[hider=Chae-Won] Image: [hider=It's Ya Gurl] [img]https://i.imgur.com/OyeG6v7.png[/img] [/hider] [b]Name:[/b] Chae-Won [b]Age:[/b] 28 [b]Gender:[/b] Female [b]Element:[/b] Earth [b]Residence:[/b] Lower Ring [b]Occupation:[/b] Courier / Fixer [u]Who are you?[/u] [hider=Early Life and Stickball] I was born the daughter of a sidelined RSF officer. He was the sole survivor of an operation that went wrong, at least on the side of the police. We ended up stuffed into the "nice" corner of the Lower Ring. I had a decent enough childhood, my father still got paid well enough for where we were. I didn't have many friends though. Having more than most of my peers, and being the daughter of a cop, made any sort of social life difficult. Instead of spending time with people my age, I ended up spending a lot of time watching TV or listening to the radio. I discovered the world of stickball. I found the players so strong and beautiful. Glamorous. I wanted to be them. It's strange to say, but looking back, that's really how I ended up where I did. The only real stickball being played in the Lower Ring was a junior league where kids could play in the hopes of maybe being taken to the Middle Ring if they did well. I did really well. I was always the best. Remember how I wasn't good at making friends, though? During practice one day, they decided just how much they really didn't like me. The daughter of a cop who always had more than everyone else who was doing better than everyone else. They didn't think it was fair, so they decided to knock me down a peg. When they hit me, I fell at the worst possible angle and pretty much destroyed my leg. The hit itself pretty much destroyed my eye. I was left with some nasty surgical scars and the knowledge I would likely never play again. That was when my father realized just how forgotten he truly was. Even as a government employee, he couldn't find any strings to pull to help in my recovery. So he looked elsewhere. The criminal underworld of Ba Sing Se can get you almost anything, including artificial spirit water and someone who knows how to use it. The scars would remain, and my vision in that eye still isn't perfect, but I was back on my feet. The problem was, it was hard for my father to find someone who was willing to help a cop. Everyone who had the power to help, also had the ability to find out who he was. The people he did find were the ones with the power and influence to feel safe helping a cop, and also screw him out of as much money as possible. They also had the power and influence to go after him when he couldn't pay them fast enough. They gave him the same injuries I'd had, putting his career as an officer to an end. That was the start for me. I had to step up and take care of my family. I had to learn to survive the Lower Ring on my own, though my dad was able to help a lot with that. For the most part, I just did odd jobs and deliveries. Short of murder, there wasn't much I wouldn't do, honestly. That was also when I lost the ability to say I was innocent; that everything that happened to us wasn't my fault. As I grew older and more experienced, I found the people who'd hurt my father and started screwing with them. I thought I was careful enough, just stealing their deliveries or tipping off the police or even rival gangs. I even tried to bring some of their spirit water to my father, but he refused, yelling at me that I was being a fool. So, I stopped... but it was too late. I thought I had been careful enough. I thought they didn't know it was me. One day, I came home, and I found my mother dead and my father, once again beaten and bloody, huddled over her body. It marked the second, massive change to my life. I thought my father would blame me, but he didn't. He blamed himself for getting us involved with them in the first place. We [i]both[/i] blamed them for hurting us. This time my father taught me something else. [/hider] [hider=Bending] The job that got my father shoved away in the Lower Ring where the world could forget about him was a raid on a gang that was training benders to use as attack dogs. My mother was meant to be one of those attack dogs. However, she broke free during the raid and ended up protecting my father, having simply wanted her freedom. In the end, they chose to help each other. Her out of desperation, and him out of gratitude. My father did what he could to pass on her bending to me. We thought, that maybe, someday, with bending at my disposal I could do something about the people who'd torn out family apart. However, and amateur amount of bending alone would never allow me to take them on. In the end, my father would never see us avenged, as his injuries finally caught up to him. In the end, [i]I[/i] would. They got greedy, started muscling into places they shouldn't have. It was almost too easy to kick off a gang war that they had no hope of winning. When their leaders tried to flee, I was waiting for them. I left them buried up to their necks where their enemies could find them. [/hider] [hider=The Kid] After the spirit water gang was dealt with, I didn't really have a direction. My family was gone, my career had never had a chance to take off, and my vengeance was fulfilled. I was alone -- empty. I took a job that had me go outside the walls. On the way back, I found a boy who'd also managed to sneak out. He was bending, or at least trying to. He was an earthbender like me. He was a really [i]bad[/i] earthbender... I couldn't stop myself. I spooked him real bad, but I convinced him to tell me his name. He was young, and his voice was soft, but he was surprisingly willful. I managed to convince him to trust me, not that he had a choice at that point now that I knew his secret. He was alone, like me. Somehow I was compelled to protect him. In return, even if he didn't realize, he taught me how to live again. He gave me a reason to practice my bending again, and in turn to remember my mother. He had split personalities, but I adored both of them. It was during this time I got lucky. I was still working as a courier of sorts, though by now I actually had a solid reputation. One of the best, in fact. It led to me forming a relationship with another gang, though this one was on better terms. They liked to collect old bending artifacts. I was able to pick up techniques and information about earthbending this way. Even glassbending, though that one almost got me killed when I had to delay my delivery to transcribe it as best I could. I had wanted so bad to protect the kid, but I couldn't, not all the time. He got hurt again and I never heard that gentle voice of his again. It was only due to my newfound glassbending that I was able to keep a shard of glass from working itself deeper into his throat. After that I was hard on him, trying to push him harder in the hopes he'd be able to protect himself. I tried to do my best... But now I don't even know where he is. [/hider] [u]What is your opinion on Benders?[/u] After I lost everything, it gave me something back. [hider=Also...] It's all I have left of my mother. [/hider] [/hider]