Docks

Stuffing the last item back into his pack, Nirav positioned it at the head of his mat as a makeshift pillow and lay his head upon it, staring blankly at the roof of the little shack the two of them had taken refuge in. The girl lapsed into silence too, muttering something to herself before losing herself in some past memory. The small hunter contemplated what he would do once he had rested. Leave the city, most probably. Go into the mountains that surrounded it, raise a more permanent shelter where he could prepare the animals he killed for consumption or tanning or whatever else he could do with their remains.

He had seen the snow topped mountains when he had been travelling in towards the city's docks. They reminded him much of his homeland in the Wild Mountains, only they were not as dark as that place. Nirav doubted that there was any place in this world that was darker than the Wild mountains. But then again, not many places were cursed by the presence of a dangerous spirit. A shiver ran up the young man's spine as he recalled the stories the elders told of the beast and tried to switch his thoughts to another topic that was less terror-inspiring.

As of granting his wish, the girl began speaking again, mentioning skills and how people would pay well for the pelts of the animals he killed. Looking over at her from his position on his back, Nirav frowned at his companion.

"Not just pelts. Meat, heart, lungs, bone, claws, teeth, eyes. There are plenty of things to be taken from the corpse. Just taking one is wasteful. Insult to the prey", he said sternly. From a young age, he had been taught that if you were forced to take a life, you should make the killing quick and the death useful. Anything less was unacceptable. Life was not a toy to be played with and then thrown away. It was a treasured thing, something that one should respect even if you were forced to take it from another.

A Busy Street in the Marketplace


The cap rustled on the ground, failing to produce the sound for which he had been hoping. The magician frowned as, instead of the clinking of coins that he so desired, all that reached his ears was laughter. Frowning slightly, the young man looked up at the source of the mirth, a vegetable merchant and frequent antagonist in the novel that was his life. “Shut up, Jin,” he commanded, only eliciting more chuckling from the portly man looming over him.

“What?” the merchant asked, giving a look of honest bemusement. “A kid tripped and fell on his face. I was laughing at that, not at you.”

“Sure you were,” Naota sighed, rolling his eyes. “And I’m a buzzard wasp.”

That just got him more laughter. “Now that would be a trick!” Jin exclaimed. “Maybe then you’d actually be able to make some money.”

“Again, shut up, Jin. Go back to guarding your precious vegetables from the vicious little thieves and their grubby little paws. Or do you want your carrots stolen again?”

Finally, a desired reaction. The vendor grew serious in a hurry, turning his beady gaze back on his wares an away from his friend, who sighed. As much as Naota had to admit it, the guy had a point. He loved being a magician, but it wasn’t the most lucrative job in the world. There were times when he wondered if he wouldn’t have been better off listening to his parents and taking a job in some tea shop somewhere. But he’d tried that a few years back, and had been so bored he’d been tempted to throw scalding hot tea onto himself just to make things a little exciting. Then he’d actually—accidentally—done it when he’d been busy thinking up a new trick, and had been fired for slacking off. So that was out. No, he’d stick with what he knew, even if that meant that money would always be a little tight. He was determined to make his own way, even if his mother was constantly reminding him that they could help him out. He was nothing if not proud.

But pride wouldn’t keep him fed; only his craft could do that. And if he was going to use magic to make money, he needed to keep his skills sharp. The magician cast his gaze onto the river of people in front of him, looking for a new fish to reel in. His eyes landed on a little boy who was looking quite distraught, his clothing dirty and tears in his eyes. It looked like he’d found the source of Jin’s mirth.

“Hey, kid!” Naota called, startling the boy, who turned to look at him. The adult smiled. “You wanna see a magic trick?” The kid looked a little skeptical at first, but then stopped his sniffling and nodded. “C’mere then.” As the boy approached, Naota reached into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a deck of cards, which he proceeded to shuffle. When the child reached him, he held out the deck.

“Pick a card. Any card.”

Reaching a chubby hand out, the boy selected a card from the middle of the deck, looking from the object to its owner with confusion. Naota grinned in response. “Okay, now put the card back in the deck for me.” Still looking a little wary, the child complied, and Naota shuffled the deck again, his hands quickly tossing cards over each other. Once that was done, he held the deck up vertically, with the back toward the kid. “Now, watch this,” he directed.

