{Auralyn & Kazuo--- Earth + Air}

Everything was going as planned, just like every performance did; Kazuo had the crowd in awe as he did a series of moves that were both old and new. This was always fun for him but at the same time he often wondered what it would be like to get out. He had grown up in this city and had never once left, when he was a kid it was because he was saw as weak since he couldn't see, but now there was something else in his way. Something that he couldn't exactly control. Thus, he was stuck here to be someone else's form of entertainment.

Suddenly Kazuo heard his boss's voice sound over the crowd. "Would anyone like to challenge this here earthbender?" Letting out a sigh, Kazuo brought is current trick to a stop and stood up straight. Another battle...same thing as always. It wasn't that he was ungrateful to have his job, after all it brought in money so that he could have food on the table. But the stage wasn't exactly his dream in life. And then whenever he had to take on a new opponent it was just another way for his boss to get some more money.

There was a long moment where all that was heard was the murmur of the crowd. No one was stepping forward to take Kazuo's boss up on the offer. However, suddenly Kazuo felt the ever so slightly step of someone as they landed on the stage. He couldn't see who it was, but something told him that this wasn't another earthbender. After all no earthbender could tred that lightly. A smile appeared on his face as he turned to face his challenger in order to keep some of the act going; he'd become quite well at putting on his act after months of doing it.

"Hello there," Kazuo stated. "And who do we have taking up the challenge?" Now he waited for a reply to see a bit of who he was fighting. At the moment he wasn't quite sure about the gender of his opponent, but he had a feeling that it was a girl. With a step that lightly it was very unlikely that it would be a guy, but you never know. Kazuo was facing his opponent right on, but not looking them in the eye. There was no point to anyway, it wasn't like he could see anything.

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Air temple? That explains a lot. Kazuo thought to himself as he prepared for the friendly brawl. The gust of wind hit him, but he was planted strong in his stance and was only pushed back slightly. Battles like this were always the up side to his job; he didn't mind letting loose every now and then in more ways than simple tossing a few rocks into the air for the pleasure of others.

Her steps were light and to any other earthbender they may have been unnoticeable, but Kazuo had spent years adapting to not being able to use his eyes to see; he saw her movements, every light step. The only time he wasn't able to 'see' her was when she was in the air, but that didn't mean he couldn't hear him. It would be difficult since the crowd was chattering away, but if he focused hard enough and blocked everything else out he knew he'd be able to hear her move through the sky above.

This was going to be a more difficult battle, but not impossible. If Kazuo could time his moves just right then he'd be able to catch her. Even though she was an airbender she couldn't stay off the ground all day. Suddenly he heard her land again and in one swift move sent the earth hurtling towards her. He heard her leave the ground, but then something clanked onto the ground not far from where she had been. Her glider. He assumed, quickly covering it with a bit of ground so that she couldn't retrieve it. At least now she was forced to only use what she could muster up from herself.

A smirk cracked onto his face as he straightened up again. [color:90d6="4e7e47] "Alright, so now we have a ground fight," he responded, not bothering to try and track her with his head. His eyes were now closed as he listened, waiting for her to drop to the ground again. Planting himself onto the ground, he knew that she had the next move; Kazuo made himself one with the earth, a giant boulder for her to attempt to move.

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Kazuo could hear Auralyn getting slower and he knew it was only a matter of time before she made a mistake, so he continued to shift the earth but only bombarding her with small attacks until the precise time came. Suddenly he saw it; a split second where her step was faltered; where she wasn't as quick as she'd been in her previous moves. At that very instant Kazuo sent another boulder crashing towards her.

However, then something happened that Kazuo hadn't expected. He heard her release an attack of her own right in his direction. Trying to react in time Kazuo attempted to plant his feet sturdily on the ground, but he wasn't quick enough. The attack had come so suddenly that by the time he registered it Kazuo was already sent flying backwards. He landed with a thud on the ground, just outside the arena. That was it; he had lost.

He didn't get up for a minute as he tried to process what just happened. Kazuo had been able to beat any earthbender that had come up to challenge him, and yet this fragile airbender had managed to knock him off his feet. How's that even possible? Kazuo questioned himself, his head still staring downward towards the very ground that he had relied on so many times before. How could air beat the most sturdy thing on this planet?

The crowd around them had been silent, shocked at the unfolding conclusion of the battle they had just witnessed. Kazuo had been well known in the arena; always performing tricks that seemed unreal and always coming out on top of battles. Suddenly his boss's voice sounded again, but it wasn't as confident as it had been before the battle. And...that ladies and gentlemen is the conclusion of this fight. He paused for a moment before continuing. The winner is our airbending friend...Auralyn. Before he could say another word, Kazuo was on his feet and heading off to no where in particular. He just didn't want to be around the very crowd and very arena where he'd just been beaten by some outsider.

As he made his way through the crowd with ease, Kazuo suddenly heard the familiar light footsteps coming up from behind him and he let out a frustrated sigh. Great, now I get pity into the wound, he thought to himself, not stopping to let Auralyn easily catch up to him. He hated the fact that he had lost, and now on top of that she was coming over to who knows what; make him feel better, rub it in? "Look, it was a total accident beating you..."

