Republic City

Bae was busy working like he usually was during the week. The ports may not be the most glamorous job in the world, but it paid his bills and so he was fine with it. Besides, he always got to see all sorts of interesting people, and it meant he could spend time around the airships, which he loved.

Sadly, today he was pulling duty down at the water docks, pulling cargo off of a transport ship that had come in from the south. He was dressed in a red short sleeved shirt and a pair of pants, and he had a pair of goggles keeping his messy hair back from his face. He was lifting the boxes effortlessly and stacking them onto a cargo truck to be transported into the city. It wasn't the most interesting job, but he seemed to be getting along alright.

A bell on the deck of a small cargo ship sounded, and the bridge to the dock was lowered, showing off the passengers, and the cargo inside. Many of the men began to unload what goods it held, while dockworkers made their way toward them, lending aid. Two people made their way past the boxes though, apparent by what they wore, that they were not their as normal employees.

"You all set, Rakka?" said an older man, to one that was dressed in an assortments of browns, and a dark red shirt. His messy brown hair moved into his face as he looked to the elder with a grin.

"Of course! Thanks again for the ride, I'll pay you back soon, I promise. When I win the tournament, it won't be a problem at all," Rakka said, nearly puffing out his chest as he spoke.

"Always dreaming big, right?" the older man laughed, before waving to him and his companion and leaving them there. Rakka turned to the girl with him, looking down at her as she only looked up to Republic City in amazement.

"Well, Leta... what do you think?" he asked, looking up to the city as well.

The girl had her mouth slightly open, quite impressed with what she saw. Of course, the city in the North was large, but it wasn't so... She felt a little out of place being here. She wore her typical water tribe outfit, while people here were more unique.

"It's so... Big," she said quietly, making Rakka give a light chuckle.

"Well, let's go. We have a LOT to do. Like find an Earth Bender... and get you to learn same useful water bending techniques."

Leta looked to him, frowning a bit. "Healing is useful," she said, following behind him.

The port was full of ships that day, most of which were cargo. However some ships had travelled from so far as the South pole and their cargo were passengers. A small crowd of water tribe natives as well as some earth nation peoples exited from the deck of a broken down looking fishing boat. Among them was a water tribe teenager, tall for his people but wearing the widest smile his lips could manage.

Bast pushed his dredlocks back and tied them behind his usual bandana as he walked the docks with his one pack slung over his shoulder. He waved jovially to the men and women he'd traveled so far with qnd set off into the city... That is, if he knew where he was going. Dressed in his blue fabrics and furs, it wasn't hard to peg him as an immigrant.

"Excuse me, can you tell ke where I can find the Avatar?" Bast stopped next to the first worker he found to ask for directions.

Baelfire watched people unloading and he snorted, while continuing to move boxes. He would have happily gone around ignoring the benders around him, when someone asked him for directions. He paused and looked the kid over, one eyebrow hiking up. Was he serious?

"What would you wanna see her for?" He is a little bit boggled, but he figures the other guy must be some sort of bender. "She lives out on air temple island I think. Should be easy enough for you to see her since you're one of them." Bast might be confused as to what he was talking about, unless word of the revolution had reached the southern water tribe.

Rakka stopped at the edge of the shipyard, where there was a slight incline up to the street above. He was in thought, as he glanced about them. "Now where would I find a water bender. I could ask my brother's teammate but then... He'd know what I am up to." He sighed, rubbing the back of his head, as he glanced down to Leta. She was looking around to everyone and everything, as if she were a kid in a candy store. 'Pathetic,' he thought. 'Was she really my last resort?' He shook his head as she watched her continue one, taking a moment before he realized she was about to walk right into the street.

"H-Hey! Hold it!" he shouted out, grabbing her by the back of her coat and pulling her out of the way of a passing car. "Come on, you gotta watch where you are going."

Leta looked up at him, scared by the sudden jerk against her coat, then by the passing car. "Oh... sorry," she said quietly, looking as the car continued on as if it were nothing.

