No Pressure, No Diamonds

LOWER RING[/center]
"It's a family crest. I could provide a little more information if I had some...persuasion." Choi’s smile was what some would call smarmy.
Han sighed. “If you have information,” she said, “then you are able to provide it to me, with or without persuasion. Stop eluding my questions. I am aware that you have emotional difficulty with seeing me.”
The man looked like he might choke. “I do not have –“
“All I really want to know is what you know about this medallion. It won’t take long. I shall leave as quickly as I arrived, in fact.”
Choi the Jeweller sighed. “Okay,” he said. “It’s a family crest, royal or something along those lines. Used to smuggle all kinds of things through the Fire Nation and its colonies. I don’t know more than that.”
Han smiled brightly. “That was not difficult!” she exclaimed.
“Indeed,” Choi said.
“Do you have other pieces depicting this symbol?” Han was very pretty when she was excited, with a flush coming to her cheeks.
“I don’t. I sold the last one ages ago. I can tell you –“ Choi was obviously influenced most by her smile – “that I sold it to someone who lives in the upper ring. Affluent type.”
“Thank you!”

Han left Choi's shop amid his suggestions that they go to dinner, grabbing Suigetsu by the wrist and pulling him along behind her. "Come," she said, "we have mapping to do." They'd plot out a possible route the symbol travelled upon. It would be as good a place as any to start.

The woman was quite thoughtful as they walked towards the shop that presumably contained Tatsuya and the pig. When thinking about things, Han tended to get lost in her own world. She made for very poor conversation.

Though, she was interested to know if Suigetsu was planning on engaging in a carnal relationship with the young waiter. “You were quite friendly with our waiter,” Han said, looking down at Suigetsu.

Suigetsu thought that nothing could distract him from the misery of being in the presence of a man deemed by Han to be his superior. It seemed their relationship didn't last long, but this only served to make the young man feel even more romantically hopeless.
He couldn't help but wonder if he would know Han on the same level as this sleazy, charmless man.
The rebuffing he got from Han helped but only salved a deep wound.

Then Han smiled and there was no wound. It was the smile of someone doing what they loved. Under normal circustances Han was a beautiful woman, but Suigetsu had seen beautiful women before. They were rare, but hardly unique. Han brimming with enthusiasm and joy was something else to behold.
He wasn't sure if there existed an adequate word to describe it. Ethereal? Whatever the word he was sure it was used to describe goddesses.

Han glows at solving
mysteries. Her excitement
rises like a tide.

Spontaneous haiku. The smitten young waterbender almost laughed at himself but could only gasp when Han grabbed his wrist and led him out of the shop. Her look had changed. The smile was gone but the excitement still existed within her. Suigetsu was reminded of a master going about their craft. He'd met many masters in his time and most of them had the same look when lost in thought. Even when they weren't beautiful women the sight was something to behold.

Watching and being touched by Han were wonderful things, but that same distracted but brilliant look created a well of sorrow. The untalented bender sighed inwardly and wondered if he could ever be worthy of such a woman.

“You were quite friendly with our waiter,”
It was an odd change of subject, but Suigetsu didn't mind.
"Chow? He seems like a good guy. Earth bending is tough at first. My teacher just had me stand in the horse stance for hours and hours and kicked me to test my stability. It's worth it, though. I think everyone should learn earth bending...I mean, I know everyone's not a bender but the forms are beautiful and they have such a great philosophy."

Now it was his turn to go on about something he was passionate about. His smile widened further as he explained the three main jings but stopped mid-way.
"Uh, I'm rambling. Sorry. I know I'm a water bender but earth bending is so much more interesting. Do you ever get the feeling you were born in the wrong place?"

Han raised an eyebrow. “No,” she said. Han did not believe in fate, therefore she did not ever feel that she was in the wrong place or that she had been born in the wrong place. Such thoughts implied that there was something like destiny guiding human lives, and Han did not subscribe to such superstition and belief. She found it interesting that Suigetsu did; silly, irrational, but interesting. “That is not rational.”

Clearly the young man was excited about his date. Well, Han could see that it would do him good. Young men often had varying degrees of difficulty with their hormones, and Suigetsu was likely to be experiencing such biological urges as could only be cured by dalliance. Han was certain he would make a better student if he had someone with which he could expend such energies.

“Perhaps you would be a more talented bender,” Han suggested as they walked, “if you focused less on attributes you lack and more on honing those you have.” They were headed back to the shop, for food and mapping. Han wanted to put all her facts in order, specifically on paper, so that she could observe their connections. It was rather like a large puzzle, whose pieces should be spread upon a table before working. If all the pieces were laid out, it would become an easier task to see which edges fit together. This was Han’s plan.

Reaching the shop, she opened the door and went right inside. The pig greeted them immediately, seeming hungry. Tatsuya was nowhere to be found. The tall woman set out a large piece of parchment, tapping a finger on her lower lip as she pondered where to begin. Obviously, the locations. She had already a map of the city to draw those on – that too was laid on the table, weighted down with random items at the corners. Jewellers, clothing merchants, and dead men in the lower ring. What did they all have in common?

Trade. The trade routes were the most likely answer – clearly she needed to investigate areas where goods and people came and went most often. More likely she would need to investigate areas where illegal goods came and went most frequently.

“Crime is common,” Han said, mostly to herself, “But logic is rare.”

(OOC: Uh... I apologize for the delay, Don't kill me D: D: D: !!!)






There, trying to slice through his midsection, rested the fattest slab of metal he had ever seen, and were he fighting a man, there would have probably been a loud grunt as the massive slab came to a rough and forceful stop. But his opponent was a woman, and despite her slightly off putting association with the ratvipers, he would rather leave a strong impression. So, as previously stated, there was no grunt or shout, only gritted teeth and a stern expression.

