Avatar: Scorching Earth // Not Accepting!

Kesuk heard a soft noise. It was...humming. He looked down. Indeed, Zasi seemed to be humming. He hadn't heard anything like that in a long time. Well, at least it was quiet and not annoying. Then Zasi turned towards him and launched into a very sudden line of questioning, asking about the Water Tribe, his childhood...did this girl really expect him to answer? He never talked about those kinds of things. Then again, he rarely talked at all, and Zasi had been getting him to do that the entire day. This girl was truly some kind of force of nature. Luckily, Zasi then launched into her own story about her childhood. Good. Listening was much easier than talking. Then Zasi suddenly stopped speaking when she heard another voice from farther down the path. Ah, the other Fire Nation refugee and the missing earthbender. Well, at least the man had already been captured. No unnecessary effort needed from Kesuk. He and Zasi approached the pair that was heading towards them. Now they could all head back to camp and figure out what was really going on with these two Fire Nation refugees.

When the air and water benders appeared, Lí said, "About time you guys showed up!" He was relieved that he would no longer need to hold a knife up to the firebender's back. "Can one of you grab a vine or something to tie this guy's hands? We should proooobably get back to the camp, but I don't like holding this knife up against him." Lí tried to keep a calm and slightly humorous front, but inside he really was nervous and slightly revolted to be standing here in the middle of the forest with someone who appeared to be a firebender, and could potentially be connected to the death of his mother and dog. He just wanted to get back to the camp and get to the bottom of this situation.

Kesuk listened as cheerful-sounding earthbender asked one of them to get a vine or something to tie the captive's hands together with. He sighed. "A vine will snap if he so much as tugs against it," Kesuk said impassively. Rather than going with that suggestion, Kesuk untied the fabric belt that held his outer shirt closed and folded it in half lengthwise, then stepped behind the Fire Nation boy and pulled his arms behind him. Kesuk deftly wrapped the makeshift rope around and between his wrists several times before tying it tightly, though not so much as to cut off the circulation in his arms. "There, now can we get back to camp and get this whole thing over with?" he asked once he was finished. He'd rather be doing something more worth his time, like training with Zasi. Although perhaps watching the firebender girl and her friend here get interrogated by the angry waterbender and the earthbender girl would turn out interesting.


((By the way, rumi, if you don't want Kohaku to have his hands tied, just tell me and I'll happily change it! I didn't really know how to progress us without kinda doing it for him.

And we're back to Cool-as-Ice Kesuk(TM)! XD Also, as a side note...I googled "what can you use to tie someone's hands if you don't have rope".....and all I got were bondage sites. Like, so many bondage sites. I'm scarred. Although one of them usefully mentioned belts, and I remembered that Kesuk has a sort of belt! Other than that, I have no idea what else would work, because in my experience, at least, vine really snaps quite easily no matter what you're using it for.))

Zasi - Airebender - 16 - Tages//Kesuk
"Do you need someone to talk to?" - Zasi: Always on the side of peace

Zasi watched the interactions of the group. She didn't really know what she needed to do, so she just stood there and watched. She didn't really like the idea of taking them back to the camp to be questioned, but it would be the safest option. She just wasn't sure for who. When the firebender was tied up and they agreed to head back now, Zasi felt nervous. She didn't want to two benders to be accused of doing something they didn't. "I- if you want I can hold him on the way back. Just in case their are others, we might need you both kinda keeping watch of the front a back." Zasi smiled. She didn't know how rough the boys might be, and she didn't want the firebender hurt.

Kohaku grimaced as the belt chafed against his wrists, but he couldn't complain. It was much preferable to the immediate threat of death that was at his back before. He scuffed the ground with the toe of his shoe. All he wanted was some goddamn supplies to last him the week before he fled to some other nondescript town to stay there for just as long and be moving again. Sure he was from the Fire Nation but he didn't feel like he particularly deserved this. Kohaku slumped his shoulders, realizing that he didn't really bother to explain to his captor why he was up in the tree in the first place. But if he started talking now, it would seem like he was trying to escape and get out of the situation, so he opted silence as the best choice. He shook his head, clearing the tangled thoughts. He'd get out of this--he always did.
That was the one good thing about being so underweight--no one ever needed to be told twice that he had no affiliation with the Fire Nation army whatsoever.

