Republic City

Bast stopped walking and made a pouting face. "I am really confused. What are you guys talking about? The Northern Water Tribe is made of Equalists? Then how can you be a bender, Leta?"

Leta shook her head. "No, we don't have equalists there... I was talking about people who have preferences like Bael... I'm surprised I hadn't caught it before, really. He invites you to stay at him home, he likes to go for walks in the park, and he fusses over you like you might be hurt at the tiniest little thing. Just don't let your other man let you see you with Bast, Bael," she said, her voice in a near monotone, dream-like way. Taru stopped eating the leaf, and looked up at her, as if he understood what she was saying, and finally caught on.

Baelfire stopped dead in his tracks, "Wait what???" He's shaking his head hard, "No. I was talking about equalists! I have no idea what you're talking about!" He's still shaking his head, as if that will make Leta's words go away, "I look after Bast because he's just a kid! I don't have any other men! Where would you get an idea like that??" He seemed pretty distressed, but that was probably natural considering the girl he liked had just accused him of being gay.

Bast looked from Leta to Bael and still wasn't following. And then Bael was freaking out about talking about equalists and how Bast was a kid that needed to be looked after.

"I'm not a kid," he stated almost dead pan. He really was not following this conversation well.

Leta looked at Bael for a long time, before she offered a sympathetic smile. She walked over to him, and touched his arm lightly. "It's okay, I won't tell anyone. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable..." She was surprised to feel Taru running up her leg and onto her shoulder, as if something had frightened him. That was when she heard someone shouting behind them.

"Leeeeeeta!" Rakka was calling out, making his way over to her. "Why did you run off?! Do you know how worried I was? Well I mean... For the team... I was worried. Don't run off without telling me!"

Leta looked at him, surprised. "Oh. Sorry," she said, and held out Taru to his face. The fire ferret looked into Rakka's amber eyes, with his only little beady brown ones. "Bael gave this to me, as a gift."

"Oh... it's cute..." Rakka said, looking at the ferret, before giving a glance over to Bael. A look that one couldn't be quite sure was in it.

Baelfire was just completely confused, "Tell anyone what?" He'd chosen to ignore Bast saying that he wasn't a kid, to Bae, he was a kid. Rakka is there then, and Bae just frowns at him. He can't say anything though, because he'd probably be pretty worried if Bast just wandered off without a word.

"The ports are closed. I was just showing them the city." He crossed his arms and looked away from the little group, still looking for that man that was usually here at the park.

Bast was about to ask Leta to explain this to him completely when Rakka was shouting at them. He hung back as Leta and Rakka spoke and his wondered why Bael was frowning at him. He waved at Rakk a little to say hi as the man was busy with the ferret and Bael.

Then Bast looked past Rakka to the man running up behind him. Then bast was looking down at the man. "Oh, Hai."

Tanaf was puffing behind Rakka, having run after the man. It took him a little longer since he had shorter legs. "Uh, hi."

Rakka didn't really seem to care too much about introducing Tanaf to the small group. He was still eyeing Bael, but he would eventually turn to Leta, giving Taru a quick pat on the head. "Well, I suppose as long as you are okay..." he said, though he didn't like the idea of Bael giving her a tour. That was his job! "If you wanted to go sight seeing, you should have told me so. I could have given you the Grand tour." He swept his arms out beside him, and looked out to the park.

"Wait a second..." He stopped for a long moment, before looking around again. A frown slowly formed on his face, and he quickly glared at Bael. "This is where the Equalist come and preach about what they think is unfair! Are you an idiot, Bael?! Bringing her here like that? If they found out that she was a Bender, and wasn't an Equalist supporter, they would eat her alive!"

Rakka quickly grabbed Leta's hand and pulled her away from the small group. At the sudden jerking, the girl had almost dropped her fire ferret friend, but both clung to each other in the end. She looked back to the others, not sure what was happening, but she followed Rakka nonetheless. It wasn't a quick gait. But rather, Rakka slowed once he was a ways from Bael, seeming to relax a bit more.

Baelfire just rolled his eyes, he'd never really been a fan of Rakka. Then the man was exploding and Bael looked pretty angry, "Yes, because you can always tell when someone is a bender just by looking at them." He thought Rakka was an idiot, and then he's dragging Leta off. Bael just waves to them, he had no desire to hang around Rakka, and it didn't look as if Leta cared she was being dragged away.

His attention turned to Bast, "You staying, or are you going with your stupid bender friends?" Honestly he expected Bast to pick Rakka and Leta so he wouldn't be too surprised if the kid wandered off. Poor Tanaf was completely ignored, he'd shown up with Rakka, and therefore Bae had no interest in him.

As mentioned, Tanaf was completely ignored and he kept his mouth shut, surprisingly. He also knew this was equalist territory and wouldn't want to be caught here either.

