New Beginnings

First thread!!!

Hiro couldn't believe it, he was finally here. Omashu. "Had it been worth it?" he asked himself. "Yes definitely". The cities gates stood before him, excitement filled Hiro as he walked through them and into the giant square. The small rucksack bounced on his shoulder as he climbed the steep stairs to get to the cities main street. On his way up to find a tea store, he caught a few people giving him odd glances. He felt suddenly uncomfortable and embarrassed, a bright shade of pink appeared on his cheeks, he put a bit of extra speed into his steps so to get away from the stares and into a tea house where he could sit down after his long travel here.

The tea house, quite larger than any other he had visited on his travels, stood near the top of the main street, he ducked his head as he entered under the small cloth that was placed in the doorway. A wave of heat hit him as soon as he entered the small sitting room. He sat at the nearest table possible and waited for someone to come and take his order. Looking at the other people with their families, sitting around him made Hiro think about his own mother and father. It had been nearly a year since he had left the family farm to develop his earthbending and so far he hadn't progressed as far as he had hoped. Life had been hard but he hoped that once he had mastered his bending it would be worth the wait. He began looking round the room, searching for a waiter, when he found none he opened his rucksack and took out a jar full of dirt. Making sure no one was watching, he opened the jar and began lifting the dirt, compressing it until it became as solid as rock. This pleased Hiro as it reminded him that he was special, unlike so many other snobbish travellers he had encountered on his journey. Lost in thought, Hiro forgot that he was bending and lost control. The hardened earth bounced of the table and rolled along the floor where a waiter tripped, dropping the tray of boiling tea onto an unsuspecting family. They shot him angry glares and he quickly hid his face. Things hadn't gone very well so far.

Rin had just walked into the tea shop, expecting the usuall peace and quiet it usually had. But, Of course, Rin was wrong. As soon as she walked in the earth began to move.

A waiter tripped and fell onto Rin, pushing her to the ground in the shake. Curse thoughs irresponisable earth benders! playing a prank no doubt! Rin felt hot blood rush to her cheeks with rage and she stood up aburptly, amber eyes burning.

"Okay, who is the wise guy earthbending?" She said loadly for the whole shop to hear. Rin was clearly fire nation, dressed in a red crop top and pants, her long ebony hair tied up in a typical fire nation style.

The room went silent, it was times like this Rin didn't mind that most earth kingdom folk were scared of people of the fire nation. "well? anyone?" She said, helping the waiter up before spotting a young man hiding his face on the table nearest to the door. Bingo, a suspect.

Hiro, obviously embarrassed, tried to avoid attention. The entire store was silent and he could feel dozens of eyes looking at him. A voice broke the silence, "Okay, who is the wise guy earthbending?". Hiro slid down in his seat even further. Waiting a moment for more silence he took a peak over the booth and saw a young woman helping the fallen waiter up, she scanned the crowd searching for the trouble maker. Avoiding eye contact he studied the woman. He could tell straight away that she was fire nation, he had met many on his travels and knew enough about them to identify one if they came across. Her long ebony hair stood out and was a common attribute among many fire nation women. She would have appeared attractive to Hiro had she not been trying to hunt him down and most likely punish him for his clumsiness.

They made eye contact for a brief moment but her gaze passed over him. Hiro quickly slid back behind the booth trying to hide from her icy gaze. Again the woman spoke, "well? anyone?". Hiro tried to control his breathing as it seemed he would explode unless he gasped for air. He could hear footsteps heading towards him, he tried to act casual but couldn't even stop his hands from trembling.

Rin walkedover to the young man, he was most likely the same age as her, prehaps a little older? She stood infront of him, arms crossed casually, lightly tapping her foot on the ground.

In the silents, the sound of her shoe hitting the ground echoed through the tea shop, it's usually quiet pats booming through the air. Rin studied the boy for a good long time. Earth kingdom, obviously, dressed in earth kingdom peasant farmer clothes. He met her eyes for a brief second, before looking down at his trembling hands.

Really? trembling? gosh, she wasn't that frightful! she raised one eyebrow at the boy, her golden amber eyes peircing his mind.

