[IC] Avatar: Out of the Ashes 🔥

[Nallore]

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Rila

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Rila looked over at Takuma and gave him a surprised look when he handed her a pretty hefty pouch of money, she opened it up a bit to get a better look at it. It would certainly be enough to put some distance away and out of the Fire Nation, she gave him a grateful smile towards the man. "Thank you, so much for your kindness." Rila said as she stuffed the bag of coin into her pocket for safe keeping, then she looked towards the others saying about going on with fake names for the time being.

They were all technincally all criminals in some way, but she was glad that the man agreed to help them, as she walked over and shook Takuma's hand and grabbed her walking stick. She then started to make her way over towards the door seeing that the guards weren't around them for the time being, and looked over at Hikaru seeing the girl's broken leg would be an issue Rila decided to hand it over to Hikaru. "Here, you can use it." Rila said, as she could simply shoot down another, it was gong to be painful for awhile but Hikaru would need it more.

[Polaris North]

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Hiroyuki Duma

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Hiroyuki hummed in agreement to the firebender's suggestion of fake names. If they were to travel together, it would be best to know each other's name just in case they were questioned by some of the guards. It will be easier to slip by that way. That, or tell the most outlandish stories and convince them that you're insane and of no use to them. The worst that could happen was that they kill you, but there is always plenty of time to tuck tail and run away during those moments. "Tikaani. That's what my group has assigned to me." He offered the name for them to use. Bluebird was what the Fire Nation has heard - Tikaani was restricted to only a small circle of teammates.

He followed close behind them after another bow of gratitude towards Takuma. Hiroyuki kept an eye out for any suspicious activity aside from them but there seemed to be no trouble with the Fire Nation soldiers. He'd really rather not get into a fight so soon after their escape. The other firebender seemed to have given his cellmate the crutch she was using earlier. Ah. That's correct. Hikaru had suffered from an injury. It would be for the best to have a crutch around - but what about the firebender? Should she not have a crutch of her own right now?

[Morose]

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Jia Li

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"And if we have to identify you, what is your brother's name?" Jia Li asked. She didn't recognize this man and she didn't know who his brother was. However, she memorized the names that were given - the young girl was to be called Ruka. And the man wished to be known as Tikaani. Jia Li was determined to not waste her time learning their real names. Those ones would only bring trouble and ruin while on the run from the Fire Nation. It was nice to have another one of her countrymen there with her - a reminder that those who started the war, who committed genocide, they did not represent the entirety of the Fire Nation.

"We can find you a crutch on our way," Jia Li then said to the firebender. She figured that as they traveled, they'd be able to find something to use as one. Takuma had given them quite a fair amount of money too, meaning they could always purchase one. It would be better to do that than steal - thievery would only draw more attention to them. They needed to blend in - to become just one of the refugees wandering the Earth Kingdom after Fire Nation troops began to displace them from their home. Her eyes were sharp and she was cautious as she left the home with the others, thanking Takuma before she left.

[FantasyChic]

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Yumiko

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If she had to be with a random group of people, perhaps this lot wasn't the worst out there. They were kind of grating on her, but they showed her some concern which was...odd. She was used to doing things on her own. Being the leader and not a follower. And she still wanted that. She wasn't about to form a team with them, but they could be useful in getting her as far from the prison as possible.

The fire nation girl was a curiosity. She expected to be betrayed at the first moment, but she was taking charge. It was kind of badass. Rebelling against your own home. She still didn't trust her by any stretch, but she would see how it went. Now that they had some semblance of a plan, all she needed was her arm to be healed. And some sleep. The cold cell wasn't much for comfort.

[BlueSky44]

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BOOK ONE: WATER

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@Polaris North@FantasyChic@Morose@Nallore

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Hikaru and Ryuu

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"Sora," was all Ryuu said in response to Jia Li's question, though he almost slightly flinched at it, hearing himself say that name. He didn't care much for Sora, especially since he had betrayed their family to the Fire Nation, but that didn't really matter now. Since they looked alike, it was pretty easy to just pass off as him, since there wasn't much else he could do, and it made it easier for him if he was on the run. Though there were a few problems at passing off as someone else, like what would happen if they ran into him or something. The world was big though, so the odds of that happening hopefully was slim.

Hikaru looked over at Rila when she handed her the crutch. She didn't know whether Rila would be alright with that ankle of hers, but she wasn't going to turn down any sort of help, since odds were when it came to travel speed, she felt like she'd be the slower one over all. "...Thank you..." she said, giving her a slight smile as they walked along. She wasn't too sure that the day was over, as far as she could tell, her problems were just beginning.

