Like a Star
"Hey dumb ass, wake up," a large voice boomed as a teenage boy blinked his eyes, as he grumbled, After all he had been living with this dude for about a year, there was no need for shock, he was use to being screamed at.
"I can't get chicks if you're staying around doing nothing dude, the war is over spread your wings, all that coolness. Hanging out with you is cramping my style, considering how great I am," the light brown teenager smirked as he pulled the brown covers from off of the body that was laying in the bed
The boy's name was named Wàngjì, or that is what his friend Shèngdà called him, Wangji really didn't have a name or anything of the sort, so people simply called him that because there really wasn't anything else to do.
"Blegh, how can I do anything when I don't remember anything, think before you speak," the black haired boy grumbled, as he wrapped himself around the discarded covers as the brown haired boy simply scoffed, crossing his arms and tapping his feet.
"You see , that's your problem you don't have any drive. You're just a lazy idiot, unlike me who is awesome, but no seriously you need a chick, and if you can't find that at least get a job or something." Shendga shrugged as Wangji grumbled, he sat up noticing how messy the room was. It was expected from two boys living in the same house, though it had gotten to the point that the ground was no longer visible under the layer of dirty clothes.
"Well, I wanted to check out the city, to find something about myself…"
Wangji slowly lifted himself from the dirt brown pillow, as he placed his feet on the ground he cracked his neck as Shendga clapped his hands, no doubt he was being sarcastic. That was simply the kind of person. Arrogant, smart and skilled were the words that would best describe him, not like it mattered; he was more focused on girls than doing anything of importance.
"Sheesh, don't be so happy to see me leave, I'm not staying out late or anything I don't have a piece to my name, what am I'm going to do anyway," Wangji pointed out the obvious as Shendga flicked his hair over his eye, a style that fit him far too well.
"Gah, you're so lame I swear just make me sure you get something done, or you can be an idiot I don't really care," Shendga walked towards the door, as he brushed his hair back he then gave a light smirk towards Wangji, "I have a date tonight, until so I won't be back until late, until then…smell ya later!"
With a rather room shacking slam Shendga shut the door, Wangji had to question why he was going out in the middle of the day if he had a date that night. No doubt he was about to spend a large sum of money he didn't have on something completely worthless, though at the same time Wangji couldn't help, but feel a little jealous of Shendga living standards
"Sheesh, he can at least act like I'm trying to find out about my past, then again…" Wangji wasn't too worried about it either, if he forgot then it probably wasn't worth remembering in the first place, he honestly was just using it as an excuse to just stay there for a while.
"Well, I have nothing better to do, might as well talk to a couple of people, who knows maybe I might find out something… why am I talking to myself?"
That was a good question, but one that could be answered later or never. Whichever one someone would prefer, whoever that maybe.
Bad luck, yes that is what she will chalk it up to, bad luck.
The twined buned girl grumbled as she looked towards the rather tall tree. What kind of idiot plants a worthless tree in the middle of town, and what kind idiot lets pigeon-lizards roam around freely, after all those creatures were notorious for stealing shiny objects, one of which was perfectly strapped around her neck.
"Gah, this is worse than that time with the Water bending girl," the girl grinded her teeth as she looked at her necklaces hanging loosely on the tree. She couldn't very well leave it, after all her father would be displeased with such a situation. Money doesn't grow on trees even she knew that, but working for it was far too hard, though working to get the necklace out of the tree was also far too hard.
Just like climbing a tree would be too much trouble for a necklace, but she couldn't simply leave it.
"I refuse to climb a tree, someone of my status shall not climb a stupid tree!" She turned her hand into a fist, why do bad things happen to good people? What had she done to deserve such a fate, this was the second worst thing that happened to her since that one time a few months ago.
"Where are those worthless idiots when I actually need them, it's their entire fault, if they were here then I wouldn't be going through this first I get washed down stream, then the Fire nation invaded the city like idiots and now this. Why can't my life be easy?!"
The sun was beating down, the girl truly wished she had some sort of pillow she could scream into, how she wished it was still spring, how she wished it was a cool breeze to blow away all of her problems, or at least one to blow her necklace out of the giant nature pillar, "no, no, no , no, no, no, no, no, no!" She had to say those words to make it less painful, what was she going to do? How she wished someone would walk by and solve her problem.
