Wandering Firebender

Fourty: The Coward

Elio opened up the front door of his house and walked inside feeling tired and worn out. He set his stuff down by the door and yawned, rubbing his eyes. Sri, who was already in comfortable clothing, came over to see him.

"Hey, Elio. Were you working late or something?" Sri asked curiously. Elio shook his head.

"No. I just got held up with this delivery in the Upper Ring. There was this Kyoshi Warrior who...I guess liked me? Or she was just looking for someone to spend an afternoon with." He briefly explained.

"Oh? What's a Kyoshi Warrior?" Sri asked with an odd expression.

"They're a...uh...well that's not important. Point is she's the reason why I was so late. I didn't worry you, did I?" He asked. She shook her head.

"No not really. I know you can take of yourself and all that...well maybe just a little worried." She said, closing one eye and smiling a little.

"Heheh, well I'm all good. I'm beat though. I had to take some heat from Mr. Fo for being so late. I mean, he did tell me to do whatever I was told when I got there. I just didn't think it would take all day." He chuckled tiredly.

"Right, of course. Well you have the day off tomorrow, right?"

"Yep yep. So I'm gonna sleep in. See you tomorrow?"

"Yep! Hey, are we still gonna check out that mall on the east side?" Sri reminded him.

"Oh yeah! Sure! I have some money saved up." Elio agreed with a smile.

"Great! I think it'll be fun! Maybe we can find you a nice bona fide Earth Kingdom outfit." She teased, tapping his arm with her fist. Elio chuckled and shook his head.

"Maybe. Green might be my color, who knows?" He said lightly as he made his way to his room.

"Guess we'll find out tomorrow! Night!" Sri waved to him.

"Night, Sri." Elio said before closing the door behind him. He took a little time to stretch before showering, laying in bed, and relaxing before going to sleep...

Elio felt a shift in his bed that woke him up. He sat up alert, brushing his hair out of his eyes. He got up out of bed, grabbing a candle and his staff. He pressed his thumb and forefinger over the wick of the candle and made a snapping motion to ignite it.

Holding both items, one in each hand, he stepped out of his bedroom and quietly made his way through the house. Perhaps his concern was just paranoia, but he was certain that the shift he'd felt was bending. He recognized the feeling from his numerous encounters with earthbenders.

He looked around the house but saw nothing. He sighed and turned back towards his bedroom, but then looked at Sri's door. He made his way to the bedroom door and knocked on it lightly.

"Hey, Sri? You awake?" He asked quietly.

Suddenly, he felt something slam into his arm, wrapping around it and pulling him back. Elio shook his arm free with a grunt and turned, crouching down. Something whizzed over his head as he spotted a man in the shadows earthbending at him.

Elio threw his candle at the man and rolled forward, taking hold of his staff with both hands. As the man got ready to earthbend again, Elio swatted his hand with the staff. He spun closer and elbowed him in the back of the head before turning and chi blocking him twice with two quick right jabs.

The man collapsed to the ground with a yell. Elio quickly got on top of the man, pressing his knee down on the man's chest, "Who are you?! What do you want?!" Elio demanded.

"You're under arrest...firebender." The man spat at him. Elio's eyes widened and he got up, looking towards the door.

The front door burst open and two more earthbenders barged in, shooting stones at him. Elio rolled to the side to dodge them, backing up forcefully and bursting through Sri's bedroom door back first. She gasped and sat up in bed as he came crashing in.