[IC] Ba Sing Se

[McHaggis]

.

[McHaggis]

.

[Spiffy]

Ryuu Yakedo

@McHaggis

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Location: Lower Ring – At the Wall to the Middle Ring
Interacting With: N/A

---

Ryuu moved through the bustling streets atop his recently acquired ostrich-horse with his merchandise. Suddenly he was brought to a halt as the large crowd was refused passage to the other side of the wall. The guards shouted out some reasoning as to why though the crowd was pretty angry regardless. "What's this? Are they limiting our movements to the lower district?" He tilted his hat to get a better view and decided it would be best if he tried to turn around and make some headway with the head spy. She would know how to take advantage of a situation like this.

He made his way from the the disgruntled crowd and headed to his apartment in the lower district. After setting his things inside, he tied his ostrich-horse in the stable. He gave her something to eat and headed off to meet with the head spy in their undisclosed location.

After some time he made it there; offering the password agreed upon and known only to them. The man standing in the doorway moved aside and let Ryuu pass. When he went inside there she was, looking over a map of the city,. Ryuu took his hat off and said,"They have closed us off from the rest of the city. What are your orders?" Ryuu hoped it involved something violent.

[Lionhearted]

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Location: Lower Ring – At the Wall to the Middle Ring
Interacting With: N/A

---

Bare, light-green walls, a small, unmade bed, an empty dresser with clothes piled on top, and a few tea pots and cups with not a single drop inside all resemble the chambers of, none other than, Mei-Li. Amidst all the clutter and disorganization, she sits cross-legged with her face to the window that allows only for a tasteful amount of sunlight in, meditating calmly and collectively. Her hair is unkept and still adorning the bed-head look while her eyes are embellished with dark circles from staying up to late and waking up too early. Despite the rather popular tea shop that she dwells in, the rowdiness of the familiar commute time rush and the clinking of dishes remained faint -- but perhaps Mei was so used to the noises that she ignored them well. Regardless, a loud shout interrupted her serene meditation.

"Mei!" The raspy voice was clearly of an older, aging man. Mei, annoyed by the sudden disturbance, ignored it. "Mei!" It was baffling to believe that the man's voice could get any louder, given that the shout echoed clearly into her room.

Mei sighed and settled into a less straight and a more irritated posture, replying and mimicking the loudness of his voice just after he shouted once again,"What!?"

"We need you!"

Mei let out a loud, irritated grunt before getting up, brushing her hands through her hair and tying up the top layer. She sloppily tied on her apron and proceeded down the long staircase to the untidy kitchen with an understaffed amount of workers that were preparing various tea pots and small treats for tables. Mei rubbed her eyes and let her surroundings settle in. The aroma was a strong mix of berries, herbs, and mints, while the air was hot from the steam of boiling water. The kitchen had shelves with a big variety of different herbs and berries, while the coolers underneath the tables contained snacks that were easy to prepare. A busboy was tucked in the corner trying to wash dishes as fast as he could, while the tea makers were shuffling around each other to properly prepare the teas in a timely fashion.

Mei approached the man with the shouting, burly voice. The voice matched his appearance well: short, salt and pepper hair, a patchy scruff to add to the unpleasant look, various wrinkles on his eyes, forehead, and cheeks, with a growing beer gut to match his former masculine physique. Mei spoke up, her voice still taking on the morning rasp, though her voice was already rather deep and matured,"See Gopan, I told you we should've hired waterbenders. It'd make this place so much easier to manage."

"Yeah, whatever. Just get out there and go help somewhere," he replied, irritated and distracted by the several other employees approaching him.

A young man rushed up to him as Mei was still adjusting into a work pace,"Yo Gopan, table 6 still says that they want more peppermint and verbana in their tea."

Gopan clenched his fist in anger, aching to slam something near to him but there were no suitable surfaces,"Why is everyone asking for peppermint tea today!?"

"Well, they said that they're trying to take precautions to the contagion going around," the young man said in response.

"Contagion?" Gopan mumbled under his breath, doubtfully, as he shuffled through various shelves and cabinets,"Great. We're out."

"What do you want me to tell them?"

"Just," Gopan paused,"Say we're out until we get another shipment." He then turned to Mei as he motioned for the young man off,"Mei, go pick up a whole motherload of peppermint and verbana from the market. I don't care where you get it from, but just get more so we don't lose business today."

Without any second thoughts, Mei ripped off her apron and threw it on some random, open surface and fled the scene with an optimistic smile,"You got it!"

