Pitstop [Training]

It had been a few days since the team had left the Earth Kingdom. Infact, maybe more, no one was really counting. Throughout the travels so far, Raizo kept to himself when dealing with the showboating girl and the dark skinned weirdo. They were no candidates to try and show off infront of, making them extremely boring to be around. He didn't even have anything to talk to them about. They held no interest of his own. With a sigh, Raizo would pull out the map and begin to read it once again. It would probably take another day or a half, to get to Ba Sing Se at their current speed. The boy would drag his finger along the trail the three Masters had laid out for him which was supposedly the fastest route to the Capital..However, they made a small mistake..The trail passed by what appeared to be some form of mud bath hosted by a small Water Bending family. There wasn't much detail on the map itself, but what was there actually warranted some attention. With a sly smile coming across his face, Raizo would narrow his amber eyes and let out a low laugh. Making sure to put on a poker face, he'd flip himself around to be facing the others while remaining on the Dragon's head. "Wafu needs rest and I found a spot that is large enough to put his head down. I don't want too many people seeing the Dragon, for obvious reasons, so let's keep a low profile." He'd give the two an innocent smile, but if they knew him by now it would be obvious to know he was far from the low profile type. If the word "showoff" was an actual person, there was a rather large chance he'd be its father, brother, and son.

The Dragon would make its descent towards a large rock formation that was just about a mile away from the mud bath resort. Landing with a soft thud, Raizo would jump off its back and land on the grand with a hop. It felt good to stretch his legs again and walking never sounded so good till now. "So I saw this small place where we can buy something to eat. It's nothing special or anything..Just a regular small stand. I figure we could all walk the rest of the way together. No need to go swooping down on the place with Wafu. It'd probably cause more panic than any good." Now surely it had to be getting abit more suspicious. Raizo carrying what others thought? How ghastly! With a nice guy smile and thumbs up, he'd nod towards the two others before turning his back and walking on. The look on his now unseen face was one of a sly smile. Hopefully they'd just follow along..Or maybe leave. He didn't care at this point. He'd simply walk along and observe the terrain. It was much different than the Fire Nation. Plant life was growing, however there were plenty of boulders, mountains, and crevices as far as the eye could see. They were surely in the Earth Kingdom and out of the Fire Nation. This was the first time Raizo had ever left his own land..It was sort of, exhilarating. The fresh air, beaming sun, and clear skies was perfect to start a journey off with. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Hopefully the other two wouldn't make the experience a pain in the ass..That was the one thing he was worried about.

As they would walk, he'd stretch his hands behind his head while looking up towards the sky. If he was going to be stuck with these two, perhaps he would need to speak to them at some point. Even if he didn't really..like them. He actually had no reason to dislike them either. Other than the fact Yoko's appearance took away attention to himself, and Katsuro was just Katsuro. "My name is Raizo." The boy said randomly, while looking back over his shoulder to look towards Katsuro. The tone he spoke with was bland, almost as if he had to force himself to say it. It would take some time for him to warm up with these two..Just like it took months for him to warm up with his three fire bending masters.

For the majority of the trip's duration, Yoko would be content with herself and to herself, sitting near the edge of the dragon's back to overlook the lands below. She had had this feeling before, as she traveled through the Fire Nation atop the Burning Broom. There wasn't much left on the entire island country that she hadn't explored already, but anywhere outside the country was a no-go. She had no true experience with the world outside her homeland, so this was all a new experience for him. The climates changed, as did the landscapes. Yoko was no fool, and she could tell simply from the sun in which direction they were heading. Being that their travels head east, they would be delving into Earth Country territory where the ground was a bit less lavish than Fire Country's lands. Yes, they had trees and various plantlife, but they also had some incredibly rocky terrain and poorer soils. The hot lands of the Fire Nation lead to livelier and more exotic greenery, with shades of pink and purple and red. Here Yoko saw... green and brown, so needles to say she was unimpressed. Also, she began to shiver a bit and wrap herself in the embrace of her own arms, stating to everyone else; "I'm cold." So in addition to the blander landscapes, she would have to deal with chillier temperatures now. By the time they had finally landed, Yoko would have pulled out her black overcoat and wrapped herself in it. The only questionable act about this was that she didn't zip it up, as if she had an aversion to clothing or something.

Yoko didn't bother questioning Raizo; after all she was here about the adventure for the most reason, and side quests were part of this adventure. It was extremely apparent that she hadn't meant the words she had spoken to the firebending elders, and that she would actually encourage Raizo's antics. Hell, there were several other avatars in the world to keep the peace, and right now the world had its peace—no big bad guy to take down or anything. As far as Yoko was concerned, they could all take their sweet time in training the Avatar, hence why she didn't question him. Her attentions were rather focused on her surroundings that lie ahead. They had landed near a rock formation, logical to hide a beast so hard as Raizo had stated, but other than that the path ahead of them was quite simple, with maybe a couple other piles of rock along the sides. She would walk wordlessly, still a bit cold, but absolutely refusing to cover herself more than she already had. She didn't comment on when he just randomly stated his name out, as it was more or less aimed at Katsuro than it was at Yoko. Yoko already knew, thanks to the intervention of the three old men that one day—the recollection caused her to smile. The thing was, until Yoko arrived at this destination of Raizo's she hadn't much to say. She was tired, hungry, thirsty, and cold.

