Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar and everything created. I own my OCs
San: Ben Diskin
Tivan Yeng: Dameon Clarke
So as always, please read, review, and enjoy!
Chapter 3: Closed Deal
Morning. Arishiakage palace, Shenmue city.
It was morning time in the palace with the sun shining as Suba, the loyal pet griffon of Raiku snored loudly wagging its tail once it caught the smell of food. Its ears perked up and rapidly moved to where the smell of cooked food was located, as it passed a couple of maidens and a certain elder man who rode on a particular polarbeardog. A stick with a piece of well done cooked meat waved up and down, as the griffon slowly pounced near to it. Just when its beak almost caught the meat stick, the piece of food waved up as Suba to see it was his master. The meat stick swept down as Suba caught it using his beak, chewing the meat inside its mouth.
"The Anarchist Order?" Raiku asked Mako and Li Mei as Mako nodded his head in reply. "Do we have any idea who these people are?"
"No, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're the ones that started the attack on Republic city." Mako said. "The assassin from last night took a poison before we could question him."
"They may have even started the war along the way, too." Li Mei added as the rest of the group came inside the dining table
"Milk! Milk! Milk!" Hop-Hop exclaimed
Asami giggled as she gave Hop-Hop a glass of milk she poured. "Here you go."
"He is not a child." Aye-Aye said to her, before staring at Hop taking a chug of milk in his mouth. "Though, I've been wrong on that before." he sighed shaking his head
Raiku glanced at his uncle. "Is Aunt Kya still in the Ourilo clan estate?"
"Yes, she's still tending Guira's wound." Tenzin answered
"Should we even trust Thadek?"
"I'm not sure either, but..." Nolun trailed off with his arms crossed as he looked down
Korra stared at Nolun who stood quiet in his sentence and inquired. "But what?"
"He might help us out." he finished
"Or he could be the one behind the assassination. He's never liked the fact Raiku became Arishiakage instead of Ryn." Mako stated. "Though, even I'm not sure."
Tenzin stroked his chin and said. "Thadek would never risk his daughter's life."
"Could be one of the clan leaders." Li Mei
"Question is how are we going to find out?"
Nolun walked over to Bolin who had held out a metal box, shaping it to form a cage as it showed the mechanized spider from last night. "From the looks of it, this thing is hostile. I'll think about how to find our culprit as I go along." he said having the metal cage in the air, before forming a stand to hold it still
The spiderscorpion machine tried to pounce on Bolin, who held a small gasp. "And we would know who it is when this thing is calm?"
"I'm not going to hold my breath. If it is one of the clan leaders or someone in the same level as them, we'll find out whose responsible."
Li Mei slightly turned her head to a clock hanging on a wall as she said. "I have somewhere to be. I'll catch up with you guys later."
"That's odd." Asami whispered to Korra. "Li Mei never goes somewhere alone, she usually asks us if we want to tag along."
"Something doesn't add up. Think we should follow her?"
"Just to be sure there's nothing suspcious going on."
"Where you are two going?"
"I'm going for a walk."
"Plus, I might head to the marketplace to pick up a few things."
"Okay." Raiku said confused
"What was that about?"
"I don't know."
"Hard to believe you're a voice of your own people. I didn't even know you were an airbender when we first met."
"Li Mei did."
"How did she find out?"
"It was when we took a stop somewhere." Raiku stated to Nolun. "One of the leads to find Lakogi island."
Fourteen years ago.
Omashu, Earth Kingdom.
The city of Omashu, birthplace of the late king Bumi was thriving as people were going on about their business and personal affairs. The city itself was still an increase in delivery system as it was in the days before, during and after the Hundred Year War. Tani, Omashu's queen and great-granddaughter of King Bumi still ran the city in her grandfather's name. In the streets of Omashu, a silver haired and grey eyed twelve year old boy wearing an air acolyte clothing was with an eleven year old girl. Her pigtail dark brown hair and blue eyes shined with enthusiasm as she began to lead her twelve year old friend above a tower. The tower itself housed a delivery system for packages and important items as the two children made it to the top of the tower. The girl looked down and spotted a stone cart as she tapped the boy's shoulder to push it near the delivery slide.