Mei went upstairs, threw on her usual outfit, and went into the crowded streets. Mei stood at the side of all the busy, flustering people, looking around to try to familiarize herself with the direction of the market. "Where was it again? I think this way..." She spoke to herself. With that, she entered the traffic of the people, trying to rush between the slow walkers to have a quicker return.

[Milkman]

Dao

Location: Lower-ring at the wall to the middle-ring

Today was an unusual day to start your first day at the office. Especially when your office is called the Dai Li. The cities administration had decided to close the gates from the lower-ring to the middle-ring, stopping all the movement between both sections of the largest metropolis in the world. Needless to say that the event of a lock down was a small inconvenience for the people of the lower-ring. Public discontent was bound to happen and the Dai Li where at the scene to monitor the crowds behavior. After-all, when part of a large group, peasants will often show their true colors.

For Dao this was a special day. Starting your job with a lock-down of the lower-ring is something very rare among the Dai Li. But with something big happening even Ba Sing Se's cultural authority needed every man they could muster, no matter how green they are. For this day the young earth-bender was teamed up with Jian, a senior Dai Li agent with 20 years of experience in the field. Without doubt the most noticeable quality of Jian was his long black pony tail that started to turn gray. From a dark allyway both agents observed the crowd in silence as the peasants grew more discontent by the announcement made by the guardsman. It wasn't for long until Dao broke the silence.

” Hey Jian, you should really dye that hair of yours. Once you get it all black again it will make you look 10 years younger. Joked the rookie agent as he tried to hide his nervousness. After-all this was his first day and he wanted to make a good impression. Not only on Jian, his direct senior agent but also on the illustrious Samir, the head of the Dai Li. A man you definitely want to keep on your good side no matter what.

Jian, sighed “ I know you're nervous. Every agent is nervous on their first day, there are no exceptions to that. But remember why we're here, stay focused on the job and cut the chitchat and jokes. We're here because we received intelligence that an anti-government cell wants to instigate a riot. The lock-down is there to give them an opportunity, once we spot suspicious behavior in the crowd, we arrest them. So keep your eyes peeled and your mouth shut. Let me know the moment you spot anything suspicious”

Dao shifted his attention once again towards the crowd. He knew it was not the time to joke around. The Dai Li are professionals, the guardians who protect the ancient culture and order of the Earth kingdoms capital against all kind of groups who try to undermine the Earth Kings administration and authority. The young agent hated such groups. The only reason Ba Sing Se became the greatest city in the world was it rigid social order. Once the order collapses, the economy of the city will come to a grinding halt. Chaos and anarchy would reign supreme and the city would implode. Something Dao would never let happen on his watch.

The young Dai Li agent scanned the crowd once more. Every person he observed looking for any detail that might seem off. Peasant after peasant where scanned from top till toe until his eyes fell on particularly well build fellow. His blue tinted clothing and exotic skin-color revield his water tribe background. Dao judged this lanky man to be some years older as himself. A man in his prime, a perfect age for a warrior. Yet this watertribe man looked like he feels rather out of place. Dao notified his companion.

”Jian, what do you think about that watertribe peasant? He seems out of place.”
Before Jian could even respond a young man close to the person from the watertribe tribe started to shout “Down with the Earthking! The avatar will return and liberate us from the oppression!” Some of the people in the crowd where struck with awe while others made sure to keep their distance from the disobedient man. As Dao watched the scene unfold he instantly knew this was the time to move in. The two Dai Li agents bursted out of the shadows and into the crowd. Most of the peasants quickly jumped aside the moment they noticed the Dai Li approaching, they all hoped the agents would not come for them. The unlucky ones who where not quick enough where simply pushed aside by Dao as he rushed through the crow. Peasants would stumble over each other as the two Dai Li agents approached their target.

Much to Dao's surprise the young man did not flee the scene. He was just standing there as the crowd dispersed and an open space was formed around the three men. Dao smirked. ”You're supposed to run to make it a little interesting for me. You're making it way to easy”

Slowly the man turned around. For the first time the young Dai Li agent could take a good look at the dissident. He was a typical lower-ring citizen. His clothing was cheap but his muscled build betrayed that he exercised a lot. Maybe at some bending academy or martial arts school but he had defenitly received training somewhere The most remarkable feature of the man was the tattoo of a white lotus on his left upper-arm. For a moment he looked at the Dai Li agents and just smiled. “Too easy? I just hoped some green clowns would show up” before stamping with his right feet on the ground to lift some rock. With a single punch the boulders where send flying towards Dao.

