Friend or Foe

Merrick Fuman - the newest edition to the Fire Nation was not even where he was believed to belong. Nobody aside from him knew about his double bending abilities - as far as the citizens knew, he was nothing but a fire bender. Though this was far from the truth - not only was he a fire bender, but he was also a water bender, master in both. He, of course, would never let anybody know unless he had to perform both elements in front of another, as he wouldn't want to bring shame upon himself or the Fuman family in some form or another. So, he decided it was time to leave the Fire Nation and return to the Earth Kingdom before returning to the Southern Water Tribe to show everyone that he was in fact still alive and see his Master's grave for the first time...

Though Merrick wasn't near to ready, he needed supplies, such as water and oil. Food he could go without, as he didn't need to waste any cash on something he could easily kill and cook himself. So, with an annoyed sigh, he gathered up his sword, the Serpent of the Sea, and gathered his other less important belongings and set forth to the Market District of the Fire Nation Colonies. Hmm. I'd better hurry. It's easly in the day, and i'd like to be ready and off by noon... Merrick thought resting both hands in the opposite sleeve of his robes, strolling through the town, shifting his gaze from in front of him to the sky, which was a dark purple-blue color, with birds flying to and fro, making squacking noises as they did about their own business. He let out a sigh as he sighed and removed his left hand from his sleeve and wiped his eyes and yawned, continuing his walk to the Market District of the Fire Nation Colonies.

Alasdair had been in the Fire Nation very often the last 18 years. First he had been training, or better find somebody who could help him with his training. Then, 9 years ago, he had really started to hunt down his uncle. He had often followed him into the fire nation, but also in other parts he had heared something about him. Kerno seemed to have many friends, and that was the problem why Alasdair could not find him. He was no killer, so he was not searched by anybody. His uncle would be his only victim. But he seemed to know everytime when Alasdair is near.

Alasdairs grey eyes showed the hate he felt. That was nearly the only emotion he had since his mother died. Sometimes others came out as well, but most time he only felt hate. But he was not a bad guy or something like that. He tried to help as much as he could. The memory of what he had done made him smile a little bit. Right now, he was on his way to the Market District, trying to find one of his uncles friends.

He walked really fast. Looking around, Alasdair found out that he was one of the few people who did not wore the normal red clothes of the fire nation. But he did not cared. Like his mother always wore white, he had decided to wear black and only his shirt to be white. Ok, not everything was black. His coat and his boots were a dark brown. The only real colour were his hair, that still had the orange-red colour of his childhood. While he was in thought, he bumped into another man. "I am sorry.", he said to him.

Merrick was gazing into the ground with an annoyed look on his face, a little irritated that this was the crowd he'd have to walk through to buy the things he needed. Well of course... What else should I expect from the Fire Nation? Too many people, they should be delt with. Merrick thought looking up into the sky, noticing dark clouds looming overhead. With a content sigh he rose his left hand into the air, removing it from his sleeve and pulled water from the clouds above. It descended from the sky in a small and thin stream, gently flowing from above. After about a few seconds it reached the hand of Merrick, which he manipulated and sent the water into his mouth, happily drinking it. With a content sigh, he allowed the rest of the water to fall where it currently was, after filling his waterskins full, happy that he no longer had to go to the market for water. Oil wasn't essential, so he decided it would be best if he just didn't go and buy any at all.

Time to go to the Earth Kingdom I suppose... Merrick thought bringing his left hand back into his right sleeve, and his right hand into his left sleeve as he closed his eyes and let out a sigh and turned to his right, taking in a deep breath as he opened his eyes. All the sudden, a man out of nowhere bumped into him, apologising immediately afterward. Before Merrick would acknowledge the apology, he noticed how young the man looked - he was obviously around the age of Merrick himself, who was much younger than those around him. Though this man seemed to be a bit younger, possinly a year or two younger at the most. He wore dark clothes with a white shirt and dark boots, which forced a smile out of Merrick. The smile of course was sly and cocky, though Merrick did not want to start trouble, so instead of acting like the usual jerk he almost always if, he removed both hands from the opposite sleeve and brought his right hand behing his back, and his left across his stomach and into a kind bow. Nonsense. No need to apologise, young Sir. It is my fault for standing idol for such an extended period of time. Merrick said as kind as he could muster, which wasn't good at all, which he still managed to get a bit of his jerky attitude intwined with his kind tone. What brings you to the Market section of the Fire Nation? Merrick asked, straightening out his back from the courtesy-bow.

Alasdair looked at the man in front of him. He had seen such bows some times before. Ok, it was normal when you travel around the world like he does that you see many things. But it was the first time somebody bowed in front of him like this man had done. He felt a little bit stupid now, also because he had forgotten what his mother had thought him. If you want to friendly, you have to bow., she had told him. But right now it was too late. Alasdair breathed in shortly. "I am here because I have to meet somebody.", he answered.

