Rings and Necklaces (Open)

Tamako stood at her stall in the market. She was incredibly bored, she only sold about three rings and a necklace. Sure, it was a lot of money, but Tamako felt she could do better. She partially blamed it on a thief earlier. A woman had approached the stall and asked about a ruby pendant, after Tamako explained where the jewels came from and the price. The woman took off running. She sighed and ran after her. Tamako had to deal with thieves on a daily basis, so this wasn't a new thing to her. She quickly encased most of the woman in rock, she plucked the pendant our of the woman's hand, and promptly returned to her stall. Apparently, she scared away a bunch of potential thieves who were eyeing the stand. The other stall vendors were hardly fazed, they knew Tamako was an Earth Bender and knew how she treated thieves. Tamako stood there, remebering the incident that took place earlier. She quickly realized it was time to close up shop. She locked the stand and took a box of jewelry back home.

She saw the sunset and smiled. She enjoyed working for her parents, but it was really boring to man a stall. She wished she could travel every inch of this world, excavating rare minerals and gems to make jewelry out of. She would be famous and rich, everyone would know her name! "It's just a dream, Tamako..." She muttered to herself, as she walked into her home. She locked the jewels in a special safe that Tamako raised out of the ground. She then joined her parents for dinner.

Kiara looked longingly at the stand. She shook her head, holding to what little values she had left. She may have turned to hatred and pain, but she was no thief. Besides, she didn't care about the jewelry itself. She just needed to get money somehow to buy a decent meal, and she figured that those gems would be worth far more than that. But judging by the strength of the earth bender girl at the stand, she wouldn't have stood a chance anyway. Instead, she sat and watched, playing with the shadows around her, making a bunch of weird shapes. She even scared off a baby moose-lion with a terrifying shadow face.

As the sun set, Kiara found herself relaxing. Ever since her escape from prison, she had lost trust in the day, but found comfort in the night. She stood as the stand girl packed up and headed home. That's when she saw it. Or rather, she felt it. A disturbance in a nearby shadow. She turned and barely caught the movement before it stopped again. She was able to recognize it as one of the thieves who had been watching the jewelry stand. Judging by his tattered clothes, he was once a part of the Vermilion Empire, and had likely come to Ba Sing Se as a refugee. He was following the girl from the stand.

Kiara thought for a moment. She didn't have to help the girl. It wouldn't help her at all. But something was nagging at her, some part of the small sliver of conscience that still thrived within, that told her she had to stop the man. Finally, she took off running, chasing the two people down. As the girl reached the front door of her home, the man burst from the shadows, waving a knife, but before he could even utter a cry, a spike of shadow impaled him through the heart. He was far away enough from the door that the girl didn't appear to notice. Kiara tossed the corpse into an opening in the street that led to the sewage system.

As the girl opened the front door, the smell of fresh food spilled out, and Kiara's stomach growled. She hadn't eaten all day, and she didn't have any money to actually purchase food. She sat on the lawn and reached in her bag, but all that she had left of her provisions she had packed prior to her journey to Ba Sing Se was a slice of bread. She ate it in mere seconds, realizing she was hungrier than she thought. She decided that begging and stealing were two different things, and went up to the home, knocked on the door, pulled back her hood, and messed up her hair. She splashed a little mud on her cloak to make it look like she had been sleeping in the streets. She knew that it was all in the appearance. When somebody came to the door, she would do whatever it took to look like a beggar girl.

Tamako walked into her family's dining area. "Momma! Papa! I'm home!" She cried. Her parents hugged her and asked about her profits. "I'm sorry, I only sold four items today..." Tamako sighed. Her parents praised her. They told her that selling four items is good thing. She was still a little upset, but she handed her parents a sack of money. She sat down and they began to eat. After they were finished, Tamako decided to tell her parents about the thief. "A woman tried to steal a pendant today." She muttered. Her parents looked at her with concern. "I was able to stop her, I heard she was arrested too!" She said. Tamako was a little sad that the woman had to resort to stealing, but she was also mad because her family works hard to make the jewelry. Someone knocked on the door, Tamako's parents asked her to answer it.

