[Open] Me, Myself and I

[Peng Biao Nuan]

'Mreow'

.......

'Mreow!'

.........

'Hiss! Mreow!'

The none too happy noises coming from the Pygmy Puma did not pass by the boy's ears. Peng sighed softly as he turned and looked down at his small feline companion. "I know Aya. Your hungry. So am I. I'm working on the food part. Just be patient." the young Earth bender gave a soft sigh as the two of them wandered around the park like area. Or at least he assumed it was a park. It could have been someone's yard for all he knew. But that was crazy....wasn't it?

Oh who was he even kidding!? He didn't know where he was going to get food! He didn't even know where the hell he was. Well specifics talking here. He knew in general where he was. Though he had only been in Republic City for a grand total of about twenty-four hours now....he was as lost as ever now! The place was huge. Unlike anything he had ever seen before. Hmmm perhaps he shouldn't have stowed away on that ship. Oh well. Too late now. But it still didn't change the fact that he didn't know anyone....didn't trust anyone enough to know them...and so he was on his own in this big, huge city full of people...and he was sunk!

He had been doing nothing but wandering around for said hours now with no luck...at anything! The two of them still had no food...not much water to speak of and no place to crash out in. Peng sighed again (which in effect blew some of his shaggy hair away from his eyes) as his shoulders slumped forward. He didn't know what to do!

Then suddenly a mighty splashing noise was heard. Peng gasped softly as he turned with a start and saw that Aya had taken a head first dive into the pond. After a fish no doubt. "Aya....no! Come back here you crazy cat." he hissed softly trying not to garner anyone's attention. He was sure that there was some no fishing signs around here somewhere (he hadn't seen any personally--but he wasn't a very lucky being in that aspect). And it would just be his luck for his animal to be illegally fishing somewhere.

But of course the puma was drive n by hunger...as he was...and wasn't listening to a word Peng was saying. The boy once again sighed...something he was doing a lot of lately. "Aya....come on...." he sighed softly as he took off his shirt and began to wade into the pond.

Just his evening....

[Kalanni]

Kalanni's belly growled as she walked up to the lake. Her loyal polar dog, Nasa, walked by her side. She got the feeling that Nasa was just as hungry as she was. They had had no food for about a day, and all they had to live on was the water Kalanni had bent from the humid Republic City air. Kalanni smiled, glad of her gift of waterbending. If I couldn't waterbend, I don't know where I'd be right now.

Kalanni walked knee-deep into the lake, Nasa right behind her. She hoped her light blue dress would blend into the lake, she knew that fishing was illeagal and she didn't want to get arrested for it. If she did, she wouldn't have any way out of prison. Heck, no one would ever know that she would have ended up there. She had run away from home, from the parents that had never loved nor noticed her.

Focusing her undivided attention on the lake, Kalanni concentrated on the small ripples in the water. She could feel every movement made, every splash and current, every rock and bit of seaweed. She almost lost herself in her waterbending, until she remembered her mission. She focused, and waterbent a small bubble out of the water. There was a little fish splashing about in it, trying to get out. Kalanni's mouth watered at the sight of food. She didn't want to let her catch escape, so she gently froze the outside lf the bubble, covering it with ice, so that the fish would have no way out. She brought the ice-encased bubble towards her, and let the fish drop into her hands.

Kalanni looked down at her companion, and saw that Nasa had caught her own fish, and had it clamped in her jaws. She held back a giggle, and ran back to the lakeshore, hoping no one had noticed her or her polar dog. Taking a few twings and and couple of rocks, she started a fire, and roasted the fish over it. It took a lot for her to resist the delicious smells coming from the fish, and just gobble it down while it was cooking.

What stopped Kalanni was a splashing sound at the other side of the lake. She spotted a cat fishing, and a boy wading in the water after it. What does he think he's doing? He's going to attract the police, making that kind of noise!

Suppressing a sigh, Kalanni got up, and walked away from her wonderfully smelling meal. "Stay here, girl," she said to Nasa. She then ran inside the lake and soundlessly dove into the water, swimming over to the boy and his cat.

[Kalanni]

Emerging for a breath, Kalanni almost sighed with relief as her lungs were filled with the strength to go on. In the split second she had to blink open her eyes, something attracted their attention. They spotted about a fifty-year-old man, or at least she thought that by the way he looked. Something told her that she would need to worry about him later. She really didn't want to attract attention, to herself and the boy. If the police came, then they boy would probably get in rouble for possesing something that was illegally fishing. And I would get arrested for fishing. And then Mom and Dad might pay bail, which would mean that I might have to go back to that hellhole of a home. And I can't let that happen.

Worry about that later. Right now focus on the task at hand, Kalanni's mind told her. She dove back into the water, a small bubble of air engulfing her head, as to allow her the ability to breathe. She opened her sea-blue eyes wide, and looked around, in search of the noisy boy and his cat.

Spotting a pygmy puma up ahead, Kalanni was gievn a boost of strength at the though that she was about to accomplish part of her goal. The pygmy puma stood out in the water like blood on a battlefield. It contrasted with the water around it, but it was almost as if it were meant to be there.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Kalanni swam over to it. She could see that it was...fishing? She almost laughed, but she held in her bursts of giggles as her light-skinned hand reached out for the little feline.

