The Heart of Republic City: Center Commerce

[Mattysandwich]

The central area of the Republic City, the square is packed daily with both tourist and resident alike, each visiting either the wondrous shops or delicious eateries that form the border that separates this area from the rest of the city. Various sewer outlets can be found, allowing the less fortunate people to pop up and try their luck.

 

[Mattysandwich]

Ah Republic City! So many sights to see, so many things to do. It was almost overwhelming to the average joe. Fortunately, Taylor was no longer overwhelmed by the sheer amount of options a city like Republic City provided. He sat from a park bench watching tourist and residents pass by, moving along their daily lives. Watching them was relaxing, like a cat watching mice scramble around. Still, today wasn't about stealing freely like he would usually. He had a particular topic in mind, something to ease tensions before the next big job. And finally, after a half an hour of scanning he finally found his target. A rather large woman with a larger lunch bag walked by thirty meters from where he sat. The brand on the lunch bag was partially clouded, but he was sure that it was what he was looking for.

Taylor swiftly shuffled to his feet as he wasted no time subtly following in the footsteps of his target. He continued to walk behind her for five minutes while he tried to figure out what distraction he could make to get what he needed. It wasn't until he saw a few construction workers on a conveyor belt that his mind really started working. Taylor's right wrist flicked as a dagger flew into his grasp. He kept his arm lowered as he threw it weakly at the base of the construction site. The dagger had just enough power to dig itself into the side of a paint can, which caused paint to stream out. Taylor then smiled when a man tried to pick up the can to raise it to the men on the conveyor belt and then poured paint all over himself. The uproar from the man caused most of the residents to turn and stare at the commotion, including the pleasantly plumped lady. As soon as he saw the woman's attention was on the incident, Taylor sneaked pass the few people in between the two of them and caused another dagger to come to his left hand. In one swift motion he sliced the handle off of the bag while he bent his knees and scooped the food up in the grips of his right arm before it dropped to the ground, and thus caused a sound. Finally, once the food was his, he swiftly departed and found a nearby sewer manhole. He raised the manhole and climbed down the ladder as he held the food closely to his chest.

Once he got to the bottom, he took a breath in self congratulations. He also slid the dagger back into his coat as he used both hands to open up the food. Just as he hoped, the food that he stole was beef curry special from one of those restaurants with a name too fancy to pronounce correctly. Since it was that strange boy's favorite meal, he hoped that bringing it to him would ease the tension he felt with that other boy. He also hoped that the peace offering would be just the ticket to get him recruited into something much bigger than the two of them. It was possibly something that, if done right, could get them living in the most expensive part in the city. As he put the lid back on the food, however, his pet rat Crescendo appeared. "Hey girl." He said as he pet the rodent softly with his index finger. While the rat was receptive to the petting, it smelled the air around the finger and squeaked with anxious enthusiasm. "Sorry girl, but this is for the other guy." Taylor said as the rat let out the softest sigh. Taylor then sighed as he reached into his glute pocket and took out a bit of bread. He broke it in half and gave the piece in his left hand to the rat. "Don't say I never gave you anything." Taylor said as the rat squeaked for joy. Taylor then got the food in both hands as he stood up and looked around. "Any idea where I could find him?" Taylor asked. Crescendo stopped eating momentarily to sniff the area around. He performed some squeaks which triggered squeaks from other rats in the sewer. As soon as the squeaks stopped the rat pointed his nose down a path towards the left. "Got it. Thanks little squeak!" Taylor said as he went down that path.

 

[Mattysandwich]

Although the sewers were usually the homes of the homeless, there was a particular group of people which were assembled in the smelliest area of Republic City. Thugs, merchants, even some decent folk were organized in a rally underneath the beloved city. As though it was was a crowd for a famous concert the tunnel way was packed with a magnitude of people. Idle chatter spiraled from the group until a leader arrived to the podium directly in front of the masses. It was a well groomed man; bald with a white beard. His eyes gave the audience a chill down their spines as he began.

"My fellow people. What a travesty that we are forced to unite under the city which we all love and cherish." The man began. Cheers boomed from the crowd as he spoke, but he waited until they dulled before he continued. "What a tragedy it is that our city, which we are quintessentially the backbone of, is being overrun with those benders..." The disgust used on the word bender send the crowds into a supportive frenzy, but just as before they winded down so that the man could continue. "Well, no more. My fellow citizens, thanks to an important report I was fed, we now know that the pro-bending arena was assaulted by a group of rouge spirits. That means that even the spirits know that we are on the right side of history!" The crowd cheered even louder as he finished his point. It was through their chanting that the man finished with, "So let us take back this city which belongs to us! Let us join the spirits and make right what the avatar has made wrong for far too long!" It was at the sound of his last sentence that the crowd moved outward. Among the crowd was a young blond boy, who already felt that he was in way over his head.

"Guess this is what I get for signing up for free donuts." Taylor said to himself as he took out one of the donuts from his pockets. He was only supposed to take one, but that didn't stop him from stuffing every pocket he had with them. Who was going to rat him out anyway, the rebel non-benders? What was this group even called? He seemed to miss the rather important details of this whole organization. As much as it seemed like a good idea to care now, in reality the boy still did not. He had donuts after all, and these people provided them to him. Therefore, until they proved to do something which went against his personal morals, he would help them out. Besides, benders were not good people, right? It wasn't like he had any reason to like them. Therefore, why care if a few of them lose their fancy watches and jewelry? Let them know what it's like to have to resort to stealing.