"There is more than one way to skin a komodo rhino. The first is to tear its flesh from it's body, the second is to persuade someone else to tear it off for you, and the third is to ask the beast to shed it's skin."

-Earth King Taishua during a speech to members of the Dai Li.

Packing is quick and simple. It always has been for me, considering my only belongings are two pairs of clothes, a jacket, a ring, and my shoes. Everything that I am not wearing will easily fit into the burlap sack that Admiral Sozin fetched me from the Café's kitchen. The sack smells like a bit like flour. It will do.

As I bundle my clothes up, I listen to the conversation downstairs.

"I don't see why she has to come, too." I recognize the whiney tone of the Fire Nation Princess.

"The Admiral requested it." A deep and strong voice replies. It belongs to the tall and handsome Energybender that I immediately have nicknamed "Tall and Handsome."

"Do you want her to go or something?" The Princess asks rudely.

"What?" Tall and Handsome replies. "Why would I want her to go?"

"You seem to like her artwork."

"So what?"

I try to hold back a laugh. Are they seriously arguing about the Admiral asking if I could accompany him? All he had said was that he wanted his assistant (by whom he meant me) to go with him.

"Will you two stop it?" The singsong voice belongs to the girl with silver hair. I like her voice, her hair, and her cool demeanor.

I finish packing, walk out of my closet/bedroom, and go downstairs. The conversation (argument) stops immediately once the stairs begin to creak under the weight of my feet. Each slow creak makes Tall and Handsome and the Fire Nation Princess twinge, as if it reminds them of the awkwardness of their argument.

Funny, because all it does is making me smile more.

"Oh, I do enjoy a good vacation!" Admiral Sozin says from the top of the stairs. I turn around and see the old man in an outrageously vibrant t-shirt with a floral pattern and swimming shorts. I can't help but laugh while the Admiral tosses a large bag down the entire flight of stairs. It lands with a clink at the bottom. "Can one of you young and energetic youngsters grab that for me? My back is not what it used to be."

Silver Haired Girl blinks a few times. I can tell that she is trying very hard not to laugh from the way her lips twitch. The Princess and Tall and Handsome, on the other hand, seem to be more interested in finding dirt under their fingernails than paying attention to what is going on around them. The Princess obviously has some sort of jealously problem. She is probably used to getting what she wants all the time without any competition.

I throw a coy smile in the direction of Tall and Handsome. He sees it, and he blinks a few times and shakes his head as though disbelieving. His look all but says "Well, okay then." I raise an eyebrow suggestively like I have seen women in the Crescent Moon district do when trying to make money. His response is to raise one of his eyebrows as though I am from a different planet.

I turn around and pick up the Admiral's bag. I purse my lips in frustration, not because the bag is heavy, but because Tall and Handsome is obviously playing hard to get. That is fine. Nothing worth having in life comes without working for it.

I pass Tall and Handsome and his friends on my way out the front door. A funny short man wearing grey clothing hurries to open the back door of a white van parked outside the Café. He gestures into the back, and I put the Admiral's large pink duffel bag on top of two other large duffel bags. On top of them all, I put my sack

"You can bring your food up front and eat on the way, ma'am." The grey man says upon seeing my bag.

"Those are my clothes." I say. The man gives me an odd look and then shrugs awkwardly as though relieving himself of his mistake.

I close my eyes and shake my head. People outside the Crescent Moon district have no idea what it is like to be as poor as we are. We steal, kill, sell ourselves, and beg enough money just to get us a cold meal at night. We do not live happy lives. We are not pampered like the bureaucrats that live in the upper districts, we do not have servants to carry out our every demand like they do in the Fire and Earth Nations, and we barely have enough light at night to see where the next punch is coming from. Everyone else takes what they have for granted, and it sickens me.

"I guess everyone is ready to go." A voice says from behind me. I turn around and see the girl with silver hair. Her hair is parted to either side of her face allowing me to see her pulsating circlet. I nod. She opens the passenger door for me, and I get into the far back seat. After a few minutes, Admiral Sozin slowly gets into the van. He struggles with his seatbelt so I help buckle him in.

Next in are the Princess and Tall and Handsome. The tall Energybender politely moves out of the way of the Princess so she can get in first. The Princess merely closes her eyes, sticks her nose up in the air, and does nothing to acknowledge his existence. Tall and Handsome rolls his eyes and gets in the van.

Admiral Sozin leans over towards me. "It seems that our escorts are having trouble keeping themselves together." He whispers.