"You can't just go walking into streets like that. This place is a lot busier than the city you are used to." He shook his head and glanced back when he heard someone mention the Avatar. Someone was looking for her? Well, that was a little odd. Sure, people would openly praise her when she was around, but no one actually ever sought her out without reason. He raised his brow.

"You looking for the Avatar?" he reiterated, as he waved to the male. "That guy is right. She is on the Air Temple Island. That's where she does her training for being an Avatar; when she isn't training for the Pro-Bender Tournament, of course."

He smirked. What a challenge it would be to face the Avatar, herself, in the Pro-Bender Tournament.

Bast was thanking the dock worker when this second man interrupted. He had been about to ask if the man was angry with him due to the way he spoke about benders. His town in the South pole rarely got up to date news about the big city as they really had no lines of communications or technology. In fact, this whole place was like an alien world to him, full of metal animals and loud noises...

he was slightly overwhelmed already, but his smile never faltered as he stuck out his hand to this new person and spoke to btoh Baelfire and Rakka.

"I'm Bast of the Southern Water tribe; it's nice to meet you both."

Bae couldn't quite keep the sneer off his face when Rakka wandered up, in Bae's mind people like him were exactly why the anti-bender movement was getting so much attention. His attention was returned to Bast when the kid introduced himself, and he was left blinking, wondering if the kid was for real or not. "Baelfire." He didn't say anything to Rakka or the girl he was with, and instead went back to hefting crates into the truck bound for town.

"If you're going to air temple island you'll want to get on one of the boats bound for there. I think they do tourist stuff or some crap like that." He'd gesture off to the left, "It's that way, can't really miss it."

Rakka looked to Baelfire, not quite sure on what to think of the look he had been given. But, it was nothing important, so he only looked back at Bast, a little more interested in the male. He leaned forward, to inspect the male's clothing, only due to the fact he had said he was from the Southern Water Tribe. "I'm Rakka... and this is Leta -- You wouldn't happen to be a bender, would you?" he asked, slowly, before giving a glance at Leta, who seemed too immersed in looking at other things to pay attention to their conversation. "Like, fighting type water bender? You interested in joining a Pro-Bending team? Or at least training someone on it?"

Leta blinked when she heard the 'Pro-Bending team', and looked over to her companion, being pulled back into the current topic. Though she didn't say anything to the two of them. She actually turned her attention to Baelfire, speaking to him.

"Would you mind showing us to the boats that go to Air Temple Island? I'm interested in seeing the Avatar as well. It has been a very long time since a water bender was the Avatar. I'm glad the cycle has come to our people."

Rakka looked to Leta, frowning. "We don't have time to go and... ugh--" he said, deciding that it was whatever at this point. He was going to need to convince Bast to help him, so might as well play along.

Ashya looked out at Republic City as she got off the boat, she had taken a risk coming here. She left the fire nation to hopefully join the Pro Bending league, something that was looked down upon by her parents. She had come here without their blessing, but she loved the entertainment of it. She wanted to have a taste of the excitement, and now she was here.

After she made it onto the dock she glanced around, her hand gripping her bag. This was her first time in Republic City, and she had no idea where anything was. Her green eyes scanned the area around her, looking for a map. "Excuse me Ma'am?" she called out to an older lady, walking over to her. "Where can I find the Pro-bending arena?" Ashya asked kindly, putting a smile on her face. The old woman's eyes enlarged and then she scoffed, mumbling something about benders and walked away from her. Ashya frowned, she had heard about the anti-benders. She furrowed her brows together in a scowl, "Least benders have manners!" she yelled, turning her back from the woman.

"Thank you very much for the information. Is everyone here in the city as nice as you?" He beamed at Bae in a completely serious way as he thanked him for the information. It was clear at this point that the Southerner was entirely too nice and possibly oblivious. He turned to Rakka and his smile faltered somewhat as he went on about Pro Bending. He'd never heard of such a thing, really.

