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Jian's warning about the desert does not quite seem to register with Mica; the earthbender has frozen solid, with a hand on her chin in a contemplative manner. As Tikaani would surely know, she was never one to think too deeply on anything of import. So it should be of no surprise then that she was not thinking so much as daydreaming. Hm. Sand surfing... I wonder how big a jump I could...
Eventually however, all the talk of having to leave pets behind seems to sink in. In her mind's eye she crashes headfirst into a dune and eats sand, snapping her back into reality. Oh, crap.
"Right, ostrich horse. I, uh, have one too," she says sheepishly, glancing around as though the giant bird might pop up at any second. Had it been standing in the crowd? No, that's stupid. "Um. Wherever that scrawny thing is."
"That's settled then. One ostrich horse may have been doable, but two...? We're definitely going to have to stick to ground overland travel."
Taika nods matter-of-factly. His voice is taciturn, and his face is expressionless. No trace of the relief and elation he feels can be seen.
"Right. Problem settled then. Next?" Jampo asks politely, also displaying no hint of the relief that he felt.
Jampo honestly had NO idea how he was going to have convinced Uupa to carry an Ostrich -Horse in the first place. Much less how to make one fit or stay in the saddle.
"Travel overland may take longer, but this will grant us opportunity to get to know one another better. This is good." Jampo observes with a head bow.
Again, despite the obvious advantages to all of them riding on Uupa, it simply never occurs to Jampo to ask someone to leave their Ostrich-Horse behind. (Presuming, correctly or otherwise, that they share a similar bond of friendship with their beast as he does with Uupa.)
"Well, I suppose it might be too late to get started today. Would anyone be able to recommend a shrine or hostel where I may seek lodging for the night?" Taikahana inquires politely.
"You have an ostrich horse as well, Mica?" says Jian. "Well, that will be nice, perhaps Siba can make a new friend as well. Traveling on the ground can be okay. It allows you to talk to people from smaller villages who might be more familiar with the local happenings."
She looks towards Taikahana at his question and says, "If you all do not mind, you would be welcome to stay as guests in my home for a night." Jian lives in a rather large home and, until Palila's arrival, it was just her who was staying there. "It would give me a chance to give my farewells in the morning."
"But if that would not be suitable, I can give you directions to somewhere else you can stay," she adds.
Jampo inclines his head to Jian.
"I would be most honored to accept your kind offer. Thank you." He says with obvious relief. It is obvious that the same thing was crossing his mind as well. He seems grateful to Moesashi for mentioning it first.
She looks towards Taikahana at his question and says, "If you all do not mind, you would be welcome to stay as guests in my home for a night. It would give me a chance to give my farewells in the morning. But if that would not be suitable, I can give you directions to somewhere else you can stay."
Moesashi Taikahana immediately bows.
"You do me too much honor, Grand Lotus. If you would welcome this unworthy one into your home, I would dishonor my family to refuse such an offer."
"If we all stay with Jian-sama tonight, we will have time to plan our journey and ensure we have supplies," Palila hints gently in Mica and Tikaani's direction, "It would be very sensible."
"Well, it certainly beats staying at a hotel. They just love gouging their prices when the festival rolls around," Mica explains, rocking back and forth on her feet. Realizing a little too late that she just made herself sound like a massive cheapskate, the earthbender freezes. "I mean, uh, I'd be honored to accept your hospitality. Very honored."
"Ah, the honour would be mine, Team Avatar," says Jian without changing expression. "I will be back in time to cook dinner," she looks towards Palila meaningfully, hoping she remembered the shopping list, "But I have more work to do out here. Enjoy the festival, and I will see you off in the morning. I hope to have parting gifts arranged for you all."
Taikahana looks to Palila expectantly to lead the way. He waits patiently however despite the excitement of being able to eat food the Grand Lotus is preparing personally!
Palila holds up the bags to show Jian that there's plenty of food, then nods to the group.
"We should fetch our ostrich horses," she tells Moesashi, then frowns at Jampo. "Can your air bison walk as well as fly? Or would you prefer to leave him here? Jian's house is not too terribly far. He might have trouble squeezing through the streets, though."
