The Avatar and the Earth Kingdom

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Harbor in the Earth kingdom

((OOC: Not really too sure what's going in this story board but what better way to find out then by posting here and seeing what's going on. I noticed the Avatar going to the earth nation so I shall start there and meet her if she does not mind))

Warm air crept it's way into the large mans lungs. Sweat ran down the back of his neck. His massive sword dragged across the floor ever so slightly as he changed his stance. His body felt hot from being in such close proximity with the incoming balls of hot flames.

"Listen here Earth Bender!!" A fire nation soldier barked

"If you give up now we'll just imprison you. But if continue to resist then we will be forced too kill you" The fire nation soldier continued.

Five fire nation soldier stood in a line, there closed fists pointed towards the Earth bender. There polished armor was slightly damaged, cracks and chinks in the plates were clear to the eye.

The they focused there gaze at a man that stood at 7 feet in height. His body was complete tower of heavy, dense muscle. Each muscle in his body stuck out in powerful form combined with definition that made almost each muscle fiber visible. With almost no excess body fat and standing at seven feet in height this mans pumpkin sized shoulders were at least 3 feet apart.
This man had long, unkempt black hair followed by a red head band that kept his hair away from his face.
This man wore no shoes but he wore a coat and pants. His left arm was surrounded in silver armor while his right arm was holding a massive sword that was as big as this man was.

"My name is Naraca, not Earth Bender" He told the fire nations soldier in a calm yet harsh voice.

Naraca looked upon the fire nation soldiers, he admired there confidence considering that Naraca had already beaten so many of the soldiers that these five men were with.
15 other soldiers lay on the floor either unconscious or curled up in a ball in pain. To Naraca right was the ocean, he was currently standing by the harbor. Several civilians watched the battle take place.

The fire nation soldier's eyes narrowed and he took a wider stance. He took Naraca's reply as a way of saying that he was not going to submit to them.
"Men, it looks like the Earth bender is not going to comply" The fire nation soldier said with a smile.
The other soldiers took wider stances and focused on Naraca.

Naraca stayed where he was and he waited for the soldiers to attack, as he knew they would.

There was a pause, the soldiers stared at Naraca with nothing but intensity in there eyes. Whereas Naraca was much calmer, his stance was normal, as if he was talking with someone.
The fire nations soldiers charged towards Naraca, the thrusted there fists forward, spew fire balls from the knuckles.
Naraca took a step forward and his lifted his right hand up, the ground suddenly sprouted up a wall which took the brunt of the fire balls.
The fire nation soldiers spread out and ran towards Naraca, moving around the wall.

Naraca dashed towards one of the soldiers. The soldier responded by shooting a fireball towards Naraca.
Naraca jumped to the side, avoiding it. Then he took three steps towards the soldier and he slammed his fist in the soldiers gut.
The soldier eyes widened and his body lifted up high from the ground, so high that he lauched up into the air, then landed in the water.
A second soldier ran to Naraca side, about to attack.
Naraca quickly shot his right leg toward the soldiers face, his foot rammed into the soldiers face, the helmet he wore littertly exploded from the impact. The soldiers face was now broken in several places as he was sent flying backwards, he hit the floor in a ravine. Rolling all over the place the soldier stopped rolling shortly, he was knocked out cold.

The last three soldiers all formed a line and they rapidly fired sevreal fireballs at Naraca.
Naraca quickly thrusted his hand forward, the soldiers on the right and left of the middle soldier both came in contact with a piller made of earth which hit there stomachs and sent them flying.

The last soldier did not back down, he placed both his hands together and he fired a massive ball of flames. this ball was at least ten feet tall and wide.

Naraca smiled and he slammed his sword into the ground and he pointed his closed fists at the fireball.
From the ground behind him a much bigger Earth made pilled shot out from in front of him and his collided with the fire ball in a massive explosion.
The earth piller was destroyed and the fireball faded into smoke.

As the smoke cleared Naraca charged towards the soldier and jumped in the air only hit the soldiers face with a hard knee.
The soldier slammed on the ground out cold.
Naraca looked down at the soldier for a moment then he looked up at the horizen the lead towards the city.

In the distance, Naraca heard the charging footsteps of more fire nation soldiers.

As Naraca started talking and explaining himself a bit of Kiara wanted him to stop. A part of her just knew that she was in the wrong and somehow that girl still managed to smile. However when Nhala woke up and replied that Kiara wasn't her mother Kiara smiled softly.



"No..I'm not her.."



She had spoken in the most softest and genuine voice they have yet to hear from her. Kiara then looked at Naraca as he started talking and turned her back to the bed,



"I am going to rest, it has been a long day." The clasping her hands together and taking a large breath Kiara began to speak again. "Naraca forgive me and I will work on my issues..if you work on yours. Do not let your temper control you and your mouth and I will do the same with mine and my rash personality."



Kiara did her best and said it without attitude or anything he could take offensively. She was tired and what Nhala had said to her kept ringing in her head. It made her think of her mother and how quick she had left her in this world to find her place.



Stopping at the doorway and setting her hand on the wood Kiara let her gaze drift to the three standing there.



"I'll see you all in the morning, I am so sorry..for everything."



As if in a hurried manner Kiara rushed into her room closed the door. There was a locket that was holding her hair. She unlocked it as her hair once again fell past her shoulders and stopped a bit at her elbows. The Avatar then rested the locket on the table near the bed and climbed into just letting her mind drift into the past.