She walked to the door and saw a beggar door outside. Tamako smiled, not because of the situation of the girl. But because she pitied her. She would feel bad without giving her food. "I'm assuming you want food?" She asked the beggar. Tamako then left the girl. "A beggar girl wants some food, do we have any?" Tamako inquired. Her mother handed her a large basket of bread. Tamako returned to the girl. "Here you are miss! Do you have a place to stay?" Tamako smiled. She didn't want the girl to sleep in the streets. She was aware of the terrible things that have happened to young boys and girls at night. Tamako didn't want this girl to be another victim.

Kiara looked longingly at the food in the basket, and had to forcefully stop herself from drooling. "Forgive me for taking your food. It's just...both of my parents are dead, and i'm all alone out here. I came to Ba Sing Se all the way from the Dark Nation, hoping to find a better life." that part was a huge lie, as she was really only in the largest city in the world looking for a specific person. She thought about whether she wanted to stay in the home. She could protect herself if she were in the streets, and she wasn't sure how long she would be able to stay in this cozy little house before she would jump out the window.

At the same time, the thought of sleeping in a real bed, something she hadn't done in over five years, sounded like the best thing in the world. Kiara shook her head. "I've been sleeping wherever I can get comfortable," which was a hard thing to do, since her back burned every time she lay on it on the hard ground. For a moment, she internally struggled with herself, debating whether to stay in that home or not. "But it's fine. I'm a dark bender, so I have been able to defend myself in case people try to hurt me." She took the food and began to walk away. Staying in a real home would just be too risky, despite how comfortable it might be.

Tamako felt a little sad. Both of the girl's parents were dead, and she came from the Dark Nation all by herself. She was a little surprised to hear that the beggar was a Dark Bender. "If you need anything, just come back! My family and I will help you!" She said to the girl as she left. Tamako closed the door and sighed. "Poor thing..." She muttered and went off to her room. Tamako quickly fell asleep.

The next day, Tamako set up shop again. She waited for customers to browse her wares and for theives to grab something and then get mouth full of dirt. An elderly woman arrived, she asked about an amethyst ring. Tamako told the price and the woman bought the ring. "Let's see, just twelve more hours..." She sighed. Today was especially boring, the sky was dull and looked like it might rain. She adjusted her kimono, and waited for more people.

Closing time finally came, Tamako had actually sold many things today and was happy to go home. She slowly walked home, clutching the box of jewelry safely to her chest. She heard that some poor guy was murdered and thrown into the sewer. Some people were working within the sewer when they saw the body. Many thought he was mugged, and that was the reason he didn't have anything. Tamako was not taking any chances. She tried to hide the box within her kimono. She was almost down the street, when someone grabbed her arm. Three people, two women and man, had stopped her. They looked poor, but extremely evil. "Hand over the jewelry!" One of the women, who appeared to be the leader said, her raspy voice echoed through Tamako's ears. She had never been mugged before, this was definitely new to her. She did the only thing that came to mind. Tamako bended, sending a large rock right at the leader, hitting her in the face. Tamako sprinted down the street to her home, she ran inside and put the jewelry in the safe. She told her parents to stay inside. She grabbed her dagger and ran outside.

"Leave me alone!" Tamako bellowed at the thieves. She brandished a dagger, it was gold with a small gem in the hilt. She was prepared to fight the criminals. She didn't want to kill them, but get them sent to prison. However, she was prepared to use lethal force if necessary. "You'll pay for breaking my nose, you brat!" The leader snarled, her nose was bent in an odd position and a steady stream of blood poorer out. She charged at Tamako, ready to kill. Tamako jumped out of the way and launched a pillar up at the woman, sending her soaring through the air. The leader landed with a crack, then she went unconscious. Her friends didn't seem to like that, The man pulled out a dagger himself. Tamako and the man slashed at eachother. The other woman grabbed Tamako, she couldn't move. The man laugher and walked slowly towards her. 'Momma, Papa, I'm sorry...' She thought.

