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Ask to Join Avatar: The Missing Avatar

The great city of Omashu. Considered one of the most protective cities in the Earth Kingdom and home to their all power leader, Earthquake. It is in this great city where the story begins. The Avatar has gone missing and the world is on edge. The nations don't longer trust each other, feeling that any could attempt what the fire nation did almost 100 years ago. The only ones who seem to not carry this burden are the air nomads, but even some of the craziest conspiracy theorist have started to spread rumors about them. With the world no longer balanced, the need of the Avatar is stronger than ever.

The earth bending teenager, Fang, made his way down the streets of Omashu, with his Catbear, Gato, hanging on to his right shoulder while his trusty katana was over his right. He was on the search for the Avatar, hoping that if he could find him, maybe he could become his pupil. In order to be the greatest earth bender in the world, having the Avatar as a teacher was a great step and it would look really fancy on his resume. It seemed he wasn't the only one with the same idea though, as many other people, who were obviously not from the city, were running around also. This sorta made him upset in a way, how dare they invade his precious Earth Kingdom to try and gain fame and fortune. It needed to be an earth bender who would find the Avatar, so the world could know who was the superior element. However, some of the girls were pretty good looking, he might find one of his future wives in this city.

Fang came from a long line of earth benders and his family wanted to keep the tradition going. Therefore, members of his family, just the males, were expected to get as many wives as possible to ensure their linage continued into the future. He was confident in his good looks also, his record of having a handful of ex girlfriends also gave him confidence in his way with the ladies. A smirk appeared on his face as he thought about his future, until it was rudely interrupted by a man shouting from a water fountain up ahead.

"It was him! I swear it was him!" The skinny white bearded man splashed around the water while waving his arms into the air. "The Avatar flew over my head with his wind like powers. I swear I saw him!"

Gotcha! Fang rushed towards the fountain, along with many others who were on the same quest as he was. If what the old man was saying was true, then Fang was one step closer to fame and fortune!
 
Mu Ziyi had been riding around Omashu, as he had gotten into town recently, on his Ostrich Horse, seeing the sights of the City, this was a completely different place compared to Ba Sing Se, despite both cities being in the same Kingdom. He was riding around, seeing the sights as a couple of citizens looked at him with some confused and worried looks. They were thinking and whispering things like 'Why would a Guard from Ba Sing Se be here?' And other stuff like that. He dismissed them as he saw an teenager flying down the road towards the fountain. He then caught up easily, as he was on his Ostrich Horse.

"What's going on, I just got into town when I saw a crowd going towards the fountain?"

------

Ahnah had been walking through Omashu, doing her thing, learning about the culture of the potential trade partners when she got Swept up in the Crowd of people. She had to keep her bending a secret around, if asked, she was a studier of culture. Akuma had caught up with his owner, anyone who got near Ahnah would get growled at, as the Dog kept up with her. As she got closer to the fountain, she was bounced around due to her small stature. Her Polar dog had been trying not to attack anyone, but kept as close to Ahnah as possible. The young Southern Water Tribe female had been gaining a lot of odd looks as she got bounced around the crowd. She had heard that the Avatar had apparently been sighted over the Fountain. What? Last she checked, the Avatar had been missing, if this was an actual sighting, it could be clues. This would be an interesting mystery from a cultural perspective. She then followed the crowd.
 
Nina had come to Omashu to honestly just get a breath of fresh air from the strict rules in the Northern Water Tribe city she lived in. And so why not go somewhere new? From what the people she knew that had actually gone off adventuring they had said Omashu was worth the travel! But they had said it was hot. She just thought they were exaggerating! But no! They were right it was super-hot especially in her cloak!
Her snow leopard caribou, Kreen probably was having it worse though. Kreen couldn't just remove her fur coat. Plus, that would have been really, really disgusting. So, when Nina had seen the fountain from her perch on Kreen's back she immediately headed over they had to beat the heat somehow.
Nina quickly removed her soft fur cloak and stuffed it into one of her snow leopard caribou's packs she had placed on her. It had honestly been while since she had last not worn her cloak, so feel the wind all over her head felt great.
Nina quickly tried to lead Kreen closer to the fountain so she could at least cool Kreen off and not have to use her water skin which her and Kreen would drink form. The taste of fur in your water is not the most desirable taste so using a fountain to cool Kreen off was better.

As Nina pushed through on top of Kreen's back she heard an older man saying something about the Avatar. Didn't he go missing? Thought Nina and listening to the man for a bit then went back to her mission of getting her pet snow leopard caribou, Kreen water so they both could cool off.
 
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Yamato had been walking around Omashu for a while now looking for work to do, but he got hungry and sat down. He reached into his clothing and pulled out a onigiri he had been saving for a while, but he decided it was time for a snack. While be began eating he thought about what bounties he would go after next, if it was a big one he wouldn't have to worry about money for food for a while, he was just about done eating until he overheard someone saying they saw the avatar over at the fountain.

"The Avatar? Maybe he could help me with my fire bending." Once he finished his sentence he plopped the rest of the onigiri in his mouth and jumped on top of a building, he hopped from one building to another while avoiding the crowd of people below.
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
Tazia was sitting in an alley corner. At first glance, she could easily have been mistaken for just another homeless person seeking refuge in the dark, but on closer inspection, one would see that the cloak she wore was thick and flame-retardant, not threadbare; the heap of trash she leaned against was in fact not a heap of trash, but a large tigerdillo; and the fire she cupped in her hand was not a dying match, but a flickering flame generated by her finger. After stealing some food (since she was fairly sure Omashu vendors didn’t accept Fire Nation currency), she had fled from the angry vendor and decided to catch her breath in an alley, where Yael (the tigerdillo) had reunited with her.

A large commotion a short way from the mouth of the alley startled Tazia into extinguishing her flame and leaping to her feet, hand hovering over where her staff was in three pieces at her hip. Yael snorted and lifted his head, nostrils flaring. “Let’s check it out,” Tazia said to the tigerdillo in a low tone. She patted the creature’s neck before hopping up on top of his shell, sliding forward to rest comfortably just before the shell’s ridge.

Yael shook his head with a growl before leaping into motion, surprising several homeless into scrambling for their stuff. Tazia buried one hand in Yael’s neck fur, snapping her staff out with the other. If there was going to be a fight, she was going to be ready.

The square was chaos. People were either running towards the fountain or away as fast as they possibly could. Yael’s huge paws picked through crazed bodies, slowing their speed considerably. Tazia grit her teeth in frustration. They weren’t going to get anywhere in this crowd unless they got creative. “Left, Yael,” she called to her companion. The tigerdillo looked back to her, then to the abandoned vendor’s cart at their left. He hesitated for a moment before leaping for the canvas covering. His claws tore into the stretched cloth, but they were already bounding off before the cart collapsed.

They landed without incident, but the crowd wasn’t dispersing as fast as Tazia had hoped. “Roar,” she said softly. Yael made a questioning sound. “Roar,” Tazia repeated. “Maybe if we scare the shit out of ‘em, they’ll get out of the way.” Yael bobbed his head, planted his paws, and let loose a window-rattling roar. The people closest to them froze, and suddenly it wasn’t “run away from the lunatic yelling about the Avatar and the crazy people listening to him” but “holy shit a wild animal”. Tazia’s face quirked in a wry smile as she urged Yael forward. The path was clear, now. “Let’s move out!”
 