"Okay, prankster, I know it was you. You can stop shaking now..." She said rolling her eyes. Her anger had past, and she felt slightly sorry for the boy. "I have a feeling you are still learning to earthbend aren't you?"

Hiro knew the young woman was coming over to his table. He attempted to stop his hands from trembling by clasping them together tightly but to no avail. The woman was at his table now, the anger on her face had seemed to have lessened from before but it was still present. He looked up and found her studying him, only now did he notice her brilliant amber eyes which stood out among her entire facial appearance. They made eye contact for a brief second but Hiro quickly avoided her gaze and decided to focus on stopping his trembling hands. The woman was also staring at his hands so he hid them under the table hoping she hadn't noticed.

"Okay, prankster, I know it was you. You can stop shaking now..." she said, her voice bouncing round the room. Her voice softened and changed to a small whisper. "I have a feeling you are still learning to earthbend aren't you?"Hiro cheeks flared a brilliant red, surprised that she had said this with such kindness. He looked back up at her, all evidence of annoyance and anger had been erased and was replaced with a sympathetic look. With the excitement over, the people in the tea house continued there conversations as if nothing had happened. " We...Well ummmm yes I am still practising my bending, the reason I came her was to find a teacher but so far I haven't had any luck"

Rin nodded, earthbending teachers were hard to find. She looked around and saw that everyone had gone back to their bussiness, reflieved. Rin sat down across from the young earthbender, holding her pale hand out for him to shake. "I'm Rin, firebender, and you are?" She said casually, her amber eyes studying him.

The woman sat down in the seat opposite him, she almost seemed relieved that everyone had gone about there own business. She held out her pale hand, intending him to shake it. Hiro was really never good at communicating with others but it seemed rude to ignore her. "I'm Rin, firebender, and you are?" her voice seemed almost casual as if nothing had ever happened to them in the first place. "I'm Hiro, nice to meet you Rin", shaking her hand in return. He had calmed down now as all the excitement had ceased. "So Rin, what brings you to Omashu?" It seemed very odd for someone like her to be so far away from her home nation. Even though the hundred year war was over, it still seemed strange.

Rin was about to answer Hiro's question, when instead she jumps to her feet and yells at the door out of know where. "YOU IDIOT!?! WHAT DID YOU DO THIS TIME?!?"Rin was yelling at the young man who just walked into the tea shop, covered in mud. He was tall, with the same ebony hair as Rin, but short and spikey. His fire nation soilder's uniform was caked in dirt.

The young man shot Rin a mischivious smile and said "Would you believe me if I said I tripped?"

Rin rolled her eyes, obiviously her answer to that question would have been no. "So, Rin, this ya' boyfriend you wrote to me about? Rengshi? the guy causeing you grief..." Ryo's golden eyes turned harsh as he glared over at Hiro, cracking his knuckles loudly.

Hiro was startled when Rin jumped out of her seat and started yelling at the door. "Oh god, what have i gotten myself into" he thought to himself. He was even more surprised when a young fire nation soldier entered through the doorway, well he thought he was a soldier. He could hardly make out the uniform under all this dirt that looked like it had been caked on.

Like Rin, he had the same ebony hair but instead of it being long like Rin's, he had cut it short. He gave Rin a mischievous grin, and suddenly turned to Hiro. The grin vanished and he fixed him with an icy glare, his eyes seemed to look into his very soul. "A fire nation trait perhaps"he said to himself. "So, Rin, this ya' boyfriend you wrote to me about? Rengshi? the guy causing you grief..." Hiro had no idea what he was talking about. He had only known Rin for about a minute, not long enough for this guy to know about the earth bending incident. Fear struck him as the soldier began cracking his knuckles. Only then did he realise that his hands had started trembling again!

Rin's eyes widened and she blushed a bright pink. "No! this isn't him! This is Hiro, I just met him a few minutes ago!" she rolled her eyes. Rin looked over to Hiro and smiled warmly "Sorry, this is my brother Noodles..."

