Just as promised, the young gentleman that had so unexpectedly visited her the night before returned in the morning, accompanied by Gao. He arrived in an ornamented ostrich-horse-drawn carriage like the kind Jinyi would think an upper-ring gentleman really would ride. Not that Jinyi had thought Yan was lying, but it was still strange to see an obviously upper-class carriage in the lower ring.

He's probably just a merchant's son fighting with his brothers over his father's will now that the old man kicked the bucket. Jinyi thought to herself, Spoiled little prince who's never worked in his life until now. Probably overreacting to a threat Big Brother made.

"I see you're already prepared to leave," Yan commented airily as he stepped out of the carriage. He nodded at the large bundle by Jinyi's feet that contained all her worldly possessions.

"Packing didn't take long." Jinyi said curtly, "Shall we get going, then?"

Yan sighed. "Well, much as I'd like to, that's not how things work in the Upper Ring. We still have to go over your transit papers, as well as an official letter of employment. Perhaps we could do so in the inn you've been staying in."

Jinyi snorted. She would never get used to polite Ba Sing Se society's obsession with paperwork. As if a piece of paper and some ink could add legitimacy to an agreement already made.

"I could use a drink too." rasped Gao. "My throat is parched."

Unlike Yan, Gao had walked alongside the carriage on its journey through the Lower Ring's dusty, winding streets. Retainers didn't get to ride in the master's carriage — not that the enormous swordsman would have fit anyways.

"Welcome dear guests … Oh, it's the handsome young master from yesterday!" Shaolan exclaimed as the three entered the Jade Peony.

Yan bowed graciously in response. "Your words honor me, my dear. And you look just as beautiful as you did last night … although perhaps a hair more tired. Have you been getting enough sleep?"

Shaolan giggled flirtatiously. "My, you're quite the charmer. And yes, morning shifts are quite hard … But aren't you already spoken for today?"

"It isn't like that, you … you dumb broad!" Jinyi fumed. If she hadn't liked Shaolan so much, she wouldn't have minced her words.

Giggling lightly, Shaolan led Yan and Jinyi to an empty table while Gao made his way to the bar.

"Excuse me, Miss, could you get a thirsty man a flask of wine?" He asked a waitress cleaning the obviously closed bar.

"It's quite early in the morning for wine," she commented. At this time of day, the Jade Peony actually functioned as a normal teahouse. The tables held teapots, not wine bottles, and the Pai Sho players were all old men and women passing the time rather than serious gamblers

"I'll pay you extra," Gao said, fumbling with the drawstrings of a comically tiny purse before dropping a few silver pieces onto the counter.

Meanwhile, Yan had spread out a calligraphy set on the rough wooden table, as well as three forms. Likewise, Jinyi pulled her two daggers out of her belt and dropped them on the table within easy reach.

"Your employment contract." Yan passed Jinyi a form, which she began to look over. Unlike most Siuma residents, Jinyi could read and write fairly well, but it had been a while since she'd had to read anything this dense.

"Everything is already in order," Yan told her. Jinyi ignored him and kept reading. She didn't have much reason to trust the young man. Who knew what strange clauses he might bury in the bureaucratic language of the contract.

While she was reading, Yan stared in curiosity at her two daggers

"May I?" he asked, reaching for them before pausing, his hand hovering over them.

"Look all you want," Jinyi told him, still engrossed in the document.

Yan picked up the first of the daggers, sliding it out of its sheath. It had a long, straight, single-edged blade that rounded off to a sharp, but robust tip.

"Interesting guard design," Yan remarked. The arms of the dagger's crossguard bent in opposite directions, like an earthbender's arms in the fundamental earthbending stance. One quillon curved downwards in front of the hilt while the other curved upwards to run parallel to the back of the blade. (1)

"The front protects the knuckles. The back is used to trap the opponent's weapon," Jinyi explained.

"I see," Yan murmured interestedly before picking up the second dagger. "This one's … a lot heavier!"

