Blooddrunk in Ba Sing Se

[Milkman]

Mao's attacks had been less effective than he had hoped for. He scored a knockdown in his first combo but it did not seem to hurt The mountain much. Just as fast as he had fallen, the earthbender stood back up on his feet, angered and more than willing to repay him the favor. From this point on, things would become though.

Choi quickly regained his posture after the furious start of his opponent and launched his counter offensive. With a heavy stamp of his feet he lifted two large boulders and with some quick punches sended them flying at the firebender. As his foot moved back to the ground he continued his combo by stamping on the ground. Shaking the ring and bringing Mao out of balance. Without sturdy ground and a proper balance it was impossible to dodge at all. The only option the firebender has is trying to shatter the rocks before they could hit him. With some quick fireballs he'd manage to destroy the first one in mid air but the rest was too much to ask. The second one scored a direct hit on his body. A sudden pain raged through his body as a heavy rock collided with the firebenders chest. The impact forced all the air out of his longs and Mao fell down to his knees grasping for air. He had been hit many times before by earthbending attacks but they where nothing compared to this. The speed, weight power where just on a different level.

As Mao readied himself to continue the fight he felt the pain in his chest. You had to be blind not to notice that it turned all black and blue. Breathing felt difficult and another direct hit could have some severe consequences. As breathing is an essential part of firebending Mao realized that his chances of actually winning where dropping. He had to finish this fight fast or he'd be in a hell lot of trouble. From this point the fight truly started. Both fighters where now exchanging fire and earth in a furious battle. With some skill but mostly luck the firebender managed to score some hits but The Mountain did not bother much. The people of the Earth kingdom are known as though and enduring. Choi was no exception to that as he proved to poses an enormous amount of stamina. As the fight continued Mao struggled to keep up. With his breathing now being irregular he could feel his strenght decreasing. As the minutes ticked away Moa was slowing down. The young firebender simply could not keep up the pressure on his opponent. It was only a matter of time before the young firebender would be hit again by the merciless rocks that were thrown at him. A sudden emerging rock pillar caught the now fatigued firebender off guard and struck his shoulder, sending him flying backwards and dislocating his left shoulder.

With no strength left, Mao could only wait for the finishing blow and hoped that it would only knock him out and not have any more severe consequences. The Raging dragon might not win the fight but the financial compensation for entering would afford the orphanage to eat for another week or two. The final attack of the earthbender was dead on target as the rock disintegrated on Mao's head, sending him flying into the audience. The crowd cheered as Choi "The Mountain" celenbrated his victory.

[Imperfectionist]

Pona had high hopes after Mao got in a quick combo and knocked his monstrous opponent down, but they quickly sank afterwards. Even so, interfering didn’t seem necessary, as the Mountain was apparently quite professional: he knew he could win without killing the poor kid. The healer winced as Mao was smashed, his firebending began to fade, and before long it was all over. “Damn…” she whispered at the final blow to the head, counting herself lucky that the firebender had landed not far from where she sat. He seemed incredibly dazed from the blow, probably unable to walk, so Pona made some quick decisions, slung Mao over her shoulder with a little difficulty, and brought him out into the sunlight. “There now, I bet that feels better already,” she said to him quietly, while searching out what she needed. An odd scene was laid out before her, though, and it was proving quite a distraction. A motorcycle on its side, with skid marks leading several meters back, two guys on the ground, and a third, a rather nonplussed young woman from what she could tell, was standing over them.

