"Just a little closer.." The subtle sound of boots softly crunching through freshly fallen snow mildly stirred the prey from its fishy treat, as the black-and-white beast swiftly turned his head over to the immediate direction the sound came from, its beady little eyes blinking as it found there no noticeable disturbance from the frozen tundras it was so used to. However, it continued looking around just for good measure, craning its neck this way and that in every possible direction before gladly returning to its meal. The unseen hunter let out a soft sigh of relief once they could hear the jittery clicking of the beast's beak, as it hungrily devoured it's meal. Slowly turning themselves over the tall bank of snow that they quickly ducked behind, their heel twitched eagerly as the hunter remained crouched on his tip toes. Now, they just had to time their moves right and...
Wen let out an almost warrior sounding battle cry as she charged forward from her snowy cover, her hands ready to grab onto her startled looking prey as she quickly pounced on the beast's slippery furred body, as she rode her way down the snowy hilltop. Casually straddling the now indifferent otter-penguin's back, Wen hooped and hollered as she sled her way down the hill, the penguin's slippery body giving more speed than she could want. A common pastime she had learned from the Southern Water Tribe; "penguin-sledding". Wen's long hair carelessly whipped past her brightly shining face as she closed her eyes against the sharp, icy winds with a hearty laugh. Things like this took her back to her more carefree days at the Eastern Air Temple, as all thoughts which revolved around the war seemed to blown from her mind, as the cooling currents passed over her rosy cheeks.
She had really outdone herself this time, having been able to catch one of the penguins eating at the top of one of the highest snow banks in the South Pole, she had never gone so fast! However, opening her eyes once more just to see how much hill she had left, the smile briefly disappeared from Wen's face as she saw that she was coming to the snow mound walls of the Southern Water Tribe at an alarming pace. Before she could act, however, the penguin casually spread apart its four, featherless wings, building up the snow around them as they acted like a makeshift break to his speed. Wen went flying, diving head first into the north wall, while the otter-penguin casually righted himself up before waddling away to finish his food.

Northern Water Tribe

"Come Ryska it is your turn" a short elderly woman spoke. She sat on a pillow in front of a table with a mannequin laying on it. A few girls sat in a half circle around her. There were a lot more girls than normal for this lesson though. The elderly woman stuck out her wrinkled hand and motioned for Ryska to come forward. Ryska slowly rose to her feet. As she did so a few of the other girls whispered and scooted out of hr path. Ryska slowly made her way to the woman and sat down on the oppoisite side. She place her hands on her mannequins chest and relaxed. A soft blue glow lit up the room and Ryska looked at the mannequin a deep sadness in her crimson eyes. After a bit she slowly lifted her hands up and the glow went away. The elderly woman smiled. "You are doing better" she praised. Ryska managed a soft smiled before gtting up and moving back to her place. As the rest of the healing lesson went on Ryska stared at the ground memories flooding back to her and she tried to force them out her mind. "The lesson is over now" the elderly woman said and she smiled as one by one the girls walked out of the healing hut. As always Ryska was the last to leave. The woman was the only thing blocking her path. "Ryska cheer up. Your-" she said. "I am ok" Ryska said her voice barely above a whiper and she quickly brushed past her. Ryska did not mean to be so rude but she couldnt stand the way the woman acted as if she were a baby. She walked along the frozen path humming a soft tune. Before long she stopped in front of a small hut made up entirely of ice. She opened the hut up and sat on her bed made up of a few pillows and a bunch of cloths sewed together. The hut was pretty bad. All she had was a small wooden coffe table , a few teacups and plates , and a pretty crappy bed. The only thing Ryska cherished was a picture of her and her whole family which she had hid under her pillow. That and two large water vases that side by side next to her bed. Ryska held out her palm letting it hover over the vase. A small body of water rose and Ryska smiled. She bend it into the shape of a dove. She breathed slightly on it and the dove turned to an ice scuplture. Ryska smiled setting it down on the coffe table. "I wont let anyone harm you" she said softly to the dove. "I promise"

Mika was standing outside the great wall that surrounded the Omashu. Her father had to come here to discuss something with some other people, so she had no choice but to go with him away from her home town. Not that she really cared, since she didn't like any of the people at her home town, but she didn't enjoy being with her father so much, so she had exited to the area outside of Omashu while her father went to talk with some other earthbenders here.
So there she was, standing right next to the wall with her arms crossed over her chest. Sand from the gourd on her back was lying here and there on the ground, since she had been practicing a second ago, but she had stopped for a while, since she wasn't in the mood for earthbending. Mika looked up at the sky and thought about the other nations, and what they were like. She was planning to leave her home town once she got back, and see what the other benders in the world could do. To tell the truth, she had only seen most the moves of only earthbending and firebending, since her father was an earthbender, and her mother was a firebender, but she was now dead. Then there was her, the strange earthbender who couldn't even move a single pebble.

