Post by Zemin Dao on Jun 25, 2012 17:37:26 GMT -5
I've arrived here in Republic City with my father and my mother. Supposedly a few more tribesmen will arrive soon, but I have my doubts. Our people were not meant for this environment. That's what father keeps saying at least. All this... I am reminded of the sandstorm from when I was a child.
When I was eight there was a night when we had finally caught a break. We had been able to pull some water from the ground after a full day's worth of digging, and the men were able to kill several different desert creatures. By nightfall everyone was full and sated.
I remember sleeping next to my father that night because every time he breathed a small tornado of sand would stand next to his mouth for a second before dissipating. I remember watching that and thinking that I wanted to be that powerful. I wanted to be able to bend in my sleep and be the leader of my tribe, where every day would be like this.
Me and the other men were awake at daybreak. That day we were riding into a small Earth Bender town at the outskirts of the village. We were going to trade in some of our left over meat for food. Two of the men, Heo and Yung, were going to spend a few weeks as mercenaries to bring some money into the tribe. We were readying the sand-sailers when a dark line appeared on the horizon.
Everyone in the camp knew what that meant. We all piled on, trying to get out of the way... out of the oncoming storm. We moved the sand-sailers as fast as we could. Even I tried to help, but my sand bending had barely even begun to manifest. Eventually the sand storm caught up to us. Several people were flung from the sailers when it first hit, and I was one of them. I was thrown fifty feet, out of the line of site of anyone in a sand storm. There I was, a little kid, in the middle of a sand storm. I tried to curl up into a ball, I tried to hide, but I was flung forward and my arms thrown from my face. When they found me the next day, my eyelids had been buffeted. They were raw and bleeding and I couldn't open them. I didn't want to open them. I'm reminded of this story because I'm reliving it. We all know what dark force is on the horizon, and we wanted to stay together. I was flung clear though, and now I don't want to open my eyes.
***
When I was eight there was a night when we had finally caught a break. We had been able to pull some water from the ground after a full day's worth of digging, and the men were able to kill several different desert creatures. By nightfall everyone was full and sated.
I remember sleeping next to my father that night because every time he breathed a small tornado of sand would stand next to his mouth for a second before dissipating. I remember watching that and thinking that I wanted to be that powerful. I wanted to be able to bend in my sleep and be the leader of my tribe, where every day would be like this.
Me and the other men were awake at daybreak. That day we were riding into a small Earth Bender town at the outskirts of the village. We were going to trade in some of our left over meat for food. Two of the men, Heo and Yung, were going to spend a few weeks as mercenaries to bring some money into the tribe. We were readying the sand-sailers when a dark line appeared on the horizon.
Everyone in the camp knew what that meant. We all piled on, trying to get out of the way... out of the oncoming storm. We moved the sand-sailers as fast as we could. Even I tried to help, but my sand bending had barely even begun to manifest. Eventually the sand storm caught up to us. Several people were flung from the sailers when it first hit, and I was one of them. I was thrown fifty feet, out of the line of site of anyone in a sand storm. There I was, a little kid, in the middle of a sand storm. I tried to curl up into a ball, I tried to hide, but I was flung forward and my arms thrown from my face. When they found me the next day, my eyelids had been buffeted. They were raw and bleeding and I couldn't open them. I didn't want to open them. I'm reminded of this story because I'm reliving it. We all know what dark force is on the horizon, and we wanted to stay together. I was flung clear though, and now I don't want to open my eyes.