ooc: The posts in here will take place shortly prior to part 2 of the plot.

A. Docks (Closed to Bumi) - The yelp is cut off all too quickly. The woman's pale hand snakes forward, impossibly fast, closing around the man's throat. She's strong -- too strong -- the momentum of it sends him crashing back against the wall, pinning him under her grasp. Her fingers press like daggers into the soft flesh at his jaw and around his windpipe. Her eyes are cold and black as stones.

He will not be leaving this encounter easily. If at all.

"The Avatar believes that you are capable of learning." Her gaze never leaves his face. "I do not."

B. Spirit Wilds (Closed to Mia) - The water of the former fountain twists in response to the footsteps, swirls. The Mother of Faces emerges from the depths, the great branches of her crown dripping.

She surveys the group -- two stone-faced men, each with a pouch dangling at their belts, holding onto a small, blue-haired girl. One hand lifts; the girl is released. Apparently the Mother has no concern about the girl running off.

"Mia." The name is greeting and question both. What exactly had she been doing?

A. Streets of Republic City

[While one could potentially live a fairly comfortable life in the abandoned Spirit Wilds dwellings, one still needed a few basic necessities. Namely, food. Fighing for money could only go so far, and occasionally such a life could leave one a bit short of the necessary funds to feed oneself.]

Stop that kid!

[And sometimes those who are hungry and without money resort to dining and ditching. Today's poor victim? That nice noodle place in the Little Water Tribe district. Nezha, the thief in question, bolts down the street and through the alleyways with agility more befitting an airbender than a Fire Nation native. A shame he doesn't seem to pay much attention to where he's going in his haste to flee the scene...]

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B. Spirit Wilds

[Those who wander through the Spirit Wilds today may happen upon a young firebender up on one of the higher vines, sparring with some unseen opponent. In truth, this is how he spends most days when he's not in town, scrapping for food money or causing trouble for the police. Should you find him here, he'd be perfectly happy to take time out of his 'busy' schedule for a chat.]

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C. Catchall

[If you have any other ideas, go for it! He's been squatting in an abandoned Spirit Wilds apartment all this time, so if for any reason someone's actually looking for him, that's where you could find him. If he's not there, you might also be able to find him in some of the seedier districts of Republic City, brawling for money.]

A. It's too cold to be outside, or she would most certainly be out. It's snowing outside the library, the flakes drifting down beyond the pane, and the woman perched in the windowsill doesn't seem to be anywhere near dressed for the weather. Her robes are light, more ornamental than practical -- some relics of a bygone era. Dark hair is impossibly long, spilling down the sill and nearly to the floor, left loose and undecorated. In her lap is a pad, and she appears to be attempting to draw . . . though it's hard to say, watching her, that she even knows how to hold a pencil. She keeps shifting her fingers, trying to find something that looks comfortable, and the scrawl that she's producing doesn't look much like anything at all.

You'll either find her trying at this or casting down her pencil in disgust, staring out at the falling snow. For anyone spiritually-inclined, she's exuding an enormous amount of spiritual presence; for anyone else, she's merely a woman -- though one who looks very out of place.

B. Sounds like the triads are at it again. They seem to have cornered a tall, pale woman in the nearby alley. Her dark eyes spear them, her voice raised in demand. Whatever she says, however, is lost on the triad members, who smirk. One sparks fire into his hands, ready to move.

The woman answers with no bending. Perhaps she doesn't have any at all.

( CLOSED TO TEAM RJBY )

[ Around Republic City & Avatar Korra Park ]

[ Dogs needed walks and that was exactly what Zwei was going to get. Altogether, the dog was very excited to be in the new city. Though without a leash, the dog was happy to follow his owner. Occasionally he would stop to offer strangers a friendly bark, hoping for a pet or a bite of food they had just purchased.

Yang showed him as much as the city as possible, pointing out wherever they were going whether the Probending Arena or the statue of Avatar Korra in the park. Zwei took a particular liking to the park, there were tons of trees to pee on and he even took a moment to sniff and take a leak on Korra's statue. Yang sighed loudly. ]

Zwei, you can't pee on that, that's our Avatar. [ The corgi tilted his head at the statue and parked before he pranced back to Yang with a wag of his tail as if asking where to next. ]

[ Ferry & Air Temple Island ]

[ Through their adventures around the City, Yang and Zwei decided to surprise Ruby during her break in training with carry out. As Yang was not blessed with the ability to bend air, she was forced to take the ferry across to Air Temple Island. Both woman and dog enjoyed the nice breeze across the ferry well enough though and occasionally Zwei would run in circles in excitement.

As they reached land, Zwei sniffed the ground and barked loudly. ] Alright Zwei, this is what you're made for! Let's go surprise Ruby!

[ Zwei barked in response and took off... in completely the opposite direction. ] Hey-- Zwei, wait up! You're going the wrong way!

[ But the dog had a mind of his own, rather than taking the quickest way to training location he took the long way around. Running through the kitchens, indoors and occasionally stopping to sniff outside someone's room, only to bark and run off again.

