The Dark and Wild
Chapter 3: Nightvision
The next sound is loud bang, and my ears ring from the warning shot fired into the ceiling near the stairs. Part of the ceiling crumbles and falls down into the floor and the man coming down the stairs stops in his tracks.
"I won't miss with the next one," the woman warns, and out of the corner of my eye I see her reach for something. It must be a light switch because a second later, the lights flicker on.
I recognize that the woman is the woman from the antiquities shop, which doesn't surprise me all that much since she's the one who handed us a card, but the man is someone I don't recognize, I think. He looks familiar, but I can't place it if it's because I've seen him in person, or I've just seen him somewhere else. He's got dark, shaggy hair and his eyebrows are drawn together. His arms are folded and he's got a toothpick he seems to be keen on chewing on.
He steadies his position and glances over to my brother and me, then back to the woman who appears to pose a more immediate threat. I try to sense if there's any source of water in the room, but it appears to be limited to a glass of water on the table and the next source is in some heavy metal pipes circulating around the room. While my skills have improved since I left home, there's not much of a way for me to pull the water with enough force to push it through metal and concrete.
"I suggest you leave immediately," she orders.
"I'm not here to rob you, if that's what you're implying," the man shrugs.
"Then state your business," the woman replies, and I watch his eyes narrow.
"It's in my interest for your wares to not be confiscated, so I thought I would try and warn you that the Elite intend to raid your little," he looks around, "market."
She snorts. "Yeah, right. The Elite don't bother me and I don't bother them."
"Well, your under-the-table arrangement is off," he informs casually. "Not everyone has a price."
"And what's your interest in helping?" a voice cuts in, and I don't recognize that it's my own until his eyes are now trained on me. When he doesn't answer I try to reaffirm my dominance by narrowing my eyes back at him and asking, "Well?"
"My interest is that it's not really your concern," he replies with an overwhelming amount of arrogance to him. "But by all means, stay. I hear the courts of Kyoshi are really picking up on sentencing time for offenders with appropriated antiquities bought, sold, and traded illegally."
"How do you even know this raid is going to happen?" I ask again. Sokka shoots me a look that all too clearly says, 'Can it!'
"I have my sources," he says, the same arrogance lingering on his tone. None of us budge, and stare at him as if to convey, 'We're not buying it.'
"My source that is reliable saw the Elites gearing up and discussing exploring this alleged restaurant. Someone gave them a tip about your little get-togethers down here." he explains, and I can hear the strained frustration in his voice.
"F-fine," I say, mostly unsatisfied, but deciding if he's lying, I'll make him regret it later. Truth be told, there's a sense of urgency in his voice - as if he really, really doesn't want to be here - and there's something stirring in my chest that I should trust him. I don't want to, but something really convinces me that it's okay.
Sokka shoots me a look that shows me just how gullible he thinks I'm being; I know this because it's a consistent discussion we've had over the past few years. 'You have too much integrity and assume that everyone else is the same.' He doesn't believe me when I say I'm just more in touch with my instinct, so I don't bother arguing anymore and instead kindly remind him I can freeze him to a tree if I choose.
I see the woman lower her gun a bit and jerk her head towards some large barrels near the back wall. "Move," she instructs the man. "Now."
He hesitates, but eventually complies, moving across the room towards the barrels. I seriously doubt he came in unarmed, but he's currently outnumbered and one of his opponents has a gun, so I suppose he chose to follow the idea of going along with whatever will extend his life expectancy the most.
"Alright, easy there, little lady," he mutters, holding his hands up and walking towards the barrels. "No need to keep that gun trained on me, I'm on your side."
She looks unconvinced and scoffs, "We'll see."
"Now what?" he asks, standing by the barrels and starting to lower his hands.
"Ah, ah," she admonishes. "Leave them up. Take your left hand and slowly reach between the barrels there. You should feel an indentation in the wall, so press against it," she then emphasizes, "slowly."
"As you wish," he gives an arrogant smirk and I see his left arm disappear between the large wooden containers. His body sinks in a bit and I hear a loud noise before I notice some of the barrels begin to disappear from their current position and into the wall. A secret passage.
"Where does it go?" I ask impatiently, wondering how much time we have left.
"Under the mountain pass, we come out near Chin's Village. Way out of Kyoshi Elite jurisdiction," she explains, a small smirk playing on her lips.
"Shall we then?" he asks, giving a small bow that exudes mockery and using his arms to point towards the way out. "Ladies first, of course."
"Watch yourself, boy," the older woman seethes. "Don't you test me. I have no qualms abut leaving you here for the Elites."
He looks up at her, then to me and gives me a devilish grin before returning his attention to her. "Wouldn't dream of it."
