The Five Nations

A new beginning for the land,
where power soon will exchange hands.
Gathered for a festival
in the island capital.
Benders come from all around
to fight for the ruling crown.
A group of vagabonds meet by fate,
they travel north and they can't be late.


It is the anniversary of the establishing of the five nations. People from across Tokugawa come to partake in the week-long festival. There are tournaments where combat and bending competitions take place. There are many merchants who've come from throughout the land, and each of them brought whatever goods that are common in their respective Nations. There are good times to be had and sorrows to be drowned. On the anniversary it seemed that Tokugawa found a small pocket of calm in the otherwise perpetual tempest.

It is the afternoon of the fourth day. Three more remained after this. Now, parts of the palace were open to all the civilians, and the tournaments were now taking place on the large, open space in front of the palace. The next event was starting in ten minutes: a five-way fight between one bender of each of the elements. All around the arena were seats, and beyond them were many merchant stalls and cookeries. The magnificent palace stood in the background.



Characters

Takeda Shingen | Rakshael
Yumi Kyuusoku | Gamzee
Kadon | Keith
Akiro Ajabana | Solsetur
Nakamura Kenshin | Sailboat


Notable NPCs

Emperor Makota Fang - Shadow Bender
Shi No Te - Also known as Death's Hand, is loyal to the named Emperor.

Fire Lord Shen Kwan
Earth Queen Riku Umeki
Water Chieftain Takeshi Hattori
Council of Elders: Ken Daigo; Hayate Daigo; Miu Huani; Hina Karasuma
Shadow Mikado Kasumi Yuhara

OoC: I wrote and re-wrote this, so I may have missed one or two things out. Hopefully I didn't though

BiC: The Palace was a beautiful testament to humankind. It was a truly amazing creation. Up in the mountains, Kadon had never seen anything like it. He liked to think he was above such "abominations", as the spirit would say, but really he was astounded by it. The flounced roofing, the pointed spires atop each building, the many segments creating a beautiful array of colours and textures. The manpower needed to create this was just outstanding.

He was pacing around the raised platform. He had already surveyed the field three times, and yet each time he noticed new things. He was used to the flatness of nature. It was predictable, he knew where plants grew, where rocks would form. It was easy to sense things. Here however, it was anarchy. The city had no form.

The courtyard was the closest thing to organisation he had seen since entering the city. In front of him there was the Palace. Behind him, and to the side, an arc of observers. Some had wagered their money on fights, giving them the incentive to yell obscentities or motivation at the boy. This was part of the reason meditation seemed impossible. City life was so loud.

The platform had five sides, each corner being designated by a tall black pillar. It was a perfect shape. The floor was some sort of white stone that Kadon had never before encountered. It was smooth and while he could still bend it, he had a much tougher time of it. Luckily there was regular rocks and earth outside of the platform which he could call to his aid.

There were only about five minutes left, so he stepped off of the platform. The dirt welcomed his bare feet and he felt much more comfortable. However, he only spent a few minutes off of the platform so that he could grab a weapon. He stuck his hand into the dirt, his entire wrist consumed. He moved around to find a decent clump of rock. His hand emerged with a staff made of condensed dirt, reaching at about 6 ft. It wouldn't last long, but it would at least help him to focus his attacks.

He then stepped back onto the platform and resumed his original position; cross-legged seating opposite the Palace with his staff resting across his lap.

Yumi breathed in deeply; the fresh air filled her lungs. The cool spring breeze reverberated in her ears as it whipped by, lifting and blowing her hair about her head. She stood in the arena as one of the five fighters. On one of the platforms as a young man with loose clothing. By the looks of him she guessed he might be the earth bender. Three others stood around as well. All five of them were waiting for the battle to begin.

She looked about to consider what the benders would be using. Rocks and dirt were around the stadium, as well as troughs of water and torches. Of course, all of these cast a shadow so that the shadow bender would have things as well. Yumi, of course, needed nothing. Her element was everywhere. Soon enough the battle would begin, and Yumi assessed the situation. She would weave in and out of the way, dodge attacks, and use her ability to redirect attacks to the other fighters. In time they would become weakened, and that is when she would strike.

Yumi spun her staff in her hands and smiled.

As part of the detachment sent to the city for the tournament, Shingen had watched all of the combat with varied interest. He had already won prizes in lance dueling, but those were over and all that remained for the day were the bending finals. One of his higher-ups, Lord Soto, was one of the rare Nejirans who happened to be a firebender, and he had fought his way into today's final match. Shingen looked on with other soldiers as the match preliminaries went on. Lord Soto was an intimidating physical monstrosity, towering above most people and possessing much physical strength. His spot was between an airbender and a shadowbender, whom he dwarfed.

