潮
Tai walked off, paying no mind to the officers and clerks he passed by, turning the corner, he found the stairs down, and took them two at a time, getting to the ground level in no time. He passed the reception desk, not even acknowledging her greeting as he pushed the doors open, blinking slightly as the sun light blared into his vision, a sign that at last the cloud cover had lifted, he confirmed it, glancing upwards to see a bright blue sky. Internally, he chuckled darkly. Certainly didn't seem so bright down here. Sensha and Boto were nearby, talking quietly to each other. As he approached they stopped, with the girl scowling at him, and the young man adopting a confused expression again.
Sensha crossed her arms. "Something to say?"
"Here isn't the best place."
Boto spoke up. "We can talk on the way to our first lead."
Tai blinked. "We already have one?"
"Remember Skoochy?"
"I remember you mentioning a dark sewer and an electrified glove, his name popped up."
"He's a good kid, but sometimes throttling him is at the top of my list." Boto sighed, Sensha chuckled while Tai smirked. "So, what's our transport?"
Boto grinned and led them back into the station. They followed him past the desk, turning into the corridor that terminated at the huge freight elevator. When everyone was inside, Boto pulled the lever, and with a slight lurch the platform began a jerky descent. The gates slid aside, and a troop of fully armored metal benders were facing them. Boto quickly squeezed past them, leading the others down the hallway. He turned right, and Tai remembered this being the way to the squad briefing room. But they bypassed it, with Boto hitting a button next to a massive slab of metal directly opposite. With a squealing noise, the slab slid to the right, and settled in front of the wall with a jerky halt.
He led the way into a gargantuan space, with almost every wall pockmarked with garage doors, a few were open, revealing the massive piles of armor and metal spools inside, a few others held waiting trucks, currently tended to by mechanics covered in varying degrees of oil, they held no tools on their person, instead using their hands to manipulate the inner workings of the vehicles.
Tai noticed one of the bays was conspicuously smaller than the rest, and Boto confirmed his assumption by moving over to it, and raising the shutter with the pull of a lever. It was sparse compared to the others, but the things it held were almost divinely crafted, compared to the rest. Taking up the majority of the small space, and if objects had feelings, pride, was a stunningly sublime motorcycle. The chassis cover was a shiny black, with a small symbol made of gleaming silver protruding from the smooth surface. The metal that made up the cycle's skeleton and machinery, gleamed subtly, showing a silvery luster emanating from every inch of it.
The handle bars were surprisingly austere compared to the rest of it, merely wrapped in a rough brown leather material. He noticed a small length of thin black string was wrapped around the right handlebar, with a ocean blue sphere of cold rock weighing it down, he watched as it caught the attention of the bay's single light, which set the inside ablaze with a pale blue, yet strangely warm, glow. Tai than saw the little grey sidecar that was crudely attached to the sublime machine, and frowned.
"Our ride?"
"Yep."
He sighed. "I'll take the sidecar." Boto frowned, almost as if he was expecting a massive argument. Sensha smirked at Tai, grabbing one of the black helmets nearby and putting it on experimentally. Her amber eyes were still vivid, even when hidden behind the visor.
Tai also grabbed a helmet, than looked at Boto. "No helmet for you?"
Boto answered him by putting his wolf helm on. "No need. This is a bike helmet as well."
"Eh, I shouldn't be surprised..."
Boto chuckled and mounted the seat, placing his hands on the handle bars. Sensha wrapped her hands around his waist, and Tai sat down in the little sidecar, grunting slightly as he sat on a protruding bolt.
The motorcycle growled beautifully, and Boto handled it expertly, steering it forwards and through the massive entry way to the outside, guiding up it the ramp.
A armored truck, with voices carrying to them from the inside, passed them at the top of the ramp. They fitted in behind the massive vehicle, and as soon as both peeled out onto Avatar road, Boto immediately gunned the engine, coaxing the cycle to overtake it on the right side, falling in behind a much more speedier bright red roadster, the sun caught the pearlescent paint, causing Tai's eyes to bleed at the explosion of color.