It was apparent during the trip that almost everybody on the team had no problem keeping to themselves. So Katsuro would simply follow suit, spending alot of the time on his back looking up at the sky during the times they were airborne at night. When they were low enough to clearly see the terrain he would stare over the side in amazement. The right choice had indeed been made to go along with the avatar. The sights he had seen so far already outdid anything he had ever seen in his entire life. To top it off he really hadn't been that annoying so far so it wasn't too bad. After some time Yoko would state that she was cold. Funny how Katsuro didn't notice the temperature difference from the fire nation until now. Though it really wasn't surprising, that she was pretty cold, considering what she was wearing. It wouldn't be long before she produced a coat which she threw over her shoulders. It confused him for a second, he hadn't noticed it before, but when you think about where he was staring it's not surprising. Soon after the avatar would say that the dragon needed a rest, and he wanted to keep a low profile.

Katsuro raised an eye brow at him wanting to keep a low profile. He had personally seen how much of an attention freak this kid was at their little bout. Both before, after and during the match he was showing off and proclaiming his greatness and his next move. The fact that he wanted to land in a place that they were going too and keep to himself seemed, odd to say the least. However when one thought about how he had been so far on the trip. Along with the fact that the dragon was sort of massive, and rare. Maybe he felt like people crowding around his companion or pet would be too annoying? Seemed like the most likely course of action. No objections would be raised to going down to the ground and taking a break though. Katsuro went on this trip to take an opportunity to see the world, and he would definitely take his chance to see it. As they landed it seems that the avatar already picked out a place for them to go and rest. Katsuro saw no such place on the way down but didn't matter, he wasn't looking for one to begin with. Maybe he missed it or maybe it just wasn't angled in a similar way to him. As the group walked down the road the silence would suddenly be broken by the avatar turning around. The answer to the question that was cut off a few days before had suddenly been answered. So his name was Raizo was it, what made him suddenly decide to tell him? Didn't matter it was progress to making this a much more pleasant trip all around. If Raizo was dealing with a more spiteful person he may have just been ignored. However the person he was talking too found that there was no pleasure and too much wasted energy in holding grudges for small things. Katsuro would put on a face of acceptance and reply to the avatar. "Nice to know, Avatar." He really didn't have much else to add at that moment, so unless someone else said something it may have led to an awkward silence all around.

However since the silence was starting to work at Katsuro he decided it was time to possibly start up a conversation. Maybe talk about something simple then just learn about everybody in the group as time went on. "So how far along the road was this place you noticed." If Raizo had went back to looking where he was walking by this point, which as with most people would be likely. His travel companions words would be spoken to the back of a head essentially. Katsuro didn't expect him to turn around to answer, and deep down inside still remembering how he was when they met he almost didn't expect an answer. Couldn't hurt to just try though, not much bad could come of it.

He'd continue to walk at a steady pace while the male would ask how far the road would take them. Putting a finger to his forehead while closing his amber eyes, he would appear to be concentrating. "Hmm, my Avatar senses is telling me alittle under a mile." Raizo would snap his fingers and place his hand on his side. "Walking is good for you. Enjoy the scenery while you can. I mean you two seem like you need abit more beauty in your lives." Snickering after his last comment, he'd turn and start walking backwards while looking at the two. "No offence of course. I could use it aswell. Being cooped up in that Fire Temple so long has gotten me anxious for freedom. I mean, don't get me wrong. I love being the Avatar and all but I'd rather do things I like. Stuff like Agni Kais..Sports. Things a normal kid should do..If that's normal, of course." He'd rub his finger under his nose with a smug smile, before shifting his amber eye'd gaze towards Yoko. This was probably the most amount of clothes he had ever seen her wear..Though she still seemed abit cold. She was a fire bender, so he wondered why she didn't just create a flame to keep herself warm. "If you need my scarf to stay warm..you can have it.." Words forced out. "..b-but we're almost there anyway so it shouldn't take too much longer." The young Avatar would slow down and begin to walk between the two others while lifting his hands infront of his chest so his palms were facing each other. A flame would suddenly burst within the palms of his hands releasing a strong source of heat for the two around him. Using his potential as an Avatar, it was much stronger than the average blaze, allowing the heat to stretch out to all of them.

After several minutes of walking the dirt road, a rather large sized, earthen building would be standing strong at the end of the road. Out front was a large sign made of rock that would spell out, "Mei Ling Mud Bath Resort!" There were a few people outfront. Most seemed like tourist from their attire. The place was surprisingly more popular than Raizo thought..which meant there would be alot of people in there to show off too. "There we go! That's the place! Though haha..I guess it isn't that small of a stand..nor is it a stand at all.." A nervous laughter would escape his lips as the flame would diffuse and he'd rub the back of his neck. "But uhh, since we're already here, I say we go right in. Let's relax. This is my first time out of that lame place, so I need to stretch my limbs." The young Avatar would give the two a thumbs up before looking back down the dirt path. "I'm going to go tell Wafu we'll be staying here for awhile. I don't want him to feel left out..He's the only one I got. You two can continue on and get us a room." With a small wave, Raizo would begin to book it back towards his flying comrade, leaving a trail of flames behind his wake.

