Sakuro sighed as he stepped off of the small ferry boat onto a sandy beach on the far eastern shores of the Earth Kingdom. Ten other people exited the boat with him, all poor Fire Nation folk wanting to try and make a better living in the colonies. Sakuro shouldered his pack higher onto his back, tightened the straps, and began walking.
"Aren't you coming with us to Basho?" one of the others said. Basho was a small colony that was growing in size every year, only a day or two away from the beach Sakura was on.
"No," Sakura said concisely before continuing to walk away, to the south.
After he came to the end of the beach, Sakura walked into a small forest and continued south; according to the map he had bought in the Fire Nation, there was a town a few days away where he could get work and collect his thoughts. Until then, all he had was a small knife, his Jian sword, a bedroll, some spark rocks - he knew he'd need to both keep his bending powers a secret in the Earth Kingdom and also start fires - and the map of the world. His plan was simple: Evade the Fire Nation, since he was sure they'd look for him, as he was valuable to them, and keep moving. He wasn't sure where he was heading, but he hoped that he'd know when he got there, something his master had taught him in the three years he had been with him.
His master. It had pained him to leave the small monastery on the mountain, but the only other choice he'd have had was killing the soldiers who wanted to take him back to the army - but that was a terrible idea, and his master would not have condoned it anyway. So he left. His master had given him a small bag of Fire Nation coin that he'd kept for who-knows-how-many years, which was one of the most touching things in his life; his master, a true guru, discarder of worldly possessions, had saved a bag of coin for someone else's needs.
After he earned a large enough sum of money, he would move on to who-knows-where – though he knew he'd figure it out before then. And if not, the life of a nomad had always interested him. Just go where the wind blew him.
As these thoughts were being mulled over in his head, Sakuro didn't notice when three shadowy figures detached themselves from the shade of the trees beside him and moved onto the road. By the time he noticed them, they were already surrounding him. Sakuro looked up and saw the three, shabbily-dressed, dagger-weilding highwaymen.
"Give us your sword, your pack, and any money you have on you," the one in front said, "and we may let you live."
"I don't think this will go as you planned," said Sakuro calmly. "You won't be getting my stuff. However, if you have any amount of trust for strangers in you, you'll not try and mug me."
"Why? There's one of you, three of us. Just be quick and give us your stuff, now."
"No. Now please leave me be." Sakuro kept his eyes moving constantly between the three figures, just in case one were to strike.
"He's had his chance. Kill him!" one of the ones behind Sakuro barked. As he said that, he began to jab his dagger at Sakuro, who reacted quickly. Grabbing the thugs arm, Sakuro pulled hard and swept his leg beneath the falling mugger's two. Keeping balanced and staying in form, Sakuro watched as the highwayman toppled to the ground. The other two swiped their daggers at him; it was a simple matter to intertwine his arms into theirs and flip them on their backs. Leaving them like that, Sakuro began walking away. He didn't look back.
Hours later, he crested a hill and looked down to see a small, dirty-looking village. While small and rather poor-looking, there was no shortage of hustle-and-bustle, and by the looks of it, there was also no shortage of want for extra helping hands. So Sakuro shrugged his shoulders and began to descend to the village, ready for the start of his new life.
A lean, muscular masked man in a tight-fitting black and red combat suit – not even slightly resembling the typical Fire Nation army suits – with a Katana strapped to his back and many other weapons attached to his waist leaned against the railing of a Fire Navy cruiser.
"Sir. We are approaching the beach. There is the ferry he took," a high-ranking Fire Nation officer said as he pointed to a small boat coming towards their ship.
"Good. Send out a small force to interrogate the ship's crew. And send another force to capture those refugees on the beach and interrogate them too," the masked man said quietly.
"Yes, sir," the officer said. He bowed and backed away.
"You aren't getting away that easily, Sakuro," the masked man whispered, staring at the coastline with fierce eyes.