The corners of his mouth slowly curled upwards, and his painful grimace soon became a proud grin. His counter had hit its mark, but what had turned his expression of pain to one of joy was not the dark trail of red that slowly oozed down the woman’s dress, but the exposure of her more “Vulnerable” parts, but the joy was short lived.

Pain racked the swordsman as the viper removed her giant fang without warning, his blood sloshing out of his gaping wound and onto the floor only to be followed by the pitter patter of red droplets falling from the giant sword that took them. The pain was enough to have him collapse in agony and yet he remained on his feet, his legs giving a slight shake as he slowly filled his lungs to the brim. Never before had he faced such a weapon, well, not with someone who could wield it with such ease.

The smile returned, and though blood continued to pour down his side, he couldn’t help but revel in the fact he found an opponent who could truly put his sword to the test. Then, his smile only grew after her little invitation. He gave his answer with little smirk and a sheathed blade. He managed to catch the roll and wasted no time in tending to his sizeable wound.

“Meat Sheath?” He asked himself with a little chuckle taking a pause from his work on the bandaging “So I guess that makes you fun bags?” A few more wraps around the waste “Maybe thunder thighs instead?” His eyes narrowed and he stared the viper down as he waited for her reaction. Sure, the woman had nearly cut him in two with one stroke, but how was he going to let her give him an embarrassing nickname without answering in kind?

He didn’t manage to catch her reaction as she walked out the door, but his teasing smile remained, despite the pain that continued to torment him. He followed behind her, his face only showing signs of discomfort every few steps, and soon enough he found himself sitting at the sleaziest bar he had ever set foot in and listening to the viper go on about doing some job for her. He didn’t quite catch the whole “You owe me” deal, maybe due to the blood loss, or the shouting drunks, but the last big came in clear as a sirenswallow. “First of all,” he raised only one finger and quickly downed the shot that came sliding his way before continuing “If you killed so much as one of my clients, I’d go on a little killing frenzy on your shit for swordsman rats, second of all” he signaled for another drink, quickly doing away with it once again “I know I can kill you too, so less you want both of us laying dead in some back ally, you best not try anything.” Another signal and another quick shot this time quickly shaking his head before he continued to talk “but I’ll take your little job… After all, I was thinking about taking on a few more “profitable” jobs.”

The combination of blood loss and heavy dosage of alcohol was starting to get to him. The fact that he now saw two, maybe even three muscly gangster women sitting next to him was a clear indication of such. So when a drunken man’s heavy arm knocked him, one could only imagine the anger that started to brew inside of him, and the fact there was no apology to follow the bump only made the anger brew even faster.

Dadao sighed into her empty glass and looked at the bottle of snake venom and cactus juice and then over to Tatsuya.
She recalled his remark about her thighs, which was a point of self-consciousness with her and swung the bottle at the swordsman, accidentally hitting a man foolish enough to be in Dadao's radius.
"Don't talk about my legs again, bastard! And you...other guy, don't get in my way."

She put her hand on Tatsuya's head and grabbed his hair.
"Kill my guys, insult my legs...there is no logical reason I should keep you alive." She rested her head on his shoulder momentarily and dry heaved. Perhaps hard liquor and blood loss didn't mix.

For Dadao intoxication usually meant a delayed reaction to things. It finally sunk in that her new drinking buddy was under the misconception that he would be paid for his services.
"You want me to pay your dumb ass?" She laughed much louder than she hand intended and so much that she once again bumped into the same man who looked to be losing patience whether the woman was a gangster or not.
"Look, I need something done. You do it and I'll make you an official Rat Viper. There's some rich do-gooder bitch from the Upper Ring giving us crap. I gotta stay under the radar of the Dai Li and the Fire Nation, I don't got time to put up with some punk ass vigalante with a hard-on for beating up honest criminals. Maybe his parents were killed by some mugger. What a joke. Anyway, you probably heard the stories of this loon running around in the Death Mask of Chin the Conquerer beating the hell out of people, right? Death masks of famous warriors aren't common. Sure, there are some fakes around but some jerk from down the street isn't going to don one and look for trouble. It's Wang, I'm sure of it. Imagine my rep once I bag Ba Sing Se's soldier of the night."

She awkwardly placed her hands on Tatsuya's cheeks and tried to look seductive while being slightly nauseous.
"Do a good job and I might even give you a kiss." She groaned and dry heaved once more and smiled once more at Tatsuya.
It was then she noticed they were being watched by people of the non-rat viper persuasion. That pissed her off.
"A gold coin and one free feel for whoever kicks this guys' ass!"

It seemed like a cruel joke to set a bar full of thugs onto Tatsuya but if he was going to work for her he needed to be tested further.

When the man who smacked him on the back fell to the floor via the Viper’s bottle, Tatsuya couldn’t help but burst into laughter, and kept laughing for a good long while. There was just something about the sound the man had made as the glass shattered over his head, an oh so hilarious oomph kind of sound made all the funnier by the slight delirium brought on by alcohol and blood loss. As soon as his laughter died down he felt a slight tug at his hair, and the viper saying words that didn’t quite reach his ears, then she rested her head atop of his shoulder.

He would have been wearing a smug little grin and responding with a clever little line, but the harsh sound of her dry heaving had him reacting in a very different way. With an eyebrow raised and a exaggerated look of surprise worn on his face, Tatsuya turned to face the swordswoman, letting a bit of an awkward silence sit in the air before he burst into yet another fit of drunken laughter. But the laughter came to an abrupt end when she announced the lack of pay.

“What in the name of the bloody spirit realm are you talking about?” He asked in a voice that was already a bit too loud, and only grew louder as he went on “No pay?” His head bounced up as he chuckled “Why in the name of Koh would I want to be one of your little flunkies?! Your gang sucks! I cut down like ten of them in one day! They’re all just a bunch of push overs! LOSERS! PILES OF HOGMONKEY DUNG!” The last bit was exclaimed with a slam of the fist. But his anger quickly faded without any real explanation, and it certainly wasn’t the viper’s failed attempt to seduce him, or even her trying to entice him with the promise of a kiss, the dry heave made sure of that.

