[center][b]Temper, Rage and Destruction - A Failure in the Swamp[/b]
[i]a collab between Prince, Thought Manifest and Akiblue[/i][/center]

[hider=Summary]Krane and Tanvi trek through the swamp to find Lien only for friction between the airbender and swamp girl to become violent. With the intervention of Huu and the promise to never return, the recruit and alliance between the Foggy Swamp and the Rising came to a climactic end and was solidified with a final act of rage as Krane debuted his most advanced bending technique.[/hider]

[hider=Click Here]After two days of traveling the same path the two used to reach Omashu unnoticed, through only a slightly arid area before entering a thick forrested one down the coast, Krane and Tanvi had yet again reached the borderlands of the Foggy Swamp, which was really where the humidity and overall liquidity of the area had increased drastically, as most of the area itself was coastal forestry anyway. The last time they were in this area, however, it was at night and the two had been assaulted by either Phoenix King guards or Fire Nation soldiers; Krane hadn't taken the time to identify which at the time. 

"Now, we need to find the tip of the river," Krane told Tanvi. "We just follow it until we reach a camp, then light the fire. We should be met by escorts there," he explained. Over the course of the two days, the two mostly talked about others more than themselves. The topic of Ty Lee, a terrible flirt that was often threated by Azula when she called Krane a 'cutie' became frequent, as she seemed to have a similar trend. Krane had began to believe she flirted solely to spark irritation in others, not really for her own desires. Krane still had yet to figure out what Tanvi really thought, however. 

The days spent traveling through Omashu and then to the swamp were fairly pleasant. Time went by much faster this time compared to their first travel together. And the more the two conversed, the more she realized they actually did have something to talk about. Though, having the silence between them every once in awhile was decent as well. Their conversations, she noticed, never focused on them but the people around them. Tanvi learned a little more about the royal family than she had thought she would, and she shared information about the, as she called them, normal people of the Fire Nation. Of course, Tanvi even spoke of her months being in a circus. 

"I've known Ty Lee for quite some time. I can assure you. She isn't as oblivious as she appears... Contradictory to that, she is very oblivious." Tanvi had decided to take a higher position to see if she could spot the river any faster, but the trees were dense. Hopping back to Krane's side, she shrugged. "I don't know. The girl could have been serious about flirting with you. But who would want to pick a fight with a princess?" 

Tanvi had been quick to defend Ty Lee whenever Krane spoke even remotely ill of her. To Krane, this made the conversation somewhat more dull, but dancing around a topic wasn't anything new to Krane. Moreover, as he learned around her, he made an image of her assuming she was lying and assuming she was telling the truth entirely. In one image, she was a dangerous chi blocker sided with Ty Lee having ties to the Fire Nation, possibly closer than one might initially consider. In the other, she was just a young girl with trained agility and novice chi blocking abilities. In any case, she was likely far inferior to Ty Lee as Ty Lee was inferior to her mentor.

"Who knows," Krane replied, changing his tone. "I did, and beat her plenty," Krane added, allowing a sense of pride in his voice to seep out. In fact, he had dueled and defeated Azula, but it wasn't exactly as clear cut as that. They spared dozens of times on their free days, often making new limitations. Without swords, without bending, beside Zuko and Lu Ten - they had plenty of variations, so their wins meant far less. "Lu Ten," Krane told her, "he is the one to watch out for. He was a prodigy, just like Azula; and he has became a master, no different than Iroh or Ozai. His firebending style, though... he is more like a beast. His fire consumes without hesitance." 

They were beginning to enter a muckier area of the swamp, so Tanvi kept to the trees. It was easy to manuever with the branches being so close together. The girl was doing such to get used to her new attire, making sure it didn't get i the way of her movement. She listened to Krane, looking down, catching the sense of pride in his voice. "I've heard." She mentioned. "Ty Lee use to babble on about you two." Ty Lee felt the need to try to drag Tanvi along with her when she went to visit Azula and Krane, but Tanvi always passed up the opportunity. She felt out of place with Ty Lee. She was positive that she'd feel the same way, not like it mattered to the hyperactive acrobat. 

