-Teahouse-

"Wonderful!" Her excitement didn’t come as much of a surprise, but it was kind of nice to see a smiling face for once, well one that smiled for reasons that were less sinister than those of which he was accustomed to, then again he still didn’t know exactly what she had in mind. He gave her a faint smile in return before taking another pot sticker and popping it into his mouth. She started her pitch, talking of the tyranny that the people here in Omashu faced, it was as expected, but he was starting to worry where the conversation would lead to.

"I also don't need to tell you that not everyone in Omashu - sorry, I refuse to call it New Ozai - is willing to take this lying down. Some want to give some back. Some...have formed a resistance.” Did she just say those words aloud? Was she blind or just really naïve?! But before he could get her to quite down it was over. He saw the guards making their way over and there was nothing he could do to help her now. ‘Damnit…’ was the only word that cycled through his mind over and over, each step the guards took the little voice in his head said it louder.

"It's not stealing if you're at war, sugar - it's conquest." The armored guard said as he pulled the young water tribe girl to her feet, but Kazanko could only sit and watch as anger boiled up inside of him. They were going to imprison this young girl, and it was his entire fault. He should have warned her, he should have realized that soldiers would be eavesdropping, just because a friendly face was talking to him was no excuse to let his guard down. Two guards… there could only be a few more sitting around here in the teahouse, he could take them, yes he could definitely take them, but he needed to wait, or else their possibilities to escape would be shot.

"Good work Kazanko - I always said you water tribe mercenaries were no good, but you've proven me wrong - feel honored. The information we get out of this wench will probably go a long way to quelling those little pockets of resistance we keep getting all over the place. I'll be sure to put a good word in for you." He clenched his teeth as his fist tightened before simply nodding in acknowledgement of what he had just said.

“Well I guess I will be leaving now…” The treacherous waterbender said as he stood up to his feet, but it was then that a knife went streaming by his face, a thud rang through the air as the knife embedded itself in the wall behind him. Who this foolish boy was Kazanko didn’t know, but he was thankful such a foolish lad was willing to oppose them. This could be used to his advantage to create an opportunity to escape.

“Let me prove my medal once more by handling this whelp…” He said as he stood up between Tenshio and the guards.
-
All he wanted to do was drink some tea, but the spirits had something else in store for him. There stood his companions, Tenshio with his blade drawn against some one eyed man and a few hot heads… Kyozuki in their midst. ‘No...’ said the voice in the young boxer’s head, its tone filled with a sense of hopelessness and despair as the blue eyed fighter stood there frozen. ‘They are going to take Kyozuki… and maybe even circus boy… I… I can’t let this happen, I have to do something!’

But he couldn’t move. As much as he wanted to simply rush in and smash his bloody fist into their faces he couldn’t. What was this? The fearless pit fighter couldn’t move!? His arms and legs felt as if they were bound by the weight of his previous failure, and though he wanted to fight, his body still remembered the beating it took not too long ago. ‘Come on! MOVE DAMNIT!’ but the only things that moved were his legs, and all they did was shake, as if ready to buckle under the weight of the fighter. No he wasn’t about to fail again! He wouldn’t let them take another one of his companions! He stiffened his legs as best he could before bursting into a mad dash towards one of the hot heads. He had little strength left, but if he threw his weight into a punch, it should be enough to knock down an unsuspecting guard.
—
Kazanko couldn’t believe his eye, it took this newcomer only a few seconds to rush headlong into the other two fire nation guards, his balled fist smashing into one of their faces and knocking that guard to the ground. He couldn’t have asked for a better chance to escape. In one swift motion Kazanko spread his arms apart causing the large amount of water stored in his water skin to burst into a thick haze. Now in cover he quickly struck down the guard which had apprehended the young watertribe girl and called out for her allies. “If you all want to make it out of this then you better follow me!” He shouted before taking off with the water tribe girl.
—-
OOC: Hope you guys don’t mind a mini Time skip.

-Some random alley-

Koji stood there, his lungs trying to fill up with as much air as they could as he hunched over in exhaustion. Today was definetly not his day… but at least he had managed to Help in Kyozuki’s escape, but if it wasn’t for the one eyed waterbender then it was probably safe to say they wouldn’t have been able to pull it off. He straightened up and looked over at the guy, and with exhaustion written all over his face he extended his hand expecting the fellow to do the same.

“Thanks for the help mister…” The half dead boxer said behind a tired smile and wobbly legs.

Kazanko didn’t know how to react, Kyozuki seemed to be in a state of shock, and he had a feeling he knew why… The knife thrower probably had his own feelings of resentment towards the mercenary, but at least this dimwitted earthbender seemed to trust him… So the waterbender reluctantly shook the boys hand as he waited for the others to react to the events that had just taken place.

Masato was ready to fight the guard. He'd go all out, if that was necessary. He figured that it wouldn't be too hard to take down a couple of guards; he'd done, much worse before. He'd just have to be fast.

He was caught off guard when the Waterbender stood up and asked to deal with him. He really didn't appreciate being called a whelp, even by someone he might soon be killing. He tensed, ready to spring, but was stopped by a new arrival.

Koji stood in the doorway, horror evident on his face. Masato wondered if he was going to rush into the fight. He wouldn't mind having a little help. It would let him deal with the Waterbender sooner.

He was disappointed. Koji did rush in, but rather than going after Masato, the Waterbender threw up some fog and tried to order the Resistance members to follow him out. Is he insane? Masato wondered. He says he'll deal with me, but instead tries to help me escape? What's he up to? Still, he didn't feel like causing more trouble, so he followed the Waterbender out of the teahouse, grabbing his knife on his way out.