“Spirits, levitate this child’s card from the deck,” the magician intoned, his voice deepened for effect. He waved his hand over the deck, then tapped the top a few times. The kid watched, eyes wide, as a card rose from the deck, seemingly by itself. Grinning, Naota plucked the card from the deck, turning it around with a flourish. “Was this your card?”

The boy let out a small yell of excitement and clapped his hands in joy. “I’ll take that as a yes,” Naota concluded, his grin widening. He flipped the card back over to see for himself what it was. A seven, of the Water suit. “Hmm, good choice,” he remarked. “Hey, ya know what?” the kid looked away from the cards and back at him, still excited. “Why don’t you keep this?”

“Really?” The boy questioned, not believing him. “Yeah,” the young man persisted. “This card’s magical. Who knows, carry it around with you and it might do some more cool stuff,” he explained with a wink. The child took the card with enthusiastic thanks, which Naota waved away.

“Kozu!”

The boy turned around at the voice, then ran toward the source, who turned out to be a middle-aged woman who Naota guessed to be the kid’s mother. Though the child had run out of his range of hearing, he could see that the kid was talking emphatically and pointing at him. “How d’you like that, Jin?” the magician muttered low enough so only he could hear. “I’m famous.” Grin still on his face, Naota shuffled the cards still sitting in his hands, shifting so that he was sitting cross-legged on the ground. Whistling softly, he turned his eyes back to the crowd. So began the hunt for his next catch.

A Busy Street in the Marketplace

It was a rancid smell, one composed of week old fish and bruised produced mixed with the musky scent of male body odor and girly floral perfume. It was enough to leave the waterbender light headed, but she pressed on determined to purchase the groceries necessary to make a hearty dinner for her siblings and possibly her father. Her lithe frame weaved between crowds of shoppers with ease, though her hair had a nasty habit of snagging onto things, like outstretched fingers or poorly constructed booths with jagged nails sticking out at the sides. Pulling her navy vest closer to her waist, Anhyue slid in between two rather robust men and quickly grasped the attention of a gangly poultry vendor.

"Excuse me sir, could I have five thin slices of chicken please?"

"How many you want?

"Five please."

"You gotta speak up, else I can't hear you."

It was true. This was not the time nor place to speak in her usual soft voice. She licked her tan lips before trying again. "Five thin slices of chicken please!"

"Atta girl," the vendor exclaimed. "That'll be fifteen yuan. Actually, I'll make it ten for you."

"Thank you," she said flashing the vendor a gracious smile before digging the coins out of her emerald colored bag. Anhyue had to admit that this was her favorite vendor of the day. Her charms had obviously caught his attention. It was the scraggly, old women that gained some sick pleasure out of overpricing their wares, but Anhyue never complained. Fortunately she had the means to meet their outrageous prices even if the means were generated by her father's business. Well I work there, so it counts. Brushing the thought aside Anhyue exchanged the coins for the evenly wrapped packages of meat and stuffed them into her bag, which was already heavy with her purchases of rice, broccoli, noodles, and onions.

She thanked the man again before squeezing past the robust fellows. Taking a second Anhyue adjusted herself to the added weight of her bag before moving forward. The last thing she wanted was to go falling in the middle of a bustling street. Being trampled was not an option. The actress held her head high and kept her sea green eyes on alert. Her boots pounded against the ground as she rushed between nagging mothers and mischievous children. Yet somehow the dark haired girl had forgotten to keep her eyes partly on the ground where some people, or to be more specific a tan man sitting crossed legged with a huge smile on his face, enjoyed doing their business. Eyes wide she met his gaze before her boot made contact with his right shin.

"OH MY GO..." The words belted at first became stuck in her throat as she forced as much of her body as she could over the man. Pulling the bag to her chest she cradled it just as her right shoulder made contact with the street. The rolling only last a few seconds, but they were brutal and left Anhyue with a migraine that only food could later cure. Slowly, she lifted herself to her feet and brushed the dust from her quarter sleeved shirt and dark fitted pants. Shaking her bangs into place the waterbender looked around for the man she had practically run over. Oh my gosh he's going to kill me. She couldn't tell if he had joined her for the ride as well, but if he was injured Anhyue was surely going to be the one to heal him.

"Sir," she called out readjusting the bag's strap onto her shoulder, "I'm so sorry."