Bast on the other hand was hurt by the whole situation. Leta was being towed away and Rakka and Bael were yelling. And then Bael was snapping at him. His frown pulled further down when he was pulled into it.


"They're not stupid, Bael," he said quietly in a non confrontational tone.

Leta gave another glance to the group she was being pulled away from, and then she found Rakka had stopped at the edge of the park, not far from the koi pond she had visited early. He turned to her, and frowned.

"Leta, you can't just... you can't go running off with people you barely know. Especially ones that say they hate Benders!" He rubbed the back of his head, as he held back an angry sigh. When he looked back down to her, he was surprised to actually find Leta frowning at him. He blinked for a moment, before he heard her speak.

"Maybe he doesn't like benders, because people like us are rude to him... like you just were." She turned on her heel, and walked off, deeper into another place in the park, away from both groups.

"Leta," he called out after her, trying to follow, but the look she gave him told him not to even think about it. He stopped and watched her wander off silently, not knowing what to do. He couldn't just let her go off on her own, but by the time he resolved to go after her anyway, he had lost sight of her.

"Aren't they? Guess that means you decided. Try not to get run over." With that, he's heading off in a different direction, away from both Rakka and Leta. Of course, this was also leading him away from Bast, which he would probably regret just as soon as the kid was out of his sight. He was grumpy, and trying to convince himself he didn't really care what any of them thought.

Bast was torn. He didn't know whether to go after Leta or Bael or stay there and calm Rakka or actually meet the new guy? he chose Bael as Rakka chose Leta. "They're not stupid Baelfire! You like Leta, how could you call her stupid?" He caught up with the storming Bael easily and pleaded his case.

"Look, you're both just getting upset over nothing. No one's hurt each other, so why not actually talk it out? Running from an issue will not resolve. Bael, I don't want to chose between friends!"

Rakka was left pacing, trying to think of what to do. He eventually headed back toward Tanaf, Bael, and Bast, but found two of them to be gone. He made he way to Tanaf, and apologized. He had just wanted to start a Pro Bending team!! But things just kept getting in the way!

Leta quickly made her way down the side walk, not even bothered by the fact that she didn't know anyone around her. After a few minutes of trekking, she would eventually stop, sitting on a park bench and setting Taru beside her, who wandered to the other end to look around, and then back to her, to curl up in her lap.

"Uh, we'll find her, man." Tanaf patted Rakka on the back a little over zealously. He wasn't very good at comforting apparently. He stood awkwardly next to Rakka until he decided what the pair would do. Honestly, he didn't have any friends so he had no where else to be.

"Nobody said I liked Leta. She didn't seem overly upset to be taken away anyway." He's just going to keep walking, but when Bast said that they weren't hurting people, he'd turn around abruptly and the glare he was giving Bast could have melted faces. "Not hurting anybody? Do you know what people like them did during the hundred years war? Do you know what gangs of benders like them do to people like me? And then they sit on their city council made up of ONLY people like them, and make it illegal for me to learn how to defend myself?" It's obviously a personal subject for him, Rakka personally hadn't done anything to him like that, but he was being racist and lumping all benders together.

Bast's face fell when Bael turned on him. "She just walked away from Rakka too..."

Then Bael is going on and on about how Bender's are wrong and Bast wanted to cry. In a small voice he asked Bael; "Do you know what benders did to my people in that war? They took other benders and used or killed them. You should not hate benders just because of wicked people. I don't hate the soldiers who raided the South and left fire in their wake; they were wicked people but they would have been wicked if they could bend or not."

Bael hadn't seen her walk away from Rakka because he hadn't been watching. Bast was just looking more and more upset, and Bael felt as if he'd just kicked a puppy. Some of his anger faded away, "I've never met a bender that didn't turn on someone weaker than them. It's in their nature. I thought you would understand." His expression was almost pleading for a moment, like he needed Bast to understand.

Taru's nose twitched, and he sat up, looking around. Leta hadn't noticed, as she was watching someone walking by with a strange looking dog. She did look, however, when Taru jumped from her lap, and took off down the sidewalk. She quickly made her way after him, trying to keep up.

"Taru..." she said quietly, but not at all seeming angry he had run off. The fire ferret quickly made his way across the grass, straight for Bael and Bast. Leta stopped when she heard them arguing, and listened quietly. She couldn't help but frown, another rare expression.

Taru jumped up onto Bast, cuddling into him, before looking over at Leta, who drew a little closer. She stopped a good ten feet away, and looked at Bael. "Don't be upset..." she said, and then held out her arms with that same expressionless look she had, as if inviting him into a hug.

Bael and Bast's argument comes to a halt when Leta appears out of what seems like nowhere. He's stopped dead when he's told not to be upset, and then her arms open like she wants a hug. For once, emotions are clear on his face, surprise, and then embarrassment, and then suspicion. It's like he really can't understand that she wants a hug, much less that she would want one from him.

He's just standing there stupidly, "I thought you went with Rakka."