Republic City

"Oh, no I couldn't fight," he shook his hands at Rakka. "I could never fight the Avatar." He flushed slightly which was hard to see on his dark skin. "And I think Leta would not be too happy if I took her place. Besides, she's probably a very good bender." He smiled at her approvingly.

When Rakka offered to walk him back, he accepted graciously. The cit had been a very confusing place and he couldn't help but feel people around him were getting angry at the way he walked the streets. Distantly, he missed the frozen tundra where there were no rules to walking.

Rakka sighed heavily, and looked to Leta. "Well, could you at least help her learn some things? We need a water bender to teach her, and since you know water bending... and stuff..." He nudged Bast lightly. "Eh? Eh? Come on, you gotta make this somewhat easier for me."

Leta looked around them, before she decided to speak. "Where are we going?"

"Oh, yes... we are going back to Bael's place, right? Which way is it?"

"Oh, I never said I was a bender," He smiled apologetically. "You have a water bender from the Northern tribe where they actually have schools and teachers."

He looked to Leta, and pulled out his makeshift map. "Uh, Bael drew this for me. I guess we just follow it in reverse now?"

He handed the map to Rakka.

Rakka recalled all conversations with Bast in his mind. He felt that he had been told that Bast was a bender, but maybe he was just assuming. Perhaps he was just being stereotypical when he saw a water bender. "Fine, fine... so the search continues... Unfortunately, Leta was never taught offensive skills. She only knows healing, because they felt that women should only know how to heal, or something like that."

He took the map and looked it over, trying to navigate the streets from what the map told them.

After a few minutes of walking, he would stop and look up to a building. "Does this look familiar?" he said, turning to Bast. This was, after all, the end result of the map.

"Well that;s a silly way to look at bending. We have so few benders in the South that they pretty much learn whatever they want to." Bast had been sure to follow how Rakka walked through the city; stopping at all the right times. Hopefully the people in the strange metal beasts would be less angry at him now. He was confident that Rakka knew where he was going and with the map in hand he followed the bender where ever he said.

When they reached the building, Bast did his best to look at it and hoped it was right. "To be honest, they all look the same to me."

Rakka let out a long sigh, still not sure what to think of Bast. He was definitely something different. He looked up, already seeing that Leta had made her way up to the door and was knocking it. Apparently, she had decided that she wouldn't play a guessing game, and was going to find out if this was the right place.

Bael was home, and he knew exactly when the tournament ended because he had been listening to it on the radio. He was pacing the apartment, and he was about to go out and look for Bast when someone knocked on the door. He'd head over and jerk it open, "Where hav--" Blink blink. "Hi Leta." He'd peek around, "Is Bast with you?" He could probably see Bast and Rakka from where he was, and he didn't look exactly pleased to see Rakka there. One would think that since they were both from the fire nation, they'd have something in common, but he seemed to be irrationally judgmental of the firebender. His attention would drift back to Leta, "Did you want to come in?"

Bast lifted his hand and waved to Bael when he heard his name spoken. "They wanted to walk me home." He thanked Rakka and Leta and waited to see if either of them wanted to come inside. "The game was really interesting, Baelfire, you should have come!"

"Oh yes, thanks," Rakka would say, walking past Leta and Bael into the house. Leta watched him, glanced back at Bast, and then nodded to Bael to thank him for the offer. She would too make her way inside, and heard Rakka immediately respond to Bast's comment.

"It was really cool. With the Avatar there and all. I've never seen such amazing bending... Well, except for the fire bending. I could probably show them a few techniques." He glanced at Bael, momentarily forgetting the male did not like talking about bending. "I mean... you know. Ehm--" He coughed a bit at the end.

Baelfire really didn't want Rakka in his house, but he moved out of the way to let everyone in, and then he shut the door. He would go and sit on his bed, "I'm sure it was fascinating." He clearly didn't care, or at least he was trying very hard to make it seem like he didn't care.

Rakka brings up firebending, and Bael seems to bristle. For being from the Fire Nation, he really had a hate for fire benders. Other than that, he's going to keep quiet. He feels strange with all of them in his place, and it feels crowded.

Bast was last to enter back into Bael's home. He was getting tired now. In the South pole the sun was up 24 hours a day at this time of year, so he wasn't used to the dark at night. Well, he wasn't used to night time at all right now. The stars being out threw him off entirely and his body was telling him to sleep! He sat with his legs crossed beneath him on his bedroll and hoped they wouldn't be up long to entertain Rakka and Leta.

Stifling a yawn, he spoke to Bael."Sorry Bael, I know you don't find it interesting."

Rakka was definitely one not to take a hint right away. So he didn't pick up on the fact that Bast was tired and that Bael definitely didn't want him there. And he actually was pacing around the placing, looking at nearly everything that Bael owned.

Leta frowned as she watched him, and turned to Bael with an apologetic nod. "Thank you for inviting us in, and taking in Bast. I'd hate to see a fellow water tribe member out on the streets. Have a pleasant evening..."

She, apparently, had picked up on the signs that they should leave, and had already lightly grabbed Rakka by his shirt and nudged him toward the door. He protested at first, but soon found himself out the door.