If the two were to continue into the large earth building, a woman wearing a green Earth Kingdom garb, would be standing behind a large wooden counter. Her smile was wide, and the guest who were crowding the room were numerous. Infact, the only safe passage to get to her, was straight, as the walls were lined with people talking and socializing. Everyone was from multiple nations here. Fire, Earth, Water..Even some monks were there to enjoy their time within the soothing mud baths. Hidden from view, thanks to the massive amount of people, would be a door to the far left wall that would lead into a series of hallways where the rooms were held. The woman, standing behind the counter, would wave to the two to come into speaking distance. "Hello Hello, I am Soi Ling. Welcome to the Mud Bath resort! How many people are you checking in? Are you staying for awhile? Would you like a large multi room estate, or a small one bedroom room? Do you have your attire for the bath or would you like to borrow some from our staff..? Do you.." The woman continued on and one, asking question after question with no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Yoko was truly surprised by the simple act of kindness from Raizo, as formed a massive flame out of the palm of his hand that emanated warmth to her bare skin. At once the chilliness of the environment disappeared, and the redhead stopped shivering. She directed her soft smile at him, but still did not say anything; he even went so far as to stay back between her and Katsuro, and for that she was grateful. After all, Raizo could have merely told her to warm herself up with her own flame, but instead he was expending his own energy to warm her throughout the entire walk. And hell, even Katsuro benefited would be able to feel the heat, but whether or not he benefited from it or not with that clothing, Yoko did not know. She was a bit more conservative than him when it came to clothing. It would not take long though before they all saw the large stone building appear on the horizon. She did recall that he had said 'small stand' and not 'large building', yet here the fact of the matter was. Now that she thought about it, she really hadn't seen this before even though Raizo stated that he had. Still, no words from Yoko on the subject. She would continue walking on with her friends.

"There we go!" he began, his voice already tinged with sheepishness. "That's the place! Though haha... I guess it isn't that small of a stand... nor is it a stand at all. But uhh, since we're already here..." The rest of his words were evident and predictable, and Yoko would merely begin to hum under her breath. Even the part where he said he had to go back and check on his dragon while they went on to check in. The young woman would turn around and watch the disappearing image of the Avatar, riding on a cloud of flame back the way they had come. When the final wisps of his flaming trail disappeared, only she and Katsuro remained behind on the dusty trail, with only one establishment to be seen for miles. Still humming, she gave Katsuro a funny look before continuing towards the stone building. She strode through the door, down the narrow path between the masses of people. For some place that seemed to be in the middle of no where, it sure did attract quite some attention. Yoko was pompous in her walk, wasting no time making it toward the wooden desk with the polite-looking woman behind it.

She tirelessly asked her questions, and Yoko tried to answer them as best as she could. "Uh, three... just one night... multi-room... no need for the extra attire..." and so on and so on. It would end eventually with everything sorted out, and then she would drop the necessary coin onto the table as she asked. In return, this Soi Long would give her the key to her new room. With a discrete wink she would head off down toward the left wall where she caught glimpses of another door between the masses of people. It led into a corridor, with numbered rooms in order down the hall. Upon finding the room designated to her, she would unlock the door and walk into it. Fancy, multi-roomed, just as she had ordered for the lot of her team. Whether or not Katsuro followed him into room was his choice, but upon noticing that no one else was following her, she would simply close the door—she hadn't been paying attention to the young man's actions. Now in her suite, she threw her belongings, jacket, and the keys on the ground, but kept her Burning Broom strapped around her torso. The one window of the room that brought light into it was pane-less, and Yoko would wordlessly climb out of it and upwards. Up the wall and onto the roof of this massive building she went, back into the sun.

By the next dozen seconds, Yoko Yotori would be relaxed lying down on the roof of the building with her hands behind her head. She was pretty much getting a tan her with the sun beating down on her body, and this time light flames would dance around her body to warm herself. Her eyes remained open looking up to the skies, waiting for something... a specific sight that she was almost counting on. She had her Burning Broom beside her and ready for some action, should it be called for. Otherwise, she relaxed with her half-naked outfit out in the open.

The answer tot he question about where the stand was, happened to be just under a mile. Not bad, it gave them time to look around and take in the scenery. After a little while, Raizo would eventually fall back into the group. Deciding apparently that it made no sense walking in front of the pack. They were a "team" in a sense after all. It would appear that a few days had completely changed Raizo's personality. Though, Katsuro had no idea what could have possibly brought about this sudden change. Nothing had really happened, unless the past few days he had spent reflecting on his actions. That seemed almost as unlikely as what he was doing right now. He then proceeded to create a flame which managed to warm up Katsuro, from their distance. It was also easy to take note that Yoko was no longer shivering. Considering what Katsuro had seen the previous days before combined with this. It wasn't hard to realize that Raizo's main skill lied with fire bending. When they finally arrived at the stand it actually was in fact not a stand. It was a large, place which seemed slightly difficult to mistake for a stand in the first place. Katsuro didn't say anything, assuming that Raizo was human and well people make mistakes. That was just a fact of life, wasn't too big a deal overall. That was of course until Raizo released a nervous laugh while trying to explain himself. He then went on to say how he was going to tell his dragon that they would be staying here a while. Once more Katsuro raised a slight eyebrow as the avatar raced down the road. Before following Yoko, in he couldn't help but feel that was just a little bit sketchy to say the least. The place was pretty packed, surprisingly enough with people from every nation. Simply having fun, enjoying themselves and the free time they so happened to have. Felt good to not be in a near depressing area for a change, spilled over onto others. It seems that Yoko would have already begun, setting up their arrangements, so Katsuro simply sat back and listened. It didn't appear to take obscenely long to get everything sorted out and Yoko was already on her way towards the back rooms probably. Katsuro thought about heading too one of the rooms himself, but decided that there could be other things to do. Sitting up in the air for the past few days he just wanted to go stretch his legs and walk around for a bit. That, is exactly what he would go do taking advantage of the surrounding area and doing what he did best. Jumping around the nearby woods, like a graceful acrobat from tree to tree. He took meticulous care not to stray too far. This was the first time he was in this area and after what Raizo pulled on the way out of the fire nation he did not want to be left behind. It was nice to clear his head and stretch his legs though. Katsuro would more than likely keep that up until he got tired or something else forced him to stop. Nothing like practicing different maneuvers through the trees to get your blood racing and your mind off of your problems.

