"Okay that's alright for a little girl but let's try and put a bit more force behind it". Jaya said mockingly to her competitor. She had been taunting him for the better part of an hour. Beads of sweat ran down his angered face and onto his stupidly large, rippling muscles.
With new determination he violently pushed his boulder into Jaya's stone, trying to force it over the faint line crudely drawn on the ground. The crowd around them roared in enthusiasm, placing their bets on either the fragile looking girl or 'The mountain'. Jaya was pleased to hear most of the bets was for her to win.
Grunting with effort the muscular man sent as much power as he could into the earth, using his legendry street bending on her. He wasn't holding anything back anymore. Both his fists sent a bombardment of punches into the air, which in return forced his boulder to propel itself into Jaya's stone again and again.
Jaya herself was unfazed by the attacks. Her slender finger was raised, gently keeping the stone in the air, toying with her opponent.
"Oh, that's a bit better, I think I almost felt it this time". She shouted across to him, a rueful smile across her face. Her stone hadn't moved an inch. Yet despite the fun she needed to move on, she had probably made enough money to leave by then. She cracked her neck in anticipation.
"This was great and all... But I'm getting bored now". She knew when to call it quits and she thought she had annoyed the man enough. Spreading her feet for a steadier position she struck her open palm into the air, sending her reliable little stone to push the boulder over the parallel line on the other side of the street and winning her the game. The crowd erupt in triumph and outrage, shouting for the money owed to them or taken from them.
The Mountain stumbled and fell in a mass heap, a cloud of dust exploded over his unconscious form. Jaya thought to herself that when he did eventually get up he would definitely not be happy with her and guys like that tended to seek rematches.
Jaya quickly grabbed her winnings and easily disappeared into the crowd, a wonderful benefit of being small.
Weaving her way through the crowd she counted out her earnings. It wasn't as much as she had expected. Taking a sharp turn she walked into a secluded alleyway, stuffing the pouch into her overly baggy shirt. She would have to steal some more money. Sighing she sunk to the gritty ground and perched on her feet, she'd never sit if she could help it.
"Looks like I might have to go another day without food". She whispered to herself. She had just enough for rent but nothing else. Her eyes darted to the stampede of people next to her, noticing how ever so slightly they began to thin and the stalls from markets started to close. It was too late to try and steal from anyone, they had all most likely spent whatever money they had and were heading home.
Generally she was a happy person, despite everything she still sought the fun in life, some people may think of her as immature but she'd rather be that then let the depression of reality sink in. Yet she was only fifteen, every now and then she let the stress of her situation get to her, especially when she was wrestling with starvation, who wouldn't? She was already too small but as the days dragged by she was becoming weaker, before long she wouldn't be able to have a rematch with The Mountain and win.
She wasn't completely alone however, she did have her best friend, Sheil, that would do anything for her. But in order to get his help she would have to admit some truths that she had been keeping from him, and she wasn't ready for that. She loved their friendship too much to jeopardize it. She bit her lip, deep in thought.
Basically she had two choices, pay the rent so she had somewhere warm and safe too starve. Or she could use the money to buy herself food for a while and sleep on the street. Shelter or food. Which would it be? Painfully her stomach growled and she knew her choice was made for her.
Throwing her fists in the air she forced the ground to catapult her up onto the the roof of the closest building, managing to land with a small amount of grace as she did so. From there she set out to find some cheap food, whilst also sneakily pinching a few extra bits when no one was looking. Once she had a small bag worth of food she started her search on a relatively safe place to spend the night. There was no point in even going back to her apartment she didn't have any belongings and the land lord wouldn't let her stay now that she had spent all her money, even if she did try and play the innocent kid act.
The waves of people that once dominated the streets had slowly dispersed and the rush of the day was drawing to an end. Only crooks with shady business could be seen skulking about in the shadows and desperate fidgety people would could be seen nervously approaching them. If a person thought there was no way the slums could get worse, they should visit it at night, they'd quickly learn that things could always get worse.
Needless to say Jaya stuck to the roofs, it was still dangerous but she was less likely to find trouble. Using her bending she would leap from one run down building to the next, somersaulting as she did so. It was more fun that way, soaring through the sky like an airbender and laughing as she did so.
Eventually she flipped onto an abandoned bell tower, or at least she hoped it was abandoned. Out of everything she had skimmed by so far it looked the most promising. It looked uninhabited, it wasn't completely falling apart and it wasn't easily accessible. After a bit more scrutiny she decided it would do for the night.
