Moment of Truth

/Undercurrent I

A moment like this, for Jun, came around about as often as decent men. An exhilarating, intoxicating blend of terror, adrenaline, and glee; a mere razor's edge from death. The world seemed to move in slow tumbled leisurely on the wind, as fists and feet glided through the air. And then, with as much as warning as a rainstorm, it ended.

The knife sang, slicing through the space just above Jun's nose.

Jun popped up. She flicked the tip of her whip towards the man, the leather coiling around the hilt of his blade. With a flick of Jun's wrist, the knife popped out of his hand, bright sunlight glinting off the blade as it bounced against the dirt. She lunged. Her fist lurched back, and flew forward, implanting itself squarely into the man's nose. He wheeled back as Jun planted her sole into his chest, dropping him to the ground.

"Give up?" Jun hadn't much chance to look the man over, between dodging blades and fists. A scruffy man, who was fruitlessly searching his tattered clothing for additional weapons. "The chances of you winning this fight aren't looking too good, to be honest."

"Go to ― !"

Jun stepped on his mouth. "Watch it."

"Mmmh mmh mmmmh mh!"

"Hmph." She put two fingers to her mouth, and blew. A hedge of bushes russled, snorted, and then gave way to a mountain of fur. A slobbering, long-snouted, hairy beast. The meanest thing on four legs. "Nyla, here girl."

"MMH! Mmh mmmh MMH mmmmh! Mmmmmmh!"

Jun gently rubbed Nyla's snout. "You know what to do, girl."

"Mmmmmmmh!"

"...and make sure you're thorough. They'll be suspicious if you're too pointed, but if you're too vague, they won't give you an answer at all. Oh, and do try not to kill anyone this time. The Earth Kingdom authorities will only blame it on random bandits and thieves so many times before it starts leaving a trail."

"Oh, my lady is so precise. This one wonders how she even manages to pick her clothes out in such a timely manner."

"This is dangerous business, in case you haven't noticed." She lit a flame atop her finger. "We can't afford to be even a hair out of place."

Squares were hard to come by in the Hsu Shin provinces. After the Fire Nation went belly-up, most of the coal mining operations went out of business, effectively kicking all of the males in the province on their collective behinds. For all the complaining and whining about being oppressed by the Fire Nation, Jun found it that those same people were wishing for them back, if only to have a few coins in the pocket. The Hsu Shin provinces were famous for being utterly devoid of any resources that would be useful to the re-galvanized Earth Kingdom. Farms? Too arid. Ore? Fire Nation took most of it. And Jun wasn't solely talking about tradeable resources. Little, scarely needed amenities like food and water were crossed off the list too.

As Jun rode through a small town on the edge of the Hsu Shin, she couldn't help but hear a chord of pity play through her mind. Nyla would snap at the townsfolk every so often, who wore dusty, vaguely green rags, with shoes that had been worn down to strips of leather hugging their soles. Jun felt a little sorry for not placing a spare coin into their hands. A little.

The town was little more than a rabble of earthen buildings, huddling around an Earth Kingdom outpost like frightened cubs at the paw of a mother mooselion. With the departure of Fire Nation forces, it was arguably one of the most pointless towns that Jun had seen in a while. Even now, dust blew in from the Great Desert, casting a light, dirty brown fog over the streets. The dust wouldn't ruffle Nyla's fur, but Jun was having a hard time adapting. She'd ripped a piece of her clothing off, cut two holes it, and wrapped it around her head, but the occasional piece of dust would still fly into her eye. And with a bounty strapped to Nyla's back, Jun was more than a little uneasy with the sudden lack of vision.

A caravan of wagons were set up in the town's center,; sandbenders selling foods, distilled water, and clothing. Jun would be inclined to join them if their ideals about gender roles weren't locked in Yangchen's era; they made a killing selling supplies to poor frontier towns. Townsfolk swarmed them, counting beaten and worn coins into their hands as sandbenders stood on top of wooden crates, shouting out prices. To their credit, the sandbenders didn't try to take advantage of the townsfolk, as the prices were reasonable enough. Ten squares for a jug of water, twenty for live poultry.

The people parted as Nyla waded through the crowd, her snout acting as the bow. Jun always had reservations about navigating crowds with Nyla. She'd trained the Shirshu well enough to keep her tongue inside her mouth, but Nyla was an unpredictable beast. Nyla hated crowds, loud noises, and would attack with little or no provocation. So, in a sense, the Shirshu was exactly like Jun. That was why they got along so well.