"I need to make a couple of stops on the way to Jian's, but they will not take long," she adds, leading the way to fetch Siba and load him up with groceries.
Jian nods with appreciation towards Palila and says, "Excellent. Excuse me, I still have to find the rogue Avatar Hishen actor." She nods her head, and then starts off through the crowd to correct this outrageous poorly researched costumed actor who has been allowed to roam loose all festival.
Not on Grand Lotus Jian Beifong's watch.
With Mica's ostrich horse and Siba in tow, Palila leads the illustrious visitors through the streets into an older, windier party of town to the Grand Lotus's home, stopping at a couple of street vendors along the way to finish the grocery shopping and to pick up a bunch of flowers. She shows Mica where to stable her beast, leaving Siba there as well, and hauls the purchases into the kitchen, emerging immediately to show everyone to a room.
"I don't know if Jian had particular rooms in mind, but we've cleaned them all just in case. Take whatever pleases you. The facilities are here and here" She indicates a couple of doors to the water closets. "I will be in the kitchen if you feel like company when you're done unpacking and refreshing yourselves."
Once in the kitchen, she first finds a pottery vase to hold the spray of yellow and red flowers, and sets it in the middle of the table. She continues preparing for the meal, laying each place with plates and cutlery. The plates are all glazed pottery, matching but with each piece unique in its design or glaze. When the table is prepared, she begins cleaning the vegetables, knowing that Jian will want to do the cooking but will appreciate the grunt work being done.
Jampo smiles upon seeing the Grand Lotus's home. He takes a quick, but intense look around. Then he bows apologetically to Palila.
{b]"With your permission, I will go and fetch Uupa now. Now that I know where we're going, we can fly back i9n but a few moments! Thank you!"[/b] Jam,po shouts over his shoulder as he takes off running, a gust of wind audibly accompanying him as he dashes through the street.
True to his word, it is only a relatively short time later when Jampo and Uupa, with much consternation from the people in the street, land behind the Grand Lotus' home.
"I think I was just in time." Jampo remarks to the first to come outside.
I think they were trying to see if Uupa would mind wearing a clown costume and participate in the circus!" He says with a smile that belies the fear in his voice.
Jampo settles Uupa in a corner of the yard, and goes inside to freshen up from the days travel. Face clean and hair combed, He reappears shortly after in the kitchen, and looks to see if he can be of any help.
Taika looks like a different person when he emerges from the room he claimed for the night. Having removed his armor, one can now see his tanned skin and short dark hair. The chonmage topknot is well oiled and very tight. His katana does not accompany him into the living quarters, but his wakizashi does. Even without his armor, the young man seems very stiff, and his simple kimono is perfectly draped and tied.
He nods to any in the common area where he kneels and waits with hands on knees for the dinner. His patience seems boundless.
Tikaani seemed thoroughly disappointed that they would not be riding Uupa the whole way, but has resigned, maybe Jampo will allow him a ride later on.
Once they've arrived in Jian's house it doesn't take him long to end up in the kitchen with Palila "Hey, I don't have a lot to unpack, especially considering I'll just have to pack it all up again in the morning." The water bender nods towards the vegetables being cleaned "Anything I can help with?"
Between Siba and Karoo, the former was clearly the superior specimen. The latter was a sorry sight to behold, barely recognizable as a fellow ostrich horse. From its scrawny build to its lopsided gait, the thought that the beast could bear any burden was laughable. The perpetually confused bird-horse has difficulty comprehending the fact that it is moving from one place to another. (On the way to Jian's, Mica sheepishly admits that she had not exactly invested a lot in purchasing a mount.) Once they get there however, Karoo happily shoves his head into his feed and goes still.
After dumping her saddlebags into a randomly chosen room, Mica goes back into the main hall to look around.
"Nice place," she remarks, thinking back to her home in Yu Dao. It was impressive in its own right, as the Morishitas had considerable clout in the former colony. Nothing compared to the Beifongs however, who from the looks of it, were filthy stinking rich. The earthbender shifts uncomfortably, worried that she might break something just by moving.
Palila looks startled at her famous guest's offer of assistance. "Um... sure. You can clean and chop the cabbages." As she sets out a cutting board and knife and holds out a heavy-looking canvas bag to Tikaani, she suddenly smiles at the waterbender, teeth very white in her tanned face. "Thanks."