Baelfire flushed when Leta spoke to him, "I...you too Leta..." He'd watch them go and his eyes would drift to Bast, "I have to work in the morning." If Leta and Rakka were gone, he'd get up and lock the door. "I made myself dinner. You can have the leftovers." He'd gesture to the stove, where there was a plate sitting with what he'd made on it.

With that he was climbing onto his bed, "Turn out the lamp when you're done."

Bast's stomach was now at war with his brain. He thanked Bael for the food, but he wasn't so sure he could eat it right then. Last time he ate right before sleeping he had terrible dreams about being chased by rabid otter penguins and they had forced him to slide on his stomach right into the freezing ocean.

He decided having freaky dreams like that in Bael's apartment was probably not a good idea. He put the food away for now and turned off the lights. Soon he was lying on his bedroll still in his clothes and falling asleep.

Rakka would lead Leta back to her Inn, making sure she got back safe. "Well, have a good night, I suppose," Rakka would say, rubbing the back of his head as Leta looked up to the sign of the Inn. "I'll be by, bright and early, okay? We have to find an Earth Bender to partner with, and then a water bender to -- Are you even listening to me?"

Leta was now picking up something off the ground. She held it up to him, showing she had found a Yuan. "Yes, I am listening. And this is good luck." She pocketed it, and then turned to the Inn, disappearing inside.

"I... REALLY don't get her sometimes..." he said to himself, walking back to his own house.

---

And he kept his word on arriving early. Rakka was outside of the Inn, yawning loudly. He wasn't used to getting up so early. And to be honest, he hated it. But he had to find his team if he were ever going to participate in a Pro Bending Tournament.

Leta was out, bright and early, sitting on the bottom of the steps, throwing out some bread crumbs to some birds. She looked up at Rakka when he was close enough, and stood, brushing her hands off.

"You are up early," Rakka said to her. "Well, now let's search for an Earth Bender..."

Baelfire was probably awake after Bast had fallen asleep, and when Bast woke up in the morning, he'd probably find that he'd been covered up by a blanket. Bael was already up and about making breakfast...for the both of them. He was making enough noise that he was probably going to wake Bast up, but he didn't care. The kid was going to have to get up if he wanted to go looking for a job.

Bast actually woke up hot for one of the first times in his life. It was rarely hot where he came from and he could have done without the blanket. But he realized that Bael must have done him the favor and he wouldn't say anything. When he woke fully, he folded the blanket given to him and placed it in Baels bed.

Then the smell of food hit his nose and all at once it was like he and Falu were on strings and being pulled by their noses to Baelfire's cooking.

"That smells amazing. What is it?"

"Breakfast." He'd just shove a plate in Bast's direction, "Eat up. I have to get to work, and if you want to talk to the boss about a job we need to go soon." If Bast took his plate, Bael would take his own and he'd lean against the counter to start eating.

He's silent for a moment before asking, "What do you think of Leta?"

Bast accepted the food despite it being shoved at him. He portioned some with his finger and fed it to Falu also. In fact, he was so hungry he pulled out the food from last night and ate that as well. Bael might actually think Bast was unfillable until the boy stopped eating and slouched back. He rubbed his stomach as if pregnant and sighed.

"That was really good. You're a great cook Bael. Thank you." He looked at the man a little strangely when he asked about Leta. "Uhm, I like her. She's really nice, but she's also really quiet. Why do you ask?"


After eating he waddled back to is stuff and readied himself to go out.

"I've got it!" Rakka exclaimed, as he led Leta down the sidewalk, heading toward no place in particular. "The training arena! I'm sure there will be water benders there that can train you! And maybe if we are lucky... We will find a straggling earth bender."

Leta watched him as an obnoxious look came over him. He took her by the hand and picked up his pace, leading her off toward said training Arena. The whole place was open to benders looking to practice, so they only needed to walk in and find who they needed.

But the place was actually quiet. Maybe because it was so early, that no one was practicing yet.

Rakka let out a frustrated sigh, and crossed his arms. "Okay, okay. Well, let's see. We could practice what you know so far."

He went over to the little grooves in the ground that had the flowing water in them. He pointed to it and Leta looked down.

"Let's see what you can do. Come on, Leta~" Rakka said, trying to cheer her on.
Leta stared at the water for a long while... and uncomfortably long while, before she raised her hands. Water flowed upward toward them, before settling into a sloppy sphere over her hands. She stood there after that, looking at him.

"Okay. That's good. Now, what else can you do?" Rakka asked, rubbing his chin as if studying the water. Leta only looked at him, not sure what he wanted her to do.

"Come on, you gotta be able to do something other than make water float... I'm sure it isn't hard to just fling water at someone --" His face was met with the sphere of water, and he found his upper half drenched. He frowned and looked at Leta, who gave a small laugh, and turned away to inspect the arena.

Rakka blinked at her. "Did-- Did you just laugh?" he asked. After a while, he would decide to practice his own bending, throwing out a few moves that would produce fire, and Leta now entranced with the movements he made, trying to study him now.