The group actually managed to make quite a bit of a distance away from Takuma's home, and somehow they had yet to run into any sort of trouble. Ryuu was getting a bit suspicious of this, since he felt like with how many soldiers they had seen before, that they should have run into someone by now. Of course, his mind had to say something, since it was then that he heard footsteps behind them. They had been having to move slow, since they did have two people with leg injuries.

"Where are you all headed?" a voice said behind them, and turning, they'd see that it was a Fire Nation soldier, or more of 5 of them.

"We were just seeing about heading towards another town, we were just passing through, visiting a few friends while we were here," Ryuu said in response, he purposefully made his voice sound a little different then normal, since it could cause problems if someone recognized his voice now. The guard who had speaking to them just nodding his heading, sounding a bit convinced about the subject, as did the one next to him. However, the other 3 looked a bit suspicious of the group, and one seemed to be ready to attack them if they weren't careful.

[Nallore]

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Rila

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"No problem." Rila said giving the airbender a friendly smile as she looked towards Takuma and gave him a friendly smile and wave towards him, grateful for the help. "Should probably work on a cover story while we are at it." Rila said softly to the group as she limped her way slowly, she didn't really let out any sounds just occasionally wincing in pain. The sprain was certainly going to be a big issue and knew that she should stay off of it for a few days at least, maybe if they were to get to the next town they could have sometime to lay low and rest up.

As they made their way a good distance away Rila closed her eyes and muttered something under her breath when five Fire Nation soldiers came up to them. She looked towards Ryuu for a moment as he addressed them for a moment, and gave the soldiers a very friendly smile towards them. "We are visiting some friends that we haven't seen since our school days really. Just simply making our way to the next town over to visit them." She said, as Rila looked towards the one who might call them out, or attack them for no reason but Rila remained calm as well.

[Polaris North]

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Hiroyuki Duma

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In hindsight, perhaps Hiroyuki should have taken the time out of his rather lax schedule to have gone to learn about using water for healing. Quite obviously, a great number of them were injured and it had slowed down their progress out of the town. He had noticed that Song had attempted the healing on the go earlier, but it had failed likely because of the stress they were in earlier. Hiroyuki remembered that the healers would take quite some time to do their craft. It would have been nice if the both of them could aid their group - but such was not the case.

His thoughts were interrupted when the group was stopped by Fire Nation guards. He had turned alongside them. Ryuu had gone ahead to tell them that they were passing by town and visited a few friends and then Rila had followed up with the fact that they were also going to visit some friends over at the next town. It sounded like a solid cover story but Hiroyuki would have liked for them to have talked about it beforehand. Finding no need to add onto that, Hiroyuki had chosen to remain silent as he stood there with a polite smile on his face and merely nodded when Rila had finished.

[Morose]

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Jia Li

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Jia Li felt surprisingly calm, facing down a group of five Fire Nation soldiers. It made sense that it wouldn't be incredibly easy to leave the city, though they did have money now. Worst case scenario, they'd either fight these soldiers off or they would pay a bribe to be on their way. She knew it was more like that the soldiers would end up engaging them, especially since one of them looked about ready to fight. Ryuu and Rila both almost instantly gave the same story - and it sounded incredibly fishy and unnatural to Jia Li's ears, so she had to imagine how the guards would react to it as well. Probably not very well.

"Did something happen?" Jia Li asked, purposefully making her voice as soft and feminine as she could. "I told my husband that there had to be something going on," she then added, hooking an arm around Ryuu's and mentally hoping he would play along. She figured that the soldier would take well to feeling like he was there to protect them - that they were just a group of innocent people put in danger by prison escapees. She really hoped that this add on to the story would work - otherwise, she'd need to hope that her fire power was still working. The freezer hadn't been kind to her.

[FantasyChic]

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Yumiko

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Yumiko stayed in the back as the group made their way and encountered the Fire Nation soldiers. After all, she had given them quite a show back at the jail and she did not know if she would be instantly recognized or not. It was better safe than sorry, but she had a back-up plan. She scanned around, seeing if there was any water to be used if things got dicey.

But they couldn't fight forever and the sooner they got out of this area, the better. She urged the others on. Give the soldiers a simple answer, nothing too crazy but nothing ordinary. The fire nation woman seemed to be playing along well. If things got hairy, she would step up, but for now she remained in the back, ready to pounce. It would not be the first Fire Nation blood she shed.