“Fine…” he said in a lowly voice “So you want me to kill this soldier of the night? Or…” a hiccup interrupted his words “what’s the deal?”

But the deal wasn’t explained, instead the woman sicked the entire bar on him, and all he did was smile.

The first man to swing at him found his face being smashed into the heavy stone counter, the sound of bone cracking was muffled by the sounds of the other men rushing in after the wounded, drunken, swordsman. He saw another heavy arm swinging towards his face way before it connected, and even though he felt as if he’d dodged it, he found a heavy fist smashing into his right cheek, striking with enough force to tear the skin off his cheek and have his head turn to the left. It was a big hit, one that should’ve been accompanied by a twinge of pain, or some kind of feeling, but he was numb to it, only feeling something pressed against his cheek.

Tatsuya laughed as he responded with a heavy fist of his own, sending the man reeling back and into a few oncoming drunks. A stool was smashed over his shoulder, but once again he felt little pain before he turned to smash that man’s face in with his metal gauntlet.

Dadao could only afford to use a small portion of her attention to watch the bar fight around her. The rest was needed to stay conscious and stew about Tatsuya's remark about the Rat Viper Triad.
"I don't get it. How come I'm not killing him?"
One of her men standing in front of her making sure the fight didn't disturb her suggested that perhaps she was interested in the man.
"You saying I need to get laid?"

She pondered this idea that she read into her flunkies suggestion and asked for her pipe. Tables broke as teeth and blood began littering the floor while Dadao smoked and thought. She would have the bring the idea of seeing someone up with the same little girl she trusted to safeguard her femininity.
When one of the participants in the fight bumped into her and forced her to drop her kiseru she was too angry to think about the prospect of love.

"Do not get involved," she told her men.
"You pricks! That pipe is special. Who bumped into me?"
No one came forward as they were too busy fighting. This did nothing to alleviate her anger.

The stone rings she kept around her arms to keep them in shape shot out via earth bending and hit two of the group of people she was aiming for. Swinging around her sword might clear the room easily but this bar was her hangout and damage needed to be mitigated. Once some unfortunate man's fist met her face Dadao swore the tavern grew deadly silent.

She pulled back part of her dress and exposed her large, muscled thighs and calves for once forgetting her self-consciousness regarding what she saw as "manly" legs. Dadao kicked at the fool who dared touch her on the side of his knee right at the joint resulting in a slightly audible snapping sound as the man's leg buckled and he fell to the floor.
When she began kicking him further she remembered that the point of the fight was to test Tatsuya. As such she left the man squirming on the ground without kicking him to death and sat back down visibly upset and examining her pipe for cracks.

When the last of the men was felled Dadao decided she could pick up their conversation where they left off.
"Killing Wang is my part. Once I do that I can write my own ticket in the underworld. Your job is to steal his death mask and leave the mark of the Rat Viper Triad. You cost me some rep points so it's fitting that you pay me back with interest."

Dadao directed her men to clean up and tilted her head to the side as she looked at Tatsuya.
"Look, you'll have a the ringed city's most beautiful gangster owing you a favor and if you're smart you'll rob Wang blind while your there. It's win/win if he or the Dai Li don't end up killing you."

She smiled slyly at Tatsuya. "Or we can resume our fight and probably kill each other.

A shattered jaw, broken nose, busted knee cap, dislocated arm, fractured rib, and bloodied face later, Tatsuya stumbled back to the bar counter, a bit bruised and pail after the scuffle, but in a much better condition than his victims, well sort of. He didn’t receive very many fresh wounds, but it was the gaping wound at his side that caused his new fairer complexion. All the moving exercise had caused his lovely gash to tear a bit at the sides, causing it to spread a little, as if it were a happy little smile, and ooze out even more blood than before.

Had he not been drinking he probably would’ve been aware of his current state of health, but in his intoxicated mind, Tatsuya was fine. He went to sit down on the stool next to the viper, missing his first attempt to place his rump on the wooden seat and almost stumbling to the ground. But, luckily, he managed to catch himself, and straighten up for round two. This time he was successful in the landing of his rump, and proceeded to listen to the viper’s explanation.

“Right, right, right, right,” He said as his head hung over the counter, then he turned to face his new employer. “Right… I take the mask… and whatever else I want, and you get a reputation boost.” The room felt as if it were spinning, so Tatsuya had to wait a bit before continuing. “And I know what I want you to do for me,” He paused and smiled at the woman before going on. “You, have to get something for me, something only you can get me.” He chuckled playfully as his head swayed gently. “You, being the ringed city’s loveliest gangster,” his smile faded, his expression becoming rather stern and his head finally stabilizing, “You have to get me information on a man, a man by the name of Yudai. You agree to do this for me, and I will get you your silly little mask.” Tatsuya sighed and stood up, his legs a bit shaky, but he managed to keep balanced.


The swordsman took his sword, which had been rested next to the viper, and hefted it over his shoulder. “So what do you say viper?”

"Find some guy? Who, an old lover? I guess you really are a meat sheath." She threw her head back and laughed louder and longer than she would have with a clear head. "Sounds like a deal to me."
Dadao raised her fist in front of Tatsuya. Normally gestures were open palms over closed fists indicating wisdom over strength. She was a former soldier and current gangster, the closed fist was what she knew best.

Dadao took another drink and stood up with a slight embellishment to her wobble. Men tended to dig having a woman lean on them, but at her height and with her strength there weren't many men that were capable of such a thing.This was her attempt at the open palm.
"You just going to stand there or are you going to help me out, moron?"

Playing the damsel in distress was not in Dadao's repertoire, she considered herself more a a femme fatale. Besides, with his constant belittling of her and her gang she could not stay passive for long. Her two most sensitive points were her muscular arms and legs and her gang. Normally, people that mocked them finished their laughter in the spirit world.
Normally, Dadao took lack of fear of her as lack of respect. This time it was something different. She had no idea what it was, but whatever it was it was something different.
Some mysterious force kept her from killing this dumbass.

