Avengers and Trouble-Makers

[chinagirl7594]

Lin hummed quietly to herself as she approached the isolated building. The air was cold, as usual, but the sun made it appear warmer than it really is. It brought about some warmth, but obviously not enough for Lin to go without her parka all day.

She walked in through the door. The sunlight didn't show through as much, but it didn't bother her much. That eerie and hostile feeling from a day before had disappeared, now that she knew that not every person behind those bars were real criminals. Perhaps her brother could be included in that exception, but it was hard to debate that. She almost chuckled to herself at the thought.

She straightened the cord of her water skin. Casually, with her soft footsteps against the icy floor, she approached the front desk. That too was a little iced, but it seemed sturdy enough and efficient to write or laze upon. A man with the typical tan skin and dark hair sat there. He was nearly balding, and his eyes looked like a shade of beady black.

Lin cleared her throat, rocking on her heels a bit. "Hello," she began. "I was visiting my brother here the other day, and one of the jailers here had a conversation with me. Apparently claims he's innocent." She pursed her lips a little to ponder. "Also says he got in trouble for leaving the North Pole on a smuggling ship."

[nakamura]

The man, Karpok, looked up from his desk. This was most certainly the girl who was here yesterday. She was the only girl he knew who was so bold. What a distasteful girl. An older man like him much preferred a more gentle, docile girl, as the Northern tribe's customs usually denoted. He rolled his eyes, and leaned forward to speak to the girl, his wide, parka sleeves moving up past his wrists, as he clasped his hands together. He didn't like this girl.

"Well, you see..." He began moving one hand up to stroke the beard that came from his chin, "He took a girl named Raine on that smuggling ship to the mainland, without our permission. And she was a waterbender" like you, he didn't say. He detested it, and wasn't sure why nobody had done anything about it. Perhaps because of the impact the Avatar and his girl-friend had on Pakku.

He shrugged. "He was adjudged to me in the wrong by our chief and our council of elders. He was stripped of his male right. He is no longer allowed his normal male rights, and will be here until a parole agent steps in to re-educate him." Or, he thought, we find some way to offload him, which would be equally nice. He stared at the girl with his ice cold blue eyes. Offloading this one wouldn't be so bad either.

[chinagirl7594]

Lin's seemingly sweet exterior appeared to fade a bit at the way this man spoke to her. How rude, she thought. She didn't like the way he looked at her. It seemed as though he treated her like an immature child, someone who didn't deserve to have something or be in a certain position. That was the sort of taste she felt from his words, and she wanted to spit it back out at him in a wad of mucas. Literally.

"Ah, I see," she answered politely. She stood tall and had her hands folded at her abdomen. "Stripped of... male status?" She chuckled a little to herself. "It feels like my brother should be the one deserving that consequence. He's been in trouble too many times."

She shook her head. "Anyway. So, what exactly would it take to re-educate him? What kind of parole officer would even be willing to take in someone like him?"

[nakamura]

He grumbled at being forced to answer more questions. Forced? Maybe not. Maybe he should just ignore this girl. She was offensive, up front, and just downright against his beliefs! Girls should not speak like this! He looked up at her. "Well, obviously, nobody has yet taken him in. He is simply too far gone from our customs" as are you, he didn't say again. He gave a quick grimace, as if to indicate his own distaste of the prisoner. "At this point, I don't really care if we can re-educate him so long as he can do something helpful to society."

He looked over her. "Why are you asking? Has your father expressed interest in this?" The slight nudge, telling her that she was inferior, not fit for this conversation. Karpok had had just about enough of this girl. he didn't want anything to do with either of these two. So long as the boy was taken care of, and this girl's father could be counted on to keep her under control, it didn't matter what happened.

[chinagirl7594]

Lin's face lost all signs of sweetness or politeness. It hardened to become stern and serious. "My father fights in the war, if you must know," she began quietly. She had quiet enough with this man's rudeness, and she wasn't going to back down and take it. No, she wasn't like any other girl at all.

She leaned in a little closer. "He's out there, fighting so you can live a peaceful little life up here in the cold North Pole. He's fighting so that you won't be on your knees and forced to worship the Fire Lord. The only 'man' of our house is my brother, who happens to be in jail. Of course, we can't do anything about it until the council of elders decides what to do with him. For now, we are only under the male guidance of a neighbor, who does nothing much for us at all. Do you understand where I am coming from, sir?"

