Post by ailin on Apr 8, 2007 21:18:04 GMT -6
-Lower Ring-
“Yeah, there was a hubbub outside a few minutes ago,” Feng Wan started. “I think it was Kaede here and tall girl. What were you gals doing?”
Kaede’s eyes widened just the slightest bit then returned to their normal state. “We had a disagreement. Word were exchanged, along with certain…boulders. It was all cleared up.”
It was good to have the old man running his mouth. As far as he knew, Kaede was a work related friend to Daiyu. That was all preposterous notion once anyone bothered to go down to that man’s produce stand in the marketplace. He’d give them an incredulous look and probably say something to the effect that Daiyu didn’t do much working for him these days, anyway. If Feng Wan kept it up, he’d dig a grave for Daiyu so deep she’d see the other side of the world. That wouldn’t help things, and certainly wouldn’t get Kaede paid for her services rendered.
And there was something about that Dai Li’s manner that didn’t seem right to her. It was not the posture of an honest and hardworking soldier. That’s what the Dai Li really were supposed to be; soldiers that protected heritage instead of lives. She could understand that. Heritage was important, although it would mean little if there were no lives around to appreciate it. Still, the preponderance of strange Dai Li agents to wherever there was trouble instead of Earth Kingdom soldiers was a bit odd.
One of the agents stepped through the threshold and up to Kaede. His small but piercing eyes looked her over, and took in the poor environment around him. It wasn’t a good stare. The idea that what people must’ve felt when she looked them over came to mind.
“What is your name?” he demanded.
Kaede stared him down. Protecting heritage was one thing, but no soldier who hadn’t seen the darkness of real battle would talk to her like some criminal-to-be. She stood straight, her eyes never wavering from him for an instant.
“Kaede. Ex-Corporal of the Earth Kingdom Army, soldier. So I would appreciate it if you took a step back,” she replied.
If the Dai Li agent had felt any sort of apprehension or had been taken aback by what she said in the least bit, he didn’t show it. His piercing gaze continued. “Ex-Corporal Kaede. The disturbance we’re looking into was more than a fight between benders. There was a sound, like an explosion. Yet there is no damage to any of the buildings on this street. Care to explain that?”
Kaede went right on staring at him. If there was a match of wills this strange little man wanted, he was going to get a run for his money. This woman was nothing if not willful and stubborn. “No, I don’t care to explain that because I don’t know about it. Maybe some of my bending made a bigger boom than I had thought.”
The other Dai Li agent walked about the room, his gaze falling upon Heika. Kaede’s stare flinched for a second, darting over to him. His hair was cut now, and if anyone had been able to get a description of him, at least the haircut would cause a little bit of confusion. Why did it matter? If what she suspected was true, Heika would get whatever he deserved. With any luck, that horrible weapon masquerading as a stick would be destroyed as well.
“Where’s the other one?” the second agent asked.
Kaede’s stare went back to the first agent, the strange little man who didn’t want to move. “She left. Probably went out for a drink. She’s fond of drinkin.”
“That’s true. Tall girl’s always going out for drinks,” Feng Wan added, though the confusion in his tone betrayed the truth that he had no idea what was going on.
The second Dai Li agent scrutinized Heika, but still remained silent. Kaede didn’t like this. The little man didn’t want to back off, and the other was remaining tight lipped. There was more to this than some stupid disturbance. It had nothing to do with cultural heritage in the first place. What was it these guys did?
There was no back door!
Story of her life. Bad things happened, worse things happened, and then there were more complications. Daiyu paced around the kitchen, her nerves shot and bordering on panic mode. This wasn’t how the night was supposed to go! Hell, she was still all kinds of exhaustion, and the fight with freaky Kaede hadn’t made it any better.
Kaede…didn’t like Fire Nation, and had a suspicion Heika was one of them. It wasn’t too hard to piece that together, and leaving her alone with Heika…also not such a great idea.
Oh, since when did she actually care about what happened to him? Or anyone for that matter! Kaede could run her mouth to the men at the door, no doubt agents of the Dai Li, turn Heika in, or both get themselves taken away and it wouldn’t matter. No, it wouldn’t. Daiyu was still free, still free to find Hotaru and make her pay.
A window! Sweet salvation came in the form of an open window that faced the street behind the boarding house. By no means was it a door and it would be a minor annoyance to squeeze through it…But it was a way out! Nobody could knock a relatively easy way out of a potentially disastrous situation.
Daiyu dove for it, pulling herself out of it front first. She rolled onto the dirt ground, gaining a few stares from the people on the street. Let them stare, she thought, as she shot them all a dirty look and dusted herself off.
Her apartment was no longer safe. They’d find her; they’d find her right quick. All that was left was to pack what she had left and run for it. Ba Sing Se had places she could go, many dark alleys the Dai Li didn’t patrol as steady. Plenty of places for her to get lost as she tried to find another.
With her steps as light as possible, Daiyu slinked her way around the boarding house, making her way back to her street, and intent on making it to her apartment one last time. She pressed her back against the boarding house walls; ducking her head under every window she passed by. Inside she could hear Kaede and Feng Wan talking to the Dai Li agents.
Kaede had some nerves that was for sure.
Was it right to leave her and Heika to the Dai Li? Daiyu had no real idea with the Dai Li did with people they deemed trouble (but the man that had been knocked down by the agents earlier flashed before her eyes). Whatever it was, did they deserve it?
Nobody deserves what they get, her mind reminded her. We just get what we get and we have to deal with it. You skip out on them, that’s just how it goes. I’ll be free one creepy earthbender, one partner who I can’t understand, and have endless possibilities to find Hotaru.
But Kaede and Daiyu had struck a deal. A lot of money, but it would be well spent to cut down on the time to find that traitorous witch. Heika? He’d done nothing but be helpful since she met him, for reasons she couldn’t begin to understand.
Daiyu stood frozen under the window to the living room, her mind torn with the prospect of leaving the two or staying.
