Clio walked through Ba Sing Se, her entire soul twisting painfully. It had been a long time since she'd been in Ba Sing Se, and she'd never actually been in the Inner Circle before. The cleanliness seemed to smother her, for reasons she wasn't quite sure of. This was no Republic City, that much was clear. Her feet beat out a rhythm on the concrete, yet another thing she wasn't used to. She was used to dirt on the ground, and tile on the rooftops at night. Never this artifical rock that made her toes stiff at night.

But she had a mission to fufill, and now was no time to run. Someone had killed Fire Lord Zuko, the Bringer of Peace and the Ender of Wars. Clio's heart had mourned with the entire world that day. And like the Fire Benders, grief had soon turned into a healthy taste for revenge. However, the Fire Nation had turned against the Earth Kingom, Clio's own people, accusing them of the assassination of their beloved leader. Clio simply couldn't believe this. The Earth Kingdom had worshipped Lord Zuko just as the rest of the world had, and they had lost just as much in the war... No, someone else had done this horrible thing.

Clio weaved in and out of the crowd, chewing on her lip. Okay, so maybe it WAS someone from the Earth Kingdom. But, honestly, that doesn't mean the goverment's behind it. After all, the Earth King is as placid as a goose-duck. She resituated her bag nervously, and glanced up at the sun. If the killer was not found, there would be war. Clio knew, above anything, that Zuko would hate that. And since the rest of the world was busy taking sides, it was up to Clio to find the one person who sent the world spinning.

Then again, the world's an awfully big place...

Bai was back in Ba Sing Se. The last time she had been here, she was a little girl about five. She could remember living in the outer ring for a month and then moving on. Time she had spent here, she had made many friends. There was a little earth bender called Taeko and his older sister, Mae. They had played hide and seek in the outer ring and Taeko burried himself in the ground. It took Bai an awful long time before she gave up and he had returned home. They had to be careful when they played. Bai wanted so badly to fly high but she was afraid she would get caught and taken away so Taeko always won.

Bai was on the look out for some sort of glider repair kit. When she was flying to Ba Sing Se, her glider caught on a tree and split down the side. The devastation that wept across Bai was awful. She loved her glider and it was the last thing to remind Bai of her mother and father. She looked high and low for some kind of thread and that but lucky enough to find an embroider. Bai whispered what she wanted and the lady bowed down and repaired the glider. Bai waited patiently before seeing the finished product. The glider looked brand new. She hugged the lady and walked out of the shop.

Walking along the way, Bai folding her glider into her staff and put on the robe she had brought at Omashu. It fitted her perfectly. Admiring her new robe, she didn't look were she was going. She clashed into another girl who had walked right in front of her. Bai picked herself up of the floor and dusted her legs. "Sorry about that. I'm such a clusmy person." Bai said as she smiled at the girl, hoping she wouldn't shout.

Clio took one step to the right, then... Bam. She was thrown to the sidewalk, her hands reaching out to catch her weight before her mind could even register what was going on. The grey swarmed her vision, swirling around slightly and threatening to turn burnt black. It didn't come as a surprise, being thrown to the ground like this. Fighting was a normal part of theifdom, a part that cropped up more and more with every passing day. It was all about the hierarchy. And in order to be able to say she stole for herself... Well, that was something worth fighting over.

Clio sat, pressed close to the ground, puzzling over why her attacker didn't make it's next move. She ran attacks and counter attacks over and over in her head, most of them ending with her standing over a pile of muscled Earth benders triumphantly, until a simple phrase hit her ears. Sorry about that. I'm such a clumsy person. With a whispered curse, Clio hauled herself to her feet. Shaking her hair out, she whirled around angrily.

"What is it about you city folk that just screams 'Rob me'?" Clio mummered, and then her grey eyes grew slightly wider. The girl's draping robe was obviously an Airbender uniform, and the glaring yellow color made Clio's entire body want to drop to the floor in worship. Oh... Yet another Aang girl. Where do these girls come from? She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, and placed the other one on her hip, just as she had seen Lady Theif Jasmine do.

"So... am I to take away that you are truly an Airbender are do you wish to admit that..." Clio bit her lip. One must be kind to the few allies that Zuko has left behind for us... "Well, I suppose you can't help being clumsy."

The girl fell onto the floor. Why was Bai such a clumsy person? She loved not looking where she was going. The girl looked like she was going to faint but it was lucky enough that the girl stood up. She looked older than Bai but she didn't feel like she was any type of bender. The girl was about to have a go at Bai but when she looked at her clothes the girl froze. Bai didn't have a clue why she froze. The girl asked if Bai was a real airbender or a fake. She put her finger over her lips and dragged the girl in an alleyway. "I am a real airbender but I don't want the whole world knowing. I might be killed but yes, I am a real airbender." Bai smiled at the girl she had just dragged in an alleyway.

Once again, Clio's entire body was pushed in a completely involuntary direction. The tiny girl pushed her into an alleyway, filled with garbage. Then, the girl began to speak in a whisper. I am a real airbender, But I don't want the whole world knowing. I might be killed, yes, but I am a real airbender. Then, as if it would seal the entire thing, the girl gave Clio a smile to rival the sun.

Clio wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

The theif gave an old beggar man, only a few feet away a dubious glance. Alleyways weren't exactly the most private place. They were filled with desprate, starving people, and sound carried fast over quite air. "C'mon, kid, before you get us jumped." Clio took the girl's elbow, and started to lead her gently from the alley.

Weaving between groups of giggling girls and laughing old men, Clio started to do what she did second-best: Lecture. "Rule number one: Use crowds for meeting places." Clio stopped and looked at the girl sternly. "Two, Airbending isn't a crime anymore. Also, the best way to make sure you aren't found out is to NOT tell everyone who asks you." Clio's eyebrow twitched up slightly. "Just who ARE you, kid?"

