At the park (Open)

Kazami wheeled her way out of the bakery after spending her morning making delieveries to all the citizens of the eastern air temple. It felt good helping other people out and it made her feel good that she could do something despite her disability. Aria flew around Kazami in circles. This was a common sign of wanting to play. Kazami rolled over to the park where Aria loved to play. Aria zoomed around the trees while Kazami made a ball of air case after the spirit. She found that seeing her spirit friend happy made her happy aswell. She decided to have a little more fun. The girl made a quick movement with her hand and the ball of air went past the dragonfly bunny spirit. It then sped towards the spirit. Aria had just enough time to change direction and fly faster. Kazami's concentration was completely on the ball of air. She didn't even notice that Aria was now flying backwards at full speed trying one to get away from the ball and two, trying to see where it was going. The spirit hit Kazami's wheelchair and it fell over. The girl fell out of it and hit the soft grass. She lift herself up with her hands and moved her body out from under the fallen chair. She frowned and looked at the chair now toppeled over. Aria saw Kazami's sad expression and felt sad herself. She floated to the girl and rubbed her head in her lap. The girl stroked her spirit's head and said, "It's alright Aria. It wasn't your fault." Kazami didn't really know what to do. Her wheelchair was now turned over and she had no idea how to get back in it. This really never happened before. At home when she wakes up her chair is always right next to her bed and at the same level as her bed. So Kazami just sat in the grass stroking the soft fur of her spirit.

Yami walked around the Eastern Air Temple, the hood of her cloak concealing her face. She had made the mistake of showing her identity at an outpost once, and she was recognized by a guard. Or, rather, she was recognized as her mother, whom she almost perfectly resembled. The guards at the outpost rejoiced at seeing an heir to the throne, as the current queen was unmarried. Finding Yami was a miracle to them, but to her, it wasn't good at all. She told the guards not to mention anything to anyone, that the fact that she was alive was to be kept a total secret. Now, as she walked the Eastern Air Temple grounds, she hid her face in shadow. She had grown up living in exile, and she preferred to keep it that way.

As she walked past the bakery, she noticed a girl lying on the ground, a toppled wheelchair next to her. A spirit sat close by, one that appeared to be a rabbit. The girl looked to be close to Yami's age, maybe a little younger. Yami eyed the spirit carefully. Due to the fact that she had a spirit sealed within her, she was able to see other spirits. In fact, she had actually fought some in the forests of Nippon, the ones who even dared to get close, anyway. The power of the 5-tailed beast seemed to emanate from Yami in a way that only other spirits could sense. As Yami approached the girl to offer help, she expected the spirit to flee, but it seemed loyal to the girl. Yami reached the two and knelt beside the girl. "Are you alright?" she asked, pulling the wheelchair into an upright position. She positioned her arms under the girl's neck and knees and lifted her easily, setting her down in the chair.

Kazami saw a girl in a green cloak approach her. She thought hopefully that she might help her back into her wheelchair. She heard the stranger ask if she was alright. Kazami replied, "I am. I'm fine. I just can't get back into my wheelchair." The stranger then lifted her up into her chair. She said to her, "Thank you. I've never had that happen to me before, falling out and everything. My spirit and I were playing, but um, you probably can't see her. Anyways, she can fly pretty fast and accidentally knocked me over. You'd be surprised that a tiny spirit like her can actually do that. Dragonfly bunnies are much stronger than they appear." Kazami paused and looked at what the girl was wearing. She wore a green cloak. Air nomads here always wore shades of red, yellow, and orange. Perhaps she was from the earth kingdom. But still, how could she find her way here? Typically people can only get here by flying bison or some other form of flying. Then she also remembered that she forgot to introduce herself. "Oh! I almost forgot. I'm Kazami Yumiko. Say, what brings you here to the eastern air temple? How did you even get here? People can only get here by some form of flight travel." Kazami waited for the stranger's reply. She was really wondering how someone could have gotten here. Kazami also noted that she had been all over the eastern air temple and have never seen this girl in her life.

Yami smiled at the girl, and laughed a little when she mentioned that Yami wouldn't be able to see the spirit. "Actually," she said, "I can see it just fine. She is a cute little thing," she said, looking at the spirit. The girl began asking a series of questions, and Yami listened intently. It had been a while since she had someone to talk to, and she was happy to answer. "I'm a traveler," she said, which, although partially true, wasn't the full truth. The reality of the situation was that she was running from her destiny, and doing so by frequently changing location. "I get around on my dragon and closest friend, Fireball. You might be able to see him later. He isn't fond of public places." Yami chuckled a little. As soon as they had landed at the Eastern Air Temple, Fireball practically dropped her to the ground before taking off. She had the bruise on her shoulder to prove it.

How she ended up in the Eastern Air Temple was a mystery to her as well. She had actually been fleeing from a crime scene caused by Kokuo, the spirit sealed within her. She had temporarily taken control of Yami's body and used fire bending to burn down three homes and part of a forest. The local law enforcement chased her deep into the woods, and she had wandered around, lost. Due to the density of the foliage, she had been unable to reach Fireball until she finally emerged at the base of a mountain. She was curious to see what was at the top, as she saw a sky bison fly up there. The cloud cover had rendered her unable to see the temple from her position on the ground. Fireball had been flying overhead, trying to access her in the forest, with no success, so once she emerged, he landed and flew her to the top. "Maybe I can introduce you to him later today," she said, after a short pause. "Nice to meet you, Kazami. I'm Yami."