"Should we be even doing this?"
"Why not? Avatar Aang did this and so did King Bumi when they were young."
"Did not."
"Did to, now come on and jump in."
"You sure we should do this?"
"Absolutely. This will be awesome just you wait!"
"Okay, sure." Raiku got on the stone cart with Li Mei after he pushed it ahead, but it remained still. "Li Mei?" his left hand was out
"It should have went by now." she pouted as she gazed at Raiku with her pouting glance. "Are you sure pushed it enough?"
"Of course I did-" Raiku was cut off when a gush of wind burst out of his hand as it pushed him and Li Mei down the delivery slide. "WHHHHOOOAA!"
Li Mei giggled as the cart swung left and headed to another direction. "Awesome!"
"This is awesome!"
"I told ya."
The cart zigzag into the delivery rail going out track before landing on another down below, as it turned right close to the rich stead. A violinist played a note as a wealthy man stared at the window, before seeing a cart speed rapidly noticing children. The man's eyes widened as he blinked a couple of times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He shrugged his shoulders believing it was nothing, as he sat down on a comfortable leather chair while the violinist continued to play another note for him while she started from the top. A patrol guard had seen a cart speeding away rapidly, as he shot out a column of earth to stop the cart not knowing there were children inside.
Raiku's eyes widened as he repeatedly tapped Li Mei's shoulder to get her attention while she was enjoying the fun ride. "Li Mei... is that suppose to be there?"
Li Mei snapped out of it as her eyes began to go wide. "No. No, no, no! That's not suppose to happen!" she exclaimed as the cart hit the earth column leaving the two kids to jump off the car after it crashed
Raiku and Li Mei were falling 90 feet in the air, leaving Li Mei to scream for her life. Raiku set his hand forward, as a gush of wind shot out hitting the ground while he held Li Mei by the waist with his arm around her. Li Mei stared wide eyed at Raiku, as their feet touched the ground leaving the air funnel is to disappeared. She stayed in shock and surprised of what she saw, while the snow haired airbending twelve year old look to find out the coast was clear as he turned his attention to her.
"Raiku... you're... you're..."
"An Airbender? Yeah."
"Wait- you're not even surprised about- how long have you been an airbender?"
"Since I was born, I guess."
"You guess?!"
"We'll talk about this later. Right now, can we go?"
"Fine, but you owe me an answer." she replied as her and Raiku began to leave before a patrol of Omashu officers could arrive on the scene
"Whoa. You guys were almost goners."
"I know, but it worked out in the end when I used my airbending." Raiku replied. "It was a split second decision I had to make. Still, Li Mei kept my secret and I realized I could trust her. I kept it a secret until I came from Lakogi and showed it to the rest of you guys since I got back."
"Did you get an earful from the trouble you caused?"
"From Gin? Yes. Especially a scolding letter from Tenzin." Raiku added, pointing his thumb at his uncle. "Though there were other times I used airbending with anyone not noticing it. Anyway from the time I spent with Li Mei, she was pretty adventurous."
"But now, it looks like she's gotten over that whole adventure thing a lot lately."
"Think she misses it?"
"No idea."
"What were the others you used your airbending?"
"We should get going. Later, Uncle Tenzin!" Raiku said, avoiding the subject while pushing Mako and Bolin out the kitchen as Nolun followed him out
Han Shou plaza, Shenmue city.
Li Mei walked through the plaza, heading to a direction east of her when she went right, as the Kyoshi warrior herself was being followed. A pair of eyes began following her, one green and the other blue wearing a cloak to cover their faces. Li Mei stopped walking and looked behind to see if she was being followed, only for no one behind her in the crowd as she began walking to her destination. The cloaked figures stayed on her trail while avoiding to be seen by Li Mei, as she headed to another section of the plaza. In the other section of Han Shou plaza, street entertainers gained attention from some of the citizens in Shenmue city while others went on about their personal business. Some entertainers started off with a monkeylemur doing cartwheels and musician playing a bard song, as the two cloak figures that followed Li Mei continue to stay on her trail once she headed to her destination. Just when they trailed her to an alley around the corner, she was nowhere in sight.