I look at the back of Tall and Handsome's head. "Who is going to take care of the shop while you are gone?" I ask the Admiral.

He closes his eyes and bows his head slowly. "Ah, fear not my friend. My apprentice, Langhezhou, is more than capable to manage the Golden Dragon in my absence." The Admiral smiles. "Even though his tea is not quite up to snuff, his management skills are of the highest caliber."

And with that, the old man lies back against his seat and begins to snore.

I look at him and blink a few times. That was fast, impressively fast. I wish I could fall asleep in the blink of an eye.

The van begins to move. I realize that the attendant who thought my bag of clothes was a bag of food is also driving the van. I look out the window and see my home flying past me. I don't wave to anyone, I don't feel homesick, and I most certainly do not ask if we can stop and say goodbye to anyone. The only person I care about in the world is asleep next to me.

A white armored Energybender whizzes past us on a white hoverbike. I have seen plenty of them before, so the sight does not amaze me. Energy Guardians are a common sight in the Crescent Moon district. I think they have a barracks or something of the like in the very center of the district. I have seen the building a few times over the years. It looks like a total dump, but I have always had the feeling that it only looks that way on the outside.

Once, I saw an Energy Guardian wearing purple and gold armor walking into the building. No one believed me when I told them because no one has ever seen an Energybender wear those colors before. Wearing purple is a form of heresy to them, because they see it to be the color of complete purity and wearing it implies that the wearer is completely pure. Not even the four Energybending Masters dare to wear the color.

The van takes us all throughout the city. I see huge buildings with nice walls and pretty signs that probably cost more than the houses in the Crescent Moon district. The people that I can see are all clean and wearing colorful clothing that represents whichever Nation they are from. I see rainbows of blues, greens, reds, oranges, and even two or three whites. The sheer diversity of Republic City amazes me. The Four Nations war is a far-away thing here. It doesn't affect our life, so we don't let it bother us. The Four Nations can live in harmony, and Republic City is proof.

Several times throughout the twenty-minute ride, Tall and Handsome tries to make small talk with the Fire Nation Princess.

"That's a cool looking car."

"Mhm."

"Wow, look at how low oil prices are now!"

"Mhm."

"Do they have stores like that in the Fire Nation?"

"Mhm."

"What's wrong?"

"Shut up."

"What? What the hell did I do?" Tall and Handsome asks.

"Don't talk to me." The Princess says, turning and looking out the window.

Tall and Handsome seems to give up, and slouches in his seat so far I can only see the top of his head. "You have got to be kidding me…" he mutters under his breath.

Eventually the scenery changes from brick and plaster buildings to large warehouses. We have reached the docks, which means that we will be going to the Fire Nation by boat. That is an odd choice of transportation, but I guess it makes sense. An airship can be shot down and doom every occupant, while a boat gives plenty of time to evacuate. It still seems a lot slower, though. I mentally shrug. Fire Nation logic.

The docks are full of huge ships of every type, from cargo ships to personal yachts and even a few warships. The van parks near a cluster of three black metal warships and the grey attendant opens the doors to let us out. I grab my bag of clothes from the top of the pile, go, and stand by the edge of the dock. The middle boat of the three is larger than the others, and the front of it has a golden dragon as its figurehead. I assume, from the ornate figurehead, patrolling Firebenders, and massive flag flapping from the top of the control tower, that it is the Princess's personal ship.

A group of Firebenders wearing red armor with gold trimming steps off the boat and begins marching towards us. In the middle of the group is a middle-aged woman wearing a white cloak with red lines running up and down the arms and skirt. As they get closer to us, I notice the woman's bright red lipstick.

"Princess Cathra!" The woman exclaims. Her voice is ragged and coarse. "I wondered when you would get here! We were beginning to get worried."

The Princess doesn't respond, and she passes by me. She snaps her fingers and points to one of the Firebenders. "Grab my bag." She says while she passes the group. The guard immediately jogs over to get the bag. The rest of the Firebenders enclose the Princess in a tight formation while she makes her way to her ship.

The woman in the white and red cloak is left standing on the dock. She looks past me in the direction of the van. "Is something bothering the Princess?" She asks.

"Master Marcian, I can honestly say we've been trying to figure that out for the past thirty minutes now." I recognize the voice of the silver haired girl. The girl comes up behind me and bows before the woman in white.

The woman bows back. "Aelius, did you say something to her?"

I hear the voice of Tall and Handsome respond. "Last thing I said was that Admiral Sozin's assistant made a nice painting. And now she's like this."