[Elle Santiago]

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Location: Lower Ring -- At the Wall to the Middle Ring
Interacting With: N/A

---

It was said that one way to unnerve a fellow human was to stare unblinkingly at them. So far, Fumiko found it to be a useless piece of information, although a possible reason the guardsman was comfortable -- as comfortable one would be in telling the mass of Lower Ring citizens that they were forbidden passage to the Middle Ring in this current moment in time -- was because his gaze never locked with Fumiko’s. He was far too busy repeating the same announcement while answering the questions and concerns of her fellow citizens.

Seeing as Plan Gaze Unblinkingly at the Guardsman to Make Them Open a Passage to the Middle Ring wasn’t working, Fumiko braced herself and turned around, pushing against the tide of people closely pressed together. She hated diving into the crowd, honestly. First off, she was smaller than most people and most people could tower over her effortlessly. Second, there was always the threat of pickpockets seeing her as a great target, considering that she had nicer clothes compared to her fellow Lower Ring citizens despite the fact that all she had were parchment filled with information valuable only to her. Third, the press of bodies just plain stink. She may be fine with it, having lived all her life in the Lower Ring, but those in the University didn’t quite like it.

Lastly but never the least, Fumiko saw some Dai Li agent standing in the shadows.

The Dai Li just scares her and she didn’t want to be this close to them. It was safer to blend in the crowd, even if it meant quite literally in this case. Elbows jabbed her sides, feet almost stomped her own, stray hands almost snagged her bag and threatened to spill the documents on dirty ground. Noise was everywhere and she did her best to push the sounds away as she concentrated into arriving where no one would be so close to her.

All hope was not lost, however. Fumiko saw a clearing and she used all her energy to push her way through, even if it meant shoving away the other citizens. She’d take their scorn if it meant being free of this crowd. She breathed, a triumphant smile on her face as she declared a quiet, "Finally!" before stepping into the clearing. It was after a few seconds her blood turned cold and her smile froze.

A man with a white lotus tattoo was looking smugly at two Dai Li agents. Their words of conversation failed to register in her mind as the sound of her heart hammering against her chest and the blood rushing in her ears dominated everything. A boulder lifted from the ground and was sent flying towards the Dai Li.

Fumiko only stared, overcome in panic as her mind did its best to rally her body to move.

[McHaggis]

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[Apokalipse]

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Location: Lower Ring - At the wall to the Middle Ring
Interacting With: Dao @Milkman

---

“Can’t you even fail right, Peizhi?”

The dry tattered handkerchief felt gritty and rough against Peizhi’s split lip – she could already feel sand particles digging into the wound. She’ll have to wash this out with water quick so it doesn’t get infected. As if the split lip weren’t enough, Peizhi’s legs were aching something fierce and there was a distinct pulsing from her ribs that could only mean a nice, large purple bruise.

The lower ring was extra crowded that morning, but then it was always clustered with the poor and dying. Peizhi found it particularly annoying, having to deal with people accidentally bumping into her sore shoulder or kicking a wounded shin. Her best friend, Yazhu, didn’t seem to have a care about any of it all. She weaved with the waves of citizens, her arms tucked behind her head and a scowl that only lost money could put on her face.

“The one time you get lucky in a fight! The one time!” Yazhu shouted, her nose wrinkling in irritation.

Peizhi smirked at Yazhu over the clump of handkerchief pressed to the side of her face, “Your concern for me is absolutely touching.”

Yazhu waved her remark away, tugging at her hair until Peizhi was positive she would be missing a clump the next day. “So much money lost…Gah, I’m so tired. We’ve been at the arena all night ‘cause of you.”

Peizhi rolled her eyes, “If I remember correctly, you were the one who wanted to throw me in at the last round. Shouldn’t you have figured that the other guy would be tired by then? Not my fault he fell asleep ten seconds in…”

What a spectacle that had been. Peizhi hadn’t even planned on fighting in the arena that night. After a long day at the field, she just wanted to relax in her hammock until Yazhu brought up the idea of sneaking into Big Mama’s cactus juice stash. They spent half the night delirious when, at the peak of the moon in the sky, they stumbled their way into the bending arena to enter the last three rounds. Her competitor – named something something big something something rock – was so tired, he fell onto his face with a loud, disturbing snore.

“You’re such a pitiful bender, he decided to sleep on you instead of fight!” Yazhu proclaimed and, at that, Peizhi scowled.

“Way to kick me where it hurts, pal.”