The two figures removed to reveal themselves as Korra and Asami. "Where she did go? She just went here only a second ago."
"She is a Kyoshi warrior." Asami pointed out to Korra. "Li Mei has been trained to hone the art of stealth for at least eight years."
"Actually it was three." said a voice which startled both of them, as they saw it was only Li Mei who crossed her arms and raised a quirked eyebrow. "But what I want to know is, why are you two following me?"
"What? No, no!" Korra bluff, changing the subject. "We were... we were just about to go shopping."
"Really?" Li Mei said not believing Korra. "What were you shopping for?"
"We were- uh... well..." Korra trailed off realizing Li Mei wouldn't believe her tell. "Okay, fine. Me and Asami were following you."
"Go on."
"You were acting suspicious this morning which was odd." Asami stated. "Whenever you would go somewhere, you would drag me or Korra to go with you. Plus, you're in this abandoned alley."
Li Mei shrugged her head as she inquired. "In other words, you two followed me around and find out what was going on with me?"
"That's the reason." Korra answered. "So do you trust me?"
"That depends, do you trust me?"
"I trust you."
"And so do I." Asami added
"I'm here to meet up with a contact of mine." Li Mei stated to Korra and Asami. "He said he may have information on this Anarchist Order."
"You think this will lead us to who's in charge of the Order? I mean we haven't come to any leads to who these guys are lately."
"I was thinking the exact thing, but this may be our only lead."
"So when you are suppose to meet your contact?"
"It should be five minutes from now." Li Mei stated. "So you two somewhere to hide before he even gets here."
"Or we could cover ourselves in these hooded cloaks."
"I don't know. I might be able to tell it's-"
"Is that him heading this way?" Korra asked pointing to a man in a tattered outfit with a bandage covering his eye
"That's him. Now you two-" Li Mei paused when she noticed both Korra and Asami vanished, possibly hiding as she wrapped a scarf covering her mouth and nose. "It's only fun if I do it." she muttered in a pout
"You alone?" the contact asked in gravelly voice
"I am." Li Mei turned to face the man who was her contact. "Do you have the information I needed?"
"The Anarchist are having a meeting in Xuan Yong in eleven o'clock." he stated. "They're meeting a Tivan Yeng. Apparently, he got a hold of their old arsenal of spirit weapons in one of their holdouts."
"Odd." Li Mei glanced at the contact and asked. "Would the leader of the Anarchist Order be there in Xuan Yong valley."
"Don't be so sure. No one knows who's the one in charge or running things in the Order." the contact stated to Li Mei. "Only he's second-in-command and top right-hand man knows who he is."
"Well, isn't that just great." Li Mei muttered in sarcasm, as she tossed the contact a small coin purse and the contact left the alley which Korra and Asami step out of their hiding place between the door entrance to a building. "I thought I would know who's responsible or whoever is leading them."
"Seem like your contact didn't know either."
"Back to square one."
"Or maybe not." Li Mei and Korra turned their attention to Asami. "If the leader of the Order isn't there, then maybe one of his right-hand associates are."
"Think it's possible?"
"It could be. I'll find out once I head there before the meeting can take place." Li Mei declared as Korra touched her shoulder
"You don't have to go alone on this secret meeting, you know." she said
"Korra's right. We'll tag along with you."
"I don't want you to get you guys in this."
"Li Mei, we can handle ourselves. Plus, there's nothing wrong having some backup to go with you." Korra insisted
"I don't know."
"Come on. We stick together in tough situations, no matter what we come across." Asami said to Li Mei
"Who did you heard that from?"
"Well, I heard it from you."
"Same here whenever you told me I had to tough it out on harder situations."
"There's no way I can talk you two out of this, is there?"
Korra chuckled. "Nope. We're tagging along with you regardless you agree with it or not."
"You two have learned something from me, then." Li Mei giggled in a laugh. "What do we tell the guys?"
"Knowing them, they'll probably be busy here trying to find out whoever let the politicial assassination."