[BlueSky44]

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BOOK ONE: WATER

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@Polaris North@FantasyChic@Morose@Nallore

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Hikaru and Ryuu

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Ryuu caught on what Jia Li was doing, he knew better than to basically ignore that, not to mention he had expected them to more of agree with him, not necessarily repeat what he said almost word for word like it was rehearsed. That was a really bad idea, he could figure that one out. "Well I didn't know what to believe, you know that right?" he said with a slight smile at Jia Li, trying to be as convincing as possible to go along with her ruse. He turned to look back at the guards, hoping that they'd fall for it.

"A few prisoners escaped from the prison just up the road from here, likely a dangerous sort. If you see anyone suspicious or anything, be sure to let us know."

"Escaped prisoners? In the village? Well we'll be sure to let you know if we see anyone like that, won't we?" he said, glancing at Jia Li again. He wasn't too sure how he felt about this whole, pretend to be a married couple thing. However, he knew better than to try and argue, not to mention it would seem oddly weird, but no, this is how things were going, so he just had to hope that the guard wasn't too bad or anything and would just go along with everything.

"Thank you for your cooperation," the guard said, before he started leading his group away. Somehow it seemed like they had gotten away with it.

Hikaru was a bit shocked that the guards had been so willing to believe them, it was definitely a strange one. A second ago they had looked like they were going to attack them. This was all too easy it would seem, well, now that she thought of it only one of the soldiers had looked like he was going to try and kill them or something, but who knew what was up with him? Though honestly it seemed like based on the fact that they were the escaped prisoners, it seemed very much so that he was the smart one of the group.

As the guards walked away, the last one who had been the one about to attack stopped and turned back around, his eyes scanning over the group as he did. Ignoring what the rest were doing, he walked right back up to them, and he walked right up to Yumiko. "Have I seen you somewhere before?" he asked her, and both she and Jia Li would recognize the guard. It was the one who had led them to the main courtyard at the prison, the one who had basically hit Jia Li in the face just because he could.

[Nallore]

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Rila

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Rila was about to sigh in relief when the guards started to believe their little cover story. "We will be sure to keep an eye out on them sir." Rila said towards the guard who had stopped them, and then they were off on their merry way that was until the one that looked like he wanted to attack them turned around and made his way over towards Yumiko. To ask if he had seen them before, Rila wasn't sure who he was or why he had thought about her. She took a moment to quickly think of something as she looked over towards the guards as they continued to move a bit further away.

"Hey, we are really on a time crunch we don't want to keep our friends waiting." Rila said towards the guard, he seemed to be really on edge as she decided to think a little bit and dug into her pocket and pulled out a small handful of coins. "It's really important to us, especially our two friends over there." Rila said as she gestured towards Jia Li and Ryuu as well. "They are renewing their vows and stuff over at our friend's place, if you could just let us continue on our merry way." Rila said smiling slightly.

[Polaris North]

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Hiroyuki Duma

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It was going rather well, which surprised Hiroyuki. Song had decided to keep silent just like him and Hikaru - finding no particular reason to jump into action. In fact, it would be more suspicious if every single one of them went to talk. To keep on agreeing - it would seem like they were pushing for them to be believable. He stuck his hands inside his pockets as he shifted his weight to his other leg, growing a little impatient. However, the guards believed the story and told them to keep an eye out for the fugitives. He mutely nodded before making a move to walk out of there.

However, one guard - the aggressive one in particular - turned back and headed straight up to Song. And she was recognized. The fight back at the prison must have been enough to sear her face in his mind. The firebender was quick on her feet as she walked up to the guard and seems to be trying to bribe the guy into letting them go quickly. This could go either way - the bribery could be seen as a suspicious act or if this guy was greedy, he would just let them go. Nevertheless, Hiroyuki prepared for a fight but tried to not make it obvious.

[Morose]

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Jia Li

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"You are the worst," Jia Li told Ryuu with a slight smile, rolling her eyes at him. At the mention of the escaped prisoners, Jia Li took a step backwards, as if hiding behind her "husband." She knew gender norms and that women were expected to be protected by the men in their lives. Hopefully, this would help to sell the deal a little bit more. What rogue Fire Nation prisoner would hide behind a man and gasp at the notion of an escape, after all? "I should hope we don't run into them - I wouldn't want to see those brutes," Jia Li said softly.

However, just as it seemed they were in the clear, the guard who had elbowed her in the face walked up to Yumiko. She knew that answering for Yumiko would just bring suspicion - something the people in this group excelled at. At least people had stopped just parroting the same statement over and over again. They'd really need to work on their lies at this rate if they were going to survive. They risked exposing the White Lotus if they couldn't significantly spread falsehoods as well. However, there was one thing that Jia Li knew she could do in order to get the heat off of Yumiko.