"No, I'm afraid I can't help you with that, sir." He made an apologetic gesture and turned toward the direction Bae indicated, and frowned. "Could you show me exactly where? If you have a moment?" It might be easy for Baelfire not to miss it, but with all these knew wonders, Bast was likely to walk right past anything of import. Also, some woman was yelling at an old lady just up the way and he wanted to avoid her...

Bae is asked by a girl to show her where the boats were, and he suddenly turned shy. "Uh...sure...I guess..." Though it was totally ruining his image to be seen with all these benders. He'd give Bast a look that said he clearly thought the guy was joking, "No. So you had better watch your back." It was a fair warning, some of the more extreme equalists would probably give him a hard time if they ran into him.

He finished loading the last crate he had onto the truck, and he'd bang on the side to let the driver know that it was full. "It's my lunch break. I'd be heading that way anyway. Come on little ducklings." He couldn't help the slight dig, it was just his luck he'd get stuck leading a bunch of benders around the docks. Hopefully nobody important would see!

Glancing back to a little shout given by a young female, toward an older woman, Rakka had been distracted from the conversation after Bast had said he couldn't help.

"I think it is that way..." he yelled out to her, pointing toward the edge of the water, down a ways, across the water from where the Air Temple was. He was a bit confused on seeing the girl, and almost wanted to ask something, but looked when Leta gave a tug on his shirt.

"We get to see the Avatar..." she said, quietly. Rakka would just sigh, shaking his head. He, himself, wasn't all that excited. He had seen her before (not up close) in the Pro-Bending League. He gave a shrug to Bae when he was told to follow.

"So, you don't know any techniques? At all? Even just a little tiny one... like lifting some water and slinging it at someone? I don't remember what you all call it... water whip or something--" He glanced at Bast. Seriously, this guy wasn't going to help him? Was he really going to have to search all over Republic City for someone that would help? That would just be his luck.

Leta, now seeming to notice Bast a bit more as well, watched him quietly. Usually, any Southern Water Tribe bender she meant had a different sort of personality.

Her attention would slowly turn back toward Bae, and she would speak again. "How long have you lived here, Baelfire?" She was curious, since he seemed to know quite a bit about his surroundings, and seemed less interested in the things they were intrigued about.

Ashya had heard a young man shout to her, and turned to see the direction he had pointed. Sure enough there it was, and she felt her anticipation rise. She turned back towards the guy who had been kind enough to help her out, and made her way through the crowd closer to him.

"Thank you!" she hollered towards him, and gave a slight wave. She then turned back towards the arena, she would have to visit there later, first she needed to find somewhere to stay.

Bast showered Baelfire in thanks one more time as the small group began to walk towards the ferry. Now that he had a direction to go in, he was able to soak in all the strangeness of this place; the closeness of the buildings, the ground being firm and solid, but not ice, the noise and clamor of the people... There were at least ten times his village in this dock alone, he figured. He was truly out of place and he was loving every moment of his adventure.

Unfortunately for Rakka though, Bast had tuned him out entirely unintentionally. Since he had no idea what Pro-bending was, he had no idea what techniques were called and his interest was easily lost. His eyes swept the scene of the docks; people working, lifting, moving and bending goods from ship to land and land to ship. Shouting caught his ears and Bast's head spun to watch as a short man flung a crate nearly twice his size into a ship's hull. He then proceeded to do something of a victory dance before tossing the next one... Soon the ship was full, but the short man was being screamed out by someone else. Something about him needing to be more careful with----

Bast walked right into a woman wearing fire nation robes. He dropped his bag and soon collapsed his posture into an apologetic pose, trying to collect his things while looking into her face. A white rodent shimmied out of his collar and ran up his head, chattering angrily at the woman as if it was her fault.

"Falu, no need to be so mean!" Bast cupped the polar mouse and attempted to stuff him back in his shirt folds. "I'm really sorry, miss."

Baelfire seemed flustered with Leta's attention on him, "About two years now. It's a nice city...mostly." It was certainly a big city, and it was easy to get lost. Baelfire seemed to know exactly where he was going though, as far as the docks went, he knew them like the back of his hand.

