Taking the Back Streets(Open)

[Molly]

Spring, 171 ASC, Late Morning

A blue bird fluttered out of a tree, whistling its' worry. Several cat owls hungrily chased the poor creature, until inevitably they took it down. A sigh escaped the pale girl, her eyes darker gray than normal. Nature was so guiltless-ly ready to express its deadly side, so caught up in showing the world that no matter how strong you are, nothing can stop natures path, only delay its effects longer.

Shaw remembers once when she was small a large group of waves crashing onto Ember Island, almost big enough to be coming from a hurricane. She watched from her house as the only visiting waterbender tried to push back the unrelenting force coming towards the shores. But nothing could stop mother nature, and the woman was washed away, drowned, the waves also taking with it a hut and a father and child running to escape the waters cold clutches.

She shivered. Shaw hoped she would never do anything that would make the gods smite such evil on herself.

Grabbing her messenger bag she stood up from the small grass hill she had occupied all day, brushing the back of her blue jeans off and straightening her white tank top, looking into the clear river as fish swam up and down the calm stream. It made her wonder if waterbenders ever worried if they disturbed or killed sea life just to get a little revenge on a friend, or enemy. That would be a crying shame. She never liked to hurt animals that did not benifit her or have threat to her life, but that was the ancient airbender speaking in her. Not all airbenders were vegan anymore, but most all still respected life, like herself.

Walking off she stopped by a local store. Shaw didn't have much, just a couple silver pieces, so she had to be frugal in her spending and sacrifice a few meals from time to time till she found a job. She ran her slender pale fingers over a few fish, feeling they might not be as fresh as the sign claimed. Turning to the better looking fruit she purchased a lovely looking mango, waving to the merchant as she walked off.

She wasn't ready yet to return home though, and started weaving through back allies, considering taking up her old gambling habits, trying to prevent herself from becoming a thief again. A man sat with cups lined up, a pebble sitting in front of them. Shaw could never win those. Pass.

Another man was playing a simple card game, but it was almost impossible to figure out the trick unless you belonged to the society of gamblers that secretly spread across the globe. She knew the trick, but the line to play was too long. Another sigh. She continued to walk, brushing her fingers through her hair, considering going to see Tenzin or look for a real job. Nothing really appealed to the slender airbender though. She just continued walking.

Entering a new alleyway the ghostlike girl took caution. It was quiet, the stench of wet mold and sour fruit filled the air. She coughed a little, noticing she was in the alleyway between two restaurants. "Awful," she whispered to herself, quickly taking her leave, heading down another turn till finally she reached a dead end. Great. She decided here was a fine spot to sit. No people, no dumpsters, no yelling cooks. She laid her bag down and sat on it, making sure to avoid her mango, and wrapped her bare arms around her thin legs. Now more than ever she was tiny, having to save her money and eat less till she did find a job.

[harry]

i had this sadness creepin' like vines over me

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i didn't get what i want so i just took what wanted me[/center]

[/i] this,” she spoke softly to herself, trying to concentrate the way her father had taught her, to meditate on her element, attempt to become one with it. “okay,” her eyes snapped open and in seconds she was moving again, waving her arms in movements she had learned while being taught sandbending while some of the others were just random. Jumping up and towards the wall, she figured she knew the outcome already: her, on the concrete ground, rolling around in pain. Oh well, Bodhi thought, might as well give it a go.

Suddenly, as her feet collided with a wall and, as if by sheer force of will, Bodhi intentionally bent the air around her for the first time. no time to celebrate, though, as the ground was closing in fast and, well, maybe she didn’t think it through well enough but at the time it seemed much more important to jump to great heights than to learn how to land without injury. Without thinking much about it, she bent again, clumsily and nearly straight into a wall, sending herself to the roof of a nearby building where she crash-landed and rolled into a sitting position, holding her gut where she could feel what she assumed would turn out to be a bruised rib. A crowd had gathered to observe her, making her all the more annoyed and unmotivated. They stood on the ground below her, like a little school of fish with their fish mouths slack and gaping and their fish eyes wide and curious.

