A/N: Whenever you notice a straight line, it's supposed to be a change of PoV (Point of View). Colin, Hayden, and Jubei are all PoV characters. Italicized words are thoughts that aren't said aloud. Drop me a review and tell me what to fix/change, or if you like it how it is that's fine too. C:

Edit: Italics have been fixed as of 5/27/2010. Enjoy!

-Jakkani

Chapter Two: Jubei Shitagami!

"No, Colin, I can't."

"Pllleaaassee?"

"No! I told you, we can't play. Not now. I have things to do, and you know that." Hayden pushed his younger brother off of him. He was annoying, beyond annoying.

Colin landed on his butt with a thud on the packed dirt floor. He looked up at him with lime-green puppy-dog eyes, tears beginning to welt. Hayden had pushed him a bit harder than he meant to.

Whatever.

"I'll be back before sunset. Take care of Margaret." Hayden turned to leave, Colin still wiping the tears from his eyes with a dirty sleeve. He was abnormally jealous of attention, even for a thirteen year old. He brushed a white-gold lock of hair behin his ear as he yelled.

"All you care about is Margaret, Hayden! I hate you!" His voice was shrill and high pitched. Margaret, seemingly in response, stirred in her sleep.

She was a sickly little thing, only four years, but Hayden couldn't afford to buy her medicine. Colin, likewise, was sickly and skinny, but he'd managed to live so far. Hayden, somehow, was the only healthy one.

"Margaret is younger than you, and sicker than you. I have to give her more attention, you know that. Watch after her until I get back. Make sure she drinks plenty of water, and change her if she needs it. " He turned, without another word, leaving their little home. He had to crawl to get through the tunnel, but it wasn't long. He slid out of the tunnel and into the drizzling rain, brushing himself off. He rolled the boulder in front of the entrance with his shoulder; He stepped back a moment, staring at it.

They essentially lived in a cave, and the boulder, about as big as his torso, was so perfectly sized that it was basically impossible to tell that there was an entrance to anything at all when pushed perfectly over the hole.

There was nothing in front of the boulder, so that it was easy to push out but hard to slide to the side. This ensured that it was easy for Colin and Margaret to exit, but hard to get in for anyone else. He turned, satisfied, and worked his way down the uneven dirt path to the main road.

He finally came to it, The Gold Road. It seemed to spread infinitely North and South, and was frequently traveled by trading caravans and deserting soldiers.

He crouched in the bushes on the side of the dirt road, waiting for anything.

The rain continued to fall for an hour, slowly gaining intensity.

Jubei Shitagami wished his chestnut mare would go faster. Instead, it plodded along at a steady pace, taking its sweet ass time getting to Gao Ling. And, even worse, the rain fell like no other, falling almost horizontally. Great green oaks towered above him on both sides of the road, their leaves bustling wildly with the wind.

Jubei brushed a wet black bang from his eyes, staring up at the sky. The rain fell in thick, stinging sheets. The sun was hidden behind clouds, but he was sure it was late in the evening. Still, the rain was quite refreshing; it was the kind of rain where there were drenching torrents of water, but no thunder.

He sighed. He was hoping to at least make it to Gao Ling by tonight. He dismounted, landing in the muddy dirt of The Gold Road. He could remember perfectly what the bartender of The Pig and Whistle had told him:

"If you're looking for somewhere to compete, go to Gao Ling; It's a small town nestled in The Orange Mountains of the southern Earth Kingdom. The city is essentially divided in half, like many Earth Nation cities."

He set down the mug he was polishing, leaning casually on the bar with one arm.

"Half of the city is industrious and powerful, particularly the Bei Fong family, and the other half is a place of extreme poverty. The middle-classed traders live somewhere in the middle, but they are few and far between. Apparently, from what I've heard, it's also a place for earth benders to perfect their craft, in the Earth Rumble Tournaments."

Jubei lightly grabbed the horse's reins, and sighed again. He'd have to lead it somewhere to rest for the night, and then he'd have to sleep under some rock until the rain passed.

Feh. I can wait until tomorrow; After all, this isn't the first time it's happened to a man like the legendary traveler Jubei Shitagami!

And so, with a small conceited smirk, he began to turn off the road, and noticed that something was wrong. Through the drenching rain, on the side of the road, his skilled eyes could barely make out an unnaturally cracked twig on the muddy ground. Something had stepped on it.

He frowned, narrowing his eyes at the twig.

A deer, surely. Or a boar.

Still, he loosened the sword in his sheath as he guided his mare down the side of the road.

He only had an instant of warning before the ground rose up and wrapped around his ankle like a snake. He ripped the sword free from its sheath and pulled his foot free of the earth; the earth changed again, wrapping around one leg and then the other. His eyes shot around, looking for the earthbender. He was nearby, but he couldn't see him; the rain already gave him reduced visibility.

The earth climbed him as he struggled, until it eventually swallowed him all the way up to the shoulders. He braced himself mentally, and waited for his attacker to show himself.

Silly thief. Evildoers should beware me, not attack me! Obviously he doesn't know that it is I, Jubei Shitagami, the Burning Heart dedicated to supreme justice that never gives in to evil!

A figure walked out of the line of trees, his arms crossed.

"Give me your gold, or I WILL kill you." He could be heard over the pounding rain. "I want your money, not your life, old man..." As he came closer, Jubei could begin to clearly see him through the rain.

It was just a boy. No older than sixteen years, with blonde-white hair like clean gold, even in the pouring rain. He was a ragged, pale little thing, homeless obviously, small and weak, but his green-blue eyes glared with intensity like a raptor's. He wore nothing but cloth trousers that were far too big for him.

Jubei laughed to himself with relief.

Hah, I'd expected a burly escaped convict, or some type of wizard. At least, then, I'd have an EPIC DUEL on my hands!

"Hah, boy," He barked, "how did you learn to earthbend like that?"

The boy's eyes widened, taken aback at the question. But he recovered his composure soon after.

"I won't ask again, old man!"

The boy held out his hand to the side and outstretched his palm; mud flowed up at his command and around his hand, and stretched into a large needle, solidifying into a lance of stone. He hefted the lance and rested the point at the base of Jubei's grizzly throat.

He repeated, "I won't. Ask. Again."

I don't know if I can kill this man. Why can't he just give me the money I need?

Hayden swallowed as he held the lance up to his throat, doing his best to keep a menacing face.

The man smiled back at him, even in the face of death. He was no older than thirty, with long black-as-coal hair that he kept in a ponytail. His sideburns were large and spike-shaped, and his eyes were hazel. He had the oddest clothing Hayden had ever seen.

He wore a bright red headband with an "X" on it, bright cyan robes, with steel gauntlets, shoulders, and leggings.

He was decently toned and should've been able to break free from his stone prison with no effort.

So he did.

He outstretched his arms suddenly with a roar, the stone cage exploding into a thousand fragments, the stone shrapnel knocking Hayden on his back. The rocks and pebbles stopped flying away from him, and came back, gravitating towards him like he was a magnet. The man stood calmly, the pebbles and rocks flowing around him like a tornado.

The man grinned. "Ah, boy, you've angered the great Jubei Shitagami."

Jubei lifted his hands, palm up towards the sky, and the rain stopped suddenly, the molecules of rain suspended in air. Hayden scrabbled on his back, his mouth open in sheer terror.

This man can Earth AND Waterbend?

"Now, I'm not going to ask again." The stones dropped, and the rain continued to fall like normal, as Jubei sat on the forest floor, crossing his legs, and raising one eyebrow.

"How did you learn to earthbend like that?"