Strangely, he didn't recognize the airbender. She wasn't in military uniform, so she was obviously a freelancer. Turning to one of his fellow soldiers, Shingen asked, "Hey, you know why a Nejiran isn't the airbender? That's odd. She must be something if she bested Imagawa."

Imagawa was Shingen's direct superior, and secretly gave him airbending lessons. There was hardly a better airbender in Nejiro, at least one that didn't consider themselves "above" events such as these. Anyone that had gotten the best of him would have to be skilled, or just lucky.

"Luck, that had to be it. No common freelancer could beat Imagawa," came his companion's reply. "Wait, have you seen him recently?"

"No, actually, I was going to ask you-"

The gong sounded for the match to begin, and the crowd began to roar as elements answered the call of their masters.

Ooc: No Air Daimyo (lord) for Nejiro?

Arina gawked at the view that lay before her.

She had never had chance to visit the festival before, with it being so far away and so expensive, and as such she was not used to the sheer scale and beauty of the place.

The palace was the most beautiful building she had ever laid eyes on, and up close it was even more astonishing than she had imagined. It was like nothing she had ever seen, perfectly formed and stunningly designed.
She had heard that Hashama had some of the greatest architecture in all of the land, but she didn't expect it to be quite like this.

It was only when Rida brushed against her that she managed to pull her eyes away from the building, and realised that she had better hurry and find a seat, else she'd be left standing.
There was only a few minutes before the tournament was due to start, and people were filing in from all over and filling up the seats rapidly.
Arina clicked her tongue at Rida to get him to come to heel, but seeing as it was so noisy she gave a gentle tug on his leash as well, and headed to an empty seat.

The idea of a bending tournament intrigued her greatly. It's not often one gets to see all the different forms of bending, let alone all at once. Fighting itself was something Arina found highly distasteful, but her interest in other bending forms was too great for her to miss a chance to see them in action.


Arina wasn't sat long before the gong rang out. The crowd's reaction took her by surprise, and left her momentarily deafened.
When the crowd died down, she leaned forwards in her seat, and gazed over the shoulder of the man in front, trying her best to get a good view.
She cursed under her breath for not getting a better seat, and muttered something about palaces and architects that are too good for their own good.

The moment the gong sounded a huge blast of water smacked Kadon. He didn't budge, but he was surpised by the girl's speed to say the least. He reacted quickly, pivoting on his left foot towards the centre of the platform and simultaneously kicking the ground with his heel in her direction. While the white stone didn't have the desired effect, it was still enough to knock her off of her feet. Before she could get up, he had already grabbed an average sized rock from just outside the perimeter and was throwing it at her.. He was about to launch a second when a large blast of fire hit his left side; the rock falling to the ground. He wasn't burnt, but he was certainly shocked. He looked over to see the Airbender and the Firebender locked in combat. He looked around but the Shadowbender wasn't in sight.

When he stopped looking around, he noticed that the girl was back on her feet. She made of a whip of the water she had and smacked Kadon in the leg. Again, she failed to knock his balance. He grabbed the rock he had dropped and threw it at her left leg, with enough force to cause her to do a complete forward flip. As the rock collided, he heard a large snapping sound as well as a screech. He knew that she was out and left her to clutch her leg and cry to herself.. He was guessing she was new at this, and it wasn't a smart idea for a waterbender to attack an earthbender. She hadn't even used the ability to freeze.

He looked over to see what the other two were doing. He was still worried about the missing shadowbender. For the sake of defending himself, he slid into the ground in a smooth motion, stopping him from being knocked out.

Yumi sized up her opponents. The earth bender held a stone staff in his hand and eagerly awaited battle. The fire bender was the tallest and bulkiest of the five of them. The water bender was a young girl, and the shadow bender appeared to be the oldest and shortest. His grip was tight on his katana.

When the gong ran and signified battle, Yumi went for the shadow bender. She leaped towards him but suddenly lost sight of him. Evidently he was bending the shadows to cloak himself. She didn't have time to hunt him out (which would involve watching the ground for footsteps and listening for breathing) as the fire bender targeted her. He brought a flame from one of the torches and arched it towards her. Yumi simply inhaled and then blew a cooling breeze from her lungs. The fire dissipated almost immediately and Yumi smiled. "Not bad, sir."