"T-this isn't even f-fair, I-I don't deserve this!" She sat down, as she held back her tears. It seemed like a rather trivial thing to cry about, but Star cried about a lot over trivial things, it seemed you were allowed to do that kind of thing once you get older.
"Ah, hey miss do you need any help?" Star snapped up, she cannot allow someone to see her crying, how would the people of the upper ring react?
"No! I'm just standing in the middle of the street like an idiot!" That was sarcasm, unfortunately the person she was talking to wasn't very bright.
"Oh, okay then." The black haired boy gave a light shrugged, as he started to walk away, not realizing his own stupidity,
"Wait! I swear commoners are as dumb as Poodle-monkeys, of course I need help!"
The black haired boy simply stared at Star, she was waiting for a "Yes of course!" After all she apart of the wealthiest family in Ba sing se, of course this random stranger should recognize her.
"…Your hair, it's weird. Like a mouse ears," It seemed like the fool didn't know manners, did he not realize this style showed her status, wearing it any other way would make her look like a commoner, and that was no good, though she would be the first to admit the upkeep wasn't worth the looks she received.
"You idiot! Do you realize that this hair style is common for those in the upper ring! Only an idiot would see that, which I can understand since you are an idiot!"
The black haired boy simply blinked as he scratched the back of his head, he finally started to talk, "You know, you're pretty rude for someone who needs help, anyway what do you need help with in the first place, by the way my name is Wangji," Wangji smiled as Star simply scoffed, she was going to say something rude no doubt it was to be expected by someone like her.
"Like I care about knowing something as worthless as that, now climb that tree and get that necklace, which I might add that is probably worth more than your life!"
Wangji simply sighed as he walked up to the rather large tree, he asked himself why she didn't climb up the tree herself, but then again she was wearing a dress so it was probably for the best. "you know you can hurt someone's feelings by saying those kinds of things," he slowly made his way up the branches, clenching them ever so tightly, he wondered why the streets were empty during the summer, but that was a worthless thought.
He stretched out his arm and snatched the necklace, Star yet out a small yelp, hoping that the expensive piece of jewelry would not be damaged.
Wangji held the item over his head as he slowly climbed down the tree jumping down onto the harsh ground made of stone.
"Here yo-"
If snatch could be a sound effect then no doubt it would have been heard, it seemed like Star hated the idea of a commoner touching her things.
"Thanks idiot, now get out of here!" Star snapped as Wangji grumbled, he wondered if every girl was like this, but there wasn't really any reason to complain.
"You're welcome…"With a sigh, the fifteen year old walked down the heat hazed street as Star sighed in relief.
Working for things was hard, working to fix a problem was even harder. though it was a good thing there were idiots willing to do things for her.
"S-Star, w-we're s-sorry alright, stop glaring at us like that." One of the two girls winced as the mouse haired girl continued to glare, her traumatic event was barely a day old yet these two fools kept treating it like it wasn't a big deal, if they had their jewelry stuck in a tree they would be acting the same way after all. What was worse was that she had to ask a worthless commoner to help her out.
"Sorry?! Is that all you can say for what happened to me, sorry? I should make my daddy buy out your families or something...idiots."
As the two girls hung their head they crossed a familiar bridge, it was an event that Star would like to forget, but she really couldn't get it out of her mind. The amount of shame one would feel of being washed down stream by complete strangers.
"Gah! This is irritating, I don't even know what to do today, this is all your fault!" Star snapped again as she pointed at her two companions, actually she didn't even know the names of the two girls, they simply hung around her for no reason, regardless, she liked the company.
"Well, Star, we could always go to the Zoo, it's a really nice one right outside the wa-"
"No, I don't want to get my dress dirty, and I'm sure it will smell horrid." Star shot down a rather nice idea as another girl opened her mouth. Though she too would likely be shot down by the leader of the upper ring.
"We could always see a play, maybe the one titled The Boy in the Iceberg." The girl smiled as Star eye twitched, for some reason she didn't like the name of such a play, it sounded tacky and cheap.
