Like most other places, life within the town of Wu Xing passed by in a hurry. People going to and from the different paths in their lives, barely noticing what happens around them – and especially not what occurs above the streets of Wu Xing.
A cloaked figure jumped from roof to roof, following a path only she knew as she made her way towards her target location: a building that looks like most other buildings in the town, yet it holds great treasures hidden away within its walls.
While it was still daylight it was fairly easy for Kanna to reach her destination without being noticed through a mixture of the aforementioned human trait, luck and skill. As her feet touched the tiled roof of the building that had been her aim all along, it became immediately apparent that this building would be a problematic case: All around the premise a handful of guards kept watch over what happened – and after a closer examination of the windows on the upper floors Karra noticed that the whole place was most likely stuffed full of various security measures.
Kanna cursed silently for herself, usually she could get into most buildings without much hassle, but for some reason this specific building put up more of a fight than most other buildings. For some reason the intel she had received hadn't said anything about the estate being protected by a security system that could rival that of one of Ba Sing Se's banks.
“You should have demanded more money for this job...” she grumbled silently to no one but the wind and herself, while she tried to figure out a better way into the premise other than the secured windows. It didn't take long for her to figure out that the easiest way in was through the metal back door that was watched by a mean looking guard.
As Kanna jumped down unto the pavement below her, landing a few feet away from the now rather shocked guard.
"Hi, " she spoke energetically with a grin on her face, making sure that while she stood only a few feet away from the guard in front of her, her cloak god any of beer facial features. "I was looking for the bathroom...?" she spoke in a teasing tone, slowly moving closer to the guard.
However, before she could continue the guard had recovered from his shock and cut her off. "Hey!" he spoke sternly, "you cannot be here! Get out no-"
By now Kanna had gotten close enough: she launched forward and before the guard could react she had landed a series of precise hits, resulting in the guard collapsing before his brain had even been able to comprehend what had just occurred.
"phew," Khanna said, cracking her neck, "they really should get some better guards for places like this..." she muttered. And with that she pushed open the door that lead into the building.
What greeted her behind the cool metal door was a small resting area for the workers - and luckily for Kanna it was empty. Without eating any time she pushed on, silently entering a hallway that turned both left and right, taking its visitors through a journey in the soft light of the wall-mounted lamps. It didn’t take her long to navigate the interior of the building, her intel seemed to have been accurate in this regard, and before she knew it she found herself in front of a door that led into the chamber where the most valued artifacts were stored. To her own amazement the room didn’t appear to be guarded nor be secured by any form of security, instead a single locked door kept unwanted visitors out. Of course that didn’t stop Kanna: she fished a set of tools from her pouch and got started on unlocking the door. It didn’t take long and she now found herself inside the vault that had been her target all along. Its walls was kept in a plain grey colored stone with the usual Earth kingdom-inspired green decorations. However Kanna only noted these details briefly, her main focus was on scanning the room for possible threats - of which she found none. Instead she found what she had been tasted to retrieve: A box made out of dark wood with intriguing gold markings carved into it. As she opened the lid she saw what she been paid to retrieve: a golden knife with shining gems inside the handle and an ancient language edged into its golden blade placed firmly upon a red silk pillow
Not really caring about the deeper details of her target, Kanna quickly closed the lid and hid it within the shadows of her cloak before she turned around and began her trip back to her hideout.
// Later that day.
The bar that Kanna stepped into wasn’t a upper-class place, solely aimed for the rich and the famous. Instead it was a cozy place, designed in darker materials and a bar in the middle surrounded by tables and chairs. It was a that invited a variety of individuals, all with different backgrounds: workers, police and soldiers. Interestingly it was also a popular place for those with a… more ‘questionable’ background. It was one of these characters that Kanna was supposed to meet.
“You know,” she said when she walked towards the person she was meeting, “why is it that you insisted on meeting at a bar where there are bound to be not only officers, but also soldiers from the United Forces?”
“What? I thought you would be happy to be able to see some ol’ pals from the ‘Forces” her employer spoke. ‘He’ was a middle-aged man, his hair-line was clearly on retreat, but he still had a deep brown color to his hair. His muscular body didn’t appear middle-aged either: standing at roughly 6 feet tall with clearly visible muscles that was, however, well hidden underneath layers of various clothing - that today consisted of a long dark-brown leather jacket.
“Not when dealing with the infamous ‘Xing the Ruthless’” - a nickname he had gotten after publically torturing one of his enemies - Kanna spoke, “sorry but you are the sort of company I would rather not run into any law enforcement with…”
“Aww… That’s cold” Xing said in a tone that was clearly meant to sound hurt, “and here I pay you so handsomely!”
“Yeah, yeah…” Kanna said, “although I should have demanded more money from you for this job - that building had the security of a bank!”
Xing grinned, “but nothing you couldn’t handle - now show me”.
Annoyed Kanna slid the box she had stolen across the table, replacing the box that had occupied her hand with a glass of liquor instead. “Here you go - all shiny and ready for you” - and as she took a sip of the liquid the man across from her opened the box to check its content. The satisfied look on his face revealed that he was indeed very pleased with her accomplishment and after having put the box away he raised his glass as well. “Here’s to a successful job - well done Kanna, next round is on me” he grinned.
“You bet it is!” she joked, but before she could continue a voice interrupted her.
“Commander Deshuga, I understand the raid went well?”
Kanna sat up straight in her chair, her ears alarmed. Didn’t she know someone like that from her time in the ‘Forces? She seemed to remember the name from somewhere, but she couldn’t quite remember where - and what a great timing: here she was, sitting across the table from a criminal that she was sharing a drink with for a successful robbery that she had performed.
Great, she thought annoyed, just my luck…
“Something wrong?” Xing asked, having noticed her change in posture, “perhaps you know someone from that group?” he tilted his head towards the group of soldiers - somehow having connected the dots, either by sheer luck or by skill.
“Maybe…” Kanna spoke, this time a little quieter, pulling her hood over her head in order to hide her unusually white hair. “Let’s just say I might have heard about one of them before…”
But before Xing could inquire further into the details of the situation he was interrupted by the sudden static of the radio.
"...And we welcome you all to the first half of the ELITE Pro Bending Circuit of Wu Xing! This city is glad to have all of you here and the turn out is amazing I must say! The competitors are ready to go hard and give their all in this tournament to make sure that you all have the best possible matches you can get! You won't get these in Republic City! Now make some NOISE for the teams!"
“Oh look at that, is it already time for the match to start?” Kanna spoke after the energetic voice of the announcer from the radio had stopped, “I had completely forgotten that it was now” she continued, her focus now completely on the voice that echoed from the radio.
“You’re interested in the pro wrestling tournament?” Xing said rather surprised, “I didn’t think you were that fond, nor interested, in benders?”
Kanna grinned sheepishly, winking at him before she spoke: “well you know, nothing brings me more pleasure than benders beating eachother up out of free-will!”