-Same random alley-

Masato stopped running and stared at the Waterbending, suspicion and confusion both in his eyes. After Koji's cheerful greeting, Masato walked up to the Waterbender and said, "I won't pretend I'm not grateful, but what are you up to? First you propose to get rid of me, then you lead everyone to safety. And even if you claim to have good intentions, that guard knew you. You probably work with the Fire Nation and are just with us to spy on us. I'll be watching you."

Kyozuki's mind blanked as the guard took her by the arm - as the mind often does in such a situation, Kyozuki found herself looking at the scene before her as if through frosted glass. The words spoken fell on deaf ears, and when Kazanko grabbed her to escape, she barely noticed. By the time her faculties reasserted themselves, they had already escaped to cover. At some point she'd been let go of, leaving her with a view of the scene; Koji was to one side, while Masato was talking to...

Kyozuki's throat tightened. He was there. Right in front of her. Again, her mind went blank, but this time she was galvanised into action. A few halting steps, then a few sure, sweeping steps; reaching the two talkers, Kyozuki pulled Masato out of her road with a strength that belied her slender frame. Then, with a scream of rage, she all but lunged at Kazanko - only to find strong hands grabbing her wrists and holding her back.

"Let go of me!" she yelled, twisting round in a futile attempt to wriggle out of Koji's grip. "I'm gonna kill him! I swear I'm gonna kill him! I'll scratch his eyes out! I tear his hair out by the roots! I'll kick his shins in! Oh for the love of Twi, let me go!" Kyozuki now turned her unrestrained fury on Koji, giving him a solid kick in the knee. Once free of his grip, Kyozuki unscrewed her waterskin with shaky hands, clumsily drawing out the water - she was simply too angry to control it properly. A few wavering splashes at Kazanko (she didn't even see if they hit) and she forgot all about using water, falling back on just her fists. This only served to fuel her anger - Kazanko was a veteran fighter, and Kyozuki lacked even the most basic of training. With each blocked or deflected hit, her blood boiled hotter and hotter, while her angry tears flowed fast and free. Finally, with a scream that was more despairing than angry, she hit her ineffectual fists against Kazanko one more time, before breaking into angry, choking sobs. She slid down to fall in a heap on the ground, face hidden beneath her left arm, while her right continued to hit feebly at Kazanko's feet.

"How could you?" she said feebly, voice choked to a whisper by her tears. "How could you?" She lifted her head to look up at Kazanko, her expression no longer truly angry - instead it was a look of betrayal and accusation.

"You're a waterbender. How could you ally with those... monsters?!" Her voice failed her for a few moments. "How could you? How can you just betray the water tribe like that? How could you? How dare you!" Kyozuki raised her fist from where she lay, but gave it up as a useless gesture. Instead, she pulled herself into a sitting position, knees drawn up to her chest, and sunk her head into her folded arms, trying to shut out the fact that had been lurking in her head ever since the guard had pulled her out of the chair. Kazanko wasn't the only traitor here. She'd betrayed the resistance. Even though they'd escaped, the fire nation now knew they existed - not only that, but they had at least one face, possibly three. And that was on her head as much as this turncoat.

"I won't pretend I'm not grateful, but what are you up to? First you propose to get rid of me, then you lead everyone to safety. And even if you claim to have good intentions, that guard knew you. You probably work with the Fire Nation and are just with us to spy on us. I'll be watching you." The seemingly young man answered as he approached the treacherous water bender. Koji didn’t have a clue as to what was happening but the dimwit felt that Masato was being a bit harsh on the man who just pulled them out of a more than just troublesome situation.

The waterbender seemed a bit troubled by the whole situation, he had in fact been working for the Fire Nation here in the city, but just as a simple mercenary who was sent after people deemed ‘too dangerous’ to risk a soldier’s life. Well what did it matter; if he hadn’t run into Kyozuki today then he would have probably been assigned to take out one of her two comrades sooner or later. Then without warning the man who confronted him was gone, replaced by an enraged and betrayed Kyozuki. Blinded by the rage that came with her sense of betrayal she lunged for the waterbender only to be restrained by the burly young man in green shorts.

She demanded her release and as much as the fighter tried to calm her down she would not have it. "I'm gonna kill him! I swear I'm gonna kill him! I'll scratch his eyes out! I tear his hair out by the roots! I'll kick his shins in! Oh for the love of Twi, let me go!" She yelled as she twisted left and right in an attempt to rid herself of the boxer’s grasp. “Kyozuki Calm down! You might attract some unwanted attention!” Koji exclaimed before she landed a swift blow to his knee. It was a sharp and piercing pain that struck him, causing him to lose his grip on her as he winced in pain. When he looked up at Kyozuki once more he saw her wildly attacking the man who had just saved all of them. But despite the raging assault, he managed to stay unscathed, his face wearing no expression as he continued to simply doge and negate the enraged girl’s attacks.

Koji stood in shock as Kyozuki dropped to her knees, and started to sob. She had put so much trust into her people, so much that Koji himself had called her naïve and foolish… but he was starting to wish he had never even thought of those words. She seemed to be in so much pain, and the man she was yelling at seemed to stay cold, his eye fixed on her as he wore no emotions on his face. Was his heart made of stone? Was he really that heartless?

“I have my reasons… Let’s just say that our great people showed me their true colors… in fact, I am sure you must have heard of why they banished me… less they kept It a secret.” His eye continued to look at the despairing girl… “I won’t be working for the Fire Nation anymore… not after that little stunt I pulled. If you hate me then go ahead and hate me it makes no difference. But believe me when I say that I understand what you are going through… betrayed by your own kin” He chuckled a bit at the memories of those days “I know the feeling well…”

“Damn it… this whole day has gone and turned into a pile of hogmonkey dung…” Koji said as he gave into the growing sense of futility and flopped onto his rear his hands pressed against his forehead as he tried to rub away some of the feeling. He still hadn’t told them that Rumi was gone… that he had failed at protecting her and she was gone… what were they going to do? He was more worthless then a hoghen, Kyozuki was shattered, and Rumi was gone… and to top all of that off his injuries were starting to surface.