"If we fail trying to find out who's the leader of the Order, maybe Raiku and the guys could find something while we're away." Asami added
"Then I guess I should be in my kyoshi warrior armor. Although..." Li Mei trailed off staring at Korra and Asami. "So could you two."
"What did you have in mind?"
"You'll find out."
Noon. Xuan Yong valley, Earth Sovereign.
In the greenland hill of Xuan Yong valley, an old supply depot laid out as a sky bison flew in undetected from prying eyes. Guards patrolled the area of the depot wielding spirit rifles, as a pair of arms grabbed one of the guards patrolling the left section of the facility. A guard was electrocuted by a touch from an electric glove as his body was being dragged while unconscious. Two guards on the northeast side of the field were sent flying back by a gush of wind, as a pile of earth trapped them in a wall while a water whip covering another guard in ice. His mouth was covered as well to prevent him from calling help, while a hand took a copper wire to wrap another guard and drag him away. Three women clad in ornate, armored green kimonos, metal headresses and white-faced makeup as the young women were Korra, Asami and Li Mei.
"You alright?"
"I think you may have strapped this in a little too tight."
"Sorry." Li Mei loosened the armor for Korra. "Better."
"Much better. Thanks."
"Looks like we're here just in time."
"Think they'll get here, or are they already here?"
"They better be or this will be all for nothing." Li Mei replied. "So far, all I know is the name of the arms dealer is Tivan Yeng."
"What about who he's meeting?"
"No idea. We'll have to find out whoever it is when they get here." Li Mei stated as Korra spotted a few jeeps arriving
"There they are." she said, pointing at the jeeps which drove in the cargo depot. "So what's the plan?"
"We could sneak in and overhear their meeting."
"But we need one of us to follow them if we get captured." Korra added as Li Mei and Asami nodded in agreement
"I'll stay watch and follow them in case you get caught on Mugo." Asami said heading back to the sky bison while Korra and Li Mei went over to the cargo depot
Korra and Li Mei ran to the cargo depot, evading the detection of guards standing out as they headed to the left corridor of the depot. Li Mei glanced over the wall and saw the two extra guards go inside the cargo depot, as Korra used an earth column to launch her on the roof of the depot while she did the same. They took a few steps toward the skylight as they looked down to see the meeting begin with a hooded figure escorted by unknown assailants, each of them armed with spirit weapons. Two guards and another man arrived as the hooded person removed the hood to reveal a brown haired, tanned skin in his late twenties with a large urn strapped on his back. A light skinned man whose black hair was swept back and burning wood brown eyes, wearing a black trench coat with a yellow tie and red shirt along with black pants and shoes. A goatee on his chin, as he opened up a crate with a three barrel cannon in his hands showing it to his clients.
"This weapon, capable of blowing up a satomobile and blowing up a train cart off the tracks." the man said tossing it to one of assailants who followed the man with the urn. "A piece of craftsmanship."
"Why do you present this to us, Yeng? I know what it is." the urn man said
Yeng stroked his chin and nodded as he replied. "I suppose I do. After all, that Suchong guy you have in that order of yours is the one that made that bad boy."
"Did he just say Suchong?"
"That he did." Li Mei answered. "Suchong is with the Order. The question is: why."
"I don't know, but who's that guy with the giant urn?" Korra asked
Li Mei shook her head and replied. "Not sure."
"What do you saw we get closer to finding out who we're up against?" Korra asked Li Mei as she saw Mugo land on the roof of the supply depot
"Asami has our backs if we're captured."
Li Mei opened the skylight as she and Korra dropped down on a top shelf, with Li Mei gripping one of the guards in a sleeping hold while Korra covered another guard's face in metal. She dragged him back toward him and stuck him near a metal wall, leaving him to be trapped and metal cord tied to his mouth.
"So..." Yeng trailed off as he sat on a chair with his legs on the crate. "How about we discuss a price here? One hundred yuons? Maybe a million to sweeten the deal. Plus, I know the location of the weapons to add in interest. Whether it's tax or loyal fees, it's gonna cost ya. Come on, buddy. Let's make a deal!"
"Fifty thousand yuons." the urn man suddenly said
"Fifty? Nah, no deal pal. I'm giving you a sweet deal here!" Yeng exclaimed. "You get the weapons, I get paid. Plain and simple."