For example, a heavy-set man had bumped into Nyla's snout not two seconds ago. If the man had bumped into Jun, she would have yelled at him. Probably an insult that cleverly combined his weight with his lack of attentiveness, something like a 'fat bastard' with 'you got a pair of eyes don't you? Use 'em!' thrown on top. Nyla didn't have the option of verbalizing her disgust into words, but a well-timed growl had the man running off into the distance just as well.

Unfortunately, Nyla didn't realize the meaning of little issues like 'laws' and 'fines'. Namely, the ones pertaining to 'not whipping people on legs with poisonous tongues' and 'carries a fee of 150 coins'. The authorities called it Nyla Clause. Jun wished she was making this up.

Nyla lumbered up to the entrance of the Earth Kingdom outpost, sinking to her belly. Jun jumped off, starting to unbuckle the straps. The straps kept him spread-eagle across Nyla's back; the legs shared two ropes, as did the arms, all of which were buckled to the appendage, tightly looped under Nyla's belly, and wrapped back around and buckled to the otherside. She'd lost one at the door of a Fire Nation station; the army stationed there managed to re-capture him, but wiggled themselves out of paying Jun her dues in the process, redefining the meaning of 'capture' to include being within the doors of the station.

"Alright," Jun slung the man around, turning him towards the outpost. "here's what's going to happen. We're going to walk into this building nice and slow, and I'm going to hand you off to the guards, and get my money. If you interfere with any part of this process, your face is going to become personally acquainted with the inside of my Shirshu's mouth. Either way, I still get paid. Understand?"

Nyla lashed her tongue out a bug flying around the end of her snout, turned her head towards the bounty, and gave a low growl.

"Understand?"

The bounty nodded.

"Good." Jun pushed him towards the outpost. "Walk."

She gave a nod to the guards as she walked through the metal doors of the outpost. Most Earth Kingdom outposts didn't even have doors. Guards would bend an entrance open. Obviously, a building with no visible entrance was harder to siege, and a group of creative Earthbenders could turn the door itself into a weapon, or even a trap.

"Hey," Jun kicked the bounty over the reception table, his head smacking into the wood. She always liked to make a nice entrance. "wrangled up a bounty for you. Where do I collect my money?"

The receptionist stared at the head slobbering over her paperwork, and then looked up at Jun with dull eyes, as if people were knocked over his table on a daily basis. "Name?"

"Jun."

"The bounty's name."

"Chang Yung. Wanted for breaking, entering, thievery, and generally being an unpleasant nuisance. Guy's knocked over more houses than a typhoon on the western rim."

The receptionist, after pushing Chang's head to the side, dipped her quill into an inkwell, and wrote down some information onto her notepad. "You should consider joining the army, Jun. With all the folks you've captured, you'd make corporal easy."

"Women aren't allowed to join."

"I know. It was a joke." She pressed a slip of paper into Jun's face. "Here."

Jun narrowed her eyes. "I don't take IOUs."

"It's more of a they-O-U, actually. With interest."

She cocked her head to the side, smirking. "My pockets are getting a little too light for comfort. I need squares, here and now." She punctuated her words by jabbing her index into the table.

"We're running low on funds as it is, Ms. Jun. Either we pay you, or one of our boys doesn't eat tonight."

"Does it look like I care?"

"You will once you hear my offer." She cradled his chin on the tips of his fingers. "Transport one of our prisoners to a secure holding facility. Pays three-thousand squares. Even."

"You're joking."

"Not this time."

Jun rubbed her chin, mulling it over. If she took the offer, then Nyla's diet might take a severe kickback for a few days. And Nyla wouldn't work without some feed in her belly. Jun had learned that the hard way during one of her trips to Ba Sing Se. The Shirshu plopped down right in the middle of a street of the commoner's district, refusing to budge. And since Jun's pockets were practically worn through at the time, she had to scavenge and beg in order to fill Nyla's stomach.

On the other hand, three-thousand squares was a hard sum to ignore. And Jun was in desperate need of a new set of boots, as well as a fresh set of clothing. For five-hundred squares alone, she'd be able to afford the only doctor in Ba Sing Se with good ― or crazy ― enough to give Nyla a check-up. Maybe they'd clean all the ticks off of her for a hundred extra.

In the end, Jun couldn't deny the promise of extra squares, no matter how ludicrous. Call it a weakness. "Give me a hot and a cot for tonight, and some feed for Nyla, and you've got a deal."

"The inns are full, unless you feel like throwing some sandbenders out on the street. Only cots available are here, and you'll have to share a room with the soldiers."

"Fine." Most of the soldiers around here knew not to mess with Jun anyway. Eunuchs weren't too popular around these parts. She reached over, offering her hand to cement the deal. "It better be lice free."

The receptionist took Jun's hand with a hard slap, a grin stretched across her face. "No guarantees, Miss Jun."