I try to cover my smile with my hand. Serves that pampered Princess right. I am a poor orphan girl living on my own in the roughest place in Republic City and I can paint a picture better than she can. She is probably jealous of me.

Aelius. Tall and Handsome has a name as mysterious and handsome as he is. It sounds foreign, but that is normal for Energybenders. They have names that stand out from the other Four Nations. No one knows where the Energybenders got them from, but they sound ancient.

The woman in white, whom I assume is Master Marcian, shakes her head. "Girls are sensitive, Aelius."

I turn around to see Admiral Sozin walking over towards Master Marcian. "Ah, Master Marcian." He says in his wise and deep voice. "A pleasure to see you again." He bows to her, and she bows back.

"Admiral, I apologize for the urgency, but the Fire Lord has an important mission for you."

The Admiral isn't fazed. "We have a saying back home about how we the only time a Fire Nation citizen retires is when he is dead. Do not apologize, Master Marcian."

The Master bows again. "Thank you, Admiral Sozin." She looks up, and her eyes focus on me for a moment. Her eyes are cold and calculating, and they dance up and down my body. After a few moments, she looks away. "Now, everyone, if you please, follow me. We need to get going if we are to make it to the Capitol by tomorrow morning."

The group begins to walk towards the ship, and I start to follow. Then I suddenly see something that looks like a huge black bird alight itself on top of the conning tower of the ship. It's wings sink into it's body, and then it disappears from my sight.

I shrug and try to catch up with the group. Republic City has plenty of large birds.

If it was a bird.

The feeling of the waves below my feet makes me feel more alive than I have ever been in my entire life. It calls to me, me personally, telling me that I should just throw myself over the edge of the ship and join with my element. Each rise of the boat is a deep inhalation of my breath and each fall is the release of it. The salty spray against my face is the gentle touch of my lover, the blue ocean.

I separate myself from the side of the ship. We have been at sea for over an hour now. Republic City is now only a speck in the distance, and the blue ocean stretches for as far as the eye can see. For the first time in my life, I feel like I am home.

I turn away from the ocean and scan the deck of the ship. The Fire Nation Princess disappeared from sight as soon as we began to pull out of the dock. The Energybenders are all sitting around a Pai Sho board, silently playing the strategic game. Admiral Sozin is standing up at the top of the control tower, and he is speaking to the captain of the ship. They are so high up it looks as though I could step on them like ants.

I decide to go watch the Energybenders play Pai Sho. I approach the table just in time to see the silver haired girl push back her chair and throw her hands in the air. "Damn it Aelius!" She shouts. "How come you've beaten me the last seven times?"

Aelius laughs, and it reminds me of thunder booming across the night sky. "I guess I'm just better at strategy than you, Iulia." He smiles at the girl across from him. "Rematch?"

I come stand over the board just as they finish clearing it off. Master Marcian has her hood back, and I can see her lips tight. "That should have taken you much less time, Aelius." She says disapprovingly.

Aelius raises an eyebrow. None of them seem to have noticed me yet; they are too involved in their own conversation. "What do you mean, Master?"

The Energybending Master puts her grey hair up in a topknot while she speaks. "You relied too much on her moving into your traps when you could have instead," she pauses while she pulls out a white Fire Nation insignia from a pocket of her robe. She waits to clip her topknot in it before she continues. "Used your side pieces to flank her and destroy her."

Aelius leans back and runs a hand through his short grey hair. "I had not thought of that."

"You need to think like an Energybender when you play Pai Sho." The Master says. "You need to only trust in yourself and what you do. If you trust in others to do what you want them to do, you will be disappointed."

Aelius leans forward and looks at the board. "That seems so weird to me."

Iulia leans forward as well. Her silver hair falls around her face. "Master Marcian," she asks politely. "Do you think that you could give Aelius a few pointers?"

Master Marcian grins. "Of course! I would be honored to help a member of the Impera Clan." She leans back in her seat. "I need him to demonstrate his skills, though."

Aelius pushes back his chair and stands up. "So what do I need to do, throw some spheres around?" He asks. He begins to undo the buttons on his shirt.

"No…" Master Marcian says. "You need to spar with someone." She finally seems to realize my existence. She points a red fingernail at me. "You!"

I fumble for words. "Huh? Me?" I ask, confused.

"Yes! You're a Waterbender, correct?" She asks.

"Well, um, ya." I say.

"You can spar with Aelius." She says. It's an order, and that is very apparent to me.

