Aurelia stumbled along behind the stranger and although she was weary of which direction she would be taken, she allowed herself to be helped onto the horse. Drawing the shawl around herself once more, she prayed they would turn away from the castle and almost sobbed in relief as they began their journey. The arms around her felt secure and for once, she felt safe. She had ridden horses many times before but to be sharing the saddle was different, she thought it would feel strange not to be in control but... she never really had been in control of anything, truly.

"Princess?" The call she thought was to her, startled her, she knew she had given herself away now. Yet neither of them changed course with this realisation? It also told her that the woman was also a princess from another kingdom, no doubt here for the royal wedding.  A thought crossed her mind that maybe they were planning to steal her away and hold her ransom, but she decided even that fate would be worse than what awaited her at home. If she could even call it home anymore, that is.

When they stopped, Aurelia accepted the help down from the horse and looked closer upon her aid and watched as they set up their things. Upon being ushered inside, she looked to the patch of ground waiting for her, laid out her shawl to sit on and gracefully sank down, pulling her knees to her chest. Her face, no longer flush from running, was a mess. Her tear stained cheeks were pale, her hair was bedraggled and still held onto a few leaves and her porcelain skin was imperfected by faint scratches from her run through the bushes. It took her a moment before her thoughts collected as the realisation that she didn't know where to go from here finally sunk in.

"I-" She paused, wondering how much she should disclose. With a heavy sigh, she nodded and began her story. "I am sure you have come to the realisation by now that I am my father's daughter. You are both here for the wedding, yes?" She glanced at them both and waited for their confirmation before continuing. "The man I am supposed to marry, he is a... well, no man at all." Her brow furrowed and she seemed to struggle for a monent to bring more words forth.

"There are things that a woman must do for her kingdom, you know this as well as I do. But if you ever have the imponderable displeasure of meeting that... that cretin, you would know exactly why I cannot go back. I do not wish to spend the rest of my days locked away like a doll there for his pleasure to give him-" She stopped, she could explain no further. Tears threatened her cheeks once again but now she drew her hand across her eyes. She had cried enough tonight. Now she was in the real world, she had to learn to grow up. No time for tears anymore.

"I should thank you, both of you." A firm look crossed her face as she looked up at the princess and to her companion. "How can I repay you? I do not have much and I certainly have no money anymore, but I cannot let this debt go unpaid. You have saved my life, for I know if you had returned me, I could not have gone on living." Her eyes fixated on the princess, no longer wild and panicked but truly grateful.

Iyah didn’t watch long enough to notice the boy land perfectly on his hands and get up so gracefully but had an instinctive feeling in the pit of her stomach that that was the case. He wasn’t letting on and she knew it. From the beginning until now, he was keeping distance between them not that it bothered her, she preferred it that way.

The laugh shook both the man beside her and the earth beneath her, furrowing her brows as she stomps forward, keeping the same pace as her master.

“Serio-“

She inhaled and controlled her emotions, looking ahead to find that they didn’t have long to get to their next destination, but how long it would take to their last? Iyah had already forgotten, and she knew better than to ask Zo again. She opted to stay silent the rest of their walk, her honey eyes examining the space around them.

When they continued up, a man raised a hand and shouted a greeting at Xo. Iyah instinctively turned her head but found angry eyes of none other than Zaiver staring back at her.

~

It had been 5 days since she last ate and it was pouring with rain above her. Her stomach grumbled in protest and she gripped the skin underneath her tattered and ripped jumper, her fingers digging into her own flesh to calm the ache rippling underneath. It brewed until it was unbearable, but she didn’t have a penny to her name to buy anything. Not even a piece of bread.

Iyah’s small bare feet dug into the mud beneath her, toes turning a light shade of blue from walking so much in the cold, and as she turns the corner, and the night swallows the only daylight left lingering in the sky, she notices a fairly old man packing up for the day.

She couldn’t handle it anymore. Her mouth watered as she looked ahead at the piece of bread on his stand and made a run for it. Her hand reached out to grab it but the man was weary and seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He slapped her arm away and turned to grab her collar, slapping her across the cheek, then telling her off. She was made to stand there for an hour, listening to him explain why it was so bad to steal and why we should uphold our values.

She refused the sting of the slap to gather tears in her eyes, and continued on her way, still hungry, but so drained she didn’t have the energy to walk on anymore, finding some shelter under a pavilion in one of the temples to sleep under.

