THE EARTHBENDER

The Earthbender chapter 2

Zaofu

The city of metal as it was known, Zaofu was once called the home of The Metal Clan. The famous Suyin Beifong had been one of its founders. She was known for her vision and her creative use of metalbending, which was a subskill of earthbending. Although many cities in the word today had metal structures and buildings, Zaofu was the first to do this. Many years ago it had suffered a period of unrest in which a great battle took place between the dictator Kuvira, the Beifong clan, and Avatar Korra.

Rin navigated his way through the bustling streets of the city, avoiding the citizens whom all seemed to be in a rush, such was life in the city. He kept his face concealed with the hood of his light green jacket. He didn't think that anyone would recognise him anyway but it was a precaution nonetheless. He heard a rumbling screech and looked up. He was on the ground level of the city but above him was a network of trams, which people used to get around. Zaofu was much larger now than it had been sixty years ago. The sun was shining brightly, creating a glare on the metal structures. It blinded him momentarily and he bumped into someone, knocking over the bags they were carrying.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" the stranger shouted at him.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't see," said Rin, rubbing his eyes. His vision returned and he looked at the stranger. It was a woman. She bent down and started picking up her things. Her briefcase had opened and all the papers had fallen out. "Let me help you," he said again. He knelt on the ground and began to gather the papers.

"Ugh! You've done enough," she replied, pulling the papers away from him.

"I'm really sorry, I couldn't see."

"Then maybe you should get some glasses," she said. The young woman looked up at him.

Rin's eyes widened slightly. She was posh but in beautiful kind of way. Her hair was long and flowing, raven in colour. Her skin was pale but healthy and her eyes were green going to yellow. She had red voluptuous lips and wore a slight amount of makeup, making her look older than she probably was. As for her clothing, she wore a maroon power suit with a white frilly shirt under her coat. A silver necklace ran down from her neck.

"It was the glare from the buildings. It blinded me," said Rin. He collected some of the papers that were nearest to him and gave them to her, along with a goofy, apologetic smile.

"What kind of bozo looks at metal buildings in the daylight?" she looked at him again. Her eyes moved up and down, scanning his attire. She noticed that it was rural, aside from his green hoody. "You're not from around here are you?" her voice was smooth yet powerful at the same time.

"No I just came here today," he answered.

"Well, I guess I was in a bit of a rush too. I wasn't looking where I was going either." She packed the papers back into her briefcase and they both stood up together. "My name is Lia," she said, extending a hand.

"Rin," he replied, taking her hand and shaking it.

He gave another goofy smile at her. She smiled slightly too. Then she turned away and bent down again to pick up her many bags.

"That's a lot of bags, where were you in such a hurry to anyway?" he asked her.

"A business meeting in that tall building over there," she pointed to a building about a hundred metres away, on the next level.

"Is it important?"

"It's business, of course it is," she replied, snappily.

"Let me help you again. I'll carry your bags for you," said Rin.