A warriors death
Adrenaline was still rushing through my veins, my hands were shivering uncontrollable as Asami Sato clamped herself on my arm like there was no tomorrow. I tried to shake her, whatever was going on – what could make Bumi scream like that? I was so worried I even forgot picking up a weapon and simply rushed inside the damaged manufacture. There I saw nothing but an heap of people kneeling around something. Bumi pained screams were loud and terrifyingly shrill. "I…aaaarrghhh…ghaaa" he sounded like e pained animal. "Hang in there Bumi! We – We´ll get you to a healer!" Lin yelled while Ping just was holding my brothers hand. I felt a searing pain cut through my heart, while a mountain settled on my shoulders. "What the hell happened here?" I roared, Bumi was shivering and spasming from pain. Asami had already broken down, she was crying, hitting her own head furiously. The young cops were absent, while Mako shivered like a leaf and could not look at the scene. I smelled burned flesh. No -No that – that wasn´t allow to happen. I rushed towards my broher, where his face was supposed to be was nothing besides a, reddish mess of burned flesh. As gagging noises shot out of my throath, the knees were wobbly and I sank to my knees mortified.
We could not bring Bumi into a hospital, he would be treated if we were lucky, but whoever delivered him there would spent the rest of his live in jail. What kind of pathetic fuckwads were we even? What kind of brother was I, that I wasn´t already carrying him into a car? "Ho-How shall we move him?" I asked while my eyes searched for something that might be used as a stretcher, of course my search was doomed from the beginning. Bumi wheezed. "K-Ki-Kill mee." He again started howling like a tortured tigerdillo, not even Yumi had screamed like that as she gave birth. Sweat of fear was dripping out of my pores as reality started swimming. I cleched myself on the present with all might, but that could not fight the bottomless feeling of utter helplessness that consumed my whole being. As Lin tried to grab him unter the armes he screamed even shriller, trashed forcelessly and fainted. I could not see Lin´s face which was hidden behind a mask of the infamous blue spirit. "Bumi – hey -hey!" she jelled and smacked him "You cannot sleep now – you hear me….y-you must fight! BUMI!" she yelled at my brothers limp form, while her voice was slowly breaking. I grabbed Bumis feet and together we carried him outside. "We must hurry, the cops will be coming otherwise." Mako snapped mechanicalle while dragging Miss Sato out of the building. Bumi was moaning, while blood and other body fluies were oozing out of his body. I highly doubted he would be able to make it. The human body held close to four gallons of liquid if I remembered correctly, tears had started to flom from my eyes and my nose was totally snot filled.
We carefully placed Bumi on the backseats of the car while Mako moved behind the steering wheel. The engine started and he rode off with screeching tires, I did not even have time to ask him where he was heading. Most likely to some black market healer in little republic, or ever just round the corner. Ping was standing behind us cursing. "Damn those fuckers. If – if ah just screw it. We´re going to have a got." He growled. And tried to start another car. He failed. Damn, how should we even escape properly. Lin frantically tried some other, whole looking cars, in let out an relieved sigh as a motor started. Sirens were howling not too far away. I guessed that the police had caught wind of our action, which of course would be on radio and in the newspapers. Not that I was feeling anything besides sadness and shame for this fact. The cars engine was not running smoothly, nevertheless we got into it and left. "Lin, do you know where to go to get outta this stuff? Do you know where Chouw is driving to?" I asked. The woman was staring on the street as a dustcloud followed us. "No." she barked harshly ad skidded around a corner. The tires gripped again, two satomobile Cs skidded to halt screeching and honking as the triad hot-rod made its way out of the buffalo flats. I could not follow Lin, who zigzagged her way through the city at a suicidal speed. Ping had started to undress in the Back of the car, while I was worrying about my brother. What if he died, what would Tenzin do if he found out I was loosely connected to this? Tenzin totally was the kind of idealistic airhead that would put us all into jail for a lifetime. But actually there was something even worse, how should I tell this to Sokka? How should I tell her I willfully murdered people today?