The other weapon did not have a sheath, which Yan had found odd. But now that it was in his hand, he realized why. It looked like a dagger from a distance, but it was really a small metal cudgel. The heavy steel bar tapered slightly before ending in a rounded tip. The crossguard curved upwards on either side to form two smaller prongs, giving the weapon the appearance of a trident head.

"What is this?" asked Yan.

"A sai," Jinyi replied. "Very useful for parrying and trapping. With a guard like that, I can trap a blade from any angle. It can be used for non-lethal strikes as well." (2)

"Fascinating," Yan said, sheathing the dagger and handing both weapons back to Jinyi in exchange for the legal forms.

"I just need to fill out your name in some places."

"Why aren't I the one filling it out?" Jinyi asked.

"I don't mean to offend, but I'm not sure your calligraphy would be fit for an official legal document," Yan politely pointed out.

As much as it irked her, Jinyi had to admit that he was right. In the underworld, many contracts were by verbal agreement only. She usually didn't have to deal with this.

Yan tutted as he wet his ink brush, poring over the parts of the document that needed amending. "What characters are your name spelled with?"

"Jin as in 'gold' and Yi as in 'joy'." (3)

"That's a beautiful name," Yan said, smiling.

"Thanks," Jinyi said tepidly. She wasn't in the mood for receiving empty compliments from princelings.

"No, it's quite sophisticated," Yan insisted, "Far more than I would expect from a commoner girl ... no offense, of course. It's a name a scholarly family would choose. Did someone think of that way of writing it for you?"

"That's no business of yours," Jinyi growled, giving Yan an icy stare. The young man raised his hands apologetically before busying himself with completing the form.

"In that case, all that's left for you is to sign these forms yourself," Yan announced, handing Jinyi the brush. Jinyi wrote her name at the bottom of the page in short, tidy strokes. It was entirely in opposition to the elaborate script that made up the rest of the form.

"What are you looking at?" asked Jinyi as Yan leaned over the page to watch her write. "Is my penmanship not good enough for your document?"

"No, it's quite exquisite, although there's a singular quality to it," said Yan. "I've seen the calligraphy of master swordsmen before, and your calligraphy is quite similar. Only, the strokes are much shorter …" (4)

"Well you can ogle it when I'm done," Jinyi said. She would never reveal it to Yan, but she was actually somewhat pleased with his remarks. No one had complimented her calligraphy in such a way before.

Just as Jinyi was above to make the last stroke, three rough-looking men carrying weapons stepped in through the door.

"M-may I help you, gentlemen?" Shaolan started to greet them timidly before she was shoved to one side.

"Oi!" The leader of the three, a man with a shaved head and a scar across his cheek, stepped out of the group, slamming his sheathed dao into the wooden floor. "Is there a man named Yan among you?"

"I am Yan," Yan announced, standing up. "And what business do you gentlemen have with me?"

The leader smiled before raising his arm. Immediately, another group of half a dozen people entered the inn. Then another. And then another. Very quickly, half of the teahouse was filled by armed thugs.

"Looks like this isn't your lucky day, kid. The Red Tigerdillo Gang will be taking your head today!" He roared, drawing his dao. His subordinates followed suit, hooting and pounding their weapons against the floor.

"Not so fast!" Gao boomed, standing up and slamming his foot down into an earthbending stance so hard that the floor shook. "You dare to threaten my master's life? Do you want to die?"

Gao swung his arms above his head in a wide arc, sending the heavy stone pai sho tables on the far side of the room flying at the densely packed crowd of ruffians. But out of the crowd stepped a man in a green cloak. He punched out with both fists, shattering the pai sho tables in midair.

The man threw back his cloak. From under it, coin-sized stone disks flew up before orbiting around the man in two perpendicular rings. "I am Hundred-Coin Wai, champion of the Siuma District's fighting rings. I will be your opponent, old man!"