Several minutes had passed since the young Avatar had left the team. It was surprising they let him go alone, though they weren't alto trusting, as they both were apparently expecting him to take off without them. Raizo would be lying if he didn't get the idea too. However, something had taken his attention from his previous goals, and forced him to return back to them. Now hand in hand with a little girl named Riri, Raizo made his way back down the dirt trail and towards the stone building. His amber eyes narrowed abit, as this ruined his plan of escape, but he couldn't help but feel warm and fuzzy for helping such a small girl. It was offsetting that her hair reminded her of Yoko, and it was even more offsetting how many times he accidently called her Mini-Yoko during their journey back. With a smile, Raizo would look towards the girl to diminish the silent scene. "So, Sky Princess Riri, you're from the Air Temples aren't you? I've never really heard of a Sky Bison before, but I can only guess they are animals that are native where the Air Temples are, right?" It was true, he didn't know much about the Air Temples other than monks were there. He did know, however; that the monks were a peaceful type of people while he, himself, was impatient and aggressive. Raizo knew he would have to deal with them some time in the future for airbender training, and he really wasn't looking forward to it. I mean, who would want to sit there in one spot all day? They called it meditating but he called it complete boredom.

As the two continued down the road, Raizo's amber tinted eyes would catch sight of someone familiar. He stood out simply because the darker tone of his skin and that ridiculous hair. Not to mention he was the only one flipping around the trees like a circus clown. Extending his pointer and middle finger, while balling the rest of his hand, he'd flick a small flame out infront of the flipping man to get his attention. If it worked, Raizo would begin to wave towards the boy. "Yo Katsuro, get over here. I have someone you should meet." The Avatar would look towards Riri while waiting for the other to make it over to them. "This goofy looking guy is named Katsuro. He's harmless so there's no reason to be shy." Raizo would nod towards her before looking towards Katsuro with narrowed eyes. "This is Sky Princess Riri. I found her on the road selling some daggers and figured she could come with us for awhile. She seemed hungry." The boy would snap his fingers before reaching down to his sash and removing a few daggers. "Also I'm not the type to use such weaponry, so you can have these. They may not be the best but Riri was waiting allll day to sell them to someone. You using them would mean alot to her." With a nod towards the boy, Raizo would soon turn to look towards the large stone building. "So where's Yoko? I want her to meet Riri. I thought there were sisters at first, because of the red hair. I don't see many people with that color in the Fire Nation. Actually, Yoko was probably the only one..I'm interested to see if they're related somehow."..That was one reason, yeah. Another reason was to see Yoko's expression when he told her they were replacing her with a better red head. Oh that reaction would be so awesome...

Walking back with the fire nation avatar Riri kept her body close, clearly invading some manner of personal space by the minuscule distance between them. However this was a position not easy to keep due to the differences between their leg lengths, so every so often her fast moving legs would wobble slightly as she miscalculated a piece of terrain. She was usually used to being able to traverse easily across land, but her situation was made all the worse by the fact that she wasn't looking where she was going, but rather at the older boys face. Though she shyly avoided eye contact for the journey she'd began examining his face with a look of curiosity. Caught from her wondering about the avatars complexion by a few questions she turned a slight shade of red, and shifted her gaze to the ground. She hadn't been completely serious when she'd proclaimed herself a princess, and it was deeply embarrassing to be called such. She stuttered to answer his questions, in a quiet, somewhat slurred voice.

"Nhmmm" She nodded her head to further her answer of yes, misinterpret what it meant to actually be 'from' somewhere. "I've been t' an air temple before." She made a long "Mmmmm..." Sound as she thought about the sky bison. Thoroughgoing her brow tightly remembering their description. "Their like... Gian' fluffy monsters." She spoke in an utterly serious tone, gesturing a large circle with her arms to show just how giant, fluffy and monstrous sky bison were. Her voice turned to slight admiration as she added an extra detail on. "But they can fly around all... Woosh" She nodded to herself, equally serious as she made a swishing movement with her hand on the word woosh.

She was pulled out of her ramblings by hearing the voice of the older boy again. He was doing something with fire again, which was a little scary, it took her a few seconds to realize that she was being introduced to someone. Shyness overwhelmed her and she immediately took to closing the distance between her and the avatar. Trying to clutch on to his side and partially hide her body behind his from whoever the goofy harmless person was. She blushed once again as she was introduced with her made up princess title, taking her gaze to an almost vertical drop towards the ground. She swirled the tip of her right foot about on the floor nervously. Keeping quiet as Raizo made a full introduction of her before going on to talk about someone named Yoko. Riri took this opportunity to lift her head slightly, to see whoever the Avatar was talking at. She pouted slightly as the older boy mentioned her hair being unusual, subconsciously lifting a hand up to tug at a strand of it. It wasn't that odd, was it?

