OC submissions are now closed, as you've probably noticed. I think there are enough characters and I want the accepted characters to have an equal number of appearances.

A book on Fire Nation history in one hand and a suitcase in the other, Suki Iriguya hurried down the paths of the Fire Nation village, eager to get to her destination, but not without savouring the aroma of authentic Fire Nation noodles wafting from restaurants she passed. She hummed softly to herself, at the moment, feeling blissful and content.

Suki may have been named after the famous Kyoshi warrior who helped Avatar Aang save the world, but she was not a non-bender or a warrior, unlike what most people often assumed. Many kids these days were named after legendary historical figures; there were about three other Suki's in her class, all of whom were non-benders and young warriors. And in her whole school, an average public high school in Republic City which was open to anyone, there were about a dozen of boys, mostly firebenders, named Zuko.

Along her way, Suki stopped a passing Fire Nation old lady who seemed to be doing her grocery shopping. "Excuse me, ma'am, can you please tell me where Master Kunyo's dojo is?"

The old lady chuckled and pointed down the road. "It's right at the end," she said. "You're on the right track, young lady."

Suki smiled and went on her way, not forgetting to thank the lady. "Thanks, ma'am! Flameo!"

She approached the traditional Fire Nation building, feeling a tad excited. In comparison to firebending masters of old, Suki was nothing exceptional, but she was definitely the best firebender in her school and according to some of her teachers, better than some of the probending champions, though Suki highly-doubted she was better than Mako of the Fire Ferrets. After having witnessed a spectacular display of her skills in a competition her school had organised, she had been given a scholarship which sent her to the Fire Nation to get firsthand knowledge of the culture and delve deeper into the art of firebending. Suki had been to the Fire Nation before, several years back, but it was just on a family vacation and the only place they visited was Ember Island.

The only thing that troubled her was that she was miles away from her friends and family while the Equalists attacks continued. If they attacked her family, she would feel so guilty and terrible that she hadn't been there to help them.

Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the door and knocked, aware of the sounds on the other side which indicated someone was firebending. The sounds ceased as soon as she knocked and a voice called out, "Enter."

Pushing open the door, Suki stepped into the firebending dojo, stunned for a moment, as she took in its traditional interior design. She had only seen pictures of such dojos in books on traditional architecture. Finally returning to the present, Suki noticed there were only two others in the dojo at the moment; Master Kunyo and a firebending girl.

"Are you the scholarship student?" the master asked. Suki nodded and handed the letter and necessary documents to him. As he read it through, she turned to look at the other girl. She had wavy brown hair and her almond-shaped eyes bore different colours. One was amber, the other was electric blue. They made eye contact for a moment, before turning back to look at the master, who placed the documents on a table nearby and turned to his two students.

"Warm-ups," was all he said to Suki, who instantly hurried to a corner and began stretching, watching as the other girl trained. Once she was done with the warm-ups, Master Kunyo ordered her to the centre of the dojo, where the girl had been training.

"Charlotte, take a break," he spoke to the other girl. "Suki, show me what you can do."

#

Danielle Howard maintained her tree pose, listening to the latest updates on Equalist attacks on the radio. She tried to clear her mind of morbid thoughts of Amon capturing her and taking her bending away, but it was impossible to focus when all the announcers on the radio were talking about were the Equalist attacks, predictions on what Amon could be planning or doing, suspected accomplices and disguised Equalists in the midst of benders. Yet, she still had to listen. Almost everyone was afraid to step outdoors for fear of an attack and the radio was their only window to the world. She finally reached out and turned off the radio. Silence reigned in her bedroom and she continued with her usual yoga routine.

"Dani!"

Danielle's eyes flew open and a small scowl crept onto her face. She disliked being called by that nickname, but as almost everyone she knew did, she was getting used to it. The first thing she saw was her mother at the door, holding up one of her test papers with an gigantic, red 'F' scrawled on it. Danielle's heart sank. She was going to be grounded without a doubt. But how did her mother find out?

"What's this?" her mother demanded. "Why didn't you ever tell me about this?"

Danielle didn't give an immediate reply. She hadn't told her mom or dad about the bad grades she had been getting on tests she just could never pass. She often did well on subjects like History and Math, but there were subjects she had been coerced to take in school that she found really hard. Fearful of being grounded, she would attempt to hide those results from her parents, but somehow, her mother had managed to rake up one.

Danielle lunged forward out of her yoga pose and grabbed the test paper. "Sorry, mom, will do better next time," she quickly apologised. It was just like her to act before thinking. Her mother looked furious for a moment, before her face softened. She looked worried.

"I wouldn't ground you," she said. "Not at a time like this." She gestured at the radio. "I think you're smart enough to know that even at home, we're not safe, what more out there?" With that, the lady turned and walked away, leaving her daughter.

Danielle bent a stream of water from a bottle several feet away into her mouth and slowly let it run down her throat before stretching out on the yoga mat. Her mother was right. Why did she fear being grounded? Was it even wise to go out when Equalists ran free? Danielle turned the radio back on in time to hear a piece of news and also a rumor about a new law by councilman Tarrlok regarding a curfew for non-benders.

#

Rai Kanda hovered about the Dragon Flats borough, looking out for any petty thieves to take down. Ever since the battle with the Red Fox, Rai had been more bent than ever on ridding Republic City of thieves. Since the police was busy with all the Equalists attacks, it was up to the citizens to defend the city from small but not trivial matters such as robberies. But he was fuming, having heard that Sigil Saibhir had escaped prison with the help of a waterbender. Well, for him, it was war upon those two. He didn't think he would bump into any of them that night, especially not around the Dragon Flats, but he had a good feeling about the place.

It was late in the evening. The sky was ablaze with the colours of the sunset. The Chuckling Reaper of Justice decided to have a meal. He turned in at a restaurant, found a table in the corner and waited as one of the waitresses hurried over.

"What will it be?" Haizi asked.

Rai scanned the menu. "Noodles will be fine," he said. Haizi hurried off with the order, leaving the reaper. He glanced out of the window at the surrounding buildings. Just then, a loud sound pierced the air, startling everyone in the restaurant, including Rai. They raced to the door of the shop in time to see trucks drive past, manned by metalbending police officers. Airships began circling the area. The patrons were stunned and hurried out of the restaurant to see what was going on, like the other residents in that area. They stood at the doors of their homes, watching and waiting. That was when the power went out.

I'm so sorry for this really late update! I had exams, but they're finally over! A thousand apologies! :-( By the way, has everyone seen the new episodes of Korra Book 2? :-D How do you like it so far?