Nina stiffened at the roar, so did the snow leopard caribou she was sitting on. She looked over to the sound and said to Kreen "I'm going to go talk to this crazy person you head to the fountain without me I'll meet you there." She pat Kreen's soft head and slid off her back and headed over to the crazy person. "Hey crazy lady! Would you tell your tigerdillo too calm down?" She said and she walked up to the lady. "I personally don't mind the roaring, but it seems rude to do in a place you don't seem to live in." Nina crossed her arms and let out a sigh and stared up at the person examining them. She thought the tigerdillo was pretty cool to be honest, she had always liked big animals. She noticed how Tazia held herself it remined her of how her own posture from working in the navy.
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
“Crazy lady?” Tazia glared down at the girl in front of her. “Arguably, you’re the crazy one for approaching what you seem to think was a tigerdillo that was not calm.” Yael snorted and tossed his head, scraping at the ground with one claw. “I assure you, Yael is extremely well-mannered, but it becomes difficult to navigate when the road is clogged by people milling about like koala sheep or stampeding like wild komodo rhinos.” Tazia spoke in a clipped, irritated tone. “I’m taking my leave. Every second wasted is a second that could be spent figuring out why the hell people suddenly started racing each other that way as soon as the guy in the fountain started yelling. Yael.” Tazia made a clicking sound in the back of her throat and squeezed her heels together slightly. The tigerdillo began to move, slowly gathering momentum.
 
"I get it that it's hard to navigate with a large animal I in fact have one myself, but I would suggest trying to be a bit patient but okay." She shrugged and headed back to the fountain. But as she got closer and closer to the fountain it got awkward for her. She thought that was the last she would see of her but no. They were going the same way. Great.
Nina ran over to Kreen quickly who's head was halfway submerged in the fountain trying to cool off. She stood beside Kreen finally and helped Kreen cool off by bending the water and dumping some of it on the snow leopard caribou's head. The creature let out a rumbling purr but then accidently breathed in some of the water and started coughing until finally it was out. Nina laughed at the creature and grinned scratching Kreen's cheek.
Nina made small motions and made a small round orb of water fly out of the top and splashed her own face with it. She on the ground finally leaning on Kreen and listened to the old man talk.
 
"He flew over me using his fire bending and was wearing his air bender robes!" The old man stood at the age of the fountain. "He said to me I AM THE AVATAR and then flew away. I tried to follow him, but I AM AN OLD MAN!"

Fang couldn't help but glare at the person trying to distract him. He wasn't about to lose to some bird or anyone else. He jumped forward and smashed his fist against the ground, bringing up a curved wall in front the competition. Of course he wasn't going to get held back by his own wall. He placed his fist at the level of his waist and then quickly raised them up. A column of rock emerged from under his feet and sent him flying over the wall he created. He landed with ease at the other side, only to see others around the old man.

"Hey old man, how about I buy you lunch and you give me more details about this Avatar you saw?" He looked at the others gathering around the fountain. "Don't waste your time with these people who aren't even from the earth kingdom."
 
Nina looked up at the man talking to the old man and gave a glare "Well that rude. It doesn't matter you finds the Avatar; I think. As long as they are found then they are found, and that's what matters right."
She now decided that if someone was to find the Avatar it shouldn't be this guy who thought only earth benders needed to. Isn't the Avatar the person that kind of links all the nations together. Who cares if one nation got a little more reputation? And wasn't the earth kingdom the biggest nation? they already had that! Nina was getting more annoyed by the minute and even Kreen could sense it but they both knew that if they both got mad and started a fight they probably wouldn't be let back here again.
 
"Listen..."

Fang walked up to Nina, a smirk on his face while he showed his pearly whites.

"You can go out with me later, after I find the Avatar and save the world. For now, just stay here and be quiet. I can't be distracted by you now."

He turned his attention back to the old man, who was still on his rant.

"The Avatar is alive and here! He is in Omashu I saw him! Look! Over there!"

The old man pointed towards the lower streets of the uphill city. Over a roof top, a man blasted into the sky, using fire as a boost and then used a glider to glide down deeper into the lower parts of the city.

"I told you I told you! I'm NOT CRAZY!"

Fang's jaw dropped as he saw the small figure disappear into the lower levels of Omashu. He threw a coin at the old man. "Thanks for your help!"

He once against launched himself into the air, this time he landed on top of a roof. He then lifted his hands into the air slowly, trapping his competition in a bowl like structure.

"The Avatar is mine!" He called out as he took off running, jumping from house to house.
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
“Tch,” Tazia rolled her eyes as Yael came to a stop among the others gathered around the old man. She patted the tigerdillo twice, and he sat, letting her slide off his back. Her hand was still clasped tightly around her staff’s bottom section. Judging by the young earthbender’s semi-hostile reaction, it would be best if she was primed for combat. She didn’t necessarily care about finding the Avatar all that much, but it wasn’t like she had anything else to do. Her day to day schedules had been pretty much empty since the Fire Nation’s army recruiting program had been disbanded. Would be a nice change of pace to have a concrete goal to chase instead of, ya know, a life’s purpose. Kinda hard to find something when you don’t know what it is.

“Tell ya what,” Tazia grumbled, looking away and scratching the back of her head. “I never meant to get involved in this—” She cut herself off as motion caught her eye, a clear display of firebending from… the air? “Screw it, I’m involved. Yael!”

The tigerdillo sprang into motion, bounding forward without his rider. It seemed like he’d left Tazia behind until she lashed her staff at the ground, throwing off sparks that roared into a flame, boosting her into the air. Yael, already on top of the earthbender’s wall, turned as his companion landed on a nearby rooftop. The two ran towards each other, not missing a beat as Tazia leapt, grabbing the ridge at the front of Yael’s shell to direct herself onto his back. Neither one had slowed in the slightest as they reunited, and Yael pelted after the earthbender in hot pursuit of the Avatar.
 
Yamato sat on the building he was on as he realized he couldn't find the fountain, after a while he sat down on one of the buildings. He began to scratch his head while looking around, trying to find the crowd he saw earlier, after a while he slammed his sword on top of the building in frustration.

"Dang it, how did I lose the crowd? I was watching the crowd as I was running." Yamato then heard someone say "The Avatar is mine" as they began jumping from house to house. "I might as well follow him, It's gonna be a lot easier that way." Yamato said as he jumped after Fang.
 
Nina crossed her arms but when he said she could "take him out later" She froze. What kind of guy asked out a random stranger?! She was also surprised though by him saying that because all the guy's Nina was friends with though she was a guy, so she hadn't had someone say that to her in while. She looked over to Kreen and rolled her eyes. Kreen did the same and then went back to drinking the fountain water.
Nina's head quickly turned to look over at the person on the roof. It... It had to be the Avatar! Who else could do that?! She stared at them as they flew down. She then jumped at the suddenness of the ground rising around her. "Wha-!" She let out a loud scream annoyance.

The snow leopard caribou stood up and look into the bowl as Nina scrambled out of the bowl structure an grabbed it hooves and pulled herself up on to the animals back. "Come on Kreen! are we really going to let that jerk find the Avatar!?!?" She said now very, very annoyed! Kreen nodded and ran through the street with Nina on her back. Then she whispered something to the animal, and it stood on its back legs as Nina climbed onto its head and jumped onto the roof. "Kreen I'll meet you where we saw the Avatar head if we can't find each other then we will meet back at the fountain!" Then she ran off. She started to try and catch up with Fang finally getting close enough she could aim and pulled some water out of her waterskin and aimed it right at the back of Fang's head. "Take that you jerk!!!" she yelled running ahead.
 
Mu had seen the wall in front of him, stopped his Ostrich Horse and hopped off. He then brought his hand out then up, creating a stone platform that raised him over the wall. He then stood on the wall, keeping an eye on everything around him. He saw people doing their own thing like one dark skinned girl whacked the guy flying down towards the old man with a string of water, on the head no less. He then decided to throw two obstacles in everyone's way, he expanded the wall that was already made to have an increased thickness, by pushing his foot down and sending his arm forward. He then rode down the New side of the wall, pushing his arms back as he bent his knees, which created a small platform for him to sail smoothly. When he got to the ground, he brought his arm to his waist and out to the side, sending a stone wall in that direction, it would path right at the guy coming down from the buildings.