Nhala felt Kiara lift her head from her lap and place it on a pillow. She stood up and walked out the door, informing them all that they would see her at daybreak. Nhala slowly rolled to a sitting position, and rolled her stiff neck. It felt good to have a part of her body that was finally looser. She glanced around the room to Cerelia and Naraca.

"Thank you for saving me, but you both will need to leave now. Good night." She said, beckoning to the door as she pulled the covers down her bed.

Cerelia noticed that Naraca had been watching her, despite her attempt to stay in the background. She listened to what he said, and was slightly frustrated when Naraca introduced her.

Naraca didn't take any of the credit for saving Nhala, despite taking out most of the thugs. Kiara stood up and left the room to go to sleep. Nhala slowly sat up and looked at Cerelia and Naraca.

She thanked them, and bid them goodnight. Cerelia stood up and walked out to the living room. She grabbed her bag and tossed it into the corner of the room, far from the doors and into the shadows. She sat down and laid against it, propping her head against the corner of the walls. As soon as Naraca left, she would close her eyes and let the weariness of her travels float away.

"Good night everyone" Naraca said to Kiara, Nhala and Cerelia before they all left to go sleep. He then walked towards the door in Nhala's room. He shut off the lights and he closed the door. He looked to Cerelia and saw that she already made herself comfortable on the corner of the living room.
He was going offer her the couch which was a nice leather padded high quality comfort design couch. However she seemed pretty well settled in the corner. Why she chose the corner Naraca had no idea. Maybe she was just cautious. Understandable when in a strangers home.

He turned to his room but did not go inside. Instead Naraca walked towards the living room then back out side in his yard. He looked to where he slammed his giant sword in the ground. He sighed as he looked upon this large 4 foot deep hole. While laying your sword down was a sign of respect, he would defiantly lay on the ground next time.

He looked up at the sky for a moment. The stars were bright tonight and the moon was full. A white light from both the moon and the stars lit up Naraca's yard and made it look like something out of a dream. A few butterfly's flickered about, taking in the beauty of the night just like Naraca was.
It was a good night to have your life changed.

A part of Naraca told him to forget the Avatar and go live his life as a normal man. The life of a Guardian is one of pain and hardship, almost everyday you wish that could be somewhere else. Just away from it all. However, Naraca knew in his heart that he wanted to go and protect the Avatar. He felt so strongly about it, as if God was telling to join the Avatar.

Naraca placed his hand on the strap of the sheath of his massive sword and he took it off his back and laid it down on the grass in front of him. The blade was at least 30 pounds and it was around two in a half or three feet wide, and 6 feet long. The blade was meant for crushing and obliterating people and walls, also could be used for breaking armor or sending small buildings crashing to the ground.

The blade was given to him as a gift by his trainer. Not in the Dai Lee, but someone he knew closely. The man who trained him in hand to hand and sword fighting. The man who is now dead. He was an old man that still had life left in him. Someone who was far stronger then they looked. Before the Dai Lee this man taught Naraca how to fight, and the basics of Earth Bending.

Naraca remembered the day he had to take this mans life, because he was actually a fire nation convert. Naraca knew this man for ten years, for ten years they lived and died together. Performing missions in the Dai Lee and going through hell, together. The man was like Naraca's father, Naraca even once told him that he was his father. They were like father and son, but like brothers as well.

One day he ended up converting to the fire nation, and tried to get Naraca to join. He refused the offer. So the man fought Naraca, and nearly killed him. Bloody and battered Naraca crawled back to the Ba Sing Sae. He was treated and healed. After three days of recovery Naraca was given a mission to kill this man. The man had no name. He was called Romulus.

Naraca traveled to the fire nation, fought his way through many fire nation soldiers, then ran into Romulus. Naraca wanted nothing more then for Romulus come back with him and they could both forget all of this. However, Romulus refused, and instead he attacked Naraca.

After 30 minutes of brutal fighting, Naraca killed Romulus with his bare hands. That was the time Naraca ever cried.

Naraca will look upon this day and always remember what happened, and what he learned from it.
However, for now Naraca sat down and he closed his eyes, and activated his Seismic sense. He began to train himself to see everything around him, even when sleeping.

He could see Kiara, Nhala and Cerelia all laying down and trying to sleep after the long day. He then focused on sleeping while keeping an eye on all of them. He slept outside because he had to train his body to sleep while sitting up and getting used to being outside for long periods of time.

(Guys im going to skip to the morning if thats fine)


The next morning Kiara was the first to awaken seeing as she woke up at dawn. She grabbed her duffle bag slipping into the bathroom and taking a warm bath. As she sat there for half an hour her mind traced back to the events that had happened that night before.

A little laugh came from her as she continued to think about everyone and their antics last night. They all seemed like a family, sure they weren't perfect but in the end Kiara knew that they all had eachothers back.

However as she emerged from the bath and was getting dressed, Kiara's mind drifted off to the man she had met earlier in the fire nation. Mattias was his name wasn't it? She wondered how he was doing with whatever mission he had to get done.

"Well..good luck to him.."

Kiara mumbled a bit to herself as she was done getting dressed, her normal clothes she wore she washed while in the bathroom and and decided to hang them in the window seal to dry. Then walking out the bathroom her mind was made up to go to the back yard. The breeze felt heavenly as it seemed to guide her white short sleeve against her side and her short white shorts push against her legs.