"Anything I can do to help?" Jampo says, peeking into the kitchen.
Since one of the cooks at the Air temple was notoriously territorial, he had developed a habit of making sure it was safe to enter the domicile of the chef.
"Chop the apples... then we can take the scraps out to the animals. The ostrich horses DO get some. I assume Uupa will eat fruit and vegetables? He won't eat Siba, will he?" Palila asks of Uupa's master.
Jampo actually laughs at that one. It is a pleasant, relaxed laugh.
"Ah,... no. Uupa is actually vegetarian. I think Siba is safe. Uupa would have to be VERY hungry indeed to give you cause to worry. Although I may need to go and find him a grazing spot. Like most large creatures, Uupa does require a large amount of food. Fortunately, they do not eat their full weight in food every day. They seem to store the food for use later. I guess it is easier to airbend and fly without a full tummy." Jampo laughs again.
"It is interesting. Obviously those Air bison that are more active eat more often. A traveling Air bison may eat a decent amount each day, where a bison just flying around the Air Temple and not traveling may only eat once a week." Jampo explains as he expertly dissects several apples. He is obviously warming to his subject.
"No problem" Tikaani answers Palila, though the sudden smile makes him rub the back of his neck nervously for a moment "Umm y'know happy to help out." The young waterbender says taking the bag and knife, and finding an area where he can start chopping.
He looks over to Jampo as the older man comes in to help as well and the conversation is struck up about Uupa and Siba "Glad to hear Uupa doesn't eat that much considering his size. If he had to eat his weight every day I don't know how we'd find enough food while traveling... I don't think there's a lot of open grazing fields in Omashu."
"Yes. I am not certain how Avatar Aang managed it on his long journey with his friends." Jampo looks and smiles briefly at Tikaani before returning to his own chopping.
"Looks like I'll soon find out!" Jampo adds wryly, a slight smile on his face.
Jian's home is large and tidy, and it's more than likely that she can host all of you while still providing separate rooms. This likely comes from both being the heiress to the Beifong fortune as well as all that she's been provided by her famous mover star father. She has a lot of abstract looking metal sculptures around from her time as an artist, and plenty of bookshelves from her time as a scholar, both of which are things she still considers herself.
When Jian returns, she looks tired and worn, but eager to get into the kitchen to prepare a meal for the young Team Avatar. "Thank you for doing the prep work. I will take it from here. Please, relax," she says to any who remain in the kitchen upon her arrival.
The meal that she prepares and brings out is fit for a sendoff; it is traditional Earth Kingdom fare which should not be unexpected given her lineage. The food prepared for Jampo is a bit different than the others, as Jian is sure to respect the Air Nomad's assumed vegetarianism. Once she has served everyone, she takes her seat at the table. After allowing time for any of the young people time to give thanks for the food in whatever way is customary to them, the meal begins.
"My apologies that it has been such a hectic day. So you've all decided to travel on foot? I have some roads that I would recommend, though I warn you that some areas have become troubled there, unable to adapt to the decentralized power of the Kingdom. There have been some brigands giving trouble to some of the smaller towns and to some of the merchants in the area," says Jian, seeming to be momentarily troubled. "If you see anyone in trouble, please consider helping. Your quest to find the Avatar is of great importance, of course, but service to the vulnerable is of no less importance."
It doesn't take long for the meal to conclude and for Jian to retire to her study for the night, encouraging all of you to do the same.
In the morning, after breakfast is prepared for your group, she is ready and dressed in her official Grand Lotus outfit. "I have prepared some gifts for all of you, before you go."
First, she presents a black sphere to Mica. "This is made of star metal. It's uncommon, but my grandmother used it to learn metal-bending. As did I. You can use it in order to learn metal-bending. Someone with your strong will should be just the right personality to learn metal-bending."
Second, she turns to Taikahana. "Avatar Hishen had an aversion to killing, and we should all strive to be merciful to even our enemies. I would like you to make use of his sword, Moesashi Taikahana, for when you wish to show mercy to your enemies." She offers the sword to Taikahana.
