Republic City

"Leta has never turned on you. I have--" and then he was being pounced on by Taru and his face lights up. He cradled the ferret ans kissed its head. He noticed that Leta had come up to them as well. He was about to say Hi when she addressed Bael. He fell quiet to watch the exchange.

"Yeah, Bael don't be..." But Bael is making this face and questioning Leta. bast was about as fed up as someone like him could be. "Come here!" He spread his arms and grabbed both people, pulling them into a groups hug, Taru taking a better stance on his shoulder.

Leta looked at Bast as he pulled all of them into a hug, and she couldn't help but smile that he was helping. She put her arm around them, and looked at each of them. "I promise I won't hurt you, okay, Bael?" She spoke quietly, as if she didn't want anyone else to hear. After a moment, she would pull away from them, and pull Taru off Bast's shoulders.

"Don't be upset anymore, okay?" she said, giving him a stern look.

Thankfully Bael is pulled into a hug before Bae can remind him that those things just haven't happened yet. They'd only known each other for about a day after all. He's awkward in the hug, like he just isn't used to giving them or recieving them. Leta's quiet words to Bae have him flushing, and when the hug is broken, he'll step back and cross his arms. He's not angry really, it's more like he needed to shield himself from them. "Alright." He wouldn't be upset, he'd let it drop.

"You should go back to your friend before he thinks I stole you away again."

Bast could have cried with delight. He had almost been about to say something to Bael that might change the very opinion Bael had of him. He was glad that he did not have to divulge that information just yet. He took his arms off Leta and Bael and stood back, hands on his hips.

He felt a sense of accomplishment having helped to quell Bael's fury.

Taru nuzzled his head against Leta's arm, finding that he quite liked being held. The girl herself would watch Bael for the longest time as if she weren't sure what he was talking about when he mentioned going back to her friend. "I wasn't stolen by you the first time," she said. "I came willingly." Of course, she didn't understand that he was sarcastically saying that, trying to point out that Rakka had probably overreacted. She watched him for a moment, and then looked at Bast, and then back to Bael.

"Don't try anything on Bast. I don't think he is like that..." And with that, she would turn around, and walk away... all alone... into the park.

Bae's brow furrowed, "Why would I...what? No! I told you I'm not gay!!" He's probably getting looks from people around the park and his cheeks color. He gives up. He's just going to go sit under a tree and grumble to himself about crazy girls and not being gay, don't mind him.

Bast was still pretty confused about the whole "gay" thing. No one bothered explaining it to him though and he had to let it go. Bael was no longer angry, but he didn't seem happy either. But Leta was leaving and what she said to him seemed to put Bael's mood right back down; the man was grumbling under a tree for goodness sakes!

"Uhm, Bael?" His stomach was growling and he'd only just realized. "I'm hungry." Hadn't he just eaten? Twice?!

Bael stopped his grumbling and looked up when Bast spoke to him, and that might have actually been a smile playing on his lips, "Well...let's get you something to eat then shall we?" He'd have to stand then, and he's looking around, before picking a direction, "C'mon, this way." He may run into the others with the way he was going, but if he did he would pay them no mind.

They'd probably find a cart that was selling various foods, and he'd let Bast pick out what he wanted and then Bae'd pay for it. Nothing for himself, he wasn't all that hungry.

Bast was clearly always hungry and this place had so much more to choose from than his home. He basically lived on a meat and fish diet. Nothing grew in the south pole in the way of plant life.

"Uhm," He couldn't choose from the skewers of food roasting at the cart. He chose one whole veggie on and one meat stick and looked to Bael to see if he'd made an alright choice.

Bae would nod to Bast's choices, and he'd pay for them, before walking over to a bench to sit down, so that Bast could sit and eat his snack. Baelfire was just watching the people walk by and he seemed to be in deep thought over something. Finally he'd turn to Bast, "Leta didn't seem interested, but you'll go to the meeting with me right?" ...Did Bast even remember what Bae was talking about? It had been awhile since their original conversation topic had been discussed.

Bast was glad he picked something good and he was really glad to find that the vegetables were really delicious. He was happily chewing away when Bael basically pushed him into a corner. He really didn't care to find out anything about the equalists, but he also did not want to say no to this friend who was so good to him.

"Sure, I will go." He swallowed his bite and stared at the rest.

Bael and Bast spent the day together, probably spending most of it eating...at least on Bast's part. Bael took care of him, and showed him a few different things around the city, like the best vantage point to see the statue of Aang. Bast would probably be very surprised to find that Bael did respect the former avatar quite a bit, he hadn't always been a rage filled hate machine when it came to benders.

It was soon nighttime, and Bael was sneaking Bast into a building that resembled an abandoned warehouse. They were pretty near the back, and there was a lot of shuffling about and people speaking in hushed whispers about what was going on. Bael stood with his arms crossed, he was under the impression that this meeting would be like the others, where there would be equalists bringing up valid points and maybe some chi blocking lessons. He was absolutely not prepared for what was about to happen.

His first clue that something was different was the fact that Amon himself was soon appearing on stage, going off about the revelation and what he could do. It was then that some people were brought onto stage, and a man Bae recognized from the bender gangs he'd been ranting about was pulled forward. He's showing off his firebending, and Bael's subconsciously shifting to stand in front of Bast, in a protective stance. It's soon shown exactly what Amon can do when he easily defeats the firebending man, and takes his bending. Bael's in shock, and he feels a little sick, he wanted things equal, not reversed with Benders being the ones persecuted.