"Arrogant pup!" Gao spat, drawing a six-foot-long dadao that hung at his side (5). It was a heavy blade with a spine as thick as the side of a palm and easily capable of splitting mail and severing heads. Most warriors wouldn't have been able to lift it with two hands. Gao swung it easily with one.

"You're an earthbender," mocked Hundred-Coin Wai. "Why are you waving around that glorified kitchen knife? Why don't you earthbend?"

With a flick of his hands, several of his coins knapped themselves into arrowheads before flying at Gao's face. Gao snorted, shattering three out of them out of the air with a contemptuous swing of his dadao before catching the fourth one out of the air. The razor-sharp stone crumbled like sand in his clenched fist. Then, Gao stomped the ground with such force that all the dust on the floor flew up … as well as a single one of the deflected flint projectiles. It flew back towards Hundred-Coin Wai.

Wai snorted in amusement at the single tiny projectile approaching him. With a crook of his finger, three of his 96 coins swooped in to intercept … before promptly shattering against Gao's projectile.

Surprised, Wai crossed his arms, summoning a fish-scale barrier of stone coins. He seemed sure that it would stop the tiny flint arrowhead. But it smashed through the stone barrier, not even dropping in speed as it flew towards his chest.

Panicking, Wai clapped his hands over the projectile. A few drops of blood trickled from between his fingertips. He sighed in relief that the projectile had finally been stopped.

Gao chortled before twisting his foot. Suddenly, a storm of tiny flint fragments exploded from Wai's clasped hands, slicing his palms and cutting one forefinger clean off. Wai staggered back in pain, clutching at the stone shards stuck in his chest with his ruined hands.

"Your Uncle Gao didn't have any earth to bend. How kind of you to lend me some," said Gao as he stomped his foot again, sending the other two arrowheads up into the air. He waved his dadao at Yan and Jinyi. "You two, go! I'll hold these bastards off!"

"On it," Jinyi said, grabbing Yan's hand and dragging him towards the stairs. A handful of ruffians tried to follow them up, only to be cut down by a single swing of Gao's dadao that broke blades and severed limbs.

As Jinyi and Yan made their escape up the stairs, the sounds of battle receded behind them. There was a brief roar from dozens of people charging at once that disintegrated into screams of pain.

"We need to escape onto the roof —" said Jinyi. She had chosen her room with the express purpose of the window allowing access to the rooftops. "Watch out!"

Jinyi pulled Yan back by the collar as three ruffians emerged from behind a corner with curved daggers in hand. Jinyi's foot shot out to deliver a swift kick to the side of the first attacker's knee (6). The man howled as his joint gave way. He toppled into his comrades in the narrow hallway. In a flurry of blows, daggers fell from limp fingers as the gangsters slumped to the floor. Above them stood Jinyi, her hands in a distinctive fist with one knuckle protruding forwards. A phoenix-eye fist (7).

"Incredible," Yan said breathlessly. Few had ever seen chi blocking up close. His hand rested on a short jian (8) hanging from his belt, where he had reached to draw it, but Jinyi had incapacitated their attackers in the time it had taken for his hand to reach the hilt.

"Quit gawking and keep moving," snapped Jinyi. "And stay behind me."

Jinyi wasted no time in pulling Yan through the tight hallways to her room. She kept her senses sharp the entire time. The Red Tigerdillos had been smart enough to station men upstairs. Who knew what other surprises they had hidden?

"My window opens up to a neighboring roof," Jinyi explained hurriedly. "That's how we'll escape, but you'll have to jump."

"I see," Yan nodded, seemingly unperturbed.

"... Aren't you going to ask how far?"

Yan tilted his head. "Does it matter? It's our only way out, isn't it?"

"Y-Yeah, that's right," confirmed Jinyi. The little princeling's braver than I thought.

Jinyi threw open the window before jumping catlike to the roof of the ramshackle townhouse across the street.

Let's see if he can make it …

Yan walked all the way back to the other end of the room and took a deep breath. Then, he sprinted forwards and vaulted over the lip of the window. His feet made contact with the roof and he almost balanced himself.

