That was sooner then expected. Inspiration struck for a new character I wanted to integrate into the story. Hope it's enjoyable.


Night in one of the darker, poorer parts of Republic city. Street Lights almost didn't reach here, the vines stopping almost all of it. It was here where two men in dark coats met.

"Did you do your parts?"

"I sure did. Managed to snag two jobs at the Restaurant our dear 'King' loves. Reaching him will be easy as pie."

"Good. I managed to get ourselves some nice getaway. Now all that's left is…" They looked behind them at a derelict building. A small flower shop. And despite how it looked, all the flowers displayed on the outside were lush and colorful. Almost to a disturbing degree.

"You sure this is the place?" The other man asked.

"Pretty sure. They say he's the best in the business." With that they entered the store, which still seemed open, even at this time of night, as a little bell rang when they stepped in.

"Hello?" One of them called after a while of no one coming over to greet them while the other took the time to admire the many brightly colored flowers and plants in the shop. "We've heard word on the street you have a…. 'After Hours Special'. We're interested."

"After Hours Special? Really?"

"Hey, I didn't come up with it." About then a loud crashing sound could be heard from the back room. Perplexed, the two rushed in and witnessed a rather unique scene.

A large black snake was currently upright, his feathered hood extended, looking extremely dangerous as he loomed over a young, brown-skinned man in clothes as bright and poisonous red and green as many of the plants in the shop, who had his arms raised as the two circled around each other, each waiting for the other to strike.

"By the spirits…."

"Good evening, gentlemen. Give me a moment, I'll be right there." The stranger said, not taking his eye of the creature he was circling.

"T-that's a Cobracrow…. one of the most poisonous and lethal creatures on the planet!"

"So I've noticed." The stranger said, before the Cobracrow raised himself even further, opening his mouth and revealing his fangs. "Whatever you do, do not move!" With that, the creature spat, venom shooting out of his fangs. The stranger raised his hand and the liquid suspended in the air in dozens of tiny droplets. Making a circular motion with his arms, the liquid gathered in a small orb as he grasped a vial from a back pocket, guided the poison inside and inspected it. "This dose is even bigger than last week's. Great job, Ila!" He enthusiastically said as the snake retracted it's feathered hood and put his body down and approached the man in a much more friendly manner. He just stroked the creature, who closed her eyes contently. "Who's a good girl? You're a good girl. Yes you are. Yes you are." After a while, one of the two 'customers' coughed, making the man look up. "Oh, right. Right." He said, turning towards the animal again. "Daddy's going to talk business now. Be a good girl, alright?" With that Ila slithered off into a corner on a pillow, rolling in a ball as the stranger looked up at the two men. "So sorry about that. The name's Siluk, I'm the owner of this humble shop." He smiled friendly, putting his hand forward as it was hesitantly shaken twice. "Seeing the time of night you decided to come, I highly doubt you want a nice bouquet to woo a pretty gal."

"We're on a mission from Kuvira." One of them said, while the other prodded him.

"Don't just go and say that!" He hissed. Kiluk just laughed.

"Don't worry. I don't care about what your goal is. As long as I get paid, I don't care if it's for assassinating the Avatar or whatever. So, what did you guys have in mind? I sell poisons of every ilk. You want it ingested? Injected?" He started, voice going fast as if he tried to sell any normal product. "Injected is the fastest way, but ingested is usually more easy to manage if you don't have direct access to the victim."

"How about gaseous?"

"Ah. Yes, I have that too. Not that popular because it risks innocent bystanders, but that's usually because people don't know what they're doing. So. You want swift and painless or slow and painful?"

"We, uhm… we just want to knock someone out." One of them said as Kiluk's smiled dropped, before he shrugged and beaconed them to follow them to a table with several flowers in pots on it, together with a lot of empty vials. He took hold of a rather large, bright red one.

"The lovely Dawnshade." He said, holding a hand over and moving it upwards and downwards slowly, the flower dancing along the rythm. "They used to say it's smell was powerful enough to transport your mind to the spirit world." A last upward movement and a large amount of reddish liquid came from the flower as it wilted instantly. "It's concentrated juices are powerful enough to knock someone out for at least three hours." With that, he guided it into a small empty sprayer, before giving it to the two. "That'll be three-hundred big ones."

"Three hundred?!"

"Feel free to try and search for a better option. But when you'll return from failing to do so, the price will have risen to five hundred." Kiluk answered, crossing his arms, making the two man look at each other, before taking out the right amount of money. "I'm glad you reconsidered. Anything else?" He said, giving them the poison.

"No… This will do fine. Thanks and… goodbye." With that they hurriedly left.

"Long live the Great Uniter!" Kiluk jokingly called after them, before closing the door to his shop.


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