Yazhu smiled brightly, throwing an arm around Peizhi’s shoulder and knocking their heads affectionately together. Girl had a skull of steel, Peizhi thought as she rubbed her temple. Their conversation became idle and sluggish after that – the bright exuberant Yazhu bringing up a wide range of topics from the clouds to that weird looking cat-owl (what a strange cat-owl it was, it had the face of a cat-owl but its body was slinky and it had a long tail! No matter how far it fell, it always landed on its feet!).

“-no cause for alarm!”

Their debate over the cat-owl ceased when they hit a wall of Ba Sing Se residents, standing by the tall structure that separated the classes. A echo of dissent came across the crowd at whatever the guard had said before the duo arrived – (“Oh yeah? How long for? How are we meant to get to work?”) – and Peizhi could feel the people’s displeasure like pinpricks on her arms.

There was an older woman to her side that Peizhi politely grabbed the sleeve of, tugging once to gain her attention. “What’s this all about?” Peizhi asked with a flicker of her eyes towards the guardsman.

The older woman huffed, crossing her arms and leaning towards Peizhi like there was an important secret for her to tell. “There’s a quarantine. No one gets pass that wall – can’t risk getting those noblemen sick, now can we…._{rich bastards}…”

The woman turned away from Peizhi, phasing into the crowd without another thought. When the sandbender rested back on her heels, Yazhu turned to her and gave her a shrug.

A quarantine wasn’t quite that odd, nor was it so alarming for Peizhi or Yazhu. They never had business in the Middle Ring and it wasn’t the first quarantine to rock Ba Sing Se’s lower sector. Though, they would have to be careful of any possible contagions. If one of them were to become sick, the whole tribe would fall ill due to close quarters.

“Down with the Earthking! The avatar will return and liberate us from the oppression!”

Wait, what?

The words were slow to register in Peizhi’s mind and she had to take a second to mull over the key ones, those being: down, avatar, liberate, and oppression. Wasn’t getting her ass kicked by two earthbenders in a row and then her pride wounded by a dozer bad enough? Peizhi’s outward reaction took longer than her mental one and she was mid-yawn before her body less-sprung and more-dragged into action.

Yazhu tried to grab Peizhi’s collar in time, but it was a bit too late before a damn Dai Li agent had pushed her into a mob of tripping victims. Her feet got all tangled in the dirt and Yazhu’s attempts in helping her only made it worse, ending with Yazhu’s knee smacking into Peizhi’s nose and split lip. The sandbender’s tailbone vibrated with tension as her ass collided into the ground, two solid bodies on top of her.

“_{The hell?}” Yazhu muttered under her breath, attempting to extract her friend from the jumble of limbs.

[Lionhearted]

---

Location: Lower Ring – At the Wall to the Middle Ring
Interacting With: Nilak (@McHaggis), Fumiko (@Elle Santiago)

---

“Down with the Earthking! The avatar will return and liberate us from the oppression!”

It didn't take long to understand that there were rebels within the great walls of Ba Sing Se, which Mei thought negatively of since it hindered her ability to properly meet with the Earthking. Mei seemed to get around the crowd swiftly and comfortably, especially from doing it nearly every day. Although, an unusual crowd gathered and it was nearly impossible to see in-between the gathered people to see what all the commotion was about. In Ba Sing Se, especially the lower ring, a gathered crowd usually implied either someone with a cool talent busking or showing off, or a street fight. Hoping for the latter, Mei shoved her way with an eager smile to get closer to it all as others seemed to give more and more room to clear for a proper fight. Although, unlike any street fight, many people had a look of worry rather than throwing fists in the air and shouting out encouraging comments.

Mei made her way to get a clear view of what would be Dai Li agents assuming a very recognizable fighting stance. She stood defensively and carefully, assuming a stance where she could unsheathe her hidden, stowed fan. "Damn -- the tea shop can definitely wait until after this!"

Mei had very little experience with real battles, so she took the time to observe the diverse amount of fighters. One was clear to be a water bender, in which Mei had never witnessed in battle, protecting some short person that Mei struggled to decipher it's proper gender. A little ways away, more Dai Li agents seemed to engage in something, falling on top of another individual. Perhaps it was an arrest, maybe Mei was watching Dai Li attempting to apprehend criminals. Rocks were earthbended and shot clearly at someone, but Mei stood there without any intentions of running from this great opportunity to learn about the fighting style of those from different origins.

