[Remis] Morning Meditation

[Ira Azariath]

Even if the sun was still low in the sky, it was shaping up to be a very warm day in Republic City. It was not that the warmth bothered Ira, she just wanted to meditate in peace.

The reason why she had not stayed at Air Temple Island for her meditation was very simple. She had needed a change of scenery. As much as she loved the island, she also liked the city quite a lot, in particular the park.

That was why she found herself walking towards a secluded corner of the park, her bag slung over her shoulder. In her bag, she had five candles that she used for meditation, and she reminded herself that she would soon need to go buy some new ones as the ones she was using now was almost burned out.

She would have to take care of that later, but for now, she needed to meditate.

When she found a spot that was ideal for her meditation, she set the candles out in a half circle and lit them using her fire bending. Next, she dropped her now empty bag on the ground next to the candles and sat down in the meditative posture which her mentor had taught her to use.

The fire of the candles immediately responded to her breathing, growing bigger and smaller in time with it. Ira really tried to let her mind roam free, but she found herself unable to do it. Her thoughts kept returning to the man she had met the other day in the training gym, which was really quite silly, considering hey had only had one conversation and had just met.

With a small sigh, she tried to shake herself out of her daydreams and focus on her meditation, but with minimal success. The reason why she had decided to go to the park this early to meditate was that she knew it would be mostly empty, and she liked it like that. As much as she liked the city life, she was a loner by nature, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

Ever since she had left the fire nation village she had grown up in, she had been alone. During the three years she had spend living on the streets of Republic City, she had had no one to rely on but herself, and that had made her strong. It had made her who she was today.

Back home in the village, she had been the only fire bender around, and it had made her feel like an outcast. The only other fire bender to have ever lived in the small village was her grandfather, and he had passed away long before she had even been born, so there had been no one to teach her about her bending.

She had learned a lot of what she knew about her bending on the streets, and she had not started her formal training until she was sixteen years old. That was when she had met her mentor, and well... the rest was history.

Finally, she managed to get into the right state of mind to start meditating properly, so that was what she did.

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.

[Remis Baguazhang]

The light shimmered down through the leaves of the trees effortlessly. Though Remis would never admit to having any kind of sentimental attachment to nature, he did feel... intertwined with the beauty of the park. On a level he could not express, he felt as if his soul was connected to the elements of the world. His pursuit of wealth was his fire, and his stubborn resolve to not let anyone get in his was earth. His desire for unrelenting freedom was air, and his cold rationale was water. Perhaps benders weren't so bad by nature- rather, they just did not understand what their "bending" was truly doing. In essence, they were manipulating the very fabric of their soul. Remis wondered what he would have been like had he inherited the ability to bend.

And then he went back to being his usual self.

What do we have here...? Remis turned his green orbs farther down the path. Not too far from hit sat a (fairly) young woman doing... Well, what was she doing? A semicircle of candles that she had arranged around herself had flames that were growing... and shrinking... and growing... A firebender as an acolyte? That's not something you see every day...

The man strolled over nonchalantly and sat down across from the meditating woman. He didn't say anything for awhile, but rather just watched her as she casually forced herself into a trance. It was quite an entertaining sight to the black-haired man, who had never actually seen an acolyte in public. There were a million questions he could ask and probably receive just as many different answers. The information that was at stake here was like no other. Remis could just feel himself getting excited. After many moments, he thought of many philosophical questions he could ask.

Instead, however, he posed a much more vulgar one. "I suppose you're a virgin?"

[Ira Azariath]

Ira kept up her breathing pattern, letting the flames grow and shrink in size in sync with her breath. This was one of the first things she had learned under the instructions of the older air acolyte who had taken her in all those years ago, and to this day, she had always made sure to meditate at least once a day.

In her opinion, meditating was a great way to start the day. It helped one clear ones mind and focus on the day ahead, and it was quite relaxing too.

Now that she had been meditating for a while, she found it easier to do it, and she was none too happy when she was suddenly interrupted by a stranger who sat down in front of her. However, for the time being, she decided to just ignore him and continue her meditation as if nothing had happened.

Ira had always been a loner by nature, and she had no problems ignoring whoever was sitting in front of her until the person decided to ask her a very personal and quite vulgar question.

"Excuse me?!" she blurted out, torn between disbelief at his question and indignation that he would ask said question so casually. The flames of the candles immediately reacted to her outburst by suddenly growing to ten times their normal size, and when they had returned to their original size, Ira shot the younger man a venomous glare.

"That would be none of your business!" she huffed angrily, still glaring daggers at the man. Great, now she might as well give up any attempt at meditating. At least while he was around. It was obvious, given the fact that he had already been sitting in front of her for some time now that he wasn't just going to leave like that, so she just kept glaring at him, her arms crossed in front of her.

Really, what kind of question was that?