A Busy Street in the Marketplace

That was the problem with his business: no way to advertise. People like Jin, they had their wares displayed right in front of them and would shout up and down the street to get passers-by to stop and look at what they had to offer. Sure, he could try the yelling thing, but that wasn’t his style. Besides, what would he say? “Magic tricks! Get your magic tricks here!” Yeah, that would work. Naota groaned. His job was about being subtle. Yelling about it was about as far removed from his line of work as he could get. At this rate he’d just have to hope that someone walked into him. That was just about the only way he could see left to find a source of income.

His eyes were still roving over the crowd when they met a pair that was far more interesting than the rest. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen eyes more beautiful—and the woman they were attached to definitely wasn’t bad either. Maybe she’d be interested in seeing a trick or two of a more…personal nature. He opened his mouth to ask her if she was interested.

He was unfortunately cut off by the sudden meeting of her foot and his shin. Though that wasn’t so bad, causing just a small twinge of pain, the momentum of the falling woman caught him and sent him rolling in the dirt. He tumbled a few feet, ending up lying on his back breathing hard, wincing as pain shot through his legs as he tried to move. “Oooooowww,” the magician muttered, flexing his rams to make sure that they were still operational. In the background, he heard chuckling. “Ugh…shut up, Jin.”

Gritting his teeth, Naota pushed himself to his feet, brushing dust off his vest and bare chest and doing a once-over to check for injuries. So, skinned elbows, and some leg pain, but nothing he couldn’t walk off. More importantly…turning, he searched for the source of injuries, and found her just a few feet away, looking just a little worse for wear. She said something, but the man was too busy staring to hear. She was really quite beautiful, and that was saying something, considering the number of girl’s he’d fancied before. That made his mind up. He wanted to get to know this girl.

“No, you don’t need to apologize,” he responded, the smile returning to its home on his face. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. Such a beautiful woman as yourself should not have been rolling around on the ground. I foolishly tripped you, and I’m sorry for that.”

A Busy Street in the Marketplace

"Tripped me? No, I was the one who ran into you."

Nothing pained Anhyue more than someone taking the blame for her actions. She should have been more careful. Should have kept her eyes not only to the sky but also the ground. She had acted very thoughtlessly and had made a fool out of herself and the shirtless man.

"I should have kept an eye out. I know how packed this place can get, and I really shouldn't have rushed."

The words spilled out of her mouth like vomit, a very uncommon occurrence for the bender of so few words. Catching her breath Anhyue focused her gaze more intently on the man and inspected him as best she could. Whether it was a cut or a bruise, the waterbender was going to make amends for her stupidity. Although her attention could have almost immediately been drawn to his bare chest, Anhyue's eyes made a beeline for his eyes. They were clear and bright and reminded Anhyue of her father's emerald orbs. The sense of familiarity worked to calm her nerves as she took the rest of him in. Tan, tall, and thin with a few scars here and there, though the one on his cheek probably made for an interesting story. A rather handsome man by the look of it with fussy hair. As far as she could tell Anhyue's accident hadn't injured him too badly, but then she noticed his skinned elbows and burst with concern.

"Your elbows," she said taking a few small steps forward. "I did that didn't I?" Cautiously, the actress extended her hands forward and gently grasped his right forearm. Slowly, Anhyue turned his arm, and at the sight of freshly cut skin she furrowed her thin brows. Anger at her own actions dusted the young woman's cheeks in a faint red hue. She had to fix this. Tilting her head up toward his, which hung a considerable amount of inches above hers, Anhyue bit her bottom lip before saying, "I'm sorry. Please let me fix that for you."

Hm, the woman was cute when she was babbling. Naota took the opportunity while she was speaking to study his new acquaintance. His initial analysis of her beauty had proven to be insufficient. Now that he had the time to look closely, he could see just how pretty she was, even with smudges of dust that her cleaning swipes had missed. Surprisingly for him, his gaze wasn’t immediately captivated by her body. Rather, he found himself drawn to her eyes. They were green, like his, but lighter, mixed with blue. Stunning, that was the word he’d use to describe them. Of course, the rest of her was very pleasant to look at as well. After spending most of his day staring at the unwashed masses of humanity, that was very much appreciated.

The magician held out his hands to stop the woman before she apologized through the rest of the day and into the night. ”It’s completely understandable,” he assured her. ”Perhaps you shouldn’t have been rushing, but maybe I shouldn’t have been sitting right where people were walking. I’m lucky you’re the only person I’ve brought down today.” Looking around them, Naota noticed that the collision had knocked the cards out of his hands, and that they were now scattered on the street. ”Excuse me,” he pleaded, pausing the conversation to retrieve his fallen assistants.