It was Yumi's turn. She held her staff in front of her and spun it around and around. As the momentum increased it caused a funnel of air, with one side behind her and the other aimed at the fire bender. Within seconds she directed the funnel towards some of the rocks laying about the arena. The rocks were sucked into the vortex and shot out the other end. Realizing the danger the fire lord jumped to the side and narrowly avoided what could have been a devastating blow to his arm. The man removed a mallet from his back and when the next boulder flew at him he swung and crushed it mid-air. For each consecutive boulder he lifted the large mallet and smashed whatever came his way.

It was clear that this was getting her nowhere. Yumi stopped vortex and in a quick motion she reached her arm out and pulled it back towards her. With the movement the fire bender was pulled off his feet and pushed towards Yumi. Seeing her opening she ran forward and smacked him in the leg with her staff. She continued to run past him for a couple dozen feet before planting her staff in the ground and pivoting to face her opponent once more.

Air is agile and free. Water is versatile and adaptable. Fire is unrelenting, unstoppable assault. Earth is immutable and powerful. Shadow is mystery and deception.

That is what he had been taught from a young age.

He now saw it played out in the ring. The earthbender shrugged off the attacks of the waterbender, only to be hit by a stray fireball from Soto. He still got right back up and broke the waterbender's leg with a well-thrown rock.

Soto had gone straight for the airbender. Being in a city of airbenders, he had practised the most against them and thus knew their techniques intimately. The woman was giving him a run for his money, though. He barely had time to attack before she put him on the defensive, with gusts of air and rocks. He had had to bring out his famous hammer to deal with her. She rushed past and struck him with her staff, but he was utterly unfazed and turned to face her with fire gathering into his hand for a barrage of flaming death.

Well, if she beat Imagawa, that's not going to work, my lord. thought Shingen. He watched what the woman did, everything so fluid and natural for her. Bending was obviously something she enjoyed as well as practiced.

Shingen turned to his fellowsoldier again. "Lord Soto will have to bring the fight in close if he's going to win against her. She is no match for his strength and skill with the hammer, but I think he is outmatched in bending."

"Aye, that he will," came the response. "But few can stand before him in close combat anyways."

"True indeed."

He continued watching the fight, noticing the shadowbender was missing. However, a stray gust of wind rustled up some dust, and for those who were looking, the outline of a man was briefly visible, before the wind carried the dust away.

Kadon wished he had spent more time learning how to use the instinctive seismic sense that the spirit had spoke of. Then he wouldn't have such a hard time trying to find the Shadowbender. While he was keeping an eye on the other two, they were preoccupied with each other and the Shadowbender was a far bigger threat. If he didn'-

Suddenly a fist came from nowhere, smacking Kadon right in the jaw. He almost toppled over, saved by his entrenchment. As he swung back up, he through his fist in a forward direction, only to be jabbed in the back, causing a shocking sensation to jolt his entire body. As his next punch was in motion, it was caught by the shadows in the air. It was twisted behind his back and Kadon doubled over in pain.

Kadon was starting to get angry. He began to send tremors through the ground, shaking the ground, even dropping his staff in the process. As the Shadowbender continued to beat him, he started to violently tremble. A large crack appeared in the platform, starting in one corner and stretching to where Kadon was held. The jabs had stopped now, and the Shadowbender had let his cloak dissapate. He took a step back, fascinated by the crack in the ground. It began to grow wider, and just as it opened wide enough for the earth beneath to be seen, a thin pillar shot out of the ground; colliding with his jaw, throwing the shadowbender about a foot up into the air. Kadon released his entrenchment and, as the Shadowbender's decent began, he swung his left leg round in an arc.

She turned just in time to see the fire bender siphon fire from the torches to form a fireball. With a flick of his wrist he sent it hurdling towards Yumi. She leaped out of the way of the flames but the fire bender followed it up with another scorching ball. She was on the defensive now and ran about the arena, trying to avoid getting burned. As she ran she looked over to the earth bender. He had incapacitated the water bender and had just engaged the shadow bender. He was more powerful than she initially thought.

Once she was in the perfect position she came to a stop and faced the fire bender. As expected he had another attack readied and sent it to her. In retaliation Yumi brought swung her staff from one side to the other. The sudden change in air current deflected the fireball towards its new quarry: the earth bender.

Shingen watched with a concerned look on his face. Soto was still shooting fireballs, and when he had the opportunity to close in, didn't. What was he thinking?! The airbender was no one to be trifled with, and was quite possibly the most skilled in this match. If he was going to win he'd need to close in!