As she closed her eyes and leaned against the cold rock wall and remembered back to that one day. Her mother and father were away on some sort of trip, and she had been out in the courthouse of their house trying to levitate a small boulder. She had failed, but close by some sand had started to go up in the air, instead of the boulder. That was when Mika had finally discovered that she wasn't like all the other earthbenders, who could make rocks shoot up out of the ground, or break them in half. Instead, she could only move sand. At first she thought that being able to move sand was just pointless, since it's just any tiny rocks and they couldn't do anything, but after time she discovered how powerful her bending could really be, and she trained hard to get better at it.
Mika opened her eyes and pushed herself off of the wall so she was standing straight, and looked at the sand on the ground. Swiftly, she made certain movements with her arms and hands and the sand started to move. As she continued these movements, the sand went up into the air, and all of it went back into the gourd on her back, and then she closed it. She always had the gourd around with her, cause there wasn't just sand scattered everywhere on the ground.
Another boring day ahead.... she thought with a sigh and then leaned back against the wall.

Earth Kingdom

ZhaoZhao

The 15 Year Old Waterbending Martial Artist known as ZhaoZhao Huanxiang was toting a bag of rocks, like Santa Claus with his Sack of Toys. People eyed him, thinking it was odd he just collected a bunch of Rocks, their largest sizes being as big as a person's head, or maybe a watermelon. He entered the Inn he was staying at, waving 'Hello' to the Innkeeper. He left the heavy bag of Rocks in the garden behind the inn, at a spot where he usually practiced. Then he turned to exit and grab some food, thinking to go ahead and let the Innkeeper know of his practices with the stones.

"Sorry 'Bout that. I'll be getting something to eat, but please don't lift this bag. You might break your back." He warned the Innskeeper, who just shrugged and went 'Meh.' He left the building, noticing the inn's maid, and the keeper's daughter giving him a look, before giggling. his cheeks changed shades, as he began to feel his hands grow slick…

"Oh, COME ON!" He thought mentally. "I almost had a new record of keeping my hands dry the entire day!"

He waved to the girl, before shoving his hands into his coat pockets, grumbling as he walked towards an area with a series of food and grocery stands, various people eating, drinking, and enjoying life altogether, telling Gossip, Stories, War Accounts, and other such things, all while enjoying some tasty beef, pork, noodles, salads, the works. ZhaoZhao began to drool a little at the sight of all the tasty foods, taking in the aromas of the area. He hurried to snatch out his money, ordering away some Cold, Tropical Juice with some Noodles and some Fine Meats.

"I'll Take some of that, and this, and that, and a couple gallons of that…" He began to speak to a couple of stand owners at once. "And make it quick! D:"

(If Mika, or anyone else in the Earth Kingdom wants to meet up with Zhao, by all means say hi to the hungry boy.)

Gau woke up slowly shaking his head inside the Inn. Stretching out his large muscled arms and feeling them crack and loosen up with a deep grateful sigh. Pulling on his leather vest and slipping on the headband he always wore walked down stairs to the barkeeper and nodded to him. Gau would of looked normal like others around him but the fact he did not wear anything on his feet gave it away almost that he was a earth bender.Taking a seat at the bar Gau called over the barkeep and ordered the morning special setting down a few coins to pay for the meal.

Gau was larger then most people of his kingdom which sadly caused him to attract a lot of attention and with his feet bare and tough from the years of going bare foot cause only the most fool hearted idiots to try and pick on the big guy. He was by no means a idiot,but Gau was no scholar. After getting his meal and scarfing it down Gau nodded to the barkeep and left but stopped short just outside seeing a large sack. Raising a eyebrow Gau decided to look inside the bag and seeing stones of various sizes, Gau became quite interested in seeing who owned this bag of rocks. Walking to the wall Gau leaned against it crossing his arms waiting.

The sun was brutal today, befitting of a country centered around fire. Yao looked at her arms as she walked. She had developed a tan. She hoped it wouldn't harm her exposed tattoos and made note to buy a hat. Speaking of the tattoos, they were drawing attention as always. A few small children had pointed at her bare head and blue arrows while adults stared silently, she smiled at them. It was odd for both parties. Air nomads, especially female ones, were virtually unheard of in the Fire nation. Yao herself was still adapting to seeing so many hairy heads. She was still amazed by the displays of fire bending she saw. The culture was amazing too. Several times she had been reprimanded for her preaching. Peace didn't agree with the Fire nation government's objectives. That only made her work harder.

She decided to stop in a nearby tea house to get out of the sun. She ordered a small pot of black tea and a bowl of pumpkin seeds. Yao figured that if she ordered a bit of food, the owners wouldn’t mind if she set up show by their awning. I t was cool there and she could attract people coming into the tea house. As she chewed on the succulent seeds, she formed a plan in her mind on how to present herself. She had tried many methods in her first month traveling; they all had about the same success rate. Little. A pout found her lips. She would have to attract a little more attention to herself. Her mind drew upon some street performers she had seen last night and decided to emulate them. Yao downed her tea quickly in excitement, flipped the waitress an extra coin in tip, and hopped outside.

She conjured a ball of air underneath her and rode it up the side of the tea house until she was a good 20 feet in the air. Some passerbys looked in horror, expecting her to fall. Yao was only praying that her chest bindings wouldn’t unravel. Now it was show time. She kept herself elevated with strong strokes of air and rode currents she created while the crowd accumulated. To finish it off, she created a small tornado and rode down to earth inside of it. Her long pony tail was sticking straight up, which added to the enormous applause she received. People reached for their coin purses but she quickly waved them away.

