Fěi Huáng's Story

Glazed eyes studied the passing Sato cars, watching as they passed by and honked at the people crossing the street, through an open window. It was a few hours into the morning, about eight o’clock, and already people were accomplishing angering each other. The slow tick of the clock was driving Ling insane as she waited for Huáng. She tapped her fingers impatiently against the wooden surface of his countertop. The twirl of the chair did little to provide entertainment for Ling as she wrapped her hair around the bottom. Pieces of red caught the bottom half of the chair and entangled itself, successfully pulling her hair. She muttered underneath her breath as she loosened it up and piled it on top of her head.

“You should cut it. I can do it for you,” Huáng stated as he came into view, hand glowing a faint colour as the fire burned in his hand. Ling frowned as she watched him walk around the corner.

“And what, have you burn it all off? I like my hair thank you,” she responded and stood. “Besides, then I would have to dye it black and look just like you dear brother,” she added, a smirk playing at her lips. She stood from her spot and crossed her arms against her chest in a challenging deportment. Before anything could be said, a sound caused Ling to turn her attention to the source. As soon as she did, a white blur leaped from across the table and latched itself on top of her head. “And when are you going to feed Fon?” she questioned as she took the winged-lemur from his perch and held him out to arm’s length.

“Really? You’d make a hideous Huáng, and besides,” he paused and glanced towards his sister. “I believe Fon originally belonged to Fang. It’s his duty to look after the animal…not mine,” he retorted and walked towards the door. “Come on Ling. I want to go visit that Café down the street, what was it called? Oyami...Oyagi? Never been there,” he stated and led himself out. Ling grumbled beneath her breath and followed after.

"It's called Oyaji."

The Cafe was beginning to fill, and her staff was working at it's hardest. Her two waitresses went out to each table to take everyone's orders with cheerful smiles, as her two cooks in the back laughed and joked as they pumped out hot breakfast orders. Bacon and eggs could be heard sizzling in the back, as she tossed yet another fresh loaf to the back for the boys. A low urmble of pleasent chatter filled the dining room as the warm sun spilled in.
"Today is going to be a great day!" she cheered as she tossed her apron to Simon, "You work the counter while I mingle with the guests!"
"But Miss Yoshe!" he retorted after her, but eh was too late. As she passed by the doorway she saw a boy lingering, he was cute and looked like a Pro-Bender. Pushing ope the door she grabbed his arm and pulled him in, "Don't just stand there! You'll love it! Plus you get a discount if your a pro-bender!"
She lead him to a comfy chair seated close to a girl with long gorgeous black hair and a gentleman in a nice suit. Her waitresses were busy with them, so she grabbed a menu and placed it in front of him, as well as some silver ware. The menu had a nice leather cover on it, and the place mat was decorated with pastel colors with various simple patterns on them. Flipping open a pad and pulling out a green pen she smiled to him, "So what are you hungry for? I promise it will be absolutely delicious!"

Mao sat outside of Oyaji with a glass of juice in hand, savoring the morning when he looked and saw Ling accompanied by her brother. Sighing, he set the glass down and stood up, almost impaling Ling with his now-extended finger. "You're late." Swinging his finger to Huang, but keeping his eyes on Ling, he added, "And he'd better not be here the whole day. We've still got to go practice, plus we're going to study up on some of the old matches. In fact," he started, turning to Huang. "Is there a point to why you're here or are you just tagging along with your sister?" His hand lowered and the small stones on strings he kept up his sleeve extended. Absent-mindedly, he pulled some of the water from his gourd pack and let the stones clack together in the tiny current.

“I’m hurt that you don’t consider me part of your group,” Huang feigned a mock hurt gesture as he pulled his hand across his chest. “Considering I am the one supporting your little team and on the contrary, Ling is following me today,” he added as Ling made a face at Mao. She stuck her tongue out in a childish manner and crossed her arms against her chest. Her eyes lowered into slits as Mao almost impaled her with his finger.

“I suggest you put that finger back where it belongs or I will bite it off. Or are you just trying to catch a feel?” Ling stated, a coy smile playing at her lips. She waved Mao off before turning her attention towards the café. There was a woman with long hair, almost as long as hers and a man dressed in attire a bit misplaced - to her at least - in their town walked into the café. Perhaps he was a butler or something of the sort. “And no Huang is opening the bar a bit early today. Instead of twelve, he’ll be opening it at eleven,” she replied to his question of Huang’s presence.

“Indeed I am,” he retorted as he gestured towards the café. “Shall we? My treat today as I’ve never been here before. It seems…interesting,” he asked, turning his attention to the waterbender and Ling.