The airbender was indeed good. Her last trick of redirecting the fireball had the crowd going nuts. Shingen thought he knew what the outcome would already be, so he turned to his partner. Barely audible above the din, he managed to get a message across: "Hey! I'm going to see if I can't find Imagawa! He should be here and it's bothering me!"

The soldier nodded and returned to watching the match. Shingen left the crowd, making his way towards the edge of the city proper.

He got out of the stadium crowd, where there was finally some peace and quiet.

"Now where would he be?" he said, to no one in particular.

Walking through the streets was an almost completely different experience compared to that of an hour ago. People were busy yelling, preparing, running, yelling, arguing, buying, advertising, and yelling. Now, there was hardly a sound, though if one listened, he could hear the commotion from the courtyard.

Shingen aimlessly wandered, keeping track of where he was, but without purpose or destination. No commoners bothered him, as he wore his armor, and that always intimidated peasants, occasionally to Shingen's amusement. He eventually stumbled upon a small garden, in a quaint little plaza. Imagawa was the meditative type, perhaps he would be there.

Conveniently, he was. He was sitting on a flat rock, hands on his criss-crossed legs, unmoving and stoic. Shingen was relieved to have found him, but instead of interrupting, sat down on the ground nearby. Imagawa, however, spoke out.

"Hello, Shingen. How go the matches?"

"Well enough, master. Soto competes with a powerful earthbender and airbender."

"Is this airbender female? In a dark cloak?"

"Why yes, yes she is."

"Ah. You must have been wondering. I indeed lost a match today, against her. She is quite formidable. Between us, I must say Soto stands little chance."

Shingen made no reply, prompting Imagawa to speak again.

"You know, Shingen, the lancing competitions are over. You are free the rest of this week, right?"

"Yes, master."

"I feel that you should take my place in the bending competitions tommorrow."

Shingen was taken aback. He knew he was nowhere near the level of the benders out there. He was only good with a lance, and even that, others could best him easily by making their own maces or hatchets.

"Master Imagawa, I do not believe myself worthy to take your position. You know I cannot form weapons, I cannot even properly levitate or call forth wind, I am-"

Imagawa cut him off, "Your skill in bending is not yet fully realized, Shingen. That is self-evident. However, you possess determination and inner strength which I could never gain."

"You falsely praise me, master. You speak as if I was one of the Five Heroes reborn."

Imagawa opened his eyes. He took in the garden and plaza, then focused on Shingen.

"You will take my place, Shingen. Trust me in this. If it will help your confidence, we can practice tonight."

"Nothing would please me more."

"Then it is settled. Come, let us see the results of the match." Imagawa stood, and accompanied by his student and subordinate, made his way back to the stadium.

Arina visibly reeled back in shock as the earth bender smashed the shadow bender's jaw with the pillar from the ground. She had been expecting it to be violent, but simply knowing that didn't prepare her for the brutality of it all.
No wonder it's dishonourable to use bending to fight, she thought to herself, feeling quite sick. She was starting to look very green in the face, in fact, and she decided it would be best if she left to find a quiet place to get her stomach under control.

She stood up silently, carefully avoided stepping on any toes, with Rida following behind closely. It was evident that he wasn't comfortable in such a loud and crowded place.
Arina had felt awfully guilty bringing him there, but unfortunately there was no place for her to leave him. She ruffled his ears affectionately, and headed out of the palace grounds.

Away from the tournament came as quite a surprise to Arina. She had gotten quite used to the overcrowded, constant racket of people buying and selling.
She'd forgotten how much she missed the quiet, and already she began to feel better.

As she looked for somewhere to sit and relax, she bought some food from a stall on the street. The stall's owner was not there, but they had left out a pot to put money in. There were other stalls, selling trinkets and small animals like baby turtles, and their owners had not gone to see the match.
Arina figured that the stall owner could get away with not being there because there were other people around to stop theft.

It wasn't long until she found herself a quiet garden, and sat down on a bench nearby. She untied Rida's leash, then took a bite of her food. Her stomach seemed to agree, so she carried on eating.

This Earthbender had completely abused the Shadowbender's sympathy. He had a huge advantage on this Earthbender, but he took pity and decided to simply punch him and hope he gave up. But he had such raw power, a child could not possess; and completely knocked him off-guard. He certainly didn't expect to be suckerpunched by the ground. When he landed on the ground, he got up immediately. This kid had pissed him off and he was certainly going to get rid of him. He drew his katana, only to be baffled as to where the boy had gone.