Jojo The Kissing Bandit:

Joi Joung, otherwise known as Jojo the Kissing Bandit, is wanted across the Hsu Shin Province for the crimes of breaking and entering, as well as possession of stolen property. Known for leaving lipstick kisses on the cheeks of her male ― and occasionally female ― victims. Is estimated to have stolen around sixty thousand EKCs in goods.

Jojo was last seen around the Brim. Be advised: Bounty hunters who are unfamiliar with the bending arts are not advised to pursue. Jojo is an experienced earthbender, and is to be considered extremely dangerous.

"That's not true!" Jojo stomped her foot against the ground, her lips puckering. "He's lying! Liar! You...you b-big person who lies!"

Outside of Jojo's cell, the guards were discussing her next prison arrangements; one of them, the big, dopey lummox with the walnut-shaped nose named Jung, was recounting Jojo's latest exploits to the others. She didn't steal all of the jewelry from the Bei Fongs. There was a perfectly nice, dusty necklace that she left in the lady's jewelry box. True, it was a little rusty, but it was nothing a little elbow grease couldn't take care of. Seriously, they should've been amazed that Jojo was able to steal anything at all from them.

"Well," Jung said, ignoring Jojo entirely. "it's certainly a pleasure to have one of Lao Bei Fong's best trackers on the case. We wouldn't have caught her without your help."

Jojo smirked. Jung's part in her capture didn't consist of anything other than carrying the tracker's equipment, who was so inhuman that he probably could've carried it all in one hand while stringing Jojo up by the other. Usually, Jojo didn't have to worry about being followed, but she was pretty confident in her ability to throw any of her tails off-course. But this guy...he'd chased Jojo across half the Earth Kingdom. Jojo was either lucky to have made it this long, or had been toyed with the entire time.

With metal straps around her arms, and chains locked tight around her ankles, Jojo didn't see any means of escape. If her feet had a little room to breathe, she might be able to knock Jung against the cell, and disorient the tracker for a few seconds, giving Jojo enough time to grab the keys from Jung's belt with her teeth. And then...oooh, Jojo was practically salivating over the options.

"As you can see," Jung gestured towards Jojo, "the suspect in question in completely unrepentant, and, furthermore, a hazard to anyone around her." he tugged at the straps of his coat. "I don't think we'll have any trouble at all convicting her when she goes against the Royal Court."

"The Royal Court?," Jojo said, seething. "C'mon! Isn't that a little...much?"

"You stole from the Bei Fong estate," the tracker said. "and scores of other families across the Earth Kingdom. Be grateful that you're getting a trial at all."

Jojo couldn't deny her crimes, but still, the Royal Court? They wouldn't spare her a second glance before passing sentence. "Why not just keep me here? It would save you a lot of trouble, since the Royal Court's just gonna lock me up anyway."

"This isn't a dedicated prison, Miss Joung. Just a pit-stop until you can be transferred to another facility" The tracker turned towards the door, a haggard smile crossing his face. "Besides, this poor little building can barely contain your mouth, much less the rest of you."

"Why you!"

"Jun."

Jun's father wasn't much for talking. Most of their business, from saddling up the ostrich horses to whetting the swords, was conducted with the wordless certainty of a monk ritual. So, whenever her father actually cleared out the dust in his throat to speak, Jun listened with rapt attention, dropping whatever she was doing so that no part of the message was lost.

This time, it was a hammer that was dropped. On her foot.

"Jun," Father ignored Jun's pained yelp, turning back towards his forge. "you must have heard the conversation between me and our latest client."

Fighting the pain, Jun leaned into a chair by the workbench, wrapping her cold fingers around the afflicted area. "Wasn't much of a conversation, Dad. More of a shouting match."

Jun received a agreeable grunt in response, barely audible over the sharp, ringing strike of his hammer over the cool blade. "Aye."

"You should've socked him one. Callin' you a lowlife pig." Jun pucked her lips, her voice dropping. "Ain't right."

"If only it were that easy." Though she wasn't sure, Jun swore she spied the corner of Dad's lip tugging upwards into a smile. "Whatever you end up doing, Jun, don't get down on yourself when some noble with his britches shoved too far up his ass spits on you for doing an honest day's work. Ain't nothing wrong with what we do. Don't you ever forget that."

"Sounds like some piece of work." Jun stuffed a piece of bread into her mouth, swallowed, then dove straight into the noodles on her plate. "Knocking over the Bei Fong estate? That's damn near suicidal."

The receptionist, Bau, eyed Jun curiously as she mowed through her food. Whether her interest was piqued because of Jun's statement, or her eating habits, she couldn't tell. Probably both. "I didn't think ol' Lao was particularly security conscious."