“As long as you are paying this time, then I will agree. But so help me if you take off again to the bathroom,” she air quoted him with her fingers, “I will hunt you down and make sure you roast for hours on end,” Ling threatened as she smiled. She peered inside the café through the window and spotted a woman with green hair taking orders...or she assumed was the one taking orders.

“Psh, yeah right,” Ling stated as she sat down at Mao’s table. Huang glanced at the two before sighing. He sat in to Ling’s right, strategically placing himself between the two. “Are you serious? What happened to Haru? Wait…don’t tell me. I don’t want to know,” Ling stated as she shook her head and placed it between her hands. “It’s because we lost that match isn’t it?” she questioned.

“Well, if you had been focused, you wouldn’t have lost,” Huang stated, as he watched the one-sided conversation. “You’re going to have to just put an ad out or something to find a replacement,” he continued, causing Ling to groan.

Shui finishd her order and then looked around, sliding her glasses down her nosebridge, peering at the people. As her gaze made its way towards the doorway she saw a woman with long red hair, accompanied by two males. She recognized the female and one of the males..ah! That's right. She had seen them at the pro-bending arena when she got her tour of her new workplace. She smiled as she continued gazing and saw a cheery woman with long green hair and the woman's energy and enthusiasm made Shui chuckle and smile even wider. Then, her eyes landed on a man in a corner who wore what she assumed was a suit. He looked tired and somewhat mysterious...she raised an eyebrow but het thoughts were distracted elsewhere when she saw her food arrived. Freshly made scones, they smelled heavenly and she took her first bite and it was delicious. Her day couldn't have started any better.

Yoshe waited for a moment, then noticed a new group coming in the door. She smiled down to him and said, "I'll be back in a moment to take your order sir, but take your time."
With a wave she turned to greet the group entering as they sat.

"Hello, My name is Sumiko," smiling as she reached their table, and quickly handed them menu's,"What can I get you to drink this morning? We have juices of all kind, smoothies, milk, coffee, but our specialty is our tea's from all over the Great Nation. Any tea, from anywhere, we have it and brew it to perfection. What do you say? Anyone want to see the tea list?"
Her smile was genuine, she took great pride in her job, and the excitement from seeing her first match tonight was overwhelming. She thought about what she had overheard...about needing an airbender and thought,...What about...no, he wouldn't bend again...Shaking her thought, she placed the tea list on the table and pulled out her pad and pen once more, flipping to a new order and pressing the tip to the paper, "I'm ready when you are!"
As she looked over the group, they were quite interesting but anyone was welcome in her cafe. After taking their orders she tucked her pad away and hesitated, but said," I couldn't help but overhearing that you were looking for an earthbender...does that mean you guys are Pro-Benders?! I love listening on the radio!" she cheered smiling,"Plus you guys get a discount," she added with a wink.

Jun scowled inwardly as she neared her motorcycle. Someone had littered it with Equalist posters, the word "Traitor" pasted on them in bright red paint. Jun was willing to bet it was one of her parents' devout followers, no doubt trying to guilt trip her into joining. Somehow, calling her names and almost ruining her motorbike didn't seem convincing. With a sigh, she brushed off the papers as best she could, dumped them in the trash, and scrubbed off whatever cheap paste they had used off her seat. After about five minutes, she gave up and decided to fix it at home, rather than outside the university.

A few minutes later, she was making her way through one of the more commercial parts of the city. Several quaint shops and restaurants had taken hold, many of which had been praised as being some of the best of the city (within price range, of course). Jun had rarely shopped or eaten here, preferring to save her money and cook at home, but today she felt differently. Pulling up at one of the cafes, Oyaji was it? she parked her bike, locked it securely, and walked inside. It was bustling with customers. A few looked familiar...she recognized some as probenders from the papers, but she didn't know any personally, nor did she really care to. She chose a small, 2-seated table near the corner by the window and looked around some more. A friendly looking waitress asked for her order: a cup of ginseng tea and a small sandwich. Jun pulled out a couple books after the waitress left and began reading, picking up bits and pieces of conversation here and there, but not paying too much attention to it.

A cheery waitress came over quickly as Ryuu seated himself in the corner. She greeted and handed him a menu. He smiled, thanked her, and slowly opened it up. A simple order of bacon and scrambled eggs with water is what he ordered. She asked him what the occasion was for the suit. When he informed her "There isn't one. I almost always wear this." she lifted an eyebrow as any normal person would. He grinned, "Yes, I know, people usually don't. Say, I'm starving. Mind hurrying that order along?" The waitress nodded and took the menu back.

