Robbed

Xiao got off the merchant ship and waved goodbye as he walked off the docks and away from the port. He started heading towards the nearest inn. He wore his typical Violet Kimono with a black shirt, pants, belt, and shoes, along with a brown leather satchel containing some rations and clothes.

Xiao drew stares from many of the people around him, most of them malicious. 'I'm not in the Fire Nation anymore. The people outside hate us because of the war.' Xiao thought somberly, thinking about all the suffering his home nation must have caused. He was denied from the first inn he went to, the woman behind the counter had looked at him with disgust, seeing the Fire Nation emblem on his clothes, before refusing him service.

Xiao ignored it, but after three more times being denied entry to an inn, he finally gave up and just slept under a tree.

The next morning, Xiao bought some bread from a stall that just opened, and munched on it as he walked out of the coastal Earth Kingdom town.

He started heading down the forested dirt road. This part of the Earth Kingdom had a very similar climate to that of what Xiao was used to, so he felt more 'at home' here. But he didn't want that.

Xiao wanted to get as far away from the Fire Nation as he possibly could. He hated it there.

So, Xiao headed west. He should make it to the City of Gaoling if he kept following the road that way. Xiao heard from Iroh that Gaoling hosted some of the best earth benders in the entire kingdom.

His plan was to stay there for a year and train against earth benders. Xiao wanted to be able to predict and maneuver around any bender by learning their individual styles. Plus when watching others' bending styles, Xiao may be able to improve his own.

That was what his master did, so he thought he would as well.

—One Week Later—

"FINALLY!" Xiao yelled as he saw the gates to the city of Gaoling. A week of travel through the mountains and rocky paths of the Earth Kingdom left the Fire bender's legs sore as can be.

"I'm exhausted…" He muttered as he walked passed the gate and into the busy afternoon roads.

Like always, Xiao received many harsh glares from those around him. Suddenly a fantastic smell assaulted Xiao's nostrils. Looking over, he saw a stall with a man selling meat skewers.

Xiao heard his stomach growl at the thought of food besides stale bread. Looking into his purse though, he saw only a few coins left. He hadn't brought much money with him after all.

It was a decision between meat and shelter for the night. Xiao looked between the inn down the street and the meat skewer stall. The meat beckoned him. 'Oh fuck it…' he though as he approached the meat stall. "One please." He said, holding up a finger.

The man behind the counter looked at the fire emblem hesitantly, before shrugging. 'Business is business.' He thought as he gave Xiao a meat skewer, receiving five coppers in return. He nodded at Xiao as he left.

Xiao smiled, ready to bite into the meat skewer when he felt someone touch his sword. He looked down and saw a young boy in rags sprinting away from him, his sword in hand.

"Hell no." Xiao muttered, sprinting after the boy. He opted to not use fire bending as that would draw attention to himself and most likely end up with Xiao buried by a pile of rocks.

That proved to be a mistake.

The kid seemed to know every single alleyway and where to turn, and eventually Xiao lost track of the kid. 'Dammit' Xiao thought internally as he walked back to the main road, finishing up his meat skewer.

Looking around and seeing nowhere to sleep, Xiao climbed up the wall of a nearby building and fell asleep on the roof, shaded by the chimney.

—The Next Day—

"Extra! Extra! There will be a tournament tonight! The prize is an expensive and very well made Fire Nation sword that the owner of the grounds bought off of a passing merchant! Extra! Extra!

Xiao looked down at the shouting man with tick marks appearing on his face. 'Hell. No.' He thought as he seemingly appeared in front of the man.

"Where do I sign up?" Xiao asked with a strained smile. The man looked disapprovingly at the Fire Nation sigil, but sighed and gestured to a stall nearby with a paper and feather with an inkwell.

"There." He said.

Xiao nodded and walked over, writing his name on the paper and walking away.

'Should be fun…' he thought with a smirk.

{A/N}

It's a public tournament so not just earth benders can enter.

I kinda dropped this story but started writing it again today, so if the writing changed at all that's why.

Shorter chapters but more uploads is what I'm going for.

If you like my writing and want more, check out my 'I am an Immortal' fic. It has less common uploads, but longer chapters (2.5k-3.5k).

It's a multiverse story and the first world is Akame Ga Kill.

Read it if you're interested.