"That should hold you till the morning." a guard says as he fastens the prisoners locks to a pole in the center of a tent deep in the Si Wong desert. "Trials tomorrow. Better get some sleep if you can." He begins to laugh as he exit's the tent.
As he leaves he doesn't notice a young woman stealthily enter the tent. She silently makes her way over to the restrained prisoner who has his head down. His eyes seem to light up as she leans down to him. "Ghashiun, it's me, Yin."
"Hey, not that I'm not glad to see the Chief's daughter, but what are you doing here?"
She begins to blush and starts playing with her hair. "I… I came to ask you if you meant what you said? You know, about us having a future together."
"Of course I meant it. Every word of it. I love you. Sadly though I don't think your father's going to let that happen."
"He ..he doesn't have to. I could go with you to your tribe. Then we could be together."
"Yeah. Great idea. Hey can you get these chains off." Yin nods her head, pulls out a key and unlocks his shackles. "Good. Go pack whatever you need and meet me outside the east end of the camp in an hour. I'll be waiting for you." She kisses him and slips out of the tent as fast and quietly as she entered. "Ah, so young. So gullible." he says as he watches her leave. He steps outside and lifts up a torch being very careful not to draw the attention of anyone. He faces the desert on the west side of the camp and waves the torch back and forth. His message is soon responded to by another torch wave on a sand dune in the distance.
He uses the torch and sets the edge of the tent on fire. He then throws it as far as he can into the camp and it hits one of the other tents setting it ablaze. "Fire. Fire." the Hami tribe members yell as they try to put out the fire. Almost simultaneously other fires begin to start all around the camp. Amidst the panic no one notices Ghashiun make his way through to one of the tribes sand-sailors, where his gang is already waiting with sacks field with valuables from the camp. "What took you so long Yama." He asks jokingly.
"Just waiting for you." two of the others use their sand-bending to get the sailor started and they dart through the village. The group take the opportunity to mock the tribe members as they attempt to put out the fires, Ghashiun takes special pleasure in taunting their chief, Hong. "Hey, Hong, thank your pride and joy for tonight's entertainment." Hong turns to his daughter who looks away from her father, ashamed to look him in the eyes. Before he can react Ghashiun and his team are already out of sight, disappearing into the desert sands.
The names Ghashiun. Just ripped off the Hami tribe again, got some sweet loot , and got a brand new sand-sailor out of the deal. I know what your thinking. I should feel bad for tricking little Yin. And you'd be wrong. Ends to a means. That's my motto and I'm sticking to it. I'm pretty lucky. Until now. You see recently I ripped off some travelers and stole their pet bison. Thing is it belonged to the Avatar. Long story short, three sand-sailors got smashed and now I'm on trial by the village elders, my father included.
"Ghashiun, you stand before this council accused of stealing from travelers yet again." The leader of the elders says as the group preside in a large tent with the rest of the village looking on. "Your actions brought the ostracism of the Avatar upon us and nearly killed us all. As such this council has decided to banish you from the tribe to wander the desert never to return. Have you anything to say for yourself."
"What do I have to say? All I can say. Good riddance to all of you. I sure won't miss this place." Ghashiun says, throwing his hands up and storming out of the chamber.
He makes his way to his tent and begins packing his things. As he attempts to stuff his pack with what food he can he senses someone behind him and turns to see his father Sha-mo behind him. "Thanks for defending me in their." he says with an arrogant tone. "You couldn't have said anything in their?"
"What could I have said. I've done all I could for Ghashiun and no matter what it's never been enough. Don't try to blame this on me. Don't make this my fault. Ever since your mother died I've tried to…"
"You shut up about her! You don't ever talk about her, not when you took in that harlot and that whelp!" He says referring to Anji, a woman in the village who had a son with a Fire Nation soldier and Jojin, her son from that relation. Sha-mo had married her about three years ago, a marriage Ghashiun had never accepted and openly showed his distain for.
"That's enough! You have no right!"
"You know what? I don't have to take this I'm leaving, moving on, and if I move to the farthest place on the planet and never see you again it'll still be too soon." He grabs his things and leaves the tent bumping into Jojin and his mother on the way out, forcing the two aside. "Get out of my way." He says before he walks out of the village and disappears into the desert in full view of the whole tribe.
"Sha-mo, are you alright?" Anji asks him as he sits on the cot in the room, broken down in tears as she and Jojin attempt to comfort him.