The feeling of weariness began to fade. The smell of food and the loss of sunlight pleased him greatly. Ryuu glanced around at the various characters around him. Many of the customers that came in looked strangely at him, being that they were all casually dress and looked like normal folk. A certain few he recognized to be Pro-benders. He didn't hold his gaze long on them. A lovely girl with green hair was socializing with their sort mostly. Another girl he saw glanced his way briefly. A fine young lady with long black hair and a beautiful dress. Though her food arrived and her focus was directed to that. Ryuu sat patiently and waited for his own food, with his mind now pondering his involvement in the Equalists doings.

“You don’t like Huang very much do you Mao?” Ling questioned as she watched Mao fling one of his stones at Huang’s head. Huang just sat and sipped at his tea, eyeing Mao warily in the process. The green-haired waitress appeared before their table and introduced herself as Sumiko. Ling glanced up with a smile and replied, “Sure, I will take a green tea with some cinnamon in it please!” and glanced at Huang.

“I will stick with a black tea, and Mao, if you want to keep your stones, I suggest to not do that again. Otherwise this poor young lady will have to rebuild her shop from the ashes. No offense miss,” Huang stated as he smiled at the woman, or at least tried to which came out as an awkward grin. “Oh and yes, they are pro-benders. They are from the Water Wraiths. Unfortunately they might be out of the tournament for a while, missing an earthbender and all,” he added.

“Looks like you have some fans there Mao,” Ling stated as she pointed to a group of girls that were hanging in the doorway. “And if you are going to say the ‘E’ word, then I would assume that yes, we are thinking what you are thinking,” she toned down her voice a bit. Can’t be too careful what you say around people. Never know when an Equalist would be around.

Ya Le sat down at a table accross a man with unruly, messy brown hair with a katana. This alarmed the guards but she just gave them a look to say that she was perfectly fine by herself. The guards, Chen and Xiu, sat down at a seperate table nearby, keeping a close eye on her. But now that Ya Le was (somewhat) alone, she relaxed a bit more and focused more on her surroundings.

The place was really cute and cozy looking with comfortable seats. It seems that the cafe was pretty popular seeing as it was pretty crowded. It sort of reminded her when Bai Long Bakery was only a few years old. People would come in and out with satisfied smiles on their faces. This memory usually made her smile but she only frowned at the thought of her late grandfather. There were rumors around her family compound that some thugs came in and tried to rob the bakery. Luckily, her grandfather managed to keep the bakery safe but severly hurt himself. He soon died a few weeks later due to lung failure. She never really knew what had happened though since her family was visiting a family friend on the other side of the city.

Ya Le looked at her two guards to find them eyeing a group of people. She turned to see who they were glaring at and only saw a table with two men and one woman. 'What's up with them? she asked herself. As far as she knew, those three looked pretty normal to her... 'Oh.' Then it occured to her that they were most likely benders since her guards were looking at them particularly in disgust.

She was about to tell Chen and Xiu to stop staring before they start any trouble when a waitress popped up in front of her, catching her off guard. "Welcome to Oyaji! How may I help you ma'am?"

"Huh? Oh, I'd like to have a plate of moon cake and some Jade tea please," Ya Le gave her a smile before the waitress walked away. She hoped her food would get here soon. She was starting to get real hungry and all the sweet aromas in the cafe wasn't helping.

Kaito was forced into a seat by a young girl, cute in her own respects, yet much smaller than himself, which leads to the question of was he really forced into the seat, the answer would still be a definite yet... He was then asked what he wanted without delay, but was then given no time to respond as the girl jotted off to another table. Well... that wasn't very professional... Kaito thought, opening the leather-bound menu. He quickly glanced through the options and decided just to let her handle it, whenever she were to come back that is... He glanced around at the other tables, they were all colorful characters to say the least...

His attention wasn't particularly grabbed until he noticed a women enter with some guards, he locked eyes with one of her protectors, and he sneered back. Kaito was unsure if it was the man's usual demeanor or whether he didn't like him for some reason... he was about to stand up and inquire as to which it was, but he decided against it, better to let it play out and make an accurate judgment before springing into action. Plus he was hungry, and still had a headache. Now where is that waitress... he thought to himself.

The waitress came back and served Ryuu his meal. While eating he observed the various people coming in. One especailly being a girl accompanied by two guards. Average rich girl I'd assume. He forked in a mouthful of eggs and bacon. He saw a certain few others in the cafe eyeing the many benders at different tables. Some eyeing with excitement, some with discomfort and dislike. Obviously fellow Equalists. Ryuu looked at his empty plate with sadness and pushed it aside.