Fifty thousand. End of discussion. I expect you to take the deal."
Yeng glared at the urn man. "Let me get this straight. I offer you all of these weapons and try to pay me off fifty thousand yuons?! No way, no deal! Give me the price I set or take a hike, urn boy!"
"You refuse?" the urn man inquired as the urn dissolve into sand while Korra and Li Mei ducked around a corner away from the meeting
"This whole time that urn is sand?" Li Mei said with Korra giving a shrug of her shoulders as an answer
"If you feel froggy kid, you better start jumping." Yeng threatened readying a spirit pistol
a large column of sand appeared behind the urn man which formed into sharp blades of sand. "You are no use, then." he said
All of a sudden, a pair of fans were sent hitting the hands of the armed assailants and guards as their weapons hit the floor. Small boulders of earth sent both the guards and the assailants of the Urn man flying back. The Urn man turned his attention to a couple of Kyoshi warriors, in case surprised him but remained unimpressed. He shattered larger stones into sand, firing at incredible speed as Korra brought out an stone wall while Li Mei went away the fleeing Tivan Yeng. The sand surrounding the Urn man enveloping a tendril filled with sand, as a couple sicked themselves on Li Mei leaving the Kyoshi warrior to avoid one in a quick leap. However; another sand tendril wrapped itself around Li Mei's leg, only for a ball of fire to strike the sand tendril which let her go. Korra brought out all the water in the pipe valves, coming to her way as the Urn man expression turned to shock.
Korra summoned all the water in the valves to her side as she launched it at the Urn man, encasing him in water. She disperse some of the water to allow the Urn man to breath, but kept his hands trapped inside the water as sand fell into the floor while Korra froze him in place. Meanwhile outside, Li Mei chased after Tivan Yeng as he fired a few shots from the spirit pistol leaving her to duck and cover by a few boxes left of her. Yeng stopped and headed his way to the box crates to make sure she was dealt with, as his hand still remained steady on his weapon. Once he got between the crates, he realized that Li Mei was nowhere in sight as a glove gripped his shoulder electrocuting him which rendered Yeng unconscious. Behind him was Li Mei and Asami stared down at the unconscious Yeng with a smirk on their faces.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it. I got your back."
Evening. Wan Shan hall, Shenmue city.
"What is the meaning of this meeting?" Thadek demanded
"As you all know, a political assassin took place here and I believe someone in this very room may be the culprit." Nolun stated to the whole council from last night
"Based on what proof?"
Nolun pulled the blanket off the cage to show the spiderscorpion mech which snarled viciously. "This proof."
"What is the meaning of this?" the clattering of the cage left Brenic startled as the small mech snarled at him
"This will be a test to see who the culprit is." Raiku stated as lady Niroli was next, getting the same result of the small spiderscorpion mech being hostile. "From this point, we'll be able to find out whose responsible for the assassination."
"For all we know, Niroli or Brenic." said Mernin, Thadek's advisor
"Unlikely. The mech is hostile is both of them. It's hostile to all of us." Raiku explained, as the spiderscorpion mech was extremely hostile to Thadek and his son Ryn. "Even to Thadek and Ryn."
"How would you know?" Mernin said in a hesitate tone
Raiku stared for a moment, before narrowing his eyes at Thadek's advisor. "For one..." he trailed off pointing at the spiderscorpion mech remain suddenly non-hostile to Mernin. "It's not hostile to you."
Thadek glared at his advisor who betrayed and tried to have him and everyone on the council assassinated. "You. You harmed my daughter." he growled. "I will make sure to see you hanged."
Mernin gritted his teeth. "You won't live to see it." he scowled brought out a spirit pistol, only for a metal whip to take away his weapon and a blast of wind to sent him flying away
"He'll live." Raiku said as Mako opened the door to reveal Kya and Guira
"Father." Guira said as she hugged her father
"I am glad to see you safe."
"As am I." Thadek glared his attention to his betraying advisor, as two royal guards cuffed Mernin's hands. "Have Mernin locked up until a decision is made on what to do of him."