"I've only seen Lu Ten... only once I believe. But, I'll take your word." The idea of mixing firebending and feral attacks sounded like a sloppy fight, but nonetheless it would be dangerous. Krane mentioned him as a prodigy and she nodded, keeping mental notes about the information he gave her just in case it needed to be remembered at a later date. "I have never fought a bender that could consider themselves a prodigy, or a skilled fighter. I've sparred with Ty Lee from time to time, along with the firebenders of the circus. Other than that, the other times were just run ins with trouble. Hardly worth calling it a fight." Tanvi would have to catch on fast when, or if she had to spar with the people of the Rising. Especially if they were all as skilled as Krane. Luckily, she learned fast and didn't plan to be pegged as the weakest link in the group. 

Although Krane augmented his acrobatics with his airbending, he leaped from branch to branch all the same as Tanvi. She picked up quick, and made sure to stick to the thicker canopy to avoid the muddy ground. Even though Krane had an identical disdain for the mud, he couldn't help himself from thinking 'typical girl'; he kept that thought to himself, however. He found it odd Ty Lee would babble on. Did she merely boast about her time spent with Azula? Krane spent plenty of time with her, too, so that's likely how he fit in, but the prospect amused him nonetheless.

"Chances are, it won't be a week before you'll save your own life if you stick around. This is far from a safe occupation, and now that you're in," he told her, this time putting a darker emphasis in his tone, "there's no getting out. You either live to see the Rising overturn the Phoenix King... or die waiting." Krane was quite sure Tanvi was still tentative in her loyalty to the cause. As a matter of fact, he questioned if she wouldn't turn on him the first chance she got. The information she had now could make her rich in the Phoenix Kingdom, both through gold and through favors. That was the conflict almost all rebels faced. 

Tanvi paused. It was for a split second, but Krane was observant and she was sure he noticed. She weighed the outcomes of the event. The day she saved herself could either go very well, or very bad. Hopefully, it was the former. "Well, I took the effort to join. I'm not to let that go to waste." Once or twice the thought of going back did cross her mind. Tanvi and Fei had simple lives and not a problem to worry about only a few days ago. Now, she was risking it all. It was a gamble, but in the end, Tanvi thought the choice was a good idea. "And the idea of attempting to leave sounds like a bigger threat to my life than any army." She smirked a little and paused when Fei called out to get their attention. "Oh good, the river isn't that far away." 

Krane decided to make this moment, before they reached the river, a pivotal moment. If she broke under pressure, or at least pressure from Krane, he wanted it to happen before he could be perceived by the Foggy Swamp tribe, and he was explained that their leader, or one of them more specifically, could see almost everything that the water weaved together, including the roots and the trees. He hoped, at least, he was outside the perceivable range.

"Sixteen," Krane said. "Sixteen is the number of failed recruits that were killed three days ago. They weren't given a chance. They didn't even get to prove themselves like you. They were led out, believing they would be going on a mission, just like we are, but after the first quick turn or dark alley, they were eliminated. Uquo did not trust them with our secrets, so they took them to an umarked grave." Krane stopped moving through the trees, this time standing on one of the branches and looking at Tanvi, almost with an intense glower. 

She paused again. This time it was thanks to them reaching the river. Sixteen people died due to not being trusted. That meant, what Krane told her could have been a lie. When she woke, he told her that she was accepted into the band of rebels. And now, there was the possibility that she could have been following Krane to her death. Her brow furrowed for a moment in contemplation. "What an unfortunate group." What seemed like a boost of confidence happened and she stood straight on the branch she was on. "Well, there's no use standing here talking about the demise of others. Don't we have a new recruit to gather?" For some odd reason, she had faith that Krane wasn't going to kill her. Why, she had no idea. Tanvi couldn't even be sure she trusted the guy. Tanvi just thought of it as an intuition. 

Krane shook his head, as if disapproving of her reply. Reality was, he didn't exactly disapprove as much as he had a distaste for his tactic not working. Just a moment later, Krane kicked off the branch he was on, shooting upward through the canopy until he reached its top, then returning back down just as graceful. After regaining his footing, which took little time, he said, "The nearest camp is East along the river. We just light a fire and wait." 

Tanvi paused, taking a seat as Krane decided to head upwards. She waited, watching Fei climb higher in curiosity. It wasn't long before he returned and once again she was leaping from branch to branch in order to head East. Seeing the clearing, Tanvi headed downwards and out of the trees. "Going through here a second time wasn't so bad." She looked over at Krane, taking a seat to face the river. They'd more than likely have to get wood for fire, unless Krane decided to do it himself. She doubted it, but it couldn't hurt to hope. 

