Encounter.
Irritating. That was the only word to describe how she felt right now. The young woman sighed as she held onto the hand of the small Earth Nation boy. He was crying, and it was making a scene. Sometimes she wished she was meaner, then she wouldn't have to be bothered by these sort of things. But no. When she saw someone crying she just HAD to have the undying need to find out what was wrong and try to help them.
The girl's coal gray eyes swept across the market place. "So you have no Idea at all where your mother and father are?" She asked, running her fingers back through her hair.
The boy-she just learned his name to be Hiro- nodded. She looked down at the kid, and couldn't help but sigh. His face was covered in tears and snot… it was pretty gross. Gross enough that Chloe didn't want to touch the kid. But she thought he would just cry more if she let go of his hand, so kept her grasp firm.
It was pretty depressing really… the fact that nobody she had asked even knew who the kid was! She knew that this was Ba Sing Se, but she was hoping that someone would know him… it would have made things a whole lot easier. She sighed after about an hour of searching. Surely his parents were worried sick about him by this point…
"Are you hungry, Hiro?" Chloe asked, looking down at the young boy. He looked up at her with chocolate brown eyes, and nodded his head once. If his face would dry up he would be a cute kid. Tan skinned like many in the Earth Kingdom, large chocolate brown eyes and a mess of dark hair. She gave him a small smile and ruffled up that already horrid hair and knelt down. "How about we get a melon to split, then keep searching, okay?" She asked, grinning from ear to ear.
Once she was to the stand, she let go of Hiro's hand to mingle with the merchant. He was a large man, tan skinned with sandy brown hair. His eyes were almond shaped, and glaring at her. She didn't exactly look like someone you would want to trust. Now, Chloe only stole when she wanted to. And right now she wasn't wanting to. So the man really had no reason to be glaring at her... other than the fact she was fire nation. Many people in the city of Ba Sing Se had come to peace with the fire nation-many of them hadn't even known of the war until it was nearly over! The walls did their job, they kept outsiders out And insiders in. The man was still glaring at her as she looked through the melons, she wanted to get her money's worth, not just cheap thing that had worms or something on the inside of it. "How much?" She asked holding up a nice juicy looking melon, about the size of her head. He was gruff, and Chloe couldn't help but make a face when he told her is 10 pence. "10 pence! For this? I could ten apples for that price you cheapo!" She said, frowning a bit.
Its a good thing that made him willing to barter with her... that was her specialty. She had worked him down to only 5 pence, half the price. The funny part? The melon really was worth at least eight. Dummy. She carried the melon up under her arm turning to go the fountain where she had left Hiro. He was lifting rocks up into the air, spinning them around with a few movements of his fingers. She blinked then smiled widely. "You can earth bend." She said, making him jump. He stuttered for his words for a moment, then decided on saying nothing. Yes, he could Earth Bend. But there was nothing wrong with that. Chloe herself could fire bend.
She pulled out a knife from her belt and cut the melon in half. "It's really juicy, try to careful with it okay?" She warned him. Best not to return him to his parents covered in snot and melon juice.
So the Avatar was dead. From atop one of the tall buildings, sat a young man though to have died long ago. His brown eyes stared out over the building tops as he bit down on a small tree stalk. When word had gotten to him that Aang had been murdered, he could hardly believe it and his first accusation had been 'It was the Fire Nation.' Who else would do such a horrible thing? Yes... that grudge that had started back so long ago was still there, and despite the fact that there was a new fire lord and that the war had ended... Jet [i]still[/i] had that grudge.
Slowly, Jet stood just as the wind began to blow. It ruffled his hair, and with a flip of his head the stray pieces had flipped out of his eyes and back into place. He wondered just how the world would react when news of the Avatar's death had spread. Would they begin to lash out at each other now that the symbol of peace had gone away? A frown slid across Jet's face as he disdainfully shook his head, and quietly he climbed his way down the building at which he had sat atop of so many times.
So, where had Jet been for the past three years? Right in Ba Sing Se. He had never left! He had been lucky enough to be found by some curious Earth bending children, and the weeks that had followed an elderly couple had nursed him back to health. He had been in their debt, and as thanks he now helps them around the small pottery shop. Unfortunately, he had never gotten back into contact with Smellerbee or Longshot who had accompanied him to the large city when they had first arrived. Where they had disappeared to, he had no idea. Then again, his death had sounded and looked rather convincing... he was even surprised at the fact that he was still alive.
