In the Face of All Odds! Takeru Prepares for His Journey! (Open)

Takeru massaged his temples as he waited for his tea to arrive. The new Jade Dragon was no where near as splendid as the original in Sakyugakure, but that, along with the rest of the village was buried beneath tonnes of sand and an unending storm. In fact the new establishment could hardly be called a shop, as it was mostly a small canvas tent with a motley arrangement of tables out the front. Despite this the tea was still excellent, and Iroh still a good friend, so Takeru gave the man his custom whenever he could afford it. He was midway through a report on the different factions springing up in the village, several of which seemed to be on the verge of starting a form of gang warfare in the streets. He had thought long and hard about a way to unify the village and had decided that doing so now was impossible, so he had concocted a plan, the first part of which was to finally journey out and confront the Hachibi.

Since the village had expanded and Rohim had gone on his training journey I had moved back to make a residence in the village, I was lucky enough that there was still space in my family home and could live in the part of the forest village still filled with trees rather than the more urban place I now walked. I was hungry and had been told good things about the cakes made at this tea shop so I decided it wouldn't be a terrible idea to stop in and try some. An older man with a rather thick belt line seemed to be in charge and waved me over to a table to sit, the place was rather crowded so the only open seat was at a table where another older gentleman with an eye patch was sitting. Cautiously I walked over an introduced myself. "Hi there, my names Takoda. Mind if I sit with you?" I had to admit I was a bit nervous, his hardened exterior seemed like that of many who had come from the hidden dune and while they were proud warriors their sheer numbers meant that a decent amount were less than honorable and I had learned from the purple bruise on the back of my neck that while most foreigners are nice enough there are always those who cant be trusted.