Next, to Jampo, she says as she present to him a staff, "I found out from your teachers that you have wanted an airbender staff, and I can understand why. I have one that Korra left for me in her will. It's my understanding that she used it in her youth."
To Tikaani, she offers a small bottle. "This is spirit water from the north pole. When Aang was struck with a bolt of lightning, this brought him back from the edge of death. Maybe even further than the edge... I hope that you don't need to use this... but if you do need it, you will be glad to have it."
Finally, she says to Palila, "Palila, I have something for you as well." Which may come as a surprise to the young woman, as Jian might have implied that the relics left to Palila would be the extent of her gift. "Asami was willing to part with her glove... she crafted this herself, you know. She took on some powerful benders with this, and always stood on equal footing." She nods once, emphatically, offering the glover to Palila.
Jampo looks surprised in the morning to find Jian waiting after breakfast to greet them in her official White Lotus garb. He spares a quick glance at his own clean but travel-rumpled 'Traditional Pyjamas', (As the younger kids called them), and gives them a subtle tug, smoothing out the worst of the wrinkles.
Silently, almost instinctively, Jampo falls into line with the others, only a questioning glance or two shows his own confusion. Whatever he was expecting this morning, this semi-formal ceremony wasn't it.
As Jian proceeds, Jampo's eyes widen as the gifts are presented. He knows next to nothing of metal-bending but the basic history, (It was invented by the blind earth-bender Toph, according to her auto-biography, he knew THAT much) But even he had heard of Hishen's Blade.
When Jian reached him, Jampo's eyes widened even more. (He hadn't thought it was possible.) He was afraid that he may be standing there, gaping like a fish, but he couldn't help himself. Jian wasn't giving him an airbender staff. She was giving him a piece of history. And a piece or her own past as well. The staff that Avatar Korra used when she learned airbending? The reverent way that Jampo accepted the staff with both hands belied his own conflicted nature. Did he woop with delight like a kid and jump into the air? Or put it in a museum?
Externally, Jampo bowed calmly over the staff as he accepted it from Jian. "Thank you. I am honored. I hope I can use it to make Avatar Korra, and you, proud." He murmured quietly.
But he couldn't keep the smile from creeping onto his face.
Oh yeah, he is totally going for a joy ride.
Tikaani has a pleasant breakfast with the others, and hurries over to join the others not knowing what this is about but seeing Jian in her official robes he understands it must be important. He's not any more appropriately dressed than Jampo, also still in his pajamas a simple white tank top, and light blue pajama pants held around his waist with a drawstring.
He watches in veritable awe as Jian moves from one of the group to the next bestowing incredible gifts to each of them. Some kind of fancy rock for Mica which will help her learn metal bending. A priceless sword used by avatar Hishen, Tik didn't actually know all that much about Hishen, but he was the avatar. Jampo got a stick, no regular stick of course, it was Korra's own airbending staff.
Finally Jian came with a gift for Tikaani himself, spirit water from the spirit oasis. The young man hesitated to accept it, he'd heard stories that water benders could perform miracles with it. "The stories are true? With spirit water a skilled healer can actually... bring someone back to life?" He gives a bow as he takes the bottle from Jian "Thank you Grand Lotus Jian. Even I can feel the spiritual energy. I don't know what to say... I just hope I will be able to live up the gift and your expectations."
It's an effort, but the water bender manages to put away the spirit water he would have time to stare into the spirit water later.
Mica is not exactly a picky eater... nor a talkative one, surprisingly enough. Jian's cooking proves to be more than enough to sate her ravenous appetite. Most of the dinner conversation seems to fly over her head, though she always seems to have ears for the Beifong heiress. The young earthbender did not consider herself the type to worship idols, but Jian was more worthy of admiration than most people she's met.
Shortly after supper, Mica slips into a food coma, becoming dead to the world for several long hours. In the morning she is nearly late to breakfast, waking up in time only because of some intervening miracle.
When Mica first lays eyes on her gift her expression is clearly skeptical, but as Jian explains its significance she is very quick to change her tune. ME, metalbend? The thought brings her back to her early memories of Republic City's police force. She used to think that they looked sooo cool, so naturally, she wanted to be one. That was, until she learned about pro-bending. The closest thing she ever had to a "respectable" (her father's words, not hers) career aspiration had sunk before ever going afloat. The idea of metalbending however, would forever remain awesome in her book.