“Thank you! But please, I’d like just a moment of your time, not your money. I’m from the Eastern Air Kingdom and I’d like to share a bit of our philosophy with you. In violent times like this, we need to be kind to each other. Killing solves nothing. I beg you all to consider the passive approach and not give into hurting others because of your anger, fear, or greed,” she quickly and loudly spoke.

She had only spoken a few sentences and most of the crowd had dispersed. Yao caught the looks of fear, disapproval, and boredom. She sighed, but continued to speak to the four people who had stayed two were elderly and the other two were teenagers. She was ecstatic at their interest and after explaining her finer points, they seemed to have derived a lot. Yao thanked them for their consideration and watched them go happily. At least no soldiers had intervened.

EARTH KINGDOM OUTSIDE OMASHU

Takibi had been on the road for two weeks alone. The small amount of food that he had obtained at the last village he had visited barely made it the first week leaving him to survive on wild berries and any small animels he could catch. Luckly in the dense woods of the earth kingdom small mammels to eat weren't to hard to find but catching them was another matter. He tried to keep close to the road in hopes that he may run into some other travelers and maybe put on a show to obtain some coin or food. At this point either could be a life saver. And when all hope seemed lost he came across a small group of travelers most likely a family. Takibi quickly slid his mask over his face and quickly moved toward the group. "Greeting, greeting I am the wandering performer Takibi." The group was composed of five people two being men well into their thirties two well rounded women most likely the men wives and a small boy around who could be no older then seven. "How bout a card trick, some knife play, maybe a fortune telling hmm." The mask hid the grin the on his face as I pulled out a deck of cards.
The small boy stepped forward. "Mamma can I see a trick." The small boy asked while tugging on his mothers skirt. "I don't see why not." the mother replied.
"Well then lets start with a simple card trick." He knelled down so that he was eye level with the boy and fanned out the card in front of him. "Now pick a card any card." the boy reached out and quickly qrabbed a card. "Now remember it and place it back." and he did as he was told. Takibi then began to shuffel the deck and handed it to the larger of the two older men. "Now if you would be so kind as to throw these as high into the air as you can." The gentleman gave a confused look but threw the card high into the air allowing the wind to scatter them in all directions. Takibi quickly threw a hidden knife through the air catching one of the cards in pinnning it to a tree. "Wow." the kid stood amazed as Takibi removed the card from the tree. "Now is this your card." the boy simply nodded as a loss of words. "And now for a finale this is a new trick I have been working on so bare with me." Takibi reached into his pockets and pulled out three peices of charcoal and began to juggle them. "Now watch closely." One by one the peices of charcoal caught on fire creating what seemed to be a perfect circle of fire. And with a flick of the wrist the style in which he juggled changed creating various shapes ending with a shape of a star before tossing them into the air creating a dragon of fire soaring through the air turning back into three simple peices of charcoal landing back into their owners hands. "And that is the end of my show." The family clapped in amazement.
"Wow i must say thats some pretty impressive mock fire bending using charcoal to create fire but how did you make the dragon?" the older man asked with an eyebrow raised.
"No no can't give my secrets away now can I." Takibi gave a bow."Now if you have any spare coin so I can make my way to Omashu it would be most appreciated."
"Well I guess thats true but we don't have any coin but we did pack alittle extra food. You're free to take it." The man stated as one of the women handed him a small bag.
"Better then I could have hoped for please have a safe journey." Takibi nodded and parted ways with the group waiting until he was out of site before removing his mask. "Well they were nice I really need to change up my act to get around using firebending as far as most are concerned I'm the bad guy." hours went by as he followed the trail then he finally saw his first glimpse of Omashu. "Well let's see how things turn out for me here." he gave a nervous smile.

The sound of metal against metal loudly echoed through the forest, disturbing some birds in the process.

Takahiro was taking cautious steps backwards bringing his scimitar up and blocking another volley of vicious swings from his opponent, a tactic that was familiar to Takahiro himself, a rather vicious, but effective tactic. Keeping his guard up, but losing ground, he brought his scimitar up once more as his back was pressed against the tree. Both of the weapons clanged together. Their weapons shifting back and forth as they were locked together.

"I have you now, boy." His opponent shrieked pleasure, as if knowing that this man will soon be dead.

However, using the tree to keep himself stable, Takahiro brought up one leg and firmly placed it against the bandit's groin. Then he shoved his foot as hard as he could forwards. This caused the bandit to stumble, which was all the time Takahiro needed. Just as the bandit was recovering from the shove, he looked up to see that Takahiro was pushing his own attack now, the scimitar swinging wildly.

Still off balance, the bandit brought his sword up catching the scimitar blade near the cross guard. Although, immediately after catching it, he felt a sudden and sharp pain as he watched Takahiro force the blade of the scimitar pass the cross guard on the bandit's sword, and bringing it around in a small circle, slicing the top of the bandit's wrist. After that, Takahiro shoved the bandit roughly.

"Now. Let's see what we've learned today. Lesson One, don't attack a lonely traveler as you might not know if they're armed, or not. Two, don't attack a lonely traveler by yourself as you probably won't be able to successfully steal or murder them." Takahiro growled as he kicked the bandit's sword away. "So please, will you get off the ground and wander back to whatever little hole you came from so I can actually go to where I wanted to go."

