Tourists from the Southern Water Tribe

Rui threw her arms up in the air with relief. Finally, after a full day of travel, they had made it to Ba Sing Se. They'd only gotten lost a couple of times, and that was only due to Rui's seemingly impeccable sense of direction. "Well Tai, we finally made it! Welcome to Ba Sing Se." She laughed with exuberance, and took a deep sniff, "Mmm.. Smells like earthbender!" She looped her arm with Tai's, and began to walk down the crowded street.

The young waterbender attempted to look around, but found that she was constantly bumping into random bystanders. The streets were so crowded, Rui could hardly breathe. Despite this, she managed to do a bit of sight seeing. What she was really hoping for was to stumble on a cheap hotel. I wonder if it'd be wrong for us to share a hotel room.. She looked over again at Tai, wondering if it'd be rude to ask.

Rui nodded, agreeing with Tai. This is definitely not a place Rui would ever settle down in. Rui began to fiddle with her collar; she had to admit, it was sweltering. Maybe not to the average earthbender, but to someone who rarely got out of the Southern Water Tribe, it felt like drowning in lava. She glanced over at Tai, noticing his obvious discomfort. Rui couldn't tell exactly, but it almost appeared as though he was playing the protective lover. A small gasp escaped from Rui's China doll lips. Did I really just think that word? The younger waterbender had never even been interested in a guy, let alone notice one protecting her.

Rui felt herself becoming increasingly tired as the day wore on. It felt like they'd been walking for hours, when in reality it had only been an hour. She longed to sleep in an actual bed, with nice, clean sheets, and a comfortable blanket. The younger waterbender sighed longingly, when she noticed that Tai had led them over to a rather secluded corner. It felt weird when he unhooked his arm from hers; she was actually enjoying his close proximity despite the sweltering temperatures.  

"I think that'd be a good idea. I'm not sure where we should go, though. None of these places look like they'd accept Water Tribe money." Rui hadn't even thought of that. If they did stay at a hotel, how would they pay? Rui had money, but the currency crossover had completely slipped her mind until now. As if on cue, the waterbender's stomach growled like a ferocious polar bear dog.

Rui smiled at Tai's reassuring words. Although Rui usually remained extremely independent, she found that being out of her element make her feel very dependable on Tai. After hearing Tai's predicament though, the weight returned. "Well if all else fails I'm sure I could play on the cuteness factor. No one can resist an adorable, out-of-her-element waterbender." Rui winked playfully at Tai, and laughed.

Rui smiled sheepishly at the sound of their stomachs growling simultaneously, "I think food should be the next thing on our list. I could eat a whole village!" She sighed, and wiped the sweat from her brow. Rui didn't want to admit it out loud, but she knew she was growing increasingly cranky. Even though this was just her regular thing, Rui was worried about taking it out on Tai. They had barely known each other for week; the young waterbender didn't want to give out a bad impression. She had become sort of fond of this young man.

A seemingly young woman approached Rui and Tai, causing Rui to snap to attention. She listened to the woman tentatively, and gasped at her knowledge. How does this woman know so much about Tai? The young waterbender observed the woman closer, realizing that the two shared many physical traits and minor mannerisms. Her suspicions were confirmed when the woman informed Tai that she was his aunt.

After the woman finished talking and had walked away, Rui looked over at Tai. "I know she's your aunt and all, but do you think we can honestly trust her?" She twiddled her thumbs nervously, hoping Tai wouldn't take offense to this. Rui had a hard time truly trusting people; she was cynical in that way.

Rui watched as a poster flew into Tai's chest, almost as if it was sent from the heavens. She looked over, automatically recognizing the cover. "Hey! My Dad talks about those all the time. He used to compete in them before he settled down." Rui laughed a bit, remembering all of his crazy stories. "If we do compete, we need to be careful. Those things are shady." Although Rui knew this, the thought of fighting for some reason got her blood going. Rui was not one to use her bending for violence, but this honestly sounded fun to her.