So, this was no lie, but he had also not told too much. It was not good if many people knew what he was doing. Especially when he still wanted to be not searched. He knew that his uncle had asked his friends sometimes if they would not make a searched plakate of him, but they had told Kerno everytime that as long as Alasdair had done nothing, they could do nothing. Nearly he had smiled, but he managed not to do so. "And what are you doing here?", he asked friendly.

Normally he would not care what other people did. But again it was the education of his mother. Somehow it is good that he was the son of the former avatar. He had learned so much about being friendly and doing the right things that it would not happen so easily that he made the completely wrong decicions. He wanted to make his mother proud of him, and it was still his plan the search the new avatar as soon as Kerno was dead.

Merrick's face glew with simple enlightenment and passive knowledge as he had learned - in partial - what this man was doing here. He had to meet with someone, to which Merrick said Ahh... I see. Interesting, indeed. while placing his right hand in his left sleeve and his left hand in his right sleeve. A man of seeming-importance that has business with someone he must speak with was no big news these days, almost everybody was busy doing something for someone; It seemed as if everyone had personal business to attend to these days aside from Merrick, if you were to exclude his personal desire to visit the Earth Kingdom then revisit the Souther Water Tribe.

Is there a place in particular you must go? Might you -for instance - be lost; Is there anywhere I can help you, anywhere I can take you? Merrick asked, ignoring the man's question that was directed at Merrick. He needed to make sure he spoke everything he needed to speak before he answered his question. Hmm. There's something... Different about this man. It seems like he suffers from ... a great pain ... Merrick thought, feeling sympathy for the man, knowing that there was nothing he could do, and he had just met the man, so he dared not ask about his personal life; he certainly didn't want to come off as directly rude or anything of the sort. There was a soft boom of thunder heard from a distance, to which Merrick turned his head and gazed in that direction, only to turn back and brush it off as if it were nothing but a mere figment of his imagination.

To answer your question, I was here to purchase some goods from the market, such as water for my waterskins. Merrick started, taking a few second pause only to continue shortly after, Though as i am sure you saw, I am a Water Bender and i filled my waterskins with water from the sky up above. I am to be traveling to the Earth Kingdom soon. Hopefully before noon. If all things go well, I plan to be out of here within the hour. Merrick informed the nameless man, letting out an uncomfortable sigh as he did - Merrick would certainly feel much better once he knew the name of the man he was speaking to, though he would wait for a more appropriate time to ask such a thing, and would wait for a possible response before continuing to speak, as he felt he was speaking too much and it'd be good to allow the nameless man to speak before Merrick speaks again.

Alasdair thought a little bit before he answered. He had no idea if he could trust this man. But then he thought he give him an answer that would not tell too much. "I do not know exactly where I have to go next. The man at the market should tell me.", he answered the man. Then he nodded as the man explained to him what he wanted to do at the market and that he was a water bender. My mother liked this bending style really much., he thought, but then he tried to get this thoughts away.

"If you wait a moment, I can try to find out if I also have to go to the earth kingdom, so we could go together.", he said to the man. He only wanted to go with the man so that his uncle would not find out too early that he had found him again. But he would not tell his man that he was only using him. Then he showed him to wait and fast ran into the market.

Soon he had found the person he had been looking for. Some few words, an bad look on his face, and he had all the information he needed. Alasdair was lucky, he needed to go to the earth kingdom. There he would find another person who could tell him more about the place where his uncle was. Smiling and saying thank you to the man, he rushed towards the man he had met before.

Suddenly he stood in front of him again. "As it seems I have to go to the earth kingdom as well.", he said and now bowed. "I am Alasdair.", he told the man.

Merrick quickly turned away from Alasdair, and closed his eyes, placing his hands back into his sleeves, looking down at his waist and looking at his elegant blade. And my name is Merrick. he said beginning to walk towards the nearest exit - he certainly was ready to go. Being a waterbender, his element WAS water, however, he didn't find it very soothing to be poured on. That settles it. You and I are traveling together... Merrick said, assuming his normal personality now that acquantiance time was over. Yokkyu believed he could find the Earth Kingdom relatively easy, however, if he needed, he could always ask his new travel buddy: Alasdair for directions if he were to somehow get lost.

OOC: Sorry for the short post. I'm REALLY tired.

((OOC: np. my muse is not the best))

Alasdair followed Merrick. He was really happy that he was not travelling alone. Even if he still had the pegasus his mother had given him, he liked it to be with other people. That was also the reason why he had not called it to fly. He also liked it to travel like everybody else. "So, why do you go to the earth kingdom?", he finally asked. He thought that Merrick would have no problems telling him the reason. Not everybody had to be careful of what he was saying.

He walked next to the man to the harbour. Some ships were there, and Alasdair could see that some of them were ready to go to the earth kingdom. "So, with which one you have planned to travel?", he asked.