The watery moonlight flowed through the window she lazily climbed through, half illuminating the barron room. Awkwardly she tried to summarise the best spot to sleep in, rocking on her feet and tightly clinging onto her food. All of a sudden she felt very alone. Slinking back to the window she decided to stay in the moonlight, the darkness unsettled her, at least this way she could look up at the sky. Delicately she pulled out a stale loaf of bread, carefully breaking off tiny pieces to chew. She knew that by devouring the food too fast she would be sick, it had been too long since she had last eaten, so in order to avoid that she would have to take her time and eat it piece by piece.
Staring out into the city she thought about Sheil and Aakil, his father. It had been weeks since she had last gone to see them, they were probably worried. Unknown to them, they were the only family she had and being apart for so long saddened her. But she couldn't see them until her sunken skin didn't look so scary and she had a place to stay besides a bell tower, otherwise they would interrogate her.
She had first met Aakil when she was eight, the same year her parents abandoned her, she had been trying to practice some bending skills in the middle of the street when Aakil came over and helped her, he showed her what it meant to be an Earth Bender. He was the first person to ever really smile at her and fill her with confidence, to be honest with herself it was the first time she had encountered kindness. He suggested that she go train with his son instead of on the street, since he to was learning. Jaya smiled at the sweet memory of when she was first introduced to Sheil. The scrawny boy she met back then had changed a lot since but there where somethings about him that hadn't changed one bit.
He had been practicing the basic movements when Aakil and her strolled over. Casually she had stuffed her hands in her pockets and watched him finish the sequence, his young face was tight from concentration. After waiting for him to stop Aakil finally walked over and placed a fatherly hand on his shoulder, asking him if it was okay if Jaya train with him. Sheil had glanced in her direction, taking in her puny form in seconds and turned back to his father, telling him he didn't like her at all. Jaya liked him instantly. Sternly Aakil had told him that was a rude thing to say and that he should get to know her before judging her.
After that she made it her mission to make him smile and annoy him, using their practicing sessions to menace and toy with him. As much as it pained him to admit that Jaya was the better Earthbender, he never actually won any of their fights. However Sheil still made it his mission to throttle the little slacker that kept turning up to his building's yard, determined to teach her something.
Weeks went by and Jaya had pretty much fallen in love with Aalik and Sheil's family of two. When the sun began to set and she was forced to leave she would wrap herself in discarded newspapers and imagine having a family of her own one day, where everyone was loved and cared for. Her smile dropped as she remembered the nieve little girl she used to be.
Yet the one memory that was always stuck in her mind was the day she knew Sheil and Aakil truly cared for her, that people actually worried for her, maybe even thought of her as family. She hadn't been to train with Sheil for two days and he personally went out to look for her, he claimed he only did it because he was desperate to show her a new move, not because he cared.
Which ever reason it was she was thankful that he came for her anyway, he found her huddled under rubbish with a fever and no one looking after her. But she had nothing to worry about, Sheil and Aakil were on the case. She was nursed back to health and allowed to stay with them. Of course the question of where her parents were was finally brought up, leaving Jaya with a fair amount of dred. She couldn't tell them what her parents were like and that they had abandoned her. So she lied to them. Told them that her parents had left for business and that they would be back soon. It killed her to do so but at the time she thought it was for the best, she thought that if she admitted she was abandoned then they would also realise how worthless she was and leave her as well. She knew better now but she still didn't have the guts to worry them and tell them the truth.
Swallowing the last morsel of bread she whiped the crumbs from her legs and then pulled at her string neckerlace she always wore. It was threaded through a small bronze key, a key to Aakil's home and her only treasured possession. Aakil was a smart man, he probably knew full well that she didn't have a family to go back to, that she had lied to him but he was also a good man, he wouldn't say anything until she did, he wouldn't think it was his place to say. So after a long time with no confessions he gave her the key, saying that she was more than welcome to come round whenever she wanted, that to him, she was like a daughter.
She let the key slip between her fingers and land on her chest. She still didn't understand how Aakil could trust her so much and how stubborn she was still being. Many of the homeless kids on the street would die for an offer like hers, a chance to have a secure, constant place, with food and friends but she squandered it, she wasted it and for what? Because she was too stubborn? Had too much pride? Or did she feel guilty asking for help when she had never done anything for them in return.
"This is way too much thinking before bed". She joked with herself. Leaning back on the rotting wall she tried to find some comfort. She cleared her swarming mind and fell into a very uncomfortable, deep sleep. She almost made it to the sweet nothingness of a dreamless night but as usual she just wasn't that lucky. They returned.
A storm of nightmares crashed into her weary mind, all of which reminded her of her life before the street. She could still feel the searing pain tearing through her leg, marking her. Unwanted.