Kai and Shang slowly sauntered down the street, Shang's hands in his pockets. They talked about frivolous things, "So you want to come over after school tomorrow?" Kai asked.

"Sure."

"Cool, I got a new ChiGame…"

"No way!"

"Yeahhhhh, my foster parents got me it."

"Sweeeet."

They came across a four way stop in their quiet village, Shang said goodbye and flew away on his air glider as Kai continued to walk. Kai was born a non-bender, whereas his best friend was pretty much a prodigy at airbending. "Shang could be a master if he wanted…" Kai muttered to himself. He was a block from home, the streetlights swayed, the sidewalks were piercingly quiet. Kai heard the growl of a SatoCycle in the distance, Kai raised an eyebrow and turned, four cyclists were heading his way. He stepped to the side of the road to let them pass, but as soon as they got to him they made a screeching halt. Kai's eyes widened, "U-Uhhhh, hi…"

"YOU! YOUR SHIRT!" One of the large thugs screamed.

Kai looked down at the flower shop shirt he was wearing, he knew exactly what they wanted.

Kai took off, running down the hilly valley, the thugs gaining ground by the second, his small white dog by his side, yipping in fear. Kai grimaced, "God damn mom and dad, cheating people out of money again," Suddenly an earth column shot up next to his leg, tugging on his pants slightly. "AHH! Shit shit…" His eyes wandered the landscape ahead for an escape route. The only thing in sight were the massive spirit wilds made by Avatar Korra a hundred years prior. If he could make it into the wilds, there was no way the thugs would follow. He kicked it into gear and sped towards the thick woods, flinging himself into the tangled brush.

The smaller of the two thugs skidded to a stop, "Ay man! What is we doin'? Shouldn't we go after him?" He looked to bigger thug, they both rode sleek Satocycles.

The big thug grinned menacingly, "Nah, the wilds will take care of him themselves… Let's head out!"

The thugs slowly made their way back towards the small village in the shadow of a large mountain, the village Kai called home. Kai continued to run until he reached almost complete darkness. He sat down to catch his breath. His eyes floated to the canopy above, he was alone, but not scared. See, Kai had been alone his whole life as an orphan until three years ago when he was adopted by some sneaky flower shop owners. He looked down at his shirt which wore the flower shop insignia and frowned, brushing dirt off of it. He let out a heavy sigh and stood up, plodding forwards, he couldn't tell where he had just come from. He groaned with exasperation and shuffled along, his puppy prancing alongside him, "You sure have a good attitude, Riishi." He muttered, a small smile playing on his lips.

Suddenly, something wrapped around his ankle, he let out a scream as he turned and saw a large spirit with spiked tentacles standing above him. The spirit whipped him to the side, hitting his back against a tree. Kai felt the air leave his lungs in one fatal swoop. His vision blacked out and he felt himself slip.

Kai's eyes slowly opened, night had fallen and strange noises surrounded him. He sat up and gasped, "Oh god…." He grumbled. He slowly stood up, quickly regretting his decision. He let out a cry, holding his back as he fell to his knees. "Stupid spirit." He felt a lump in his throat and his eyes widened as he realized he didn't see Riishi, "Riishi!" He called. No reply. He slowly made his way to his feet, clinging to the tree beside him, continuing to call out her name, but to no avail. He felt tears well up in his eyes, he had been Riishi's companion since he was born. As he wandered the forest he began to hear something in the distance, hoping it would lead him to Riishi, he quickened his pace.

Kai could see a faint glow on top of the ravine he had been stuck in. He slowly began to climb, cringing with pain with every step and pull. He finally peeked over the ridge, his eyes widening. A hooded figure danced around a fire, flames flying from their fingertips and bare toes as they demonstrated ancient looking firebending moves. Kai was caught in a trance, watching the skilled bender dance about, their moves being celebrated by surrounding spirits. Kai felt his foot begin to slip. He let out a small gasp as he slid down. The drum beat and the bender suddenly stopped all movement, Kai peeked his head back up to get a view of what happened, his view was now blocked by something. Tree stump? No. Rock? No. Legs? Feet?! His eyes shot wide opened as he looked straight into the eyes of the hooded figure, they burned like an inferno. He yelped and turned letting himself fall back down the ravine, to his surprise the hooded figure followed, he let out a scream as he sprinted off into the woods, the figure following closely, "I'm sorry I was watching you!" Kai pleaded, "I promise i didn't mean anything by it!" Tears flew off his face into the darkness behind him. The figure closed in on him, grabbing his arm, causing him to turn around and trip back onto his butt. He looked up at the figure, fear in his eyes and tears streaming down his cheeks, "L-Listen! I'm sorry, okay?! Do you understand me?!" He trembled, shoving clammy hands into his pockets, throwing money at the figure, "Take my money, anything you want!" The figure slowly bend down and put a burning hot hand on his shoulder, but Kai was too shocked to move, he felt a calming warmth rush through his body and soul.

The hooded figure slid their hand off of his shoulder and stood up straight, slowly reaching up and removing their hood, "Will you just calm down?" Curly, gold hair bounced down to her shoulders, she looked him up and down. "This yours?" She shoved her hand into her cloak and pulled out the small, white pup, "She's sweet." The girl said emotionlessly. She handed Kai the dog, "Get up." She demanded, she had such power in her voice, Kai shot right up to his feet. His back spasmed and he let out a howl of pain, almost dropping Riishi. The girl continued to stare, not even flinching at his cry of pain, "Follow me." She said, pulling her hood up over her head.

Kai looked down at Riishi, who let out a bark of reassurance. He followed her closely, making sure not to get lost… again. "So, what's your name? I'm Kai." He said, walking next to her, keeping up the brisk pace, grimacing with pain.

She glanced at him and pursed her lips, "Nice to meet you Kai."

Kai glanced back and forth, "So… My dogs name is Riishi… What's your name?"

She patted the dog on the head, "Nice to meet you Riishi." she mumbled.

Kai narrowed his eyes and sighed, "Okay then…." Soon, a small house came into sight, it was positioned right on a cliff, a small creek running alongside it the trickling off the cliff. The water was crystal clear and had a ghoulish blue glow. She made her way up the stairs and slid open the door, "Liuka, Rohan!" She called, she looked back, "Come in." She said, the faintest emotion appearing on her face. Kai nodded and walked in, it was a small shop full of herbs on one wall and musical instruments on the other.

An elderly couple walked out from inside the back room, "Ulka, who is this young man?" the woman asked, she had silver, white hair and was dressed in full water tribe garb. The man standing next to her was dressed like a normal shop keeper, in dark red robes. He had a long Fu Man chu.

Ulka looked back at Kai and patted his head, "He was watching me firebend in the wilds."

Liuka took a step forwards, "Firebend?" she growled, shooting an angry glance at Ulka. "Well, if he already saw you do that, I should get to know him…. What's your name?"

"Kai." He said, bowing in respect.

"Nice to meet you Kai."