"What was he thinking, throwing a wall at an earth bender?" Mu whispered.
 
Nina ran up ahead chasing Tazia. "Hey! so I'm sorry about earlier but I had an idea! So, I was thinking we could team up to find the Avatar! I don't need much of the money! You can have most of it! I just want to make sure that weird back there doesn't find him first! I'll explain my reasoning if you want but knowing he doesn't find the Avatar is enough for me! I'm Nina!" She said grinning at Tazia. She held her waterskin getting ready to splash water in Fang's face again.
 

aurivee_

Previously EeviumZ
[Etsumi]

Ah. Another old man shouting about seeing the Avatar. What a believable story! She was sure that no one would ever lie about something like that.

Yeah, right.

Etsumi hung back towards the edges of the square, observing the chaos unfolding around the fountain with bemusement.

These people actually believe that this crazy old man is telling the truth? Naive, the lot of them.

As if on cue, a figure blasted into the sky on the edge of her field of vision. As she whirled around, her eyes widened at the sight before her. Could it be?

It had to be. It just had to!

If the square hadn't been in pandemonium before, it certainly was now. Several people were now pursuing the mysterious figure. Amongst them were several benders, flinging attacks and obstacles at each other - all in an effort to reach the Avatar first.

Well, if everyone else was playing dirty, then she would too.

Her eyes landed upon a figure - an earthbender, from the looks of it - who seemed to be in the lead. He was hopping from rooftop to rooftop.

That needed to be dealt with. The guy had a reasonable chance of catching up, if he kept this pace.

Her hand pointed towards the fountain, and a sphere of water rose up from the pool. It took barely a moment for her to send it hurling towards the earthbender, attempting to surround his feet as he ran.

Her open hand clenched into a fist, as she willed the water to freeze. If he wasn't able to evade the sphere quickly, he'd be stopped in his tracks for the time being. It was a gamble, but it just might work.

Not waiting to see if her plan had worked, she began to climb up one of the nearby houses, reaching the top in a matter of seconds. Without missing a beat, she took off, sprinting across rooftops in pursuit of the Avatar.
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
Tazia had risen to her toes on Yael’s shell ridges, balancing precariously on just her feet and one hand to allow the tigerdillo to move faster. Yael was slowly picking up speed as he bounded across rooftops, agile and swift. She’d started gaining on the people who were running at a mere human speed, her late start slowly ceasing to matter. Her staff had also begun swinging in slow, practiced circles in preparation for fire to be added eventually. She didn’t necessarily want to burn the city down, but she felt confident in her ability to control the flames. But not yet, she told herself. There’s no need for the fire just yet. Only preparation for the time when it will be needed.

A feral smile spread across Tazia’s features. She’d missed competition like this.

Someone called out to her from across the rooftops. Tazia spared them a glance then turned back to the path in front of her. As a rider, if your head turned, so would your body, and by extension your mount. Everything had a flow that could easily end in a detrimental outburst of power, like the harmless breath in the body circulating to an explosive output of flame. While it may have seemed Tazia was paying no attention to the waterbending girl, she was in actuality listening quite acutely.

When the girl—Nina—was finished with her shouted speech, Tazia looked back again, just for a moment. “I never even considered the thought of money,” she said back, just loud enough to carry to the waterbender. “I don’t need it.” Her wild smile returned, hidden by her positioning, but still there. “All I know is this fire, this competition, is what I’ve been missing. And if the goal of the game is catching up to the Avatar— so be it!” Her fierce gaze zeroed in on the earthbender in front. “Alliance accepted—for now. Second place is only first loser. I don’t intend to be there.”

Tazia winked back at Nina with a nod before leaning forward over Yael’s head, engaging all her muscles to balance in an aerodynamic position while still keeping the majority of her body out of contact with Yael’s shell, the optimal—and quite taxing—rider’s position. “Here we go,” she muttered, staff still whipping the air in practiced circles. “The chase is so on.”
 
Akuma had heard the window shattering roar and picked up his owner, Ahnah, heading towards the fountain. If people were giving odd looks before, they certainly gave even odder looks now. She saw several different benders, including two Earth Benders, and at least two other water Benders? She never thought she'd see other water Benders in Omashu, she naturally got Akuma to listen and follow the water Benders. She joined in from the ground in following those finding the Avatar, but she was hoping to talk with the Water Benders. She then saw a woman running on what looked to be a ball. She was quite confused, but stilled followed. She then called out to the one waterbender running alone.

"What's going on, I was trying to get close to the fountain to study it when I got Swept up by the crowd, something about the Avatar?"
 
Nina smiled "Well I guess you can see it that way!" She laughed. "Do you have any plans for what you want me to do? I've mainly been planning to splash that creep in the face aga!-" She stopped running when she saw the wall. "Well this isn't great... I have an idea though I think..." She started bend some of the water and is seemed to bounce around in a bubble and started to foam and froth and little droplets would fly of that hurt a bit. Finally she decided the water was good enough and then aimed it at the wall and suddenly the water shot out and a hole formed in the wall. It was big enough Nina could fit through but not big enough or Tazia and her tigerdillo. "want me to make a bigger hole or you too to fit through or you got you own plans?" She asked still smiling. This race really felt good it got her blood pumping!
 
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Thud!

Fang hit the floor, or roof, face first, making a perfect scorpion shape with his body. The ice had broken around his feet when he fell forward, but it didn't change the fact that he was imitating a professional yoga master, which he wasn't. He stood up and dusted himself clean, before setting eyes on the ones chasing after him. They had asked for a challenge and he was going to give em one.

"This isn't personal! I will still like to take you all out later!" He called before jumping off the roof and slamming the ground with his two feet, causing a boulder to rise from the ground. "But right now, you guys are getting in my way!"

Fang then kicked the stone with a flip kick, sending part of it hurling towards the ones who had taken the street as their path. The second half of the boulder was split into two by Fang clenching his fists and and pulling them apart, causing the stone to split. He then punched one and send them to his followers on the roof and then shot the second one to the floor in front of them causing a hole on said house.

"Quick! These benders are invading Omashu! Stop em!" He waved at some earth bending soldiers, who were in the middle of their lunch.

"What?!" One of them called out as he stood up, followed by the other two who were sitting with him. "Stop those benders!"

The three soldiers began flinging stones at everyone but Fang. The young man smirked and saluted his followers and then started running towards the Avatar sighting again.
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
“Keep going.” Tazia gestured forward with her chin. “Up, Yael!” She crouched lower to the tigerdillo’s shell as the huge cat leaped for the top of the wall. At first, only his front paws found purchase, his hindquarters scrabbling at the stone, before Tazia blasted fire backwards with a lash of her staff, propelling them upwards and over. The two hardly missed a beat, bounding off slanted roof panels, before—

“Shit,” Tazia cursed under her breath as rocks began flying towards them, at first just from the bender in front, then from what seemed like literally every earthbender in the vicinity. “I guess now’s as good a time as ever for fire. If I’m gonna be labeled as an enemy of the state regardless, hell— I better do it right.

“Watch out!” she warned Nina as Yael dodged to the side to avoid another incoming boulder. Tazia grit her teeth, though half her mouth seemed to want to twist it into a grin. She rose from her crouch, warning Yael that she was going into combat-ready position. Her staff whipped faster, creating fanlike winds that suddenly caught fire. “Keep going, Yael,” she muttered. “I’ll protect us. We’re gonna win this race yet!”

The tigerdillo continued to forge ahead as Tazia balanced expertly on his back, moving fluidly to compensate for his evasive motion. Her staff now a flaming wheel, she smashed every rock that came her way, occasionally blasting them with fiery punches at a wider range out of consideration for her waterbender ally. However, they did lose some speed with divided attention, Tazia’s less aerodynamic position forfeiting some velocity for their safety.
 