After a significantly less amount of time than Katsuro would have expected, Raizo returned. Signaling towards Katsuro with a quick flick of flame that caught him off guard and almost lost him to lose his balance. Looking down he noticed Raizo and was pleasantly surprised to see that he had returned. A quick continued scan however would only reveal that Raizo had brought along somebody else. This girl seemed far younger than him, far younger than anybody else in the entire group. In fact she looked like she should be at home with her parents almost. Then again, everyone on this adventure should have been with their parents one way or another. For all Katsuro knew Yoko may have been in her late twenties, he never asked just assumed. Jumping down, and moving towards Raizo, Katsuro was just about to ask about her. There were other plans in motion however, as it turns out that Katsuro would have to do no such thing and an answer would come before he could so much as open his mouth.

Raizo would explain that he met her on the side of the road. Katsuro really was beginning to wonder where Raizo really got the girl and if the people there knew she was gone. There was no ground to object however, especially since she was right there in front of him and Katsuro had no problems with another addition to the group. Maybe it would give the avatar something to show off too every now and then. Take some of the showboating off of him and Yoko, or if not Yoko just him. There was only so much of a bender flaunting their abilities like god that he could really take. Raizo would hand Katsuro a set of daggers, telling him that he would have better use out of them than him. Considering that Katsuro was incapable of bending that was probably true so he accepted them without hesitation. Looking at the material he would glance down at the girl who had almost retreated into Raizo. She was silent the entire time, letting Raizo do all of the talking for her. A shy little girl, she would probably stick with him for most of the time. At the question of Yoko's location Katsuro would have to think for a second. Since Raizo had left them very little thought had been put into her, they simply split up and went about each others business. Now however that Raizo was done speaking, he could get some words in. Looking down at the girl, Katsuro would put on a very friendly smile while holding the daggers. "Nice to meet you sky princess." She had buried herself so far into Raizo that he wouldn't even bother sticking his hands out. Seems like that was who she was going to feel most comfortable with for a long time.

Looking back up he would answer the question about Yoko's location. "I really don't know. After we got our rooms we simply split up and went about our own business. I'll show you the way and help you look for her however, chances our she's just inside the room anyway." Turning around Katsuro would begin walking towards the building, not checking to see if Raizo and the little girl were following him. If they weren't he would just find Yoko and tell her that they were looking for her anyway. While walking back to the building Katsuro would have come in at an angle where the roof was visible from a distance. Coincidentally a figure could be seen on the roof, which made him chuckle just a bit. What reason could they possibly have to be up there at this moment. Closer inspection as they got closer to the building would reveal that it was in fact Yoko. How did Katsuro know exactly? Her red hair really stood out in the crowd, combined with her...unique fashion sense she was easy to identify. It was at this moment that he really put some thought into and noticed the slight resemblance between her and the little girl. As they got closer, assuming that Raizo didn't scream for her, Katsuro would do it. "Hey Yoko! We need you down here for a quick second!" He would scream kinda loud hoping that she could hear them from her location. He really wondered how she would react to having another girl on the team, and one younger than her at that.

It was pretty surprising that she still hadn't caught sight of the great fire Avatar flying away over the horizon with his dragon. That's what she expecting this entire time, as all implications seemed to point in that direction. Rather, the surprise came from ground level instead when she heard a familiar voice scream out to her, attempting to get her attention. In the time that she had been lying down and getting her tan, she had placed a set of translucent orange glasses onto her face, to protect her eyes from direct sunlight while looking upwards. So, when Yoko pushed herself off of her back and into a sitting position to look at whoever called her name, she would see Katsuro as the culprit, his white hair standing out in the sunlight. Beside him were two people—one of them caused her to chuckle, seeing Raizo return after expecting him to ditch them at this mud bath inn. She felt a bit of relief at seeing him back, and she figured the reason was because she was glad that she wouldn't have to be hunting him down or that she wouldn't have to be making her own way back to the fire nation on account of the Avatar's actions. The last person down there, however, was something she didn't recognize. She was a young red-haired child, attempting to embed herself into Raizo's side.

Yoko would take her hand to her glasses and raise them just above her eyes, as if she didn't believe what she was seeing. She remembered how averse he was to her own touch, always making a point to shrugging her off at every opportunity he could. Yet here an exception appeared to her naked eyes, as the little girl was trying to become invisible by nuzzling herself into his leg, yet Raizo looked perfectly content with it, not minding it at all . Yoko had to admit... it was adorable seeing such a thing. She would assume at this point that he had a soft point for young children. It was a good thing to know, and as time kept passing Yoko kept spotting qualities of a true Avatar in him. They hadn't even arrived at their true first destination yet. Heh, well stuffing such thoughts to the back of her mind for now, she would bounce up to her feet after replacing her sunglasses. In order to get off the roof, she'd have to pick up her Burning Broom, ignite it, and begin propulsion off the roof. It was a quick flight that took her just in front of the trio—without needing to go fast, decelerating was easy enough to just slide across the ground to a stop before them. After that, she'd pick the broom back up yet again and sling it over her back, before giving them all a warm smile... first to Katsuro, then to Raizo, and finally to the little girl. "Is she lost?" she asked the first question that came to mind, wondering if there was some ulterior motive to her presence with Raizo.

Raizo's hand would rest on Riri's head as the boy explained how Yoko separated from him. What a team they were. Separating the moment they got the chance. Raizo had half a mind to raise his hand to Katsuro and push a certain..suggestion. Leave Yoko and take off before she knew any better. Oh the look on her face would be amazing awesome..But doing such a thing infront of Riri wouldn't be a smart idea. He was now her guardian and was probably a role model aswell. If she was going to praise his perfect being, he'd have to atleast act the part infront of her. With a sigh, Raizo would follow behind the weird haired male while shifting his gaze to the side. Towards the entrance to the building were two massive men wearing traditional Earth Kingdom attire. His brow would raise as his attention would be stolen by the two others. Now Raizo wasn't the type to pay attention to others too well. He believed the sun revolved around him, and he was the rising star..However, what these two were talking about had stolen his attention...and as he continue to listen, a sly smile would spread across his face. "Oh..yes."