He flipped the visor down, just as the roadster sped up, with Boto matching it as it turned left, going through a street lined with buildings displaying every shade of red, orange yellow, reflected by it's occupants in their choice of clothing. Sensha's eyes narrowed, and Tai glanced over at her, having to shout over the rushing wind.
"Sensha! You alright?"
She nodded stiffly. Than changed her mind, shaking her head. "No, this is Agni Kai territory.", she grimaced, and tapped Boto on the shoulder, the young man was focused completely on the road, and could only grunt to show he acknowledged her. "Skoochy lives around here now?" she asked, not quite hiding the sense of concern or alarm in her voice.
Boto nodded. "Unfortunately. Had to move after equalists began taking over the neighborhood, not to worry though, he's smart, got in good with the triad by giving them info about the monsoons and quakers. He and his kids get free food and are left alone." Sensha stayed silent, and nodded her assent.
"The Agni Kai's? How bad are they?" Tai asked, genuinely curious at Sensha's reactopm.
Boto laughed knowingly. "Firebending militants who just loved what Firelord Ozai had in mind for the world." he stopped talking, and concentrated on another turn, guiding the cycle down a cobblestoned alleyway, meant for feet rather than wheels. This translated in Tai's sidecar being knocked around savagely, and he held on for dear life. The cobblestones ran out suddenly, as the wheels sank into the loose dirt of a track running alongside a canal, the water was remarkably clear, seeing as it ran straight through the middle of a congested neighborhood.
Evidence of this was seen in the occasional piles of rubbish that floated down, flow, disappearing in the dark, churning mouth of a large drain. A small stone bridge connected across the gap, and that was where Boto finally stopped their all dismounted, and Tai gracefully tumbled out of the side car, groaning as his face took some abuse from the dirt covered ground. He got up quickly, prompting a sigh from Sensha and a shake of the head from Boto.
"All done, your gracefulness?"
He blew out a puff of air, flipping a loose strand of black hair out of his face. "I'm good."
Boto nodded. "Skoochy and his gang live just through there," he pointed across the bridge, through which a large circular area was in view, around the edges they could see from their position were the dark maws of empty drain pipes, dotted all over the walls of the enclosed space. "You two will be talking to him, he'll probably ask for a favor, but believe me, it's much quicker, and less of a headache, to get what he needs." The two teens sighed as they nodded. Sensha twigged onto something, and frowned, crossing her arms. "Wait a minute, where will you be?"
Boto flipped his visor back down. "I'll be tracking down the next lead."
Tai eyed him. "Don't tell me it's a clown at a traveling circus?" he joked. Boto actually nodded, in all seriousness. Causing his face to fall immensely.
"Close, it's a armadillo-tiger tamer." he smiled behind his visor. "I should be back tomorrow morning, Sensha." he turned to her, "Have you got the pouch?" she frowned.
"Yes..." she dug a small crimson pouch out of her pocket, and snapped the golden clasp open, revealing two large golden yuans, and ten smaller sized silver ones, and a lone, tiny bronze yuan. She nodded and shut it, placing it back in her pocket.
"Good." without a further word, he gunned the engine, and drove past them, disappearing back onto the street. Tai glanced at Sensha. "We're sharing a room aren't we?"
She nodded somberly, while he shrugged, perfectly content with their situation. "If it helps, I call floor." that brought the tinges of mirth to her mouth, and she nodded, turning to walk across the bridge. He followed closely, feeling vaguely uneasy being inside gang territory. The walls on either side of them were grey, with cracks running through them, bolted onto their surface were thick wires that snaked everywhere. They made their way into the open space, ending up in the lowered central dip. They both scratched their heads, Sensha heard a whistling noise, and whirled Tai out of the way. Tai narrowed his eyes and glanced behind them, seeing a metal bolo wrapped loosely around one of the wires. The voice of a jaded minor echoed out of one of the open pipes.
"Where's Boto?"
Tai went to answer, only for Sensha to shoosh him. "He's not with us."