Nina nodded about to head into the hole she had made when she froze and felt a shiver run down her back... Ew she thought when she heard Fang speak. She was so confused when suddenly a boulder was thrown at her. She quickly slipped through the hole before the boulder hit her and got perfectly stuck in the hole. She ran off chasing Tazia. She stared as another boulder shot at her she hit it with her trusty spear Maybe if I don't use my bending, they will stop thinking what that creep said! She grinned and started swinging the boulders out of the way left and right. She started running again to catch up to Tazia still hitting the boulders back. She could feel her blood pumping, her heart racing! This was the feeling she missed!
"Any room on the tigerdillo for one more it or want me staying on the ground?" She asked swinging at another boulder.
 
Yamato watched as Fang hit the roof face first and couldn't help but chuckle as he kept chasing him. He stopped laughing when fang began to earth bend and hurled a stone towards the roof. Yamato unsheathed a purely white blade and cut the stone in half, he then watched as Fang told three solders that he and the other benders there, that they were invading Omashu. He quickly jumped on the Stones that the soldiers had flung and kept chasing after Fang.

"Hey you jerk what do you think your doing? Can't you at least be a little more considerate of other people? Yamato yelled at Fang while chasing him.
 
The great city of Omashu was a sight to behold. The Earth Kingdom city rose up amid rocky cliffs, a mountain among mountains. In the silence of a still afternoon, one could hear the sounds of bustling life from within the high walls echoing across the chasms before one even set foot on the zigzagging bridge of yellowed stone that served as the only way to the city gates. Triangular structures, like layers of a giant wedding cake, rose high above the smooth wall. Their peaks and might almost remind one of a giant triangular armchair, if they were looking at the city from far away. These tiers provided space for the many homes, businesses, residences, and palaces that all had to fit within the confines of the walls.

Upon the twisting pathway that led up to the entrance of Omashu walked many figures. Some had carts and some were on foot, some headed out and just as many were streaming back in. Among this latter group were two girls, walking close to one another. Both carried spears, and were dressed in shades of blue. The taller of the two, who was also the elder, was mostly quiet. She was engaged in staring up at the towering walls and the parts of the city that she could see above them. The former seemed to consume the latter as they drew closer, but that, of course, was a simple matter of perspective. The taller girl could only imagine what the city was like on the inside.

"We're finally here, Kerrora. I think the trip was definitely worth it, don't you agree?"

Not waiting for a response, she took her sister by the hand and quickened her pace slightly, hustling forwards to join the line of people that were making their way into the city. Several guards stood on each side of the gates, occasionally stopping passers-by to enquire who they were and what they were coming to Omashu for. Fortunately, they didn't seem to be too picky about people bringing weapons in, although she did hear one of them scolding a man who was trying to enter the city to sell a cartful of cabbages in the marketplace without a trade permit. She pulled her sister past the cart, not caring much about whether a cabbage merchant got into the city or not. She was way more focused on making her own way in.

Before they could get into the city, one of the guards stopped them. "Please state your names and business in Omashu." He eyed their spears as he spoke, and the elder sister, noticing this, clutched hers a little tighter. She cleared her throat, and as calmly as she could, said,

"My name is Koreal, of the Southern Water Tribe. I am visiting Omashu to study Earthbending fighting techniques. My sister, Kerrora, is traveling with me."

The man rose an eyebrow and unfurled a crisp-looking scroll. His eyes went down the lines of text, and the roughly sketched portraits next to them, before nodding and rolling the scroll back up. "You should be fine to go into the city. Please keep your weapons stowed while within the walls. I know spears are hard to tuck away, of course. Just don't point them at anyone and you probably won't get arrested." He chuckled. Koreal thought it a rather nasty laugh, and was about to move on and past the guard. He stopped them a moment longer, though. "If you're looking to watch Earth Benders in action, it's probably better to ask around outside the city, maybe in one of the villages. Most of the bending you'll see here are the soldiers running the mail chutes, or the guards." Koreal thanked the man for his advice, but went into the city anyway. She wanted to experience the city now that they were already here, even if they might have to leave again to find somewhere she could study Earthbending techniques.

Once inside the gates, Koreal found that the sounds of the city only got louder. Perhaps that was to be expected. Regardless, Koreal began wandering the streets. It was different from anything she'd experienced in her life thus far. It was unlike the glacial palaces of her homeland, the towering ice spires, the igloos, and the occasional animal skin acting as a door flap, a tent, or a sled. There, everything was blue, white, or brown, except for the orange flames of fires, the dark green of dried seaweed, and the occasional spot of color brought by ornamental beads. Here in Omashu, everything was colorful, at least in comparison. Alongside the earthy shades of the walls were brightly colored clothes, awnings, and window planters filled with bright flowers. Some of the walls had murals. Many seemed quite nice, but as the two sisters passed by, Koreal spotted a man scrubbing away at some colorful handprints and doodles on the side of a shop, and grumbling about 'darned kids these days' as he worked.

Granted, she'd seen similar architecture and decoration in some of the Earth Kingdom villages that they'd passed through on their journey to Omashu. But all this was... more. It was on a much grander scale. It was taller, wider, louder, brighter, and busier than all the other Earth Kingdom villages she'd been to combined. It was almost a little overwhelming, but she was enjoying the new experience on the whole.

After what had probably been about half an hour of walking through the city, navigating crowds, chatting with one another, and occasionally stopping to ask directions from someone who seemed like they knew the area, they came into a small market. It wasn't the main market of Omashu, but rather a smaller, more local one, convenient for people residing in that part of the great city. It saved time for many a local family, and perhaps even a little money. However, the options in the smaller markets around the city were comparatively limited when compared to Omashu's primary market, where one could find all kinds of things if one knew where to look. Still, the smaller markets were completely sufficient for Koreal's purposes. She and her sister had been traveling for weeks, so it had been mostly travel rations for them, except when they passed through towns and had a chance to get some fresh food. Now that they were here, Koreal wanted to try some local food, and eat something fresh. She moved straight towards a street vendor with steam and smoke drifting lazily from beneath the awning covering his stall. As she drew closer, the smell of cooking meat hit her nose, and her mouth began to water. Whatever he was cooking, it smelled good.

She strolled up to the man, and saw that he was grilling various vegetables and meats stuck together on skewers. Seeing her shadow fall onto his cooking surface, the man looked up with a smile. "Ah, welcome, welcome to Shen's Street Shish-kabobs! I have some right here ready to go," he gestured with one hand to a rack on the side where some of the skewers rested on a wooden rack, "or I can make them to order with whatever ingredients you'd like. We even have fresh Pheasant Duck meat, for an up-charge. Two apiece for ready-made skewers, three for custom, and today we're running a buy-three-skewers,-get-one-free deal! Now, what can I do for you, my lovely ladies?"

Koreal gave a soft smile. The man's cheerful attitude, the smell of good food, and the promise of a new experience had her in a happy mood. She wanted to try the custom skewers, but between the extra cost and the fact that her own preferences in food might take away from the authenticity of trying the local cuisine, she decided to go for the day's deal. "I'd like to go with that buy-three, get one-free deal. Could you please pick out some that'd you'd recommend? We'd like to try at least a couple different types."

"Yes indeed," the man responded, quickly flipping a couple of the shish-kabobs on the grill with an expert hand, "I'll give you two of my personal favorite, what I like to call the Hippogator Bait, and one each of the Zen Fowl and the Spicy Rhino skewers. All are frequently requested combinations." He turned to the wooden rack and began picking out the skewers he had mentioned, while Koreal handed her spear to her sister, slung the bag off her back, squatted down, and dug into it to find her pouch of coins. Once she found it, she dug out 6 small coins, drew the strings on the pouch tight again, and tucked it away inside her set of spare clothes. By the time she stood up with her coins in hand, the man was smiling with the four shish-kabobs, skewers held between his knuckles and his other hand free to take his payment. There was a brief exchange, and Shen dipped into a slight bow. "Thank you for your patronage, madams. Please come again soon!"