"Yeah man, you get paid if you win too! Only the best Earth Benders go rumble there. I went there last week and got crushed..But I learned alot." The Man wearing the Green top would speak with much enthusiasm about this mysterious event. The other larger man would flex an arm while giving a wide grin. "The Earth Rumble Arena was what this place was called? I'll have to pay it a visit. I'm sure I'll win that prize money with no problem!" Both men would laugh before heading into the stone building. Raizo, who was eavesdropping the entire time, would raise a brow in interest. This arena seemed like the perfect place to get some publicity..and also for people to just know how awesome he was in general. His mind was working on overdrive, and he hadn't even noticed Yoko had descended upon their position and asked a question. No, he was still staring towards the door way with that smug grin of his. "..Guys, I think I should be taking my Avatar duties abit more seriously. I need to go find myself an Earth Bending Master and..stuff." Shifting his gaze towards the group, he'd pump his free arm in an excited gesture. "I think we should continue our journey. Also I promised Riri a full course meal..Something she will only find in a real town, not some lone mud bath. Isn't that right, my little Sky Princess?" Using the girl as a scapegoat..Oh how heartless. Well, not really heartless..He was going to give her a full course meal..But that bending tournament and that prize money..Oh god..Fame was right around the corner..How much attention he could be getting from this..was mouth watering.

As Raizo spoke, his amber eyes couldn't help but shift to Yoko, who was currently looking towards the smaller girl with a smile. He couldn't tell if this was a genuine smile, or if she was just giving it for show. Maybe she was smiling because the team had another female? Or maybe she was smiling because she wasn't the only red head anymore? Yeah, maybe that was it..Maybe they had a deep understanding of one another because of their hair. "I think you two look like sisters. I haven't seen many people with red hair before, so Riri automatically took my attention when I saw her. I could have sworn she was like a Mini-Yoko. And she was alone..I think..so I couldn't just leave her out there." The Avatar would shift his weight to one side while rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't kidnap her or anything.." I hope.

Riri stayed characteristically quiet as all the bigger people arrived on the scene, introducing themselves one after the other. Giving only a very wide impolite stare to Katzuro as he greeted her. She clung close to Raizo, they apparently needed to follow the new boy a little to find another person. She embedded herself further into the avatars side, more people, scary. All of a sudden the new boy had started yelling up at the roof, causing Riri to flinch, unprepared for loud sounds and crazy roof yellers. Quickly realizing she wasn't being scolded or anything, she took a courageous look up, towards the whatever it was.

Staring, mouth open a slight inch, some kind of fire spirit descended down from the sky. Wow, the new boy could summon stuff from the spirit world, he must of been an avatar too. "Uwaa... Pretty." Refusing to let go of the avatar as the woman touched down, Riri simply kept on staring at her curiously, tilting her head to the side as she did. She was ignoring the big peoples conversation, and wasn't expecting to be acknowledged by the flying spirit person, but she obtained a smile. Which caused her to blush heavily and give a tiny shy grin back. Though she immediately stopped looking away from the other girls face, and shuffling her feet nervously in the process.

Her attention was drawn back to the avatar boy when her name was mentioned. Moving her gaze up to his face. Oh that's right, she was still hungry. As if on cue her stomach grumbled loudly again, causing Riri to both pout and whimper at the same time, trailing one of her tiny hands back to her tummy in the process, keeping the second hand firmly clinging to the avatar. She wasn't really picky about where they were getting food, she just wanted food. She opened her mouth to voice this opinion but was cut off by Raizo talking to the pretty girl. She blushed a little, did they really look alike? That meant Riri was pretty too. Taking that as a compliment her cheeks flushed with red again.

Looks like he was right and didn't end up calling somebody else Yoko. Upon realizing that it was Katsuro Yoko floated down to the ground and seemed to greet every person there with a warm smile. When Yoko asked if the little girl was lost, Katsuro didn't answer. He really didn't think that the question was directly at him. Mainly for the fact that he wasn't the one essentially holding her up nor was he the one that seemed to get her from where ever she was. He was sort of in a sick way hoping she was lost though. If not then they were about to be in alot of trouble in a foreign nation. There were some things he'd prefer never to see in his life. One of them was the inside of a Earth Kingdom prison cell on charges of aiding a kidnapper. When Raizo spoke it seemed like Yoko's words had gone completely unnoticed however. He began going on about someting completely different. Katsuro couldn't help but wonder if Raizo was evading the question or honestly didn't realize that Yoko was speaking too him. He began to go on about how he should take his duties as an avatar more seriously and get himself an earth bending master. Katsuro would stand confused as he tried to put some things together.

Weren't they headed to the Earth Kingdom capital right now so that he could find a teacher. When exactly how they gotten side tracked to even begin with. Getting what seemed fairly pumped up he went on to say how he promised the girl a full meal at a town. That was only fair enough, if you were going to find someone on the side of the road and just take them along, might as well feed them. He then went on about how Riri reminded him of Yoko when her saw her and at the end the kicker. The detail that she was no kidnapped. He thought. The words "I think" rung loud in Katsuro's ears as it became very clear that this was not thought out in the least. His intentions were probably for the better, but based on what was said, it was impossible to tell. "You think..Think? Th-ink?" Katsuro would stare blankly at Raizo for a quick moment before continuing. "Did you maybe ask her where her guardians were? You do realize that we're in a foreign country and kidnapping is a very serious crime...right Raizo? Finding an earthbending master means nothing if your spending a better part of your years looking at the wall of a prison cell." The obvious was stated yes, but the thought of two parents searching for their child a little while off and the crapstorm it could bring down on them just would not exit his mind.