No answer came from the pipe, only another bolo, the weight of the ends spun Tai around as it wrapped around his wrists painfully.
"Hey! We're not here to hurt you!" he shouted. He heard a chuckle from the pipe. That pissed him off. "We're on Boto's squad you little runt!"
He heard the pipe chuckle again. A single kid, wearing a dirty coal miner's beret, walked towards them. He nodded at Sensha, than stared at Tai. "Boto's friends huh? Make it quick."
"We're trying to track down Korra." Sensha explained. "Skoochy, you know a lot about what goes in the city, can you help us?"
Skoochy hid his surprise behind a bored face. "Why would I do that?"
"The city needs the Avatar."
"Touching, but how does finding her help me?"
Tai growled. "Maybe it'll help you when I don't slam you into the air!"
"Save it, windy." Skoochy crossed his arms. "I might know what road they took."
"Where?"
He cleared his throat, and held a dirty palm out. "I need something from you two first."
Sensha smiled graciously. "Of course Skoochy. What do you need?"
The boy looked around at all of the other tunnels, than to them. His stomach growled loudly. "The Agni's took a big box of food from us, I want it back."
"That doesn't seem so hard."
"From their headquarters."
Tai sighed. "Fine, where do we start?"
"The thug's who took it probably stopped at their warehouse, I have no clue where their headquarters is, so you'll have to figure it out from there."
Sensha nodded, and glanced at the bolo wrapped around Tai's wrists. A slender flame emanated from her index finger, and she burnt the rope holding his wrists together, it fell to the ground, the two ends charred and glowing orange. Tai rubbed his wrists as he followed Sensha out of the hideout.
"So we what do we do? Take out the thugs now, or follow them back to their warehouse?"
"I'm thinking we follow them, it's better than hoping one of them has a map with them."
"Good thinking."
Tai shrugged. "I try." Sensha rolled her eyes at him as they walked out into the street again, standing near the wall to let people pass through.
As if on cue, the flow of people ended, and they saw a commotion across the street, massive man, whose arms were twice as thick as Tai's, and heavily muscled, held a shopkeeper by his collar, the old man was terrified, his green eyes glistening with fear as he pleaded and begged to be put down. Watching this with amusement was a woman, whose brown eyes danced with delight at her partner's display, and her mouth was twisted in a cruel sneer.
Tai glanced at Sensha, "Wanna do the good couple routine again?", he laughed, and Sensha whacked him in the shoulder. She smirked, her amber eyes twinkling with amusement. "Let's."
She gripped his arm with the power of a vice, making his eyes water briefly. Scowling at her, and being answered by a innocent smile, he shook his head, and walked across the street with her in tow. The old man's eyes flashed towards them briefly, recognizing a way to get rid of the two thugs. He got into character, smiling sweetly at Sensha, while she returned the gesture with a warm squeeze.
They both chuckled at the same time, prompting the cruel woman to turn towards them, scowling. "Buzz off." she said.
Tai noticed she was holding a golden pendant in the shape of a flickering flame in her hand, and he laughed, immediately brushing past her without a care. The old man's eyes seemed to boggle when he realized that these two would be no help at all. From his vantage point at the grip of the brute, he showed a toothy smile.
"C-can I help you two?"
Sensha smiled at him. "Oh! We were just having a browse, don't mind us!"
The shopkeeper laughed uneasily. "Y-yeah, I'm not in any trouble or anything.."
Suddenly Sensha dropped the act, giving him a wink. The old man was definitely confused now, as he tried to wrap his head around the gesture, she just as quickly got into character. "Anything you like baby?"
Tai was busy running his hands over the shiny top of the stall, staring in wonder at the jewels contained within. Than he glanced at Sensha. "Nah. She's right here with me." he said sweetly, inside his head he replayed a impending scene of a figure being immolated in a massive explosion, with the amber eyes of the girl nearby blazing furiously.
She answered him with a sickening smile and turned towards the old man, suddenly she blinked twice, as if noticing he was being lifted two feet into the air. "Why are you doing that to him?" she asked the pale skinned brute.