"Let's go to your place. Don't go growing a third leg just yet. I need a place to rest. Besides, since you'll be working for me your delivery service is official Rat Viper Triad property. I might as well check out my new place."
She winced as the wound starting from her side and ending between her breasts opened once again and seeped into the green centipede embroidered on her dress.
When she noticed Tatsuya was also bleeding Dadao felt comfortable enough to be a bitch.

"Don't worry, little man, my guys know how to treat piss ant little wounds like you inflict and I can't let you die while you still owe me." The swords woman swept the glasses, broken teeth and other debris off the nearest table and laId upon it with a moan and then a sigh. "What? It's just sewing. Old ladies do it all the time. Now quit being a bitch and pull up a table."

((Alright, let’s get this started back up. I hope you guys don’t mind the minor gmodding.))

Lower Ring

So much had changed in such a short time. Where once a proud emblem stood, carved into the wall there now hung a banner. Its image was daunting, red, forked and ominous. The old order was gone, and new one held the same reigns.

Sighing heavily, the former secretariat rubbed his bruises from the battle and escape that they had barely survived. Calling it a victory was much too foolhardy. The Fire Nation’s strength was greater than their own, they escaped by luck and planning. Well, perhaps not planning, from how the entire operation took place they had barely planned to make it to the front door. Without him, they would have failed, been captured, and have been nothing more than an anecdotal story in history.

Looking around, he still unable to control the shock at who the perpetrators of this whole incident were. How they did this, how they had managed all of this was absolutely astounding. The leader was barely half his age, and yet she fought like hardened soldier. There was little doubt in his mind that she was not a native to the city. Turning his head left, the grand secretariat noticed the empty monorail station just a few yards away. He turned back to the young woman, and noticed how proudly she looked as the wind swept her hair while they waited on top of the monorail. It was inspiring, really.

The monorail came so a halt without any noise, and quickly everyone got off of it. Thankfully, nobody failed to grasp the severity of the situations, instructions were spoken in whispers, and those who could not hear put their faith in those that did hear. Long Feng made sure to be the last one to depart. Quickly, he went inside the train and grabbed the helmet that perfected his disguise. Turning around, he quickly chased after the group that was somehow able to move silently through the night, even as they carried their wounded.

They were lead down an alley, crisscrossed the main roads only when it was safe. Considering the size of their retinue the half hour spent on crossing the main roads was very minute. Thankfully, everything was on their side. The night was heavy, and the clouds draped the cityscape in a color perfectly fit to mask their movement. Looking back, in the direction of the Upper Ring, Long Feng tried his best to find a cloud of smoke. Alas, his search wasn’t fruitful. Then again, he wasn’t expecting it to be; this city was massive, the largest ever to exist.

Like mice, when they knew which building they were to shuffle into, they ordered themselves, and quickly entered the building. Although not the last one in, he was certainly near the end. As such, when he entered the building he was mortified by how little room there was for their group. Not wanting to worry about the dankness of it all; he centered his thoughts on the throngs of people who were lining up the wounded, and caring for them.

The Dai Li had certainly not failed him. They were still effective; taking out ten people from atop a monorail that was traveling at its peak was not an easy task. What more, the people who weren’t earthbenders were even more impressive, they kept their footing on a moving monorail and somehow out matched his own players. This group wasn’t as hopeless as it seemed, but they would need a massive overhaul to be able to accomplish anything at all. Unfortunately, that task would probably fall to him; he had trained the Dai Li. He knew their technique, he was a capable fighter when need be; the only problem was this place. However, that small problem could easily be fixed; all he needed to do was to get to his private study. Everything of any importance was there. The only problem was how he would get there, and even then, for sure the Fire Nation would have ransacked his study when they knew how deep his control was. Arg! It was infuriating, all of that hard work, all of that effort thrown away by that damn princess!

That being said, it wasn’t just her fault; no, no, he had given himself up too easily. If he hadn’t undermined her, then there would still be an Earth Kingdom. From what he knew, she had snuck in with the aid of a group that was chasing the Avatar. If only he had paid more attention her motives, then he would have known to keep the king away. But that wasn’t his only error, if the Earth King hadn’t found out about the war, then he wouldn’t have lost his trust. That was the only reason the Fire Nation Princess Azula was able to win over the king’s favor. When he found out about the war, he wanted to do whatever it took to end it. Unfortunately, he did exactly that, but with an alternate result.

All was not lost though. This very group was proved that fact. If he wanted to be back on top, then he would have to use them. They were weak, now, but with his aid they would be the perfect pieces to win back his power.

A sharp click called the attention to one single individual, who then nodded at that young woman, Suki, who had freed him from his cell. Her voice was soft, but firm, proud, and inspiring. Obviously, she introduced herself, and then she introduced a few of the people who had snuck into the prison with her. Instinctively, Long Feng stayed quite, and waited for the right moment. The emotions had to be high; otherwise, he wouldn’t win any respect or receive any possible help. Thankfully, he’d know when to do it. He understood the human psyche, the pressure and vices that made it work the way did. He knew brainwash, mind control, suggestion and grooming. They were his most used tools with the Earth King. His most used tools with the Dai Li. The best kept secret from the world. Nobody knew of the tricks of his trade.

As was required, the young woman began by explaining what they were doing. One city and a small group of people trying to free her. It was a story that only a romantic could love, solely because of its implausibility. Although he was doubtful about what could be done with the group, Long Feng knew well that this was his only option. He didn’t have any other allies, he had lost everything in that short period, and unfortunately this was all he could cling to in his desperate bid to salvage what he could.