"Thank you!" Her reaction is delayed, but Mica actually remembers her manners for once, bowing to Jian respectfully. Just as quickly, she starts to ramble with awkward bravado. "I'll learn metalbending, just you watch. And then... and then, uh... I'll teach the Avatar metalbending! I mean, unless they already know how, already being an earthbender and all."
Palila has Jampo help her carry the vegetable trimmings to the critters while Jian cooks dinner. She makes a game of tossing morsels to them, while trying to slip some extra-nutritious bits to poor Karoo. She's quiet during dinner unless directly addressed, rather at a loss for what to say in the company of so many benders.
~*~*~*~
In the morning, she tidies her room and dresses for the road, packing her things carefully before emerging for breakfast so as not to delay the group when they decide to leave. She packs the relics away carefully in the midst of clothing so they are kept safe from jolts on the road (or on ostrich-horse-back).
Seeing Jian in her formal robes, Palila senses a ceremony of some sort and greets her mentor with a respectful bow, watching attentively as the gifts are presented to the benders. When Jian stops before her, Palila is a bit confused, but automatically reaches to accept the glove. She pulls it on in the middle of Jian's explanation, flexing her fingers, then making a fist and smacking it into the open palm of her other hand. To her surprise and pleasure, the glove is constructed to be flexible and not at all binding in normal motion, but the craftily interlocking plates inside the leather somehow stiffen into a formidable surface under impact. She looks up at the Grand Lotus with a pleased smile.
"Many thanks, Grand Lotus Beifong. I can truly stand with my companions now," she says with another bow. I hope, she keeps to herself.
Taikahana is dumbfounded at Jian's gift. He holds the sword in upraised palms just as Jian placed it for several minutes before finally uttering, "Grand Lotus...you continue to honor me too much. I will endeavor to prove worthy of your trust of this weapon of peace to me."
He bows low, arms outstretched as if offering the dull-edged blade back to his host.
"May your fires burn brightly and your embers linger long, Beifong-sama."
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Jian wishes the young Team Avatar their farewells once all of the gifts are presented, offering to them to take some food from the road. Before they leave, she wishes them a final, "You'll all do well. I know you will. Safe journey to you."
Outside Jian's home, the streets are no longer quite so full of life and people as they were during the Avatar Day celebrations, though there are still some people cleaning up the area, and some revelers who are out in the early morning. The cabbage merchant who sold you the produce that was part of your previous evening's meal looks upon his cart, and the young man who is laying across it with the cabbages all scattered and shredded on the ground. "My cabbages!" he laments, hands pressed up against the side of his head, but his concerns are not yours.
Finding the Avatar is a grand task, but even walking through Republic City to the southeastern gate may impress upon the young people the monumental task ahead of them. Still, with only a few comments from the citizens (mostly people who recognize you from the ceremony offering congratulations and well wishes) you find your way to the southeastern gate and onto the open road.
Taikahana dons his armor once again, his weapons arrayed according to function. His wakizashi was tucked into his waist sash while Hishen's Blade hung from a cord attached to the sash for ease of draw. His family sword was meanwhile tucked on the opposite side of his sash curve side up. He walks confidently and with pride as the new Team Avatar leads him out of the busy city. He seems to breathe a sigh of relief as the pass through the gate and out of the overcrowded mess by which he had been surrounded.
So relieved is he, Taika pays no mind to the now relatively few others who accompany them away from the city.
Tikaani changes into his travelling gear, and collects his belongings. Wanting to make sure the spirit water was on his person and easily accessible in case of emergency he attaches the small bottle to a cord, which he fashions into a makeshift necklace and slips around his neck. He says his goodbyes to Jian, and bids her many thanks for her hospitality and generous gifts before heading out for adventure.