~

Perhaps, he was still angry at her for past mistakes but she ignored him and his blaring eyes. She didn’t shrivel up in shame but stood taller, lifting her chin a little and walking a little faster until she was ahead of Xo.

'Lightning? Simple enough.'

Wan took a few steps back, his body falling into the rehearsed steps of his teenage years; he could feel his chi traveling through his limbs, through his stomach, lightning crackling between his fingers as he gathered the chi. Ropes of lightning wrapped themselves around his hands and, as Wan ended the form, the first and second finger of his right hand pointed up and away to the sky. The lightning displayed itself briefly before dissipating.

He could still feel the thrum of energy in his body; Wan enjoyed conjuring lightning, had found plenty of uses for it for his own projects. The skill was beyond his parents, his grandfather knew the forms but struggled with it as well. It had taken some time for himself to master it, himself. He did not mind showing the skill off.

'Food or other supplies would be welcome, moreso than perhaps coin.'

Wan was an experienced welder, having made many metal constructs for himself and his family. He wasn't a metalbender by any means, but apply enough heat and metal will do just about anything asked of it.

He wasn't sure about his course of action, but he had dug himself this deep. Maybe digging deeper would allow for a way out? He allowed a small smile to tug his lips upwards, hoping it looked friendly enough.

He wouldn't let it show on his face, but Chief Kuro felt quite shocked when Wan described himself as a "Firebender." So it was true! There were other types of Benders living on the mainland! Fire, and who knows how many others! He couldn't help but to be curious, but it would be unwise to ask questions now, lest questions be asked in return.

 "A blacksmith, you say? Well, Wan, I would love to enlist your services, but unfortunately, my people and I are not from these lands, and carry none of the local tender. I'm sorry I can't be of help to you on your journey."

Eyes then shifted to Talla, who was stroking his chin as if considering something.

"Tell me, Wan. Are you capable of bending Lightning? If so, I'm sure I have a job for you that will pay handsomely!"

By this time, the women and children were being ushered into the city on carriages, and taken to Air Temple Island. It seemed that so far, things were going smoothly.

Bek watched with amazement as Sai disappeared to be replaced by Ichi. It was certainly something you didn't see every day. Seeing Ichi attempt to revert back couldn't help but make her smile. So they both had to be in agreement for Sai to appear? His comment made her snicker and she cast a glance back towards the docks in the distance and the town beyond them, had he really had so much difficulty walking amongst those people? Maybe she had been in more danger with him than she thought. She couldn't help but notice Ichi's nervousness as he looked at the water, her brow furrowing in puzzlement. Wasn't he a waterbender?

"Are you... afraid?" She asked incredulously, stepping over to the side of the boat so that she could lean over and look into the water. The motion would cause the boat to rock a little heavier than the gentle waves were pushing, especially as she leaned down to dip her hand into the cool waters. Feeling the great expanse beyond her fingertips was beyond words. She gasped at the overwhelming size, not only as far as she could see, but downwards too!

She closed her eyes and reached out to feel for fish, took a step back and held out her arms. With a gentle flowing motion she pulled up a small orb of seawater, within which was a dainty silver fish. She opened her eyes and beamed when she saw it had worked, though she couldn't hold it for long and the water and fish soon fell back to where they belonged.

"Okay, let me see what I can do first!"

Excited and with newly found confidence, she ran to the back of the boat, causing more swaying with each step. She faced forwards, determination in her eyes and planted her feet firmly. Taking a deep breath, she pictured what she wanted first. She wanted the water to push against the stern to propel them forwards as well as cut out of the way ahead of them to help with speed. She had no idea what the correct forms would be, so she would simply have to give her best guess and hope that her movements would be close enough.

 Her arms reached out forwards and then drew back, like she were propelling herself by hand in a canoe. With a smooth circling motion of her wrist, she then pushed her palms forward sharply. The boat lurched forwards, but barely a few meters before rocking to a halt. Bek grit her teeth and took a breath before trying again, this time managing a little further. She could feel the weight of the boat through her bending, it was heavier than anything she had ever moved before, even with so much water it was difficult. It was going to take days to reach the Capital at this pace! She looked to Ichi defeatedly and shook her head.

"I think I might need some teaching..."