Earth Kingdom

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" The yell resounded through the normally peaceful Makapu Village. Ling snickered as he dodged the few people walking around. The reason for the yelling, three loaves of bread (freshly baked too, he thought happily as the warm smell raced up to his nose), were cradled securely in his arm as he darted through the streets. His sword flapped around on its place on his waist, the sheath pounding with a rhythm on his back. I'll have to fix that, it's annoying, he thought.

Finally out of the town, the thief grinned. "Hey, Shish, got some dinner," he said, tossing the ostrich-horse a loaf. "SHIIIISH!" It said in delight, and Ling patted its' beak. "Yes, I know your name."

The teen and his ostrich-horse ate for a few minutes, before Ling took a map of the Earth Kingdom and unrolled it, weighing it down with stones so it wouldn't blow away in the slight breeze. "So where should we hit now? Probably everyone knows my face here," he said, putting a red dot next to the name of the village they just stole from.

Shish made his 'call' again, and put one of his three-toed feet on the map, so the middle toe pointed to a tiny black dot.

"Hmm... Two miles away, small so the authorities won't care about it, merchant town... Perfect! Shish, you genius, you," he said, affectionately scratching the hybrid animal's side. Said animal hissed happily. (It had taken a while, but Ling had recently perfected the ability of telling when a hiss meant Shish was happy, when he was angry, etc.) Suddenly, he heard a slight rustle. Ling warily glanced at the bushes, and rolled up his map. After all his stuff was loaded into his pack, he leaned against Shish in a position that made him look comfortable but also made it easy to hop on his ostrich-horse or draw his sword. He hastily placed the last loaf of bread in his pack.

Ling relaxed after no further noise was made. "ALRIGHT SHISH! LET US BE OFF!" He said to his 'noble steed,' - more like announced to the universe - and he hopped on, saying in his faithful companion's ear, "If you will." It was a security measure he had done when he first 'acquired' Shish. If someone hopped on him without saying that, Shish would buck them off. Ling still said it even though it wasn't necessary for him, sort of to remind them of their friendship.

And so, ponytail flapping randomly in the wind behind him, Ling rode off. But obviously he overestimated how fast an ostrich-horse could go on a single loaf of bread and tiny amount of water. Shish screeched and fell, while Ling (who the universe quite obviously liked to screw with) was somehow stuck underneath, though how that was even POSSIBLE was a mystery to him.

"Ah... Crud..." He said, dazedly opening his eyes to see he was staring right in the face of a girl with gold eyes.

(this is where it gets interesting... XD)

"Ah... The name's Ling. Mind helping me out? If you haven't noticed, I'm a bit stuck," He said sheepishly, then turned his attention to his ostrich-horse. "Shish! Get offa me!" He said. Shish screeched and attempted to stand, but failed and collapsed on top of Ling again, who swore quietly as the giant animal once again dropped on his body.

After being freed from his furry prison, Ling stretched for a moment. "Thanks, I owe you one." He said, before bending down to check all his stuff was in the bag. He took a few coins out. I have plenty from the last town I graced with my presence, anyways. And this isn't much. He held them out to the girl, grinning. Noticing her distrustful stare, he relaxed a bit so he would look less threatening. "I don't bite, promise. Though I can't say the same for Shish," Ling joked cheerfully, scratching the back of his head. Shish 'shished' and nudged him forcefully, sending the thief stumbling for a few moments before he regained his balance.

"Ling, didn't I say?" He smiled cheerfully, before hopping on his horse. "I never got your name, though, Miss...?"

Ling laughed. "Yaya, eh? That's a beautiful name, if I do say so myself," he said with playful mock politeness. It was kind of funny to associate a nickname like 'Yaya' with someone who was obviously very serious.

If possible, he grinned wider. "Well, excuse my mistake, then, Miss Hiranya." Straightening on his steed, he said, "And don't spend that all in one place." It's always good to have people who owe you a favor.