The bandit nodded slowly, getting back to his feet and running off in the opposite direction of Takahiro, and his scimitar. After waiting a few seconds, Takahiro looked over at the blade that was laying on the ground and smiled to himself, beginning to wonder how many coins the weapon would fetch. After picking it up, he proceeded off in the direction of Omashu.



"Halt!"

A word that Takahiro knew all to well. He took a couple more steps before looking up in the direction of where the voice had came from. "Hello," Takahiro replied, giving a friendly gesture, "I'm looking for passage into Omashu. I was..uh, just attacked up the road from here by a bandit and I have this feeling that if I head back that way I'll be attacked again by quite a few bandits." He was smiling, although, he somehow had the feeling the guard wouldn't care either way.

"What business do you have in Omashu?"
"Well, you see, I have this sword that I'm looking to sell, also to gather a bit more supplies. You know, the things a weary traveler such as myself needs."
"Judging by your clothing, that pony-tail, and the armor you wear underneath, you don't seem like any ordinary traveler. More or less a Soldier from one of the water tribes."

Takahiro smiled lightly, opening up one of the water pouches he had with him and waved his right hand in a small series of circles, a small stream of water started to float out from the water pouch and he calmly directed it towards the guard's direction. "That is indeed correct. May I proceed through?" He waved his hand again, letting the small stream of water just drop down to the ground, a waste if he could consider it such. A few moments of silence ensued before he felt the ground shake and visually saw the city gate beginning to lower.

Omashu was a mere few steps away, a thought that crossed his mind as he started forwards.

While Mika was leaning against the wall that surrounded Omashu, she saw two people come into sight. They were both boys, and one she could see that he was a waterbender, since it was obvious with his clothing and such. The other one.... well, there was something strange with him. On the side of his head he had a mask. By looking at him, Mika already knew what he was. A firebender. Because Mika's mother was a firebender, she came to learn the similar features that all firebenders really had, this was the same with earthbenders because of her father. Waterbenders and airbenders, she knew almost nothing about.

Interesting... Mika thought as she watched the family leave and the boy continue to head towards Omashu. Isn't everybody against firebenders because of the war? Mika never had really known much about the war, and she just tried to keep the thought of it out of her mind. Her village never really was that much a part of the war, because of it's size, and it also didn't have anything real valuable. Anywhere else than her village though was different.
Silently, Mika slipped away from the gates of Omashu, and soon came to a tree off to the side of the direction the boy was heading. Once the boy was farther up the trail, Mika came out from behind the tree, not really intending to scare the firebender, and leaned against the side of it and looked at the boy.
"Well, it's not everyday you see a firebender in the outskirts of Omashu, is it?" she said with her arms still crossed over her chest.

After noticing a girl take a glance at him, ZhaoZhao was enjoying his food and drink as he returned to the garden of the Inn to begin some training, as he had just risen up a level in skill and power. Suddenly, a strange fellow happened to be messing around with his rocks! He hurried over, set his things down, and faced Gau, curious as to why this person was looking at his sack of rocks.

"How Dare you touch my Sack!" exclaimed ZhaoZhao. "That's rude, yanno: you ought to respect a person's belongings, lest you get your butt handed to you on a silver platter."

Another thing with ZhaoZhao Was the fact he was ignoring Gau's frame or appearance, just annoyed someone was touching the rocks he had carefully collected, each in the proper size and shape, to use his technique on. Finding such stones would be difficult, and now This Gau person was after his sack.

"Now, if you're quite done infiltrating a person's personal possessions, I gots-ta get back to my training. Have a nice day!"

And ZhaoZhao took the sack, and produced a couple rocks, setting them down on a much bigger rock.

"Time to figure out the true power of Suiatsu Ken!" He exclaimed, pulling a hand back. He began to breath oddly, as his sweaty palm practically became drenched, and he proceeded to hold it around his fist, sort of like an aura.

"Hoooooh…" He chanted for Kiai...

TAKIBI GESSHOKU OUTSIDE OMASHU

Takibi was startled by the unknown voice quickly looking every direction before setting his eyes on a pretty girl leaning against tree."Uh.....uh...uh f-firebender." he fumbled around before putting on his mask. "Uh firebender I don't see any firebenders I'm just a humble street performer." he gave a nervous laugh as he took a few steps back before tripping over a limb. CRAP if I'm found out here I'm done for what do I do!! He was in such a panic that not even his mask was helping him stay calm. "You m-must be mistaken no firebenders here..." Takibi staggered back up to his feet but the string on his mask had come loose when he tripped causing it now to fall off his face where the wind pushed it towards the girl. Takibi was far to scared to take a step to get it back.

Fei Wong gently hummed as he walked from a merchants' carravans, holding his satchel close. Looking to his purchase; a juicy bunch of black berries. When mashed and mixed with another dye, they made a wonderful blue tint, that could be dried, and then reproduced just by adding water. Not to mention that the color was perminant, and couldn't be effectively erased, written over, or even covered up with other dyes. Such a useful too for an aspiring artist.... He was glad that the merchant had been kind enough to let him know ahead of time his schedule. It was safe to say that Fei never ran out of ink or dyes... but he always bought some; to help the man's business, and to further his stock. He casually made his way back to the Gates of the great city, smirking as he looked ahead, seeing someone already at the gates, and supposedly cleared to pass. The figure walked forward... not one that Fei was particularly familiar with. And thus, he nodded to the guards of the city as he hastened his steps. The he was a resident, and known by the guards... even if he had a light reputation.