And there it was. She had already caught up to him so Kazuo stopped and let her get her little speal out. He was listening to what she was saying, but only half paying attention. After she had said all that she wanted to say it was his turn to speak. "Yeah sure, I'm able to beat other earthbenders but not an outsider to the Earth Kingdom? That brings about a lot of pride," Kazuo started to reply. Then he bit his tongue from continuing his harsh rant.

"Kazuo," he replied in order to humor her. He didn't really see himself building any kind of friendship with her but he wasn't about to be completely rude either. Even though they were standing right near each other, Kazuo still refrained from looking her in the eye; it was something that he hardly ever did with anyone. His eyes had a soft slate over them, making it obvious that he was blind but he didn't like the way people responded when they saw. He couldn't see their reactions, but he could always hear it in their tones. Instead his head was looking slightly down to where it looked like he was staring at the ground in front of him.

Catching her comment, Kazuo felt himself grow slightly more frustrated. Just because all he was use to was earth to earth didn't mean he couldn't hold himself against an opponent of a different element. Besides, her beating him was luck; she had even said that herself. If he had seen that last attack coming even just a second sooner then the outcome would have been a lot different.

Suddenly he heard something in her voice; it was so sudden that most people would have never caught it, but it was something that he had heard many times before. It was the sound of slight astonishment, shock, and even a bit of sympathy. Great...and there's another one.

"First of all, I wasn't overconfident" Kazuo started, knowing that Auralyn probably didn't expect him to hear her little comment. "And secondly, I don't really need your sympathy ok? I've been around the Earth Kingdom my entire life and I've managed just fine. Just because I can't see with my eyes doesn't mean I can't see.

After his little rant he let out a sigh. He didn't really feel like helping her, but he figured that he had been the one that hurt her in the first place. "Look I can fix that if you want. It's just a dislocated shoulder...you don't exactly need a surgeon to fix it. Now he waited, for once he was facing Auralyn, though he wasn't looking her in the eye. It may have looked that way to her, but all he could see was a sort of shadow where she stood that just barely stood out from the surrounding area.

Kazuo was taken aback. He didn't expect her to respond in that way; for her to actually say that he wanted people to feel sorry for him, that he enjoyed the fact that people treated him differently than others just because of one little difference between him and them. Without a word he reached out and put one hand on the back of her shoulder and the other around the top of her arm.

"This will probably hurt a bit, was all he said as he popped her shoulder back in one swift move. Then he stood there, feeling her tremble just slightly as the pain most likely shot through her arm before slow subsiding. "And it'll probably be sore for a day or two." Kazuo had had his own fair share of dislocated limbs from training with his father, so he knew all too well the feeling of them.

Then he paused for a moment before continuing. When he finally did speak up again his voice wasn't as harsh as it had been previously. "I'm sorry that I was defensive, but I don't want sympathy from people. I hate it when people take one look at me and automatically think that I'm handicapped and that I can't handle myself the way others can. When people look at me all they see is some blind kid and they all act differently around me. And people don't think highly of me. I'll always be less than someone else because I can't use my eyes."

Kazuo was surprised that he was actually saying so much around Auralyn. It was out of his character to just talk with people he barely knew, and yet at the same time it was like he just wanted to get some of what he'd been holding back out. And Auralyn not being from around here seemed to make it easier, even though she wasn't exactly the kind of person Kazuo would normally hang out with.

Kazuo still didn't appreciate the tone Auralyn had, but he figured that he couldn't control her anyway and she was right; mixing a rock and wind never really works out. And of course he knew every element had it's differences and opposites. Just because Kazuo was an earthbender who had never left the Earth Kingdom didn't mean he lived under a rock.

Then a smirk formed on his face for once. "A rematch could be fun," Kazuo replied. After all he couldn't let their battle end the way it did. "But the results will more than likely be different...just so you know." He couldn't see her, but he could definitely hear the smirk that she had on her face.

Even though he was being friendly with her, Kazuo figured that after this the two of them would probably never see each other again. They were from two different worlds and they were two completely different people. She of the air and him of the ground. Maybe the two of them could at least end on a good note though even if they never did see each other again.

ooc/
Bum-bum-baaa! Little does he know! Haha x)

Kazuo couldn't help but chuckle. "And what, you don't think I'll be a master earthbender by then?" He questioned as he tried to think about the future a bit. With all the practice he got nearly everyday he was determined to one day be classified at the same level as some of the greatest earthbenders. Sure it would take some work, but Kazuo wasn't afraid to roll up his sleeves and get a little dirty.

"Besides like you said, you won on a fluke. And as you also stated I'll know what to expect. Your light and quick steps can't keep the same pace forever. And Earth is patient, slowly transforming and allowing time to pass before striking." Kazuo was quite proud of his people and the fact that they were connected to the great Earth beneath and around them. They not only got to live there, but they were able to understand it. Some more than others, and even though Kazuo knew quite a bit considering his age he still had even more to learn.

Suddenly he heard some noise coming from down the road a bit; it sounded like there was a bit of a tussle starting up, and one of the people he could tell he knew. After all, everyone had their own way of stepping, of moving, and Kazuo had learned to differentiate between the subtle vibrations. Without a word he started walking kind of quickly towards the commotion, and he could feel Auralyn following behind him. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on yet, but he knew that fights between earthbenders could get destructive really quickly.