Je vous presente... A Tale of Two Warriors: Iron Lily. Thank you for checking out this story, I hope you learn to love all of the characters as I do (I swear they really exist. I merely write down what they say...) This is my first fanfiction on this site, so please, be kind.
Everything that is familiar belongs to the makers of Legend of Korra. Plants mentioned may or may not exist. Characters are subject to my interpretation, but do not belong to me (excepting Ryoku, and other OCs), and I wholeheartedly wish that I could be as spur of the moment witty as the people I write. (Wittiness is subject to my own sense of humor, don't judge me.) Read on, and prosper, my friends.
Chapter One
Time: Present, circa Episode 2
Location: Back alleys of Republic City
Somewhere in the back alleyways of Republic City, a young woman named Ryoku Zaio was running for her life. Specifically, she was sprinting, and what a lovely sprint it was! It was all dynamic long-legged-ness and a muscular athleticism borne of frequent use and the harsh combat training of the Fire Nation Navy Spec-Ops Academy (commonly known as Spook School). Not that her pursuers were in any position to appreciate the graceful qualities of their quarry, after all, they just wanted their seeds back. Yes, seeds, the normal kind, not some sort of oddly named rare drug. These particular seeds did happen to have a street-value in certain circles equal to that of the opiate produced by the rare marius papaveraceae, or the coveted sea-poppy, commonly cultivated by the southern division of the Bloody Tide mafia. Regardless, our girl Ryoku was, under no circumstances, going to let the Agni Ki henchmen following her anywhere near her newly acquired seeds. Had the henchmen known the true identity of their "prey" they certainly would have left her very well alone and gone back to their day jobs, but as it was, they pressed on like plucky little pit-bulls with odd tattoos.
Each breath burned through Rio's lungs like smoke. How did I get so out of shape? She wondered, as she hurdled over a trash can and kicked it down to slow the hench-hounds. The small paper bag clasped in her left hand crinkled slightly, as if mocking her chances of escape.
"Oh what do you know, anyway?" Rio retorted breathlessly. "I've outrun rebel guerilla fighters from Macaca!"
That was when you were in top condition, Silly was the bag's snarky reply.
"Shut up, I'm saving your lives here!" at some point, Ryoku had given up trying not to talk to plants. Wasn't it obvious that the squashes needed a couple compliments to boost their self-esteem? And surely anyone could agree that the orchids could benefit from a dose of reality. The seeds in particular needed a good tongue-lashing to teach them respect.
She rounded another corner and ran smack into a dead-end. Had she been able to breathe deeply enough, she probably would've cursed the air as blue as a Royal Blue Sikahn Lily, but all Rio could manage was a wheezy curse as she pivoted and sprinted back the way she had come. The hench-hounds didn't know what had hit them as Rio shot through their sweaty and panting ranks. Half-heartedly, two-thirds began running doggedly after the slim girl with a paper bag, while the remainder fell over and gave up.
As she rushed forward, Rio was glad that it was the Agni Ki who were in pursuit, the Red Monsoons would have iced the road by now, and the Triple Threats could've blocked her off with some earth-bending. As a plus, fire-bending lost some of its potency as soon as the bender could no longer synchronize breathing with striking, not that the average gangbanger had that kind of training anyway. Rio's mouth was just about set in a victory grin when she was tackled sideways into a nearby basket vender's stall.
The high-quality baskets prevented a concussion on the hard stone ground, but she lost the seeds in the mass of brown stalks. The garishly tattooed Agni Ki fighter yelled obscenities as he went for a sickeningly obvious wide right hook. Ryoku skittered to the side, squirming awkwardly across the baskets, and locked her ankles around the man's neck, rolling over to flip him into the ground. Any self-respecting spook could handle a gorilla twice their size in a street fight, and Ryoku was a first-rate spook. She aimed a leg drop to the side of the head, using the motion to bound over the man and back on her feet. She bent over to look for the seeds just in time to dodge a whip of fire aimed towards her head. There was another one. Rio turned to face the Agni Ki reinforcement,
"You okay, Ri Li?" he bellowed, fire burning in both hands, "Hang in there brother, Fire Breathing Fa-Zhou will restore your honor!" He took a deep breath, preparing to spit flame.