"Okay." I say. I'm not really sure about the whole thing, but it seems like a great opportunity for me to practice my Waterbending. Aelius takes off his shirt and reveals large toned muscles and strong forearms and I feel a rush of blood go through my face. It will also be a good chance to see his body in action. I will have a good night sleep tonight. That much is certain.

Aelius bows to the Master. As he walks towards the middle of the ship, he asks me, "Are you okay with doing this?"

I nod, at a complete loss for words. His body is hypnotizing me. Every step makes me wish he could come closer and just let me run my hands up and down his chest…

"Begin." The Energybending Master says from her seat. I look over and see her sitting facing us, her hands steepled in front of her face. She looks like a cat watching her prey.

I focus my attention back on Aelius just in time to dodge a large white light speeding towards my chest. I have seen Energybenders in action before, so it does not amaze me. I reach a hand over to the right side of the boat and raise a pillar of water. I spin both of my arms in a circle in front of me to call the water to me, and then I quickly make a slashing motion with my right arm. The torrential stream of water moves in a wide arc above us and comes down right on top of Aelius.

His response is to spread his hands apart above his head, forming an energy shield to block my attack. The water falls around him harmlessly, and I summon it back to me. The water engulfs my arms, and it is cool and refreshing.

"You shouldn't have even let her get that far!" Master Marcian yells from the sidelines. "You should have attacked her while she was bringing the water to herself!"

I see Aelius take a deep breath. His eyes are beginning to burn like suns, and I'm not sure whether it is his adrenaline doing that or his anger at being told he did something wrong. He releases something from his chest that sounds like the roar of a wild animal, and I cringe instinctively.

Aelius punches light at me three times, each time taking one strong step towards me. The light he shoots is very fast and I can only dodge the first two. The third sphere hits me in the center of my chest, and I feel electricity coursing through my veins. I start to kneel on the deck, but my muscles begin to respond to my commands again and I get back up.

I flick my wrists and swing my arms towards Aelius. The water running down them lengthens into two long tendrils that move to collide against Aelius's sides.

With a powerful explosion of speed, Aelius jumps backwards. While he is in the air he kicks in my direction with both of his legs, and a large energy sphere flies out towards me.

I instinctively snap at the sphere with one of my water tendrils, but I realize one of the properties of water too late. Water conducts electricity.

I drop the tendril of water just as the energy sphere dissipates into it. I hear sharp fizzles as the energy runs through the water that could have just led straight to me. My eyes widen when I realize how much that could have hurt.

"No!" Master Marcian shouts. She is leaning forward in her chair. "An Energybender does not dodge and jump like a damn Air Nomad!" Her voice is angry. "We stand our ground and block. Never give up ground, always take! Take, take, take, take, take!"

Aelius takes another deep breath. He is crouched down on the deck of the ship like a marathon runner waiting for the gunshot. Master Marcian's voice must have been the loud noise he was waiting for, because with a loud inhalation of breath he rolls forwards. His legs, when they reach the apex of his roll, extend and begin to glow. When they come down, a large stream of pure white light comes out of them like a whip.

I move out of the way just in time for the long stream to hammer against the piece of decking where I had been just a few moments before. When it hits the deck, I hear low crackles as the energy dissipates into the metal of the ship. I raise my left arm, the only arm with a tendril of water still on it, and swipe at Aelius.

"Stop." Master Marcian orders.

My water falls apart a few inches away from Aelius, who had created a preparatory energy shield using his forearms. He drops his arms to his sides and te energy ripples into nonexistence.

Master Marcian briskly walks over to Aelius. "Tell me how you did that," she demands. "Now."

Aelius looks at her oddly for a moment. "I didn't release the energy, and instead I just let it keep coming out of me." He raises a glowing arm and makes a swipe towards a piece of the deck. While his arm is moving, a long tendril of brilliant white light extends from his arm. It cracks against the decking with a loud tick.

Master Marcian looks at Aelius for a few silent seconds. I hear the waves to both sides of me, but even the mysterious ocean depths are not as interesting as Aelius is. Master Marcian looks at the piece of decking that Aelius hit, and I see a portion of it has an indent melted into the metal. "That has never been done before. Interesting."

Master Marcian raises a hand that suddenly begins to glow with a powerful purple light. The red lines of her robe follow suit, and I have to avert my eyes because it feels as though I am looking at the sun. I hear a whoosh and then a creeeeaaaaakkkkkk and look back just in time to see a long slice in the already-melted metal decking.

"Very," Master Marcian purrs. Her robe has died down now, but her hand still glows a royal purple. She admires it as though seeing it for the first time. "Interesting."