There was one last water bending technique she needed to master. Kiara grabbed a bucket full of water and set it buy the pond before getting one last one and water bending the fish into one of the buckets.

"Compression shouldn't be hard at all..."

Kiara then took her wide stance and waved her hands as all the water in the pond as well as the empty bucket rose and surrounded her. She guided it with ease and even started playing around with it swishing it here and there like a guided snake moving to it target.

But then she inhaled and her hands seemed to be more tense then usual, that was when the water seemed to get tighter and tighter around her until it was one small strip of water. Exhaling Kiara extended it as it was which was a large mass of water that nearly took up half the half then inhaled once more as it compressed into the same thin line of water.

'I'm getting the hang of this...

Nhala shifted in her bed. The morning light streamed through the windows, rousing her from her sleep. She stretched her legs as far as she could, and di the same with her arms. Relaxing into the warmth of her bed, she opened her eyes.

Rolling to her side, she lightly landed on the floor and proceeded around the bed for her dress.

Lifting up the dress, she turned it over, fingering the cuts and holes that had appeared in the fabric. Nhala  frowned at the condition, and returned it to its spot at the corner of the bed.

Looking around, she rummaged through the contents of the room until she finally came across something wearable. It was a light bathrobe that had hung in the cloest for years. It was green with a band of brown trim along the hem. It wasn't wearable in public, but it would do for walking around the house.

Slipping it on, she left the room and glanced around the house. It was empty, quiet. Was everyone else asleep?

Nhala decided it would be a good time to view the sunrise, and overlook the awakening city. So, with quiet steps as to not wake anyone, she approached the door to the yard. She paused at its entrance, watching Kiara move water around herself.

Kiara manipulated the water with graceful movements, and seemed fully concentrated on her performance. Nhala debated speaking, but stepped out onto the porch none the less.
 When Kiara was done with her performance, only then would she bid her 'good morning.'

OOC: I don't know how, but I'd forgotten that Naraca was sleeping OUTSIDE at the pond.



IC: Cerelia woke up with a start, looking around quickly. But she calmed down just as fast as she'd woken up. She was in the large man's house. Natara, was it? No... Naraca.



As she slowly sat up, she stretched herself out and stood up. Hearing the swishing of water, she grabbed her bag and walked to the backyard. It looked better in the morning than it did last night. Kiara seemed to be practicing some technique, making the water thinner and thinner. Cerelia didn't say anything, and walked to the left of the door, taking a seat on the grass. She let the grass flow through her fingers as she slid her hand on the ground. Soft grass was something special to her. Something the desert lacked. If one did find grass, it was hard and brittle, and seemed barely alive.



Cerelia closed her eyes and felt the gentle, cool breeze as it lazily drifted through the city. But the noise of Kiara's waterbending brought her back to earth and she began watching, studying. She was doing something similar to what Cerelia had done in the desert. Learning to compress something that was loose and making it a hard object, dangerous and versatile.



Her eyes shifted left and stopped on Naraca's sleeping form. Where had he come from? And how had he not awoken to the sound of Kiara's waterbending?

The vibrations made sleep difficult. He could also see people outside his house, and how some of them were heavier then others. Some people walked, ran or jumped for whatever reason. Naraca even saw that Kiara was the first to wake up. Although sleeping, there was a part of his unconscious mind that followed her, as if attracted to the motion. Right now he was sleeping, but not sleeping. Sort of like an advanced version of day dreaming. His body recharged as if asleep, yet he was still alert enough to know what's going on around him.

Once Kiara got in the shower Naraca turned his mind away from her. Call it instinct.
He saw that Nhala was beginning to wake up ever so slightly. Once Kiara got out of the shower and got dress he went back to followed the vibrations she made, being able to see her. He saw her come out into the back yard then started water bending.
As she did that, Nhala woke up, she fiddled with her original clothes. Nhala seemed unsatisfied with the way they looked, so she proceed to look around for something to wear. Naraca did not have any women's clothes so would not find anything...Wait...what is that?

Naraca then felt the vibrations of her finding something she liked. Naraca heightened his seismic sense to it's strongest. His sense traveled across the yard, in Nhala's room, towards her, up her body, then too what she was holding.
Naraca's face grimaced at the sight of what she was now beginning to out on. It was that robe, the robe that once belonged to his wife.

He kept it there to remember her. Once she died he could not bare to let her go completely. His left fist tightened. On his left ring finger was a golden ring, his wedding ring.
At this point Nhala then was wearing it and she stepped out side and watched Kiara. Naraca however suddenly opened his eyes wide. His felt the vibrations of Cerelia waking up right as he did.

He looked around for a moment and saw Kiara, followed by Nhala and Cerelia just walking to see what was going on outside. Naraca turned his head to Nhala and he got right up to his feet. His eyes trained on the robe. He did not want her wearing it.

"Nhala!! That robe it's..." Naraca stopped himself suddenly.

His wife died two years ago, and while it was OK to mourn a loss, he still held himself back. That robe was the only he had left of her's. So why stop himself to tell Nhala to take it off? Maybe because he began to think ahead, instead of looking back in the past. Maybe it was simply because it felt that it was the right thing to do.

"It..." He paused for a moment.
"It looks good on you" He said with a fake smile, and hiding his nagging grief.

