A/N - This story is set a short time before Korra arrives in Republic City and all its main characters will be OC if you haven't already guessed. The Cast of TLoK might make small appearances, but (hopefully) nothing that contradicts what happens in the series.
In hindsight, maybe I should have joined the workhouse like all the other kids. I should have gone to the door, cried to be let in and I would have bed and food for 5 years. So maybe there was a chance I would get caught in a machine, but I would have kept my earthbending. I guess I should start with how I met him. Who you may ask? Well let me tell you the story of how Cai Feng met Huan of the four nations.
"So you think you got the stuff?"
I looked the guy up and down as he said this. He was a 14 year old just like me. But funnily enough he was 6 feet tall and had muscles like a giant gorilla-goat.
"Yeah". I wondered how I could possibly sound more idiotic.
The guy shrugged and let me through. I walked through a dirty and torn curtain to the equally shabby interior of the apartment. I had seen plenty of places in Republic City: The good, the bad, and the not-so bad. This place wasn't particularly high on that list.
Its floors were dusty and parts were un-boarded, revealing rusted water pipes. The windows were smudged in grime and only furniture were boxes and a torn up sofa. The only things that weren't dirty were the plants. Potted plants were in every corner of the room, their ceramic vases immaculate and filled to the brim with dirt.
That's useful.
On the other side of the room was a curtain similar to the one I had just walked through. Children from 8 – 17 years old huddled around the walls of the room; all of them were injured in some way or another. A guy moved between them, looked about 15, the distinct glow of healing followed him wherever he went. He had azure blue sleeveless shirt and shorts, his head was shaved except for a stripe down the middle and a short ponytail.
Definitely a waterbender.
"Hey I've been waiting longer than her!" shouted a 17 year-old next to him.
I watched as the waterbender stepped away from a 10 year-old calmly, putting the water back into his satchel and turn lazily towards him. "Lee I've told you before, it's not how old you are its how serious the case. Not to mention that you got those burns from getting into a fight with the Agni-Kais."
"They were musclin' on our take,"
"They were smirking as they walked past,"
"They kicked over my stand!" Steam and smoke shot from his nose like exhaust pipes and a few of the bulbs broke.
"Be that as it may, they didn't take any of your money or injure you. You shouldn't have attacked them, you should have let Dragon handle it,"
"That's it I don't have to take this from some water tribe kid," He stood up and lit fire in his hands getting ready to throw them.
I fiddled with my bangles uncomfortably and weighed up my options, I could duck behind the sofa, but then it could catch fire. Or I could leave the way I came, losing my chance at meeting whoever it was that had brought me here.
No I can't leave, I need to find him.
In the end it didn't matter, a blindfolded figure stepped through the curtains at the other end of the room.
Wait. Blindfolded kid? It couldn't be.
"Huan, perfect timing," casually said the water bender. That's when Lee attacked a quick right, then left jab. Fire shot from his hands. Some of the children screamed but the blindfolded teenager did nothing. The waterbender wrapped the water around his hands and caught the fire. The water completely evaporated.
"What ya gonna do now? Huh? No water – no bending" taunted Lee
The water bender ignored the question and examined his nails "That was a very poor place to stand"
Time slowed down
"What?"
The waterbender stopped examining his hands.
"Stop talking and fight!"
He brought his hands to his sides.
Lee breathed in, getting ready to unleash a hail of fireballs.
The water bender brought his hands up in a fluid motion. I watched as, in an instant, water burst up from a pipe underneath the floorboard and froze lee in mid-attack.
Time seemed to stop as the room sat in silence at what they had just seen.
"Make sure he can breathe, Ying" said the blindfolded figure.
"Yeah, yeah," Ying flicked his hand and the ice around Lee's head liquefied. Lee tried to say something but couldn't stop coughing and taking in air.
"Are you the kid?"
I looked at the blindfolded kid and mumbled something. I was shocked, I had never seen water bending like that, much less from a 15 year-old. Ying just cracked a grin and shrugged at the blindfolded teen, "Newbies" He strolled through the curtain. Then the other one gestured me to follow and went in. I took a deep breath and walked through the curtains.
Inside was another room. It was in the same condition as the previous; upturned, broken floorboards, barely covered rusted pipes. Red, blue, green and white curtains covered the wooden furniture, the only feature that was different between the two rooms. Kids between 12 and 17 filled the room. Unlike the other room however, these kids were in perfect health. I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise as a couple of them turned to me. I focused on the blindfolded kid who stood next to a ten year-old who was writing something down on the desk. But I couldn't help but notice some of the characters gathered here.