Yang sighed after him, often offering the same apology along the way. ] Sorry, he's just excited.

[ Probending Arena ]

[ Even on days that Bolin wasn't drilling the team, the Fire Ferrets newest fire bender took the initiative to keep herself in shape. Most mornings she could be found doing laps around the arena with the "help" of a corgi. Around the fifth lap or so the dog usually gave up, choosing to watch her and bark his encouragement over joining her. Out of team pride, she wore ferret colors while she ran.

Once she completed laps, she would head inside and work on squats, sit ups, push ups and fire bending forms. ]

[It didn't make any sense, it was almost like she'd tripped and the company she'd had was suddenly gone, leaving her standing amidst the spirit wilds.

She was almost sure she was in the same place, but everything was wrong. There was a distinct absence of what should have been there, and a distinct presence of what shouldn't. After a few seconds of initial confusion she made the choice to retrace her steps to head back into the city -- not without taking another several minutes to remove her handcuffs of course -- to try and figure out what was going on.

Kuvira took her time getting back, careful to watch her step and not exacerbate her side anymore than she already had. She didn't know how long she walked until she finally emerged from the wilds and stepped out into the busy streets. Well it hadn't been this busy the last time she came through here either.]

This...isn't...

[Picking a direction she started to walk again, steadily attempting to collect herself more as she went, listening to the conversations of the passerby's.]

[ It had become a daily habit for Ty Lee to start and end her days off in Avatar Korra Park performing a rigorous set of nearly impossible stretches, often times helping anyone else that wished to join her and learn along the way. Even the cold of winter didn't stop her and she kept herself clad in just enough to keep warm. It was mid-back bend when she performed a trick she didn't even know she was capable of-- she disappeared.

It was exactly three days that she went missing, at least to anyone in Republic City. For Ty Lee, it had been much longer. In that time she had betrayed the Fire Nation's princess, unexpectedly made friends with a group of Kyoshi Warriors, joined them only to end up as one of the new Fire Lord's personal guard. It wasn't until shortly after Zuko left on Appa with the very person she betrayed that it all ended, and Ty Lee found herself right back where she started.

In the very place Ty lee had disappeared from days before a woman clad head to toe in the gear of a Kyoshi Warrior appeared, performing the same back bend Ty Lee had been performing. Though she didn't falter, Ty Lee was confused to say the least. After a roughly a minute, she sat down and blinked around. It took a moment for where she was and why to come back to her, but when it hit her she stood up suddenly.

She needed to talk to Zuko-- He had tried to tell her everything, hadn't he? And now she understood. She took off through the city and it wasn't until an hour later she was able to admit to herself that not only was she clueless as to where to find either Zuko, nor did she have a very good geographical knowledge of the city.

She had been close to giving up, returning home to see if Yuri hadn't given away her room yet when she remembered she did have one friend here that might know where to find him. Perking up, she tapped the first person on the shoulder. ]

Excuse me, do you know how to get to Air Temple Island from here?

[ Once she had the answer, she dashed through the city at top speed. The green blur was quick to dodge around, under and even occasionally jumped on top of building pieces and swung over to get to catch the next ferry over.

It wasn't much longer until she landed on the island and went in search of Aang. ]

(( Feel free to stop Ty Lee anytime through her adventures through the city or Air Temple Island!))

A. Closed to Wan - Nothing stirs Toph's blood like a good training session . . . especially if she's the one doing the training. Wan will find her shortly after dawn in the clearing where she first found him out, camped out and waiting for him. He'd better not be late; Sifu Toph will not approve. More than that . . . she'll come get him.

B. Closed to Bolin - Bolin can probably catch Yin as she's leaving the arena, slipping out into the darkness. She hasn't been around the arena too much lately, so this is a first in a while. With spirits and portals and bending losses, there have been a few other demands on her time.

C. OTA, Backdated - You can find Yin helping out the construction process, but chances are she's showing off a bit -- both because it feels good and because she otherwise gets annoyed with the pace the others are working at. At first she only does it when she knows no one is paying attention, but it escalates easily as she raises and moves whole walls on her own. Totally showing off, probably drawing more attention than she should.

D. OTA, Backdated - The gold, inevitably, attracted a few members of different Triads in the city. It's free cash, after all, just lying there for anyone to take. At one interval in particular, a few members of one of the more well-known Triads try to do something more drastic, driving people off from the coins to claim the area for themselves. If gold keeps appearing, they're certainly going to try to claim the source of it.

It's not really about the social justice . . . that's not really Toph's bent. It's more the fact that the Triads are big guys who believe they're big . . . and Toph can't stand much more ego than her own. She can be found hiding out on the perimeter of the territory the Triad has set up, waiting for the right moment.

