two ; tour guide

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The inexplainable chilling feeling was back. In full force. Electricity trailing up and down his spine. 

Raiu had figured out who exactly the honoured guests were — it was none other than the avatar. A small little kid, and a head shorter than him, with large ears and sporting a silly grin.

A hundred years old? He must have aged well. Or backwards.

The hairs on the back of his arms were standing, his heart was racing and his toes were clenched inside his fur lined boots (not that anyone would've noticed).

"If you want to relax, then I suggest visiting a tropical island. If not, I'll see you both at sunrise." Master Paku had called him over to get acquainted with the avatar. "Ah there you are Raiu. Avatar, this is my student. He's still a bit shabby and tough to get a hold of, but he'd make an alright guide for your stay in the North."

"Nice to meet you! I'm Aang!"

"Oh hey there... senior? I'm Raiu, your new tour guide? I just live around here." Raiu was still under the impression that Aang was years older than he looked. "I guess I'll be accompanying you guys for the next few days. Feel free to ask me for anything. Or not, I'm fine with not helping too."

That earned him a whack on the back of his head with a water whip from Paku.

As Cheif Arnook and Paku left, the conversation between Raiu and Aang eased into light-hearted banter and the common get-to-knows.

"You're insanely good at water bending!" Aang praised him, still impressed by the performance. "You got to show how you did the last trick at the end."

"Oh it's pretty simple. Just twist your wrist like so, and your pinky and middle finger like this. And then whoosh, snow plus glitter." Raiu explained matter-of-factly, dead serious. And of course, Aang didn't get it, but gushed all the same.

"You have to see Katara, she's definitely a huge fan now after your crazily skilled performance." Aang dragged him over to the food laden table at the centre where Katara and Sokka sat along with Yue.

"Katara? Sokka? Raiu." Aang made a quick work of the introductions. "Raui? Katara. Sokka."

"Let's make it clear first, are you a girl or boy? Cause honestly, I could make an exception for you." Sokka flirted, in the absence of Yue.

"I'm a dude." Raiu deadpanned with a raised eyebrow. "But I do swing both ways, I could take you up on that offer."

"If only Yue could take me up on that offer..." And then he slumped over, drunk out of his mind.

"Sokka! Ignore him, he must have had too much to drink." Raiu nodded in understanding. Katara continued, "It's so nice to meet such a talented person, I've never imagined bending water the way you do."

"Really? My favourite part of the performance was the ending pose... because that meant it was over." Raiu sagged into the floor cushion opposite the trio. 

"Yeah! We're almost tempted to ask you to be our water bending master instead."

"Water bending master?" Raiu was confused, "Hasn't it already been a hundred years, you've yet to master all the four elements?"

"Oh... there's a long story to it." Aang mumbled out.

"And the night is young. Sounds like a better story than the ancient history of the North Pole."

Aang and Katara then started recounting their journey up till this point. From the beginning at the North Pole, to their little side quests in Kyoshi Island, Omashu, the Gorge and even the Fire Nation. Sokka woke up at some point and started adding in his own little details about how the Fire Nation's Prince Zuko had been hot on their tails since the very beginning — with his little pony tail on top his bald head.

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