Even though these criminals were not much more than savage animals – still – life was not all bout coonies. I just prayed that Boomer would make it even though I had not much hope left for him. I was totally spaced out as the car suddenly halted and I hit my head on the windshield. I shook the head to clear my fuzzy sight. We were in a rather rund down looking alley. The leechy nut trees were picked clean, also the brown brick houses had more family names on the inhabitant boards than windows. The children on the streets wore shabby looking robes, or miniature suits and were eying the car greedily. I would bet that the satomobile was gone as sone as we left the street. But actually that would not be something to waste a thought on. "Where the hell are we?" I asked puzzled. Ping snorted, while Lin did not even seem to hear my question as she stomped in the middle of the street an bended a sewer door open, plaine spoken, she tore a hole in the ground. The almost man sized chunck of earth, steel and stone carelessy shattered on the street. I was to bettered to even make a snarky comment about low profile escapes. "Gods damn it – get a move on." Lin bitched and scrambled down into the sewers. I was wondering what that all was about as I followed her. The foul smell was almost overwhelming down here, also everything was sticky, moist and - illuminated! "Is THAT little republic?" I asked amazed as I beheld cave like homes that had ben built inside the mighty brick walls of the sewers. "Nope – but you could call it that way. That´s the flesh marked." Ping cursed colorfully as slim little street kids almost grabbed his pouch. Actually it was rather loud down here, nevertheless I really disliked the name of this place! Lin strode on determined even bustled herself through a group of heavily tattooed triad men.
The guys looked like they wanted to plunge a knive in her back, since Lin was most likely recognized and heavily armed, the men just snickered and turned back to their shady businesses. I heard they were talking about kidneys someone had ordered for his daughter. What were these guys even talking about? What should a child do with raw kidneys? Lin halted in front of a strange looking door, a bundle of four shrunken heads was hanging above the doorway. They really gave me the creeps. What kind a ugly shit was going on here? Were these fuckers selling human meat for cannibals? How could this even be a lucrative business?! A shiver ran down my spine. Lin entered, suddenly the air was dry and surprisingly fresh. Still the room was looking like it came straight out of a nightmare. Sweath was pouring down my neck, whatever the guys had done back in Shangyang – it could not have been NEARLY as fucked up as what THESE dudes were doing here! Ping also formed a triangle with his hands an spit over his shoulder as a serious looking young man marched up in front of us. The muscular brutes, which were casually sporting nasty looking Daos rose from their seats and started playing with their blades nervously. "Gods I hate these perverted witches." Ping cursed under his breath. "Oh – what an honor Chief Bei Fong." The young man greeted in ernest mockery. "Indeed. Can I see the patient." She asked pleading. The young man looked at her out of cool, watery eyes. "What patient? We don´t have pati…" Lis iron cable shot out of her spool and strung itself around the young mans neck. She shook him forcefully. "Don´t you dare lie to me son of a bitch!" she yelled furious. "I wanna know where Bumi is you little bastard, and I don´t give a fuck if I have ta slap it outta ya!" I grabbed her shoulder.
"Stop Lin! LIN!" I jelled as she finally released the coughing and stuttering young man from her chokehold. She was grasping for air, visibly shivering. I also had a slight tremble in my voice as I eyed the strange looking spirit statues and the water tribe ceremonial masks on the walls. The young man grasped for air and looked slightly terrified, as did the bodyguards, Ping had gripped his remaining Hammer an looked more than ready to use it. This place screamed bloodbendig, there even were glass flasks containing blood or organs I mostly could not name. I saw some kidneys, and even a human brain. Still it was not a good idea to run rampant, even if I could understand Lins fury. I too was desperate and angry, but more than that I felt a just sense of punishment. Even if it sounds creepy, that Bumi was most likely a dead man was part of a punishment for auch bolt crime. It was a reason why we never would forget we had done wrong, even though it might have been the right thing to do. Lin struggled but as I grabbed her wrist she let go while panting heavily. She obviously was short of totally loosing it, mostly because she undoubtedly was much closer to Bumi than I was. We had not met a lot after he took off with the united forces, while Lin grew up with him. He was her childhood friend for Koh´s sake! "We´re a bit upset, I guess you know why." I spoke while my voice was brimming with iron. "So – are you treating our friend or aren´t you?" I asked with an almost polite seeming smile. Of course I also wanted to rip out this pricks throat, but you simply did not do such a thing! Not when his pals were doing, spirits know what to my brother!