[Milkman]

Dao

Location: Lower-ring at the wall to the middle-ring

With a fluent motion of his arms. Dao quickly raised a rock wall in order to block the incoming rocks. As the first rock crashed into his barrier, a quick motion caught the attention of the Young Dai Li agent. A girl suddenly crashed the party and stumbled into the battlegrounds. Doa noticed her short black hair and decent clothes. Judging from the scrolls she was carrying she was most likely on her way to the university of Ba Sing Se. Even if she managed to avoid the crossfire of rocks, with the lockdown she would not reach her destination any time soon.

As Dao was about to shift his attention again to the fight, a man barged in and grabbed the girl. It was the water tribe guy he noticed before. The Dai Li agent sighed. Stupid peasants. Get the hell out of my sight. Before.... Before Dao could finish his sentence, the tattooed dissident had noticed that Dao was not focused at him and launched a second rock. The Dai Li agent noticed the incoming projectile to late and before he could respond the boulder smashed into his face, sending Dao flying a few feet backwards.

With a smug face the earth bending dissident laughed. “See. The Dai Li are just incompetent clowns, only good for looking though. But with a single rock you can make them eat dirt. That is what the avatar will do to the current regime when he comes. He will tear down the walls and remove the Earth-king. We will all be free and wealthy!”

Dao could feel a little stream of blood coming down his face. He took the rock head on and was totally unprepared for it. The fact that his opponent managed to catch him off-guard pissed the young agent off. As he got back up to his feet he looked in anger into the direction of that university student girl and stupid Water Tribe peasant. It was their fault that he lost focus. It was their fault that his perfect first day got ruined. Getting his face bruised was not how Dao imagined his first day!

Dao noticed that Jian looked from the edge of his eyes into his direction but before the senior agent could say anything Dao shut him down. “Don't step in. I'll handle this. I am going to crush this rockhead until nothing is left of him!”

The older agent closed his eyes and did some steps behind. “Don't overdo it. We need to interrogate him later”

[Elle Santiago]

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Location: Lower Ring – At the Wall to the Middle Ring
Interacting With: Nilak @McHaggis

---

Everything was closing in.

There was no escape.

The press of bodies made too much of a formidable wall and there was no way to get out of this unscathed.

She always imagined her encounter with the Dai Li to be in the dead of night, awakened in her sleep as they trespassed in her home as they come to take her away. Her family wasn’t there. It was easier that way. Never in her life did Fumiko think that she would be the one to stumble into the Dai Li, not the other way around.

She felt faint but the sound of a boulder impacting solid rock made her jump, only to see the remaining remains of the boulder and the eyes of a Dai Li agent trained in hers. She tensed, unable to look away in fear of being seen as suspicious. She couldn’t afford any more attention on her. This was too much.

A sharp tug on her sleeves made her jump, Fumiko’s head snapping fearfully in its direction. She expected the person who physically attracted her attention to wear the hat and green clothes of the Dai Li, only to be surprised upon seeing dark skin and blue clothes. “Let’s get out of here, short-stuff!” He said, pulling her away.

Her feet followed the motion and the command, his voice grounding her. She gazed up at him, unfairly tall as he was, and slowly pieced together his identity from her not-so-brief times together with her cousin when their injuries were getting checked and healed. “N-Nilak?” Her voice was a whisper and cracked as she said it. “What are you doing here? Where are we going?”

Yet, her question was answered when Nilak stopped in his tracks and she did the same. She noticed how his hands motioned near his waterskin and she envied him in that moment -- to have the ability to freely defend himself with his own bending without consequence. Fumiko’s eyes found the commotion once again, only to meet the eyes of the same Dai Li agent, now sporting a bruised face and one hell of a glare. Not even a single passed before Fumiko averted her eyes from the man and focused on anywhere but him.

“W-we need to get out of here and fast before the situation escalates.” She cursed her stuttering. It made her look and feel weak. “If only I can see, then I’ll have some idea where we are and where we can go…”

[Spiffy]

Ryuu Yakedo

@McHaggis

---

Location: Lower Ring
Interacting With: Captain Xia

---

Ryuu nodded as the captain dismissed him. As he turned to exit her meeting room he couldn't help but become just a little bitter. After all, if it weren't for that blasted fire nation high ranker; he wouldn't have been completely stripped of his rank and forced to work under these lousy conditions. It was his fault that Ryuu couldn't get a promotion while he lived. And when he actually removed him in Agni Kai, Ryuu had been completely stripped of his rank entirely! "This world's rules are pathetic excuses to keep the weak in power. To me, they are no more then mere suggestions. I will have my day in the sun. And when that day comes, everyone who got in my way will regret everything."