As they leave the city Tik takes note of the group keeping pace with them. After considering them for a few moments he says quietly to the others "I hate to be that guy, but I think we're being followed." He doesn't turn to indicate their followers lest they realize they've been noticed "This group is trying to act casual, like when you look at a pretty girl and she notices you, but you don't actually have anything to say, so you just look away and pretend you weren't staring? Only in this case I feel like their intentions may be less innocent. Could be muggers maybe?"
"Or fans," Mica suggests half-seriously, giving Tikaani a sidelong glance. She bounces her lump of space metal in her hand, treating it like a common plaything. Now that they were away from Jian's, she seemed to be back to her usual self. With a sigh, she continues without looking back at the people her waterbending friend pointed out. "So, should we hang back to give them autographs?"
"It's possible" Tikaani says to Mica "But I don't usually expect fans to try to be secretive about their interest in us. If it was just one shy guy with a crush on you maybe, but a whole group of fans that are trying to pretend they're not watching us? Wouldn't they normally want to get our attention?" he shrugs his shoulders "Call it intuition I guess, they just don't feel like fans to me." The waterbender grins and leans in closer to Mica "Wanna bet on it?"
Jampo flies overhead of the others on Uupa. He is enjoying the beautiful morning immensely, but Uupa seems to be grumpy that he is not being allowed to fly his usual height.
"Don't worry Uupa. We can fly higher soon. But it seemed to be important that we be seen leaving the city together, as we are supposed to be a team searching for the new Avatar." Jampo reaches over the edge of the saddle and ruffles Uupa's fur.
"See? They are already clear of the city. We can make better time soon." Jampo points out cheerfully, looking at his new companions below.
Jampo is so preoccupied with Uupa, and his companions, thathe fails to observe the fan club that follows them.
Moesashi Taikahana frowns on hearing Tikaani's concerns for the other people on the road. he casually turns to regard them before turning his attention back to the rest of Team Avatar.
"Should we be concerned? If they wish us ill, then they are only waiting for what would be the opportune time for them. If conflict is unavoidable, then we should begin it ourselves and now to prevent whatever advantage they are hoping to obtain by waiting."
Mica groans at the mention of a potential admirer. So soon after the disaster with their team's former firebender, she really didn't need another mess on her hands. A love life was the very last thing that she needed right now.
"Nah, I know better than to bet on myself," she says with a smirk, her sour moment having quickly passed. She tosses their apparent stalkers another brief glance and pockets her lump of space rock. "I'll trust your intuition. Like Moe says, maybe we should jump them while we have the chance."
Taika frowns at the abbreviation of his surname, but says nothing.
"I am ready, Morishita-san," he says with a simple nod while waiting for the decision of the group.
His breathing deepens and for a moment he seems to relax completely before standing up straight. Each of his steps and other movements look normal, but for someone observing from within arm's reach and familiar with training, Taikahana's motions are fluid and deliberate. Each action ready to be exchanged for another in an instant.
Tikaani shrugs his shoulders at Mica's response "Well normally I would bet on you, and I can totally understand how you could gather admirers... just these guys are... a little too shady for that."
He looks between the earthbender and firebender and shakes his head "They haven't actually done anything wrong though, being shady isn't against the law... if we jump them we'll be the ones in trouble. I think we should be aware and ready to defend ourselves." Of course Tikaani was always more in favour of defense over offense as Mica was well aware, his style relied fairly heavily on unbalancing an attacker, and countering.
The further out from the city gates that the group gets, the closer the group of pursuers get, but they still seem to be trying to match the group's pace.
At this distance it is becoming more obvious that they are dressed in needlessly flashy and modern outfits, the kinds that people with more money than taste tend to get themselves into. There are four of them in total, two young men who are wearing all kinds of dazzling reds, one stout and dour young woman in a green and brown suit, and finally a man in a baby blue suit, probably the oldest of the lot, getting on middle age.
"Hey there!" calls the man in the blue suit, flashing his dazzling white teeth, "Kids. I want to talk to ya."
Jampo leans over the edge of the sky saddle to get a better view of his new companions below him. To those unaccustomed to flying on an air bison, the perch doubtlessly looks needlessly precarious.
Seeing the group of colorfully clad people drawing closer to the travelers, And not being privy to his companions observations about them, he grows curious and steers Uupa closer.
Just as the man in a blue suit calls out, the shadow of Uupa passes over him.