"I'm in if you're in, Tai. But let's be careful, ok?" She gave Tai a toothy grin. This probably wasn't a very well thought out idea, but Rui figured it'd be a story for the grandchildren. She gingerly took the poster from Tai, smoothing out the edges as she did so. "Says here the next one starts in an hour. Think we can wait that long?" The thought of another hour in the heat made Rui cringe on the inside, but she knew it could be a lot worse.

Without warning or any notice whatsoever, a man came up from behind Rui and seized her purse. "Hey!" she bellowed, "Give that back you dirty thief!" Rui took off at full sprint, hoping to catch up with the thief. She held her hand's up as if to bend water, but then realized that her prized flask was in her bag as well. Shit.. She thought, I need to find some water, and fast!

Rui watched as Tai threw his boomerang and hit the burglar dead on. She gasped, not expecting the hunter to have such excellent aim. The burglar got up quickly; he positioned himself in an earthbending pose. "Tai, look out! He's a bender!" The burglar shot up chunks of rock, and sent them hurtling after Rui and Tai. The young waterbender dodged the rocks, and began to look around desperately for any source of water.

Luckily for Rui, a woman just a few steps away was walking out of a store with a medium-sized porcelain pot of water. She ran over to the woman and snatched the water from her, and yelled, "Thanks! Just put it on my tab!" Rui set the pot down, and streamed the water into the air. She aimed to freeze the earthbending burglar's legs, but if she missed a large boulder would throw her backwards onto the ground.

Rui smiled devilishly, loving how well her and Tai were working together. She bended the water close to the man, and finally was able to freeze up his legs. By this time a small crowd of people had gathered around, almost like this was an every day thing. Tai and the young waterbender received a meager amount of applause from the people gathered. Rui ran over to Tai, a concerned look on her face. "Are you alright? How's your leg? You were really awesome out there, Tai." Her smile turned to a grimace as soon as she looked down at the struggling thief.

Rui took a deep breath, and grabbed the thief by his collar with her little hand. "If I ever see you messing with anyone's stuff again, I'll uh," Rui stammered, having never threatened anyone before in her life, "I'll punch you in the face really hard!"

Rui smiled a toothy grin, obviously pleased with the way Tai and her had worked together. She watched him threatening the thief, and wondered absently how many people he's had to threaten before. The waterbender reached down, picking her bag up off the ground. She dusted it off, and began to rummage around inside it. After she made sure everything was in its place, Rui took out her flask of water. She ran her hand over the intricate designs. The waterbender breathed a huge sigh of relief, "My father would've killed me if I lost this.." The flask was one his most prized possessions. Aside from his daughters, it was one of the only things he had to remember his late wife.

Rui shook her head, breaking up her chain of thought. She approached a random bystander, asking them for the time. "Hey, Tai!" she called over her shoulder, "Looks like we managed to kill off an hour of time!" Rui laughed, and pumped her fists up in the air. She felt the fighting spirit coursing through her. Before she walked off, though, Rui looked down at the thief once more. "D'ya think we should just leave him here, Tai?"

Rui nodded fervently, feeling the fighting spirit coursing through her veins. All of a sudden she just couldn't wait to get there. Rui wasn't sure why she was feeling this way; on the contrary, Rui usually hated fighting. Though she knew this was because of the strenuous bending sessions she had to endure with her father and younger sisters. "Hey Tai?" She gave him a sideways glance, and continued to talk. "I just want to say thank you for coming along with me." The waterbender blushed a bit, and gave a small chuckle. She then looked back towards the road, a faint smile still on her lips.