Ryo glared at his little sister when she called him that dreaded nick name. "I can introduce myself thanks..." His gaze returned to normal from it's previous harshness. "I'm Ryo, not noodles! nice to meet you Hiro!" He grinned, holding out his muddy hand for Hiro to shake, before taking it back. "On second thought, you probley don't wanna shake my hand right now..." He laughed, still caked in dirt, mud, and such.

Hiro threw his hands up in front of his face,bracing himself. He was surprised when nothing happened, he lowered his arms to find Rin and the soldier glaring at each other. Rin's cheeks were a bright pink as she said "No! this isn't him! This is Hiro, I just met him a few minutes ago!", she turned back to Hiro and smiled at him. "Sorry, this is my brother Noodles...". The soldier interrupted her before she could finish. "I can introduce myself thanks..." Hiro could tell that he wasn't as aggressive as before. "I'm Ryo, not noodles! nice to meet you Hiro!" He brought his hand out to shake, Hiro looked at his muddy hand, Ryo seemed to have noticed and pulled it back laughing. "On second thought, you probably don't wanna shake my hand right now..." Hiro laughed as well, which surprised him. "So you two are brother and sister, I thought you two looked similar" Only now had he noticed the similarities between the two. Their golden coloured eyes for example. "Oh by the way Rin who's this Rengshi guy that your brother nearly bet me up for?"

Rin blushed a even brighter red at Hiro's question, crossing her arms and avoiding Hiro and Ryo's eyes. "No one we need to talk about right now..." She hissed, her eyes looking like a angry snake's.

Ryo rolled his eyes at his sister and turned to Hiro, looking down at him. "So, Hiro, what brings you to Omashu then?"

Rin seemed surprised at Hiro's question. Her cheeks went red, almost matching the colour of her clothes. "No one we need to talk about right now..."she answered. She crossed her arms obviously annoyed that Hiro had brought it up.

Ryo rolled his eyes at his sister and turned back to Hiro. "So, Hiro, what brings you to Omashu then?" he asked. Hiro remembered that Ryo wasn't here when Rin caught him earthbending, so he didn't know that he was looking for a teacher. "Well like I told Rin before, I came to Omashu hoping to find an earth bending teacher but so far I haven't found anyone. I'm starting to think my trip here was a waste of time"

Ryo studied Hiro for a momment, thinking if he knew of any earthbenders that he hadn't pnched in the face. "A earthbender, huh? wish I could help you there, but a earthbending teacher is hard to find." He answered Hiro, tapping his chin. "You tried applying for one of those fancy shamancy earthbending schools?" Rin asked Hiro, her pretty face returning back to it's porcelain white shade.

The tea shop had gone quite again, and many people walked over to the window, peering outside. there was a loud crash, and Ryo and Rin joined the others looking outside, only to find their ambery-gold eyes widening. Rin turned to look at Hirom gesturing for him to also look. "Hiro, you are gonna wanna see this..."

Ryo seemed to be contemplating Hiro's question. When he answered Hiro's heart dropped as he had thought that Ryo may know of someone since he had roamed the world as a soldier.
Rin, now out of her grump, asked Hiro "You tried applying for one of those fancy shamancy earthbending schools?"the simplicity of her question startled him. He didn't want to admit that he hadn't thought of that. Although he had to say something. "Well life was really hard on the family farm, and we never had a lot of money, so when I arrived, school was just out of the question".

The tea shop had now gone quiet, the three of them couldn't find anything else to talk about. Rin and Ryo were just about to say their goodbyes when there was loud crash outside. The two of them rush outside to see what the commotion is. "Hiro, you are gonna wanna see this..." Rin called from outside. A huge ring of people had formed by the time Hiro had left the store. He pushed his way to the center to find a masked man harassing an old woman. The man had pushed the woman to the ground now, he noticed the evil glares from the spectators and fled. Hiro helped the woman up, when she started screaming down the street after the fleeing man. "Give it back, thief, THIEF!!! Give me back my necklace".

Ryo and Rin looked at eachother, as if to see if they both were thinking the same thing. Ryo nodded at Rin, she smiled "Get back here, you worthless mutt!" Rin screamed at the thief, her hands bursting into flames, charging at him. Ryo rolled his eyes and looked at Hiro and the old woman. "Well, Hiro, wanna help me and my crazy sister catch a thief?" He grinned mishchivously.

