OOC: Here's Jizu's profile if you haven't already seen it.

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Jizu was reading a book at the front desk again. His uncle had told him before it wasn't wise to do so, as he'd need to pay attention to customers. Jizu thought that foolish, the door had bell! He thought he'd notice if a customer went through the door. During a recent encounter, however, he was proven wrong, as a customer had entered, and had to wait for Jizu to look up from his book.

As such, Jizu decided that he'd balance reading and customer watching, by taking 60 second intervals after each paragraph to see if somebody was going to enter the store. He hadn't gotten a chance to see if it worked so far, as no customers had entered recently. (Though, it's entirely possible that one had come and gone in the time it took Jizu to read a paragraph, but Jizu was a fast reader, so he thought not.) However, during one of those 60 second intervals he heard a loud *Thud* at the door. He doubted it was someone knocking, as it was a public store, was someone throwing rocks?

Irritated, Jizu placed his book down and stood from his desk, making his way to the front door. Opening it, he found a short statured girl in what appeared to be water-tribe attire, with a rather nasty bruise on her head, on the ground, in front of the store. Jizu ducked under the door frame of the store, and leaned his back on the wall next to the door with his arms crossed.

He looked down at the girl and in a deep, apathetic, voice, addressed her. "Is there anything I can help you with?" Intended or not, he had a way of saying 'can I help you?' that sounded like 'Go jump off a bridge.'

Reina looked up to see a boy of rather impressive height looking down at her. Wow, isn't he happy? Reina thought to herself. She began to dust herself off and look around to see if anyone else had noticed her little mishap other than the bookstore clerk. "Um, no, not really. I was just... Testing the door for a weakness," Reina joked as she tried desperately to save a little face. As she put her hand to her forehead she winced a little at the pain from the fresh bruise. Without thinking she used some water from her pouch to heal it.
She then froze, hoping the boy wouldn't react the way the woman had when she saw her bending. "I'm really sorry I ran in to your shop," She muttered. Reina blushed a little as she looked up and noticed that the boy was still looking fairly exasperated with her. Reina stuck out her hand in a feeble attempt to change what was going to be an awful first impression of her. "My name is Reina, I'm from the Southern Water Tribe. I just arrived in town a few hours ago." She flashed a smile at him and tried to look a little more presentable than she felt, hoping that his demeanor would soften. 

Jizu narrowed his eyes at Reina's joke, but shook her hand nonetheless."It shows." He gave the best attempt at a firm handshake that the un-calloused hands of a bookworm could muster. "My name is Jizu, and I am obligated by the possibility of you being a potential customer to say it is nice to meet you, Reina." He looked back at the front door of his uncles shop, then back to her. "...and don't worry about the door, it seems to have hold up better than your head did." When Reina bent water to heal herself, Jizu's eyes followed the water with curiosity, but if he had any sort of problem with it, he didn't express it verbally.

Jizu tried his best to alleviate his glare, seeing as she seemed to be nice enough, if not the most clever. But without any sort of motivation, such as her making it clear that she wanted to buy something, he didn't have a real reason to smile back at her.

Reina giggled at his reply as she tried not to overpower his handshake. "Well, I don't actually have money, but I'm glad you're obligated to be nice to me," She joked. Reina glanced back up guessing at how tall he could be. She felt back up to her forehead and noticed that the pain was nearly completely gone from where she had used her bending. For a brief moment she looked into Jizu's eyes and while she still felt a like he didn't want to talk to her he seemed a little less off putting. "Speaking of money, I'm in need of a job, anywhere around here hiring?" She inquired, hoping to keep him for some conversation. Perhaps his knowledge of the city would help her navigate her first day there. 

"Not the bookstore, it's a family business. As for other places..." Jizu put a hand to his chin, as he often does when he thinks. After a moment of zoning out, Jizu replies. "The only things that come to mind for me right now is the police force, or one of the host clubs. Other than that, I can't think of anything specific, sorry. I don't really get out as much as I should." Jizu was about to head inside, until something Reina said clicked in his head. "Wait a minute, you, a water bender, just arrived in Republic City with no money, no job, no place to stay, and no idea where anything is!?"Jizu didn't want to think she was that reckless, but all signs were pointing in that direction.

Reina opened her mouth and then she hesitated. She needed to choose the right words and avoid making a fool of herself again. She briefly closed her eyes and tried to center herself. "It's not as rash as you make it sound," She responded curtly. Or maybe it is? He is right I have nothing. Her mind briefly drifted back to the police force and she entertained the thought of getting a job there. "I mean, I didn't belong in the Northern or Southern Water Tribes." Reina took a step forward towards Jizu and her eyes glanced up to his. "I needed to leave my tribe to be my own person. It sounds stupid and irrational but I didn't have any options there." Reina turned around and looked down the street. "Could you show me where the police station is? I'd like to see about working there. I want to protect people."