"Sounds like it would be awful, but I guess I could go and see it. What is it about anyway?" She had to ask, because she wasn't going to waste time on something horrible, or something that would insult her.
"It's about how the Avatar stopped the Fire Nation, doesn't that sound exciting." It was obvious her friend was trying to make the play sound much more then what it was. It didn't help that Star wasn't fond of plays staring important people. It meant less people would be looking at her, which wasn't a very pleasing idea.
Upon thinking about it more, it did sound like fun, compared to the boring drab life that had been filling the streets of Ba Sing Se since the war had concluded. Plus this did give her a chance to show off her wealth.
"Fine them, like I said before. It's not like we have anything better to do today, when does this play start anyway. I wish to show up in the most expensive attire possible, to make everyone else feel less then me of course." Star smiled as her two friends eyes narrowed.
They were completely behind Star before...that is until she started to turn her own frustrations on them. Now she was a completely unpleasant person to be around, maybe it was because they have matured, or maybe they learned something important in the past six months, but hanging around Star started to become more and more taxing.
"What are you idiots looking at me like that? Go on and get home, I'll be getting the most wondrous dress on." The richest girl in Ba Sing Se smiled as she left her friends in the dust, not realizing that she was being watched.
But alas, that's not important right now, as we have two complete idiots to switch to at the moment.
"This is it, my amnesic friend. This is the lower ring of Ba Sing Se, you'll never find a more twisted house of trash and cruelty." Shendga took a deep breath of the dirty air as Wangji looked around the area, it was filled with beggars and potential muggers as well. The whole ring had a certain air about it that was unsettling, in truth he didn't want to be here at all. But once again the Fire bender dragged him into the situation. All to find out about a past that he didn't care about.
"Why the heck are we here?!" Wangji gritted his teeth as they walked the dirty streets, Shendga leading the way of course. The twist and turns were rather confusing, the brown haired boy was leading the way of course as Wangji followed.
"You seemed to be a complete failure at finding out about your past yourself, so I have taken it upon myself to help a loser like you find it. Who knows, maybe I'll get something out of it." The brown haired boy shrugged as Wangji grumbled, it was nice to know that he had such dependable and selfless friend on his side.
"Yeah I know that, but that's because I don't want to find out about it. It won't do me any good so why are you so obsessed over it?!" Wangji grumbled as Shendga gave a small shrug, he really wasn't sure himself, but there was one thing he was sure off.
"Hey...I can't let you mooch off of me forever, but I can't just kick you out on the streets either, yah here. So as your current caretaker it's my responsibility to look after yah, plus who knows. You might have some sort of rich family or something, and your best friend wouldn't mind being slipped some of that cash."
Shendga had an odd way of talking, his voice had an air of arrogance and royalty. Which is odd since he didn't seem to be royalty at all. Though he did mention that his dad was apart of some sort of gang, whatever that was, then again it made sense that he could work so little and have so much money to spend on impressing the ladies.
"And we're here my idiotic friend."
Wangji cocked his eye as he looked at the broken down old building, maybe it was a secret organization that watched over the city...no that wasn't it at all. It really was just a broken down home ran by a loser, who this loser was, no one knew but Shendga.
Shendga didn't even take the time to knock, he simply kicked down the door before he started to scream to the heavens, or rather the ceiling.
"Grandfather, I have arrived!" A yell, something that was crazy to do indoors. Then again Shendga never struck Wangji as someone that would be polite, even if he was the smarter one of the two.
The house had a lot of hallways and made of wood, it looked like a lot of it was splintered as well. Though that was probably because Shendga kicked in the door, though what Shendga said when he first kicked in the door confused the black haired teen.
"Grandfather? I thought Shendga moved here from the Fire Nation after the war was over, not like it matters since the war didn't effect me at all. But still it's rather confusing that his grandfather would be here in Ba Sing Se."
That really wasn't important at the moment as foot steps were heard from a closed room. A short old man appeared from down the hall, his eyes filled with anger. Despite not being healthy looking he still managed to cough out an insult towards the two teens.