At an instant, he knew it was time. Like a predator, he had his chance, and he took it.
“Excuse me, but did you just say that the ultimate goal of this cell is to depose one tyrant for a despot?” With a quick glance, his emerald gaze surveyed the many faces that looked heavy in the dim light cast by the small lantern in their building. Some looked confused, others were stern in their gazes wondering who he was, and more importantly what he meant by his statement.

To clear the air, the statesman introduced himself, as other more prominent members of the group had. “I am Long Feng, former Grand Secretariat of this city. I speak from experience when call that man a despot. He was a horrible hedonist who was only interested in enjoying the rewards which his title granted him. Think about it, did Ba Sing Se do anything when Omashu fell? Did Ba Sing Se do anything to answer the calls from the people outside her walls? No, she didn’t because one man decided that his city would never fall. ‘History always repeats itself,’ those were the words that he paraded around whenever a general refused to make light of the dire predicament at hand. ‘Just as Chin turned heels, so to will the Fire Lord,’ he always added. He was so sure of the city’s might, and in a way he was right, the Fire Nation failed to break through her walls. But believe me; our former Earth King gave our city to the Fire Nation.

“Some of you may not buy into that story,” he began, but before he continued he took another quick glance around. Many eyes were wide open, many hearts and minds were desperately looking for guidance, and he had many of them hooked.

All too easy.

“But I was there, when it happened. The Fire Lord’s daughter snuck into the city, by aid of some traitors. She was quickly apprehended, but then sold her story that she was here to make peace. The King, whose coffers ran dry from an ever-diminishing kingdom, decided to hear her out. Now, I told the king that we were in the perfect position to use the girl to keep the Fire Nation military from ever attacking us again. He did not even care to listen, I therefore continued to press the issue to him, but he consistently insisted that his way was the right way; after all he had the Mandate of Heaven to assure us of his infallibility. Over time, the princess and our king began to write up a treaty for peace. I warned him that he would be betrayed, and the Fire Nation princess overheard my allegations. Cleverly, she began to press my disloyalty to that man with sufficient regard. In time, he believed her, and when I again brought back the allegations of falsehood against her name; he had had enough, and had me put in that prison. Ba Sing Se fell because one man ruled her. The Earth Kingdom fell because one man ruled her.”

The issue had to be pressed into their minds. They needed to come up with the reason themselves, otherwise they wouldn’t believe it. As he gauged their faces, he noted a few whose eyes no longer lingered on his words, but in their own thoughts. Those few had already come up with a solution. For those who hadn’t even envisioned a world without a king, he would have to implant that idea into them.

“I suggest that we instead take back Ba Sing Se in our names; that we do, what we do here, but on a grandeur scale. Such a table for discussion would prevent a tyrant from ever ruling unjustly, a despot from ever passing biased decrees, and it would give the citizen control over his nation. I say to you all that we fight not for a monarchy, but for our sovereignty, a democracy.”

"So, what say you all to my suggestion?"

The swordsman looked around the room, his green eyes stopping on each member of his crew for a few seconds, and ending on the pig. “Look, I don’t want to hear any more belly aching about how we aren’t going to get paid for this one, understand?” He shot a glance at the bald one, who by the looks of it was getting ready to say something in protest, something the green eyed swordsman had heard plenty of by now, “And no Suigetsu, it is NOT because I screwed gangster and am giving her a favor for the act, shit she’d have to do a job for me if that were the case…” Still more words trying to bubble their way out of his floppy little mouth,

“Look Sui, I know what you are thinking and I already told you yesterday that I didn’t want to hear anything else about that day, or that woman! She is doing me a favor, and promised not to kill you lot in exchange for this job, so if you want to keep your little bald head on your shoulders and not resting on her shelves as some sort of souvenir, I suggest you just do the damned job!” Damn kid, making him talk all the time and what not. Tatsuya let off a hot sigh, before he closed his eyes and shook his head in a disappointment, the motion making his irritation all too noticeable.

“Our mark is a death mask, owned by some rich guy by the name of Burushi Wang, it is made in the likeness of Chin the Great,” His gaze fell to meet the small pig who sat near his foot, “Some short guy who went around conquering the lands, Yi, bit of history there for ya.” He looked back up at the other two, “Our good friend Burushi is having a party in honor of his dead parent’s birthday, and we will be in attendance disguised as performers, and of course, we will end up performing… I figured I could do some sword tricks using little Yi here as my assistant, you two need to figure out your own routine. While one of us performs, the two on standby will be searching about the manor, when you hear the applause, or booing, we switch.”

The swordsman let out a quick sigh of relief, “Good, you all got the plan, and the party is in two days, Dadao will be dropping off our costumes before the big night… don’t go getting too mad if you don’t like your get up, after all it’s just for the job."


This was the first time he’d been to the upper ring, well the first time he’d been allowed to come anyways, and there he was, wearing that stupid hat. “Dadao, you owe me big for this shit…” He grumbled under his voice as the guards escorted him and his troupe of performers throughthe rather large and impressive estate. He held on to Yi’s leash, his eyes not able to help but look around and be impressed by the fine statues and paintings they walked by, ‘bet those would fetch a fair amount of coin’ was all his brain could really think about.

“Master Burushi is through this door.” Said armored guard A as he opened the door, the place was crawling with the damned tin cans, it was no wonder that viper wanted them to do this damned job.


“Ah, welcome, welcome, you must be the Performing Puma-eagles; I’ve heard much of your amazing talents from friends of mine, My name is Burushi Wang, I am the host of tonight’s little party, and I will be the one to pay you if all goes well, here follow my butler Aruhfen, he will lead you to your stage.” That was all the rich man said before he left to tend to his other guests, the small white haired buttler motioning for them to follow after him, and soon they found themselves at the center of everyone’s attention, the now feathered Yi’s snorts the only things the swordsman turned performer could really hear as everyone’s eyes were focused on him.

“Well… here goes,” He murmured beneath his breath as he stepped towards the crowd. “Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen! My name is Takeshiro!” Something told him it was going to be a long night.