It's around then that the bags are lifted off of the heads of the remaining people on stage. Bae was far too upset by Amon to notice, so it was up to Bast to see that two of the guys up on stage were...people they knew! Oh no!

Bast was happy to follow Bael where ever he would take him. He enjoyed the food and the places and any information Bael was willing to give about anything. He was surprised to find Bael liked Aang and Bael was probably wishing he hadn't said anything because Bast would talk at length about it.

When they got to the rally, Bast immediately felt out of place in his tribal outfit and tried to be as small as possible. It wa shard for him. People turned to regard him and made strange faces, but he waved at them anyhow. He felt wrong being here but he could not say no to Bael.

Then Amon was on stage and a shiver went down Bast's spine. He kept his eyes averted from the masked man as he was moving across the stage until the fire bender started. He was curious to see where this was going right up until he had the man kneeling... and then he did something abhorrant.

"Bael... I can't... did he just..." He was blown away by what he had just seen and sick to his stomach

Every part of him rejected what was going on here and he felt his heart drop that there were more people on the stage. "Bael can we please leave... " He was on the verge of tears. But it got worse. Everyone on stage was revealed.

"Thats Tanaf. And Rakka. BAEL THEY HAVE TANAF AND RAKKA!"

When his hood was taken off his face, Rakka looked around, dazed and confused. He almost didn't know why he was here, but he had over heard the Equalists talking in the truck as they transported them there. And he wasn't about to get mixed up in any of this. "Hey! I'm not apart of this stupid gang! We were just looking for our friend and were worried that they had taken he--" He felt a hard hit to the back of his head and he fell forward, his head swimming with dizziness.

He watched as another firebender... lost his bending. What the hell was going on? How was that even possible? Rakka was scared. Here he was, in a line of benders that were going to lose their bending and he couldn't stop it. This wasn't good...

Bael grabbed Bast's arm, "Shh!" He wasn't the type of person that panicked in a stressful situation. He definitely didn't want to draw attention to himself and Bast, because several people were already looking at them strangely. All hell was about to break loose however, because soon the room was filling up with smoke, and lots of things were happening at once. People were trying to run out, but Bael grabbed Bast's arm and headed towards the stage. Rakka and Tanaf couldn't get away because they were tied up, and Amon seemed to be taken with something in the background, leaving a couple chiblockers left guarding the men on stage.

The smoke was thick now, and Bael was still pulling Bast along, "Untie Tanaf when we get up there, then take him and Rakka and run. Run to the park, I'll meet you guys there." He's slipping up onto stage, and he'll head to Rakka to untie him, but partway through this, a man saw him through the mist and engaged him in a fight. Bael had been taking secret lessons for months, so he could hold his own, and he didn't have to worry about his bending being blocked. Hopefully Bast, Rakka and Tanaf had the good sense to run like Bael had suggested because it was taking all his focus to keep the chi blockers occupied.

Bast was trying to do what Bael was saying but his heart was beating somewhere in his throat and the chaos around him was throwing off his focus. As a man of the tribe he had been trained to fight, the defend but that training never really jived with his personality. Bael was keeping a much more level head.

He is told to get Tanaf and Rakka free and his body is moving on it's own. He was on the stage and moving toward his friend and the other guy. There were other benders lined up also and Bast would be sure to untie everyone. The steam was too thick to get out, though. It was too hard to see! Bast was forced to do something he really hadn't wanted to.

He lifted his hands and took a deep breath. As his hands moved fluidly to the sides so did the steam, allowing the others to see their way out.

"Go to the park! Wait for us there!" And he turned to find Bael.

Rakka looked up at Bael when he was untied, and he had never been more relieved to see someone he hated in his entire life. He quickly stood, and helped Tanaf up. An Equalist lunged at them, and Rakka raised his leg, sending a wave of fire to knock the man back. "Bast! Have you seen Leta?" he asked the water bender... Wait... water bender. "You are a water bender! You told me... you said!"

Now was not the time, he told himself, and he quickly ran out with the others, hoping his friends would follow soon... Even Bael.

Baelfire was busy fighting chi-blockers so people could get away, so thankfully he missed Bast bending and Rakka yelling at him for it. One of the chi blockers gets in a good hit when Bast turns to try and find Bael, and Bael's arm hangs limply at his side, one of his shoulders probably dislocated.

He'd glance behind him to make sure the people on stage had gotten away and that's when he spotted Bast, "Run!" He didn't want these guys getting a hold of Bast, he was afraid of what they would do to him, even if he wasn't a bender. His turning cost him though, one of the blockers hit him again and caused him to stumble and fall to the ground.

Bast was not about to leave him there, especially not after he was dropped to the ground. The tribesman snapped then and the chi blockers had no idea what they were in for. His hands lifted, Bast began the dance of water bbending, harnessing the moisture all around him. He pulled the droplets together and froze them. The flurry of icicles was thrown at the chi blockers trying to subdue Bael. If any of them tried to get closr to the man again, Bast would freeze their feet.

He crouched to get Bael over his shoulder and made for the exit himself.