Ryuu headed back to his place and saddled up his ostrich horse once more. He took a few weapons on it to feign the act of selling the pieces to the more wealthy people's of the Lower Ring. He intentionally avoided the loud bustling crowds and headed toward the more quiet and secluded places. There, he believed he would find their fellow saboteur preparing to hit some of the more sensitive targets of Ba Sing Se. They were not trying to hurt the peasants, he at least knew that much. They made too valuable of pawns to waste like that. All it took was a little unrest, a little hunger and the people would be more then ready to stage a revolt of their own. It was simple, calculated and cold. Just like Ryuu..minus the "simple" part.

[McHaggis]

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[Milkman]

Dao

Location: Lower-ring at the wall to the middle-ring
Interacting with: Nilak @McHaggis, Fumiko @Elle Santiago

Dao smirked “That will work. I'll just break every bone in his body except his jaw” The young Dai Li agent loved to fight, especially when a crowd was around. If it wasn't for his noble background he might have pursued a career as a professional bending athlete. However the lack of rules in the real world pumped up his adrenaline even higher. There was nothing more exciting then putting your own life on the line. To walk that razor thin path between life and death was addicting. More addicting then the cheers of a crowd in the bending arena. Dao knew that the crowd today would not cheer. They would be silent and obedient. Trying not to make any trouble and become a target for the Dai Li as well. After-all, the Dai Li are the most feared organization in Ba Sing Se.

Jian just nodded. He knew there was little he could do about his young companion. All barely adult men have this urge to prove themselves, to show the world that they got the stuff. Dai Li agents where no different. Dao however might be a bit more extreme on the wanting to prove himself scale then others. The senior agent continued to watch the fight from the sidelines. If there was a need to intervene he would do it. On who's be-halve it would be was unclear at this point.

Dao was eager to crush his opponent. The young agent could not let the lucky hit slip. Be he had more on his mind then just getting payback on this dissident. The reason he could get his lucky shot in after-all was because those stupid peasants distracted him in the fist place. It was their fault that he looked like a fool in front of a crowd. That was something he could not let them get away with. With a quick glance of his eyes he noticed that that the nerd girl and watertribe peasant where cornered with their backs against the wall. They where definitely eager to get away from this fight but had nowhere to run.

Dao quickly hatched a plan. He would get his revenge on all three with just one shot. That would definitely be a display of his greatness. All he needed was the right opportunity. The young agent needed to set his opponent up for the right move. Dao watched his opponent as he blocked and dodged the rocks that where hurled at him. Sometimes with little effort and sometimes with a bit more. For the uneducated this fight might look pretty even but the truth was that the young Dai Li agent had little trouble dealing with the attacks that where thrown against him. All Dao had to do was wait for the right moment to strike.

There it was! The dissident had positioned himself between Dao and both peasants at the wall. As he was about to make his move, Dao quickly launched his first rock glove at his opponents left wrist. With a loud bang, the tattooed earth-bender slammed into the wall between both peasants with his left wrist locked on the wall. With a quick move the young Dai Li agent send his second rock glove flying. It quickly made contact with the dissidents right wrist, tying the young man even tighter to the wall. Within a split second, Dao bended the earth around his opponents feet, rendering the man completely unable to to move.

People in the crowd already started to consider this was the end of the fight, however for Dao it was just the beginning of his revenge. The young agent widened his stance and lowered his arms. As he slowly lifted his arms little streams of sweat started to run down his face. Slowly Dao raised a very large boulder from the ground. With a powerful kick, the young agent send the projectile towards the three persons locked at the wall.

[Elle Santiago]

---

Location: Lower Ring – At the Wall to the Middle Ring
Interacting With: Nilak @McHaggis; Dao @Milkman

---

“I agree.” Fumiko answered, her mouth dry as she focused on anything but the fight. Risky considering the flying boulders, but she was hoping that if she didn’t look at the fight, then the Dai Li wouldn’t look at her either. “We wouldn’t want to slip on ice. We might break our arms or legs or maybe our necks if we land badly.” Just imagining that scenario was enough to make her feel nauseous. She might’ve paled slightly upon thinking of it.

"I can give you a boost up there?"

Fumiko searched where Nilak was referring to and found the orange tiled roof. She stepped back away from him slightly so she could see if she could make the jump. From where she stood, it would be close to impossible unless she used the wall as a jumping point. But with Nilak, tall as he is, it wouldn’t be too difficult and wouldn’t require much energy for her to climb.

