Constantly In Trouble

"UP! Itamatsu, wake UP!" commanded the iron voice of Sifu Niu. Matsu mumbled something incoherent and then listened as Sifu Niu's footsteps faded from the room. She then threw off her blankets and excitedly washed her body down before putting on her usual garb; a tight yellow wrap around her ribs; an orange sash to go over one shoulder and tie at her waist with a golden ring through the part that sat on her shoulder; the tie at her waist was a dark red. She then pulled on her bottoms, tight yellow shorts that went under her red pleated skirt that was orange between the pleats. Tucking her feet into simple leather ballet flats, she was dressed. She ran her hands through her air, drying it with her airbending and then brushing it out before braiding it over her other shoulder, those same customary gold rings to hold it in place. She then ran outside from the dormitories, excited to meet up with Run-Li. Fridays were always their goof-off days.

"Itamatsu, you're supposed to--" One of the monks said as Matsu ran out into the courtyard. It was one of Sifu Niu's stuffy old friends, and Matsu continued running like she didn't hear her. "Itamatsu! Sifu Niu wants you to finish basic training!" they called after her. Matsu continued running; Fridays were her day off from training and practice and the like. Besides, Run-Li wanted to learn more "fancy circus tricks" as she called them.

She caught sight of her friend down by the Airball Courts; she was cheering for one of the boys as usual. Run-Li was always hoping to catch someone's eye. "Ruuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!" Matsu sang, and Run-Li looked at her with wide eyes for a moment before her face broke out into a huge grin. "Maaaaaaaaaaaattttttssssuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!" she crowed in response, and the two friends hugged as Matsu turned to look at the game of Airball. "Who're you cheering on this time?" she asked with a smile and a wink. Run-Li blushed at this, and Matsu could tell that it was her friend's life-long crush, Kunjyo. "Oooh, spying on Jyooooooo?" Matsu teased, but Run-Li shushed her as Kunjyo looked up. He gave a nod in Run-Li's direction, which caused her to wave, turn bright red as Jyo turned back to the game, and then run towards the courtyards.

Matsu followed her friend, laughing the whole way. "You'll never catch his eye like that! You should've joined into the game!" Matsu chided, but let up on her friend as two papayas were produced from Run-Li's bag. "Oh, God, are those 'legal'? You know the monks have rules about stealing fruit from the trees, Run-Li." Matsu said; while she was immature and hardly ever thought anything through, she wasn't stupid either. The twenty-three year old in her kicked in. "We should take them to the kitchens! What if we're caught?!" She began, but Run-Li ended her hopes of returning the fruits when she threw both of them in the air and sliced them into pieces with her airbending before having them float down onto a little plate. "Dig in." Run-Li said with a large grin. Matsu rolled her eyes at her seventeen year old companion, but stuffed a piece of fruit into her mouth anyways. If they were caught...well, it's not like she wasn't in trouble all the time anyways. Rules were something Matsu didn't believe in.

The plate was soon bare yet again, and Matsu laughed as Run-Li did an exaggerated content sigh and pat of her belly. "So, show me your contortion act!" Run-Li demanded. Matsu groaned; she couldn't contort herself into shapes with a stomach this full. "Tell ya what: let's have an airball scooter race and then I'll show you before lunch," Matsu said. Run-Li pouted for a half second until she formed an airball with her hands and then launched on top of it, the toes of her right foot balancing on the airball while her left foot was seated on her right knee. Her fists were pressed together in front of her abdomen, and Matsu similarly created her own. "Five. Four. Three. Two. One." Matsu began slowly, then last second, she yelled as fast as she could, "READYSETGO!" and zoomed away from her friend, willing herself to go faster. One of the worst things about being in the circus was that her bending was under-developed. While powerful, she was still placed at an intermediate beginner's level with a bunch of sixteen and seventeen year olds. But, at the same time, all of the people her age in the temple were boring and didn't like fun.