There was a crowd drawing, and Rio was torn between beating the idiot senseless, finding her seeds, and wailing for help like a proper helpless citizen. Fortunately the decision was decided by a tall figure with a tasteful red scarf. He countered the poor man's breath attack, and punched him into a nearby wall, leaving a sooty outline as the gangbanger slowly peeled off and fell to the ground.
Mako turned around and saw Rio standing amid a pile of crushed baskets. She took a step back, as if she were afraid, and he hurriedly spouted "It's okay, you're safe now." which was probably one of the stupidest things he could have blurted, because no one was safe in the depths of the Ginger Orchid slum, where pickpockets were known to use clubs.
Rio began dusting herself off, easily assuming her current false identity, "Are you, like, brainily impaired or something? This is a slum."
Mako was unamused, "You know, a thank you is generally given right about now."
"Thanks for what? We're probably both going to get jumped on the way home now, hotshot," Rio flipped her hair; an action she was mortally afraid would become a habit.
"What's your problem, anyway? I just saved your life!" Mako snapped. It had been a long day, he still hadn't found anything worth being Bolin's Midwinter gift for a decent price (meaning skinflint, because they were both broke) and now there was a prissy girl yelling at him for saving her from a six-foot gang banger.
"Life shmife," she retorted. "I would've been fine, and now I've lost my package!" Rio bent, sorting through the flattened baskets. The seeds had to be there somewhere.
"What, this?" Mako picked up a brown paper bag off of the ground. It was light, I'll bet she's some sort of addict, he thought pityingly. It sure explains the weird twitching habit.
"Yeah, hand it over!" Ryoku stuck out her hand, palm up, and wiggled her fingers.
"No way, I can't believe I just tangled with the Agni Ki to help some drug addict!"
"It's not drugs, Ferretface!" Rio flicked her hair again, "they're seeds, so give them back!"
"Seeds?" Mako looked in the bag, it was filled with small, shiny black seeds. Bolin liked seeds, well, specifically, he liked plants… kind of. And he liked surprises, seeds could be surprises. "Okay, these are mine now, thanks..."
"You can't just take those, you moron! I worked really hard for them!"
Mako spun on heel, chivalry was all well and good, but obviously the shrew could take care of herself if the gargantuan on the ground drooling was any indication.
"Yeah, well I worked really hard to save you, so later."
He waved sarcastically. Upon later reflection, he decided it was one of his more grumpy moments in life, but what can you do? No one had ever accused him of being sweet, except for Bolin, or maybe Korra…
Once his cocky form had retreated out of sight, Ryoku spun and punched the sooty wall bad-naturedly, her temper thoroughly ruined. Because the only thing Ryoku hated worse than playing helpless, was being helpless, and now she had lost her seeds. They were probably telling Mako all of her secrets too, like the fact that she wasn't actually a professional gardener. That had been a lie to get her onto to Air Temple Island, though spirits knew she could garden like one. Or maybe they were spilling their carbon-based insides about how she acquired all of her rare seeds on the black market because it was cheaper. At least she knew they would keep their seedy mouths shut about her status as an ex-spook, seeds had a funny sense of loyalty like that.
She set off down the street, absent-mindedly kicking the baskets out of her way. She wasn't sure how to explain to Tenzin why she would suddenly need an exorbitant amount of money for another bag of seeds she should have already acquired legally. She sighed, thinking she could say she had been mugged, which technically she had, just not violently. Rio would be the first to admit that she didn't really look like the hapless victim of a mugging though. She could sell the performance, just your average hysterics and gasping and basic terrified-ness, but looking the part was another matter entirely. She sighed again, what she needed was some authentic bruising… and some seeds.