Living near a big avast of forest was a great advantage for Avani, who secretly hid deep inside it to practice earthbending whenever everyone was sleeping, relaying on her seismic sense. The thirteen year old bender kept quiet, walking barefoot among the darkness, stopping on a clearing in the center of the forest, sitting on the ground and closing her eyes to concentrate in the sounds of nature around her, the ants crawling across the earth, the animals returning to their homes and... the leaves crushing under the heavy weight of someone's feet near her

A smirk played on her lips as she cracked open an eye, thrusting down her hand toward the ground behind her. A loud yelp and a thud was heard as she turned around, meeting a pair of golden eyes, glaring at her through the darkness

"You cheated"

Avani laughed as a thirteen year old boy walked closer, hands crossed over his chest as he sat in front of her. "Told you you'd never get me off guard, Ryuu"

Ryuu was Avani's best friend since his family moved from the Fire Nation to the Earth Kingdom thanks to Ryuu's mother being native of the Earth Kingdom. Since they settled on the Earth Kingdom, they didn't seem to want to return to the Fire Nation any time soon.

"Whatever" Ryuu rolled his eyes, cracking his knuckles as he looked around "Ready to practice, earth mud?"

Avani stood, brushing the dirt of her green colored pants, smirking "Of course. Ready when you are, Frosty cake"

Ryuu, like Avani wasn't fond of the rules and the curfew settled in the village. The firebender had a deep hate toward the anti-benders and his rebellion was to practice his bending when everyone was sleeping, where he once was caught by Avani with her seismic sense, and since then, they became inseparable in their rebellion against anti-benders

For Avani, watching Ryuu firebend was something she admired. She had memorized some of his forms and viceversa to see if they could use them to their own bending. While Ryuu claimed earthbending style was difficult and didn't match with his bending, Avani felt reluctant to agree. There was something in the way she tried to 'firebend' that her body tried to make it work. She could feel warm and as if something wanted to work but the earth didn't respond to the movements, well not entirely. It was as if the earth wanted to move and it barely did but the forms did not match with earthbending, yet she knew she could do it. But, she has done trying. If she somehow Firebends, it'd be the end for her.

One time she could sworn she did it, at home while getting ready to sleep. She had been tired of her school work and to rest, she had looked at the candle. The flickering of the flame had caught her attention and she had stared at it for the next few minutes where she could've sworn the flame straightened up and grew bigger when she exhaled, getting small when she inhaled. She freaked out and since then, she has never tried to use a firebending form ever again, but that didn't stop her from learning them.

Their practice normally lasted between two and three hours so they'd had enough time to sleep. They dueled each other, Fire against earth, admiring and pointing each other's mistakes while dealing with their respective element.

Recently, Ryuu had been struggling with his firebending, trying and failing to master some forms. And every time he got frustrated, he just simply exploded and Avani had to make sure he didn't burn the woods by throwing him rocks so he could burn those instead of the trees.

"Control your breathing, Ryuu" Avani called out in boredom, "The basics, basics"

Ryuu gave her an unamused look, "Don't you think I'm trying?" He asked sarcastically, throwing his arms up "Firebending isn't that easy, let me tell you"

Avani scratched the back of her neck, "Ah, it's destruction" She said in a fake aggravated voice, "So, of course it's not easy!"

"You try it then Ms I can with everything!" Normally Ryuu was calm and collected, keeping his temper in line but whenever he couldn't success in something, his temper was one of a Dragon.

"I can't bend Fire" Avani pointed out with a shrug, standing up and dusting the dirt of her pants, giving him a grin "But, seriously. Think about the basics, do not think about the Fire itself. Think of it like an extension of yourself, like the warmth of your skin at the top of your fingers, moving like a leaf"

"You're kidding me, right?" Ryuu laughed sarcastically, "Move like a leaf?" Avani shrugged sheepishly "What a Nomad crap to say"

Avani narrowed her eyes, a nagging in the back of her head, not liking how he expressed himself toward the Air Nomads. It felt somehow like an offense and she wanted to hit him for it.

"Air Nomads are wise" Avani defended, seriously "And I've heard Fire and airbending are similar, both focus on the breathing, in the air around them, so it's logical I'm gonna give you some kind of airbending tactics to focus"

Ryuu made a face "You sounded like one of them" Avani didn't have to ask what he meant. Ryuu still had a dislike for Air Nomads, since they visited their village one time. You'd wonder how is it possible for Air Nomads to exist if they had been wiped out at the time the Hundred Year War started?

All thanks to Avatar Korra. Maybe the only thing she really admired her for. She practically reconstructed an entire Nation. And with the help of Avatar Aang's family, all of their customs and culture wasn't lost.

The reason why Ryuu disliked them was because when they came to visit, practically all they were doing was calling them stupid, that they weren't wise or spiritual enough to be at their level and ignored them completely, or that's what Ryuu saw it like.

Avani saw it more like a given opportunity to learn more about a culture that had been dead for almost two hundred years. She didn't know why she cared, she didn't know why she was interested but every Nation had something that called her attention.

"Maybe" Avani shrugged, smiling "I sounded smart, didn't I?"

Ryuu scoffed, "In your dreams. Now, lets go before they realize we're out of bed again"

Avani grinned. "Oh, come on. They have never found out. What makes you think they will now? Live a little!"

Ryuu sighed as he watched Avani walk away, her eyes closed. His lips twitched in amusement, knowing she was using her seismic sense to guide her back to their home.

"One of these days, Ava. One of this days you won't be so cocky" Ryuu chuckled to himself, creating a fireball in his hand to aid him to see the path to his home.