"HAAAA! YOU'LL NEVER CATCH MEEEEEE!!!!!" Matsu sang as she rode away from her friend. "WAIT UP, YOU DIRTY CHEATER!" Run-Li screamed after her as Matsu rode away on her airball scooter, zooming up walls and underneath monk's robes. Run-Li was right behind her, and they continued along, Matsu looking over her shoulder, braid flying. Suddenly, a wall was right in front of her, and with a loud smack that could be heard all over the courtyard, Matsu was on her back.

"OHMYGODMATSU," Run-Li shouted, but Matsu was fine, albeit a little dazed. "I think I hit a wall...ow." Matsu said, a hand on her forehead. She was slightly dizzy, but looked up at her worried friend with a smile. Run-Li's airball scooter was gone, and she was kneeling before her. She held up two fingers in front of Matsu's face; "How many fingers?" she commanded. "Two..." Matsu answered. She took a moment to clear her head, then used her airbending to stand up straight and brush herself off. "Let's go again!" She grinned. Run-Li simply shook her head, but formed her airball scooter and was off before Matsu could even think about forming hers. "WHO'S THE DIRTY CHEATER NOW?!" she yelled after her, but laughed and made hers.

Twenty minutes later and Matsu was in the lead. They were now within the temples, having gotten bored of going in circles in the courtyards. They were zooming around people and above their heads and underneath their robes, laughing the entire time. Matsu was taken aback as Run-Li zoomed past her and pounded her fists together to increase the size of her airball scooter and thus go faster. As she gained speed, though, someone came around the corner and she slammed into them. Ugh...how many times am I going to slam into things today?" she asked herself as she got up and looked at her next victim. At least she didn't need to apologize to the wall....

"Uh....sorry," she said awkwardly as her friend's silhouette disappeared in the distance. Honestly, that girl would get to the top of the mountain and be too exhausted to come down at the rate she was going. She looked down at the person she'd hit; he was probably one of the monks, although she'd never seen him before. His hair was long, and he was holding a book in his hand. She stood there awkwardly, not extending a hand or anything, just waiting for someone to yell at her for screwing up yet again.

With the amount of trouble she was getting into these days, she'd be expelled by the end of the week.

The older man bended himself to his feet, and she noted the airbending tattoos on his hands; the rest of him was covered. He looked like a traditional monk, other than the fact that his hair was dark and shoulder-length. He looked like an Earth Kingdom citizen, except that he was wearing orange rather than green. "You're the fifth person who has bumped into me this morning!" He said with a laugh, eyes twinkling. "I return from the Western Temple after almost a year of being gone and this is how I'm welcomed home! Well, can't say I've heard of such an odd welcoming. You look to be an older student, but I've never seen you before. I'm Master Li Nao." The man said. His face was not very lined, but she could see now that he was probably in his mid-forties. "Hiya, Sifu Nao! I'm Itamatsu Pasang, of the Pasang Travelling Circus! Most just call me Matsu though; well, other than the monks. They're all stuffy and don't like nicknames." Matsu said absentmindedly before realizing that she was running her mouth again.

"I quite agree, Itamatsu Pasang of the Circus," he said with a grin and Matsu's face broke into a smile. She liked this man; he was like her, a jokester. It made her feel very at home. With an uncharacteristic display of manners and respect, Matsu said, "Can I escort you to--" Matsu began until suddenly, with a gust of wind and a whoop, Run-Li skidded to a stop right behind Sifu Nao. "I SOOOOO just kicked your butt, Matsu!!! YOU LOST THIS TIME! HA!" Run-Li crowed, coming to stand beside Matsu, before realizing that Matsu was talking to one of the monks. "Oh, gosh..." she said quietly before falling quickly to her knees and bowing to the monk. Many of the students in the temple did this; Matsu never realized that it was so customary; she was a simple circus girl, and she was not quite yet caught up with the rules and social mannerisms of the Temple.