The passageway reminds me a lot of what some of the underground tunnels look like leading into Ba Sing Se. Or, at least, the photographs I've seen. They tend to be dark and very crudely cut out, with very poor lighting. Some people who've been there swear up and down they've seen this eerie green glow but there's no proof to substantiate those claims.
With so many experiencing dark radiation poisoning, there was a huge movement of people trying to immigrate into the city. Of course they had open arms for a time, but as conditions worsened, the city found itself with an overwhelming amount of poverty and people it couldn't maintain. It then restricted its allowance of immigrants, and the desperate did what the desperate do: found another way. Rumor has it there's a special police force dedicated to finding these tunnels and getting rid of these residents, but rumor also says a lot of other things.
"So, I don't think I caught your name," the young man from earlier remarks as he slows down to walk beside me.
"That's because I didn't give it," I reply, applauding myself internally for my cool reply.
He smirks again, "Ooh. How about I give you mine for yours?"
"I'll think about it," I answer.
"Jet," he holds his hand out to me.
I look at it for a moment, deciding if I should accept the gesture, before grabbing him around his forearm and searching his eyes. "Katara."
"Ah, Water Tribe," he replies, noting that I advert grabbing his hand and grabbed his arm instead.
Most other cultures don't know this, but the reason this particular tradition began is to search for hidden blades; perhaps it's a bit antiquated, but when it comes to dealing with unsavory characters and a lot of strangers, I'm always thankful for this particular custom being a habit. The Earth Kingdom on the other hand is a fan of handshakes, while the Fire Nation is partial to a bow that involves placing a closed fist over their heart and lowering their heads.
"What's a rare flower like you doing in a place like this?" he asks. I'm not sure if he's trying to politely make conversation, get in my pants, pump me for information, or a combination of two or more.
I decide to be vague and as ambiguous as possible, "The same as you."
"How do you know what I'm doing here?" he climbs up a rocky incline and extends his hand to me.
"Aren't we all looking for something?" I reply. He gives me another grin, and I catch myself smiling back ever so slightly.
"Maybe we can help each other then," he takes the toothpick out of his mouth and winks before walking a bit faster to catch up to the elderly woman from the antiquities shop.
"Katara," Sokka says, his voice laced with concern.
"Oh, stop," I groan. "I'm fine."
"You have smitten painted all over your face. You're almost 19; shouldn't you be past the 'I like bad boys' thing?" he fusses in hushed whispers.
"I do not like bad boys!" I whisper yell in return, my face flushing. "I was just being polite."
"Well, make sure he keeps that 'polite,'" he uses air quotes, "tongue out of your mouth. I don't trust him. Something's up here."
Before I can retort or give him an appropriate smack on the back of the head, Sokka moves up a bit, lingering just behind the shaggy haired stranger.
A few minutes more of walking and we finally approach a wrought iron gate, with an unlit torch at its side. I look over to Sokka, who is looking back in the direction we came.
I give him a worried look and put my hand on his shoulder, "Something up?"
"It's quiet. Really quiet down that way. And dark, too." he replies. "I'm just starting to wonder if this is a set up."
"Don't worry," I try to soothe him and give a reassuring squeeze. "We'll figure this out."
"C'mon, sweetheart," Jet whistles at me. "Or are you lookin' to still get nabbed by the Elites?"
Sokka grabs my arm and looks at me, pleading, "Katara, let's go back."
"We're already here, Sokka. Besides, we need her to see if she's got the orb," I remind him. "We can't get it if we don't follow her."
His grip lessens on my arm and I take the opportunity to pull free and take Jet's offered hand. When I climb onto the raised stone platform and look back at my brother, giving him a look that tries to convey everything is fine.
Of course, when I actually make it outside, I recognize everything is not fine the moment I have a hook bladed sword poised at my throat and hear a gun click.
Surrounding our group is a semi-circle of women; the same women from Kyoshi wearing green uniforms and heavy makeup. One walks up to us and holds out her hand to Jet.
"Thank you for your cooperation. The Elites appreciate your assistance in this matter," she casts a glance to us and the corner of her painted lips turn up. "As I'm sure you'll all find out, we do not tolerate illegal trading of antiques stolen."
I'm wondering why the elderly woman isn't shooting everyone's brains out (she seems the type to shoot first and ask questions later), but when I turn, I realize the gun is missing and an enormous man rivaling the one from the restaurant's exterior has the woman in binds.
I sigh in frustration, cursing the fact I hadn't listened to my brother. We should have never trusted this smooth talker.
"Now, a matter of reward," Jet twirls the toothpick in his mouth and I try to sense for any source of water.
"Turn over the prisoners, and we will discuss your compensation in full at a more appropriate time and place. We are still technically in Chin Territory, and we would like to leave before there's a diplomatic incident," she says firmly.
