Breathing gently, Vladimir sat, meditating quietly. The wind whipped around him on the high plateau, he shivered slightly, waiting...always waiting. Waiting for enlightenment, or in this case, waiting for a young student to appear.

*Rides in on tyson* *steps off bowing* Ello Vlad, good day? :eflag:

Vladimir nods, getting up slowly after meditation. He stands still and breathes deeply, then opens his eyes and smiles at Justin.

Justin! Good to see you could make it. Well, since we're both here, let's start with going over what you know. You had...3 years training with the Omashu Army right? Or has it changed?

*Nods* 3 correct but i may be a little rusty

Vladimir smiles again, nodding,

Well, we'd best get started

He turns towards the scene spread out before them, the sun gleams off the land, full of life and lustre. The village of Tu Xia Jiang glimmers, it's people living out their lives in various degrees of happiness. The Earth Kingdom is spread out like a vast painting come to life. Vladimir brings both hands up in fists so they gently touch together at chest height, he nods to Justin to do the same.

Copies exactly what Vlad does Ok got it!

Right.

Vladimir smiles and closes his eyes,

Ok. Earth Bending is a lot of dificult moves stuck together with a heavy stance, right? But if you look beyond that, it's a whole lot more. What can you feel out there? Can you feel the rock beneath your feet? The mountain beneath the rock? The hills beneath the mountain? The Earth Kingdom? The world? Everything is Earth, everything that walks, walks on it, everything that swims, is in a huge bowl of Earth filled with water...it all links back. You got all this?

nods im folowing

Great, well, if everything is linked to earth, the earth is linked to everything. So when you're bending earth, you're trying to bend all the living things, all the things that have happened to that earth all through time. Look,

*Lifting one hand Vladimir bends a small rock up to Justins face level*

What has this rock been used for? Killing? It could have killed some one long ago, it could have been the corner stone of a temple, it goes all the way back to when Earth Bending began and further back still...so impossibly old...yet it's still here. This is why Earth Bending is stubborn, why it is difficult to control. But now,

He lets his hand drop, the rock falls,

Let's see what you can do!

He gestures to the flat area of ground in the middle of the dojo, and stands waiting to watch Justin's moves.

Right Stands in a horse stance and rises two rock pillars up to vlads face like this?

Vladimir nodded, pleased with his young apprentice,

Exactly. That's a very good move to use to stop enemies in their tracks, but also can be used like this,

He concentrates and takes a heavy stance, jumping and slamming a fist down, bringing a pillar of earth upwards. Using his hand like a blade he slices through the pillar, sending a flat disk of earth spinning off. He turns to Justin,

Good luck. It's a bit tricky to get the hand movement right, but eventually you'll get it.

Hmmmm ill try...Jumps smash is fist onto the ground. Smashes to deep. Pulls out. Let me try again. Jumps and lightly jumps and smahs is hand down forming a pillar of earth to rise. Using his hand just like vlads he slices through it forming a small disk much samller than vlads. Like this sorta?

Vladimir smiles broadly,

Excellent! We'll make an Earth Bender out of you yet!

He walks around Justin and looks at his stance,

Hmm, you have an excellent stance, no question there. But with this move try to loosten up your arms slightly, allow the feeling to move through them like a whip, so you flick the rock disk away.

He stands back again and motions for Justin to proceed.

loosing his arms as vlad requested and flick the disk slowly like a feather to the ground.

Vladimir picks up the disk and nods his approval,

Well, you have the action, now flick it slightly more to get the speed.

Flicks the disk slightly stronger making it fly like a dart at a faster pace like this?

Vladimir punches the air in triumph,

That's it! You have the action, so now,

He walks opposite Justin and takes a medium stance, winking,

Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough. Use all the moves you want, but be careful of the edge over there, I haven't had the time to build a fence yet.

He gestures to the sloping edge at the side of the plateau.

Looks back at the cliff ahhhh...hmph that wont stop me. Rises 4 great earth pillars. 2. he uses for a 2 disks and thr other two for deffence now launching the disks at vlad reclaiming my horse stance.

Smiling Vladimir brings up a wall of earth, pushing it foreward the disks bury deep into it. It clashes against the other 2 pillars, causing them to wobble dangerously, Vladimir takes a heavier stance and begins to push the wall foreward even more.

Woah how did you do that? i look in amazment

Stopping Vladimir calmly straightens up,

Bringing up a wall of Earth is difficult, it's hard to get the shape right, however if you start by pulling up a wall thats thicker at the bottom there's less chance of it toppling over. It's all just a question of balance.

Pushing downwards the wall dissapears back into the ground and Vladimir retakes his stance, slighty flustered by Justin's praise.

trys to pull up a wall but it comes on 1/2 way...o well...drops wall ill just have to dodge

Vladimir nods, getting back into his stance and smiling,

Come on then, lets carry on.

whew...can i take a little break vlad?

Vladimir nods, walking over to the hut at the side of the plateau and throwing his water bottle to Justin,

Of course, I'm sorry, I remember when I first got back into training. It's tough. Take as long as you want.

it wont be to long sits down gulping the water rapidly.

Standing next to Justin, Vladimir breathes deeply, letting the air out through his nose and Earth Bending a few pebbles up over his hands and rotating them over and over.

ok shall we continue?

Nodding Vladimir walks into the middle of the plateau and faces Justin,

Ok then, show me what you got.

i suppose we could work on my earthquake?

Stomps the ground forming a small earthquake

Vladimir shifts his weight from one foot to the other to steady himself,

Hm, I'm afraid you're going to have to seek other advice on that. Only very gifted Earth Benders can master and teach Earth Quakes. I can't even begin to make on. Sorry.

He smiles apologetically.

Im not surprised my old earthbending instructer taought me a little bit on that. :eflag:

Vladimir nods,

Hm, you're very lucky to be able to do even a small Earth Quake, only a few can do it. It's so difficult to control. I'm afraid you're going to have to travel to Ba Sing Se for a teacher on that.

infact....if you want to come we can find a teacher together

Vladimir shakes his head,

I'm sorry. My place is here until the end of the war. Look out there,

He spreads his arm in a sweeping motion over Tu Xia Jiang in the distance,

All those people rely on me, rely on the Earth Benders to keep them safe, to try to deliver some justice to them. If I leave...they'll have nothing left.

Well...*swings backpack over his should im not leaving without u so ill stay here with u wat if the town attked u need me u kno

* i mean if it WAS attked srry

Vladimir nods, his smile grim,

Well, I'm hoping it's never going to come to that. It's mainly taking out the odd FN patrol, catching theives, going on a few recon missions. Nothing special, but it keeps you busy.

Oh! And if you ever knock out an FN trooper, go through his pockets. The Omashu Army is lousy with payments this far out, so the extra money really helps. Sometimes you'll have to survive on that alone. And start an armour fund. You'll need it.

ok Vlad

Vladimir nods, taking off his breastplate, shoulder plates and cape, leaving his armourless from the waist down, he narrows his eyes at Justin,

Right kiddo, you're good, but you've still gotta prove yourself...hit me. Boulder, fist, slice of rock, knee, foot, I don't care, but you're not done by a long way. Test yourself, you're going up against one of the strongest Earth Benders in Tu Xia Jiang, can you handle it?

He slams a foot down into a heavy stance and puts his hands up,

Let's see how hard you hit, boyo.