The girl gave Bai a long lecture and lead her out of the alleyway into the crowd. She was exclaiming that airbending isn't a crime and the best way to make sure you aren't found out is to not tell everyone who asks her. Who is she? What is this girl doing? Wake up and smell the coffee, I don't want myself being caught. "Well I don't want everyone knowing. With the uprisings and that you can never be too careful." The girl asked who she was. Bai looked at the older girl. "1) Stop calling me kid. 2) I told you who I am and 3) who are you? You're asking me these questions and it's annoying." Bai said as Zing moved from one shoulder to the over. This girl was getting on Bai's nerves but Bai would let her anger get to her.

Clio's face creased into a frown and she threw a stray piece of long black hair over her shoulder. This girl, whether she knew it or not, had just challenged her. Strange thing about Clio... she didn't take challenges very well. She faced them head-on, and whether she won or lost didn't really matter. No one would ever be able to say Clio Lai was a coward.

Ever.

Airbender or not, I'm still sure she's just a kid. "Alright..." A storm raged in Clio's grey eyes and her arms crossed sternly. Nor more advice, and no more jerking each other around. It's time to lay some lines. "One, the uprisings are against the Earth Nation. For one, I can't really blame them. Fire Lord Zuko is dead, and I'm pretty sure they're not looking for Airbenders..." Especially seeing how you're all supposed to be extinct.

"Two, I will not stop calling you kid, as you haven't given me a name yet. Three, you've only told me you're an airbender; I'm pretty sure there's got to be SOMETHING to seperate you from the rest of 'em. Four, I'm not the one spouting secrets to ever theif in Ba Sing Sei. But since you're so desprate..." Clio stepped back and spread her arms wide.

"I'm Clio Lai, Master Theif. I was born an Earthbender, and a daughter of rebels. When the Fire Lord died, it was like someone had killed my very ancestry, like someone had taken every ideal in my lineage and STOMPED it. I'm here to find out who did that to me and every person who's ever fought for anything."

Clio started to turn. "So I don't think you, or anyone who simply HID has the right to even look me in the eye." Go ahead, attack me when my back's turned. I'm waiting...

((oopsie... the girls aren't getting along as I planned... ))

The girl started laying down a few points and it seemed that this girl wanted Bai to explain herself. Why should I explain myself? Bai asked herself. Yes, she might look young but it didn't mean this could keep calling her kid. "I'm Bai Ling. I was born in the southern air temple and I was a traveller from then on. I visited many places and we settled down in one village but I have forgotten the name. Well I must say I wasn't exactly good to the guards of the village and I had wound them up so much, I was banished from my village. And since then I've been searching for the main person or people who destroyed the peace in the world. I too was fond of Zuko, he was a idol along with Avatar Aang even though I'm older than him." She paused and carried on. "Does that explain anything?"

Clio sighed, and bits of her hair flung up with the tiny wind into the sky. Forgot the name of you hometown? Your group let you get kicked out the village by yourself? They didn't kill you? Well, kid, you're either remarkabley well adjusted and very lucky, or insane.Still, Clio had to admire what the girl had been through. It wasn't a much better life than hers.

"You're not older than Aang... he's like, a hundred or something," Clio mummered under her breath. Yes, it was a very lame comeback, and she even felt sort of bad for saying it, but Clio just didn't like being put down. It ticked her off. "Not really... What are you doing in Ba Sing Se if your safety is oh-so important. I mean, this place is riddled with people looking for someone to place the blame on. And not all of them are as fair as me." Clio shrugged. "Hard to believe, I know."

Clio sighed and drug a hand through her hair. She needed all the help she could get in finding Zuko's killer, and while she wasn't the stupidest girl in the world, she did tend to jump into things... and then usually over-analyze them.

"What do you know about Zuko's death?" That was another thing. How the Fire Lord had actually died was quite a mystery to 'common' folk, and Clio knew that even that much would help her quest.

Bai was a good listener so she heard Clio mumbled that Aang was a hundred and something but it didn't bother her. She just ignored it. Clio asked what Bai was doing in Ba Sing Se if her safety was important. Bai just smiled and completed ignored the uncalled for comment. "Well I'm trying to find the people responsible for a certain act of rebellion. What about you?" Bai asked.

Clio then asked what Bai knew about Zuko's assasination. Bai thought for a moment and then answered. "Well what I know about his death is very few but is quite valuable. I was thinking about it the other day and I knew this couldn't be a one man act, other people had to be invovled with it. It's too intelligent for just one person to think it through throughly. And that's about it. What about you?" Bai asked.

I'm trying to find the people responsible for a certain act of rebellion... Even though the words were spoken kindly, they threw up red flags in Clio's mind. A certain act of rebellion? It sounded like what Clio was here for, to find the few people that had actually commited this horrible crime. But... what if she was a Fire Nation agent? This, of course, was not necessarily a bad thing, but it didn't have to be a good thing either. What if she was here to spy on the Earth Kindom, and tell the supporters that rebellion was indeed rising in the biggest nation. Afterall, it wouldn't be the first time.

Clio decided to take it a bit easier on this girl. Bai went on to say how little- even though she made it sound quite amazing- she knew about Zuko's death, and Clio inwardly cursed. If this girl knew no more than she, how could she possibly find the criminals? So you think it's a group... like... an entire nation? Clio knew she shouldn't be blaming this girl with this, but it was awfully hard to stop.

"Then I guess I should start with well-known groups," Clio reasoned aloud. "The Dai Li would be the most obvious bet. And then maybe some gangs, and the smaller ones. If I get really desprate I can always spy on old men playing Pai Sho. They seem to know everything."