((Sorry for not posting in forever))

Honestly, Kai was glad to be done with this Resistance thing, even if for a little while. Then again, maybe it wasn't a good idea going off on his own like that. If something happened to the rest of his comrades and he wasn't there to do anything about it, then he would most certainly feel responsible. Sure, distancing himself from the rest of the group was good to clear his head, but he couldn't help but think that maybe he should find the rest of them to touch base and see if there was anything that needed to be done.

The realization that he had no idea where any of them were came to him and he felt stupid for not having thought about that before.

"Wait...Kyozuki mentioned something about a tea shop. Maybe they're still there," he mused aloud, turning back towards the bar. They had passed a tea shop on the way there, so hopefully, nothing had happened. Then again, it had been a while, and they could be anywhere in the city. His steps quickened as he made his way back to the bar where he'd left his companions.

A quick look around got him his bearings and he headed back in the direction they'd originally come from, looking around for anything that might indicate the tea shop where they'd gone. He started to panic when he didn't see anything, but closer inspection of a building front and the fragrance of jasmine told him exactly where it was.

He was more worried when he heard the sounds of struggle coming from the inside and ran for the door, surveying the chaos before him. It looked like a coupel of rough and tumble people had taken out some Fire Nation guards, and everyone else who wasn't the guards looked shocked. Something had definitely happened, but he didn't know what. Quickly, he approached a tea house patron.

"What happened here?" he asked.

"Some man took those guards out and ran out of here with a few people," the woman remarked, still trying to take the incident in.

"Did you see who he ran out of here with?" he pressed.

"A few other men and a young girl. They just ran out of here...do you think they're wanted for a crime?" the woman answered, and his heart sank when he realized that his companions had more than likely been in here. He only hoped that he could find them before the guards did.

"Excuse me," he said, running out of the shop. Wildly, he looked around for any sign that might tell him where his friends were, but there was none to be found. His ear caught the sound of someone shouting, but he didn't think anything of it. When he heard a scream that sounded similar to the shout, he bit his lip and ran in the general direction of the noise.

"Please let them be okay," he pleaded with no one as he ran, eventually stopping to listen for anything. He heard noise coming from an alley nearby and he ran down it, stumbling across his comrades with a few new additions. He was more concerned with the fact that Kyozuki seemed to be in distress, which caused his hand to tense over his water skin.

"What happened here?" he asked, prepared for any accidental attack that might be made in case he startled anyone.

((Looks like people are waiting on me... *takes a melodrama pill*))

"What happened here?"

Kyozuki looked up to see Kai, clearly ready to leap into action if things came to blows. She didn't reply; she just squeezed her eyes shut and buried her head in her arms again. Right now, the last thing she needed was to be reminded of how she'd so fiercely condemned everyone who'd immediately assumed him to be a thief. Back when she still knew being a waterbender put you above suspicion.

"Nothing" she said, waving a hand in Kai's direction, not even close to convincing in her state. Then, looking back up at Kazanko, she narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?" she said icily. "How can you possibly understand? How could the water tribe have betrayed you? We don't turn people over to the Fire Nation, we don't even stoop as low as negotiating with the Fire Nation. How could the entire water tribe betray someone? You've destroyed the idea that all waterbenders are unwavering moral pillars, I'll grant you that - and I won't forget it either," she added, fixing him with a venemous look "but I won't accept that the entire tribe is capable of what you've sunk to - no, you must have betrayed them somehow, you must have. No, I don't want to hear it!" Kyozuki's voice became panicky and shrill as Kazanko opened his mouth to defend himself. "I don't want to know! I don't care!" she pivoted on the ground, turning away from Kazanko and covering her ears. "Whatever it is, it's not good enough! I don't care! I hate you!" She was now oblivious to everything except her own pain, no longer caring who heard. "I didn't betray them!" she said desperately, eyes squeezed shut, head in her hands. "They were going to stop me from waterbending at all, but I didn't betray them! I fought, I stood my ground, but I'd never turn on them! I sent myself into exile to get free, not to get revenge! It's not like it was easy, it's not like I didn't lose anything..." her voice was now beginning to crack as her emotions shifted from anger to grief. "You couldn't understand... you don't know what it's like having to stand there and go against your family; Do you think I wanted to? Do you think I enjoyed hearing my mother cry herself to sleep?" She was now completely lost in herself - half-formed thoughts that had been bubbling up inside for the better part of a year were now finding there way out, using the cracks that Kazanko had driven into Kyozuki's conscience. "I lost their love, but I'd never betray them to the Fire Nation! Never! Never..." Words failed her, and Kyozuki broke down into tears, giving a keening wail as her guilt for turning on her parents overtook her.

Masato was shoved to the side fiercely, and he stumbled, almost falling. He was about to complain, but he saw Kyozuki's face and decided to let it go. Instead he just stood back and watched as Kyozuki went a little crazy.

At first he felt a bit sorry for the Waterbender, who was having a pretty bad day, but then he realized that the man probably deserved it. Still, he was glad that Kyozuki didn't actually do that much damage. They didn't need a dead Waterbender making them even more suspicious.

The Waterbender spouted some speech about how he knew what it was like to be betrayed. It didn't appear to soothe Kyozuki any. Masato was waiting for another explosion. He was sure one was coming.

Then, as if they didn't already have enough people involved in the mess, Kai showed up and asked what happened. Masato groaned. How many other people were going to get involved in this? Soon thew whole Resistance would be packed into one alley. It was ridiculous.