The cruel woman answered for him. "You don't get out much, do you little girl?"
The big guy chuckled, sounding like the beats of a bass drum. "We're Agni Kai's."
"Oh! Those terrible people!" Sensha exclaimed. Behind her back she straightened her fingers, and a tiny flame appeared above each tip. "You two aren't affiliated with them are you?"
The brute scratched his head in confusion, Tai assumed it was because of the word 'affiliated'. Poor guy probably never went to school. His cheesy grin persevered, as he casually stepped back a bit, now behind the massive thug. His partner advanced menacingly towards Sensha, who still bore her smile and good cheer as she jammed her bony face right up against hers, trying to scare her.
The girl giggled, than suddenly changed her warm smile to a menacing one. She drew her hand out from behind her back, and pushed it into the woman's chest. The five wisps of fire combined, and billowed outwards, sending the Agni Kai thug hurtling backwards into a alleyway nearby. Right as her partner turned to investigate, Tai acted, and gathered a ball of air in his palm, he jabbed down towards the back of the giant's knee, causing him to cry out and fall to the pavement, dropping the old man in the process. He mouthed thanks as he grabbed his cart, which jingled and tinkled as he pushed it away from the four of them, disappearing around the street corner.
He moved fast for a man pushing sixty.
Tai jumped on top of the brute, his feet perched on the man's belly precariously. He wobbled slightly as the giant began to roll and tustle under him, he quickly stomped on the man's face, trying to quell his movements, instead the brute roared and grabbed his legs. Suddenly the ground dropped away as he was dangling from the strong man's grip, head now where his feet aught to be. He struggled and tried to gather some wind to force the gigantic meat hooks open, and was rewarded with a swift punch landing on his chest.
He coughed and sputtered, and barely registered the man throwing him down the alley where his partner had landed. He regained his sense as he neared his landing, and curled into a roll, receiving several scratches instead of a few broken bones. He popped back up, than ducked again, as he sense, or heard, the screaming woman blast a ball of flame at him from behind. He twirled around, windmilling his arms, the air in between them was shaped into a pressurized ball, and slammed into woman, sending her tumbling along the cracked cement beneath their feet.
He heard the roar of a massive stream of fire hurtling towards him from behind, and he quickly spun to the side, unleashing a few blasts of wind from his hands and feet. A few of them were on target, but only managed to elicit a small growl of frustration from the brute channeling the stream at him. He moved forwards slowly, lumbering with each step as he kept directing the flames towards Tai, he took advantage of the narrow area, and began sweeping it from side to side, scorching the walls and partially melting discarded pieces of rubbish on the ground.
Tai dove underneath the stream, looking at a rush of fire above him, the intense heat hit him full on, and he began to sweat and his vision dimmed. He flung a hand behind him, and blasted some wind, giving him a little more speed and distance as he fought desperately to stay conscious.
As soon as he felt the rough material of the thug's shoes brush against the sole of his shoes, he quickly wrapped a hand around the man's left ankle, with one hand trailing, he was dragged past out from under the stream, and he let go, he was just above the ground now, and could pick out the many unique cracks and fissures in the rock, he pushed himself up with an almighty blast of air, propelling him a few feet above the big guy. He hadn't noticed that Tai was no longer at the other end, and never saw his foot crash into the side of his thick skull. The momentum lent strength to his kick, and the thug was out cold before he tipped forwards, and crashed towards the ground.
Tai landed roughly, and caught a flash of movement and fire in the corner of his eye, he whipped his head around, seeing the flaming hand of the woman inches from his face. Sensha leapt over him, using her shoulder to send the woman crashing to the ground with a sigh.
He sighed with relief, and tipped his head back against the wall. Sensha pulled him up, and than crossed her arms, scowling. "I shouldn't have acted so quickly, we can't find the warehouse now!" she grunted with frustration.
"Don't worry about it, we'll check their pockets for a map or something."
The fire died in her eyes as she calmed down, giving him a smile. "I-sorry, you're right."