Tanvi was gaining speed in her leaps through the canopy, but was still leagues slower than Krane could have been air bending through the trees. Krane wasn't concerned about it, though. He had often worked with far slower, so there was little actual frustration. "Most likely because your feet aren't sunk in the mud," he told her. It wasn't far to the site, but the camp was barren. Likely unused for ages since the first encroachment of the Phoenix Kingdom. Krane quickly drew his sword, releasing a razor blade of air that slashed through a single branch. It was quick with finesse, but the loud thud it made wasn't. Krane followed up with a few quick slashes, no real force, but enough to break the limb into manageable pieces."I cut it, you light it. That kit came with flint and steel; you best know how to use them." Krane told Tanvi. 

Apparently, the girl got her hopes up for something. Krane made the task easy but it still meant Tanvi didn't have to collect the wood. "Fair enough." She rummaged through the bag she recieved and then into the organized supply kit. "Don't worry, I'm not as simple minded as you may think." Fortunately, she had a skill in survival tasks thanks to her travels. She sparked the two objects together a few times before the fire actually started. She had even made sure the wood was in a suitable pile before lighting it. "There. Now, we wait." Tanvi moved back and watched as Fei wandered around their camp.

Lein had already said her goodbyes to the only people she'd ever known. The Foggy Swamp Tribe was her family, even the ones who weren't related to her. Huu and her mother had been the hardest to leave, but in the end, she knew she had to go. No one else was willing to leave the Swamp to find help. She didn't know if it was fear of the unknown or pride in needing to make their own accomplishments, but she was the only volunteer.

Learning that Huu had known about those people traipsing in and out of the Swamp, gathering recruits and leaving only to come back later for more, had been a little frustrating. As open as he was with his teachings, he still had a lot of secrets. This one had been revealed because Lein had been so determined to leave the Foggy Swamp immediately to find them. There'd been a chat and a lecture which had instilled a bit of reason into the Tribeswomans head, and she'd agreed to stay and wait for them to come to her. It wouldn't have gone over well if she'd stalked them to their camp, arriving unannounced, after all.

Lein felt their presence. They were quick, moving from tree to tree in the same fashion she generally utilized. It was faster than trying to traverse an area that was so obviously a little unfamiliar to them, but one of them seemed to know where to go. That one was familiar. She'd felt this presence more than a couple of times in the Swamp. The second one was less familiar. If Huu had known about them, and if he'd let the familiar one in and out without giving them the fright of their life, then that was enough for her.

She opened her eyes and grabbed her pack before climbing higher into the canopy and leaping from branch to branch to their location. It only took a few moments, but as she neared their camp, she slowed, making her presence unknown. Each movement was made to fit with the natural noises of the Swamp life. Once she got close enough to see them, she paused, crouched on a branch, watching from the shadows. She could feel the sting from a nearby tree, carelessly cut without a second thought. [i]These[/i] were the sort Huu said he trusted, people who hurt the same place they were working so hard to protect? 

Her eyes narrowed as she watched them. Their faces were reflected in the firelight. They were kids. Now, Lein didn't want to judge too harshly. In the Foggy Swamp Tribe, lots of youngsters were able to do better than some adults. Even so, those kids wouldn't be made leaders of other people. It was strange to see, but Lein had to trust. This was her only way to get these people to help save the Swamp. She would help them, and they would help her people. That was the agreement. She could get along with these two for the sake of her home.

Casually as could be, she dropped from the branch. "Ya'll done a good job lightin' that there branch, considerin' it wasn't even dry. We don't take too kindly to people cuttin' on trees 'round these here parts, so I wouldn't be doin' it no more if'n I was you, 'specially since we been lookin' kindly on your usin' our home as a recruitment site. Wouldn't do too well for the deal my tribe struck with yours that I help you and you help us. Ya hear?" 

"Actuallly," Krane replied without even looking away from the fire, "I was given an answer to give to you when you said that. I was warned you might actually attack us if I cut down a branch." Krane was completely aware of the protective nature the Foggy Swamp Tribe maintained. He had actually met plenty of them. Some, in his experience, would have tried to kill him after his last encounter with the firebenders in the swamp, giving his techniques destroyed a significant amount of foliage. Others he had met would have justfied it as his defense, and said the bodies of those firebenders would have replenished much of what was lost. As with all peoples, there existed variation within the Foggy Swamp.