Bae was perfectly content to lead them along, until Bast ran into a fire nation woman and fell to the ground. "Honestly." He'd stop and he'd offer his arm to help Bast up, careful to avoid the chittering creature on his head. "What is that??" He'd never been to either of the poles, so he didn't know much about the animals there. "Be careful where you walk." Hopefully the woman wasn't hopping mad! He'd turn to her, "He's new here. Really new. Just got off the boat a few minutes ago." Hopefully that would excuse the kid.

Leta nodded her head to Bae as he explained, and looked over to Bast when he seemed to have run into someone. She stopped, looking at the situation, a little concerned to what was going on. Her eyes looked over to Bast... and his pet. She let out a surprised gasp, and quickly drew closer to him, to look at the tiny white hamster that he was trying to stuff into his shirt.

"A white hamster! I haven't seen many of those. They really are native to the Southern Pole, but even there, they are hard to find," she said, giving a glance at Bae, hoping that explained what the creature was a little. "You said his name is Falu, Bast?"

Rakka, who had nearly burst out laughing at the whole situation, was calming down now. He couldn't help but find it entertaining how Bast was so passive, and quite a bit oblivious at the same time. What a combination.

"A white hamster, huh?" he said, looking to Bast, but glancing over to the woman he had run into, a little more curious about her than the rodent.

Ashya suddenly collided with someone as she too was watching the man haul crates onto a ship. She stumbled back some, dropping her bag and all of her things spilled out onto the ground. "I'm sorry!" she said, kneeling down and picking up her belongings from the ground and stuffing them back into the bag. She was suddenly distracted by a little white rodent who was chirping at her angrily. She blinked, as the boy she had run into apologized repeatedly. "It's alright, my fox ferret is the same way." she smiled, looking up at all of them.

Ashya noticed the older looking guy glancing at her, when she was done gathering up her belongings she stood and extended her hand. "My names Ashya, I am also new here. I come from the fire nation." she introduced herself. "Are you benders?" she asked, a bit of caution in her voice hoping they weren't anti-benders.

Bast was trying to think of what a fox ferret might look like; it was probably very cute. He loved animals. Finally coming to a compromise, Falu settled half under the fur lining of Bast's collar and chattered his teeth together in annoyance. He had grabbed a couple of Ashya's things by accident and handed than back to the woman. "My name is Bast, from the Southern Water Tribe. It's very nice to meet you and sorry again for walking into you." He took her hand and gave it a weird shake. When he released her hand he gestured behind him to Rakka and Leta. "I just met these nice people but they've been going on about benders since. Are you a bender yourself, Miss Ashya?"

He reslung his pack over his shoulder and smiled pleasantly. He was meeting so many new people.

Bael watched Leta look at the little mouse, "Never heard of those before." They're all standing around and talking and he feels a little awkward just standing there, so he scoots off to the side some and crosses his arms. He'll let them talk for a moment before clearing his throat, "Did you guys still want to go to the ship for Air Temple Island or not?" Yeah, he's a little impatient and feeling uneasy around all these benders.

Rakka watched as Bast spoke with the woman, and he gave a sort of huff. He placed his hand on the male's shoulder, pushing him out of the way so Ashya could see him fully. "I'm Rakka. We may or may not have exchanged some shouts earlier. I am, indeed, a bender. A Pro-Bender at that." He brushed his words off like they were nothing. "What takes you out to the Pro-Bending Arena? Gonna watch some of that exciting action? Don't worry, I'm not playing today, so you aren't missing much."

"You aren't playing ever if we don't find --" Leta started, but found Rakka's hand cupped over her mouth.

"Currently we are going to see the Avatar. Just to meet her, and everything. Would you like to come with us?" Rakka said, giving Ashya a grin.

Leta pulled from Rakka's grip with a frown, and she looked at Bast to see if he had gathered all his things. Once done, she would give an apologetic nod to Bae. "Sorry, we can continue."