Rui watched as the streets turned from nice and clean to slightly dirty. This went for the people as well. The not-so-suspicious factory worker turned into the very-suspicious-and-probably-armed arms dealer. She'd even moved her flask to around her neck, just in case they got any trouble. Rui found herself clinging to Tai's arm a little tighter, and inquired in a whisper, "D'ya think we're going the right way? This place looks awfully scary." She gulped, and a stumpy man in a trenchcoat who looked to be about forty approached the pair. "Hey there sweetcheeks. That flask of your's and ya boyfriend's boomerang look to be awfully expensive. Ya wanna pawn 'em? I've got some awfully nice weapons at the shop."

The waterbender watched as the man opened his trenchcoat, revealing many daggers and other assortments of weapons. Her eyes widened suddenly, and she started to walk away rapidly with Tai in tow. "Hey!" The man called after them, I'll even give ya a discount since ya look like ya aren't from around here!" Rui continued to walk at a brisk pace, hoping to put as much distance between them as possible. After they'd walked a little ways, she breathed a small sigh of relief. "Boy, that was scary." Rui laughed nervously. They'd stopped in front of a large warehouse, when lo and behold Rui noticed the same posters on the door as they'd been holding on to. "Hey! Looks like we made it just in time!"

Though after further observing the warehouse again, Rui shuddered. There were all different types of thugs; most of them were about five times her size. She watched as they flexed their large, bulky muscles. One man even ripped through his shirt! Rui was left with her mouth dangling wide open, and when the man met her horrified gaze he laughed appreciatively. The monster of a man approached the pair, and talked in a booming voice, "You guys don't look to be around from these parts. The name's The Ripper. I hope you guys are just looking to spectate." He laughed again, and it felt like the ground beneath them was shaking.

Rui looked between the two males, feeling the testosterone rising in the air. "Tai, w-why don't we just save it for the arena?" She gasped as Tai pricked the man's arms like a striking snake. The Ripper did not like this very much, and he groaned loudly. "You.. You runt! The Ripper will make you pay!" The large man turned on his heels and ran, holding his arm in the other as he did so. Rui still stood there, her jaw dropped almost to the ground.

"T-Tai.. That was.. That was really cool!" She threw her arms around Tai's neck in half admiration and half fear. Tai really was cool. The waterbender approached what appeared to be the bouncer. Confidence is key.. Just be cool as a cucumber Rui, and you'll do fine. She pumped out her chest, hoping to achieve the rugged look that everyone around here possessed. "I'd like to enter my friend and I in this," She waved her arms around, scoffing, "child's game." The bouncer rolled his eyes, "Tell me your names.." he sighed, pulling out a piece of parchment and a writing utensil.

"I'm Rui Ching and he's Tai Lin, & we're here to kick some ass!"

Rui kept a huge, confident grin on her face until they'd walked through the doors of the warehouse. "Oops, sorry." she whispered back. Rui looked around at all the competitors, and gulped rather audibly. The men outside looked like turtleducks compared to these burly men. She watched in terror as some lifted gigantic boulders, or chucked what looked like oceans waves around. "I don't know about you, but I'm k-kind of second guessing this now, Tai." Rui was now visibly trembling, looking at her measly flask compared to these men's watertubs.

Without warning, a man came up and grabbed Rui's arm. "Looks like you're up first, uhh--" He glanced down at his official-looking piece of parchment, "Lui.. I mean, Rui." Rui gasped, completely taken by surprise. She was blindfolded at once, and hoped for her sake that her opponent was as well. Rui felt herself being moved to a dirt floor, and heard the audience cheer all around here.

"Weeeelcome everyone one and all to tonight's tournament! We've got a special treat for you lovely folks tonight!"

Rui trembled, though she was grateful for the blindfolds. At least her opponent would have to wait before deciding which way he should murder her. She gulped as the announcer boomed their names all through the building; apparently she was facing a man known as "The Sonic Wind" who seemed to be a crowd favorite due to the amount of applause and cheer he received. It made Rui even more lightheaded, and by this time she was pretty sure she was going to faint. After the hoots and hollers of the audience subsided, the announcer came back onto the mic. "Now at the count of three the blindfolds will be removed─it's game time!" After a short spurt of cheers, the audience came to a hush. The announcer spoke again, "One.. Two.. THREE!"