"Chrm… well that´s a complicated business you see…" the young man trailed off wringing his hands. " You BASTARD - WHAT…" Lin piped up while Ping simply swung his hammer and knocked her out cold. He caught her with his chest and rested her on the floor. "You see, we don´t want anything here going south pal." Ping stated grimly. "But hell would we mind if ya don´t do yer fucking JOB and tell us what´s going on!" he snarled. "Well there were two masked kids who delivered a guy with a burned off face – I GUESS these would be your friends…listen I´m just the the desk clerk of this show. And yeah I know that the guy who turned yer patient in is Mako Chouw but that´s it." He stated. "So, can we speak with somebody of authority, a guy who knows what they´re doing, how much it´s gonna cost?" Ping asked. "That would be me. We´re a rather serious business organization, despite this mumbo jumbo here." He waved his hands around an led us to the desk. Lin was groaning. "YOU – STAY – ON -THE -FLOOR!" Ping growled in her face. I could understand he was pissed, Lin had been rather close to getting us all killed! The young man sported a forming bruise, whiche looked rather nasty. The door knockers protecting the shop shared a laugh at that. "Damn, if I had a camera in the house bro." one of them muttered. "You pay in gold, no yuans yen or Koh know what – plain gold! The final price of course just can be stated when the patient goes out – no matter how." He stated chilly. "An I guess your guy goes out dead." He stated nonchalantly. I gulped dry.
"Still we´ve got the whole premium service on him. Three healers, a blood bender AND a gods damned firenation surgeon so that´s something round a hundred thousand yuan." He stated dryly. I gagged, that was an INSANE amount of money. "Well, you can lend us some body parts if you can´t pay up. Don´t worry we´ll take the stuff out without killing you and even give a free house post treatment! "You Sit have an excellent high quality skin – we could give you a nice replacement from left overs." He stated staring at me. "W-W-What!" I formed a triangle an backed off from his mockingly gleaming eyes. "Most likely we can pay." I stuttered. "Well – if ya need some cash, kidney a going really well this year. We pay ten gran for a good one. Ya know, the resin eaters always have bad kidneys an livers…streetkids also, bad quality!" he nodded. What horrid kind of monsters were these guys? And how could you transfer organs into other people? I was close to being mortified in fear, because that was going close to spirit magic if you asked me! "And what happens if people die on you?" I asked, I feared that Bumis body stayed here and was – used - but even if this was so we hopefully could buy it back. I guessed Asami Sato would be decent enough to provide the money – gods dammit stop being so negative Lee – I scolded myself. Otherwise I never had heard of somebody who survived a close to cooked head! "Well, since you don´t look like you would go home, follow me – there is a waiting room. We even have some cookies and tea." The young man remarked mechanically and led us through another door. There indeed was a comfy room with big, blue couches and calming paintings on the walls. Lin followed us, still a murderous stare settled on her face. Than the young man left us behind in the waiting room. Miss Sato an Mako were not to be seen. I seated myself on one of the couches, not noticing the pleasen softness of its cushions. Ping kneeled in front of the small water tribe shrine dedicated to Tui and started praying.
I never had thought Ping would be a religious man, but it seemed I had been wrong. His lips were moving in silence while he was igniting incense sticks. Lin just stood in the door frame dazed, she noticed her mask had been missing for quite a wile, still her face looked like hewn from stone. "Lin – come, take a seat." I stated in the softest tone I could muster, well – it was not very soft. She followed me and sat down. Her hands rested on the knees. I patted her hand, it was surprisingly small and soft. The most strinking thing was the cold her body radiated. She drew the hand away with a hard exhaling sound and also turned her head away. I sighed, wringing my hands. How long we waited in silence I don´t know, soon time lost meaning, I don´t even know if I slept in this room, or if I visited the bathroom. There was a fuzzy feeling of shock, sure I had seen people die. I had even lost people I loved but everybody who talked about things getting easier with experience was a loudmouth and nothing else. My mind was running rampant, how could this happen to Bumi? Why was he even there. That I did not know what exactly had happened inside of this building was not soothing at all. Still I did not dare to ask because Ping was praying and Lin – well Lin looked as if she would start tearing the house down or crying – or both! Suddenly I heard the clicking noise of a door opening. I flinched visibly and almost jumped from the soft seat.
This time a healer was standing in front of us. He wore rubbery gloves, as well as a blue rubber suit. He looked strange – like a spirit. The man did not seem to bother with his strange attire. His face was frighteningly normal for this stange place. He did not wear any crude tattoos, nor did he look like a sick psycho. He had a slightly rounded face with dark brown skin, an sad looking blue eyes. His brown hair was tied back into a small bun while his well combed mustache made him look rather civilized. He cleared his throath with as small rasp. It was in that second my legs almost gave in – the man did not need any words. My brother was dead. "Well – it went as expected…I´m sorry for your loss." The healer spoke with a gentle, smooth voice that sounded as unwordly as Tenzins. It was Ping who found his voice fist. "Can we – see him?" he asked in a hoarse voice, while his eyes were watery. I also had a slightly blurred vision, which just stayed clear through pure willpower. Lin simply rose, her face as blank as a sheet, I really had no idea who this woman was anymore.