Koreal smiled at him as he went back to managing his stall. She took her spear back from Kerrora's hand, and gave her two of the skewers in exchange. Then, she carefully shifted her own skewers into the same hand as her spear, and bent down to retrieve her bag. Once she had maneuvered it safely onto her back, she used her free hand to grab one of the skewers and took a bite. It tasted wonderful. Sure, it was a bit of a different taste than she was used to (she was fairly certain that some kind of sauce she wasn't familiar with had been used on the meat in this skewer) but it was still warm, well-cooked meat and vegetables, with great texture and good flavoring. She idly wondered whether this was the Hippogator Bait shish-kebob, or one of the others, but quickly decided that it didn't matter all that much. She took another bite and moaned at how good it tasted.

"We have to get these again sometime, sis. They're delicious." She commented, glancing over at her sister to measure her reaction to the food as they started walking again. She took her time to savor her first skewer as they strolled around the marketplace, stopping once or twice to take a closer look at the vendors' offerings. They did get an odd look or two, including a sullen glare from an older lady at a fruit stall who looked like she had eaten one to many lemons and had her face stuck in a grimace since. Koreal supposed it was due to their outfits betraying them as members of another kingdom. She quickly moved on from that stall, though, not even sparing another glance at the woman's tasty looking apples.

By the time they left the market, Koreal had finally started on her second shish-kebob. This one was tangier, but she recognized the taste of the meat even beneath the sauce. She was confident now that this was the Zen Duck skewer. That meant she had either eaten one of the Hippogator Bait skewers before, or that her sister had gotten both of those. Whatever combination she had ended up with, though, it was good. The flavoring on the Zen Duck skewer was just a little strong for her tastes, but the tanginess was interesting, and she ate it with gusto.

Before she could find somewhere to dispose of the now-bare skewers, she heard a commotion nearby. It sounded like it was close, but she couldn't see anything on the street ahead of her. The noises swelled for a moment, then died down again. Koreal had paused in the middle of the street, skewers forgotten in her hand, listening. It wasn't long before the shouts got louder again, this time mixed with other sounds. Rattling stones, rumbling, footsteps, all could be heard beneath the shouting. It sounded like it was coming closer, too. Then, suddenly, a figure appeared on one of the rooftops and began running. It was going the same direction as the sisters had been walking, but it was traveling at a much faster pace. Koreal pointed up at the rooftop in case her sister hadn't seen what she had, then took off, shouting to Kerrora as she went. "C'mon sis, let's see what's going on!"

She didn't know what the figure on the roof was doing, or why they were running. Whatever was happening, though, Koreal had no thoughts of getting away from all the commotion. She wanted to know what it was all about. She ran quickly, but because the street they were on was much more condensed than the open rooftops, she found herself beginning to fall behind. She had almost reached an intersection between two streets when she heard another shout from the figure on the rooftop, and saw that they had fallen over. She then heard them shout about a bender attack, and saw that they were shooting stones down into the next street over. Looking down the street, she saw some kind of large animal race by, followed by a couple other people on foot. One of them was in a blue outfit, and Koreal guessed that they might be a water bender. They were quickly past where she could see them down that street, though, so she wasn't certain. She paused, unsure whether to keep running that way. She still wanted to know what was going on, but if benders were causing problems over there, it might be more wise to stay away. After all, there was no way Kerrora wouldn't follow her if she went. She breathed deeply, and turned to look behind her, where she assumed her sister would be, provided she hadn't gotten caught up in the crowd and slowed down.
"Kerrora, I want to see what's going on, but that person on the roof yelled something about a bender attack, so I think it'd be best not to get too cl-"

She was interrupted as stones began whizzing through the air. Most came from the street on the other side, it seemed, but a few came from some Omashu Guards on this street that Koreal hadn't noticed before. She now noticed that there were more people on the roof, either some who had caught up with the first person or joined while she'd been talking to her sister. There was still a lot of shouting, and it seemed like most of the people in the streets were pressing away to avoid the bustle or taking shelter in shops along the roadside. A few who were either braver, more curious, or perhaps more stupid than the rest were standing around or slowly following to watch the spectacle.

"Okay, we don't have to go, but I want to know what's going on. So if we go, try not to bend if you can help it? What do you say, sis?"
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
“Climb on,” Tazia affirmed, jerking her head back at the empty space on the shell behind her, then dodged to the side as a stone flew past her nose. “Yael’s not tired at all, yet. Isn’t that right, buddy?” The tigerdillo growled in agreement, snapping at and crushing an incoming rock in his jaws. “I’ll cover us; you focus on slowing the earthbender down. Or whatever,” Tazia added, a little self-consciously. She had to remember she wasn’t in bootcamp anymore, and this waterbender had no obligation to take orders from her, nor did Tazia really have the right to give them.

Once Nina was on board, the young firebender yelled out a “Hyah!” sending Yael into a faster run. The tigerdillo paid no heed to the stones pelting at them, trusting Tazia to redirect or destroy them, just as she trusted him to keep moving forward. The months and years of training together continued to pay off; Yael’s endurance and Tazia’s balance were both greatly enhanced, and the two were used to working together. Nina was a wildcard, but nothing tied people together tighter than a common goal— or a common enemy. Here, they had both.
 
Nina climbed onto the tigerdillo and pressed her legs against its side holding on tight.
She listened as Tazia told her, her instructions and nodded "Yes Sir!- er- you know what never mind same thing!" She held her spear helping with knocking a few boulders away waiting till the earthbender had gotten through the wall. She waited and waited till she finally had a clear shot at him, hurled a ball of water at him and watched as it turned to ice as it flew through the air. She grinned as she hit another boulder out of the air then took a deep breath and aimed carefully for his feet. She let the water fly through the air and watched as it froze is feet in place. "That will keep in him place for awhile!" As another rock hit the tigerdillo she let out a yelp of pain as it hit her foot. She grabbed her foot forgetting she might fall off and started to slide off of it and quickly grabbed onto it's shell carefully. and slit her foot back onto its side the pain still pulsing with pain from the boulder that had hit it.
 
Omashu - Ko and Ka

"Looks like another avatar sighting." Ko, a tall man with long dark gray hair stood on the wall, looking onward on the ongoing action while smoking a cigarette. "Should I or should you?" His calm voice mixed with the calm nature that shrouded his being.

"Why do you even ask? I love this stuff." Ka, a young woman with long blonde hair and a mischievous smile looked up at her partner. She was crouching down looking ahead, watching the ones chasing the avatar. "I'll make sure to put them in their place, before you even finish that nasty thing." Ka jumped off the wall, leaving Ko alone.

"If you say so." Ko puffed smoke into the air. "Just don't kill any of them.

Fang

"These people just don't quit huh?" Fang looked over his shoulder, just in time to see the incoming water attacks.

He jumped while at the same time ducking his head and pulling up his legs, being a little human ball for a second, making both attacks miss their targets. He landed while crouching down and shot his pursuers a smirk. It seemed they were gonna keep getting in his way specially those with the big tiger thing. He decided to help the guards, maybe they could slow down those animals. Then, it happened.

Fang felt a cold chill down his spine, fear as if he was facing death. He slightly turned to the right, seeing a girl run past him. Her piercing eyes and blonde her seemed to glow as they stood out. She gave him a quick glimpse as she rushed past him. Although it had been just a second, Fang felt his knees shake at the sight of her.

Ka rushed up behind the soldiers, with a quick movement, she kicked the back of the head of the soldier in the back, knocking him out. She then proceeded to sweep the legs from under the next one and finished the last one with a punch to the gut. The hole time, she had a happy smile on, as if she was enjoying every last second of it. She then turned her attention towards the incoming tigerdillo.