Desperate to escape the crowd of fans and haters alike, Bodhi went in search of a new place to practice her bending. hopping from rooftop to rooftop and peeking from above into alleyways. The novice’s fallback training alley, a sparsely populated dead end, appeared to be empty. perfect Bodhi thought to herself as she, once more, lept without looking. She landed on her feet with a hard thud, feeling the painful vibration climb up her legs and struggled not to wince. Pushing away her pain, Bodhi took in the alleyway. It wasn’t, she noted, quite as empty as she had previously believed it to be. As she regarded the other being present before her, she noted that the girl looked thin and bedraggled but Bodhi assumed the same could be said for herself, absently running her fingers though her hair. The young girl –is she so young?—she seemed troubled by something.

“You okay?” the teen asked quietly, voice low, awkward, and distant, almost hoping for no reply at all. Her words were spoken through a very fake empathetic smile in Shaw’s direction. On a normal day, Bodhi wouldn’t have even bothered with small-talk or social niceties – maybe it was accomplishing the feat of finally airbending with pure air –or maybe it was the concussion she no doubt received during one of her face plants. Though it made her feel guilty and bad, Bodhi found herself hoping that this girl would reveal nothing to a perfect stranger, that she wouldn’t blab her ear off about one thing or another and they could both get on with their lives.

Bodhi ddin’t approach the girl, having had “don’t trust strangers” drilled into her head over and over as a child. Still, she found herself unable to leave.

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WORDS! 1,150. // TAGS! shaw, open. // SETTING! an alleyway in republic city//

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[Molly]

Spring, 171 ASC, Late Morning

Shifting slightly on her little bag, trying to gain a little more cushion to separate her rear from the hard ground a harsh noise caught her ears. It sounded like some strange blast of air... unnatural, but sloppy. Did Meelo find his way into the city? She chuckled at the idea, she was just going crazy from hunger. There were no other air benders in Republic City, or the world as far as she knew, besides her, Tenzin, and his family. Most likely just noise from some weird flute or something.

Unwrapping her legs to stretch them out she pulled out her mango and one of her knives from her boots when she heard someone or something running along the rooftops. Yet another strange and interesting noise to be hearing. Not many people ran along rooftops like herself, not many had the courage or the means to except for her or the police, but even they were eerily quiet in their traditional metal shoes.

Her questions as to who might be running around the rooftops was answered as she heard a thud and another person joined her in the dark little alleyway. She was dressed in strange garb, almost like the traditional clothes of the monks, but different. Like the clothing belonged to the earth kingdom. She remembered from her studies with the Air Temple monks that this person may be a sand bender. It made sense, her clothing, dark skin, and when she spoke her slight accent.

"You okay?"

The question was different, and her voice startled Shaw, probably as she had been sitting in the quiet so long and the noise of a human voice was so unfamiliar to her. She nodded, looking away from the girl. "Yeah, fine." She wasn't used to human contact, she only had a few friends, few she talked to. Her teacher, his family, Commander Bumi... and General Iroh. She wasn't exactly sure how to make friends anymore. Even her old students didn't share bonds with her, she only saw them as the worlds future trying to stay alive, nothing more.

Shaw had to say something. She didn't want to be rude, but what to say. "So, uhh, jump from rooftops often?" What the hell was that? Jump from rooftops often? She felt like an idiot, and she might as well be. She slid the mango back into her bag with a sigh trying to figure out what to do in this situation. For now she would have to wait to eat, again. Her stomach tightened, protesting with hunger. She ignored it, looking back at the girl.

