felt a little nervous. She was not used to men being so familiar with her.

“Eh, I’m glad I could be of help,” she muttered and rubbed her cheek, feeling somewhat embarrassed with his close proximity.

When he let go of her hand, she was sort of relieved, though she did not let it show on her face. Smiling still she slipped on her sandals again, frowning when her cold feet touched the moist wood. It was not a pleasant feeling.

“Oh, well…I’m free every day after five in the evening. Some days I come here to play paisho with the old folks but I have a pretty flexible schedule,” she answered him, but couldn’t help feel a little worried for his safety.

“Are you sure you’ll get home by yourself?” she asked just in case. It never hurt to ask and atleast her conscience would be clear.

[Tahrro Gao Zhai]

Wind pushed through the leaves and made them chime in their quiet tunes. The filchpies were still in outrage, their beaky voices sending wild curses down to the humans that had robbed them of their best. Tahrro couldn’t even hear them. “Narook’s Noodlery. In two days from now. Seven in the evening. Be there?” He raised an inquiring eyebrow and studied her face. Half tempted to place the bracelet into his baggy pocket, he fought the urge away. He was never going to be so careless with it again.

“I’ll be fine,” he assured, although he felt none of the conviction in his tone. He had endured enough helplessness today and he was going to crawl back home on his own strength or die trying before he let her give him any more attention. “I don’t live far from here.”

With that, he braced himself for the journey and turned to the path. A hand patted her lightly on the shoulder as he passed. “Filchpies everywhere will hear of your abuse and gather en masse,” he watched her from the corner of a slightly mischievous eye, “don’t let them murder you on your way home. I wouldn’t like to be expecting spirits for dinner. Can never eat well with them around.” His fingers brushed away from her short frame, just now making him truly notice just how tiny she was. Although not a mountain himself, she gave new height to his five foot ten inches.

“See you, Saaga.” He gave a small backhanded wave as he wandered away. It took all his concentration to walk straight. He looked forward to getting home and passing out in the hallway. It wouldn’t do to get all the grime in Republic City in the room where he slept and he had not enough strength to be clean before it. Still, he experienced a rare moment of true happiness. The bracelet was back. He felt he was still linked to his mother’s line thought it, and with it, retained her quiet protection.

[OOC: You can have the last reply here and I’ll start a new thread in the Noodlery for continuation?]

[Saaga Sun]

Saaga made a mental note of the date, time and place of their next meeting and wished with all her heart that master Zhang would not grace her with another delivery to Narook’s. The noodlery was one of their most trusted customers and well, last time she had been there, she had not been very presentable. Deliveries also tended to slip over to working overtime and her boss didn’t pay her well enough to make extra hours’ worth her while. The last bonus he had offered had turned out to be minimal at best.

“Alright, I’ll see you then,” she replied and smiled at him, almost forgetting about the assault of the filchpies. She did not even stop to consider what her roommates would say when they saw her come home looking like she now did.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. I’ve got experience dealing with angry filchpies,” she laughed and remembered how she had often climbed the trees to rummage through their nest for lost treasure when she was a toddler. It had been fun only until her father found out and gave her a smacking she’d not easily forget.

As Tahrro started walking away, Saaga looked at his way for a moment, as if that would make sure he’d get home safely. Then she turned and started walking to the opposite direction. She would walk through the park and take a shortcut to her apartment. Clean clothes and a bath were a must at this time. She wondered if she’d manage to persuade one of her companions to go to the bath house with her. The only thing even relating to a bathroom they owned was a large water basin. There were a few small toilets two stories down, that had to be shared with every other tenant in the building, but they were not suitable for washing up. No wonder the building stood adjacent to a public bath house.

As she walked Saaga rubbed her cheeks which had started to ache a little with all the scratches she had received and wondered if her meeting with Tahrro had been some sort of faithful encounter after all. She could have been in a potential danger but nothing had happened. It had all turned out for the best and she smiled at that.

“It would be nice if there was something like fate. If only it didn’t act so cruel most of the time,” she thought to herself and walked through the park gate towards the bustling city streets.




[OOC: Yeah, let’s do that. ^^ ]