Then, as he had predicted, Kyozuki exploded again. This time though, it was much. Masato stared at her, his eyes wide with concern and a little bit of fear. At the moment, she seemed completely crazy. One thing was clear: she needed help.

He walked over to Kyozuki, put his arm around her, and said, "Shh, calm down. You did the right thing. Your parents still love you. It'll be okay." It wasn't much in the way of soothing her, but it was all he had. Then he turned to address Kai, who looked even more confused than he had before.

"Long story short," he began, "Kyozuki tried to recruit this guy." He pointed to the Waterbender. "He was working for the Fire Nation, some guards tried to take Kyozuki. Koji showed up, helped take out the guards, and then this traitor," he indicated the Waterbender again, "Helped us escape. Now we're all yelling at each other. That's it."

The Waterbender's hands tensed as he heard the word "traitor." This person he'd never seen before had sold them out to the Fire Nation? Somehow, rather than feel rage, he felt a strange tinge of compassion for the traitorous Waterbender. This man knew how to stay alive in times of war, but it came at a terrible cost.

"We all need to take a minute and think about all of this; otherwise, we're going to get into more trouble. I know he betrayed you, but I think he deserves a second chance," he said, invisibly cringing at his last statement that he was sure wouldn't increase his standing with the other members of the Resistance. He might not have held much sway considering his rather rocky introduction to the group, but he'd been given a second chance...or, at least, something that seemed like one.

"If," he started, snapping himself out of his own reverie, "if he slips, we can deal with him." His suggestion might have been cruel, but it was the only way to ensure that the rest of the group felt some semblance of justice for the act of betrayal.

OOC: sorry for the huge delay mates x.x

IC:

Footsteps… panicked and rushed ones at that… Something sounded as if it were coming this way, but the sounds were too light to be that of soldiers clad in the red armor of the Fire Nation. Maybe a fellow sword for hire had been sent after them. The possibility of another mercenary was always a possibility, but it had only been at most maybe half an hour since they escaped from the teahouse, it was far too soon to have hired a hit. His hands were at the ready, although he seemed to keep that same sense of composure he usually did.

A man appeared, an average looking man who carried no obvious weapons, but he did have a waterskin. Kazanko’s eye narrowed and a bit of a snarl formed on his face. He was a waterbender… a male waterbender. "What happened here?" the man asked as he looked at his comrades, and Kyozuki was quick to respond to him, and continue cutting him down with her venomous tirade.

“You must have betrayed them somehow, you must have.” Her words had hit their mark… “I did not…” He tried to snap back, but his words would not be heard by the frantic girl. "I don't want to know! I don't care! Whatever it is, it's not good enough! I don't care! I hate you!" The more she yelled at him the more she looked like Chiyiko. Then as she started to yell about her past it was as if he was standing in front of his little sister on that fateful night. He knew how it felt to go against someone you held dear. His left hand moved up over his eye as he remembered his fight with his master…

“Chiyiko I…” He answered, not even realizing he had just called her by his sister’s name. but before he could do anything the young brawler softly pushed him back. “It’s probably better if you hang on to that thought pal…” He glared at the young man but… he was probably right, now was not the best time to try and talk to Kyozuki. It was then that the knife thrower put his arm around his companion and did his best to calm her down before he started filling in the waterbender who had showed up only a minute ago. The word traitor was used in his explanation… but he didn’t remember doing anything traitorous to these people. He was careless yes, but he didn’t inform those guards. "if he slips, we can deal with him." ‘just try and deal with me waterbender…’

The burly young man who had been holding him back stepped away and towards the girl. He didn’t wrap his arm around her or even touch her, probably out of fear of that she might not react to well to a man touching her right now. But he did lower himself down to her level before he spoke he didn’t really know what to say, or how to act. He wasn’t used to being in a group or being soft and caring, but he knew that this couldn’t go on for much longer... someone needed to snap Kyozuki back to her senses so that they could get out of here… so that they could think of their next course of action.

“Kyozuki” He started firmly, his expression stern and serious “We…” But he couldn’t follow through; seeing her like this made him soften his tone “We have all been hit pretty hard by the day’s events…” ‘That’s probably the biggest understatement of the day’ “but right now we need to get up and regroup… come on Kyo… we need you right now”

Kyozuki lay on the bed, resolutely staring out the window. Behind her, the weak thumps on the door subsided, leaving only her mother's pleas.

"Kyo.... Kyo, please.... let me in... Kyo..."

Kyozuki covered her head with the turtle-seal fur pillow, eyes beginning to moisten.

"Kyo... please Kyo..."

"Let her be" came the voice of her father. "She's in no state to talk, and neither are you."

The talking stopped, but even through the pillow, Kyozuki still caught the muffled sound of her mother beginning to cry as she walked away from the door....

———————-

"Come on Kyo... we need you right now."

"Aama?" she said, so faintly that only the person next to her could have heard it. Then, as she came back to reality, she realised who was talking to her. "Koji?" she said, slightly louder, but still quite subdued. Looking around, she saw everyone looking down at her. Realising she was sitting in the middle of an alleyway, Kyozuki tried to regain some measure of dignity. Wiping some of the tears off her cheeks, Kyozuki raised her hands to accept Koji's assitance in standing; and as she did so, was reminded of the conversation she'd had with Ji the night before on the rooftop. "Hang on a second, where's Ji?" she asked as she stood up. "And Rumi - wasn't she with you?"


((Aama is 'mother' in Inuit, incidentally...))

Masato let go of Kyozuki as she came back to her senses. She looked a little better, but he was still worried. Kyo was the only one of the Resistance who'd been completely nice from the start, and genuinely seemed like she cared about all people and didn't want them to be hurt. He really liked that about her, and didn't enjoy seeing her in pain. He hoped there was something he could do to help her get back to how she was before.