[nakamura]

Karpok grew angrier and angrier as he listened to her. How dare she speak to him like that? That little brat! Why hadn't her mother, or more, her father, taught her any manners? He was an old man, maybe, but his hair wasn't white yet. He didn't deserve this from a brat like her!

He leaned up and over the table. "Remember your place young lady! Don't speak to me like that." He glared daggers at her for a moment before settling back into his former position. "MANY of our men are away fighting in the war. It is up to our women to remember their places, remaining at home whilst they are away. And for now, your place is to watch over this boy." He pointed down the way, towards his cell. "It will get you BOTH out of my hair. Now GO!" He glared at her until she left.

What a troublesome girl. Why couldn't they all be good, nice tempered, like his wife? He rolled his eyes.

[chinagirl7594]

It made her angry that this man had told her off, and she was tempted to use the ice around her to an advantage. However, when her goal was achieved, she held back. She was now to watch over this boy, and he was to be wherever she was.

She hadn't asked her mother, or Kita for that matter, but they wouldn't mind. She hoped so, at least.

Lin's temper cooled as she traveled through the metal door and shut it with a slam. She took a deep breath to help herself calm down. As she walked down the hall, she thought a bit about what he had spat at her. He was right- many men fought in the war, and women had their responsibilities. However, she greatly disliked their positions. It felt as though they were complete slaves and far beneath men.

She strolled past her brother's cell and onto where she knew where the boy was. With another deep breath, she moved her hands downward and her feet apart. The ice bars melted into water.

When the hole was big enough for the boy to leave, Lin stood straight. "I talked with the man at the desk," she began. "He wanted to get rid of you, so he decided to dump you with me."

[nakamura]

Nakamura had been sleeping, but was awoken because of some yelling down the hall. It wasn't often people even spoke that loudly here. Were they laughing at him again? He stretched, yawning as he groggily scratched at the sleep in his blue eyes. No... no, that was definitely yelling.

Yes, yes, most definitely. Karpok was angry at some girl... that's what it sounded like. Who else could it be? It must be THAT girl. He looked up, hearing that it had ended. She must have left. Poor girl. Karpok was a grumpy old man, and he could get mean like that. He got up, stretching, and cracked his neck a bit, trying to loosen up. When he was done yawning again, however, he looked down to see the girl standing in front of his cell.

"I talked with the man at the desk...he wanted to get rid of you, so he decided to dump you with me."

He blinked, seeing that the bars were gone. She'd bended them away. He could have done the same, granted, but she really wasn't bad. He looked at her blankly for a moment, before running a hand through his long hair, and pulling it back into a wolf-tail. He took a deep breath, and looked up at her again.

"So, wait. Say that again? I can leave?" He grinned. This was awesome!

[chinagirl7594]

Lin chuckled a bit. "Yes, you can leave. Under my watch, of course. I don't know if it's allowed, but I don't think anyone really cares too much around here."

A slump was heard against the ice bars of the cells next to the boy's. "Hey!" Yuu whined. "What about me?"

"You get to stay here until further notice," she nearly sang. With her nose somewhat in the air, she walked past his cell and faced away from him.

"What!?" he yelled.

"You heard me loud and clear, dear brother," scoffed she. She felt victorious leaving him behind like this. Once again, she reminded herself that she was going to pay the consequences at his hands, but she didn't mind. The momentary aste of sweet revenge and victory was so sweet, she engulfed herself in it. She wore a wide smile of satisfactory as she made her way out the metal door. She looked over her shoulder and made sure that the boy was still following close behind. Her kyanite blue eyes had an almost devious gleam mixed with a sense of accomplishment, still leftover from her bask of glory over her troublesome brother.

[nakamura]

Nakamura followed her outside his cell, grabbing his green backpack first. This was a first since the Fire Nation had attacked the tribe earlier that year. He smiled at her brother as he walked past him. That guy was really a pain- when he did talk, he was loud, annoying, bratish. Kinda like this girl, except without the refreshing sarcasm inherent in her female psyche.

He jogged a bit to catch up with her as she passed through the metal doors into the sunshine. The sun! Even if it was in the clouds, it was nice to see it. It would be even nicer to see the other disk in the sky, the moon. It was going to be out later tonight.

He smiled up at it, and then back at the girl. A slight breeze rattled through him. It felt so nice. He closed his eyes a moment to enjoy it, before pulling up his hood to keep warm. "I never caught your name." He opened his eyes, looking at her for an answer.

