A Complicated Meeting (Open to Ray)

Akari felt disappointed in the cold welcome, but brushed the feeling away. "Right. We're supposed to meet him is half an hour outside the city, by the East gate (I'm totally making this up, by the way) And from there we'll travel to a city close to Avatar Roku's old temple. That's pretty much it. Let's go, then!" Akari recovered her breath and smiled brightly, calling to Tsuki and starting to walk through the streets.

Akane followed behind Akari as she ran ahead of him. He couldn't help but think over and over again, what was it he was feeling. He was...happy to see her, that was new to him, but it didn't feel bad though. Akane kept thinking, slightly spacing out, untill he heard a loud rumble and screaming coming from his left. He looked up and saw a cart speeding down the road, people ducking madly to escape it. Akane noticed it heading right for Akari. Akane dashed forward and picked up Akari in his arms, and moved her out of the way of the cart. The cart hit a nearby wall breaking into pieces and Akane skidded to a halt a few feet from where Akari once stood. "Careful there Akari" he said "You need to keep your eyes out."

Akari stared up at Akane silently. "Eh-he-he..." She giggled, looking at the destruction the cart had caused. "T-thanks. Umm... You can put me down now... I think I'm ok." Akari felt seriously light headed, probably because of the near fatal accident that had almost happened. Great, now I owe the guy I'm supposed to be tailing... She thought to herself. Suddenly she remembered something extremely important. "Tsuki!" Akari cried, trying to find a patch of silver fur in the chaos surrounding them.

Akane put her down and hid his face. He could feel it go red. "Sorry, spur of the moment thing" he said "Didn't mean to." Akane looked around as Akari mentioned Tsuki "Where'd he go?" he asked. Akane walked over to the cart, he managed to move it to the side and search through small pieces of wood. He managed to find Tsuki, injured, his paw in pain. Akane picked up the moewing cat and bring it away from the wreckage. He looked at Akari "You wouldn't happen to have a linen cloth would you?" he asked.

Akari felt her cheeks redden as she tried to hold back tears. She fumbled around in her bag and brought a roll of bandages out. She took Tsuki from Akane, trying to stop her hands from shaking too much. "Oh my god... I'm so sorry Tsuki." She whispered, trying to clean the wound. After most of the blood was cleared away she tied the bandages around Tsuki's leg, all the while Tsuki was whimpering pitifully. When she was done Akari realized her bandage (torniquet?) was messy and loose because of her blurry vision and hands that were shaking almost imperceptibly. This accident was bringing bad memories into Akari's head...

Akane took Tsuki from Akari's hands and undid the bandages. He redid the bandages, tighter and better. He wiped the blood from his hands as he handed the cat back to her. "You'll need to carry him for a while...keep him off his feet." Akane put his hand on Akari's shoulder to reassure of Tsuki's safety and wiped a tear from her cheek. "You still wanna go on this mission?" he asked "We could stay and let Tsuki rest"

Akari shook her head, slowly standing up. "No... We should still go. Tsuki will be fine... It's just... Reminding me of something sad." She said vaguely, brushing her tears away. "I'm fine. Let's go." They started walking again, but Akari couldn't seem to get a grip on her memories again. Flashes of things kept coming up. Her brother with a broken arm and a black eye... Her mom and dad's sad faces as they said goodbye... Her brother's bloody body lying in the snow... The people yelling at them, saying that he knew something that he shouldn't have... Akari snapped out of it, pinching herself on the arm. She knew there was something more to her brother's death, and that was why she had to go on this mission.

Akane walked quietly behind Akari. They walked silently to meet their client and after a quick breifing exited the gates and walked towards their destination. Akane could see Akari was a ltitle off, something in Akane wanted to help her, but he knew he had to focus on the mission. Akane pulled his hood down lower over his head, he was still in Fire Nation Territory, even if they were leaving the capitol. If he was seen he would get caught. Akane looked over at Akari, she still seemed a little shaken. Akane walked up behind Akari and put his hand on her shoulder "You okay?" he asked.

Akari jumped at Akane's touch. She had been straining herself to stop remembering everything. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just spacing out..." She said, brushing away Akane's hand. She had to be strong, on her own. Or else she would never figure out what it was her brother had known. Akari felt so lost and confused, though. She walked around to the front of the merchant's wagon and laid Tsuki down next to the driver. Tsuki whined softly, not wanting to be separated from Akari. Akari shook her head, trying to clear it. This sucks. She thought, kicking at a rock on the ground. "I'm fine," she said, mostly to herself this time.

Akane slowly walked up beside her. He felt a strange vibe emitting from her. They walked to a nearby creek. " Please have a seat." said Akane. Akane and Akari sat down on a rock near some Sakura Blossoms. Akane glanced at Akari and stroked Tsuki. "No you're not fine, otherwise you wouldn't be like this" he said "What's wrong?" he said.