Kazami found it confusing that she could see her spirit but also interesting. From what she understood, she was one of the few air nomads who could see spirits. She remembered when a Monk told her about how some air benders can connect with spirits really well naturally while others either can't or have great difficulty doing so. Kazami heard Yami say that she was just a traveler and that she actually rode on a dragon. Dragons were thought to be dead but she did remember hearing some stories of new dragons being born. Mostly Sisters and Monks talked about this but some of them aren't exactly the best whisperers. The girl was happy when Yami told her that she could possibly meet the dragon later. Kazami replied, "Sure, I would love to! Hey um, a Monk once told me that some air benders have good connections with the spirit world. That's how I can see my spirit. How about you?" She was interested on how Yami would reply.

Yami clenched her teeth. She didn't know how to answer. She certainly was no air nomad, not since she was exiled. Her clothing, the green a gray mottled cloak, was meant to allow her to blend in with most natural environments, but the coloration would make her look like a member of the Earth Kingdom. She could not risk disclosing information about Kokuo, that would be too dangerous for both her and for Kazami. Finally, she thought up a vague, but true, answer. "Well, I do have some Air Nomad heritage, maybe I inherited the trait, even though i'm not even an air bender," she said. Though the statement was true, it wasn't the full truth. But it would suffice to explain why she could see spirits while most others couldn't.

You know, a voice whispered, If you ever plan to be the girl's friend, she will find out your secret eventually. Shut up! Yami responded via her thoughts, annoyed that Kokuo was in her head again. If I tell anyone, I could get us both killed. Please. The girl would be the only one in danger. You seem to have a great skill at running away. After all, you have been doing it your whole life. Yami looked at the ground, the words of the Bijuu hitting her in the heart. She had been running, and she never stopped. People wanted her dead, captured, her power, but she was also evading the detection of Spirit King Owlan. She wasn't ready to go to the spirit world, not yet. But deep down, she knew she had to meet him there eventually. Because of the beast, her destiny was sealed. She had a role to play in either saving or destroying the world. She knelt on the ground and reached her hand out toward the little spirit, unsure of how it would react.

Kazami watched as Yami clenched her teeth. Maybe she didn't want to answer. Kazami opened her mouth to say something like "You don't have to tell if you don't want to." but she talked before Kazami could. Yami said that she had ancestors that were air nomads. She supposed that she could have inherited the trait like she said. It was definitely possible. She saw the girl Yami bend down and put her hand out to the spirit Aira. She leaned her head in and nuzzled her nose against Yami's hand. The ears of the spirit started to whirl and Aria started buzzing around Yami's head. Kazami smiled and said, "That means she wants to play." Aria now went in circles around her whole body and started sniffing her. Aria probably just didn't recognize her scent as an air nomad's. After circling her body a few times, she started flying around her head again.

Yami breathed a sigh of relief when the spirit seemed to warm up to her. Kokuo's aura seemed to repel most spirits, but it seemed that this spirit's loyalty to Kazami is what kept it in place, and it may have decided that Yami was a friend when she helped Kazami back into the chair. "That means she wants to play," Kazami said as Yami stood up, letting the spirit fly around her. The only problem was the Yami didn't know how to play with a spirit. She had no idea what to do. Then she remembered something she did with Fireball when she was young. She formed a small ball of fire and tossed it in the air, then, accessing a nearby birdbath, flung a small ice spark at the ball. The two collided, causing a beautiful display of light and color, created by the firelight using the water as a prism. The sparks slowly rained down to the ground, and Yami thawed the ice into water to use again if the spirit liked the display. Fireball had loved flying through the rain, though Yami had made much larger ones for him, as he was a relatively large dragon.

One of the pieced of ice landed on Yami's nose, and she unsuccessfully tried to stifle a sneeze. When she sneezed, a picture fell out of her pocket that showed her and her friend, Drago. She frowned as she looked at the picture. It had been a long time since she had seen him, and she wondered if he was okay. She smirked, thinking that he probably was in the middle of getting himself out of trouble somewhere in the light state.

((OOC: Her name is Yami, not Yumi. Also, this is what Drago looks like, if you are interested:

Spoiler:

She watched as Yami played with her spirit. She utilized fire bending. This frightened Kazami. She was really scared of fire benders because of what happened to her, her home, and her family at the northern air temple. She heard her mother scream and saw her trying to fight the fire benders with air bending. She remembered that event so vividly. She saw somebody die right before her eyes with lightning bending, a form of fire bending. She also remembered the pain of lightning hitting you. It feels as if a thousand flames are flaring up inside of you and a huge shocking sensation right before you black out. This is what she felt before she blacked out and woke up in another temple paralyzed from the waist down. Aria acted as if she had to catch every single one of the sparks Yami made. How could fire be so destructive yet so entertaining and beautiful. Not sure of the girl Yami, she slowly backed her wheelchair away. Aria seemed to trust her but Kazami wasn't sure that the spirit knew what exactly happened to her. For all she knew, Aria doesn't know that those people who attacked were fire benders. She saw Yami sneeze and something fell out beneath her cloak. It appeared to be a picture. Kazami looked and saw a girl and a boy in the picture. They were both smiling. The hooded girl looked down and stared at the picture for a moment as if deep in thought.

Yami broke from her trance, shoving the picture back into her pocket. She saw Kazami rolling away, as if frightened. She saw fear in her face, and torment in her eyes. Yami walked up to her, wondering what was wrong. Pfft, if you had been paying attention, you would have noticed that she backed away right after you began fire bending. Kokuo's words echoed in Yami's head as she approached. Sorry I don't have eyes in the back of my head, unlike SOME people, she responded, referencing Kokuo with her emphasis on the word "some". She walked closer to Kazami. "Hey, are you okay?"

She thought back to what Kokuo had said, and realized that she was right. Kazami had begun wheeling away as Yami was fire bending. "Is it fire?" she asked, the realization beginning to dawn on her. "Are you afraid of my fire?" she asked, placing her hand on Kazami's shoulder.