Travelling to the Upper Ring

As the wind blew, it tended to blow loose things in their direction. One of the things the wind seemed to bring today was the wanderer Rokku. Rokku had been travelling around the Earth Kingdom for quite some time and he now decided that it was time to visit the capital. Rokku was almost a man with little money so if there were a place to try and make a living in a legal way or not, it would be here.

Rokku began to roam the streets, looking for anything that stood out to him.

Azami was in the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, wearing a cloak with her hood up. Peering around to have a look at the people, she saw one man, that had a diamond bracelet in his pocket. Azami found this as luck, and she approached him.

''Hey there..What's your name?''. Azami asked, sweetly.
The man looked at her smiling, ''Keiji, and yours, gorgeous?''. He said, staring at her eyes.
''Oh, I'm just Azami..nothing big''. Azami said, looking at him flirtatiously, while slipping her hands in his pockets.
''You want to go somewhere for lunch?''. He asked, falling for her act.
''Sorry Keiji, I have plans with my..sister..''. Azami said, slipping the diamond bracelet into her pocket.

Azami walked away, winking at him. Then thinking, ''Another 500gold for my profits''. She said while smirking quietly.

Rokku continued to walk through the streets of the upper ring when he noticed something. He merely looked up for a moment and noticed a female easily pick-pocketed a man and walked away with whatever he had that might have been valuable. Rokku chucked as he remember his pick-pocketing days when he was young and alone in the water tribe.

Rokku approached the man and smiled. He was capable of being extremely friendly when needed. "Hello sir, may I just ask you what you talked about with that girl over there??", he asked. Only a moment later he got the story and smiled. It was the curse of a women's beauty. Rokku thanked the man and smiled as he decided to try and dish out what this girl did.

He followed Azami for a moment and before approaching her he moved a little of the hair from his eyes. He then spoke to her.

"Hey there", he said to simply start the conversation.

Azami turned around sharply, glaring at this man with thin eyes. She observed him for any valuables, but saw nothing. Azami looked up and started to talk.

"Um hey.." Azami said, looking at him. She thought this was just a waste of time.

Azami had the sudden urge to walk off, she got a little angry because this "man" was wasting her time. She had people to rob, and money things to sell. Azami decided to wait and listen to him, just in case he said something interesting.

Rokku knew at this post every word said was important. He remembered his thief days and he knew time was something people wouldn't want to waste. He had to be able to distract the girl and get her involved enough into the conversation to not notice anything besides those. He quickly thought of how he could make this work.

"Sorry to disturb you, but I really need your help. You see I am a bureaucrat from Omashu and I need some help moving in. You're the first person to actually stop to hear me out, so if you don't mind I could really use your help.", he said as he slowly got a little closer to her so that he could reach into her pocket.

He then added on, "It's a lot of stuff, that's why I can't take it all myself", he said as he attempted to reach in her pocket and take the diamond bracelet.

Azami looked at him, and she knew his game. Being a thief for four years, didn't mean she was stupid. As he moved closer to her, she concocted a small plan in her head.

"I'd honestly love to help, it's just that...". Azami cut off her sentence, as she sensed his hand making it's way into her pocket. Rapidly, Azami grabbed his wrist.

"I have to stop thieves from stealing what's rightfully mine!" Azami said, twisting his arm, the pushing him away. She placed the bracelet on her wrist, back flipped over the villagers who approached her, and did a quick run.

Azami was no idiotic child, she was smart when it came to thieving. She looked back, and saw him looking at her.

"I'd stay away from me, if I was you, I'm not afraid to handle a katana you know..". Azami said, smirking, and climbing onto a market rooftop.

Rokku thought his game was working until she grabbed his wrist. He heard her words and responded quickly, "Rightfully yours huh?? You just stole that from that man", he said as he forcefully pulled his arm as she twisted. His arm wasn't fully twisted but the bone was slightly displaced. However this wasn't a problem for Rokku.

Rokku used his other hand and twisted his wrist back fixing it although it left it a little sore. He watched her run as he stretched his wrist and smiled. Maybe this city was going to be a little more fun than he thought.

Rokku made eye contact with her once and then had a slight smile as he quickly ran and climbed across to an adjacent rooftop. "Sounds like fun...after all I knew all the same tricks a few years ago", he said, waiting for her to make the next move.

Azami stared at this man angrily, she climbed to the top of his roof. She pulled out her katana, and pointed it at his chest. She said to him,

"You want this bracelet? Then fight me for it!". Azami shouted, Aiming her katana at him.

She waited for his move, she definetly didnt want to give up the bracelet. Azami wondered where Hinako was, maybe if she did a runner, she could find her twin sister.

Rokku smiled as it seemed he angered the girl to the point where she went on the offensive. Rokku stepped back as she moved closed and moved his hands slightly, causing his cape to reveal something he was carrying on his back. It was gourd completely made of sand and as she pointed at him he stepped back to dodge any attack and flicked his wrist causing the sand to leave the gourd and come to his aid, creating a thin barrier between him and the katana blade.

"Truth be told, I care nothing for the bracelet, but you interest me so a fight it is", he said as he flicked his wrist again causing more sand to erupt from the gourd go after her, coming at her from both her left and right sides.

Azami could see the sand come from either side. She waited for the exact moment, just before the sand could hit her. As it approached, Azami created a whip of water from the fountain, and slashed the sand away. Mutating the whip into a circular shape, she sent it to Rokku at a speed.

''Don't get your hopes up, your not the only bender here''. Azami remarked, as she flipped forward, and crunched her fists together. Aiming her hand at the fountain it created an explosion of the Water, and it splashed out. Azami used the water, and sent it as a surge towards Rokku.

When that happened, she jumped off the rooftop, and stood in the fountain. Opening her hands, she created a dome of water around her, and it protected her from any attacks. This dome was strong, and it got stronger as Azami blew a breath of ice towards it. The shield froze, and Azami stood in the water, looking up at Rokku and his Sand Gourd.

She stood in the water, as if she was frozen. Standing still, but still listening to her surroundings. She was determined to keep the bracelet, and get away safely. This couldn't happen if she was still fighting this..stranger. Azami had the choice to find her sister, or stay and fight. She didn't want to cause any trouble at the Orphanage, and decided to stay and defend herself.