He sipped on the glass of water and peered around once more. Hmm. Well I'm not quite tired anymore. Perhaps it'd be best to strike up a conversation with a lady. The green haired lady was conversing with the benders. I'll pass on that one. Another guy who seemed uneasy with the benders around began speaking with the rich girl. Have fun with that one. Guards are on close watch. He laid eyes on the black dressed, black haired girl. She seemed like a pleasant girl to talk to. Ryuu got up when she seemed to almost be finished eating. He paused after getting up, now getting a bit nervous. He glanced back at his own table. People were now occupying it. The waitress must have hurried to it once he got up. The place is getting packed after all.

Ryuu took a deep breath and went to the side of the good-looking girl's table. "Hello there," he greeted her with a kind smile. "mind if I take a seat?" he brushed his hair back to his ears to show both of his colorful eyes and gestured to a chair across from her.

Before the stone could hit Huang, he snatched it out of the air and crumbled it in his hands, his eyes never leaving the paper in front of him. Ling frowned a bit at the mention of the Fire Ferrets. They had lost to them more than a few times, but it wasn't fair! They had the Avatar on their team, how could they compete with that?! Ling tried to rack her brain a few moments, trying to find out if it was illegal someway for the Avatar to compete. Apparently not. As long as she didn't use anything but waterbending, she was allowed to be in the tournament.

"Love you too Mao," Huang retorted, sipping his tea as Mao left. "Now, how about that earthbender over there? He might make a nice addition to your team, Ling," Huang stated as he pointed towards a tall, lean man. He was wearing an open shirt, revealing his midriff and nicely toned abs. "Go ask him," he ushered her.

"No, he doesn't seem the type to want to be a pro-bender, no matter how much money you wave at him," she replied. "But I suppose it wouldn't hurt," she added, standing up from her chair and slipping it back into place. She took a deep breath and walked over towards the man. He seemed to be looking for someone, perhaps the waitress maybe. "Um, Excuse me?" she started, taking a seat to his left.

"Are you an earthbender? I was just asking because you are dressed in green and usually earthbenders are defined by green and brown. I apologize ahead of time for being forward with you but we need an earthbender for our team, the water wraiths. Oh! If you're not a bender I apologize again!" Ling began before correcting herself. She didn't need to look like a fool in front of a complete stranger, but she probably did anyway.

"Blah...you're a metalbender too. Great. That would definitely get us disqualified...especially if you decided to use the arena, but can't say I didn't try," she slouched her shoulders and sighed. She then raised her eyebrow in curiosity. "You wouldn't happen to have been in Lin Beifong's unit would you have?" If he had, then perhaps he was the one that caught Fang. Idiotic older brother tried to steal cabbage from the Cabbage Corp. and was caught. She snickered at the thought before extending her hand out. "The name is Fei Ling by the way, Ling for short" she introduced herself.

Huang watched the exchange between the earthbender and Ling. His expression gave it away that he was not interested in joining the team, in which case they would have to forfeit this upcoming match. He sighed, stood from his spot and quietly exited the building. He will need to go find a replacement...soon. Otherwise Water Wraiths would be no more. And that, he couldn't have.

Kaito scoffed at her question and said, "No, I was a bit too... how did they put it... 'Extreme'... for the elite groups..." He raised his hands and made air quotes when he said 'extreme.' He smiled at her introduction and said, "My names Kaito Masaru, pleased to meet you Ling." He looked around for the waitress again, then returned his eyes to the girl, she seemed despite to ask a total stranger to join, "So are you guys in dire need of an earth bender? If you really need one I suppose I could... I don't know... substitute? For a favor or something, I am not really hurting for money..."

He noticed a man staring at them from the table the girl used to be at, he didn't seem happy then he left. Kaito gestured to him and said, "He your boyfriend? Doesn't seem to happy about us talking..."

Yoshe giggled at the group and jotted down the last of their orders,"Ok got it, One of my girls will return with your tea momentarily, and I must ask...If you are going to fight, take it to that bar and grill across the street." with a laugh she waved and made her way back over to dashing customer from before.
"I'm sorry, now what can I get for you today hun?"
As the food started pumping out of the kitchen the cooks were even coming out to personally deliver some dishes. They were a handsome set of men themselves, and best of friends. As they passed through the dining area they carried trays of food balanced on their arms as they swooped through, and place the china plates onto the tables. As one man entered the kitchen to plate the next set, another exited with a grin on his face. The girls were happily taking orders, and pushing the tea cart around to the guests. It made her happy to see the cafe a buzz, a great start to her exciting day.
She handed off the pro-bender's table order to a waitress as she passed, who took it back to the kitchen to prepare the tea. Returning her attention to her guest she smiled, "My name is Sumiko by the way. "
From the previous table she heard on of her guests call out. Polity she stepped to the side allowing Kaito to see who was calling him.