With a brisk shrug, Jet's feet met with earth as he jumped the last few feet from the building. His eyes observed his surroundings before he began to walk along the stoned path back towards the Middle Ring of Ba Sing Se where the Middle class of social standings resided. He had been fortunate enough that the couple was willing to take him else, hell he had been fortunate enough for those kids to find him. With a slim smile growing on his face, he made his way up a narrow street before turning onto a rather large street where cart after cart was aligned next to each other. The two old folk were probably busy at work trying to sell their pottery.
Jet weaved through the large crowd which resided in the market. This way and that, he did his best not to bump into anyone, though on one incident he bumped into an elderly man and caused him to drop the basket of fruits he had been carrying. The boy apologized, and speedily picked up the fruits and handed them back to the man before he continued heading on down the street until he had finally arrived at his caretakers stand. The elderly man was handling the cart today, and by the satisfied look on his face it seemed as though he were doing a great job at selling the merchandise.
Unfortunately, he was a little to busy dealing with a woman who seemed to be shifting between a well crafted bowl and a vase. So, Jet left him be and decided to head home.
Yet again, he weaved through the crowd and this time made sure he avoided bumping into any and all people. Everyone was always so busy in the market, so others made sure to take care of where they stepped. There were always the idiots of course who decided that standing right in place while traffic was moving back and forth was a bright idea. With a sigh, the boy would maneuver around them and continue along his way.
The busy street poured out into a large square in which sat a fountain. It was a relief to get through everyone and finally free himself from all the loud noise and annoying merchants who liked yelling to try and get attention. Of course, Jet was well aware that it was all apart of their job, to make a living they had to be loud and sometimes even louder than their neighboring cart. There had been times when he accompanied both the old man and woman who took care of him, despite their age they had extremely big mouths. Even when they whispered, you could hear them from across the room. Unlike most old people, they were a lively couple and they had always managed to keep Jet entertained in some sort of fashion... maybe that was why he stayed with them? There had been times when he wanted to leave, but they were just so caring that he just couldn't. They had grown on him strangely enough.
With pleasant memories floating around his mind, and his attention elsewhere. Jet hadn't taken notice of the young woman in front of him, and with the next few steps he had accidentally bumped into her. "Oops, sorry about that!" He exclaimed with a friendly smile.
Chloe, however, seemed to be wearing anything but a friendly smile. She had been showing Hiro how to shoot seeds out and hit people in the feet as they walked. It was rather entertaining, watching the look on their face like they had just been hit with some sort missile or something. Hiro had nailed this guys ankle and he jumped up, swinging the limb around as of it were infected. She was laughing so hard. When she felt someone bump into her, she lost grip on her half of melon and it went SPLAT onto the ground. She blinked and frowned. There goes her lunch. She looked up at the perpetrator who had bumped into her. "Watch where you going," She said looking at him.
She blinked a bit. Buy the looks of it he was defiantly from the earth kingdom, the clothing he wore and the tan of his skin gave it away. Many of the tanner folks came from the Earth or Water tribes, though of course you had you're paler ones from there as well. But they were mostly to themselves such as those in the Kyoshi islands. Hiro was looking between Jet and Chloe he blinked. Jet looked... familiar to him. A grin spread across the young boys face. "Jet!" He cried out happily. If it wasn't for the watermelon he held in his hand he probably would have sprung onto the freedom fighter.
You see, Hiro had been one of the earth bending children to find Jet. And though he was younger back then, Jet sometimes still played with him and the other kids, though not to terribly often. Chloe blinked and raised a brow. "You know this kid?" She asked looking up at Jet as she nodded her head towards Hiro.
Seeing the rather unpleasing expression on the girls face, Jet put up his hands as if surrendering and chuckled. He had no idea she was fire nation. But he had to admit, she seemed strange. She was at least a full head shorter than he was, and perhaps a year or two younger by the looks of it. He had never seen anyone with such stunning gray eyes before. But one that thing that really stood out about her, was her hair. He had never seen anyone with such a vibrate color of red before. It wasn't an orange red like some gingers he had seen, it was a cherry, strawberry, maybe even blood red. It defiantly stood out among the crowd.