The firebender on her shoulder was getting heavier by the second, and Pona finally had to put him down. She helped to steady him on his feet, and continued to walk over to the crash. “Hey,” she said, “It looks like you had a nasty crash here... Um, anyone hurt? As you might be able to guess from the punch-drunk young man next to me, I’m a healer.” They immediately pointed to Nong, still on the ground and clutching his obviously broken arm. “Right,” the healer said with a sigh, and proceeded to prepare an area to heal him. Spreading out the blanket she had in her pack, she helped Nong lay down on it. She explained to him that he may feel a bit cold, but in a moment the pain would be gone, and then softly touched three very specific areas, on his shoulder, his forarm, and the center of his palm. The boy’s labored face cleared up immediately, and he tried to get up, thinking she was done, and how incredible she was that she healed it that fast, but she gently pushed him back down. “That was the easy part,” she told him, and prepared her healing water from the skin on her back. The water glowed the familiar silvery blue, and sank into Nong’s arm. For a couple of minutes, it seemed nothing was happening, but then there was an almost sickening Pop!, and the healer removed her hands and the water, looking very slightly fatigued.

She sat the boy up, saying “Phew, there you go. I’ve set the bone back into place, and jumpstarted the natural healing process. After a couple of days, you’ll be right as rain.” As she spoke, she was wrapping the broken arm with cloth, setting up a makeshift sling. At the very end, after Nong was standing, she brought back the feeling in his arm with the same three points. He seemed to be expecting terrible pain, and let out a sigh of relief when it didn’t come. Pona smiled at him, and then quickly got Mao to lie down on the blanket. “You, my fierce firebending friend, are hurting in too many places to just numb up an arm. You’re going to have to get through the pain. I’m sure you’ll be fine, though. You’re a tough cookie.” She laughed very slightly, and began to heal, starting with the head injury. A nasty raised bruise had formed, so she swiftly massaged the area with her water, reducing it to a very small spot. Next up was the major wound on his chest, where he had been hit head-on with a large rock. That one took more time, as she had to sense through the chi patterns to figure out if there was any internal damage, to the lungs or ribs. “Ah, yep, there’s one,” she muttered to herself, having found a broken rib, and proceeded to bind it back into place. There were other, superficial wounds on Mao, Nong, and the as of yet unnamed third guy, so she quickly cleared all of those up as best she could, and called it a day.

“You two looked like my sons- excuse me, my employer’s sons, laying there all cut up and bruised,” she said, giving her light laugh, before looking over at Mao and getting down to business. “Now that you’re mostly better, Mao, I have something I need to talk to you about. You might not have heard, but there have been several murders in the Upper and Middle rings over the past couple of months, and just yesterday, the killers took Tuen… We've talked before, you and I, and you know that those boys are like sons to me, brothers at the very least. I’m going to hunt for the killers. I almost set out alone, but I remembered you, that you could be an asset in a fight, and came down here to recruit you. Will you help me? I know the orphanage needs you, but there has to be some way I can make sure it and Lady Hope are safe while you’re gone. Is there?” She had softened, and had a very obviously hopeful look on her face, waiting for his answer.

[Notebooks]

Hana turned her head for the last time to catch a glimpse of the old construction behind her, assuring herself that both of the men were still searching the insides. She had left inaudibly, and even the soft thud the ground had made when she landed couldn’t have distracted them from their occupation. Then she refocused her gaze and continued walking down the long, narrow street. It hadn’t been the first time that she had noticed the city’s police searching the streets for a hint of one of the blood-benders and it most likely wouldn’t be the last. It gave her a feeling of discomfort; as if the blood-benders were capable of vanishing into thin air- or didn’t exist at all. The beggar-children were in luck that the men hadn’t come during the night, as most of them were thieves or orphans or not too fond of the city’s justice-arrangements. Most of them would have been arrested and the others taken to the orphanage. It wasn’t a bad place; food, comfort and a warm bed for all, but most of the children avoided it nonetheless. Perhaps they were scared of being stripped of their freedom? It didn’t help that the orphanage wasn’t too fond of stealing and that the beggar-children justified it. There wasn’t any bad blood between the two groups though, as they rarely crossed paths. She left the current street and strode into another; recognizing it as the one that led to a mass of squalidly built buildings. Those would lead her to the centre of the confusing labyrinth of alleys and eventually to the ‘arena’, although she wasn’t sure if the fights were still going on.

