Chapter 1: A Day in Republic City
The streets were crowded, filled with small shops and nearby citizens. The warm sun pulsed around the busy city, making the ground burn the bottom of her feet. Her heavy clothes made it even warmer, considering that practically every part of her skin was hidden. The streets, usually slightly overrun, were more crowded than usual. Were there more civilians in the city than usual? It nearly made Zola feel claustrophobic, not to mention the fact a ragged grey scarf was wrapped around her face, only showing her ember eyes and black treases. Looking around the busy streets, Zola took in every small food stands there, wondering to see what they sold today.
Some were selling fruits and vegetables, trying to earn a few yuans for their families. Some sold clothing or jewlery. Most of these sellers tried to trade their merchandise to the civilians for far more yuans than it was worth but people needed to live. As for the faces around the streets, they were all weary, nearly all of them. The merchants were the only ones that weren't weary. Of course not, they needed to look convincing to be able to sell their merchandise to the 'simpleminded' citizens, like Zola.
Walking up close to one of the shops, her foot 'accidentally' tripped over the footing of the apple basket and made all the apples fall on the ground. The merchant looked at her petrified and angry. "My apologies sir," Zola said softly, kneeling down to begin picking up the apples.
"You better apologize! These are my best apples!" He bellowed, bending down and picking some of the apples that fell away from the basket. When the merchant didn't look, Zola snuck a few apples in her large one shoulder bag, placing it with the bread and other types of food she had stolen from the town shops.
As you may have noticed, Zola was a thief. She needs to steal to be able to live. Her parents died when she was simply a child and had to take care of herself on the streets, barely any clothes or blankets. Zola didn't live properly but, hey, it was life. There was nothing anyone could change about that factor.
The merchant seemed to have noticed what Zola had been doing and he grabbed her wrist, dragging her to her feet angrily. "You little thief! Give me back my apples before I call the metalbenders!" He screamed at her, his words spitting saliva in her face. A sense of disgust filled her and her mind kicked into escape mode.
In Republic City, if you were caught stealing any sort of food or even anything in particular, they would throw you behind metal bars for a very long time. Zola couldn't take that risk.
Using her hands defensively, she twisted her hand out of his and struck the bone of her palm into the merchant's chin, sending his head snapping backwards. Her other hand, now turned into a fist, punched him in the stomach, making him double over and hearing a grunt or a groan—his words were muffled by his clothes when he doubled over—come from his mouth. When he wasn't able to see her, she took off running.
Unfortunately, most of the civilians around her in the market had seen her and instantly began calling Zola a thief, attracting the attention of the police around them. Luckily, there were only four of them around the market area that heard the screaming and began pursuing her.
She just kept running until she ran into someone, and fell resulting in her scarf to fall away from her face. Looking up she sees a young women about seventeen looking down at her on the ground with a confused expression. Zola guessed she was a waterbender by just looking at her water tribe garb. Also she was with a very huge polar bear dog by her side which was only found in the Southern Water Tribe. The huge polar bear dog sniffed her, and licked her face. It liked her. Zola was astonished; she had never seen a huge polar bear dog in her entire life.
"Naga! Down girl!" The water tribe girl grabs hold of Naga's reins to pull her off the girl who had a petrified look on her face.
"I'm so sorry. I'm usually not that clumsy." The brown haired teen said, as she spotted a piece of gold twinkling in the sunlight on the ground and picked it up. "I think you dropped this."
There was no time for response as footsteps were quickly approaching. "Catch that thief!" Zola wrapped her scarf around her face the second time that day, and bolted to her feet taking off running at the sound as she slid past the water tribe girl.
"What are you running from?" The water tribe girl asked, but before she could look up the girl who had dropped her necklace had disappeared.
"What's up with her?" Korra murmured.
Using her abilities to the fullest, her speed was quicker than the metalbenders and it allowed Zola to run faster towards any wall in her reach. In front of her, there was a wall with metal poles sticking out every five meters along the wall close to the roof. Picking up her speed, Zola ran full speed onto a wall, running along its wall and grabbed a pole with her right hand. Swinging her body vertically up, Sola's feet landed on the next pole. Swinging the rest of her body upwards and letting go of the pole, she began jumping, one foot on each pole, having the metalbenders run underneath her as she ran on the poles.
Suddenly Zola felt the bottom of her feet moving beneath her. Realizing it was metal she panicked as the each metal pole was torn from under her by their metalbending. However Zola kept up as each pole behind her was torn away. Once the poles came to an end, Zola jumped onto the roof and began running. Unfortunately, the metalbenders found a way onto the roof and began running after her, screaming things such as 'Catch her and bind her with your bending!' or 'Catch the street urchin!' and even 'Stop right where you are!' Like hell she would. Zola didn't listen to any of them and just kept on running, her bag of apples against her chest. The roof ended and her legs squatted down and, with one push of her legs, Zola's entire body jumped in the air and made the three feet gap between the two buildings. The metalbenders tried to make the jump but three quarters of them fell in between the gap and the other quarter tried hanging onto the railing with their bending with no such luck.
Landing on her knee, Zola straightened up and began running again, not tempting to be outrun or caught by the fallen metalbending police in case they found her again. Luckily, they didn't. After a few more minutes of running and leaping off buildings, Zola imagined that her surroundings were safe. Looking at her surroundings, Zola's eyes detected no oncoming threats. Seeing that it was safe for the time being, she walked towards the edge of the roof and jumped off, landing gracefully on her feet. There was a small family of three huddled up in a dark corner near Zola, looking famished and watching their surroundings. They seemed so hungry… It looked like they hadn't fed in a few days. How could they live this way?