He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?", she sighed, frowning. "I can't stand those brutes." she looked away from him, a bad memory welling up in her thoughts. He noticed this. "Did they do something to you?" he asked quietly.
She glanced back at him, than looked down at the ground. "Not to me.", she hanged her head, and Tai reached a hand out towards her. She didn't shrink back or shy away, but regarded him with a gentle look. "My best friend."
Getting the message, he settled his hand on her shoulder. "Say no more. I know the feeling." she sniffed a little, wiping a tear away from her eye.
"Well...not quite the same, but similar. Kind of related. A little bit."
"Moment. Ruined." Sensha stated, but she chuckled and seemed to lighten up with his comment. He settled for a smile, and shrugged. Turning his attention to the unconscious woman, he patted the pockets on her dark crimson pants. "Ah ha." He pulled out a small folded piece of paper, yellowed, but still serviceable. He shook it out, revealing a map of the district they were standing in.
He walked out of the alley, gesturing for Sensha to follow. The street was as lively as before, although the flow of traffic had increased slightly, and the smell of freshly baked pastries wafted across to Tai's nose, he briefly lost sight of their objective, currently loose in the mental images of what awaited if he entered the small little corner shop. Sensha tapped his shoulder, giving him a strange look.
He looked around, searching for the symbol that would tell them which street they were on. After a bit he noticed the profile of a small but thick slab of wood, painted crimson, and displaying the proud image of a baying bull-crocodile. He turned to Sensha, and stabbed his index finger down on a tiny line running near the waterfront. "Bull-crocodile street. Aaaand," he slid it across the parchment, settling on a large black rectangle sitting two blocks away, circled with faded red ink. "That's the warehouse." he folded the map up, slipping it into a voluminous pocket on his greatcoat.
Sensha pulled back a sleeve, revealing a wrist watch, it's brass surface shining brilliantly. "It's 1:00 am now. How about we grab something before we head down?"
"Sure." Tai than smirked. "Got the pouch?"
Police Headquarters.
A woman was sobbing into a faded yellow handkerchief, as she and her husband were led into the reception area from the outside, with the other myriad people in the straggly line acting the same way, a old man with calm blue eyes and rough and wrinkled brown skin merely bowed his head, as the woman next to him held onto his hand, trying to keep him close. At the back of the line was a young man with blazing yellow eyes, who scowled and shouted as he threw his hands around, bound to the other one in metal cuffs. The procession was flanked by a squad of metal benders, with two officers assigned to each person in the line. Commander Makei quietly sighed as he walked at the back, taking the rearguard.
a few heads turned to look at the new arrivals, a few of them instantly turning away in shame or disappointment, others looked on, hopelessly snared by the spectacle of a fully equipped squad of officers making their way towards the reception desk.
As the group of prisoners reached the reception desk, one of the men at the front went to check in with the receptionist. Makei waited as he did so, checking to make sure none of his 'criminals' tried to escape or make a break for the exit. The man finished his talk and walked towards the commander.
"Sir, everything is in order, we'll get them to processing."
He nodded, and the young officer immediately made a crisp 180, taking his place at the front of the group, and leading them towards the freight elevator. Makei waited until they had all gotten on board before walking off through that corridor, taking the stairs instead. A few passing officers greeted him as they made their way down, he returned the gesture, not wanting to stop them in their duties. He took the corridor that lead to his office, slipping inside and closing the door. With a sigh he took off his hat, hanging it off the back of his chair as he sat down.
He was still for a moment, trying not to register the neat stack of reports and missives looking back at him from his desk. The topmost one, was typed with bold, black ink, and gave off a sense of foreboding just from staring at the perfectly square paper.
With a grunt of frustration he looked away, and with a well practised hand, opened the topmost drawer, causing a bottle of golden brown liquid to roll and bump against it's side. He grabbed it by the neck, hoisting it out of the space and setting it down in front of him, standing vigil next to the stack of reports. His right hand continued rummaging around in the drawer, and found a cylindrical shape, he brought the shot glass out without ceremony, and set it down next to the bottle of amberei.