Fei Wong made his way towards the figure, plodding softly behind him.... It wasn't a true rush, but he was indeed curious about this person. He hadn't been close enough to see the motion that had influence the guards to allow him entrance... but he must've done something. As he encroached, walking besides the fellow, smiling slightly as he would look up at him. Tiny little Fei next to tall Takahiro was actually fairly amusing. But Fei would speak before the fellow would be able to speak himself.

"I don't suppose you talked your way in, hm? Because you look like someone whom is absolutely charismatic. Tell me stranger, where do you hail from?" he asked calmly.

A few hours had past and Ryska was sitting inside the healing hut again with the elderly women having tea. "Ryska dear would you like to hear a story?" she asked. Ryska nodded. The old woman smiled and took a long sip of her tea. Ryska waited patiently though. She didnt have anything after this to do. "Well.....once there was a boy. A young boy to about your age" she said and paused to take another sip. Ryska politely poured some more for her and the elderly woman smiled. "He commited a crime....murder. One of the most well know water bender here. He was suppose to get death trail but he vanished one day and no one has seen him sense" she said. "Though I dont all the details and such. Though to tell you the truth....what if he didnt commit the crime?" she asked. She let out a raspy old laugh and Ryska began to wander to her thoughts. "There must be more" she said. It was the first time in 2 days she has spoke above a whisper. The woman laughed. "Ryska oh Ryska dear. I havent seen you this intrested in something sense your brother died" she said then coughed loudly. Ryska sighed. She had known the woman sense forever and she was getting old. Ryska was afraid of loosing her. Though something told her her worst fear would come true soon. Ryska breathed in the smell of tea. Her words came jumbled out. "IthinkIwanttoleavetheNorthernWaterTribe" she said quickly and softly. The woman laughed managing to hear what she said. "A lot of women want to" she said. Though Ryska didnt want to leave just because of the strict customs. She wanted to find the water bender and learn more. For some reason and urked her. She wanted to know where he was and why exactly he left. The womans words echoed in her mind though. If he didnt commit the crime....who did? Ryska also didnt want to be here when....her friend...the woman....her second mother died. She wouldnt be able to handle it. Ryska had actually been planning to leave a long time ago but she never had the courage to actually do it. After a few more minutes of talking and tea Ryska had left and walked back to her hut. There she decided she was going to leave. Though she didnt know where she would go first. Ryska packed up her picture of her family, 12 water pouches, her dove and a sack to carry it all in. Ryska has stopped by a local market and packed some food also but she headed home again. She saw that a small drop of water was left in the vase. She bended her hand making the water come out. A solider happened to be walking by delivering news to Ryska. Sense Ryska had no door only a cloth hanging as a door the solider poked his head in and saw her. He ran out and alerted fellow soliders and the rule enforcer. It wasnt long until Ryska had finally finished packing and a bunch of guards burst in. "Escuse me mame but.....we have to take you to the temple" one of them said. So Ryska had did the only thing she could do. She ran barreling into the men knocking them over with her strength (and the fact she is taller than most of them) and ran straight past of them. She had to remind herself to apologize later. Then she remebered she would be coming back

Mika watched silently as she watched the boy freak out. He fumbled to put his mask back on, and continued to try and persuade her that he wasn't a firebender, and then he tripped. The whole time all this was going on, she just stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, watching him fuss over nothing. She wasn't planning to do anything to him in the first place, she was just deathly bored.

When the boy started to stand up, his mask fell off because the strings that kept it on his face were loose, and the mask fell over towards her. Before the mask could reach the ground, Mika flicked her wrist a tiny bit, and sand shot out of the gourd on her back and caught the mask, so that it wouldn't fall onto the ground. Mika reached down to the sand and picked up the mask and looked at it. The mask had the figure out a fox, and two strings were attached to it to keep it to one's head.
As Mika stood up with the mask in her hand, she looked at the boy. "I'm not going to shout to the world that there's a firebender here or anything, jeez." she said. "And if you were trying to hide your true identity of being one from me with this, it wouldn't have worked. My mother had been a firebender, so I can tell that you're one. She's dead now though- tried to kill me by abandoning me."
While the sand started to go back into the gourd on her back, Mika walked over to the boy and held out the mask. "Here." she said plainly, still bored.

The city was bustling, busy with the activity of its citizens, as it always would be on any standard day. . . . Everyone was aware of the war going on outside the protected stone walls of the city, but if you were just aimlessly drifting along through the crammed streets of Omashu, you wouldn’t think anything so atrocious could possibly be in the works. Even if you had witnessed the awfulness of the enduring war personally, you could almost forget the things that had been burned into your memory.

At least, this was how Xue felt as she meandered along, just minding her own business as her feet haphazardly continued their trek onward; destination unknown. She didn’t mind this though, this senseless drifting. Omashu was the first place she had been to in a long while within the bounds of the Earth Kingdom that was comfortable, suitable for living in luxury without having to care about the rest of the world. Just for now, just for now she would choose to forget about everything and just relax.