Zola already knew the answer to that question. Some families in this city could barely afford food and once they did collect a few yuans, they had their children fed before themselves. Children always came first with parents… Wonder what that felt like. To have someone care for you the way a parent would. Or even have some nearby citizens give you something to help yourselves. Mostly around here benders were the necessity. If you were a bender looking for a job, some would hire you within a minute of the snap of their fingers. But for those who were average non-benders most of the population was under the poverty line and found it harder to find a job while the minority of non-benders who were wealthy beyond their years was quite lucky.
Looking down at her bag, Zola saw seven apples in her bag. Looking back towards the family, her mind took the decision for her. Walking slowly over to them, they looked up at Zola the minute she crouched in front of them. Smiling slightly, her hand went into her bag and collected three apples, one for each of them. Giving them the apples, a large smile formed on their faces as they took the fruit.
"Thank you Miss!" A small child said and bit into the apple slightly, savoring the taste. It might be the last thing the child eats for a little while. The family began to eat and it was Zola's cue to leave. Standing up straight, she nodded to them and smiled before walking away towards her secret hiding spot. An alley so battered and old looking it looked abandoned. She walked catuously into the alley, looking around.
"It took you long enough," A voice came from behind her.
Looking back, Zola was face to face with, Skoochy, who leant against the empty crumbling wall. Since Zola started living on the streets the two had depended on one another too many times to count. Sometimes, it would get them in trouble with the metalbenders but they always got out of it, one way or another. Every other day, it was his turn to bring the food. He wasn't as stealthy as Zola but he did get the job done and could bring in a few more items, seeing as he was well built and could carry more things than she ever could.
"Sorry, got held up by the metalbenders. And that stupid merchant. He dared yell in front of everyone that I was a thief. Now I won't be able to go out for a while. You'll have to gather the food for a few days as things clear up," Zola declared, throwing him an apple from the bag against her chest. He caught it with ease with his hand and smirked at her.
"Zola, what are we going to do with you?" He asked as she sat down on the dirty ground beside him in the alley, removing the bag from across her shoulders, placing it on the ground before them and biting into an apple.
A smile formed on Zola's lips against the apple and, when swallowing the bite, her eyes turned to him. He was still smirking, even though his face was quite filled with dirt. He had been out giving information today to random strangers. That was the only way to collect any yuans. He gave out information as an informant and it was a dangerous job. Sometimes he'd run across the wrong customer. He would end up fighting in bending street battles and won most of them. His smile today told her that he had won his share of yuans. "I don't know. What are we going to do with that messy face of yours?" Zola said, removing her scarf across her neck and using it to wipe the dirt off his face. Skoochy hated it when she teased him. But he would always tease her back. That was the way orphans had survived for all these years: hardly fighting and helping one another when dire times flew their way.
Zola's laughter turned into giggles as she looked up at the sky. The sun was now setting slowly, turning the warm afternoon into a slightly cold night. Her expression became distant as she bit into the apple once more. Zola's heart was never into stealing from others but it was the only way to survive. Skoochy loved to steal and was proud of what he could earn by the end of the day but that was the difference between them.
She heard Skoochy rummage through the bag and his voice rang in her ears when he spoke. "Zola, how come there's less a load today as there usually is?" He asked curiously, making her face him for a second before slowly looking down. A groan escaped his lips. "Zola!"
"What? A family was just there! They looked so starved! You know how I am!"
"Zola, ya gotta think of yourself before others. You can't give everything ya earn to others when ya see em sufferin," Skoochy said. "It's every man for emselves. You need to think of yaself before others. I've told ya that countless times."
"And I never listen. I know," Zola said, looking away from him sadly. They both sighed deeply. Looking at the night sky fall, they both ate their apples in silence, thinking of what the next day would bring them. Their eyes met and both looked thoughtful. It's getting late," Zola said, yawning as the events of the day finally took its toll on her body.
"Me too. I'll catch ya later, doll," Skoochy said. Looking at him walk away, he looked like a lost soul. He deserved more than this life as well. Anyone in this city did. But there wasn't much anyone could do to change their lives. Not even herself.
"Later, Skooch," she whispered to Skoochy before looking outside into the starry night.
When nightfall came, Zola huddled into the corner of the empty park and placed her arms around herself, keeping slightly warm in this cold temperature. It was the only thing she could find to keep her head rested at night.
Zola's dream was to live as a rich person in a big house where she could help others with her fortune. Her dream included all the orphans. But luck wasn't on her side. It was never on her side. She lived as a 'street urchin' as the metalbenders would call them, nothing more. It would always be like that. Nothing would change it.
Many stars shone and illuminated the city. Zola's eyes fell on one and immediately, her eyes closed, granting her wish for the day before looking back at the star. It became a daily routine to wish upon a star, making the same wish as usual. I wish I could live differently, in a place where I wouldn't live as street urchin. I would live safely. I want a family. was her last thought before falling into a deep slumber, imagining herself rich and wealthy, living with loved ones and much food at her disposal.
She wouldn't have to steal to live. She wouldn't have to live on the streets in fear that someone could attack her in her sleep. She wouldn't have to stay out in the sun with barely any water or food. She would be able to live freely and happily.