Then, Kyo asked about Ji's whereabouts. "I'm just as confused as you are about Ji," Masato said. "We were out looking for anything suspicious or out-of place, and then he said he had to go do something and walked off. I haven't seen him since."

“Koji?” the once frantic waterbender said in a voice that brought a slight smile to the young boxer’s face before he offered her a helping hand. He watched as she looked around a bit before taking his hand and getting to her feet. "Hang on a second, where's Ji?" Kyozuki asked as she stood up. "And Rumi - wasn't she with you?"

‘Yeah she was with me… but I failed, I don’t know where she is… because of my weakness she might be dead!’

The usually cocky and confident fighter now stood with pain and anguish worn on his face. To ashamed to face his comrades the boy looked down and away as he tried to remember what exactly happened to their leader, but he really didn’t know. The last thing he remembered was being ambushed in the storage room, and despite doing his damnedest to defend Rumi, blacking out.

“I…” He started his voice hesitant and fearful as if speaking of the incident would bring him a great punishment “I don’t know what happened… everything was going fine until we reached the storage area where the blasting jelly was found.” He paused and took in a deep breath, in an attempt to brace himself for what was to come “But we were ambushed! It was as if they had known we were coming…” Now he was the one was losing his composure, he looked up to the others as he went on “ I tried my best to fight them off and get us out of there! I swear I did!” the urgency of his words amplified by the movement of his fists “But then I just… I blacked out…” His arms fell limp to his side as he looked back down at the floor “I woke up in an ally not too far from the teashop where I ran into you lot… I don’t know what they did with her… or if she got away… but it is my fault we lost our leader…”

Liang happened to glance up at Kuma only flinch and turn away again at the disgusted look plastered across his elder’s face. The half-blind child began to get nervous, wondering if he had done something wrong to win over the larger man’s spite. The teenager backed away, almost in fear, only to have Kuma approach and drop adolescent’s meager collection into his hands. As the small assortment of items was returned, Liang fumbled dropping the coin and marble onto the floor. Kneeling down, he struggled to shove the remainder of his belongings back into his pouch with trembling hands.

As Kuma changed his gloves Liang kept kneeling, feeling ill. He didn’t know what the burly man had expected of him, and felt ignorance and guilt chewing at his thoughts. Clutching his sketch book tightly, he rose considering throwing it and his only ties to humanity away by running off into the mountains, where morals and social expectations didn’t weigh him down. A quick shake of his head threw off that idea; he had come back from the wild for security, something that a forest rarely offers. Suddenly Kuma flashed an exposed hand in front of Liang’s sole eye, snapping him out of his foolish little dreams, dragging him back to reality. Burns and shame, unconsciously, the teenager reached to touch his empty right eye. Something was always there to cover the scars. His hand dropped to his side as Kuma spoke, "Until I get you another sword I'll be your weapon. Just point me at who needs to die...but don't think for a second this is permanent. It's just until we find you another weapon." Liang began to understand why the large man had detested the child’s aid. He was bigger, stronger, and in comparison, Liang was merely a sparrow trying to keep up with a black bear. A tinge of red gave color to the teenager’s face, the sparrow, of course, should never be in any position to help the bear. So Liang nodded, accepting Kuma’s offer.

As they left the store and journeyed down the street, his old blade’s absence on his hip set him thinking about his own well being in the near future. Liang’s hand brushed over his belt where the sword once rested with a slight longing. He had never wielded another weapon than that one, and never even tried to swing a different blade. Liang looked at his hand, opening and closing it into a fist, wondering if he could use another weapon. He looked at the shop displays, attempting to find something that might fit him, but his eyes only met clothes, jars of fruit and other less harmful commodities. The teenager scratched his head and looked up at Kuma, hoping he had some sort of plan.

Apparently the large man did have a plan, as he shuffled into the shadows, attempting stealth. Liang could do nothing but stare, and wonder what he was trying to do. The large man, shadows or no shadows was obvious; people gave him strange looks as they passed. The teenager didn’t even attempt any sort of secrecy, and simply walked behind Kuma as he traversed through the shadows. When Liang caught sight of Kuma’s prey, he stood back, fearing that he would only be a nuisance if he got in the way now. Suddenly another man recognized and beckoned Kuma to enter, calling to him and startling Liang.

The old man guided the two of them into a theater, where Liang stared at the various props and costumes, tempted to try some on. He stayed close to Kuma, as he probably would get lost in this unfamiliar building. Then his attention diverged to include the gray haired man as Kuma inquired about swords. “I heard a rumor. Unsubstantiated, but few rumors are. Before I spill it, promise me you'll come by. I have some work for you.” Liang didn’t mind working, but his larger companion seemed insulted. The adolescent looked up at the two older men, a tad confused. But another group of actors caught his attention and he listened with half an ear as the other man spoke, "Anyway, I hear the legendary swordsman Piandao came through town selling his swords. In his struggle to escape it's said some of his wares were left behind. Personally, I think you are better off finding a local blacksmith. Other than that I cannot help you because..." As the group walked out, he turned back to the old man, and saw the sword jutting out of his temple, shocked, he stared at Kuma. But it didn’t take Liang to realize that it was all an act.

They stepped back out into the night, and the teenager stretched. "Getting a sword shouldn't be this much a pain in the ass. You ever hear of this Piandao guy, Liang?" At that, the one-eyed boy shrugged, but just to be sure he pulled out his sketch pad and flipped through the pages, looking at names and crude sketches of faces. As he closed his book he shook his head.

A hollow feeling grew in Kyozuki's stomach with every pleading scentence Koji blurted out. Rather than the hopeless anguish of the last few minutes, her face took on a look of blank horror.