People hated public displays of affection. It made them uncomfortable. And so, she pulled Ryuu in for a passionate kiss.

[FantasyChic]

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Yumiko

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Yumiko figured she was home free when the guards picked up to leave. The two gave a convincing performance complete with a kiss. Yumiko had to hand it to them. As soon as the guards walked past, she made eye contact with one of them. And as luck would have it, it was the guard that hit Jia. The fact he didn't recognize her immediately was both good as well as insulting. Still, she didn't want to cause trouble. Not in her current state. So she did what she thought would be best.

She smiled, batted her lashes, and let him have it.

"I do not believe we have met before, sir. I surely would remember a strong man like yourself. I am confident you will find those horrible people who escaped in no time. And, perhaps, if you ever come around town again, we can meet and....discuss some things." Yumiko knew all too well that men (most men) wanted very little out of a woman. She laid it on thick.

[BlueSky44]

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BOOK ONE: WATER

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@Polaris North@FantasyChic@Morose@Nallore

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Hikaru and Ryuu

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Ryuu was a bit surprised by Jia Li's sudden kiss, it certainly was not what he had expect. However, he just went along with it, figuring that it was better to try and be as convincing of a couple as possible. Though truth be told he found this insanely weird, he had just met this girl not too long ago, and now in order to basically keep up an act of sorts, he was kissing her. This was definitely one of the strangest things that he has ever done in his life, and that was definitely saying something.

Hikaru was a bit grossed out by the random kissing that had started and was going on, and made a bit of a face at Jia Li and Ryuu. Why did people have to do that in public or whatever? Sure, she was fairly certain it was all part of the ruse, but still... It didn't stop it from being weird or any less disgusting. She hoped at least that the guy bought the whole situation or whatever, though she wasn't sure how he'd react to Yumiko.

The guard rolled his eyes slightly at the pair who were currently kissing, not too sure how exactly that sort of thing was necessary at that moment, but he wasn't too disgusted or annoyed by it. However, he looked directly at Yumiko, giving her a bit of a smile, "Well, I just might take you up on that offer, should we ever cross paths again... And don't you worry, we'll find the escaped prisoners. Until next we meet," he said, nodding his head slightly before he left with the rest of the guards leaving the group alone.

"You two can stop kissing now you know... It is a bit gross if you ask me..." Hikaru said with an eye roll, and Ryuu pulled away from Jia Li, making sure to put at least a few steps between them.

"I fully expected us to have to fight our way out of that situation... We lucked out that those guards were a bunch of idiots who had no idea what was going on, not, let's get out of here quickly before they change their mind and potentially come back."

[Morose]

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Jia Li

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Once the guard was gone and out of sight, Jia Li took a few steps away from Ryuu and spit onto the ground. She then wiped her mouth on her sleeve, as if that would obliterate any remaining germs from him. "If you think that's gross, try being the one partaking," Jia Li told the young Air Bender, flashing a bit of a smile at the girl. It hadn't done too much to get the guard off of their backs, but Yumiko essentially offering to service him in the future had. There really was an easy way to convince men to do just about everything it seemed and Jia Li gave Yumiko a nod of approval. "We should keep on moving," she then said.

"I don't think anyone really wants to do that again. But - for future reference - don't just parrot a cover story. It draws suspicion if everyone just repeats the same exact thing," Jia Li said in a hushed voice, making sure that the others could hear her. If they were going to find the Order of the White Lotus and help fight against the Fire Nation, then they couldn't afford to make silly mistakes. They needed to be better than that, to be ready for any situation and be able to talk their way out of things rather than fight if the situation called for it. Jia Li then brushed a bit of stray hair out of her face and she continued walking.

[Nallore]

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Rila

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Rila watched for a moment as Jia Li and Ryuu went in for a kiss which made her cringe just a little bit, and made her roll her eyes ever so slightly as she crossed her arms over her chest and sighed a little bit. And then Yumiko spoke for a moment to the guard, she stuffed the coins she was going to bribe him with back into the pouch, and inside of the pocket again. But the guy seemed to buy it and decided to finally leave which was good now that they weren't going to have to deal with them anymore and they could continue and go on with what they were going to be doing now.

