Stuff Happens (Bai Ling and Kazin and I)

Kazin fles up, landing a few feet away, and watch Bei. "Wow! Firebender, and close up too."

On Bai's travels, the girl had come across an abandoned town belonging to the Earth Kingdom. She found it whilst making her way to Ba Sing Se and once she had made sure it was safe, she had camped there for the night. Now that the sun was rising in the sky, Bai was already up and practicing a few airbending moves. It was more defensive moves rather than attacks and by using her size as an advantage, Bai was able to flow through each individual move with ease. Her feet barely touch the floor and when they did, the exercise was finished. She was a little out of breath but she was able to sit down and have breakfast with Zing, her flying Lemur. 

Bai was warming herself up with a cup of green tea whereas Zing was more interested in the crackers. They both nibbled on the crackers and when they were satisfied, Bai wanted to explore the town more. She placed her small bag on her shoulder and with her staff in hand, she began to walk through the relic of the town. What used to be houses were mere stone formations resembling houses and what looked a fountain with two koi fish on top, was now in ruins. Bai didn't know whether she had seen this town before when her parents were travelling but by the look of the ruins, the town seemed to be a very glorious one. Bai wondered how it became a ruin when she heard a noise.

It didn't sound like a small animal but rather a big animal, maybe even a human. Bai's stomach became filled with butterflies as the noise of footsteps drew nearer. Bai followed the noise, staying light in her feet, and came to a one storey house. Bai slipped through a door and silenced Zing on her shoulder. Bai still followed the noise and peered her head around the corner to find a girl, a little older than herself, standing there. Bai saw the chance to say hello but was interrupted by another person arriving. This time, she knew he was an Airbender. Now, with newfound confidence at the arrival of the airbender, Bai entered the small room which held the two and a smile formed on her face. "Hello there, what brings you to the ruins?" Bai asked, trying to sound as polite as possible, even if the other girl was creeping her out slightly. 

Bai watched as the other person turned to face her, taking in her appearance. She was shorted than Bai, no doubt about that but it wasn't by huge amounts. Bai might be a few more inches taller than the girl. What shocked Bai the most though was the dark short hair that framed the girl's face. It made her look more powerful and more mysterious too. Other than that, she didn't seem dangerous but Bai kept herself alert just in case she needed to evade quickly. 

To Bai's surprise, the girl answered her question; telling Bai that she was on a class trip and slipped away from the group also commenting about how relaxing it was. Bai pondered about why the girl had slipped away but then a gasp escaped her lips. There, on the girl's top was the fire nation symbol. Bai's heart beat seemed to increase and her palms became sweating as she clung desperately to her staff. This girl was from the fire nation. What if she was a fire bender? Fear crept up in Bai's throat but she managed to contain it. She composed herself quickly before the other girl could catch on. "Well it is very relaxing here." Bai managed, feeling Zing's claw dig slightly into her shoulder. Bai placed a hand on Zing head as if to comfort him and the pressure in her shoulder decreased. "I'm Bai, Bai Ling and this is Zing, my flying lemur." she said as calmly as she could. At the mention of his name, Zing jumped off her shoulder and flew around the room quickly before landing back on Bai's shoulder "Show off" Bai whispered mainly for Zing to hear. 

Bai smirked slightly when the girl stepped forward onto a creaky floorboard. The house in ruins, it was quite surprising Bai hadn't come across a squeaky floorboard or two when she first entered the house. The younger girl laughed loudly when the other girl introduced herself as Bei Yan. What a coincedence? Trust Bai to meet someone that had the same name as her. It was pretty funny actually. "Wow, I guess that's a bit of a coincedence." Bai said and grinned. Even though Bei was from the fire nation, Bai seemed comfortable around her. She didn't seem like the typical stereotype of the fire nation. It was like Bei was curious of the Airbender and the younger girl decided to take that as a compliment. Her thoughts were interrupted when Bei asked why she was here in the first place. "Its a bit of a long story really but at the moment, I'm just travelling; seeing the world and I came across this town and decided to stay the night." Bai said and shrugged. "I didn't think that people were here." Bai said and looked toward Bei. She didn't know what to think so far, it was until Zing's claws dug into her shoulder again that Bai was brought back to the ground again. "So, are you a bender?" Bai blurted out, not realising until she had said it. Oh well, better to get to the point.

Bai nodded in agreement when Bei said that the abandoned town was a historical site. Bai came to the conclusion that the other girl was either a tourist visiting the ruins or she was learning about them, on some kind of trip. "I guess it's good to visit ruins. You can learn something from them." Bai said and gave the girl a smile; the first time she had given anyone from the Fire Nation a smile. Her heart started to beat faster when Bei confirmed that she was indeed a bender. There was no doubt that Bei was a fire bender which was why Bai's palms began to sweat. The girl hadn't talk to any fire benders since her parents died and if she was lucky, she would avoid them completely. But Bei didn't seem as bad as the stereotype of a fire bender Bai had. The other girl seemed rather calm for a fire bender. Bai almost felt sorry for the girl. The airbender couldn't imagine her life without learning how to air bend and was suddenly grateful for her father's teachings. "Well if I could teach you I would but I can't." Bai said. It was pretty pointless saying that and Bai probably made the girl feel worse than better. Then, the airbender was pretty shocked. Bei had said about visiting the ruins as part of a course but she didn't expect an airbender to be there. Was it really that obvious? Well apart from the clothing and the flying lemur and... Oh nevermind. Bai laughed at the fact that it was so easy to guess that she was an airbender. "I would've been more surprised if you hadn't guessed." Bai added and laughed more. "But I guess airbenders aren't so rare anymore."

(To avoid confusion Bai is pronounced Bye and Bei is pronounced Bay I think.)

Bei scratched the back of her head slightly "I didn't mean to assume, I just from your clothes I guess." The girl looked away slightly a little embarrased "there's a basment under us I can tell, that's why the floor boards creek." Bei looked around, she took a step towards the girl "it's sweet of you to say tha." she says replying to the girls comment. Beneath her the floorboard creaked, she looked down at the fllor. the wood cracked and crumbled beneath her foot, the floor collapsed.

Bei let out a surprised scream as she fell down into the basement, she grabbed at the floor but it broke, she couldn't be entirly certain how big the whole was. The young firebender shook her head, the basement was quite far down, she groaned slightly. Up above the roof collapsed, it seemed the house was coming down around the girls, it was probably just it's time. Bei covered her head as splinters smashed against the ground around her, she closed her eyes wondering what was happening and if the other Bai was ok.