I glance over at Sokka and see him being tied up by one of the females. I hear him mutter something about how a bunch of females were even able to overpower him, and part of me hopes the female didn't hear his rambling.
"I don't think so," Jet tightens his grip on my shoulder and I feel the hook blade press into my flesh.
"Let me go," I sneer through clenched teeth.
His eyes glance downward towards me and I swear I see him wink.
"Now, now, Suki. Is that anyway to treat your new ally? I mean," I feel his body weight shift and then hear a crack through the trees.
"Get down!" she cries, but a few are too slow. An arrow hits her square in the shoulder and she falls backwards, while another gets grazed in the leg.
Jet roughly shoves me forward and goes to engage Suki with his hook blades. A bit dazed from the abrupt fall, I can't help but watch them fight. He's fast and runs towards her, blades slinging to try and grab any part of her body, but she's even faster and pulls out two golden fans and begins to defend herself. The woman twists sideways, narrowly avoiding the rogue's blade and kicks him square in the chest, sending him stumbling back. He begins to charge at her again and she runs forward, sliding just outside his path before extending her arm to make him stumble. Jet falls forward and I see Suki push herself up and run behind him in an attempt to grab him and subdue him. It's about this time I feel less disoriented, and take the chance to make a run for it.
I rub my head a bit and then scan my eyes across to try and find my brother. I finally see him, sitting upright behind a tree. When I make it to him, I see he's got his hands tied behind his back and hastily moving his arms up and down. I crouch down and see he's found a sharp rock and is trying to saw the chain between the handcuffs apart.
"Let me," I offer, pulling a pin from my hair that holds part of my braid in place so I can trigger the lock free.
"I can't believe this," he mutters. "I knew that guy was bad news."
"Yeah, yeah, can we save the, 'I-told-you-sos,' for when we get out of here? These Elites aren't anything to mess with," I check around the trunk of our current hideout to see if we have any incoming assailants before returning my attention to Sokka's restraints.
"Fall back!" I hear Suki's voice ring through the air. My fingers work faster, trying to loosen the locking mechanism.
"While part of me is relieved the police are leaving, I'm not sure Jet's brand of psycho is the flavor of shaved ice I want for dessert. Hurry up!" Sokka urges in a whisper.
"I'm trying," I snap back, and a huge wave of relief hits me when the lock finally springs free.
As he frees his hands he glowers at me, "We really need to work on your lockpicking skills."
"Save it for when we're out of here," I snap, standing up and pulling him to his feet.
"Katara, you can come out now," Jet calls. "We're not here to hurt you."
"Yeah, right!" I shout back and Sokka shoots me a look for revealing our position.
We immediately duck deeper into the woods, despite the risks of encountering a dark spirit, and move behind trees. I think I can sense a source of water nearby, but it's further away than I can pull so I try to steady my breathing and hope Jet will give up on trying to find us.
"Katara, look, I can explain everything. The Kyoshi Elite had raided this old bat's supply earlier this evening; I needed them away from the main city and away from reinforcements so I could get the tracking signal for the location of the antiquities," he calls into the woods. "I think you and I want the same thing, right? To be rid of the darkness?"
I peer around the side of the tree and see him standing at the entrance to the woods. I watch him put both of his hook swords down. "I'm sorry I threatened you, I just wanted to make it convincing for the Elite," he says.
"Whatever I want?" I ask, watching him carefully.
"Whatever. No strings attached," he promises. "Because I think you and I want the same thing, Katara. We want to be rid of the darkness, right?"
"Katara," Sokka's voice rings with that warning tone again.
But before I can answer Jet or my brother, I see a blur and suddenly the rogue whips around. I move my body around more of the tree, crouching and peering and what's suddenly caught Jet's attention.
There's a figure, no - a shadow - that blends in with the darkness bathing the surrounding area all except for a blue devilish mask. It has fangs poking through a twisted smile that sends chills down my spine and a dao blade held up to the neck of a teenaged boy with hair almost as shaggy as Jet's and two streaks of red paint on each side of his face.
"Let her go!" Jet demands, his face flushed with anger. Her?
I look over to see his cool guy demeanor is gone, and he means business - but I'm confused as to what's going on and just who this figure swaddled in dark clothing with such a creepy mask is.
"Jet, I'm sorry," the female says, her voice wavering a bit.
"This is your last chance," he warns, ignoring the female's apologies. "Let her go, and we'll let you live." He raises his arm and an archer pulls the string back on his bow.
Refusing to speak, the figure points his other arm - which also has a dao blade - at the elderly woman.
"I'll give her to you when you return Smellerbee," he says icily.
The dark figure moves his arm from around her neck and gives a forceful shove with the hilt of his blade.