(It's fine XD I think this is the best way to progress too ovo)

Lí was rather disappointed in himself for not thinking about the fact that a vine right off a tree couldn't be used in place of rope: he knew from experience that it was quite a process to make a serviceable rope from plant fibers. But anyway, he was relieved when the guy in Water Tribe clothes took off his belt to bind the firebender's hands, even if he was a little snippy in correcting Lí. "Good job dude, I was testing you and you passed!" Lí said it a mock cheery voice. "You're now an honorary member of the Earth Kingdom!"

When the little airbender girl offered to guide the firebender back to camp, Lí hesitated for a second, but then he didn't see what harm could come of it. The girl and their captive were actually around the same size, and the firebender was tied up and in no situation to fight back or run anyway. "Alright then, but if he runs off, YOU'RE chasing him down this time! ( )" he responded. And with that, the group set off back towards the refugee camp.

"Would you mind putting your hands behind your back so we can escort you back to camp?" Kyori asked the firebender (Seijin) in a not-so-questioning voice. "The less you resist, the less difficult this will be." Kyori silently hoped that the other three who went to search for the other runaway were okay. Wondering where they would put these hostages once they all got back to camp, Kyori panicked for a quick moment. She'd never actually captured a firebender before. What was she supposed to do with her now? What was she supposed to do with two of them?! After a few moments Kyori realized that she could use her earthbending skills to create small holding cells out of stone, just as she had built herself a makeshift tent in the refugee camp. I'll be sure to make windows small enough to fit food though, she thought cleverly.

Kesuk raised an eyebrow at the strange attitude of the earthbender. Honorary member of the Earth Kingdom? What is he going on about? Is he an idiot? Kesuk wondered to himself. No, that was most likely an odd sort of sarcasm, one completely different from the kind Kesuk used. And this, ultimately, was why Kesuk disliked interacting with most people. Maybe he was being a bit harsh, though. After all, Zasi had proven herself straightfowardly kind and mostly easy to be around, if perhaps a little airheaded at times. Ah, an airheaded airbender. It somehow made some sort of sense. As Zasi took up her position beside the Fire Nation captive, Kesuk dropped back behind her so the earthbender boy could be in front and so he himself could watch everyone in front of him. It also had the added benefit of making it harder for any of the others to talk to him (although he wouldn't put it past Zasi to try). Then they headed back the way they came, towards the edge of the forest and the refugee camp where hopefully everyone else would already be so Kesuk wouldn't have to waste time waiting around for them to get back.

((Is it weird that I can see how a very odd sort of friendship and/or respect might form between Kesuk and Li? They're both kind of sarcastic, though in different ways, haha.))

Seijin was breathing easier now that the earthbender girl was a little less hostile. At least she was talking in a reasonable matter. Seijin nodded and proceeded to put her hands behind her back. The earthbender was right after all. Being anything less than cooperative would work against Seijin, making her chances of survival slimmer than they already were (which were probably quite slim!). Running wasn't an option. They already caught her once, so they could surely do it again. Perhaps if Kohaku was captured too, they could work something out together. Two minds are usually better than one anyway. Seijin would just have to wait and see how this would pan out.

As the firebender moved her hands behind her back, Kyori used her earthbending to create stone handcuffs around her wrists and removed the earth shackles that held her feet to the ground. Kyori's hostility towards this girl was beginning to dwindle, but she was still extremely wary and didn't dare to take her eyes off of the potential enemy. Zasi's words about the firebender being nothing but a refugee echoed in her head. I'd rather be safe than sorry. One wrong move could cause the entire camp to suffer. We've all had enough of that. "Let's head back to camp," she motioned for Yotem to follow while Kyori lead the way. Ky wasn't entirely comfortable with turning her back to the firebender, so instead of walking directly in front of her on the path, she walked to the side in order to easily turn her head and see what was going on behind her. Not knowing if she would answer or not, Kyori figured she'd at least ask the question: "Firebender, what is your name?"