Something else was interesting about the teenager before her. As an bending master she had always been able to tell if people were benders, maybe not what kind, but still. Something was different with the short-haired girl. Was it because she was a sand bender? Or was she a fire or water bender born to sand benders that gave off a weird feeling? Well, she would have to wait to ask that. She didn't want to be rude, but would it be? She shifted in her spot. Praise the spirits she didn't know how to interact with others at all! Maybe she should say she's a bender first? What if the girl ran off because she's an air bender, an outcast?

Why did it matter? Shaw never cared so much about how she acted or talked to people. She didn't care if she was rude or nosy, as long as she could avoid violence. So why did she care now? She shifted uncomfortably again, starting to fidget with her knives she had lined neatly in the secret pockets on her boots, still looking up at the new roof-running girl standing quietly, warily, in front of her.

[harry]

i had this sadness creepin' like vines over me

[/SIZE][/COLOR]
i didn't get what i want so i just took what wanted me[/center]

[/i] she chided herself, get over it.

Though Bodhi, eyeing Shaw critically, felt as though she could take her if their interaction, for some reason, came to blows, she knew better than to judge someone’s ability based on their size. Bodhi had won many a fight based on people underestimating her due to her slight figure; this perfect stranger could easily pull off the same. Even small and with slightly less muscle definition than Bodhi, if the stranger was a bender there was no way a fight would end in Bodhi’s favor. While she tried to look relaxed, she kept her guard up. Though she was still quite new to pure airbending, she could always blow sand in an enemy’s face and make a mad dash out of the alley. A cheap shot, perhaps, but Bodhi believed that all is fair in life or death situations. Still, there was little reason to believe it would come to that.

Bodhi wasn’t much of a fighter, anyway. While she had a thirst for adventure, she didn’t consider violence to be adventure. She could fight, of course, proficient in hand-to-hand combat at the request of her father, who felt that, because her bending was weak, she needed to learn other means to protect herself. Still, she preferred not to. She often wondered, since uncovering her true bending ability, if it was the air nomad blood rushing through her veins that tended her towards pacifism. Bodhi loved to fight for sport, boxing and wrestling with her brothers and peers throughout her adolescence, but fighting for the sake of fighting, fighting to harm, was something she couldn’t get behind. Her eldest brother had always been a fan of fighting for fighting’s sake, ready to jump into any fray that may pass him by. A more likely explanation than her air nomad blood was her desperate desire to distance herself from Jiang and everything about him. Though this need for distance was unconscious, it ruled her life in a way she may never understand. She wasted so much of her youth trying to be like him, it seems almost fitting that her adulthood would be spent trying not to be like him.

Leaning back against the wall of the alleyway and crossing her arms over her chest in an attempt to look relaxed, as well as a way to get her full weight of her aching legs, Bodhi took in their surroundings. She had been in the alleyway before, knew it like she knew the back of her hand, but this time she was more looking out for other people. The two airbenders seemed to be completely secluded, a bad situation to be in if a fight did happen to break out. No back-up, no help, no witnesses. She tried to smile despite her thoughts, feeling as though putting on a friendly air would lessen the chances of a squabble. Besides, she had no reason to hold any ill-will towards Shaw – aside from her presence in what Bodhi considered to be her own personal alleyway, the girl before her had done absolutely nothing wrong and showed no signs of being an enemy. Bodhi was the interloper, the one who fell from the sky and interrupted Shaw’s peace.


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WORDS! 1,010. // TAGS! shaw, open. // SETTING! an alleyway in republic city//

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[Molly]

Spring, 171 ASC, Late Morning

"I Wasn't... I mean, I just... Thought I'd drop in."

Shaw chuckled a bit at her remark. Sarcastic, a nice touch. She liked that about the girl, just as awkward as her, well at least right now. But hey, she can't judge. Still she could see the stranger was a bit wary of her. She could feel the same. New people left an unsettling feeling in her stomach, and her growling stomach didn't help her with that. Before long she noticed the girl was talking again, missing most of it, just catching the end.

“Didn’t realize anyone else was down here. You, uh, hang out in deserted alleyways often?”

