Unnamed Town

The water bender thought about what the slender man was saying. Shin hadn't meet many theives in his life time, but still had experienced enough to form an opinion of them. All theives are diffenernt, but most have the same goals at least. But, this was not an ordinary theif was it?

"Did you ever consider buying what they need? If, you just give them the money then they could go waste it on who knows what and just end back up where they started. If you bought something for them, at least then it could be constructive," the traveler eased himslef onto the ground against the wall oppistie of the theif, "By the way, the name's Shin."

Unnamed Town

Rin couldn’t help blushing at the Waterbender’s words. Luckily the mask hid her face from view. What he was saying made sense. If she bought things for the beggars, rather than just giving them money and trusting them to spend it on important things, those she helped might be better off. But…”I…I don’t want to get too involved. If I buy them something, then I feel like I have to make sure they use it, keep an eye on them. I don’t want to do that, especially since—“ Rin cut herself off. Especially since beggars don’t usually have long lifespans and I don’t want to have to watch them die. The words rang in the thief’s head, but she wouldn’t allow herself to voice them. Not to some guy she didn’t know and didn’t want to know. He already knew far too much about her already.

It was in the silence that followed that Rin remembered that the blue-eyed man had introduced himself. Shin. The name was simple enough. She supposed, since he had told her his name, she should share hers. ”I’m—“ The woman paused. I’m Ryo.”

Unnamed Town

The traveler considered Ryo's words. He could understand not wanting to get too involved in people's lives, but he wouldn't want his hard earned cash to go to waste on who knows what. He stared at the other man. Again the thought of something being off struck him. The young man shifted against the wall trying to become more comfortable; his leg still hurt pretty badly and he touched it which only amplified the pain. He winced and gritted his teeth.

"Your probably wondering what someone like me is doing all the way in the Fire Nation," Shin smirked, "It's a long story."

Shin paused, a little hesitant to tell a stranger too much about him, but the waterbender felt safe telling Ryo more about him. Who is he going to tell anyway? The authorities? Laughable!

Unnamed Town

Rin knew that regardless of what Shin said, she should stop talking to him. This wasn’t her. She didn’t talk to people, just took their money. Talking, revealing pieces of herself, was dangerous. Especially when doing so to someone with a clearly defined set of morals. If she shared too much about her “activities,” he might report her to the authorities and get her thrown in jail. Of course, the woman could always silence the man if it looked like things were going that way…but Rin had never been comfortable with the idea of killing. So, she just wouldn’t let it come to that.

Shin then spoke again, talking about how strange it was that he was in the Fire Nation. Now that the black-clad woman thought about it, it was strange. And maybe a bit dangerous. She was curious, and wanted to hear this long story of his. ”That did cross my mind. Waterbenders aren’t exactly welcome here. Why risk being jailed or worse when there are much friendlier places you could go?”

Unnamed Town

Shin grinned as he spiked the interest of his new....acquaintance, they really couldn't be called friends yet could they? He scratched his head debating how much he should or shouldn’t tell. Not much of his life was scandalous or embarrassing, but you definitely don’t want to tell your life’s story to a complete stranger.

“It’s ironic isn’t? Technically, I’m breaking the law by even being here, but I chased you down for stealing,” the traveler started, “I grew up in the Northern Water Tribe until I was about 17. I hated the complete structure of the place, it was nearly suffocating. I’ve traveled almost all over the world, hoping to at least see some of each nation. So, the last nation I needed to see was this one, the Fire Nation. My parent’s think I’m crazy for traveling the world, usually with little to no money living of almost nothing.”

Shin decided that that was enough to tell for now. He could’ve told more about his adventures through the Earth Kingdom, but that was a good enough explanation for now.

“So what inspired you to become the thief that steals for others?” the young man asked curiously.

Unnamed Town

What was he doing grinning at her? They weren’t that close. It was annoying. Luckily, the grin soon disappeared, to be replaced by a look of contemplation, which Rin much preferred. Then the story started. It was simple enough. The guy hated all the rules in his life, so he left them—and it—behind. That made sense to the thief. The more interesting part was that the Waterbender had been all over. Considering that she had never been outside the Fire Nation, Rin found that just short of fascinating. She wanted to ask him about it…no. This was just some guy. They didn’t need to get close or anything like that. The woman was fine on her own.

The black-clad thief frowned at Shin’s question—not that he could see that under her mask. ”You’re making me out to be some sort of saint,” she said. ”I don’t steal for others. They just end up with most of the money I get. My inspiration...I don't know. I just can’t stand rich people. They have so much money, but they don’t do anything useful with it, just buy things they don’t need. So, I take what I can, since there’s no point in them having it.”

Unnamed Town

Shin listened to Ryo's explanation and found it ironic against what she had told him before. Pointing out how one shouldn't use stereotypes, but the use them herself. The water bender shifted his weight a little before he spoke.