"Enough!"

She raised her right hand towards the sky and aimed her left index finger at the ground in front of the tigerdillo's path. In a split second, lightning shot down from the heavens above, traveled through Ka's body and exploded where she had aimed it at.

"That's just a warning, next time I will aim for your heads." A wide grin appeared on her face. "You there, don't even think about running away either." She didn't turn around, but it was obvious she was talking to Fang. "In fact, NOBODY MOVE, or else."
 

=Nightshade=

Previously Night's Shadow
“Sorry,” Tazia winced as a couple stones slipped past her guard, striking her companion. If those were serious projectiles in a real battle, she would’ve lost that leg. She shook her head. That wasn’t her life anymore.

A golden-haired blur came streaking towards them from in front of the earthbender leading the pack. Tazia felt an inexplicable shiver run down her spine. The young woman had a definitive aura of wildness backed up with insane power. Her eyes widened slightly as the blond woman struck a pose Tazia knew all too well from her brutal childhood training— lightning wouldn’t be far behind. “Yael—” Tazia began, controlling the tremor in her voice. She held her staff out in front of her, hands flaming, as if that would do anything. It was already too late.

Lightning struck the roof just in front of Yael’s paws, blowing apart the tile it hit. He yowled in fear, skittering back a few paces before holding still. Tazia barely managed to keep her balance, the fire in her hands snuffing out. She glared daggers at the newcomer, grudgingly respectful of her masterful lightning bending. Tazia knew she couldn’t beat this girl in a fight, maybe even if the other two benders worked with her, so for now, she resigned herself to observe.
 
"No. It's fine, worse has happened." She watched as the golden-haired blur crossed her view of sight and stared as the woman posed. Nina saw the lady point at the sky. She had read books on bending, but she had never seen a form like that in her scrolls. Most of her studying hours were spent on perfecting her own bending. She knew a few basic things from other bending styles some of which she had tried incorporating into her own fighting style.

But this one. Well, she had never seen anything like it. She heard Tazia shout "Yael!" and the tigerdillo soon scrambling back. Why? Well Nina had just realized that as she saw the lightning strike down onto the roof whose shingles were now flying everywhere, even one almost hit her face.

She was bounced around on the tigerdillo's back quickly clinging onto its shell again. If she were on Kreen she probably wouldn't have almost fallen off. Kreen had horns and reins that she would hold onto. "What was that!?" She asked flabbergasted at the woman's ability to summon lightning! She just sat and stared! firebenders could bend lightning?! This was a surprise! What next? Earthbenders could bend metal!?
 
Mu had been keeping crowd control, with his walls and such, making sure no one gets hurt as the Earth Kingdom soldiers deal with those other benders.

"Earth Kingdom Citizens, keep out of the soldier's way as they clear up what is going on." Mu called out to the Citizens, "I'm actually a guard from Ba Sing Se, I was sent here for reasons I have no idea, but still, please stay out of the soldier's way."

The crowd had realized that Mu was one of their own, and another city's guard, they settled down a bit and started working together to try and keep calm, Mu was then able to call Ai around to pick him up and get moving towards Fang, and the other mystery benders.
 
Yamato watched how the girl took down the soldiers, he was quite impressed by it all. He didn't seem to care about chasing after Fang anymore, instead he wanted to see just how strong this girl was. He jumped off of the building he was on and stood a took a couple steps towards her, he stood a few feet away from her and gave a devilish grin.

"Your pretty strong, if anything I'd say you'd got the strength of a monster. So..." Yamato unsheathed his other sword and smiled at her. "Wanna test your strength against me?" Yamato said as his eyes showed nothing more then pure excitement.
 

| Korutesu |

Previously NotAPokemonRanger
A young man was standing in one of the ledges of the city of Omashu, watching the chaos in the fountain area ensue. The reason for this was because an old man had claimed they saw the avatar fly above them. Rei wondered why people fell for this clear lie, It's probably cause it's an old man, though even then, people still should have their guard up about this. Right after he thought of it, a small shadow appeared, clearly with Air Nomad robes, all the while fire-bending.

It seemed too good to be true. He followed along, jumping through the roofs, following the crowd of people, not actually following the avatar though, since Rei didn't need money. He just wanted to see what would happen. Chaos was now fully ensuing, just as the swordsman thought. The benders shooting fire, water, or rocks at each other. The amount of projectiles that were being thrown out were uncountable, and there was just too many.

A flash soon passed the young man, He didn't see it for long, but when the woman stopped moving, he could see her clearly. A woman with golden hair, standing in front of the crowd of benders. It was only for a split second, before the woman shot down a flash of lightning, which could've hit anyone close enough. Rei was amazed at how strong the female was, not only with the lightning, but her speed and agility too. The young woman soon threw out a threat for the crowd, saying that she would shoot of all their heads as well. He noticed a few faces of anger or fear in the crowd, but none thought to run or attack the woman, since all of them could most likely be taken out in one minute.

The young "Avatar" that the crowd saw, was now almost out of sight. Nobody dared to chase him, obviously, though they were getting anxious. Anxious of what'd happen. Until a young character spoke out in the crowd. A young man, who dared to speak out, especially in the situation they, the crowd, were in. Now he saw faces of fear, and nervousness. The boy unsheathed his sword, clearly willing to fight her. Clearly, the crowd was now worried. Worried not for the boy, but for themselves. What if they were caught in the clear to be ensuing fight? They didn't know for sure. Rei didn't either. Though, if things were to escalate, he would eventually try and step in before anyone gets hurt.
 
Kerrora followed Koreal through the city of Omashu, enjoying herself. It was rare that Kerrora could go out and simply enjoy herself, with having to be the generation's prodigy in the Tidal Spear clan. It was extremely stressful and she wasn't allowed to go out like this, just walking without being gawked at by those who lived close to the clan. Instead, she was gawked at for being from one of the water tribes. That part made her uncomfortable, but she also had nothing to lose here. She could, if she wanted to, just ignore them and have no repercussions. After all, what were the gawkers going to do? Not like she could be punished for ignoring the stares.

Also, Omashu was so different from what she was used to as well. Like, all the buildings were made out of stone and were on a hill. How did they manage that? Did earth benders build the city? So strange. Oh! And why were there so many people? Typically in a Southern Water Tribe village, the streets were always covered in snow and the houses were made out of ice. And so many were hawking their wares. Kerrora's blue eyes drank in all the sights, not wanting any details to escape her. After all, it wasn't as if she had been to an Earth Kingdom city before! Hopefully, it wasn't considered rude to look at everything like she was. Was it? She had hardly looked into Earth Kingdom customs. She never thought she would need to look into that. After all, she never thought she would be leaving like she did.

As her day progressed, Kerrora's enthusiasm didn't falter. Around when she was getting hungry, Koreal bought them some kabobs, which she felt was amazing timing. After giving her thanks, Kerrora bit into one and ate. The kabobs were absolutely delicious. Strange, yes, but delicious. She hoped that before they left Omashu they could get them again. Did she get the hippogator? Did her sister get both the hippogator? Kerrora wasn't sure. At Koreal's suggestion, Kerrora gave an affirming hum as she bit down on some more of the kabob. Both tased strange in different ways though. Perhaps this was normal in the Earth Kingdom, though. She had a feeling that what she was accustomed to eating wouldn't taste that normal to those in the Earth Kingdom or for the Fire Nation and Air Nomads. She hadn't really thought about that before, though. She had a feeling no one did until they tasted the food of other people.

After a while of eating and following her sister through the city, Kerrora, like Koreal, heard a commotion up ahead and her first instinct was to go the other way. It sounded, somewhat dangerous. Like, what the heck was happening over there! She was about to suggest changing their route, to get away from what could possibly be a crime scene or something along those lines when Koreal started suggesting they go see what was happening and took off. She wasn't exactly running, but her sister was certainly moving faster than before. Kerrora gave a choked response before following her sister, an extremely worried expression on her face. This certainly wasn't good.