She shook her head with a smile. "Nope, usually the ones filled with gamblers. I just didn't feel like going home. I'm tired of that place, wanted an adventure. Guess I got one, huh?" She tried to smile, watching as the girl leaned back on the wall, Shaw could tell the girl was hurt, but probably too prideful to admit it. Another feeling came from the girl, a defensive feeling, almost like when she would tread on a moose-lions territory in the wild. Maybe the bender might reside here, and not have a home. Or maybe one of the back doors in the alleyway belonged to her or her parents house.

Still just to be a bit more ready she stood up, stretching her limbs sky high, and then bending down to touch her toes. She could feel her pants where getting loose on her, and she pulled them up a bit more before relaxing against the wall. Her stomach growled again and she couldn't help but take out her mango. "I hope you don't mind, I haven't eaten in a couple days," she said, slowly peeling off the skin with her knife, and then cutting small chunks off, slowly eating.

She remembered Iroh telling her to eat and drink slow when your starving, no matter how hard it is. She respected his knowledge, wondered where he was, what he was doing. She hoped he still loved her, but he probably moved on. He was royalty anyways, and she was not, not even truely Fire Nation as she was born. Why did her dad have to have airbender heritage? She wishes she was full Fire Nation, even if she didn't bend. At least then she wouldn't have to be confused about her second bending ability, one she was too afraid to practice. Her head slightly drooped as she took a second bite, before holding out a slice to the girl.

"Do they have mangoes in the Si Wong Desert? You are from there right? A sand bender probably too?" She stopped and blushed, looking away. "Sorry, that was rude, but here have a piece." She handed her a mango slice, before wrapping the rest in a towel, saving the rest for her dinner tonight. Maybe even breakfast tomorrow. God she was suffering. She hoped her classes would pick up soon, she needed the money, and no one will hire her anymore. Especially non-benders, still scarred by the war.

She just wished her life wasn't so complicated. She wishes she could be normal, born to a normal couple in a normal setting with normal bending and a normal love life. Before she could think any more on this a bird shot in the sky, crying loudly. A crow just being a nuisance, but she still jumped, before focusing back into the real world onto the Si Wong girl.

[harry]

i had this sadness creepin' like vines over me

[/SIZE][/COLOR]
i didn't get what i want so i just took what wanted me[/center]

[/i] At Shaw’s words Bodhi nodded her head a little, letting out a smooth, controlled chuckle. “You’re welcome, then,” Though her guard was still up, the novice airbender felt a peculiar alikeness to the girl before her, a feeling that threatened to set her at ease. She, of course, would not allow her guard to slip just based on a feeling and, honestly, the fact that she was feeling it at all only made her guard rise more. Bodhi had known a lot of grifters in the Si Wong Desert, a lot of perfectly nice seeming folks just looking to pull a long con and swindle you out of everything you’ve got. They all had that air about them, that aura that made feeling comfortable in their presence easy. She knew better than that.

Bodhi’s arms unfurled from her chest as she waved a hand through the air to brush off Shaw’s apology. “By all means,” she paid careful attention to the knife Shaw was using to eat, noting its existence and wondering if there were more where it came from while still keeping her cool. “Have at it.” She hadn’t been eating well herself lately and could easily sympathize with Shaw’s hunger. The meager amounts of money she had left allowed her a very strict diet of one small meal a day for a few weeks. By then, Bodhi hoped, she would acquire some sort of employment. The slender girl wasn’t too thrown off by her diet, her family had been fairly poor so Bodhi grew up on strict rations. Still, there were days when her belly ached, empty and loud, for something to sate it.

Concern rose in Bodhi as Shaw guessed her home until the young airbender looked down and realized how incredibly obvious it was. Momentarily distracted by thoughts of home, of the origins of her tan, tattered, sand worn clothes, Bodhi fell silent, fingers pulling and playing with the hem of her shirt. “Not rude,” she flashed a smile that was mostly for Shaw’s sake rather than genuine. You’ve got a good eye.”