It didn't look like the girl could speak for herself, choosing simply to absorb herself into Raizo's clothing. Yoko would end up looking away from her toward the dark-haired male, inferring that her question was directed at him. But rather than receive an answer, she would catch Raizo not even paying attention to her. His eyes were unmistakably focused off the side toward the inn, where she heard a couple of voices conversing with each other. It was almost an instant transformation as Yoko's smile disappeared and was replaced with a frown; she honestly couldn't believe he was pulling this antic again... And surefire, when the kid spoke next he was completely out of context, blabbering about how he should take his duties more serious and continue on their journey. His unconvincing statement fell on Yoko's ears and vexed her quite terribly, considering she had just wasted her money on a multi-room suite for the lot of them, and that it was Raizo's idea in the first place to take a pit stop. When he continued prating on, he only was able to indirectly answer her question by talking about how he had found the little girl. Yoko would simply cross her arms while he spoke.

Then Katsuro spoke aloud almost exactly what Yoko was thinking internally. Did you bother to ask? Did you inquire where her parents are? Chances were if she had gotten lost in this place—this one place where the only building for miles was this Mud Bath Inn—that whoever her guardian was would be here, most likely trying to find her poor daughter. Even if the young girl couldn't speak for herself, wouldn't it be smart to first ask around the inn for her caretaker before deciding to adopt her? Honestly, Raizo's intentions were noble, but he was lacking a great deal of common sense in solving the problem. So... instead of taking out her anger on him or anyone else, she would stuff all of her distaste for the Avatar deep deep down, so that she could sigh calmly and deal with him indifferently. "Katsuro is asking the right questions, Raizo. If we don't figure out the whole scenario first, then you are kidnapping her. Not that you'd go to jail or anything, since you're like the Avatar and such... But take it from me when I say that something like kidnapping can hurt your reputation." The elder redhead would nod to herself to affirm her own statement.

Raizo would look down towards the little girl before looking back up at Katsuro, and then to Yoko. He would hate to admit it..but they were right. He had taken the little girl without getting all the details..just for her to be his personal cheerleader. Putting a hand on the side and letting a frown replace his usual smug smile, Raizo would sigh. "..I guess you two are right..I kinda messed up this time, huh? Maybe it's better that you're both with me. I'd probably be behind bars, Avatar or not.." The boy would pat Riri on the head before looking towards the inn. He found her a ways away, so he wasn't sure her parents were in there. Surely one of them would have red hair, right? So they'd stand out in the crowd..Right? Either way, his amber eyes would turn back towards the team. First he'd look towards Katsuro. "I'm sorry Katsuro." The young Avatar would then turn towards Yoko. "And I'm sorry to you too, Yoko. Ever since we've left, you've been looking out for me and I've been kinda..treating you like a second hand loser. You deserve more respect.." Raizo would nod towards the two while kneeling down infront of Riri. "Sky Princess Riri, we should be finding your parents. I hope you don't mind hanging around with me until I can. Since it's my fault for taking you away, it'll be my job to look out for you until I bring you home." The Avatar would rub her head before standing and turning back to the other two. "I'd completely understand if you two would like to go on without me. This isn't your problem, and if you left now you wouldn't be seen as suspects for kidnapping. I'm sure I could handle it alone..I mean come on.." Raizo would swipe the tip of his nose with his thumb and put back on his smug grin. "I'm the Avatar. I can handle this with no problem. No need to drag others into my own screw ups."

With that said, Raizo would take the smaller girl's hand and hoist her up onto his back for a piggy back ride. It would be better to get an aerial view to see if she could see any guardians..But if she was out there alone initially, then well. It would be a waste of time, and he'd need to bring her back to the air temple instead. Looking towards Katsuro and Yoko, the boy would give a wave. "It was fun for the few days we were around each other. You two should atleast enjoy that room you paid for..Sorry again!" And like that, a flame emerged from beneath his feet and he blasted towards the sky. This was probably the first time he would ever take some responsibility under his wing for once..He couldn't help but be curious though. From all the stories the three Flame Sages told him, apparently the Flame Avatar before him was an amazing person. Not only to his own people, but to people across the lands aswell. That was a shadow he would be trapped in for a long time if he couldn't surpass him..Perhaps that was the reason he acted out for so much attention..To get out of the shadow of the one before him..Raizo wasn't sure..but a piece of him still craved the attention, and he was sure the little girl's guardians would surely praise him for returning their daughter. Win Win..

The older people seemed worried about something. Which would usually push Riri to be quiet and shy. But as the subject was herself, she went a deep shade of red. She should probably speak up at some point, she kept waiting for a moment to jump in and say something comforting to make the grown up looking people stop worrying. Finally building up a little bravery she opened her mouth to say something again, but was interrupted by Raizo. Who gave a long speech, he seemed to have some kind of revelation. She took this opportunity to look back up to his face, just in time to hear him talk to her personally as well. She shook her head, she didn't mind hanging around with him. Looking for her parents seemed like a hassle though, but he was the avatar, maybe he could go find them in the spirit world or something. But going home, that seemed like even more trouble. She wondered if Raizo remembered her home was in another country. Abruptly picked up, and brought on to the avatars back, Riri guessed what was going to happen next. Flying. She gripped her tiny hands tight on the older boys clothing and closed her eyes for the lift off. She opened her eyes a little after they were suitably airborne. Tugging at the avatars clothing a little to get his attention.