Krane stood up to face Lein, his back now facing the fire. "All that lives is one. Take only what you need, use all of what you take, and all will be forgiven," Krane added to his speech. There was no smile, none of his trademark pride. Krane was serious in every way. "Cutting a branch was the quickest way to get your attention and my instructions told me to start a fire to signal we were here. I took only what was needed," Krane finished by justifying himself. It was a bit of a long-winded speech, but seeing that the girl meeting them was a grown adult and already off on a seemingly bad foot, Krane was taking extra steps to express his stance.

Lein cross her arms over her chest, leaning back a little as he made an attempt to justify himself. Unfortunately, his explanation didn't go over too well with her. "I ain't gonna attack no one without givin' 'em a chance to 'splain themselves, not when ya'll're supposed to be on our side." She took a step forward. "Gotta say, ya'll might'a thought you were takin' what ya needed, but if ya'll'd taken a gander 'round here, you'd'a found some branches what fell naturally from them trees. They'd'a been dryer and easier to light even, an' I wouldn't'a had to hear that poor tree cryin' on account'a what you done to it." 

She sighed. What had she agreed to? At this point, it almost would have been better to just go on her own than wait for these kids. "Ya'll think you ain't already had my attention, but that just means ya'll didn't bother to learn nothin' 'bout the person you were coming to pick up which don't speak too highly for you. Huu, bein' my mentor an' all, taught me how to see people comin'. I knew ya'll were here long 'fore ya even made it to this spot. The fire was just so I could get a good look at ya'll 'fore I made myself known. Had ta' know what I was gettin' myself into 'fore I agreed to go with ya'll. On account'a ya'll makin' a bad first impressi'n, why don't ya give me a good reason why I should join people who ain't respectin' the place I been dedicatin' my life to protectin'?" 

Krane was getting frustrated with this girl. Highly frustrated, acutally. Krane came from the Fire Nation royal palace. He was taught to be refined. He was taught the complex inner workings of a mostly corrupt political system that essentially existed to be a militant backbone. Everything about this woman, considering it was more logical to think of her as such, was something Krane found distasteful. Her mannerisms, her accent, her outlook; he even found it odd that she thought the tree itself was crying. Most of all, she spoke down to him. That alone was enough to urge Krane to disregard her question, as if she earned it.

"I'm going to clarify something for you. I was given a single piece of paper with a few sentences on it. Those were my instructions. All... of my instructions," he explained. Krane looked at her, a rage-like frustration filling his eyes. Moreover, the swamp could feel his rage. His airbending chi growing in excitement and the restrained malice that radiated out of him were made blunt due to the nature of the Swamp. "I don't know who you are, whom Huu is, and the rest of the world isn't quite adapted to the swamp mentality. What I do know is that I was sent by a man named Uquola'an, whom is allied with the council that leads your Foggy Swamp. Our instructions were to guide you through the outside world in a way that wouldn't get you caught or killed," Krane told her. And, this time, with an emphasis that bordered into a threat, "and, if you treat people like that when you leave this swamp, you'll will most certainly be killed."

Lein could feel the anger reverberating from the boy. Something about his already unique lifesong was changing for the worse, altering while still maintaining itself. It vibrated from him almost like a living thing, pulsing into the plantlife around them. She'd felt something like this before. Loud laughter left her mouth, and she slapped her thigh. "Woo-ee! Someone's got their leaf-pants all bunched up! For someone actin' all high and mighty, actin' like ya deservin' some kind'a respect just fer showin' up, ya sure ain't got the first clue about how t'be respectful yerself."

She stepped closer to him, the firelight flickering over the white dots tattooed under her eyes and the matted dreads that formed her hair. She wasn't afraid of the temper tantrum it was obvious he was throwing. She'd felt anger just like it from the kids in her Tribe. To be sure, she'd thrown a few herself in her younger years. It wasn't anything new to her, and she wasn't going to back down just because some outsider thought himself too good to respect a place he didn't understand. "I know all 'bout yer leader, Uquola'an. He'n' my mentor, Huu, have an understandin' 'bout the Swamp. We let ya'll use it fer yer recruitin', and ya'll don't go 'round harmin' it. If all ya'll got was a couple'a instructions and no details, it means ya'll ain't got the authority to go on not answerin' my questions. Huu got a lot'a secrets from me, too, but he ain't 'bout to send me somewhere I don't know without tellin' me a bit about where I'm goin'. The rest is up t'ya'll to fill me in on."