Fumiko returned her eyes towards the waterbender, noticing that he was ready to boost her up. She fastened her bag tightly against her back and readied herself for the jump. She nodded to herself and made to start, only for her movement to be halted abruptly as she saw a blur and felt the wind pass her.

She blinked and turned, seeing the White Lotus man trapped against the wall by the Dai Li’s rock glove. Another followed suit, trapping both his hands. Fumiko slowly moved her head and saw the same Dai Li agent, fear gripping her heart. A look of intense concentration was on his face and she noticed the cracks on the earth, too large for it to be any ordinary boulder.

Before he could hurl it, Fumiko called out to Nilak frantically, “I’m going up!” before running towards him, using his locked fingers as a foothold. It took less than a second before she grabbed the ledge of the roof and pulled herself up with his assistance. Her eyes scanned the area, finding various landmarks easily due to the fact that the land near the wall was in an incline.

Fumiko immediately made out her home no matter how small it was from this view and decided in that instant that she couldn’t afford to go near it. She already earned the ire of this Dai Li agent and she couldn’t risk her family. Her eyes passed a familiar teashop where Mei -- a Kyoshi Warrior -- worked and considered it for a second before rejecting the idea. It would be crowded, yes, what with the guardsman speaking about a plague or sickness spreading around but she frequented that location and she could drag Mei down with her if she was working. The warrior within her would no doubt demand proper justice if Fumiko was to be apprehended by the Dai Li.

No, she needed an area where she could maneuver herself but also lose the Dai Li in the crowd. She glanced at a tattered flag of Ba Sing Se with a symbol of a closed fist on the wall just under the flag; it was the mark for one of the many entrances of the Lower Ring’s underground bending arena. If she remembered right, it would be empty at this time of day save for the few people who had nothing to do but practice their earthbending, under the guise of a spar or a match.

The area around the entrances were always busy so it would be easy to slip quietly in the crowd. But, then again, Pu and Pa were regulars in the arena, having both their fair share of wins and losses. Could she really risk her family like tha--

BAM!

Dust rose from the ground and flitted to the air, the crash so hard that vibrations made it up to the roof. Her heart plummeted and her head turned to the commotion below. “No, Nilak!”

[McHaggis]

.

[Lionhearted]

---

Location: Lower Ring – At the Wall to the Middle Ring
Interacting With: Nilak (@McHaggis), Fumiko (@Elle Santiago)

---

Being an outsider and someone sheltered from the issues outside of her beloved homeland, this event taught her a lot about the stances of certain people. Perhaps this moment was meant to be, to show Mei a little bit of both sides, the rebels and the Dai Li. The Dai Li -- quick to stop the protestor through intense, excessive physical combat, and the agent in particular seemed to get satisfaction from the battling, stopping at nothing to try and severely injure the man instead of apprehending him. The protestor was so explicit on his stance and so filled with a rage against the Dai Li and the Earth King, perhaps he had good reason to. The opposing sides confused Mei, bringing her back to the mission she came to accomplish and standing clearly at a crossroads on who to seek out for assistance.

Mei turned her attention to the civilians caught in the action, the waterbender and the scholar. In just a short moment, Mei conjured up a spontaneous idea, in which hopefully would lead her to achieve her goal. The scholar wore clothes that weren't of the lower ring, perhaps she had access to the inner circle in which Mei could get closer to speak to the Earth King herself. It was very plausible to go with a route that would keep her stance neutral and out of the rebellious spotlight. The only step left was to make sure that they made it out alive to bring Mei to the inner circle.

Watching the fight, Mei was brought back to her own training and recalled one of the many lessons about Avatar Kyoshi herself. The creator of the Dai Li and the woman who passed down her techniques to this elite force. From this observation, Mei familiarized herself with some of the Dai Li's motions, knowing them just as her own since the Kyoshi Warriors and the Dai Li were trained similarly. In this case, Mei stood at a big disadvantage since she had little experience battling benders, and not having the abilities to bend herself.

As the man crashed against the wall with a prominently strong attack to follow, Mei wanted to dive in so bad, but she knew she shouldn't take the risk of sacrificing herself for some spontaneous decision of hers. Thus, she stood watching and praying for their safety. The next few moments happened quickly, the rubble and dust from the heavy impact caused the crowd to burst in a series of coughs and some even fled the front of the fight from fear of a following, escalated fight. Mei waited for the cloud to disperse as her eyes met with the protesting earth bender, halted at the impact and ready for a retaliation. It was this moment in which Mei would make her leave.

