If the situation was like a storm, brewing with dark clouds and ominous winds on the horizon, then it was not so much after Tianshi's plea that the parties involved cease that conflict that the first crack of thunder sounded. The earth itself seemed to tremble under his feet for a split second, close enough for him to feel yet far enough for him to know it meant him no harm. A glance in the direction of the disturbance informed him easily enough what it was: a large, artificial construct of earth seemed to ring the skirmishing ground, entrapping himself and the soldiers and young lady alike within. Or, perhaps, keeping those outside the area out, given the barking voice that seemed to follow its appearance. Perhaps one of the soldiers amidst the humiliated captain's party was more prudent than their commanding officer, ensuring that civilians would not be injured in the fray to follow.

Or separate them from the true threat making itself known.

An agonized shriek cut through the air outside the makeshift barrier, and a bellow that the fugitives—whom Tianshi had tried valiantly to buy time for—had been discovered. Worse yet, the path of non-violence seemed beyond them, based on the pain in the soldier's voice just beyond the barricade. A path that, itself, seemed to be evading even the nomad in the seconds that followed. The slabs of earth and stone hefted by the soldiers on his side of the barricade seemed to begin to fly, soaring in the direction of both himself and the young woman with her blade. Were he a more avoidant nomad, like the old monks in the temples, he might have chosen such a time to take flight. Evade and escape, before becoming entangled further in a conflict that was not his to fight either way. To simply fly around the storm and seek calmer shores. 

Like a stubborn bison, he instead chose to fly right into its path. With an uncanny quickness, the staff in his hand seemed to flick forward once, twice, and then three times. A heavy stone that had hurdled towards himself seemed to change course at the last moment, instead colliding with the barricade with a heavy 'crack'. Another stone, directed towards the young lady, cut a sudden left, soaring well past her and into the barricade behind, and the third stone, smaller than the other two, flew off into the bay beyond, completely thrown off course by the swift burst of air that followed each of the monk's thrusts. Another volley seemed to find its way into the space between them, and with practiced precision, each projectile was thwarted by the timely intervention of the wind itself, often just enough to correct its course and see it safely disposed of. 

Two of the men were not so foolish as to continue lobbing rocks ineffectually when the source of their disrupted aim remained, however, and so from the corner of his eye, Tianshi observed the textbook motions of earthbenders working in tandem, the men both assuming a sturdy stance and shifting their arms to hurl a much larger piece of earth toward him, such that his careful redirections could not see it so easily displaced. But as they made to stomp their feet in tandem, the root of their strength, the implacable earth below, left them. In the span of a breath, Tianshi's staff ducked low and then shot up, launching an updraft that caused the duo to hurdle into the skies. As gravity took hold of them and they seemed to drop back to earth, the end of his staff opposite to his thrust cut a sharp line through the air, bringing with it a powerful gust that carried them away from the hard ground below, and off into the nearby sea.

[color=708090]"I admire your courage, young lady, but I implore you to stand down. If you insist on harming these men, I will have no choice but to treat you much the same."[/color]

A sterner warning than perhaps most of his kin would be willing to give, but a necessary one all the same. He could not consider himself a neutral party in the matter, endeavoring for the safety of all, if he stood idly by and allowed the young woman to go about bludgeoning the troops she had provoked unchecked. The yelp of another soldier, apparently felled by the arrival of what looked to be a waterbender, cemented this in his mind. 

With the speed of a viper-bat lashing out at its prey, the tip of his staff whipped forward suddenly toward the newest arrival, and with the snapping motion launched a burst of wind liable to send the man sprawling back into the sea from whence he came. 

[@Hero][@webboysurf]