"What do you want, ya bastard." The old man grumbled as Shendga simply laughed at him, not caring about the harsh words, though it was obvious that the two had their issues with one another.
"Listen gramps, I need information, about this dude." Shendga snatched Wangji from next to him as he pointed towards the black haired teen. The man scanned the boy and sighed, eyes dull eyes moving slightly.
"Dumbass, how would I know anything about that idiot," the man snapped at the brown haired boy before he winced. He didn't think his plan would have been shot down so completely. After all his grandad knew everyone in Ba Sing Se.
"Well, I don't know who he is, but since you're useless gramps can you tell me where we can find out about him," Wangji wanted to speak, he really did. After all both men young and old were talking about his situation, and he didn't have any say in it whatsoever. Though he didn't know how to jump into the conversation, as the elderly man coughed slightly preparing another sentence.
"Idiot, if you wanted to know more about him, just ask him. Is his jaw broken or somethin? If not then speak to him!"
"Well, actuall-" Wangji spoke a little, before he was cut off, he had a strong feeling that, that's going to be happening quite often from here on out.
"Are you stupid old man? He can't remember anything about himself so he can't tell me anything. And if you're useless can you at least tell me who can?" The old man then looked at Wangji before turning back to his grandson, he grumbled something under his breath.
"Why did he have to marry some useless Fire Nation whore. Anyway brat, if you need help with something like this, I recommend that you visit my friend, she's a fortuneteller you see. So if you need to figure something out ask her."
Wangji didn't know what a fortuneteller would do to help him, nor did he care because he didn't care about his past. He just wanted to sleep and eat all day, doing anything extra was a hassle that he disliked participating in. Alas it seemed that everyone he knew loved making him do just that.
Shendga smirked, it seemed that he got the information that was required. Now he had one last question that he needed to ask. A quick question that wouldn't take much time."
"Tell me, where can I find this fortuneteller?" Shendga asked his grandfather a blunt question as he simply smiled, it seemed the old man was going to enjoy answering it.
"Oh, she's not in Ba Sing Se, if you want to find her you better be prepared for a long walk she's all the way to Makapu. Good luck...now get out!" The man snapped as he pointed towards the door, the two boys had no choice but to follow the demand as they exited the house as Shendga laughed.
"Why are you laughing, we're not going there are we?!" Wangji voice was actually rather shaky, he really didn't want to go on an adventure. He wanted to lay about, just one of the many curses of being a lazy person. Though most people like that wouldn't call it a curse to begin with.
Shendga patted his friend on his back and smiled, since Shendga was the opposite of Wangji. The answer was obvious, even Wangji knew this. "Yes we are, I'll go pack my things, and no complaining my friend. After all you are mooching off of me, so it's only natural that you do what I say when it comes to something like this."
Wangji grumbled, he really didn't care about his past. That is what was annoying about the whole thing, it seemed that everyone else was more interested in his life then Wangji himself was, but there wasn't any reason to complain about it at the moment. The best thing he could do was get it over with as quickly as possible.
But once again that wasn't important at all, as the first act of a wonderful play was almost finished. And by wonderful, I mean completely awful.
"Curse those idiots!" Star hissed to herself as she stood behind the large theater, her clothing was rather perfect as her hair was tied in her signature buns. But none of that was important in the current situation, as she was simply frustrated, she was frustrated that her friends dragged her into such a play. "I can't believe I got dragged into something so stupid."
Not only was she stuck in the middle ring, she was also wearing her best clothes and no one was noticing her. Star swore that she was going to roll some head with it, but alas no one knew what good taste was. At least not in the middle ring. Star looked towards the sky, it seemed the sun was setting. Knowing how awful the play was, she was wondering whether or not she should just ditch her two so called friends.
"Gah, why is everyone else so stupid, or poor!" She stomped her foot as she wondered what she was going to do.
"We-" Star was cut off, it seemed a hand muffled her voice, she was stupid after all. She didn't realize that someone was watching her, nor did she realize that someone would attack her despite being wealthy, but that was all her fault, but no doubt she was probably going to blame everyone else for it. Like she always did.