"Uhms, Mr. Hero" She tugged again. "I have to pee."

[EXIT]

This kid was becoming increasingly confusing every time he opened his mouth. At this point Katsuro didn't know if he was becoming more mature by the second or just completely spouting more crap as the day went on. He was now going on about how he hadn't thought this ahead, which Katsuro figured. How they should go on ahead of him for the moment, He would go back and try his best to find some way to get the girl the meal she wanted as well as her parents. In an instant another set of flames the back blast would force Katsuro to put his hand up to shield himself. Taking a quick step back to try and not be burned by the rocket of power. As he watched Raizo disappear off into the daylight he could only turn to Yoko and voice his opinion. "One of us should probably follow him for the time being. Buuut, I can't really follow that so It's up too you, Yoko" Katsuro really had no idea what was going on, or if Raizo was truly leaving. Best option at the moment was for him to simply go back to the inn and take a well needed rest.

The change was very sudden, as sheepishness worked its way into his expression and he suddenly began a parade of humility. Yoko's eyebrow raised above the orange set of sunglasses as he went on, apologizing to her and Katsuro for how he'd been treating them—poorly. It did look genuine at first, until he began to tell them that they should probably leave Raizo be. At that point, Yoko's eyebrow fell once more and she dropped her arms lazily to her sides. Before long, the Avatar was carrying the young girl with him on his back, and rocketing off into the air and away, back toward his dragon. She would smack her forehead aggravatingly with her palm, absolutely astounded by his choice of action. But she really really tried to shrug it off—she wasn't here to pay his caretaker, she was here to have an adventure. But did she really have to do it with this dork and his problem attitude? No. When Katsuro told her she had to chase after him and make sure he stayed out of trouble, Yoko would turn sharply away from him and spit at the ground in frustration, just before making her way back toward the inn. She would stomp her way back through the entrance, through the crowds, and into the room she had paid good money for. Seeing her stuff on the ground, she'd collect it all up and strap it around her back. For Katsuro she'd leave the keys however, seeing as he wished to stay. Then she went out the window, simply hopping outside and landing with a bend of her knees. Off her back she threw the Burning Broom on the ground, and she stepped right onto it like one would on a skateboard. Then without further ado, a jet of flame would shoot out of the exhaust chute of the broom, propelling it and its occupant forward and up into the air.

No, she wouldn't be flying into the direction Raizo had disappeared in. Rather... she went in her own direction, continuing toward the east.

[Exit]

Katsuro's hand moved slightly to the left. A sudden reaction that he did to try his best to avoid dropping something. In response however he ended up knocking something over anyway. The vile falling to the ground basically went in slow motion to the young man. He knew what would happen and he knew there was nothing that he could even begin to hope to do against it. One could say that the breaking of the glass on the floor caused his heart to sink down into his stomach. A cloud of white smoke blocking his vision emerged from the vile and filled the room. Almost immediately it felt like he was choking on his own bodily fluids. His eyes burned and teared making it impossible to open them and focus. The only thing that Katsuro could honestly hope for in the end was to simply stumble around the room for a bit in absolute misery. Under any other circumstance he would have been in pretty deep trouble. However luckily he had been sitting in this room for quite some time now. He was perfectly capable of working his way off to the window based off of memory. Obviously it was far more difficult due to his current state but eventually he found it. Pushing it open the smoke was sucked out like a vacuum allowing him to take a deep breathe of clean fresh air. It filled his lungs like life and after a few more coughs and burning eyes he was beginning to feel better. That was mainly his fault, the mistake should have been foreseen. He knew what he was starting to mess with and if he knew what was good for him he would have opened the window ahead of time. It would have saved him quite a bit of headache. Taking a deep breathe and continuing to look outside, it suddenly occurred to him that it was quickly becoming nighttime. Not only that but Katsuro hadn't seen Yoko or Raizo since they left that time ago. Considering Raizo's personality and Yoko's silent walk off he really deep down inside began to assume the worst. Still however he really didn't want to accept it, until quite some time later. It would have figured that those two would storm off on their own. He expected this from Raizo a bit but from Yoko without saying anything really dug into his skin. Guess you really can't assume what to think of people until you truly know them. Another note to take was that a few days was definitely not enough time to get to learn what type of person somebody is. Honestly that was one of the most frustrating things he had to deal with. They had gone and basically stranded him in a foreign country by himself without warning. Now he knew what to look out for in people and quite possibly how they acted before they pulled something like this. Katsuro sighed, turned around and headed back to his seat. The gas in the room mainly venting out making it very easy to breathe for the most part. He looked down at the small mess he had created feeling like a slight failure. It was so long since he attempted doing something like this. This application of the medical skills his mother had taught him was different. It was tricky but doable, and based on what had just happened to him he was mostly on the right track so far. He just had to figure out a better delivery system than a glass bottle. Maybe something more aerodynamic, and lastly something that could keep him from being damaged. Sure in the future he could create a mask or something that protected his eyes and filtered the air in a way. For now he would have to find some way to make himself immune to the poison. Katsuro would find his way back, and sit down while holding his head. It was going to be a pretty long night, but he would leave in the morning.

{Exit}