"It can't be..." she said faintly, hands resting on the nape of her neck as she took the bad news. "Rumi... she can't... you!" she flicked her head round at Kazanko. "What did you?..." she bit back a venomous accusation. "No, silly" she said, shaking her head as she turned back. "It would have happened before I met you..." Taking a deep breath, Kyozuki tried to think of something to do. No good. Her mind was blank. Everything was going wrong... Rumi captured or maybe worse, and there was little doubt Ji had suffered the same fate, a traitorous waterbender, a Fire-nation controlled city that now knew they existed... they should just hand themselves in now and avoid the hassle...

No, she couldn't think like that. No matter how dreadful things got, anything was better than being captured by the Fire Nation. Monsters, the whole lot of them.

Except they weren't. Ji had completely thrown Kyozuki's perceptions. She still hadn't decided what she made of him, and yet... his words that night nagged at her. And now he was gone, they were getting more persistent.

Kyozuki heaved a sigh. Why was she stuck in this position? She wasn't qualified to make decisions, and yet here she was.

"Alright" she said finally, trying to put a veneer of confidence on her tone. "We can't stay here - we need to get back underground as quickly as possible." She glanced over at Kazanko, fixing him with one of her iciest glares. "At this point I don't think he'll be able to cause any more damage than he has - and I'd rather have him where I can see him. He comes with us." And maybe I can find out his reasons for betrayal and point out the flaws in them, Kyozuki added mentally.

Typically, Lieutenant Kugi Tang didn't drink to excess. He prided himself on his self-control and most of all his ability to avoid any sort of attention. Earlier that evening he noticed his ability to be invisible to those above him had failed him therefore self-control seemed pointless.
A man claiming to be his friend congradulated Kugi on his good fortune which the lieutenant found to be horribly cruel. Anyone who knew him knew that he lived his life so as not to be noticed by his superiors unless absolutely necessary.

With a father who held a high position in the military and a mother who held a low position Kugi saw the disadvantages of both. Low ranks were treated as cannon fodder and the higher ranked soldiers sometimes had to take the responsibility for any failure the Fire Lord deemed requiring punishment. Highly ranked soldiers were targets of the Fire Lord or politically connected nobles and lowly soldiers were seen as grist for the mill.
The middle ranks were the best, as far as Kugi was concerned. Not visible enough to be a lightning rod for blame but not so invisible as to be seen as expendable.

There was a horrible rumor that he was to be promoted to Captain...it was news bad enough to warrant heavy drinking. Sure, it was just a rumor from a soldier who used to serve underneath him in the Anti-Resistance, but something so grave needed to be confirmed. The annoying bastard showered him with booze and even gave him a gift to enamor himself with the future Captain. It was a rare and heavily valued thing. An orignal Piandao sword. While the man who bestowed the sword upon him didn't know of Kugi's hatred of rising in the ranks he still knew that his old Lieutenant was a collector of swords.
Kugi would have appreciated it more if it didn't symbolize something as awful as a promotion.

Still tipsy, Kugi trudged out of the bar mostly to get away from the awful singing. It was some damned Eath Kingdom song about the tyrranical actions of Fire Lord Azulon. He was a deep lover of good music, but drunken singing was like boiling oil poured into his ear. That combined with the horrible prospect of becoming "Captain Tang" put him in a foul mood. As such, when a large man with long black hair in the company of a one-eyed teenager refused to move aside Kugi rammed the handle of his new sword into the man's ribs. The man fell to his knees and Kugi assumed that everything was well.


Kuma gnashed his teeth partially out of pain but mostly out of humiliation for being felled by a short, eyebrowless soldier. Even if he was still recovering from previous fights, something like being struck in public could not be tolerated.
"You. Future corpse. What the hell do you think you're doing?

He heard the Fire Nation soldier sigh as he turned around, seemingly too drunk to be intimidated. The earthbender smirked at the smaller man and assumed his knockdown to be due to his wounds and an insane amount of luck on the part of the man from the Fire Nation.
The drunken man heaved a weary sigh like Kuma was an annoying child loudly vying for his attention. He then did something very few men dared to in Kuma's presence by turning his back and beginning to walk off.

A large pillar of stone rose to block the tired Lieutenant who turned around. Kugi doubted it would make a difference if he told Kuma that he killed Earth Kingdom soldiers for living so he remained silent on that topic. Kuma assumed that more soldiers would come to the aid of their friend so he decided to end this fight as quick as he could. He knew walking away was the sensible thing, but sensibility was hardly a reply to insults.
Kuma threw a hook punch at the soldier who looked at it through half-lidded eyes.

A simple flare, capable of even the most remedial of firebenders blinded the large earthbender long enough for Kugi to avert the punch and counter-attack. He was in no mood to drag things out so Kugi drew the sword he had been given as a gift and plunged it into Kuma's left forearm while he stood dazed until he jerked his arm away with the sword still in it.
With the precious sword now dirtied by the blood of that filthy earthbender Kugi wanted it even less. He craned his neck to each side and groaned. He mentally swore never to drink so much again no matter how bad things would get.

He yawned like a man who was tired and bored rather than someone who had just stabbed a man twice his size. To make sure the burly earthbender knew his place Kugi stabbed him once more in the right leg, thereby making further attacks and even standing too difficult.
A loud thud echoed in Kuma's ears when Kugi's palm crashed into his chest and knocked him onto his back and into unconsciousness.
The lieutenant stepped onto Kuma's wound and over his body in the direction of the sound of whistles and footsteps.

Even drunk, Kugi knew the wound he gave Kuma wouldn't kill him unless it went for hours untreated. He purposely created a shallow wound. Large earthbenders bleeding on the street made for wonderul cautionary tales against getting in the way of the Fire Nation, or so he told the soldiers who came rushing.
As much as he wanted to find a way to sabotage his promotion Kugi knew that leaving an angry earthbender around went beyond simple negligence and might even require disciplinary actions.
He let out a whiny groan.
"Oh, come on! It's late and I've been drinking. Can't you just turn your head while I kill him?" He sighed. "Yeah, yeah, let's go by the book. Why make trouble for ourselves?"