Kiara spent another uncomfortable night in the streets of Ba Sing Se. She rationed her food, only eating a small portion of what she was given. She needed it to last as long as possible. She awoke the next morning to find the girl setting up stand again, making her wares. Kiara longed for a gig like that, a job that made a ton of money. But she had other matters to attend to before she could even consider what her future was going to be like. She planned to leave Ba Sing Se the next day. It had become clear that the person she was looking for was nowhere in the city. She thought she might head to the Vermilion Empire, since her prey was a fire bender. Once again, she stood from her spot to find somewhere else to spend the night when she saw a group of people following the girl. She in turn followed them, and watched as they attacked.

The girl was an excellent earth bender. But five against one was unbearable odds. Kiara knew it would be over once she saw the woman grab the girl and hold her down. Again, Kiara felt the desire to help her. After all, the girl had saved her from starvation. Now it was time to repay the debt. As the man lunged at the girl, Kiara leaped out of the shadows and lunged at him, pushing him to the ground. Blood spilled on the street as the man landed on a jagged spike made entirely of shadow. Kiara spun around hurled a mass of shadow at the woman holding the girl, hitting her in the head while narrowly missing the child. The woman fell to the ground, out cold. Kiara looked at the last two thieves who remained standing, a devilish look on her face. One turned and ran, but the other shot a blast of fire at Kiara. "I'm not losing to fire again!" she yelled. A pillar of shadow deflected the flames.

Kiara flicked her wrist, and the base of the pillar cracked. She then thrust her palm forward and the pillar went with it, toppling on top of the bandit. He was alive, but unconscious, and Kiara smiled as she heard at least two ribs crack. "Stealing from others? How low can you get," she muttered. She turned and looked at the girl, then turned and ran. She did what she came to do. She didn't need this girl to turn her in to the law enforcement.

"W-Wait!" Tamako stuttered. The girl who had saved her ran away. Tamako quickly realized it was the beggar girl from last night, she did tell Tamako she was a Dark Bender. She could hear the authorities run towards the scene. Apparently, one of the neighbours had ran and got them. They arrested the thieves, except for the one man who had dies from falling on a shadow spike. The authorities asked her questions about the event, then they asked her about the beggar girl. "I didn't see where she went, I was a little dazed. I'm sorry..." Tamako lied. She knew that the girl hadn't done anything wrong, but the girl wouldn't have ran if she didn't want to be found. Her parente thanked the authorities and Tamako went to bed. "She saved my life. I have to find her and give her my thanks!" Tamako cried. It was very late at night, her parents decided that the stall will be closed tomorrow. Tamako would have all day to search for the girl.

When morning arrived, Tamako immediately set out. She wandered through Ba Sing Se. She asked people if they had seen a girl matching the description, but many didn't know who she was. She felt sad, this girl had saved her. But Tamako couldn't thank her for it. She had grabbed a necklace she made to give to the girl. It wasn't worth much, but it was a beautiful necklace. It was a light grey stone with an emblem of a lotus flower etched into it. Tamako eventually gave up. She sat in a small clearing and thought what had happened to the girl.

Akame, The world's best magician and secret identity of infamous "The Joker", was walking through the streets of Ba Sing Se. He has just finished a successful Act and got some information of a large Ruby in a nearby building. he was walking around the building planning to the smallest detail, he's been circling the building for two days knowing the patrol habits of the guards. However, his eye caught a girl with really long auburn hair. she seemed troubled, "are you ok madam?" he said acting like the gentleman that he is giving a small yet warm smile.

[go ahead and skip my post. It will flow better if Tamako responds]