"Don't you think you're judging those people a little too soon? I mean how many rich people have you actually meet, like talked to not just snatch their purse?" the traveler spoke with another grin across his face, this man was much too serious. As they would have said in at the North Pole, he needs to chill out.

Shin was getting uncomfortable sitting on the ground so long. He tried to stand, fighting through the pain of his leg. The young man stretched his back by leaning back wards then returning to his original position.

"Sorry, I don't like sitting for too long," the water bender explained

Unnamed Town

When Shin spoke again, Rin winced. The guy had a point, much as it killed her to admit it. ”None,” she responded. ”But I’ve seen some of their homes, and they definitely don’t spare any expense when it comes to furniture. Isn’t that evidence enough that they have too much money?”

Even if the Waterbender didn’t agree with her, the woman wasn’t going to change her outlook on the wealthy. The way she saw it, as long as rich people kept flaunting their wealth, she would do her best to relieve them of it. Shin was just going to have to accept that.

But wait, why was she having this argument anyway? She would never see the man again, so this was pointless. Still, Rin felt some unexplainable need to defend her actions and views. It was annoying, but nothing she could change. Not right now, anyway.

When Shin stood and spoke, Rin just nodded. She still didn’t feel like standing, so for now she’d remain as she was.

Unnamed Town

Shin smiled, internally of course, as Ryo tried to to defend himself against his own argument. The water bender looked around, the alley was quite bleak. He wanted to go see the rest of the port, but something held him back.

Probably politeness the traveler thought. The sun was begining to set and the sky turned a beautiful amber color and time shifted into evening.

"So what's there fun to do around here?" the young man asked, "Or do you just go back to some cave and glower when not relieving the rich of the excess money?"

Shin had meant it as a joke, but it wouldn't surprise him if that was the case. He dusted his clothes of spending a small amount of gray powder into the air.

Unnamed Town

Rin noticed that it was getting late. She hadn’t planned to stay in the town this long. At this point she might have to stay the night in an inn. This was, admittedly, not the smartest of moves, considering that she had just robbed someone in a crowd of people, any one of whom could be the innkeeper or a guest, but the only other option was going out into the wilderness when everything was pitch-black. The thief wasn’t afraid of what lurked in the darkness, but didn’t trust her night vision’s ability to steer her clear of any and all obstacles. And spending the night with a broken ankle—or worse—was not an appealing concept.

The woman was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of Shin’s voice. The Waterbender’s questions—even if they were in jest—annoyed her. When she spoke, that irritation was clear in her tone. ”Do you really think I would hang around in a town that I’ve already hit? Why would I do that, unless I wanted to get caught? But no, I don’t ‘go back to some cave and glower.’ I move on, find a new town, new people. That way I don’t get noticed and stay out of jail.”

The other man's tactics seemed reasonable enough. Though if he were a thief, Shin would stay in the town a couple of days, milk it for a while, then move on. This still probably wasn't enough time to scope out the local scene or check out the good bars or party places. Shin had absolutely no desire to stay outside of town. Not that he was afraid of the dark, but more of what could be in the dark...bugs, the bane of his existence!

Irritation was apparent in Ryo's voice when she responded. Shin grinned once more in the evening light. The water bender gathered his satchel and looked to the thief.

"Honestly, I expected you to stay in town for at least little while. Why not milk the town for what it's worth? This a port city, probably lots of wealthy ship owners and the like." Shin explained, "You looking for a place to stay? I think I saw an inn when I got of the boat. Nothing too fancy, but enough to get through one night."

Shin gestured the direction of the inn he had seen, not really waiting on his companion, and not expecting him to follow. Rounding the corner to a now less crowded street due to the darkening hour, Shin glanced around to get his bearings.

This is gonna be harder than I thought, the traveler concluded.

Unnamed Town

Rin had to admit, what Shin said in response to her made sense. She had considered staying in certain places for longer than it took her to pull off the initial theft, but had come up with reasons why that wasn’t a good idea. ”I thought about that, but every day I stay in town after stealing increases my chances of getting caught. Also, in a small town like this, things tend to get noticed by everyone. If I were in a big city like the Capitol where it’s possible to go around unnoticed, then I might stay a few days, steal multiple times.”

The thief couldn’t believe she was honestly having a civil conversation about her “work.” This was a strange—though not altogether unwelcome—experience for her. Shin was strange, but talking to him was surprisingly easy. Of course, the whole conversation could be a ruse, and the Waterbender could be planning to get enough information to turn her over to the authorities, but Rin doubted that was the case. The man seemed too carefree for that.

