Cold Air

Kya smiled as she woke up on a bright, sunny morning. Well, it was bright and sunny before it immediately started raining, as if the rain had been waiting for Kya to wake up.
She grumbled and airbended on top of her head so that she wouldn't get wet. She went outside with a map, and seeing lots of people outside cheered her up a little bit. The whole place looked peaceful and nice.
She waved to some people she knew, and met someone. A young man. He needed help getting to the Northern Water Tribe, and so Kya cheerfully pointed him in the right direction and showed him the map.
"So, we are here and the Northern Water Tribe is..." She moved her finger to the top part of the map. "Right here." She put the map down.
"Going this way should be fastest." She said, pointing north. The man thanked her and gave her a gold coin. He continued to walk north.

She happily clutched her gold coin and decided to buy a little bread. She made a wind ball and rode on it, passing people by and smiling. She came to a bakery and bought one slice of bread.
"Mm, who's that?" She wondered aloud as she bit in her bread. It was tasty. She looked over at a person who didn't look familiar, walking down the street. She decided to go over and say hello. She flipped her airbending staff.

The time it took to explore just half the city on his previous, and first time being in the city, was gargantuan in itself but not as nearly as big as the city truly was behind the protective walls. Reading over his map of the city he devised from the last time he was here, Nanuq marked where he was via gazing around at the land marks that helped him located where exactly he was. The smells of the bakeries on the sides of the pathways slithered into Nanuq's nose along with the various smells of small shops that only added to the feeling of a marketplace with the sights of merchants pleading for passing locals and tourists alike to buy their items and products. The sound of hundreds of footsteps pressing up against the stone built pathways echoed throughout the marketplace along with the sound of passing couples and groups laughing, talking, and other joyful means of conversation. All this brought a smile to Nanuq who stood ideally in the center of the marketplace before the arrival of a young air bender caught and ripped his attention from his map and the sights of the marketplace.

Turning to face her, Nanuq returned her gentle hello with a warm smile and a slight bow, "Nice to meet you. My name is Nanuq of the Northern Water Tribe." he said elegantly, "It is a pleasure and honor to meet an air bender. I have always wanted to see the temples and learn of your culture..i apologize for my series of introductory rambling, i am a nomad..it comes naturly to me" he added with a chuckle.

Kya put her bread down, with a smile.
"My name's Kya, by the way." She said. She studied the map of what Nanuq was holding. It was interesting, with different markings that Kya couldn't make out. Kya's map was torn and almost withered, it was hard to make out the words on the map.
"I don't suppose you need help finding your way, huh?"

"Well.."Nanuq admitted with a chuckle as he glanced down at his map once more then back over to Kya, "Not really but i suppose i could use some help-" his reply was halted by the sight and condition of Kya's so called map. The sight brought him amusement as he reached into his satchel and handed her a fine polished map rolled up to look like a scroll, "Try using this from now on. I just so happen to have an extra one on me; one could always use a good map" he said with a smile; looking around the marketplace he was utterly overwhelmed by the shier amount of restaurants, shops and locals who passed by them every second of the day apart from night. But the sight of the young air bender brought him a sense of relaxation and understanding; an odd feeling but a feeling non the less and Nanuq accepted it as he did with the feeling of being lost and stranded in a foreign, unknown place.

Kya wasn't sure if her mother would allow her to accept such a gift from a stranger that she'd only met two seconds ago, but then she decided to be polite.
"Thank you, very much." She said, tucking her old map in her pocket and gently accepting the new, polished map. It looked wonderful and she rubbed her eyes to get used to the darker, bolder lettering.
She gently blew off the dust that had fell on it and smiled at Nanuq.
"Thank you." She said. "So how can I help you?" She almost made a joke, but realized that this wasn't the best time.

"I was actually looking for the main library" Nanuq replied simply as he glanced around the marketplace once more; this time trying to peer over the rooftops to see further into the seemingly endless city but to no avail. "I heard Ba Sing Sae has one of the best libraries..apart from the Air Temples and Dara's library of course" Nanuq added as he looked back down to the girl and continued his story, "But they are on my list of places to go later. Right now i am focused on getting as much knowledge and some new scrolls from this magnificent city" he finished with a warm smile then tucked his map back into his satchel. Seeing her facial expression, however, Nanuq felt an overwhelming sense of nervousness and hesitation from her, "Don't worry, where i come from. Any crime you are imagining i could do to you is frowned up in my home of the Northern Water Tribe, especially for a master" he said warmly, "And what's a good conversation without some comedy? Eh? So, please don't hold anything back. My friend back home is just like you".

"Oh, the Main Library." She muttered. Kya examined the map, needing a moment to think.
"The Library should be somewhere over here." She pointed at the map, showing the location. Kya put the map down and pointed SouthEast.
"That way should be fastest." She said thoughtfully. She took a big bite of her bread, which was getting cold now. The rain had stopped, though.

Nanuq looked over to the southeast as she spoke and gave her a bow as he thanked her, "I appreciate it" he said with a smile, "Say; would you like to come along? Must be dreadful just standing there helping new people coming in, i'm all for helping others but you have to have some entertainment" he added, leaning in towards her before nudging her shoulder jokingly, "And what better entertainment than knowledge?". Setting off, Nanuq turned and began to head in the direction of the library from which the little air bending girl had shown her moments before. It wasn't that Nanuq was being rude and leaving her; it was what he thought was rude to the locals who had to weave past him to get further into the market. Sparring the ordeals of the locals, Nanuq proceeded to the library and took a slight glance over his shoulder to the girl then peered back to the front of him to watch where he was stepping. If there was anything more true about Ba Sing Sae, it was that it had a lot of stuff and usually it was left out on the sides of houses and in alleys as pots and seemingly useless objects and materials.

Kya almost hesitated. Almost.
She'd always been wanting to seek out the world and travel, learn new things and changes, but her mother wouldn't let her.
Strange and deadly dangers lurk around the wild, Her mother had told her.
But now that her opportunity was at her fingertips, she couldn't say no or yes. Unsure what to do, she just watched the man go. Weaving through the crowd, disappearing in moments.
She was used to being the optimist, or the guide, or the child, but she'd never imagined that she'd ever have to make the choice. Would her mother say yes? Or no? It seemed obvious she would say no, but something told her that she might have said yes.

The doors of the library loomed over Nanuq as he looked up at it after the shadow of its huge building engulfed his body fully; protecting it from the light of the sun that burned brightly over the majestic Earth Kingdom capital. A feeling of excitement overcame him as he was about to walk in but then he remembered the young air bending girl who stood lonely in the marketplace, awaiting for lost strangers to entertain her. He frowned, and pondered for a moment, then an idea sprung into his mind and with a spin of his heel, Nanuq shot back down the alley ways and streets. Quickly, Nanuq was once more submerged in the hustling, bustling type feel of the marketplace. People shoved past him and weaved through the little gaps between set up shops and into alley ways. At first, he found it impossible to find the little girl in the seemingly endless waves of people but then his eyes caught the sight of an orange dress and a long wooden staff. Smirking, Nanuq spun backwards and merged with the shadows of an alleyway where he climbed up on the roof and made his way swiftly over to the girl who stood, glancing at the people that passed by.

Once over her, Nanuq jumped down and fell right beside her; rising up from his squatting position, Nanuq turned to Kya, "Hey. Still in the mood for helping people?" he asked rhetorically, "Because i just so happened to need someone to show me through the library. It is massive and there is no possible way i would get through it all without a guide of some sort. But i wonder who ever could do that?" he asked once more rhetorically as he jokingly glanced around as if looking for a guide.