She uncrossed her arms, a look of bemusement on her face. "Now, yer gonna calm down outta yer thunderstorm, Airbender. The three of us, we can talk like calm people and earn respect all 'round, or I'm gonna have t'go right on back to my Tribe and let 'em know that ya'll'd rather hurt the Swamp than help it. I'm sure Uquola'an'd be real happy to learn that ya'll broke our trust." 

"You will shutup," Krane told her. "You will shut up, and you will understand your place here." Krane was quick to pull out his sword. He had heard enough. More than enough, actually. She kept speaking down to him in that accent that irked him endlessly. She was so unrefined. So uncivilized. Some of the first words she said ostracized him. Her introduction itself was rude, as she essentially began asking questions without ever offering her name. Krane had all intentions on going on a destructive rampage utilizing the air slashes from his sword to add insult to the soon-to-be injury.

"We came here on request," he said, slinging his sword down to the side, resulting in a blast of air that mostly only kicked up mud. "We came here attempting to play by your petty rules," he added. As he spoke, his frustrations only increased. The Swamp itself became home to a new predator as the malice from Krane fed into it. He had no restraint in how he allowed this specific rage to flow. In a thousand other stressful situations with the most petulant punks, Krane had maintained his cool. But, not this time.

"You were rude. You failed to introduce yourself properly. You questioned us, indirectly insulted us - you treat us like children. You're an ignorant girl sheltered in a shitty swamp that knows nothing of the outside world. You don't know how it works, how people treat each other, what is rude, what is polite or even what matters to the rest of the world. All you know is this swamp. You even go as far as trying to black mail me, telling me I have to abide by your mentality of face consequences from Uquo," Krane ranted, his speech patterns quickening and the rage radiating off of him even more so than before. "I am bound to no one and nothing, woman, and I will kill you right here if you don't shut up, take a moment to think through the next sentence out of your mouth and make sure its not as insulting as those last ones." 

The odd accent was the first thing the girl heard. It took her a moment to understand what the woman was saying, but she managed to catch on. In the time Tanvi began putting her items back in her bag, a slow boiling anger was festering in the both of them. She was still seated, now looking between the two as they went back and forth. "...So much for introductions." Her voice was soft under theirs, not planning to be pulled into the argument. She was a recruit. A new one at that. She had no place in the argument, and Tanvi was sure as hell she didn't want to be in it. 

Without her realizing it, Fei had slipped into her robe, peeking out to watch them as well. It was probably a rarity to see Krane this worked up, and Tanvi made a note not to make him angry...or the new woman if she lasted to make the 'cut'. At least there was one thing Tanvi could be sure about, and that was that the idea of Krane leading her to her death was a false one. When Krane had stopped, Tanvi finally stood. She started to get their attention, but decided that was more of a bad idea than just letting them fight it out. "Maybe we should just start over...and you know, not threaten each other." Again, Tanvi's voice was soft, more so speaking her thoughts out loud than directly. 

Even Tanvi at this point fed into the rage of Krane. Although not particularly angry at her, his overall hostility was growing. Krane was pushed to his limit, too. All Lein had to do was open her mouth one more time, and he was to act. To explode. Lo and behold, she did. Before a single sound could be uttered, the shriek of the wind roaring off the edge of Krane's sword cut through whatever words Lein might have uttered. Krane slashed a half dozen times at her, sending slashes of sharp, howling wind at her, echoing through the forest. A quick shriek with a far different tone than his wind shot out, but not before the vines of the swamp itself manifested in front of Lein, blocking at least a majority of the slashes.

Krane, however, only saw this act as more enraging. Huu, just off in the distance, bent the plants themselves in an attempt to halt Krane, but this specific battle was one neither would come out victorious in. Althought Huu bent the plants of the entire swamp, Krane was albe to emit a huge destructive force in his well-trained slashes, each severing through plants and cutting deep into the dark, damp wood of the trees and splattering mud into the air as if it were the blood of slaughtered innocents. Moreover, Krane slashed relentlessy at the behemoth of vines created by Huu, crippling it into nothing more than a diced all. 