Suigetsu didn't like the idea of working for free but the pretty gangster lady behind him made it clear that he would be floating face down in Lake Logai should he decline. Even if the threat of death were not hanging above him the idea of crashing a high society party and causing trouble was tempting. Still, it seemed like a stupid idea.
"Did that rat viper lady crush your head between those muscular thighs of her's or what, Tats? What makes either of you think we can do this? We're not thieves. You're a fighter and Han's a detective and I don't think any of us are capable of subtlety."

The annoyed water bender felt a strong arm around his neck choking him.
"What was that about my legs, you bald little shit? Listen, Meat Sheath, you and your punk-ass group of losers better be up to this or I'm turning this whole place into a mausoleum."

Dadao snapped her fingers and a gang member with his arms full of scrolls appeared beside Tatsuya and presented a drawn image of Chin's death mask.
"This is what you're after. Take it and in it's place you will leave this." Dadao took the scroll with a rat viper printed on it and handed it to Tatsuya. "I want him to know that the Rat Viper Triad are responsible and I want him looking for us. If we can kill this guy we will be the most respected gang in the Lower Ring. Screw this up, make us look like jerks, and I will spend days thinking of new and horrible ways to kill you all." She snapped her fingers once more and a second thug produced a trunk full of matching outfits the performers for the ball would have worn if they hadn't come across some trouble with a certain local gang.

"Pull this off and I'll make you official Rat Vipers. You already know what will happen if you fail. Any questions?"
"uh, yeah. Did you and Tatsuya make the beast with two backs the other night?"






"I feel stupid... Suigetsu pulled at his awkward fitting black and green changshan and then smiled at Tatusya in his matching, ill-fitting clothes. "And contagious."
Dadao's thug and part-time tailor did a reasonable job with the outfits in such little time but Suigetsu knew more than anyone that his short and thick body was not made for some clothes. It slightly bothered him that Han still looked sexy and opted for her normal clothes and Tatsuya looked cool in his outfit. He took some solace in that Tatsuya had a particularly silly hat to wear while Suigetsu opted for green headband to cover the tattoo gracing his forehead.

Suigetsu sighed and clutched onto his case of glasses, nervous about playing them for such a large audience. His nerves were forgotten when he saw the waiters pushing carts of fine crystal glasses ached to see how they sounded filled with water.
He pulled the butler Arufen aside to ask for some to play after making up a story about his other glasses being broken in transit. Naturally, Burushi Wang would find himself a few nice glasses short at the end of the festivities.

He followed Tatsuya to the stage almost decided to start running away but swallowed his fear. After all, he feared being killed more than embarrassing himself.
"I'm Mizuki."

In a bar full of hardened thugs walking on proverbial eggshells sitting across from the Dadao Daito was a small girl assuring her she looked fine.
"How's my smell? I don't want to be known as the smelly chick who killed Wang."
"You smell nice."
There was an annoyed edge to the little girl's voice and Dadao declined to ask any more questions.

The leader of the Rat Viper Triad, The Haiku Killer Dadao Daito for the second time that day sighed and acquiesced to someone. Things were just that desperate.
It was obvious that her gang were not capable of a quiet infiltration and theft. With such a limited pool of resources she could not be picky and she had the first warrior to impress her in years right before her.

While Tatsuya would be excellent muscle for the operation and could maintain a cool head Dadao looked to someone else to keep things on track and the bald water tribesman who kept staring at her legs was not an option.
Though her resources a the leader of a small gang were limited it didn't take much to learn of a pretty but strange woman hanging around the lower ring with a eerie interest in crime.

Unfortunately being owed a favor by a rising star in the underworld didn't seem enough for Han Ye Seul to join and even promising a favor was not enough. This theft meant turning the Rat Viper Triad from a gang controlling barely a block of territory into THE gang controlling barely a block of territory. Her gang, her family was the only group she would put her pride on the line for. She WOULD make them a name in Ba Sing Se and deliver them the respect they deserve...even if it meant doing something as horrible as asking nicely.

"I got an ask. Oversee this. Please. The Meat Sheath is a looker and handy with a sword but I don't think he's a tactical thinker and the other guy looks like an idiot." Dadao gritted her teeth and sighed through them producing a harsh hissing sound.
"I don't know...maybe I can take you shoe shopping or some shit like that. Just...come on, I'll make it worth it for you. Trust me, I know when guys need a woman to boss them around."

More than any other time in her life Dadao wanted to kill someone. Brutally and with the corpse desecration added.
Now she was on edge and the only person with the courage to speak with her was folding napkins into the shape of cranes and giggling.
"Do you think they'll make it?" She asked no one in particular.

There is so much red tape in these matters.

-Upper Ring- The night of the party[/center]

Han agreed. “It’s true,” she said, inspecting her nail beds idly, “that Tatsuya has a large mandible and a more prominent zygomatic than some men, as well as a more pronounced ratio between the width of his clavicles and his ilia.” These things, of course, meant that he was attractive to her. “However his mental capacities leave much to be desired.” She smiled enthusiastically at Dadao. “I do enjoy the opportunity to search for something hidden. I cannot live without brain-work. What else is there to live for?”

The offer of shoe-shopping was dually noted. Han Ye Seul might be a strange and dispassionate woman, but she still appreciated the fine thrills of buying and wearing pretty things. She would take Dadao up on the shoe shopping offer, but only after the task at hand was complete. "Yes!" she said, again enthusiastic. "I will enjoy looking for footwear with you! You must know some extraordinary merchants." Obviously she was referring to Dadao's current garb, which she liked. "I assume you are good with haggling? I do love to haggle."

Han did so need a girlfriend.

—————————

As Tatsuya and Suigetsu prepared for their debut as performers, Han was taking notice of everything about the house they had been invited to. She noted both expensive art and expensive guards, well-muscled men who were clearly hired swords. Burushi must have been concerned about the safety of his collections. Han couldn’t blame him – she knew of Burushi, of course, and of his amassed collections of art and antiques. There were quite a few items she would personally have enjoyed studying.