Naraca's face was just the rest of his body, rock solid and expressionless. It felt almost like it was being taken from him, the robe. At the same time he let Nhala wear it, why do such a thing?

Naraca looked around at everyone and kept up the fake smile.
"Morning everyone" He said out loud.
"I'm going to take a shower, then we can discuss what to do next." He told everyone.

Naraca picked up his sword and he rested it on his shoulder, he walked inside and turned to the shower room. He seemed to remember someone else already came in here. The thing is, when you use Seismic sense in your sleep you see it as though it is a dream, so once you wake up it's hard to remember everything.

Regardless he began to undo the straps and fastened ropes and ties around his body. He even kept his sword with him in the shower. He rested it against the wall then finished with his clothes. All in all it took about 2 minutes to get everything off. He clothing was battle ready and took a bit of time to put on and take off.

Once he was undressed he turned the valves in the shower so that cold water would hit him. It kept his body tough and woke him up at the same time.
On his body were several battle scars. Four ran across his face and a total of 73 scars decorated his body. Each scar had a different story to tell, each marking Naraca, keeping him tied to everything he's ever done. Some scars were people, some were burn scars from fire nation, some were cuts from blades, or from being stabbed by blades. Some were from heavy hits from earth benders. A few were from water benders as well, people who cut him up. There were several cuts from brutal torture on the occasion when he was captured by fire nation.

Combine all of this with his powerful, muscular body. Lets just say that he was not the hottest of guys out there. He body was ripped, nothing but raw power could be seen on him. Each muscle was well toned and defined, and was extra large. A single muscle in his body looked like it could over power five men. He was 7 feet tall and combine that with his strength and size, he was a man to be feared. Yet gentle once you get passed his look.

Once done with the shower Naraca dried himself off with a towel then got dressed in the same battle suit. He was always ready for a fight. He hung up his towel then walked back outside. He ran his fingers through his long, wild man like hair and he walked back outside.

"Alright Kiara, so I remember you wanted to find someone named Terra. Do you still want to go there?" He asked her once he was outside and in the back yard.

Nhala flinched from the yelling. She didn't think she had done anything to anger him. But as quickly as the yelling started, it stopped. Naraca, instead of berrating her, complimented her looks. Nhala did not agree however. She thought the robe was distasteful. 

But the look on his face was one of pain, worry, and remorse. But he quickly changed to a smile, albeit, not a cheerful one. Nhala stepped backwards into the doorway, and turned around towards her room. 

The sight of the robe bothered Naraca. That much was evident. It was a reminder of the past. The robe was obviously fit for a more feminine form, and not someone of his size. Nhala entered her room, and slipped the robe off, laying it on the bed in its full length. 

Nhala stared at it, thinking to herself. She had never thought Naraca to be the sort of man to marry, to have a wife and kids. There weren't any paintings around the house to hint at such a life, either. Nhala was curious to know what happened, and whose it was, but such a topic was always sensitive ground for people.  

Rummaging around the room, she sought something else to wear. But a glance back at the robe made her wonder who had owned it. A lovely wife? A beautiful daughter? Nhala did not know how to approach the situation. But it would probably be best not to wear the robe. She would simply need to bear with her battered dress for now. 

So, slipping it on, mindful of the rips as to not widen them, she slipped back out the door, and onto the back porch. "It appears I will need a new dress." She informed. "And good morning, Kiara." She looked between Kiara, and the girl who's name she did not remember.

Kiara continued to bend the water sensing that she had drawn a crowd watching her this early in the morning. Everything was going to smoothly with her training it was nice and quiet with a gentle breeze brushing her hair across her soft cheek. The dew on the ground only felt good to her feet as she slid them carefully across the lawn with every motion she made.

Once hearing Naraca's loud voice however Kiara instantly dropped all the water in the pond and stared directly at Naraca in a bit of a scared manner. She had no idea what was going on but once she looked at Nhala's outfit something inside her already knew what was the matter.

"Naraca Nhala didn't know any better...she is sorry I am sure of it."

Kiara added the comment as the bucket beside the pond was picked up and gently dumped the fish out of it. Right now her mind was letting her know that whatever was going on with Naraca must've been a personal issue. However, something inside Kiara was going to let her back off and not pry into his business. After all once he was comfortable with them she was sure that he would open up sooner or later.

Once Naraca went inside Kiara followed and opened up her bad grabbing a even smaller but heavier one out of it. Coming back into the backyard she placed the bag into Nhala's hand.

"Today we will go shopping..for you, and if anyone else would like a wardrobe we will gladly buy it."

Then Kiara tapped her forehead lightly with a small giggle, "Where are my manners...goodmorning everyone..I hope you all slept well." Something was different about Kiara this morning, her voice was smooth and gentle as if she was in a calm state. Then once Naraca asked his question Kiara thought for a second,

"Terra is most likely resting and reserving her energy for tonight..so I will be doing the same. A day in the upper class town couldn't be too bad to deal with I believe."

Cerelia watched as Naraca woke up, noticing the surrounding people. Upon seeing Nhala, Naraca stood up and began yelling. Anger and remorse filled his eyes. He then promptly apologised and left. Kiara had finished water bending, and poured a fish back into the pond.



Nhala went inside, and Kiara soon followed. The two came out with Nhala wearing the torn clothes and Kiara handing her the bag, promising to buy new clothes.