There were these twins, at least I thought they were twins. They had dark skin and tattoos in the shape of eye masks, over their faces. They each carried a bow, a quiver of arrows and a small cross bow on their lithe figures. In another corner sat thin guy juggling some daggers, they seemed to float between his arms, his hands moving with the fluidity of a viper. He looked over at me and smiled. I reached for my purse, to assure myself it was still there.
There were a couple of other guys, but there wasn't anything distinguishing about them.
"Name?"
"What?" I bumped into the desk, the floorboards shook for a second and a vase fell over. The kid writing said nothing and looked at Huan.
"Your name, not difficult," Huan said.
"I hope not." I heard some people snicker. I turned around and saw that the speaker was a girl the same age as me. She had long black hair and dark red eyes. She wore dark red top that exposed her stomach and red trousers. She looked like a firebender.
"You got a problem with me?" The room fell silent. I had clearly misread this girl. I waited to see what would happen.
She lit flames in her hand, they were azure blue. She was challenging me.
I forced myself not to jump back. Blue flames, the sign of a prodigy. Great choice of opponent Cai.
She moved into a combat stance and punched, flames searing from her fists. I Instinctively deflected her arm, I heard the flames roar past me and sizzle out, probably another kid blocking them. But that wasn't my concern, she followed with her right fist, I caught before she could produce flames and held on. She tried to punch me in the face with her free hand but I caught that as well. It turned to a battle of strength, me v. her. Or that's what I thought. She slid under me and used my momentum to throw me behind her with legs. Straight through the fifth-floor window. Great.
Ying ran up to his sister. "What did you just do!"
"Threw a guy out of a fifth floor window" she said casually.
"Huan don't you have anything to say about this?!"
"Calm down, Ying. He's fine," he said trying to calm down the now manic waterbender.
"What how can you possi..." He looked at Huan's blindfolded face.
"Oooh"
The second I started falling I grabbed my bracers and earthbended them into gloves. Maybe I should explain. I wore braces made of dirt. Well, stone actually. Call me paranoid but I end up in situations like this more often than not and having some earth handy is always useful.
I pushed my arms out; they instantly connected with the brick walls. I willed the stone to grapple and it stopped me. I looked down and saw there were still 30 feet to the ground. I reached up and climbed, using earthbending to keep me from falling and create small ledges to climb from. When I was about 3 feet from the window ledge a hand extended down. I took it. I dusted myself off and was about to thank my benefactor. It was her.
"What, no thanks?" She said sarcastically.
I stared at her incredulously. I probably should have left then, but I still had a feeling that these guys knew where he was.
"That's the spirit! You're clearly fine." She then said to Huan, " I like him, the newbie's good, she turned to leave, completely unconcerned.
Ying looked at me concerned. He came over and started examining me, lifting my arms and poking my legs.
I stood there stunned. I hadn't been thrown off a building since…
"Are you okay?" he asked
I bended my gloves back into bracers and said "Yeah, who was that?"
"My sister, Dragon. Surprisingly enough this is probably one of the better times she has met a new recruit."
"If it makes you feel any better, most people scream when they meet her." said Ying a smile coming across his face.
"What was that?" she turned around angrily at Ying.
" I didn't say anyth-"
" Shut up Ying, I-"
" Like to scare children?" Ying finished
Dragon exhaled, she flexed here hands angrily, sparks jumped between her fingers excitedly.
Blue flames, sure why not lightning as well! I thought
"Enough." Huan stamped his foot. The vases in the room all jumped off the floor. " Stop fighting and let -"
" I don't have to listen t-" Dragon said angrily, the sparks between her fingers growing larger and more erratic.
" Let me finish." The room went silent.
He paused to check his voice had the desired effect. Dragon looked at him and closed her fist, the sparks dissipated instantly.
"Ying stop annoying Dragon, you're supposed to be the mature one,"
"I don't throw newbies out windows,"
Dragon raised her fist to firebend, when the unexpected happened. Huan moved inbetween them, grabbed Ying's shirt by the chest and collar, and threw him out of the already broken window.
"…"
"So your name is Cai feng" said the boy at the desk
"… Am I missing something here?"
"What do you mean?"
"HE. JUST. THREW HIM. OUT OF A WINDOW!"
"There is no reason to be alarmed" A calm voice said from the other side of the room.
It was a girl, sitting down, appearing to be meditating. She was dressed like a monk. An air temple monk. That was weird. She was wearing an open orange shawl over loose fitting clothes. She looked to be about 13, but I could tell that, just like the others, there was something different about her. The next moment there was an explosion outside and the sound of rushing water.