The two men were all set to go on stage. Han watched them with a raised eyebrow, before looking again towards the guards nearest the hallway. “There is nothing more stimulating than a case where everything goes against you,” she remarked, before heading off to comb the hallways.

The guards kept their eyes on her, but only until she made it to the restroom. Han was prepared to clean things while investigating, both to allow her to rap on walls and check for passageways and to further her access to the estates.

(OOC: OMG, I made an RP post! The world has ended!)

Lower Ring

Time had become a blur. Just as time had stretched into infinity planning and getting into the prison, the riot itself and the escape back to their rundown headquarters had been done in the blink of an eye. Suki's nerves were shot; she was in a strange place between overtired and awake. Shadows on the walls seemed too long, the space in the room both too little and too much all at once. It was the fatigue setting in, no doubt about that. Suki imagined it was what being drunk felt like.

Naturally, this was the time for someone like Long Feng to start in about Ba Sing Se's future. The young warrior pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes for a second.

He asked if Ba Sing Se had done anything when Omashu fell. To be honest...she had no idea. The assumed answer was no since he was asking the question, but beyond her travels from Kyoshi Island to the secret harbor and from there to Ba Sing Se...Suki had no idea what had happened in the rest of the Earth Kingdom. Was Ba Sing Se a stronghold only because its king had refused to be bothered with the rest of his kingdom? Her King...had given the city and country away to the Fire Nation over some gullibility over a peace treaty?

Suki let out a long breath and rubbed the bridge of her nose. One of the prisoners freed spoke to corroborate Long Feng's speech as he took his hat off. Omashu had fallen and its kingdom's capital had no intention of reclaiming it or building a resistance. The Earth Kingdom had no interest in protecting itself. Never did.

Suki had been fighting for a lie.

For a moment, she wanted nothing more than to run back home. Be with the other Warriors, lead them, and protect the island that had been her home her entire life. She had been inspired by Aang, Sokka and Katara to leave to protect all people instead of just those at home. What had she been fighting for?

Long Feng's suggestion made more sense by the second. If all places in the kingdom could have representation...they would all have a voice. They'd all be able to voice their concerns and agree to do what was best for all of them.

A kingdom united in Ba Sing Se.

Suki looked at the tired faces of those who had fought for the freedom of the prisoners and the prisoners who had fought for their own freedom. They were still a small group, too small to do what Long Feng was suggesting. Given time, they could be something more. Something better. They could have a voice.

"I think...I think you're right," Suki said, looking out and around the crowd of faces. "But to do what you're saying, we're going to need to weaken the Fire Nation here first. And gain more to our cause."

Lower Ring - Underground HQ

Democracy? What... What did that even mean?

During her journey up and down the Earth Kingdom, Yulan had occasionally felt the limits of her rustic upbringing, especially when navigating through larger towns and cities. They operated on a much more complex level than her village, so weighed down with regulations and rules at times they'd been stifling. After a while she absorbed the culture like everybody else, took in their habits and customs until they became nearly second nature to her. But some things she could not pick up by mere observation. Some things she would never get used to. She could pretend all she liked, but in the end Yulan could not change who she was at her core.

A backwater peasant.

Being one of the first people to trickle into the Underground's headquarters after Long Feng, Yulan had been lucky enough to secure one of the few chairs in the room and now sat curled up in it, shivering softly as she struggled to process their... new co-leader's words. Some of it she didn't understand, but everyone else seemed to be nodding or mulling quietly and she didn't want to be the only one to raise her hand and reveal her own ignorance.

Never until this moment had Yulan felt like such a fish out of water as she listened to Long Feng's heavy tone, then the equally heavy tone of the dark-skinned ex-prisoner. Revelations, schemes, concepts... and emotions far beyond the capacity of a simple farmgirl to comprehend.

She didn't want to be here. Not after being 'arrested,' thrown into a cold cell, then challenged to escape the panic-fueled chaos of the prison yard before it could swallow her up. Even now her ears rang with echoes of the screaming, the crying, the pleading, the authoritative demands for order; Yulan breathed in and smelled smoke. Blood. Not all of it was from the liberated people in the room. Some of it lingered from those still stuck at the prison, who hadn't been able to escape... Who they'd had to abandon.

It couldn't even have been twelve hours since the Underground set their first plan into motion, but she felt as if she'd aged ten years in that time. When would the night finally end? She wanted to go back to Bawen and Chufang's place, crawl into her bed, and free-fall into slumber. Sweet oblivion. Forget everything. Forget the Fire Nation, the Underground, the enormity of the task that still lay before them. But more than anything, Yulan wanted to go home. She wished she'd never left in the first place. Curse her arm, she'd rather live the rest of her days without her bending than be forced to retain memories of tonight.

And there was still more to come.

Only a sliver of pointless, stubborn pride kept her from crying. The Underground was originally comprised of a few teenagers and one apothecary, but now their ranks swelled with adults. The ones traditionally in charge. As Yulan turned tired eyes onto Suki, she was reminded that it was a teenager who'd made this possible. Yes, Suki was a warrior and Yulan was not, but she was a proud Earth Kingdomer, same as her leader, and even if she desperately wished to be anywhere but this dim, stuffy room, the least she could do was wait until she was alone to bawl her misery.

Long Feng asked for opinions. Unable to understand what he was suggesting but trusting in Suki's judgment, Yulan made a weak noise of assent that was lost to the rest of the ex-prisoners' murmurs.

Mahone gingerly released a tense breath as she worked the kinks out of her shoulder and jaw, victims of a hard meeting with a steel girder and an unruly prisoner's fist. Low, drumbeat pain had continued even after the conclusion of their monorail joyride, stretching up her spine and into the back of her skull. Words registered in her mind only with greatest reluctance and the apothecary had to wonder if she'd gotten a concussion. She sincerely hoped not; the Underground's newest allies were gathered and their latest voice of authority had much to say.