She then bid everyone good morning. Cerelia stood up and put her foot on the wall, leaning against it. She stared at the sky as the clouds began to roll in. She didn't need new clothes, with her being the Desert Fox, she could always get more without having to pay a single coin. She looked back down at the two, using her seismic sense to keep track of everyone.

Naraca thought to himself and knew that these women could see through his smile. However, he did not care, he kept up the false happiness anyways.

"Naraca please...Just let me go..."

A voice in his head asked him. Naraca's eye widened. What was that? He recognized the voice to be his wife's voice. Did she just talk to him? Naraca however dismissed the thought. It was not a voice, but a memory, of his last day with his wife. He remembered now, that dreaded day from hell itself.

Naraca has many scars on his body, but the scars on his soul were much worse. His body was nothing more then tool meant for killing, and his soul was no longer soft, but hard, like a rock. Maybe that was why Naraca was born as an Earth Bender. Everything about him was like a rock. Regardless of what came his way he would always be able to keep standing. He recalled a time when Romulus, his teacher, performed pressure point take downs on Naraca so that he would go to the ground in severe pain. Only, he did not hit the ground, and he merely shook of the pain and kept standing.

For a man of his age, the experiences that he has had would be much greater then that of any dieing war veteran.

Naraca heard Kiara talk about going shopping. His feelings of dread quickly turned to hesitation. Not because shopping was a bad thing, but because...Well...

Naraca was not sexist but he knew that when it came to girls they were more...Passionate...About shopping.

"Shopping..." he grumbled to himself.
He then walked up to the rest of the group and he put on a neutral face.

"I will pay for whatever clothes you want" He told the group.

He figured that he would have to push aside his feelings of regret for his wife and try to replace them with a better feeling. The feeling of giving people things and seeing there smiles would be a good replacement.

"Kiara and Nhala, I don't want you two to spend a single penny. I will take care of everything. Just tell me what kind of clothing you want and I'll get it for you" He said with a firm voice, to make sure they understood.

He looked towards Nhala and his face turned a little more grim.

"It's the least I can do after all"
He knew that he failed as a Guardian and that he had to atone for what he did. Even as a failure though he was not going to give up, instead he would make Kiara and Nhala as happy as can be.
He would give them happiness, in exchange for his own.

"Now, I'm ready to go when you guys are" He said tightening the strap on the sheath that kept his sword to his back.

He then remembered Cerelia, that's right, she was still here. What would he do with her? He was not about to buy some stranger clothes, so then what could he do with her? To him there was only one option, he was going to have to let her go home, or out of his house at least.

He walked over to where Cerelia was, she had her foot on the wall and was staring in the sky. Naraca did not know this girl, and she could not tag along unless she had some big secret and she could teach Kiara Fire bending or Air bending. However, judging from how she is so far she is not like that at all. Even if she was Naraca could not keep letting people join in unless they had something to give to the rest of the group.

"As you may have heard were going to be leaving here, and I want you to go as well." He told her

Cerelia was a mystery, and one Naraca did not have the time to find out about. She would have too leave. Not the Rich district, but Naraca's house and the group as well. He could not take care of everyone, at least not people that didn't contribute. This Terra person could join in because her Earth Bending was probably far better then Naraca's, and she could teach Kiara how to Earth Bend. Cerelia however would not be able to do these things, so she had to leave.

"Thank you Kiara, Naraca, but really, I have my own money. I've survived just fine when traveling." She handed the bag back to Kiara. "I'll be right back, then I'll be ready to go."


Nhala stepped back to the house, fetching a coinpurse from her things. She reappeared soonafter, declaring her readiness to set out.

Kiara smiled a bit for once this morning seemed to be going smoothly and she did not want it going any other way. Kiara looked at Naraca and frowned slightly when looking at his movements and facial expressions, a simple head shake was seen from her when she had noticed the fake smile.



But once Nhala came back she grinned and stood at the doorway, "Why won't you guys go ahead..as in you and Naraca, I can't go dressed like this and as I said before I want to conserve as much energy as possible for tonight."

Nhala walked down the street. The roads were uncrowded in the Upper District, and tall, leafy trees reached towards the sky. The wind rustled their leaves, and swept gently through the streets.

She stepped out of the way of an incoming carriage, watching it roll slowly past her. Approaching a store, she stepped inside.

"Greetings" a voice spoke. Nhala looked about the store of high-end clothes before finding the source of the voice and returning a greeting.

Nhala looked about more intently. The clothes varied from robes, to dresses, and shoes. The dresses varied from light and dark shades of green and brown, with trimming of gold, white, or another shade of green in an intricate pattern, or simple bands.

The young waterbender came across a simple dress of light fabric. The dress itself was a tan-yellow, with a square rimmed sleeve. It was an ugly dress, but had a decent price. A glance around revealed it to be the cheapest.

"Is there anything I can help you with today, ma'am?" The voice inquired. An older man, a few years more than Naraca, navigated the room of clothes towards her.

"Yes, sir. I was wondering it there was anything to accompany this dress?" She inquired about the ugly yellow dress. His eyes gave the object a look of distaste before he pushed the thought out of his mind.

"Unfortunately not. This was a dress that we received from one of our suppliers at a discounted price. But I assure you that the dress is well made and is of excellent quality." He nodded before realizing his mistake. It was evident now that the store was trying to get rid of the dress, and  had failed to do so for quite some time. Nhala guessed that it was soon to be sold at a very low price to one of the Middle District shops, where it would likely be bought within days.

