Chapter 1
Deshi leaned on a shop wall. He watched the passing shoppers for an opportunity. People bustled by, stressed and not making eye contact with each other. It felt worlds away from the farm he grew up. In that village, everyone knew everyone and what misdeeds that had done.
Spotting a well dressed woman pulling out her wallet, Deshi went to work. Walking casually towards her, he eyed her putting it in her coat pocket. Close by, he stealthy slipped his hand into her pocked and nicked her wallet.
He quickly left in the alleyway. A shout sounded aloud. He broke into a run. Snapping his head back, he saw a shadowed man running after him the alleyway. Grabbing dustbins at the entrance, he yanked them over. They crashed down, tripping the man up. Laughing, he dashed off.
Under a railway bridge sat a ragtag group of boys. They were all thieves of the underworld. Sitting around a bin on fire, they joked and laughed.
"Hey guys!" Deshi called out. One of the boys rolled his eyes. After a strained silence, Abhik finally replied:
"Hey Deshi." He went to sit down. No one moved to make room for him so he just sat slightly outside the circle.
"Guess what, I stole a wallet," he excitedly told.
"Congratulations, you did the impossible," Abhik sarcastically commented, and the rest of the group laughed. Deshi ignored the comment and continued.
"But it ain't just any wallet, look at it!" Pulling it out, he showed the rest of the group.
"Whoa, is that a…" One boy started.
"Scope brand wallet?" Another finished.
"The one which fat cats use?" Deshi smiled, chuffed.
"Yeah, there were a group of at least a dozen men chasing after me," he bragged. They gasped. Abhik remained straight faced. "But I managed to, y'know shake them off."
"Hey nice goin' Deshi," Hyo smiled, greedily up the wallet. His fingers hurriedly opened it. The boy suddenly paused. He then ripped out the contents, a single cheque.
"You stole a cheque?" He snarled. "What for flaming hell's sake are we gonna do with a cheque!" Deshi sat dumfounded. "Moron," Hyo said under his breath, throwing the wallet in front of Deshi. He stared at it.
"I-I didn't know…" he mumbled. Picking up the wallet, he quietly put it in his pocket.
"C'mon guys, don't be too hard on the guy. He ain't exactly, y'know switched on in there, are ya," Abhik comment tapping Deshi's forehead. Deshi angrily pushed his hand away. The group laughed.
A pickup truck suddenly pulled up with two men inside.
"Ah Bae, how've you been?" Abhik walked over. The rest of the group quickly crowded around. A man with fancy looking moustache got out the car.
"Not too bad, myself. Your group is lookin pretty good."
"Yeah, we're gettin pretty well known now,"
"Whatcha doin here anyway?" A group member piped in. Deshi went to stand behind the rest of them.
"Boss is lookin for possible future recruits, to train to join the Extortion Triad." The boys all gasped. Deshi stood with his jaw agape. The triple triads, such an infamous group; it was his dream to join. Seeing a member so close up, he looked so classy, Deshi thought. "So we were thinkin', maybe some of you boys would like to come with us to a little, welcoming party, you could say."
"Yeah, sure, we'll come along," Abhik replied, level toned. When Bae's back was turned, he turned around and pumped his fist smiling to the group. They all jumped into the back of the truck. Deshi excitedly followed.
"Oh come on! Does the moron have to come?" Hyo protested. The comment was like a knife to his heart, though he tried to ignore it.
"Wait," Abhik cut off Hyo's protest. He turned to Deshi. "Are you sure you wanna come along? The Extortion Triad is serious stuff." He raised a concerned eyebrow and said in a lower tone, "do you think you're up to it farm boy?"
"Of course." He frowned.
"Ok come on up." Abhik gave a hand to help him up. The other boys looked at each other with confused expressions. Deshi beamed, he finally had an opportunity to become an Extortion Triad member.
The bar was full of laughter, and the smell of cigarette smoke and booze. Deshi watched with fascination.
