[b]Name:[/b] Katsu Takumi [b]Age:[/b] 18 [b]Gender: [/b]Male [b]Nationality/Birthplace:[/b] Fire Nation, Khimori Village [b]Current Residence:[/b] Republic City, Panther Lily Residential District [b]Appearance: [/b] [hider=Katsu][img]http://orig06.deviantart.net/9aec/f/2010/110/6/2/random_original_stuff_by_nuriko_kun.jpg[/img][/hider] [b]Occupation: [/b]Thief, Avatar [b]Elemental Affinity:[/b] Fire [b]Theme:[/b] [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HASolTSK_T8]Thief - Imagine Dragons[/url] [b]History: [/b] Katsu’s birth presented a bit of a conundrum for the Order of the White Lotus; an Avatar born in an era of peace wasn’t needed quite as much as before. What should they do then? Take him from his home? Or leave him be and let him grow up in a normal life. It was a hard decision, but a choice needed to be made and ultimately a compromise was reached. Katsu would indeed be trained, but in the comfort of his own home village rather than being whisked away. His parents liked the idea, and initially Katsu had no problems with the arrangement. As he got older however he began to have quite a different opinion on the matter. How was he supposed to keep his identity as the Avatar a secret when these strange men followed him everywhere? His family wasn’t well off and yet he had escorts, was waited on like nobility and provided for whatever he needed. Any other child may have been enamored with the treatment and yet Katsu came to resent it immensely. He had no autonomy like this, and it was near impossible to get away to have some time on his own. Pretty quickly being in the comfort of his own village meant little, it was every bit a prison as moving away would have been. The only solution in his mind then was to leave, abandon the Lotus’ training and his parents in favor of a freer lifestyle, a lifestyle he would find in Republic City. It was an ideal plan on paper, but upon arriving in Republic City it became quickly apparent he hadn’t thought things through entirely. Here he was, hundreds of miles from home, with hardly a coin to his name and nowhere to stay. What little money he’d saved up over the years had near all been spent on the boat ticket, so now Katsu found himself in a dilemma. He unsuccessfully tried getting jobs here and there but was turned down constantly, and returning home was not an option. At the age of 13 he settled on doing the only thing he could in order to survive: theft. Republic City certainly had its fair share of criminals, so he would only be one amongst the crowd. Or he might have been if he didn’t have something of a superiority complex. He was going to be a thief, but he wanted to be [i]the[/i] thief. He would join whatever group he could find and work his way up, and from there he’d be somebody. He’d live life how he wanted, do what he wanted, and get what he wanted without the meddling of the Order of the White Lotus. Much as he might have resented the White Lotus he had to be grateful for all the training they had given him. With both bending and martial training of the highest caliber he was an exceptional fighter, a fact that helped him climb the ranks of the gang he eventually joined. Nimble, strong and a capable bender he ascended to the second hand of the gang within two years, and not long thereafter he succeeded the previous leader. Granted… The gang had all of twenty members, many around his own age, but he still managed to succeed them all. Renaming the gang the Khimori Bandits after his hometown, Katsu began a life of “luxury”. The Khimori Bandits amassed a fair fortune in a matter of a year, and yet Katsu kept very little of the coin for himself. It was never the money he was after, he'd argue, but the thrill and delight that came along with the act of theft. Even now he remains one of the poorer members of his gang in spite of being the leader, and he tends to carry out as many jobs as his best associates.