"You sell vest-like traveling garments, correct?"

"Well, no, but we do have vests on the other side of the store." He waved her to follow him as he led her over to them. "Over here, we have a small selection. These are normally worn by men and women who seek a more regal appearance. I'm sure you could pass for a royal yourself in one of these instead of those blue rags you've got on you."

Nhala turned on him. "These are not rags. These are the results of a failed attempt of a mugging by over twenty criminals. Twenty criminals who ran for their lives soon after. I come from a high-ranking family of the North, and I will not tolerate your judgement, or else I will take my money elsewhere to someone with more respect." She returned to her standng position as the man seemingly cowered before her anger.

She glanced at the vests, and took a brown one off of its shelf, and marched over to the dress, pulling it off as well. With dress and vest in hand, Nhala marched to the changing rooms, whipping a sash off of its rack.

The sound of clothes hitting the floor could be heard outside the changing room, and soon, Nhala emerged with the distasteful dress on. But now, the  man's eyes widened, not in fear, but in amazement as Nhala turned slowly, admiring her arrangement. The yellow dress accented the vest that was bound around her body by the orange sash.

"I'll take it." She said, stepping up to the counter, where the wide-eyed man hurried behind the counter. With a negotiated price, partially lowered by the stunning change from an ugly dress to something to rival that of nobles, Nhala walked out of the shop with her old dress in tow. She had something new to wear. Something clean. And it made her feel regal, just like at home. Nhala strode back to the house with a content smile on her face. This was her day.

((OOC: Okay, so I guess this is a time skip. The rest of the group are now walking into the underground levels))

The day had now turned to night. The group walked down a tunnel and towards the underground tournament where Terra would be. The tunnel was lit up nicely and was a small walk way that lead right to the tournament. Naraca walked in front of the rest of the group to lead them over to the arena.
He still had his suspicions about this place. It was nasty, lots of bad men were here and Naraca did not want to repeat what happened with Nhala.

Kiara, Nhala and Cerelia all followed Naraca as he walked down the tunnel. He made sure all the men walking past him knew that he was not to be messed with. His size and strength were more then enough to make all the nasty guys around here steer clear of Naraca. All he could think about was how the Terra girl would be. She was a master so she had to be strong, probably stronger then Naraca. However one thing kept floating through his mind.

Once we add Terra to the group and she becomes an Earth Bending teacher...What use will Naraca have? His Earth bending was not that of a master, his close quarters style of fighting...What use would that have? He pondered how he would still be useful after they got Terra. However, his mind currently had no answers.

He continued to walk down the tunnel until he came across an open area. It was a registration booth. Naraca figured there would be a fee of some kind.
He walked up to the desk.

"Fifty for each" The man at the desk told Naraca.
Naraca looked back at his guest. He had to spend two hundred on them. Naraca began to wonder if he was always going to be the one having give away things. Then again, what else was he going to do in life? If this helped the Avatar, then he was happy to help.

He pulled out his wallet, opened it, and pulled out two hundred dollars. He gave them to the man at the booth. The man gave Naraca four tickets, he took the tickets then turned around to hand each one to the rest of the group.

"I want all of you to stay close to me alright?" He told the group as he handed out there tickets

"If something happens I need you to stay close to me" He continued.

Naraca didn't want another problem like Nhala nearly getting kidnapped again. So he needed them all to stay close to him so that he could do his job as a guardian properly.

Cerelia followed Naraca through the undergound hallways. Men glared at them, but steered clear of Naraca. Cerelia watched them closely, noticing their anger and fear.



Reaching the registration booth, Cerelia was given a ticket.



"We need tickets for the underground?" Cerelia quietly growled, shifteing her eyes to the side. "That's not how we join fights at home."



Naraca then told them to stay close to him so they didn't get hurt. Cerelia coughed and began walking towards the entrance of the arena.



OOC: The registration booth is right in front of the arena, right? If not, I'll make it a hallway.

Kiara walked with a bit of excitement in her step as she stayed close to Naraca and the girls. Something about a tournament seemed to get her blood pumping and adrenline going. When Naraca had to pay for them all to get in the girl looked up at her companion with a smile,

"If you wish I can pay you back..thats if you want to though, I don't want to step on anymore boundaries with you. You are a good person."

Sitting in the areana chairs the girl noticed there were only men here and not a single woman. This perplexed her to the point she sighed and rested her head on her fist, "Maybe this Terra person isn't an girl...look at all the men here.."

"Whats the code?" The man at the door had asked once he opened the eye slider part and looked at Terra. Playing jokes with her was something the new guys did that got a job there for the time being, everyone else who knew Terra's attitude never played with her the night of tournament.

Narrowing her eyes Terra seemed to place her hand on the middle of the metal door and crunch it like she was trying to ball up a piece of paper. The metal handles seemed to pop off the door and Terra pushed her hand forward having the door fall. When the man stood against the wall looking at her with more respect she stared back at him, "Don't play with me..learned your lesson?" When he nodded Terra looked at Tan-ko and the man that she let follow her. "Your name please sir?" She asked as she looked at Mattias again while walking.

They had gone the backway into the tournament tunnels and soon after walking there was a light at the end of the tunnel. Another man that seemed to know Terra very well bowed respectfully.