As they continued their walk, Merrick led them to the Fire Nation Harbor where a few ships sat that were ready to set sail. With a sly look on his face, Merrick turned back to Alasdair and whispered, We're takin the big one... Heh, nope, not the traveling one... the naval ship he said with a sly look on his face, and an evil grin that spread to the corners of his mouth. It wont do much harm, will it? Let's just have some extra fun while doing so. Merrick spoke once more as he closed his eyes and smiled as he approached the naval ship.

When he got close to where the water was, he immediately took off his robes, which exposed his bare body - all aside from his ... area ... which was still covered by silk underwear. Immediately afterwards, Merrick dove into the water, landing right next to the naval ship, and then took in a deep breath and swam down below the surface. He was the underside of the Naval Ship and thought Now to get rid of the Fire Nation soldiers... he said, bringing both hands in front of him and moving them forward and back, forward and back. Slowly, and little by little, the water moved to his command, swaying back and forth, gradually picking up momentum. His plan was so far working, as the boat itself was starting to gently rock from side to side.

He continued this for about half a minute, slowly picking up on how forceful his pushed were, noticing that all the water around him was beginning to look choppy and starting to look quite dangerous. This was the perfect time to do so, because giant thunderstorms loomed overhead, and the Fire Nation would not and could not expect a WaterBender to be the trouble, they'd have to assume it was just the storm and it's high wind. Nevertheless, he continued to rock the boat with increasing power until he finally stopped, keeping both of his hands, open palmed, as his chest and pointed towards the boat. In a final effort to tip the boat enough to send the Fire Nation Soliders off, he pushed as hard as he could forward and towards the boat, which also sent a giant jet-wave of water afterwards, almost completely tipping the boat.

Quickly, he used the water to propel him forward and around the giant naval ship, seeing the dumped Fire Nation Soldiers scrambling to get ashore. Merrick would not allow this, so he made both of his hands in two semicircles and closed one eye, looking towards the fire nation soliders, seeing them in between his two semi circle hands because he closed one eye. Without hesitation, he brought the two semicircles together, which in turn brought a giant circle of water together, imprisoning each of the Fire Nation Soldiers in a giant bubble of water. Merrick once again used his hands and propelling him forward using water bending, and when he came to the circle, he brought his hands up to it and placed them gently inside. He then used a giant wave of heat bending, instantly heating up the water, burning the Fire Nation Soldiers, watching them scream under water until their skin turned a dark red.

Merrick then removed his hands from the bubble and brought his right hand up and balled his right hand into a fist, which brought more pressure onto the bubble, but alas, it wasn't within his power to crush the Soldiers, but he was able to bring pressure to the bubble, bringing big discomfort to the soliders, and they, in turn, screamed, using the last of the oxygen in their lungs to do so, and their lungs were then filled with nothing but water, and they sunk to the bottom of the sea as the bubble was released by Merrick. He then swam as fast as he could to the surface, and took in a GIANT breath, looking at the dock to see Alasdair there, he smiled at him then went back under water, and looked back at the boat. [color=blue]All this bending is getting tiring... especially on a giant freakin boat![/color he thought, raising both hands and using a giant jet of water to send the boat upright once more.

Soon afterwards, he swam down to the bottom - where the Fire Nation Soldiers were, and looked for the Ship Captain, who was on the top of the pile of bodies. He used water bending to bring his lifeless corpse to him, and stripped him of his Fire Nation clothes, putting them on under water as fast as he could. He was running out of breath, so, with the clothes on and every other nessescity, he swam back to the dock and pulled himself up and looked at Alasdair, then looked around to see that nobody was looking. He was ABOUT to use Water Bending, but he knew that if anybody was looking it would completely blow his cover. So, Merrick gave a sheepish smile at Alasdair and walked a few feet away, closed his eyes and turned his head towards the sky, both hands being overcame with giant balls of fire, which he brought around his body to evaporate the water that was on him. Merrick then walked over to his pile of clothes, picking them up and smiling at Alasdair, Time to set sail, slave! Merrick commanded, hoping that Alasdair would play along so they wouldn't blow their cover, just in case anybody was looking in their direction, or possibly listening in on their conversation.

Alasdair stood there, he could not believe what was happening right now. He knew that water benders could be really strong, but he had not imagined something like this. But he also did not feel very well, especially because he could no see what Merrick was really doing. And then he also asked himself what had happened to the fire soldiers that had been on deck. Even if he was used to powerful bending AND was the son of the former avatar, he could not remember that he had seen something like this before. The man also could not understand why Merrick wanted to take this naval ship. But then, finally his companion appeared again.

Alasdair found out really fast that he had to play an role, but he did not liked it that he should be the one who had to do really EVERYTHING somebody would tell him on a ship. With an angry face he looked at Merrick, but then rushed on the ship and made everything ready that they could sail away. Alasdair was lucky to have learned a little bit what he had to do on a ship. It was really good to be the son of an avatar most of the people liked, so it was not difficult to find somebody at the water tribe to teach him how to use a boat or a ship. "I am ready, sir!", he shouted to Merrick.