"Hello, Run-Li. I'm glad to see that you've been keeping Miss Pasang out of trouble, correct?" the monk said with a huge grin and a wink at Matsu. Run-Li kept her head bowed and continued prostrating before the monk before he laughed and touched her shoulder. She looked up then, and he shook her hand as she stood. "Now, run along, girls. Tell Master Niu I said hello. Oh, and keep away from the main west corridor. Master Tatsumaki is here." the monk warned with a stern smile before heading off, his hands hidden in the folds of his sleeves. "Oh...come on, Matsu, let's go before we bump into him." Run-Li said, uncharacteristically...well, frightened. "What's wrong with Sifu Tatsumaki?" Matsu asked, automatically dubbing him "Sifu". She did so with all of the masters, even though it wasn't customary to call a master your sifu unless they were your instructor.

"You don't know about him? He's....different from the rest of us. Run-Li said in a hushed whisper. "Sounds like my kind of guy! Come on, let's go meet him!" Matsu said with a huge grin and automatically zoomed past her friend. "Matsu, wait, you can't--" Matsu heard Run-Li call before she was out of earshot. She turned down a few short cuts before arriving behind a tapestry in the main west corridor with a breathless smile. She looked around for anything different; she found her mark when she spotted a man with white hair--long, like Sifu Nao's--but his robes were very different. A black-kimono like robe wrapped around him with a white overcoat; this had to be him.

He was speaking to one of the oldest monks in the entire temple, Master Shou. She knew him to be one of the more respected members of the Temple, but this didn't faze her. Not much did. "Sifu Tatsumaki!" she called while straightening her garments. She wanted to know about him, like why he wore those funny robes and such. Besides, if Run-Li was SCARED of him, then she just HAD to meet him. Matsu jogged over towards him, not noting her disrespect, although she knew by Sifu Shou's stern look that he was not happy. With a last thought, she did as Run-Li had with Sifu Nao and bowed before the master in the customary airbender style; her knees were on the ground and her hands were extended before her, although she was not completely prostrating. Rather, she was at a forty-five degree angle, her head bowed. She did not look up; instead, she continued doing this, feeling very awkward and not knowing why Run-Li did this with every single master they came across.

Matsu did as she was told, avoiding the looks Sifu Shou was directing at her. She watched as a raven landed on Master Tatsumaki's shoulder, and a small smile turned up the corners of her mouth. Her mother, Pei Zhi, had a messenger hawk not unlike the raven, and she felt a small pang of homesickness for Pei Zhi, the hawk Zalaqul and her sister, Yamako. The monk then looked back at Matsu, asking her what she wanted. She felt a little intimidated by him, and it didn't help that Sifu Shou was looking at her like he was going to put her in his gyoza soup for dinner. She swallowed back her fear though; she was, after all, an adult. Fears were silly when you were a grown-up.

"I heard that you were here...and my best friend, well, she didn't want to come and meet you. She's scared or somethin'. Personally, I think that's silly; there's nothin' to be afraid of. You seem nice enough," Matsu said, beginning awkwardly but warming up to her old self by the end. She gave him a charming smile, one that faltered as Sifu Shou looked very angry. Whether it was because of the blatant disrespect she had shown by interrupting their conversation or if it was because he didn't like Sifu Tatsumaki, she didn't know. What she did know what that she was not about to be scared away from someone so interesting just because a stuffy old monk was grumpy.

"How long are you staying here? Don't you travel a lot or something? Do you know Sifu Niu? She's my mentor; she makes me practice breathing too much," Matsu said with a large smile. "I heard you were different! You sound a lot like me; I'm from the Circus," Matsu said before deciding to stop talking. Most reacted badly to hearing that she was from the circus. She was used to the teasing and name-calling by now, what with having traveled in every nation in the world, but sometimes she wished she could be dubbed something other than Circus Freak.