"I see you have friends tonight..I do need to tell you that there are three women and a particularly large man with them in the stands."

"Really? Well..I'll make sure no one causes any trouble here." Once the man left Terra looked at the man wearing the cloak which was Mattias, "I am guessing that one of the girls is the Avatar?" She whispered so only he would hear. But before he could Answer Terra seemed to go the tunnel they were in and into the large arena. There was a man with two swords standing there waiting for her. Terra jumped up the stairs and grinned as the crowd drew quiet once she was onto the arena stage.

"Shouldn't a little girl be home in the kitchen helping her mom make dinner?" He laughed as some of the men on the sideline did the same.

Terra just stayed quiet her eyes narrowing just a bit.

"Start!!"

Once the man started running towards her Terra waited until he was about four feet before keeping her arms crossed and simply kicking the air like she was kicking a soccer ball. Her heel touched the ground lightly as a square small pillar of earth hit the man in his stomach and sent him flying out the arena stage.

"Serves you right, looks are decieving.." Terra turned her back and went to stand next to Mattias and tan-ko as the next match started to begin. "You were saying?" She looked back at Mattias smiling a bit as her eyes seemed to catch the large man and the girls in the crowd, "They are to your left.."

Tan-ko smirked at terra's performance. "Shoulda hit him in the jaw, Would have driven your point home more." he whispered to her, listening in on their conversation, and searching the audience for any of his officials or known dai lee members. He was surprised at how many he recognized, despite their feeble attempts at disguises. He seethed looking at them, the ones who always told him mingling was beneath him. Hypocrites. "How does one enter the tournament?"

Mattias raised an eyebrow as Terra broke down the door. An interesting person to be in the court of the King. As he walked through the door after the king, a man stood in is way. He was built like a tank and as he moved the ground seemed to rumble.

"I no like strange man with hidden face."

With a careless movement the man reached down to flip down Mattias' hood. Without glancing up, Mattias grabbed the man's wrist with a surprisingly strong grasp.

"It would be wise not to pick fights with people you don't know, particularly those who you can't see their face. Besides, your stance is all wrong for a person of your size. Spread out your weight more, and then maybe I would comply."

He turned and walked away, but not before slipping a coin into the man's hand. Better to let his greed get the better of him.

In a few quick steps he had caught back up to the duo. When Terra asked his name he thought for a moment, almost hesitant.

"Few people know it, even those who I lived among did not." He sized her up. "I feel that you should know. My name is Mattias."

As he spoke his gaze drifted to the rest of the arena. There was a presence in the room that he recognized. Up in one of the stands, he could see... a young water bending girl, surrounded by a few people. A slight grin came to his face. Quickly realizing what he was doing he once again let his face fall into neutral. But not quick enough. Terra had seen where his gaze had gone.

--

"They are to your left."

Mattias instantly knew who she was talking about.

"You would be correct in your earlier statement, the avatar is there. This arena fight, for whatever reason is a pivotal moment for the world. I can't say why... I just know. Also, she mustn't know I'm here. She would be.... displeased."

His mind flashed back to when they had first met.

((OOC: Alright, so at this point we got a lot of people in one topic so a posting order is crucial. Here it is:
Naraca
Kiara
Nhala ((Apparently))
Cerelia
Terra
Tan-ko
Mattius

If this is not followed then this topic will be in chaos. I'm not admin but for the sake of this topic going smoothly I would suggest we all follow this order))

Walking into the arena Naraca expected exactly what he saw. Nothing but low class drunkards or people merely there cause of a bet they put on a fighter. Naraca only wondered why a woman would want to come to a place like this. While Naraca was used to the smell, it smelled of sweat, beer and grease. It was a strong scent for people to take in. As a Dai Lee, Naraca had to run around in places like this all the time, and at first it was hard to take in such a strong smell.

Once Naraca found a spot he readjusted his massive sword then sat down on the bench. The arena was a large circle, undoubtedly there would be a lot of men here howling and yelling for there favorite fighter.
Naraca kept an eye on Kiara and Cerelia, as well as the big guys that were all around them. Naraca sat close to Kiara and Cerelia, showing that these girls were with him and that he was not to be messed with. He used his large size to his advantage. While there were a lot of big guys here, they were no where near as big as Naraca.

He looked at the guy with the two swords that was in the arena, he seemed small, and easy to beat. He would be no problem for Naraca, and surely no problem for someone like a Earth Bending master.

The earth bending master Terra walked in the arena. Naraca felt shock as he saw Terra. She was small, and looked innocent. She looked nothing like an Earth Bending master.
He watched her as she disposed of the man with the two swords, her bending was flawless. Interested, Naraca began to wonder if she was a suitable teacher. Only time would tell as she fought each man that came to challenge her.

More and more Naraca found himself questioning his usefulness in this journey. He already screwed up as a Guardian, his earth bending lack luster, the only good thing he can do is hand to hand and sword combat. Even then by doing that he only hurt Nhala. Naraca soon began to think about how Kiara would do without him.

He turned to look at Kiara for a moment. She seemed to like him, always smiling when looking at him, offering to pay back. However Naraca did not want to be payed back, it wasn't about the money, just that he was able to do his part in helping Kiara on her quest. Even if in the end he was going to be useless, at least he was able to fund the journey. That was enough for him to be happy.