“We get mangoes sometimes.” She answered, lifting her eyes once more to Shaw. “They’re normally bruised and bad by the time they get to us, though,” she admitted, graciously taking the fruit from the stranger before her. Bodhi pondered a moment over the answer to Shaw’s question about her bending. Biting her lip, she considered claiming to be a nonbender before finally opening her mouth to speak, “sandbender. Yeah. I am.” With a simple motion Bodhi caused some of the sand and dirt on the alley floor lift and move. With any luck, she thought, Shaw would be unfamiliar with sandbending and wouldn’t realize the strangeness to her style, to the way the earth moved under her control. Sand settling, Bodhi lifted the fruit in her hand, mumbling a quick thanks before popping it into her mouth, savoring the flavor. Even when mangoes and other foods that weren’t indigenous to the desert made it intact, they never tasted quite as good as the city grown fruits Bodhi had eaten since coming to Repubic City.

“I’m Bodhi, by the way,” the young airbender added with a small smile, extending her hand for Shaw to shake.

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WORDS! 775. // TAGS! shaw, open. // SETTING! an alleyway in republic city//

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[Molly]

Spring, 171 ASC, Noon

Shaw saw the sandbender look at her knife and she reassuringly slipped it back into her boot. She wasn't a hostile person unless someone was hostile to her first. She was a runner, not a fighter, unless she was forced to be, in which case she proved very formidable, deadly in fact. But today she was passive. She ate one more slice of mango before wrapping it in a plastic bag and putting it in her bag for later. She knew she didn't have to eat it now, but at least before the days end. By tomorrow it would probably be dried up or bad without its protective skin.

At the mention of bruised mangoes she made a face. She had eaten bruised or bad mangoes before. Worst thing in her life as far as she is concerned. But after years of trial and error she had learned how to pick out the best of any fruit. Except for peaches. Peaches were always a game of lucky, and she had yet to find but a few people who had figured out the system of finding the perfect peach. After zoning off into her world of fruit Shaw noticed she hadn't exactly been paying attention. She needed to really work on that. But her attention was full when the girl mentioned her heritage.

She listened as the girl nervously mentioned the sandbending, looking at the small particles of earth lift from the ground. But that was the thing, they were lifted by something, they didn't rise. She had seen sand bending before, though not up close. She had also seen earthbending. The rock always rose like it was its own being. The sand did not. Then she felt the slight bit of air that came from her actions. She was intrigued. She was sure it was only her, Tenzin, and the four airbending children left in the world as airbenders. But the evidence was obvious, at least to her. She had meditated on all forms of bending, so she could tell if someone was faking at bending, though she never suspected to see someone fake a form of bending using air.

"I am Shaw," Her handshake was strong but not crushing, more trusting than anything. "You seem like someone I could be friends with," she smiled kindly, now leaning opposite of her on another wall. "Even if you are a liar, but I think I can forgive you, given the circumstances. But I'm glad to find an airbender in Republic City." She moved her hands in a smooth circular motion, moving the sand much like Bodhi. "I am a master airbender myself," she said, pulling her glider from its sash, flying high up into the sky, and then plummeting back towards the ground before gracefully landing. She blushed feeling like a show off, but really she was just excited to find another airbender to share training secrets with. That is if Bodhi could airbend more than a little gust of wind.

Shaw smiled reassuringly. "The world is a small place I guess, with lots of people." She put her glider away, held be a snug sash around her waist. "Sorry if I was straight forward, I guess I'm just excited to meet someone besides Tenzin and his kids that can bend air," she blushed. She mentally reprimanded herself for not being more polite or having better people skills. But she never did have those skills, in fact she always avoided people. Maybe the fact that her and Bodhi shared this sacred element made her feel like she should be more polite, and try and make a friend, instead of an enemy.