As he curled his fingers around the smooth exterior of the bottle's body, he found himself back in a seedy little dive, body bowed as he loomed over a dirty glass of dubious liquid. He sighed and scratched his stubble as he watched a man nearby get roughed up by a few punks, the little spikes and metal inserts in their clothing screaming the name monsoon. He looked back to his drink, staring down into the murky depths as he tried to forget the events of a week ago. Her green eyes were absolutely screaming for help, her pale, and dainty hand was reaching towards him, and all he could do was stand there and watch her disappear, never to be seen or heard by him again...
He growled and shoved the little glass back into the drawer, shutting it roughly, and he grabbed the bottle by the neck, popping off the lid, and tipped his head back, pouring a generous amount of the yellow ambrosia into his throat. He slammed it back down, and picked up a report, scowling as he saw the words 'non bender' and 'suspect' repeated again and again. He had a right mind to empty the bottle than and there. Tenzin be damned.
A knock on the door shook him out of his torpor. He stoppered the bottle and put it away, as Saikhan opened the door, and approached the seat in front of him.
"How'd the latest raid go?" he asked.
"Without a hitch. 'equalists' were unarmed, and didn't put up much of a fight."
"I'm sorry Mak, I can't do anything to countermand the councilman's order."
"He won't stop until every non bender's behind bars!"
"You think I don't know that?" Saikhan said defensively. His nose twitched, and he glanced at his friend. "Amberei?"
"Yeah..."
The chief sighed as he ran a hand down his face. "Spirits. Everyone in the force could use a hit of the stuff."
Makei gave him a dark chuckle. "I'll drink to that." he sighed, and picked up one of the reports. Looking at a picture of a old woman bowed with age, yet her brown eyes still glistened with intelligence and life. "Juna Pei-bo, chef for the Badgermole restaurant, out on bolong street. Charges include; Possession of illegal weapons; harboring of equalist elements; and resisting arrest." he dropped the sheet, and it floated down to the top of the pile. "These are Amon's best?"
"Don't ask me, haven't a clue what Tarrlok's up to."
A ringing noise drew their attention to a small but ornate phone sitting on top of the cabinet nearby. Saikhan gave him a wary look and brought took it down from there, placing it in front of Makei. He gestured towards it, and Makei took the receiver off it's rest, holding it up to his ear.
"Commander Makei...yes...of course...right away sir." he slammed it back down, not caring if the voice on the other end noticed. Saikhan gave him a knowing look. Makei just sighed, and stood up, grabbing his hat and slipping the leather strap underneath his chin.
"Another alert?"
"Our esteemed councilman has requested my presence at city hall, seems the equalists attacked him and the avatar, and kidnapped her." he finished, noticing that Saikhan looked away briefly for a moment.
He dismissed it. "Time to be a 'hero' again." he muttered.
The warehouse.
Tai threw the wrapper away, landing it in the open mouth of a small bin next to him. Sensha was watching the area down the street, following the movements of a thug who had been walking back and forth across the open gate that granted access to the large, squat building behind it. It loomed over the area, and had it's back to the sea.
"Looks pretty easy to get into." Tai noted, prompting Sensha to glance back at him. She pursed her lips, and shrugged. "Maybe. We'll need to get closer to find out."
"So we trying to avoid a brawl?" he asked jokingly, she gave him a wry smirk. "Preferably before we find the crate. We need to be quiet about it though." Tai chuckled. "That. I can do." he adopted a serious look as he gazed at the fence surrounding the building. "I can get us both over the fence, save us from knocking out the guy at the front. Sensha nodded. "Sounds good." she looked at her watch. "It's about to hit 2:00 pm, head out now?"
"Yeah." they both walked across the street, crossing to the footpath that ran near the water, placing them on a straight line to the front gate of the warehouse area. The guard had his back to them, as he walked to the other end of the front side fence, the tuneless sounds of his whistling carrying over to them as they neared the bend of the road, now only twenty feet or so from where he was standing before.