To facilitate Kuma's bleeding to death and sparing him the ordeal of processing a live prisoner Kugi pulled the sword from Kuma's arm and grumpily tossed it at Liang's feet and dropped the scabbard behind him. With luck Kuma would be dead and Kugi would be spared explaining what happened and registering him with the military police.
When the three soldiers began dragging Kuma's limp body away Lieutenant Tang looked at Liang.
"Keep the sword if you want, but I'm taking the big guy.

Freedom is always an interesting thing to contemplate... It seems that everyone desires it, yet those who possess it do not appreciate their good fortune. As the man in the armor wandered the streets of New Ozai, he saw dozens of men, women, and children going about their lives. Many objected to the Fire Nation occupation, the renaming of their Omashu. However, Hû doubted that much had truly changed for them. He personally didn't think that military force was necessary in the city, but general dislike of the Fire Lord made a simple administration impossible, with the likelihood of riots and dissent.

Perhaps... Hû thought idly, passing by a sleeping beggar. These people may benefit from a change... The previous system certainly hasn't given them what they need...

The man brought anxiety to those who saw him in their city. With his height, the armor that never left him, and the confidence in his walk, which had been earned through a lifetime of combat, he was an oddity in most locations, something to be respected, or feared.

Hû had just been let go, having eliminated the need for his employment a few days prior. It had been rather more violent than was necessary, and he didn't finish with fire. In his experience, it took more time to kill a man with firebending than with something sharp. And his experience served him well. However, he should have anticipated the blood fountain that would result, given the increased heart rate of his enemy. It had only taken a light cut... Little more than a scratch to the side of his neck to seal his fate. And Hû's armor paid for it, still retaining a slight coating of blood. Although, not having time to settle down for the night and maintain his gear added to the difficulty in keeping it clean.

The warrior was making his way towards the outskirts of the city. He had already gotten sick of the local cuisine. It wasn't particularly disagreeable, but it was terrible for relieving homesickness.

Maybe I should visit the parents... I'm sure father would love to see his son, the war hero... Hû thought, adjusting his hood slightly as he grinned beneath his half-mask. His last visit hadn't gone so well. His father hadn't been happy to see his scarred, armor-clad son, who wanted nothing to do with the world of politics. And his mother had simply given him a questioning look for the duration of his visit, and asked him if his life had been as satisfying as he'd hoped, while looking forlornly at the paintings of him in his youth. Hû had an idea where she wanted to take the conversation, but he had no intention of following that particular path.

Hû continued to walk for several minutes, until the walls of Omashu were behind him. When he was clear of the view of others, he dropped his crimson hood, letting his black hair free. It was interesting to see some peoples reactions to his apparel. Sometimes, when he fought, the hood was intimidating, giving him a mysterious presence. His ever-present half-mask added to the appearance, making him look like a demon, especially when his weapons were dripping blood. However, without the hood, his black hair usually framed his eyes, which became hard and unreadable in combat. He had found that he could paralyze some with his gaze, while others were simply fueled into aggression, reacting with some sense of self-preservation.

Now, Hû was simply observing his surroundings, his eyes open and inquisitive. He had long ago learned to find the beauty in his surroundings, even when corpses littered the ground, fires burned around him, and blood coated him. It helped him survive, and maintain his peace of mind.

"I should eat soon..." He mused. It had been nearly a day since he had been able to sit down and eat. He was accustomed to long waits, but it wasn't necessary, since he didn't have a schedule to worry about anymore. It would be nice to remove his mask. He also wondered when he'd be able to settle down and clean his armor, and himself. Personal hygiene was important to Hû, but the care of his armor took precedent. Protection was more important than anything, in his experience. He had his armor, and he had grown used to it, comfortable in it as if it were his skin. Without it, he felt naked, and he only removed it to maintain it, bathe, and attend the most formal of events.

As Hû made his way away from the city, he paused, glancing upwards at the sun. As he breathed, he closed his eyes, and felt the energy moving through his body. He checked around himself once more, and found nothing. He grinned and focused, raising his hands over his head, and bringing them down quickly. He then pushed his hands forward, and a powerful jet of fire burst from his palms. Turning on his feet, Hû brought his hands over his head again, and dropped to his knee, bringing a wave of fire down on the ground. When he stood, there was a circle of fire that extended for at least twenty feet around him. It felt good for Hû to unleash a bit of fire like this, when normally he refrained from such displays. After a moment, when he began to feel the heat, Hû focused on the fire that surrounded him, and the flames quickly died down, leaving little more than burnt earth as evidence.

"Well, that was fun." He said, smirking and continuing on his way.

-TWO WEEKS LATER-



Kuma woke in pain and smelling smoke. For a moment he thought he died and ended up in that part of the afterlife everybody said he would.
It only took an extra moment to remember being stabbed before and seeing the man who assaulted him sitting in a wooden chair in a metal room smoking a pipe.
The Fire Nation soldier sighed out a plume of smoke, but looked more alert when he noticed Kuma's stirring.

"Oh. You're awake. I don't like small talk so I'm just going to ask if there are more of you.

Kuma smirked. "If there were more people like me this prison would be drenched in blood."

Lieutenant Tang couldn't help yawning amidst Kuma's threat.
"My apologies. I've been with the Anti-Resistance since before I was shaving so fanatical Earth Kingdom rhetoric is really just white noise to me. Listen, I can hammer slivers of iron underneath your fingernails, which I hate and usually doesn't get me anything useful or we can come to a compromise like adults."