(im fine with that posting order)



Kiara sat next to Naraca just waiting patiently for the match to begin. Her anxiety was getting the best of the young girl. As the man with the two swords approached the arena Kiara looked up at Naraca pointing,

"Do you think you can teach me the basics?" Kiara smiled up at him even more then usual before looking back at the match, "I think it would be a huge plus for me to actually learn the way of the sword."

Once seeing Terra however her eyes seemed to widend, "She looks so....innocent. That cannot be Terra.." But once witnessing how easily the tiny female took out her opponent Kiara giggled,

"Nevermind about what I said..that has to be her."

Something made Kiara's face faulter into a straight and serious one, standing up Kiara turned her back to the arena and began looking threw the crowd. A heavy familiar presence was around her. Unable to locate him Kiara sat back down looking at the Arena now.

'There is no way..it couldn't be him...

Nhala adjusted in her seat. The stone benches were uncomfortable, and seemed to press into her bones. Shifting her weight, something caught her eye. Off to the right, in the stands, a man, about Naraca's age, seemed to have his eye on her. She diverted her gaze back to the tournament. 

So far, the tournament wasn't much of a competition, but rather, more of a one-footed beating. The girl seemed to only twitch and her opponents would go flying out of the stage. Nhala propped her head on a hand. How could a tournament this full of adrenaline be so boring?

Cerelia leaned back in the stands and watched as Terra stood her ground. She saw what really happened. A small pillar of earth kicked the man out of the fight. As Terra stepped out of the ring, Cerelia sat up and scanned the crowds. Her eyes rested on the two men Terra was talking to. While many looked like unruly civilians, there were a good number of calculating men, trying to blend in. But the two men were especially interesting. They had their hoods up, so she couldn't tell who they were, but her seismic sense told her that there was a familiar presense in the room. Cerelia leaned back and rested the back of her head on her hands.

If the opposition was this easy to get rid of, what was the big deal? But that Terra woman hardly moved, showing that she had unseen potential. If only she weren't trying to defeat the Avatar, she might have been Kiara's teacher. But perhaps there was a way for her to get closer. Sandbending was a mix of air and water techniques, and all the air nomads had been killed off. If Kiara needed a teacher, and she hadn't betrayed what little trust she held right now, that could be her.

Cerelia only hoped that she could defeat Kiara as the Desert Fox, so nobody would think less of her. She'd never expected the Avatar to have collected friends so quickly, and she definetly didn't want to fight with Naraca around. No matter the rules, he looked like he'd jump in to kill her. Despite what she did for Nhala, he just didn't trust her. Perhaps he sensed her mistrust or surprise last night. It was also odd that nobody had asked a thing about her, other than her name. But Cerelia put those thoughts aside and refocused on the next match.

When the man she was talking to finally said his name a bit of a smile appeared on Terra's face. Everything was going smoothly as of now he did not seem to cause trouble and had a sense of calmness about him. She liked that about him and looked at him again after looking over at the three women once more. "It is an honor to meet someone of your stature.." But once she remembered him saying that the Avatar would be displeased seeing him a interested look was on her face."I take it you two had a..rough meeting together."

After about two more matches it was Terra's go again but she laughed a bit as five men this time stood on the arena. 'So this is the twist they were talking about..

The men said no comments learning from the previous match and prepared to take their stand. Terra on the other hand closed her eyes and had spread her feet wide. This go around she needed a bit more concentration, but before she had closed her eyes Terra smirked since they all decided to surround her but that was a mistake since now she was able to feel out which one was which. "Alright, I'm ready, are you guys? Since I won't ask for names I'll just call you guys..1 through 5'"

"Let the match begin!"

Number 1 stomped his foot and had a large size boulder rise from the corner of the arena and shot it at Terra. The young girl grabbed the metal covers on her hands and pulled them to her fingers and bent them to the point they were like gloves. She then drew her hands upward using a tiny slab of earth to propel herself ontop of the rock. Grabbing onto it the girl decided to rock hang for a few seconds before splitting it in two, sliding in the middle of the rock pieces and punched one while kicking the other as fast as she could. Terra did it with such speed that Number 3 did not see it coming and was knocked out the arena and out cold. Number 4 blocked it but as soon as Terra touched the ground she used the same earth sheild he used to block it to hit him in the stomach with a outter pillar she created and set him up in the crowd.

Number 2 took the chance while she was taking care of number 4 to run up while her back was turned and stomp his foot. But before his foot even made contact Terra made a backwards kicking motion and his foot was ingulfed in a small rock slab. She then reached behind her back and then slammed her hands foward on the ground causing the slab to lengthen and slam him face first on to the floor. "Three down..two to go.." Terra reminded herself while looking for the other two men. However once she found them she saw that two boulders were flying her way. Stomping her feet Terra's hands made a sweeping motion making an earth sheild once the rocks made contact Terra squeezed her hands and compressed them into the shield.

About five minutes went by before anyone made their next move, number 1 and 5 decided to run up to her together and break the sheild believing that she couldn't attack two people at once.Terra grinned inside the sheild as she punched the right side, where number 5 was coming from, small little compressed bullets hit him all over and he suddenly stopped and fell to his knees.

Terra ejected herself from the compressed sheild and looked at number 1 before kicking the ball of earth towards him. Once he split it in two however a rock fist followed the shield and hit him right in the face causing him to twist his entire body then fall to the ground.

"That wasn't so bad.." Terra giggled a little as she went to join her two guests again.