(Ooc) I'll be back on tomorrow morning when I respond again. It's late here. 

Jizu recovered from the surprise of hearing Reina's situation and explained himself. "Well, it's just that it's really not safe in a lot of parts in the city, what with benders being targeted, and triads going about as they please. It's just a little off-putting to think... " Jizu gave an exasperated sigh. "Never mind, I can show you to the police station, though I doubt you'll be starting a job today. It's also a bit of a walk." Jizu closes the door to the shop, and once again he puts his hand to his chin, making what could be called his thinking face. After a moment he snaps back to reality. "Right, I remember! The station should be this way." He begins a walk towards the police station, and gestures for Reina to follow him.

Reina walked beside Jizu down the street. Due to his height she was having to walk twice as fast to keep up with him. As they continued down the street Reina noticed that there was not as many people in this area of the city. "Why is it less busy here?" She asked Jizu as she thought about the fact that this was the most quiet her day had been. Reina looked around at the buildings and wondered how much more they would have to walk until they reached the station. This part of the city even felt different. It seemed as if people wouldn't want to pass through here or to crowd the streets shopping like they had earlier in the day.

Suddenly Reina felt as if she were being watched. As if something or someone was burning their eyes into her back. She glanced behind her and noticed no one other than a few people standing on the sidewalks and about the buildings and alleyways. "Hey... Do you feel like were being watched?" Reina whispered as she continued to look around. She couldn't see anybody following them or looking their way, but she still had the ominous feeling that it wasn't something to ignore. She kept her guard up and looked around some more but she couldn't see anyone that looked as if they would cause trouble. She also didn't see anyone else that appeared to be a bender. 

He shuddered at Reina's query, were they being watched? Now that she said it, he couldn't shake the feeling. "Yes, I do feel it, but standing around and talking about it won't make it any better. We should hurry." Jizu picked up his pace, trying to make his way to the police station. Jizu wasn't any sort of fighter, he hadn't gotten into a fight since he was thirteen. Since then he did everything in his power to avoid getting into any sort of pointless scuffle. Unfortunately, he also neglected really learning how to defend himself.

Reina picked up her pace as well, trying her hardest to keep up with Jizu. As they made it further down the street Reina began to notice two men in dark outfits behind them. She didn't want to alarm Jizu but she was ready to use her bending if she needed to. As they kept moving she noticed the men were picking up their pace as well, trying to close the distance. Reina felt as if she needed to break into a run but she didn't want anymore attention drawn to them. "Jizu," She said in a hushed tone. "Those men are following us, we need to watch our backs."

Reina didn't think they were benders and the brief thought crossed her mind that perhaps they had some sort of problem with her. Reina suddenly grabbed Jizu's sleeve and pulled him sharply into a nearby bar. She noticed that the men didn't follow inside but she had a feeling that they were going to be waiting when they left. "We need an exit strategy, probably down a different street," She remarked to Jizu as she leaned against a wall. "What do you suggest?" 

"I suggest!-" Jizu snatched his arm away. "That you don't pull at me like that again!" He sounded very irritated but forced himself to get over it. He took a deep breath before responding. "Maybe this bar has a side exit or something, but that might bring us into an alleyway, and into a trap." He sighed, and took a seat, and started rubbing his head as if he had a headache. "Other than that, all I can think of doing is waiting them out here, unless you have something else in mind." He put a hand to his chin, once again forming his thinking face. "They appeared to be just some random stalkers, muggers maybe, looking for an easy target. They probably do't have too much motivation to just wait for us for too long."

Reina frowned at his tone. "I could just duck in here next time without you," She hissed. She turned the other way and crossed her arms. Men. So ungrateful. Reina looked around the bar and couldn't see any visible side exits. The only other option they had was to wait and hope the men were just a couple of common thugs. Reina was confident in her ability to get away from them but if they had any serious hand to hand skills it wouldn't be easy. "Maybe we could walk out with the next group that leaves?" Reina suggested as she turned back to Jizu. "They'd be less likely to notice us that way if they decided to stick around." As Reina looked at Jizu her mind briefly drifted away from the situation at hand.

He didn't look happy. In fact, he seemed abnormally unhappy. Maybe that was just the way he presented himself? But Reina felt as if she needed to smooth things over. He hadn't once smiled or made friendly conversation the entire time they had walked together. He really just answered her when she asked a question. He made her think of her family in the Northern Water Tribe. So stone faced and serious. Her uncle was a lot like him actually. Tall, unnecessarily abrupt and he never seemed to be interested in other people.