She spoke not to anyone, yet she was softly humming to herself, a tune that had no beginning or end, a little ditty that was coming from her heart as she went along. She twirled the parasol that she had resting on her shoulder at random, letting the oil-papered spin and spin. Today was a little hotter than she cared for really, the air oppressive with moisture and humidity; it made her skin feel gross and her silk clothing stick to her skin, unpleasant. It also made her hair feel too heavy; the short red hair atop the girl’s head was weighed down, limp and lifeless, as it couldn’t fend off the heat any longer.

Oh well, she may’ve been a Firebender, but Xue wasn’t a weather witch~

How long had she been in this city now anyway? It was about time for her to get a move on, wasn’t it? At the very notion of leaving Omashu, Xue let out a sigh and pouted, despite the fact she was alone. She didn’t want to yet leave and get back to the rough life of trekking from small town to town, stopping any Fire Nation baddies she ran into. . . . Life like that was lonely, hard and frankly, it didn’t feel like a very rewarding lifestyle when you didn’t even make a scratch in the Fire Nation’s militaristic efforts.

“I suppose whether or not I am able to even make a remarkable difference in their war efforts, it is still the proper path to take in my life.” she muttered to herself. Again, the redhead let out a sigh as it felt like a weight was suddenly dropped on her shoulders at remembering her self-imposed life task. “I have to atone for those who do not realize their wrong-doings. . . . As a noble that should well be my duty.”

Straightening her spine, and correcting her posture, Xue continued on her promenade. She would leave Omashu soon enough. How far had she walked, and for how long? Looking around her, Xue realized something, she had walked all the way to one of the city’s three gates, and she was staying near the middle of the city. . . . I really need to pay more heed to where I’m going. . . .

“Perhaps I should turn around. . . .”

"Well, it's not every day you see a Firebender in the outskirts of Omashu, is it?" Xue froze when she heard someone say that. Her mind went blank as her silver eyes widened. Had she been found out?!

“Oh dear me. . . .” she muttered softly, fear lacing her voice.

However, a voice responded to the female’s before Xue could think of anything more. "Uh . . . uh . . .uh F-Firebender." He was doing his best to remain calm, that much she could tell by the anxiety he had in his voice.

Xue looked up, curious now. Remaining quiet, she proceeded ahead, staring on at the small little scene that was being made in these outskirts of Omashu. She watched him insist that he was a street performer, and that he was no Firebender, that there were none around. He moved, and in his nervousness, the mask he wore upon his face fell off, but the girl caught it with sand, she was an Earthbender. . . ?

Xue heard that she would not reveal his status to the rest of the city, good for his sake. . . . Strange to find that there was another free-lancing Firebender outside of the Fire Nation.

I wonder if he is like me? Sickened by our country's actions. . . ? Xue decided to be a bit bold here and stepped forward toward the two.

"Hello?" she called.

~Jenny~
Fire Nation

Jenny wandered the roads, looking for a place to do her usual act to get a few coins for travel and food. She didn't get much pay for being a Fire Nation soldier, so it was always up to her to get her own money. She walked into an inn to see if there was a stage of some kind, but there wasn't. She sighed and walked back out again, straightening her kimono. She suddenly turned, hearing a rush of wind nearby. She then watched as dust rushed by her and a girl flowed to the ground on a tornado. The girl then spoke of peace and the crowd mostly dissipated, leaving only four people.
Jenny waited until the four people left before walking towards the girl. She smiled brightly and stopped a few feet from her, holding out a hand. "Hey, that was a good attention getter you did there. You could give me a run for my money, and that's saying something. Though I must say, your speech is quite inspiring." She laughed lightly before dropping her hand and placing her hands together. She backed up a few paces before deciding it was a safe distance. She started making fluid movements as if she were dancing, making a few of the crowd members gasp. She smirked, knowing that they thought she was a waterbender from her movements. She then did a quick spin before letting fire dance from and around her body, listening to the sighs of relief. She ended the short dance with clapping her hands together and throwing them forward, a fiery dragon bursting from her hands before dissipating into the air. She bowed and heard the clang of money hitting the ground all around her.
Jenny picked up all of the money and placed it all in her pockets before walking back to the girl she had talked to. She smiled and bowed slightly. "I'm sorry for not introducing myself before. I am Jenny of the Fire Nation's army. I am merely a grunt, though, spying on enemies when commanded." She then stood straight. "I avoid killing if possible and right now I'm having some time off."

TAKIBI GESSHOKU OUTSIDE OF OMASHU

Takibi blushed shyly as he took the mask back from the girl. "T-thank you." he placed the mask back onto his face and slid it to the side. After placeing the mask on he heard another person say hi this again caught him by surpised "Well I guess its out now that I'm a firebender but I'm not very good and hold no loyality to my home nation. But I did say the truth I am a performer." he bowed but was blushing heavily not used to talking to people without his mask but he didn't want to seem like a freak. "Uh....uh I would forever be in both of your debts." he was very nervous and fumbling with his hands not knowing what to say next. "I'm uh Takibi Gesshoku wandering performer." He waited a few moments then spoke again. " I..I'm sorry I'm a bit nervous I'm not use to talking to pret..." he turned red before putting his mask back on "Girls talking to girls."