"What was that?" I asked
"Ying sticking the landing," said one of the archer twins.
"Okay Cai Feng, do you know the drill?" Said the kid. "My name's Hanyu"
"The drill?"
"You are just one of 14 prospects that show the skill to join the us, organizing the tracks and tricks-" said Huan
"Tracks and tricks?"
"Is this guy a green?" Ying clambered out of the window.
"Talk says he's a freelancer that took down 6 red monsoons and triple threats" Said other archer. The guy juggling daggers just nodded.
"Is he an agni kai?"
"Course not, he's an earthbender"
"Why'd he do it?" someone muttered
"Guys say that a couple of drafts' escape plan took them straight into a gang fight"
"Can someone explain what the HELL is going on?" I shouted.
Everyone stopped and looked at me.
"He's a green, you need to explain what's going on" The meditating girl said.
"Why me? You or you could to do it Mei" Huan said.
"You're both earthbenders". She said it as if that explained everything. "And me and Ying have to check the pipes are fixed,"
"Fine"
"What do you mean green? What's a draft?"
The blindfolded kid grabbed my shirt by the back and jumped out the window. Again.
Free fall. It is both a combination of exhilarating and terrifying, funnily enough after being thrown out the window the first time I just felt annoyed. I looked down and saw how it was that Ying has survived the fall. He had burst one of the floor pipes and uses the water to create a huge slide. I looked at Huan, one of his hands was connected to the wall, sliding along to ensure he didn't fall to the side and onto the flat section of the slide. I pushed off his hand. I bended my bracer it into a sharp point. I stuck it into the wall. It made a grating sound as it slowed my fall. Huan was already sliding down, I didn't really know how he saw the slide but I guess that didn't matter. My makeshift gauntlet, started making skidding sound instead as it met the ice slide and glided over the surface. I lost my grip and slid on my chest for the last 15 feet. A foot stepped on my back and stopped my sliding, it was Huan. He offered his hand so I gripped his forearm and pulled myself up. Huan took some of my flint gauntlet as I did this. "These things weigh a ton,"
"I prefer having some rock to bend"
"Why?"
"It helps to be prepared" I answered quickly.
"Ahuh" He nodded reformed the gauntlet into a glove. He then knelt down, pulled his arm back and smashed it into the ground.
The was a crack.
"Hmmm. This will require delicacy,". He got up, raised his hands to chest level and waited. I watched as suddenly he tensed all the muscles in his body, brought his arms inwards and stamped down on the crack.
The sound was like thunder, the crack rapidly grew until it covered the ice and shattered like glass.
"Did I say delicacy? I meant destructiveness"
I had come to the point that this just didn't surprise me, instead I was angry. "I have been chucked out of a window twice today. What the hell is going on here?" I grabbed his right arm and took back my bracers. I wanted to leave, groups have always attracted too much attention when I've moved from town to town, here would be no different.
"We're the four nations"
"What does that even mean?"
"We are a group of kids that look out for each other,"
"Sounds like a gang"
"Kinda,"
"I'm out." I started to walk off. Gangs were bad news. Then Huan grabbed my shoulder.
"Wait, Cai, At least let me take you to Jin and Song,"
I paused.
A few days ago I had been walking through the streets, counting my decent loot from a day of ,well, lets say stealth trading, when a group of well-dressed people, pull up the other side of the road, get out of the car and shove past me, causing me to drop everything.
I was about to shout when I saw that from the other side, some equally –well-dressed blue clothed guys were heading towards them. Maybe it was just me but it didn't look like they were there to have a reasonable, well thought out debate.
I had started to walk away, leaving my loot behind, when I saw that two girls had just run out from the back alley, they must have been six years old they had dirty clothes that were frayed at the edges. They carried small satchels, just like the one I had been carrying moments before and they were running straight through the middle of the road.
That's when the first fireball was thrown. I should probably explain. Well-dressed people don't often come downtown. By not often I mean, you're more likely to see a dragon flying overhead. The only people who EVER came smartly dressed were triads. Benders who took part in organized crime, the other group looked like one of their rivals, the red monsoons. They were about to get into an all-out fight and the kids were about to get caught in the middle. I had to do something.
Five minutes later, the 6 thugs are in varying states of consciousness and a crowd was gathering. I start running through back alleys being led by the two girls. They run the labyrinth like it was second nature and suddenly jump in to a large trash bin. Against my better judgment I followed. To my surprise it was clean. And dark.