Reina shook herself free of her brief thoughts. She needed to focus on the situation at hand. There was no way to know who those two men were, they may be a few street thugs or they may be some of the equalists that had been causing trouble in the city. Either way, her and Jizu had to leave and keep going to the police station. There would be plenty of safety there and they could give Jizu a ride home. As Reina pondered the possibilities she noticed the two men walk through the bar's door with a small group. Reina's heart nearly leaped into her throat. She froze, bracing herself for a confrontation.  

Jizu seemed to be a little taken back that Reina took offense so easily. Was his discontent with this situation, really that hard to understand!? Then again, she is right, she didn't have to pull him in here, and what would he have done if if he was being followed alone?... Jizu sighed again, this time apologetically. "I'm sorry, I just don't handle pressure very well, it's just that I don't go outside very often, so I don't really know what to do when-." Jizu was about to continue, but he saw Reina freeze up. "What's wrong, Reina?" It took him a moment longer to look where Reina was looking, and he followed her example of freezing. "Oh, no..."

The two men that were following Reina and Jizu looked around for a moment before spotting Reina. Reina quickly grabbed Jizu's arm and pulled him into a crowd of people that were huddled around a radio, listening to a pro-bending game. "Stay close to me," She whispered as she continued pulling him through. "I'm going to create a diversion once they get close to us and then we'll run out the front. With any luck we can find a police officer before they realize we've left." Reina walked a few feet from the edge of the crowd and let go of Jizu's arm. As the men came closer one of them reached for Reina. Before he could grab her she lifted her arms up and down in a fluid motion until large streams of water spilled around the mens' feet. Suddenly Reina froze the water for a brief moment and the men tumbled into the crowd. As the men fell into the crowd punches began to fly. Her plan had worked, the bar patrons thought the men were pushing them. Reina took the opportunity to grab Jizu and run. As they ran out of the bar Reina began to loosen her grip on Jizu. When they made it about a block away from the bar she slowed down to a walk. She looked over at Jizu and sighed. "Are you alright?" She wondered who the men were and why they came into the bar but for now they had to find an officer before they could figure anything else out.

When the two of them were finally outside, Jizu let out a breath he seemed to have been holding for awhile. "Just..." He fell back and leaned on the nearest wall, a hand placed on his head to sooth what was now his pounding headache. "Just give me a moment, I don't believe I've been in such an... intense situation before." It seemed as if Jizu was trembling a bit... okay a lot. He stood from the wall and looked back to Reina. It seemed as if though he regained his solemn demeanor over his panicked one, though his hands were still trembling. "We should hurry to the police station, or at this point, to any police officer."

Reina looked over Jizu quickly. "Hold still," She said as she lifted her hands up to his head. She began bending some water around his forehead and focused all of her energy into calming him down and checking for stress injuries. "I think we're OK now, just keep walking me to the station," She said as she patted him on the shoulder. She could tell that he had never been prepared for any type of fighting or survival situation. While she didn't have much Reina was much more prepared for this from her time with the warriors of the Southern Water Tribe. She took a deep breath and waited for Jizu to begin walking. She didn't want to push him anymore than he already had been. At least for now there were no mysterious men following them through the street.

As Reina bent the water, to heal him, he found it easier to calm down. Once Jizu nodded. "Right, the station is this way." Jizu began his way to the station again, he wasn't trembling anymore. He was glad Reina was much more capable at staying calm under pressure than he was. He wondered if she was trained for these kinds of situations, maybe she was simply used to getting into them. It doesn't really matter, whatever it was it helped both of them, he should be grateful for that... "Oh, Reina... thank you." He was used to saying common pleasantries when dealing with customers, he rarely had a chance to genuinely express them to anybody. It was actually a refreshing change.

Reina gave him and exhausted smile. "Don't mention it. I'm surprised you handled it so well," She remarked. Reina hadn't thought on it until now but under that kind of pressure most people without experience usually freak out and make the situation worse. The city was getting darker but there didn't seem to be anybody else lurking about in the shadows for now. "And thank you again. It looks like you walking me to the station was more of a hassle than you bargained for. I really appreciate you still showing me the way." The thought had crossed her mind as they were running that he could just decide to leave her to find her own way. Luckily enough for her though he seemed to be a nice enough guy to stick around.

As they kept walking Reina could see what looked like a large formal building coming in to view. She let out an audible sigh of relief when she realized that it was the station. "I've never been so glad to see a stuffy old building in my entire life." Reina felt her speed pick up as if she had found her second wind. Hopefully the police would help them figure out who had been following them and maybe Reina would find a job as well.