Hiro heard Rin scream something but all his attention was focused on the masked man fleeing down the street. He could feel his blood boiling, he despised criminals and if this man was a bender... well it was best not to think about it now. Ryo turned to him and asked "Well, Hiro, wanna help me and my crazy sister catch a thief?". "With pleasure" Hiro had transformed into a completely different person, no longer was he the shy, frightened farm boy, he was now an earthbender!

Hiro sprinted down the street, bending the earth beneath him, giving him extra speed. He caught a glimpse of Rin in front of him, her long ebony hair flowing behind her as she sprinted after the thief. Hiro quickly over took her and could now see the thief just a few meters in front of him. Hiro raised a part of the ground just in front of the man so that he tripped and fell straight onto his face. Hiro stopped in front of the man. He glared at him with so much rage that the thief couldn't bear to stare back. Hiro wanted so badly to raise the earth around the man until he suffocated but something in the back of his mind stopped him.

Rin was running as fast as she could after the thief, fire trailing from her fists. Rin was almost at the thief when something over took her by a longshot. was it....was it Hiro? Rin laughed as she saw how much that little farmboy had gone from Mr. Blush-a-lot to King of earth in a matter of seconds! Rin had to admit, she had a knew found respect for the guy.

Ryo was a few paces behind the two, as he was still covered in mud and couldn't run as fast as he usually could. Ryo skidded to a halt as he saw something in Hiro's eye he haddn't seen before. aggression? rage? what ever it was, it didn't look good. Ryo hoped Hiro wouldn't do anything stupid.

Hiro stood by the man until the authorities arrived. He took the necklace out of the man's bag, intending to give it back to the woman. He also noticed a small knife sticking out of the thief's foot. The man groaned in pain as he tried to pull the dagger out of his ankle. He noticed a little bit of liquid trickling down the edge of the blade, he made sure to stay away from it's sharp edge. With the necklace and the knife there was nothing else holding him back. He made his way back up the street hoping to meet up with Rin or Ryo on the way.

Rin ran up to Hiro and jumped on him excitedly, clearly out of breath. She was utterly amazed at Hiro's sudden transformation. "YOU. ARE. A. ANIMAL HIRO! WOOO!" Rin exclaimed happily. "One minute you were like, all blushy, and them, BAM! you turned into a lean, mean, thief catching machine!" She yelled, waving her arms in the air.

Ryo rolled his eyes, and saw that Hiro was still holding the neaklace and the knife. Ryo looked at the young earthbender for a momment before asking "Hey, where did the knife come from?" Ryo's golden eyes lingered from Hiro down to the knife, inspecting the blade curiously. "It has poison on that blade...is it yours Hiro?"

He didn't hear Rin coming, he just let her jump on him and bowl him over. "YOU. ARE. A. ANIMAL HIRO! WOOO! One minute you were like, all blushy, and them, BAM! you turned into a lean, mean, thief catching machine!" He smiled at her comment. He liked the way the two siblings treated him, he believed the three of them would become great friends.

When Ryo finally caught up to them, Hiro had made sure his breathing was under control. The soldier's eyes flashed towards the necklace and knife Hiro was holding. "Hey, where did the knife come from?" he asked. Hiro responded by giving him the small dagger. He studied for a few moments before he seemed to notice something and a shocked expression appeared on his face. "It has poison on that blade...is it yours Hiro?" He was as shocked as Ryo but didn't understand the importance of the situation. "No it's not mine, I found it earthed in the thief's leg. Is it important?"

Hiro didn't wait for Ryo to answer, his attention had been caught by a young woman who was clumsily picking up her things and leaving the street. The woman seemed to be distressed as she took a long while to pack her belongings and leave. However Hiro was more drawn to the fact that she carried many small daggers around her belt. They were almost identical to the one Ryo had in his hands but he couldn't tell for certain as they were to far away to make out. "Quick look" he told the two siblings, pointing at the young woman as she hurried off out of their line of sight. She seemed to curious for Hiro to avoid. Without waiting for an answer from his two companions he ran after the young woman. "Hey you wait!"