Kadon was sprawled on the ground. As he was about to give the finishing blow, a huge wave of fire had collided with his leg, knocking him to the ground. He was clutching his left knee, which had taken the force of his fall. He could feel constant jabs of pain surging through his body. He had never felt such crippling pain before, he had never lost his focus.

As he rolled about on the floor, a large katana slashed where he was only moments ago, decapitating his past self. Kadon felt a sense of urgency, and threw himself up into the air with his hands. He landed on both feet, slightly falling as his left leg failed him. While the initial pain had begun to dull, he was still unable to put weight on the leg. He narrowly dodged another strike, diving to the right as the katana tore his trousers. This time he prepared for his leg, and simply lifted it slightly so it wouldn't feel the jolt of pain. He got a good look at the Shadowbender this time.

While he was still cloaking himself, he wasn't following protocol. He moved with a strong determination, a trail of black smog followed his every move as he charged with an unrelenting anger towards Kadon. Never before had he been made such a fool. Kadon was taken aback. He was about to take a step back, before remembering his injury and simply diving to the side again. This time, as he threw himself, he also threw two rocks at the Shadowbender, hoping for a lucky break. However, he dismissed the rocks with two blows of his blade. Kadon discovered a newfound feeling, one of dire frustration. His only hope was to step outside the ring and void his hard work.

He decided to keep this tactic for as long as he could. Each time the shadowbender got closer and closer, and a few times he narrowly missed attacks by his bending. Maybe he could catch a lucky break and the other two fools would knock him out. Or not.

Akiro walked through the Palace grounds, an air of discontent around him. I cannot BELIEVE I was late for sign-ups! He kicked at a plant with a bare foot, and cursed when he got a split in his toe. He drew fire from a nearby torch and burnt the thing off, causing himself only minor pain.

He heard someone moving off in the distance, but he ignored it. He fingered the hilt of his sword while listening to the crowd roar; it seemed someone had been eliminated. Akiro wished he'd have been in there. He needed a good fight.

"I come all the way to this city only to be late... Great." He continued to walk, the gardens grass soft against his feet, when he decided to sit. He didn't like walking, he remembered after a short period of time, and he wanted to see if he could hear what was happening in the stadium.

So he sat, drawing his sword and placing it in his lap. He looked straight ahead, and strained his ears in an effort to hear what was going on.

Shingen followed Imagawa dutifully. His thoughts were occupied with the coming days. If he was to take his teacher's place, he would need to learn to hover, at the very least. He could hold his own in combat with his spear, but to counter opposing benders, he'd need to have the superior agility of flight. As of right now, he could lift himself off the ground, but with treacherous instability. That would be what he'd ask to be taught tonight, if Imagawa hadn't decided on something already. His teacher usually knew what was best.

So focused was Shingen on preparations, that he totally missed the ronin and peasant girl that oddly, were going the other way. Normally, this would have stuck out to him.

________________________________________

They re-entered the stadium, where the match was still going on. The shadowbender was visible, though not completely, and was tearing after the wounded earthbender with a wispy katana. Soto and the woman still fought blow-for-blow.

Soto threw fireball after fireball at the woman. She deflected each with a flick of her staff, dissipating the flame or sending it off in a harmless direction with very little effort. The firebending powerhouse sensed that his bending strength was reaching its limit. He finally realized that she was waiting him out, tiring him so that she could finish the job when he was weak. And it had worked. In anger at being deceived, he took his hammer, and made a full head-on charge, yelling out a tremendous cry intended to startle her. Soto would crush her in close combat, or lose all in the attempt.

The fire bender continued his assault of fire on Yumi. With each blast sent her way she either cooled it off with her breathe or redirected it elsewhere. It took almost no effort for her to cast them aside. She looked and saw that the earth bender and shadow bender were engaged with each other. She began to redirect the fire towards them in the hopes of weakening them.

It did not last, however, and soon the firebender had enough of her. Drawing his massive mallet he charged towards her. Yumi stood her ground and waited for him to close the distance. He came at her with a sideways swing. Yumi retaliated by ducking and rolling past him. As she did she spun and swiped with her staff, but the attack was futile. She also made the novice mistake of forgetting about momentum. The firebender continued the swing and gracefully spun in a 360 degree angle, smashing her in the abdomen and sending her flying a few feet. Yumi managed to catch herself and landed on her feet, but the blow had knocked the breath out of her.

He came at her again, but this time she jumped and soared across the arena. When she landed she formed a shuriken made of compressed air. If a blunt weapon didn't faze him then she'd see what a piercing weapon would do.