Northern Water Tribe

Ryska ran dodging the people which was difficult. She had jumped on a boat accidently knocking the man who was on it off. She slowly moved her hands back and forth creating a wave that lifted her and a few other boats up. As she was doing this the gate began to close. Ryska stopped and she jumped falling into the water on the other side. After a few quick minutes of swimmming she hopped back onto the frozen ice and ran faster and faster before jumping into the nearest boat that the soliders usually used to go out the sead and defend the tribe. She quickly untied the rope that the boat was attatched to then used the technique again causing another wave that would put some distance. As the wave grew larger Ryska realized she still didnt know where she was heading. This made her lose concetration and the wave stopped making the boat land on the water with a loud thud. Suddenly everything was quiet. The boat swayed gently back and forth. Ryska looked around and back at the tribe. She could still see it but it was getting tiner and tiner. She watched it until she could no longer see it. Ryska sighed. Ryska positioned herself to a safe comftorable positon and began to concetrate. She moved her hand back and forth and created one more wave. This lasted longer than the other one and she would get to her destination quicker. Though soon Ryska began to become tired and she soon stopped and fell asleep in the boat. Ryska felt herself slowly drift off to sleep. When she had awoken it was still light out and she was tired. She had only slept for about an hour and at the rate she was moving she would probably never get anywhere. Ryska made a mental map in her head. The earth kingdom was the closest. She began to create ANOTHER wave this time heading toward the earth kingdom. Ryska's brother use to have a map but it was lost in the fire. Thankfully she was able to rember it and picture it in her mind. Ryska again stopped and drifted off to sleep. Thats when she heard the voices. "Hey.....theres a woman.....no shes washed up on a boat.....I dont know what to do with her......she's wearing red she might or might not be fire nation...." Ryska's eyes slowly awoken. She leaned up and looked. A man dressed in green looked at her. He was talking to another man. "Welcome to the earth kingdom" he said. Ryska's eyes lit up. "T-this is the e-earth kingdom?" she said softly. Without waiting for a response she got up. She looked absolutely crazy towering above most people,drenched in water and wearing nothing but reb robes. She also sorta looked like a boy with her angular shaped face and muscular feature. Ryska began to run through the earth kingdom smiling. It was the first real smile in a long time

As he made his way through the gates, he had a slight feeling that he was actually being followed, though, went he glanced to his left, he heard a voice to his right, which made him flinch slightly.

"I don't suppose you talked your way in, hm? Because you look like someone whom is absolutely charismatic. Tell me stranger, where do you hail from?" The voice said, Takahiro had slowly came to a stop at this point, looking at the person who he assumed was younger than him, which most likely wasn't the case. He raised an eyebrow and shook his head for a second before letting out a light sigh. He had only just gotten to Omashu, and already he was being hassled. Not to mention, this was actually the first time someone had approached him, other than that bandit from earlier.

"A freezing place in the north." Takahiro replied, rather kindly, apparently today he was in a good mood, or the rush of a fight had set him off in a good mood from earlier. "How I got in wouldn't be a concern either, now if you'll excuse me I have some business here that I really need to attend to, and I've been delayed enough." Without giving any much thought to further conversation, Takahiro proceeded forwards, only to stop a few steps away, and look around. This was his first time in Omashu, and, he had the feeling that he was going to be lost if he began wandering off.

He turned just a bit to look at Fei, and waved his hand. "Well...this would be awkward for me if I just started wandering around without any actual knowledge of where to go. First time here, mind helping me?"

It seemed she had at least been heard, but Xue felt she was too far away to actually enter a proper conversation with these two. . . . The boy was seeming to confirm that he was from the Fire Nation, but it was becoming hard to hear with all the noise coming in from Omashu's busy gate. The city was large, and one of the last truly safe places from thr Fire Nation Army after all, it was no surprise that so many people would flood into its safety.

Perhaps I can finally have someone around me that can know of my abilities, it would be nice not having to completely hide who I am. . . . she thought to herself, biting at her lip as she tightened her hold on her parasol's handle. She had to be brave now.

Steeling herself, Xue stepped forward with caution, she felt apprehensive, scared. However, the poor girl's efforts in steeling herself for this proved fruitless when her foot caught on a loose stone, and she took a rather rough tumble forward, landing at the feet of the two people she was intending on trying to make a good impression of herself. . . .

Xue landed with a rather loud cry, as her parasol flew from her and landed Spirits knew where. . . .

Mika watched as the boy took the mask back and put it back on his face. She then walked over back to the tree and leaned back against it. "I'm uh Takibi Gesshoku wandering performer." the boy said.
Mika thought about telling him her name for a second. Usually, when she told others her name, they freaked out, since most people know about the name she was given. 'The Sand Devil'. She had always tried to get rid of that nickname, but she had had it for so long, that it was now permanently glued to her. Then again, most people recognized who she was because of the strange symbol on the upper left corner of her forehead, while others didn't even know who she was.