"Thanks, what's your name" said a voice in the darkness.
"What she means is sorry for the trouble, she's Jin and my name is Song" Said the older one.
"No problem, getting into trouble is my specialty. Also, why are we in a bin?"
"They're safes, these bins are outside the normal pick up routes, and most people don't know that so we can just jump in them. They were put here by the f-"
"The group of kids we hang out with thought it up to get away from the tin cans" interrupted Song.
I heard the sounds of running footsteps and sirens overhead. I slowed my breathing and the other kids stopped talking.
Szzzclink, arrrghh.
The distinct sound of the metalbender cops catching someone
"Do you know who I am, you will regret this, stupid tin cans," shouted an angry triad
"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you"
"Freakin' junk heads, let go of m-"
"That's enough" The voice was a women's, strong and menacing.
"I don't know who you and I don't care, you're going to tell me who sent you, or prison won't be your only concern." She said this in a low and menacing voice that made my hair stand on end.
"Take him away,"
"Yes, Chief Beifong,"
Jin gasped, I gave her a shocked looked. Then realized she could see my face.
"What was that, I thought I heard something," Sszzzink. That, I would realize later, is the sound of chief of police retracting the pads of their feet in order to use seismic sense1. She stamped the ground and I knew instantly that she had found use. I did the first thing that came into mind.
"Who's in here?" Chief Beifong opened the trash bin. Inside was one very protective brother, holding his two little sisters close.
"A-a cop!" I said in a scared voice.
"Thank goodness you found us officer!" Chimed in Jin.
"Those bad men almost got us," Continued Song
Beifong turned "It's alright, they're just children, officer, take the suspect away"
She then turned back, "What are you guys doing in a bin?"
"We heard the fighting coming towards us and hid here" I answered.
I passed her Jin and Song and she lifted them out. I jumped out myself.
"Now you kids get on home, it can be dangerous here,"
"Yes mam" both Jin and Song chimed enthusiastically. I just nodded and turned away. If she recognized me I could be in trouble.
We ran off and as soon as we were far away enough that the cops airships couldn't see us we stopped.
"So what's your name?" Jin asked.
"Sorry?"
"You never told us your name,"
"Why do you need to know my name?"
"It's a simple question sheesh."
"It's Cai, Cai feng"
"Cai Feng… I could have heard that name somewhere else" said Song
"It's a common name in Ba Sing Se,"
" Wow you came all the way from Ba Sing Se! You know we could use you."
"What do you mean?"
"Kids like us we need to stick together,"
"You're 2 six year olds"
This is where Song came in "We have friends that are older they could use another partner. You know what? Don't worry about it" She then rummaged through her pockets, spilling watches and spare change.
"Ooops, need these" She picked them up and found what she wanted – a small metal whistle.
She blew on it and a shrill whistle was let out. I waited for a bit expecting something. A minute passed and nothing happened.
"Was that supposed to do something?"
"Wait a sec"
I waited another minute, then around the corner of the alley we were standing in, a teenager dressed in red ran around the corner, A skunk-weasel running just ahead of him.
I tensed up, who was this guy.
"Yo Jin, Song what took you guys so long?"
I let myself relax.
"Katoak, you wouldn't believe what happened to us,"
"That can wait who's your friend?" I could see the expression on his face change.
"He is uh," Song looked at me uncomfortably, I realized she didn't want to say my name without her permission.
I sighed, "My name's Cai, these two just helped me out and I was thanking them"
"That's one way to put it, another is that you singlehandedly took out 6 thugs and saved our necks," Jin piped in.
"I need to be going now," This was getting out of hand, I needed to get away, maybe move again, the more people knew the harder it would be for me to hide.
"Wait!" Song grabbed my hand and pressed her whistle into my hand, if you need a place to sleep at night, blow this.
I took it and ran.
"Nice to meet you mister!"
I jumped onto a bin and scaled the wall of a house, using earthbending to hold me to the walls. I reached the top and watched as I saw 4 shadow's running through the alleyways of a city going to sleep.
It had taken me a week to decide to blow the whistle, within a moment another teenager with a skunk-weasel, (which I think was the same one as before) came and taken me to an abandoned warehouse. There had been a dozen or so other kids there and I had been given food and a mat to sleep on that night. I didn't find Jin or Song there though
In the morning, the guy who found me had taken me to the front of Huan's building before running off himself.
I sighed, my search, I wanted to see the girls again, just to make sure they were all right.
"Fine, but you better not spew anymore crap about drafts and tricks,"
"Whatever you say Green,"
Great, just great.