[chinagirl7594]

Lin was thinking some as she walked out of the icy prison. What if her mother said no to accompanying this boy? What if Kita became paranoid, or talked her mother into not taking him in? She might have to bring him back behind bars if neither of them accepted. If they did accept, would they get in trouble for not even letting 'the man of their household' know? Technically, he did, he just didn't give the proper permission. He didn't know that it was his place to say something about it.

She turned around to face him. Gracefully, she walked backwards. "My name is Lin. If you call me anything else, it's most likely I won't appreciate it," she answered. "Sorry, but I've been truly annoyed with the way my sister and my brother make up so many nicknames for me. Don't call me 'Linny' especially. It bothers me."

Lin turned forward. "So what is your name?" she asked. She became a little bolder. "Tell me about yourself."

[nakamura]

Nakamura hardly heard the girl's questions, looking around at the city. The place was as bustling as ever. People seem to have ignored his being there, or at least didn't remember. Or perhaps they just didn't care anymore. That would be a treat.

Suddenly looking forward, he realized that she was still walking backwards, waiting for an answer. He smiled at her, and began his tale. He spoke in a half interested tone, not spinning it one way or the other aiming only for truth.

"Well, my name's Nakamura. I used to live about... well, actually." He pointed down the street, towards a midsized ice apartment. It was the same as he remembered it. He shrugged. "Anyway. I worked in a restaurant down that way" (he pointed off in another direction) "until I met a girl named Raine. She was kinda like you- she didn't heal, she actually bent water like most of the guys around here." He turned the corner with her. Lin uncannily did it as well.

"Anyway, her mother wanted me to take her away, so we snuck off together, and found a smuggling ship that was stocking back up. We got passage on that, and went to Zhy, in the Earth Kingdom... we got separated in a little, er... run in with some people." He sheepishly smiled, and looked back over towards the canal they were walking beside. "She's a big girl... so I figured she could take care of herself. Anyway, I started going east- I wanted to see Ba Seng Sei... but I got lost along the way, and ran into some water benders in the mountains in the earth kingdom. It was amazing, how they lived. Very smart people, very kind. I stayed with them for awhile, and I got homesick, with all the benders around, so you know, I came back." He looked back up at Lin, and spread his arms wide. "So here I am!" He grinned. "That's my story."

[chinagirl7594]

"Ah, I see," she answered. She pivoted her heels to face forward again. Lin tucked her hands into her sleeves. "My story's not boring, but it's not fun," she began. "Basically grew up with two siblings, both parents, and a grandma sort of figure. She's not really my grandma though. Anyway, you've already met one of my siblings. My knucklehead of an older brother is about three years older than me. Seventeen, to be specific. On the other hand, Ume is three years younger. She's a complete show-off at healing." Lin rolled her eyes.

"You'll meet her soon enough. My father is in the war, my mother is home and being more quiet than usual now that he's not around, and Kita, the grandma-figure I mentioned, just stays around with us. She came from the South Pole a long time ago."

Lin tossed her head in one direction to get some strands of her hair out of her eyes. Constantly, she had been scolded to pin them back, but she didn't bother. The last time she did this, it all just fell apart and fell back onto her face.

[nakamura]

Nakamura followed along behind her, listening to her story. It sounded like she bickered with her family almost as much as she had with the prison man... what a headstrong girl. Her father was off in the war- that was something to be proud of. His own father was just a merchant- a man who conveniently paraded about principles of the Northern Tribe, but didn't ever defend them himself. Nakamura shook his head, to go back to listening to Lin.

Her family sounded, if dysfunctional, at least nice. To have a family that loved you to some extent must be nice. He smiled sadly up at her. "Well, at least you have a family." He frowned then. Thinking about her grandmother...

"Hey, how did your grandmother make it across the Earth Kingdom!? And how come she's not in jail?!" He sighed. "Go figure." How come old women got off easy? He grimaced at his own thoughts, but he was frustrated by it.

[chinagirl7594]

Lin's eyebrows furrowed at his small outburst. She slowed down to walk beside him. "She left the South pole a long time ago, like I said. For all I know, they probably didn't put her in jail because she's not an original citizen from here."

Now that she thought about it, how did Kita come to the North? Did she travel through the Earth Kingdom, or did she go completely around by sea? Perhaps it was an interrogation to bring up later.

"They tell me that you've been stripped of your male rights," she continued. She tried to hide a little smirk, as this thought did not cease to amuse her. Perhaps she could take that status to her advantage. She wished that such a consequence could be brought upon her brother. Finally, freeing herself a bit from her malevolent and mischievous thoughts, she looked up at him again. "And what happened to your family?"