"Are you kidding? The Bei Fong's guard is pretty much an army in itself. There's enough of them to subcontract men out to the local guard. That's a subcontract of a subcontract, mind you. Lao doesn't hire his own guys. Isn't even involved in the process beyond the final selections." Jun waved towards the passing bartender, pointing towards the remaining noodles on her plate. He nodded, hurrying off to the kitchens to fill Jun's rapidly growing appetite. She hadn't eaten a good meal in so long that she, and her stomach, had forgotten what true hunger was. Half-starvation and a full stomach became one in the same. "Lao Bei Fong makes a good amount of change selling his men off to do various odd-jobs."

"A subcontract of a subcontract? Why don't they just go off and work for the other guy?"

"Well, it's not like Lao's not paying his guard anything. See, whenever he sends one of his guards out, they get about half of the side job, in addition to three-quarters of their normal pay. He keeps his guys loyal, too. I mean, unless you're expecting an invitation from the Earth King himself, it's not like you're going to find a better gig."

"You worked for him before?" Bau asked.

Jun shook her head. "I tried once. Lao thought I had anger issues." She noticed a fly, half-smothered in soy sauce, struggling for breath right smack in the middle of the tray of noodles that the waiter had just laid down. Picking it up with her chopsticks, Jun flung it towards him.

Bau smirked, watching the waiter scurry away like a frightened mouse. "Lao must be crazy."

"That's what I said!" Jun spoke between mouthfuls of noodles, her words slurred. "Anyway, whoever this Jojo girl is, she's lucky she wasn't caught, or worse. Lao gets a lot of war vets in his squad, and it's kill on sight with those guys. They aren't supposed to kill, of course, but old habits die hard."

For what Jun knew of Bau, she wasn't the kind of girl who betrayed her thoughts easily. But, for once, Jun saw her near-perpetual frown loosen. "Perhaps, if all goes well, I'll shoot a recommendation over to the Bei Fong estate."

"Please. I wouldn't work for that stuck-up old tightwad if he offered the King's supposedly golden balls up on a platter. Besides, I wouldn't expect a piece of paper from Sandheap, Hsu Shin to get little more than a glance over, if that." Jun lifted her mug to her lips, drank, and slammed it down, baying as if she had just won a drinking contest. "Poppy was quaking at the very sight of me. Doesn't like my kind, apparently."

"Your kind?"

"You know, lowlifes."

"Oh." Bau titled her forehead towards Jun. "You sound more than a little bitter about it."

Jun shrugged. "I don't know, it just gets to you sometimes, you know? Whenever someone asks my Grandma about me, she tells 'em that I'm being held captive as a prisoner of war by the Fire Nation. She used to let it slip about my bounty hunting, and they'd look at her like I'd taken a piss on the Earth King's throne or something."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Jun. You're one of the most respected bounty hunters out there, and you've always been nothing but a help in my books, if that counts for anything."

"Most respected bounty hunter? That's a little like being the richest peasant in the Lower Ring, isn't it?"

Bau sighed. "You're impossible."

"Cynicism comes with the territory," Jun said. "Speaking of, this must be a hell of a job if you're treating me to a meal this nice, Bau."

"Jojo's notoriously slippery, yes. Captured twice, escaped twice. Always manages to get caught far enough from Ba Sing Se to escape the King's justice." Bau's lips tersed, her eyes rolling. "You'd think they'd hang her and be done with it...but, as long as the King's royal ass is sitting in Ba Sing Se, so will his justice will be carried out under his eye."

"Doesn't make a difference to me. More distance, more squares."

"Nevertheless, you can't let Jojo out of your sight for a second. You eat together, you sleep together, and you piss together." Bau took an idle pair of chopsticks, and started poking at Jun's plate, her words punctuated by harsh jabs into the air. "Climb a tree, tie her to the branches, and hang a barrel between her legs if you have to. Just keep her controlled."

"I should just let Nyla sit on her. She's been aching for another chew toy."

"Nyla can pick her teeth with the girl for all I care, as long as she's still breathing when she faces the Royal Court." Bau stood, straightening her robes. "Well, I must be off. I'll tell the soldiers to save you a bed."

"C'mon, you've hardly eaten anything. Stay a little while."

"I'd love to, but my little sandheap needs attending to." Bau started to walk out, then stopped, catching Jun's gaze out of the corner of her eye. "Oh, and Jun? Be careful."

"I'll keep her leash short, Bau. You don't have to keep telling me."

"I'm not talking about Jojo." Her right hand tensed, while the other fidgeted uncomfortably alongside her hip. "All I can say is...Jojo's notoriety isn't the only reason the bounty's so high."