The man quickly gathered up the cards, noticing with a frown that a few had bent in the commotion. That was a shame; bent cards were too obvious to be useful in any of his tricks. The bent cards he put into one pocket, and the rest of the deck went into another. That done, he focused back on the woman. “Sorry, those are kind of important,” he explained. When his new acquaintance mentioned his elbows, Naota glanced at his arms. ”Huh? Oh, no they’re fine. You don’t have to—” He was cut off by the touch on his arm. Her touch was light, and unexpected—though definitely not unwelcome. That and the way she looked at him just about killed his brain, and it took him a few seconds to stop staring and get his mouth working fine. “Marmsrya—” Right, still having difficulties. Naota cleared his throat and tried again. “Like I said, my arms are fine. If you insist though…I guess it would be better to get this taken care of sooner rather than later.” The magician was mentally hitting himself. This was ridiculous, and completely unlike him. Girls and magic trick, those were his specialties. Why was this one proving so difficult to communicate with?

A Busy Street in the Marketplace

Relief hit her suddenly, like a wave crashing onto shore. It appeared for a second there that the man was going to refuse her help. The moments Anhyue took to study him while he had busied himself with some business of picking things up in the street gave her the opportunity to over think the situation and suspect that he was going to take off without allowing the waterbender to make amends. At the time she had permitted her mind to over react, but the passing minutes of verbal exchange allowed for her to step back and calm her overactive imagination. He did not take off but stayed and whatever it was he needed to fetch were now tucked away inside of his pockets. Unfortunately she had not the chance to see what it was he retrieved from the dusty street, but that didn't really matter. What mattered was that he had accepted her help.

"You're right," she piped up as she removed her hands from the warmth of his body and placed them on her waist. "Sooner is better than later and I wouldn't want the cuts to get infected either, because that would really stink." Giving him a grin she lowered her sights to her bag and placed a slender hand inside. The actress shuffled around the inside for a bit and explored every pouch before she felt what she was looking for. Pulling her hand out of the bag she smiled and extended it to the stranger. In her palm sat a colorfully wrapped candy. "To begin the healing process you'll need this first. Here." She tossed it to him then moved out of the way of a large crowd that felt the need to walk between them.

As she stood separated from the man she thought about where she could take him to fix his wounds. The bender would need a source of water and some space to lay out her bag. She probably even had bandages inside of her bag too. It was then that the idea of the park crossed her mind. It was a relaxed enough setting and there was plenty of water to use, and besides some fresh air would do the pair some good. Settled on the park, Anhyue waited for the crowd to pass before she approached Mr. Shirtless. "Do you have any quarrels with the park sir?" she asked teasing him with one of her favorite proper accents that she had picked up from Republic City's bourgeoisie. "If not, we could go there. Plenty of water in the park for me to use to heal your cuts uh...." Crap. They had gone this long without exchanging names?

"I'm sorry," she laughed before politely extending her hand. "My name's Anhyue Fen. I take it you have a name too?" And it's definitely not Mr. Shirtless.

A Busy Street in the Marketplace


The woman’s comment made him laugh. “Yeah, I’d prefer that that didn’t happen,” he replied. ”I want to actually be around people, and that would be difficult if I were walking around with infected, foul-smelling arms.” Just the image was enough to make him shudder. It was quickly becoming apparent that allowing this new acquaintance to help him was a good idea. Besides, he did want to spend more time with her. She’d given him an excuse to, and he would happily take it.

Naota watched, curious, as the woman rooted around in her bag, wondering what she was going to pull out of there. He guessed it would be something healing-related, like herbs or bandages, but was surprised by…”Candy?” He looked at her, his expression quizzical. ”I think most healers use herbs or water,” he quipped. ”But you’re the doctor, so I guess you know what you’re doing. If I wind up armless, though, we’re gonna have problems.” Grinning, he took the candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth.

His new doctor was silent, looking as though she were trying to make a decision. He was doing some thinking of his own, wondering what type of healing she used. He hoped she healed using Waterbending. He’d seen that done before, even had it explained to him, but he still didn’t get it, and would like the chance to experience it for himself. If that didn’t happen, though, no big deal. At least he’d still be healed. Of course, that made him wonder how he might repay her kindness. Magic tricks seemed poor thanks when compared to something as grand as restoring his health. He’d have to think of something better.