And as they got closer, Kerrora's suspicions were proven correct. Bender attack? Fighting in the streets? What the actual heck! Was one of them a water bender too? What if they were associated with this blatantly bad situation. "How about we don't do that?" She looked around some more, trying to properly assess the situation. Fire bender and water bender attacking guards, it seemed like. Defiantly not good at all. "I... I was actually trying to suggest that we avoid this altogether? You know?"

But before Kerrora could grab Koreal's hand and drag her away from the scene, a guard spotted them and made his way to arrest them as well. Kerrora's eyes widened. "Wait! We had nothing to do with this! I sware!" Panic flooded Kerrora's senses, and her mind totally blanked. She didn't even think to bend or grab her spear to defend herself. Then again, perhaps it was better that she didn't move to defend herself as the guard came her way.

However, right before he tried to grab her, a blonde-haired woman stuck lightning nearby. Her eyes grew even wider with shock. What in the name of the Avatar was happening?! Who was doing this?! Her hands were now tentatively moving towards her spear on her back, her eyes not leaving the figure that fired off the dangerous element. Koreal, I know you want to be better than a bender, but please, just please, have some common sense here and leave that woman alone! She stood there, hand now on her spear and absolutely still.
 
Ka

The grin disappeared as some random boy approached her and actually challenged her to a fight. She then aimed her finger at him, ready to shoot him down. Just then though, Ko's words sounded in her head, reminding her not to go over board. Killing someone on the spot was probably going too far.

"No." She replied. "This isn't a game." She lowered her stance and looked around. "There's no avatar, go home." She stopped for a moment as she turned around and that malicious smile returned. "Oh what the hell, I came here to have fun!"

Ka extended her arms out and did a quick spin, fire emerging around her. Before it could disperse, she stopped and joined her hands, the fire now circling around like a ring. Once again, she suddenly expanded her arms again. The flames began to grow, becoming a fiery vortex, taller than the houses around it and expanding. Ka was no longer visible, as one would have to go through the wall of flames to get to her.

Fang

"Ah crap!" Fang cried out as he turned around and began running away from the expanding. "You guys can fight that crazy, very good looking and possible wife, lady. I am going after the avatar!"

He didn't care what the girl had said about there being no avatar. The fact that she was trying to stop them just made him feel like he was on to something good. Now he had a perfect distraction and he was going to use it to find the avatar himself.
 
Nina watched as the fire ring started expanding. She leaped off the tigerdillo, stood in front of it, and began to water bend when she realized she didn't have enough water left for what she needed. That was bad... Where could she get more water... Wait! When required in hotter climates, she remembered that some water benders would use their own sweat and sometimes spit... eww. So, she started rolling her sleeves up and feeling the drops of sweat fly off her arms, adding to the spiral of water she was forming.

Finally, when she thought she had gotten enough sweat, Nina spat into the orb of water she had formed. She stared at her disgusting creation and formed it into a small shield. She, at this time, had gone back to listening and heard Fang saying he was going to run off. "You scaredy-cat! Get back here, idiot! You got us all into this mess in the first place. Also, it's not that manly to go and run away from something, is it! I mean, I thought you wanted ladies to like you. I thought you were desperate!" She yelled, grinning, and then laughed at what she had said.

Okay, so she realized maybe this idea to shield them from the fire was dumb now. Would this small shield really protect the three from this giant fire tornado? "Hey, so do we have a plan B? I realized I kind of underestimated that fire tornado." She asked Tazia, becoming concerned quickly. She felt like she was a child again. When Nina was small, she constantly underestimated things. She would get so excited and pumped, ready to go against anything except for people to react with a big fat "no!" in response.
"We should start running, right?" She asked Tazia. Sure, Nina wanted to go and find the Avatar first, but she wasn't willing to die for it. She could deal with the earth kingdom being cocky and acting like they were better. She would at least know deep down they weren't! Right?
 
Mu had been running towards the events ahead, now there was a Vortex of fire and three were not likely to survive, he knew that if any were diplomats, he'd possibly have his head due to his boss's rules, so when Ai got close he jumped off, landed on the roof, as Ai went out of the way to rendezvous with their owner later. When he got close enough, he remembered his boss's rule and placed his arm at his waist then up, using the wall to channel Earth, extending the wall several feet straight up. He had gotten to a spot that Tazia, Nina, and possibly Yamato were behind him, and channeled the Element of Earth through it.

"What brings this tornado here?" Mu Ziyi called out to whoever was behind this, "This could potentially destroy the city, I will stop you from messing it up."

As a Earth Kingdom Guard, he knew this was his Duty, to stop threats, even though those three were threats, this one with the Flaming Tornado was the biggest threat as of this moment. He intended to handle the biggest threat first.
 
Meanwhile, about a few hundred meters away, 2 brothers, Dareno and Motsuke, had been watching the tornado for about a minute. Motsuke had his gi on, as usual when training to become a master martial artist, and Dareno had casual clothes on. "What the hell is going on?!" Dareno screamed in shock, unintentionally a lot of people's ears.

Motsuke was not listening to Dareno's scream. He sighed. Suddenly, Dareno pulled out a ball-shaped... well... ball, waiting for the perfect moment. "SMOKE BOMB!!" he screamed, then he threw the 'smoke bomb' on the ground, unleashing a cloud of, well, smoke, and flew close to the tornado.

He tried to blast the tornado from the bottom, seeing as it would knock it down faster, making 27 calculations a second, then he would be able to blast it from below while sliding. Motsuke almost tried to stop him, but he realized one thing; he'd nearly kill himself. Yikes...

Dareno successfully blasted the bottom of the tornado, but nothing happened. He stared in shock. "Well..." he said, "What in the name of the Avatar just happened?" Motsuke had sighed in disappointment. "In the name of the Avatar, we're screwed," he said with a hint of shock.
 
Koreal had been too busy watching the flying shards of stone and running figures, and didn't notice the member of Omashu's guard approaching her sister and herself until he was only a few strides away. She heard her sister's words at almost the same moment. "Wait! We had nothing to do with this! I swear!" Koreal thought she detected a note of distress in Kerrora's voice, although perhaps that was to be expected given the nature of the situation and the words that she uttered. Instinctively, Koreal moved to the side to interpose herself between the man and her little sister. She glared at the guard, one hand holding her spear and the other on her hip.

"Hey, we're just bystanders trying to figure out what's going on. We haven't done an-"

Before she could finish speaking, the man reached forward as if he were going to grab one of them. In the same instant, there was a momentary flash, so bright that the bright afternoon sunlight seemed dim in comparison, and the air was filled with a crackling boom a moment later. The thunder rang loud through the streets, and several women taking shelter in the nearby shops shrieked. The soldier that had been confronting them flinched as well, and wheeled around to see where it had come from.

Looking around quickly, Koreal caught a brief glimpse of a golden-blonde haired woman, the remnants of lightning quickly dying around her before she moved out of Koreal's line of sight. 'Did... did she just bend lightning? Oh shifting tides, I totally need to challenge her to a duel. I'll kick her- no, we need to move now.' She forced herself to not run straight over to the bender and challenge her to a sparring match. After all, if there really was some kind of bender attack going on, this person could be a criminal, and as much as Koreal wanted to spar someone with that kind of power, she knew that a criminal would probably just attack first and ask questions later if approached. In any case, though, she needed to make sure Kerrora was safe first, whatever else she might decide to do.

