[HIDER=Siku Tsukiko]Name:  Siku Tsukiko
Age:  17
Gender: Female
Element: Water
Birthplace: Northern Water Tribe
Current Residence: Republic City
Occupation: Pro-bender (“The Ice Wolves”)

Appearance:
[U]Child[/U]
[URL=http://www.zerochan.net/1848598][IMG]http://s3.zerochan.net/Himeno.Towa.240.1848598.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[U]Grown[/U]
[URL=http://www.zerochan.net/1848225][IMG]http://s3.zerochan.net/Izayoi.Sakuya.240.1848225.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

History:  Siku grew up in the Northern Water Tribe, spending her first ten years of life in the icy habitats of the distant North.  Her family lived quite well-off, as her father was the chief’s cousin, thus providing an environment for young Siku to thrive easily.  From a young age, she showed a capacity for water bending and a curiosity beyond even the other children in the tribe.  She was always exercising her abilities, absolutely fascinated by the way water reacted to even her very presence.  Having acquired the ability to bend from her father, the man was the first to jump on a chance to train his only daughter.  He was one of few water benders who wielded a weapon from time to time to accompany his art.  Much to his chagrin, Siku had grown rather attached to their television on certain nights of the week.  It was like pulling her out of a coma when her eyes glued to that screen to watch the pro-benders of Republic City, champions of their craft, dueling.

The girl wanted nothing more than to see one match, in person, and learn to diversify her own talents, no matter how small their manifestation still was at the time.  After months of begging, pleading, groveling, and extra chores, her parents gave in to her incessant requesting and took her to the arena in the city.  Hoping to satisfy her, they left within just a few days and spent a week in the city, leaving her in awe of everything from the cars to the music to the three matches they attended.  The plan backfired quite noticeably because within only a year or two the chief offered her father the recently opened position of Ambassador for the North Pole and when Siku heard… well, there was no shutting her up.  Her bags were packed before the decision was made and by the time she was ten, they were unlocking the doors to their new, and admittedly quite lavish, house in the center of the city.  It had a yard and a garden, granted due to her father's position.  They had not purchased it, but rather it was owned by the Northern Water Tribe.  Siku’s mother had always stayed at home, maintaining the house and caring for Siku and their new two year-old daughter Sesi.  Siku started going to school in the city and her father continued their training sessions, waiting until she was old enough before starting to teach her how to use a dao, just as he incorporated one into his own training.  They began with wood, and by the time she was finishing school, she could flourish the blade as though it were naught but air.

She acquired her spot with the Ice Wolves amateur pro-bending team after their water bender took a nasty fall off the platform, forgetting to catch himself properly in the water below.  He was only temporarily out of commission, but he decided to leave pro-bending behind after the injury.  Siku leapt at the opportunity, despite how crunched for time she already was, proving herself to be a worthwhile gamble.  Somehow, with a packed schedule, she managed to give herself at least a little bit of time each week to stroll the streets of Republic City and clear her mind or spend recreational time with her friends.[/HIDER]

[HIDER=Hiresh Sudhir]Name:  Hiresh Sudhir
Age:  19
Gender:  Male
Element:  Earth (Affinity for Metal)
Birthplace:  Zaofu, Home of the Metal Clan
Current Residence:  Republic City
Occupation:  Metal Corps Officer

Appearance:
[URL=http://www.zerochan.net/1319134][IMG]http://s3.zerochan.net/Locke.Cole.240.1319134.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

History:  Hiresh was born and raised in the city of Zaofu of the Earth Kingdom.  He was a natural earth and metal bender, though he displayed little talent in much else, he was content with his bending prowess.  By the time he was sixteen, he knew he wanted to join the Metal Corps in Republic City.  On recommendation of many of the city’s guardsmen, he was accepted into the academy, where he trained rigorously until he was finally a full-fledged officer.  He was assigned to duty as one of the Tsukiko family’s guard and escort to start with a basic job.  It was the Northern Water Tribe’s ambassador and his family, the job was plenty important, he told himself.  He spent so little time hunting Triple-Threat members and actually doing good, however, that he sometimes felt underappreciated in the force.  His superior officers have been promising him for months now that they would post him elsewhere as soon as they could, but he has yet to see any kind of paperwork pushed for it.  Guard duty be damned, he joined to be an officer, not a security guard.  Was it just because he had a generally protective attitude? Rather than being outspoken for justice in particular?[/HIDER]

[HIDER=Hideki Yakedo]

!!! WARNING: Early Pages Spoilers !!!

Name: Grand Lotus Hideki Yakedo

Gender: Male

Age: 54

Element: Fire

Appearance:

[URL=http://www.zerochan.net/1475435][IMG]http://s3.zerochan.net/Fujishige.Seijirou.240.1475435.jpg[/IMG][/URL]


Background:  Grand Lotus Yakedo is the head of the White Lotus organization.  He was a part of the group from a very young age; his father was an agent who gave his life in the line of duty for the previous Avatar from the Earth Kingdom.  Having grown up in the society made becoming an official member rather easy.  Of course, he set his goals much higher.  While he loved the group, he saw countless flaws with how institutionalized it was; the White Lotus was an "official" faction nowadays, but he knew that in history they were once a secret society which protected the balance of the world alongside the Avatar, they weren't guards [i]for[/i] the Avatar.  Hideki did not make it his life's goal to become the leader of the Lotus, he wanted to change it - to get it back to its roots before somebody turned its tides [i]against[/i] their charge.  The Avatar should be in charge of their own training, watched over and supervised by the sages and elders of each kingdom.  No government, no politics, and no full-time protection.  The Avatars of old were so great because of the trials and tribulations they faced in their travels - an Avatar couldn't be trained, they had to be grown.  Now, his worst nightmare has come to pass: even as he tries to pull the White Lotus out of the Avatar's life (hence why Katsu was able to avoid them for so long), there were double agents and infiltrators in his midst who meant to bring the boy harm.[/HIDER]