A/N: Yay, another chappie. Things get a little… heated. I won't give any more away.
Tess and Brinn approached the meditating Jeong Jeong slowly. He had his back to them but he said, "Why do you come here, travelers?"
"To learn Firebending!" Jan piped up.
Jeong Jeong whipped around, a frustrated emotion playing on his face. The candles around him flared up menacingly. "I will not teach you fools!" he growled.
"But—" Jan began.
Surprisingly, it wasn't Jeong Jeong that interrupted her, but Brinn.
"Leave it be, Jing wei," Brinn said softly. Jan gave a confused look to Brinn, but obeyed her.
Brinn bowed stiffly to Jeong Jeong.
"Sir," she started, "we have come to ask you to accept Jing Wei and Sakae as pupils of yours."
Jeong Jeong's face remained solemn and undecipherable.
"We are enemies of Commander Jiro," continued Brinn, "the man in charge of the army in Chakin. We have come to seek your help, sir."
Jeong Jeong's face still held no emotion, but he gestured for Brinn to continue.
"We know the whereabouts of the Avatar, sir, and I know that you are destined to teach him. If we may exchange our knowledge of the Avatar for your knowledge of Firebending, would it be a fair trade?"
Jeong Jeong lifted an eyebrow ever so slightly. "How do you know of the Avatar?"
"She is a Seer, sir," explained Tess.
"Ah yes. Very good. I will consider your proposition."
"Thank you sir."
"You may leave."
Tess, Jan, and Brinn exited the hut to the foggy and damp outdoors. It had started to drizzle; Jan shivered and Brinn commented something about odd climate changes.
The three rushed to another hut, where Chey greeted them and introduced them to a pretty woman of about twenty years old with gleaming gold eyes and dark brown hair characteristic of the Fire Nation.
"This is Hetsu," Chey said, "and she keeps things in order around here. If it weren't for Hetsu, this place would be complete chaos."
Hetsu frowned. "Would you stop your talking, Chey? It gets annoying after the first ten minutes or so," Hetsu commented sardonically.
Chey smiled. "You see? Hetsu's the lifeblood of this place. Course, Jeong Jeong's leader, great man he is—"
"I said be quiet!" shouted Hetsu. She glared at Chey angrily and turned to the three girls and Cally and Mackenzie, who had just joined them.
"You want new clothes or what? You all walking around in those clothes, people will think you're mad. C'mon, let's go, hurry up!" snapped Hetsu.
"Brilliant, beautiful woman," sighed Chey.
"I said shut up!" hollered Hetsu.
Hetsu led the girls to another hut, nagging at them to hurry up. Finally, Hetsu let them pick out their own clothes from what she had.
Cally changed out of her jeans and tank top and adorned herself in black pants and a gray tunic. She tied back her wavy brown hair with a strip of brown fabric, and readjusted her glasses over her mocha brown eyes.
Mackenzie clothed herself in a neat gray skirt and a long-sleeve blue tunic. Underneath her skirt, she wore long black socks and open-toed sandals. She left her straight brown and blonde hair down to frame her ovular face and crystal clear ocean blue eyes.
Jan put on a simplistic red kimono and tied her hair back with a strip of fabric with fire embroidered on it and thin black chopsticks. Two wisps of her dark straight hair fell on either side of her face; her skin was tanned and her eyes were a beautiful dark hazel.
Brinn picked something at random and put on a pair of black pants and a gray shirt. She wore a brown shift over that, and let her stringy, light brown, straight hair loose. Her eyes were a brown and green color that mixed together to form a dark black color from a distance.
Lastly, Tess found a pair of gray pants and a pretty blue tank top. She put on a light green, semitransparent poncho over it. Pulling her hair back in a bun, she tied a thin, blue satin sash around it. The sash trailed down to the middle of her back in a beautiful manner and contrasted the brown hair around it. Tess's face was clear and bright, and her eyes sparkled a pretty celadon color with splotches of indigo mixed in.
After the girls finished changing, Hetsu nagged them to get out of the hut and go back to Chey's. As they were about to leave, a young teenage boy with the same features and visage as Hetsu entered the hut. He had a simple gray tunic and black pants on, with a hooded brown cloak over that. A ninja's sword hung at his side; he held a bow and had a quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder.
"Hetsu groaned. "What now, Masao, my idiot brother?"
Masao smiled. "Love you too, sister."
Brinn grinned at his ease and cheer; she gave a soft greeting and he turned his head towards her.
"And who are they?" questioned Masao, giving a wink to Brinn that went unnoticed by Tess.
"Beggars Chey dragged from Chakin," answered Hetsu irritably.
"Chakin?" he asked. "Never seen you around Chakin."
"Jing Wei is the only one that lives in the Fire Nation," explained Tess, pointing to Jan, "but I'm a hybrid of Fire and Water." Tess smiled in Masao's direction.
"Oh," said Masao, sounding impressed by Tess.
"And I'm an Earthbender and a Seer," said Brinn, shoving Tess out of the way to get closer to Masao. "My name is An, though you can call me Brinn."
Masao gave Brinn a charming smile. "Nice to met you, Brinn. A Seer, eh?"
"Yep."
There was a moment of silence as Masao and Brinn stood close to each other, staring into each other's eyes.
Tess coughed, and Brinn and Masao drew away from each other.
"Uh, sorry about that," laughed Masao. He turned to Tess. "I didn't catch all your names."
"Sakae. It means 'Prosperity,' for I am going to be a very prosperous person when I am of age," stated Tess.
"Very nice," said Masao politely. He in turn looked at the other three, asking their names.
"Kichi of the Earth Kingdom," said Cally.
"Jing Wei. I'm from around Chakin. I'm going to learn Firebending," explained Jan.
"Mei Xing, and I'm a Waterbender," stated Mackenzie.
Masao nodded his head in acknowledgement to each of the girls. "Nice to meet you."
"Same here," said Tess, giving an extra flick of her eyelash to see if Masao noticed. He just gave her a curt nod and a quick smile to Brin before Hetsu shoved the five girls out of the hut and into the rain.
After dashing to Chey's hut to find Chey snoring peacefully on a small pad on the floor, Jan said something to her friends.
"Wasn't that Masao guy hot?" she asked, giggling.
Cally rolled her eyes and Tess and Mackenzie nodded in agreement. Brinn did neither and pretended she hadn't heard the comment.
"Ooh, Brinn!" said Mackenzie, "I think someone likes you…"
Tess frowned and Brinn blushed. Tess put on a brown cloak as Mackenzie continued to tease Brinn about Masao.
Cally turned her head to Tess. "Where're you going, Tess?" she asked.
"For a walk," Tess answered.
"A walk in the rain? Are you nuts, Tess?" hollered Jan. Chey snorted in his sleep.
"Yes, Jan," said Tess, "a walk in the rain." Then she exited the hut before anyone could talk to her.
"Wonder what that was all about," commented Cally.
"PMS?" suggested Mackenzie.
"A walk in the rain? Even Tess isn't that weird," Jan observed.
Cally stared at Jan with her mouth hanging open, stunned at Jan's stupidity.
"She just wanted some alone time," Brinn told them, and left it at that. She lay down on a pad and faced the wall, drawing thin blanket over her head.
Cally raised an eyebrow and Jan looked at Brinn's covered head curiously.
"PMS?" suggested Mackenzie.
A/N: Ooh, things are heating up between the girls! Where'd Tess go? Review and you'll find out!