distressedude | 016 ~ [Action]

[After being flung into countless numbers of trees from the third party's traps during the last draft, Ion swore to himself he'd never climb another tree for as long as he lived. Obviously, he didn't count on finding a baby bird having fallen out of its nest when he made that declaration. And with the mother bird calling for her child overhead, Ion couldn't just leave the poor thing there to die.]

[Thankfully, getting to the top of the tree where the nest was had been surprisingly easy! Getting down... not so much. He didn't notice the lower branch breaking until after he stepped off of it, and now that he was on his way down, he found himself stuck. He wasn't too high up, but this particular tree had quite a few thorn bushes around it. He'd been able to avoid them going up for the most part, but if he were to try jumping, the chance of him falling into one of these bushes was rather high. He wasn't too far off the path, just a ways north of the village, so hopefully someone will spot him.]

[Though, in restrospect, today was probably a bad day to wear green.]

~

[Assuming the princess is eventually rescued, Ion will be spending the remainder of the day at the library in search of a few new books to read before eventually returning home, his clothes still looking a bit worse for wear.]

[[ooc: Feel free to break time and space for the first part, or run into him walking towards the library looking... well, like he fell out of a tree.]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Toph really does need to whip him into shape if climbing a tree tired him out that much.]

You wouldn't have lost manliness points for pointing out the thorn bush, you know. I could have taken care of that. [It's why he keeps so many sharp and pointy objects on him.]

[Toph shrugs nonchalantly--of course she doesn't feel bad he got hurt because she insisted he jump out of the tree! Where would you even get that impression from?]

Well, if you're fine now, mind telling us why a baby bird was a big enough deal to climb a tree for?

I'm sorry. I thought you knew they were there. [Well, they were a bit more difficult to see as thorn bushes without looking rather close... no point in thinking about it now, though.]

[He frowns.] The bird was too small to survive on its own. And the mother was so distraught... I couldn't just leave it there to die.

You know, it's possible the baby bird was kicked out of the nest so it would learn to fly. It is pretty late in the year.

[So, you know, maybe this whole thing was entirely unnecessary.]

[She nods along with Sokka's words.]

Yup. That baby bird was probably just like you. Needed a little extra push to toughen up.

[Look at that! Perfect analogy.]

I don't think the mother bird would have been calling for help if that had been the case...

[The animals in Luceti could talk, after all. They couldn't say much, but "Help" was pretty universal.]

Unless 'help' meant "There's a giant clumsy human about to step on my baby!"

[Though he's willing to accept maybe Ion was actually helping.]

[Too bad Toph isn't. But hey, at least he got a manliness lesson out of it.]

Well, whatever. The point is, you're out of the tree now.

[And yet somehow he doesn't seem even a little bit manlier...]

Yes. Thank you, both of you. I would have been at a loss if I had fallen and injured myself with no one around.

[Well okay, so maybe he feels bad about the thorns, but that was not a debilitating injury.]

Injured...? You didn't break your legs, Ion! You would have just walked to town. It's not even that far!

[This earns him a toss of the head.]

Yeah, seriously? Thorns aren't exactly like threatening. You're gonna need to get used to rocks coming at your head when you're in my class.

I said if I had fallen instead of jumping. I don't have the best of luck when it comes to heights.

[You know what, Ion? You're hopeless! Deciding that right now.]

[Yeah, he's pretty much a lost cause. But Toph isn't about to give up on one of her students!]

So, what, you need us to walk you back to town now, too? Or are you gonna be able to make it on your own?

That shouldn't be necessary. I'll be fine from here.

[Well you don't need to tell Sokka twice.]

If you say so. Later, Ion.

Take care, my sissy pupil.

[Toph waves a hand at him.]