E. Closed to Zuko, Wan, and possibly Kiyi - There's a plot afoot. Under the cover of night, two figures slip through the Fire Nation portal, find an appropriate spot, and begin to earthbend a Secret Tunnel(TM) under the Fire Nation palace. They seem to know exactly where to go, making quick, efficient work of it, guided almost as though by a beacon towards the room of the young, sleeping Fire Lord.

"Should be up a couple staircases and down the hall from here." The voice is Toph's just before she breaks the last crust into an unused conference room. "Give it a minute, okay -- there's someone going past the door."

F. Choose your own adventure! Talk to me.

[A - Avatar Korra Park]

[Mia is standing beside the small lake inside Avatar Korra Park, just within view of a concrete base that is being constructed for a future statue.  Mia has her staff in one hand and has her other hand outstretched, commanding a pair of tendrils of water from the lake upward and around her.  She's practising her waterbending obviously, and more or less she's oblivious to the world.  In fact, more than half the time, her eyes are closed as she's so intently focused upon the water.  The tendrils of water break free from the lake and swirl around her in a double helix, ebbing and flowing slowly as they rotate around her.

[She remains completely silent, listening to the waves and only every now and again peeking with one eye to ensure that she hasn't lost her touch.

[And she won't... unless she somehow gets interrupted.]

[B - Spirit Wilds]

[It's a bright and sunny day outside, and in the Spirit Wilds that means that greenish light is trickling down from the thick canopy overhead.  Mia is on the hunt for spirits in hopes of learning something more about them beyond that which she's been taught by her own mentors at the North Pole.  And certainly it seems like it since there are so many more spirits here than at the North Pole.  In her hands are a small sketchbook and a quill with a small pot of ink.

[Every once in a while, she sits down and begins to make a sketch of one of the spirits she sees.  She might also be caught chatting with one of the more outgoing and friendly spirits as well, though the conversation will border more on the level of small talk:  "You're a cute one, aren't you?  My name's Mia.  Can you talk; do you have a name?"]

[C - Teahouse]

[Mia is sitting in a teahouse in one of the nicer districts of the city.  She's at a table that fits four, though she happens to be the only one at it; she doesn't feel too bad because the teahouse is empty enough for her not to feel like she's taking up too much room.  There's a pot and a cup of hot green tea before her, and she's going through the newspaper, reading all of the headlines.  She definitely seems like she's looking for some news somewhere, but every page turn seems like it's just being met with zero luck.  She takes a sip of tea every once in a while before finally folding up the newspaper and laying it on the table.  She sighs dejectedly and rests her head on her hands, propped up by her shoulders.]

Another day without any luck.  It's as if he completely disappeared...

[D - Choose your own adventure!]

There is Republic City all around you.  A wild Mia appears and blocks your path! On the ground you see a cute koalaotter, a newspaper, a load-bearing flask, and other things that you can't pick up.

You can go North, Southish, or Dennis.

[1]
While camping considerably close to City Hall to make sure they were around for all that gold snatching, Nabooru and her girls have started a contained campfire to ward off against the cold. They're mostly all sitting around chatting amongst themselves, laughing more often than not. One of them probably waves to you, beckoning you over with a sweet smile. Why not share the warmth? Nabooru herself seems to be dealing with another girl who is handing her a new winter cloak with their recognizable patterns down the back. For those that have ever traveled by desert or have come from the Earth Kingdom, they might be somewhat recognizable as the symbols of a well known band of thieves.

Getting close enough, Nabooru herself will take notice. "Go on and sit. The fire's free. The food isn't." They seemed to be cooking something that smelled decently pleasant.

[2]
On one of the nights the gold starts appearing at City Hall, Nabooru is ready to fly into action. With the ease of her thieving skills, she will manage to gather quite more than her fair share. She doesn't fight fair, either, using her bending abilities like nobody's business. If shifting a bunch of earth underneath someone to get an advantage is necessary, she will do it. And when she's settled on that her pockets are just full enough, she'll be taking off! Watching her back to make sure no one is following her, however, doesn't leave her eyes set so forward. A rookie mistake. Honestly, she's better than that. But eventually that is bound to get her in trouble, running right into another body, sending the gold filling her pockets clattering with a jaunty jingle straight to the ground. "Hey!" Because clearly, that was your fault, wasn't it?

[3]
The only thing Nabooru likes better than stealing is reading. She loves getting lost in fantasy worlds like no other. And so she's taken to visiting one of the ritzier book shops in the better part of town. Their books didn't have highlights and tons of earmarks or cracked spines. She wanted her books to be hers ... regardless of if they were cheesy romance novels or not. But as she's never gotten herself truly documented since skipping from the desert, on this particular trip she gets thrown out- but not before making a ton of noise. No one can deny her her books! ....but that's exactly what's happening.

((First and second are pretty self explanatory (though for the first if you want to recognize the Gerudo as the thieving band of possible murderers who once roamed the deserts outside the Earth Kingdom that's fine too!), the third you can catch her in the middle of fighting with the clerk about how ridiculous the ID thing is or right after she gets thrown out of the store and the doors shut in her face. Anything goes! All are welcome.))