She eyed the waterbender and the scholar escaping fast, and ran in their direction as the crowd began to disperse, without attempting to get noticed by them, she would follow them wherever they'd run off to.

[Milkman]

Dao

Location: Lower-ring at the wall to the middle-ring
Interacting with: Nilak @McHaggis, Fumiko @Elle Santiago

Dao was sure that he would get them all with his last attack but the outcome was different then he'd expected. Not only managed the girl to escape on her own, the dissident got free and stopped his attack. Clearly he was better then the young agent anticipated. The earth-bender of course continued on his smack talking rampage, belittling him and the Dai-Li with his stupid avatar talk. Everyone knew the firenation got their hands on the avatar when he was just a kid and he's long gone. As Dao blocked the incoming rocks he could also see the Water Tribe guy slip away in the crowd. What was supposed to be 3 birds with one stone now left the young agent with just one potential price.

It frustrated Dao that those other two got away but that didn't matter. The primary target was still here and the young agent was sure to take all this frustration and anger out on him. “You talk an awful lot for someone who picks a fight and then manages to not land a single hit. It was nice to use you for a little warm-up but now I am going to end this figth” bites Dao towards his opponent. As the young agent readied his next rock, he saw a sudden movement.

Jian rushed towards the white lotus dissident. As the man was about to strike the experienced agent kicked the dirt and a trail of moving soil slided towards his opponent. Before the dissident could launch a rock his right feet suddenly slided away, breaking his stance. Before he could recover Jian made a second attack, a rock pillar send the dissident flying, crashing into a nearby wall which partly collapsed on the now unconscious man. “Dao, chain him up”

Dao was as flabbergasted as the entire crowd. He had heard stories about Jian's earth-bending abilities but he never imagined that his partner was this good. The difference between Jian and him where as night and day. Where Dao was over eager, frustrated and easily angered, Jian showed no emotion at all. He was precise, deadly and decisive. He applied just as much force as required to deal with the man. No more and no less. Dao wanted to say something but decided to swallow his words and just complied with the order.

The young agent quickly put the dissident in iron shackles and took him away. As quickly Dai-Li emerge from the shadows, the get back in them when their presence is no longer required. For most of the time, the two agents made their way to lake Laogai in silence. Dao wasn't sure if he did right in the field, it felt more to him that he got carried away and messed up. The young earth-bender finely broke the silence. [color=008000]”What about those other two? Should we apprehend them for interrogation? They might be involved with this man”

Jian looked at the young recruit next to him and closed his eyes. “hmm, I can't hurt to have them interrogated. But finding them in such a big city isn't an easy task”

Dao smiled. “I think I know where we need too look. The girl was too neatly dressed and packed with scrolls. She's obviously a student at the Ba Sing Se university. And the Water-Tribe man... he carried a Waterpouch but did not use his water to defend himself from the incomming rock. He's not a warrior but he's a bender for sure. I bet we can find him at some water-tribe healing den”

[Elle Santiago]

---

Location: Lower Ring -- At the Wall to the Middle Ring
Interacting With: Nilak @McHaggis

---

Relief was but for just a moment.

It came when Nilak appeared unharmed amidst the rubble and dust, but it disappeared as the White Lotus earthbender took a hold of his shoulder. Her skin crawled at the implications that simple gesture could hold and she had to hold herself back from retreating into a place where no one could find her. Oh, if only it was possible!

Fumiko was anxiously waiting for Nilak to climb up and escape with her, only fervent whisperings of ‘hurry!’ passing her lips, too afraid to gain the attention of the Dai Li. She watched him waterbend, making space so he had a place to stand, entirely ignoring the earthbender and his words.

The moment Nilak found himself atop the roof, Fumiko began to move alongside him, heeding his words. She slightly lagged behind Nilak, cursing his long legs and cursing her own short ones. It was when she deemed that they were far enough to be overheard did she speak. “We need to hide.” If she could, she would roll her eyes right now. Unfortunately, she needed immense concentration upon doing feats of parkour that relied not only on her body but also with her eyes. “We can’t afford to go to places we frequent. Our families might take the fall if they shelter us.”

Fumiko breathed in to catch her breath. Talking was difficult when she was running for her life. “We need to lose them, too, if they’re following us. The only place I can think of that’s near here is the earthbending arena. Underground, quiet, lots of people in the entrance. Opinions?”