[Peng Biao Nuan]

It took a few moment of mindless wading before Peng slowed down and began to get quieter in his swimmings and all that jazz. In his haste to make sure his cat didn't get into trouble, he didn't think about he himself getting into trouble. He could only hope that his few moments of mindless ambling wasn't enough to catch anyone's attention--especially the police. Even if he had though--he supposed he wouldn't have been too worried. He wasn't a bad guy...he didn't have anything to hide, but still--being arrested was not his idea of a fun...anything.

And so he was now as quiet as could be now. Which wasn't very much to be honest. He had never been taught the finer art of swimming. And so he wasn't the most graceful nor the strongest swimmer ever. But hey--he was trying. And that was what counted! Right? Right. He tensed up as he saw the girl and her polar dog approaching. His natural tendency to be suspicious growing as he saw the girl entering the water. A barrage of questions ran through his mind. Who was that? What was she doing here? What did she want? Oh please don't tell him that she was going to yell at him. Please. Please. Please. That was the last thing he wanted nor needed. I mean heck, this wasn't his fault here! He was simply trying to corral his feline. That was all. Nothing more and nothing less.

If he was going to get into trouble over something as simple as that, then he wasn't even sure what he was doing in this city anymore. I mean he wasn't even sure why he had come here to start with!

'Hiss. Growl. Hiss.'

He was thrown out of his mental tangent as he heard his pygmy puma growling as hissing...obviously at someone. Wait--what?! Oh crap! He looked around...it wasn't that hard to spot the jet black feline among the pure blue water. And Aya was swimming away from the girl who he had seen just moments before. Aya was never good was strangers--just like her human. And the sight of the stranger's hand coming towards her freaked her out. She immediately swam behind Peng, both of her front paws clinging to the boy's shoulders as the feline stared at the girl. Its eyes were slightly narrowed and a low nearly inaudible growl was rumbling in its stomach.

Peng couldn't help but mentally face palm. Great. Now he had to talk to the other. To apologize for his cat's anti-social behavior. Aya was always the thing that made him socialize more then he wanted to. This could be a good thing he guessed. But he wasn't seeing the good in it at the moment. He turned towards the other with a sheepish laugh, "Sorry about that. Aya isn't good with strangers. I promise she won't bite though.' 'And if she does, I will personally strangle her.' he thought the last part as he then waited for the other to reply.

Hopefully she wouldn't be too mad. Right? Ehh we could hope...

[[OOC: So, so sorry for the wait y'all. Things got insane there for the last week or so. Anyways...Peng hasn't noticed Kenzin yet. He's only talking to Kalanni.]]

[Kalanni]

[okay, glad you're back! ^.^]

"It's okay," Kalanni replied, giggling. "But I think it might be the smell of polar dog on me. I don't think most cats are accustomed to dogs very much. She turned back, and smiled as she saw Nasa sitting safely on the lakeshore. She looked around, turning her head. Oh, I hope the police didn't hear any of this. Or we're all goners.

"Hey, there, little fella," Kalanni cooed gently, looking at Aya. Very slowly she began to stretch her arm out to her. "It's okay, I won't bite.

"You know," Kalanni began to say. "It's not a very good idea to make noise around here. If the police sees anyone fishing, then they immediately arrest them, no questions asked. Believe me, I've seen it happen multiple times to people around here. It's always a good idea to stay away from trouble like that. Just keep quiet, and stay unnoticed. That's how you stay safe around here, she continued advising. "Just stay out of everyone's way, and do not, ever, under any circumstances, fish in here while making so much noise."

As Kalanni's feet continued noiselessly swimming around in the water, keeping her above it. Ten years of practicing waterbending at the lake had given her practice at keeping to the shadows, unnoticed by any snooping eyes. As the seaweed that swayed at the lake floor tickled her feet, she felt power surge through her. The water in the lake made her feel at home, unstoppable.

"So...are you from around here? Kalanni asked, trying to start a conversation.

[Peng Biao Nuan]

Peng nodded. That could probably be what was wrong. He shrugged slightly. Or as much as one could shrug with feline paws on your shoulders, "Could be. We've never seen a polar dog before." he said with a tilt of his head as he looked over at the large canine. As odd as it may have sounded--he was being totally honest here. He hadn't seen anything like that before. As a matter of fact--he had never seen any animal that wasn't native to the Earth Kingdom. And polar dogs were certainly not native to where he used to live. And so that was his theory. For now anyways.

She began to speak and his expression turned flat as he lightly scoffed. It took a good deal of self control not to roll his eyes as well. Oh come on! You had to be kidding him?! She thought she was advising but in reality he felt like she was lecturing him. Don't do this and don't do that. Getting arrested. Illegal to fish. What?! Part of him was confused at all of the information being thrown at him all at once. His brain scrambling to process all of it. And the other part of him was indignant. He appreciated the gesture--but he wasn't a child! And she wasn't his mother!

"Oh prey tell. Surely you didn't come in just to lecture me now." he said bristling slightly. Aya was still half way onto his shoulders. The feline didn't budge as the girl tried making friends with her. The young man then figured it would be best to get out while he could. It wasn't long before he was on shore, Aya by his side shaking the water out of her fur and Peng himself putting his shirt back on.

She asked where he was from and there was a pause. Where was he from? ... He didn't want to talk about it. Never had, never will. A pang of guilt hit his heart. He didn't want to think about what had happened.

He simply shrugged, "No place you've probably heard of. I came to Republic City early yesterday morning. Still finding my way around." he said simply.

Cause that was all he wanted to say. All he wanted to give her. That wasn't too bad...right? Right....