Tenzing flinched imperciptibly as the girl wrapped her arms around him. For a split second he comtemplated twisting away from her grasp and summoning a gust of wind to repel her, but he quickly realized that would be uncalled for, not to mention that it would give him away as an airbender. Instead, he just stood there, silent and more than a little shocked by her forwardness. He supposed this was comman among city folk, whose weak morals and lack of discipline allowed for such gross displays of affection in public.
The girl's companions, seeming quite perturbed by his refusal to offer them a ride, sulked for a moment before taking their leave. Impervious to their bitter remarks, Tenzing quietly turned away from them, completely ignoring a man who asked what he had to sell. When would these people learn that he wasn't a merchant, only a trader? He had not come to Xiu Ying Tse to sell anything, only to trade for goods that were otherwise unobtainable in the desert. Thei sandbenders trade network functioned by acquiring goods from the many regions surrounding the vast desert and then transporting them to markets throughout the neighboring Earth Kindom territories. By doing so, the sandbenders offered goods that could otherwise only be obtained by circumnavigating the desert. Their mastery of sand sailing allowed them to cross the desert at will, however, bringing goods to market before other caravans from the far flung corners of the kingdom possibly could. In exchange, they received valuable necessities such as food and building materials that were severely scarce in the harsh desert environment. It provided them with what they needed, but it required a great amount of work and travel, meaning they could never truly make much of a profit. Nevertheless, as a desert-dwelling people, they nhad few other options when it came to getting what they needed to survive.
Tenzing had learned all of this the hard way over many years, so perhaps it was no surprise that outsiders did not comprehend this fact of desert life. In any case, this city was beginning to wear on him, and he would gladly abandon its walls and soon as their business was concluded. There was still the matter of the lone firebender, however. No matter how he tried, Tenzing could not shake the feeling that this was an ill omen, and that it meant great danger would make itself known soon.
As he made his way back to the other traders, he detected a slight shift in the air. It would have gone unnoticed to anyone who had not had training as an airbender, but as out of practice he was it still did not escape his attention. It could have been caused by any number of things in a place this busy, but something told him it wasn't caused by ordinary movement. He could have sworn it was unnatural, consideriing how it came out of nowhere on an otherwise calm and unstormy day. But that would mean someone had forcefully subjugated the air itself to their will, and that could mean only one thing.
Airbenders and firebenders in an Earth Kingdom city? It had to be a figment of his imagination, abetted by the long, harrowing years he had spent without contact with another member of his order. He had assumed they were all dead, that he was the last one. Only in his dreams had he entertained the possibility that their were other survivors of the Fire Nation's systematic purge of all airbenders. He had long since hardened to heart against the hope that he would someday find another of his kind, but this was the first time he had found any evidence suggesting that it could be true.
Only briefly considering what the other members of the caravan would think of his repeated abscences, Tenzing broke out in a run towards the direction where he had felt the disturbance. Whipping into a side alley, he leapt from the ground, propelled by a burst of wind that pushed up up and onto the rooftops. He touched down just in time to see a cloaked figured with a bow disappearing over the edge of the roof. He shouted at the person, but knew it was too for them to have heard him. He wouldn't give up easily, though, and he quickly pursued the figure down to the street below. He could have sworn he saw the hem of a black robe slipping into the doorway of a nearby teahouse, and he impulsively followed suit.
As he entered the busy shop, he frantically glanced around in hopes of locating this mysterious figure, but nothing and no one stood out. Hooded cloaks seemed to be quite the fashion in this city of refugees. It could take forever to find this person, and he had no idea how to bring up the question of someone being an airbender without causing a scene. Just as frustration was about to take him, he spotted the same group of young people who had accosted him earlier seated at one of the many tables. Perhaps they would help him, even though he had rebuffed them less than an hour before. While they had shown some nerve, they still seemed innocent and good-willed enough to help a stranger if they were approached correctly.
Walking up to their table, Tenzing struggled to find the proper words to address them. "Uh... Eh.... Hello. Have any of you.... uh.... seen anyone? Someone a little... er... strange?" he stammered ineloquently.