"Yeah, so that was a bit awkward seeing you two making out and stuff." Rila said jokingly as she looked over towards Hikaru for a moment and nodded towards her at least now the guards were well out of ear shot now. It was really weird but decided to continue to go on their little journey towards their next destination, as Rila continued to walk down the road slowly. "We should also figure out what we should do for camp as well in case we don't make it to the next town soon." Rila suggested, her leg was pretty damn sore and she wanted to get off of it as soon as possible now as well.

[Polaris North]

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Hiroyuki Duma

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When the kiss happened, it certainly caught Hiroyuki off-guard and he couldn't help but let out a snort of amusement, quickly covering his mouth as his eyes lingered on them for a moment - making it seem like he was just a friend who was all too amused by something like that. He certainly wasn't a friend, but he was amused. A plus for acting and the effort put into that to distract the guard. Though what did pull it all off was Song's timely use of a bit of seduction and the guard went away. Ah, the wonders what a little fliration can do. "It certainly added a bit of shock value." He mused as they began to walk, each giving a comment of the situation that had just happened.

Rila had raised the issue of a camp just in case they didn't make it to the next town by sundown. They weren't exactly given supplies for camping so it would be much better to get to the town. Hopefully there's a safe space that we can use a rest stop on the way there or we can just hope it doesn't rain anymore so we can rest even without a roof above our heads." He was no stranger to being wet from the rain but it would be for the best if they kept themselves dry. It wasn't going to be ideal if they grow sick because of it.

[FantasyChic]

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Yumiko

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Yumiko fought the urge to vomit as she had flirted her way with the Fire Nation guard. It was bad enough he was not to her tastes, but he was Fire Nation, something she would never let touch her if she could help it. But it had worked and he was none the wiser. As soon as they had left, she dropped the act. "That was horrendous. Seems all men want the same thing, regardless of where they live." She stared at the men among them, content she had it right.

She followed the others along. Though the two who decided to make-out in the middle of the street were already ridiculed by her peers, she had to give them credit for the act. And they were not considered sketchy. Chalk it up to the hiring practices of the Fire Nation. They really needed to do a better job of weeding out the idiots. After all, how could one forget this face? At least she was happy to know the guard wouldn't forget her now.

[BlueSky44]

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BOOK ONE: WATER

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@Polaris North@FantasyChic@Morose@Nallore

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Hikaru and Ryuu

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"Yeah, it probably sucks to be you," Hikaru said, giggling slightly at that. There weren't any more guards near them which was probably a good thing, so hopefully they'd be able to skip town. If they got stopped again, she figured that the odds of the same thing working out as before would be slim, and she did not want to risk things at all. "Also, I've never been the best at lying, so usually I avoid that by just not saying a lot if I wasn't asked... Kind of the reason I chose to stay quiet..."

"I had not expected others to basically repeat what I said... As for that comment of yours," Ryuu responded, turning to look at Yumiko. "I take great offense to it, as usually that would be the sort of thinking that my brother has. You best learn that not everyone is alike, otherwise you might end up getting yourself killed."

"It doesn't matter now does it? What really matters is getting out of here before they notice... And I usually can see about making any sort of shelter with what I've got... After the attacks on the Air Temples and after I got separated from the few Air Nomads who had escaped well... I learned how to deal with the few things I had and make a shelter with just about anything that I had with me, even without using my bending since I knew that would draw attention to me... I probably could be of some help with that..." Hikaru said softly, looking at the other 4 who were there.

Ryuu nodded his head, as part of his training he actually knew how to build a decent shelter if the need arose, so hopefully they wouldn't have to worry about anything. "If we are lucky, then perhaps we won't have to worry about any rain tonight, but later on we just might. If I remember this part of the Earth Kingdom correctly... Then there is a small town only perhaps a day or two walk from here, and maybe there we might be able to rid ourselves of any sort of suspicion relating to the Fire Nation Prison. Especially since it might take some time for them to mobilize any units to get word to any Fire Nation soldiers to be on the lookout for us. If we are lucky, we should be able to reach there by tomorrow afternoon. It depends on how quickly we get moving, and how quickly we rise in the morning, since I doubt any of us would be happy with the idea of not stopping without some rest," he said, before he headed out of the village.

Hikaru followed after him, and they would start along the road that would take them hopefully to the next town over. However, she knew that if they wanted to avoid detection of any sort, they'd have to leave the road once they were out of sight from the village. Otherwise, anyone they met would surely ask them questions. Though if they crossed in the fields and such while the village was still in view, that likely would raise questions too. She might not really be one for traveling this way, but she did take up the life of a thief, she knew a few ways that might result in them not being caught.