Her train of thought was interrupted by a loud ‘thud’, as a man stomped his foot down and tried to avoid a collision. It wasn’t until the bicycle was lying down on its side, sliding towards her that she noticed its manifestation. The vehicle held two men, one seated behind the other and both of them readying themselves for the crash that lay ahead. Hana felt the wind when the bicycle was close enough, and let it push her aside. She landed out of balance but still onto her feet; and that was more than she could say about the cyclists. One of them had landed face-first and dropped from the vehicle, crashing into the hard pavement before him. The second man came slamming down soon after. As for herself; she went unharmed, perhaps a tad bit shocked but nothing more than that. Their vehicle had landed some metres farther away from them; its handlebars separated from the rest of it.

As she diverted her gaze, she noticed the large square-shaped building that was called the ‘arena’, and the woman leaving it. The woman was still fairly young and dressed in an odd combination of the Earth-Kingdom’s colours and those of the water tribes. Resting on her shoulder there was a young man; an injured competitor perhaps. The woman proved a healer- and then she asked them if any of them were injured. Hana pointed at the second man, who was now clutching one of his arms to his chest and still sat slumped onto the ground. She would have attempted to help him herself, but healing wasn’t one of her capabilities and she’d rather leave it to the healer. For a moment all she did was stand there and watch; the woman took out healing water from the skin on her back and used it to heal one of the man’s injuries, giving it a comforting silvery-blue colour.

In the meantime some of the arena’s paying customers had started to depart: most likely those that had bet on the woman’s injured friend. Some of them stopped to take in the odd scene for a moment but most continued on their way; collisions and the like weren’t unheard of in this branch of the capital. Hana took care to remove the bicycle parts out of their way and swept the handlebars into a corner with a small gust of wind, making sure a fair-haired man wouldn’t trip. She gathered the vehicle’s remains and then dropped them off next to the two injured men, the healer and the arena’s latest victim.

Then she approached the men and kneeled down next to them, watching the woman healing their injuries. There weren’t many of those healers in the city and it was interesting to see what could be done with water-bending other than the usual. When most of the men’s injuries had been tended to- leaving only some minor bruises and small scratches –the woman stopped and looked over at the man she had brought with her; asking him for his help.

[Milkman]

Mao finely regained some of his consciousness as he breathed in the fresh air outside of the area. For a moment he wondered how he ever got outside but then he noticed Pona. She must have been in the audience during his fight and watched him lose. If Pona witnessed his fight she sure would have been worried sick for most of the time. Especially if she was aware of that it was a no rules fight. Without her presence, getting home could have become a difficult task.
The young firebender blinked a few times with his eyes before he noticed the crash scene in front of him. Judging from the clothes the two men wore they were from at least the richer part of the middle ring or even the upper ring. Stupid punks with the much money and too much free time thinking that they owned the road and just could go all out in the lower ring without caring about endangering the poor people.

Mao watched how Pona took care of the injured upper class people. It was her quality that she cared about people regardless of their status or heritage. Mao on the other hand had a bit more difficulty dealing with upperclass people. He felt that rich people always looked down and distrusted the people from the lower ring. Not to mention that those in power did absolutely nothing to improve the situation in the slums. If there ever was going to be a movement that would demand social equality Mao would not hesitate to sing up

After Pona had finished taking care of the rich guys she moved to take care of the wounds of the young firebender. Mao felt the pain rushing through his body as the woman took care of his broken ribs and other injuries. The young firebender had met Pona on several occasions before and he felt a great deal of respect for her. Most of the time that they met she took care of injuries he received during fights. For someone living in the upper ring, she blurred the boundaries between the different social layers of the city. Even though they did not have met very often Mao considered the female waterbender one of his friends.