The young man blinked when he heard his name being called and looked to the voice that had called it. "Hiro!" He said with a beaming smile, of course remembering the boy. He took the blade of wheat out of his mouth and looked from Hiro to the girl he had bumped into. With a sly grin he laughed, "Did ya' find yourself a girlfriend? Doesn't she seem a little too old for you?" He chuckled.
There was something strange about the girl, but Jet couldn't quite put his finger on it. He didn't recognize her face at all, and she held an attitude and a look that told him she might have not been from around Ba Sing Se. Then again, there were some Upper Class and Lower Class people from the different rings he had recently met, and he was sure that there were more. He shrugged the thought off, though he still had a gut feeling pushing at him.
"Hiro is an old friend of mine, I use to play with him day after day but lately I've been busy," Jet smiled as he patted the boy's head and gently ruffled his already messy hair, he bent at his knees and lowered himself down so that he was at eye level with Hiro. He had taken note of the dried snot and tear stains on his cheeks. "You ok?" He asked with a soft smile. It was hard to tell that the boy had been in distress, and as always Jet would lend a helping hand to whoever needed so long as they weren't of the Fire Nation of course.
Hiro nodded once at Jet's question as he knelt down in front of him. He was still holding the melon, though he held it a bit tighter now. "I got lost..." Hiro said looking down slighlty. "She found me." He said pointing up at Chloe. It was true. He had been standing int the middle of the market crying like there was no tomorrow, and no one would help him. It was ridiculous! Chloe had stood in her place watching him for almost five minutes and not a single person had bent down to even ask him what was wrong. Most people in Ba Sing Se were normally very understanding and kind... but in the market it was a go go go situation. No time to stop if you wanted what you needed to buy.
Chloe sighed a bit, completely ignoring the girlfriend talk. It was just a joke a tease the little kid. "Well," She said dusting her hands off on her shirt. "Now that we've found someone you know, I figure I should be getting on my way." She said standing up to her full height, which wasn't as tall as she wished she was.
Just as she had turned to walk away, "Wait!" Jet said, reaching out and grabbing her wrist. Chloe stiffened slightly, she wasn't used to a whole lot of physical contact. She turned to look at him, waiting to hear what he wanted to say. "Since you helped out my friend, I want to help you out. I owe you for the melon…" He said, looking down at the fruit that lay on the ground. "Come to dinner at my Place. GranGran makes great stew." He said with a smile.
Chloe was a bit hesitant…. But she didn't have many coins left for a dinner of her own. So with a nod, she agreed. It was then that she noticed Jet's attention had been drawn elsewhere. One of the police forces of Ba Sing Se - a Di Lee was coming with a soap box and a scroll in his hand. He stepped onto the box and cleared his throat. "Let it be known that as of tonight, a curfew has been set for the protection of the citizens. Everyone must be inside their homes at an hour before sunset. consequences will be dealt out to anyone who does not follow this new law," With those words, the man had left with his troop and Jet was left curious eyed... why was a curfew set for everyone? He listened out as the market had quieted down, and now murmurs and whispers flooded the place. "That's odd," He wrinkled his nose, was it because the Avatar had been killed... or because of the attacks on other areas?
Lately, many places all over have been attacked by… well, no one really knew what by. It was a mystery. But, with that announcement, Jet's curiosity had been set in place. "Hiro, stay with her for a bit longer." He said, taking off to follow the Di Lee.
He stayed close behind, but far enough and staying quiet so not to get caught. He settled atop a roof, not to far from the Agents. Though… he still had to strain to hear…"Hopefully the messenger managed to reach the fire nation... Ba Sing Se is in need of help, and they have some of the strongest warriors... and with all the random attacks growing from village to town... it's no doubt that we're next!" Jet's eyes widened and he quietly sank away from them. Still atop the roof, he stared out into space... was Ba Sing Se going to be attacked? If so, then by who! And... why would they need help from the fire Nation! Of all! He snarled, gritting his teeth and snorting, he turned and decided to retreat back to Hiro and the girl, in hope that what he had heard was merely rumors. Who knew what he'd do if the city was attacked... more so if Fire benders were sent to 'help'.
I'm sorry if this chapter seems too long Dx If you think it's too long please tell me and I will try to shorten them up...
Anyway, for those who have read my other stories you may find it amusing that I used Hiro here as well x3 though the looks are different the name is the same, eh?