"You have the rare opportunity of being interviewed by Mr Zhao himself," Bae said. "Hey Boss," he walked over to a finely dressed middle aged man. He had a short cropped beard, and was wearing dark glasses. "Listen, we brought a group of candidates."
"Good, bring them over separately." Bae came back and selected in turn members of the group.
Whilst waiting Deshi was bumped by two men.
"Hey, you waiting for tryouts boy?" A younger one with black hair asked. Deshi nodded. He laughed patting his back. "You look so nervous!" Deshi smiled back. He idolised people like them. They were amazing people, able to scam even the largest of organisations.
"Come one, loosen up," the other one chided. "Ave a go of this." He pushed a mug in Deshi's hand. Deshi looked at it worried, as he had never had alcohol before. "Go on!" Slowly Deshi took a small sip.
"Come on more than that," the first man implored. They both started chanting: "Chug, chug, chug!" Deshi tried not to wrinkle his nose, then downed the vomit inducing drink. He tried not coughing afterwards and smiled weakly to try and impress. They both laughed and pounded his back in congratulations.
He watched them leave, and then quickly left to the bathroom. He threw up in the toilet. The drink tasted awful and clung to his throat. Groaning, he wiped his mouth with a tissue and flushed the toilet. He then stepped back into the bar.
"Hey… sorry, what's you name again?" Bae asked.
"Deshi."
"Yeah, Deshi, you're up." Deshi stood nervously in front of Mr Zhao. The man sat in a plush chair, away from the crowd. He had two large bodyguards either side of him.
"Well, what skills do you have?"
"I can pickpocket, pretty good and uh well-"
"Why do want to become a member of the Extortion Triad?" Deshi's eyes lit up.
"It has always been my dream to join-"
"Stop." He interrupted. "Where do you come from boy?" he asked in a harsh tone.
"Uh, where I come from?" Deshi quietly asked, confused.
"Yes."
"I-I come from the countryside."
"I thought so." Mr Zhao clasped his hands together. "You have not got the right mindset to become a member of the Extortion Triad. You may go."
"But I-"
"Leave." he cut. Deshi stood stunned.
"I-I'm a firebender," Deshi sputtered. Mr Zhao's eyebrows flashed up.
"Really?" he abruptly smiled, "show me what you can do."
"Well I-I, I can't really do that much yet-"
"Show me." He barked. Deshi stood paralysed with fear. Mr Zhao's face was stone cold. Rushing, Deshi stood in a stance. Taking a deep breath in, he focused. Gritting his teeth, he punched forwards with all force he could summon. A small wisp puffed from his fist.
He stood trembling. Mr Zhao waved his hand for him to leave.
"Wait, I can try again, I'll train-"
"You are so weak for your age. Your progress would be too slow to waste training." He cut. Deshi trudged away, trying hard not to let any emotion come to his face. He couldn't believe that his chances of joining the Extortion Triad was gone.
"You know, you still have a chance to redeem yourself," Abhik murmured.
"…How?" Deshi asked. He leaned closer, putting and arm around him.
"I hear that Boss is a firebender himself. If you challenge him to something like, Agni Kai, and try and show your fire bending skill then. If you beat him, then you would have to hire you, and if you lose, you may still impress him. Who knows, maybe challenging him may impress him from the courage that would take." Deshi stood thoughtful. He was an awful bender, so he did not see much chance in beating Boss. However the man was a lot older than him so Deshi was much more nimble. Also, he had been in a situation where he was attacked by someone, and was able to firebend successfully. Maybe being in an actual fight was what spurred firebending, He thought.
"Come on, if you don't get hired then that shows that you really don't belong here." Abhik encouraged. It was Deshi's only chance with joining his dream job, and proving to them all that he was a city man was much as everyone else.
"Sir," Deshi turned around and walked up to him, voice slightly trembling. He swallowed, "I challenge you to an Agni Kai." The bar fell completely silent. Mr Zhao sat still for a second, face remained completely emotionless. He then stood up.
"I accept," he replied. Everyone's eyes were wide open. He gestured to the door. "Shall we step outside?"