Mao's face looked grim as Pona told him about the fate of Tuen, one of Pona's employees sons. Mao had no trouble relating to Pona's feelings as he also has a great responsibility for the children in the orphanage. "Thank you for taking care of my injuries Pona. Once again I'm in your debt. I'll gladly return the favor and help you out. Anyone who messes with my friends will have to deal with me. We should talk with lady Hope as soon as possible."

[Dragonbeard]

-"You need some big cojones to do what these guys do." Lee said, as he tried to wrestle his brain back into a coherent shape. -"I'm Lee by the way, I was on my way to meet an acquaintance, not too far from here. I guess I got a little too lost in thoughts while driving. Luckily it didn't end up too much worse than it actually did."

He sat down near the healer and the heavily injured fighter. Lee watched with great interest how she managed to make it seem as if nearly nothing had happened to a body that was so beaten up only a while ago. He kept an eye on Nong, knowing that a motorized cycle accident could sometimes manifest dangerous injuries hours after the event. He seemed ok though, physically at least. What had happened to his sister was taking a great toll on him mentally, as much as it would on anyone in the same situation. Lee checked his pockets for a miniature car, looking it over for any scratches or dents it might have received during their brief and confronting face to face meeting with the ground. In the meantime he overheard the healer talking about the bloodbenders in the city, recognising in the young woman a motivation he had learned to feel himself only recently.

As she wrapped up her care for the fighter Lee joined into the conversation. -"Nong and I were headed to someone who might be able to shed some more light on these bloodbending murders. His sister was killed as well, found dead in her own bed. The girl who she walked home with from a party that night lives really closeby. If you guys would like to take part, feel free to come with us."

[Imperfectionist]

Pona had not had a chance to get a good look at the motorcycle driver, due to her healing duties, but once he said Lee, it clicked instantly. "Lee? Lee Chun Feng? Oh, why am I not surprised... You're always doing reckless things. Be more careful when you're driving that thing, will you? You almost hit Hoshi with it last week..." She went back to healing, but when Lee told them about Nong's sister, and the possible witness, the healer wasted no time telling him how much she was interested. "Mao, after we go with Lee and talk to this girl, we'll talk to Lady Hope. I don't want to give up this opportunity."

At that point, there was a fifth person down on the ground next to them, a young woman. "Oh," Pona said, "Hello there. I take it you're the girl Mr. Daredevil almost hit? I hope you're okay. I've basically run out of water, after Mao... Um, you don't happen to know anything about the rash of killings, do you? I don't want to sound desperate, but I'll take information wherever I can get it..."

[Notebooks]

The name ‘Lee’ rang a bell for her as well; some of the tea-house’s customers had complained about him once- or twice and some others on multiple occasions, dropping his name as often as they could. He was somewhat famous in the lower parts of the city, for being a fast-paced and reckless driver. The healing seemed to have done him and the others some good, though- at least on the outside. Lee and his friend- Nong –had been on their way to another individual that could help them shed some light on certain matters. The blood-benders had made another victim- a girl this time. It didn’t surprise her much; victims of the bloodbending-community were popping up just about anywhere. The authorities weren’t capable of control anymore and help from outside of the city was far-sought as well. Most members of the metal-bending police had been sent away; to help the avatar deal with another rising threat. Those that had been left didn’t have the necessary tools for dealing with the threat or the right amount of information. If there was anything the blood-benders could be congratulated upon, it was their ability to vanish into thin air and not leave any visible traces of their existence.

“No harm done here,” Hana replied to the woman’s question, a smile dangling on her lips. It was true enough, other than the quickly fading feeling of shock, there had been no damage done. To the blood-bending murders there was a certain order, a ‘red line’ hidden behind their apparently chaotic-nature. She wasn’t sure as to how all of the victims were connected but gave what little knowledge she had on the matter to the woman regardless. The goings-on of Ba Sing Se weren’t a secret to her, and shouldn’t be to any individuals attempting to put a stop to the blood-benders either.