The blindfold covering Rui's eyes disintegrated at once, leaving a helpless Rui to stare her opponent dead in the face. He was a muscular man of about 5'11; he wasn't huge like the men she'd seen training, which honestly surprised Rui. I might actually stand a chance.. Though seconds later after thinking this, the literal wind was knocked out of her. She fell to her knees in what felt like slow motion, coughing up a bit of blood as she did so. Rui looked up to find her opponent at the same place he'd been five seconds ago. Rui felt adrenaline kicking in, and began to act fast. Water whips shot out of her flask as Rui ran towards her opponent. She managed to get one solitary hit before the wind was knocked out of her again, and this time Rui found it harder than before to get up.

When Rui got up for the fourth time, she found that she was face-to-face with her opponent. Hand-to-hand combat immediately ensued, which was something Rui had always struggled with. Ice formed around her fists as she threw punch after punch; Rui also sent jets of water along with her punches. Unfortunately the waterbender was only able to make contact a couple of times before her opponent started to manipulate the air again. With one swift air-punch the face, Rui was immediately knocked out on the ground.

"And the winner is The Sonic Wind!" was the last thing Rui heard before the world around her went black.

Rui immediately jolted upright, causing pain to immediately make her lie back down. She looked around, not sure of where she was at. All she remembered was getting knocked about by her tournament opponent. The young waterbender sighed, feeling instantly embarrassed. She must have looked pitiful out there. Rui looked around for Tai, hoping for some comfort. Hopefully he had won his match for them. She was laying on a long, stone table which was about as comfortable as it sounded. Instantly she knew where she was, only because her father'd described it to her before. This was where they took the people who had lost. Rui groaned in embarrassment.

She tried sitting up again, but more carefully this time. Rui managed to get to an upright position, and grabbed her flask. She bended the water over her wounds and began to heal them. Suddenly, a man opened up the door and spoke in a very bored voice, "Alright, you're free to go.. wimp." Rui chose to ignore his comment and stepped out of the room. She met up with Tai, and listened as he told her about his win. The young waterbender smiled gratefully, and the pair walked off to find a hotel.


Rui stretched, grateful for the nice sheets and comfortable blankets surrounding her. She let out a big yawn, and looked over to find Tai still asleep on the other bed. Creeping out of bed, Rui intended to go into town and buy Tai a surprise breakfast. He had saved their butts yesterday, what with winning a couple matches at the tournament and all.

Strolling down the streets of Ba Sing Se, Rui looked around hoping to find a cheap bakery. She spotted one at once, and stepped inside. The sweet aroma of bread wafted in the air, and Rui's mouth began to water at once. The young waterbender put her hands on the glass displaying the treats; she'd never seen such delicious looking things before. Pulling out some money, Rui decided to get two muffins and something called an "egg custard." Apparently, it was a Ba Sing Se delicacy. Rui was handed a large paper bag containing her treats and was wished a good day by the cashier. She walked out of the store feeling content, and made her way back to the hotel.

Rui crept back into their hotel room, her various treats in hand. Sliding the panel door closed, Rui sauntered over to the small table in the corner. She laid out the treats, making it look pretty and presentable. After she'd finished, Rui stood back to survey her work. She smiled proudly, and decided to try to fall asleep until Tai got up.

Rui jumped out of bed, getting into an immediate battle stance. "Who are you and what are you d--" She trailed off, realizing immediately it was Tai. "Oh, s-sorry Tai. I thought someone was breaking into the room." She gave an embarrassed laugh, scratching the back of her head. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, Rui walked to sit on the edge of her bed. "Where did ya go? Oh, and I uh, got you breakfast." She gave another embarrassed laugh as she gestured over to the table.