The two stood opposite each other. Deshi clasped his hands together to stop them from shaking. All the men and boys in the bar piled to the side of them, an excited chatter amongst them.
"Ok, y'know the rules to Agni Kai. No cheatin or weapons." Bae as referee announced. The two bowed to each other, and then the fight began.
Immediately Deshi punched his fist forwards. Another wisp of a flame puffed out. He looked dismayed, then yelped as Mr Zhao punched out a flame. Jumping out of the way, Deshi's heart was pounding in terror. In desperation he punched again. A decent sized flame roared out at Mr Zhao. Deshi almost smiled. He could do this he-
The man suddenly emerged from below the flame which had hidden him, fire fist fast approaching Deshi's face. It all happened in slow motion. Only one thought went across his mind, what was he thinking?
Instinctively, Deshi's arms went to shield his face. A white pain shot from his forearms. The force threw him off his feet. He landed. The white pain when to a fiery burning on his arms. Deshi cried out in pain, then curled into a ball and rested his arms on the wet cobblestones. He sobbed into his knees. The excoriating pain was mind numbing.
Mr Zhao stood behind Deshi.
"Go home, country boy," he only commented. He, then everyone else left him, apart from Abhik. He crouched in front of Deshi.
"Toldja the Triple Triads is tough stuff." Deshi looked up, then shoved him aside whilst getting up. He then ran away. Abhik watched him run off. "Huh, moron," He laughed bemused.
"Last stop," the trainconducter yelled. Deshi grabbed his rucksack of what little possessions he owned and went to step off the train. He paused at the exit, staring out at the familiar cornfields, stretching out as far as the eye can see. He looked down at his forearms, heavily bandaged. Gritting his teeth, he stepped off the train. Back here again, he thought. The train doors shut behind him, and he watched it pull away into the distance, leaving a trail of smoke.
He set of down the path. There was a breeze, and the air was refreshing, unlike the suffocating city fog. He remembered the stale dull life of living on the farm, compared with the exciting city. Deshi stood, wondering whether he was correct to come. Something light landed on his hand. He raised his hand, to see an insect crawling on his hand. Memories of happier times flooded his mind. It took off, showing its luminescent wings for all its glory. He reached out his hand and ran, hand trailing in the corn. It tickled his palms. He laughed, as he felt like the innocent child he used to be.
Then he reached his house. Deshi stood in front of it staring. The house's familiar slightly rotting woodwork, and flaking white paint. He saw the tree with the tyre swing, and the bedroom window he once inhabited. Through the bottom window, he could see the living room, which would have two chairs inside; One for Mother, one for Father. He remembered the robbing of his innocence. Deshi turned around, the sight of the house made buried emotions rise.
Collapsing on the ground, he sat with his head resting on his arms. He could not go in, although he had come home as he had nowhere else to go. He previously thought he could do it, face his fears. Flopping back on the grass, Deshi stared up at the sky. The countryside silence seemed almost unnatural compared to the city. Thoughts of what to do next conflicted his mind.
There was a sound from the barn. Deshi sat up straight. Getting up whilst dumping his rucksack on the ground, he creped over to it. Pressing his back next to the entrance, he breathed deeply in.
What if it's those people again! He thought panicked. Gathering his courage, he peeked his head around. At first his eyes could not see in the dark. Adjusting, he saw a big dark object inside the barn. Deshi stepped out slightly more mouth agape. Two yellow eyes opened in the darkness.
He gasped. The object abruptly moved towards him. He quickly jumped to the side again. The massive blue object soared out of the barn. It flew into the bright sky, and then plummeted into the corn fields with a crash. Deshi realised he had stopped breathing, so let a long breath out. An inner conflict inside his mind played out. Should he run away whilst he had the chance? Curiosity got the better of him.
He bolted out. Running, he tried brushing the corn out of the way as it scraped his face. Seeing something blue, he slowed to a stop. Crouching down he crawled through concealing the corn. What he saw stunned him.
A blue dragon lay on the ground.