The Lin I knew would be a crying puddle on the floor by now. "Of course. You can´t take his body home before the payment arrives, though." He spoke. "Sadly we can´t trust the people to pay their bills. Which is not my business by the way." He responded thoughtful and led us through a clean looking corridor. There were rooms, filled with hospital beds, nurses hurrying around like in a usual hospital. We than arrived in a small blue painted chamber in which ton´s of ice were piled up. Dead Bodies were stashed away in clean looking metal coffins. One of these coffins was open and there was Bumi. He still looked as horrid as he did back in the streets. The fact that the burned flesh had been moved away and was partially substituted by a slimy looking substance was neither soothing nor calming. Ping fell to his knees and started sobbing loudly. There also were tears escaping my eyes, I bit my Lip. I could not behave like Ping, who wept as openly as he laughed. "Don´t you want to enter?" the healer asked somebody. The clanking footsteps that hurried away clearly answered my question. Lin was running away! It was cold, so that I felt like an ice cube as I saw the icy crystals slowly spreading.
Ping rose, after plucking a tiny, jade bracelet from Bumis armored forearm. I wondered what he planned to do with it. My face was stinging like being worked with needles, expecially where the moisture of my tears was lingering around. "Let´s go home." I responded, while I placed a hand on Pings shoulder. We could walk outside. "We´re coming back with the money. I promise, so please don´t do anything with his body." I pleaded. The healer was looking stern. "You have a month to get the fee, Shin will go through the details with you. That´s among his responsibilities." The man stated chilly. It was obvious he did not like this topic. The walked behind us, making sure we took the way we were supposed to take. A badly wounded man eyed us intensely, while chewing on a piece of carrot. We were led into an office, where the young man was sitting behind a desk. "Take a seat please." He responded. "I´m sorry for your loss." Out of his mouth the phrase sounded like pure mockery. "Please – just shut the fuck up." Ping growled in his direction, while I silently balled a fist. For a short moment, something like a smile played around the man´s lips. "Still we provided a full treatment, which has to be paid. I´m rather sure that Chouw´s friend has enough yuans to cover the treatment, but just in case she doesn´t want to… The debt is 1540 yuan and sixtithree shim. Be glad we hadn´t wasted any organs on the fella." He stated while handing us a sheet of paper.
It was expensive, ornate looking paper, with blue ornaments painted onto it. I was too battered to raise a fuss about his rudeness, I just took the paper and slumped off into the sewer, as did Ping. We walked in silence, Ping suddenly disappeared in a shabby looking soju bar. He did not ask for me to accompany him – like he never had done. I headed home while my heart was slowly torn apart in my chest. What should I do? What should I tell Bumi´s nephew and the others? Would they even keep their mouth shut? Well – it did not matter didn´t it? I owed Bumi a proper funeral, and I exactly knew what kind of funeral he wanted. Even if it was almost thirty years since we had derived a funeral plan in the tiger´s den. I sniffed as tears burned behind my eyes and I forced a smirk on my face. It hurt – the smile actually hurt. "feast in the tigers den – who the fuck shall pay that Boomer." I shook my head. If Bumi had known, he would not become an old man? For sure he had tried more than most 90 year olds that died peacefully in their beds. I wondered though how I should manage to invite all of his friends? Also Tenzin definitely would do everything in his might to prevent his brothers last will, I was sure of that. Tenzin would not stand a traditional air nomad funeral. Well – it was the hardiest way to part from somebody you loved, I knew that well. To let go with a smile, how the fuck was I supposed to do that? Bumi was dead because WE, because I did not take enough care of him. So to speak his death was on us! Nevertheless, I would write a funeral speech and buy some old fire cognac – that was what Bumi always wanted on his funeral. A good funeral is like a good marriage, loud, wet and full of booze! That was what Bumi had said. I had no idea where in this good forsaken city I was, so I just walked somewhere. Even Republic was not endless – it would just take some time until I would find a path that lead home. The night fell as I trotted though dimly lit steets with an aching body. My head was feeling wobbly and I had to rest myself often. Luckily it was summer – a dry somer the more.