Even if the apothecary was in no mood to listen. To say that the night had been long and trying would be a severe understatement; Mahone felt like a piece of moldy bread, a couple bites taken out of her and the rest tossed aside to be trodden on by careless pairs of feet. The last time she'd been seized with such exhaustion was four years ago, in a different city, for much more personal reasons... And though she'd wanted to shut herself away from the world and sleep for a hundred years, Mahone eventually recovered. She'd moved past the experience and she would move past this one.

Still, it wasn't easy to hear Long Feng's words. All Mahone could do was close her eyes and shake her head in disgust, a hollow ache throbbing behind her ribcage. Power was a dangerous thing to have; when misused, it only resulted in disaster on a scale directly proportional to the idiocy of the one who clearly didn't deserve to wield it. So when that idiot was the Earth King himself...

Not that she really mourned. For Mahone, his Highness had perfectly embodied the role he'd set out to fulfill: in her eyes, he was only a figurehead, a symbol. Before Ba Sing Se's fall, a symbol of the sheer apathy that those in high places practiced by default. After tonight and Long Feng's explanation, a symbol of infinite folly appropriately punished.

And so it falls to us to clean up the mess.

And Omashu. Her home from a different lifetime. She'd turned her back on it, or so she thought; when word of the travesty that was New Ozai reached the Lower Ring, Mahone had been unable to shake a feeling of horrible, gut-wrenching loss. Now knowing the Royal Palace's reaction to the Fire Nation takeover - or rather, its nonreaction - was like opening an old wound with a jagged, rusty knife. The shock of betrayal. Pain and anger all over again.

Long Feng suggested turning Earth Kingdom tradition on its head. Perhaps it was her inability to think straight, or perhaps it was the delayed shock of realizing how little their King had cared about them, but Mahone heard only truth and wisdom in the Grand Secretariat's words.

She still didn't trust him or his motives, no. But his ideas? His reasoning? She believed in those, for now.

"The Fire Nation is currently building its institutions on top of the Earth Kingdom's. We are ruled by an ugly hybrid government for the moment, but a flawed one. The Fire Nation still needs the Earth Kingdom's existing structures to operate. We will need to rip out the old regime by its roots, and in doing so, neither it nor the Fire Nation will be left with a leg to stand on."

Mahone paused and rubbed her temple as dull pain fanned out from the back of her skull. She looked to Long Feng, rare humility adrift in her stare. "Your direction here is invaluable. What is your advice? Which structures did the old regime most depend on? We should attack those first."

The apothecary glanced around the room. Or rather, after everyone had a chance to recover.

Cunning old Butler
You are more than you show me
A cloaking killer

Tatsuya couldn’t help but raise a brow as the bald one introduced himself. Mizuki? Why in the name of the great spirits would a boy choose a name like Mizuki? No, no, this was no time to be thinking about the bald one. He wiped the look of confusion that had taken over his face for about a second or two, then he smiled and raised a hand proudly in the air, his body posture introducing his two stage partners, “And last but not least, we have our faithful little pighen, Yi!” and as if the disguised little creature actually understood that she had been introduced, she took a few steps in front of Tatsuya, and bowed her head before retreating to the safety that she found behind Suigetsu.

The crowd clapped, more so out of pleasantry than anything else, and Tatsuya lowered his hands, keeping them at his center as he went on to talk. “We will be entertaining you on this fine evening and up first are the musical stylings of Mizuki! With sounds so strange and enchanting that Koh himself has called them oddly magnificent!” The crowd cheered, creating a small roar as they began to clap, and with that the swordsman was off, giving a small bow to the mass of people before he sneaked away.

Mizuki. Why on earth did that little weirdo pick that name? Well, maybe those rumors he’d been hearing around town were actually true, maybe Suigetsu was one of those fellows who enjoyed taking it in the bellows. Mizuki… yeah it all was starting to make sense now, why he always did the dishes for Han, why he cleaned up all the time, why all those weird guys down the street were always asking for him. How strange, how curious, this whole time. Well, different squids for different kids, that is what Yu-. It was probably for the best that he didn’t finish that thought.

He found a spot away from the eyes and ears of the party crowd, and had even managed to avoid arousing any suspicion from the guards, well, he’d gotten a few odd looks, but a bit of crowd mingling made quick work of that. The swordsman was now sneaking about the halls, making sure to keep out of sight of the patrolling sentries. It was a troublesome task, what with not being trained in the secretive skills of stealth and subtlety, but all those years of mercenary work had taught him a thing or in that department. Once the men passed by him, the swordsman pried him away from the corner wall he had stuck himself to only moments ago, and quickly made his way through a fairly large and ornate door, not really knowing what would await him on the other side.

His eyes widened, his head even jerked back a bit when he noticed the old man who was standing in the center of the room. The butler. Airu Feng. The swordsman’s muscles tensed, the shocked expression on his face still visible in the dimly lit study, his eyes taking no notice to the countless treasures that lined the room, their green gaze fixed solely on the seeming week old man standing before him.

Were he not a seasoned fighter, he would have simply laughed and dismissed the old butler, thinking it was no more than coincidence that the old man happened to be in this room. But now, now that he stared into those cold black eyes, he realized that the old man had never let him out of his sight. He was there when he addressed the crowd, when he had given those guards the slip, he knew where he was going and he cut him off. This was no mere butler, this man was a trained fighter, probably rivaling the best he’d come across in his travels across the lands. Those cold black eyes soaking with the desire to take a life, with the desire to take Tatsuya’s life.

“To hell with you old man…” Tatsuya murmured as he drew his Hebikira, the sound of its cold steel sliding against its sheath ringing clearly throughout the silent study, a challenging grunt exhaled as he dropped into his guard.