Bringing Hope

Omashu. A place of hope, love and happiness in the time of the hundred year war that ended with the bending demise of then Fire Lord Ozai. Now the city lay in turmoil. It's throne empty and law enforcement easily overpowered by the thugs and gangs that are spread throughout the city. If there was ever a need for an avatar in Omashu, it was now.

But there was no Avatar, there was no huge bending force that would free the city with a swipe of his/her hand. Instead, there was Nanuq, who after deciding to ensue on his nomadic goal; appeared before surprisingly unguarded gates of Omashu. The huge rock walls stood firmly up and guarded the city and was in all respect, the last and only true defense for the city. The gate although stood open; its crack large enough for a man or woman to easily fit through.

Proceeding to weave through the gap, Nanuq was immediately greeted by a man with a knife, "Stick 'em up!!" he proclaimed, thrusting his knife forward, "Give me your money and you won't get hurt" he added before a wave of water struck the side of his face and sent him crashing to the hard floor. Wielding a ball of water that hovered over his hand, Nanuq glared down at the man, "Either leave the city or stay here and give up your criminal act. Because i think it's finally time for this city to regain some stability. Some justice for once in years".

Varick watched from the shadow between two buildings, leaning against the wall. Looking on with a stern face as a newcomer squeezed himself into the city. "Hm." Varick grunted, seeing optimism practically radiate off of the individual. The surprise in store for the man made Varick smile slightly to himself. Inevitably someone tried to mug the newcomer. As if all the blue didn't give it away, the newcomer quickly displayed he was a waterbender; confirming that he was from a water tribe.

Varick quietly approached from behind. "What do you think you're doing?" He said in a monotone voice, walking past and helping up the man and telling him to go home. "Well, you going to stand and stare?" He asked looking over his shoulder. "Ya know, you're not making the best first impression." He pointed out, smirking and turning towards the new guy.

The appearance of the individual and his sarcastic voice created a smirk across the face of Nanuq as he lowered his ball of water, sending it crashing harmlessly to the ground. "I apologize if i caused an offense" Nanuq began, glancing around the scenery around him before turning his attention back to the man, "I've heard great stories of this city but nothing that would cause me to believe that i would be attacked once i entered the city nor see it's walls stand unguarded" he explained further.

After the pause from his explanation, Nanuq eyed the man and scrutinized his appearance, smirk, then finally his own impoliteness struck him. "I'm sorry" Nanuq said abruptly, moving his body to a relaxed state instead of his previous defensive state as he engulfed his hands and gave the man a formal bow, "My name is Nanuq from the Northern Water Tribe".

"Varick." He said introducing himself as briefly as possible. Varick listened to Nanuq talk about all the great things he'd heard of the city, and his surprises to the attack and the condition of the city's entrance. He scoffed slightly at Nanuq's seemingly naiveness. "Did you expect an over-the top welcome, where we great you in song then give you a grand tour?" He asked sarcastically. "Is that what you tribers do when someone new walks into your area of residence?" he asked giving him a look that questioned Nanuq's seriousness about his expectations.

Varick turned about to walk away. "but whatever with that. I'm not a welcoming committee." He said beginning to walk away. "Oh." he said turning briefly. "by the way, those aren't the only gates into the city. And that mugger isn't the only person in the city, you may just have bad luck." Then he started to walk away putting the guy out of his mind as he walked away towards a stack of buildings and houses, he began to think about what he'd have for lunch. He turned a corner trying to decide if he wanted meat, noodles, or both as he walked towards a crowd of people in the market.

Nanuq stood there for a moment and pondered what Varick had said; his mind deep in thought. The maps his father had left behind only showed the outlines of the Earth Kingdoms various cities and towns but not their people nor their current condition. It baffled Nanuq to think that acts such as mugging went unnoticed by local law enforcement and much less, be seen as an everyday occurrence by the locals. If there were more crimes occurring in the city then that meant that nothing was being done to stop it which meant no law enforcement, which meant no source of stability in the kings duties.

Without further thought, Nanuq persued after Varick and into the seemingly endless levels and stacks of buildings where Nanuq would find himself easily confused. In both the water tribes, there were never levels of buildings nor confusing path ways such as what was shown in front of him. "How does anyone cope like this?" Nanuq laughingly spoke to himself before catching the sight of a marketplace directly in front of him. Immediately upon entering, Nanuq was overwhelmed by the number of people weaving and pushing past him as he stood, like a lost moose lion cub, looking for Varick. "Varick?" He asked one of the women as she passed him only to be given an odd look and a huff before she disappeared into the crowd of people.

It was only thanks to a shove from a rude citizen that Nanuq caught a glimpse of Varick as he strode into the marketplace. "Varick!" Nanuq called out to him as he bopped and weaved through the masses of people before finally approaching the first, and seemingly only, decent person he had met in Omashu. "Varick. I apologize for my odd behavior back there. It's just that in the Northern water tribe, crimes are immediately seen to and stopped. But here...there's just something off about all of this. I haven't seen one guard yet or any sign of the kings rule" he paused with a sigh as he reached into his pocket and found a load full of water tribe money, "If you give me some information. I will treat you to dinner".