"Triads," Palila murmurs so the group can hear, "But I don't know why they would come out of the city. They aren't usually off their turf unless fighting for more. Be careful. Don't want to provoke a gang unnecessarily, but don't let them take advantage."
"Great. 'Cuz this is exactly what we needed right now," Mica mutters with a huff. She fondly remembers a time when her parents were utterly convinced that she had fallen in with a gang. That was back when she first started streetbending, before going pro. Fun times, those.
"Might as well see what these clods want. If they try anything funny, we can just kick their teeth in."
The earthbender turns around and puts on the most enchanting fake smile she can manage. Scary.
"Yo."
Blue-suit-guy does not look up when the shadow passes over him, and he seems a bit taken aback at the expression on Mica's face. Is that a smile or a snarl? He recovers quickly, though, and says, "So rumor has it that you kids are the new Team Avatar, huh? I was thinkin' that it's sorta funny to start that without having already found the Avatar, yeah? Then I got to thinkin'."
He juts out a finger towards Mica and says, "What if Beifong /had/ found the Avatar after all? But she didn't want everyone to know just yet. Well, I had to come out myself and find out."
While he speaks, the two men in red start to circle around the group of youngsters, while the woman in green stands near and slightly behind him.
"So? You the Avatar? I'd just like to... pay my respects."
Taika steps forward and places himself between Mica and the group. His left hand loosely holding the scabbard of his gifted katana.
"I am Moesashi Taikahana, shrine keeper and warrior," the firebender says in a sharp tone. "The Avatar shall be revealed when the time is appropriate. Your words are gracious despite your lack of identifying yourself by name. I will overlook your rudeness as you wish to show respect. However, heed this advice. To show your respect, wait for the proper time when the Avatar has been revealed to all."
His eyes sweep from side-to-side as he notices the man's companions movements.
"Your friends should also step away and return to waiting along with you for the proper day...or else I shall teach them proper respect—as is my duty as teacher of the traditions of my shrine."
Taika sweeps his left leg back, but his right hand remains hanging loose with no threat of draw. His aura of intent and commitment is, however, not in question.
Curiosity turns to concern when Jampo sees Moesashi assume an obviously prepared-for-fighting stance. His bald brow furrows in a combination of worry and concentration.
"Hey Uupa, just wait up here for a bit buddy, OK? I'm gonna go make sure everything is alright."
Jampo pats the thick neck ruff of the sky bison with one hand as he retrieves his new airbender staff from it's ties in the saddle with his other. He accomplishes this without ever taking his eyes off the scene below.
Jampo weighs his options rapidly, but thoughtfully. He has no desire to escalate what may be a simple misunderstanding by leaping onto a person who may only be asking for directions. But he doesn't want to allow things to get out of hand if he could defuse them by being there to talk to these strangers himself.
Sigh. While he completely understands and sympathizes with his fellow animal-lovers, he really should have asked them leave their ostrich-horses behind and they could all have taken Uupa. Oh well, too late now.
Tikaani looks at the blue suit guy, then towards the two in red starting to circle around "Jabbing a finger at my teammate is kind of rude..."" he says returning his gaze back to blue suit. The young waterbender sighs and shakes his head "We are the team that has been tasked with finding the Avatar. Team Avatar is... less of a mouthful. If that is all you want I'm afraid we'll have to disappoint you. Sorry to cut it short, but we have a long journey ahead of us..." which we've chosen to walk when we could be flying! "We won't neglect fans... I suppose we could sign some quick autographs, but we're in a hurry to get going."
"Or" Tik says shifting into a lower, but not making a move to attack "Did you have something else in mind for a souvenir of our meeting? Some people like to have a spar, see how their bending matches up to a pro, but they typically regret it."
"Me? The Avatar?" Mica says incredulously, acting as though she were taken aback by the mere suggestion. In reality, it was too ridiculous to even consider. She settles on some provocative (read: derisive) laughter. "Look, just because I just happen to be the earthbender in a group that has a bender of every element doesn't mean that I'm the Avatar. Besides, I'm too old to fit the bill, yeah? Avatar Korra died sixteen years ago. Do I look sixteen years old to you?"