Kuma answered with a decidedly un-adult stream of profanity.

"It's like dealing with my children," Kugi said in his an exasperated tone. "By the way, Kuma, what's an unrepentant killer like yourself doing associating with a troupe of Fire Nation actors? Couldn't you have posed as something more masculine?"

While it seemed like the tiniest of jabs at the prisoner Kuma responded by reaching out with his manacled hands and attempting to strangle the now puzzled Lieutenant.
The man just beyond Kuma's reach let out one of the condescending sighs he had become all to familiar with in the past two weeks dealing with Lieutenant Kugi Tang.
"I'm not going to waste my time interrogating you when I have some effete actors who will crack at the first harsh word in the next room. Maybe one of them can tell me about your relationship."

Tang closed the door to the cell behind him as he left, but did not leave to interrogate the actors he picked up. He merely waited outside of the cell door where the soldier tasked with carrying his two heavy broad swords looked at him quizzically.
"I already got what I needed out of the actors. Apparently our boy here quite the songbird. Judging by his reaction I think he'd rather that be kept secret. We'll give him some time and see which he's willing to give up first. His pride as a revolutionary or his pride as a man."

Kugi had his doubts that the prisoner was part of an organized resistance. He'd come across that kind of self-destructively macho type of person many times before. They weren't team players for the most part. Then again there were no absolutes when it came to dealing with people. After all, he hardly fit the stereotype of a typical Fire Nation soldier being sadistic and ambitious. He hated causing unnecessary pain and by no means chased rank. What Kugi wanted was peace. To preserve the status quo, it just so happened that Fire Nation rule was that status quo. He dreamt of a quiet and unremarkable life unburdened by anything. Rebels stood in the way of that dream so the natural option was to join the anti-resistance.

Whether there was an organized resistance or not didn't matter. It was important to have a show of force to cow the local population and stomp out any lit embers of resistance. More good could be done with one public execution than raiding a hideout and killing a hundred rebels. When Kugi took into account how difficult Kuma was to work with the large earthbender seemed like the best to fill that role.
First, he needed to raise a squad of Anti-Resistance volunteers. While he was technically a visiting soldier on leave from his ship Kugi knew he had no official authority to hunt down resistance cells. With luck a more experienced Captain would step up and he would take orders from them. No one wanted a strange, newly-minted Captain giving orders in their city and Kugi didn't want to get any more noticed than he already was while still doing his job.
Climbing the ranks was easy, staying in the same position without moving up or down took much more effort.

Once again, his sense of responsibility clashed with his sense of discretion. Otherwise Kugi Tang would have been perfectly happy spending the rest of his days in an obscure outpost filing reports. That, he decided, could wait until he was older and served his time in the trenches.

Captain Tang walked from the prison to the main base in New Ozai the same way he did everything...lazily. He sent his sword-bearer ahead of him to spread the news of a gathering of anti-resistance volunteers. Whether the prisoner offered information or not it was still a good idea to show their vigilance to the local population.

~Two-week timeskip~

((I'm going to cunningly skirt round the issue of exactly how Ruki meets up with the resistance, so as to speed things along. This is basically a "get together and have some meaningful heart-to-hearts with everyone else", while we wait for the anti-resistance to burst in and cause trouble...))

Kyozuki knelt in front of the cooking fire, swirling her hand above the pot to mix the stew together. She'd taken on the role of cook over the last fortnight; mostly to take her mind off things. Every time she sat idle for too long she started mulling over the terrible blows the resistance hand been dealt. Ji, Rumi, Kuma... not to mention their cover blown and a dangerous liability in their own base. Kyozuki risked a glance at Kazanko. They hadn't really had any choice but to take him with them - they couldn't afford to be followed, and besides, he could identify them all. There were times when Kyozuki wondered whether it would have been easier to just let the others do away with him on the way back. And yet, despite how much she loathed the traitor, she couldn't stomach the thought of being responsible for the death of a waterbender. She was already responsible for much of the resistance's bad fortune...

Turning back to the stew, Kyozuki gave it another swirl, before lifting the ladle out and taking a small sip. Seemed done. Reaching over for the rough earthenware bowls, she called out to the various resistance members scattered around the cave

"It's ready!" she said, starting to pour the meal out into the bowls. The others gathered around; Masato, Kai, the new boy Ruki, Koji... only one person didn't move. Kyozuki took a deep breath, her eyes closed. She hated this. Kyozuki almost went out of her way to find things to dislike about Kazanko - everything from his mercenary clothes to his aggravating tone of voice (although most of the aggravating tone was in her imagination). But this was one of her pet hates; Kazanko's refusal to sit with the others when meals came around. If Kyozuki had stopped to think about it, it was perfectly reasonable; sharing a meal with a group, who varied from guarded amicability on Koji's part to icy antipathy on Kyozuki's, was not the most comfortable of situations. But Kyozuki had taken it as a personal jibe - a notion which wasn't shaken any by Kazanko's tendency to try and talk to Kyozuki whenever she came near him. She generally moved away quite quickly whenever he started talking, and he never got further than her name, but that alone was enough to make her throat tighten. She hadn't lost her cool since they'd first met, but it was only going to be a matter of time before Kyozuki loosed her pent-up anger on the waterbender. She approached the waterbender, keeping her eyes resolutely focused on the ground three feet in front of him.

"Here" she said tersely, setting the bowl down with no attempt to make it reacheable. "Enjoy" and with that she turned to go, bracing herself to hear Kazanko call her name yet again. And so, she was caught completely off guard by what Kazanko actually said.

"Thanks, Chiyiko..."

Kyozuki froze in midstep. Slowly, not shifting from her mid-stride position, she turned her head back to look at Kazanko. "What did you call me?" she demanded, the edge to her voice softened by her transparent surprise.