She grabbed her sister by the forearm while the guard was still distracted with looking for the source of the lightning and pulled her away. She hustled down the street for a few seconds, then slipped behind a recently abandoned stall. Or rather, what she had thought was an abandoned stall. As she got behind it, she found a young woman and an older man who could have been the woman’s father already sheltering behind the stall. She gave the two a nod and a slight smile, but she quickly winced as the woman let out a scream at the sight of people who were obviously from another land. Given the reactions she had seen from the Omashu Guard and this frightened young lady, Koreal was quickly finding out that it is usually an unpleasant experience to be a foreigner in a city that is in conflict with other foreigners.

Seeing that she and her sister were quite clearly unwelcome to the father and daughter sheltering in their stall, she muttered an apology and headed out the other side of the stall. She ran down the street, figuring that running would attract no more attention than her clothing already did. She came to the next crossroads beyond the one she'd first stopped at. She'd lost hold of Kerrora's hand at some point since she tried to find them shelter behind the stall, so she paused a moment to check on her sister's whereabouts.

Just as she looked back, though, she heard more shouting and yelling from the next street, and a large pillar of flame shot up into the fire, spinning and roaring in a fearsome display. Koreal recoiled a moment; she could feel her heart racing in her chest faster than an ostrich horse. Koreal was no coward. She could stare down an armed warrior with no fear. She could sail a skin boat between sharp floes of drifting ice without batting an eyelid. She could dodge around a water bender’s liquid whip with cool confidence. But such raw power, the burning heat and the terrible destructive force that fire held sent a pang of doubt into her soul. She didn’t know how to handle herself in the face of that whirling tower of flame.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, fate did not give her time to hesitate for very long. Over the shouts and the roaring of flames, she caught the sound of footsteps running, and turned to see a pair of Omashu’s guards running in her direction from one of the other branches at the crossroads. Both had slowed for a moment to stare at the fiery vortex rising from the next street over, but after a moment one of them saw her standing in the middle of the road and pointed at her. “Water Tribe, looks to be. One of the ‘ttackers, likely as not. Orders is to apprehend the invading benders, innit?” he addressed his companion, but Koreal didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence. At the word ‘apprehend’, she began walking away quickly, and as she heard another shout and the sounds of their feet clacking against the cobbled road in pursuit, she sped up into a run. She didn’t have time to double check that Kerrora was with her; she just had to hope her sister had the sense to stay close or stay hidden. With guards following her, and not wanting to resort to violence when they’d technically done nothing wrong (besides being in the wrong place at the wrong time), she found herself running right towards the street where everything had been happening. Rushing forward into the street, her skin was hit by a wave of heat as soon as she stepped around the corner, and the acrid smell of scorched stone became more apparent.

She saw a few civilians and guards run past, trying to get away from the fire. Koreal could now see that the edges of the flames were licking outwards, slowly expanding and engulfing more of the street. Her heart dropped at the sight, but it seemed to go lower still when she realized that if the guards got behind her, she’d be trapped between them and the widening ring of fire. She couldn’t let that happen. Spinning on her heel, she ran right back into the street she had just come from, surprising the guards who were still only halfway down it. Seeing that their quarry was now charging their way, each stomped the ground, and a large chunk of stone from the road rose into the air next to them. One dropped into a sturdy and practiced Saddle Stance and delivered a straightforward punch, which sent the rock barreling ahead towards her midriff, while the other stood upright and threw a rather sloppy haymaker that sent his rock… in her general direction, but would honestly have been far off hitting its mark even if she had been standing still. However, Koreal was moving fast. She barely broke her stride as she sidestepped past the first guard’s earthen projectile, and watched the other whizz past half a meter away. Before either could fully ready another projectile, she passed between them and yelled and came to a halt behind them. She called out to them, raising one hand in the air whilst the other still maintained its grip on the handle of her spear. “I’m not even a bender! If this is some kind of bender attack, then shouldn’t you be focusing on, I don’t know, the HUGE PILLAR OF FIRE?”

Both guards turned around, the first guard with another stone ready to launch and the second with a puzzled expression on his face. “If you ain’t a bender, why’d’gee run away from us?” He thought it was a rather clever question to ask, and he wasn’t entirely wrong in believing that, although it might seem a thing any guard with common sense would ask in that situation.

“Well,” Koreal replied, “I didn’t run until you two started running at me. I was walking before that. Also, another guard tried to grab my sister and myself earlier just because we’re wearing Water Tribe clothing. Again, I am a non-bender, and I was just trying to find out what all the commotion was. It’s my first time visiting the city, and I had no idea what was happening until I heard someone yell about a bender attack. And simply because I’m not from here, people have been assuming I’m attacking the city or something when in reality I’m just another harmless visitor to the city.”

Technically, nothing she’d said was a lie, per se. She had left out the fact that her sister WAS a bender, but she hoped that the guards wouldn’t question her on her choice of wording. The first guard glanced back at the growing flames behind, and then back at the young woman. He seemed to make up his mind, and let the rock fall back into the floor. “Look, it’s a little hard to believe you when you’re running around the city with a spear in your hand during an attack. I don’t know whether you are what you say you are, or not. But you’re right, we’ve got work to do. Come on, Cho, we’d better make sure that street is clear and help take care of whoever’s making that fire vortex.” He gestured with his hand, and the second guard, Cho, shrugged. “Alritey Wong, but you’re fillin’ out all the paper-workin’s if these ‘uns really was s’posed to be apprehended.”

The two hustled down the road to do their jobs, and Koreal breathed a sigh of relief. She felt lucky that the guards had actually listened to her, and been talked down before she had to resort to violence. Even if she could probably have easily taken on those two with Kerrora’s help, or maybe even dispatch both of them on her own, she would much prefer not having any real reason to get arrested, and in any case it wouldn’t have been pleasant for anyone involved.

Now, though, she needed to focus, apologize to her sister for getting them into this mess with her curiosity, and get both of them away from the fire. She guessed it wouldn’t spread too far naturally, due to almost everything in Omashu being stone of various kinds, but whoever was bending that was strong. It had already expanded in the short time Koreal had been in that street, and she didn’t want to find out just how far it could go. She’d much rather find a way to get out of the area without running into more guards at every turn. That could be a problem, though, as it seemed that many of Omashu’s guard had been dispatched, and more would be coming the longer this Bender Attack (or whatever it was) lasted.

“The roofs,” she muttered to herself. Perhaps if Kerrora were standing close enough she could hear what the elder girl had said, but Koreal couldn’t tell where her sister was at that moment. She had her attention focused on the rooftops, where several people had been traveling before. “On the one hand, we’d stand out if anyone looks up. On the other hand… maybe they’re too focused on navigating the streets to get to, or away from, the attack. It might work.” She returned her eyes to ground level, scanning around her once more.
 
Nina just dumped the water shield on the ground. It quickly became a puddle on the floor. "I'm Nina Huā. I'm from the Northern WaterTribe. Me and... I never got her name. Well, my friend and I had heard the Avatar had been spotted. Usually, I wouldn't care about these sorts of things. But an annoying man made me decide I would do anything to stop him from finding the Avatar first." She paused to take a deep breath. "Then he said that we were benders trying to attack the city or something. Sure, we are benders, but that doesn't mean we are attacking the city or anything. Back to what I said. A blond lady had jumped on the roof and summoned lightning! I've never even heard that was possible! I'll find books on that later. Anyway, this guy challenged the blond woman to a fight. She "spared" him and instead made that fire tornado thing!" Nina said, now a bit out of breath and tired. "Thank you for coming up here to set up that wall." She tried to seem natural about it, but honestly, she was embarrassed by her own stupid plan.

Meanwhile, in the street was a snow leopard caribou named Kreen chasing where she saw the Avatar headed. Her master had told her to do so, so why stop? She paused to turned around to see if she could spot her master. But she could see was a giant fire tornado! The snow leopard caribou started running around, not knowing what to do in panic. The creature calmed down just for a second to run into an alleyway and hide.
 
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