Realization slammed into Kai like a boulder thrown by a Pro-Bender. He recalled the bakery he passed by everyday on his way to the Blacksmith's shop. There occasionally was a brown haired female he remembered seeing but the girl sitting in front of him, proper and seemed to have an almost royal stature-almost-looked nothing like the apron caped girl from the bakery, save for the hair and the bright eyes. Kai made his way closer to the girl, and stared at the hand reaching out to him, unsure of what to do, he simply grabbed it.

"Fang Kai, just call me Kai," He replied indifferently, before pulling his hand away, but accepting her offer; popping a piece of the moon cake into his mouth. "And yes, I think I passed by that bakery a few times on my way to the Blacksmith's shop," He responded. If glares could kill, he'd be dead a million times over judging from the holes Ya's guards were boring into his back.

Kai dragged his eyes back to the crowd of the Cafe sensing a few of the Benders moving around. He watched with focused eyes, as the voluptuous red head got up from her seat beside the man giving him the impression of a Fire Bender and approached a man dressed distinctly as an Earth Bender. He shifted his head in another direction and noticed a rather flustered raven haired female with piercing blue eyes talking to a man in a... Suit? His jade eyes snapped back to the previous group as the golden eyed man silently exited the Cafe, the brunette man talking with the red head staring after him before said red head simply brushed it off. Kai kept himself on his toes, popping another piece of the cake into his mouth, and an eye on the Benders at all times.

Sweat dripped down Ling’s face as she twisted her arm and brought it forward to attack the dummy that lay out in front of her. She smiled in satisfaction as she wiped the remaining beads from her forehead and went to grab a towel. Glancing at the clock, Ling frowned a bit. Still at least fifteen more minutes before the earthbender arrived. To say she was excited would be an understatement. This was an Earthbender who had control over his element, who would actually pose a bigger threat to her than the ones in the arena, and she wanted to have a bit of an advantage over them. Although more than likely she would be defending herself more often than offensive fighting.

“Ling?!” she snapped her head in the direction of the voice and frowned. “What are you doing here? I thought you were still in the café?” Huang asked as he said each word carefully. Ling decided to ignore him and walked over towards one of the benches.

“I am practicing, what does it look like? And it’s already almost twelve; I thought you were supposed to open the bar at eleven?” she shot back and raised an eyebrow in his direction. Huang merely shrugged his shoulders and took a seat next to her.

“I decided to close it for the day,” he responded before pulling out a piece of paper. “You might want to put off practice for a while. We don’t have an earthbender yet,” he added as he handed the paper to Ling.

“You are going to make a lot of factory workers angry,” she replied while taking the paper from Huang. “What is this?” she asked as she examined the paper. It had a picture of a man with his face being covered by some type of mask. On the paper, there was a particular phrase that caught her attention. “Witness the Revelation tonight at 9 o’clock,” she read out loud. “Is this supposed to mean something to me? It’s just a bunch of Equalists rallying together,” she stated while handing the paper back to Huang. He sighed and ran a hand through his black hair.

“Ever since the arrival of the Avatar, you haven’t noticed Equalists becoming more active?” he asked. Ling glanced away and took a moment to think. “Think about Haru, how he just disappeared. You don’t think that might have something to do with it?” he continued prodding her.

“I can’t say for sure, but it doesn’t concern me. It’s probably some silly Equalists trying to gain morale or momentum. I don’t have time to worry about this,” Ling stated as she stood. “I am going to go get some air,” she added before walking out the doors. Huang just sighed. He’d have to do this alone then.

Ling took in a deep breath of air as she leaned against the building. To be honest, she was worried. Whatever this Amon had planned, he was going to demonstrate it tonight. She shook the thoughts from her head and sighed.

“Yeah well you know they say opposites attract,” Ling chuckled at Ya Le’s response as she returned her gaze towards the girl. “Anyways, it shouldn’t be much further to the bar. It’s not the most pretentious thing you’ll see, but it gets the job done,” she nodded in satisfaction. Ling noticed Ya Le clutch her basket a little tighter and glanced to see a man, probably a guard, and walked a little further in front of Ya Le.

“Just stay in the middle and they won’t see you,” she whispered to Ya Le. As a brunette ran by, he bumped into Ya Le and shouted out an apology. "Hey watch where you going moron!" she shouted after the brunette. "Sheesh, people these days," she grumbled. “So, Kai,” she directed the question to the blonde. “What do you do? Are you a bender or no?” she asked. She was curious about everyone in the group, and since she was done prodding Ya Le with questions; it was Kai’s turn.