Almost.

The roof tile his foot was on slipped and dropped to the narrow alleyway below. Yan would surely have followed it down had Jinyi not caught his hand and steadied him.

"My thanks," said Yan.

"Don't mention it," replied Jinyi. They were out of the building now, but the situation still wasn't safe. Staying low, Jinyi clambered up to the top of the roof to survey her surroundings.

"Watch out!" shouted Yan.

Jinyi dived to the side just in time. An archer was on the other side of the roof. He had been watching the windows from which one could access the rooftops. But there were several, and he had had to choose a position from where he could watch them all. If he had known where Jinyi's room was, she and Yan would not have made it out the window alive. Even then, it had been a close call. Just as soon as Jinyi had saved Yan's life, he had saved hers in return.

Cursing at having missed what should have been a clean shot, the archer nocked another arrow and took aim again.

It was his mistake for choosing to be on the same roof Jinyi had exited onto. She sprinted across the roof, rattling tiles in her wake. As the Archer loosed his quarrel, Jinyi pulled out her own dagger hanging from her belt and deflected it in one fluid motion. The archer cursed again. He drew a long dirk and lunged at Jinyi, only for her to trap the blade between the prongs of her dagger. With a deft twist of her wrist, she wrenched the dagger away from him, sending it tumbling out of his hands and into the alleyway. (9) The archer didn't even have a chance to register surprise at being so easily disarmed. The dirk had scarcely left his hand when Jinyi pulled out her sai and drove the pommel into his chin. The archer fell to the rooftop. Now unconscious, he rolled down the sloped roof until Jinyi put her foot down on his body to stop it.

"Where next?" asked Yan.

Jinyi stared across the vast expanse of the city. They had a few options. They could escape across the rooftops (10) or hide in the dark alleyways below. They could board Yan's carriage and make a getaway, although now that Jinyi glanced around, she couldn't see it. Further consideration was rendered moot when down below, a man flew out of the Jade Peony's door, smashing into the wall of the building across the street. Gao strode out after him, slinging his bloody dadao over his shoulder.

"The battle's finished!" he shouted upwards. "Come down from the roof already!"

Jinyi jumped down from the roof as agilely as a flying lemur. Yan followed, clambering down more cautiously, but still impressively considering he was two stories up.

They approached Gao, who stood at the entrance of the Jade Peony teahouse, indomitable as a temple guardian statue (11). He rested his dadao against the ground. Even without him leaning on it, the blade was so heavy it sunk a few inches into the hard-packed dirt of the street. A thin trickle of blood poured down from his left side.

"You're hurt," commented Yan.

"Let a damn bastard close and he grazed me with his sword. Bad habits from my armor-wearing days." said Gao, "Good thing he didn't do more than just prick me."

Jinyi looked inside the Jade Peony. Inside was a scene of utter destruction. Smashed tables, broken cups, and bodies both dead and still groaning littered the floor. It had clearly been a chaotic battle. It was a good thing Jinyi had gotten Yan out of the room as soon as she did. Even she wouldn't have been able to predict how a battle like this would unfold.

Slumped against a wall was the broken body of Wan. There was a trickle of blood coming from his mouth and a glazed look in his eyes. He was clearly dead.

"That fool forgot the first rule of Earthbending," Gao snorted. "Earth is the element of substance. Why would you divide your Earth and make it weak in its division for a fancy trick?"

Jinyi realized that despite his jovial, easy-going appearance, Gao was a hardened killer, much more inured to violence than even she was.

Yan nodded, before turning to the gangsters still in the room.

"Many of you have been left with your lives," Yan announced solemnly. "I advise you all to be thankful that you are left with them. If we are fortunate, we will never meet again. Now, take your wounded and your dead and leave."

The gangsters who were still alive raised their heads at the person they had come to kill speaking so formally. But still, they complied, the less wounded picking themselves up and dragging the more seriously wounded out with them. Despite Yan's invitation to, no one bothered with the dead.

