[color=708090]"Your kindness is much appreciated, Mr. Kang. I shall see this bounty put to good use."[/color]

It was in the spirit of a small triumph that Tianshi found his head bowing low, although for a man of his stature, even low was still quite a bit higher than most of the other patrons milling about the marketplace. Humility was an important virtue to internalize, however, and the nomad was not shy in showing his gratitude to the humble merchant to whom he had traded a relatively small number of copper pieces in return for his provisions. Regardless of how mortified the gentleman seemed to be at his overt display of thankfulness.

"It's nothing, ah, really, just, remember what we discussed, hmm? If you ever find yourself in Gaoling..."

[color=708090]"Miss Li shall hear your words. Of this I assure you."[/color]

Such an exchange of services was not one foreign to the monk. In his years of roaming across the world, he very rarely carried much in the way of currency with him. What little he did carry, he used only for nourishment and—increasingly, in an era of senseless warfare—charity to those less fortunate. It was by his word and deed that Tianshi managed to live and provide the necessities for himself and his bison. In a nation where distances staggered the mind and most souls never set foot outside their home villages, there was true value in bringing news from afar to them in an expedient matter. Even for those with fortunes allowing for the purchase of a courier service, the roads were never a sure thing. Banditry and corrupt officials were liable to intercept most correspondence before it arrived at a locale as far-flung as Gaoling. 

And some words were better left spoken than written. Something the merchant named Kang had surely made his peace with when he uttered them to the sympathetic ear of a wandering monk with more need for rice than time. The hefty sack of grain found its way across Tianshi's thick shoulder, and he offered another, shorter bow of his head as his fingers coiled around the haft of his staff. Triumph could only sustain a man for so long, and he had more business to attend to before moving on to the next leg of his journey.

[color=708090]"Blessings upon you and yours in these trying times, Mr. Kang."[/color]

And so he was off, back into the bustling streets of an otherwise fairly calm fishing town. The smell was never something he had acclimated well to: even during his brief forays to the poles, where there was little and less to subsist on but the bounty one could pull from the sea. Complicated though his relationship with aquatic life and its subsequent harvesting was, there was still some small satisfaction to be had in seeing a settlement that had little struggle in providing for itself. There were places further inland that could not say the same, and he could not help but consider them as he felt the weight of the rice on his back. Perhaps there were some stop-overs to be had along the way to Miss Li's manse. The wind often took unpredictable routes to its destination, after all. 

Something made readily apparent by the sudden rush of air that followed in the wake of a commotion yet unfolding. The nomad could only watch as a group of soldiers hurried to surround an otherwise nondescript building near the docks. An unfortunate thing to see. There was a time, he was sure, when the sight of earthbending troops made the people of the Earth Kingdom feel safe. But Tianshi had been robbed of the opportunity of living in such a time. Usually, when King Wei's military made itself known, only suffering followed in their footsteps, the common folk crushed beneath the weight of a mountain made manifest.

It was the way of the wind to dance around such obstacles. To take the path of least resistance, and flow around the mighty mountain. Even in the face of such a monolith, it had little to fear, free and unbound as it was.

“Fugitives? You think even those desperate sods would want to hang around fish of all things?”

A voice found his ear all the same, and the wind in Tianshi's step became a doldrum. 

“If you don’t have anything to hide, then you won’t mind if we check.”

Another voice, louder, more demanding. The wind beneath his feet picked up once more. Only, rather than swirl about the sturdy mountain before him with ethereal grace, it led him directly towards the peak.

[color=708090]"Amitabha, proud defender, and a blessed day upon you and your number,"[/color] The monk's voice came not as a gentle breeze, but as a proud gale, his stature and years of training doing well in helping him project his voice, [color=708090]"Might you honor a humble wanderer with the knowledge of what brings such valiant men here?"[/color]

Tianshi did not hold himself with particular malice, nor aggression, a walking stick palmed in one hand and a sack of grain hung over the shoulder opposite. And yet he stood tall and proud all the same. A curious sight, and one all the better to focus to the exclusion of their original target.

[i]Think not lightly of good, saying, "It will not come to me." Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little, fills himself with good.[/i]

The words of his master danced through his mind's eye just as easily as the wind had done a moment earlier.

[i]May these drops nourish those in need.[/i]