Stacks of containers and crates were propped up against the other side of the fence, making it almost impossible to get over it. He scanned for a gap in the stacks, rewarded with a tiny little space in between containers nestled in the fence corner nearest to them. He stole a glance at the patrolling guard, checking that he was still walking slowly towards the other corner, and he nodded at Sensha.
They both walked briskly towards their side of the fence, with Tai standing just to the side of the gap, he placed his hand over the other, and held it out in front of him. Sensha took a few steps back, and looked at him. He concentrated on his open palm, forming a cushion of air over it, which tickled a bit. Confident that the mass was now stable, he nodded at her, she took a deep breath, and ran forwards, before leaping into the air, her foot now hovering over Tai's palm.
He thrust it up, and the mass mirrored his movement, and rushed upwards. Sensha yelped as she found herself taken over the fence and through the gap, now plummeting towards the hard ground. Tai acted quickly, creating a cushion of air for to catch her with. It slowed her down, and she rolled to take some of the impact. She sighed with relief and gave him a thumbs up, he gathered the air beneath his feet, and launched himself over as well, landing next to her gracefully.
They put their backs to the container and moved to look around the corner. They saw five rows of containers sitting astride from the ones that hugged the fence line, with a small one person wide space in between each of them. The path that separated them was wide enough for a truck to pass through, albeit with a bit of difficulty. It made a sharp ninety degree turn in front of their spot, and ran forwards, terminating into a wide open space with nothing in it at all. Tai gestured for Sensha to stay there, and ran across the path, slipping into the narrow squeeze in between the row nearest to them. He stopped immediately, as a shock of raven black hair greeted him. It sat on top of someone who had his back to him, and was leaning back on a chair, loudly snoring away.
Tai backed off, and checked the other side of the container, looking down the path that opened into the large space. Satisfied that no one was there, he looked back at Sensha, and gave her a thumbs up. She ran to his side and they both quietly made their way towards the other end of the container. Tai stopped as they reached the corner, and poked his head around. The area in front of the warehouse was mostly deserted, and devoid of any Agni Kai thugs, apart from that one guy who was sleeping in the chair, it looked as if there was nobody here at all. The symbol of a brightly colored fruit, painted onto the side of a grey truck, caught his eye. The vehicle was backed up against the loading dock of the warehouse, and it would be painfully easy to run over there and commandeer it, and drive out of there.
"I think that's it." he said quietly, Sensha followed his pointing finger, and nodded. Tai continued. "There's only one guy, and he's out of it, so it should be simple."
"You said that when you ran off after the equalists."
"That was different!"
She sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Let's go then."
He gave her what he thought was a reassuring grin, which actually came off as slightly manic. He looked to his left and right, and ran across the open space, with Sensha trailing closely behind him. A few heart pounding moments of running later, and they were standing in front of the brightly colored fruit, Tai immediately went over to the drivers door, and had a go at pulling it open. He was rewarded with a thud, as the door's lock was still engaged. Sighing and dropping his shoulders a bit, he trudged back to Sensha, who had her arms crossed as she smirked. "Looks like we need a key."
"Smart one aren't you?" she teased. She didn't wait for him to reply, instead looking at where the sleeping guard was. "I think he might have the key, you grab it off him, and I'll keep watch here."
He thought about replying to her teasing, partly to retain some dignity for himself, but instead he shrugged, and nodded, running towards the rows of containers. He pulled himself onto the top of a faded crimson surface, and slowly, as anything faster than a walk would alert the guy below, he made his way across the top of the rows, using air bending to touch down lightly as he leapt over each gap.