"I know who's youse is, Krane-boy," Huu shouted, all while trying to maintain what defense he could. "I ain't got no wantin' to fight. Youse gotta temper, boy, I see'at.An' she ain't got the wit to know bettah. You ain't gotta worry bout our swamp no more." At this point, Huu just wanted Krane to leave. He had no idea what shape Lein was in, and even if he could stop Krane, it would take decades for the swamp to heal. "Jus' go! You can' tell Uquo nuthin's changed, I dun care. We just too differen' a people."

Krane had stopped, and so did Huu. As an act of faith for Krane, Huu stopped regenerating his vine behemoth. Krane glared at Huu, but sheathed his sword a moment later. "I'll tell Uquo that the swamp is no place for the Rising anymore. Badger moles will fly before I return here," Krane retorted, in quite possibly the most disrespectful tone he could muster. He kept his hand on the hilt of his blade, then turned to walk off. At this point, he hadn't a care in the world what happened to Tanvi. He was blinded by his own rage.

Obviously, she was overlooked at this point. Both of them were enraged and ready to fight. Tani was definitely not going to stand in the way of that. She knew litle of both their strengths, so she decided to sit out and watch. Unfortunately, in the sudden gusts of wind and swamp plants lashing this way and that, the branch she was perched on snapped from under her. At the last minute, she managed to hang on to the one above her, nearly dropping Fei in the process. "Hurry up and climb before those attacks start heading this way again!" Tanvi hoisted herself up a little higher, and then to a different tree to watch safely. 

"So much for their alliance." Tanvi heaved a sigh as their final words resonated and weapons were put back. She looked down as Krane began walking, and then looked at Huu who did the same, although she occasionally glanced backwards to make sure Krane didn't try anything. "I guess it's time for us to go Fei." The ferret was just about to scurry down, curious to see for sure if Krane was still angry, but that plan was stopped as Tanvi held the animal by her tail. "You're asking for a death wish aren't you?" She followed after Krane, wondering where they would be going now that Huu and the rest of the swamp was practically banned from the Rising. She assumed they were going back to the underground city, so Tanvi decided she'd keep quiet until he said something worth replying to. 

Krane didn't mind Fei, albeit he didn't pay her any attention either. Of course, the ferret didn't actually make physical contact with him, and that was likely for the better. Krane wouldn't have hurt him, but he wouldn't have been affectionate either. Moreover, he would have likely knocked Fei off of him, which would have likely insulted Tanvi as much as it would have the little furball. Krane simply wasn't in the best of moods. After trekking essentially the way they came in, Krane darted through the trees at his full speed. With the augmentation of his airbending through the trees, he left Tanvi and her sight in just a few moments, but for the most part headed in the same direction. 

"One moment he's here and the next he's gone." Tanvi paused for a brief moment as he disappeared ahead of her. With his airbending boosting that speed, she knew she wasn't going to catch up, so there was no reason to start a chase. Tanvi did pick up the pace, sticking to the trees to avoid the mud. Luckily, she had enough sense of direction to remember the way they came through, even if some of the stuff looked similar to each other. She spoke sarcastically as she hurried out of the swamp. 

Tanvi would have been slightly off from where Krane exited the swamp, just a few feet. It was hard to miss him as he stood upon a floating sphere of air, likely around 12 feet above the ground. He held his sword with an extended arm, another ball far smaller floating at its end. "You know, we learn about famous monks and masters in classes. The Airbenders of the Fire Nation treat it like a history class. There is a story," Krane explained, "of two monks. Monk Airashi and Monk Isiho. Brothers, actually. They competed as children and took different routes in life. Airashi is said to be the father of technique that makes the spheres I stand on while Isiho is said to have been the first cloud bender. A storm bender, actually." 

Tanvi landed on the ground, walking towards Krane when she noticed he was off to the side. Her arms crossed, hidden in her sleeves as he spoke. She was going to respond with a 'go on', but insteaf her response was hummed and she looked around at their surroundings. What this story had to do with anything that had just happened, she had no clue, but sooner or later she'd find out. 

"The story goes that they both grew into great monks and received their tattoos early in life, but Isiho wanted more. He wanted to bend the raw power of storms itself. He found that with a waterbender, he could conjure storms as vicious as the hurricanes of the sea, but for his work, he was banished. His brother, Airashi, practiced a different technique. The fine control of spheres. The story says he could control thousands of them at a time, but doing so was dangerous. If these ever touch, the air hits itself and causes turbelence so great that even masters lose control," Krane continued on, now hopping off his spheres. He stretched out his body, performing slender moves akin to tai chi stances with his sword, the balls of air shrinking down with one at the hilt and one at the tip.