When Shin spoke again, all Rin could do was stare at him. What was he suggesting? It was one thing to lead her to the inn, but was he talking about sharing a room? Just the thought was enough to make the woman blush. But maybe she was just jumping to conclusions. He couldn’t honestly think that she would be willing to be anywhere near him for a long period of time, considering that she had attacked him with a knife not too long ago. Well, there was only one way to find out.

Pushing herself up to a standing position, wincing as pain shot through her hand, Rin hesitantly began to follow Shin out onto the dark, mostly unpopulated streets. She noticed how the Waterbender glanced around as if to figure out where he was, and wondered if he actually knew how to find the inn. If they ended up lost, the thief swore that she would kill the man, for no other reason than that he annoyed her.

Unnamed Town

Shin was glad the Ryo had decided to follow, but at the same time felt more pressure to make a decision about which way to go. Looking about a little more frantically, the traveler spotted a gift shop he had seen when he first got of the ship. He recognized it from a strange demented monkey statue that sat on the left side of the stand. The shop keeper was starting to close, but the inn should be around the corner from it.

"This way!" the water bender said confidently, "it should be around the corner from that shop!"

The young man pointed to where he was headed with a glance back at his new acquaintance. As he walked on ahead he suddenly reflected on his wording when suggesting the inn in the first place.

"Uh, about before...I wasn't suggesting us share a room. I hope you went thinking...because that would be weird! WEIRD!" Shin paused, What if..."But if you are into that stuff that's cool! I'm not one to judge! Just clarifying!"

Shin blushed profusely trying to keep from putting his foot in his mouth or stepping on any toes. The last thing he wanted to do was offend someone.

Unnamed Town

Shin seemed genuinely lost, and Rin was getting more and more irritated. She found herself unconsciously reaching for her daggers, and had to remind herself that killing the Waterbender would only cause more trouble. Still, the thought was very tempting…

Then the man spoke, and the thief’s worries were slightly assuaged. He could still be wrong about where they were headed, but at least he sounded confident. That was reassuring. Now if they could just find the inn and be done with this unwanted adventure, the woman would be happy.

Rin was glad that night had fallen. When Shin spoke again, her face heated up so much that she would swear she were on fire. She was sure she was bright red as well. What Shin had said was…the woman didn’t even want to think about it. She knew some people were…different in a certain aspect of their lives, but that didn’t apply in this situation. But of course Shin wouldn’t know that, as she was still pretending to be a man. Even if she were to drop the pretense, sharing a room would still be awkward. And if the room only contained one bed…Rin just about died of embarrassment right there in the street. Luckily, she managed to keep it together. She did not, however, respond to Shin. That would have been too much to bear.

Unnamed Town

The waterbender quickly realized that he said too much. Not unlike himself, but still uncomfortable. He kept walking forward afraid of both Ryo's response and saying too much again. His face remained red until they turned the corner. The Inn was there, but it wasn't in business. Boards covered up the windows and doorway. Shin covered his face with his hand and pulled it down with defeat. Nothing was really going his way today.

"Looks like it's closed," Shin turned around to talk to his acquaintance. A part of the thief probably wanted to slit his throat, how prominent that part was Shin had no idea.

"I got nothing," the waterbender shrugged his shoulders casting a glance to the still shut down inn, almost hoping that his first look had been a mistake or hallucination, "You probably didn't want to stay in a too crowd of a place anyway, right?"

Unnamed Town

Rin was glad that Shin was silent as well. If he had said anything more, she probably would have killed him. As it was, a part of her was still contemplating that idea, just in case they didn’t find the inn soon. For Shin’s sake, she hoped they did.

The two rounded a corner, and Rin stopped dead. There was the inn, but it didn’t look like it had been open for months. As Shin turned around to speak to her, all the woman could do was glare at him. First he chased her down and wounded her hand, and now he’d led her on a pointless walk through town to a closed-down inn? That was it. She was done with the Waterbender.

The man was still speaking, asking her a question, but his words had ceased to register in the woman’s brain. Not daring to open her mouth, lest she let loose a scream of rage and frustration, Rin walked away from Shin, determined to get as far away from him as possible. At this point, the thief didn’t care where she spent the night, so long as it was nowhere near the Waterbender behind her.

Unnamed Town

Shin watched as Ryo out right turned around and left. Just walked away from him, Shin was honestly a little shocked, but could understand where he was coming from. But, the waterbender was the one with the lacerated leg! Shin really had nothing better to do, but follow the thief, even if it was probably a life threating situation.

"Where are you going to go?" he asked catching up to Ryo, "I'm sure there are other places around here! We just have to look around."

As he spoke, Shin began to take a look at the situation he was in. He was a waterbender in the Fire Nation, in a town that he has no idea about, with a stranger, not just a stranger a thief armed with who knows how many daggers and other weapons on their person. This was probably not the best place, particularly because he was probably not in the best of graces with the armed criminal.

How do I get into these situations?