Varick was making his way through he crowd of people in the market, mid-thought when he heard Nanuq's voice yelling from behind him. He gave a slightly annoyed sounding sigh as the water triber caught up to him, and began to talk and ask more questions before offering to buy Varick dinner. Varick had yet to say a word to all this as he rolled this around in his head. he was contemplating whether he should just leave and let Nanuq fugure stuff out on his own, or take up the offer of a free dinner and spending time with this guy. He figured a free meal wouldn't hurt. "Well," Varick started "I don't usually accept free dinners from strangers, but you seem strange enough to keep even them away." He said. Varick wasn't usually one for...socializing -he thinks it's called- so he wasn't used to just going out with a friend, not that he had, nor wanted many. "Just follow me." he said watching Nanuq getting bumped into by the people around them, obviously not used to this large of a crowd.

Varick led Nanuq through the crowd, with a slight smirk as the triber struggled with all the droves of people. Eventually they got out of the market and were closer to the center of the city where the palace was. He chose a small restaurant and chose to sit in the back at a table. When they got their menues, Varick ordered, and then he waited for Nanuq to figure out what he wanted. Once both had ordered, he asked. " What did you wan't to know, again?"

Nanuq could tell that the man was not much for talking, it was prominently displayed on his bodily language, facial expression and tone of voice. So, in an effort to make this as painless as he could, he shortened his questions into simple ones that hopefully would allow him to figure out what was truly going on in this turmoil-ed city. "Okay. For starters; where are the guards supposed to be protecting this city?" Nanuq began, "A city this size surely has guards and law enforcement to keep it safe but i yet to see any. And what about your king? I haven't seen any sign that this city actually has one to be honest".

Inside he had a bundle of questions that would awaiting the right time to slither out of his mouth without his conscious mind noticing. There was something off about the city; Nanuq could tell by the way the locals acted, they were content with going about their daily chores and lives but within their eyes laid an uneasiness; an uneasiness that made Nanuq himself uneasy.

"Okay, how to put this?" Varick started,thinking how to answer Nanuq's questions. " We just had a war sort of thing within the past few years, right?" He asked rhetorically. " So most of the soldiers we have - including most if not all of the guards- were sent over to fight. This left us fairly short staffed when it came to guards, except for the ones who were permanantly assigned to the king, who not very many people see the's days. " He said leaning back in his chair looking around and into the kitchen to see if their orders were close to being ready. " Now, yes, there are rumors and speculations floating around that something may have happened to the king, but so far that's all they are: rumors and speculations." He leaned back forward putting his arms on the table and lacing his fingers. " Right now, really the only sign that we have ANY royalty within this city is the big honking palace shooting up in the middle of it." He said before taking a sip of his drink which had just been brought. " But right now, guard-wise, the city is mostly relying on a rag-tag of volunteer militia." He got out before taking another drink, he didn't realize that talking so much could make one so thirsty. " 'Cause unlike Ba Sing Se, we don't have a permanent police force like their Dai Li."


Just then, after finishing the first wave of Nanuq's questions the food finally arrived. Both orders smelled really good, which made Varick realize how hungry he really was. He cracked his knuckles before grabbing his utensils and starting to dig in. He looked up every now and then making sure that Nanuq wasn't struggling too much with what he had ordered. He wasn't sure how similar or different Earth Kingdom food was to what Nanuq was probably used to. About a quarter of the way through his meal Varick said " Anything else? or is that it?" Varick asked "you've pretty much got me captive till dinner is through."

Nanuq eyed the food laid upon the plate infront of him for a few seconds before following in Varick's footsteps and grabbing his utensils and digging in. The variety of flavors and spices hit his lips like a chilling wind; never had Nanuq tasted such well prepared food nor ever tasted Earth Kingdom food at all. The sensation brought a smile to Nanuq's face and it continued to be prominently displayed even after Varick asked him about more questions. He paused for a moment to allow the food to slither down his throat then he began again, "Well doesn't it bother you? Not knowing what could be going on up there in that big palace?" he started, "Don't you want to go check it out? Maybe dig up some answers? I know that someone like you running the city would be a good thing. You know the streets inside and out and you've got a clear mind . All the traits of a good king or ruler".

"Me, personally: it doesn't really bother me that much." Varick said in between bites. " I've been on my own long enough that I can adapt to pretty much any situation." He told Nanuq who seemed to be enjoying the food. Then he asked Varick if he wanted to go investigate what was going on. "Not really." he replied. " I don't have much interest in sneaking into the palace to see if we have a king or not. Nor do I have that much interest in becoming the king." He said before taking a drink. " I feel I have relatively more freedom out here than I would in a palace." He started."Being able to go anywhere and do whatever the hell I want. Plus you've experienced how well i deal with new people," He said sarcastically " not being that much of a people person and all. I don't have much of a trust for those of nobility even though i come from a family of nobility, tried the military and got kicked out for 'not playing well with others'" He said inserting finger quotations. " I don't have that good of a record for dealing with people." He took a few more bites of his meal.