"Isiho asked his brother to come with him, but Airashi refused. He uttered words that later inspired many monks: 'the wind is not meant to be controlled by any man. He who guides even the greatest storm chooses only its path; there is no man alive that can harnass its power. He who believes the power of the wind is his alone is a fool.' Spurred, Isiho sought to vindicate himself and his beliefs. He conjured a storm so great it could cripple an entire temple, but Airashi claimed it would never reach the mountains," Krane continued. His circular movements left a trail of wind as the balls cut through the air, leaving currents around his body while practiced his stance.

"Airashi met the great storm alone. He stood atop a single peak, as he had for days, creating and controlling thousands of these spheres. When his brother rolled in on the clouds, boasting of his control over the storm, Airashi repeated himself: 'He who believes the power of the wind is his alone is a fool', then launched his spheres into the clouds. The story goes that when the turbulent air mixed, Isiho lost control over the storm as it was too ferocious for him. He was torn to pieces by the wind, and Airashi used his spheres to keep the storm in its place."

Krane stopped his movements, holding his sword with his opposite hand and extended it out from him. There were currents of air dancing around him, left by the trail of the spheres on his sword. "South of the Western Air Temple are sharp mountains called the Airashi Peaks left by this storm. The story is used to teach us that we cannot control great power, and that honiing ourselves is more important than seeking out strength. What I gained from the story was insight... to the technique used by Monk Airashi. He used thousands of these spheres; I can only use two..."

With that ominous statement, Krane crossed his arm over his torso. his sword now extended in the opposite direction. With a quick and somewhat elegant slash, the sphere on his hilt exploded into a torrent of wind while the sphere at the tip of his sword swirled into a large spiral pattern as he followed through with the slash. The result was an enormous projectile fired from the slash launched into the swamp itself. It slashed through trees viciously, rendering them into splinters in a small linear path a few feet wide. More remarkably, it kept going. And going. And going. The torrent created a visible cyclone that began tearing through the swamps with no clear end in sight. Krane, this time, said, "It takes me so long to prepare the technique... but once I unleash it, it won't stop until it runs its natural course." 

The chi blocker listened attentively to the story. She stayed silent, watching his movements and the spheres of air he created. She made sure to stay out of his targeted area, although she was almost positive that he wouldn't attack her. It was better to be safe than sorry. Tanvi imagined what he'd be like if he did manage to accomplish a feat like the monks did. It was an interesting thought, although the thought of it becoming too dangerous did come to mind. The attack alone was dangerous as it was, but to do that with thousands of spheres of pressured air seemed irrational. Why would it ever need to be used? The girl said nothing, but she did nod in understanding. Fei however, chittered in response as she rested on Tanvi's shoulder. 

"I believe my message is clear," Krane said. He slowly sheathed his sword and the air died down around him. The aggressive atmosphere was gone as well. Krane closed his eyes for just a moment. He breathed in deeply, filling the air with only silence. As Krane exhaled, everything returned to normal. His eyes repoened to the same relaxed state they were before. He let go of his sword, for the first time in a while, and simply stared off for a moment. "I wonder what Uquo will think..." Krane said, as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Crystal." Tanvi retorted and began to walk off in the direction they came from. She sensed the calm before she actually looked over her shoulder to see him look a lot less threatening than before. "Pretty sure you're probably going to have to find another recruit. Or you know, sit around like we've been doing the past few days." She shrugged and turned to continue their journey back to the underground city. She was going to end up knowing the path with her eyes closed if they kept up going back and forth like they were. Though, with the swamp now banned, she wondered if they'd finally be able to go out to other places. 

"There are plenty of recruits." Krane told her. Krane trekked off in the same direction, going North back to Omashu. "They live in every corner of the world," he explained as he walked over the same path he had a dozen times before. "I believe it's time I find a new corner for myself. I've been recruiting in the Swamp for months now. It was getting dull anyway," he added.

She smiled a little at the idea of it being finally time to travel. In a teasing manner she commented, "Can the next corner you find be cleaner? You know, less mud." She smiled again. As the two journeyed back, she eventually fell in step alongside Krane and sometime along the way, Fei had decided to hop to his shoulder, which Tanvi didn't mind. [/hider]