"Interrogate him and see what he knows." Raiku ordered as the royal guard took Mernin away from the council room
Evening. Shoung Bu row, Earth Sovereign.
"Well, well, this is an embarrassment." Urn man muttered under his breath. "Not only did I get myself trapped by petty Kyoshi warriors, but I find out one of them is the Avatar."
"The Avatar? She's in this little group?" Yeng said chuckling. "That can't be. That can't be. There's no way it's-" Yeng paused as he stared closer at Korra. "I don't. Believe. It. Oh man! What are the chances that I would face-to-face with the Avatar."
"Who are you?" Li Mei questioned the Urn man who had his face down. "Talk. Does Suchong work for the Archanist Order?"
"Why ask the question if you already know the answer." the urn man replied. "As for my name, it's San."
Suddenly, the sand from the cargo depot collided into a sandstorm as it formed them. Korra lashed out a wave of air as the urn man known as San disappeared, but only Tivan Yeng remained where he was.
"He's gone." Asami exclaimed. "I didn't think he could get away even after we bind his wrists."
Korra gazed at Li Mei and asked her. "Think we can find him?"
Li Mei nodded her head. "That guy is probably long gone by now." she said
"And it looks like he took one of the jeeps with him, too." Asami stated as she glanced at Yeng. "But what do we do about him?"
"Care to make a deal, ladies?"
"Bring him with us."
Night. Arishiakage palace, Shenmue city.
In the living room of the palace, Raiku had his hands on his face as he sat down on a chair while Mako and Bolin leaned to a wall. It had been three hours since they caught the perpetrator of the political assassination of the Lakogi council, with Bolin tapping his foot on the floor impatiently. Mako glanced at his brother, who took as a signal to stop tapping his foot while he waited. Mako closed his eyes, until he heard a patting sound coming from Bolin who was tapping his hands on his crossed arms as Mako only sighed. Aside for waiting on the interrogation to be over with, Raiku and the others began to wonder where Korra, Asami, and Li Mei were since they left in the morning. They turned their attention to the door as it opened to reveal Korra and the girl, but found out they were dressed as Kyoshi warriors. Raiku just stared at how beautiful Korra, as his mouth was opened until she pressed her hand to close it.
"You okay?"
Raiku's cheeks flushed red as he replied. "Yeah, I'm fine. You look so beautiful."
Korra's cheeks blushed at Raiku's comment. "Thank you." she said giving him a kiss on the cheek as she left the room before winking at him
Mako decided to break the long silence Raiku had drown in as he said. "Why are you three as Kyoshi warriors?"
"Long story, but we'll explain later." Li Mei replied as Bolin stared at her beauty, leaving Li Mei herself to notice. "Something wrong?"
"No- no. It's just I've never seen you in your Kyoshi warrior outfit."
Li Mei smiled and placed her hands on her hips. "What do you think?"
"Are you going to wear this more often?"
Li Mei only stroked his cheek and kissed him on the lips. "Maybe. Or maybe some other time, if that's okay with you."
"Very." Bolin said as him and Li Mei left the room
Aila approached the rail of the stairs, staring at Asami. "Mistress Sato, I have word from Republic city!" she exclaimed. "It's from your father himself!"
Asami rushed upstairs to the radio, as Raiku and Mako followed behind her one Aila handed her the radio.
"Dad? Dad! Dad, are you there?"
"I'm here, honey."
Asami sighed in relief of her father's response. "Thank the spirits. I'm glad you're safe!"
"I'm glad you're safe, too."
"What's going on in Republic city?" Mako asked Hiroshi through the radio
"The city is a warzone now, and we aren't winning at all. Though, I wish I had spoke of better news"
"What do you mean?"
"I have had reports that this Anarchist Order of a siege in Ba Sing Se."
"We have to warn Suyin." Raiku said
"I'm afraid it has already happened."
"Why? When did this happen?"
"This morning." Raiku, Mako, and Asami looked at each other
"What do we do now?" Mako asked leaving Raiku to close his eyes as he balled his fist, opening his eyes with a narrowed expression
"We go to Ba Sing Se." he declared