His feet touched down silently, on the surface of a deep blue container, and he walked to the other side of it, peering down at the top of the raven haired man's head. He saw his prize, a rusty metal ring hang off the man's belt, on which two keys dangled, sometimes jingling gently as they brushed against each other. Pursing his lips in concentration, he focused on making small, precise movements, as he tried to lift the ring off using the wind. Sadly it was still attached to the guard, being looped through his belt. Tai sighed in frustration, and dropped down behind the guard, leaning back slightly to avoid touching his hair, he bent down and slowly, and methodically, unhooked the ring from his belt. He fumbled, and the man snorted and screwed his eyes, and his nose exploded as he sneezed most violently. His eyes were open for a fraction of a second, and Tai froze. They closed again, and the man fell back into his peaceful rhythm. Tai let go of the breathe he was holding, and slipped the ring into a pocket on his coat. Having claimed his prize, he walked towards the fenceline, as he was too close to the guard to risk jumping onto the top of the noisy containers, he rounded the corner, and walked down the path, that led towards the gate. Confident that the other guard wouldn't see him, he turned and ran down the path leading towards the truck, with Sensha motioning for him to hurry up.
Just as Tai was in the middle of his dash across the open space, they both heard a crash and a surprised yelp. Both of them froze in their movements, and could only stare as they watched the confused guard stumble out into the open, and looking straight at them. He gave a yell of alarm, and Tai ran at him, using his arms to slam a gust of wind into the man's stomach, sending him crashing into the container nearby, unconscious from the impact. Tai turned and gave Sensha a relieved smile before opening his mouth in dark surprise, as he gaped at the armored thug who had just seen the entire thing.
"Sensha, up there!", the girl looked up just as the thug sent a blast of searing fire towards her, she quickly spun her arms, and deflected the projectile away from her and the truck, causing it to splash against the ground nearby. The thug slammed a button next to him, and the air was filled with a piercing shrill noise as the alarm blared. Tai glanced at the front gate, seeing the guard running towards them. He leapt on top of the containers, and held out his sword in both hands. He ran towards the other end of the container, and swept a massive gust of air at the advancing guard. He looked up too late, and could only throw a tiny ball of flame at the teen as the air itself slammed him into the container's wall with a ringing noise. He stumbled back from the impact, dazed as he tried to send a few more punches of fire at the boy.
Tai dropped down onto him, and kicked him in the back, sending him crashing into the container again, making the man slump to the ground with a sigh. He turned back to the truck and Sensha, and saw her deflecting a massive wave of fire coming from three fire benders surrounding her. She had a determined look in her eyes as she kept deflecting and redirecting the stream of fire, causing it to stream into the ground nearby, blackening the dirt quickly.
He ran towards the back of the truck, leaping on top of it's roof and running forwards, flanking the three thugs. As he leaped off the truck's cab, he scythed his foot downwards, and a vertical crescent shaped mass of air sliced towards the thug nearest to him. He didn't have enough time to react as the mass hit him full on, taking him off his feet and sliding him along the ground in front of the other two Agni's.
That gave Sensha an opening, as she pulled her arms in, and threw them out, directing a massive blast of flame towards the remaining thugs. They just barely caught it, and sent another gout of flame in return, forcing her to cut the stream and dodge to the side, stepping around the advancing orange blaze.
Tai approached from the right, launching quick bursts of wind and air to stumble and daze the two thugs, one of which was now facing him, the white three pronged mask gleaming softly in the firelight. He swept his arms towards the boy, calling forth a large arc of flame to sweep towards Tai from the side. He jumped into the air, clearing the deadly flame as he landed in front of the thug.
But the armored man was ready for him, and both hands shot out towards him, aiming for his chest. He twisted to the side, avoiding the hard hitting strike. He retaliated with a swift kick upwards, but missed, and the thug managed to grab his leg, and pulled, knocking Tai off balance and crashing into the thug. He felt a pair of arms wrap around his chest, and squeeze. He coughed and sputtered as he felt his ribs compress and bend under the immense strength of the bender, and his vision began to dim. He struggled, trying to get an opening to use his hand.
He briefly heard a cry of alarm elsewhere, and than one much closer as the armored figure fell back with a sigh, his back now scorched and blackened. Sensha stood there behind him. Tai untangle himself and stood up quickly, holding up the keys for Sensha to see.
"Can you drive?" he half coughed and sputtered.
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