Yan tutted as he uprighted the table he had been sitting at, before scooping up what remained of his calligraphy set.

"What a waste of good ink," he sighed. The calligraphy set had spilled with the table, the ink pooling and mixing with the blood on the floor.

"I never finished signing, did I?" Jinyi commented, picking up her contract from where it lay on the ground, wet and tattered, but still legible.

"True, but my ink is ruined," Yan pointed out. "What will you finish it with?"

"What are you talking about? Ink is ink, isn't it?" said Jinyi, grabbing the calligraphy brush before dipping it in the puddle. In one sharp flick, she finished her name with a stroke that was mulberry red.

"Ha! It looks like you found the woman you were looking for!" laughed Gao, clapping Yan's shoulder.

"Indeed I did," Yan admitted, before turning to Jinyi. "It seems you're officially my bodyguard now."

"I am," Jinyi nodded. "But I have one question though. Who am I really bodyguarding you against?"

"Does it matter?" asked Yan, "Shouldn't you be prepared to deal with threats no matter where they come from?"

"I should," agreed Jinyi. "But this attack was very well planned for a street gang hit. Someone clearly paid them a lot of money to kill you. You said this was a family squabble. Who are your relatives that they can hire the entire Red Tigerdillo Gang?"

Yan gave Jinyi a pained smile before answering.

"The Earth Kingdom royal family."

1. Jinyi's long dagger is based on a weapon used in Five Ancestors style kung fu. It has some similarities to the butterfly swords used in Wing Chun, White Crane, and other Southern Chinese styles. You can see one of the pirates using these in the Avatar Book 1 episode The Waterbending Scroll. This type of crossguard is usually called a swastika-shaped crossguard. Yes, that swastika. It was an auspicious symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism long before it was appropriated by the Nazis.

2. If you've ever watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles you'll recognize this as Michaelangelo's weapon. Though mostly associated with Okinawan martial arts, variations of it can also be found in China, India, and throughout Southeast Asia.

3. 金怡 for those curious. As Chinese has many homophones, it is necessary to explain what characters are used to write a name by giving each one in the context of a two-character word. Jinyi's name is also inspired by the Jinyiwei, the personal bodyguard and secret police of Ming dynasty emperors. The Jinyi in Jinyiwei is 錦衣 or "brocaded jacket", referring to the embroidered uniform they wore. Wei (衛) just means "guard".

4. Another common trope in wuxia fiction, showing a swordsman's style through their calligraphy.

5. 大刀 literally meaning "big broadsword", a heavy two-handed sword popular in the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was used even into the 20th century in the Chinese Civil War and Sino-Japanese War. The size of Gao's broadsword is somewhat exaggerated.

6. The leading kick to the knee is a favored opening technique in Jeet Kune Do, as it uses the practitioner's longest weapon against the closest target. Bruce Lee talks about it in Bruce Lee's Fighting Method.

7. 鳳眼拳 The variant depicted in the show extends the knuckle of the index finger, but there is also a version with the middle knuckle extended.

8. 劍 is usually translated as "sword", but specifically refers to ones with straight double-edged blades. It is called the "gentleman of weapons" and is associated with the aristocracy rather than the common soldier, as it requires more training to wield than the dao. The variant Yan carries is the 短劍 or short sword, which is more practical for everyday wear.

9. Now we see the utility of the back quillon on the dagger. These blade-catching techniques are common in Wing Chun and White Crane's butterfly sword methods.

10. Another common trope in wuxia fiction, jumping across rooftops using qinggong (AKA "wire-fu"). If you've seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, you might remember a cheeky line about a character's rooftop being especially busy on a particular night.

11. Temple guardians, called dvarapala in Sanskrit, are commonly seen outside Buddhist temples. They usually take the form of fearsome warriors. Despite their sometimes frightening appearance, they are, in fact, meant to be benevolent.