"Thank you, but that was a stupid choice," Jet smirks and motions with his hand.
The blue masked man moves his fist downwards and a cloud of dust appears, I lower my head down a bit, hoping I haven't been spotted yet and wondering if Sokka is as mesmerized as I am since he hasn't urged me to leave yet.
"Find him!" Jet roars, covering his face with the crook of his elbow to shield his mouth and nose from the cloud. "And keep an eye on the old woman."
Now I feel Sokka's arm on my shoulder and his lips to my ear. "Katara, let's go."
"We still don't have a lead on the orb," I hiss.
"We're not going to get one if we're dead, or worse," he mutters back.
I turn back to look at him and narrow my eyes.
Sokka rolls his in return and sticks his tongue out at me like a child, "You know what I meant."
"Just wait. I don't think the guy in black knows we're here."
"There's one of him, and like 5 of Jet and his band of merry douchebags; what makes you think the guy in a mask is my biggest concern?"
"Just shhh," I hiss, reaching to grab his shoulder and press him down. "Wait."
I'm not sure which one will win, nor do I actually have much of an investment in who would win in this confrontation, but I'm hoping that they'll both be distracted enough that I can grab the tracking scanner from Jet without him realizing it. I'm no ninja, but, if it could get me a lead on that orb with the data we recovered, it's worth a try.
"Look out!" I hear the same female voice shout and my attention snaps to see the archer's bow being sliced in half.
Jet's jaw drops a little and the toothpick he's been so fixated on gnawing on tumbles out of his mouth. The masked figure whirls around after sheathing his blades and does a backflip, reaching up and jumping onto a tree and becoming swallowed by the darkness again.
"Keep your eyes open this time!" Jet snaps again. A few moments pass by and though I can swear they were minutes, it's more likely they were seconds.
"Wait, where did she - Pipsqueak!" Jet yells. "Where did she go?"
The large man turns around to look at the now empty spot on the ground and then back at the man with two hook blades. "Huh? I, uh, I don't know."
"Unbelievable! Fan out and search for her! She's the only one who can open the security lock for some of the artifacts," Jet snaps.
I didn't even notice her move, and while I want to commend the dark figure on his excellent stealth techniques, I'm cursing myself because we lost our lead.
"Can we go now?" Sokka pleads, pulling me to my feet and deeper into the woods. "Let's just make it to the next town and find transport to somewhere - anywhere."
I give an absent nod, in the back of my mind deciding Gaoling should be our next stop, and then just like that, I hear a slight crack.
"This way," I whisper to him, running in the direction.
"Katara!" Sokka rasps, trying to keep up with me.
I suddenly see a clearing with the woman and the dark figure and he's got a photo that looks like something torn out of a very old book shoved in her face. She's chewing on her lip thoughtfully and then looks at the ground before saying something. When I finally make it into the clearing, the blue masked man whips around and has a sword pointed in my face before I can blink.
I step backwards and assume a defensive posture, then criticize myself for doing so when I'm neither armed with a weapon or water. I decisively ease my stance and lift my hands up innocently, "I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to talk to her."
"I've not been this popular since high school," the woman jeers, earning a hostile look (the only kind that mask can convey) from the man.
His attention returns to me and he tightens the grip on the blade.
"Look, maybe we can help each other. I'm looking for something, too, and if it's on that ship, you need more than just one man to break into something secured by the military, don't you think?" I try reasoning with him.
His face flickers towards the direction I came from, and I see Sokka bursting through the thick of the trees into the clearing. When I turn back, the woman remains but the man in blue is gone.
"Where did he-," Sokka pants, bending over and putting his hands on his knees, "what did he-"
"I don't know," I mumble, looking through the trees again. "I don't know at all."
"He wanted this," the woman says, lifting up the slightly crumpled page and handing it to me. There's some artwork of some kind of contraption with a globe and a very dated projector. "It's an ancient device used to store and retrieve memories. Probably around 8,000 years old. It's useless without the memory crystals to accompany it, but... he seems resourceful."
I turn my attention back to her, but Sokka beats me to the punch. "Where did you tell him it was?"
"I don't know. For something this old and dated that no one has seen in years, you'd need to talk to something that's been around that long," the woman explained.
"Don't you mean someone?" Sokka corrected.
"No; she means we need to talk to a spirit," I answer.
A/N: Whew, okay, three chapters down. :D So I basically wrote this instead of doing my Chinese... or marketing homework. Or applying for jobs. Oops. Oh well, procrastination is my middle name. And now we have the introduction of our famed Blue Spirit; I hope the story's starting to pick up a little bit and you are all enjoying it thus far. Don't forget to drop me a review and let me know how I'm doing. :)