She swayed back and forth on her toes, not quite meeting Sifu Tatsumaki's eye. While she wasn't SCARED of him, she certainly didn't want to make him angry. Especially if he was the only airbender she'd ever met who was also isolated from everyone else. Run-Li was the only one who would hang out with her, other than Hun-Hun. But Matsu hadn't seen Hun-Hun for a few days; most were mean to her too, probably because she was so short or something. Run-Li was just tough, but she had lots of other friends too.

"Matsuuuuuuuuuu," she heard from behind her, like a hiss, but so faint she didn't know if she was hearing it. She turned her head towards the sound but didn't see anything. It was probably just Run-Li showing off her advanced abilities--Matsu might be able to twist her body into a pretzel, but Run-Li was an extremely powerful bender. "Matsuuuuuuuuuuuuuu," the voice hissed again. This time, Matsu noticed Run-Li's fingers from around the corner beckoning her. She ignored this and went back to holding a staring contest with Sifu Shou.

His glare was withering and could make the younger airbenders cry; Matsu looked up at him, bright and cheerful, practically mocking his stern ways. With a cheeky smile, he blinked and she knew she'd won this time. Even for an old man, she knew how to win his respect, even with something so primitive as a stare-down. She then looked back at Sifu Tatsumaki and remembered that she'd forgotten to introduce herself. "Oh. I'm Itamatsu Pasang, intermediate airbender, level eight." Matsu said.

The youngest airbenders were placed at level one. These were usually three or four year olds who had found they could bend at a young age--Run-Li had been one of these. Level two were the usual beginners, ranging from five to ten years of age; they had a harder time than most. The bending levels continued up in this way until level eight. Run-Li was advanced for this level; Matsu was supposed to be in level ten at her age and so many of the students laughed and said she was so distracted with her crazy "circus tricks" that she didn't know how to focus on bending properly.

Matsu watched the exchange and Sifu Shou left, looking rather upset. She didn’t comment on this however; this man had an air about him that almost demanded her respect. The master then turned to Matsu and bowed to her; she felt immensely flattered and did so in return; no one had ever bowed to her before. Feeling almost giddy inside, she decided that he was very likable. In response to his statement, she said, "Well, I’m generally called Matsu, but people call me anything, really....” trailing off as the sharp pang of the teasing and name calling made itself known.
”So...what’s oxygen bending?” she asked with interest. She’d never heard of something like that and looked at the master with curiosity. A whoop outside told her that Jyo just won the airball game and she could hear Run-Li’s cheering.

Matsu could only watch with wide eyes. This man was taking bending to a whole new level....and she wanted to learn. She wanted to know what it was like to finally have a choice when it came to her bending. If he'd allow her, she'd be his student. "Only one, Sifu Tatsumaki....will you take me as a student?" she asked, her voice calm. The child in her was shut away for a few moments; she had never wanted anything more in her entire life than to master airbending. But the airbending she was learning was not what she needed. This was.

She waited for a moment for his answer, analyzing her surroundings. She wouldn't try that bending--it was too dangerous. She watched as the old teacher hobbled off, clutched his throat. She didn't want to know what it felt like to breathe and have no oxygen--it looked extremely painful. But unlike everyone else in the temple, she wasn't afraid of what Master Tatsumaki could do. She was completely fascinated by it.

Matsu's smile faded. "Well, I haven't got many friends in the first place..." she mumbled, but then straightened her expression back into a happy grin. "Yes, I'm sure, Sifu," she said, smiling sincerely. She wanted to learn everything he knew, and maybe make some discoveries of her own. "The world is changing, growing, renewing itself; it's time the way of bending did as well." she said simply, displaying yet again the wisdom that she fought so hard to repress. The silly Matsu haze came back quickly, though, and she jumped in the air with a whoop.

"When do I start training then?! Can I go with you when you leave in two days? Where are you going anyways? Where do you live if you don't stay in the temples? How come your robes aren't orange? And why don't you shave your head?" she asked, firing question after question and not even realizing how hyper she was becoming.