The question came as a surprise, as did the accent in which it was delivered. When Naota responded, it was with an accent of his own. ”My lady, I think a trip to the park would be wonderful. I’d offer you my arm, but given its current condition…” As he trailed off, the woman introduced herself. Finally a name, and a nice one at that. ”A beautiful name for a beautiful woman,” he replied, shaking the offered hand with his own. ”I’m Naota Endo. Nice to meet you, Anhyue.”

A Busy Street in the Marketplace

This was so unlike the young Fen woman. To openly flirt with a man who she barely even knew? If her father could see her now spirits only know what he would do to her! Drag her back home to the hotel for sure, that went without question. Still, Anhyue could not ignore the fiery energy building up inside of her slender figure. Feelings like these only ever came to Anhyue when she had to act on stage. The source of her confidence grew out of such sensations and permitted her to interact with large crowds. They were electrifying feelings that filled her eyes with warmth and mirth. Perhaps, it was these symptoms that caught the attention of the shirtless man who called her beautiful.

The warmth of his hand in hers took the waterbender by surprise and forced a few giggles up and out of her throat. She could feel the blush becoming more noticeable on her checks, so she lowered her gaze to the ground in order to gain back control over system and her lips, which seemed to want to remain in a ridiculously large grin. She scrunched her face a bit to loosen the tightness of her muscles then returned her sea green gaze to the man's face.

"Naota," Anhyue repeated savoring the texture of his name against her tongue like honey. "I've never met a Naota before. Looks like you've got a good name yourself." The dark haired girl recoiled her hand from his grasp and used it to tuck a few strands of loose hair behind her right ear. Gripping her bag's strap as she took a step to Naota's left, Anhyue lifted it over her head so that it rested comfortably across her chest. By his side she looked forward into the bustling street and grinned. Who thought today would be the day that the actress would catch such a nice break? "Thank you for the offer by the way," she said warmly as she took a step forward. "Maybe once I heal your arm you could offer it to me again?"

With a friendly wink in his direction Anhyue continued forward in the direction of the park. A few moments of silence reminded the nineteen-year-old that it would be rude to not chat with Naota. A heavy weight burrowed its way into the pit of her stomach and awoke the pain of her migraine. This was what came not so easily to the young woman. Small talk. Just ask him something, her mind urged as she moved off of the street and onto the sidewalk. Questions, that could work.

"So," she began a little too nervously, "what were you doing on the ground exactly?"

A Busy Street in the Marketplace


Things were going a little better. That was a relief after the unfortunate incident with his mouth just deciding not to work properly all of a sudden. Anhyue was laughing. That was good. That was what he was used to. Maybe his brain had just been addled from his tumble in the dirt. Of course, he wouldn’t mind doing that agin, if Anhyue were tumbling with him…but that was a bit too much to think about at the moment. Might want to get to know the girl first. All he knew about her was her name and that she was very good-looking. Not familiar enough for the scenario that kept running its way through his head. He looked away from Anhyue as she complimented his name, too embarrassed by his own brain to respond in kind as he normally would.

Luckily, the would-be healer kept up the smooth talk, and he was able to banish the impure thoughts from his mind and refocus. Unfortunately, that was quickly ruined by her wink By the Spirits, she’s pretty. Once again, she had him gaping instead of walking and talking and doing all those things he normally did. Pinching himself, Naota hurried after his new acquaintance, stopping to grap his cap before catching up and slowing to match her stride. Of course, now there was the problem of what to say to her. Usually he had questions prepared for pretty girls, but the unusual circumstances of their meeting had wiped those from his mind.

Again, Anhyue saved the day by asking him something first, though it was a rather strange question she put to him. He wasn’t quite sure how to answer it. “Sitting” was the obvious answer, but sarcasm was not the quickest way to a girl’s heart…or various other regions, for that matter. The magician was silent for a moment as he tried to think of the best answer to her query. ”Um…I guess you could say I was waiting,” he finally replied, and immediately regretted his choice of words. That told her nothing. ”I mean, I wasn’t just waiting in general, I was waiting for people, but not any specific people, just…urrgh!” He let out a sigh of frustration. ”Let’s just say I was looking for customers.” That also wasn’t completely accurate, but describing his occupation was never an easy task. There were no simple ways to admit to being a self-styled magician.