By now, another girl had come by, and but she had clumsily fallen at their feet. Mika sighed and then moved her hands, which caused sand to come out of the ground and lift the girl back to her feet. Once she was back up and standing, Mika started to talk again. "Nice to meet you Takibi Gesshoku." Mika said. "I'm Mika Suzuki." Mika was guessing that both of them wouldn't know who she was, because mostly the people who knew who she was lived in the Earth Kingdom, but who she was did spread around to the other nations quite a bit. "I'm able to bend sand because my father was an earthbender. They met during an attack." Mika said, not enjoying talking about her parents. "Not that I care though, they've both tried to kill me many, many times."
While talking about her parents, Mika thought back to her childhood. Her rejection, her being shunned, never to be loved. All the times that she would be called names because of who she was and what she could do. Monster... Mika thought and frowned as she leaned against the tree and looked up at the sky. She hated everybody, and felt nothing.

Mika's eyes narrowed as she heard the slightest rustle, which the other two probably didn't hear because she was closest to it. Still just standing there as if nothing was happening, sand started to come out of the gourd and slither into the trees. Another firebender... Must be a spy or something. Behind her back, Mika started moving her hands slightly, and the sand soon came up to the person who was behind, hidden by the trees. She had started to make the sand cover his foot, soon to be the person's whole body, but they ran away.
After figuring that they left, Mika flicked her wrist and all the sand came back and into the gourd. The whole time she hadn't taken her eyes away from the sky.
(the person who was there wasn't any certain character just so you guys know >.> just some random fire nation person)

Earth Kingdom Gate(s) of Omashu

Ryska has recieved odd and rude looks, whispers and other but she was too excited to pay attention. She arrived at the Gates of Omashu. A solider looked her up and down. He shivered and opened the gates. Ryska walked right past him walking past 2 people on her way in. Ryska walked and gazed everywhere. She didnt know where to look or where to begin. She shivered realizing she was still wet. She recieved a couple more odd stares. It was clear she didnt fit in. She peered into her satchel. The water was still intact and the picture..was soaked. Though it was still intact. Ryska let out a sigh of relief. In anything happened to the picture.....she would........she would. Well. Lets save that for later shall we?

TAKIBI GESSHOKU OUTSIDE OMASHU

"Nice to meet you Mika it's good to mee you." Takibi noticed the second girl trip and her parasol went flying knowing he wasn't quick enought to catch her he could at least get that. With his mask over his face he was much more sure footed then without. He quickly ran towards a tree jumping and kicking off of it giving him the desired angle allowing him to grab the parasol in midair and landing infront of her. "Here you seemed to have dropped this." and offered a hand to help her up. "Are you ok?"

(sorry this one is short)

Xue was trying to catch her breath, which had been knocked out of her by the little tumble she'd taken. Also . . . she was trying to resist the blood which was trying to rush to her cheeks due to the embarrassment she felt. Her whole face was hot, her ears even, desptite her resistance, Xue was certain that her face was the same shade of red as her hair. She didn't want those two to see her in her humiliation . . . however, as everything in the last few moments seemed to be working against her, her face not being seen while it was red as a beet was not a wish that was going to be granted to her. The strange Earthbending girl who used sand instead of rock worked her skills into having the sand bring her upright.

Oh come now, why can't things go a bit better for me? she thought, her face squelching up.

The rough grains of the sand lazily left her body, and when Xue felt the last of them retreat back to their master, she clamped her hands over her face as she focused on trying to get her cheeks back to a semi-normal color. Anything that the girl had been saying to the nervous Fire Nation boy went unheard as Xue was focused solely on trying to keep her cool. . . .

She groaned, taking her hands off of her face, trying to make the blood leave her face wasn't working. Xue frowned, how nice. She had to appear as a klutz to those two right off the bat, and now she had to look at them with a red face!

It was when the boy landed in front of her all of a sudden, that Xue let out something akin to a squeak as she was surprised . . . where had he come from all of a sudden?

"Here you seemed to have dropped this." he said, offering a hand to her, "Are you ok?"

Xue looked away, still frowning, she cleared her throat and muttered quietly, "I'm fine, all but my ego. . . ." Sighing she took his hand, with this little run of luck, it seemed as if she tried to get to her feet on her own, she'd somehow fall through a random hole that would form underneath her all of a sudden. . . .

Startled from her thoughts, Yao jumped a small bit when the girl addressed her. By the look of her clothing she was definetly from the country, or at least making an effort to blend in. She grasped her hand firmly and gave a smile back.

“Thanks! It’s something new I’m trying out to attract listeners, it’s kinda fun! And thanks!” Yao chirped.

She saw the girl’s words were indeed true as she started her performance. Between sheer body’s flow and the art of her flames, Yao was mesmerized like most of the crowd. She joined in their applause when the routine concluded.

“I’m pretty surprised you’re not arresting me given your position. There are surprises everywhere out of my temple… Oh forgive me for not introducing myself too! I’m Yao Tao of the Eastern Air Temple,“ at this she gave a small bow.

Yao then continued, “And I’m so glad, the Fire nation needs more people like you Jenny. Pleased to meet you. Well not to impose… but since you’re off, could you show me around? I’m not really sure how to get around here… Not so good given that I’m a traveler eh?”

Yao gave an innocent laugh and scratched the back of her neck bashfully. She had to ask someone in every town she had been to. It was good to make friends like this.