And that is why you wear armor, Shingen thought, the shuriken embedding itself in Soto's armor, before dissipating without having done any harm. I do not know why these rabble have not realized this simple part of combat yet.

The Nejiran daimyo was pleased that his blow had connected anyways. His famous hammer was his pride, and his fighting style was completely based around it. He had turned, and when the shuriken struck, he laughed deeply, and came at her again. Soto was confidant he would end her this time. He charged again, and as he approached, threw the hammer. If he missed, he'd follow up with flame breath and burn her into submission.

From his viewpoint, Shingen watched the daimyo's movements and attitude. Having practiced with him before, he knew the lord was sure of victory. That was the only time Soto made mistakes, the one time his unstoppable attack had an opening for counter. This was the airbender's moment of truth. Would she best the most powerful firebender in Nejiro?

The hammer was thrown; the firebender was unarmed. Yumi jumped out of the way and while in the air she spun her hands around quickly. She formed a ball of air and tossed it at his feet. He was caught offguard by it and fell on his front. However, Yumi did not attempt to finish him off. She saw that the earth bender and shadow bender were engaged, and the shadow bender looked to have the advantage. Yumi ran parallel to them and conjured up two air bullets and shot them at the shadow bender. Both of them struck him in the back and caused small dents in his armor.

Rather than finishing off his target the shadow bender disappeared once more.

Kadon was at a complete loss as to whether he should thank the woman or shout at her. Unfortunately he didn't have long to contemplate this decision because the Firebender who was so focused on getting to her crashed into Kadon. He landed on his right side, pencil rolling. He managed to stop himself before his leg managed to hit the floor, but he was getting genuinely angry now. This match was wearing on his nerves, despite all of the spirit's training. It was time to get payback for breaking his leg. But first he had to get his attention.

Using one hand, he threw himself up in the air while throwing a two large rocks at his opponent with the other in one fluid motion. The Firebender smashed them to pieces, as Kadon had predicted, and he collected all the pieces and created a makeshift cast for his broken leg. It was completely straigtened and stiff, his mobility lowered, but it dulled the pain and he was able to put weight on the leg now. As he was preoccupied testing his admirable idea, yet another fireball was sent his way. Luckily for him, it packed little punch due to the Firebender's exhaustion. He responded immediately with a rock thrown directly at his leg, sampling his earlier strategy with the water bender.

While the Firebender dealt with the rock, he was scanning the field for his staff. He had dropped it earlier when the Shadowbender attacked, but with his mobility minimised and this guy's incredible ability to hit rocks, he'd need something more fluid to up his game. He noticed it was a few meters away from where he had smacked the Shadowbender's jaw. He called it to his hand and had just enough time to disperse a fireball with it. It seemed that the Firebender had received a second wind. He was now charging with reckless abandon at Kadon, his mallet held high above his head; about to drop at any moment.

The colour had returned to Arina's face, and the churning had left her stomach. The food and fresh air had definitely done the trick.

She lifted herself off the bench and stretched, looking out to see where Rida had gone.
She didn't have to look very hard though. As she had expected, Rida was rolling around in the grass, getting burrs and dirt all over him.

'Rida,' she said sharply, casting him a very dark look and walking briskly towards him.
Sensing trouble, he stopped rolling immediately, scampered back onto his feet and pulled his ears back, whilst wagging his tail at the same time.
Arina sighed deeply, he wasn't the slightest bit guilty. He was practically grinning.

She shot him another scowl, and looked about for some water. It was a garden, after all, so she figured there would be something around.
And she was right, there was a pond. She clicked her tongue at Rida and headed over to it.
Rida then realised what he'd gotten into. His doggish grin vanished.
If dogs could stomp about like a sulking child who'd just had a toy taken away, that's what Rida would be doing.

Arina began to bend the water, twisting and pulling at it so that it rose out of the pond. She kept doing so until she'd lifted a bubble of water, and stretched it out to the length of Rida.

Which she proceeded to drop over his head, thoroughly drenching him and washing away the filth.

'What have I told you about rolling about in the muck?' she muttered grumpily, and began to bend the water away from the sulking beast's coat. When she saw the look Rida was pulling, however, she fell into a fit of giggles. 'Now don't you give me that look mister. Honestly dog, you hate it when you get wet yet you still bring it upon yourself!'
His look in response made her snort some more, and with him now dry and clean she slipped his leash back over his head, and ruffled his ears.

'Come on you, let's go see if that tournament is nearly over.'