It was a rather terrifying event to be honest, but that was to be expected. Being kidnapped is not a very fun event over all. Being dragged, not being able to scream because of fear. Alas she it seemed her eyes were covered as well before she was gagged, it was rather bad, she could not see, she could not speak as she was lifted up. She didn't know how long she had been dragged, but she knew it was over as she was lifted up and put into something small and cramped box like thing.
It would be awhile to get out, the box was lifted and put in the back of some kind of carriage.
"Gahahaaha!"
The woman laughed as she jumped on the front of the wagon as the young male next to her eyes twitched. It was rather shocking to hear someone laugh like that after kidnapping a young girl, but they were criminals after all.
"Ah, Jiexi, do you need to laugh like that, it's kind of creepy." The man in his early twenties laughed nervously while the brown haired scoffed at her partner.
"Idiot, I can laugh because we're about to be rich, you should be more excited then me. Anyway, she's set in the back, when we get to the checkpoint make sure you give the right container to the guard. By the right one I mean the left, got it!" The black haired woman snapped as her partner winced.
"Okay, okay I got it, just don't yell so much," the man sighed as he whipped the two lizard dogs, to be honest he was rather surprised that no one noticed them taking the girl. Then again maybe it was best not to question their luck. Though their luck was probably going to run out sooner rather than later.
It was early morning, the sea breeze went across the port as two teenagers carrying bags full of useless things that were apparently was worth something to Shendga. The passengers walked by the two as they headed towards the boat, that was both impressive and size and smell.
"You smell that my lazy ass friend, it's the smell of adventure. Though I'm sure the ladies of Ba Sing Se will miss me, I'm excited to meet all the honeys outside of these walls." Wangji simply glared at his roommate, as they stood in front of the ships that lead to a random port town. From there they would head to the nearest port that would lead them to the town known as Makapu, though the whole thing seem convoluted and idiotic.
"Why, do we have to do this? There has to be an easier way than this!" Wangji raised if voice for the firs time as the brown haired teen simply scoffed.
"That's your problem, always taking the easy way out, not this time my friend. We're going to walk across the Earth kingdom, we are going to find out the mystery of your past and maybe meet some cute girls along the way."
He made it sound like a grand journey when it was more of a worthless errand. Wangji sighed as he looked towards the rather impressive boat. As he recalled the boat was once used to carry refugees during the war. Now it was just a regular boat that took the passengers to their destination, the cost of getting on one would have gone up quite a bit.
"Hey, Shendga how did you afford all of this anyway?" The black haired teen asked as the Shendga gave a light chuckle.
"Don't worry, I know this guy, we got the best seats on the boat." Wangji perked up as his friend said those words. At least the trip would be comfortable no doubt, they would probably eat like kings of some sort. After all Shendga has proven that his connections were nothing to laugh at.
"..."
"Come on, you still can't be angry with me." Shendga laughed as Wangji remained silent in the corner of the room. The room in question was the storage room, cramped, moldy and damp. It wasn't that Wangji was used to being spoiled, but he wasn't to keen about being lied to. Even if the lie in the long run wasn't that important.
The room was filled with barrel's and boxes as caged animals rubbed up against their bars Wangji finally spoke, it was far to late to turn back at this point. They were already out on sea, as the ship rocked back and forth. The only thing that would have made the situation worse if the roof was leaking.
"You said you knew a guy, that guy seems like an ass." Wangji eyes cut to his roommate who sighed, he really didn't have an answer for his friends question as a rather large box started the shake. It was in a corner alone by itself. But why was it shacking, the boat wasn't shacking that much. So a box in the corner shaking was rather odd.
"Who the heck puts an animal in a box anyway? Sheesh, don't the owners care about it?" Shendga stated as Wangji grumbled, he sat up and walked towards the box. The lazy idiot really couldn't stand seeing someone in trouble, even if helping them was a hassle.
"Eh, dude, do you really want to do that? The owners will probably be pissed if you let their animal loose." Shendga pointed out this fact as Wangji sighed, he was use to getting yelled at so opening a random box to help an animal was alright. The earthbender pushed up the lid, what he found was rather shocking, because it wasn't an animal at all. But a familiar girl.